Chapter Text
Kris couldn't help but stare towards the couch as they tiptoed down the stairs. They knew exactly what they were going to find, yet the sight was destined to weigh on them all the same.
Right on cue, as Kris approached the final step, Toriel’s limp body came into view, and that skeleton was nowhere to be found. They were lucky, they supposed, that nothing worse had happened to her. She was going to curse herself for cavorting with that creep in such a way, for pushing Susie away as she did, and that would be that.
That wasn't good enough for Kris. Susie wasn’t going to stay mad if they could help it. They took a breath, and like the enemies they’d defeated on their journey, rushed through the open door away from the scene without a further moment of hesitation.
When they returned, the sun had risen. Toriel sat at the kitchen table clutching her head and muttering to herself until she noticed Kris walk through the door. Her eyes lit up as she saw them, then darted towards what they were carrying, her heart dropping until she recognized “...apples? Chalk? Kris, please tell me you did not scare me like that simply to go obtain snacks. And that Mister Sans did not see fit to play yet another practical joke upon Susie. I do not know if that poor girl can take any more… ribbing. Hee hee.”
Kris shook their head as they set their haul down and walked towards the refrigerator, opening it to extract the pie crust Toriel and Susie had made merely two nights ago. “Oh my,” Toriel exclaimed, “Yes, of course! I do not know if it will make up for everything, but surely the family recipe will warm her heart!”
Kris shook their head again, grumbling as they brought the pie tin over to the table, grabbed one of the apples they'd brought home and mimed placing it in the tin, being careful not to disturb the crust Susie had helped create. Toriel blinked, still groggy from her wild night as she attempted to parse the charade Kris presented her with. Then, after what felt like an eternity, her eyes widened as Kris' intentions made themselves clear to her. “You think an apple pie would suit her better? Oh dear, you two are closer than I could have imagined. Go to her, then. I will take care of the pie.”
Kris shook their head for a third time as they grinned wickedly and brandished their knife towards the front door, away from Toriel. A sigh escaped her before she could stifle it, followed by a wry smile and subsequent chuckle. “You need not prove you are your father's child. Come, dear. You must wash that blade if you wish to use it for food.”
Kris' expression softened from its unnerving visage as they nodded vigorously, gripping the knife by the flat of the blade as they brought it to the sink. Then, their mind wandered to thoughts of Susie.
Their thoughts quickly coalesced into an image of Susie sleeping restlessly on Gerson’s memorial bench. Damp from the rain, and unyielding by design, it had proven a poor replacement for a bed. Susie couldn’t bring herself to care. It was the only place she belonged.
At least, that was her thought process as she’d laid down to rest the previous night, after Miss Dreemurr and her… rebound had given her a harsh reminder of what reality held for her. She couldn’t stomach the sight of either one. She couldn’t stomach anything, really, in spite of the persistent growl from within. Not the thought of an apple, nor Castle Town. Not now that she’d need to take from someone, or explain herself. The thought had only made her sick.
Yet, as Susie awoke to another low rumble from her nagging gut, she knew she was going to have to change that somehow. Worms came to mind, as did moss. For once, neither sounded the least bit appealing. The only thought that did appeal to her was taking a bite out of that stupid skeleton, and she knew he was gonna taste worse than chalk. Worse than soap, even. Much worse than Kris’ shampoo, at least.
…There she was, thinking about them again. Another familiar feeling radiated through her, wholly unrelated to the acid and bile that refused to settle. Comfort and discomfort, excitement and fear all rolled into a confusing emotional soup. The past three days had brought it to the surface more times than Susie cared to consider. Yet, as it settled in the pit of her stomach now, it merely frustrated her. Kris frustrated her. Why didn’t they leave with her? Why did she want them here?
Why did she want an apple now?
Her body refused to give her an answer other than to pester her for the fruit once again. At least this time it offered a solution, even if it wasn’t one Susie liked. Surely they were gonna have a fruit bobbing tank at the Festival. Mrs Holiday wouldn’t miss a few apples, would she? Susie snickered under her breath as she considered the elder Holiday with a fruit spreadsheet, and decided she was the one person in town she could stand to piss off. Wouldn’t have been the first time, and definitely wasn’t going to be the last.
Susie quickly found herself climbing through the caution tape at the west of town, and as a basin filled with apples entered her view, a dozen missing from the top of the pile, Kris returned their focus to the last of the apples they'd been tasked with slicing. For their own safety, they assured themself. Nothing else.
“Kris,” Toriel prompted, “I promise I do not wish to be rid of you, but your time truly would be best spent with Susie, would it not?” Kris looked up at her and blinked a couple of times until she insisted, “Please, dear, I will finish this. It must bake and cool before she may taste it. Go to her, I'm certain she needs a friend right now.”
Kris' face warmed as they turned towards the sink to rinse their blade, nodding back to their mother as they wiped their knife with a kitchen towel, sheathed it, and reached over to grab the one apple that had gone unused as they went back out the front door.
"Listen, I dunno what to tell ya. Mayor Carol rescheduled. Wanted to 'send a message to a fruit thief,'" Kris heard from afar as they made their way out to the road in front of the Holidays' gate. They considered putting away their ill-gotten gains, but figured the owner of that voice was likely to look the other way if they could find a funny enough reason.
This was why, in the next moment, Kris Dreemurr found themself holding out the apple meant for Susie in plain view of the two. Susie and Sans found themselves dramatically double-taking, pointing and arguing about the origin of the apple in their hand, Susie instinctively covering for Kris despite being absolutely certain they had stolen it. She wanted to be mad she was being involved in this charade, but the grin on Kris' face made her own smile slip into her expression, especially when she was trying and failing to menace the skeleton.
Eventually, Kris broke the stalemate by grabbing a pencil out of their pocket and stabbing it into the stem end of the apple, holding it out to Sans with a wrapping gesture, to which he replied, "Ahhhhh, well why didn't you just ask in the first place? I can't deny an apple its caramel wrap."
Susie erupted at the assertion, insisting to no avail that that wasn't a thing, as the skeleton proved her wrong once again by pulling a caramel sheet out from under the grill and warming it on the grate. "You're both being such assholes right now," Susie complained, until Sans handed the now-wrapped apple to Kris, who offered it to Susie. She was at a complete loss for how Sans had pulled that off, and quickly decided it wasn't worth finding out.
Instead, she took a bite.
It immediately stuck to her teeth.
Kris snickered at the sight, then whispered "If you start choking, I know monster CPR," in Susie's ear, earning an almost deafening "FUCK OFF!!!!!" and a full-face blush as Kris's snicker bloomed into a full-blown belly laugh.
Despite herself, despite the night she'd just had, she was smiling for real now, and she couldn't stop.