Chapter Text
Smartgenius555, 3:27 AM:
To put it in other words... Would you do me the honour of... being my Player 2?
Smartgenius555, 3:29 AM:
(Romantically.?)
Berdly seemed to be a little distracted, shooting glances at his phone, giving it his all not to open it during class - something which he has never felt the urge to do so strongly before.
But it's not like he's waiting for a certain someone to text him back, no , he has too much decorum and dignity for that. He's just, um. Umm.
You know what, this class is just boring because he already knows the material, that must be it!
...
Nevermind, the waiting is completely intolerable.
WHY did he have to send that message at 3:27 AM??? He knew they'd probably be asleep by then and would probably be too busy to check their messages during the day and now he's stuck waiting for a response. Or... oh no, what if they're ghosting him now? No, surely not, they're just busy, occupied with one’s average daily activities, that is all. ... right ?
Just then, he hears a quiet pling from his phone and freezes up. This is it, moment of truth. Should he check right now? He's really not supposed to be on his phone during class and all, but... HE HAS TO KNOW. Wait, but he's not prepared right now, and-and-and what if it doesn't go well and he has to just keep sitting here with that knowledge, being forced to wallow in silence while the rest of these protozoans plus his friend Noelle surround him?
KrisKrossApplesauce97, 2:16 PM:
Made you look
Berdly hears a stifled snicker from the seat behind. Turning around he spots Kris, phone in hand, mischievous smile plastered on their face. Damn it, Kris ! They must've noticed how twitchy Berdly was around his phone today and wanted to get a reaction out of him. Now is not the time for such frivolous pranks, Kris! Not when he's waiting for the most important message of his life! Berdly shoots Kris a mean, venomous glare and decides to try to focus on class now.
Shoving the phone in his bag, he hears another notification.
...
No, it must be Kris again, he'd not fall for their schemes again!!
The rest of the class seems to go by unbearably slowly. Luckily he would go to the library with Noelle after, that should at least keep his mind occupied while waiting.
He hadn't heard any other notifications from the depths of his bag, not that he was still focusing on that, just, an observation , a totally neutral remark, is all. He never ended up paying much attention to whatever Alphys was teaching and actually ended up dozing off for a bit. After all, he did stay up for a while, contemplating over that damn message. Maybe it wouldn't be too late to delete it and pretend like nothing happened. Yeah, that might be for the best, because there's no way that-
"Um, Berdly...?"
Berdly is awoken by a concerned voice.
"Damn, lesson so boring even NERDLY fell asleep, huh?"
Susie snorts, standing over his desk and staring at him alongside Noelle.
"Berdly? You uh, alright?"
The rest of the classroom seems to be empty, except for Kris, still packing up.
"Um I hope you don't mind, I asked Susie and Kris to join us at the library to study... if you're still up for it, that is?"
Right, right, the library.
"Oh, I apologise, uh. Yeah, let's get going."
Noelle still hasn't lost the worry in her face.
"Are you feeling okay? I don't think I've ever seen you sleep during class."
Berdly, now a bit more awake, starts packing up as fast as he can.
"Oh uhm. I suppose I did have a troublesome time falling asleep yesterday. I must have stayed up studying too late and messed with my circadian rhythm... or something ..." He mumbles the last part.
Then, lightning strikes Berdly's brain as he remembers. He rummages in his bag for his phone and pulls it out. It was stupid of him to assume that they would- he has to delete the message immediately. Hopefully it isn't too late.
xXmosseaterXx, 2:17 PM:
I thought you'd never ask, Player 1 (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)
The bag in Berdly's wing falls to the ground with a heavy thump. He stands almost catatonic, staring down at his phone.
“ Jeez , what's gotten into this guy?”
Noelle leans over to glance at Berdly's phone.
“... HUH???????!?!?!? ”
“ BERDLY ? WHO'S THAT?!”
Berdly reconnects his buffering psyche to the real world at Noelle's bewilderment.
“H-hey, that's private !”
Looking to the phone, it isn't in his possession anymore.
Susie has snatched it.
“... HOLY SHIT! HAHAHA KRIS, YOU NEED TO SEE THI-...”
“Hey where the hell did Kris go?”
There was no sign of Kris in the classroom anymore.
Berdly squawks at Susie, trying to grab his phone back.
“Give it back! Or I'll get you banned from the library!”
“What kind of a threat is that ?”
“MY kind. And that means NO Space Pinball in the computer lab.”
Susie thinks for a moment before handing the phone back to Berdly.
“ Tsk . Fine, you win.”
“ Waitwaitwaitwaitwait BERDLY!”
“...yes, Noelle?”
“You, …YOU have a partner?” “ oh I didn't mean to-"
“Well you don't have to say it like THAT. And uh. It seems I do. YES . In fact.”
Noelle's words really sink in.
“I. Have a partner . HAHA! I HAVE A PARTNER! No longer am I a member of the dreadful club of singleness. No longer a hermit amongst my peers. I wave goodbye to all the lone people on the shore as I depart into a new relation-ship. Apologies, ladies , for I am no longer an eligible bachelor on the market. So YES Noelle, I indeed have acquired a partner!!!”
While monologuing, he's managed to climb on top of the table in triumph.
“Wow, Berdly! I'm really happy for you!”
“Okay, nugget boy , who is it then? I can’t even begin to imagine someone from our class would be into you-HAH. Um. No offence.”
Pling!
xXmosseaterXx, 4:03 PM:
Look! It’s us! (^_-)-☆
It’s a picture of a Minecrap crafting table and furnace placed next to each other, with a pink sparkly filter on top.
Berdly can’t help but chuckle at this display of affection for him. Something only true gamers like himself would appreciate.
“No, actually, you wouldn’t know of them. They’re not from Hometown. We met through a game of bedwars on Minecrap!”
Susie groans.
Noelle chimes in.
“Oh..! So, long-distance, huh? What’s their name? Where are they from?”
“Aha, their name is Risk , they’re in the same year as us. And they’re from!”
“...from… uhhhh. That’s not relevant right now!”
He’d have to keep in mind to ask them tonight.
“ Anyways , they’re also a big fan of Minecrap and Super Smashing Fighters like me! However , we only play Minecrap together as of now, since, you know, you kind of need to share a TV to play Super Smashing Fighters together. Also I must say, they’re really quite charming and funny, you see-”
Susie raises a hand to stop him from continuing his rambles.
“Hold up. You don’t even know where they’re from?”
“...”
“ Berdly !”, Noelle exclaims.
“ What ? It just, it didn’t really come up, okay…I’ll ask them today. Besides, it's a trivial matter... um, sort of.”
Susie and Noelle exchange a quiet shocked glance.
“And… how long , exactly, have you been talking for…?”
“Let me think. This would make uh, around a week and a half now, I believe?”
Susie shoots another glance at Noelle and they seem to be on the same mathematical wavelength somehow.
Noelle starts speaking more quietly all of a sudden.
“Uhm!.. Berdly, I think this may be a case of. um .”
Susie finishes Noelle’s trailing sentence.
“You’re getting scammed or pranked, buddy. Sucks.”
“Wha- huh ? No, no, you’ve got this all wrong! While I appreciate your concern for me, my dear friend Noelle and. Acquaintance(?) Susan. I am not one to fall for plebeian tricks such as these!”
“I know it might be, uh, difficult to take this in, but-”
“No, really, Noelle! Have some faith in me, would you? We even face revealed as is customary among gamers who form deeper connections with one another.”
“Hm?” Noelle keeps smiling politely, but her smile looks kind of squirmy.
Another exchange of looks between the girls. He’s starting to feel a bit left out, honestly.
“Can we see the picture, m-maybe?”
“Alright, just. Don’t get jealous or anything, okay? As we are now committed to each other as romantic partners and all that.”
Berdly scrolls for a while on their Thiscord chats, looking for the picture. They sure have conversed a lot, he now realises, for finding the photo proves a more difficult task than he had initially thought. There it is!
“ Behold! My dear Risk! Infatuating, are they not?”
Berdly cherishes this photo of his now partner. It really doesn’t show much more than some strands of brown hair and their eyes, but that’s where all the secrets to the soul lie, right? Their eyes are such a deep, crimson colour they almost seem brown, but Berdly had spent enough time staring at this photo to know the difference.
Susie and Noelle sit in a moment of silent shock.
Yet another perplexing exchange of looks is shared between them. Seriously , do girls have a covert eye-language or something? In all fairness, they were probably trying to communicate about Risk’s ethereal beauty without Berdly hearing to avoid seeming disrespectful of their committed partnership. Alas, Berdly is an understanding soul and won’t call them out on this out of the goodness of his heart. How else could these poor souls react upon learning such a beauty, whom their ancestors surely would have started wars over, has taken their fancy to their friend instead. He truly feels for them.
Berdly sees the time on his phone and realises if they want to get any studying done tonight, they really should head to the library right away. Making his way to the classroom door, he asks:
“Right so. As flattered as I am with your deep interest in my love life, we are supposed to still have a study session, right? We must stay on top of the game, after all! Oh and speaking of studying, wasn’t Kris supposed to come with us? Where in the world did they disappear off-”
Swinging the door open, Berdly almost hits Kris with it.
“Oh! Well that settles it, I guess. Well-well , Kris, hiding in the corridor and sitting on the phone, are we? Trying to get out of a study session with the prodigies, hm? Afraid your ego will take a hit? Don’t worry, even though you’re still a ways away from the level of the class number 1 and 2, number 3 still makes it to the podium! The very far end of it, that is. But higher than some , for sure!” Berdly slyly gestures to Susie on the last remark.
Susie hurriedly interrupts their conversation.
“Plan’s off, actually, we can’t come to the library today with Kris. We have. … A thing .”
“ Y-yeah! I totally forgot I actually had to go too! To an unrelated thing! So sorry, Berdly, we’ll study another time, a-alright?”
Noelle practically leaps out of the classroom. Susie in tow, grabs Kris’ arm and drags them along. Getting dragged away, Kris keeps inquisitively staring at Berdly. What, did they actually want to study for once? He doubts it.
Berdly suddenly finds himself in a truly empty classroom. What eccentric friends he has.
Smartgenius555, 4:19 PM:
My deepest apologies for not responding in a while.
Smartgenius555, 4:19 PM:
Minecrap tonite?
Smartgenius555, 4:20 PM:
*tonight