Author's note: Okay, I'm back again with another chapter! This one I'm really proud of, combining some emotional elements with some heartwarming stuff.
I cannot thank you all enough for the feedback you've given me on the story. One piece of criticism I've noticed is that the paragraphs are quite long. I've gone ahead and made a few changes, cutting the longer paragraphs in half. Hopefully, this will make the story easier for some of you guys to read.
The plan for this story is that I'm thinking of submitting a new chapter every month. Who knows? You guys might get two chapters in one month if I manage to finish a chapter earlier than expected! That being said, I'm gonna be starting a new job in November, so only time will tell if I will follow through with this plan.
But enough about me, let's get on with the story!
The morning began slow and easy in the Dark World. Despite the lack of a sun, the occupants of the Castle arose from their beds, ready to start the day. They had a lot of work ahead of them and they knew the sooner they got started, the sooner they could get their jobs done. Take for instance, a lone Rudinn Ranger making their way down a stone corridor, yawning as they traverse through the cold walls and long pathways that lie around the castle, carrying a wooden bucket full of water.
They walk along to a nearby metal kettle with a wooden handle and empty the bucket of water into it. A nearby Head Hathy approaches as the Rudinn Ranger places the metal kettle over an open fire. Once they let the metal apparatus go, they step back and watch patiently.
After a few minutes, the kettle begins to steam and whistle. The Head Hathy walks up and takes the device by the handle, placing it on a nearby tray, complete with a small porcelain cup, a small metal teaspoon and two small containers for milk and sugar. Inside the cup was a lone teabag, a single string attached to the holder of tea leaves, eagerly waiting to be brewed. Taking both sides of the tray, the Head Hathy walks out of the room while the Rudinn Ranger follows suit, awaiting more orders from their superiors.
If this whole moment was a scene from a movie, it would more than likely be accompanied by some soft and gentle score as our attention is focused on the Hathy, making its way down multiple corridors and up a few flights of stairs. They walk for a good few minutes, passing other Hathys and Rudinns of various ranks before they finally get to its destination: the throne room. Here, Rouxls Kaard stands at the window, watching over the kingdom, his hands against his back as he stood at attention, not a curve in his back nor a slouch in his posture.
"Thank you Hathy, that'll be-est all for noweth." The duke said, not once turning to face the Hathy. They walked further into the throne room, placing the tray on a nearby table before quickly leaving the room. Once the Hathy was gone, Rouxls took a look back at the tray before walking up to it. He picked up the kettle by the handle, pouring out the boiling water into the cup, the water itself turning from clear to orange before ending on brown, as the tea leaves began to alter the water.
The sound of the boiling liquid leaving the kettle and hitting the smooth porcelain brought a sense of... comfort to the duke. He wasn't entirely sure why, but it just felt rather relaxing to him as he took in the sound of the water trickling into the cup.
Satisfied with the amount of water in the cup, Rouxls set the kettle down and picked up the small container of milk, pouring it into the tea, causing its color to lighten. He then picked up the teaspoon and took a spoon full of sugar, tipping it into the tea and stirring it, making sure every last granule of sugar was dissolved by the contents of the cup.
After a few seconds of stirring, he placed the spoon back onto the tray, his attention focused on his fresh cup of tea. He then took the cup's handle in his finger, making sure the rest of the cup didn't make contact with and burn the rest of his hand, before walking back to the window. He observed more of the view before bringing the cup to his lips and taking a sip. The warm liquid entered his mouth and made a break for his throat as he swallowed.
As the tea hit his stomach, Rouxls felt the caffeine kick in as he began to feel even more wide awake than he did before. He was used to waking up this early, but the extra boost didn't hurt him to obtain. He then shut his eyes, taking in the peace, as he heard footsteps coming into the throne room. He smiled, since he didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
"Good morning Lancer." The duke said to the king as the small pitter patter of feet grew louder. "Good mornin' les-." Lancer's voice began, before a stern clear of the throat reminded him about that little rule Rouxls put down. "Uh... R...Rouxls." he corrected himself. The duke turned around, finally facing the young king.
"Did thoust sleep well during the night? You and me have a lot to discusseth today in terms of your rule over the castleth." he said to the blue and white spade, leaning closer to him while he mentioned the discussion. Lancer's face drooped a little. He really didn't want to have this conversation with the duke, but he knew it was going to end up happening one way or another, whether he liked it or not.
"Yes Lesser Dad. I did sleep well. I hope you did as well." Lancer said, a slight hesitation in his voice. Rouxls stood up right upon hearing the young king's answer. "That's good, and yes-eth, I did sleep well last night as well." Cup of tea still in hand, Rouxls Kaard made his way to the door. He paused and signalled for Lancer to follow him, the young king quickly scampering across the throne room to meet the duke.
The two walked side by side, passing various Rudinns and Hathys as Rouxls took out a list and began reading them to him.
"Okay young sire, the first thing I need to bringeth up is the Rudinns and the Hathys. There are different types around the Dark World. Only the Rudinns in red and the Hathys in blue are working for you as servants. They will not be able to help outside of these castle walls. If you're in the forest, look out for those in greeneth. Those guys know the forest a lot better than the ones in the castle." The duke explained.
A few Hathys and Rudinns walking past greeted them both with the usual "Good morning sire." or "Good morning duke" as they traversed down the corridor, Lancer watching his lesser dad as he continued through the list of points.
"I've had a talk with the fellow kings in the dungeon and they would like to splitest the kingdom between them. You will still have the castle and your servants, but there will be certain areas that your troops will be needest to be disarmed of weapons before proceeding. The last thing we'd want is another war between kingdoms."
Lancer smiled. "Oh! That'll be cool! I like the other kings! Me and them talk all the time about stuff!" he said excitedly, prompting a small smile from Rouxls. "Oh!" Rouxls suddenly exclaimed as if having just remembered something important. "Before I forgeteth, in about... 2 months from now, there will be a queen visiting the kingdom for a few days. You'll be able to learn a lot about ruling from her and I think you both will get along splendidly." he added with a smile.
The two continued to walk. Eventually, the two walked into the kitchen. A few Rudinns and Hathys were working hard, preparing meals and the like. Once they saw the king entered, they all stood at attention, only relaxing and getting back to work with Rouxls giving an "At ease." to them all, before continuing to Lancer, pointing towards a back door.
"That door over there is for the greenhouse. That will need to be watered at least twice a day to make sure the fruit in there stays fresh. The Hathys will take care of that for you, but there will be times you'll need to come down here and do so yourself." Rouxls walked towards the door, taking out a key. Lancer stood back before a question came to his mind.
"Hey Rouxls... what are we gonna do about Jevil in the basement?"
Almost immediately, the kitchen went quiet. All activities paused at the name and Lancer took a look around. The kitchen staff looked at him horrified, as if the mention of the name was a profanity uttered by the sire. It got so quiet, you'd be able to hear a pin drop in the next room. Rouxls was even frozen, facing the greenhouse door, the key in his hand. After a few seconds of tense silence, Rouxls slowly turned his head to face back at the king, his smile completely gone, replaced with a frown.
"Young sire, I don't know why you feltest the desire to bring that... clown up... but we do not, I mean, do NOT, talketh about Jevil. He is far, FAR too dangerous to be let out of his cell. You remember when we first contained him, he was able to breaketh the bones of a few Rudinns who were trying to restrainest him?" Rouxls said, his voice void of emotion. Lancer nodded. "If we were to do anything with him, there are high chances we'd lose control over him. And supposeth he were to usurp the throne from you."
The kitchen returned to silence. Rouxls then unlocked the door without another word, walking through with Lancer. "The rest of you. Geteth back to work!" he commanded, the kitchen resuming back to its work busy glory as they left. The duke closed the door behind them. Lancer was in awe at how it looked. He had never been inside the green house until now, but from what he could see, it was a paradise to behold.
The glass walls and ceiling were clean, no sights of any moss or dirt on them. Obviously, those who were cleaning worked tirelessly to make sure the glass was spotless. A huge forest full of foliage, fruit, vegetables, flowers and other natural delicacies, ready to be picked and added to dishes, ran wild throughout the room, being cared for by Hathys and Rudinns, each of them wearing a band on their arms, complete with an image of a tree on them, showing that they indeed worked there.
The air was rampant with butterflies that fluttered around the wilderness contained within the walls. "Don't worry sire, those butterflies will not harm the fruits within the greenhouse. We've added them in at Ralsei's requesteth to make the greenhouse more, as he put it, alive." the duke explained as they began to walk further into the greenhouse. The two walked over to a nearby watering can.
A Hathy was nearby, tending to a plant, when they noticed the royal duo approaching. "Sire! I'm standing by for your command." they said as they stood to attention, awaiting orders from the two. Rouxls looked over the Hathy as Lancer was distracted by a nearby bush.
"I've broughteth the sire along because I feel me and him need to discuss how to lookest after the castle." Rouxls explained to the Hathy. "May you be of assistance to us?", to which it nodded and walked away, presumably to get something. Rouxls turned to face Lancer, who's attention had returned to the duke. "Oh, one more thing before I leaveth you with the Hathy: there's a particular fruit you must be awarest of." he said, picking off a fruit from a nearby bush. It was a pink peach like fruit that felt like facial stubble and had a very strong sweet smell to it. The duke held it out to Lancer as he explained what it was.
"This young sire, is what's called an Amarero. We found it many years ago and we've held onto it in the greenhouse, occasionally using the skin and the juice inside for cooking. Now I must be very clear; under NO circumstances should you drink the juices inside pure. Even when we cooketh with it, we make sure that only one drop gets used. We don't know what's inside the juice, but we believe there's some strong chemicals in there that alter the inhibitions of those who drink it. Even if you spatest it out after drinking it, it'll affect you regardless."
Rouxls threw the Amarero aside, causing it to dissolve into the dirt once it landed. "Okay, let's get going Lancer." Rouxls then said, planning to continue the lesson he was giving the young king. Just as the duke turned around, Lancer then said "I think I've seen that fruit before." Rouxls suddenly stopped. He then turned back to face Lancer, a stunned look on his face. "You... you've seen it before? Young sire, we make sure that the Amarero doesn't groweth anywhere else BUT the green house. It's too dangerous to be left to grow wildly." Rouxls explained.
Lancer looked back at the bush, more of the ripe fruit growing. "I think I made a mistake when me and Ralsei were making that little relaxation area in the forest." he said, a tinge of guilt in his voice. The Hathy returned, mirroring the shocked look on the duke's face. "What... What did you do young sire?" it asked. Lancer shuffled his feet against the dirt.
"Well, when we made that place... I picked a few plant samples to grow there. I... might've picked up an Amarero sample while I was there... not realizing what I picked up." Lancer confessed, not once looking up at the duke nor the Hathy. When he eventually DID look up, their faces were glancing at one another. "Hathy, get one of the forest Rudinns to investigate the area." he said quietly. Hathy responded with a "Yes sir." and ran off. With the Hathy gone, Rouxls looked down at the king.
"Young sire... you should know better than to grab random samples from the castleth." he said, disappointed in the king. "Even your father was awareth of how... unpredictable those who had consumethed the fruit's juices had became. He demanded that every Amarero bush be burned within the Dark World, but I insistedeth that we kept a few for cooking purposes."
Lancer could only turn away from the father figure in front of him. Rouxls then knelled down to be eye level with the spade child. "Lancer, did you see anybody at any point yesterday?" he asked. Lancer perked up at the question, his smile returning in all its glory. "Oh! Kris, Susie and the new girl visited while I was talkin' with Ralsei! They wanted to hang out, so I left the four together!" he explained excitedly. Almost immediately after that fact was shared, the Hathy returned.
"Rouxls Kaard, the Rudinns got back to me! They found four sets of footprints leading into the relaxation area. When they got through, they found the bush in the area. They also found Amarero residue at the bottom of the bush!" he explained.
Rouxls, who had his head turned to face the Hathy, slowly turned back, realizing what this had meant. "Oh no." he said to himself, before standing back up. "H-Hathy, keep talking to Lancer about how to take care of the green house. I need to go and check on the four visitors. Lancer, you need to stay here." he quickly explained as he ran out of the green house.
The first thing Noelle saw when she opened her eyes was the white ceiling above her. Her eyes hurt as the light crept into the room and her head was pounding. She painfully groaned as she lifted up a hand to her face, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her eyes travelled from the ceiling to the rest of the room. She was confused at the new surroundings. She didn't remember going into this room. In fact, she didn't even remember falling asleep in this bed.
The last thing she remembered was saying good night to Kris and then climbing into her own bed, Susie in the bed opposite hers, already falling asleep. Actually, no. That wasn't the last thing she remembered. The last thing she remembered was helping Kris back to a bedroom.
It was then she noticed her body felt... clammy, as if she had been sweating the night before. Did she have a nightmare and was tossing and turning in her sleep? "What on earth happened last night? I don't remember a thing at all!" Noelle thought to herself as she lay in that strange bed. Before she could piece anything else together, she noticed a blue object on her shoulder.
Taking a glance, she realized it was a hand. It was attached to a blue arm, which went across her chest. "Wait, the only person I know with blue skin down here is..." she continued to think to herself as she followed the arm with her eyes. The arm ended with a shoulder, which was attached to Kris. The human was still asleep next to her, but it was definitely HIS arm going across her body.
Noelle smiled. Maybe she let Kris sleep in the same bed as her at some point during the night. Not that she minded, it was kind of wholesome of Kris to do so. She thought back to when they'd do so all the time as kids. As she looked upon her friend's sleeping body, she noticed a small detail was missing. As far as she remembered, Kris was wearing a white tank top when she helped him upstairs. But here, there was no sign of any white fabric on his shoulders where the top should be, connecting the front of it to the back.
Her eyes trailed down the covers, looking for an extra bump in the covers that might be clothing. But there was nothing. The only curves in the sheets were coming from Kris' body. It slowly dawned on her that Kris was naked next to her! "Oh god..." she whispered to herself. Then a horrifying thought came to her. Panicking, she lifted up the covers to examine her own body.
Hidden in the darkness of the covers, she noticed SHE wasn't wearing her night clothes either! Her nude figure was visible to her in the darkened shelter of the bed clothes, every curve in her frame panoptic in her eye sight. "Oh god!" She whispered to herself in shock. Did the two...? No, no way! They were just friends, it wasn't like they actually DID it or anything! Right?
Noelle turned to look back at Kris and noticed something behind him. What looked like white fur. She sat up slightly, getting a good look over the human's body. Her eyes went wide in shock and horror at what she found out.
Lying next to Kris, was Ralsei, lying on his back, still asleep like her friend was. His glasses on the night stand next to the bed. Next to that was a split glass of water. Was that glass ALWAYS there and she hadn't noticed until now? And if so, why was it knocked over?
Her blood ran cold when she noticed Susie's purple skin next to the prince's fur. She was lying on her side, facing the rest of the group, asleep. Her arm was mirroring Kris', lazily flopped over Ralsei's body, the back of her hand pressed against Kris' back. Noelle's blood then ran EVEN colder than before when she realized something alarming about the situation:
Much like her and Kris, Ralsei and Susie ALSO appeared to be nude! She couldn't see ANY sign of clothing on their bodies, not on their exposed skin, nor under the covers!
Noelle panicked, almost leaping out of the bed into a standing position, Kris' arm sliding off her body and resting against the bed sheets. She stood there, her nudity fully exposed to the rest of the room, trying to get the situation right in her head. From what she could make of the state she was in, she had woken up naked, in a bed that wasn't hers, in a room she doesn't recognize, with her friends who are ALSO naked.
A quick look around the room reassured her it was just them. She also seemed to notice that the air within the room itself seemed to be more... humid. What the hell happened during the night? Did the four of them have sex in that bed?! Her eyes glanced upon the mirror, and for a brief second, she seemed to notice something about her body.
She walked up to it to have a closer look. Upon getting to the mirror, it all became clearer to the doe. Her hair was messy, even feeling damp in certain areas as she ran her hand through the blonde locks. She had obviously been sweating the night before. With her eyes fixed on the mirror, Noelle gently positioned her head to the side, revealing her neck to the reflective glass.
There were marks. Kiss marks! Peppered all over her neck. The more she examined, the more she realized, that the kiss marks were not just on her neck, but on her collar bones too! Hell, there were even some near her breasts! Along with... nail and bite marks? Just what the actual hell did they do last night?! The marks weren't deep enough to draw blood, but they were definitely deep enough to be visible on the skin. To her horror, there seemed to be more marks going DOWN her body, some coming dangerously close to her-.
Noelle was startled out of her self examination by the sound of Kris groaning. Oh god, what if he woke up and saw her like this? Sure, she's gotten changed for sleepovers at Kris', but NEVER in front of him. She always made sure never to be naked in front of Kris! In a panic, she looked around for her clothes, which thankfully, were crumpled on the floor at the end of the bed. She quickly picked up her pyjama bottoms and placed them back on. Once they were on properly, She picked up her bra and quickly strapped it on her body, covering her breasts from the world, before grabbing the cotton vest and putting it on.
Just in time too, because Kris' eyes slowly began to open as he placed a hand onto his head, suffering from the same headache Noelle woke up with. As he stirred awake, Noelle couldn't help but notice that her clothes felt slightly damp. Was it because of the humidity in the air or was it something else?
"W-what?" Kris suddenly said, catching Noelle's attention. It appeared he noticed that he was naked with his friends as well. Instead of panicking however, Kris just turned to Ralsei and shook him. "Ralsei. Ralsei! Wake up!" he said, shaking the prince's shoulder. A few groans came out of his mouth, before a rough shake made his eyes shoot open, assaulting his sight with light, combined with the sharp pain in his head. Strangely, Susie didn't stir once from her slumber. "K-Kris? What happened? Did you have a nightmare?" Ralsei asked, concerned for his friend. It was then he noticed the human was shirtless.
"Where's your shirt Kris? I thought you had-." the prince began, before he noticed through the bed covers, that he wasn't wearing his boxers either. Ralsei took a peek under the covers and his jaw dropped at the sight of his own naked body now exposed to him. "Oh no, did...we...without...?! Wha-what happened last night?! Did we all wake up like this?!" Ralsei panicked, glancing back at Kris and to Noelle, who was standing at the end of the bed watching this discomforting discourse take place.
The deer could only nod to the prince. Ralsei's head began filling with very lewd thoughts and theories about what happened the night before to make them wake up naked next to each other. "Oh my...! No! That can't be the case! We went to bed in SEPARATE beds! Oh god, my head is pounding and... and...!"
The prince couldn't form any more words. As he took in the thoughts, a feeling grew in his stomach, which quickly made its way up his oesophagus, causing a slight belch to escape the goat's mouth. "Ralsei?" Kris asked, before Ralsei suddenly gagged. He then quickly placing his hand against his mouth. This was perfect timing as his cheeks suddenly puffed up, filled with a vile combination of stomach acids and whatever he had to eat the previous day, possibly including the flesh of the fruit that caused all this.
"Oh Ralsei please don't throw up on this bed!" Kris exclaimed, realizing what he was about to do. Ralsei quickly turned to face a nearby door, a door that nobody had noticed last night, before beginning to climb off the bed to reach it, climbing over Susie to get to it.
The sudden impact of Ralsei's knee against her stomach made Susie, complete with a gasp, wake up with a start. Susie shot up into a sitting position, almost pushing Ralsei off the bed who quickly got up and ran into the bathroom. While this was happening, the quilts briefly fell off Susie's body, exposing her chest to the room, before she quickly grabbed the cover and repositioned themselves over her. Almost immediately, a sharp pain hit her head, her responding with a pained "Ah, what the fuck?!". As if to answer her profanity, there was a door slam, catching every one's attention.
There was a few seconds of silence, before the slightly muffled sound of Ralsei retching and his vomit landing in some sort of basin sounded through the door. The group assumed what Ralsei ran into was an en-suite. From behind the door, the fluffy boy coughed, before retching again, giving the toilet more helpings of vomit. After a few more heaves, retches and pukes, the en-suite went silent, save for Ralsei's heavy breathing. A few additional seconds passed before the toilet could be heard flushing.
Now it was Susie's turn to be shocked. "What... the fuck?!" she snapped, looking down under the covers at her nude body. "Did you guys do something to me last night?! And why is my head pounding?!" Susie's eyes flared with anger as she stared daggers at both the deer girl at the end of the bed and at the nude human next to her, her hand pressed against her temple, trying to relieve herself of her cranial pain. The two were silent, sharing glances at each other. They didn't know how to answer that question, they didn't remember anything past the point of heading up the stairs.
"Answer me!" Susie's voice demanded out of them. Noelle jumped at this and quickly responded with a "No! No! We didn't do anything to you!" in a voice that was meant to be just as brash and intimidating as her crushes, but came out sounding more meek and intimidated. Kris then spoke up. "Hey Susie, honestly, I don't remember anything from last night. Neither does Noelle. Our heads were pounding when we woke up also!".
When Susie looked towards her deer friend, the shy girl nodded her head quickly, before letting out a pained "Ah!" as she pressed a hand against her temple, the pain returning from such quick movements. "But I promise you, I highly doubt we did anything to you!" Kris finished.
"You both did something to ME though." Noelle added, showing her neck to the two. Both the monster and the human's eyes went wide in shock at the amount of marks present. "Did... did WE do that?" Kris uttered, horrified. "Noelle, I hope that none of those marks hurt! I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I found out that I hurt you during the night!" he added, his voice becoming shaky at the thought of him hurting her best friend. Noelle shook her head in response. "No, they don't." she said, giving Kris a huge wave of relief.
Blushing, Noelle then lifted her vest, showing off her stomach and the various bite and scratch marks to the two in bed. Both looked horrified at this. "What the fuck...?" Susie could only mutter. "You're the only one with sharp teeth and claws, Susie! You must've done this to me during... whatever it was we were doing last night!" Noelle sharply stated, dropping her vest from her grasp, letting it cover her stomach once more.
Susie shook her head slowly. "Nah, that can't be. I don't remember doing anything like that. I don't remember scratching you, or biting you. I don't remember anything." the purple lizard girl said, clutching her head in her hands.
"Although, I... I do remember... when I came into the room with Ralsei, we saw Kris lying on top of you on this bed... and both of you were kissing. Quite deeply if I remember correctly, like you both were boyfriend and girlfriend or something." Susie continued, as she got out of bed to grab her bra and panties from the floor, not seeming to care if the two were watching her. Luckily for her, Kris was shocked at such a claim, he couldn't even bring himself to look up at Susie, even if her naked body was on display for him.
He quickly looked back at Noelle, her eyes just as wide as Kris', a bright red blush growing on their faces. Her hand was over her eyes in Susie's direction, possibly as a way so that she wouldn't be tempted to stare at her, as much as part of her wanted to. Susie then continued, her bra put over her breasts and her panties on their way back up her legs. "In fact, Kris I think when we walked in, not only were you both smooching like Hell, I think Kris was... humping you, Noelle."
The blushes on their faces grew redder at this shocking revelation. "K-Kris?! You wouldn't have sex with me, let alone kiss me, would you?! N-Not that I'd mind you k-k-k-kissing me, I mean we CAN start kissing if you want to, but-!" Noelle asked his human friend, sounding almost horrified at this sudden truth bomb. His heart skipped a beat as he clambered for an answer, although he could help but notice Noelle's voice seemed a little contemplative, although at the same time, she barely holding herself together from outright panicking. "I... I don't think I would... but I did tell you that-!"
Suddenly, the en-suite door opened, then immediately slammed shut. Ralsei must've forgotten he was still naked when he ran in there to throw up. A few seconds later, the door opened a crack, Ralsei's arm sticking out through it. "Can... can someone please pass me my pyjamas?" Ralsei's voice asked, sounding almost embarrassed for asking. Noelle grabbed them off the floor, where they were originally next to Susie's bra and panties just a few minutes ago, and walked over to the door, Ralsei's hand taking them and retreating back into the bathroom with a "Thank you.".
After a few seconds, the door fully opened, revealing Ralsei, now back in his pyjamas. He stood there, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. The rest of the group assumed that he was still in shock over what might've happened. "R... Ralsei?" Noelle asked the prince. Not a word came through his lips as he walked out of the room, towards the bed. Like the others, his clothes were drenched in sweat. They didn't know if the sweat was fresh or it was from the night before though, they could only assume the latter.
Once the prince reached the bed, he turned himself around and sat down, taking his glasses from the night stand and putting them on. Once the glasses were on, he placed his hands onto his lap, staring forward in shock. He just sat there, not saying a single word, looking dead ahead, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. In that moment, the only sound coming out of him was slow breathing through his nostrils. Noelle and Susie walked over to him, standing in his line of sight. "Dude... are you okay?" Susie asked.
The silence from Ralsei only lasted a few seconds more until the waterworks began. His lips quivered as noticeable tears began to form at the bottom of his eyes. His arms quickly raised to his face and a hand removed his glasses, placing them onto the bed, before his face became buried in his hands as he openly wept, his body shaking with every cry he made.
And frankly, who could blame the poor guy? He DID just wake up naked next to his friends, with no memory of the night before and only the assumption that he did something sexual with them, all the while, not being fully conscious enough to remember it. Hell, he couldn't even remember if he had given them consent or not! Nor if they gave HIM consent either!
Noelle, upon noticing how badly Ralsei was taking the situation, came forward and hugged the prince, the prince removing his hands from his face and returning said hug as he continued to cry, his face buried in Noelle's shoulder. "Ralsei, sweetie, it's okay. I'm sorry you had to wake up to this. It's okay if you have to cry. Do so if you need to." Noelle reassured her new friend, tears forming in her own eyes. Obviously, the situation was affecting Noelle, just as much as it was affecting Ralsei.
Kris then moved up to Ralsei, letting the bed sheets fall off his body, exposing his body to the bedroom (although thankfully, he was quick enough to avoid any full frontal exposure of his body so to speak), and wrapped his arms around Ralsei's chest, giving the prince a hug of his own from behind, seeming to not care that he was naked. In his mind, it seemed comforting his friend was all that mattered to him in that one moment.
"It's okay Ralsei. Just let it out. You'll feel better afterwards." Kris said to his friend. The room was silent aside from Ralsei's crying as the deer and the human comforted the weeping prince.
Susie on the other hand, stood on the side-lines, wearing nothing but her underwear. Her arms were folded and her gaze was averted from the bed where the others were. Honestly, she wanted to join the hug and comfort the fluffy boy, but her mind was full of all the potential scenarios that happened the night before. Not one of them was as wholesome as the group just sleeping together.
She put on a tough front in that room, giving the impression she was able to handle it, but deep inside, she felt just as broken as the others were. If she was all alone, she would more than likely scream, trash the room, and then burst into tears much like her friend was doing right now, maybe not even in that particular order.
Plus, she felt that if she had joined in the hug, more feelings and emotions would surface. In her eyes, this WASN'T the time for those types of things to have in mind, especially after what might've happened the previous night.
She looked back at the three to see Kris' red eyes meeting hers, the rest of his face hidden behind Ralsei's shoulder. Susie wasn't sure what emotion was present in her human friend's eyes. It wasn't anger, it wasn't sadness, but it was something, even if she couldn't put a finger on it.
A good few minutes had passed as Ralsei's crying faded into silence, although a shaky breath or a quiet sob did break through every now and then. Just as things were starting to calm down, the door to the bedroom suddenly burst open, startling everybody in the room. Susie jumped back in shock, throwing her arms out in her usual shocked pose that Ralsei and Kris had seen her do many times before and Kris released Ralsei and quickly threw the covers back over himself to prevent unneeded exposure to whoever burst into the room.
But most embarrassingly of all was Ralsei's response to the sudden door action. He jumped forward, probably intending to stand up, but failed to remember that he was still hugging Noelle. As a result, when he suddenly got up, Noelle was brought up suddenly as well. Ralsei ended up falling on top of his new female friend as the two fell to the floor.
"Worms! Art thoust alright?" the voice of Rouxls Kaard called into the room. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief as Rouxls walked into the room. He stopped briefly to take in the scene. There was Susie standing in her underwear, Ralsei on top of Noelle, the two blushing profusely at each other, probably just realizing the situation they were in, and there was Kris, lying in bed, covering up his body. "Is this a badeth time?" he asked, his cheeks beginning to flush as red as possible, to the point it was noticeable on his blue skin.
"Take a WILD guess, Rouxls." Kris uttered to the duke. There wasn't venom in his tone, like he would have if it were say, Berdly bursting through the door, but there was some annoyance, as if just the mere presence of Rouxls Kaard gave him the urge to be mad at him, even if he did nothing to deserve such attitude from the human. Although, in a way, there kind of was a reason to be annoyed at Rouxls' abrupt arrival. Not only did he break a rather tender moment between the friends, but the duke had been nothing but a nuisance to the group, especially to Kris, Susie and Ralsei during their time against the King. Essentially doing nothing for the group but waste their time doing the most easiest puzzles that he considered challenging.
"Thank you for comforting me, Noelle. And I'm sorry for crushing you under me." Ralsei apologized to the doe as he got up, finally giving her body room to breathe. The prince then reached down a hand, which Noelle took and got lifted up with until she was standing. "Hey, don't mention it Ralsei. You've been a really nice monster and I couldn't stand to see you upset over all of this." Noelle said with a smile. Her smile then disappeared when she noticed the duke, standing by the bedroom door.
An uncomfortable silence hung over the room, how many times this has occurred since the group woke up they had lost count. "What do you want Rouxls?" Susie finally asked, as she put her dressing gown back on, which was originally crumbled on the floor, next to Kris' tank top and boxers and walking up to be level with him. Kris noticed his nearby clothes and gave a "Hey, throw those over here, will you?" to Susie. The purple monster girl took a look back at Kris, who was still lying in bed, before picking up his clothes and throwing them over to him, before turning back to face the duke. Rouxls then spoke up. "Well, I wanted to checketh on-." he began, before Susie, rather rudely mind you, interrupted him.
"Dude, STOP with the '-eths' and '-ests' in your speech. It doesn't make you sound fancy or intelligent!"
Rouxls, taken aback by this sudden command from Susie, stammered for a second, trying to think of a good comeback, before sighing in frustration and speaking once again, his voice having less of an upper class or posh accent than it did before. "F-Fine! I'll stop with the accent and mannerisms! I only do it because it makes me feel like royalty anyway." he said, the last part being spoken quietly, almost to the point Susie couldn't hear him. "Anyway, I came by to check if you were okay. I assume you guys drunk the juices of the Amarero?" he continued. Susie raised an eyebrow at this new name. "What's an... Amarero?" she asked.
Rouxls frowned at this. "Oh god no. Nobody told you about it." He muttered to himself. He quickly regained his composure as Susie looked on at him. "Well, come outside the room. I'll explain right away." he said. Susie looked back at the rest of the room, who were eagerly trying to listen in to the conversation.
"Why... why can't they be told too?" she asked. She turned back to find Rouxls Kaard had already left the room. She then sighed, looking back at the group. "Guys, I'll go speak to Rouxls. I'll grab our clothes from our rooms while I'm gone." she said before walking out the door to meet up with the duke.
The day was curtained by grey clouds that let down torrents and torrents of rain, hard against the concrete. The leaves of the trees were especially taking a beat from the falling droplets of water that fell like bombs from the skies. Insects running for cover on the dirt as the rain continued to beat down on the scenery. And the wind! The wind blew heavily through the trees and the skies, pushing the clouds along as they let out their streams of rain. The leaves that were too weak were pulled away from their homes on the branches by the winds and left to fall to the ground, where they would waste away into the dirt as the branches waited for another leaf to replace those who had fallen.
Not even the raindrops were safe from being pushed around by the blustering winds like victims of school bullies. Most people and monsters were tucked away warm inside their homes, out of the downpour outside. Those unfortunate enough to be caught in it ran through the streets, eager to avoid the assault of water against their skin, clothes and fur.
The setting was silent before several flashes of light, very similar to that of lightning, disturbed the peace, accompanied with loud bangs that echoed around the trees. After multiple flashes and bangs, Kris fell through the light, landing hard on his stomach against the wet mud, causing it to stick to his clothes. He pressed his palms against the dirt, intent on getting back up, when he felt more weight crash against his back, forcing his body back into the mud.
Noelle and Susie both lay on top of him, obviously trying to get over the fall they themselves just had. "Guys, if you don't get off me right now... then you guys are gonna pay my hospital bills when my back finally breaks from the weight of you both!" Kris yelled at the girls on top of him.
"Sorry Kris!" Noelle said back, as she pushed herself off of her guy friend, somehow managing to push Susie off her back, who rolled into more mud as Noelle got up. "Ah geez Noelle! You know how hard it's gonna be to get mud out of my jacket?!" The aforementioned deer quickly got up and turned to face Susie. "I'm sorry Susie! I just had to get off Kris before his spine got broken by the both of us!" she defended as Kris got up off the dirt, brushing off the mud from his shirt.
As the two gathered their bearings, the rain continued to beat hard against their skin and clothes, making their hair drag down their faces and their clothing stick to their bodies. Kris then spoke up. "Okay, we're all back home. I think what we should do is-."
"Oh god, mom is gonna kill me if she sees me like this!" Noelle suddenly said in a panic. She quickly took out her watch, checking the time. "10:45 am. Okay, she should be at work right now. Okay, that's... that's good! That should give me some time to go home, get my clothes in the washer, take a shower and-." Noelle said to herself, desperately trying to reassure herself, before Susie suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close, her hands moving from the doe's arm to her shoulders, each hand clinging to the fragile deer with a gorilla's grip. The feeling of being so close to her crush, along with being soaking wet from the rain, made Noelle's cheeks flush red once again. Susie's eyes glared down at Noelle.
"Listen to me Noelle. Your mom finding out about your dirty clothes is the LEAST of our concerns right now. I don't know what happened to us last night after we drank that fruit, but when we all get home, we're never, and I mean NEVER, to tell anyone about this, okay? As far as our parents know, we just hung out, set up a campfire somewhere and ate junk food in these woods, before going to bed. Got it?" Susie stated, trying to sound confident in her voice, although Noelle could see beyond Susie's front. Behind the mask that was her faux bravery, she was just as frightened as her and Kris was in that moment. Even Kris could see beyond this act of bravery.
"Well what about the ki-?" Kris began, before Susie quickly interrupted, turning to face him and removing a hand from Noelle's shoulder to point at him. "ALL we did was hang out, campfire and junk food! Okay?!" she snapped, almost losing her cool. The area was filled with a tense silence, save from the rain hitting the leaves and grass around them, a few raindrops hitting their skin and clothes.
Suddenly, a groan could be heard within the immediate area. Susie rolled her eyes, assuming the groan to be from Noelle. "Oh grow up Noelle, I'm not holding you THAT hard." the bully said, sounding as though Noelle had done nothing but complain since getting back. Noelle's answer then surprised her enough to look back at the doe:
"I didn't just groan. You did!"
Susie looked at her for a few seconds, before turning back to Kris. "Kris, did you just...?" she began to ask, before noticing something move behind the human. She released Noelle and ran towards it, Kris turning around to see where the purple girl was going. There appeared to be something blending in with the grass. Despite this, there seemed to be some movement. Noelle walked forward and noticed something.
The object was mostly covered in green, but there were parts of it that looked... white. Susie walked over to the strange mass, reaching out an arm to lift it up. Almost immediately, like something from one of those horror movies Kris enjoys so much, part of its body grabbed onto Susie's wrist, causing her to panic. Noelle screamed at this as she leapt into Kris' arms, almost akin to a cartoon character. The human stood there, eyes wide in shock, his heart skipping beats at this sudden revelation of the thing in the grass being alive.
Susie struggled against the object's grasp before freeing her hand and standing up, intending to give this mysterious attacker a beating. "So you're think you're being slick by scaring me and my friends, huh?!" Susie said to the object, lifting it into the air as she drew a fist back, ready to strike this possible threat to her and her friends.
As if right on cue, a lightning bolt lit up the sky, revealing the object to the group. What Susie was holding, eager to punch, was none other than Ralsei, a frightened look upon his face. "Wait, Susie, it's me! It's me!" the goat boy exclaimed, realizing what was going on, lifting up his own hands in a pathetic attempt at defending himself. Susie's eyes went wide as a rumble of thunder rolled overhead like a train.
The brutish girl froze in her place, letting the rain beat down on the scene, taking in the fact Ralsei had somehow come back with them. "R...Ralsei?" she asked, stunned that he was right in front of her, being held up by the fabric of his robe enclosed in her fist. She then dropped the prince, a little "Oof!" coming from him as he harshly landed on his feet.
Kris then stepped forward. "How the hell did you get up here with us?" he asked. Ralsei then looked at the human. "I... I don't know! I think it must've had something to with-!" he began before it suddenly clicked. "Oh no. Rouxls must've caught me in his spell to send you guys back when Lancer burst into the bedroom!". The group recollected the events leading up to where they were now.
After what went down with Rouxls coming into the bedroom, the four had gotten themselves a few quick showers before getting back into their normal clothes, eager to get back home. Rouxls was casting a spell and focusing his attention on the human and the girls, Ralsei staying aside so the duke could focus. It would've went off without a hitch, had Lancer not burst into the room with a "Hey, what you guys up to?" to the shock of everyone inside. Rouxls took his attention off the three for ONE second, and Ralsei had gotten caught up in the spell also, taking him to the surface along with Kris and the girls. No doubt Rouxls would be angry with Lancer for interrupting the spell and sending Ralsei to who knows where for the Duke.
"What the heck is all this hitting me?" Ralsei suddenly asked, trying to shield his head from the droplets assaulting his fur from above. No matter how much he moved his hands, he couldn't escape the drops hitting his face and clothes. After a pause, Noelle then spoke up. "Ralsei, sweetie. It's rain. That happens every now and then up here. It's a pain when it comes out of nowhere, but you get used to it after a while." she explained as she approached the prince. His robe was starting to stick to his fur and the fur that was exposed began to stick to his skin, making it feel heavier than usual to Ralsei. It was the first time he had to deal with this, and he could tell that he just hated it!
"Can we please get out of the rain then please? I made my mind up. And I don't like the rain!" Ralsei said, a noticeable scowl painted onto his face. Kris nodded and replied with a "Yeah, that puts us all in the same boat.", Noelle and Susie nodding in agreement. The group had a look around to see where they were. Susie, after a few seconds of silence, suddenly startled the group, especially Noelle and Ralsei, with a exclamation of "God fucking dammit Kris, where the FUCK are we!?", aimed at the human, before quickly calming herself down.
The human turned to face her, a look of shock on her face. "Susie... chill." he said. "You're gonna give yourself a heart attack if you work yourself up with your anger like that one of these days." He added, before turning back to survey the area. It took a few minutes, given the horrid weather, but Kris eventually recognized the area.
It was the long stretch of forest before getting to that weird door he saw that one time. He remembered one day after school he took Noelle down there to see what it was, even trying to pry the door open, but couldn't. Many people saw it walking down and through these woods, but strangely, nobody had been down there, not even the mayor or anyone in the town offices. It didn't take long until rumors about it began to spread, especially around the school.
Some folks said that government secrets are hidden beyond that door, others say it was the entrance to another world, others claim it to be hiding extra-terrestrial life or alien technology. You know, the usual ABC of government conspiracy. Theories ranged from the possible, such as the aforementioned government secrets and extra-terrestrial life being kept there, to the downright absurd, like mind control testing labs, Illuminati meeting places or other bullshit like that.
Kris doubted those were the case though. Both him and Noelle just assumed that it was some sort of bomb shelter made either during World War 2 or the Cold War. If somebody broke through that door, they'd probably find a big empty room or something of the like. MAYBE with some old vehicles belonging to the mayor's office, but nothing as huge as government secrets. Maybe an old car here, a prototype for a jet there. Small things that would a leave a rabid conspiracy theorist disappointed, that is if they couldn't make a new conspiracy theory on the spot upon seeing them.
Susie didn't seem fussed about the door. She had heard about the conspiracies, but had a simple motto for a response: "Unless it breaks out of those doors and tries to destroy the whole town, I don't give a shit what's in there.", a state of mind that Noelle also shared, albeit not as vulgar as her crushes. "Well, let's get going." Kris said to the others. The group of friends walked down the path, away from the bunker and towards the street, standing in the same order as they did in the Dark World; Kris leading the way, Susie behind him, Noelle behind her (presumably to check out the tough girl's backside) and Ralsei taking up the rear of the line.
They ignored the rain that continued to beat down hard on them as they eventually made it to the main road. Kris then turned around, the line behind him effectively breaking as the others split to get a clear view of their human leader. "Alright, I think the best thing to do now is just to go home and pretend everything that happened in the Dark World didn't happen." He said. Susie then stepped forward. "Dude, that's literally what I said a few minutes ago before Ralsei joined us!" she protested. Kris' eyes darted at the girl, glaring into her very soul.
"Well, do you have a better idea, Susie?" Kris asked her. Susie opened her mouth to speak, but after a few seconds, shut it again, nothing coming to mind. She then folded her arms in defeat, glancing at the deer and goat next to her. "You guys got anything?" she asked them. Noelle could only shake her head and reply with a "I... I'm not the one who makes ideas!", while Ralsei seemed to be more fascinated by how the weather looked. As much as he disliked the feeling of rain on his fur, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by how such a wonder of nature worked.
"Okay, I'm gonna get going. Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys last night, despite what happened to all of us." Noelle said, breaking Ralsei out of his wonder of the rain. "Oh! Yeah, I'll see you around Noelle." he said. She then proceeded to walk forward and said "I'll see you later Kris." as she locked eyes with him. The two shared another brief hug before Noelle took off running down the road, back to her home. Susie giggled at this once Noelle was out of ear shot.
"You gonna make her your girlfriend one day, Kris?" she asked, causing the human's face to turn red at the thought. He quickly turned back, his eyes wide in shock. "N-No! She's just my friend! My childhood friend at that!" Kris stammered, his face nearly as red as a traffic light. Susie smirked at this rebuttal from her friend and was quick to make a reply back. "Yeah, because ALL male and female friends lie on beds and kiss each other on their mouths. That's completely normal!", she said, her voice oozing with sarcasm, mixed with a teasing tone.
Kris looked away, the blush burning even brighter than before. Susie laughed a little before walking up to the human. Kris only reacted by turning around to face her when he felt her hand on his shoulder, dripping wet from the rain. "Look dude, if you like her, just tell her. I might crack the occasional joke, but you know I don't mean to be horrible to you. As much as I can be an ass at times, I do care about you, ever since the last time we were in the Dark World."
Kris didn't respond to this statement, as he had gotten lost inside Susie's eyes once again, the rain adding a more romantic element to the scene. The rain soaking through her hair, adding more to this already touching moment between the two friends. If this was one of those cliché movie scenes, this would be the point Kris would lean in towards her crush and the two would shut their eyes as they shared a kiss between them. But this wasn't the movies, this was real life, and Kris highly doubted Susie was the kissing type.
"Anywho dude, I'm gonna get going. I feel like my dad's gonna kill me if I don't get home quickly." She said with a gentle pat against his shoulder, before quickly walking past him. After a pause, Kris turned around, intent on saying something to her. "Susie, if I'm entirely honest, the only person I like is-." he began, the beginning of his confession being met with an empty street. It was just him and Ralsei, alone on that street, getting more and more soaked by the heavy rain.
Kris sighed, an opportunity to confess his feelings for the purple brute gone with the wind. The two boys shared a glance between each other, before the human walked over to the prince. He then lifted a hand and brushed his fingers against the goat prince's fur, moving said fur out of his eyes and earning a blush on the younger boy's face. "Come on Ralsei, let's head on home." Kris said, his eyes glistening in the prince's eyes. He turned around to walk towards his home, but stopped when he noticed Ralsei wasn't behind him.
"Um, K... Kris? I've never been here. My home is back in the Dark World and... I don't know if my magic is strong enough to go back there in this weather." Ralsei said, gently brushing the base of his foot against the tarmac. Kris looked up the clouds, the torrential rains continuing to beat down on him. He did hear while on the way to school with Toriel a few days prior that there was a storm coming over the weekend. If the rain was heavy now, who knows how rough it would be once the brunt of the storm hit.
After a few minutes of contemplating, Kris walked back over to Ralsei. "Alright, come on. You can stay with me for a few days until the storm passes over." he said, as he grabbed onto Ralsei's hand. The fluffy boy blushed even more profusely as the human lead him down the street, hand in hand, as if they were boyfriends, the rain beating down hard against them.
The Holiday mansion was silent, the walls all clear and clean. Not a drop of dirt anywhere on the floor. The windows sheltered the inside from the invasion of raindrops outside, their assault on the clean floors blocked by the sheets of glass, held together by large frames. Every now and then, lightning would flash, brightening the main hall for a split second, before going dark again. Immediately afterward would be a rumble as though the gods above were letting out their fury on the many people below them.
The mansion's main hall was peaceful, but this didn't last long as a click from the front door disturbed the peace and the door flung open, a soaking wet Noelle running in, closing the door behind her. A few droplets fell from her soaking wet figure as she stood by the door, catching her breath after running through the stormy weather. She had to take a shortcut through some woods so that she didn't pass Berdly's house, since she knew he'd be on her case about the project.
Her breath returning to her, Noelle made her way upstairs to her room, the rain drops making small marks on the carpet as she climbed up the steps. When she got to her room, she was about to crash onto her bed, but decided against it, given how wet her clothes were. It sucked to her. What she was wearing was her favourite sweater and romper! Noelle HATED the idea of taking her clothes off during the day, but she felt like she had no choice in the matter here.
A few minutes of mentally preparing herself (and closing the blinds) later and her wet clothes were off and on the floor, leaving her in a white bra and panties, almost mirroring the color of Susie's. She took the clothes back downstairs and made her way through the living room to the laundry room on the other side. She usually wouldn't walk around the house practically naked, but since she was the only one in at the time, she figured that it wouldn't hurt to do so just this once.
She placed the wet clothes into a nearby washing machine and set the dial to a quick wash. Placing in some fabric softener and detergent, she pressed the button to start the wash cycle. Walking out into the main hallway, she turned on the central heating. Her mother made a big deal out of using it unnecessarily, but here, she felt she just HAD to use it to dry off.
Noelle made her way back to her room, having a think about the situation she was in. It felt almost... liberating to walk around the house in just her underwear. She remembered when Kris would do the same when they had sleepovers. Sometimes, Noelle would wake up in the morning and find Kris prancing around the house, wearing nothing but his underwear. Some pairs even drawing attention to... well, you can imagine, dear reader.
Anyway, she shook her head, trying to shake such lewd thoughts out of her head. Kris was nothing more than a friend! That kiss they shared meant nothing! Besides, they were... well, maybe not drunk, but certainly under the influence! Yet, as she walked into her room, her head was filled with what Kris had said in that bedroom, long before the two shared that kiss, long before Ralsei and Susie joined them and LONG before the four did god knows what.
"Back in those days, I thought you were really... REALLY adorable. Like... the antlers, your personality. The little finger press thing you do when you're talkin' 'bout... Susie. Nothin' serious, just a lil' crush on ya, so to speak." Kris' voice echoed in her head, still as slurred as she remembered it to be. She sat on her bed, resting her hands against the covers. "Just a little crush..." Noelle repeated to herself.
Did...? Did Kris mean that? Did he mean ANY of what he said the night before? Was he actually jealous of Susie for taking her attention away from him? Or was all of that just the unknown fruit's juices talking? So many thoughts swirled in her head. She laid back and stared up at the ceiling, not caring if her body was making the bed wet. All she cared about in that moment was what Kris had said.
Sure, Noelle had some feelings there for Kris, but something just felt wrong about it. Not the fact she was a monster and he was a human, that wasn't the issue. Just the thought of being the girlfriend of a childhood friend felt weird to her. She wasn't lying when she told him she was pansexual and not a lesbian like he had thought. And she DID have crushes on other monsters as well as Susie, yet it seemed like her and Kris knew each other better than anybody else did.
Wanting to forget about that fateful night, she thought back to when the two were kids. All those innocent days gone by, the games they'd play, the music they'd listen to, the memories they'd shared together. It was so many years ago, heck, she was sure that even Kris probably didn't remember some of them, but regardless, they were all so damn precious to her. Lying in bed, thinking back to those good old days would usually bring a smile to her face.
But combined with what happened the night before, those memories were tainted. Corrupted even. She just couldn't picture those happy times without those ugly implications of what her and Kris did in that bedroom creeping and disturbing the whole picture. In that moment, she wished she could go back and erase it from ever having happened. Every memory she tried to dig up, the thoughts of the previous nights were there.
A memory of her younger self and Kris play fighting in the Dreemur's back garden? Slowly shifting into their older selves smooching on the grass. A memory of the two listening to 60 Seconds to Saturn? Noelle's moaning would break through the sound every few seconds or so. A memory of them both camping? It would shift into the two of them inside the tent, naked and engaging in some dirty activities. But worst of all, every time she tried to focus on the younger Kris, she just saw his 17 year old self in his child form's place.
Her heart shattered as she realized that things weren't the same as they once were. And chances were, they were never going to be like that again. Whatever happened that night came and went, and the two did... something in that room, that practically dragged the happiness out of Noelle's memories of Kris and beat it to death with iron bars. As she thought more about how she was no longer the innocent girl that her family saw her as, her eyes began to water.
Lying on that bed alone, Noelle placed a hand against her mouth and clamped her eyes shut as she let her emotions fly. All she could do was mourn the loss of her innocence as she lay there, the bed she slept in with Kris, Susie and Noelle might as well have been its casket. The only thing was there were no pallbearers, no flowers for the dead, no fellow mourners dressed in black. It was just her inside her darkened bedroom, on top of her usual bed covers, dressing in nothing but her white underwear.
Her body shook and quivered as fractured sobs broke through the silence of her room, much like how Ralsei's did during his breakdown. Her hand still over her mouth, Noelle's position moved to resemble the fetal position as her body turned to the side, her legs curled into her body and her back arched forward. All she could do in that moment was cry. She wasn't usually the type to cry. It would usually take something HUGE and emotional devastating to make her break down like this, which was possibly exactly what the incident last night was to her.
Her head desperately searched for ANY memory that would comfort her. Instead, it only found warped versions of her childhood memories, either depicting the older Kris Dreemur in place of his younger self or depicting the two's teen selves engaging in acts of fornication, acts that Noelle found to be immoral when the person she was engaging in them with was her own best friend. On top of all of that, was the memories of her father.
Her father still in Hospital, her mother at work, even working when she was meant to be off, spending time with her. It was all too much for the poor doe. The only comfort that she could turn to was Kris. And now, after whatever the fuck happened between them, she wasn't sure if she could even turn to HIM any more. It just broke her heart further to imagine. Before she could wallow in her broken state any further, her mobile phone, which she took out of her romper and put on the side before throwing the romper itself in the wash, vibrated before a ringing came out of the device.
Eyes still watering, she picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID. A simple picture of a blue nerdy bird with glasses and a smug smile was on the screen, accompanied with the name 'Berdly' on the top. Noelle sighed, before answering the call, placing the phone against her ear.
"Hello?" she said down the phone, her voice wobbling slightly. Almost immediately, Berdly's voice came down the other side, sounding just as annoyed as he did a few nights back. "Noelle? Oh thank goodness! I was worried sick about you! I came over last night to get our project done and your mother told me you had gone out somewhere! I swear Noelle, I sometimes wonder if you-."
"Oh give it a rest Berdly! I'm not in a good mood right now!" Noelle almost snapped at the nerd, accompanied with a sniff. Berdly was silent on the other end. "N... Noelle, are you okay? I can come by later if you'd like me to. We can forget about the project for now." he said, the annoyance in his voice being replaced with concern. Noelle sat up, the thought of Berdly coming over after what happened with her friends didn't sit right with her. She needed an excuse.
Then she realized about her crying and how she was sniffing a lot more because of it. She then smiled to herself, her mind coming with a rather malicious plan. Perhaps, if she could work it around, she could...
"No, no. Don't bother Berdly. I don't feel so good right now." Noelle said, trying to make her voice sound stuffy, giving the impression she was sick. The sniffing certainly was helping here as she would sniff every now and then to complete the illusion. Just to be on the safe side, she then added a few rough coughs before continuing. "I think I've come down with something. I don't know if it's a cold or not, but mom said to stay in bed today until I feel better."
"Oh god. Well, I'll stay here and do my parts of the project from home. I'll give you a call later on to see how you're doing, alright?" Berdly said. Noelle gave out a weak "Mmm hmm." in response. Berdly then ended the call with a simple "Alright, bye." before hanging up. Noelle's ill façade faded away completely as she put the phone down. Now having let her emotions out in her tears, she stood up, exposing her figure to the room around her once again.
"Goodness me, it's been so long since I've faked being sick like that." she muttered to herself. She then grabbed a pink dressing gown and walked out of her room, stopping by an airing cupboard to grab some towels before walking into the bathroom. Upon closing the door and placing the towels on the floor, she disrobed, placing the dressing gown on a hook, unhooking her bra and slipping off her underwear before she took a step into the shower. She turned on the faucet and her nude body was greeted by the droplets of shower water, soaking her body once again.
This time, it felt euphoric to the deer, unlike the rain water outside, like being cleansed of her sins from the night before. Noelle allowed the water to soak her before grabbing a nearby bottle of shampoo. She placed the product into her hands before running her fingers through her hair, letting it soak in. As she stood there cleaning herself, she thought back to Kris, her head more clearer than it was previously.
Although she wouldn't admit it to his face, she still found Kris to be quite handsome as a 17 year old. She did consider dating him at least a couple of times in the past, but never thought about actually doing so until now. Maybe, if Kris was down for it, maybe she'll give it a go. But he'd have to make the first move on her, and that was IF he really meant what he said last night.
Susie, her clothes soaked through and her hair covering her face in a dreary manner, walked through the front of the building's entrance and made her way up the stairs. The corridors having an ugly grey colour to them as she took the sights in. After a few minutes, she got to her floor. This floor consisted of two doors facing opposite from each other, both of which were closed, along with the stairs in the middle. Susie turned towards the door on her left and walked towards it. Once she was close enough, she began to dig through her soaked pockets, trying to find her house key. She was so focused on the task, she didn't hear the door opening behind her.
"Got caught out in the rain, did you Susie?" a smooth male voice said behind her. The girl turned around to face the source of this voice. Casually leaning against the door frame was a man whose body was made of flames. Despite this, his clothing never singed or burned away. He was wearing a woolly beige fleece, baggy grey sweatpants and black bunny slippers with pink inner ears. He also wore a pair of square glasses over where his eyes should be. In his hand was a small mug, filled with what Susie assumed to be tea.
"Oh, hey there Grillby." Susie said, giving a small wave to the burning man. "Yeah, I got caught out in the rain. I was hanging out with some friends of mine and the storm caught me off guard while I was coming home." She explained. Grillby took a sip of his drink before responding. "Ah yes, that's the weather for you, one minute it's bright and sunny, the next minute it's pissing down with rain." he said a chuckle, which in turn, brought a smile to Susie's face.
Grillby was familiar with Susie, having given her and her family a place to stay when they moved here, with him as their landlord. The family got on well with him and he made it clear to them that there would be no problems between them, just as long as the rent was given to him on time. This alone was an easy feat for the Accrue family, only $1,124 or so a month... that was until Evelyn passed away.
Since then, with Caine's drinking habits, it was becoming harder and harder for the rent to come into Grillby's hands month by month. When it started, Caine was a few days late, then it became a week late, then 2 weeks late. Judging by how Grillby was standing outside his door with a cup of tea in his hand, Susie could only assume that her father owed some money to their literal hot headed landlord.
"Do you know if your father is around?" Grillby asked the girl. Susie's smile dropped. Deep down she knew that this question was going to come up at some point. For the last week or so, that question would pop up when she was talking to Grillby, even if the conversation was going smoothly, it would eventually come around to discussing about the rent. More specifically, how Caine was a certain amount of time behind on his payment. Susie sighed. "No, I don't know. I literally just got back. He's probably hung over at one of his friends' place or something."
Grillby turned to look out a nearby window, removing himself from the door frame as he walked over to it, observing the rain beating down on the streets below. "You know, I'll be honest with you Susie; I do worry about your father at times. He spends a lot of days a week going out to the bar and doesn't come back home until silly o'clock in the morning, black out drunk. It's a wonder how he's able to look after you after getting drunk so often." he said, a noticeable melancholic tone in his voice.
Susie leaned back against the wall, not caring if her wet clothes left any damage to the wallpaper. "He doesn't really. Most of the time, I'm in there by myself. I wasn't taught how to cook or anything, so more often or not, I end up ordering some take out, usually pizza." Susie explained to the fiery landlord, causing him to look over to the girl, still leaning back against the wall.
"I do notice that Susie. Aren't you not worried about your health? You eating pizza a majority of the week is gonna give you heart problems if you're not careful." Grillby stated to the girl. Concerning to him, Susie just gave a shrug in response. "I did worry about that for a while, but after some time passed, it didn't bother me anymore. Besides, I do work out in my spare time. A few push ups here, some weight lifting there. You know?" Susie explained.
Grillby stood there for a second, eyes locked on the reptilian girl. No wonder that despite ordering fast food nearly 3 to 4 times a week, she still looked fit and healthy! But still, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sympathy come over him for the girl. He imagined how afraid she would've felt if she was still a child when Caine went out drinking. If that was the case, then he certainly would've came around and stayed with her until he got back, even if he did pass out on the couch immediately after coming through the door.
"Well... look Susie. If your dad ever decides to get drunk and you're home alone with nothing to eat, you're more than welcome to come inside my apartment and join us for dinner. It'll just be me, you and Red Bird." Grillby offered, holding an arm out to his door. Susie looked through the doorway to find a red bird wearing what looked like an odd... dress? A long shirt? She wasn't sure how to describe it, standing there in the hallway beyond the door. "Hey there Susie." they said with a smile and a wave.
Susie just smiled back. Before Susie could make any more statements or the like, the door to her apartment suddenly opened, revealing Caine standing there, wearing a purple dressing gown. He glanced outside, meeting eyes with Susie. "Oh, there you are Susie. I hope you had a good time with your friends..." he said with a smile, which quickly faded upon seeing how wet his daughter was. "Oh my god, you must've really got caught out by the rain. When I saw how heavy it was raining out there, I started getting so worried about you." he added, his eyes scanning the wet clothes and skin.
Susie sighed, relieved that she didn't have to look for her keys. "Yeah Dad, I'm fine." she said. With that reassurance, Caine turned to face Grillby and Red Bird. "Oh! Good morning Grillby. How are you doing this morning?" he asked, the smile on his face growing back in full swing. Now it was Grillby's turn to shrug. "This morning has been okay for me, Caine." he said. He then took a sip from his tea before looking back at the monster. Susie couldn't see it, but she knew when Grillby was frowning.
"Although if I'm honest, it would be a lot better if I had a talk with you." Grillby said to Caine. The father stepped out of the door frame into the hallway as a look of concern replaced his smile. "Wh... what seems to be the problem?" he asked. Grillby responded by digging into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulling out a rental license agreement, Caine and Evelyn's signatures clearly visible on the dotted lines. "You are a week behind on your rent, AGAIN. I know things have been difficult for you since Evelyn passed, but this cannot keep happening." Grillby explained, an almost scolding tone in his voice.
Caine took another look through the agreement, sighing once he was done. "Okay, I'll be right back." he said as he walked back into the apartment, Susie watching him disappear into the living quarters. He then came back a few seconds later, holding a jar filled with bank notes. "The most I can give you right now is my savings. I was gonna use this to save up and get some work done in the apartment but-."
"Hand it over."
Grillby interrupted him with a simple command, complete with him holding out his hand, gesturing for Caine to hand it over. The purple monster looked down at the jar, before looking back at Grillby. "Look Grillby, there isn't enough in there. It's only about $350 inside the jar, it's nowhere near enough to-!" Caine tried to reason, only to be cut off by Grillby's voice, clearly tired of all this shit. "Caine, it's still $350 covered out of your rent. Normally, I wouldn't accept small payments like this, but for you and Susie, I'm being lenient. Now are you going to hand the jar over to me or are we going to have more problems?"
Caine paused for a second. It was a small loss going to a cause that'll keep the roof over him and Susie's head. $350 taken out of the rent will at least cover SOME of the payment, bringing the amount owed down to a mere $774, still a lot of money owed, but nowhere near as much as the original $1,124. Reluctantly, Caine walked forward with the jar, their landlord taking it from him and handing over to Red Bird, who walked into their living quarters with it. "It's not every last dollar you owe me, but it'll do." Grillby added, a lot calmer than he was a few seconds ago.
Susie's eyes darted from her landlord to her father. He seemed crestfallen, having lost a good amount of money, but if it meant it would get Grillby off their backs, then it was something he had to do. "Let's go Susie. I'll get you dried up." Caine said to Susie. The two were about to walk back into their home, when Grillby spoke up again.
"Hold on a second Caine. I want to speak to you about something else."
Caine turned around, surprised that there was more Grillby wanted to speak to him about. "It's about Susie." Grillby added. Caine stepped forward, towards the landlord. "Well, what about...?" he began, before remembering Susie was right behind him. He quickly turned around to face his daughter. "Susie, head inside and wait for me, okay? I'll be in a minute." he said, pointing through their doorway. Susie glanced at Grillby, then back at her father. "Dad, I'm eighteen, I should at least-."
"Susie..." Caine responded, his voice having a serious tone to it, a tone he would use on her when he wanted her to do as she was told. A few seconds of silence passed as Caine brought his arm back up, pointing back through the door. "I'm not going to tell you again Susie. Go." he added. The girl looked back at Grillby, then back through his doorway. Red Bird had come back, having put the money somewhere safe. Their face showed nothing but concern as they looked back at the scene. Susie, not wanting to argue with her father, just waved at Grillby, giving a little wave in the process and walked through the door.
Once she was through the doorway, Caine closed the door itself behind him, leaving Susie on her own inside their house. Caine and Grillby's voices could be heard through the door, but they were too muffled for Susie to make anything out. Sighing, Susie walked through the house until she got back to her bedroom. Taking in the familiar sights of the posters on her wall, she closed the door to the rest of the house. She held her face against the door for a few seconds, still in shock over the events of the night before.
She was actually impressed with herself, keeping it all together for that long. But now that she was all alone, she could finally let all those bottled emotions out. She turned around, walking over to her bed and grabbing a pillow. She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath through her nose... before throwing her face into the pillow and letting out a heart wrenching scream into the fabric. All the stress, all the hurt, the fear, the anger, all negative emotions that could be inside her heart came out in that one muffled scream.
But that one scream wasn't enough for her. She then let out a few short screams into the pillow, along with a few strings of profanities. Caine was outside, so chances were he wouldn't be able to hear her, but she still wanted to be safe. After a few minutes of screaming, swearing and other things into her pillow, she crumpled onto the floor, lying back on her carpet. She removed the pillow from her face, revealing to her ceiling the tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.
She was a small time crook. She did her fair share of stealing, vandalism and the works around the town. She had a few run ins with the police, especially that weird fish woman, but they weren't usually anything serious. This time, with what happened with Kris, Noelle and Ralsei, she felt she had fucked up big time. She still wasn't sure what the four of them got up to in that bedroom, but based on them waking up naked... she didn't even want to imagine at this point. For all she knew, THIS might be the mistake that lands her in jail!
Susie just lay there on the floor, the occasional sob breaking through her demeanour, causing her whole body to shake slightly. She thought of herself as a tough girl, but she knew she wouldn't be able to handle jail, despite what others might've said about her. She even heard small talk among students saying that she was more than likely going to end up in jail before she graduated from school. Even if it were true, she thought she'd be going to jail for assault, not for any sort of possible sexual misconduct!
After a few seconds of crying to herself, she got up and sat at her desk, turning on her laptop, the soft whirring of the laptop's fan bringing an nice ambience to Susie's bedroom. She NEEDED to talk to that picture of her mother again. Once it loaded up, the girl's face calmed down, happy to see such a pleasant memory being shown to her, it was like her equivalent of having keys dangled in her face. Any time she needed an escape from the harsh reality she lived in, she'd turn to that picture of her mother and would talk to it.
Susie sat there for a few seconds, letting tears escape her eyes before speaking to the picture. "Hey mom." she began. A pause followed, nothing but silence greeting Susie back. "I hope things are doing okay for you... wherever you are now. Things have been... rough for me, to say the least, especially after last night with my friends." the purple girl added.
Silence. Not that she was expecting any sort of response from the picture of Evelyn.
Susie sat up straight as she began to explain her situation. "Me, Kris and Noelle met up with another friend of ours. His name is Ralsei, he's a very lovely monster. You would've liked him. We all went into this forest area and hung out around a campfire. Then, we found..."
The front door opening and closing made her stop and look towards her bedroom door. Caine's footsteps echoed as he walked into the living room. There was then the sound of a thump as Caine fell into the sofa and a few seconds later, the sounds of a television show interrupted the silence. Judging by what sounded like applause, Susie assumed her dad must've put on some sort of game show. She turned back to face the picture of her mother.
"We found this fruit, growing out of a bush. It's... it's hard to explain, but long story short, we tried some juices inside the fruit and I think it got us drunk. Now, I'm sure me getting drunk isn't the problem. You've seen me get drunk, before you..." she paused, hurt by memories of her passing. She then sighed before continuing, skipping over the fact she was gone.
"Anyway, when we went to bed, I felt light headed. I woke up, wanting to use the bathroom. So I went and found it, did my business and when I was about to leave, I must've slipped and hit myself against something. I don't remember, but what I do remember is Ralsei bursting into the bathroom and lifting me up, asking if I was okay. With my arm around his shoulder, he took me into this other bedroom that none of us were in at the time, where... we found Kris and Noelle smooching on some king size bed of sorts."
Susie smirked and laughed a little to herself, glancing away from the picture at the carpet below her. "It's funny; you never think a pair of childhood friends would become such a cute little couple until you actually see it happen. I had a feeling the two were gonna get together someday though." she added. When she looked back at the picture however, her smirk faded as she continued. "Then after that, I don't remember what happened between us, but this morning, we woke up... and we were all lying in the same bed together... naked."
Flashes of images of her waking up naked, Kris beside her also naked, Ralsei in the en-suite throwing up and Noelle standing at the foot of the bed replayed in her mind. Perhaps nothing happened between them, but after they all woke up naked, there was no denying that SOMETHING happened between them the night before. And it all started with that damn Amarero juice! Susie had to pause to get her thoughts together.
"I... I don't know WHAT exactly happened in that room, but judging how all of us woke up naked, next to each other, I can only assume that we..." she explained, trailing off at the thought of doing something... obscene in that bed with her friends. Her eyes beginning to tear up once again, Susie leaned back against her chair, her fingers pressed against the inner corners of her eyes in an effort to stop any more tears forming. After a few seconds, she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. She glanced at the picture.
"I... I know we have a funny age of consent law here. It's not... it's not like half of the United States. I think... it's the same as some country in Europe, but..." Susie pressed her fingers against her temples, trying to remember which country she was thinking of, but in the end, she gave up. "Jeez, I can't remember which country is was! I just hope that..." she tried to speak about this, but couldn't. There was just too much on her mental state to word it, even to a picture of Evelyn.
"I just hope this doesn't affect the others in some way shape or form. Kris and Noelle are only 17, and I don't know how old Ralsei is. God only knows how much something like this could affect someone that young." Susie remarked, still deep in thought over the matter. Her eyes weren't watering any more, which she was thankful for, but a black cloud still hung over her conscience, as she was unsure if she should feel guilty over what happened or not.
Susie then sighed after a pause. "I'm gonna go mom. I think I'm just gonna try and forget about it all." she finished, before closing the laptop. After a few seconds, the laptop went into standby, returning the room to silence aside from the sounds on the television Caine was watching in the living room. Susie could only sit there on her chair, her head resting against her hands. She had a lot on her mind after such a night. Not just of the events themselves, but how she felt about the others.
Sure, Kris was her friend, but she did wonder if there was more behind the mask Kris would put on around her. Since they got to know each other, he was more open about his thoughts on things. He was more social when it came to things around her. Hell, Susie would even say that Kris seemed just... happier in general around her. The two would tell each other almost anything as if they were family. As though they had known each other for as long as Kris had known Noelle even.
Speaking of Noelle, Susie always had a sneaking suspicion that the deer wished for more than friendship out of her. Love perhaps? She hadn't been open about it with anyone, let alone Noelle, but since Susie was 15 or thereabouts, she had identified as being bisexual. There were both guys and girls she found hot. Dare she say, she even found that fish police officer woman hot at times. It took a while for her to come to terms, but a weight felt lifted off her shoulders once she accepted that.
She couldn't help but wonder if Noelle would be okay with her, if she somehow found out she was bi. Surely, she would, especially if what Susie thought was true and Noelle had some sort of crush on her! That felt... Ralsei behind. As much as Susie liked to pick on the fluffy boy, part of her was enamoured by the young prince. The way he always seemed to look out for her, like he did with Kris and Noelle. As she sat in that chair, she pondered whether or not Ralsei might have some hidden feelings for her.
She didn't want to admit it, but there was a soft spot for Ralsei in her cold heart. But there was also a soft spot for Kris and Noelle too. Her emotions were in conflict with her heart as she sat there, reflecting on everything her and her friends went through, both the night before and prior. It was something she'd have to spend a lot of time thinking about. But as for now, she wanted to get out of her clothes. She quickly undressed and put on a bathrobe, leaving her bedroom with the intent of putting them in the laundry room downstairs, on the ground floor.
The rain continued its assault on the boys as they fled through the streets, eager to get out of the harsh droplets hitting their skin and fur. The two's lungs felt as though they were burning given how fast they were running. On the bright side, the two would've more than likely burned off a few calories by the time they get home.
They were so focused on getting back, that they didn't even notice when they ran past Berdly's house, the aforementioned bird nerd sitting at a desk, facing the window, writing something down, presumably for the project Noelle and him were working on. He glanced up from the work for a brief second, catching the sight of Kris running through the rain with who he assumed was Asriel.
"Heh, how typical of Kris, getting on with anything BUT school work with Asriel." Berdly thought to himself as he watched the human run past. It was only when he took a good look at the boy running with him did he notice that it WASN'T Asriel running with him. "Wait, that's not Asriel." he then thought to himself, standing up to try and get a good look at the boy. However, Kris was too fast and he couldn't get a good view of him before the two disappeared down the street, beyond Berdly's viewpoint of his window. Berdly then sighed in annoyance over not seeing Kris' friend and sat back down, getting on with his writing.
But anyway, the two ran down the road, the Dreemur household now in sight. It took a few seconds for them to run up to the front door. Kris took note that Toriel's car wasn't in the driveway as he got out his house key and unlocked the door, rushing inside with Ralsei behind him. The human slammed the door once both were inside and leaned against it. Both boys stood there, trying to catch their breath, Ralsei's hands resting on his knees, soaked through his robe.
"Kris... I don't think I've ever ran like that... in all my life." Ralsei said, his breath coming back to him. Kris tilted his head up, still facing the door. "Honestly dude, if it wasn't raining out there, I would've shown you around the neighbourhood." he explained to the prince, his breath finally returning to him. When he didn't hear a response from his friend, Kris turned around. He found Ralsei looking around the room, his eyes lit up with wonder and amazement at how it was all laid out before him.
Everything seemed much more brighter and colourful to Ralsei than it was in the Dark World. There was more warm colours as opposed to the blacks and the blues of his home, the light casting beautiful looking shadows on the walls, surfaces and the like. Ralsei stepped further into the house, still in awe at how the décor looked. "Is... is this where you live Kris? It looks beautiful." he said, mesmerized by the sights around him. Kris stood beside the goat as he responded. "Yeah, it's not much, but it's home to me. Come on, let's head upstairs. I'll show you me and Asriel's room."
The two proceeded upstairs, unaware of a sound coming from the bathroom. The whole time they were talking, there was the faint running of a shower which ended as the two headed upstairs. As for the boys, they walked into the bedroom and Kris went for a door in front of Asriel's bed first thing, while Ralsei took another look around. His attention was brought to Kris when he heard his voice, calling him over with a "Hey Ralsei!", causing him to rush over.
The door Kris had opened was a built in wardrobe. Inside were two plastic chests of drawers, one labelled 'Kris', the other labelled 'Asriel'. The drawers themselves were made of clear plastic, allowing whatever was inside to be visible to those looking in. Two of them at the top contained underwear and socks, while the ones below it held various t-shirts, shirts and the like. Hung up above the drawers were a selection of hoodies, coats, jackets and gowns, looking rather neat compared to the shirts inside the drawers, which looked crumpled and creased by comparison.
There was also a shelf going above the hangers. This was filled with a game's console Kris, Noelle and Asriel would play with as kids. There was also some other fabrics up there too. Ralsei looked all across from it, snapping out of it when Kris spoke once again, facing him. "It won't do you any favours to keep wearing that robe while it's soaking wet. There's some clothes in here that we'll look through while we dry your robe off."
Ralsei looked over at Kris, seemingly in surprise. "You... you're allowing me to wear your clothes?" he asked with a blush growing on his face. Not that he minded, but it felt strange, the idea of wearing his friend's clothing. Kris nodded, before turning back to look into the wardrobe. "Yeah, just pick what you want and I'll get them for you, as long as it's not from Asriel's drawer. I don't know if he'd like us snooping through his stuff." Kris added. Almost immediately, Ralsei's eyes noticed something on the top shelf.
"Hey Kris, what about this?" he asked as he reached towards the clothing. He pulled it down, getting a shocked "Hey, hey, hey! Easy! Easy!" from Kris. The human suddenly grabbed Ralsei by the shoulders and pulled him away from the wardrobe as an object slipped off the fabric and hit the carpet with a soft thud. If it weren't for Kris moving him, the object would've knocked Ralsei on the head. The fluffy boy took a look at the object on the ground, a black baseball bat with golden reflective material on it, complete with fake gold spikes and purple rings attached to it. There also appeared to be some red splotches on the bat itself, mostly on the golden materials.
"Be careful Ralsei! If that thing hit you, it would've more than likely left a bruise on your forehead!" Kris said to him, picking up the bat. He held the handle in his left hand and let the rest of the bat rest in the palm of his right, a smile creeping onto his face, as though the bat itself brought back happy memories. "Wha... what is that Kris? Is that a toy of yours?" Ralsei asked, his eyes focused on the bat. Kris shook his head, not once losing his smile. "Not quite. It used to be Asriel's baseball bat, but then last Halloween rolled around and he let me use it part of my costume for that year, with some modifications done to it. In fact, you're holding the costume I wore."
Ralsei looked at the costume in his hands and held it up, taking in every detail present. The costume was what looked like a white uniform, similar to something Rouxls Kaard would wear. Inside it was a red vest with black string on the front. But the detail that stuck out the most to Ralsei were the barrage of purple feathers attached to the costume's shoulders. Much like the bat, there was red splotches of what he assumed was blood, especially on the uniform. This was a sight that brought some worry into Ralsei's mind. "K-Kris? Did you hurt yourself... m-making this costume?" Ralsei asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
"Hmm?" Kris replied, having been so focused on the bat. He then glanced at the costume, realising what Ralsei was worried about. "Oh! No, no, no. I didn't hurt myself making that. Asriel helped me make it, those red blots you see? That's fake blood I added. You see the costume is from a movie I watch. It's worn by the film's main villain during the ending. Asriel helped with my make up, my hair and a lot of things." He explained, giving some reassurance to the goat next to him. "Hell, I've got a picture of myself in that costume with the make up and hair done!" He added before walking off, bat still in hand.
Ralsei watched Kris walk off to his bed. The human picked up the Phoenix DVD case from the bedside cabinet and looked through one of the drawers, taking out a small photograph. He then looked back at the goat boy, a smile on his face, before walking back, both items in hand. "Here." Kris said, passing over the photograph. Ralsei traded the costume with the photograph, the human putting it back on the shelf and placing the bat back on top of it as Ralsei looked at the photo. A Halloween photo of Kris in full costume and make up, Noelle standing next to him dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and an older goat, which the prince assumed to be Asriel, dressed as Count Dracula.
"Oh wow Kris. I never thought I'd see you with a different hair color. And I must say, the costume really fits you." Ralsei said, taking in every detail of Kris' costume in the photo, looking up every now and then at the costume. He couldn't believe how different Kris looked in it. It was... stunning to say the least. "You said this was from a movie, right?" He asked. Almost instantly, he saw the same DVD box in the corner of his vision, being held by Kris. When Ralsei took the box, Kris went into the wardrobe, looking for something to wear as a replacement for the wet clothes they had on.
The fluffy boy examined the cover art of the movie, flipping the box to have a look at the back. "It's a really good movie if you ask me. The main character is a newbie music producer and the villain is a pop star that kills people and puts their screams into his music. You should watch it with me sometime." Kris explained as he continued to dig through his old clothes. Ralsei, albeit a little disturbed at the very premise of the movie, smiled, happy at the idea. It sounded like fun! Just him and Kris watching this movie together one evening, maybe some snacks with them to share. They could even invite Susie and Noelle over. He knew that would make a memorable night for the four. He smiled as he continued to look at the DVD...
The smile faded when he noticed the big red 18 sticker in the corner. "Um, Kris? I would love to watch the movie, but I don't think I'm old enough." he said, causing Kris to return back to his side. "What do you mean?" the human asked. Ralsei showed him the cover, pointing out the 18 certificate. "It's an 18 rated movie. I'm only 16. I'm too young for this movie." he explained. Kris took the box out of the prince's hand as he answered.
"Dude, I'm 17 and I watch that movie. It's just a suggestion. If Lancer was with us, I would NOT watch this movie with him." Ralsei still seemed unsure about this proposal. "But what about-?" Ralsei began, before Kris stepped forward, stopping his train of thought dead in its tracks.
"It's JUST a suggestion Ralsei. It's not as scary as you might think it is."
A silence followed, Kris looking his friend in the eyes. After a pause, Kris turned around, gently throwing the DVD onto Asriel's bed. He then put the picture on the desk behind Ralsei, next to the computer on there. "Anyway, I've found some clothes in there that might fit you." he said as he went back in grab them. He was only in there for a few seconds, opening a drawing and pulling something out before coming back out to show Ralsei. It was a long sleeved shirt with a black heart imprint in the middle of it. Funny enough, it was also the same colour as Ralsei's robe.
"This was originally Asriel's, but when he grew out of it, he gave it to me." Kris explained, Ralsei taking the shirt and examining it, walking into the middle of the room. He tried to imagine himself wearing it, how the fabric would feel against his fur. How the colours would look on his body. Ralsei smiled at the idea of wearing it. "You know Kris, I think I like this shirt. Maybe I'll go ahead and- Kris, what on Earth are you doing?!"
Ralsei, who had his view hidden by the shirt, had put it down and was now blushing profusely at the sights in front of him, dropping the shirt onto the carpet in shock. Kris was standing in his field of view, the bedroom door behind him, his wet shirt held inside his hand, exposing his toned torso to the boy, along with some muscles on his chest and stomach. His shoulders were quite broad for somebody so scrawny looking and his arms were average size, although some muscle could also been seen. "What? My shirt was wet, so I took it off! Don't be such a prude, Ralsei!" Kris said, sounding slightly annoyed at how Ralsei was being.
Ralsei's brows furrowed as his mood went from embarrassed to defensive. "Well, EXCUSE me Kris, for reacting this way when I see my friend without his shirt on without giving me a friggin' warning!" he answered back to the human. Kris glanced down at his friend's robe, which was still soaking wet, before looking back to meet eyes with him. "You do know you're gonna have to take yours off too, right?" the human asked the prince. The defensive mood quickly faded from Ralsei as he asked "M... My robe?", returning upon seeing Kris nodded, complete with a "No way." for good measure.
Kris could only fold his arms at how immature Ralsei was being. "Ralsei, come on! You're more than likely gonna get a cold if you keep wearing that! And admit it: you don't like how that fabric feels on your body when it's wet! Now are you gonna take it off or am I gonna have to take it off for you?" Kris asked, practically sick of Ralsei being like this. There was yet another pause, but a pause was all Kris needed to get an answer from Ralsei. He then sighed, having cannot believe he has to treat his friend like a child. "Fine, I'm taking it off you then." he concluded.
His hands shot to the bottom of Ralsei's robe, letting his palms become soaking wet. "K-Kris, I said no!" Ralsei protested, his hands blocking Kris' ascent with his clothing. Kris tucked at the fabric, trying to move it against the prince's hands. "Ralsei! Stop resisting!" he snapped. The two were so focused on fighting with each other, Kris trying to remove Ralsei's robe and Ralsei himself trying to stop him, that they didn't notice the bedroom door opening. In stepped Asriel, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He walked through the door, then stopped, taking in the scene playing out in front of him.
Kris only stopped when he noticed Asriel standing there. Ralsei on the other hand, didn't see him since his robe was over his head, covering his face and exposing his own torso to the room. Kris let go of Ralsei's robe, allowing him to finally rip it off, exposing his flustered face to the room. The boy turned to the human, a mighty crimson burning through his face. "There! I took it off! Are you happy now Kris?!" he yelled.
His anger subsided when he noticed Kris wasn't paying any attention to him. His face showing a deep shade of crimson also. It was only when Ralsei turned to face where Kris was looking that he saw why. Upon meeting eyes with Asriel, his eyes went wide and his face turned even redder than it was before.
"Oh Kris, I... didn't hear you come in. I, um... didn't know you had a friend coming over either." Asriel said, his own face turning red at the sight of this shirtless stranger with his younger brother. "I thought... that you were out." Kris could only say in response. Asriel chuckled a little, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, I was, but Mom wanted to do some grocery shopping and you know how much I hate shopping for groceries." he explained.
Kris nodded, remembering how much they hated shopping with Toriel when they were younger. Judging by what Asriel had just told them, he never grew out of that dislike of such a mundane task. Sure, he saw the necessity of such a job, but it was still boring to him, having to walk through long aisles just to get certain items, dealing with other people of varying attitudes and behaviours, among other things.
Asriel then turned his attention to Ralsei, who was still blushing away, feeling naked in front of the older goat, despite his sack pants still being on. It just felt wrong to the young prince. He was so focused on the oldest in the room in front of him, he didn't notice Kris was checking out his stomach, which to Kris' surprise, had visible abs to it! Dare Kris say it, Ralsei looked ripped even based on the tone of his stomach alone, despite how scrawny he himself looked!
"Oh! You and I haven't met yet. I'm Asriel, Kris' older brother. But most of the time, he calls me Azzy." Asriel said, walking towards the younger goat. He held out his hand for Ralsei to shake it, but Ralsei seemed taken aback by how Asriel looked. It was though he was looking at an older, more handsome version of himself. He was taken out of his wonder by a gentle nudge and a clearing of the throat by Kris next to him. He glanced at the hand before realising what he had to do.
"Oh yes, you're right; we haven't met yet. My name is Ralsei. Me and Kris met a few weeks ago, he's told me a lot about you Asriel." he said, shaking his hand, a wide smile growing on his face, his shirtless state not seeming to bother him anymore. Kris then stepped forward. "Don't mind our little... fight earlier. I was trying to get him some new clothes, since his robe was wet." Kris explained to his brother.
"I see." Asriel said as he walked over to the wardrobe and grabbed a nearby dressing gown, the same one he was wearing the night before. He wrapped it around himself, before letting the towel around his waist drop off of him. He would've been naked and exposed to the boys if his dressing gown wasn't already on. Tying up the cord, he picked up a pair of black jeans, along with a pair of white boxers, and walked over to the two. "Hey Ralsei, since you're looking for new clothes, why not try on my old jeans? I haven't worn these in years."
Ralsei took them off of the older goat and looked at them. They seemed like a nice fit and who knows maybe he'd look good in them? Ralsei then turned to face Kris, who was smiling. "Go ahead Ralsei, try them on." he said. The boys felt warm in each other's company, but Ralsei still signalled for Kris to look away. Kris took a glance at Asriel, who seemed to get the hint also, and walked over to the window, Kris following suit. "Please don't turn around and face me until I say I'm ready." Ralsei asked, to which Kris responded with a "Don't worry, we won't.", giving the goat prince some comfort.
As Ralsei undressed behind them, Kris and Asriel watched the rain as it fell onto the pavement below. Little grey lines formed out of the raindrops as they passed against the darkness of the trees before they hit the pavement and transformed into puddles. "Hey Kris, you remember when you and me would play in those puddles with Noelle when it rained like this?" Asriel asked, his arms resting against the window. Kris nodded, a smile appearing on his face. "Yeah, we'd get so wet playing out there. Mom used to hate it when we would come in dripping wet, leaving small dots on the carpet." Kris added, relishing in the happy memories.
It was common of the three to grab their coats and run outside in the rain. They would stamp and jump in the puddles, causing the water to go in all directions. They would run around, playing tag and other games together. Kris especially loved putting his hood down and letting the rain soak his hair. To him, it felt like one of those flashy RnB music videos for songs he'd listen to with either Asriel or Noelle.
Of course, such actions and games in the rain didn't come without consequences. There was a chance one of them or all of them would come back inside and have a cold a few days later. Toriel would warn them over and over again that if they played out there for too long, they'd get ill, but of course, kids being kids, they didn't want to listen. Even then, the idea of getting sick didn't deter the children from playing out in the downpours.
"There's something therapeutic about watching rain fall." Asriel commented. He then chuckled as he continued. "When I was still at college, I found it hard to sleep at first. My room mate would play video games late into the night and I'd hear him talking to his friends online as he played. Then I turned to white noise and background ambience. The sounds of rain would knock me right out. I could put on a video of distant thunder sounds on my phone, put in some earphones and lie back in bed. Give me 5 minutes or so, I'd be fast asleep."
Kris glanced over at his brother, making sure he didn't catch Ralsei out of the corner of his eye. "Huh. Maybe I should try that." Kris added. Asriel could only glance over back at him. "Why? You been having insomnia? Or did you just miss your big bro that much?" Asriel asked, a smile creeping onto his face on the last question. Kris smirked. It was good to hear that Asriel still had his sense of humour. It was one thing Kris hoped would never change about Azzy, and from the sounds of it, it hadn't.
His smile then dropped as he sighed, causing Asriel to frown, not once taking his eyes of the human. "In a way, yeah. I've been having trouble sleeping as of recent. Nearly every night for the last few days, I've had these terrible nightmares, involving my friends." Kris explained, turning his head to face out the window once again. He then paused before continuing to explain his nightmares.
"They all start the same; I'm standing on this cliff face above a body of water. I turn around and I see my friends. Noelle, Ralsei, Susie even-."
Asriel held up a hand. "Hold on, Susie? As in, Susie Accrue?" he asked, sounding surprised. "Y-Yeah." Kris answered. Asriel could only sigh himself as he turned to look out the window. "Wow, I've heard a lot about that girl. She's a full on troublemaker as far as I'm concerned. How you became friends with her without her dragging you into any trouble is beyond me." Azzy said, letting his eyes follow the raindrops outside as they fell.
Kris, for a brief moment, was tempted to tell Asriel about what happened the night before, about how they got drunk, presumably slept together and woke up that morning naked in the same bed, but ultimately decided against it, choosing to continue about his nightmare. "Well anyway, after a few seconds, one of them runs forward, usually Susie. She has these blood red eyes and her mouth is foaming. When I see her, my first instinct is to turn around and leap off the cliff, towards the waters below. And then-."
"I'm dressed you guys!" Ralsei's voice interrupted. The two looked back to face the prince. Ralsei smiled brightly as he showed off how he now looked. The green shirt seemed to fit him perfectly, along with the black jeans, which were tight, but not tight enough to give the goat boy any discomfort. Completing his look was his glasses on his face and his scarf, which now seemed shorter than it was in the Dark World. "S... So, how do I look?" Ralsei asked, holding his arms behind his back, putting his torso out for the other boys.
Kris lifted his fringe off of his eyes to get a good look. He was at a loss for words. Dare he say it, Ralsei looked adorable with this new look. He returned Ralsei's blushing as he glanced over how he looked. Asriel was the one to break the silence, an overwhelming sense of joy overtaking him. "Oh... my... God Ralsei, you look adorable!" he said, the blush from his new friend fading into the rest of his fur, being replaced with a smile. Asriel suddenly walked forward, past the prince towards the wardrobe.
"Hold on! I've got something that'll complete the look." He added, looking across the top shelf. Kris then stepped forward, his eyes still locked onto Ralsei. "Dude, I didn't know if it was possible at first, but that new outfit makes you look even more... cuter, I guess." Kris finally said. Ralsei was taken aback by this sudden compliment as his eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed red. "Oh! Th-Thank you Kris. I've never had anybody call me cute before." Ralsei said to the human.
Asriel, who had gotten what he was looking for, walked up to the two boys, who looked towards him as he got close. "Here, I think this'll fit you perfectly." Asriel said, handing Ralsei a cream colour beanie hat. The young prince took a look at it before placing it onto his head, fixing a few wild hairs to tuck underneath the hat itself and making sure his ears were comfortable inside as well. With the hat now successfully on, Ralsei walked over to a nearby mirror, checking himself out in his new attire, Kris and Asriel standing behind him on either side.
"I... I like this new look. The shirt goes with my fur, the jeans feel nice and the hat too. I should wear this often." Ralsei said with a smile. Kris then walked up, placing a hand on his shoulder, the fluffy boy turning around to face him. "Like I said, a lot cuter." Kris said with a smile. Ralsei felt so overjoyed, the only thing he could do in that moment was hug the human. Kris was taken aback by this, since usually HE was the one doing the hugging. Even then, he never hugged in front of anyone, except maybe Susie and Noelle. But after a few seconds, he returned the hug.
"Hey Kris, I think Mom is gonna love your new boyfriend." he teased his brother jokingly. The blushes on their faces came back with a vengeance. Their reactions were different when Kris and Ralsei broke their hug. Kris could only smile and laugh a little while Ralsei spun around, his face lit up with embarrassment. "No, no, no, no, no! I DO like Kris, but not in that sense! Me and him are just... really close friends! That's all!" Ralsei called out, sounding so flustered, which in turn, earned him a hearty laugh out of Kris. Asriel could only smile, watching Ralsei freak out like this.
To Asriel, he might've just met Ralsei a few minutes, but based on how he was, he was such an innocent and affectionate monster, especially to his brother. Not to mention how friendly he is as well! No wonder Kris got along so well with him. Besides, if it was easy to get Ralsei THIS worked up over just the idea of him being Kris' boyfriend, then hanging out with him was going to be fun.