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Susie was sitting on her bed in Castle Town. It'd be her first time sleeping here.
After the... everything she's been through today, the Dark World probably shouldn't be the place she felt the most comfortable sleeping, and yet. Here she is.
She was in the middle of taking some deep breaths to empty her head before bed, when suddenly she heard a gentle knock at her door. It wasn’t Lancer, he'd knock louder. Queen wouldn't knock at all. Probably Ralsei, then.
"Come in," she said, and the door to her room opened. The way lights were off in her room but on in the corridor made the silhouette in the entrance look like a splotch of black on a colourful background. This didn't creep her out though, not when the silhouette was so familiar, and associated with warm hugs and a dirky personality. "'Sup, Ralsei."
Ralsei stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind him. "Good evening, Susie. I wanted to check up on you again. I know you said you were fine, but..."
"Just come over here, dumbass," she threw out the insult with a fond smile, and waved him over to join her on the bed.
He did just that, sitting down next to her. All neatly, as if he was sitting in a proper chair, because of course he was dainty like that.
"Did you actually wash up by now?" she asked, because she still couldn't get over the fact he didn't get to getting her blood off his face before she got here.
"Oh, uhm, yes," he replied, giving her a little embarrassed smile. "Thanks for reminding me earlier." A pause. "But, really, are- Are you alright? You seemed upset when you came here and--"
"Ralsei," Susie sighed. She didn't have enough energy to play this game. "What are you really asking?" When he didn't anwser for a good minute, she tacked on w "Come on, man, you promised to be more honest."
"Well..." Ralsei seemingly finally managed to get it out of his throat. "I just can't help but keep wondering... Aren't you afraid of me? S-since I'm a..."
...Titan.
That's what the Final Prophecy basically said. Susie could see it's red-and-blue light as if she hadn't shattered it, if she just closed her eyes.'The Prince will transform and fight, and then be sealed away.' Below, a Titan was pictured, seemingly roaring with anguish. Susie may not be the best in class, but she wasn't that dumb. She could put two and two together. Especially with how frightened Ralsei was about her seeing it. When she reflexively told him to shut up, and saw something extremely familiar in his eyes. It was the same pain she was used to feeling whenever she scared someone by accident.
She didn't want to see any of her friends feel like that ever again.
"'Course not," she replied easily. "I know you would never hurt me, you dork."
Ralsei did not say anything back to that. He only awkwardly shifted in his seat. His claws clutched at the fabric of his robes in his lap nervously.
"...Would it, uh, help you if we talked about the details of that and shit?" she asked. She still wasn't particularly good at all this having friends stuff, so she'd rather ask directly what Ralsei wants. This is really about him feeling better about himself, as far as Susie was concerned.
"I-..." he trailed off. Paused for a moment. Then, finally "...maybe?"
"Okay then," Susie nodded. Then immediately regretted not thinking up some questions before asking. In her mind, it was very simple - Ralsei is Ralsei, he's basically the nicest person she knows, he's her friend, and that's more or less all that truly matters to her. But if she had to invite questions into the equation, she didn't even know where to begin. "So, uh. Why do you look nothing like that big guy we fought? That thing was fucking creepy, but you're, like, all cute and stuff."
It was hard to tell, what with the low lighting, but Susie was pretty sure she saw Ralsei blush at that last part. "Oh! Uhm, I could look more like that, if I... let myself," he explained. "That's what the Prophecy talked about. That I would need to unleash all that power to save the worlds, losing myself in the process. Too mindlessly violent to deserve anything other than banishment."
"Dude," Susie looked at him. "I'm not sure you could do mindless violence if you tried."
He gave her a slightly pained smile. "I'm... happy you think of me like that, Susie. I really am. I try to be as kind as I can, so it's nice to hear it's working!" But it sounded terribly like he didn't believe it himself.
Oh, speaking of that, actually - "But wait, why is your default being all nice and cuddly, while that other Titan's default was being creepy and destructive? Could've that one become more docile like you are?"
"I suppose it is a matter of the type of Fountain we come from." Ralsei shifted in his seat again. "The Titan we've fought in the Dark Sanctuary was made from the typical Fountain the Knight's making, personifying the fear of the dark. A primal urge of Lightners, to keep them away from the unknown. It has no real rhyme or reason, only that it's bad and scary." He looked down at his paws, as if inspecting them told him something about this whole Fountain business. Maybe it did. "Castle Town's Fountain - my Fountain - has a few different properties. It is made of pure darkness. It doesn't so much animate new Darkners, as it allows the return of whatever the Lightners have seen before and want returned. That is its purpose. To be a more... comforting darkness. Like being all wrapped up in a nice blanket. And, I suppose, that extends to me as well. Instead of fear, I am the comfort of the dark. That's why I've formed small, pleasing to the eye, and with an inclination towards pacifying enemies instead of beating them up, I suppose."
"Dude," Susie shifted uncomfortably. "Stop talking about your morals like it's something you don't choose for yourself."
"...huh?" he turned towards her, surprised.
"It's always your choice to be nice, some nebulous nature or not," she pointed out firmly. "Seriously, dude. I'd know. I kinda..." She hesitated. She was still new to the whole 'opening up' thing. The fact she couldn't see his face very well right now helped somewhat. "I kinda used to think it was in my nature to be violent. But then I saw this whole ACTing thing work out for you and Kris, and had a good motivation to try it, for Lancer, and lo and behold, turns out I can be nice! Yeah, it was difficult at first, and didn't work out with the King like I hoped it would, but... in the end, it was largely a matter of choosing to try. You're choosing to be nice, too, even if it wasn't as hard of a choice to you or whatever. Y'know?"
"...yeah," Ralsei finally smiled softly. "I suppose you're right."
They stayed in a pleasant silence for a moment. It was another new feeling for her, to be comfortable being with someone without really saying or doing anything. But it was nice. And Ralsei showing her a new way to feel good yet again.
"Anyway, enough of that existential crap," Susie followed it up with. "Any cool Titan powers you've been hiding from us, huh?"
"Er, can't say I've been hiding anything per se," he rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. "More like... You've never asked why I have certain abilities that I do?"
"Huh?" Susie raised an eyebrow.
"...like how I travel between Dark Worlds without being carried around through the Light World by you or Kris...?" Ralsei suggested.
"Oh yeah," she agreed. "Huh. Guess I just kinda never questioned it? It's cool now that I think about it, though."
"Another thing is that my nature makes my Pacify spell very easy to use," Ralsei further explained. "Signaling things to go to sleep is exactly what the night does, afterall."
"Damn. So it has been, like, Titan magic all along?" she asked.
"Well, not exactly," he made a so-so gesture. "I bet you could learn it as well, just like you learned healing, Susie!"
Pacifying magic, huh? It... did sound nice. To have some backup option for enemies that wouldn't quit fighting willingly. "Sure. We can try that tommorow morning," she said.
"For now though," she continued, throwing herself to lie down in her cool bed. "I'd rather a practical demonstration."
"You want me to, er, help you fall asleep?" Ralsei asked, looking towards her somewhat nervously. "You're... really still that comfortable around me?"
"Yup," she confirmed. "Hit me."
"Well, okay, uhm," he looked her over. "You're not really... sleepy enough for an effective Pacify spell."
"...Yeah, figured," she grumbled. "Couldn't really fall asleep before you came over."
"I... think I have an alternate approach, however," he said, shuffling over closer as he did so, and removing his glasses.
"Oh yeah? What is--" she promptly cut herself off as something - or, more accurately, someone - soft cuddled up to her from the front.
She hesitated for a moment, before wrapping her arms around Ralsei. First delicately, as if her touch could break him. His fur was so silky, and he was so pleasantly warm, however, that she soon couldn't help but hug him tighter. Turns out, he was pleasantly squishy too, and just the right size for her to practically wrap herself around him. All reservations about acting tough and strong for her friends quickly melted away from the forefront of her mind, replaced with just how soothing this feels.
"...Does that do anything for you?" Susie heard Ralsei say, muffled as it was from his snout being smooshed against her collar.
"Huh?" she replied eloquently, as if woken up from a dream already. Oh, no, it's just about the best hug she's ever had in her life, no biggie. "Uh, yeah. Feels nice."
"Okay," he took a deep, steadying breath. "Now, then. Close your eyes, please." She did so. She felt safe enough with him to let him do whatever eldritch form of sleeping aid this was.
For the briefest moment, a tinge of worry flashed her, as she sensed something poking at the backside of her mind. But the alarm quickly subsided, as she noticed that it wasn't trying to force its way in. It wasn’t flooding her without permission, making her heart pound, her hands shake, her head spin. It was only Ralsei, politely asking for permission to help her relax. So she took a steadying breath and let him in.
The warmth that was previously coming only from the being nested in her arms, now grew to be all around her, wrapping her up like the world's comfiest blanket. It was warm and soft and fluffy, from every direction, almost as if it was trying to shield her from the sharpness a harsh light of the outside world would bring. Tension soon easily melted away from her body, her breathing naturally turned slow and deep, and her eyelids grew heavy enough that keeping them closed was no longer a conscious effort.
Above all, she felt safe. Afterall, it was just her, alone in the dark. And this darkness was her friend.
Susie fell asleep in no time.
Once she woke up on Sunday morning, she'd say it was one of the best naps she's ever had.