Work Text:
Kris stood at the precipice of the bunker. They always hated this place. At least with the text, they could ignore her. But having to meet her face-to-face was always the worst. As they took a deep breath, they heard the all-too-familiar mechanical click, followed by the doors sliding open, the dark world inside seeping out in plumes of smoky tendrils. They curled their fingers around the edge of the heavy door, pulling it open and stepping inside.
The dark hallway stretched on seemingly forever in front of them, twisting slightly underfoot as they forced themself forward. After what felt like several minutes, they came to the end and saw her sitting, back pressed against the wall. She wasn’t wearing her armor. Her dark hair cascaded around her face and over her shoulders, her red antlers standing as tall as ever. Kris couldn’t help but narrow their eyes at her, almost instinctively.
“Took you long enough…” Dess spoke, a bit more somber than usual. “You stopped replying to my texts again.”Kris could feel something was off, but they knew her tricks well and wouldn’t let her get to them.
“Been busy.” They said sharply.
“You know you have to reply, Kris. It’s a part of our deal.” She crossed her arms. “Besides, I know you don’t have anything else to do but talk to me.”
“I have a friend now. You know that.” They spat back.
Dess laughed. “That purple girl? Oh, come on, Kris, you know she’s off with my little sister. She doesn’t have time for you.” There was some venom behind her words. “But I do.” Dess knew exactly what buttons to push to get a reaction out of Kris, but this time, she didn’t get one.
“Why did you ask me to come here?”
She hummed, dissatisfied. “Come here. Sit.” She patted the floor in front of her. Kris narrowed their eyes again, before following her orders. They sat down in front of her, crossing their legs. As she reached a hand up, they swatted her away.
“HEY!” she snapped. “Calm.” Dess spoke through gritted teeth, quickly and harshly grabbing Kris' face, her grip painful. “There we go.” She sighed. “Look at you… You’ve changed so much…”
“What do you want,” Kris said, a bit more sternly than before.
Dess smiled at them. “I feel like reminiscing.” She loosened the grip on their face and used the palm of her hand to sweep their bangs up. “Whatever happened to that look you used to give me… when you were young…”
“I grew up.” They were growing a bit nervous, but steadied themself in the hopes Dess wouldn’t realize.
“I can see that. That softness in your eyes is gone.” She leaned in a bit. “Have you been sleeping well, Kris? Or sleeping at all…?”
They finally jerked away from her touch. “I sleep just fine.”
“You’ve grown so distant. Let’s fix that.” Without much hesitation, her hands moved to their waist, and she pulled them forward against her. Kris’s hands immediately grabbed onto her shoulders. “Much better.”
“What’s with you? Why are you… acting like this…” They weakly attempted to pull themself away from Dess, but her grip tightened. “L-let go…”
“No. You used to love this. You used to wanna hug me all of the time. What changed??” Her words were growing more desperate, her grip tightening even more around them. “What changed? Why do you hate me??”
Kris was quiet for a moment, thinking through their words. “I started hating you when Noelle started looking more like you.”
There was a long moment of silence as Dess processed what Kris had said. Slowly, she smiled again. “You really are hopeless, Kris…” She pressed herself further against them. “Are you in love with my sister, or are you in love with me?”
Kris was limp in her arms for a moment before finally pulling away from her, breaking the grip she had on them. They fell backward onto the hard ground. Quickly, they pulled themself to their feet, standing above Dess.
“I don’t LOVE either of you. I don’t even LIKE you.”
Dess slowly began laughing. “Are you serious?? You couldn’t live without me! You’re still just as obsessed as you were when you were a kid! Admit it!”
Kris stood quietly before turning and walking away.
“H-HEY!” She called after them, her voice breaking. “You- you can’t just leave! You can’t just… leave me!” Dess’s chest was heaving as she stood up. “You’re all… I’M all you’ve got! You think anyone cares about you?? You think Noelle or that purple girl cares??” She started laughing again. Kris stopped, fists clenched.
“W-what do you know…” they tried, voice trembling.
Dess smiled. “You really think they care? They don’t even know you’re gone! Face it, Kris. Just… just come back to me.”
They swallowed the lump in their throat before slowly turning back to her. Everything between the two froze, as if both held their breath at the same time. Then Kris stepped forward, and despite themselves, they approached Dess once again.
She quickly wrapped her arms around them again, squeezing, her grip now a vice. “Th-there… there we go. See? They don’t care, but I do… I…” She trailed off, pressing her cheek against theirs.
Kris felt their stomach turn slightly. They did their best to convince themself it was better this way.