Deflection
"Oh, don't give me that look, Kris."
Kris only tilted their head, not saying anything. They haven't said anything for the past four minutes, and yet Susie was still wearing a scowl like Kris had just mentioned how much she sucked for the hundredth time in a row. If it wasn't for the girl's paranoia, they would've been walking in silence for about as long. Susie adjusted the boy on his back, half-consciously checking to make sure he wouldn't fall off. He certainly wasn't going to balance himself out any time soon.
It happened around five minutes ago. Today, the Knight had decided to unleash another Dark Fountain (not unlike the two previous days), and Kris, Ralsei, and Susie had begun their trek to the newest cataclysm like it was a recently opened tourist attraction. The three of them had been going through the usually adventurous motions, falling into that pattern of heroism that had so recently pervaded each of their lives. Solving puzzles, flirting with would-be murderers, and maybe learning more about this "friendship" thing that was so alien to Susie. That was her favorite part, though she'd sooner throw something at her father than admit as much.
Part of the necessary evils of traveling to foreign lands would be encountering the usual slew of colorful characters, and (in keeping with the theme of the glowing caverns the group of heroes were delving into), their main obstacle was the occasional group of Georrfes (or, as Susie would prefer to call them, "really fricken' weird rock things with googly eyes"). Kris had figured out how to defuse the encounters with them easily enough; just throw rocks at them. Apparently, the Georrfes considered it some sort of game. Susie wasn't one to turn down a rock-chucking contest, so her usual apprehensions about ACTing were left at home.
That was, until one of the Georrfes started throwing rocks back.
What had initially started as a convenient way to unwind had turned into dodgeball to the death, and the three heroes scrambled madly at the cascade of boulders excitedly being hurled back at them. Those googly eyes apparently weren't good for accuracy, but the Georrfe had made up for it in sheer volume. Panicking, Kris had chucked another handful of pebbles and debris, hoping to calm down the combatant. The rocks only deflected off of the Georrfe's stony hide straight back at Kris, seemingly gaining momentum in the process despite what physics usually dictated.
In a similar panic, Susie fell back on her usual violent tendencies, and had swung her ax in some vague attempt to scare off the shower of stone. The hit connected, but no damage was done. At least, not to the Georffe; Susie instead felt a sharp sting in her sternum, like she had hit herself. It was far from worrying or lethal, but the unexpected shock of pain did little to quell Susie's frustrations.
Then, Ralsei panicked himself, rushing out a spell as fast as his hands would allow. The deluge of debris was tuckering the Georrfe out, like a child soon slamming into the wall of exhaustion that extended play-time usually gave them. Pacifying seemed to be a given to Ralsei. Yellow magic coalesced in the prince's palm, and he raised his hand towards the Georrfe, nearly shouting his Pacify prayer. The stone of the Georrfe flashed white, and a second later, Ralsei realized the difference between yellow and white. In the next second, Ralsei's eyes rolled up in his head, and he crumpled to the ground, sound asleep.
Worried, Susie shot her gaze to Ralsei, not expecting him to fall to the earth so suddenly. Her gaze whipped back to the Georrfe, a protective fury burning in her eyes. She narrowly avoided another rock before reaching to the ground, hefting a sizable chunk of concrete a little bigger than a football in her brutish grasp. With a grunt of exertion, she launched the stone squarely towards the Georrfe's eye, hitting her mark with pinpoint accuracy. The Georrfe recoiled, abruptly halting its lethal playfulness in an obvious show of pain. Susie didn't care too much.
The Georrfe left soon after, slinking away into one of the many tunnels dotting the landscape. A swear was tossed after it, though Susie didn't know if she was heard or not. Kris placed their gauntlets on their knees, finally having a moment to catch their breath from the rush of rocks. Their eyes stayed over Susie's imposing form, then moved to Ralsei's lax pose on the ground. His eyes were shut, a placid expression keeping his features soft. Susie moved her visage similarly, looking over the boy. A few gentle snores fell from his mouth. If it wasn't for the recent adrenaline, the sight might've been funny to Susie. Maybe even… appealing, in a way.
Though, they had somewhere to be. After a couple more moments for Susie to catch her own breath, she strode towards the sleeping monster, tilting her head. Then she looked back to Kris.
"Uh…" she started, unsure. He looked so at peace. "Did… you wanna wake him? Or should I, or…"
Kris only shrugged, not having dealt with this before. Who knew how that Pacify spell worked? Curious, the human took some steps towards Ralsei, gently prodding his midriff with their boot. Ralsei didn't react in the slightest.
Susie grunted, unamused. "Well, you gotta do more than that," she chastised. A brief hesitation passed over her features. Kris could see the slightest glimpse of concern in her eyes; then, her expression hardened like stone, and she stomped towards Ralsei's form.
"Yo!" she called to Ralsei. Kris winced from the unexpected volume of her husky voice. "Wake up, dude! We gotta go!"
Still Ralsei didn't move or show any signs of hearing her. He snoozed away on the ground like it was the softest thing since… well, himself. Susie's eyebrows furrowed, and she blew one of her more obtrusive bangs of hair out from her eyes. One of her palms lifted itself up to her side, the girl crouching down towards Ralsei's face. She hesitated again. Her hand stayed frozen in the air for some time.
Her face moved back to Kris's expectant features. They rolled their wrist in a "go on" motion, having a vague idea of why Susie was hesitating so much.
Susie's anxious eyes moved back to Ralsei's face, still as soft as the rest of him. He really did seem to be enjoying his untimely nap. Still, they couldn't just have a spontaneous slumber party out in the middle of some glowing caverns (though, the prospect of a slumber party was almost enough for Susie to overlook the unorthodox location of the event). Steeling herself, Susie brought her hand down on Ralsei's cheek, then slowed to a snail's pace for the last inch of distance to just daintily pat him.
As expected, Ralsei stayed sound asleep.
"Hm," Susie hummed, grimacing. Her eyes moved back up to find the thin line of Kris's mouth. They crossed their arms, obviously incredulous that someone as rough as Susie had opted for something so weak.
"S-shut up, dude!" Susie tried arguing back, her face growing warm. "Do you wanna hit him? He's just so…"
Susie searched the rocky outcroppings above for the word. "...fragile."
Though Kris visibly agreed, nodding their head in understanding, they still wanted to pick up their adventurous pace once again. They waited for some time, considering their options. Force-feeding some restorative candy might've done the trick, though that idea seemed even less appealing than just a quick slap on Ralsei's face. They watched Ralsei's sleeping form, then watched Susie's observation of said sleeping form. A troubled grimace brought her eyebrows together closer still, and she groaned to herself.
"This is stupid," Susie muttered. The girl reached towards her spiked armlets, freckles a deeper hue than usual. Kris was silent as each of the pointy decorations slid off of Susie's wrists and biceps. The bands were put into unseen jacket pockets, and Susie shook her head, moving Ralsei's legs out a tad. Another mutter fell from her lips, almost as quiet despite actually having a target. "Give me a hand, here, Kris."
From there, Kris understood Susie's intentions well enough. They enjoyed just the slightest moment of a knowing grin before moving towards Ralsei's arms.
It was an uncomfortable process, but within the minute, Susie hoisted Ralsei onto her back, trying to simultaneously keep a solid grip on his legs and ignore how soft his legs felt, even through his robe. He curled up naturally against Susie's back, laying against her hair like it was a blanket. All Susie had said was a brief "Let's go," before setting off ahead of Kris. Kris caught up soon after.
Susie didn't say a word as they walked, keeping her eyes forward. She could feel enough of Kris's gaze next to her, but didn't want to give them the satisfaction of acknowledgement. Four minutes later, paranoia won out, and she glanced at Kris, who was only smiling.
"Oh, don't give me that look, Kris."
Susie moved her eyes back forwards as Kris tilted their head. Their lips stayed shut in a knowing smile that only made Susie even more self-conscious, which was saying something. Her cheeks were still uncomfortably warm, not unlike the all-too-noticeable warmth pressed into her back.
"Do you wanna carry him?" Susie spat at Kris. Part of her question was genuine, though the process of getting Ralsei up on Susie's back was uncomfortable enough that a pass-off of the Prince wouldn't exactly go smoothly, and the last thing Susie wanted to do was drop him. Kris raised their gauntlets defensively, but their smile hadn't left. If anything, their grin grew. Susie just rolled her eyes and quickened her pace.
Kris matched her pace within seconds. They walked for a while, passing various columns of stone dotted by the occasional distant Georrfe. None of them were within rock-throwing distance, which was fine by Susie. She wasn't really in the mood for throwing things, and Ralsei's cuddly nature was only making her more and more aware of how light he felt to Susie's abnormally defined muscles.
A glint of light attracted Susie's gaze to Kris once again. Their smile had changed, somewhat; it was subtle, but the half of an expression Susie could see seemed to offer more candor than teasing. Kris raised a pointed hand to Ralsei, lowering their head a little. Given the physicality of her cargo, Susie couldn't really turn back to face Ralsei, though had felt him snuggle into her hair a little, adjusting as if to get more comfortable. He might've been sleeping, but the boy's body was so relaxed that Susie figured he must've been comfy already.
Susie just rolled her eyes again. Though, this time, she didn't speed away, despite how persuasive a case her warmed cheeks were presenting. She simply strode in a short silence for some time, thinking about the weight on her back. Kris didn't prod or make any of their esoteric attempts at teasing, giving Susie time with her thoughts. Unconsciously, Susie's arms relaxed a little.
"...hey, Kris?" Susie ventured, almost silent. It was a far departure from her usually gruff and husky voice. The human faced Susie once again, though she didn't follow up with any question for a while. Too many half-coherent insecurities swam around in her head for any one of them to leave her lips. Eventually, one broke the surface, still just as quiet.
"Do you think… Ralsei likes me?"
Not that Susie could see, but Kris's eyebrows raised at the question. Simply imagining the reaction was enough for Susie to sputter out a clarification, her face a little red at the abrupt vulnerability.
"N-not like that, dumbass!" she stuttered, almost yelling. Ralsei shifted around a little, and though Susie's first attempt at waking him up made it seem more like a coincidence, she winced all the same. Some seconds passed as she made sure Ralsei was sleeping, and hearing his gentle snores continue, she turned back to Kris's questioning gaze (or the shadowed equivalent of it). "I-I just mean, like… I dunno, like does he… do you think he just kinda… maybe likes being friends? With me?"
There was no point in trying to hide the hopefulness of her expression, but that didn't stop Susie from attempting as much. Kris thought over her question for a short while; not for the answer's ambiguity, but rather to discern Susie's intent in asking as much. They couldn't remember the last time Susie sounded so simultaneously hopeful and insecure. Hearing the honesty of her tone wasn't something Kris was against. The past couple of days served well enough as an answer to Susie's question, though they knew enough about Susie to understand where she was coming from.
Confidently, Kris nodded their head, their lips curving up in a genuine smile. Susie studied their expression for some time, as if searching for some doubt or dishonesty and coming up with nothing. A few more paranoid seconds passed, and Susie reflexively straightened her back, looking ahead. Her cheeks were still just a few degrees too hot, but there was no denying the comforted smile hiding in her lackluster poker face.
"Right," she nodded. For a brief moment, she adjusted her grasp, loosening the anxious tightness of her fingers. In turn, Ralsei snuggled up to her again, letting out a sleepy hum in the process and shattering the faux facsimile of a neutral expression on Susie's features. "Cool. I, y'know, figured, I just, uh… thanks, Kris."