Chapter Text
It was the day.
Yes, the day.
It was laundry day. Typically, in the Dreemurr household, Toriel would take charge in getting everyone's clothes all cleaned and folded, but for the lone human child of the Dreemurrs, Kris favored to do their own labor. Kris grew to dislike having their clothes handled by anyone but themselves, and with Asriel and Asgore's absence from the house, laundry days became... quiet, but never peaceful.
And so, all alone, Kris did their laundry, but when all was cobbled together their hand only hovered over the washing machine's "start" button. Their eyes gleaned pensively, debating if they truly wanted to poke the hornets nest or just press wash and leave it be.
You see, there's an article of clothing missing from this load. It is by no means special. Merely just another sweater, no different from all the others they wear and sleep with. In fact, this particular sweater was missing out of petty theft. Yes! It was stolen! But Kris would not have been so stumped by it's absence had they not known for certain who took it...
There's no harm in her having it, one half of their brain argued.
But she's trying to get close! If we leave her with it this could domino, the other side retorted.
She misses you.
You know what happens if you close the distance... You'll never want out of it.
Kris slowly closed their eyes and sighed. The lingering finger above the start button retreated. They know it'll pain her, but that's all they've ever been is a pain. A Christmas cactus with thorns. An anomaly. That's why they have to lease this distance. No one should have to be burdened with this connection. Especially... Noelle Holiday.
If you had to ask Noelle Holiday what her laundry days are like, she'll probably have very little to say. Any laundry that isn't underwear or sweats gets dry cleaned professionally, and her mother, Carol, is usually responsible for doing all of that herself. So what's left up to Noelle to take into her own hands is as simple as throwing a frozen meal into the microwave and waiting a bit for it to ding.
Nevertheless, Carol is a very thorough woman. She'll enter Noelle's room on her own accord to snuff out any shirts, skirts, and all fashionable festivities that hurts if she feels that Noelle had missed an article of clothing to be casted away to the dry cleaners. So, if Noelle ever had a particular item she didn't want found by her mother, she'd need to have it hidden pretty well...
A festive jingle rings within the house. Noelle, sitting at her desk, looks up from her homework. Someone's ringing the doorbell. Her parents are both away for the moment, leaving only herself to hold down the snowfort and the one responsible to answer whoever's at the door.
"Ohh...," Noelle sighs to herself, "I hope Mr. Dreemurr didn't misplace his key to the house again... Dad had a heyday trying to get it out of the gutter. And Mr. Dreemurr didn't make it easier trying to climb up the ladder to help him when he was told to hold it. Faha, but the look on Dad's face when he—"
Ding dong
"CHEESE AND CRACKERS THE DOOR!" She exclaims completely sidetracked, a lost girl in her own mind. She hooves it out of her room and down the stairs, tap dancing along the steps. Noelle places her hand on the door handle, but doesn't open it. She takes a moment to collect herself and recite what to say in case it isn't Asgore. It could be a City Hall associate of her mother's after all. "Sorry, my mother isn't here right now, but I can leave her a message when she comes back," she tells herself. "Perfect! Now let's answer that door, Noelle!"
"Hello there, how can I...," her mind trails as she opens the house to the outside to find... someone much shorter than her. In fact, it was a person she would never have expected to show up at the door at all. A surprise that was enough to send a shock to her heart. It was Kris.
"K-Kris!" Her eyes dart around, body almost needing the door frame to remain steady. All etiquette and recital found dead in a ditch as she struggles to comprehend what is happening. "What, uh, brings you here... perchance?" Why did I say that?
"Perchance?" Kris mumbles.
"PERHCANCE!" WHY DID I SAY THAT???
Noelle's mind is a racetrack. The Indy 500 slows behind in comparison to the speed and chaos that Noelle is currently experiencing. It's the first time in forever that Kris has shown up to her house, the first in forever since she opened the door for them.
Is this a prank? It has to be... unless... are they really here to—
"Do you have a pencil I could borrow?"
You know that sound when you're standing on a frozen lake and the ice underneath creaks and cracks a little? Imagine that was Noelle's brain just now.
"A-Ah...," she stutters out. "Um... yeah, of course. There's always plenty... here." Noelle's expression becomes soft with a melancholic smile. A moment of excitement suddenly deflates back to her usually dissociation. As if it meant nothing to her at all. "I'll go get one for you," she quietly obliges and begins to shut the door.
"Wait," Kris speaks calmly as they press against the door, "I want to come inside. Is that okay?"
Kris' eyes, hidden through their bangs, may seem dim, but when they lock on to the eyes of others they can glow bright. And looking in their eyes, Noelle feels a spark in hers. A quiet flame, not very bright, but not dim either, glowing inside. Some might even call this phenomenon... "hope".
"Of course you can!" She says with vigor much more earnest and proud than how she spoke before. "Step right in!" The door opens larger than a jar as Kris is welcomed back once more into the Holiday household. That familiar gingerbread aroma stood in the air. The house hasn't changed much, but there's a coldness to it now that only Kris truly notices.
A rattling marches off somewhere within the building. It was routine, the sound bouncing up and down, forward and back. It was almost like the sound of...
"Laundry day, huh?" Kris threw a guess at Noelle.
"Oh, yeah!" she glees, "my stuff's in the dryer, but yknow how my mom is, faha. Most of my clothes are getting dry cleaned. Are you doing laundry too?"
"Mhmm," Kris hums back with a nod.
"Really? What a coincidence! Didn't think we'd be so in sync with each other. Maybe I'll knock on your house for a pencil next too fahaha! H-Hey, Kris—!" Noelle eyes them ascending up the stairs to her room. Kris looks back, but without words Noelle already can tell they just want the pencil.
She blushes. The idea of Kris in her room... It's not like they've never been in there before but she felt a bit uneasy, unsecured for such a random visit.
"H-How about I get you my pencil holder Kris and I'll just let you pick one—" Kris takes a step up. "Kris!" And another step. "Kris, wait!" The more she tells Kris to stop, the more steps Kris takes, and the closer Noelle tried to get, the farther Kris got. It was like a dance, really. A dance of distance. And they danced to this distance till eventually, Noelle...
"GOTCHA!" She says grabbing Kris' shoulders. "Now stay put and I'll..." She looks over. They're standing right in front of her open bedroom door. Kris, null to her grip, simply walked in and Noelle arches over in defeat.
Kris observes Noelle's desk, strumming the collection of pencils she has tucked in a black mug with a phrase plastered on it saying: "Keep calm and Dragon Punch on!" A phrase that made them think this was a gift from Berdly. Noelle, standing near the doorway watches Kris carefully, fearing the worst case, yet unlikely scenario that Kris would find the thing she wouldn't want them to see.
Their fumbling with Noelle's collection ceases as they finally obtain a single pencil to their liking. It's a red and white candy cane pencil that looks so convincingly real it's difficult to resist the urge to start licking it.
Noelle sighs with relief. There was nothing for her to worry about at all... so she thought. Just as Kris grabs the pencil, in their attempt to snatch it, the pencil gets flung right behind them onto the pink carpet almost rolling under the sofa. Noelle's eyes widen. She watches as Kris slowly walks towards it. Time feels like its freezing up, but never stopping. Her heart pounds maniacally, alarms blaring bloody red.
Kris gets on their knees.
Please don't look under.
Kris' arm slowly lurches forward.
Don't get any closer.
Kris' hand just inches away from the pencil.
KRIS!!!
"KRIS I CAN GET IT FOR YOU!" She yelps with hand reached out. But as her brain settles and her eyes focus again, she finds Kris looking back at her mutely, pencil in hand. She stares at them a bit dazed until the ego kicks in and her ears begin to feel warm. "Aaaaaah looks like you got it okay... haha... ah." She awkwardly chuckles, but she's trying her best to not die out of embarrassment. Kris gets back on their feet and goes over to Noelle. Meekly, she diverts eye contact.
"I'm sorry...," she apologies, "I don't know what's up with me. Must be hormones faha..."
"It's okay," Kris tells her in a surprisenly gentle manner, in a Kris way at least, "thanks for looking out for me." Noelle's face brightens up a little. She's able to see them in the eyes again, those glimmering eyes of theirs under the sea of their bangs.
"Of course," she smiles sweetly.
Just then, Kris begins licking their lips and pursing them, looking a bit discomforted. Noelle tilts her head, "What's wrong Kris?" Kris points to their mouth and swallows a bit. "Oh are you thirsty? You know... we actually just got some chocolate milk the other day. Let's go pour some!"
Noelle walks out of the room, but Kris doesn't follow. She notices this and backs up to them still standing on the other side of the door. "C'mon Kris! Don't you want some?" Kris gives Noelle a playful bark.
"Oh cheese...," she nervously chuckles, "really Kris? You wanna play 'Girl's Best Friend' right now?" Kris barks again. "But I don't have any treats to give you..." Kris whines. "Okay, okay! Faha... Okay, how about I get you your chocolate milk. Will you take that as a treat?" Kris barks eagerly in multiple successions. "Alright! Stay right there then! I'll be right back!" Kris barks once more for assurance.
They wait until they can hear Noelle's hooves gallop on the stairs to disobey her orders and snoop around. Going off the pencil toss, the couch is the immediate first guess to where Noelle hid the sweater. It wouldn't be in the closet as they already suspected. In fact, there's not many places she has available to hide a sole fabric of clothing.
Kris tried looking under the cream white throw blanket she has on the couch, although it's been there for so long it's probably graduated to being a still blanket. Nothing there. They try under the couch cushions but come up dry. The only other place it can be is underneath but beneath the couch is... nothing. That can't be right. It for sure had to be under here there's nowhere else that would have any of this make sense.
But Kris already adjusted their angle to this investigation. It's not enough to just place something under another thing, no, to truly hide something, is to put it deeper in. And upon the pink carpet, there were a long trail of wool under the couch that had been pushed flat, as if something had to lay down there... like an arm. And deeper further in, Kris could see it. A cut in the black fabric that hid the inner skeleton of the furniture.
They reach inside, fingers sliding through the slit, fumble around for a bit before catching something rough in texture. Kris pulls it through, the recognizable green and yellow color being an immediate confirmation to them. This is it. The sweater.
"Kris...?" They turn their head around to find Noelle staring back in horror. Her hand holding a glass of chocolate milk shakes to the point of almost spilling out. A invisible force grabs at her neck, making it difficult to find the words to explain. She didn't know whether to collapse or just run out of the room.
Kris prepared for this. They knew Noelle would take it hard, so they'll do the talking for her. Explaining how they eyed it under the couch and just went for it. But that's not what happened. Instead, something like a miracle was born in Noelle's aching heart. Something few words could describe, but one may describe as "resolve".
"I was going to give that back," Noelle spoke shakily. The fact she responded at all made Kris express a little. "But I... I never found the right time or... the right way to give it to you. You left it back during gym class last week... You left early because the school faculty told you Asriel had gotten injured at work, when he really just rolled his foot and got a few scraps off the sidewalk." Kris remembered that moment. They left so fast they didn't even bother to switch out of their sweats. For all the people in Hometown who saw them running were aware, they assumed Kris was out for track.
"But... I just... kinda... forgot. And then... it just got lost under my couch, I guess..." There's a mixture of mournful and mortified drapped across her face, but if Kris had to find better words for it, they'd say she looked pretty brave.
Kris stands up, sweater and pencil in hand. They don't walk past Noelle, but by her side. As her body still shakes, they set their touch on her shoulder and everything freezes. Noelle turns over at them.
"Thank you," they mutter. Noelle gazes at the sweater one last time. The way she looked at it told you it wasn't truly in intention to be returned and there's definitely some memories of her own lingering within the fuzzed cotton greens. Kris walks forward, ready to go home and complete their laundry day, but Noelle turns around still wanting to savor the last of this interaction.
"Wait, Kris!" Kris halts just before they pass fully through the frame. They don't turn around, but their head leans to just barely glance behind, waiting for her to respond. Noelle swallows, "It was nice to have you here again... a-at the house, I mean."
Kris rests their attention a bit, their head turning a bit lower and further away from Noelle, but they give her a nod, as if to say: "Yeah, me too". And then, Kris leaves. The sound of footsteps echoing and following after, and then the front door opens... and shuts. Noelle finally breaths out after holding it in for too long.
In that moment, she collapses to her knees. A nostalgia waxes over her, the days of old where she would cry whenever Kris and company left and returned home. It was so silly. They would play with each other the next day and the next. Some days at her house, their house, the woods, or the park. Now, she wanted to cry. But for some reason, it's so much harder to make the tears fall out. Maybe that's what happens when you've cried for someone to return for so long... And all that's left is silence...
As Kris was leaving the Holiday premises, between the lead in towards the house's front garden and the steel gates that act as the property entrance, just between that stretch of stone pathing walled within the amber trees, Kris slowed their pace... and stopped. They looked around cautiously making sure no one was nearby to watch, especially behind them towards the house, checking to see if it's windows were in view. And, with soft and sympathetic eyes, they slowly brought the sweater to their face and sniffed it.
Just a small sniff was all and it was enough to gather a distinct aura. Kris could sense that human musk from themselves onto the sweater, but there was another smell. A small tinge of sweetness that coddled the fabric.
It was Noelle's smell.
Feverishly, Kris inhaled a larger dose of the scent just to get a trace of her. They shuddered a sigh, a tear spilling down their cheek. It's been so long... so, so terribly long... that they felt this comforted. As if time had turned back, the fragrance of youthful days when they and Noelle were kids. When their scents were intertwined becoming their signature makeup. What any person would give to take back those moments.
You know what happens if you close the distance...
You'll never want out of it.
But... this feeling can't last forever. The flame of nostalgia in Kris' eyes dims and is snuffed out. They wipe away the tear staining their cheek as a stoic yet punished expression reclaims their face once again.
It's means nothing to me, they lie to themselves.
Returning home, Kris throws the sweater into the washing machine and, without hesitation, pushes start. The lid closes, a rushing waterfall cascades into the laundry pile. Now, all that's left to do is wait. Wait for the machine to beep, then exchange the cleanly soaked clothes into the dryer and wait. Wait for the dryer to beep, then take the clothes out and bring to their room, organizing, folding, and placing them into their respective hidey-holes.
After all, today was like any other laundry day. So Kris left the washer 's side and retreated back to their room; head down, softly closing the door...
You miss her.
Kris rushes out of their door. They could have broken it down with their speed as they gunned it back to the wash room. They encounter the machine and try to force the top open, but a mechanism locks the hatch as the wash proceeds. Kris forcefully presses the "cancel" button on the control panel and the washer slows to a dull hum. They nearly throws themselves into the entire cylindrical hold as soon as the hatch could be opened, just a tad too short to properly lean in.
"Please," Kris begged in strained whispered breaths to themselves, "don't punish me for this. Please, just let me have this..." They dig and claw at the freshly soaked and sudded mountain of cloth as their hand hooks onto a single green sleeve and they reel it in towards their face.
"Please...," a final plea escaped from their mouth. A desperation rarely found in their conscious anymore, but even so their heart didn't hesitate. They took that brave step forward and breathed in...
It's gone.