#Poly Ralsei IS real - I manifested him

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Where Our Shadows Cross

Chapter 1 - The Wavering Shadow Cast By Your Light

Words: 2449 Genre: Romance Relationships: Kris/Susie/Ralsei

Read on AO3 and leave some kudos :3 ______________________________

Something gnawed at Ralsei as he watched his friends approach from across the castle courtyard. They were still his friends, weren’t they? It was still so strange to think of them as more than that, even though they’d all promised…

It would have been difficult to see, if you weren’t intimately aware of their mannerisms – both Kris and Susie were walking side-by-side, a small distance apart, as good friends might. But he could see it – the way that Kris’s body leaned slightly towards her, with no trace of their usual caginess, and their soft smile as they listened to her talk; the way that Susie’s eyes shone like gemstones when she looked at them, the comfort and contentment in her jubilant expression; the way that happiness and adoration radiated off of them both like the soft glow of a warm candle.

They just seemed so… alive. Alive to the universe and all of its myriad joys, in ways that he…

It had been this way since they'd first got together. That had only been a few days prior, but the memory of it felt almost timeless, eternal; there hadn't been any real discussion about it, and none of them had individually asked for it to happen. It was just something that the three of them had merely... fallen into, together. Some strange gravity had affected them, pulling them deeper into each other's orbit even as it had dragged them down.

And oh, the bliss of that very first night! The wonder, the discovery! He had not known that love could flow so abundantly, could grip his body so delicately and yet with such force that could not be resisted or denied. They had, each of them, surrendered to it completely, as surely as if it were part of destiny's grand plan for them.

So then, why did the knot in his stomach tighten when he saw them like this? The lightners were happy, and that was supposed to make him happy too, wasn't it?

His partners – yes, yes, that was correct – came closer to him, and Ralsei wrung his hands together, attempting to force down the heavy lump that had formed in his throat. It was not a darkner’s place to complain, nor to seek redress. This was a privilege that not all of his kind could be afforded, to consort with such wondrous beings, to be allowed to share in their divine and beautiful love for each other…

As if by the grace of that love, he too might know what it was to be alive.

'Hey, Toothpaste Boy!' said Susie as they approached. Kris waved to Ralsei with a small smile, and he waved back, a blush blooming upon his cheeks.

'It's so wonderful to see you both again,' he said, aching to reach out for them but feeling too wretched to deserve such grace. 'I've r-really missed you, Kris... Susie...'

The dragoness didn't miss a beat, her grin widening as she knocked on his shoulder with a playful fist. 'Yeah, we missed you too ya sap! Ain't that right Kris?'

The human nodded, offering a tentative hand for the prince to take with his own. It was slight, almost unnoticeable, but it seemed that there was some hesitance in that gesture.

He took Kris's hand, smiling at them and rubbing their knuckles with his thumb in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. Their skin was so soft, heavenly upon his pawpads, and with their touch the snarling beast in his chest shrunk back a little. What was he worrying about, really? They were here, right in front of him.

They came back for him. They came back.

Heart swelling to burst with love, he reached out with his free hand to Susie, and was a little saddened to see her draw back from the gesture, as if he had threatened to stab her.

Of course… how could he have forgotten so quickly?

‘H-how have you two been?’ he asked, willing himself not to cry. ‘Did you, um, get up to anything… fun, together? Haha.’

‘Pssh, nah,’ Susie responded at once. ‘It’s just been school-project-this and school-project-that - nerd shit, y’know? …uh, no offence.’

‘None taken! I’m happy to hear your time together has been productive, at least!’ the prince managed a chuckle. ‘We’ll make a model student of you yet, Susie!’

Her expression soured. ‘Eugh, pass. Oh, Kris and I took it in turns to push each other down a hill yesterday! That was kinda cool.’

Ralsei looked over at Kris, who confirmed with a small nod and thumbs-up.

‘Um. How… sweet?’ he offered.

‘Hell yeah it was! You shoulda seen how far this freak flew when I launched ‘em!’

She gave them a gentle bump with her shoulder… gentle for Susie, anyhow, which nonetheless almost knocked Kris to their feet. Huffing slightly, they threw their much-smaller frame back at her, succeeding only in making her grunt in amusement.

‘…oh, you wanna try it, huh runt?’ she spoke through a fearsome grin, throwing a burly arm around their neck without any trouble. Her free hand formed a fist, knuckles hovering just above the human’s head. ‘They’ll only find a smoking crater after I’m done with you!’

Kris cried out in protest as she ground her fist into their moplike hair, struggling futilely to get free from their tormentor. And yet, Ralsei noted the joyous grin on their face as well. It was still so strange to see the two of them act out this way, and yet still clearly enjoying each other’s company…

Love sure is a strange thing, he thought to himself, feeling the pangs of jealousy dig once more into his soul, even as he laughed aloud at their antics.

‘Ahahaha, they’re almost as wimpy as YOU are, Dr. Fluff!’ Susie chortled, letting Kris go – was he imagining the disappointed frown on their face?

‘W-well, I don’t see how that’s a bad thing, exactly…’ said Ralsei, beckoning Kris to him so that he could restraighten their hair.

Oh, those silken locks intertwining with his fingers as he gently scritched their scalp… what divine sensations! They leaned into the contact slightly, almost headbutting him in the snout – the prince suppressed a surprised giggle and planted a small kiss upon their forehead. When he heard the contented hum rise from their lips, his fur near-well stood up on end.

‘It’s okay Kris,’ he whispered gently into their hair, drinking in the scent of their apple shampoo. ‘I love you just the way you are, ok…?’

Susie turned away, making a show of gagging. ‘Oh GREAT, the sap brigade’s in town. Any estimate on when you freaks’ll be done?’

‘Oh?’ said Ralsei, looking at her with half-lidded eyes and a wry smile. ‘Did you want me to work on your hair as well, Susie?’

Kris giggled slightly at the thought.

‘A-as if…!’ she snapped back at the two of them, running a claw through her hair as if to protect it from any sudden braiding attacks. ‘I just… got better things to be doing with my time, that’s all…’

His expression fell flat. ‘Better than spending time with us, you mean…?’

The dragoness turned her blushing face away from them, growling into her mane. ‘Y-you’re both such idiots… Ugh! I’ll be at the dojo ‘till you’re done being all kissy-kissy with each other…’

‘W-w-wait, Susie…!’

Ralsei’s eyes went wide, and he disengaged from Kris in a panic. Everything in his being screamed to reach out to her, to take hold of her hand and stop her from leaving with just the barest of loving restraint. But he already knew, even before he attempted it, that would just make her flee faster.

‘Please d-don’t…!’

A heavy sigh shuddered from between her teeth. ‘…you know that shit ain’t what I’m about, Ralsei.’

He choked back a sob. ‘B-but I… I thought we were going to…’

‘…heh. Well, too bad. Guess that’s just one more thing I ruined for ya, ain’t it?’

‘S-Susie, that’s not…!’

Ralsei sensed Kris step forward, felt their arm across his shoulder, propping him up. Susie cast an eye over towards them, then looked away again, as if what she saw threatened to strike her blind.

He saw it then, that furtive glimmer in her expression that he recognised so quickly in himself – the fear that he was just a stepping-stone, a colourful accessory to something wonderful and terrifying in equal measure. The fear that he could only ever be loved as a lesser component of a grander unity, and not as his own indivisible self.

Heart pounding faster than ever, heat rising to his cheeks, Ralsei stepped out from Kris’s embrace.

‘Then… then take me with you!’ he blurted out.

This was enough to make Susie turn her head. ‘Wha…?’

No going back now. ‘I get that you don’t want to do all the, um… “kissy-kissy” stuff. A-and that’s fine, really! No-one’s going to make you do anything you don’t want to, ok?’

He smiled at her in a way that he hoped didn’t come off as condescending.

‘…y-yeah, but that’s… that’s what you’re… into, right? All that mushy-gushy crap. An’ I know Kris likes it too, so like… ahh, man…’

She trailed off, and the amber jewels of her eyes glanced at the floor. Ralsei was surprised to see her look so… hurt. Not for the first time, he found himself at something of a loss in this new dynamic, and at the delicate business of trying to placate two egos at once.

‘…just… don’t wanna get in the way of either of you. Th-that’s all.’

‘What? No, no! You’re never… don’t talk like that, Susie…! You’re not in the way of anything! Right, Kris?’

By way of an answer, they strode towards the dragoness, and without once meeting her incredulous gaze, raised a clenched fist and knocked it into her shoulder.

‘Wha…? Kris, what’re you...?!’

Kris drew their arm back for another blow. This time Susie was ready for it, and caught their fist in her expansive claw. However, instead of moving to retaliate, she gave a strange, rueful little chuckle.

‘…no, yeah… I get it, man. We talked about this arready, didn’t we? On the way over here.’

‘…talked about what?’ said Ralsei, tilting his head at both of them.

‘…don’t worry about it, Ralsei,’ she said with a bashful smile. ‘Fact is, we’re here to see you, right? Cause you’re part of… well, all this. Same as us, yeah?’

She waved her hands in the air in front of her, indicating the three of them. The prince giggled at her coyness… though could he really say he was any different here?

She scratched the back of her head. ‘So like… it’s your call or whatever. Just say what you wanna do… and that’s what we’ll do.’

Ralsei looked from Kris to Susie, heart bursting with adoration for both of them. Such benevolence brought him again to the precipice of tears.

‘…well then!’ he chirped. ‘I, um…, I’d like to come with you, Susie… to the dojo, I mean. Would, um, that be okay, Kris…?’

Susie reeled, barely able to mask her panic beneath a veneer of annoyance. ‘D-dude, I’m serious! Don’t make jokes like that…!’

He blinked. ‘I’m… sorry?’

‘Sheesh… arright, LOOK. I asked. What YOU wanted to do. Not what you think ME or KRIS wants –what YOU want. Y-O-U, you! D’ya need me to spell it out, nerd?’

‘B-but you already did spell it out, haha…’

‘…oh, you think you’re cute, do ya?’

Susie smirked, leaning in close. Her breath was hot on his face, dusty and smoky like burnt chalk. She was close enough to kiss… oh, he felt weak… and was that jealousy on he could see on Kris’s face?

‘Heh… Careful, pipsqueak,’ she purred loudly, ‘You keep teasin’ a dragon… and you might just get what you wish for.’

Ralsei gulped. ‘I-is that r-right? W-well, if it means I get to, um, spend some time with you, then…’

This wasn’t the answer she was expecting, and it stopped her short. ‘W-wait… you mean that?’

‘…yes, of course I do,’ he said. ‘Why wouldn’t I want to spend time with one of my wonderful partners?’

Susie flinched a little at that word, and he worried that he might have overdone it. But then a weak smile spread across her face.

‘…I, uh. Thought you didn’t like fightin’, though.’

‘You like it,’ he responded firmly, smiling from the bottom of his heart, ‘and that’s good enough for me.’

‘Pfft, yeah right.’ But as she said it, her smile grew a little brighter. ‘Hey Kris, you mind if Rals and I roughhouse for a little bit?’

Kris’s broad smile was all the answer they needed.

‘You can have him back afterward… if there’s anything left after I’ve thrashed him, anyway.’

A mischievous look entered the prince’s eyes. ‘Well Susie, who’s to say that I won’t be the one thrashing you, hmm?’

Susie blinked, her face reddening again, and from somewhere off to the side Kris cackled like a banshee.

‘D-dude, you can’t just… jeez, Ralsei!’

The prince seemed bemused at this. ‘I… umm, did I… say something wrong? A-and Kris, what’s so f-funny…?’

‘Nothing now can we— KRIS STOP LAUGHING IT’S NOT FUNNY!’

The human put a hand over their mouth, all the while giving her a pointed look that seemed to say that actually it was very funny and they’d definitely be bringing it up later.

‘…okay then!’ said Ralsei, feeling a little more secure in his world. ‘Then, Susie and I will spend some time at the dojo, and then Kris and I can have a date afterwards! How does that sound, everyone?’

Kris nodded in agreement.

‘So why’s THEIR thing a date, huh?’ said Susie, flashing her teeth at Ralsei in a way that sent a small shiver through his nerves. ‘What, I’m not good enough for ya?’

‘Ah, well… dates don’t typically involve quite so much… err… violence?’

‘Well MINE do, pipsqueak, so there! Try not to crumple in the first five minutes, would ya?’

‘Oh rest assured Susie – I’m quite capable of giving as good as I get!’

Susie’s menacing grin flipped into a mortified scowl as Kris began howling with laughter yet again. ‘That one was on purpose wasn’t it.’

‘I’m not sure what you mean, Susie,’ he responded cryptically. ‘I’m just say-yyyyyyyiiinnng…!!!’

‘OKAY WE’RE LEAVING NOW LATER KRIS!’

A violet claw caught Ralsei’s upper arm in a death-grip and yanked him towards the dojo at speed, leaving a breathless Kris wiping their eyes in the town square.

‘See you later Krisss…!’ he called out to them as they receded from view.