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“I cast fireball!” Susie declared, throwing out a twenty-sided dice, landing on a twenty.
“Susie…I don’t think you heard how s-” Ralsei started, confused by Susie’s decision.
“I don’t care how small the room is; I cast a fireball!” Susie said with a big toothy grin
“You could kill…everyone in the room…the attack causes a massive explosion”, Ralsei said, looking confused by his friend’s bad decision-making.
“That is a sacrifice I am willing to make!” Susie declared, “And I got a twenty!” Susie let out an evil-crazed laugh. The Dungeon master, a bluebird who wanted to find an excuse not to let her use the explosive technique, sighed.
“Alright…uhh…” Berdly brought his wing to the side of his head and thought briefly, “Everyone rolls for defense?” The usually arrogant and annoying Bird said, too confused to make any quip or insult.
“Hand me the dice, please,” Ralsei asked, holding out his hand; Susie placed the dice in his hand. Ralsei threw his Dice and got a four; he grimaced at his low number; with Susie’s high dice roll, he would likely take massive damage.
“Alright, well, that’s not good for the goat boy,” Berdly said, having never learned the name of Ralsei. Berdly turned to Kris. “Alright, C pl…Kris,” Berdly said, correcting himself on nearly insulting Kris, “you are the farthest away from the blast, but still roll a d twenty,”
Kris nodded and grabbed the Dice. “I jump in front of Ralsei and put up my shield,” Kris said before rolling the dice, getting a 12; Kris would take damage, but less than Ralsei would have, and they were preventing Ralsei from taking any damage. Ralsei looked at Kris, surprised that Kris had jumped in.
“Alright, you are going to take extra damage for getting closer to it, plus defending someone else…double damage for all that,” Berdly rolled a dice. “Okay…sixteen damage,” The Bird said, making Kris look a little nervous; they were pretty sure they only had eighteen health total and had already taken damage. “Thankfully, because of Ralsei’s defense dura buff, you survive with…just one HP, lucky,” Berdly said, impressed. “And Ralsei takes no damage due to Kris’s defense…Susie takes,” Berdly looks to the lizard “...you were at the epicenter of a D twenty damage fireball…so uhh… What’s your armor score again? Just two points,” The Bird chuckles. “Even with a twenty, you would die, so uh…yeah, your character gets blown up, Wizard Darkblood bloodsport dies,”
Susie grabs her side. “Augh, god no, I’ve been defeated!” Susie said dramatically before flopping onto the table and sticking her tongue out. Surprisingly, the Lizzard had not been angry or frustrated about it, and then again, if her name and haphazard fireball casting indicated how investor in character she was, no one should have been surprised.
“...So, uh, wanna make a new character or something?” The Bird offered the lizard, lying limp against the table, “...Susan?”
“Nah, just keep doing it without me,” Susie said, sitting in her chair. “This stuff is fun but a little too serious for me,” the lizard stood up. “Thanks for the invite, though,” Susie looked at Kris and Ralsei.
Ralsei smiled and nodded. “Course, Susie, it was delightful to have you,” Ralsei said. Despite her disastrous fireball attack, she was fun to have in the game. Kris nodded as Susie left the table, heading to the kitchen of the Castile they sat in, probably going for the fridge.
“Well… that’s unfortunate…little hard to progress without Susan,” Berdly said, sounding very disappointed as countless plans to convince Susie of his love were suddenly burned away. Berdly’s heart was filled with sorrow as he needed to delete yet another Valentine’s Day plans folder from his computer. “Do you two wanna do it by yourselves?” Berdly asked.
Ralsei looked at Kris. “I would not mind continuing…What is your opinion, Kris?” Ralsei asked, unwilling to play without at least one of his friends.
Kris thought momentarily before shaking their head; they brought their hands up to sign. Their hands formed into configurations of odd shapes and symbols that only they and a single other in the room could understand with any degree of fluidity.
Berdly sat there, perplexed by the seemingly random hand movements. “Um…Do you understand them?” Berdly asked the goat, who was watching Kris’s hands intently.
Ralsei nodded, “Kris and I will not be continuing tonight. We had a lovely time, Berdly,” Ralsei said politely.
With confirmation that the game was over, Berdly began packing his stuff to leave. Berdly did not mind the odd goat’s company, nor did he mind Kris. Without Noelle, however, he would have to take a stranger’s word for what the human was saying, and he was not interested in that.
“Wanna do something else, Kris?” Ralsei asked, turning to their friend.
—-
A horsebound knight leaps forward, past the rest of its army, attempting to flank around the enemy. Men with swords charge forward after him from the opposing army; one moves in front of him, slightly to his side. A sword swung towards the knight, who narrowly avoided death by leaping forward and cutting down noblemen, a bishop, who had been left undefended by the distracted general leading the opposing army. The enemy general was threatened with the vanguard down and several soldiers out of position.
“Check!” Ralsei declared, smiling widely. Ralsei, despite his generally good intelligence, was not all that good at chess. Being alone for all his life with nothing but a massive library made him incredibly intelligent. However, his lack of a partner badly dulled his chess skills. This game was the first time they got so close to beating Kris. Unfortunately for Ralsei, it was simply a check, and they had not been paying attention to Kris Queen very well. The Queen slid from the other end of the board to the spot where the knight was. Ralsei’s excited look disappeared. “Ah…thought that was running away,” Ralsei chuckled. Ralsei was down an important piece, and while he had secured more of Kris’s pieces than he had lost, all of Kris’s Pieces were in spots to put pressure on Ralsei. “You’re quite good at this,” Ralsei stated the obvious with a resigned chuckle.
“Yeah…practiced a lot with Noelle, never beat her,” Kris admitted before moving their Queen to a seemingly random position on the board. “Plus, Berdly challenges me a lot…never beat me,” The corners of their lips rose slightly. Not noticing what Kris was doing, nor that the bishop’s position lined up exactly where the Queen would end up if they decided to attack with it. Ralsei moved a bishop to attack the Queen, not thinking about where the Queen would end up, only focused on where it was. Kris moved his Queen forward and took a pawn that was in the way of the king. “Checkmate,” Kris said plainly.
“...” Ralsei looked at the bored, confused momentarily before realization came over his face. “Oh, I see…hmm… I’ll have to watch out for that next time,” Ralsei said, disappointed in his sudden loss. Ralsei leaned back in his chair, staring at the board and looking dejected.
“...Getting tired of this?” Kris asked, worried about whether this was still fun for Ralsei.
“Hmm…Not quite tired of it…if you have something else in mind, I would not mind switching,” Ralsei said, satisfied that his slowly building frustration with this losing streak will likely not continue.
“Well…we could uhh…” Kris leaned back, not sure about the next course of action. “We could…play a different style of chess,” Kris offered. “One I am less good at,” Kris said, hoping it would be enough to even the playing field. “There is no king, and whenever you take a piece, the one piece that took the other piece turns into that piece…if that makes sense,”
“Hmm…So if a Pawn takes a queen, the pawn becomes a queen, and vice versa?” Ralsei asked for clarification while he began quickly setting up the pieces again.
“Yeah, pretty much…you can still promote by getting a Pawn to the end,” Kris said with a nod, setting up the black side for them to take while Ralsei took white. “Oh, and uhh…wanna…add something else?” Kris asked, their voice slightly quieter than before
“Hmm? What do you Propose?” Ralsei asked, their eyes narrowing as they wondered why the volume change happened.
“Well…In addition, to those wanna…um…” Kris coughed to hide their nerves, “Wanna have a truth or dare thing whenever a piece is lost,” Kris said quickly, their voice slightly higher as they pretended to cough right after the conversation. “Sorry, got something in my throat,”
“Oh…That sounds fun,” Ralsei said with a smile, his mind racing to figure out what exactly truth or dare is. Eventually, Ralsei decided it was better to ask, “Though I’ve never done truth or dare before, so a little explanation is required,” Ralsei chuckled a little at his lack of knowledge.
“Well…If a person asks you the truth or dares the truth, you have to answer any question the person is asking. If you say dare, you have to do one thing that the other person says,” Kris explains, their voice as monotone as they can manage.
“Ah, so whenever a piece is lost, the player that took the piece asks the other person truth or dare then, that sounds like a lot of fun,” Ralsei said, legitimately excited; there are a lot of things he is curious about when it comes to his friend.
“Alright…your move,” Kris said, their shoulders falling back into a more relaxed pose.
Ralsei nodded and sent the pawn in front of his king forward by two. Kris countered by moving their knight in a position to attack the pawn. Ralsei thought for a moment, but they had seen this before. Ralsei moved a pawn to defend his first pawn. Without hesitation, Kris moved a pawn to both be covered by their bishop and attack the first pawn. Ralsei thought for a moment that it was just a pair of pawns, and it would get Kris Knight in a good position for him to attack. Ralsei took their pawn, securing first blood. Kris nodded and went to move his knight to take the now undefended pawn before stopping and looking at Ralsei. Ralsei stared back, confused before his mind caught up with the present.
“Oh, right, sorry,” Ralsei rubbed the back of his head, claws gliding through his fur. “Truth or dare, Kris,” Ralsei said with a smile.
“Truth,” Kris said, playing it safe for now. If Ralsei asked uncomfortable questions, then Kris would be able to tell pretty early.
Ralsei thought for a moment. There were many questions the Prince could ask, but they settled on. “Why do you sign when someone other than me or Susie is around,”
Kris answered quickly. “Don’t like talking,” Kris said with a shrug. Ralsei wondered how many times others had brought that up.
“I can understand that…Why do you not mind speaking with us? Me and Susie,” Ralsei asked, regretting that he did not start with this question.
Kris smirked. “Well, you will have to win another piece for me to answer that,” Kris moved their knight to capture the Pawn Ralsei had forgotten about. “Seems I’ve got an ask of my own…truth or dare?” Kris said, their mind filled to the brim with evil plans. Kris replaced their knight with the pawn they lost a moment ago.
“Truth,” Ralsei said rather quickly, as they wanted to try and take another piece to get the answer he was looking for.
“I remember,” Kris started, “In Queens mansion, you said that you enjoyed spending time alone with me,” The conversation direction stunned Ralsei momentarily. Where were they going with this? “I remember, I thought that was weird…I never really spoke back then, even around you and Susie. So why, even then, do you enjoy spending time alone with me,”
Ralsei’s mind was filled with surprise. The Prince was not expecting something like this: “I...Guess,” Ralsei began. Truth be told, the lonely Prince never really knew his reasoning for liking being with Kris so much. He assumed it was natural for friends to desire to be with each other, but he did not feel that same pull nearly as firmly around their lizard friend. Without a clear answer, Ralsei gave the best he could: “Because…you are you,” Ralsei said, before quickly clarifying, “Susie is wonderful, Lancer is a fun person, Queen is…eccentric,” Ralsei said, not wanting to say anything potentially bad about Queen “But your…different, your calm, your stoic, it takes a lot to get you to emote. For most, that makes you hard to approach, but for me, it makes everything so wonderful,” Ralsei said with a little chuckle before looking over to Kris, whose cheeks were slightly red, confusing Ralsei.
“T…that’s um…” Kris coughed. “Quite well put together… It’s…your turn,” Kris said, trying to focus on the chessboard and ignore the swirling emotions Ralsei’s little speech had brought up.
“R-right, sorry,” Ralsei moved his bishop up, threatening the pawn in front of the black bishop, putting pressure on the Queen by extension. Kris moved out a second knight, preparing an extended plan to remove a bishop. Ralsei moved his Queen, threatening the same space that the bishop was attacking. Kris looked with confusion at the movement of the Queen and continued moving their bishop to attack further, badly underestimating the Prince because of his previous losses. Ralsei smiled and moved the bishop to attack the pawn, taking it, then threatening both the Knight and the Queen, guaranteeing the loss of the Queen. “Truth or dare!” Ralsei said, puffing out his chest a bit before Kris replaced the bishop with a pawn.
“...Ah… didn’t see that…truth,” Kris said, impressed by the somewhat simple move that had caught them so off guard.
Ralsei smiled widely. A torrent of satisfaction rushed through him. “Haha!” Ralsei said before looking at Kris, his smile fading as he thought about what exactly he would say. Ralsei knew even though he was not the target of the question, it would likely cause him some embarrassment. “I…um…Why…Why do you not mind speaking with Susie, us, and us? I mean,”
“Because you’re my friends,” Kris said, delighting a little in being so elusive and denying Ralsei the simple answer he craved.
Ralsei sighed. “Yeah, but…you still do not talk to Noelle or Berdly as much as you talk to us,” Ralsei knew what Kris’s response would be, yet he still hoped they might be willing to reveal their reasoning.
“Take another piece and find out,” Kris said before moving a knight to attack the piece one threatening there. Maybe Ralsei will have forgotten about the-
Before Kris could finish the thought, Ralsei took Kris’s Queen, dooming the pawn but winning a lot of material. “Truth or dare!” Ralsei said, a bit of defiance in his voice; he did not care that he was winning the game; he wanted his question answered.
Kris thought about pushing forward, about choosing to dare rather than truth. Kris could only smirk; they replaced the Pawn that Ralsei used to take with a queen, using a small piece of paper to mark it as Ralsei’s despite it being the opposite color to Ralsei’s everyday pieces. “Tru-” Before Kris could finish the word, Ralsei spoke up.
“What makes Susie and I so special that…no,” Ralsei realized their initial approach would solicit a short response that would require further probing would be necessary. “What is it that makes Susie and I special, so that you feel comfortable enough to speak when you do not with friends,” Ralsei said, falling back into his much more formal speech to make sure his question would require an answer that would be more likely to satisfy him.
Kris smirked. “There ya go…Well, for Susie, she is…simple,” Kris said before their face scrunched up. “Not like she is stupid or anything, but she…is honest,” Kris said before looking up at the ceiling, thinking of how best to articulate everything. “Susie is…what you see is what you get. She presents all of herself. Susie is so open, so honest, it’s easy to be open with her,”
Ralsei stared intently; he had never seen his friend talk like this. Typically, Kris avoided being more emotional or sentimental with their responses. Upon thinking for a moment, Ralsei should not have been entirely surprised. Kris had recently been far more talkative, especially when it was just the two.
“As for you,” Kris brought their hand behind their head and scratched it, thankful they had brushed their hair so no stray strands would fall onto their shoulders. “You’re…” Kris stopped. How much should be revealed? “It’s that…I…want to be more honest with you,”
Ralsei felt all of the air leave their body; a wave of heat entered in the place of it. The Prince stuttered, “W-what d-do you mean by t-that?”. Kris looked at him and gave him a big, broad smile. “You will have to answer that question,” Kris said, moving their king to take the Queen Ralsei had just earned.
“A-ah yes…wait, does the King become a queen now?” Ralsei managed to squeak out, pushing the conversation towards something easier.
“No, the King is the only one that stays the same…also truth or dare,” Kris said, smirking as they noticed Ralsei’s attempt, though they were willing to go along.
“T-truth,” Ralsei said, his brain on autopilot at the moment…a very bad autopilot, as truth would likely be problematic for his already flustered voice.
Kris’s smile grew; their eyes pierced past Ralsei’s defenses and stared with intent just short of malice. “Why do you want to know my feelings about you and Susie so bad?” Kris asked, crossing their legs and leaning back in their chair.
“I…” Ralsei blushed even harder than before, though he did understand why. “Just…wanna know how my friends feel…Still not,” Ralsei coughed. This explanation did not cause any distress to his easily flustered mind, so he coughed to try and “reset” his voice’s tone. “Used to have so many people around me, so I’m always a little nervous about how they feel…I want everyone to be happy so…” Ralsei said, smiling with only his lips.
Kris was caught off guard by the response; they wanted to fluster the Prince, not make him feel bad. “Well…You do a good job at that,” Kris said, causing Ralsei’s eyes to reflect a little of the smile he locked onto his face. Kris decided not to let the pair sit silently and moved a piece forward.
The following little exchange went badly for Ralsei, losing a pair of pawns and even a bishop in an attempt to pull another sneaky maneuver. With the loss of their Queen, Kris was much more careful about their movements. Kris’s victories inspired truth after truth from Ralsei. The pair of them were both unwilling to take a dare. Kris decided to go easy for the next couple of truths. “What is your favorite food, or “What is your favorite color, “. Kris knew the answer to most of these questions. The question was to buy some time and let Ralsei relax. Eventually, Ralsei noticed that Kris’s last bishop was vulnerable. The Queen could take it freely. Ralsei knew losing the Queen was a massive loss. However, Ralsei decided it was worth it. Ralsei lost his Queen. However, he gained a bishop from the exchange.
“Truth or dare!” Ralsei asked, smiling, finally gaining a piece out of the exchange. Now Ralsei could finally push the question that Kris had dodged earlier.
“Dare,” Kris said with a massive smile. Ralsei felt like yelling out, why! Neither of them had dared to dare before now. Ralsei closed his eyes, taking a breath before opening his eyes to giggling. Ralsei’s eyes shot open, and he glared at Kris. “Well, gonna ask?” Kris said, crossing their arms and enjoying it, causing Ralsei a rare hint of frustration.
“...Hmph,” Ralsei took a breath…fine. If Kris wanted to mess with him, he would return the favor. “I dare you…” Ralsei stands from the chair and looks at a little corner desk. The desk had many circular mirrors, all completely spotless despite what they were used for. “To let me,” Ralsei opened a small drawer on the desk and pulled out a bunch of products. Mascara, primar, lipgloss, eyeliner, all the assorted brushes required to apply all of it, and scissors lined the desk in a manner only the Prince could understand. Kris raised an eyebrow as Ralsei prepared all the materials, “Give you a makeover!” Ralsei said, a cruel smile on his face as he prepared to exact his vengeance against the knight.
“...C…Can I switch to truth?” Kris asked, rubbing their arm as their mind filled with dread
“Nope! You choose dare. You gotta stick with it,” Ralsei said, grinning from ear to ear…honestly, this dare was far better than any truth that his mind could cook up, especially with his question primarily being dictated by whatever Kris accidentally manipulated him into asking. Ralsei found himself surprised by his pleasure in the petty vengeance. Wasn’t he supposed to be the friendly Prince? Whatever the reason, Ralsei was enjoying himself thoroughly.
Kris sighed. “...Fine,” Kris got out of the chair, walking timidly over to the desk as Ralsei pulled up another chair. “Don’t…make me look stupid,” Kris said before sitting and accepting their fate.
Ralsei chuckled. “Don’t worry, Kris, I have no intention of ruining your beautiful face,” Ralsei said, so high on the moment he did not even realize the compliment he sent them, causing Kris to blush and cough. “Just sit back and enjoy the makeover,” Ralsei said, grabbing a stick of lipstick and twisting the bottom so the tip rose from the stick.
Kris sighed and closed their eyes. Despite Ralsei’s promise and sudden compliment, Kris was worried the makeup would make them look worse. Kris’s fears were not from Ralsei’s skill, mind you, but rather from the fact that they knew that putting glitter on trash would emphasize the garbage. Kris flinched slightly as cold lipstick pressed gently against their lips, a wet coating covering them. Kris wondered how this would look; they had never worn lipstick or makeup. “Just a little more…and!” Kris felt something rub against their eyelids. “There, open!” Raslei announced happily.
Kris’s eyes slowly opened, and a piercing gaze stared at the mirror. A stranger greeted their gaze. The stranger’s lips were as red as their eyes. The stranger’s eyelids had been covered in a faded pink color, matching the cosmetologist’s. Kris also noticed many tiny changes, such as a missing blemish and more emphasis on their eyes. Except for the eyeshadow and maybe the lipstick, there was nothing anyone other than Kris would notice.
“So….You like it?” Ralsei asked the stranger, a big smile on his face.
“...you…” Kris paused for a few seconds. Kris did not know how to feel about it. On the one hand, Ralsei’s work was undeniably good. Despite never working on a human face before, Ralsei made all the makeup look good. Why were they having such an issue with it? “You did an outstanding job,” Ralsei did a good job and should be praised for it. Kris just needed to get over the fact they looked good.
A knight pushed forward on a desperate gambit through hostile territory, seconds away from the enemy front line and with a hoard of angry soldiers moving against it. The Knight charged itself forward, right into the opposing side’s backline, threatening the King momentarily before being cut down by a pawn, which took the Knights horse as its prize.
“Truth or dare!” Ralsei said to the stranger, smiling, that he had taken back the advantage and had a better army once again.
Kris sighed “Yeah…did not pay much attention there…” Kris thought, very briefly, about whether to say truth or dare. As Kris could still feel the lipstick and eyeshadow on their face, the choice was obvious: “Truth,”
“Why am I special,” Ralsei said without any hesitation, relieved that Kris allowed him t-
“Same reason my character jumped in front of the fireball,” Kris said, smiling widely and delaying again.
“But why…” Ralsei’s eyes narrowed as frustration grew, “That wasn’t even cleaver,” Ralsei leaned back in his seat, moving the new knight forward
Kris laughed. “Sorry for your luck,” The knight said, grabbing a pawn and pushing it forward to bring out other pieces. Ralsei moved his knight forward, right next to the pawn that just moved forward. The only spot the knight could attack would be against a Pawn, which would get it taken by the king. Kris moved the pawn forward by two to put pressure on the bishop and get it out of the knight’s way. Ralsei moved the bishop forward to threaten the same spot the Knight was. Kris was further confused. They moved a Pawn to attack the bishop…which moved to where the pawn was formerly threatened.
“Checkmate! Truth or dare!” Ralsei announced, puffing his chest out.
“...wait, but…” Kris looked to the king…A space was next to the king, but the knight threatened that, as was the bishop who placed the king in chess: “Huh…good job…truth,” Kris said, smiling at the Prince. “Took ya long enough,” The knight chuckled.
“What is the reason that you jumped in front of the fireball and the reason I’m special,” Ralsei asked, praying that Kris would let the question go through without deflecting it again.
“Because…” Kris looked at the ground…it was fun teasing Ralsei, pushing them further and further into frustration as the answer was repeatedly deflected. But at this point, Kris had to make a decision. Make one more deflection, or be honest. “...I…like you quite a bit,” Kris said, revealing the truth while trying to use as soft language as possible.
“I would certainly hope so; I am your friend, after all.” Ralsei chuckled, not fully understanding. “What m-”
“More than other people, I mean,” Kris interrupted, which confused Ralsei even further… wouldn’t you like your friend more than other people? Ralsei was momentarily lost in thought before slipping back to reality upon seeing Kris looking uncomfortable with the situation. “I…um…Like you quite a bit,” Ralsei said with a smile, unsure if Kris had gone as far as their brain had assumed.
Kris sighed. He did not get it. “Thanks…” Kris looked around. “Hey…what time is it?” Kris asked suddenly, realizing how long they had been hanging out.
“Uh…just about…” Ralsei waved his hand in the air, which radiated a magical energy. “About eight pm,” Ralsei said, looking disappointed. “You might wanna head home,” Ralsei sighed. “Want me to take your makeup off?” Ralsei asked head tilted slightly
“No… I’ll remove it at home; I should probably get other people’s opinion on it first,” Kris stood up, stretching a bit. “Well, nice hanging out with you,” Kris said, staring at the chess table before them, trying to ignore their misinterpreted confession.
“Y-yeah, it was ever so wonderful to hang out with you, too,” Ralsei said with a smile, heading over to the door and holding it open for Kris. Kris walked over to the door quicker than they usually would while leaving their friend. Kris got to the door and suddenly stopped. Ralsei looked at them with some confusion. “Something wrong-” Suddenly, Kris’s lips were pushed up against the Prince’s cheek, staining the fur pink in a lip followed shape. Ralsei blinked, and Kris was already halfway down the hallway. Only a few moments later, Kris was gone, down the stairs, running to the exit as quickly as possible. Ralsei stood in the doorway, pink lipstick stuck to his cheek. “O..OH! T.. that’s what they meant…”