Chapter Text
Had Kris just faked being sick this morning, they wouldn't have to be doing this.
They tumbled the idea of a warm bed, warm tea and hot breakfast over in their head as they grimaced, continuing to drag their nearly numb legs through the ankle deep snow, hair hanging over furrowed eyebrows. They watched snow kick up as they attempted to walk, only becoming more agitated as they imagined the snowflakes that dotted their gloves melting and seeping into the fabric as soon as they entered Miss Alphys' warm classroom. Before they gave up and flopped into the snow in defeat, they allowed themselves to stand still and survey their surroundings. The town looked abandoned.
No wind swept the trees, leaving the snow to fall sleepily onto roof tiles and car hoods. As they took a few rough breaths, they eyed up the road- completely iced over. Of COURSE they'd still have school even if the roads were completely inaccessible. They supposed that upper management didn't care if the bus went spinning down the road, hitting monsters and flipping them 50 feet in the air. They smirked at the idea of riding on the back of a rogue bus seat thrown from the vehicle in the chaos with Susie, Noelle and Berdly desperately holding onto the sides. That would be cool. That would be better than this. Time to start walking again.
Finally, after what felt like an hour, Kris made their way to the uncomfortable, "been-around-since-I-was-your-age" bus stop bench. Falling onto the seat, they threw their head back and groaned through their scarf, panicking to pull it back up when they felt it slide off their nose. They allowed their head to lay like that for a little while, only sitting up when they heard a familiar voice break the comfortable silence of the world around them.
"Ah, Kris."
Kris' eyes fell on a bright blue monster, body encased in winter gear like a bug snuggled in-between walls of amber. An adorably ugly handmade hat kept the delicate feathers on the monster's head from getting cold while large, ill-fitting snow boots awkwardly protected his feet. His large puffer jacket fit him like a dress would a rock. Kris scooted over to the far right side of the bench but kept their eyes on Berdly. He nodded and gripped his backpack straps like he was afraid it'd be stolen away from him- Kris wondered if years of teasing conditioned him to be that way. As Berdly plopped down next to them, he sighed. "You were the last person I was expecting to see waiting for the bus. Where's Noelle?"
Kris shook their head. They existed in few words. "Haven't seen her." they replied, their response eliciting a simple tsk from Berdly. "Ah, well. I'll text her, then." He was silent, not moving to pull his phone out. Kris watched him intently, finding themselves having a hard time pulling their eyes away from his bright green hat. Before they could say anything, he groaned and swiped the hat off of his head, revealing healthy feathers below it. "I hate this hat."
Kris leaned forward and turned their head to look at his face, knowing that unless prompted to, Berdly wouldn't turn his neck to look at them. He always kept his eyes trained forward. Berdly glanced to look down at them without moving his head and clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes. "Why do you wear it if you don't like it?" Kris enquired. "My mom is afraid I'll get sick. I told her I was fine, but she wouldn't let me leave until I put all of..THIS on." He let go of his backpack straps and gestured loosely to his outfit. He went right back to staring forward, only looking at Kris when he noticed they were still staring at him. "What, Kris? If you have something funny to say, I can ASSURE you Susan is already preparing to do your job for you."
Kris shook their head. "No." They fell silent. "You can take off the stuff you don't like wearing."
Berdly snorted. "HA! That's funny, Kris. Then what? Get chewed out by my mom? Uh, no thanks. I am NOT going a month without my Nimtenbo Switch again."
"No. You leave it off until you get home."
Berdly scoffed, but didn't say anything.
"You take it off, then put it back on on the bus." They explained. "Then your mom won't know you took it off."
"And if I get sick?" "Tell her I gave you something." "She'll never let you come over again if she thinks your...human germs are rubbing off on me."
Kris hummed. "Then..tell her you don't know."
Berdly was quiet. While the monster was still looking out for the bus, the human next to him was racking ideas over in their mind. "You can put your clothes in my gym bag." Berdly forced a grimace. "And have my clothes end up smelling like you? No thanks, Kris." He chuckled, pushing his glasses up his beak. "I have a drawstring bag I won from the Ice-E sweepstakes thing. We can put your stuff in there."
"Why are you so determined to make this work?"
"I like you." The crest on Berdly's head rose before Kris quickly corrected themselves. "You're my friend. Plus if you're wearing something Susie thinks is goofy she's going to keep getting distracted and we won't be able to hang out in gym." Good save. Berdly's crest laid back down against his head.
Berdly huffed and looked back towards the street. Still no bus. "Whatever.. Fine, Kris. Hand me the bag." Kris nodded and begun the tiring process of digging around in their backpack for the cheap drawstring that (somehow) made its way below folders, crushed papers and empty binders. Fishing it out and shaking it loose of the crumbs from chips long passed, they handed it to Berdly. During their excavation journey he had freed his arms from the straps of his backpack and was pulling at the knitted material of the green hat that prompted the conversation. When he noticed them holding out their drawstring, he shook his head. "I, uh..your gym bag. I meant your.." "Oh. Oh, sorry. Um.." Kris shoved the drawstring back in their backpack and handed him their almost entirely empty duffel bag.
"Just so you know, I don't want to smell like you. I just figure all of my clothes won't fit in the, um.." "Drawstring bag." "Yeah. Whatever it's called." "Oh, okay. Yeah."
They sat in silence for a second before Kris heard the zipper on Berdly's puffer groan. He fiddled with the end of it before it finally gave way, Kris hearing a triumphant "hmph" from the monster next to them. Soon enough, the gigantic puffer found its way into the human's duffel bag. Berdly shoved the hat in there, too, wiggling it to the bottom of the bag. Maybe Kris would ask him for it. They didn't have long to consider how they would begin to approach something like that before a boot came flying their direction. It landed in the snow and Kris looked up at Berdly, hair falling away from their eyes as they tilted their head. "Uh..sorry. Didn't think I'd miss. Thought it'd be cool if I made it..in." Kris shook their head and reached to grab the fur rim of the boot. "No, it was cool." They tossed the boot back over to Berdly and lifted the duffel bag off the ground, angling the opening towards him. "Try again."
Two boots, 2 pairs of socks and an extra sweater later, Berdly sat in a black and white turtle neck with a small golden "B" sewn into the fabric that rested right above his heart. Kris struggled to get the duffel bag to close but after some rearranging they managed to make it work, wincing as the zipper made a pained noise against the pressure from gigantic puffer jacket. Hopping back up onto their feet, they promptly flopped back onto the bench. They looked over at Berdly who was cleaning his glasses. They stared for a second before opening their mouth. "B-" "Thanks, Kris."
Silence. "Sudden, I know, but..thanks. I'm not good at saying it, but.." Kris sat up, hands on the bench. "No, it's cool." They shook their head, feet digging into the snow. "You too." Pause. "I felt bad this morning, um..nobody in my house was awake, so my mom didn't make breakfast or anything." They swallowed. "I thought she was supposed to go to work today, but maybe not. Maybe it's going to be a bunch of subs." Berdly sat up and turned his head to look at them, grimacing. "Ugh, I hope not. I was hoping to get work done today." "Come on." Kris shook their head, then smiled. "We'll probably get to watch movies." Berdly laughed. "Oh, come on, Kris! Substitute teachers always show the same 3 movies. It's never anything we haven't seen before." Kris smiled and scooted a little closer to the monster sitting next to them. "Monster Manor 2."
Berdly threw his head back and groaned, making Kris laugh outloud. He sat up in response, crest standing up straight on his head. "You know I hate that movie more than anything, Kris!" "I know, I know!" They laughed, pulling themselves away from the freezing metal of the bench. Berdly let out a huff (a small smile still present on his face) before he flopped back against the bench. Kris wiped their face and felt the heat that had, at some point, flooded their cheeks. If their skin was any lighter, Berdly would have swamped them with questions. They cleared their throat and looked at Berdly, who looked right back at them. A small smile crept onto Kris' face before they could get a word out, but Berdly cleared his throat and spoke for them. "We should start walking. I don't think the bus is coming."
Kris nodded. "Oh, yeah. I forgot we were..waiting." They looked towards the road while Berdly plucked his things up from the bench, hissing as his feet touched the snow. The human waited for the bird monster to finish wrapping his scarf (which the two had forgotten to put in the duffel bag) around his neck before they picked up their backpack, the duffel bag and their thermos, struggling to find proper footing in the snow. As soon as they did, they felt their phone vibrate. Berdly cocked his head. "Is that your mom?"
"It's yours."
"That's not funny, Kris."
Kris dropped their bag on the ground and pulled their phone out, the cracked screen scratching their thumb. As they pressed the power button, they squinted against the natural lighting and turned their brightness up. Berdly stood patiently by their side, fiddling with the straps on his bag.
SMS Messages
MOM
Kris, I do not know where you are, But...
MOM
Sent an image
MOM
Sent an image
MOM
No school today sweetheart, not sure when..
Discord
#general, The Fun Gang
SOOZIE
@KRIS @Berdly
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#general, The Fun Gang
SOOZIE
@KRIS WAKE IP
#general, The Fun Gang
SOOZIE
@Berdly @KRIS NO SCHOOL
#general, The Fun Gang
SOOZIE
NO WAY NO SHCOOL YES I WANNA
COME OVER @Noelle @Noelle @Noelle
#general, The Fun Gang
Noelle
No school today! Do you guys want to
come over? @SOOZIE @Berdly @KRIS
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Missed calls
MOM (6), SUSie (3)