(tw for insultive slurs and gun mention)
Monday morning was bitter cold, a telltale sign that fall was ending soon.
You breathed out a sigh, watching the mist show up in the air as you did so. Days like these you desperately wished that you had a car, even though you knew that you couldn't even squeeze a bagel into your budget these days. (No more extravagant coffee dates with Papyrus anymore...) It'd be warm, you could listen to music as loudly as you wanted, and getting home would be a lot easier. Oh god. Why didn't you have a car?
It wasn't like you didn't know how to drive, or even that you didn't like driving. There was a parking lot right by the corner of the store so it wasn't like it was an inconvenience to get there. It was more of an inconvenience to use the subway.
Still. It sucked.
Your shoes slapped against the pavement, creating a satisfying sound. Your scarf was warmly tucked underneath your chin, and you smiled softly at the memories from it. Mom had given it to you years ago, right when you graduated. If you thought hard enough, you could still remember the smell of her perfume.
However cold it was, it wasn't gloomy. The morning sun was just beginning to rise and it illuminated the buildings around you with a soft, hazy light. The "indie" shopping district was quiet, just barely waking up from the weekend. Shop owners entered their respective stores and chit chatted amongst themselves.
You remembered being jealous of their interactions, not knowing many of them yourself. You remembered being jealous of a lot of things, socially wise.
While you weren't paying attention, someone poked you softly on the shoulder. You jumped from the surprise contact and turned around.
A girl stood there, around the same height as you. She had big, brown eyes with wild and long blonde hair. She smiled softly at you, seeming to be nervous.
"Hey," her voice was soft, "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
You shook your head, "No, you're fine."
She laughed softly, "Alright, alright - that's good, actually. I got worried there, considering how high you jumped."
"Oh, goodness," you laughed, "It's okay."
"Anyways," she continued on, "My name is Vivian, my mother owns the boutique right next to your bookstore. You're _, right?"
You nodded and smiled, "I am, it's nice to meet you."
"My mom thinks I need to interact more, yadda yadda," She smiled wide, "I love her, but I'm much more content with spending my time on the internet."
"Honestly, I'm the same way," you laughed along with her.
"But," Vivian paused, "I agree with her. I've heard a little about you from my mom, and you seem chill. Do you maybe, uhm, wanna go grab something to eat one day?"
You were surprised and easily taken aback from her words, taking a few seconds to respond or even really comprehend what just happened.
She moved around nervously, playing with her hands, "I mean, if you'd like to. Don't wanna go forcing myself upon random strangers."
You shook your head, "No, no. I'd love to, Vivian."
Her smile grew wide, "Oh, really? Oh my god, I was so worried asking you! I've got this really bad problem with being super anxious, so I have a hard time doing stuff like this! Ah, damn, I'm really happy I did though!"
"If you want to," you felt unsure of what to say or do, but kept on talking, "We can maybe, uhm..."
Vivian seemed to have it all covered, "If you're free, then let's go do something! If you want to and, uhm, I don't know. I feel awkward."
You stifled a laugh and smiled, "I know what you're saying, sometimes too much."
"There's a monster bakery right over there," Vivian pointed behind her, "I'm not sure what your opinions are, but I've never really met a mean one. I don't know why there's so much hate riots and shit going on the news lately."
You nodded, "Most of my friends are monsters, actually. I think they're just like us, some bad and some good though. The good seem to be the loud majority though."
"Unlike us idiots," Vivian giggled.
"I think they serve 'spider doughnuts' and 'spider cider'?" Vivian sounded a bit confused, "They look good; mom brought some home the other day. I'm a little scared if they're actual spiders in those..."
You giggled, "My coworker, Undyne, brought some in last week as well. I didn't feel very well, so I didn't eat them."
"Depression?" Vivian stated bluntly.
You looked at her, blinking.
"Oh hell," she shook her head wildly, obviously embarrassed by what she just said, "I should learn to hold my tongue sometimes, huh? Nah, sometimes I just have bad days where it's hard for me to eat - even though I'll be hungry as shit. Most of my friends deal with the same things so I get confused because I'm an idiot."
You smiled softly, "I... I deal with the same things. I just don't get hungry though, it's like my appetite has disappeared completely."
Vivian giggled, "My friend Hailey deals with the same thing."
"So, uhm, doughnuts?" you offered nervously.
"Doughnuts!" Vivian grabbed your arm hesitantly, and pulled you into the bakery.
Inside was a theme of purple, purple, and more purple if you didn't include the spiders. It was small, but most stores around the area were. It smelt like a bakery would've - just with the added smell of... Spiders? Made sense, you supposed.
"Fuhuhu," a childish giggle brought you out of your thoughts, "Welcome to Muffet's bakery, my lovelies!"
You turned towards the counter to be greeted by an arachnid-like monster. She was small and had on an outfit a young child would wear, but she seemed to hold herself confidently like a supermodel. Her hair was short, a bob almost, accompanied by a purple ribbon. (She must like purple?)
The six armed thing would've put you off guard at first, but after meeting a lot of different monsters - well, it seemed like they had their own thing. (Sans's tongue was his own thing...)
You blushed wildly, in spite of yourself. You hoped Vivian didn't notice.
"All of our dishes are not made with spiders, as that would be inhumane," Spoke the spider girl, who you assumed was Muffet, "But they taste just like they would be! I'm sure we can find something to fit both of you ladies tastebuds."
"I, uhm," you looked at the menu written in chalk at the register, "What would you recommend?"
Muffet seemed to be delighted about your question, "Anything on the menu, or everything! Whatever sounds delicious to you, my lovelies. Our spider doughnuts seem to be most popular but we have spider bread, spider cookies, spider brownies - whatever you want!"
Vivian nodded, "I'd like some spider cider with a doughnut please. I guess that's what mostly everyone gets though."
"That's true!" Muffet giggled, "But they are very delicious, they'll be up for you - hot and fresh! - in a moment. What would you like, darling?"
You realized she was talking to you, "...The same thing, I guess. We always have a next time to come here anyways!"
Muffet nodded happily at your statement.
Vivian and you waited patiently for your drinks and food, making idle conversation while waiting. Muffet came back with your items quickly, warm and fresh just like she had advertised. You both went to go sit down, and continued with what you were talking about.
The cider tasted warm, crisp, and with a lot of cinnamon. It was absolutely glorious. The doughnuts were just as well made, if not better. Fresh doughnuts were the bomb, and these had no question as if they were good or not. It was like a glazed doughnut almost, but with the added extra of frosting with spider sprinkles on top. (Even thinking about it made your mouth water.)
Vivian looked out the window, watching the sun rise up for a moment. The conversation that was currently going on, about different books and authors, was finished.
You looked outside with her and your eyes widened.
"_," Vivian's voice was shaken, "That's your coworker, right?"
"Oh my god."
"Do you know that skeleton that's alongside with her?"
"Vivian, do you know what's going on?"
"I don't, but it looks really bad."
"Vivian, I need to take care of this."
"W-What? Are you crazy?"
You shot up from your chair and tucked it back into place.
"It would be safer for you to stay inside somewhere, so please... Stay here or go back to your mom's store until the crowd has cleared."
"_, what the hell are you doing?"
"Something stupid."
"Thank you for the wonderful time, I hope to talk to you later."
You practically ran out of the bakery, thankful that you had paid earlier.
Outside, in the streets, there was a crowd - more like an angry mob, of people. You pushed your way through the crowd, getting many cries of anger for doing so. Honestly, you didn't care at this point. All you knew was fear.
Once you finally pushed past the crowd, there was a large circle that contained you and more people than you had expected.
Undyne and Sans were standing on one side, Undyne had her spear out murderously. Sans's eyes were dark, no light could be seen from them. On the other side, there was a group of humans that were yelling profanities about monsters and people who supported them. One of them even commented that everyone in the crowd who wasn't against the monsters were 'ignorant monster loving douchebags'.
"You fucking monsters!" Some kid's voice cut through the murmur of voices, "Get the hell out of our city! Go back to the Underground, where trash like you belongs!"
"Don't tell us to do anything!" Undyne yelled right back, "We haven't caused any trouble for you or anyone else, so what's the point of starting a fight?! Leave us alone, we mean you no harm!"
"But," Undyne's demeanour turned dark, "If you dare even lay a hand on me or my friends, you'd better be prepared for a world of trouble!"
The same kid voice yelled, "Then you better be prepared to get fired, you idiot! Go ahead, fight me!"
His familiar voice finally clicked in.
You remembered a shelf of books falling down, creating a mess that would've took you hours to clean if it weren't for Undyne and Sans.
But what was his name?
You knew this was going to get bad, fast, especially if no one did anything soon. These people were being such idiots! Who just watches a fight that can easily turn as bad as this one was going to without saying anything?
Grow some balls, you idiots.
"hey," Sans's voice cut through like a knife, "we aren't looking for trouble. neither are you, i suppose. leave us alone, now. or else."
"Or else what?" Book-tipper's voice sounded cocky, "Going to show us some magic tricks? With your bones and your spears? Please. Get the hell out of our city."
Sans shrugged, saying nothing.
Undyne looked towards the skeleton with surprise, then turned back at the humans. You noticed a few of them held knives and your heart stopped.
"_, _!" You heard a voice yell throughout all the chaos, and turned to look back. Vivian ran through the crowd to stand next to you, looking terrified.
"Vivian?" you were angry, unreasonably so, "What the hell are you doing here? Please, go back - it isn't safe for you here."
"Neither is it for you!" She brought her voice back to a whisper, "You own a bookstore with monster employees. Your best friends are monsters. You are much more in danger than I could ever be."
"Vivian."
"_, be reasonable."
You turned your attention back to the ongoing fight.
Undyne held tighter onto her spear, "Your city? You all are a bunch of punks! Teenaged delinquents! I don't care whatever you think, but I'm more of an adult than either one of you kids are. So do what a person of authority tells you and get the hell out of my sight."
The kids laughed and one of them with a red bandana on spoke up, "A person? You're a monster, that's the farthest thing from a human than you could ever get! You all are just pathetic rats, so get back down in your hole and die."
"do you wanna have a bad time?" Sans said threateningly.
The group of kids all smiled, readying their weapons to fight.
What scared you was...
That kid, the one that tipped over the books...
He held a bright silver pistol in his right hand, his finger right over the trigger.
This was getting ugly, faster than anything could've. You knew there was tension between monsters and human but this was worst than you ever expected.
You sprinted in front of Undyne and Sans, throwing your hands as if to protect them. It was obvious they didn't know about the gun, you were sure they'd be more cautious or just leave if they knew it was there.
God, why?
Why were people such assholes?
Undyne and Sans made audible noises when they saw you, obviously with anger and discontent.
Vivian even looked at you, her eyes wide and her body paralyzed with fear. She must've seen the gun too. You wondered how the monsters behind you were looking. Would they be angry? Or would they be scared too? At the very least, they had to have seen the knives the kids were brandishing.
"H-Hey!" you spoke up loudly, louder than you had ever done before, "This doesn't make any sense! What are you guys fighting for? Why can't humans and monsters leave in peace?"
"Because we're not all monster fuckers like you," a kid murmured, making his friends laugh.
You felt like vomiting, "Just leave us alone, okay? They didn't ask for any trouble, and this kind of behavior can ruin everything for you guys. I'm sure you're reasonable, so please listen to me!"
More laughter ensued.
"You're an idiot."
"A bitch."
"A fool."
"Just shut up already."
You bit your cheek, "What is this doing for you? To show that you're more supreme than someone else? That is the exact same mindset of racism, to show that one race is better than the others! Monsters are exactly like humans - we all have the same hopes and dreams and ideals! Why don't we just treat each other like civilized human beings?!"
"_," Undyne said slowly, quietly.
"_," Sans said quickly.
"_," Sans said again, "you need to get the hell out of here. please."
You turned to look at him, and both of their expressions were filled with fear. They must've... Did they? Sans's expression was filled... Oh god, what was that look he was giving you?
You took a deep shaky breath and turned back to the delinquents.
One of the kids, the book tipper, was standing only a few feet away from you. He was laughing hysterically, like a maniac. Your heart seized with terror and you felt like desperately screaming, doing or saying anything.
Oh god, oh no.
He slowly brought his gun out.
I'm dead, I'm so dead.
Sans...
Undyne…
Mom…
I love you all.
If I die today...
Please know that I care, that I love you.
And aimed it right towards the middle of your head.
I'm sorry.