It's early for Kris to be visiting again, but Ralsei smiles when he hears the heavy castle door opening anyway. He stands up, depositing the dirty rag into the bucket before stretching the tension out of his back. He had been mostly finished wiping the dust off this wall anyway.
The castle isn't as lonely now that Susie is living with him, but it's always a joy to see Kris again.
He calls out a greeting and starts towards the castle entrance. Maybe the three of them can cook something together today. He's about to make this suggestion out loud when he sees Kris isn't alone.
"Oh, Kris! You brought a friend!"
Introductions are made somewhat hastily before Ralsei invites Kris and the deer girl Noelle to sit before excusing himself to bring Susie.
He knocks on the door gently. "Susie? Kris is back, and they brought a friend with them."
There's a familiar grunt, followed by a thud from the other side of the door. Susie would probably sleep a lot better if she would just follow a consistent schedule. He never tells her this, though. She probably wouldn't listen to him.
Instead of trying to ignore him and go back to sleep like usual, Susie actually gets out of bed and opens the door fairly quickly today.
"Did you say Kris brought someone else?" Susie tosses her head to shake the hair out of her bloodshot eyes.
Ralsei informs her that yes, there is another guest, and that he needs to start the tea promptly. He leads her to the dining area briskly. It would be rude to keep everyone waiting.
Susie joins Kris and Noelle at the table, and Ralsei excuses himself to prepare tea for everyone.
He listens to their conversation from the other room as he fills the kettle. Noelle and Susie are exchanging awkward greetings as he retrieves three - no, four now - mugs.
"Everyone is so worried about you! People are starting to think you're dead now!" Noelle's voice carries through the air easily. He finds himself nodding along in agreement. It really isn't nice to just vanish without telling anyone.
A hand falls on his shoulder, and he can't stop himself from jumping. Turning around, it's none other than Kris. They aren't quite smiling, but there's the faintest suggestion of one hiding on their face. A faint heat rises in his cheeks, and he turns back to the kettle before they might see. "Kris, you startled me! You're lucky I wasn't holding a kettle full of hot tea when you did that." He tries to put on his best scolding voice, but it doesn't sound entirely genuine.
"The tea is taking a while."
Ralsei is tempted to inform Kris that it's barely been five minutes, but he refrains. Kris probably just wanted to get away from the awkwardness in the other room. "As much as I enjoy having company, I can't imagine how... much people must be worried about her." He has to stop himself from using the word 'selfish.' It would be unfair to say something so harsh when there's so many details he doesn't know yet. That is, if Susie will ever feel inclined to share them. Kris has offered to tell him, but he wants to hear it from her directly.
"If she goes back now, she'll have a hard time getting away to visit again." There's a hint of something in their voice that Ralsei can't quite identify, something between a sadness and a darkness.
The kettle lets out a sharp whine. Kris lets their hand fall off his shoulder. Ralsei tries not to look disappointed.
He hmm's thoughtfully. "Well, it's Susie's choice to make. Help me bring the mugs?"
By the time tea is served, Noelle seems much less tense, and by the time it's all been drank and chatted over, she actually seems to be relaxed. She even laughs at some of Susie's stories about Lancer.
She had been kind enough to pack both food and creature comforts, most of which have been removed from the pack and now sit on the table. The now empty backpack she had been wearing rests in her lap, arms wrapped around it protectively.
"Is anyone else hungry?" Susie eyes the box of macaroni on the table, looking like she's close to drooling. "No offense to Ralsei, his cooking is seriously amazing, but I could really go for some good old mac 'n' cheese right now."
Everyone agrees enthusiastically: Susie eager for some comfort food from her world, Ralsei excited to try something new, and Noelle is pleased to make Susie smile. Even Kris looks livelier than usual as the group shuffles into the kitchen.
Ralsei gets a pot of water boiling per Noelle's instruction, turning the box over in his paws as if it's a rare, valuable treasure. It's from the world of light, and that makes it special. Susie is leaning against the counter, cracking jokes with Kris as they climb to sit on it. Noelle stands in front of the stove, trying to pretend not to be sneaking glances at Susie and failing miserably.
Pretending to still be engrossed in the box, he sneaks a glance of his own at Kris. They meet his gaze and pointedly look at Noelle, as if to say, "Can you believe how obvious she is?"
For someone so reserved, Kris is eerily aware of other people's' feelings. Ralsei had heard Kris teasing Susie about Noelle having a crush on her, but until now, he had dismissed the claim as plain teasing.
They turn their attention back to Susie before she catches on, and she must have just said something outrageously funny, because they're actually smiling for once. The sight makes his chest feel tight, and he hurriedly lowers his eyes before they realize he's still staring at them.
"Um, R-Ralsei, I kind of need that box now. For the macaroni." Noelle is reaching for the box in his paws.
"Right, of course." He gives Noelle a smile as she pulls the box out of his grasp. "Sorry, I guess I zoned out a little."
Susie laughs at him good-naturedly. "You were really into that box, dude. Like, for a second I thought you were gonna ask it on a date or something."
"I just thought it was interesting, because it came from your world." His face heats, but so does Noelle's, so at least he isn't alone.
"I'm still trying to reconcile this whole 'other world inside our school' thing," Noelle says as she dumps the contents of the box into the pot, thankfully changing the subject. "I thought Kris was just playing a prank on me to be mean."
"Kris isn't mean!" Ralsei blurts out. Kris looks at him again and he can feel his face turning red, but before he can continue embarrassing himself, Susie (probably unintentionally) rescues him.
"Yeah, I'm the mean one," she brags, pointing to herself with her thumb and giving a fierce grin.
"Um, well, I guess you don't know them very well, but..."
Susie picks up where Noelle off. "They picked on you a lot when you guys were kids, didn't they?"
Ralsei can't believe he's hearing this, but Kris just barley raises their shoulders in their version of a shrug. "Yeah."
Kris doesn't apologize or elaborate, Susie frowns thoughtfully. The atmosphere is threatening to sour. Luckily, Noelle announces the food is ready before there's much time to dwell on unpleasant memories.
Well, for everyone else, at least. The food ("Mac' 'n' cheese," they call it) is very good, and Ralsei tries to savor every bite ( Kris gets to eat things like this everyday!) but his mind keeps going back to what Susie said in the kitchen.
Did Kris really used to have a mean streak? Or at least, were they the type to play pranks on people that could come across as mean spirited? He's only known Noelle for one afternoon so far, and she's very sweet - not the kind of person to play harsh pranks on.
"God, that was so good," Susie says, looking like she's barely holding back from licking the plate. Naturally, she was the first to finish eating. Ralsei has suspected for a while now that she wasn't getting enough to eat before coming to live in the dark world.
"I'm, um, glad you liked it," Noelle says quietly.
Kris looks up from their food. "You know Susie-"
"Stop it, Kris. You know I'm not going back there." She leans back, puts her hands behind her head and stretches.
Noelle perks up. "W-well, I can always bring more." She looks like she wants to say more, but wisely doesn't.
Ralsei offers Susie a smile. "I can probably learn how to make this, Susie. It won't be as good as the real thing, but it'll be fun!"
"There's something about the cheapness of the boxed stuff that makes it better, but yeah, we'll have to try making some of our own."
Kris pipes up. "You mean you'll lick the mixing bowls while Ralsei cooks." They say it with a slight smile, which are so few and far between it takes Ralsei off guard.
"Hey! I can actually make bread now without completely ruining it. All by myself!"
"You didn't ruin it, Susie. It was just a little," Ralsei pauses, looking for the kindest way to say burnt, "um, overcooked, is all."
"You mean burned, dude."
Noelle smiles awkwardly, probably feeling left out. Before he can take pity on her, Kris stands up abruptly.
"If we don't start heading home now, I'm gonna get in trouble."
Noelle's smile quickly dissolves. "Oh. Does it take a long time to go back?"
"Kinda," Susie says with a slight frown.
Noelle rises somewhat reluctantly. "Well, I don't want to worry my father…"
Standing with her, Ralsei begins gathering up dishes. "Of course! You can come back and visit us any time. Thank you for the food, Noelle," he beams.
"So you weren't lying for once." Noelle is still struggling to keep up with Kris and take in her surroundings at the same time, but from what she can see, the Dark World is very lovely in its own way. Purple grass! That was definitely something she hasn't seen before.
Kris leads her past what was apparently a bake sale just a few weeks ago. Why the booths are still left is anyone's guess. Next time she visits, she's going to have to look around a lot more.
"Sometimes the truth is more interesting." Kris strides forward, thoroughly uninterested in the scenery.
"That's one way of putting it. Well, thank you for showing me anyway."
Kris doesn't respond, and the rest of their journey is silent. It is indeed a long walk, and near the end they even pass through another castle. It's in much better condition than the one Susie is living in. There's even staff.
(What a strange thing - Susie living in a castle.)
There's a young monster named Lancer living there who claims to be in charge, and brief introductions are made before Kris insists on pressing on.
"Is that kid really in charge of that castle?" She asks after they're out of earshot.
"It's a long story, but yeah. He put his dad in jail after he tried to kill the four of us."
"What?"
"This is the way out," they say, stopping at some sort of - fountain? Inactive geyser? She's not sure.
Before she can ask about the supposed murder attempt, Kris steps forward into whatever it is, and vanishes. With a gasp, she steps into where their shadow had just been.