"I totally need savory right now. Not sweet." You mumbled, eyeing Muffet's many pastries. Too much sugar would give you a rush and, as little sleep as you'd had, you would crash all the way to passing out.
Somehow, The Magnificent Sans had heard you, and proceeded to list off everything that Muffet made that wasn't jam-packed with sugar. Was that a pun? You smiled in spite of yourself. Apparently, The Magnificent Sans approved of your decision to eat healthy food, despite the temptation.
You were staring absently at the drinks menu when the spider lady herself came to the counter. Papyrus immediately engaged her in conversation. She was certainly pretty. Fuku's description had certainly done the spider monster justice, and suddenly you found yourself wondering if she came in for more than just the food. Speaking of food…
Hmmm. A chai tea latte sounded great just then. Scrambled egg muffins or cheese croissants? You found yourself staring through the glass displays at both savory treats. When had you wandered over?
Alphys had apparently wandered with you, to point out the croissant she wanted to the baker. Apparently, the group was ordering, and you hadn't quite decided which you wanted to eat yet.
"See something you like, Dearie?" Muffet's sweet voice interrupted you.
"Absolutely." You responded immediately. "But the problem is there's more than one. I mean, I could maybe eat both…" you mused.
"GET WHATEVER YOU LIKE, HUMAN! MISS MUFFET'S PASTRIES ARE VERY REASONABLY PRICED." The Magnificent Sans ordered. So, you did. You told the monster your drink order and pointed to the two foods you couldn't decide between. Undyne was the last to order.
Clearly not liking having been the last to speak, Undyne was wringing her hands next to you nervously. "My friend Fuku comes in here all the time." You informed her absently, noticing Muffet's sudden interest in the conversation. There was definitely something going on there. "It's honestly a bit surprising I haven't been yet, considering. You saw her outside." Undyne seemed to calm a bit as the attention shifted to you. She sent you a grateful look, knowing what you were doing.
"you seemed quite close." Papyrus commented dryly.
Why did you do this to yourself? Oh well. Fuku was an easy subject to talk about. "Heck yeah. Fuku's awesomesauce. I met her at work, then we discovered we have classes together. We've been friends for…two years now? I think that's right."
"Where d'ya work, Punk?" Alphys interrogated from her spot leaning on the counter. Opening your mouth to answer, you were interrupted by the delivery of your group's orders. Sufficiently distracted, the five of you went to sit at a booth and divvy your spoils.
Both of your treats were amazing. You thanked Papyrus profusely for buying them. He didn't respond to it. The Magnificent Sans told you not to worry about it instead.
Chatter resumed after that. You told them the basics about yourself: how you worked as a waitress at Grillby's, that you were working towards a liberal arts degree at the moment, and when Alphys prompted, your single relationship status. Between the four of them, they had a lot of random questions, but none were invasive. You answered them all with your usual blunt honesty.
In return, you learned that Alphys and Undyne were, in fact, engaged. Papyrus and The Magnificent Sans were, like you, not tied down to anyone. Undyne was the royal scientist for the monsters, Alphys was the captain of the royal guard, Papyrus apparently worked four or five minimum wage jobs, and The Magnificent Sans was having trouble getting hired. You informed him that the campus bookstore was hiring at the moment, if he wanted to apply.
Alphys was, unsurprisingly, still a bit guarded regarding you. You didn't hold it against her; humans could be serious buttholes. You knew full well the troubles monsters had been put through, some on a personal level.
Undyne seemed to like you, but definitely had social anxiety. You were fine with that. Everyone needed some time to get used to people. If she needed you to take it slow, you could do that. Many of your friends when you were younger had been that way.
Papyrus…you weren't too sure about. He barely talked to you at all, except for an occasional offhand remark. You got the feeling that he disliked you, despite– or perhaps because of- his brother's enthusiasm regarding you. You guessed he had just as much reason as anyone to distrust humans.
The Magnificent Sans definitely liked you. You wished everyone could be that open all the time. It certainly made it easy to know where you stood. Several people hated the fact you were so open about your own feelings toward people -positive or negative- so you were glad The Magnificent Sans had managed to retain it.
A quick glance at your phone told you it was nearing your shift. You groaned. It hadn't occurred to you just how long you'd all been talking. So much for chilling at the park, dozing under the warm spring sun.
Bony phalanges plucked your flip-phone from your grip as you were getting up. "WOWIE, YOU DON'T HAVE A LOT OF CONTACTS IN HERE, HUMAN FRIEND. DON'T WORRY! I, THE MAGNIFICENT SANS, SHALL REMEDY THIS SITUATION BY ADDING OUR NUMBERS!" You couldn't keep the goofy grin off your face as he typed in concentration.
Since you'd gotten the new phone, you hadn't entered anyone into it. After all, the only four numbers you needed to know were stored quite well in your own memory. Maybe, if you were going to have contacts in your phonebook anyway, you would finally enter them.
"Thanks, The Magnificent Sans." You told him absently when he gave your cell back. Turning to address the rest of the group, "I've got to get to work. Shoot me a text sometime." I hope. You rattled off your own number quickly then, from memory, before meandering out of the door and down the street. If they hadn't caught it, then they could get it from Papyrus.
It was clear from the moment you walked in the door at the bar that Fuku had ratted you out to her dad. Grillby fixed you with a heck of a glare as you sidled by into the back to change into your uniform. While in the beginning he'd been quite a difficult boss, since you happened to be best friends with his daughter he took your wellbeing seriously. Very seriously.
There was no way you'd get away without a lecture or three.
Though you weren't entirely sure you would be conscious for them. Four hours into your shift, you were definitely feeling the lack of sleep. Against your better judgement, you reached in to grab your magic and strengthen the thread that was sustaining you. Just for a little while, you told yourself.
Grillby had scheduled you to work until eight, and your last hour of work was dragging so hard, you were sure someone somewhere was messing with the laws of time.
Unexpectedly, Alphys entered the bar, surrounded by a usual assortment of monster dogs. You glanced at the clock. Exactly seven-thirty. Quickly, you led them to their usual table, shooting a questioning glance at Alphys when she didn't follow. Wasn't here for poker then.
"Hey guys. Usual orders?" You inquired politely, already knowing the answer. You could feel Alphys's eyes burning holes into your back as you shifted your weight from one foot to the other so Doggo could see you.
All of them agreed to their usual orders and you dragged a pre-written slip from the back of your pad and slipped it to the flames in the kitchen before turning to seat the intimidating warrior-lizard.
"Why'd you help him?" She demanded when you tried to get her drink order.
"Why wouldn't I?" you countered simply.
Alphys sputtered for an instant before glaring at you so hard, you were relatively sure you'd bruise and you knew for certain that wasn't possible. "I'm sure thousands of humans have a very quick answer to that question. I haven't seen one yet, save Chara, who would help a monster for nothing."
"It wasn't for nothing." You responded as simply as before. "It made me feel better. And since then, I certainly feel as if it's given me much more than I should have gotten out of it."
"So, what? You helped him so you wouldn't feel rotten?" she accused.
"Well, yes. That's exactly what I did." You responded honestly. Doing something for yourself doesn't mean you're the only one who benefits.
Alphys didn't seem to have a response to that, so you took her drink order and handed her a menu. Grillby raised a flaming brow at you in inquiry, probably having heard the conversation. You decided not to respond. You were still trying to get out of the lectures, not get another one.
Fuku came in at promptly ten minutes to eight, shooting a questioning glance at the new lizard customer. Sweet. That meant you could change and go home, maybe even before Grillby caught you. You tended to your tables one last time before ducking into the back room with Fuku.
"I've got tomorrow off." You informed her. "Girl talk?" She quickly agreed, sending you an appraising look. "Yeah, I know." She was still upset with you. You rubbed your eyes tiredly after letting your hair fall down.
You couldn't hold back a yawn as you undressed yourself, belatedly realizing that with you and Fuku changing at the same time, Grillby was the only one in the main bar. Hopefully he wouldn't be upset. You really needed some sleep.
Unexpectedly, Fuku changed more quickly than you'd ever seen her do so, and a moment later you understood why as Grillby ducked into the back room to lecture you.
And he did so righteously. Everything from the dangers of wandering from well-lit paths at night, to using magic on strangers, to using so much magic while tired that you couldn't even get yourself home. He went on to grill you about the proper amount of rest as you yawned and the fact that you could have just used a sick day if you were so tired, and that you probably should have done so.
You nodded and apologized at the appropriate moments. Finally, probably noticing that you were, indeed, quite tired, Grillby showed you mercy.
Unlike the night before, you got to your dorm with no interruptions, despite it being an earlier hour. You slipped into your pajamas, not even bothering to flick your light on. Slipping the lock firmly into place, you allowed yourself to fall into bed.
You grabbed the thread of magic that you'd been using to keep yourself going. You realized as you cut it off that you'd used much more magic than intended. Hopefully Fuku wouldn't be too upset tomorrow when she couldn't' wake you up.
Scratch that. She'd definitely be upset. Just like you would if she had worked herself into the same state.
Alphys wasn't sure what to feel about you. Over lunch you'd been cordial. Even she couldn't ignore what that easy view of your soul meant. But humans had hurt the people she cared about too many times.
She decided to go to Grillby's. She knew that the Canine Unit played poker here sometimes, so she wasn't quite surprised to see you easily seat them at the large round table and pull a deck of waterproof cards out for them. Alphys wasn't even surprised that you had a pre-written order for them ready.
Nothing about you surprised her until that stupid answer to her question. Humans weren't supposed to admit to being selfish! They were supposed to deny it and then she could continue being cautious and suspicious because everyone all around knew it was a lie.
She hadn't ordered by the time you followed that fire elemental to the back. Grillby moved from the bar quickly when his daughter remerged from the back in uniform. The girl checked on the orders quickly before heading over to Alphys.
"I see you haven't ordered food yet. Is there anything I can get for you?" She inquired too politely over the stern voice of the bartender wafting from the back.
"Just a burger and fries. That human…" Alphys started.
"A burger and fries, coming up." Fuku stated cheerfully before her voice lowered. "_ is our friend, and, despite anything you may think of humans, she deserves it." The elemental informed her in a dangerous tone.
Even from across the room, Fuku shot Alphys a glare as you exited the back and headed for the door, wishing the patrons good night before ducking out and heading home.
Alphys considered the interaction. There's no way a bad human could inspire such loyalty in monsters, any monsters, after all they'd been through. That didn't mean she trusted you though.