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You’re having a minor panic attack.
You only say ‘minor’ because you’re just that good at hiding it. You’ve always been. Sure it seemed creepy to just about everyone else in town (they’ve even told you straight to your face on occasion), but right at this moment, that skill was a blessing in disguise.
“Sup.”
Because she was here.
Outside of school.
In your house.
Susie was at your house.
You had no idea why that was such a surprise. You invited her over. What, did you think she’d say ‘yes’ and not come?
…Well, you might’ve before the both you became friends.
“You gonna invite me in or what?”
Susie’s flicking of your forehead snapped you back to reality. She did that often, sometimes to mess with you, other times to poke you out of those daydreams you constantly found yourself in. You wordlessly invite her in with a goofy presentation pose that caused her to snicker.
Susie tentatively glanced around the place. The house was as clean as it always was. Mom always did keep the place looking spotless although it wasn’t as if you were capable of making much mess.
Susie whistled casually. “Cozy digs.” She nonchalantly eased herself onto the couch. You heard her emit a sound you swore you never heard before. You halt your first instinct to make a sarcastic jab about her actually seeming happy for once.
By all means, not an easy task.
You were reluctant to interrupt her relaxation time but you remembered that you invited her over for a reason.
Upon hearing the news, Susie groaned out of boredom as expected. “Aw come on, Kris.” She complained, lounging further on top of the couch. Toriel certainly would not have approved of feet on top of the furniture but you decided to leave it be. “It’s not like either of us are on the honor roll or some crap. Can’t we just brush off the homework and play video games?” She eyed the particularly interesting looking game console that was recently hooked back up to the TV.
You remind her that Ms. Alphys basically passes her students just by at least handing something in. Susie scoffs in reply but finally decides to roll with it anyway.
An hour passes by of comfortable silence. So far, your pencil scribbling was the only sound in the room washing over both of you. You occasionally saw Susie scrawling something down on her own paper but it was only when your hand moved away from the answer you just wrote.
This was nice. Normally, you found doing schoolwork at home was too much of a chore – at least without your brother. You recalled when Asriel would often help you with math equations you were certain weren’t real. Long division was the spawn of demons and no one could tell you otherwise. At least with Asriel there, it seemed less like a chore. You would even play Super Smashing Fighters afterward.
But then he left.
You mentally chastise yourself for bringing up those repressed feelings. Yes, he was gone but you knew that moping about it wasn’t going to do anything. And besides…
“Hey, you got anything to eat here? I’m starving.”
At least you weren’t alone now.
You inform Susie that you put a platter of cookies to bake not too long ago. Double chocolate chip, just for those moments when single chocolate chip didn’t cut it. Man, your stomach was growling just thinking about it.
“Oh…is that what’s burning?”
Burning? They can’t be burning. You only put them in the oven before you started your home…work.
SHIT
You really hope Susie didn’t see your eyes nearly popping out of your skull as you stumbled over your own feet making a beeline for the kitchen. You know for sure she’s gonna laugh at you for that.
It was too late. The cookies you stuffed in the oven were entirely unrecognizable, merely pitch black remains of what they were intended to be. You wonder how Mom makes baking seem so easy, having some sort of six sense as to when food was finished baking.
Then you remember that you forgot to set the timer.
The crusty burnt smell only served to make your walk of shame seem worse. What kind of host serves burnt snacks? And to your best friend? For shame, Kris Dreemurr. For sha-
“Oh, shit are those the cookies?”
You hardly have time to respond before your guest snatches a black cookie from the platter. You stare at her in awe for a solid minute, watching her snarf down the piece of charcoal down whole before going in for seconds. You then remember that this was the same person who ate chalk.
Out of curiosity, you decide to try your handiwork.
Only to hack it back out the second the crusty black flakes touched your throat. Your stomach felt betrayed. Deceived by the promise of chocolate and met with the bitter taste of disappointment. You didn’t answer when she asked if you were gonna finish it, merely handing the half bitten snack to her in defeat. You wonder just how tolerant monster stomachs are for a brief moment before returning back to your homework.
Eventually, it was getting frustrating staring at the same question for the better half of 15 minutes.
You could tell Susie was feeling the same way. She was mostly waiting for you to finish just to copy. You felt the urge to remind her that that method wasn’t exactly helping you. You really wanted to get this over with so you could properly hang out and play video games but you felt the itch reaching you sooner than you anticipated.
…You figure you deserve a little break.
--
“You suuuuuuuck.”
Susie’s salt-coated insults were almost music to your ears. Somehow, you realize that this was what your brother must have been tasting after all those years of straight up destroying you at video games.
It felt wonderful.
You cheekily asked Susie if she was up for a rematch. The monster’s pride of course never failed to disappoint. As you prepped to pick your usual main, the dread pink gumball, you heard the door open.
“Kris? I’m home!”
Smiling, you greet your mother with a wave which she sweetly returned. Her expression froze however when her eye caught sight of your guest.
“Uhh, hi Ms. Toriel.” Susie awkwardly responded. Seeing a teacher outside of school. You’ve been there. It’s beyond weird. You didn’t blame her for feeling a bit out of place.
Your mother, on the other hand, looked like her brain had just exploded and was putting itself back together. “Oh Kris, you brought…a friend?! A girl?! Friendgirl?!? Girlfriend??!??!”
Somehow Toriel pieced the whole thing together in the worst word association possible. You were speechless (which wasn’t entirely surprising). It took a moment to search for a proper response but luckily Susie did all the talking for you.
“Girlfriend?! Wh-Heck no!” You were impressed at how well she censored herself. “It’s-it’s nothing like that, I mean…Tell her, Kris!”
You attempted to back up her claim but in a tiny moment of weakness, your lucid imagination worked against you, planting a not quite unpleasant scenario of you and Susie.
You and Susie.
Engaging in only the most heinous of all debaucherous acts:
Holding hands.
The controller dropped from your hand. No words left your mouth. Even more mortifying, your face was now a shade redder. Susie looked at you with total betrayal, though from the corner of your eye, you could’ve sworn there was a light tint of pink along her scaly cheeks.
Amidst the embarrassed air of the living room, your mother grinned widely at Susie. “I’ll just leave you two be for now. Would you like some pie? Oh! How about some tea? Why don’t I set the table for you!”
She bolted right over to the kitchen faster than she rambled. Total silence fell over both you and Susie, neither of you even playing the game. You dared to glance at her, only to be met with an expression you could only describe as an unholy blend of anger, embarrassment, and…flattery?
You shoot her a sheepish smile.
She shot you a punch to your arm.