Chapter Text
It wasn't often that you would see the housewarden of Heartslabyul so... distressed, especially for what seemed like no reason at all. It was more than just weird; it was almost unheard of. No one had broken any rules; no one had done anything to inherently make him anxious. From the outside, it seemed like everything was fine.
The roses were the perfect shade of red, everyone was in their formal wear, the dormouse was set in a teacup fast asleep just like intended, tea was being served, there was no Mont Blanc, and there were no cats at the party... so everyone thought.
As everyone was setting up and making small changes to make sure the unbirthday party would be perfect, a small bang was heard; Riddle had slammed his staff against the ground in a fit of anger. Trey was the first to walk over, a bit concerned.
"Riddle? Are you alright?"
He moved to lean over Riddle with a concerned tilt of his head, his eyes looking the boy up and down.
"Is something out of place?"
Riddle was quick to look at Trey, and he let out a small puff; his cheeks were a rosy pink, not the normal red-faced when he got angry. This was something different
"There is a feline! And that is strictly against rule 023."
That was an odd statement; there was no feline present... not even the cat beastmen of Heartslabyul had attended in fear of breaking said rule, which left Trey quite puzzled. He slowly looked around, scanning the area around them. There was nothing he could see, not obviously at least... not unless you were really looking.
"A feline?"
He murmured beneath his breath before realization washed over him with an air of irritation... he looked around and let the air flow out of his lungs. Before his voice raised.
"Artemy Artemivich Pinker."
Trey had his arms crossed as he looked up, a cat beastmen hanging above them with a creepy smile, a small laugh escaping him
"Hi Treyyyy~!"
Artemy Artemivich Pinker, best known as Chenya was floating above them, only his head present at that time; he tilted his head slightly at the two and his smile somehow grew wider
"Oh? Why do we look so angryyy, hmmm~?"
Riddle looked as though he could burst a blood vessel in this moment, his face beginning to turn red.
"CHENYA, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?"
Riddle snapped at the feline above them, stamping his foot in annoyance at this, at everything, looking to Trey for any form of assistance; he was so furious he could barely even think! Though he couldn't even tell if it was just anger.
Trey blinked and looked between Chenya and Riddle. Riddle expected HIM to deal with this? Again? It was almost like there was moments Riddle would run and hide from Chenya, as if there was some form of need to avoid him.
"Riddle- Chenya- Auuughhhh."
He shook his head as he pinched his nose bridge. His glasses rode up as he tried to put his thoughts into words.
"Could we talk this out like adults...? God forbid we're 17 and 18 years of age."
Thereeee was Trey's sass.
Riddle seemed almost offended at that, puffing out his cheeks and looking away just to regain his thoughts.
"Well, pardon me for wanting my vice to assist me in dealing with this... this."
He faltered for a second, shaking his head to get his thoughts back in place.
"Pest! Absolute pest."
Chenya laughed, amused, as he came into full view, his tail swishing behind him in absolute entertainment; he adored playing with Riddle, and he always looked fine dressed in rage.
"Ooo! A pest, you say? Such nonsense! There is no pest here~ Have you lost your head, Rosehearts?"
Chenya tapped his finger on his chin, smirking even wider as Riddle glared even more, his face turning redder by the second.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Riddle moved to get in Chenya's personal space; he was so unbelievably angry at that, but being so close made his stomach twist and his heart flutter. He just decided to ignore that fact as he continued to look at Chenya, being right in his personal space.
Trey was watching the two utterly disappointed... when he said to handle this like the big kids they were. This is what they did? Are they serious? If he didn't know better, he would think they were two toddlers arguing over who gets what toy.
Chenya looked more than amused as he leant right down to be eye level with Riddle; his brows were furrowed, and his smile had vanished for the first time in this entire interaction, which could mean so many things, so many things Riddle was a little concerned for, but Riddle did not stand down, staying where he was, making eye contact with the feline with his arms tightly crossed against his chest.
"How fine you look when dressed in rage~"
Chenya spoke with a purr, his tail swishing more, and he vanished once more, swirls creeping up his body as each body part slowly vanished right in front of their very eyes; he winked at Riddle before his head fully vanished.
Riddle looked absolutely stumped, standing there almost frozen as he tried to comprehend what the feline had said to him; it was so odd, but everything Chenya said was odd. He cleared his throat as he tried to regain his full composure; today was going to be a good day! He would not let Chenya ruin that for him.
Trey just watched and fixed up his glasses, shaking his head in almost utter disappointment; they were both hopeless, absolutely hopeless.
Riddle moved to sit down in his throne-like chair, adjusting his clothing for it to be perfect; it all needed to be perfect, though the rosiness in his cheeks hadn't left, nor had the fluttering in his chest when he thought about Chenya. It was an intoxicating feeling, but Riddle didn't understand it. Why was he feeling like this? He didn't even realize what this feeling meant; he hadn't honestly felt it for anyone else... being isolated for as long as Riddle had makes you notice the tiniest things you never learned that the majority did.
He puffed out his cheeks and took a deep breath as he looked forward, and he calmed down slightly; now it was time for the unbirthday party to begin! With tea, desserts... silence fell over the party as a scream was heard... It was Ace? Of course it was Ace; it's always Ace...
"WHAT THE FUCK!? WHERE IS YOUR- WHAT."
Ace seemed genuinely in distress, Deuce with him, seeming more shocked than scared.
What was in front of them, you ask?
Well... Chenya, of course! Though he was missing something important.
I guess he had lost it... lost his head!
Ace was gripping onto Deuce's sleeve, shaking him in absolute shock of the view in front of them; it wasn't long before Cater had walked over, and he looked at Chenya, looking him up and down.
"Okayyy! ChenChen... Don't freak out, but..."
Cater rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at Chenya, who had the giggles... a smile now appearing on an empty face... Nothing was visible: not his eyes, not his nose, not his hair, only his smile! And that may have been even freakier than him having no head.
Ace freaked out, AGAIN, but this time it made Deuce freak out as well; they both clung to each other as they tried to take their eyes off of the feline.
Trey looked so unbelievably tired as he watched everything unfold; he slowly looked over at Riddle, who was fuming once again. He watched as Riddle was beginning to get up, and he heavily debated if it was worth trying to stop him or letting Chenya face more consequences for his actions. He let out a sigh as he walked over to the group; with a raised brow, he seemed extremely unfazed by what the feline beastman was doing, which made Chenya a bit disappointed; he enjoyed getting reactions.
Trey's gaze drifted to Chenya with a raised brow. He could read the disappointment and feel the pout creeping up his face.
"Chenya... How do you want me to be scared of a face you'd have when you would—lovingly—break into my room at night and stare at me with the foot of my bed?"
Now that simply made Chenya's pout grow, not from offense, just from the fact he didn't get the reaction he wanted like he did from Ace and Deuce! He sighed a bit.
"Oh, but Treyyyy! You are acting like I did it everyyy night!"
He giggled and smirked slightly before he noticed the small angry redhead coming over, and Chenya just couldn't help but smirk... Riddle almost immediately raised his voice
"WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?!"
Usually Riddle could be more contained, but today was different; it was bad enough that no one even bothered to butt in. Chenya barely even reacted to Riddle as he leant down to his height once again.
"Stilll rageful~?"
Chenya tilted his head as he watched Riddle's face contort; he only paused when he was grabbed by his collar roughly. It was odd that Riddle hadn't used his signature spell on Chenya as a punishment yet.
What was even more odd was the proximity of Riddle and Chenya's faces; they were so close, close enough that their noses were almost touching.
Chenya didn't mind the closeness, just looking at Riddle curiously.
Riddle, on the other hand, did; words got caught in his throat as he looked at Chenya, his face flushing at realizing how close they truly are. His eyes looked down slightly at the mad cat's lips before he immediately shook his head and let go of his collar... He immediately crossed his arms and looked away, slight panic clear in his stance.
"Just leave, Chenya. We are trying to have an event."
His voice was quiet, almost shy, which wasn't like Riddle at all! Plus, he had known Chenya all his life. Why was he getting timid?
Quite odd indeed!
Chenya hummed as he swayed a bit letting out a insanely dramatic sigh as he put a hand to his chest, similar to a damsel in distress
"Oh, how you wound me! Excluding me from your tea party!"
He laughed at his own comment before nodding to Riddle.
"Byebye, Rosy~"
Chenya said as spirals began to cover his body, each limb slowly fading out.
"Man, what the fuck was that?"
Ace asked in confusion, looking at the others who seemed either annoyed or just uninterested in answering the question.
Riddle walked back to his seat and let out a deep sigh as he slowly sat down, fidgeting with his hands as he stared at the floor for a moment before looking at Trey, who was taking a seat beside him.
Hm... where did Chenya go?
Oh, but if you'd really like to know!
He went.... that way!