[Asriel x Male!Reader]A Life Less Ordinary - Ch 1

Chapter 1: I Wasn't
Expecting That

    Life. Life wasn't quite what you thought it was when you were younger,
dreaming of being something bigger than both your parents. Life isn't
the great adventures that filled your head as a child, sitting bored
in English class, dreaming of being a great adventurer on a mission
to save the human race from a race of evil androids bent on the
destruction of all organic matter. No, life had become more of a slap
in the face that left you miserable and downhearted at the rejection
of everything. 

    That is your story at the moment. Welcome to adulthood, bud. After high
school, you wondered aimlessly through different college courses and
dead-end jobs. Nothing suited you or gave you excitement. The rainbow
of color that drenched the yesteryears of your life had become a
fading pastel department store painting that faded with each exposure
of the light that was the reality of real life. Frankly, you had
become sick of it. So, you set out to figure out what would give you
meaning and give you a reason not to dread the rest of your
existence.

    That's where your current educational pursuit comes in. A friend had told
you about an EMT class that was taught in a town a few hours from
where you lived. The course, if you decided to push further, could
transfer to a nursing program. To you, that sounded like a good idea.
Most of your life, you felt a warm feeling deep inside every time you
got to lend a helping hand to someone who was in need. Every chance
you got to go to a blood drive since you were 17, you were there,
donating blood. You even considered joining the military until you
came to the realization that getting shot at didn't sound too fun.
So, as of this moment, you were going to devote yourself to being an
EMT or nurse.

    Before your classes started, you had the ordeal of commuting to said town.
At the end of the day, you decided to move out of your home town and
into the town the college resided in. It was of decent size, but just
small enough to give the "small town" feel. You were
fortunate enough to find an open room at an apartment complex. Two
bedroom, one bath didn't sound too bad to someone who would be
staying on his own. All of this was peachy, except that it took money
to power this dream of being a future independent life-saver of
sorts.

    So, a job was one of the requirements you had to meet before your first
rent payment was due. If you weren't a lucky dog for finding an open
position at the local hospital. The position was for a greeter/valet
attendant. Your duties would be pretty simple: park cars, be
friendly, and run the occasional errand on slow days. As far as you
were concerned, it was a ride on the gravy train. The only difference
from this and the other jobs you worked in the past would be that one
of your coworkers would be a monster.

    Monsters had only been above ground for a few years. As a matter of fact, you
were roughly 8 when you remembered hearing news that these creatures
had appeared from the top of a mountain. As predicted, there was some
trouble with monsters integrating into society, but you remembered
that brave human that advocated for said monster integration. What
was her name? It was something that was odd and somewhat humerous.
Frisk, that was it. You remembered having the biggest crush on her
when you were younger. Her face was all over the news in media
summits.

    As a matter of fact you envied her getting to be around all of these
neat new creatures. From everything you saw on TV and read in the
papers, other than the Sunday funnies, monsters were friendly and
even plesant beings. Your parents felt neutral towards them. They
practiced their philosophy of live and let live. You even had a few
monster friends in high school. At one time, you had a small crush on
a cute whimsum that had a couple classes with you.

    Regardless of your past experiences with monsters, working with one would be
quite different. This particular monster was always stressed. Being a
manager would leave one stressed enough, but this poor cat-guy was
always needing an excuse for a smoke break, although the hospital
frowned on its employees partaking in tobacco products. He always
liked imparting "words of wisdom" to you on life and life
choices. Apparently, he had worked for a very attractive and very
famous robot back in the underground. Since then, he somehow ended up
being a fellow attendant that would eventually become the manager.
Although you knew his real name, you always called him Burgerpants
ever since he told you an embarrassing story about an encounter with
two girls back and a trouser full of burgers.

    Although your job was pretty laid back, you still had your days of dread. Some
days brought a flood of customers, while some days brought few
customers. Those days could be the worse, depending on the customer's
mood. If anything ever went wrong with their vehicle, or if anything
was slightly misplaced, it was your fault. Indeed, you were the scum
of the earth. Even the hospital staff treated you as though you were
an inconveniece to be around. Even in places of healing, as you would
come to learn, there was a hierarchy similar to that of cliques in
high school. You tried not to let it bother you, but it always found
it's way back to you. Nothing got to you worse, however, than when
certain VIPs would come around. 

    They usually consisted of wealthy people who toured the hospital. They
always got the treatment of kings and queens, while hard workers like
you and your fellow attendants got the shaft. These "esteemed
guests" were always heralded by staff and nurses alike. Their
visits would be like a grand celebration of a great hero. However,
you saw deeper than the picture painted. You knew that the guests
that visited who would boast about donating so much of their own
money were just doing it for tax breaks and good public relations.
You also knew that the hospital staff only treated them with such
esteem and celbration because it looked good on them and awarded them
brownie points towards a promotion. It sickened you, honestly.

    All the hard feelings didn't help with your classes. Shortly after
landing your job, your classes began. As promised by your instructor,
the content of the class would hit you hard and hit you quick. That
was another reason why you took that class, it was a challenge. Yet,
this particular challenge had become a little more than you thought
it would be. Medical terminology kicked your butt and tests were
tricky and rough. Needless to say, only half to class you started off
with was still present a month after this semester began.

    What time you didn't spend at work or at school was spent at your
apartment. It was sparsely decorated with knick-knacks from various
anime conventions that you attended and momentos from days gone by.
Your living room had a well used couch sitting across from the TV you
got for Chirstmas five years back. Said TV sat on a stand that housed
a couple of video game consoles and the provided reciever that came
with the apartment. The kitchen housed the basic ammenities that your
parents were kind enough to let you take with you since they were
shopping for new pots and pans, anyways. Your bedroom had the basics,
as well. A desk sat at the wall your door connected to. Your bed sat
at the opposite corner. a worn dresser from your youth contained
clothes that you chose not to put in your closet.

    For what it was, it was a nice place. Yet, you were never truly happy
here. You got a taste of what loneliness really is. It's quiet other
than your occasional rant about your day or the music you would
listen to that came from your computer in your bedroom. On good days,
your singing would fill the few rooms of your apartment. Other than
that, it was dull in your place. Since you weren't much of a
socialite like many of your college-aged coworkers, your days off
were lived alone, usually in front of the TV or with the acoustic
guitar that you bought from saving up your allowance when you were
15. Needless to say, this was life now. This was what you had to look
forward to. 

    This certain day of work, you thought, would be another slap in your face.
The sky above was overcast, as it had been all week. It was the
perfect reminder of your life, dull and boring. The January air was
cold and bitter. You wore two coats to keep you from freezing as you
worked in the winter weather. Today, as you would discover, would be
a very busy day. You never knew a Monday that was this busy. Was the
entire town sick or something? Most of the clientelle were dressed
too well to be sick. As a matter of fact, most of the cars were in
better shape than most customers. This usually meant that an event
was going to take place inside.

    "Hey, BP, is there something going on inside or something?" you call
to your manager after greeting a customer and handing them a parking
ticket.

    "Oh, yeah." His face contorted as it always did when he was holding
down some sort of frustration, "ya know, big important guy
coming around for some reason or another. Just. Another event they
didn't warn us about prior!" His voice cracked at the mention of
the last word. His internal rage was poking out, so you figured you
wouldn't exacerbate it further.

    Instead, you sighed as you sat down in the luxury car. Instead of being
excited to drive a cushy vehicle, like you were when you first
started this job, you were nearly disgusted at the sight of another
steering wheel in front of you. The mention of another important
guest arriving made this even more of a drag. Oh
great, you thought to yourself, another person that we're going to have to act like we like. Wonderful. 
Couldn't they just come around another day or something?

    As you parked the car in its designated spot, you jogged back up to the
entrance of the hospital. Although the temperature was near freezing,
you were sweating from all of the constant running. Upon reaching the
front entrance, you notice your extremely stressed manager pointing
at a car that drew close to the entrance. It wasn't anything out of
the ordinary. In fact, it was just a simple black four-door sedan
that came out maybe a decade prior. There were probably five others
like this one that was parked earlier. What was the big deal about
this one?

    "It's them!" Burgerpants' hands shot up, as he nearly panicked,
"Everyone, let's look professional, okay?" His words were
spoken through a nervous forced smile. You could tell that he was
trying to look his best, but trying way too hard as always.

    With all the other attendees either parking a car or slacking off
somewhere, you volunteered to open the door for these apparent VIPs.
As always, you approached the car, smiling naturally. Although you
might not care for the true intentions of someone's visit, you were
always nice to them. A good first impression was always important,
after all.

    You approach the door, not really taking notice to the car's occupants.
Your fingers latched to the handle, lifting it up, and opening the
door for the driver. A young woman wearing a lavender sweater and
black jeans smiles at you as she stands up to get out of the car. You
hand her the ticket as she gives you a thank you.  Her smile at you
was very cheerful. With a pat to your shoulder, she walked around to
wait for her friend.

    Something about that lady was very familiar. Her skin tone, her dark hair, her
choice of clothing, and even her facial expression set off some kind
of alarm inside you. Who was she? Why was this woman such a big VIP?
While you ponder over that, the passenger door is opened by a fellow
attendee, allowing the guest to exit the vehicle.

    He caught your attention, being a rather tall, or at least taller than
you, goat monster. His fur was white, broken only by the symetrical
stripes on his face and arms. Horns stuck out from both sides of his
head, curving downward. Jet black eyes peered in the direction of the
other attendent, giving a nod of thanks. His choice of clothing was a
tee shirt and jeans. The only thing about it that stood out was the
logo on the front of his shirt. That particular logo was the Delta
Rune.

    Then, it hit you. The young woman was Frisk. The realization of how old she
would be at this time salpped you in the face. Yet, her face was
still as cute and adorable as it was when you crushed on her when you
were a young lad. Her friend, though, had to be none other than the
fabled prince of the underground. You were sure of it. He was too
short and too thinly built to be Asgore. He obviously lack the
feminine physique to be Toriel. Up to this point, you had only heard
of him. 

    "Why thank you," he beamed at the attendant, "we'll see you
soon, okay?"

    His voice, although it wasn't directed at you, was comforting. You even
felt jealous that your coworker got to open the door he got out of.
But why? It's not as though you had known him or anything. While you
were lost in thought, the same coworker approached your side of the
car.

    "Hey, ________," they called to you, "I'll take this one down."

    You didn't really question it, but you agreed with a simple nod. You were
too lost in thought to think about anything else other than the two
visitors who just showed up. There was something about them that
mesmerized you. Unlike most of the other stuffy guests, they gave a
genuine vibe of gratitude. Why was that such a big deal to you? Why,
all of the sudden, were you curious about these two as though they
were the latest craze. Burgerpants. Burgerpants would know about
them. He had to.

    Burgerpants stood there, looking at the door to make sure that they were
completely gone before breathing a sigh of relief. You approach him,
poking him on the shoulder. He jumps in reaction to your finger.

    "Agh! Huh, oh sorry little buddy. I thought you were someone who was about
to chew me out or something." His eyes were still trained on
that doorway, "Crazy, eh? The savior of all of monsterkind and
the prince come here. They grew up." His expression changes to
an all too familiar smug smile, "Yep, I pretty much taught that
kid everything I know about life. Sure, telling that to the ladies
would get me a date," the smug expression changes to a forlorn
gaze at the ground, "but it doesn't."

    Your attention is only half on his story, seeing as you're more than
curious at what he would know about those two. 

    "What do you know about them? I mean, I know that Frisk is the ambassador
for the monsters, but the prince," you feel your breath catch
for a moment, "why is he with her?"

    The cat monster thinks to himself for a moment, trying to condense a long
story into a few sentences.

    "Well, ya see, human bud," his arm wraps around your shoulder and his
face changes to a look of plesant nostalgia, "way long back
before yours truly was born, the Dreemurr family had a kid. They
named him Asriel. Then, one day came another human. Stuff happens,
the human dies. More stuff happens, he dies. So, one day Frisk
happens. Then, somehow or another, Asriel makes it out of the
underground alive, just like everyone else. How it makes sense or how
it happened, eh I'm not too sure. I was too busy trying to not get
busted by the boss for leaving work too early."

    Asriel. What a name, you thought to yourself. You just couldn't get the thought of him and
Frisk out of your head. Surely two important ambassadors from the
Underground would have much more of an air or arrongance about them.
Yet, they were the nicest people you've met all day. In fact, you
were so enthralled by their visit, you wanted to just speak to them
for two seconds. 

    "Yeah," Burgerpants continued on, "from what I hear, those two are here
on some kinda good will mission, visitng humans and monsters that are
in the hospital. They've done some good, last I heard. Hey,"
turning his attention to the watch on his wrist, "you need to go
on break so I can go on mine."

    You didn't know that it was already time for your break. Without hardly
any hesistation, you wonder down to the cafeteria. Although the two
visitors are on your mind, at the moment, food is more on your mind.
Your stomach hurts from you hardly eating anything for breakfast.
Although your coworkers protest the taste of the cafeteria, you eat
there almost every day. The food was cheap, healthy, and it honestly
didn't taste too bad. 

    After you get your plate of food, you sit down and prepare yourself for
your meal. The minutes of your break seem to zoom by as you fill your
angry stomach with much needed sustenance. Before you know it, your
break is almost up. With much hesitation, you stand from your seat
and carry your plate with you to the dish drop off window. As you
place your used plate on the spindle, you notice a tall white blur at
the corner of your eye.

    "Oh, howdy!" The goat prince greets you, "this is where you
return your plates, right?"

    "Yeah," you struggle to stammer the word out of your mouth. You couldn't
believe that you were right there, staring royalty in the face. In
fact, you didn't feel worthy to be in his presence. A flood of
concerns fill your mind. Did I say yeah right? Am I being too informal? Why is he still smiling?
You had to come up with something right quick to say to him. "Dish is the place."

    A pun. You mention a pun to the prince of all monsters. Smooth going,
guy. Now, he's going to think you are some sort of loser, which you
know you are, of course. Your moment of self-hate is interrupted with
the sound of him snickering.

    "Ah, ha ha!" he laughs, "That's a good one." His voice was
just as soothing and comforting as it was when you heard him speak to
your coworker.

    "Oh, heh, thank you, prince Asriel." You can feel your cheeks getting
warm. You know that your face is probably the color of the sun dried
tomatoes that you ate a few moments earlier.

    "'Prince'? Oh, you don't have to call me that. Just call me Asriel. The title of
prince always makes me kinda nervous." His smile persists,
although you were more than sure that, by now, it would have turned
to a scolding frown.

    "Right, sorry." You finally resolve to try and start a conversation with
him. "It's been a really busy day, today."

    "This must be because of our visit. I'm so sorry we put you and your
coworkers through such a hassle, human," the goat said with a
look of sympathy on his face.

    "Huh, oh no, it's all good," you reassure him, "we get busy all
the time up here. People and monsters alike get sick." Although,
you know that you were hardly telling the truth. Most days it wasn't
nearly this busy.

    "Right, you do have a point." He continues to smile at you, his presence
still a comfort, "Well, dish has been quite a nice conversation," he jokes, trying his
hardest not to burst out laughing.

    A hand pats his back. He turns around to notice Frisk giving him a look
of disgust for telling a bad joke. She tells him that they are needed
back at another room. Before they leave, you approach her.

    "Frisk, right?" You ask her.

    She nods, confirming your assumption.

    "It's nice to meet you... again." You laugh nervously.

    She tells you it was nice to meet you, as well. 

    "Well, I believe that we have to be going, uh..." Asriel pauses, still
looking at you.

    You tell the two your name.

    "Hey, that's a pretty neat name! I'll have to remember that if we run
across each other again." Frisk pokes him, "Oh, right.
Well, see you later, ______. It was nice meeting you."

    You nod, waving a hand to Frisk and Asriel. The moment, although it just
happened, replayed in your mind while you stood there, awstruck by
the interaction with him and Frisk. Suddenly, you look at your phone,
checking the time. You were almost five minutes over your alotted
break. Burgerpants was going to blow up on you. Well, in his own way,
that is.

    You resume your work, parking cars and greeting guests and patients
alike. Your mood, as you come to notice, brightened. It was almost
like being a child that got out early from school. The little bit of
hope you held onto was seeing him and Frisk again before they left.
To you, that would be the icing on the cake. However, as the last
hour of your work day crept up on you, it seems that that would not
come to pass.

    You stood there, as though your pants were filled with insects. You grew
restless in the last ten minutes of your shift, hoping the two would
come to leave. As the last two minutes passed, your fears were
realized. You even drug yourself to clock out, hoping that you would
catch them, but to no avail.

    You walked to your car, feeling down that you wouldn't get to see them
anymore, today. Yet, a bit of hope lifts you up as you tell yourself
that they would more than likely come back tomorrow or another day
soon. As you got in your car, you smiled like you haven't smiled in a
while. For some reason, your dim world started to brighten up with
color that you haven't seen in some time.