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“Pst.”
Ralsei looked toward Susie as the two of them followed behind Kris. “What’s up, Susie?”
“Ugh, just because we’re all in the ‘Fun Gang’ together now, it doesn’t mean you can use that dumb, happy tone with me.” Lowering her voice she added, “So why do you keep looking at them like that?”
His eyes flitted toward Kris for a moment before meeting Susie’s gaze again. “Like what?”
“Like you wanna beat up anyone who hurts them or gets in their way.”
“W-what?” Ralsei stopped walking. “I would never beat someone up.”
“Sure…but you would if they asked you to, right?”
If Kris asked him to? “Kris would never—”
Susie groaned and roughly grabbed his shoulder. “That didn’t answer my question.” Ralsei stared at her, wide-eyed, until she released her grip. “Whatever. I still think you would do it. You do everything else they tell you to do.”
Of course he did! He trusted Kris’ instincts; whenever Kris would come up with a plan in battle, Ralsei would listen. Kris was so good at knowing exactly what to do—
“See, there’s that look again! Stop smiling so much, it’s starting to get creepy.” Susie shook her head as she left to catch up to Kris.
Ralsei, on the other hand, stood there dumbfounded. What was wrong with smiling at his friend—especially when the friend in question was so kind-hearted and brave? Ralsei watched as Susie barreled along the path, bumping into Kris’ shoulder as she passed. He instinctively tensed up before reminding himself to stay calm; Susie would surely start treating Kris—and everyone else—more kindly any time now.
Kris must have noticed that Ralsei hadn’t come back with Susie, because they turned around and motioned for Ralsei to join them.
Finally broken out of his thoughts, Ralsei hurried to catch up. He tried not to get too excited over the way Kris smiled when he arrived. “Sorry, I just…got a little distracted,” Ralsei said while fidgeting with the scarf Kris had given him.
Kris gave him a thumbs-up, then turned toward where Susie was—er, used to be.
“Oh no…we should probably hurry up, right Kris?” Susie had gotten lost before and Ralsei didn’t want it to happen again.
They nodded in agreement before grabbing Ralsei’s hand and sprinting in the direction Susie had gone.
Ralsei gasped as Kris dragged him along. Eventually he got his legs to function again, but Kris didn’t release his hand. The rush of the wind brought a hint of red to Ralsei’s cheeks as he matched his pace to Kris’, and before long Susie was back in their sight.
“Susie!” he called as they slowed to a halt in front of her. “I’m so…glad we found you,” he said between breaths. “We should…try to stick together from now on.”
She stared at him, then glanced down at where his and Kris’ hands were still clasped. “Uhh, if that’s what you mean by ‘sticking together,’ I’m definitely gonna pass.”
“O-oh,” Ralsei said, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “We don’t have to….” He trailed off when Kris released his hand. “Hey, Kris, we can still hold hands even if Susie doesn’t want to.”
Kris stared at Ralsei. Ralsei started to doubt himself. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that. Kris had probably only held his hand because they had been running, not because they had actually wanted to, there was no reason they would want to keep—
“Oh my god, Kris, just grab his hand already,” Susie said, forcing their hands back together and walking off.
Ralsei just stood there in shock, but Kris shrugged and started moving again, tugging Ralsei behind them. And Kris really wasn’t letting go. Why weren’t they letting go? “Are you sure—”
“Dude, seriously? They look at you the same stupid way you look at them, of course they want to hold your hand,” Susie said nonchalantly, as if she hadn’t just said something completely mind-blowing.
Ralsei tried to wrap his mind around what she was suggesting. “B-but Susie, you said ‘the look’ meant I wanted to beat people up, not that I wanted to hold Kris’ hand—”
“Ugh, you two are hopeless.”