Chapter Text
Berdly felt rather drab. Being the last day of the academic year, he should, by all means, be ecstatic. And while he had certainly tried to be happy about this, there were other things on his mind. Shortly after the bluebird had gotten through the door, tossed his keys into the tray and slumped down into his usual position at his RGB-lit desk, his phone had started buzzing ferociously. Of course, it was the group chat he begrudgingly joined a few weeks ago, at the pleading requests of Noelle and the quickly-shushed protests of Susie. Near constantly, it was overflowing his previously well-maintained notification organisation system with insightful messages such as “lmao be so fr rn this ts frying me” (Zero points for guessing who sent that one.)
But Berdly regarded himself a man of integrity, and is thus honour-bound to check the incessant stream of WhatsApp notifications emanating from his pocket.
—
Noelle - 16:41
I just think it'd be fun to do it more often XP
Berdly scrolled straight to the start of the conversation.
Noelle - 16:44
We should meet at QC’s in half an hour!
079795076063 - 16:45
sure but y
Noelle - 16:45
Why do you think? No more school!!!!!
Noelle - 16:45
We have to celebrate SOMEHOW
079795076063 - 16:45
hell yeah
079795076063 - 16:47
is
079795076063 - 16:47
@Kris
079795076063 - 16:47
coming???
Noelle - 16:47
I hope so !
Noelle - 16:47
But they never check their phone :/
079795076063 - 16:47
@Kris
079795076063 - 16:48
@Kris
079795076063 - 16:48
@Kris
079795076063 - 16:48
@Kris dude cmonnnnnnnnnnnnn
Kris - 16:48
shhhh
Kris - 16:48
ill go
079795076063 - 16:49
YESSS DUDE
Noelle - 16:49
Yes! Perfect, then! I'm excited, we should hang more
Noelle - 16:49
I just think it'd be fun to do it more often XP
16:50
And what do these festivities entail?
Noelle - 16:50
Berdly! I don't really have a plan but we can work something out. Are you coming?
079795076063 - 16:50
oh great “berdlys” here
Berdly, only a little hurt, began to type a retort involving a valiant correction of Susie's baffling quotation mark usage, but his imminent (and intelligent) defense was cut off by another message.
Kris - 16:50
berdlys going
079795076063 - 16:50
im putting his ass in a headlock
Great opportunity to get out of this. Even if Berdly enjoyed hanging out with Noelle, Kris and Susie often ganged up on him. He knew they were joking, but it was exhausting at times. For this reason, he'd been going to less and less of the group meetups.
16:51
Crude threats of violence won't deter me, Susan. But if you're so against me going, maybe I'll sit this one out.
Yes - perfect. If Noelle pushed for him to come, he could use the “stomach ache” trick from here.
Kris - 16:51
berdlys going
Kris - 16:51
#berdlyis #going
Kris!? Berdly instinctively began typing something pertaining to “can't my tummy hurts” (translated to his usual intellectual vocabulary, of course) but quickly and absent-mindedly deleted his imminent message and stared at the screen in what was at first abject horror, which then developed to boring old confusion. Really, it wasn't shocking shocking, but it was still definitely… shocking? These latest messages recontextualised the previous “berdlys going” from a sarcastic groan to an (equally scary) confident demand. And there hadn't been a single time in the past few months (or really, since they started hanging with Susie) where Kris had acknowledged his existence in a non-negative way. But he would stick with the plan.
The unsent message - his excuse - stared him down from the bottom of the screen. Berdly did not press send, and instead once again cleared the message box.
[Draft]
Fine, I'll go.
No. Kris would only be so willing to see him if they were planning something. It was probably another one of their schemes, he'd just delete this message and think it over and-
16:53
Fine, I'll go.
Whoever put the send button next to the delete key deserves the firing squad.
—
“Dude! You're, like, just totally wrong about this! Godzilla would just use the laser breath thing to chop King Kong into like 70 &!/%ing pieces!”
Susie and Noelle had been going back and forth on this issue for the better part of half an hour, Noelle with her head propped up by her arm resting on the table, completely entranced by something or the other. Sitting across from her, Susie yells about power-scaling and nuclear bombs, spitting slightly as she reaches the end of her sentence. For a while now, her arguments had been punctuated with a table slam with force enough to give the salt and pepper shakers airtime, and to draw stares from all corners of the diner. Meanwhile, and to her right, a perpetually neutral-faced Kris periodically glances between the dinosaur, the deer, and the bluebird sitting across from them. This was noticeable only because they tilted their head slightly in each direction, their gaze otherwise inscrutable.
Unusually, Berdly had not said a single word in nearly 5 minutes, his previous attempt quickly interrupted by Susie - who seemingly didn't even notice he had begun talking. Instead, he had spent his time analysing the cracks and stains splattered across the booth’s table. Messy arcs left where drinks overflowed, with a clean interior where the glass was placed. Gaps between the planks that comprised the furniture that grew slightly wider with every year (and with every one of Susie's slams). And seated in front of him, the only person who seemed to want him there. Berdly had figured out the pattern, and could anticipate which direction they would turn their head at any given moment, which was the only sign of life Kris was exhibiting. They had settled into a pattern: Susie, Noelle, Wall, and then back to Susie. These movements were infinitesimal, sporadic and ever so slow - and yet, as he watched, they only became grander. Susie, Noelle, Wall, Susie, Noelle, Wall, Susie, Berdly?!
Berdly was suddenly in their full focus, a completely alien and somewhat exciting development. However, it was also the worst thing that had ever happened to him in his life, and the bluebird froze for what felt like hours. It obviously wasn’t hours, and it was only a second before he un-froze and looked away. While it was embarrassing to have been caught staring like that, he could have sworn that they… blushed? They couldn’t have, they definitely didn’t, but the notion itself was enough to carve a hole in his stomach, and he too began blushing. He was still looking at his lap. In an effort to appear non-chalant, he rubbed his eyes behind his glasses as if there was something causing him bother, and looked back up to the table.
Kris had their head fully turned to Susie, who was begging them for their support in her heated debate with Noelle. “I haven’t seen the movie” was Kris’s say on the matter. Susie threw her hands up in the air, while Noelle took the opportunity with great pleasure.
“See! It doesn’t even matter if they’ve seen the movie, the movie’s wrong!”
Berdly felt now that the blush had faded he could finally interrupt with the amazing fact that their discussion was irrelevant because the American godzilla movies sucked anyways and the Japanese ones were the only good ones. Susie then lobbed a paper straw at him.
—