Sugar and Spice

Susie watched the cauldron expectantly as Ralsei stirred. He didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry, despite his guest's infamous impatience.

'Dude, it's been like THREE MINUTES!' she whined.

'You can't rush these things, Susie,' he replied. 'Good cake comes to those who wait!'

'Yeah, screw that! What's the point in having magic if you can't just summon cake at will?!'

The prince chuckled. 'If you'd rather, I have a selection of pastries and sandwiches you can nibble on.'

'Nah. It's cauldron-fresh cake or bust.'

Ralsei laughed again. He had seemed somewhat crestfallen when Susie had arrived on her own, without Kris. When asked about it, she explained they'd been grounded by their mom for coming home late last night. However, judging by the prince's overwrought reaction of terror, you'd have thought they'd been sentenced to life imprisonment in a dark dungeon somewhere.

'Ralsei, chill,' she'd said, trying to reassure him. 'It's only until the end of the week.'

'End of the week…? But that's not for another…' the goat boy counted on his fingers. '…three days! W-w-what are we supposed to do until then?!'

'I'unno. I mean, it's not like we NEED Kris to do stuff, you know.'

'N-no, but…'

'Arright, arright!' she muttered, rolling her eyes. 'Look, how about we just… sit down for a few minutes, have some cake and tea or whatever, and then we can decide what to do after. Okay?!'

This had seemed to cheer him up. 'What a lovely idea! I was thinking of trying a new recipe, actually, maybe you'd like to help me make it?'

'Uh, I was thinkin' more about EATING it…'

But before she could finish the quip, Ralsei had grabbed her by the hand, practically dragging the much taller girl to his castle, to Susie's bemused chagrin and the general amusement of passing darkners. And so, that's how she'd ended up weighing out ingredients and tipping them all into the great cauldron in the castle's foyer. Some weird stuff, too – spices and stuff she'd never heard of before. And also, for some inexplicable reason, grated carrot…?

Just then, the cauldron began to shake and teeter, its contents roiling and seething. Ralsei's stirring intensified, tongue protruding slightly from his mouth as he fought to keep control of the increasingly-volatile mixture. Susie watched on, awestruck, as shafts of ghostly green light erupted from the pot and thick smoke billowed out from over its rim, coating the floor in a sweet-smelling mist.

'Here it comes!' the prince called out, giving it one last stir before leaping clear of the rattling cauldron. With a final surge of magical power, its contents were ejected high into the air, tumbling like a freefalling skydiver.

'Haha, come to mama!' said Susie, positioning herself directly beneath the impact zone with mouth open wide. But her ambitions were thwarted when a long, clothlike appendage intercepted the baked projectile, stowing it safely on a large silver platter. With a whisper, Ralsei recalled his scarf to him, taking the now-laden plate with both hands.

'I took heed of your advice from before,' he said cheerfully, smiling at the scowling dragon girl. 'This way, we can both have some cake! Now, how about we get some plates and forks to eat this, hm?'

'What, you mean instead of eating it NOW, I've gotta wait for it to be CUT, and then have it put on a PLATE? So I can eat it with a FORK?!'

'Umm… yes. Isn't that how everyone eats cake…?'

'NO!' she growled. 'Only weirdos do that!'

Ralsei didn't seem the least bit put out, despite the thinly-veiled insult. 'Well, Susie, if you want some, then you'll just have to eat it like a weirdo, won't you?'

And with that, the fluffy goat sauntered happily into the next room with his cake, leaving Susie staring bug-eyed after him.

Did… did he just turn her quip against her? When the HELL did sweet, innocent Ralsei learn to do that?!

'So… you want me to… what, exactly?'

Susie clenched her teeth so hard that they almost turned to powder, hands firmly clasped upon the armchair rests. 'You heard me the first damn time, Toothpaste Boy.'

'Yes, but… um, I thought I might have… misheard.'

Ralsei blew the steam from his tea, watching her work herself up into a lather. Part of him was pleased by this… development. After all, he'd been trying to coax her out of her crude, coarse shell for the better part of two entire adventures. This was progress, of a sort. Another, altogether more cynical part of him greeted it with apprehension, if not outright dread. Because knowing how Susie's mind operated, it wouldn't be very long before she found some ingenious-yet-boneheaded way of weaponizing it, the same way she'd done when he'd taught her that healing spell.

Shooting it out of her hands like a fireball. What did she think this was, a video game…?

'Yeah well, you didn't. Now are you going to help me or not?!'

The prince lifted a reproachful finger at her. 'Ah-ah. What's the magic word?'

Susie's head tilted almost forty-five degrees. 'Ralsei, I'm not FIVE.'

'C'mon now,' he said, trying very hard not to be condescending. 'Consider this your first lesson, if you like. Now, what do you say?'

She huffed a great sigh, rolling her eyes at him.

'Abra-kablammo,' she said.

Ralsei blinked. 'Um… good guess, Susie… I've not, err, heard that one before.'

'Yeah, that's 'cause I made it up just now.'

'How very inventive of you! But that wasn't really what I meant by "magic word".'

She grinned at him. 'You kidding? That's the most magical word I know! …well, I know some other words, but they're, heh, not really "magic" as such…'

'Susie!'

'WHAT?!'

'Just… say the word. Say the word and I'll happily help you out.'

'Come ON! Are you really gonna make me do this?'

'Yes! It's very important!' said Ralsei, now starting to become quite exasperated. 'It's really easy! It's only one syllable!'

'I mean, if that's all you want, s'not much point, is there?' she said, shrugging her impressive shoulders. 'If it's that easy to say, why bother saying it?'

'It's the principle of the thing, Susie!'

'Oh, don't get me STARTED on the principal…'

The prince stood up, nearly knocking his teacup and slice of cake off the table in his distress. 'Susie, please! Just say "please"! That's all you have to do! Just say it once!'

'FINE! If it means that much to you, then I'll say it.'

He gave her a withering look. '…well?'

Susie cleared her throat, never once breaking eye contact with him while she did it. She took a very long sip of her tea, swilling it in her mouth. If he was gonna MAKE her say it… well, a few more moments wouldn't kill him, would it now?

'Puh-lease,' she said, making exaggerated movements with her mouth and bisecting the word into two rolling syllables, the way you might if you were trying to tell someone you were very tired of their nonsense.

'Puh-lease,' she repeated, somehow drawing out the sounds even thinner, stretching each letter to its breaking point until they were just meaningless grunts.

'P-luh-ee-se—'

'Okay! I get it!' he said at last, waving a hand at her. 'Thank you, Susie. I believe you've made your point.'

She grinned up at him. 'Well, I do what I can.'

He continued to stare at her as she drained the rest of her cup dry. That had been like pulling hens' teeth, but at least she said it. Her earlier bullheadedness, closed-off body language, irritated scowl, lack of eye contact and sarcastic tone of voice sort of undermined the gesture, but Ralsei wasn't about to labour the point. This gave him something to work with, at least.

'Okay,' he said, slumping back into his seat. 'Okay. Thank you, Susie. See, wasn't that nice?'

The dragoness shrugged, helping herself to a second slab of cake. 'I'unno, you didn't seem to enjoy it all that much.'

'That's because you… you know what, never mind. You said it, so that's good enough for me.'

'Mmph,' she nodded. Man, that was good cake. Moist and sweet, with hints of warming cinnamon, orange zing and robust walnut, topped off with a luxurious cream cheese frosting. He might be a little weirdo, but Ralsei didn't mess around when it came to baking. Almost made putting up with his sermons worthwhile. Almost.

'More tea?' said the prince, gesturing to her empty cup.

Susie nodded, and held it out for him to refill. It wasn't even like she was particularly thirsty – she just seemed to want more of… well, whatever it was.

'Well then, onto the next lesson!' said Ralsei, some of his earlier pep returning to him. 'Compliments! I really like this one.'

'You don't say,' said Susie, cleaning cream cheese residue from her fingers.

'I do! Nothing says you appreciate someone more than a thoughtful compliment. It shows attentiveness and appreciation to that person, so it's a great way to endear yourself to someone you'd like to get to know better!'

'Okay. So… how does that work?'

'Well, um… I find the best way to learn is by doing, so… why don't you try giving me a compliment?'

She considered this. '…yeah, I can do that.'

'Great! Hit me with your best shot! Don't hold anything back, ok?'

Ralsei leaned in slightly, preparing himself. He didn't consider himself vain or proud, but he definitely liked to think that he took care of himself and his appearance. So even for someone like Susie, this should be easy. Consider everything she had to choose from – his sleek, shiny fur, adorably fluffy ears (that still occasionally tingled whenever he thought of Kris), the striking pastel green of his freshly-laundered robe, the fetching little black heart detail on his chest. No, not even she could mess this up. Just thinking about it made him feel all fuzzy inside, and heat rise to his cheeks.

'Uhhhh…' Susie squinted at him, mouth soundlessly forming the shapes of words she might say. After about thirty seconds of this, the prince's earlier confidence in her began to wane.

'E… everything okay, Susie?' he ventured.

'Just gimme a second, arright?!' she replied. 'I'm onto something good here, Toothpaste Boy, so don't ruin it!'

'Oh, that's… good. I, um, look forward to hearing it!'

'Got it!' she said, snapping her fingers and sitting upright. Seeing this, Ralsei's smile returned to him. Dare he hope that she'd rise to the occasion…?

'You're, uh, glasses…' she began. 'I like… how shiny they are. Musta… polished those suckers all night or summat.'

And then, she tried to give him a sincere, good-natured smile. With the emphasis firmly placed on "tried".

…well.

That was… well…

'You, uh, don't seem all that impressed,' she said.

He had tried to keep his expression neutral, but some of the prince's disappointment must have bled out anyway. He racked his brain, trying to think of something nice to say, trying to contain the damage before it got any worse.

'It was a… a good effort,' he said. 'Definitely… running along the right lines. Certainly.'

'It sucked, didn't it.'

'…it wasn't the best compliment I ever received, no.'

'Arright, well…' she said, attempting to reassert herself. '…well, why the hell are you getting ME to give the compliment, huh?! YOU'RE s'posed to be the damn expert here!'

'I… I just, um, wanted to see what we were working with, that's all…!'

'Yeah, well fat lot of good that did!' she huffed, tipping the contents of her dainty cup into her gaping mouth. Man, did that stuff hit the spot. What the hell did he put in here…?

'Y'know, I'm starting to think this was a waste of time,' she went on, standing up. 'Thanks for trying, I guess… but, uh, well… I sorta figured this'd happen, anyhow.'

'No, wait!' said Ralsei, getting up after her. 'D-d-don't give up now, Susie!'

He reached a hand out to stop her, but no sooner had his fingers grazed her elbow, she lurched away from him.

'Ralsei, don't…' she started.

'I know this sort of thing doesn't come easy to you,' he said quietly. 'It's like me and sarcasm… b-but everyone has to start somewhere, don't they? And just the fact that you came here at all… it, um, says a lot. Now, please… can we try this again…?'

He put on his most simpering smile, blinking at her with his big doe-eyed stare. But this sort of thing didn't wash with Susie.

'Guess we should both just… stick to what we're good at then, huh?'

'I'll… I'll bake you another cake! Get you some more of that tea you like!'

The dragoness's heavy footfalls stopped. Oh, that crafty goat. He knew exactly what he was doing, exactly what she'd fall for. Her stomach gave a pathetic little growl, betraying her aloofness for the affectation it was. She grunted, unable to stop a little smile forming.

'…well, if you're gonna twist my arm like that,' she said, 'guess I CAN'T say no, huh?'

'…I mean, you could, if you wanted…'

'What, and turn down free cake? I'm rude, not stupid.'

Susie leapfrogged over the chair and fell into it with a loud flump. Hands behind her head, one foot propped up on the table, covered head-to-toe in spikes, you'd think that she was the ruler of the dark world, and not the meek, waif-like boy sitting primly opposite her.

'…well, thank you for… for coming back,' he said with a smile. 'I, um, appreciate it… so. Let's try again with compliments, shall we?'

'Okay,' she said. 'So, uh… what's, y'know… a good way to give one?'

'Umm… I think an important thing to remember,' he said, 'is to make sure the compliment you're giving is genuine. So, you say something nice, but not just because that's… what's expected of you.'

'…yeah, makes sense.'

'A really good compliment comes from the heart, see?' he went on. 'S-so, when you say something nice, and you really, truly mean it… that shines through to the other person. D-does that make sense, at all…?'

'I, uh… think so?' she said. 'Kind of like eating a really good steak. When you're hungry, and you really fancy it, it's just… I can't even begin to describe it! Like that, yeah?'

Ralsei tried very, very hard not to laugh, and to his shame he didn't quite succeed. 'Err… sort of, yes! So then…' he clapped his hands together again. 'Perhaps you'd, um, like to try giving me another compliment…?'

'Sure thing,' she said haltingly, leaning forward to appraise Ralsei as though he were a fine antique. She scratched her chin thoughtfully.

'…can't do glasses,' she muttered quietly to herself. 'what about… scarf…? …bit on the scrawny side… maybe horns, they sort of look like… oh, I don't know!'

'I believe in you, Susie!' he said, looking for all the world like he was about to bust out some pom-poms and start cheering from the sidelines.

But she shook her head. 'Nah, this crap's hard! I try thinking about it, and my mind just goes blank…'

'A… are you sure?'

'I'unno what else to tell you,' she shrugged. 'Sorry.'

The prince blinked slowly, taking a long, languid sip of his tea. 'Then, perhaps I could demonstrate for you, instead!'

'Please don't.'

But he was already clearing his throat, and the next instant, his large, limpid eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that caught her off-guard.

'Uhh…'

'I love the way your hair shimmers and shines when the light catches it,' he said.

Susie reeled as if fluffy boy had reached over and punched her in the face. She whipped her head to the side, both to avoid his piercing gaze, and to try and hide the darkening of her face.

'J-jeez, the hell you gotta say it in THAT tone of voice for…?'

The prince giggled, the sound like clear water running through a tranquil meadow. 'And, I really admire your strength and physique, too. I'm a little jealous, actually.'

'…hey, c-cut it out already…!'

But now he was in full flow, and nothing was going to stop his complimenting spree. 'I bet you'd give great hugs, too! All warm and secure, like a weighted blanket… maybe you'd let me try it, one day…?'

'Okay, time out!'

Susie got to her feet, teeth clenched together. 'You wonder why I keep calling you weird? Well, THAT's why! You're coming on WAAY too strong, dude!'

Ralsei blinked. 'T… too strong? H-how do you mean?'

'How can you NOT know what you're doing?!' she said. 'That look, that voice… that's NOT how you speak to friends! 'S'like you're trying to…'

She looked away again, becoming strangely apprehensive. And it began to dawn on the prince just what she was getting at.

'…like you're try'na… flirt with me.'

Ralsei's eyes turned to saucers, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. His mouth hung open, cheeks burning red with mortification.

'N-n-n-n-no!' he cried out, trying to cover his face with his hands. 'No! No! T-t-that wasn't… I didn't… oh no! Susie, I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean it…! I just thought I was… being nice… I thought that was what you… oh… oh God! Oh no!'

The dragon girl's expression became irritated. 'Arright, you don't have to deny it quite so enthusiastically!'

'No, you don't…' he said, wringing his hands together so hard it was building up static in his fur. 'W… when you said that, I just realised… when… when K… Kris was here last, I…'

The scene played out in his mind's eye again, entirely of its own volition. That innocent little square of chocolate, held gently between his forefinger and thumb as he slowly, painfully, raised it towards Kris's mouth… the memory was like fire, almost burning in his head, and it was all he could manage not to shriek in anguish at his own stupidity.

'Okay, back up,' said Susie, eyeing the distraught prince. 'What… did you do to Kris…?'

'N… nothing!' he blurted out. '…well, I mean, we… I… was their butler for a bit, and that was… going well… I think. But then, something happened, and I…'

'What?! What happened already?!'

Blush threatening to completely overcome him, shaking with barely-suppressed angst, Ralsei told her what had taken place between them. And Susie listened, her jaw unhinging more and more as he went on, until her mouth was almost as wide as it could go.

'…I… I didn't mean to do it!' he wailed. 'It just… I just… they hadn't eaten the chocolate, and, well, you know it's their favourite… s-so I thought it'd be cute to… to… oh, I don't know what came over me…!'

His friend blinked, winching her jaw shut again. She didn't speak for some time.

'S-S-Susie…?'

'…You…' she said, haltingly. 'You… fed Kris chocolate…?'

'It was j-just the one!' he said, as if that somehow made it any less awkward.

She shook her head slowly, and reached over the table to gently rest a hand on the prince's quivering shoulder.

'Ralsei,' she said. 'You… you…'

Nope. She couldn't do it. After all the absurdity of the last few days – Kris's weird, pensive moods, her time with Noelle yesterday, and now this – something just… broke inside Susie. And before she could stop herself, her mouth broke out into the wildest grin she could manage, and the rumblings of a deep, powerful laugh forced their way from her stomach, out into the world, straight in the goat boy's shocked face.

'Bahahahahaha!' she howled, clutching at his scarf for support as she fell about, powerless to resist the convulsions of laughter erupting from her. 'You just… you actually… oh God, I can't…'

'S… Susie…!' he said reproachfully, tugging the scarf from her grip. 'Th… this isn't a laughing matter!'

'But… but it's just so… so god damn STUPID! I mean, what did you THINK was gonna happen?!'

'I wasn't thinking, okay?! And now Kris probably hates me, and you're just laughing at me, and— oh, Susie, do be careful, please—!'

But she couldn't hear him, doubled over and laughing so hard that tears were pouring from her scrunched-up eyes. Her hand slammed into the table repeatedly as she fought for breath, trying to get her convulsive cackling under some sort of control. With each strike, the delicate crockery rattled and juddered, sliding precariously towards the table's edge, and poor Ralsei's nerves frayed further and further as he anticipated the looming disaster. In desperation, he uttered a terse incantation, waving his hand at Susie, hoping against hope that the Pacify spell would take hold, knowing full well it likely wouldn't.

'Susie, please stop that before you—!'

Something gave, and before Ralsei could say or do anything else, the entire table capsized, taking her, both tea sets and most of the rest of the cake with it. A cacophonous cascade of china shards exploded across the floor with terrifying crashes, and globs of cream cheese frosting flew in all directions, while the lovely cake he'd taken so much time and care to bake for Susie now lay mired in a steaming lake of scalding tea, crumbling apart in great clods over the floor.

And in the middle of this chaos, lying among the splintered remains of the table, lay Susie, flat on her back, the wind knocked from her lungs, eyes wide open with shock and a pained grimace across her face.

'O… ow…' she gasped, weakly.

All thoughts of awkwardness and irritation forgotten at once, Ralsei rushed to her side, lifting her head up to look into her face.

'Susie, are you okay?!' he stuttered, eyes scanning her for injuries. 'Where does it hurt?'

'E… everywhere,' she managed to croak. 'Heh… guess that'll… teach me… haha-oww...'

'Don't talk,' he said, his expression suddenly changing, becoming calm and serious as he lay his hands upon her, gently applying pressure and gauging by her reactions where the pain was strongest. When she winced loudly, he winced with her from sympathy.

'Hold still, I'll have you fixed up in a moment, ok? I just need you to be brave, it'll just hurt a bit longer.'

'…d-dunno how it could… hurt any more than it – aaargh, jeez dude! Watch where you're prodding – fffffuu-mmmph!'

Ralsei's scarf finished binding itself tightly across her mouth. Just because she was in great pain, she didn't have to be crass about it. Now. Fanning his hand over the worst point, he closed his eyes, drawing up all the energy he could muster. A soft glow emanated from his palms, radiating through Susie's clothes and scales, soothing any pain and stitching any damaged tissues back together. Then, the prince focused upon that one spot, pouring every last vestige of magical strength into it, feeling it spread through her body until he could sense that the worst of the pain was gone. And only then did he break contact, letting the healing light fade and slumping back onto the floor next to her, completely spent.

Susie groaned as the scarf loosened itself. She sat upright, inspected herself. Amazing. It was like the fall had never happened. Well, if you didn't count her tea-soaked clothes and the clumps of sodden cake stuck in her hair, anyway. She looked over at the exhausted Ralsei, a flicker of concern coming over her. What a weirdo – there she was, laughing herself silly at his misfortune, but that didn't stop him from running over the second he was needed, and…

It had felt like her body became pure light and air, floating upon a quilted cloud as his gentle-yet-insistent magic had done its work. She'd only ever felt like that once before, after a particularly traumatic dentist visit. It had felt… peaceful. Like nothing else in the whole world mattered, except for that quiet, kind energy swaddling her in its restorative embrace…

…healing magic sure was something else, huh.

'C'mon, dude,' she said, voice still somewhat hoarse as she lifted the prince up off the floor. God, he weighed even less than Noelle, like he was nothing but fluff and bones. 'Nap later, arright?'

He opened his eyes, looking straight up at Susie with a weak little smile. 'You're… alright? …Good. I'm… happy to see that…'

'Yeah, never mind that. We gotta get you on your feet first.'

With her help, Ralsei was able to stand up, though he did look rather wobbly on his feet, almost like a baby attempting to take their first tentative steps out into the world. Even when he was in danger of losing consciousness, he somehow managed to look adorable.

'You gonna be alright?' she said to him.

'I… I think so,' he replied. 'Th… thank you, Susie.'

'Dude, I was the one flat on my back earlier. Pretty sure I'm supposed to be thankin' you.'

'Oh. Right. Sorry.'

She bared her teeth at him. 'NO, don't— see, the trouble is, you're TOO polite for your own good sometimes!'

'…sorry,' he mumbled again, before realising his mistake. 'Oh, I mean, sorry… no, wait… erm… you're… welcome? I think?'

The dragoness shook her head, smiling from ear to ear. 'Eh, it'll do.'

After the swatchlings had descended upon the aftermath with brooms in hand, Ralsei decided it would be a good idea for the two of them to take a short walk around the town to cool off after all that excitement.

Despite now housing two entire kingdom's worth of darkners within its walls, Castle Town still exuded an air of quiet, contemplative calm, bordering on sombre at times. Perhaps it was the ghostly blue light that seemed to pervade every corner of this dark space, illuminating everything in its soft pallor. Perhaps it was the lingering memory of how it used to be, a silent, empty realm whose sole occupant would stare up into the inky sky as he recited the legend to himself over and over, yearning for the day their long loneliness would finally come to an end…

Either way, the mood between the two friends had become rather reflective. Ralsei seemed deep in thought as he kept pace with the much taller Susie, and she, for her part, appeared pensive, almost wistful. Other darkners took note of this, and respectfully kept their distance, although they would smile and wave if one of them caught their eye.

Then, suddenly finding the silence somewhat oppressive, the prince cleared his throat.

'I'm sorry,' he said.

Susie looked at him, not saying anything. She didn't have to – the arched eyebrow said it all.

'…well, I mean… for, um. Coming on too strong, as you put it.'

'…you still hung up on that?' she said, unable to suppress a smirk.

'…n-not as such… but… if I hadn't, maybe none of that other stuff would've…'

She shrugged. 'No point worryin' about it now, huh? And anyway, being nice ain't something you should apologise for. I mean, it was. Nice, I mean.' She chuckled softly. 'Guess I'm not used to it, is all.'

He smiled at her. 'Still, it was… rather improper of me. I see that now.'

Her expression became ambivalent. 'Maybe. I dunno, I'm not exactly an expert, either.'

They walked on a bit further, leaving the main square behind them as they came across the promenade leading to the Great Door. Off to the side of them, Ralsei's mannequin stood lopsided, now completely stripped of its clothing, yet still staring cheerily into the middle distance. The prince cringed to look at it – he'd have to have it removed one of these days. Or at the very least, have its decency restored to it.

'You don't have to worry about Kris, either,' Susie said. 'They don't hate you. I mean, I can think of worse things you could have done!'

And now, so could Ralsei. And the incandescent colour of his cheeks told Susie everything she needed to know.

'Ahaha, I was right!' she grinned, lightly tapping him on the shoulder with her knuckle. 'You DO have a thing for them, don't you?'

The poor prince almost shrieked in horror at this revelation. 'A th-th-thing…?! W-w-w-w-what do you… I-I don't know what you're talking about! I don't…'

'Yeah. You kinda do. Explains why you wanted to dress up for them so badly, at least!'

'Susie, s-stop it…!'

But she was enjoying herself far too much to stop now. 'So… did you like having them all to yourself? Musta been bliss for you, waiting on them like that!'

'No! I mean, yes! But no! Ahh, I don't know!'

She laughed again, but when she saw the desperate, almost hysterical look on his face, she choked it back down, as it dawned on her that Ralsei literally didn't know what was happening to him. She felt something akin to pity for him in that moment. Having been alone all his life, and then to have such intense emotions thrust upon him… poor kid looked like he was about to burst into tears.

'Hey,' she said, trying to make her voice as soft as she could. 'You… really like them, don't you?'

The prince nodded, the power of speech robbed from him by how mortified he was.

'You'd… do anything for them, right?'

He nodded again.

'And when they're not around, it's like… like the sun's gone out. Like everything becomes all black and white, like one of them old crappy movies.'

He didn't exactly understand the references, but he could definitely relate to the lack of colour thing. It was like someone had drained the life out of everything.

'…but when… when they come back,' he said, 'it's… like the world has come into bloom, all at once. Everything is just… better. Food tastes nicer. Smells are sweeter. Sounds become symphonies. And… and you'd give everything you have… just to be near them.'

'…yeah,' she said. 'That's… exactly what it's like. You put it… really beautifully, Ralsei. You got a real gift with words, you know that?'

He gave her a weak smile. 'Th… thanks… I guess you can give good compliments after all!'

She smiled back. 'Heh. Looks like there's hope for me yet, huh?'

'Yeah, definitely!' he beamed at her. But then, he looked away again, the doubt creeping back into his features.

'Say,' he said, his voice almost too quiet to hear. 'Th-these… feelings. You s-seem to… know quite a bit about them.'

Her smile became strangely bashful. 'Eh, well, I don't really, uh…'

'Are they… the sort of feelings you… you have for Noelle?'

The smile froze on her face as her eyes widened with horror. Ralsei realised his mistake at once, but the damage had already been done.

'How… did you know about that…?' she whispered.

'Erm… l-lucky guess…?'

Susie leaned in closer to Ralsei, her gaze boring a hole through his glasses. 'Nah, see. That was WAY too confident to be a guess. So, let's try again. How. Did you know. About that?'

The prince gulped, trying to look anywhere but at her searing golden eyes. 'W-w-well… p-please don't be mad, Susie…'

'What… did you do?'

'When… when we were having the tea…'

'Yes?'

'I, um… I made a… a special brew for you.'

He gave a small yelp as she grabbed the collar of his robe and yanked it towards her. Somehow, her eyes had managed to widen even further.

'You… spiked my goddamn tea?!' she hissed.

'No, no! No! I'd never…'

'Then what did you do to it?!'

'Nothing! It was j-just a flavoured tea, that's all!'

'Oh yeah? And what flavour was it, huh?'

'It was… uh…'

'Tell me already!'

'It was… Noelle flavour.'

Susie's expression froze again. Her grip on Ralsei's robe slackened and the fluffy boy wormed his way free from her, dusting himself down and checking for damage. He looked over at her – she seemed as still as a statue, completely unmoving, like some sort of amazonian gargoyle.

'What,' she said.

'The tea. It was Noelle—'

'I HEARD THAT BIT, TOOTHPASTE BOY!' she bellowed. 'But… what the hell does that even mean?!'

'Well, it's like… it doesn't actually taste of… it's more of, um, a flavour profile, themed around a particular person. Different people taste different things, depending on how they feel about them.'

The dragon girl's brow creased. 'That doesn't explain anything. Like, at all.'

'Okay. So when you were drinking your tea… what… did it taste like to you?'

Susie gave this some thought. Then she thought about it some more. No… she couldn't rightly put a name to the flavour. All she could really remember about it… was that it was one of the most delicious things she had ever tasted. Better than cake. Better than chalk. Better, even, than moss (though she'd never admit THAT to Kris).

Ralsei didn't wait for her to respond. 'Well, I… I could see how much you were enjoying it!'

'Psh, I mean yeah, it was alright…'

'Susie, you drank three entire pots of it!'

'I WAS THIRSTY, OKAY?!' she grimaced.

The prince laughed. 'Oh, you were thirsty all right!'

'What the— when did you get so damn sassy?!'

He looked at her archly over his spectacles. 'I couldn't possibly say, Susie.'

She looked back at him sternly. But then, she just smiled again. 'Well, just… don't make a habit of it, aright?'

'No promises!'

Her grin became devilish. 'Oh, you think you're all that now, huh? Well, let's see what you think…'

She lunged for him, catching the goat boy in the crook of her bicep before he knew what was happening. Then, priming her free knuckle, she drilled it straight into the space between his curly horns, twisting up his fluffy hair and eliciting pained screams of surprise and alarm.

'Owowow, Susie!' he whined.

'Hahaha, not so high and mighty now, are ya?!'

She could feel him squirming to get away, but she had him held tightly, rendering his struggling utterly futile. As he moved, however, the cloth of his robe rubbed up against her bare arms, cool and silky smooth. And… how on earth was his fur this goddamn soft? It was like wisps of cloud, or loose strands of a wonderful, half-remembered dream. The subtly-sweet scent of marshmallows invaded her nostrils, seemingly emanating from his tousled hair. It took her by such surprise that she forgot to resume her attack, and instead just sort of… held him.

W-why the hell did Ralsei smell like marshmallows?! Did he just, bathe in them or something? Now her mouth was watering again, and she had the sudden urge to bury her face in his fur and huff, like she used to do with those scented markers Ms. Toriel kept by her whiteboard. It took everything she had not to succumb, tempting though it was…

'Um… Susie?' said the prince. 'N-not to complain, but… is everything alright?'

'Uh, what?' she said. 'Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just… uh… forgot what I was doing a sec.'

'Oh. Okay then.'

Nothing happened for a little while, and he didn't get any less fluffy, or smell any less delicious.

'…A-are you… gonna let me go now?' he asked hopefully.

'Yeah. In a minute.'

God damn it. This dweeb had no business being so comfortable. No wonder Kris liked doing this so often. It was like hugging a fluffy water bottle or something.

'Hey, Ralsei,' she said at last.

'Y-yes, Susie…?'

'…sorry for laughing earlier. And for… breaking all your stuff. And for making you waste all your energy healing me.'

The prince didn't say anything, but instead gave a coy little giggle.

'…hey, what's so funny about that, huh?' she said.

'…nothing, Susie,' he responded. 'Just… guess I was right after all.'

'Huh? What do you mean?'

'You do give nice hugs.'

'Yeah yeah. Don't get used to it.'

'I think you'll be just fine with Noelle,' he said. 'Just do what comes to you naturally, and everything else will follow. You'll see.'

Susie thought about firing a quip back at him, but she couldn't really think of one just there. Bad atmosphere for that sort of thing in the middle of a warm hug.

'…thanks, man,' she replied. 'I'm sure Kris'll come around one day, too.'

They'd be mad not to, she didn't add. It was plain to anyone with eyes that this boy was utterly devoted to them, from the way his voice went all faraway when they came up in conversation, to the furtive little glances he'd shoot their way, when he thought no-one was looking at him, to the way he lit up like a Christmas tree whenever Kris so much as acknowledged their existence. The way he looked at them, like there was no-one else in the entire world… perhaps, one day… someone would look at her like that…

He didn't say anything for a while. Then, he gave a weary little sigh, sinking deeper into her embrace.

'…yeah. I… I really hope you're right.'

Author's Note:

Firstly, to all the Ralsusie fans out there – I'm sorry for doing that to you. Maybe I'll write a fic just for these two sometime in the future :p

Secondly, sorry for the wait on this third chapter. Turns out, writing two serials at once is actually pretty tough – doubly so when they both vary so wildly from each other in tone! But in a weird way, it's nice to be able to flit from one to the other like this. Keeps me from getting burned out on any one thing, I suppose :P

Thanks as always for reading! Do let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback, it's always appreciated :)