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Kris should’ve never let Susie go home, last night. They should’ve made some excuse to keep her around, shoot down her saying things like, I can’t leech off you and Toriel forever, y’know. Should’ve done something stupid like threatening to cut themself, or taking off their clothes.
But Kris hadn’t said anything then, and they didn’t say anything now, as they silently let Susie into the house.
“Uh, so…your mom’s not here right now, is she?” Susie asked. She tried to keep her tone light and casual, but Kris didn’t miss the slight hesitance betraying her nervousness.
“She’s out,” Kris said. “Won’t be back ‘til dinner time.”
“You mean we’ve got the house to ourselves until then? Sweet, dude.”
Susie made herself at home, kicking off her sneakers before flopping onto the couch. She laid her head atop a throw pillow, but it was too late. Kris had already glimpsed the bruise she’d tried hiding behind her hair.
“Got any snacks?” she asked. “I’m starving.”
“Gimme a sec.”
Kris went to the kitchen. First things first: they opened the freezer, suppressing their own reflexive shiver at the cold, and dug out a bag of frozen peas. They wrapped this up in a tea towel before returning to the lounge.
Susie raised an eyebrow when they offered the makeshift ice pack to her. “Uh, weird snack you got there.”
“It’s for your face,” Kris said.
She looked away from them. “I’m good, thanks,” she muttered.
Kris stared her down. “I won’t feed you until you take it.”
Susie tried to glare back, but it was weak. Her heart wasn’t into it. They both held each other’s gaze for several moments, before Susie finally sighed.
“Fine. Whatever.” She reluctantly took the ice pack and set it atop her pillow, before laying her head back down again. “Fuck, that’s cold,” she complained, but she didn’t toss the ice pack away.
Mission success. Kris rewarded her with orange juice and a bag of potato chips. They sat down on the other end of the couch with their own glass, leaning back into the plush cushions. Really, they wanted to cuddle up to Susie and bask in her warmth, but Kris suspected that right now, their clinginess would aggravate her more than endear her.
Susie nudged Kris’ thigh with a foot to get their attention. “Didn’t you get yourself something to eat?” she asked, through a mouthful.
Kris finished their sip of juice. It was a specific brand Toriel bought to their preferences, one that was thinner and sweeter than other options. Easier for them to keep down.
“I’m fine,” they mumbled. “Not hungry.”
Susie sat up to shove the opened bag of chips under their nose, filling their nostrils with the scent of sea salt. “I took your ice pack, so you have some.”
Her tone didn’t brook argument. Kris hesitated, sighed, and dug out a small handful. They were plain salt, at least, so they wouldn’t clash horribly with the juice.
Susie scowled at the amount Kris took, but instead of demanding they take more, she drew the bag away and returned to munching handfuls. Kris ate more slowly, feeding one chip into their mouth at a time like a shredder. They weren’t bad. Not too greasy, or overly salted.
Kris guessed that Susie probably wasn’t up to playing video games, so they didn’t go retrieve their controllers from upstairs. In lieu of that, Kris dug out the TV remote from between the couch cushions—as carefully as they could, without disturbing Susie too much—and turned it on.
“Wanna watch anything?” they asked.
“Uh…” Susie swallowed another mouthful. “Dunno. You choose.”
Kris flicked through the channels until they landed on a nature documentary about microbes. It was interesting enough to focus on, but not demanding enough that they couldn’t tune it out if needed.
They both watched in silence for a while, but finally, Kris couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “It was your dad, wasn’t it?” they asked, without looking away from the TV screen.
They saw Susie stiffen in their peripheral. “What was?”
Kris turned their head enough to shoot her an incredulous look. “Who else gave you that bruise?”
Susie curled her lip, showing a glimpse of her fangs. “Who gave you that hickey on your neck?” she demanded, jabbing a clawed finger at them.
Kris had slapped their hand over the side of their neck before they realized they’d just incriminated themself. Their cheeks heated.
Susie huffed a bitter laugh. “See? You’re as bad as I am.”
Kris cursed themself internally. They knew they shouldn’t have slacked off on applying the makeup Carol had lent them. It was just—they hated the feeling of it on their skin, so—
They pulled their hoodie up around their neck, if only to relieve the crawling of their skin. “I thought you said he’d stopped doing this,” they muttered.
Susie sighed. “Yeah—when he’s sober. Kind of a different story when he’s wasted.”
Kris winced. They were familiar with how tough Susie’s dragon hide was, by now, that they realized she’d been hit hard if a bruise was left behind. And if her father had done it while drunk, too…
“Look, it’s fine,” Susie went on. “Nothing I haven’t handled before, okay? It’ll heal soon enough. Maybe sooner, if we go to Castle Town or another dark world…”
Kris’ hand squeezed around their glass of orange juice, enough to turn their skin white where their fingers applied pressure. “You should’ve stayed the night over,” they mumbled. You know I wouldn’t have turned you down, they didn’t say. Nor did they mention that Toriel wouldn’t have, either.
Susie grimaced at her bag of chips, now finished. She scrunched it into a ball with a loud crackling of foil and stuffed it into her empty glass, which she set aside on the drawer where Toriel kept her book of hymns.
“Maybe I just didn’t want to feel like a freeloader for one night,” Susie muttered.
“Everyone’s a freeloader at Castle Town,” Kris pointed out.
“Only ‘cos they’ve got nowhere else to go.”
Excuse after excuse. Kris stared ahead at the TV without registering what was on the screen, or the faint words of the narrator. If only they knew the magic words that would make this all right, ones that Susie wouldn’t reject. Maybe Ralsei would know what to say, if he was here…
It was all Kris’ fault. If only they’d convinced Susie to stay, last night, this wouldn’t have happened. Kris had known. They’d known it’d been a bad idea to let Susie go home, and yet, they’d still—
“Mom would help,” they murmured, “if you told her.” Toriel was fond of Susie, after all; enough for Kris to wonder if she’d adopt her, too, given the chance.
Susie scoffed. “You gonna tell her what you get up to with the mayor on Sundays, then?”
Now it was Kris’ turn to bare their teeth. “That’s different,” they insisted hotly. “At least she doesn’t use me as a punching bag.”
“You can’t tell me it’s any better than being used as her sex toy!” Susie snapped.
Kris flinched. They whipped their head aside, jaw clenched and heart pounding.
Susie turned away, too, and she rubbed her forehead with the heel of her palm, uncaring if she smeared salt and grease over her scales. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “That was outta line.”
You don’t know what you’re talking about, Kris wanted to snarl, but they bitterly realized they had no good counter to shut Susie down with. Nor did they want to start another fight. Instead, Kris glared into their glass of orange juice. They didn’t feel like drinking it, any more. The lingering aftertaste of citrus, mixed with salt, on their tongue was bordering on nauseating.
“Here,” they said, offering the glass to Susie in their own silent apology.
Susie stared at it a moment before sighing and sitting up to pluck it out of Kris’ hand. She downed the whole thing in one go.
“Just…don’t worry about it. Seriously,” she said. “Dad doesn’t hit me nearly as hard or as often as he used to before I started fighting back, and I can stand up for myself. Besides, I’m a dragon, remember? We’re pretty tough monsters.”
Kris couldn’t not worry when Susie came to their doorstep sporting ugly bruises. And it was because she was so tough, too, that Kris hated to see her suffering. Shrugging it off with a smile, the same way she criticized Ralsei for. Then again, Kris wasn’t in any position to talk, they realized, as they rested their right hand on their left arm, over where their scars were hidden under their clothes. There was the faded hickey on their neck, too.
“If you say so,” they mumbled, finally conceding defeat.
They both lapsed into a tense silence. Kris tried to watch the documentary, but they couldn’t concentrate; their head kept buzzing as they were caught between wanting to help and keeping their useless trap shut. Susie looked equally distracted, idly licking salt off her claws as she stared in the TV’s direction without focus.
Kris sighed to themself. They didn’t have to guess that this was exactly how Susie must feel every time they went to Carol, or when she spotted new cuts on their arms and thighs. It wasn’t a pleasant realization, but…at least, it put them both on equal ground.
At last, Kris decided to take a risk. They clambered across the couch on all fours until they were over top Susie: their legs astride hers, hands either side of her head.
She blinked up at them, a little surprised, before she smiled lazily. “Uh, Kris? I’m, like, flattered, but…I’m not really in the mood to fool around, right now.” Especially on your mom’s couch, was the unspoken undertone.
“It’s fine,” Kris murmured, truthfully. “Wasn’t gonna, anyway.”
They lowered themself to lie across Susie, tucking their head under her chin and hooking their arms under hers, one leg between her own. She was so nice and warm; Kris would’ve purred, if they had the ability.
Susie chuckled and ran her fingers through their hair, gently. “This your way of making sure I don’t leave?”
“Mm.”
“Dude, you weigh, like, nothing. Even Ralsei is heavier than you. You can’t keep me pinned down, y’know.”
“Don’t care,” Kris mumbled. “Just stay here.” Where you’re safe.
They were sure Susie was rolling her eyes at them. Still, if she was annoyed, she didn’t do anything to show it. She only petted their hair, lightly scratching their scalp with her claws in the way she knew they liked.
“That’s fine,” she said, instead. “I wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.”