¿Can anybody send me twisted wonderland fics/ tumblr posts?
Currently just finished a really good fic on ao3 and kinda wanted some recommendations for other stuff.
A few things to keep in mind thou
They preferably must be Yuu-centric or have Yuu have an important presence. (I know this sounds weird but yuu is my favorite character, i don’t mind Oc’s/ reader-inserts as long as they fill the role of yuu, any genders ok 👍)
I would especially enjoy older yuu, Adult yuu, (especially if they are siblings/parental figures to the boys), janitor yuu, Nrc staff yuu.
Preferably no romance-focus, it’s just not what I’m looking for, but If their is, I don’t mind any paring (obviously nothing wierd though)
Platonic/familial is very much appropriate. (especially if it involves unusual parings)
I’m really interested in fics/posts that explore the differences in twst’s residents and yuu/ the characters learning about or exploring yuu’s world.
I only have used Ao3 and tumblr, but I’m open to other platforms (Fanfiction.net, Wattpad, etc.)
One-shots, chapters, headcanons, etc are ok 👍
Keep in mind it doesn’t have to follow every condition. It’s just to give an idea what I’m looking for. Thanks 😊
Good day/night, I was wondering if you could a g/t yandere fic of the dorms and how they react to a small Yuu running around and borrowing from them. If you're busy, you can ignore this.
Yes indeed! This was meant to be answered earlier but between employment and migraines making looking at a computer for a prolonged period hard, getting everyone done was taking a while. In the interest of not waiting for forever to post, I'll be releasing these in sections for each dorm, so you'll have to stay tuned for the other characters. Anyway now for...
Part 1
Heartslabyul
Ace Trappola
“And what’ve we got here?”
You stopped riffling through the pocket of a displaced hoodie and froze, a glance upward revealed a pair of bemused red eyes peering back at you. Stepping away from your task and attempting to look as natural as possible, you kicked a leg back and forth, shoe gliding across the floor. No matter how many times you slipped by unnoticed, the embarrassment around “borrowing”, as you liked to call it, never wore off. It wasn’t as if you had much choice in the matter, whether you made your peace with it or not, you needed to survive. Just long enough to find a way home, you’d tell yourself.
“I was looking for Grim.” You averted your eyes. “Thought he might be goofing off with you guys here.”
“Yeah, right.” Ace rolled his eyes. “What are you even looking for?”
He crawled under the bed to get closer, pulling the garment away. You thought about pulling back on it from your end, but decided against it as he’d probably just end up dragging you along as well. Saving yourself the embarrassment, you took a subtle step closer to the trapdoor behind you. It was still a few meters away by your measure, carved clumsily into the seam between two floorboards. He slipped a hand through the pocket, finding nothing save for a collection of lint and a disfigured paper clip–twisted out of its proper shape from idle fidgeting. He raised the piece to his eyes, squinting.
“Is this it?” He quirked a brow.
Ace seemed almost disappointed at the revelation. As if you would have taken anything of value, anything that might have even the slightest chance of being missed. You weren’t stupid or reckless enough to risk it. Another small step led you slightly closer to your exit.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You made a point of making direct eye contact, hoping to convey an attitude of confidence.
“Okay, guess I’ll just throw this away then, y’know, since it’s trash and all.” He pushed himself backward, out from under the bed, moving into a sitting position.
“Well,” rocking back and forth on your heels, “if you’re getting rid of it anyway, I could-”
“Aha!” He easily slid back down, pointing a finger at you while staying low to the floor.
“Don’t ‘aha’.” You scoffed, “You didn’t coax anything out of me, I was just saying-”
He tutted, feigning dismay. “To think, a prefect, sneaking around and stealing from other students? What would the headmage think?”
“The headmage would do exactly what he always does–nothing.” You crossed your arms.
“But, seriously, why are you still lurking around and being weird? If ya want some of my garbage, you can just ask. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, and then I’ll ‘owe you one’,” uncrossing your arms to make finger quotes, “which will turn into owing you who knows how many.”
“Sheesh, way to bring the mood down.” He rubbed the back of his neck, sinking further onto the floor. “You could stand to be a little less hostile when someone’s trying to offer to help. I mean, especially with…” He trailed off, resting his head on his hand to avoid looking at you.
“Especially with what?” You scowled, hands planted on your hips.
“You know what, just-” He groaned. “It’s hard to talk to you when you get all defensive like this. Look, I’m not mad, I haven’t even yelled at you or anything, and you’re still looking at me with those wide little eyes like I’m going to bite your head off or something.”
An involuntary shudder ran through you at the thought. That specific figure of speech being used by someone who, conceivably, could actually bite your head off was disconcerting to say the least.
“See-” He gestured. “Just like that.”
You righted yourself, soothing your uncomfortable expression back to neutral. You weren’t sure it did much to dissuade him from his point, but it must have been worth something, to yourself if no one else.
“You’re being jumpy around me for no reason even though we’re-” He paused, lowering his voice, “-like friends or whatever, so stop doing that.”
Ace was technically right, you supposed, he hadn’t done anything yet. It was a difficult thing to trust anyone here, no matter how pure or friendly their intentions seemed. There was something off about them, or something off about you, rather. Even if you tried to get close to anyone, revealing your existence further, you would still be othered. There was no way around it. Though, you had been caught in the act just now. If you tried to brush it all off, he’d just be on guard more often and this entire situation would no doubt happen again soon. It would be better to nip this in the bud now and get on with your day.
“Okay,” You acquiesced, “I would just feel better about all this if there was already some agreed upon arrangement, so no one can go holding this stuff above my head later, so-” You would definitely regret this. “What do you want in exchange?”
There was a spark in his eyes as he let out a thoughtful hum. You resisted the urge to shrink in on yourself as his eyes made their way back in your direction. He reached toward you, seemingly absentminded. You stepped to the side, a polite retreat. Ace brushed it off, letting his hand fall to the side as he lazily looked about the area. You eyed the trapdoor, just about ready for this interaction to be over.
“This isn’t a favor system or anything, I’ll just do something for you every, like, five to ten borrows, depending on their value.” Setting a limit was probably a good idea, it would narrow the wide berth you had left open, if only a slight adjustment.
“I dunno.” He shrugged.
“You don’t know?”
“Give me some more time, I’ll think of something.” A sigh rustled the thin layer of dust dotting the floor.
“No, no, we’re getting this ironed out right now.” You didn’t like the thought of him having the time to come up with something actually good. “I don’t want any loose threads popping up later.”
“I already said I don’t know. It’s not like I had anything in mind earlier, I was just messing with you.” He laid his cheek flat on the floor. “What do you think if you’re so insistent?”
You groaned, though in all fairness, you weren’t really sure either. He wasn’t all that interested in information, other than brief tidbits about your home world. You already helped on the rare occasion where he decided to study, something you now internally kicked yourself for not getting compensation for prior. The two of you already hung out pretty frequently and you couldn’t offer much in terms of material repayment. Maybe you could turn to a life of crime and start “borrowing” thaumarks. The thought was dismissed as quickly as it had emerged, it would only attract even more attention and cause much more trouble than it was worth.
“What if I go to one of your games or practices or whatever they are?” You recalled him mentioning those from time to time, not-so-subtly bragging.
“You won’t even be able to see anything.”
“I’ll have Deuce hold me the whole time, problem solved.”
He grimaced at the thought. “Uh, no, not gonna happen.”
You stepped away as he reached forward once again. This time, Ace seemed genuinely irritated by the action.
“Alright–new deal–how about you come here right now and I’ll get you something sweet or useful later, yeah?” He made a beckoning gesture with the hand closest to you.
“Yeah, for sure, another day maybe though.” You nervously took a step toward your exit. “I already have plans for the night, so I should really get going–I’ll see you tomorrow, though. We can come up with something then.”
Running would have made you feel cowardly, so you turned, calmly walking away and missing the glare aimed at your back. You were almost at the opening, relief already flooding you before a large–by your measure, that was, it was probably a small gift box from his perspective–box rushed by. It had been shoved, slammed into the wall close enough to spook you, but not enough to hurt. Intentionally, the movement had landed the thing right over your escape hatch.
“Hey,” he called.
His voice had lost its usual humor. Bright eyes peered at you, casting an eerie silhouette as he remained in half darkness. A finger tapped the wood floor impatiently, the rhythm almost matching your accelerated heartbeat.
“Come here.”
Deuce Spade
“Are those bandages!?”
The exclamation startled you enough that you lost your balance, teetering off of the edge of the sink. The fall wouldn’t kill you, but it definitely wouldn’t be pleasant either. You were spared from most of the impact as walls of flesh clasped around you. They parted to reveal a pair of worried, blue eyes. Still stunned, you ignored the sharp pain that ran up your leg at the awkward position of the catch.
“Sorry, sorry, I really didn’t mean to scare you, I just-” Deuce lifted you closer to inspect your form. “Are you hurt?”
You weren’t before, but given the way your leg felt right now, you’d probably have to deal with a slight limp for the next day or two. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” You gave him a questioning look. “It’s just- you were getting bandages. It looked like that at least and, if you were, like sick or injured or anything, you probably shouldn’t be out and about and climbing.”
“Like I said, I’m fine, Deuce. I stock up on necessities like that before I actually need them just in case.” Sighing, you weren’t particularly in the mood for conversation at the moment.
“Oh, yeah, that’s smart, good to be prepared.”
He glanced at the wall, which had apparently become very interesting in recent moments. You followed his line of sight, but couldn’t find the same appeal that he had seen in it. More importantly, you noted that he hadn’t made any move to set you back down.
“Was there, uh, anything else?”
“I, um.” He shifted nervously. “If you need something, like medicine, or bandages, or food, or anything, I could get that for you. It’s really not an issue.”
“Yeah, thanks, man, I’ll let you know.”
His brow creased as he muttered, “You don’t, though.”
“What?”
You had heard the words, inflammatory and not something you wanted to unpack at the moment. How could you not have at this size, at this distance. You would pretend for now though, allow him to correct his statement, set you down, and let the two of you get on with your separate days. As recent events had proven, luck could never shine upon you in such a way.
“You don’t.” He spoke louder, more confident, deigning to look at you this time. “You don’t say when you need something or let me- let us help with anything and it’s getting to a point-”
“Is this your idea of an intervention?” You deadpanned, already tuned out of the conversation at hand.
“Kind of? I’d been thinking, for a while now, and I was talking to Ace the other day-”
“So Ace put you up to this?” You should have known. Deuce was never this confrontational with the emotional sorts of issues.
“No one put me up to anything!” His cupped hands curled inward as he grew more frustrated, pausing to take a breath. “You’re my friend and I’m worried about you.”
You tapped the fingers turned above you as a signal to back off. A signal he fortunately abided by. He sighed, subtly biting the inside of his cheek. You could see the gears turning in his head as he carefully contemplated the words he would say next.
“I saw your hook.” He averted his eyes again, almost seeming ashamed. “It’s tattered and rough and could snap at any moment–it’s super not safe to be using still. I saw it and I left some new, better, string over by that hole you made in the floor. I thought it’d be useful or something, but I checked day after day and you didn’t take it. And I know you saw it, it was there for days. You were here in Heartslabyul, hanging out, and you didn’t take it.”
You thought about lying, but it seemed that, in a rare moment of insight, he had his evidence laid out pretty well. In your defense, you had acquired some new cord since, just not the one he left out. Admittedly, you were angry when you first saw it there, despite what you were pretty sure were pure intentions, it felt condescending at best. You could get your own materials perfectly well, you didn’t need coddling. It made you feel too open, too vulnerable.
“How can I believe that you’ll say anything when you’re actually in danger if you can’t even take some string without making such a big thing about it?”
“If, not when.” You crossed your arms, annoyed at the implication.
“No, it is a ‘when’. You’re always just jumping into danger without-”
“Like you’re any better, “ you bit back.
He paused, mouth opening and closing as he attempted to get his words in the proper order. “I’m not… I mean, you’re… Well, you’re really small.”
“Wow, really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“You know what I’m saying, though. You can’t really defend yourself, so I don’t want you to be in a position where you have to.”
“Okay, fine, then I won’t be. Great talk, now put me down.”
“Come on, I’m being serious right now.”
“So am I.” You shrugged your shoulders. “I’ll just never leave the dorm again, since it’s so dangerous for me and I’ll let you take care of everything.”
“That’s not-”
“But- oh no, what if something happens when I’m all alone in the walls? I should probably just stay out in the open. But, ah, there are so many places I could fall or get hurt out here. Do you want to put me in a cage just to be safe? Would that be safer? Would you feel better that way?” Bile rose in your throat.
He quickly set you back down on the edge of the sink. You stumbled backward, almost falling in at the spontaneity of the action. Deuce paced back and forth, arms tense, nails digging into the skin of his palms.
“That’s not what I’m saying- you know that’s not what I’m saying.” He slammed his fist against an adjacent countertop. “Why are you making this so difficult!?”
You brought your hands to your ears to quiet the banging sound that echoed through the restroom. Hiding your shaking fingers behind your back, you drew in a shaky breath. In all the time you had spent arguing with him, you had never expected he’d actually get mad. He wasn’t actively trying to hurt or scare you, you knew that, given the way he had gently set you down and how he was now trying to create distance between the two of you. The knowledge did nothing to quell the flee response bubbling underneath your skin at the sight of a looming figure stalking about, making loud, unwelcome noises. You needed to leave and an immediate exit would be preferable. You eyed the edge of the sink. It would take you too long to place your grapple and slide down, long enough for him to react.
“Okay, I get where you’re coming from. I guess I could stand to be a bit more careful." You fawned, anything to get further away.
His breathing slowed as he hummed out a low tune, self soothing before taking a step closer to you. Your heart rate increased at the sight of the deep crescents carved into the thick flesh of his palm.
“You don’t, but that’s fine. I need help understanding stuff too, so you don’t have to be embarrassed or anything.” You backed away until you were flush with the wall, nowhere else to go. “Whenever I do something stupid or self-destructive, you always call me out. You’re always helping people out like that. A-and that’s good, you’re a really good friend and I really appreciate that.”
The familiar pressure of hands cupping around you sent a shiver down your spine. The intrusion slowed as you struggled, refusing to stop, but gently adjusting to account for your frantic movements. Against your will, you were situated, successfully cupped and pressed close to his chest.
“So, just let me be a good friend to you, okay?”
Trey Clover
“Hey! Those aren’t for you.” An index finger and thumb wrapped around your waist, softly pulling you away from your prize. “They’re for the un-birthday party later.”
You climbed out of the hold, bemoaning, “Come on, nobody’s going to notice.”
“Riddle will notice.” Trey corrected. “You don’t exactly make the cleanest cuts either. It’s pretty obvious when you’ve been sneaking into stuff, if you know what you’re looking for, that is.”
Ignoring the slight at your perfectly-serviceable-but-getting-pretty dull knife, you went on, sighing, “You’re right, it’s true. If only there were someone here with a bigger, sharper knife and enough inside knowledge on pastries to cut out a small piece undetected. But, alas…”
“It would be irresponsible of me to let you tamper with food meant for the party,” before you had the chance to complain, he continued, “but there is something here you can have.”
He bent over, slipping a small, covered tray out from a side panel in the cabinet. The silver cloche was removed to reveal an array of small thumbprint cookies. They smelled fresh, calling into question exactly when he had made them. You tossed the question to the side, it was probably some enchantment or another. Magic being real here and all that. You waited a polite three seconds once the plate was set in front of you before digging in, picking up the cookie closest to you. It was filled with a citrus jam, if you had to guess by the color.
“These are really good!” You licked crumbs from the side of your lips.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” He adjusted his glasses, turning back toward the task of decorating the myriad of treats meant for the party.
“Can you blame me? I’ve been starved.” You draped yourself dramatically against a can of coconut milk.
“I saw you sneaking fruit from the bowl on the table just yesterday.”
“Yeah, and then I immediately burnt all those calories off chasing after Grim all afternoon.” You huffed at the memory. “I’m practically running on empty.”
Your bemoaning distracted you from the concerned look that crossed his face. Were you exaggerating some of your issues a little? Yes. But it wasn’t often that you had the opportunity to vent without interruption, so you continued. Your muscles were sore from climbing all the time. You missed using actual skin and hair-care products. You had to clean yourself at least three times a day now because of all the dust you encountered. Anything that came to mind.
By the time you had begun to tire yourself out from complaining, you found yourself… actually, really, tired. Your eyelids were heavy and you had unintentionally slid downward to sit at some point in your rant. Maybe you should lay down, just for a moment. No, not here. Your ears were filled with the sound of gentle shushing.
“You’re alright.”
Something was wrong. You tried to stand up, limbs far too heavy, stumbling over and into a.. hand? When did his hand get there? You pushed yourself away, a wave of dizziness consuming you at the prospect of standing on your own.
“Hey, easy, easy.” The hand returned, now lightly curled with fingers positioned in intervals to keep you resting diagonally. It wasn’t a tight hold, not at all, but there wasn’t much you could do against it in your languid state. As if there was much you could do against this sort of intrusion under normal circumstances.
“I might have overdone it a bit… you probably could have done with a smaller dose, but-”
Your eyelids grew heavy and you couldn’t help but tune out the words, all of your focus zeroed in on the task of keeping yourself awake. It was all for nought as you slipped in and out of consciousness, blinking periodically before falling into a deep, unpleasant slumber.
…
Wakefulness came slowly, a syrupy substance clouding your mind. Everything was soft, so soft. It was in times like these that you felt the weight of sleeping on a pile of fabric scraps every night. Realistically, at this point, there were several people you could have asked to procure better bedding, but the idea of putting your neck out like that for something unnecessary left a bad taste in your mouth. The surface you now laid upon was impossibly comfortable, downy, if you had to guess, which meant you weren’t back in one of your burrows. Allowing your breathing to even out, you feigned sleep, increasingly aware of the presence you could sense nearby. The pad of a finger pet your head lightly, soft enough that it would not have startled you were you actually asleep. The act appeared to hold up under scrutiny, you felt eyes on you for a few agonizing moments before a clatter resonated outside. The figure hesitated before sighing, standing up to make sense of whatever was going on out in the hallway.
You would ignore what you were pretty sure was him drugging you. You would ignore the way your legs still wobbled from the effects. You would ignore the unsettling glint you had caught in his eye when you subtly cracked an eyelid open. You just need to leave right now. Bolting upward less gracefully than you would have liked, you took stock of your surroundings. You had been laying on a velvet pillow, placed atop what you could now see was Trey’s bed. Your hands shook as you gripped the bedding, something you would ignore as you climbed downward. That was, until a tremor in your elbow forced you to let go a little too far off the ground, dropping painfully onto the wooden floor and twisting your ankle in the process, just in time to hear the door creak open, spilling light directly across from where you sat, crumpled. The earlier distraction had not occupied him for as long as you had hoped it would. He stumbled back into the room, massaging the bridge of his nose before freezing, focus drawn toward the pillow where you were no longer resting. It didn’t take long for that wandering gaze to find you, still frozen in place.
“Hey, wait!” He rushed forward, closing the door and moving to kneel in front of you. “Where are you going?”
“I’ve got to head home now.” Calling the burrows “home” left an unsettling feeling in your gut, but you pressed on.
“I can’t let you leave.” Noting the concerned look on your face, he continued in a more comforting tone. “Don’t you remember? You passed out earlier, you’re in no condition to be climbing around on your own. And, really, if you knew you were sick, you should have said something earlier.”
“I’m not sick.” You weren’t even injured before this detour, though you doubted that revealing the effects of your escape attempt would go over well.
“Denying it isn’t going to help you get better.” He slipped a hand under you, slowly lifting you upward, toward the bed. “Just say that you’ll stay here for a while. Until you get better, at least. I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do,” meaning he would, “ but the thought of you running around campus like this is…”
It didn’t take a genius to know that there would be very little point in arguing. His mind was made up. It seemed you would have to wait for a moment alone to get out of here. If you put too much energy into pushing back now, he’d only be more on guard later.
“...Okay.”
“Great! You must be hungry after sleeping for so long, I’ll go grab something for you.” He rose, giving you a quick tap on the head before leaving. Pausing at the threshold, he looked back into the lowly lit room. “And stay put this time.”
You did stay put. More so because you noted that the small, covered hole you used to get in and out of the room when entering voluntarily was blocked. A laundry basket had been placed right in front of it, far too large for you to move. That would leave the door and window, neither of which were very promising, lending to the options of getting caught out in the hallway or falling from an unpleasant height respectively. Providing you could successfully open either of them, that was. This is ridiculous, you thought, being cooped up in here and fed half-baked lies. But you would manage until there was an opening to slip away at least. After that, it may be a good idea to stay at a different dorm for a while, just to be safe.
Cater Diamond
There were practically a million of them, odd baubles and claw machine prizes. Cater wouldn’t even notice if just one went missing. The uniform tunnel you traversed provided a sense of solace as you paced closer to his room. You were on the hunt for a soft, plush keychain, an item you had decided would make a serviceable pillow. And tonight would be the perfect time to get it. It had been a long day at Heartslabyul, full of party preparations and clean-up from dawn until dusk. Many students had chosen to turn in early, reasonably exhausted. Still, you had waited until the dead of night to go out, just to be safe.
Your hopes for a quick trip were dashed the moment you popped out from behind the bookcase, catching sight of the distinct light of a phone screen in the dark. Suppressing a groan, you ran a hand down your face. He should have been asleep by now. Though, you supposed it wouldn’t make much of a difference, the room was still very dark and you doubted he’d be looking up any time soon, very much occupied at the moment, but the thought of poking around with him nearby was disconcerting. Deciding to brush your concerns to the side, you set about climbing up the bookcase. With all the trinkets spilling out from it, you didn’t even need your hook, simply grabbing onto pieces that draped down from one shelf to another. You stopped at one that held a slightly tacky assortment of keychains and plush items, all piled against each other, burying those at the back. Perfect.
Between digging through the items, you snuck glances in his direction. Once you found a suitable trinket, a dusty pink heart with a worn chain, you tucked it under your arm, readying yourself for the climb down. You took what was meant to be one last look in the direction of the bed, finding it difficult to look away. He looked so different from what you were used to, lacking the overly bubbly attitude he typically sported. Now, he seemed despondent, idly scrolling, eyes dull and hazy.
“It’s rude to stare, y’know.” He hadn’t turned his gaze from his phone, brow creasing with irritation. “Spying’s even more rude.”
Your blood turned to ice. You froze, just for a moment, before dropping the keychain, attempting to push it to the side to make a quicker escape. In practice, the plush heart fell to the floor and your hands continued to shake a bit too much to get a solid grip on much of anything. If it had just been a suspicion before, he definitely knew where you were now.
“And don’t get me started on the stealing, I’m surprised someone so lacking in politeness was able to slip under the radar for so long, in Heartslabyul no less.”
Cater tilted his head, ginger bangs falling across his face, eyes landing directly on you. There was no way he could actually see you right now, not in the dark, and especially not after looking at a glowing screen for so long. You remained motionless, hoping it would let you go undetected even though that ship had most certainly already sailed. Slowly, you shuffled backward, burying yourself in the pile behind you. He hummed, a mix of annoyance and disappointment slipping between his words.
“Hey, I’m talking to you.”
The ensuing noises informed you that he had gotten out of bed and was making his way toward your hiding spot. You pressed yourself further into the pile, leaning against the wooden back of the shelving unit as the sound of footsteps ceased.
“Hm, now where could that plucky little prefect have gone?”
His usual jovial tone was back, now with an undertone of irritation. He made out where you had gone pretty quickly, hand finding you with its first reach into the mound. You yelped, wriggling away. Despite your best efforts, you were quickly and unceremoniously brought out into open air, having little time to process before being dropped onto the bed. You gripped the sheets tightly to stay in place as a, much larger, body sunk onto the mattress next to you.
“Pretty lame of you to finally show your face right now. I can’t even get any good pics.” He bemoaned, propping his elbow up on the bed frame.
You shook off the remnants of fear at being grabbed so carelessly. “Turn your flash on, you could create a horror movie-esque vibe.” It would match the state of your life well enough.
“Ha ha, very funny.” He seemed to brush the idea off.
Unexpectedly, a flash went off, temporarily blinding you.
“Hey!” You rubbed your eyes. “Give me a warning next time.”
“Why don’t you give me a warning the next time you decide to sneak around my room, yeah?”
You let the comment slide with a mumbled ‘whatever’. You’d had this conversation with enough people by now to know that you wouldn’t come out of this discussion as the victor. Best to move on to another topic.
“What are you doing up this late anyway?” You turned to meet his gaze.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I’m always up at night. That’s when I do my thing, but you people should all be sleeping by now.”
“It’d make it a lot easier to steal from me that way, wouldn’t it?” He crossed his arms, tapping his phone against his triceps.
“Among other things.” You muttered, accepting that you wouldn’t be getting a more straight answer.
Cater made a dissatisfied noise, attention turning back toward his phone. He was scrolling through something, whatever it was, you couldn’t see from your point of view. You thought about climbing onto the pillow for a better look, but he didn’t seem to be in much of a mood for antics and you wouldn’t have wanted to set him off.
“All that blue light isn’t good for your eyes.”
He draped his free hand over you in response, forcing you flat against the mattress. Your repeated protestations were ignored and you yielded nothing from the continued shoves at the unwelcome proximity. Eventually, your struggle calmed, admitting that, if he wouldn’t willingly move, there was no way for you to get out of this. You shifted as much as you could, peering out through the space between his fingers. You had planned to start calling out to him again until you saw his face. It bore the same expression as before, a sort of dullness in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” You asked softly.
That seemed to get his attention. He glanced down at you and scoffed.
“You’d think you’d have literally bigger problems than budding into everyone’s mental health issues.” He lifted the hand covering you to pinch at your side. “But you just can’t help yourself, can you?”
You straightened, rubbing your tender ribs and pushing at the lingering fingers. They didn’t move.
“Fine, whatever, be cagey about it.” You stood, turning toward the edge of the bed. “I was just asking.”
“Aw, you think I’m the one being cagey?” Fingers gripped the back of your shirt, interrupting your escape and roughly pulling you back. “That’s so funny. Because, for someone who goes around snooping in everyone else’s business, we really don’t know a whole lot about you.”
“There’s really nothing to know.” You struggled against the hold, doing nothing to halt the insistent pulling.
“Really? Nothing at all?”
The back of your shirt was maneuvered upward, leaving you dangling in the air. A bit of the intimidation element was lost as you were suspended above a pretty soft surface, but the point went through well enough. You stammered, eyes fixing themselves on the wall.
“I-there’s really not-” The click of a camera shutter sound effect cut you off, paired with yet another blinding flash. You squinted, dazed.
“Now there’s the money shot.” He lowered you along with his phone, turning the screen so that you could see.
It wasn’t a picture you found flattering to say the least. You looked nervous, sweat dotting your forehead while a pale hand curled around you. The flash effect had consumed the background, making it look as if you were suspended above an unending void. You shot an annoyed look in his direction.
“What? It’s cute.”
You wouldn’t dignify that with a response. Without another word, you made your way toward the edge of the bed, now unobstructed, and climbed down. You moved faster than necessary, still worried he may change his mind and drag you back up again.
“Aw, where are you going?” For the first time tonight, you could hear a smile in his voice.
You slipped back into the wall the moment your feet hit the floor. It pained you to leave empty-handed after all that trouble, but the thought of sneaking about for a second time tonight made your limbs ache preemptively. A scuffling sound caught your attention. You opened the wall flap just enough to see a sliver of the room outside, small enough that no one would be able to tell you were looking. Voila. A keychain, plush, red, and diamond shaped with a goofy face staring right back at you–notably not the old, worn one you had picked out. It was placed close enough that you could have reached out and pulled it in without leaving the comfort of the walls. Still, you waited. Remaining perfectly still until you saw the blue light atop the bed shut off, and then an extra few minutes to be safe. Once the time was right, you swiftly gripped the gold claw clasp, pulling the plush closer. Wrapping your arms around it, you found a small note pinned to the adjacent side that had previously gone unnoticed.
You’re welcome~♡
You rolled your eyes. The thought of crumpling and tossing the note entered your mind, but you figured the extra paper was more valuable than a brief moment of catharsis. Hauling the chain over your shoulder, you started back toward the closest thing you had to a bedroom at the moment. You would consider it payment for the evil, impromptu photo-shoot. Just for tonight, you supposed you could enjoy a rare moment of comfort.
Riddle Rosehearts
“Is that you?”
The book you had been carefully tucked behind slid forward, revealing a set of curious grey eyes. You straightened at the attention, subtly brushing wayward dust off of your clothes. There was nothing close enough for you to lean on, so your arms hung awkwardly at your sides as you cast your gaze upward.
“Yeah, just checking in.” You weren’t, but figured it was a better angle than admitting that you had been looking for paper and hadn’t planned on being spotted with how focused Riddle appeared on the text in front of him.
“I do wish you would knock first, it’s not the most proper sort of meeting, coming in uninvited.” He glanced around, as if expecting to catch an interloper posed and ready to reveal the secret of this “wholly inappropriate” congress.
You chose not to verbalize the question of how you could possibly produce a knock audible to his ears before entering, opting to take your leave instead. “Of course, next time. Well, I’ve done my checking now and I’m sure you’re busy, so I’ll just-”
“Not so fast.” He gripped the back of your shirt as you turned away, pulling you toward the center of the desk. “I noticed certain items missing from my room ever since your last visit.”
You turned to him, confused. You very rarely took anything from his room, it was too organized for that, nothing ever laying messily out of place. To add insult to injury, anything taken, even the smallest safety pin, would be noticed quickly. There wasn’t an excess of anything, not to the point where missing items could go unnoticed, save for books which you had little use for. The only thing you had taken for the past while was-
“Precisely three petals from that rose,” He gestured to the vase on the table, “have disappeared. What do you have to say on the matter?”
You shrugged your shoulders, feigning ignorance. “They could’ve fallen off.”
“Yes, I suppose they could have, but they didn’t, did they?” He crossed his arms, impatiently tapping a finger against his bicep. “After all, if they had simply fallen to the side, they would still be here somewhere. There isn’t enough airflow in this room for them to have been scattered.”
Of course he noticed. You had become much more ingenuitive in your time here, gaining what you would describe as moderate proficiency as a crafts-person. Wanting a bit of a challenge, you thought you would try your hand at creating fragrances. Being able to make your own soap and shampoo would be less convenient than borrowing it, but a useful skill nonetheless. The flowers inside the dorm were easier to access, located much closer to your passageways than the gardens were. You should have just taken some from out in the hallway, but you had already been in here and you really hadn’t felt like walking all the way out to the hall. That would have come with the risk of being spotted among other things. Riddle cleared his throat, shaking you from your thoughts.
“I could have dismissed it as a gift had you asked prior to taking them, but unfortunately, you failed to do so.” A hint of bitterness laced his words, a slight twitch in his left eye. “I must adhere to the rules, which clearly state that stolen items must be replaced.”
“Um-”
You couldn’t very well give them back now. At this point, they had all either been shredded, dried, or crushed into powder, if not all of the above. You doubted he’d go along with you taking petals from a different vase to replace those you had pilfered. Which left you to the gardens. You cringed at the thought.
“That being said, it would be remarkably difficult, if not dangerous for you to do so on your own. Given the circumstances, I am willing to provide assistance.”
“That’s fine, really.”
“I insist. It is my duty to ensure the rules are followed after all.” He placed a hand on his chest. “How could I call myself a proper housewarden if I did not steward those under my care toward success.”
Not my housewarden. A thought you chose to keep to yourself. You lived in this dorm, sure, for the time being, but you weren’t a student of it, not officially anyway. In fact, you were sure that you had to be breaking plenty of rules just by staying here. It didn’t matter much in this case, given that you would need help to properly search the garden whether you wanted to openly admit it or not, so you decided to let the statement slide. One of many ignored comments.
You let him carry you to the garden, hopping down onto the soft, green grass once you judged his hand to be close enough to the ground. Riddle flinched at the unexpected motion, muttering about how you could have waited, but making no further commentary.
“I’ll keep an eye out.” He stood up, taking two steps backward to give you space. “You should be safe to go about your task. Call for me if you find yourself in any trouble.”
“Yeah, sure,” You grumbled, making for the tall grass.
He was genuinely trying to help, from what you could tell, but it didn’t make being babied like this any less annoying. Were there dangers in everyday activities for you given your current condition? Yes, of course, you’d be stupid to not acknowledge that, but the constant coddling that often followed was another issue unto itself. You weren’t incompetent. You had been surviving on your own just fine before- ow. Your hand met a sharp thorn, drawing a small bead of blood. It wasn’t a bad prick, not at all considering the size of the stem you had almost walked right into. You looked up at what appeared to be a red bloom, blending into a deep purple at the tip of each petal. It was vibrant, lovely enough to get you out of this ordeal, you hoped.
Unsheathing the knife on your belt, you set to work removing the thorns. It would make hauling the plant much easier. Sawing through the base of the stem was a more demanding task, but you managed well enough. You bit your lip as a nervous call reached your ears.
“Prefect?”
You hadn’t been gone nearly long enough for him to sound so worried. Well, you had gotten what you had come for anyway, you supposed. Reluctantly, you turned back toward the dorm, parting the grass as you went. You couldn’t help but let out a gasp and drop the flower as a hand shot out in front of you, gloved fingers curling around your waist. The sun was almost blinding now that your eyes had adjusted to the pleasant shade of the grass.
“Ah, there you are. I thought…”
He was kneeling on the lawn. The hand that hadn’t grabbed you still ghosted over the green stalks, searching. You noted that his hair was a bit disheveled, tie slightly out of place. He cleared his throat, smoothing down his appearance with one hand to the best of his abilities.
“We should head back to the dorm.” He stood slowly, mindful of your position.
“What? No, put me down.”
“No, no, not right now, apologies. It’s not safe out here, on the ground, I couldn’t see…” He trailed off, briskly walking back in the direction of the main building.
“I found a replacement rose!” You wriggled, twisting to get a better look behind you. “You made me drop it, it’s still down there somewhere.”
He seemed conflicted, glancing back at the patch. “Very well then. Do be quick about it.”
You felt like you could finally breathe again once you stepped onto the ground. Parting the grass quickly so as to not provoke another search attempt, you found the discarded rose with ease, pulling it over your shoulder and pointing the bloom in his direction. Riddle remained close to the ground this time, eyes trained on the spot where you had entered. When you emerged, his eyes passed from you to the flower, face reddening before he brought a hand to cover it. You hoped he wasn’t getting angry again, not after all the work you had put into this.
“There, for you.” You held it out in a beckoning motion.
Riddle reached out, gingerly plucking the stem from your dual-handed grip. He admired it for a moment, spinning the flower around to observe the color. The bloom seemed to have opened further from when you had found it, something you chalked up to the sun’s higher position in the sky.
“This will be…passable, yes…”
The distance in his voice let you know that he wasn’t quite present. The rarity of it, him being lost in thought, was a bit funny, you had to admit. His eyes caught yours as you held in a laugh, settling on a subdued smile. He returned the expression, laying a hand palm up on the dirt.
“Shall we get going then?”
A/N: If there are typos/bad grammar stuff ignore them okay bye
