Chapter Text
If there is one thing that you’re sure of, it’s that any routine will rapidly become boring when abided by too strictly. Boredom doesn’t take long to become an awful combination of mind numbing and excruciating. Day in, day out, the same things happen over and over and over again. Wake up, open your store, deal with the same customers saying the exact same things they always do, close your store, and pass out as soon as you had the chance to rest. Rinse and repeat.
Soon you’ll become desperate for even a slight variable regardless of how minor. Now, something as trivial as your sign falling off its hooks with a resounding ‘thunk’ was borderline exciting (granted with how frequently this happens it’s practically a routine in and of itself but you’re choosing to not acknowledge that yet).
The door chimes as you throw it open. You’re immediately met with a harsh gust of wind, no doubt the culprit behind your fallen sign. Kneeling down, you grab the plaque and check it for damage. One of these days it’s going to break, but thankfully that day wasn’t today. ‘Written in Scone’ was neatly engraved into the varnished wood in an appealing curvy font. With a huff, you lift it up onto the hooks that are supposed to support it, but in reality rarely hold up against the wind. “And… there we go.”
Just like that, your brief moment of what you’re ashamed to call ‘excitement’ ends. Great. It’s been a slow day at your combination bookstore and bakery, so there was truly nothing around to distract yourself with. The store itself was immaculate, as was the kitchen, and it was too quiet to bother with baking anything else. As it was, you know you’re going to be boxing up and marking down more pastries than you would like to try and sell again tomorrow. Rather than wallowing in your own boredom inside, you elect to enjoy the chilly October air for a moment longer.
The store (which doubles as your home) is located at the base of a small mountain in a heavily forested area. Evergreens surrounded you and filled the air with the crisp, earthy scent of pine needles. The location was just slightly outside of town, enough to give you a sense of privacy, but not enough to deter business. Granted, when you first opened shop, there were some concerns that it wouldn’t thrive. Being new in a small town was an intimidating sensation on its own, but trying to promote a store and create a strong clientele base was downright terrifying. If your younger sister, Liz, hadn’t been there to act as your own personal cheerleader you know you wouldn’t have commited and gone through with it. After having a few mini bake sales in the town center, customers began showing up to the real location, eager to see what other pastries they could find there. Then the local diner started purchasing some desserts to sell in place of the frozen cakes and pies they’d been getting before that, and business really spiked after that.
Having your sister around to help with the minding the register while you were in the kitchen had helped to run things smoothly. Plus her infectiously positive personality always improved your mood. However, all good things must come to an end, and she had to get on with her own life. Now she’s three hours away attending a nursing school. Not that you’re upset about her doing that, of course you’re not, you couldn’t be prouder of her. It’s just become so damn boring without her around. The small house felt larger and emptier in her absence, and the silence was absolutely deafening. You’d give anything to have some noise around here again.
As if the fates themselves heard you, you pick up on the faint sound of vehicles heading your way. You can’t see them yet, what with all the trees in the way, but you can clearly hear multiple cars heading towards you, possibly some trucks based on how loud they are. Holding out hope that you’re finally about to get some customers today, you lean over the railing of the front porch to get a better look. The rumbling sound of the engines was getting closer, they should be rounding the corner any second now.
When they did round the corner, it was surprising to see multiple moving trucks, followed by some smaller, personal use cars. Not many people came to this town even in passing, much less decide to move here. They’re probably going to the next town over, that one’s much bigger. It’s got a fastfood place and everything. Y’know, the works. Instead of passing by like anticipated, the moving trucks turn onto the road just before your shop. Odd. It goes up the mountain, but there isn’t anything up there except… Oh. Well this day just got a lot more interesting, now didn’t it?
Way back in the day, the early 1900’s if the locals were accurate, a somewhat wealthy pair of brothers were poking around the cave system at the top of the mountain. As luck would have it, they found out it was a coal mine. It didn’t take long for them to hire miners to start clearing it out for all it was worth, rapidly turning their moderate wealth into one to be envied by all. Naturally, their first order of business was to build an absurdly large mansion atop the mountain to ‘keep an eye on their workers’ and totally not to flaunt their wealth. The mansion was visible to everyone in the poverty-stricken town below. Needless to say, these brothers weren’t very well liked.
But it would seem their luck was a finite source, much like the mine as it would turn out. They’d jumped the gun in assuming that mine was the endless source of wealth they thought it to be. Not long after the mansion was completed, the mine was picked clean, and no attempts to locate more coal were successful. Did the brothers cut their losses and move on to other projects? Nope! Instead, they insisted on making the miners dig deeper and deeper into the mines with cheaper and cheaper equipment. Tragedy struck a mere couple of weeks into the search when the mine collapsed with eleven miners inside. There were no survivors. Those that weren’t crushed under the falling debris died of thirst before rescue could dig them out five days later.
The locals were quick to blame the brothers and demand justice. The brothers disappeared shortly after that, and the general consensus is that they were killed by the families of the victims and buried somewhere in the expansive forest. Between them and the dead miners, the whole mountain is said to be haunted, not that you ever noticed anything particularly ghostly. Regardless, it was a popular ghost story to be told around the fire on camping trips. Or to just scare kids and keep them out of the woods.
The mansion went uninhabited for decades. There was an attempt to turn it into a bed and breakfast back in the 80’s, but the owner could not get enough people in there to make up for the cost of repairing and renovating the old building. It’s been empty ever since then with no one interested in buying the seemingly cursed manor.
As fun as it was to think about the extremely haunted history of your surroundings, a car had pulled up and it was time to get back to doing your job. The customer was a regular, a middle-aged single mother in the throws of empty nest syndrome. She rarely bought any books, instead preferring to flip through one while eating some pastries and sipping coffee from the self-serve drink station. Odds are she just comes here to escape the silence of her home. Something you have come to understand all too well. “Hello, (Y/N), slow day?”
“You hit the nail on the head, Susie.” Pushing off from the railing, you held open the front door for her. “Say, have you heard anything about someone buying that old manor on the mountain?” Staying on top of gossip has never been your forte, it’s really no surprise that something like this would fly right under your radar. The good thing (and sometimes bad thing if you were trying to keep things under wraps) is that news travels fast in small towns, so surely someone has to know about these new mystery neighbors of yours.
“No, I can’t say I have. Why do you ask?” She shot you a puzzled look. Damn, the rumor mill must be slacking off today. Truly a rare occurrence.
“A few minutes before you got here, I spotted some moving trucks going up the mountain. Thought you might’ve heard something about it,” you casually explain. In truth you weren’t too terribly invested in whoever these new people were, but there was still some curiosity in what they would be like. Ideally they would either keep to themselves or maybe even become regulars at your store if you were lucky. On the flipside, they could be a bunch of rich, entitled pricks that would be nothing more than a headache.
“You did?” Susie gets an excited gleam in her eyes from the juicy piece of gossip you just dropped on her. She ceased her perusing of the bakery case and hurried over to the window facing the mountain. “Oh! I can see them parked at the top!” She sounded downright giddy at the prospect of new people in town. She remained at the window for a minute longer before turning back to you. “They’re too far away for me to make out anyone, I wonder who they could be,” she pondered while picking out a couple of danishes to snack on.
“Not a clue, I just hope they’re decent.” Even if they weren’t, it’s not like there was much anyone could do about it. If they had enough money to purchase the manor, they had enough money to get away with acting however they so please. Perhaps this was a pessimistic way of thinking about some people you’ve never even met, but a good dose of pessimism was healthy in your humble opinion. Maybe they’ll prove you wrong later, maybe they’ll prove you right. Only time will tell, and until then you weren’t going to stress yourself out about it.
The rest of the day went by normally. A few more customers milled in and out, and Susie took it as her personal duty to tell each and every one of them about the new neighbors you’d acquired. It seems like no one knew about anyone moving in, further adding to the mystery surrounding them. As much as you loathed to get interested in the local gossip, you can’t help but tune in to what they’re saying. Perhaps you were more bored than you had thought yourself to be. Maybe you were just that lonely.
Eventually the day came to an end and you locked up the store at six. Thoroughly exhausted, you attempted to hurry through the nightly routine. Cleaning tables, putting away any left out books, storing leftover pastries, and the general cleaning of the store and kitchen. By the time all was said and done, it was past seven. If you were quick with showering and “cooking” your dinner (microwaving a frozen meal), you might have some time to relax or something. Or just pass out as soon as you sit down like you usually do. Oh the joys of being the sole employee of a business.
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You woke with a start at the sound of your alarm. Groaning in pain, you half-heartedly massaged your neck, looks like you passed out on the couch again. The TV was still on in the background, playing some show you didn’t recognize. Good thing you set your alarm before sitting down. Checking your phone, the time displayed across the screen was 4:30. That gave you half an hour to get dressed and make yourself at least vaguely presentable. And maybe eat something. A snort came out at the mere thought, it’s not like you’ve ever had time for that before. It didn’t take long to be stumbling down the staircase that separates your home from your job. It was a little concerning to have your home and place of business be the same place, especially when there was a creepy customer trying to get a bit too friendly, but so far nothing serious had happened. A fact you were grateful for but knew better than to take for granted.
After double checking that you had locked all the locks on the door at the base of the stairs, it was time to get the work day started. Fortunately, some stuff was already made and set out to thaw in the fridge overnight, so all that required was some time in the oven. Muffins still needed to be made from scratch though, as did the various cookies and cakes that would be made later in the day.
Baking has been a hobby for most of your life, it was something you always enjoyed and strived to improve at. Even as a little kid, you could be found in the kitchen mixing together a box of cake mix or a simple batch of cookies for your sister and yourself to enjoy. Seeing the way her eyes widened when she bit into whatever you made never failed to warm your heart. Of course it was nice to see your customer’s pleased expressions from your treats too, but it didn’t have quite the same effect.
Hazarding a glance at the clock, you saw it was a quarter till six, leaving a mere fifteen minutes to ice the pastries and get everything loaded into the cases. You’ve done all that in less time before, so it’s not concerning. You’re flinging around some icing and chucking the dishes into the sink to worry about later, and now the cases are being loaded with a few minutes to spare. Allowing a quick once over of the store to make sure nothing was left undone, you deemed everything Good Enough™ and opened the store for the day. It’s usually quiet for a while right after you opened, giving you time to clean those aforementioned dishes.
Not today though.
You weren’t even ten feet from the door when the chime alerted you to it being opened. Was it not closed properly? Before you could even turn around, a booming voice assaulted your unsuspecting ears.
“GOOD MORNING HUMAN NEIGHBOR!”
Naturally, a shriek erupted from your throat and you whipped around so fast that you lost your balance, effectively making only the best of first impressions to your loud visitor, you’re sure. Rather than falling flat on your ass like you should have, a pair of strong, gloved hands grasped your shoulders and set you back on your feet. You couldn’t help but stare at your savior. He was a very tall, very smiley skeleton monster. Don’t see one of those every day. His already huge grin widened at you, “APOLOGIES FOR STARTLING YOU TINY HUMAN, I WAS SIMPLY VERY EXCITED TO FINALLY MEET MY NEW NEIGHBOR. I WOULD HAVE INTRODUCED MYSELF YESTERDAY, BUT UNPACKING TOOK LONGER THAN EXPECTED AND I’VE BEEN TOLD HUMANS DON’T CONSIDER THREE IN THE MORNING TO BE AN APPROPRIATE TIME FOR FRIEND MAKING.” Most monsters probably don’t either, but it’d be rude to interrupt him with that right now. He took a step back and gestured to himself in a grand flourish, “I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”
“AND I AM THE MAGNIFICENT SA-” A new skeleton that you had yet to take notice of leapt out from behind Papyrus, coughing before restarting, “I AM THE MAGNIFICENT SCOUT! IT’S VERY NICE TO MEET YOU!” He was considerably shorter than the first skeleton, only being around the same height as yourself. Maybe a little taller, but not by much. However, he still radiated the same kind of energy as Papyrus. Both were outfitted with jogging gear. Who goes jogging this early in the morning? They could be sleeping right now but they’re not. Ridiculous.
“Uh… G-Good morning,” you eventually said back, albeit very quietly. You cleared your throat and spoke up, “Thanks for catching me… Sorry I kinda screamed at you.” It’s not like you’d never seen a monster before or anything, it was just very startling to see a walking talking skeleton right in front of you like that. Though monsters weren’t very common in rural areas, so you suppose you wouldn’t know much about what forms to expect monsters to come in.
“THAT’S ALRIGHT! SEEING SOMEONE AS SPECTACULAR AS MYSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME WOULD SURPRISE ANYONE!” Well at least he didn’t seem offended by your reaction. “SO WHAT IS YOUR NAME, HUMAN?”
Oh, right. You haven’t introduced yourself yet. Extending a hand to Papyrus, you amended that, “I’m (Y/N), it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintances.” Papyrus shook your hand so vigorously you almost fell over again. Scout had a more controlled handshake, but his grip was borderline crushing. Now that he was right in front of you, you had a better chance to look him over. While Papyrus had a more lanky build to him, Scout was short but solidly built. His bones were noticeably thicker than Papyrus’s and he somehow appeared to be a little chubby despite being just bones. Huh. You have some questions about how skeleton anatomy works, but now is not the time to ask.
“I HOPE WE CAN BECOME THE BEST OF FRIENDS, (Y/N)!” Scout smiled enthusiastically while looking around your store. His gaze locked onto the case full of pastries, “WHAT AN AMAZING STORE YOU HAVE, YOU MUST BE VERY PROUD OF IT.” He strolled over to it and began rummaging through the trays.
While he was doing that, Papyrus was power walking through the aisles of books. He looked over to you, “WHAT KIND OF PUZZLE BOOKS DO YOU HAVE HERE? AND WHERE ARE THEY? UNLESS FINDING THEM IS A PUZZLE ITSELF, IN WHICH CASE DON’T TELL ME THE ANSWER, I’D LIKE TO SOLVE THAT ON MY OWN.” Not waiting for a response, he kept on walking.
You chuckled, “Sorry, no puzzles quite like that, but I’ve got a few books down on the end over there. Just the usual kinds of puzzle books, word searches, cryptograms, crosswords-”
Papyrus scoffed at that, “AS IF I WOULD LOWER MYSELF TO DOING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE! I WILL BE PURCHASING A FEW OF THESE WORD SEARCHES THOUGH.” He proceeded to grab one of each that you had.
Alright, this might be the earliest you’ve ever had a sale. Not that you’re complaining, at least your neighbors seem to be nice enough. Scout already had some baked goods piled onto the counter, waiting patiently for you to get everything rung up for him. “DID YOU MAKE THESE YOURSELF?”
“Sure did! Everything here is homemade, except the books of course,” you added with a little laugh. After you got Papyrus’s books bagged, you decided to be nice and ask if they wanted you to hold onto their things until they got done with their morning jog. Carrying a box of sweets and a bag of books while jogging can’t possibly be convenient. Or comfortable.
“THAT IS VERY KIND OF YOU, BUT WE HAVE ALREADY FINISHED OUR JOG AND ARE HEADING BACK NOW!” Papyrus beamed at you. Just how early did they get up for the sake of jogging? Why would they do that to themselves? For health and fitness? Not worth it in your personal opinion.
Scout headed toward the door, “I’D LOVE TO STAY AND CHAT WITH YOU SOME MORE BUT PA-” he cut himself off and cleared his throat again, “SAVANT WILL BE GRUMPY IF HE DOESN’T GET HIS MORNING SUGAR FIX. WE’LL HANG OUT SOME OTHER TIME, IT WAS NICE MEETING YOU!” He sure did seem to stumble over names a lot, didn’t he? And what kind of a name is Savant? Hell, even Scout is an odd name. Surely they're nicknames of some sort.
“OH, THAT REMINDS ME, MY BROTHER, SANS, SAID HE WAS GOING TO STOP BY TO TALK WITH YOU LATER TODAY AS WELL,” Papyrus scowled slightly, “BUT HE’S VERY LAZY SO IF HE NEVER SHOWS UP DO TELL ME SO I CAN HAVE A WORD WITH HIM!”
And with that, your two energetic neighbors were gone. Well then. That wasn’t the introduction you had expected, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad one, far from it. At the very least, they seemed friendly. Fun even. You hoped they would pay you another visit sometime soon.
Silence fell over the store again, a perfect time to take care of those dishes. While scrubbing them, you mulled over everything that had just transpired. Both skeletons mentioned other people, so there were at least four people living in the manor. Were all of them skeletons? Or even just other types of monsters? The locals were going to have a field day with this. In all honesty, you weren’t sure how they would respond to the new people in town. Rural areas were not exactly known for their acceptance of monsterkind. Papyrus and Scout seemed so sweet, the last thing you’d want is for them to be treated poorly just because some people are too racist to consider seeing past someone’s appearance.
With the dishes set up to dry, you felt more enthusiastic than usual to face the day ahead of you. It’s been a while since you looked forward to what was to come. This was something new and exciting, it was a change in routine.
A very welcomed changed.