Warmth flooded their chest as they embraced their fluffy boyfriend, giving him a small peck on the head - putting their chin between Ralsies horns so they can better engage with the movie with him.
“This movie sucks ass.” Complained Susie in a hushed tone so she wouldn’t wake her girlfriend up. Pressing down on the remote pause button, the goat prodded with a knowing smile. “Then why do you watch it with us then?”
“I-I- well-”
“The villain is… kinda badass.” She admitted reluctantly, a faint heat rushing to her cheeks. “For a G rated movie, of course.”
With a roll of their eyes, they resumed the rest of the movie without pause.
The human turned around expectantly, though they didn’t know what it was about him calling their name making them feel more at ease.
“You were really cool when you played the piano.”
A soft gasp emitted from Kris, and for a brief moment, they took in his words with a kind-bittersweet smile. A silent thank you to the young prince before having been made to turn around to seal the dark fountain.
They clutched the pillow as hard as they could, knowing too well their inevitable demise. Their innermost fears and nightmares repeating as a cautionary warning whenever they begin to feel butterflies flutter in their stomach, turning into a red tomato whenever Ralsie gets too close to the truth to make everything better for this story’s closure.
The way their heart kept pounding against their ribcage, putting their own feelings over his despite all odds stacked against them.
His fluffy touch, his laughter ringing through the room over the smallest mistakes Kris made. Oh, how it made their heart yearns for their prince even while being separated for just a mere hour after recent events. Whatever made them realize how warm and comfortable it would be to have these millions of thoughts about the prince.
Fantasizing a future with Ralsie they presumed wasn’t going away - the fourth sanctuary revealed so many thing Kris still didn’t want to acknowledge.
But maybe… just maybe…
Their legs swung over to the edge of the bed - and the human wrapped their blanket tightly around themselves like a burrito; letting a free hand to go out of its way to rummage through Asriels drawers, hauling out knotted threads and sewing needles.
They allowed the blanket to loosen - adjusting it to covering their body like a shield from the frigid blusters of wind that shook the trees outside.
They started with zig zags - trying to make ends meet despite not having any sewing machines to practice with. While they could have just used a TubeYou tutorial to follow along with, they tossed their phone out the window in midist of their rage.
First attempt at hand sewing was horrendous. It was just a big rectangle with a half clump of crimson thread, they only needed to make a flower - so why was doing everything new by themselves so hard? They couldn’t even finish the stitch without light, glancing at the only star glowing above their bed - they mimicked its shape as best as they could. Blindly picking out the light and dark colors upon ending each stitch - weaving into the most basic shape they’ve thought of.
They took it upon themselves to lift their creation into the moonlight, squinting so they knew how much progress they needed to make.
I need it to be perfect, please; just this once. I wanna do something special for him, for all the pain and sufferings he’s endured.
Let me sew a gift he’s going to love and adore, so he can remember me by even when I’m gone….
⭐️
It was already next morning, but when the human was finally dismissed from their afternoon classes. Kris eyed the messily made yellow star shaped plush - various little ones they’ve refused to discard placed in a small ziplock bag, they scurried over to the closet - turning a sharp left and colliding into someone with a yelp before falling on their bum, wincing.
“Hey! Watch were your-” The doe perked up, eyes widening immediately from recognition.
“Kris?! What are you doing here still?” Panicked, Noelle tried coming up with an excuse as to why she was here as well. But the human brushed past her without a second glance, calling out over their shoulder to say: “No time to talk, gotta do something real quick!”
A bit out of character for them to explain themselves, but they needed to check in on Ralsie before Susie beat them to it.
They jumped into the dark world, thankful the plushies they’d sewed hadn’t turned into Lovey dovey Darkeners about to out their true feelings into humiliation - desperate, panting, they just wanted to make him laugh again, hear the soothing tone of his voice, embrace his inviting warmth and welcoming arms, take their hand in his and remind him just how loved he was.
The doors flew open unexpectedly, Kris collided once again into another but lighter mass as they both fell to together against the cold stone floors. “Oh, um- h-hello to you too Kris!” The goat greeted in utter bafflement to see the human in such a hurry.
Getting off of the goat, the cyan knight offered a hand to him, which Ralsie hesitated for a moment before accepting it. For a moment, there was silence falling between the two - and Ralsie learned to feel comfortable in it until Kris was ready.
“Hi.” They said too quickly that it made the prince half snort. “Where’s…” Ralsie looked behind the human, covering his mouth to yawn and rub his eyes. “…Lancer?” He finished exhaustively, eyelids falling heavy as he pulled away from Kris and scoured the area.
The cyan knight put the bag down and helped as well. Searching through every room until they found the spade prince in his bed; sleeping peacefully on Queens lap.
Ralsie breathed a relieved sigh, a tired smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Oh thank heavens, so that’s why I haven’t heard from them all day.” The Dark Prince observed carefully. “Queen is never usually the first person to rest after a days done.”
“Speaking of which, how are you feeling? After…” Kris asked him, Ralsie turned around with a smile that reached his eyes for the first time. “I’m…” He considered it, uncertain. “Strangely okay, scared but feeling particularly decent. How about you?”
For the first time, Kris felt like they could breathe easier now. Their conversation flowing casually, as though it felt righteous in a way they’ve never thought possible. They flexed their fingers as a way of testing whether they were in control or not.
“Weirdly enough…”
…….
“Weightless, free.”
“That’s nice.” The prince commented, covering his mouth for another incoming yawn. “Excuse me. I don’t normally need much sleep, but up until yesterday…” He cast his eyes downwards as though it were just a hour ago since that incident. “That adventure took so much out of me.”
With that in mind, Kris took Ralsies paw in theirs and lead him to their bedroom which took the prince off guard as he was made to be parked on the humans bed; but of course the goat tried to protest, saying it wasn’t necessary.
“Park your butt mister.” They said in a mimicked monotone voice. Ralsie obliged immediately, mouth falling agape as he grazed his fingers in the fluffiness of the blanket. “Wow…. This bed is incredibly soft!”
Kris arched a brow and asked him if he’d ever made himself one like theirs so he didn’t sleep on the floor. “I have not.” Then adding on. “Even if I did start it, I would just end up not really using it.” He answered honestly.
Kris put a hand on their chin as they pondered their next move. They began taking off the metal of their armor and plopped on the right side of their bed and getting under their covers, surprised at the easy warmth the fabric gave them. Patting their left side for the prince to lay besides them.
An invitation!? Ralsie thought to himself, face flushing. “I couldn’t possibly Kris, lighteners and Darkeners can’t…”
“You need to sleep, staying up after bedtime isn’t healthy ya know?” The human chides, earning a small chuckle from the prince.
Ralsie made himself comfortable - shifting comfortably under the blanket with his cyan knight. “Are…” They both said unison, laughing with how in sync they were.
“You first.” Said Kris.
“Is this okay?” Questioned the prince, his heart rapidly going ba-dump each minute.
The corners of the humans lips turned upwards. “Yes.”
Sleep eventually called for the both of them, and the two slept soundly.
Slamming their head on their desk for the trillionth time, the human groaned. “Kris? Is everything alright? Ms. Alphys said you’ve been like this for an entire day.” Noelle said, half concerned and half worried for her friend.
Not even bothering to look at the doe, they moaned an exaggerated version of the word no. “…well, it’s just the two of us here. So… do you want to all about it?”
They turned their head slightly, bangs falling to one side - giving away a heavy eye bag that earned a flinch from the deer as she took a closer look at their face. “KRIS!? WAS IT REALLY BOTHERING YOU THAT MUCH?!” Shouted Noelle incredulously and begun to dig through her purse for a butterscotch candy; sliding it over to the teen. And even though they had no energy left, the human lazily unraveled it, popping it into their mouth for a temporary sugar rush.
“I don’t know what to do….!” They moaned groggily, eyelids growing heavier as time passed.
“You could try communicating with someone about it if it’s ruining your sleep schedule. What did Susie think?”
Kris rolled their eyes, shrugging their shoulders. “She’ll make fun of me and endlessly hound me about it until I confess.” They immediately cut the idea off. Wait, is this what I think it is!? Noelle excitedly thought to herself, growing increasingly giddy with her goofy toothy grin.
“(I shouldn’t have said anything.)” The human mumbled irately, setting their head back into their arms - trying to get a more comfortable position before dismissal. “No no, Kris wait! I promise not to tell anyone else!”
“Fine.” They grumbled as they lifted their head out of their arms, tilting it slightly to one side to face Noelle properly. “Hypothetically, let’s say I met this…” They paused for a moment not for dramatic effect, but because they despised how much their heart sped up at the thought of him.
“YEESS????” Exaggerated the doe, her pupils gong wide like saucers. “Geez, calm down. I didn’t even finish-”
“Fahahaha! Now you know how I felt, this is payback from the time I told you about having feelings for Susie.”
Kris recalled the memory clearly, already mentally cringing - if they had known karma would get its way, they’d probably never believe it had to be now. “There’s this guy, from… another town that I’ve visited, I- never honestly liked him really much.” They admitted in a half truth. “But when I got to know him, it feels like some sort of sickness; butterflies in my stomach, feeling my my cheeks or face heat whenever it’s just him and I alone…”
As if on cue, their entire face flushes, though Noelle could see just a bit - she knew what Kris was talking about. “Someone’s got a case of the crush it’s~!” The deer sang, allowing a smug grin to grow on her face.
Groaning, they pulled on the strings of their hoodie - feeling the comfort of cotton.
“What else is he like?” She persisted eagerly. “He’s annoying, overly positive, clingy, people pleaser, secretive…” They desperately searched of more reasons to hate the Dark Prince, only for the rest of the words to roll out of their tongue effortlessly.
“Fluffy, sweet, kind to a fault, caring, loving, smells of sugary addicting cotton candy… oh god his eyes… I could get lost in them forever, ‘cause they shine as bright as any rose quartz I set my eyes upon…” Noelle’s intense stare in front of their face immediately snapped them out of their trance, and Kris wiped drool off the desk and their mouth with their sleeve.
“Just be sure not to tell any of this to Su…”
That stark and familiar tall six foot figure looked above them - a shit eating grin turning the corners of her lips upwards all the way to her smug looking eyes. “…sie”
“Nooo, keep going! I wanna hear all about your lover again~” The human groaned in agonizing disparity.
“Susie!? When did you get here?” Noelle asked in disbelief.
“I forgot something, I just can’t remember what it is.”
“Why don’t I help you? I think Kris needs a moment to process things before the bell rings.”
“Sure! I think it fell under the desk of room-” The sound of the classroom door closed behind the two, the human waited until their footsteps receded before hitting their head again for being an idiot.
When they were fully alone, they wallowed with a newly shattered pride at what feelings they’ve developed overtime. “Get out of my head Ralsie! Damn you fluffy nerd.”
Kris narrowed their eyes, a sickening feeling churning in their stomach as they observed the dark Prince crafting a brand new sweater to help with the cold. The back of Ralsies fur stick up at the back of his neck as he felt a growing unease settling between them. “Do you truly want to learn how I sew by hand?” He patted besides him, reluctantly the human sat side by side with their prince, just mere inches apart making their pounding heartbeat grow louder, faster.
The human tensed, uncertain with a shrug of their shoulders. “I- well…. You’ve already done so much work for us to be happy. The least I could do is to…”
Their cheeks flushed at the sight of their mini star plushies Ralsie held close to his chest. The princes eyes brimmed with awe as he stitched a few in a couple rows before starting anew. “To learn… basic things in order to keep up with you.” They hugged their knees to hide their reddening face, lifting their head up after they felt it cool.
At that confession, the princes heart sped deafeningly in his ears. “Oh- uh- I… don’t…. Really know what to say.” He stuttered, cheeks pinking. Then he smiled gratefully. “I’m glad I’m a good influence for you to try new things, haha!”
“But I must say Kris, for a beginner you are marvelous at making miniature versions coming from your creative mindset!” He commented eagerly as he dug through his pockets - hauling out a neat glamorous box that sprung open once he opened it with his thumb. Revealing a wide and vast set of sewing tools, handing a needle, some scissors and thread to the human - closing it with a click.
“I only just used what I have, never really gotten the hang of it and sorta… gave up.” They replied casually, cutting off the red thread and sticking the end into the little hole which proved to be quite difficult until they finally found a way to pull the tiny piece with their mouth, trying to tie a double knot.
“Yet you do it like it’s nothing else but a non -hassle to deal with!” They answered, making the prince nearly jolt out of his skin upon hearing their irate and much more spitefull tone than intended. “Sorry, don’t know what came over me, I don’t normally feel this entitled.”
But the prince only offered a firm and reassuring grip, a determination in his eyes that told Kris everything was going to be alright okay, even with just him. “Do you want to talk about it? I can show you the steps while you’re practicing.” Ralsie offered.
If people knew the real me, they’d leave. The dark prince thought to himself, believing every word of it. He felt a hand on his shoulder, tilting their head to one side in way that was silently asking him how he was doing. “Ah! Hello Kris, didn’t see you there. I was just thinking, is all.” Ralsie diverted from his feelings - the human frowned, knowing something was amiss.
They just couldn’t place what it was about the prince that felt different. They pointed to his paw, and Ralsie immediately took it out of the mix, though his fingertips were caked with vanilla cake batter. “…I guess I got a little distracted, sorry for ruining the surprise.” The goat answered apologetically.
Without further ado, not even allowing the prince to wash his paws - they dragged him over to the couch and sat with him until he was ready to talk. “K-Kris!?” Said the goat belatedly. “You really didn’t need to do that, I’m fine. Remember?”
“Truly. You don’t need to worry, I was just distracted!” He insisted.
Ruby eyes glowered at him, making him flinch into an eventual conceding. “Okay.” This is fine, but…
“Kris… why did you come today? What about Susie, is she okay?” Maybe it was two questions at once and maybe too little, he still had so many questions how the human got here on their own without bringing the Dino. As they usually do everyday they had school.
“Eating haystacks upon hydrangeas.” They answered with a half snort.
“Eh!?” He said incredulously. “Haystacks? Where in the world did she get that from?” Now he was the one laughing, and he hated how much the thought was terribly stupid. Kris giggled before it turned into a laughing matter with him, they made fun of the thought until their stomachs hurt.
Upon wiping his eyes from the tears of joy, his eyes widened when noticing how close they were to eachother. “Um, you’re…” The fit muttered, feeling his cheeks heat.
Taking note of this, Kris scooted away a few inches, clearing their throat as their own pink. Clearly not wanting to talk about how they managed to get so close together with the prince over a small joke.
“It’s okay, Kris. I…” He considered telling his knight on what’s been weighing on him since the beginning of time. “…can I be frank with you for a second?”
Suddenly, their shrimp posture straightened rather too quickly. Ralsie winced as he heard their spine crack. But the knight nodded affirmatively, attention fully focused on him, surprised at even himself when he invited them closer.
“I have… been fighting so desperately with my thoughts all the time Kris. And when I try to lie, it’s like you can see right through me… even with Susie.”
When Kris didn’t say anything, he continued.
“Sometimes I wonder if I can be more productive, helpful, instructive, inspiring. Sometimes it’s like I’m just dragging myself out of my own castle doors just to play adventures with you three all while knowing what’s at stake.”
His tone shook the more he went on, getting teary with a slow crack in his positive mask.
“Sometimes I think myself a burden, an unnecessary weaker party member. Just because I want things to be more fair for everyone else, for all of us to live in peace without fighting.”
“I just happened to ask myself…” He took a deep breather before turning to Kris with the most sorrowful smile. “What will we do once it’s all over? What if it all reverts back to how it was before? And me and you talking is just futile, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt; is that too selfish to ask for?” He finished as the tears strolled down his cheeks.
To his utter bafflement, Kris embraced him with a firm reassuring squeeze. “It’s not. And it’s okay not to want to fight, everyone has their way of living life.” They whispered into his ear, the goats breath hitched; and he could no longer suppress the lies he let himself believe, the mask of lies he latched onto failing as he sobbed with Kris.
“Don’t… leave me…” They both said in unison, putting their foreheads together. Knowing they won’t, and it was a silent truth they both knew would take time and effort, but they were ready to commit to the bit.
”Can- we…?” Kris kissed the goat’s forehead in agreement.
Giggling between kisses, Ralsie boldly decided to nibble on his partner’s neck - making the human flush a bright red while sending butterflies fluttering in their stomach. “Haha! It tickles, so soft~” Kris began to relax slightly with his kind kisses, returning some nibbles of their own only to be surprised by the prince’s swift dominance over them despite his average structure.
“What? I have been working hard to keep up with my daily runs everyday, I’m not letting it go in vain just yet.” He said with a victorious grin. Chuckling, the human took his momentarily distraction as an advantage to pull his collar and nibble on Ralsies ear.
“Hey! No fair! You’re lucky I was thinking about other ways to dominate you, hmph!” The pretense anger faded away into a small giggle as he felt Kris’s lips firmly on his left ear.
“Yo Kris! Where were you?” Running down the halls came an ecstatic Susie, stopping in front of the humans locker whom had their arms crossed. Flashing a brisk smile not reaching their eyes despite how glad they were to see her. “That show was badass for a school as underfunded as this-" She noted how tense the air around them got, the girl raised a concerned brow.
“Just thinking.” They replied, a little too quickly. Quickly adding before their friend grew skeptical of their strange actions. “The BMX thing was cool though.” They recalled with a growing enthusiasm. “I was just in the back, couldn’t see much.”
“Right!? Now I wanna do some tricks like that as well!” Susie’s said, the corners of her lips turning into a toothy grin. But it quickly fell apart the more she thought about it. “Officer Undyne probably is not going to let us, though.” She frowned in deep thought, perking up at an idea that came to mind and dragged Kris over to the closet - entering Castle Town.
“Susie! Kris!” The goat rushed up and embraced the two firmly with a greeting nuzzle on both of their noses before pulling away. Stunned, the Dino managed to say something despite her pinking cheeks, absolutely bewildered. “SINCE WHEN DID YOU LEARN HOW TO DO THAT!?”
The prince chuckled a bit before answering. “Oh, well… Ms. Mizzle taught me!”
Kris touched their nose, turning their face in a way Ralsie nor Susie could see their cheeks flush.
“Glory Glory” Ms. Mizzle bowed out of deep respect for the prince and went on her merry way.
“ILL SHOW YOU HOW GLORY GLORY I CAN BEHAVE ONCE I BEAT YOUR ASS IN THE DOJO!” She threatened, though it was in vain when a blue spade bounced on her knee. “Oh hey Lancer! What’s up buddy?” Lancer unrolled himself at the familiar voice and grinned. “Susie! Blue person! And toothpaste boy! Girl dad was just teaching me how to roll on my own, isn’t it exciting?!” Susie pat her friend on the head approvingly.
“Hey, Lancer. Do you wanna practice some tricks with your bike? I’ve GOTTA learn how that monster balanced on it without using her arms!”
“Wouldn’t that be…. Unsafe?” Added ralsie in a concerned manner. The girl only denied it with a knowing grin.
“Naaahhhh!”
“Besides we have Kris and You to coach us!”
“Coach?” The prince reiterated.
⭐️
“I shouldn’t have even asked, but at least they’re having fun!” Commented the goat, observing Susie and Lancer trying and failing to balance on just the bike petals without using hands.
“Kris? Did you want to show me something?” Said the prince, noting Kris was tugging at his cloak for his attention. The human nodded, asking Ralsie to close his eyes - “You want me to close MY eyes?” He sighs heavily in defeat when Kris used their puppy dog eyes.
“Okay, but this better not be another prank of yours.” Squeezing his eyes shut, the goat felt a wide flat bumpy rectangle placed on his palms - only opening them when Kris said so.
His mouth fell agape, looking between the music sheet and Kris in awe. “The Acid Tunnel of Love…” He read out loud, blushing fiercely as he said the title and read the lyrics.
“Did you… wanna? You know, sing it?” The human mumbled softly, feeling their cheeks pink. “If you wanted to, I mean-”
Ralsies lips played into a small relieved smile. “Of course!”
