Noelle's December Catch-All

[holidaygirl1225]

WHO: Noelle & Mayaka, Bigby, Kris, Agnes
WHAT: Questing, decorating for the holidays
WHEN: Throughout December
WHERE: Bottlecap Bay, the Spire
WARNINGS: Any Deltarune spoilers will be marked by thread.

Comments

Holiday Baking Special (with Kris)

[holidaygirl1225]

[ooc: very likely Deltarune spoilers throughout this thread.]

[Noelle has spent more of her time in the kitchen than out of it lately. It makes her happy to work on something productive that other people can enjoy... and she offered cookies as a quest reward for information regarding Dess, so she owes plenty of cookies. She invited Kris over because apparently someone needs to order them to eat now, so after making sure they had some food, she kinda-sorta forced them to stay and help her gather ingredients and watch the cookies in the oven.

At least when they're like this, they probably won't eat all her cookies before they cool like they used to? Still, it's weird, thinking there's someone else in their head. Especially someone who...

... she doesn't need to finish that thought.]

So, Kris, um...

[How does she talk to them now? It's not like they've really worked out the rift between them-- the many years they spent avoiding her, or the fact they 'don't remember' doing all of that awful stuff to her, or the million questions she has. But if she doesn't handle this delicately, they'll just go back to avoiding her.]

... do you still like gingerbread cookies?

cw kris is dissociating and that means lavvy gets to write ten billion words of introspection

[heartonachain]

[Kris stands in front of the oven, face pressed up against the glass, staring diligently at cookies both of them know they can't see. The lack of sight only makes their body feel further away, something strange and foreign that moves about on its own with only minimal feedback that reaches all the way back to Kris. They focus on the heat against their face, the comparative chill of the tile under their feet. It's not enough to completely ground them, but it's... it's something. It's real, probably. Something has to be.

There's a part of them that still wants to believe last month didn't happen. Maybe they've just... hallucinated all of this. Maybe their soul found a way to make Noelle forgive them without telling the truth. They've seen it manage the impossible before—why not this, too? Isn't this an outcome worth perfecting? Doesn't it have its own secrets to keep?

But the more time passes, the more they realize... they never really know what it's thinking. They don't know what it wants, what it thinks of people like Noelle, what it thinks of them... so maybe this was always doomed to happen eventually. The guitar, the Knight, they should've known it would find more ways to make life difficult for Kris.

... and yet, this scenario isn't playing out at all like the ways they'd imagined it. The Noelle in their mind was more disgusted with them. The Noelle next to them is just... acting like things are normal, kind of. There's an awkward atmosphere that feels different from before, but she still sought them out intentionally. She still talks and laughs and brings up old stories like they're not a husk of their former self. She even made sure they got to eat something. They don't know what they're supposed to do with this information yet.]

Yes.

[They speak, only realizing she'd asked a question after the answer comes. They... haven't really been all that present so far. They stiffly force their legs to move, stepping back from the oven with minimal resistance, half-turning towards her.

Kris nods. They sure fucking do still like gingerbread.]

... don't make it that much anymore.

[holidaygirl1225]

[Did they mean that they haven't made it since they got here? Or are they talking about all the years they spent ignoring her? Noelle isn't sure how to ask, and then the moment is gone, and she doesn't say anything at all.]

... Your mom was way better at making them than me, actually, fahaha. Just, like, an amazing baker in general. Especially her pies. Remember how you stuck your face in one like it was a pie eating contest, and I started bawling my eyes out 'cause I wanted some, and Dess, she...

[... didn't chase them around with a wiffle bat that time because Toriel was there. Instead, Dess 'encouraged' them on to eat the entire thing, which Toriel saw as an important lesson for them about sharing. They had an upset stomach all afternoon and all night.

Does Kris remember that...? Did they even see the quest she posted? Did they care?]