Chapter Text
A riddle.
A riddle, wrapped in an enigma, inside a mystery. That's the only way Susie could describe the human sitting beside her, watching the wind blow ripples on the lake's surface.
Kris didn't speak much. In fact, Susie only ever heard them string together more than two words at a time exactly once, and it wasn't exactly an incident she liked to dwell on. They also whispered when they talked, which led most to believe that the human was incapable of talking at all, since you couldn't hear them unless they were right in your face (or you were a monster with exceptional hearing).
Despite all that, Kris was... surprisingly sociable. They walked around town and talked to everyone (or, rather, people talked at them), and even though Susie tried her best to just shove all the work on them, Kris managed to befriend Susie after barely a day of working together.
They got her, in a way that no one else in town did, and even though they had only been hanging out for two days now... she wouldn't hesitate to call Kris her best (and only) friend.
It made her wish Alphys had forced them to work together sooner, or, at least, that Susie hadn't been such an asshole to the human in the year or so they've known each other.
"Hey, you got a bedtime or something, dude?" Susie asked jokingly, breaking the silence.
Kris turned their head to look at her, and she could swear they were scowling. It was hard to tell, they didn't exactly tend to show emotion on their face that often, and the fact that she couldn't see their eyes didn't make it any easier.
"Not a mind reader, y'know?" she prodded further.
With a sigh, Kris pulled out their phone, checking the time and, this time, she knew she saw them frown.
The human got up, dusting their pants, and tilted their head slightly towards the path leading back into town.
"Oh, shit, you actually gotta go home?"
They gave a curt nod, turning away and shoving their hands in their hoodie's pockets.
"Hold up, I'll walk you there," Susie called out, shooting to her feet.
Kris turned their head back, tilting it slightly as they stared at her quizzically.
"Don't got nothing better to do," she said, trying to sound casual.
...it did make her feel kind of pathetic, the fact that she was willing to walk the kid she used to bully home just so she could spend more time with them.
Staring at her for a moment, Kris shrugged and turned away, walking back the way they had came. Susie took that as a "yes, you can walk me home", so she settled on walking beside them like she'd done for most of the day.
Kris was apparently a lifelong resident of Hometown, and even if they didn't talk talk, they still knew how to talk to people. Susie... didn't, so she mostly just stuck to the human while they went around town.
The walk back was slow and quiet, but it felt nice. The human seemed to enjoy walking slowly, or at least to dislike going fast, and at this point they didn't have to say anything to enjoy each other's company. The view was nice, too! All the browning leaves and the setting sun and the breeze and all that scenic shit. Real autumn stuff.
"You sure you don't want me to hold your hand?" she offered, grinning, to which the human merely removed one of their hands from their pocket, revealing a middle finger.
Susie barked out a laughter, and she could see Kris struggling not to smile as well. She wondered how much of their neutral expression was real, and how much of it was just a mask they put up, the same way she tried to be scary around the kids who obviously didn't like her.
As they finally made their way to Kris's house, Susie stood by awkwardly as Kris approached the door, fishing for the house keys.
"Then... guess it's goodbye for today," Susie said, awkwardly. She hated goodbyes, never knew what to say. "See ya tomorrow, Kris..."
Kris turned around, standing still for a moment, before they offered her a tiny smile and a lazy wave.
It seemed like they were also looking forward to hanging out with her later, so that wasn't a total wash.
"...later," they whispered.
That was good enough for her. Susie felt good.
Before either of them could say anything else, however, the front door flew open, a tiny green, yellow and white blur (even tinier than Kris, who was already pretty short in Susie's eyes!) burst from the house, tackling Kris's midsection in a tight hug like it was afraid they would disappear.
"KRIS!!! How was studying with your..." the tiny monster boy attached to Kris, a goat, much like Ms. Toriel, paused mid sentence, eyes fixed on a startled Susie, "Kris, is that your friend??"
Susie didn't know what to do or say. She wasn't good with kids! She'd heard through the grapevine that Kris had a monster brother called Asriel, but when she asked them they simply said he was the "oldest sibling"; this kid looked like he wasn't older than seven or eight! Were the Dreemurrs hosting a little cousin or something?
Rather than explaining things to her like a best friend was supposed to do, Kris simply pointed at her. "...susie," they whispered to the little boy.
"So you're Susie??" the boy perked up, running up to her, "Kris talks a lot about you!! Hi! I'm Asriel!" he exclaimed excitedly, holding up a paw to her.
Kris talked about her?? Actually, wait— this was Asriel??
"O-oh!" Susie grabbed the kid's paw awkwardly, "you're Asriel? I thought you'd be... older?"
The kid tilted his head, looking up at her confused.
"Kris said you were the... 'oldest sibling', so..."
"Oh!" Asriel laughed, "Kris isn't... great at talking out loud...!" he said like that was new information, earning him a glare from Kris "they meant I'm the oldest of their siblings."
"Huh," Susie was surprised such a small child could speak such fluent Krisnese, but a piece of information stuck with her: "wait, 'siblings'? More than one??"
The moment she asked that, a clattering was heard from the door before another child came running out of the house... and proceeded to immediately faceplant on the ground, a red horned hairband flying off a mop of chestnut hair and landing on the grass.
"...chara...!" Kris gasped, running over to help the child and pick up the headband.
As the kid got up on trembling legs, they wrapped their arms around the human, burying their face on Kris's sweater.
As she saw their face, Susie realized that the child (Chara?) was not a monster, but a human, just like Kris! They even looked like Kris, with their brown hair and green and yellow sweater (though, unlike Kris's hoodie, it had multiple stripes on it, as befitting of a child). Save for their pale skin and rosy cheeks, they looked like a tiny clone of Kris.
...were they? Susie didn't really know how humans worked, Kris being the only one she'd ever seen. As far as she knew, all humans were genderless and just cloned themselves like sea sponges or something.
"You said we would play today..." Chara whined, trembling lips pouting as they looked up at Kris with bright red eyes.
"...school work," Kris sighed, placing the horned headband back on the kid's head, "...your crutches?"
"They're inside..." they said, sounding ashamed.
"...go get 'em."
"I don't want to!!" the child protested, eyes glistening as they glanced over to Susie.
"...chara..." Kris sighed again, putting their hands on their hips, "...you know you need them," they said, sternly.
That was the longest sentence Susie had ever heard out of them.
"...Azzy doesn't use crutches..." Chara grumbled.
"...asriel doesn't need them," they said softly, petting their hair, "...come on, little demon..." Kris whispered, letting the child go. While they were arguing about them, Asriel had ran to the door and grabbed their sibling's (?) crutches, carrying them over to the pair of humans. "...don't want you to fall again."
Sighing, Chara took the pair of forearm crutches from Asriel and, looking up at Susie and blushing a bright red, put them on, walking over to her. Susie could tell they were embarrassed, and it made her feel guilty for just standing there and intruding.
"Hi..." the human kid greeted her shyly.
"Hey..." Susie greeted them back just as awkwardly, "I'm Susie. You are...?"
"Chara..." they said, not meeting her eyes, until Asriel walked over and took their hand.
"They're my twin!!" the monster boy said excitedly, grinning widely. Chara cheered up instantly at hearing that, smiling as well.
"Your... 'twin'?" Susie asked, incredulous. Sure, they looked to be about the same age, were about the same height and were dressed in the same clothes, but they were obviously not the same species, so at least Chara had to be adopted.
"Yup! We're siblings, we're the same age and we're best friends!" Chara explained proudly.
"That means we're twins!" Asriel completed their train of thought.
Susie laughed. "Well, can't argue with that, I guess," she noted the red horned hairband Chara wore and pointed to it, "you two even look alike!"
The children, human and monster alike, beamed at her comment, Chara even tilting their head down to better show off their "horns" – even if Susie could see them just fine from her height.
Kris merely shook their head, smiling softly as if they knew something she didn't. Rather than saying anything, however, they just stared at the open front door for a moment.
"...where's mom?" they finally asked, walking up to the door and peeking inside.
"She just left," Asriel answered.
"She said that since you were coming home with a friend she was going to make pie!" Chara explained, "so she went to buy stuff!"
The older human looked startled for a second before pinching the bridge of their nose. "...meant 'walking home'..." they muttered, but the "twins" paid no mind to it, as they were already by Susie's sides.
"Is Susie going to stay over for pie??" Chara asked excitedly, grabbing her left wrist.
"Can she??" Asriel asked with just as much enthusiasm, grabbing her right.
Susie froze, balling up her fists. She was paralyzed with nerves, not having interacted with children this young since she was a child herself, and it must have been showing on her face, as Kris mouthed the word "sorry" before shrugging.
Seriously, their hands were so tiny! She doubted their fingers were bigger than her claws, and she feared that with one wrong move she'd hurt the kids with them.
"U-uh, shi— well, I'd love some pie," she laughed nervously, "if it's alright with Kris, then..."
The children looked at their older sibling, wide eyes brimming with expectation, and the moment Kris shrugged again and said "...sure," they threw their arms in the air, running inside the house while screaming.
...well, Asriel ran. Chara followed after him as fast as they could, gait a bit wobbly on their crutches.
Susie must have been staring too hard, as Kris quickly noticed her watching the child walk away.
"...still getting used to it," they said, before clarifying, "...the crutches."
"Oh," she said, embarrassed that they noticed, "what... what happened to them?"
Kris held up a hand, as if to say "later", before turning around, walking away with a speed that couldn't possibly compare to that of their much more energetic little siblings. "...you coming?"
"Right, right," Susie followed after them, stepping inside, and was immediately amazed by their house.
It wasn't a very big house, granted, but it was for sure bigger than her dingy apartment. Homey, too! Cartoons played on the old TV set in the living room, while toys of all shapes and sizes and colors were strewn around the floor. The couch was big enough for three people, and there were also two additional chairs, which Susie found weird, considering she knew Kris's dad was definitely not living here anymore.
"...put your bag wherever," Kris told her, before turning to the nearest sibling, "...where's frisk?"
"They're still napping," Asriel said, holding a ratty cat... thing plushie in his paws.
"...gate?"
"I closed it!" he stated proudly.
Smiling softly, Kris ruffled the hair in between Asriel's tiny horns, earning a giggle from the boy. "...chara?"
"I'll go looking for them!" he announced before running off to find his sibling.
As Kris let them go, they realized that Susie was still just standing by the door, awkwardly holding the strap to her backpack.
"...you can sit."
"Right, yeah, uh," letting her bag fall to the floor, Susie robotically walked towards the couch, eyes glued to the floor to avoid stepping on any toys before finally sitting down. "I'm sitting."
"...you good?" they asked while turning off the TV, sounding mildly concerned despite their ever present neutral tone.
"Yeah, yeah, just..." Susie kept her eyes on anything but her friend as Kris sat down besides her, "wasn't expecting... this, y'know?"
Kris grimaced, looking around the room. "...yeah... house's a mess, sorry... wasn't expecting guests."
"No, no, it's not that! Dude, trust me, this shit looks straight up tidy compared to my crib, heheh," she scratched the back of her head, "just... y'know, not great with kids."
"...oh?" they shot her a look while taking off their shoes.
"Yeah, I'm surprised they didn't run away the moment they saw me, heh," she laughed, kicking off her own boots and stretching out her claws.
"...you're not scary," said Kris, earning them a punch in the shoulder.
"You take that back!" growled Susie, trying to sound serious before both of them broke down in laughter, "seriously, though. You couldn't have told me you had siblings?"
"...never asked."
"Oh, so it's my fault now?"
"...yup."
"Asshole," Susie laughed, "but really, didn't expect you of all people to be, like, y'know, good with kids?"
"..." Kris slowly turned to her, tilting their head, "...why?"
"'Cause I always thought you were, like, this weirdo loner with no people skills, and it turns out you're like, super good with kids?? It doesn't make sense!"
"...not that good..." the human mumbled, a faint blush dusting their cheeks.
"I mean it, like..." Susie looked away, "dunno. It's, uh... kinda cool, seeing this other side of you."
And it was cool. Despite knowing Kris for over a year, she barely knew anything about them, and despite calling them her best friend, they've only been hanging with each other for less than two days. She doubted Kris would call her their best friend. Most of the time she couldn't even tell what was going on in their head.
'...Angel, I'm pathetic.'
"...it's cute..." Kris suddenly said, "...seeing you so scared of kids."
"Wha—!" Susie blushed, "I'm not cute!! O-or scared!!"
"...sure," they smirked.
"I mean it!!"
"...whatever you say."
"Argh!!" she growled in frustration, pushing them away. Kris, for their part, merely laughed at her consternation.
As the two of them wound down, a comfortable silence took over the living room.
...a silence that wouldn't last long, as Kris slapped their palms on their knees and sighed, getting up.
"...alright... where the hell is that pest...?" they muttered before turning to Susie, "...be right back."
"Sure thing," Susie dismissed them, awkwardly staying behind on the sofa.
As soon as Kris was out of the room, Susie pulled out her phone, scrolling mindlessly through her feed. She hadn't been to a friend's house – much less alone at a friend's house – in years, so she didn't really know what to do to keep the awkwardness at bay.
"BOO!!"
"GAH!!"
Susie jumped back to the middle of the couch, hand in her chest, as Chara suddenly popped out from hiding, holding on to the sofa's armrest.
The kid laughed manically, showing off their missing bottom front teeth, and Susie was glad she didn't accidentally knock a few more out on instinct.
"H-hey," she said, trying to still still her breathing, "your, uh, siblings are looking for you."
"I know," they said, still giggling, "I was hiding behind the couch! I got you good, didn't I?"
"Y-yeah, you did..." Susie laughed, 'you little demon...!' she added mentally.
Still using the couch to hold up their weight, Chara circled around it, walking in unsteady steps before climbing up with some difficulty, sitting right next to Susie.
The child looked up at her with wide eyes, a glint of fascination in their gaze that made Susie genuinely a bit uncomfortable.
"...hi?" she tried.
"Are you Kris's girlfriend?" Chara asked bluntly.
"Wh— no!!" she straightened up, surprised, feeling the scales on her cheeks grow hotter.
"Oh," they seemed to deflate a bit, "are you their boyfriend, then?"
"I'm not even a boy!" 'how did this conversation go off the rails so fast?' "why would you think that??"
"So you're a girl?" they asked, sounding genuinely interested, "Kris says it's not good to assume stuff about people you don't know."
"I'm...!" Susie didn't know what to say. If it were anyone other than a little kid asking her this, she'd have punched them at least once already. "I'm a girl, yeah..."
"Cool!" they smiled, "Kris said you're really nice!"
She paused. "...they did?"
"Yeah!" Chara beamed, rocking in place, "yesterday during dinner they said that— ACK!!"
The human child's tale was rudely interrupted by a teddy bear hitting the back of their head at Mach 3 with pinpoint precision.
"...don't tell susie weird stuff, you pest..." Kris grumbled as they entered the living room.
"I wasn't!!" Chara protested, indignant.
"Yeah, dude, we're just talking!" Susie reluctantly ruffled Chara's hair as she offered Kris a fake smile, miffed that they interrupted such a juicy bit of gossip.
"..." the older human merely crossed their arms, glaring at the both of them – or, at least, Susie assumed Kris was glaring. It was hard to tell with their bangs.
"I'm gonna tell Mom you hit me!!" the younger human threatened, but Kris was unfazed.
"...i'll tell her you ate her chocolate again," they threatened back, causing Chara to cross their arms and give the most exaggerated pout Susie had ever seen. "...and don't leave your toys on the floor... frisk could trip... so could you."
"I'm not gonna trip!!" Chara insisted.
Kris opened their mouth to reply but, as they noticed something, they frowned, letting out a deep sigh.
"...your crutches...?"
"Don't wanna."
"...chara..."
"I don't wanna!!"
"...you need 'em."
"But I don't wanna!!" they cried, "they're hard to use! A-a-a-and th-they make me look stupid..."
Sighing, Kris kneeled in front of their little sibling, placing a hand on their knee as they looked up at the child.
"...if you really don't want them... i can go grab your wheelchair," they offered, gently. Susie was amazed by how fast they could switch between stern and sweet. Was that what sibling relationships were like?
"...I wanna walk..." Chara mumbled, almost inaudibly.
"...hmm?"
"I wanna walk," they repeated, louder this time.
Getting up, Kris put a hand on Chara's head, fixing their hairband. "...just don't want you to get hurt."
"I know..."
"...where are they?"
"Behind the couch..."
They made their way around it and, with some struggle, retrieved the crutches, bringing them back to the child.
"...it's hard 'cause you're not used to 'em," said Kris, setting the crutches down against the couch on either side of their sibling, "...if you keep using 'em, it'll be easier to walk."
"I know..." Chara sighed, resigned.
"...now—"
"KRIIIIIIIS!!!" pawsteps echoed through the house as Asriel came in running.
"I can't find Chara anywhe— WOAH!!!" a little toy car went flying across the room as Asriel slipped and fell flat on his backside, yelping. "Ow ow ow ow owwwwww...!!" he cried, tail swishing in pain across the floor.
"...oh, jeez...!" Kris muttered and, in the blink of an eye, was already halfway across the room, crouching beside their little brother, "...you okay?"
"My butt hurts...!!" he cried before cringing and pulling his leg up, "I think I stepped on something..."
"...come on..." the human sighed, picking the boy up by his armpits and sitting him on the kitchen table, "...show me those toe beans."
"A-ah, Kris, it hurts!!" Asriel whined, "is it bad?? Am I gonna die???"
"...you're fine. not even a cut," they said, shaking their head exasperatedly, "...what did i say about leaving your toys all over the floor?"
"That... someone could step on them and trip and fall and get hurt...?" he suggested sheepishly.
"...that's right," Kris agreed, putting Asriel back down on the floor, "...go help your sibling clean this mess."
"'kay..." he said, wincing a bit as his paw touched the floor. Asriel went to pick up the scattered toys from the floor, but paused the moment he saw Susie sitting together with Chara in the living room. "Hi again!"
"H-hey."
Kris merely watched from a distance, leaning against the wall as they took a deep breath, scratching their forehead tiredly.
Before anyone present could say anything, the sound of metal slamming against something echoed through the house, causing Kris to instantly jump to attention.
"...oh, angel...!!" they rasped before running away and, in a second, Susie could hear their footsteps climbing up the stairs.
"Is..." Susie turned to the "twins", her eyes still on the hallway where Kris had disappeared into, "is Kris always this high-strung...?"
"Yep!" Asriel confirmed, putting their toys away, "but they're really nice too!"
"They just don't know how to relax," Chara added with all the wisdom of a however-old-they-were.
"Huh. I wonder why..."
"No idea," they shrugged their little shoulders.
This was certainly a new side to Kris. In school, they always moved around like a zombie, sleeping through half their classes and paying attention to little around them. Even outside of school, Kris always walked slowly, like the very thought of picking up their pace tired them out. Susie couldn't imagine Kris being all attentive and running around and stuff, but if that's how they were at home, it kind of made sense why they looked so tired all the time.
"Hey!" Asriel called her, climbing up on the couch and sitting besides her, opposite to Chara, "are you Kris's girlfriend??"
"WHAT??" Susie almost choked, 'again??'
"She's not, I already asked that," Chara said, in a tone that heavily implied they were displeased by that information.
"Aww..." Asriel pouted.
"She's not their boyfriend either."
"Why are you brats so curious about that anyway??" asked Susie, struggling to keep her blush under control, "aren't you guys like, five or something??"
"We're seven!!" Asriel corrected her indignantly.
"Yeah!! We're turning eight next year!" Chara added, as if Susie wasn't aware of how numbers worked.
"We're just curious because Kris basically never brings friends over..." the goat boy explained.
"So we thought you might be their special someone!" the human child said, not unlike a girl in a movie swooning over romantic gossip.
"Well, I'm not!!" Susie denied it again, "a-and besides, you two are way too young to be thinking about that kinda stuff."
They both huffed at the same time.
"We're not!"
"Kris always says that..."
'Kris, for the love of the Angel above, help me out here, man...'
As if hearing her prayers, faint voices came from the hallway, but they were not voices she recognized.
"—down the stairs. Next time, just call someone to help you down, okay, Buddy Buddy?"
The first one was an androgynous, kind of boyish raspy voice, speaking in the gentlest tone Susie had ever heard.
"But, but...! Yelling...!"
The second one clearly belonged to a very young child, and a very sleepy one at that.
"Everything is fine...! It was just your siblings acting up, so don't worry, okay?"
"Hnnnnnhg...!"
Then, just as Susie was wondering just who the hell might be in this house that she just hadn't seen yet... out of the hallway came Kris, holding another human child, this one much younger than the others, their face buried in their chest.
"You... you can talk?? Like, actually talk out loud??" Susie blurted out, almost on accident.
Kris shot her a look, a glare from under their bangs that would be imperceptible to anyone that didn't know them, but that clearly said "of course I can talk, what the hell are you on about??"
"Kiss...?" the child spoke up, "is dat a fwiend...?"
The "glare" was immediately forgotten as Kris turned to the child, a gentle smile on their face that Susie had never seen before.
"Yes, that's Susie. She's a friend," said Kris, "do you want to say hi to her?"
The child shook their head, holding on tighter to Kris's hoodie. "Peepee..."
"Alright, let's get you to the bathroom, Buddy Buddy," they laughed quietly as they turned away, before looking over their shoulder at Susie and the "twins", "...sorry... be right back."
Susie looked back at the "twins", face frozen in surprise as Chara laughed.
"Mom always says she doesn't have favorites, but Kris doesn't even bother," they giggled, "Frisk is obviously their favorite."
"Is that right...?"
"It is! They only really talk with them!" Chara huffed, sounding almost jealous.
"Huh..."
She turned to look at the other "twin", but was surprised to see Asriel glaring at her.
"Uhh... hi?" she tried.
"You were making fun of them!!" Asriel accused her, getting up on the couch and trying to appear bigger than he was, tail swishing around angrily.
"I... what??" Susie almost backed away, looking at the kid in confusion.
"You were!!" he said again, "just because they don't talk a lot!"
"Hey, hey, I wasn't!" she said, but Asriel wasn't buying it, "I was just... surprised. Kris doesn't talk at all in school, and I never heard them speak like that before, so..."
"...you mean that?" Asriel asked, still not fully believing her.
"I mean it. Kris is my friend. I... wouldn't make fun of them for that," Susie said. It was a lie, of course. She did make fun of them for it. Mercilessly, even, before they became friends. But she couldn't tell their little brother that.
"...okay," he plopped back down on the sofa, seemingly satisfied with her answer.
"You... care a lot about your big sibling, huh?"
Asriel looked up at her, head tilted as if he hadn't really understood her question.
"Of course I do! Kris is the bestest ever!!" he exclaimed, "they're always there for us and I really really hate when people make fun of them without knowing how cool they are..."
"Is that so?" Susie laughed, "I guess Kris is pretty cool, huh?"
"Yuh-huh!!"
"Well then," she ruffled the fur on his head, grinning, "I'm glad Kris got a kid like you looking after them."
Asriel giggled embarrassedly, his cheeks flushing a bright red under his white fur.
"Um, um, umm...!" he piped up, staring up at Susie with his wide red eyes, a couple shades darker than Chara's. "Hey, Susie...? What kind of re-p-tile are you?" he asked, slowly and carefully pronouncing "reptile" as if he wanted to show off the cool new word he'd just learned.
"Oh, uhh..." Susie was caught off guard by the sudden change of subjects, "a dragon?"
"Really??" his eyes sparkled, "can you breathe fire??"
"Ahaha, no, I'm..." she scratched her head, embarrassed, "not that kind of dragon."
"Oh," Asriel deflated a bit, but he still looked super curious, "are you, like, a monitor then?"
"Ah, yeah, that's right!" Susie confirmed it, surprised a kid in a town with so few reptilian monsters figured it out so quickly.
"You don't really look like one, though..." the kid mumbled, eyes darting across her face.
The lizard cringed internally. "Yeah, I... get that a lot," she admitted, before playing it off, "you know a lot about reptilian monsters, huh kid?"
Asriel blushed again, but still shot her a big smile, showing off missing teeth just like their human "twin".
"They're very fun to draw!!" he said.
"Oh? You draw?" Susie asked.
"Yeah!!" he nodded quickly, his ears flopping around, "can I draw you??"
"H-huh?" Susie paused, "I mean, uh, yeah, sure. Go ahead, little dude."
"Cool!!" Asriel jumped off the couch, basically bouncing on his feet, "I'll get the crayons!!" he ran off, "AND THE PAPER!!" she could hear him shout as he disappeared upstairs.
"Heh," Susie scratched the side of her face, "he sure is an... intense little guy, huh?" she asked, turning towards Chara.
"Umm..." the little human was frowning, their red eyes gazing at her intently, studying her face. She couldn't tell if it was because they were suddenly alone with her, but the child looked nervous, almost anxious.
"Is, uh... everything alright...?" she asked tentatively.
Chara gulped, eyes darting to the hallway leading deeper into the house before looking back up at her.
"...are you really Kris's friend...?" they asked in a tiny voice.
"Uhh," that wasn't what Susie was expecting, "sure. We're friends, yeah."
"Really really...?"
"Yeah, Kris is like... my best friend," she admitted, "and nothing else," she added, before the kid got the wrong idea again.
"Okay..." they sighed, a slight tremble on their voice, "then... can you help them?"
"Help... Kris?" Susie tilted her head, "help them with what?"
Chara scooted closer.
"Help protect them," they looked back at the corridor again, voice low as if whispering a secret, "...at school...!"
"I... don't follow," she said. It's not like Kris did anything else at school besides sleep, eat lunch and watch a class or two before heading out. "What do you mean?"
Chara leaned closer to her, eyes watery and lips trembling.
"Don't tell anyone this, but..." they paused for a second, once more checking to see if no one would come, "someone is picking on Kris at school..."
Susie's eyes widened.
"They don't talk about it, but... sometimes they come home with bruises a-and... they say they just tripped and stuff, but... I know bruises like that...! Someone has been hitting them!!"
Her stomach dropped as it all clicked into place.
"Everyone believes them, but I know it!! Just yesterday they came home with a bad shoulder, a-and they said they just hit a doorframe on accident, but I know it's a lie! Someone grabbed them a-and... really hurt them...!"
She did that. She picked Kris up by the shoulder and slammed them into their locker, right before they got locked in the supply closet.
"S-so..." Chara looked up at her, pleading, "you're Kris's friend! A-and you're really big, so...!! If their bully tries to hurt them again, you..."
Susie placed her hand on their head, cutting them off.
"I get it," she smiled, "that won't happen again. Trust me."
She felt like scum.
She was the reason this actual child had been so worried about their sibling.
All the times she punched them, pushed them, tripped them, kicked them... all the times she left Kris bruised and battered, walking home with a hobble, she wasn't just hurting the only person she could now call a friend. She was hurting their family, too.
She was hurting this child.
"You promise...?" Chara stared at her on the verge of tears.
"No one is ever gonna lay a finger, claw or paw on Kris ever again," she ruffled their hair. It was silky and well groomed, so unlike Kris's. "I promise."
Chara tackled her into a hug, burying their face in her jacket, their tiny, trembling arms barely able to wrap around her torso.
"Thank you...!"
Susie felt bile rise up her throat as she patted the human's head. She did this. She made this kid cry, even if they didn't know it...
...what had a child so young been through to be able to recognize such things so readily? Her eyes wandered to the little crutches leaning against the sofa and her stomach churned at the thought of what might have happened to them.
At the thought of that, whatever happened, made them scared of people just like her.
Chara pulled back, smiling as they dried their eyes with their sweater sleeves, and Susie smiled back, trying to convince them and herself that everything would be okay.
"...you two didn't burn the house down yet?" Kris asked, suddenly appearing at the hallway, their youngest sibling still firmly attached to them like a baby sloth, "...i'm surprised."
Susie was always impressed with how quietly Kris walked, almost like they were walking on their tiptoes...
...which, as she looked at them with only socks on, it turned out that they actually were, for some reason.
"Nope!" Chara beamed, "I'm being veeery well-behaved!" they said, like a faux little angel.
"...is that so?"
Susie could have sworn Kris looked her way, so she just sent them a strained smile in confirmation.
"Uh-huh!" they nodded, "did you know that Susie is actually really cool??"
Kris stared down at their sibling, face unreadable as always. "...if you say so..." they mumbled with a smirk, before turning their face to the child in their arms and speaking softly: "do you want to say hi now?"
The toddler – Frisk, Susie assumed – nodded their head, but made no effort to look her way.
"Susie is sitting on the couch, right besides Chara. She's a biiiiig purple lizard," Kris said, as if they were narrating things for the child, before gently grabbing their hand and pointing it in Susie's direction, "she's right there, right in front of us. Say hi...!"
Frisk turned their head to where Kris was pointing, vaguely in Susie's direction, but their eyes remained closed the whole time.
"Hi..." they said, shyly.
"Hey, um..." Susie extended her hand towards the child, "I'm Susie. What's your name, little, uh, one?"
"Fisk..." they mumbled, not unlike Kris might have.
"She's offering you her hand, Buddy Buddy," Kris said, "do you want to shake it?"
Frisk immediately shook their head, burying their face in Kris's chest again.
Susie guessed they were scared of her after all...
"...sorry, they're just... shy around strangers," Kris apologized.
"Kawa...?" the toddler mumbled, looking up at their oldest sibling.
"I'm right here, Frisk!" Chara piped up, slapping their thighs twice.
Hearing their older sibling's voice, Frisk started struggling in Kris's grasp, prompting them to put down Frisk. The toddler followed Chara's voice, their eyes still closed as they brushed against the crutches and clambered up on the sofa, before promptly climbing on Chara's lap, face turned up as far back as they could.
"Hey, you!" Chara laughed, poking Frisk on the nose and making the toddler giggle as well.
"Hiii!" Frisk giggled, grabbing locks of their sibling's hair with their tiny hands.
"Hey, no pulling on my hair this time!" Chara admonished them lightheartedly while wrapping their arms around them and pulling Frisk closer. In response, the youngest human merely giggled harder, as if the older one had just told the funniest joke.
Susie had to admit, as much as it pained her to do it: that was cute as shit.
She was so entranced by watching the two children play, it took her a moment to finally notice the obvious: Frisk hadn't opened their eyes a single time since she'd first saw them.
'Oh, shit. The kid can't see...!'
"So, uh," she spoke up, nervously, "how old are you, Frisk?"
The kid looked at her. Well, turned their head towards her, their eyes closed. This was the first time Susie had actually gotten a good look at them, dressed in a cute little blue and purple onesie, their skin brown like Kris's, but their messy hair was much darker.
Frisk looked nervous, humming quietly as they ran a hand over their closed fist before raising three fingers and showing them off to Susie.
"Three, huh?" she tried to sound surprised. How the hell does one talk to a child this young?? Susie had no idea. "That means you're turning four pretty soon, right?"
The toddler paused for a moment, processing what she'd said, before they smiled and nodded excitedly.
"And den I'm tuhning five!!" Frisk proudly announced.
"Is that right??" Susie laughed, "you'll be a big kid in no time!"
"Yah!!" they giggled, rocking back and forth on Chara's lap.
"Awwww...!" Chara whined, hugging Frisk tighter, "but I want you to stay small and cute forever...!!"
"Mmmmmmm...!" Frisk protested, "wanna be big!!"
"Noooooooooooooo," they jokingly cried, hugging their laughing little sibling.
Susie was so enamored by their antics she didn't even notice Kris sitting besides her.
"...glad you're having fun," they said, a grin on their face.
"I-I'm not," Susie denied it, blushing slightly, "just... dunno how to act around kids, is all," she whispered, just loud enough for only Kris to hear.
"...sure," they said, grin not faltering.
"SUSIIIIIIIIIE!!!" Asriel came in running – luckily not tripping this time – a box of crayons and some loose papers in his paws, "I got the— oh! Hi, Frisk! Hi, Kris!"
"Azziel!!" Frisk cried happily, climbing out of Chara's lap and down the sofa, running towards their brother.
"Ah!" Asriel stumbled as Frisk collapsed against him, hugging his legs, "careful!" he said, smiling as he sat down on the floor.
"...what you got there, asriel?"
"My crayons!!" he showed off the crayon box before lying down belly first on the floor, spreading the sheets of paper in front of him.
"...oh? have you two done your homework already?"
"Mom helped us do it," he answered as Frisk crawled on top of him, sitting on his back, "oof! Frisk!"
"...good," Kris said, holding back a laugh as they watched Frisk grab Asriel's ears, "...what you gonna draw?"
"I'm drawing Susie!!" he proudly announced, making Susie blush and cover her face with her bangs.
"...sure you're not having fun?" Kris asked with a shit eating grin, elbowing her side.
"...shut up," she whispered back to them.
"Gimme some!" Chara, said, dropping down to the floor and crawling over to Asriel, sitting on their legs, "I wanna draw too!"
"Here," he pushed the open box of crayons so it was right in between the two of them, Chara grabbing a black crayon and a piece of paper and immediately starting doodling as well.
As the kids were finally distracted, Kris grabbed the remote and switched the TV on, before tossing it to Susie.
"...sorry you got dragged into this..." Kris whispered into her ear, leaning over her shoulder.
Susie ignored the shudder she got from hearing them so close and focused on finding something good to watch on TV. "...'s no problem, dude. I told ya, didn't have anything better to do anyway."
"...hm," they shrugged, relaxing on the couch with their hands in their hoodie's pockets, crossing one leg over the other, "...if you say so..."
Finally, she settled on a movie that was halfway over already, some kind of giant monster movie marathon on a channel she'd never heard of before.
"F— heck yeah! Monsterzilla Two!" Susie pumped her fist in the air, "giant monster movies are the best..."
"I don't know..." Asriel said from the floor, "they can be a bit scary..."
"Pfft!" Chara snorted, not taking their eyes away from their doodling, "they're way cooler than giant human movies."
"Right??" Susie agreed, "you've got good taste, kid."
"Heheh..." they chuckled, before refocusing their efforts on drawing.
The lizard sighed, letting herself sink on the couch as she stared at the television.
In time, her gaze began to wander, not even the wanton destruction on screen enough to capture her attention for too long.
First, she glanced at Kris. Now that they weren't running around after their little siblings, Kris looked much more how she was used to seeing: stone-faced, still and cool (ish), their eyes fixed on – well, she wasn't sure, actually, since she couldn't see them.
Then her eyes wandered to Chara, hunched over and sitting on their legs, tongue poking through their teeth as they focused on drawing a masterpiece. Susie couldn't help but notice the odd way they held their crayons and the jerky, shaky movement of their hand across the paper. It reminded her a bit of herself, trying to hold on to her pencil in class with her stubby fingers, though, unlike her, the child seemed to have normal sized fingers for their age and species.
Finally, she looked over to Frisk, sitting on top of Asriel's back and playing with the boy's long ears without a care in the world, occasionally mimicking the noises coming from the television. In a way, she was glad they had refused her handshake; Susie was way too scared to accidentally hurt the toddler. They were so tiny after all...
Watching the three humans, a question started forming in the back of her head:
"Hey, uhh..." she started, searching for the right words.
"...yeah?" Kris turned to her, and Susie froze under their gaze, even if she couldn't see it.
"...nevermind. It was a stupid question anyway."
"Mom says there are no dumb questions," Asriel chimed in.
"...even if it is, i won't laugh," Kris said, smirking as they softly kicked her foot.
"R-right, so..." Susie, scratched her snout, still not sure how to word it just right, "...all humans are genderless, right?"
Immediately, the scratching of crayons on paper stopped as the two older kids looked up at her, a mixture of confusion and bafflement on their faces. Even Kris couldn't help but snort, covering their mouth with a sleeve and turning away.
"Hey!! You said you wouldn't laugh!!" she growled, her cheeks warm under her scales.
"You... don't know a lot about humans, right...?" Asriel asked diplomatically.
"Of course I don't," Susie huffed, "Kris was the only human I knew until today!"
"W-well..." he laughed a bit, "there are boy humans and girl humans, just like monsters," explained Asriel, "Kris just decided that they weren't either of those."
"When I started living here, Mom said I could be whatever I wanted, and that I didn't have to decide just yet!" Chara added.
"Oh, that's... kinda cool of her, I guess," Susie said, even if she didn't quite understand it.
"It is!" they continued, "not having to be a boy is cool, and skirts are really cute too! I can wear whatever I want!"
"They are cute..." Asriel added, blushing, and Kris chuckled quietly as they watched their younger siblings.
"What about Frisk, then?" she asked, and the toddler turned to her, tilting their head.
"Frisk's just a baby," Chara pointed out, "they don't understand that stuff yet."
"Not a baby!!" Frisk protested, pulling on Asriel's ears.
"Ow ow ow!! Frisk!! Don't pull so hard!!"
"Frisk, play nice," Kris warned, but there was no edge to their voice.
"Sowwy..." the little kid apologized, clumsily patting their big brother on the head. Then, as if having forgotten what they even got mad about, Frisk turned towards the eldest sibling's voice. "Kiss!!"
"Yes?"
"Um, I want... umm..." they mumbled, rocking back and forth on Asriel's back, "I want stawbebby milk!!"
"And how do we ask for it...?" Kris teased, smiling softly.
"Pweeease?" Frisk begged, pouting.
"Alright, alright..." Kris chuckled, getting up.
"Oh, oh, I want hot chocolate!!" Asriel said, before adding: "please?"
"Me too!!" Chara joined in, not even bothering to say please.
"Hey, since you're already up, gimme some too," Susie snickered, earning a glare and a sigh from the oldest human as they walked to the kitchen, shaking their head.
"I want mine extra chocolatey!!" Chara yelled after their sibling, causing Kris to stop in their tracks and look down at them.
"...no."
"Come ooon!!" they begged, "...please?"
"...we'll run out of chocolate," Kris said, "...you're not the only one in the house."
"Kriiiiis, come on!! Just a little bit...?"
"...no, chara," they set their foot down before starting walking away.
"You're mean!!"
"...you're annoying."
"Yeah? W-well..." the child pouted, crossing their arms even if Kris couldn't see them, "you're adopted!!"
That finally made Kris pause, turning around with a baffled expression on their face.
"...so are you??"
Having been beaten by that undefeatable logic, Chara stuck their tongue out, blowing a raspberry at Kris, while the teenager merely sighed and walked away, Susie sure she could see them rolling their eyes even behind their bangs.
"Hey, wasn't that a bit, uhh..." Susie coughed into her hand, "mean?"
Chara looked at her, confused. "Kris knows they're adopted," they said, "we all are."
"I'm not," Asriel pointed out.
"What's dat?" Frisk asked.
"Don't worry about it, buddy," said Chara.
"I mean..." Susie laughed nervously, but she didn't know what else to say.
"Can you show us your teeth?" the little human asked, dead serious.
"What?"
"I wanna get it right!!"
"Are you drawing me too??"
"Yeah!!" they said, before covering up their drawing, "don't look!"
What the hell was up with these kids, Susie thought. Why would they want to draw her out of all people??
"Well..." she started, "I don't know... wouldn't wanna scare you or anything..."
Chara snorted. "I'm not gonna get scared! I'm brave!!"
"Oh, really?" she asked.
"Yeah!!" they promised, "I'm even braver than Kris!! And they're a big kid!"
"What, is Kris scared of a lot of stuff?"
"Chara, don't..." Asriel chimed in, "you know they don't like gossip..."
But Chara paid no mind.
"Yeah!" they laughed, "did you know Kris is afraid of thunder? And fireworks! I'm not!!"
Instantly, Kris's head popped out from the doorway. "...what are you talking about, demon?"
"Nothing!!" Chara yelled back.
"...hm," they hummed before retreating back into the kitchen.
"Anyway," the child continued, "can you show them??"
"Well..." Susie complied, opening her mouth slightly and showing off her fangs.
"Come on, show us more!!" Chara egged her on.
She rolled her eyes before unhinging her jaw and showing off her teeth fully, a bit of saliva dripping down, much to her embarrassment.
"See? It's not scary!"
"It's... a bit scary..." Asriel said.
"Not scawy!" Frisk exclaimed.
"You can't even see it, Frisk!" Chara laughed.
"Is not scawy," the toddler repeated, giggling.
"You really are a brave kid, huh?" Susie noted, chuckling.
"Yep! Wanna see my scary face??"
"Chara, don't...!" Asriel begged.
Not heeding their brother's request, Chara hid their face behind their hands before showing off a creepy, toothless smile, their eyes rolled so far back up their skull that hey looked completely white.
"Eugh...!" Susie recoiled. It was more creepy than scary, really.
"KRIS!!!" Asriel cried, "they're doing it again!!"
"...chara...!!" Kris popped out of the kitchen again, "...quit it...!!"
"Aw..." Chara cried, "you guys are lame..."
"Not scawy!!" Frisk laughed again.
"See??" they laughed, "Frisk is a baby, and even they aren't scared!!"
"Not a baby!!!" the toddler protested, pulling on Asriel's ears even harder than before.
"Ow ow ow!!" Asriel cried, "Frisk!! My ears!!"
"Frisk...!!" Kris's warned as they popped out of the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe, their voice instantly stilling the rampaging toddler.
"Stawbebby milk?" Frisk asked, letting go of Asriel's ears.
"Just waiting for your siblings' chocolate to finish heating up, buddy," they said, "I'll bring it in a minute."
"'kay..."
"It's done!!" Asriel exclaimed, "Frisk, get off, lemme get up!"
Frisk reluctantly slid off his back, and the boy jumped to his feet, drawing in hand.
"Look!" he proudly handed his drawing to Susie, his tail swishing in expectation, "do you like it??"
Susie wasn't expecting much from a child's crayon portrait, but when she looked it over, she was genuinely surprised. It was amateurish, obviously, but it was still much better than she would have expected from a seven year old: she was standing in a field of yellowed grass, a grin on her face and her hands in the pockets of her jacket (probably so Asriel wouldn't have to draw hands). Her hair was just the right shade of brown and her yellow eyes looked really cool, in her humble opinion. She didn't know anyone, let alone a little kid, could look at her and see someone cool, rather than the ugly, scary girl she was so used to seeing in the mirror.
"This is..." she had no idea what to say. Susie loved it, she really did! It made her feel all warm and stuff inside. But Susie wasn't exactly an art critic, and she still had no idea how to interact with children. "This is really cool, damn. You draw real good for a kid, you know that?"
"You really like it??" Asriel stared at her with gleaming eyes.
"Yeah, no, I love it!"
"...looks good, bud," Kris suddenly said, leaning over her shoulder, "...wanna put it up on the fridge?"
"NO!!" Susie suddenly shouted, startling the kids. The thought of having a picture of her on Kris's fridge was mortifying.
"You... you don't like it...?" the boy deflated, and just looking at his miserable expression made Susie internally kick herself.
"No, no, I love it!!" she instantly reassured him, "i-it's just, um... it's a drawing of me, so I thought, maybe... I could have it...?"
"Really...?" Asriel asked, unsure, "you really want it...?"
"If you'd give it to me... yeah."
The boy cheered up, his cheeks pink as he nodded emphatically. "Then you can have it! It's... it's a gift!!"
"Cool," Susie carefully folded the picture and shoved it in her jacket's pocket before ruffling his fur, "thanks, little guy."
Asriel giggled bashfully, face growing bright red as he hid his eyes with his ears, a dopey smile on his lips.
Kris merely elbowed Susie, giving her their signature shit eating grin.
"I'm done as well!" Chara suddenly interrupted, letting their crayons clatter to the floor, "Azzy, help me up!"
"A-ah, here!" he grabbed them by their wrists and pulled them up with a grunt, wrapping an arm around their waist while Chara threw theirs over his shoulder, the duo walking over to the couch.
"Here!" they smugly presented the drawing face down, letting Susie take it from their hand.
As Susie turned it over, her eyes widened and she let out a surprised laugh.
Chara's drawing was clearly more crude than Asriel's, but it was exactly the kind of thing that tickled her fancy: a poorly drawn Susie, clad in what kind of looked like her big jacket, was stomping around fire and rubble as she knocked over a building, her big yellow fangs proudly displayed.
"What the heck?? This rules!!" she laughed.
"I know you don't breathe fire, but I drew it anyway because it's cool!" Chara explained, pointing at the red and orange mess spewing out of her mouth, "I call it 'Susiezilla'."
"This is the coolest thing ever!" Susie said genuinely while Chara stood there proudly, "can I keep this one too??"
"Yep!" they said, motioning for Asriel to help them sit down on the floor again, with their back to the couch and legs straight out.
"Thanks, kid," she put the drawing in the same pocket as the other ones, "man, you've got some cool siblings, Kris. Should've introduced them earlier."
Asriel laughed shyly at the compliment while Chara merely shot their big sibling a smug look. Kris, unfazed just said: "...yeah? you can have chara if you want... too annoying."
"You're annoying!!" they shot back, but Kris merely laughed quietly.
Before they could continue their little spat, the beeping of a microwave sounded from the kitchen, reminding them all about the hot chocolate.
"...one 'sec," Kris went back to the kitchen and, in a moment, walked back in holding a tray with three mugs and two sippy cups on top of it.
"...here," they offered Susie a mug before handing another one to Asriel, "...it's hot."
"Heh, didn't think you would actually make me one too."
"Thanks, Kris!"
"...and you two..." Kris crouched near the human children on the floor, handing them each a cup.
"Tank you!!"
"A-ah, Kris...!" Chara blanched, staring at the cup being offered to them, "that's a sippy cup!"
"...yeah?" Kris tilted their head, "...it's your sippy cup."
"N-no it's not!" they crossed their arms, "I don't want it!"
"...chara... you always use—"
"No!!" their eyes flickered to Susie before scrunching shut, face red in embarrassment, "I don't! I-I... I want a mug!"
Kris sighed.
"...it's hot... if you spill, you'll get burned."
"I won't..."
"...just take the cup, chara."
The kid groaned and, reluctantly, took the cup from Kris's hand, still stealing the occasional glance at Susie. Susie, meanwhile, tried not to be so obvious as she stared at the child's hands, trembling. It was clear they weren't doing so out of nervousness alone, and... she could relate. Chara was embarrassed, and she was starting to get a good idea of why.
"Kawa...!" Frisk crawled up to Chara, holding up their sippy cup, and the older human sighed, despite the smile tugging at their lips.
"Cheers, buddy..." they said, clinking their sippy cup against Frisk's, and Frisk laughed, bringing their cup to their lips, oblivious to their sibling's turmoil.
Asriel also sat down besides them, bumping Chara with his head before taking a sip from his mug.
Chara sighed, headbutting Asriel back. As they drank from their cup, however, their eyes widened.
"You put extra chocolate in it!!" they exclaimed, licking their lips.
"...no idea what you're talking about..." Kris replied, sipping on their mug.
"Heh," Susie elbowed them, "you're a pretty good big sib, huh?"
"...again... no idea what you're talking about."
"Hey, uhh??" she suddenly took notice of their mug, "are you just drinking straight up milk??"
"...we ran out of chocolate syrup..." they explained, "...for some reason..."
"Damn... can't have that. Gimme that," she said, taking their mug and pouring the contents in her own before throwing it back on Kris's mug, repeating the process back and forth a few times before finally handing it back to Kris.
The human took the mug, staring up at her with an almost surprised expression.
"That way we can both drink crappy, weak, lukewarm choco," Susie grinned, raising her mug.
Kris chuckled, shaking their head lightly before taking a sip.
"...this is bad."
"Yep," she agreed, "I'm a genius, aren't I?"
Kris merely snorted, taking another sip of their watered down "hot" chocolate.
As all five of them focused on their drinks, for a moment, the only sounds in the living room were the explosions and roaring on TV and the occasional slurping on a mug.
"Hey, so..." Susie leaned over to whisper at Kris's ear, "when's your mom coming back anyway?"
Kris sighed.
"... always takes too long when she goes to the grocery store now..." they said with a sour expression, and Susie could swear they mumbled something like "...that fucking skeleton..." under their breath, "... shouldn't be much longer..."
"Hm. Cool, was just curious."
"...we can actually hang out when she's watching the kids..." Kris promised, "...sorry again... about this."
"Dude, it's fine. Your siblings are nice, don't worry."
"...hm."
She couldn't tell if Kris had actually taken her words to heart, but... they seemed to have quieted down, at least. To be watching the movie, even if it was at it's final stretch.
...she should have know better.
"Kriiiiis!!" Chara cried, "stop it!!"
"...dunno what you're talking about," they chuckled, feet poking at the poor kid's head.
"Quit being mean!!" Asriel grabbed their feet, trying to hold them still as Chara rolled away.
"...not doing anything," Kris grinned.
"Kiss!!" Frisk chimed in, "let's pay!!"
The oldest human laughed quietly before lying down on the couch and, very slowly, rolling off of it, hitting the floor with a thud, much to the delight of the toddler.
So they were definitely not paying attention to the movie, Susie figured.
"Kiss!!" Frisk extended their arms, laughing.
Like a spring trap, Kris's arms shot forward and grabbed Frisk, pulling them closer as the child squealed in surprise.
Burying their nose in Frisk's stomach, Kris shook their head from side to side, growling like a dog as they rubbed their face on their belly, making Frisk laugh wildly as they grabbed Kris's hair, little feet kicking desperately in the air.
Susie stared with her chin on her palm, barely able to contain her growing smile at the sight. The kid was pretty cute, she had to admit, and seeing Kris acting like that was... something else.
Then, lying on their back, Kris lifted Frisk high up in the air, using their feet to keep them stable as they held them up. Frisk laughed and cooed, sounding something like a little puppy as they held on tightly to Kris's wrists and, in response, Kris howled loudly, making the toddler explode into giggling fit.
'Damn, that was a pretty good howl...! Is that a human thing??'
"Oh nooo...! You're falling...!" said Kris, slowly tilting to the side and bringing Frisk closer to the ground, their arms still extended as far as possible.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" the child screamed and squirmed, laughing all the while.
Asriel had already dashed towards them, catching Frisk before they could hit the ground (not that Kris would ever actually let it happen) and falling on his butt with their combined weight.
"Azziel, save me!!" Frisk begged, scampering away from their big brother's grasp and hiding behind his back, giggling as they clung to his sweater.
Not letting up, Kris got on all fours, crawling up slowly towards the children and snarling like a rabid dog.
"No!" Asriel playfully swatted at them, "bad dog!!"
"Bad doggy!!" Frisk repeated, "go away!!"
Kris sat on their haunches, lowering their head and whining pathetically.
"Aww, you guys hurt them!" Chara egged them on from their spot by the couch, hiding their snickering behind a hand.
"Ah...!" Frisk left their brother's protection, walking towards their oldest sibling with a frown, "sowwy, Kiss..."
"Frisk, no! It's a trap!" Asriel warned them. He tried catching the toddler, but it was too late: with a swift movement, Kris leaped forward and wrapped their arms around both of them, sandwiching Frisk between themself and Asriel and, with some kind of wrestling move, pulled all three to the floor, Frisk and Asriel tangled into a screaming, laughing pile of limbs on top of the teenager.
Susie couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't really funny, just...
Her thoughts were interrupted as someone tugged on her pants' leg. Looking down, Susie saw Chara beckoning her to come down to the floor with a curious look on their face.
Awkwardly, she slid down to the floor, sitting besides the child.
"...hey."
"Aren't you going to play too?" they asked bluntly.
"Uh..." she paused, caught off guard, "aren't you?"
"O-oh, I-I..." Chara stuttered, and Susie knew that she had said the wrong thing, "I can't... play like that," they whispered, "but it's alright!" they immediately reassured her, "we can always do other stuff, too..."
"Right..." she cringed. Talking with kids her own age was already hard. She had no idea what to say to one so young, especially not to one like...
"You don't want to play anything?" they asked, sounding genuinely concerned for her.
"Ah, n-no, I..." Susie groaned internally. Not only did she not know how to entertain kids, she was slightly scared of, you know, breaking them. She wasn't delicate, and she was big, and they were so small... "I don't know any children's game, sorry."
"I'm not a child!" Chara protested, "I'm seven!!"
"Yeah?" Susie scoffed, "and I'm seventeen."
"Really...??" they gasped, "you're so old..."
"Seventeen is not old!!" she growled.
"You're older than Kris," Chara pointed out.
Susie had already guessed that. One didn't repeat a grade or two without ending a year or two older than their peers.
"Yeah? How old are they anyway?"
"They just turned sixteen," Chara answered, "we had chocolate cake last week!"
"Huh," she said, looking at the human teenager, now pinned under their younger siblings. That made sense, she guessed. Most monsters in her class were in the fifteen-sixteen age range, after all, Susie being the oldest among them.
"Are you two in the same class?" the child asked, lying down on the floor and propping their head up on their fists.
"Yeah, Kris sits right in front of me," 'makes it real hard to focus in class too, with how good the dweeb smells...' she thought, but didn't say that part out loud.
"But you're older than them," Chara pointed out, confused, "did you repeat a grade or something?"
Quickly, Susie brought a claw up to her lips, signaling the child to stop talking as her eyes darted towards Kris. The human probably didn't have too high of an opinion of her already, with how she used to treat them up until just yesterday, she didn't want to add "stupid" to the list of things they thought of her.
"...something like that, yeah..." she whispered, embarrassed.
"Hmm..." fortunately, Chara seemed to get the hint and dropped the subject. Unfortunately, they still had ways to unknowingly torturing Susie. "Why do you keep looking at Kris like that?"
"H-huh??" Susie froze. Had she been staring?? "L-like what??"
"Like... all smiley like," Chara struggled to articulate it before something clicked in their eyes and they gasped, "...do you like them...??" the child whispered excitedly.
"No!!" she denied loud enough for Kris, Frisk and Asriel to pause their impromptu wrestling match for a second, until Frisk pulled on Asriel's tails and it began all over again. "...it's just... weird. Is Kris always like this at home?" she whispered.
"...like what?" they whispered back, tilting their head, "...Kris is normal."
"...they are?"
"...yeah...!" they nodded, "...Kris is always really kind, and they always play with us, they help us with homework, they take baths with us, cook for us, hugs us all the time..." they listed off all the ways Kris was basically The Best Big Sibling Ever, admiration barely hidden on their face, before they paused and wondered: "...they aren't like that in school...?"
"...no, they..." Susie didn't know if telling the kid about their big sibling's... weird behavior was a good idea or not, "...Kris doesn't really talk much at school. Or at all. With anyone. They mostly just... stay quiet and try not to interact with people."
She didn't mention how they seemed to always be dead tired or how they just had this constant air of misery around them. The kid didn't need to know that.
"...hmm..." Chara hummed, "...that makes sense. Kris isn't really good at talking, and they get nervous around crowds or when strangers try to touch them," they rationalized.
"...I guess," Susie agreed, despite knowing that there must be something more to it, "...it's just kinda... cool, seeing them acting so different."
Realizing what she had just said – to their little sibling, no less – Susie glanced down and was met with Chara looking up at her with a smug look, an evil glint in their eyes.
"...what?"
"...you know..." Chara smirked, their rosy cheeks contrasting with their scheming smile, "...I know all of Kris's secrets."
"...yeah?" she glanced back to the older human, who was seemingly unaware of their conversation, "...and why would you tell me that?"
"... because you want to know more about them," they said simply.
Susie glared at them for a second before sighing and lying down next to the child, her curiosity winning out in the end. "...alright, twerp. What's the catch?" she whispered.
"...I want a piggyback ride."
"...what?"
"...you're really tall, and I want a piggyback ride," they explained, "...if I tell you one of their secrets, you'll owe me one...!"
Susie hesitated. She was still wary about directly interacting with the children, and she had never actually given anyone a piggyback ride before. That sounded dangerous.
"...hold up, pipsqueak...! I don't even know if the secrets you have are any good. If you want your ride, you better throw in a few more, ya hear?"
"..." Chara pouted, but they seemed to consider her words, "...two secrets?"
"...three, and that's as low as I'm willing to go," she haggled.
"...fine, but I want a shoulder ride instead...!"
"...deal," she grinned, "... alright, kid. Shoot me."
"...let's see..." they tapped their fingers against their cheeks, deep in thought, "...Kris is... very ticklish...!"
"...is that it?" Susie asked, a bit disappointed. She could have found that out herself if they hanged out together more.
"...no, no, they are really ticklish...!" Chara insisted, "...like... one time Kris almost peed themself, and they always laugh until they cry and then get really mad at us when we tickle them...!"
Now that was useful info. "...okay, yeah, that's a good one. Now, what's next?"
"...did you know Kris can't swim?"
"...they can't?"
That was news to her, but it wasn't exactly what she'd call an embarrassing secret. The only place available to swim in Hometown was the lake, after all.
"...no, they're terrified of getting in the water," they continued, "...one time Dad took us to the beach and Kris almost fainted when the waves touched their feet."
"...damn," okay, that was juicy, "...why are they so scared anyway?"
"...no idea," Chara shrugged.
"...well... last one, kid. Better make it count...!"
"...hmmmmm..." the human child focused deeply, trying to come up with a worthy secret to earn their shoulder ride.
"...so?"
Suddenly, they lit up, gasping.
"...Kris has a bunch of piercings...!!" they whispered conspiratorially.
That... wasn't usually the kind of thing people considered "a secret", was it...?
"...what...? That's not even—" Susie looked at Kris, the teenager struggling to hold Asriel down as Frisk was wrapped around their neck from behind, Kris finally seeming to notice them, "...wait, they do...??" she whispered in Chara's ear, trying to get more information before Kris finally interrupted them.
"...shh...!!" Chara shushed her, "...Mom wouldn't let them get it, so Kris got a bunch on places where she can't see...! Not even Azzy knows about it because he'd tattle...!!"
Susie's eyes widened. Yeah, they hadn't been friends for long, but she had known Kris for over a year now, and she had never seen any piercings on them. Where the hell had they been hiding them? Susie tried to recall what parts of them she'd never seen before.
Maybe they had lots of ear piercings? Eyebrow piercings? Bridge piercing?
...nipple piercings?
She shook her head, blushing furiously.
"...okay, what the heck are you two whispering about...??" Kris sat up (Frisk still clinging to them), letting Asriel go and glaring at the duo.
"Nothing!!" Chara denied, unconvincingly.
They continued glaring, plucking Frisk from their neck and sitting them on their lap. "...i'm onto you, demon...!"
Not intimidated in the slightest, Chara stuck their tongue out, blowing a raspberry at Kris.
"...chara...!" Kris warned.
Taking it as a challenge, Chara leaned up to Susie's ear, whispering: "...here's another one: Kris's favorite PJs are their blue dog onesie...!"
Susie guffawed. Now that was the kind of secret she was fishing for!
"...alright, that's it...!" Kris took Frisk's hand and pointed it forward, towards Susie and Chara, "attack, my minions!"
In an instant, Frisk and Asriel jumped to their feet, running towards the gossiping duo, screaming.
Chara blanched, unable get off the floor fast enough to avoid getting swarmed by their siblings. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Susie, meanwhile, just pushed herself up and hopped on to the couch, getting out of the way of the rampaging children. "I'm out!" she said, holding up her hands in defeat.
Asriel jumped over Chara and, with a swift move, sat on their back, not letting them get off the floor. Frisk, meanwhile, ran straight into them and, having found their mark, began repeatedly beating on their sibling's head like a bongo, with strikes clearly meant to annoy more than hurt.
"Stop— stop it!!" they cried, trying to shield their head, "Azzy!! Get off of me and help!!"
Kris merely crouched near the chaos, staring at Chara with a satisfied smirk.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!!" they finally yielded, unable to resist any longer. Their apology meant Frisk's barrage had paused, but Asriel was still pinning them to the floor.
"...and...?" Kris asked slowly, knowing full well they had the power to resume the fighting if Chara didn't go along with it.
"And I'm telling Mom you three ganged up on me!" Chara declared, defiantly.
"...nope," Kris wagged their finger, "...try again."
Chara growled. "I'm sorry I was getting along with your friend," they said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
The oldest human merely crossed their arms, unimpressed.
The child sighed heavily, rolling their eyes before 'correcting' their 'apology': "I'm sorry for scheming and cons-pi-ring behind your back, my dearest sibling Kris," they said, robotically, "....again."
Chara not only did not sound sorry, but the way they said it just made Susie believe that "scheming and conspiring" were regular pastimes for the kid. Still, it was apparently enough for Kris, who got up and clapped their hands once.
"...alright," said Kris, putting a hand on Frisk's head and pulling them back slightly, "...get off chara, everyone."
"Gee, thanks," Chara spat as their siblings finally gave them space.
"Sorry, did that hurt?" asked Asriel, trying to help them off the floor, but Chara swatted his paws away, looking away with a huff.
"...traitor..." they muttered, pushing themself off the floor with some difficulty and sitting up.
"A-ah, Chara...!" Asriel kneeled besides his human twin, still trying to help them up, "I'm sorry! Come on, at least let me help—!"
"I don't need help!!" Chara cut him off, pushing against the floor with trembling arms as they struggled to put their legs under them, "I-I can do this... o-on my... AH!!" they yelped, losing their balance and falling backwards on their butt.
Everyone immediately froze as the child hit the ground, as did Susie, but for a different reason.
While her eyesight and hearing might be worse than most monsters', her sense of smell was almost a superpower, and she definitely smelled something in the air. Her gut instincts told her it might have been the toddler, but with the way Chara's face immediately went red, she knew it was them.
She must have been the only one to notice their actual "accident", as Kris, their smirk having evaporated as soon as Chara lost their balance, was already kneeling in front of the child, mumbling a million questions about if they were okay and whether anything hurt at all.
"K-Kris...!" Chara choked out, on the verge of tears. They were hunching over in shame, hands covering the growing stain on their pants.
"..." Kris stilled, finally noticing what had happened. With an almost imperceptible sigh, they scooped the child in their arms, picking them up. "...asriel..."
"O-on it!" the boy stammered, running upstairs as quickly as his tiny legs allowed him to.
Susie was stunned. She did not move an inch as the siblings scattered. Even Frisk, the youngest, followed after Kris and Chara, and, before they even got to the bathroom, she could hear Chara crying, their wailing muffled.
Shaking her head, Susie got up. There was a puddle of piss on the floor and everyone else was obviously too busy to deal with it. Almost automatically, she searched through the kitchen and found a mop, cleaning away the puddle. There were no kids nearby, no one would slip and fall, right?
Still, she couldn't ignore the crying.
Walking robotically to the bathroom, she met Frisk, pressed against the bathroom door, a desperate expression on their face as they listened on.
She couldn't hear Kris. They talked too quietly for that. But she could still hear Chara clearly.
"I-I'm sorry...!!"
"It I-IS my fault...!"
Susie gasped, pressing her head against the door.
"I-I'm...."
"NO!!"
"I-I just...!"
She slid down, sitting next to the bathroom door.
Frisk turned their head towards her and, as Susie reluctantly tapped her thigh, they walked towards her, clearly trying not to cry.
She wrapped an arm around the toddler, very carefully.
"I-I'M NEVER GONNA BE...!!!"
"I just want to be..."
They started crying even louder.
"I just want... to be normal..."
"...I want to walk and..."
"BUT SHE'S NOT!!!"
"SHE'S A BIG KID AND SHE CAN DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN AND I CAN'T!!!"
"IT'S NOT FAIR" they cried, "I-IT'S NOT FAIR...!!"
"I'm...!!"
Her chest tightened.
She understood now.
Of course, she already knew Chara was disabled, somehow, but she didn't think they were afraid of her noticing it.
They were just a kid...
"I'm never going to be..."
And they started wailing again.
At that very instant, Asriel came down the stairs, carrying spare clothes. For his twin, surely.
"Y-you're...!"
"Hey, I'm not..." Susie lifted her hands, "judging, or anything..."
Asriel seemed to calm down immediately.
"...it's not their fault," he said, quietly.
"I get it, don't worry," she assured him, "what... what happened to them?"
Asriel rubbed his arm, awkwardly. "I'm... Chara doesn't like to talk about it..." he admitted, "Kris says... their old parents weren't very nice to them. That they hurt them..."
'...oh.'
"That's... I'm sorry."
"...hm."
"Do they always..."
"N-no, no!!" he denied it instantly, "it's just... Chara says they can't... feel their body right. I don't really get it, but sometimes they just can't..."
"No, no, I get it..."
"Hm..."
Asriel sat down, his back against the wall on the other side of the door.
They stayed in silence for a bit. Frisk let go of her arm and went to hug Asriel, looking just as miserable as before.
Then, the door opened, just a crack.
"...asriel...?" Kris asked, their hand poking out of the bathroom door.
"H-here!" Asriel handed then the spare clothing.
Just as suddenly as they had appeared, Kris's hand disappeared behind the door, shutting it close.
"You..." Susie laughed a bit, without even meaning to, as she thought about how protective Asriel was of Kris and now of Chara, "...really care about your siblings, don't you?"
Asriel stilled, looking up at her, his tail wrapping around Frisk. "O-of course I do!" he said, blushing, "I-I'm the... big brother... after all..."
"Isn't Kris the oldest?"
"Y-yeah, but...." he buried his face in Frisk's hair, the toddler looking up, confused, "it's different..."
"Alright," Susie snickered, rubbing his head, "I'm glad they all got such a good kid looking after them, then."
Asriel's face turned even redder, buried in a confused Frisk's scalp, but he still managed to nod. "Th-th-thanks..!"
She grinned, but, as soon as she removed her hand, the bathroom door opened.
Kris stepped out, missing their trademarked hoodie, carrying Chara in their arms. The child still had their face buried in their chest, still clearly trembling from crying.
Kris froze as they noticed the three of them siting by the bathroom door.
"H-hey, Chara...!" Susie tried.
Kris was still holding them, and Chara gave no sign that they had listened to her, so Susie shot Kris a look.
'Just lemme talk to them,' was what she hoped to convey. If Kris actually got it, she had no idea.
Still, Kris didn't move, so she decided to keep trying.
"Can we talk?" she asked, "me and you?"
Chara peeked at her, their face half hidden behind their big sibling's black button up shirt.
She realized that, not only did Chara not want to talk to her, but that Kris also looked ready to kick her if she said anything wrong.
So, Susie patted the floor next to her, looking up at Kris, hoping they would understand.
If they did, she didn't know, but they did sit against the door just like everyone else.
"Look..." Susie tried, "I'm not that good at... talking about serious stuff, so," she took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts in order, "when I was born... like, okay, you know how Asriel said I don't really look like most monsters my species?"
Chara looked at her, a red, teary eye peeking from behind Kris's shirt, but they still gave the faintest nod.
"Right, so... when I was born, I was... sick, y'know? Didn't really look like a... healthy little lizard. My snout was too short, so I can't really breathe right. My fingers are too stumpy—" she showed off her hand, her curved claws longer than the actual fingers, "—so holding stuff is really hard for me. And, well... I was supposed to have a long, big, strong tail, but I just... don't," she admitted.
Her lack of a tail for counterbalance meant she had to walk with her back straight up if she didn't want to fall face first on the ground, unlike most lizard monsters who walked hunched over. That did make Susie look taller, but it also meant she had to deal with constant pain on her hips and lower back.
Chara was now staring at her with wide eyes, even if they were still silently crying.
"Not having a tail means balancing is really hard for me. I fall over all the time if I'm not careful and, like, even walking was hard for me to learn, y'know? Could barely walk either when I was your age, so... I get it, y'know?"
The child stared at her with a look Susie couldn't fully decipher. Like they had finally found someone who understood.
"So, yeah, it, uhh... it sucks, I know. It hurts, and it makes everything harder, the other kids can be mean and the adults treat you like a baby all the time, but... it's not their problem, you know? It's something you gotta deal with, and whatever other people think? It doesn't matter."
Susie licked her lips, nervously scratching the back of her head. She had never told anyone about this kind of stuff, much less to a child ten years younger than herself.
"I can't do everything that Kris can do, but they can't do everything I can either, y'know? Everyone's different and junk. I'm not gonna think any less of you just because you can't do what I can, or because you can't do it well or somethin'."
"Y-you..." Chara sniffed, rubbing their eyes with their sweater sleeves, "you really mean that...?"
"I... I know how hard it is. To deal with all that stuff," Susie grinned, "if anything, I'll just think you're a lil' badass for dealing with it better than I ever did."
The child giggled, voice still heavy with tears. "You said a bad word...!"
She guffawed.
"What, you gonna narc on me or somethin'?"
They shook their head, still wiping away the tears, before wiggling out of Kris's lap and stumbling towards Susie, wrapping as much of her large frame as their small arms would allow in a hug.
"Oh!" Susie stiffened in surprise. When was the last time she had gotten a real hug? Was she supposed to hug them back or something? "Uhh..."
"...thank you..." whispered Chara, voice muffled by her jacket.
"...no problem, kid," she smiled, placing a hand on their back, patting it.
Stealthily as ever, Kris slithered back up the wall and slid inside the bathroom, emerging a few seconds later with a pile of soiled clothes in their arms (including their hoodie).
"...gonna put these in the wash... you gonna stay on the floor?" they asked no one in particular.
"Oh, right," Susie pushed herself up with one arm and, still holding on to Chara like a football, lifted the kid up as well, holding them up in the air by her side, "where do I put this one?"
"H-hey!!" Chara laughed, hanging limply in her grasp, "put me down!!"
"...eh, you can keep it if you want," Kris said, smirking.
"Hey!" the kid protested, but they still couldn't keep from giggling, "I wanna stay here!"
"In the air?"
"No!!"
"I do!" Asriel jumped up and down, grabbing at the sleeve on her free arm, "pick me up too!"
"A-ah, well," Susie crouched down and wrapped her arm around Asriel as well, lifting him up just like Chara.
"Hiii," Asriel waved at Chara from his spot on the Susie Express, his sibling snickering at him.
"Me too!! Me too!!" Frisk suddenly jumped at Susie's leg, wrapping their little arms around her thigh as they hanged from it.
"W-wait...!!" her eyes widened, looking up at Kris in desperation, "...help me...!!" she whispered loudly to her friend.
Kris merely grinned, shrugging. "...deal with it."
Growling quietly, Susie tightened her grip on the kids in her arms. "Alright, twerps. You asked for it!" she barked, hobbling her way to the couch with three children on her, doing her best to not bend the leg Frisk was attached to – the toddler squealing in joy with every step she took.
As she got there, Susie plopped down in the middle of the couch and dropped the children on either side of her before raising her leg up and prying Frisk off it, sitting them on her lap.
Frisk turned their head back up at her, giggling, while Asriel crawled across her lap, brushing past them and going directly to Chara, wrapping them in a hug.
"...sorry..." he apologized.
"...'s fine," Chara mumbled, still a bit down despite having cheered up considerably after their talk with Susie.
"I... I got your hairbrush," said Asriel, producing a brush in their paws, "I know you like it better when Kris does it, but..."
"It's fine," they smiled, shimmying in place so they were sitting in between Asriel's legs, their back to him, "I like it when you do it too."
Beaming with relief, the boy began brushing his sibling's silky hair with his claws and the hairbrush, their little spat forgotten as Chara hummed in satisfaction.
It took all of Susie's willpower to not coo at the sight. Luckily, Frisk was there to distract her, their pudgy hands reaching up towards her.
"Hmm?" Susie looked down, confused, "what's up, uh, Frisk?"
"Hands," the toddler explained (demanded?).
"Uhh..." she cautiously placed her palms on top of theirs, extending her claws as far away from their skin as possible, "here you go...?"
Frisk giggled, grasping her fingers with their tiny hands – seriously, her claws were longer than their entire hands!! Who allowed this?? – running their thumbs on her rough scales. "Feels funny!!"
"Yeah? Well...!" Susie tried to come up with a comeback, but she couldn't, really. Calling some seven year old 'twerps' was one thing, but being even fake mean to a toddler like Frisk was too much even for her. "I guess they do, huh?"
They nodded excitedly, holding on tight.
Out of nowhere, Kris crouched in front of her, in between her legs, their elbows resting on her thighs. Any other time, Susie would have either panicked or kicked them away, but the way they looked at their baby sibling told her they barely even registered her presence.
Then, silently, they pinched the toes on both of Frisk's feet, causing the toddler to gasp and pull their legs up, shrinking on Susie's lap.
Still grasping on to her fingers, Frisk faced the direction the pinches had come from, wondering for a moment before guessing: "Kiss...?!"
Kris chuckled, clearly and audibly, and the child squealed, kicking their feet in their direction.
Susie couldn't help but stare at Kris. She'd never seen them smiling all gentle-like like that before. Or not wearing their yellow and green hoodie. Or being all touchy-feely like that with anyone.
It was a surreal sight, but one that got slightly more real as her eyes drifted to their arms, a myriad of almost perfectly parallel scars under each forearm, all pale and faded.
Not one of the kids had commented on it, so she decided to just not bring it up at that moment.
"You having fun there, Buddy Buddy?"
"Yeah!!" they nodded, pulling down on Susie's fingers with a surprising amount of force for someone their size, "I want anoder leg wide!!"
"Shouldn't you ask someone else that?" Kris asked, shaking their head slightly.
"Ah...! Um..." Frisk squirmed a bit, facing upwards at her again, back pressing against her stomach, "umm...! Miss Soozy... can I wide on your leg again...?" they asked shyly, somehow doing the best damn puppy eyes Susie had ever seen even with their eyes closed.
She felt like her heart had just been stabbed by the cutest, fluffiest knife in the world.
"R-right now? Or...?"
"Hmmm..." the child pondered, their thumbs fiddling with her fingers, "later!"
"Sure," she smiled, even if they couldn't see, "any time you want, kid."
"Yay!!" Frisk beamed at her, bringing her arms around them in a backwards attempt to hug her. "Tank you!!"
Susie would kill for this child, she decided right then and there. Without a second thought.
"Kiss, look!!" they pulled her hand towards Kris, "Soozy's hands feel funny!"
Kris laughed despite themself. "That's not very nice to say, isn't it?"
There was something off about their voice when Kris wasn't mumbling or whispering that Susie just couldn't quite put her finger on. It was like Kris practiced their sentences in their head before saying them out loud, talking just a bit too slowly to sound natural.
"Feel it!!" Frisk tugged at her hand again, "feel it!"
The oldest human sighed silently, mouthing "sorry" at Susie before placing their palm against hers.
Kris's hand was surprisingly warm and, for some reason, Susie could feel her face warming up as well as she wrapped her fingers around it. Their fingers were surprisingly long and tipped in short nails, covered in chipped polish. She had never noticed their nails were painted before.
They matched her naturally black claws.
"Those are just her scales, Frisk," they explained, "it's different from our skin or Asriel's fur."
Frisk tilted their head, rubbing her other hand as if the very concept of scales was brand new to them – which, as Susie realized, it might as well be. There weren't many reptilian monsters in Hometown, after all.
"It's not very nice to say other people 'feel funny'," Kris continued.
"Sowwy, miss Soozy..." they apologized, ashamed.
"I-it's fine, kid," she assured them, "your hands feel funny, too. Like marshmallow."
"Hihihi...!" they giggled, hands pressing against their own cheeks.
"..." Kris looked up at her, a question on their normally neutral expression, and that's when Susie realized she was still holding their hand.
Trying to save face, she squeezed their hand harder and smirked. "Dude, your hands are so tiny. I would destroy your a— butt at arm wrestling."
She was almost sure they rolled their eyes, mouthing the word "dumbass" at her.
Laughing, Susie let go, using her clawed foot to push at Kris's face, pushing the human on to the floor with barely any effort.
Kris just let themself fall limply backwards, like a ragdoll, before shooting up to their feet like nothing had happened and marching to the couch, sitting besides Susie with their legs crossed, staring silently at the TV.
The movie had already ended, commercials playing before the next one in the marathon started.
Did... did she upset them?
And, for a while, that's how things stayed: Asriel brushing Chara's hair, Susie absentmindedly playing with Frisk's hands, and Kris pointedly saying nothing.
Susie figured that's how things would stay until, finally, the front door opened, Toriel walking in with a bag of groceries. The moment she stepped inside, all three of the younger children took off towards her (Chara being the last one as they had to retrieve their crutches), yelling:
"MOMMY!!"
"MAMA!!"
"My babies...!" cooed Toriel, crouching down and easily wrapping her arms around all three of them, "have you three behaved while I was gone?"
"Yep," Chara answered for all of them, "right, Azzy?"
Asriel nodded enthusiastically.
"Kiss gave me stawbebby milk!!" Frisk told her as if it was the high point of their day.
"That's great, my children," Toriel chuckled before looking up towards the couch, "I hope they haven't been too much trouble, Susie?"
Susie's eyebrows shot up. She really didn't expect Toriel to still remember her name. Then again, she was a teacher, so maybe Alphys had just been complaining about her of something.
"No trouble at all, ma'am," Susie reassured her, smiling politely (or as best as she could manage), "they're little angels." She was definitely playing it up, but the thought of Toriel thinking she didn't get along with her kids scared the hell out of her.
...besides the one kid she used to beat on a regular basis, of course.
"See, Kris??" Chara shot their big sibling the smuggest look a seven year old could possibly muster, "we're little angels."
Kris barely reacted, but if the younger human's widening smirk was any indication, that was enough reaction.
"Well. Sorry for the wait, Kris. I got a bit... distracted, while buying the ingredients for the pie," Toriel apologized, disentangling herself from her children as she got up. Susie could just barely see Kris flinching when she mentioned getting sidetracked. "I hope I didn't take too long?"
"...no," said Kris, simply.
"Great," Toriel visibly relaxed, "did you two make a lot of progress on your school project?"
"...yes," Kris lied through their teeth. The two of them had actually spent most of the afternoon dicking around on the library computers, playing online games instead of actually doing their school work, much to the dismay of Berdly and Noelle.
(But mostly Berdly.)
"Well, I'm sure you two must be tired from working so hard all day, so I'll go bake an extra tasty pie," their mom said before winking and whispering conspiratorially: "I'll get the kids out of your hair, so you two can relax a bit now," Toriel giggled, "come on, kids! Help me out in the kitchen."
"B-but, Mommy!" Asriel protested, looking at the duo on the couch, "the next movie is about to start...!"
"...pshh, come on, Azzy...!" Chara pulled him along, shooting Kris and Susie a knowing grin, "...leave them alone for a bit...!"
"Ch-Chara...!" the poor goat boy was dragged to the kitchen by his twin.
Frisk followed after them, pausing halfway through to turn to the couch's general direction and wave. "Bye, miss Soozy!" they said before running after their older siblings.
Susie smiled awkwardly and waved back, before remembering the child couldn't see her. "See ya, kid."
"You'll be staying for the pie, won't you, Susie?" Toriel asked.
"O-oh, yes, if it's not too much trouble, ma'am."
"Of course not, we want you here," she smiled, assuring her, "and we are not at school right now, dear. You can call me 'Toriel'."
"R-right. Sorry, Ms.Toriel," Susie laughed apologetically. Being "polite" wasn't exactly first nature to her, but Toriel was one of the few adults in her life she actually wanted to leave a good impression on.
"Just 'Toriel' is fine, dear," Toriel giggled, "anyway, we'll leave you two alone for now. Have fun!" she said, following the kids into the kitchen.
With their family finally gone, Kris let out a big sigh, slumping bonelessly on the couch.
"...again, sorry for this."
"For what, dude?"
"...making you babysit with me," they elaborated, "...know you would... rather be doing something fun, but... couldn't leave the kids alone."
Susie rolled her eyes. "Again, it's fine, Kris. I told ya, didn't have anything better to do anyway. Your little siblings are cool, dude. I, uh... actually had fun, y'know? Even if I dunno how to deal with kids," she admitted, "besides... I'm getting free pie for it, ain't I?" she smirked, elbowing them.
Kris grinned back. "...knew you were only in it for the food."
"HAH!! You know me," Susie laughed, not even bothering to deny it.
The human chuckled silently, their gaze (supposedly) locked in on the television.
"...that was a good speech," they finally said.
"Huh?" she turned to them, "speech?"
"...to chara," Kris clarified.
"Oh. Right," Susie scratched her neck, "y'know... I'm not great with words and shit. That was just... something I wish someone had told me when I was their age, y'know?"
"...hm," they didn't look at her, "...that why you hide your tail?"
"WH— I DON'T—" she growled, baring her teeth before sighing, "...yeah," she admitted. "I know it's... kinda hypocritical or whatever of me. But it's easier to say it than to actually do it, y'know? Not... caring about what other people say and all that junk."
"...nah, i get it," Kris whispered.
Her eyes flicked to them, curious.
"You... do?"
"...yeah," they continued, "...but... chara will be fine. they... they take those things to heart, y'know?"
Susie said nothing as she waited for them to keep talking.
"...when i... said they could, like... be whatever they wanted, y'know? i didn't, like... expect them to, like... really believe it, but they did... chara took to wearing dresses and skirts almost instantly, just because they're cute. They don't... care that they're 'supposed' to be a 'boy', y'know?"
"They're a brave kid, huh?" Susie pondered.
"...yeah," Kris admitted, proudly, "...even though i was the one encouraging them to experiment... i'm not brave enough to wear whatever like they are..."
So they really did get it. Their struggles might not be the same, but the feeling of wanting to help others while not being able to do the same for yourself was all too present.
"You have skirts?" she asked, surprised, "never seen you wearing one before."
Susie could swear she saw Kris blushing faintly.
"...i... have some, yeah," they said, "...just... don't wear them outside."
"You don't like it?"
"...nah, i love it," they sighed, "...skirts, dresses, that kind of stuff. i just... it's scary. around other people."
"Damn. Didn't know you were scared of anything," Susie chuckled, "spent a year trying to scare ya and you just laughed it off."
The human smirked. "...you're just bad at being scary."
"Nuh-uh!"
"... yuh-huh," they snickered, "...you look scary until you start talking. then you just sound edgy."
She punched them in the shoulder, making Kris laugh even harder.
"Damn," Susie laughed despite herself, "so I didn't freak you out even once? Did I just waste an entire year?"
"...well... i did think you might try to kill me for real," they admitted, "...when you started freaking out in the closet."
"Ah. Well," she looked away, embarrassed, "glad I didn't. Thanks for helping me out back there, by the way."
"...don't mention it."
"I won't, freak."
Kris snorted, but they said nothing.
"Hey, so," Susie awkwardly tried to change the subject, "going back to Chara..."
"...what about them?"
"...what's... up with them?" she whispered, "like... was it an accident? Were they born sick or something?"
Her friend stiffened, leaning forward to look at the hallway, confirming that no one was coming to the living room.
"...no, chara, they..." Kris licked their lips, gulping. It was the first time she'd seen them look genuinely uneasy. "...their... the people that gave birth to them. they hurt chara. bad enough to leave... permanent damage."
Her eyes widened. "Damage" was underplaying it. The kid couldn't walk on their own, their hands were constantly trembling and they "couldn't feel their body right". That wasn't some simple "damage"; they had been seriously injured, somehow. The fact that it was their own parents that had done it to them...
Susie felt sick.
Asriel had already told her that their old parents were abusive towards Chara, but she thought he was referring just to the fact that they had wet themself. She assumed they were treated bad because they were disabled, not... that they had abused the kid to the point of disability.
Nauseous.
"How... how old were they? When you guys, uh, adopted them?"
"...four," Kris answered, "...as soon as they got discharged from the hospital."
Four years old.
"Fuck, man..."
"...hey," Kris kicked her shin, "...don't swear when the kids are downstairs. frisk and chara may not hear you, but asriel's ears are pretty sharp."
"Sorry, sorry," she apologized, "so, um..." Susie tried to change subjects, "about those... scars on your—"
"—...markings," they cut her off.
"Huh?"
"...my 'markings'," they insisted, "...don't call them scars in front of the kids. they're... not old enough to know about that kinda stuff yet."
"Right..."
"...look..." Kris sighed, "...can we talk about... heavy stuff later? after the kids go to bed."
"Sure. Sorry," Susie apologized again, "I was just..."
"...worried about me?"
She scoffed, a faint blush on her scales. "And why the hell would I worry about you?"
The human gasped, a hand on their chest. "...i thought i was your best friend...?" they asked, feigning hurt despite their voice being deadpan as ever.
They were clearly teasing her.
"Y-you heard that...?" her cheeks flared with embarrassment.
"...you're not good at being quiet."
"Sh— shoot, I..." Susie wanted to find sand and bury her head in it, "I was just, y'know...!"
Kris stared at her, grinning.
"Urgh..." she groaned, covering her eyes in shame, "sorry, dude. Guess I jumped the gun a bit, huh? That was super corny of me..."
"...eh, it's fine," they waved her off, "...you're my best friend too."
"...huh?" Susie blinked, astounded at how casually they dropped that on her.
"...by process of elimination, if nothing else," shrugged Kris.
"...dude, I terrorized you for like, a whole year...!"
"...you were never that good at it," they pointed out, "...remember that time with the apple? funny as hell."
"...I beat your ass...!"
Again, Kris shrugged. "...i hurt myself worse," they said, rubbing their scarred forearm, "...it's fine."
Susie sighed, not knowing how to take that.
"You're a weirdo, y'know that?"
"...so are you," the human smirked, "...we're in the same dumbass frequency."
"Hah!" she laughed, "guess that's why we get along so well, huh?"
Kris merely smiled in response, turning back to the TV. "...wanna stay the night? this marathon will run pretty late."
"A sleepover, huh?" Susie considered their offer, "haven't had one of those in... forever."
"...so?"
"Eh, screw it. Why not?" she shrugged. It sounded more interesting than going back to her boring apartment alone, anyway, and it's not like they had class tomorrow. "You got a spare bed I can crash in?"
"...my bedroom has four beds. you can take one," Kris offered, "...or we can just sleep here. couch's plenty big."
Susie did some (not so) quick math in her head before suddenly finding a problem with Kris's suggestion: "...four beds? Aren't there five of us? Y'know, counting with your siblings?"
Sharing a bed with Kris was out of the question.
"...asriel always sleeps on the bottom bunk with chara, so his bed is free."
"Aww, that's kinda adorable...!"
"...they're very cute together, yeah," Kris agreed, a faint smile on their lips.
"Those two really are attached at the hip, huh?"
"...surprisingly, yeah, considering they're total opposites. they fight all the time too."
"I guess that's what siblings are like," Susie mused, "must be nice."
"...you don't have any?"
"Nah, it's just me and my mom, and she's barely ever home due to work anyway."
"...sounds lonely."
"Eh. I'm used to it," she admitted.
And then the conversation hit an awkward lull.
"I guess... we could just sleep here?" she suggested, "wouldn't wanna keep the kids up with my snoring, heh."
"...works for me," they said, "...but if you keep me up i'm smothering you with a pillow."
"HAH!" she laughed, "I'd like to see you try."
"...they'll never find your body," they warned in the same monotone voice they always used.
"...dude, it's creepy how you can say that stuff with a straight face."
Kris smirked, and soon both of them were snickering.
This was nice.
Despite still feeling so awkward around them and their family, Susie was glad they had invited her. Kris was right, she was lonely. Thank the Angel for whatever TV exec decided to run this movie marathon today of all days, if that's what got Kris to invite her to spend the night.
"Y'know," Susie said, eyes glued on the screen as a giant lizard monster fought a three headed dragon, "I didn't know you liked giant movie monsters so much, Kris."
Then, the human turned to her, a cryptic smile on their face.
"...i don't."
It only took about a movie and half for Toriel to finally call the two of them to the kitchen for dinner.
Dinner at the Dreemurr household was like nothing Susie had ever experienced: it was chaotic, but warm. Chara loudly complained about eating their greens, plopping their peas on their brother's plate while Toriel wasn't looking, and Asriel ate it without complaint, asking Susie a million questions between each bite. Frisk, meanwhile, sat on Kris's lap, the oldest of the Dreemurr kids helping guide the spoon to the plate while somehow still managing to eat with their other hand. This arrangement left them both dirty, but somehow they made less of a mess than Susie would have thought.
Susie herself cleaned her plate with gusto, not thinking twice when Toriel offered her seconds. She would usually only eat this well on her birthday, and Toriel's cooking was to die for.
When dessert arrived, each one of children of the house got a single slice (Frisk getting an extra small one), while Susie got an extra one since she "was a guest". Kris ended up getting scolded for trying to steal a second slice for themself.
She had only ever eaten Toriel's pies when she stole Kris's lunch. It was even more tasty when it was freshly baked.
After dinner, Toriel dragged the twins and an increasingly grumpier Frisk to the bathroom, giving Susie and Kris enough time to finish half a movie, occasionally interrupted by the sound of the children laughing in the bathtub and then by a blow dryer working for minutes straight.
Finally, Toriel walked in the living room, carrying Frisk in a brand new onesie and followed by Chara and an extra fluffy Asriel, both in matching big shirts with hearts on them.
"Kris! The shower is free!" she announced, "there is still some hot water left."
"...thanks," Kris said, not looking away from the movie.
"Have you called your parents, Susie?"
"Y-yes, ma'am," Susie lied. She'd thought about sending her mom a text, but decided it wasn't worth it since she might not even read it.
"Well," Toriel smiled, "we're going to bed now. Try not to stay up too late, you two."
"Ah, Mommy!" Asriel tugged at his mother's shirt, "can't we stay a bit more?" he begged, "I wanna watch movies with Susie..."
"Young man, you know we have church first thing in the morning tomorrow," she shot his request down as firmly but gently as possible, "you can stay up later when you're older. Now, off to bed with you three."
"Aww..." the boy deflated, but relented.
"Mama, wait...!" Frisk squirmed in her grasp.
"Oh!" she laughed, putting the child down, "of course."
Frisk ran straight to the couch, feeling with their hands before they found Kris and settled in between their legs.
"Kiss!" they called, stifling a yawn as they turned their face up towards their big sibling, "kiss...?"
Susie was confused about why they had repeated Kris's "name" twice, but Kris seemed to immediately get it, smiling softly down at the toddler.
"Of course," they leaned down, planting a soft kiss on Frisk's forehead, earning a giggle from them, "goodnight, Buddy Buddy. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight, Kiss!" they said, hugging Kris's leg, "goodnight, miss Soozy!"
"Night, kid," Susie waved them off. Damn, that kid was going to give her diabetes if she wasn't careful.
Looking up as Frisk ran back to their mother, Susie noticed the "twins" standing in front of the couch, both looking different levels of embarrassed.
"...you two want one as well?"
Blushing as he glanced towards Susie, Asriel nodded his head vigorously, stepping forward and throwing his arms around Kris.
Kris responded by kissing him between the horns. "Goodnight, little prince."
"Goodnight Kris," he beamed, "a-and goodnight, Susie..."
Susie merely waved at him, smirking.
"...chara?" Kris called the other twin over, but Chara merely huffed and looked away.
"...chara...!"
"Mmm...!" the child groaned, reluctantly walking towards the couch.
"...come here, demon," Kris pulled them into a hug, earning a yelp from Chara. "...take this off before bed, y'hear?" they took off Chara's horned headband, "...you're gonna poke asriel's eye again."
"That was one time..." they grumbled.
Kris just chuckled silently at them before placing a kiss on their forehead and ruffling their hair. "...goodnight, pest."
Chara quickly pulled away, fixing their hair while they tried to hide their furious blushing, even if they couldn't hide the small smile tugging at their lips.
"...night," they said, stumbling their way back to their mom's side.
Toriel, who had been watching the whole scene, covered her mouth with a paw, stifling her laughter.
"Well, goodnight, you two," she said, "don't make too much noise, okay?"
"Of course, Ms. Toriel," Susie said, and Kris merely nodded their head.
"Mommy...?" Chara tugged at her shirt as she turned around, "I'm tired... can you carry me up the stairs?"
Toriel gave her trademarked motherly smile. "Of course, my child," she said as she picked them up, crutches and all.
"Let's go, Frisk," Asriel said as he grabbed his youngest sibling's hand, the toddler following him with a yawn.
Soon, the two of them were left alone downstairs...
...just as the house seemed to get noticeably warmer.
"Yo, dude, did your mom just turn up the thermostat or somethin'?"
"...urgh," Kris groaned, sounding absolutely miserable, "...yeah. does it every night."
"Nice," Susie stretched, taking off her jacket so she could bask in the heat. She usually avoided taking it off around people, but it's not like Kris would be weirded out by her scars, after all.
"...not nice," they grumbled, sliding further down the couch, "...i hate the heat."
"Why does she do it, then?"
"...chara's joints hurt in the cold, so it helps them sleep. frisk doesn't like the cold either, and mom and asriel can tank the heat," they explained, "...i'm the only who likes it cold."
"Damn, sucks to be you," Susie laughed, "they're right, though. The cold sucks."
"...et tu?" Kris put a hand over their forehead, dramatically, "...betrayed... thought we were friends..."
"Dude, I'm cold-blooded," she punched their arm, chuckling, "I can't even move when it gets too chilly outside."
"...sucks to be you," they threw her words right back at her before groaning again, "...urgh, getting sweaty already."
"Is that a human thing?"
"...sweating?" Kris wiped at their forehead, "...think so. asriel doesn't sweat like we do when it's hot."
"There's no way you're hot enough to be melting like that already," Susie pointed out, equal parts grossed out and fascinated by the salty smelling liquid leaking out directly from Kris's skin, "you look like a knockoff Ice-E."
"...uuurgh," they complained, undoing the top buttons of their shirt and exposing the white fabric underneath, wiping the sweat off their collarbone, "...you know how hot sports bras can get."
"I don't," she said, "why would I know that?"
"...what, you don't wear bras?"
"Dude," Susie stared at them, "lizard, remember?"
"...so... no tits...?" Kris asked, carefully.
"No tits," she confirmed.
"...damn. i'm so sorry for your loss," they said, solemnly, placing a hand on her bare shoulder.
"Oh, fuck off!" she laughed, pushing their hand away.
"...it must be so hard for you..."
"I'm gonna kick your ass, I swear."
"...sorry, sorry," Kris chuckled.
"So, you got piercings on your nipples or somethin'?" Susie casually asked.
"...wh—!" the human choked, sitting up straight, "...what the hell...?? why would you ask that...??"
The lizard snorted at their reaction. "Chara said you got a bunch of piercings in places your mom can't see," she shrugged, "figured that'd be the easiest place to hide 'em."
"...that fucking kid..." Kris muttered under their breath, "...what else did they tell you?"
"Oh, a bunch," Susie laughed, "got blackmail material for ages."
"...fucking pest..."
"So?"
"...they're not pierced," they denied it, not saying anything about other possible piercings.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she pushed them lightly, "show me the goods!"
Kris stared at her, face turning red like an apple as their arms slowly rose to cover their chest.
"...i'm not showing you my tits, weirdo."
It was Susie's turn to blush. The implication hadn't even crossed her mind.
"I-I meant the piercings, dumbass!!"
"...oh," their arms fell to the side, "...right, uh..."
Kris wiped the sweat off their brow and pushed their bangs out of their face, at the same time pulling the rest of their hair in a ponytail, exposing their ears.
They kept their eyes closed the whole time.
"Woah...!" Susie admired their face. Kris had a spiked piercing on their right eyebrow and, opposite to that, a small scar cut their left one in two. Both their ears were pierced as well, with several rings and spikes in both, though they didn't have earrings in the usual spots. "Dude, that's cool as shit!"
The human let their hair fall back into place, grinning proudly at her.
"Gotta be honest, I wasn't sure you actually had a face under all that hair, Kris," Susie snickered, "thought it might all be, like, smooth skin or somethin'."
Their grin fell and Kris responded by raising a middle finger at her.
Susie did the same, and so Kris smirked again, raising another.
She showed them another middle finger, causing them to gasp and stick their tongue out at her, revealing a piercing right in the middle of it.
Susie gasped. "Duuuuuuuude...!!" she laughed, "that's sick!"
Kris grinned again, their tongue still hanging out.
"How did you even get those??"
"...did most of them myself," answered Kris, "...except for the tongue. noelle's sister did that one for me."
"Noelle's sister?" Susie tilted her head, confused, "I didn't know you guys were friends."
"...we... aren't, really," Kris shrunk a bit, "...we've just... known each other since forever, so... i know her family."
"Oh," Susie could tell she'd touched a nerve, so she decided to steer the conversation away from Noelle. "Are those all of them?"
"...for now, yeah," they nodded, "...want one on the bridge of my nose. also two here—" they tapped right below their lips with a finger on either side of their mouth, "—...but that would be hard to hide..."
"Yeah, you'd have to grow your bangs to your chin or something, heh," she laughed.
Kris laughed as well, before turning to the TV and jumping to their feet. "...finally, ads. i'm gonna go take a shower real quick."
Susie had almost forgotten they were watching movies.
"Oh, yeah, sure," she waved them off, "next part is boring anyway, so no harm if you lose anything."
"...cool. wanna go in too?"
Susie paused, turning to them.
"Like... together...?"
Kris stared down at her.
"...no. after me," they made a weird face, "...what...?"
"H-hey, you use the same tone for everything, how the hell was I supposed to know what you were implying??" she growled, face burning.
"...i wasn't...!" Kris sighed deeply, "...whatever. you want a shower or not?"
"Er..." Susie sniffed her clothes, "nah, I'm good. I don't get all sweaty like you, I can skip a shower today."
They shrugged. "...suit yourself. be right back."
"Have fun," she called out, snickering as Kris gave her the finger without even turning back, already on their way to the bathroom.
True to their word, Kris didn't take too long in the shower, the sound of the blow dryer coming on soon after the commercial break ended. A few minutes later, Kris came back into the living room, apparently wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and socks.
Susie was speechless.
"...what?" Kris asked, sitting beside her.
She stared at the human. Their regular apple scent was a hundred times stronger now, fresh off the shower. Their hair, recently washed and brushed, was much less of a frizzy mess than it usually was (though it was nowhere near as silky and straight as Chara's), and as she stared at their thighs peeking out from under their shirt, Susie couldn't help but wonder if they were even wearing anything at all under that.
Her eyes slowly climbed up their shirt and, immediately, darted away upon reaching their chest.
Their nipples definitely weren't pierced.
Susie gulped, her throat suddenly dry.
"...what...??" Kris asked again, more insistently.
"H-huh??" she snapped to attention, her face uncomfortably warm as she stared at Kris's own.
"...dude, were you... checking me out...?" they asked slowly.
"What?!" the lizard almost choked on her own spit, "why the fuck would I be checking you out, dipshit??"
Kris stared at her for a moment before a wicked grin split their face. Shifting to face her, Kris crossed their arms under their chest, pushing it up and leaning over into what Susie assumed was meant to be a seductive pose, though it only made them look like they had a tummy ache.
"Th-that only works if you actually have tits to show off, dumbass," she muttered dismissively, though she did hold a hand over her face and looked away.
"...hey...!" Kris looked down at their chest, dejectedly, "...they're still growing..." they said, grabbing their own breasts before pausing and grinning again, "...so you were checking me out."
"God, shut up...!" Susie slumped on the sofa, covering her red face with a hand, "I wasn't— I was just...! I never saw you without that stupid hoodie before! I thought it was glued to you or somethin'..."
"...it's not the same hoodie. i have a bunch of them," Kris explained, "...also, you literally saw me without it earlier."
"What I mean is—" she growled, "—I thought you were like one of those old cheap dolls. Plastic hands and head and everything else was just cotton. I didn't know you had an actual body under all that!"
"...so, what you're saying is... you think i have a nice body?" they asked, a teasing tone almost audible on their voice.
"I'm not saying shit," she scoffed, "stop making this weird, dude."
"...me?" Kris kicked at her from their position, resting a foot on her bicep, "...you're the one checking me out."
"I'm not...!" Susie growled again, her eyes traveling up the light brown expanse of Kris's leg to confirm that, thankfully, they were wearing shorts under that huge shirt, "urgh, whatever."
"...hey, if it makes you feel better, you look pretty good too," they shrugged, that shit eating grin still stuck to their face, "...nice guns."
"...can you turn the fucking lights off already??" begged Susie. If they were going to keep teasing her, she would prefer if they couldn't see her face.
"...fine, fine," the human got up, "...was just kidding..."
'About what part??' she screamed internally.
With the lights finally off, Kris came back to the couch, sitting hugging their knees and resting their chin on them, staring at the TV. The old CRT device was bright enough that their features were still clearly illuminated.
Susie mentally chastised herself. What the hell was wrong with her?? That was Kris. The freak she spent a year bullying! Sure, they had a body, but of course they did! Almost everyone did. Seeing a bit more of their skin than she was used to shouldn't cause such a reaction in her!
She couldn't even pretend to herself. She thought the human was hot. She didn't exactly have many humans to compare them to, but when they showed her their face, it wasn't bad to look at. It was actually pretty nice. Kris was a very attractive person underneath all their usual layers and disheveled looks.
Honestly, even their usual get up had its charm to—
Susie shook her head vigorously.
Kris was her friend. Nothing else. The fact that Susie thought they were hot was... humiliating? Confusing? Honestly, she didn't even have a word for it, but she knew it was bad. Kris had their own shit to deal with, and so did Susie. She didn't need to pile on even more stuff on top of that. Susie barely knew how to navigate friendship, much less attraction.
They were at the start of something good here. She wouldn't ruin it by getting the hots for her only friend, so Susie did the only thing she could think of: sweep all these thoughts deep under the rug of her mind so she could try her hardest to forget she ever had them.
Yeah, that sounded good.
"...you good?" Kris asked quietly, shaking her off of her stupor.
"Y-yeah, just... watching the movie."
"...hm," they shrugged, not looking away from the television, "...this movie sucks."
"You just have bad taste," Susie shot back.
"...that's rich coming from you, miss chalk eater."
"Oh, shut up," she snorted.
Susie turned her eyes back to the TV, having already lost the plot, however little there was, ages ago.
"...why even invite me over for a giant monster movie marathon if you don't even like those kinds of movies?" she asked in a small voice.
Kris looked at her like the answer should be obvious.
"...because i like hanging out with you."
"Oh."
She felt something in her chest tighten.
"...are... are you crying?"
"H-huh...?" Susie rubbed at her eyes, only now noticing the tears rolling down her scales, "n-no, I..."
Kris scooted closer to her, pressing against her side.
"...what's wrong, suz?" they asked softly.
Her breath hitched.
They reached an arm around her, pulling her much larger frame closer to their tiny one.
"I-I treated you like shit for so long, dude..." she let out, trying her best not to sob, "I..."
"...susie, i told you. it's fine—"
"—it's not fine!" she barked, "Chara was fucking crying today! They know you've been getting beat all this time, and they asked me to protect you!! Me! They looked at me like I was some fucking hero, but they have no idea I was the one that did that to you..."
"..." Kris said nothing, only tightening their grip on her.
"I did that. I made them cry! I... they... they're just a fucking kid, man..." Susie sobbed, "they're just a fucking kid, but they already know how to recognize when someone's been taking a beating and is trying to hide it..."
"..."
"...what the fuck did they do to that kid, Kris...?"
Kris let go of her, pulling up their knees and hugging them, leaning against her as they took a deep breath.
"...their..." Kris gulped, "...the people who gave birth to them," they refused to even use the word 'parents', "...they hit them. a lot. all the time."
Susie sobbed harder. This was all dredging up the worst kind of memories. It wasn't fair that anyone else had to go through what she did at such an age, and it was obvious that whatever hell she went through, Chara went through one a hundred times worse.
"...they... they were real bad. chara still gets nightmares all the time..." they continued, "...after the people that gave birth to them got arrested, chara was put up for adoption... since they became terrified of human adults, cps thought it was... better to put them with a monster family. we started fostering them after they got discharged."
"Their parents got arrested?" Susie asked, "for child abuse?"
Kris shook their head slightly.
"...attempted murder," they whispered.
"A... at..."
Whoever stepped in, it was clear they had done so after it was already too late.
"...they poisoned them," Kris said, "...buttercups. tried to make it look like an accident. it didn't work. chara almost died. paralysis and... a bunch of other stuff. plus their physical injuries, they... chara spent their first years here on a wheelchair. they just started learning how to use crutches."
Susie bit down on her own hand, trying to stifle her sobs.
"Fuck... fuck, man..." she cried, "why...? why would someone do that...?"
Kris gave a noncommittal shrug, holding their head up with a hand, their fingers fiddling with their bangs.
"...their eyes, probably."
"Their... eyes?"
"...it's not that uncommon among monsters, but... red eyes are rare among humans. considered a bad omen to some. there are not many humans left already, and some people think red eyed humans bring... misfortune."
Susie had no idea about that. Humans were so rare nowadays outside of big cities and their own settlements, she didn't even know they could have red eyes until today.
"And... you don't think that?" she asked, before biting her own tongue, already regretting asking such a stupid question.
Kris turned slightly, looking up at her. Their hand was still holding their bangs in place, for the first time allowing her to get a glimpse at Kris's gaze:
A red eye, the same shade as Chara's, staring right at her.
"...who knows," they admitted, letting go of their bangs and letting the hair obscure their eye again.
"Oh."
Despite the circumstances and the newfound context, Susie couldn't help but think that Kris's eyes were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
"...they're getting better, though," Kris spoke up again, "...asriel's been a huge help. got attached to each other the moment they met. it's... it's hard, but... they're getting better, a bit, every day," they paused, licking their lips, "...they're happy now. safe."
"...I'm glad," Susie finally said.
"...so am i," Kris whispered. She could feel the love they had for all their siblings, not just Chara.
Sighing, Kris rested their head on Susie's shoulder.
The smell of their apple shampoo was overwhelming, but she was instead distracted by a glimpse of their left shoulder, now unobstructed by their hair.
Susie tentatively reached a claw over their shoulders, pulling down at their shirt's loose collar and exposing their shoulder.
"...susie...?" Kris stiffened under her touch, but Susie was too focused to notice.
The TV glow shone on the angry bruise on their shoulder, still red cuts from where her claws had scratched the skin when she lifted them up and slammed them against the locker yesterday.
"Damn, dude. Chara was right, this shit looks bad," Susie pointed out, "how the hell did you manage to convince your family you had just bumped your shoulder??"
"...s-susie..." they spoke up again and, under the light from the television illuminating their red face, Susie realized why: she had just pulled their shirt down, exposing their shoulder and collarbone — and she dared not think about what else she'd be exposing were their free hand not holding up the shirt — her claws dragging right on their bare skin.
"Shit, s-sorry!!" she removed her hand as if their shoulder were made of hot iron.
"...i-it's fine..." Kris stammered, quickly fixing their shirt again.
"A-and sorry about your shoulder..."
"...stop apologizing."
"Right..."
Carefully, awkwardly, Susie wrapped her arm around Kris's shoulders, mindful of their injury, but they winced anyway.
"Does... does it still hurt?"
"...yeah. a little bit."
"So—"
"—...don't."
"..."
She could feel her heart beating in her ears.
This was just casual contact. Between friends. It didn't mean anything. Hell, Kris hugged her yesterday when she panicked in the school's supply closet.
Why did this feel so different, then?
"..." Kris pulled her arm tighter around their body, snuggling closer to Susie, "...your scales feel cool..."
"H-heh, cold-blooded, remember?" she hated how her voice sounded after crying. "You're pretty warm yourself."
"...heh, that works out, then..." they chuckled. Kris sounded exhausted.
The TV droned on in the background, movie long forgotten.
"Is... is this fine...?" Susie asked, hyper conscious of the fact they were basically cuddling on the couch.
"...it's fine," they assured her.
"I know you're not big on the whole... 'people touching you' thing," she remembered, "kinda avoid it like the plague at school, actually..."
"..." she could feel their thumb running up and down the scales on her wrist. "...if it's... my family or... people i'm close to, then... i don't mind."
"I see..."
They sighed. "...this feels nice."
Her breathing stopped for a moment.
Were they close? Susie felt like Kris was the only person that actually got her. That truly saw her. But could she say the same about them? There was so much about the human she didn't know, and today only served to cement that fact. Though at times it felt like they shared the same braincell, at others she couldn't tell what they were thinking at all.
Susie didn't get Kris.
"Yeah. It's nice," she admitted, running a thumb over their forearm, feeling the raised bumps of their scars.
Kris said nothing else, limp against her side, an arm lazily wrapped around her waist.
And so she was left, alone with her thoughts and the light of the TV.
Kris looked actually peaceful, for once. Not "neutral", not stone-faced, just... peaceful, sleeping against her side. They looked...
...they looked beautiful.
'Fuck,' Susie thought, simply, before another thought overtook it: '...fuck it.'
Leaning to the side slightly and pressing her snout against their hair, Susie took a deep breath, letting the artificial smell of apples fill her nostrils.
It was intoxicating, how strong it was after a shower. It made her feel like...
She wished that...
"...are you sniffing my hair...?" Kris asked, groggily.
'Shit! Don't say you thought they were asleep, that's creepy as hell!!'
"...your damn shampoo is making me hangry..." she growled quietly.
'...much better.'
Kris snorted, adjusting themself so their head was resting more comfortably on Susie's shoulder, but otherwise said nothing.
Truthfully, it wasn't very comfortable. Susie was way too tense to relax, and it would have been better if they were actually lying down on the couch, but that would be taking it a step too far.
...it did feel nice, though.
Soon, Kris was snoring softly, passed out in her arm.
"...wait, are you actually asleep now?" she whispered, but Kris didn't even stir.
She was truly alone now.
...but she wasn't, was she?
Kris was there.
If she didn't fuck this up like she always did, they would keep being there.
She...
Kris...
Kris was brave. They feared almost nothing, not even her. They were weird and almost mute, yeah, but they still managed to make her smile every time they talked, and even when they didn't. They might seem aloof and distant from everything, but Susie had seen how deeply they cared about those who were close to them. They lived in their own world, but they still reached out to her, the girl who had been tormenting her for her entire stay in Hometown solely because she had been scared.
Kris was all of that. Kris was a mystery. Kris was a lot of things she had yet to know. Kris was beautiful. Kris was a riddle. Kris was...
'...fuck. I have a crush on this goddamn idiot, don't I...?'
That was the last conscious thought Susie had before falling asleep herself.
Susie awoke with a startle, almost falling to the floor as Kris disentangled themself from her and shook her shoulder.
"Wuh...?" she blinked awake, confused, the TV tuned to static burning her eyes, the programming having long ended, "...what time is it...?"
Kris checked their phone.
"...three in the morning..."
"...alright," Susie rubbed her eyes tiredly, slumping back on the couch, "...why the fuck did you wake me up at three in the morning??"
"...shh...!" they held up a finger to her snout, "...something's up."
"...what?" she asked, incredulous.
"...i hear crutches," they explained, "...chara's coming down."
"..." Susie didn't believe them, but she stayed silent anyway. Sure enough, after a moment she was able to hear the soft clicking of crutches slowly coming down the stairs. "...dude, you must be the lightest sleeper I've ever met."
"...mhm," Kris agreed half-heartedly.
Soon, the clicking came closer until, suddenly, it stopped, right before entering the living room. Then, rather than Chara, Asriel came in, looking tense.
"...Kris?" the boy asked in a small voice.
"...what's up, asriel?"
Asriel refused to look at them, instead staring at the floor, paws fiddling with his tail. "...I, uh, had a nightmare..."
"...yeah?"
He nodded, still not looking up at Kris. "...can we– I sleep with you tonight...?"
Kris sighed. "...you know there's not enough space in the couch for everyone."
Asriel looked up, slightly panicked, but before he could say anything, Kris continued:
"...go grab some pillows and some blankets upstairs. we'll sleep on the floor," they told him, "...and grab your siblings when you're done too. both of them."
Their brother lit up immediately, running up to Kris and wrapping them in a hug. "...you're the best, Kris!" he said with a smile.
"...yeah, yeah, i know..." they smiled back, hurrying him a long, "...be careful, alright?"
"...I will!" he said before taking off.
Susie watched the whole scene with a smile. Sure, she was kinda miffed at being woken at three in the morning, but she couldn't really be mad at Kris for being a good big sibling.
"...heh, looks l—"
Kris put their hand up again, cutting her off. They weren't smiling anymore.
"...come on, chara...!" they called out.
There was no response from the hallway.
"...i know you're there," they insisted, "...i heard your crutches."
And so, with no more excuses, Chara emerged from the hallway, walking slowly towards them, head down and bangs bathing their face in shadow much like Kris's did.
With a heavy sigh, Kris leaned forward and picked them up with ease, bringing them to their lap and setting the crutches aside.
Chara clung tightly to Kris's shirt, face buried in their chest.
"...was it about them again?" Kris asked, gently.
Chara nodded.
"...wanna talk about it it?"
They shook their head, gripping their shirt even tighter.
"...that bad, huh?"
The kid nodded again, trembling as they began quietly sobbing into their sibling's shirt.
"...oh, baby..." Kris cooed, hugging them tightly against themself and rubbing circles on the child's back. "...it's fine now..." they promised, pressing a kiss on the top of Chara's head.
Chara cried, their whole body shaking as they wailed, doing their best to not wake the whole house up.
Susie's heart hurt. Of course Asriel would pretend he was the one having a nightmare. Chara probably never had anyone to go to when they had a bad dream before being taken in by the Dreemurrs.
She knew how much that hurt.
As Asriel returned, a pile of blankets and pillows and plushies on his hands, he was surprised to see Chara in the living room, but his expression softened once he saw them crying in Kris's arms.
Dropping the pile of fluffiness on the floor, he grabbed a plushie from the hoard and walked over to Chara, carrying it like it was his most prized possession.
"...here," Asriel patted their back, offering them a ratty looking cat-thing, "...I brought Seam...!"
Chara grabbed the plushie without even looking, holding it close to their chest like a lifeline.
"...I... I'll go get Frisk...!" he said, announcing the next step of their mission.
"...don't wake them up, okay?" Kris instructed.
"...I won't...!" and he ran off again, his paws barely making any sound against the wooden floor.
Chara was still crying, curled up on Kris's lap, sniffling, but no longer sobbing, the plushie their brother gave him seemingly calming them down.
"Th-they're gonna get me a-again...!" Chara cried, somehow looking even smaller than they already were.
"...they won't," Kris whispered, their face buried in the child's hair.
"They w-will!!" they insisted, beginning to cry harder, "they'll take me a-away...!"
"...they won't, baby," their older sibling assured them, fingers running through their hair.
"P-please don't let them, K-Kris...!" Chara sobbed, trembling, "please don't let them get me-e...!!"
"...i won't," Kris said, "...i'm here, chara. mom's here. asriel's here. even frisk... you're family. no one is taking you away."
"...p-promise me...?" they asked in the smallest voice Susie had ever heard.
"...i promise," they kissed the child's head, "...you're safe now, chara. forever."
Chara finally quieted down, even though they were still crying, them holding on tightly to the plushie and Kris holding on tightly to them.
"...can you set up the things on the floor?" Kris asked her, looking away from their sibling for only a heartbeat.
From the peek she got at their eyes, she could tell they were just about to fall asleep as well.
"...yeah, of course, dude."
Susie kneeled on the floor, occasionally stealing glances at Kris as she built a nest of pillows and blankets, watching as Kris rocked Chara, occasionally shushing and giving them little pecks.
"...hey, check this out," she showed off her newly built nest, "...pretty sweet, huh?"
"...a bit big?" Kris commented with a half smirk.
"...eh, room enough for five, right?"
"...susie, you can take the couch," they said, their smirk falling, "...you're a guest."
"...nahhh. This way feels more like a proper sleepover," she said, "...if my back hurts in the morning, that's a problem for future Susie, heh."
Kris snorted silently. "...suit yourself."
Susie grinned, lying down on her side and looking up at Kris, their features softly illuminated by the TV. Their eyes, red and framed by dark circles, looked down at Chara with a softness she had never seen them show anyone.
"...did they fall asleep?" Susie asked.
"...yeah," they confirmed, slowly getting up and sitting down on the floor, careful not to stir the kid awake.
Unlike before, Kris sat on the opposite side of the makeshift bed to Susie, lying down carefully while holding Chara up to their chest, letting them lie with their head on their shoulder, one hand holding on to Seam and the other gripping Kris's shirt, even in their sleep.
Asriel came along not too long after, walking slowly as to not wake Frisk up, the toddler slumbering peacefully in his arms.
Kris stretched out their free arm and he lied down next to them, opposite to Chara, letting Frisk curl up on Kris stomach.
The teenager was absolutely buried under their little siblings.
No one said a word, and she could tell that Asriel fell asleep soon after, arm draped over Kris and holding Chara's hand.
Susie smiled at the sight, until the moment she caught Kris staring right back at her.
They smiled back.
'Man... I... this is how stuff is around here, huh?' she thought, 'I guess... we're gonna hang out a lot more now, right? Since... since we have the group project and junk, I guess I'm gonna be coming over a lot too...'
She looked at the sleeping faces of Frisk, Chara and Asriel, then at Kris, still staring.
Still smiling.
A red eye peeked from under their bangs, piercing into her.
Their arm, pinned under their brother, didn't move, but they did form a fist with their hand.
'...maybe it won't be so bad, after all...'
She softly bumped their fist.
"...goodnight, suz."
Susie exhaled through her nostrils, smiling.
"...night, freak."