Everyone Has Problems Chpt. 4

Everyone Has Problems

Chapter 4: Coping

Susie didn't really mind that Kris was slowly becoming more popular with their fellow classmates. She considered it a good thing. Heck, if she were a bit better at being more outgoing and upfront with her own emotions, she'd be putting in an effort into making friends as well. The dragon girl typically found herself uncomfortable around unknown company, regardless of how nice they were. Susie was familiar with the sense of being betrayed and no matter how hard she tried to make herself numb to it, it still hurt.

With Kris, though, she had this innate sense of familiarity with him. Whether or not she was being naive about it, she didn't care. Kris was her closest friend, and for a little bit, her only friend. Seeing as how he was probably the only one to ever put in an effort into getting to know her past her rough, rude, and often times violent demeanor, she soon realized he wasn't going to betray or abandon her trust anytime soon.

That's why she always found herself trying to make time for him. MK, Temmie, and occasionally Noelle were okay to be with, but sometimes she just wanted to chill with Kris. Susie found their long hang out sessions relaxing, even if they sometimes went through long periods of not even saying anything. It was comforting, in a sense. Because of the fact that Kris had been slowly making himself more open, however, it was often times hard to find alone time with the human. The best solution that Susie could come up with was to just change areas that they would be at. One day it could be the diner, the next it could be the lake. Sometimes it was in the alleyway or behind the school.

Today, it was the graveyard. Whether or not it was just teenagers being brooding or edgy or not, the two couldn't help but find the somewhat somber environment comforting, in a sense. The graveyard wasn't big enough to get lost in, as it was quite small, at least compared to the usual cemetery that came to mind when a person thought of the word. Regardless, there was a certain charm to it, one that was not lost upon the dragon girl and the human.

Since it was currently rather empty, the two shared the stone bench together, which was commemorating the late Gerson Boom. Susie was not too familiar with the old turtle, but Kris relayed a few stories about him, from the time that he knew him, anyways. On the rare occasion that his family managed to drag him to the House of Worship, they would always be greeted by Gerson, who despite his age, was quite boisterous and loud, his big booming voice extremely friendly. His sermons were just as powerful as his voice, and often times, Kris only agreed to follow along just so he could see the old tortoise again.

The human also told Susie that he also used to be a teacher in the school. Not only that, but he contributed quite a lot to the history, publishing and writing quite a few books. Susie recalled seeing the name quite a few times during their study time at the library. "Damn, he seemed like quite an important guy, huh?" She asked aloud, looking around the cemetery casually. Kris noticed that she was holding a piece of chalk in her hand as if it were a cigarette. He couldn't help but smirk a bit at the sight, though Susie didn't notice this.

"Guess that's why we're sittin' on a bench in memory of him, huh?" She continued on, shrugging with a small smile. "If it were me, I'd be a little pissed if all I was left was a bench, heh." She lifted her hand up to nibble at the end of her piece of chalk. "Though, with how much he did, guess a bench was just a neat little send off."

Kris responded with a bit of a nod, leaning back against the bench, hands behind his head. After about a minute or two of silence, Susie spoke up once again. "Hey, Kris? Odd question, but do you think there's an afterlife?" She asked, tilting her head in his direction, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. Kris looked back, somewhat confused by her question. Not so much what she meant, but more so where she was going with it.

"Like, I don't think we just turn to dust and blow away once we're done, but personally? I think it'd kinda suck being a ghost," She continued, snickering some. "It'd be boring as hell, just standing around, seeing everyone go about their lives while you just have to stand there, unable to join them." Her smile slowly deteriorated, her statement sounding a lot more depressing than she meant for it to be. Kris said nothing, but gave a mixture of a shrug and a nod, as well as a grimace that said 'yeah, that would suck, huh?'

"Yeah, I'd be pissed off about it," Susie responded bleakly, nibbling another small chunk off of her chalk piece. "Wouldn't be fair, y'know? It'd get lonely, being unable to talk to those you actually like. I can't imagine other ghosts' lives are as interesting," Susie said, her smile picking up again. "I mean, how interesting can one be, honestly? Hearing them groan and complain all the time? It'd be torture, honestly."

Kris nodded, his own grin starting to show up as he let out a bit of a laugh himself. The two sat in silence for a little bit longer, the only noise being the wind blowing through the trees. Since autumn was fast approaching, many of the leaves fell off, littering the ground with a mixture of orange and brown. The air was quite brisk as well, the wind making the two friends' hair flow with it. Susie couldn't help but shiver a bit, though she'd refuse to actually admit she was getting cold. She was too tough for that.

She wasn't as dumb as people made her out to be, though, and knew that remaining in this kind of temperature wouldn't be too good for her. She was cold blooded, after all. "Well, I gotta be heading home for now, Kris," She'd say, standing up and shoving the rest of the chalk piece into her mouth. "I'll see you tomorrow," She muttered, her voice slightly muffled between the crunch of the calcium. Kris nodded and waved to her, his smile still evident on his face.

"See ya," He replied quietly, watching as she left the cemetery. The human remained by himself for a little while longer, relaxing on the bench by himself. He found the cool air comforting, and couldn't help but shut his eyes. Feeling a bit lazy, the human was starting to drift off into slumber. The only thing that kept him from fully dozing off was the somewhat quiet sound of someone walking.

It was somewhat chilling, though Kris just figured it was just another visitor to the cemetery. Regardless, it was still a little terrifying, considering he was by himself. Being a human, he couldn't help but remain motionless, his eyes shut behind his thick, long bangs. The sounds were quiet, leaves crunching quietly underneath footfalls, which seemed to scrap the ground below. The noise was slowly getting closer, yet remained a good distance away from him. At one point, the noise stopped, and he thought he could hear.. muttering? It was too quiet to make out, but was still off putting to hear, since he was the only other person who was around.

After a few seconds, he heard the muttering stop, as well as what sounded like the ruffling of something. The footfalls were much quicker and louder, though quickly grew quieter. It was sudden, so Kris couldn't help but shoot up from his seat, his eyes fully opening. While the human couldn't really make out what was running, he did see something. Was it a ghost? Was this cemetery really haunted? Figuring it was best to not stick around and find out, the boy got up from the bench and began to head out. As he walked by the gravestones, his peripheral vision did catch something quite bright, which stood out against the brown and orange environment. He moved his head to the left, an eyebrow raised as he slowed his walking down.

'Those flowers weren't there before, were they?' He thought to himself, looking at the gravestone, carved with a snowflake on it. Sure enough, at the base was a bouquet of blue and white flowers. No doubt that they came from his dad's flower shop, but... who left them? This question stuck with Kris the whole time he walked home. He considered visiting his dad to ask about it, but figured that being late for dinner wouldn't please his mom, especially if the reason was to visit Asgore.

The ride to school was as typical as it usually was. Considering that Kris had been on time these past few weeks, it wasn't really seen as unusual from his classmates anymore. Even Susie was starting to show up on time. Not always, but the effort wasn't lost on others. Today, she seemed to be running at least a few minutes late, as the only other students in the classroom currently were Noelle, Berdly, and Temmie, which was usual. However, one voice called out to Kris almost the exact moment he walked in, which came from one certain feathered classmate. Strangely enough, it wasn't Berdly.

"Hey, Kris, how was yer lil get together with Susie yesterday?" Came the over exaggerated Southern drawl of Snowy, the self proclaimed 'class comedian'. Everyone who has been in his compnay for more than a minute can attest to how unfunny he was, often finding his attempts at humor quite forced, obnoxious, and just flat out unfunny. The human couldn't help but roll his eyes a little at this as he made his way to his seat.

It was a bit weird to see Snowy in his seat so early, as he usually wasn't in his seat this early. Berdly called back to him, his voice already sounding quite tired of his shenanigans. "How late to the party are you? Those two have been hanging together for awhile now," He sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Nothing but trouble, if you ask me."

The human couldn't help but think, 'no one asked you,' giving a small glare to the bothersome bird. As he took his seat, Snowy couldn't resist but continue on with his own routine. "Yeah, there are all sorts of trouble two can do all alone," He said, his voice returning to a very heavy accent that he often described as 'northern', whatever that meant. "If you're not careful, you're gonna make Noelle over there jealous!" He continued on, noticing the doe bury her face deeper into the book she was reading, hiding her blushing face of irritation. "Guess he's just into gals who could bury him into the ground, hah!"

At this joke, it was obvious that no one was really laughing or even amused by his attempt at humor. Noelle kept her nose against her book while Berdly's often smug face was adorned with annoyed confusion as he stared towards Snowy. Kris merely avoided eye contact, his brain starting to form thoughts in between his own annoyed comments. 'How'd he know Susie and I were hanging out together yesterday?'

Even as the class started to fill up, Snowy continued on, making jokes about Susie and Kris coming together to make wedding plans, and other such similar comments, which quickly annoyed everyone else. The only time he stopped was when Susie walked into the class room, the snowdrake quickly shutting his beak with a loud throat clearing. At this, a few others actually snickered at his clear show of cowardice around the dragon. As she got closer towards her seat, she looked to Snowy and then to Kris, an eyebrow cocked. She looked back to Snowy. "What's so funny?" She asked the bird, who was clearly uncomfortable.

"Oh..! Hah, it was nothin'!" He replied, doing his best to not upset her.

The dragon rolled her eyes and sat at her seat. "What else is new. None of your lame jokes are funny anyways," She said, snickering a bit. Kris couldn't hide his own smile from this, a few others unable to hide a chuckle themselves.

"Yo, she got you good!" MK replied, turning behind him towards Snowy, who looked less than pleased. As he started grumbling under his breath, Alphys came into the classroom just as the bell rang.

"A-alright everyone, settle down! Uh, I know we like to have fun, b-but it's time for, uh... learning!" She greeted, somewhat awkwardly. This got everyone's attention, thankfully, and the class continued on as normal.

After classes, Susie and Kris decided to stick around in the classroom together for a little bit, going over their project a little bit. They were just about halfway done with it, and wanted to make sure they were on the right track. While it seemed like everyone was leaving, MK made his way over to the two. Susie gave a small nod of recognition to him, "Oh hey, sup?" She greeted casually.

"Hey! Uh, hope I'm not interrupting anything, but uh... well, I'm kinda left by myself. Again," He said with a small laugh. The two weren't too surprised, as they saw Snowy as one of the first to leave the classroom, and quite quickly at that. He didn't even give a cheesy one liner as he left. If he did, they weren't listening to him anyways.

"Yeah, we saw Snowy leave in a hurry. Kinda odd for him, but guess he's off to come up with more lame jokes," Susie replied, snorting a bit.

"Haha, yeah, that might be it!" MK replied, leaning against his desk. "Still, it's kinda... odd. He's usually open about a lot of things, yet he hasn't mentioned what he's been doing lately. Hope it's nothing bad," He said, trailing off a little.

"Couldn't be anything too bad, right? I don't think he's really clever enough to pull anything off," Susie replied with a shrug.

"What do you think, Kris?" MK asked, turning his attention to the human. Both monsters took notice of the fact that he was in deep thought, a hand resting on his chin as he looked downwards. "Yo, Kris..? What's on your mind?" He asked, tilting his head curiously.

An idea sparked in his mind, having a small idea of what was going on. As he stood up, a small, knowing grin was on his face. "I think I have an idea," He began, his quiet voice sounding more audible to the two, since the classroom was already quite empty.

"Oh shit, whatcha got?" Susie said, already interested. At this, Kris shook his head, lifting a hand.

"...I think it'd be best if I went by myself this time. Might overwhelm him if we all go." Before the others could interject or refuse, he was already heading towards the door, waving a hand. "See you guys later," He'd say to them before leaving the room entirely.

"Wh-hey!" Susie called out, standing up in her seat. She sighed and slumped back into her chair as he left, knowing it was useless to try and stop him. When he had a plan of action, he was one to take it. Even when they weren't in the Dark World, he was still a leader, even if he didn't fully realize this. It didn't stop Susie from feeling somewhat annoyed by his sudden action.

"...yo, what do we do until then?" MK asked the dragon, who replied with a shrug.

"No clue."

"...wanna compare notes and essays?" The monster asked, somewhat hopeful to get somewhere with his project.

With a small snort, Susie shook her head. "Hell no."

The human made a sort of beeline for the cemetery. He already knew the route to take from the school, past the House of Worship, and down a small trail. Soon enough, the view of four gravestones came into view, as well as the familiar silhouette of a certain classmate of his. He was standing in front of one of the gravestones, talking to it. Every so often, he'd let out a small laugh, though his expression was still one wrought with sadness.

It wasn't until the human silently made his way closer that he realized just which gravestone Snowy was standing in front of. As his eyes caught the outline of the snowflake, his own eyes widened a bit in realization. 'Oh,' Was all Kris could think.

At this point, Snowy must've heard the sound of someone walking, the leaves crunching below his feet. In a sudden action, the bird let out a surprised squawk and turned his attention to Kris. "Ack, Kris! What're you doing here?" He asked in an almost accusatory tone. He tried to play off his surprise, letting out a small laugh. "Heh, decided to not bring your girlfriend along?" Snowy ruffled his feathers a little, the human raising an eyebrow. Kris said nothing, not taking any offense to what he had said.

The bird became slightly more uncomfortable as he said nothing, merely staring at him. "...oh, heh! I guess you're wonderin' what I'm doin' here, huh?" He asked, his laugh peppering into his sentences every so often. "Well I mean, just tryin' to be cool y'know! Just uh... chillin' on these gravestones like the cool guy I am!" Kris moved his head around Snowy, taking a closer look at the stone he was standing in front of. Despite trying to hide the words, he wasn't really doing that great of a job.

"Crystal

A proud mother"

As Kris read these words aloud, Snowy sighed, his feathers drooping a bit. "...well, ya caught me, I suppose," He sighed, looking to the human. A small smile graced his beak as he tried to recover some sort of humor. "I mean, who hasn't been caught before, huh?" He chuckled mirthlessly, stepping to the side a little. Kris waited patiently, knowing that Snowy needed to get something off of his chest. It took a few seconds, with Snowy sighing a little, clearing his throat, looking back up at Kris.

"Yeah, that's my ma," He started, clearly already forming a lump in his throat. "I come here often to visit her. Leave her a flower and talk to her. Sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours. I feel like I owe it to her, y'know?" He said, shifting around a bit. "...she... left me and my dad when I was still pretty young. My dad felt like it was his fault that she left us. Heh, heck, he still feels like it's his fault..." He trailed off, clearing his throat again.

At this, Kris gently placed a hand on his shoulder, above his wing, and lead him towards the bench. He followed along, looking quite solemn at this point. The human looked to him patiently, allowing Snowy to go his own pace. It took another minute or so, but he finally went on.

"Y'see, back when she was alive, me and my dad... well, we kinda got into it a lot. He thought it was kinda dumb of me to consider a career in comedy. Said I should go for somethin' else. My ma, however, was always proud of me no matter what. Always told me to go for what made me happy to do," He said with another small laugh.

"...she fell ill one day. It was quite sudden, too," Snowy continued, looking downwards towards his feet. "She fought it all the way through, though, and me and my dad were with her the whole way. The doctor, however, said that she didn't have too long. We still don't know what really caused it. But it happened so fast. One mornin', I woke up and my dad was there. He... didn't have good news, to put it lightly," He said, grimacing as his eyes started to shimmer. It was clear he was holding back tears.

Kris nodded solemnly, sitting in silence with Snowy for awhile as he took time to find his words once again. This was probably the first time he saw the bird have trouble looking for something to say. "...it was tough. Heck, it's still tough. Me and my dad, we cried together a good long while." At this, Snowy looked up, a small smile gracing his beak once more. "He said he was wrong for holdin' me back from what I loved, and that ma helped him realize that. He said that her last words here that she was proud of me, and that my dad should do anything to help me through tough times," At this point, tears were silently, yet shamelessly, starting to trickle down his feathers. Kris gently put a hand on his shoulder once more, feeling quite bad for him. "I've been tryin' to return the favor to him, though I dunno if I'm doin' that good of a job."

Kris looked to him, speaking up after saying nothing the whole time. "...I'm sure you staying with him makes him happier than anything," Kris stated, showing a small, comforting smile. Snowy looked his way and chuckled, nodding as he used a wing to wipe a few tears.

"Heh, yeah, I hope so too." The two sat together for a bit longer before Snowy looked back to the human. "...I miss her, Kris. I've used humor to help me get through all this, but lately... I dunno, it just feels like it hasn't really been workin'."

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Kris asked quietly, with the bird responding with a shake of his head.

"Nah. I figure it's best to not bring it up," He replied. "Gotta keep some sort of reputation, y'know? I don't wanna bring anyone down with my depressing past. Wouldn't feel right, y'know? I'd rather make people laugh."

Kris nodded at this, understanding where he was coming from. To cope with his own sadness, Snowy tended to err towards humor. Even if he wasn't too great at it, it felt like that was all he had. "...you know you gotta let loose how you really feel, right?" Kris offered. "It'll definitely help. I mean, I could never know what you've been through. But confiding does help."

Snowy nodded and sighed, looking quite tired and sad, yet accepting. "...yeah, it does," He stated simply. "Hope ya don't mind my ramblings for a little longer. I think I need it right now."

Kris gave a small, encouraging smile. "I'm right here for you."

For the next half hour, Snowy confided in Kris how he felt about everything. His desperation to live as though nothing had happened, but knowing that nothing he could say or do would make it happen. He cried and let Kris comfort him to the best of his ability. They were both teenagers, and had no real idea of how to really help each other through this. Kris figured, though, that the best way was to just be there for him.

"It's just... not fair, y'know?" Snowy sniffled, winding down a little bit. "I dunno if that's greedy or what, but... me and my dad didn't have to lose her."

Kris nodded with him. "You and your dad visit her frequently, it seems. You two are continuing on, despite your loss, and doing your best to make her proud. I think you're doing a great job in doing so," The human stated.

Snowy turned his attention to him, smiling and nodding. "...hey, thanks Kris. It means a lot. Honest," He responded, wiping his eyes once more. "Do ya really think my ma would be proud of us if she were still alive?"

"I know she would," He answered. "A mother's love is unlike any other."

Snowy nodded and got up off the bench. "I can't thank ya enough, Kris. You're a cool guy. And uh... sorry for my jokes earlier. Guess I was just a bit bitter..." He said in an apologetic tone, looking away in shame.

"Don't worry about it," Kris said, standing up himself and smiling.

"Nah, it wasn't in good taste," Snowy continued. "I wanna do better. I wanna make people laugh and make em happy! So I'm gonna try harder," He said with confidence. "I hafta head home now, Kris. My dad's not gonna be too happy if I'm out too late. Thanks again," He said.

"Not a problem. I'm here for you," The human stated, smiling as he waved off his new friend. He genuinely felt like he grew closer to Snowy, regardless of his poor taste in humor. The bird seemed a bit more lively and content, now that he actually had someone to confide in. Kris was glad about this, knowing the bird would do better for himself.

Sure enough, during the next day of class, Snowy seemed a lot more friendly, and content. His attempts at jokes were a bit more rare, but were actually quite funny. It was a good sign when he made a joke about Alphys being late, due to watching another all night marathon of her favorite tv show, and actually garnered a few laughs, especially from Kris. This seemed to increase the snowdrake's confidence, making his comedy a lot more effortless, but just as humorous.

Naturally, Susie noticed this as well, and whispered to Kris at one point during class, "I take it you had something to do with this?"

The human merely nodded to her, responding with a whisper of his own. "Tell ya after class." Sure enough, MK and Snowy were actually working together on their project, heading to the library together. MK couldn't help but be impressed with how much funnier the bird was, the two friends becoming even closer.

Kris made sure to explain how he had a heart to heart with Snowy to Susie, who quickly understood this. The dragon smiled widely and ruffled his hair in a friendly manner. "Heh, just can't help but help others, huh? Guess it's just in your nature," She laughed, walking out of the classroom with him.

Naturally, this just added to Berdly's conspiracy about Kris. Now he had Snowy on his side? If he wasn't careful, he'd soon turn the whole classroom against him! Who was next? The options were growing smaller and smaller, and this just put the bird on edge. He just had to stay on his toes and keep a watch on the human even more! It was clear that he wanted something from his fellow classmates. It was up to him to find out what it was...

Kris couldn't help but still feel a little depressed. It wasn't Snowy's fault, but after hearing about his story, he still felt... defenseless. His brother was off to college, and his dad no longer lived in the same house as them anymore. Kris didn't want to imagine what his life would be like without Toriel. Even though she obviously wasn't his biological mother, she still raised him as if he were her own. He was her son, no matter what.

The human decided to head straight home today, with Susie realizing that he had something on his mind. Of course, wanting to prove that she could be just as helpful as he was, she tried to prod him for information. "Hey, Kris, you okay?"

"I'm fine. I think... I think I just gotta see my mom," He responded with a small, sad smile.

Susie's eyebrows raised up as she nodded. "...ah. Well, let's try again tomorrow, okay? Let me know if ya need anything," She'd say, patting his shoulder as they split off into different directions.

"I will," He called back, starting to pick up his pace as he headed home. There was an almost paranoid feeling inside of him, which increased as he got closer to his house. As he slowly opened the door, he couldn't help but imagine the worse. What if she wasn't home? What if he was alone? What if something happened? What if...

"Hello again, Kris! You are home earlier than usual," Toriel called out, standing in front of the oven, making dinner. Kris looked up at her, his fears melting away almost immediately. Seeing her stand there made him happy, yet sad at the same time. His eyes welled up a bit as he smiled at her.

"...yeah, you could say that," He responded, reaching under his bangs to wipe his eyes.

Being a mother, this didn't go unnoticed from Toriel. "Are you alright? What is wrong?" She asked, showing concern. In response, Kris merely walked closer and flung his arms around her waist, hugging onto her. This surprised the motherly goat woman, as Kris very rarely initiated these acts of affection. She was quick to return it, still watching with parental concern.

"I'm fine," He replied simply. "...I love you, mom."

"Well, I love you too, Kris," She responded, smiling gently. He held their hug for awhile, not wanting to let go of her. This might be the last time he's able to hug her and show just how much she means to him. "...do you want to talk about anything?"

The boy looked up and shook his head. He didn't have to wipe his eyes, as Toriel did it for him, brushing his hair out of his face before doing so. "No, I think I'm fine now. Thank you. For everything," He said.

"...you are very welcome, my child," She sighed lovingly, rubbing his head and back in a soothing manner.

The two shared their hug a bit longer before letting go. Kris made sure to make a mental note to let her know just how much she meant to him more often.