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“ So.. where did all that trash-talking go? ” Kris playfully mocked; their voice hushed yet still holding a teasing tone. They popped a sour gummy in their mouth as they proceeded to wait for the bluebird to admit defeat. “ Could’ve sworn you promised to kick my ass today. ”
Berdly stared at the TV in horror and disbelief as his rival’s chosen character – Link, triumphantly pumped his fist in the air, celebrating (a clearly cheated; as Berdly would say) first place.
Of course Kris had won. Their skills were exceptional in Mario Kart anyway, especially since they had Asriel as a mentor all those years ago.
.. Would he admit that? Probably not.
“ Tch. Seems you have bested me. HOWEVER – ” The bluebird makes a grand gesture before clicking to start the next race. “ You, my weak-minded foe, fail to realize that I’ve only been using about ten percent of my overall brain power! ”
The human rolled their eyes (he assumed, he couldn’t tell) before shoving one last handful of candy into their mouth and focusing their attention back onto the screen.
“ Lock in. ”
It was a peaceful Saturday afternoon in the Dreemurr household. Toriel had gone to do — well, whatever it was that adults did; leaving Kris and Berdly home alone for a few hours to have a friendly competition.
Over the last two weeks, the pair had been bickering back and forth about who was better at Mario Kart; The argument usually went something like this:
B: [ Blah, blah blah. I’m goated. ]
K: lol ur trash
It continued like this until Friday, when Kris finally invited him to an intense gaming session at their house — not that he wanted to go or anything.
.. Okay maybe he did, just a little. Toriel’s famous Butterscotch pies were always top tier, and also maybe (just maybe) he missed hanging out with them. Only a little though. Definitely.
Would he ever admit this? No. Of course not.
“ Psh – as if I, the Great Gaming Mastermind Berdly, needs words of encouragement from my longtime adversary! But fear not, for I shall ‘ lock in ’ as you say and destroy you; my dear Kristopher Dreemurr. ”
“ Kris. ”
With that the race started, and needless to say; the cocky bird was anything but locked in.
He glanced (more like stared) at his rival’s side of the screen — expecting to see hacks or any other strange things appear any minute.
However, much to Berdly’s dismay, that time never came. He huffed before turning back to his side of the screen; a green Yoshi leisurely driving through the track on his motorcycle.
He was in second place; barely tailgating Kris. He had to fix that.
Luckily for him, he had driven through an item box and had been blessed with a red shell just a few seconds before. He grinned; speeding past Link to claim his rightful first place.
“ See Kris? That is only a preview of my full potential. ” The bird remarked, turning to see his companion not paying any mind to him. Rude. “ I recommend just surrendering so you won’t be completely embarrassed — ”
Berdly turned back to the TV only to be met with the sight of Link snagging back what was supposed to be his spot; winning the race again in just a few seconds. Not only that, but he had fallen behind to a measly third place.
“ What was that about being embarrassed? ” Kris sneered, lazily sitting on the couch as if winning barely required effort. It probably didn’t.
“ Whu- How- How’d you manage to pass me up so quickly!? ”
“ You get distracted easily. ”
“ No – No I don’t! You just.. ” He trails off, gripping the controller harder in his .. feathery hand things. “ You're an insufferable cheater. You know that? ”
“ Oh? Do you think I’m wave-dashing here too? ” They replied with a sarcastic tone, cocking an eyebrow at the other.
“ No — of course not! You — you know what I mean… ” The last part was said barely above a whisper as a sudden sense of humiliation crept up.
“ It’s not my fault you kept checking my side every second. ” They smiled, clearly enjoying backing the other into a metaphorical corner.
“ Just wanted to check for any funny business. ”
“ And did you manage to find anything? ”
Berdly flushed, his feathers becoming ruffled as he struggled to find a reasonable response.
“ .. Shut up. ”
He furrowed his eyebrows before turning away, opting to instead look out the window while Kris was too busy giggling… which was weird. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.
“ Sorry. You get flustered easily; it’s cute. ”
.. Huh.
“ Kris. What. Kris what do you – ”
Before he could fully turn around and question just what exactly was said, they interrupted him. Rude.
“ One more round? ” They asked, still holding a slight smile.
“ Hmph. ” The bluebird crossed his arms over his chest, choosing to ignore their previous comment – though it had been carved into his mind by this point, and although shameful; made his face blush a tiny bit. Damn. Maybe he was that easy to tease.
He’d take that to his grave.
“ I’m not interested in entertaining a fraud like you. ” He eventually answered, a snobby smirk appearing on his face.
“ We could make it a bet. If you want. ”
Oh?
The duo did this quite often; in their earlier years at least. Berdly could count numerous times where he had to give up his most precious training cards to Kris because of these dumb bets. ( They were usually returned to him a couple of days later though, after Toriel sternly talked to her child about stealing others’ property. )
“ Okay. Fine. But don’t be mistaken – you will not be getting my two-hundred-dollar limited edition — ”
“ I want ten dollars. ”
“ What. Kris. Don’t be ridiculous, I don’t even have that. ” He scoffed. " It is not wise to be asking actual employed people for money you’ll never pay back. ”
“ I thought you had a job. ”
“ Well — well, I’m not actually working there, per se. I’m just volunteering, my dear Kristopher. ” The bird corrected, while the human across from him opened their mouth to say something, but stopped. “ Even if I did, I would have already spent it on valuable merchandise, a mere simpleton like you wouldn't understand. ”
“ Okay. You’ll just owe me then. ” They shrugged, now grabbing and opening a bag of sour cream chips … jeez. How many snacks have they eaten? Berdly would remember to comment on the health implications of that later.
“ I’m expecting money too if I win then, just so you know. ”
“ Wishful thinking for someone who’s lost every single round since he came here an hour ago.. In multiple games too. ” Kris smiled that signature devilish grin they always had when doing something stupid with Susie. “ I bet I could beat you without even looking at the screen. ”
“ Hah! Such confidence. I love it, and will sincerely enjoy squashing it to the ground with this win. ”
They rolled their eyes even harder at him, he assumed. He still couldn’t see beyond those brown bangs of theirs.
.. That was another thing that bothered Berdly about this mysterious being, not being able to see half of the facial expressions they make. He wanted nothing more than to push those messy hair strands out of their face and see those… oddly mesmerizing scarlet eyes.
He had only noticed them once before long ago; but gosh, the way they glistened in the —
…
These are completely normal rational thoughts by the way. What were they talking about?
“ Ahem. I’ll just go ahead and start the round.. ” He nearly choked on his words as he whipped his head around just to see his competitor just inches away from his beak. “ When did you get so close??? ”
Their short brown hair brushed against his shoulders as they struggled to find a comfortable position to sit in. Kris was so incredibly close. The bluebird (now red) struggled to hide how incredibly self-conscious he felt. Why were they so close???
Their hair smelled like apples. It was intense, practically suffocating him; Not that he minded, weirdly enough.
“ It’s cold. ” Stated casually like they weren’t so close they could practically feel each other’s hearts thumping.
“ What does that have to do with anything!?? ”
.. He wanted to get even closer to them. Is that weird?
“ Start. ”
Wait a minute. First, the sudden urge to spend more time with them; which he had chalked up to just them being such a good friend. Then the teasing which is affecting him so much more than it should be – and now he suddenly feels the urge to ..
…
.. Oh no. Did he..?
Nooo… A crush? On his mortal enemy? His bitter rival whom he swore to defeat? That’s absurd.
There wasn’t anything good about Kris. They were the weird quiet kid – the third in overall class ranking and most importantly.. a cheater! Really, how would he fall for someone so.. cool? So incredibly smart when it came to video games.. and strangely enough, attractive… and funny.. and —
.. He’s so down bad. Oh god.
“ Don’t mind me, Kristopher. Hah. Just .. -y’know. Thinking of all the shortcuts I’ll take to beat you. ”
Lord, he was a mess. But it’s okay, he could probably play it off.. maybe.
They didn’t respond to that. But he imagined the response would be something like.. actually. He couldn't think of anything right now besides the fact that his friend whom he might have a tiny (enormous) crush on sat right there. In front of him. So close he could almost..
“ Um. I’ll uh, start now sorry.. ” Berdly was starting to lose his composure; that was pathetic. He refused to let this stupid.. feeling get in the way of the ten dollars (yes it is that serious) that awaited him.
He gripped the controller tightly in his hands and began the final round, trying his hardest to ignore his very soul shaking with each passing moment.
.. Unsurprisingly, it was difficult. Even with the course being a manageable one like Rainbow Road (the 3DS version to be exact) – a certain somebody wished to see just how far they could take the teasing.
Kris would manage to lean in closer to his face; whispering their signature insult ‘ Birdbrain ’ and even a couple new ones made up on the spot before hitting him with a shell (or any other object they had) when he was rightfully caught off guard.. ugh. They were so annoying.
It was like they knew what their jokes did to him – how incredibly flustered and embarrassed they made him feel… how utterly pathetic this whole ordeal made him feel.
All of this .. and it was barely the start of the last lap. Dear god. He should honestly just call it quits and go home already; he’s already made a fool of himself anyway, and will continue to do so.
That’s what the bird thought; before seeing Link slip on a conveniently placed banana peel. Thank god.
“ Yes!! ” He exclaimed a bit too loud, causing a huff of annoyance from the teen – but who cares? Berdly was finally first for longer than a couple seconds.. and he was approaching the finish line! Oh my god, was he finally about to beat his nemesis?!
.. No. He was not. Just as he was about to cross the finish line and relish in his glory, he felt a hand slither up his feathers and snatch the joycon out of his hands.
“ Wh — Kris! ”
They were now holding it above their head while they stuck out their tongue. Asshole.
“ Oh, you’re such a sore loser. ” He grimaced, narrowing his eyes as he reached out for the controller – but to no avail. “ Ugh, Kris I swear. ”
Now using both arms, he leaned over in another attempt to grasp it — and while he did reach it, he somehow managed to push the human down onto their back.
As always, Berdly was in another world; yapping and yapping away like he wasn’t literally pinning his nemesis to the couch. “ Ha! You couldn't even accept .. ” He started, trailing off when he saw Kris’s red face and their eyes staring right at him.
Their breathing abruptly stopped as the two made eye contact.
They were so pretty. Had they always been this pretty? He couldn’t remember, he couldn't think.
“ .. Sorry. ” They murmured, their eyes trailing off to the side as they struggled to form another sentence.
God, they were so attractive.
The bird opened his mouth to say something – perhaps about how this was weird.. but then he suddenly recalled just why they were in this predicament in the first place.
“ You — you cheater.. ”
The teen started to chuckle underneath him. Wow.
“ Don’t laugh at me you –! Ugh. This is all your fault. You owe me just for that. ”
Kris just stared at him for a few seconds before creeping their hands up to his face and cupping it, letting their fingers run through his feathers.
“ You’re cute.”