Chapter Text
Susie sat at her desk; her room filled with the sound of rock music. She was writing in her diary. No one else to trust with these secrets but herself. She felt silly writing a diary but no one knew or even suspected something like this from her. It was easier hiding Susie’s feelings that way. The only light in her room from the small lamp she kept on her desk. She had drawn the curtains closed tightly, enjoying the dim light as she carved her feelings into the notebook.
I’ll be hanging out with Kris again today. I’ve thought of so many ways to tell them how I feel but I can’t find the right words to say.
Susie sighed and leaned back in her chair. She looked up at the ceiling. It’s been a few days since their last adventure. With the world saved, there was only small skirmishes now. There was an increasing amount of time where they weren’t fighting side by side and instead, more time was spent enjoying afternoon tea with Ralsei.
Susie could still taste the sweet cake on her tongue from yesterday as she continued to write. I feel like I’m running out of chances. There have been so many opportunities but the words don’t come out!
Susie began scribbling on the page in frustration, a large dark circle in the middle of the page. Would Kris even return my feelings? Probably not. Crushes are stupid. Here I am showing up to school on time to see Kris and worrying about my appearance. So dumb!
Susie’s ran a frustrated hand threw her hair. She’s been in love with Kris ever since they stopped the Roaring together. When they closed the last fountain and the radiant light of Kris’s Soul shined brightly in front of them and Susie finally realized her feelings towards Kris. To top it off, Kris had looked back at Susie with a small smile that made Susie’s heart trip over itself. The breeze from the Fountain had pushed their hair out of the way and Susie could actually see Kris's face. Their soft smile and eyes staring at Susie as they stopped the world from damnation. She felt like the air had been sucked from her lungs.
Now, Susie was here pouring her feelings into a little journal. Susie stood and threw down the pen in frustration, her determination shattering the pen on the floor as she turned and left the room, slamming her bedroom door shut.
~
Susie bounded down the stairs of the apartment complex and started walking towards Kris’s house. They were going to watch a movie at her place. They moved Tenna to her place and promised to watch a movie with him every week. Today was Kris’s pick. Susie wondered if Kris would pick another horror movie. She grumbled to herself about being too much of a coward about letting Kris know how she really felt as she continued her journey. Kris didn't deserve someone like her. Susie would only cause trouble for Kris.
Susie walked for a few minutes before coming up on Kris’s house. She picked up a nearby pebble and chucked it at Kris’s window. It could have been easy to text but throwing pebbles at their window was more fun. Susie noticed Kris push aside the curtains and wave down at Susie before leaving the window.
Susie looked down at her shoes, her heartbeat speeding up. Even seeing the sight of Kris made her nervous. The door opened and Kris stepped out. Their hair had grown out and was pulled back into a small ponytail. The small strands framing their face and their ruby eyes sliding up to meet Susie’s gold eyes.
“Ready to go?” Kris asked.
Susie nodded. She didn’t trust herself not to say anything stupid. They began the walk back to Susie’s apartment. Susie worried that Kris could hear how loud her heart was beating. Maybe she should spill everything now. The birds were singing and it was beautiful day. Surely, today would be a good day to reveal how Kris made her feel.
“Are you going to make us watch another monster movie next week?” Kris asked, glancing up at Susie with a grin.
Susie grinned back. “My monster movies are good. Your horror picks are questionable.”
“Blame Asriel, he showed me all of them,” Kris laughed.
Susie looked back down at her shoes as Kris’s laugh ringed in her ears. But the apartment was coming closer and closer into view. Susie internally sighed and followed Kris up the small steps and into the complex. A large monster was waiting for the elevator with their groceries.
Susie and Kris stood next to them awkwardly until the elevator dinged and the monster clambered in. Kris went in first and Susie followed after. They were pushed to the side cause of the monster’s size and items. Susie towered over Kris in the elevator.
The doors closed and the elevator slowly started heading up. Susie turned and pressed her floor and turned back to Kris as the elevator lurched. Susie stumbled and leaned towards Kris, steadying herself on the wall above them. Kris’s hand gripped Susie’s arm to hold still.
“Ugh, stupid elevator,” Susie cursed. “They really need to fix it.”
Susie glanced down at Kris who only nodded slightly. Susie was suddenly aware of how the situation seemed. Especially with Kris’s hand on her arm. The elevator dinged and the large monster took a heavy step off of the elevator, creating space. Susie slowly backed off, Kris’s hand slipping from Susie’s arm.
“Sorry about that.” Susie said awkwardly.
Kris nodded and looked towards the buttons on the wall. Susie wanted to strangle the maintenance monsters for not fixing the shitty elevator sooner.
The elevator dinged again and Susie stepped off onto her floor. Kris followed them to her apartment and Susie rummaged through her pocket, pulling out the key and opening the door.
Susie spotted it right away. Kris must have too as they tensed next to Susie. The black smoke seeping from Susie’s bedroom door.
“Susie?” Kris took a hesitant step forward. “Did you… open a Dark Fountain here?”
Susie glared at Kris. “How stupid do you think I am? Why would I do that?”
“Then who is here in your apartment?” Kris questioned. "And why did they open a Fountain?"
Susie didn’t have an answer. “No one… right?”
Kris nodded towards the door. “Come on, we gotta close this thing.”
Kris approached the door and rested their hand on the doorknob. Susie followed. She nodded at Kris. The door was flung open and the pair jumped into the darkness.
They landed in a fancy pink and black foyer. It was weirdly reminiscent of Susie’s room in Castle Town. Black vases held giant monsteras and a dark pink rug led to a grand staircase. It loomed in front of them and hung on the wall was a painting of Kris in front of the fountain. The exact image that Susie had thought about before leaving the room.
“Oh, shit.” Susie realized.
“What’s wrong?” Kris had finished taking in their surroundings and was standing next to Susie. Susie looked down at Kris. The Fountain didn’t change their hair. It was still a ponytail, the hair tie a black ribbon now. “Do you know who made the Fountain?”
Susie nervously fiddled with her axe. She sheepishly replied, “I might have made it.”
Kris raised an eyebrow and pointed at the large painting of themselves. “You did that?”
Susie immediately blushed. “W-Well, uh, I’m not sure it was me!”
“This place looks a lot like your room in Castle Town too,” Kris remarked looking around again.
The door behind them opened slowly. Kris and Susie readied their weapons. Something was struggling to push the door open.
“Who are you?!” Susie demanded.
Ralsei peeked their head out past the door. “R-Ralsei?”
Susie let out a breath and dropped her weapon. “Say something next time!”
“O-Oh, okay,” Ralsei smiled and used their strength to close the door. “I felt a Fountain open. I’ve been waiting for you guys to arrive.”
“Waiting?” Susie asked, her eyebrows knitting together.
Ralsei nodded. Susie looked around. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was the one that did this. But all she was doing was writing in her diary…
Susie cursed. The pen. She must have opened a Fountain when she threw it down. Ralsei approached Kris and began to compliment their hair. Kris smiled and pulled out another ribbon, tying Ralsei’s ears back into a mock ponytail. The pair laughed and Susie frowned slightly at their connection. Susie wanted to compliment Kris too.
“You could do all those things too, you know?” a voice whispered into Susie’s ear.
She whirled around, coming face to face with a light brown face. She had red eyes and maroon hair. Ridged horns protruded from her hair and her cat-like ears twitched excitedly. Her brown furred face was more fox than human. She was looking at Susie with glee atop a giant levitating leather-bound book.
“Who are you?!” Susie shouted as she readied her axe.
“No need for all that, Suz,” the woman said and lifted the book higher into the air.
Ralsei and Kris were by her side. The woman’s eyes lit up when spotted Kris. She inched closer on her flying book. “You must be Kris!”
Kris steadied their blade, giving a small nod as confirmation. The woman flew around excitedly before stopping in front of Kris, her gloved hands gripping the book. “I’ve been waiting to meet you! I’ve heard such good things about you!”
“You’ve heard so much… about Kris?” Ralsei untied their ears and tilted their head at the woman.
“Oh, yes!” the woman flew around excitedly before jumping off of her book and landing in front of Ralsei. She flew down with a clop and that was when Susie realized she had hooves. The woman was wearing a dark green dress and a fluffy fox tail swished behind her.
“My prince,” the woman bowed dramatically. “I humbly introduce myself to you as Ms. Dee.”
Ralsei was smiling brightly and started having a jovial conversation with Ms. Dee.
“Hey!” Susie shouted at the pair. “This isn’t the time to be chatting it up! There’s a Fountain to close!”
“Oh, of course!” Ralsei turned to the woman. “Could you show us where the Fountain is?”
Ms. Dee smiled and nodded excitedly. “I’ll have to give you the tour first but its just along the way!”
Kris nudged Susie and she looked down at the human.
“What’s going on here?” Kris asked. Susie couldn’t focus with Kris’s gaze piercing her. “Did you do all of this?”
Ralsei and Ms. Dee were already making their way to the stairs, both chatting happily about the architecture of the foyer.
“Well, uh,” Susie thought about lying. She had a feeling she knew what happened. She must have been so frustrated earlier that when she threw the pen down, a Fountain opened. Susie just hoped Ms. Dee wasn’t the object she was thinking she was. Susie sighed. “Yeah, something must have happened before I came to your place. I… I think I caused this. Let’s just clean it up and get back alright? We’re already losing movie time.”
Kris was looking at Susie suspiciously but only nodded and followed after Ralsei and Ms. Dee.
Ms. Dee turned and smiled at Kris and then bounded down the stairs to Susie. Ralsei was chatting excitedly about the giant portrait of Kris but Susie could see Kris angle their head back to keep an eye on Susie. Her heart sputtered as Ms. Dee jumped excitedly in front of her.
“I’m so excited you’re here! And you brought Kris!”
Susie grabbed at Ms. Dee’s arm, stopping her from jumping. “You better shut your hole or I will kill you.”
Ms. Dee’s eyes narrowed, a sly smile gracing her maw. “I have a feeling you’ll be thanking me soon enough. You know, its really better to get all your emotions out.”
Susie clenched their teeth as Ms. Dee ran a finger under Susie’s chin and bounded back up the stairs. Susie had a clear sight of Kris. They were looking down at Susie from the top fo the stairs, no doubt having seen everything that just happened. Susie’s heart dropped. Surely… Kris didn’t think something was happening between the two… right? Susie couldn’t figure out Kris’s expression. She only watched as Ms. Dee turned Kris back towards the painting and began telling the story of its origin.