Chapter Text
“Kris.”
A series of thumps shake their mind.
“KRIS.”
Another, stronger thump.
“KRIS!”
The voice rises to a shout, another heavy thump, the familiar strength of a particularly ornery doe. Her just barely gravelly, slightly deep voice rings through their ears, “WAKE UP ALREADY!”
Another voice steps in, a softer and deeper one. A familiar one. “Whoa, hold on... Let me try.” He leans in, almost whispering, “Kris? Hey, buddy... You’re gonna be late for school. I know you don’t want to get up, but this isn’t healthy. You already skipped two days, so come on. I even made breakfast for you.”
The female voice scoffs, “Tch. You’re too damn soft on them, Azzy.”
Kris stirs awake and rolls over to see the two arguing again. “Dess, please just go wait in the kitchen. Look, they’re waking up, you don’t have to go taking it out on them. I’ll take it from here.”
Dess, of course, rolls her eyes and stomps out, “Fine, whatever.” She lightly slams the door. Just loud enough that Asriel gets the message, and that it leaves a faint ringing sound in Kris’ ear for a moment.
He leans back over to Kris, “Sorry, she’s... extra cranky today. But hey, at least you won’t have to listen to it at school, eh? Now come on, I made your favorite.”
Kris curls back up into a ball and rolls around in bed for a moment, but eventually relents to Asriel’s patience and reluctantly rolls to their feet to follow him downstairs where a stack of pancakes awaits. They can’t help but look mildly disappointed, but choose to just sit down and eat while Dess glares at them from the end of the table and Asriel does the dishes.
They take a bite. No amount of syrup can make them not taste like rubber and sickening sludge, and no amount of fluffiness makes up for the lack of any flavor. Another bite, and nothing changes. They end up absently staring at the wall while they eat, mechanically and methodically.
Dess stares daggers into Kris. As if they had personally seen to the demise of a beloved family pet, which altogether may be true with the fate of that old hamster still in limbo. Compartmentalized to be forgotten forever. Only the big kids would ever know what truly happened. Speaking of them, Asriel comes back over once Kris is halfway through and scolds her again, “Dess. Come on. What’s up with you today?”
She rolls her eyes and glances away to avoid eye contact, “Nothing.”
He quickly shoots her down, “‘Nothing’ my ass, December. You’re literally on the edge of your seat. Just talk to me.”
Evidently, his shift from his usual timid demeanor affects her. She shuffles around in the chair and continues to look away, falling silent for a bit until she suddenly stands up with a heavy sigh. “Fine.” she says, facing away from him, “I’ll be in the living room.” With that, she walks over to the far end of the couch and sits patiently with her face in her hand, covering her eyes. Kris watches without eating, expression hidden as Asriel joins her, and the two start whispering to each other.
“Alright, what’s wrong?” Asriel asks.
“What the hell ISN’T wrong!?” Dess replies just loud enough that Kris can hear clearly. “My mom’s a bitch, my dad’s dying, my sister’s just GONE, I’m stuck in this stupid body, I don’t have any grass, that little shit acts like they’re the only one suffering, and... !” mid-rant, her voice cracks, and she starts to tear up. She takes a long pause, previously furrowed brow lifting, softening to Asriel’s hand on her shoulder as she recounts something. “And... I keep having those damn nightmares... It just won’t stop!”
As she fumbles around to find something on her person, Asriel sighs, taking her into a hug, “Still? It’s been seven years, Dess. When are you gonna go to a therapist?”
Dess scoffs, “What, so they can gaslight me into thinking everything’s fine and send me to a psyche ward when I stop pretending like I don’t want to kill myself?”
Asriel feels his chest tighten painfully the moment those words leave her mouth. Panicked, he glances over his shoulder to see Kris watching, and winces. He turns back to Dess, “Sh-Sshh! Hey, come on... That’s not...” He almost mentions them being right there, but thinks better of it.
But she seems to recognize that might have been too much, quickly apologizing, “Sorry. I’m sorry. I just need a smoke, and I’ll be fine. Just...” she finishes fumbling around when she grabs a pack of cigarettes out of her breastpocket.
She goes to stand, but gets pulled back down by Asriel, “Dess, no! I told you to quit!”
She narrows her eyes at him, “Wh— Why!? You never had a problem with it when we were young!”
“Yeah, because it was just your... ‘special leaves’! This is different!”
She whines, “Why do you care so much!? I already bought the pack, anyway!”
He pulls her in tighter, “I just. Want you. To stop hurting yourself. How do you think everyone else feels watching you fall apart like this?”
She shoots right back, “ How every... !? How do you think I feel!?”
“I know.” he says. “I know way too well, I just... Please. I don’t want you to end up in the hospital too. I-If you need help, I’m right here!”
Before he can continue, she scolds him, “Yeah, well, what if you aren’t enough? What if I need to hurt myself and you’re not helping?” He lets her go, shrinking into himself timidly. That shrinking form sends a moral shiver down her spine as the instant regret hits, “I... Shit, Azzy, I didn’t mean that...”
“No, it’s fine.” he insists submissively. “It’s been a long time. If it was enough, then...” He doesn’t complete the thought, just trails off into the next topic, as Dess stares down at him with a downcast melancholy wracked with regret. He asks her, “Just don’t take your anger out on Kris, okay? You’re as much their big sister as you were Noelle’s—”
“Don’t say ‘were’.” Dess shivers.
“They care about you. Just as much as her. You know they would never really hurt anyone. So please...”
She looks down at the pack of cigarettes in her hand, then at Asriel’s pleading and sunken, tired eyes, then at Kris staring at the two of them from the dinner table as if frozen in time. With a heavy sigh, she relents, “Okay. Okay...” She looks back down at the pack for a moment, then leaves. The door closes quietly behind her.
A silent minute passes between the remaining two. Asriel looks down at his phone and stands up, “...Kris, are you ready? You’re gonna be late if we stay any longer.”
Kris is still stuck looking down at their half-finished plate vacantly. They don’t respond.
He pats them on the head, “Come on. I’ll walk with you.”
They finally speak, “Where’s mom?”
“Oh, she went to work early. Said she had to get some stuff from the old classroom for the kids. She wanted me to give you a hug for her, but... I know you get embarrassed easily. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Still silent, Kris slowly inches out of the chair and takes Asriel’s hand. They follow closely by his side as they leave. Just as they exit, Kris looks to the side at Dess, leaning against the outside wall and smoking. They stare at her, and she stares back. Asriel stops when he notices Kris did, and waits for them to continue.
To his surprise, Kris quickly runs over to her and hugs her. She throws her arms up and shouts, “Whoa! Careful! Gonna get yourself burnt.” But they don’t seem to care. Realizing this, and that they don’t plan on letting go, she just sighs again and pats their head. The creeping guilt from their embrace manages to overwhelm her, “...Hey. Sorry about the shitty morning. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Just ignore me.”
They only hug tighter in response. At least, for a time. They eventually let go, lingering there as if hesitant to truly leave her there, but ultimately departing. When they get back to Asriel, he jokes, “What, you’ll hug her but not me?”
They headbutt him playfully, and both laugh about it while they walk to the school. Once there, Asriel gives them a one-armed hug and waves goodbye, leaving Kris alone at last. They look up at the school, illuminated by the blinding morning sun which smiles upon them with malice, and head inside towards Alphys’ classroom. The buzzing fluorescent lights are almost as harsh as the hateful sun, forcing Kris’ gaze into the linoleum floor beneath that squeaks on contact and offers little respite from the lights. Asriel’s absence hits them just then, as they reach for the doorknob.
For once, they’re just a little bit on time. In fact, they’re even there before Monster Kid who is inexplicably absent. Nobody in class acknowledges this or their existence, all-too-content to keep to themselves.
“Oh, Kris! There you are!” Alphys welcomes them “S-Say, you haven’t seen Monster Kid, have you? It’s not like them to be late, and...”
She trails off, expecting Kris to eventually speak up, but they never do. An awkward silence befalls the entire class for a moment.
“Well, anyway, I was just about to announce the new group project!” She turns to the other students, “So, I need all of you to decide on your partner. We only have so many people here, so... Two to a group only!”
Pretty much immediately, Catti grabs Jockington and pulls him in close to prevent anyone from trying to partner with him, then Temmie places an egg on her desk. Snowy looks nervously at the door and speaks up, “Uh, I’m partners with MK when they show up!” Kris stares at each of them in sequence, neither surprised nor impressed.
Berdly, who had been fidgeting with his feathers since Kris came in looks up at them hopefully, but doesn’t say anything, only giving a beaming, expectant grin. And so, with no other option, Kris approaches them with an enhanced level of lethargy not seen since the late Pleistocene, making a guttural groan the entire way there. When they eventually drag their way over to his desk, he chuckles half from excitement and half from anxiety, “A-Ah, Kris! It appears we are paired together again! Natural for the two brightest minds in our local vicinity! Let the gravitational pull of our binary system’s IQ attract the admiration of all of our peers!”
Kris just stares at him blankly while he monologues. Expressionless enough that it forces Berdly to sit down and backtrack, “Or, well, if you wish to! I understand your proclivity towards rest, and that your... situation... may not permit optimal performance. I could gladly take on the privilege of captaining our vessel!”
Still no answer, either negative or positive, just that cold glare of crimson hidden behind dark and overgrown bangs.
Berdly shrinks into his seat, “I-If you do, wish, to be partners, that is...”
Given that nobody else in the room is speaking, the others are forced to watch this parade of shame as Kris waltzes over to their seat without answering and sits down unceremoniously. Berdly, left without any clear indications, continues to fidget around while Alphys reminds Kris, “You... Do need a partner, Kris! I know you may not like Berdly that much, but there isn’t—”
Kris glares at her, next. Far more clearly and coldly than they ever had at Berdly. She immediately gets the message.
“Well, that aside, I suppose I should... Explain...” she starts looking around for a piece of chalk to write with, but loses her train of thought when it has apparently vanished into thin air. “Oh.” she says “That’s not good.” She turns back to the class, “I, um, can’t find any... chalk.”
The class is silent.
“I can’t start without that, you all know this!”
Again, silence. It drives her own anxiety up a wall.
“D-Does anyone—”
But before she can continue to stammer uselessly about a piece of chalk, the door slams open.
“Oh, h-hi, Susie...” Alphys quietly welcomes her to the best of her ability, though it’s almost inaudible.
Susie takes a few glances around, “...Am I late?”
“Well, um... Yes. But it’s okay!” Alphys says. “We were just finding partners for a group project! You and...” she looks between Berdly and Kris, then chooses the obviously correct answer, “Kris! Yes, you and Kris can be partners!”
Berdly immediately looks down at his desk, clearly dejected, not that anyone cares. Susie rolls her eyes from behind her own overgrown bangs, “Whatever. I’m gonna fail anyways.”
Alphys s tutters, “U-Umm... Oh! I... I can’t start without chalk, though! And mine seems to have disappeared, so if you could just go w-with Kris and ask Ms. Toriel—”
Before she can finish, Susie dismisses her, “Yeah, sure, whatever. I don’t care.” She slams the door on the way out, not even waiting for Kris.
Kris doesn’t stand up until Alphys asks them, “Kris? Please make sure she actually does it. Please.” And as they go for the door, they stop and look back at Berdly, still looking like a wet cat, with a hint of... something in their demeanor. What, Berdly cannot place exactly, but they make eye contact for a split second before Kris suddenly rips their gaze away and leaves.
When they finally enter the hallway, they can’t help but catch Susie in the act of eating the missing piece of chalk. She turns around just in time to see them having caught her, and reacts about as well as one might expect, “Huh. Well, crap. Guess you caught me.”
She approaches Kris casually, hands stuffed into her coat pockets, “So what are you gonna do? Tell on me? Run back inside and prove to everyone that I’m just a hopeless good for nothing brute that eats rocks?”
Kris doesn’t answer, standing their ground completely unaffected.
“What, not even gonna tell me?” Susie takes another few steps closer, pushing Kris into the lockers behind them.
Still no answer, but a smirk.
Susie grabs them by the collar and slams them into the lockers, “Quiet people like you really piss me off. You think just because you don’t talk I can’t tell what you’re thinking? I see that smile. I’m not that stupid. I know everyone wants me gone, just waiting for it... And you know what? Fine. I don’t care anymore. But if I’m gonna get expelled, it’s gonna be for some real carnage. I want the monsters in jail to fear me. So here’s what’s gonna happen...”
She bares her dagger-like maw at them, growling a bellow of boiling hot breath in their face, “You’re gonna stay right there... And I’m gonna turn your face into BREAKFAST.”
She starts to lean in, mouth wide open, but just as she closes in, she starts to hear a snickering. Kris, again, even as they watch her get closer, even as they can easily feel the hunger lingering at the back of her throat, still can’t take her seriously. Or maybe they just want to piss her off more. She pulls herself back, teeth gritted together, a bellowing growl coming out as she lifts her hand up and smacks them across the face in a fit of frustrated rage.
Her jagged claws leave a mark worse than the impact, but it doesn’t even seem to faze Kris in the slightest. They just sit there on the ground, head leaning up and against the lockers, touching the bloodied mark on their face...
And they lick their fingers. Just like Dess did with that knife that one day in her bedroom.
Susie shakes her head, eyes narrowed, only becoming increasingly frustrated with their inability to be intimidated by her, but grimacing at the display. She picks them back up, “Okay, freak. That’s it. I’m gonna enjoy this. You better not.” Once again she opens up.
Kris is about to say something, when they both hear a voice behind her. It’s Monster Kid. “K-Kris!? Susie!? What are you... ?”
She turns around, dropping Kris to the ground, “Shit. That stupid kid...” She yells at them, “HEY! YOU!”
Monster Kid runs away before she can threaten them.
“Ah crap...” she laments “Kris. You don’t say a damn word about this, got it? Or I really will eat your face. Quiet kids can at least keep a secret, right?”
Kris stifles a chuckle as they agree to her terms, “Yeah. Sure.”
“Great. Let’s go, creep. I wanna get this over with and shut that kid’s trap before they yap.” Susie leads the way towards Toriel’s room.
But when they get there and open the door, her about to announce their entrance, they’re met with not a classroom, but an uncannily dark void in its place.
“What... the hell?” Susie says. “It’s like... pitch black. Are they watchin’ a movie or somethin’? Or maybe they’re in another room?”
She almost looks over to Kris for some indication that this isn’t wildly wrong, but they just stare solemnly into the abyss and mutter, “No.”
Susie grumbles, “Mmmmgh... What the hell? You know what? Alphys can get her own damn chalk. Let’s go.”
But Kris stands right there and asks, “Scared?”
That single word sets Susie off FIERCELY, making her lunge back at them and pull them up by their collar once more, “The HELL did you just call me!?”
Kris grins toothily, “You’re scared.”
“I AM NOT SCARED!” Susie yells, “I’m just not gonna waste my time on this crap that doesn’t matter.” She drops Kris and starts to walk away angrily.
But they bait her again, this time with something else, “She might be in danger.”
Susie stops in her tracks. “She’s... an adult. Whatever happens—”
“You’re running away.”
Susie glances back at Kris’ gleaming red eyes through their bangs, no longer smiling. She tries to shoot back, “I’m not—!” But Kris just ignores her and walks into the dark, their body seemingly vanishing into it, all while they maintain eye contact with her. Looking down at the ground, she grits her teeth and growls, “Uuuugh, FINE! Get back here, you little shit!” She, too, runs into the dark doorframe, and the two of them find themselves wandering around in a void with only the light of the doorway to illuminate its pitch blackness. Susie takes several tentative steps towards Kris, who walks forward without even a hint of fear.
“What the hell is this...?” she narrates to herself “It’s like there’s just... nothing! Where the hell are we!? Kris, get back here!”
They just keep walking forward, unabated by anything, leading her on to follow. And she does, not even realizing it.
“KRIS! This isn’t normal, dammit, just...!” Before she can finish her sentence, the door closes shut behind them, leaving them without even a light source. “...Stop... Who... WHO DID THAT!? THIS ISN’T FUNNY, I’LL—!” The floor starts to shake beneath her. “I’ll... What the hell?”
Then, it gives way. Before she knows it, she suddenly feels her body being pulled down into the abyss, the sinking feeling of falling only setting in a few moments later. She yells all the way down.