Ralsei and Anon go camping, Day 3

>It is entirely too early to be awake.
>Despite your best efforts you managed to wake up before the sun had even begun to think about rising.
>It must've been at least 3am when you jerked awake.
>A time you confirmed when you held up your phone to check, squinting through the blindingly bright screen with bleary eyes.
>Groaning, you locked your phone with a click and let your arm fall beside you.
>You didn't want to be awake.
>You still don't want to be awake.
>You tried snuggling up with Ralsei which, while comforting and relaxing, didn't do anything to help you fall back asleep.
>You were wide awake with none of the benefits of having a restful sleep.
>Resigned to your fate, you simply spooned your fluffy lover, idly playing with his ears as you waited for him to wake up.
>Your idle motion bright some soft, sleepy giggles from the prince, but he didn't wake.
>At least, not until the sun starts peeking over the horizon.
>While it doesn’t shine directly into your tent, the sun’s rays still manage to pierce through the nylon of your tent.
>Almost as if on cue, you hear the telltale squeak of Ralsei’s morning yawn.
>He opens his eyes sleepily, slowly blinking out the rest as he gives you a dopey smile.
>”Morn’, Anon~” he says softly, before meeting your lips for a quick good-morning kiss.
>As you disentangle yourselves from each other, Ralsei sits up and stretches, letting out a much longer, but no less cute, yawn.
>His yawning seems to be contagious, as you can’t help but let one loose yourself.
>You just can’t seem to shake off the exhaustion of not having gotten enough sleep, so you start to lie back down.
>Ralsei giggles when he sees it, but as you grab him and yank him down on top of you his giggle turns into a startled bleat.
>”A-anon?”
>”Shhh... “ you shush, placing a finger at the end of his snoot while you close your eyes.
>Ralsei gets the hint and you can feel him shake with another suppressed giggle as he relaxes on top of you.
>Your expression changes to a contented smile as you hug your fluffy prince, just enjoying his presence for the time being.
>Ralsei even nuzzles into your chest after you move a hand up to lazily stroke at his head fluff.
>You stay like this for an indeterminate amount of time, just relaxing in each other’s arms, until you remember something.
>”Rals?”
>”Hmm?”
>”Didn’t you say you wanted to go fishing?”
>”I did, but it’s okay if you want to stay here today~”
>The soft, lazy tone in his voice almost makes you want to just say ‘fuck it’ and snuggle forever until you have to go home.
>Almost.
>As much as you’d love doing that, you want Ralsei to do what he wants even more.
>You did sort of barrel over his suggestion of fishing yesterday, after all.
>”I wouldn’t mind that, to be perfectly honest, but you wanted to do it, so we’re gonna do it.”
>”You don’t need to just for me, Anon.” He says this, but you can see a glimmer of hope behind those eyes.
>”I would die for you if you wanted it, my Prince,” you say, causing him to blush profusely as you hug him closer for a moment.
>”My knight in shining armor,” he replies, giggling a bit as he pulls away from you to get dressed and ready.
>You do the same, and before you know it you’re already at the fishing pond.
>Luckily there was a rental shack for both motorboats and fishing rods, so you were easily able to acquire a pole.
>They only accepted cash, or else you would have offered to take Ralsei out on a boat ride as well.
>As you cast the first line, you settle down near the edge of the pond and gesture for Ralsei to sit with you.
>He starts to lower himself down beside you, but you chuckle and take his hand, pulling him closer to your middle.
>Getting the hint, the fluffy gote nestles down in between your legs and leans back against your chest with a contented smile playing at his lips.
>Before he gets too comfortable though, you hand over the fishing rod to him and wrap your arms around his soft midriff.
>You both begin to relax into each other as the lazy day drags on - fishing was never an active sport, after all.
>Eventually, after you’ve given him all the pointers you can, the pair of you just start striking up conversation.
>”So, how’s working at the flower shop?”
>”Oh, it’s great, actually! Asgore’s really nice, but firm. He doesn’t tolerate slacking off, but he’s not really aggressive or mean about it or anything.”
>”Heh, that sounds about right.”
>”Do you know him, Anon?”
>”Not really, but just from what I’ve heard about him he seems like a really down-to-earth kind of guy, with a good work ethic and all that.”
>”Mhm, but even still he finds time to appreciate the ‘little things in life’, as you’d say.” Ralsei giggles just a bit as he steals your verbiage, and you can’t help but grin down at him.
>”Well, I’m glad you’re starting to carve out a niche for yourself here, Ral-ral.”
>”Heehee, well I wouldn’t have been able to if you hadn’t brought me here.”
>”Ralsei, I doubt going on a camping trip is the x factor here.”
>The gote nudges you in the ribs for that, causing you to chuckle at your lame joke.
>”Anooon,” he whines, looking up at you with a mock pout.
>”Haha, I’m sorry, Rals, I’m just still not really used to accepting all this praise, you know? Besides, it’s not as though it’s all my doing that you’re making it on your own. There’s a lot to be said for getting oneself motivated and moving.”
>”Well, true, but I only did it because I didn’t want you to get worried.”
>Your mildly amused expression starts to drop a bit for a hint of confusion.
>”Worried about what?”
>”Well, um…” Ralsei squirms a bit in your arms, like a child caught lying to his mother.
>”C’mon, Rals, you can talk to me.”
>”Okay, well, before I got the job, I started having those nightmares again…”
>You feel your heart sink as you hear this, and almost as if he could sense it or see it in your expression, Ralsei hastens to continue.
>”N-not any more, though! I’ve been doing fine ever since I started work at the flower shop. I guess, I dunno…”
>He trails off, uncertain how to explain himself.
>As for you, several things are running through your mind, but none of them matter at present.
>Ralsei looks tentatively up at you, as though trying to gauge your reaction.
>You eventually break into a small smile, and shrug a bit.
>”Well, staying at home isn’t exactly the best cure for loneliness,” you offer reassuringly, squeezing him in your arms and leaning down to smooch his head, a gesture that Ralsei accepts with a cute smile.
>”Just, make sure you tell me if it starts happening again, okay? I know you don’t want me to worry, but I want to make sure I’m doing the best I can for my Prince.”
>You’ve managed to fluster Ralsei to the point where he’s blushing again, and squirming again as he tries to hide his face from you.
>At that moment, however, the fishing line jolts, almost flying out of Ralsei’s hands.
>You manage to save it, however, as the both of you spring into action.
>Ralsei starts furiously reeling in the line, and you help him by steadying the pole against the fish’s pull.
>As the pull gets harder and harder, you take the rod from Ralsei, standing up and bracing yourself against a nearby rock as you tug with all your might.
>Your boyfriend, for his part, is just sort of hovering behind you, unsure of how to help.
>Alas, it seems luck is not with you on this day, as with a mighty yank, you manage to snap the fishing line.
>The force being exerted against you suddenly lifting causes you to lose your balance, and you stumble backwards.
>Ralsei bleats in surprise, managing to dodge out of the way just in time as you topple over onto your back, laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
>”Hah, well I guess we’re not having fish for dinner tonight, huh?”
>Ralsei snorts cutely and fails to stifle his own bubbly giggling at your lame-ass joke.
>Angel above, what would you do without this gote?
>After a period of reflection, you get back to your feet with a grunt and look at the fishing rod before letting out a sigh.
>”Well, I guess we should get this back to the rental shop.”
>”They’re not gonna be happy, are they?”
>”I dunno, the guy at the counter seemed chill enough. Maybe he’ll sympathize.”
>After returning the rod, you find yourself only out a couple bucks - the shack keeper was clearly on his last leg for the day, and didn’t really feel like summoning up the energy to get upset at you for breaking his line.
>Besides, a broken line isn’t the worst thing that could happen, and you’re sure he knows it.
>As the sky begins to turn the deep orange of a sunset, you and Ralsei make it back to camp, but refrain from settling in.
>There was work to be done, after all.
>After about an hour - a good 15 minutes of which was spent scrambling to find your other work boot - you had everything packed up and ready to go.
>You decided against showing off for your fluffy prince this time, since even after his massage you felt it would be a bad idea to work those muscles that hard so soon.
>A couple of short trips later, and you’re back in the Mercedes and on the road home.
>Since Ralsei drove the way there, you decided to take the wheel for the trip back.
>The window down, the wind blowing in through your hair, and your elbow hanging off the side of the door.
>You’re almost reminded of your high school days, cruising with your buddies on the weekend.
>Of course, now you’re accompanied by the best thing to happen to you, who happens to be conked out in his seat.
>He’d insisted on helping out more with the re-packing this time, and it’s clearly taken its toll on the little guy.
>You practically had to carry him into the car, where he immediately started dozing off after you rolled the top back up.
>As you motored on down the roadways back to your hometown, you started thinking more about what you were talking about earlier.
>About how Ralsei had still been having those nightmares, despite your change in schedule.
>About how he didn’t tell you, because he didn’t want you to worry.
>You’d been together for years now, so you know it’s not because of trust issues.
>Even still, that pessimistic doubt continues to tug at the back of your mind.
>In an effort to try and clear your head of such things, you go back to how long you’ve been together.
>It feels almost like an eternity, though it’s been more like maybe four or five years now?
>In fact, the anniversary of when you two first became a couple is closing in soon.
>You make a mental note to start planning something for the occasion as you look over at your lover, fast asleep with that content smile on his face like he hasn’t a care in the world.
>Despite your present misgivings, the sight is still enough to bring a soft smile to your own lips.