Chapter Text
Rouxls Kaard hesitantly approached the door to Kris' room in Castle Town, where they were having some tea with Ralsei and Susie to attempt to relax while they planned out what the hell to do about the Knight. Due to bad weather the previous night, the festival had been postponed a few days pending further conditions, so they had a few days to spend in Castle Town and catch up on all the Light World stuff Kris and Susie had done, and all of the waiting for them to get back that Ralsei had done.
Thus, a window for Rouxls to say his piece.
This was certainly a strange thing to talk to anyone about, he thought, much less the ones who pretty regularly ruined his day in the dark worlds, but this was unprecedented behavior from his brain, and the kind of Losers who would talk about their Feelingse instead of Beating Up their Enemiese would know all about that kind of thing.
Hypothetically.
"Come in, it's unlocked!" Ralsei said cheerfully as he heard the knock, already coming over to greet whoever was at the door, only for his face to fall slightly when he saw it was... Rouxls Kaard. THAT guy. He kept a polite smile on his face, though, even as the confusion and slight annoyance at most likely having to sit through yet another lecture about how he Doesn't Appreciateth Puzzles Enough set in.
Susie was much more blunt, spouting out a gruff, annoyed "whaddya want," and Rouxls raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat in response.
"Guyse," Rouxls said hesitantly (without even saying hello), "I have some Feelingse to Jamme about."
"And good evening to you too," Susie snarked.
On the other hand, however, Ralsei's face lit up hearing that Rouxls actually wanted to discuss his feelings for once, and patted an empty stool next to him, a teacup sitting unfilled in front of it. "Oh, of course," he said joyfully, even as Susie barely stifled a groan, "come in, tell us all about it!"
Rouxls nodded curtly and sat down, his tall stature making it awkward to scoot in his chair, but he eventually managed to huddle his legs under the table as he sighed. He couldn't believe he was actually feeling any of this, much less admitting it to anyone, but here he went (oops, no, Ralsei just filled his teacup, he had to take a sip, nice, was that oolong- OK now he had to stop dodging the topic of discussion).
"So, you guys," Rouxls began. "Heyeth."
"'Heyeth?' Seriously?" Susie snickered. "You're REALLY running out of that Elizabethan English crap to throw at us."
Rouxls grumbled at this criticism, but continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I knoweth I do not usually seekest out you three for any reason. But this problem is a matter of the utmost... Importanse."
Kris gave Rouxls a somewhat skeptical look-over from under their hair, but then nodded, and Rouxls let out a breath he did not know he was holding. Come to think of it, he had no REASON to hold it. Since when did he take any kind of guidance on how to conduct himself in front of others from the HUMAN of all creatures? The one who ate moss and shoveled communion juice into their mouth like a water processing plant?! It was disgraceful.
But they were ALSO the one who lead the group who (he assumed) were the only ones in Castle Town to have any hold on the problem that he was having, so he just bit his lower lip in frustration and got to his point.
"You two remembereth... my Ex-Honeyes, do you not?" he spoke, his voice somewhat strained.
Kris nodded first, always in tune with their recruits, before Susie spoke up. "Yeah, Elnina and Lanino. The weather duo. Doing just fine without you," she snickered, before her expression evened out at the recieving end of an absolutely withering glance from Ralsei- and she knew he meant business, he barely ever gave her any kind of negative look, much less a WITHERING one.
"Well, yes, I have seeneth them out and about... at the Cafe..." Rouxls hesitated, before clearing his throat once again. "And it has leadeth me to Thinking. About the Three of us. And I believeth, because of that... my Braine hast been Broken somehow."
"Brain... broken?" Ralsei asked, arching an eyebrow. "What could you mean by that?"
"Wellst," Rouxls continued, "I thinkest about the Tymes that I have hadst with my former Loverse often. And, as you would expecte, those memories are Lovelye."
"What, you just wanna brag abou-" Susie began, before being gently but firmly shushed by Kris, the sound husky and faint as it usually was with their rare vocalizations. Susie huffed in response and crossed her arms. Fine, if both Ralsei and Kris wanted her to, she'd just shut up and listen, but she didn't have to like it.
"Nay! I do not wisheth to be a Braggart," Rouxls clarified frantically, "but juste the opposite. As I remember these Thingse, I often findest myselfe feeling... Incorrecteth."
"Incorrect?" Ralsei once again asked, now narrowing his eyes. "Like, something's wrong about you fundamentally?"
"Notst that either," Rouxls responded, "'Tis more... whenever I ruminatest upon the Actions I tooketh... it is obviouslye Not true, but I feeleth... as though that rumination is Wrong."
Ralsei was down a very convoluted path involving brainwashing and fake memories before he came to the simplest possible conclusion, quickly spouting it out. "Oh! Mr. Kaard... are you saying that you're feeling regretful?"
"Is that the Terme?" Rouxls asked incredulously. "I meaneth, I am sure others feelest this way... But I thought I was Abovest such things."
"No," Ralsei said, somewhat perplexed, "that's a thing everyone feels."
"Nah, I genuinely think he's just always thought this way," Susie piped up, taking a huge sip of tea beforehand. "Every single time we've screwed with him he's always said it was according to plan. Like, after we solved his second stupid puzzle, or when Kris and Ralsei took more houses than him, or... damn, with the whole 'reuniting the weather hosts' thing," she mused, not realizing until she began listing things off how relevant this point was.
"It IS!!! Accordingst to PLAN!!!" Rouxls shouted petulantly. "It ALWAYS ist!!!! But... it feels this time... like it was not," he admitted, much more quietly.
"Well... what about your time with them do you think was... 'not according to plan?'" Ralsei asked, giving small air-quotes just to confirm that that was Rouxls' wording, not his own.
"To beginneth with," Rouxls said, his voice smaller than usual, "I thinketh that Maybe, I should have movethed the Laser Pointere... somewhat Slowere." When he saw the incredulous looks from the rest of the party, he continued, hopefully getting on more agreeable ground. "And perhapst, I should have... Read? Some of their Feelingse Cards?" OK, the room was getting a bit warmer. "And even... shoneth light, in THEIR Mouthes, to see if they were Sicke 3?" Aaaaaand he lost them again. Bring out the big guns.
"I just feeleth like," Rouxls concluded, "Perhapsth, I should have lovethed them for Them. And not to becometh 2nd in Commande."
Ralsei put an encouraging hand on Rouxls' shoulder as he replied. "That's great, Rouxls! That's a really big step."
"Yeah, the first step is admitting you're the problem," Susie chimed in.
"Don't you mean... that you HAVE a problem?" Ralsei asked curiously.
Susie chuckled as she gave her one-word answer. "Nope."
As Ralsei groaned out an exasperated "Susieeeeeee," Rouxls leaned slightly down to Kris' level (which was somewhat hard due to their notable difference in height.)
"Listeneth, Human," he half-whispered to them. "You're the one who doesth the Actes, pray tell?" When they nodded briskly, he continued. "Dost you thinketh you could... help? With me and the Duo?"
Kris looked at Rouxls funny, so he clarified. "Just... kinde of... Guideth me on what to doeth next. I want to... Telleth those two about these feelings. But my heart, it betrayes me..." he trailed off melodramatically.
Kris gave a curt nod and Rouxls nodded back, standing up- and oh Angel, he stood up too hard and dinged his shins.
Ow.
No- oweth.
...
There. The pain was gone.
"Indeed, I shall notst tangle with you three any longere," Rouxls proclaimed. "I knowe... What I must Doeth."
Susie groaned into a laugh and Ralsei smiled as Rouxls entered the doorway, beckoning- only for the monster and Darkner to look shocked as Kris accompanied Rouxls out the door, giving only an "I know what I'm doing" handwave.
The two of them left in the room had the same thought, that they expressed at the same time: "Is Kris going to...?"
Susie interrupted herself with a loud laugh. "Nahhh, of course not," she scoffed. "What, do you think someone like them would follow a loser like Rouxls around and be his- *snrk-* WINGPERSON? We've blown him up, like, twice!"
"I dunno," Ralsei pondered, "Kris always has had a proclivity for mending and making friendships. And they flirt, a lot... even with a water cooler that one time?" Ralsei paused, reflecting on the fact that they freely flirted with the water cooler, but as soon as it became a majestic water spirit in the form of a princess, they immediately stopped. Wow, Kris WAS strange- but that wasn't on topic, so he finished his sentence. "Maybe being a 'wingperson' is just in their skillset, and we haven't seen it yet."
"Maybe," Susie said dismissively, "but I wouldn't count on it. I mean, like, there's limits. There's what you're describing, and then there's being a freakin' miracle worker."
Ralsei just chuckled softly in response, not wanting to confirm or deny that he agreed with Susie. The coming days had the opportunity to be very interesting...