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“Kris!” Noelle scolded. “Stop going through my bag!”
Kris, who was sitting on their bedroom rug and rummaging through Noelle’s bag, wasn’t dissuaded in the slightest. “Gotta check you haven’t snuck in any stink bombs,” they deadpanned.
Susie, watching interestedly from where she was lounging stomach-down on Kris’ bed, rolled her eyes with a snort.
Noelle made no attempt to physically stop Kris. She only set her hands on her hips and pouted down at them, her cheeks puffed in indignation. Her glare was more adorable than intimidating. “And why would I sneak stink bombs into your house, Kris?” she demanded.
Kris didn’t answer. They were more focused on what they’d pulled out from Noelle’s bag: a brown ankle-length pleated skirt. “Why’d you bring this?” they asked, holding up the skirt by its hem. “You haven’t worn a skirt this long in ages.”
“Oh!” Noelle’s frustration quickly fell away to be replaced by an almost childish glee. She clapped her hands together, fingers splayed. “Well, I thought—since this is a sleepover—we could do some, like…dressing up! Makeup and manicures and all that! Like they do in TV shows and movies, you know?”
“So, what, you’re gonna put on a longer skirt?” Susie sneered. “Jeez. You’re so risqué.”
Noelle giggled. “No, Susie! The skirt is for Kris!”
Susie’s eyes widened, her brows migrating into her fringe. By Noelle’s bag, Kris went still.
“Is it, now?” Susie asked, recovering quickly to smirk with teeth at Kris. “Damn. I’d pay to see that.”
Kris drew their elbows into their chest, pale cheeks starting to color pink. Their eyes were hidden by their fringe, but their mouth pressed into a thin line.
“It’s alright, isn’t it, Kris?” Noelle asked them in a gentler, more audibly uncertain tone. “After all, it’s just us and your mom in the house right now…”
“Guess so,” they mumbled, not looking up.
“C’mon, man, what’s the problem?” Susie groused. “You’re always going around in the same hoodie and pants. Why not do something different for a night?”
Noelle nodded along. “I haven’t seen you wear anything except Azzy’s or Dess’ hand-me-downs in years, Kris. You should try something new! And, um…” Her tawny cheeks took on a hint of red as she blurted: “I—I always thought you looked super cute in a skirt, too!”
Kris hesitated for a long moment, head bowed as they stared at the skirt with an inscrutable, half-hidden expression, leaving Noelle to nurse her tingling face in awkward silence. Before either of the other two could get another word in, though, Kris scrambled to their feet and hurried from the bedroom, taking the skirt with them.
Susie rested her head in her hands and huffed. “Sheesh. It’s just a skirt. Why the fuss?”
Noelle decided to avoid pointing out that Susie never wore skirts, either. She sat down by her bag, instead, checking to make sure Kris hadn’t pilfered anything important. “Ah, well…I guess they’re just nervous about wearing girls’ clothes again? Kris stopped wearing those since they transitioned, for the most part, so…”
“Oh.” The annoyance faded from Susie’s face as realization set in. “You mean, it’s a gender thing?”
“Something like that. Though, I can’t be sure…I mean, I don’t have any personal experience with that kind of thing.” Sure, Dess had been trans, too; but she’d been a boy who’d transitioned into a girl, whereas Kris had been a girl who’d transitioned to non-binary. Noelle did some reading on gender identity in her spare time, but she still didn’t feel confident she’d fully grasped the concepts.
Susie scratched her cheek, her expression sheepish. “Uh. Damn. I hope I didn’t say something, like, awkward, then.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Noelle said, flashing her a reassuring smile. “It’s not like Kris was upset or anything.” At least, she hoped.
Susie didn’t smile back, but she nodded. “If you say so.”
They waited for Kris in silence. Noelle confirmed everything in her bag was left as it was. Susie was muttering, “Maybe I should go downstairs and drag them back up here,” when the bedroom door opened, stealing both girls’ attention, and Kris inched their way inside. They’d traded their cargo pants—which were haphazardly folded and clutched in one hand—for the skirt, which reached down to their ankles, exposing only a sliver of pale skin above the cuffs of their black socks. Their shoulders were stiff and hunched, like they were lining up for a firing squad.
Noelle, smiling wide, clapped. “Aw, Kris! It’s a perfect fit, just like I thought!”
Susie stared a moment, then smirked again. “Yeah. Not bad. Now you actually look kinda cute.”
Kris’ blush intensified, but their shoulders slumped. Still moving a bit stiffly—and a bit clumsily, from the unfamiliar skirt—they closed the door and trudged over to sit down on Asriel’s bed, hands bunched in their lap. Their black-painted fingernails glinted dimly in the bedroom light.
Noelle dug around in her bag and pulled out a yellow ribbon. “I can do your hair, too—right, Kris?”
Kris hesitated, then inclined their head. They’d worn ribbons in their hair before, in the dark worlds; not that Noelle was aware of that. Noelle bounced over to sit beside them, and they remained unmoving as she pulled their shaggy locks into a half-updo and tied it in place with the ribbon. They still looked scruffy when she was done, but the hair style combined with the skirt gave them an almost refined—albeit still casual—air.
Susie moved beds to sit on Kris’ other side, while Noelle gave Kris her hand mirror to look at themself. “Seriously, man,” Susie said, “that’s a good look on you, too.”
Kris had barely glanced into the mirror before they were pushing it away, self-conscious as always; Noelle took the hint and slipped the mirror back into her skirt pocket. Still, Kris nodded at Susie’s words, freckled cheeks dusting with pink.
“Should try on some of those dresses Ralsei gave you,” Susie murmured, lowly, into their ear. “Though, I dunno if anything would beat that sexy-ass suit Tenna gave you for sharpshooting.”
Kris’ ruddy face turned a shade almost as vivid as their eyes.
Noelle failed to stifle her own giggling. “What are you saying to them, Susie?”
“Oh, y’know. Just how seeing them in that skirt makes me wanna do things to them,” Susie drawled, playfully prodding Kris in the ribs with her elbow.
Noelle laughed harder. Susie laughed along, too, while Kris buried their face in their hands.
“Okay, Susie,” Noelle piped up, when she’d recovered. “It’s your turn!”
“Huh?!” Susie balked, recoiling instantly. “Y-you’re not putting me in a skirt, too! No ribbons, either! Hell’s gonna freeze over before I wear that stuff!”
Kris offered her no sympathy, only snickering at her plight through the gaps in their fingers. Susie growled and smacked them on the shoulder; unfortunately for her, this did nothing to shut them up.
Noelle waved her hands placatingly, hoping to stop Kris and Susie in their tracks before they started roughhousing again. “Oh, no—I didn’t mean that! I don’t even have any skirts that’d fit you! But I could braid your hair, if you wanted?”
Susie paused, glancing away as she considered this. Now it was her turn for her cheeks to color, her cold purple scales warming in hue. “Well, I…I guess I’d be alright with that,” she finally conceded. “Can’t have Kris be the only one who dresses up here. Just—you better be careful, alright? My hair’s special.”
“Of course, Susie!”
Noelle retrieved a brush and a few brightly colored scrunchies from her bag, and she sat on Susie’s unoccupied side. Kris shuffled away to give them room, watching silently with their knees tucked against their chest as Noelle began to gently run her brush through Susie’s long, wild waves of hair.
“Wow, Susie,” Noelle cooed, “your hair’s even nicer than I thought. There aren’t even any knots!”
Susie huffed and folded her arms. “Well, duh. I take good care of it, y’know.”
“Oh, clearly,” Noelle agreed, giggling. “I just didn’t expect it to be so sleek or soft to touch.”
Susie looked pleased by the compliment. That is, until she caught Kris smiling at her—half-teasing, half-affectionate—and she scowled again.
Noelle didn’t need to brush Susie’s hair for long, but she indulged in it for as long as she could, before Susie could think through the slow, soothing strokes to question her. Noelle gathered Susie’s hair up, separated it into three strands, and then carefully wove them together, before securing the braid in place with a couple of the scrunchies worn around her wrist. One pink, one purple. Braiding was something she’d long practiced on prior sleepovers—mostly on Kris, who’d had the hair length for it, but occasionally on Dess, as well.
Susie blinked at her visage in the hand mirror. “Huh. That’s…not bad, either,” she mumbled, tentatively touching at her braid with her fingers. “Um—nice job.”
Noelle grinned brightly, dimpling her spotted cheeks. “Thanks, Susie! I just wish I had some clothes for you, too…I think you’d look really nice in some shorts!” Like the denim shorts Dess used to wear, paired with one of her band T-shirts and her leather jacket—
“I mean…sure?” Susie hedged, handing back the mirror. “Just as long as they’re, uh…not too short, I guess.”
“I didn’t bring my measuring tape, but maybe next time we do this, I could take your measurements and use them to buy some clothes! I don’t think Mom would take much notice—she usually lets me buy stuff without fuss, so…” Noelle could pretend she was buying them for a school play, or claim they were presents for Catti. Catti wouldn’t say a word to contradict her, even if it meant helping Susie at the same time.
Susie reflexively lifted a hand to fiddle with a lock of hair, only to be thrown off when she didn’t find what she was looking for. She picked at a flaking scale on her cheek instead. “Um. Whatever you want, I guess?”
Noelle took this as a victory, clapping her hands together and grinning. Susie was unsure whether to be embarrassed or amused.
“You know,” Kris piped up from their end of the bed, “there’s still one person here who hasn’t dressed up yet.”
Both Kris and Susie turned to look at Noelle. Noelle wavered under their dual gazes.
“Oh—um,” she stammered, caught off-guard. “I sort of…forgot about myself? I mean, I bought a nail file and polish for manicures, but…” She had also considered bringing a hoof brush, but had decided against it. Foot stuff seemed a bit much for the first time around.
Kris stood from the bed. “Hold her down, Susie,” they ordered, smiling mischievously. “I’ll grab Mom’s makeup.”
Susie pounced on Noelle, pinning her down to the bed by her shoulders. Noelle squeaked loudly in surprise. “Don’t worry, boss,” Susie drawled, her lazy grin showing all her razor-sharp fangs. “This one’s not going anywhere.”
Kris was still smirking when they left the room. Meanwhile, Noelle panicked internally as she stared at Susie practically sitting atop her, her snout only inches from hers. Noelle didn’t even try escaping or resisting; why would she, when she’d already fantasized about Susie pinning her down like this countless times?
Susie breathed a laugh. With her hair braided back and hanging off one shoulder, there was nothing aside from her long fringe to hide her smile and her half-lidded eyes; much less her stare, fixed on Noelle’s face beneath her.
“Heh. Your nose’s turning bright red,” Susie remarked. “That’s pretty cute, too.”
Noelle tried to speak, but no coherent words left her mouth; only humiliating noises. By this point, her face was so hot, it was surprising her fur hadn’t burst into flames, yet. Her heart, too, was racing so fast, it threatened to burst free of her chest entirely. All she could think about was how Susie was close enough to kiss, if only Noelle could just lift her head and—
The bedroom door opened again, revealing Kris with Toriel’s makeup in hand, their cheeky smirk grown even wider. Only then did Noelle realize she might be in trouble.