Chapter Text
It was an autumn afternoon like any other. Same boring classroom, same boring lectures, and same boring faces. The only bright side was this was the last year anyone would have to sit through this.
In this dull room a pair of tall light blue antlers stood out, poked up towards the sky. The strange, but alluring appendages were attached to a girl with brown fur, short brown hair accompanied with blood red dye towards the back of her neck to match. Her head laid on the desk wrapped in her red flannel layered over a gray tank top paired with black ripped pants..
It felt like the class was never going to end. The teacher went on and on about equations scribbling on the white board but Dess paid no attention, her eyes wandered around the room occasionally meeting the eyes of the boy sitting across from her.
He had horns that sprouted from his head as well, but not nearly as flashy as hers. His stand out features were his long and fluffy white ears, at least to her anyways. His outfit was simple, a plain green hoodie with gray pants. He stayed hunched over his desk scribbling down all the notes he could. He'd only break focus to shoot Dess a soft smile. The dark circles under his eyes clashed with his fur. And even that was a mess, but still, Asriel’s smile was so warm and soft.
*RIIIING*
The sound of the bell broke the room's stale silence. The last class of the day was finally over. The deer girl walked over to the goat boys table as he was neatly putting papers into his bag. If the class were any longer Asriel could have filled an entire notebook.
“Wanna go down to Ice-e’s? You can hand over those notes while we're there.” she said with a cheerful tune.
“Sigh-You always return my papers all crinkled and smudged.” His voice wasn't angry or annoyed, but he definitely wasn't delighted to hear another one of her favors.
“Whaaaat? Me? Everything you loan me comes back in perfect condition.” Her expression and tone switched between flustered and bold. As to be expected from an irresponsible liar.
“Oh really, then what happened to my Xbox controller?” He asked with suspicion
“Not sure what you mean” she tilted her head to the side to avoid eye contact forcing an awkward smile.
“The baseball cap I wore at last year's festival?”
She was sweating bullets. Dess never had a good defence against Asriel's stern voice.
“You could be talking about any old hat. Maybe it got lost in the wash?”
“The math notes I gave you last week.!” he said, shooting up from his desk.
“ I- uhh.. A dog! A white dog in a toy car came and uh- ate it!” she stammered
There was a strong silence between the two but eventually Asriel broke it.
“Your ears flutter when you lie Des.”
“NO THEY DONT!” Her voice echoed in the empty classroom, her hands tightly covering her ears.
“Gotcha.” he said with a hint of playfulness.
“So… about that pizza? We could make it a study date. I'll even help out on that dumb project Ms. Alphys was yapping about.”
The usual mischievous grin she has was plastered across her face. That means no wasn't an answer and Asriel knew it.
“That implies you weren't going to help in the first place.”
“Dude, just get up before it closes.”
As the front doors of the school opened the cold autumn wrapped itself around the two. Des liked to make sure every leaf she stepped on made the loudest crunch possible, it drove Asriel nuts. She was having fun so he never spoke out about it.
Lots of leaf crunches later, the two finally reached their destination “ICE-E’S PEZZA.” calling the place weird would be a compliment but the food was decent enough to make up for it.
Their food arrived and Des started stuffing her face while Asriel watched holding back his laughter.
“I thought we were supposed to be studying.”
“You gotta learn to chill out man, take that stick outta your ass.” She mumbled with food still in her mouth
“Stop speaking with your mouth full.”
“Man it must be deep in there.”
Their banter went on for what felt like hours. Not a single pencil was raised during the time but Asrial figured that'd be the case. The pizza diner closed and two began walking home. Asriel always made the extra trip to walk Des home even though they lived in the opposite direction.
“ Allllright, we've got about a half hour before curfew. Let's get to work.” The girl's arms stretched up to the sky before dramatically slapping against her sides.”
“We could've been finished if you weren't so distracting.”
“Maybe if you weren't always balls deep in school work I wouldn't have to bribe you to hang with me. I get that college is important to you but feels like I'm missing a half when you're gone. I just like being around you man.”
“…”
Asriel's heart was practically trying to jump out of his chest. He didn't know if it was the crude analogy or the sudden show of vulnerability from Dess but he was flustered. It took everything to stop his legs from giving out.
However, Dess took his silence as.. Rejection? Annoyance? Did she overstep? These questions swirled around in her head. She had to do something, say something.
Anything.
“Ill just–”
“I LIKE YOU TOO! Or I- I like being Around you too. Not to say I wouldn't mind the idea of something like that …It's more of friendly admiration!”
Sigh
“I'm sorry if I've been distant. Who knew college classes would ask for so much.”
“I did you dummy. Why do you think I'm not in any?” She pretended not to be flustered over Asriel's outburst but her head was still spinning.
“Maybe because you spend all your time playing Dragon Blazers. You probably stole my controller to play.”
“What a silly accusation.” Dess turned her head and showed the usual awkward smile, this time covering her ears.
“You're not getting out of this one!”
The two walked down the road throwing jokes and playful banter, laughing till their ribs gave out. But eventually they reached the girls doorstep.
“Sorry we didn't get any work done. You stay up late to study anyways right? Get us a jump start going will ya!”
Before Dess could reach her doorknob she felt a pull on her wrist.
“Or we could hang out in the woods…” He's never outright grabbed Dess before let alone suggest the woods of all places.
“...You wanna sneak off into the woods at night? Who are you?” A wave of confusion washed over here. Where was he getting all this sudden boldness from?
“Think of it as making up for ditching you. But only if you're up for it.”
“But your classes…”
“The work will still be there tomorrow. It can wait.”