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“Yo, dude, look at this sick ass puddle!” Susie exclaimed as she jumped full force into a puddle on the side of the street. Dirty droplets narrowly avoided Kris.
“What, not cool enough?” Susie whined at Kris’ lack of reaction. “It’s alright. Next summer, I’ll do a crazy cannonball in the river for you. THAT’s gotta be cool enough.”
Kris chuckled. “I’ll hold you to that.”
A few weeks prior, Susie had stayed overnight at Kris’ house. Usually, this isn’t very noteworthy, but the two had been quite… touchy. And in a way Kris had never experienced before.
It was a little uncomfortable, but for some reason, Kris felt like they needed more. So badly.
Susie walked alongside Kris as they wandered over to the diner on a free afternoon. Susie’s right hand was out of her pocket, and if Kris really wanted, they could barely brush their hand up against h-
“Soo, what kind of milkshake didja wanna get?” Susie asked, a little preemptively.
Kris jerked their hand back. They shouldn’t have even thought of doing that, anyway. Susie might have been okay with it yesterday, but…
Kris shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll look at the menu when we get there,” they mumbled.
“The menu?” Susie laughed. “I thought you’ve been going to this place since you were a kid. Do you not have the whole thing memorized by now?”
Kris shrugged again, avoiding the question. They had arrived at their destination, anyway.
~~~~~
“Sooo…. Anything interesting out that fogged window?” Susie asked, breaking the ice.
Kris kept staring. They shrugged.
“Come on, bro, what’s got you acting all weird?” Susie asked.
Kris moved to look down at their menu, avoiding Susie’s eyes.
Susie followed them with her own eyes.
“And now you’re ignoring me? Dude, did I like, say something?”
Kris shook their head. “‘M just tired,” they mumbled.
“If you wanted, we could uh…” Susie began. “We could take another nap together, like we did the other day. I slept really well that day, haha.”
Kris finally met Susie’s eyes.
“U-Unless, you didn’t like doing that, and that’s what you’re upset about. Which, I mean, I’d hope you aren’t, but I… I get it if cuddling isn’t your thing, I was just feeling, um… a little lonely that day, and I thought that maybe you’d wanna-”
“Susie.”
Susie’s head bolted upright. “Uh, y-yeah?”
“I was fine with all of that,” Kris said. “I was worried that you, um… didn’t like it.”
“Dude, why would I not like it when I was the one who started it?” Susie laughed.
Kris chuckled. “I guess you’re right.”
“See, there’s the Kris I know back!” Susie beamed.
Kris dropped their angsty act and kept smiling. You need to get out of your head sometimes, they told themself.
“So, now do you know what milkshake you want?” Susie asked as the waitress came over.
Kris nodded. “A cookies & cream milkshake to share, please,” they asked politely, as loud as they could manage their mumbly voice.
“Kris, that’s my favorite! AND you actually ordered yourself this time!” Susie exclaimed.
Kris blushed. They usually don’t like having to talk to people they don’t know, even though Kris is familiar with the waitress.
“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Susie started. “That game you showed me at our sleepover the other night? MASH? I think it’d be cool if we showed that to Ralsei. Do you think he’d wanna play?”
Kris thought for a moment. “I think it’d be fun.”
Kris felt like they were at a weird spot with Ralsei. They wanted him around so much, but hated to accept that he was confined to the Dark World. One day, maybe, they could find a way to bring him up to their world and let him explore Hometown. Spend a day in school with them. Cuddle together on Kris’ bed.
Well, they guessed they could technically do that last one in Castle Town as well.
“We should visit him soon,” Kris continued.
“Hell yeah!” Susie agreed. “We should do a sleepover in Castle Town sometime!”
“You read my mind,” Kris joked.
Their milkshake then arrived at their table, containing two striped paper straws from either side.
“You cool with sharing this?” Susie questioned. “‘Cause I could demolish it easily.”
“‘Demolish’?” Kris asked. “I’ve never heard you use that word before.”
“Dude, I know all the words for violence. I went out of my way to learn them,” Susie grinned. “Destroy, ravage, eradicate, dismantle, sabotage, shatter, smash, annihilate, exterminate…” she listed.
“Woah,” Kris responded with a genuine look of surprise. “That’s more than I thought.”
“Yeah, there are a lot of, um… sym-no-nins,” Susie smirked. “Now, let’s dig in before this melts!”
Kris and Susie both leaned over the table to grasp a straw in their mouth.
“Haha, I forget how short you are sometimes, Kris,” Susie chuckled. Kris was currently struggling to get the straw in their mouth without craning their neck upwards.
“Shut up,” Kris said between sips.
“Hey, you’ve already started!? Let me have some!”
“I’m drinking it all before you ‘demolish’ it,” Kris smirked.
Susie leaned in to drink some, not before nearly crashing into Kris’ forehead at the proximity.
“Oops,” Susie said quietly. Her face was right in front of Kris’. “Didn’t mean to hit you.”
“You’re fine,” Kris said, pretending their heart wasn’t racing at Susie being right in front of their face.
Susie took a careful sip of the milkshake. Her face melted into that of contentment as the two drank in silence. Soon enough, bubbling empty straw sounds echoed on the glass.
“Aw, I barely got any!” Susie whined.
“We can come back another time,” Kris smirked.
Susie growled playfully. “You’re just saying that ‘cause you got all of it.”
Kris only smiled back.
~~~~~
As the pair walked away from the diner, Kris caught themself staring at Susie’s dangling hand again.
Maybe… maybe she’d be okay with it.
“Hey,” Kris interrupted Susie’s rambling.
“Uh- yeah?”
“Could I…” Kris hesitated. “Um, could I, um-” they stuttered.
Susie stopped walking. “What is it? Whatever it is, you can ask me, dude.”
“I, um…” Kris took a deep breath. “Would it be okay if I, uh… held your hand?”
Susie stared. “That was it?”
Kris looked down, avoiding Susie’s eyes. Their face burned.
“Of course you can hold my hand, dude,” Susie chuckled.
Susie grasped Kris’ hand in her own. Due to the size difference, Susie’s larger claw-like hand easily enveloped Kris’ small one.
Kris’ mind went a mile a minute. Susie is holding my hand. Susie is holding my hand. Susie is holding my hand. I’m holding hands with Susie. And it feels really nice. If I pretend my hand isn’t all gross and sweaty. I don’t want her to let go. Ever.
They continued walking, this time gently swinging their hands between them.
Susie suddenly chuckled. “Your hand is so small,” she stated. “I bet both of your hands could fit in just one of mine.”
Kris flushed at the idea. They flushed even further when they felt Susie give their hand a small squeeze.
“So, is there anywhere else you wanted to go?” Susie asked.
Kris looked around. They really didn’t want to cut their time with Susie short, but they really didn’t have anywhere else in mind. Unfortunately, as much as they liked it here, there wasn’t much to do in Hometown.
Kris shrugged. “Not really. We can do whatever you want.”
Observing the time of day, Susie sighed. “I should probably be getting home soon, anyway.”
Kris thought for a moment. “Your parents were fine with you sleeping over the other night, right?”
Susie’s hand tightened for a moment. “Uh… yeah, they were chill. Don’t worry about it, dude.”
“Alright,” Kris mumbled. “Sorry for keeping you out, if you’ll be late.”
“It’s really fine,” Susie said, stopping and letting go of Kris’ hand. Kris tried to act like they didn’t miss the touch instantly. “I should… I should get home. I’ll… see you soon?”
Kris nodded. “We’ll cuddle with Ralsei next time.”
Susie grinned. “I can’t wait.”