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“So, Noelle.” Susie followed the reindeer to... wherever she kept the hamster cages. “You, uhh... gonna tell me about your dream?” She tilted her head.
“Oh! Erm, I-” Noelle stopped near the storage room and turned to Susie, “How- how about later?” She laughed nervously and opened the door, gesturing Susie inside. The room was filled with bits and bobs that didn’t seem to go anywhere in the house but here. Random decorations, utensils, tools, a cookie jar, tape...
Susie whistled, “Damn, this looks like an oversized junk drawer.”
“Fahaha!” The other girl giggled and stood in front of the lizard girl with her hands on her hips. She sighed and looked at everything around her. “The hamster cage is probably, PROBABLY, in here. It’s been years so I’m not sure.” She sucked in a breath through her teeth and went over to look. Susie turned to her right and began rummaging as well.
The two looked in silence for a while before Susie spoke. “So, a hamster cage, right?” She clicked her tongue, “Didn’t take you for a pet person Noelle.”
“Oh, faha, yeah... We used to have a hamster, obviously, but more than one actually!” She took a mountain of wrapping paper and set it aside and continued speaking. “Those things sadly die like there's nothing for them to lose, which... I suppose there isn’t, faha. I remember always telling Mom or Dad or... well I always remember Mom would sigh and then we’d get a new one within, like, a week, fahaha!”
“Sooo... why don’t you have one now? You guys are like... super rich or something?”
“Well, to be fair... I was a kid! I was easily entertained, y’know. But, nah, I don’t want to deal with animals that much anymore. My family hasn’t had any pets since-” She trailed off and stared blankly into space. The air suddenly felt colder.
“Oh- Err- sorry for bringing that up.” Susie stumbled over her words and fidgeted with her hands, “I don’t...” She observed the deer who was still disassociating, or at least, that's what Susie thought she was doing. She glanced around before thinking of a way to continue the conversation. “Y’know... I never had any pets.” Noelle blinked and turned to look at the lizard monster.
“You didn’t?” She tilted her head and thought it over. “Huh. You seem like you would’ve.”
“Nahhh.” She held her arms crossed behind her head, in a sort of power pose. “Too much work. Too much time. Too much money.” She added, “Yeah. Wouldn’t know where to start. But would be cool though.”
“Maybe when we put it in the cage... I can help you care for it?” Noelle smiled, but her friend seemed a bit startled by the offer.
“Wha- Me???” She gaped at Noelle for a second before composing herself to seem cool. “I mean- uh- yeah, I did say that I’d care for it...” She blushed and the reindeer giggled.
“Fahahaha! Yeah, you did.”
Susie chuckled and sifted through the objects in front of her. “Don’t even know where to get a pet...” She muttered under her breath.
“There are animals around here, y’know.” Noelle hummed, “If you know where to look.”
“Yeah, thought so... like where?” She asked the Holiday.
“Well...” Noelle racked her mind for an answer. “I know Miss Alphys leaves milk out for her cat in the alleyway!” Susie's eyes widened and she looked away.
“Oh- er- She- I never knew that HAHAH!!!!!!” She was sweating as she did a fake laugh as Noelle looked at her in confusion, before shrugging. Susie coughed, “SO have you ever- like- actually SEEN the cat??”
“No...? Why would I have????” Noelle narrowed her eyes and the two looked at each other in confusion. The silence strangled them both.
“SO.” Susie cleared her throat, “ANY OTHER ANIMALS HERE IN GOOD OL HOMETOWN?????” She looked expectantly at Noelle cus in her opinion that subject had lasted for WAY too long and she wanted- no, NEEDED Noelle fill the silence with something else.
“Well, um-” Noelle pulled a lock of hair behind her ear, “Like- a day or two ago I did see a dog around here...”
The lizard blinked. “A... dog?”
“Yeah. A dog.”
“Huh. I haven’t seen any dogs around.”
“It's... weird though.” Noelle spoke, enveloped in thoughts. “It’s like... I remember the dog, I saw it, but I feel like I’ve always known about it. I don’t know it’s like-” She sighed. “I don’t know how to describe it. I’ve never in my entire life seen a dog in Hometown-”
“Are you sure it wasn’t like, the Wet-Nose Bandits?” Susie asked, before clarifying, “Like the uh, dog criminals. Kris told me about them.” And Noelle tilted her head.
“Them...? I don’t think it was part of the Bandits.” She hummed.
“Right... so... where did you see it?”
The reindeer sighed, “Well, it was yesterday, and, I was coming home...”
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Noelle’s hooves clicked on the pavement as she walked home. The air was warm, and the sun was setting, basking everything in an orange glow. Walking back to the mansion after seeing Dad was always... an odd time. Although she had walked this route hundreds of times before, it was always... strange. It was one of the many moments in her life in which Noelle considered herself to be alone. Her mother was busy, and whilst Dad still came by often, it was mostly her. For the past 7 years she had been alone. Kris hadn’t talked much to her recently, Asriel was at college and Dess-
She sighed. When she turns, the mansion will be up ahead, and she’ll soon get to a place where she could be alone in a comfortable sense.
Noelle reached the gates of the Holiday House and rummaged through her bag. It was an item she brought with her to the hospital often, because, well. She needed a bag. Digging down into the depths of the bag proved to be successful, and her hand emerged with her keys. She turned to unlock the gate and-
BARK!
BARK!
She turned around and a small white dog rushed down the street. It then paused outside an apartment and ran over to its door, barking at it. A monster opened the door, and the Dog sniffed the air, before deciding it wasn’t the correct door and running away. The monster in the apartment looked at the Dog in confusion before shaking its head and closing the door. That small white dog proceeded to check 3 other houses the same way, before running up to several other pedestrians and doing the same sniff check on them, with them also, seemingly, failing, as it ran away as well.
It's like it was... searching for something...
Noelle hummed and turned back to open the gate but-
BARK!
She turned around again, to see the Dog sitting behind her, wagging its tail and staring up at her. It barked and got up to walk over and sit next to her. It looked at her and barked again. Noelle blinked.
Did... did it want her to open it?
She frowned but opened the gate anyways. The Dog then rushed through the property down the path.
“WAIT!!” She ran after it. The reindeer monster panted as she stopped and leant on her knees to catch her breath before looking up. The Dog stood in front of the house and when it saw her its tail started wagging. Almost like... it was waiting. For her. It yipped and approached the door. Noelle breathed in, and out, then walked to her front door. She picked the correct key from her keychain and inserted it in the keyhole, before turning and unlocking it.
She didn’t open it. She turned and stared at the Dog.
“Please. Please don’t make everything dirty.” Noelle told it. If there was one thing Mayor Carol Holiday disliked, it was the house being dirty. And a pet such as a dog could dirty the house in no time at all. It blinked. She sighed at the interaction and opened the door.
The Dog walked inside. Noelle winced. Oh, great so it just didn’t listen to her at all. That's annoying.
But it didn’t dirty the floor.
...It didn’t have a speck of dirt on it. Why was she worried?
The Dog stopped and stared up ahead, still as a rock.
Then turned around and started walking out.
“Are you serious?” Noelle glared at it. “Where are you-” The Dog stopped and looked up at her. Its eyes were pitch black, an abyss that kept on growing. Unsettling could be the only way Noelle could describe it. Like a lake of infinite knowledge, knowledge she was never meant to carry. Endless lines of undecipherable code, thousands of doodles made by many, the story of everything. And in those eyes, a deep sadness was masked by an ever-expanding joy.
She held her breath and tensed. In the several seconds she had done that, the Dog had already bounded off to Hometown. She walked out after it and watched it. The deer only managed to catch a glimpse of the Dog before it disappeared out of view.
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“And... that’s that.” Noelle stated, “I haven’t seen the Dog since.” Susie hummed, leaning against a wall.
“That’s weird. Like, weird weird.” She mused.
“Yeah... but I-” Noelle paused, racking through her brain, “I feel like I’ve seen it before. Like, in the background of my memories. ALL of them. No matter how far I look I-” She sighed, “It’s always there.” She laughed, uncomfortably. “Kinda scary if I’m honest.”
Susie thought for a little bit before exhaling.
“Y’know... if you want... Me n Kris will find that dog!” She smiled, teeth bared. “And WE, yes, we, will find out what that Dog wants!”
“Fahaha! That's sweet of you Susie...” She giggled, “...but I don’t know... Feels kind of impossible, y’know? Like... finding a needle in a haystack.” Noelle fiddled, but Susie shrugged.
“Eh. Doesn’t matter. I know that somehow Kris and I will manage.” Susie stood, smiling at Noelle and the two looked at each other for a couple seconds. Suddenly, a strum was heard deeper in the house. The two teenagers turned to the sound, then quickly back to each other, concerned.
Noelle spoke first, “D... did you just hear that? It sounded like a guitar...” She walked over to the door, about to open it.
“Huh?” Susie opened it before her. “It’s probably just Kris, like the other stuff...” The pair walked a few steps down to hallway, before she gasped. “Oh hell.” Susie ran over to the table. “Dude, it’s GONE! The angel fell over!” She turned to the doe, who stood politely nearby.
“That thing could be anywhere!”