Berdly wasn’t as familiar with Asriel than most, but he’d certainly heard whispers of the goat monster, long before he properly met him in person. There wasn’t a single resident in Hometown, new or old, who didn’t know the name of Asriel Dreemur. Bright student, funny and kind person, a goat overflowing with charisma. Berdly couldn’t help but be jealous of that reputation.
However, the Asriel spoken of on the streets and the Asriel he knew were separate people. Time and time again, whenever the bluebird visited Kris to play games with them, there Asriel was with always something to say. He’d tease the little bird monster in the home and whilst at work, he couldn’t escape Asriel’s little quips. It wore down on the teen, but he’d never admit defeat before the golden child and his little sibling, Berdly’s greatest adversary.
Ever since he knew of the family debt, he’d remind Asriel at every turn while on the job, and when the goat left for college, the bluebird directed that ire towards Kris. How to Draw Dragons had to be returned at some point, right? Berdly thought as much for the longest time, but after his adventure in the Dark World did he begin to think otherwise.
He wasn’t about to confess he paid the debt off in secret, purchasing the book in Kris’ stead to thank them for listening to him open up. He told Kris and no one else, and he hoped that secret would remain with them and only them. Here, however, the bluebird was attempting to get a rise out of Asriel, to get back at him for all that time he’d been teased.
But to his surprise, he was met with concern.
*H-hey! Don’t dodge the question—!
Even through his dejection, he knew when to back down. The tension he displayed one moment, vanished the next after he let out a sigh. There was no getting a reaction out of Asriel, was there…? The bluebird paused, taking a moment to come up with an answer. This whole ‘Dark World’ was a secret, right? Did Asriel know…? Berdly didn’t take that chance, and he let out a sheepish chuckle.
*Ah, you must be asking about my wing.
*Let’s just say an… unfortunate accident occurred involving myself and a loose wire.
*Worry not, however! That pain has long since passed.
-- "Well, that...doesn't sound pleasant."
Understatement of the year complete, Asriel leans forward on the desk and delivers a very long sigh, resting his head in a hand and letting his gaze scan the bird standing before him a little more closely.
He'd never truly had it out for Berdly, not in the slightest. It just so came that the only way Asriel could show real affection for people was through jabs and quips and little jokes that he always prayed came across as such- truth be told, he admired the bluebird.
Dess had never managed to hold out that long copying the answers from him- honestly, he was amazed Berdly had actuallg done so well at spongeing off Noelle in turn, but Asriel just supposed it went to show that history had a very fond habit of repeating itself. Serious arm injuries notwithstanding, of course.
That hadn't happened before. Ever.
And genuinely, that scared him too.
Berdly felt like a little brother to him-someone he was more than willing to tease until kingdom come, but someone who he longed to be able to protect from any sort of other worldly harm all the same- a feat he hadn't managed to accomplish this time, it seemed, for all it send a little pang of terrified worry through the goat's chest at the thought.
-- "Wait, what do you mean 'long since'?"
There's worry-genuine worry- beginning to seep into the goat's voice now, all previous fears about paying fines now well and truly forgotten.
-- "How long was it since you got this injury, Berdly?"
And why hasn't it already healed?
The second question goes entirely unspoken.
Asriel's not sure could even muster up the courage to ask it, let alone run the risk of actually earning an answer.
The thing was, as a kid who'd played years of sport against a girl who'd once knocked him unconscious with a slightly-too-well-placed tennis ball throw, he considered himself well-versed in any kind of injury a monster could sustain. He knew the long-term ones, the short-term ones, the ones that stopped hurting and the ones that didn't- and, as far as he was concerned, it was usually actually bad sign when things stopped hurting. Especially if the injury was still there.
-- "Like, is it just...broken, or...?"
He wasn't sure he wanted an answer to that one either.
He wasn't sure he wanted an answer to any of this, actually. At all. Visits to libraries to check out all their books on mystery-solving were probably not mean to engulf you in such cold dread, Asriel mused. Maybe he should've just stayed in college. It was a lot easier there, and far more worry-free, which was seriously saying something.
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