"Susie...I'm so glad you're here." Ralsei's voice was hoarse, pulling off of Susie to cough into his arm. His face contorted in pain and he pounded his chest, feeling the agonizing burn in his neck as it spasmed.

"You are?" She felt meek, like if she spoke too harshly he would break. But there was no time for self loathing, because she could sense an ass that had remained insufficiently kicked in the vicinity. "Is Kris here?"

Ralsei nodded and looked at the ground, scooting closer to her once again. "Y-Yes, he's inside. But, I don't know how much you know about...current circumstances...and to be honest I'm not super sure either." He rubbed his wrists anxiously. "He's in the kitchen, but please be careful."

Her eyes narrowed as she walked inside, Ralsei following behind her. "Careful? What's he doing? Did he hurt you?" Ralsei didn't respond.

Her stomach dropped for a moment on entrance to the kitchen, seeing her target laying on his back with his face scraped up and bloodied. "HOLY SHIT!" She jerked herself back suddenly, almost knocking Ralsei over. "Ralsei, what the fuck happened? Is he…?"

Ralsei stumbled back and caught himself, bumping back into the wall. "He is asleep, don't worry. I pacified him, I think? Or, I pacified him, but then he just sort of, um, got up and fell asleep over here."

Susie felt relief wash over her, which was strange because she came here to trounce on his twink ass. "Why did you do that? Did he try to hurt you?"

Ralsei sighed and sat down shakily at the kitchen table. He had gotten some warm water and was slowly nursing it from a glass. "I guess I should say this, before you um, get the wrong idea. Kris didn't try to hurt me, but...he did." He pointed at Kris's body.

Susie bared her teeth and glared down at his sleeping form. "What does that even mean, dude? Quit speaking in riddles and just tell me what's going on." She felt her anger swell to cover up her fear and confusion.

Ralsei walked over to Kris and picked up the sack beside him, looking as if there was a wild animal in it. "Kris's soul...it makes him do things that he wouldn't normally. I'm not exactly sure the nature of it, but it seems to be like a possession of sorts." He coughed into his hand. "But, I do have a theory. It's his soul, and it seems to still be a part of him, so I feel that it may be linked to his subconscious and repressed feelings."

"So you're telling me Kris has a demon messing with him?" It sounded like utter bullshit to her, but she so badly wanted to believe it to be true.

"If it makes it easier to think of it like that, then sure." He winced and held his neck. "Sorry, it just hurts for me to speak at the moment."

"Don't worry about it, man." She sat in the chair next to him, staring at Kris's body. "But, stuff is under control right now, right?" Susie turned to look at the sack Ralsei held tightly.

"Yes, I believe so. He trapped his soul in a jar, then put it in here before he went out. It seems like he really doesn't want this guy out…" He sighed again, placing the bag down onto the table and putting his head into his hands. "I feel so terrible about hurting Kris." Susie raised an eyebrow and looked back at Kris.

"Woah, you did that?" Ralsei nodded shamefully. "Man. That's pretty cool, honestly. I uh...I'm proud of you, Rals. Not because you messed his face up, I mean, but uh, y'know. Not being a doormat to him and fighting back. It sounded better in my head." She put her hands up. "What was he doing to make you slice him up like that? Dude looks like my mom's cutting board." She tried to lighten the mood a little, but Ralsei wasn't having it.

"Well, um, at risk of making future meetings of our team uncomfortable, I'll refer to them as, um…"

"Nega-Kris?"

"No." He looked at her with annoyance, making her cut it out. "That other person, I-I guess they had some very strong feelings about me. And they weren't very happy when they found out I didn't really feel the same way." He looked more nervous as he went on. "They attacked me, and had me pinned to the ground. They looked so tired, and acted almost deliriously." Susie had death in her eyes. "They started to strangle me, but I was able to repel them."

Susie had never been so relieved to hear about someone being choked, feeling a dread she didn't even want to think about being lifted off her mind. "Well, damn. Are you okay?" Ralsei nodded.

"I'll be alright, I just need some tea a-and...maybe I can heal it with magic. It's proved unreliable with non wound-based injuries. But thank you for asking." He gave her a weak smile.

Her eyes drifted down to the floor, leaving the room with a pregnant silence. She repeated it over and over in her head before finally spitting it out. "Hey, Ralsei? Be honest for a second." He looked up. "If you didn't like me, would you be able to tell me to my face?" Ralsei seemed surprised by the question.

"I'm not sure, I haven't really thought about that. I like to believe that everyone deserves redemption, no matter what."

His answer didn't look to satisfy Susie. "Look, what I'm trying to say is like...are we cool? Like, you and me."

Ralsei tilted his head. "Huh? Well, I hate to sound conceited, but I will say I think you are very cool, Susie."

She laughed out her nose and smiled. "You dweeb. I'm asking if you actually like me, or if you are just...ah, forget it. I don't really feel like askin' anymore."

Ralsei looked concerned. "Susie, of course I like you. We're a team, and you're one of my favorite people in the whole world. Everyone has flaws, but...I feel that even your flaws can be pleasant. Some of them, at least. I don't endorse your roughhousing." He put his hand on his hip.

Susie shook her head and chuckled. "Wow, if you hadn't sounded like such a mom that would have been really sweet." She grinned at him.

"Oh, thank you. I thought I needed some work after our first adventure, so I have been practicing my flirting."

Susie's eyes widened and her lips pursed, the suckerpunch of embarassment hitting her like a freight train. "Shut up, I wasn't." She replied, flustered.

"What do you mean? I'm sorry." He held his wrist pensively. Susie realized that he wasn't being sarcastic, and was completely serious. "I thought you were my girlfriend now."

"I...what?!" Susie jumped up to her feet.

"You said I was cute, and um, I think you're cute, too. I thought that meant that…"

"Ralsei, no. That isn't how that works. Jesus Christ, dude." She put her hands in her hair on top of her head, moving them over her eyes with her head leaned back.

"Oh. How does it work, then?" He hid his mouth down by his scarf in preparation to defend against her words.

"You gotta like...I don't know, it's something you gotta establish. I'm pretty sure. They never really do that in movies and tv, they just kinda...do something girlfriend-y." She kept one hand on her head and shrugged with the other.

"What's a movie?"

"Doesn't matter. Point is, uh…" Her cheeks tinted a darker purple against the pink scales. "I guess I understand why dudes in the 1800s and stuff thought a girl's ankle was hot or whatever."

Ralsei looked even more confused.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it, I'm just talkin'." She begged herself inside to just please shut up. "Not that I'm uh...necessarily against the idea."

"About ankles…? How old did you say these men were? Almost two thousand years old?" His eyes shone with wonder. "Your world sounds a bit strange, but so wonderful all the same."

Susie opened her mouth to speak, but her brain couldn't fathom a response. She decided not to make one, and just let him be happy for now. It was always nice to see, she thought. "So, uh, anyway. What are we gonna do with him?" She turned back towards the sleeping human.

"Well, I'd like to keep the soul here so I might learn more about it, and what the issue might be. Could you take him home? He'll need you to use your soul to take you both. I should probably start dressing his wounds first, though." He got down to his knees beside Kris, holding his hands out over his face.

"Sure, but I aint carrying him. I can't stay all night, though. No rush, just keep that in mind. I gotta get home before my dad, and also I'm exhausted." She laid onto the floor away from Kris with a grunt. Nothing but the faint hum of Ralsei's magic was heard through the castle, slowly working his way across Kris's face.

"He's out cold. It must take a lot out of him to tear his own soul out like that. And he looked tired even before that…" He patted Kris's cheek softly with a rag to wipe off the stray blood. "Hey, um, Susie?"

She could already tell what he was gonna ask by the timidity in his voice. "Yeah?"

"Are we boyfriend and girlfriend now, or..do you wanna be?" He fumbled about the question bluntly.

Susie rolled her eyes and sighed, giving a smile up at the ceiling. "Yeah, sure."

Susie's love increased!