Noelle had always liked Dess and Asriel's apartment.
It was mostly geared towards Asriel's efficient personality with a cleanness on display that only rivalled the Holiday manor in its intensity. Everything was somehow neat and in its proper place with a decor that was made up almost entirely of sleek modern furniture that may or may not have been bought from a certain Nordic furniture store.
Though there were little whiffs of Dess' character scattered throughout the place. The art on the walls belonged to certain punk bands and graphic novels, just screaming of her unique tastes. A familiar record player rested on a table next to a small collection of albums that Noelle remembered listening to years ago.
Plus, there was the centrepiece of this evening's affairs. An item which just screamed of belonging to her sister.
This was a bong which rested on the living room table. It was nearly a foot long and a little grungy but not too bad as Noelle could still see through the glass. The glass itself was mostly plain though there was a certain cartoon character lingering on the front of it, smiling at her.
Noelle sighed and looked towards the kitchen. ``Pickle Rick... really, Dess?''
Dess cackled, her mirth being quickly joined by a dastardly little snicker from Kris who was helping her.
Asriel, seated on a loveseat nearby, shook his head. ``Tell me about it. It isn't easy living with an absolute gremlin.'' He rolled her eyes. ``Though considering my last roommate, you think I'd be used to it by now.''
``Hey!'' Kris called. ``I'm not a gremlin.''
Asriel scoffed and reached out, grabbing a little metal device from the coffee table along with a bag that contained the fabled herb that they would soon be enjoying. With familiarity, he spun open the device's lid and sprinkled a few buds into it before closing it and giving the lid a couple quick turns.
``So, this is your first 420, right?'' Asriel asked.
Noelle smirked. ``I couldn't just sit around and let Dess make all the bad decisions between us, you know?''
``Hey, you make plenty of bad decisions without me, thank you very much,'' Dess replied, coming into the living room with a bowl of chips. ``For example, have you finally asked Susie out or how is that little problem going?''
Kris followed Dess, holding a bowl of white dip and another that had a homemade salsa in it. These went over to the kitchen table where there were a few bottles of water, some fresh fruit, and a couple litres of soda already set up.
Noelle's cheeks warmed at the question. ``Well, uh... you see... I am making moves in the right direction with that! So, it'll only be a matter of time before...''
``She's not,'' Kris interrupted, smirking like an utter bastard at Noelle.
Noelle glared right back at them. ``Traitor.''
``Come on, you need to ask this girl out already. It's been like four months,'' Dess groaned. ``You're almost out of high school at this point.''
Noelle sighed and then looked at Asriel, hoping that he'd offer her some kind of help.
Though he only shook his head. ``Sorry Noelle, I'm on Dess' side with this one. I think the two of you would work well together. Plus, you really need to get this over with before you all head off to school.''
Noelle opened her mouth to respond though nothing came out. There was no countering this point since it was a very good point and was probably a hundred percent true. She really needed to stop dragging her feet and just ask Susie out already.
``What is she even up to today?'' Dess asked. ``You should've invited her.''
Kris shrugged and held out their hand, taking the device from Asriel before popping it open. Carefully, they started to transfer the ground marijuana into a little bowl that lingered near the bulbous part of the bong. ``Said she was hanging out with another friend. Maybe Ralsei, maybe someone else. Didn't seem like she was too interested in smoking pot though.''
``It's not for everyone,'' Asriel admitted, looking at Noelle. ``How are you feeling about doing it for the first time?''
``Little nervous though I've seen Dess do it a bunch,'' Noelle replied, shrugging. ``So, I know it's not going to like hurt me or anything.''
``And you even have three trip-sitters to help you through it,'' Dess said before giving her head a tired shake. ``I wish I had that many when I was trying acid for the first time.''
``You were tripping absolute balls that day,'' Asriel teased, snickering at the memory.
Noelle grinned nervously.
ACID?!?!??!
``Anyways how about I give you an ultimatum,'' Dess offered, leaning forwards and wagging a finger at her sister. ``Either you ask Susie out, by the end of the week, or I do the logical older sister thing and sleep with her myself.''
Noelle's eyes widened. ``What?''
``Yeah, I'd make sure to put in a good word for you afterwards,'' Dess teased.
Kris cackled, covering their mouth with the back of their hand.
``You wouldn't,'' Noelle hissed.
Dess shrugged. ``I really hope that I don't have to but the decision is totally up to you in the end.''
Noelle looked at Asriel. ``You can't be okay with this!''
Asriel smirked and looked at Dess. ``Am I allowed to watch?''
``Of course, you're allowed to watch,'' Dess replied, scoffing. ``Do you think that I'm going to cuck you and not let you watch?''
Asriel then looked back at Noelle and shrugged. ``Sorry Noelle, I can't fault Dess' logic on this one.''
``All of you are the worst!'' Noelle huffed, glaring at them one after another. ``Fine... FINE! I'll get my ass into gear and actually ask her out, okay?''
A little white lie that she'd told herself repeated over the last four months. But who knew, maybe this time she was actually super serious about it. At the very least, it seemed to get the others to stop ribbing her about it.
``Anyways,'' Noelle started, shaking her head to work out any lingering pent-up aggravation. ``Can we get started on trying out this weed?''
Kris nodded and came over with the bong, plopping down on the couch in a spot directly next to her. ``Let me show you how it's done.''
They placed the end of the glass stem against their lips and held out the lighter, snapping it into an open flame. They then brought this over to the marijuana and started to char it while drawing in a breath at the same time. Their inhalation lasted for a good little while, causing the water to bubble and the chamber to fill with a cloud of white vapour.
Noelle watched intently and only briefly glanced over at the other two. Both Asriel and Dess were cuddled up together, watching Kris and Noelle.
``The first bong rip is always so special,'' Asriel teased.
Dess chuckled. ``Make sure you don't fuck up or I'll make fun of you, Dreemurr.''
Noelle shook her head and looked back to see Kris withdraw the little bowl of marijuana, continuing to inhale all the while. This now pushed the cloud of vapour into their eagerly awaiting lungs. At which point they held it and drew away, leaning back into the comforting embrace of the sofa.
Finally, they unleashed this very same cloud of white vapour into the air. It was impressive, sizeable, lingering and giving the room a slightly skunky smell.
Dess smirked. ``Damn, babe, your little sibling's got it.''
``Yeah, I'm kind of curious who they've been learning this from,'' Asriel said, narrowing his gaze as he looked at Kris. ``Who's your dealer?''
``I'm not a narc,'' Kris chided as they grinned at him.
They then handed the bong over to Noelle who anxiously took it, holding it in both of her hands. All she needed to do was what Kris had just done but on a smaller scale. That should be easy enough, right?
Though it was still hard to overcome her anxiety. There was a little voice lingering at the back of her mind, whispering DARE commercials directly into her brain.
A brain which was now about to get turned into a fried egg if said commercials were to be believed.
``Are you ready to be a rebel?'' Dess asked, snapping Noelle out of her spiral.
Noelle looked up and rolled her eyes before taking the lighter from Kris. ``What do you mean?''
``Smoking weed while underaged,'' Dess stated, shaking her head with mock disappointment. ``What would our mother say?''
``I'd say mom should get over her pill addiction before she gives me any sass about smoking weed,'' Noelle jabbed, muttering something a little too hotly under her breath. Though she promptly winced at how harsh that answer felt.
Dess snickered. ``Damn, sis, that's brutal.''
Noelle looked down at the bong, feeling a little nervous energy start to swell within her breast once more. This shouldn't have been so nerve-wracking but here she was, just about to go through with things.
Though with one last deep breath, she shoved aside such troubled thoughts
Instead, she placed her lips against the stem and ignited her lighter, using it to char the weed and inhale just like Kris had shown her. She did so for only a few brief seconds, drawing a smaller amount of vapour into the chamber before extinguishing the flames and yanking the little bowl out.
She winced as she did so just a little too hard. The jerking motion sent some smouldering ash flying out of the bowl and onto the floor.
Though she couldn't worry about that as she inhaled, drawing that cloud into her lungs. Unlike Kris, however, she wasn't able to hold it for very long as she promptly coughed, causing the cloud to come jerking out of her mouth, ripped free by her hacking asphyxiation.
Kris reached over and patted her firmly on the back. Thankfully, the coughing fit didn't last for too long as she soon wheezed for breath.
``Fuck,'' Noelle rasped.
She looked up and saw Dess grinning at her.
``Way better than my first time,'' her sister commented. ``I nearly threw up after my first bong rip.'' She held out her hand and Noelle handed over the bong. ``How about grabbing yourself some water? It'll help with your throat.''
Noelle nodded and got up, placing the lighter upon the coffee table as she did so. Carefully, she started to make her way over to the food and drinks.
Her movements felt a little sluggish and the world around her seemed... heavy, everything churning just a little slower within her mind. There was a certain haziness that she was coming to enjoy, a sprinkle of euphoria.
She snickered as she grabbed a bottle of water and a single mandarin orange, returning to the couch with both in hand. Her return was just in time for Dess to be midway through her own bong rip, inhaling the vapour into her system.
``How are you enjoying it?'' Asriel asked.
Noelle leaned over and rested her cheek upon the top of Kris' head. ``I feel... good?'' She nodded, loving the sensation of Kris' hair against her cheek. ``Yeah... good.''
``Help, help,'' Kris playfully yelped, snickering as they shove Noelle to the side. ``She's getting overly affectionate.''
Dess handed the bong over to Asriel who got started on his own rip as well.
``You know... I bet 420 would've been way cooler back when weed was illegal,'' Dess commented.
Kris snorted. ``That was like a hundred years ago, Dess...''
``I know but imagine being around during a time where smoking a fat bowl was a way of showing the authorities where they could shove it. Doesn't that sound amazing, being part of those first 420s?'' Dess sighed and shook her head. ``I don't know, doing illegal stuff is just so much cooler than doing legal stuff, you know?'' She suddenly perked up. ``Who wants to do some arson?''
Noelle sat bolt upright. ``Dess!''
``Kiddingggg,'' Dess replied, winking at her sister. ``I don't do that kind of stuff anymore.''
``What do you mean anymore?'' Noelle whined. ``Did you...''
``Oh hey, I got munchies,'' Dess interrupted, springing to her feet and going over to the snacks. ``Azzy do you want anything?''
Asriel finished with his own bong rip, placing the vessel down upon the coffee table. He shook his head as he exhaled, unleashing the final cloud of vapour.
Dess grabbed a paper plate and started to load it up with chips. ``So, are you two excited for university?''
Noelle groaned. ``I would be if mom would get off my fucking ass about it.''
Her breathing caught. That was a very un-Noelle kind of answer to give. Maybe this weed stuff was actually worth all of the fuss.
``What you do is lie to her for the entire first year and change all of your courses behind her back,'' Asriel explained, winking at her. ``That's what I did with our mom when she wouldn't let me go into game design.''
Kris snickered. ``She was so fucking mad.''
``I walked so you could run, Kris,'' Asriel commented, nodding sagely as he let out such a tired sigh. ``Just be happy that she's actually letting you go into art without a huge guilt trip.''
Dess snickered. ``It's okay, my mom knows that I'm a massive fuck up and had no interest in micromanaging me. Jokes on her though because, after this apprenticeship, I'm probably going to blow her salary out of the fucking water as a mechanic.'' She popped a chip into her mouth and promptly shivered with ecstatic glee. ``Angel, this dip is so good.''
``Thanks, I tried a new recipe,'' Asriel said. He then glanced at Kris, offering a playful smile. ``So, any special monsters in your life.''
Kris shrugged. ``Special how?''
``You know, like... romantically?'' Asriel asked.
Kris shook their head. ``Romance isn't really my thing...''
``Fair...'' Asriel began, nodding along.
``But I'm fucking Catti and Monster Kid if that's what you're wondering,'' Kris finished. ``Does that count as special?''
Asriel stopped talking, left frozen in utter shock. His poor brain obviously tried to churn, working through what Kris had just said. Though it was equally obvious that nothing would come through to help him.
``Damn, Dreemurr, when the fuck did you get game?'' Dess chided.
Kris shrugged. ``When I got a reliable weed hookup.''
Asriel continued to be stuck, kind of just blubbing away mutely at the air. It was honestly a little funny to watch, making Noelle snicker as she took a sip of water.
``Okay then!'' he finally blurted, shaking his head before letting out an awkward note of strained laughter. ``Damn, your high school experience is definitely way more interesting than mine ever was.''
``I don't know about that, babe. We did get up to some pretty crazy shit during our senior year,'' Dess teased.
Asriel shrugged. ``Mostly arson and petty crimes though.''
``And personally, I find both of those things incredibly interesting,'' Dess replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek. ``Remember that time we knocked the head off of the Founder statue.''
``That was you!'' Noelle barked.
Asriel nodded and grinned with pride. ``Yeah.''
``Holy shit, mom was so fucking mad about that,'' Noelle said, snickering. ``She had the police search the town for a culprit for like over a month straight.''
``Want to know the best part?'' Dess asked, unable to stop herself from smirking.
Noelle shook her head. ``I can't even imagine.''
``The head is stashed away in some box at the very back of our attic,'' Dess replied, grinning like an absolute goblin. ``Literally right above her bedroom.''
``Holy shit,'' Kris whispered, cackling at this. ``No fucking way!''
``Yeah uh...'' Asriel leaned back into the embrace of the couch and rubbed at the back of his head. ``I really hope that your folks never do any spring cleaning because that's going to be an incredibly awkward conversation.''
``I wouldn't worry about that. The statute of limitations expired like a year-and-a-half ago,'' Dess quipped.
Noelle glanced at the bong before looking up at the others. ``I think I'm ready for another hit if you guys are.''
The others looked between themselves and nodded one after another. Once more, Kris was the first to grab it, along with the device to grind up weed.
``So how is your first 420 going?'' Dess asked.
Noelle sighed fondly. ``Good.''
``Gonna do it again next year?'' Asriel followed up, smirking at her. It would seem that he already knew the answer.
Noelle grinned. ``Totally.''
