Chapter Text
Sunlight streamed inside the small room from a crack inside the blinds, warming the skin of the sleeping human inside. River’s nose crinkles before burrowing deeper into the collection of blankets and pillows on the bed.
A drowsy air filled her head as she desperately clung to the last remnants of sleep, but was interrupted by a furred paw swiping across her face.
Opening her eyes a bare slit revealed deep blue irises.
“Mrrrow?” The black cat purred before gnawing on her outstretched hand.
“Alright, alright. I’m awake.” Shooing the cat, she slowly stretched popping her joints, all while unplugging her phone. There was no messages, or notifications. Of course.
“ Who would want to talk to you ?” A voice nagged in her head causing a dull ache to bloom behind her eyes.
River’s morning routine was quick, efficient, and no nonsense inside her small home. Just how she liked it. Placing the bowl full of cat food for Gonzo on the floor, she brushed her teeth while checking the time on her phone.
Right on time.
The last rays of sunshine were slowly disappearing over the horizon when she was pulling on her work uniform. Working third shift at a restaurant had its benefits for a night owl like her, including the ability to sleep until six in the afternoon.
River’s shocking blue hair was pulled into a quick ponytail, allowing it’s soft curls to tumble over her shoulders. Bare bones makeup was slapped on as she watched the clock. Gonzo, now done with his food, marched inside her room tail held high. His amber eyes watched as she zipped around the kitchen, begging for pets.
“You little cuddle bug, I can’t be late for work.” River giggled, but stopped filling her coffee cup to grant the fat cat a few scratches behind the ear causing him to erupt in purrs. She smiled as he rolled on the counter, no doubt covering it in cat fur.
A soft jingle tugged her attention away from dropping just a smidge of caramel schnapps in her coffee. Picking the phone up, River saw a text in her group chat with her friends.
THE Bitch : u can pick me up for work right
sadboi : Yeah
THE Bitch : cool
Sighing once, River rolled her eyes but grabbed her purse and slipped her work shoes on. “Okay Gonzo, look after the house for mama while she’s gone. Love you!” Blowing a kiss to the feline, River locked the door and hustled to her car in the cool summer air.
Her light blue work sweater felt suffocating in the heat. Flipping the air conditioning on, she swiped her phone open to text her friend that she was on her way before kicking the old car into drive.
Sipping on her iced coffee, she gave an appreciative hum as that hint of schnapps really brought out the subtle flavors in the dark roast.
“It’s about time you showed up!” Tiffany called out as River pulled up to her apartment building.
She was a shorter, dyed blonde haired woman with colorful tattoos splashed across her skin, causing her to look a bit like someone had spilled a bucket of multicolored paint on her. Her hair was styled in a swoopy mohawk, with her new lip rings keeping her lower lip slightly puffy.
“Sorry, Gonzo just had to be pet before I left.”
“Hmmph, sure. That’s what you say now .” Tiffany hops inside the car but crosses her arms. They drove in silence before Tiffany huffs once more.
River quirks an eyebrow and glances at her friend.
“What’s your issue this time, is it Jimmy?”
“Yes it’s Jimmy! He ignored me all night even after I texted him! I can’t believe the nerve of this guy!”
Tiffany ranted and raved about her on again, off again boyfriend for the rest of the car ride. River, who was used to this by now, stayed silent other than the occasional confirmation for her questions.
“...but I think it’d be fun, don’t you think so River?”
“What? Sorry I didn’t hear that.”
Tiffany gave a deep sigh before rolling her green eyes. “You weren’t paying attention to me, but I said that Greg had told me about this bar he found on the other side of town. And we should totally go check it out tonight after work.”
The other side of town… she must mean the monster district, River thought quietly.
Monster’s had re-appeared above ground almost five years ago with their young ambassador in tow. Frisk, River believed their name was. They had been adopted by the royalty of the monsters and was doing a grand job integrating them into society.
Most monsters stayed close to mountain that had been their prison, causing a large portion of them to live in town.
“Tiff we work until 6am today, bars close at three normally.” River twiddles the steering wheel as she pulls into the parking lot.
“Not tonight.” Tiffany sings. “You and me are off at midnight because Mr.Bossman has business to do and is closing early.” River casts a side glance at her friend before opening her car door.
“I think I would have heard about it by now.”
“If you tugged your head out of your ass sometimes you would, c’mon let’s go.” Shaking her head, River followed her headstrong friend inside.
As it turns out, Tiffany was right, they were off at midnight. River sighed and rubbed her forehead. That damn headache had grown to a surging pain, even after scarfing down her meager supper of cold sandwiches and chisps.
“Alright bitch, we got to cover up those bags under your eyes and get you in some new clothes before we go out.” Tiffany said popping up out of nowhere, causing River to jump slightly. Sticking her tongue out playfully, Tiffany placed her heavy makeup bag down on the breakroom table.
“And what if I don’t want to go out tonight.” River asked causing her friend to narrow her eyes.
“You’ve weasled your way out of going with me the past four times, you’ve had enough time to be a sad mopey bitch and you know it. Plus there’s alcohol involved.”
That did perk River up a bit.
“I could go for a drink.” River gave a wistful sigh before watching Tiffany assemble her arsenal of makeup. “But who’s driving us? I’m not going to drink if we’re going alone. Is Sam coming?” At the mention of their mysterious friend, Tiffany chuckled.
“I am, and no, it’s just us.” Greg, the main cook, appeared in the breakroom doorway.
His large hands were tucked inside his jean pockets, with his sleeves pushed to his elbows showing the expansive tattoo sleeve painted on his skin. River avoided his gaze as she felt Greg study her face.
He’d been trying to get her to go on a date with him for months now, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for one yet. Blue eyes meeting green, River shot Tiffany a pleading look.
“Greg how are girls supposed to get pretty with you standing there? This takes work! Shoo!” Holding his hands up in a sign of peace, Greg laughed and stepped away. After checking to see he was out of earshot, Tiffany turned to frown at River.
“You need to tell him what you want girl, he obviously wants to be with you.”
“I know but…”
“No buts, it’s been almost a year, you haven’t gone on one single date since!”
River rubbed her arm as Tiffany began applying makeup on her face. The thought of dating… it just made her stomach flip. Was it just Greg? Or was it dating in general? River wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.
“Here, put this on.” Tiffany held out a bag full of clothes after finishing. River peeked inside seeing a pair of tall stilettos nestled on top of a black dress.
“Put. It. On .” Tiffany seethed noticing her friend’s hesitation.
“Whoa now, no need to get pissy with me.” River grinned stepping to the bathroom. Her work uniform came off easily, but she stopped short after realising she only wore a sports bra to work.
Tiffany, as always, thought of everything.
The dress was, thankfully, one she could go without a bra. Slipping inside the tight material, River kept her eyes purposefully off the full body mirror inside the bathroom, grateful the fabric covered her shoulders. Her makeup was immaculate, thanks to Tiffany’s handiwork, but her eyes still felt flat behind the sparkling eye shadow.
“This is dumb, I should just tell her I want to go home” River said aloud to her reflection.
“Nobody wants you to go anyway, everybody only says they like you.” That voice nagged again. River felt her chest tighten as her knuckles turned white clutching the bathroom sink.
“You know it’s true. You’re going to die alone, with your cat eating your dumb corpse because nobody cares enough to check on you.”
“Even your cat doesn’t really like you. You just feed it. That’s all.”
“You mean nothing.”
“To anyone.”
River’s hands trembled as she took deep gulps of air. Shoving her clothes inside the bag from before, she squashed the voice looping inside her head.
“I need a drink.” She calls out exiting the bathroom. “Like now.”
Tiffany grins and pulls her ever present flask out of her purse. “Have some fireball you sexy bitch.”
Ignoring her shaking hands, River unscrewed the metal flask and took a deep swig of the cinnamon liquor. It burned uncomfortably down her throat, but she took another gulp before smacking her lips. Feeling the hot liquid spread through her veins caused the nagging voice to quiet.
“Always appreciated love, now, how do I look?” River twirled, feeling the alcohol mix further in her blood.
“ Gorgeous , thanks to me. Now we need to stop at a gas station for some more booze since you drank my reserves. Greg! You ready?” Tiffany shouted.
“Yup.” Greg walked out of the breakroom before stopping and running his eyes over River’s new clothes.
“Nice um, nice dress River.” He gave her an awkward smile. “Let’s stop at the one right across the street.” Motioning to Tiffany he stepped outside.
“Amazing, let’s go!” Looping her arm inside River’s, Tiffany marched them out to Greg’s car.
A few hours later, they hadn’t made it to the other side of town yet. But River felt amazing now after three other bars. The liquor sang inside her, and she giggled as Tiffany’s minty breath ghosted over her ear to tell her a joke inside Greg’s car.
Speaking of Greg, he had only had beers while the two woman had downed shot after shot at each stop. His eyes meet River’s in his rearview mirror as Tiffany whispered something to her, causing the two to burst out laughing.
“Alright ladies, the pinnacle of the night. I’ve got a friend who comes here often and says they’ve got the best drinks. You two ready?”
“Not as ready as you are to fuck her.” Tiffany slurred causing River to smack her but giggle.
“C’mon, let’s go inside.” River hopped out of the car but helped support Tiffany’s swaying form. Her phone went off with a message, causing River to juggle Tiffany’s arm and her purse before checking it.
Athenas slut : Don’t do anything stupid tonight you two.
Athenas slut : img.pic
Sam had sent a picture of themselves holding their tarot cards, with the devil card upside down. Sam was a firm believer in the energy of the world and how it influenced their lives, this picture seemed to be another of their small pushes.
Walking her friend inside, her fuzzy brain had a few moments to process Sam’s message before she noticed the name of the bar. Grillby’s, huh, it said in flaming letters.
Wait.
That fire was real!
It curled and crackled fiercely but stayed inside the lines drawn on the building. Magic. Was the best idea her drunken mind could answer for her before stepping inside.
The first thing River noticed, was how hot it was inside. It was a dry, blistering heat you felt from standing by a campfire.
She almost felt as if she had stepped into a large oven with how the heat assaulted her senses. It sobered her just slightly.
Tiffany giggled something out as shades of red and orange blurred together slightly as River followed Greg’s taller form.
It was rather lively tonight, as humans and monsters drank and sang together from the music blaring out an old school jukebox in the corner. Greg stopped at a squashy looking booth, and River helped Tiffany sit inside.
A furred, bat like monster appeared holding menus and placing three drink coasters down.
“Welcome to Grillby’s! My name’s Rouge, we’ve got a special tonight on our house whiskey, it’s a dollar a shot if you’d like to start off with some.” She held a notepad as Greg glanced at River.
“That sounds amazing, can we have three shots of that, and we’ll need once second to look over the menu. It’s our first time here.” River slipped into her customer service voice giving a small, polite laugh at the end as the waitress scribbled their order down.
“Lovely, just let me know when your ready.” Rouge smiled and stepped away.
Greg grinned as he watched the shapley bat’s hips sway as she walked. River flipped the drink menu over as she scanned the cocktail selection. They had a wide range of human based drinks, for which she was thankful for, but their monster liquor section made it seem almost miniscule.
“I want to try this one.” Tiffany managed to get out before yawning.
“The Moldsmal?”
“Yeah, it’s got midori and something else in it.” Tiffany’s eyes were starting to droop, a clear sign she’d reached her limit.
“Alright we’ll have that for you then, and I’ll try Snowed-in. Looks pretty good. What about you Greg?” River glances at their quiet driver who coughed in his hand before smiling.
“A coor’s lite.”
“Really? You drank that all night tonight, try something new.” Their shots had arrived by the presence of Rouge, who dropped them down expertly before holding her notepad out once more.
River placed their orders quickly, and helped Tiffany grab ahold of the small shot glass in front of her.
“Bottoms up!” Greg says clinking his glass against hers. The liquor washes down her throat, smooth and silky with a hint of hickory. River was surprised there was no burn but felt the familiar warmth tingle her toes that monster food gave her.
“Damn that was smooth. I’ll definitely have more of that!” River laughed stumbling a bit, before standing up. Now she had a good view of the bar for the first time since walking in.
Brick topped a warm wood panelling all along the walls, and the wooden tables and chairs shined with what must have been hours worth of polishing.
Someone obviously loved this bar.
It showed from the amount of people shoved inside the small bar. Plant like monsters, with jagged teeth, tipsy bunnies with high ringing giggles, some kind of aquatic bird, and was that a skeleton? Or was it one of the bones being thrown around by a pack of dogs?
Hmm.
There was something else about the bar, besides the obvious magic feeling in the air, that caused River to glance around as she stepped to the horseshoe shaped counter in the front.
Her wariness was pushed to the side, however, once she caught what made Grillby’s so warm and inviting.
A monster made entirely of fire stood behind the bar serving multiple clients who stood before them. They were dressed in a classic bartending outfit, with the fitted bands on their forearms straining to contain what must be swathes of muscles.
Holy fuck, they must be hot as hell.
River giggled at her own unintentional pun, but sidled up to the bar to order her drink. While waiting, she took a moment to study the fire monster.
Flames curled and danced on their entire body, with the licking light waving as if in slow motion. Reds, oranges, and yellows twisted inside the small flames, with an occasional flare of blue so light it was almost white.
Smokey black smoothed the tints of the flares,with the flames atop their head crackling with their movements.
They were tall, much taller than River who stood at an average five, five. She bet she would barely come to their chest. They had glasses perched upon their nose that blocked most of their eyes, but River could see a faint outline of where they would be. They had no mouth however. Something that River was fixated on.
How do they eat? Can they smile? Do they absorb food like some kind of bacteria?
River was so engrossed upon her thinking, she didn’t notice the bartender now turning to her.
“Grillbz wants to know what you want to order.” A crackled old bird monster said from beside her.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you to wait. Just caught up in my mind.” River gave a polite smile before looking at the bartender.
The action caused a shiver up her spine.
They were studying her, damn near almost as closely as she had studied them.
Their eyes narrowed as her blue meet theirs.
If a stare could kill she bet she’d be dead by now.
This monster didn’t seem to care for her one bit, and she almost felt the need to leave as she shrank in from their withering stare. Her liquor numbed brain decided on other measures, besides leaving.
Plastering a lazy grin on, River winked at them and blew a kiss. “One shot of that lovely house whiskey if you could, along with two fireballs.” She ended the last bit with a lewd smile, causing the bartender’s flames to flare slightly with that lovely bluish hue before nodding and stepping to the otherside to fetch her drinks.
Now Grillby had felt the newest arrival of humans enter his domain, as his fires spread everywhere inside the pub. They danced in the lights, fueld the sign, and whispered underneath every inch of the floor. He was well aware of them being here. But what caused such obvious concern was the human sitting in front of him.
They seemed unassuming, with dyed bright blue hair and shocking blue eyes. Grillby was sure he could lift them with one arm if needed.
Their soul however, was almost bleeding a tormented magic onto the floor.
Barley held inside her human frame, the power locked within her soul gnawed hungrily to be let out. Magic in a human , much less this amount, was something Grillby had not seen in a very long time.
A dull, frozen blue soul hovered in her chest. The chill, magical air it blew out touched all of the monsters around her, buffeting their weaker souls with her powerful magic.
It was like seeing a dying star with its energy pulsing slowly.
A white dwarf? Grillby was a little far behind on the correct terminology, but he felt it fit the magical display before him.
Watching the bartender make her drinks, River could feel their wariness. Their eyes flickered back to her every now and again, as if she was prancing around with a gun demanding money. She hadn’t done anything wrong!
Whatever was their deal, she wasn’t in the mood for it, her headache from before was returning.
Placing her requested drinks in front of her the monster swept up the bills she placed down on the counter.
Before stumbling away, River called over her shoulder. “No need to be so cold Grillby.”
With a flurry of blue locks, she disappeared in the sea of people. Leaving a rather perplexed Grillby.
Resituating his glasses upon his nose, Grillby studied the remnants of her soul’s magic that had been left behind on the surrounding monster’s. Human’s had an almost, archaic , level of magic within themselves, leftover from their ancestors. It wasn’t unbelievable that some would have a higher concentration than others.
That was what caught his attention.
It was only logical.
Calling his own magic to investigate Grillby scrubbed the bartop obsessively. He would need to keep an eye out for this human.
For curiosity’s sake.