[As long as we're in the same Time, we'll meet]

Summer. The time where schools are no more and ice cream trucks circle the neighborhoods. And yet why is Susie finding herself sighing on a bench near the Diner? Despite the ample free time and the annihilating heat of the sun, Susie is stuck on a bench, sipping on a melted lemon slushie and contemplating.

Contemplating how to get her best friend, who is deathly afraid of water, to go swimming with her. After long hours of rumination, she has narrowed down all the possibly exhilarating activities she could do with them to going to the beach. However, the newfound information that they’re scared of water has put her in a complicated position. She wants to help them get over their fear, but also doesn’t want to push them way over their limits. 

Her thoughts are halted when the human that has moved in her mind permanently, taps her on the shoulder. Susie all but screams as she stares at Kris who, surely, must have come out of nowhere.

“What, you practicing teleportation now?! God..” She clutches her heart, glaring at her friend who tilts their head in confusion. They take a seat beside her, sipping on a newly bought (blueberry!) slushie of their own. Susie feels herself already snicker as she snatches their drink and takes a dramatically large sip. The look on Kris’ face was priceless as Susie drank the better part of their frozen treat. She thinks she’s never seen them open their eyes that wide before, and relishes in the vein that seems to be making its appearance on Kris’ forehead. 

Soon, she feels satisfied enough and hands over what’s left of the blue liquid back to its’ owner, before flashing Kris her signature toothy grin. The human huffs and takes Susie’s own cup, before grimacing at the lukewarm juice. Susie barks out a laugh, enjoying the torment her friend is going through. Kris mumbles under their breath that ‘she won't get away with this…’ as they cross their arms. As the girl laughs at Kris’ misfortune, she suddenly remembers what has been plaguing her all morning, and turns to them with a serious face. Kris, feeling already exhausted from the previous interaction, looks at their friend with a deadpan expression, knowing that whatever she says won’t be in their favour.

“Kris, my favourite loser…what do you say we go to the beach today?! Absolutely ZERO swimming involved by the way. Like totally nothing. I guarantee it. No reason to drown if you’re on land right?? Haha…” Susie proposes, trying to sound as convincing as possible while having to face the human’s interrogative stare. They take a sip of their half finished slushie, squinting at the girl as if to see through her words. She smiles as widely as possible while throwing up a thumbs up hoping it will make her look more trustworthy. Kris shakes their head, sighing as they decide to get up to throw away their now empty drink. Susie feels cold sweat run down her temple as she waits for their response, before being interrupted by someone’s gasp. 

“Susie! What are you doing here?” Susie turns around from where she was looking at Kris, to find Noelle, happily waving to her as she walks over, a little flushed (Susie: must be because it’s hot…). However, close behind the deer girl sounded a nasally voice.

“OH SUSAN, were you waiting for me afterall? I mean I never told you I would be coming, but since you are SO IN LO-” He was quickly silenced by a small balled up paper thrown precisely at his forehead.

Kris turns back to where Susie was, approaching Noelle calmly, like they didn’t just throw that at Berdly, and waved at her. Noelle lit up, seeing her two friends together and intertwined her hands.

“Kris! Are you guys hanging out? Were you planning to do something today? Oh wait, did we interrupt you? S-sorry, Berdly and I were going anyway-” Noelle rambled along for a bit, deciding to leave on her own, before Susie got up and grabbed her hand. 

“Hey man, wait! Me and Kris were just uh…well I wanted to-” But before she could finish Kris interrupted, taking Noelle’s other hand before saying,

“We were planning to go to the beach…” Noelle looks back and forth between the two, and then looks at her two hands, feeling a little stunned. As they spoke she noticed the hues of their tongues, a similar greenish colour, and she felt herself flush a bit at the prospect of its’ cause. Shaking all suspicious thoughts off, she gasped as she remembered something.

“Oh but, Kris, don’t you have a…you know..you don’t really…” She felt a little awkward as she didn’t really know if she should say it out loud, but a nod from Kris told her she had the ‘okay’.

“I thought you didn’t swim because of your fear of water…” Noelle said shyly, still embarrassed to reveal her childhood friend’s secret. Susie then intervened, putting her arm over Kris.

“Not to worry, we won’t be swimming at all! Just to hang out! Not one bit of swimming!” She says, stretching Kris’ cheek using the hand that was draped over them. Berdly, uninvited, decided to join in and say his piece.

“Oh dear Kristoffer, if you wanted to ask me to teach you how to swim, you could’ve just asked! I knew you would come along, after all I AM irresistible-” Susie pushed his face away as he started inching closer to Kris, before switching their positions to be one the closer to Berdly. 

“Oh Susie, you don’t have to be jealous, you know, I’ll always have time for you!” He said, crossing his arms and looking as smug as he possibly can. The rest three made their own scowls each, deciding to ignore the bird and getting into their own discussion.

“Since we’ve met here, wanna come with us to the beach Noelle?” Susie says, blatantly avoiding Berdly’s puppy eyes begging to be invited as she waits for Noelle to reply.

“O-oh! Sure, if you’ll have me…But um..” Her gaze fleeted between Berdly and her, the guy basically pleading to join in, and so she sighed.

“Can uh…Berdly join?” Noelle eked out, a little embarrassed to have to say such a thing. But before Susie could say something that would piss someone off, Kris shrugged beside her, letting out a quiet, ‘whatever’.

This launches Berdly into orbit as he starts going on and on about ‘OHHH KRIS’ this and ‘BUT OF COURSE’ that, Kris and the rest not really paying attention to him. Noelle decides to speak up, fidgeting with her hands.

“So should we meet at the beach? In an hour?” The two in front of her nodded, as they headed off to Kris’ house to get ready. Berdly could still be heard in the distance, yapping about god knows what.

On the way to their house, Susie started talking about all the different activities she had planned out for the two of them, well now four, to do at the beach, her voice brimming with passion and excitement. Kris looked up at her, noticing the gleam in her eyes, as they smiled to themselves and continued walking. Maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad afterall.

———

It was. It was so bad in fact, the human felt their palms sweat and their throat clamp up just by being in such close proximity to…It™. When they went to their house with Susie, they picked the lightest clothes they could find, meaning a striped tshirt (Susie: Seriously how many of those do you have (￣_,￣ ) ) and shorts, while pretending not to notice when Susie threw in an extra pair of swimming trucks in their backpack. They also got with them any and all of the sandy-fun-at-the-beach stuff that they had lying around the house, so they could do silly things like make sandcastles, or build a prison to entrap crabs and snails. You know, normal things. So it didn’t really feel like they were seriously going to be going near the water. But now that they were actually there, they felt their blood run cold at the mere prospect of coming close to it. Susie must’ve noticed the anxiety Kris was feeling, as she ruffled their hair, smiling at them warmly. 

“Chill out, loser. Don’t forget what I told you alright? I’ll protect you…” Susie says, mumbling the last part since she felt a bit embarrassed and she heads towards where she can see Noelle and Berdly setting up their stuff. She started getting out their own beachy supplies, laying out towels on chairs and opening up the foldable table she found in Kris’ storage. Kris shook the unsettling thoughts of their head and went to help their friend get everything in order.

“Geez, anyone would take a look at this and think we’re having a party! Thank god you had all summer stuff lying around, Kris.” She said, dusting off her hands on her shorts and wrapping an arm around Kris’ shoulders, smiling at them. 

Noelle came up to them, after she set up her stuff as well, dressed in a cute red swimsuit, pareo draped around her waist and a gray jacket zipped up to its half. She smiled at the two friends, making a polite remark on Kris’ outfit, as she didn’t see them in shorts often, which made the human blush in return. She was about to ask what they had planned, before she was cut off by Berdly, who was in a bright neon and yellow  swimsuit, absolutely decked out in floaties on his entire body.

“NOW, ladies and theydies, your prince is ready to protect you, so what are we doing to have ‘the fun’?” Susie facepalmed with her free hand, groaning as she reluctantly spoke up.

“Well we got a bunch of buckets and shovels from Kris’ house, so we could start with building sand castles. I guess.” She felt a little awkward, not exactly expecting it to be more than her and Kris, so she felt a bit self conscious. Noelle smiled warmly, clapping her hands together. 

“Oh that’s a wonderful idea  Susie!” Susie rubbed the back of her neck, still feeling shy before Berdly decided to make his own pitch.

“Ehem…I already know that I’m the most perfect at everything i do but, wouldn’t it be interesting to pit you against each other for my lov- i mean to have a competition?” He suggested, looking confident in his castle building skills. Susie simply couldn’t stand his boasting, so she took a step closer, with a wicked grin.

“Sure, and we’ll vote on whose is the best one. The one whose castle sucks the most will be buried in the sand. For an hour.” She cracked her knuckles, voice full of spite and determined to make Berdly eat her dust.

“Hmmm, okay Susan, even though I know my castle will be the best, i suppose it’s worth a chance for the others to show their skills…(though they won’t be as good as me)” Berdly said, already walking away backwards, ready to show off whatever he calls his talent in sand castle building. Noelle nodded in kind, and waved goodbye walking to her own little spot. Susie sighed grumbling to herself about how they got stuck with someone like Berdly, as she peeled herself off Kris. She turned to look at them, feeling a bit more confident now that she can potentially humiliate that annoying bird.

“Now, are you ready to make some BANGING sandcastles or are you gonna let ‘berghly’ beat you” Susie says, making sure to mock Berdly’s name as dramatically as possible, which made Kris giggle. The human  nodded, making a motion with their fist to show they’re confident in themselves. She grinned at them, happy to see them ready to enjoy themselves. She then walked over to their bags, shrugging off her shirt and sloppily applying sunscreen all over her face.

 Looking at Susie being so comfortable around them, Kris blushes, turning their gaze down at their crocs so as not to seem weird staring at their friend. Susie didn’t even notice the human’s behaviour, preoccupied by filling all the plastic buckets with sand and getting all her “tools” ready. Kris laughed a little at the display, before sitting across Susie, ready to get down and dirty with the sand and beat the heck out of Berdly! (In castle making)

Not much time had passed before the activity derailed into chaos, as they all started racing each other to see who can make a giant castle faster. Berdly could be seen using quite literally every part of his body to carry sand and water, like he was in a national sandcastle competition, and the trophy was his parents’ love. On the other hand, Noelle was sweating anxiously, trying to fix parts of her castle that had chipped off, while simultaneously second guessing herself and changing the designs again.

Kris was making sure their castle was as grand and as stable as possible, taking a bit of inspiration from the Queen’s castle (as much of it as they remember anyway). As they were hurrying to reach the 10 minute mark they all had established, they looked up to check how Susie’s building was going, just to see a sad lump of what is probably supposed to be a poor imitation of Ralsie’s castle, while Susie had her tongue out, exhibiting immense focus on their terrible little castle. 

The sight caught them so off-guard that they immediately burst out laughing, which the girl apparently didn’t appreciate, especially since the human was essentially losing their mind over her incredibly untalented building. This reaction however, compelled the girl to throw a heavy handful of sand straight into Kris’ face, something they didn’t see coming until it was too late, and they had a mouthful of gritty soil. Kris thought that since Susie decided to use violence, they should behave accordingly, so they picked up a huge pile of coarse sand, with both hands, and threw it as hard as they could at Susie. This covered Susie head to toe in sand, but most importantly it ruined ( not really…) Susie’s lumpy castle. Susie, while spitting out sand, started walking closer to Kris, the anger in her steps audible as she slammed one foot in front of the other. The human backing up slowly, raised their hands in front of their chest, in mock defense. 

Soon after, it turned into a chase with the two battling for “who can chuck sand at the other faster”. Noelle and Berdly watched as Susie chased the human around in circles, with a comically large ball of sand on her hand. 

The other two laughed at the scene, Berdly making a bet on Kris being able to escape Susie’s wrath, while Noelle supported Susie’s rage to not be evaded easily. They announced they would fetch water for their friends, who were still fooling around, and in all likelihood didn’t pay attention to them, and left while making light conversation. 

By the time Kris and Susie got tired, they were both on the ground heaving, covered in sand, and their castles had both been reduced to nothing but piles. Susie closed her eyes smiling to no one in particular as she thought back on what just played out and how silly it must’ve looked to Noelle and Berdly. She rubbed her face vigorously, trying to get all the sand off, with the human acting in tandem. Kris was still cleaning off the sand when she turned to face them, grinning wildly, and she grabbed the hand they were using.

“So what do you say so far, nerd? Having fun?” She says, squeezing their hand and poking their face with their other one. Kris grimaced at the teasing, but nodded anyway. That’s when they noticed there was still sand stuck on Susie’s face. Gently, Kris raised his free hand and swiped a thumb under the girl’s eye, and then her cheek, making sure they got every bit of sand off. When they made eye contact with Susie, she was blushing a furious purple, her pupils dilated, shocked at Kris’ sudden display of affection. Like it was on fire, the human yanked their hand away, feeling their own face start to heat up. They both sat there for a few seconds, hearts pounding in their ears, before anyone said something. 

Just as Kris opened his trembling lips to speak, Berdly’s obnoxious voice echoed from afar, so they both shook off the tense atmosphere and got up, dusting themselves off. Noelle arrived soon after, Berdly in tow, and they handed the other two the waters they went out to grab. Kris gave Noelle a perplexed look for a second but then they faintly remembered hearing the words ‘fetch’ and ‘water’ so they nodded to themselves. The four walked towards their stuff, as Susie said with a smirk, that she knew their next activity.

“Since we didn’t really settle anything with the whole sand castle biz, I thought we might as well play a real game.” She said with a grin so wide, and so wicked, you would think she’s some sort of cartoon villain. She raised a volleyball out of her bag and held it against her hip.

“We will play beach volley.”

———

They’re lucky there was a beach volley field nearby, otherwise they’d have to put up with Berdly’s claims that he ‘has the whole layout memorised anyway’ and ‘bring me spray i shall draw it myself’. The only problem now was how to decide the teams. Berdly and Susie were already in a heated argument about who would rather be in whose team as he kept saying ‘who wouldn't want to be in a team with me’ and she would say ‘who WOULD?!’ so with that, Noelle and Kris mutually agreed to be a team. Noelle clapped loudly, effectively getting the others’ attention.

“Hey guys, should we start?” She said politely, the red ribbon on her wrist catching their eyes, as it matched the one on Kris’. They both stared at the other two jaws on the floor, before Susie barked out a loud laugh. 

“Is THAT how it’s gonna be?! Come on, bird, let’s show them! "says Susie, slapping Berdly’s back and getting ready to play, oozing competitive spirit.

“Well, if my Susie is getting serious, I guess I can’t hold back!” He makes that ridiculous face that he usually does as he got in a similar stance as Susie. She deadpans at Berdly, her disdain obvious, and instead redirects her attention to Kris. They are discussing quietly with Noelle, when they notice Susie looking at them. In response they tie up their bangs and hair in a low ponytail, their eyes finally visible as they squint at Susie with the nastiest smirk they could pull off. The girl feels her heart clench, a new found appreciation for hair ties was decided unanimously in her head, as she continues to make eye contact with the human, feeling absolutely bewildered, but more pumped up than ever before. She felt like when Kris has that look on their face, they mean business, so she snickered to herself, tying up her own hair on a high ponytail, tightening as much as she could.

“Ha! That’s more like it, Kris! Show me what you can do, you little bastard.” She says, laughter evident in her voice, as she gets into position to serve the ball. Kris gets into a receiving stance, they think for a brief moment that Susie looks pretty with her hair up.

———

Despite Kris cockiness, they were actually so terribly unathletic that even Berdly seemed to be doing better than them. At first, Susie thought they were doing it as a joke, that’s how bad it was. Not  to say Berdly was doing actually well but at least he managed a few receives properly. Noelle on the other way way better than both of them. Still, none of the students compared to Susie. It felt like she owned the court, just by being there. Kris attests that even if they were good, they simply wouldn’t be able to play when she was the opponent. At some point both them and Berdly sat on sidelines, as unathletic as they both are, they couldn’t handle long term exercise. Kris thought that, for a moment, maybe Berdly wasn’t the most insufferable person on earth. 

As they sat on the warm sand, they observed the two girls, the ones that actually knew what they were doing the whole time, and they both couldn’t utter a word. Since Kris could see her clearer now, they felt their heart rate increase tenfold, noticing how Susie’s face was glistening from the sweat, their swift and precise movement. Berdly was about to drink water when Kris snatched it from his hands and gulped it down as fast as they could, their face looking redder than a tomato. Berdly huffed in annoyance, but he didn’t say anything. For once Kris was shocked that Berdly was staying so quiet, so they turned to look at him, to find the bird looking incredibly dejected. Kris’ eyes widened, for no one to see in particular, and they felt their heart ache. 

For a second, they thought they’d regret it, but they shuffled closer to Berdly anyway, nudging his pinkie with their own. Berdly turns to Kris, his face stupefied, like he wasn’t even sure if it was really Kris beside him. For a moment, his eyes looked watery, like he was about to cry, but he instead snapped out of it and began to say something along the lines of ‘oh kris i knew you’d fall for me eventually..’ . However, that ramble was cut short when kris’ gave him a look that said ‘I am going to beat you’.The human sighed, and turned their gaze back to the volley match. Berdly laughed a little to himself and then went back to looking like his homework was ripped up in front of him. He sighed and for once, it sounded real, not like he usually did when he was acting ridiculous on purpose.  Kris huffed and moved a little closer to him knocking their shoulder into his. They turned to the bird beside them, and mumbled, a little hesitant and their voice barely above a whisper.

“You don’t have to act obnoxious to be liked. We’re your friends because we want to be” Kris thinks for a moment that maybe, calling him Susie’s friend is a bit of  stretch, but regardless, they feel like they said the right thing for once. Especially when Berdly’s eyes flood with tears, the boy dipping his head into the nook of Kris’ neck, and crying his eyes out.

Kris didn’t really know what to do or say, so they kind of just stood there awkwardly, not really comforting him nor pushing him away. After a few minutes, and a loud sniff, Berdly lifted his head and he looked Kris in the eyes before asking him the question that probably made him cry in the first place.

“So…Kristoffer…you’re saying I’m actually your friend?” Ignoring the wrongly given full name, Kris sighed and nodded begrudgingly. They couldn’t have known that Berdly would body slam into them, tackling them into a hug and saying random nonsense like ‘ i knew you loved me’ and ‘you’ll have to fight susie and noelle’. At that moment, Susie and Noelle approached them, both exhausted and sweating like crazy. The two girls look bewildered as they stare at Kris sitting with Berdly hanging off of them and rambling on his own. Susie goes to say something but Kris just shakes their head. Huffing Susie decides to say something else instead.

“Since we’re all sweaty and warm…should we jump in for a swim…?” She says a little tentatively, looking at Noelle in hopes she’ll help her out in her attempt to get Kris in the water. Noelle however doesn’t get the hint, and nods several times instead, yanking Berdly by the arm and taking him back to their stuff.

“Oh o-of course  Susie, we’ll be waiting for you guys at the shore!” She waved her adieu, Berdly protesting in her arms before being reprimanded thoroughly about things Susie can’t quite make out from where she stands. Instead she turns to Kris, only to find their expression way angrier than she expected. 

“Heyyyy man…You can just dip your feet in you know? You don’t have to like…actually get in and swim okay…?” She says, approaching carefully, a crooked, anxious smile on her face. Kris couldn’t be vexed after seeing how genuine she was, so they nodded and got up, walking ahead of her. Myriads of thoughts filtered through their brain as they thought about all the things that could go wrong from being in the see, but they tried to dismiss them, exhaling shakily. 

They reached the shore, where they found birdly kicking at pebbles and Noelle talking to herself. For a moment they thought, ‘wow what a friend group I have’, but they still laughed to themselves. They approached Noelle, seemingly snapping her out of her trance, and she looked at them with a worried expression.

“Kris, are you sure you’ll be okay? I doubt Susie will mind that much if you decline…” She was picking at her nails, looking at Kris with so much genuine concern that it made them blush in embarrassment. They nodded quietly and Noelle sighed. They didnt want her to feel bad for them the whole time so they eked out softly, ‘it’s alright Noelle, i want to join you guys’. Her face immediately flushed, her mouth agape at Kris’ confession. This whole time, Noelle didn’t think Kris really cared about stuff like ‘togetherness’ but she’s glad to be wrong. She turned away from them, giving them a thumbs up on the side, and Kris snorted. They always thought of Noelle as an oddball, but she’s been nothing but sweet to them so they think it's alright for her to be a weirdo.

Susie approaches and Kris feels their stomach churn. They’re still not 100% sure they want to go through with this, but it’s worth a try. For Susie, at least. Berdly and Noelle go in first, with the boy floating immediately because of the 12 floaties they’ve equipped, while Noelle stayed in the shallow waters, stealing glances at Susie and Kris.  Susie began to walk towards the water, before stopping and turning around, offering a reluctant hand for Kris to grab. Kris swallows, grabbing her hand and taking a step forward. Susie follows in tandem, leading them into the shallow part of the sea for now.  

 Suddenly, Kris felt themselves slip on some seaweed, internally cursing the sea floor as hard as they could, and bracing for the wet impact of their fall. But it never came, as Susie caught them just in time, and swapped them around. As Kris was about to fall backwards, Susie yanked their arm towards her, consequently losing her balance and falling on the mid surface level water, with the human following suit on top of her. Since she was taller than them, she was barely covered by the water, but the smaller hero on top of her was basically submerged up to their stomach, if they were standing. Susie could feel them panic, the unexpectedly immediate full body contact with the water shaking them up. 

Yet before they could go into hysteria, they felt warm wet hands on their face, and quiet curses from the girl in front of them. ‘Goddamn it, why did I fall hands first now their face will be all sticky from the salt’ Susie mumbles to herself, as they look into Kris’ eyes , trying to see if they’re with her in the moment or if they’ve dissociated from the fear. Kris unconsciously leaned into her touch, closing their eyes as they focus on breathing normally. 

They could feel Susie tense up under them, unsure of what to do as the smaller one sits there. Noelle and Berdly seemed to have noticed that something had happened, as they moved quickly to check on the other two. Kris decided they were fine enough to get up as Noelle approached them first, taking the helping hand she offered, while Berdly followed suit before plummeting into the water face first. Susie groaned, facepalming and grimacing soon after because of her wet hand now on her face.

“Kris! Are you alright?! You barely got into the sea and you’re already hurt? I knew I should’ve stayed closer to you…” Noelle nagged at Kris, reminding them of their mom every time they got hurt at home. After a quick inspection, the deer girl settled that the human was unscathed and she let out a heavy sigh. Susie got up from the water and looked at the now setting sun.

“Well, I think after , well, what just happened, we might as well head home since its also getting late.” Susie stated, feeling guilty that Kris didn’t get to overcome their fear, and probably felt worse about it now. The other two monsters mumbled in agreement and made their way to get out of the lukewarm water before feeling the water ripple significantly behind them. Kris was actively walking deeper into the sea while looking at their three friends. Then they spoke up, conviction prevalent in their tone.

“Let’s not go yet. I want to try” Susie reacted first, grinning widely as she got close to the human and splashed them lightly with the water. Kris smiled and splashed her back, feeling better about his decision. The other two looked at each other briefly and chuckled at the scene unfolding before them. Shortly after they joined in the , now turned into, water fight, splashing each other until they were all drenched, without even having gone more than a measly 4 steps into the sea. Out of nowhere, a chilly breeze shook them all out of their comfort in the cool water, and they shivered collectively.

“Yeah, I think it’s time we go home before we catch a cold in this cold ass water...” Susie commented as she walked towards the shore, impatient to put on a shirt in this breezy weather. Eventually, after all they got their stuff and put on the necessary clothes, they split up, each one going their own way, except Susie who followed Kris home, wanting to make sure they get there safe. They stood at the entrance of the Dreemurr household, waiting for the other to say something. At last, Susie spoke up, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt where it was ripped.

“So…you didn’t get hurt before right…and you don’t hate me now for putting you through that right? I mean you could’ve declined, you know i'm not some kind of jerk that would get upset about that and i already bruised my ass taking the fall for you so you BETTER not have even the slightest scratch alright?!” Susie rambled on and on without looking up at the human until she saw a shadow covering her own. She inched her head higher to look at her friend, only to find them looking at her bashfully, the tips of their ears red and their lips trembling slightly. She took a cautionary step back, aghast at Kris’ expression, something she had never seen on them before. Before she knew it, Kris was hugging her, squeezing her as hard as they could while snaking their way closer to her ear. With a wavering voice, Kris spoke earnestly.

“Thank you for today, you did help me not be as terrified of water as i was, although Im sorry for your ass. You’re a good friend, Susie. You’re a good person.” Kris could feel the girl tense up, clearly taken aback by what they said, so they let go of her, taking a step back, before being pulled forward by her, as she engulfed the smaller one in her embrace. The human could feel wet warmth spread from their shoulder, where Susie had burrowed her face, as she squeezed them, her strength increasing by the minute. Although they didn’t want to interrupt her, Kris had to tap on her back frantically, feeling the oxygen decrease in their lungs actively. Susie loosened her grip on the human immediately, furrowing her brows as she sniffled. 

“Sniff…Sorry, you little shit, i cant control my strength at times.” Susie spoke through her stuffy nose, rubbing her eyes furiously to get rid of the tears. Kris brought a hand up to her face, making her pause her vicious rubbing to look at them, and they cupped her cheek gently. They used their thumb to wipe away any dried up tears that had fallen, feeling her lean into their touch. Susie chuckled, feeling a bit silly for crying in front of her friend again in such a short time span. 

“It seems you’ve doing a lot of hand-to-face on me lately.” She laughed, shaking off their hand, secretly missing its warmth as they backed away from them. Kris huffed, feeling a bit annoyed at the distance but complying anyway.

“Will you stay over today?” They asked quietly, hoping the answer wont be the same as last time. Susie shook her head again as she stuffed her hands in her shorts’ pockets. 

“Nah i might as well go home and change yknow? I doubt any of your clothes would fit and I couldn’t sleep in your be-...room with wet clothes. Plus, i do not want to borrow your brother’s stuff again. They smell too much of goat…” The last part she mumbled mostly to herself but it’s true that its’ how she felt. Kris sighed, nodding at their stubborn friend. They knew that Susie should be aware they couldn’t care less about wet stains on their rug or their bedsheets for that matter, but they doubt she could be convinced to stay. A mischievous thought creeped up their mind as Susie continued talking about something random, and they felt themselves grin wickedly.

“So yeah Im gonna head home now , I guess. See ya around, loser.” The girl said, already halfway turning around. Abruptly, Susie felt Kris’ hands over her eyes, and she could just smell that they were about to do something stupid.

“Hey you little shit if you take off my pants or something i swear to-” Her sentence was cut short as she felt soft lips on her cheek, impossibly soft and the kiss so chaste she’d miss it if she blinked. She couldn’t react fast enough as the human that resembled more of an imp in that moment rushed inside their house, cackling. 

“You-you…you little shit! I-...” She decided to not speak anymore, instead she broke into a jog, running all the way back to her house. The speed in which she unlocked the door and dropped unceremoniously onto her bed could be documented in a world record, as she pulled the covers over her head. She touched the spot where Kris’ lips had touched and shivered. She grumbled and huffed herself till the sun came out. Shoving the stuffy blankets off of her, Susie stared at her ceiling once again in the long night she spent. Feeling her face grow warm the closer she got to touching the spot on her cheek or every time she thought back to their interaction, kept her up wide awake. She sat up groggily, wiping her eyes as she huffed once more.

“What am I supposed to do now…”

Susie stares at Kris’ very beige ceiling and wonders what got her in this predicament. Currently, they were both laying on the carpet in Kris’ room, absentmindedly fidgeting with items they find or getting into useless debates about anything their imagination can fathom. When she suggested they hang out at their place, she assumed they at least had something in mind for them to do together. But apparently they hadn’t a single clue on even a smidge of entertainment. All this, simply because it was summertime and everything was closed. 

And someone might think, summer is obviously the best, since schools are closed and it’s sunny and hot outside!

However, this is exactly where the two have found themselves at a stalemate. There’s no school for them to waste their time at so they can spend their time on adventuring, but there’s also no school to go to for adventuring! Susie groans, boredom taking over her already numb limbs as she tries to stretch them out and instead gives up halfway. She sits up, the frown on her face could be felt from a mile away as she folds her arms and glares at Kris. She hopes that maybe, she can send telepathic complaints to them simply through staring. They continue  to look at their ceiling, blatantly ignoring Susie’s pointed attempts at annoying them. Susie imagines they’re thinking about something dumb like their knife or eating moss and that makes her smirk, which apparently catches the attention of the previously apathetic human. 

“What are you looking at, twerp ?” Susie barks out, no actual heat to her words, and Kris sits up to look at her properly. She could tell just by their expression, that they were just as  bored as her if not more. She sighs, leaning back onto the palms of her hands, and closing her eyes. Kris sighs and makes a motion to sit closer to her but stops when she abruptly stands up.

“I got it! Kris, I FINALLY figured out something fun to do! We dont have to fuck around and do nothing for another hour!” The excitement in her voice made Kris reluctant to ask what it was, but they stood up regardless, nodding for her to continue talking. 

“We will go fishing in the GODDAMN wild!” She says pumping her fist in the air, taken over by the sheer joy of finding a mildly entertaining activity. Kris raises an eyebrow in response, not sure if they’ve ever considered something like that as an activity they would do voluntarily. They mutter out hesitantly that they’ve never tried that before, much less have the necessary equipment for it.

“Pshhht, who cares about stuff like that ?! We’ll just…y’know… find some…” Susie turns around, looking away from them, as if she doesn’t want them to see her mischievous expression, feeling ready to wreak havoc on everything along her path. Suddenly, a firm hand is placed on her shoulder, reassuring and warm. A soft voice speaks up from behind her, the tone playful despite its low volume,

“‘Borrowing’ never hurt anyone…” Susie turns her head to make eye contact with the shorter one, noticing how the eye peeking out of their bangs shined with a wicked  gleam. Seeing that, she couldn’t help but smirk in response, hooking an arm over their shoulders and bringing them closer. “C’mon, let's show those fish who’s boss!”Kris felt their ears heat up because of their friend’s cozy behaviour and leaned forward to hide their face with their hair. This was going to take a toll on their heart.

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After very stealthily sneaking out the needed fishing gear , with the necessary help, from Asgore’s truck and Rudy's shed, all thanks to Noelle, the two heroes were fully equipped  and ready for their piscine adventure. As they make their way down a path that strayed from the beach, they both inhale the salty sea air that whispered by. Susie has a content smile on her face as she takes a moment to enjoy the calming atmosphere before she takes a quick glance behind her to check on Kris. Instantly her eyes widen when she notices the obviously tense and uncomfortable mood they’re in as they walk on  the side closest to the water. No words were exchanged as Susie grumbled along and swapped their positions so Kris was leading on the inside of the pavement and Susie followed behind. The smaller human was about to protest before Susie flashed them a toothy snare, halfheartedly trying to scare them into submission. Rolling their eyes, they continue walking to their discussed destination, a little embarrassed to seem cowardly in front of Susie, but shaking it off. Even though they were leading, they didn’t really know where they’re going, so every once in a while Susie would reprimand them for going the wrong way with a “ HEY. ” and a slap on the back.  

Eventually, they reach a little dock, not very well maintained by the looks of it, as they unload all their gear and equipment on the soft grass near them. Susie takes in their surroundings quickly to make sure there isn't anyone else camping or fishing there, and then she proceeds to set up the two stools that the two of them brought folded up. Kris watches her get everything properly oriented, a little awkwardly, anxiously waiting until they can be of help. Susie, seemingly noticing their behaviour, scoffed lightly before taking the two fishing rods they found and handing one to the human. Kris snaps back to reality when they feel the heavy weight of the rod on their hands, noticing Susie walk towards the stools, beckoning them soon after. Letting out a shaky exhale, Kris sits right beside Susie, their legs brushing together for a second. Ignoring the heat creeping up on her cheeks, Susie shuffles closer to Kris, making eye contact with them as they begin explaining how to hold the fishing rod properly and how to reel in fish. Kris felt lightheaded simply from the close proximity but tried to pay as much attention as they could anyway. 

After a brief and hastily told explanation of How to fish 101 Susie felt like it was time to put theory to practice and cast her line in the serene sea water, urging their friend to do the same. Kris observed her actions and carefully copied them, making sure their tackle was attached properly on the end of the rod before casting their line.

They sit beside each other, knees knocking every so often, until one of their bobbers starts sinking and their line starts shaking or until they inevitably feel their hook catch on something, just for it to be some old shoe or astronaut food (which worried both of them initially because how did it get there?). At some point Kris’ line starts shaking like it’s caught on something enormous so Susie jumps up and helps them stabilize it. As the fish continues to torture the two, Susie huffs and pushes Kris out of the way, so she can use her maximum strength to get the fish out. The momentum ended up being too much for the girl and she falls backwards, but all she can focus on is the damned fish that was now flying in air because of the sheer strength Susie had used. The two heroes watched the fish in awe first, and terror as the now recognised as a Swordfish was currently flying down towards at immacule speed. They both run a few steps further from the location the fish will fall, ensuring they won’t end up skewered. With a large, wet sound the fish nails itself on the coarse sand, and the two approach it cautiously. The swordfish’s beady eye is looking at them wearily, like it didn’t expect to be fished out, and Susie looks at Kris, awaiting their decision. Kris makes eye contact with the fish that is now lodged into the ground, eyes glowing with detestation as they spent nearly all their energy trying to get it out. They then look at Susie, dragging their thumb along their neck and giving her a thumbs down, signaling for this fish’s soon to come death. Susie smirks, as she takes the fish out of the ground and gives it it’s final blow. She snickers to herself before turning her head towards Kris, her eyes still on the swordfish as she cleans it a bit.

“Of course a nerd like you, would be able to catch a fish on their first try! Are you good at everything or what?!” Susie says, a little passive aggressively as she approaches the human and punches their shoulder. Kris blushes a bit, embarrassed at the praise and  they shake their head. Susie sighs and ruffles their hair as they sit back down on their stool, backcasting their line back into the water after having taken it out because of the swordfish.

“Come on, loser! You’re not gonna have the upper hand for long!” She barks out as she laughs maniacally, a new passion evident in her eyes. Not long after, the two decided to have a fishing competition, Susie betting that she’d be able to cast WAY more fish than Kris could even imagine and Kris scoffing and readying his rod to win this challenge. In the end, the two exhausted themselves in less than an hour as they tried to do more dramatic performances to cast their line each time, with Susie managing to catch one fish more before going along with Kris ‘showing off’ and getting carried away. Laying on the grass near where they placed their bags, the  two heroes took a few breaths to calm down after going at it for an hour straight with no breaks. Susie suddenly broke out in laughter as she thought about how ludicrous  they must’ve looked to a passer-by and Kris seeing this started laughing along

“Alright, alright! We’re tied anyway, so let's fish a little more normally from now on okay?! Jeez, I didn’t realise you’re THIS competitive you little shit.” She said in-between gasps as she was still laughing, and she stood up brushing any sand that had clung to her arms when she layed in the sandy grass patch. Kris got up in tandem, smiling at her warmly. Susie, feels her heart catch in her throat as she coughs, trying to ignore the soft red slowly taking over her features, and she hurries up to sit on her stool. Kris follows suit, still smiling at her, as they’ve never enjoyed hanging out with someone more than they do with Susie. They both sat in comfortable silence as they cast their lines in the water again, this time without any malice and competitiveness, just calm and fuzzy warmth.

  Eventually, after enough time had passed and the sun had set, and the wind started to pick up, the two teens started inching closer to each other for warmth. As they huddled together to fight the cold, Kris decides to ask the question that has been itching at them ever since they left their house. Quietly, like a secret afraid to be told, they spoke near Susie’s ear, the proximity providing to be helpful for the sake of the conversation. 

“So, how come you know how to fish?”

If it wasn't for the moderately peaceful ambience, and the otherwise unnecessary closeness, Kris wouldn’t have noticed the way Susie’s breath hitched in her throat, or the way her body tensed up in defense. Immediately regretting their action, Kris bites their lip as they distance themselves a bit from the girl, hoping to give her the space she needed to answer. 

Susie takes a deep breath, readying, steeling herself to expose parts of her to her friend, her best friend who she would trust ( and has) with her life. Although she would rather stay a stone wall, Kris’ soft gaze and compassionate aura urged her to reveal facts about herself she had never told anyone before. Staring out into the now moonlit water, glistening because of the star’s reflections, Susie starts her story, speaking with more sincerity and honesty than Kris is used to.

“Back when I was…younger, I used to go out fishing with my uncle. He and my mom were close and he…he cared for me like I was his daughter.” Furrowing her brows, she felt her throat tighten, as her gaze never wavered from the water in front of her. Kris nudged their knee on hers, to urge her to continue politely.

“...I can't even count on one hand the amount of times we went out fishing and how many of those i failed to comprehend the simple instructions he’d give me.”She clenched her fist, her eyes narrowing in tandem, as she was finding it difficult to forgive herself for being unintelligent, even as a child. “But he stayed there with me, each time, showing me incredible patience. No matter what stupid shit I did, or what I broke…he stayed . That kind of affection was…foreign to me so I clung to him like a needy child. And one day? I asked him to go fishing, confident that I would be able to catch a fish this time, after so much training. And guess what. It was the first time he declined. Of course , I cared more about myself and the sudden lack of attention, that I lashed out and bolted out of the house. I should’ve known something was wrong just from his behaviour…” Her eyesight was getting progressively blurrier as she felt her claws dig into the soft skin of her palm. Kris placed their hand on hers, softly , like you would pet a scared animal, and they squeezed reassuringly, to make sure she knew they were there. Susie felt her heart waver, clenching at the affection that was being bestowed on her. She blinks away the swarming tears before continuing with the last of her story.

“That day, I decided to be…a little brat , and I went alone to our fishing spot. I tried my damndest for about 2 hours before I caught myself, my first fish.” She laughs but it’s bitter, like she’s trying hard not to cry. Kris makes sure to squeeze her hand periodically, wanting her to know they’re there for her and that they sympathise.

“I managed to catch the tiniest little tuna, which generally isn’t eaten or even kept after being caught since its just so small. But for me? For a little monster like me that couldn't achieve… anything ? It was the world . The insignificant little tuna I caught didn’t matter as much as the fact I did something. Not destructive or violent, just harmless. Before I even realised it, I was jogging home, excited out of my MIND to show my mother and more importantly, my uncle. Yet…yet when I reached home… I found my mother crying on our torn up, dingy little couch. She looked inconsolable as she crumpled up in her hands some kind of…paper. I was so shocked I couldn't even speak as I got closer.” Susie takes one last deep, shaky inhale as she turns to look Kris in the eyes, visible thanks to the steady breeze and the minimal distance between them.

“When I saw one of the papers my mom had read on the table, even with my nonexistent reading skills, I knew. I knew the words “terminal stage” didn’t mean anything good ...Turns out, my uncle had stage 4 cancer, and he…He kept it a secret from us because he knew we’d worry. That day was the one he decided would be his final day. He took his wife and spent the entire day at a holiday rental he had rented out for that specific occasion. The only reason we even found out he…you know. Was because his wife called us, probably looking for comfort in her grief.” Susie, still looking in Kris’ eyes, clasped her hand over theirs, where it had previously sat on hers, and spoke from the heart. 

“Fishing is the only thing I have left from him, and the only thing I know I’m alright at…that's why I wanted us to come here today…” Her eyes are glowing with a feeling foreign to Kris, even though unbeknownst to them, their eyes were exhibiting the same exact raw feeling. Compassion. Empathy. Love. For the person in front of them. And most importantly, trust. Kris raises their hand, shaky and a little sweaty, and they cup Susie’s face, wiping away a few tears that had spilled out of her eyes. Muttering, immersed, they felt lost in the sight of Susie’s golden eyes.

“They look  like an ocean of stars…” Kris said under their breath, without much thought behind it. Unfortunately, monsters’ hearing was better than humans’ so when Susie hears that, she flushes redder than humanly OR monster-ly possible, and pushes away the human so hard, they both fall out of their seats.

Still shocked  from Kris’....compliment, Susie hastily stands back up glancing around like she was scared someone had seen them, or heard them. With timing better than warm butterscotch pie, the human suddenly feels soft water droplets on their face, before raising a hand to check for rain. Susie prays inwardly at the gods for getting her out of a possibly VERY awkward situation, as she straightens out and starts gathering up their supplies. The drizzle increased the longer they stood there.

“E-ehem…we need to pack it all up before we lose something because of the wind…” She says a little more formally than usual, as she shoves anything and everything she finds into one of the bags they used. Kris nods, a flush still being evident on their face from the embarrassment of the situation. They hadn’t expected Susie to hear them, so now  they feel like ripping their soul out of their body and beating it up. Suddenly, before Susie could react properly, Kris’ bag ripped open and a fishing sunhat flew out, gone with the wind and never to be found again (This will be important later). Susie shook her head, it probably wasn’t that important anyway. They hastily got all their belongings and made their way back to Kris’. By the time they were halfway there, it was raining hard. Both human and monster were soaked to the bone. As they were jogging to get back home, Kris sneezes loudly,  the cold of the wind and rain already getting to them. Susie laughs at the sight as she slaps them on the back.

“Awww weak whittle human cant handle a little rain~??” She says , smirking so wide her teeth were visible. Before she  could even begin to feel more smug, she felt a sneeze overcome her, one so loud the birds that had remained on the trees were scared out of their nests. For a second,  the two friends looked at each other, equally embarrassed, before breaking out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Running the rest of the way at full speed and light banter exchanged between them, they finally reached kris’ house. Kris unlocked  the door swiftly, knowing no one would  open it for them as their mother, Toriel, had stayed over Sans’ house today (Susie: Gross…).

After a quick game of rock paper scissors to determine who would shower first, the winner being Kris, they both got into warm pjs and crawled in their designated beds, Kris in their own bed and Susie on a mattress on the ground. They both stared a bit at the ceiling before either of them decided to initiate a conversation. 

Suddenly Kris felt the bed dip on their left, the side that was unoccupied beforehand, as Susie crawled into their sheets and turned her back to them. A soft silence was prevalent in the room before Susie’s hoarse voice was heard, quiet as if being heard wasn’t its purpose. 

“The reason why I came over today… and why I decided for us to go fishing was because…because today was the anniversary of my uncle’s death…” She managed to eke out as her voice slowly died out. All of the sudden, Susie feels a pair of arms firmly wrap around her waist from behind. Kris didnt say anything as they squeezed Susie softly. Slowly, they began to say a secret of their own, as they raised their head to get closer to Susie’s ear.

“Before, on our way to the spot, I was tense because…I’m terrified of water.” Kris said quietly as they waited for Susie to digest the information. The girl whips around, shocked to hear Kris revealing more facts about themselves. The human continues shyly as they feel their ears grow redder by the minute, trying to move back into their side of the bed, to no avail as Susie inched closer to hear their admission better.

“When i was a kid, me and Asriel had gone swimming with our parents…and I almost downed because i wanted to play with Asriel more…just because i was being dumb..And no one was nearby to help me, so i had to struggle out of the water myself…” Kris continues with their gaze lowered, as they wait a few seconds for Susie to respond. Then, loud laughing reverberates through the room as Susie bursts out laughing. She wipes tears from her eyes, seemingly from the satisfying laugh session.

“Don't worry little shit, I’ll always save you, no matter what. So even if you’re in water or even in the queen's goddamn acid pool or whatever, I’ll always help you out. Because you’re my friend and I'm not letting a little water ruin that!” Susie says, a smirk audible in her tone, as she extends a fist for Kris to bump. Sheepishly, Kris fist bumps Susie back, feeling second hand embarrassment from her heartfelt confession and absurd behaviour. It takes a few moments for Susie to feel self conscious and start to curse and say ‘forget it’ s more times than Kris can count. Looking at her fumble her words they couldn’t help but burst out laughing, shaking in the spot they occupied in their bed. Susie stops her nervous rambling to take in the sound of laughter from their otherwise deadpan friend, and how they look adorable when they let loose. She blushes at her own thoughts as she punches her stomach, which causes Kris to stop laughing and look at her. 

“Stupid butterflies…” She grumbles as she decides the position she’s in isn’t comfortable enough, so she drags Kris from their previous position and wraps an arm around their waist, effectively caging them in her frame. The human, confused as ever, makes an attempt to speak but before they can even say anything Susie pipes up from behind them with a “I’m tired now, GOODNIGHT LOSER ” and buries her snout in their hair while muttering “stupid apples…” . Kris snorted at her brazenness and sunk deeper into her warmth, as they decided it was finally time to sleep.

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Waking up with limbs entangled and breaths mingling as the two heroes were nearly falling off Kris’ bed, the door to their room suddenly bursts open with a large slam.

Susie shoots up in surprise at the loud noise while Kris takes their time with it, rubbing their eyes slowly.

As the person that opened the door enters the room fully, both their blood runs cold. They turn to look at each other terrified at what they could’ve done wrong. Asgore sat in the entrance of Kris’ room, with his arms on his hips and a very disgruntled expression.

“Hey little buddy…did you steal my fishing gear out of my truck?! I mean, it would’ve been alright if you put everything back but why did you keep my limited edition signed exclusively sold once sunhat that Rudy gave me on our first trip? Did you like it that much?” As Asgore started looking more and more disappointed, Susie started feeling worse by the minute. Kris observed her reaction, as they also realised they must’ve dropped something on the spot they went yesterday, so they took the matter in their own hands.

They got up from their bed, walking up to their dad and looking him in the eyes. With strength and determination they’ve never exhibited before, Kris puts on the most puppy dog expression they could humanly perform. Asgore squints like the sight was blinding, his child was showing him a side they rarely used. Feeling his throat clamp up and his tongue dry, he decides to say a few quiet, ‘well if you liked it i guess its fine…’ and ‘next time invite your old man..’ along with a ‘sorry for waking you up buddy…’ as he left the room. Susie was beyond awestruck at Kris’ master manipulation techniques as the dastardly human turned around and flashed her the most mischievous smirk she’s ever seen. She jumps up and noogies Kris as hard as she could while laughing at the situation that had just unfolded.

“Where have you kept that hidden all this time huh?!? We could’ve used that every time Alphys reprimanded us!” She  says through gasp of laughter, not being able to keep it together as she hears Kris snicker under her arm.

“Well whatever, at least we didn’t get into trouble with your dad. Now let's go eat some pancakes, nerd. Your treat, obviously .” She barks out laughing some more as she unhands the shorter human and walks towards the door to leave. Kris shakes their head, following close behind as they two go downstairs to get some well deserved sustenance.

As soon as they step into the kitchen, they find Toriel and Sans splayed out on the couch, beers in hand and Sans laying on Toriel’s chest, while soft snoring could be heard from the both of them. Quickly Susie turns around and puts her arms on Kris’ shoulders.

“On the other hand, we could probably stay in your room for a bit longer…”

Kris clenched their fist. Sans will feel their wrath, sooner or later…