#` commentary.

[piquuse]

re: emergency relocation (newsletter)

“Did the Headmage move us all here for free labor?” Deuce mutters under his breath, sleeves rolled up to the elbow and hands moving diligently as he wipes down the temporary room he had been assigned. He does this part alone; damp rag moving from dusty furniture to soapy water and back again until the water in the bucket turns a murky grey and Deuce has to make a trip to the washroom to change it out.

Rinse and repeat, until the last change of water runs clear.

By the time Deuce is finished cleaning, there’s a clean, citrus-y scent in the air that wasn’t there an hour ago that’s beginning to travel beyond the open door and windows left open to air out the room. The wood furniture even looks three shades brighter now that there wasn’t a heavy layer of dust and dirt to mottle the color. It’s a significant enough difference that Deuce can’t help but feel good about a job well done—his mom would be so proud of him, if she was here.

All that was left to do now, aside from finding a fresh change of linens, was actually move his things in. All of Deuce’s necessities had been left back at the Heartslabyul dorm for now, since he had managed to avoid being a part of the group in charge of covering up the roses with tarps and linens to help protect them from the sudden frost that had begun to settle over the dorm.

Deuce would have to go back soon to swap out with one of his dorm members so that they could come down to Ramshackle and do the same, of course, but it was nice to be able to get a head start on it now while most people were likely still gathering their things.

Plus, he still needed to figure out if they were supposed to bring bedding from their respective dorms or if there was some secret stash of clean bedding that they were to use. The last thing Deuce wanted to do was spend the foreseeable future lying on a bed of moth-eaten sheets. Ew.

For now though, Deuce would just have to settle for an early lunch before returning to Heartslabyul to help with the maze’s emergency preparations.

Winter had arrived early there, after all.

[piquuse]

⸻ Happy Birthday, Deuce!

The thing about celebrating his birthday with Heartslabyul was that when the dorm planned for a party, it was no holds barred when it came to the venue and the menu. Perhaps it was silly for Deuce to think that his own birthday party would be the exception to that, but he still couldn’t help but think about how nice it was to share his birthday with so many people he had come to know; even if the thought of celebrating the day with his mother and a plate of homemade omurice still warmed and ached at his heart in equal measures.

And that was the thing, wasn’t it? The reason behind the feelings he was harboring was nothing more than a realization that now, this sort of huge party was something he was only able to have because of the friends he’s come to know at the university. Trey’s carefully planned menu of egg-centric foods, Ruggie’s surprisingly thoughtful gift—even Ace’s jack-in-the-box prank from that morning had been a reminder of how far Deuce had come from the troublemaking delinquent his younger self had been.

It felt good, to see the way he was changing. Even if he still had a long way to go in his goal to become an honor student—and after graduation, a top-notch mage—he hadn’t stagnated or backslid into his former self. That meant it was possible; that meant his goals weren’t out of reach, the way his mother’s worried smile would sometimes make it feel like it was. And for that invaluable gift, there was really only one thing he could say about it.

          “Everyone... Thank you so much!!”

[piquuse]

Aside from the dorm’s Rose Maze and the ingrained card soldier discipline that is drilled into them all by their strict (if unfortunately well-meaning) headwarden, Deuce was proud to say that Heartslabyul’s desserts were second to none. Even if the other dorms believed otherwise, there was no doubt in his mind that any of them could defeat Clover’s skill. After all, the few times that he had tried his hand at helping the vice-headwarden with baking had been...eye opening at the least.

Not to say that it was impossible of course, since with a little guidance Deuce had been able to pipe those rosettes onto the cake with relatively little mess, but it just made Clover’s familiarity with the process that much more obvious. Still, when the order request from the Headmaster for additional party food had arrived at the dorm, Deuce opted to stay out of the kitchen during the controlled chaos of the preparation and stuck to being the initial ingredients shopper after the dish had been decided, and stayed as an errand runner after that.

In a way, it really hadn’t been that much different from the regular preparation for an unbirthday party. If he were a more suspicious person, Deuce would have wondered if the headmaster had specifically chosen a quiet day in Heartslabyul’s calendar to throw this party, but as it was, the thought didn’t even dare to cross his mind. Instead, he busies himself with finding the spare oven pans in the kitchen’s storage room for the bain-marie they’d need for when the pudding goes into the oven to cook...