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“I've never really been to one of these,” Susie laughed a bit uncomfortably as Ralsei poured her tea.
“Shocking,” Kris muttered sarcastically.
There was a metal clang from Susie trying to give them a swift kick in the shin as Ralsei gave her a smile. “There's a first for everything!”
“You're right.” Susie returns the smile before shooting Kris an annoyed look. “ Stop it, ” she gritted out. They were still smirking from their comment.
Kris just held up their hands as Ralsei poured them a cup, not wanting to drag it out. They nodded in response to Ralsei's questions of wanting sugar then promptly started to add more as their friend took his seat. Susie stuck her tongue out at Kris's grotesque display of sugar intake before she turned her attention to her own cup of tea.
She tapped the rim of her cup as she bounced her leg. “ So ,” Susie cleared her throat. “What do people talk about at tea parties?”
Ralsei looked startled. “Uh! Well-! I've, uh, never actually had one,” he trailed off. “So, I don't really know.” He laughed nervously before picking up his teacup for a sip.
Susie slowly nodded and looked at Kris. “Do you know?”
Kris didn't stop their current activity of playing with their hair when Susie began to talk to them. “Anything, I guess,” they answered in their dazed, far away voice.
“ Anything, ” Susie muttered. She sipped on her tea as she thought. Anything.
Anything, anything, anything.
“Oo! I know!”
Kris stopped yanking on their bangs and Ralsei looked up to give her a curious smile.
“How many owls do you think you can take on in a fight, in a row?” Susie asked as she confidently leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms as she did.
Ralsei's smile stayed on his face but his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His head tilted, not really understanding what Susie had asked. Kris, on the other hand, brought a hand up to their chin to hold it. They were deep in thought as they mulled over the philosophical question. Thinking about it seemed to snap them out of their usual daze.
“I- uh, I think, o-one? Two?” Ralsei's answer came out like a question.
Susie slumped, letting her arms fall to her sides. “ Seriously. ”
“I mean-! They're big, scary, dangerous birds!” He defended. “They have sharp claws!”
“You have magic! ”
“And they have shredding capabilities!”
Susie was about to keep the argument going when Kris gave their answer.
“60,” they said confidently. “I could fight 60 back to back, no problem.” They nodded, satisfied with their answer and turned to Susie. “What about you?”
She turned away from her friend and crossed her arms again. She laughed through her nose arrogantly before answering, “61, easily .”
“ You! ” Kris slammed their hand on the table, startling Ralsei, and pointed an accusatory finger at Susie. “You are saying 61 because I said 60 and that is one more than what I said!!! ”
“Kris, logically, I can take out more owls than you can.”
“Then you can fight, like, a lot more than me!” Kris argued. “75 is a good number but not just one more than what I said! ” They turned to Ralsei. “Right?! Susie could fight 75 owls in a row! Tell her!!!”
Ralsei stared at them, wide eyed. He had only seen Kris worked up once before but that was from stress after fighting that strange puppet in the cyber world. It seemed like they knew this was all in good natured fun. Their mouth was in a pout, not twisting in anguish. Their shoulders weren't tense with worry or dread, they were completely relaxed as Susie teased them. With Kris being relaxed like this, they seemed more confident with themselves and how they interacted with Ralsei and Susie. They yanked their finger away from Susie as she tried to grab it bared their teeth at her, growling like a dog.
Ralsei turned to Susie to see she was completely relaxed as well. She lounged back in the chair with an arm draped over the back. She had a cocky grin plastered on her face from riling Kris up. Now, she was trying not to laugh at Kris's dog antics.
“I, uh,” Ralsei fidgeted in his seat. “I don't think you need to worry about that!” He pointed out. “You know, since you won't see that many owls in one day.”
Susie and Kris quickly glanced at each other and a look past over their faces that Ralsei did not like. They looked back at him.
“How many owls would you have to see in a day for it to be concerning for you?” Kris asked.
Ralsei tried to stop his eyes from rolling into the back of his head. “ Like, one. ” Before Kris and Susie could start to chastise him, he further explained, “since there are no owls in Castletown and I can't leave here unless there's another Dark Fountain that's opened.”
His friends relaxed and nodded solemnly.
“Mhm, right, yeah,” Susie muttered.
“Yes, of course, of course,” Kris agreed.
“What about you two,” Ralsei sighed, trying to be polite.
They thought for a moment, carefully considering their answers and what they would imply once they were given. The decision weighed heavily on the two of them. Kris nodded and linked their fingers together as they looked at Ralsei.
“39 owls.”
“ 39, ” Ralsei repeated.
Kris nodded.
“I was gonna say 28,” Susie informed them.
“28,” Ralsei whispered. He cleared his throat. “And how many owls do you two usually see in town?”
“Like, zero,” Susie told him.
“None,” Kris confirmed.
“ Right. ” Ralsei clapped his hands. “What an, uh, informative tea party!”
“This was fun!” Susie hummed with a smile. “We should do it again!”
Kris gave a slight nod before their head locked up. “Yeah,” their voice became far off and distant again. “Sure.”
Ralsei slowly closed his eyes as he mentally prepared himself for the next one since it would definitely be like this one, if not worse . “Whatever you two want.”
“Oh, c'mon,” Susie said as she stood up and walked over to her friend. She gently punched Ralsei's arm as she teased him. “You love it and you think it's fun and cool and awesome and you can't wait for the next one!”
He slumped and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. “Yeah, you're right.”
Susie laughed as she stood up straight. “So, uh,” she gestured to the table. “Let's clean up?”
“It'll get done later,” Ralsei said as he stood. “Don't worry about it.”
“You sure?” Susie frowned.
Ralsei nodded and turned to Kris. They stood up rigidly and shoved their chair in. Once they were up, they turned to Ralsei.
“That was fun,” they told him in a relaxed and easy tone. “Let’s do it again.” Suddenly their body went straight and they turned. The far off, dreamy voice returned, “let's go.”
Susie shook her head as she began to follow. “What a weirdo,” she muttered affectionately.
Ralsei sighed and took his place in the back of the line. Everyone that mattered seemed to love the tea party. It would be fun planning the next one.