Chapter Text
You leaned back in your chair with a heavy sigh. You squeezed your aching eyes shut. The glaring screen of the computer was too much for your eyes—especially in the darkness of night.
The empty and eerie atmosphere of the office left you feeling drained. All your coworkers left for home hours ago, and yet here you were.
You shut off your computer screen and began packing your work bag. Your cubicle, small but heavily decorated, faded into the night as you began your trek home.
Despite the late hour, the streets of the city remained energized and heavily populated. Hundreds of people spending time with their friends, family, or lovers without a care in the world.
It seemed everyone had a person to share love and laughter with. When was the last time you could laugh freely like that?
You shook your head to rid yourself of those thoughts. Sadness clung to you like tar, sticky and seemed to be forever bonded to you.
You looked around frantically to find something else to occupy your mind.
A family of bunny's walked past you, to which you greeted them with a genuine (albeit tired) smile. They returned the smile tenfold before going on their merry way.
The sight of Monsters among the city's population warmed your heart, even on a cold winter night. You still remembered that fateful day when Monsters emerged.
Eight years ago, when you were still in college, the Earth rumbled underneath Ebott City. The ground shook violently and had many, including you, scared beyond belief.
Monster-kind emerged from beneath the mountain. You were surprised—like most people, but you felt wary as well. After all, who could remain calm facing beings that were only supposed to exist in fairy tales?
And yet, the Monsters remained benevolent—even in the face of their oppressors. The King and Queen of Monsters, along with the Human Ambassador, helped put the Human unease to rest.
On national TV, they told their tale of the war between Monsters and Humans. They talked about how long they've been trapped, how much they've suffered—and it broke your heart into pieces.
Stuck Underground, never being able to see the sky; it must've been torture. Yet, when Monsters reached the surface, they showed nothing but kindness.
Even in the face of bigotry and racism, they never lost their warmth. They wanted nothing more than to live in harmony with Humankind...and be friends.
You couldn't help but feel a sort of kinship with Monsters. Of course, both of your situations were entirely different and unique to your own experience.
Still, you understood how it felt to be looked down upon; to be seen as dangerous or threatening just because of what you look like.
You grunted and shook your head again, knowing where your thoughts would end up. You shoved your face into the soft material of your scarf. Within a couple turns, the bright and lively city turned into the rougher, less gentrified part of town.
In through the nose, out through the mouth. You could finally relax. There were less people in the neighborhood, but you still greeted them with friendly smiles and waves.
You approached your apartment building and stopped by a figure laying on the concrete. The plastic cup in front of them was filled with a couple of coins and a few pieces of candy. Unceremoniously, you dropped a couple dollars from your pocket into the cup.
You knelt down to tuck the old man in more snugly, making sure he wouldn't freeze. He woke with a sudden jolt but made no other sudden movements. He turned over to face you. "Oh, (Name). Finally done with work?"
Nodding, you watched his face twist into a scowl. "It seems you come home later and later, need me to have a word with that boss of yours?"
You chuckled and fixed his blanket again. "No need, Reggie. I'm afraid this is self-inflicted."
A soft "meow" grabbed your attention when a cute, gray cat snuggled up to your legs. You took the cat into your arms to press a couple of kisses to her soft fur.
Reggie let out a few grunts before he sat upright. "Don't let those suits take up your whole life now, ya hear me? Me and Lizzie worry about you," he scolded. Lizzie meowed in agreement, her big eyes blinking up at you.
"I have some leftover spaghetti if you'd like a plate," you offered. You stood and let Lizzie go back to snuggling with Reggie.
"Ms. Shirley gave me some stew earlier, but thanks," Reggie said, eyes fixed in a glare at your evasive nature.
"Night Reggie, night Lizzie," you avoided looking at their grumpy faces before going up to your unit. Your apartment was very spacious and decorated to your liking.
You kicked your shoes off at the door, too tired to properly put them away. The loud noise from plopping your work bag on the floor made you wince.
As much as you dreaded it, you needed to start your nighttime routine. With a deep breath, you summoned as much courage as you could to begin.
You sat on your couch with eyes glued to a trashy reality TV show you enjoyed every week. What could you say? Your guilty pleasures weren't for anyone to judge.
You shoveled the leftover spaghetti in your mouth. You might as well enjoy the flavor now since you'll be eating this for a while. You fell into that habit of making enough for an entire week like your mother.
The credits rolled on your TV screen, so you turned it off in favor of a different screen. Within minutes, your PC booted up and was logged in to play Overwatch.
The usernames "GirthQuake" and "CheatToes" invited you to their party. You couldn't help but laugh at their names. No matter how many times you saw their names, you'd never get used to them.
The more you thought about it, the more you realized how long you actually played with the two. Around a month ago, you played what was probably the best match you ever had with them.
The teamwork between you three was top notch, and to do it with just the in-game comms? You had to add them as friends.
None of you had ever used the voice chat, but it didn't seem anyone minded in the slightest. You remembered they mentioned their cousins would complain if they got too loud or something.
Your fingers moved swiftly to type in chat to see how your (online) friends have been.
FullMetalB1tch: toes, girth. wsp
CheatToes: come save us pls
GirthQuake: loss streak so bad im considering goin to law school
CheatToes: yess the pursuit of knowledge...ur worst enemy
GirthQuake: shut up ashtray
FullMetalB1tch: don't worry kittens...daddy's got this
GirthQuake: ohoho i love it when you talk dirty to me
CheatToes: ur disgusting
GirthQuake: and UR a buzzkill
You laughed quietly for the sake of your neighbors who go to bed at a respectable time. Queued up on the Tank role, you made good on your promise.
It went just as you said—you carried your kittens to victory and ran a successful win streak. Before you all lost...then won it back again.
You decided to end on that high note and said goodnight (to which they begged you to stay on). You finally turned off your PC and rubbed your eyes.
The time, 4:47 am, glared at you from your phone. You collapsed in bed, practically dead to the world.
Waking up early to get fresh produce from the farmer's market is very enjoyable to you. Well, mostly when you don't have to cover your eye-bags with makeup from your hellish late-night gaming session.
Still, you make the effort to get up and support local businesses. There was nothing quite like the hustle and bustle of the market. It calmed your nerves and relaxed you.
Your eyes darted from booth to booth and wondered what you should make for dinner. Perhaps since squash was in season, you could try to make something with that?
A beautiful butternut squash caught your eye, and you knew at once you were going to make butternut squash soup. Just when you finished putting your goods into your tote, a shrill shout startled you.
A woman with a badly bleached bob was busy screaming at a Monster. A skeleton Monster to be exact. The poor guy attempted to apologize and hurriedly picked up, what you presumed to be, her apples.
"You should watch where you're going, demon," she sneered at him. Oh hell no.
You marched over to the scene and (with slight difficulty) pulled the Monster to his feet, despite his protests. "Excuse me, ma'am. I'd thank you not to talk to him like that," you said through gritted teeth.
Her harsh words came to a halt, like she couldn't fathom that you would stand up for him. It seemed to only make it worse when she lashed back tenfold. "Monsters don't belong here! They should go back to the Underground where they belong! They're demons that crawled out of Hell!"
Your eyes widened at her bigotry and racism. How could someone say such cruel things? You could feel your face getting hot with your growing anger.
"You're the demon that crawled out of Hell, Karen! He belongs here whether you like it or not!" You huffed, hand still wrapped around his (surprisingly not bony? how?) arm.
A crowd began to surround the three of you. It seemed the Karen began to lose her edge under the eyes of so many people. "Now leave," you demanded.
She could barely get a word out before others started to speak out.
"Yeah, get outta here!"
"Poor fella, he didn't do anything wrong..."
"What a total bitch!"
"Get lost, lady!"
The Karen quickly sped away while she screamed racist and offensive obscenities to both of you. "You ugly fatso! Monster lover! Get away from me!" You rolled your eyes and couldn't help but laugh at her panicked state.
For a moment, your faith in humanity was restored. To see others follow her to make sure she left gave you a touch of satisfaction.
The crowd dissipated after her departure, which left you two to stand in a pile of bruised apples.
"Oh here, let me," you started before bending down to gather the apples.
The Monster said nothing. You looked up with a curious tilt to your head. Now that the Karen left, you could fully take in his appearance.
A skeleton Monster with the most striking dark blue eyesights stood before you. Your first thoughts were of fascination but you quickly put an end to those thoughts. The poor guy didn't want to be ogled after being harassed.
You were around the same height, maybe an inch shorter than him. Despite being a skeleton, he had a rather pleasantly plump figure. He wore a torn, dark blue cape around his neck, dark blue boots, black pants, and grey...armor?
Hoping to get a word out of him, you introduced yourself. "I'm (Name), and you are?" When he remained silent, you stood slowly in case he might startle.
What you didn't expect was his cheekbones to turn the slightest bit blue before he burst out in laughter. You let out a few awkward chuckles, not quite knowing what you were laughing at.
"DID YOU SEE HER FACE? I DIDN'T KNOW HUMAN FACES COULD TURN SO MANY COLORS!" He laughed brightly. You were glad to know he didn't seem too bothered by the incident.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised! Still, I feel like I need to apologize. Not all Humans are bigoted pieces of crap," you said sincerely.
Once he finished laughing, his face turned a bit more serious. "NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE, HUMAN FRIEND! IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT SOME PEOPLE CAN'T EMBRACE SUCH SPLENDID CREATURES LIKE OURSELVES!"
You hummed in confusion, wondering why he included you as well. "WHAT THAT HUMAN SAID ABOUT YOU WASN'T TRUE AT ALL! TALK ABOUT NEEDING AN EYE EXAM IF SHE THINKS YOU'RE UGLY..." your companion grumbled.
It took a few seconds for your mind to catch up to what he said. Your felt your face heat up once more and gave him a shy smile.
"She was wrong about you too, ya know. You're not a demon and deserve to be here as much as anyone," you said. He gave you a soft smile before a horrified look came across his face.
"STARS! I MUST BE THE RUDEST GENTLEMONSTER ALIVE!" He bellowed with a firm slap to both of his cheekbones. You gaped and sputtered while he continued.
"ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. I AM THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE!" He said with a flourish. You beamed at his enthusiasm. It was hard not to admire his pose and the way his torn cape blew in the wind.
"Nice to meet you, Blue!" You greeted.
"NOW, WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THESE APPLES? IT'D BE A SHAME FOR THEM TO GO TO WASTE..." he trailed off.
You looked at the poor state of the bruised apples. Picking one up, an idea popped into your head.
"You could make apple cider with them! The cold weather is perfect for hot apple cider," you said excitedly.
He grinned. "THAT'S AN APPLE-SOLUTELY AMAZING IDEA—ALMOST AS AMAZING AS ME! MWEH HEH HEH!"
"Did you just-did you just make an apple pun?" You giggled. Blue looked absolutely delighted at your response.
"WHAT CAN I SAY? I'M UN-PEEL-IEVABLY CHARMING!" You began laughing harder, eyes beginning to blur with tears. "ORCHID YOU GLAD YOU MET ME, HUMAN FRIEND?"
Your giggles began giving you stitches on your side as you huffed for air. Blue's absurdity was just so delightful and refreshing.
"Have mercy on me, my dear knight!" You snickered. If Blue didn't look happy before, he was positively beaming now.
"FORGIVE ME, FAIR MAIDEN! I HAVE DISTRACTED US FROM OUR TASK, HOW UNCHIVALROUS OF ME!" Wiping a tear from your eye, you shook your head good-naturedly and kneeled down.
You worked together to clean up the mess of apples and loaded them into his comically large tote bag. A quick glance to the font on his bag read "Never Trust An Atom, They Make Up Everything!" almost had you bursting with laughter again.
"SO, UM, UH," Blue mumbled out, suddenly becoming a sweaty mess. You wordlessly passed him a tissue from your bag while waiting for him to speak.
He pat his sweat away and tugged on his cape around his neck. "WE'RE F-FRIENDS, RIGHT? FRIENDS...CAN ASK FOR EACH OTHER'S NUMBERS, RIGHT???"
You snickered at the Monster before lightly pushing his shoulder. "Of course, dude! I was gonna give you my number so I could send you the recipe to apple cider, but here—," you said and passed him your phone.
His nervous disposition disappeared like it was never there. Blue happily typed his number in your phone, even saving it under "THE SUPREME BLUE" with a yellow star after it.
"I'll be sure to text you! See you around, Blue," you winked at him and turned to leave. You only took a couple of steps before you heard Blue yell, "WAITTTTT!"
You looked over your shoulder curiously. "WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS OFFICIALLY UNTIL YOU TASTE MY "FRIENDSHIP TACOS"!" He said, seemingly distraught over the very thought.
"Just let me know when! I can text you an idea of my schedule, but most weekends work for me," you said, doing your best to reassure him.
He seemed content with that response since he made no move to stop you as you left the market. Instead, he waved at you vigorously while you made your exit.
There was no sign of Reggie at the entrance of your building, but you left a pumpkin bread you purchased by his pile of belongings. You felt glad to be back home, as much as you enjoyed the farmer's market.
Being back in your apartment meant you could relax and doomscroll all you wanted. Just as you began to do that, Blue's eager face popped into your mind.
You lightly scolded yourself for forgetting already, but quickly remedied your mistake by sending the promised apple cider recipe. You even added your general work schedule in for good measure.
Blue responded back quickly, and it didn't take long for you both to text each other like old friends. He was so endearing and so cool—there was no way you couldn't not like him!
It was so long since you had friends you felt you could be yourself around. It felt nice. Though, the thought of actually letting your walls down made you feel like you had been dunked into ice cold water.
The unknown scared you to no end. Would he eventually leave like the rest did? Forget you, even replace you? You couldn't breathe that well anymore.
Taking in a shuddering breath, you tried to make yourself relax. It seemed the more you tried, the less it helped.
You stayed there, hands clutched to your chest, for a long while. Long enough for dusk to set in and your stomach to growl.
You haven't done that for a long time. It was hard not to feel disappointed in yourself.
You blasted the TV with whatever sit-com was on and forced your bad thoughts away. Sighing heavily, you watched the spaghetti spin around in your microwave.
Spaghetti, once your dear beloved, had now turned into a bitter companion. Yet, you suppose it wasn't your only comrade after today.
A chime on your phone brought a small smile to your face. While you could mull over your negative thoughts and feelings, what fun would that be?
You shoved them to the back of your mind, determined to enjoy your friendship with Blue (while it lasted). Guess it wouldn't just be you and your spaghetti alone after all.