“I’m so glad you came back to see me, Kris!” Ralsei happily let the blue-skinned Lightner into his castle and politely closed the doors behind them. “I wasn’t sure if you’d return after going back home… Things have been rather lonely since then.” Ralsei looked down sadly for a moment, but smiled and looked back up. “Now you’re here, though! But, if I may ask, why did you return…?”

Kris looked around, supposedly searching for something, and walked in and out of rooms. Ralsei followed behind curiously in a manner similar to when they were on their journey. They explored the majority of the castle, with Ralsei being a little flustered about the sudden company and insisting he would've cleaned properly with a warning.

Finally, they reached the kitchen, and Kris let out a satisfied hum. “Oh! Were you just hungry?” Ralsei asked, but got no reply. Instead, Kris went over to a shelf and searched through all of the cookbooks that were on display. They picked out a particularly worn one and flipped through the pages. Ralsei watched curiously, trying to peek over Kris’ shoulder with no success. Kris finally found what they were looking for and revealed the recipe to the Darkner Prince.

Ralsei blushed madly. “You want me to bake a cake with you?” Kris nods.

“Um, okay… Well, let’s see what we’ll need. Two eggs-” Ralsei looks over to see that Kris had already spread all of the supplies out. “Oh, perfect! Did you preheat the oven?” Kris nods again. “Alright, time for step one. Kris, you need to…”

Ralsei instructed Kris on what to do, although the Lightner acted as if they’d done this a hundred times before. In fact, they did most of the work while Ralsei struggled to keep up. After much work, the cake was out of the oven and cool enough to decorate.

Suddenly, Kris started pushing Ralsei out of the kitchen. “W-What are you doing, Kris?!” But Kris ignored him and kept pushing until he was completely out. They held their hand out, signaling for Ralsei to stay put, and smiled to reassure him.

“Well…if you really insist,” Ralsei said, giving in and sitting in front of the doorway. Kris walked back into the kitchen and shut the door.

Immediate sounds of crashing and banging were heard. “Oh, dear,” Ralsei says to himself worriedly.

There were so many times when Ralsei swore Kris had made a mess of the kitchen or hurt themselves (or maybe even both). He could only barely hold himself back from rushing in there at every little noise. Ralsei could only imagine the damage done and pray that it was nothing major.

The door suddenly slammed open, causing Ralsei to fall back in surprise. “Pardon me!” He sat back up and steadied himself. “Um, are you all finished, Kris?” When Kris motioned yes, Ralsei stood.

The prince was very worried for what he would see, as his friend was currently covered in all kinds of ingredients. He gulped and started to walk inside before he was stopped by Kris covering his eyes from behind him. “Hey! I can’t see!” Kris nudged him forward as if saying “that’s the point” .

Kris’ nudges were Ralsei’s guide as he walked into the kitchen. After a minute or so of unsteadiness and unease, the nudges stopped, signaling that they were done walking. Kris’ deep breath was audible as they removed their hands.

As Ralsei’s eyes readjusted, he looked around at the kitchen. To his surprise, the room was spotless, completely contrast to his friend’s appearance. Kris cleared their throat and motioned for Ralsei to look on the counter. And so he did.

Ralsei almost burst into tears at the sight.

In front of him was a messily-yet-adorably decorated cake featuring a picture of himself and Kris holding hands in the fields. There were hearts and sparkles and other cutesy things surrounding them. “Kris… This is beautiful! Thank you so- huh?”

Ralsei looked and Kris was gone. He was disappointed, but enjoyed the cake immensely. It was very delicious! The prince began brainstorming ways to repay them once they visited them again...and made a mental note to clean more often.

Meanwhile, Kris was running to the warp door to get to the Card Castle. They brushed the mess off of themselves in the process, and what didn’t get brushed off flew away in the wind.

They made it to Lancer’s throne and finally stopped running. Kris leaned forward, placed their hands on his knees and panted heavily, occasionally using the back of their hand to wipe away sweat from their forehead.

Lancer was happily bouncing on his throne with his tongue out, somehow not bored of being a king yet. His size was comedic compared the throne that used to be his father’s. He could’ve easily asked for a smaller one, but everyone just let him be.

“So. How’d it go?” Lancer asked, still bouncing in his seat. Kris gave him a thumbs up, remaining in the same pose as before. Their panting wasn’t as bad, though.

Lancer giggled. “Great job, Blue Person! (What was your name, again?) Keep me updated for when things get serious .”

Kris gave him another thumbs up.