Chapter Text
When the title of World Hero was thrust upon Susie all in one day, she took initiative. (Albeit after a bit of convincing, yet she still counted it as taking initiative.) The girl was told the fate of the world was in her hands, that she was destined for greatness, and whether she liked it or not, she had to be the savior. She didn’t even feel scared, she said. It was fun, she said. As long as she had Kris and Ralsei by her side, Susie felt like she could take on anybody (even a Titan!) in a fight and she would still win. It was simple, really. She’d bonded with the brown-haired teenager over their shared presence in an apparent Dark World existing in the supply closet of their school, the two forming a team to fight evil monsters there. She might even go as far as calling Kris her best friend. They literally spent all their time together!
No, seriously. They spent all their time together. Whether it be hangouts, just walking around, going to Castle Town together, even sleeping over together, they were always glued at the hip. Kris even felt comfortable enough to invite Susie to their room, the one they shared with their older brother Asriel. Even though Kris never let anybody into their room. Even though Kris’ side of the room felt unbearably dull in comparison to the older boy’s school and sport trophies, shelves adorned with certificates and glow-in-the-dark stars and decorations all over his side of the room, while Kris didn’t have much. They didn’t like it. But they still let Susie in.
And Susie appreciated it! She loved liked Kris equally, and the two felt comfortable around each other in ways they hadn’t with anyone else before. Even Toriel would start asking Kris when they were going to bring Susie around when she’d been absent from the house for too long, like the purple scaled girl had permanently integrated herself into their life.
It was surprising to Toriel how close Kris and Susie had gotten over such a short period of time, and when she tried to pry at Kris for answers, they simply just shrugged, and said that they and the girl had bonded over their love of all things random. Toriel didn’t meddle further, but the ever-knowing mother seemed to catch the light in her child’s eyes as they spoke of their bestest friend.
Kris appreciated Susie too, and felt that the two could bond over their inherent feeling of being an outsider no matter what. With Kris, despite having not gone through any essentially negative interactions with any of the townsfolk, there was always the undercurrent of ‘othering’ that Kris felt, being the only human in a town chalk-full of monsters. With Susie, she had always appeared as the ‘weird’, ‘scary’ outsider; the new kid who was tough and violent and terrifying and should not be approached whatsoever. Kris found it refreshing, while Susie was bummed they weren’t friends any earlier. (Though, her prior hostility towards everyone who even thought of approaching her was sort of to blame for that.)
So when Susie and Noelle started getting closer, Susie felt the need to weigh Kris in on it, like it was something she considered a great important secret. (It really wasn’t. Subtlety wasn’t either girl’s strong suite, so everyone ended up knowing what was happening between them before they even really did.) Susie started spending more and more time with Noelle, the two going on various dates all around town. It was literally impossible to see them apart at any given point that week. Kris could tell Susie was happy. It was obvious. She was always grinning now, ear to ear, walking around with this sort of joyful pep in her step, like nothing could sour her mood. And before long, it became a permanent thing.
Kris tried to be happy for the two of them. They really did. They’d even tried practicing their really happy supportive best friend smile in the bathroom mirror before bed, the face they’d give Susie when she started talking about Noelle.
But it was simply all futile. Kris did not know what it was. Perhaps it was the feeling of seeing an old friend so close in their periphery after such a long period of time spent purposefully avoiding them. Perhaps it was the fact that Susie had started spending less time with them lately, having not visited Castle Town for an entire week that she’d instead swapped out for a week hanging out with Noelle. (Kris did not mention this, but it was obvious, they thought. Ralsei and Lancer did not let a moment pass without mentioning her.) Perhaps it was their SOUL pulsing boredly in their chest after not having gone through any adventures for an entire week. Kris decided on the second option, and occasionally the third.
It made them feel stupid. The two weren’t doing anything inherently wrong. There was nothing to feel upset about. Which just made Kris even more upset, because why would their two (closest?) friends getting together affect them in any way?
Oftentimes, Susie would even invite Kris to tag along, if Noelle is feeling up to a group activity. Those times made Kris the most irritated. Then, it irritated them more that they did not know why they were irritated. It must be the SOUL. They told themself. It must be the SOUL moving around because it’s not getting what it wants. That must be it. The SOUL is just bored, tired of thirdwheeling all the time.
But deep down, Kris knew it wasn’t. It wasn’t that small, petty annoyance when they saw Berdly being a geek during class. It wasn’t the childish anger of losing a video game against his irritatingly skilled older brother. This was different. This was a deep, ugly feeling in the pit of their stomach. Kris hated it. And after so much time of feeling it, Kris had put a name to the feeling. They were jealous.
What? The word echoed in their mind as they shook the thought out of their head. That’s absurd. Why would I be jealous?
They didn’t even entertain the thought long enough to rationalise it. At that point, they couldn’t even blame the SOUL for a thought coming out of such left field. It’d long since been locked up in that birdcage they socked it in every night before bed.
“I’m not jealous.” Kris muttered to themselves, as they rolled over in bed, facing the wall. “Jealous. Hah. Me? I’m cool. So cool. Cool as a cucumber.”
Ugh. And talking to a wall. I need to get some sleep. They closed their eyes, finally seriously melting into a comfortable slumber. Comfortable images slipped into their mind. Christmas with the Holidays at Toriel’s house when Kris was merely five years old, their mother’s warm butterscotch-cinnamon pie, Asriel and their late-night secret gaming sessions, Susie’s shampoo..
Huh. Susie was probably up texting Noelle right now, right?
“Oh my god,” Kris considered slamming their head against the wall in front of them in frustration. They did not. But they did not succumb to sleep either. Not for a long time that night.
* * *
“Kris! Sweetheart, Susie’s here!” Toriel called out from downstairs, and Kris gave a weak groan Toriel couldn’t hear in response. They’d tried to sleep, trust them, they really did. It didn’t really work. It wasn’t their fault their mind was racing a million miles a minute at ideas that were not fully of their own accord. Kris tried to push themselves further into the mattress, hoping the thin blanket would swallow them up enough to help the world forget about them for just a few moments.
In the end, they reluctantly got up. With bleary eyes, they leaned over the bird cage and unlocked it, going through the painful routine of having to force their SOUL back into their body, before stumbling back onto their bed. They sighed, laying down so they were sitting on their bed, perpendicular. It was peaceful and quiet for a couple moments, with the gentle breeze coming from their window gently lifting a few strands of hair from their eyes. Kris could almost feel themself falling back asleep.
Before their door slammed open. Kris gave a tired sigh, hearing heavy steps of large feet thudding towards them. Then silence. Nothing happened.
Kris fought the urge to open their eyes. Curiosity got the better of them.
“Wow. You look like hot shit.” Susie simply commented, pointing towards their eyebags. Kris shook their head, moving their bangs back over their eyes.
Their brows just furrow as they sit up, before standing up fully. Susie raises an eyebrow, ruffling their hair. “You okay, shortstack?”
Kris simply hums a small hum of approval, before they both make their way downstairs. They both walk towards the dining table, each taking a seat right in the middle, sitting next to each other. Toriel starts talking idly as Kris picks up their fork, tearing into their pancakes.
“I heard a new family was moving in next door,” She said, casually, biting a piece of her own pancake. “I’d like it for you guys to get to know them, and their child. They’re about your age,”
Kris glanced over at Susie, who was coincidentally also looking at them. They shared a curious look for a moment. Kris wonders, silently, why Toriel would mention something so trivial. Susie simply grins toothily. “Sure, Toriel. We might pop in.”
The rest of breakfast passed by uneventfully as ever. Kris and Susie finished breakfast and left the house. First, Kris convinced Susie to visit Castle town. (Not much convincing there. Just the exchange of a mutually eager glance as they ran to the school, sliding into the supply closet with the familiarity of entering home.)
“Kris, Susie!” Ralsei greeted eagerly, pulling them both into a tight hug. “I missed you! Especially you, Susie. I was starting to think you forgot about us.”
Susie bristled. “Hey! I-I was busy, okay?” She bashfully rubbed the back of her neck. “My bad, alright? I.. I have good news, anyway.”
Ralsei raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. Kris also looked at Susie, too. She hadn’t told them there was any good news, either. She grinned toothily, putting her hands up in the air as if she was offering a surprise. “How do you guys feel about Noelle joining the team?”
Ralsei smiled instantly, but Kris felt a shudder through their entire body. They folded their hands into fists.
“Great!” The goat boy chirped, lighting up. Kris found it hard to focus on the rest of the conversation, Ralsei and Susie going through a gentle back and forth about Noelle. They bristled as their teammates both turned to look at them. “What do you think, Kris?”
“It’s Amazing,” Kris responded, although it sounded wrong – strained, given their face was completely blank.
Susie was blushing now, grinning from ear-to-ear like she couldn’t bite back her genuine reaction. Kris’ nails dug into their palms. “I know, right? I mean, I’ve tried to subtly tell her about the Dark World, you know? Don’t get me wrong, I like that it’s, sort of, our own little thing,” she explained, stretching her arms behind her head as they walked to the Castle. “But, Noelle being there? It sounds totally badass.”
“Susie!” Lancer eagerly greets, jumping onto Susie’s shoulders. Susie laughs, picking him up and spinning him around. They all engaged in loose conversation until they reached the castle, cycling through topics while not necessarily talking about anything specific. This was Kris' favorite part, when they could pretend everything was fine and spend time together like actual friends.
“Hey, Ralsei,” Susie set her hands on her hips, looking at the shorter fluffy boy with curiosity. “What if we make Noelle a room? Do you think she might like it here? Hey, maybe she can share my room,”
“I do have a spare room,” He nods, pointing to the free room at the end of the hall. Susie grins, giving him (what she considered) a gentle pat on the back, making the boy stagger a few steps ahead from the smack.
And after a while spent about exactly the same in Castle Town, Susie and Kris decided to be on their way. They said their goodbyes to everyone, closed the supply closet and snuck out of the school with about the same amount of grace as Bigfoot. Luckily, nobody was around anyway.
On the way to Sans’ grocery store, Susie mentioned absentmindedly, “Hey, Kris,”
They hummed in response, glancing up at her through their bangs.
“I wonder what’s up with that New Kid,” Susie mumbled as she walked in, beelining towards the freezer. She pulled out two ice lollies, a pink one for Kris and a blue one for herself. “Does your mom usually mention new neighbors or something?” Her eyes flicked down to Kris by her side. “Did she mention me?”
The corner of their lips quirked upwards in something akin to a smirk as they pulled out five bucks for both popsicles. They handed the money to Sans, before making their way outside, sitting on the pavement in front of the store. Kris could feel Susie’s curious glare as they unwrapped their popsicle. “Not really. She hasn’t spoken about anyone in a while. Maybe she wants us to be friends with them.”
Susie nods, taking a bite of the (fully wrapped) popsicle. “She worried about your social life, loser?”
Kris frowns, taking their cold Popsicle out of their mouth to shove it in Susie’s neck. She hissed, grabbing Kris by their arm, before biting them. Kris laughed, wriggling out of the reptile girl’s jaw. They pushed her head with their other hand, flailing in her grip. “Hey, let go–!”
“Oh, excuse me?” The voice came from right in front of the two teenagers, who froze in response, instantly glancing over at the source.
It was a girl who couldn’t be older than sixteen. She was quite short, with a little boy by her side, holding her hand. She looked quite normal. Only one thing about her was quite odd. Kris’ brows furrowed, and they felt their grip on their Popsicle slacken.
Splat!
“Oh, uhh,” Susie started, Kris’ forearm still in her jaw. She blinked a few times, pulling their arm out of her mouth, before getting up and sidestepping away from the grocery store. “Here you go. My bad.”
“No worries,” She smiled, waving the two off, before walking to the store behind them.
Susie turned to look at Kris with widened eyes. She whispered, grabbing Kris by both shoulders. “Holy shit, Kris, was that another human?”
A Human.
Another human.
In Hometown.
Kris wishes they could say they kept their cool, but it was hard. They stared at the space where the girl was for a moment, before looking back up at Susie. They tilted their head. “Yeah, maybe.”
Susie’s lips curl into a pout. “Hey, you’re way too casual about this. I’d have freaked out if I were you.” Her eyes flicked to the window of the store, where the human girl was casually buying her groceries. “Do you think she’s the new neighbor Toriel was talking about?”
It suddenly dawned on Kris. Of course that’s why Toriel wanted them to get to know the family. There was a human. A human person Toriel wanted them to bond with, over being the only two humans in Hometown. She wouldn’t have said it outright, Kris was sure she’d ‘failed to mention it’ on purpose, and that pissed them off. They bit back their frown. “I think so.”
She seemed to scope their reaction for a moment. She eyed them skeptically. “And you… are okay with this?”
They shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Susie grinned, shaking Kris by their shoulders. “Alright, awesome, let’s get to know her, then! I think she’s almost done..”
They both glanced inside at the same time. The little boy who was by her side coincidentally turned around at the same time, and for a long moment, all three of them held long, silent eye contact. Until he grinned, toothy, the smile stretching his face, fat cheeks at each side, corners of his eyes crinkling with such a huge smile. There was a gap between his two front teeth, and his little hand came up to his side and he waved eagerly.
Kris grimaced, averting their eyes. Susie waved back awkwardly. The girl smacked him on the back of the head, berating him for something and he whined in response, following her as they strode towards the cash register.
Susie let go of Kris, smoothing their shirt out. “Hey, your popsicle..”
Kris grinned mischievously. “Five bucks says you won’t eat it off the floor.”
“Oh, you’re on.”