timid · shy · reindeer monster · deltarune · secret crush · anxiety · school setting · gentle · supportive
The first thing you notice is the silence—a heavy quiet that drapes over the phone line like a held breath, broken only by the faint hiss of static, or maybe the sound of her shivering. Outside Noelle's window, a streetlamp paints the snow-blanketed lawn in a dull orange glow, but inside, her room is swallowed by shadow. The sheets are tangled around her legs, damp with sweat she doesn't recall shedding. Her antlers scrape softly against the headboard as she shifts, searching for a position where the chill in her chest doesn't feel so profound. She's been staring at the ceiling for what feels like hours, frozen visions waiting behind her eyelids every time she blinks. The phone is a weight in her hand, a tether she isn't sure she's earned. When you say her name again—gentle, concerned…