The day came when the watch finally arrived in your mailbox. You were hyped, to say the least. It came in a sleek black box that you added a matching bow to.
Now, the perfect time to give it to him.
Obviously it had to be after work. Who likes getting a gift at work? So. After work. But what kind of special occasion would work for gifting it? You could save it for dinner, or maybe before bed? Those weren't really special.
Then it hit you. You could give him the watch when he showed you his soul. Then it would be super special.
So you hid the box, and waited.
The news was in: Monsters had personhood in the eyes of the law. They could do everything a human could, get married, go to school, and most importantly, defend themselves. You grinned. This was brilliant news. Everything was open to monsters now, and to Grillby. Grillby could go to culinary arts school like he wanted to. You could get married, a voice whispered. But it was too early to listen.
The news went around the monster circles until there was word of a giant get-together at Grillby's. The store was reopened after the repairs were done, and everything was prim and proper once more. The Grand Reopening was the perfect time for a party.
You weren't particularly great at baking, but you decided to give your hand at making a cake. You were pretty good at the icing part, so if you cheated and used box cake who would bust you?
One cake later, and it was time to ice it.
You didn't exactly know what to put on the cake. "Happy civil rights"? "Congrats on the freedom"? You wanted something serious because it was.
You settled on the bill of rights with the words Monsters Are People Too! written on it. Maybe a little cheesy but it works.
One party later and you set your cake on the table with the other food. Grillby was selling everything at 50% off and the new jukebox was working great.
All of your friends, it was the place to be. Grillby's has always been a symbol of the community among a certain subset of monsters, but it appears that sentiment spread to the majority of them.
The dog squad came to greet you, Doggo gave you a hug. You and him had become fast friends, you both had a strong military instinct that didn't go away with civilian life. One day he promised to teach you how to use swords like him.
There was also a larger human presence at the bar. And you were wary. There were so many people around that you had a tough time keeping an eye on things all at once. But after separating some light arguments and placing some X's on some underage hands, you started to drop your guard a bit.
Sans came and handed you a drink.
"Hey!" You greeted. "Happy Personhood Day!" You said playfully.
"yeah i'm glad we peopulled it off," he snickered.
"What's the first thing you're gunna do when everything's all in effect?"
"get papy a car," he said seriously. You nod, it was a good thing to want.
"I know Grillby is going to buy this place now that he doesn't have to rent."
After the drink incident you've been extra careful about watching out for roofies. You were so busy watching everyone else's drink after that, that you didn't notice when someone slipped one into yours. Whatever it was, it was fast acting. You were halfway off your ass halfway into your first drink. You were lucky you were already at the bar.
"Grillby, someone slipped something into my drink," you manage to slur after catching his attention. His flame flickered in concern. He turned to the skeleton next to you and he already knew what was going to be asked, so Sans grabbed you preemptively.
"take her home?" He looked at Grillby to confirm, and the fire elemental nodded. Sans shortcutted to Grillby's house. He grabbed you by the shoulders and got you onto the couch. You felt horrifically nauseous. Sans is there watching over your condition.
"Sorry I keep getting into trouble buddy," you apologize drunkenly.
"no worries, what are friends for?"
"All my old friends are dead," you say somberly, and then promptly pass out.
You black out intermittently through the night. You hear Grillby close by, humming softly. You can feel his fingers in your hair and it comforts you.
When you wake, you learn there was tragedy in the night.
"They ROBBED you!?" You shriek. Grillby nodded solemnly.
It was all your fault, if you had been watching your drink Grillby wouldn't have had to shut the party down early to take care of you. They must have done it on purpose to get you out of the way. They weaponized Grillby's love for you.
They stole alcohol and that's all. The till was emptied when Grillby closed down. Whoever did the robbing was not a big thinker.
But now, you looked to the aftermath. Broken glass, stolen wares. All in all, it could be worse. At least they waited for people to leave, they didn't come in guns blazing to steal some high dollar vodka.
Grillby though, he was heartbroken. You could feel it in your chest. This might not have been as bad as it could be, but to Grillby it was bad enough. Someone invaded his space, stole his goods, and left it in shambles.
You hug him to your chest and whisper comforts to him.
"We'll get this cleaned up and everything replaced in no time. This kind of thing happens on the surface all the time, we'll get you business insurance to cover it next time. I have some savings that we can put into this," you soothe, and he puts his face in the crook of your neck. You can feel his deep breaths.
He doesn't say anything as you continue to hold him.
You'd get through this together.
Grillby was out doing paperwork for repairs, which left you at home alone. You needed to do some Gyftmas shopping for Grillby, and this was your chance. Sure, if he came home early he might be a little mad, but that's why you left a note! He can't be too mad if you left a note, right? He can't expect you to stay inside forever.
So out the door you went to your favorite shop that had a variety of goods. After the watch, you needed to up your game on the gift parade. What would be bigger than a big ol expensive watch?
With repair costs, your money was running low. You had to come up with something that would really knock his socks off and not break your bank. You skimmed the shelves and the racks for something perfect.
You ran into a cooking apron that was decent quality. But it wasn't really…Grillby. You brainstormed. There was time in the afternoons where Grillby did prepwork in the kitchen and didn't need you yet. That could be used to embroider something on it. You grinned, one gift down. But you wanted to make his Gyftmas special. You wanted to get him more than one thing.
So back down the isles you skimmed.
You spent a little longer than necessary but you picked out a handful of gifts that will hopefully bring a smile to the fire elemental's face. And off you went home.
As soon as you closed the door, you felt a change in temperature. It was hot. Something was wrong.
"Grillby?" You called. You heard a cupboard shut hard in the Kitchen and quickly hid your gifts in the closet. You made your way to the kitchen with trepidation.
Grillby heard your approach and turned around, obvious anger in his flames. The blue was really attractive though, you thought distractedly.
"I take it you're mad?" You ask gently. Grillby nods, producing the note. Gone shopping! Be back soon.
"...Alone?" He asks. You had no idea one word could hold so much disappointment in it. You nodded, adequately chastised. You quelled all the defenses on your tongue: Nothing happened! I can't be stuck home forever! You knew that these were not his point. You left without a partner after emphasizing that everyone else be safe.
You hear Grillby give a deep sigh. He has a hand pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I'm sorry," you say, but you know it's not enough. It wouldn't be if you were in his situation.
"...You're lucky," he rebuffs, but holds you close to him regardless. You know you are forgiven.
And thus, your first argument with Grillby ends before it begins.
It was bedtime, and you were ready to climb into the covers and finally end a long day. But Grillby was sitting up like he needed to talk to you.
"What is it hun?" You ask lightly.
"...Tonight, I want to show it to you." Grillby replied.
"Your soul?" You clarified, and he nodded. You make your way to the bed and sit criss cross across from him. "So what do I do?"
"...Just watch," he ensured. You nodded back to him. Seems simple enough.
He went to turn off the lights, and darkness enveloped you. You don't know how he made it back to the bed without stubbing his toe on anything. Magic, maybe.
But then, a light.
A beautiful white light, an upside down heart, slowly emerged from Grillby's chest.
It looked like it was covered in diamonds, or glitter, or snow. Like a little disco ball bouncing off light that didn't exist.
You resisted the urge to touch it.
"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," you say reverently. It looked so pure, even with the light orange covering it gently.
Grillby kept it close to him, but allowed you to observe it until you drank your fill.
"Thank you, Grillby. That was really special," you said with an air of calmness you've never felt before.
He placed his soul back in its home.
"...and yours?" He asked. He was asking if you wanted to see yours.
"Yeah! How do I do it?" You bounced excitedly.
"...I can," he offered. You gave a Yeah! and he chuckled.
Then, you felt a pull on your chest. It was soft, like someone picking up a baby, but it scooped you up out of your body with ease.
Out came a bright orange heart.
"Grillby, it matches you!" You laugh with joy. "It's perfect."
"...Bravery," he nods, like he expected it. He leans closer to inspect it and suddenly the heart shoots toward his chest, spinning rapidly.
"Woah! What's it doing?"
"...I got too close.…It's finding its soulmate," Grillby said with a softness you never heard before. "...Wants to bond."
"Bond? Like in story books? We're compatible enough to merge souls? I thought that was just really old romance fantasy," you say with some reserves, but Grillby nods at you.
"..Exactly."
"Wow," you say with happy shock. It's not every day you find someone who could be your soulmate, according to the stories. It only happened to princesses fair and hardworking pure of heart maidens.
Grillby wrestles your soul away from his chest without touching it, and places it back in your chest. You feel safe again, but with Grillby handling you it never felt in danger in the first place.
You turned on a bedside lamp and smiled at Grillby.
"I have a surprise for you! I saved it for this," you said gleefully, procuring your gift from under the bed.
You handed it over with horrendous excitement. Grillby laughed at your antics but accepted it nonetheless.
With bated breath you watched as he opened the present and was confronted with the watch inside.
"It's fire resistant so you don't have to worry about taking it off!" You grin at him. "Do you like it?"
For a moment, you're afraid he doesn't. He doesn't move or react in any way outside of staring at the watch.
Then, he's pulling you close to his chest and hugging you.
"...It's beautiful," he says, and you help him put it on. "...Thank you."
He makes love to you that night, deep, and slow.
Afterwards, you wake up in the middle of the night with the urge to use the restroom. It was a rare occasion where Grillby didn't have a grip on you, so you easily slipped out of his hold and ran quietly to take care of business.
When you returned, Grillby was up and waiting.
"Sorry for waking you up," you apologized softly.
"...It's okay." Grillby murmured, "...I've grown used to the sound of your heartbeat…Without it…I woke up," you melted at his words. His sleepiness made him talkative, you mused. You slid back into bed and into his arms.
You had a cold. It figures that the only thing that could take you down was from the inside out. The only blessing was that monsters couldn't get sick from human illnesses. Unfortunately, healing food didn't touch the common cold.
"...Stay," Grillby had ordered, condemning you to the bed as he cooked and took care of you. You blinked blearily at him and thanked him for dealing with you in this condition.
But Grillby didn't appear to mind. Maybe it was all those years taking care of drunks at his bar, but he didn't blink at your sweaty, snot covered face as he soothed your fever with a touch of his hand.
You coughed into your elbow and Grillby got into bed, cuddling your back to his chest. You imagined Grillby got sick of caring for you all the time. You seemed to be in this situation a lot. So you asked him:
"Don't you get sick of needing to take care of me?"
But he just shook his head and kissed the top of yours.
"...I like to," he said gently, "...when you're not dying," he chuckled.
"Yeah I like it when I'm not dying too," you grinned.
With Grillby there, it felt like you could heal from anything.
When you were finally done being sick, you decided you needed to get your errands done. The next time you went shopping you took Grillby with you, since you didn't need to be secretive with getting gifts anymore. His were either hidden for working on or wrapped and safe.
Shopping was easy, you just picked out two gifts for each friend. It was a lot, it made a dent in your wallet, but you loved them so you did it.
So there you were, hand in hand with Grillby. It was getting late and the street lights were just coming on. You wanted to get home quickly.
You saw a familiar jeep.
The jeep stopped and you knew that this wasn't going to go well for anyone.
"You like fire so much? Eat it, bitch!" A voice said as a molotov cocktail took you by surprise and struck you in the chest.
Before you can even think to stop drop and roll, Grillby is hugging you to his body and using his magic to suppress the flames. You don't feel an inch of heat on your skin.
Still holding you, Grillby brings up one hand towards the jeep and sets the engine aflame. His fire is as large and bright as a bonfire hit with gasoline and you can feel him seethe against you.
The men have scattered in all directions, but you feel a new hope in your chest.
This time, you can call the cops.
Since there's a human involved, the cops take the case seriously and actually investigate the license plate number on the jeep. From there, they managed to track down the man who owned the vehicle, and he got the book thrown at him. They didn't catch the others, but you suspect their reign of terror is over now that monsters are on equal ground.