Strawberry Tart Smile
New fic time? New fic time! I'm not sure if there are a lot of Twisted Wonderland fans in the community, but the idea popped into my head and I had to write it out. I've been playing the game for two years and reading the Manga, and now D+ has started the anime and it's given me a renewed interest. 😊 Summary: This one is about Riddle, Trey, and Chenya, taking place about two weeks after Riddle's overblot. Chenya just wanted to see Riddle smile again. He finds an unconventional way to make it happen. As always, feedback and likes and reblogs are loved and encouraged. Full fic under the cut.
It had been about two weeks since Riddle's... incident in the rose garden. That's what he'd taken to calling it because it sounded less horrifying than "overblotting" or "crazy berserker mode" as Cater had so bluntly referred to it. Despite being given a clean bill of health, Riddle was still recovering. He would get lightheaded. He had trouble sleeping. He'd lose his appetite. He was still nervous about using his magic, afraid of overdoing it again. Riddle didn't even have any memory of what had happened. Headmage Crowley said that it would simply take time to heal such wounds.
Trey still felt largely responsible for Riddle even overblotting in the first place. He'd become determined to help Riddle heal in any way he could. Trey had done extensive research in the campus library and found various books on stress relief, teaching himself about yoga and breathing techniques and meditation to help lower stress. This is why Riddle was heading to a secluded spot behind the Heartslabyul House rose garden now - Trey had gotten him to agree to meet up every day after classes and work on one of these techniques.
Riddle had a free period at the end of classes today and decided to head to their meetup spot early as it was quite lovely outside. With a book to read and an old picnic blanket tucked under his arm, the teen made his way behind the rose garden hedge maze to a small group of oak trees. He gently set his book in the grass before shaking out the blanket and laying it under a tree. "Hmm... yes, this shall do nicely," Riddle said to himself. "Shaded enough that I won't overheat but I can still have a bit of warmth from the sun's rays." Riddle slipped off his school uniform blazer, folding it perfectly and smoothing out any and all wrinkles as he rested it on the bottom of the blanket before sitting down. He rested his back against the tree, stretching his legs in front of him and crossing them at the ankles. Riddle allowed himself a moment to get comfortable and then started to read his book. It was warm. There was a gentle breeze. The sky was clear. Riddle was calm. Every condition was perfect for helping him relax and get lost in his book, which he did. And then he had a sudden feeling that he was being watched. Riddle's icy grey eyes peered over the pages of his book in front of him and saw no one. They peered to the left and saw only the rose garden maze walls. They peered to the right... ...and saw a face floating in midair and smiling at him. "BWAAAH!" Riddle gasped, throwing his book into the air with a startled jolt.
One of Chenya's hands materialized and caught the book before it fell to the ground. He smiled at the redhead with a giggle. "Goodness! You must have been paws-itively entranced in this book for me to spook you so," Chenya laughed, his body fully materializing in the air as he turned the book over to look at its cover. "What're we reading, hmm?" "Nothing!" Riddle replied, snatching the book out of Chenya's hands and quickly stashing it under the blanket. "What are you doing here?"
"So secretive," Chenya teased, still floating over him. "I was around and thought I'd check on you. I..." Chenya lowered himself to the ground and sat beside Riddle on the blanket, becoming uncharacteristically somber for a moment. "I've been worried about you since... well, since Trey told me what happened." "You don't have to worry about me." Riddle's shoulders slumped. He still wasn't used to other people caring about him like this. He also hated feeling like he was hurting others. "Trey has been helping me learn how to let go of being so strict and find a balance between rules and leniency. I'm doing better." "I miss that purrfect little smile of yours," Chenya admitted, bumping his shoulder against Riddle's with a sigh. "Tch... what do you mean? I smile! See?" Riddle's lips stretched into a genuine but soft smile.
"Not like that, silly kitty. I miss how you smiled when we climbed trees... when we'd play Old Maid and Trey would lose..." Chenya sat back against the tree, eyes focused on the back of his friend's head as he thought of childhood memories. "I miss that great big smile you had the first time you bit into a strawberry tart at his parents bakery." He reached forward and kneaded his nails gently along Riddles shoulder blades affectionately as he mentioned the tart memory. "EEEEK!" Riddle arched his back with such force that he'd nearly snapped his spine. He instantly clapped a hand over his mouth, horrified at his own sudden outburst. Chenya froze. Neither of the teens were sure of what had just happened.
"Curiouser and curiouser..." Chenya reached out and repeated the motion. This time, Riddle involuntarily giggled as his back tensed. The redhead's eyes went wide. He was mortified and confused. "Stop that this instant!" "Oh dear." Chenya chuckled. That reaction sounded ominous and Riddle did not like it one bit.
"What... why... what magic was that? What did you do?" Riddle was almost positive that his friend was using some kind of spell to get him to smile.
"Magic? Has no one ever...? No, I don't suppose they have." It was at that moment that Chenya was reminded of just how much of a sheltered childhood Riddle had lived. It was probably worse once he came here to Night Raven because he was so closed-off. "No one has ever..." The mischievous boy leaned forward again and quickly spidered his fingers against Riddle's sides, causing him to giggle outright. "You, my dear, are ticklish." Chenya immediately went invisible and started poking and fluttering his fingers anywhere he could reach - Riddle's sides, his back, his shoulder blades, the back of his neck, behind his ears... Riddle jolted and wriggled like a worm on a hook, falling onto his back and swatting at the air trying to slap Chenya's hands away. Classes had finished for the day. Trey made is way through the halls of the campus, to the Hall of Mirrors, back to Heartslabyul House, and through the rose garden to met up with Riddle. As he exited the back of the hedge maze, his chest knotted in a panic. He saw Riddle, alone under a tree, convulsing on his blanket. Fear took over and Trey's legs immediately started running. He had been afraid nonstop for the past two weeks that Riddle could relapse. "Riddle! No no no no no..." Trey was kneeling at his best friend's side in mere seconds. "Riddle! What's happening?! What's wrong?!"
"Hehehehe help! Help me! Che... Chen... make hehehehe make him hehehehe stop!" Riddle looked like he was having some sort of seizure, flailing his hands and flopping around. But he was... laughing. "What in the world? Riddle?!" Trey was beyond confused. He'd never seen his best friend act like this. A second later, Riddle stopped moving. He was now heaving breaths. Chenya's face materialized beside him. Trey fell back in surprise. "Bwaah! Chenya? What's going on?"
"I can only imagine how this must have looked. Apologies if I worried you," Chenya said with a nod as the rest of his body materialized. "I was trying to coax this little sourpuss to smile and ended up making quite an interesting discovery. Look!" His hands reached out, fingers wriggling against Riddle's ribs and making the poor boy burst into another fit of giggles as he curled up defensively on his blanket. Trey stared. He blinked. He adjusted his glasses. He blinked again. For a moment, Trey had flashes of childhood memories. He could see himself, Chenya, and Riddle as small children. He could hear their giggles when they played. He'd never heard anything like the sounds Riddle was making right now though. "No way," Trey said with a bark of a laugh, looking down at Riddle who was trying to catch his breath. "And here I thought I knew everything about you. How did I not know you're ticklish?" "I didn't know," Riddle exhaled, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt. "Heavens, that was awful." The boy let his eyes close. He would completely deny it if asked, but he was still smiling. The more Trey thought about it, the more it made sense for Riddle to be so clueless. His parents weren't ones for any type of physical affection. The only friends he'd had were Trey and Chenya until his mother forbid them to come anywhere near him. Neither of them had really had much physical contact with him more than a hug here and there because Riddle had been so shy and they didn't want to frighten him back into his shell.
"It's good that you arrived when you did. I swear, Chenya was trying to kill me," Riddle sighed, ever the one for theatrics as he rested a hand on his chest.
"That's not true," Chenya protested. "I was helping you." "I nearly died. How in the world is that considered helpful?" Riddle wondered, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Such a dramatic little thing," Chenya giggled. "I never see you laugh. Laughter is good for relieving stress."
"Utter piffle!" the Heartslabyul housewarden scoffed.
"Chenya's actually correct though. Laughing decreases stress hormones, releases endorphins, relaxes physical tension..." A smile crossed Trey's face, a smile that was just a bit too far on the mischievous side. "What is that saying, Chen? Laughter is the best medicine, I think, yeah?" Trey cracked his knuckles. "Indeed!" Chenya looked about ready to pounce, a playful gleam in his cat-like eyes. "I prescribe four hands," he added, flexing all ten of his fingers in the air. "Huh?" Riddle furrowed his brow. "That doesn't even make sense." The teen opened his eyes just a moment too late to see both of his best friends with clawed hands hovering over him and he had no time to move. "Oh no no no wait!" Riddle was thrown into absolute hysterics. He was giggling. He was sputtering. He was trying to cover his mouth and shield himself at the same time... and failing miserably at both as he curled into a ball and kicked his legs. "Just be gentle. We don't want him getting overstimulated. It *is* his first time," Trey pointed out as his fingers danced along Riddle's ribs. "That would be quite the cat-tastrophe, wouldn't it?" Chenya giggled. He switched between fluttering his fingers at Riddle's neck and gently scratching under his arms, careful not to use too much pressure. "Wouldn't want the poor dear to pass out, although that would give you the opportunity to play housewarden for a bit." "Stop hehehehe talking hehehe about me... like I'm hehehe not even HEHEHEHERE!" Someone's hand started to squeeze just above one of Riddle's hips and shattered all sense of composure and decorum that he was trying to keep. He broke out into an absolute cackle and gave up trying to cover his face. He couldn't even sputter a word through his laughter. One of his hands started swatting down repeatedly on the blanket.
"Uh-oh, that's a tap-out." Trey immediately held up his hands. Chenya took just an extra second more before following suit. "I think he's had enough for today." Trey looked down at the small heap of a boy that was Riddle Rosehearts. Despite the fact that Trey and Chenya had their hands in the air, Riddle was still giggling. "You... okay there, buddy?" All of a sudden, Trey was just a bit worried that Riddle might be angry.
Riddle slowly turned over onto his back, sprawling on the blanket between his torturers. His hair was a mess, matted against a sweaty forehead and sticking out in every other direction. His cheeks were as red as his hair, not from anger but from overheating and embarrassment. His uniform shirt was a wrinkled disaster, untucked and twisted halfway up his torso. His eyes were closed and he was heaving breaths. Residual giggles were still slipping from his lips as he started to calm down. "There it is," Chenya said fondly. "Hmmph?" The redhead cracked one eye open, looking up in confusion. "There... what... is?" he asked between giggling breaths.
"Your strawberry tart smile, silly kitty," Chenya replied, booping the tip of Riddle's nose with his index finger.
Trey couldn't help laughing. He knew exactly what Chenya was referring to, and it was good to see it again.
"Ugh, I hate you both," Riddle groaned. "All three of us know that's an outright lie," Trey chuckled. "How do you feel?" "Exhausted." Riddle draped an arm over his face and stretched out his legs. "My face hurts. Everything hurts." "That's because you've never worked out any of those tickle muscles... ever. We can help with that," Chenya teased, wriggling his fingers in the air. "No! Absolutely not!" Riddle didn't even have the strength to try and defend himself. And he was already giggling again at the mere thought of being tickled. "Please. I surrender. No more. I can't." "You're safe. No need for hiss-terics," Chenya chuckled, mussing Riddle's hair affectionately. "I should head back anyway before it gets late. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Riddle started to sit up when Chenya immediately pulled him into a tight hug, clamping his arms at his sides in the process. He sighed in defeat and simply let Chenya hold him. He'd never admit it, but that hug felt absolutely wonderful. Riddle had spent his life so touch-starved that this overwhelming amount of contact today had rendered him completely bewildered. He was a mix of complex and conflicting emotions. He hated this, but he loved it at the same time. He couldn't make any sense of it. "Look after him," Chenya told Trey before kissing the top of Riddle's head with an annoyingly and purposely loud smooching sound. "Bye, dears." He let go of Riddle, standing and fading from sight as he waved to the pair.
Riddle collapsed back onto the blanket with a heavy sigh. He rubbed his palms against his sides, still still feeling traces of the absolute torture he'd just gone through. There was still a soft smile on his face. "...are you angry?" Trey asked quietly.
"Hmm..." Riddle shook his head slowly, still trying to catch his breath. "No. I don't think that I could ever be angry with either of you. You're never doing that again, though. I feel utterly drained. I could fall asleep right under this tree."
"I had other plans for us, but having a catnap under a tree for a bit doesn't break any rules that I know of," Trey joked. "Hmmph. Leave the feline puns to Chenya," Riddle teased, showing that he was in a good mood. "What plans?"
"I do what my mother calls stress-baking. I bake when I'm stressed out because it's enjoyable and calms me down," Trey explained. "I thought we could find some easy recipes and see if stress-baking helps you. And as a bonus, we end up with snacks to eat... which I also do when I'm stressed."
"That..." Riddle took another moment to himself as he was still catching his breath. "That sounds lovely. Since Chenya mentioned it, I find myself craving a strawberry tart."
"I think we have enough ingredients in the kitchen to make some. Without oyster sauce this time, though." Trey chuckled, smiling wider as Riddle groaned.
"Uuuurrrggh." Riddle draped an arm over his face. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
"Ohoho not on your life." Trey stood and held out a hand. "Think you can gather the strength to make it to the kitchen?"
"I'll manage." Riddle took Trey's hand and pulled himself to stand. He smoothed the wrinkles from his shirt again and tucked it back in before putting his blazer back on and fixing his hair while Trey folded the blanket and picked up Riddle's book. "Do I look presentable? Queen of Hearts Rule num-" The housewarden stopped himself from finishing that sentence. "I don't wish to set a poor example for the rest of Heartslabyul House and walk about the dorm looking unkempt." "Hold on." Trey quickly raked his fingers through the hair at the back of Riddle's head, putting a few stray strands back into place. "There. To the kitchen, then?" Trey gestured back towards the hedge maze. "To the kitchen," Riddle nodded, walking alongside Trey. "I don't think it needs saying that should you tell anyone about what just happened..." "Wouldn't dream of it. No one will hear a peep about you being ticklish as hell from me," Trey chuckled, putting an arm around a furiously blushing Riddle's shoulders as they disappeared into the hedge maze.
When the coast was clear, Ace Trappola jumped down from the tree branch he'd been lounging on. He landed on his feet, crouching before regaining his balance and standing to stretch. He just so happened to have chosen to hide up in the very tree that Riddle had sat under, aiming to have some quiet time to himself. It was a fortuitous coincidence in Ace's eyes. "Well well well... I'm certainly filing that interesting bit of information away for later," he said to himself, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking away with a little bounce in his step.
