It Started with a Tab

Remember MoonGold?

Grillby sat in his bar, happily chatting with his fellow workers. The three were on break, though still tended to customers as needed. They sat on the inside of the scarlet bar, one scrubbing the counter with a rag, the other tapping their knees. Grillby propped his head with his elbow leaning on the counter, a calm, happy smile stretching across his face as he listened to Andre's story. The fire monster nodded occasionally, sometimes laughing. His workers were such odd humans. Odd, though they definitely were quite perceptive. It didn't take long for their attention to shift towards Grillby and his enlightened mood.

"So Fireman, how's Sans? He brought in quite a bit of money today." Andre teased, leaning closer to poke his boss' shoulder.

Liam nodded in agreement, squeezing in his own opinion. "Not only that, but your mood today has been beyond ecstatic. I don't think I've seen anyone emote so much, especially you." He thought for a moment. "How long has that dude had that tab anyway? That was quite a debt."

Grillby shrugged and brushed away Andre's hands. His smile only grew at the thought of his little skeleton. "Honestly I've lost track of the years."

"Years?!" Both humans gasped.

Grillby nodded with a slight chuckle. "I eventually stopped pushing him, he really didn't have it easy in the Underground. I've known him for quite a while, and, well, he came to my restaurant daily. There were a few nights where he just drank and drank, and he never really talked about why. Point is he owed a lot simply because of how often he visited."

The two humans gaped at one another, their lips forming the word 'years' over and over. Their thoughts were still processing; years.

"You know, I don't think things would've been the same without him coming to eat so often. Everyone loved him, even now, he makes friends easily with everyone up here. Though, honestly, it's about time he paid that damn tab." Grillby's anger was lighthearted, laughs leaving him and his employees.

"So Sans has had this tab for basically forever, why hadn't he ever paid if off? Before now, I mean." Liam asked as he picked at a chip in the wall.

Grillby shrugged again. "I'm sure he has his reasons. He's incredibly lazy, so I'm sure he never worked any extra hours. Though I wondered about it quite often, it seemed best not to ask."

"Huh." The taller human stopped scrubbing at the brightly colored counter top, a thought coming to mind. "That kinda makes me wonder, why today?" Liam turned to Grillby, then shifted his gaze as Andre spoke.

"Maybe after the few years of being on the surface he's been able to work harder?" The brunette suggested.

Grillby nodded at that. "He has been working a lot recently, especially in the past few weeks."

"So maybe he finally raised enough, and cashed it the moment he could." Liam continued to think. A sudden gasp scattered his thoughts.

"What if he was planning something!" Andre yelled out suddenly, his brown eyes sparkling.

Grillby's expression shifted into one of curiousity. "What do you mean by 'planning?' This is Sans we're talking about."

The humans shared a glance, the same thought reflected in one another. Andre began jumping up and down squealing out of excitement. His dark brown hair bounced a little with each jump, a steady rhythm in time with the rest of his smaller body.

Liam stood still in deep thought, trying to figure out what kind of things the skeleton could possibly be up to. He snapped and pointed to his fellow workers. "Maybe he wants to take the boss out somewhere?"

Andre shook his head, seeming to have stars in his eyes. "Oh you two are just-! Oh my god-! Liam they're too cute!" He took a breath, calming down as he joined the brainstorm session. Only a few seconds passed, then one specific thought struck the shorter male like lightning. It definitely showed externally.

"Andre...you good?" Grillby asked with a worried tone.

The brunette nodded quickly, bringing hands to his mouth to muffle his squeals. Though he tried to speak at the same time and got excited again. "Owtfhiplnintprpstyorsmthndtkesyosmwhrsuprnicndomygdmgointdie!"

Grillby made confused eye contact with the blond beside him laughing a little. "Say that again?"

"I said-!" Andre took a deep breath. "No wait-How long have you been together?"

"About a year, why?" The fiery monster replied with a tilt of his head.

Andre simply squealed again, earning the placement of Liam's hands on his shoulders in attempt to calm him. Andre took a deep breath, then ran off into the kitchen to prepare an order.

Grillby lifted his head, his posture straightening as he watched the shorter fanboy run off. He turned around and met Liam's gaze. Both looked back at the closed kitchen doors with intense confusion. "Am I missing something? Or...?"

The blond shrugged and shook his head with a confused smile. "I have no idea what he just said, or what his mind just created."

"At least we're on the same page." Grillby chuckled, taking a human's order. She had brown hair up in a ponytail, and a familiar face. He stared at her, trying to place where he'd seen her before. Blue jeans were accompanied by brown boots and a green shirt. The color made the memory click, and Grillby remembered where they had met. He smiled up at her and finished writing down her order.

She took a seat on a stool, jumping a little as Grillby spoke.

"Ah yes! I remember, I met you down the street, you work at MoonGold!" He said cheerfully. "How are you?"

Her smile seemed to grow as life flashed in her eyes. It seemed as if the memory just played in her mind, allowing her to remember as well. "Oh yeah! I remember you were teasing a skeleton about his tiny hands, it was adorable!" She covered her mouth like she had before in a quiet girly giggle. "And I'm doing fine, thank you!"

"Yeah, he was so embarrassed you had heard, it really was adorable..." Grillby continued to conversate with her as he passed Andre her written order.

A slight movement in the corner of his eye caught Liam's attention. He turned his head, and saw Sans waving in the window. The wave quickly turned into a pointing gesture, green eyes following his boney fingers towards the kitchen. Liam looked back, and Sans was gone. The tall blond took that as his que to head into the kitchen while Grillby was busy.

Sans stood in the kitchen, leaning against the back wall with an excited smile.

Liam walked closer, questioning the short skeleton as soon as the planked door closed behind himself. "Did you want something?"

Sans looked over the human's shoulder, and once satisfied, his left eye flashed blue. Liam was forced forward, clumsily falling onto his knees. Now at Sans' level, the skeleton began to whisper his plans.

As soon as he finished, Liam understood why Andre was so excited. The shorty figured it out before he had, but didn't want to spoil it for Grillby.

"You in?" Sans asked.

Liam nodded vigorously. "Heck yeah! Man, Andre was right, you two really are too cute."

Sans brushed off the comment, turning to the back door once more. "I just need you to do one thing for me, and it's to play the song on que. Can you do that?"

The blond laughed. "Of course!"

"Great, thank you so much! Gotta go!" Sans rushed as he closed the door behind himself, warping away as soon as he was out of sight.

Liam took a deep breath, calming his racing heart. If he were to keep it a secret, he'd have to keep his cool, and not break under Grillby's gaze. That is easier said than done.