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Sniff, sniff, sniff.
The red little nose on the shy little deer led Noelle Holiday towards the alluring source of something familiar. With gentle movements, she drew closer, her eyes shut closed so she could concentrate all her senses on that earthy aroma that almost lulled her into a trance.
That scent was magnetic, and her sharp cervine instincts made it nearly impossible for Noelle to ignore its smoky flavor.
That’s right — it was her smell. There was no way for Noelle to mistake it for anything else! The way her hair and clothes and skin all had that comforting, warm aromatic profile…it just had to be Susie.
Gosh, Noelle, you’re so obvious! Just by catching a tiny bit of her scent, your hooves tippy-tap down the hallways on their own! At school, too! You aren’t even going to try and have your lunch! Seeing Susie would be enough to kill your hunger, wouldn’t it? How embarrassing is that? You’re barely a monster at this point. You’re honestly more of an animal, aren’t you? Like prey being led to an appetizing trap, you just can not help it!
But…how could she resist? Susie was perfect. Susie was everything Noelle had been looking for. Strong, brave, rebellious, confident, daring, protective, fearless…it’s all Noelle ever looked up to! It would be ridiculously unfair to expect anything else of the deer.
Noelle loved Susie, after all.
And so, the idea of just mindlessly following her trail, finding her, crashing into her, getting to touch her even if it’s just by accident, getting to trip and maybe even fall in a way that’ll get Susie to catch Noelle in her big, strong arms…gosh. Those ideas just made her little hooves pitter-patter even faster to her destination!
She scurried, bit by bit, closer and closer, and finally, finally, she crashed! She crashed into the irresistible presence of none other than her dream-come-true, her soulmate, her knight in shining armor, her destined highschool sweetheart, her one and only—
—”KRIS!?”
Noelle squeaked in surprise, looking down at her short little human friend who greeted her back with their own expression of surprise and some chiding about Noelle’s lack of spacial awareness.
“Ah, sorry, sorry!!! I didn’t mean to! I mean, I did mean to, actually, but you weren’t the one I meant to— UM! UHHH! LISTEN!!! KRIS! Wh-where’s…Susie!?” A nervous smile etched across her snout.
Squinting their eyes and rubbing their neck in awkward motions, Kris breaks the news to Noelle about Susie’s decisions for her class attendance and the school day.
“H-HUH? I mean, I know she skips school a lot, but…I swear she’s in here somewhere! I was just sniffing her out! Are you sure she didn’t sneak in or something to grab lunch?” Noelle looks around frantically, trying to follow the direction of that husky fragrance, yet, it keeps leading her snout right back to her childhood best friend, standing right in front of her. Noelle’s sense of smell has never been inaccurate. This is…odd.
Habits that Noelle knows to reveal Kris’ nervousness start to show on the human. Averting their gaze even more than usual, their voice becoming nearly inaudible, their fingers fidgeting with one another. In whispers, they reaffirm their claim with certainty.
Noelle tilts her head, antlered pigtails swaying with elegance. “Why are you so sure…? W-wait…”
She squints her eyes as she lands her furred fingers below her buck-toothed lips, fiddling with her chin as she processes her thoughts. “...Hold on…”
Gears sporadically turn in her head. They click into place, and her imagination starts to run a little wild, in a way she can no longer tame.
“You—” Her body language shifts from inquisitive to frantic. “KRIS. YOU. CAME WITH. TORIEL!!! HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT SUSIE SAID ABOUT COMING TO CLASS TODAY???”
Kris knows that there is absolutely not a single word they can say or an excuse they can make to recover from this. And Noelle is sure probably half of what she just imagined is probably true. She doesn’t wanna know how much, though.
Noelle can barely tell Susie how much she likes her simply as a friend, and before she can get even just a few steps further, Kris has Susie over at their place all the time and constantly talks to her outside of class and Heaven knows what the cheesecake could’ve caused Kris to smell EXACTLY like Susie!!! Did they hold hands? Hug? Cuddle? KISS? SLEEP IN THE SAME BE—
An awkward cough and something that sounded almost like an apology break Noelle’s cascade of emotions, and when she snaps back to reality, finding her own fingers lost within her golden locks, completely disarranging her perfect hair-do on their own, she has no idea how to respond to Kris’ words at all.
She looks down at her apologetic companion. Their beady little eyes tug at her heartstrings, but unfortunately, she still can’t find it within herself to honor their apology. Not with the way her heart jumps in her chest at the moment.
“I. THINK I’LL SEE YOU…UM…laaaater. After…class. Maybe??? Okay? Uhhh…BYE!”
With that, she hurries away, leaving a red-faced Kris to stare in lonesome embarrassment as they process how obvious…everything is becoming to Noelle. The school hallways feel especially empty all of a sudden.
Well, this was inevitable, anyways, they tell themself. With a sigh of temporary relief, Kris accepts their nth time experiencing yet another deeply unceremonious encounter with Noelle. And honestly, at this point? It’s ritual.