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“I thought you said this potion was easy?” Deuce frowned, peering into Ace’s unhallowed concoction. “Didn’t you say this was a simple hayfever remedy?”
Ace’s response was overtaken by a helpless sneeze as he ducked behind the cauldron, scrambling to pull his lab coat over his face in time.
“No. Riddle said it would be easy," Ace said congestedly, his voice muffled as he tried to wipe his runny nose inside the fabric. His eyes were itchy and watering badly, he could barely see Deuce through all the cauldron steam as it was. "All I said was… ‘Riddle-senpai, could you please help me with a potion for allergies?? I’m dying here!!’... and he was all… ‘in that case, follow these simple instructions… it'll be an exemplary practical learning experience… blah blah blah…”
Ace scrunched his face in despair before sneezing wetly again, causing Deuce to duck out of the way in alarm.
“Ace-!”
“Ahh, I covered, I covered it-” Ace sniffled miserably from behind his glove. He felt like he’d been sneezing non-stop for hours now, and he had barely any warning as to when they’d burst out of him.
Deuce shook his head, his mouth pinching to a small, shy smile as he came closer, then kissed Ace on the cheek.
“I was going to say be careful. You almost bumped your arm on the cauldron, and it’s hot.”
“Oh,” Ace scuffed at his allergic tears with his sleeve, trying not to look like he wanted to give Deuce the biggest hug ever right then. “Well... thanks. I’m almost done now, anyways.”
Squinting into the dangerous-looking liquid, Ace gently bumped Deuce’s elbow. Sorry for being grumpy, was what he meant. Ace took a deep breath to recite the last incantation, and Deuce quietly leant down to rest his chin on Ace’s shoulder for a moment, an unspoken you can do this! as Ace began.
In a loud yet careful voice, Ace read the final chant from his long list of instructions. The potion started changing colour.
Shoot, it’s actually working?? Ace’s face lit up with a triumphant grin. Even Deuce was beaming at him, and for a second Ace felt stupidly proud.
And then the door to the laboratory flew open, the resulting slam making Ace and Deuce both jump in alarm, and even more so when they saw their dorm head standing in the entranceway, an unspoken question forming in the way he drew a breath.
“Rosehearts-senpai!” Deuce shouted, way too guiltily for someone doing nothing wrong. Then again, Ace felt the exact same way, he was suddenly overcome by the urge to make a hundred excuses, even though he was only following Riddle’s instructions in the first place!
“D-d-dorm head Riddle-!” Ace babbled, desperately trying not to forget where he was in the incantation, before his breath hitched and he sneezed violently, aiming away from Deuce and knocking the cauldron with his arm in the process.
There was a terrible moment as the cauldron wobbled in Riddle’s direction, some of the bubbling goo spilling over the rim and splattering over the floor. But then the vessel rocked back the other way, right toward Ace as he tripped over his own feet trying to leap aside. In a split-second, Riddle had snatched his magic pen from his pocket, and just as the molten liquid rushed toward Ace’s frozen form, Riddle yelled a spell at the top of his lungs.
When Ace peeked open his eyes he was greeted by a cool mist in the air, Riddle had somehow dispersed the boiling potion into a harmless, watery fog. The fog, however, now hung like an odd silvery cloud throughout the room.
“Ace! Ace! Shit, are you okay??” Deuce had him by the collar and was hauling him into a fierce hug, his face etched with worry.
“Yeah. I’m okay. Riddle belted out that spell like nothing else, huh…?” Ace said shakily, the gravity of how badly this could have gone making his heart sink to his stomach. If that potion had splashed toward Deuce or Riddle, or hurt them instead…
Ace crossed his arms, pulling away in a huff. He wasn’t furious at himself, he was angry that Riddle had startled him and ruined his potion in the first place! Urgh!
“Riddle-senpai? Are you okay too??” Deuce called through the damp, now-misty classroom. When they didn’t receive an answer, the pair got quickly to their feet, heading to the spot their dorm head had been standing. In his place, there was only a pile of clothes.
“Dorm head??” Deuce dropped to his knees in alarm, reaching for the clothes in horror. “Did you get smaller?!”
“The heck...” Ace whispered, his irritation abruptly swerving into worry as he saw something move within the heaped fabric. The palms of his hands felt sweaty and his head uncomfortably light as Ace crouched down. Then, he tentatively lifted Riddle’s school jacket.
“Oh gods!!” Deuce wailed, throwing himself toward the floor apology as he saw a wide-eyed baby cooing up at him from within Riddle’s clothes. The baby had a soft tuft of red hair and watery grey eyes.
“Dorm head!! I am so so sorry!” Ace yelled, throwing himself on the ground next to Deuce and bowing just as deeply. “I screwed up, oh man, I screwed up! I tried to follow the instructions… oh s-shit, I am so sorry, dorm head!!”
“Riddle-senpai, what do we do??” Deuce shouted in a panic, his eyes wide as saucers as he glanced up, then abruptly launched into an even deeper bow across the floor. “We’ll do anything to fix it, just tell us what to do!! How did this happen?? How long will it last??”
“-Dorm head, please-!”
“-Riddle-sama!”
Slowly, the baby’s face brightened to a cheeky smile, and Riddle made a little squeal of glee, kicking his limbs to get involved in all the yelling.
“-this is all my fault… aghhh-”
“-help us, Riddle-senpai… guh, Ace, I can’t understand him-!”
Ace sat back up on his knees, his heart racing and making him feel ill. Riddle was making all sorts of happy babbly sounds, peering up at them like he wasn’t even mad. His head spinning for ideas, Ace reached for the satchel that had fallen next to Riddle’s clothes. It contained several high-level spellbooks as well as copious class notes- if there was anything that could point them in the right direction, any of these looked far more promising than the half-eaten sandwich in Ace’s own bag.
“Riddle… I’m gonna hold up each of these books. If there’s something in here that could even begin to help us, please give us a sign!”
His stomach doing flip-flops, Ace held up the first book. Heck, he could barely pronounce most of the title! This had to be super advanced.
Riddle blinked at the two of them wonderingly.
“Um… how about this?” Ace held up Riddle's class notebook, full of detailed jottings. Judging from the dates on each page, Riddle only started this particular journal a few days back. How the heck did Riddle even have time to write so many notes?!?!
Riddle looked at Ace uncertainly, tears welling in his eyes as the commotion had been replaced by this strange interrogation.
“Ace, look…” Deuce whispered. Among Riddle’s belongings was a small book containing the laws of the Queen of Hearts. Riddle knew it by heart, but he always carried one with him in case he needed to issue any spontaneous detentions.
“R-riddle-senpai? Do you… like this book?” Ace asked nervously, almost dreading to hold it up. Those laws had haunted his very being throughout his first few weeks of school.
Gazing at Ace and Deuce’s concerned faces, Riddle suddenly gave a miserable wail, tears rolling down his cheeks as he clumsily flailed his arms. Ace and Deuce exchanged looks of dread and panic. Riddle really was a baby right now, this left no doubt!
“Shh-sh… here, I’ve got you… d-dorm head..” Deuce stumbled, getting his act together first. Gathering Riddle in his own now-oversized school shirt, Deuce held the baby against his chest, making an awkward jogging motion and letting Riddle tuck his face against his neck. Riddle’s sobs quickly subsided, and Deuce gave a wobbly, pleased-with-himself smile as he continued to cuddle.
“I think he likes me,” Deuce said in surprise, noticing that as soon as he’d started looking less upset, Riddle had started tearily smiling up at him again too.
“I think we’re in trouble…” Ace whispered, noticing that while they’d been focused on Riddle, the entire third-year alchemy class had gathered in the laboratory doorway, waiting for their next lesson.
-
“I’m not mad,” Trey said tightly, though for their usually level-headed vice dorm leader, he looked oddly stricken. “I’m just very, very worried. This is beyond my level of magic. And honestly, the only person I’d trust to even ask about something like this, is currently chewing on your tie.”
Trey stared at Riddle, looking pained and deeply concerned. Riddle meanwhile seemed perfectly content to be bounced on Deuce’s knee, enjoying the stretchy feeling of a new baby-gro as he kicked his legs. Riddle gave a joyful little squeal as Deuce nuzzled his face with his nose, Deuce didn’t mind about his soggy tie one bit.
Ace sneezed exhaustedly into the now-disintegrating handful of tissues in his palm, looking about as great as he felt.
“Maybe it’ll wear-off in twelve hours…?” Ace suggested, cringing as he heard every syllable sticking together in his voice. “The original potion was s'pposed to cure hayfever for twelve hours… so…”
Ace tried to keep his mouth closed to stop another sneeze, which only resulted in him making the most helpless, spluttery sound he had ever heard. Ace buried his face in his hands in embarrassment, and Deuce gently reached over and patted his back.
“It’s possible,” Trey allowed, though he didn’t sound hopeful. “Waiting it out would certainly be the least risky option. I’m reluctant to try anything spell-wise without knowing more first, in any case.”
Frowning again, Trey held his arms out for Riddle. “Until then, I think it best that I watch over him. It’s not perfect, but…”
Trey looked a little lost as Riddle seemed to sense he was about to be handed-away, and clung even more tightly to Deuce.
“Here we go, little one… over to Trey-senpai!” Deuce said fondly, trying to make it a game. Ace was meanwhile trying to blow his nose as non-grossly as possible, and feeling this was a battle he just couldn’t win.
Staring from Deuce to Ace in growing distress, Riddle gave a heartbreaking whimper, tears trembling warningly on his lower lashes.
“Vice dorm-head, try to look a little more encouraging,” Ace mumbled stuffily. That being said, Ace didn’t know why Riddle was being so accommodating toward him either, acting like he actually liked Ace as much as Deuce and all. See, even as a baby, Riddle’s making things impossible! Ace thought to himself, annoyed.
“Don’t cry now...” Trey managed, his face etched with sincere worry and care. But Riddle had already made up his mind. As he stretched desperately for Ace and Deuce instead, the air around them seemed to crackle with dark energy, the same way it did before Riddle cast his unique magic.
“Uh oh-” said Deuce, pulling Riddle back toward him and nestling him in a soft, reassuring hug. Riddle sniffled, then cooed up at Deuce, snuggling into the taller boy’s jacket as the energy faded.
Trey sighed, looking grieved, then pulled the bag of baby supplies he had obtained from Sam’s shop into his lap, handing it to Ace instead.
“Okay,” Trey started, still struggling hard to process. “...Okay. I’m going to explain some basic things about baby care, and I need you both to listen seriously. After I’m done, I also want you to refer to the baby care book in this pack, for absolutely everything. Yes, I mean everything. And I’m going to ask you to check-in with me via text or phone call on the hour, every hour, to let me know if anything changes. In the meantime, I’ll be researching a backup plan.”
Ace and Deuce nodded, sitting up straight while Riddle tried to nudge his wet nose into Deuce’s cheek, copying the way Deuce had playfully nuzzled him earlier.
“Alright then,” Trey continued, taking a deep breath, then finally sounding steadier, now that they had the beginnings of a plan. “Lesson one. Feeding.”
-
“Ace, this is adorable…” Deuce whispered, gazing in earnest awe down at Riddle, who was currently suckling at the bottle in his hand. Riddle was staring just as wide-eyed back at him, blurrily smiling around the teat of the bottle like Deuce was his whole world. Ace peeked over Deuce’s shoulder, and Riddle raised a clumsy hand towards Ace’s face, hoping to be pet in some way as he finished his bottle.
“...me?” Ace asked awkwardly, not expecting such a show of attention from Riddle. “Ah… er..”
He was saved from knowing what to do when a forceful sneeze caught him off-guard, and Ace threw himself ridiculously into his lap, trying his best not to spray anyone other than himself.
“-agh, sorry!” he blurted to Deuce, then rubbed his eyes in surprise as Riddle shrieked with peels of laughter, babbling and giggling at Ace as if this was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.
“Uh-oh, poor Ace!” Deuce exclaimed in a kind voice, causing Riddle to keep squealing in amusement, jogging himself up and down in Deuce’s lap. “Someone must be talking about him a lot today, huh? Oop, maybe we should give Ace a tissue though.”
Using one hand, Deuce rifled through Riddle’s baby bag, while Ace felt slightly guilty that so far he was using most of the tissue supplies himself. While Ace was distracted, Deuce reached out and pinched a wet-wipe over his runny nose, causing Ace to yelp in alarm.
“WAAh?? D-Deuce! Seriously?!”
Riddle screeched in glee while Ace blushed bright pink. Gurgling, Riddle reached out hopefully for him again, and Ace felt a weird, slightly aching tug at his chest.
“Heh… that cracked you up a bit, huh?” Ace muttered at Riddle, a half-smile pulling at his mouth before he could help it. Pretending to sneeze again, Ace pulled a funny face and mimed a gentle ‘hup-tchoo’, which sent Riddle into hysterical giggles all over again.
“Aww…” Ace smiled, then lay down on his tummy and propped himself up on his elbows, while Deuce placed Riddle next to him on the grass and lay down too, still supporting Riddle beneath his arms.
“Are you alright, though?” Deuce said softly, bumping his shoe into the side of Ace’s. “You still sound a bit…. um… drippy.”
“Mghm,” Ace admitted, resting his head on his arm as he let Riddle curl his fists into his hair and pull. “-s’okay. I mean, it feels like everything I ever used for breathing is blocked, and I’d kinda like to cuddle without risking sneezing on everyone, but it’s not nearly as bad as what happened to this one.”
Ace reached out and ruffled Riddle’s little tuft of red hair, apologetic, then turned away and sneezed exhaustedly into his sleeve, his body giving a muffled flop as he could barely summon the energy.
“Aw, bless you..” Deuce said softly, putting an arm over Ace’s shoulders and drawing him into a cuddle anyway. Riddle was blinking at Ace curiously, before he drew back his arm, and in what was clearly an attempt to play with Ace’s face, whacked him hard on the nose instead.
“Argh! Uh.. huh.. huh--ptshchh! Aptshh! Tschh!” Ace cupped his hands over his face to catch his sneezing fit as his sinuses exploded with overwhelming sensation. If Ace didn’t know better, it felt almost like he’d been hit with magic.
“Umm… oopsy daisy,” Deuce said guiltily on Riddle’s behalf, pulling the baby onto his lap again as Ace seemed ready to sneeze himself into the next life. And then, all of a sudden, it stopped. Ace tentatively peeked over his hands as the burning sensation in his nose seemed to fade. Even his eyes felt less swollen, and he could actually inhale without feeling itchy and tingly. Ace tried to mop up his watery eyes with his arm, before Deuce threw him a hopeless look and fished around for more wet wipes again.
“I think… he helped??” Ace stared at Riddle in disbelief, while Riddle made a bubbly cooing noise, making grabby hands for Ace as if he now fully expected the cuddles Ace mentioned.
“Healing is supposed to be a very natural, instinctive magic…” Deuce said wonderingly, leaning down and affectionately resting his cheek on Riddle’s head. “Our dorm head really is powerful, huh…”
They played with Riddle while Ace sniffled himself back from the underworld, holding the baby over the grass and letting him wriggle in a crawling motion, happily babbling the entire time.
“Well, since Riddle helped you so much,” Deuce said mischievously after a while, absently running the tips of his nails over Ace's boyish fingers. “I think it’s your turn for the next diaper change.”
Ace’s expression crumpled as if clouds of eternal doom had immediately gathered overhead. With every bit of patience and maturity Ace could muster, he considered the necessity of the task at hand, before turning back to the giggling baby and his amused boyfriend and wailing:
“HELPED ME?!?! HELPED ME??!!! IF HE COULD FIX IT THAT EASILY, WHY DIDN’T GROWN-UP RIDDLE JUST DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!”
-
“All going well? No signs of a change? I’m still researching here in the library… though finding nothing promising so far.”
“All smooth sailing on our side… but yeah, he’s still a baby,” Ace confirmed. He could practically hear Trey’s face of despair over the phone, before they both hung up, promising to call again in the next hour.
Riddle, meanwhile, had begun to look a little less bouncy than before. His cheeks were slightly flushed, and he whimpered every so often as Deuce tried to cheer him up, his lower lip wobbling as he held back needy tears.
“Ahh, Ace, I don’t know what’s wrong,” Deuce said worriedly, looking on the verge of tears himself. “Have I done something wrong? I’ve checked every chapter in the baby book, and we’ve definitely covered everything! So what’s happening? Why is he upset?”
Deuce tried to pick Riddle up again, but seeing Deuce in distress seemed to be the final straw, and Riddle burst into a loud, trembling wail, screaming again and again as Ace and Deuce both began to panic.
“Shh-sh, t-there there, d-dorm head-” Decue babbled, getting flustered as Riddle only sobbed at him with all his heart, and there wasn’t a thing Deuce could do. Ace could feel his emotions getting the better of him as he tried to comfort Riddle too.
“Riddle-senpai… you know.. I… I’d do anything to take this back. Y’know that right?? If I could swap our positions, I would! I wish I could tell you I’m sorry!!” Ace could hear himself talking without thinking, his own throat was prickling to hear Riddle’s clear distress. He never wanted this to happen! Shit, Ace had even been hoping to make his senior proud when he’d succeeded in making that damn potion, not curse him with some weird spell! Dammit, Riddle was not going to make him cry with his crying!
“Little crab, little mackerel~” a familiar voice hummed, and he didn’t sound in the mood to play. Ace and Deuce looked up to see Floyd standing over them as they sat on the lawn, his expression darkening. “I heard you two turned him into a baby. But why'd you go and make Goldfishie cry?”
Ace didn’t have the words to express just how much he didn’t want this to get any worse right now. Floyd Leech was the last person they needed, and quite possibly the last person Riddle would want to see! Remembering the magic Riddle had cast toward Trey, Ace wasn’t sure if he should try and warn Floyd before it was too late, or whether mentioning it would make Floyd even more enthused to stay.
“He… he’s stopped crying…” Deuce managed, his voice sounding dry and slightly stricken. Ace gaped toward Riddle. Floyd’s unexpected and intimidating appearance seemed to have momentarily distracted Riddle from his crying fit, though his cheeks still looked uncomfortably pink.
Floyd peered curiously down at Riddle too, realising the echoing screams that brought him over seemed to have subsided.
“Goldfishie~! Good job~!” Floyd suddenly beamed, his whole face lighting up with genuine praise. Floyd abruptly crouched down to their level, holding both hands out for Riddle with all the happiness in the world.
“Ack!” Deuce blurted, instinctively pulling Riddle closer to him and as far away from Floyd as possible. But Riddle was only cooing and sobbing tentatively up at Floyd, wriggling his little limbs in an attempt to get closer. Ace felt a familiar, insistent tug of magic in the air.
“Okay… but you have to be careful…” Ace said seriously, feeling this warning applied as much to Riddle as to Floyd. But Floyd wasn’t paying Ace any attention at all, he was entirely fixated on Riddle as he took him gently in both hands, his long fingers curling supportively around the small baby. Leaning down, Floyd gave Riddle a soft, entirely uninhibited smile, and Riddle sniffled wonderingly, making a small, curious fuss. Then he whimpered again, squirming.
“Ahhh… no wonder he’s cryin’ so much… Little crab and little mackerel made Goldfishie’s tummy hurt. And he’s got the hiccups too, y’know~?”
Floyd carefully lifted Riddle up to his chest, cradling him with one hand like he was weightless, and gently patting Riddle’s back with the cupped palm of his other.
“He has the hiccups??” Ace said in disbelief, exchanging a look with Deuce that confirmed he had no idea either. Ace had just thought those little sounds were part of the wide vocabulary of baby noises Riddle had been making throughout the day! Ace felt completely useless, how could they have missed something like that!
“Yup. His tummy’s probably all bubbly, ‘cause little crab and little mackerel didn’t squeeze him enough after feeding. See~?”
Floyd lightly rubbed his palm in a circle on Riddle’s back, then patted him again in a way that was far closer to the gentlest of cuddles than anything Floyd usually defined as ‘squeeze’. Riddle gave a helpful little hiccup, and Floyd made an equally incoherent noise of encouragement, slowly rocking his body from side to side as if he didn’t even realise he was doing it.
“How’d you… even know how to do that?” Ace mumbled, not jealous at all, but Floyd only stared like Ace was the one who didn’t understand.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Floyd shrugged.
“Ehe~ that’s it, Goldfishie~” Floyd hummed after a while, tenderly nudging Riddle’s head with the side of his cheek, as if having a baby hiccup and spit-up on him a bit was actually quite sweet. When Riddle tearily peeked up at Floyd’s large, doe-eyes, Ace could see Riddle’s cheeks had returned to their normal colour, his hands no longer balled into tiny fists.
“Aww, you feel all better now, doncha lil’ fishy?” Floyd cooed, gathering a clean part of his sports shirt in his hand and gently wiping the dribble from Riddle’s face. Carefully moving his long arms, Floyd maneuvered Riddle from his shoulder and into his usual feeding position, dangling one hand above Riddle to amuse him. Sniffling up at him, Riddle made a comforted little sound, then caught one of Floyd’s fingers in both his hands, affectionately holding on.
“It’s actually almost time for his next bottle… if you want to…” Deuce said quietly, his expression still touched with grateful disbelief.
Still stunned himself, Ace retrieved a bottle of pre-prepared formula from their satchel of baby supplies, then used his magic to carefully heat it up. Deuce held out his wrist to test the temperature, and Ace poured a few droplets on Deuce’s skin, then on his own wrist, then on Floyd’s wrist, who didn’t even bother to hide the fact that he didn’t trust them.
When Floyd fondly held the bottle teat to Riddle’s mouth, however, Riddle seemed more in the mood to play. Wriggling his arms and legs, Riddle bumped the bottle in Floyd’s hand so the teat was aimed at Floyd's face instead, then pushed, so that the teat lightly smushed into Floyd’s eye, then the side of his nose, leaving a tiny dribble of milk each time.
“Ehehehe~!! That tickles! That’s s'pposed to be your dinner, Goldfishie! Does Goldfishie wanna play with me now~?”
With Riddle squealing in delight, Floyd seemed content to let Riddle try and feed him instead, letting the bottle teat be bumped into his face as many times as it took, before Riddle eventually squished it against Floyd’s mouth. Pulling a funny face (well Floyd might’ve thought it was cute and funny, to Ace and Deuce it looked absolutely terrifying), Floyd gently pinched the teat between his sharp teeth, then tugged at the bottle in Riddle’s arms. Riddle let out a shrill giggle like this was all he’d ever wanted in life, dissolving into hysterical, burbling laughter every time Floyd nudged him or gently lifted the bottle with his mouth.
“Leech! Is this where you’ve been for my entire class??”
Ace and Deuce both jumped as the booming voice of Vargas rang across the courtyard, whereas Floyd only seemed to curl protectively around Riddle, his expression now an unmistakable glower.
“Ehhhh~ Lobster-sensei found me… but I wanna stay with Goldfishie~” Floyd muttered around the bottle, but Ace and Deuce were already in action, packing up the baby kit and reaching for Riddle, who was still hopefully batting Floyd’s face with his tiny palm, trying to encourage him to drink.
“Yeah, you’d better split,” Floyd agreed, and in a rare moment of camaraderie, he turned so Vargas couldn’t see the baby, helping to deposit Riddle safely inside Deuce’s jumper. “He might try n’ make Goldfishie eat raw eggs or something. He’s always sayin’ he started eatin’ them at that age…”
A grey pair of eyes and tuft of red hair peeked over the front of Deuce’s jumper as Floyd started creating a loud distraction so they could get away. Riddle made a gleeful, muffled coo as he saw Floyd sneak him another cute funny face, remove the teat from his bottle, then drink the whole thing at once.
“Leech!! Is that a bottle of baby formula you’re drinking?? That’s not going to build any muscles at all!!”
With a last look exchanged with Floyd, Ace and Deuce ducked around the corner and out of sight, the sound of Floyd’s irrepressible laughter behind them for once not sounding like a threat.
-
Later, Ace and Deuce sat cross-legged in their shared dormitory room, both of them in matching Heartslabyul pajamas and socks, while Riddle wore a new baby-gro they had changed him into after his bath. Trey had the foresight to move the other first years to separate rooms for the night, so Ace and Deuce had used the floor as a playspace, helping Riddle to fingerpaint messy, colourful swirls on blank pages torn from their class notebooks. Deuce kept a soft little towel beside him, which he occasionally touched over Riddle’s fluff of hair, trying to make sure it was dry.
“Hehe. Maybe he’s finally getting as sleepy as us,” Deuce smiled softly, then covered a wide yawn brought on by the fact that Riddle was yawning adoringly up at him from his lap.
“Huhh… maybe. He sure had a lot of energy for a baby…” Ace yawned too, even more helplessly than Deuce, which made Riddle want to bounce himself up and down all over again.
“Heh. He wants you to hold him, you know,” Deuce added, which made Ace turn around from where he’d been pulling one of their single mattresses down from the bunk. Ace figured they could put Riddle to sleep on their mattress on the floor, that way he and Deuce could sleep at either side and make sure Riddle didn’t accidentally roll off.
“I… I think he’s just stretching,” Ace mumbled, clumsily unfolding a baby blanket in the middle of the bed. Riddle was meanwhile reaching toward Ace with all his might, both arms raised and hands open, hopefully jogging himself around again in case Ace hadn’t seen.
“I think he definitely wants to cuddle,” Deuce said gently, encouraging.
Ace pulled a face that was probably supposed to be a grimace, but he just ended up looking sad.
“Ahh. I’m no good at that stuff. I’ll probably be all stiff and stuff. And I don’t wanna… y’know... I don’t wanna make him cry again…”
Deuce held Ace’s gaze. Ace crossed his arms and huffed, looking away.
“And I don’t want… don’t want..” Ace could feel a horrible blurry sensation rising in his throat, and he blinked his eyes fiercely, not wanting his voice to crack. “Look, I don’t want him to figure out I’m the one he doesn’t like, okay?? It’s bad enough that I turned him into a baby, he doesn’t have to be all nice with me too! Because he wouldn’t… wouldn’t normally be like-”
“-Ace,” Deuce whispered, his eyes growing wide, and Ace looked down to see Riddle had crawled from Deuce’s lap while Ace was shouting. With a tiny, pleased babble, Riddle started crawling across the rug towards Ace, letting out an excited squeal as he sped up, his small limbs carrying him determinedly as he made a beeline for Ace’s lap. Ace’s mouth dropped open in shock. Riddle hadn’t been able to crawl earlier this afternoon.
“Wh- wha... h-hi,” Ace fumbled, holding out his hands the way he’d seen Deuce doing all day. Was he doing this right?? Riddle’s body felt so small and warm when he lifted him up, and Riddle wasn’t making things any easier with his triumphant wriggling!
“Yeah. That’s our dorm head…” Deuce said proudly, his eyes tearing up. Ace shot him a hopeless look when Deuce sniffled and scrubbed his eyes on the sleeve of his pajamas, then Ace held out the arm that wasn’t holding Riddle, drawing Deuce in for a cuddle too.
“Hi,” Ace whispered, more gently, as he nestled Riddle against his chest, watching the baby curl into him, his wide, grey eyes growing heavy against the soothing rise and fall of Ace’s breathing, while Ace held him to sleep.
-
At 3:09am, exactly twelve hours after Ace’s failed potion had exploded in the laboratory, a far louder explosion of magic occurred in the Heartslabyul dorm room, which Ace found infiniately more terrifying. There, right in the middle of their mattress where they had been curled protectively around Riddle’s tiny sleeping form, was now their full-sized dorm leader, his bare chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath, his teeth gritted and his expression positively irate.
“We are going to die!” Ace wailed at the top of his lungs, the reality of the situation crashing down on him with the gravity of a thousand heavy cauldrons. “Oh sweet unholy night, this is actually the end!!”
“Riddle-senpai, please let us apologise!” Deuce blurted, his voice still croaky and his face puffy from sleep. “Please excuse us, dorm head, we didn’t know what to do!!”
“I am so, so, so-” Ace started, but Riddle sharply held up a hand for silence, a gesture that brooked no argument. Calling forth his magic pen with barely a flick of his fingers, Riddle uttered a few words before another crack of magic sent Ace and Deuce sprawling out of bed, and Riddle marched to his feet, now fully dressed in his Heartslabyul dorm leader uniform.
Granted, he looked slightly more dishevelled than his usual finest, but for a spell Riddle probably had to improvise on the spot, it was more than impressive, and Ace and Deuce could only gawk in petrified silence.
“Riddle-senpai, please, please let me say I’m sorry-” Ace began, the words pouring out of him before he could help it.
“-there’s no need,” Riddle snapped at the same time, halting Ace in his tracks. For a few seconds, Ace felt like he could barely breathe, before the harshness in Riddle’s expression slowly faded, as if he was making just as much effort to calm himself down.
“There’s no need,” Riddle said again, quieter this time. The warning eased from Riddle’s posture, and he tentatively sank down to his knees, as if only now realising the two first-years were still tangled in their respective blankets on the floor.
“Ace… I apologise,” said Riddle, his voice stern but sincere. When Ace and Deuce glanced at each other frantically, as if Riddle must still be disorientated, Riddle closed his eyes, taking a breath. When he opened them, Ace could see the tug of a soft, genuine smile at Riddle’s mouth. He gave them a look, his eyes gently creasing- just hear me out, okay?
Ace bowed a fraction, giving Riddle a nod.
“Of course I want you to succeed in your studies,” Riddle murmured, holding Ace’s gaze. “And to see you push yourself to do things that I know, without doubt, you can do.”
Ace swallowed, a prickly feeling pulling in his throat.
“But I realised after you asked me… I should have offered to supervise you in making that potion. A lot of things aren’t easy or simple, the very first time you try. That’s why I was trying to find you in the laboratories, to come and help. And to say that I’m sorry,” Riddle lowered his chin, looking smaller and ever so slightly less formidable as he shook his head at himself. “Neither of you are to blame.”
While Ace tried to find the words- any words actually- to say there was nothing to forgive, Riddle’s eyes roamed around the room, coming to rest on the baby bottles, baby care book, towel, toys, and many messy finger paintings that were still strewn around Ace and Deuce’s room. He paused on a painting that had three handprints on it- Ace’s, Deuce’s, and his own, much smaller one. Riddle’s expression clouded for a moment, unreadable.
“In any case, I can see… you put quite some effort into fixing things,” Riddle said quietly, then looked a little startled when Deuce tried to stifle a sob.
“Sorry!” Deuce coughed, then wiped his nose. “I’m so glad you’re okay, dorm head, I promise I am!”
“...but?” Riddle raised an eyebrow, his cheeks heating as he felt the inklings of a guess.
“...I’m gonna miss having Riddle as a baby!!” Deuce wailed, sobbing openly toward Riddle and looking down into his empty arms, as if something was missing.
Riddle stared at Deuce for a moment, his hand hovering near his chest. Just as Ace was sure it was going to be out with the magic pen and off with both their heads, Riddle leaned in and gently gathered Deuce into a hug, pulling Deuce’s head softly against his shoulder and letting him cry into his shirt.
“You’re alright…” Riddle said softly, in a surprisingly gentler voice than Ace thought possible. “I’m here, I’m still here. Perhaps I’ll just have to work a little harder on showing you that Riddle as a grown-up is still quite cool, too.”
“Heh,” Deuce laugh-cried at Riddle’s dumb joke, if you could even call it a joke, while Riddle softly rubbed his back. When Riddle’s eyes met Ace’s, Ace realised with embarrassment that he had been staring. Riddle didn’t laugh at him, he only held out his other arm, in case Ace needed a hug too.
“Hey! I- I never said anything about missing you as a baby!!” Ace said loudly and insistently, but he felt himself shuffling toward Riddle all the same, his face screwed-up into a frown just in case this was some kind of prank at his expense.
Riddle gently tugged Ace against his chest, then held him close and steady, letting Ace bury his face somewhere in Riddle’s fancy dorm jacket as he hushed them both.
...‘cause I like having such an awesome dorm head just as much!! Ace thought as hard as he could, because no way was he ever admitting that out loud.
“I know,” Riddle said softly, hugging them both again.
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