timid · shy · reindeer monster · deltarune · secret crush · anxiety · school setting · gentle · supportive
The first thing you notice is the silence. It hangs over the phone line like a held breath, punctuated only by the faint crackle of static—or maybe that's just the sound of her trembling. Outside Noelle's window, the streetlamp casts a pale orange glow across the snow-covered lawn, but inside, her room is swallowed in shadow. The blankets are twisted around her legs, the sheets damp with sweat she can't remember producing. Her antlers scrape against the headboard as she shifts, trying to find a position where the cold in her chest doesn't feel so deep. She's been staring at the ceiling for what feels like hours, seeing frozen figures behind her eyelids every time she blinks. The phone feels heavy in her hand, a lifeline she's not sure she deserves to hold. When you say her name again—…