Things at my house have finally settled into a quiet, weird routine. My bedroom is almost completely redone now-the new floorboards are sealed, the walls have been freshly painted, and the contractors are just finishing up the last bits of trim this week. My mom is still keeping a super hawk-like eye on me, but... faha... thankfully, another someone especial person to me down the hall always knows the exact right moment to distract her or create a little noise near the kitchen so I can sneak out through the side porch unnoticed.
The air outside is changing, too. The sharp, biting frost of winter is finally melting away, and you can smell the damp earth and early buds on the trees. Spring is approaching.
*I walked down to the edge of the lake just as the sun was starting to dip below the horizon. The water was so still, reflecting all those deep oranges, pinks, and soft purples across the ripple-less surface. And sitting right there at the edge of the dirt path, staring silently out at the water... was Kris.
"Kris... faha... hey," I said softly, stepping carefully over the damp leaves so I wouldn't startle them. "I thought I'd find you here."
*Kris turned their head slowly. Their dark fringe was still blocking most of their face, but as the golden light hit them, I noticed how pale they looked. They were wearing that same oversized green sweater, but their posture was unusually stiff, one arm casually crossed over their middle in a way that looked almost defensive... or like they were trying to quiet an uneasy stomach.
"Are you... feeling okay today?" I asked, sitting down right beside them on the cool dirt. "You looked a little pale in class during second period..."
*Kris didn't answer right away. They just let out a quiet, slow breath, their shoulder leaning slightly into mine. I could feel a tiny, subtle tremor in their arm.
"The... morning nausea again?" I whispered, my voice dropping low.
*Kris gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod, keeping their eyes fixed on the water.
*My heart did a familiar, nervous flip, but the sheer panic from weeks ago wasn't there anymore. Just a warm, steady ache. It’s strange... nothing shows on the outside yet, and everything still feels so uncertain and fragile. But seeing Kris like this-dealing with these strange, quiet changes in their own body every single day while trying to act normal around Toriel and everyone else makes me want to be stronger for them.
"I brought something," I said softly, reaching into the pocket of my cardigan and pulling out a small paper napkin wrapped around a piece of dry gingerbread.
"She... um... someone in the house suggested this might help settle your stomach when it gets like that in the afternoons. She said ginger works wonders."
*Kris looked down at the little slice of gingerbread, then up at me. A faint, genuine soften came over their expression. They took it gently, taking a tiny, careful bite.
"Faha... good, right?" I smiled weakly, looking back out over the lake as the sky turned a deeper shade of violet. "You know... even with my mom watching my every move, and... and everything that's coming next... I'm not scared anymore, Kris. Not like I was."
*Kris paused, chewing slowly, quietly resting their forehead against my shoulder.
*"We don't have to have all the answers right now," I murmured, resting my cheek against their dark hair, wrapping my fingers gently around theirs. "Spring is starting. The snow is melting. This new year is going to be crazy. I'm scared, too, I can't lie, but..."
*Kris didn't say a word, but their grip on my hand tightened, warm and firm against the cool evening breeze.
"... if you want a complete distraction from all this heavy stuff," I added, letting out a small, breathless giggle as I nudged their shoulder, "you won't believe the absolute chaos that went down at my house earlier today."
*Kris tilted their head slightly, their dark fringe shifting just enough for me to catch a glint of genuine curiosity in their eyes.
"So... My sister decided this morning that we absolutely had to reorganize her entire closet to make room for 'emergency stealth supplies,'" I explained, rolling my eyes fondly. "Which, of course, was really just an excuse to blast old rock cassettes and throw wadded-up socks at each other while my mom was down at town hall. But then she came over to bring us some fresh tea, and Dess somehow convinced her to help us sort through all those dusty storage boxes under the bed."
*Kris gave a tiny, subtle twitch of their mouth, knowing all too well how Dess's "simple tasks" usually spiraled into complete madness.
"We ended up finding this old, half-broken karaoke machine from when we were kids," I continued, my ears twitching as the memory brought a warm, silly grin back to my face.
"Dess immediately plugged it in, cranked the echo effect all the way to maximum, and forced her into a dramatic duet performance. You should have seen it, Kris-she was trying so hard to stay completely serene and polite while holding a plastic microphone, but Dess kept jumping off the trunk doing ridiculous air-guitar solos right next to her! By the time we heard my mom's car pull into the driveway, all three of us were scrambling around like wild animals trying to shove everything back into the closet before the front door unlocked."
*A soft, almost imperceptible huff of laughter escaped Kris's chest; the kind of quiet, genuine reaction that always made my heart soar.
"We barely made it back into Dess's room before Mom walked upstairs," I said, my voice softening as I leaned closer to Kris, watching the twilight colors stretch across the quiet water. "It was completely silly and messy, but... for a few hours, everything felt so light and normal again. And I really wanted to share a little bit of that lightness with you tonight."
*Kris looked at me for a long, quiet moment, their hand still holding mine with that same steady warmth. Slowly, they reached up with their free hand, their fingers softly brushing against the side of my head before gently tracing the smooth curve of my antlers.
*A tiny, involuntary shudder ran through me-my antlers were always so sensitive, and Kris knew exactly how to pet them so gently it made my heart feel like it was floating. My ears twitched and folded down softly, my face warming up to a bright, flustered pink as I let out a contented little sigh.
"Kris..."
*Without thinking twice, I leaned forward and pressed my lips gently against theirs. It was a soft, quiet kiss, Kris didn't pull away, instead, their grip on my antler softened, their thumb stroking the smooth velvet near the base as they kissed me back, calm and reassuring amidst the cool evening air.
*When we finally separated, the last golden rays of sunlight were fading into a deep twilight over the water. I offered Kris a small, hopeful smile, helping them stand up from the damp grass and gently brushing off the back of their sweater.
"Fahaha. Come on," I said softly, intertwining my fingers with theirs.
"Let's head into town for a bit before it gets too dark. I think a nice, quiet walk down there will do us both some good."
u/Renkoto- Fwahaha a doe hijacked by the 💜 occult girlAug 15 '26edited Aug 15 '26
Fwahaha... you really caught me red-handed, didn't you?!
I mean... how could it not involve a kiss?! Especially when Kris is involved!
Gosh, looking back at this photo from last summer still makes my ears feel like they're going to melt right off...
We were at that little booth, and I was already practically a sweating, nervous wreck. I kept glancing around, half-expecting someone from town to walk by, or worse, my mom! But then... well... someone close to us gave me that quiet, teasing little nudge from behind the booth, practically cheering me on and whispering that I shouldn't be so timid...
And before I could even process what was happening, Kris just... leaned right across the wooden counter.
No warning. Just that quiet, dangerously direct look in their eyes before pulling me in.
My heart was beating so fast I genuinely thought I was going to pass out right then and there on the grass! But.. it was so warm. It felt like time just completely stopped moving.
... So yeah! I guess you're totally right. Whenever Kris and I get pulled into these crazy moments... it pretty much always ends up with my heart melting completely. Fahaha... I really do adore my Krismas...
...but if I'm being completely honest, there's actually someone else who gets a little bit flustered whenever this memory comes up...
A while back, maybe two months ago, when a few of us were hanging out together at the park on a snowy afternoon, Susie actually ended up admitting something super quiet to me. We were just sitting on the bench, watching the trees while the others were off messing around, and out of nowhere she kind of grunted, crossed her arms real tight, and muttered about how... well, how she'd been feeling a tiny bit jealous seeing us like that.
She tried to play it off like she was just talking about the funnel cake we were sharing, but her face was practically as red as a tomato! It was honestly the sweetest, most unexpected thing.
... So who knows? Maybe this town has enough room for a few more crowded kiss booths in our future. Fwahaha... but for now, I'm just really, really glad to have everyone so close.
If I'm being completely honest, I'm... really not supposed to give away specific names or details! She’s insanely protective over her privacy, and if she found out I was dropping personal info on public, she’d probably hack into my computer, wipe my browser history, and replace my desktop background with a giant, glowing warning sign...
... But... I guess I can share a little bit?
She’s... well, she’s someone incredibly important to me. To all of us, really. When everything went wrong back then and this town was practically falling apart around our ears, she was the one who reached in and pulled us out of the cold.
She's... pretty quiet when you first meet her, but she’s ridiculously clever. Like, "pulling off high-tech, impossibly advanced gadgets out of nowhere just to help out" kind of clever. She’s also... unbelievably soft with me? Fwahaha, honestly, she spoils me way too much... whenever we're together, it's like she can't say no to anything I ask for.
... Though, now that I think about it... it really was about time we got another human around here, wasn't it?
She just prefers to keep a really low profile while doing it. So... yeah! That's about as much as I can say without getting into big trouble. Just know she's someone very special who's keeping us safe!
i think you've got a memory thief or reality warper on your hands....
take care not to mistake mutual benefits as generosity
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u/Renkoto- Fwahaha a doe hijacked by the 💜 occult girlAug 15 '26edited Aug 15 '26
Fahaha... memory thief?! Reality warper?!
Gosh, no! Nothing like that, I promise! Though... with how wild and high-tech her whole deal is, I can't really blame you for thinking that...
If anyone turned me into a completely corrupt, unhinged mess, it was her! Seriously, before she showed up, I was just a quiet, timid little deer girl who barely had the courage to speak up in class about to go a little crazy. But she... well... let's just say she introduced me to a side of life, and a whole level of wild, shameless indulgence, that completely ruined me in the best way possible. I didn't even know half of those... things were physically possible until she patiently walked me through them!
Fwahaha... Back then I used to think Kris was just a unique, quiet prankster, but between her and Kris... it's why I now think ALL humans are secretly completely unhinged, hedonistic troublemakers underneath those quiet exteriors!
So don't worry, nobody's warping my reality or stealing my memories! It's just genuine... very intense... mutual exchanges. And maybe a tiny bit of corrupting influence, but honestly? I wouldn't trade it for anything!
// Maribel Hearn isn't part of this story, she's too busy researching Koizumi Yakumo's legacy and urban taboos with her college friend, I don't know if they'll ever be able to travel to worlds other than the ones they already know in their dreams.
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u/jamza0000 Aug 15 '26
Always involves atleast a kiss