Chapter Text
“...That sounds like [HELL ON EARTH!!] kid.”
Kris made a noise of agreement. Against their better judgement, they had explained their deal with the mayor to Spamton. Sometimes they weren't even sure of the details themself, but they knew one thing; if Kris didn't comply with her wishes, bad things would happen.
“[[TERRIBLE]] [deals deals deals!!] are all [2%] common in my line of [BUSINESS], but this is a [ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE!].”
He paused to think,
“I can't say I'm not [worried? try-], but you're clearly [RUNNING OUT OF TIME?]. Until we can make a [planning services!] you might have to [[comply.]] with their demands…”
Kris frowned. He didn't sound happy about it either, but they couldn't deny he had a point. With more control away from the Soul, they might be able to actually work out a way to fix everything, but there was no use immediately tipping the mayor off that they were up to something. They growled and put their head in their hands, exhausted. How the hell were they supposed to go about this?
They… kinda didn't want to make the next fountain now. There was something about hearing Spamton while in the light world that made them face what they'd been ignoring; Darkners were people. Sure, Kris treated every darkner they encountered as a person, but the dark world… It was like walking in a dream, with the strange energy of the worlds and the fact they were being puppeted by the Soul, they felt disconnected from it all. Like nothing that happened there had consequences.
Tears built up in their eyes. How the hell were they supposed to fix this?
“[[Kris]],”
They startled slightly, lost in their head,
“We can't [[stop]] it, but we can make it [THREE EASY PAYMENTS!]? The more [friend request accepted!] you have with you, the safer it'll be.”
Kris shook their head, whispering,
“No, I can't…I can't drag anyone else into this. It's my responsibil-”
“With all due [[respect]], [little sponge!]. Don't pull a [ME]. Pushing [[the others]] away never ends well, [100% GUARANTEE!].”
They sighed. Once again, the puppet was right. It sucked, but… they couldn't do this alone. Maybe they couldn't tell anyone about the deal, but they could make things easier in the dark world. Kris had an idea. But first,
“I've been meaning to ask. You're more…lucid. What happened?”
A glitchy chuckle rang out in their mind,
“Not being in [[AH OW OUCH IT BURNS!!]] all the [time] really clears your [head massage coupons], pal.”
Kris nodded. That made sense, they had felt better after just a few minutes of having the Soul muffled, and Spamton had seemed in… a lot of pain in the dark world. Well, it was good he felt better, though they guessed that was mostly due to not being in a body. Having a body sucked ass sometimes. Ignoring the chuckle the puppet let out at that, they decided to get rolling on their idea.
Finally emerging from the bathroom, they approached the kitchen, where they found their mom and Susie getting ready to put the pie in the oven.
“Oh! Kris! You sure took your time in there!”
Toriel giggled.
“Yeah man, what were you doin’ in there? Drinking shampoo?”
Susie cackled. Toriel laughing as well,
“Oh dear, I hope not! Last time we had to get your stomach pumped!”
“WHAT?! Kris, how delicate are humans?! Geez..”
Susie, wide eyed, turned to face Kris while Toriel continued to giggle to herself as she moved the pie tin into the oven.
“Ok, pie should be ready in about 45 minutes, you kiddos want to do anything in the meantime?”
Kris shuffled with nervous energy, wringing their hands,
“Uh. Could I see if… a couple more friends could come over?”
Toriel and Susie both looked at them with surprise, but before Kris could backtrack, the goat monster clapped her hands together in excitement,
“Oh Kris, honey, of course!! Would you like me to prepare some more snacks? Ooh, or-”
“It's ok mom um. I got it.”
Kris gripped their sleeve, shaking slightly. It wasn't that they didn't appreciate her enthusiasm, it was just… overwhelming. Sometimes. Toriel quickly backtracked.
“Of-of course, Kris! Just let me know if you need anything, alright?”
She gave them a sad smile before moving up the stairs to her room. Kris let out a sigh.
“Dude. What's up, you're bein’ weird again.”
Susie was up next to Kris now, hovering her hand above their shoulder with a frown. Ah fuck, they hadn't meant to worry her.
“I'm fine, just… worried about Noelle. and Berdly too I guess.”
Susie stuck her tongue out at that, making Kris laugh,
“Thought I'd invite them over, I dunno…I know this dark world was. A lot. For all of us…”
They shuffled their feet as their voice trailed off, gaze on the kitschy tile of the kitchen floor. They hated that stupid orange tile. Kris looked up as Susie placed her hand on their shoulder.
“Hey man, I think it's a great idea! We can have a movie marathon or something!”
Susie's grin was infectious, and Kris found themself smiling in response.
“Okay, I'll text them then. Do you wanna start looking for movies? I think we have a vhs collection stuffed behind the TV stand somewhere.”
With a sparkle in her eye, Susie ran over to the living room to start shuffling through the collection Kris and Asriel had curated over the years. Lots of kaiju movies and horror movies, with only a couple human movies. Kris didn't like those much.
Pulling out their phone, they made a group chat with Noelle and Berdly. Oh, that reminds them, they need to get Susie's number. Eh, it could wait. It's not like Hometown is that big anyway. If they needed to find her they could just set some chalk out and wait.
“Those your fellow [teens] from today? Will they be [enough bad deals!] you think?”
Well, maybe not, but they were the only people Kris could really call on right now. Not like they had many friends…
“Well you've got more [friend request accepted!]s than me, [[Kris]]!”
They smiled at the puppet's attempt to cheer them up. It would have to be enough. Besides, it would be nice to hang out as a group for a little bit in a normal setting. They'd have to make the fountain tonight, but…well. Kris could enjoy some moments of normalcy.
“It's [ALL ITEMS 70% OFF!] we have, kid.”
Yeah. It's all they have. With a sigh, Kris turned to their phone, having been distracted by the mailman in their head.
“[oops!]”
Group Message:
krisket, holidaygirl1225, smartgenius
krisket: can u guy co.me ovr
krisket: movie maraton
holidaygirl1225: Oh hi Kris!^^ Umm I should be able to, mom is working late again faha.
krisket: :thumbs_up:
krisket: k now thx
holidaygirl1225: Ok ok!! No need to rush me, silly, I'm on my way! X)
krisket: @smartgenius
krisket: @smartgenius
krisket: @smartgenius
smartgenius: Why is my cellular device exploding?!
smartgenius: Oh! Kris! You're asking me… to come over? To your house?
krisket: yea
smartgenius: Egads, what an honor! I will depart to the Dreemurr residence post-haste, my fellow gamer!!
krisket: k
krisket: btw susies here dont b rude/annoygin/etc
holidaygirl1225: S USIE IS THERE??!
krisket: ye
holidaygirl1225: KRIS WHY DIDNT YOU SAY ANYTHING!??!?! MY HAIR ISA MESS AND I HAVENT SHOWRRED AND
holidaygirl1225: YOU FIEND
krisket: lol
krisket: see u in a min
holidaygirl1225: KRIS!!!!!!
Giggling, Kris closed their phone and slid it back into their pocket. Stepping into the living room, they tapped the floor with their foot to get Susie's attention.
“Noelle and Berdly should be here soon. I think.”
“Sick!!,”
Susie grinned,
“There's like a million movies here, I say we just put the TV on to whatever while we wait. Don't wanna pick something and have the others hate it.”
Kris nodded in agreement, grabbing the remote and sitting on the couch, Susie jumping after them. They yelped as her landing made them bounce out of their seat, glaring playfully at her while she cackled. The two of them clicked between channels for a bit, eventually landing on what looked like a godzilla movie, maybe? Something with a city being destroyed and a big lizard.
Spamton was strangely quiet in the back of Kris's head. They decided to ignore it, he was probably still recovering, and there was no use making their anxiety worse right now. Within a few minutes, they heard a gentle knock on the front door.
Kris flopped off the couch, making Susie cackle at them. Standing up, they swung open the front door abruptly.
“Hi Kris! I- EEP”
They grabbed Noelle's hand and pulled her inside, leading her to the couch after slamming the door again.
“You're letting bugs in.”
Noelle rolled her eyes at Kris's words, but quickly tensed up again with a blush when she was directed to sit next to Susie.
“S-SUSIE! UM, HI!! HAHA. FANCY… SEEING YOU HERE.”
She stumbled over her words, Susie offering her a confused smile in return.
“Hi, yeah, uhh…Kris did tell you I was here, right?”
The purple monster looked away, grimacing slightly.
“Don't wanna…make you uncomfortable or anything.”
“OH NO NO!! YOU'RE FINE!! I'M JUST. Awkward, haha…”
Noelle wrung her hands together nervously. Kris rolled their eyes at the pair.
“You're both fine. Now sit down before Berdly tries to take the seat next to Susie.”
With a speed that gave them whiplash, Noelle sat herself down next to Susie on the couch. Despite her flushed face, she had a determined frown on her face. Kris hid a chuckle in their hand.
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Motioning for the other two to stay put, Kris once again answered the door, this time to a disheveled looking bluebird. Berdly was panting and supporting his wing-hands on his knees. Kris raised an eyebrow.
“Dude…did you run here?”
Berdly shot up with a squawk.
“WHAT?! No, why would I be excited to hang out with you… you plebeians?! I was just. Exercising.”
“...Exercising.”
“YES! Can't you tell how buff I'm getting?”
Berdly flexed his wing, which didn't show anything off since it was a wing and not a bicep.
“Right. Well, come inside mr. muscles.”
“DON'T PATRONIZE ME!! …But yes I will be coming inside now thank you.”
Kris rolled their eyes at his theatrics, closing the door behind Berdly. As the bird walked over to the others, they stared at the door for a second. With a deliberate motion, they unlocked it, leaving it a sliver ajar.
They let themself get lost in hanging out with their friends, making fun of the movies on the TV, eating the pie when Toriel came downstairs and pulled it out of the oven, seeing who could find the worst channel, playing movie roulette with the box of vhses… they were so grateful for this. Kris held back tears, sticking their face in the bowl of popcorn. They couldn't cry in front of their friends right now. Just…not right now.
“...kid. hey [little sponge!]”
“Hwuh?”
Kris blinked their eyes open blearily. They hadn't even noticed they'd started to drift off. Oh. Everyone else was asleep. Even Toriel was passed out in chairiel. Huh.
“You [[okay]], kid?”
“Yeah…yeah. Just waking up, gimme a moment.”
They muttered under their breath. Ok. Ignoring the shaking in their hands, they moved off the couch, careful not to disturb their sleeping friends. They smiled at the sight, Susie starfished out on the couch, Noelle leaning her head on her shoulder, Berdly hugging a pillow. Someday. Someday they'd tell them the truth.
First, they had a call to make. It was easy enough to play up the fear in their voice, they were a professional liar, and the whispering was quickly excused with the story they made up about an intruder. There. They didn't like it, but this was essential to the plan. Kris took a shuddering sigh.
Stepping back into the living room, they crept over to the center of the room and pulled their knife from their pocket.
“[[SHOWTIME!]], pal?”
Kris gulped.
“Yeah. Showtime.”
And they plunged the knife into the floor, blinding darkness pouring forward with a rush of energy, sparks flying off their blade. Kris closed their eyes against the current of darkness, tears beading in their eyes from the strain.
Angel above, they hoped the denizens of this dark world were normal.
Somehow, they could feel Spamton grimace in the back of their head.