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It is not often that winter comes harsh into Hometown. Snowy days rarely have the ability to cancel school in such a small town, and winter storms are loud but moderate. The lake freezes over maybe once a decade; Kris has only seen it coated in ice twice, when they were still a young and new addition to the Dreemurr family.
“Shit! Why’s it have to be so goddamn cold?” Susie complains as they exit the diner. The cold chills her to the bones, fills her limbs with lead. Her feet drag the sidewalk as she falls into place behind Kris, arms wrapped around her torso. She’s already in three layers of jackets, but still she shivers when a wind blows past them. “It’s got to be below zero by now,” she says, looking into the dark sky.
Night has just fallen. It will only get colder, despite being calm and cloudless.
“C'mon–” she punches Kris' shoulder “–let’s get you home. Sooner you get there, sooner I can head to Castle Town.”
“You know you can stay over,” Kris signs. “School doesn’t start back until next week.”
“Dude, it’s been a week. Toriel's getting tired of me.”
Kris stops and turns to face her, eyes narrowed.
“You know I appreciate it, but I can't keep taking advantage of y’all.”
“You're not taking advantage of us,” Kris signs. “We want you there.”
She rubs the back of her neck. “My mom–”
They cut her off with one hand to her snout. The other signs out a ‘C’ and a ‘T’ — their shortcut for Castle Town.
Clicking her tongue, Susie curses. “Damn, when did I say that?”
A bump to Susie's back cuts off Kris’ answer. She stumbles into them, their hands on her shoulders to steady her, until she turns and glares. Pizzapants wobbles behind her, still half draped across her back.
“Sssssorry, mans,” he slurs.
The scent of alcohol makes Susie’s nose wrinkle. Kris steps between them, eyes hollow as they stare. He takes a nervous step back.
“Are you drunk?” she asks.
Pizzapants nods, head flopping up and down. “Lake’s frozen. Time for ssome.....” he pauses, eyes glazing as he searches for the word he needs. “Dddrunk skating,” he winks, waving a pair of ice skates, blade first, into Kris’ face. Susie pulls them out of range before he gets too reckless. “Gotta.... date. Skeeeedaddly.”
He lunges, body shifting like fluid around them, and skip-falls towards the apartments. Manic mumbling follows him as he disappears into the dark, broken up by equally manic giggles.
“Creep,” Susie grumbles. Kris tugs on her arm, smiling wide. “Dude I’m not going ice skating.”
They shake their head. “I want to show you something,” they whisper, “at home.”
“Uh, sure. But I’m still leaving after.”
Kris snorts like they don’t believe her.
It takes much less time than usual to reach home — Kris dragged Susie through town, hand locked around hers, never even slowing as they climbed the hill to the Dreemurr house. When they reach the door they barrel through, nearly startling their mother out of Chairiel.
“Kris, are you okay?” Toriel asks.
“Lake’s frozen,” they tell her. Their smile hasn’t dropped since Pizzapants left.
“I see,” Toriel covers her smile with a hand. She stands, setting her book on the cushion of her chair. “I'll prepare a blanket and some warm cider.”
“Thanks, Mom!” Kris calls, already halfway up the stairs. Susie trudges behind them, frowning.
“Dude what is going on? You’re acting weird.”
All they do is shoot her that same smile.
At the end of the upstairs hallway, Kris taps Susie's shoulder. She picks them up sits them on it, watching as they fumble to find hidden lever. They yank it, and a set of steps falls into their lap. Susie takes it from them as she backs up.
Kris climbs down and sets unfolds the staircase until it settles solidly in the floor. “Come on,” they say, scurrying up it. Susie follows to find them hanging halfway out the attic window.
“Uh, dude?”
Instead of answering, Kris works their way onto the roof. They lean into the window and wave her forward, one hand extended to help her through. She takes it, careful of the ice on the shingles, and joins them on the roof. The wind is worse up here; it works the cold into her very soul.
“Bruh, what the fuck? Are you trying to freeze me?”
They pause, head tilted as they contemplate. “My own Susie-sicle would be nice.”
“Weirdo,” she says, laughing as she rustles their hair. They take her hands and pull her over the ridge of the roof.
The sight from the highest point in town steals her breath away.
Laid out before her is the lake, dark and still in the distance. The trees surround it, snow-laden limbs reaching over the water like icy fingers. Hundreds of stars twinkle in the sky above.
The glassy surface of the lake reflects a perfect mirror image of everything.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” Kris asks, their fingers tightening over hers. They pull her down to sit on a blanket spread across the slanted roof, then drape another blanket around her shoulders. Settling into her lap, they tighten it around them both.
“Worth staying?” they ask.
Susie looks down at them, at their eyes shining red even in the faint light. Their gaze never leaves the lake, watching as dark shapes cross over the reflected stars, spinning and twirling.
Her arms wrap tight around their chest.
“Yeah. Worth it.”