Chapter Text
“How much baking soda do you need again?”
Kris suppressed a snicker at the notification, eliciting a condescending glare from Berdly. They sat in the new green beanbag next to the first-floor bookshelf, strategically placed to encourage their use of the science textbooks. All it really accomplished for Kris was occasionally flipping them upside down to make Berdly pop a vessel while organizing them.
Susie was currently at the grocery store collecting “supplies” for bath bombs. Although Kris had conflicting feelings about the skeleton “janitor” that owned it, it was a lot more convenient than ordering online. School was getting out soon, and the two of them wanted to make sure the school got a proper farewell for the year.
Kris texted her the full recipe again, their foot tapping on the floor. They closed out of the messenger app before briefly pausing to look at their lock screen.
They had set it to a picture of Noelle snuggled up to them, mouth open as she snored. A strand of drool fell from her lips onto her Christmas tree-covered onesie. Noelle had tried to change it three separate times now, and the last time she had used force. Their teeth gleamed thinking about it, it was lovely bargaining material.
It also helped that it melted their heart every time they looked at her serene, unguarded face. Kris had difficulties reminding themselves that they were entrusted with such a precious jewel, but they’d dive into a mountain for her.
The sound of haughty droning shook them out of their thoughts, Berdly’s slightly out-of-tune voice reverberating through every shelf. They glanced up to see him on the library’s phone, leaning on his wing, discussing some textbook as if it were the salvation for world peace. It was so comically dorky that it was almost endearing.
Almost.
Now thinking about it, Noelle shouldn’t have been that much later to arrive than Berdly. It was exam week in school, but Noelle and Berdly generally had stricter schedules because of their honor roll status. Since Berdly had beaten her here, Noelle had presumably had a meeting with the track team that was holding her up.
Slightly because she wanted them to apply themself and almost entirely because it was a great excuse to spend time with her, they had actually been studying with her the past few weeks. This resulted in them absolutely breezing through the standard exams, most of the difficulty coming from getting the answers to Susie. This was, unfortunately, almost certainly going to force Alphys to strongly recommend that Kris move into more challenging extracurriculars, which would mean putting in a lot more effort than they were used to next year.
That had actually been the reason they were in the library today instead of helping Susie. It was under the guise of mutual preparation for summer exams, but Kris strongly suspected Noelle was in much greater need of flash cards for chemistry than they would. Being academically responsible was such a chore.
At least Mom was proud. That always made them feel special.
The door of the building flew open, the wind swooshing past their ears as the green hinges cried out. Berdly looked up from his call, concerningly eager to scold whoever was causing such a racket. Kris drifted their gaze from their phone, expecting to see Susie.
The first thing Kris noticed was how unbelievably beautiful Noelle Holiday was. Her brilliant hair shone under the gaze of the sun. It seemed as if the Angel had individually combed through every fiber of her fur to make it as spotlessly pristine as possible. They suddenly had a great appreciation for her standard outfit choice, maroon checkers lacing with fleece that complemented her bright features. They felt their stomach rise to their chest. This was it. She was why they were trying so hard now.
The second thing Kris noticed was that Noelle Holiday was not having a great day.
She was slightly slouched, leaning against the door for support. Her lips were pressed together, noticeably breathing through her (cute) nose. Eyebags that rivaled their own had bloomed on her face, her pupils unfocused and distant, scanning around. They noticed a small cut on her shin beginning to scab that had not been there on their walk to school this morning.
They hadn’t seen her today because of her various Friday extracurriculars finishing for the year on top of exams. That being said, they could tell instantly that Noelle was exhausted. Unfortunately, Berdly’s eyes were not of a hawk, and he was not nearly as perceptive.
“Noelle, what a pleasant surprise,” He said, recovering quickly from the initial surprise of her being the source of such a noise. “I presume you’re here to expand your vast knowledge after our grand practice today.”
Berdly smirked at his own flattery, before giving a parting remark and hanging up on whatever unfortunate soul was on the other end.
Noelle gave a faint hum of acknowledgement while she closed the door behind her. Her eyes continued to look for Kris, her fatigue dulling her senses. “Hi, Berdly, is Kris here?”
Berdly’s face contorted into mild surprise, which Kris conceded was reasonable. The two of them did most of the studying at either one of their houses, and Kris didn’t typically go to the library for any reason other than playing in the computer lab with Susie. Kris’ sudden academic surge was also not exactly dazzling information, and they suspected much of the class would be surprised when scores got announced. It probably genuinely never occurred to Berdly that Noelle would study with someone other than him.
Pondering, they realized Berdly might have had no idea the two of them were dating. He tended to miss things unless they were spelled out to him in a book or a video clip.
“Heh, that slacker is behind the second row of shelves next to the second-floor door.” He snorted. Critically, he failed to notice Noelle rolling her eyes, not even pretending to entertain his banter. He was so unaware of how thin a line he was balancing on right now. Regardless, Noelle let out a small thanks and, after letting out a small yawn, attempted to walk away.
“Truly, Noelle, I don’t see the hassle of studying with them of all people.”
Uh oh.
He really was that dumb.
Kris could tell that Berdly truthfully didn’t mean much harm at that jab. As much as they bantered, neither of them held genuine ill will towards the other. In Berdly’s head, he was simply pointing out an objective fact to Noelle that Kris was not a great academic partner.
Noelle went rigid, fists clenching at her side. Her teeth grit together behind her lips, and her posture became stiff as a board. Her eyes stopped their wandering and focused on its unsuspecting prey, hardening like iron.
“What?”
Noelle’s voice was a blade, dripping with an underlying contempt that you wouldn’t associate with Hometown’s golden girl. With her head high and posture straight, it was suddenly very apparent that Noelle was nearly as tall as Susie, the intensity of her glare turning her into a giant.
Berdly startled at the sudden volume change, beak awkwardly gawking. He probably didn’t think Noelle was capable of speaking in decibels louder than an inside conversation. His arms curled ever so slightly towards himself as he unconsciously took a step back. “O-Oh! I-I didn’t mean to offend you, Noelle!” Berdly managed to stutter out, suddenly finding it very hard to meet Noelle’s eyes. He awkwardly readjusted his glasses; “Really, I was just-”
“Then what did you mean, Berdly?” Noelle interrupted scathingly, turning around and placing her hands on the desk. Berdly shrank back like a plant wilting from a storm, beads of sweat visible on his forehead even through his feathers. Her irises pierced through his glasses with a disdain that Kris adamantly decided they never, ever wanted to be a victim of. The venom in her voice clogged his throat as he desperately attempted to jumble out a solution to Noelle’s rising anger.
Kris felt themselves tensing. While they normally enjoyed just about any time Berdly was at a loss for words, this was closer to a military interrogation. Carol truly would have been proud of the masterclass performance Noelle was representing the Holidays with.
Truthfully, despite the second-hand horror they felt, their stomach undeniably fluttered at the fact that Noelle was doing this because of them. That she felt so strongly to defend them. That they had a voice to advocate for them when they couldn’t speak for themselves.
It was difficult to deny that she looked really, really attractive doing it too.
“Did you mean Kris? To offend them? That they aren’t worth my time?” Noelle grilled, her biceps flexing as her fingers dug into the desk for leverage. Berdly at this point was a stuttering mess, words not even eligible as he vainly attempted to salvage the horrifying circumstances he’d gotten himself into. “Because if you think you have any-”
“Elly?”
Noelle stopped to turn around at their soft murmur behind her, and Kris felt an unexplainable emotion swell when they saw her eyes soften at seeing them. They had sunk into their sweater unintentionally, causing them to nearly perfectly camouflage into the beanbag.
They let out a yawn and rubbed at their eyes, intentionally pushing the bangs out of their face for once. “Hungry, can we get snacks first?” Kris asked, voice cracking in the middle of it. Even just being a witness, they couldn’t help being nervous about entering Noelle's attention.
There was a long pause where the only sound was Berdly’s ragged breathing in anticipation. Kris could feel their heart pulsing in their chest as they tried to give Noelle a reassuring smile.
Noelle let out a curt sigh before standing upright and facing Berdly. “We are finishing this later.” Her voice was calm, words coming down from their searing accusations and into a cold, demanding understanding. Berdly rapidly nodded, clearly not trusting his voice to comply with his actions at this point.
Noelle strode over to Kris’ beanbag and extended her hand. Kris could have looked into her black orbs forever, but they did not want to even mildly inconvenience her right now. Their hand curled around two of her fingers, and they gasped as Noelle pulled their entire body up from sitting. Her palms firmly pressed their own as her fingers clasped in place.
Noelle took a moment to stare at them, and the faintest trace of a smile appeared on her lips before she turned on her heel and nearly tugged Kris off their feet as she moved to the door. Kris briefly looked up at Berdly’s eyes following them, unmistakable relief and a glimmer of gratitude flooding through his otherwise rigid body. The two of them walked out of the building before Noelle grabbed onto the doorknob and slammed it shut behind her.
For a minute, the library was eerily quiet. The only noises were the whirrs of the old computers as the bird sat in silence, desperately trying to process the events that had unfolded.
“HEY LOSER, you left out what kind of milk to use!”
For the third time today, the door violently swung on its hinges, the culprit this time being one very loud dinosaur. Susie had a plastic bag full of supplies on her arm, while her eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room.
“Hey birdbrains, where the hell is Kris? They haven’t been answering me,” Susie asked, surveying the room for any signs of human remains. Tapping her foot impatiently, she strided over to Berdly. “Nerdly I asked you a-”
Susie cut herself off when finally actually looking at Berdly, and seeing how he looked like he had barely survived a tornado. His normally aqua blue feathers had somehow changed shades of color to reflect how pale his face was. He didn't even seem to notice Susie standing in front of him. No dorky retort back, no “Dear Susan”, it was as if he was in a trance.
“What the hell happened here?”
When Kris was a kid they had frequently been a victim of what Mom called “cuteness aggression”.
How she described it was that sometimes, when people saw something they found incredibly adorable, like a very squishy, tiny human that was found almost nowhere else, people felt the primal need to proactively express their feelings for them. Physically. Often by squeezing them very hard.
While they couldn’t say that the traditional method was what they were experiencing, they really weren’t sure how else to describe their predicament.
Noelle had stormed over to her house with her human puppy in tow, for once having the key to unlock the gate. She didn’t utter a word as she opened the door and strode into the living room with them. She had sat the two of them down and wordlessly embraced them, resting her chin on them.
For a moment, she waited for their reaction, and when Kris relaxed against her, she pulled both of them on their side and pulled them to her chest. Kris’ eyes widened as they looked up with a blush to see Noelle’s eyes sewn shut, feeling her stomach rise as she let out a deep exhale. Her hands were clasped around their waist, forearms pressed snugly against them. They felt her sigh into their hair, nuzzling into their scalp. Noelle wasn’t hurting or pinning them, but they were effectively being used as a stress ball. A weighted blanket of fur had immobilized them, sinking them into the cushions. They felt her legs moving and heard the sound of her sneakers tumbling beneath them. They felt her socks graze their heels, and they quietly slipped out of their own crocs.
They hadn’t moved an inch in about twenty minutes now, save for readjusting when Noelle would decide they weren’t close enough to her and retighten her hold. Strands of their hair draped over their eyes, lines of brown ink decorating the walls of the Holiday Home.
The warmth of her embrace and the steady rhythm was making it seriously difficult to keep their eyes open, and they were contemplating the futility of the effort. Becoming their girlfriend’s portable marshmallow seemed preferable to whatever alternative there was. That would require effort. Effort was not something they needed to be a human furnace.
Roughly at the same time they came to this conclusion, Noelle started softly grumbling above them. She shuffled around trying to readjust something, Kris bouncing around in her arms like a pinball, before she seemingly gave up and groaned.
“How is sleeping this easy for you?” She complained, Kris could feel her muffled lips pouting above her. They tried shrugging in response before remembering their arms were effectively pinned. “I’m better.”
She let out a chuff of breath that they could only identify as a snort, patting their head. They leaned into her affection, tilting their head up and blowing a raspberry. This gifted them a rather unimpressed stare from their girlfriend but mysteriously no playful scolding. This resulted in their own farce disappointment and the most ridiculous staring contest they’ve ever partaken in.
Noelle blinked first, of course, because Kris was better.
Kris looked down and caressed her knuckles, failing to notice her breathing stuttering just a little at the almost ticklish feeling of their feather-light fingers grazing her hands. “Okay?” They whispered, their question less akin to speech and closer to a thought escaping from their lips.
Noelle paused for a moment before separating her hands and brushing stray hairs off their sweater. She took hold of their wrist in her other hand, tracing patterns on their veins.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” She replied finally, voice now considerably more tender and soft than it had been in the library. “It’s just been a very stressful week, which I knew it would be, and more than anything I’m glad it’s over,” Kris put their own hand on her wrist and gave a reassuring squeeze, earning a tired smile from her. “It’s just been super busy with very little time to rest, I swear I’ve applied to a thousand scholarships already. Normally it doesn't really cause me any problems but today I didn’t sleep that well because I overstudied, and the test itself had a decent chunk of material that Alphys had just like, not once gone over.”
Kris let out another much louder raspberry at the mention of their lizard teacher, causing Noelle to let out what felt like the first real chuckle all morning. “You and Susie both, huh? She isn’t that bad.” Kris gave a hum in response but didn’t elaborate further. She could tell from their beautiful maroon rings that the test wasn’t the only thing they were thinking about.
She sighed in defeat, “I suppose you’re asking about the library too, right?” Kris didn’t give a verbal answer, doing nothing for a moment before taking hold of her hand and squeezing again.
Noelle was temporarily distracted by this action and planted a kiss on their head, causing them to slump further into her arms. It wasn’t as if Noelle thought Kris would be mad at her or anything, but she was still getting used to having someone in her life consistently that she could confront or say no to and not judge her for it.
“Berdly means well, I know that better than anybody probably. If I truly didn’t like him, I wouldn’t be friends with him, and I think you feel the same, correct?” Kris nodded slowly. Noelle exhaled through her nose to collect herself. “But I’ve already been on edge and as much as I like him, because we are the only two in honors classes, and you BETTER be with us next year,” She interrupted herself to point accusingly at them, causing them to timidly raise their hands and continue to slowly nod, fearing their impending execution.
Noelle decided this was a sufficient answer. “Because of that I’ve practically spent every academic hour next to him with little to no breaks, and he is a lot to handle sometimes, and I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night because I stayed up even longer to make sure today’s test went flawlessly, and the test didn’t because there was material we had never covered, and he wouldn’t stop bragging about it because history is his specialty because of his memory-”
Noelle took a deep breath to stop herself from devolving into rambling.
“And I know that none of that is a particularly good excuse, but I had told him recently and clearly to stop talking down to you, at the very least in front of me. I know you guys like bantering and playing around with each other but sometimes Berdly’s comments about you are mean, to the point where they hurt my feelings. And it’s not even just because I love you,” Kris’ heart skipped a beat. “Which I do,” It skipped another three. “But it’s also that the two of us have so much in common that when he’s belittling you, he’s also saying things that apply to me, and he doesn’t even realize it, and he told me he would quit it.”
“And so when I finally get out of that track meeting that he doesn’t have to go to, by the way! He starts by bragging about himself and then does the exact thing I told him not to do, and then questions me like I’m the one who’s crazy? I just,” She sighed, cracking her knuckles while she attempted to string her words together. “Part of me feels terrified that I reacted that strongly to him, but most of me feels like he deserved a reminder of what it feels like, and another part of me almost thinks he didn’t nearly get enough.” She stayed quiet for a moment, hands anxiously tapping against their ribs until they rotated to face her. Her expression was thoughtful, lost in thought before refocusing when faced with her ruby mirror. They stared again, this time Kris thought Noelle really could have won if she wanted to. But she closed her eyes before that point, pursing her lips together.
“Is that bad? That I wanted him to feel bad? That I confronted him? Be honest, Krismas.”
Kris traced her features, nails recently painted black, thanks to her own work brushing against the canvas of her fur. They curled their fingers and Noelle instinctively tensed for them to flick her nose, only for them to lightly graze it.
“He’ll live. Probably overdue,” They replied simply, moving their finger to scratch her antlers. “I really like that you did it for me.” Their teeth shone as they parted their lips, irises glittered with gratitude. There was a faint hue of pink on their cheeks, and Noelle decided she would have yelled at the Angel itself to see that blush again.
She nuzzled against their nose, a faint glimmer emanating from her own as they hummed in approval. Her arms regained their hold on their sweater, and she pressed their foreheads together, reappreciating how their natural human scent mixed with the nostalgic whiff of apples. “You always make me feel better, Kris.”
They bashfully avoided her eyes, the conscious proximity boiling their normally cool composure they maintained, but broke out into a grin at her giggling. Their face refocused just a little bit after they exchanged laughter.
“Terrifying though.” Noelle tilted her head in confusion. “What was?” She asked, oblivious to the absurdity of that question.
“You.”
Noelle actually scoffed at the audacity. Kris Dreemurr, the kid who had been hiding under her bed since they were in diapers in order to get her to scream, was trying to call her scary.
And yet when she looked for the sly mischievous energy that normally emanated from them, she found a shockingly earnest expression from Kris, sheepishly rubbing the back of their head.
“Oh! Well um, if it gets the point across, I guess!” Noelle said with a pat to Kris’ head. It was difficult to imagine somebody like Kris being scared of anything, let alone her. “Though you’re overreacting a little, I’m sure you’ve seen worse from Mom befo-”
“Not even close.”
In a different time period Noelle would have persecuted Kris for heresy. Up until recently Noelle could barely stand to ask for ketchup packets from ICE-E’s, and Kris was saying they would rather deal with her mother? (Something they had extensive experience with.) But Noelle looked at them and saw that they really meant it. The solemnness in their expression was enough proof, their rubies could not hold a lie under her gaze. She felt a weird sense of pride in having been able to make such an impact, but her anxiety had flared up from Kris’ demeanor.
“Oh, I’m sorry Kris I didn’t know. I’ll try not to-” She felt their palm cup her cheek, a ticklish feeling gliding over her skin. Their eyes had returned to that reassuring shade of maroon that made her brain relax.
“I like scary, remember?”
Noelle squeezed her eyes shut to try to shut out the water threatening to spill from her eyes at their tender words; they really had a way of bringing it out of her. She planted what was supposed to be a smooch on their nose before it turned into a lip barrage on their whole face. Kris started giggling and half-heartedly attempted to push her away. The two of them lazily play-wrestled for a few minutes, falling right back how they had done it as kids every other day.
Eventually, Kris’ phone rang, startling them and causing them to pout as Noelle snickered at them. It was a text from their mom asking about their whereabouts. They had been so distracted by Noelle they had forgotten to update her or Susie about the change in plans.
Noelle’s face fell a little. “You’re leaving?” She asked, resisting the urge to jump on top of them and prevent their escape. Kris sat up and gave a reassuring smile, “Will pack for sleepover, bring hot chocolate.” They smirked at hearing Noelle’s tail thump against the sofa, picking themselves off the couch and promising to be back quickly.
They put their hand on the doorknob but hesitated for a moment, and she looked at them questioningly. “During the library…” They started but trailed off, seemingly losing their focus, staring directly at the ground. Noelle tilted her head, “Yeah?”
Kris looked back up to see her and their face was a tomato. “Youwerealsoreallyreallyhot.” They mumbled at a mile a minute before running away from the house like they had admitted to a felony. Noelle’s nose became a siren, her ears burning while her eyes cartoonishly dilated in shock.
“KRIS?!??!?!”