Chapter Text
“Oh, dang it!” Berdly nearly threw the controller to the floor, before quickly remembering it was not his, and placing it sheepishly on the desk. Kris, holding the other controller, did not look amused. They had just beaten Berdly in a round of Super Smashing Fighters for the Neentendoh Swotch. It was portable, which meant you could smash your friends anytime, anywhere. “I would have won if this was with the home console controllers you know.”
Noelle and Susie, who had been sitting on the side lines and watching the match, gave each other a knowing look of exhaustion at the comment.
“Would you just move already,” Susie shoved the blue jay out of the chair, picking up the controller for herself, “I had dibs on next match.”
Before they could start, a shaky voice called over to them, “H-hey, I thought I told you four to not play video games in the class room,” It was professor Alphys, making a rare attempt to sound assertive. Looking around, only the four of them, along with the professor were in the classroom. Everyone else must have left during that last round. “The classroom is no place for video games after all.”
“But… Professor, haven’t I seen you playing games in class before?” Noelle asked innocently.
Alphys imediatley blushed, “N-no!” she then quickly shoved a Neentendoh Swotch shaped object which had been sitting on her desk into her bag. “Now why don’t you kids head home and I’ll just… do important teacher things.”
There was some minor grumbling from the group, all of which was done by Susie, as they packed up and readied themselves to head outside. It had grown cold enough outside over the past few months, and the immense amount of snow which had hit them last night did not make walking around town any easier. Kris pulled an immensely puffy jacket over their already over-sized sweater, with Noelle doing the same. Birdly had one which was of a similar scope, yet looked far more dorky than adorable.
“Happy holidays, professor, enjoy the break,” Noelle said as the four of them left the room, followed by similar sentiments by the other two who were not Susie.
“Enjoy the break kids,” Alphys smiled, “and be careful out there, don’t slip on the ice!”
By the time they reached the front door of the school, it was apparent that the only one who did not have a winter coat of some kind was Susie. The four of them paused at the door, with Kris and Noelle exchanging a glance, worried that she would go out in the normal jacket she always wore.
“What?” she asked, noticing the looks between the two of them.
“Well…” Kris began awkwardly.
“We’re just a bit concerned about you going out like that. Aren’t you cold blooded?” Noelle explained.
Susie rolled her eyes, “Please, you two sound like one of the teachers.” She then proceeded to push open the front doors, only to be greeted with a gush of harsh wind which ripped through the hallway. The four recoiled at the blast of cold air, flakes of snow rushing in along with it. Susie trudged outside, her arms clasped around her sides, along with her whole-body shivering. Kris, Noelle and Birdly followed. They had all taken a few steps into the snow now. It had piled higher than it had this morning, reaching up to the groups knee caps.
“Susie please, would you stop acting tough! We can find you a jacket to wear home,” Noelle insisted, running out in order to block her path.
“A-a-a-and l-look like a d-d-d-dork like Birdly? N-no thanks!” she scoffed.
“Hey!” Birdly huffed, though he knew better than to shoot back at a moment like this.
“B-b-besides, I-I have a j-jacket already,” Susie said, gesturing to the thin purple coat she usually wore.
“Susie…”
“I-I said I’m f-f-fine.”
The four stood there for a moment in very brief silence. This silence was quickly ended when Susie collapsed face first into the snow.
“Susie!” Noelle immediately knelt down beside her. Kris ran to her side, and the two soon managed to flip her stiff body over, so that she was at least face up.
“Oh God. Let’s carry her back inside,” Noelle said.
“Hospital might be better, could be serious,” Kris suggested, to which she simply nodded in agreement. The human ran around to the other side of Susie, grabbing onto her legs. Noelle grabbed her by the shoulders, and the two did their best to life the body like a stretcher before it quickly became apparent that Susie was too heavy for either of them. They both then turned to Birdly, who had been watching on the side as this was going on. He seemed a bit surprised for a moment, soon switching to a look of panic.
“Erm, physical activity isn’t really my strong point,” he winced.
“Just take the other leg!” Kris grabbed Birdly by the sleeve before he could do any complaining, and before any of them knew it, they were carrying Susie to the hospital. Noelle stayed at the front, doing her best to not let Susie slip out of her grasp. Kris and Berdly followed in the back, each holding one of Susie’s feet. Her body was as stiff as a board, so it was relatively easy moving her once enough people were on the job.
There was barley any conversation on the way to the hospital. The sidewalk was fairly empty, with the biggest obstacles to the trio being the patches of ice. A car occasionally passed by, but other than that, they did not pass anyone. In this weather, it was not much of a surprise.
Birdly desperately wished he could readjust his scarf. The cold was beginning to really get to him, even with his thick coat. The closest thing he had to some heat generation was the friction of his shoulder rubbing against Kris’s as they walked. Then again, the more he thought about it, the situation could still be worse. After all, Susie was frozen stiff, and Kris didn’t have any feathers or fur to protect their face from the harsh cold.
Regardless, the groups suffering was not long, as they arrived at the hospital within ten minutes. The instant they walked in, a nurse called for a stretcher, and Susie was whisked away from them.
“More common than you would think this time of year,” one of the hospital workers reassured them, “You’d be surprised how routine this sort of thing is for us.”
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief, though each knew tensions would not be fully eased until Susie was fully recovered. They stood there in the waiting room for a moment, letting a new sort of silence overtake them.
“I um… I might as well visit my dad while I’m here,” Noelle said meekly. Kris gave an understanding nod, and she ran off. This left just the human and the bird. Birdly, shifted his foot awkwardly. This was one of those situations where he wanted to leave, but he knew it probably was not the right thing to do. It was at this point he felt himself getting overheated in his oversized coat. He removed it, draping it over his arm. Kris did the same.
“We might as well uh… sit down,” he gestured to some of the seats off to the side. They each took one, sitting side by side. Berdly shifted nervously, his shoulder accidentally brushing against Kris’s. The human did not react, merely staring forward stoically, with that same unreadable expression they always wore. The ticking of the clock had never been more deafening than in that moment. “Say… we could, uh, play another round of Super Smashing Fighters to pass the time?”
“I’m not really in the mood,” Kris said bluntly.
“Right… right,” Birdly nodded.
“You don’t need to stay, you know,”
“What?”
The human turned their face in order to look Birdly in the eyes, “I know you don’t want to stay here, waiting. You can leave if you want.”
Birdly blinked, half in astonishment, and half in disbelief. This was it, the perfect out. He had wanted to leave… and now he could. All he had to do was say ok and walk out. He had done his part. He had carried Susie all the way to the hospital… well, helped to carry Susie all the way to the hospital. Regardless, there was no way anyone could say he had not done his part. He was clear. Home free… logically speaking. On the other hand, it wouldn’t look good if he did leave, he just knew it. He glanced toward Kris. This was the closest their two faces had ever come to touching. It was mostly just the nature of how close the hospital chairs were to each other. Berdly had never truly been able to make out so much detail in the human’s eyes before. They were usually obscured behind bangs, but here Berdly could just see through the strands of hair.
“No… I’ll…I’ll stay.”
Kris looked surprised, “You sure?”
“Yeah, I mean… I’m not that much of an asshole.”
“I never said you were one.”
“Well… yeah I just meant…” Berdly paused, turning away, “Never mind.”
The ticking of the clock seemed to pick up again. For a brief moment they had had some respite from its sound, but it was now back with a vengeance. There was something unsettling about the clean white of the hospital’s interior. Maybe it had something to do with how being here was never a pleasant experience, but Berdly could never quite sit right in this place.
“Do you really think that’s how people view you?” Kris eventually asked.
“What do you mean?” Berdly turned his head ever so slightly as to look in the human’s direction, albeit not nearly to the extend as before.
“I mean… do you really think people look at you like you’re an… asshole?”
Berdly tightened the grip on his knees, “Not exactly.”
“Have people been talking behind your back?”
“No, no! Nothing like that,” Berdly glanced away, “but I mean… it’s not like I’m ignorant as to what people think.”
“That’s a bit harsh,” Kris placed his hand on Berdly’s shoulder, to which it was immediately shrugged away.
“Kris, give me some credit. There are times where I at least have some modicum of self-awareness. Especially in retrospect. Now that Noelle and Susie are dating, I feel like an even bigger idiot than ever before for thinking that either of them was ever interested in me.” Berdly was beginning to wonder if shunning Kris’s hand was really the right course of action. Another part of him wondered if Kris was even willing to hear any of this. “I mean, what other reason is there for none of you wanting to hang out with me?”
“We hang out. What do you call that game of Super Smashing Fighters we played other than hanging out?”
“Please,” Berdly shook his head, “There’s a big difference between being invited to play a round, and shoehorning your way into a friend group. I did the latter and we both know it.”
Kris wanted to reassure Berdly, to say that he was wrong, but deep down they both knew that he was telling the truth. Kris, Noelle and Susie had never once approached Berdly, it was always he who came to them. The only reason they interacted as much as they did was because he had a seat wedged in front of Kris and beside Noelle.
To Kris, he had always seemed like some sort of pretentious know it all. They could still remember when he had corrected them on the proper pronunciation on an attack from an anime, or that time he had one upped Kris’s fun fact with an even more obscure one on the same subject. All this had led him to never wanting to really “hang out” with Berdly, but looking at him now, Kris sort of felt sorry for him.
“Hey,” Kris began awkwardly, “how about a rematch?”
Berdly looked up, surprised, “A rematch?”
“Yeah. You said you were better with the home console controllers… so… why not… come over to my house an… go another round in Super Smashing Fighters?” they gave a cringe induced smile. Berdly, sat upright, a bit stunned.
“I um… sure!” his smile was brief, “Wait a minute, you’re not just inviting me over now in order to make me feel better, are you? I don’t want a pity invite; I want it to be genuine.”
“It’s genuine,” Kris reassured.
“Really? You don’t have to lie to me. I’d rather you just be honest.”
“I promise, come back home with me when this is over.”
Berdly felt a slight flutter in his chest, he could not remember the last time someone had invited him over to their house, “Well… ok.” He gave a faint smile, “Thanks.”