Ralsei found this to be completely unexpected.

He made his confusion as plainly known as he could. "S—Susie?! Wh—What on earth are you—?!"

Susie didn't even look back, continuing her mad dash. "Shut it! I'll tell ya later," She barked, with a bit of odd intent in her eye.

The dark prince couldn't parse why exactly Susie was physically dragging him by the hand, but he felt it was important. Important enough to warrant her taking any and all choice Kris may have had out of the equation.

He was secretly hoping Kris would choose to go with him, but now that option was beyond saving.

"Um, you don't have to, um, drag me. I can walk!" Already his cloak was getting a little filthier than he was comfortable with. Clearly, this dank alleyway wasn't included in whatever public service upkeep the city had.

Susie came to a corner and slowed, skidding to a halt, still maintaining her iron-fisted grip around Ralsei's palm. She turned back, scanning the way they came. "Right. Don't think Kris is comin' after us. That's good."

"Um. You're still, um, m—my hand…"

Ralsei thought she might've blushed a tad, but it was hard to tell in the faint lighting. "Oh. Uh, sorry… Forgaddabout that." She let go, and the prince felt his hand cry a sigh of relief.

There was a moment of awkward staring. The shady fluorescent light adjacent to them flickered as if to imply something.

"...Hmph." Susie puffed from her nostrils, adopting a chilled lean against the wall, crossing her arms. She wove her gaze through a window of hair, and into Ralsei's eyes.

Her sight narrowed. "You're wonderin' why I brought you out 'ere."

Ralsei stood himself up, presenting himself as best he could. He knew there was no hiding his reluctant drive for answers. "...Yes. I suppose that was fairly obvious…"

"Go ahead and guess. You're smart."

His heart glowed at the compliment. He really loved receiving those, and it meant even more coming from someone like her. Susie really was becoming a true—

Susie widened her eyes at him, lowering her gaze. "...Well?! You gonna just stare at me all goo-goo eyed or what?! Guess!"

"Ah! I—I'm terribly sorry, um… let me think for a moment... ehm?"

Ralsei hadn't the faintest idea what Susie could want with him, and him alone. What did he have to offer, exactly? He was knowledgeable, but he had already figured Susie took little interest in things like Darkner Lore of Old or the hidden depth of sewing. He was proficient in magic, but so was she (A reminder to himself: give her praise and encouragement whenever she cast one of her deadly buster waves. They were quite impressive!).

"You… wanted to show me your secret rubber ducky stash?"

She replied immediately, as though she already had a response in mind. "Wrong, dumbass! I don't even have that! Although it would be kinda sick if I did , huh… Wait a sec, you're throwin' me off!"

It was at that moment Ralsei began to regret guessing wrong, as Susie clenched her claws around his shoulder, picking him up and throttling him slightly. There was a look of desperation and anticipation in her eyes, her toothy maw adorning a rabid grin. "RALS! I need you to teach me healing magic. Like, dude, literally erasing wounds from thin air , like, WHAT?! You gotta teach me!"

Phew, that was a relief. For a moment he thought she was going to ask him for something a bit more… extreme. "Oh! Of course I can, um, teach you. If you would just… put me down…?"

It was an interesting feeling, being held like this. He felt really small, yet also… oddly comfortable? Like the way an owner would hold their pet. If he were being honest with himself, it should feel demeaning.

He shook his head internally. It was much better when Kris held him.

...Right?

The way Susie dropped him was rough enough to interrupt his train of thought.

She turned her back to him, thrusting her arms into the pockets of her long-tailed jacket. "I'm trusting you on this, Rals. You better teach me the best healing magic ever , 'cause if you don't, I'll, uh… do somethin' . Don't think either of us wants that, right?"

"N—No, not at all! As long as something doesn't entail… bad things."

"Let's not find out, arright?"

"Okay…?"

"Yeah."

…

"So what the hell do I do?"