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They don't remember opening the window. There's a cool breeze coming through it, disturbing the curtains. One of their brother's posters flutters somewhere to their right, the sound invading the room. Their bangs obscure most of their view, but they stare out into the middle of the bedroom anyway.
It's late in the afternoon. Kris isn't sure when they decided to lay down. They distantly recall something about their mother staying out late and leaving early, a busy schedule this week. She had made sure to tell them there was food in the fridge.
Kris wonders what their face had looked like when she talked to them. Whether or not she had maybe noticed that something was off; the way their hair was messy and clung together, the deep eye bags under their sockets. She was in a hurry, rushing from room to room gathering papers and stuffing belongings into her purse.
Probably not.
Kris has a headache.
They bring a hand out to fumble semi-blindly for a lukewarm glass of water on their dresser. They throw it back with a grimace. Stale. It's enough to get them to sit up and bring their legs over the side of their bed. Their head spins for a moment before righting itself.
They sit there for a while. There's a soft orange glow filling the room from the window. The wind ruffles their hair, brushing it away from their eyes and forcing Kris to see clearly in front of them. There's not much to look at.
Asriel's old books. Asriel's chair, swiveled at an angle. His game controller tucked under his bed, waiting to be picked up again.
Nothing important.
A creak interrupts them from their thoughts.
They whip around quickly, on their feet and headed to the foot of their own bed in a second. They ignore their dizziness to stare wide-eyed at the bird cage beneath them.
It's still latched shut. There's a small red heart in the middle, pulsating. It's staying still, otherwise. Dormant.
Kris lets out a breath. Another creak rings out, but not from the metal cage they know so well. It's still familiar, a sound they've heard countless times. Kris gets up slowly from where they had crouched over the wagon, turning back towards the open window.
The orange light feels heavy on their skin. They take one step, then another. It's warm outside today. Cicadas buzz incessantly, rising and falling in harmony. The sound of metal creaking gets louder, clashing with a purpose. Kris finally reaches the open window, peering down at the grass below.
There's a purple monster-shaped object currently fighting the latch on the Dreemur family's front gate, valiantly.
The shape kicks at the metal latticework before clambering over it roughly. It lands in a crouch and looks around suspiciously, turning toward the house. Kris sees Susie's face with narrowed eyes darting back and forth, looking for any witnesses. She seems to deem herself safe, throwing her shoulders up in a hunch as she slinks towards the home's front door, hands stuffed in her pockets.
Kris rolls their eyes, safe from Susie's wrath up in their room. They slip some shoes on and lean over toward Asriel's side of the room, taking stock of the junk he left behind. There's a yellow gel pen he had forgotten about sitting in an unused mug, solitary.
Kris doesn't like messing with their brother's things when he's not even there to stop it. What's the fun in that?
Instinctively, Kris chances a glance back at the bird cage. Its contents are still, but Kris swears they can feel it looking at them. Even from there, what can it see? What can it hear?
Kris grabs the yellow pen in one quick motion, not giving themself more time to consider. They look back out through the window to see Susie carefully approaching the door, trying to not seem like she's creepily peering through their curtains while totally doing exactly that.
Kris' lips twitch. They hold the pen straight, glaring down at Susie's dark mane of hair. It's a solid target. They aim the pen and throw it at an arc, watching as it sails through the air until it sticks its landing.
Susie turns around wildly, throwing her hands up to her head and growling. Her eyes fly up to Kris' bedroom window.
Bullseye.
Kris feels their smile upturn despite themself at the look on her face. She's stalking over to the ground below their window, wielding the pen from her hair like it's a weapon.
"What the hell is your problem, you little weirdo? Come down and greet me like a normal person!" She's yelling up at the window, but Kris can see she's smiling from here, too.
The room at their back is stagnant. Even the breeze on a nice day like this can only do so much. Their bed is suffocating, the other half of the room lackluster and dusty. And the cold metal bars sitting in the corner of the room suck any warmth out of the air greedily.
Kris doesn't look back before bringing their legs up over the window ledge.
Susie starts waving her arms, alarmed. "Like, down the stairs! Dude! There is no way you're jumping that. You have weak bones!"
Kris puffs out a breath of air and leans forward precariously. "You'll catch me," they say.
Susie practically guffaws up at them. "Like hell I will!" She drops the pen and bends her knees, bringing her arms up halfway in front of her. An interesting pose for someone who has decided to not catch them, Kris thinks.
"You've thrown me before. It's like the same thing."
It's not even that far down, anyway. Fifteen feet, maybe. Kris just shrugs down at Susie, ignoring her twitching eye and focusing more on the way her arms flex in time with Kris' movements forward. Their smile definitely isn't leaving their face anytime soon.
They pitch forward. The wind is nice on their skin. They lean to the side and knock into Susie, hard. She stumbles, one of her knees hitting the ground. Her arms wrap around their frame solidly. The collision aches, just a bit. Kris thought they were dizzy before, but now their head is spinning.
They lay there for a second, recovering their balance. They can feel the grass on the spot between their socks and pant leg, where their ankle is bare. It's soft and dewy. Susie is warm. Kris assumes she must have been outside for a while, soaking up the sun. Now they get to share some of that, too. They feel warmth down to their fingertips, a comforting juxtaposition from the room they spent the last day in. Days? Maybe, maybe not.
Not that that matters now. Kris allows themself another few seconds before slowly pushing themself up with a soft groan. Susie lets out an oomph when they accidentally elbow her in the gut. Her lip curls, and Kris glances up at her through uneven bangs to see an expression that is both bewildered and pissed off. Her jaw is open a bit, like she can't quite believe her eyes.
Kris thinks about putting their hand in her maw, right between her teeth. Would she trap it between her incisors? Would she get angry, and push Kris away? Would she laugh at them?
Kris instead stands, brushing off dust and shaking their head. They offer a hand down to Susie, still half kneeling on the lawn.
She continues staring, so Kris just waits.
Her eyes dart from Kris' face to their outstretched hand, and suddenly grabs it roughly. Kris almost falls over, but fumbles and leans back to pull her forward. "You're an asshole," she says loudly, and then yanks herself up. She uses her hold on Kris to drag them around a bit, like they're some kind of dummy.
Kris doesn't really mind. After they're sufficiently shaken, she throws an arm around their frame and steers them back to the creaky gate. They glance back over their shoulder at the yellow pen left on the ground. They'll have to grab that later.
"Well, now that you're here, you'll have to be the one to open this evil gate. I'm pretty sure it's impossible unless we like, take a chainsaw to it though."
Susie walks with purpose, marching Kris and herself up to the offending gate. Kris wonders where Susie will lead them to today. Maybe the school, or the lake. She's been partial to the woods near the cemetery as well, recently. Kris privately thinks they do a pretty good job of pretending some of these places don't bother them. It’s different when Susie’s there, anyway.
They reach the gate before Kris can think to ask their destination. Kris silently ducks out from Susie's hold, not noticing her frown when they do. She crosses her arms as Kris appraises the fence gate.
They tilt their head, crouching and leaning and jiggling the latch. Susie judges from a foot away, feeling more and more triumphant the longer they struggle.
"Ha! Told you so. You better have a chainsaw hidden somewhere behind your mom's cookie cutters or something, dude. Otherwise we might be stuck in your boring yard forever."
She grins at them, but Kris just gives her a deadpan look back. They take a step back, then two. They stare hard at the gate. The look on their face is so serious that Susie uncrosses her arms, anticipating something.
Kris rushes forward suddenly, and kicks at the gate with all their might. The gate creaks in retaliation, and Kris falls flat on the ground in front of it.
The gate didn't budge.
Kris rolls over and spits grass out of their mouth. Susie looms over them, and when she meets their eyes, she starts howling with laughter. Her sides are shaking, her hair is falling forward, and she has one hand over her eyes while she points down at them. Kris bats the hand away with a grumble, which just makes her laugh more. She looks so wild, from down here, Kris thinks. They think about how much they want her to smile like that, always. Their stomach churns.
They clamber up and Susie leans on them, smushing little wildflowers underneath their feet and cementing the dirt on their cheek into a more permanent fixture. Kris' face feels warm.
Susie catches her breath, still chuckling at the human-shaped splat in the grass. She goes to the gate and hops over it with ease, and then looks back at Kris with a sharp grin. They sigh before following her, only struggling a little before landing on the other side. The ground gives easily, a sign of rain earlier in the day. Kris doesn't recall hearing any rain.
They catch up and push her in the side childishly, choosing to ignore how she barely moves an inch. Then they walk forward, turning back sideways to address her. "Lead the way."
She shoves them back and then grabs them before they can stumble. She uses her other hand to give a mock salute before guiding the two of them down the sidewalk. She kicks pebbles in her way, and Kris takes care in stepping over any cracks they see. Susie doesn't seem to mind. Kris isn't quite sure where they might be headed, but that's alright. As long as Susie is there, Kris is sure they'll want to be there, too.