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A shrewd and abrasive politician. That was how most of Hometown knew their mayor Carol Holiday. She was a cold woman, conservative both ideologically and in temperament, who focused most of her attention on her mayoral duties. What she lacked in charisma and authentically connecting to citizens, she made up for with her personal fortune and experience. Her political allies argued that her distaste for photo-ops and rallies meant she could better focus on real issues facing the city. Her critics quietly bemoaned that she had successfully managed to scare away any real challengers. In any case, she would comfortably win re-election every four years.
Working for Carol Holiday was only for the most auspicious of political science majors and those with a steel cold demeanor that could withstand the mayor's frequent outbursts. Most of her staff checked off both. Asriel Dreemurr had neither. Asriel agreed with almost nothing when it came to policy and he had no future plans to get involved in politics. As such he was prone to frequent mistakes which essentially forced the intern to bare the brunt of most of Carol's frustrations and sharp criticisms. The only reason he had this job, and the only reason he was able to keep this job, was because of the longstanding relationship between the Holiday and Dreemurr families.
His summer internship was far from prestigious. Most of his day consisted of sorting through the seemingly endless stacks of paperwork, answering phone calls, and coffee runs. He never had a moment to himself. When he wasn't getting yelled at, Carol would be leering over at him from her desk with the stern icy stare she was known for. It was an uncomfortable feeling but Asriel kept quiet and focused on combing through budget reports and logging minutes of city council meetings.
The monotony of his daily tasks allowed him to be perceptive of shifts in Carol's behavior. At first Asriel chalked up the switch to wearing sleeveless pantsuits around the office to the heat. The shorter miniskirts and lower cut tops were harder to explain. The change was gradual over the past month which made Asriel wonder if others had noticed or if they all had a silent agreement to not bring up that Carol was showing off more and more of her fur with each passing week. Asriel wouldn't dare to bring it up out loud, preferring to keep his nose down in paperwork like he was supposed to.
It didn't stop him from wondering about Carol though. It was a strange contrast seeing her dress more immodestly while keeping the same cold professional demeanor. It made him wonder if there could be a way to melt that icy exterior of hers that she had put up for so many years. From what he remembered of her back when he was a kid, she was always career focused, overbearing, and protective. But it used to come from a place of care for her family that she was always eager to show. She always had her arms wrapped around Rudy or wiping dirt off of Dess's face. Always doting words of affection that Rudy would be charmed by and Dess would be embarrassed by. All of that warmth seemingly went away after Dess's disappearance.
He didn't like to be reminded of that day. To him, Dess's disappearance marked the loss of his childhood. Forced to mature early and try and be optimistic and stoic for the sake of Kris and Noelle. With how attached Kris had been to him, he didn't have much of a choice. And once his parents got divorced, Asriel became the de facto man of the house, a role which he felt ill prepared for and uncomfortable with.
Part of him didn't even want to come back to Hometown over the summer. College at least provided an opportunity for an escape, to be in a place where he wasn't reminded of his missing ex-girlfriend at every corner. At least, in theory it would. In practice, he was floundering through his classes and spent most of the remaining parts of the day cooped up in his room. He couldn't make any new friends, let alone new romantic partners, which he wasn't even sure if he wanted. At least Carol's strictness gave him some sort of structure instead of aimless moping. Maybe that was why he agreed to do this in the first place. Even with his frequent errors, just showing up every day meant he was better at being an intern than being a student.
Asriel didn't have much else going on that summer besides his internship. Once his time spent at town hall was over, he would come home, eat dinner with his mom and Kris around the broken television set, and play video games with Kris watching until they both tired themselves out. He would manually set his alarm every night as to not be late, as Carol refused to tolerate tardiness, and do the same things all over again the following day.
The only thing different about tonight was Asriel forgetting his phone. He didn't notice until it came time to set his alarm, since that was just about the only reason he used his phone nowadays. Asriel sighed as he scrounged around his room while Kris was sleeping to try and find it. When he couldn't find it anywhere, he had a realization that the last time he remembered having it on him was in Carol's office.
He groaned as he grabbed his house keys and made his way over to city hall, hoping that retrieving his phone wouldn't take long and that he could be in and out of the house without either his mom or Kris noticing. He always found it odd how silent this town seemed to get at night. His college town had a bustling nightlife but Hometown would always be… dead. No stores open, no townsfolk out, just another eerie reminder that nobody wanted to end up like Dess. Or at least, that's how Asriel chose to see it.
Dess had taught him how to pick locks with a bobby pin. A timid goat like him didn't get much use out of it, but breaking into city hall past public visitation hours would ensure his skills didn't go to waste. With how little crime there was in Hometown, city hall didn't have the need for full time security. Or at least, the city council seemed to think so, as they would frequently butt heads with Carol over how much Carol spent on public security measures.
Asriel had expected to be the only person in the building but was immediately proven wrong by the sound of a woman's voice.
"Who sent you? Are you trying to wiretap my office? I will have you detained and arrested in an instant, and if you so much as lay a finger on me, I will not hesitate to exercise my right to the second amendment, you understand me?" Carol shouted in between fits of hiccupping.
"I-it's just me! Asriel! I-I left my phone in your office, ma'am! I didn't realize you'd still be here!" Asriel managed to squeak in response.
"Ah. The Dreemurr's son. Of course. Well, come in and gather your belongings. Do not carelessly leave behind items or startle me in my office past opening hours again," she said sternly.
Asriel apprehensively made his way into Carol's office. She had been wearing the same low cut white top and miniskirt combination from that morning, only with the buttons not done. She had been drinking from an expensive looking bottle of red wine. He quickly averted his eyes, knowing that he was not supposed to see Carol in this state.
He should have exited the office immediately upon grabbing his phone. However, one final glance at Carol made him notice her makeup looked runny. She had been crying. It was the middle of the night and the mayor of Hometown was wine drunk and crying alone in her office. He couldn't just leave without saying anything.
"…Um, is there a reason you're at the office this late?" Asriel managed to ask.
"Why do you want to know?" Carol asked in response, taking another sip of her wine.
"Sorry. I don't mean to intrude on anything," Asriel apologized, grabbing his phone and walking back towards the door.
"I am not done talking to you," Carol interrupted. "Sit," she motioned to a nearby chair.
Asriel did as he was told. Carol reached underneath her desk and pulled out another glass to pour more wine into, handing it off to Asriel.
"Mayor Holiday, I'm only nineteen. I can't drink this," he said nervously.
"It's wine, Asriel. You drink it at church. Have some," she insisted.
Asriel stared down the glass and cautiously tasted it. He didn't like the taste, having never tasted alcohol before now, but he also didn't want to offend by showing his dislike.
"It's good," he mumbled halfheartedly.
"Hmph," Carol sneered. "You hate it."
"I-I'm sorry?" Asriel responded in shock. "I don't… really like the taste of alcohol."
"Then why did you tell me it's good?" Carol asked, staring him down.
"I… I'm just trying to be polite."
"I find niceties and white lies to be an insult to both of us," Carol stated, hiccupping from the wine once more. "You do not have to try and placate me just because I am your boss. You are to answer me honestly and directly."
"Yes ma'am," Asriel nodded.
"Now, why do you want to know why I am still at my office?" Carol asked.
"Well… you're um…" Asriel nervously glanced down at Carol's still unbuttoned blouse and at the glass of wine she was drinking from. "I just… thought I'd check in. Are you okay?"
Carol let out an uncomfortable sounding laugh. "You know, I think you are the first person to ask me that since Rudy passed. Isn't that sad? Everyone assumes because I can bring myself to do my job, that I must be doing alright."
Asriel was never any good at talking about emotions. He took another sip of his wine.
"I can not stand to be in my bedroom anymore. A king sized mattress makes you feel small when there is nobody else in it. Not to mention all the family portraits on the walls and on my nightstand. Even so much at glancing at them damn near brings me to tears but the thought of taking them down makes me sick to my stomach."
Carol stopped to finished her drink. "I believe that answers your question."
"I get it," Asriel sighed. "It's hard for me to even be here. Every little thing reminds me of her and I… I can't…"
Asriel drank the rest of his glass, downing it all in one gulp. Carol looked on with a stoic expression, although he could sense he was being given her sympathies.
"I have always thought that you are good for December," Carol said after a while. "Angel knows she could use more guidance from the church."
Asriel sighed. "I don't know. Of course I want everyone to receive the light of the Angel but… it wouldn't have felt like her if she went to church every Sunday. Or stayed out of trouble. I really admired how carefree she was."
"December is the only one who is able to tell me no," Carol said. "Even though I know I am right, and it provides me zero solace to have had my concerns for her safety be proven correct, I am still proud of my daughter for being able to stand up for herself. Not everyone learns that."
Asriel nodded along. It was nice to be in the company of someone he could openly talk about missing Dess with. Dess may as well have never existed to Bratty, Catty, and Pizzapants the way they never wanted to talk about her. Kris would go mute every time Dess got brought up. And since Kris never talked to Noelle anymore, Asriel didn't either.
"I hope wherever she is she's happy," Asriel finally said after a while. "Rudy too."
Carol didn't give a response, instead choosing to pour more wine into their respective cups. Asriel still hated the taste but chose to drink anyway.
"Rudy was always an optimist. Stubbornly so. He insisted everything was fine in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And he was so charming that you would start to believe it too. His laughter helped assure me things would be okay. That his treatment was working just fine. That December will come home," Carol spoke.
She could feel herself getting nauseous. Without Rudy's insistence, she didn't have much reason to believe that her eldest daughter could still be alive anymore. And yet she couldn't bring herself to fully internalize that she was gone either.
"Asriel. Do you consider yourself an optimist?" she asked.
"I… I try to see the best in others. In circumstances," he replied.
"I suppose that is commendable," Carol said. "All I ask is you don't let it kill you."
Asriel took another sip from his cup. He'd never been drunk before and he wasn't sure if the sick feeling in his stomach came from the alcohol or the commiserating.
"Have you been seeing anyone else?" Carol asked.
The question made Asriel's heart sink. He hadn't, of course. In his mind, no woman could ever compare to how Dess made him feel. The two spent countless nights together where they would just lie next to each other and talk. They were never physically intimate but whatever connection and spark they had felt stronger than any feeling sex could provide. But he also knew he couldn't be stuck on his first crush forever. All the college parties he attended just made him feel more isolated than ever. Awkwardly standing in the corner sipping soda, never able to say a word to anybody else. He doubted anyone ever noticed him.
"No ma'am. I haven't," he responded.
"I think it may be best if you do," Carol weakly said.
Asriel's heart sank further. He hated knowing that she was right.
"I have been lying to myself for far too long," Carol started to speak while on the verge of tears. "Rudy was wrong. December, if she is even still alive, is not coming back here. We must accept that she is gone. You are a compassionate and handsome young man, you will not have trouble finding someone else."
Both of them were crying now, although each of them hid their face from the other to avoid showing it.
"How?" Asriel asked. "How can I move on?"
"You're asking a woman who spends her nights drinking alone in her office. I am not in a position to be giving advice," Carol stated dryly.
"I… suppose not," Asriel muttered.
Carol turned to face the goat boy again. He really was the closest confidant she had at this point. Someone who knew what it had been like to lose a lover. And he could actually manage a conversation with her. After hearing nothing but attempts to kiss ass for the past several months, she found it refreshing to feel treated as an equal for once.
"But you know," Carol found herself saying. "Perhaps we can be of help to one another."
"How do you mean?" Asriel asked.
Carol reached out to Asriel's face and wiped the tears away from his eyes, her finger lingering on the bottom of his chin. Asriel notably avoided averting his gaze or flinching. He just stared at her with bated breath.
"I am sure you have noticed my change in attire," Carol said. "Rudy knew how to make a woman feel beautiful. You can not fault a woman for trying to recapture that feeling."
Asriel had a history of being oblivious to Dess's flirting but he knew exactly where this was going.
"…Is this really a good idea?" he asked hesitantly.
"No. It isn't," Carol replied in no uncertain terms. "But it beats spending another night alone replaying the same memories in your head."
Asriel knew exactly what that was like. He replayed all the times he could have told Dess exactly what she meant to him over and over. He closed his eyes to picture her once more, still imagining her as beautiful and carefree as ever. He had a hard time remembering her face when he had his eyes open and he was worried that if he ever went a day without closing his eyes to remember her, he would forget for good.
After a little while, he felt another pair of lips pressed against his. Carol's lips were surprisingly soft. The faint taste of peppermint reminded him of Dess, who he was still picturing in his head. He instinctively moved his arms around Carol's body. The lack of comfort and warmth was enough for him to snap back to reality and confront who he was actually kissing.
Carol, meanwhile, was picturing her late husband. Her illusion was broken as soon as she felt Asriel's arms around her. Even in his most weakened state, Rudy's arms were strong and whenever he wrapped Carol in an embrace, Carol would feel as if he would never let go. Asriel was of course hesitant. Carol didn't feel any of that same level of desire or passion that she was missing.
They each were staring at one another now. Neither of them had gotten what they had wanted out of this. They were physically incapable of giving the other what they needed. And yet, instead of moving on, they merely closed their eyes once more and kissed again.
Carol took the lead in escalating things further. She took her blouse off and guided Asriel's hands towards her exposed chest. His movements were shy, and without Carol's help they probably would have been nonexistent.
"You're inexperienced, aren't you?" Carol asked.
"…Yes ma'am," he replied. "I haven't exactly… done this before."
"I see," she said. "Well, I suppose it makes sense I would have to teach you some things then."
She fully undressed in front of Asriel and sat on top of her desk. Asriel didn't know what to make of the sight. Carol was his boss. The mother of his teenage crush. And now she was fully exposed in front of him, encouraging him to caress her body.
"Thighs."
Carol only had to say one word to get what she wanted. Asriel understood her command and started massaging her thighs. As his hands made his way back up towards her chest, he cautiously began to grope her breasts.
"You can press down harder," Carol insisted. "I am not some weak little thing. I am a grown woman."
Asriel nodded and squeezed them with more intensity. He did his best to shut down the part of his brain that was screaming at him over how wrong this was. He just gave into what the throbbing member in his pants wanted and started gripping down onto Carol.
"Lower," Carol said after Asriel continued to play with her breasts for a while.
He moved his hands closer to Carol's crotch. He teased the areas around it, nervous to start inserting his fingers inside of her. Carol smiled, a rare sight to be certain, as Asriel primed her for the taking. He slowly started fingering her, eliciting the faintest of bleats from Carol. She did her best to make sure Asriel didn't hear her moan.
"Put your thumb on my clitoris," Carol pleaded.
Asriel wasn't quite sure of what to do. Lacking in anatomical knowledge of the other sex, he awkwardly moved his thumb around hoping to stimulate Carol in the way she had wanted. The smile on Carol's face faded as it became abundantly clear Asriel didn't know what he was doing.
"Oh for fuck's sake, I have to do everything in this office, don't I?" she scoffed.
She grabbed Asriel's hand and moved it to where it needed to go, making sure his thumb was directly on her clitoris per her request.
"You would think a college boy would know a thing or two."
Asriel huffed in response and began thumbing at her clit. Carol's moans became harder to stifle now that her needs were fully being met. She always hated how high pitched they were. A politician of her power and stature reduced to sounding like a porn star. But oh, how she missed the pleasure that came with it. Given Rudy's breathing problems in the lead up to his passing, the two hadn't been intimate in a long time. She hadn't realized just how much she had been needing this.
"Be a gentleman, Asriel. Start using your mouth."
Asriel got down to his knees as Carol spread her legs further open. He stuck his face in, gently beginning to lick Carol's clit. He made circles with his tongue, a move that caused Carol to moan some more. She reached out to shove his face in deeper, making sure that he fully worked his tongue. As Carol kept moaning, Asriel closed his eyes once more and pictured Dess. That motivated the young goat, as he ramped up the pace. Carol twitched as she could feel herself losing control. She let out a final moan as she came, giving Asriel his first taste of a woman's release.
He pulled away to catch his breath, wiping his mouth clean with the sleeve of his sweater. Carol was already getting dressed. The two exchanged awkward glances afterwards.
"Do not say a word of this to anyone," Carol insisted.
"Of course not, ma'am," Asriel said.
"I am glad we have a mutual understanding," Carol said. "I suppose we should head our separate ways."
"Wait," Asriel rebutted. "Um… if you feel lonely in your bed, maybe I could…"
Carol didn't expect that Asriel would want to continue their escapades. Honestly, she wasn't sure she particularly wanted to. But she supposed that it was fair that Asriel joined her for the night. She just had to be vigilant that they wouldn't get caught.
"Alright. But report back to your mother's house before the morning. I do not want Toriel questioning me about your whereabouts," Carol said.
"Yes ma'am," Asriel nodded.
The two took another moment to compose themselves before heading back, each still tipsy from the alcohol. Asriel offered his hand for Carol to hold as they walked back to her manor. She declined.
The night was still as quiet as ever. Nobody would flash their lights on them. Nobody would catch a glimpse of the mayor and her intern from their car. It would have been the biggest political scandal in Hometown history had anyone witnessed it.
Asriel tailed behind Carol as she unlocked the door and entered her home. She could hear faint murmurs coming from Noelle's room as they walked up the stairs.
"Shit, is that your mom?"
"Shh! Just stay quiet! Maybe she won't notice!"
Carol scowled. Her daughter had gone behind her back to invite that purple brute to her bedroom. On any other night, she would furiously barge into Noelle's room and put a stop to this immediately. However, she knew that she was in no position to chastise Noelle, especially as the man she brought home was barely any older than her. So just this once, Carol sighed and let her daughter get away with disobeying her.
She ignored the hushed laughter and whispers as she brought Asriel to her bedroom. Asriel disrobed down to his underwear while Carol freshened up in her bathroom. It was strange for Asriel to be in Carol's bedroom. He had spent so much time in the living room, the kitchen, Dess's room, even Noelle's room when he had to watch over her and Kris. But he had never been in Carol's bedroom before. Carol didn't even turn the light on, which made it all the more mysterious. He crawled into her bed.
Carol crawled next to him. She had expected him to ask if she would get him off but instead all he did was cuddle up next to her and drowsily whisper "goodnight." She would let him hold onto her that night. For a brief moment when she closed her eyes, she almost convinced herself that things felt okay.
She didn't get much sleep that night. Asriel wouldn't either, as it turned out. He woke up around four in the morning. Carol was already awake when he turned to her to have someone to talk to.
"Can't sleep," he muttered.
"You can pour yourself some coffee on your way out. Just do not wake my daughter up," Carol responded.
"…Okay," Asriel softly spoke. "Can we talk first?"
"I hate that question. Are we not already talking? Why even bother to ask me that? Speak what's on your mind."
"Um. Alright. I just… feel weird," he mumbled.
"You are going to have to be more specific than that if you want this conversation to go anywhere," Carol said with a sigh.
"Dess would kill me and then herself if she ever found out about this," he said. "So shouldn't I feel like… regret? Anger? Sadness? Disgust? Something?" he asked. "Is it normal to just… not feel anything afterwards?"
Carol let out another awkward laugh. "Some days you feel everything too much. Some days you feel nothing at all. That's just life," Carol said.
Asriel nodded. He yawned and got out of bed, putting his clothes from the previous night back on and making sure he had his phone and keys. Part of him wanted to reach out and ask for a hug. The other part of him told him that would make things more awkward than they already were. Carol hadn't been the hugging type in years and she wasn't about to start now.
"…Thanks," he said as he finished getting dressed. "For being there. If you ever need someone to talk to again just… let me know, I guess."
"See you at my office later," Carol said plainly.
He carefully opened the door to Carol's bedroom, making sure to not make a sound. He closed the door behind him and made his way down the stairs. He took a moment to glance back at the Holiday living room. It looked the same as it always had. Only Dess and him would never sit on the couch together again. Rudy would never pop in to ask the two lovebirds if they wanted snacks again. Dess would never correct him that they weren't like that again. Asriel would never notice her faint blush again.
If he stood in this home for any longer, he would start to cry. He hurried out the front door, hoping he wasn't too loud. Asriel fought back tears on his walk back to his home. He didn't know if feeling everything or if feeling nothing was worse.
It wasn't long before Asriel was standing in front of his front door again. He silently said a prayer to the Angel before entering, hoping his mom wouldn't be awake to catch him. Thankfully, she stayed asleep. His little sibling hadn't, however. When he entered his bedroom, he found Kris wide awake.
"Having trouble sleeping?" Asriel whispered.
Kris nodded.
"Me too. Just got back from… a walk. Needed to clear my head," he said, hoping that Kris hadn't been awake for too long. "You want to talk about it?" he asked, sitting down next to their sibling on their bed and placing a comforting arm around them.
"I miss Dess," Kris whispered.
Asriel couldn't bring himself to say anything in response, merely weeping into Kris's shoulder.