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Susie went to sleep. She left a slice of cake for her to find in the morning and now she's eating the rest in her room.
By force of habit she's kneeling down in the center of the room instead of sitting in a more comfortable position, or moving to her bed. From here she gets to look at her window. You can't see much from that height, but just knowing the Dark Fountain's in front of you feels... Safe.
...
He's dead. She knew he wouldn't be back, but he's dead.
...
Susie gets to keep her friends. Tenna's death should have been guaranteed. Jackenstein should have stood no chance against the Knight, but this dumb luck doesn't extend to her. When Susie wants to play with Lancer, she can go play with Lancer. When Susie feels like seeing Jevil, she can see Jevil. When Susie needs to talk to Queen, she can talk to Queen.
When Ralsei needs to talk to...
She drops the fork on the floor. They're NOT friends. They could have been. There's no reason why he should have treated her like that. There's no reason why she shouldn't have let him. There's no reason why nothing works out for her.
He might have understood. He might have been a thorn in the foot about it, but he might have understood. He might have been the only one. She can't see him anymore. There's no reason why she should want to.
She feels a tear forming, and then, a knock on her door.
She swallows her cake, and quickly gets up to open it.
Susie. Cake in hand.
"Hey." She says, quietly.
Luckily Ralsei remembered to put on a smile. She clasps her hands behind her back.
"Susie! I thought you'd be asleep by now..."
She shrugs. "Couldn't really... relax, by myself. And you got me cake! And you're, eating cake too?"
"I, um... Yes, you can't just let the leftovers collect dust!!!"
"Just say you like your cake, dude."
She, unfortunately, smirks. Ralsei, unfortunately, likes that.
"Why don't you come in!?" She hopes she isn't blushing too hard. She is.
They sit down on the floor, but when Susie does it looks casual.
"I'll be nice and not eat your slice too." She smiles, fork in hand.
"Aww, I'm touched..." Ralsei doesn't really want any more of the cake. Or to see anyone right now.
Susie looks like she's thoroughly enjoying it, while Ralsei mechanically chews.
"So what's keeping you up anyways?"
Ralsei looks to the side, avoiding her gaze. "Darkners don't need to..."
"Ugh, I can't stop thinking about tomorrow." Susie cuts her off.
There's that face again.
"Noelle... if she were here, this really would be..." She smiles in the new way she does.
Ralsei hasn't hated her this much since the first day they met.
"You know, she's... Damn it, I sound stupid, don't I?!" She scratches her neck. She does.
"It's cute, Susie!"
"D-don't call me that!!" Her tail is wagging, and Ralsei's choosing to believe it wasn't wagging before this.
"You're a big cuddly booboo bear..." She says in that stupid voice she taught her about.
"Says Mister Fluffy.... Ears!!" She lunges at her and squeezes her into a hug. "Damn it! How come Kris gets to hold you when they sleep and I gotta manage without the heater!?"
Concentrating on the hug and not on any of the words she said, she wraps herself around Susie and tries to enjoy her scent. Susie's heart is beating way too loud to focus on anything but the reason why.
She decides on "Because Kris isn't a big baby that's scared of asking for hugs!"
Susie huffs. "I let you get away with too many stupid names. Most people would be scared of getting their face bitten off."
"My cakes taste better than my face does~!"
She laughs. Ralsei's heart's beats faster.
"I couldn't anyways. Bet Noelle would get all jealous."
Noelle, Noelle, Noelle. Noelle, Noelle, Noelle, Noelle, Noelle!
"Can you believe SHE'S..." She breaks the hug.
"You've only told me 327 times!"
"Have you been COUNTING???" Her face goes red. "But it's just, so crazy, right?"
"And I get to meet her tomorrow!" Ralsei grits her teeth. "Then she'll have you all to yourself!"
Susie's tail speeds up considerably. "Oh my god, shush!! I don't even know how to, to... damn it, kiss someone!"
Paw on the floor. "I can show you!"
Another laugh. "You're getting too good at sarcasm!"
Paw's retreat. "Maybe."
She lets out a few more laughs then sighs.
"Damn it. This day has been just... perfect."
"For you." She whispers.
Too loud. Susie's smile falls.
"I-I mean," She raises her paws defensively. "I'm happy as long as you are, Susie,"
She's frowning.
"Today has just, been a really long day, and..."
"Ralsei..."
"Y-you can keep talking about Noelle!!!"
"I tried to fix him. I think he's better now." She looks her in the eye again. "Put him in a new pot. Gonna water him tomorrow."
She gets to see her friends, too.
"...Lovely."
"...Sorry, I got so carried away I didn't even..."
"It's fine." She forgets about everything when she thinks about Noelle.
"Is it? Ralsei, are you... Cool with it?"
"It's just as foretold." She avoids her gaze. "I didn't even... Like him, so..."
Susie just keeps frowning.
"I knew about it, okay!? Keep talking about your perfect girlfriend and-"
"What's this about now!?"
Ralsei tries to ignore the feeling in her stomach. "She sounds like a nice girl, Susie!!"
"Well, it sure doesn't sound like you think that!!"
"Does it matter?! It's about what you think, isn't it?! She's not MY girlfriend!"
Susie's face twists. "But you're my friend!"
"Yes, yes, I'm your friend, it's great you're with- We're ACTUALLY not going to talk about this!? You SERIOUSLY still want to talk about Noelle?!"
"YOU said-"
"You KNOW I don't-"
"I can't read MINDS-"
"But if SHE tells you-"
"What does THAT have to-"
Ralsei stands up. "I'm, you keep, you keep going on about how... you're the one always, saying I'm real and then you, I'm supposed to just... just, always be,"
Susie's back on her feet too. She still looks scary when she's angry.
"YOU'RE the one-"
"HE'S DEAD, SUSIE." Her fists are clenched so tightly her claws are digging in her skin. "SORRY IF I DON'T EXACTLY CARE ABOUT YOUR GIRLFRIEND RIGHT NOW. I'M HAPPY YOUR LIFE'S GOING GREAT."
"You think I don't care about him?! Back when Tenna was-"
"Don't say that."
"Back when Tenna was about to die. You didn't even want to heal him!" She steps closer.
"Sorry I'm not head over heels for someone who's been treating me like-"
"Oh, you mean like how Flowery was treating you?"
Ralsei pauses. Susie seems to realize what she just said too.
"...Shit."
"No, keep going. How was Flowery treating me? You seemed to find it pretty funny."
"Dude, what's up with you?!"
"What's up with YOU?!" She steps forward this time.
"Getting my hopes up someone here would stop treating me like their personal butler and then you spend one day with a girl and suddenly I'm, I'm the heater!"
"I just-"
"And will you STOP calling me that!?"
Susie shuts her mouth.
"If you're gonna keep talking about Noelle, go find someone else to talk to. Maybe one of your real friends."
She growls at her, seems to decide it's not worth it and storms out of her room. Perfect!
Ralsei lies down on the floor. Susie left her half-eaten cake slice. She stares at the fork and closes her eyes.