Take the Plunge

Ma’am was either appropriate, or she just literally didn’t care enough to bother correcting her. But considering that she didn’t look horribly annoyed, it was probably fine.

“You can just..” she moves to step aside, pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand and gesturing to the inside of her home with the other. “…put it on a table, or something. Somewhere where she’ll see it when she gets home. Just in case I’m not here.”

Carol moves her hand away after fixing her glasses, examining the flower crown in Susie’s hand. “..Did you make that?”

“Oh, alright...” Walking into the Holiday home shockingly hadn’t been on her agenda, but she does move inside with a bit of trepidation. This house was far too nice for someone like her to be walking into, after all, though she’s quick to make her way to the living room to set it on the coffee table. 

She pauses when the question comes up, a nervous laugh bubbling up as she finds something interesting on the floor to look at while scales pinken.

“ not quite ! i was the one who came to her . i asked her ahead of time if she wanted to hang out at her place and told her there . . and also asked for advice on getting dressed . she’s the one who came up with this ! “

she points to her headfeathers , which had styled into a much more soft hair-like fashion . other wing takes the second water bottle from cherry , looking down at it before gazing back up to the human .

“ do you have straws here ? drinking directly from the bottle is , not an easy task with a beak . “

“Oh yeah, I love the hair... er, feathers? You know what I mean!” 

You chuckle, perhaps a touch embarrassed by your confusion about which to call it-- before even more comes at the realization you forgot the straw. Of course someone with a beak would have difficulties with a regular bottle.

“Golly, sorry. I guess the whole situations’ got me a bit scatterbrained.”

You apologize, making your way back to the kitchen to procure one of the metal straws kept in the cupboards and giving it a quick rinse to be sure.

Noelle was never quite sure what to expect, paying her friend a visit at their secluded little hiding spot unannounced; with her being one of only a handful that know of it at all, it usually mean finding them in the midst of some… interesting activity. Like demon summoning, at least once (even after Catti told them NOT to do that… without her). Things that’d likely surprise anyone else, and yet usually barely got a raised brow from her. They were all expected of them, after all.

Though, as she made her way up to the treehouse’s entrance, sneaking extra carefully with her hooves upon the wooden flooring (a difficult task she was thankfully well-practiced in)… she didn’t need any more than a glance inside to quickly find a sight she didn’t at all expect.

Something that not only left her green eyes wide with surprise, but left a bright red glow emanating off her face.

Kris was… in a dress… a pretty dress. Or were they the one that was pretty?

They were dressed up well in general, but the dress was the first thing that caught her gaze, for obvious reasons; eyes slowly lifting up from the ruffles, unintentionally committing the whole look to memory as they wandered… eventually reach an end, finding their hair tied up in a ponytail. Out of their eyes, for once, as she could make out in the mirror.

Familiar, pretty red eyes. A pair she didn’t get to see enough…

So utterly awestruck she was, seeing her friend… like this… her brain couldn’t connect any particular dots of what finding them like this could entail, not in that moment. Far too fixated already.

It isn’t until that first bit of movement of them beginning to turn around that she’s able to blink, coming back to reality and remember to breath… mental faculty returning just in time for her eyes to meet theirs as they turned towards the entrance she was standing in. Just in time to realize she was intruding.

“EEEEEK!!!” There’s a familiar like shriek as she practically bounced back as the sudden realization her, beet red in the face and bright crimson in her nose as she stumbled on her hooves. “S-sorry! SORRY! I didn’t… DIDN’T MEAN TO…!!!”

You hesitate as you turn, realizing there was a familiar red glow. You didn’t set up the Christmas lights yet, had you? When you fully turn, you see a familiar green amidst that red glow, albeit with a lot more red to go with it. Noelle, stand in the treehouse doorway, complete with familiar shriek at the realization that you’re still in your dress. You don’t even blink for a moment. You don’t breathe for a moment. The only thing moving is your mind, rapidly trying to find a way to rationalize your appearance besides the growing obvious answer.

This isn’t the first time you’ve been in a dress, of course. You’re often more inclined to dress as a woman for Halloween, however those are always costumes. Meant to be someone else. But this, in this moment, is you. You’re dressed as... you. You manage to gulp down the fear, trying your best to get anything out. All you get is stammering, eyes showing too much white as you panic.

It’s Noelle, you think, she’s not going to mock you for it. 

You glance, realizing that the other is stumbling by the doorway. Despite being in heels, you’re quick to head over and catch the other by the arms, just to make sure that she doesn’t go barreling down the fall. Even as your own cheeks are burning, you’re far more worried about your friend getting herself hurt than your feelings.

“The, uh.. door.” You manage to finally blurt out, explaining your sudden and rather impressive in heels rush to catch the reindeer. You eventually realize you’re still holding onto her, even with your oh-so-trembling hands, and manage to pry your own grip off of her enough to take a hesitant step back into the treehouse. 

with such an invite , she couldn’t turn down an inside visit to continue their talk . once she passes the door , one of her talons lightly kicks it , sending it slowly back into it’s frame as she listened to cherry .

“ noelle ? she … was the first i came out to , and who helped me with dressing up . “

did - did they both come out to noelle first ? ( or , in cherry’s case , have her come to them ? ) - coincidence after coincidence . 

“ not only did we both transition , but , noelle was the first to know too in each case ? cherry , did noelle tell you about me and you’re doing this as a prank ? “

the accusatory tone that might usually be present with a comment like that isn’t there , though . more clearly that of a joking manner .

“Golly, I’d ask you the same thing.” 

You shake your head, stifling some more laughter at the matter as you head toward the kitchen to get yourself a bottle of water, taking out a second with a questioning glance.

“Noelle got you too, huh?”

cherry - she mentally corrected herself as well . it’s a really cute name … a chuckle slips from her beak at the human’s reaction , god , this WAS something , wasn’t it ?

“ yeah … i’m , wow ! it’s … berdly also , still works , but . plume is a-also nice . “

any prior anxiety she might’ve had about coming out is well and truly gone , as berdly just smiles like an idiot at the series of events she had found herself in . 

“ when did you … also realize ? “

“Gosh, I’d say just last week?” 

You pause, realizing you’re having a conversation in the doorway and take a moment to politely step back and to the side with a little wave. It’s only polite to let Plume inside the house, after all. 

“Noelle came to my treehouse while I happened to be trying on some, er, dresses.” 

Not that them wearing such was a new thing, as they were more than happy to dress up as female ghosts and the like for Halloween-- but even Noelle could tell that time was different. It was terrifying, of course, but now they felt a lot better about the whole thing.

You had to admit that, perhaps, it was a touch embarrassing, wearing this. At the same time, though, you're more embarrassed that you don’t have the stomach to wear it where people can actually see you. 

You take solace in the fact that, at least, you were able to wear it where nobody could see you. You examine the black and red ankle boots, cheeks a touch pink as you remember the many times you wore them on their own. It took you awhile to get the hang of practicing your walk in them when you thought Toriel was asleep. ...There were a few scares, but you managed. The hardest part was finding the right dress to go with it. 

 The dress rested comfortably at your ankles, the red ruffles moving to the main black of the dress before the red shirt tucked underneath put a heart across most of your chest. It was a touch cliche, with the big black bow and the long sleeves that you had to pull off your hands else they vanish within. It was too cute to pass up, even if you'll have to get the sleeves adjusted some day... You tug the fingerless lace gloves on, ensuring they did reach your elbow before the red scrunchie with bats was slid over your hair and tugging it into an awkward ponytail. The red heeled boots you were clacked softly against the wooden floor, but the fact you’d gotten good at walking in them always made you smile.

Your red eyes stared back at you from the mirror (judging you) as you looked over yourself once more. Showing your eyes alone was bad enough, but wearing something like this? Everyone would ridicule you. You tense, doing your best to ignore the thought and focus on enjoying the outfit you managed to acquire... You're still shaking a touch, contemplating why you bothered as you glance to the clock. This was silly. This was stupid.