Kris awoke on a bed of flowers deep underneath the world where birds sang sweet songs and the sunlight shone onto the blossoming gardens.

For a minute, they almost thought their mother was going to come into their room, sweep aside the curtains, and demand that they get out of bed or else they'd be late for school. Instead, they heard the peaceful silence of a faraway world that knew no light, and saw the resounding darkness of an empty castle that understood only one warmth.

Ralsei.

Kris got up and stretched, their thoughts preoccupied by only one person. Even though they had only just woken up, their heart was beating rapidly, and they felt oddly queasy. A longing rushed through their veins and pushed their legs to begin looking through the castle for the person they wanted to see.

It didn't take them long to catch the sound of that familiar lullaby.

They began to walk towards the direction that the sound came from, hoping they would stumble upon Ralsei's room by trial and error. The beautiful voice took them up a flight of stairs and down a long, winding hallway before they arrived in front of a purple door marked by a curious symbol. Kris couldn't quite identify what the symbol was, but they had a feeling that they'd seen it before. The curved triangular shape and the two wings looked rather familiar.

By this time, the singing had stopped. Kris paused, wondering if Ralsei would get annoyed at them if they knocked on his door. Something lurched in their stomach, an all-too-unpleasant feeling.

Why did they suddenly care about being a bother to Ralsei? They had never thought so much about whether or not they would cause someone trouble before.

"Kris?" the voice from behind the door spoke.

Instantly, Kris's heart jumped into overdrive. Just the sound of Ralsei's voice made the entire world clear and bright again. "Ralsei? Sorry, I didn't mean to come to your room. I just heard you singing, and it was really beautiful, so I felt like I should..."

The door opened. A green-robed wizard stared up at Kris, eyes glittering with the purest appreciation. "You like my song, Kris?"

"Of course I do!" Kris wanted to reach out and give Ralsei the tightest hug he'd ever received, only barely restraining themselves.

"Thank you so much. You're too kind, Kris."

Kris smiled, almost disbelieving their ears. Ralsei thought they were the kind one?

"I really do like it. Your voice is gorgeous, and that was a really pretty tune."

"Awww...I don't know what to say, Kris..."

The blushing look that came over Ralsei's permanently shadowed face could've made Kris's heart stop. Stop with happiness, that is. If they died right now from looking into Ralsei's sun-bright smile, they would have no regrets.

"What's the name of that song?" Kris asked.

Ralsei hesitated before answering. "I don't really know. I've known how to sing it since I was very young, and I can put my magic into the tune to pacify people who hear it."

"Well, it sure was good at putting Susie to sleep."

"That was definitely due to my magic!"

"Did you use magic when you were singing last night? It helped me sleep." Kris made a goofy smile. Actually, with how happy they were feeling, they were sure they looked goofy regardless of their expression.

"Oh, you heard me singing last night?"

Another embarrassed blush. Kris's give-Ralsei-a-hug-o-meter was almost certainly about to reach its limit.

"Sorry," Kris said, scratching their head. "The sound carries well through this castle, especially to the garden."

"No, it's nothing to be sorry about!" Ralsei's smile returned, and they stepped forward, getting unbearably close to Kris. "Ummm, do you want to come in to my room?"

"Sure. Thanks!"

Ralsei's room could've made an additional floor to the library in Kris's hometown. It was filled to capacity with bookshelves that were in turn overflowing with books. The books ranged from novels to fables to biographies to textbooks. Kris never knew Ralsei was such an avid reader. They weren't such a keen reader themselves, having little fondness for the boring books their teachers made them read at school. But they liked the stories their mother used to read to them and Asriel at night. Fun, magical stories of adventures in faraway lands with whimsical characters, thick intrigue, and awe-inspiring feats of bravery. Each time their mother told them one of those stories, they would listen with wide-eyed interest, complaining vehemently when it came time to go to bed.

Those nights became replaced by gaming sessions with Asriel as they grew up.

"Wow. Your room is a library."

"Do you like it?" Ralsei asked.

Kris couldn't say no to those eyes, ever. "I love it! I didn't know you enjoyed reading so much."

"Thank you! I try to read whatever I can, whenever I have the time." Ralsei's voice grew high-pitched, and it was unbelievably adorable. "I love seeing piles of unopened books, waiting to be read. The smell of their ink. The feeling of their pages in my hands."

"That sounds wonderful."

Ralsei also sounded a lot like their mother. Coincidentally, their mother was also a goat.

Kris's face grew red as they made the connection between Ralsei and Toriel. They spun away to hide their face, masking the suddenness of their movement by walking towards one of the books that lay on the floor. They picked it up, opened to the first page, and was surprised to find that the entire book had been written by hand with ink. The title of the book was "The Tale of Mt. Ebott".

"Where did you get all these books?" Kris asked.

"The writers' guild in town sells them," Ralsei replied. He walked towards Kris and examined the book they held. "Are you interested in reading that one?"

"Maybe. What else do you do besides reading, anyway?"

Ralsei looked surprised. "Well, umm, since I'm by myself in this castle most of the time, there's nothing for me to do but read. But now that you're here, we might be able to find other things to do!"

Kris couldn't keep their give-Ralsei-a-hug-o-meter from bursting any longer.

"We can do whatever you like," Kris said with their friendliest grin plastered on their face.

"How about I show you some of my games?"

Kris was almost about to ask 'you have games in this world?' when they realized that no, of course Ralsei didn't have any video games. They were pretty sure this world didn't use electricity yet. But if they were to ever bring Ralsei over to their house in the Light World, they'd introduce Ralsei to Super Smash Fighters.

What could they say? Super Smash Fighters was their favourite fighting game. It sparked that competitive spirit in them, and neither they nor Asriel would quit until they'd won the last match. They'd play late into the night until their mother stomped into their room, unplugged the cable, and ordered them to their beds.

Kris felt heart-wrenching nostalgia as they thought about the days they'd spent playing Super Smash Fighters with Asriel. Each of them had their favourite characters: Asriel liked Yisho, the green dinosaur that could throw eggs, while Kris favoured Pigglyjuff, the small pink ball with a fearsome reputation. They wondered which character would Ralsei like the most?

"Kris? Would you like to play some board games?"

Snapping back to the present, Kris turned towards Ralsei and noticed he was standing near a shelf at the back of the room filled with familiar board game sets. At a glance, they saw checkers, chess, snakes and ladders, and a few that they didn't recognize. They weren't the best at strategy games, though.

"Do you have cards?" Kris asked.

"Cards?" Ralsei's eyes widened with astonishment, but his shock quickly changed into mild amusement. "I'm sorry, Kris. But if I'd known that you liked cards, I would have gotten a set during our journey east!"

"They don't have cards in this town?"

Ralsei shook his head, his smile returning. "Everyone here loves games, but we're split between card games and board games. The people in the east around Card Castle love, well, card games. Once you go west of checkerboard castle, everyone loves board games. And, I guess you know where we are..."

"So you only have board games here?" Kris asked, a little disappointed.

"Do you...do you not like board games?"

The sad, pleading look in Ralsei's eyes gave Kris feelings they didn't know they were capable of experiencing. They hadn't realized it before, but now they understood that it was possible to die by cuteness.

"I love board games!" Kris lied, rushing across the room to get a better look at Ralsei's selection of board games and accidentally knocking over a few books in the process. "What's your favourite one?"

"I like all of them, but if I were to pick a favourite, it'd probably be Go."

"I've never heard of that one. What's Go?"

"Oh, it's okay. I'll teach you!"

Ralsei took from his shelf a large wooden board painted with a grid containing far too many squares, and two beige porcelain pots that Kris discovered was full of flat, circular stones. One pot held only black stones, while the other pot had all white stones.

"Go is simple," Ralsei began, his voice dripping with excitement. "We each take turns placing stones at the line intersections on the board–"

"At the line intersections? Not inside the squares?"

Ralsei shook his head. "It's different from chess and checkers in that aspect. But don't worry, Kris! Once you've played a couple of games, you'll get used to it."

"What's the goal of the game?"

"The goal is to capture the most territory with your stones. Each line intersection counts as one point of territory. That means every intersection you've surrounded with your stones will award you a point at the end of the game. Mind if I demonstrate?"

"Sure."

With a cheerful smile and a slight pink blush, Ralsei took out four black stones and placed them in the four cardinal directions – top, down, left, and right – around a single intersection. "See this intersection? It's surrounded by four black stones, so it gives one point for black." Ralsei then placed a white stone at another intersection and surrounded it on all four directions again with a black stone. "When black fully surrounds one of white's stones like this, the white stone is removed from the board. It's the same with the colours swapped, too." Ralsei picked up the white stone and placed it inside the lid of the porcelain jar filled with black stones. "Simple, right?"

"Oh, I get it," Kris said. "Basically, I just want to keep encircling your stones so I can take them off the board. At the end, whoever has captured the most space wins."

Something sparkled in Ralsei's eyes. "Right! You got it, Kris. There's a few more rules for tricky situations, but we can talk about those as we start playing."

"Sure. Should I go first, or should you?"

"Since it's your first time playing, why don't you go first?" Ralsei passed Kris the pot of black stones. "Black puts the first stone on the board."

Kris put their stone on the intersection at the centre of the board. Ralsei put his white stone beside it. With a triumphant smile, Kris played their next stone around Ralsei's to begin the encirclement.

...They quickly realized that surrounding Ralsei's stones was much, much more difficult than they'd presumed. Every time they thought they could capture one of Ralsei's stones, Ralsei would place another stone beside it, extending the area covered by the two stones and increasing the number of spaces they'd need to place their black stones on to fully surround both stones. Ralsei played cleverly, putting his white stones on the board in shapes that trapped Kris's black stones, preventing them from escaping no matter which direction Kris tried to extend them. In no time at all, the board turned into an utter geometrical nightmare, spirals and spirals of stones encircling each other, with Ralsei always one move ahead.

"This is impossible," Kris whined. "How am I supposed to get out of this situation?"

Ralsei smiled sympathetically. "You could always try playing your next stone on another corner of the board."

Kris attempted to do so, kicking off another round of stones encircling stones until a second pattern emerged on the board. Once again, Kris found their black stones walking into traps laid out by Ralsei's white stones. However, they were able to get out this time by encircling one of Ralsei's white stones first.

"Yes!" Kris cried, finally placing a captured white stone in the lid of their jar.

"I'm glad you saw through my trick," Ralsei replied, his eyes glittering. "I'm so proud of you!"

Kris was at a loss for words.

Ralsei was congratulating them for escaping a trap that he'd laid out. His kindness knew no bounds.

"Thank you," Kris said at last. "You're pretty good at this game, Ralsei."

"Thanks, Kris! Let's keep playing."

As the game continued, the different patterns that had emerged on the four corners of the board began to converge upon one another. Kris's mind spun as they realized that the board was a living canvas painted by their stones. Hundreds of stones fought for territory, fought to link up with each other, fought to cut the other stones off. It was a dynamic battle, a fierce tide that ebbed and flowed, groups waxing and waning. Every move mattered. Every stone placed on the board changed the fate of one group while sealing the fate of another.

The lids of their jars piled up with the stones they had captured, white in Kris's and black in Ralsei's.

Eventually, the shifting patterns on the board settled into concrete, impermeable formations. Only a few spaces were left for the taking. Their last stones were spent on encircling these spaces, sealing up the corners of the board, and capturing the remaining stones left stranded.

When it became clear that neither of them had any more plausible moves, they began counting the spaces each had encircled.

Ralsei came out with more than double Kris's score.

"I'm really sorry, Kris," Ralsei said, his blush growing deep red. "I should've gone easy on you, since it was your first time playing."

"No, it's all right! I had fun playing," Kris insisted, trying to restrain their urge to pinch Ralsei's reddening cheeks.

"Really? Kris, you're too nice!"

Kris was startled when Ralsei reached forward and pulled them into a hug. They held their breath as they felt the whole world fading away.

Ralsei's arms were warm, soft. The scent of his fur was beyond lovely. His fluffy cheeks nudged against Kris's, silky fur caressing their skin, gently tickling their face.

Kris's head grew faint. Slowly, they raised their arms to return the hug.

Oh, the fluffiness.

The soft, delicate feeling of Ralsei's tender body...

His warmth...

His gentle, mushy touch...

Kris pressed their face against Ralsei's, unable to bear the distance any longer. He smelled so good. His fur felt like the comfiest pillow they had ever laid their head against. Kris closed their eyes, realizing nothing else in the world could ever compare to this feeling. This was all they needed.

Being in Ralsei's arms was the only paradise they would ever long for.

"Kris?" Ralsei whispered, finally pulling away a little. Kris dreaded the distance, but they gave Ralsei his space.

"Yeah?" Kris replied.

"Thanks for being such a good friend. The truth is, before you, nobody ever played Go with me. I played all my board games with myself. I'm always the only person in this castle, you know? It gets kind of...lonely, sometimes."

Kris felt their heart being torn apart. Tears welled up in their eyes.

"I know, I could just go around town and play with the chess guild, the Go clubs, the snakes and ladders parlour...but, when I did that, it didn't feel the same. It didn't feel the same as playing with you."

Ralsei's eyes glittered.

"When I taught the game to you, and you listened, when I played with you and watched you learn – it made me – you really made me happy today, Kris."

Before Kris could stop themselves, they threw their arms around Ralsei, pulling him into the tightest hug they had ever given.

"I'll be your friend," Kris said, blinking the wetness out of their eyes. "I like spending time with you, Ralsei. I think you're a really cool person."

"Kris...do you mean it?"

"Of course I do."

Kris pulled Ralsei deeper into their arms.

So, so fluffy.

Ralsei nuzzled up against Kris's cheek, his warmth and softness seeping into Kris's skin and making its way deep, deep down into their heart.

Kris wished that they would never let go.

"Thank you, Kris," Ralsei whispered.

"No problem. This is what friends do, right?"

Before they hugged Ralsei for too long, they willed themselves to pull away. They had to before it got too awkward, even if Ralsei wouldn't have minded it.

Best to keep things slow while they were still learning about each others' lives.

"Ralsei, what other games do you have?" Kris asked.

"Actually, I'm feeling a little tired," Ralsei replied, smiling and blushing characteristically. "Kris, do you mind if I read a book instead?"

"Not at all! Let's read a book together."

"Okay!"

Kris watched with curiosity as Ralsei walked towards the book they had picked up earlier and brought it over to them. They sat down in two wooden rocking chairs and snuggled up close beside each other.

"I'll read you 'The Tale of Mt. Ebott'," Ralsei said, beaming with excitement. "It's one of my favourite stories."

"What's it about?"

"It imagines a world where humans and monsters live apart from each other, after a terrible war tore them apart."

Humans and monsters living apart? Kris couldn't imagine such a world.

They barely knew any humans. Monsters had been their family, their teachers, and their friends all throughout their life.

"At the start of the story, a human child wanders up the legendary Mount Ebott, where the monsters were rumoured to have been imprisoned. The story begins when they fall down a hole deep into the mountain."

"Oooh, what happens next?" Kris asked, leaning closer.

The warm smile that came over Ralsei's face was all the encouragement Kris needed to begin reading.

Ralsei flipped to the first page. "The tale begins when the child meets a flower..."