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“Why don't we just… close our eyes, and, think about what Susie might be doing right now?”
Kris’s eyebrows furrow. Ralsei watches as their entire body scrunches up, eyes looking vacant. Their chest twitches, then, all of a sudden, they relax, and their eyes seem to gain a bit of color. Real color.
“Kris?” He keeps his voice soft. “You there?”
Kris nods. Keeps their head down. One of their shaking hands comes up to grip at their other arm, clinging to it like they’re trying to box themself in.
“Do you need anything? How are you feeling?” Sometimes he wishes he could just read his friends’ minds to figure out exactly how to help them and get them what they need. “How can I help?”
Kris mumbles something. They sway slightly.
“You should eat something.” Ralsei checks Kris’s pack and pulls out two CD bagels. “Take those– or, if you want something else–”
Kris mumbles something about them being for battles and shakes their head.
“Kris, please eat them.”
A sigh. Kris takes a bagel and takes a small bite out of one of them. They look unsteady.
“Shall we sit?”
Kris, unsurprisingly, shakes their head. They sway a little more, blinking rapidly, and steady themself against the wall.
“You should save your strength,” Ralsei murmurs. “You look quite awful.” A small pause. “Wouldn’t want Susie to notice.”
That gives Kris pause. They mutter something Ralsei figures would probably be best if left unheard, and stumble slightly to lean against the wall with an exhausted, shaky sigh. Then, slowly, they slide down and sit, pulling their knees up to their chest and resting their cheek on them. Ralsei sits beside them, shoulders nearly touching.
“Are you able to eat any more?”
Kris takes another bite.
Then another.
Then a few more.
“How do you feel now?”
Kris shrugs.
“Better, hopefully. We have a long night ahead of us. And we’ve already had quite a few behind us.”
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Kris begins to tip to the side. Their head hits Ralsei’s shoulder, then slides down to his chest. They curl up in a tiny ball, exhaling softly. Ralsei startles, then gently pulls them in. They’re shaking. They’re exhausted. They look nearly asleep.
“Does anything hurt?” Ralsei murmurs. “Anything need healing?”
Kris shakes their head.
“You’re sure? Not even just a headache?”
Kris shakes their head again, firmer this time.
It feels like a lie, but it’s not Ralsei’s place to pry. It’s just Ralsei’s place to stay. To be there. To keep Kris alive. But that’s a bit difficult when Kris won’t say if they’re in pain. And Ralsei would never heal someone without their permission. It just wouldn’t feel right.
But he can encourage.
“You can take a small nap, if you’d like. I’ll wake you up when Susie is back. I can even try to stall her, if that helps.”
Kris mumbles something unintelligible, and curls in even more. Slowly, their arms reach around Ralsei’s waist, and they exhale slowly. They’re still shaking.
Kris murmurs something softly.
“What was that, Kris?”
“Warm.”
Ralsei blinks. Holds on a little tighter, as Kris nuzzles their head in like a puppy.
He uses one hand to rub slow circles into his friend’s back, even if he’s not sure if they can even feel it through the darkworld armor.
Kris mumbles something again.
“Sorry, could you repeat that? I didn’t hear you.”
Kris sniffles. When they speak, it comes out rough and tired and hoarse, but far clearer than usual.
“Talk.”
“Oh,” Ralsei breathes. “Alright.”
He talks.
He talks about nothing, really. How he’s getting a bit tired of his usual attire. How he’s a bit embarrassed of the fact that his favorite color is pink, so he limits how much of it he allows into his clothes, his decor. How Susie’s messy hair grates on him and he wants nothing more than to comb it out, because he knows there’s a bit of natural curl in there, curls that would be so lovely on her. How he wishes he could’ve gotten to talk to Noelle a bit more in Cyber City. About how he was relatively happy with how things turned out.
He really could’ve seen things going a weirder way. A darker way. But he trusts Kris to make the right decision. And if the decision doesn’t seem right, then it just means that… he doesn’t understand it yet. And maybe he never will. It’s not part of his job to understand, it’s just part of his job to do.
His throat is getting sore when he realizes his friend is snoring softly against him. His heart twists in pity. Kris’s body can’t take much more of this.
Seeing Kris like this, it makes him wonder about the prophecy, sometimes.
A cage, with human soul and parts.
It’s no way for a lightner to live.
But he can’t doubt the prophecy. That’s the point of all this. He just has to do what he’s supposed to, and then–
And then.
He can’t think about the and then. So he thinks about Kris. About how exhausted they seem, and about how he can go about fixing it, right now.
It’s not something a quick power nap can fix. But, at least right now, they look a little more peaceful. Finally.
Ralsei wishes he really could know exactly what Susie is doing just by closing his eyes and thinking about it. He would try and stall her, if he could. Anything for Kris to rest. That would help, at least for now.
It won’t fix the toll that the prophecy is taking on Kris. Or the truth that it’s withholding from Susie. The truth that Ralsei is withholding from Susie, just because he’s too weak to face it.
(If it stays in his own mind, then it’s not really real, right? Because darkners aren’t real; the moment Kris and Susie seal the fountain, they could just never come back again, and they wouldn’t have to know the truth. And Ralsei would never see his best and only friends, ever again. Maybe it would be best.)
He thinks he might hear Susie’s footsteps returning. Maybe she’ll be alright with a quick rest break, if she sees how tired Kris looks.
It’s all they can do, right now.
In their sleep, Kris reaches out and lazily runs their fingers through Ralsei’s fur, smiling faintly through clouds of exhaustion. They feel warm, holding onto Ralsei like a stuffed toy.
Ralsei doesn’t mind. It’s nice to be needed.