Chapter Text
The air in Hometown has grown thinner, and Kris’s skin feels extremely brittle.
If it were a normal thing to do, they would crumple face-down onto the concrete and sleep the night away, without giving a shit what anybody thinks. But Kris isn’t in the mood to let anyone run them over when morning comes…not yet, anyway. Their phone is full of texts from their mother and Berdly, wondering how the day went and if everybody had a lovely time. Even Noelle sent an apologetic message begging for them to let Susie know how sorry she is for leaving so soon. Kris shuts off the screen and meanders back home.
The Soul dances around in its cage. It’s become a little more tolerable, but still goddamn annoying. Kris knew what they were getting into when they made the promise, but that doesn’t mean they won't complain.
If only the Soul were at fault for Kris’s current mess. Instead, the dumb decision from years ago is biting them in the ass. Susie doesn’t deserve this. Susie, who trusts Kris more than anyone in the world. Susie, who’s going to find out about everything some way or another.
Susie, who needs support in her new relationship.
Susie brought Noelle into the group without asking, and now they’re both going to get hurt.
Kris is sure Ralsei is aware of the situation. There’s a reason he said something about “not necessarily agreeing with Kris’s actions, but believing it’ll work out regardless.” He shouldn’t be this faithful. He deserves better than a happy ending with Kris the Goddamn Traitor.
They throw a blanket over the Soul, wondering what it thinks in its spare time. It’s probably unhappy with the situation, too, but Kris doesn’t really care. They enjoy having even the littlest control.
At the moment, however, their mouth tastes of sulfur from the hot spring the Soul made them fucking drink instead of responding to Ralsei’s confession. Kris doesn’t know what its deal is, considering all its previous actions have pushed them toward Ralsei. Maybe it was morbid curiosity, or the sudden desire to be a total jerk, but the moment was totally butchered.
“If a happy ending does exist somehow, it’s with you, Kris.”
On the other hand, Kris was the one who came up with the option in the first place. That’s been the worst part of the Soul’s actions. It can do whatever Kris thinks up, for better or for worse. And yet, presented with the option of confessing their feelings, it chose to drink sulfuric hot spring water. What an asshole.
Kris sneaks downstairs to chug some apple juice straight out of the carton from the freshly stocked fridge. Much better. The cold drink covers their tongue, and they swish it around, making sure the eggy taste is out—no more hot tubs, onsens, or pools until Kris finds a way to survive without the parasite in their chest cavity.
Kris crawls up the stairs and finally tucks into bed, passing out as soon as their head hits the pillow.
Dreams race through their head. Ralsei is using his fire magic to force Kris out of Castle Town while Susie retreats to her room. They run home, but Toriel is too drunk to hear the cries. She spills a bottle of wine, and the house begins to flood with alcohol until Kris can’t breathe.
Kris gasps themself awake in a cold sweat. The sun is barely peeking through the window, much too early to get out of bed. They shiver and pull up the blanket, shutting their eyes and trying to fall back asleep. It’s just a nightmare, not a battle. It doesn’t matter that they’re getting worse.
Toriel taps them awake a few hours later. “Honey, wake up! Good morning!” She’s so happy. Kris doesn’t want to think about why. They rub their eyes and roll out of bed, waiting for their mom to leave the room so they can secure the Soul in place. Toriel steps away, letting them know there’s fresh breakfast on the table.
The blanket covering the Soul is warm. Does that thing actually sleep, or just thrash around all night? It doesn’t matter. Kris pulls the creature out of its cage and plunges it into their chest cavity, wincing through the pain but feeling nauseous despite it. The Soul’s power is immediate; it connects to their muscles, bones, even blood cells. It’s a switch to a disgusting machine that’s ready to go to school.
Berdly sits against the brick wall outside with a faraway look. His head tilts upon noticing Kris. He mutters, “Kris, I apologize. I am not my usual self today. In truth, I worry for Noelle. Her father is not doing well.” He loudly sighs, “Emotions are very high today. Give me a minute before I come in and handle any possible tears.”
Kris lowers their head in acknowledgement. Berdly is only doing his best, even if it is a little ridiculous. There aren’t really any jokes to be made about the situation.
“I told Susie, so you don’t have to do that,” Berdly speaks a little louder. Kris looks forward and walks into the building.
Susie gives a solemn wave as class starts. The typical chatter has significantly lessened, partly out of sadness and partly because everybody seems to know Susie and Noelle are a thing. They’re staring at her like they do, at least. Knowing Catti, she spread that info around like wildfire.
Alphys comes in with a weight on her shoulders. Of course Carol let the teachers know why Noelle is absent. Kris remembers when he was first diagnosed, three years after Dess left. They never reached out to Noelle like they should have. At least she’s got Susie for that now.
Kris’s eyes grow heavy, and they’re asleep before they know it.
They wake up with a shiver when Susie blows on their ear. “Dude! Wake up! Ralsei’s gonna ask about your day and you won’t have shit to talk about.” Huh? She’s not wrong, but that came out of nowhere.
❤︎ Write a note
Pay attention
Kris sneaks a piece of notebook paper from Berdly’s backpack when he isn’t looking. They sketch a simple picture of an apple, fold it up, and pass it back to Susie. Less than a minute later, the paper returns to Kris’s desk. The apple has a bite taken out of it and a portrait of a munching Susie. Kris cracks a tiny smile.
Draw yourself
❤︎ Draw Berdly
Kris furrows their brow. They scribble down their classmate's face and add a twisty mustache before sending the note back. Susie suppresses a laugh.
The rest of the class is a blur. Something about math and probably a science or two: Alphys goes on anime tangents, so it’s easy to think about literally anything else for hours. The bell isn’t even finished ringing when Susie is halfway down the hall with Kris’s arm in her grasp, headed straight to Castle Town.
♩♫♪♬♪♫♩
Despite last night’s awfulness, Ralsei is in an okay mood. He distracted himself by setting Castle Town up for Noelle. He and Susie discussed how Flowery had been taped back together, the second shelter code, and then eventually talked about relationships and crushes until Susie passed out in her spiky bed.
Ralsei stares into his cake. He studies the intricate strawberry icing and admires his own work. His eyes land on a perfectly placed maraschino cherry, eventually picking it up and popping it in his mouth. The enjoyment of eating cake is still embarrassing enough to keep secret, but definitely worth the trouble. He focuses on the sweetness, affirming to himself that it’s okay to indulge with no Lightners around… to an extent. Ralsei cuts a large slice for Susie when she wakes up.
He recalls earlier in the night when he told Susie about the confession in the onsen, and how Kris bit their lip when Ralsei blushed. Her smile grew wide when she said, “It’s like I’m watching a real life TV show!” But the moment was tainted when Kris drank the pool water instead of responding.
Susie then burst into laughter. “So that’s what I missed out on? Damn, that’s hilarious.” Ralsei glared, and Susie’s face fell. “Y’know, if it weren’t such a weird thing to do. Sorry, dude.”
“Do you, um, know why they did that?” Ralsei grabbed the fabric of his clothes.
“Maybe it’s ‘cause their dad was in the Dark World, and it would be pretty awkward if you two got caught. But they do care about you. Thanks for buying me the ice cream, by the way. Kris told me it was from you.” Susie elbowed him. “See? They care enough to pass on a message like that. It’s a good sign, and I’m a relationship expert now. Try to bring it up next time, k?”
When his exhaustion gets the better of him, Ralsei grabs his gifted plushie and shuffles to his own bed. He’s never slept in an actual bed before. He falls onto it, immediately sinking into the squish. It’s so comfortable that he can’t even move. His last thought before dozing off is “I wish Kris was here.”
One second later, Ralsei is awake. He mumbles Kris’s name, finally thinking about the ramifications of their “talk”. They need to stop making fountains; they need to stop working with the Knight, and they especially need to trust that their friends have their back more than anyone trying to start the Roaring. Ralsei does believe in Kris, but that won’t stop him from worrying. He wants that happy ending.
“It’s a good sign.” Susie’s words echo through Ralsei’s mind as he struggles to sit up in bed. He doesn’t know what a good sign is, and he definitely doesn’t know how to maneuver around such a squishy bed. Ralsei rolls off in defeat and flicks his wrist, using the magic of creation to firm it up. It doesn’t work. He softens it, but that doesn’t work either. He gives up and flounders into the fluff, locating his plushie once again. Ralsei concludes that nothing is more comfortable than a hug.
Susie wakes him up bright and early with a roar. “Ralsei! Just letting you know I’m going to class, in case you can’t find me.”
“Mm-hmm.” Ralsei mumbles, too tired to process words.
“I’ll tell Kris you said hi.” Susie dashes out of the room before noticing the temperature has risen. Heat creeps onto Ralsei’s face, turning him into a blushing mess. He tries to visualize the interaction with no success. The only image in his mind is of Kris relaxing in the hot tub.
Ralsei huffs. The world could be ending in a matter of days, and he can’t stop thinking about his all-encompassing crush and whether or not they have a good day in class. He sinks back into the warm, squishy bed, face in hands. All that’s left to do until the end of the school day is work on, well, anything.
Perfect time to pray. He kneels onto the rug in his room and whispers to anyone who could be listening, “Please, have mercy on Susie. Have mercy on Kris. Please let Flowery survive. Please let everyone make it out. Please let me take the pain in their place.” Ralsei scowls. If Flowery knew he was praying for him, Ralsei would never hear the end of it. It’s a horribly selfish thought, but maybe it’s a good thing that man didn’t make it to Castle Town. Ralsei’s already dealt with enough humiliation for a lifetime. Nobody needs to see those outbursts ever again.
Ralsei spends the afternoon at the piano. While he can’t reach Kris’s level of passion, he still developed enough skills to write a couple songs of his own. The Organikks and Wicabels sing in harmony alongside the notes.
“Can we start a Castle Town choir?” Tasque Manager purrs.
Ralsei grins, “I don’t see why not!”
“Nah,” A voice cuts into the conversation, “Ralsei’s in a band already. He’s busy. Right, Kris?” Susie leans against the church building’s doorframe, patting Kris on the shoulder and awaiting their response. Kris only nods.
“Kris! Susie!” Ralsei springs up from the piano bench and pulls his friends into a tight hug. “How was your day? How is Noelle?”
“Noelle, uh, wasn’t here today. Her dad’s sick.” Susie looks down. “She’ll meet up with us later.”
Ralsei makes a mental note to put Noelle’s dad in his prayers. “Oh, okay. Please give her my best whenever you can. Do either of you want some cake? Green taught me some recipes as well. I can cook a lot more things now.”
That gets Susie’s attention. “Yeah, sure!” The three make their way into the castle’s main room. Ralsei drifts off to the side of the line, watching Kris’s hand swing back and forth as they walk. He could lurch forward and grab it so easily, but that won’t happen.
Kris steps inside first, and Susie takes the opportunity to pull Ralsei aside. She mumbles, “Dude, talk to them about it.”
“What do I say?”
“I’unno,” Susie shrugs, “I can only get you so far. Now go!”
Ralsei thinks about her words. He considers them deeply. Instead, he steps to the cauldron and creates a giant cake. Food first, problems later. That seems to be a pattern lately.