It starts with a flutter of the heart when he looks at them, a dull ache in his chest every time they say his name.

Every time he heals Kris, he can feel his magic brush against their soul, just barely grazing it. He has to force himself to refrain from caressing it. It makes him tingle with a sense of completion. Every time he falls, Kris is there to offer him a hand up. It never fails to make him painfully aware of the heat rising in his cheeks. It's always hard to let go after he's back on his feet.

Considering how Ralsei has spent his entire life waiting for them, it's no wonder he's fallen for them so hard. He'll follow them anywhere. He wonders if they know this.

He's developed a terrible cough. He tries every cure and remedy he knows, and even some Lightner remedies. The strange amber goo (honey, she called it) that Susie brought for him is very sweet, but it does nothing for his cough.

Kris sealed the new fountain, but they come back often, usually with Susie in tow. He saw them smile at her. The pain in his chest becomes so intense he feels like he can't breathe. They've never smiled at him. He has another coughing fit, and this time -

- this time, he coughs something up. It's small and purple and soft and oval shaped.

Susie is looking on in concern and Kris is suddenly standing by him now, resting their hand on his back. It makes him choke and cough even more purple into his hand.

He examines the strange velvet thing in his paws and Kris says it's a lilac petal, a type of flower from their world. None of them know what it means. He doesn't cough up any more petals that afternoon, so both Lightners return home after their visit.

Not long after they leave, he thinks about the warmth of Kris's hand on his back and has another intense fit of coughing and more petals come up. He heals himself, though he knows it won't make any difference.

The next morning he makes the walk over to Seam's little 'seap.' They don't know each other very well, but Ralsei does know that Seam is very old - much older than himself. Maybe he'll know about the petals.

When he tells the old man about the petals, a heavy silence fills the seap. Seam's expression becomes more grave than usual. He tells Ralsei that no one has developed this disease in a very long time.

Ralsei asks him if it's contagious, and whether it will go away on its own or if it needs some kind of rare herb to be cured. The old man laughs, but it's hollow and there's no humor in his eyes. When his laughter dies, he tells Ralsei -

"It's not contagious. But it is deadly. Ha ha ha..."

It's called Hanahaki Disease, Seam informs him. It's a rare disease that causes a flower to take root (he laughs, a tiny little ha at his pun) in the lungs of someone with an unrequited love.

Kris's face comes into Ralsei's mind, unbidden, and he shivers as Seam continues his explanation.

It's just petals now, but until Kris falls in love with him, it'll get worse. Eventually, the flowers will bloom so strongly he won't be able to breathe. He'll die.

"You've got time - a little bit, at least. But when you start coughing up whole flowers, that's when you know the end is near. If you can't get the person you're in love with to return your affection...well, it'll be curtains for you."

Ralsei forgets to thank him for the information when he's heard enough. He hurries out of the little seap trembling.

When he falls asleep, he dreams of Kris. The two of them are free falling through the sky, hurtling down towards a vast sea of water that Kris calls the ocean, but it's not scary. He reaches for their hand, but they're just out of his reach. They smile at him anyway and tell him they'll be together soon. His dream is interrupted when he wakes to cough again, throat raw from sending up petals.

The next day Kris visits without Susie. She's in trouble with her father for something Kris refuses to elaborate on. The way they turn their head away when he asks indicates that it's deeply unpleasant, so Ralsei doesn't push.

He wishes they would hug him again.

Kris doesn't hug him, but they announce that they spent the last few days researching what kind of disease might cause someone to cough up petals.

Ralsei's heart races, and Kris falls silent as he's wracked with another bout of coughing, several large fistfulls of petals coming up. Kris rushes to his side and rubs his back while he vomits purple into the bucket he's been keeping handy.

After the aftermath of the flower attack cleaned up, Kris tells Ralsei their findings. They tell him about Hanahaki Disease, and laugh (they never laugh; it makes his heart flutter terribly) at the silly urban legend it so clearly is.

He can't bring himself to tell them it's real.

He laughs weakly and agrees that it is all very silly, thanking them for taking the time to research his illness. It hurts so bad.

Kris asks him what he wants to do today, and Ralsei suggests they go for a walk through the fields. Thinking about what he really wants to do with Kris makes his cheeks burn.

Ralsei loves the field. Before meeting Kris and Susie, he had never dared to stray very far from his castle. Now he visits frequently, usually with friends in tow. Today, it's just him and Kris and it's perfect.

They don't talk much as they make their way through the grass side by side. Even when they don't talk, just spending time with Kris is more than enough to make Ralsei happy.

He starts coughing again, another violent fit punctuated with more petals than ever pushing their way out of him. He's fallen down to his hands and knees, retching so hard it hurts. With one last heave, a glob of green stems come out.

When he's done vomiting, Kris helps him up. Their hand feels warm against his, and he has to force himself not to try and intertwine his fingers with theirs. All too soon, they let go of his hand. He stifles a whine.

After a few moments, Kris loops their arm around his waist, bringing him close. Ralsei leans into their body heat. They don't say anything, like this is normal, and his heart races even faster while he wonders if he should put his arm around their waist or not. He feels like he's about to fall again.

"Do you… like anyone, Ralsei?"

"K-Kris?"

"Maybe Hanahaki Disease is real. I can't imagine why someone would just start coughing up flowers like that."

He stops dead in his tracks and Kris does too. Their arm is still around his waist. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He can't tell them. They'll be disgusted. A mere Darkner like him - no. Even if he's a hero just like Kris, they are a Lightner: they are above such creatures as himself.

"So, who is it?"

He can't answer, so he looks down and shakes his head. He has to blink back tears. Kris pulls him into a hug, and he buries his head in their chest before he even knows he's doing it. They smell like the world of light: fresh and airy and butterscotch. He feels like he's suffocating. Kris rubs his back.

"You know, I like someone too."

He doesn't dare hope. He's caught between freezing in place and hyperventilating. A ghastly image from his own traitorous imagination steals into his brain, one he's had nightmares about.

"You and Susie would be really cute together."

He lies, and Kris has the audacity to laugh at him.

"I don't like girls like that."

Ralsei sucks in another breath and clings to Kris even tighter. It's like the rest of the world is spinning, and Kris is the only stationary thing left in it.

"Do you like Susie?"

He can't answer, so he shakes his head no, though the effect ends up being more of an aggressive nuzzle.

Kris pulls their arms up from his back and brings them to his chin, lifting his head so they can look at him. He can't see their eyes from behind their hair, but it doesn't stop him from trying to see himself in them.

Kris doesn't take their hand off his chin and neither of them say anything for what feels like an eternity. His chest hurts.

"You're so cute when you blush."

Before Ralsei can process what he just heard, Kris leans down to meet him in a kiss.

He wants to pull away - he's so beneath them, he doesn't deserve this - but he finds himself unable to. Their lips are slightly chapped, but he doesn't mind. They taste like butterscotch and cinnamon and suddenly everything is right in the world.

He has to pull away to cough, probably ruining the moment. He coughs and chokes and sputters, but he doesn't vomit. No petals come up.

When he's finished, Kris takes his hand and they walk back to his castle in silence. Kris always walks him back to the castle before going home. He's never questioned why until now.

After they're both in the castle, Kris sits and pulls Ralsei into their lap and they kiss again. Kris pretends not to notice how Ralsei's body is responding to their touch, and he's glad for it. Neither of them are ready to go any further than this.

Eventually, Kris will have to leave. Eventually, they'll have to have a real conversation about this. But for now, Kris is murmuring "I love you" in between kisses, and it's more than he ever dared to hope for.