charbroil

you’ve never thought class with alphys could be so normal.

and by normal you mean less annoying than usual.

berdly got sick for probably the first time in his life, leaving you and noelle to work on your practice sheet, minds far away from even thinking about the remarks that would have been said had berdly actually shown up.

you’re scribbling on the corner of your paper, waiting (albeit unenthusiastically) for noelle to finish her calculations on the question you didn’t dare to attempt when she spoke up.

“hey, do you think, uh… susie’d want to study with us later?” she asked, quieter than her usual self. it didn’t take rocket science to figure out why.

moving your head to face her, you saw the slight flush of her cheek alongside the nervous fiddling of her fingers on the calculator as she had immediately turned her attention to it after she asked the question.

instead of answering her immediately you turned to where susie was.

she was in the back of the class, her practice sheet discarded on the floor as she enthusiastically talked to kris about something everyone knew had no regards to the work at hand.

kris.

you wondered when they became friends. you wouldn’t have thought susie would mesh well with someone so quiet if you didn’t see it with your own eyes.

turning back to noelle before you could get caught staring you told her straight up. “susie doesn’t even work in class. i doubt you could drag her to the library without another excuse.”

dejectedly sighing, noelle meekly continued “then what could i say?”

“i don’t know. maybe you could ask kris? they sure became fast friends.”

“oh! I mean, i guess i could ask them. actually…” she trailed off, writing the final calculations onto the practice sheet before turning to you again.

“could i invite them over here? only if you don’t mind of course!!” she quickly added, not wanting you to be uncomfortable.

you smiled at her, thankful for her being considerate. “yeah, of course. long as it’s not awkward. it’s already horror enough when berdly’s with us.”

she giggled, choosing out of kindness not to verbally respond to your insult towards berdly and began to stand, heading over to the desk kris and susie were sharing.

choosing not to intrude and make it any more nerve-wracking you sure it was for noelle (who was surely hiding it well, perhaps because berdly wasn’t there to talk her out of it…

you’ve sure mentioned berdly a lot. maybe he’s more of a constant than you thought.)

you chose not to watch her talk with susie, instead laying your head on the desk and relaxing for as long as you could before someone eventually bothered you with something.

not soon after, noelle tapped your shoulder and sat down next to you, gesturing to the two new heads dragging chairs over to your guys’ two desks.

“see, even that one isn’t doing the work. i swear, i don’t know why alphys hands out these papers anyway.” you heard susie first, probably gesturing to your head on the desk as she sat in the chair she placed across from noelle. you’d agree if you weren’t still trying to bury your head further into your makeshift pillow.

“she probably has to, for.. work purposes.” noelle responds, an obvious happy lilt in her tone. it must have been easy to convince susie to come over here.

you were tuning out the rest of their conversation when you felt someone kick your foot. hard enough to be noticeable, but soft enough to where you questioned if it was an accident.

not lifting your head, you moved your legs further into your person instead of under the desk.

but it nudged once again.

begrudgingly, you tilted your head up to see kris staring directly at you. to which you raised an eyebrow, of course. they sleep in class all the time, they should be the last one to interrupt your relaxation.

they didn’t say anything, you don’t think they had the chance before susie did.

“yo, you hear what she said or you still bored half-to-death from doing nothing?”

you assume she’s talking about your paper, which is currently filled with nothing but answers… that you got from noelle.

yeah, you didn’t do it, but at least you wrote something. her paper is literally still on the floor, even after alphys told her to pick it up.

“what’d she say?”

“she invited us to her house after school to study. with food of course.” susie added, probably to emphasize that it was the reason she was coming. you knew that wasn’t all, but who are you to judge?

“i’ll be there.” you affirmed “don’t expect me to be any help though.”

“i never would have,” susie laughed, wrapping an arm around kris before she continued “i don’t do the work regardless.”

you would’ve asked her why she even bothered coming then, but you didn’t want to ruin her facade infront of noelle. call you corny, but you thought it was nice to see susie being nice for once.

besides, she was the entertainment this class was needing after a good fifteen minutes of trying (and eventually giving up, nobody has time for that) calculations you’re sure are easier on the actual test.

when noelle and susie became engrossed into conversation, something about horror movies, you felt yet another nudge on your foot. more insistent this time, so you’re sure it’s for more than just your attention.

you turned your head, being met face to face with kris who was expectantly waiting for your reaction.

“hmm?” you asked, more than ready to hear what they could possibly want your attention for.

you talk, sometimes, mostly in class and in the hallways. that’s because noelle introduced you two for a project once. it went as well as any project, and you could confidently say kris was aware of your presence. but what you couldn’t confidently say is if kris considered you as someone they talk to.

not when they talk to susie unprompted, compared to your one-sided conversations in which they just agree to every word you say. but that’s neither here nor there.

even so, you consider them someone you like. they’re hard not to like when they don’t do anything to you, and for being someone who isn’t the most verbal they do talk to you, so you’ll take what you can get (even if you want more).

“...before we go to noelle’s, would you want to stop at the diner?” they asked, mumbling the last part.

“oh, sure. yeah. i’ve been hungry, anyway.”

“good, i’m sure noelle and susie would enjoy the alone time anyway.” they responded. you would’ve sworn you saw a small quirk of their lip before they turned to listen to noelle and susie’s conversation.

you would’ve been more excited, but they must be setting those two up. not hard to see anyway, besides, you don’t think they would particularly see you outside of school.

thankfully, the bell eventually rang and you four were the last ones out of the classroom to nobody's fault but susie’s, having to collect all of the practice sheets she threw in her enjoyment. (which she only did because she felt bad noelle had volunteered to do. textbook crush behaviors, if someone asked you. you’re sure kris thought the same thing the way they simply stared at susie’s display.)

while susie and noelle were stopping at noelles locker, kris took the opportunity to whisk you away. they didn’t even notice, too focused on each other to notice you guys disappeared from behind them.

walking side by side on the pavement leading out of the school, you took the initiative to actually talk to kris. if you were going to kill time before going to noelle’s, might as well get to know them better.

“so,” you started, kind of unsure of what to say. “what do you normally get from the diner?”

“...hot chocolate.” they told you, though unresponsive at first. “what about you?”

“i get whatever i feel like that day, nothing in specific.”

they hummed in response, allowing a comfortable silence to settle between you two for the rest of the walk to the diner.

when you two finally sat, you saw you had a couple texts from noelle which were obviously about your disappearances. you were going to tell her you’d be over soon, but kris had another idea.

they took your phone (after you let them see the text) and responded,

“have fun on your study date - k”

before turning your phone off. so much for going over the material. but you probably weren’t going to do it there either.

when they handed it back you gave them a look. “now what are we gonna do? they probably don’t expect us to show up now.”

kris looked at you and shrugged, instead turning to face the approaching diner owner who was ready to take your orders.

the owner looked at kris who nodded, then turned their attention to you. “what will you have?”

considering it was only midday and your lunch wasn’t filling, you ordered a burger and fries, watching the owner turn and head back to the counter to get your orders ready.

the silence between you and kris only seemed to get longer, so you filled the void.

“do you come here so often that they already know your order?” you knew the answer. they already told you what they get, but you wanted conversation.

“i used to,” they honestly answered, but quickly switched topics. “...how do you feel about susie and noelle?”

“i think it’s cute. how they act toward eachother. but, i haven’t given it much thought outside of that.” you told them, them now piquing your interest. “but how do you feel?”

they shrugged once more, taking hold of the hot chocolate the owner brought over. you took a fry from the plate they also left behind, enjoying the warm crunch in your mouth.

as you ate you noticed kris slipping some of your fries into their mouth, which would be fine….

… if they hadn’t gotten to the point where they had eaten more than half.

“kris… if you wanted fries, why didn’t you get any?” you asked, taking another bite of your burger. you didn’t mind that they were eating your fries, but they were still your fries and you wanted some.

“yours taste better.” they mumbled, taking another fry and chewing it in your face, humming in contentedness to further push their point.

“...they would’ve tasted the same. anyway-” before you could even start, you were interrupted.

“we can study at my place,” they said. “if you care that much.”

you were slightly surprised at their offer because you knew they didn’t care about studying. you knew that you didn’t care about studying. you’d both get good grades regardless…

…but you wouldn’t deny their offer either.

you could say it was curiosity about seeing their house, but you knew the truth would align more with being more curious about them.

“that’d be nice.” you told them, finishing your burger right after saying that.

you could see a small smile play on their lips before the owner came back. “on the house this time, seems a special occasion.” they winked, staring mostly at kris before turning back to where they came.

that small smile was now replaced with a light flush on the tip of their ears. cute. it almost made you forget about the innuendo behind that comment. you couldn’t care less though, it got you free food. (and kris looks better with a tint of pink on their skin, but you’d rather not admit that. yet.)

you know you wouldn’t regret going to their house.

stepping into their room after meeting toriel (who was all too ecstatic to see kris bring someone home after so long), you were met with a sight you could only explain as sad. completely and utterly sad.

their side of the room (you knew because of the lack of identifying trophies and certificates) was barren and uninteresting other than a cage in a wagon.

the other, which you knew was asriels (because of the identifying trophies), decorated to a T and accentuated with multiple trophies and pictures.

why did toriel let them sleep next to that every night? better yet, why didn’t she (or asgore, he’s not their only parent) get them something to decorate their room with?

but you wouldn’t dwell on that. you’re sure kris would probably get upset if you did anyway.

they sat in the middle of their bed and gestured for you to sit on the other, leaving you between them and the end of their bed.

unsurprisingly, instead of studying, you guys talk. surprisingly, its them who starts it.

“i had something i wanted to ask you.”

you blink twice, somewhat in awe they said something not in response to you, but you respond all the same.

“go for it,” you say, eager to hear what they were about to say.

“...do you think i’m weird?”

.

.

.

what?

you accidentally said that out loud, but you meant it all the same. you’re sure if you could see your face you’d look more crazy than alphys when someone looks at her computer.

“...too forward,” they sighed, turning their head away from you.

“no, no- that’s not why i said that.” you started, putting a hand on their shoulder. “i’m more… confused.. that you asked that. i don’t think you’re weird.”

they still didn’t look at you, but you heard a quiet “..really?”

“yeah, really. i think you’re quiet, and that you probably don’t like me, but i never thought you were weird..”

they zeroed in on part of your sentence. “you think i don’t like you?” they asked, turning their face to yours.

they were close. like, really close.

“compared to others, yeah, i mean, not that its bad. but, you’re definitely more responsive to other people.” you rambled, trying to articulate your words correctly.

“i do like you.” they told you, placing their hand on your lower thigh. “thought you liked others more than me.”

“no, you were always nice to be around.” you admitted, more honest in your words than you expected.

you felt as if the distance between you two was getting smaller despite the two of you unmoving.

being this close, you could see their eyes from between their strands of hair. you’ve always liked their eyes, the red was such a pretty shade.

before you could do anything they spoke.

“...you know i suggested the diner to see you, right?” they asked, leaning in closer and closing more distance you’d thought possible.

“you did?” you asked, genuinely. you thought they just wanted to get susie and noelle alone.

“do you really think i care to study? they gave me an excuse.” they told you, blush blooming across their face as they stared into your eyes.

you don’t think you’ve smiled as hard as you are right now in a couple months.

with you and kris leaning in further, you completely closed the distance as your lips softly connected.

they faintly tasted like the hot chocolate they ate earlier, the kiss gentle and soft before you pulled away.

nobody said anything for a moment, the both of you flushing but smiling in realization of what just occurred.

“...i’ve always liked you.” kris told you, looking away once more.

“i like you too.” you told them, moving your hand from their shoulder closest to you to the further one, leaning them closer to you.

suddenly, kris got a text.

it was from susie, stating

“just to make sure, DONT come over.”

“i think i’m having the best day of my life

smiling, kris replied with one word. “same.”

you couldn’t agree more.

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