A Date with Ralsei

It was just after class. You usually meet everyone around the closet and jump in at the same time but this time you came early. You had some time to spare before everyone got here, but you seemed to only spend it thinking about him. Ralsei. Ever since you joined up with the others going into the Dark World, going on adventures like you were 12 again, you never stopped thinking about him. His soft fur, his beautiful eyes, that soft, timid voice that warms your heart every time you see him. It's like heaven, you think.

Eventually you look at the clock and noticed everyone is late. Strange, you think. But the thought of Ralsei continues to butt it's way into your head again. You can't bear it anymore. The others will arrive soon, you tell yourself. You open the door and jump in, landing on your feet in a spectacular landing. You boast to yourself a little about it, thinking it was your best landing yet, and wondering what Ralsei would think. Then you turn around to walk into Castle Town, with Ralsei waiting right there for you.

"Welcome, Anon! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Your face is beat red looking at him. It's not until now you realize you haven't actually talked to Ralsei much since you joined The Lancer Fan Club (which you still think is a silly name). "Anon, are you okay? Your face is red. If you're sick, I can make you some soup." You recoil back a little when he says that, then avert your eyes in embarrassment. "N- No," you  reply. "I'm fine, thank you. Do you know where the others are? They were all late to the meetup..." Ralsei looks at you under the shade of his hat, his face obscured in shadow just like when you first met him. "No, I haven seen them at all. I do hope their okay, but..." He takes off his hat, revealing his beautiful, pink eyes through his glasses and the sweetest smile anyone has ever layed eyes on. "I think it would be nice to get to know each other better. Just the two of us." Time stood still for a moment before you agree, following him into Castle Town.

You two walk through the empty town, spending time together. This is exactly what you wanted for so long, but why are you so clammed up, you wonder. While your mind is racing, Ralsei breaks the silence by asking "Are you sure you're alright, Anon? Your face is even more red than before. I can show you to your room while I make you some of that soup if you want." You assure him that you're fine, and offer to instead go to the cafe instead. He happily obliges, and follows you in. Swatch and his Swatchlings greet you. "Welcome, Masters. Will it just be you two today?" This place has gotten much fancier since Swatch got in charge. "Yes, just us two today. The others seem to not be around today." A red Swatchling bows and leads you through the empty cafe and seats you at a table right next to a window with just a couple seats. He hands you both a menu and offers to make you drinks while you two order. "Maybe some tea, please. What about you, Anon?" You look at the menu and see it's only tea. "Uhm, I guess I'll have some tea as well," you reply. The Swatchling jots it down in his notebook, bows, and heads off to get your drinks.

"So, Ralsei..." He perks up at you and says "Yes, Anon?" His smile makes you melt. "What do you often do when we aren't here?" Ralsei's face gets slightly red when you ask. "Oh, hehe. I've never been asked that before. Normally I just think about you guys!" You're slightly surprised by that statement. "That's it? Just think about us?" He replies, "Well, I do other things during it, like practice baking and room renovating. I've been working on Jockington's room recently as I remember hearing Susie and Noelle talking about showing him here soon. I've never had this many friends before, so I like to make them feel as welcome as possible here!" Hearing him say that warms your heart. He's perfect. Suddenly the Swatchling from before comes back with your tea. He places them both on the table in front of you, and asks if you've decided to order anything yet. You completely forgot, thinking about Ralsei the whole time. "I'll have... maybe a slice of Top Cake," said Ralsei. You quickly skim through the menu to try and find something, and come out with a weird mix of various items. Both the Swatchling and Ralsei stare at you for a moment, until you 'correct' yourself by saying "I'll also have a slice of Top Cake, haha..."

The Swatchling nods his head and walks off to give your order to the chef. After he's gone, Ralsei looks back to you to ask you "So Anon, what do you normally do while you're in the Light World?" You look at him and say "Well, I just kinda go to school, sometimes I'll go to Kris' house with Susie and have a sleepover there. We like to play video games together a lot, though Kris is a lot better than both of us. Susie has gotten pretty upset over a few matches before..." Ralsei giggles and says "Haha, yeah that does sound like her!" You catch yourself staring at Ralsei again, and realize you really need to get things off your chest. "I also... uh..." It's difficult to get it out but eventually you say "I often think about you a lot, too..." Ralsei's face goes red a bit. "O- Oh! You mean like what were gonna do together when you go to the Dark World?" You look at him and go "Well, yeah, but... I think about more than that with you..." There's an uncomfortable air of silence after you say this, until the Swatchling assigned to your table comes over with your slices of Top Cake in hand. He places them in front of you, bows, and says "Please, enjoy." You both start eating the cake.

Eventually you break the silence. "Ralsei, I didn't make you uncomfortable, did I?" He perks up and says " No, of course not! I've just... never had anyone say that to me before. As I said before, I never really had any friends before this, and I just think it's really sweet of you to say that to me..." He looks down at the table, as if to hide his face. Despite that though, you can still see his blushing red cheeks and slight smile. "Ralsei..." You feel this is the moment to say it. You hold you hand out and touch his, which makes him jump up a little in surprise, but he doesn't move his hand away at all. "I think I... really like you..." You struggled to get those words out of your mouth, but despite that it still felt really nice to say. He looks up and says "Anon... when I said I thought about you guys a lot, well..." He stumbles over his words a lot when he says this. "I thought about you the most. I always noticed how you liked to look at me when we went on adventures together, and whenever the team had to split up, you always seemed to want to come with me. I've never really had anyone feel that way before with me, so I wasn't sure what to think about it... but I'm really happy to say I feel the same way for you." Oddly enough, your face didn't get more red after hearing this. It felt calming to have him reciprocate your feelings towards you. You move your fingers in between his, interlocking them. His fur is so soft, like that of a chinchilla's. You've never seen a smile as wide as his before, and it makes you want to give him the biggest smile you can muster back. You hear a faint whisper from him vaguely, his timid nature making it just quiet enough that only you could here. "I love you, Anon." Those words ring back and forth in your mind for a few solid seconds, before you reply with "I love you, too, Ralsei..." You lean in to give him a kiss and he returns it. You've never felt happier in your life.

Suddenly, the door to the Cafe slams open. It's... Susie? Kris? Everyone? Even Berdly?! What were they doing here? "ANON!" Susie yells. "I knew this would work!" Suddenly you were extremely confused, but that went away immediately when you realized you were still holding hands with Ralsei with them all watching you. You quickly let go and hide your hand away from them all, trying to play it all off. Noelle replies with a "We saw everything, Anon. You don't have to hide it." Her friendly smile oddly enough calmed you down. Susie supports her with "Heh, yeah we were all watching you through the window. I'm surprised you didn't notice us. Lancer was getting pretty loud about it." You look to your side to see the window has Lancer stuck to it, staring at you. Berdly comes out and says "Yes, through my tremendously unintelligent planning skills, I managed to concoct a scheme get you two together." Susie comes back with "Berdly, shut the hell up. This was Kris' idea." Kris shoots you a thumbs up, still doing their usual blank expression. "W- Well," says Berdly. "My grand unintelligence was sucking away theirs and letting him conceive the lowest IQ plan imaginable!" You look at everyone and ask what exactly this plan was. Noelle answers, saying "We noticed both you and Ralsei seemed to really like each other but neither of you made any moves, so we decided to get everyone out of town and have you two to something alone." You turn to Ralsei. He looks just as confused as you are when he says "I- I had no idea they were planning this, Anon!" Susie chimes in, saying "Say, how's about you two lovebirds get a room? I'm sure you two don't want to get caught making out again." She gives off her signature roaring laugh after saying that. "Susie is right," says Ralsei. "Maybe we should head up to your room for the night?" You smile a little when he asks, and reply with a "Sure." You hold his hand and walk with him to the castle and into your room, with the others waving you off proudly. You two sit on the bed and talk for hours until falling asleep together in each other's arms.

The End :p