Chapter Text
Everywhere you are, you get the distinct idea that you're not supposed to be here.
Or maybe that's just how Kris feels. It's harder to differentiate between your thoughts and theirs when you're further immersed in the tale than they are. Sometimes, you feel the same things. Other times, the motion you take is not in tune, either resulting in you wrenched from their chest or a bout of conflict between the head and the heart in a more literal sense.
Sometimes, though, you get the feeling Kris feels more strongly about certain things than others. Especially when they twist the words you try to put into their mouth. Not that you're too annoyed by it save for when it matters. It's more amusing than it isn't, but then there's certain moments when they—
"I look pretty awful, don't I?"
You tear your gaze back to Susie, watching her wear the most atrocious-looking jacket you've ever laid your eyes on—hey, that wasn't your thought, that was Kris. You'd been doing a little game of dress-up with Susie, trying on old things lying about in Kris's closet that hadn't been picked up in years, something you absolutely did know and did not have to parse yourself by how they're looking at them now.
"…This might be the ugliest thing I've tried on so far," Susie says, because apparently that was the goal here; find the worst, and here worst meant florescent pink sleeves and the brightest shade of green you've ever seen. Kris lets out a barely audible snort, face twisting at the pile of old clothes they've amounted in the hallway so high it could be a new mountain.
You're thinking about how these rags could have made interesting Darkners when Kris pulls out what looks wildly out of place here. It's a velvety, dark-blue kind of suit, with a curling collar that looks like it hasn't been straightened or ironed in decades.
Susie notices, blinking twice before chuckling.
"Dude." She moves forward, looking at it. "Why do you have that?"
"From a school play," they mutter. Kris doesn't react strongly, just shrugging. "Long ago. Played someone important."
"'Someone important'? Seriously?" Susie's looking at it, darting back and forth between the thing and Kris. They tilt their head as if expecting whatever Susie is saying, but she backs off.
"What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing," Susie says, when they look at her expectantly, a bit of mischievousness in there. "Just doesn't seem like a very you thing."
Kris feels challenged at that, like it's a very them thing and Susie has only yet to see it. It's that particular kind of competitiveness you only feel from Kris in certain moments, curiously so when it involves Susie, and especially so when they're opening their bedroom door to give it a try.
You're thinking about this now as Kris pulls it directly over their shirt and not wearing it the proper way like a psychopath, nearly snapping the buttons trying to slip the collar over their head. Most of the time, it's fairly simple to feel how Kris feels about things, certain increments of when they'd directly distance their actual thoughts in an attempt to keep their feelings away from you.
Which hurt a bit, because it was deeply unfair. You have no intention of harming them with anything, so why? Hell, you didn't even ask to be here in them!
Not the point, however, and you direct your thoughts back to the actual curiosity—those moments where Kris's emotions didn't retreat, but slammed in full force like everything in them had dialed ten times or a hundred. Typically, it's a strain to understand exactly what they want, when you so desperately want to provide it because you actually want to get along with your vessel, not get beaten by a damn hockey stick. But there's these moments where Kris gets plain obvious, uncharacteristically so, and it just makes you wonder, because you want to know.
Interestingly enough, Susie seems to be a reoccurring puzzle piece in all of your observations.
There's no mirror in Kris's room, so you take the initiative to step out of the room to a waiting Susie, who takes every opportunity to prop herself on the nearest wall just to look cool, and she's not wearing that jacket anymore. Instead, she's fidgeting with the hem of a pastel shirt that given the size, must have belong to Toriel—blessedly a million miles betters than what she'd been wearing last.
And—hm. You feel something strange in your chest, a little-a flutter, that doesn't seem to belong to you.
Susie looks up from her hand, and her expression shifts, eyebrows raising higher as she assesses.
"Huh," she says, voice a little higher like she's surprised, but also bashful, for some reason, not looking at them directly. "You look better than I thought you would."
* You look better too
* Did you think I'd look bad?
The second option's entertaining enough that you just have to go with it.
Kris smirks a little like they're preparing to be a tease. "Did you think I'd look bad?"
"Hey, I didn't say that!" Susie barks. "You just look better. You were wearing that stupid floral shirt two seconds ago, dumbass!"
Kris laughs, looking at Susie again, and huh, there's that strange flutter, a coldness at the back of their throat. And they're thinking…
* You look cute
* Take that off, it's hideous
Sometimes, the options you get are either really appealing, or comically stupid. You can't imagine saying that second choice to Susie; you like her, she's a fun companion to watch and glean the opinions and actions she does in this world. And Kris seems to have better times when she's around, and who are you not to entertain that?
Besides, that first choice feels quite reoccurring, so you pick it.
—you pick it…?
There's a warmth in your face, and Kris is looking anywhere but Susie, first behind her head, then on the floor. Not the first time they've hesitated at your choice, but whoa, aren't they feeling so much now, more than before?
"Youlookcute," they say quickly, too fast to hear for you and Susie.
"What was that?" Susie leans closer, brow furrowing. "You're speaking too fast, man."
"…You look nice." And you noticed they'd quietly changed the word.
Susie reacts fast, darting back to herself and the shirt like she's forgotten she was wearing it in the first place.
"Okay nope that's not—" She rips it out of herself and you can hear a zipper pop, throwing it across the room before realizing how aggressive she'd hurled it. "Wait, did I tear it—"
"It's old," Kris supplies. "It's okay."
She seems to relax at that, but she still looks a bit sheepish. "We made a pretty big mess in here, didn't we?"
"Mom doesn't come until later." Toriel is at choir practice, which is why Kris isn't grounded for entertaining such chaos, though their mother seems to excuse a lot of their antics if Susie is involved. "We have time to clean."
"Time, huh?" Susie squints, before catapulting into Kris's room and sitting ungracefully on their bed. "Then we're not doing it now."
You're still trying to read the emotions going on here, and you feel a pang-pang of something as you move toward the bed and seat yourself across from Susie and splat on the bed like a snowflake. Your face is closer to the wall and Susie's propped up on the bedhead. It's a comfortable kind of proximity and it's sending a lot of positive emotions to Kris's chest, but not quite replacing the fluttering it had been doing earlier.
Something about what they were wearing and what she was, you surmise, letting Kris take the lead on a topic they want to talk about and you let them take the reign because you're so nice, and move back for you to think.
Kris is a curious, curious person, and you are more. You like them, like dissecting the little things they go about doing and how they feel and all the juicy secrets they like keeping from you. It's more than entertaining, and even if this wasn't the plan when you connected, but Kris being so full of life as a vessel only gives you ideas.
Kris moves closer to Susie, because they're saying algae is pronounced "al-gay" and not "al-gee" like Susie is so adamant to saying. They feel happy and contented and you can't deny it's adorable, and who doesn't love good banter? You know you like getting these two in the same room, figuring out how right the options with Susie are, picking her to go to the festival being less confusing for Kris than any other.
Despite all that, why do they work around every chance you try to make at propagating it? What's so wrong with calling Susie cute? They were surely thinking so themself!
Sometimes Kris is bolder than ever, and sometimes you're bolder so. What does Kris want? You're a good SOUL, and you just want to make your favorite people happy. So why not toy with this a little more?
You like these two, and since when did you shy away from giving them a little nudge?