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A very long time ago, back when Noelle was but a tiny fawn, her dad used to take her fishing. Surprising, right?
…Well, not really. When you're a dad, taking your daughters fishing is probably the most dad thing you can do, it feels like. But still!
The funniest part is that neither of them enjoyed those trips. By neither of them, she doesn't mean her and her dad. No, he relished in it, appreciating the relaxing atmosphere and the only occasional bursts of success with a wide grin on his face that seemed to never waver. When Noelle said that, she was talking about her and her sister.
Dess not enjoying it probably comes off as no surprise. The older girl was brash, energetic and just generally a troublemaker. She had no patience for something as mundane and boring as fishing when her time would be better spent playing hockey or baseball or another one of the many sports she enjoyed. Meanwhile, despite being her opposite in a lot of ways, Noelle wasn't particularly fond of those trips either. All the waiting around always made her way too sleepy.
Still, when she looks back at those days, she finds she misses those times a lot. Oh, what she'd do to hear her sister's complaining or her dad's easy-going jokes told amidst the shore of the pond! Now she’s gone, and he might as well be too, with how much worse his condition looks every time Noelle visits him in the hospital. Soon enough, his time will come and her mom will just grow even more distant and she'll be all alone a-and…
Stop thinking about it, Noelle. You're just gonna make yourself feel worse.
Sometimes, when the nostalgia becomes too much, she likes passing by Hometown's very own lake. It's not even the spot dad used to take them to — as far as she's aware, there aren't even any fish here — but it's similar enough to take her back to those simpler times. Sitting by the lakeshore, doing nothing but listening to the rustling of the gentle breeze… she used to think it was boring, but it's also pretty nice. Maybe boring things were just like scary things, in that there was a good kind just like there was a bad one.
Besides, it isn't boring all the time! Sometimes, for example, she brings her homework with her so she can get caught up while enjoying the outdoor atmosphere. Which… isn't exactly any less boring, now that she thinks about it. There were days in which actual exciting stuff happened too! Like, this one time, she heard a huge splash and noticed there was something massive coming out of the water! She got so scared, she instantly put her track skills to use and ran away as fast as she could. Whatever that was never showed up again, so she still has no idea what it could be. There were also times in which she randomly ran across someone she knows, like a classmate or something, which is always an interesting time!
Like, um… Kris. That’s someone she knows. Who could show up. Anyday, theoretically. Such as, well… today. In which, yeah, she goes to the lake and… there they are! Showing up and all! Like, she glances at the shore and… yep! That sure is Kris!
…
Holy cheese and crackers, Kris is here!!!!!
Gosh, if someone could hear her thoughts, they'd probably think she’s a huge weirdo. Fahaha, get a grip, Noelle!!!
Truth be told, out of her many, many yearnings, Kris feels like the silliest by far. Mostly because they’re right there, still tangible, visible, present, with no signs of that changing anytime soon. But they also aren't, at the same time? At least, not in the way they'd been back when the two of them were kids. Then, it used to feel like Kris was constantly by her side, almost tethered to her, but those times passed by and they grew distant to the point they feel like little more than a stranger now. She wonders, sometimes, if maybe it's somehow her fault that they became reclusive, or if they just never cared as much about her as she thought they did.
“Hey, Noelle,” Kris greets all of a sudden, interrupting her musings without even turning back.
That's one thing that hasn't changed: their uncanny ability to always know whenever she comes near them. Back then, they used to tell her it was a psychic ability of theirs, but now that she thinks about it they can probably just make out the distinct click of her hooves. It's kind of unfair, to be honest. She'd like to be able to know when Kris is close by too! Just so she could avoid their pranks, of course…
“Oh! Um, hi…” she sheepishly greets them back, wincing at the awkwardness of her words. “What are you doing?”
The question, though at first asked only for the act of saying something itself, becomes a genuine inquiry once she takes a good look at them. Not that Kris looks any different than they usually do. No, the unusual part is the giant pile of rocks by their side.
Instead of explaining, they seem to prefer a more demonstrative approach. Wordlessly, they pick up one of the pebbles and throw it into the water. Noelle watches as it bounces one, two, three times, before finally sinking down into the depths.
“Susie bet I couldn't get more than five,” they clarify. “Proving her wrong.”
“Oh… that sounds fun!” It almost feels like the kind of activity Kris would've gotten her roped into, back when they were younger. Granted, they'd probably find a way to annoy her, if that was the case. She'd probably end up being pushed into the water herself! And yet… she'd easily agree to that if it meant she could spend time with Kris again.
But that's just not how things work anymore, is it?
“I'll leave you to it then, I guess…” she says in farewell. “Um… good luck!”
Expecting that to be the end of things, she takes one, maybe two steps before hearing their voice from behind her.
“Wait.”
If there was ever a moment she turned around faster in her whole life, she doesn't remember it. “Huh?” she asks, her tone a tad bit hopeful.
“I mean… you can stay, if you want,” they say. Well, to claim they say it is a bit generous, to be fair. It comes off all quiet and mumbly to the point that she can barely make the words out, even after years of being the local Kris expert. Their posture in general screams nervousness. Even though they've also turned in her direction, their head is lowered to the point she can't make out any of their facial features. “You could be, like… my witness.”
Noelle lets out a giggle, already walking over to sit by their side. “Your witness?”
“Yeah, like…” They shrug while waiting for the words to come to them, casually doing another throw. The pebble only bounces twice, this time around. “So you can vouch for me and stuff. Or help me cheat. Depends on whether I get this or not.”
“Hey, I'm not gonna do that!!!”
“Wow, okay, won't even vouch for me, I see how it is-”
“Not that! I'm not helping you cheat, Kris!”
They, however, seem completely unbothered by this. “That's fine. I won't need your help, watch this.” The next throw actually does pretty well, but it unfortunately caps out at four. So close, yet so far. “Okay, nevermind. So. Let's make a deal.”
“Nope, not listening!” she responds, even though she's very interested in what they have to say.
“I could be your wingthey” is the offer they lead with. It takes a while for her mind to catch up, perhaps a bit embarrassingly, until they continue in a sarcastic tone: “Yeah, Susie, I won the bet, but it was all because of Noelle honestly. She gave me a few hints. She's just really smart, and really kind too, to help me out like this, and hey, I heard she's free this Friday-”
“Oh my gosh, stoooooop,” she groans, her hands covering her face in embarrassment. The only person she's ever told is her dad, but it makes sense that if anyone would notice her massive crush on Susie, it'd be Kris. It'd probably be pretty useless to deny it, so… “How obvious is it?”
“Think about how obvious Berdly is about anything in general.”
“A-Alright…” Already, she doesn't like where this is going.
“It's, like, at least twice as bad.”
She groans into her hands again. Kris, meanwhile, laughs at her reaction, before giving it another try. Only three bounces this time.
After that, not many more words are exchanged between them, a comforting silence spreading out between the both of them. It feels nice. Boring, even. The good kind, thankfully. That's kind of weird in of itself, because Kris being boring in any way just feels wrong, but that's something she's trying not to think too hard about. Well, she's not trying to think too hard about anything, really. Best to just accept the crumbs of Kris time she's getting. So that's why she just… watches, for a while.
Another throw. One, two, three bounces, then it sinks.
Another throw. One, two, three, four, then it sinks.
Another. One, sink. Wow, that one was bad.
It's fascinating to watch the shifts in Kris’ expression each time they do this. Their eyebrows furrow slightly when they concentrate, their eyes widen slightly during the really close attempts, and their mouth always contorts into a slight frown whenever the rock inevitably stops bouncing. All these details are really hard to spot, with how subtle they are, but that just makes it all the more rewarding to notice them all. Noelle can't help but smile in a way she hasn't for a really long time.
Another. One, two, three.
Another. One, two.
Another. One, two, three, four, five, oh wow, could this be- nope, no, nevermind, it sinks as well.
So it repeats. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three.
“I wonder…” Noelle starts, then pauses as she realizes she said that out-loud. Well, might as well finish that thought now. “What do you think happens to these rocks, all the way down there?”
Kris looks at her like that was a stupid question. It probably was, to be fair.
“I mean. They fall. Duh.”
Then, as if to prove their point, they throw the stone way harder than usual. It still bounces once before sinking, out of seemingly nothing but spite.
“I know that, silly!” she says, laughing at Kris’ annoyed, weirdly adorable expression. “I meant more like, um… do you think the fish try to eat them?”
“I don't think there are any fish in here?”
“Well, yeah, but like, if there were…”
“I mean, I don't know,” Kris mutters, sounding bored. “I know Onion finds them tasty, so that's something.”
“...Onion?”
“Also, like, I dunno about other fish…” they continue, seemingly not intending to elaborate. “But if I was a fish I'd totally manage to eat a rock.”
“Yeah, probably,” she lazily agrees, because Kris eating things they probably shouldn't is just expected at this point, but then her mind catches up to this conversation. “I mean, you'd try to, but you wouldn't actually do it. You'd, uh, die I think? Even your current teeth can't chew it down, imagine if you were a fish!”
“Nah, I could do it. Chewing's for losers anyway.”
They proceed to make another throw. This one bounces five times again. It seems like they're getting the hang of it.
“...What about you?”
Kris’ question is whispered so quietly, so softly, she almost misses it. “Huh?”
“If you could be a fish,” they begin clarifying. She sees a bounce out of the corner of her eye which makes her realize she missed Kris throwing it again. They don't celebrate it, so it can't have been much of a loss. “What would you do?”
“Not try eating a rock, for one!” she says, mostly to tease them but also partly to stall for time so she could come up with the right words.
This question is a strange one. Truth be told, though, she has thought about it before, in one of her many nostalgia-fueled lake adventures. Which is perhaps even stranger, considering what the question is, but oh well.
“I'd swim near the lakeshore, somewhere with a ton of other fish…” Noelle finally starts, voice unusually serious. “Just fending for myself for a while, waiting for the right moment. Until… a person shows up, wanting to go fishing. I'd watch them release the line into the water a couple times, still awaiting my turn. Other fish would get caught in the meantime, but they'd all get thrown back into the water. Then finally, finally, I'd go ahead and take the bait. On purpose. Then, when they reel me back… they wouldn’t throw me out. Instead, they’d take me with them. Back to their home.”
The pebble Kris had been about to throw slips out of their hand as they give her a strange look. It doesn’t even bounce once.
“...Huh.”
“Don’t huh me, it’s not that weird!!!”
“Noelle you’re talking about how much you want to be fished out by someone, I’m pretty sure it is that weird.” Then, their mouth forms a very amused smile — never a good sign, coming from Kris. “So what’s next after that, do you get eaten or something?”
“NO!?!?!?!?!?!?!?”
“Oh my god, you’re blushing.” Her mouth opens up to deny it but she can feel her face heating up, she knows it won’t work. “Your nose’s doing that glowing thingy too. That’s hilarious.”
“Th-That’s only because you keep trying to embarrass me me!!!” she tries to justify herself.
“Hey, don’t worry, I support it,” Kris defends themself, raising their arms up in surrender. “Go ahead. Keep being freaky. Feel free to have your awesome fish vore daydreams.”
“Shut up????????????”
They don’t even respond back, simply flashing her a smirk. She hates it, she hates them, they’re the worst, they’re literally the worst, she hates them so much…
“I hate you…” she relays to them. It comes off far too weak — saying it like she means it is pretty difficult when all she can think about is how much she missed spending time with Kris like this.
And then silence envelops the two of them again, with Kris resuming their attempts. Funnily enough, though, whatever stride they’d seemed to hit appears to have worn off. For the next six or seven tosses, they only manage to get three bounces at most, usually two. Their motions seem almost mechanical, barely shifting their gaze from some random spot far ahead as they throw rock after rock onto the water. It seems like they’re too busy thinking about something to pay attention to what they’re doing.
“Hey, Noelle…” they break the silence, their voice unusually heavy. “Is there, like… a reason you want that?”
“Huh?”
“The being fished thing, I mean,” they clarify. “Sorry, I’m being stupid. It’s just, the way you said it… it sounded like it meant a lot to you.”
“It just sounds… intimate, I guess,” Noelle tries to elaborate. It’s definitely a weird thing to talk about, but this is Kris she’s talking to. If there’s anyone she can be weird around, it’s them. “Like, even though there’s so many fish out there, I like to think there's someone who'd choose me. No matter what kind of fish I turn out to be, haha. I just…” She sniffles slightly, tears already forming in her eyes as she looks down at the ground. “I wish I knew someone like that. Someone who would always be around to care about me.”
…Oh no, she's said too much. Things were going so well, she should've just kept her mouth shut but no, she just had to ruin-
“Noelle?”
“H-Huh?”
When she looks up, she sees Kris staring at her. Not just subtly either, no — the two are making direct eye contact. She doesn't think they've ever looked at her so… so earnestly before. And their eyes… Angel, those eyes! Kris made a habit of hiding them under their bangs since they were a kid, since most people found those eyes creepy, but Noelle had always thought they were the prettiest she'd ever seen. How could she not? That dark shade of red was just so enthralling, looking like two tiny, dancing flames. Now, though? They look downright stunning, with all that worry and promise that seems like it was meant for her. She feels like she's staring directly at the sun, a sight too pretty for her to turn her eyes away from even though she knows it'll end with the loss of her sight.
“If you were a fish,” they start, voice breaking slightly, more serious than anything she's heard from them before. “No matter what, I'd keep fishing until I caught you. Even if it took years.”
Her heart skips a beat. Noelle swears it does. Or maybe that’s not quite right. Maybe it skips two beats, or ten, or even a thousand, who knows!? Maybe her heart is no longer beating at all. Maybe she died here, under the weight of Kris’ burning gaze, feeling as if she’s the most special thing they’ve ever laid their eyes upon.
“I…” she opens her mouth, trying to say something, anything, but no words come to mind. How is she even supposed to respond to that? “Thank you, Kris…” she settles on, finally.
Then, just as suddenly as it’d intruded her vision, Kris’ eyes are averted, trying to focus on the lake again. “N-No problem,” they stammer out. It’s kind of cute, seeing them like this. She swears she can even make out a blush — oh, she’s totally teasing them for that later, it’s only fair!
That’s when they throw another rock. It looks like they don’t even focus too much, just doing it to have a distraction. But then it starts bouncing. Three, four, five times… and it hits six, before it sinks.
Kris blinks once, twice, clearly not expecting that. “Wow,” they breathe out, finally convinced it happened. “Guess that happened.”
“...You don’t sound that enthusiastic,” Noelle points out.
“I mean, it’s cool. I just figured…” They take the time to quickly glance at Noelle, before quickly looking away. “I wouldn’t mind waiting a little longer.”
“Oh.”
She wants to say something else. Maybe get them to stay here with her for just a little longer, before the two of them are back to their usual routine of stolen glances and borrowed pencils. Kris is already getting up, though.
“So, um, you won the bet, huh?” she asks, mostly just to say something. “What’s even the reward??”
“A piece of gum,” they reveal, breaking out a smile despite their closed off demeanor. “But, like, one of those that feel like they blow up when you chew on them.”
“R-Right… that's nice.” They’re already walking away, unfortunately, as much as she hates it. “Bye then, I guess?”
For a moment, they look like they want to say something else, but then they're taking another step away from her. “Yeah… see you around.”
And she watches them go. Just like that. The words she was gathering to ask if they could do this again die in her throat.
After all, this is just how things are between them, nowadays. Sometimes it feels like Kris is the person she's closest to, while others… it's like they're barely even friends. Like…
…No. No! She's not gonna let them just pretend nothing happened, pretend they didn't stare at her like… like that. Maybe… maybe she should take a page out of her own book, and finally go after the bait.
So she gets up, and she runs after Kris, who thankfully hasn't gone too far.
“Hey! Kris!” she yells after them. Instantly, they turn towards her. “I bet you can't get more than six!”
They just… stand there, for a while. A wide array of emotions show on their face, from confusion to understanding to… excitement, maybe? And then they're smiling again, like even though they weren't sure they could ask, this was the option they wanted all along.
“Depends,” they still tell her anyway, not intending to make things easy. “What's in it for me?”
“Um… a piece of gum?”
“Not gonna work.”
“What the heck!? Okay, two pieces!”
“You can't just have the same prizes for different bets, Noelle. That's not how it works!”
“That's not fair!!” Okay, she needs to calm down. She's the Kris expert here! What's something they'd want… “Oh, I know! I learned where Father Alvin buys all his juice from! I could, um, give you a juicebox?”
“I mean, I could get those from church,” they point out with a smirk, even though they never actually go to church anymore.
“I-I'll get you a grape-flavored one! They don't have that one at church!!”
They made an exaggerated motion with their hand below their chin, pretending to think it over. “I guess that's alright,” they decide. “But what about you?”
“M-Me?”
“Yeah. If you win, what do you get?”
“Oh, uh…” She hadn't really… thought about that part. But if she had to choose, the only thing she really wanted… “If I win, then… then you have to hang out with me more often!”
For a second, Noelle worries if maybe that was too pushy, but Kris' smile grows wider. “I mean, I'll accept it,” they say. “But I don't think that works too well.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because, um…” They stammer, and she even catches them blushing again — since when was that a thing!? “I kinda want you to win, now.”
“O-Oh!”
She doesn't get the chance to respond much further, because Kris is once again trying to walk away. This time, though, they don't leave her empty-handed.
“I'll be here tomorrow,” they promise her on the way out. “See you.”
“Alright! See you then!” she tells them as she watches them leave.
…Tomorrow, huh?
She's really looking forward to that day.