56. “I think I picked up your coffee by mistake.” – Classic!Grillby

skullcanons:

Read it on Ao3

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Your morning had been hectic and not pleasurable in the slightest. Usually, you would be able to wake up, stretch and go about your morning routine in peace. Mornings were a time of quiet and solitude. Unfortunately for you, that wasn’t always the case.

After sleeping through your alarm, you rolled off your bed and stubbed your toe no less than three times before finally getting your clothes on and rushing out the door. You only had about five minutes to spare so you stopped by the local cafe for some rocket fuel (caffeine) and were out the door as soon as your order was up.

Except it wasn’t your order.

As you sipped on your personalized drink, you realized very quickly that it wasn’t yours. The name ‘Grillby’ on the side of the cup only confirmed your suspicions: you had grabbed the wrong drink.

Unfortunately for whoever ‘Grillby’ was, you were already at work by the time you noticed, and there was no going back. All day you stewed on your embarrassment and contemplated the name on the side of the cup. Grillby. You had heard it before but didn’t know exactly where.

Finally, on your lunch break, you whipped out your phone and googled it. The first result was a Yelp review.

Grillbys – four stars.

Curious, you scrolled through the reviews for the bar and grill. Apparently, it was run by a fire Monster and was mostly frequented by those of the magical variety. The only real reason it didn’t have five stars, as far as you could tell, were because of racists trying to bring down their reviews. How it even had four stars with how much hate there was, was beyond you.

Regardless, you knew who he was, where he was, and how to get there (with the help of google maps). You felt mildly creeped out over how easy it was to find out all this information but shrugged it off as a result of him owning a restaurant.

Around five, once you were off of work, you headed home to change before stopping by the cafe again. After explaining the situation to the barista (who luckily was just leaving), she very gladly replicated one of her self-proclaimed favorite customer’s drinks for you. Apparently, it was a Chili Mocha. No wonder it was so spicy.

With the drink in hand, you headed to the more Monster populated area of town and used google maps to navigate your way through side streets before finally reaching what looked like a hole in the wall bar. It was a pretty nice place judging from the outside. The whole building was made of brick, and any wooden accents were dark and nicely kept. Above the double doors was a large, neon sign proclaiming the restaurant ‘Grillbys’. You were in the right place at least.

Pushing your way into the bar, you were immediately met with the smell of burgers and fries. Your mouth couldn’t help but water at the delicious aromas coming from all around you, and it certainly didn’t help that you hadn’t eaten dinner as of yet. You must have momentarily frozen in the doorway because someone behind you cleared their throat, and you quickly moved to step aside. A skeleton, short and squat, gave you a side eyed glance before strutting his way to a barstool in the back. Various patrons from around the restaurant shouted greetings to the little guy, to which he responded with a smug grin.

Shaking off your initial shock, you cautiously made your way to the bar yourself, slipping onto a stool at the far end of the counter. After settling into the surprisingly comfortable cushion and setting the coffee down on the counter, you waited.

Though not for long.

Out of from the back, the kitchen you presumed, an orangish fire-man came, his arms loaded with trays of food. Like the most skilled of waiters, he navigated the floor, setting down drinks and baskets of food with a level of fluidity and grace you never dreamed of reaching. His flames flickered like a fire place, and whenever he passed you he crackled like burning wood splitting. The clothes he wore must have been a uniform of some kind, bowtie and all, but for some reason, you couldn’t picture him in anything else.

Once again you must have been frozen in shock because one moment he was across the restaurant and the next he was behind the bar, looking at you expectantly.

You coughed awkwardly.

“Uh, you’re Grillby right?” he slightly inclined his head. “Yeah, uh, I think I picked up your coffee by mistake. This morning?” You held out the mocha. “I was already at work and late by the time I noticed but… I felt bad so here. Chili Mocha, right?”

Now it was his turn to freeze. Reading his face from behind his glasses and, well, general stoicism, was nearly impossible given that you didn’t know him. Finally, he settled on a nod, taking the coffee from you and setting it off to the side.

The deep, smooth, accented voice that came from his general facial area was unexpected, yet fitted him perfectly. “….would you like something to eat?”

You missed it but across the bar the smug skeleton from before spat ketchup across the counter in shock.