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Anyone who interacted with the Ramshackle Prefect and her misfit group of friends knew about their weekend sleepovers. They didn't bother to hide the sleepover passes they were all given, nor did they hide the fact that they took turns grocery shopping for the sleepovers. It was simply how it was. This, naturally, lead to jealous students who could fight tooth and nail for a sleepover pass and barely get permission. Nobody could understand why the Housewardens allowed the most troublesome group to be unsupervised in that dusty, dirty dorm for four consecutive days every week. Then again, none of them truly knew how it started. They could only assume it started with Ace Trappola showing up at Yuu's dorm in the middle of the night that time he stole Riddle Rosehearts tart, or when Deuce Spade joined their sleepover the very next day. But the truth was that it all started with Riddle's overblot.
Trey Clover did his best to hide the effects his overblot had on the two freshmen for a while. Didn't mention their nightmares that he could hear when doing his nightly patrol of the dorm and he came up with excuses everytime the two would barely shove an apple into their mouths for breakfast before bolting to Ramshackle to ensure their two friends were still alive and safe. But then, that weekend, Trey knew his meticulous lies would fall apart soon when Riddle turned red at the Audacity Ace and Deuce had to request a sleepover pass from Friday evening straight to Monday Morning.
Riddle only got worse when Trey was quick to interrupt the soon-to-be interrogation and gave the two freshmen the go ahead. Still, Trey avoided the question and distracted Riddle. He got away with that for two more weeks until Riddle finally had enough and cornered Trey when he was trying to teach Cater their astronomy homework.
"They're traumatized, Riddle," Cater said, apparently deciding to just rip of the band-aid and ruin Trey's carefully crafted words he was trying to decide on.
"Traumatized?" Riddle echoed, his anger melting into confusion.
Cater nodded and pushed on. In his opinion, they'd coddled him enough for a lifetime. "They just watched their Housewarden - who they should be able to trust - attack their defenceless friend. Watched one of my clones get stabbed and had to carry Yuu, unconscious and bleeding, to the infirmary. They're traumatized and the sleepovers are their way of coping."
Riddle was quiet for a moment before he nodded and walked off, lost in thought. Trey internally panicked, praying to the seven that this didn't set Riddle back in his own healing journey. He was further surprised that Friday. When Ace and Deuce showed up after making sure that both Trey and Cater were nearby, Riddle didn't get angry. Didn't turn red. Just handed them each a laminated rectangular paper the size of their palm that he'd attached to a lanyard.
Heartslabyul Sleepover Pass
Student: Ace Trappola/Deuce Space
Dorm Permitted: Ramshackle
Alloted Times: 16:00 Friday - 08:00 Monday
Expiry Date: N/A
Sigature: Housewarden Riddle Rosehearts
For the first time since being sorted into Heartslabyul, Ace and Deuce smiled. Real smiles. Not the mischievous ones they'd come to expect from Ace or nervous ones from Deuce, but actual, relieved smiles. It warmed the hearts of the three upperclassmen to see. Trey, Cater, and Riddle all realized something at the same time. This had been a huge step - not toward forgiveness, the first yearshad realized that overblotting wasn't completely in Riddle's control and had forgiven him - but towards trust.
For once, Ace and Deuce were starting to trust them.
By the time Jack watched as Leona sanded Ruggie's arm, the troublesome quartet had a routine. Ace and Deuce would stop by Mr. Sam's shop after their clubs ended to pick up snacks and activities for them to do while Yuu picked out a movie, bribed the ghosts to be nice, and set the couch up with enough pillows and blankets for them to each have their own. It was one of these times that Jack swung by.
To see if she needed help with homework, he claimed. Not because he couldn't get his latest nightmare where Leona had grabbed her and turned her to sand out of his mind. Not because he needed proof that she was healing and safe and not turned to sand. But Yuu had given him a knowing look and asked if he wanted to stay the night.
(She specifically said the night, not wanting to let him know at all that if he agreed, he was practically signing a contract to be at Ramshackle dorm every Friday where he would then be kept there for four days. He would have turned tail if she said that. In her opinion, it was better to just give him the illusion of choice and surprise him with the truth later.)
"I don't think we're all going to be able to fit on the couch," Jack commented.
Yuu frowned. "Well, I'd offer you a bed, but we kinda do this so we don't have to sleep in different rooms. Defeats the purpose..."
Jack hummed thoughtfully as he came up with a plan. Yuu was confused when he asked where the spare rooms were but pointed him in the right direction. It wasn't long before Jack successfully lugged three mattresses down the stairs and deposited them on the floor. He then rearranged the small, old television to a place where they'd be able to see it without breaking their necks if they were careful. Monday morning, when Jack went to class, he knew that he wouldn't need his arm twisted into going to Ramshackle every week - even if he did have to move all the mattresses by himself. That weekend was the first time Jack had actually been able to sleep without a dreamless sleep potion.
Leona was fully aware of the truth behind the sleepovers when he wasn't waking up to Jack screaming half as often anymore. He saw how the bags under Jacks eyes were gone and he no longer seemed to have the urge to glue himself to his four herbivores anymore. That was when Leona sighed and spent the effort to head to the Housewarden Lounge to print and laminate a certain rectangular card before attaching it to a lanyard and sending Ruggie to play delivery man.
If a sleepover pass with no expiry date was what it took for Leona to get a goodnight sleep without having to drug the first-year, then so be it. And if a brand new top of the line TV was delivered to the Ramshackle dorm, fully paid for, then Leona just didn't want to be indepted to a dumb herbivore cub. Not because he felt guilty or anything.
Definitely not.
Vil and Idia, surprisingly, knew about how the first-years used sleepovers to cope with their trauma before Epel or Ortho did. Due to how short the time between their overblots was, Riddle and Leona grumbled and each grabbed one of the other two Housewardens. Riddle went to get Vil, diplomatically getting him to agree to follow. Meanwhile, Leona stormed into Ignihyde, tossed Idia over his shoulder, and made for the Housewarden Lounge.
"Why are we signing these without expiration dates?!" Vil demanded, the complete opposite of Idia who just signed the form so that these damn extroverts would just leave him the hell alone already. Vil wasn't having it. He was certain his fellow housewardens were going insane with how willing they were to leave seven first years unsupervised for four days. "Do you not remember how Epel and Yuu just snuck out of the school not even two days ago?!"
"We remember," Riddle said simply, calmly. "I also recall that it was your vice housewarden that gave them the idea in the first place by leaving the school first."
Vil scowled at the reminder of how Rook had put a random third-year in charge just to go after him. Still, the idea of this particular group of first-years not having a singular responsible person with them for that long...
"Ortho will keep an eye on them," Idia managed to get out. "I have a tracker built into him, I'll know if they leave."
Still scowling, Vil snatched the sleepover pass and signed it. Once both passes were laminated and attached to their respective dorm-coloured lanyards, Leona stopped blocking the door and let the hostage housewardens go.
The first-year squad had been at lunch when Leona showed up, grumbling about Ruggie not being in a convenient place, and slammed two new sleepover passes onto the table. He left before ny of them could reply, much to Ortho and Epels confusion.
"Sweet, you two are good to come over on Friday," Yuu beamed.
"Friday?" Epel asked.
Jack hummed agreeably. "Yup. Ace and Deuce are picking up everything, so you should text one of them your favourite snack, Epel. I'll be over at Ramshackle right after classes to move the mattresses while Yuu gets pillows and blankets. You two can pretty much just come over any time after classes."
"Just a warning, we have a rotation on who has to get up to turn lights off and get more drinks," Yuu added. "So, you two are gonna be added to the rotation."
Ortho lit up at all of this new information. "What movies do you guys want? I can download anything to my drives and then transfer them to a computer so we can watch anything at all without having to worry about money!"
Yuu stared with wide-eyes at Ortho and silently wondered if he really just offered to pirate movies for them. Then again, was pirating a thing in this world? She'd have to figure out a way to ask Vil without letting him know that Ortho may or may not be breaking a law for their sleepovers.
"That's great, Ortho," Deuce said. If his strained tone was anything to go by...Yuu decided not to bring anything up with Vil. She also hoped that Rook wasn't in hearing range of this conversation...or Riddle...or anyone else, for that matter.
Malleus was once again surprised by the bravery the Child of Man had when she walked straight up to him and demanded a sleepover pass for Sebek while said first year was at his club. He was so shocked that he wasn't even sure how to respond, the only sound being Lilia's amused laugh.
"Actually, scratch that," Yuu backtracked. "Can you like...order him to come to our weekly sleepovers? They start Friday evening and end Monday morning."
Malleus blinked. Was ordering people to make friends considered normal to humans? If it was, then he was genuinly concerned for them. Surely being ordered to make friends wasn't something that hummans enjoyed...then again, humans truly were strange creatures. And Sebek was half-human but had no friends himself with the lack of orders he'd been given...
He nodded, mind made up. If being ordered to hang out with other humans was how they made friends, then Malleus would order Sebek to attend these sleepovers. At the very least, it would ensure he had company when he, Lilia, and Silver all graduated. Plan complete, Malleus led the girl to where the equestrian club and ignored the despair on Sebeks face at his new orders. It was for his own good that he have friends.
(Yuu just smiled innocently at Riddle while this happened. The poor second-year looked like she finally managed to completely break him. What she didn't notice was the resigned look on Silver's face when he realized that Malleus would now think that this was just how humans made friends.)
"Humans, WHY do you have to GET UP so often!?" Sebek yelled after the tenth time the movie had been interrupted due to someone forgetting to turn off a light. Yuu sighed and questioned her life choices while she explained this to Sebek. The other first years all accepted him but made it clear that she was responsible for him. "Why don't you all just use mage lights?! They're much more convenient!"
Yuu had a sudden urge to smack all of her friends. How did it take eight people to finally come up with this solution?? She grinned up at the green haired boy and tackled him in a hug all while pretending hse couldn't hear his protests."
"Good job, Sebek," Ace said sarcastically. "You just made yourself useful. We're stuck with you now."
(Sebek was fairly certain that he was the one stuck with them, if the clingy prefect was anything to go by. Somehow, though, he found he didn't mind being stuck with them that much).