Slowly traversing through the acid river on their swan boat, and knowing well that he and Kris will be here for a bit, Ralsei softly taps once on his shoulder, to spark up some talk.

"Kris…hey, Kris."

Like always, Kris responded with nothing. An emotionless statue, really. But that didn't bother Ralsei that much. Never did. Frankly, for him, he almost kind of liked that about them.

However; underneath the long hair that obscured most of Kris' face, they'd dart their concealed eyes over to their right. They felt their forehead scrunch up just a little, as they raised one eyebrow with the other going down. For the only parts of themselves that they can control on their own, they weren't exactly happy with them.

"...Is it s-strange to say…" Ralsei stumbled with his words. "I-It's nice spending time alone with you like this…?".

Before Kris could even react with the only part of their face they could even control, they felt the feeling they dreaded everytime it crawled up on them; Kris' brain felt like it sort of split into two. Split into two options, specifically.

[I feel It's strange]

[the same ]

Kris always thought of Ralsei as a little friend from the Dark World, and when in battle, just a strong and helpful ally. A 'little friend from the Dark World', because, as nice as he was, Kris just thought of him as a really big goody-two-shoes. A bit too nice. This made him not really like him as much as he probably could have. He didn't like Ralsei as much as he liked Susie, and he thought he wasn't really as nice as Noelle. To put it short; Kris didn't really like Ralsei that much.

But, whatever was controlling Kris?

"I feel the same."

They had…differing opinions.

Ralsei went silent, with his blushing face being the only thing speaking.

"I'm happy hearing you say that, Kris…"

The words after that were drowned out by Kris' thoughts. Being puppeted by an unseen force and being forced to do things he didn't want to was one thing, but being seemingly forced into some…relationship? With someone that looked like his brother? At this point, he could only hope that Ralsei somehow realized that this isn't him. That these aren't his actions. That he could somehow tell that he's being forced under control. But with what signs? His empty and his sometimes seething looking expressions? That'd just look like his usual self to Ralsei and everyone else, with or without being under control.

As Ralsei's words became louder and louder to Kris, his thoughts of trying to bypass all of this grew quieter and smaller. There was really no way out of this. He'd just have to stand there and watch it all.

"...And of course, Kris. It's nice that…you're you."

Kris felt a stab of umbrage go through him. Did he know? Did he know and was just going to tease him about it? No. He didn't. He wouldn't. But, that's a thought that crossed Kris' mind for some brief seconds.

A second after, Kris felt that dreadful, mind splitting feeling yet again.

[It's nice ]

[that Ralsei …]

[is Ralsei ]

"It's nice that Ralsei is Ralsei."

Ralsei's face mildly jumps in surprisement, with his cheeks blushing again. "H…Huh?" he spat out confused. "...No one's…No one's ever said that to me before."

Even though the thoughts and feelings of this mysterious force puppeting his every action clouded his mind, the pint of sadness he felt after hearing Ralsei say that was very much there.

Ralsei stuttered a bit before picking his talking back up again.

"I-I mean, e-everything's a first for me, but…" he said nervously; his heart was pounding a little, with more blushing on his face.

"...Hearing it from you, um…It…it means a lot. Haha."