Contains: Story Bits
The last day of a vacation was always the worst, feeling like it had the capacity to drag on for an eternity. It was this strange purgatory that occupied the realm between the rapid pace of an enjoyable week spent away from reality and then the sluggish crawl of an actual life dedicated to the mundanity of school and work.
It had only been a couple hours since Noelle woke up but it already felt like a far longer period of time had gone by.
The Dreemurr bedroom was as spotless as it had been when they first arrived. The only foreign entities were five suitcases along with their owners. To anyone else, it wouldn’t have seemed like this room had been occupied in weeks, let alone by nearly a half-dozen adults.
“Do we have to go home?” Kris groaned.
Asriel scoffed and patted them on top of their head. “Unfortunately, some of us have to get back to work.”
Chara looked up from their phone, flashing the group a thin smile. “I have a full list of clients who would be pretty fucking pissed if I didn’t show up tomorrow.”
“Which gig?” Asriel asked, snapping open the handle on his suitcase and wheeling it towards the door.
Chara grabbed their suitcase, following after him. “The piercing gig. My other job doesn’t have clients until later in the week.”
“Things slowing down?” Asriel asked.
Chara shook their head. “Nah, just decided not to take too many as soon as we got back. Thought I might need a little extra time to recoup from this vacation. Not like we’re hurting for money or anything, right?”
“Fair enough,” Asriel said as he winked at them. “Guess that means I’ll have you to myself then.”
“Oh no,” Chara teased, batting their lashes in return. “Who would possibly want something like that?”
“Okay you two!” Susie barked, shaking her head as she also approached the door with her suitcase. “Behave.”
“Golly, that’s rich coming from you,” Chara replied, turning their sickly-sweet smile towards Susie before glancing at the other two members of her polycule. “Not like we’ve spent half the vacation hotboxed in your threesome musk or anything.”
Noelle flushed bright red. “You could smell that!”
She also followed behind, seeing that Kris joined her as well, each of them heading out of the room.
“Duh,” Asriel chided. He shook his head and couldn’t help but scoff at the statement “We have a sense of smell, you know?”
“Fair enough,” Kris replied. They then smirked at their brother, batting their lashes at him. “I guess we should’ve just gone mountain biking if we wanted to uh… get up to that sort of stuff. Isn’t that right, Azzy?”
“I mean I’m sure Azzy would love to take you mountain biking sometime,” Chara ribbed, grinning at their boyfriend. “You should see what he looks up on PornHu-”
Asriel flushed bright red. “Chara!”
“Kidding, kidding,” Chara said, snickering like an absolute villain. There was something so nefarious about their complexion at this moment. “It’s only a joke.”
The five of them then decided to finally step out of the room. Their journey wasn’t particularly long as they started to make their way down the stairs and into the main living space of the Dreemurr residence.
Toriel was in the kitchen, putting together five paper bag lunches. She looked up from her work and smiled at them as they came down. “Heading home, children?”
Kris nodded and dragged their suitcase over to the front door. “Yeah, we need to go home and get our apartment back in order before classes start tomorrow.”
“And we got to make sure that our little guy hasn’t gotten into any trouble while we were away,” Chara added, moving their suitcase into a position alongside Kris’. “He starts to get a little ornery if we leave him alone for too long.”
“The joys of owning a cat,” Toriel teased. She finished inserting the final snack into each of the bags before sealing them up. She then gestured towards them. “I made sure to make you lunch before you headed out.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that, mom,” Asriel said.
Toriel waved him off. “Now, now, I believe a mother is entitled to a little bit of babying when it comes to her children. Even if they are fully grown up.”
She took a step away from the counter and turned to face them, spreading her arms. It was clear what she wanted as she motioned for her eldest to come over first. An offer which Asriel happily took as he approached, embracing her and giving her a tight squeeze.
Even though Noelle was used to him being so big, it was still a little surreal to see him be the size of Asgore. It was especially surreal when it came to him embracing Toriel, another large monster who he easily had a foot on in terms of height.
The sight made her think back to how punny he’d been whilst dating…
Well… when he had been dating Dess.
Toriel held her son for a good long while, squeezing him with all of her strength. Though sadly it had to come to an end as the two of them slipped away from one another. There were fresh tears brimming in her eyes though she did a good job of hiding them, blinking them away.
Asriel slipped off to the side, grabbing one of the bagged lunches and moving towards the front door. Noelle couldn’t help but notice that there were also tears glistening in his eyes as well.
Next, there was Kris who embraced their mother, repeating Asriel’s gesture with an equally tight and prolonged hug. Once they’d had their fill, Susie and Chara also had their own turns, one after another. Though these were far briefer in duration.
Noelle was the last to go.
However, before she could dip in for a hug, Toriel cleared her throat, looking towards the others. “Would you mind giving me and Noelle a little privacy? I want to talk to her about something.”
The others seemed surprised but slowly nodded, opening the door and shuffling outside, one after another. This left Toriel and Noelle alone.
Toriel looked at Noelle, offering a polite smile. “I’m proud of you, my child.”
“Oh?” Noelle asked.
“It took a lot of strength to stand up to your mother like that,” Toriel said, reaching out and resting a hand upon her shoulder. “I hope that you know that.”
Noelle bit her lip, feeling her gaze flinch away, falling off to the side. She didn’t know why she struggled to meet Toriel’s eye but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Maybe it was the tears which still lingered in her gaze and Noelle not wanting to face them.
Yet, she nodded. “Thank you.”
“Of course, my child,” Toriel said, reaching out and pulling Noelle tight against her frame. She squeezed her tight, smothering her with affection. It was almost too much, making her wheeze as her diaphragm was compressed. But it was still nice, necessary, needed to help numb the bare nerves which were still there. “And I wasn’t lying, you will always have a home amongst my family, dear.”
Noelle nodded. “I know.” She sighed. “I hate to ask this but…”
“I’ll make sure to keep an eye on your mother,” Toriel answered, somehow knowing exactly what Noelle needed to hear. “She’s a tough cookie, and Angel knows she needed to hear some cold hard truth. Yet, I’ll make sure that she stays safe.”
Noelle smiled. “Thank you.”
The hug lasted for a few more moments until Toriel finally let go, patting Noelle on the shoulder. “And may I offer you some parting wisdom?”
Noelle nodded, unsure of what to say.
“It’s easier to burn bridges than mend them but…” Toriel let her hand fall away, folding it in front of herself with the other. “Sometimes, it’s worth the effort to mend them.”
“Is this about…” Noelle began.
“It’s about life in general,” Toriel said. “And I’m not asking you to do so now. The wound is still fresh. Just… if you ever feel that the time is right to reach out, I’d say it’s worth the effort to do so. At least in my experience.”
Noelle frowned and said nothing to that. Toriel was right, the wound was still far too fresh to even consider something like that. It hadn’t even started to scab over at this point, still being this agonizing sore that felt utterly exposed to the outside world.
“Did you ever forgive Asgore?” Noelle asked, finally breaking the silence.
Toriel smirked. “In time.” She chuckled. “In fact, he invited me out to brunch in a couple weeks. Apparently Catti hosts this little soiree that might interest me.”
Noelle paused, pursing her lips together. She felt like a literal deer in the headlights right now, blinking through her stupor and trying to figure out what the fuck to say to that.
“Is everything okay, Noelle?” Toriel asked.
Noelle chuckled nervously. “Yep! Sorry, just… I got a lot going on right now.”
“Well, I won’t keep you,” Toriel replied, motioning to the final bagged lunch. “Don’t worry, I made sure to make yours vegetarian.” She then winked at Noelle. “And you also got an extra pudding though please pretend it was an accident when the others find out. A mother can’t be caught picking favourites after all. I’m sure you understand.”
Home sweet home.
Noelle lumbered through the door, hauling her suitcase through the threshold and abandoning it near the fridge. As it settled into place, she continued ahead, stumbling over to the couch, like a zombie, flopping upon it and stretching out all her limbs. It was impossible not to enjoy the comfort of something so familiar after being crammed in that car for so long.
Kris abandoned their suitcase, as well, immediately bolting towards the bathroom instead.
Susie was the last to enter, stretching her arms above her head as she used her foot to close the door behind herself. “Azzy is way too safe of a driver. That trip took for-fucking-ever.”
“Reason his insurance is so cheap,” Noelle mumbled.
Susie nodded and cracked open the fridge, grabbing a bottle of cola from inside. She snapped it open with one of her claws and took a nice long sip from it. As she drank, she made her way over to the living room and plopped down within the loveseat across from the couch.
“We need to do some grocery shopping today,” she said, placing her feet upon the table. “We’re almost out of everything.”
“I got it!” Kris called from the bathroom.
“Talk to us after you finish pissing!” Susie shouted back, glaring hotly at the bathroom door. “You absolute freak!”
“It’s called multitasking!” Kris shouted back.
Susie rolled her eyes, shaking her head at their comment. Instead, she looked at Noelle and cocked a brow, saying nothing but looking so expectant. There was something about that look that Noelle didn’t like.
“What?” Noelle asked.
“You seem to be missing something,” Susie stated, reaching up and scratching at her own neck. “You know?”
Noelle lifted a brow and tried to figure out what exactly…
“Oh shit!” Noelle yelped.
Susie cackled and took a sip of her soda. “It’s okay, I’ll let it slide.” She winked at Noelle. “Though just this once.”
Noelle sprang to her feet and made her way back into the kitchen, reaching into the front pouch on her suitcase. Thankfully, as she unzipped it, there was a familiar jewelry box resting near the top, easy enough to pull out without dismantling everything.
Inside was a collar which she pulled around her throat. It was strange how familiar it felt, how second nature it seemed once it settled back into place. In that moment, Noelle had to pause, appreciating what its absence had been like after going a week without.
“Was she being disobedient!” Kris called.
Susie huffed. “Finish pissing!”
Noelle came back over, sitting back down upon the couch. She was pleased to see the little smile that Susie bore as she took in the sight of her ownership.
There was the sound of a toilet flushing from the bathroom, followed by Kris washing their hands. They then came out, stepping back into the living room. As they walked towards the kitchen, they shook their hands through the air, sending tiny droplets of water splattering everywhere.
“Looking good,” they teased as they glanced at Noelle.
“That wasn’t five seconds,” Susie chastised, scoffing. “Those fingers aren’t even close to being clean.”
“Human seconds are quicker than monster seconds,” Kris teased. They didn’t elaborate further as they opened the pantry and then the fridge, whistling as they did so. “You weren’t lying, shit is pretty bare bones, huh?”
They hummed and hawed, checking it over again and again. It took Noelle a second to realize that they were probably drafting a shopping list of some sort.
Though it didn’t take them very long as they made their way back towards the front door. “Alright, I’ll be back in like an hour.”
“See ya!” Noelle beamed.
Susie smirked. “Don’t die.”
“I’m going to die just to spite you,” Kris shot back, reaching for the doorknob. Yet, they paused and blew both of them a kiss. “Love you both. Text me if you think of anything that we need.”
“Love you too!” Noelle called, returning the kiss.
Susie waved. “Love you, you freak.”
And with that Kris slipped out the front door, closing it behind themself. There was movement in the hall, with each step growing fainter and fainter, until finally, they were gone.
This left Noelle alone with Susie.
Susie reached for the remote, avoiding eye contact as she did so. Obviously, she remembered her promise and was hoping that Noelle wouldn’t remember it herself. Unfortunately for her, Noelle had a little something called memory.
So, Noelle cleared her throat. “Susie.”
Susie sighed. “Yeah?”
“I believe we agreed to talk about something once we got home,” Noelle teased, sliding over and patting the spot next to herself. “And I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.”
Susie looked at the spot and scoffed, getting to her feet. She came over and plopped down in a seat next to Noelle, lifting her arm and leaving a spot for Noelle to cuddle up against her.
An offer which Noelle was more than happy to accept as she snuggled her big strong girlfriend, squeezing her tight.
“I guess I kind of did,” Susie admitted, shaking her head. She worked her jaw and went silent. A couple times a stray syllable came forth though they never created anything approaching a coherent thought. It was like she was a fish, blubbing upon land. In the end, she simply sighed. “I guess I kind of feel lost in life.”
“Lost?” Noelle asked.
Susie nodded. “Back in High School, I knew who I was. I was the bully, the bad bitch, the kid who ruined everyone’s day. I… I don’t like that Susie and I’ve tried to move away from being her but I just… I feel this sense of…” She huffed. “I don’t know, I don’t know who Susie is anymore. And I just…”
Her comment faltered.
Noelle wasn’t quite sure that she followed. But she didn’t say so, instead simply holding her girlfriend tight. This was her role, to be the pillow, the object of comfort. All Susie needed was time to make sense of her anxieties.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m losing my train of thought here,” Susie grumbled, reaching up and massaging her temple between a forefinger and thumb. “Just give me a second to figure out what I want to say, okay?”
Noelle nodded and continued to hold her tongue. She simply rested there, letting Susie work through the motions of forming fragments and half-thoughts. Not one of them managed to come across as anything more than a barely coherent string of words.
Finally, after what felt like the tenth attempt, Susie sighed, flicking out her wrist in frustration. “I was a bitch back in high school.”
Noelle nodded. “Yeah, a little bit.”
Susie scoffed, tensing. Yet, it didn’t seem like she would appreciate it being sugar coated either. In the end, she worked her jaw, continuing on regardless. “And I used to be an awful person. Used to bully kids and make monsters scared of me. And I hated that version of myself. I don’t ever want to go back to being that version of me, you know?”
“And I don’t think that you’ll ever go back to that,” Noelle said, smiling at her.
Susie was silent. She still seemed so tense about all of this. “But I also had a purpose back then. I had something that I could distinctly point to and go, ‘that’s me, that’s Susie’. Sure, it wasn’t a great personality, but it was still a personality, something distinct that made me who I was, you know?”
Noelle frowned but didn’t reply. It wasn’t her place to interject. At least, not yet, anyways.
Susie sighed. “And I guess I’m kind of struggling to figure out who Susie is supposed to be nowadays. Who am I supposed to be now that I’m no longer the monster who I was back in high school. Who is Susie when you strip away all the awful things that she used to be?” She shook her head. “Sorry, does that make any sense to you?”
“A little,” Noelle said, rubbing at her girlfriend’s hand. “What makes you feel this way?”
Susie threw out her free hand, motioning through the air with it. Yet, no words came forth to fill the void. As Noelle looked up at her, she could see that Susie was working her jaw, her teeth clenching together tightly as she did so.
“You know what you want in life,” Susie started. “And so does Kris. Meanwhile, I’m just circling the drain and working a stupid minimum wage job because what else am I supposed to do with my life? I don’t know what I want from my future in the slightest. At this point, I’m just existing for the sake of existing, you know?”
Noelle frowned. “I wouldn’t say that I know what I’m doing with my life, babe. I haven’t even changed majors yet and I just had the mother of all blow ups with my mom. I’d hardly say that my life is moving in a particularly great direction either.”
“Doesn’t stop how I feel,” Susie murmured.
“Fair, fair,” Noelle replied, taking Susie’s hand within her own and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to minimize your pain. I just… I don’t want you to think that you’re falling behind or dull or devoid of a personality because you’re no longer a bully.”
Susie went silent, her gaze focused on the tv in front of them. It was off, ensuring that she could see her reflection plastered upon it, staring right back at her with an equally hollow gaze.
“I….” she tried, stopping herself. She huffed and closed her eyes before letting out a deep guttural growl of sheer frustration. “I also worry that I’m not the kind of woman that you and Kris fell in love with in the first place.”
Noelle’s eyes widened. “What?”
Susie let out a harsh note of laughter. Yet, it was a singular note, lacking any real mirth to it. It sounded so painful, so tormented in its cruel nature. “You both fell in love with the big bad bitch of a bully and I’m not that anymore. I’m not tough. I’m not rude. And I’m not the good kind of scary that you wanted me to be.”
Noelle winced. “Susie…”
“What?” Susie grumbled.
“I…” Noelle squeezed Susie’s hand a bit more firmly, searching for what to say. She was drawing a blank at what was probably the worst possible time to do so. She couldn’t deny that Susie had changed and she also couldn’t deny why she had fallen for her in the first place. It was a catch twenty-two, wedging itself between a metaphorical rock and an equally fictional hard place. “You know that we still love you, right?”
Susie nodded.
“I need to hear you say it,” Noelle said.
Susie sighed. “I know that you two still love me.”
“Like, sure, we fell in love with you for a reason,” Noelle started to explain. “There’s no denying that. But just like how we changed, our affection for you has changed with us. We grew up and learned more about you and learned new ways to appreciate and adore you.” She drew in a slow breath and smiled at her girlfriend. “And I’d say that the new Susie is even better than the old Susie by miles.”
“Is that so?” Susie mumbled.
Noelle nodded. “It is.” She brought her girlfriend’s hand over to her lips, giving the rough skin on top of it a reassuring kiss. “You were a bully when you met me but now, you’re my protector, the woman who I can always trust to help me feel safe and support me. I love the food you make for me, the way I can trust you with all my secrets, and your amazing taste in music, anime, and video games. And you say that you knew who you were back in high school but now you have a desire to find out what you want to become. Honestly, I think that’s kind of amazing. I love the kind of monster who wants to grow and explore and figure out new things about themselves. It’s a rare breed.”
Susie closed her eyes and chuckled. Yet, she didn’t interrupt.
“And so what if you haven’t figured it all out just yet,” Noelle said, bonking Susie's shoulder with her head. “Some monsters are late bloomers. And last I checked, you’re still in your early twenties, babe. You have a whole life left in front of you to explore and find out what makes you tick. Maybe you’ll know tomorrow or maybe it’ll take until your thirty or forty or even longer than that. Us boss monsters live pretty long lives and you aren’t getting rid of me anytime soon.”
Susie chuckled. “Fuck, I hope it doesn’t take that long.”
“So, try and give the woman I love a little bit of slack, why don’t you?” Noelle went on, closing her eyes and nuzzling into Susie. She lost herself to the warmth, comfort, and affection that this woman could provide. “There’s still plenty of pages left in the story of Susie and I’m honestly honoured to have the chance to help you find out how it goes on from here.”
Susie pursed her lips together. Yet, it wasn’t hard to feel the fringes of a smile starting to overcome her, bleeding through into her persona. Some of that tension started to leave, fading away, inch by inch, little by little.
Personally, Noelle would’ve liked to see it leave sooner than that. Yet, it was progress nonetheless and she would take that.
“Any ideas?” Susie asked.
“On how to help this Susie find herself?” Noelle replied, cracking open an eye and looking up at her. She was pleased to see her girlfriend smiling. “Yeah, I think that I have a couple.”
“Well don’t leave your Mistress hanging,” Susie teased.
Noelle hummed, giving it some thought. There were a few ideas bouncing around in her brain but she didn’t know which one to start with. Then it hit her as she snapped her fingers together. “Let’s start by trying to find you some hobbies. There’s got to be something that you want to do, right?”
“I mean I do like photography,” Susie said.
Noelle quickly nodded. “Then let’s explore that.” She grinned at her girlfriend. “I bet I could help you find some pretty cool places to do a photoshoot around the city.”
Susie nodded, a little more assuredly this time around. It was hard to tell but it almost seemed like she was getting more confident. This was good, really good.
“Alright, I guess we can start there,” Susie said, working her jaw. “Thanks for listening to me.”
“Thanks for sharing,” Noelle said.
Susie reached up and scratched her behind the ear. “Damn, not exactly what I intended to do with a cute pet all to myself, but hey, I’m not complaining.”
Noelle stuck out her tongue. “I’m a very versatile service sub.”
She squeezed Susie’s hand and then tilted her head up, kissing the underside of Susie’s jawline. It was adorable to see the way that a little dusting of red had bled into her partner’s purple complexion, colouring her otherwise stoic cheeks.
“You’ve helped me grow so much,” Noelle said, nodding. “And I want to make sure that I’m there to help you grow too.”
“Thanks babe,” Susie murmured.
She reached out with her other hand, brushing a single claw along Noelle’s cheek and scritching her.
“Was there anything else eating at you?” Noelle asked, purring as she nuzzled into this affectionate touch.
Susie shook her head. “Nah, I think that just about covers everything.” She then paused. “Do you think Kris is doing okay?”
Noelle frowned and went silent, thinking about it. They’d seemed fine after chatting with the Soul. Yet, Noelle knew from experience that they were often extremely good at masking their emotions, drowning them with outside stimuli. It made her feel a little bad that the topic had kind of flown under the radar whilst she had been dealing with her own shit.
“They’re tough,” Noelle finally said, sighing. “So… I don’t know.”
“I’ll check in with them tomorrow,” Susie said.
Noelle nodded. “Thanks babe.”
Their conversation soon faded, bringing about a tense silence that threatened to derail all of the hard work they had accomplished today.
Thankfully, Susie cleared her throat. “Anyways.”
“Anyways,” Noelle continued. “I’m going to find some cool places to do some urban exploration photoshoots. I should have something planned for this weekend.”
“You don’t need to…” Susie began.
Noelle held up her free hand. “I know that I don’t need to do it. But I want to do it, babe. I want to take care of this for you.” She moved that hand around and gently stroked Susie’s cheek. “So, please let me help, just a little. Would you let me do that for you?”
She even threw in her best set of puppy dog eyes to help really sell the point.
Susie scoffed and shook her head. “Fine, fine, I suppose you can help. Just put those damn eyes away.”
Noelle did just that, giggling to herself.
Yet, Susie held up her own hand, wagging a finger in the air. “Though you’re only allowed to help a little. You have enough baggage to deal with and the last thing that I need to do is add even more onto it.”
“You aren’t adding,” Noelle grumbled.
Susie chuckled. “Are you questioning your domme?”
“I’m questioning her when she’s being toxic to herself,” Noelle rebutted, sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry at her girlfriend. “It’s for her own good.”
“Is that so?” Susie asked, scoffing.
Noelle nodded resolutely.
“Well, I guess I better let my sub take care of me then,” Susie murmured, giving her head a purposeful shake. Though she promptly paused and looked down at her pet. “Speaking of…”
Noelle perked up. “What?”
Susie chuckled. “We do have like an hour before Kris gets back.”
Noelle bit her lip, shivering at the sudden husky note which had slipped into Susie’s tone. “I guess we kind of do.”
“And since you are so concerned about taking care of me,” Susie went on, letting her hand trail away from Noelle’s head and down towards her breast, squeezing it through her blouse. It was just firm enough to make Noelle gasp, moaning. “I could really go for an orgasm right about now. You know… to help with my mental state and whatnot.”
“You’re insatiable,” Noelle cooed.
Susie chuckled. “Oh yeah?” She drew her lips up to Noelle’s ear, nipping at it with her razor-sharp teeth. “How about we put that to the test?”
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