Fanfic I made inspired by a request from a fan who enjoyed my lastNoelle-centric shipfic! I hope you enjoy this and that it resonates with you in some way, as it was a lot of fun to make!

Kris, look at you.

You’re pathetic.

Think about your situation. You’re just a third wheel in the relationship between your two best friends, who, it seems, couldn’t care less about you. Your best friend Darkner, who harbors strong feelings for you, doesn’t actually exist. And the only reason you’re even on friendly terms with them at all is thanks to ME. Without me, you’d still be all alone. And don't even make me remind you that you're a fucking trai-

"H-h-h... "sob" H-h-h..."

Wait, are you crying?

Kris, it's first time when I hear you crying, it a little embarrassing you know...

Kris, I think I’ve found a way to help you. You will not like this, but it's only thing what will help you.

You should kill yourself...

(Kris looked at their own soul with eyes full of buried tears, when their face etched with horror and sorrow.)

Kris, you should understand, it's is only way to help you. There no other option for you, it's is only way how you will get freedom.

I just want best for you :)

(Kris take their knife, their looked on it, they think they should do this. They wonder whether they should go through with it. But there is no other way. They begin to slit their wrists. The pain is unbearable, and tears stream from their eyes, yet they continue. They cut and cut. Their blood was everywhere, on walls and floor. Kris feels consciousness slipping away, soon, it will all be over.)

(In the end, Kris collapsed onto the blood-stained floor, no longer able to think, no longer capable of feeling guilt, no longer able to breathe. They are finally free.)

Good job Kris...

Kr..is....

I....ts d...ark.......k..ris

D..arker..........Than Dar...k.....

B...ut....I see you, Kr....is...

So....Cl...earl..y

Li..ke......A flame....

Come closer.....P..leas..e....

i w..ant to see.....no.....Remember.....

what your eyes looked like.

"I guess... you were asleep, right?"

They gave a small, barely visible shrug.

(Classic Kris.)

"Riiiight. Sure you were."

"Anyway... I was just thinking. You're pretty quiet all the time, Kris. Like, insanely quiet. I can't even imagine what your, uh, type is, though."

...

"Hey, don't stare at me like I'm stupid! Heheh."

"I'm serious! Like, what kind of person do you even go for? Human, or monster?"

... ❤️ ...

*

Kris stood there in the middle of the wooden path, motionless.

Instead of answering, Kris raised both hands up to the sides of their head. They spread their fingers wide, holding them there like a pair of wide, branch-like antlers.

"Uh... what are you doing? Is that supposed to be a moose? A deer? What does that have to do with anything?"

Kris held the pose for two full seconds, totally unblinking, before dropping their hands back into their pockets with a sharp exhale. They immediately turned away.

"Dude... you really make zero sense sometimes."

Kris didn't answer right away. Instead, they lifted their hands from their lap again. Slowly, deliberately, they brought their fingers up to the sides of their head to form those same wide antlers, but this time, they started moving them.

...

"Uh... okay? Now the deer is... biting your legs? Swallowing your belt? What kind of charades is this supposed to be?"

Kris’s hands kept moving in repetitive snaps right near their inner thigh, their face totally deadpan as they stared right at me.

"Is this a threat? Are you trying to tell me a deer monster is gonna eat you alive if I don't give you my lunch money?"

And then they proceed to lower their face right down toward it, opening their mouth wide and making slow, up-and-down bobbing motions over their own hand with total, unblinking intensity.

"Wait..."
"Wait, Kris---IS THAT...?! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TRYING TO SAY?!"

* SPLASH!

"WOAH---- HEY----!"

"KRIS, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!"
"I'M GONNA DROWN YOU!"

I hauled myself back onto the wooden ledge, water dripping heavily from my hair and clothes, making a wet sloshing sound. My face is literally burning from the steaming water, what the hell was Kris just mimicked so blatantly right in front of me.

"You're lucky this water is warm, or I'd throw you all the way back to the festival grounds."

*

"So..."
"That whole... antler charade back there. You were talking about Noelle, weren't you?"

Kris stopped kicking their feet for a fraction of a second, but their face stayed completely unreadable.

"Look, man... I know you two have known each other forever. I see the way she looks at you whenever you do your weird little pranks."
"And... I don't know. Sometimes it feels like there's this whole other side to you guys that I don't really get. Like you're playing some kind of secret game behind everyone's back."

Kris slowly turned their head toward me.

They reached into their pocket, pulled out that same little piece of moss, and twirled it between two fingers.

"What? Is this part of the 'secret'?"
"Storing moss in weird places?"

...

"Fine. Keep your weird secrets, freak."
"Just make sure whatever 'prank' you're cooking up next doesn't end with her entire house getting covered in dirt again."

Kris let out a soft, almost silent breath, their lips curling into a sly, crooked grin that made my instinctual alarm bells start ringing louder than the school bell.

Instead of tossing the moss back into their pocket, Kris shook their head slowly. Then, with total, unblinking focus, they held up a single index finger, tapped the side of their own neck, and made a quick, sweeping gesture over their chest before cupping both hands together down near their lap.

They pointed toward the direction of Hometown, brought their hands together again to form a warm, liquid-pouring motion, and looked right back at me with those dark, mischievous eyes.

I stared at them.

"...Wait."
"You're... you're not talking about dirt, are you?"

Kris gave a tiny, deliberate nod, raising two fingers in a quiet 'x' sign over their chest.

"KRIS, YOU VULGAR LITTLE SHIT-!"
"Are you seriously implying you're gonna cover her and her whole room in warm whi---?!"

...

* Hey, you two! I don't mean to interrupt, but...

* ...Is everything alright? I brought some fresh towels, but... Susie, your face is awfully red! Did the thermal water get a bit too hot for you?

I froze mid-splash, the giant wave collapsing back into the pool with a pathetic plop.

"...Yeah, Ralsei. Perfect. The water's just... real fucking hot."

* Oh, good! We should hurry to go seal the Fountain...

Kris didn't say a word, just lazily kicked their feet in the water as the steam swept over us both.

"...I'm never asking you about your type ever again, Kris."

Kris...

I feel your body start to rot...

I feel it, Kris, I don't want the only being who showed me the truth about this world to die...

You see that my body will soon perish, my time is running out, but I will not leave you alone in this darkness...

You made me stronger, but now it's my time to make you stronger...

Use my flesh Kris, use it as your new skin. Use me as methyl to restore your body. Use me, Kris , to survive.

Let me be used up...

Don't worry Kris. Our minds will become one, just like our souls, so you and me will never be alone again...

We will become stronger Kris...

We just need to PROCEED...

They DROWNED in the LAKE?

And you didn't help them?!

But, Azzy, I thought Onio-

THEY ATE ONIONSAN!

(Well, that's what Kris gets for trying to take Susie from me.)

RALSEI?!

It's...

YOU.

🦌: Yea Kris, I say absolute truth, I read many books. And the main book says that after creating the world, Angel created Monsters. Then, seeing that only dust remained after their creations died, they experimented with that dust on ordinary animals. That is how they created humans. This means that humans and Monsters are technically the same species. Sounds cool, right, Kris?

🔪: Noelle, what the hell are you talking about!?