Chapter Text
It’s been a while since Kris and Susie first found the “magic closet”, with the Dark World; the magic closet where many of their friends lived together, now in harmony, all because of them. Kris, Susie, and last but not less important… Ralsei.
Oh, Ralsei. The cute and fluffy dark monster, full of kindness, and friendship to give to everyone, because he trusted that everyone could be a good person if you were nice enough.
Kris wanted to protect him so badly; he didn’t want anyone to hurt him in any way. He decided that the second he met him. Too pure, too innocent. Must be protected.
That’s why Kris would try to take all the damage that was for the goat boy, even trying to look cool while he was at it.
But he had to stop at a point because the good and poor Ralsei loosed part of his fluffy hair every time Kris got injured.
—Please, Kris…—Ralsei said suddenly, after one of their fights finished by acting and sparing (Kris wanted to smile so badly every time Ralsei flirted with the enemies, but at the same time he couldn’t avoid to be kinda jealous, even though he was the one to told him to do it)—. Could you please be more careful? I do appreciate your concern about me getting hurt… But you have to think about yourself, too. I can defend myself!—He exclaimed, trying to sound optimistic, but soon showing his sad and worried expression, Kris didn’t like that expression—. I… I just can’t imagine what would happen… If you…
Kris stopped him right there. He hugged him tightly, assuring him he understood, and he would be more careful from now on. Ralsei understood as well; actions showed more than words after all, and he learned that thanks to Kris. He hugged back, glad that his friend understood.
—Thank you, Kris—Ralsei said once they decided that the time of a normal hug passed, smiling brightly. If only Kris had a camera, he now would have a lots of photos of his friend.
Now he didn’t have to worry too much about it; after all, the three of them were everyone’s friends now. Who would want to hurt the cute boy in any way? (Either because he was too nice, or maybe because Kris himself would kill everyone and then himself if anything happened to Ralsei).
—It’s more than obvious that you have the hots for him—Susie said one day, teasing the human with and evil grin in her face, enjoying the blush that appeared in Kris’ face. The human, annoyed, glared at Noelle, who was sitting just a few chairs far of them. Now was Susie’s turn to blush—. Hey! It’s not the same! At least I have the guts to admit I like her, unlike someone else here!—She exclaimed in a whisper, and even if Kris didn’t like it, she was right.
Kris thought that things would be easier if either Susie or Noelle just expressed her feelings; it was funny to see each other flustered on their own ways, trying to flirt with each other and making it seem like just a joke… And failing at that. But at times, Kris would like to lock up both of them on a closet and not letting them go out until they finally confessed their feelings.
But Kris was just being a hypocrite, making the same with Ralsei.
The only difference was that even if you didn’t know them, you could say that Susie and Noelle liked each other. On the other hand, maybe if you payed enough attention to Kris you could tell he liked Ralsei, and Ralsei on the other hand… Was difficult to know, since he treated everyone the very same way, with the same kindness, the same love. So Kris couldn’t tell if the way Ralsei treated him was different in any way (and if so, Ralsei sucked at showing it). Not even the expert Susie could tell.
—Look, you should just confess—Susie said then, deciding to ignore the thing that happened just two seconds ago. Kris only looked at her with a face that said “really?”—. Hey, it’s better than staying silent! How would you know if he likes you back? He doesn’t leave any hints! — Kris had to admit she was right—. Also, you wouldn’t want to get that illness that Noelle told me about, how was it called again? Ha...Hana…Hanahaki! Yeah, that! — Kris just raised an eyebrow for a second, until getting what Susie meant.
Yeah, Kris also talked about that with Noelle. That illness because of unrequited love, which would kill you unless your love was requited. But Kris didn’t believe in that, and he made sure to let Susie know by his expression.
—Say whatever you want, dude! But I don’t want you spilling flowers all over the floor because you couldn’t say “Hey goat boy, want to be my fluffy lover?” or something—Susie said, exasperated because of how stubborn her friend was.
But what she didn’t know, it’s that Kris had that in mind for the rest of the class.
Hanahaki, huh?
--
—Huh? Do you still remember that, Kris? — Noelle asked, kind of surprised, when Kris approached her at lunch—. Well, yeah, I do know what Hanahaki is. It’s a japanese legend that says if your love is unrequited, flowers will start blooming both in your lungs and heart, until you choke with flowers and blood, and die—Noelle explained again, with a shiver—. Unless, of course, your love becomes two sided, or you have a surgery to extract the flowers, but… You won’t ever feel that kind of love again—Noelle finished, with her gaze lost somewhere for a second, until she suddenly come back to Earth, smiling and raising an eyebrow—. Kind of sad, right? But why do you ask?
Kris told her to not worry, he was just curious. And in a way, he was.
—Don’t worry, Kris! It’s nothing but a legend! — Noelle told him, trying to comfort him, even though he didn’t really showed any sadness—. There’s no way that flowers can just suddenly grow inside your lungs or anything! So don’t worry!
Kris believed her.
--
Just before lunch finished, Susie and Kris decided to go to the Dark World; either of them wanted to stay any longer at school, boring and same school.
—Hear me out, Kris; I will leave you two lovebirds alone. I’ll go hang out with Lancer. You do your thing, alright? — She told him, deciding what they would do for the day—. Don’t give me that look; you know you won’t do shit if I don’t tell you to do it.
Once again, Susie was right.
They stepped inside the closet, closed the door, and just let the darkness do their thing.
As usual, they fell. Luckily, they fell over a lot of comfy pillows that people on the Dark World decided to put for their heroes, so they wouldn’t hurt their butts every time.
Ralsei was close, as usual too. He run to them, smiling brightly (to Kris’ doom), but before he could say anything, Susie raised her hand, stopping him.
—Hey. I’ll go hang with Lancer. Have fun, you two—She said, looking at Kris with an expression of “if you don’t do shit by the end of the day, I will”, and then left, leaving a confused Ralsei behind.
—Uh… Oh, well, hello, Kris! — He said, smiling brightly again, and Kris could feel his heart skip a beat—. How was your day? Did you do your best at school today, Kris?
Kris just smiled. Ralsei worrying about him was just the nicest thing, something that would make any misfortune forgotten. It was like magic.
—…Hey, Ralsei— Kris said, surprising Ralsei. It’s not like he never said to Ralsei, but it was just… weird— Can we go and see the castle?
Ralsei didn’t get it at first, until he realized he didn’t mean the actual castle, but where you had the view of it. He nodded, laughing a bit.
—Sure, Kris! I don’t see why not!
And so they began their journey. They could have used the magic doors, yeah. But it wasn’t the same. They wanted to enjoy their time together, so why wouldn’t they just walk around?
They did find Lancer and Susie on their way, but they were busy eating pastries from the cake sale, so they didn’t want to bother.
They laughed, joked, and had lots of fun, even playing a little with the friends they made and found on their way.
Finally, they arrived to their destiny. They sat. Only, sat, enjoying the comfortable silence between them.
They enjoyed the view, until Ralsei decided to talk.
—Uh, Kris? I don’t mind being here, the view it’s pretty nice! But, why did you want to come?
Why, huh? Well, Kris didn’t know. He just thought it was nice here. A good atmosphere. A good place.
A good everything for a date.
Kris pushed away the thought as he felt his cheeks burning.
—Kris? It’s weird seeing you flustered. What’s the matter? — Ralsei asked again, both amused and concerned—. Oh! Maybe you have a fever?!
Kris just waved his hand, taking him out of his concern, to just go back at staring at the castle. They stayed in silence for a few more minutes, before Kris decided to talk again.
—Ralsei— He said, catching the goat by surprise. Well, at least he knew he was paying attention now—. Can I tell you something?
Ralsei took a few seconds until he nodded harshly, kind of anxious.
—Of course, Kris! You can tell me anything!
Kris took a few seconds before saying anything.
—Ralsei, you are one of my best friends. I feel like I can tell you anything at all, no matter how awful or good, and you wouldn’t judge me, or take advantage of me. You don’t think about me as the “creepy kid”, but as your friend. I haven’t had that in a while now— He admitted. Sure, he had Noelle and Asriel, but Noelle was busy with other friends, her social life, and Asriel left for college. So until he met Susie and Ralsei, he was pretty alone—. And I like it. I wouldn’t want to lose you, Ralsei. You mean so much to me. I don’t know what would I do if something ever happened to you.
Ralsei was at the verge of tears. He was so moved by Kris’ words. Especially since his friend didn’t like to talk. More than a few lines was too much, but this, this would kill Ralsei.
—I enjoy everyone’s company, they are all great and awesome. But Ralsei, they are not like you. I just can’t enjoy their company as much as I enjoy yours. You are so different, I would give my whole life just to see you happy and well— His throat started to hurt, but he didn’t care. He wanted to express his heart out—. This is hard to say, Ralsei. But, what I want to say is…
He gulped, as he turned to see Ralsei. His eyes were shining, maybe because of the happiness or the tears (being Ralsei, both). Because of the lights, Kris could see part of the Ralsei’s true face; he could see his eyes, his pink horns, and his little blush, and not just darkness like usual. All on him was beautiful, just like always.
Kris took his hand.
—I love you, Ralsei.
There, he said it.
Ralsei smiled brightly, letting two or three tears escape his eyes.
—Wow, Kris! I didn’t think you could talk that much! — He joked, while with his free hand, he cleaned that elusive tears—. I, I don’t know what to say! It’s just too much suddenly!
Ralsei laughed a bit. That was music to Kris’ ears, but right now, it would also make him feel more nervous.
—You mean a lot to me too, Kris! I’ve been so lonely until you and Susie appeared. You were even more amazing that the prophecy would let me dream about! You are so kind, so patient, so peaceful, so amazing! I wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to you, either! — Ralsei, who was staring at the floor while he was talking, turned his gaze to Kris again, closing his eyes because of how big his smile was—. I love you too, Kris!
Kris was overwhelmed. He couldn’t believe that was happening; that fluffy, amazing and precious boy was telling him he loved him back. Kris heart was beating so fast it could get out of his chest at any second. His smile was also pretty big, something weird with him.
But before he could say or do anything else, Kris started to cough. A strong coughing. He had to cover his mouth with his free hand to avoid spit going everywhere.
—Oh my god! Kris, are you alright?!
Kris looked at his hand once he stopped coughing. His eyes covered by his bangs were full of shock and fear.
A little bit of blood.
Some petals.
Daffodils.
—Oh, of course— Kris thought, smiling sadly—. It’s not the same kind of love.
At least his dad would have a new type of flower at his flower shop.