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Kris Dreemurr has a plethora of experiences with falling. It starts with them, them and the cold hard concrete as they try to ride a bike for the first time. Falling itself didn't hurt that much—the bad part was when Mom returned the bike afterwards, too paranoid to let them keep it.
Kris had liked that bike.
Then, there's all the times Elly or Dess or Azzy tripped them mid prank. Getting knocked over didn't hurt that much at all. What really hurt was their ego, after getting laughed at for what always feels like forever.
Kris remembers falling into the bunker in a daze, walking in at the wrong time.
The fall didn't hurt too much. The aftershock of pain was only a little bit awkward to deal with.
But the real consequence was December Holiday’s mangled body laying in the old bunker. That was the real cost of falling.
Falling always has a cost—not in the fall itself, but in the aftermath. There's always a bruised ego or a worried mother or some sort of damage that happens afterwards.
“You look all mopey.” Susie’s voice pulls them from their thoughts, a slight twinkle in their eye. Kris forgets it all for those few seconds, reality filtering back. They're at Kris's house, sitting together on their couch—they’ve got it all to themselves, too, since Mom's out on errands. For the past few minutes or so, they’ve been planning to spend their valuable free time stealing chalk from the supply closet. Kris had proposed changing Alphys's wallpaper to a prank one, but surprisingly, Susie shot down that idea.
But then Kris forgets about all that too, wholly consumed by the sound of her voice. An anchor. A buoy.
They love her. They love her so, so much.
"There you are," she says with a grin, flicking their forehead affectionately. "C'mon. We got a supply closet to raid for chalk."
"Maybe there'll be another Castletown inside," offers Kris jokingly. They think about the fall to Castletown. About the way the ground fell out beneath them, and the soreness of their limbs as they stood up. It's honestly a miracle the consequences of that fall have yet to emerge.
They will soon, Kris is certain of it. The consequences will always emerge at some point. They are a traitor and a liar, and they cannot hide from their rightful dues for long.
The soul is in the birdcage. If Kris closes their eyes and thinks hard enough, they can barely imagine it. The little red hard, thrashing in its binds. They wonder what the soul will do to them should it ever leave their body for good. Kris wonders if it would use those powers of its to beat them to death.
Kris wonders if they would mind that fate.
"Aaand you're back to moping," Susie says with a scoff, flicking their forehead again, harder this time. "C'mon, Kris. Don't you wanna get some food? I'm starvin', dude!"
Kris clears their throat roughly.
"We're dating, Susie," they say, raising a brow.
Susie stares at the open declaration, sputtering in a fit. She's opened up plenty through the days, but if one thing remains from that girl who shoved people into lockers and hid herself away, it's that she's very, very easy to embarrass.
Kris has a better handle on their emotions than that, but it really isn't a good thing. Susie is much more open about herself, willing to show all of her most fragile parts to Kris, wholly and truly.
And here Kris is, lying to her day in and day out.
They really don't deserve her, do they?
"And that's the third time now," Susie says, finally seeming to tire of their endless misery. Maybe she should find someone who doesn't fall so often. It would be good for her.
But then she grabs them by the arm, pulling them off the sofa with a harsh tug.
"Let's get to nabbing that chalk already, dork," she says, not loosening on her grip in the slightest. Kris curses internally at their own carelessness.
They don’t deserve her, they think, for yet another time. Susie is a beacon and an anchor, and they are a mere shadow, flickering beneath her. It’s a funny comparison, really, because light’s absence is what determines shadow.
Inevitably, time will pass, and all of this will slip away from their fingers. Like everything does. Like Dess, Noelle, and—
…!
Kris feels the ground start to slip from their feet and the world starts to turn on its head. The anticipation might've just been worse than the actual fall, really, the knowledge that this was going to happen and that they couldn't do anything about it. The fall itself isn't half bad. It's more just stumbling on air and tripping over themselves for a bit, until the inevitable impact.
The inevitable impact... That hasn't occured. That really should've occurred by now. Really, Kris could've sworn the distance between them and the ground was shorter than this.
They're not on the ground. In fact, they're nowhere near it. They aren't even moving towards it, Kris realizes, because something caught them.
Susie's face stares them down, all softness and concern.
"You good, dude?" She says, brows furrowed. Their back is against her arms, head angled right up towards her own.
This is a bridal carry. Since when did Susie do bridal carries? What happened to tossing people over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes?
She stares down at them for a few seconds, still completely unembarrassed.
"You, uh, good, dude?" Says Susie. "Your face is all red- oh."
And then she grins down at Kris, and they can tell they're really in for it now.
Susie positively bursts into laughter, somehow still not dropping them despite the exertion of the action. It's equal parts funny, absurd, and embarrassing.
"The look on your face- pfft-" she says, doubling in on herself and incidentally pushing Kris even closer with each little jolt. "You really oughta look in the mirror."
Kris doesn't respond. Susie's face is so close to theirs, and they can't think straight, and-
"C'mon, Kris, say something..." Susie trails off, realizing how close they are herself.
For a few seconds, it's silent, all awkward and tense like some sort of romantic comedy. Neither of them is willing to say anything and both of them are immensely embarrassed about this.
And then, Susie does what Susie does best.
"The chalk can wait, dude," she says. "Let's make out.”
Well. That's agreeable.
Susie is suddenly realizing the implications of what she's said, taking things back, stuttering out denials, but Kris doesn't care for that.
“...Let me down, first,” Kris says. They don't mind the carry, but if they kiss in this position, someone's neck is going to get immensely sore.
“And yeah that was pretty stupid and- Wait,” Susie says, realizing they've agreed to do it. “You wanna?”
Kris nods.
“I mean, pssht, of course you do,” she says. “...Yeah.”
She clears her throat.
“Gimme a second,” she says, clearing her throat. “I'll give the best kiss you've ever had, dude. You won't believe it.”
She clears her throat and leans in…
And then she freezes.
“Just one sec, dude.” They know she won't get anything done when she calls them dude seconds before they kiss.
She's standing there, still fumbling with herself, when Kris decides to just take the initiative themselves. They grab her collar and pull her down, watching her reaction carefully.
“H-Huh?” She says. That's good. If she was upset by this, she probably would've just shoved them to the ground.
“You're taking too long,” is the last thing Kris says before leaning upwards and capturing her lips in a kiss.
Susie blinks for a second, and the next thing Kris knows, her tongue is in their mouth. Their tongue moves into hers. The world fades away and all Kris wants is to sink their teeth into their flesh.
But they're at the doorway, and Mom’ll come back any minute, comes a sobering thought.
Kris pulls away, leaving Susie with a huffy sort of look on her face.
“What-”
“Take this to my room,” Kris says, pointing to their lips and then the door. Susie quickly realizes the implications and rapidly nods.
“Hell yeah,” she says. Kris nods, pleased, and walks to their room, waiting for her to follow. Thankfully, the birdcage is covered by a blanket.
They fell, they realize. But there was no repercussion. If anything, the consequences were a net positive.
“Alright,” Susie says, breathlessly, clambering to sit down next to them. “Let's go.”
“My turn,” Kris says. They’ll be the one biting her this time, that's for certain.
“Well-” she looks away, a flush on her face. “If you really want to, I guess…”
Because Susie caught them. That's why. Because Susie was there. She stopped them from falling, just like she stopped their spiralling thoughts.
Susie discards her jacket, leaving her shoulders exposed. Kris bites into the flesh, drawing both blood and a shudder.
They can only hope she'll be there every time.