Note: FanFiction doesn't support Strikethrough, so I've marked crossings-out with square brackets followed by dashes (e.g. [-TEXT-]). This is just to preserve fidelity between this version and the AO3 version, doesn't really affect anything in the story proper. Anyway, enjoy!
Another note: apparently Fanfiction also won't let me put in heart emojis (smaller-than-three) either, so... um, you'll just have to use your imagination I guess? Again, doesn't affect the story in any meaningful way, it's just annoying. Sorry about that!
Group Study
'He likes you, you know,' said Susie.
Kris tapped away at their phone, giving every indication that they hadn't heard her.
The dragon girl cleared her throat. 'I SAID, he likes—'
'I heard,' said the human quietly, not looking away from their screen.
'…and?'
'Hm.'
They were waiting for Berdly and Noelle to arrive at the Librarby so they could begin their arranged group study session. It had been Noelle's suggestion, seeing as they had missed their prior engagement (thanks to them falling into a certain Dark Fountain), but surprisingly, Susie had been rather eager to take her up on that offer. Something that the others had found a little… strange, given her usual reaction to such things.
'The hell are you doing, anyway?' she growled.
'…research.'
Susie grunted. She might not have been the brightest crayon in the art set, but even she knew that most research didn't generally involve swiping at the screen quite as frantically as Kris was doing.
'Seems pretty intense,' she observed dryly.
'It is.'
'Cool. Cool.'
She leaned over them, trying to get a glimpse at their screen. Kris veered away, determined not to let her see.
'…you know the smaller ones are worth more—'
'I know,' said Kris, their irritation spiking.
'Hey. Just sayin'.'
'Yes, thank you Susie… ah, dammit.'
They slumped into the back of their chair, offhandedly tossing the device onto the messy stack of papers on the desk in front of them.
Susie gave a mocking wince. 'Ooh, so close to high score.'
'Would've got it if you didn't keep talking.'
'Yeah, well. Ballsy move playing Cantaloupe Shinobi when you're meant to be studying. With BERDLY.'
Kris frowned. 'He's not here right now.'
'No, but you know what he's like.'
Thinking back to the dark world, and having to deal with the obstinate, self-satisfied avian who'd also acquired the power to launch tornados and fire sine waves from a magically-conjured halberd, Kris nodded. Yes, they certainly did.
'So anyway…' said Susie, eager to shift the conversation back to something non-study related. 'Any… thoughts on what I said earlier?'
'About what?'
'About him liking you.'
'Who… Berdly?'
'NO, NOT BERDLY!' she seethed. 'I'm talking about Ralsei, you moron!'
'Oh. Okay.'
Susie waited for Kris to elaborate. She waited fifteen seconds, and then lost patience.
'…that it?'
'…Susie, what do you want me to do with this information exactly?'
'I'unno, maybe go see him sometime? It's been nearly a week since you were there last.'
'Yeah, well, I've been busy.'
'Pfft, no you haven't. You just don't want to go back because of what happened with the chocolate.'
Kris didn't react to this. Not outwardly, at least.
'…so he told you then.'
The dragoness nodded. 'Yup. And you know why he did that?'
'…I had guessed.'
'Well, look. Poor kid's in bits over it. Thinks you hate him or somethin'.'
The human looked incredulous. 'I don't… when did I give that impression?'
'Well, maybe not going to see him for a week might make him think that,' she shot back. 'I've been covering your ass as long as I could, but he's not stupid.'
Kris just shrugged.
'You have to go back,' she said. 'You can't leave things like this, it's not fair on him. And what if another fountain opens up, and you're still being all weird about it?'
'Weird, huh.'
They smiled a strange little smile. In a way, that would make things much simpler to deal with. The SOUL would take command, do what it needed to do (hopefully), and clear the air between them and Ralsei in the process. They didn't exactly like the thought of having their body yanked from them again, but if it was going to HAVE to happen anyway…
Yeah. Just keep stringing him along, why don't you.
'Well… weirder than normal, anyway,' Susie finished.
This did raise a genuine chuckle from them.
'Ah. It would seem the Slow Brigade has arrived before us, Noelle.'
Susie's good-natured grin cracked into a grimace at once. She could actually hear the Capital Letters in that smarmy voice drop on them like lead weights. Just like that, the good part of the day was over.
'Well met, Kris,' said Berdly as he drew up a chair. '…Susan.'
'Call me that again, and we'll be VERY well met indeed,' she growled.
He raised a feathered hand to her feebly. 'Message received.'
'Hiya Kris!' called Noelle from across the librarby. 'Hey, Susie! N-nice to see you again!'
Susie looked up at her to smile. It took her a second to take in, but something seemed… had she put on lipstick? That HAD to be blue eyeshadow, didn't it? And she definitely never wore her hair up in a ponytail like that. It was rather striking to see the class wallflower undergo such a transformation. Surely she didn't go to all that trouble… just for a study session…?
'Ah, Noelle. Please do not disturb the sanctity of this space with your jubilant outbursts,' said Berdly.
Susie shot him a glare. 'Don't be a narc, man.'
'Y-yeah, don't be narcing, Berdly!' the doe giggled.
'H-hey! Somebody's got to hold up the rules, you know!' he said. 'Kris, you agree, don't you?'
The human looked up from their phone. 'I agree with whatever Susie just said.'
'B-but you weren't even paying attention to— everyone, stop sidetracking us! We're here for a VERY important purpose, so let's keep the funny stuff to a minimum, okay?'
'Shouldn't be hard for you,' muttered the dragoness.
If Berdly heard this, he didn't show it. 'Now, to business. I trust everyone brought their weapons… err, I mean, pencils.'
'I… I did bring, um, spares,' offered Noelle. 'If anyone needed them… Kris?'
Kris held up their pencil for her to see, indicating there was no need.
'Wow, managed to keep hold of this one, huh?' said Susie.
Well, when it doubled as your primary weapon while in the Dark World, you quickly became a lot more appreciative of the things. Though, they would have to try and stop chewing on the end. Probably didn't affect the integrity of the resulting sword, but you couldn't be too careful.
'Wonders shall never cease, hm?' said Berdly, casting a conspiratorial grin at Susie. She ignored him, and he spent the next few seconds trying to brush it off, not quite succeeding. '…well then! Noelle, I believe we got up to page seventy-two of the reference text, if you'd be so kind…'
'O-of course!' she said, opening up the hefty-looking tome in front of her, leafing through its dusty pages with a thoughtful expression on her face. 'Here we go, it was just here…'
'Most excellent,' said the bluebird, already making a show of fastidiously scribbling down notes.
Opposite them, Susie snorted, and turned to Kris. 'You got the books, nerd?'
They levelled her with a deadpan expression. 'Susie, YOU were supposed to bring the books. I've been drafting the outline.'
'Uh, no? Pretty sure you were on book duty, dude.'
'I literally can't. They won't let me take books out of here, not since… err…'
They looked away, suddenly seeming uncharacteristically bashful. '…anyway. We agreed this over the weekend. I do the outline, you get the books. Did you… forget?'
'I, uh… NO,' she lied.
Kris sighed and got up out of their seat. 'I'll get them, then. Since we're here.'
'Not so loud, please,' chided Berdly as they passed by. 'I don't want to have to exercise my authority over you two again,' he went on, sounding for all the world that he'd love nothing more than to do exactly that.
'Oh, I'll exercise somethin' in a minute,' the dragon girl rumbled.
'What was that?'
'Nothin'. Just clearing my throat.'
'Right. Good. Just… try and remember where you are.'
Susie flashed him the most terrifying smile she could manage, and he quickly returned to his notes. Well, that took care of one problem.
Now. There was just the little issue of the girl sat opposite her. Face buried in her textbook, eyes intently scanning the pages, completely absorbed in the task set before her… Susie's heart gave a little thump in her ribs – damn. Even when she was doing nerd stuff, she looked really… pretty.
No, ESPECIALLY when she was doing nerd stuff…
…ugh, concentrating on schoolwork was already stupid difficult, and now she had THIS to contend with? Truly, life was out to get her. She made a tent with her hands, blocking Noelle from view and trying to at least pretend to study the scant notes she and Kris had drawn up in preparation for today.
Said notes read thusly:
"A Study On [-BEANING NERDS-] Determenation
A Project By
Kris Dreemurr
And
[-SUZ-]
[-SUSS-]
[-GODDAMNIT SPELLING SUCKS!-]
Susie"
…yeah, Kris had come up with the title. Something about something Queen had said, apparently. Susie didn't really know what it was or what it meant, but it sounded smart, so that as good as decided the matter.
…god, this was really gonna SUCK.
She peeped through her fingers at Noelle again. She was still going at it – how did her eyes not fall out from how fast they were moving across the page?! Susie still couldn't quite believe the lengths the deer girl had gone to for the day. I mean, who was she trying to impress with all that getup? …Kris? They had been childhood friends, after all – perhaps she wanted to… reconnect with them?
God forbid, she wasn't dressed up like that for BERDLY?!
But… well, it was nice to look at her. The smoky blue eyeshadow complimented her blonde hair perfectly, and the ponytail lent her a somewhat studious air, but also… sort-of sporty? Something between those two, definitely. Whatever, it looked good!
Ralsei's words rang in her ears; Nothing says you appreciate someone like a good compliment! It shows attentiveness and appreciation to that person, so it's a good way to endear yourself to someone you'd like to get to know better! Also I'm a gigantic fluffy dweeb and Susie is the coolest'
Hahaha, that'd teach the little puffball to be all adorable and crap.
…ah, what the hell. Susie didn't get where she was by faltering, now did she? Here was a big pit, and she'd be damned if she wasn't gonna dive headfirst straight into it. So, as quietly as she could, she tore out a corner of her exercise book, keeping one eye on both Noelle and Berdly to make sure they couldn't see what she was up to, and then, in the neatest handwriting she could manage, scrawled out the following sentence:
You're hair is nice
I Liek it
She considered signing it with her name, but at that point she'd be there all day. So, picking her moment, Susie slipped the note into the next page of Noelle's textbook. And no sooner had she done that than she wanted to take it back, chew it up, spit it out, set fire to it and stamp on its soggy, ashen remains.
…maybe she wouldn't find it… ah, she was definitely gonna find it… crap, why was this so freaking scary?! At this point, Susie'd have happily gone up against King and Queen at the same time, rather than be here now. Hell, give her the Roaring any day over this, please! At least you could DO something about those problems!
Noelle leafed over to the next page, and Susie saw her gaze stop dead, right where the note would be. Then, without uttering a single noise, she propped the book up on its end, completely obscuring her from view.
Susie almost groaned aloud from mortification, sinking back into her chair, perhaps hoping the felt back would somehow envelop and swallow her up. What the hell was taking Kris so goddamn long back there?! Just grab any old books and come back here already!
…maybe she could make a run for it. She could be halfway home before anyone realised, and it's not like they'd miss her anyway, was it…?
It was while Susie was debating these life-or-death decisions that a small, neatly-folded slip of paper was pushed towards her from under Noelle's propped-up tome. She eyed it warily, as if it might rear up and bite her.
Was this… no, it couldn't be…
She slid it towards her, before snatching it up in both claws and fumbling to open it. It took a minute for her to decipher the neatly swooping handwriting, written in silvery gel pen:
Thanks! I like youR HAIR too!
3
Well, that was… unexpected.
…not unpleasant, though.
She read the note again. And then a third time, just to make absolutely sure she wasn't misreading it. Each time, her dopey grin got a little wider, and the colour in her cheeks flushed a little deeper.
'You seem rather happy about something, Susie,' said Kris as they plonked themself back into their corner seat, slamming down several hefty books in front of her. They looked like they hadn't been touched in years, never mind read – seriously, the dust jackets were almost completely covered in… well, dust. And they all had really long-winded names too, written by long-dead nerds with handlebar moustaches and double-barrelled surnames…
'Sorry, this was all they had,' said Kris. 'Someone hid them all up on the top floor for some reason.'
'Uh yeah well why'dya think I didn't get them,' the dragon girl blurted out. 'I mean if they're gonna hide books from us paying customers then of course I ain't gonna find them you know.'
The human gave her a concerned look. 'You alright, Susie?' Then they smiled just a little bit. 'Oh wait, I know what this is.'
'Ihavenoideawhatyou'retalkingaboutKRIS…'
'You're…'
'OhmyGodshutUPKRIS'
'…allergic to studying, aren't you?'
Susie's rictus grin became a notch more frantic. She breathed in deeply through her nostrils, and then exhaled loudly.
'Why yes, Kris,' she said quietly. 'I'm very, VERY allergic to studying. And d'ya know what ELSE I'm allergic to?'
Their own smile didn't shift. 'Couldn't possibly guess.'
For a second, it looked like she was about to thump them, or flip the entire table over. But instead, she just clenched her claw into a tight fist, crushing the pencil she was holding into little more than wood and graphite shards.
'Just… pack it in, will ya?' she said. 'Let's just… get this over with already.'
'Noelle, we need another pencil here,' said Kris.
The doe lowered her book, giving the human a withering look. 'Seriously, Kris? You just had one, how did you lose it so gosh-darn quickly…?'
'Not for me this time,' they replied, pointing to Susie.
'Huh wha—?'
Susie looked at Noelle blankly for a few moments, then hurriedly glanced at the ruined pencil in her hand.
'Y-yeah,' she said. 'Just… gripped it too tight. Y'know? Just… love studying too much, I guess.'
Kris just laughed quietly in the corner. Damned little snot, thought they were being funny, did they? Like they REALLY knew what was going on… or even cared. Hell, they couldn't see what was staring them right in the face…
Something tapped her gently on the shoulder, and she looked around to see Noelle holding out another pencil for her, smiling her sweet little smile. Tentatively, the dragoness reached out and took it, inspected it, felt a strange little wave of nostalgia wash over her. Of course it had to be a candy cane one, didn't it…
'Try not to, um, crush this one, okay Susie?' Noelle giggled. 'Or… eat it.'
'Pssh, yeah, like I'd even…'
…wait a second. That was what she'd told Noelle, back in the Cyber dark world… Susie glanced over at the computer room door, still barricaded off while the "stolen" equipment was being replaced. Then she looked back at Noelle again.
She… still thought that was a dream… right…?
'…uhh, thanks,' she said, shooting the doe a feeble smile. 'I… won't.'
Maybe later, she thought to herself, wondering if it would taste any better dipped in tea…
The four of them settled into a quiet routine after that. Susie was on quote-finding duty, while Kris sketched together a rough plan for what their essay would say. She wouldn't pretend this was fun or interesting, but… her glance drifted towards Noelle's little note every now and then. Well, it could be worse, couldn't it?
She wanted to write another one. She wanted to get another one back. But with Kris and Berdly so close by, the former in a pretty mischievous mood and the latter being… well, Berdly, she couldn't risk it right now. But it might be too late if she waited until later…
Okay, cool your jets, Susie. No-one's going anywhere just now. And another chance will come. Just be patient. Be cool. She drummed her fingers on the table, claws making a sharp tapping sound against the plastic, her eyes slipping repeatedly off the page she was on, back to that silvery handwriting, the looping little heart…
'Susan, could you not practice your percussion on the table please?' Berdly called out.
Susie looked up at him. Oh, it would almost be too easy, she had so many options for taking him down a perch. And all of them would make Noelle laugh too, and that'd be nice. But to her surprise, she found her heart wasn't really in it just now. It didn't seem right, somehow.
'Uh, sure. Sorry. Didn't realise.'
'There's no need to be so belligerent…'
Berdly's sentence died in his throat as he did a small double-take, beak hanging open like one of those stupid cuckoos you sometimes got in clocks. The ones that… boinged out on a spring, made a dumb noise, and then disappeared. It would have been utterly hilarious in any other context.
'…something on my face or summat?' she asked.
'Uh, n-no… just… thanks. Didn't think you'd… actually listen.'
Again, it would have been so easy! It was RIGHT THERE, god dammit! Urrgh, maybe she was ill or something. Her stomach did feel a little churny, actually… must be putting her off her game. Yeah, that was it for sure.
Definitely.
'…don't worry about it, man,' she replied, trying to be offhand about it.
Back to studying, then. Quotes. What was it Kris said? Look for key words – long ones, she supposed that meant. Look for something that makes a definitive statement in support of your argument. Would help if she knew what the damned argument was. She didn't know it was going to be this hard when she agreed to it – she thought she'd ace this, she was really good at arguing, after all…
Another slip of paper slid under Noelle's book towards her. Making sure the others weren't looking, Susie picked it up and read it to herself, trying to stop her mouth forming that stupid smile again…
That was a very nice thing you did, Susie!
Are you feeling okay?
Fahahaha! ;)
…well, how about that. Deer girl had guts, that was for sure. People had been thrashed for much less than that, after all. And perhaps coming from anyone else, she would have considered it a taunt or insult… or in Kris's case, a very poorly-thought out prank. But… well, you couldn't help but admire the boldness, especially coming from someone as timid as Noelle…
…but was that right, really? The same "timid" Noelle who stood up to Queen when all other options had failed? The same frightened doe who admitted enjoying scary movies and thought being thrown over her own fence was thrilling? No… Susie had dismissed those moments as flashes-in-the-pan, exceptional courage brought about through exceptional circumstances. But it was just the opposite. All they had done was bring the true Noelle to the fore, drawing her out of her prison of frailty and self-insignificance.
And just like that, Noelle underwent another metamorphosis in her eyes. Now it made sense. Now Susie could see that it had always been there, burning quietly beneath the surface. The desire to break free from her own shackles, to reach out and embrace the world and everything it had to offer her…
…it was that very same fire that had drawn the dragoness to her in the first place.
'…quotes, Susie?'
'Hu-wha…?'
She looked over at Kris, who was gesturing towards the notebook under her folded arms.
'Did you find any, then?' they asked.
It took her a moment to remember what she was supposed to be doing. '…quo… uhh, yeah! Got LOADS of 'em. Quotes for days. Better get a move on with that outline, hadn't you?'
'I've finished it.'
Susie balked. 'N… no you haven't.'
'…pretty sure I have.'
'Pssh, lemme see that…'
She grabbed the papers on Kris's desk. 'Introduction… paragraph 1… define the term, where does it come from… blah, blah, blah… what does that even say… man, your handwriting's the worst, Kris!'
They shrugged. 'It's just notes. We'll type them up on my computer afterward.'
She skimmed the rest of their godawful scrawl… yup. They'd come up with a comprehensive, paragraph-by-paragraph plan for the essay… questionable legibility aside. But… how?
'You… wrote all this in like five minutes?' she said, disbelievingly.
Kris gave her a cryptic smirk. 'You think it's been five minutes…?'
'…well, hasn't it…?'
They said nothing, but reached out across her to point at the clock on the far wall. It took her a second, but when she'd worked it out, her jaw almost hit the desktop.
No way it had been forty-eight minutes…!
She looked down at her notes… which consisted of nothing more than stupid doodles, crossed-out swear words, and what looked like several failed attempts to replicate a swooping heart shape… out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kris's grin widen.
Cocky little runt…
Ugh… maybe she could cram the damn thing in her mouth – that had gotten her out of a couple assignment deadlines in the past, if only because Ms. Alphys was too terrified by the spectacle to make any further inquiries about it. Ah, but it wasn't just about her this time, was it? Kris had been counting on her to get those quotes – why, she'd never understand, but it had been… nice to feel important. Trusted with something.
There again… wasn't her fault Noelle had distracted her with those notes… all two of them, and, uh… stuff.
Well… nothin' for it. Time to start damage control.
'Uhhh…' she said, making a show of studying her notes, comparing them to the unintelligible scribbles that Kris called handwriting. 'Well, uh… that sucks, cause the quotes I got ain't… yeah, they ain't gonna work with this outline.'
The human raised an eyebrow at her. '…really? Not one?'
'Nope they're all bad,' said Susie, now hitting her stride. 'You know, maybe if we had done the outline TOGETHER, and then looked for quotes TOGETHER… maybe we'd have something we could work with.'
Kris leaned forward, casting a suspicious eye over her. '…can I see them?'
'Uh, NO.'
'Why not?'
'Because I… uhh, already crossed 'em out.'
'I didn't see you doing it.'
'Yeah, WELL, I can wield a pencil so fast you can't see it movin'. Y'know, like one of them shaolin monks or some crap.'
Kris nodded. 'Oh, that's cool. Well, guess we'll have to start over, then.'
They leaned back in their chair, idly blowing strands of brown hair out of their face, twirling their pencil between their fingers.
'You're, uh, takin' this a lot better than I expected,' said Susie.
They just shrugged. 'Well, if they're no good, they're no good, right? So, guess there's no point me checking, is there?'
'Uhh, right. Yeah. Glad we're on the same page there—'
Kris lunged across to snatch the notebook from Susie's claws, grabbing the free corner and trying to pull it towards them. But she wasn't going to let it go without a fight.
'God DAMNIT Kris!' she snarled, yanking it out of their frail human grip and holding it away from them.
'Give it here!' said Kris, leaning across towards her, standing on their chair to reach further. 'Just show me what you've done, I won't be mad!'
'I TOLD you, it's all rubbish!' she snarled back, holding their head down with her free hand.
'Come on Susie, don't make a scene!'
'YOU'RE the one makin' a scene here, runt…!'
'Let me see, then I'll stop!'
'Would you two please cease your asinine bickering?' said Berdly, voice high-pitched and strained, one wing over the bridge of his beak. 'Some of us are actually trying to, you know… study? Isn't that right, Noelle?'
He looked over to his study partner, expecting an enthusiastic agreement. But she seemed absorbed in her own little world, elbows on the table, hands propping her chin up, staring blankly at the book propped open in front of her. Meanwhile, Kris and Susie continued to squabble in the corner, completely ignoring the bluebird.
Berdly cleared his throat. 'Isn't that right, Noelle…?'
'Err, what?' she said, her voice faraway. 'Uh, yeah. Definitely. Whatever you say, N… Berdly.'
The bluebird's expression shifted slightly. 'Uh, is… everything alright? What wistful melancholia ails you, my dear?'
This seemed to break her from her stupor, and she glanced around her, remembering who she was with and what she was supposed to be doing. A light blush coloured her delicate cheeks.
'…oh, no, I'm… f-fine!' she said. 'Just… guess I'm feeling a little… I dunno… confined? Like, don't you guys find it kinda… stuffy in here? Kris? S-Susie…?'
Everyone else looked at her. The librarby was many things. Cramped. Underfunded. Outdated. Stuffy? Not so much. Certainly not towards the tail end of October.
'Hey, now that you mention it,' said Susie, drawing breath in through her nostrils, 'it is a little… cramped in here, right? Like, think it's making us go a bit stir-crazy and stuff.'
'Oh come now,' said Berdly. 'I have no idea what you two are going on about. This grand building was MADE for this very purpose, for the furtherment of knowledge and the development of…'
'Well, then why don't we… continue our study session outside?' said Noelle, completely ignoring Berdly and looking straight at Susie. 'It'd be… nice to take in the fresh air… we could get some snacks from the convenience store. Could be… f-fun, right guys?'
'Noelle, we are NOT here to have fun—'
'Hell yeah!' the dragoness grinned. 'Better than sitting on these stupid plastic chairs, right?'
'Now this is just getting silly. Kris, tell them.'
'We could go out by the lake,' the human volunteered. 'They got benches there. Nice view of the water, too.'
'That settles it, then!' said Noelle, putting her things back in her satchel and standing up. 'You coming, Berdly?'
'N-N-Noelle, please listen to reason…!' the bluebird stammered. 'If you let THEM determine the agenda, everything will descend into anarchy, and nothing will get done…!'
'Ah, lighten up will ya, feather boy?' said Susie, now stood up to her full terrifying height. 'What, you scared of a light breeze or summat? Worried your precious books'll get creased and soggy?'
She caught Noelle's slight giggle at this, and her own grin broadened a touch.
'Ah, whatever. C'mon Noelle, we'll go ahead. You guys wanna come, you know where we'll be.'
And with that, she set off for the exit, with Noelle following behind her. The doe waved gingerly at her friends before departing, though she couldn't entirely disguise how pleased she looked at this development.
Berdly watched them go, beak hanging open at this indignity. Across the table, Kris shot him a wry grin.
'Just so you know,' they said, 'you can't tell Susie what to do. She just kinda… does what she wants.'
'…I had noticed that, yes.'
'She doesn't mean anything by it,' Kris went on. 'That's just who she is. Sometimes, the best thing to do is just… go with it. You'll be surprised at how often good things come of her ideas.'
'…I'll believe THAT when I see it,' the indignant bluebird snorted. 'But Kris… surely you, of all people, must get tired of her… her constant… err…'
The human shrugged again. 'You'd think. But I dunno… I suppose it's kind of a good thing. Sort of… gets me out of my shell. Think it might do you some good, too.'
Again, Berdly just snorted. But his derisive sneer softened somewhat as he mulled over their words.
Kris stood up, gathering their things into a messy bundle and carrying it in the crook of one arm. 'Well, I'll be going then. You coming with? Or will you be alright here?'
'N-now hold on a second…!' he called back.
Kris looked over at Berdly. 'Something wrong?'
'…well… given the circumstances… I SUPPOSE… I'll have to accompany you. As gifted with the burden of intelligence as I am, even I might struggle to work on a group project all by myself… without any reference texts… or my study partner…'
Kris smiled. Still burdening himself with all that, was he? Guess this little bird had a ways to go yet.
'And, well… heh,' he continued, now smiling himself. 'Perhaps Noelle is right. Perhaps this could be… fun. It'll be… an interesting experiment, if nothing else.'
'That's the spirit,' said Kris. 'C'mon. If we don't leave now, they'll probably be done by the time we get there.'
The two girls left the store with spoils spilling from their pockets and cradled arms – crisps shaped like monsters' faces (and some shaped like human faces, for Kris), ICE-E branded chocolate bars (in flamin' hot peanut, menthol caramel, crispy tofu, and dark flavours - they were all the store had), cans of fizzy pop, fruit juice, water and gamer-blood energy drink (for Berdly, of course), a packet salad for Noelle, and some beef jerky for Susie to chew on. They hadn't taken a bag to carry them with, after the casually-dressed skeleton manning the till wound Susie up with endless non-sequiturs and cyclical statements, and she stormed out on principle. So they found themselves rather over-encumbered with it all. Still, both of them were grinning from ear to ear, looking forward to the feast that was to come.
So prepared, they both set off for the lake. Doubtless Kris and Berdly would meet them there at some point, and then they could resume their studying in earnest. Which would be… good. Because try as she might, Noelle just couldn't think of a single thing to say to Susie. Which was absurd, because… weren't they friends now? She'd come over to her house to study just last week, and they saw each other every day at school…
…and then there'd been that dream…
The wind picked up, scattering dry, withered leaves across the pavement in front of them. Despite her warm jumper, Noelle shivered as it cut into her. Susie didn't seem all that bothered by it. Perhaps it was something to do with her draconic physiology – she'd read somewhere that they could breathe fire. Perhaps her voluminous hair worked like some kind of heat sink. It couldn't be her clothes, which always looked like they were on their last legs, just one sudden movement away from coming undone at the seams, and…
…flashes of purple scales entered her mind…
…oh, dear, what was this thought coming into her head now…?! Quick, think of something else…! Something like… Berdly quibbling on about some obscure card game or other. Oh yeah. Nothing quite killed a burgeoning mood like THAT did.
…whew, close call!
Susie kicked out at a small pile of leaf litter, watching them scatter to the wind. A little smirk of self-satisfaction played across her features. That looked like fun. That looked like she hadn't thought too hard about it, the pros and cons of performing that action (pro: fun; con: hooves might get dirty… ahh, there she went already!).
…what the hell. You could always wash dirt off when you got home, right?
Spying a large pile just over the way, Noelle ran towards it, uncaring of the various packets of junk food she was shedding from her pockets, oblivious to Susie calling after her. No, all there was were those leaves, and the hoof-shaped reckoning screaming towards them, already reared back to smite them into smithereens. Oh, it was gonna be so cool, and Susie was gonna be so impressed…!
She kicked out at the leaves…
…missing them entirely, losing her footing from how hard she thrust her foot out, and fell…
…straight into a warm, strong pair of arms.
Noelle didn't open her eyes for a moment. Part of her brain was convinced she was still falling, no way that anyone could have reached her in time. Another part of her knew exactly what she'd see when she opened them, and was terrified at what exactly that would entail. An altogether different part of her could have just died in that very moment, just at the mere thought that she'd care enough to…
Noelle opened her eyes, and her gaze met Susie's, recognising the concerned look on her face, even though it was upside down from her perspective, and a little too close to properly make out…
I mean, wow, they were close…
'Noelle,' said the dragon girl softly. 'A-are you…?'
Ohh, there were those thoughts again…
The doe leapt upright, out of that comforting hold, back into the bracing autumn air, back where it was safe…
'Y-y-y-yep! J-just dandy! Meant to do that! Totally! Definitely! Definitely… meant to miss and fall… flat on my back… y-yeah.'
She smiled desperately at the dragoness, who stared blankly back at her, scratching her temple in puzzlement at the whole thing.
'Uhh… okay.'
Noelle laughed, hating the nervous, jittery noise coming out of her own mouth. No, it wasn't okay, was it? That wasn't… what you said to someone who'd stopped you falling and hurting yourself, was it? Angel help her, why was she being so stupid about this whole damn thing?! Why couldn't she just be brave, for once in her small, miserable little life?
Why couldn't she be like the version of herself in that dream?
…hang on. Yeah. Why… couldn't she be…? What was stopping her, really? There weren't any overbearing parents/Queens around here to chide her, and it wasn't like Susie was gonna bite her face off for saying thanks, now was it?
…well, she might… but would that… really be so bad…?
'S-Susie… I—'
'AHH GOD DAMN IT, I STEPPED ON THE SNACKS!'
…oh.
Well, maybe later then.
They made it to the lake not long after that, salvaging what food had managed to survive Susie's heavy boots. The feast they'd planned didn't look quite so grand now – most of the tofu bars and a good number of the drinks had been lost in the carnage – but there was still plenty for the four of them to get on with…
…well, whenever Kris and Berdly made it, anyway. Because they weren't here yet.
'…well, this is a bust,' said Susie, setting everything down on one of the metal benches nearby. Its surface was chilling to the touch, despite the fact it was directly in the line of the late afternoon sun. Explained why no-one else was here, in any case.
'N-no, I don't think so,' Noelle replied, taking a seat opposite her. 'I-I mean, I'm sure the other two will be here any minute… and, well, it's nice to be out here, in the fresh air, with the water just there…'
Susie looked out towards the lake, its surface gently rippling as the wind played across it, leaves dancing and swirling above it like dancers upon a polished ballroom floor. Weak as the sun's rays were right now, their light gleamed on the water in a dazzling kaleidoscope, shimmering like crystals. If it weren't so chilly, and if not for the rumours of unidentified creatures lurking just beneath the surface, you might almost want to swim in those tranquil waters, surrounded on all sides by the gently-swaying trees. It was like something out of one of those travel documentaries you sometimes saw on the TV.
'Yeah,' she agreed. 'It's beautiful out here. Beats being stuck in that goddamn librarby, anyway.'
'Uh-huh. Even if it is a little… um, brisk,' Noelle finished, giving a little shiver as another gust of wind bit into them.
The dragoness looked over at her friend. '…I mean, if you're cold and that, we can always just… go back. I don't mind, really.'
The doe smiled. 'No, it's okay. I… I'm good! Us Holidays are built for the cold! …least, that's what my dad says.'
Almost as if someone had timed it, another blast of frigid air came in from the lake, whipping up their hair and sneaking into the crevices in their clothing. Noelle shivered again, this one much more vigorous, teeth chattering and eyes starting to water with how uncomfortable it was.
Susie rolled her eyes. Well, if she was really determined to do this, there wasn't any sense her being cold. Rolling her powerful shoulders, she took off her jacket and held it out for the doe to take.
Noelle's eyes went wide, and she held out her hands in front of her. 'Oh, no! Susie, I couldn't possibly…'
'Take it,' she said.
'B-but then won't you get c-cold…?'
The taller girl shrugged. 'It don't bother me too much. You look like you're gonna get hypothermia or somethin'.'
'Um… well…'
'I mean, if you WANNA be cold, then that's fine too I guess,' said Susie, fangs glinting in the sun. 'Just… don't want ya getting ill on my account.'
Noelle nodded, slowly. 'Um… okay then. Th-thank you.'
Gently, she took the large jacket from Susie, threading her slender arms through the sleeves and wrapping the worn, yet thick material around her. It absolutely swamped the much smaller Noelle, its ends almost grazing the floor on her, and Susie couldn't help but give a small chuckle at the sight. She looked like a kid trying on their parent's clothes.
'Suits you,' she said.
Noelle looked up at her. 'Y-you think…?'
'…nah. You're far too pretty to be wearing a tatty thing like that.'
'…oh. But… it is warm, so… thank you, Susie.'
Boy, was it warm. The jacket was well-insulated against the cold, and its inner lining was nice and toasty from where Susie had been wearing it. Plus, it… smelled like her, too. Like the scent of cut grass, like the smoke coming off of a barbecue… and like something else too. Something slightly musky, but oddly… pleasant. Like an old cologne, or some of the stronger spirits her mom would sometimes indulge in when the holidays came around…
…wait a moment. Did Susie just call her pretty…?
…no, she must have imagined that. Yeah. No way she'd say something like that…
…oh, wait a minute. Looking at Susie now, without her coat on, her bare arms exposed to the elements, her scales glistening against the sun, undulating with every slight movement of her body like fields of corn, so mesmerising to watch, eyes tracing across the contours of her musculature, drawn towards the white tee which didn't leave much to oh no she was staring wasn't she.
'Err so what do you do with your hair to make it so big?!' she blurted out, averting her gaze, or trying to.
The other girl blinked, seemingly taken aback. 'Uh… I don't… really… do anythin' to it. I mean, yeah, I wash it, of course! But goin' through all the hassle of combing it afterwards… nah. I got way better things to do with my time.'
'S-s-such as…?'
'I'unno. Just… stuff. What about you? Bet you spend a lot of time gettin' your hair all nice and neat like that.'
Noelle laughed nervously, fingers idly combing through her ponytail. 'Haha, I… suppose I must do. I never… really gave it much thought until now. I mean, no-one ever really said anything about my… my hair before.'
'Dunno why. I'd kill for hair like yours. Hair that didn't clump together and eat combs and stuff.'
'Well, maybe I could…'
Noelle stopped herself. What was she thinking? No way Susie was gonna let her… and what if she took it the wrong way? Oh no, what if she thought that Noelle was just being nice to her out of… pity?! Oh, she'd hate to think that's what was going on!
The dragoness leaned in towards her. 'Maybe you could… what?'
…ah, well. In for a penny and all that…
'…I could perhaps… take a look at it for you…? After school one day? I-if you wanted, of course!'
Susie straightened up, looking down at her wild mane, teasing strands apart with her fingers. It was difficult to tell on account of her already-deep purple colouration, but Noelle wondered if that was… a blush? Forming on her scaled cheeks? Was that from the cold? Oh, was she embarrassed? Oh dear… she knew she should have kept her big mouth shut…!
'Susie, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…'
'…yeah, okay.'
'…e-excuse me…?'
'Yeah, I'd… like that,' said Susie quietly. 'Could be… nice.'
'Oh… um, o-okay! Yeah! Great!' said Noelle, feeling her stupid grin getting wider by the second. 'You can… come over again after school one day… but, um… maybe this time DON'T throw me over the gate!'
The dragon girl's grinned back at her. 'Arright, then maybe don't go "forgetting" your keys, huh?!'
'H-hey, that wasn't…! C'mon, Susie!'
The two of them fell about laughing at this, the absurd image it conjured up between them. Anyone looking at them at that moment would think them a little mad, perhaps.
And then, in the throes of their mirth, without realising she had done it, Noelle reached out over the bench and gripped Susie's hand, lacing fine fingers between scaled claws.
…oh. That was surprising.
The two of them stopped for a moment, looking down at their intertwined hands. The moment lengthened; they could still take it back, pretend it had just been a mistake, laugh it off as one of those happy little accidents. But as the seconds became a full minute, and neither of them tried to pull away from the contact, it became harder and harder to deny what was happening between them.
'Um, Susie,' said Noelle, her voice barely above a whisper. 'I, um… never said thanks. For catching me earlier.'
'Heh. Well, you're gonna do a dumbass thing like that… someone's gotta be there to make sure you don't hurt yourself, right?'
The doe nodded, tears springing to her eyes. 'That… really means a lot, coming from you… thank you.'
'Whoa, hey,' said Susie. 'Wh… what's with the tears…? Did I… say somethin' wrong?'
'N-no,' she replied. 'Just… just the opposite. Fahaha… it's… stupid, right? You're only supposed to… to cry when you're sad… right? But right now… I couldn't be… oh, Susie…!'
Without saying a word, Susie got up from her seat, crossed over to where Noelle sat, and wrapped her arms around the sobbing girl. She rocked her gently from side to side, stroking her fair hair, breathing gentle little shushes into her ear with a tenderness and care that Noelle hadn't thought possible of someone like her. And being held tightly like this, swaddled in Susie's coat, Noelle felt, for the first time in a long, long while, perfectly safe and secure. Perhaps that should have been strange, considering who this was, what this girl was capable of… but Noelle's heart was steady, her breathing calm. If Susie was like a ferocious storm, then Noelle was stood directly in the eye of it, in a place of eerie-yet-beautiful tranquillity. Hands gripped at cotton, bunching it tightly between her fingers as she buried her face in the taller girl's shoulder, thinking that it'd have to end any second now, she couldn't stay here like this much longer.
If she did, then…
'You, uh… gonna be okay?' Susie's voice reverberated through her.
Noelle nodded, pulling away with some reluctance. Her makeup was slightly smudged from where she'd buried her face in Susie's tee. 'Y-yeah. I'll… I'll be fine.'
'…yeah, while we're on the subject. I, uh, never thanked you for… letting me come over to yours. And being cool and stuff. And helpin' me with this project crap.'
'Aww, well… it was nothing, really…' she sniffed.
'Uh… no? Not for me it weren't. Meant a hell of a lot, actually.'
The deer girl looked like she might burst into tears all over again at that, so hurriedly Susie added, 'Arright, cut that out now, would ya? Already ruined a perfectly good tee with your blubbering and stuff.'
'Oh… o-okay…'
'I mean, it's just that normal people use these things called tissues, right? A-and anyway! You don't need to cry anymore, okay?'
'I… I know,' said Noelle. 'It's just… I never thought you… cared.'
'Well, uh, yeah,' said Susie, sounding just as surprised about it as Noelle felt. 'Course I… course I do...'
'And, um… did you… mean what you said, earlier?' the doe went on, feeling her courage grow, even as her fear threatened to overcome her. 'A-about me being… pretty?'
'I, uhh…'
Susie looked away, hand on the back of her neck, a strange, almost wistful expression on her face. 'Did… I actually say that out loud…?'
'Yeah…' said Noelle, deciding it didn't matter whether she had misheard or not. All that mattered was what was happening here. She wanted this. She wanted it so badly that everything ached. So badly that she'd do anything for it. She thought of her dream-self, her most confident self, and a smile slowly spread across her face – a decision had been reached.
'Well, uh,' continued Susie, oblivious to this development. '…yeah, I guess you are rather—'
The rest of the sentence went unspoken as Noelle stood up as tall as she could make herself, and very, very delicately placed her quivering lips upon Susie's cheek. It barely lasted an instant, but the feeling of those smooth scales gently yielding to that whisperlike kiss was like nothing else she had ever experienced before, and lingered long after she drew away, smiling bashfully at the ground, watching Susie slowly realising what just happened, mouth going slack, wordless utterances issuing forth as she tried – and failed – to articulate that moment.
'Uhhh… y-yeah,' she said, at length, looking somewhere over Noelle's head, over towards the lake, taking absolutely none of it in. 'That… works. Yeah. Good. Okay.'
'Thank you,' Noelle replied, still unable to quite look at her, brimming with satisfaction at her own courage, and happiness that she was able to follow through, if only for that short, sweet instant.
'Uh, yeah. I mean, no. No worries. You're… welcome, n' stuff. Yeah. Great.'
The smaller girl giggled, looking up at Susie, who had been reduced to a gibbering, blushing wreck. 'You… really liked it that much, huh?'
'…great…' the dragoness repeated, dumbly.
Oh, what power Noelle wielded now! To think, a simple kiss could bring the terrifying Susie to such a state! Oh, the fun she could have with this! Not even Dream-Noelle would have dared been this bold… and then a delicious little thought popped into her head; just how far could she take this…? How far did she dare go…?
Only one way to find out… right?
'D… do you want to—'
'Ah, there you two are! Noelle, Susan!'
Her mouth clamped shut at once, and she spun on her heel. Ahh, she'd forgotten about those two…! Couldn't they have just held off for another two minutes? Or forever?
'So sorry for keeping you ladies waiting,' said Berdly, giving a small bow and what he must have thought was a winning smile. 'We would have hastened here sooner but ONE OF US apparently FORGOT WHERE THE LAKE WAS!'
Behind him, Kris just gave a non-committal shrug. 'Sorry, it's been a while since I've been here. Also, you didn't know where it was either.'
'I could have at least told you it wasn't by the graveyard!'
'Then why didn't you?'
'Because… because… look, I can't be everyone's walkthrough, Kris! You have to learn to just… figure these things out for yourself! Otherwise how will you ever flourish in this cruel, stupid videogame we call life?'
'Okay,' said Kris, in the least interested tone of voice they could muster, and plonked themself down on the steel bench, rummaging through the large pile of snacks they found there.
'…anyway, as I was saying, Noelle…' Berdly looked at her a moment. 'Say… why are you… wearing Susie's jacket?'
Noelle froze. How to explain this…? Thoughts running at a hundred miles a second, and not a single coherent one among them except ohAngelIkissedSusieIcan'tbelieveIactuallykissedher…
'She was cold,' said Susie, coming to her rescue. 'So I lent her my coat. Is that a problem, bird nerd?'
'Uh… n-no. Of course not. Just you're being rather… agreeable, today. It's a little unnerving, I'll admit.'
'I can STOP being agreeable, if you'd like.'
'No! Agreeable's… agreeable.'
'Right. Well then, snacks're on the bench, help yourself or whatever.'
And so, back with their respective project partners, the four of them resumed their studies. And it was rather fun, actually. Kris seemed to have relaxed somewhat, and even Berdly was being just a mite less obnoxious than usual. And by some miracle, some actual studying got done, too… well, when she and Susie weren't passing notes between each other, of course.
Well… you couldn't have everything, now could you?
'So, the hell took you so long getting back here?' Susie asked Kris, after Berdly and Noelle had left. 'You know where the lake is. You're the one that suggested goin' there!'
The human smiled their cryptic little smile. 'Thought you two could do with a little… quality time.'
'And what does THAT mean?'
'What do you think it means, Susie?'
'That you're being an annoying little dweeb?'
Kris laughed. 'You're blushing. So it all went well then?'
The much taller girl gave an exasperated sigh, rubbing a single cheek with her claw. 'I… guess you could say that.'
'Good. I'm happy for you.'
The two of them kept walking, past Kris's dad's flower shop, past the weird ghost-shaped building, past the residential block where Catty's family lived. Ahead of them, the black iron gates of the Holiday residence loomed amongst the trees, as foreboding and unwelcoming as ever. Hard to believe Susie had actually set foot in there. Harder still that she might get to go back there – her scalp tingled at the prospect.
She looked down at Kris, who stared ahead of them with that inscrutable expression of theirs. Weirdo they might have been, but they were oddly… helpful, today. Infuriatingly closed off and snide, but helpful, in their strange way. She thought back to the night they'd gone to the movies together – that had been fun. They seemed a lot more… open, after their visit to Ralsei. Perhaps the prince had cast some weird spell on them or something. Her grin widened a notch – perhaps it wasn't really a spell after all, but something else.
'So,' she said at last, 'you gonna see him tomorrow, right?'
'See who?' said Kris.
Susie growled – they sure weren't gonna make this easy, were they.
'Ralsei,' she said. 'Toothpaste Boy, Prince of the Dark, Captain Friendship, His Fluffiness, whatever the hell you wanna call him.'
The human shrugged. 'I… suppose I ought to.'
'…arright, well try not to sound too excited about it, huh?'
'…you're right, Susie,' they said at length. 'It's not fair on him. I don't want to keep stringing him along like this. He… deserves better than that.'
'…ah,' said Susie. This… wasn't how she had anticipated this would go.
'So, I guess I could… set him straight. It'll be… awkward, and unpleasant for the both of us… but maybe we can… I dunno. Move past it. Think we'll have to.'
She looked at them again. From the sudden heaviness in their tone, it sounded like they'd wrestled with this for quite some time.
'Well, uh… you never know what might happen,' she offered. 'I mean, look at me an' Noelle. Didn't really know who she was last week, and now…'
'Susie, please,' said Kris. 'It's… not like that.'
She opened her mouth to say something else, but… well, there wasn't really anything else, was there? It was obvious that Kris didn't see Ralsei that way, and… likely never would. And after she'd reassured him, too. Perhaps she should've just… not bothered saying anything. She couldn't help but feel she'd made things a hundred times worse.
'I'll be alright to get back from here,' they said, as they reached the turning in front of Noelle's gate, splitting off from Susie to go home.
'You, uh, sure?' she asked feebly.
Kris just nodded. 'See you tomorrow, Susie.'
And then they were gone. Susie stood there for a while, in the lengthening shadows of trees and nearby houses, unsure of what to think. Kicking idly at loose stones on the floor, she thrust her hands into her coat pockets… and felt a small slip of paper there. She took it out, inspecting it in the fading twilight.
…when did that get there…?
She opened it up, and as soon as she saw the silvery cursive among the crumpled and torn notebook paper, Susie knew that things were gonna be okay. She didn't know where exactly she got that sense from, but… well, maybe that was just the effect Noelle had on her.
The note said:
Thanks for everything today, Susie.
You're a really good friend!
I'll see you tomorrow, okay?
And don't forget!
x 3
Her cheek burned where Noelle's lips had been. …yeah. It was all gonna work out.
Author's Note:
Aww, nice to see Noelle seize the day… or the kiss, in this case. And I don't think Susie minded all that much, either :P
Small personal update – I'm gonna take some time out, away from both Fanfiction and AO3 for a bit. Past couple days have been… rough. Waking up at 5am with huge anxiety spikes, generally feeling uneasy through the day for no good reason…so, yeah, that's been a thing. Think a break from writing will do me some good, honestly – been going at it pretty much non-stop since November last year, haha, so it's probably long overdue :P
Of course, I won't be able to reply to comments or reviews during that time, but they're still very much appreciated! Always makes me happy to see people enjoying the words I put to paper, huge part of why I do this in the first place, really! I'll reply to them if I'm able to, but please understand if I take a few days to get around to it, okay?
Thanks as always for reading, and see you all again soon :)