Requested by: MellowBerrie
Thanks for the request! :D Now onto the story!
~~~
You trailed after Kris, watching their hot pink cape fluttering behind them. You rubbed your arms, your teeth chattering uncontrollably. Oh, why, why, why, did my Dark World outfit have to be sleeveless? you cried internally. Of course Kris' outfit didn't have sleeves either, but they at least had metal gauntlets that went up to their elbows. Your bare arms on the other hand were fully exposed to the dreary, cold temperatures of the Dark World.
Besides, for whatever reason, they didn't seem cold.
"S-So, umm... K-Kris...? H-How much, uhm... f-further do you think w-w-we'll have to g-go?" you stammered, partially due to your shyness but now mostly because you were freezing to death.
Kris looked over their shoulder at you and shrugged. They took in your shivering mess of a state and stopped in their tracks. You nearly bumped into them as they turned to face you.
"U-Uh? K-Kris? W-What's up?" you asked them, though you knew it was a bit of pointless thing to ask. They had never spoken to you, let alone anyone else from what you were aware of. You had guessed they might be mute, but never could work up the courage to ask. Perhaps selectively mute? You weren't sure.
They reached back behind their neck with both hands, seeming to fiddle with something before their cape suddenly came loose. Then, they held it in front of them, coming closer to you. You felt your heart begin to pound in your chest and your cheeks get warm as they stood close to you, before tying the cape around your neck instead. Their metal gloves brushed over your neck a bit as they tried tying it, and you felt your face go red.
Once it was securely tied, they stepped back to take in their handiwork. You did feel a bit warmer now, between the cape you could pull a bit over your arms and your burning face. "Th-Thank you, Kris..." you murmured, feeling embarrassed under their attention. They gave you a thumbs up, then turned on their heel and continued onward. You followed after them.
As they kept their gaze focused straight ahead, on a mission like they always were, you now felt well enough to take in the scenery. The Dark World sure was an interesting place with lots of strange and unique plants and monsters. A few red leaves spiraled down past you from the towering trees. One leaf even landed on top of your head, which made you giggle a bit. Kris looked back at you, smiling a bit to themself.
The two of you continued onwards, and you nestled your face in Kris' cape to keep your face warm, only to be met by a nice surprise. Oh! It even smells like them! you realized, blushing with delight at the comforting smell of pie and... school? You never would have expected school to be a comforting smell, but you did somehow manage to end up in a mystical other world inside the school closet. The Dark World was cool, in more ways than one, but it really made everything you knew feel further and further away.
Kris suddenly and abruptly stopped and you made a soft sound as you collided with their back this time. You stepped back and rubbed your nose. "Mmn... S-Sorry, Kris..." They didn't turn around. "Uh... um, Kris, what's u-?"
You felt your face go red when they put their hand over your mouth, but the Darkeners in front of you two had already spotted you. The foes ran at you, and the world around you faded into darkness. Embarrassment flooded you as Kris removed their hand from your mouth, looking a little defeated. "O-Oh, I'm s-so sorry Kris! I should've been quiet..."
They finally turned to you, waving their hands around quickly in reassurance that they didn't blame you. Then you both looked towards the two Darkeners in front of you. They were these strange looking white rabbits. They almost looked like piles of snow on first glance, and were surprisingly big for rabbits... which made sense since they were Darkeners, not real rabbits. There was also a strangely dusty property to them.
It took you a moment to realize it was your turn, since Kris had used up their turn to reassure you. Guilt struck you again, but you ignored it to focus on deciding what you were going to do. You decided it would be best to blow on them. You inhaled as deeply as you could, then exhaled. A bunny was nearly blown away, but it held its ground as pieces of it flew out of the battlefield. Kris gave you an approving thumbs up, and you smiled proudly in response.
Then both bunnies attacked; one bounded towards you in an oddly menacing manner while the other was shooting carrots at Kris. Your focus left your crush to make sure the bunny didn't land on you. Luckily, it was fairly easy to avoid since you could see where it planned to land based on its shadow.
At last, it was yours and Kris' turn again. Kris looked over at you, gesturing to blow on the bunnies again. You nodded, turning to the bunnies. Aiming at the one who had attacked you, you tried to blow it away again while Kris was doing the same to the other one. One poofed into a tiny, pleased looking bunny. It hopped away, seeming content. It's friend watched it go, then turned to you and Kris.
You smiled at Kris. "Just one more left!" you encouraged them.
"Y/N, watch out!" Kris cried. You spun towards the enemy to see it was shooting a mass of carrots at you. Fear suddenly gripped you when you attempted dodging them, quickly realizing you were just a bit too slow. The carrots were whizzing by, and you were just too tired out and overall just not fast enough to avoid them. One hit landed. Then another.
Kris slid in front of you, slashing at the carrots with their sword, standing over you protectively. You crouched down behind them, looking up at them in awe. You had been too startled in the moment, but now that you felt safety wash over you again, realization hit you too. That... was that Kris' voice? It... couldn't have been anyone else's. Nobody else here would know MY NAME! Your eyes widened a little and your cheeks flushed. And more so... their voice is so nice... It's so smooth and kind of deep. It's just... so unexpected and yet, so wonderful...
Kris stepped away from you, snapping you back to attention. It was your and Kris' turn again. Kris nodded to you, and blowing one last time, the battle was over. As the two tiny bunnies fled, you turned to Kris. "K-Kris, I... I can't believe it! You... You can speak!" They nodded, blushing a bit. You smiled sadly at them. "Why haven't you spoke before now?"
Then you quickly threw your hands over your mouth in realization. "Oop! S-Sorry! I shouldn't have asked that! That was a pretty personal question, huh?" You laughed nervously. "J-Just ignore it, it's fine-"
"I just don't like talking much," Kris murmured, and you felt your heart jolt in your chest, your face growing warm.
Your mouth moved on its own. "W-Well, y-you should talk more, I think! I really like your voice! It's really h-... haaaa..." Your eyes widened and your face went red as you quickly hid your face in your hands. "C-Cool!! It's really cool!! S-So if you wanted to speak, please do, I would love to hear it some more!" You never realized your voice had actually gotten louder. You had practically yelled the last bit.
When you finally had the courage to peer at Kris again, you saw they were frozen in place. A deep blush had come over their face. They opened their mouth a little, then hesitated before replying, "I... I can do that... for you."
You blushed more, making flustered sounds and burying your face in your arms. "You don't have to if it's too hard! Or if you don't want to?! I-I didn't mean to come across a-as pushy o-o-or anything!"
"N-No, it's fine," Kris assured you. "I... want to talk... I want to talk to you more."
You looked at them again and beamed awkwardly, exhaling a little breath that lightened the tension in your chest. "You're the best, Kris."
They blushed a bit more themselves. "You too," they replied, smiling and rubbing the back of their neck.
"Hey Kris, can I tell you something?" The words left your mouth before you could process them.
They seemed interested. "Hm?"
"I..." You began, but then your common sense returned. AAH I CAN'T TELL THEM YET! your mind cried. "I th-think we could... I mean, we SHOULD KEEP GOING!" you squeaked, taking Kris' hand and speeding down the path. Kris made a small surprised sound, but didn't resist as you nearly bolted down the path with their hand in yours.
Once your embarrassment died down, you slowed to a walk, panting. You looked over your shoulder back at Kris. "S-Sorry for running so suddenly... Umm... do... you want to take the lead?"
Kris shook their head. "You can," they assured you. They squeezed your hand. Your heart fluttered, and a smile spread over your face. You faced forwards again, unable to stop the happiness that flooded over you as you marched onwards, leading the way. And more importantly, with Kris' hand still in yours.
~~~
A/N: Oh my gosh, guys, I'm sooo sorry this took so long! I was really busy lately, and yesterday was Halloween, and I had no ideas and... hhhh yeah.
So, good news! Requests are open again! Thank you all for the wait! I'm going to be busy in the upcoming weeks, so updates are probably still going to be slower than before... for a while at least. Next up is a Spamton one that should be pretty funny I hope, so I hope you all enjoy it! Okay, ily all, bai!