Chapter Text
The door of the two-story house swung wide open. Inside it was dark — evening had already fallen, and the rays of the tired sun had slipped behind the treetops, leaving not even a sliver of light to reach the interior.
A fluffy hand slapped the light switch, and the bulbs in the hallway flickered on.
"I'm home!" Asriel Dreemurr’s voice rolled along the walls of the house.
But no answer came. Apparently, no one was home. His family had probably gone out for a walk somewhere, or maybe the neighbors had invited them over — though that seemed unlikely, since the goatling would definitely have been told about it.
The boy slipped the sneakers off his paws. His mother didn’t like dirt in the house — especially not on the carpets that covered most of the parquet floors. After that, he headed straight for the children’s bedroom he had shared for many long years with his younger sibling — Kris.
After a long and exhausting workday, the teenager just wanted to rest and sort out the little issue in his head that had been bothering him…
Strangely enough, the room was dark as well. The curtains on the window were still closed for some reason — which meant his sibling had woken up before Mom came into the room.
Azzy pressed a few of the star-shaped buttons scattered across the wall near his bed, and they began to glow with a faint green light, perfect for comfortable reading. Thanks to Dessember Holiday for such a wonderful gift — without her, the goat would’ve continued ruining his already-not-perfect eyesight completely.
Asriel set his bag down on the bedside table and collapsed onto his bed.
The part-time job at the bar owned by a recently arrived skeleton named Sans had turned out to be far from easy. Still, what wouldn’t you do to earn some money before the school year at a college in another city began? Asking his parents for money felt humiliating to him — he was already old enough to deal with his own problems.
…Speaking of college. And speaking of the one who gave him those glowing stars…
Az had known his neighbor since childhood — practically since diapers. They had been through so much together: how many games they’d played, how many stars they’d counted in the sky, how many songs and melodies they’d come up with. All of that — and much more — tied them together with the thread of friendship.
Later, both of them ended up with younger relatives: Noelle, a little sister for Dess, and a human sibling named Kris.
Things only got more fun with the kids — especially once they grew a bit older. Dess used to threaten to smack the little one with a bat every time he scared Noelle, and Azzy would always stop her so Kris wouldn’t end up with another bump on his head. Otherwise, the older brother would have to explain those bruises to Mom afterward.
And when Toriel got going back then… oh god…
Alright, that’s not what I should be thinking about right now…
The boy had been carrying a spark of affection in his heart for a couple of months now. And every time he met the one who had lit that spark, the flame only grew stronger. Lately it had become almost unbearable: any thought of the neighbors’ eldest daughter, any contact with the young doe — especially physical — burned straight through Asriel, in the best possible way.
He had asked his guy friends for advice on how to gently express his feelings to a girl. But they never managed to agree on a single strategy. Every friend pushed his own idea forward, insisting it would definitely work. And asking the girls for advice was something the young man didn’t dare to do — who knew, they might blab everything. After all, he knew how much girls loved to gossip, because Dess herself had told him that little secret. And she was friends with those same girls. So, in the end, he’d just have to improvise.
The problem was that he couldn’t keep putting it off. If the feelings were mutual, then letting that chance slip away would be a terrible mistake — because the goatling would soon be leaving to study in another city, and someone else might win over the girl his heart dreamed of.
But was it even worth starting a relationship if it would soon become long-distance?
Unfortunately, December hadn’t managed to choose a suitable major at the same college. Though honestly, she probably hadn’t been stressing about that choice in the first place. School had never really been her top priority. Still, her grades were above average — even without help from her fluffy “nerd.”
At the same time, she didn’t even know that Asriel had been accepted into that college. And she certainly didn’t know that in two months he would be leaving to study there…
Though he would come back during winter break after exams. And definitely in the summer too, right after finishing his internship.
That was all well and good — but how was he actually supposed to confess his feelings to Dess now that such an unshakable desire had appeared?
He could buy a bouquet from one of his father’s acquaintances — red roses, since Dess loved the color red. Even her antlers and nose were dyed that shade. Honestly, everything about her showed that she liked that color. And after the flowers, maybe he could buy a box of chocolates… or…
Wait… isn’t that a bit much? I mean, flowers make sense, but chocolates are something you give when you’re already in a relationship, right? Ah… whatever! Love is love, and if you want to prove it, you’ve got to show your intentions!
Good plan!
Time to put it into action.
The boy jumped up from the bed and looked inside his bag. The money he’d earned from work should be more than enough — there would even be some left over for ice cream.
But will she even be able to go out today? She hasn’t been feeling well lately. Maybe she’s still lying in bed, sick?
Asriel picked up his phone and started typing a message to his friend.
Messenger interface:
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[Pfp in an alt/punk style]
Dessy
Last seen at 16:34
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"She hasn’t been online for a couple of hours… weird."
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[Previous messages about Azzy’s part-time job at Sans’s bar. The last one was sent today at 07:41.]
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Boy started typing, carefully thinking through every word.
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“Hey, Dess. Want to meet up this evening?
Maybe go for a walk somewhere? I just finished work.
We can talk about the whole Sans thing when we meet.”
[Sent at 19:45]
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Now all that was left was to wait for a reply and be ready to head out at a moment’s notice. Meanwhile, he started digging through his closet, wanting to look presentable — and maybe even a little impressive — when the time came to ask her out.