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Kris' eyes peeled opened 3 months after the world was supposed to end. The bright sun streamed into the room, filling it with the warm promise of a new day as the birds sang their familiar song, content with heralding in the new day with the one they knew by heart. All this quiet beauty while the world around them was still waking up from its slumber, Kris couldn't help but feel this wasn't something they were supposed to behold, just happened to by circumstance.
They went to get up, when the weight on their chest stopped them from being able to move. A quick surge of panic quickly subsided when they remembered they weren't sleeping in their own bed and the warmth that surrounded them wasn't from blankets.
The Holiday family's living room slowly materialized overhead. Susie was snoring on top of them, the apple shampoo they'd stolen from Kris' bathroom wafting to their nose. Ralsei was tucked into their side, sleeping like a goddamn princess like she always did during their sleepovers. Something Kris couldn't help but find adorable. Noelle was curled up on the other, her hand holding Susie's.
It was peaceful, for a moment they almost thought it was a dream. That it was a cruel trick of their brain before thrusting them back into a reality where they had no control. So they waited, basking in the perfection before it was ripped away.
But that moment never came.
No strings were ever pulled to make them someone else's vessel again, their body and SOUL was finally their own. No one elses. No player, no Angel, no Mystery Man, no one's. Only theirs and theirs alone. For better and for worse.
Several emotions swirled around in their chest; some light and airy at freedom so many lost their minds for and others… others were filled with an anxiety that weighed them down just the same as the Angel did.
Their thoughts swirled with doubt and euphoria. The prophecy didn't happen. They were alive and able to make their own choices. Their friends didn't leave them the moment they were themself and not a vessel. So why did they still worry they would?
Kris needed to clear their head and thankfully the one way they knew how was right in the living room beside them.
They carefully wiggled out of Ralsei and Noelle's side and slipped from Susie's grip. As soon as they were out of the sleeping pile, Kris immediately turned their heel to make sure they were still asleep. Other than Noelle's nervous twitches, nobody had even stirred.
Because they didn't notice.
Because they're all asleep.
Their mind tried warring over the two thoughts as if it was life or death. But they quieted as soon as Kris noticed the way their sleepy smiles twitched at their sudden absence.
Kris shook their head, slightly mad at themself for falling back into the same habitual self loathing. Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle have proven over and over again that they meant something to them. They didn't know what they saw in them, Kris didn't think they were half as brave and kind and smart like they were, but they wanted to be that for them. They would try every day.
As soon as they were certain they were still asleep, Kris made their way to the piano where their prosthetic laid on the bench. An ever permanent reminder of what they lost at the World' End trying to banish the Angel's Heaven. It didn't hurt as much as it did in the aftermath, but they still couldn't play the piano the same way as they used to.
They clicked the prosthetic in place, testing it out to make sure it worked the way it should, before sitting down on the bench. Their fingers brushed the keys, a song they knew by heart now already beginning to come to mind. One they haven't played in a long time. So they did. The notes came hesitantly at first, the seven four signature trying its damndest to trip them up, but slowly they got the hang of it again.
Kris got lost in the music, the notes, the freedom of playing, the melancholy of the song and the hesitant excitement that slowly grew as it went on. Usually they'd never let the excitement mature, ending it unresolved and unfinished. But this time, they let it grow until it tangled with their own. At some point, Kris didn't know where they began and where the music ended.
They didn't realize they had an audience until they felt the roar of their partners' applause as the song lulled to a close.
"Dude, that was awesome!" Susie said.
Kris cringed as they pulled their hands away, "'sorry, did I… wake you guys?"
"No, not at all!" Ralsei said quickly.
"I had already woken up long before you left the pile," Noelle confessed. "It was either pretend to be asleep or doom scroll."
"Same here," Ralsei gave a genuine smile, not like the strained ones she'd given while they were questing before the Roaring.
"Plus who doesn't like getting woken up by awesome music." Susie shrugged.
Kris nodded wordlessly, guilt gathering in the base of their throat regardless of their assurances otherwise. Susie put a hand on their shoulder, alleviating some of the built up guilt.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to disturb you," Noelle began.
"You didn't," Kris mumbled.
Noelle titled her head, confusion contorting her face. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Kris twisted the sleeves of their sweater, "I don't- I like playing for you guys."
"Really?"
Kris nodded earnestly, knowing why she was so cautious in the first place. When they were both a lot younger, the Holiday Family's piano helped them work a lot of things out that was going on in their head. Dess' disappearance, their parents' divorce, coming of age as the only human… they let all of that out into the notes on the piano. But it wasn't something they wanted to share just yet, so they would only play when Noelle wasn't there. They weren't oblivious to the fact she'd listen to them from the other room, but it was still something they weren't willing to share yet.
But years of hiding themself away fell away with months spent with Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle (and Berdly too but don't tell him that). For the first time, maybe they finally were ready to show someone .
"Hell yeah!" Susie cheered, "Can you play something again?"
"If that's ok with you, of course!" Ralsei added a little hastily.
Kris turned around wordlessly, their fingers lingering over the keys. For a moment, they couldn't find a melody to play. Like all the music was sucked out of their body.
But soon a small melody began to echo out of the darkness, one that they knew by heart but refused to play for so long. They began to play, softly and unsure at first point. But quickly gained the confidence the longer they played. They could almost hear Noelle singing along to the song like she used to when they were kids.
Suddenly Noelle came crashing into them from behind, wrapping them into an embrace they happily returned as best as they could.
"Thank you," She whispered into their shoulder.
Kris didn't respond, just placing a small kiss on her arm. Susie and Ralsei quickly joined in, not sure what the moment meant to their partners but wanted to be there for them regardless.
"Will you all be quiet? Some of us need sleep to enhance our gamer skills!" Berdly interjected sleepily before a crashing sound immediately followed.
Everyone paused as they waited until they were sure he went back to sleep before they said anything else.
"Am I the only one who forgot he was here?" Susie whispered.
"Faha, no." Noelle said, scratching at the back of her neck.
"Why did we invite him again?" Ralsei asked.
"He's the aroace gamer nerd friend. He's essential to the dynamic," Kris explained.
"Really?"
"No they're right." Noelle added with a nod. Ralsei looked a little confused still but Susie assured her with a shrug.
"Do you think he'd wake up if I started playing the smashing fighters theme?"
"Definetely."
"Oh yeah, do it!"
So Kris did and Berdly did indeed wake up immediately like a kid on Christmas. They didn't stop there, they played all the requests even the ones Berdly suggested. It was probably the most they'd played piano in a long time.