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It’s a cheery day in Castletown, streets bustling with all the Darkners you’ve saved. Despite the tragedies of yesterday night, it’s so easy to slip into solace and just enjoy the bright atmosphere—cheery music and friends and everything you and Kris’s friends could want. It’s all so cozy and homely, and for a second, you even feel like you belong in the world.
You enter Swatch’s cafe and immediately, a cutscene initiates. Not that’s… interesting.
“Hello, young master,” Swatch says dutifully. “How may I help you today?”
Kris says something—you can’t actually figure out what, but they do—and it’s something crazy, judging by Swatch’s reaction.
“Young master…? Are you certain?” he asks.
> Fork It Over Mister Swatch
> No
Judging by the length and expressiveness of the dialogue choices, it’s very, very obvious which one Kris wants. You have no clue what’s going on here, but- y’know what? Kris’s been having a hard time lately. Well, judging from your observations, a while now, actually—just getting even worse now. It’s bad enough that you have to control them just to interact with this world—you can’t bring yourself to deny this thing they so clearly want.
> Fork It Over Mister Swatch
“...Please do not look at me like that any longer, Young Master,” Swatch hesitates for a moment, before sighing and shuffling with something under the counter. It’s a large bottle. “Here you are.”
You stare at the bottle for a second, trying to check if it really is what you think it is—hard to tell with the pixelated interface.
Is Kris about to drink booze?
“Woah, Kris,” Susie says, with an impressed whistle. “Never thought you had the balls.”
Kris holds up the bottle, and for a second, you’re expecting them to pour out some booze into a cup.
But then, they down the entire bottle of whiskey in one fell swoop. chugging it down like it's chocolate milk. Everyone in the Swatch Cafe is staring at them for a few seconds, trying to process what just happened. And then…
Your vision of this world goes fuzzy at the edges, blurring more and more and more until the screen fades to black.
Susie hears a long, drawn out sigh of relief from Kris shortly after they down the entire bottle of booze.
“That’s the stuff,” they murmur, voice low and languid, eyes lidded. It’s quieter than usual, mumbly, too. “Haaah- Swatch, get me another.”
“I’m not so sure on that, young master,” Swatch murmurs, only to falter when Kris gives him their trademark puppydog eyes. “...Wait a little while, at least. And do not down entire bottles at once.”
“Fine, fineeeee,” Kris whines, yes, they whine—the drawl sending Susie’s heart abuzz in a way that makes her wonder if she’s drunk as well.
Abruptly, they stand up from their seat and slam their arm against the table, almost stumbling before they use it to prop themself up, pointing a finger gun at one of the Hathies across the cafe.
“You’re radiant,” they say, breathlessly. “Utterly divine.”
The Hathy preens, and hearts float up in the air. Susie feels a blooming heat in her core followed immediately by a sharp pang of jealousy. Why’d they flirt with the damn Hathy first? Why not, y’know… their super cool awesome best friend who’s completely willing to receive their pick-up lines.
Despite Kris’s seeming infatuation, it’s only smugness that graces their features afterwards, not even a typical drunken blush to be found.
“Still got it.”
“Huh?” Susie says, raising a brow. Kris points at one of the Swatches and says.
“Your glasses are gorgeous,” they say. “Pour me a drink.”
Hearts fly in the air again—marking a successfully completed act.
The Swatchling dutifully pours them a glass of booze—what kind, Susie frankly doesn’t know. Kris eagerly gulps it down.
“K-Kris,” Ralsei says, raising his hands up in an attempt to pacify them—boring kind, not the magic kind. “Perhaps you could slow down a bit? I understand you’re excited, but-” “Don’t put up that front,” Kris grumbles. “You’re cutest when you’re being yourself.”
Ralsei flushes, nodding reluctantly and letting some of his tension drop. In response to this, Kris smirks, pointing their finger and letting hearts come out.
“You’re going to get a hangover, Kris,” he says instead. “And it will last in the light world. Are you sure you’re prepared to handle that?”
“Worth it,” Kris responds.
Before anything else can happen, they move over to the jukebox in the corner and pull up that familiar tune.
When the demon heart is cryin', and the blood is gushin' bright—
"You're really alright with playin' that one, Kris?" A Pippins asks, giving them a worried look. Cheats as they may be, this little sod actually looks like they might be concerned. "I know it got on your nerves when Tenna-"
"I don't get chances like this often," Kris says. "I'll take what I can."
The Pippins raises a confused brow—looking almost as perplexed as Susie feels by the frankly nonsensical explanation—but seems to reluctantly accept the explanation.
"Less worrying," Kris says, words starting to slur over. "More having fun."
And with that, they stand up on the table and do a pirouette in perfect form, before pointing a hand up.
Hearts fly all over the place. And Susie's heart is thump-thump-thumping like she's just run a marathon. She wants to say something, to try and look cool, but her throat's tightened up, and she's pretty sure anything she tries to get out'll just sound like gurgled nonsense that'll only embarrass her even further.
Susie's not the only one impressed by the show they put on.
The Darkners are staring at Kris in awe-filled silence for a second or so.
Then, a Hathy screams.
And the place explodes.
"Awww yeah!" says a Rudinn, breaking into what is surprisingly completely sober dancing—After all, Swatch doesn't usually offer alcohol. "This rules! I can't believe I passed it up for that measly paycheck!"
"He didn't even give us enough to pay rent!" Cries out the Rudinn's friend- Boyfriend? They kiss sometimes, and it's totally gross and shit, but like, it's only on the cheeks, so Susie still isn't sure if it's just platonic or not. "This is awesome!"
It doesn't take long for the other Darkners to start celebrating, too, like they just won a battle or something—well, okay, technically they have, against a Titan, too- but like- ugh, whatever! Susie can't figure out how to explain herself in a way that doesn't make her look totally lame, okay?
Excitement and life fill the area in a way it hadn't quite previously—because sure, it was cozy, and good to rest, but, well, that's precisely it. No fun. No energy. Type of place that puts you to sleep. And maybe that's a good thing, because that means it's a place you can rest, feel safe—Susie knows she would've killed for that yesterday—but the life Kris just filled it with is something else entirely.
And Kris themself...
Susie doesn't even know how to put it. Since they became friends on that fateful day, Susie's always seen them as her closest friend. She feels bad, kinda, because what about Ralsei and Lancer and Noelle? And yeah, they're all so important! But... none of them're quite there for her like Kris is. When when Ralsei walked in on her finding the last prophecy panel last night, Susie immediately found herself filled with the urge to be strong, to protect him and ensure he felt at least a little bit less miserable than before.
But with Kris, she wanted to spill her guts out like a total loser. And yeah, maybe that means she gave them the short end of the stick again, maybe it's just because they already saw her at her at her very worst from all those days of threats and shoving and awful, awful names, but honestly, Susie doesn't think she'd really mind it if it were the other way around. She'd love it, actually. Maybe. Kinda. a little bit.
Because Kris is always so quiet, so tight-lipped, always holding their cards close to their chest. They're the kind of person where you can never quite tell exactly what they're thinking. Before, this would result in Susie pushing her own thoughts onto them—hatred and bitterness and so much rage, matching her own, but now, well-
Maybe she's gotten worse, actually. She's not satisfied with projection or guesswork anymore. Susie wants to know the real thing—straight from Kris's mouth, or even really forthright body language. Of course, it seems that's the one thing they never seem quite willing to give her. So reclusive and so, so prodigal. Sometimes Susie wonders just how much of them she actually knows. If they're putting up an act, or- or if they're reluctantly tolerating her.
Noelle's words from yesterday linger in her mind. This isn't normal Kris. They're acting weird. Could that be true? After all... how much does Susie really know them?
But now, here they are, all loud and full of life and so, so honest about what they want and what they feel, and Susie has no clue how to describe the thumping in her chest because it sure as hell's gotta be something more than plain old camaraderie.
And they haven't spoken to her a single time. A small, overly sensitive part of Susie feels hurt at that—seriously, they flirted with the Hathy before saying a single word to her? What if that's a reflection of how they really feel? What if she's been reading them wrong the entire time, and in truth, they couldn't give a single crap about her?
"Susie," they turn to her smugly, giddily, as if having read her mind. "I can do whatever I want."
Susie pauses for a second, contemplating how to respond. Her eyes turn over the countertop and the leftover booze in the bottle.
"Can'tcha always do whatever?" she says, before waving to Swatch. "Hey, pour me one out too! I wanna know if it's worth chuggin' down like that."
Swatch raises a brow, looking like he's about to try and cut his losses and decline, before Kris glares at him.
"She asked for a glass," they say, raising a brow, arm reaching out behind her back and stopping tentatively just before it can reach the other end of her waist. "Give it to her."
Swatch, to his credit, is entirely unfazed, muttering something along the lines of 'young love' that is entirely unhelpful to Susie's ongoing existential crisis. "If you insist, young master."
He ducks under the counter to pour out his supplies. Kris, meanwhile, draws their hand back, looking strangely sheepish.
"You've never drunk before?" They ask, tilting their head curiously, and—it would certainly displease them to hear, considering their affinity for canines—catlike. "I assumed-"
"A no-good hoodlum like me'd be gettin' wasted daily?" She says, immediately regretting the outburst.
"Don't put words in my mouth," they reply, though in strange mercy, they don't seem upset in the slightest. "I assumed you'd be like me. Take the chance to forget all your pains."
Susie opts not to dwell on the less than pleasant implications of that statement, instead opting to laugh.
"Well," she says. "I couldn't. Couldn't even afford cheap booze or anything."
And no one was willing to share with a no-good kid like her either.
They frown at that, and for a second, Susie wonders if she's somehow offended them, only to be met with a hand grasping her own. The warm touch is electric, but in a good way. She doesn't know how to explain it- Like- like putting your hand too close to an open flame... except... good?
Okay, yeah, she gives up.
"When we have the time, I'll buy you whatever you want," they say. Seeing the look on her face, they continue. "Not booze or anything. Whatever you want. Maybe I can pull some strings with Aunt Carol—" Susie's face scrunches up at the mention of Noelle's mean old mom, though they pay it no mind. "—Get you unbanned from Free Ham Sandwich Day."
And suddenly, Susie feels very, very stupid for all her worrying that Kris might not care about her, because how could she possibly doubt it when they're sitting next to her, drunk, and saying all this stupid shit?
Susie knows all too well that drunk actions are sober thoughts.
"You're bein' too nice, Kris," she says, calmly, because one of them has to be the responsible one here—and while that's usually Ralsei, it looks like he's currently more interested in contemplating to himself the legality of Dark World underage drinking. "And talk about this sappy shit when you're sober. I'm not gonna rob you dry."
Kris frowns, evidently displeased.
"You're very bad at accepting things from others," they say, like they're her therapist or some shit. "Particularly at recognizing when you deserve it."
Susie's about to ask if they've been psychoanalyzing her this entire time when Swatch sets the drink down on the table.
"Your whiskey, madam," he says.
"Thanks," Susie replies, taking the glass and swirling it around. Translucent amber liquid with the faintest smell of Vanilla.
Susie takes a sip.
And immediately spits it out.
"This shit burns!" she gasps, coughing up a storm. "Dude. How the hell did you down the whole bottle?"
"Most people don't exactly drink the whiskey for the taste, Susie," Ralsei interjects politely, and again, Susie realizes that he's there, sitting right next to them. Why the hell is she excluding him like that?
"Ralsei!" she says. "Wanna join us? Try some of this-"
Ralsei rapidly shakes his head.
"N-No thanks," he says. "I'd really... rather not."
And Susie knows how hard it is for him to say no to things, so she knows that he really doesn't get involved.
Oh, well, at least she doesn't feel quite as bad about leaving him out anymore. She'll definitely find a way to make it up to him later, though.
There’s a few seconds of silence, but it’s not awkward at all—not quite comfortable, either, though, because comfortable implies calm, and there’s nothing calm about how Kris looks like a kid on Kris-mas, and Susie’s heart is threatening to beat out of her chest?
“You never said what you meant by that, y’know,” Susie says after a while.
“About what?” Kris says, a raised brow.
“Being able to do whatever you want.” she says. “Can’tcha do that already?”
Kris sucks in a deep breath, before gesturing to the space around them.
“I could-” they start. “I could walk out of this place at any time. I can say whatever I want to the other patrons, whenever I want. I can flirt with the Rudinns and not just the Hathies, and I don’t be in battle. I- I can talk to you and say anything I want- Angel, I could…” They trail off uncertainly, and Susie takes the sudden pause as a chance to contemplate what they’re saying.
Because she expected them to say crazy shit, like being able to burn down the place, or scream at the top of their chest, or run off to the Appalachians never to be seen again. Typical drunken ramblings.
But this is all completely normal—though, granted, something strangely unpleasant bubbles up when they mention flirting with all the enemies. These are things anyone can do at any point, alcohol or no alcohol. Why would Kris mention them?
“What,” she says. “You had to get wasted to realize y’got free will?”
It’s a joke, but evidently, Kris doesn’t find it funny, pursing their lips and looking away with something Susie almost mistakes for guilt. She must’ve misspoken again, as she often does.
“Sorry-”
“Can I do something selfish, Susie?” they ask, a hand cupping her face. “Something I might forget?”
Susie blinks slowly. She has a feeling she knows where this is going.
Kris is gonna punch her, right? Take out their lingering resentment for her previous mistreatment and allow themself to start a new, untethered friendship?
Well, sure. Susie’s down.
“If you’re sure, I’m sure,” she says. Kris smiles.
“Alright, then,” they say. “I’m sorry.”
Susie closes her eyes, bracing for the inevitable stinging pain, only to feel something gentle and warm press against her cheek. She opens them in a daze, but by then, Kris is already pulling away.
That was…!
“Thank you,” they say. “For indulging me.”
“I-” Susie pauses for a second to remember how to breathe. “...Get some rest. We’ll, uh, we’ll talk about it when you’re sober.”
Kris nods, and Susie struggles to calm herself enough to put a thought together as they lean on the table and start to doze off.
Immediately upon gaining back control, you are greeted by a black screen, lines of dialogue flashing through.
“Kris! Kris, wake up!” It’s Susie, right? And, seconds later, the world fades into view—the sight of Susie shaking a sleeping Kris awake proving your suspicions correct. You can’t help but smile fondly. Second time now. Kris wakes up, and she motions for them to straighten themself.
“You were out for a while…” she says. “Do you remember what happened?”
And then, the options flash before you.
> Yes
> No
It’s probably giving you the chance to get filled in on what went down, you think, making your choice without hesitation.
> No
“Oh,” Susie says, looking almost disappointed. “Well, you got drunk outta your mind! Pssht, uh, yeah,” she trails off hesitant, almost uncomfortable, and you recall your theories about her homelife. “By the way, you gotta get me unbanned from Free Ham Sandwich Day now, dude. You promised!”
You stifle a chuckle at that. Whatever antics Susie must’ve gotten up to to get Kris to agree to that must’ve been quite the sight.
“Anyways,” she says, moving ahead to the exit of the bar. “Let’s get a move on. Ralsei’s waiting outside the castle. We’re redecoratin’ his room.”
That resolute kindness really is Susie, alright.
You and Kris follow, but just before opening the door, Susie pauses.
“But, uh, Kris?” she says. “There’s something else I wanna talk about when we’ve got the time. Alright?” Kris nods, judging from her reaction. “Alright… thanks.”
And with that, she moves on, dragging Kris along with her and leaving you wondering what exactly happened in that cafe.