Chapter Text
Dearest December,
"Damn it."
He almost crumpled the paper and threw it out, but he couldn't even harm her name on the paper.
"Man, I'm so pathetic."
Azzy had tried to write these letters to Dess for a while. They never came out quite right or good enough to even be worth reading.
It was mostly a way for him to get his feelings out at this point. He could never get his words right in the moment, too swept up by her smile or the way she looked while she played her guitar…
These feelings, these overwhelming emotions… He sometimes wished he could be less of a crybaby, but then he remembered how sentimental his dad was, and figured he couldn't really do much about it.
"Sigh…"
He probably stared at the letter for a full minute. Gerson told him it would be good practice, that some things can only truly be said on paper, and that the words don't matter as long as he gets the point across. Still, why was it so hard for him, though?
Suddenly, he heard a crash from behind him and scrambled to hide the papers with his arms.
"KRIS!!! I TOLD YOU TO STOP USING THE WINDOW! WE HAVE A DOOR!"
Kris shrugged off some leaves and dirt on their shirt, looked at Asriel, and blew a raspberry at his face, before running off into the house.
"Sigh, that kid is gonna end up in way more trouble than it's worth one day"
"Aw, why so serious, Azzy? We were just playing bird watchers"
"WHAT!" He almost comically fell out of his chair- actually, after being suspended in the air for what felt like an eternity, he did in fact fall to the ground, papers flying everywhere, chair lying on the ground like a broken throne.
"FAHAHAHA Azzy! You should know by now that Kris became my little shadow, wherever I go, they follow, even through windows"
"Of course, I should have expected as much." Asriel got up, dusted himself off, and started picking up the papers on the ground, December following his every move while sitting on the windowsill, one leg tucked under the other and arms loosely behind her, her human shoes fit for hooves peeking out, about to fall off as always.
"You know, Dess, it's bad enough Kris is always looking for trouble, I don't think it's a good idea to encourage him too much-"
"Azzy… we were only birdwatching. Nothing happened. I was there. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to them"
God, he hated it when she got that icy tone directed at him. He would never say it, because he knew better by now, but when Dess got serious, she really resembled her mother.
"Dess of course!! You know I could never doubt you! I just… worry for Kris sometimes"
She got her big, smiling grin on after that, and Asriel could feel her getting ready to pounce.
"NO NO DESS PLEASE-"
SPLAT!
December launched herself towards Asriel, Shoes flying off her hooves and out of the window, papers scattered everywhere once again.
"DESS WHAT THE HELL-"
"You mean heck? Watch your mouth, Asriel Dreemurr, or your mom might hear you!"
He could feel her chuckling against his ribs, his heart pounding in his ears. Never was he as grateful for his fur covering some of his blushing face. Dess started speaking in his shirt.
"You know, you looked so sad with your nerdy glasses and your nerdy papers standing there like a fearful goat, cheer up, will you? I swear, Kris and I didn't go far off into the woods this time, they asked me, okay? Plus, I would never go cryptid hunting without the full gang- or you…"
He could feel her breath on his chin, minty as always. He was grateful she hadn't said anything about the papers yet.
After a beat that felt like the most pleasant eternity, she looked up at him from his shirt, arms crossed under her chin.
"By the by, what are you writing, Azzy? Still trying to perfect your college applications? Gimme that-"
He never moved as fast in his life.
"HAHAHA I MEAN YEAH OF COURSE YOU KNOW THIS IS NOTHING! IT'S JUST GOOD TO BE PREPARED, YOU KNOW YOU NEVER KNOW, HAHAHA, HEY, BY THE WAY, WHAT ABOUT YOUR SHOES, SHOULD WE GO GET THEM???" He scrambled around the room, frantically picking up papers wherever he went, leaving Dess by his bed, looking confused. She then looked down at her hooves with an unreadable expression.
"Oh yeah…" It was a habit of hers to lose her shoes wherever she went.
No matter how well they were custom-made to fit her, she still insisted the shoes were based on human feet first, and then retrofitted for hooves, rather than being custom-made hoof shoes from the start.
Azzy still remembered how often she fell forward as a kid because she was so stubborn about wearing those first pairs of human shoes she found in the old supply closet, stuffed them with socks and everything to make them fit better. Still, it made her walk all funky, and she would always either lose her balance or her shoes.
Her mom eventually had enough and tried to force her to go without them, the first of many arguments about the most random things. Eventually, Rudy convinced Carol to let her be and suggested that he modify the shoes himself. Toriel offered to help sew her shoes into a more custom pair, but Carol refused and had them come in from outside town from a fancy brand.
Now that Asriel thought about it, she probably kept losing her shoes on purpose to annoy her mom…
"Meeeeeeh, who got time for that? They're probably just right outside your house. I can go get them later."
Her signature grin was back on her face. Azzy felt some type of way about it, like it didn't quite reach her eyes this time.
"Dess I-" He couldn't even finish his sentence before December grabbed his paw and dragged him downstairs.
"Now c'mon, Azzy! adventure awaits! Noelle said she saw some scary ICEE's cryptid right outside the diner in a trash can, we gotta kill that monster! For Elly!"
They ran right past the living room, Noelle and Kris playing their usual pretend games with the laptop and some playing cards.
"Be right back, Elly! Azzy and I will find that monster for you and beat him up!"
Asriel heard a tiny squeaky "Okay!" and some other expletives as he caught Kris swearing while flapping the laptop like a doll from the corner of his eyes.
"Kris, she would not say that!" Noelle's screaming was only a distant sound as December kept dragging him towards town, only to duck in their usual spot behind the trees
"Ah, there we are, don't worry, I got some 'leaves' on me in my mint can, we can chill for a bit and then go back"
Asriel felt like he had to say something; he felt the same little surge of anxiety and butterflies bubble up in him at the prospect of another 'chilling out' sesh with Dess. He really wished he had written some words down beforehand. Maybe now they would be coming out of his mouth.
"Dess I-"
"C'moooon Azzy! It'll be just for a little while. I can show you some sick guitar riffs I'm working on for the festival! Pretty please?"
Asriel sighed, maybe he'd finish those letters another time…