Archive of Our Own ^beta

Berdly pointedly looked away from both his CRT TV's screen and his rival's mocking expression of satisfaction, huddling up to his dark blue shawl as a shiver wracked his body. It had been far too cold lately, and the bitter chill of yet another defeat was certainly not helping.

“Yes, yes, let it aaaaaaaaall out, Kristen.” he sneered at Kris while laughter bubbled out of them. “I'm sure you're just dying to laugh at each and every one of the losses I suffer due to this dreadful weather.”

“Oh, we're blaming the weather now?” Kris teased, leaning closer to Berdly for the express purpose of making his SOUL race with disdain. “What, are your nonexistent fingers too cold to press the buttons properly?”

Berdly glowered at them, tail swishing angrily behind him. Bah. They had some nerve, taunting his current physical limitations like that as if they themselves weren't cocooned in a myriad of his best blankets. They'd even managed to wrangle his weighted one away from him with some ridiculous excuse about them not having feathers and needing it more than he did. As if having feathers made anything better - Berdly's plumage had been fluffed up protectively against the cold ever since the morning, and yet he was being affected by it regardless.

(Why had he let them have his weighted blanket, really…?)

“You're lucky it's far too cold for me to leave the comfort of my shawl.” he sniffed. “Your taunts would have gotten you wrestled into the ground by now.”

Kris barked out a laugh. As if to make a show of their vastly superior level of comfort, they wriggled in their blanket cocoon, huddling further into it in a way that, unfortunately, made Berdly deeply jealous.

“You and I both know it'd just end with you on the floor and me twisting your wing back until you surrendered.” they taunted.

“That was two times!”

“Two times out of three.”

“Th-that means nothing!”

“Tell that to mathematicians.”

Berdly temporarily let go of his controller for the express purpose of dragging his wings down his face, being careful not to smudge his glasses too much.

“You're making it very hard to ignore the urge to pummel you.” he warned, staring them down through narrowed eyes.

Kris let out one of their typical raccoon-chitter snickers, crimson eyes glinting devilishly.

“You just can't resist me, can you?” they wriggled their eyebrows (or at least Berdly thought they did - he couldn't see it under their bangs).

Berdly preened on instinct, hoping his massive wings would hide the blue spreading across his cheeks. It was beyond him how effective they managed to make their ridiculous taunts. He was supposed to be smarter than this.

“It's too cold for your drivel.” he murmured dismally.

“Well, if you're so chilly, get over here.” briefly, Kris opened their cocoon in an inviting way, before shutting it again when they realized how cold the outside air was. “I can share, unlike a certain someone.”

Inexplicably, Berdly's SOUL began to race again. All of a sudden, his body felt really warm, though he still trembled from the cold.

(He thought he saw Kris's face morph into surprise and their cheeks redden ever so slightly, but that must have been a trick of the light.)

“Wh-what?” he stammered meekly, before finding his voice again. “And- A-and why would I do that?!”

“Because it's cold and I'm being a blanket hog to see how long it takes you to cave.” the human replied matter-of-factly. Weirdly enough, their voice sounded a little less confident, almost hurried.

“Thanks but no thanks, Kris.” he snapped before his overly impulsive right brain got ahead of him and made him do something truly ridiculous. “Me and my shawl are just fine.”

Kris shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Pettily, Berdly fought back another shudder against the biting cold, looking out the window on instinct to check if the snow outside showed any signs of clearing up. It had certainly been piling up as of late, and today seemed like an especially bad day - not only had the temperature fallen below thirty degrees, but the bluebird was almost certain there hadn't been a single time where he looked outside that day and there wasn't a snowfall.

“It seems to be getting rather gelid out.” he mused, mostly to himself.

“Top tier observational skills over here.” his rival joked in reply, trying and failing to hide a cheeky smirk.

“Quiet, you little rat.” Berdly hissed, but there was little bite to it. “I was merely wondering if you would be able to get back to your abode alright.”

Kris gave a lazy shrug. “Eh, it's no biggie. Mom's picking me up.”

Just to make sure he hadn't been seeing things, Berdly looked outside again, taking in the completely snow-ridden asphalt.

“…The road does not seem particularly safe.” he pointed out. Understatement of the century.

“Then I'll walk.” the human replied simply. “Mom says it “builds character” or whatever.”

“It does indeed.” Berdly nodded, being the one to smirk cheekily for once. “When was the last time you've read a book where the characters drive to their destination on their arduous journey?”

Kris punched him on the shoulder lightly, receiving a swift peck in retaliation. His action just made them chitter-laugh, though. Maybe Berdly had been too soft on them yet again.

“You're such a loser, man.” they snickered, but for some reason, their voice sounded oddly affectionate.

Berdly huffed out a laugh. “Spoken like you don't share that title.”

“Yeah, but I'm like, a cool loser.”

“Sounds like an oxymoron.”

“Go to hell, birdbrain.”

It was Berdly's turn to laugh now, though he tried hard to muffle his ugly squawks of amusement into his wing. The last thing he needed was for Kris to start belittling yet another part of him. Their expression was unreadable as they stared straight at him; no way to know what they'd just added to their mockery arsenal.

“I can see why you're always trying to get under my skin.” he teased to distract from his ridiculous noise. “This is humorous indeed.”

“Hm… it's more fun when it's you.” Kris hummed. “You're so reactive.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“You get all fluffy 'n stuff.” they mumbled in reply. Berdly's SOUL skipped an errant beat. “Makes you look like a dumb idiot.”

“Wh- Hey!” he couldn't prevent his feathers from rising against his body at the taunt, effectively proving his rival right.

“Yeah, like that!” they chuckled breezily. Their face twitched into a more playful look as they spoke. “Looks, uh- cu- a-acutely stupid, that is!”

“What in the world are you on about?? You're not making any sen-”

A blaring, siren-like ringtone rang out across the room, cutting the bluebird's sentence short. In an unusual show of surprise for them, Kris flinched in place and whipped their head towards the place where their phone had last been seen, forgotten among the couch cushions, halfway buried under their myriad of blankets. They fished it out quickly, eyes flicking over the screen to read the contact name.

“Mom's calling.” they muttered, lips pressed into a thin line as their expression turned a bit more serious.

Berdly immediately quieted down in a show of solidarity. There was nothing more nerve-wracking than an unexpected call from one's mother. Kris picked up the phone and put it to their ear.

“Hiiiiii, moooooom… What tone? No clue what you're talking about… Oh, I'm not in trouble? Uh- Nevermind that, then. Need my help for something at home…? …Speakerphone? Okay…”

The human pulled their phone away and tapped the screen. All of a sudden, Berdly could hear Ms. Toriel's voice much better, though the signal seemed to be worsening, because her voice crackled as she spoke.

“Kris, Berdly, can you both hear me?” she called out sweetly.

“Not very clear, but certainly loud, ma'am.” the bluebird nodded, forgetting she couldn't see him. He pointedly ignored Kris's cheeky grin, the one they usually donned when they wanted to make fun of him for being a suck-up.

“Good, good.” Ms. Toriel sighed on the other side of the call. “The weather has gotten so bad throughout the day, I was worried it had cut the signal for good…”

Kris leaned back on the couch and ran their fingers through their hair, looking bored out of their mind. Berdly unwillingly focused on the way they raked through the strands, splitting them seamlessly for someone who looked like they didn't know what a hairbrush was.

“So what is it that you have to tell us?” they asked nonchalantly.

“I was thinking, Kris…” the goat monster began. “This snowstorm is already quite bad, and studies predict it will only worsen for tonight. You are well aware I am unable to drive you, and I do not think it's safe for you to walk home in this terrible weather, either.”

“I'm starting to feel like you're about to tell me something really bad.” the human furrowed their brows so visibly Berdly could see it under their bangs, though their expression was still neutral in spite of that.

“That is simply a matter of perspective, honey.” Ms. Toriel giggled playfully. “In any case, I believe it would be for the best… if you slept over at Berdly's house for tonight. Just until the snow clears up.”

“What?!” Berdly and Kris yelped in unison, not even a single second after she'd concluded her sentence.

The bluebird found himself staring at his rival, eyes wide and beak dropping open in pure shock. It seemed the feeling was mutual, though, because Kris was looking back at him with the most emotion he'd ever seen reflected in their face, seeming almost mortified.

“B-but mom!” their voice sounded strained, almost embarrassed, when they piped up again. “I-”

“I refuse to allow you outside during such a terrible storm, young one.” Ms. Toriel stated with an air of finality to her. “It cannot be that much of a hassle to spend time with your friend - did you not tell me you were impressed by how good of a cook he is just the other day?”

“You're impressed by my cooking?” Berdly interjected, feeling his face heat up. He couldn't even bring himself to sound properly smug over the absolutely earth-shattering information he'd just received.

“Shut the fuck up.” Kris hissed, their own face blazing red.

“Language.” their mother warned. “It is for your own safety. Do not question your mother like this.”

The human opened their mouth to speak, but shut it just as quickly, biting their lip to keep whatever they wanted to say in. Their crimson gaze became downcast, and their shoulders slumped further.

“…'Kay, mama.” they mumbled softly.

“I'm sorry, honey. I wish I did not have to tell you this, but I'm just too fearful of what could happen.” Ms. Toriel sighed in a sweet, maternal tone. “Be good, will you not? I love you.”

“Love you too. I'll be good.” Kris replied, signing the words as they spoke them seemingly out of instinct.

Silence hung heavy in the room after the final beep that came with Kris pressing the End Call button, neither of the two teens willing to break it. How would they even break it? What could they say about the predicament they'd just been forced into?

Berdly, on his side of things, was positively losing his mind. In a calm and controlled manner, of course. He couldn't let Kris see that something had gotten to him.

“I'm sorry you're stuck with me for tonight.” he blurted out without thinking. So much for his casual and nonchalant front. “I didn't intend for this to happen.”

“'S fine.” Kris replied, much quicker than the bluebird had predicted. “Just… a bit of an embarrassing situation, is all.”

Berdly nodded. He supposed that made sense, if the way they'd reacted during the call was anything to go off of. Hopefully it would be a passable experience, even if they were embarrassed by him.

(Didn't stop his crest feathers from drooping inexplicably, though.)

Well. They'd found themselves in this predicament. Not much to do but deal with it, right?

[…]

It had only been about two hours since Berdly had learned of the unfortunate situation he and Kris were in, but he was already positive he was going insane.

How could he not? Two hours was already more than enough time for him to overthink this; Kris was sleeping over! Spontaneously! There were so many variables to consider, so many things left to the whims of RNG: what would they want to eat? What would the two of them do to pass time?? What would they wear to bed?? Where would they sleep???? Too many questions, and the chilly air that seemed to be dead-set on freezing his feathers solid was definitely not helping.

His rival wasn't in any better shape, either - ever since he'd made hot cocoa for the two of them about an hour and a half ago, a fruitless attempt to warm up in the face of the cold that rapidly grew as the sky darkened outside, they'd been repeatedly and somewhat inconspicuously asking for more. He was pretty sure they'd drunk six mugs by now while on video call with Susie and Noelle. That couldn't be healthy.

(They looked so happy to be drinking it, though. Berdly couldn't stop himself from feeling flattered at their appreciation for his drink-making abilities.)

“Are you planning to laze around forever?” he asked them as an attempt to distract himself. He sounded a little more snide than he intended. “Or will you be so kind as to help me prepare our dinner?”

“Look who finally left the coop!” Susie laughed from her side of the call, bundled up with so many blankets only her snout and eyes were visible. “Where have you been, birdbrain?”

“Actually putting some thought into how to handle our current situation.” he snapped.

“C'mon, Berdly, it can't be that stressful!” Noelle piped up kindly. She was wearing the same clothes she typically wore, save for what seemed like a black leather jacket with a fluffy hem. Immune to the cold indeed. “It's just a sleepover! You've been to sleepovers!”

“When they're planned!” Berdly dragged his wings down his face, tilting his head at the sky as if to curse the Angel itself. “Not when this mutt is dropped at my doorstep and I'm just supposed to handle them without prior notice!”

“Rude.” Kris huffed, pouting. “I'm at least a halfbreed.”

“Just shut up and help me!” the bluebird groaned exasperatedly.

Surprisingly, his rival did as they were told, not without making a show of how incredibly hard it was to lift themselves off the chair they were sitting on. “Alright, but I'm bringing Susie and Noelle with me.”

It took a remarkably long amount of time for Berdly and Kris to come to a consensus on what to make for dinner. To no fault of the bluebird, of course - he was the one making suggestions, only for Kris to shoot all of them down seemingly for the heck of it. In the end, they decided on a simple meal of fettuccine Alfredo. Neither of them was all that hungry anyway, with all the snacks they'd eaten.

Berdly set the water on the stove to boil and fetched out a half-full bag of fettuccine, keeping his eyes on Kris all the while to make sure they didn't do anything stupid. Not that he really needed to do so, though; they were lingering so close to him he could feel their presence like an omen. He had to send them on a mission of their own to get them out for his skin. Their proximity was giving him goosebumps.

(The bad kind. Definitely the bad kind.)

Thankfully, now that Kris was no longer standing right behind him, he could distract himself enough to get into a groove. While his rival grated the Parmesan cheese and chatted with Susie (who kept very conspicuously urging them to grate more and more cheese after they told her to “say when”), he settled for chopping the garlic and the parsley, playing a little ditty in his head and whistling along to it. Not long after he did so, he heard the sound of the grater slow to a stop and assumed Kris was done with their task. He was just about to dump the pasta in, when…

“Ah, I nearly forgot to salt the pasta water!” he squawked in alarm, interrupting his own birdsong - to his disgruntlement. “Kris, could you hand it over? It's closer to you.”

As if they'd been shaken out of a trance, Kris flinched and, weirdly enough, straightened their terrible posture, a slight pinkish tinge on their cheeks, presumably due to the embarrassment of having been caught slacking. From their phone, Berdly could hear Susie chortling as they hastily reached out to the spices and sweeteners corner and pulled out… not the salt, shoving it into his wings and immediately looking down at the marble counter.

Berdly stared at the item in his hold, then at Kris, blank-faced, awaiting an explanation.

“…This is granulated white sugar.” he stated. “I asked for the chunky sea salt two spices away from it.”

His rival's eyes flicked to him and widened under their bangs, before they lost their gusto and looked down at their feet somewhat shyly.

“Uh, sorry.” they mumbled. “You were muttering and whistling and stuff. Got distracted.”

“Faha, yeah. Distracted.” Noelle laughed awkwardly. Berdly nearly jumped. Somehow, he'd forgotten the call was still on. “I'm sure that's why you looked like that, Kris.”

The bluebird narrowed his eyes. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing!” Noelle and Kris replied in unison, the human glaring daggers at the reindeer while she shot them a very familiar cheeky look.

“…Right.” Berdly gave a slow nod, his eyes slitting further. “Fine. I suppose I will get the salt myself.”

No further incidents occurred after. Kris had gone quiet at some point, helping out here and there like they'd been prior. Occasionally, they'd bump into each other, like when Kris tried to add the butter into the strained pasta while Berdly was adding the parsley and garlic and their shoulders brushed, which they both apologized for way too profusely while Susie and Noelle exchanged odd, one-brow-raised looks between each other (as if they were sitting next to each other and not in completely separate cameras???).

By the time their dinner was fully finished, Noelle had to go help her mother with something and Susie's aged phone was nearly out of battery, so after showing off his plating and culinary skills and relishing in how hard Susie was trying to avoid complimenting his cooking, the two girls said their goodbyes and disconnected, and Berdly was left alone with his rival once more.

Like he always did when they had a meal at his place, Berdly awaited their first bite before he had his own. Just to make sure their palate hadn't yet been tainted by the copious amounts of junk food they consumed on the daily, of course. He tried not to watch them too intently while they twirled their fork around a large bundle of pasta and shoved the whole thing in their mouth, chewing slowly.

“…'S pretty good.” Kris mumbled mid-bite, averting their eyes.

“That's it? “Pretty good”?” Berdly teased, raising a playful eyebrow as he helped himself to some food as well. “I thought you just adored my cooking, dearest!”

The human choked on the food they were eating, nearly piercing the bowl itself with how hard they shoved their fork into it.

“Stop bringing that up!” they hissed out, visibly flustered.

“Oh, it's quite alright, Kristoff!” Berdly crowed, tilting his head up. “It's hard to resist such delectable food!”

‘Asshole.’ Kris signed, before following it up with three very specific letters that made Berdly's feathers stand on end.

“Watch your ASL tone, you imp.” he warned them in a low growl, kicking them under the table. They kicked back harshly, but Berdly was used to their antics enough that he could swiftly move his legs away in time. “You're still in my abode. I can kick you out at any time.”

‘You wouldn't.’ their signs were looser this time as they batted their eyelashes at him, giving him an exaggerated, disgustingly fond look that made the bluebird feel funny.

“Fine, I wouldn't.” he admitted briskly, begging his fluttering SOUL to settle down already. “We need to keep our rivalry intact, after all. Quite hard to do so if you freeze to death.”

‘Between us, that's more likely to happen to you.’ they signed between massive bites of pasta. Glee shimmered within Berdly's fragile chest at their enjoyment. ‘You're all feathers and bones.’

The bluebird narrowed his eyes, looking Kris up and down deliberately slowly once he realized how awkward that seemed to make them.

“Like you're any better.” he scoffed. “You may try to hide it, but I know your physique leaves a lot to be desired.”

“Damn, you're really bad at flirting.” Kris switched back to verbal communication as they finished their plate, tone teasing and almost flirty.

Berdly unwillingly squawked, nearly doubling his size as his already poofy feathers fluffed even further. That absolute tease!

“Gh- Wh- I'm not flirting with you!!” he screeched, feeling his face burning like a rekindled ember. “Wh-why would I ever-”

Kris cut him off with a thin little giggle completely unlike them, muffling it behind their mouth. It was, to Berdly's horror, very endearing, and he had to fight the urge to keep staring at them like a weirdo.

(His tail was acting on its own again. Traitor.)

“If you say so.” they replied breezily between soft breaths. “Anyways, you should bake yourself something nice, y'know? To make up for the lack of mass under those feathers.”

“A lovely idea, if I was any good at baking.” Berdly sighed, pecking the last bit of food off his plate. “These wings were made for meals, not sweet treats. The best I can do is breakfast foods like pancakes.”

“Well, good thing I'm a baker, right?” Kris leaned their head on their hand casually, eyes still fixed on Berdly. “I'll make sure you don't inevitably fuck it up.”

The bluebird's SOUL skipped a beat, though his skin also prickled with annoyance at the double-edged sword that was their suggestion. “Y-you- Alright, I'm going to graciously ignore that last comment. You'd… bake with me?”

“'Course.” his rival smiled. “I like doing it, and well… it'll be fun to see you clumsy in the kitchen for once.”

“W-well, if you say so… What do you suggest we bake?”

“Gingerbread cookies, a winter classic.” Kris got up from their chair and cleared their side of the table. “Do you have cookie cutters?”

“Of course, who do you take me for?” Berdly smirked as he did the same. “They're just simple shapes, though. No gingerbread humans or monsters.”

“Good enough.” they scrolled through their phone, looking for something. “Prepare for a learning experience, birdie. You're baking with the master.”

Berdly sneered at them, receiving a playful shoulder bump in return. “I'm sure.”

It didn't take them long to gather all the ingredients. Flour, baking soda, a room temperature egg, molasses (of which Berdly barely had any), a variety of spices for added flavor, sugar, salt, and, of course, ginger. The bluebird lined them up neatly next to each bowl they would use to weigh them, ignoring how Kris rolled their eyes at the action, probably viewing it as unnecessary.

“First, we should measure the flour.” Berdly set his wings on his waist, staring down at the powder-stained bag. “How much do you use in your recipe?”

“Four hundred-ish grams.” Kris shrugged. “But that's for the batches I make for myself as a snack.”

“Well, we're making a more sizable batch for us two, are we not?” Berdly tilted his head. “So we should use more flour… maybe six or seven hundred grams would be good?”

Kris snorted. They attempted to conceal it, badly.

“What's so funny?” Berdly raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing, nothing.” Kris assured him between snickers. “You're right. Keep going.”

He disregarded their weird behavior with a low huff. It was just classic Kris at play. Classic Kris and their inexplicable oddities, and strangely endearing quirks, and captivating gaze fixed on his fluffed feathers and-

Berdly quickly sent that train of thought straight back to the hell it had crawled out of, twisting his neck to the side in the off chance his rival could tell how blue his cheeks were. What was that all about? Maybe the cold was messing with him more than he'd realized. Either that, or he needed to get more sleep.

The experience of making the batter went by like a breeze. Sure, Kris lingered far too close to him, and their voice sounded far too close to him, and maybe he could still feel the weird tingling sensation on his waist from when Kris casually put a hand around it to move him out of their way so they could take the reins for a second, but if you ignored that, no setbacks! None at all! Nothing that made Berdly crave a repeat. No soft, rumbling voices that didn't feel like he'd heard them enough. It was a normal baking session, and he'd learned lots of things, because he had been fully focused on the baking itself at all times!

Kris didn't do much out of the ordinary besides that, unless you counted brushing shoulders with him while they were cooking and adding far too much sugar for Berdly's taste into the mix. They were taking their role as baking instructor seriously for the most part, even if they were sort of a… touchy instructor.

(Though they did giggle a lot at certain consecutive numbers, for some reason. Berdly didn't question it. It was probably something stupid, and he was nothing if not too intelligent to fall prey to it.)

Before they knew it, they'd managed to pile every single shape they cut out of the gingerbread dough onto the two baking trays Berdly owned and put them into the oven to bake for ten minutes.

“…What now?” Berdly drawled awkwardly.

“Maybe we can see what's on TV?” Kris suggested with a shrug.

And so they did, sitting on opposite ends of the couch and huddling up to their respective blanket piles (Berdly had rightfully claimed some of his blankets back from the thief stuck in his house with him) while Kris flicked through the channels until they landed on one that was showing a movie.

The cold of the living room compared to the nicer temperature in the kitchen from all the cooking and baking made it hard to properly focus on the TV, and it didn't really help that it was a rerun of one of those odd Hallmark films whose DVD cases seemed to litter Noelle's house as soon as the temperature began to drop. It was one of the more classic ones, about a human falling in love with a prince, however cheesy and cliché that was. He knew these movies were not rooted in reality, but he couldn't help but scoff at how ridiculous they could get.

They'd caught it at one of the boring parts, in his opinion. Not much was happening, even though it was supposed to be a cutesy romantic moment between the two leads. Perhaps that was due to the lack of an established personality - the only thing he knew for certain about the leads was that the human was, well, a human, and the prince was a blue peacock-like monster.

His eyes flicked back to the screen when he heard the peacock monster whose name he neglected to learn waxing poetic about how pretty the human was, and he nearly rolled them right off their sockets. Of course the first time he paid attention to the movie, that was what his brain latched onto. What did that say about him? That hearing the word “pretty” caught his attention, or that he thought humans were pretty?

His head tilted to the side and his eyes trailed towards his rival's frame. He supposed Kris was… pretty, in a sense. They certainly looked pretty in the dim reflection of the TV screen, swoopy dark brown bangs seeming nearly midnight blue in the darkness of the room, but that was likely because he couldn't see a lot of them. It was a shame their vivid crimson eyes were typically obstructed by their hair, but… there was still a sort of captivating aura about them. Something that pulled people in. Perhaps that was a human thing.

Berdly's body moved on its own, inching just a little closer. Kris was none the wiser, despite the fact that the sound of him dragging his blankets along was definitely enough to raise suspicions.

…They looked warm. He was warm too, of course, his blankets made sure of that, but… Kris looked… warmer. Than him. Or the blankets.

So he kept moving, cursing himself for being such an idiot, ignoring the blaring alarms in his brain that kept telling him he was making a grave mistake. He definitely felt like the cold had made him dumber. Why else would he be… thinking so intensely about that mole on the corner of Kris's lips? About how their eyes reflected the TV screen just right?

His wingtips brushed Kris's forearm. They didn't move away.

Berdly swallowed dryly. Was that… Did that mean something good? That they didn't have a reaction to his approach? Or should he finally allow the logical half of his brain to take the reins and prevent him from embarrassing himself further?

(Did they want to be close, too…?)

The emotional half of his brain quickly erased that option from the list of possibilities. Slowly, the bluebird continued to scoot closer, until his and Kris's limbs were touching properly and his forewing was far too close to Kris's body. His wandering gaze found their hand on the couch, so close to his wing, so much smaller than it, and looking so very enticing.

He wondered, briefly, what it would feel like to hold it. If their skin was always as soft as it was when the two of them began to roughhouse over videogame tactic-related disagreements and his wings made their way to their face to keep them from biting him. Something about how close his feathers were to such a delicate part of them was making him feel dizzy, head swimming with possibilities, daydreaming about what would happen if-

Kris placed their fingers over his digit feathers.

Berdly's eyes snapped up to his rival's face in an instant, SOUL beating so hard in his chest he could barely hear his surroundings, but their eyes were still fixed on the movie that Berdly was very much ignoring. Except, this time… it was almost like they were trying their hardest to avoid looking somewhere else. More careful analysis of their face - for purely analytical reasons that were unrelated to a longing for physical touch - even revealed a light tinge of a darker shade on their cheeks, hard to make out in the darkness of the room, but still definitely discernible.

Berdly's beak curled into a smirk. Of course! It all made sense now! This mere proximity was flustering them and only them! He was quite sure they wanted nothing more than to feel his feathers between their fingers, and simply felt too shy to ask him properly. He supposed he understood where they were coming from. He was a dashing, incredibly intelligent individual, after all.

…Well, it would be courteous of him to give them what they wanted, wouldn't it?

Hesitantly (decidedly not because he was nervous), Berdly curled his wing feathers around the human's hand, relishing in the tiny gasp of surprise he pulled out of them. He concluded right after that perhaps he should have thought twice about it.

He was hyperaware of how soft their skin was now, and it was taking all of his brainpower to keep himself from running his feathers over the back of their hand just to get a better feel for it. Scratch that. There was no more need for hindsight. This had been a terrible idea. How could he not have predicted that this would happen?!

With some difficulty, he managed to drag his gaze away from Kris's hand (or rather, Berdly's wing enveloping it) and towards their face. They were actively facing away from him this time, their free hand switching between drumming fingers on their thigh and tugging at their sweater sheepishly.

…They curled their fingers around his wing in turn, intentionally, protectively.

Berdly forgot how to breathe. He felt feather-light, the feeling of their palm pressing into his feathers far, far too enthralling. He didn't know what to do now. He didn't know what to say, how to even bring up the fact that this was happening and inquire as to what it meant. Kris had always been somewhat touchy, hadn't they? What did this mean to them?

(What did it mean to him?)

The oven's helpful yet far too loud ding echoed through the house, and Berdly nearly jumped out of his skin. He tore his wing out of their hold like it had burned him, standing up so quickly he felt lightheaded and powerwalking his way to the kitchen.

He would never speak of this again.

They would never speak of this again.

It didn't matter.

It didn't matter that he nearly tripped over his own talons as he walked because he was so distracted by the moment (could he even call it a moment?) he'd shared with Kris.

It didn't matter that Kris had awkwardly followed after him, trailing so close behind that it was making him want to do something incredibly unintelligent.

It didn't. Matter.

The cookies were eaten in silence in the kitchen, to avoid making a mess in Berdly's room. The bluebird thought they were a little too sweet for his taste, but Kris, sweet tooth that they were, was happily wolfing them down, sneaking glances at him as if to make sure he was enjoying them as well. The feeling of their eyes on him really didn't help his wandering thoughts. His SOUL hadn't gotten the hint yet that there was nothing to be fidgety over.

(He could still feel the ghost of the sensation their hand between his digit feathers provided.)

(He wanted to feel the real thing again.)

“Perhaps we could cut on the sugar next time.” he mumbled out distractedly, a little flustered. He tried hard to convince himself that the erratic fluffing of his feathers was still related to the cold.

‘You have no joy in your heart.’ Kris signed mid chewing with a roll of their eyes. Berdly appreciated their consideration to avoid talking with their mouth full, even if they were signing taunts at him yet again.

“At least I'm not on track to get diabetes with my wild sugar intake.”

‘True, you'll get high cholesterol instead.’

Berdly fluffed his crest feathers upwards playfully. “You take that back.”

Kris snickered under their breath, finally swallowing the food in their mouth for the express purpose of outright giggling at him. To his dismay, he felt himself smile. Hopefully they wouldn't be able to hear his tail swishing against the back of his chair, because it wasn't like he could control it right now.

And all of a sudden, it was nearly midnight. The whole process of baking the cookies had taken a lot longer than Berdly realized. He was way past his self-imposed curfew now, and he was going to drag Kris to bed as well, them being a guest in his home be damned. Heavens knew they needed a proper sleep.

The human was given a change of clothes and took a quick shower while Berdly smoothed his own feathers down for bed. Berdly's Minecrap Crawler pajama set was the least baggy item of clothing he owned, due to the fact that he wore it when he was younger and it barely fit him anymore, but it was still visibly baggy when on the human. Not only were they shorter than him by a small yet noticeable margin, but they did not have wings, feathers, or any of the like that would require specially fitted shirts, so while the pants fit them well, the thick, fuzzy shirt was extremely loose around their torso and especially around their arms.

(He felt nothing about that fact. Nothing at all.)

(He certainly didn't feel anything when he caught them snuggling up to the shirt when they thought he wasn't looking and proceeded to pretend he hadn't seen anything for both their sakes.)

“So where do I sleep?” Kris's extremely casual tone snapped Berdly out of deranged thoughts. It was only then that his mind got back on track and he remembered they hadn't discussed those arrangements yet.

“Not my nest, that's for sure.” Berdly replied, perhaps a little snippily.

“Slow down, tiger.” his rival raised their hands in surrender with a small, roguish smirk. “I can see you're territorial. I won't intrude.”

“Hmph.” he scoffed. “Well, I do have some extra items of comfort. I think we could fix you up a nest for yourself. Over there.”

“How considerate.” Kris crooned playfully. “Even if you're sending me practically halfway across the room.”

Berdly narrowed his eyes. “Don't push your luck.”

Wordlessly, the bluebird ignored his rival's amused snort and gathered his extra pillows and blankets - plus a sleeping bag - in a pile, maybe possibly picking the best ones for himself as comeuppance for Kris being a blanket hog throughout the entire afternoon. After some deliberating and reordering until his rival's nest was absolutely perfect (he was a very good host, after all), he decided he'd done all he could to give them a good degree of comfort and allowed them to beta test it, decidedly not beaming when they seemingly approved of his layout.

He climbed into his own nest shortly after, turning off the fairy lights hanging above his nest when he noticed Kris was fully huddled up. He laid in the most comfortable spot, close to the upper middle where most of the pillows and plushies resided. He'd gotten access to his best blankets, including his weighted one, soft and fuzzy and perfect to cuddle up to as a replacement for the body heat of another. He wasn't fully comfortable, seeing how cold it was, but it was manageable. Berdly was in the best situation for a night of restful sleep.

…Or at least he would have been, were it not for the extremely distracting sound of fabric rubbing against itself with repetitive swishing sounds.

He raised his head slowly, eyes narrowed against the darkness of his frosty room as they scanned it for the source. It didn't take him long to find it, and when he did, he nearly wanted to facepalm over not having guessed it earlier.

Kris laid in the makeshift “nest” in the corner, huddled up in their sleeping bag while cocooned with blankets far too thin for the current situation. They looked like they were freezing, shivering aggressively and curled up so tightly into themselves they'd nearly rolled the sleeping bag into a circular shape. Now that his attention had been captured by them, he could even hear their quiet, shuddering breaths and the even quieter chatter of their teeth.

“Is everything alright?” he found himself asking, concern weighing heavy on him.

Kris suddenly stopped shivering. Berdly couldn't make out their breathing patterns, either. His worries worsened. He didn't intend for this to happen.

“S-sorry.” they mumbled in a wavering voice. “Just cold. I'll… h-handle it.”

“…You don't seem to be handling it very well.” Berdly pointed out, gentler than he realistically should have been.

“Sh-shut up.”

Berdly did as he was asked. For about ten seconds, before he let out a deep, defeatist sort of sigh, shuffling to make room under his blanket pile for an inexplicable, completely asinine reason.

“Oh, alright.” he huffed. “Get in.”

He could see Kris's blanket-riddled silhouette rising from their blanket pile into a sitting position, and, now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark properly, their blurry frame facing him, looking vaguely bewildered.

“Wh-what…?” they asked timidly in a hushed tone. “But… it's your nest.”

Berdly groaned under his breath in frustration. Were they really about to make him say it?

“Good lord, this is just sad now.” he hissed snidely. “Come on. There's more than enough room here, and you're clearly struggling.”

“Berdly, it's fine. Really.” Kris insisted with a sigh. “Y-your nest is obviously important to you. I don't wanna intrude.”

“You wouldn't be intruding, my dear Kristoff.” Berdly assured them. “I'm offering my warmth to you in these trying times. Don't make me regret it.”

“Your warmth?” his rival's voice had suddenly taken a playful lilt. “As in, you're gonna cuddle with me?”

Berdly squawked in offense, his feathers fluffing up for a reason other than the cold. The room felt a lot warmer all of a sudden. Was he always able to hear his SOUL in his eardrums? 

“N-not what I meant in the slightest!” he snapped. “I-I was referring to- m-my nest's warmth!”

Kris laughed, actually laughed at his words, even snorting a little from their amusement. He heard them unwrap themselves from their blankets and saw their silhouette approaching his nest until they reached the edge and stopped.

All of a sudden, his SOUL was thundering. His territorial instincts wanted to tell them to back off, to peck at them if they got any closer, but… something else within him needed them in the nest with him. He didn't think about the implications of such feelings, too focused on controlling his breathing enough that he was no longer lightheaded.

“Well, if you say so…” they mumbled. “Don't mind if I do.”

Before he was ready for it, Kris had gently climbed into his nest, careful not to move anything out of its rightful place or dip the underlying padding too much. This blatant display of respect made an unwelcome feeling spread throughout Berdly's body, one that made him far too okay with Kris sharing a nest with him and was replacing his territorial instinct terrifyingly quickly. It wasn't long before they slipped under the blanket pile as well, wrapping themselves in the same blanket the bluebird was snuggled up to.

Well. They were both in his nest now. Berdly had someone who wasn't his romantic partner or his next of kin in his nest with him. And he was… surprisingly fine with that.

Only one problem.

Kris was way too close to him.

By huddling up to the weighted blanket, they'd gotten much, much closer to him in the nest, close enough for Berdly to feel the warmth radiating from their body. The warmth of a living person. Real warmth, provided by someone real.

Berdly screwed his eyes shut in dismay. This wasn't helping. This was not helping. He didn't know what it wasn't helping, but it wasn't. He was repeating nonsensical affirmations in his head as a shoddy excuse for a distraction, trying to find whichever way he could to avoid thinking about how warm Kris felt, because he wasn't going to ask to cling to his rival like some whelp starved of affection, he wasn't-

“I'm still kinda cold.” the horrible, horrible human huddled up in his nest mused.

“And how is that my problem?” Berdly snapped in reply. His voice sounded strained with the effort of keeping his cool. “I've done all I could.”

Kris hummed in faux innocence. “Hm… not all.”

Berdly opened his eyes and his neck swiveled to meet their face. Despite the darkness of the room, he could see them clear as day by now. His skin prickled with uncertainty as he wondered just what in the world they were talking about.

“…What are you-” he cut himself off, coincidentally understanding just what they were insinuating at the exact moment their arm brushed his wing. “Wh- Y-you can't mean- ?!”

“M'yep.” he couldn't see them very well, especially without his glasses, but he could tell they were sending him their best shit-eating grin from the way their voice rang out like a song. “What, can't handle it?”

“I- That's preposterous!” he squawked, outraged. His face was too warm. “Of course I can-”

“Sounds like you're a pussy who can't handle your rival huddling up to you for warmth.” Kris's voice took on a more mocking lilt, but it was clearly playful.

“Oh, yeah?! I'll show you!” he hissed, unwilling to raise his voice more than necessary. He opened his wings wide under the blankets in a stance like he was welcoming a hug, fighting back the urge to curl them protectively around his body again when he started feeling exposed. “Do your worst, Kris!”

Kris's gaze trailed to his torso, their grin widening, and for some insane reason, Berdly could feel his bones turn to mush in his body. He didn't get to wonder why in the world he was feeling such things, though, because the human went on the prowl right after.

Seamlessly, they wrapped their arms around his waist and sunk into him like stone on water, exhaling softly under their breath as they pulled him in tight. Berdly immediately lost all higher cognitive function.

…Oh.

His skin felt like it had been set ablaze, to such an accurate degree that he wouldn't be surprised if plumes of smoke were erupting out of him at this very moment. His brain chastised him for acting a fool and his SOUL hammered in his chest, desperate to escape, and yet every other part of his body wanted nothing more than to relax into the embrace, to let the feeling claim him like a grim reaper would claim a soul.

Somehow, he was still conscious enough to reciprocate in some way. He wrapped his wings around Kris's back and his feathers spread on autopilot as soon as they made contact with it. Unwillingly, a coo escaped him, but he was so dizzy at the enthralling pressure and the feeling of Kris's hands settling in the middle of his back, he couldn't find it in him to care.

(He neglected to think about how his wide wings practically blanketed his rival in his hold.)

He nearly shuddered, a brief feeling of horror encapsulating him when he realized just how much he'd wanted this. This was what he'd been trying so hard to avoid confronting. This… this feeling, this maddeningly enticing warmth. How was he supposed to keep acting like he didn't want it, when he was… actively experiencing it?

Still, Berdly tried to convince himself he didn't care about it. He tried to pretend these circumstances didn't affect him in the slightest. But the truth of the matter was, it felt good to be held. It felt good to hold someone.

(It felt good to hold Kris.)

He shook those thoughts away, SOUL skipping a beat before coming back full-force and trying to hammer out of his chest again. Focus. He needed to focus. He couldn't let all of the hard work he put into being the best go down the drain because of some ridiculous feelings.

“I-I'm only doing this to preserve our rivalry.” he clarified, graciously deciding not to give any thought to the way his brain felt like it was melting at the feeling of his wings now wrapped around the human's back. “You can't be my rival if you're frozen, now, can you?”

Kris snorted softly, nuzzling into the bluebird further. They weren't shivering as much anymore. That was good, he supposed.

“Charming.” they mumbled teasingly. They exhaled as they rested their head on his shoulder. “Y'r warm.”

“Oh.” was all Berdly could say in reply. At least until he somehow managed to find his voice again. “Your, uh… b-body temperature is acceptable for thermal regulation purposes as well.”

“Nerd.” Kris's tone was light and downright affectionate when they replied. “Jus' say y' like to cuddle like a normal person.”

Berdly relaxed a little bit more at their words, opting to close his eyes and try to doze off as if his SOUL wasn't beating so loudly he'd be surprised if Kris couldn't hear it. A weird chirrupy squawk forcefully exited him when, out of nowhere, he felt something grazing the secondary feathers closest to his torso. It stopped as soon as he'd made that noise, though, and he felt his rival shift on top of him brusquely, the hand that he hadn't realized had left his back returning to it.

“Um- S-sorry. Impulse.” the human mumbled awkwardly, voice so quiet it was nearly impossible to make out. “Your feathers are… soft.”

“…You may stroke them again.” Berdly conceded, just as quiet as Kris had been. “I-if you'd like.” he added quickly.

Angel, he could practically feel the grin on their face. His feathers fluffed at odd angles on his face and every part of his body felt too warm for comfort.

“Would you like it?” they teased, but Berdly thought he could detect some honesty in their tone.

“…Yeah.” the bluebird admitted in a whisper.

He heard Kris's breath hitch in their throat with surprise. Despite that, they reached out for his feathers again almost immediately after, petting his wings slowly like they were combing through the plumage. The bluebird couldn't help but trill at the feeling, the deep embarrassment he felt not enough to prevent him from doing so. He was quite certain he'd never been so relaxed in his entire life, eyelids heavy with the way that Kris's touch was lulling him.

“Are you sure it's okay for me to be in your nest…?” they asked all of a sudden. Their voice was so close. They were so close. “I don't want you to, like… force yourself to do this. Or something.”

Berdly took a while to reply. “…I've already said there was no issue, haven't I?”

“Your SOUL's beating really quickly, though.”

Fuck. They weren't supposed to notice that! He was trying so hard to stop thinking about whatever the hell was happening and keep it at a normal rhythm! Curse this ridiculous situation.

“Ah.” Berdly swallowed thickly, feeling warm under his feathers. His SOUL had definitely quickened now. “That's, er… n-not because of that.”

(Why did he say that why did he say that why did he say that what was he even talking about-)

“Oh?” Kris's tone held a teasing note now. “Do elaborate.”

“It's unimportant.” the bluebird huffed awkwardly, uncaring as to how his voice cracked on the first word. “Don't question a genius on his innermost thoughts.”

His rival thankfully did as he asked, but he was almost certain he could feel their cheeky smile. Berdly's head was spinning. This was too much vulnerability. He needed to stop talking before it cost him something important. This was fine. Everything was fine. Just a minor, temporary truce between rivals for the sake of defeating the storm that had stuck them together.

(Berdly didn't mean anything by letting them nest with him in their time of need. The decision was completely unrelated to any useless feelings he may or may not have had.)

Just when he'd gotten used to the very distracting proximity, Kris nuzzled into the space under his beak, as casual as if they'd just shaken hands with him. Then, as if that hadn't already ejected Berdly's spirit out of his body, they rubbed their cheek all over the fluffy feathers peeking through his shirt collar the same way one would get comfortable on their pillow (or the same way a cat would rub up against its owner to scent-mark them, but Berdly was trying to avoid thinking about that particular simile for the sake of his physical health).

“G'night, Berdly.” they murmured sleepily. The bluebird refused to allow his brain to attach itself to the awkward, almost shy tone with which they'd spoken.

Berdly sighed shakily, his hold on the human's back unwillingly tightening. Damn it. Damn it all the way to hell. All this contact was making him so unbelievably stupid right now. It was like all of his logic had been replaced by a billion little shoulder devils begging him to cave in, to do all of the stupid things he was fighting tooth and talon to avoid, like rest his chin on their head, or burrow his beak into their hair and preen it until the two of them fell asleep, or tell his rationale to go fuck itself and ask them to kiss him, please-

“Goodnight, Kris.” he replied instead, hoping that he didn't sound like he was choking on the air he was breathing.

It was all the stupid snowstorm's fault. Kris's warmth must have radioactive brain-damaging properties, with the way it was completely derailing his entire train of thought down a trail that wasn't even part of the main path. If it wasn't for this forced proximity, Berdly wouldn't be thinking any of these things. It's not like he actually wanted this in his day to day life, anyways.

(And no, lonely nights where he imagined being held by someone to have an easier time falling asleep and that someone just so happened to be Kris didn't count.)

Berdly held back a sigh that he knew would teeter on a whine if he let it out, finally shutting his eyes and trying to distract himself from the feeling of Kris's chest rising and falling in his hold with their deep breaths. These traitorous thoughts were a problem for a different day. He'd make sure to get rid of them when he wasn't so distracted. For now, he'd just… will them away. And it would work, as it always did.

(He ended up caving into one of his indulgent desires in the end, letting his chin comfortably rest on top of his rival's head as he dozed off.)

[…]

The location he's in feels familiar to him. It's one he's well-acquainted with, it being in his house and all, but on top of that, it's the location that has been plaguing his mind for longer than it should.

He's not as much of a coward this time. He keeps getting closer and closer, gauging their reaction, watching for any negative feedback. It never comes.

They look at him when their hand is placed over his wing. His eyes meet theirs as the two of them happen to look at each other at the same time, and their face is red, so red, but they're shy and awkward when they realize they've gotten caught. Not like he's in any better shape, though. His face feels warmer than ever as he stares at them unabashedly, in the way he would never do if this was any other situation. In here, there's nothing that can go wrong, nothing to lose, no one to see him act a fool. He's allowed to fantasize all he wants.

Their eyes flick downward for a split second. His do the same. The thick tension hanging in the air is palpable enough to cut through with a knife, and he can feel their hand trailing further up his wing, lightly curling around what would be his wrist, if he had mammal or reptilian anatomy.

They call out his name like a siren's song, and their other hand moves to cup his cheek, the knuckle on their thumb tilting his face up. He doesn't know how he's still conscious. He doesn't know how this is happening. The contact spreads through him like a plague dead-set on ruining him forever, and yet he needs more.

Thankfully, their lips are on his beak before long. And it feels so good, and it tastes so good, and he doesn't know how he's managed to go on without savoring it at least once. The ding of the oven doesn't distract him in this timeline. He can kiss them all he wants. And he wants too much, because he's selfish.

They're pulling him close now, a hand on his midriff guiding him into their lap so effortlessly he can't help but chirrup. Their hands knead his waist, their chains of kisses become hastier as they release their own inhibitions, and he loses himself to their pretty noises and the feeling of being taken over by them. He desperately needs this to last. He needs to feel like he's wanted, just for a bit longer.

But it doesn't last. It's fleeting. The fantasy ebbs away into nothing, and he can no longer taste their addicting kisses or feel the touch of their fingers.

Berdly woke up with a start, eyes bulging in his sockets as he opened them so widely it was nearly physically painful. His SOUL hammered in his chest and his body tingled with a sensation he'd never actually experienced, trying so very hard to get him to cave in and just go back to sleep in the hopes that the dream would resume itself.

Through deep, uneven breaths, he finally managed to regain his bearings. He was in his nest. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything.

His dreams had never meant anything, after all. Merely foolish little lapses of his impeccable judgement. Small moments of indulgence completely unrelated to any emotions he might be feeling. Something to satisfy the weak parts of his marvelous mind for long enough that he would think about it once and then never have to again.

(His brain always refused to let go of how it made him feel, spreading the sensation of those tantalizing dreams all throughout his body, but every time, he prevailed in the end. He was stronger than his ridiculous emotions, after all.)

Suddenly, a long huff of air akin to a sigh ruffled the feathers on his neck, snapping him right out of his deprecating thoughts. It was only then that he remembered the predicament he was in.

He'd had a couple of friendly matches between rivals in the afternoon. A snowstorm had stranded the two of them in his house. Kris had been forced to stay over. He'd ended up nesting with Kris for warmth. Kris was clinging to him like a lifeline.

If his SOUL wasn't already clawing its way out of his chest, it was certainly trying to do so now, because there was no other logical explanation for the deeply anxious, deeply ecstatic, and overall deeply terrified sensation that coursed through his nervous system like floodwater.

His first instinct was to run, to escape this situation as quickly as possible. Before Kris woke up and saw how blue his face was. Before his self-control failed him and he was no longer strong enough to leave. He tried to shimmy out of their grip, to free at least one of his wings so he could wrangle them away, but then…

A low, rumbling noise sounded from the human's throat. Their face scrunched up a little in distaste.

Berdly raised a bewildered eyebrow. That was… a strange way to groan sleepily. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard Kris make such a sound. At least not when they weren't trying to bite him.

He tried again, a bit more hesitant this time. He was just about to free his wing, just about to finally devise an escape plan, when all of a sudden, he felt his spine being squeezed by the human's death grip as they kept him firmly in place, brows furrowing tightly and a much louder gravelly noise rumbling in their throat. Their expression was now highly displeased, and it only settled back into peaceful neutrality once Berdly stopped squirming in their hold.

Berdly blinked, alarm, dismay, and a secret third thing making their home in his butterfly-infested stomach.

Was… was Kris growling?

The pesky insects nesting within him fluttered wildly, bouncing off the walls with gusto. He urged himself to feel something, anything else, but… all his absolutely useless brain was retaining was the fact that Kris felt so possessive over him they were growling at the idea of letting him go.

His brain flashed images in his mind a mile a minute, making him relive every single embarrassing moment in the past twelve or so hours, even sneaking in some moments that had never happened and that he was delusional enough to hope for. Him making Kris hot cocoa. Him and Kris cooking together, baking together. Him and Kris watching a movie on his couch, getting closer to each other than necessary. Him and Kris sharing his nest. The whole debacle had been so… domestic.

(He didn't know if it was normal to feel so unfathomably giddy it made him lightheaded.)

Berdly looked back down at the human in his hold, their face obstructed by virtue of it being nestled halfway into his neck. Their hair was tussled from the messy sleeping position, and the gentle yet clingy way they were holding onto the back of his pajama shirt, legs hooking Berdly's own in an odd sort of koala grip, was definitely not doing anyone any favors.

His SOUL squeezed in his chest. They looked so beautiful under him, even despite their messy appearance.

He really wanted to kiss them.

…

Oh no.

All of a sudden, Kris hummed softly under their breath and shifted on top of him, sighing deeply once again and making a quiet smacking noise with their mouth as they roused.

“G'mornin'.” they murmured softly into his neck, completely and utterly worsening his asinine inner thoughts. “Slept well?”

“Ah- Hm-” Berdly stammered uselessly, trying to avoid thinking about how close their voice was to his ear - to no avail. “J-just fine. Peachy.”

As if that wasn't bad enough, the human nuzzled further into Berdly's neck, wrapping their arms even tighter around him. Berdly bristled, the loud thundering of his SOUL returning full-force.

“You make a good pillow, y'know?” they teased. They were doing that on purpose, Berdly was sure of it.

“I'll take your word for it.” he managed awkwardly, shifting under them in an attempt to free himself again. “Will you allow me to check the time?”

“Hmmm…” Kris hummed innocently as if they weren't still death-gripping him. “Nah.”

“Wh- Kris!” Berdly bristled, graciously ignoring his ridiculous voice crack. His shuffling increased. “We went to sleep so late yesterday, I need to know how much I ruined my morning routine!”

“No y' don't.”

“I do!”

“Ugh, fine, I'll let up a little.” Kris conceded. Berdly felt their grip loosen. “But after that, you're on your own.”

With some effort, seeing as his rival refused to make things easy for him, the bluebird managed to finally, finally wrangle a wing away and reach the phone closest to him, which happened to be Kris's. He turned it on and narrowed his eyes to be able to read the characters better, flinching once he noticed what time it was.

“10:48AM?! Good grief, everything's so delayed, I-” he cut himself off when his eyes drifted down to their notifications. “…Er, are you aware that you have eight missed calls from your mother?”

Kris instantly let go of him and stood up rigidly like a soldier at a military drill, eyes wide under their bangs. They snatched their phone from his grasp and dialed Ms. Toriel's number hastily while hissing out swears, not having to wait long before she picked up.

“Morning, mom… Yeah, of course I'm safe… Sorry, just overslept… I know, I know, it's not his fault, he was sleeping too… Bye, love you.”

The call ended before long, and it was only when the beep signaling that it was over rang out that Berdly realized he'd been staring at Kris while they spoke the whole time. It was so… weird to hear them speak this much during mornings. They weren't usually so verbal. Nothing wrong with him being intrigued.

(He told himself that that was the only reason he was staring at their lips. That was his alibi, and he was sticking with it.)

He decided he might as well ask a question, in case Kris noticed he'd been looking at them this whole time.

“So, is everything…?”

“Don't give me that look.” they said softly, rolling their eyes. “She's not mad. Just got worried that I actually, like… hated you enough to try going home on my own or something.”

Berdly clenched his beak to avoid the pathetic question threatening to leave it, curling his wing feathers on his lap. Angel, his SOUL was pounding in his chest. All this anxiety so soon after he woke up couldn't be good for him.

Despite his efforts, he opened his mouth to speak.

“Um-”

Thankfully, Kris scoffed before he could say anything he'd regret, cheeks tinted a pretty red as they faced away from him and fiddled with the hem of their pajama shirt - Berdly's pajama shirt.

“I don't hate you, Berdly.” they answered his unspoken question in a sigh, sounding… shy? Embarrassed? “I can't believe I have to tell you that after tonight.”

Berdly's brain blanked, cheeks blazing hot and tail unwillingly flicking behind him. Of course, realistically, it wouldn't have made much sense for Kris to spar with him in the noble game of Super Smashing Fighters at his house so often if they hated him, but… hearing them confirm it felt… too good. Way better than it should, really.

(He truly was selfish.)

“…Ah.” he squawked, beak curling into a wobbly, extremely embarrassing smile at the admission. “That's, er- certainly good to know.”

The remainder of their morning was… rushed. Weirdly domestic still, and there was less need for clothing layers since the temperature had gotten more manageable after the storm, but Berdly didn't get to linger on any of that when he was so focused on making up for all of his lost time, and Kris was certainly pacing themselves after their call with Ms. Toriel. They got up and changed clothes, Berdly preened a little messily while Kris didn't bother to fix their pretty - messy, pretty messy, he didn't think it looked pretty - hair, and then the two of them ate leftover gingerbread cookies for breakfast (which Berdly felt terrible about - it was such an unhealthy meal).

Before long, Berdly was for some unbelievable reason accompanying Kris down the hall to the front door of his apartment. And holding the front door open for them. And trying not to melt at their bewildered, yet flustered expression when he did so. And cursing himself for daring to be so affected by the odd, extremely eye-catching sparkle in their partly concealed irises.

Kris walked through the door at his insistence, huddling up to their clothes in the face of the chilly morning air, but they stopped in their tracks before they even went down the front steps. And then they turned back towards Berdly so quickly their hair made an arc around their face.

But they didn't do anything else. They just… stood in front of the apartment door, tapping one foot against the other and tugging at their winter coat like they wanted to rip it off. Berdly felt himself bristle anxiously when they remained completely silent. What were they playing at? Did they… want something from him?

Before he could have even deluded himself into thinking it was a possibility, Kris reached out to his jacket, took it in their grasp, and pulled him down to their level, swerving to the side with the same undeniable elegance as an out of control car going off-road and practically smashing their lips into his left cheek in an aggressive, awkward peck, pulling away just as quickly as they'd made contact.

They dropped their hold on him right after, their face so red it'd practically changed color. Berdly stood there rigidly, beak agape, unable to stop his traitorous tail from wagging furiously behind him at the wholly unexpected action. Angel, his SOUL was failing him. When was the last time he'd felt it thrum in his chest? Was he flatlining? He was pretty sure he was flatlining.

“Bye.” Kris mumbled at long last, so muffled the bluebird could barely hear them, and then they turned tail, their shoes crunching on the still deep snow as they practically ran off.

Berdly blinked, wondering if his complete lack of oxygen intake had gone on for long enough to be worrying. Slowly, he put a wing up to his burning cheek, his cheek fluff poking into it as it stuck perpendicularly against his skin.

…Their lips felt warm, too.