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The Dreemurr home was immersed in silence, with its sole occupant confining themself in their bedroom. Toriel had left to buy groceries only a few minutes ago, but Kris knew she wouldn't be back for a while. They tried not to think too hard about why her trips always took so long.
It was fairly late in the day, the sun nearing the end of its journey towards the horizon, yet the human was still wallowing in their boredom. They'd been laying on their bed for hours now, with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling and get lost in their thoughts.
It was only a Saturday, yet Kris couldn't help but feel like they were wasting the whole weekend away. And all because their girlfriend had more important things to do than play Super Smashing Fighters with them. Why did Noelle have to take the whole Saturday to work on some papers that weren't even due for weeks?
(Ugh… I hate how responsible she is.)
Of course, they knew it wasn't her fault to begin with. They knew how her mom was, always expecting nothing but perfection from her daughter. But still, that left Kris with nothing to do all day.
They felt silly laying there, like they were stuck in place without Noelle. They'd spent every weekend together since they'd started dating, but this was the first time she'd been too busy to see them. The two of them would sit together on the couch in her room and play video games, or go to QC's for milkshakes, or even just curl up together on Kris' bed and watch funny videos on her phone.
Kris had gotten so used to sharing each other's presence like that, so to have that suddenly ripped away from them… it felt so cruel. Like the universe would stop at nothing to keep them apart.
(…Okay, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic….)
Of course they were. Noelle was allowed to have a life apart from them. She didn't need some weird little human clinging to her everywhere she went. But even so….
They turned their head, looking across their bed to see their phone lying face-down within arms' reach. They'd put it down a while ago after Susie ignored their attempts to spam memes at her. Should they try texting Noelle? Maybe she could take a break to talk to them?
They rolled onto their back and picked up the phone, opening their messages with Noelle. They opened the text box… then stopped, fingers hovering over the tiny keyboard on their screen.
Were they acting too desperate? She did tell them she was gonna be busy all day, so she was probably trying to focus right now. They could practically see it: Noelle sat at her desk, her pretty eyes scanning over the pages of the textbook, her hand brushing away the strands of her hair that draped over the paper, her little candy cane pencil scribbling away as she wrote down her notes faster than Kris thought was even possible. They wondered, had she been sitting there all day? Did she take a break to eat something? Maybe they should bring her a snack, or some water, or-
Kris felt their hand reflexively facepalm as they reeled in their thoughts.
(Urgh… Stop it, brain….)
They shook their head to clear their mind, then let out a sigh. Noelle didn't need their help, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
They turned off their phone screen and letting it fall forward on their chest, before laying their head back….
*BZZZZT- BZZZZT- BZZZZT-
…only to shoot right back up at the feeling of their phone vibrating. They lifted the screen, and were greeted with Noelle's icon, a picture of her at QC's, looking clueless with whipped cream on her nose. That picture never failed to get a chuckle out of Kris, but…
(Why's she calling so suddenly?)
They tapped the answer button, then put the phone up to their ear. "…hey, Ell-"
"KRISOHMYGOSHKRISHELPTHERE'SA-"
They recoiled, pulling the phone away from their ear as Noelle's panicked voice blasted through the speaker.
"…what's wrong? are you hurt?"
"Wha- NO! No, nonono, I'm okay but- but- but there's a spider on my desk a-and I tried to scare it away but it crawled onto my notebook and-"
Her voice stopped as she heard Kris chuckle from the other side of the call. "W-What's so funny???"
Kris covered their mouth, a futile attempt to hide their amusement. "…heh heh… how big is it?"
"How big… I-I-It doesn't matter, Kris! You need to come help me! Please!"
"…okay, okay, i'm on the way." they replied, already standing up and walking towards the hallway. "…just try not to lose it."
"H-Hey! I'm not losing it! I-I just cant focus with that thing crawling around!"
"…the spider, Elly. don't lose the spider."
"H-Huh? Well, of course I'm not gonna lose it! It's right- OH MY GOSH WHERE DID IT GO??"
"…heh heh… see you soon."
"Did it crawl under- EEEEK OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMY-" That was the last thing they heard before the call abruptly ended, leaving behind that same goofy icon on their screen.
Kris shook their head with a grin, letting out another chuckle as they bolted out the front door.
(…Angel, I love her so much…)
~~~
In record time, Kris found themself climbing over the Holiday home's front gate and dashing through the front door. They would've picked the lock again, but Noelle sounded desperate. And despite their amusement over her predicament… they didn't like the thought of her cowering in her room all alone.
(She should be cowering in her room with me….)
They quickly ran up the staircase, sliding to a halt as they reached Noelle's room. They didn't hear her making any noise, so they pulled open the door, and everything was… perfectly normal.
Excluding the nearly 6 foot tall reindeer trying to crawl up the wall behind her bed, of course.
Her eyes went wide, almost comically so, as they entered her room. They looked back at her with a blank expression. "…where is it?"
"B-B-Behind you…!" she exclaimed, pointing at the desk beside them.
Kris looked to their right, examining the contents of the desk. There were several textbooks, binders, a box full of pencils and highlighters… but no spider.
"…i don't see anything…?" They lifted the side of a notebook to see if there was anything under it.
Noelle let out a gasp, pointing lower towards the ground. "There- It's -It's-" she stammered as Kris turned their gaze lower. They didn't spot anything at first, until they looked closely at the leg of the desk…
…and found a teeny, tiny speck, crawling down towards the ground.
Kris had to hold back a snort as the saw how small the critter was. They looked back towards Noelle with a smirk. "…Noelle."
Her hands shot towards her face, hoping to cover up her embarrassment. "STOP! I don't wanna hear it! Just get it out of here!"
"…heh… if you say so." They picked up a sheet of paper from the desk and crouched down, holding it in front of the spider's path. The little creature accepted the invitation, crawling on top of the sheet before Kris rose to their feet. They were tempted to pick it up with their fingers, possibly earning a scream from the reindeer behind them, but… they didn't want to hurt it. The little fella didn't deserve that, even if it did scare their girlfriend.
Despite their more tame approach, though, Noelle still let out a panicked squeal as she peeked at them through her fingers. "OHMYGOSH BE CAREFUL! CAREFUL!"
"…it's just a house spider… not dangerous." They tried to reassure her as they stepped outside of her room. They heard her quickly follow behind, seemingly unwilling to take their eyes off of the critter. "…besides, spiders are good… they take care of other pests."
"W-Well they can do that away from my desk!" she complained, following them down the stairs. From a distance, of course.
"…maybe this lil' guy was keeping you safe." they said as they reached the front door. They stepped outside, crouching down towards the grass as they tilted the paper down towards the ground.
"…sorry, little buddy, but you've been evicted… i don't make the rules." They mumbled as they gave the critter a soft nudge, watching as it climbed onto a blade of grass and crawled away.
Once it was out of sight, Kris turned back towards Noelle, who looked at them with… concern?
"Um… Do you think it'll be okay out here?" she said, despite her insistence on evacuating the creature immediately.
Kris looked back towards the yard, rubbing the back of their head. "…dunno… maybe it'll get eaten by a bird or something." they said, earning a quiet gasp from their partner. "…or it'll just find it's way back inside."
Noelle cringed at their words, clearly disturbed by the thought of the spider making a return. Despite herself, though, she gave them a shaky smile. "Er… I guess that wouldn't be so bad… it would be kind of cruel to let it die out here, wouldn't it?"
Kris shrugged as they stepped towards her. "…birds have to eat, too." they said as they leaned their head on her shoulder. "…besides, the lil' guy should respect your personal space. for it's own safety."
Noelle let out a giggle, wrapping an arm around their shoulder. "Hee hee… well, then, maybe next time, you can leave it in the basement, or something…. That way, I won't have to see it, faha!"
"…or i could hide it under your bed."
"Wha- No! Absolutely not!"
"…or in your backpack-"
"Kris-"
"…you think it would lay eggs in your-"
"Okay, that's it, you dummy!" The human was cut off as Noelle abruptly pulled them into her arms, pressing their back tightly to her chest as she effortlessly lifted them off the ground. Kris looked back at her in surprise as she pouted at them.
"You're being mean, so as punishment, you have to stay and protect me from any more bugs while I finish my notes!" She declared as she carried the two of them up the stairs, back towards her bedroom.
"…spiders aren't bugs."
"You know what I meant… they're close enough!"
"…thought they were too close… isn't that why i'm here?"
"I- You- Uuurgh… you're insufferable…." she groaned, dropping them unceremoniously in front of her door while they giggled at her annoyance. But when they turned around to face her, she avoided their eyes, looking down bashfully. "…But, um… thanks for coming, Krismas. A-and you don't actually have to stay if- Oh!"
She froze as Kris jumped right back into her arms, wrapping their arms around her waist and shaking their head against her shoulder. "…wanna stay… i missed you…"
They felt their cheeks heat up at their confession, but Noelle seemed delighted by their words, if the feeling of her tail wagging rapidly behind her was any indication. "Awww… I missed you too! Sorry we couldn't do anything fun today, like we usually do."
Kris shrugged at her apology, pulling away from her sweater to look at her face. "…dunno… that was pretty fun to me."
Noelle immediately rolled her eyes at their comment. "Well, that makes one of us… now, come on!" she exclaimed, pulling Kris by the hand into her room. "The sooner I finish, the sooner I can kick your butt in Smashing Fighters! Fahaha!"
"…heh… you wish." they quipped, sticking out their tongue at her as they settled down on her couch. She returned the gesture, before sitting at her desk and returning to her paper. They didn't say another word to each other, Noelle was already back to work om her paper while they waited patiently. But even so, just sharing the space with their girlfriend… it felt like they'd found a piece of their heart that they'd been missing all day.
(Thanks, lil' spider… I owe you one.)