#abbyzhanson

“ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

“Very eloquent, Sans,” you teased, leaningyour head against your fist and grinning at the golden toothed skeleton. “What’sgot you groaning in such despair?”

“toriel wants me ta watch frisk, mk, n’theweed tomorrow,” Sans grumbled, rubbing his skull irritated as he acceptedanother bottle of mustard from Grillby. “don’t get me wrong, love frisk tadeath, salt of the earth n’all that crap, but babysittin’? that shit ain’t mystyle.”

“You don’t have style,” Grillby retorted,practically draping himself against the back of the purple velvet booth, hisarm shifting only to pull you against his side. You blushed a touch at the PDAbut focused on Sans’ smart ass comments and Grillby’s sharp teasing responsesinstead.

“What, you can’t look after two brats forone day?” Grillby asked finally, smirking his blinding smirk, “Or are you toomuch of a-“

“I can look after them,” you interrupted Grillby,“I don’t mind babysitting and I have tomorrow off.”

Sans’ brow bones rose, “heh…ya wanna lookafter the brats?”

“I mean, you’ll totally owe me, but yeahsure,” you shrugged a shoulder, “Frisk and Flowey are sweethearts.”

“ya do realizeif ya fuck up what-“

Grillby’s flames snapped in warning, “Mymate won’t fuck up, and on the off chance, she does? Nothing’s gonna happen toher. Or they’ll be answering to me.”

“Uh…” you frowned slightly, peering over atGrillby, “I agree with Grillby? Not in those words or anything though,” youshook your head, “Look I’ve babysat before, and I’ve even looked after Friskbefore. The kid likes me. It’ll be fine.”

“if ya say so,” Sans said with a shrug,fishing his phone out of his pocket, “i’ll see if tori’s cool wi’it.”

–

Flowey was curled around your arm as Friskand MK ran around the park chattering about everything and anything theirlittle minds could think of. A few times, MK spat out an insult to Frisk, who justgave them a look of intenseneutrality and MK grumbled and apologized before they were back to racingaround.

You knew by now Sans would probably benapping, and refusing to be anywhere near Flowey.

Frisk darted over to you, encouragingFlowey to transfer over to them before tugging at your arm. “Can you play withus?”

You smiled and nodded. Frisk told you thatthe two kids would be playing the ‘heroes’ and you being the ‘villain’, whichyou had to clarify with them what you were supposed to do. Frisk explained itvery simply. You were supposed to pretend to be trying to do some dastardlydeed and Frisk and MK needed to stop you without violence!

Which led to the current state of yourunning around the small field in the park trying to get away from Frisk whowas attempting to hug the badness out of you and MK who was trying to egg yourbadness on, completely contrary to the rules. Frisk caught you, laughing andyou swung them up pretending that you got them.

“Ahaha! My dastardly deed is almostcomplete! I’ve caught a hero!” you said dramatically, causing Frisk to snortout a laugh.

“I caught you!” they retorted, “Besides! MKwill save me!”

You turned to face MK and froze.

The little monster was standing rightbehind you, and if they had hackles they’d be raised in anger. A group of threemonsters were watching from a distance, and…none of them looked happy. You slowlyshifted Frisk to your hip and placed a hand on MK who jumped slightly.

“What’s wrong?” you asked quietly, keepinghalf an eye on the adult monsters.

Frisk curled closer to you, “not allmonsters are happy that Asgore has stated that monsters need to live pacifist-ly.”

MK bristled but shifted closer to you.

One of the monsters stalked closer,grinning wickedly. “Well…well…well, lookit what we got a-here. The big bad bratwho thinks they can waltz into the Underground and change everything. Trynamakes us monster what we ain’t.”

The group moved closer, and you felt yourheartbeat start to race.

“N’that little armless piece of shit whothinks they’re tough, when they couldn’t even harm a fuckin’ fly,” another teased cruelly, their wide mouth stretching evenfurther as MK snarled.

“Fuck off, you low levelled asshole!” MKbarked, their tiny tail curled around your ankle and you could feel themvibrating.

“Let’s go,” you said taking a step back andtugging MK closer to your side.

“They can’t do shit to us!” MK puffed up, “We’rein stripes, and your Grillby’s mate! They do anything to us and they’re DUST!”

The three paused, eyes flickering up toyou. Oh no. You tightened your grip on Frisk, and Flowey started to cry softlyinto Frisk’s hair. For a moment you prayed that it was enough but then thefirst one started laughing hollowly.

“That flaming asshole? A mate? Bullshit!”he laughed, “Besides, I don’t see no pretty collar marking her as his.”

You paled slightly. Could you get out yourphone before one of them attacked? Or would drawing it out make them react? Youglanced around quickly, hoping to see anyone that would intervene but there wasnobody. You took another step back.

“Look, w-we-we’ll just l-leave, n-no oneh-h-has to come to h-harm…” you stammered out, glancing to where your car was.

“L-Leave?” the second one parroted, mimicking your nervous stutter, “noharm? Where’s the fun in that? We can’t do shit ta the kids, but we’re pissedoff and there ain’t no one protectin’ you! Monsters ain’t ‘heroes’ and we don’t solve our problems with shitty littlehugs.”

Frisk wriggled down from you and stepped infront of MK. You pulled out your phone once their attention was on Frisk and quicklycalled Grillby’s number. Frisk attempted to talk the monsters down but then amagical pellet whizzed towards you knocking the phone from your hand. You letout a yelp in surprise.

“F-Frisk, g-get MK to the car,” you stammeredout, MK was spitting insults and Frisk was still trying to convince themonsters to back down. Flowey was crying louder and begging Frisk to just getout of there. One of the monsters went to shove Frisk away but you dartedforwards and pulled them behind your back. “Don’t touch them!” you said,protectiveness overriding your fear.

The monster merely laughed in your facebefore shoving you hard, sending you crashing into Frisk and taking the two ofyou to the ground. Frisk scrambled out from underneath you to standin front of you but one of the monsters grabbed them and tossed them at MK asif they were nothing but a sack of potatoes. You scrambled to your feet. There was asharp sting in the center of your chest. The colour in the world bled out andyour SOUL leapt from your chest.

“Let’s fight, ya bitch!” the monstercrowed, “It’s been too fucking long since I killed someone.”

Killed?

You tried to run but you couldn’t move, andthere was a strange interface floating in front of you. Panic rooted deep inyour SOUL as you tried to look for MK or Frisk, to get them to run to your car but they were both gone. Youcould only see the black and white versions of the three monsters in front ofyou.

What were you supposed to do? This wasNOTHING like when Grillby had taken out your SOUL!

There were four options in front of you. Fight. (Which youweren’t going to touch). Act. Item. Mercy.

Your hand was shaking as it touched mercy,and you attempted to spare but a small word text popped up that said:

*You? Spare them?

Your chest seized in panic as the three monsterssent white attacks at your SOUL at the same time. Pain blossomed through yourbody and you watched as even though the attacks didn’t hit your skin, yourflesh reflected the damage your SOUL took. A few scrapes and bruises blossomedon your skin, and you let out a cry. The small health bar dropped down nearly to half from one joint attack. 

What were you supposed to do?

Warmth surrounded you and then two formsappeared at your side, both black and white. You craned your head and if youcould move your legs you were sure you would’ve collapsed in relief.

Sans stood on one side, and Grillby on theother.

The three monsters balked instantly.

“What are you two doing here?” one of the monsters barked in surprise.

Grillby grinned wickedly, “I must bemistaken, because I don’t think anyone is STUPID enough to hurt MY MATE.”

“Y-You d-d-d-didn’t. She’s not! S-Shedo-doesn’t ha-have a collar!” one squeaked out.

“tch, shitty excuses,” Sans drawled, “’sides,even if she wasn’t grillbz’s? ya idiots really shoulda realized that anyonetakin’ care of the queen and king’s brat would have their protection.”

“P-P-Pleas-Please!” one of the monstersbegged, looking at you, “For-Forgive u-u-us, we did-…we di-didn’t know,sp-spare us.”

“You want mercy?” Grillby taunted, “You must really be idiots.”

You blinked back your relieved tears as you noticed that you could choose the spare option andretried what you failed to do in the first round. You spared one, who took off immediately. Grillby, on the other hand, sent a firey attack at the two remaining monsters who shouted in pain. Sans spared another monster, and the remaining one took off. Your SOUL disappeared backinto your chest and coloured returned to the world. 

You immediately turnedtowards where the children were. “Frisk! Flowey!” you said hurrying over to them, “Areyou okay? Were you hurt?”

They shook their head, “just…a bit sore,”they said quietly, “Are you? I’m sorry…we should’ve left. I’m sorry.”

“I wanna go home!” Flowey sobbed against Frisk’s chest where they were cradling him protectively.

“It’s not your fault,” you assured them,pulling them into a hug. They clung to you. MK glared over your shoulder at the others.

“Ya let them go!” MK accused angrily, “Theywere gunna kill her! What kinda cowards are ya????”

“Sometimes giving people a sense ofsafety makes revenge that much sweeter,” Grillby snarled in response, “Sans,get the brats to their homes.”

“yup,” Sans stepped forward, gesturing forFrisk to step away from you. Frisk wiped at their tearstained face, apologizingagain even though it wasn’t their fault. You watched as Sans grabbed both oftheir shirts and disappeared from view.

Grillby picked up your phone, ending thecall, and handed it back to you. As you reached for it, you were reminded of your quivering hands. He stepped towards you and slid an arm around your shoulder while pocketing your phone. Neither of you said anything as he guided you to your car.

The silence stretched on even as he bundled you into the car and then drove it back to his penthouse. Once you were out of the car, his arm never left around your shoulders until the two of you were safely inside.

The first thing he did was rustle around in his kitchen before handing you a piece of candy, and then he disappeared into the depths of the penthouse.

The quiet was getting to you, but you ate the candy and then slowly shuffled over to his couches. Every muscle in your body was tense but at the same time, you felt light and jumpy, ready to dart away at the first sign of trouble.

Would they have really killed you...just because you were there? 

You were reminded of the world that Grillby had lived in. Kill or be killed.

It chilled you right to the core.

You didn’t even notice Grillby re-enter the room and stride over to you. He thumped a long jewellery box onto the table in front of you before sitting down beside you heavily. His mouth opened but you turned and threw your arms around his neck. Clinging to him with all the strength that you could muster. Tears erupted and you couldn’t stop them even if you wanted to.

A heartbeat passed where Grillby didn’t move, and then he was tugging you onto his lap and enveloping you in his arms. His head pressed against the side of your head, depositing tiny kisses against your skin.

“You’re safe,” he growled into your ear, “I’ve got you.”

You just cried, and cried, and cried, terrified of what could’ve happened to you if you hadn’t called Grillby.

After you had no more tears to shed and were just shaking in his arms, he tilted your head up and kissed you until you were breathless and panting. Then he reached over and plucked the jewellery box up and handed it to you. “Been waiting to give this to you at the right time, but those assholes have forced me to expedite this fucking process.”

You sniffled lightly before opening the box. Inside was a black lace choker necklace with an amethyst pendant in the shape of a small flame. Any other day you would’ve been stunned by how beautiful it was...but right now you felt kind of empty. Your fingers gently stroked the pendant and then the words of the monsters returned. You weren’t collared.

“Grillby?” you mumbled, “What does ‘collaring’ mean to monsters?”

His fingers gently brushed some hair away from your throat, “Depends on the style, but this one means that you’re my mate, my girlfriend, whatever you wanna call you, and that if anyone fucking lays a finger on you again? They won’t get any fucking mercy when I find them.”

You stare at it, and then up at him, “I...If I had been wearing this...before...?”

“Who knows, they might’ve fucked off and left you alone or they could’ve thought they were lucky to find my mate alone,” Grillby grumbled darkly, “but those assholes seemed as scared of me as they should be.”

He reached over and picked the necklace up. You hesitated before turning slightly and lifting your hair up. He slipped the choker around your throat and fastened it at the back of your neck. The amethyst rested in the hollow of your throat and felt warm and soothing in a way.

When you turned around, he pulled you in for another kiss, this one longer and more desperate than before. 

“I need to fuck or drink,” he grumbled pulling away from you slightly, “and I don’t think you’re up for a fuck.”

You shook your head, and he tilted your head up to look him in the eye. “I love you, and I don’t say that lightly. I’m going to find those monsters and I will make them pay for laying a finger on you.”

You nodded before curling into his side.