Archive of Our Own ^beta

Loud.

Annoying.

Gross.

These words ran through Kris’ mind while they kept rolling in their bed. The sound coming from the room next to theirs grew louder as the night went by, a very loud reminder that things would never be the same again and that things were never on their control. The last couple of days had been the most interesting and life-changing of Kris’ life, despite them not having full control of their body.

Running around the Dark Worlds beside Susie and Ralsei, sealing the Dark Fountains, creating some along the way without anyone noticing... This week was for sure interesting to say the least. But all Kris wanted now was to forget as much as possible of today. The sound of their mother was getting louder, the other voice was the same. That goddamn laugh of his. Kris covered their ears with a pillow but it was useless, now that they had heard it, that was all that was playing in Kris’ head.

Putting his feet on the floor, they held their head with both hands, their breathing erratic and their vision blurred by tears of despair. A metallic sound came from the corner of the bedroom, calling Kris’ attention. The Soul that had been locked away as soon as they locked their bedroom door, struggled trying to get back inside of them. Kris looked at it with disgust, after all, it was their fault that they had been stripped away the right of choice. The right of exist, at all. It was still Kris, expect it wasn’t.

Kris considered taking all of their anger on it.

But they held back.

Kris raised from bed and walked towards the window. The night had made itself present long before both of them made it out alive of that church. Susie... They already missed her, her presence made everything so much easier for them, a safe place to forget of their problems, despite the lack of control, Kris’ really cared and... loved her? Yes, loved her, the thought of it made them a slight blush appear in their cheeks.

The horizon was nothing but a dark blue painting, trees painted over with some houses as mere detail. But something called their attention, a pink dot just in the path to their house. The dot didn’t move but it did looked back to Kris’ house, their mouth moved and Kris made it out just the words “...We...not...happen...right?.” and with that, the dot finally moved and disappeared in the distance.

The struggle of the Soul trying to get free got louder, Kris looked back to see it moving itself desperate. Kris shook their head, grabbing the knife that they had placed beside their pillow and putting in their hip under the striped sweater that was practically glued to Kris’ body. It was a long shot, going out without a Soul for so long but they didn’t care, the longer away from that thing the better. The thought of going after their dearest friend and not caring for the consequences filled Kris with determination.

Kris placed a foot by the window frame and impulsed themselves out of the bedroom. But as soon as they stood in the window, their phone ranged. A very characteristic ringtone, carefully selected to identify who was calling. Kris closed their eyes and held their breath until the call was rejected automatically. With the missed call, the recorded message could be heard loud and clear.

“...Kris... don’t forget, Kris... you promised.”

Carol’s voice always menaged to give Kris chills in their spine. But they were right, Kris always kept their promises. They climbed down the window and grabbed their phone, tapping on the screen and placing it on their ear. After a couple of seconds, the call had connected.

“Finally... kept me waiting.”

“The Titan that The Knight made could’ve made everything all fall apart.”

“Yes...am aware of their actions... Taken care of.”

“But... surprisingly... the three of you made it out alive.”

“Barely.” Kris said with a scoff. “Everything is going accord your plan, so maybe you could stick to it, instead of risking everything I worked for.”

She laughed, “Watch your mouth... still need Tori.”

A droplet of sweat ran down their forehead, “You said you would find another way.”

“I did... it’s her, Kris.”

Kris’ heart sank in their ribcage and their breath became deep and erratic, “A-are you sure?”, they asked hoping that Carol proved them wrong.

“...The most probable.”

Good enough, Kris thought.

“Just... give me some more time, alright? I’ll fulfill my end of our bargain, I just need a little more time.” Kris could practically taste their own sweat that dripped near their mouth.

“...very well...”

Kris breathed relieved, their eyes closed and the pressure around their head slightly lighter.

“...do not disappoint me, Kris. You promised...”
With that the call was disconnected and that disgusting sound coming from the room next door came back to Kris’ ears. Not a second after the call ended, Kris resumed what they were doing and the sound of crickets softly grew louder as they walked to the center of Hometown.

It was weird seeing the town so quiet.

No Ice-E’s employees shouting to promote the restaurant (honestly, not even restaurant, more of a greasy dump). Kris roamed the streets until arriving in front of a apartment building, a really busted one, the front door had its lock broken and it had a piece shattered, Kris pushed and stepped into the building. Sensing movement, the fluorescent lights lit up, Kris flinched with the sudden brightness but looked around to see that the doorsman had already left the place. Something that called their attention was a wall filled with mailboxes but one in particular interested them the most.

Written in a purple sharpie, “SUSIE” but one of the ‘s’ was inverted. Kris chuckled with that detail. The mailbox was empty, so Kris focused on the number of her apartment, ‘306’. With that Kris began to climb the stairs to the third floor.

Every step that Kris stepped a creak could be heard, echoing through the void. The rain started to fall again, only a couple of drops but it seemed that it would soon stop. Kris reached the third floor and began to walk down the corridor.

The carpet felt sticky in their shoes, like when you step on gum and began to walk on it. As they walked, a rumble coming from their stomach made them stop and inhale a deep breath, they didn’t had anything to eat the day before except for that choccy milk but that didn’t fully filled them. The food in the Dark World doesn’t stay in the stomach after it’s sealed, so that’s that. Maybe Susie had something in their house.

They had reached her apartment. Why did they felt so nervous?

It’s just Susie. Right?

Kris rang the doorbell. It didn’t made a sound, at all, maybe it’s broken.

Kris knocked on the door. No response.

They knocked it harder. Yet again, no response.

‘Is she even home?’, Kris asked in silence. They tried to knock again a few more times but only silence could be heard inside the building. ‘Maybe she’s sleeping’, they thought.

That thought was quickly discarted because if was, in fact, sleeping, her snore could’ve been heard from, at least, first floor. Kris concluded that she wasn’t home and turned back to leave the building. They questioned her absence in her own house, it was the middle of the night, after all.

Kris knew that Susie’s personal life was a... complicated topic, to say the least. They had even used it against her, when she used to bully them, a fact that looking back to it, Kris still had to apologize to her. The rain had stopped and what it left it was the nice smell dew.

Again roaming the dark streets, Kris considered places that Susie might be. They first headed to the graveyard, maybe she wanted to pay homage to Gerson, both of them had been there after sealing the Dark World so perhaps she wanted to spend more time with him, despite... well. They passed the gates leading to the graveyard, passing by the gravestones, some which Kris recognized and others don’t. No sign of her, Gerson’s grave was standing proud and tall but no Susie.

After stepping out of the cemetery, Kris headed to the lakeside. They passed in front of their dad flower shop, feeling a bit of pity, he didn’t deserve pass through any of this. Both of them didn’t, actually.

As Kris approached the lake, they could hear the water splashing and something hitting the surface. And there she was, standing in front of the water, her silhouette somewhat relaxed, eerily so. She didn’t noticed their presence yet, instead she concentrated in the rocks she threw in the lake’s surface, Kris considered scaring her by poking her sides, but that idea went down the drain as they approached her and heard the low sobbing.

Susie held the small stones in one hand, picking one and throwing as hard as she could. Her tears fell silently and her nose was runny, she tried to clean it with her empty hand but it was useless. She mumbled something that Kris couldn’t understand but it felt very intimate.

“Hey...” Kris said, breaking the silence and startling Susie. She turned to them surprised, but turned back to the lake, cleaning her tears and snot with her shirt.

“Hey, Kris. Whatch’ doing here?” Susie finally turned to them, her face with a shade of pink. “Shouldn’t you be home?”

“Couldn’t sleep...” They kinda lied. “And you?”

She sighed, “Don’t feel like going home now.” Susie sat by the lakeside, the grass still wet from the rain.

Kris sat beside her, looking at the vast lake before them. Weirdly enough, Kris could hear a soft and far away song coming from the otherside of the water, sounded like a piano tiles and someone humming along the music that was being played, Kris didn’t knew why but it was very familiar to them but they couldn’t remember clearly where they had heard this soft melody before. But it was nice.

“Can you still hear it?” Kris muttered loud enough for her to hear.

“The music? Yeah, it’s a bit louder now.” Susie looked at them, “Can you hear it now?”

“Yeah... It’s nice.” Kris hugged their legs, resting their head in the knees. “Susie... Do you think that...”

“Think what?” Susie came closer to them, their arms almost touching.

Kris looked into her eyes, their bangs showing their dark red eyes full of tears, “Do you think we’ll ever be free from the prophecy?”

Her eyes widen, the words were stuck in her throat. Susie had seen Kris’ eyes before but the sight of them never failed to impress her. Dark red spheres staring at her soul and heart, kinda intimidating her, somehow.

“You... You saw it too? In the Dark World?” Susie lowered her head, picking some blades of grass.

They nodded. Susie let out a tired breath, “Honestly... I have no idea.”

“But I will do whatever I can to avoid it. We will, you know.”

Their eyes met hers and stared for a while, looking for a sign. Anything.

Now that Kris had the moment to really look at Susie, they realized how pretty she was, a peculiar kind of beauty. They had eaten moss in multiple occasions, drinked suspicious milk in the alleyway and other types of actions that, if it was with anyone else, would be seen with judgemental eyes. How do you grow so close to someone in the span of three days? And how do you feel that if anything happens to that person, life would lose all sense?

They knew how it would end, it doesn’t matter what both of them do, it’s always the same.

“Okay?” Susie’s voice broke Kris’ thought and in her face a toothy smile appeared. Kris felt their heart tighten in their chest, the beat was so fast now, their hands were almost touching. Her hands were so much bigger than their own, Kris found that weirdly attractive.

“Okay.” Kris placed their hand on top of hers. It barely reached her fingertips, her scales were warm.

Susie let out a soft laugh, “Feeling needy, huh? We’ve been spending way too much time with Ralsei.” Susie flipped her hand and crossed her fingers with Kris’.

Luckily for Kris, their bangs had covered the very visible blush that appeared in their whole face, now they knew exactly how Noelle felt. Kris closed their eyes and feeling bold enough, leaned their head into Susie’s shoulder, breathing slowly and relaxing their muscles. For a moment, Kris forgot every problem that they had.

No more prophecy.

No more lack of control.

No more messy divorces.

Just... Susie and them.

For the first time in weeks, they allowed themselves to rest. Her jacket was a bit damp from the rain but that didn’t matter.

Kris honestly could’ve just fall asleep there, but they stopped themselves by focusing in Susie’s breathing. “What time is it?” Kris asked with their voice low and raspy.

Susie grabbed her phone from her jacket, “04:12. Damn, it felt like hours.” She looked at the other weirdo beside her, “I think you should go home, Kris. Your mom is going to be pissed.”

Kris thought for a bit and sat up, “Are you going home?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. You’re almost sleeping in my shoulder and I really don’t want you drooling all over me.” She laughed and sat up, towering them.

“I already am.” Kris muttered and rubbed their arm.

“What was that?” Susie raised one of her eyebrows.

“Nothing.” Kris giggled and looked at her in the eyes. Angel above, she’s so tall.

She began to walk back to the town. Every step she took, Kris’ felt a sharp pain in their chest, they didn’t want this to end so soon. Without even thinking, Kris ran to where she was and grabbed her by the jacket, “Wait!”

“Goddamn it, dude! You scared the shit outta me. What is it?” She looked back at them with a hand in her chest, checking her heartbeat. Susie shrugged, “What? Already miss me?”

“Do you want to sleep at my place?” Kris just threw up the words in Susie’s face.

She tilted her head to the side, “Is Toriel okay wit–“

“It doesn’t matter!” Kris was sweating, out of breath. They placed their head in Susie’s chest, looking to the ground, “Please... Don’t leave me alone.” Hot tears fell down their face, staining their cheeks and falling to the ground.

A silence fell through the streets, leaving only the crickets to be heard. Kris felt a hand in their cheek, their gaze was lifted up to Susie’s, she looked at them so intensely. Her face approached, their foreheads touched, Susie closed her eyes and Kris followed her lead. “I’m not going anywhere, Kris. I promise.”

She kept holding their face and offered a gentle smile (the best that she could give, at least). “Come on, let’s go home.”

They began to trail back to Kris’ house, side by side, hands intertwined and silent steps through Hometown. Both of them felt at ease, comfortable like they never before in their lives. As they approached the front door, the house was quiet, Kris thanked whatever God was listening above. The door was locked, they went around the house and found the bathroom window unlocked, somehow.

Both of them climbed into the bathroom, and Kris pressed the light switch. It was so quiet that they could hear their own heartbeat and Susie’s.

Kris felt a sharp pain in their chest, holding on to the sink. Susie grabbed their shoulders, “You good?” She whispered.

“Yeah, ‘m fine. Okay, stay here, I’m going to see if the coast is clear.” Kris opened the bathroom door enough for them to get out and Susie sat in the toilet, her feet bouncing repeatedly in the white tiles.

Kris climbed the stairs and head straight to their bedroom, closing the door behind them. The pain yet again pierced their chest, they looked to the Soul locked in the birdcage and audibly whispered, ‘Bitch.’

They unlocked the cage and grabbed the Soul violently, staring at it with a murderous intent, “You listen and you listen well. You better not fuck this up for me, am I understood?”

They felt the Soul nod, in their own weird way. Kris breathed in and... God, how they hate this part. Kris shoved the Soul inside their chest, the pain was strong enough to make Kris fall to their knees, everything that happened in the past few hours came flooding inside the Soul, overwhelmingly so.

‘Kris’ raised from the floor and headed downstairs, opening the bathroom door, startling Susie that was... smelling their shampoo. “Everything clear?” Susie asked nonchalantly.

“Kristal clear.” They gave her a thumbs-up and let her pass through the door.

Both of them went upstairs on the tip of their toes, the wood creaking a bit but the noise was minimal. As soon as they stepped into Kris’ room, they let out a relieved breath and a couple of giggles along the way. Susie jumped on her back in Kris’ bed, stretching her limbs.

She made space for them, “C’mon, climb on.”

“Just a second.”

‘Kris’ removed their striped sweater, throwing it in a random place in the room. Susie was so used to seeing them with that sweater that she never asked what was under it, after all, what kinda of friends ask themselves what’s under their friends clothes, right? Right?

It was nothing so scandalous as Susie imagined, it was just a binder. A pitch black one with some stickers on it. They were very lean but their muscles were very toned, a couple of freckles across their torso and a beauty mark right above their belly button. Their hands went to their black jeans, unbuttoning and taking their pants off.

Susie’s eyes widen instantly when she saw Kris’ underwear, “Dude! You have the Ben 10 boxers?!” She wanted to yell so bad but she contained herself.
“They’re comfortable.” Kris sat on the bed, laying beside Susie. “You’re sleeping like this?” She still had her jacket on, actually she had her shoes on their bed.

“Easy there, tiger. You’re not seeing my underwear, at least pay me dinner first.” She laughed and slapped her thigh.

“I meant–“

“Dude, obviously I’m messing with you. Give me a second.” She sat on the bed, taking her jacket off and tossing across the room, slipping her shoes off, she fumbled the button of her pants but eventually she slipped off. “There you go. Ready to pretend to be a rock?”

“Hell yeah.” Susie covered them with a blanket. They stared at each other in the dark, red eyes analazying her yellow ones. “Susie?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it weird if I say that I want to hug you now?” Kris muttered to her.

“Funny. I was thinking the same thing.”

Kris felt like they would explode any second now. They approached her, their head just under her chin, their hand touching her broad back, breathing her natural aroma in her neck. They relaxed and closed their eyes.

Susie felt like her heart would stop at any sudden movement. Her claws scratched softly their small back, their hair emitting the pleasent aroma of apples, she felt their slow breathing in her scales. She relaxed and closed her eyes.

Outside didn’t existed anymore. None of their problems did. Right now, both of them were in their own little shelter, a place that protected them from everything and everyone.