Chapter Text
The flowers are blooming beautifully today, which is to be expected while the dear “flame of life” is in the area. Said flame, Grillby, is sitting in the forest surrounding the God's area. The others have been very.. protective of him since that skeleton first found him.
He understands why they are, and he also understands he shouldn't sneak out like he did.. but.. the freedom and fresh air out here is nice, very enjoyable without a god keeping an eye on you at all times. Perhaps he should visit that secret area that Ms. Toriel made for herself.. it would be nice to check and see how it is holding up with his absence.
The sound of a bird snaps him out of his thoughts, causing him to notice that grass has grown a bit around him, flowers blooming and previously dead trees rapidly growing their leaves back. Maybe thinking about Toriel's memories is a bad idea when in a high vegetation area like this forest clearing.
A slight movement from inside a bush sends the birds flying away in a panic, one of the birds starts attacking the culprit, causing them to stumble out of the bushes while trying to shoo the bird away. Is a fire elemental, but this one's flames are a more reddish orange than Grillby's orange.
The other elemental glares at the bird flying away, the cloths they wear are.. weird. A black cloth on top with some sort of sleeves, shorter than Sans's. They wear a muted red one around their waist and then blue fitted to his legs. They dust themself off before looking towards Grillby, their eyes are red and they have a sort of red heart accessory connected to their flames.. which somehow look like they've been shaped to resemble hair.
How'd they do that?
They inhale, as if to speak, but Grillby spits out a few words first. “How do you do that?”
The other blinks, caught off guard, as Grillby gets up and walks over. “Do what?”
Their voice is.. masculine. Male, Grillby presumes. He stops in front of the other elemental and reaches to touch the flames that look like hair. Goodness, they even act like hair! “This! How did you get your fire to do this!”
He bats Grillby's hand away before running his fingers over the spot he touched, setting it back to normal. “You need extra magic.. I have more than I need so it went to my appearance.”
“Ooh.. well they look nice. Well, another question, who are you? Toriel was the only one who could create fire elementals like us.. and now I hold that power, and I have not created one myself. So how..”
Grillby trails off as the other sighs, suddenly looking exhausted. He points to himself, “Gen. That's me. Aren't you supposed to be with the others, not allowed nowhere without a guard.”
The way he speaks is.. somewhat off. Undyne is brash, yes, but Gen.. it’s weird though he cannot understand why. The flame turns to walk back to where he was sitting. “The constant attention and eyes can get much, so I had to sneak away-”
“Had to or wanted to?”
Grillby sends a glare Gen's way before sitting back down, the grass around him growing slightly. “I had to get away before I went mad from the constant worrying and messing.” He puts a bit of emphasis on the had in his sentence.. he really did have to get away before he went mad from the constant nagging and watching as if he was some fragile glass and one wrong movement would cause him to shatter.
“You'd think a god would appreciate that all.”
“It gets much. Now, how?” He motions to Gen, wanting him to answer his previous question. “And what are you wearing?”
“...what? A black shirt, blue jeans, and a.. maroon jacket around my waist? Is it not up to par with your elegant white robes, your majesty?” Gen bows mockingly, laughing at the glare he gets, before walking over to Grillby, whose flames are a bit hotter and the grass is still slowly growing.
“I've never seen it worn a lot before.”
“It's normal where I'm from. Frankly, I used to be known for wearing something fancier.”
“Ah! Where you are from! Which is..?”
Gen stares for a moment before sitting himself down next to Grillby. “You're persistent about that.” Grillby just nods with a sweet smile and Gen sighs, running a hand down his face as he mentally prepares himself for the upcoming explanation. “So... there's a thing called AUs...”
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The explanation lasts until sunset, only then does Grillby finally understand what Gen is trying to say. “So.. there are.. Many other versions of me from many other places which are called.. “AUs”?” Gen, who has his head buried in his hands, nods. “And they are given different names?” Another nod. “What is mine?”
Gen lifts his head up to now rest his chin on his hands. “Do you want your AU name or your name?” Gen, out of the corner of his eye, sees the confusion flickering in Grillby’s flames. “When a character travels out of an AU and to another one, they share a name with a character there. Like me, my name is originally Grillby, so is yours. You can see how it would get... confusing.” He waits for Grillby to nod before continuing. “So, AUs are given names, but characters from said AUs are also given separate names to be called when they travel out of their AU.”
Grillby tilts his head to the side. “So.. I already have a name without ever even knowing of these AUs?”
“Yup. And I’m guessing you wanna know it?” He waits for another nod before leaning back and putting his hands on the ground behind him to keep himself up. “Your AU’s name is Reapertale.”
“Reapertale?”
“No clue I don’t choose them. Anyway, your name is Orioles-”
“Like the bird!” Grillby, now Orioles, Interrupts. It's only when Gen glares at him does he avoid his gaze and stare at the grass. “..Apologize.”
Gen just nods. Not quite pleased with being interrupted.. but he can excuse it just this once. “Anyway... yes, like the bird. I’m assuming you like it so it won’t change.”
Their meet is cut short by the sound of footsteps approaching and a voice yelling for Grillby. Searching. Orioles, recognizing the voice, sighs before getting up. He swipes his hands over his clothes to brush off dirt before holding his hands in front of him.
The low whistle Gen lets out only serves to irritate him more. “Someone's been caaauuught.” The grass around them starts growing even faster, not a lot but still a good amount to be noticeable. “Ooooh look at the time I gotta go.”
Gen disappears the second Undyne walks into view. She stops walking when she sees Orioles, her face turning from one of concern to anger. Orioles sighs.
This is going to be a long night.