Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Money was tight, You didn't have a job, and your younger sibling's school had a vacant place in (your favourite department) that paid relatively well for a teachers salary.
What more was there to say?

So, within a week you were stepping into your new classroom and greeting the kids in your class. So much for 'finally i never had to step foot inside a school again!' am i right?
But you cant complain too much, you got to see Kris alot more, and it warmed your heart to see them making friends. Although.. the amount of chalk that had gone missing recently was slightly concerning.

Once class was finished you leant under your desk at the front of the room with a sigh once you realised that for the third time this week, the chalk that you kept next to the board had run out, with the last one you had there being used up for todays class. (You pointedly ignored the fact that half of it was gone already to what looked like a bite mark.) Except it seems that this time you were out of luck. The empty box of chalk under the desk stared back up at you and rendered your search futile.

Damn it.

You called out to Kris while you were dismissing the class.

"Kris, could you help me with something?" Kris turned toward you at their place by the door, and you quickly realised that Susie, who was right behind them also stopped to listen.

"Oh, Susie you could be of help too, I'm completely out of chalk- and I'm not entirely sure where I could find some. You guys know your way around the school better than me, so would you mind helping me find the supply closet? Or anywhere with chalk really." You chuckled light-heartedly as you finished your sentence.

A shocked look passed over Susie's face and you briefly wondered whether you had said something wrong. She looked over at Kris in a slightly panicked manner, but they had already begun walking out of the classroom, presumably to show you the way.
Raising an eyebrow at Susie, you quickly tagged on behind Kris who led the three of you to a set of double doors that you assumed led to a storage closet.

"Thank you Kris, i appreciate it. I'm sure ill get the hang of navigating around this school soon." you laughed, and reached to open the doors.

"WAIT!" Susie barked out, a little too loud and too quick to mask any sort of panic in her voice.

You turned to her, confusion clouding your features. "Susie wh-"

"MAYBE... Me and Kris should get the chalk.. since uhh you wouldn't know what shelf its on!" A rare nervousness was present on Susie's face which you hadn't seen before.

Although as much as you loved Susie, you were more than ready to head home and dealing with her antics could easily get frustrating sometimes, "Susie, is something wrong? I'm sure i can find it but i.. uhm.. appreciate your enthusiasm.?"
You had barely cracked the door open when she spoke again.

"WAIT. DON'T GO IN THERE!"

You turn back to her again, shocked. Your suspicions rise along with your concern at the realisation that you've never seen Susie act like this. "Are you hiding something? Susie, I assure you, I wont be mad at whatever it is." You step forward once more to create a sense of finality and open the door, taking a confident step inside. Or, you would've, if there was a floor. Before you know it, you're plummeting down into what could only be described as a void with a scream tearing through your lips. You hadn't screamed that loud since you played that shitty, badly made horror game that one time!

Chapter Text

"Kris, Susie! Welcome back!" Ralsei clasped his paws together gleefully as the two landed gracefully on the ground in the dark world.
"I've made cakes so you've come at the perfect ti-"
Before he can finish his sentence you thud to the ground with the grace of a fish out of water, and groan into the floor.

"What kind of god damn closet is this.." You murmur, raising yourself on your elbows to look around.

"Oh you brought a friend! I'm Ralsei-"

"WHAT THE FU-"

-

A brief moment of silence later, and a bunch of shocked expressions (with yours probably being the worst of them all), you spoke up.

"Susie is there a boy living in the school supply closet!?!?"

"Actually this is Castle Town! There's many darkners that live here!" The fluffy boy replies.

Safe to say you were freaking out, however, by the end of Ralsei's rant about the dark worlds you had somehow managed not to hyperventilate.

"There's a 'dark world' in the school supply closet." You said, slight disbelief still present in your tone.

"Sorry you had to find out like this teach- told ya not to go in that door" Susie said with a shrug.
You let out a song suffering sigh,

"Well, forgive me for not assuming there was a WHOLE OTHER WORLD in the closet. But i suppose its.. uh.. not that bad once you've explained it." To be honest, you'd always dreamed of having otherworldly adventures, even if those dreams had always felt completely out of reach. Now that you had calmed down, you had to admit this was insanely exciting.
"Can i uh.. explore?"
Susie barked out a laugh.

"I thought you'd be so much less cool about this!"
Your cheeks flushed with embarrassment,

"Hey I'm not that boring! This place is insane and if I get to go on an adventure for once in my boring life I'm sure as hell taking that opportunity!"
Both you and Susie chuckled.

"I can show you around if you'd like!" Ralsei immediately offered, to which you accepted.

You realise that your clothes had turned to something more stylized than your typical attire, and the new outfit was adorned in your favourite colours and little accessories which was pretty cool. It seemed almost as if this place knew you better than you knew yourself! Either way, you followed Ralsei as he led you through the town and explained some of the things he hadn't covered in his first description of the place. This new world was eccentric and had so many interesting residents, each with their own quirks and identities. It'd be a lie if you were to say you weren't completely enchanted by it all.

That was, until a bright light, almost like a beacon suddenly materialised in front of you and Ralsei, making you stumble backwards slightly and shield your eyes to squint at the offending light. What you didn't expect however, was a figure to emerge. A man dressed entirely in blue with shockingly white hair and an air of confidence to him.
However the most noticeable thing apart from that would probably be the fact that his literal skin was blue...

"GEH HAH AHAHHA HA HA!! FACETH MINE GREATEST PUZZLE YET WORMS!!"
The figure spread his arms dramatically, presenting a block moving puzzle.

was it a joke..?

"Where's the catch-?" all eyes turned to you.

"Whatever art thou implying worme??"
You stumbled over your words a little.

"I uh.. its just so easy?"
A flash of annoyance and disbelief crossed the puzzle maker's face.

"How DARETH thou!!! Thou choseth to offend the duketh of puzzles?? THE Rouxls Kaard!?"
You stare at him.

"uh"

"I bet thou art simply too scaredeth!! Deflectinge due to the fact thou cant'st completeth mine great puzzle!"

You walk over to the block and shove it to the side with your foot until it reaches the designated place.

"GOD. DAMN IT."

"Like I said, easy."
Ralsei shot you a warning look, although you were too busy challenging this 'Duke of Puzzles' to properly acknowledge it.
Rouxls faltered before replying,

"THOUST FOOLS!! That was hardly mine besteth worke!! I have- AN EVEN MORE DIFFICULTE PUZZLE RIGHTETH HERE! THOU SHALL FALL TO THINE KNEESE IN DESPAIR!!"

"Can we see it..?"

"No." Rouxls turns to leave, but not before adding,

"BUT THOU HAVEN'T SEENETH THE LAST OF ME WORME!!!" and pointing at you with a menacing grin, although you'd literally just absolutely aced this guys puzzle.
What did this mean- was he going to challenge you to more easy puzzles or something?? Did he think you were.. rivals of some sort? You supposed you'd find out if he did actually show his face again some point, but now to more pressing matters.

"Ralsei?"

"Yes..?" Ralsei replied sheepishly.

"What on earth was that?" you said, to which Ralsei laughed slightly.

"That was Rouxls Kaard.. hes got.. quite a personality doesn't he?"
This sweet little darkner didn't call him frustrating, or even seem annoyed at the random overly dramatic puzzle to the point you were second guessing whether this was a normal occurrence or not.
"Seems like he sees you as a.. challenge? I mean.. usually the only lighters here are Kris and Susie, and not many others bother to put up with his puzzles." Ralsei added on.

"Interesting." You muttered half to yourself.

Chapter Text

One finished tour and a couple of cakes later, you had returned to your apartment after dropping Kris off at home and calling Toriel with a stream of apologies and excuses of 'Kris was staying longer to study with a friend'. Your apartment wasn't far from their house, so the drive wasn't a problem and you often came over for dinner and to bond with your sibling.
You sat in bed, ever so grateful that it was a Friday and you didn't have any real work for tomorrow and flicked through random apps on your phone until you fell asleep.

-

You dreamt of.. Ralsei in a Mercedes-Benz. For.. some reason?

-

Yawning and rubbing sleep from your eyes, you slowly get up and abandon your phone for a while on your bedside table in favour of wandering around your small kitchen in search of something to eat. Damn. You wish you could have more of that cake from last night..
Hold on.
Last night!? What the hell even was that?? It couldn't have been some sort of freakish fever dream right?? You raised a hand to your forehead... nope.. you felt fine.
After throwing together a breakfast of some stupidly sweet cereal and milk in a bowl, you wandered back to bed and stared at the ceiling for a bit. The crunch of cereal was the only sound that filled the room as you pondered whether or not what happened yesterday was real.

Bzzzz

Your phone vibrated on the table beside you, tearing you from your mini-crisis.
You reached for your phone and lazily scrolled through some notifications, but not before scowling at your (now empty) bowl of cereal as if it held all of your problems. That was when you found it. A new notification from Kris.

K: "[Name], can I sleep over at yours today?"
That was.. sudden. Nothing out of the ordinary, Kris would come over sometimes to play board games or Toriel would ask you to 'babysit' for a bit if she was going out or needed to do something, but this seemed different. Your mind wandered without permission to last nights adventures in the dark world.. this may be your chance to find out whether all this madness actually happened or not. Or maybe... YOU were the one eating the chalk and have gone batshit crazy. Who knows?

You: "Of course, but is something wrong everything's fine with mum right? Not enough pie for you or what? XD"

K: "No, its fine. I'm bringing Susie though"
They didn't leave much room for argument.

You: "Want me to find some board games or something for you kids? I'm sure I can find something fun for you guys."

K: "Ive got something in mind already, dont bother."

Toriel embraced you in a large fuzzy hug before she left after dropping off Kris (and Susie who they'd picked up on the way) .
"Now, be good you two!"
"We will." Susie replied. Something about her seemed different around Toriel. She seemed more at ease, which warmed your heart a little.
You waved Toriel goodbye, before turning back to Kris and Susie once she had driven back down the street.

-

"YOU WANT TO WHAT??"
Susie burst out laughing, to which you scowled at her, although there was no real anger in it.

"It'll be fine, no one ever notices."

"you... YOU'VE DONE THIS BEFORE???"

-

And with that, You, Susie and Kris are back at the school building on a god damned SATURDAY trying to sneak into the storage closet/insane other world. What happened to your life?? At least this was confirmation that last night wasn't a dream.

"I swear if I loose my job because of you two I'm gonna freak out."

"Relax! We'll be fine, i told you we've done this before." Susie chuckled, opening the door to the building with no resistance. Do they not lock this place??

"I still can't believe this.." You sighed, but followed on anyway, shutting the door behind you quietly.
The three of you toward the closet, your steps seeming deafeningly loud in the silent school. You're buzzing with excitement and nerves as Susie opens the double doors to the supposed 'storage closet'. The darkness from inside seems to spead out into the corridor.. how had you not noticed that when you first opened it? You swallowed nervously, waiting for someone to move, before Kris gestured for you to go first.
"I uh.. do i just?-"
You walked up to the door, and kept going as though to step into the closet, and immediately stumbled, falling through the 'floor' as though you'd missed a step while going down the stairs, into that very same void with a fading
"WOAAAHH-!"
You thought you could hear Susie's loud raspy laugh as you fell.

-

Ralsei rushed up to you as soon as he saw you, a joyful expression on his face as usual.

"[Name]! I'm glad you tagged along, I actually have a surprise for you!"
He said, before greeting Susie and Kris.
A surprise? That was sudden, hopefully it wasn't something weird.. You could never be sure with this strange world.

"That's really sweet Ralsei, can I see?"
Susie grinned as though she already guessed what it was.

"Oh if its what i think it is, you'll love it." She chuckled.
Okay.. now you were a little scared.

"Oh i sure hope so!!" Ralsei clapped his paws together happily, before rushing off toward the main castle. You follow behind with only slight hesitation, Susie and Kris beside you the whole time. He leads you past Susie and Kris' rooms which you have now come to recognise, to another door beside it.
Ralsei opens the door and does a sort of shy version of jazz hands.. jazz paws? whatever.
"I uhm.. made you a room! You dont have to use it of course.. but if you feel like coming back here.. you'll have a room to stay in!"

"Woah.." You say, as you step into the room. Its perfect, Your favourite colour can be seen around the room, as well as other accented colours that pair well with it. There's posters with things you like, and a neatly made bed. Hell, there's even a wardrobe!

..You throw yourself onto the bed. It's heavenly.

"Ralsei this is perfect! How did you.. wow. just wow."
Ralsei smiles sheepishly, while Susie grins at you from the door, before walking in and having a look around herself.

"Well.. Kris mentioned their sibling a couple of times.. and I suppose otherwise I went off of what I knew about you from when i showed you around yesterday." Ralsei continued,
"So, if you ever want to stay here for a while- or maybe even make some friends here- I figured it'd be a good idea!"
You got up off the bed and swept Ralsei into a hug, thanking him profusely.

-

After letting go of the sweet ball of fluff that was Ralsei, Kris and Susie returned to their rooms, with Ralsei also leaving to make more cakes for all of you. As gratefull as you were, you wanted to explore a little on your own and figured that you'd be back by the time the cakes were ready. So, with that, you began to wander around the castle, until you decided you had gotten bored and left the castle entirely to go outside.
A beacon of light flashes in front of you barely moments after you leave the castle.

"GEH HAHA HA HA!! THE WORME IS BACKETH FOR MORE!! THOU JUSTE COULDNTST STAY AWAY FROM ME, COULD THOU?"
Oh god it was the blue guy. His name was Rouxls right..?

"Yeah.. keep telling yourself that.. I'm guessing you've got another easy puzzle for me?" You challenge, although he seems to disregard your sassy remark.

"Since thou seemst like a worthye opponenteth," oh great so he sees you as a rival.

"i haveth created a NEW, BETTERE PUZZLE FOR THOU!!"
he spreads his arms dramatically once more, presenting a.. chess game!?
You stared in disbelief for a second.

"That's not a puzzle."

"I- WELL I BET THOU CANTST BEAT ME AT CHESS!!" His tone was defensive, and yknow what.. it might be funny to humour this guy... and beat him in chess just once.

-

A while later, Rouxls yells "AHA! CHECK MATETH!!"
WHAT.
You lost..
TO THE GUY WHO CANT EVEN MAKE PUZZLES PROPPERLY.
Damn.. you hadn't played chess in ages but you hadn't thought you were THAT bad... You stare at him in shock for a moment, before he gets up, still laughing to himself.
"UNTILL WE MEETETH AGAIN, OH RIVALETH OF MINE!"
And hes gone. You groan, flipping the board and sending a couple of pieces flying before sighing and heading back to the castle. If anything was going to make you feel better, it was cakes from Ralsei... and maybe beating that guys ass in this messed up puzzle rivalry.
-

Its the next night when it hits you, Kris and Susie have already left from their little 'sleepover' and your staring at an unsolved rubik's cube sat on your desk.. If he makes puzzles that easy, he'd probably struggle with a rubik's cube.. right? That'd be insanely funny.

-

You vow to give Rouxls a rubik's cube the next time you see him.

Chapter Text

A couple of days later, you decide to return to the dark world.
You stay back after school under the guise of 'finishing off some more work before heading home' and make sure that the coast is clear before swinging open the doors to the storage closet. The familiar darkness seeps out of the closet and you jump in, landing on wobbly feet. Better that a faceplant you suppose.
You pat the Rubik's cube in your pocket. Perfect. You weren't sure about the grounds of what objects turned into darkners and whatnot, so you decided to just deem yourself lucky for now and ask Ralsei about it later.

-

Once you reach the castle, you decide to walk around. There's a Rudin here, a Jigsawry there, overall, your walk hasn't proven all that interesting so far. You're sort of surprised Rouxls hasn't appeared already if you're honest. Maybe hes still basking in his 'victory'. You grin to yourself again at the thought of that damned blue man struggling with a Rubik's cube.

-

After wandering a while longer, and taking a couple of breaks to just sit around, you stumble upon a shop. It uh... just says "Shop" in a fancy font. Interesting.

You decided to step inside, remembering that you still had a couple of dark dollars left and wondered what you could spend them on.

"Welcome to mine shope thou ungrateful worm- Lighter!? I mean.. Of course! Thou must be backeth for mine greate puzzle making talenteth!"
Rouxls Kaard is practically laying on the countertop.
You should've guessed.

"You run a shop?"
He seems to falter before replying confidently

"Well how else am i going to fundeth mine greate puzzles??"
You almost laugh.. hes got a point.
Hols on.. this is the opportunity you were waitng for!

"Well, 'Duketh of Puzzles', I challenge YOU to complete MY puzzle." You grin at Rouxls, and he looks at you with a shocked expression.

"You.. haveth gotten ME a puzzle??"

"Scared you can't do it?" You replied smugly, before dramatically getting the Rubik's cube out and presenting it to him with a flourish.

"WHAT?? NO OFCOURSE I CANST COMPLETETH IT!!" He snatches the cube from your hand, inspecting it carefully.

"What, first time being on the solving end of the puzzle?" You chuckle.

"I.. of courseth not!! Thou art a fool to even suggesteth such a thinge!" He grumbles defensively, fiddling with the cube and making a little interested noise once he began turning the different layers of the cube. You couldn't help but think back to Ralsei's words.. maybe hes lonely? Ralsei did say not many people bother to put up with his puzzles right..?

Why were you even thinking about that? This dude beat you in chess.. you gotta beat his ass with puzzles now!!

Not even a couple of seconds into watching Rouxls struggle with the cube, a chubby little spade boy bounces in with a wide grin, you're not even sure where he came from- but you recognise him, you had briefly met the sweet little creature while he was hanging out with Susie.

"Lesser dad!!" He called out, bouncing up on top of the counter next to Rouxls.

...

WHAAATTTTT???? DID YOU HEAR THAT RIGHT??
You stare at Rouxls in disbelief, and his cheeks turn a bright shade of a mix between lilac and light blue, jaw slightly dropped as though he hadn't expected the interaction either.

"Oh, [Name] you're here too! Hiya!" Lancer turns to face you, still sporting that same happiness about him.

A moment of silence passes.

"OKAY!SHOPSCLOSEDETHTHANKSTTHOUFORTHINEPURCHASEORWHATEVERBYETH!!"
(Shops closed thanks for your purchase or whatever bye!!)

Rouxls yelled out all in one breath, shoving you out of the shop with haste, still blushing furiously.

What just happened??

1) you didn't even buy anything,

2) LESSER DAD??????

...

WHAAAAAATTTTTT??

Chapter Text

You end up walking out of the castle, past your room and exiting the dark world, your mind whirring at breakneck speeds throughout your entire journey. That was... weird.
Once you get home, you find yourself in bed staring at your ceiling again, with more thoughts fogging up your brain than usual.

Now that you think of it.. you've never really thought about Rouxls as a character.. you haven't really spoken to him other than when you guys presented one another puzzles, and sly remarks here and there. You'd always viewed him as a challenge. This guy has a SON? Or.. more-so someone who sees him as a sort of father figure?

Lancer's such a sweetheart too, (apart from when hes a bit a of a nuisance and rams his bike into everything and anything from what you've heard), so.. maybe this strange blue guy isn't so bad with his fancy outfit, and weird accent, and pearly white hair..
God, okay no. Enough thinking for today. Lights OUT.
You stripped out of the work clothes you were still wearing, and jumped into bed with a dramatic sigh into your pillow, before quickly falling asleep. Thoughts were to be had another day.

-

You are filled with the power of getting sleep rather than being awake writing AO3 fics knowing you have to wake up early tomorrow.

Chapter Text

A couple of weeks had passed since your shop encounter with Rouxls, and the puzzle battle continues.. even if the rivalry felt less.. well.. 'rivaly'. It almost felt like a game of sorts.. Not that you'd ever admit that to yourself though. (Although the one time you teased him about his interaction with lancer he denied any relation to the chubby spade boy, claiming he just liked to bother Rouxls. You did a little digging on your own however, and found out that Lancer apparently 'has three dads' who he explained a little too enthusiastically were:
'Girl dad' (Queen),
'Hamster Dad' (His real dad who was.. in jail??),
and of course 'Lesser dad' (Your one and only puzzle rival.)
Just as you thought this place couldn't get any stranger too.

-

Either way, today was a Saturday (which meant you had actually gotten a relatively good nights sleep and were more than ready to take on whatever puzzle you assumed Rouxls would throw at you today). But first, you decided to head to the library with the hopes that the next book in your favourite series had been returned.
You headed out of your house, and drove down to the library before hopping out of your car and shoving your keys in your pocket before cracking the library door open, only to jump back in surprise when a familiar darkness seemed to seep out of the door... Surely this couldn't be another one of the dark fountain things Ralsei had mentioned.. right??

...

One way to find out...

You leap inside confidently like you would've when getting to castle town, and braced yourself to hit the ground as you soared through the void.

-

OH GOD. This was SO FREAKISHLY WEIRD.
Those were your only real thoughts as you dashed away from the triangle spitting some sort of mathematical symbols at you. You were right- the library had become a dark world. A mix of fiction and non fiction.
The number '7' barely missed you as you skidded into a tall building made of stone. It seemed you were in some kind of.. throne room. Of... a castle. With piles of gold, jewellery, trinkets and treasure.

Oh no.

A low rumbling emerged from the pile of treasure.

The crimson scales of a red dragon shone amongst the treasure, its head raising to pin you down with fiery golden eyes.
First a fucking triangle. NOW A STEREOTYPICAL FANTASY BOOK DRAGON?? You were so done for.
You quickly defended against the dragons first attack, although the insane strength of the creature easily overpowered you, and a jet of fire easily blasted through your defence, leaving you damaged. Fuck.

Knowing that none of the things you had on you in the dark world would do any damage to this thing, you turned around and sprinted the opposite direction.

You dash through the castle halls, skidding to a halt to make a sharp turn only for the dragons fire to make direct impact with your shoulder blade. Letting loose a string of curses, you continue your mad dash through the castle until you finally think you've lost the beast. You drop to your knees, winded, sucking in shallow breaths as the adrenaline rush cools off and your body begins to register the pain its in.

A blinding light.

"WORME! I HATH FOUND THOU- NOW FACETH-"
You raise a hand so silence him, still regaining your breath. Shocked by the gesture and still taking in your condition, Rouxls stops speaking and rather awkwardly places his arms back by his sides from where they were raised in a dramatic gesture.
A few moments of silence (apart from you panting like a dog) pass, and he shuffles toward you.

"Uhh.. wouldst thou liketh a healing iteme..?"

Chapter Text

"Yep.. Yeah that'd be great."
You wheeze out, and reach up for whatever you assume Rouxls will hand you, only to realise he'd already crouched down in front of you. He hands you the item carefully, avoiding your gaze, and you consume it gratefully, even though you're still not used to the strange way of healing in this world. Your shoulder was still pretty fucked up but you supposed you'd have to deal with it.

You felt a lot better basically instantly, and soon after rose to your feet now that you'd caught your breath, to which Rouxls followed. He stared at you for a second.. why was he staring?
Oh- you'd interrupted whatever he was saying earlier.

"Sorry, sorry carry on."
You struggled to hold back a giggle at the absurdity of this guy actively waiting for you to tell him to continue his crazy dialogue about what you assumed to be a new puzzle or challenge for you.
Rouxls stepped back and away from you, once again striking a dramatic pose.
"I HAVETH THE GREATESTE PUZZLE YET FOR THEE!"
He paced the room, making dramatic gestures and beginning to get into how 'difficult your find this one!' and so on, before a loud click sounds in the room and all eyes turn to the stone in the floor that Rouxls had stepped on in the midst of his rant.
Frustrated with being interrupted again, he goes to carry on before cutting himself off with a yelp as the ground beneath him disappears.

'What the fuck?'
You think to yourself for like.. the millionth time since you'd found out about the dark worlds.

You rush towards the hole in the floor, stopping by the edge to peer down for any sign of Rouxls, before you hear another dreaded click.

Shit.

The floor under you also gives way, (who woulda guessed!) and you drop to the ground(?) underneath with an undignified sound.

"Who the FUCK places two floor traps next to each other??"
You mumble under your breath as you rise to your feet, looking up to where you fell from only to be met with darkness. The trap had closed behind you. LOVELY! JUST.. absolutely great.
You turned away from the ceiling and place your hand on the wall of your containment, blinking rapidly to adjust to the darkness as you wander, aiming to find a way out.
Something grasps your shoulder.
You reel back with a screech, only to stop dead in your tracks as you realise the thing that grabbed you let out a similar noise, and has also jumped back by the sound of it.

"Rouxls..?"
You ask the darkness.

"[Name?]"
You let out a sigh of relief, and chuckled dryly at the absurdity of the situation.

"God.. this sure is... something."
Your eyes had finally began to adjust to the darkness, and you could make out Rouxls' figure in the room(?) you were trapped in.

"This ah... wasn'tst in mine plans."

"We should probably find a way out of this hellhole.. You said, now confident that at least there wasn't anything else in the room with you. Atleast, nothing that compared to a giant fantasy dragon (sorry Rouxls).

"That wouldst be a goodeth idea, yes."

-

And so, you both search the room. What you learn is that you're trapped in a room of solid rock, it was getting pretty cold in here, and there was no obvious way out.

You banged on the wall with your fist another time, before slinking down against the wall in a defeated manner, to which Rouxls joined you. A few minutes of awkward silence later, you get up once more.

"There has to be some sort of way out- who on earth makes these things?!? "
You continue your rant as you pace around the room, not dissimilarly to how Rouxls was doing earlier, although your pacing was far more frustrated.

"Come help me check these walls again.. there has to be something."
You say, inspecting the walls of your temporary (you hoped) prison.

Rouxls didn't move to get up, so with a frustrated huff you turned to him expectantly. Did he not want to get out of here or something?

"Ah well.. i wouldst helpeth thou, however i seeme to be... stucketh here."
He gestures to his feet, which were encased in stone.
You stare at him in shock, your silence met with an explanation (Thankfully).

"Someth of us darknerse from othereth dark worldse.. dontst holdeth up very wellst in othere worlds. They uh.. becometh stone 'statues' of sortes."
Abandoning the wall search, you come back to Rouxls, sitting beside him against the wall again.

"Are you.. like, okay?"
You offer, not really sure what else to say in this absolutely obsurd situation.

"I shalt be fineth, t'has happened before. Kris shalt bringe me backeth to castle towne and i shalt be back greatere than evereth!"
You could tell that he meant to sound reassuring and confident, but failed to achieve it, even with his usual flare.

Now that you really looked at him, he seemed.. tired. You'd briefly thought about it before, Rouxls seeming lonely or not having anyone put up with his puzzles, but he had that look of a bone-deep weary that you were oh-so familiar with.
You tore your eyes away from the figure beside you, fixing your gaze to the floor and ignoring the wave of.. pity? Sympathy? Whatever it was.

"You think Kris and the rest of the group will find us soon?"
Rouxls, who also has is eyes trained on the floor, doesn't respond.
The two of you sat in near silence for what seemed like hours,
but could've been minutes for all you knew. The only sounds that filled the room was your occasional shuffling, the occasional crack or crumble of stone from Rouxls' body, and your breathing.

You shivered against the cool stone floor, glancing over at Rouxls. Stone had crept up his neck and was inching up his face in slow twists and patterns.
Maybe on a different occasion you'd have admired the statue that Rouxls was becoming. The patterns of the stone creeping up his body. But all you could really feel now was the dread sinking low in your gut at the thought that soon, you truly would be alone here.

You watch as Rouxls' hair takes the form of a sculpture you would've likely praised the attention to detail of if you didn't know the true nature of, and another lifetime of waiting ensued.
No one had come by or noticed you yet, not a footstep or a saviour in sight.

Seeking some form of comfort you would've never admitted to otherwise, you slump against the statue that once was Rouxls and lean into the solid stone that used to be his side.
Eventually, you were swept away into a restless, shivering sleep.

Chapter Text

"One more trap to check!"
Raslei brushes off his paws against his clothes and says as Kris disarms the floor trap, and the group makes their way down to the cold stone ground underneath the trap. They wander around the previously dark room, with the light filtering in still being quite dim.

"I think we may have got everyone-"
Ralsei begins, before turning to Susie, who had barked out a laugh and was pointing at the wall at the far side of the room with her free hand, the other holding up the stone statue that was once lancer in a sort of piggy back.

"What is it Susie- "
Ralsei was cut off by his own fit of giggles as he padded over to her to check what she was laughing at.

-

You slowly blinked open your eyes, awoken by a noise.. was that laughter?
Since when the fuck was your pillow so solid and cold.

As you slowly come to your senses, you realise Susie is standing over you, with Ralsei and Kris by her side.

Hold up that's not a pillow.

You shoot up from your spot curled up to the statue of Rouxls with a yelp, realising you'd moved in your sleep, not much.. just enough to be curled into his side and resting your head on his stone shoulder. Susie barks out more hearty laughter, almost dropping to her knees from how hard she's shaking with her loud raspy laugh.
You're face flushes red with embarrassment as you dust yourself off.

"Oh, you dont know how glad I am that you found us- I was starting to think we would be stuck down here forever!!"
Your eyes land on lancer, and you let out a breath you hadn't realised you were holding.

"So he wasn't lying about the whole darkners turning into stone thing."
If you had to be honest with yourself, you had been suppressing thoughts and what-ifs, hoping that Rouxls wasn't just saying that to make you feel better about being trapped in a dark room for the rest of your life.

"Ah, I'm glad Rouxls explained that to you! I hope you weren't too or worried while down here!" Ralsei said as you all began exiting the now-disarmed trap.
You were on Rouxls Kaard carrying duty. (Dragging his stone body through the castle behind you.)

"Oh. Yeah no, i was fine!" You say, as though you're not practically holding back tears as you step out of the dark room.

You've got a banging headache from the sudden light, but you and the rest of the group make it to the dark fountain, seal it and get OUT of there.

-

Kris has set off home, and you and Susie are about to part ways. Thankfully Ralsei had healed your shoulder blade, but the muscles around it were still sore.
"Phew.. that's enough adventuring for one day that's for sure."
You say, earning a laugh from Susie. The sun was setting, casting warm golden and crimson hues across the sky and you couldn't help but stop to stare.

"So.. you and Rouxls like.. a thing or..?"
The absurd question catches you off guard.
Oh right.
The whole stuck in a room for hours on end and falling asleep on his shoulder thing.

"NO! Nooope ABSOLUTELY NOT! Have a lovely rest of your night Susie and we will NEVER mention that situation again. Bye!" You say, as you speed-walk the other way. (You could've sworn you could hear Susie laughing at you as you escaped the awkward interaction.)

How on earth do your days keep getting weirder as they go on..?

Chapter Text

In the end, you did return to the dark world of course.
Although.. a lot of your typical interactions with Rouxls seemed different. Almost.. staged. and all awkward. It was nothing like your usual 'puzzle battle' interactions and it was driving you absolutely insane.
..You had also noticed that Susie had been atleast somewhat present in most of them.

What had you gotten yourself into??

At least Rouxls and Lancer were fine after the whole.. turning into stone thing.

Either way, you were heading back into the dark world today with both Kris and Susie, who claimed that Ralsei had something to show you. It sort of excited you- I mean.. the last time he had something to show you you had gotten a whole room to yourself, so it couldn't be that bad!

-

You stood staring at the huge red dragon that had almost turned you into a burnt crisp on the floor the last time you saw it.

"Ralsei."

"Look! we managed to make many friends in this new dark world and this lovely creature is one of them! Aren't their scales absolutely gorgeous?" Ralsei said as he padded closer to the dragon.

"RALSEI ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED? That thing was LITERALLY about to scorch me the last time I saw it!!"

"Oh- you two have met before?"
You struggled against the urge to facepalm. Or slam your head into a wall, either one worked.

"Well.. they're very friendly now! they just needed the right treatment and.. poof! Its okay if you're scared [Name]... But you should give them a chance!"

You had always loved dragons, and fantasy books had interested you but, you figured you had a right to be nervous as you approached the huge creature.
Ignoring the nagging thoughts of razor-sharp teeth, you put out your hand Hiccup-style and shuffled even closer.
The creature sniffed you.
What felt like an eternity later... it completely ignored your hand and within a split second its jaws were practically pressed up to the side of your face- but before you could scream and jump back to avoid getting your face torn off, it...
licks a fat stripe across your face, (and shoulder considering how absolutely huge its tongue is) leaving half your hair sticking up in an awkward, slimy manner.

"Oh-eewughhh..."
You cringed at the slime covering you as you quickly dodged another lick from the dragon.
Susie, however, was absolutely howling with laughter.

You scowled at her, before she went back to whispering something to lancer.
WAIT.
Whispering to lancer? Oh god this couldn't be good.

Ralsei was also giggling, and eventually snapped out of it and offered to lead you to your room to get the dragon saliva off you. You were about to follow him before Susie called out to you.
"Change into something nice! We've got a surprise for you when you're back."

Lancer was literally on the floor laughing, but.. if it they found it THAT funny... you supposed you could endure one more 'surprise' today.
...If you ABSOLUTELY HAD TO.

You sighed, nodding before following Ralsei.

-

After ralsei had helped you get the slimy dragon spit out of your hair, you thanked him profusely and he left to let you get changed. After all, the clothes on your shoulder were also still covered in drying dragon spit. Ew. Although, you had gotten licked by a DRAGON.. which, like. Childhood dreams come true, so it wasn't that bad you supposed.

About to change into a different, although casual outfit, you stopped. Susie had said 'change into something nice'. (You assumed that meant fancy?)

Another long-suffering sigh later, and you had found a snazzy new outfit in the wardrobe in your room. You were sort of taken aback from how good you looked in it. Hm, who would have guessed? It was so.. you. BUT FANCY.
You pointed finger guns at yourself in the mirror, because... like... hell yeah, and headed out of your room to find Susie waiting just down the corridor.

"Took you long enough!"
She barked out a laugh as she saw your outfit.

"You actually listened? HAH! PERFECT. Hm... okay one more thing. Close your eyes."
After glaring at her for a moment, you did so.

"So... any hints to this 'surprise' or?"

"PSH! That'd ruin the whole 'surprise' part of it!"
she had a point.. what you were confused about however, was the fabric being tied around your head and over your eyes.

"Susie did you just blindfold me."

"..Maybe. "

"THIS'LL BE GOOD THOUGH TRUST ME."
And with that, Susie led you through castle town.

-

"Susie, you said 'we have a surprise for you'. I'm assuming you meant you and Lancer?"

"Yup."
She says, still dragging you.

"Where even is Lancer?"

"Oh.. uh hes getting.... something. YEAH. Something."

Right because that wasn't suspicious at all.

After a while, your heard Lancer call out to the two of you. Or more-so to Susie

"Everything's ready Susie!"
You heard him say, and as you approached, you heard the sound of a door opening, to which you were quickly shoved inside of, catching yourself with a slight stumble.

'Click'

Great. The door was locked. You were either about to die, or get absolutely humiliated by a prank you could feel it in your bones.

"Susie I swear to god. If this is another dragon I'm gonna freak ou-"
You lowered your blindfold, assuming you could look now, and was greeted with the sight of a dark, dimly lit room with a set up table, candles, and flowers in a small vase in the middle. A.. romantic dinner?

You're met with a shocked look that likely mirrors yours as you take in your surroundings and notice that someone else is in the room with you.
Your jaw literally drops.

ROUXLS KAARD??

...

"GOD DAMNIT SUSIE!!!!!"

Chapter Text

You banged on the door, to absolutely no avail as you heard Susie and lancers retreating laugher.

"Fuck."
You threw the blindfold to the floor, Rouxls still staring absolutely dumbfounded.

"What is this? Some sort of messed up version of 7 minutes in heaven??"
You groaned, turning back to inspect the table that had been set up.

"Uhm. Heaven?"
Rouxls questioned.

Oh. That's uh. Not something you feel like explaining to him.

"OH. NO uh.. its. A game- don't worry about it."

He also wanders the room, and you both explore for a minute, before realising that any means of escape have been blocked off. This felt way too familiar.

"God. This is... something."

"..Quite somethinge ineedeth."

The two of you stood awkwardly in the room for a while, before you finally decided to do something.
"Well- I guess I'm not gonna pass up free food."
You said, trying to maintain an air of confidence as you plopped yourself down onto one of the chairs and inspected the food on the plate before you. There was also a singular cake in the middle of the table, and you were already thinking up devious plans to eat it all (or atleast most of it) as you realised Rouxls had sat down too.

"You've been awfully quiet, oh 'duketh of puzzles'" You teased, leaning your elbow on the table as you picked around at your food.

"Ah.. well I must admiteth somethinge hast been.. botheringe me."

You almost choked on the bit of food you had decided to try, (which was surprisingly good) absolutely not expecting that.

"Oh?"

"It's actuallye a.. question for thee."

What. What was going on???

"Art thou.. okayeth?"
Okay, again, not what you were expecting at all.

"Huh..? I mean. Yeah, why?"

Rouxls looked away a small tint of that purply-light blue splayed across his cheeks.

"Actualye i wast referringeth to backe when we werest trapped in the castle."

Oh.

"Thou.. felleth asleep on me.?"

OH. HE WAS CONCIOUS WHEN THAT HAPPENED.
OH....
OH MY GOD
WHY HADN'T YOU EVEN CONSIDERED THAT!?!??

"Oh my god. Oh my- I am SO sorry I didn't think- I didn't uh.. I didn't mean to-"

"Tis quite alrighteth."

He raised a hand to stop you, to which you awkwardly stopped not only talking, but also waving around the fork in your hand that you'd only just realised you were waving around like a weirdo.
Or maybe you were overthinking- it didn't really matter now.
He was looking away from you still, that blush still present.

"I simplye wanted to.. checketh on thou. Thou seemedeth shaken up afterwardse."

Oh. That was actually.. really sweet.

"Yeah, thanks actually. I guess I was just worried that we wouldn't get out of there. Or that.. uh.. Kris and the others wouldn't find us."
You pointedly did not add on the fact that you may have been worried about Rouxls turning to stone, feeling as if that may have been a bit much for now.

"Well. I'm glad heareth that."
He said, finally begining to eat his own meal, and you fell into a slightly more comfortable silence, which was eventually filled with conversation about puzzles and laughter, and eventually led to a contest of who would end up eating more of the cake that was split between you.
You both silently decided to abandon the knife and just hack away at the cake with your forks, and eventually you won, swallowing the last bit of sweet frosting from the cake and wiping
the side of your mouth with your finger, before licking off the rest of it and laughing, relishing in your victory. You must've imagined the way Rouxls traced the action with his eyes, right?

Either way, while you were devouring the cake, you failed to notice a key thing.
The lock to the door had clicked open, meaning that someone had seen your interactions.. and uh. Basically dinner date (THAT WAS DEFINITELY NOT A DINNER DATE. You just.. made the most of the food that was already there. Yup!)

Susie was going to absolutely make the most of this.
God. Damn it.

Chapter Text

Rouxls hadn't noticed the slightly cracked open door yet, but, figuring you'd made the most of this interaction that you could've, you stand up
"Wait a minute. Look"
you motioned to the door, and he perked up.
"Were free! C'mon, lets get out of here."
you continued, although you were still grinning. Maybe this wasn't so bad, after all, the hang out had improved your mood a little. Definitely more than you had expected.

Rouxls had begun walking over to the door, and opened it further, revealing that you were in fact, free to go. Ignoring his slight hesitation in favour of assuming he was still shocked that you were finally getting out of this set up 'dinner date', you wandered back to the table before leaving, with Rouxls' eyes following your movements with a confused expression.

"Well, this is simplye greateth! ...art thou.. not leaving?"

"Hey, I said I'm making the most of this."
You chuckled to yourself, snatching up two candles, blowing them out neatly and bringing them with you, what a lovely new addition to your room!

Stunned slightly by the bold act, Rouxls seemed to let out his own laugh, before holding the door for you as you left, candles in hand.

"Okay one more problem."

"What wouldst that be?"

"How the hell are we getting back to the castle from here? Like.. where even are we.?"

"Ah.. yes that.. couldst be an issue."

-

Eventually, you found the castle and Rouxls ended up walking you to your room, where you set up the candles on a small table/desk area.
You headed out of your room, where Rouxls was waiting by the door and began your mission of finding Susie. You could hear voices down the corridor, and began to make your way to them.

-

"Susie were those the candles I gave you..? Did you also give the cake to [Name]? How sweet!! I was surprised you didn't eat it right out of the cauldron, if I'm honest-"

"SUSIE!!!"
You yelled down the corridor, to which she barked out a laugh, and a quick,

"Welp, that's my que to leave, see ya losers!" and bolted the opposite direction.
You ran down the corridor, leaving a slightly shocked Rouxls behind, until you stopped in front of Ralsei, giving up on the chase and panting slightly.

"I swear to god when I catch that girl she's getting detention for a week."
You swore, Ralsei quickly catching on to your annoyed tone.

"Uh.. are you alright [Name]?"

-

One short explanation later, Ralsei was busy trying to keep a straight face, cut off giggles bursting out from where his paw covered his face.

"So.. Susie and Lancer set you up on a date with Rouxls?"
He was still trying not to laugh.

"They TRAPPED us in a room together. And yes, set us up on some sort of 'dinner date'."
You grumbled out, crossing your arms.

"Oh, [Name], its alright if you like Rouxls! Although.. I don't really see whats appealing about him.. at all.. b-but you shouldn't be ashamed of it!"
He wasn't laughing anymore, but his face still betrayed his amusement.

"NO! ITS- It's not like that. God, why does everyone think that!? No- uh we're like.. rivals or whatever. Friends MAYBE."

"If you say so! Either way, its probably time to return to the light world for you guys, isn't it? It's been lovely having you here and i do hope you come visit again soon!!"

Sighing, you thank him again for getting dragon spit off you earlier and begin to head off to your way back to the light world.

-

Susie and Kris seemed to have already made their way home, so you hopped into your car, threw on some music and made your way home. What a long day, damn. You already knew you were gonna fall asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow.

-

You turned over in bed, grasping blindly at your phone and squinting against the light that filtered in through your window, and mindlessly scrolled through your notifications before stumbling on one that wasn't just something random you hadn't bothered to delete from your inbox last night.

New message from Toriel.

You quickly sat up, your covers pooling at your waist as you scrambled with your phone to check the message

T: "Hey dear, Kris' birthday is coming up and I was hoping you'd be there! It'll just be a little sleepover with a friend, and of course, snacks and cake."

You quickly messaged her back.

You: "Of course I'll be there, what time should I get there?"

a few minutes passed by.

T: "Perfect! I'm sure Kris will be so happy that you're coming."

She sends you the time you're meant to be there, and in a couple of days you have a gift ready for Kris and are on your way to Toriel's place.

-

A day of fun, celebration and gifts later, and you, Susie and Kris were sitting on the couch watching some sort of movie. You had done your fair amount of glaring daggers at Susie throughout the day, and now you guys were mainly just chilling, with everyone tired from the days activities and ready for some sleep. Noelle had left already, with her parents wanting her home before it was too late, and Berdly thankfully hadn't showed up. (No offence to the guy, there's nothing wrong with him hes just... incredibly annoying.)

You stared at the screen a little longer, with Susie's snores already filling the room. So much for marathoning movies all night. Your own eyelids grew heavy however, and, seeing that Kris also seemed to be dozing off, you let them droop and were soon swept away into sleep. You thought you could feel someone shift at your side, but you figured Kris was just getting comfortable and dropped into a deeper sleep than you'd had in a while. Maybe you missed having company, or a family member near you.. Your apartment was feeling incredibly bare and cold recently, despite all the decorations you had up.

Chapter Text

You blinked awake, a ceiling of encrusted gems greeting your eyes. Were you still dreaming?

A weight fell on you and crushed the air out of your lungs

"OUHF"
You fell off the couch(?) you were laying on, Kris tumbling to your side after they had fallen right ontop of you.

"Kris what the hell happened. Where even are we?? Am i still dreaming-"
Kris was getting up already, dusting themselves off, and something on the couch shifts too.

"Is this.. another dark world?"
You followed Kris' lead and dusted yourself off, beginning to properly look around. Gems were adorning almost everything in sight, although, only few were in good condition. Many were cracked, had dust covering them, and looked forgotten. They looked as though they didn't shine as they once used to.

"What on earth is this place.."

"Uh.. another adventure?"
Susie said hopefully, although you could hear the doubt in her voice.

"Lets hope its a good one."
You reply, beginning to further look around, wandering through different bits and pieces, crystal chandeliers, dangling crystal shards acting as barriers in certain areas, and plenty more. You followed Kris, with Susie also tagging along just in front of you so you formed a sort of line, it felt.. natural.
Like a routine you could easily slip into, although you had never done it before. How strange.

Soft steps sounded behind you in a hurry, and you jumped back with a yelp, before turning on a similarly startled Ralsei.

"Kris, Susie, [Name]! I felt a dark presence, and hurried over! It seems another dark fountain has opened."

"Hold on, if this dark fountain is in the house.. What if Toriel is trapped inside too!?"
You voice your concern, before Kris shakes their head.

That's right, she went out to buy some ice cream for you guys and whatnot from that local store.

She seemed quite friendly with the 'Janitor' guy... but that wasn't a concern for right now.

You sighed out in relief, but knowing she wouldn't be gone for too long, you knew you had to seal this fountain quick.
A team of 4 wasn't so bad. You had learned how to ACT from Ralsei, but often let the three main heroes deal with oncoming threats unless you could be of real help or were desperately needed.

"...We should probably hurry with the fountain before Toriel comes back."

"Well, what are we waiting for?? Lets get this show started!!" Susie exclaimed, clearly excited, and began rushing ahead.

The rest of the group quickly caught up, and the four of you wandered the new world, dodging numerous threats and battling others.

A set of two ring-like creatures approach, and the three main heroes immediately sprung into action, although.. the acts they were doing weren't doing much for the couple of rings.

The gold creature glimmered as ralsei polished it, and the silver did the same as Kris mimicked Ralsei's ACT on it too, but the two still weren't happy enough.

"Oh, such a beautiful pair yet no one to impress!"
One wailed, the other chiming in.

"Oh, no one to adore us, no one to view us as a token of love and appreciation!"
The other cried.

Ralsei was looking stressed, and Susie was just about ready to resort to violence rather than continuing acting purely out of frustration.

You had been defending for most of the fight, keeping the TP high and helping in ways you could, but ACTing seemed to call to you.
"Gossip".
Absolutely perfect, after all, you were relatively good at that.

You spoke after the enemies attack had ended,

"You know, I heard Susie over here has taken a liking to one of her classmates."
You stage whispered, to which the gold ring seemed to shimmer a bit brighter, and began whispering to the silver ring.

"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT??"
Susie yelled, before Ralsei quickly chimed in.

"Oh, [Name] this is perfect!! It's exactly what we were missing, lets keep doing that!"

Susie grumbled something to herself, as Kris mentioned something about Temmie and their project partner (an egg), and Ralsei joyously told a story of two Hathys who had fallen in love.

Susie seemed to perk up a little bit after that, a mischievous look in her eye... Maybe she wanted to contribute and wasn't about to say something stupid? After all, gossiping about peoples love lives seemed to satisfy the creatures and reassure them that there was still love around in the world.

No, maybe that was too much to hope for.

"You know, [Name] over here went on a date recently too."

The rings shone brightly, the metal on their bodies sparkling wonderfully.

"OH DONT YOU DARE GO THERE! YOU LOCKED ME IN A ROOM WITH HI-"

The rings shrunk back, their glow dimming.

"[Name]!! That doesn't matter now, we're so close to sparing them-"

A little projectile hit you, making out stumble backward slightly.

"God damn it.. okay! I went on a lovely dinner date and DIDN'T steal two candles!"

Susie was basically rolling on the floor, her shoulders shaking with laughter, but nevertheless the rings shone brighter, and that turn Kris and Ralsei spared them both, pure glee on the little creatures faces.

The group continued forward, and once you were done glaring at Susie you focus more on the path ahead. The four of you wandered for a while, before Susie spoke once more.

"Hey, you dont recon lancer's still in your pocket do you?"

"What? In your pocket??"
You looked quizzically at Kris, who simply shrugged, before peering into their pocket.
Then.. Lancer popped up almost seemingly out of nowhere, doing a little dramatic spin before giving Susie a high five, Their combined raspy laughter filling the air.

"Lancer!"

"Susie! Those battles were awesome!"

"When are they not?"
Susie boasted, before asking,

"How are you feeling? In the new dark world i mean."

"Great! Lesser dad said i should be good for a while yet! ...Then he jumped out of the pocket to search for the evil ruler of the dark world!"

Susie rolls her eyes.

"Again?"

"AGAIN? Is this like.. something that happens often or something??"
You ask, staring dumbfounded at Lancer and Susie.

"Unfortunately-"
Ralsei says.

"But I'm sure we can stop him when he shows up! His puzzles or games usually.. aren't that difficult." He chuckles to himself.

What on earth had you gotten yourself into?

-

Lancer ended up returning to the pocket after the interaction, and continued chilling there for a while. And damn, Ralsei wasn't lying, eventually you had found a dark room, with spikes coming up behind you after you entered, a bright beacon of light accompanying you in the room shortly after

"GEH HA HAH HA!! THOUST WORMS SHALL FACE MINE NEWEST PUZZLE!! AND ONCE I HATH DEFEATEDST THEE, THE LADY OF DIAMONDS SHALT NOTICE MINE BRILLIANCE AND MAKETH ME HER SECOND IN COMAND!!"

Kris had already begun inspecting the puzzle, and you and the rest of the group just sort of stared at him.

"Rouxls what are you doing."
You said, deadpan.

"I- Well i amst tryinge to becometh the Lady's second in command- obviouslye."

"riighttt.."
You say, as kris completes the puzzle with relative ease.

"Ahh.." Rouxls faltered.

"Well, since thou insist, I shalt join thee on thine quest and helpeth thou!! After all, thou seemst too weak to completeth this challenge alone! Not to mentione the diamond lady's... temper. She seemst not to be doing welleth.... mentalye."

"Literally noone asked you to join us-"
Susie says just as Ralsei begins to say,

"I'm so glad you want to help!"

...This was going to be a LONG day.

Chapter Text

Rouxls has joined the party, even though no one asked him to.

And with that, the entire group kept moving forward, in a similar line to before.
Kris was in front, Ralsei walked behind them, followed closely by Susie, you, and finally Rouxls trailed on behind. You ran your hand over a shining crystal wall, letting the texture run across your palm and fingers as you walked, before blowing the dust off your fingers.
This place was.. strange, to say the least. There was an ethereal sort of beauty to it, although it let off a lonely and abandoned feel, completely clashing with the somewhat gorgeous visuals.

You kept moving with the group, encountering various enemies, successfully dealing with them all. You had just defeated two guards by a large doorway, and your group nervously made their way inside. Seems like this could be the end of your adventure.

A large room with a throne placed in the middle, flowers sculpted out of various colours of shining crystal seemed to be wilting all around the throne despite their radiance and bright colouring.
Atop the throne, an ethereal woman cried, tiny gems scattering to the floor and shattering on impact. She had her chest covered with one arm, and a robe of selected gems and crystals adorning it. This was definitely the ruler of this dark world, her regal appearance was enough to shock anyone into obeying her.

"You must be the lighters here to end my reign." She spat, not looking at the group who had entered her throne room.

"I'm afraid I cant let that happen. There's still a chance for me."
Her ominous words hung in the air as she began to move.

She turned to the group approaching, the gems still falling from her three eyes, although as all of her eyes turned to the group her glare was as cold as stone. As soon as her eyes fixed on the group, you recognised it.

The battle started, but you could barely concentrate. You'd recognise that necklace anywhere. It was the very necklace that Asgore gave Toriel on their anniversary back when they were together. You turned to Kris and you could've sworn you saw a slight break in their typical neutral expression.

You hesitate, staying back while the main three heroes begin to fight valiantly.
Rouxls stays with you, helping you defend where necessary.

Spikes of crystal shone on the battlefield that was once the throne room, and various gems were launched in all directions. They spiralled in on the group, shot out from the middle in a concentrated blast, and even clattered down towards you from the roof.
You scowled at the memories that accompanied the very necklace that had now become a darkner, falling back with a wince as a large spike crashes into you due to your lack of concentration.

Rouxls shot you a concerned look, slipping you a healing item for which you were most grateful for, and returned his attention to the fight. Although, you noticed he kept glancing at you at points of the fight.
Strange, but at least he cared enough to consistently check in on you.

The diamond lady wept silently throughout the battle, little gems never stopping their falls as she cried, her attacks varying from large crystal shards and spikes, to simply the tiny fragments of her tears. A truly chaotic fight that slowly died down as the heroes worked.
-
The group steps back as the lady falls to the ground, her shining hair cascading down over her face and past her shoulders.

"I just want to be adored like I used to."

"Adored, worn, an item of celebration."

"I made lighters happy."

"Not only was I loved, but I was a symbol of love."

"Now, that's all be taken away. They split, and so have I."

The lady revealed her chest from where the front had been covered by her arm for all of her attacks, a large diamond missing from the very centre.
"But maybe I'm just not built to be adored anymore. Maybe I should just accept that I'm no longer needed, discarded.. forgotten."

Ralsei chimes in, the sweet boy always ready to help, his expression comforting yet determined.

"You mustn't think like that!! I'm sure we can help you, maybe we could repair your gem, and I'm sure you'll feel so much better! If you let us seal the fountain, you could also become a resident in our little town! I'm sure plenty of people would appreciate you there."

"Oh dear child, i wish it was that simple. The shards of my gorgeous gem are lost.. broken and scattered throughout this world."

Larger gems shattered on the floor as they dropped from the lady's eyes, and she wiped at them as she continued speaking, her voice gaining a slight tint of hope from its usual misery.

"but if you do manage to... somehow... bring the pieces of my gem back to me, i may.. reconsider your offer."

Ralsei immediately jumped at the offer, promising her that her gem would be back with her and restored in no time, and with that, the group left the ethereal darkner alone to begin the search.
-
"Right! We need to find all these gem pieces, and quickly. We should probably split up into teams!"
Ralsei announced, to which the rest of the group nodded along.

"Maybe i should go with Kri-"
You began, before Susie quickly butted in.

"Ill go with Kris!"

"I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about finding these gems Susie! Kris, maybe you should bring out Lancer, that way we'd be able to have three equal groups of two!"

Kris dipped their head in approval, and lancer jumped out of their pocket.

"Lancer, you're coming with me. We're going to find the missing gem shards for the Diamond Lady."

"Woopie! Hide and seek! These gem pieces better watch out, Ill find them easy peasy!!!"
Lancer announced joyously, before rushing off in a random direction, with ralsei quickly following in order to catch up.

"Wai- Lancer wait up!"
He called as he disappeared behind an overly large crystal 'waterfall'.
You turned back to Kris and Susie, only to realise they had already left.

"Welp, I guess its just you and me left then."
You say to Rouxls, who is still stood beside you.

"Seemst so, shalt we go?"

"Yeah." You sighed,

"Lets just hope Toriel doesn't come back before we find all these shards and seal up the fountain."

And so, you and Rouxls set off in the other direction to the two other groups, and began the search. The two of you walked for what seemed like ages, sifting through piles of shiny gems, (which you definitely didn't pocket a few of) and once the search in that room/area had proven unsuccessful, you headed forth to the next. Although, once you'd almost finished looking through the next part of the room, you realised Rouxls had started lagging behind a bit.

"You coming?? Come on, I'm sure its here somewhere."
You called back, still rummaging through different shiny gems and crystal pieces.

"Ah I wouldst but.."
You turned to him, your annoyed expression turning to mild concern as you noticed- this had happened before of course, so you were less worried- that Rouxls' feet seemed to be slowly turning to stone.

"I seemst to be more compatible with thise worldeth than the last- I shalt still be fine for a whilest longereth. 'Tis simplye.. a little difficulteth to walke?"
He offered, with what he seemed to be hoping was a reassuring grin.
With a long sigh, you replied.

"Hold on, give me a minute."
You turned back to the pile of crystals you were working through, thinking about the situation at hand- although something caught your attention. A twinkle in the corner of your eye.
Actually.. fuck that, everything here twinkled, but this really caught your eye.
A gorgeous crimson red gem glistened in your hand as you examined it, before you let out a gasp at the sight underneath it. A broken shard, that could only possibly be a diamond with how it shone and reflected the dim light as if it was right under a spot light. Pocketing the red gem, you quickly picked up the shard, and grinned back at Rouxls, who was looking at you with a puzzled expression until he noticed what you were holding.

"Hell yeah, we've got it!! Lets get out of here-"
You begin to rush to the exit before realising the whole 'Rouxls very slowly turning to stone problem', and turned back to him letting out a low 'hmm' sound as though you considered your options.

I mean.. you'd get to tease him a bit.. and it'd likely be the fastest option..

"Here hold this."
You passed Rouxls the shard, which he took carefully, shooting you a questioning look.

"What art thou doing- with how difficulte walking shalt be i mighst dropeth it-"
His sentence was cut off with a surprised yelp as you walked up behind him, and swept him off his feet into a sort of bridal carry, beginning to walk toward the exit of the room with him in your arms, still clutching the crystal.

"Now you won't slow us down, and we wont drop the shard." You grinned, fighting the urge to stifle a laugh at his shocked expression. He wasn't exactly light, but he wasn't very heavy either and you decided you had the strength to carry him back.

"Ah.. I was.. not expectinge that."
He turned his head away, although not without you noticing his cheeks turning that familiar light purply-blue colour.

"Well, this is great and all but lets hope I dont trip over a crystal and- oh whoops!"
You say, pretending to trip, not dropping him but wobbling on your feet so it looked as though he was about to fall.

"HEY!"
He exclaimed, one hand letting go of the crystal to grasp onto your shoulder.

You chuckled, actually walking out of the exit of the room without pretending to drop him this time.

"Fine, fine. Lets get out of here for real now."

"Thoust better not actuallye droppeth me! This was thine 'brilliante' idea!!"

"Are you calling me weak?"
You said, taking on a tone of mock offence.

"Just geteth us outeth of here worme."
He murmured, turning his head further to look away from you.

You couldn't help but smile to yourself as you continued walking.

-

Eventually you reached the point you had all left in the first place, and looked down to see Ralsei in what could only be really considers a 'splat' ono the floor under Lancer, who was happily clutching a large shard of the diamond. Seems like they had a similar idea, considering Lancer's feet were also encased in stone.

You came up to them, gently placing Rouxls on the floor just as Susie and Kris came around the corner that they'd disappeared past, with Susie triumphantly holding the last shard of the crystal.

Ralsei got up as soon as Lancer shimmied off him to join Rouxls sitting on the floor.

"Great! we got all of them, lets try fit them together!"
he said, beckoning you and Susie closer.

They fit perfectly together, forming a magnificent diamond.

-

"This is great! Lancer, Rouxls, stay here! We'll go bring the diamond back!"
The four of you entered the throne room once more, greeted immediately by the Lady.

"You really did it.."
She said, disbelief and relief evident in her voice as she took the precious gem from the group, placing it back in her chest.

"You know.. I've been thinking. Maybe.. I dont need to be someone's symbol, something to showcase a bond. Maybe I'm fine on my own for now. I feel... complete in a strange way.
I think I'm ready to come to this 'town' of yours, young prince."
A small smile crept up on her face. The way her voice sounded a little like Toriel's made your skin itch. Those weren't memories you were ready to touch yet.

"Well that's excellent! Lets head over to the fountain!"
Ralsei exclaimed, clasping his paws together, and with that.. the adventure was over.

Chapter Text

A week or so later, you had finally thought through all the insane things that happened that day, the new dark world, the diamond lady- and well, all the rest of that insane day. You hadn't been sleeping well since, plagued by memories of the divorce and other things (and of course, doomscrolling on your phone rather than sleeping seemed much easier most of these days). Atleast Susie didn't see you carrying Rouxls, she would have had an absolute field day with that.

You roll out of bed, lazily cleaning around your apartment a little before flopping down on your couch. It was a Saturday and Susie and Kris wanted to come over to 'sleep over' (A.K.A. head into the dark world for a night and have their own little sleepover with Ralsei and Lancer)

They'd arrive soon, so you decided to down a bowl of 'healthy' cereal and called it breakfast, figuring Ralsei would make some cake for the group of you anyway even if it didn't truly make you full like light world food.

-
You waved to Toriel who had dropped the two off since she had managed to pick up Susie too, and the three of you headed over to the school once she had left.

You checked if anyone was around just in case, and the three of you headed in to the school, making sure to shut the door behind you as you crept through the halls until you reached the supply closet that you'd become so familiar with.
You landed just after the group, your drop easy and calculated. You weren't sure when this had become so easy for you, but it almost felt like this 'weird' had become the norm for you... and maybe it wasn't so bad?

"You sure you wanna come along anyway? I mean its just gonna be Kris, Ralsei, Lancer and I."
Susie said, looking over at you.

"Oh don't worry about me! I wont disrupt you guys, I've been wanting to sleep in my room here for a while, I dont know how Ralsei does it but that mattress feels like a cloud!"
You pointedly missed out the part where you hadn't been sleeping well for the past few days, maintaining a smile on your face as you talked to Susie, after all, you were pretty happy to be here either way.

"If you say so!"
Susie chuckled, rushing off as soon as she saw Lancer and dragging Kris with her.

-

Your day ended up being pretty uneventful, you hadn't ran into anyone interesting, not even Rouxls had showed his face. You sighed as you rolled into your bed, the soft mattress not doing much to help you sleep. Oh, and the dragon from earlier has taken a massive liking to you and is now curled up in your room, tail basically whacking you with every flick while it peacefully dreams on your carpet. Well this was just great wasn't it?

-

After what felt like an eternity of tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling, you decided you had enough and went on a wander around the castle. Once you had extracted yourself from the dragon's tail which had unconsciously wrapped itself around you in the dragon's slumber you walked around aimlessly until you stumbled upon a balcony. Without consciously thinking about it you were already walking closer, and you leaned on the railing with a sigh, taking in the beautiful lights of cafes and other buildings in castle town. It wasn't a large place, but it didn't have to be. The cosy sights and sort of fresh air comforted you slightly, and you kept your gaze trained on the town below.

You took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, blissfully unaware of something that had crept up behind you.

"[Name?]"

You almost jumped out of your skin and spun around on your heels, clutching onto the railing as you almost lost balance.

"Rouxls! Holy shit you scared the life out of me."

He stifled a laugh as you scowled at him, walking up to lean on the balcony beside you, and you both turned to the town below.

"I heardst about thine 'sleepover', cantst sleepeth?"

"I guess not. Hey how come I haven't seen you all day? Usually you would've challenged me to some sort of puzzle by now."
You chuckled, easily falling into conversation with Rouxls, pushing away the thought of just how scarily simple and comforting this interaction felt, despite your little scare a moment ago.

"Awh, Didst thou miss me that mucheth?"
He teased, and you nudged him light-heartedly before he continued.

"Besidese- I have been-"
He paused.

"Preoccupied. With a differenteth project."
He looked away as he said it.

"Oooh! Got some sort of secret you're keeping? Come on, tell me."
You grinned, and he simply laughed.

"Thou'll find out sooneth."
But you didn't miss the slight nervousness in his voice, deciding not to push further.

You stood in silence beside each other for a while, looking over the town below before the two of you eased back into some casual conversation until you mentioned the dragon in your room.

"They seemst to have takeneth a likinge to thou"
He chuckled, but you both quickly stopped laughing as you heard a loud stomp behind you.

You both turned away from the view of the town to face a grumpy, sleepy dragon.

"Well fuck."

You say, and after a moment of thought Rouxls quickly grabs onto your arm and the two of you begin rushing down the corridor, dodging out of the dragons path narrowly.

"I dont know about you, but being crushed by a sleeping dragon isn't exactly my idea of getting to sleep tonight!!"
You whisper-yelled to Rouxls, before asking,

"Wait- where are we even going?!"

"We shalt hideth out in my roometh for the time beinge!!"

You both make a quick escape, bolting down the corridors before Rouxls skids to a stop in front of a room, throwing open the door and dragging you in before shutting it behind him.
The dragon grumbled outside, before leaving presumably to occupy your room again.

You stood there panting for a moment, before sighing.

"Damn.. Sorry about this. I was NOT expecting them to follow me like that."
Rouxls had also caught his breath now, and replied.

"It's quite alrighteth. We shouldst probablye wait until we're sure that they wontst come backeth."

He sat down on his bed, and you took a moment to take in the sight of the room before he beckoned you over to sit beside him. It reflected him well, with his signature blue, along with whites and blacks and other small accents of colour.
You hesitantly sat beside him on his bed.

"Damn, it must be really late now."
You said, leaning back on your hands.

"I supposeth it is, and thou haventst gotten any sleep yeteth?"
You shook your head, and he looked at you as though he was trying to solve a particularly interesting puzzle.

"Well- sometimeseth I wouldst singe lullabyse for Lancer when he couldntst sleep."

You chuckled at that.
"That's sweet and all Rouxls, but you think a lullaby would put me to sleep?"

Rouxls laughed, replying quickly.

"Thou art right, t'was a stupide idea-"

"Hey, I mean have you got any other bright ideas?"
You cut him off.

"Well uh- no I dontst."
You chuckled.

"Come on then, hit me with your best lullabye, ill try my hardest not to fall asleep."
Your tone was slightly teasing, but he agreed nonetheless.

"I've bet thou in puzzles beforeth, this cantst be more of a challenge!"
He said, posing dramatically with his hands, to which you stifled a laugh again. That was, until he actually started humming a low tune, which slowly morphed into a little song. It wasn't like you were going to fall asleep, but you supposed his singing wasn't.. bad... it was far better than being laid on and having the air crushed out of you by a dragon. (Or being repeatedly whacked by its tail again)

-

You blinked open your eyes, shifting in your covers and turning over in hopes for a couple more minutes of sleep. That was, before you realised they were not in fact YOUR covers.

Chapter Text

You shot up into a sitting position, your head spinning a little from how quickly you'd gotten up. Holy fuck. You were still in Rouxls' room. Not only that, you were IN HIS BED.
You quickly tried processing how you'd gotten in this situation, remembering the lullaby. You must've actually fallen asleep. That's so embarrassing... but hold on, that didn't explain why you weren't still slumped against the wall in a sitting position on his bed like you had been when you fell asleep. Did he... tuck you in????

Your thoughts are interrupted by the door creaking open, and you immediately turned to it, your eyes wide.
In came the very man you had just been thinking about, with... two cups in his hand???

You were just about to start frantically apologising about falling asleep in his bed when he started speaking.

"Ah, thou art awaketh, I hath brought thou coffee."

"Oh."
Your mind buffered for a second, and you literally had no clue on what to say.

"Art thou more of a tea persone..? I can maketh thou something else?"
He began, but you quickly cut him off.

"No! No, thank you so much I was just... really surprised? Are you not pissed that I basically fell asleep on your bed..?"
He simply laughed at that.

"Thou clearly neededst thine beautye sleep."
He said, placing one of the cups of coffee on the bedside table and sitting at his desk with the other, flicking through some sheets of paper that had neat fancy handwriting on (presumably his).

Finally deciding to do something rather than sitting there awkwardly gaping at Rouxls, you got up out of the bed and fixed up the covers a bit before sitting back down and picking up the coffee he had given you, trying a sip. It.. wasn't bad actually. it was pretty much just how you liked it.

"This is great, thanks a lot Rouxls. I should probably get going before Kris and the others wonder where I am- did I sleep for long?"
Rouxls seemed to shrink a little when you mentioned leaving, but quickly spoke.

"Ah, no, I'mst sure that Kris and the otherse must haveth just awoken as well. They probablye stayed up quite lateth."
He said, turning back to what he was writing.

You got up with the cup in hand, leaning over his shoulder.

"I should've guessed you were into calligraphy."
You said, startling him slightly by how close you were and looking over his neat handwriting.
That was, before you noticed a paper at the bottom of a small pile sticking out, signed off with

"-RK"
WITH A HEART.

You did a double take with your eyes, before moving to his side to get a better look at what you could see.

"Ooooh whats this? A love letter?"
You point to it, and he immediately perks up, blushing furiously.

"Awh, is this what you've been working on instead of making me more puzzles? Come on, who's it for?"
You teased, as he quickly snatched it up and shoved it back to the bottom of the pile so that it was fully covered by the other papers.

"I DONTST KNOW WHAT THOU ART TALKING ABOUT!!"
He says, very unconvincingly as he gets up from his desk.

You cant help but laugh, raising up your hands in surrender.

"You dont have to tell me, damn! Hope it goes well."
You wink at him as you turn to leave like you had said you would, and his face burns even brighter with blush than before.

In the end, you left quickly in hopes of not being hunted down by the dragon once more, and waited for Susie and Kris outside of the supply closet.
That night was... a lot to unpack. Although that had probably been the best night of sleep that you'd had in a while.
On the other hand, seeing that love letter made your heart churn with an ugly feeling.
Surely you couldn't be jealous??

You were probably jealous that Rouxls was actually going to date someone, while you were stuck here lonely as hell. Maybe Tinder really was the right answer for you.

-

Those thoughts stuck with you later that night, and you ended up downloading a dating app. To hell with it, maybe you could finally cure your loneliness.

-

That was, what you HAD thought, before countless failed dates. You were sat in a coffee shop with a relatively charming monster, who had seemed pretty nice at first. You ate a pastry, smiling and nodding along to what he were saying, but you found your mind wandering again.
To who?
Rouxls of course.
Listening to him talk about his puzzles was far more entertaining than listening to this person talk about his 'well paying and very important' job all the time, and throwing meaningless compliments your way. Dont get me wrong, compliments are lovely, but.. hearing the same thing date after failed date gets old. Fast.

The two of you talked a little longer before your drinks arrived. You had barely taken a sip of your coffee, (which wasn't quite as good as the one Rouxls made you, or so your mind decided to helpfully input) when the guy had placed his cup down on the table with more force than was ever necessary in a cute little coffee shop.

"Hey, why on earth is my drink cold?? Who do you think you are??"
He raised his voice to the employee, who shrunk back, clearly surprised by the mans sudden outburst.

What the hell??

Your eyes widened as you stared at the guy across from you.
He continued with his temper tantrum.

"Don't you know who I am?? "

The worker shrunk back even more, apologising and saying she'd remake the coffee, but he kept talking.

"You know what, no. Come on [Name], lets get out of this dump. I'm not paying for that."
He said, grabbing your wrist as he stood up.

You snatched your wrist away from him, glaring daggers as you stood up yourself.

"What the hell is wrong with you??"
You finally spoke up.

"Honestly, this date is going nowhere. Get out of my sight, this is over."
You said, turning to the poor employee.

"I'm sorry about him, I'll pay for our drinks."
You paid the woman, who smiled at you in a way that showed she had been in this situation countless times before, thanking you gratefully.

"Hey- what? No, come on.."
He leaned toward you once more, going to take your hand with a quickly switched up and practiced gentle tone.

"Come on, we were having fun. We can take this someplace else."

You stepped back, staring at him.

"Hell no?? I said I'm done. Quit causing a scene and dont touch me. Your acting like a kid who didn't get the toy they wanted."
You said, and he murmured something about an awful date and cursed you out before leaving.
What a mess.
You sat back down, finishing your coffee and apologising to the employee again, who assured you it was no problem, before leaving the shop.

-

What a joke. You thought to yourself as you lay in bed later that night.
I mean.. the audacity? Rouxls would never do something like that. Hell, even your forced 'dinner date' with him was better than whatever that REAL date was.
Was better than.. most of them dates you'd been on recently actually.
He was far better looking than them too, better personality, you knew him better already too. You liked his pretty white hair more than the losers that you'd been on dates with recently. Even his stupid accent and the way you guys could talk for hours about anything stupid and puzzle related comforted you more than the way these people threw shallow compliments at you about your looks. He'd even kept that Rubik's cube you gave him (still unsolved) on his desk as though it were a prized possession!

...Hold on. What were you even thinking? About Rouxls???

Oh, fuck.

OH.

Fuck.

Chapter Text

You had feelings for Rouxls.

ROMANTIC FEELINGS.

Oh, this was bad. Not only that, he also had someone else he loved.
You shoved your face in your pillow. This was just great, absolutely great. You just had the shittiest date of your life, and you found out you have feelings for a blue guy from what was basically a different world.

You got up, pacing around in your room before your eyes fell on something.
A playing card to be exact.
That's right, Kris had come over a couple of days ago to play cards and board games with you while Toriel headed out somewhere, and the both of you had hung out a bit. Maybe they forgot one?

Of course.

OF COURSE.

It was the rules card.

You sighed, slipping it in your pocket after a moment of inspection.
Great, 2 minutes in to realising you had a crush on the guy and things are already reminding you of him. Just lovely.
Maybe a long bath would make you feel better. You had opted for short showers a lot recently, and the idea of a bath felt heavenly right now.
You stopped your pacing, heading toward your bathroom instead. The door seemed off.. and wait. You could hear something on the other side. Was that.. water?
Had you left the sink on all that time while you were on that date????
With a sudden panic overtaking you, you shoved open the door and rushed inside, only to feel a familiar sinking feeling- literally- as you fell down into a sort of void.

-

You faceplanted onto a hard wood floor, and your world seemed to be rocking. What the hell. First of all, a new dark world? In your god damn bathroom??? Second of all, you weren't usually this dizzy when you fell into a dark world. What was going on??
You sat up slowly, looking around. Endless water greeted your sight, as well as what seemed to be a ship that you were on? You turned around and were met with a sight you definitely weren't expecting.
Rouxls was steering the ship, standing triumphantly by the wheel with a sword on his belt and a fancy pirate hat atop his head. You tried not to focus on how nice he looked in that outfit, or how that hat fit his lovely pearly while hair. Hold on THIS WASNT THE TIME FOR THIS!!

This was awful. You should probably voice your concerns about this, or even ask where you are.

"Is that a sword on your belt or are you just excited to see me?"

"Ha, ha. Very funnye."
He said deadpan, keeping his hands on the wheel, steering with ease.

"Since when could you steer a ship.. wait what are you doing here? Did my fucking bathroom turn into a dark world???"

"It seemst so... Art Kris and Susie not witheth thou?"

"No. I was in my apartment after some shitty date."
You sighed, getting up from your spot on the floor.

"A dateth? Thou art datinge someone-?"

"Yeah, well not anymore. It went awful. The guy started screaming at some random coffee shop employee for no reason. On a first date. The audacity? Anyway.. do you have any clue on how to get out of this place? Wherever we are?"

"Ah.. I'm not sureth- I suppose we shalt keep sailinge until we reacheth some place differente? And.. if thou dontst mindeth me askinge, why werest thou on a date with someone like that anywaye..?"
That caught you off guard, you didn't realise he'd be that interested. Although, it would be a lie to say you weren't interested in how that love letter of his went..
You wandered the top deck of the boat a little as the two of you talked, leaning over the edge and gazing down into the water below for a minute, insanely grateful that you didn't feel sick on boats, at least not in this world.

"I dont know, I guess I'm getting lonely. I was trying to... get over a crush I suppose."
You felt your cheeks flush involuntarily, glad you were facing away from Rouxls.

"Didn't work, but whatever. Oooh you should tell me how that love letter went, since we're on the topic."
You turned around, grinning at him. You pushed back the hopes that it didn't work out, trying to just act like you were teasing him.

"Ah I.. haventst had the chanceth to confess to them yet."
He replied, a mild blush present on his face.

"So it WAS a love letter!" You yelled triumphantly, and he turned a brighter shade of that light purply-blue as you walked up closer to him, watching as he messed with the steering wheel.

"I- FINE yes, it waseth."
He stammered out, and you decided to push a little further.

"Soooo do I get to find out who its for?"
You leaned in over the wheel, batting your eyelashes jokingly.
He stifled a laugh at your dramatics, and replied.

"Maybe I shalt.. tell thou sometime sooneth."
That blush was still present high on his cheeks, and you couldn't help but think about the bright blue of his mouth and tongue as he talked.
Oh god, you were so far gone. You quickly turned away and mentally kicked yourself for that, looking over the water again and wandering the deck.

"I mean, this isn't exactly the long bath that I planned.. but I suppose this is probably the best part of my day so far. I mean, apart from the whole- being stranded at sea bit. Or.. wherever we are. Nice pirate hat by the way, god damn I wish I had something as snazzy as that."

You turned to look at him, and realised he was holding a matching one to his, although in a colour scheme that fitted your outfit far better than his.

"Holy fuck. My day has just been made a thousand times better."
It even had one of them fancy feathers.

-

With that, the two of you sailed for a while, your previously shitty mood quickly fading away with the slow rhythmic waves and your voices as you talked about anything you could think of. Rouxls voiced his worries of not being very compatible with this dark world, but the two of you could see an island nearby, so you weren't too concerned yet. It's not like you were opposed to carrying him again...

The waves were becoming more violent as the ship rocked onward, but it didn't seem to be too much of an issue for Rouxls as he carefully steered the ship.

"So, how aboutst thou telleth me about thise lightner that thou has a crush on?"
He said, glancing over to you.
You messed with your hat a bit, not expecting the question.

"Art they a monstere? Or perhaps a human?"

"Ah.. well they're sort of.. not a li-"
You get cut off by a strong force ramming into the ship. Rouxls grip on the wheel tightens and his eyes widen, and you're thrown off to the side and skid to a stop at the edge of the deck gripping onto the wooden railing.

"Okay what the FUCK was that??"
You yell to Rouxls, the waves churning around you.

"I'mst not sureth!! Somethinge has hiteth our ship!"

"Oh come on, I thought you were good at this!! Did you hit something or-"
You trail off as you look down into the water, a huge shadow swimming right underneath your ship, its size covering the entire ship and the length of it going far beyond that.

"Holy shit that's definitely not a fish."

"It wasn'tst me!! Something must have hit us on purpo-"
He turns to look at you, clearly reading the horrified look on your face as you watched the water break behind him.

"ROUXLS BEHIND YOU!"
He spins around only to be met with two huge amber eyes staring at the two of you, a huge reptilian head with scales dripping with water glared viciously.

"OH FUCKETH"

He let go of the wheel entirely, and the creature let out a shriek, its jaws opening wide to reveal rows of glistening teeth. It sunk back into the water, and the two of you stood in silence, the air heavy as you dreaded the next attack on your boat.

Nothing...

Maybe it had escaped? Decided you weren't a worthy meal?

The serpent-like creature rammed into your ship, and Rouxls went flying without his grip on the wheel, his body slamming into the railing beside you with a grunt and his pirate hat being tossed overboard.

You didn't have time to check if he was alright, with splinters of wood flying off the ship where the beast had struck. The boat swayed dangerously, and the sound of crashing waves overwhelmed your senses.
In the midst of the chaos, the serpent snarled, its glowing eyes staring right at you.

In a panic, you grabbed Rouxls by the shoulders, and he let himself be hauled up with a low whine. The two of you broke into a run across the deck, both wobbly on your feet from both the water on the deck and the dizzying effect the unsteady swaying of the boat had on the two of you.
You rushed to the area of impact, almost slipping into the water. You stared at the ungodly chunk that had been taken out of your boat, the crashing waves never ceasing with the way the creature had begun circling around your ship.

"Shit.. There's got to be a life boat of something on this thing right??"
You yelled to Rouxls over the sound of the churning water threatening to pull you in.

"I thinkst i knoweth where they art!! Followeth me!"
He yelled, taking off in a run to the opposite side of the boat.

The ship was rapidly sinking and Rouxls probably didn't have long left before he became a statue.
Would the two of you even make it out of here in time?
Make it to the island in time?

Chapter Text

You would make it, you had to.

You rushed after Rouxls, your heavy footsteps barely audible over the crashing waves.
He led you to far end of the ship, and the two of you worked quickly to lower a life boat. The circling serpent never ceased its hunt, at one point surfacing again to look over the ship.
You fumbled with a rope before leaping into the lifeboat which swayed dangerously at your landing before turning to Rouxls.
He glanced behind him before trying to jump down himself, but in that moment the serpent struck the boat again, and his somewhat elegant jump down to the boat became a panicked flail and his eyes flashed with fear as he almost missed the boat, landing unsteadily with a wince as you grabbed onto his arms to keep him balanced.
You glanced at each other, then quickly fumbled to get into place and began rowing the little lifeboat toward the island, your strength purely coming from adrenaline and the fear of being devoured by the huge sea serpent.

"Are you alright?"
You called over the loud churning water around you, the spray hitting your face and making you squint against it.

"I shalt be fineth.. we just needst to get to that islandeth!!"
He called back, but you could hear the rasp of pain in his voice.

You'd take care of that later, first you had to get away from the chaos surrounding you.
The two of you rowed as if your life depended on it (because it kinda did), and had made it a little bit away from the main ship before you heard a sickening snap behind you. You turned to look, Rouxls doing the same, and your eyes met the sight of the giant serpent coiled around the ship, crunching it inwards with its tight grip. Its glowing eyes were thankfully still trained on the ship, and it let out a thunderous screech. You whipped your head back around, rowing faster.

You were almost there and you could hear barely audible cracks of stone from where Rouxls was sitting, but ignored them for the sake of getting out of this mess as swiftly as possible.

"[Name].."
Rouxls said after a moment, his expression clouded with horror as you turned around. It had spotted you. Bright, huge eyes were fixed on your little life boat.
Fuck.

You quickly turned back to the islands shore which seemed to be on the far left of the island, realising you wouldn't make it before the serpent caught up to you.

"Shit! We're not going to get there in time!!"
You said, your eyes landing on the mouth of a cave dipping into the water from the rocky cliffside right ahead of you.

"We need to get into that cave! Its our best bet!"

Rouxls seemed hesitant, but nodded shortly after, continuing rowing forth.
The creature began pursuing you, thick scales breaking the water behind you and causing ripples in the already disturbed sea.
You muttered curses under your breath, glancing behind you briefly only to be met with snapping jaws that were way too close for comfort.
You let out a yelp as the creature slammed into the water just behind your lifeboat, the wave propelling you forward. That was way too close, but you were so much closer to that cave now...

You could've cried real tears of relief as your lifeboat was engulfed in the shadow of the cave, but getting away from something as determined as a sea serpent clearly wasn't that easy. Or the universe was just out for you today, you could never be too sure.

The two of you came to a slow stop, both breathing hard from the effort of rowing so quickly, before a huge force shook the cave, making the whole area shake.
The jaws of the seas serpent were shoved into the mouth of the cave, violent snaps meeting nothing but water as the two of you sat watching, almost too scared to move (not that there was anywhere to move to).
It let out an ear-splitting screech and thrashed around as it realised that its head was stuck in the mouth of the cave. The serpent 's erratic movements led to it smashing its long body into the cliffside, causing large boulders and parts of the caves ceiling to dislodge from their places and slam into the water.
It finally wrenched its head out of the entrance of the cave, a shriek ripping itself from the creatures mouth as it retreated.

The mouth of the cave had closed off.
Boulders had fallen, and the two of you were trapped.
Could this day get any worse?

You turned to Rouxls, slowing your breathing from its previously frantic state.
That was when you realised the way his head was hung and how silent he had was.

"Rouxls..?"

"One.. minuteth..."
He says between laboured breaths.
How could you have forgotten?? He'd been thrown into that railing earlier as if he weighed nothing.

"Rouxls. Let me take a look at what happened."
Your arms ached from rowing, and most of your muscles were screaming in discomfort, but nevertheless you shimmied up closer to him in the lifeboat, the harsh waves from before being calmed into a very soft rocking motion in the cave.
He muttered some sort of protest, but began fumbling with the buttons of his coat nevertheless.

You didn't know what you were expecting, but the sight had you fighting back a flush on your face.
That was, until concern quickly took over as he lifted his undershirt slightly to reveal a bright bluey-purple bruise blooming across his skin, and the skin and clothes below it had already gained that familiar swirling pattern of stone. He winced as he dropped the shirt back down, either not bothering or simply in too much pain to put back on his outer coat (or the parts that hadn't already turned to stone anyway).

"Fuck. I dont have any healing items on me- are y.."

"It is fineth, [Name]. I willst turneth to stone fullye soon anywaye."
Rouxls cut you off, and you noticed the way that stone had began creeping up his frame faster than before. It had already covered most of his torso.

"Thou shoulst looketh for an exite."
So he had noticed the fact that the cave entrance had been shut off. Fuck, you couldn't do anything.

...Apart from look around that is. You leant over the lifeboats edge, finding exactly what you were hoping for. Land underneath the shallow water of the cave. You hopped out of the lifeboat, staying nearby all the while. Your looked around as much as you could, walking around the caves edge till the water got too deep or you strayed too far away from Rouxls and the lifeboat. Your search was futile however, and you returned to Rouxls disheartened.

You reached out to touch his shoulder, quickly realising he had fully turned to stone now.

"Fuck."

You paced around the room, a feeling of hopelessness washing over you, before quickly fading into frustration.

"Fuck! This is the worst day ever. First I go on a date with some SHITTY guy, not like that's new, most of the guys I went on dates with recently were shitty, then I realise I have a crush on someone else,"
You ranted, water splashing at your ankles as you paced.

"Then my fucking bathroom turns into a dark world, I almost get eaten by a giant sea serpent- You know what? Maybe it just wanted to use me as a toothpick, i doubt i'd be a good meal. AND NOW, I'm stuck in a cave with the fucking guy I like! What in the fucking Rapunzel is this!? You gonna give me a frying pan too??"

You yelled, slamming your fists down onto the wall of the cave, only for one of your fists to go into the cave wall and a soft click to sound.

"Oh."
A small doorway opened up beside it

"OH."
You said, realising what you had just ranted about. Rouxls could still head you couldn't he..?
You'd just hope he didn't catch that part and quickly get the both of your out of here.

"I'm going to find this dark fountain. Rouxls stay her- actually its not like you can do much else sorry-"
You quickly said, rushing up the stairs that had opened up and quickly locating the giant fountain flowing up towards the sky. You had no time to waste, so with whatever energy you had left you ran as fast as your legs could carry you.

-

You realised. You'd never actually sealed a fountain before. It was always Kris who did it.
You took a few steps forth toward it, almost staggering back as it began to happen. You'd seen this before but... it was almost as though your very soul was glowing.

-

You sat on your bathroom floor, staring at the wall.
You know what? Maybe you should just go to sleep. A bath didn't seem as relaxing anymore.

Chapter Text

You lay in bed, thinking over everything that just happened. Maybe you should text Kris about the dark fountain.
You checked the time.

1:25 AM. They'd probably be asleep by now.

Nah, they probably have a fucked up sleep schedule just like you. Most teens have a fucked up sleep schedule anyway.

You: "Hey, so like, crazy thing. My bathroom lowkey turned into a dark world and I just sealed a dark fountain."

a couple of minutes passed.

K: "Don't mess with me."

You: "On my life, I swear I was just trapped in a cave with Rouxls after escaping a giant sea serpent. I'm so tired"

K: "I don't need to hear about your make out session with the annoying blue guy."
K: "I'll tell ralsei about the dark fountain though, thanks."

You: "HEY WHAT?? NO. NO WE WERE NOT MAKING OUT HE WAS TOO BUSY TURNING TO STONE."

K: "So what you're saying is that if he wasn't busy turning to stone, you guys would be making out?"

You: "NO!!! You need to stop hanging around Susie she's a bad influence."

K: "You know you dont mean it."

You: "Shut up and go to sleep. Its past 1AM."

K: "Goodnight, oh great sea serpent slayer."

You: "Goodnight, oh infuriating little sibling."

-

You woke up the next morning at around 10AM, groaning as you got out of bed and checked your phone. One new message at 9:35.

K: "Come around to the school, were heading to castle town today."

You replied back, it was a good idea and you should probably tell Ralsei about the dark world as soon as possible.

You: "Sounds good, what time?"

Kris took a few minutes to reply.

K: "Now. Told mum I'm hanging out with Susie."

Well, there go your plans for breakfast. You sigh, heading back to your room to get into some random clothes and grabbed your keys.

-

You wandered up to the school, meeting with Kris (and Susie, who had been filled in on the dark world by Kris).
The three of you crept into the school as usual, and you all landed easily in castle town.

"Right, time to find Ralsei"
You said, beginning your walk up to the castle, praying that you didn't bump into Rouxls on the way after what you had said when he was turned to stone.

-

Ralsei welcomed you with open arms, smiling brightly as you all sat down together.

"I'm so glad to see you all again!! You wanted to talk about something, yes?"
Kris elbowed you from where they sat next to you.

"I entered another dark world last night. In my uh.. bathroom?? Anyway, I sort of almost got eaten by a huge serpent, so did Rouxls, we ended up trapped in a cave for a while, and then I found a way out and sealed the fountain. Great early birthday present, am I right?"
You sighed, and Ralsei perked up.

"I did feel a dark presence.. but I couldn't quite get to the dark world. Maybe because of the water surrounding the place..? WAIT! Its going to be your birthday!?"

"Huh- oh yeah. More importantly I thought you should know about the dark world though, I didn't manage to spare anyone- i was too busy trying to get away from that serpent."
Ralsei chimed in again.

"Its great that you managed to seal a fountain on your own! I hope the dark world didn't cause you too much trouble. I'm so glad you were able to seal the fountain!"
You stare at him.

"Sure."

This wasn't exactly how you'd imagined this talk to go, but whatever.

"What are you doing for your birthday??"
Ralsei suddenly spoke up, and you shrugged.

"Not much, I bought myself some things, maybe I'll treat myself with something more expensive for dinner."

Ralsei stared at you, dumfounded.

"Damn."
Susie said.

"I mean- there's not much else to do."
You shrugged.

"Its the day after tomorrow, so its not like I can plan anything crazy now."

"Ah.. well maybe we could prepare a little surprise for you! You should come down to the dark world on your birthday!"
Ralsei said, clasping his paws together, eyes filled with hope.

You couldn't say no to that.

"I guess I will, thank you Ralsei, just- dont trouble yourself too much, really I dont mind."

Ralsei seemed to light up as you said that.
Susie immediately began to pull Ralsei aside to whisper to him about ideas, and you couldn't help but smile to yourself.
"Well, I have a lot to do today guys- I'm going to head home. Susie, Kris, do you want to come with me or are you staying a little longer?"

Susie quickly replied

"We're staying!"
You chuckled to yourself, then got up and opened the door to leave, only to find.. Rouxls???
His eyes widened as he saw you, and a flush immediately rose to his cheeks. You quickly excused yourself, stepping past him and feeling your own face heat up.
Fuck, he definitely heard what you said while he was turned to stone.
You speed walked down the corridor, ignoring the chatter behind you beginning between Rouxls and Ralsei. Rouxls seemed to be asking for Ralsei's advice on something- WHATEVER- YOU WERE OUT OF THERE!
You reached in your pocket to mess with that red gem you had found in the other dark world, only to find it missing.
Double fuck, you'd lost it. That gem was absolutely gorgeous- dare you say even prettier than the diamond that the diamond lady held in her chest.
Oh well, you should probably head home.

-

You got out of bed, checking your phone like usual.

A couple of 'Happy birthday' texts. How sweet.
Oh, that's right. you were going to head into the dark world today. You texted Kris, reading their recent message.

K: Happy birthday. You're old.

You replied.

You: Wow, such a heartfelt message. Couldn't have asked for more. You coming with me to the dark world today?

A few moments later, the typing bubble popped up and a message came shortly.

K: "Obviously. Show up at the school at 12."

You: "Midnight?"

K: "Are being dense on purpose?"

You: "Huh"

K: "Ha, ha. Very funny. I'll see you at 12.

You: See you at 12.

You couldn't help but smile a little as you put down your phone, and began your day properly, even treating yourself to some of your favourite food.
With the expensive shit that you wouldn't usually buy.
Mmmmm quality food, a true wonder of life.

-

You met up with Kris and Susie, Susie instantly ushering you towards the supply closet, and saying,

"Oh, you're gonna love this!"

"The last time you said that you set me up on a date with Rouxls."
You said, laughing with her as she dragged you through castle town, Kris following behind.
Although, you sorta wished you'd get another chance to do something like that with Rouxls- he probably found you weird now, or found it too awkward to hang around you.

You closed your eyes as instructed, and was guided into the castle, where in the main room with the cauldron was a table, and a beautiful cake with your favourite toppings on, and Ralsei smiling shyly from behind it.

"Ralsei you shouldn't have!!"
He set the cake on the table which was decorated in fun colours and you quickly swept him into a fluffy hug.
He was blushing slightly as you let him go, placing him gently on the ground, clearly not expecting such an enthusiastic reaction.

"I'm so glad you like it, [Name]! Its cauldron fresh, so lets blow out the candles and dig in!"

Susie was grinning at you.

"Yeah, come on before I eat it all!"
Lancer was sat beside her, giggling.

"Hah, alright, alright." You sat at the table, endured a painfully embarrassing but well meant birthday song, and blew out your candles with a wish in mind.

You handed out slices of cake to everyone apart from Susie, giving Ralsei a slightly larger slice just to show your appreciation, and slid the rest of the cake over to Susie once you had taken a fat chunk out of it
yourself. Susie's eyes lit up, and she quickly devoured the large portion left for her.

You all ate with chatter filling the room, and once you'd all finished, you thanked everyone again.

"Thank you guys, this was the coolest birthday ive had, by far."

"Wait, you haven't opened your gifts yet!"
Ralsei but in.

"Gifts..?? Awhh did you guys really get me something?"
Susie was holding back tears of laughter already.

"Open mine first!!"
She said, slamming a box with a ribbon on it down on the table.

You laughed, but obliged and unwrapped the ribbon carefully, finding... a box full of chalk.
You couldn't help but burst out laughing once more, and the rest of the table soon joined in on the laughter.

"Thank you Susie, I'm sure ill never forget to write down your homework on the board now."
You joked, and her eyes widened.

"Actually, on second thought I could really use a snack right now!"

The two of you burst out in fits of laughter.

Kris had gotten you a little trinket you'd mentioned liking, nothing much but a really sweet gesture.
Ralsei's turn rolled around and he handed you a skilfully wrapped gift, to which you thanked him once more and quickly opened.

"Its not much, but I figured I'd conjure up something to help you understand the dark worlds and darkners a little more! It never hurts to learn a little about things as interesting as these!"

"You're such a nerd, Ralsei."
Susie teased, although a smile still played on her face as you looked down to the book in your hands.

"This is amazing Ralsei, thank you so much."
You patted his head, and he practically beamed up at you.

"Oh yeah, Rouxls also had a gift for you. I think he said he was going to wait outside?"

Now that surprised you.

"Oh, really? I guess ill go check."

"Sounds good, lets see what he got you!"
Ralsei led the way out, and you were greeted with... a peculiar sight.

A large assortment of different puzzles and activities were sectioned out, and Rouxls stood in a dramatic pose on the high point of some sort of obstacle course thing.

"GEH HA HA HAA!! THOUST WORM HAST FINALLYE DECIDEDST TO COME OUTETH!"
He looked down on you, a grin on his face.
It sort of reminded you of when you first met, the crazy puzzles, the stupid laughter, honestly- you were loving it. Couldn't wait to see what he had in store.

He lifted up a gift box, waving it in the air.

"I may haveth a gift for thou, BUT! THOU SHALT HAVETH TO WORKETH FOR IT!!"
You and a few others spoke at the same time.
Ralsei began saying,

"Oh my god Rouxls that's so improper, what are you doing!??"

Susie stared, mouth agape, and dumbfoundedly said,

"YOO WHATTT!??"

But you glared right back at Rouxls, and struck your own dramatic pose.

"Bring it on!"

Ralsei stared at you in shock, Susie was cheering and laughing with lancer, and Rouxls' expression went from a smug grin, to mildly shocked, and back to a more genuine, yet still smug grin.

"THIS SHALT MARKTH THE ENDE TO OUR LEGENDARYE RIVALRY, AND TO OUR PUZZLE BATTLES- LET US BEGINETH!!!"
He called out, and you both fought against each other in various puzzles and games, laughing all the while.
This was admittedly, more fun than you'd had in a while. You'd missed the times he used to pop up out of nowhere, challenging you to absurdly stupid games and random shit. It felt nice, like stepping back into routine. Except, with more chaos and competitiveness.

You had evaded his previous puzzle, and he stood dramatically before you. You were on a slightly raised on an almost podium like area, with the others watching you from slightly below.

Before you...

Was a chess board.

You sat across from Rouxls, who was twirling a lock of that gorgeous white hair between his fingers. This was the last 'puzzle'.

"You may have defeated me before, but now- I've been practicing."
You said, keeping up the dramatic atmosphere as if you hadn't just scrolled through a bunch of chess videos lazily after loosing to him the first time.

"Well, may the besteth playere wineth!"
He grinned, although he had a slight nervousness around him.

You sprung into action, moving piece after piece.

The game lasted a while.. but finally.
You moved your queen into position.

"Checkmate."
You said, leaning back in your chair triumphantly.

You'd.. actually won.

Rouxls carried a shocked expression, that quickly melted into a smirk.

"I suppose thou hast beateneth me, and earned thine gift."
You both stood up, and Rouxls came up closer to you, handing you a gift box with a Ribbon secured around it with a little fancy bow, it wasn't Ralsei-level packaging, but it was cute nonetheless.
You grinned, eagerly slipping the ribbon off and lifting up the top of the box. Inside was a pendant- made of none other than that gorgeous crimson crystal that you'd lost.

"Thou must haveth droppedeth it and I figured that.. thou wouldst like it back?"
He said, somewhat sheepishly.

You immediately took to securing the pendant around your neck, laughing.

"This is amazing, atleast I wont loose it again now!"

That's when something else at the bottom of the box caught your eye.
It was an envelope, with a pretty wax seal.

You took it out, glancing over it.

"Oh! Is this also for me?"
You asked, and he quickly replied.

"Ah- yeseth."

He looked nervous, but you decided to pay attention to the letter rather than to question it, cracking open the wax seal and revealing a neatly folded piece of paper.

Signed "-RK" with a heart at the bottom.

You could've sworn your heart stopped for a second, your eyes widening as you read through the letter.

He was asking you out. He didn't want to be your rival, he wanted to go on a date sometime. HOLY SHIT!?!?!?

You looked up at him, his face flushed and his hands behind his back, looking the most nervous you'd seen him- like ever.

You took a breath, your heart trying to decide whether not to beat at all or to beat at a thousand beats per minute.

"Is this your way of saying I'm not a good enough rival for you?"
You say, a sly smirk on your face despite the flush you could definitely feel rising to your cheeks.

"Wha- No i-"
He sputtered, completely caught off guard- but you cut him off by stepping closer and planting a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm messing with you, I'd love to go on a date with you sometime."
You said, and left a furiously blushing Rouxls on the little podium by himself, his hand raised gently to where you had just kissed him as he stared in disbelief after you.

-

"I FUCKING CALLED IT!!!!!!!!"
Susie screamed, and you couldn't find yourself angry about it, simply laughing along as she teased the hell out of you as you, Kris and her exited castle town together.

Chapter Text

You had landed in a practiced motion on the floor of the dark world, already grinning. You couldn't help but feel excitement bubbling up inside of you as you thought of your date tonight. You had found out that Rouxls had been kicked out of the café where Swatch worked, You had briefly talked to him and found out that Rouxls had barged in demanding to be 'butler supremeth'.
You were trying not to laugh so hard your face went completely red.

Anyway, you'd handed a note to Lancer for him to pass on, asking Rouxls to meet you on a small field-like section of castle town. Ralsei had hung up little glowing stars from the top of the dark world ceiling(?) to replicate stars in the real world in case any darkner wanted to hang out there, or really wanted to enjoy looking up at the stars as if they were sentient in the real world.

It was also the perfect spot for a date, specifically a little picnic. You met up with Ralsei and with his help prepared a bunch of treats and snacks, before heading to your room and getting changed into something comfortable, but still good looking.

-

You headed into the field, passing another couple seemingly having a picnic too, and wandered a bit further away from them after they returned the smile that you shot them. One of them was a guy who looked like sort of a combination of the sun and moon, and the other a pretty lady who resembled a cloud. You'd heard of the weather couple briefly before, but they were absolutely adorable in person.
You set up a blanket over the grass, and placed down the small basket you had brought, getting comfy in a sitting position where you leaned back on your arms.

Not long passed before you saw a flash of white hair and that signature blue, and you watched him walk past the weather couple- who shrunk back and stared at him warily as he passed them. They kept careful watch of him as he looked around, and you raised your hand and waved to get his attention. The couples face quickly morph into shock as they watch his smile grow, and he quickly makes his way over to you.

He joins you on the blanket, and once you start talking you can tell his nervousness washes away.

"You look lovely!"
You say, placing a hand on his and grinning at the flush that rises to his cheeks.
He was wearing something similar to his usual outfits, but it looked more comfortable.

"Thou lookst far moreth lovelye."
He said, and you eased into random conversation. It didn't feel forced, or awkward now that it was a date and not just a 'rivalry game' of sorts. In fact, you were really glad it had come to this. The conversations flowed naturally, and the two of you ended up pressed against eachother, laid on your backs on the blanket and staring up at the stars.
You sat up and popped a sugary pastry into your mouth, and watched him mimic the action before saying,

"Actually I was wondering... Your style of writing's really pretty. Could you maybe show me how to write like that?"
He perked up at that, and quickly replied.

"Oh, welleth, i'dst be glad to teacheth thou!"

"I brought some paper and whatnot,"
You said, smiling and bringing out what you had brought, handing it to him.

The two of you sat close up next to eachother on the blanket, and he took hold of the pen.
You go to hand him the ink, typical black ink you had found, but he shakes his head and smirks.

"Isnte everything bettere if it iseth blue?"
He placed the end of the pen on the tip of his tongue, and began writing on the page in delicate pretty letters with the light blue.. ink?

Oh.
Okay, so like.
You just went up around 15 places in the 'top ranked FREAKS of the year awards'. Because that shouldn't have been attractive...

You quickly tossed the black ink away and scooted closer to watch the letters appear over his shoulder. He was writing random little sentences, and then passed you the pen after getting a bit more ink on the tip of it.
You hesitantly began writing, yours being nowhere near as artistic as his- and he stopped you.

"Hm. here, letst me helpeth thou."

He placed his hand over yours, and you could feel heat rising up to your face as he gently guided your hand to write across the page.

"Relaxeth a little."
He chuckled, and you could've sworn your heart leapt into your throat as you let your hand relax a little in his.

Neat letters were scrawled out on the page a few moments later, and you couldn't help admire them for a second. (Although, your mind was elsewhere at the moment.)

"Here, now thou canst try on thine own."
He removed his hand from yours and you considered your options for a second.

"Hmmm you know, I could.. but I'd really prefer a kiss"
You smirked at him, and his face quickly turned that familiar light purply-blue that you'd grown to love.

"I- art thou sure..? after- the- the inketh thinge??"
He stammered, shocked- but clearly not objecting.

"Well, isn't everything better blue?"
You chuckled, repeating his earlier words- the pen long abandoned had been dropped on the page leaving a little splatter of ink where it landed.

His shocked face melted into something softer, and he let out a light laugh as he leaned towards you. You closed the distance between the two of you, placing a hand on his cheek as your lips met.
He tasted a little like ink, and you could feel the slight remains of the sugary pastry on his lips. You didn't find yourself caring much about the slight metallic taste of ink, (FREAK ALERT FREAK ALERT SOS SOS) and he was practically melting into your touch.

You parted, still keeping close to one another, and couldn't help but laugh a bit. How had it even come to this? He was smiling, short bits of light laughter leaving him too. The two of you shared a few more sweet kisses, before collapsing beside one another on the blanket, keeping each other close.

You'd gotten used to this weird world, so much that it had become a huge comfort to you since the time you had discovered it. To think you'd find a lover through going to find missing chalk? If you had told yourself that a couple of weeks ago, you would have laughed in your own face.

And yet, as you lay there with an arm over Rouxls, your legs tangled as he carded through your hair, you couldn't imagine yourself elsewhere.

-END

Chapter Text

Oh my god guys, this was SUCH a wild ride, thank you all so much for anyone who's stayed and supported through this entire fic!!!!

AND THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING WHAT THE HELLL!!!!!!!! I LOVE YALL FREAKS SM, AND GUESS WHAT...

ITS REQUEST TIME!! IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY REQUESTS FOR RK X READER FICS, PLEASE COME SCREAM THEM AT ME IN THE COMMENTS!!!!!
There are a couple of little bits that I have to mention though!

-I will write whatever yall want ehe... heavy angst, lots more fluff, even mayhaps smut, you name it!

-Buttt unfortunately no female reader fics!! As a (trans) guy myself I dont really enjoy reading x fem readers, and wouldn't enjoy writing one. SORRY LADIES, LOVE YOU LOTS SIGH.

-FEEL FREE TO GIVE DETAIL ON WHAT YALL WANT FROM THE FIC!! ID LOVE TO BRING YALLS IDEAS TO LIFE WINK WINK! ;3

-I'll do oneshots, or long fics!

AND FINALLY.. ANOTHER SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU. IVE LOVED WRITING THIS SM AND HOPE TO WRITE MORE FOR YOU GUYS RAAAAHHH!!!!
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LOVELY COMMENTS, AND ALL THE KUDOS. YOU'RE ALL AMAZING AND I HOPE YALL KNOW THAT,

ILL BE WRITING MORE OF YALLS SUGGESTIONS SOON HOPEFULLY, BUT FOR NOW GOODBYE MY FELLAS, LADY FELLAS, AND ALL THE INBETWEEN FELLAS!

(Another little thank you to my friend Charlie who helped me with some of the dark world ideas, and ideas in general for chapters. U inspired me to write this fic in the first place, love ya lots!)