Chapter Text
Noelle anxiously twiddled her thumbs while on the car ride over to Catti’s. It was her first time spending the night at a house besides her own or Kris’s and she was more than a little nervous about how it might go. She was honestly surprised that Dess and her father had been able to convince her mother to even let her go. The fact that Kris would be accompanying her seemed to be the deciding point in favor of allowing it. Kris after all had practically been raised side by side with Noelle and had earned the trust of the entire Holiday family, even with their mischief-making tendencies.
"Alright, we're here!" Asriel announced as he parked the Dreemurr family's car in front of the Cattenheimers' driveway.
Kris and Noelle got out of the car while Asriel helped carry their backpacks, Noelle sheepishly tagging behind Kris and Asriel as they made their way up to the doorbell.
Asriel winced upon seeing who answered.
"Like, ohmigosh! Asriel! You've like, finally come over to ask me out! Took you long enough!" Catty exclaimed as she tightly wrapped her arms around the goat boy.
"Let go of me!" Asriel shrieked, eliciting giggles from both Kris and Noelle. "I'm not here for you, I'm here to drop off Kris and Noelle off!"
"Oh yeah! I like, almost forgot Catti's little sleepover is tonight!" Catty said as she let go of Asriel. "Are you two excited?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Noelle replied, Kris nodding in agreement.
Asriel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper, handing it off to Catty. "Here's our phone number. Have your parents call mine in case any of any emergency."
"Oh, my parents are out of town! But like, I am so good with kids. You won't have to worry about anything!" Catty explained cheerfully while a nervous look ran across Asriel's face.
"…Um, you didn't mention that when our parents agreed to let Kris and Noelle stay over," Asriel cautiously said, now picturing a million and a half ways the night could go wrong.
"Well, if you want to be extra careful, you could always come and stay over with us… and maybe after Kris and Noelle go to sleep we could… like… you know," Catty purred as she reached out to try and get her paws on Asriel again.
Asriel stumbled backwards and was about to object to Catty's advances once more when someone else beat him to the punch.
"Um, as if Asriel would ever do that! That boy is mine and you know it!" Bratty called out from the neighboring yard.
"No way! Asriel doesn't want to date you, skank ass!" Catty turned to tell off her rival.
"Language!" Asriel yelled. "You can't say that in front of two 11 year olds, what is wrong with you!" he chided.
"It's okay Azzy! Dess already taught me all the swear words!" Noelle said with a toothy smile while Kris repeated the word skank over and over again to themselves.
Asriel put his palm up to his forehead and sighed. "Look, Kris and Noelle have been looking forward to this for a while now so I'm not going to take them back home, just please, please, try and be responsible."
"Well duh! I'm like the most responsible-est girl in all of Hometown!" Catti tried to assure Asriel.
"…Right, well. Make sure Kris stays away from any sharp objects. And don't let them chew on any electrical wires. Or on the couch. And don't leave out any matches or let them try and use the stove. And don't give them any sugary dri-"
Catty cut Asriel off. "Yeah, yeah, no exposure to direct sunlight, don't get them wet, and don't feed them after midnight. I know what I'm doing!"
"That's not! Make sure Kris gets their bath!" Asriel snapped.
"I got the little munchkins under control, don't worry!" Catty said, ruffling Kris's hair and accidentally knocking the horned headband they were wearing to the ground.
Kris immediately started to pout and was on the verge of starting a tantrum before Asriel quickly grabbed their headband and put it back on them, calming his little sibling down while Noelle looked on in confusion.
"Ugh, I'm not at all convinced but I really do need to get going," Asriel said as he handed the two backpacks to Kris and Noelle, trying to avoid as much eye contact with either Catty or Bratty as possible. "You kids have fun, okay!"
Kris and Noelle waved goodbye to Asriel before he headed back to the Dreemurrs' car. Noelle then followed behind Kris as Catty led them up to Catti's room. She took notice how Catti stood out from the rest of her family in all of the photos that adorned their wall due to her dark makeup and the pink streak in her hair. Seeing those photos made her wonder how her family, especially her mom, would react to any changes in Noelle's physical appearance.
Catty told the trio of kids that she would be downstairs if they needed anything, leaving them to their own devices. They all sat on a black fluffy rug in the middle of Catti's room. Noelle stared at all the gothic paraphernalia Catti had around her room. She liked that Catti was willing to show off any new rituals she learned about or trinkets she managed to get her paws on, finding the subject endlessly fascinating even if she could never quite understand all of it.
"Do you wanna watch Blood Crushers 2?" Noelle asked, eyeing the DVD on Catti's shelf.
"Sick," Catti replied in her usual monotone voice.
Kris started a "Blood Crushers! Blood Crushers!" chant that Noelle couldn't help but join in on as the two of them followed Catti downstairs to the living room where her sister and the television was.
Catti showed the DVD up to her sister in hopes they could all watch the movie together.
Catty took a look at the cover. It seemed to be a rather generic looking slasher movie about a monster in a hockey mask that carried around an axe as a weapon with taglines that promised copious amounts of gore and violence.
"Nuh uh, no way. This movie is way too scary. I'd like, get in so much trouble if I played this," Catty said disapprovingly, handing the DVD back to her little sister.
"Lame! We can handle it," Catti said with Kris nodding along in agreement.
"Maybe you two could, but what about Noelle? This movie would totally freak her out and give her nightmares. And I'm pretty sure if I gave the mayor's daughter nightmares, I'd like, get arrested!" Catty explained.
"What? But I like scary things too!" Noelle protested. "That's not fair!" she whined as she stomped her hoof on the ground.
"Sorry little sweetie pie, it's not happening! Here, let me put on something that girls like you would like!" Catty said as she turned on the television to a cartoon about multicolored magical horses. "There, now how about I make you guys some popcorn?"
Noelle let out a halfhearted "hmph!" in response. Kris sat down in front of the television and seemed to be immediately entranced with the show, which Noelle didn't understand. Catti shrugged, saying there was no point in arguing with Catty and that at least they were getting popcorn. She sighed and resigned herself to her fate, joining her friends in watching a cartoon that was meant for girls who were half her age.
(If Kris likes it, maybe it isn't that bad…?)
She gave the cartoon a chance but after the first couple of episodes, she felt bored out of her mind. Everything about it was mind-numbingly sweet from the pastel colors, the simple lessons on being kind and sharing, and the annoying songs. Noelle would much rather watch a woman getting beheaded with an axe. Why did Catty think she couldn't handle that? Was it just because she was soft spoken and wore light blue dresses? Or because she jumped at Kris's pranks? Just because she was girly, a little shy, and didn't like sudden loud noises didn't mean she liked dumb baby shows. She hated that she was being treated differently from Kris and Catti.
After a while, Catty ordered them all some pizza which made up for things somewhat. It was hard for Noelle to stay mad while chowing down on slices of a classic ICE-E's pie. Still, this night hadn't been what she had hoped for so far. It may have been nice to be able to hang out with Kris and Catti but Noelle had expected something a little more… adventurous. Maybe Catti could bust out her ouija board for a séance or the three of them could read scary stories they find on the internet together. Or even just playing Cat Petterz.
(Wait. Would it be weird for a cat monster to play Cat Petterz?)
Really, almost anything would be a step up from watching another episode of Horsie Pals.
"Oh my gosh, you know what you guys should do? We should all get makeovers!"
Except for that.
Noelle hated makeup. She always thought it was annoying that she was now expected to start wearing it at all the fancy fundraisers and rich people parties her mom dragged her to. Meanwhile Kris and all the boy monsters she knew didn't have to do any of that stuff. Why was it that she was forced to look "prettier" with fake eyelashes and lipstick? Couldn't she just be herself? She couldn't even complain about it to Catti, as she actually liked doing her makeup.
"Um…" Noelle started to speak up, but Catty and Catti were already on their way to their rooms to grab their makeup.
"Kris, you don't actually want to do this, do you?" Noelle asked.
To Noelle's surprise, Kris replied that it actually seemed like it would be fun, especially if Catti could give them goth looks and then maybe take silly pictures afterwards.
"Okay, yeah, maybe you're right!" Noelle said.
Thinking of it as a way of playing pretend did help assuage Noelle's worries somewhat, although she was still hesitant about the whole ordeal. She didn't particularly enjoy the process of having her makeup applied, especially with how meticulous her mom was about how nice it needed to look. Hopefully Catti and Catty would be a little more relaxed.
Catti made her way towards Kris, Kris sitting surprisingly still while Catti began painting Kris's face. Noelle probably would have preferred having her makeup done by her friend instead of her friend's older sister, but she decided to not make a fuss about it. She just quietly let Catty paint her nails and apply makeup to her face, trying to not fidget around at the tickling of the brushes. The process was a little slow but she at least didn't have to deal with the usual "helpful comments" about her appearance and posture that her mom would usually give. Noelle enjoyed the part where Catty braided her hair the most.
Eventually, Catty stopped and put a mirror up to Noelle. She had light blue eyeshadow and nails that matched the color of the dress she was wearing along with rosier looking cheeks. She knew she looked nice but couldn't find it in her to muster a strong reaction.
"Oh, um, yeah, it looks good!" Noelle said in her politest voice. "Thank you Catty!"
"I turned Kris into a vampire," Catti announced, showing off the white facepaint and drips of red that ran down their mouth while Kris made their best "bleh!" noise.
"Faha, that's so cool!" Noelle giggled.
"Careful. They want to suck your blood," Catti teased.
Kris began to creepily inch towards Noelle, causing her to start running out into the backyard.
"Noooo, don't bite me Kris! Fahahaha!" Noelle laughed as Kris chased after her.
Catty and Catti joined them outside, preferring to just sit and watch rather than get directly involved in the little game Noelle and Kris were having fun with.
"Is Kris like, actually going to bite her?" Catty asked her sister.
"Yeah, probably."
"Should I be doing something about that?"
"Nah."
Catty had a puzzled look on her face but shrugged it off and let Kris and Noelle play in the backyard for a while, figuring they would tire themselves out soon enough and make getting them their baths and into their pajamas easier.
The two kids ran around in circles laughing. Noelle had always been a fast runner, easily able to outrun Kris. Noelle would occasionally zip by Catti and Catty's chairs with Kris almost accidentally stumbling into them. Neither of them stopped until it got too dark out, the two of them collapsing onto the ground out of breath.
Kris gently started nibbling on Noelle's arm at that point.
"Faha, okay Kris, you got me! Guess I'm gonna have to be a vampire now too! Bleh!" Noelle said with a laugh.
"Sorry, but little vampires have to be like, bathed in holy water so they can go back to being normal kids!" Catty announced, ushering everyone back inside.
Noelle was surprised that Kris seemed to actually cooperate with a bath for once. Having spent the night over at the Dreemurrs plenty of times, she had gotten use to the mad chase Kris put Asriel and their parents through. Playing vampires must have really tired them out.
Noelle joined Catti in her room, sitting on the edge of Catti's bed while Catti lay on the floor.
"Tonight's been fun!" Noelle said with a smile.
"Definitely," Catti agreed.
"Um… do you think next time we have a sleepover though, you could be the one to do my makeup instead?" Noelle asked. "Catty's makeup is too… I dunno."
"I can paint your face green like a witch," Catti said.
"Faha, yeah! That'd be fun! Then I could turn Kris into a frog!" Noelle laughed.
"Transmogrification incantations are difficult. I don't think you would be able to handle them," Catti said, the tone in her voice suddenly sounding a lot more serious.
"…Oh, um, okay," Noelle mumbled. "I won't transfrogify Kris then."
"Transmogrify," Catti corrected.
Catty suddenly knocked on Catti's door. "Hey Noelle? You need to give Catti some privacy hon, it's time for her bath!"
"I thought Kris was still in the tub…?" Noelle asked.
"Yeah…?" Catty responded in confusion. "Oh! Cat monsters clean themselves, silly! This is like, our first time even using that bathtub! Anyway, you can wait downstairs."
Noelle nodded and followed Catty downstairs. Catty grabbed a makeup wipe and gently removed the makeup from Noelle's face, which Noelle appreciated. Noelle didn't say much to Catty while waiting for Kris to finish up in the bathroom, instead helping herself to a snack.
Kris eventually descended from the staircase into the living room in their pajamas, shaking their still wet hair like a dog would in front of Noelle.
"Ew! Kriiiiis!" Noelle whined as her and Catty made their way up to the bathroom.
Catty drew the water for her and grabbed her pajamas for the night for her to change into when she was done toweling off. Most of the warm water had already been used up by Kris, but as a reindeer monster with a thick coat of fur, Noelle could handle colder temperatures.
After a relaxing bath, Noelle dried off, changed into her pajamas, and brushed her teeth. She thanked Catty for having her and Kris over, which Catty happily responded to by telling them they were free to come over any time. Once she made sure Kris and Noelle were in their sleeping bags on Catti's floor, Catty wished them all a goodnight.
"Hell yeah, I totally nailed that shit! I told you I was great with kids, in your adorable little face Asriel!" Catty said to herself a little too loudly after closing the bedroom door.
Catti seemed to fall asleep almost immediately which left Kris and Noelle awake on the floor together. They took turns making funny noises with their mouths for a while, the pair giggling to themselves as they tried to amuse each other without waking up Catti. Eventually though, Noelle turned to Kris and stared to whisper something to them.
"Hey um… thanks for not making me do girl stuff when we're together," Noelle whispered.
Kris let out a quiet "huh" indicating they didn't seem to understand what Noelle meant by that.
"I mean, when it's just us and Azzy and Dess. You'll like, play cardboard swords with me and prank me and stuff. It's… it's fun, I'm glad you don't always make me do makeup and things like that," Noelle explained.
Kris still didn't seem to get it as they didn't respond.
"Faha, um, sorry for making things weird," Noelle apologized. "I just like hanging out with you, I guess."
Kris muttered back that they like hanging out with Noelle too, which made her smile.
"Goodnight Kris," Noelle whispered.
Kris made exaggerated snoring sounds in response which elicited another giggle from Noelle, the pair falling asleep soon afterwards.
All three kids woke up bright and early the following morning. Kris and Noelle gathered their things and ate a quick breakfast of yogurt cups together while they waited for Asriel to come and pick them up, chatting with Catti about what they planned to do at their next sleepover. Kris was the first to notice Asriel pull up in front of the driveway, jumping in excitement to see their big brother again and causing everyone to wait outside in front of the front door.
"Kris didn't start any fires, right?" Asriel asked upon his arrival.
"Will you relax? Gosh, Kris is a good kid! They were totally well behaved!" Catti exclaimed.
"…I don't believe you," Asriel said. "Noelle, did Kris do anything they weren't supposed to?"
"Catty's telling the truth, Azzy! They were good!" Noelle insisted. "They didn't even run around the halls naked when it came time for them to take a bath!"
"Woah. Maybe I misjudged you Catty, um, thank you!" Asriel said.
"How about like, a kiss as a reward?" Catty asked.
"I'm not doing that," Asriel said.
"Fine, on the cheek?" Catty asked as a compromise. "Pretty please?"
"Ugh… alright," Asriel acquiesced.
Catty licked Asriel's cheek, getting Catty slobber all over the right side of his face.
"Gross!" Asriel remarked while he tried to wipe it off.
"That's no way to talk to a woman, Asriel!" Catty scoffed.
"Let's just leave before Bratty notices we're all out here again…" Asriel muttered. "Thanks again for looking after Kris and Noelle," he said to Catty before turning his attention to Kris and Noelle. "You two say goodbye to your friend now!"
"Bye Catti! We'll see you at school on Monday!" Noelle said while Kris waved goodbye.
Noelle and Kris hopped in the back seat of the Dreemurr family car with their backpacks. Asriel dropped Noelle off at her house, asking her to tell Dess he said hi before she got out of the car. Noelle said goodbye to Kris, even though both of them figured they were going to be seeing each other again soon anyway.
"Ho ho ho! Now who could that be?" Rudy greeted Noelle as she walked into the door.
"Hi dad!" Noelle said as her father wrapped her in a big hug.
"Did you have fun sweetheart? Because if you didn't, there will be H-E-double-hockey stick to pay! That's a promise!" Rudy said with a jovial laugh.
"Faha, I had fun!" Noelle giggled.
"Atta girl! I'm proud of you for making other friends!" Rudy congratulated Noelle as he pinched her cheeks. "Mom's still at work but she'll be back for lunch, be sure to give us all the details!"
"Okay! Sounds good, I'll be in Dess's room!" Noelle said with a grin on her face.
"Haha, I figured! You spend more time in there than your own room! Maybe we need to do some renovating and give Asgore a guest bedroom…" Rudy teased.
"Daaad!"
"I'm just pulling your leg!" Rudy said as he playfully messed with Noelle's hair.
"Faha, I know!" Noelle laughed before she started to make her way upstairs.
"Try and keep your sister out of trouble up there! And if you can't, don't snitch to mom unless you absolutely have to!" Rudy remarked.
"I'll tryyy!" Noelle replied.
Noelle had a wide grin on her face as she started knocking on her big sister's door. "Hi Dess! I'm back home!"
"Door's unlocked!" Dess called out, inviting Noelle into her bedroom.
Noelle took a seat at the edge of Dess's bed, eager to play another round of Dragon Blazers Melee with her sister.
"So, how was spending the night at Catti's?" Dess asked.
"I had fun!" Noelle replied. "Well, for the most part," she added in a quieter voice.
"For the most part, huh? Did Kris try pulling the hand in warm water prank on you again?" Dess asked.
"Faha, no, it's not that!" Noelle said as she grabbed the two video game controllers, handing one to Dess. "Catti's sister wouldn't let me watch Blood Crushers 2. She said Catti and Kris could handle it but I'd get too scared."
"Aw what? Screw her, you and me are watching it tonight then!" Dess scoffed.
"Awesome!" Noelle cheered. "That movie will be so cool! Catty made us watch Horsie Pals instead."
"Horsie Pals? Does she think you're like five or something? Sorry you had to deal with that Elly," Dess said while she turned her console on and waited for the title screen to load.
"She said girls like me would like that show. And then she did my makeup all cutesy and stuff while Catti made Kris into a cool vampire. It was so lame! Why do girls even like makeup anyway?!" Noelle asked in frustration.
"I don't really get it either," Dess shrugged. "Every time I hang out with Bratty and Catty they're always talking about shopping at Zephora or getting into fights over who Asriel likes."
"That's silly of them. Don't they know he likes you?" Noelle asked innocently. "He told me to tell you he said hi, by the way."
"Pfft, what? He doesn't… shut up, dweeb," Dess responded with a flustered look on her face. "Anyway, plenty of girls don't like makeup Elly. You aren't alone."
"Well that's good," Noelle replied. "Kinda wish I didn't have to worry about it in the first place though, faha."
Dess paused and watched how Noelle seemed to hover over each character on the character selection screen a bit before eventually settling on her usual selection.
"Hey, uh, how come you always play as the ice enchantress?" Dess asked.
"Cuz I know all of her combos and I can kick your frozen butt with them!" Noelle taunted.
"Feh, yeah right!" Dess scoffed. "But… are there any other characters you uh, maybe like more?" she asked.
"Uh… I dunno," Noelle shrugged. "I like the magic prince I guess. He has a cool design."
"Yeah? Do you maybe want to try playing as him for a bit? I'll go easy on you while you get used to his moves. Promise," Dess offered.
"Faha, okay!" Noelle laughed, choosing the magic prince while Dess chose the noble knight.
Noelle only needed a little bit of time to get used to the prince's attacks. She had played so many fighting games before that she was able to grasp each character's different combos pretty quickly. Once she felt confident in what she was doing, she lunged at Dess's character with an energy blast attack that Dess didn't have enough time to dodge.
"Hey, you didn't say we were starting yet you little brat!" Dess laughed, drawing the knight's sword and fighting back.
Noelle, thanks in large part to her surprise first move, took the first round. Dess, determined to get her sister back for that, took the second. Both of them were completely engrossed in their game by the third round, moving their bodies and tilting their controllers when dodging hits and furiously button mashing. The magic prince had less natural defense than the noble knight, but he did have a healing ability which meant Dess had to keep knocking him back down in the red while Noelle slowly chipped away at the knight's health bar. Eventually, the two reached a point where one final attack could clench the game for either of them. Noelle just needed to focus and dodge the knight's sword one more time…
"Bam!" Dess shouted as she struck the finishing blow. "Sorry Elly, couldn't go too easy on you! Now you gotta do my homework for a week!"
"What?!" Noelle said in shock. "I can't do your homework, you're a junior!"
"Feh, you're in that gifted kid program and I don't even bother studying. You'd probably get better grades than I would!" Dess snickered.
Noelle didn't really like that Dess had a habit of making self-deprecating jabs when trying to compliment her, but laughed along anyway.
"Anyway Elly, you think you like playing as the magic prince more?" Dess asked.
"Totally! He's fun to play as plus he's brave and smart! He has his own library in his castle where he practices spells!" Noelle exclaimed.
Dess smiled down at Noelle. "Yeah, he is pretty cool. And… you're pretty cool too, Elly. Whether you wanna be an ice enchantress, a magic prince, or whatever that weird goblin thing Kris likes to play as is supposed to be."
"Faha, um, thanks!" Noelle replied.
Dess paused again. "Can I ask you something else?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you… like the dresses mom picks out for you?" Dess asked, looking down at the frilly light blue dress that Noelle was wearing.
"Oh… um… I mean, there's nothing wrong with them," Noelle said politely.
"Sounds like you don't like them," Dess said. "You know, you could always dig around in the back of my closet. There's probably some old clothes of mine that could fit you. If you ever want to try something else."
"Really?" Noelle asked with excitement in her voice.
"Yeah! I mean, hopefully mom won't be too much of a biiii-" Dess stopped herself and tried to think of a more child friendly way to finish her sentence. "-tch," she added after a while, not able to think up a clever swear substitute.
Noelle looked on nervously as she wasn't sure what to say to that. She didn't like how demanding her mom was or how often her and Dess fought, but she wouldn't go as far to describe her as that. She was just… difficult at times and had her own way of showing affection.
"Um… thanks for letting me take some of your clothes!" Noelle said after a while, changing the subject away from their mom.
"Of course! And if you ever want to experiment with uh. You know. Anything else. That's okay too," Dess assured with a toothy grin.
Noelle smiled back. She was glad to have an older sister looking out for her, even if she wasn't sure what Dess meant by her experimenting with "anything else." But she did know that Dess was helping her and that she could count on Dess for love and support no matter what. She embraced Dess in a tight hug.
"I'll always be here for ya Elly," Dess spoke softly to Noelle.