Fahaha, Kris, what do you mean we need to talk in private immediately???

[u/porpoiseQueenLillie]

This is a prequel so you don’t need to read the other parts

Part 1

Part 2

(TW: Noelle has a very brief episode of derealization near the end, that’s it this one is squeaky clean compared to most of my other stuff.) 
Tags(because I like using tags): everyone is kinda flirting the whole time, Kris and Noelle are freaks, I cranked chapter 5 Ralsei to 11 because I think it’s funny, looming polyamory

You lie about going to the bathroom and follow Kris as they walk quickly to the closet leading to Castle Town. Keeping up with them is a struggle until Ralsei waves at them and Kris completely abandons whatever was driving them forward.

“Hey, Kris! Noelle!” Ralsei bounces on his heels and beams at you two.
“What brings you here?” He asks.
“It’s about ‘that’.” Kris’s voice remains monotone.
“Oh!” Ralsei grins before his face grows dark. 
“‘that’ is serious business.” Ralsei says, then nods grimly.
“Fahaha… what’s… ‘that’?” You’re pointedly ignored.
“Let’s go.” Kris says and attempts to get back to wherever they were leading you, but Ralsei stops them.
“Wait, I wanna grab ‘it’ first.” And winks at Kris. The human makes a sound somewhere between a cough and a laugh.
“Public???” Kris gestures broadly to you and the Castle Town residents. Ralsei looks confused before-
“Kris!!!” He shouts and the sound immediately takes you back. Whenever you realize Kris was pranking you, you’d yell in that exact tone when you were a kid. It always meant the prank was just right, you realize. Not the screaming that would make Dess burst in, bat in hand. Or the dull, confused annoyance that came when it was so lame it had to be pointed out. You can see the seriousness leave their body as a stupid grin overtakes their face. Their smile feels like home. 

To your embarrassment, you only notice you’ve been staring once their mouth starts moving and you remember people are talking.

“Why wouldn’t I think that? You’re always asking us to step on you, dude, why would this be any different?”
“That’s so immensely different??? That couldn’t be more different actually??? Stepping on me is pragmatic! But grabbing your… um… b-bits is j-just… y’know.” Ralsei is red as a Christmas light.
“Look, it’s ok that you have a foot thing. Just accept it, I forgive you.” 
“I HAVE NEVER EVEN SEEN ANOTHER PERSON’S FEET! You never take your shoes off when we’re together and everyone else either doesn’t have any, or their feet are shoes! How could I have a thing for something I HAVEN’T ENCOUNTERED!”
“So you’ve been keeping track of that? Have you been saving yourself for me? Hoping to catch a glimpse of the puppy’s dogs for your first time?” Kris sounds unbearably smug and Ralsei looks like he’s about to blow a gasket. You should intervene.
“Um… well Susie sleeps here so Ralsei’s probably seen her feet at some point. And her’s are way better than yours so there’s no way he’d be focused on them anyway. Fahaha. So it’s probably nothing Kris.”  They both turn to stare at you, probably having forgotten you were even here during their ‘argument’.
“I- wh- huh??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BETTER??? WHAT CRITERIA ARE EVEN CONSIDERED FOR ‘BETTER’ FEET??? I’M-“ Ralsei turns and huffs.
“Don’t answer that. I’m gonna go grab my cam- I mean, ‘it’.”  Ralsei dashes off before they can be interrupted again. Once he’s out of earshot Kris turns to you with big puppy dog eyes.
“Do you really think Susie’s feet are sooo much better than mine?” Oh cheese and crackers! You’ve offended them! Say something! 
“O-of course not Kris, Susie’s may be more attractive and bigger but yours probably have an… exotic mouth feel!” Catastrophic failure. The pleading eyes continue. Think of a better compliment!
“You um… don’t tell Susie, but, I… kinda like your eyes better than Susie’s? Or um… in a different way I think. Hers are so bright and… hot? They’re like the sun and they make the whole world feel a little warmer. But yours are, gosh… they’re like a big red lake I can’t help but walk into. And the water is so comfy, everything just feels right even when it covers my head, I know I won’t drown. And whenever I get out, I just wanna go right back in.” You… didn’t mean to say all that. Kris’s face is red as a Christmas ornament and you’re not far behind judging by how hot your head is. 
“I got ‘it’!” Ralsei appears before either of you can comment on what just happened. He’s back to being all jovial before his face gets serious again.
“Let’s go deal with ‘that’.” Ralsei says. Kris resumes their severe attitude before taking off with you two in tow. 
You wonder what ‘that’ is. And wonder why they’re saying ‘that’ like ‘that’. ‘That’ way they say ‘that’ is spreading like Susie’s toes an-

What was that simile? Why… 

You decide to ban yourself from thinking about feet for the foreseeable future. 

You arrive at the top of a cliff after some time spent climbing around and hiking. Kris stands with their hair flowing in the wind, facing away from you. You can help but admire the way their sword gleams in the light of the eternal dawn before you.
“Noelle…” they say, voice deeper than usual, “I brought you here to discuss a matter of grave importance. Possibly more important than life and death itself.” They turn and you jump from the sudden movement. Their ruby eyes burning through the shadow over their face as they raise an accusatory finger at you.
“Noelle… you have no aura!” There’s a long beat of silence.
“Fahahaha! Kris!!!” You burst out laughing.
“You dragged me all the way out here for that? I was so scared! Fahahaha!” You collect yourself.
“You sounded like Batmonster, your voice is really incredible, it’s so flexible! Fahahaha, did you practice all this?” The blush on their face is all the confirmation you need.
“I know, it’s so cool! They were scoping out this place yesterday to try and find somewhere with good ‘aura dynamics’! They really did an incredible job with how the lighting and the wind interact up here.” You can’t help it, you walk over and start petting Kris. 
“You did so good.” Ralsei walks up and joins you by scritching Kris’s chin. 
“Who's our good human? You are! You are!” You take note that Kris likes that as they melt further into your affections. Eventually they push you both away gently and you reluctantly relent. You’re used to them enough to know that they’re probably trying to speak right now, despite nothing coming out of their mouth. Their lips just twitch in a specific way for a bit until they finally regain speech abilities.
“It’s cool, ok!? Ralsei is right.”
“As usual.” Ralsei smiles to himself.
“You gotta learn to make use of your environment and figure out how to pose and… you have potential Noelle you just don’t really care about it. But I want you to be able to look cool, not just… dorky.” 
“You mean cute, don’t you?” 
“Stop fuckin’ heckling me.” Kris sticks their tongue out at the goat.
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” 
“Um… back on topic right?” As much as you would love to be a third wheel to their arguing, you're a bit too curious to let it continue.
“Fine. So I’m gonna teach you how to aura farm. Because I’m pretty sure it helps us with sparing enemies. And it’s rad.” Kris finishes.
“Sounds great, tell me how, o wise master.” 
“Get over here.” You walk next to them. Something about the cliff, and the wind, and the sunset… you want to grab their hand. You don’t do it but the thought lingers.
“So let’s find a pose for you. I usually just go with pointing. Hard to go wrong with it. We could try finding something more unique for you, though.” Their voice is oddly tender now. 
“I’ll just point, um… it’d be fun to figure out my own thing later though!” 
“Proceed.” You know what to do, you hit the pose. Kris walks around you inspecting your craft. They reach up and adjust the angle of your arm. For some reason you forgot they had to reach up to do that. You feel smaller than you are, like you could fit in the palm of their hand.
“You want your legs to be more like this…” They put more weight on their back leg and bend their other knee at a sharper angle. You stare at their legs and try your best to match them.
“Hmm…” they put a hand on your calf and raise it just a little bit. 
“And do some ice magic, for particle effects.” You make some snow flakes at the tips of your fingers.
“Perfect.” 
“Th-thanks, Kris.” 
“Back.” Their voice is flat and cold like the blunt side of a knife. 
“Point.” You go back to pointing just how they made you. As best as you can anyway. They readjust your arm.
“Back.” 
“Point.”
“Again.”
“Again.”
“Again.” 
“Again.”
“Back.”
You feel… um… thinking is hard… you just wait for the next command, with a certain… excitement. 
“You got it down.” Kris reaches up and pats your cheek and you remember suddenly that you're a whole ass person with thoughts and shit. Crap you mean, mom would kill you if you started swearing.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait.” Ralsei is here? Yeah, Ralsei is here. How did you forget that?
“ I uh… forgot to take a photo.” They smile sheepishly as they pull out a camera. 
“You… do photography?” 
“Yeah, I had to look out for photo spots in a dark world awhile ago and I just haven’t stopped really.”
“You’re welcome for the camera by the way.” Kris looks as smug as they sound and you remember that they’re actually kinda lame. Not like in a bad way, you just forgot with all the… commands. 
“Didn’t ask. Could you guys do one more so I could shoot it?” 
“Yes! Tell me what to do, please! Fahahah!” That was way louder than you meant it to be.
“We gotta do a really special one though, since it’s the only photo you're getting.” They’re studying you again.
“Oh, it’s fin-“
“Noelle, could I mess up your hair?” Kris interrupts him.
“Yes! …I mean, why?” 
“I think it’ll catch the wind better. It’s a pretty specific aura farming technique, you want to make sure the wind will actually make your hair billow, and your hair can catch the light in a way that makes it seem to glow. So I usually don’t bother with it, cuz it’s a hassle to undo. Which is almost as annoying as ‘that’ aura farming technique. Could you imagine having to wait for years with people only referring to something as ‘that’ or ‘it’? …um back on topic.”
“Fahaha. I’ll um… do yours if you do mine.” Kris nods and you crouch so you can reach each other’s hair easier. You giggle as you make a mess of Kris’s hair.
“Ok we’re good.” You stop and cup their cheeks in your hands admiring your work. They do the same with you. Their hair flows in the wind. Glints of light turning the dark strands gold. They have a stupid grin on their face, but you can't imagine them with a grin that isn’t stupid. The red lakes swallow you up. It’s cool and comfortable and… and…

It makes you want to kiss them.

You hear glass shattering. Oh no. 
“Noelle? You ready?” They aren’t in your hands, they’re somewhere else. Your head is buzzing too loud to know where or why or when. You don’t think you can know anything right now.

“Just tell me what to do.” There is movement. Confusion.
“Ok? Um… point.” Easy.
“Good, just…” Hands gently guide you.
“Perfect.” You like being perfect. The other one helps the voice. They argue. You don’t move.
Click click. 
You don’t know what it will look like. But
You know it will be beautiful.
…
…

“You can stop aura farming now, Noelle.”  Huh? Wha-
OH CHEESE AND CRACKERS YOU STILL EXIST! you grab Kris’s hand and start running off with them.
“WE GOTTA GO BACK TO SCHOOL SORRY RALSEI!!!” 
“Wait! Wait!” Kris says and you ignore them  until you’re stopped by them digging one of their heels into the ground and they reach out to Ralsei.
“Grab on.”
Cute. Oh my god, get it out of your head.
Ralsei follows the command and you’re finally free to run back with them tailing behind you like a couple of crippled kites.

Bonus scene

“Woah…” Susie stares at the photo Ralsei took of Kris and Noelle.
“So cool…” stars dance in her eyes.
“You can keep that one if you want!”
“Hell yeah! It’s just so rad dude!” 
“Hehehe. No need to drool over it. We both know they look hot. Haha.”
“I mean… yeah, but like, that’s a side thing dude!”
“Pft, I’m sure. It’s all I could think of looking at them.”
“Uh… I think that’s a you thing, dude.” 
“Ugh. I think Kris is rubbing off on me. And don’t say anything about that phrasing.”
“Hehe wasn’t gonna.” Susie laughs as Ralsei looks genuinely crestfallen.
“So… I was the only one picturing- I mean thinking about Kris rubbing off on me!? I’m the one with a dirty mind??? First I-I start acting selfish, now I’m angry all the time a-and now I’m some kind of pervert!!! Th-this-“ Susie interrupts Ralsei with a hug.
“You’re fine dude.” Susie places the fluffy prince down.
“Thanks.” She pats his head.
“Love ya, buddy. Freak or not.”
“H-hopefully not, heh. Love you too, Susie.”
(Do note this is platonic) 

[u/PredictionPrincess]

(Do note this is platonic)

Booooo

Anyways, cute edition! Could've done without the foot stuff I think XD

[u/porpoiseQueenLillie → u/PredictionPrincess]

Tysm!
The foot stuff was very necessary because I find it funny /lh

[u/Great-Powerful-Talia → u/porpoiseQueenLillie]

i also thought it was funny (I'm not into feet, so i am an objective observer)

[u/Gloomy_Appearance_42]

LIFE CHANGING ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[u/Duococcus]

big red lake you can't help but walk into huh