Their Name Is Kris

by 858FairyHats

Summary:

When a man from Ebott City subs in for a sick Mrs. Alphys, the Fun Gang is in for an emotionally and mentally challenging, exhausting time... especially given that it seems as though he has a vendetta against Kris... for being themselves.

Or more specifically... the fact that Kris is Non-Binary.

(Inspired by a repost of @altadoodler-2020-2025's comic on the Deltarune Subreddit by u/thisaintmyusername12)

Chapter 1: The First Morning

                  Sun filtered in from the windows to the left of the classroom as one by one, the student’s of Alphys’s class filtered in.

 

                …although it was a little tricky to call it Alphys’s classroom on this particular day, given that, where the lizard normally stood wasn’t here; rather, a human. Already, that was a bit of a rare sighting in Hometown, but even rarer-so was Alphys being gone; no one could recall the last time they had a substitute teacher.

 

                Easily, he was as tall as Toriel. Maybe just as old too, given his black hair that clearly had a few streaks of silver-y grey scattered in it. His beige khakis stood in an ugly contrast to his frayed brown professor’s coat, and behind his thick glasses were a set of stone-y, no-nonsense grey eyes that screamed, ‘you will listen’.

 

                “Settle down, children.” The man furrowed his brow a bit as he finally decided to cut off everyone’s murmuring and chatter. “I’m sure you’re all very worried about Miss Alphys, but rest assured, she should return in a few days; she’s down with a cold and your principal, Miss Toriel Dreemur called into Ebott City and they sent me.”

 

                “Psst, Kris… this guy seem like he’s got a stick up his ass?” Susie whispered to them with a snark, a faint smirk spreading to their lips, and just ahead and across from them, Noelle had to stifle a giggle. She didn’t quite get to make another quip or joke as their substitute teacher continued to speak.

 

                “My name is Johnathon M. Pricket.” He wrote it across the top of Alphys’s Chalkboard, deliberate in his strokes to make it loud and demanding with a hint of assertiveness that more than a couple of the students were familiar with. “I expect respect from all of you, and in return, you can expect the same from me.” Turning back from the chalkboard, Mr. Pricket sat down at Alphys’s desk, asserting himself fully into her classroom. “Now then, when I call your name, I want to clearly hear you say ‘Present’, so I can put a face to it.” There were a few nods in response, but the general vibe of the room very quickly became, ‘this week is gonna suck’.

 

                “Noelle Cristina Holiday?” The list was in no particular order; Toriel neither Alphys had seen a need to alphabetize or really change the list in the computer system given there were only nine students in the class… the former being something Mr. Pricket intended to change during his stay given his ways.

 

                “Oh – Present!” She quickly raised a hand, lowering it just as fast after Pricket pointed his pencil at her and wrote down on his attendance sheet. “I’ve never had anyone pronounce my full name like that… except for Mom when she’s really angry.” Noelle spoke quietly to herself within her mind.

 

                “Bartholemew Berlys Javen?” Instantly, Snowy and Monster Kid started snickering, Susie nearly having to chomp her tongue to stop a laugh as Pricket called the blue bird’s full name.

 

                “Pr… present.” Berdly raised a wing. “B… but with all due-“ Pricket wasn’t even looking at him anymore, having already returned to the list. Noelle felt a pang of sympathy for him, and so did Kris, but it wasn’t expressed on their face.

 

                “Cattigal Cattenhimer?” Initially, he didn’t get a response, but Pricket watched intently as Catti suddenly looked up from her poorly hidden smartphone, raising her other hand.

 

                “…present.” She muttered.

 

                “It’ll do you good to both speak more clearly and lose the phone before I confiscate it, young lady.” He kept it straight to the point, but stern. Anyone who knew Catti knew that she’d be focusing her next curses or negative tomes on Pricket as wordlessly, she slid her phone into her pockets. From there, the substitute teacher continued down the list, getting by Jockington, Snowy, Temmie and Monster Kid, running into no issues until…

 

                “Kristof Dreemur?”

 

                Hearing that made Kris’s chest tighten.

 

                Behind them, Susie’s eyes widened, and ahead of them, Noelle and Berdly both had similar levels of surprise on their faces.

 

                “Is he here today?” Pricket barely glanced up from his sheet at that point, failing to notice how Kris had started to look further down, as if trying to hide themselves. Noelle could feel Susie’s temper boiling, Berdly feeling even more concerned as Pricket continued to speak with no regard. “Oh, it has an accent… Hmm… Khrishtof? Is he not here today?”

 

                Even the other students were starting to get a little uncomfortable. Surely, surely, Toriel or Alphys had wrote out Kris on the sheet, or made mention… there was no way this substitute teacher was like that… right?

 

                “Well, looks like I’ll mark him as absent.” Pricket scribbled on his sheet, reaching the last name on the printed sheet. “Susie B-“

 

                “Oh, like HELL is he saying my full name-“ She had instantly thought the moment her first name spilled from the teacher’s mouth. “HERE!” She blurted out as quickly as she could, cutting off Pricket whose face was now unreadable, even by Noelle.

 

                “You’re the last one on my list. Who is that boy sitting in front of you and between Bar-“

 

                She didn’t bother letting him finish; it was eating at her.

 

                “Kris... They go by Kris.” She interjected hard, and if anyone else had missed it, the tension in the room had grown painfully thick. Pricket made a face before looking back down to his paper…

 

                “So, he’s Khrishtof?” He now looked at his ‘fellow’ human, neglecting Kris’s very apparent discomfort and that of their friends. “Young man, why didn’t you-“

 

                “Their name is Kris.” Simultaneously, Noelle, Berdly and Susie spoke out for Kris, getting a slightly miffed look from Mr. Pricket as Kris looked to be on the edge of tears, despite trying to put on a faint, yet kind smile for their friends who were sticking up for them.

 

                “I distinctly recall asking for respect when you all walked in; interrupting me is not that. I will address the students with the way that was provided to me… and the way I see fit. Not to mention the fact that Khrishtof didn’t even speak for himself; you’re all almost 18, he should be more than capable of speaking for himself.”

 

                THAT one struck all of them. Even those not in on the Fun Gang’s secret.

 

                “I don’t know if you’re deaf, or just stupid, but you’re proving why you’ve got PRICK in your last name, ASSHOLE!” Susie bared her teeth, shouting in an outrage at Mr. Pricket, ending her words with a stomp as she stared him down with rage crossed into her eyes and heart.

 

                The moment Susie’s boot had hit the floor, Mr. Pricket had practically glided across the room, an alarming authoritarian aura practically oozing off of him as Susie’s words and looks did next to nothing to intimidate him. “Susie. Beatrice. Lasell. With a name and looks like yours I’m surprised you haven’t been expelled – then again, with an outburst like that I fully anticipate I’ll see several suspensions in your student record. If you don’t want me to escalate to the District Super Intendent, a reminder to abide by some manners will do you well.”

 

                “WHAT THE HE-“

 

                “Susie.” Noelle had shot her a look that Mr. Pricket didn’t even need to see to understand. He still stood over Susie intimidatingly, everyone else silent save for quick, quiet breaths…

 

                “Now then… what do we say after insulting a teacher – the person who’s here to educate you for the real world, a destination approaching you all in just a few more months?” Mr. Pricket had already started walking back towards the front desk, chalk in hand as he reached the black board.

 

                It was taking more than every bit of willpower Susie had to not just outright lunge at the guy and slam him against the wall and beat him up for upsetting Kris. “Damn, Ralsei and his stupid goody-two-shoes…” She REALLY didn’t wanna be seen as a kiss-ass, yet…

 

                She also didn’t wanna make things worse for Kris or any of the others.

 

                “Sorry, sir.” She tried to bite back on some of the malice in that last bit. Mr. Pricket simply nodding, not turning towards her as he was already writing the day’s first assignment on the black board.

 

                “You aren’t the first person who’s gotten so twisted up about me being right, and you’ll certainly be far from the last. Now, if you can continue to show proper respect for the rest of my duration here… my notes to Miss Alphys may not be as harsh.” He wanted to see her reaction…

 

                But quietly, Kris had reached a hand back onto her knee, causing the girl to simmer down a bit. Susie just huffed slightly, adverting her gaze away from Mr. Pricket and more towards Kris and her girlfriend.

 

                “We’ll begin today with your current assigned Algebra 3 reading, so if you’d turn to page…”

 

---

 

                The clock slowly, almost antagonizingly drifted on, and on and on… even Berdly, always astute in his studies, could feel the seconds dragging by as Mr. Pricket completed another part of their literature lecture.

 

                “I applied for a College in Southern Ebott City… oh Angel is this what *all* the teachers are like…?” As the teacher turned back to the blackboard, simultaneously he and Noelle afforded themselves a quick glance back at Kris and Susie.

 

                The former… at least didn’t look any worse. It was beyond clear that Kris had been beyond uncomfortable every second of the day since Mr. Pricket… dead-named them. Everyone in the classroom – bar himself, Noelle and Susie – had only heard it once before – for the majority, it’d been on Kris’s first day in their class; when they were still in Elementary School. Toriel had been their teacher then, and it had been an honest slip of the tongue.

 

                For Noelle, it was because of how tight her family was with the Dreemurs.

 

                For Berdly, it’d been when Kris had to have their legal info entered for their library card; back in Middle School just a few years ago. He had made fully sure it was the first note on file, however, when Kris was brought up on the computer.

 

                And for Susie… the only time she’d heard it is when herself, Ralsei, Kris themselves, Noelle and Berdly had all heard The Knight say it. That had been an extremely bad moment.

 

                As for the latter… Susie had been trying to cheer Kris up throughout the class, barely taking any notes of her own and making it her duty to try and help them not think about the asshole in front of them all. Be it with jokes about past adventures, insults about Mr. Pricket, or about how awesome it’d be to prank him with some kind of Dark World and/or getting Lancer involved.

 

                It had helped keep Kris from thinking about it, but it was like Mr. Pricket had planted a nasty seed in their head that had taken root into something nasty; something they’d dealt with in the past when coming to terms with themselves…

 

                “Don’t. Don’t go there.” They quietly breathed in and out, trying to dance around those memories, focusing on who they were now and who they were around. There were lots of people like Mr. Pricket out there…

 

                “It shouldn’t hurt like this, why can’t I stop-“

 

                By the graces of The Angel, the bell rang, signaling it was time for lunch.

 

                “Hmm… went faster than I expected. I expect to see you all back here on the dot.” Mr. Pricket was sharp as he put down the chalk and the literature book he held. “If anyone is late coming back, it will go into my report.”

 

                “That rules out taking them to Castle Town to see Ralsei…” Noelle quietly hummed as she joined the others outside the classroom. “Kris… maybe we should tell your mom; she is the principal.”

 

                Quickly, they shook their head, barely keeping pace with the others’ footsteps to the cafeteria as other students young and old walked past them.

 

                “But Noelle makes an excellent point; maybe she could assign a different-“ Berdly was cut off mid-sentence and glasses adjust by Kris.

 

                “No… don’t want to stress mom out more than she already is.” They cast their glance forward as the four made their way through the lunch line. “She already deals with enough, and it’s… I’ll be okay.” None of them bought that; not even for a second.

 

                “Okay dude, listen.” Susie had tossed her tray onto their regular table then put a hand on Kris’s shoulder. “If you really don’t want us telling Toriel, fine… we’ll respect that. But don’t try and say what that dickhead did was anything near okay. I’m… FUCK I’m still not good with this mushy stuff-“ She glanced over at Noelle who jumped in to bail her out.

 

                “We’re sorry that he did that, Kris. You don’t have to pretend that it’s fine.” Noelle was soft-spoken, Kris shaking a little as they sat on the same side of the table as Susie, slightly poking their fork at their food.

 

                “Both of them are right; you can talk to us about it, and we’ll do what we can to make it right.” Susie wanted to interject with a joke about Berdley’s full name, but she held back; she knew it wasn’t right.

 

                “Thanks guys…” Kris gently wiped at their eyes, finally able to dispel their spiraling train of thought for now. Then, to shift the subject a bit… “I hope Alphys gets better soon.”

 

                “Oh dude, same.” Susie groaned out. “I didn’t know or think a class could get more boring, but the Prickmiester proved otherwise.” That got Kris to smirk and Noelle giggled a little. “Hell, maybe we don’t even gotta think about him; you know what’s waiting for us after class-“

 

                “Would you perchance be referring to only the finest hang-out spot for nerds like us?” Berdly quipped, and while Susie rolled her eyes, it didn’t stop her train of thought.

 

                “Hell yeah I am! We can get Ralsei to bake a cake or some sweet shit like that – didn’t you want him to like, make a Chocolate Cinnamon pie last time, Kris?” They turned a bit red, looking away from them but it was unmistakable.

 

                “If he does that, then we gotta make sure Kris doesn’t lock themselves in a room somewhere with it, fwhaahaha!”

 

                “That was once, when I was nine!” They bemoaned, their mind able to move further away from the morning. “And Dess was chasing me around with her bat!”

 

                “Don’t give us any ideas, Kris; if you don’t share, I’ll thrash your ass!” Susie laughed as she elbowed them in the shoulder, Kris finally managing something more of a smile than just a faint grin.

 

                If they kept having the others like this, then…

 

                Then maybe the time Pricket was here wouldn’t be so bad…

 

                Right?

 

---

 

-+-+-+-

 

A.N:

Wow I didn’t actually expect to run with this, but here we are. At first, I just intended to end this right where the comic that inspired it left off, but… now I’m really debating turning this into an entire mini-story with my own lore ideas n’ stuff (if it wasn’t clear, this is obviously canon-divergent from base Deltarune, post end-game because fuck it why not.)

 

If enough of you like this, then I’ll make like Noelle and proceed with more chapters, developing and escalating til, maybe, just maybe, Pricket gets what he deserves and we see why Kris changed their name.

 

Also, I hope I nailed the feelings and characters. I myself am non-binary, and while I’ve gotten better at handling people misgendering me, it grates at me over time, but I try to stay Determined.

 

Toodles!

Chapter 2: Volitional

Summary:

Volitional - /vōˈliSH(ə)n(ə)l/

adjective.

of one's own free will; deliberate.

Or in other words... we see the deliberance of Mr. Pricket's thoughts.

“Khrishtof…”

 

Their ears were still ringing; who would’ve thought being thrashed around then thrown to the floor would do that?

           

“Khrishtof…!” It sounded more desperate, harrowing as it got closer.

 

“Khrishtof!” Suddenly, they were snapped from the memory, Kris realizing that they had let themselves slip into something of a day-nightmare. …daymare? Regardless, they had no choice but to look up a bit as Mr. Pricket had slapped a ruler on their desk. “Seriously child, how many times must I call your name to get your attention? Were you asleep?”

 

Kris tried to find their words, which given the person expecting a response, it felt like an impossible task to do so. They simply tried to stay focused on the good; Susie, Noelle and Berdly were around them, there was the Dark World just down the hall, waiting for them…

 

“Sorry. Long night.” They managed to stammer out, their timing nearly impeccable as pretty much every student around Kris could physically feel the barely contained rage radiating off of Susie given how Pricket’s treatment of Kris hadn’t let up in the slightest.

 

“I suppose it’d do you well then to stop worrying about the small things and get a proper night’s sleep; I don’t tolerate slacking, and will note it down for your teacher if I see it.” He leaned into it a bit. “Now, can I ask that you stay awake and explain this chemical formula to the class, young man?” He pointed to the page they were on in their chemistry books, the young adult in front of Pricket trying to flip to it.

 

Kris hated science. They didn’t like thinking about it period; not when their old definition of science had been mixing different chemicals and bath bombs, and-

 

“I’ll answer for them!” Berdly suddenly threw a hand up, stopping Kris’s spiral, and actually succeeding in getting Mr. Pricket’s attention… if not for all the right reasons. “What we’re looking at is the chemical formula for Osmium, and it serves differing purposes… in…” Berdly stopped and nearly shrunk in on himself with the look Mr. Pricket was giving him.

 

“Bartholemew, I don’t recall asking you to solve the problem, much less, did I give you the floor to speak on.” Almost leeringly, Pricket spoke over the blue avian monster. “Why is it so hard for you to understand respect is a two-way street?” He pinched his nose, and Berdly so badly wanted to say something, anything, but Noelle’s hand shot up.

 

“Um, Mr. Pricket, sir, if I may?” Angel, she hated how almost ‘squeak-ish’ the teacher was making her feel; it was like she was back at Square One with her mom all over again…

 

…and this time she didn’t have The Roaring to give her the advantage to get through to an otherwise close-minded person.

 

“You may proceed, Noelle, but do make it quick; Khrishtof still had yet explain the formula in his own words without being interrupted.” Pricket’s gaze was like that of steel, but Noelle steadied herself.

 

“Girlfriend, All You Have To Do Is: Breathe. LMAO.” Unironically… Queen’s advice was actually helping her right now, Noelle composing herself and beginning to talk.

 

“Berdl- err…” She didn’t want to say it… but she had to play to Mr. Pricket just a little. “Bartholomew… is actually a science tutor to some of us; he won the science fair thrice over, and I believe that he was coming from no place of disrespect to you at all, Mr. Pricket, when he wanted to answer for the formula.” She shot him a look from the very corner of her eye that barely went unnoticed by Pricket, Berdly silently picking up on it. “If you’d allow Berdly to answer, I believe that he could do a wonderful job helping us get the correct notes for it.”

 

Pricket closed his eyes in thought, silently mulling over the deer-girl’s words. He could see through what she was doing clear as day; playing the helpful front-row wise girl who tended to stand by what an authority figure said, ‘standing up’ for Khrishtof…

 

But damn… if he didn’t like seeing just how far a ‘suck-up’ would go.

 

“Hmm… very well Miss Noelle. As I said, respect is a two-way street, and I suppose, out of respect for the information you have provided me, I will defer to your judgement. Although next time Khrishtof, I will expect you to readily be able to answer.” He shot one last look at them. “Now, Bartholomew, you may proceed and explain the formula and its’ element.” He returned to the front desk, book in hand as he looked down over the nine students with varying levels of thought.

 

To him, Cattigal and Johnson had absolutely no chance at a future outside of this town; in Pricket’s eyes, the former was as disinterested as she was perceived by him to be lazy given her body mass, Pricket willfully ignoring the fact that cat monsters had a lot of extra bulk in their youth. As for his perception of Johnson (or, as the snake had tried to ‘correct’ him on, ‘Jockington’, the only snake monsters that Pricket had seen in Ebott City in real societal roles were sewer workers…

 

Somehow, he doubted this snake even placed in Hometown’s Athletic Teams.

 

Then came Manny Karter (Monster Kid) and Severus Drake (Snowy). Pricket didn’t think much of the duo; to him, they read as any of the many, many guy-pal duos he’d dealt with back in the city who thought they might’ve been making something with their lives until reality came calling and beat them down with job applications and non-existent resume-worthy skills. Perhaps they’d wind up working at a shop on the other end of this nowhere settlement?

 

He almost didn’t spare any thought to Isabelle Chang (Temmie). Mr. Pricket would never, in a million years even begin to think himself ‘classist’ or ‘racist’… but it was hard to deny that, whenever that race of monster – the often… ‘special needs’ Temmie – came into his classroom… he anticipated a harder day of educating. Only when a Temmie reached the age of 25 did their minds come to fruition, creating shining examples like a fellow educator he’d once worked with named Bobert from the Eastern Side of Ebott City during a College Tour for one of his lower grade classes.

 

That left Mr. Pricket with the four students he isolated as the problems; the problems he figured he’d fix, to try and leave a positive mark on this place before he left. Afterall, as an educator, it was his job to leave an impact on students and fellow teachers; if he could set an example, why there might just be hope yet for a derelict bunch like these four!

 

He paid no mind to the cold and venomous glances that Susie often shot at him when she thought he wasn’t looking or wouldn’t notice. He’d already killed a lot of her ‘rough exterior’ that she put up around her peers that morning, Pricket unaware and ultimately uncaring to the fact that, in the past two months or so, Susie had been growing away from that. All he saw was an ill-tempered urchin of a girl who likely would end up in and out of jail with no real future, besides maybe the odd customer service or food service job here and there until she inevitably went off on someone again or broke the rules again; doomed to a cycle of her own making.

 

He had… thoughts on Noelle. Let Pricket make it clear he’d never pray on a student; that wasn’t his angle; no. Instead, he preferred to have that someone. That someone being a person clearly in the know about a lot more than they’re really willing to let on about in regards to their peers, someone who, with the right prodding and buttons pushed, could lead him to more info – more information to use like a tool to attempt to carve the students around him into functional members of society, ready to face the adult world.

 

He couldn’t care for Bartholomew; he just read to Pricket as stuck-up-nerd-turned-goodie-two-shoes. As for the why, he also didn’t care in that regard, and much less, Pricket couldn’t be bothered to, either. Even as the avian continued to explain more formulas at Pricket’s instruction, he just saw another 9-5 Wage Slave should he chose to leave Hometown.

 

And lastly, there was his fellow human, the boy in the center of the room. Pricket spared a quiet glance at Khrishtof. Their hair was mostly drawn over their eyes as they looked down at the chemistry book in an effort to follow along with Bartholomew…

 

But Pricket had seen the bright, crimson red color wrote in them; a human with a strong will, or so the saying went; he hardly believed in the ‘voodoo’ that your eye colors dictated the kind of person you were, but alas, Pricket would be hard-pressed to admit that said junk couldn’t sometimes be an interesting read to relax his mind. Back to Khrishtof – Mr. Pricket almost felt pity for the boy, seeing him as someone who might be squandering his true potential, hiding behind the façade of not accepting who he was born as, not accepting that one can’t change who they are.

 

“If he’d apply himself, truly… perhaps Khrishtof could do wonderful things and make it in this world.” Pricket mused to himself, thinking about some ways that he could potentially try and steer the young man onto a better path with the limited time he had in Hometown…

 

Completely unaware and ignorant to the fact that Kris stood as, and would forever remain, someone far, far greater than Pricket could ever even aspire to be.

 

Having completed his ‘Day One’ mental catalogue of each of his temporary pupils, Pricket realized that the bell was just a minute away from tolling it’s precious sounds of freedom. “I think that’s a wonderful stopping point for today, Bartholomew.” Pricket cleared his throat as he spoke, Berdly very quick to stop speaking. “I’ve already wrote it on the board, but for those who might need repeating, your homework for math tonight is the 10 questions on back on page 263-A, for Literature, you need to write a report on the chapter we read today, and lastly, for chemistry, I want 5 uses for any of the formulas that Bartholomew was so kind enough to explain to us all.” Pricket punctuated his sentence with a harsh snap-shut of his copy of the chemistry book, the bell at long last ringing.

 

“Damn… I don’t think Alphys has given us Chemistry Homework for weeks.” Susie groused as she slid her papers into her black backpack.

 

“Almost two months to be exact; with how she has us do the work as she teaches us it.” Berdly supplied as he himself quickly got packed up; the Fun Gang wanted out of the room as quickly as possible, Noelle, Kris, Susie and Berdly trying to ignore how intently they were being watched by Mr. Pricket.

 

In another life, perhaps Kris would’ve been tempted to speak with the substitute teacher about the condition of Alphys, or try and confront him, but just being in the same room with the man was doing some not okay things to their headspace.

 

“Can we go?” They asked the others, not trying to be impatient while simultaneously having wanted to be out yesterday.

 

“Of course – just, fighting my zipper… again.” Noelle bemoaned a little. “I keep forgetting to ask mom or dad if they could order me a new one.” You’d think given how proper Noelle dressed, she wouldn’t need to be bothered with such a thing as a backpack falling apart, given how obvious it was that she came from a wealthy background…

 

“Could ask mom to sew it.” Kris offered as the four finally made it out of the classroom, grateful that Pricket had opted to not follow them out, lest they be seen going to their true destination. “If you let Dess sew it, it may get even worse.” They snickered, recalling a certain incident from their youth where Dess had attempted to sew Asriel’s trousers when Toriel had been bed-ridden with the flu…

 

“HAHA THAT’S REALLY FUNNY KRIS!” Noelle shouted, Susie giving them a playful jab in the shoulder, Berdly just walking with his friends as they shuffled around, waiting for the going-home crowds to disperse. “You don’t… have to ask her if you don’t want.”

 

“I want to. You were here for me today.” Kris’s face warmed a bit as they spoke of the other members of the fun gang speaking up for them, the mood changing a bit, albeit, temporarily to accommodate for the conversation that was about to be had,

 

“Like I said at lunch and I’ll say as many dang times as you need to hear it… we’re not gonna let Pricket jerk you around like that.” Susie reassured them. “I still think we should tell Mo- Toriel… but your judgement’s saved my ass more than once.”

 

“I still fully stand with what we all told you earlier, Kris.” Berdly had an air to him; not that of ‘holier than thou’, but, one of caring and companionship. “I’m sure Alphys will be back before we know it.”

 

“Maybe we could go check in on her when we’re done.” Noelle mused thoughtfully, almost squeeing when Susie’s hand joined hers for a few moments.

 

“Damn, didn’t realize one of the terms to getting a girlfriend was becoming the teacher’s pet.” Susie jokingly lamented, Noelle’s face burning as Kris and Berdly both tried to fight back smirks. “What you two!? Wanna fight?! Maybe I owe Alphys for like…”

 

“Not expelling you?” Kris snerked.

 

“Perhaps her patience when you pulverized the desk in your and Kris’s project?” Berdly joked as well, Susie roaring at both of them.

 

“MAYBE I JUST REALLY LIKE THE CHALK SHE LEFT OUT! I’LL KICK BOTH YOUR ASSES!”

 

“And maybe mine-“ Noelle went unheard amongst the laughing and joking as a sharp, but kind ‘ahem’ cut in, the four turning to see Toriel finally emerging from her classroom, the biological mother of one and adoptive of two happy to see the four in seemingly good spirits.

 

“Susie, dear, remember what I said about swearing.”

 

“Right, try to keep it at a minimum.” She looked up awkwardly, but damn if Toriel’s words hadn’t been having an effect on her. “These two clowns just think that they’re real funny.” She opted to noogie Kris, who quickly broke out of it, Toriel chuckling.

 

“Well, I’m glad you’re at least working on it.” She smiled thoughtfully to the purple monster. “I hope things went well with Mr. Pricket; I actually shared a training class with him many years ago in Ebott City when I was getting my teaching license. I know that he can be… ‘intense’… but he means well.”

 

“You… could definitely say that.” Noelle tried to hide the nervousness in her voice. She knew how much not stressing out Toriel meant to Kris… especially given that their mother was but a few weeks into her promised sobriety…

 

“Well, I have an inkling as to what the four of you might be up to, so I won’t keep you any longer. It’s a session for myself and Asgore tonight, so I left pizza money on the counter for you and Susie, Kris.” She walked forward and hugged her human child as she spoke. Once, Kris used to be embarrassed by this… but lately… it’d been nice to have them again, especially today. She opened her arms to Susie, who was still trying to get better about the whole affection thing…

 

And clearly, some progress showed as Susie gave Toriel a one-armed hug in return. “Noelle, Berdly, if you’d like, you can join Kris and Susie for dinner. I’ll let you four get to it now. Take care, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” She joked on the last bit, Berdly and Noelle calling out to thank her as the four were left alone in the hallway.

 

“Man, Pizza on a Monday night after the hell we went through today? SIGN ME UP!” Susie hollered joyfully as the four finally stood in front of the supply closet door.

 

“I’ll admit, it sounds like a nice reprieve. We could order it and have our homework done by the time it arrives.” Berdly smartly quipped Kris nodding as it sounded like they had a plan.

 

“Ready, everyone?” Noelle looked back as she stepped up to the door; it was her turn to open it… not that the turns really mattered today, given they all wanted to truly put Pricket out of their minds for as long as they could.

 

With three nods, Noelle pushed the doors open, a black void staring back at the four Lightner-members of the Fun Gang…

 

And without hesitation, the friend group leapt in, the doors slamming shut behind them not even seconds later. And lucky for them as well, given Pricket was just a few seconds too late leaving Alphys’s room. The last thing any of them needed was someone like him finding the Dark World.

 

…or re-opening old wounds in them all.

 

---

 

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A.N:

I’m sorry that Chapter 2 took so long to get wrote! I’ve been dealing with a lot in my personal life lately, between desperately trying to find a new job and other obligations that it can be tough to sit down and crank out a chapter, no matter how short/long.

 

That said, I hope Chapter 2 was just as enjoyable as Chapter 1! I promise, there’s a LOT of angst in the future for this story, long as I continue to have the motivation to write it. (Also don’t worry Pricket won’t find the Dark World, but damn if he isn’t gonna hurt our heroes in other ways.)

 

Anyhoo, if anyone wants to see my take on a Deltarune where Berdly and Noelle have a larger presence (as shown in this story)… I’ll write it if enough folks want it.

 

Til next time, Toodles!

Chapter 3: Respite

Summary:

Respite - /ˈrespət/

noun

a short period of rest/relief from one's troubles or worries.

In other words, the fun gang gets a break from Pricket and vise-versa.

             Around the four of them, the sounds of their transformation sounded as wind created by gravity whipped at them not too aggressively.

            “Brace myself… brace myself…!” Berdly still struggled with the landing… ironic given that he was an avian and had flown more than once in the Dark World. He’d joked back during their time in the Church that the first time, it was because of the rain on his wings, then when entering the Third Sanctuary, he hadn’t expected the drop after Susie’s Dark World just dropped them directly in.

 

            “Just BREATHE!” Susie keeled over and rolled him up the same way she and Kris had gotten used to after they all finished transforming, as if making to dunk Berdly like she had Kris, the ground rushing to meet them.

 

            No matter how they landed, it never hurt, at the very least. Perhaps it was the very nature of transitioning between the two worlds, but not once had falling in, running out, none of that – had it hurt.

 

            Perhaps by the good graces of the Angel was it that the four managed to touch the ground with no hiccups, the four of them landing in different poses before casually rising off the ground.

 

            And as if on cue-

 

            “Hello everyone!” Waiting just ahead of them, outside of the pillar of light that washed down from the Light World was Ralsei. As always, he held his smile, ever genuine as he waved to his four friends. “I’m glad you came by today; I’ve been making progress on December’s arm!”

 

            “Wait, really?” Noelle surged forward, now directly in front of the goat-like Darkner. “When did she come in? How come we didn’t see her.”

 

            “Figured there had to be a reason that she and Azzy offered to help mom bring snacks in for the preschoolers.” Kris shrugged as they spoke. “Could’ve slipped in at any time.”

 

            “Kris is correct! Your sister had the time for me to try again today, and I can see a little more color in her arm.” Ralsei explained with a smile. “Although, given you all didn’t know she was here before coming, might I ask what brought you all in today? Of course, not that there’s nothing wrong with you visiting any time, any day as long as it doesn’t interrupt your studies, or-“

 

            “We get it, buster.” Susie plopped a hand on Ralsei’s shoulder, trying for a grin as the subject of the day’s classes came back to everyone’s minds. “You wanna tell him, Kris?” Susie eyed their leader, Kris unable to directly look at them. They started fidgeting with their chest plate, which was a sign for someone else to speak up. “Arright… so, Alphys was gone today – sick or something. We had a substitute named PRICKHEAD-“

 

            “SUSIE!” Ralsei didn’t like swearing, even though it was something he was finally guilty of as of a few weeks ago, but when he saw Kris, Berdly and Noelle snicker, he settled a little. “Surely, that’s not actually the substitute’s name… right?”

 

            “No, but she’s close. His name is Mr. Pricket, and he’s a real hothead for names.” Berdly scoffed hard, thinking about how his own full name had been thrown around. His mom had used that to instill the fear of the Angel into him when he was too loud at night gaming plenty of times when he was younger.

 

            “He… he dead-named Kris all day.” Noelle whispered quietly. It was an uncomfortable feeling sitting deep within her gut… especially given she had walked a similar journey to Kris. “And he kept referring to them as ‘he’, despite everyone trying to politely correct him.”

 

            Without question or needing prompting, Ralsei marched straight up to Kris. He didn’t even need to open his arms before the blue human wrapped their arms around him. It was rare for Kris to cry; last any of them had seen it was when they saved the worlds, before that… even Noelle couldn’t fully recall.

 

            But… right now, they were close. Ralsei silently hugged them as Kris trembled in his arms. Susie, to the best of her ability, let herself get pulled into a group hug, Noelle joining, followed lastly by Berdly.

 

            “I’m so sorry, Kris.” Ralsei was soft-spoken as the hug eventually dispersed. “I… know how much it hurt when The Knight did that, so I can’t… I can’t even begin to imagine what a whole day of it was like.” Ralsei looked down. “If there’s anything I can do at all, please don’t hesitate to tell me!” His eyes shot right back up, a helpful and hopeful look in them as he spoke to Kris.

 

            “Thanks.” They spoke as they tried to quickly recollect themselves. “I just wanna get it out of my head, so that’s why we all came here.” Kris explained.

 

            “You don’t have to thank me. Why don’t we head to the castle so you all can see December and Asriel? I’ll even get us all a snack made.” That one made Susie really excited, the purple girl gnashing her teeth and throwing a fist in the air.

 

            “HELL YEAH!”

 

---

 

            Silently, Pricket found himself musing over the files of his students. He’d managed to catch Toriel before she had pulled out, and despite being in a hurry to get to wherever she had to go, Pricket had more than graciously convinced her to allow him to borrow the files, as rather unfortunately, sometime before the final bell, Toriel had gotten confirmation that Alphys would be out sick for longer than anticipated.

 

            “Given I’ll have to extend my stay, I feel it prevalent to have a better read up on my charges.” Pricket’s words had almost been oily in their delivery, but regardless, Toriel had given him what he wanted.

 

            Currently, he was sat in the room he’d been provided by his actual school at Home Town’s Inn, placed on the Eastern-most part of the town, which is where he happened to drive in from and where the majority of businesses were located. Quietly, he sipped on the hotel-quality coffee as he eyeballed Khrishtof’s report with his full attention.

 

            Of course, he blatantly ignored the highlighted name and gender change that was inside the file; that was complete and utter rubbish; a façade, a shield. Quietly, he flipped the page. The boy got well enough marks; an average B-Student in all his topics, bar a nasty fall-off several years ago where Khrishtof had numerous absences and his grades dipped down to C-‘s; which were just barely considered passing.

 

            Pricket also took note of a few tardies and even a ‘ditch’ in the recent weeks; it also weirdly aligned with Susie, the man beginning a certain train of thought as he re-opened Susie’s file.

 

            In her youth, she had A’s and B’s, but it was scattered amongst other schools. It started to dip towards middle school down to consistent C-‘s and D’s and an F or two, but in the recent couple weeks, an astounding turn-around with a couple B’s and even an A+ on something labelled ‘GROUP PROJECT’.

 

            “Most likely a fluke. I wonder if she’s been influencing Khrishtof.” Pricket mused as he put his coffee down for a moment. Seeing the documents in front of him on his room table reminded him of a time once very long ago where he’d been faced with another student similar to Khrishtof!

 

            ‘She’ had confided in him, given that she was his in-the-know student a few semesters ago back in the city. He thought that maybe she had fudged a paper with how fidget-y she’d been, but, no…

 

            “Mr. Pricket, sir… I’ve talked with my friends about it already, but… I’ve realized that… I’m trans. I know that you’ve referred to me as Rebecca for two years now, but… if you could refer to me as Drayden, and… he/him… it’d mean the world to me!” How fool-heartedly passionate she’d been.

 

            “Go on for the day, Rebecca.” Had been all he’d said to her. He knew a Rebecca, not a Drayden. To him, transitioning was dodging, avoiding a problem; hiding your true self behind a façade. You accepted the hand life dealt you; you had no right to change the course god put you on, regardless of circumstance.

 

            From that point, he’d seen less and less of Rebecca; he figured she’d come around eventually… until she stopped altogether. Monitoring lunch one day, he’d heard rumors… rumors of a student who took her own life.

 

            It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together, at least, not in Pricket’s eyes; Rebecca caused herself so many more problems by avoiding the root issue that she took the easy way out… another atrocity you shouldn’t commit against the god that gave life.

 

            He’d almost skipped over the bulk of Noelle’s file, more focused on now deciding on what to do for dinner, before an older page towards the back caught his eye.

 

            “Now, what do we have here…” He hummed quietly as he read it over.

 

            “Noah Holiday from herein forth shall be known as Noelle Holiday. She has completed her transition and her return date to school is…” He trailed off in his mind there, Pricket taking a few moments to hum, rather surprised by this turn of events.

 

            Of course, female deer monsters often had much shorter antlers; that should’ve been his clue-in to check sooner. Albeit… transitioning for a monster was a much different process than it was for a human; Pricket could far, far more easily pick out fakers in his crowds of students.

 

            “What to do with this information… what to do…”  He thought aloud. He wanted to get through to Khrishtof; to help him realize who he could be; in his eyes, Noelle was a lost cause; if the literal Mayor of Hometown had approved it despite what he figured would be easily findable negative press… there was no saving Noah from himself.

 

            Then, something occurred to him; Khrishtof’s friends had made a very big deal of trying to make Pricket address ‘them’ properly. He had bit his tongue and been courteous, but… as a teacher with a respectable record, he would go far to see his students succeed.

 

            Of course, this was the years of conditioning in his brain doing mental gymnastics to justify the repeated dead-naming and misgendering of a human child with a traumatic past who only more recently started becoming comfortable with themselves again after years of turmoil… but even if Pricket knew that now, it wouldn’t make a difference.

 

            “Khrishtof… there might be hope for you yet.” Pricket hummed as he closed the files. Imagine the kind of star teacher he’d be viewed as if he made a success story out of a town like this!

 

 

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A.N:

Another chapter, oh baby! (Also, sorry to edge you all with Dess and Asriel; I promise that they won’t be just shunted to the wayside. Pricket’s just the kind of villain that has me wanting to write more of him for that inevitable defeat and catharsis.)

 

Now, all that said…

 

I’m in a really bad bind in my personal life right now… and I need to keep holding on. To make a super long story short, I unfairly lost my job two months ago now, and at least 200 applications later, 30 some odd interviews, ghostings and calls later… I’ve got nothing to show for it.

 

Everyone’s feedback means so much to me; knowing there’s people who care for what words I put to paper… it means a lot.

 

If this fic continues to get support, when I finish it out, I want to give you all my take on Deltarune: Altered Prophecy (working title, my take on Noelle and Berdly being members of the Fun Gang).

 

Til’ next time, Toodles!