Chapter Text
“YOU CHEATED AGAIN!!” an incredibly loud and intelligently stupid squawk can be heard from the Dreemurr house, as the Smashing Fighters announcer proclaims the rival as the victor. “Even when I decide to consider you a new fellow bluebird, you betray me by cheating again and again. My my, Kris, have you no shame?” said Berdly to the rival, who under their VERY ANNOYINGLY messy yet mysterious hair looked at him with a glimmer in their ICE-ETM brand GAMER BLOOD ENERGY DRINK red eyes.
“No.”
“Oh…” Well at least they are honest? Berdly started preparing their new valiant showdown in the refined video game for the sophisticated pallet known as Super Smashing Fighters. Of course, this new iteration would not fix the dreaded wavedash but if the great Berdly can become more accepting of his own stupidity, he can of the faults of the game as well.
The rival always picked their trusted orb main, Kirby, while Berdly would take on the character known to be the ultimate avian portrayal, the description is enough, for only an unworthy fool wouldn’t know his name. Though, he would also give the legendary Princess of Destiny a try, switching between the two from time to time felt rather refreshing and liberating, having two characters that are so different but still great and cool in their own way to play as. Yet Berdly always wondered, why they would pick the little orb. For someone who is into pranks, sleeping in class and knives, the pink cute little creature seemed an unusual choice, at least to him.
“Hey Kris, why do you like Kirby so much?” he asked.
“Relate to Kirby the most.” The rival bluntly responded.
“How? Is it because of your glutinous habit of devouring pies and moss?”
“Yes.”
“Oh…” well at least they are –
“But Kirby is also nonbinary… I like that. Plus, their moves are cool”, the rival responded.
“Oh... huh. Wait, I thought Kirby was a guy?” “Only in localization, originally gender neutral.” said the rival.
A silence filled the room, as the rival noticed a strange look on Berdly’s face. It wasn’t a negative reaction, rather it was almost as if he drifted away, somewhere within his spacious mind palace, wandering in thoughts he would never reveal.
“You are lacking in your gamer knowledge…”
“EXCUSE ME???” a reaction to the greatest insult one can receive from such a rival. “Of COURSE I already knew that!! I was just testing your knowledge. Uh… you pass! Barely…” said Berdly, right as always.
However, it seemed he wasn’t really all that into the match. It ended quickly, without much words and a few angry sighs, then another started, with Berdly switching to his other main, which calmed him a bit, yet the concerning expression persisted. Usually, Kris would tease him to get him to snap out of it and start rambling, so they weren’t sure what was different today. They always had a hunch on what Berdly could be thinking of, but since they are not the confrontational type, they would just opt to not bringing anything up.
Still, it was nice to just hang out again, even if it was just because they were still waiting for Noelle and Susie to come and do the group project together. Since their trip to the Cyber World, Kris could feel that something between them has changed. Berdly was being less and less mean to them, it has been over a week since he last called them stupid, hell even his outbursts are around 10% less intense than what they used to be! Though Kris always found it rather amusing when he would get angry over losing, he would sometimes puff the feathers on his cheeks, exposing the redness underneath them, it was almost… cute in a way. Of course, there was never any ill between them when losing, when they would be done, they would just sit and watch anime, almost like… friends.
Lately, he has been busier than usual, juggling volunteering, work, studies… Even though they considered it rather impressive how hard he worked, that would turn to concern when Kris would notice the dark circles under his eyes. He seemed more tired than usual. More drained… Behind his pompous act, Kris always felt there was a hidden unhappiness within him, one he’d mask by burying himself in work and studies and more work. It was almost as if, he was caged in almost every part of his life, only having these moments of freedom playing (and losing) a game together. But Kris never felt they could help him. They wanted to, but any confidence of doing so would go away, after all simply caring wasn’t enough… they weren’t friends… to them they were now just a classmate…
A friend should be helping him instead, he would welcome that more than them helping…
Unless…
…they became his friend again… but was such a thing possible?
“GAME”, the announcer proclaims the rival as the victor yet again. They put their controller on the side, a sign that they would be done for the day. Of course, they would want to finish before he could show his true abilities after the 17 warm up losses.
“Fine, you MAY have this battle, but not the war Kris!”, alas the bluebird admitted his defeat. Kris however remained without much of a reaction.
“What, no gloating today?! Or are you saving it for later, with greater cheating plans to -!”
“Are you ok?”
Huh? What is this sudden and unexpected concern? A new tactic? Or… that worried expression.
…
Did he do something wrong…? Was he being too weird again?
“Y-yes… why are you asking?” Berdly responded awkwardly, not used to these questions coming from his rival.
Indeed, why were they? As said, Kris wasn’t really confrontational, they never had the courage to be the one to initiate friendships, nor reach out. They wanted to, for all those they cared about, but for some reason always backed out, maybe from fear that they would mess it up.
But recently, they started to reconsider this approach, even they were getting tired of being a mere observer. This change of heart had occurred with their adventures in the Dark World, not just because of their new role as a hero and leader, but also because of their friendship with Susie. She was brave, but also awkward, it made them feel less alone. Kris had always wanted to have a bigger friend group, to hang out and do the usual teen stuff like eating moss and TPing officer Undyne’s car. What once was an inseparable duo when they were small, their friendship with Noelle had changed after what happened with Dess, while their short yet meaningful friendship with Berdly when they were kids was put to a stop by…
…
… well, lamenting about the past was not something they could always do. These Dark Worlds were Kris’s chance to regain their friends back. Susie showed them courage, she befriended so many in such a short time by being herself and showing kindness and caring. Even their friendship with Noelle is becoming better, they are hanging out again and having fun like they once used to.
So now, it’s time they did the same for their other friend, the miserable bluebird in front of them.
As they sat there on the sofa next to each other, Berdly looked at the rival with surprise. They looked at him, with an expression that he was not used to seeing on them.
“You look... worrying…” they said, as Berdly continued to stare at them, his eyes not having a shine. “I’m just… checking…” they added.
“You look unhappy… I don’t like seeing you like that.”, they stated. A sentence that Berdly wouldn’t expect to hear from them.
“Well… um… I…” he stuttered.
What’s with this sudden question? Did they notice something? Was Berdly being weird again, even though he didn’t intend to? These thoughts started to swarm his head, a sudden panic overcoming them.
“… OF COURSE I AM UNHAPPY!!!”, he cried out, with them opening their mouth in shock.
Berdly noticed this concern and hastily added “… y-you cheated today so much, my feathers started falling off! Someone who contributes so much to society facing such low blows from you of all hurts!”, he proclaimed the truth, obviously that was the reason.
But Kris saw there was still something bothering them. It seemed that they had to bring out the big guns. The ones that meant doing something they would never do when it comes to Berdly, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Remember, this in the name of friendship!
“I’m sorry…”, the rival said, in a sincere and meek tone, one that showed guilt to the utmost levels of regret. Berdly stood there in front of them as he saw a blush forming on their face as they said it, even tears in their eyes glowing infinite sparkles from the ray of sunshine that fell upon them as cheery blossoms flew in the wind with piano music playing in the distant background. (None of this actually happened, Kris said it half sincerely, but such actions can have a consequence on the psyche of a rival gamer.)
But wait…
…hold on just a moment…
AN APOLOGY???????!!! From KRIS?! Berdly looked in shock, his beak cartoonishly widely open. The rival offering an apology to him has never happened. No teasing, or comedic response? His mind stopped. An apology was something he would relish hearing, yet… it made him feel bad. This was a triumphant victory, was it not? Yet, their face, that expression… he felt a pit in his stomach.
“Oh… um, thank you. You didn’t have to… apologize.”, what is he saying, OF COURSE THEY HAD TO, THIS IS YOUR MOMENT IDIOT! The mind proclaimed the truth!
But still… something within his chest started to hurt…
“I guess you cheating is what brings the challenge, though someone of your capabilities doesn’t need to, after all I wouldn’t pick just anyone to be my rival.” said Berdly, with a silence filling the room. It seemed as though he himself wasn’t sure where this sentiment came from. Did it come from the heart? After saying it, he didn’t feel as if it was a lie. Of course, someone of his greatness would only pick the best to be his rival, that position is too… special to go to just anyone.
The rival however had no response, they stared at him. There was a small blush forming on their cheeks, probably pleasantly surprised that this is how Berdly felt about them. So, with no words, they offered a smile… it seemed genuine, neither smug nor mischievous. Just...
…nice.
Kind.
…
…warm…
…
This feeling… it was something he hadn’t felt for a while. There was a warm feeling in his chest. Even in his cheeks, a small blush appeared, from a mixture of genuine happiness and slight embarrassment. This feeling… no, these feelings were familiar, nostalgic… he felt happy seeing them smile. He liked their smile, so much that he couldn’t help doing the same. Yet this happiness filled him soon with guilt. A small smile that had escaped from him upon this confession soon turned into a sad expression. One that his… classmate… had noticed.
However, instead of backing off as they would, this little conversation gave them further motivation to keep going. It seemed that the Dark World really did have an effect on Berdly, they were sure of it.