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"Damn, Kris. You never told me you had so much food."
Susie stood in front of the open fridge in the Dreemurr residence, eyes scanning over the variety of food that's been sitting there. Kris, on the other hand, was sitting on the couch. Their head was turned towards Susie in passive observation.
"I mean- hotdogs? Just sitting there? They're just asking to be eaten," she snickered to herself. She pulled out the packet and stared at them. It was a pack of six, yet only two were missing. With no hesitation, Susie gleefully opened the hotdog packet and picked up a singular 'dog, chomping at it.
"Mmm. That's one hell of a hotdog."
Susie turned around with her snacks in hand. She noticed Kris' amused expression.
"What? I'm not gonna waste my time microwaving hotdogs. They taste just as good cold."
She couldn't quite see it, but she could swear that Kris was rolling their eyes under those bangs of theirs. Whatever. There's more for her at least. She kicked the refrigerator door closed and started on her merry way to the couch to join Kris.
Suddenly, the phone on the wall begins to ring. Susie froze in place and refused to move. It probably had nothing to do with her, but she sure as hell felt like she was in trouble somehow. She glanced at Kris, who remained immobile.
"Hey. Phone's ringing dumbass," Susie said. Surely telling Kris to do it will get them to. But they aren't moving. They simply look up at Susie. Then, something is said.
"What? Me? No dude. This isn't my house. It's probably your mom anyway."
Kris continues to gaze at Susie. Why aren't they moving? Eh, it's probably normal. They doesn't usually talk anyway.
"Ughhh. Fine. Don't say I never did anything for you, you dork."
Susie tosses the packet Kris' way and chomps at the remaining hotdog in her hand. Wiping her hands on her pants first, she picks up the phone and mutters a reluctant greeting.
"..Hello?"
"Hi! This is Noelle Holiday speaking. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"
"Noelle?" Susie answered back in confusion.
"AA-" Noelle's voice gets cut off suddenly, followed by a soft thump. An eyebrow gets raised in confusion.
"Noelle? You there?"
There wasn't a reply for a good while. Susie was sure that Noelle must've hung up somehow, or maybe just left the phone on the floor. Either option was plausible. Maybe waiting on the floor would give her an answer.
"Hi! Susie! I'm so sorry I didn't think you would be the one to pick up."
"I guess I'm just full of surprises," Susie answered back, half-sarcastic.
"Fahahaha, I guess so."
Gazing at the wall, Susie contemplated of something to say.
"So, uh, why exactly are you calling Kris' house?"
"Oh! Um- well, I guess I just wanted to call and see if Kris was doing okay. I don't really have their number so, this was the next best thing."
"Well I can just pass the phone over to Kris if you want-"
"No! No no no no I-" Noelle pauses for a second. "I'm okay just talking to you! We don't really get the chance to?"
"Uh.... okay."
"...So, what are you doing at Kris' house?"
"Oh, yeah. We're just hanging out. It's... not bad."
Noelle hummed in response. "Have you done anything fun there?"
Susie bit back a response. Noelle did get involved in the dark worlds once, but that was an accident. Does she really want to tell her about how they're not only real, but that Susie woke up in another one? How much does she want to keep this a secret, anyway?
"...Nothing much. We just watched a movie marathon."
"Oh, that's nice! Let me guess, it was those 'zilla movies."
Well, shit. She wasn't expecting to get read this easily. Fix it, quick. Don't let her win, Susie.
"..No. I was watching some boring shit like, uh......... a cooking show."
Noelle giggled. "Oh, yeah? Which one?"
".... The one where they cook food."
"Fahaha, I'm sure it was very riveting."
Susie chuckled a bit, too. She was pretty sure Noelle knew she was lying, but it was fun to entertain her at least.
"So..... up to anything lately?"
"Hm? Me? Oh! Umm....." Noelle trailed off for a moment. The best guess was that she was thinking of something to say.
"Well, I don't think I told anybody else this yet, but I recently got a psych evaluation. My mother finally had enough time off from her job to get me checked out, faha."
"Damn, what'd they say?"
"Gosh, I'm not quite sure. I think it was Generalized Anxiety Disorder? Something like that. Apparently my reactions to things aren't really... normal?"
"Well. Uh. That sucks." Susie grimaced. What exactly was she supposed to say in that moment?
"Oh- it's okay! I'm fine. I just have to take some, uh...."
Another pause is heard as Susie can faintly overhear the sound of something rattling.
"Benzo-dia-ze-prines?"
"What the hell is that?" Susie asked with squinted eyes.
"It's uh- it's anxiety medication."
"Ah. Makes sense."
Susie absentmindedly twirls the cord between her fingers. "So, uh, does it do anything?"
"Well it manages my anxiety for starters," Noelle said in a slightly playful tone.
"I knew that," Susie interjected snarkily.
"Fahaha. Well, it does other stuff, but the main thing is to treat anxiety disorders. It has a calming effect I think."
"Like it puts you to sleep or something?"
"Yeah! I think that's one of the side effects actually."
"Huh. I didn't know it could do that."
"Yep!"
"Yeah..."
Noelle is quiet for a little longer. "This is nice."
"What, the medicine?"
"Oh! I mean, that too, but... It's nice talking to you, like this."
It was Susie's turn to be quiet. "....It's no big deal."
"It's not, but I'm glad I was able to talk to you when I had the chance."
"... Me too."
Noelle laughed again, but this laugh was softer, more genuine. It was a nice laugh. A really nice laugh. Well, all of Noelle's laughs are nice. It's just this one that's special for some reason. "Yeah.... I wish we could do this more often."
"... Maybe we should."
"Susie-?"
"I mean." Susie really backed herself into a corner there. How was she supposed to call Noelle? She doesn't even have a cell phone.
"We could... talk. Over the phone."
"Really? You mean that?"
Susie lowered her head. This felt really embarrassing. She didn't even know why. "...Yeah. I do."
"But- how?"
"I can use the one at Kris' house, no biggie. It saves you the stress of needing to learn ten new digits." That was the best she could do. Play it off, just like that.
"I... okay. Okay! It's a d- a deal, then!"
Susie snorts. "Yeah, it's a deal."
"Okay! Bye Susie! See you soon!" Noelle says enthusiastically.
The phone call disconnects, with a mid-range hum emitting from the receiver. Reluctantly, Susie hangs up the phone and stares at it. It was such a strange call. A part of Susie wonders if Noelle somehow knew she was here, and deliberately planned to call at this moment. She snorted, shaking her head. Noelle wouldn't do that. She was clearly expecting Kris to pick up. Who would ever willingly call for Susie, anyway? Well, before now, at least.
"Damn it, I didn't ask when we should call again."
Scratching the back of her head, she turns around and immediately spots Kris. They had already eaten one of the three hotdogs that were remaining, and were halfway through their second.
"Kris were you just staring at me eating hotdogs the entire time??"
Kris nodded, proceeding to take another bite out of their snack just to prove a point. Wow, the gall of them to have been watching Susie the entire time instead of doing... something else.
Susie huffed, plopping right down next to Kris and grabbing the packet out of their hands.
"Guess cold hotdogs aren't that bad after all," she joked.
Kris said something about moss, and it made Susie laugh hard.
"HA! Come on Kris, moss isn't that good in comparison to hotdogs." Susie grabbed the last hotdog and began nibbling on one end.
"So. What are we watching now?"
Cooking shows were mentioned, rather bemused. Susie bared her teeth. "Oh, you think you've got jokes, huh?"
Kris snorted a bit. They nodded, rather cheekily.
"Yeah? Well we never fulfilled our promise the other day. We're resuming that marathon, and we're not resting until we've seen it all."
Kris nodded, much like a soldier accepting orders would. Susie dug for the remote and turned it on, flipping through the channels. This was going to be a long night.