Glowing Flames

The River

The three days passed in the blink of an eye. At least for Grillby. For Gaster it felt like three weeks instead of three days. But the day eventually came up, and Gaster returned from work. He forgot to ask Grillby when exactly they would meet, so he felt very anxious about this. What if Grillby waited the whole day and he didn't arrive? He would think he did the same thing as before. He wanted to hurry, because he didn't want to leave Grillby waiting any longer if he really was still there. When he got home, he quickly put the documents on his desk upstairs. As he went to leave the house, he hesitated. He still had his lab coat on. He always did, that's not the problem. The problem was the fact that there was a coffee stain on it, from when he accidentally knocked over his mug today. He let out a sigh. He couldn't go out like this. So he quickly put the coat in his wash, and just went in his normal gray sweater. The feeling of not having his coat on made him feel a little bit uneasy. But there was no time for that right now, he had to go to Grillby's. So he opened the door and left.

Grillby was already there 10 minutes before Gaster. He didn't have to tell him a time. He knew when he would arrive. Besides, he didn't mind waiting for hours if it meant spending time with Gaster. As he looked around the beautiful town he lived in, snowflakes were softly falling down, sizzling when they touched Grillby's fiery body. When he noticed Gaster walking towards him, he flared up in delight. He was actually wanted to spend time with Grillby. Gaster seemed to be in a hurry, since his steps were a bit quicker than usual, and his face had a nervous expression. He was worried about being late. But that wasn't the only thing Grillby noticed. He was surprised to see that Gaster wasn't wearing his lab coat. He never saw him without it. He seemed so.. natural without it. It felt a bit like he didn't just want to be the royal scientist today. It seemed like he actually wanted to be Gaster. And that thought made him happy.

"I am delighted to see you Gaster. Don't worry, I knew you would arrive at around this time, you're not late whatsoever."
Of course he knew. He knew an awful lot about Gaster. The thought
The fact that he wasn't late immediately took some weight off his shoulders. Seeing Grillby's hands sign put him at ease. There was just something about this fire that fascinated him.

"I can't say that I dislike seeing you here either."
He could be so hard with words sometimes, it was quite amusing to watch. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Grillby knew that Gaster was happy seeing him here as well. Grillby thought about a lot of places where they could go, even before Gaster suggested meeting up. There were a lot of places he would love to go. But to be honest, he would go anywhere if that meant Gaster was with him.

"Do you have anywhere you wish to go? I will leave the choice up to you."
The first thing that came to Gaster's mind was of course the library. Usually he would have said Grillby's, but that wasn't an option at the moment. But then he realised how late it was, and that the library probably wasn't open anymore. Besides, he wasn't so sure about having a flamehead around so many books. He wasn't sure if he could burn things as easily as his body made it appear. But he didn't want to risk anything. Ironically, his mind went from something that would probably cause a fire, to something that would do the exact opposite. The river in Snowdin Forest was a lovely sight, but he doubted that Grillby would want to go there, for obvious reasons. Still, it was worth a try.

"How about the river in Snowdin Forest? I think it's a lovely place. Although I will understand if you refuse, I can imagine the river not being the ideal place for you."
He was correct about that. Rivers aren't necessarily a great place to be around for him. But he was sure that he didn't have to actually go into the water, he probably just wanted to watch the calming stream of the river with him. He would gladly do that if it that's what Gaster wanted to do.

"That would be nice actually. But you will have to lead the way, I haven't been there for ages."
Gaster was surprised that he actually agreed. Weirdly enough, he seemed to be happy about it. He nodded, and went forward. He had been there a couple of times. It's quite the long way, but Grillby seemed to have a lot of time. Grillby caught up with him, and continued walking right next to him, occasionally shooting a glance at him from the side.