The year was 20XX. The Great Monster Human War had only recently come to an end. Two generals, WingDings Gaster and Grillby the Fire Elemental retired from their military careers. WingDings went on to become the Royal Scientist, hoping to break the barrier that now sealed the Monster Race underground. Grillby went on to open a bar, Grillby's, to fulfill a childhood dream of his.

<~>

Grillby was walking back to his bar from the shop. He had purchased some much needed essentials. His bar was open for a little over four years and he was doing good for himself. Monsters loved the homie atmosphere of the bar and he quickly gained regulars.

He was musing over new cocktail or dish ideas to possibly add to the menu on his short walk back. He barely managed to catch himself after tripping over something in the semi fresh, powdery snow.

A small skeleton was rubbing the top of its skull from where Grillby accidently kicked. The skeleton barely reached two feet in height and looked to be unnaturally scrawny, even for a skeleton.

"Sweet stars above, are you alright child? Where is your family?"

The little Skeleton Monster shook, their bones softly rattling. Whether they shook from fear or from the cold, Grillby was not aware.

"You poor thing. Come, let me get you warmed up with some good food."

Grillby shed his thick fur coat to wrap around the child. Within seconds he was in his bar, a bag of new cutlery and napkins abandoned in the snow. As soon as Grillby entered his bar, the *OUT FOR LUNCH* sign got replaced with the *CLOSED* sign. He then sat the equally scared and curious toddler on a barstool.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, young one."

He made sure to secure his coat around the child before going into the kitchen. When he returned with a small meal, the child was nowhere to be seen.

"They can't have gone far."

True to his musings, the little skeleton was struggling to climb the stairs outside the "Fire Door." The stairs only lead to his and the guest bedrooms, but it was adorable to see the child try their hardest to climb. After watching them a bit more, Grillby let out a small chuckle. Upon hearing the laugh the child fell backwards in fright. Grillby was quick to catch them, before their skull made contact with the ground.

"I got you, don't worry young one. You can explore the upstairs after you've eaten."

At the slight mention of food, the child's nonexistent stomach let out a thunderous rumble. Grillby laughed at the quiet and cautious baby babbles and returned to the bar. A plain cheese burger cut into smaller triangles, apple slices, and a big glass of warm milk lay on the bar waiting for them. The child's eyelights formed into bright stars.

"Don't be shy, eat up young one."

The child cautiously tucked into the food and after the first bite, they started practically inhaling the food. They were obviously starving. Funnily enough, the child took a sip of the milk and scrunched their face up. It was a funny sight to see on a Skeleton Monster.

"Give me one moment, young one."

Grillby took the glass and mixed in some chocolate. Now the warm chocolate milk was quickly a favorite of the child. They drank it slowly, but happily through a sippy cup a customer had left behind.

Customers often left little objects behind when they left for the night. Grillby always washed and put the trinkets away for when they were to be returned. The sippy cup was a strange, but now welcome object, to be left in the bar.

Walking into the kitchen, Grillby took out his phone and dialed the only Skeleton Monster he knew before that day.

~"You've Reached The Line Of The Royal Scientist, Dr. W.D Gaster. I Will Get Back To You When I Am No Longer Busy."~

"Hey Dings, It's Grillby. I found a little Skeleton Monster in the snow today. I've fed them and warmed them up. Give me a ca -"

~"Grillby?"~

"Long time no speak, Dings."

~"You've Found My...Child. Thank You."~

"It was purely coincidental that I found the little sweetheart in the snow. I went ahead and gave him some food. What's his name? How old is he?"

~"Skeletons Don't Receive Names Until They Reach Adulthood. He Passed His Third Year Of Age A Month Ago."~

<~>

"I Will Collect Him After I Am Finished With My work."

W.D Gaster promptly hung up the phone and threw it at the wall. He swept his arm over his metal table, pushing all the glass and tools to the ground in a fit of rage.

Now that Experiment 002 has had outside Monster contact, his experiment was ruined and he had to start again.

<~>

Grillby stared at his phone, annoyed. Sure he didn't mind watching over the little skeleton, but he would've liked to be asked first.

"Hello again, young one. Looks like I'm - oh sweet stars above."

The child was covered in red. If it wasn't for the fact he was sucking on a ketchup bottle, Grillby would've assumed he hurt himself.

"I...I have no words. I hope you enjoyed that. Now we must give you a bath. Come here you messy child."

Grillby held the sticky red child close and took him into the kitchen. A pair of long rubber gloves and bubbly soup later, the child was submerged up to the top of his ribcage in warm soapy water. Grillby was thankful for the child's calm personality.

Most other three year old children would be splashing the water and soap everywhere. The little skeleton was the polar opposite. He was mesmerized by the water swishing around his bones and popping bubbles near him. Quiet and curious baby babbles were the best sound Grillby's kitchen had in a long time.

After the water was drained, the child was lifted from the sink and wrapped into a warm fluffy towel. Grillby took him upstairs to the guest bedroom. Sometimes patrons would be too drunk to walk home or a single parent wished to seek refuge from a storm, so Grillby made sure to have all kinds of warm clothing for all ages of monsters.

He carefully dressed the little skeleton in a dark blue footie onesie with bones on it. The onesie had been intended for the dog monster who had just been born, but the child before him liked it, and he was incredibly cute.

"I know Dings said you don't get a name until adulthood, but I can't keep calling you young one, now can I?"

Grillby remembered Dings telling him that he was an Uppercase Skeleton, so maybe that was how he got his name? WingDings is an ancient language and Skeletons used to be named after fonts...

"Child, can you say something? Anything at all?"

The child flinched but opened his mouth regardless.

"d...dings?"

He was very quiet and seemingly unsure of himself.

"Wonderful, beautifully done young one."

Grillby smiled warmly at him and affectionately rubbed the top of his skull.

"It appears that you are a lowercase skeleton...Let me fetch my history book."

Grillby set the astonished child on the plush blankets and went to his own bedroom across the hall. His bookshelf was overflowing with records that he managed to keep from the surface as well as a record player he kept in the main bar. Other than the records, he had a couple history books, cook books, school textbooks he never discarded, and a couple science fiction fantasy novels. He took the history textbook back to the guest room where the child was attempting to stand on the bed. Grillby playfully poked his ribs and he fell back on his rear.

"I've returned young one. Let's read up on your ancestors and pick out a suitable name for you."

Grillby flipped carefully through the chapter on the "Skeleton Segregation in 17XX." There were a great number of names the Skeleton race used like Serif, Arial, Lexend, Pacifico, Verdana, etc but the child ignored every name Grillby tested.

"Hmm...In 18XX there was a stubborn warrior who never stepped in unless someone was in immediate danger. This Skeleton was called Comic Sans - oh?"

The child stared at Grillby with bright and questioning eyelights.

"Sans?"

"s-sans..."

"Alright, I suppose you are a rather stubborn warrior in your own right. I'll call you Sans. Sans the Skeleton. It's got a pleasing ring to it doesn't it?"

"sans!"

"Yes! Great job Sans! Can you say my name? Grill-by."

"gilbe!"

"You're so precious, try again. Gr-ill-by."

"gwil-by...gwillby!"

"Close enough. You are such a smart child!"

Grillby playfully tackled Sans and tickled his ribs eliciting squeals and giggles from the three year old skeleton.

"Well Dings isn't gonna be here anytime soon. Wanna be my little bar helper today?"

"yeah!"

"Let's get you dressed then."

Grillby dressed Sans in a white shirt, little black pants, a small apron he quickly fashioned out an old one, and cute little black slippers. He and Sans made new menus for the day. The food portion stayed the same, but the drink side got a makeover.

Milk, "Choco-Milk", juice, water, flavored water, etc. No alcoholic drinks would be sold that night. Grillby did all the writing but Sans was sweet enough to draw little pictures on the new drink menus.

"Thank you Sans. Your illustrations are just what they needed."

Grilly sent a mass text to all his usual customers that there would be no alcohol served in the bar that night. Grillby watched Sans run around him excitedly with a stack of the menus. He was glad that Sans had more energy than when he found him.

"Let us go open the doors, my little helper."

Sans ran after Grillby. He was lifted high into the air and unlocked the door and flicked on the open sign.

"Do you know how to greet monsters?"

Sans shook his skull with a confused look.

"Alright, when you meet a new pal, greet them with your name and a handshake. We can practice right now. Hello little one. I'm Grillby, what's your name?"

"sans!"

"Sweet child, good attempt. Try again. Say, "Hi, I'm Sans, Sans the Skeleton." Do you think that's easy enough?"

Sans plopped down on the floor, seemingly processing the greeting. Grillby wished he had a camera to capture the cute toddler before him.

"Okay, let's try again. Hello little skeleton, I am Grillby. What's your name?"

"hi! i'm sans, sans da skelton!"

"Fantastic! After you say that, you hand them a menu."

Sans carefully leafed through the menus and pulled one out of the pile to hand Grillby. On the cover of that menu was a little drawing of Grillby with strange symbols and lettering. He recognized them immediately as the WingDings language.

"You are so talented!"

<~>

Redbird walked into the bar questioning the temporary alcohol ban.

"hi! i'm sans! sans da skelton! have menu!"

The food menu and a new drinks menu was held out to him by a Skeleton Monster who couldn't be older than a year.

"Thank you?"

Grillby was snickering behind his hand at his dumbfounded expression.

"Hey Red, meet my little bar assistant, Sans. Come here child."

"Sans" was lifted into Grillby's arms and he waved excitedly at Redbird.

"Okay, now I understand the whole no booze thing. Hey there kid, I'll take the Cranberry Spirit."

Sans tilted his skull, clearly not understanding. Grillby made the drink but kept it out of Redbird's reach. He fished a notepad from his apron's pocket and handed it to Sans.

"When you take someone's order, hand them the notepad. Try again."

Grillby gestured to Redbird who looked between the child and Elemental in confusion.

"hi! i'm sans, sans the skelton! have menu!"

Sans handed another menu and his little red notepad to Redbird, who wrote down his drink order, amused.

"gwillby!"

Sans ran behind the bar and held up his little notepad again. On the first page Grillby had scrawled out, "Write your order here." Sans was only a three year old monster; he could barely speak. Grillby handed the cranberry drink to Redbird who, despite the lack of alcohol in the drink, enjoyed the cute service training exercise and the artificial cranberry flavor.

"Red, can you sit at one of the tables and order food? It'll be on the house."

"No need for that, just throw in another one of these and we'll be good."

Redbird took his drink and sat at a table near the middle of the room.

"Alright Sans, push the trolley over to Redbird and hand him this menu. Do you think you can handle that?"

"yeah!"

Sans pushed the trolly with the food menus and the new drink slowly to Redbird. He didn't want to accidentally spill the juice.

"edbirb! have menu!"

"Thank you Sans. Would you like some chocolate milk?"

Sans's eyelights grew wide and his bright smile somehow grew brighter with an innocence he and Grillby had lost before the war.

"yeah!"

Sans took his little trolly back to where Grillby stood in the kitchen. He returned slowly. A burger and fried mushrooms sat on a plate as well as a sippy cup filled with chocolate milk. Sans sat with Redbird to drink his warm chocolate milk without a worry in the world.

More and more monsters started walking into the bar. Sans greeted each one and handed out menus to everyone he could. Everyone fawned over the little skeleton everytime he would scurry over with their drinks and food. Once an hour, a monster would buy Sans a "Choco-Milk" and spend fifteen minutes with Sans as he drank from his little sippy cup.

After six hours, Sans was knocked out cold on a little cot near the bar (and near Grillby.) He sucked on his fingers on his right hand and cuddled with the town stray, Toby, with his left arm.

Nobody knew when Toby snuck into the bar, but no monster in the room had the heart to take him away from the sweetest little monster they'd ever seen. By the time the bar was to close, everyone had taken at least one picture of the little skeleton and dog. Even the newly appointed Royal Guards, Dogaressa and Dogami, had taken a multitude of photos and were disappointed when they were asked to leave.

After the bar was officially closed and everyone had [finally] left, Grillby started to count the day's proceeds. Quiet jazz filled the bar to fill the void of silence. Silence brought him to his thoughts and his thoughts often led him back to the war, so he didn't care much for silence.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, the amount of money the bar made was significantly more than the previous week. Maybe he could do a day, once a week, where Sans would show up and "help out" again; that is to say, if his father was okay with it.

"Grillby Open Up. I Came To Collect My...Child."

Grillby nudged Toby under the counter and gathered Sans into his arms. Sans was woken from his sleep and rubbed at his eye sockets sleepily.

"It's open Dings, come on in."

The highly annoyed and disheveled appearance of Grillby's old flame walked gracefully through the bar.

"Well well, what a sight to behold. The One Who Speaks In Hands, royal Scientist, WingDings Gaster with less than a perfect, kempt appearance? How're faring these days, old friend?"

"I'm Doing Fine. Thank You For Finding My, Uh, Child."

"It was purely coincidental Dings. Who's the lucky Monster who helped create this little sweetheart?"

"Not In The Picture. What Is He Wearing?"

"Oh, he's been helping me around the bar for the day. Don't worry, I locked away all the alcohol and only sold virgin drinks, juices, and chocolate milk. Do let him come back every once in a while, he's such a joy to be around."

"Yes, Well How Can A Muted Skeleton Be Useful In Any Capacity?"

"Muted? What're you going on about? He's been such a cheerful little chatterbox. Good morning, little sleepyhead."

Grillby tried to soothe the shaking child. Sans couldn't be cold, he was literally made out of fire. He must be scared of punishment. He might be forced to go without chocolate milk or be made to sit in the corner.

Gaster stared at the child with well hidden contempt.

"Child. Say Gaster."

Sans froze when Grillby lowered him to the floor and his shaking worsened.

"Say WingDings."

Sans's ability to stand up right was seemingly snatched away from him as he fell and hid behind Grillby's legs. Gaster was growing irritated and louder in volume.

"Say -"

"Dings. Stop. I will not have you yelling at a child in my bar. You're only scaring the poor thing. Let me."

Grillby sat on the ground with Sans in front of him. Sans looked confused, but he liked Grillby,so he didn't move.

"Sans, can you say my name?"

Sans looked uneasy, but cautiously spoke up.

"gwillby?"

Grillby nodded and rubbed his skull with encouragement.

"Good, how about your name?"

Sans was now giggling and getting excited.

"sans! sans da skelton!"

Sans started having a baby babble conversation with Grillby laughing and nodding along enthusiastically. Gaster watched his past lover interact with Experiment 002 with mild interest. When 002 had not shown any signs of vocalization, even after speech lessons, he'd assumed 002 had a speech impediment.

001 started speaking and debating him almost immediately after creation. 002 was clearly intelligent; nowhere near him and 001, but well above normal monster children, despite his now apparent refusal to be vocal. 002 solved puzzles and elaborate mazes with minimal to no effort expended. It still irritated Gaster to no end to see Grillby achieve what he could not. 002 would be locked into the "M.R.C" for at least a week.

To see 002 openly "communicate" with the only still living Fire Elemental in the Underground, made him smirk. His experiment still had legs to stand on, so to speak.

"Sans?"

Said babybones flinched heavily and ceased his "conversation" immediately. Sans looked at Gaster with wide and fear stricken eyes. Grillby chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry Dings. I sorta gave him a name earlier today. I know ya said your kind don't get names until adulthood, but I -"

"Don't Fret. The Name Is Fine. Even If I Hated It, Which I Don't, There's No Changing It. Skeleton's Souls Attach Themselves To The First Name They Acknowledge As Their Own. If I May Be So Bold, Old Friend, Will You Watch Over...Sans...In A Week? The King Has Tasked Me With Installing Safety Measures In The Core For The Employees."

"Sure it's no trouble at all. That gives me time to set up a proper bedroom for him. Bye Sansy, I'll see you in a week."

Grillby handed Sans to Gaster, reluctantly after tightly hugging him. Sans sadly waved him goodbye as Gaster awkwardly carried him out of the bar.

"You Are Going To Regret Trying To Escape, 002. If I Didn't Need You, You'd End Up Like 001."

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This was heavy lore implicated chapter and the next one will be no different. Have fun with that!

This chapter is dedicated to JimmySMASH4daWIN 

They have a UT book called A Three Way Swap. I think it's fun! Underswap, Underfell, and Undertale have their Papyrus's switch with each other. Swapy is in Undertale, Fell is with Underswap, and Papy is with Underfell. Go give that book a read and some votes. It's a good combination of comedy, cringe, angst, and fluff.