Work Text:
Hot.
Sweltering hot.
Boiling hot.
Scorching beyond any and all definitions of the word, enough that you could fry an egg on any and all available surfaces. That’s the only one could possibly describe THIS particular dark world. It had started off like any other day, with Kris, Susie, and Noelle all deciding to go out to QC’s for a late dinner. Noelle’s mom wouldn’t be home in time to make dinner, Toriel had gone and fallen asleep early, with Kris too considerate to wake her; and Susie not evne wanting to talk about her parents. The plan had made itself clear. That is, until they found themselves sitting alone in a suspiciously empty diner, their food having been ordered but not arriving for the past half hour.
To say the least, they grew suspicious. They investigated. There was a dark world in the kitchen. Despite Susie’s best attempts to dissuade her, Noelle insisted upon coming along. “It’s fine!” she said. “Nothing will happen!” she said. “The other one wasn’t even that bad!” she tried to tell herself.
Well, that turned out to be wrong. Turns out a kitchen isn’t exactly a safe place to make a dark world. It started off innocently enough, starting off with a trek through a vast, pristine factory of tiled floors and metal walls. Strange darkners calling themselves “vegetoids” kept leaping out at them, but were mostly harmless. They just wanted to be eaten, after all. But as they drew closer and closer to the fountain, traversing past the factory and onto a vast rocky cliffside, they could already feel the heat starting to turn up. Smoke from a far-off Volcano filled the air, with the glowing heat of their incoming trial on the horizon, beating like a heart of death.
But they continued onward, ignorant of the trial they would face and unable to turn back or take a detour. “WARNING: EXTREME HEAT” the sign in front of the area read. Its purpose is...unclear. A giant, sprawling series of vats and pools of lava. Or, at least, it might as well be. So hot that it bubbles and sizzles with every passing second, the splatters threatening to fly up far enough to hit the bridges that have been built over the lava.
Kris, to their credit, continues along the catwalks without much trouble. At least, they don’t show it. But they can’t hide the fact that they’re sweating like a pig, and their movements are starting to falter. Not even halfway through, either. They’ve gone through three water bottles already, and Noelle is almost out. Still, they carry on. Susie, however, is entirely and completely in her zone. Not a care in the world. She almost seems to be enjoying it. An elemental affinity, one would suppose. But Noelle? Well, Reindeer aren’t exactly made for this type of environment. After 15 straight minutes of walking in this agonizing heat, her exposed hooves begin to tap anxiously and threaten to burn against the floor of the catwalks. Every step feels like walking on hot coals. Not quite as shoe-melting, but still extremely uncomfortable. She reaches, hunched over, for the railing to catch her breath, bring her feet off the ground...only to find that the view triggers several of her fears at once, not the least of which being acrophobia. She touches the rail, her hands burn. She recoils slightly, gasping, hooves clacking against the bridge. She accidentally looks down. She realizes just how minimal the safety railings are, just how easy it would be to, even by accident, flip right over them to certain death. All the breath leaves her body as she steps back, firmly planting herself in the center of the walkway, eyes darting around the environment, unsure of where to look.
As she looks around, Susie glances back, “Yo, Noelle? You okay? You’re falling behind. And you look kinda...freaked out.”
Noelle tries to play it off with a smile, but her speech is stifled by her pants for a hint of cooling, “Haa... Uh... Yeah! I’m... I’m, uh.... Okay... Just... Tired, I... Um...” She takes another few steps forward to catch up, clutching her chest, then her shoulders, then fiddling with her hair, pulling it back. It doesn’t help. She has nothing to tie it up with. She stumbles forwards with Susie watching her.
“Uhhh...” Susie continues to stare, “You don’t look good. I know there were a LOT of battles back there, so... You need a minute?”
“(Angel, no!)” Noelle immediately recoils at the thought. “No, no! It’s... It’s okay, let’s...” she gasps for another cool breath “Let’s get out of here... It’s... It’s so...” she gulps, gasps, sighs, all at once, “It’s so hot...”
Susie eyes her down for a moment. Kris stops to see what’s holding them up, looking back at Noelle in particular. Susie then offers, “Hot? Yeah, I guess it kind of is. You’ve got those ice powers, right? Just use those to cool down. You know, cast it on yourself or something.”
Noelle looks like she’s about to get hit by a truck as she looks up at Susie, “...Cast on...myself? Susie, that’s genius!”
And she tries, oh does she try. But every time she attempts to cast the spell, it fizzles out, the ice that forms above her immediately melting into a stream of water that falls onto the catwalk beneath her feet and through the grating to the lava below. She groans and whines, trying again only to get the same effect. But she’s starting to run out of stamina to even cast spells with. She rears up for a big one, to spend all her effort on in hopes that it might help. A cloud of frost begins to coalesce around her as rapidly melting crystals of ice start to form in the air, many falling around her into the lava. She drops to one knee from the effort, trying her best to hold the spell up.
But Kris notices something. A sizzling, bubbling noise from below. They suddenly break their own posture to sprint at noelle and grab her by the hand, pulling her across the catwalk in a hurried sprint back to where they were.
Noelle shouts as her wrist is grappled, “K-Kris!? What are you doing!? I almost—!”
But she’s interrupted by consequences. From the lava below that she was just standing above, an utterly gigantic pillar erupts after a short moment of boiling over. The explosion is clearly audible, a giant sizzling thud followed by a crack as it explodes all at once, then a roaring of flames and popping of exploding bubbles and sparks.
Susie explicates as she leaps backwards out of the splash zone, “What... the hell!?”
But Noelle quickly comes to realize what happened, “Oh. Oh! OH! Oh my gosh! I forgot that... Water and ice and... Oh, Kris, you just saved my life!”
Kris slowly lets go of her wrist and speaks in a quiet, mumbly voice, “Don’t...”
Noelle nods along sadly, “Okay... Sorry, I almost did something really stupid. I don’t know why I didn’t...put those pieces together.”
Kris returns wordlessly to their leader position and continues forwards with the expectation for the others to follow. And they do, after a short hesitation. But of course, that small amount of cold could only last for a short while. In due time, Noelle starts to lag behind again. But she doesn’t make a fuss about it. She just starts walking more slowly. And slower. And slower. Until, eventually, she stops in the center of the walkway with Susie and Kris at least 20 paces ahead of her. She tries, desperately tries to move again, but her body just won’t work with her. It refuses to move, to walk. It stands frozen in the center, unable to approach the railings for fear of their danger. Unable to move. Unable to think straight. She stares off into the distance, the dark sky contrasted by the blindingly bright glow of the lava below. As she continues to try to walk forward, she can’t help but reach out for something. Her voice, weak, pleads, “...Dess? I...wanna go home... Can you...you...carry...”
She takes another step forward, only to stumble and collapse with a heavy thud. The second she does, it rattles the bridge slightly, making Susie startle and whip behind her, “Hey! Who’s there—!?” But instead of an enemy, all she sees is Noelle face-down on the floor, unmoving. Her complexion grows pale as she begins to panic, sprinting at Noelle at full speed. “NOELLE!?” she yells out her name, getting on her knees and rolling her over. “Noelle, wake up! Hey! Don’t fall asleep! You have to get up!” She shakes Noelle’s head side to side, trying to pull her up to her feet again. Noelle’s eyes lazily follow her, still mumbling. She tries to reach up for Susie, repeating herself with a raspy voice, “Dess...I wanna go home... ” She tries to speak again, but her desperate pants and tongue hanging out prevent it.
Kris runs over with Susie, peering over her shoulder to see what’s wrong just in time to be addressed, “Kris! Kris, we’ve gotta get her out of here, she’s burning the hell up! She’s not even making sense anymore, get over here and help me!”
As Kris comes closer, Noelle calls out once more, that name, “Dess...” Kris recoils at the mention. They take a hesitant step back, gritting their teeth subtly, hands shaking.
But Susie scolds them, “DAMMIT, KRIS! HELP ME!” Her voice has never been more desperate, more pleading. Kris can’t help but follow through, swallowing their anxieties and running to their aid.
They lift Noelle up together, when Kris suddenly suggests, “You’re cold blooded...”
Susie looks at them like they’re stupid, “Yeah? And??? How the hell is that...!?”
“Hold her close.”
Susie stares at them for a moment, trying to parse what they mean. But after that brief moment, it hits her. Kris pushes the increasingly limp deer into her, and Susie takes her into her arms like a princess. She holds her close, trying to get her to latch on with what strength and sense she has left. And she does, clinging to Susie as soon as she realizes what’s happening like a terrified beetle around a particularly secure piece of bark. Kris was right, Susie is cold-blooded. Cool to the touch. Like an ice pack in the middle of a desert.
Noelle shudders at the touch. Susie ends up realizing in the process that more skin contact would probably help more, so she struggles but eventually gets her spiked jacket off. Kris handles it with enthusiasm, wearing it for her while she holds onto Noelle for deer life. And to Noelle’s honest surprise, it does help. Another minute of walking awkwardly later, her mind starts to come back to her. Just enough to notice what’s happening. If she felt any better, she’d be freaking out. If she hadn’t had what felt like a near death experience just minutes ago, she’d be acting like a flustered schoolgirl or maybe considering a trip to a therapist. But instead, she’s just lethargic enough to placidly accept the situation and cling tightly, content to enjoy the coolness of Susie’s body.
But Susie isn’t satisfied with that. She continues to call out, “Hey! You alright, Noelle? (Shit, she’s still hot as hell.) Come on, say something!” She tries, but it doesn’t come out. All she does is make a small grunt. Enough to hear. Susie just gets more anxious, “Dammit, stay with us! KRIS, WE NEED TO HURRY!”
But Kris can barely move any faster either. They start lagging too as their sweat starts to catch up with them. The exhaustion of not having eaten anything in a day, no energy. The soul is willing, but the body is weak. And despite her cold-bloodedness, her acclimation to this type of climate, even Susie starts to feel the heat as Noelle’s own body presses against hers and steals all the coldness away. With her last bout of energy, Susie throws away all of her inhibitions with a loud roar and runs forward, picking up kris and carrying them too as she makes the final home stretch charge across the bridge to reach the end of their hell run.
With her own body exhausted as all hell, she tosses Kris to the ground and then gently sets Noelle at her feet, far from the heat. The ground is nice and cool here. She also ends up collapsing right next to her with a series of long, loud, growling gasps. Once she’s caught her breath, she sits back up and calls out, “Kris! You alright?” Kris takes a moment to sit up as well, but they eventually do. Sweating like a stuck pig, but alive. They don’t quite stand up yet. They nod at her, and she goes to Noelle next, “Hey, Noelle? You okay? We’re safe, now.”
But Noelle doesn’t respond. At least, not verbally. Still breathing steadily, but heavily. Her breaths are sharp and shallow, tongue hanging out. Susie immediately jumps to her knees and grabs Noelle’s hands, “H-Hey! Say something! Look at me, Noelle!” She moves Noelle’s head to face her directly, holding both sides of it. Noelle’s eyes wander, eyes half-closed, but they eventually fall on Susie and linger. It calms Susie down a bit, but she’s still panicking, “Shit, shit... We’re out of there, but she’s still not... Why? What the hell am I supposed to do!? I didn’t know it would be this dangerous, I...”
But Kris interjects with two words, “Ice magic.”
Susie looks at Kris like they’re stupid, again, but then it hits her: “...Oh, right! We’re not over lava anymore!” She looks back down at Noelle, grasping her hands together in her own, “Noelle, come on! Just use that spell of yours, you’ll be okay!”
And she tries. She definitely does. She tries to raise her arms up, open her hands, but it’s like trying to lift a tungsten rod with a plastic claw. So Susie helps her. She holds her hands up and out, positions them just like Noelle always does when she casts spells. She tells her, “Come on, do it! I’ll help! Please, try!”
She does. It takes a moment, but she eventually manages to conjure just a small gust of cold silver dust in her palms. Susie looms over her and blows the cold dust into her face, which travels all across her body. She shudders with a satisfying chill. The both of them do. She keeps casting, Susie keeps blowing, until eventually Noelle is finally able to move and speak, if falteringly. “Susie...” she pleads, but can’t finish the sentence. Her throat even sounds like sandpaper.
“Kris.” Susie asks “Water bottle. Got any left?”
Kris pulls a box of juice out of their inventory and hands it over.
“...Good enough.” Susie settles, feeding it to Noelle while holding her closely.
As Noelle slowly begins to regain her strength, devouring the entire juice box in seconds and going for another — the last one — she clings tighter and tighter. After the second, she finally manages to lift herself up just enough to hug Susie, who holds her. The three of them fall silent for a while, Kris watching as Susie cradles Noelle in her cool grasp and helps her to regain her senses. A depressive atmosphere overwhelms them, enough to step away from the other two enough that it doesn’t affect them.
And once Noelle finally gets her ability to act normally back, she distances herself an inch and looks up at Susie, still sporting that signature look of concern, “...Susie? How... How hard did I pass out?”
Susie hugs her again, tighter than before, rocking her back and forth. She can’t say it, but she wants to thank whatever greater force lies beyond them that Noelle is okay. Instead, she stays silent. Scared silent. But she can’t tell anyone, especially Noelle who will blame herself for it. Noelle accepts it wholly, still having only just recovered and still more hot than she’d like. They sit there, listening to each others’ frantic heartbeats and clinging to each other on the ground for a long time before anyone says anything. It’s Susie first, “...Are you okay?”
Noelle nods into her chest, “Yeah.” But as she trails off of one word, it feels like she wants to say more, yet hesitates. And while they sit there, clinging tightly to each other, Kris decides that it’s best they give the two some space. They lie back-first on the ground, spread out like they’re ready to be eaten by crows.
A few minutes pass as Noelle’s breathing calms itself, as she nuzzles herself into Susie’s shoulder, arms and legs wrapped around her like a greedy bug. Susie slips her jacket off just for her, leaving it on the ground while she wraps her thick arms around Noelle’s waist and holds her close as she can. With a whisper, she asks, “You feelin’ better?”
Noelle nods, “You’re so cool...” Two meanings in one. “Can we stay like this forever?”
And as worried as she is, Susie can’t rightly agree to that. She’s too blunt, after all. “What? No. I gotta move eventually.”
Noelle is almost at a loss for words, but quickly assumes that she’s just being oblivious again, “Um, I mean... Aren’t you supposed to... say yes? Like this?”
“...Why?” Susie asks with surprising honesty.
“Because it’s...” Noelle clings tighter, face going red “...romantic?”
Susie drops the practical act and also turns a more reddish shade of pink than normal, “O-Oh. Uh... I guess? We could? Stay like this? A bit longer?”
Noelle giggles gently, rubbing her cheek against Susie’s. Her antlers brush up against Susie’s hair. “Don’t let me go.” she whispers.
Once again, they fall silent and stay like that for a while. Some time later, however, they start to hear a familiar voice closing in. They sound like...grunts? Susie looks up in the direction of the voice and Kris stands back up to face it. Slowly but surely, Ralsei finally shows up, stomping towards the three with an entire cooler on his back that looks about as heavy as it actually is. Susie also stands back up, still holding Noelle, and yells, “RALSEI! WHERE WERE YOU? IT’S BEEN ALMOST AN HOUR!”
When he finally manages to get over to them and slam the cooler on the ground with an exasperated bleat, he explains, “I’m Sorry, Susie. I wasn’t expecting another dark world to pop up so soon, especially not like this! But, I brought plenty of refreshments and snacks!”
Kris opens up the cooler for him, revealing a huge stash of cold water, ice, and frozen treats. They immediately grin. Susie gawks at the cooler, “Whoa. Is that ice cream?” She taps Noelle excitedly, “Hey, hey, don’t fall asleep! Ice cream! And water!”
She immediately perks up, nearly turning her head an entire 180 degrees, “Ice cream? What kind?”
“Chocolate!” Ralsei answers.
Just then, both Susie and Noelle stare at each other in horror, “...Oh no.” She quickly leaps out of Susie’s arms and runs over to Kris as they both yell, “KRIS, STOP!”
But it’s too late. They’ve already broken the ice cream open and started devouring it like a wild animal.
Ralsei simply watches in confusion and a deep, deep concern. Normally, he would eagerly encourage them to seal the fountain, but for now he sits down on the ground, waiting and watching the three as they screw around, just happy that they’re okay.