Chris panted a bit as she ran through Jungletale. Why? 

Because she was being chased by a group of S.S.O. members. 

"How the hell, did a simple scouting mission turn into a cliche movie chase scene?" she snapped at herself as she continued running. 

How did this happen again? 

Oh yeah...

- A few hours earlier -

Chris was sitting in her office, sipping on some sugary coffee and signing some important documents, when someone knocked on the door. 

"Come in!" Chris called as she finished signing a document. 

An assistant stuck their head into the room. 

"Er, boss would like to see you" they said. 

"Thank you for letting me know" Chris told them. 

The assistant nodded before leaving and closing the door. Chris signed another document before taking a final sip of her coffee and standing up. 

She began to walk down to Dream's office. On the way there, she passed by Ink's bedroom quarters. 

His door was open and Chris couldn't help but take a quick look inside the room as she passed by. She instantly half regretted it as a blush overcame her features. 

The skeleton inside was changing, whit his back to the door. He had his usual shorts on, but he looked like he was messing around with his belt. 

And another thing, he didn't have anything covering his top half. Chris could see his shoulder blades, spine, and his ribs. 

Her steps faltered a bit, and that seems to alert Ink. He turned around, but all he saw was the end of a familiar cardigan jacket thing disappearing from view. 

Chris quickly hid behind the wall that had come up, and she stayed there until she heard the sound of a door closing shut. 

Damn it Ink! Keep your god damn door closed when your changing! Jeez! she thought, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth as her cheeks became even more red. 

Chris forced herself to move from her spot to continue her way towards Dream's office, but she was so distracted she ended up accidentally running into Jessica. 

"O-oh! Jess! I-I'm sorry, wasn't paying attention, heh" Chris managed to get out. 

"Its fine. Are you okay? Your blushing pretty hard there" Jessica replied after taking a closer look at her trainer. 

"Uh, y-yeah, yeah, um, I'm-I'm alright" Chris stuttered. 

Jessica gave her a judging look for a few seconds before backing off. 

"O-kay then. Well, I'll see you around then" she said. 

"Yeah, uh, see ya" Chris replied before continuing to make her way down to Dream's office. 

She tried to think about anything, but her thoughts kept rounding back to Ink. 

He was kinda hot though... 

Wait! No! Nononononono! Focus Chris! He's my frenemy! 

So that means he can't mean something more to me? 

No! We can still be friends! 

Friends, huh? Its been a couple years since you met the guy! Its time to take the next step! 

There's no way I like him in that way dammit! 

Ha! Denial! Always the first step in the beginnings of a relationship! 

Chris shook her head a bit to get rid of her internal battle and sighed. She managed to get to Dream's office without any further interruptions or distractions. 

She knocked on the door, and heard Dream's answering "Come in". 

Chris came into the office with a deep, yet soft breath. 

"Hey Dream. What's up?" she asked as she closed the door. 

"Well, I had a mission for you, but first, are you alright?" Dream replied. 

"Yes, I'm fine" Chris replied, though her blush increased again as her thoughts turned towards a shirtless Ink. 

"You sure?" Dream asked, raising a bone brow. 

Chris sighed. 

"I might have happened to pass by Ink's room while the door was open..." she admitted, crossing her arms and leaning her back against the wall. 

With just that sentence, and Chris's emotions, Dream was able to piece together what had happened. 

"Ooohhhhhhhh! Ink was in the middle of changing wasn't he?" he said, a smirk now making its way onto his face. 

Chris bit her lip and suddenly found the floor to be very interesting. She heard Dream's chuckle. 

"Was he hot?" he said in a teasing tone. 

He couldn't help it. He burst out laughing as Chris gave him an incredulous look, her blush somehow getting even darker. 

"The fuck Dream?!" she yelled, making Dream laugh harder. 

"Oh my stars! You should see your face right now!" he laughed. 

"Oh my fucking god! If you don't tell me what you called me up here for, I'm going to walk out that door and get back to my office!" Chris threatened while activating her holographic mask. 

It was more to hide her blushing face rather than put on a threatening appearance. Dream managed to get his laughing under control so that he was lightly chuckling. 

"Alright, alright. We got some reports of heavy S.S.O. activity in Jungletale. I need you to go out there and scout around. You can off a few people if you want, but I just want whatever kind of information or intel your able to gather" he said. 

Chris nodded. 

"Is that it?" she asked. 

Dream nodded. Chris turned around and put her hand on the door handle. 

"Actually, one more thing Chris" 

The female fighter turned around to give the winged skeleton an exasperated look. 

"Make sure you say hi to Ink for me" 

. . . . . .

Dream laughed as Chris flipped him off and left the office, slamming the door shut behind her...