Chapter Text
It was some time since monsters came back to the surface. Not long enough to be seen as "good ol' times", but also not close enough to be fully remembered. Some months to say the least, and although the news of "monsters coming to the surface" is, indeed, remarkable, how things went between you and them isn't that much of a deal - mainly because you were working during the barrier break, so you barely saw a monster. At least, the ones you met were sweet, and one of them was so cute that you could still remember her name: Toriel.
Toriel looked like a humanoid goat, having features of a maternal figure. Her gentle manners, as well as her calm voice and cowlike eyes made her so sweet that if she was a dessert she would be fairy floss. The only bad thing, though, was how under all these good aspects stood a small sadness that you couldn't really picture why existed.
Even having everything to be a "goat mom", funny enough she had a human child - Frisk, to be exact. You couldn't really remember if the information was right, but apparently, that Frisk kid was the one who freed the "Underground" and, before doing so, was an orphan on the surface.
But whatever - you weren't a specialist in Underground history; you were a common human whose life didn't change with new visitors, and even if it changed, your boss would act as if nothing happened.
Eh, that was one of the reasons why you didn't quite like your job: even if something exciting happened, everything would stay the same so the company "protected" itself from "influences".
Damn you, boss, it's just a cafeteria; what would monsters want to do with a bunch of coffee in packs (or even in the liquid form)?
Well, although it's not the best job, it's the one that accepted you and pay your bills. Otherwise, you wouldn't even think about working there.
[That's what you think now, at least. It was you who decided to work there.]
Anyway, you were yet again working in your damn job. It's a beautiful day outside, though: birds are singing, flowers are blooming...
And on days like these, kids like you...
WERE burning in hell.
Who would've guessed cafeterias were only one step closer to being in hell, right? But did anyone really cared about it?
Heh, probably not.
The day carried on as usual, having nothing new. The only thing that got a bit "out of the routine" was the visit of that fluffy cinnamon sweetie called Toriel - which, as usual, was with the human child called Frisk.
"Good morning, Toriel" you said, smiling in a welcoming way towards her. "It's been some time, hasn't it?"
She smiled back, waving at you with her free hand. Yes, she indeed looked like a mom, even when holding Frisk's hand.
"Hey there, sweetie" she called, still holding Frisk's hand.
You two were acquaintances for some time, always having small bits of chat between one visit and another. Though not close enough to be friends, you had "nicknames" - yours being "my child" and "sweetie", hers being "Tori" and, sometimes (but mostly just for fun), "goat mom".
Frisk waved shyly at you, giving a small smile. Oh, right, they didn't talk.
"Hi, Frisk! How are you?" you smiled back, looking at the small kid with kind (you guessed they looked kind, at least) eyes.
They gave you a small thumbs up, their smile growing.
Damn if you didn't like that kid; they had something that always made you melt from a full piece of ice into a fresh cup of water in seconds.
You weren't even sure if it was a good thing or not, taking how you always were a "cold" person with common humans. That's what they said, at least, but it's not your fault if you were shy with them but not with monsters.
Everything went by just how it always did: Frisk wanted a muffin (surprisingly, this time, a chocolate flavoured one) and Toriel asked for packed coffee ("the strongest you have, please"). It surprised you how much coffee she drank, and yet she always stayed calm and collected. Probably humanoid goats worked differently than common goats about coffee.
You were already bracing yourself to get back to a tedious day when-
"Hey".
Crap, whenever she said "hey" before leaving it was to ask you something.
"Hmm? What is it?" you asked, trying to hold back the anxiety you always felt when she did this.
"I've never seen you out of the work. How much time do you spend here? Isn't that bad for your health?" she asked, worry hidden behind the last question.
Not that you noticed it at first, though.
"Eh, well... I guess I have the weekends free?" why did you always sound so unsure about your free time? Oh, right: there was always one day in which your boss made you work because of "high people traffic" (does that word junction even exist?).
... Not that you even used your weekends to party, visit bars or do any of these kinds of things. Mostly, you just stayed indoors playing something, watching Netflix[-without-chill] or... Uhh...
... Yes, that was what you did most of the time. Even when you went grocery shopping it was during normal days right after you left work.
Thinking about it now, you didn't even take care of your aesthetics; when you had to trim your eyebrows, you did at home, and when you had to cut your hair, you just asked for one of your neighbours who was a hairdresser (which was, in fact, a good thing since you paid less than in a hair salon). Hell, you didn't even buy makeup since you didn't leave your house to party or anything of the above list of "things you don't actually do on weekends". The only things you really took care of were your pimples; that was one of the things you hated the most.
"Why you say that as if you're not sure, sweetie?" Toriel asked, making you get back to the real world. Right, you still were working.
You sighed. You weren't sure if you could tell it to her since she was pratically a "goat mom" like you nicknamed her, and would be worried just like a common mother.
Best let it out.
"Let's say that my boss sometimes makes me and other coworkers work during Saturdays or Sundays if the" you gestured the quote marks with your hands in this part " 'people traffic' is high during these days. I know, it shouldn't be like that, but we generally have to work extra hours to beat the minimal hour 'wage' per week, you know".
Toriel widened her eyes. Right at her side, Frisk was already munching their Muffin, their calm behaviour contrasting with the situation.
"That's far from being right! How can he?!" she seemed to be getting bothered by that.
Now it was a good moment to blame yourself for something.
"Tori" you called; she was already fumbling a complete speech about how this wasn't right, it was bad for your health and everyone else's health, how you needed to rest and have fun instead of just work, "what is a Netflix, is it something to eat?" and such.
"Toriiiiiii".
Still, nothing.
"GOAT MOM, GODDAMMIT".
Now she stopped.
She called your name this time. Ohhhhh crap.
Covering Frisk's ears as if she heard a "bad word" (funny enough, Frisk was still acting as if nothing happened, eating their muffin slowly), she said:
"There's a kid here, if you don't remember! Take care of your words!"
...What?
... OH, YOU SAID "GODDAMMIT".
FUCK.
"OH ERHEEEEEMEUHEHM, SORRY", you cleared your throat, your cheeks getting a bit pink because of the situation. You actually wanted to laugh at that since your mother always said "goddammit" when you were close, only avoiding words like "fuck". "Uhm, back to the point: you don't have to be angry at that, Tori: I actually agreed with that when I decided to work here".
She gave a look of disbelief. How could you do that to yourself?
"Well then, I think you should switch to another work. This is far from being something good to you, you know".
Yes, you did know that. But when you finished college, you ran to the first job you found to pay your loans, thinking that you could get out of it when you finished paying it.
You did finish paying your loans since your parents were helping with them, but unfortunately, you couldn't leave this job even if you wanted. It was like you were trapped on it, and your boss was the owner of the trap who stood there, looking at you with mocking eyes while poking you with a stick.
"I know, Tori, but I can't. I tried to find another job and everything, but whenever I tried I just got stuck with lots of 'no's and were brought back here. And take the fact that I even managed to finish college being in the dean's list".
She seemed to be thinking for a moment. Her right hand was once again holding Frisk's small one, and her left foot was slightly tapping on the floor, as if helping her to keep track of her thoughts.
Suddenly, an idea popped on her head.
"Listen, since we all left the Underground and are currently living on the surface, you know that the shops, inns and shops in general moved along, right?"
You nodded, trying to get hold of her line of thoughts; was she thinking about what you thought she was thinking?
"So... Why don't you try to work in one of these places? Their work ethics are different from the human ones" she concluded, her eyes sparkling a bit at the thought.
... Yes, she was thinking exactly what you expected.
You rubbed your face for a moment, thinking about the idea. It didn't sound bad at all. Actually, you even found yourself enjoying it since monsters were way more friendly than humans. Your only worry, though, was: would they accept a human working there since they suffered some trouble when they got back to the surface? It would be completely understandable if they didn't: if you were a monster and humans acted with you like some of them did, you would feel uncertain about letting one of their kind work in your place. There were even some questions appearing in your head thinking about the "if you were a monster" universe, and one of them was "would humans steal my stuff?"
It felt weird to think about such question when you yourself found stealing to be something bad. But you weren't like every human in the surface, so it was, once again, understandable.
Damn humanity, why do you have to be so confusing?
Once you got back to reality, you were faced with Toriel looking at you with hopeful eyes. They felt... cute, to say the least.
"... Okay. I will try it. When can I go, then?"
Her face seemed to light up, and a warm smile crept on her lips. Her shoulders, which were tense while she waited for your answer, now got back to place, leaving her with a calm aura again.
"Anytime you want, sweetie. I can show you the way to the city if you want!" she looked excited now, her hand squishing Frisk's poor one with it. Frisk didn't look bothered by that, though.
"Right, so... Tomorrow?" you said, still unsure if you should try it. Most of the reasons why you thought about trying it was because you found the idea amusing and Tori's hopeful eyes were just too sweet to be ignored.
She smiled even more. Probably she didn't think she would get that far with the idea.
"Yes, tomorrow is good!" she took a piece of paper and a pen out of her dress' pocket, writing on it. "Here, this is my number. Whenever you feel like it's a good moment to go, just call me!"
You nodded, taking the small piece of paper and putting it inside your pocket. You couldn't avoid it, but you were smiling back at her, noticing how happiness filled her with a somewhat powerful aura.
"Guess I'll see you tomorrow, then" you said simply, your cheeks getting pink once again when you saw how she was.
You two waved your goodbyes, being followed right after by Toriel leaving the cafeteria with Frisk.
The feeling of giddiness filled you with determination, and your head couldn't focus on the "now", thinking only about how tomorrow would be exciting. Every good situation possible passed through your mind, but the main one was what if you got another job and could quit this one. This was the one that kept you excited most of the time.
The only bad thing, though, was one: you forgot to ask for Tori's payment about the muffin and coffee pack.