Chapter Text
"Using the power of technology and my own intellectual mind, I have created a visual novel that allows you to customize your appearance and personality to your liking, and in doing so, find love along the way!" Berdly explains as everyone surrounds him at a nearby computer desk in the library.
Kris was sitting between Susie and Berdly, meanwhile Noelle was right next to Susie and practically unable to squeeze closer to the computer without leaning on Susie's shoulder. This in turn would cause awkward tension, and she didn't want to risk Susie going from chill and happy to school bully in a matter of seconds.
Susie laughs to herself and nonchantely points at the screen as Berdly types in the log-in and password information to get into his account. "Um, okay? Why did you make us come here if you just wanted to show off some dorky visual novel?"
Kris snickers to themselves just as Berdly gasps and stares at Susie with his beak wide open. His eyes were also widened and his feather-fingers froze on the keyboard.
"Susan!"
"My name's not Susan-"
"Have you forgotten that visual novels are an easy to obtain and interesting story-telling technique that captures the hearts of many with it's storyline, visuals, music, and character design? Lest you forget that I'm buying everyone pizza after this as thanks for being my beta testers so you have no choice but to be here. Kris and Noelle have intellectual minds! They understand the importance and elegance of games like this!" Berdly's feather-fingers begin typing on the keyboard again once he finishes his tangent.
"Psst, Kris," Susie grins and nudges them in the arm to get their attention, "...What does intellectual mean and why wasn't I included?"
Noelle perks up, but she stammers as she explains what it means. "B-By definition, it means you're smart! But d-don't worry! I think you're very... clever!"
Kris nods in agreement. "You're quick-witted too."
Susie shrugs and watches Berdly start the program that launches a visual novel creator. "Oh, I totally knew that!"
Her smile begins to fade a little as she leans in close to Kris. "It's good to be clever and quick-witted right?"
Noelle nods and hesitantly places a hand on Susie's forearm. "Fahahaha! Yes, Susie, just because Berdly uses big words doesn't mean he's calling you stupid!"
"Good! If he did, I woulda kicked his sorry ass back to last year!" Susie threatened, her incredibly sharp teeth practically glimmering in the light of the computer lab.
But Kris knew she would never hurt anybody anymore, especially not when they have more adventures to go on.
"Ahem! Can we move along, please? I don't have all day and we should get the pizza before the restaurant closes." Berdly's visual novel was already booted up and playing the title screen music, but they were too busy chatting to hear it.
Susie contemplates to herself, almost like she's trying to place the tune she's heard before but can't quite place it. She proceeds to rest one leg over the other and taps her foot to the beat.
Noelle's expression, on the other hand, is one of shock and confusion. She's staring at the potential love interests that are smiling at the players on the screen.
The title of the game was what you expected of someone as smart as Berdly.
It was heart-stopping.
Spine tingling.
It has you on the edge of your seat the moment you read it. You want to know more about the characters.
It makes you want to stop sitting on your ass and start playing the game to date hot singles in your area.
It makes the free pizza with Berdly even more enticing than it already is.
The title of Berdly's visual novel, one of the most critically acclaimed romance classics this town, no, this world has ever seen, is respectively called...
[TITLE PENDING]
"B-Berdly? That excessively handsome and muscular bird-man looks a lot like you." She mumbles this last part to herself. "Especially the glasses and feather color. Where have I seen that before?"
The muscular bird in question was a seemingly identical image of Berdly, save for the alarmingly huge pecs that struggled to fit inside a very ill fitting suit and tie that seemed to be extremely expensive. His jeans were wrapped around his legs which were not that of a bird's anymore.
Birds have twig legs. This... handsome monstrosity did not.
The name of his character and personality was hovering above his head in big, bold blue letters. "Giga Chad - Birdly - CEO of Seed Industries. Rolling in dough and exceedingly smarter than you!"
Noelle finds her smile beginning to twitch to keep from turning into a frown. But as she looks at the other character, this time a female monster, her heart practically skips a beat.
The female monster has purple skin and was dressed in a nice grey suit. Her brown hair framed her face so that you could barely see her eyes, but one of them peeked through her bangs just enough that anyone could see she was narrowing them for even crossing paths with her. With sharp teeth curled into a sneer, this would be someone's second choice due to how much she hated the player right now. "Susan's" pants were tattered and bloody, almost like she had just finished protecting Birdly from assassins.
Susan also had a bloody machete in her hand and was defending Birdly with her life while he just stood there fixing his tie. Birdly was smugly staring at the player with his head held high and his beak slightly open.
"Scary Lady - Susan - Bodyguard of Birdly - More brawn than brain, heart of chalk. Why would you choose her over Birdly?!" These letters were sideways and purple, almost like this was the less wise choice.
Kris tilts their head to the side. "Why is Susie bloody?"
Susie lets out a guffaw by throwing her head back and hitting Kris in the shoulder again, and Noelle watches in awe.
She would kill to be Kris right now.
"Come on, dude, that's just me on a Tuesday night! Man, that machete looks cool! Maybe we could ask Ral-" Susie clears her throat and looks over at Noelle just in time. "Ralner. He's my plant. He can make a machete for me."
"Oh! Goodness, well, I'd love to meet him someday, Susie! Your character design looks very stunning. I almost can't look away..." Noelle sucks in a breath once the song begins to replay.
"Aren't you forgetting to compliment me?" Berdly huffs, his feather arms crossed in jealousy.
Kris chuckles and puts their hand up to their mouth. They contemplated what they wanted to say, especially since their mother always told them to never lie, but they wanted free pizza, so they had to hide their smile. "You look very respectable."
"Thank you, Kris! At least someone likes my character design! You'll see that Berdly is more than just a handsome bachelor! But no spoilers! I want to save both storylines for you guys! Since Kris was kind enough to actually say something about me, they get to create their character first! You two just have to sit there and wait!"
Susie looks over at Noelle as Kris scoots up closer to the computer so they don't strain their back.
"I might fall asleep by the time I get to see my cool ass character in action! And I'm starving! Psst, you got anymore of those candy cane pencils I could nibble on?"
"Fahaha! Susie, I can just give you a real candy cane if you wanted!" Noelle begins digging through her backpack for the candy while maintaining eye contact with Susie. She's unable to contain her blush.
"Ha! See that, Kris?" Susie unwraps the candy cane and puts it in her mouth. "Noelle gives me candy and you have to sit there playing some dumb game."
Noelle picks up her backpack again and chuckles awkwardly, "I could... give everyone a candy cane? Or maybe some biscuits?"
Berdly stops Noelle by shaking his head. "No! If Kris gets anything on the school computer we'll get kicked out! I'm not risking you beta testers wasting my hard work on nothing! And besides, these are two very different characters! They weren't based off of you two! Hmph!"
Kris looks down at the keyboard and clicks on START before anyone could say anything else.
The music does not change, but the screen does. It goes to a character creator, starting off with a big line meant for a name.
* Please input your name!
Kris begins typing out their name and leaves the capitalization on due to the Caps lock key being stuck through years of usage. They stare at the screen and nod to themselves once they realize that this game was actually well made since it made a cute little "plip" sound when they pressed the keys.
* You entered KRIS! Press the space bar to continue, or the backspace button on your keyboard to go back and change anything you don't like!
Kris presses the space bar with their index finger, and is immediately brought to a character creation screen.
From there, you can pick out the skin color, hair color, eye color, outfit, and accessories of the character you're playing as from behind the screen.
"I can see you're silent, Kris! You must be taken aback by this whole thing!" Berdly smirks to himself, "Is there anything I should change about the character creator? More body types? Is it too overwhelming? Shall I put them into intervals or leave them as they are?"
"W...What? I don't know what-" Kris shakes their head and takes their hands off the keyboard in confusion.
"Never mind! Never mind, I'll change it later! Just make your character and hurry up!" Berdly leans in close to Kris and makes sure they don't press the "escape" button.
"Fine, sheesh, Berdly."
There's a "Randomize Character" button on the bottom of the screen, so Kris clicks it so they can hurry along and finally get that pizza.
Kris involuntarily freezes up as soon as the game automatically creates a protagonist.
Noelle gasps and bites her bottom lip as she looks directly at the screen with Susie.
This protagonist was almost an exact carbon copy of Kris in 3D model form. Down to the hair, skin color, body type... even the outfit.
It was like the auto-filler knew what Kris looked like. Even down to the bandage on their cheek and pencil in their shirt pocket.
Or maybe Berdly made the character look like Kris for a reason.
Suspiciously enough, Lancer's card was sticking out of their pants pocket.
Berdly hides a blush and tries to explain himself to Kris. "Okay, so, I based this protagonist off of you! But, it's okay! I also made Noelle! So once you're done playing the game, Noelle can also give it a try! Don't worry, my precious little reindeer, I made this game suitable for all kinds of genders."
"M-M-Me? Oh, I don't know, Birdly is so muscular and... bulky, he's really not my type-" Noelle stutters out and practically drops her candy cane.
"What? Oh, no, no, you don't understand. I made a protagonist for Susan that looks like you."
Susie's eyes widen and almost chokes on the candy cane. "Dude! That's cool! You're actually making a game where anyone can make themselves? You might be a nerd but you're a nerd with ideas."
Noelle practically breaths a sigh of relief as Susie ignores what Berdly said before.
Kris begins clicking through the character creator options, and sure enough, there's antlers, an outfit Noelle wears, her face, and even her tail that occasionally flicks from side to side.
"Oh, neat! You'll be adding more choices as you progress in the visual novel, right?" Kris asks, clicking back to their 3D model and pressing next.
Another screen appears.
"Indeed! I want monsters to enjoy my craft! I shall be adding new and exciting characters and stories, all with my own personally modeled/drawn characters that are better than Beastesda! Except my games won't have glitches and freeze every two seconds!"
* Input your favorite thing!
> MOSS.
Noelle is slightly taken aback. "Moss? Out of all the things they could have chosen, they chose moss...?"
Susie's foot stops tapping to the music. "What? You got a problem with them liking moss or something, Noelle?"
"N-N-No! If they like moss, they can like moss! I just thought they would choose a food or something!"
Berdly smugly crosses his arms and leans in close to Kris. "Moss is an important aspect of the food chain."
Kris smiles and nods in agreement, the hair in front of their eyes bouncing as they did so. "The best."
* Input your favorite food!
> CHOCOLATE.
* What is your favorite holiday?
> HALLOMAS.
Noelle tilts her head to the side as Susie continues chewing on the candy cane with a bored look on her face. "Hallomas? There's no such thing?"
"I... can't choose which holiday I like best." Kris begins twiddling their thumb and index finger together in embarrassment. They've never really talked this much before.
Berdly perks up and puts his feather-hand on Kris' shoulder. "That's okay, Kris! I can code in Hallomas if you want me too! That way there can be a Halloween and Christmas event- Ah! Quit making me spoil aspects of the game, guys! I want you to experience this on your own and you keep making me explain things!"
* Input your preferred route! (Birdly or Susan)
Kris does not hesitate to input their answer into the computer. They loved Susie in more says than one, of course, but not in the way Noelle did.
Even though Susie and Noelle may never get together outside of a romance novel, Kris wanted to give Noelle the chance to try to gather her courage and tell Susie how she felt.
> BIRDLY.
Berdly tries to hide a blush, but his eyes widen in surprise and his beak curls into a small, relieved grin. Kris chose Birdly, Kris chose his character... A very muscular version of Berdly.
* What are your preferred pronouns? This cannot be changed later!
> THEY/THEM.
* Are you sure?
"How many inputs does Kris have to make before starting the damn game? Does it all mean anything in the end?" Susie asks, her eyebrows narrowed and foot continuing to tap to the music.
"It does! It's how the love interest can really get to know the player. Other visual novels are half-assed, dry, and generic. I want this one to really dig deep into the player's emotions and allow them to feel like they're talking to someone they can really connect with! This is the last question, promise! And then we can have fun and enjoy some pizza!"
Noelle claps the palms of her hands together. "Oh! I have an idea! Why don't you play the part of your characters, guys? Once I can make my own protagonist, I'll join in on the fun, but it would be interesting to watch you guys read the script Berdly wrote!"
"An excellent idea, my beloved Noelle! That gives my visual novel more aspects! I couldn't agree more! I'll be Birdly, Kris, you can read the dialogue options, Susie, you're Susan, and Noelle can read the long and over-exaggerated text I've written for the player!"
"Oh, fun. I should have a bottle of water handy then..." Noelle practically huffs.
Kris clicks the PROCEED button and a blue loading screen appears. Images of Birdly's and Susan's face fill the screen and bounce from the edges of the computer as if they're submerged in water.
Now that the four of them can actually play the game, Berdly, Kris, Susie, and Noelle all stare at the screen and wait.
* Your name is KRIS. You just moved to a brand new city and was just hired at Seed Industries, a multi-billion dollar corporation that sells bird seed to anthropomorphic and primitive bird species around the world. Their top notch marketing makes their food sell well, and they are good to their customers and workers alike. This is also one of the reasons why you decided to send in a resume. They pay well and are kind enough to give paid days off if it was important enough.
* You are standing in front of a ginormous skyscraper with office supplies in hand. This is your new office building and you are Mr. Birdly's new assistant. You are to work by his side to make their company flourish. No slacking off, his brain and smarts reveal everything. Remember - make him like you by complimenting him often!
Kris tries to progress the story a little bit faster just to get to the exciting parts. They skip over the dialogue between the player and the woman at the front desk. It was some dilemma where the player forgot their identification card at their apartment so they weren't allowed entry, but Kris stopped skipping the game as soon as muscular Birdly appeared.
* "What seems to be the problem here, Cheryl? Another paparazzi-" Birdly's stoic expression quickly turns into an interested and welcoming look once he realizes that his new secretary finally arrived.
* Birdly's eyes look the player, or KRIS, for that matter, up and down with a smile on his face. "I see you're the new employee, KRIS. A pleasure to meet you. I am Mr. Birdly. You will be working by mine and Susan's side as long as we'll have you. I see you forgot your identification card? No worries, I've overlooked your file so often I practically have your facial features memorized."
Putting their hand up to their mouth again, Kris tries to stop themselves from laughing once again. Birdly looks almost exactly like his golden statue from the Cyber World. The only thing that was missing was Queen hanging off his bicep.
* Susan plays with the hilt on her machete and stomps her boot on the floor to get everyone's attention. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips were curled into a sneer. "Don't even think about touching Mr. Birdly! He's the sole heir to this company, and I don't want you making goo goo eyes at someone as selfless as him! He matters too much to us to let some new employee like you go and ruin his reputation!"
* You begin to wonder if this job was really worth it. It's true, you have a very rough and tumble bodyguard woman who you could get to know eventually, but as for now she was the definition of mistrustful. Mr. Birdly on the other hand, was kind and thoughtful, almost like he wanted to give you the grand tour and give you a months pay right off the bat.
* "Susan, please calm down. I can take care of myself, it is KRIS who must learn the ins and outs of this company. Today, we will be exploring the offices where we will be working, this also means that you and I are going to be inseparable. If I get coffee, you get coffee. If either one of us wants to use the bathroom, we wait outside the bathroom. If I have work, you have work. If I have to get fitted for a new suit, you get fitted for a new suit. If you buy CHOCOLATE, what's the magic word?"
This time, two dialogue options come up, so Kris has to choose which one they like best.
[Say, "I share with you, Mr. Birdly?"] or [Say, "Get your own CHOCOLATE, freeloader."]
Hint: Choose wisely to get him to like you! Nobody likes a push-over!
Susie manages to turn the regularly dull side of the candy cane into a shiv. She pulls it out of her mouth and shows it off to Noelle, who's pretty impressed, albeit a little confused and worried. She claps and watches Susie jab at the air, so those two weren't really paying attention.
They wanted to wait until the really exciting parts of the story, and right now they were just getting to know the characters.
Berdly laughs and pats his friend on the shoulder. "I know, I know what you must be thinking. Which answer would Mr. Birdly like best? It's your call, Kris! You have to make him like you!"
* You chose, ["I SHARE WITH YOU, MR. BIRDLY?"]
* You watch Mr. Birdly's chest rise and fall slowly, almost as if he was processing what you just muttered. You had no clue whether or not this was the correct choice, but judging by his current expression, perhaps you picked the right choice?
* "Oh please, KRIS, Mr. Birdly is my father. Please, just call me Birdly. Susan does as well, although there are often times where she is often suspicious of newcomers like you and refers to me as Boss. I'm fine with either." Birdly's beak curls into a cheeky grin and his eyes are narrowed. "But, no, no. If you buy yourself CHOCOLATE, you are not entitled to share with Susan and I."
The sprite of Birdly goes from playing with his polka-dotted tie with his feather-hands to leaning forward and staring directly at the protagonist. Birdly was staring directly at Kris now and seemed to completely ignore the others.
Susie chortled and rolled her eyes. "Ew, you could make him back up a little bit. I can see every pore on his beak."
Noelle tried to figure out the proportions of Birdly and Kris by shuffling a bit closer to the screen. "Uh, where am I supposed to be looking? Birdly is taking up the entire screen with his muscles."
Kris' heart... skips a beat? How did Berdly make Birdly so... flirtatious?
This game was amazing for what it is, especially since Berdly coded and animated the sprites and background all by himself. Noelle helped with coding a little bit, just fine tuning and tweaking anything that could have made the game crash and et cetera.
But this was something else... Kris had no idea this was what Berdly was capable of.
* Birdly clears his throat and offers to show you around the office for your first day on the job. Despite Susan trailing behind you and Birdly with a sneer on her face, you couldn't help but stare directly at him.
* Despite only knowing him for less than a day, you found yourself wondering if he was really interested in you.
The screen proceeds to fade to black, prompting another sequence. Berdly still needed to add in more dialogue, descriptive sentences, and even the office space where the protagonist will be working, but for what this game was, it was made with tender-loving-care.
"...Nice." Kris compliments, giving Berdly a thumbs up as they progress time.
"You like it? Oh, wonderful! It's still a work in progress, but it's been coming along nicely! I have more to show you guys, by the way! The assassination attempt and the holiday celebration arcs are both finished, so if you press a few keys, it should work." Berdly does it himself, and an unfinished and unanimated version of the game pops up.
"Oh! Look, Susie! Susan is carrying the machete now!" Noelle puts her hand on Susie's arm to get her attention.
Susie slightly tenses up when Noelle does this, but grins regardless. She points at the bloody machete and nods like she was pleased with the sprite-work. "That's the most realistic thing about me so far. Not bad, by the way, but why is Birdly being targeted by assassins if he's so wonderful?"
Berdly's face scrunches up as usual, complete with a shit-eating grin despite being asked a simple question. "Susie, Susie, Susie... With Birdly being the boss of a multi-billion dollar corporation, anything is guaranteed to happen. The poor protagonist got caught up in this mess and now they have to get out of it while Susan valiantly risks her life to protect her precious friends so that they may survive and get help!"
Kris presses the space-bar to advance time once more. Their stomach began to growl so they wanted to hurry this along and ask for a candy cane, but the story was getting pretty good.
Birdly was giving a speech to the company with KRIS at his side when bullets began to fly out of nowhere. This caused Susan to leap into action and slaughtering anyone who she didn't recognize with the machete, and KRIS tried to get Birdly to safety.
* You heard the screams of terror and pain as co-workers fled the building, but the assassins wouldn't stop trying to get to you and Birdly. Your heart was pounding in your chest and you were running purely on autopilot, but you had to get your boss to safety.
* Susan entrusted Birdly to you after proving your unending loyalty to him, the company, and to her. You couldn't just give up and let the love of your life get murdered! It would be a global tragedy!
* Without thinking, you grabbed his hand and proceeded to sprint through the crowd to find an exit while Susan let out battle cries. Your heart was beating out of your chest and you could barely take a step forwards without being shoved by other people, but what happened next was the final straw.
* A stray assassin appears! Their face was shielded by the mask and their gun was wielded tightly in their hands, almost like they were relishing this moment. Birdly tried to make a break for it with you at his side, but the assassin stops you by shooting into the air and scaring the civilians even further.
* "Mr. Birdly! KRIS! Run while you-" Susan shrieks, but is immediately tackled by assassins and her machete is misplaced.
* "Dearest Susan, noooo!" Mr. Birdly tries to run to his bodyguard again, but you're both stopped by the assassin.
* "Freeze! I finally have you right where I want you, Mr. Birdly! You and that pathetic excuse of a secretary!"
* "I'll take my chances." Mr. Birdly immediately punched the assassin in the face with a closed fist. Blood splattered out of the mask and the assassin fell onto the floor with the gun at his side.
* You found yourself continuing to stare at the masked assassin, but Mr. Birdly held your hand tighter and proceeded to sprint towards an exit and helped others along the way.
* Another assassin, this time a bigger and stronger one. Without any hesitation, they aimed their pistol and fired. You got in front of Birdly just as a shot rang out.
* "KRIS! Not you as well!" Mr. Birdly exclaims, catching you in his arms.
"Are you on the edge of your seat right now, Kris?!" Berdly asks excitedly, practically shoving Kris off of the chair they were sitting on. "Is this blowing your walnut sized mind?"
"Dude, I'm going nuts over here." Kris makes a pun and makes Berdly laugh.
"Oh, but my apologies, Kriscross applesauce. I must cashew (ask you) to move along now, I'm beginning to get hungry!"
Kris and Berdly both share a laugh and Kris proceeds to press the space bar again.
Susie finds herself wondering what will happen to Susan, but right now, she's a little impressed. She would never admit it out loud, but the story was getting pretty interesting now. It wasn't just a generic love story. It had its moments, and Berdly knew how to pace them efficiently.
The only thing weird about it was the fact Kris and Berdly were actually having a good time together, something Susie never expected.
* You were struck by a bullet in the stomach while trying to shield Birdly from an assassin who revealed themselves out of nowhere. Tears welled in your eyes and your hands instinctively covered the bullet hole in your shirt, the searing pain erupting through your nerves.
* Despite the pain and agony you were in, Birdly carried you through the crowd of people shoving the two of you to-and-fro. You felt the world around you beginning to spin and you could barely keep running.
* "KRIS! Y-You... You'll pay for hurting my beloved KRIS!"
* The assassin was kicked in the face before they could attempt to raise their weapon once more, so Birdly took it upon himself to help you get outside and back with Susan and his other bodyguards.
* You are laid on the ground and cough, but upon further inspection, the bullet passed through your body without breaking any bones.
* "Boss! KRIS! You're ok- Oh, KRIS, oh no! Here, I'll get help!" Susan gets out her phone and stays with you and her boss. She stays silent as Birdly holds your hand. "They're going to be okay, right?"
"Should I add anything in? Does it feel rushed?" Berdly asks, nudging Kris in the shoulder to get their attention.
"Shush, this is getting good." Susie mumbles, staring at the screen with Noelle right beside her.
* You groan and wonder to yourself why Mr. Birdly called you his beloved. You've never heard someone call you that before, but it felt nice to hear it from someone whom you felt a connection with the second you laid eyes him.
[Ask, "I'm your beloved?"] or [Ask, "What did you mean by that exactly?"]
Kris hesitates for a moment. They figured since this was a romance novel, Berdly wanted the player to end up with him regardless. This was Kris' preferred route after all.
Kris chooses, "What did you mean by that exactly?"
* "Ah! Yes, well, this is awkward... I mean, not awkward, per se, especially since I'm holding you while we wait for paramedics to arrive, but I meant what I said, my dear KRIS. But I was always so worried that you wouldn't want to be with me due to a power difference. I am the head of a company and you are a secretary turned friend... turned infatuation. The sheer idea of you being in love with me turns my world upside down. I couldn't have asked for a better companion. Oh, but you probably don't want to hear this right now, you must be in so much pain."
* "I don't like you because you're a wealthy businessman, Birdly. I like you because you're a good and kind boss who does anything to help and protect others." You say, unprompted. You can feel Birdly's arm around your waist beginning to tighten, as if he wanted to pull you closer despite both of your bodies touching.
* "Oh, KRIS, I'm very happy to hear it! I've dreamed of this day for so long! Ah, but right now, we need to get you to a hospital! Here, I'll keep you close to me while we wait."
* You win! Mr. Birdly's neutral ending unlocked! Mr. Birdly's after-ending unlocked! Artwork unlocked! Thank you for playing, KRIS!
Berdly watches Kris click next with stars in his eyes, almost like he was waiting for Kris' opinion on the game he spent so long on.
The game goes back to the menu where Mr. Birdly was holding KRIS in his arms, the two of them still locked in an unmoving display of affection. Susan was watching with a small smile on her face, but even if it was nothing more than a sprite, anyone could tell she was jealous that she was being a third wheel.
Even if the protagonist was practically dying in Mr. Birdly's arms.
Kris tried to check out the Artwork while the music played in the background, but Berdly grabbed ahold of their wrist in suspense.
"Well?! What did you think? Should I change anything about it? Did you like Mr. Birdly? How about Susan? Did the dialogue seem realistic?!" Berdly was practically shaking, but Kris just sat there and tried to check out the art anyways.
"Would you give them a chance to speak, Berdly? Geez." Susie chomps down on the candy cane and sighs. She notices that Susan's route pictures were hidden by a big black box on the events.
Kris shrugs and tilts their head to the side. "It was fun."
"...That's it? Fun? Fun?! It was fun? What about it was fun?" Berdly exclaims, but clears his throat and tries to reiterate. "Is there anything about this game I should change or fix? Was Birdly a believable character? Was Susan a believable character? Did the... romance seem realistic?"
Looking back to the screen and then back to Berdly, Kris gains the courage to speak . "...Why did you make a caricature of yourself to date me anyway? Why did you ask me specifically to date Mr. Birdly when we could have made a random protagonist?"
"W-What? You think I wanted you to date a more muscular and handsome version than myself? Don't be ridiculous my humanoid companion! I strictly wanted your help because you three are some of my closest friends, obviously!
Susie smirks and ruffles Kris' hair with her hand, prompting them to try and fix any tangles that may have arose in the process. "You can cut the crap, Berdly. I've seen the way you've been looking at Kris all day. Whenever Mr. Birdly would flirt with the protagonist, you'd stare directly at Kris and hope they caught on to what you were doing. You ain't slick, dude."
Noelle blushes and gets another candy cane out of her backpack. "S-Susie? Would you like more candy? Then we can continue with my own protagonist! Kris, why don't you start a new game and we can-"
"I will not be made into a mockery in front of my own creation! While it's true I chose Kris for such an occasion, I did so because they are more likely to choose options that benefit my game. You're all beta testers! If Kris wanted to pick the rude options, they would have done that already, but they didn't! Obviously!"
"Mr. Birdly wasn't even handsome! Your design made him look like some kind of body-builder turned boss. That's not how that works-" Susie's sentence got cut off by Kris.
"I thought he was handsome. I couldn't stop looking at him, heh. This game was nice, I'm looking forward to the full version."
As soon as Kris uttered those sentences, Berdly widened his eyes once more and opened his beak, but he was at a loss for words. From the front, it looked ridiculous and anyone would start laughing from the mere sight of it.
"Kris, that's so nice. I," Berdly clears his throat, "Thank you so much! Only true gamers know the importance of visual novels! Your intellectual prowess will not go uncelebrated! You will be getting pizza and mozzarella sticks free of charge!"
Kris, however, smiled and turned away without saying anything back to Berdly, but they muttered a, "Sweet." under their breath once they realized they were getting food for free once this whole thing was over.
"Aw, come on! How come they get free shit
"Well, it's obviously because they gave me constructive criticism and helped me with my passion project. You on the other hand, made a mockery of my creation. You're lucky I'm buying you pizza at all."
Noelle tried to smile. "I quite liked the game, Berdly. It had... flair."
"Fine! Noelle!" Susie barked, looking over at Noelle with a fired up look in her eye.
"What!? What, Susie?!" Noelle's candy cane was whisked out of her hands.
"Make your damn protagonist and romance Susan already! I just want my damn pizza and I'm losing my best friend to some bird-nerd with goofy glasses!" Susie stands to her feet and makes Kris and Noelle switch so she could be closer to the screen. "Scoot over losers! I wanna play!"
Susie also made Kris switch seats to make them get away from Berdly, but she would never admit it.
Now with Noelle in front of the screen and next to Berdly, who was still spiraling from what Kris said, she takes the mouse and clicks, "New Game".