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“Kris, this can’t just be a me and you thing.”
“It needs to be… Noelle’s thing, too.”
Susie grabs a hold of the supply closet’s handle and swings it open. She inches closer to the darkness which feels all too familiar. She pauses and tilts her head down. Then walks into the closet to grab the handle on the other side of its doors. She turns her tired and fatigued body to face Kris.
“Kris…” The sound of wind and crickets fills the gaps between her words. Every pause feels like eternity. Her eyes meet Kris’s.
“Thanks for walking me home.” She flashes a genuine smile. The one that could cut through any bad situation. Slowly being crept over by shadow as she recedes into that which is darker than dark until- Click.
The supply closet’s doors close.
“...”
Kris’s grip tightens. It shakes as they push their thumb against their pointer. Their body trembles. Their gaze shifts towards the balloon. The soul inside has stopped moving. That's a relief. They pause for a second longer. It continues to stay inactive.
They take a large breath, loosen their grip, relax their posture, and fall right onto the ground.
Damn it. Almost none of what happened today went according to plan, because almost none of it WAS planned. What were they thinking? I mean they had to improvise but… Whatever.
They finish scratching their scalp then shift their hands and body into hugging their knees.
Well now what? Probably about the time to head home. They do need the rest for what’s happening tomorrow. They bite their nails. Just a little while more.
They shift their body weight and push against the ground to stand up. Hunched over they look up at the balloon caging the soul. They reach their hand out to grab it but it’s just out of reach. Are we deadass?
Their hand chases upwards, their fingertips grazing the string. Kris grits their teeth. If Susie were here she could reach it, unfortunately even with something as simple as this she wouldn’t be there to help.
Whatever.
Kris bends their knees and jumps up. The balloon’s string refuses to stay in their grip.
Whatever.
It’s. jump. not. jump. like. jump. it. jump. matters…
Kris pants. Their hands on their knees. So stupid. They jump and finally get a grip on the balloon’s string. Kris wipes the sweat off their face onto their sweater’s sleeve. They pause for a breath then start walking through the hall. Just a little while more.
Creak. Thud. Kris shuts the school doors and creeps through the empty street. The gentle breeze flowing through their hair and hitting their face. It’s cool tonight. Though with how things are the cool wind does nothing more than send a chill down Kris’s spine.
They really should be getting home.
Kris quickens their pace. The space in between the sound of their footsteps shortens. The balloon dragging behind through the air. As they stare down at the blurred pavement below they halt as they hear a loud squawk.
Really? Of all people to run into… sigh.
“K-Kris?” Berdly blurted out.
Berdly was outside the ‘librarby’ in their usual white polo and black turtleneck holding a stack of books. His eyes meet Kris’s.
“Ah. Of course it’s you- Oh but who else has such recognizable hair and outfit in hometown!” Berdly stated, attempting to raise his wing upwards but quickly backing it down to continue supporting the books he’s carrying.
“P-pardon my miniscule reaction earlier, it was but a moment of fear- shock! I mean! Yes… shock.” He clarified with a squint.
Kris inches to the left in preparation to scoot past the bluejay.
“So Kris… Kris Cross Applesauce.” He pauses, “Why are you here?”
Truly a brilliant question.
“I could ask you the same.” Kris mumbles.
“Well as you know, I help Ms. Boom with the library. I was just about to open the door and return these books onto the correct shelves. There is an importance to organizing you know! Not that I’d expect you to understand that considering you are just a distant third place-”
He’s monologuing again. Finally an opportunity to leave while he’s distracted. Kris inches ever so slowly towards and eventually past Berdly. We’re in the homestretch, almost out.
“K-Kris? Did you hear me?” Berdly interjects.
Kris lets out a sigh. “mhm.” They nod their head.
“Well. Then what’s your answer?”
“…”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Ah.”
Welp. Here comes the scolding. He’s about to open his dumb beak.
“I asked if you’d like to have the honor of helping me to place these books back onto their proper shelves!”
Kris stares at them blankly. Berdly’s dumb smug smile waivers a tiny bit. Kris turns away and continues walking.
“H-Hey!” Berdly squawked, “F-fine Kris! You don’t understand the opportunity I’m giving you. This is truly once in a lifetime.”
Kris’s steps continue. As if they’d want to spend even more time outside just to help organize some dumb books.
“I-if you help I’ll consider it compensation and discount your debt to the library in half!”
Oh wow. To most people that would be a big deal considering the fact Kris owes $64.23. But it’s Berdly we’re talking about. Bending the rules just for personal gain? There must be something going on if even his stickler behavior is put on hold.
“Make it a hundred percent.”
“Oh Kris, you know I can’t do that! I’m already making a big excep-“ Kris turns away and continues walking.
This is classic haggling. Ask for something bigger than you want and he’ll be more willing to accept a better deal. Dess’s wisdom is truly a blessing. Kris’s thoughts are cut off by a sudden tug at their arm.
Kris turns to see Berdly looking down at the ground, his wings wrapped around their arm.
“Kris, could you please stay. Y-you don’t even have to help. I’d just like someone to be around this time. It’s hard working alone late.” Berdly said in a low tone.
What. Berdly is never honest with his feelings. Didn’t even realize Berdly understood his own feelings. This must be serious. Although Kris loves to abandon Berdly, it’s funny, this doesn’t seem like a good time to. Besides, it’s not fun teasing him if he’s being honest. Kris could endure spending a little time with Berdly. Just a little while more.
Kris nods.
“Oh wonderful!” His timidity falls right back into the recesses of his brain as his misplaced confidence comes to the forefront, “Now Kris, I would simply ask you to help carry this box inside. Let me grab the books I dropped onto the sidewalk.
Kris ties the string of the balloon around their wrist as they walk towards the library’s door. Bend down and grab a hold of the box of books. They pull it up towards their chest and walk inside.
Berdly places the books onto the desk and looks at Kris. They’re trembling from the box’s weight.
“Oh Kris, here let me-” Berdly grabs the other end of the box and guides Kris toward the desk. They both let go and let the weight of the box fall onto the desk. Thud.
“Thank you, Kris. You can sit here behind the desk if you’d like.” He says, gesturing towards the seat as if he were presenting something on a gameshow.
Kris’s lips upturn a bit. They nod and take a seat on the wooden stool and rest their arms and head on the desk. Despite being so old, the desk is surprisingly glossy and clean. It wasn’t always like this. Kris remembers tracing their finger across it and making drawings in the dust. I guess that changed when Berdly started volunteering. He took the opportunity to draw in the dust away from Kris, how cruel. Though now they can rest their head on the desk without getting dirty. So it’s more of a neutral thing. Touche, Berdly.
“Kris.” Berdly’s voice cuts off Kris’s internal monologue, “You never answered my question. Why are you out here at such a late time?”
Kris didn’t really have an answer that would make sense.
“I was eating moss.”
Berdly shoots Kris an unimpressed look from atop his stepping stool. Kris shrugs and sticks out their tongue.
“You’re impossible, Kris.”
“Thanks.”
“See. This attitude is why you’ll always be in a distant third place in class. Honestly undeserving of even being in my presence!” He flails his arms around in the air.
“Oh. Yeah I guess you’re right.” Kris says looking at the floor, “I guess I’ll head out now and stop disturbing you with my stupidity.” They push against the desk to stand up.
“H-Hey! No perhaps- you could be allowed to be within my presence. Y-you are entertaining after all!” Berdly yells almost stumbling off the stepping stool.
Kris snorts then smiles. For as annoying as Berdly is, he sure does put a smile on Kris’s face. It’s usually at his expense but still.
“P-plus you know. I’ve been getting a little more in touch with my stupid side, you know. Though I didn’t really have one I had to make one. So being stupid is okay.”
Huh. Stupid side. From cyber world? He seemed so quick to brush it off when he woke up before. So he’s still thinking about it.
“Anyways. Where, or whom, did you get that balloon from?”
“Festival.”
“Well yes obviously, where in the festival. I don’t recall any balloons being given away, especially ones with hearts in them.”
Shit. He saw the soul. Kris starts to sweat. They fiddle their fingers against each other.
“Kris, it’s ok my comrade. You can tell me who gave it to you. Which person in hometown has the hots for my fleshy friend.”
Oh. It does just look like a balloon with a heart in it. I guess there’s not that much to worry about.
Kris looks up then realizes Berdly is now right in front of them.
“So Kris, tell me. You’re sweating, are you perhaps embarrassed about this.” Berdly said in an attempted mocking tone.
Mmm. How can Kris turn this situation into Berdly being embarrassed and flustered?
Kris turns their head away and hugs their right arm.
They turn their head slightly towards Berdly and with one eye meeting his eyes mumbles, “I-it’s for you, idiot.”
Berdly pauses. Did I kill him?.
He finally jolts up and raises his wings defensively.
“W-WHAT!?!” He yelled, “I mean- Kris as much as I admire you I am uncertain of how to proceed with this. Well first of all you’re lovely, but I hope you understand I have a reputation and I am a very busy man I have many duties to attend to. One of them even being to help with Noelle’s current relationship. I-I just don’t think-“
“So… you’re rejecting me.” Kris says leaning forward and bending over the desk with puppy dog eyes.
“N-no! I-I’m not. Well not fully?!? I’m just not-“
Kris’s eyes widen. This is an odd reaction. Usually he’d fully reject this teasing. Why is he so hesitant to say he doesn’t want to date them? He is funny looking though. Look at him. His arms flailing around. He’s blushing.
He’s a stuttering mess.
“Look Kris, your advances are tempting. I can obviously see why you’d want to be with me. And being with you wouldn’t be the worst prospect.”
Uh oh. What did Kris just get themselves into?
“I just-“
“Dude, I was kidding.” Kris cuts Berdly off, “My mom gave it to me. The heart balloon I mean.”
“Ah. O-Of course! Kris, I was just playing along with your bit. I obviously knew you weren’t being serious. I mean you know you wouldn’t be able to be mine. So many suitors are lined up for me after all.” Berdly blabbered out as he points his wing to the ceiling.
“Unfortunately you ruined the bit. Couldn’t tell it was one cause of my marvelous acting HAHA!”
And he’s back to being Berdly. That’s good. Seeing him all flustered and stuff was pretty fun. In saying that though, this time something was off. And now that Kris is thinking about it, what was Berdly going to say before they cut him off? What would be the real reason Berdly doesn’t agree to a relationship? Probably was just gonna say he doesn’t like them in that way.
Berdly grabs another pair of books from the box and brings them over to another shelf. Kicking the stepping stool into the right place.
What would dating Berdly even look like? He’d probably do a bunch of over the top romantic gestures. Gross. Count me out. Kris thought to themselves. Although they’d probably get to tease Berdly even harder, get to see him stumble over his words, see that confident facade fall any time they wanted. That would be fun.
They could probably go back to playing Super Smashing Fighters together again. As bad as Berdly was, it was fun getting to practice stuff on them. He’d probably call everything Kris does ‘unoptimal’ and have a hissy fit on what they should be doing. Then Kris would go “If it’s unoptimal why do you keep losing to it.” and he’d get even angrier and make up some dumb reasons why.
Heh. Kris smiles as they rest their arms and head back onto the desk. Maybe Berdly isn’t so bad. Kris has been caught up with a lot of stuff recently. With the dark worlds, Susie, Noelle, the plan. They haven’t gotten to really hang around Berdly, or even think about him. They forgot how much of a friend they actually thought Berdly to be.
“Kris!” Berdly exclaimed, “You can’t sleep here in the library. I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Kris rubs their eyes. You’ve slept in the library? They thought to themselves, then realized it wasn’t worth the ask.
“Now I’ve finished with all the books. We can head off now. I could escort you back to your abode if you so wish.” He stated, his wing extended towards Kris.
Hmm. Kris, as much as they hated thinking it, kind of wanted to spend some more time with Berdly. They wouldn’t really have the chance to in the following days. There had to be some kind of excuse.
Kris nodded then looked at Berdly’s outstretched wing. They grin then place their hand on his.
He blushes. So simple. Now what is he going to do?
Berdly locks his wing with Kris’s hand and helps them get up from their seat. He opens the door and leads Kris out. He closes the lights, then the door. Takes out the keyring from his shirt pocket and attempts to lock the door. All while holding Kris’s hand.
What the hell is up with him. Kris thought. These are not his usual reactions. Does he like them or something? With a little more evidence it would become likely considering how easy it is to read him.
Berdly shuffles the keyring around but can’t get a good grip with his one wing.
“You can let go of my hand, you know?” Kris says with a tiny nervous laugh.
“It’s ok, Kris. You need the comfort right. Berdly is here for his friends in their times of need!” Berdly raises their wing up, dropping the keyring onto the ground.
“Perhaps you would be okay with letting go for a few seconds.” He says with a sweat dripping down his brow.
Kris lets go of his wing. Comfort. So that’s what this is? Pity?
“What makes you think I need comfort?” Kris says in a clearer tone than usual.
“O-Oh well. You just seem tired. And when you were walking back from the school you seemed in a rush and had a tear or two in your eyes. No need to be
embarrassed Kris. I know what’s wrong!”
Kris’s eyes widen. Could Berdly have actually realized just from small things like that? And their interactions at the festival earlier?
“You’re scared of being out late at night! But you need not have fear when Berdly is here!” He says as the lock clicks and he puts the keyring back in his pocket.
Ah. How is it that he always notices subtle things in people, only to come up with the wrong conclusions. He’s done this for as long as Kris has known him. You’d think he’d be right at least once.
“Now Kris, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” He offers his wing.
Kris would reject this, but he’s being genuinely thoughtful and nice for once. It would be a bit of a shame to not take him up on the offer. Plus his wing IS nice and warm.
The two walk through the empty street. Festival decorations and stands are still not fully cleaned up. Plenty of confetti on the ground alongside posters and flyers. The noise of the crowds earlier are now replaced by crickets, a soft wind, and the offset rhythm of the two’s footsteps. If it were a different night it would be fun to find a way to scare Berdly, but tonight all Kris is looking for is an excuse to keep hanging out with him. Ugh. What an awful thought.
Stalls are all done, nothing to buy. Teacup has no operator, nor does it have a second teacup. The Ferris Wheel has no operator. Shows are all done. King and Queen have been voted for. Maybe that could be…
“Hey, Berdly.”
“Yes, Kris?”
“Who ended up King and Queen?”
“Ah, I don’t know I was busy. I didn’t end up going.”
Damn. Well that conversation didn’t even last more than 10 seconds. There has to be something.
Kris perks up, “Hey Berdly, have you played Super Smashing Fighters recently?”
“W-what? No not recently, Kris, I practice every weekend but I can’t really play it with anyone.”
“Every weekend?”
“Usually.”
“Dang, and you’d still lose to me.”
“E-excuse me?” Berdly turns around to face Kris with furrowed brows, “I’ll have you know I could easily dismantle your cheap tricks given the opportunity.”
Kris doesn’t realize it but they start to grin.
“Even with all your cheating dirty little ‘techs’ as you call them. My fundamental-“
“Why don’t you prove it then?” Kris teases. Putting their hands behind their back.
“I-I-I suppose I could! Though obviously not at this hour. You’ve gotta get home.” Berdly states as he fixes his collar.
“I think you’re just scared you’ll lose. You’re delaying so you can practice more. It’s not like it’ll matter, so why not have us play now?”
“Why you…” Berdly shakes his fist in the air.
Kris tilts their head and sticks their tongue out.
“Fine! You want to play? Let’s play then! My house now!” He grabs a hold of Kris’s arm.
Man he is simple.
The two eventually arrive at hometown’s apartments and they head inside. It’s been a while since Kris has seen Berdly’s place. They walk through the slightly damp and dusty hall and head upstairs. Berdly finagles with his keyring
“Now Kris, I know you are fond of doing so but please do not make a mess. I don’t want to have to clean up too much.”
“Will your mom get mad?”
“Oh no, I’ll clean it before she even sees it. She won’t be home for another-” Click, “two days. Alright you can come in now.”
Kris takes their shoes off and places them by the door. They step inside and find a shockingly clean apartment. Not much decoration besides the various shelves filled with medals, certificates and trophies.
“Here, Kris. Come to my room so we can settle this quickly.” Berdly stands in front of an open door, gesturing for Kris to enter.
Kris smirks then approaches the unsuspecting room.
“Welcome to the king’s quarters. The throne room, so to speak.” Berdly looks to the sky with a wing on his chest and closed eyes.
Kris turns their head away from the bluejay and sees a surprisingly nice room. Everything is well kept and organized. Blue wallpaper and gray-ish floor are both almost spotless. The various displays of ‘anime’ figurines and action figures.
“Now. Sit.” Berdly stands next to his bed and pats a spot on it.
Kris accepts this offer and falls onto the bed, “Comfy.”
“I said sit, not lay but fine. Just be ready to be at the edge of your seat once you face my power.” He puts on a smug smile while he turns on his TV and gamebox.
“Here.” Berdly hands over a controller, “Be prepared to bear witness to a real gamer’s gameplay.”
He sure has talked himself up a lot. Kris sits up in preparation to dash this blue bird’s hopes and dreams.
“Still going to play Sword Fighter, Kris?”
“Yeah, they’re fun.”
“Oh we’ll see how much fun you have now. I’ve practiced this matchup. It’ll be over for you in no time.”
“K.”
Kris wins the first match up 3 stocks. They smirk.
“J-just getting used to it again. Yes, that's it. I’m analyzing you. Once I remember how you play it’ll be lights out for you my third place lackey.”
“Right.”
After 30 minutes of Kris beating Berdly relentlessly he stands up to throw his wings in the air and flail them around like an inflatable tube man.
“Drats! Y-you’re cheating aren’t you? How else could you beat me that many times in a row, it’s a statistical anomaly. There’s some external factor at play!”
“Yeah. The external factor is your skill issue.”
“Why I-“ Berdly cuts himself off. He sits back down and closes his eyes. Takes a deep breath then looks back at Kris, “Another game. This time I’ll win.”
He says it with such stoicism you might believe it to be true. Then you remember it’s Berdly and that faith quickly goes away.
“Alright.”
Berdly loses their first stock, but for the first time all night takes one of Kris’s.
Kris’s eyes widen, “Ohoho. Would you look at that? Feel free to give up now Dreemurr.”
“It’s only one stock dumbass. Keep playing.”
Berdly takes the next stock leaving Kris at one to Berdly’s two.
“HmmmMmMmMm.” Kris isn’t looking but he can hear Berdly’s stupid smug smile.
Kris gets Berdly down to one stock. Now they’re even, except for the fact that Kris is already at a medium percent. Berdly, against all odds, is at an advantage. Normally Kris would let Berdly win out of pity, but for some reason they didn’t want to let that happen tonight. They had a different idea.
“K-Kris!” Berdly squawks.
“What?”
“Why are you…”
“Focus on the game dude, you can finally win.”
“R-right of course!” Berdly exclaims, “But it’s a little hard to focus when you’re doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“You know exactly what you’re doing!”
“Then say it.”
“Laying your head on my shoulder…” Berdly said at a low volume, “It’s a bit distracting- T-the extra weight I mean!”
Game!
“Damn. Can’t believe you lost that.” Kris teased, “Am I really that distracting?”
Berdly gets visibly red. His eyes refuse to meet Kris’s.
“Sorry, I’m just tired.”
“I-It’s ok.”
“I can take my head off your shoulder if you want.”
“No no it’s fine.”
Dang. He’s so quiet. Maybe Kris should do this more often if it gets him to shut up so easily. Could it really be that he…
“Hey, Berdly.” Kris tugs on Berdly’s shirt.
“Y-yes, Kris?”
“I like you.”
Berdly exhales a gust of air, “K-Kris I like you too!”
That was fast.
“You’re kidding like I am right? Going along with the bit?”
“Y-yes of course! The bit…” Berdly turns away as his face droops.
Ok. So like he’s definitely into me. Kris thinks to themselves. Kris looks down at the ground. Now they feel bad for teasing him so much about it. It used to be okay but now if he really is into them then it feels like playing with his feelings. Shit do I really feel bad for Berdly? They have to make it up to them somehow.
“I do like hanging out with you though, dude. I missed it, thanks for having me here.”
“Of course! Although I may say you are lowly and unworthy, and you are a tiny bit, I appreciate your presence.” Berdly says with genuine excitement.
“Maybe we could-“ Bzzzt. Kris’s sentence is cut off by their phone. It reads mom.
“O-oh wait sorry give me a second.” Kris bolts out of Berdly’s room to pick up the phone.
“Kris where are you? I want you to be able to hang out with your friends but you need to come home, I’m worried. The pie is getting cold.”
“Mom, I’m sorry. I’m safe though I’m at Berdly’s house. Hanging out with him. Sorry for not telling you.”
“Oh thank goodness you’re somewhere safe inside. You don’t know what’ll happen on the streets when the chief of police isn’t around.” She pauses for a few seconds.
“Alright then Kris, I’ll see you in a bit. Or would you like me to pick you-“
“Mom, can I stay the night. Here at Berdly’s I mean.” Kris cuts in.
“O-Oh! Well I suppose you could. Are you not being a bother to Mrs. Burgh?”
“She’s not here and I’ll behave and won’t make a mess.” Kris exclaims.
“Well we both know that can’t be true.” Toriel lets out a small laugh, “Kidding, dear. Alright well I trust Berdly he’s an upstanding young and weird boy and I know you CAN behave. Just don’t be a bother and make sure you come home tomorrow. Love you, dear.”
“Love you, mom. Thank you.”
Did Kris really just skip out on pie just to hang out with Berdly. What an awful timeline to live in. Kris steps back into Berdly’s room.
“H-hey Kris, who was that? Ms. Dreemurr?”
“Yeah it was my mom. I just asked her if I could stay the night and she said ‘yeah’”
Berdly’s eyes widen, “O-oh you’re staying the night? i didn’t realize those were our plans. Um…”
Oh my gosh. Idiot. Kris didn’t even ask Berdly yet if they could stay. They said they’d make it up to them and the only thing they’re showing is their inconsiderate nature.
“Oh I’m sorry. I-“ Kris is cut off by Berdly.
“No no don’t worry! You can stay. I just wasn’t expecting you to want to stay. It would be cruel to have you go out there alone at this hour anyways.” Berdly explains while flailing his arms back and forth.
Damn. Kris feels like a horrible friend. They feel like they’re just taking advantage of him at every possible moment. Maybe they do deserve to be alone.
“Kris are you alright?” Berdly asks, now directly in front of Kris.
“Oh. Yeah.” Kris attempts to say nonchalantly.
“I don’t think you are. You look upset.”
Damn it. Again with somehow being able to read people.
“You know Kris, there’s nothing to be worried about when I’m here. I am your trusted number one after all!”
Usually his attempts at comforting just end up pissing Kris off, but there is a comfort in his words.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Ah. Of course! Don’t fret Kris, that is normal. We can just… ignore it. Then you’ll feel better. That’s normal! Right?”
Kris chuckles, “Yeah. It is. Thanks, dude.” Kris wraps their arms around Berdly.
“K-Kris-“ Berdly protests.
“It’s a hug, nerd.”
“I-I know that!” Berdly hugs Kris back.
“You just usually aren’t into like touching. I recall you asking me to stop a few grades ago.”
“Yeah, you eventually listened.”
“H-hey I was trying my best! Remembering what everyone wants is hard.”
“Mhm.”
Berdly loosens his arms from the embrace a little, “From my understanding of social norms a hug shouldn’t last this long. It should only be around-“
“I know. But it feels nice. Could you forgo that understanding this time.”
“W-why of course, Kris! You know I am incredibly flexible and can cope with any circumstance.”
That’s just a straight up lie. Though Berdly is right. This hug has been going on for an extended period of time. That’s ok though.
“How much longer do you plan on embracing then?”
“Just a little while more.”