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“Fold and press, and fold and press, and fold and press.” Trey Clover repeated in a rhythmic pattern, demonstrating slowly for the humanoid beside him, floating in the air with black hands covered in so much flour they were almost a pure white. Ortho nodded, moving his hands under the thick dough and back over. “Fold and press..” he pushed down on it, laughing when bits of the gooey matter found its way between his fingers.
Ortho was a bit like Ace in Trey's mind. Good at things he put his mind to. Dedication and, more times than most, a spiteful desire to be the best. He’d kept up with Trey so far as they baked, no spills or disasters to be cleaned just yet. It was a refreshing change for pace seeing as most people who offer to help in the kitchen end up needing it more than him.
It wasn’t often someone joined him like this in the dorm's kitchen, but when one of Deuce’s friends had been visiting and asked if he could help, who was Trey to decline?
Well, he was Trey and he declined. quite a lot in fact, Insisted even that he was used to doing it on his own, but the youngest shroud was surprisingly determined, stomping his foot at nothing and saying he had no further plans once Deuce had been pulled away for work. In the end he relented, letting himself gain an assistant. It was surprisingly nice having an extra set of hands who knew their way around a kitchen, only looking to Trey for guidance when it came to Heartalabyul ‘speciality’ steps in the baking process.
Trey couldn’t have stopped himself from laughing when he saw the face Ortho had made when he said it was a heartslabyul rule to spin on one foot for every hour it takes to bake. They’d gotten through it and various other rules mostly unscathed when Trey dusted his hands off on his apron- one Cater had insisted on getting for him- and was going to move to the next order of business but stopped when Ortho didn’t follow along. He was looking around and then back to his hands in a loop, eyes narrowed in a glare that looked like the one Idia had during joint classes.
Trey was no tech wizard but he quickly realized what the problem was. He took up a damp cloth and crouched in front of the other, carefully wiping down his hands. “Sorry, I should’ve asked if you can get your hands wet.” He said with a chuckle, pulling apart mechanical fingers and cleaning off the powder. In a way it was kind of like back home, though usually he was wiping the food off his siblings faces, he was no stranger to helping clean little hands. Ortho’s shoulders had stiffened, not pulling away but somewhat apprehensive at his words. “What? I- no, it’s okay. I just..!” He seemed conflicted for some reason, words not describing what he wanted to. “It’s my fault. Next time I’ll design hands that won’t stick as much but are also safe in water!” He said with a confident nod, shoulders returning to normal as the last of the flour came off. “..thank you, though. I mean.”
Trey gave a crooked grin, pushing his glasses up with his empty hand and tossing the cloth back onto the edge of the sink. “It’s okay, really. What are younger siblings for if not getting a little dirty?” He’d turned away from Ortho in order to prepare the rest of the treats for the unbirthday party. The doughs went into the fridge for now as Trey pulled out the latest batch of cupcakes. They were a lovely colour and smell. Just right! “So! Now we just decorate, alright?” Ortho nodded along to Trey’s words, holding up a light green bag of frosting. “Okay! So, what do you want me to do?” Oh, right. Trey laughed, waving his hand. “Don’t worry about it too much, just do whatever you want. Unbirthday parties are best when they’re random, I guess. It’s how its been in all my time, anyway.”
Trey lived in a family of bakers, so naturally he had more than enough experience with frosting desserts. Cakes, cupcakes, cookies and lots more. He knew the rules and how to break them as he swirled and wound different shades of pastel colors on one, then sprinkled it with a random assortment of coloured sprinkles. His parents would gasp in horror if they knew he was serving plates with wildly different styles of frostings and colors. It was simply in heartslabyuls nature to be in constant orderly chaos.
He wiped his brow with a satisfied huff, taking a step back from the counter and examining his work. He was particularly proud of the rose frosted cupcake, it’s delicate chocolate leaves standing at attention with sprinkles of black and white staining it. Planned disarray. He wondered if Riddle would get a chance to see it before someone gobbled it up.
Trey moved them to the side with the wave of his pen, a subtle spell falling over them so they wouldn’t melt. He preferred putting them all into the fridge at the same time, so this would do until they were ready.
“Hey, thanks again for sticking around. It’s not often- huh?” The words had died on his tongue when he turned his head to the side and saw Ortho. He wasn’t moving- Trey could’ve believed he hadn’t moved since the last time he looked at him. His eyes were wide, blue eyebrows creased in either confusion or alarm, though Trey couldn’t quite tell which it was. The hands that were holding the piping bag were twitching, strangling the bag till a glob of frosting fell to the floor with a splat. Even with that noise, he didn’t move. “Ortho?“
Nothing. Trey was worried he might’ve gotten damaged somehow- maybe the heat or sugar? But there was some small movement in him still, eyes darting at nothing yet somehow everything. Trey frowned, concern seeping into his expression and thoughts. “Hey?” He carefully unpeeled the humanoid's black hands from the frosting, never letting his attention leave him for long. “Ortho, can you hear me?” He wasn’t sure what to do and this may have been foolish to someone who did, but he slowly brushed his hands in circles, muttering under his breath things he’d say to his siblings when they were upset. Ortho’s hands were warm now, hot to the touch even. It was concerning. “Are you alright?”
Finally, Ortho’s eyes settled on Trey and he seemed to snap out of it. He jolted back suddenly, hands slipping out of Trey’s and covering his eyes with his palms. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry- I can’t do it.” Before the vice warden could get a word in, Ortho Shroud turned at breakneck speed and fled out the kitchen.
Huh?
Trey stood there like a fool, blinking in confusion with his mouth open. What in the world was that about??? He looked toward the door Ortho had flittered through and then once to his unfinished cupcakes. They were on a tight schedule.. but then again, Ortho had helped him make steadier time than usual..
He tied his apron onto a hanger and quickly followed. The sunlight had faded now since they’d begun baking, now an orange hue painting over the hallways. It didn’t take long to find him, he stuck out so much amongst the reds of the dorm.
Ortho wasn’t looking at him, his shoulders rigid and his face turned towards the window and the rose maze. He looked kind of like a ghost, thin rays of dying sunlight making the colors of him almost disappear.
Trey scratched the back of his neck as the silence grew, broken only by the faint noises of life somewhere else in the dorm. “Did you.. want to talk about what happened?” Trey asked once the silence became too much. Ortho flinched, head snapping to look at him a little too sharply than normal, wide glassy eyes startled. The visible portion of his cheeks were stained with black streaks, some of it smudged as if he’d tried and given up trying to wipe it off. “Trey Clover? I uhm.. Anticipated you were going to still be baking..” he mumbled, hands tightening around his arms.
“Well.. sure I guess there’s more to be done, but you seemed upset and that’s more important to me.” Trey worried he’d said the wrong thing when the shrouds brows furrowed in a mix of confusion and distress, eyes shifting away. “I’m sorry.. for taking up your time, I mean.” And then turned away, floating closer to the glass. Trey clover might not have known Ortho particularly well, but the older brother's instincts would eat him alive leaving someone that looked like a sad kid by themselves.
With a heavy sigh and the slump of his shoulders, he walked over and joined Ortho by the glass. They were silent for only a moment before Trey started to talk again. “I’m not mad, you know. If you were worried about that.” Something inside of a trey twisted into a knot when hopeless eyes looked up at him in something like shock. “But I failed- I-I couldn’t see through my objective! I must’ve disappointed you..” Ortho spoke quickly as if expecting to be cut off, hands repetitively tapping the sides of his legs. Trey clover meanwhile was staring down at him with bewilderment written all over his face as he adjusted his glasses, swallowing awkwardly after taking in the rapid fire words of his. “What? Are you kidding? You were an incredible help. I wouldn’t be mad because you didn’t frost cupcakes.” It seemed absurd- even to someone resident to a dorm of peculiar and unworldly things.
Ortho looked away once more, wringing his plastic fingers and making a soft clicking sound. After a few moments of hesitance, Trey put a hand on Ortho’s shoulder. “Hey?” His words were soft and warm, something he tried more than peopled expected, as he spoke to him. “Whatever this is, is fine. I’m not upset, I’m not gonna get mad at you for it, alright?”
Trey thought he might’ve just caused more issues when the shoulders under his hand started to shake, a sort of rattling more like an engine than a heave, but filled with emotion nonetheless. He leaned forward and was met with streaks of black dripping down Ortho’s face, slow and thick dripping rather than the run of watery tears. “I-I’m sorry.” His voice crackled with static, popping and faintly buzzing as he wiped away at his face. “Thisdoesn’t usually happen, I just…” the hands he’d used to gesture flopped to his sides with the slight sound of plastic clicking together. “I couldn’t do it, ‘do whatever I want’. I panicked. I-“
Trey could feel the younger shroud flinch as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder, his cheek pressed against the top of Ortho’s head. In a few hours he’d probably be tossing and turning from embarrassment, but right now that didn’t seem to matter as he smoothed knuckles over plastic ‘skin’. “That’s alright, there’s nothing to apologize for, honest. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Ortho slowly started to nod, letting Trey take his hands and lead him back to the kitchen. They walked in silence but Trey was glad Ortho seemed to be okay now. He wasn’t the type of guy to say he was anyone's big brother except his siblings, but he somehow always found himself taking care of strays everywhere he went. First it was Chenya, then it was Riddle, then.. well it never ended, did it? He never realized just how many people found him, one way or another. It was a curious thought.. Trey hefted Ortho up on to the kitchen island with ease- though he was of the belief if the dorm had just a few normal chairs, this wouldn’t happen, and took up the cloth from earlier. He thought to himself with mild amusement that in the few hours he’d spent with Ortho today, that he had a real talent for getting messy. Maybe that was just a skill all younger brothers possessed? He felt a smile seep onto his face when Ortho would laugh or squirm, the black stains disappearing bit by bit. “It’s cold!” He managed between giggles, gray water splattering against treys uniform and Ortho’s white limbs. Trey pulled the cloth back with a crooked grin, tossing the soaked and most assuredly destroyed piece of fabric on the counter. “Well we’re all done now. Feeling better?”
Ortho nodded, hopping off of the counter and picking up the frosting bag from earlier with only a bit of hesitance. “Yeah.. and im ready to be of assistance!” Trey ruffled his hair, a weird chill feeling tickling his hand despite the blue flames that curled around it. “Alright. I can show you a few of the designs I’ve done for unbirthday party desserts and you can just pick your favorites. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.” Ortho nodded once more, quicker and more confident now. “Of course! Let’s get cracking!”
The earlier anxieties in the air had melted away like butter in the oven as they returned to their work, a new joy finding its way into it beyond being just a task to see to the end. Ortho floated over Trey’s shoulder as he flicked through images of previous desserts he’d worked on or saved for inspiration. “Ah- hold on stop! That one! The pink one!” He was bubbling with excitement as he pushed off of Trey and back to the counter, snatching up a pink piping bag in hand. “I’d like to do one like that!” Trey nodded and slid the phone back into his pocket with a smile. “Of course. Come on, I’ll show you how I do it.”
A voice cut through their own as they turned to face the door. “Eh? Ortho? What’re you doing here?” Standing in the doorway was Deuce Spade dressed in all pink leopard print. It was.. a look for sure. Last Trey had heard, the freshmen were dealing with the flamingos so he supposed those turned out to be right. Ortho’s face was almost as amusing, one eye squinted while the other arched its brow. “What.. are you wearing.. and why??” Deuce seemed to come back to her senses at that, quickly shrugging out of the jacket and tying it around his waist with a flustered laugh. “Oh! Just uh dorm stuff- you’re helping Trey? Well I mean if you’re already here I can uh- help! Right, Trey?” Deuce looked up at Trey with an unusually wide grin, his gaze consistently turning back to Ortho. Oh? So that’s how it was? Alright. Trey pushed his glasses back up his nose and chuckled. “Sure, Deuce. The more the merrier.”
…….
By the time night had fallen, they were all done. Considering how many people Trey had to bake for, this was actually good time. They didn’t even have that many mishaps despite Deuce’s somewhat unfortunate lack of actual skill in this. The two of them seemed to be enjoying themselves and whatever was troubling ortho had disappeared for good, thankfully. Trey was getting ready to slide the last of them into a fridge when he stopped and smiled at the sight of a pair of cupcakes undoubtedly not his style. Deuce’s cupcake sat next to Ortho’s. You could very quickly tell who had done which. One was bright red cupcake and slightly deformed, dribbles of green falling off the side of it while it’s companion was a soft pink and blue cupcake with small white speckles dotted on with care. He was confident they’d be enjoyed all the same just like the bakers who’d helped decorate them. They aforementioned artisans were laughing hysterically by the sink as they wiped off the frosting that had gotten on their faces and hands. Water was dripping onto the floor and he thought they might be making it worse, but the energy in the room was too light to be all that concerned with a small mess.
Trey imagined they would’ve stayed there forever if Riddle hadn’t barked at them all to go to bed on the dot per the rules. Only then did Deuce reluctantly waved Ortho goodbye, the bright blue light disappearing down the corner and then eventually gone altogether. Now Trey and Deuce stood together in the dorm lounge. All was quiet as they started to walk down the halls towards where all the students eventually retired for bed. Trey glanced down to Deuce who was still smiling, hands straight at his sides. Trey smirked, a snort slipping out despite his best efforts.
“So… you and Ortho..?”
The proceeding arm flailing and frantic words jumbling out of Deuce before scampered off into her room faster than he’d ever seen her run was enough to make all the days exhaustion entirely worth it.
“Good grief these kids..” he said with a sigh, rolling his shoulder and unlocking his and Cater’s door. He wondered if he already knew and Trey was the one late to the news. Regardless, they’d have quite a bit to talk about before falling asleep if Cater had heard anything.
“Hey, I’m back.”