The Moon, chapter 2: Diner

The diner's lobby was only half illuminated by the moonlight outside, meaning half of the room was drenched in darkness. Hazel, unphased, continued into the inky darkness.
“Wait here Susie,” she called behind her, “I'll get some light in here.”
“What if people think we're open?”
“Who else is up at this hour? Besides, they'll see the sign on the door saying “closed”, and if they can read, they'll move on.”
“'Kay.”
“Have a seat and relax, I'm sure you need to.”

Susie said nothing in response, and instead looked around for anywhere visible to sit. She never liked bar stools anyway, so that part of the diner being darkened didn't impact her decision making much. She eventually settled on a booth to the rightmost side of the building. Sliding onto the smooth seat, she noticed a weird burn mark on the seat across from her, on the other side of the table. She thought nothing of it, however. She instead crossed her arms on the table and lays her head on them. It felt like she'd been awake for ages. Saving a kingdom in a day really does take it out of someone, she figured. Hazel calls out from depths of the diner. What could be taking so long?

“Just a sec, I-”
And with that, a bright light burned into her eyes, accompanying it, the sound of smooth jazz being played over incredibly low fidelity speakers. One of her arms quickly rises to her eyes to the light from blinding her, before she lowers it as her eyes adjust.
“And there we are! Now I'll make us up some hot chocolate.” Hazel says in an oddly excited tone.
“How do you keep yourself so energetic? You're acting like you just started work.”
“Oh, a good bartender has her secrets. But enough about me, you're acting quite unlike yourself tonight.”
“Yeah? How?”
“Well, it seems like you've... how should I put this... calmed down?”
“So I'm less scary.”
“Your words, not mine. Though, I was never really scared of you.”
“Why not?”
“I didn't buy...you. Whatever act you put on, I wasn't convinced. I didn't really see you as a mean, spiteful kid. You just seemed like you had a lot of emotions in you that didn't bode well when they got out.”
Susie didn't respond. She suspected that was the reason for a while now bu-
“Along with the fact that it looked like ya just needed a hug.”

Hazel continues, interrupting Susie's train of thought as she sat down across from Susie, two steaming mugs of hot chocolate in each hand. She slides a mug over to Susie, who accepts it by slurping loudly as she downs almost the entire mug in one gulp. The sudden realization of how disrespectful that looked hit her like a ton of bricks. Her pupils shrink as her gaze reaches the equally shocked looking rabbit across from her. She slowly puts the mug back onto the counter, scratching the back her head and letting her hair hide her shame as it fell in front of her face.
“Sorry. It's uh... kind of not a 'social interaction' night for me.”
“I can tell.”
The two sit awkwardly sit in silence for a bit before Hazel graciously breaks it.
“Did it at least taste good?”
“Yeah. It was pretty damn good, actually.”

Hazel giggles a little, sipping on her own hot chocolate and looking out the window into the street. Doesn't look like she was looking at anything in particular considering all that's across the street is the grocery store, but she seemed content, if nothing else, to just enjoy the atmosphere of the moment. And even Susie had to admit, it was pretty calming to be here. The occasional crackles and hisses from the speakers were charming in a way, and the comfortably chilled air of the near empty lobby filled Susie with a calm that not even her own house could bring. Maybe it'd be nice to come back here sometime. Maybe when her mind was less clouded.

“Hazel?”
“Mhmm?”
“Thanks for this. This is nice.”
“That's another thing too. You were never one to apologize or thank anyone. You're making good progress, dear!”
She isn't sure how to respond, so she hides underneath her hair again.
“Erm, but of course, you're welcome here any time.”
The bunny lets out a soft yawn, stretching her arms upward.
“But, maybe at a better hour, I can't do this every night, y'know.”
“Yeah, of course.”

Susie's eyes grow worried as she realizes something she should've earlier.
“Shit. Hazel, I don't have any money.”
“Oh, no worries hun, it's on the house.”
“Are you sure? I mean I could work it off if you want or-”
“Shhh, please dear. Don't worry about it. You've already got enough on your mind. And besides, hot chocolates are super cheap. You being so worried about something so small already says to me that you're good for it.”
“That's... really kind of you to say. I can't thank you enough Hazel.”
“Oh sure you can. And you already have.”
The two unlikely partners just stared out the window for a while once more. It was nice to be in the presence of someone that felt like they understood her. But the calming atmosphere was getting to her as well, and before long the pair were yawning. The time had come to end this little meeting.

“Well, I suppose I'd better head home now.” Hazel sighed out. “We both need a good night's sleep.”
“You more than me, at least you have a job to go to.”
“Don't you have school?”
Shit.
“Yeah, I do actually, damn.”
“Whatever's in that head of yours must be pretty crazy to make you forget school exists.”
“You have no idea.”
With the two monsters saying their respective goodbyes, Hazel heads back inside to close up shop once more, while Susie, clear minded and calm, begins her walk back to her house. She reaches the barriers blocking the exit of the town before she stops. Susie looks north, to the hill that overlooks the town and the house sat on top of that hill. Kris was probably fast asleep by now, along with Toriel, but she felt a strange presence. An oddly alluring feeling to keep her eyes locked upon the house on the hill penetrated her mind.

“You need sleep.” she thought to herself. “No distractions.”
These thoughts in mind, she snaps out of this trance and hops over the barriers, onto the road ahead. Not without taking out a few of the chalk sticks she brought with her, of course. The space in between the trees that leads to her house being as narrow as it is, she would sometimes find the path hard to spot at night. She needed to remember to get a flashlight somewhere in town, though without money that'd be kind of hard to find. She did eventually find it using the light of the moon alone, but on darker nights, she'd need something to help her for sure.

The road to the town being unable to be used meant that nobody was getting nearly as much business as they normal, and as such, getting hired would take a miracle. And that's assuming you don't have as bad a reputation as Susie. She felt as if she needed a new start, a new life. A place where no one knows her name or past. But that would mean abandoning the possibility of having further adventures with Kris and maybe Ralsei, which changed her world so drastically that she wasn't sure giving it up would be what she wanted at all.

Thoughts of a new life and different worlds plagued her mind so badly that she almost didn't notice how far she traveled. Susie was already at what she called her home, and the trip felt much shorter than last time. All that thinking really does make the time go by. Her unconscious hunger for chalk meant that as she walked, she had absent-mindedly chewed on and eaten at least half of the chalk in the box. She felt ashamed, almost. So much good quality chalk just to be eaten without a care in the world. She makes a mental note to try to savor the last remaining few for next time.

The house's front door opens with an all too familiar excessive amount of creaks, the floorboards doing the same as she steps into the living room, closing the door behind her. Nothing inside had changed. Not that anything should've. The only time she'd made any modification to the house is when she took it upon herself to repair it. Well, the word repair is a stretch, considering all she did was board up a few windows and make a few of the floors on the upper level more stable. She figured that, if she was to stay in an abandoned place, she'd at least want to walk on the floor without the fear of falling through it.

Speaking of the upper floors, she really needed to be asleep. And soon, at that. If she wanted any chance of seeing Kris and going on another adventure, she'd best be there on time. Figures that the driving force behind her desire to go to school has nothing to do with school itself. She clamors up the stairs and along the creaking floorboards, trying to keep her excitement down as much as possible so she could actually sleep when she gets to the bed. Susie walks into the open, welcoming door of her room and closes the door behind her, disrobing her jacket from her body and climbing into her bed. The bed itself wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, considering it was little more than an unwashed mattress on a rusted, creaky spring frame, but it was enough, and she could sleep just about anywhere. Looking up at the ceiling, she examines an old poster she'd hung above her bed a long time ago. The text was faded quite a bit, but she could still make out the words on it well enough.

“Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist!
Keep on loving, keep on fighting!”

Susie forgets exactly where she found the poster, or why she kept it in the first place, but sometimes, even if it's something as little as a poster on your ceiling, it's nice to have something to get you through the day. Overwhelmed by a mixture of comfort and exhaustion, and calmed by the moonlight seeping in her window, Susie turns towards the wall and closes her eyes.

Only to have them shoot open again after about a minute and a half.
Something wasn't right. Something was terribly off. A single, obvious detail, but she hadn't noticed it until she had placed herself in her most vulnerable position. There was no wind to speak of in the house, it was incredibly well sheltered considering it's abandoned state. She was certain no one else knew about where she lived.
Why, then, was the door to her room wide open even though she was certain she closed it tight when she left? Why, then, did she hear breathing even though she was petrified to the point of her not daring to inhale or exhale a single breath of air? Why then, even in the faintest of volumes could she recognize the sound coming from the town?

Susie heard the screaming again.
But this time, she wasn't dreaming.