Chapter Text
The morning of the festival was poetically perfect. The storm from the night before had given way to clear blue skies, peppered with occasional fluffy, white, rainless clouds. A soft breeze whispered through the town, perfectly curated to create the ideal weather, that temperature that was just warm enough to let you eat ice cream and get splashed with cold water without becoming uncomfortable. It was one of those days that felt ripped straight from another season, like the last dying gasps of summer before the leaves finally started falling.
The cheerfulness of it all made Susie sick. It felt like the Earth itself was mocking her. Life goes on, the breeze seemed to whisper. She hated it. Hated that everyone else got to be happy when she knew what was coming. It was unreasonable, she knew. But she hated it. Hated stepping out onto the sidewalk and seeing people pass by, happily, when she couldn’t be. She had been so… excited for the festival. It felt embarrassing to admit now, when the true scale of what they were facing had been thrown at her. Did she even want to go anymore?
But she had to, because she’d promised she’d tell Ralsei all about it. And she thought about Kris and Noelle, and getting to just… spend a day with her friends. No fighting demons, no vague prophecies, just her and the people whose company she actually enjoyed. Because as much as she enjoyed her adventures in the Dark World, as much as she wouldn’t trade Castle Town or the people there for the world, maybe… maybe just this once, she could afford to take a break.
She could see the festival set-up in the distance, the ferris wheel poking up over the short buildings of the town. It wasn’t quite as big as the one she and Noelle had ridden in Cyber City, but she couldn’t exactly expect anything to live up to that. It was still a ferris wheel, right? One that maybe Noelle would want to ride with her. Purely platonically. As… friends?
Were they friends? Her and Noelle? She liked to think they were, but she really wasn’t sure where they stood. They’d only really hung out once, and that hadn’t exactly ended in the best possible way. She’d probably completely fucked it up actually, any chance she’d had at actually being friends with Noelle for real. Noelle’s mom was a total asshole, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt the guilt creep in for antagonizing her. It hadn’t done anything except put Noelle in a worse position than she’d already been. It was just a mess.
Susie shook her head, trying to pull herself together. She was trying to take a break today. Just spend the day with her Lightner friends and enjoy the festival. And then she could go to Castle Town with Kris, and they could tell Ralsei and Lancer about the festival. Maybe she could bring them some cotton candy or something. And with everyone out for the festival, she could also ask around and see if anyone wanted Tenna! Of course, it was up to Kris in the end, but she could at least help out. Narrow down the list.
She crossed the street by the library, pointedly keeping her eyes away from the police station. Officer Undyne was tough. She’d be fine. Right? She gritted her teeth, suddenly feeling doubtful about the whole thing. Could she really afford to waste a day at the festival like this? When every second she spent in the Light World was time that the knight could be hurting Officer Undyne, or creating a new Dark World, or summoning new Titans.
But she had promised Noelle she’d take her. She’d promised Kris they’d go. This whole thing was the fucking worst. Usually the Dark Worlds just showed up, so did it even matter? Did she just have to wait for the stupid Knight to make another move?
Maybe she could ask Tenna about it all. After all, he’d worked a lot more closely with the Knight than the rulers of the other Dark Worlds had. So maybe he knew? But it wouldn’t be fair to ask him. He’d almost died, and now he was just… wasting away in Castle Town. She couldn’t just go interrogate him.
The pavement beneath her feet gave way to gravel and she looked up to find herself face to face with Kris’s house. It, too, looked too cheerful. She wondered if Kris felt the same way, waking up to the sunlight streaming down onto their face. If they sat up in bed in a room that was too bright, trying to listen for the rain that should still be there.
She reached up to knock, her fist pausing inches from the door. The image from the night before flashed, unbidden, through her mind. Toriel and that guy from the convenience store, just dancing and drinking like nothing was wrong. Like everything was somehow okay when it just wasn’t. It warped and twisted in her mind, Toriel with a mug of hot chocolate and Toriel with a glass of wine. It made her feel wrong, even though she knew she had no right to. Toriel wasn’t her mom. She barely knew her at all.
Gritting her teeth to force the image back, Susie finally finished her action and knocked heavily on the door. After a moment, she heard shuffling behind it, then the click of the doorknob turning.
Toriel opened the door, looking a little tired but otherwise normal. Must’ve stayed up past her bedtime, Susie thought, with a bitterness that she knew was unwarranted but couldn’t fight back anyway.
“Snoozy!” Toriel greeted brightly, and Susie still couldn’t muster the will to be irritated by the nickname, despite how overused it was obviously getting.
“Hey,” she said gruffly.
“Are you looking for Kris?” Toriel asked.
“Y-yeah!” Susie confirmed quickly. “We were gonna go to the festival together.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Toriel ushered her inside, closing the door behind her. “I’m so glad Kris has a friend like you, you know. Someone to go out and spend time with. They’ve been so reserved since Asriel left.”
“No problem?” Susie said awkwardly. Toriel kept giving her the same spiel, reworded but always the same sentiment. As if she was afraid that if she didn’t keep saying it, Susie would somehow just vanish from Kris’s life. Which was bullshit. As if she’d let something like that happen.
“They’re still in their room. Fast asleep, I’d guess. They like to sleep in on the weekends,” Toriel said, laughing to herself slightly. “They’d sleep through the whole day if I let them!”
“Haha. Yeah…” Susie grimaced, wracking her brain for some better responses. She kept being so weird. It wasn’t helping her case at all.
“I can go wake them, if you’d like?” Toriel offered. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you!”
“N-no!” Susie said, far too quickly. “No, that’s fine, I’ll just…” A floorboard creaked in the direction of the kitchen and Susie whirled around as if expecting to find an enemy had somehow made its way out of the Dark World and into the house. It was not, in fact, that.
“Ah, Kris!” Toriel greeted warmly. “Good morning!” She glanced up at the clock above the door, chuckling to herself. “Or should I say, good afternoon!” Kris didn’t respond, just remained standing where they were at the bottom of the stairs, watching the two of them from under their bangs. “Oh, Kris, did you see your friend Susie came to visit again?”
“Hey, man,” Susie greeted. Kris’s mouth quirked up, just slightly, into a small smile, and they quietly returned her greeting.
“Susie tells me you two will be attending the festival together!” Toriel continued. She stepped over to Kris, giving them a quick hug. “You be safe, alright? Make sure to stay together!”
“Like that’ll be hard,” Susie snorted. “Come on, Kris, let’s get out of here before we miss it!” Toriel laughed at that and released Kris.
“You two have fun,” she told them. “I expect to hear all about your adventures when you return!”
“Uh… yeah. Sure,” Susie said awkwardly. “Bye, Toriel.”
“Goodbye, Snoozy! Haha!”
The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Kris’s shoulders slumped slightly in what seemed like relief. Susie bit her lip, glancing back at the house, where it sounded like Toriel had turned the gramophone back on. Thankfully, it wasn’t the same song as last night. Susie wasn’t sure she could stomach it. Even so, as they began walking back towards the town, she couldn’t help but notice that both of their paces were a bit quicker than normal.
“Hey, wait!” she blurted, replaying the way Kris had left their house. “Did you even have breakfast or anything?” Kris shrugged uselessly. Susie rolled her eyes, digging into her pocket for anything she might have on hand. Her search yielded nothing but an old receipt she had picked off the ground somewhere. She offered it to Kris anyway. They looked her directly in the eyes, a small gap in their bangs exposing their challenging gaze. The receipt was snatched out of her hand and crammed into Kris’s mouth. They began chewing it slowly, never once breaking eye contact. Susie let out a loud, rough laugh, holding her hand to her head.
“Damn! Guess you were hungry!” She checked her pocket, having immediately forgotten she had nothing else as soon as she took out the receipt. “Hey, wait, don’t eat the whole thing, I didn’t have breakfast either!” She lunged forward, reaching out to pry Kris’s mouth open only for them to immediately swallow the receipt. “DAMN IT!” Kris smirked up at her and she released them. “I’m never giving you anything again,” she muttered.
Kris began walking again and Susie stumbled after them, still jokingly grumbling about her lost receipt. At first, Susie thought that maybe the strange feeling she had gotten from them initially had just been that they were tired, or hungry, or some combination of the two. But as they walked, Kris’s smile seemed to fade more quickly than she was used to. They had this odd gait, as if their feet were weighed down slightly, and they had their shoulders hunched in slightly. Careful. Guarded. They just looked… off.
“Hey, man, are you… okay?” Susie asked, finally. Kris turned towards her curiously. “Just… yesterday was… a lot,” she forced out. Kris pursed their lips, as if they wanted to say something but couldn’t figure out what. “You… thinking about the Titan?” Are you thinking about what happened with your mom? She wanted to ask and she didn’t. Somehow, the end of the world was a far easier conversation topic than whatever was going on with Kris’s parents. It was cleaner. There was a villain and there were heroes and everyone knew where they stood. But she had seen the way Kris tensed up when they entered their house.
“Hey, y’know what, forget it,” Susie said quickly. “Let’s just… have fun today, okay?” Kris paused for a moment, wringing their hands together. Susie almost reached out to poke them, uncertain if they’d even heard her, when they finally turned to look at her. They were smiling again now, a real, though tired, one. They gave her a thumbs up, announcing their intention to use their new, Dark World target practice to beat the carnival games.
“Yeah!” Susie agreed. “That’s the spirit! Let’s go fuck this carnival UP!” She took off again, her step instantly feeling much lighter. She heard Kris snickering behind her as they ran to catch back up.
It wasn’t long before they passed the roadblocks set up around the festival to keep people from driving through it. It was one of those full-town things, the kind where you didn’t need tickets to show up and could just wander around doing whatever. A couple rickety rides that looked like they’d been constructed in someone’s basement, classic stalls with rigged carnival games, the pervasive smell of cheap hot dogs and overpriced fried dough, and the soft hum of chatter in every direction.
It was the kind of thing Ralsei would enjoy. He’d say the quaintness of it was what gave it its “charm.” Or that it wasn’t about the festival but about who you went to the festival with. Susie glanced down at Kris, who was already eyeing up some kind of shooting game, one of the ones where you spray boards down with a water gun that had an intentionally low pressure. She was glad she was here with them. She still couldn’t help but feel like it was incomplete. They were a trio. Ralsei should be here.
“C’mon, Kris!” Susie declared, shaking off the dreary feeling. She’d tell Ralsei all about it when they went back to Castle Town. She’d figure something out. There was no chance he was missing out on everything. But first… “Let’s see if we can find Noelle!” She ran her hands through her hair, embarrassed for literally no reason. “I- uh- I asked her to go to the festival with me… so…” Kris gave her a double thumbs up, smiling a strange little smile. It seemed normal, but there was just something off about it. It was too strained at the edges, too wobbly as they tried to hold it. It faded down too quickly.
“Hey, are you… sure you’re okay?” Susie asked. “Y’know, we don’t have to… do this, if you don’t wanna. We could just go hang out at the river or something. Or go back to Castle Town. I can sneak us in!” Kris frowned, shaking their head. She had been excited for the festival, they reminded her. And so had they. They were just tired from the day before.
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s… Okay!” Susie said, shaking off the uneasiness. “Yeah, we deserve a break, right?” Kris nodded eagerly, and this time their smile seemed far more real. “Alright!” She grabbed their arm, fully committed, and dove headfirst into the carnival, their muffled giggles following after her.
In much the same manner as their quests in the Dark World usually went, their quest to locate Noelle was quickly derailed by several other, smaller, sidequests. True to their word, Kris managed to score a perfect round in the shooting booth, securing a balloon shaped like a flower with a weird face on it. The balloon was lost moments later when Susie failed at the exact same game so badly that she tripped backwards and knocked Kris to the ground.
They rode the massive boat swing and tried to use the momentum of their bodies to flip it all the way around the pole, only succeeding in instantly exhausting themselves and having to lie on a bench for several minutes to recover. They managed to cram themselves into a single chair on the swing circle ride, and when it took off Kris nearly went flying, resulting in Susie desperately clinging to their arms as they whipped around for way too long. Kris haggled with the corn-dog guy and got them free access to the waste bin where the burnt corndogs ended up. They managed to grab at least thirty thanks to Kris fashioning Susie’s jacket into a makeshift sling to increase their carrying capacity. The corndogs quickly made up for their lack of breakfast, as did a particularly lucky strike of nearly a whole slice of pizza that some kid had dropped.
All the while, Susie kept her eye out for a familiar head of blonde hair. That was the goal after all. She loved spending time with Kris, but… she had promised Noelle they’d go to the festival together. They were… going to ride that ferris wheel. Like in the Dark World, except this time she didn’t have to pretend it all just didn’t happen. And as an entire hour passed without even spotting her once, Susie started getting nervous. Had Noelle bailed? Had the whole thing yesterday changed her mind? The festival wasn’t that big, surely they would’ve managed to meet up with her by now? Susie couldn’t just go back to her house after all, that old witch wouldn’t let her get past the gate!
“Hey, Kris?” she asked eventually, swallowing another corndog whole. “You think maybe… Noelle bailed after all?” Kris frowned, glancing down at the floor uncertainly. After a moment, they shrugged apologetically. “Right, yeah, why would… you know.” She let out a heavy sigh and ate the stick the corndog had come on dejectedly. Kris watched her worriedly and she shot them her best approximation of a reassuring smile. “Just gotta keep looking I gu-”
“YOU!” Any and all enjoyment Susie had managed to claw out of hanging out with Kris was drained away in an instant, replaced with sheer, blinding, unholy irritation. “How could you do this!?”
“Fuck off!” Susie groaned. She suddenly wished she hadn’t eaten the corndog stick, because she sure would’ve liked to be holding something throwable at that moment.
“Now, now, Susie,” Berdly said, smoothing back the feathers on top of his head. “No need to get hostile! I understand your feelings, but playing hard to get won’t get you anywhere.”
“You know- You- huh?” Susie stumbled out, utterly baffled.
“There’s no need to pretend, Susie!” Berdly said. “I see right through you!” Kris snickered into the sleeve of their hoodie and Susie smacked them upside the head.
“Are you seriou- No, y’know what, nope,” Susie said. “Why can’t you just go be weird over there or something? We’re busy.”
“Suuuuureeee,” Berdly said slowly, beak twisting into that stupid smirk that made Susie want to strangle the life out of him. “Not that it matters! No matter what feelings you may harbor for me, I simply can’t accept such duplicitous acts! I’m a man of integrity, you see!”
“What the fuck are you talking about, dude?” Susie asked desperately. Kris crossed their arms, their mouth pulled tight into a displeased line.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Susie!” Berdly hissed, jabbing a wing towards her. “I heard all about what you did! Getting poor Noelle in trouble just so you could have me all to yourself! I’ll be honest, I never thought you would stoop to such a level! And after I so graciously invited you as well!” Susie was moments away from grabbing him and seeing if that backbreaker move she’d seen in Dragon Blazers 2 actually worked in real life when what he’d said actually registered.
“Noelle? Wait, what happened to Noelle!?”
“You don’t need to lie to me, Susie!” Berdly continued. “I know you went to Noelle’s house yesterday to try and sabotage us!”
“To- WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?”
“Poor Noelle. My glorious damsel, locked away in her tower. All alone and afraid.”
“He’s not even fucking listening,” Susie groaned. Kris nodded sagely. “HEY, DUMBASS, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?” She grabbed Berdly by the shoulders and spun him back around. He squawked in surprise, staring up at Susie nervously.
“C-come on now, Susie. You can just admit it. You don’t have to lie to me.” He let out a long, dramatic sigh. “I know you got Noelle grounded so you could have me all to yourself today.” Susie froze where she was, her claws digging into Berdly’s shoulders as the situation fully registered.
“She’s… grounded?” she breathed.
“Yes!” Berdly snapped. “And now, thanks to your master plan, my poor Noelle is wasting away and missing the entire festival!” He glanced past her, presumably looking for an exit, only to find Kris instead. “DON’T LAUGH AT ME, YOU TROGLODYTE.”
“Shit.” Susie shoved Berdly aside and left him to stumble back to stability. She turned back to Kris, who stopped laughing at Berdly once they caught sight of her face. “Shit, Kris, this is all my fault.” Kris shook their head, but they did so uncertainly and remained silent otherwise. “I just- I didn’t like her mom treating her like that! The guitar thing wasn’t her fault! But, like, I didn’t know it was gonna be a big thing either! She told me to play it!” She smacked herself on the side of her head, burying her fingers in her hair. “Damn it. She’s gonna miss the whole festival. She was… really looking forward to this…”
“Erm, Susie-”
“SHUT UP!” Berdly quailed slightly at the shout, but didn’t skitter away like she’d hoped he would.
“I just want you to know that you owe poor Noelle an apology,” he huffed.
“I don’t wanna hear this shit from you,” Susie growled. “C’mon, Kris. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Kris nodded harshly, once, and began marching away from Berdly with Susie at their side.
“Pretending now won’t do you any good!” Berdly called after them. “The truth of the crime always comes to light!” Susie ground her teeth together but managed to resist the urge to yell back at him. Kris turned around just long enough to toss a middle finger over their shoulder as they left.
“Damn it,” Susie hissed, slumping against a tree on the outskirts of the festival. Kris leaned against it beside her. “I knew her mom was mad, but I didn’t think… shit.” Kris sighed softly, offering no insight. “Y’know, Kris, it’s… really stupid, but I was really looking forward to this. Hanging out with you and Noelle today and just forgetting about all that other stuff.” She ran a hand through her hair to push it up out of her eyes. “I should’ve known I was gonna find a way to fuck that up too.” Kris didn’t respond. She didn’t expect them to.
She felt weight on her arm and looked down to find Kris’s hand resting there. It wasn’t her fault, they assured her, more confidently this time. It still felt like bullshit. Because Kris was her friend and that’s what friends are supposed to say.
“Damn I’m… really being a downer today, aren’t I?” Susie huffed. Kris shrugged and reached into her jacket, currently across her body like a sling, and pulled out another corndog. They downed it in a single bite and reached for another. Susie hugged the jacket towards her body, shielding it from their filthy hands. “Hey, watch it! These are for the guys back in Castle Town! We can’t just go back empty-handed!” Kris pouted up at her but let their hands drop down to their sides. Cautiously, Susie released her defensive hold on the corndogs.
She stared down at them wistfully. This whole thing had gone completely sideways. She’d just wanted to have some fun with her friends, spend the festival with the people that actually seemed to give a shit. But Ralsei and Lancer couldn’t come to the Light World, and now even Noelle couldn’t be here. Because her stupid mom had gone and grounded her. For something that wasn’t even her damn fault! None of that would’ve happened if Susie and Kris hadn’t been snooping for that code!
She owed it to Noelle to make it up to her somehow. Maybe she could save her a corndog and pass it to her in class tomorrow? Or maybe she could win a stuffed animal at one of the booths or something? That was a thing people did, right? Maybe they could somehow get Berdly to do the dunking booth and get some pictures for her? Susie knew she’d appreciate it if someone dunked Berdly on her behalf.
Shit, who was she kidding? None of that was going to make up for the fact that Noelle was going to miss the festival completely. Because of her. She wasn’t going to get to dunk Berdly herself, or wait in line for an hour just to get a lemonade, or ride that stupid ferris wheel. She was gonna miss out on everything. Unless… unless…
“Kris!” Susie shouted, grabbing them and shaking them violently to get their attention. “Kris, I’ve got it!” Kris stumbled back as they tried to recover from the equivalent of sitting on a juiced-up jackhammer. “We have to go bust her out!” Kris frowned and requested elaboration. “Y’know! Like, jailbreak! You can help me climb the fence and then we can throw her a rope or something and we can all go to the festival!”
Kris rubbed their wrist uncertainly. They shot a glance over their shoulder, as if they expected Noelle’s freaky mom to be right behind them listening in. Susie felt a momentary pang of fear that they wouldn’t want to help her, but she barrelled on. Since when was Kris the kinda guy to pass up an opportunity to do some random stupid shit?
“C’mon, man! It’ll be just like that stuff in the Dark World. Except in the Light World! Like that time we busted her out of Queen’s castle!” Kris pursed their lips, still looking as if they were on the fence about the whole thing. “What?” Susie joked, punching them in the shoulder. “You scared or something?” Kris let out an affronted gasp and attempted to punch Susie back. Susie caught them by grabbing their entire face with her hand and holding them at arms length. They struggled half-heartedly, failing to hide their muffled laughter. “Come on!”
Kris grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her hand down to free themself. They smiled up at her, a mixture of fondness and lingering worry. She didn’t get it. Was it because they were scared of Noelle’s mom? Sure, she was the mayor, but that was just a symbolic position, wasn’t it? Besides, they’d fought a King and a Queen. What could a mayor do to them? Maybe they just didn’t think they could climb the fence, which was stupid, because Susie had climbed loads of fences and the one around Noelle’s house looked like a piece of cake.
“Look,” Susie said. “I just… I don’t want Noelle to miss the whole festival ‘cause of me, y’know?” Kris bit their lip. One hand slipped into the pocket of their pants, as if checking that something was still there. They stood like that for a moment, the two of them, just looking at each other uncertainly.
And then, finally, Kris nodded.
“Let’s fucking GO!” Susie shouted, yanking Kris into an affectionate headlock. “Look out, mayor-face, cause here we come!”
The two booked it across town, the streets blessedly empty thanks to most people attending the festival. They found their way to Noelle’s home, where the gate was, as expected, locked and entirely impenetrable. Kris suggested attempting to distract Carol while Susie tried to sneak around back, but in the end, they decided that doing so would only serve to draw more attention to things, especially considering how inseparable Kris and Susie had been for the past few days, so that plan was quickly thrown out. Also, Susie just really didn’t wanna leave Kris alone with that weird lady.
Eventually, they skirted around the back of Noelle’s house and into the woods on the other side. The fence was closer to the house than Susie had thought it would be. It seemed like the kind of house that should have a massive backyard, but there was barely anything. Though, she supposed that the whole forest kinda counted as their backyard, if you ignored the fence.
After some debate and a few (beautiful) sketches drawn in the dirt with sticks, Susie’s initial “build a catapult out of the trees and fling me into Noelle’s window” plan was scrapped for the slightly more reasonable “climb that tree near the fence and just hop down. Kris secured them some rope from… somewhere. When she asked, they just gave her that mysterious smile of theirs until she gave up. Not that it mattered where the rope sourced from as long as it got the job done.
Kris went first, carefully climbing out along a long branch and tying the rope to a point just past the fence. The branch shifted a little under their weight, but it seemed just strong enough to hold one of them at a time. Kris slid down the rope and waved for Susie to follow them. She crawled out onto the branch just as they had, the limb creaking a little more under her greater weight. She considered using the rope the way Kris had, then decided she didn’t care and just jumped down next to them. Her legs stung with the impact. She ignored it because there was no way she was going to admit that Kris had been right about the rope.
“Which one is it?” Susie whispered, staring up at the house in front of them. Kris pointed silently at the window on the far right. “Oh! Right. I- uh- I knew that.” Kris shot her a look, but they didn’t laugh. Not like they usually would. Susie pulled her gaze away from them before she lost her nerve. “Okay. Guess I just gotta… climb up, then!” She flexed her fingers experimentally. “Heh. Good thing I got all that practice on the tower yesterday! This is gonna be easy!”
She crept over to the house, looking up at Noelle’s window. From where she was, she could definitely see a path up. Part of the house stuck out under Noelle’s window, like a second, smaller, house. Why it was there, Susie wasn’t particularly concerned. A basement entrance, maybe? Or some kind of side-storage? Whatever it was didn’t matter, because it had its own mini-roof, and that mini-roof provided the perfect place for Susie to stand and talk to Noelle.
She attempted to grab ahold of the ledge of a nearby window, hoping to use that to climb onto the smaller roof. She couldn’t reach it from where she was standing, so she stepped back and leapt for it. Her fingers grazed the sill, but she didn’t get enough height to wrap them around it and hold on. She tried again, to similar results.
“Shit,” she hissed. A quick search of the area around them revealed no objects she could feasibly use as a stool. Maybe she could throw the rope and hook it onto one of the random decorations peppering Noelle’s roof. Kris seemed like the type to know how to tie a lasso, but when she asked them, they just shrugged helplessly.
“We gotta find something. We’re here already, it’d be a waste to give up!” Kris nodded, tapping their finger on their chin contemplatively. “You look like a nerd,” Susie informed them. They stuck their tongue out at her and informed her that they had in fact thought of an idea, but they wouldn’t tell her if she kept being rude. “Hey!” she yelped, grabbing them by the arms. “Don’t hold out on me, man! Spit it out!”
Kris snickered to themself and quickly extricated themself from her grip. They raised an eyebrow, crossing their arms and tapping their foot impatiently. Susie groaned.
“Fine. I take it back, you’re not a nerd.” Kris’s smile brightened and they waved her over. They pressed their hands against the house, bending over slightly. “Huh? What the fuck are you doing?” Kris rolled their eyes. After a moment of Susie still not getting it, they explained that Susie could just use their shoulders as an in-between step to grab the sill. They declared it their “Stool Forme K.” It was only fair, they informed her, seeing as Ralsei and Lancer both had one.
“Uhh… No offense, dude, but are you gonna be able to hold me up?” They reminded her that they’d done it yesterday. “Well, yeah, but this is different? Right? Different… weight… distribution or something?” She had no idea what she was saying anymore. Kris didn’t laugh at her though, so she must’ve gotten it right. That or Kris didn’t actually know either. They still didn’t move.
“Fine, then,” Susie said. She cracked her knuckles, shooting them a quick smirk. “It’s your funeral.” With that, she stepped up onto Kris’s back.
To her surprise, they actually did manage to hold her up. She could feel them shaking under her from the strain, but they were actually staying pretty steady. She let out an impressed hum. Then she remembered that the longer she stayed there, the more likely it was that Kris would actually collapse under her weight, and grabbed onto the window sill. With Kris’s added height, pulling herself up onto the sill was light work. From there, it was as simple as a bit of a shimmy and a single step to get up onto the roof under Noelle’s window.
“Nice going, dude!” she called, shooting Kris a thumbs up. They straightened and returned the gesture with a proud grin. They jerked their thumb towards Noelle’s window and whispered for her to hurry. Susie gave them a quick salute before creeping her way along the roof to reach Noelle’s window.
The curtains to Noelle’s room were only partially drawn, allowing Susie a look inside. It was just like how she remembered it from yesterday, the window looking down over a long pink couch, the desk in the corner, the big monitor right across from her. And the bed in the corner, where she could just make out the shape of a person.
Noelle was sitting on the edge of her bed, hunched over such that her hair hung in front of her face and obscured her expression. She was fiddling with her hands awkwardly. She looked… really bad. Susie gritted her teeth, trying to ignore how guilty the picture made her feel. It was fine. They were gonna bust her out and she was going to that festival. Speaking of which…
Susie reached up and, as lightly as she could while still being noticeable, began tapping the glass of Noelle’s window. At first, Noelle didn’t seem to notice. Then her ears perked up and she glanced toward the window uncertainly, as if expecting it to just be a bird or something. She stood up and made her way closer, pulling the curtains fully aside. Her eyes landed on Susie and went wide as saucers. Susie stopped knocking in favor of a friendly wave.
She didn’t hear it, but she saw Noelle let out a surprise shriek and stumble back. She tripped over her own feet and fell onto the floor and out of Susie’s line of sight. Susie pressed her face up against the glass, trying to see inside and make sure that Noelle was okay. A few moments later, Noelle’s head poked back up nervously. She looked up at Susie, completely baffled. Susie gestured at the closed window.
“S-S-S-SUSIE!?” Noelle yelped as she pushed the window open. “What are you doing here!?”
“Me ‘n Kris are doin’ a jailbreak!” Susie informed her.
“You’re- You- Kris!?” Noelle poked her head out of the window, looking down at the ground where Kris was still watching. They waved at her and she awkwardly waved back. “How did you get here!?”
“Tree,” Susie informed her, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the still dangling rope.
“O-oh?” Noelle said.
“So, you ready or what?”
“Huh? Ready for… what?” Noelle asked. Susie sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.
“I, uh… I heard what happened. How your mom grounded you and stuff. I’m… really sorry about that,” she said quietly. Noelle’s eyes widened, her cheeks reddening slightly.
“Oh, n-no, it’s…” She swallowed, steadying herself. “It’s fine, Susie. It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have…” She shook her head. “I should’ve known better.”
“Hey, hey, wait, no! No, it’s not your fault either!” Susie said quickly. “You didn’t do anything wrong!” Noelle frowned, turning away to look at the floor of her room instead of at Susie.
“I… appreciate you saying that, Susie, but… It’s hard to explain, but it was my fault, okay?” She smiled, weak and wobbly.
“Hey, man, don’t let your mom get to you!”
“She’s trying her best,” Noelle said. “I know she can seem… cold, I guess. But it’s just because she really cares.”
“I don’t know about that,” Susie muttered.
“Wh-what did you say?” Noelle asked.
“Nothing! Nothing, just… yeah. I’m still sorry. It sucks. That you’re grounded and all.” Her claws tapped against the windowsill nervously in a pitiful attempt at filling the silence.
“It’s okay,” Noelle said. “There’ll be other festivals, right?” Susie tried not to visibly wince at how distraught she sounded.
“Look, me and Kris got this whole escape plan!” she said. “We can get you out and bring you back without your mom even noticing! You can still… go to the festival… with m- with us.” She ran her hands through her hair, trying to pull it down to hide the embarrassed flush to her face. Why was she embarrassed about this again? She did stupid bullshit like this all the time.
“What!?” Noelle squeaked.
“Well, you’re unfairly imprisoned, yeah?” Susie said. “So we figured we’d… bust you out.” Noelle glanced down at Kris, then back up at Susie. Her face was unreadable, too many emotions flashing by too quickly for Susie to register any single one of them. “We just didn’t want you to miss out, y’know?” Noelle’s face turned another shade redder.
“Y-you climbed my house…?”
“Uh. Yeah. Don’t worry, though, it’s totally climb…able?” Susie assured her.
“All because you didn’t want me to miss out on the festival?” she continued, quieter this time.
“Well, obviously!” Susie said. “We- We said we’d go together, didn’t we?” Noelle let out a little gasp of surprise, her flickering eyes finally fully settling back on Susie’s face. She placed her hands on the windowsill so she could lean out a little further, as if she was trying to get a better angle to stare into Susie’s soul. Like she was looking for the answer to some question she didn’t know how to ask out loud. Susie met her gaze, hoping she could somehow answer it anyway.
There was something about the way Noelle looked at her. Like she hadn’t just hung the moon and stars but had made them herself, as if the entire night sky was somehow a product of Susie’s hand. Noelle looked at her like she had already saved the world instead of bungling it up fifty times over. Noelle looked at her, and she felt like she had. Noelle looked at her like she was worth looking at.
“No…elle?” Susie asked. Suddenly, it hit her that she had been staring too and she jerked her head away to break Noelle’s gaze, staring down at the shingles beneath her feet instead.
“OhmygoshI’msosorryIdon’tknowwhatthatwasI’mso-”
“No, it’s fine, I’m sorry, I’m being weird!” Susie cut her off. “Sorry…” She shook her head, clearing… whatever that was out of her brain. “Anyway. We’ve still got time! The festival’s still going! We can see if that corndog guy has any left! Or dunk Berdly!” She paused, her voice growing thick in her throat. “We could… ride that ferris wheel…” Noelle squeaked in surprise. She brushed her hair out of her face and her hands seemed to be quivering as she did it.
“I… uhm…” Susie reached out a hand and Noelle broke off.
“C’mon. Live a little.” Noelle stared down at Susie’s hand, somehow managing to look both terrified and enamored. Like Susie held the key to the best and the worst thing on Earth at the same time. Her own hand hovered in the air, just passing over the windowsill. It stayed there, locked in indecision as Noelle stared at Susie’s outstretched hand and Susie held her breath, waiting for her to take it. Noelle bit her lip and her hand inched closer. Closer. Almost.
And then Noelle snatched her hand back, clutching it to her chest with an expression so distraught that Susie felt it like a spike through her stomach.
“I-I-I’m s-sorry,” Noelle choked out. “My mom’s already… really mad, I don’t-” She shook her head. “I can’t… risk it.”
“Noelle-”
“I’m really sorry,” Noelle cut in. She curled in on herself, her shoulders curving in to shield her. “She’ll find out. She always finds out.” Susie drew her hand back uncertainly. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to grab Noelle and make her come anyway. She wanted to curse her mom for a thousand years. She wanted to reach through the window and hug her and make her stop looking like she was about to cry.
“Can we still… be friends?” Noelle asked softly. “Once I’m not grounded anymore? My mom doesn’t want me seeing you, but she can’t really stop me if we go to the same school, right?”
“Y-yeah!” Susie stumbled out. “Yeah! Of course we’re still friends, dude! Your mom’s not gonna stop me!” Noelle ducked her head down, her hair falling in front of her face like a curtain. Hiding her away.
“I’m sorry…” she said again. “I… really did want to go to the festival with you.” Susie swallowed harshly to try and get rid of the sudden thickness in her throat. It didn’t work.
“Dude, screw your mom. We can still-”
“Noelle? Noelle, what are you doing up there?” Noelle let out a frightened squeak, leaping back from the window.
“My mom, my mom’s coming!” she hissed.
“Wait-”
“You have to get out of here, Susie! Quick, before she sees you!”
“But I-”
“Susie, please, I don’t want you to get in trouble!”
“Noel-”
“Please!” Noelle didn’t wait for a response. She raced back to the window, yanking it closed and shutting the curtains behind it. Susie instinctively raised her hand to try and break back through it before she caught herself and stopped. She glanced down at Kris, who was urgently gesturing for them to go. With a final, desperate glance at Noelle’s window, Susie forced herself to turn and go.
She hopped down off the roof and raced after Kris, back to the rope they had tied up. Kris grabbed ahold of it and shimmied their way up to the branch, beginning to climb back down the tree. Susie grabbed it and tried to do the same, only to discover that climbing ropes is far less easy than the movies always make it look.
“Kris!” she called, desperately clinging to the bottom of the rope. The material dug into her hands, and she could feel it burning her palms as she lost her grip and began sliding back down. “Kris, how the hell do you do this!?” Kris glanced at her from where they were halfway down the tree, their eyes wide with panic. They scrambled back up to where the rope was and gestured for her to let go, untying it and throwing it aside once she did. “Hey!” she shouted. “What gives!”
They held up their hands to signal for her to wait, quickly scurrying to the bottom of the tree. They ran up to the bars and she met them from the other side.
“Shit, Kris, what do I do?” They told her to go around the house and hide behind the big bushes. They’d get the gates open, they told her. “How’re you gonna do that?” Susie asked. Kris reminded her of the abandoned plan from before. Susie paled slightly and grabbed Kris’s wrist through the bars. “Are you crazy!? You’re gonna get yourself killed!” Kris pursed their lips and gestured to their outfit with their free hand. They weren’t in the Dark World, Kris reminded her. Carol Holiday was just some regular old lady. And she was a family friend, it would be fine.
“R…right,” Susie admitted. “You’re right. Shit, I just… I don’t like her, man!” Kris frowned, giving no response. “Okay. Fine. Just get me out of here!” She released them and Kris gave her an affirmative nod before racing off back around the fence. Susie snuck along the side of the building until she got to the front, at which point she quickly dove behind the big, garish bushes framing the door. She poked her head through the leaves, just enough to get a look at the gate.
A few moments later, Kris appeared at the gate and rang the bell, waiting patiently. To Susie’s surprise, it actually worked, because the gate opened almost instantly. She heard the door to the house open and turned to see the exact frigid asshole she had hoped wouldn’t show her face walking up the driveway towards Kris.
“Kris. What a pleasant surprise,” Carol greeted. “What are you doing here today? Shouldn’t you be enjoying yourself at the festival?” Kris said something in response, too quiet for Susie to hear. “Oh. It’s thoughtful of you to worry about Noelle. Don’t worry, she’s fine. She just needed… a little time to think about some things. How are you doing, Kris?” As Kris spoke, they stepped around Carol, gesturing to the house. For a split second, Susie thought that they had decided to randomly betray her and were exposing her hiding place. Then she realized that what they had actually done was gotten Carol to turn around. Leaving the gate open and unguarded.
As Carol began explaining something about the sleighs on the roof that Susie was too panicked to pay attention to, Susie took her chance. She dove out of the bushes and skirted around the gate, her eyes locked on Carol the whole way around. Kris did an impressive job of keeping the woman’s eyes focused solely on them. Susie was never not surprised by the random skills they seemed to have picked up.
Finally, Susie reached the gate and dove through it, booking it down the street as quickly as she could. She didn’t stop running until she was past several buildings and completely out of sight of the mansion, and then she kept going just a little further out of sheer paranoia. It was only once she’d reached the far side of the library that she allowed herself to slow down, resting her hand against the wall as she tried to catch her breath.
It seemed like an eternity before Kris appeared back at her side. Their breathing was heavy as well, and she realized that they had failed to actually come up with a meeting spot and Kris had probably run around town a bit before locating her. She huffed out a weak apology that they seemed to accept.
The two of them stood there for a bit in silence, catching their breath and trying to think of something to say. Kris was, uncharacteristically, the one to speak up first. They looked up at her worriedly, their hands shoved into the pockets of their hoodie, and asked if she wanted to go back to the festival. She looked away shamefully.
“I…” She sighed, shaking her head. “You can go back if you wanna. I just…” Kris shook their head, informing her that there was really no point in them going if she wasn’t there. “Susie or bust.” She snickered lightly at that, but the small bit of amusement was quickly crushed by the guilt from before returning tenfold. “Shit. I really ruined the festival for everybody, huh? First Noelle, now you… Man, this sucks.” Kris shrugged and told her they hadn’t really cared that much anyway. The guilt didn’t go away.
Kris watched her for a moment, their lips pursed as they considered something. Then, they pushed themself off the wall of the library and gestured for her to follow, heading towards the school.
“What’re we doing?” Susie asked dejectedly. Kris informed them that they were heading back to Castle Town. At that, Susie felt just a little bit of warmth return to her chest, the crushing feeling that had closed in their fading back just a touch. The festival was lame anyway, Kris continued. They’d have more fun hanging out with Ralsei and Lancer and everybody else. “Y’know what? You’re right! I promised Ralsei we’d visit anyway!”
They made their way back to the school, which marked Susie’s second ever attempt at breaking into school instead of out of it. She showed Kris the broken back door without a second thought. It was a weird thing to do, if she really considered it. It had been her secret for so long, hers and hers alone. And yet, sharing it with Kris was practically instinct. Like Kris was always supposed to know about it anyway.
They approached the closet, and despite everything, Susie couldn’t help but feel that familiar excitement that came with it. The anticipation, the slight nervousness. The knowledge that her friends were down there. That she was down there, the better her. Not the screw-up bully freak. The hero of legend. The person that people waved hello to on the street. The person who saved people instead of breaking everything she touched.
It felt so much better than last night, now that Kris was there. This was the way it was supposed to be, this was right. Kris and her, going to the Dark World together, ready for their next adventure. Ralsei would be waiting for them, and then the Fun Gang would be back together. And then everything would be okay. Right?
Kris’s hand stopped inches from the door. Susie heard something buzzing in their pants pocket and it took her a second to register it as a phone, left on vibrate. Kris grimaced and forcefully pulled their hand back from the door. It almost looked uncomfortable, as if everything in Kris was screaming not to but for some reason they couldn’t… not. They stuffed their hand into their pocket and pulled out the phone, checking the caller. Their expression tightened as they saw.
“Who is it?” Susie asked. “Tell ‘em to fuck off.” Kris looked up at her, their fingers curling tighter around the phone. When they spoke, they sounded… sad, somehow. Guilty. They told her to go on ahead. They just had to take this call. They’d catch up in a second.
“Nah,” Susie said. “If it’s really that important, I can just wait. Take your ti-” When they spoke again, they sounded angry. It was louder than they usually spoke. Direct and commanding. They told her to go. That it was going to be a long call and she shouldn’t wait up for them. They’d meet her in Castle Town. “Kris. You okay, man? You sure you…?” She trailed off as Kris stared at her, silently begging her to listen. She didn’t get this. She didn’t get any of this. Who the hell was calling to make Kris so uncomfortable?
It was personal, she realized. It had to be. Maybe it was their mom and they were still uncomfortable after last night. Or their father. Or even their brother, calling from college. Someone they wanted to be able to talk to in private. Without Susie hearing. Which was fine! Kris was allowed to have a private life. And it wasn’t Susie’s business, even if they flinched when they saw the caller ID or looked like they wanted to be anywhere else. They were… entitled to their privacy. If they didn’t want to tell her then it wasn’t her business, was it?
She had fucked up enough people’s days today.
“Okay,” she said finally. “Just… don’t take too long, okay?” Their shoulders slumped in relief and they gave her a grateful smile. They held the phone up but didn’t accept the call just yet. Waiting for her to go. “Okay. Okay, see you soon,” she said. She turned, slowly, on joints that felt like rusty hinges, and stepped into the closet alone.