Archive of Our Own

“Berdly, pull up a chair for your co-worker!” 

Berdly tore his eyes away from his book, shoulders tensing at the sound of Ms. Boom’s polite call as it echoed through the library. He was joined by a few other intellectuals who had expected a quiet “Librarby” visit, but just as Berdly had quickly shelved his book, the readers returned to their own.

Ms. Toriel had been looking for ways for Kris to get out of the house. Since they were a quiet kid and at least decently-good friends with Berdly, they’d ended up volunteering at the library with him. When Ms. Boom had brought the news to Berdly a few days prior, he’d suppressed his involuntary giddiness by mumbling, “tch-- that’s rich,” and turning away from her with a flourish. 

The reason for his retaliation was thus; the tasks of this volunteer position consisted of cleaning up, checking a spreadsheet for overdue books, and helping readers figure out the Dewey decimal system. Not only were these tasks completely manageable in solitude, but Berdly was, frankly, not convinced that Kris was apt for cleaning up, scanning spreadsheets, or comprehending the Dewey decimal system at all! Kris was sure to sit sedentary behind the counter on their phone for the entire shift, earning the service hours simply by asking for them.

Nonetheless, the fact remained that Berdly did actually enjoy Kris’s company, against all odds, and to a high degree at tahat. While it was true that Kris certainly did not seem to care about schoolwork nearly as much as Berdly had, it was also true that Kris’s personality lent itself to exceptionally fun videogaming sessions, sessions that neither Noelle nor anyone else in their class were inclined to participate in (so long as Berdly was involved). So, if Kris were to join Berdly behind the book-checkout station, it wouldn’t detract significantly from Berdly’s library experience. 

He scurried into the library’s storage room and pulled from it a spare office chair. It was markedly shorter than the high-seated stool Berdly had come to know and love, but he figured Kris wouldn’t make a fuss. 

Although Berdly had been forewarned about Kris’s arrival, he’d put-off making preparations out of fear that he would seem too friendly. Despite Berdly’s desperation to become closer to Kris, they seemed unable to hold Berdly anywhere closer than arm’s length. Thus, Berdly figured that overzealous chair-retrieval would cross an unspoken truce of impassiveness. But now, Berdly was just following orders; orders also observed by many witnesses upon which Berdly would call should his own impassiveness be called into question.

Berdly sat upon his stool and reopened his book with a satisfying crinkle of the cellophane book jacket. He crossed his legs to look nonchalant, then uncrossed them to look even more nonchalant. He considered putting his talons up on the counter, but the delinquent notion was dismissed as quickly as it was introduced.

Not long after (although still three minutes later than they were supposed to), Kris arrived. Berdly kept his beak stuck in his Minecrap Guide to Redstone, quelling his urge to look up at them. He only put the book down when Kris approached him.

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t Kris Dreemurr the literate!” he whispered.

Kris gave him a little wave, slinging their backpack over the back of their chair before taking a seat.

“I will give you a brief tutorial on how this position functions. Feel free to stop me at any time if you become befuddled, though in my opinion, the tasks are straightforward enough that you won’t need to,” Berdly began, reaching under the desk to pull out the checkout-log that housed the data from before Berdly digitized everything. It was extremely heavy and smelled like old paper, which Berdly enjoyed. “This is Ms. Boom’s old checkout log, there are only a few outstanding ‘overdues’ in here-- How to Draw Dragons, checked out by a certain Dreemurr household, included,” Berdly smirked, looking at Kris to gauge their reaction, but their focus seemed trained on something else.

At first, Berdly thought it was him. He looked down at his shirt and then at his shorts to check for stains or flyaway sticky notes before realizing. 

“Ah.” 

So they are going to make a fuss.

“Kris, the tall chair is reserved for vetted librarian assistants. Also, we only have one. Do not take offense,” Berdly sighed, brushing the dust off of the binder with his wing.

Kris looked up at Berdly, who had to have been two feet or higher off of the ground, and sighed.

“Anyway; that was the old log. The new log is on this spreadsheet here…” Berdly roused the computer to life by wiggling the mouse and perused the various tabs that he always kept open. Checkout log, incoming shipments, book reservations, cleaning checklist, etc. 

Kris fought, and didn’t always win, to keep their attention fixed on Berdly’s guide, often checking their phone or letting their eyes wander away to the shadowy corners of the Librarby. Berdly was somewhat frustrated, but also understood that Kris’s understanding of the job would not matter if they weren’t to actually undertake any of the responsibilities, so he let it go. 

As hypothesized, Kris spent the entire afternoon on their phone. Against his better judgement, Berdly snuck a few peaks. Texting Susie about plans for later, playing mind-numbing mobile games, and once, texting Toriel about something. Though, when they opened the text thread, they turned away from Berdly, clearly privy to his eavesdropping. Berdly buried himself back into the guide, flustered and furrowed.

Ms. Boom helped them close up for the night by organizing the shelves. Berdly dusted and picked up stray items from the floor as Kris wiped down surfaces with a generic all-purpose cleaner. Kris’s help saved them about four or five minutes in the long-run and packed up as soon as they were able.

“Goobye, Kris!” Berdly shouted at them with regrettable gusto. Kris waved at him as they left. Berdly slumped briefly, embarrassed.

“Were they any help today?” Ms. Boom approached Berdly from behind, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

Berdly drew in a deep inhale as he regained his composure, “Not as such.”

“Perhaps at a later date, then,” Ms. Boom patted his back before returning to the counter to retrieve her purse.

Berdly snorted, going back to get his backpack and coat, “Not likely.”

Ms. Boom offered him a ride home, but Berdly declined. As lovely as Ms. Boom was, she had a propensity for blasting 80s pop music in the car, and Berdly required silence to process his thoughts.

Autumn was reaching its conclusion. Only a few residual leaves had clung to the trees and even those were being jimmied from their stalks by the cutting northern winds. It didn’t smell like anything other than ‘cold’ out here, and Berdly, likewise, felt little else.

He was mostly relieved. Berdly had been worried that he wouldn’t be able to maintain an indifferent facade in front of Kris today, but he felt as though he’d succeeded in fooling them. He did regret, in no small amount, looking at Kris’s phone so noticeably, but he told himself that Kris would forget in time. 

Though, despite Berdly’s own success, Kris had failed to live up to the hopes that he’d been suppressing. Despite his better, accurate judgement, Berdly had braced himself for Kris to tap him on the shoulder and ask if he would build a redstone contraption for them, or if he would elaborate on how repeaters worked. Perhaps they would compliment how freshly preened Berdly was, or how noticeably showered he was, or how extremely lucrative his aura farming was turning out to be.

Berdly snarled as he thought through this. How embarrassing it was to be smitten: to--in defiance of logic--hope. Because, in truth, it was painfully obvious that “Kerdly” was not and never would be canon.

When he got home, he took everything out of his bag and placed each folder, notebook, and writing utensil in its proper place on his desk. He then whipped out his laptop, eager to build some of the mechanisms that he’d been designing ever since starting the Minecrap Guide to Redstone. 

Their 9-person class had been tight knit since kindergarten so, although not everyone actually used it, there was a class Minecrap server. Berdly decided that this is where he would build. This way, both his academic prowess and redstone genius would be infallible to his friends, his rivals, and yes, his Kris. 

When he joined, he took note of the fact that Susie (sus1ez1lla1) and Kris (xmossmouthx) were already online. His heart sank, and for a few fleeting moments, he thought about logging off, but he caught himself. Loneliness was no reason to indulge in sloth!

Berdly planned to move his livestock underneath the hill upon which his house was built. To accompany this barn-bunker, he would also build a massive, 8 by 8 block door to reveal his various farms, the first of which would be a beef farm. 

And when a classmate came to visit him, which he was sure would happen at some point, they would be all at once so gobsmacked, dumbfounded, and befuddled that they would have no choice but to yield him undying respect and admiration.

He got to work quickly. He already had a comprehensive collection of resources and needed not to “mine crap” before the project began. While he scaled the hill to begin hollowing it out, he saw sus1z1illa1 and xmossmouthx hopping around spawn, hitting each other with beef and sticks. Berdly frowned. Fine. That wasn’t his idea of fun anyway. 

His netherite efficiency III pickaxe cleared the space quickly, but he noticed, strangely, a baby chicken in the clearing with him. Berdly was naturally a fowl pacifist and was heedless to it. As he continued, though, he heard a baby chicken squawk behind him. He quickly swiveled around to look, and surely enough, a second chicken had found its way into his barn-bunker. He fed it a seed and continued mining. But then, just when it seemed like another baby chicken spawn was impossible, a third chicken appeared right behind him. Now this was downright absurd! Berdly didn’t even have a chicken farm, so how the blazes did these chicklets wander underneath his house?! 

Berdly marched out of the cave and heard the distinct sound cue of running from above. When he looked up, he caught sight of sus1z1lla1 and xmossmouthx’s as they darted behind his house, eggs equipped, nametags disappearing when they crouched.

Ah, a playful game of chicken. Well, Berdly was nothing if not a poultry gamer.

He placed an ender chest and took from it all of the firecharges in his possession. His house could be rebuilt with ease, his dignity, not so much. 

The corner which Susie and Kris hid behind exploded in a fiery blaze, sending Susie and Kris into a frenzy as they ran away.

A mischievous grin crept on Berdly’s face as he pursued them, sprinting and hopping deftly over the rugged terrain. He aimed his cursor a few paces ahead of the duo and shot. Kris noticed and jumped back. Susie, however, did not, and when trying to scramble out of the hole created by the firecharge, she caught on fire.

sus1ez1lla1 went up in flames.

Berdly’s smile deepened devilishly, That oughta show her… Adrenaline surged through him as he went in to seal the deal.

Kris started running back to spawn, where Susie had reappeared, wildly swinging the stick they’d been holding. It was not a few jumps afterward that their hunger depleted  and they started walking slowly.

Berdly’s heart skipped. Victory was imminent! But then, Kris’s character stopped moving altogether. They were typing. Berdly stopped a few blocks away from them and waited for them to say their final words.

<xmossmouthx> berdly pls

<xmossmouthx> i have a family

<xmossmouthx> spare me

Berdly considered this for a moment. He was presented with a paradox as old as time. Would he let the trolley run over his dignity or run over Schrodinger's cat of romance? Before he could decide, another message appeared.

<sus1ez1lla1> berdly how tf do u have so many diamonds

Berdly’s attention snapped towards his house on the horizon, which Susie had clearly begun to plunder.

<smartgenius555> SUSAN I COMMAND YOU TO GET OUT OF MY HOUSE.

<smartgenius555> OR ELSE.

He sprinted with super-monster speed towards his chest room and, with a hit from his enchantment-stacked netherite sword (named “The Pen”), sus1ez1lla1 was no more. 

Kris and Susie splintered off to do whatever it is Minecrap noobs do, but not without first filling Berdly’s house with baby chickens with their remaining eggs. Berdly continued building and put a Videogame Theory video on his second monitor in an effort to block out the surges of FOMO and regret that lapped at him throughout the evening. He considered what might’ve happened if he’d just thrown eggs back at them, or even stooped so low as to just hit them with sticks. Perhaps he could be doing whatever it was they were doing right now.

He logged off after a few hours. His room was clean. The fan buzzed ambiently. It was cold.

_________

Berdly, as per usual, was already outside the classroom door by the time Alphys arrived. There was no worm-getter like Berdly.

“Ohayo, Ms. Alphys.” Berdly greeted her with a small smile and a bow, appealing to their shared fascinations. 

Alphys laughed lightly, unlocking the door and turning on the lights. Soft blue light radiated through the shutters. “Ohayo, Berdly-san.” 

The relationship he had with Alphys was perhaps the closest relationship he had to an adult figure, seen as they were a personality match in almost every department (excepting that Berdly commanded attention and respect). There were too few adult-nerds in Berdly’s life, so, despite her timidness, Berdly admired Alphys as a role model. The dynamic was mutual.

Berdly followed her into the classroom and put his backpack neatly on the back of his chair before rewriting the date on the chalkboard. “What’s the lesson plan today?”

“DNA structures, followed by the math quiz I forgot yesterday, followed by a history review for next week’s test, and independent reading for the rest of the day,” Alphys recounted, staring blankly at the ceiling as she thought. Berdly copied down the list onto the board with fabulous penmanship. It was a quiet morning, where the only sound was the jingling of Ms. Alphys’s keys and the radiator as it chugged to life, and they did little to drown out his thoughts.

Alphys expected Berdly to make a comment about the massive block of independent reading time taking up a quarter of the day-- Alphys was no stranger to letting the kids do whatever they wanted so that she could indulge in her fandoms’ subtwts. But Berdly moved his chair next to Alphys’s desk wordlessly, with a heaviness of movement that made her frown.

“Admittedly, the independent reading time coincides with the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie panel stream at CoolCon,” Alphys revealed, hoping to breathe some life into him. 

“I can’t pretend to endorse how you abandon your student’s academics, but I nonetheless empathize,” Berdly nodded, eyes still cloudy. The bait dried out.

Alphys huffed, turning her chair to face him, “Alright, Berdly, talk to me.”

Berdly blinked himself back into reality, “... Apologies?”

“Well, you seem awfully downtrod! Blue, even,” Alphys smirked.

“Humorous.”

“Thanks. But seriously, Berdly,” Alphys laced her hands together to show she meant business.

Berdly shrugged and looked away, “Without dispensing too much sensitive info, I can assure you that my troubles are little more than a few social blunders.”

Alphys nodded, “Well, you’re talkin’ to the right person, then! I’d be surprised if anyone in Hometown’s made more social blunders than me.” She grinned, but Berdly didn’t react. She looked down at her hands, thinking back to her own high school years, “I can’t tell you how to be better at talking to people, but I can tell you that feeling bad about it won’t make it better. You’ll charm them next time you see them, I’m certain!”

Berdly nodded. He appreciated Alphys’s attempt to reach him, truly, but shaking-it-off wasn’t exactly novel advice and it certainly was not likely to yield the results Berdly was looking for. Criticism is the catalyst for growth, after all, and who was more apt to criticize Berdly than himself? 

He thanked Alphys for her confidence and returned to his desk before class started.

__________ 

Berdly enjoyed volunteering at the library. Ms. Boom let Berdly do his homework at the counter, which was nice, because he enjoyed the tranquil and pleasantly scented atmosphere of the library while also enjoying a seat of superiority to all the other plebians. Unfortunately, though, today he’d finished the small amounts of homework Alphys had assigned already and was forced to either finish the Redstone Guide or ruminate on his woes, both of which just made him think about Kris, which was excruciating.

He couldn't help but dwell on the fact that Kris was not already taken with him which, logically, he knew was improbable, but he couldn’t resign himself to complete cynicism. Even now, after Kris had talked and talked with Susie in class about how they would be spending time together later that day, Berdly couldn’t snuff the hope that he would be invited.

There was a time when he often was invited to hang out with Kris, but ever since Susie and Kris became “Krusie” (a term coined by Berdly), Kris had invited Berdly over less, which made him sad. He missed the pie. He missed them. 

Berdly buried his face into his wings shamefully. He hated thinking like that. It was too much of a waste of time for someone as pragmatic as Berdly.

But for now, he was alone. He rested his head on his wing, lying lazily against the counter so he could stare at the wall. Not sad enough to cry, too sad to do anything else. It was just as he was wallowing when he received a text from an unknown number. 

> can we have some diamonds

> please bro

Berdly sighed. He had the numbers of everyone in his class except for one.

> No, Susan, I do not permit that.

He thumped his head onto the counter. “We.” How cruel was it that Susie would now rub Krusie in his face just as he was mourning his own Kerdly misfortunes? His phone buzzed again, and he hesitated to check it, but hope somehow prevailed.

> ughhhhhh

> we need armer

> whatever were just gonna take some

Berdly was ignited with rage. Had he worked tirelessly to earn his spoils just for it to be looted by the girl who was, for all intents and purposes, his enemy?!

> Susan STOP.

No response. Berdly had no way of logging on and stopping them himself. He would have to use his words.

> STOP NOW.

For some reason, his command didn’t seem to be resonating with Susie, who continued to leave him on read. He was agitated by this, and perhaps his lingering feelings of romantic ineptitude. Susie was now cucking him in more ways than one. He made one last desperate attempt for the safety of his diamonds.

> Don’t steal my diamonds.

> I’m level 60.

> I will make you enchanted armor, but I CANNOT allow you to rifle through my chests.

Berdly, as he typed this, hoped that word of his high XP level would reach and enamor Kris, but he soon regretted letting the information slip. Now he would be roped into enchanting things for Susie.

> ok bird boy

> call when you get back and well hop on

Berdly stared at his phone for a minute.

> I think you’ll find it’s “we’ll.”

Berdly was unable to stifle his grin. Oh, how nice it was play videogames with people that wanted him there. Even Susie’s begrudging invite was enough to power Berdly through the closing of the “Librarby.” Berdly even partook in car karaoke with Ms. Boom on the way to his house.

He belted out Ms. Boom’s pop mixtape in the car ride home with her and practically flew up the stairs to his room. He called Susie and Kris as his computer turned on, tapping his tallon anxiously against the wall behind his desk while he waited.

Ring, ring.

“Yo,” Kris answered quietly.

Berdly’s heart did a little flip. He took a deep breath before replying, “Why, Kris! Look who’s come crawling back to the Berd for his epic-gamer skills!”

Kris sighed. Berdly heard the phone shuffle as they, presumably, booted up their brother’s computer, “Susie.”

Berdly stopped tapping his tallon and blinked a couple times. Holy granola, they were right. It was entirely plausible that Kris didn’t want him online at all. He shivered involuntarily.

“Jk. We’re both shit at Minecrap,”

Berdly began to breathe normally. He switched off his fan and grabbed a hoodie from his dresser, “Right you are.”

”Yoyoyo bird-brain,” Susie joined the call, her mouth full of some kind of junk food. “Never fear, Kris, Susie’s here.”

Kris didn’t respond.

“K Berdly, I’m not on yet but I’m just gonna give you my order,” She sniffled and threw a handful of chips into her mouth. 

Berdly sighed.

“I wah ahh damond armor wif unbaking an forns an wa-a affiniee.” Susie talked over the distinct crunching of corn chips, which sounds shockingly similar to the crunching of chalk.

“Susie, do you really expect me to translate that?” Berdly pinched his temples. The server loaded and he began gathering diamonds and books from his chest room.

Susie swallowed her food, “Dawg, I want some motherfuckin’ thorns armor.”

Kris spoke up, finally, “She needs thorns because she doesn’t know how to crit.”

“Shut the FUCK up, Dreemurr! This is why you don’t have any friends,” Susie shook the bag of chips, emptying its pulverized contents into her mouth.

Much to his suprise, Berdly squawked out a laugh.

Berdly made the armor for them, depleting his XP by a significant amount but hoping that his chivalry would not go unnoticed. It wasn’t long after that the gang found themselves on the hunt for a flower biome, as per Susie’s request. Kris plugged the server’s seed into a map generator and located the nearest one. 

“FUCK!” Susie shouted suddenly, her mic cutting out when she yelled. Kris and Berdly turned back to see Susie, swarmed by a few zombies and a spider. She stood completely still, swinging her axe slowly. The sound of her smashing almost every key on her controller without regard to the swing-cooldown was loud over the call. Berdly smirked, fool.

“You’re trash! You’re dog water! My ranked teammates:. Uninstall the game!” Berdly taunted. 

She finally hit one zombie.

 “Bruh. I don’t fucking-- bruh. Dude come over here and get these guys. Buttomashing isn’t working.”

“If you press B while holding your axe it instakills them,” Kris said. Susie dropped her sword.

“It didn’t work,” Susie huffed.

Berdly was grinning, “Skill issue. You’re bad. Alt F4 newgen.”

“GG,” Kris chirped.

“You guys are fucking assholes,” Susie sprinted away from them, giving up. 

Kris laughed. It was vibrant and warm if not a bit scratchy; not like the soft, gloomy mumble that Berdly heard behind them in class every so often, but like summer foliage shaking after school, like scooters flying down asphalt. Berdly hadn’t heard that in so long.

Berdly found himself laughing too.

“Whatever, I don’t care. I gotta go anyway,” Susie ran over to Kris and started punching them, dealing thorn damage to herself. Berdly, wanting to get involved, ran over and started punching Susie.

“Aw, what? Dude,” Kris groaned, hitting Susie back.

Berdly whipped out his shovel and began critting Susie, “Just say you’re bad, Susan.”

“Wh-- what the fuck?! How are you doing so much damage with a shovel?!” Susie exited the game to protect her new armor.

“Hacks probably,” Kris said, sounding distracted.

Berdly began reorganizing his inventory, “Actually, I’m just utilizing the proper PvP mechanics. You see, approaching the enemy from a certain angle and striking within the bounds of the cooldown produces a remarkable difference in damage; That is why those mobs smoked you, Susan.”

Neither of them responded for a moment. Berdly heard a soft thud as Kris placed their phone back on the desk. The silence made his heart sink.

Suddenly, Susie drew in a sharp breath, “K, goodnight losers. If you make it to the flower forest, pick me up some roses and shit.”

Kris started walking again, so Berdly followed. “Should we put them in Noelle’s house for you or..?” Kris teased.

“Shut up. And no.” Susie hung up.

Berdly and Kris kept on in silence for a moment. “Finally, the brute has left us alone!” Berdly said boisterously in an attempt to drum up conversation. 

“Yeah,” Kris said, voice laced with agitation.

Berdly gulped.

Neither of them said anything for an excruciatingly long amount of time. Berdly just followed Kris as they marched forward, glancing at his wings, adjusting his posture in silence. Usually, he couldn’t be persuaded to stay quiet for very long, but every time he felt moved to say something, he was struck with nerves.

“I can’t believe Susie is having us do this for her,” Kris said eventually.

Berdly’s eyes lit up-- finally! Conversation! “And why would that be?”

“Well, it’s like--” Kris got closer to their phone. Their soft voice became more clear, more personal. Warmth spread across Berdly’s face. He tried to will it away.

“Seriously, Berdly, you can’t tell anyone. I mean, it’s like, really obvious, but still,” Kris said, playfulness permeating their stern tone.

Berdly’s heart fluttered. He was being let in on a deep, dark, obvious secret! Perhaps it was because of Berdly’s tendency to never stop talking, but most people never honored him with confidential information. He was sure Kris didn’t understand how much of an achievement this was, and chose to remain stoic, lest he reveal his inexperience. “Of course.”

“Susie has a phat crush on Noelle. That’s why she wanted to do this. She thinks that getting her real flowers is too straightforward or something, I dunno,” Kris said, smile audible. Berdly wished he could see it.

“WHAT?!?!?” Berdly could not stop himself from yelping. He paled and threw a wing over his beak. That response might have seemed disproportionate. But just how ludicrous was it that Snoozie-Susie thought she had a chance with the class’s #1 student?!?!?

Kris stifled a laugh, “Dude, seriously? She gets flustered and mumbly every time Noelle talks to her. You can’t have missed that.” 

Berdly, admittedly, had failed to pay close attention to Susie. But beyond conveying the base information Kris was attempting to, their words resonated with Berdly. Susie’s flusteredness and inability to speak were the obvious signs of a crush; Berdly had ruminated on these and devised strategically how he would act around Kris specifically because of these signs. Kris’s words were confirmation that he’d made the right choice. Now, hopefully, with enough time, he could fly under the radar until the feelings died. Or, more realistically, until he moved away for college.

“I am ashamed to admit that I did miss that,” Berdly said, still recovering from the shock. “But even so, that’s preposterous! Noelle has high-intellect that only balances with an equally tactical partner. Susie is a brawl-tank!” He almost felt bad for Susie. Any move she made would haunt her future, rejected self.

Kris sighed, “You’re a dumbass, Berdly.”

Berdly paused. “Dumbass” could have been loathesome, bored, otherwise upset, or banter, which means a 25% (LOW) chance of acceptability. “Exqueeze me?” He asked, offended.

“I mean, c’mon, man. Noelle does the exact same thing. It’s sickening.” The flower forest peaked through the limits of Berdly’s render distance.

Berdly considered this. “So you’re trying to tell me that ‘Suselle’ is canon?”

Kris laughed. “Sure.”

“Incredible,” Berdly’s eyes glazed over. He would have to think about this.

The call went silent once again. Were Berdly to have spoken again, it would’ve been impossible for him not to make cutting remarks about Susie’s crush. 

Neither of them spoke as they perused the flower forest’s offerings. Berdly picked up daisies, roses, and whatever he figured people typically liked. After a little while, Kris spoke again.

“What’s your favorite?”

Berdly gave it some thought, trying to ignore the giddiness the prospect of being given flowers by Kris prompted. “Roses. But since those were replaced in 1.7.2, I suppose poppies.”

Kris dropped him a poppy and waited in front of Berdly. Their edgy skin’s eyes seemed to stare at him expectantly. 

Berdly could not let himself rationally believe this was anything more than an act of friendship, but he feared that opening his mouth would either destroy the minute possibility of romance or reveal his own feelings, so he just picked up the poppy and stared back at them. The silence was long and excruciating, and with every second that passed, Berdly regretted not saying anything more.

“Kay, I’m tired as a mofo. Night, Berdly,” Kris eventually said, logging off immediately thereafter.

“Goodnight--” Berdly said, but Kris cut him off by hanging up. Berdly flung himself into the back of his chair, dragging his wings down his face in anguish.

“GAHHHH.” 

He glared at his reflection sharply as he brushed his teeth. He glared into his eyemask as he tried to sleep. He glared at his phone when insomnia struck. But then, he got a text from Susie, and his glare-streak was broken by a curious raise of the eyebrow.

> nerdly

> gaming sleepover tommorrrrow at krises

> pull up bird boy

____

Berdly greeted Alphys with an apple, noticeably jittery. 

Alphys knocked the old apple Berdly had given to her into the trash bin, replacing it with the shiny new one. She’d told him before that they were unnecessary gifts, but he had not stopped bringing them.

Berdly couldn’t stop fidgeting with his ‘hands’ and his eyebrows seemed ever so slightly tense. He was definitely more animated than the day prior, taking the pains to pull Alphys’s chair out for her before racing over to the chalkboard and rewriting the date. 

Alphys was put-off. “What’s up, Berdly? Did you finally try triple-shot espresso?”

Berdly was quick to respond, “PFFT! Please, Ms. Alphys, I’ve been drinking high volumes of espresso since I was but a chicklet!”

Alphys narrowed her eyes, “That’s definitely not healthy.”

Berdly did not respond, instead lining up the chalk evenly on the board.

“Is everything okay? Social missteps again?” Alphys probed gently.

Berdly glanced at her anxiously, rubbing the stray chalk particles from his feathers. He sighed and swiftly took his spot at the side of her desk. “Not missteps, per se. In fact, I would argue that I have stepped too far in the other direction!” He whispered eyes wild.

Alphys was at a loss. “Too much charisma?” She laughed in confusion.

Berdly nodded solemnly. “Ms. Alphys, as my most trusted confidante--” 

“Aww, Berdly!”

“I am presenting you with this information under the pretense that it will not be repeated,” Berdly looked at her seriously, eyes twitching from a lack of sleep.

Alphys blinked, “Oh, um, sure!”

Berdly glanced at the door and leaned in to whisper. “I have been invited to a sleepover. At the residence of,” Berdly gulped, hating the words as they left his mouth, “my crush.”

Alphys’s face lit up and she grinned, suddenly becoming 40% more animated. “BERDLY?! Omigosh!! Congratulations!” She’d had the notion not to ask this next part, but couldn’t help herself. “So who is it?! Are they in this class?”

Berdly’s face grew hot, his feathers furrowed as he looked away, “NO!”

Alphys laughed, “It’s okay! I mean, um, I want to know, but, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

Berdly hid his face in his wings.

“...I take it you’re nervous?”

“Accurate!” Berdly squawked, voice cracking.

Alphys patted him on the back, smiling sympathetically.

“It’s not even our first sleepover! I- I’m just…”

Alphys nodded sagely, “Smitten.”

“Er, no. Agonized. I don’t know how to effectively woo… This person. They are inscrutable!” Berdly lamented, not entirely sold on attempting to woo them in the first place.

Alphys’s eyes were kind. “Well, Berdly, as an aficionado of romance anime and YA fiction, I’d advise you to be your usual, confident self!”

Berdly looked up at her, all bashfulness now replaced with scrutiny, “Ms. Alphys, are you, of all people, earnestly telling me that confidence is key?”

Alphys’s face fell, “Wha-- well yes!”

Still, the words rung true. Though Alphys had clearly not won any romantic duels of her own, he trusted that her worldly wisdom might be effective from an outside point of view and that, perhaps, her own personal reservations had prevented her from reaching the success that her rational intellect was capable of. So, he decided he would pursue a ‘confident’ approach.

Berdly sat up straight after some contemplation, “I will give it a try.” 

Alphys beamed and clapped her hands together with pride.

“And, should I make an unreciprocated advance, you can expect to be reported to the admin for overinvolvement in adolescent love affairs.”

Alphys’s face fell, “WHAT?!”

--

Berdly loved English. He was extremely proficient. When he wrote, it was like his verbiage was the words and his opus an essay, in that, he wrote like a writer: a skill that would not go un-flaunted.

Furthermore, real-world violence has oft been baselessly conflated with that of playable pixel violence, which

Berdly tapped his pen against his temple, stopping mid-sentence to read it over and over again. It wasn’t sesquipedallion enough. While he took a ‘breather’ from the writing world, so to speak, he found his eyes wandering over his shoulder to Kris, who, giggling, was causing another ruckus in the middle of independent work time. Muscle memory had Berdly shushing them loudly with gritted teeth before he could stop himself. 

Kris turned away from Susie and looked at him, smile lessening. Susie’s smile only deepened.

“Berdly, are there less stars in the sky than sand on Earth, or fewer stars in the sky than sand on Earth?” She whispered loudly.

Berdly blinked for a moment, confused by the sudden query but not unwilling to help. He sighed and un-curled himself from over his essay to respond, turning his chair around to give Kris and Susie a proper lecture. “This is a fair question to raise, and, provided I were not hyper-literate, you would likely be at a loss. For, you see, not many people know the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer,’” He began, waving his wings around as he talked. 

Kris snickered while Susie fought to feign intrigue. It was necessary not to immediately ostracize Berdly in order to ragebait him.

“Less is for collections that could not be counted. Less water, less joy, et cetera., whereas fewer is for collections that can be counted, such as fewer stars, fewer grains of sand.” Berdly smiled smugly.

Susie nodded quickly but paused, dramatically, as if a thought had struck her, “But we can’t count the stars in the sky. There are too many.”

“Mm. Yes. But even so,” Berdly’s eyebrows knitted together, the sharp pain of his genius being questioned dissolving the majority of his smugness.

Susie raised her voice a little, “So what is the definition, bird-brain?! You can’t count the stars!”

The already upset classmates shot glares at Susie as she began to cause a stir. Berdly grumbled, anger swirling in his chest.

“Yes, but, theoretically, there are a countable number of stars in space, provided you had the right time and tools to spot them all,” He seethed, trying to keep an even tone while under the supervision of Kris. 

Susie’s voice raised to slightly above an acceptable speaking volume, “Okay, but with all that help, couldn’t you also count the water-atoms in water, or the joy-chemicals in a brain or something?”

Berdly was quick to respond angrily, raising his index feather matter-of-factly. But while he’d opened his mouth and let sound come out, his brain chugged behind slowly. “Uhhhhh…”

“Kids, calm down now, let’s not cause a disturbance..!” Alphys squeaked from the corner of the classroom, leagues too quiet for Susie to take seriously.

“I need to know, Berdly! I need to know NOW!” Susie shook Kris’s chair dramatically. Kris’s head flopped back and forth in a way that looked dizzying as they tried to stifle their laughter.

Berdly glared at Susie, reaching over Kris’s desk to stop her reign of terror, “Calm yourself, Susan! This semantic dispute should have no bearing on Kris’s wellbeing!” He reached for Kris’s shoulders, but they were just a little too far. 

“No, Berdly, I’m so worked up right now I think imma have to BITE THEIR FACE OFF!” Susie opened her terrifying maw and hovered her mouth around the side of Kris’s head. Kris sat still and expressionless.

Alphys whined pathetically from the corner of the classroom. Noelle snickered despite the joke not being funny.

Berdly waved his wings frantically, “NO! SUSIE NO!” He stretched desperately to pull Kris away from the perpetrator. 

“Dude, she’s not gonna bite Kris’s face off,” Monster Kid sighed, exasperated.

Berdly glanced at Monster Kid and noticed how mildly agitated everyone else was. He paused and retracted his arms, noticing.

“Ah. You were tilting me,” Berdly glared at Susie, who cackled maniacally.

“I dunno what you’re talking about Birdie,” Susie shrugged and resumed her doodling.

Berdly huffed and returned to his work.

___

When he rang the doorbell of the Dreemurr household, it was not unlike all the other times he’d come over to ‘hang’ and had been flustered at every reference to fondness shared by Kris and him. But Berdly realized that they were getting older, now, and close friends like Noelle were actually beginning to enter the dating world. No longer was it some terrible, amorphous foe looming at the top of the pyramid: Crap was getting real. 

Thus, Berdly had spent a shocking amount of time in his mirror, practicing his “falling asleep face” so that it would look most charming, trying on different PJ bottoms with his “I Paused My Game To Be Here” t-shirt, which was indisputably part of the final ensemble. On his bitterly cold walk to the residence, Berdly had given himself a refresher about what activities might be available to the trio at the sleepover so that he would be better prepared for a surprise game of Truth or Dare or, god forbid, Monopoly. Both had very emotionally polarizing potential.

Susie answered the door, eventually, and Berdly’s shoulders dropped. 

“Yo,” she smiled casually, which was way more inviting than what Berdly was used to. He squinted at her.

“Susan,” he greeted.

“Kick-ass shirt.” Susie left the door open and started back towards the kitchen, the cabinets of which Toriel was rooting through thoroughly.

Berdly entered. He held his bag close to his chest as he looked for Kris, combing the feathers on his wings idly. With his sharp eye, he spotted their hand slung over the back of the couch.

After closing the door behind him, he approached Kris, who was scrolling mindlessly on their phone while draped armrest-to-armrest. 

Berdly raised a hand timidly to wave, but remembered Alphys’s advice. It was imperative he trust her, as his previous strategy of cowardly skirting away from every possible notion of romance had not actually gotten him very far. Confidence is key!

He tossed his bag at them, “Kris, my dear companion! I have arrived!”

Kris was caught off guard by the projectile. They flinched, dropping their phone, and made a sound as the air was punched out of their lungs by his luggage. 

Too confident. Berdly froze, feathers standing straight in mortification as he watched them regain their bearings.

When they actually caught sight of Berdly, they smiled forgivingly, “Howdy.”

Perhaps acceptably confident! Berdly grinned.

He took his spot on the floor and grabbed a controller for Kris upon request. At Berdly’s insistence, they hopped on Super Smash Brothers, since Susie, who hated Smash, was busy cooking with Toriel. Berdly was less than thoroughly pleased, as, despite his bluff, he was clearly second to Kris when it came to this particular game.

…

Berdly lost. Again. He swallowed nervously and looked over at Kris, who reclined farther into the couch cushions as if seating themself in a victory throne. He appreciated getting to actually see Kris smile while they played. Too often now had he only heard whispers of brightness while they called, but it was much nicer to actually get to be there, and the friendship they shared was all that more palpable. 

“I cannot pretend to understand why being handed a win brings you so much satisfaction. When I’m at my full power, then you’ll have earned that smug look,” Berdly snorted, unhunching himself.

Kris blew a raspberry, “Then go full power, man. Unleash the beast.”

Berdly gripped his controller, locking in, “Heh, trust me, Kris; Betas like you wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“Beta!?” Kris drew in their legs and sat up, “Them are fighting words, Berdly.”

“Those are fighting words,” Berdly felt a bead of sweat trickle through the feathers on his neck.

Kris immediately began a rematch without so much as another taunt. Berdly wiped his ‘palms’ on his shorts so that his grip on the controller would be better and channeled the power of all the streamers he had watched.

He and Kris had been known to banter, loudly and nonsensically, when playing Smash, but, much like the rounds they had played late into the night when Kris’s family was fast asleep, the only communication shared was trading hitpoints. Berdly was hyper-focused on the game, barely breathing, jumping at each moment that Kris had left their character vulnerable. It went on for what seemed like forever, but then, Berdly won.

“BAHAHAH!!” Berdly stood up, relief washing over him like spring rain. He did a terrible victory dance around the couch, “That’s what you get for messing with an alpha in his prime!”

Kris grinned back at him, “Guess so.”

“And they said birds in academics couldn’t outskill low-life humans,” Berdly crowed, smugly, assuming his spot on the floor once again.

“Who said that?”

“Me,” Susie called from the kitchen.

Kris yawned, “Whatever, I was just goin’ easy on you anyway.”

Berdly blinked at them, processing When all was said and done, he realized, it wasn’t even really that close. “B-bwa-- But why?! I wanted to flex my gamer muscles in earnest!” He huffed, snarling at the fiend.

Kris was smiling still, sharp eyes peaking through their thick, outgrown bangs. Berdly’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t show it. 

“Wanted to see what you’d do. I already know what you do when you lose,” They sniffed, wiping their nose on their sleeve as they looked away nonchalantly.

“I don’t lose, I die to conserve energy,” He grumbled, glaring at the T.V as they exited the result screen. “To preserve your confidence.”

Susie cleared her throat loudly, Kris glared at her, Berdly locked back in.

Soon, Susie had completed a massive pot of spaghetti and meatballs, and it was time to feast. Berdly ate politely, swirling the pasta around his fork in the proper fashion, flexing to Ms. Toriel his incredible table manners. He would need to maintain a good impression if he were ever so lucky as to take Kris to a dance… o-or a date. Berdly stared into his pasta.

Kris probably would like to go bowling with him because it was just as gamey as what they always did. But was that romantic enough? They could go to a nice restaurant, but Berdly wasn’t sure how he’d be able to pay for that. Frankly, what sounded nice was just playing games together like they always did. Maybe it would be nice to sit close to each other instead of spread out on the floor and on the couch. They could play co-op instead of a PvP, or build things for each other in a sandbox game. They could move in together on Minecr--

“Yooo, Berdly?” Susie waved her hand rapidly in front of Berdly’s glazed over eyes. “I asked you a question dumb-- uh, sillyass,” Susie looked at Toriel to gauge her reaction.

Toriel sighed with a weak smile. At least she was trying.

“Hm? Pardon me, Susan, I didn’t quite catch what you asked,” Berdly snapped out of his train of thought, flustered.

Susie rolled her eyes, “I asked what you thought of the pasta.”

“It’s excellent, Susie! I can tell you’ve improved from last time,” Toriel smiled. Susie looked away bashfully.

“It’s to my great dismay that I concur. I hadn’t taken you for a chef, Susie, but this is exceedingly adequate!” Berdly nodded. 

Kris gave her a thumbs up, having slurped the pasta so voraciously that marinara coated the lower half of their face.

A few moments passed while Berdly picked through his food, lost in thought.

“I’m going to check on the pie,” Toriel took her plate and Kris’s empty plate to the sink. Kris smeared a paper towel all over their face in an attempt to clean.

Susie looked up from the saucepan of pasta that she’d reserved for herself and tilted her head to the side, “Yo, Berdly, does the pasta look as good as it tastes?”

Kris looked over their towel to spy Berdly who was indeed zoned out looking at the food once again. Their eyes burned holes in the side of Berdly’s head, and he thanked god that his feathers hid how flustered he was.

“...Yes,” said Berdly, unable to come up with an excuse. 

Susie laughed at him and dragged Kris to the sink to help with the dishes and talk. Berdly finished maybe half of his plate and turned the dishes over to the two so that he could ponder. He had to flirt. But how..?

The issue was thus; Kris was, for the most part, unreadable. Unless they felt particularly moved to convey a sense of superiority or disdain, especially when participating in some sort of competitive environment, they presented as extremely ‘lax.’ What’s worse is that Berdly was unable to present as ‘lax’ in almost any sort of capacity, oscillating wildly between haughty bravado and bashful timidness. His best bet at making any sort of attempt at hiding his crush (were Kris to not reciprocate, Berdly would rather them have never known about his crush in the first place) was to ensure that they were not looking at each other when Berdly got flustered. Or, more specifically, when they were gaming. Perhaps he could slyly slip in something romantical between jabs. Kris, being focused on the game, would perhaps let their stony persona drop as their eyes were off of Berdly and on the game and, then, Berdly would be able to gauge their reaction. Yes, yes! Another ingenious plan from the Berd.

It was not long until Susie and Kris joined Berdly back in the family room. Berdly, once again, reigned over the floor in front of the couch. Susie took a seat on said couch and Kris splayed out across the entire thing, including Susie. 

“Really, Kris; have you no decorum or respect for personal space?” Berdly mumbled, hot with jealousy as they picked through what game to play next.

“Not Susie’s.” They picked Mario Kart.

“MARIO KART! MARIO KART!” Cheered Susie, pumping her fists in the air and shaking Kris so that they kicked Berdly in the back. 

He hunched over to avoid contact.

“I hope you know how over it is for you, Berdly,” Susie said giddily as the Grand Prix began.

Berdly snorted, “I should think it would be ‘joever’ for you, Susanna!” 

Berdly started with a superboost, zooming far ahead of Krusie with his superior kart build. Berdly, for all of his faults, was an excellent Mario Kart player. Susie followed closely behind for the first half, but her lack of focus led her astray in the third lap where Kris was able to overtake her for second. Berdly coasted ahead of both with a not insignificant buffer. 

“Kris, look over there,” Susie stuck her arm out in front of Kris’s face and reached over, trying to mess up their steering. Kris ducked and kicked Susie in the face. “Ack!”

“Your crude competitive methods will do little to close this massive diff, plebs,” Berdly pretended to yawn, an extremely satisfied smile propping his cheeks up high.

“We’ll see,” Kris whispered. It might’ve seemed a scary delivery if you didn’t know what Kris sounded like when they were actually scary. 

“Yes, see you in SECOND!” Berdly said with a singsong voice, steering with one hand on the controller. I look so cool right now.

Kris growled. “I just need a blue shell or-- or a few mushrooms,” They mumbled through gritted teeth.

Now was his chance. “No, Kris, you need me,” he imagined the way his feathers must have sparkled in the neon of the television, the way his eyelashes would’ve looked lush and romantic in the dim lighting.

Silence.

He glanced up at Kris, who was, contrary to Berdly’s hypothesis, staring straight back at him with a face so cloaked in shadow that it seemed completely neutral, or worse, contemptuous. Berdly quickly whipped his head back around and focused on the road, face burning red-hot. 

“My skills. You need my skills.” Incredible save.

Susie roared with laughter, “What the hell?”

“Shut UP Susan! Bottom-10 don’t get banter privileges,” Berdly sputtered, crossing over the finish line and letting his muscles de-tense. 

Kris made second, still totally silent.

Susie made fourth, beat out by Toadette. “FUCK! I HATE that pink piece of shit.”

Berdly felt the urge to mock her, but was weighed down by utter despair and embarrassment. His mood was crushed. What he said wasn’t even that bad, but clearly Kris caught on that Berdly was attempting to make a misguided move because of that stare, and they hadn’t said anything in response so..?! Heavens to yikes, Berdly was cooked. 

Kris sighed, eventually, the first sign of life from them since Berdly had made a fool of himself. “If only you had Berdly’s skills,” they teased. Susie punched them in the arm.

Berdly laughed weakly.

The next race, Berdly was too in his head. He faltered behind Susie, then behind Kris, then behind Toadette. 

“So much talk to suddenly be dogshit at the game, bird brain,” Susie taunted, kicking his elbow with her foot.

Berdly grunted, hunching over. He couldn’t even respond.

“Bruh, as if you didn’t just get fourth,” Kris said softly. Their voice was cool and even, like still water. Berdly fumbled so, so bad. He didn’t even like to think with profanity, but FUCK!

“I’m so lonely in first-- You’re all so far behind!” They taunted as they entered the third lap.

Berdly felt some kind of flirty line coming on; something about keeping them company..? Was it even worth trying again? Would it be too desperate? Ugh. Berdly said nothing, choosing instead to focus on outdrifting Toadette.

The rest of the race was terribly quiet. Once Berdly had stopped talking, Kris slowly stopped too, then Susie was left to mumble curse words every time she got hit with a shell or fell off the map, sometimes thinking out loud about her plans to grind on Minecrap so she could show Berdly up. The rest of the prix was pretty miserable to play.

When all was said and done, Kris placed first, Berdly placed second, and Susie was in third. Kris stretched and, with a sigh, announced that they were going to go and brush their teeth. Once they were gone, Berdly could feel Susie’s eyes on the back of his neck. He looked back at her anxiously, meeting her judgemental gaze.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked, suddenly.

Berdly narrowed his eyes, “Excuse me!?”

 “Why aren’t you being more… obnoxious?” Susie asked, genuine befuddlement lacing her voice.

“Ah-I-I--” Berdly stammered, blinking at her as he refocused his self-hatred, “How do you even want me to respond to that, Susie?!”

Susie threw her hands up in the air with a dramatic shrug, voice booming with some misplaced anger, “I dunno, bro, but something is clearly up with you. I need you to stop being weird. NOW.”

“I cannot understand what you even mean by that,” Berdly pinched his temple, blushing. “Perhaps you wouldn’t know this, because you have never once in your life been focused on something to a point of being good at it, but sometimes people act differently when they’re actually trying.”

Susie made a sound that sounded like a laugh, but her eyebrows remained knitted together and her mouth showed no sign of curving into anything adjacent to a smile. “Alright, man. You got second, first of all, so you can hop-off your high horse, and you also have NEVER passed up an opportunity to make fun of me for losing in a game, so clearly something’s up.”

Berdly crossed his arms, eyeing his bag slumped against the couch. This constant humiliation was unlivable.

“Is this about that thing you said in the first race? Cuz’ Kris is fine with that kinda stuff. Like, it’s not a big deal,” Susie said dismissively. It just made Berdly angrier because it wasn’t true.

He stood up, ripped his phone charger out of the wall and stuffed it in his bag. 

“W-What are you doing? Dude?!” Susie sat up, concern mixing with frustration.

Berdly slung his bag over his shoulder, “Tell Kris I got sick-- o-or something.” He started towards the door, wings curled into a fist at his sides.

“Okay, wait, Berdly, I didn’t mean to piss you off. C’mon, man,--” Susie called from the couch.

Slam.

The cold air barely hit Berdly, who had made the air surrounding him hot. In weather that most people would have to brave with a coat, Berdly was able to traverse powered by frustration and embarrassment. He walked straight home, but not without being plagued by regret. Still, he hauled his hollow bones back into his house so he could cry in peace.

--

“It was TERRIBLE!” He cried, throwing himself across the desk. Alphys jumped back before cautiously putting a hand on his back.

“T-There there, Berdly.”

“I said something a little romantical a-and they didn’t like it, th-then their friend just made fun of me for the rest of the night,” Berdly sniffled, shaking, “s-so I just left early w-without even saying goodbye!” He wailed.

“Aw, Berdly,” Alphys tried so sound comforting.

“I should have known… They’re… They’re not the kind of person who would like me… And they looked so disgusted when I…” And every mean thing he had thought about himself and been told crashed back down on him, just like the night before. Over and over he had been told, directly and through subtle mannerisms, that he was an annoying loser. Over and over, he had told himself that this wasn’t true. But lying to himself hadn’t worked on Noelle or Susie, and the fact that neither of them had even come close to giving him a chance only proved the objective fact that Berdly was thoroughly unlikable. He had been a fool to think that, despite all reason, Kris, the truest object of Berdly’s affections, would be any different.

Berdly suddenly sat up straight, sucking all the snot out of his nostrils with a sharp inhale. He’d cried enough already. “But like any good scientist, I have learned from this experience! There’s no reason to pursue feelings with a logically, objectively low possibility of being reciprocated. It’s irrational. And I don’t do irrational!” Berdly raised an index feather to the sky, nearly shouting to convey his conviction and assuredness.

Alphys blinked, “Woah, alright buddy.”

“I DON’T!” Berdly yelled before sinking back into his seat.

“I think you might be approaching this situation wrong,” She said, softly.

Berdly gave her a look, but for once, Alphys didn’t cower.

She sighed, “Look, I read a lot of slice of life manga, and if there’s anything that that’s taught me, it’s that young love is dumb love.”

He squinted at her.

“You can let it be dumb! I-I know that you like to pursue things that are destined to succeed, o-or things that make sense, but love often doesn’t,” She gave him an awkward smile. “I mean, you read the first installment of MMKC. Even I can admit that those romance plot lines were sugary-sweet and stupid!”

Berdly rolled his eyes, “Yes, Ms. Alphys, but that’s fiction.”

Alphys shook her head from side to side, “Well, yes, but in my experience, it’s accurate. Teenagers… are not good at this sort of thing. So I think closing yourself off and choosing to only pursue something ‘logical,’” she did air quotes, “is not an apt decision for this particular part of teen life.”

“...”

“I mean, I would know, right?” Alphys laughed, gesturing to herself, “I’m a teacher, I’ve seen a lot of teen romance. Plus, I’m kinda a geek about this sort of thing.” She pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her snout.

“And what if they don’t reciprocate, as I suspect they will not? Has my ego not suffered sufficient blows, Ms. Alphys?” He scowled.

Alphys put a hand on his shoulder, “No, it hasn’t.” She paused. “That’s life.”

Berdly stared at the floor, considering her words. To try, knowing from previous experience that it would fail, and hoping with no factual basis that the randomness of adolescent emotions would protect him… It was silly. Real people do not have plot armor. And if anyone knew that showing up to a boss battle without armor was stupid, it was Berdly. And yet, something about her words was compelling.

“Berdly?”

He blinked, “Yes, yes. I… Will think about that.”

Alphys nodded, backing away.

“I, uh, just have one more question,” She said, meekly.

He looked at her, prompting her to continue.

She grinned, knowingly, “...It’s Kris, right?”

“W--WHAT?!?”

--

Kris tried to get Berdly to look at them by staring at him from his periphery. Berdly had not been able to bring himself to do it. Not only was he wallowing in shame from saying something off-color, but now he had to deal with the guilt of an Irish exit and the embarrassment of having his secret held by a voyeur (Ms. Alphys). Through the substantive classes, he’d been able to get away with ignoring them and the paper airplanes that soared past his desk, but it was now independent reading time and his defenses tactics had waned to none.

Kris poked his back repeatedly as if inputting a code on a keypad.

“Hey, Kris!” He whirled around, failing to make himself smile. Kris sat back in their seat.

They tilted their head to the side, “Berdly, are you good?”

He gulped, “Right as rain! I think I had a celiac flare up last night is all…” He looked coldly to Susie, who was squinting at him over Kris’s shoulder. It felt like she was dissecting him with her eyes, both to understand and torture. He fought a snarl.

“K. Cuz you left your sleep mask at my house.” Berdly had noticed that. “You can pick it up whenever you’re back.”

Berdly blinked rapidly, tearing his eyes off of Susie, “I’m still welcome at the Dreemurr residence?”

Kris clicked their tongue in place of a laugh, “Yea, man. You’re not banned just because you have selective Celiac’s disease.”

An ember of optimism was reignited within him. His instinct was to hang it at the gallows and shoot it in the head a couple times to make sure it was dead, however, Berdly had to consider that his cognitive distortions about Kris’s affection towards him (AKA the chance that Kris might be ‘into him’) were not his enemies. 

“Optimal!” Berdly grinned, but upon catching how Susie’s eyes narrowed at him, he quickly whirled back around so that he could stare blankly at his homework. He did not miss how Alphys not-so-subtly gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up. 

--

Berdly gnawed on the eraser of a pencil. Not a pencil that he actually used or intended to use-- nay, this was a chewing pencil: a store-bought no.2. Berdly only used mechanical pencils or the likes of those won from Kahoots for actual pencilling activity. This meant that the massive box of No.2 pencils that had sat on his desk since freshman year was subject to death-by-beak as Berdly nervously chewed them into splints. This was a very, very dark day for the pencil population because Berdly was suddenly very, very nervous.

He had not forgotten that, just 24 hours prior, he was just as excited and optimistic about a prospective relationship, but his confidence and ‘rizz’ had failed him tremendously. In the great words of Gerson Boom, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result was the definition of insanity. Sure, Berdly could play ‘dumb’ for the time being, but he could not play ‘insane’ in tandem. He would need help if he were to succeed anytime soon. 

Suddenly, he dropped his pencil, a terrible, incredibly intelligent revelation crossing his mind. If he needed to be dumb, then there was one stupid person that had the capacity to play a pivotal role.

Smartgenius555 joined the game

<sus1ez1lla1> WEll well well.

Berdly hastily pressed tab, checking if there was anyone else on the server, and thankfully, no one was. He had recalled that Susie was making an attempt to ‘best’ Berdly by grinding in all free intervals of her day and, as suspected, it appeared on Berdly’s map that Susie was at the communal XP farm.

<smartgenius555> Are you alone?

<sus1ez1lla1> yeah dumbass check the player menyu

<sus1ez1lla1> wanna fight again or smth

<smartgenius555> Is anyone in the room with you right now?

<sus1ez1lla1> no

<sus1ez1lla1> well shit now im scared

<sus1ez1lla1> are you in my closet or something freak?

Berdly entered the XP farm: an appropriated spider spawner that carried spiders out to a fence post on a stream of water. Susie was standing too close to the opening and letting herself get hit, but she kept returning to the same spot, not seeming to care.

Berdly scoffed. This was stupid. Susie was stupid. Susie hated him. This was not going to end well. But according to Alphys, that was the point!.. Or something.  

<smartgenius555> I need to talk with you.

<smartgenius555> It’s important. 

<sus1ez1lla1> ru gonna apologize for being a pissy bitch yesterday

He glared. He typed with lightning speed, “Nevermind! If you can’t be civil or empathetic, then you have no place in important affairs. Enjoy destroying the durability of all of the armor I MADE YOU!!” But he hesitated to send it, and eventually rethunk his strategy. 

<smartgenius555> I suppose I should.

<smartgenius555> It’s all tied together anyhow.

<smartgenius555> Are you able to call?

Susie hesitated for a moment, letting the spiders knock her back.

<sus1ez1lla1> k

Berdly’s clammy palms fumbled his phone as he navigated to Susie’s contact as fast as possible. She picked up at an alarmingly late ring considering she was clearly online.

“Yo,” Susie said, deadpan.

“Susie,” Berdly started, legs shaking. He tucked them underneath himself on his gaming chair and set his phone on the table. He hadn’t actually admitted this outloud to anyone. He shook his wings, trying to get them to stop quivering. It was loud.

“Bro are you flying away? What the fuck is going on,” Susie guffawed, running over to Berdly in-game to hit him with a stick.

“I’m… I’m sorry for yesterday. I think after this call you will see where I was coming from, but I need you on my side for this, so I’m sorry.”

Susie returned to her spot by the farm. “Good to know you’re apologizing just cuz you need something,” she teased.

Berdly gave an exasperated sigh, “No, no, I am genuinely apologizing. I took out my frustrations on you. I should not have done that. I will curb my outbursts in the future.”

“Kay.”

He drew in a shaky breath, “Now what I am about to reveal to you is INCREDIBLY SENSITIVE! Please understand, Susie, that this very well may be the most confidential piece of information that you’ve ever been trusted with.”

Susie paused. “Okay?” She tried to seem bored, but she was not good at masking her excitement.

“And I’m telling you this at the advice of someone very wise and not because I believe you will want to help me. But I hope you will help me. So please, keep in mind that I am anticipating a constructive reaction to this,” Berdly stalled, trying let himself be soothed by the familiar sound of Minecrap spiders hissing against the water sound effect.

“BRO! Just tell me already god DAMN,” Susie shouted, her character jumping up and down and swinging her axe.

Berdly bent down close to his phone microphone to whisper. It was not as if his parents were home and, unless there had been a break in, he was the only soul in the house, but he could not possibly risk a data breach. “For the past few years-- and increasing in intensity over time--  I have been harboring some romantic feelings for Kris.” He paused before feeling the need to clarify. “Dreemurr.” 

He was unable to breathe until he heard Susie’s reaction. His brain berated him for admitting this in the manner that he did. What was worse was that Susie did not seem to react in any way for an incredibly painful stretch of time.

Finally, she ran over to Berdly and started smacking him with her axe repeatedly as she jumped, accidentally landing a crit before disregarding the cooldown.

“Wha-- what?! Susie! For Jerma’s sake, Susie, stop!” Berdly started hitting her with his fire aspect sword which finally made her back off. 

Susie roared with laughter, “NO. FUCKING. WAY!!” 

“I told you I was hoping for a constructive reaction!”

“DUDE, give me a minute! I’m still in shock!” She hopped around the room. “You realize this is the craziest shit to ever happen, right?”

Berdly huffed. “Y-you’re not going to tell them, right?”

“FUCK no. YOU’RE going to tell them. Tomorrow.” Berdly’s eyes widened. Susie continued, sputtering “Tomorrow I was gonna crash at Kris’s, but you have to be there too.”

Berdly’s wings started shaking again, “But you will help, right?!”

“Dude,” Susie approached him, stopping to look at him earnestly in the Minecrap eyes. “I would rather die than miss out on this opportunity. I am so fucking glad you told me this.”

Berdly sighed, head drooping down in relief. “I will be frank, Susie, I did not expect such an enthusiastic reaction from you. But I am glad that you are supportive of ‘Kerdly.’”

“YOU HAVE A SHIP NAME?!” Susie shouted, spinning around wildly and punching the ceiling.

“Susie please! Your neighbors will hear you!” He hushed.

“Oh my god, that’s why you geeked out so hard yesterday! Berdly. This is. The fucking best. Kerdly. Holy shit,” Susie sounded genuinely dumbfounded. It was perhaps getting a little old.

“Okay, yes, I know, it’s unreasonable and terrible and it doesn’t make any sense and it will likely not work out. Do you have a plan?!”

“W-What? Dude, no, it’s the best. Look. You find a way to invite yourself over tomorrow night and then I’ll talk to Kris and make sure they don’t freak you out like yesterday. I-- Uh-- look, just be yourself, okay? Be like, Berdly-classic. And be confident! Don’t be afraid! I promise it’s gonna be okay, man. I’ll find a way for you two to talk alone and… Yeah, dude, just don’t worry about it. It’s gonna be great,” Susie logged off of the game.

Talk to them? Berdly-classic? Confident? Was this truly the grade of advice that his guardian angel was providing? He was also not so sure he approved of Susie giving them a ‘pep-talk’ of sorts beforehand. But alas, he had no choice. “Copy that.”

“And PLEASE wear one of those dumbass gamer T-shirts again. PLEASE. For me,” Susie laughed. “Like, I really need you to confess your undying love in a shirt that has a graphic of a videogame controller on it.”

“Fine. Although, all of my pajama shirts have videogame controllers on them.” Berdly sighed, logging off as well.

“Even better. Okay, dude. Sleep well. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She hung up the phone before Berdly could say anything.

--

Berdly pulled up a chair for Kris at the library counter preemptively. Flirting!

Berdly brought a bag of chocolate coated nuts and seeds to share, should Kris be in the mood for a snack. Flirting!

Berdly had purposely positioned his own chair to be close enough to Kris’s that they might brush legs as they sat. Flirting!!

Berdly had grown more confident overnight as his brain processed that he now had a double agent. He had improved his chances by an unknowable percentage, and although Susie was unlikely to provide an overwhelming stat boost, it was definitely not unappreciated! Today would be the day. Today, he would be himself and Kris would LOVE IT! He hoped!

Alphys had hyped him up before class. Susie had joined Alphys in shooting knowing, overenthused looks at him whenever he was made to acknowledge Kris. What was once simply an ember of hope had beefed up into a blaze of determination to not let down his confidants.

“Yooo, Berdly!” Kris greeted, taking their seat and unzipping their backpack.

“Well if it isn’t Kris Thesoulistheangel Dreemurr!” Berdly grinned at them, proud of remembering their legal middle name. Flirting!

Kris’s face screwed up, but their smile didn’t fall, “What’s with the full name?”

“Just wanted to show I care,” Berdly shrugged, reaching for the bag of nuts and seeds to draw attention to it.

Kris pulled out their Nintendo Switch, “Okay dude…Yo, can I have some of those?” Their attention was immediately snagged by the crinkle of the cellophane as Berdly untwisted the bread tie that sealed it.

“Why, of course!” Flirting!

And just like that, Berdly and Kris were sharing a bag of chocolates, hands/wings periodically brushing against each other as they looted the parcel of its decadent spoils! Berdly hoped that his successes would continue, though his doubt had not been completely dispelled by this singular victory.

They played parallel for the first hour or so. Berdly had finished the Redstone Guide and moved onto A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a play recommended by Ms. Alphys for reasons that were not in any way subtle. He imagined himself as Lysander, wooing Kris from the confines of Athenian patria potestas with a love so pure that King Theseus himself had to bend to its will. But first, Berdly would need to gain access to the sleepover they were hosting.

“Er, Kris,” He began, “What are you… doing tonight?” 

He pictured himself looking away, breaking down in hushed tones, Great heavens, that sounded like I was asking them on a date! Too forward, too forward! Control Z! Control Z! He pictured himself slapping his own cheek and yelling to himself, No, Berdly, you fool! Confidence is key! All the better if this process is expedited!

“Susie’s coming over to my place. Why?” Kris responded, looking up from their game with an expression obscured by their bangs, their pretty, shiny bangs..

“O-Oh! That sounds fun. Would you mind if I joined? I feel as though I must make up for what I missed last time,” Berdly laughed to appear charming.

Kris shrugged and smiled at him softly, “Yeah.” Berdly looked away from their lips sharply.

“E-Excellent! I will be there promptly at 18-o-clock.”

Kris squinted as they subtracted 12 from 18 with some difficulty. “Yeah, six is fine. Susie’s coming then too.”

Incredible! Stupendous! Flirtatious! Heavens to YIPEE!! He texted Susie, being sure to obscure the screen from Kris, though that was easy considering how high-up he was.

> I will be in attendance tonight!!!!!

>SICK!!! ill ask if they want to invite you

> ? i’m already invited

> no dumbass

> they’ll tell me ur alr invited and i’ll be like

> ok but dont be an ass if he says something weird again blah blah

> ive got it all figured out brody

> I see

> Thank you, Susie.

Read 16:45

The library gig was over all-too soon, and Kris and Berdly took the 45 minute interval between seeing each other to prepare for the sleepover. 

--

Plumage: Preened

Bag: Packed

T-Shirt: Features video game reference

Hotel: Trivago

Berdly fidgeted with the ring on the strap of his duffel bag as he marched to Kris’s house. He buzzed with excitement, thwarting the chill November air. Though it wasn’t long until he began texting Susie anxiously as he approached.

> Are you there yet?

> Do you want to go in first or shall I?

> Is it better to go in at the same time?

> Susie! Requesting backup!

He rounded the corner, Kris’s house in view, and squinted at his phone. The moment was fast approaching where he would somehow bag the person of his dreams. He hadn’t let himself even fantasize about this moment for fear that it was too preposterous, and it still didn’t seem real, especially because the magician who supposedly would make it happen had gone MIA. He didn’t even have the chance to back out because Susie might actually kill him.

> I’m almost there!

> If you want me to wait outside, speak now!

He looked up and down from his phone to the Dreemurr porch frantically.

> Going dark!!

> Now!!

He drew in a shaky breath and tucked his phone into his duffle bag, clutching the strap so tightly that it curled into a thin loop. 

He waited on the stoop, digging his talons into the scratchy doormat and taking shallow mouth-breaths. He waited for what seemed like forever before realizing that he’d forgotten to knock. 

Oh, haha.. He mumbled, mouth dry before clearing his throat. He knocked on the door rapidly and went back to twisting the strap of his bag. 

Kris, get the door! He heard Susie yell.

Can’t, I’m helping mom. They responded, distantly.

Kriiisssss!! Susie whined.

You’re closer! They responded, exasperated.

Kris, honey, it’s your guest. Get the door please. Toriel said finally.

Then, ominously, forebodingly, terrifyingly, gobsmackingly, the sound of them approaching the door grew in volume. The foliage sounded louder, the sun got brighter. Berdly drew in a sharp breath, fixing his posture. And, with the sound of the rubber door stop prying away from the frame, he locked in.

Kris gave him a polite smile, “Hey Berdly. Come on in. Sick shirt.” Everything else had gone silent. They stepped to the side.

Berdly flashed a dashing, practiced grin. “Why thank you!” Berdly entered, legs shaking but hoping that it wasn’t obvious. He saw Susie planted firmly on the couch. She winked non-subtly.

“Susie’s booting up Minecrap on the XBox 20XX if you want to play.” They started back towards the kitchen. Susie leapt up from the couch and blocked them, hands splayed out so they couldn’t just walk around her.

“I wanna help Toriel. You play Minecrap.” She stared into their eyes menacingly, perhaps more menacingly than Berdly would’ve thought.

“Move, you dick.” They tried to duck under Susie’s arm.

Toriel whipped around, spilling grains of rice onto the hardwood, “Kris! Watch your mouth!”

Kris huffed.

“Yeah Kris. That hurt my feelings a lot,” Susie stuck out her tongue at them. “The only way you can make it up is by letting me help with dinner. Pleeaase?” She batted her eyeslashes at them.

Kris groaned, “Christ, dude, whatever.” They lumbered over to the couch and picked up one of the controllers.

Berdly took a deep breath. What the devil was all of Kris’s apprehension for? Susie seemed to remain just as enthusiastic, though, skipping over to Toriel’s side to talk at leisure. Berdly, on the other hand, timidly shuffled into the living room, feeling a sickening amount of deja vu. 

Kris was in their usual spot to no one’s surprise. Berdly considered his own.

There had never been a time, since the realization of Berdly’s feelings at least, that he hadn’t wanted to sit next to Kris, to be able to sneak glances at them when they were doing work, napping, or gnawing on their stationary. And yet, he had, for so long, been relegated to the space in front of Kris. The desk, the carpet, the passenger seat of Toriel’s car, and so on. Would he now, to defy the laws of all that was simple and true, to break the metric that they had lived in their whole lives, sit next to Kris on the couch..? If there ever were a time, he thought, it was now.

And like Louis Armstrong claiming lunar soil for his country, Berdly slung his duffel bag over the arm of the sofa and planted himself on Kris’s side. He cringed, refusing to look at Kris at all, instead watching them navigate to Minecrap on their archaic Xbox 20XX.

It wasn’t long before the nostalgic menu music flooded the room and Berdly snatched a controller for himself. 

“I’mma make a creative world,” Kris proclaimed. They named it “Berdly.”

Berdly caught glimpses of the worlds they’d already played. “TV World,” “Azzy & Kris,” “KRIS ONLY!!!!!,” “Family Minecrap World,” “Dessriel,” and “Playdate,” the world which Kris entertained their guests with as a kid. 

“What’s TV World?” Berdly filled the silence as they waited for the map to generate.

“That’s for me and Susie,” Kris responded with a quietness that surprised Berdly. He snuck a glance at them. They were pursing their lips, which looked dark and purple under the blue light of the television. Their skin looked soft. He let his gaze linger a little before turning back to the T.V.

“You read that Redstone manuel, right?” Kris said eventually, flying to the nearest mountain.

Berdly’s heart sped up. “Yes I did! So good of you to remember!” He was literally buzzing with excitement and had to tuck his legs underneath him to stop from kicking wildly.

“Let’s make a flying machine. I dunno how.” Kris adjusted their posture so that they would be better suited to lock in. 

Berdly was cheesing. “Okay!!!!!!”

He got to work immediately, deftly maneuvering the creative menu to collect the required materials before following Kris’s character over to the mountain. 

Kris, when realizing that Berdly didn’t need any help, began running circles around the machine while they waited. “What do repeaters even do?” They murmured.

Berdly sighed happily. This was exactly what he liked to talk about. He continued building the machine but monologued over it anyway. (writers note: i dunno how repeaters work and i’m not gonna google it) When he finished, Kris didn’t respond, nor did their character continue running laps. Berdly was immediately struck with the sense that he had spoken too much and embarrassed himself. Kris was probably on their phone or looking elsewhere, and Berdly knew that knowing that for sure would hurt. Still, though, he glanced over at them with morbid curiosity.

Kris had rested their elbow on the back of the sofa, cheekbone pressed into their knuckles as they looked back at him, a uniquely sweet quality permeating a face he’d thought was frozen in coldness. The half-second of eye contact that they shared was the longest of theirs that Berdly could remember, but, all too quickly, they looked away.

“Any-whoodle, uh, the machine is done,” Berdly cleared his throat and climbed atop his creation.

“Sick,” Kris said, as nonchalant as ever. He nodded.

Dinner, which was a mushroom sauce over grilled chicken and cheese rice, was delicious, as expected, but, much to Berdly’s grimace, inspired some awful acting on Susie’s part. In the midst of some post-dinner Minecrap, she hunched over and clutched her stomach, grasping the arm of the couch for support. 

“Urghhh… My celiacs disease…” 

“...Are you being deadass right now?” Kris’s face shriveled. They paused the game.

Berdly put his controller down to look at her, shooting daggers with his eyes. “Susie, what are you doing?”

“Yeesss… Berdly gave me his celiac disease…” She writhed unconvincingly. “I think I gotta go to the bathroom right now… and leave you two alone….”

“That’s not what celiac disease does,” Berdly frowned at her as she stumbled, with the same clumsiness as a drunkard, in the direction of the bathroom.

“How would you know, bitch?” And she slammed the door.

Kris scoffed, “I’m sorry, man, I don’t know what’s up with her today.” 

“It’s okay. I didn’t come to this sleepover expecting Susie to act like a normal person, ROFL!” 

“True, lmao.” Kris disconnected her controller from the console and resumed their place on the couch. They jumped in circles around the structure that Susie had been building that resembled something not PG. 

Berdly joined them after a few seconds. What exactly had Susie been planning for the two to do here? Kris checked their phone boredly.

“I’m gonna build a house.” Kris said eventually, pausing to peruse the creative menu.

Berdly watched them, palms feeling sweatier as the burden of not only keeping up conversation but also being attractive and flirtatious was passed onto him. “What style did you have in mind?” 

They shrugged. “Something blue.” They were a quick builder and had already started on a modestly sized foundation made out of warped wood and mossy cobblestone. 

Berdly felt his heart do an itsy bitsy sommersault. “Such taste, Kris!” 

He watched them build for a little while in complete silence. He thought the awkwardness would suffocate him. He felt his phone vibrate from his bag and surreptitiously checked it. It was Susie.

> i didnt fake diharea for nothing buddy

> get ts going or im just gonna tell them

He scoffed softly, glancing back at the real Kris, hunched over, locked-in, focused on the game in front of them. Yeah, like Berdly had any real “in” here.

He put the phone down and thought, watching Kris build as it soothed his mind.

This was important to him! How ridiculous was it that Susie wanted him to hurry it along? It’s his love life, his crush, and he would be well within his rights to stall his confession until it’s too late! And what if Kris weren’t to reciprocate, and Berdly’s important feelings were to die as a joke, were Kris to start laughing once they were out in the open? It was hopeless. But if he pretended to have a gluten intolerance now, then maybe he really would be banned from the Dreemurr household.

Berdly drew in a deep breath and picked up his controller. Kris had almost finished the little building and was now decorating the exterior with plants and moss. 

“What’s your favorite flower?” Berdly asked quietly, opening the creative menu.

Berdly saw their head twitch in his direction for a split second. “Dandellions.”

He, overly-anxiously, wandered over to Kris and dropped them a few dandelions from his inventory. And, with grit teeth, “To return the favor! I appreciated the ‘poppy’ from the other day.”

Kris picked it up and paused. Berdly held his breath, watching Kris’s stationary character with wide, wild eyes. His mouth felt very dry. He wondered if perhaps a Minecrap flower wasn’t enough. He inhaled shakily.

“If yo--”

“It’s--”

“Apologies, Kris, you can--”

“No, no, you first.”

“...I assure you, you can--”

“No, dude, you first.”

Berdly cleared his throat, turning his head orthogonally to the T.V screen so that Kris wasn’t even visible in his periphery. He preemptively cringed.

“If you don’t like those ones, I can buy you some real dandelions..? Like a bouquet…” After speaking, he pressed his beak closed, adrenaline clouding his judgement on whether or not that was a good line at all.

He heard Kris’s sweater brush against the couch as they turned to face him. His face grew ridiculously hot. He wasn’t sure he liked being watched when he couldn’t see the spectator. They made him wait a few seconds longer.

“No, it’s okay, I don’t need real flowers,” They said, finally.

Berdly’s face fell. The heat drained out of him almost immediately, washed over with cold regret. Rizzless fool.

Kris cleared their throat awkwardly, “B-Because what I really need is you.”

Berdly involuntarily jerked his head to look at them. They were gripping the seam of the couch cushion, jaw slack at their own words, cheeks visibly red even when cloaked in shadow, and somehow, it seemed so obvious-- if not ridiculous, invariably true. Oh, Kris, you wonderful creature! They had played perfectly into the delusional fantasies Berdly had been sweeping into the recesses of his mind. Berdly’s regrets quickly evaporated like dew in the morning, like spilt broth on hot coals, like water in the Nether, leaving Berdly all at once jittery but excited.

He turned his body to face them head-on. Kris shrunk under Berdly’s watchful eyes, but Berdly wouldn’t let them wallow for long, the white knight he was (he was imagining himself in knightly armor now, as one does). He drew in a deep breath, adrenaline paralyzing further thought. “Kris, will you make me the happiest bird in the world… and be my player 2?” He held their gaze as though it would expedite their response.

Kris let out a shaky exhale, tension visibly leaving their shoulders. “Jeezus.”

Berdly held out his wings, which trembled enough to hear his feathers brushing against his flannel PJ pants. “I implore you to respond, Kris.” He spoke with the quickness of a hummingbird zipping from bloom to bloom.

“Yeah,” Kris responded, their voice cracking a little. They bowed their head forward, shielding their face with their mop, and gingerly placing a clammy palm into Berdly’s.

Berdly pressed his beak shut to stop himself from squawking. He could barely believe his ears or whatever birds hear out of. “H-- huzzah!!” 

Kris laughed quickly.

They were silent as they let their feelings settle, awkwardly holding hands as a Minecrap pig oinked in the background. 

Berdly opened his mouth to speak. Communication was key, as he had learned from dating influencers on Reels. Perhaps it was the time to talk about how long he’d dreamt of holding Kris’s hand, of taking them out, of swapping hoodies, of assuming matching Discord profile pictures…

“Let’s finish the house, I guess,” Kris blurted out. 

That was okay too.

Berdly clunkily scooted next to Kris, pressing their shoulders together. Berdly planted Poppies and Dandelions around the house. Kris decorated the interior with two beds next to each other, which almost made Berdly cry. Instead he dropped his head onto Kris’s shoulder, which tensed at first, but then clicked comfortably into the nook of Berdly’s neck. He couldn’t stop smiling. He would cry about this later.

Then suddenly, a flash of white light from behind the two. Berdly shot up, but it was too late.

“Fuck!” 

Susie ducked behind the couch, still in plain sight of the two.

“Do not share that,” Kris commanded promptly.

Susie stood up sheepishly, “I wasn’t gonna. It’s for you two.” She leaned over the couch and showed them the photo which was unsurprisingly sweet. “For your wedding slideshow.”

Kris smacked the backside of her head. Susie erupted in laughter. Berdly couldn’t stop smiling.

Gaming wore-on for another couple hours. Susie explained that her celiacs had inexplicably dissipated by the power of true love and that, as per Toriel’s instructions, Berdly and Kris would be sleeping in the family room where nothing salacious could occur. When they did finally fall asleep, it was cozy and friendly and unreal, and Berdly half expected to wake up in his own bed, cold, but he didn’t.

Toriel made waffles in the morning. Susie gave a conspicuous double thumbs up to her and there was no need to explain anything else. Berdly, at the front door, pressed a gentle peck into Kris’s knuckles and fluttered away. They set a date for their first date.

For the first couple weeks, they both agreed to keep things quiet-- it was more fun and gave them a chance to enjoy the early, heart-electrifying stages of romance without being pestered by mocking-jays. Berdly did tell Alphys, though, who was just as delighted and supportive as he’d expected.

When they eventually did hard launch, it was with matching profile pictures and a Discord status: One Berdly thought he’d never write, nor one he’d ever permitted himself to utter, and not something that had seemed in any way plausible to gamers across the globe: “Kerdly is canon.”