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Winter was not fully upon Hometown, and yet chill winds had already begun to sweep through streets, sending up cascades of leaves and debris that drove the people indoors to escape the cold. Nobody wanted to be outside longer than necessary on a day like this - and yet one monster stood alone in defiance.
Susie had her back to one of the larger trees facing the water, watching the gusting winds send ripples across its surface. She did her best to ignore the biting cold that pierced her raggedy jacket and tattered jeans, and whipped her untamed hair in every direction. Truth be told, the cold was just the latest in a long line of crap she was avoiding having to deal with. There were warmer places she could go - but that also increased the likelihood of running into other people. The lack of interlopers here suited her just fine. If she were smart, she’d use this time to work out her issues, but it was also much easier to scowl and toss large rocks into the water. If only all her problems could be solved with a well-placed rock, she thought to herself.
Suddenly, a voice floated towards her, carried by the high winds, causing her to shake away her thoughts.
“Susie! Hey, Susie!” called a familiar human’s voice.
‘ Ah crap, not now… ’ Susie groaned inwardly with a grimace. ‘ Thought Kris’d be home by this point. I must be getting predictable with my hiding spots. ’
“Wasn’t sure I’d find you here!” Kris exclaimed brightly, jogging up to meet with the dragon monster at her spot by the tree. “Kinda cold out, was worried you had already gone inside for the day.”
“Pfft, this breeze ain’t a big deal.” Susie replied with a shrug. She wondered if the fact that most of her body felt numb meant Kris wouldn’t see her shivering. “So how come you're out here anyway? Would have figured your mom would be the type to celebrate little Krissy’s overachieving grades.” She added with a smirk.
“She’s going all out with dinner preparations as we speak.” Kris replied as the human elbowed the dragon good-naturedly. “But let’s not forget little Susan worked just as hard on that project to get that score too! Did you show your dad the grades yet?”
It was as if Kris’ words had flipped an invisible switch. Susie’s arms came up to fold across her chest defensively, and her demeanor turned colder than the wind that howled through the treetops above them. Her gaze left Kris, and turned towards the churning waters in the distance.
“Yeah.” She grunted.
“...And?” Kris prodded hopefully.
“And nothing.”
“Oh come on, Sooz, there has to be more–”
“He called me a liar, okay!?” Susie suddenly burst out, slamming her fists behind her into the tree, causing Kris to flinch backwards.
“Wh-wha? But it was a group assignment! We both earned that score!”
“You don’t think I told him that?” Susie shot back, “Like he gave a shit. Said there was no way a dumbass like me was smart enough to get good grades.”
“But… but we worked together the whole week! There’s no way he could think that…”
“Told me flat out I musta cheated, or bullied someone into doing it for me.” She growled as she flexed her fists.
“Then I’ll just have to set the record straight. He can’t think I’m a cheater too, let’s go and-”
“Forget it, dude.” Susie said quietly, cutting him off.
“I’m serious!” Kris replied thumping their chest bravely, “Just let me talk to him, I’ll make him understand just how smart y–”
“I SAID LEAVE IT ALONE!” Susie roared, as she slammed a fist into the trunk next to her, stripping away a massive section of bark in the process.
The red blur that had taken over her vision cleared, and she looked back over at Kris, who was still visibly shaken. Her shoulders sagged, and she cursed herself for letting her anger get the better of her again, especially when it was Kris who ended up being caught in the crossfire. Her friend deserved better than to have to deal with her shitty behavior. Still, she had to at least try to explain herself.
“It’s just… it’s not that simple, y’know?” Susie sighed, slumping against the battered tree. “This isn’t like the Dark World, Kris. You can’t just waltz in everywhere and do a dance or toss a witty remark and make it all better. People here don’t work like that. I know how big you are on making nice with everyone but… but some problems you just can’t solve. Some people don’t wanna be helped…”
Kris was silent for a long moment, and Susie was about to say something else when she heard the human’s quiet but intense voice above the dull roar of the winds.
“You think I don’t know that? You think just because we managed to talk down our enemies in another world, that I could bring everyone together? Like I’m not constantly reminded by the futility of it all each day I walk past my dad’s place?”
Susie winced, as she remembered that day in Sans’ when Asgore came in to talk to Toriel. That display was so bad it had made her cringe – she could only imagine what it had done to her friend. Even if Kris didn’t talk about it, she knew the divorce weighed heavily on their mind. With her own situation, there was a sort of silver lining in knowing her deadbeat dad couldn’t be relied on for support of any kind. But for Kris, the knowledge that their two adopted parents were wonderful people separately - but somehow ended up being incompatible together - must have been a hard truth to come to grips with.
“That day, after our first time in the Dark World, my dad gave me some flowers to give my mom.” Kris continued. “In that moment I admit, I did feel invincible. I was so hyped from our victories I thought I could do anything. But I can’t. I can’t fix them any more than I can convince my dad it’s over.”
Kris walked over to stand in front of Susie, and looked up into her eyes.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t tell people what they need to hear - even if it won’t change anything. He should know… even if he needs to hear it from someone else, how special and smart you really are.”
The dragoness felt a burst of heat hit her cheeks as if she’d fallen face first into a fireplace. She tore her gaze from the human and swore quietly. Not wanting to dwell on the sensation those words made her feel, she barreled ahead angrily.
“Then you’d just be wasting your breath. You honestly think my old man would give a shit about what you have to say? Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just beat you up, or at least he’d probably toss you out the window - you have the death wish or something, freak?”
“N-no! Nothing like that!” Kris replied quickly in a panic before pausing. “I just… thought you deserved to have someone backing you up. Someone who knows what you’re really like, and all the good that you do…”
Susie’s fists clenched tighter, though the anger she felt was only towards herself. Why the hell was she so bad at this? Her best friend was going above and beyond to show how important she was to them, and all she had in response was anger and spite. She was just making everything worse. As usual.
She half turned back towards Kris, struggling to find the right words to convey her feelings.
“Look, it’s not important, okay? I’ll be fine - I lasted this long on my own, right? Ain’t nothing I can’t handle, so don’t worry. Besides it’s getting late, I should uh… head out.” She shuffled awkwardly as the wind sent her hair all over the place, brushing a small section aside to look at Kris with one eye. “Wouldn’t want ya to miss your mom’s celebration. I’ll see ya around, Kris.”
Before her friend could protest, Susie had already spun on her heel, marching determinedly against the torrent of wind. She only hoped she hadn’t ruined Kris’ day with her bullshit. Maybe she could probably find some alley where the wind wasn’t so bad to chill out for a bit before slinking back home. After a few moments, she thought she heard Kris calling her name, and the sound of someone coming after her. She sighed heavily, wondering how she was going to convince her friend to head home without making a further ass of herself. She had barely turned around when something collided squarely into her middle, prompting a surprised “Oof!” from the dragon monster.
Kris had attached themselves to the dragon in what could only be described as a valiant attempt at a hug, standing on tiptoes to reach her neck and shoulder, while wrapping arms around her waist to reach partway up her back.
“You’re not alone.” Kris said with a quiet fierceness.
Susie could only gape in response, completely frozen by the unexpected move of compassion. Her hands had come up part way to pry the plucky human off by sheer instinct, but something had stopped her. Her mind felt fuzzy, spinning like that cursor icon in the computer lab when she tried to play that skateboarding game sometimes - which was usually followed by her punching the computer in frustration. What the hell was going on?
She recalled what had happened when Ralsei healed her in the Cyber World. For all Susie’s bluster, the “hug” wasn’t all that bad. It had felt as though someone had tried (and failed) to wrestle a very fluffy wool coat onto her. There was a somewhat pleasant feel that came with it - but perhaps that had been Ralsei’s healing effect, it had been hard to say at the time.
With Kris, it was different. So different, she felt her will to keep up appearances by yelling or extricating herself rapidly falling away. Nothing about the embrace felt awkward or forced… it was snug, as Kris seemed to fill in a gap as perfectly as a long-awaited puzzle piece. With a great deal of hesitancy, she lifted up an arm to carefully touch Kris’ back - as scared of screwing things up as she was of how it might feel.
Their mutual contact almost made her shiver with anticipation. Where there was a cold numbness from the icy weather before, she began to feel something else. It emanated from within, spreading across her aching frozen muscles, down to the very tips of her hands and feet. Closing her eyes, she let out a soft exhale as a forgotten memory played in her head.
It had been years ago, on a cold day much like this. Tired of bearing the brunt of her father’s verbal abuse, Susie had looked desperately for a place of solace. Knowing she had only herself to rely on, she shunned the more public and crowded spaces, and in a last ditch effort, climbed the fire escape of her apartment building and stumbled onto the roof, collapsing in a near-frozen heap. Resigned to her fate, she was hardly aware how the parapet that ringed the rooftop kept the chill winds at bay. It was then that the clouds above broke to reveal the shining sun, and the intense rays chased away the numbness across her body. She felt oddly peaceful in that moment, savoring the feeling as she basked under the sun for hours.
That same feeling washed over Susie now, and in these moments she no longer felt the harsh breeze that swayed the trees all around them. She only felt Kris - how their bodies had erased the space between them, how she could feel both of their heartbeats, and the heat that they shared.
“You feel so… warm… like… like sunshine, or somethin’...” Susie mumbled softly aloud.
“Hmm?” Kris replied, and began to slowly break apart - concerned that Susie had voiced her displeasure.
But the dragon’s large clawed hand was waiting, and gently stopped the human’s head from moving back. Kris understood the gesture immediately, and let Susie guide them back into the crook of her neck, while one of her hands pressed gently but firmly on their back. Her other hand never left the back of Kris’ head, and her head soon joined on top as she found a spot to rest her snout, as if it had been tailor-made for her. The warmth she felt never wavered, and she idly wondered if this was some sort of ability unique to humans.
“...nothin’.” Susie breathed
It was awhile before either of them felt compelled to part, and longer still before they once again felt the cold breeze eagerly rushing in to reclaim the space between them. Kris looked almost expectantly at Susie, as if surprised she had been so willing to receive that embrace.
“Alright, alright, so it wasn’t that bad. Just don’t expect to get away with that stuff all the time, freak.” Susie smirked down at them.
“If you say so.” Kris smiled back.
Susie shuffled awkwardly for a moment, scratching the back of her head and looking up at the swaying branches above them.
“Susie, why don’t you come back with me? You know how much food my mom likes to make, and she’ll be more than happy to have you there to celebrate us both getting those good grades.”
The dragon regarded her friend for a moment, then broke into a rare heartfelt smile.
“Sure, Kris, that sounds good. But just so we’re clear, dude, I’m in charge of the TV remote this time.”
She sidled up next to her companion, and without a second thought, threw her arm around Kris’ shoulder and pulled them close and snug. She began to steer them back towards town, making a subconscious effort to shield Kris from the howling winds.