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When Noelle finally joined the Castle Town, Ralsei always enjoyed learning how she took care of her long hair. Of course, Ralsei didn’t have any long hair, just a ton of fur. Kris had a lot of unkempt hair, though. The monster liked their hair. While disheveled, it was nice and soft.
The Fun Gang was taking on a challenge at the Dojo while Noelle and Berdly watched from the side. The bird lightner was upset because Susie had told him to “Wait your $!$! turn” after he tried to show off in front of her. Noelle was just cheering everyone on. The reindeer never did like to take part in challenges, mentioning that they were too much pressure. Of course, Berdly wasn’t the only one trying to impress someone. In the corner of Ralsei’s eye, he could frequently see Susie flexing or making a smug expression with a wink. And when he looked back to Noelle, she was taking in every bit of it.
He was brought back into reality when Kris was signing to him to talk about trees. They were fighting Clover and the past few minutes were spent conversing over boys and other things. They had finally finished the battle and Berdly struck out of his seat, “Finally! My lovely Susan, watch as I defeat this monster!” Susie couldn’t even tell him to slow down fast enough. He had already started the fight.
(He lost very quickly)
However, Susie seemed amused, giving out a few raspy laughs. Ralsei let out a small chuckle as well before healing Berdly back to perfect health. (He was still dramatically fainting)
Everyone was heading home. Susie usually stayed in the dark world, but Berdly, Noelle, and Kris had places to head back to. All the monsters (and Kris) were the entrance to the dark world. Susie and Ralsei were waving goodbye to all of them. Susie was specifically saying goodbye to Noelle, but Ralsei didn’t notice. Kris always seemed hesitant about exiting the dark world. Right before they left, they held their hand up and closed and opened their fingers repeatedly, saying goodbye.
Everything was quiet for a moment. Ralsei still had his paw up from waving. “Well then,” Susie started, “Off to bed.” It was a little awkward. Everything was bustling with noise before it all closed to complete silence. Susie was already on her way to the castle, but Ralsei hesitated. “You comin’?” She asked. Ralsei popped back to reality, “Oh, yes I’m right behind you!” He scurried over to where Susie was to join her for the walk back to the castle. Inside the first room of the castle, Ralsei waved goodnight to Susie one last time before settling in front of the cauldron. The warmth coming from the inside always comforted him. Maybe a little too much. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep next to it.
The monster woke up when hearing the castle door open. It was hard to make out who was there with his tired eyes, but as they got closer, Ralsei’s eyes widened. “Kris!” He exclaimed. Kris put a finger over their mouth to shush him. “Come on,” they whispered, “Let’s get you into bed, you don’t wanna sleep on the floor.” Ralsei’s face flushed a little. Usually Kris signed or gave a general movement to speak with him, so hearing their voice, even if just a whisper, was always a nice surprise. After hesitating, he nodded, “Won’t your mother know you’re missing?” The human stepped closer to him, helping him up then cupping his face with their hands, “I’ll be back before anyone notices I’m gone.” And with that, they gave Ralsei the softest kiss on his forehead you could ever imagine.
The two headed off to the second floor of the castle. No one else had really seen Ralsei’s room but Kris. It wasn’t like Ralsei didn’t allow them to, but they just never asked to see it. His room had a queen (prince) sized bed in the center of the back wall. It looked very regal, with bookshelves lining one of the walls and Fleur-de-lis patterns randomly scattered some of the furniture. There was also a vanity and chair that sat next to a wardrobe. Ralsei looked at the brush that sat on top of the desk part and remembered the thought he had about Kris’ hair.
“Hey Kris?” Ralsei began. The human looked to Ralsei attentively. The monster’s face flushed, realizing what he was about to ask. “Would you– let me brush you hair?” He finally questioned. Kris had a small shock on their face, “Is it that bad?” There was that nice voice again; this time louder. Ralsei panicked, “Oh– No, no, no, I was just speaking with Noelle about her hair– I didn’t mean that– You have amazing hair Kris!” Kris laughed, “Yeah, you can brush it. I just never think to.”
Ralsei felt like his legs were going to melt into the floor. He should have worded it differently. He was overthinking his words so much he hadn’t even noticed Kris shifting over to him. The human put a hand on his arm, “I’m serious, you’re fine Ralsei. I know what you meant.” Every touch felt like a spark. It was so nice to get reassurance for the things that Ralsei stressed over. Instead of sitting in the vanity chair, Kris took a seat on the floor. Ralsei didn’t question it. He picked up the brush from the vanity and quickly went to sit down behind Kris, tapping his feet happily on the ground as he walked.
“What do humans usually wash their hair with?” Ralsei asked happily. Perhaps he was just trying to get Kris to talk some more so he could hear their voice. The monster examined the messy hair, looking for a place to start. He decided just to start somewhere that was mostly brushed from– well– wherever Kris had brushed in the past. “Um,” Kris began, “I’m not sure. I just use whatever mom puts in the shower. There isn’t any other humans– so I assume they do too.” Ralsei then looked towards the more tangled bits. Making sure to hold the start of the hair so it wouldn’t pull at Kris’ scalp. “I see,” he replied. “Let me know if this hurts at all.” Everything was quiet. The only sounds audible were the light noises from the fountain and the noise as Ralsei brushed through the mess. It, surprisingly, wasn’t all that stubborn. After a few brushes in one area, it would be smoothed out. The hair was dark blue, though Kris had told Ralsei about his different appearance in the light world. Yellowish skin and brown hair.
Breaking Ralsei’s train of thought, Kris laid back their head against Ralsei’s chest, looking up with big red eyes. Ralsei removed his hands from the back of Kris’ head, holding them both up to let Kris move freely. “What are you doing?” He said in-between giggles. “Just getting a look at the merchandise,” They replied. Ralsei giggled again, his tail waving around slowly. Kris lifted their hands to hold Ralsei’s face, pretending to inspect him,
“Oh wow, what good quality. How much?” Ralsei laughed, “Free. For you.” Kris smiled, “So, now you’re mine, huh?” The monster nodded, giving a small noise of agreement. “My own Ralsei,” they declared. With a nod, Ralsei mhm’ed again.
“One that brushes my hair and even seconds as a pillow.”
“Yep.”
“...”
The hands on his face slowly began to grip, then drag his face down to a kiss. Ralsei’s face flushed. It wasn’t Kris’ first time to sneak out and visit the castle. Neither had it been their first kiss. But the feelings in Ralsei’s heart felt fresh and strong.
It wasn’t a long kiss. Kris loosened the grip on Ralsei’s face and allowed him to lift up his head. They looked at each other for a minute. The flowing of the fountain was all that could be heard.
Kris lifted back up to the way they were sitting before. After a few seconds, Ralsei began brushing their hair again.
When he finished, Kris’ hair was still as fluffy as before, but less tangled. A hand could be brushed through and not a single knot would be found.
“Do you like it?”
“You have no idea.”
Ralsei couldn’t help but feel that Kris meant something else. But that was enough blushing for one night. “Oh!” Ralsei proclaimed, “Here! Here! Brush mine!” Immediately, he turned around, handing the brush to Kris. Kris laughed, turning around as well.
Ralsei couldn't have been happier. This feeling was different from brushing his own fur. The feeling only lasted a few minutes before he heard Kris put the brush down on the floor. Only for a split second could Raslei question it before he felt a hand brush through his scalp. They were cold to the touch, but it wasn’t cold in the castle. It mesmerized Ralsei to the point where he hadn’t realized he had leaned back into Kris. They realized; And put an arm around his waist to pull him closer. They took off the hand that was placed on Ralsei’s scalp, placing it around the other side of his waist. Ralsei felt them get closer as they attacked him with kisses all over his cheek. Giggles flew from Ralsei’s mouth as Kris made over-exaggerated “mwah” noises. The giggles died down as Kris did.
“I wish you could stay every night.”
“Me too.”