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Kris knew exactly what was going to happen the moment Carol stopped them at the door with an icy hand on their shoulder. No, they’d known what would happen from the moment they’d dialled that number on their phone. From the moment they’d stepped inside the Holiday mansion.
It’s been a while since we last saw each other, Carol told them. Her tone was light and pleasant, but she may as well have been pouring a bucket of ice water down the back of Kris’ hoodie. Let’s have a quick catch-up in private.
The SOUL wasn’t so lucky. In any other situation, that might’ve been almost funny. Kris would’ve felt vindictive that the tables had turned, that it was them forcing the SOUL through something they didn’t want to do, for once…but there was nothing funny about this.
At least the SOUL was smart enough not to protest.
It was Kris that dragged the hunk of meat they called their body out of the front door, after. The SOUL was frozen in shock, but it was far from Kris’ first time picking themself back up, and they knew how to put one trembling foot in front of the other, out into the afternoon sunlight. Despite the sweat drying underneath their clothes, they felt cold.
Susie and Asgore were still outside the Holiday mansion. Susie sat on the white stone steps defiantly, shovelling down cheese crackers and barely concealing her agitation, while Asgore talked lightly at her. Probably something about flowers, or a story from Kris’ childhood. They were both none the wiser to what’d just transpired, behind closed doors and drawn curtains.
The moment Susie saw Kris, she stood up. “Took you long enough,” she grumbled. “What’d the frigid old cow want with you?”
Kris shook their head, their way of saying, Not much. They couldn’t really speak right now—not that they wanted to—and they doubted that the SOUL could, either.
“Now, now, Susie,” Asgore interjected gently. “Carol is like family. I’m sure she and Kris were just having a nice little chat.”
Susie glanced at Kris, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. Kris nodded mechanically. It wasn’t like Asgore had said anything wrong.
“Well, whatever,” Susie huffed, rolling her eyes. “Here, Kris, I saved you a snack.” She handed Kris a single cracker: the last remaining one from the tray, the rest devoured by goat and dragon alike. Despite not feeling particularly hungry—less than they usually did, anyway—Kris’ lips twitched in a smile as they pocketed the offering. They’d munch on it later.
Asgore ruffled Kris’ hair with his large hand, oblivious to Kris’—the SOUL’s?—instinctive flinch away. “You two should run along. It’s a lovely day out; why not spend some time at the lake?”
“Yeah, sure,” Susie said. “Not like we got much else planned for today.”
She stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets and stormed off, Kris trailing behind her. The SOUL seemed to have recovered enough to pilot their body again, walking them at a pace that kept them up with Susie’s stride.
They didn’t look back at the Holiday mansion. Kris was sure Noelle was watching them leave from one of the windows, but they also knew if they saw her face right now, they’d resent her. Hate her for growing up somewhere so cold and coming out of it so normal. Untouched. Innocent. Not like Kris.
Noelle was the last person Kris could—or wanted to—hate. She didn’t deserve it. She wasn’t like Kris, and it was better that way.
It wasn’t until they were out of Asgore’s earshot and walking through the autumn trees that Susie started to talk, airing her frustrations. She reluctantly admitted she hadn’t found any useful clues, only caught a glimpse of the code hidden inside the guitar. Hearing that filled Kris with as much relief as it did guilt. At least one thing had gone their way today.
“I didn’t even get the chance to write it down or anything,” Susie groused. “What about you? Did Noelle’s mom let something slip when she talked to you?”
Kris froze.
Susie kept walking ahead until she realized Kris wasn’t following her, and she quickly made her way back to their side. “Kris?” she asked, peering at them with concern. “You good?”
Kris clenched their teeth, caught between nodding or shaking their head. Carol had talked to them, but they hadn’t even been listening, they’d just—they’d—
Susie raised a careful hand to Kris’ head, pushing aside their long bangs like curtains to get a better look at their face. “Oh, shit,” she hissed. “Fuck—I’m sorry, Kris, I didn’t even realize—”
She started to scrub at their face with her sleeve, dampening it, and only then did Kris realize they’d been crying for some time, now. Why were they crying? They hadn’t cried in so long. They hadn’t cried since the first time Carol had…or was it the SOUL who was crying? Kris didn’t know. They couldn’t tell any more. The longer the SOUL shared a body with them, the less Kris could separate their thoughts and actions from the SOUL’s.
Kris—the SOUL—one of them reached a feeble hand out to Susie, probably to clutch at her jacket, and she grasped it tightly in her own. Her tough dragon skin was so warm.
“‘Carol is lovely when you get to know her’, my ass,” Susie growled, showing her fangs. “She said something to you, too, didn’t she? Dammit—if she wasn’t Noelle’s mom, I’d rip her face off.”
Susie didn’t know the whole of it, not at all, but Kris found themself smiling anyway. They didn’t deserve someone like her as a friend, yet they couldn’t stop feeling grateful she was here.
Warmth enveloped both of Kris’ hands as Susie held them. “Listen, we can—we don’t have to keep looking for clues right now,” she was saying. “The Knight’s not gonna do anything in the middle of day like this, right? So, let’s just go to, like, the diner or something—I don’t have much money, but I’ve got enough to buy you a drink. Or we can go to Castle Town, catch up with Ralsei—he’ll surely make us cake if we ask. You’d like that, right? Food makes everything better, filling or not—”
Kris breathed a shaky little laugh, catching Susie off-guard. She blushed, then quickly covered her surprise up with a sharp grin.
“C’mon, then,” Susie said, pulling them along by the hand. Kris didn’t hesitate to follow her.
Susie stuck to their side like glue, talking out loud as if to distract them from their own thoughts. Recounting some of the things Noelle had told her. Admitting she had heard Kris playing the piano in the kitchen. “Your mom was telling me at church that you were pretty good,” Susie said, “but I didn’t really take it seriously ‘til I heard you for real…”
Kris said nothing, but Susie wasn’t expecting them to, and that relieved them more than they could express. They simply basked in her warmth and the safety of her presence as they walked, letting the ice that had gathered in their chest melt away.