A Burning Secret

Fired Up

As the night droned on more and more monsters entered the establishment. Grillby had no trouble adapting to the sudden rush of the place. He almost glided across the floor as he hurried from the bar to the tables, settling down drinks and food with grace before carrying on to do some spot cleaning.

With all the hustle and bustle Grillby could barely catch a minute to speak with Sans, who remained at the bar happily drinking the whiskey.

Grillby had to admit he was worried about his skeleton regular. He was acting unusually happy which made Grillby think it was fake and the fact that Sans ordered something other than ketchup made alarm bells ring. These actions were completely unlike the skeleton.

Grillby didn't have much time to ponder on the situation or possible problems Sans was having, as he was called off for some more orders by his other regulars.

When the night finally quietened down and only Sans remained in the bar Grillby decided to close up, so he could finally sit down and talk with the skeleton.

Once the building was locked up and a quick clean-up was done Grillby took a seat beside Sans, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as his shoulders sagged.

"hey there hot stuff." Sans winked playfully to Grillby, a drunken smile spreading across his face.

The comment made the flames that consisted of Grillbys cheeks flush a light blue colour, but his furrowed brows showed he wasn't impressed. "Please stop with all these fire puns Sans, I don't know how much more I can bare."

"oh stop smouldering Grillbz." Sans teased with a cheeky smirk, clearly the whiskey had hit him hard.

"Sans, that pun was a stretch and you know it." Grillby grunted as he reached out to grab the bottle of whiskey. He frowned deeply as he lifted the bottle with ease, only to discover that it was empty.

"You drank the entire thing?" He gawped at Sans, who merely shrugged with an innocent smile.

Grillby just shook his head and returned to behind the bar. He grabbed another bottle of whiskey and sat down in the inside of the bar, so he was facing the drunken Sans.

"You appear very happy lately...Has something happened?" Grillby mused as he poured himself out a glass, even opting to pour a glass out for Sans, even though it was obvious the skeleton had reached his limits.

"what? can't a skeleton just be happy to be hanging out in the glow of his favourite monster?" Sans slurred as he took his freshly poured out whiskey.

Grillby's cheeks once again became flushed with a light blue flame. Why was Sans making so many hinting fire puns? This new flirting Sans had only arisen within the last couple of months and Grillby wasn't sure how to take it. Was Sans serious or just being his usual joking self? Either way, Grillby was deeply confused by this new behaviour.

"Sans, stop." Grillby warned as he watched Sans gulp down the whiskey as if it was water.

"aw c'mon Grillbz, i'm just having some fun." Sans chuckled as he threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug. His flying hands knocked against the whiskey bottle and toppled it over, causing the liquid to spill over the counter.

Grillby's hands were resting upon the counter when the whiskey spilled out, once the alcohol came in contact with his hands a low blue flame raced over the surface of the drink, causing a blanket of flame to rest over the counter.

With a startled yelp Grillby jumped to his feet and reached out for a cloth to wipe up the mess, but was frozen in place by Sans' actions.

Instead of pulling away from the alcoholic flames or even attempting to help clear the mess, Sans ran a hand over the flaming liquid, allowing the blue flames to dance up his fingers.

With a rather seductive wink Sans licked his fingers with a strange, glowing blue tongue, his eyes never leaving Grillby.

As Grillby watched with shock and confusion the flames on the counter quickly died out, but the flames that consisted of Grillby's cheeks flared up.

All Sans could do was laugh at Grillby's reaction, relishing in the idea that he had made the bartender all hot and flustered.

"SANS!" Grillby suddenly shouted with unexpected venom. He didn't appreciate the idea of Sans making a fool out of him.

"This needs to stop! For the past couple of months you have done nothing but make ridiculous, suggestive comments towards me! You keep making comments like, hot stuff and other tasteless puns that are very uncomfortable! I can only tolerate so much!" Grillby suddenly exploded, his flames brightening as his anger grew. "And now you do this?!" 

"You need to stop making a laugh of me and you need to stop this flirtatious bullshit towards me when customers are around! Monsters are starting to talk!"

Grillby forced himself to bite his tongue and silence the rant. He inhaled deeply to calm himself as he looked to Sans, who was sitting on the bar stool with his head low.

When Sans lifted his head only a sliver of a smile was visible, which caused Grillby's chest to tighten.

"sorry Grillbz...i didn't realise i was bothering you that much." Sans said sheepishly as he slid off the bar stool. "don't worry, i'll stop." He promised and continue to speak before Grillby could butt in. "i'll stay away for a while, let things cool off." He said, not even bothering to react to his own, half-hearted pun.

With that Sans vanished in a blink of an eye, leaving a hazy blue poof of smoke behind which quickly dissipated.

Grillby stood in the silence of the bar, staring at the stool were Sans had been. 

"....What have I done?" Grillby groaned as he sank back onto his seat, whipping off his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose.

That look on Sans' face, it was something Grillby had never seen before. The skeletons cracked voice as he said he would stay away...Grillby didn't want that...