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Noelle wrings out her hair for what she thinks is either the third or fourth time. It's easy to lose count when she's been standing here for the past half hour.
If only she hadn't forgotten her key, then she wouldn't be standing in the rain being miserable because she's soaked. Her clothes, her hair, and her fur are all uncomfortably wet, and she once again regrets not just grabbing her key. She would just be a little damp - and, more importantly, warm and inside - if that were the case.
Of course, all of this would be naught if she just had an umbrella with her. But she didn't know it was going to rain, so she thinks she gets a pass on that front.
"Noelle?"
She snaps back to reality to see Kris in front of her. For the briefest of moments, they appear to be in their knight outfit from her dream, sword in hand. But no, they're just in their usual sweater, pants, and are most certainly not blue.
"Um, hi, Kris," She says sheepishly, squeezing her hair one final time. It's then when she notices that they're holding an umbrella, keeping them conveniently dry. "What brings you here?"
"Nothing much." Noelle is fully aware of how uncomposed she is next to Kris, which is funny because it's usually the opposite. But even their messy hair and slouched posture can't compare to her soaked appearance. "Why are you just… Standing here in the rain?"
"Oh, same thing as usual." She laughs nervously. "Forgot my key. Mom's busy. Just wish I had an umbrella."
"Well, if it's an umbrella you want…" They gesture above their head. "You've come to the right person."
"More like the right person's come to me." They huff in amusement. "But, no, I'll be fine. Getting under an umbrella won't help me much now."
"I mean, if you say so, but you could always just dry off at my house."
Oh. She didn't think of that. She's sure her mom won't be pleased if she doesn't tell her where she's going, but at the same time, it's only gonna be for a little bit, right? It can't hurt.
"Okay, then, lead the way, Kris."
They tilt the umbrella towards her so she can get under it. She's trying not to get them wet by touching them with her wet sleeve, but since the umbrella is pretty small, and she's notably a bit taller than them, it's not going very well.
"There's not much of a point to sharing an umbrella if we're both not really under it," Kris points out to her halfway through their walk.
"Uh, I guess, faha." She shuffles closer to them, and their arm brushes hers.
Even though she's freezing cold, she feels warm when it happens. Maybe it's just because they're warm compared to her at the moment, but it's a jittery happiness that spreads over her.
Even though the contact is nice, Noelle is still glad when they reach Kris' house. She goes to knock on the door, but Kris shakes their head.
"Oh, is Ms. Toriel not here?"
"Yeah, I think she's helping Alphys right now."
"Okay."
Kris opens the door for her, and she stands on the doormat. Even though she can't see their entire face, she knows they're giving her a skeptical look.
"I don't want to get your floors wet."
"It'll be fine." They wave their hand dismissively, but even their reassurance doesn't mean that she's relaxed about going in.
"I'm gonna go get a towel and dry my hair," She says.
"Take a shower if you want."
"No, that'll be fine. I'm just here to dry off and possibly borrow an umbrella. Don't want to be somewhere without my mom knowing."
"She's probably too busy to care," Kris says dismissively. It stings a little bit, but they're right. They seem to notice what they've said, and pat her shoulder reassuringly. "You'll be fine. I'll get you some clothes or something."
"Thanks, Kris."
Kris was absolutely right about the shower. Probably because they have experience being outside in the rain without an umbrella that she doesn't. But she feels refreshed, and not freezing cold and soaked with rain water. Now she's just soaked with regular water. It's amazing how stark the difference is.
Apparently, at some point while she was showering, Kris silently snuck into the bathroom and put clothes on the side of the sink for her. Ack, they probably heard her humming. She shouldn't be embarrassed about that, since they've been hearing her badly belt out Christmas carols for years on end, but she is.
The outfit is very oversized and warm. It's just a sweater and sweatpants, not unlike the ones Kris always wears. They're patterned and soft, so soft that they feel nice even against her puffed up fur when she puts them on.
When she looks in the mirror, she comes to a realization. These are Kris' clothes. Of course they are, since they couldn't really be anyone else's, but knowing that they're theirs, it's… Nice. So nice.
Wow, if these are oversized on me, imagine how they must be on Kris. Gosh, they'd be so cute… I wonder why I've never seen them wear these before.
She snaps herself out of it and leaves the bathroom. Kris is standing right outside, having the double consequence of scaring the living daylights out of her, and making her run into them.
"Kris!" She yells, but she's laughing too. "Why are you like this?"
"Why aren't you like this?" They ask, smiling equally as wide. "You know how much fun scaring people is."
"Yeah, but I also know how much it sucks to be scared."
"Nah, being scared is fun." Kris shakes their head. "You should know that by now."
"It's not even close to fun. I'm just tolerating you doing it to me. One day I'll snap and get you back."
"And I'll enjoy it very much," They promise.
"Weirdo," She says, affectionately. Because she enjoys how downright strange Kris is; and also because they also know how weird she is. "Well, after my hair dries, I should probably get going."
Kris frowns. "Do you have to? I mean, if you don't have the key, you might as well wait until your mom is done working."
"Yeah, but then I'd have to explain all this to her, and-"
"I'm pretty sure this is the only place in town she'd approve of you going to without her knowledge."
"Good point…" She still feels nervous about staying, but it's not like the rain is letting up. "So, what board games do you have?"
They shake their head, tutting quietly. "You think too small, Noelle. Super Smashing Fighters is clearly the better choice for a rainy day."
"Well, are you gonna give me the knockoff controller again?" She raises an eyebrow.
"I'll even take the knockoff one," Kris says gravely, as if this is some sort of big sacrifice.
"Then I guess I'll play with you."
Kris lights up, and rushes to their room to get the console and controllers. Noelle chuckles.
The two of them play Super Smashing Fighters for a long time, the challenge they set themselves of only playing with random characters lending itself to a lot of replayability.
Still, even with the slight inferiority of the knockoff controller, Kris manages to win the most rounds. It's both intimidating and concerning.
"How much time have you spent on this game?"
"Enough to beat Asriel." They look incredibly proud of themself when Noelle gapes at them.
"Really?"
"It only happened a couple times, but that's enough."
"Okay, okay, I give up. You win, Kris." She can't compete with someone who's beaten Asriel - the local god of Super Smashing Fighters - multiple times.
"Good decision."
Noelle sets down the controller and looks out the window behind her.
"It's still raining," She says, wilting at the thought of leaving. Especially in that rain.
Kris seems to notice her sadness, as they speak a few moments later. "This might be a dumb idea, but do you think your mom would let you sleep over?"
Noelle considers this. "Maybe? It is a Friday, after all, but…"
"You don't have to ask her," They say.
She shakes her head. "No, it's fine. It's been so long since we had a sleepover like this. I kinda want to."
After a fair amount of disagreements and bartering, Noelle's mom lets her sleep over. She can see Kris silently celebrating in the corner after they hear her mom agree to it, and she has to try not to laugh at their ridiculous dancing. It's clear they're trying to make her feel better after the somewhat tense conversation with her mom, and it works a bit too well, as she bursts into laughter immediately after hanging up.
Once it's official that they're having a sleepover, they turn to board games. They move to Kris' room for these.
"Oh my gosh." She gasps once she sees it. "Kris, is that Battle Boat?!"
They pull out the box. "Yes it is."
"I used to love this game so much." Because it was the only one I could beat you at, She thinks, but doesn't say. "We have to play this."
"You're on."
Falling asleep has always been Noelle's least favorite part of sleepovers. She loves staying up late, having fun with friends and feeling free. To have to end that isn't something she's a fan of.
Still, it's been quite a few hours since they ate, and she's really tired. The gentle sounds of rain on the roof aren't helping with that, neither is Kris already sleeping beside her. They look so peaceful buried halfway in a pile of blankets, curled up in a comfortable position. A deep part of her wants to curl around them, to cuddle them like a body pillow.
Her face heats up at the thought. This isn't an urge she's ever had to resist before, since Kris usually falls asleep after her. But it's so tempting.
Instead, she grabs a pillow and settles for laying beside them, pulling a blanket over herself and sighing. This is comfortable.
She falls asleep quickly, having a series of very, very embarrassing dreams about cuddling with Kris. But, at the same time, they're so lovely. They make her feel like she's floating, giddy from their affection.
When Noelle wakes up, she doesn't take in the picturesque way the light from the sun straining through the clouds shines through the windows, or how warm and comfortable she feels, or even the way the rain has reduced to a sprinkle outside.
All she can see is Kris.
Their bangs are pushed to the side, revealing the upper half of their face. Their eyes are such a deep crimson that Noelle simultaneously feels like she should look away and like she can't.
Why are they staring at me? Noelle thinks, shifting to get more comfortable. She's not complaining at all, and this isn't an unusual thing for Kris to do, but in this situation…
It makes her heart pound.
"Um, good morning, Kris," Noelle says.
Kris smiles. "Hi."
Her chest clenches. They're so pretty…
She's known that she likes Kris for a while, but it's been easy to hide. It's not easy when they're right in front of her, smiling gently with their stupidly pretty eyes looking at her like that. At least her nose isn't glowing yet; that would make her die of embarrassment.
They keep staring at her for a few moments, until they move to put a hand on her arm. Her thoughts seem to suddenly centralize on the place where their hand touches her, pushing the fabric into her arm. She likes them so much. It's unfair how they can fluster her so easily, whilst they seem impervious to being embarrassed.
Maybe that thought is the reason that she does what she does. Usually, Noelle is the type of person to overthink her decisions and definitely not the type to be impulsive, but Kris brings out strange things in her.
That's the only explanation for why she leans forward and kisses their cheek.
It's more of a peck, really, but it's still embarrassing once she realizes what she did. There's a sinking feeling in her chest and a burning on her cheeks, and she's really messed up this time, hasn't she?
She immediately leans away and sits up, mumbling an apology. She can't bring herself to see the expression on Kris' face. She should just leave as soon as possible to not make it even more awkward; for once, she's actually happy to rush home and leave the Dreemurrs'.
But before she can act on that, Kris grabs her arm.
"Noelle," They say, voice seeming unsteady, "wait."
Noelle tilts her head. She's still mortified, but…
"What is it?" She asks as they sit up and face her. Once she actually looks at their face, it's obvious that they're blushing. Very intensely, even. Ah, they're so cute… Not the time, Noelle. Absolutely not the time.
Suddenly, Kris smiles again, but it has a mischievous edge to it this time. "You missed."
"H-huh-?" She barely has any time to process that before Kris is pulling her forward, kissing her themself.
Except this time, it's on the lips.
Oh. Oh, dear.
After Noelle is done internally panicking, she absolutely melts into Kris, wrapping her arms around them and leaning into the kiss. It feels like the entire time they've known each other has built up to this moment of soft sweetness, and Noelle savors it.
She keeps her arms around them when they eventually part. Her heart is racing, but this is the most relieved she has ever felt. She stares into their eyes, and they stare into hers.
"I, um… Really like you, Kris," She says, halfway unaware of what she's doing, but in the best way possible.
"Yeah, I kinda figured after you kissed me."
"Hey, you were the one who kissed me!"
"You kissed me first."
"It was only a kiss on the cheek."
"That still counts."
She moves her arms in a way that would shake them. "Jerk," She says. Affectionately, of course.
Both of their heads shoot up when they hear the sound of a door opening. And then they jump away from each other when they hear Toriel's footsteps approaching the living room.
As they eat breakfast together, Kris and Noelle have to do some silent communication to figure out something that neither of them had thought about up until this point.
How they were going to tell their respective families about this.