Home Sweet Home

It was dark when they emerged from the movie theatre, bleary eyed, jittering from the sugar high from all the sweets they'd consumed, ears still ringing with the sounds of cheesy movie screams and cheap pyrotechnics. The night air was bracing, but a pleasant reprieve from the stuffy theatre. Susie stretched, realigning joints and reawakening muscles that hadn't been used in several hours.

'I still can't believe we got away with that,' said Kris, checking themselves over to make sure everything still worked as intended.

Susie shot them a grin. 'What, you gonna lecture me on how stealing's wrong? Didn't think Ralsei'd rubbed off on you that much.'

'You kidding?' the human grinned back at her. 'It was great! If I'd known how easy it was, I wouldn't have had to take… err, borrow money from Azzy so often.'

They'd forgotten that neither of them had a cent between them until they'd pulled up to the theatre, and they'd almost decided there and then to turn back and forget about the whole thing. But Susie was having none of it. From a safe distance, she'd watched the bored teenager manning the booth like a hungry hawk, waiting for a moment of weakness – which hadn't taken all that long, admittedly. And when it came, she sprinted forward, yanking Kris into the building before they had time to register what was happening. From there, it had been fairly easy to blag a couple seats at the back of the dark room.

That didn't solve the refreshments issue, but about twenty minutes into the movie, Susie excused herself for a few moments, her towering frame casting a monstrous shadow across the screen. Moments later, she came back with armfuls of popcorn, little boxes of nachos and buckets of soda and iced slushies. She never elaborated on where she'd got them from, or what kinds of underhanded skulduggery she'd had to stoop to acquire them. But after downing the first of many sugary beverages, Kris decided they weren't too bothered by little details like that anyway.

The movie itself was schlock – they couldn't even remember very much of what actually happened in all the hours they'd spent looking at the carnage unfolding onscreen. But it had taken their mind off of things for a while, and it had been nice just to hang with Susie. She didn't demand all that much, there wasn't any sense of obligation or a need to put on a front. She just… was. Everything she said and did seemed to come entirely from her own true self. It was almost as if by doing that, she gave them allowance to just be, too.

A treasured rarity these days, what with world-ending threats, school projects and awkward family reunions all converging on them.

'Well, they do get wise after a while,' she said, rubbing the back of her neck with one claw. 'Last time was about… yeah, half a year ago? Never had to smuggle a scrawny human in too, though…'

Somehow, it didn't surprise Kris to know that she'd done this before. Stifling a yawn, they turned their phone back on to check the time…

Seven missed calls. Many more sternly-worded texts. Oh no. They were so dead when they got home.

'Sorry, I gotta go!' they said, breaking into a dead run, stuffing the incriminating device back into their pocket, where it continued burning a hole with several new notifications, each more panicked and distraught than the last.

'You good to get back from here?' Susie called after them. 'If you want, I can—'

'Sorry Susie! But thanks! See you!'

And then they were gone, disappeared into the night. The dragon girl sighed. There went another thirty minutes of fun. Guess she should get going, as well.

Still, at least Kris seemed to be in better spirits. That had to count for something, didn't it?

The sugar rush was wearing off when she arrived at her front door. None of the lights were on, no noise escaped any of the windows. Her old man must be out again, doing God-knows-what. And really, who cared? Susie long stopped questioning these things. At least she might get some unbroken sleep tonight.

The key jammed twice in the rusted lock, and she had to throw her full weight against the door before it would give. She picked her way through the dark, trying not to disturb the various bits of cardboard, foil trays and half-empty bottles as she made her way to the fridge.

God, didn't they have anything to drink here besides stale beer and scaly tap water? Would it kill someone to buy some actual food every once in a while? The fridge light weakly illuminated the grimy shelves, half-piled with assortments of rotting things that might once have been food, but would probably rear up and attack you if you dared try removing them. The smell alone would have knocked any lesser mortal out cold. Susie snarled, slamming the appliance door shut with a loud crash.

Other people didn't live like this. She'd known that, ever since she was little. Something in the way that people looked at her, whispered about her as she passed them by, told her as much. But she'd never really, truly appreciated just how messed up this all was, until she'd set foot in Noelle's pristine house… though to call it a house was, frankly, underselling it. That place could give Queen's palace or Ralsei's castle a run for their money. But those places weren't even real – or rather, they didn't operate by the same logic as in the light world. Rent and utilities didn't seem to be a thing there.

Wasn't Noelle's fault, of course. The poor, frightened little doe had just been lucky enough to be born into that. Though… maybe that wasn't the right way to think about it.

Susie fought her way to her zed bed under the stairwell, on the opposite end of the room to the folding couch that served as her dad's sleeping quarters. The flimsy metal creaked in protest as she set herself down, the beat-up futon sighing as it took her weight. A chill wind blew through the house, whistling through the rotting window sealant, thwarting all attempts to get warm and comfortable under the scratchy, moth-eaten blanket that served as a cover. She tried pulling it across her, but every time she tried, another part of her became exposed to the cruel elements, sending fresh and dreadful chills running through her.

Perhaps she could try breaking into the school, see if Ralsei would let her sleep over in her own room… but she dismissed the idea as soon as she thought of it. Even if she somehow could make it inside the building without tripping any alarms or breaking any windows, she'd sooner be dead than caught admitting anything was wrong. Besides, the prince was likely exhausted from his own time spent with Kris. Last thing he'd want was another of his friends offloading their problems onto him.

Another draught found its way under her bedclothes, shocking her into wakefulness again. Grinding her impressive teeth together, her jaw set firm, she strode over to her father's side of the room, yanked his cover from the sofa and took it over to her end. It stank of stale alcohol, but it was warm. Not like he'd be needing it tonight, anyhow.

Finally, with some semblance of comfort, Susie wriggled her way into an agreeable position, and with glowing amber eyes tracing ethereal shapes in the dark, she thought back on the events of the day, the time spent with her friends.

Noelle greeted her warmly as she left the school. Still frustrated from her recent conversation with Kris, Susie didn't notice her right away, right up until she almost walked directly into her, nearly knocking the much smaller girl off her feet.

'Oh shoot, sorry!' said Susie, reaching out to try and catch her in case she fell. 'Didn't, uh, see you there. Heh.'

'Th… that's okay, Susie,' replied Noelle. 'I, um… guess I should have spoken up.' She looked around and behind the dragon girl. 'Is… Kris not joining us?'

'Nah. Something came up. What about birdbrain?'

'Berdly? Uh, I actually forgot… he's got a shift at the Librarby this afternoon. So I guess it's… just us. Haha.'

'Yeah, guess so,' said Susie. 'So, where do you wanna… you know…'

The two looked at each other, then looked away again. They'd spent time together in the dark world, and had actually grown rather comfortable with each other… but thanks to Susie's quick thinking, Noelle thought most of that had been a dream, so effectively none of that had actually, really happened. Even though it actually, really had. Not for the first time, Susie cursed her big mouth.

'Well, the Librarby seems like an obvious…'

'Can't,' said Susie, a little too quickly. 'Me'n Kris got banned from there for three whole days.'

'B… banned?' Noelle put a hand up to her mouth. 'Whatever did you two…?'

'Nothing, okay?! We just… made… a bit of a… massive racket. Then bird nerd got all uppity, and… yeah.'

The doe seemed almost disappointed. 'Um… okay.'

'We were studying, alright?! 's not my fault if the books are all written in gibberish!'

Noelle nodded, quickly taking this new reality on board. 'Hmm… well, if the Librarby's out… how about the classroom?'

But again, Susie shook her head. 'Temmie's in there. She never forgave me for saying her egg wouldn't hatch. After I went through the trouble of lookin' it up and everything…'

Noelle laughed. 'Susie! Is there… anywhere you haven't… done… anything, recently?'

The taller girl shrugged. 'I'unno. Stuff just seems to happen to me, I guess.'

'Well then,' said her companion slowly, seeming to work something out in her head. 'If there's nowhere else to go… I guess it can't be helped…'

'You have somewhere in mind?'

'S-sort of. I mean… you could… mom's still working, right now, so if it's just for a little while, we could… study at my house…? If… if you wanted…'

Susie's jaw slackened. 'Your place…? But ain't that the…?'

She'd seen it a couple of times on her way to Kris's house, set a ways from the main street behind an austere black gate. Now, Susie didn't take much stock in gates and locked doors. If something was locked up as tight as that, there was bound to be something unbelievably cool on the other side, and that was reason enough to try getting past it. And she wouldn't pretend she hadn't been tempted, once or twice. Even thought up a way she might get over it, one evening, when she was bored and had nothing better to do. But knowing that the mayor lived there, and knowing how stern she could be, had proven enough of a deterrent from this particular quarry.

But it had never, not even once, occurred to her that she might just be… invited in, one day.

'…yeah. I… guess that could be… cool,' she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. 'I mean, if you're sure it's alright…'

Noelle nodded vigorously. 'Um, yeah! Of… of course it is! Totally! Yep!'

'Arright. Cool. Let's go, then, I guess.'

It was that strange, purgatory-like time among Hometown's streets, where kids fresh from school had the run of the place, playing games in the middle of the crossroads, or congregating in the grassy patches at the forest's edge. Susie steadfastly ignored them all, facing straight forward like she had something far more important to be doing with her time. Noelle followed a slight distance behind, seemingly overawed by the imposing presence of the class bully she'd suddenly befriended. She kept her eyes down as she went, blushing quietly to herself. Every now and then, though, her gaze would shift slightly up towards Susie, somehow not quite making it to the back of her head, seeming to look for something…

'Hey, you can, like, walk next to me if you want,' the dragoness grunted, turning her head back to flash a toothy grin at her companion. 's'not like I bite or anything.'

'Th… that's okay!' the deer girl squeaked, standing to attention at once. 'This is… this is good!'

Susie frowned. 'The hell has Kris been telling you about me, anyway…?' Then she just shrugged, and turned to face forward again. 'Well, if that's what you prefer, then…'

She stopped quite suddenly, and Noelle very nearly crashed into the back of her.

'Wait a second,' she said. 'Why the hell am I leading the way to YOUR house?!'

'I… I don't know!' came the bewildered response. 'You just kind of… started walking, and I… you know where I live, don't you? It's the house next to Kris's…'

'THAT'S NOT THE POINT!' barked Susie, and immediately turned around, swinging herself in one surprisingly graceful motion so that she was behind Noelle. 'It's gonna look really bad if people see you trailing behind me, going to YOUR house! It's gonna look like I bullied you into it!'

Noelle blinked. 'I don't see how this solves the issue, Susie… now it just looks like you're… frogmarching me there…'

'I dunno, this just makes more sense, okay?! Now come on already!'

They reached the house fairly quickly after that, Noelle almost powerwalking the whole way out of fright. Susie waited for her to catch her breath, leaning against the wrought iron gates for support. Once she'd recovered, she reached into her pocket for her keys. After a few seconds of rummaging, a curious expression crossed her dainty features.

'Oh, I could have sworn that I…' she muttered to herself, systematically checking her other pockets, before moving onto her satchel. The look on her face slowly morphed into growing horror as each place searched turned up nothing.

'Somethin' the matter?' asked Susie. 'Don't tell me you lost your keys or something…'

'I lost my keys or something!' the doe almost shrieked back. 'Again! Oh no, she's gonna ground me for a month if she finds out…!'

'…grounded for losing your keys…? Jeez, that's a bit extreme.'

But Noelle couldn't hear her – fingers pressed against her temples, eyes screwed shut in concentration mixed with low key despair. '…might have left them in my locker… drop them on the way to class…? …perhaps they're in Lost and Found…' Then her eyes shot open. 'Susie, I've gotta go back and look for them! I'm really sorry, but can we… postpone this, just for today, please?'

Susie looked down at her distraught companion. Poor girl looked like she was about to have a heart attack… a stab of pity hit the dragon in the chest. Guess it really didn't matter how nice everything looked on the outside, did it? Her eyes fell on the nearby tree, its branches hanging just across the top of the spiked bars of the fence. A satisfied little smile crept over her face.

'Nah, I got a better idea,' she said, and reached out for Noelle with both arms, grabbing her firmly around the waist. Her great clawed fingers nearly encircled the smaller girl completely, and yet her grip was surprisingly delicate.

'S-S-Susie!' she yelped, face turning redder and redder by the second. 'Th… this isn't really—!'

The air rushed out of her lungs as she was swept up into the sky. Susie's hands moved quickly, one acting as a platform for Noelle's feet, the other forming a makeshift seat, hoisting the deer up above Susie's head. The muscles in the dragon girl's arms were coiled springs as she gauged distances and trajectories. Her gaze settled on a convenient pile of leaf litter, just on the opposite side of the gate.

'On three, I'll launch you clear over!' she said. 'Just tuck your legs in and you should be good to go!'

'DON'T I GET ANY SAY IN THIS?!'

Susie bent her legs, preparing everything for a clear throw. 'Sorry, but there's one thing you gotta know about me – when I get something between my teeth, I ain't gonna let go for nothin'! Now brace!

'One!

'Two!

'SUSIE CAN WE PLEASE JUST TRY AGAIN TOMORROW—'

'THREE!'

Every muscle in Susie's body uncoiled and extended all at once, launching Noelle into the air like a screaming Christmassy cannonball. Shielding her golden eyes from the sun with one hand, Susie admired the glittering arc her companion described through the sky, as she easily crested the iron barbs with several inches to spare, and descended straight into the soft, loamy pile of leaves on the other side with a rather graceless flump. She grinned to herself, pleased that her experience throwing both Kris and Ralsei at enemies in their adventures had come in so handy here.

Now for the next part of the plan. Susie scrambled over to the nearby tree, easily scaling it despite her size and tread, and leapt from its top over the railings, sticking the landing with an open-armed flourish.

'Hahaha!' she roared, admiring her handiwork. 'What did I tell ya, huh? Was that awesome or what?!'

She looked over towards Noelle, who had just managed to right herself, trying and failing to sweep crinkly leaves out of her sweater and hair. The look she shot Susie could have struck any lesser mortal dead where they stood.

'Have you completely lost your mind?! I could have… what if you'd…'

'Hey, hey,' said Susie, holding her hands up in front of her, trying to laugh it off. 'You didn't. I didn't. Everything worked out, didn't it?'

This did not satisfy Noelle, however. 'That's not the… that could have gone really wrong! What on earth were you thinking?!'

Susie took a step back. It hadn't occurred to her that Noelle would be… angry about this. You'd think she'd be more grateful, considering what cruel fate would have awaited her else… but once that rather weak justification had been tossed aside, it was clear that Noelle was right. Of course she was.

It would have been nice to have Ralsei on hand, just to iron out this awkwardness with some anodyne remark or other. But there was no fluffy boy here to save her this time. She'd have to bite the bullet.

'Noelle, I…' she started, shoulders sagging. 'I… guess I wasn't, really. Thinking, I mean. I just… saw you there, so upset, and I just… wanted to make that… go away. But I guess I messed up.

'…sorry.'

She looked away, shame burning across her face. She really wasn't any good at this, was she? They'd barely spent fifteen minutes together and she'd already nearly seriously hurt Noelle. It wasn't like this in the dark world – there, you didn't really have to try. And if anyone ever did get injured, a few whispered words from Ralsei would have them good as new in no time…

'Hey, Susie…' Noelle's voice carried over to her, soft and clear like a silvery bell. 'Susie… that's… actually really sweet. I'm touched that you… felt that way.'

A petite hand rested gently on her shoulder, weighing no more than a feather, but even that simple gesture seemed to say so much. Susie pushed her discomfort to once side – don't spoil the moment any more than you already have done.

'And… I get it, you know? I mean, I should have expected something like this – I've heard the stories about you, after all!'

'If you heard them,' the dragon grunted, 'then why… are you trying so hard to be my friend…?'

'Because I can see you're not as bad as all that. And Kris seems to think so, too. They wouldn't hang out with… just anyone, y'know?'

That's right… Kris. They were probably living it up in the dark world right now, Ralsei running off his feet to ensure the human was properly cared for. That's what being a friend was, wasn't it? Being… nice. Considerate. Asking before you hurled someone fifteen feet through the air.

'A-anyway,' Noelle went on, and now her voice took on a cheery note, 'you're really… rather cute when you get flustered.'

This snapped Susie out of her funk, and she whipped around at once, baring her teeth.

'No, I'm NOT cute!' she seethed, drawing herself up to her full impressive height. 'What about this looks cute to you, huh?'

'Fahahahaha! Thought that might get you back up!' Noelle said, a devilish look on her face. 'Tell you what – minus the whole 'terrified of dying' thing, I actually found that… really rather exhilarating! I didn't know you were so strong, Susie! The way you just… whoosh! And I was like… woooow!'

Susie opened her mouth, debating about what to say, and then shut it again. Wasn't she supposed to be angry about that a few minutes ago?! And now she was… God, people were weird.

'…though that landing wasn't so… think I sat on my keys when I fell in the leaves…'

Noelle stopped dead. Susie's eyes narrowed, watching as her companion slowly, torturously reached into her back pocket, and pulled out a small set of ornate keys, jingling innocently on their ring.

'…oh,' she said quietly. 'Looks like… I had them all along. Fahaha.'

Susie facepalmed.

It was the most impressive set of stairs she had ever seen. Pristine white marble rose up from the centre of the grand foyer, subdividing into two separate staircases that then looped around the room into an opulent semicircular mezzanine high above their heads. The cold autumn light flooded in through several tall windows and skylights, reflecting off of the brilliant white walls, floors and columns, dazzling Susie with how bright everything was. There were no dark corners permitted in this place, nowhere for the shadows to congregate. It was certainly beautiful, but there was a coldness to the architecture, the monolithic white space with minimal embellishment, that made it seem almost alien. Sterile.

Like a hospital, she thought.

'Nice place,' she said, trying to play it cool. 'Very… uhh…'

Words failed her. Admittedly, words were not Susie's strong points. Even so, the splendour of the scene, so utterly removed from anything she had ever experienced before, left her stunned.

Next to her, Noelle sighed. 'Yep. Home sweet… home.' She turned to look at Susie, who was still struggling to take it all in. 'We'll head straight upstairs, to my room. You can leave your boots in the porch. Please don't touch anything, okay? Mom can't find out I had someone over.'

Susie wrestled with the straps of her boots, yanking them off and placing them as carefully as she could manage. They went up and up, Susie holding onto the austere balustrade to stop herself from slipping on the smooth polished surfaces. Noelle led her through a few long hallways, each of which were almost as bereft of decoration as the entrance had been. Some pictures had been hung up on the walls, but these were mostly old portraits of stuffy dead people and boring pastoral scenes that left Susie cold. They passed a small side table, upon which was placed a single pot containing a large spider plant. It didn't seem particularly pleased to be there, its leaves drooping down over the table's edges, as if trying to escape its confines.

They stopped at the second-to-last door. This too was dazzlingly white, but there was at least a little plaque upon it, very sparsely designed with little boughs of holly and pointy pine trees. Noelle's name was beautifully inscribed upon it in gold cursive, almost too finely to read.

'Go ahead and make yourself, um, comfortable, ok?' she said. 'I'm gonna… go get some snacks. If… you'd like any?'

The mere mention of snacks made Susie's stomach growl loudly, the noise seemingly amplified by the large space. She gave a sheepish grin – well, as sheepish as she could pull off, anyhow.

'I'll take that as a yes, then!' Noelle giggled, and went to get them.

Susie took a turn around the bedroom, trying to make herself as small and light as possible, feeling like a great, clumsy rhinoceros. Everything here seemed so… tiny. A little writing table stood on its own against the far wall, chair neatly tucked away underneath it. There was a slender single-door wardrobe, leaning against a chest of drawers that also doubled as a make-up table. All sorts of powders, lotions and beauty products were neatly arranged upon it in little rows. It didn't look like she used them all that much. The wall behind them was slightly scuffed, where the faint outline of a large oval mirror could still be made out. Tucked away in the far corner sat a little circle of beanbag chairs. Each one had been painstakingly fluffed, so it looked like they'd literally just been put there from new. It was only the small collection of well-worn dollies resting between them that betrayed any indication that a young girl spent any time here.

There was something hanging in the air here, permeating every corner of this magnificent house, and Susie was shocked and saddened to realise that she recognised this atmosphere, because it was exactly the same as back home. Almost as soon as they had walked in, it had taken hold of Noelle, the sparkle in her eyes fading, a little grimace setting in the corner of her mouth. It was subtle, but it was there. Perhaps they should have taken their chances with Berdly. It had to be better than this, surely.

…yeah. Perhaps they should go, and…

The door opened and Noelle came back in, carrying a silvery platter piled high with food. Already salivating at the prospect of eating something, Susie darted over, but her eagerness was quickly dashed when she saw what was being offered her.

'What is… this?' she asked, partly from genuine curiosity, but mostly from disappointment.

The "this" in question was an assortment of perfectly-sliced vegetable batons, arranged artfully around a small segmented bowl filled with various dips. Susie could identify the carrot sticks – what other food was orange coloured, after all? – and the red, hooked slivers were peppers, though she was more used to seeing them on top of a greasy pizza. But the greener sticks completely baffled her. She brought one to eye level, its crescentlike shape and ridged texture intriguing her.

'They're, um, crudités,' said Noelle. 'We've got carrot, celery, cucumber—'

The dragon girl's face broke into a sly smile. 's'that meant to be some kind of insult? I mean, I AM pretty crude, but…'

'No, no! It's French… you dip them like this, see?' And so saying, she took a piece of carrot and dunked it into the light-coloured dip, holding it out. 'Why don't you try it?'

'What's the, uh, paste stuff?'

'…paste stuff…? Oh, that's hummus, Susie! Have you never had it before?'

'…humans?'

'Hummus! It's really good! Go on, have a taste!'

She thrust the dip-covered crudité at Susie like a weapon, who kept swerving away from it as if it was on fire.

'H-hang on,' she said, 'I don't even know if I like that stuff!'

'How will you know unless you try it?'

'Maybe stop waving it at me then!'

'Aww, c'mon Susie! Try it for me?'

'Look, I'm warning you…'

'It won't hurt you. It's good for you! Healthy!'

'You're REALLY not selling me on this stuff!'

'Just take it and I'll leave you alone, ok?'

Noelle was almost in hysterics, watching the much taller girl flinch from her every time she proffered the baton. It was like she was waving a magic wand, making Susie dance to her tune. And watching the looks of manic horror flash across her face was a memory she would treasure for a long, long time. If only the others could see their fearsome bully now – scared of a bit of carrot…!

Then, quite without warning, Susie lunged forward and bit down into it with a clean snap of her jaws. Noelle gave a little yelp, withdrawing her hand at once, left clutching little more than a stump of carrot.

Susie chewed thoughtfully. They had sort of looked like chalk when she saw them, but the carrot was crunchy and rather sweet. As for the hummus… creamy, a little lumpy, but that didn't detract from it. Nice umami flavour. Sort of… nutty. A bit smoky, too. It paired well with the vegetable. Could do with some salt, though.

'M… maybe I'll let you pick your own next time,' Noelle breathed, hand still trembling from the near-miss.

'…okay, yeah,' said the dragoness, nodding her approval. 'That's alright… for healthy food, I mean.'

'Well, f-feel free to help yourself, then, and I'll get everything ready for our study session!'

'…studying?' said Susie though a mouthful of crudités and dip.

'You… didn't forget, did you?'

'I, uh… no…'

The doe chuckled to herself as she dug out her project folder from her satchel. 'Well, it has been quite a day so far, hasn't it…? So I guess it's only natural.' Pretty soon everything was laid out in neat piles on the floor – reference books here, writing equipment there, phone stowed safely up out of reach. Everything in its place.

'Oh wow,' said Susie, admiring the display. 'You really take this seriously, huh?'

'Well, it is important!' said Noelle, nodding in what she hoped was a self-assured manner. '…that's what mom always says.'

'See, plenty of people say that to me, but, well… man, it's all so much hard work! Like this project thing… Kris and I haven't even started yet! We don't even know what the hell we're meant to be doing!'

Noelle thought about it. 'Well, part of the fun is, you get to choose what to write about!'

'Yeah, no offence, but your idea of fun stinks,' said Susie. 'Look, the deal was, they gave homework out, told us what to do, and then we went and forgot about it until the last minute and handed any old crap in!'

Noelle nodded, slowly.

'I didn't say it was a GOOD deal! But at least you knew what they wanted from you! This is… I don't even know WHAT this is!'

She ran her clawed fingers through her unkempt mane, at times furiously scratching at her scalp. She looked like she was about to be sick. Noelle looked on, brimming with concern for her new friend. But then an idea came to her, and she opened her project binder, removed a page from it, and presented it to Susie.

'…the hell's this?' she grunted, taking the slip of paper.

'Oh, well… whenever I start a new assignment, I always… try and lay out the structure of it in a little table, like this. I actually have a template I've photocopied – Kris always struggled with the concept of homework, so I'd always have some to hand. You can have one too, if you like.'

Susie inspected the table. It must have been done on a computer, because the lines were impeccably straight. Each row was filled with a small sentence or two explaining what each section of the project would be about, and how it would interlink with the remaining sections. Noelle's handwriting was so neat and delicate, like fine lace that had been imprinted onto the page. It was beautiful to follow the lines, even if the dragoness couldn't fully understand all the words they spelt.

She'd have to get Kris to fill this in for her. Their scrawl was so tiny that even a spider would have trouble deciphering it. But at least they'd be able to get it all in these tiny cells.

'Uhh, thanks,' she said, shooting Noelle a weak little grin. 'That's… really thoughtful. Musta gone to a lot of trouble to do that…'

The doe just smiled sweetly. 'Oh, not at all! I'm just glad I can be of help!'

'That so?' said Susie. 'Well, uh… could you maybe… just go through this with me quickly? Like, explain how you went about it, and stuff.'

'Yeah, I can do that!' Noelle replied, and scootched up next to her. Pointing to each section of the table, she went through how to structure an essay, beginning with the introduction, stating the argument to be made, and moving through each paragraph to reinforce that assertion. Every now and then Susie would ask a follow-up question, and Noelle would do her best to answer in a way her companion could grasp. They went through the entire table like this, snacking on crudités and conversing in low tones about where it would be best to include this or that reference, or what this or that word meant, and how it could be used in a sentence.

And slowly, by degrees, Susie began to get a clearer idea of what the group project would entail, and how she could go about starting it. More than that, however, she began to comprehend just how cosy it was, being here with someone who took so much time and care to make sure she was alright. She was acutely aware of Noelle leaning gently against her arm, the little movements she would make as she leaned over to explain something, or reached for another stick of cucumber or pepper. The way her jumper smelt ever so faintly of tinsel, the way she would flip her golden hair back over her ear with her slender fingers, the way she'd bite her lip while she was thinking of what to say next…

'…could get Kris and Berdly to join us for a group study session one day, if you like?'

Susie shook her head. Noelle was looking at her expectantly, waiting for some sort of response. The dragoness looked down at her, trying to figure out what she was meant to say. Noelle looked back, with a growing expression of awe and fright, as it just began to dawn on her how close together they were.

'S… Susie…' she stammered.

'Uhh… I didn't catch that, sorry,'

Noelle blinked. Then she hit Susie playfully with the sleeve of her jumper.

'Susie! Were you listening to anything I was saying?!'

The dragon girl looked indignant. 'Hey, I WAS listening, okay? I just… uhh, zoned out for a sec. This studying crap's hard, alright?!'

'Oh… was I… going too fast? Or didn't I explain things clearly enough…?'

'No! No, you…' Susie hesitated a split second. 'You were brilliant. You explained everything so clearly, in a way that I just… got. And that's… that's never happened before. The teachers would either just yell at me, or talk down to me about it. No-one's ever just… gone through stuff with me, like this, before.'

'Aww, Susie…' said Noelle, a shy little smile creeping over her. 'Th… thanks. I'm glad you found it helpful…'

Susie nodded. 'Yeah. But, well. It was kinda… fun, too. Y'know… for homework.'

Noelle's smile widened. 'Y… yeah. I… enjoyed it, too.'

Susie smiled back. 'Yeah. But, see…'

She got to her feet and crossed over to where the beanbag chairs were, grabbing one with both hands and raising it above her head.

'Um… what are you doing, Susie…?' asked Noelle.

The dragon girl's grin widened, and her teeth seemed to get sharper. 'You hit me, just there, remember?'

'S-S-Susie, that was j-just a…'

'Heh. Well, if you think you're gonna get away with that, you've got another thing coming…!'

She drew her arms back, and Noelle gave a little shriek as she realised, too late, what was about to happen.

'No WAIT SUSIE—!'

WHUMP.

The beanbag hit her square in the face, bowling the poor girl over. Susie gave a victorious cackle, grabbing another beanbag.

'How'd'ya like that, huh?' she gloated.

Noelle struggled to her feet. 'Gosh, Susie, that was pretty mean of you! I was just trying to help…'

Susie froze, realising that she had probably done it again. Noelle didn't look too happy, and she really HAD just been trying to help. Wow, she really was bad at this whole friend thing, huh…?

So when Noelle lunged forward, swinging the beanbag over her head like a mace, Susie had no time to dodge or defend against the impending counterstrike.

WHUMP!

She tumbled backwards, into the pile of remaining beanbags and dollies. Noelle towered over her, doubled over in raucous laughter.

'Fahaha, I got you good, didn't I?!' she said. 'You should've seen the look on… your… face…'

Now Susie was getting up again, one beanbag chair in each clawed hand, eyes narrowed, cocky smile plastered over her face. 'Ohh-hoho… so you DO have some fight in ya! Pretty sneaky trick you pulled there, but that won't work a second time…!'

'M… m… mercy…?' Noelle squeaked.

'Oh, I'm afraid we're WELL past that!'

She fell upon Noelle like a thunderstorm, raining down blow after blow. Shrieking with laughter that was half born of fright and excitement, the deer girl set upon Susie with her own weapons, getting a few good strikes to the body and face. But the dragoness was relentless, a veritable force of nature that shrugged off anything that came her way, and pretty soon she had Noelle cornered.

'Any… any last words?' said Susie.

'Just this,' Noelle shot back, grinning from ear to ear. 'You… you hit like a girl…!'

'Oh, that does it! I was goin' easy on you, but NOW you're gonna get it—'

WHUMP!

Noelle's ambush caught the taller girl off-guard for just a split second, but it was plenty of time for her to launch into one last, desperate flurry, hurling beanbag after beanbag at Susie, forcing her back into the middle of the room. Just then, Susie's foot caught a stray slip of paper from their earlier studying, and she fell backwards onto the carpet. Seizing her one and only chance, Noelle fell upon her, the two girls screaming and giggling as they vied for whatever counted for victory in this strange, exhilarating contest.

'Okay, okay!' said Susie at last, half-submerged in soft furnishings, project notes and errant dollies. 'You got me! I give up!'

Noelle looked down on her, arm frozen mid-way through another blow, panting for breath. 'Wait… y-you mean I… won?'

'YES! You win, okay?! Now get off me!'

Hearing this, Noelle leapt to her feet, arms raised over her head. 'YEEEAH! I won! I actually beat Susie!' Then she leaned over, pointing squarely at the defeated dragon. 'In your face! Fahahaha!'

Susie snorted, but was also smiling despite herself. 'Yeah, yeah, don't get a big head. I'll win the rematch, you wait and—'

Whump.

'…hey, the hell was that for?! You won already!'

'THAT,' said Noelle, 'was for throwing me over my fence earlier!'

'Yeah, well,' said Susie, rising to her feet, 'I wouldn't have hadta done that if you remembered your keys were in your back pocket, now would I? A… and anyway! I thought you… liked that.'

The doe giggled again. 'It was… quite the rush, yes. Maybe I should "forget" my keys more often!'

'Hahaha! And people call ME crazy! You're a real dark horse, you know that?'

'I… guess I just like what I like,' Noelle replied. 'But man! I don't remember the last time I had so much FUN! Feels like forever since I've just been able to goof off like this.'

'Hey, don't knock it,' said Susie. 'Everyone needs to blow off steam sometime, right?'

'I guess you're right… It's just… well…'

There was that look again – the crack in her cheery façade, the deep sigh, as the real world started to come pouring back in, threatening to drown her again. Susie looked around, desperate to find some way to stem the tide.

'…whoa,' she said, 'we, uh, did a real number on this place, huh?'

'Huh…?' said Noelle, casting her eyes over the once-pristine room and seeing the carnage they had both wrought. 'Oh… oh no! If mom sees this, she's gonna flip…! I gotta sort this out right away—'

'Hey, let me help out,' said Susie, gathering up several crumpled beanbag chairs in her arms. 'I mean, this is kinda my fault anyway, so… I'd feel bad if you got into trouble on my account.'

'No, there's no need! I-I can…'

'Noelle,' said Susie, 'it's cool. I don't mind. Besides, two hands are better than one, right?'

She set the plush seats down in their rightful corner, and attempted to get them back to how they were before.

'Let me,' said Noelle, taking one from Susie's hands and fluffed them back up with a practiced ease. 'You can stack the papers on the desk if you want.'

'Uh, sure.'

The two of them set to work tidying, not saying too much, but each taking a little comfort from the other's presence. Before very long, they had things almost back to the way they were before. In a way, it was a little sad, though Susie. Though the room had been a sty, it had also, just for that moment, felt like an actual lived-in space, somewhere that someone could actually spend time in, rather than a flawless showroom. She thought back to her own house, wondering for just a brief moment what it would look like if someone actually did something to it.

'Say, Noelle,' she said, curiosity gnawing away at her. 'When… was the last time you had anyone over…? Like this, I mean.'

She didn't respond at first, and Susie worried that she may have offended her or something. But then she said, 'I… don't really remember. Probably… I think it must have been Kris. Back when we were…'

'Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing you two hang out. But that was, like, years ago, wasn't it…?'

'Yeah… they were always playing little jokes on me and stuff. But they could be nice, too! Trouble is, no-one else really saw it that way, I don't think.'

Susie hummed thoughtfully. That… didn't really sound like the Kris she knew. She knew they had a brother, but he'd gone to college… perhaps their personality had changed when that happened? She supposed it wasn't THAT strange, really. People could change. Hell, she was living proof of that, right?

'Thing is, I sort of… miss those days,' Noelle went on. 'When we'd all go on adventures in the woods, or stay up past our bedtime watching scary movies… now, it's all, "study, study, study"… and all I've got to talk to about it with is dad and… well, Berdly.'

Susie pretended to retch, which made the doe fall about giggling again. 'God, wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.'

'Haha… well, there's nothing really… wrong with him. He's just a bit obnoxious, that's all.'

'Just a bit, huh?'

'…yeah, okay, he's REALLY obnoxious! But he means well.'

'Hmm. Can't say I see it. Oh well.'

'Say…' said Noelle, 'since we're on the subject… does Kris seem… okay, to you?'

A sudden chill seemed to permeate the room with those words, and Susie couldn't suppress a worried shiver.

'Hey, what?' she asked. 'Wh… what do you mean by that…?'

'…I don't really know, myself. But ever since that day, when they went to get more chalk with you… I can't shake the feeling that they're somehow… not themself, anymore. Like, they've suddenly become REALLY talkative. They came to visit my dad in hospital… and they've never done anything like that before.'

'I dunno,' said Susie. 'I… didn't really know them all that well, before then. Are… are you sure you're not just…?'

'I thought I might be, but I'm not the only one who's noticed it. I've overheard several of our classmates, and even Ms. Alphys, comment on their recent behaviour. It's like… I dunno, this sounds crazy… but, well… it's like they, somehow… forgot everything about themself. Asking about things they should know all about. Stuff like that.'

'Oh crap,' said Susie, 'you don't think they've got memory loss or something…?'

Noelle gave a sad little sigh. 'I really… don't know. But I can't shake this feeling that something's… really wrong. With them.'

Susie thought back to the past three days, Kris's sudden descent into sullen silence. It had taken multiple tries to crack their shell open, and just when she thought she'd succeeded, down would come another barrier. That's why she'd turned to Ralsei. If anyone could fix this, bring Kris back to the way they were… it'd be him.

And if he couldn't do it…

'I'll… try and have a talk with them, when I see them next,' she said. 'I… can't promise I'll find anything. But I'll try. And I'll let you know if I learn something. Okay?'

'Thanks, Susie. That'd mean a lot to me.'

'Anything for a friend, right?'

Noelle gave her a smile. 'You know… you're actually really nice. Everyone's got you all wrong.'

The dragoness snorted. 'I, uh… wouldn't be so sure about that.'

'Well, from what I can see, you're a really good friend. You care a lot about Kris, I can see that. And I hope it's not too premature to say that… well, I consider you a good friend, too.'

Susie looked away, scratching the back of her neck with one claw. 'Haha, well… thanks. 's'nice to hear that. And, uhh… you too.'

'Th… thanks!'

For a moment they stood there, not looking at each other, wondering where on earth they could go from here. But just then, the decision was taken out of their hands when Noelle's phone pinged. She went to inspect it.

'Mom's on her way back,' she said. 'We better get you out of here before she…'

'Oh, uh, sure thing.'

They retraced their steps back outside, to the imposing front gate leading out into the rest of Hometown. The sun had almost completely dipped beneath the low houses, casting gloomy shadows everywhere. Just how long had they spent together…?

'Well, see ya,' said Susie.

'Susie, wait!' said Noelle behind her.

'Huh?'

Before she could even turn around, she felt a light pressure on her back, and willowy arms snake around her waist. Susie inhaled sharply – she wasn't so good on the touchy-feeling end of things. But this was Noelle. Small, harmless Noelle. Though you could also add devious, thrill-seeking, smart, kind, and numerous other adjectives to that list.

In fact, better to get rid of the adjectives entirely.

'Hey, what's all this for now?' she asked, resisting the urge to squirm free with every fibre of her being.

'Just to say, thanks for today.' Noelle's voice was muffled from her face being buried in Susie's wild hair. 'I had so much fun. I hope we can… do it again, sometime.'

The dragon girl closed her eyes, willing herself not to shed a tear. '…yeah. Me too.'

And then she was gone, the gate closed with a crash. For several seconds, Noelle stood there, looking out at the street. The rest of the world was out there, if only she could muster up the courage to reach out and grab it. But perhaps, with Susie and Kris by her side, that dream wouldn't be quite as far-fetched as it once seemed.

…wait a minute.

'WAIT NO I FORGOT TO ASK HER TO THE FESTIVAL!'

Susie awoke with a start, her head immediately turning to the beat-up sofabed. No… it was still unoccupied. He'd be gone until tomorrow afternoon at the very least.

Lying there half-awake, she wondered if she hadn't just… dreamed all of that. Certainly, thinking about it now, it didn't seem real. Like, throwing Noelle over a fifteen foot iron fence? The beanbag chair fight? STUDYING?! Come on, that kind of stuff didn't happen. Not to her.

But… well, it had happened. Just as surely as the stuff in the dark world had happened. She knew it to be true then, and so it was true. And that was all she needed.

She wanted more days like this one. More days just… goofing off, with friends. Studying together, getting into all sorts of mischief, eating good food and laughing at the absurdity of everything. That was what normal people did, wasn't it? People with friends. Susie had never wanted to be normal more than she did in that very moment. She didn't realise that normal could be so sweet.

So, she'd just have to get better at it. And she knew just who she'd ask to help her with that.

Author's Note:

So, here's the follow up to Eager to Serve. Hope you folks enjoyed it!

I didn't really intend for this to be quite so long as it turned out, but these little scenes with Susie and Noelle seem to just… write themselves, sometimes! Even I'm a little amazed by how much material I was able to wring from such a simple premise. Hopefully it didn't drag on too long.

You may or may not have noticed, but this has now become an ongoing series called How to Be a Friend, which will focus primarily on cute character interactions, with the promise of some budding romances – you know, in case the premise wasn't tooth-rottingly sweet enough for you. Might as well nail my colours to the mast now, it'll mainly be centred on Kralsei and Suselle. So, yay if you're into that.

But for those who aren't so keen on either of those pairings, I'll also be working on a Krusie fic in tandem with this one, called Through Shattered Glass. The first chapter should be up by the time you read this, so go check that out if that's more your speed.

And of course, thank you all for continuing to read my works! Let me know if you like them :)