Chapter Text
After-school club activities. You either enjoy them, or you don’t. It’s that simple, really. (As someone who was in the STEM Club during high school I definitely enjoyed the activities once we’ve locked in but overall it’s a far cry compared to what these mofos do in this fictional world)
Science Club wasn’t even supposed to have a meeting today, you see, but there were three souls eager enough to show up at the usual venue. It makes sense given that they’re all juniors, since they’d like to spend their remaining months creating memories before they’re all off for internships in their final year.
Divus Crewel was already looking forward to attending that classic car exhibition he couldn’t shut his mouth about for the past few days that was driving his older colleague insane.
“Yes, Divus, we get it. Don’t forget to come back in one piece.”
Despite all the years that have passed, perhaps some things never change. Change is inevitable. Lack of change? Also inevitable.
By now, he’s already hitting the road, with the breeze in his hair. He’s living the low cortisol life for a change, especially after a long day of dealing with ‘unruly curs’ as he calls them… Until the phone rings right at a traffic light. Such impeccable timing. Who could possibly be phoning him when he already told the faculty, “Do NOT dare to ring me unless of an emergency, especially you (points finger at the most responsible Headmage of all time)”. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he answered the call on loudspeaker without daring to check for the caller’s ID.
“Good afternoon, Professor. I hope that I’m not bothering you at this moment?” a rather familiar voice could be heard at the other side of the phone. He wanted to snap at the mutt on the phone, but he couldn’t get mad for long because he’s one of the more tolerable students.
“Yes, Clover? As you might be able to hear, I’m currently commuting.” That was already obvious enough. The sound of the traffic could be heard clearly.
At the other side, there’s the three juniors waiting just outside the Science Club’s designated lab — Trey on the phone in a relaxed stance with his arms crossed, Jameson cross-legged on the floor while spinning the keyring he just snagged from Crewel’s desk, and there’s Rook, observing the surroundings with that amused smile plastered on his face while his arm intertwines with Jameson’s. Clearly he had enough with the physical affection, but the best course of action was to simply leave Rook be.
“Oh… Forgive me for that, Professor,” Trey chuckled sheepishly.
“I just wanted to ask if Crochet, Hunt, and I could use the lab for a small club project.” The mere mention of the surnames drew attention from the respective students, yearning to know the verdict.
“Did you say, Hunt?” Trey could already picture the professor’s flabbergasted expression. Rook has always been known to stir up a bit of trouble on occasion during club meetings after all.
“Not a worry, Professor. We have it all under control, right, James?” Trey glances towards Jameson’s direction, expecting a reply. In which he responds with a simple “Aye”. There was a brief silence from Crewel’s end before he cleared his throat.
“Very well. I have my trust in you pups that plan to…?”
The thing is, they haven’t really thought of what they were planning to do in the lab. All that they discussed yesterday was,
“Chevalier des Roses, Roi des Sept Mers, I have a proposition to make! Why don’t we all spend some quality time in the chemistry lab tomorrow, oui? Imagine what kind of new discoveries we could unravel together, as our friendship continues to bloom like lilypads in a pond!”
“I was starting to think you would start blabbering out nonsense from that spout of yours…”
“Not to sound like a killjoy, but what’s the plan?”
“Monsieur Trey prepared as ever. Ah, what beaute!”
The moment of silence was so long that Crewel thought that he got hung up on.
“Clover? Are you still there?” Yet they still haven’t thought of something.
Trey shoots the other two a look that says “Think of something!”. The heat of the moment got Rook silently teasing the other with a cheeky smirk, as if he’s plotting something rather questionable. “Hmmm… Let me-”
Jameson backhanded Rook by the arm, a swift motion that silenced him in a dramatic fashion.
“Five seconds…” he chided the huntsman.
Time was ticking. How much longer are they supposed to keep their professor waiting? He’s such a saint to be able to deal with these lots.
“Toothpaste!” Rook exclaimed. That was the first thing that came into mind. Didn’t seem like it could hurt anyone.
“Toothpaste it is, then.” Trey nodded approvingly. The conversation on the phone with Crewel continued as the duo waited patiently. Soon enough, Trey kept away his phone, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Alright. Looks like we’re in the clear.”
THIS was their most awaited moment, at least for Rook since he’s still plotting whatever was on his mind.
“Trey, catch!” Jameson hurled the keyring towards Trey as he rose from the floor, stretching out his arms with a soft cracking sound. Immediately, he caught it without missing and unlocked the door of the lab. The door opened with a creak, a reminder of how much time had passed since the founding of the school.
They all picked up on the distinct smell of the rather ancient room, the laboratory equipment and materials arranged in place from the tidy workstations to the labelled glass bottles on the shelf. At the back of the lab was where a huge cauldron was found. Who knows how long that thing has been sitting there.
The trio settle down at the workstation closest to the front door, gearing up with their lab coat and other PPE. Once they all seem to be more prepared, they glance at each other, studying their respective mannerisms.
“Rook, I was wondering…” Trey cut himself short just before he could ask the question.
“You seem to be rather interested in my hat, non?” Rook positions his hand right under his chin, glancing at Trey in amusement.
“The fact that your hat is still in tact surprises me every time,”
Because who in the right mind would even wear a hat to a lab in the first place? Oh right, this is NIGHT RAVEN COLLEGE. Where individuality somehow overrides basic lab rules. (Please do not try this in real life unless you want any lab assistants/teachers/professors to kill you or kick you out of the lab).
“I’ve been saying! It’s a hazard. Even your hair is a hazard.” Jameson muttered in disdain, his arms crossed like a father scolding his son. Rook could’ve said something like “You’re one to talk, Monsieur Croc” but too bad. His long wavy locks were tied up into a neat bun and his bangs clipped to the sides too.
“Ah, but this is how I’ve been dressing up in the lab. You see…”
“Just because this is how things have always been doesn’t mean it’s right. You somehow remember to clip your hair during your skincare routine but the moment you enter the lab, it completely slips your mind. Interesting how your mind works, truly.”
“As long as Professor Crewel doesn’t disapprove of it, I don’t see how it’s a problem,” Rook merely shrugged it off. He wasn’t the only one violating the lab dress code, but many others too which includes bare ankles, loose hair, improper wear of PPE etc.
“And that’s part of the problem!”
“James has a point, Rook,” Trey pat his shoulder in an attempt to cheer the other up, just in case he somehow got offended by any means.
Right then, Rook removed his hat and tied up his hair neatly. His hair isn’t long enough to be able to tie it up into a bun, but at least it’s tied now.
“Well then, we can already gather the ingredients we need for our toothpaste” Trey fixed his glasses and clapped his hands twice. Upon receiving the instructions, Jameson sprung into action, bolting out of the door. Presumably, he’s heading to the Botanical Gardens. The Science Club has a designated area for plants that only members can use.
“15 minutes!” he called out before leaving Trey and Rook back at the lab. It's as if he’s the designated person to go grab the items outside the lab. But Trey in particular trusted him since whenever he said that he will be back in x minutes, he will. Except if anyone attempts to be a distraction.
Trey makes a list of materials they will be using to make their “toothpaste”. Meanwhile, Rook waltzed over to the shelves to grab the supposed materials and placed them down onto the workstation with a gleeful smile.
“Hydrogen peroxide, dish soap and potassium iodide, all at the highest concentration I can find in here~”
Trey abruptly stopped writing down the procedure of the report to submit to Crewel as soon as Rook made his return.
“Something’s not right,” Trey thought to himself. What kind of toothpaste uses so little ingredients? Not to mention THOSE kinds of ingredients.
Fortunately, Jameson came back with a few types of herbs in a small pouch he got as a gift from Vil during their first year. He examined the spread of chemicals on the table and raised his eyebrow, glancing at them both.
“What kind of toothpaste are we making now?” He placed the pouch on the workstation, slowly shoving it towards Trey. The sight of the choice of chemicals doesn’t sit right with him.
“I… I don’t even know,” he let out a defeated sigh.
“What did you get there?”
“Mint, some berries for good measure…” Rook peered over Trey’s shoulder as Jameson opened up the pouch to reveal the contents.
Rook LOVED how both of them were committed to making the “toothpaste”. It was downright hilarious. Almost as if they were caught in this little game of his.
“What we’ll be making is something that we call dentifrice éléphant!” Someone did owe an explanation to the group after all. Both Jameson and Trey glance at each other with a knowing look, their expression darkening.
“Come again?” Jameson asked. If whatever he heard was correct…
“Dentifrice d'éléphant, Monsieur Croc,”
“Elephant toothpaste?!” Trey facepalmed. He recalled a memory of cleaning up the mess of an experiment his younger siblings indulged in once upon a time and now he’s about to relive that same mess, but with people his age instead.
Great, just great.
“Elephant… toothpaste?” Jameson was flabbergasted. He was already imagining all sorts of things. Toothpaste for elephants? Toothpaste made of elephant’s ivory tusks? Toothpaste made of other elephant parts?!
“Elephant toothpaste. Looks like toothpaste but it really isn’t. It also makes a bit of a mess so we’ll work with smaller volumes to give you an idea of it,” Trey wasn’t all on board with the idea, but at the same time, he pitied Jameson for being clueless. It’s not like he could search it up online either, thanks to the lack of a smartphone. How has he not bonded with Malleus over not using modern tech up until now?
Trey’s admission got Rook all giddy inside. They’re actually about to conduct the experiment for real.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to show our friend the true potential of this experiment? It will truly be a learning experience for us all! And so what if it gets a little messy? We can simply clean up once we’re done,” Oh Rook, such a smooth-talking rascal you are.
If it wasn’t for his persuasive skills, they wouldn’t have agreed to start working on the experiment on one condition — Rook taking full accountability if any mishaps happen. Which in fact they all hope doesn’t happen. He even insisted that they do it indoors instead of the open field because he claimed that this was meant to be a special moment for only three pairs of eyes and that the grass doesn’t deserve to get contaminated. Besides, this is a lab for crying out loud.
Procedure:
- Dish soap is added into hydrogen peroxide in a large conical flask. Do not ask about the concentration used.
- The mixture is swirled gently with a glass rod.
- A funnel is placed into the mouth of the conical flask.
- Potassium iodide is slowly added into the conical flask.
- Observe the
The liquid rapidly gushed out of the comically large flask akin to that of a pahoehoe flow of a volcano as Trey nervously added the hydrogen peroxide. There was so much liquid that the whole lab was almost filled up with it, reacting with the other chemicals stored in there. It was getting bad.
“AVAST!” a voice rang in the air.
Acting on instinct, Jameson tackled Trey and Rook out of the lab with him, quickly closing the door behind them. An explosion just occurred right there and now the lab is probably severely damaged. From the sound of it, it looked like there’s no stopping any time soon.
“Satisfied, Rook?” Trey gave Rook a dirty glare of the damage they have inevitably caused.
“Oh, mon ami, but you couldn’t deny how magnifique it was back there!” The sound of a loud slap followed, leaving a red mark on his cheek that burned like accidentally touching a fire.
“James…”
He’s seen the other in a bad mood before, but he’s rarely this pissed.
“‘Magnifique’ my arse! You knew well of the consequences, yet ye still carried on as if it be nothing!”
“I.. may have underestimated the damage…” a dejected sigh could be heard from Rook.
“‘Underestimated’ is an understatement,” Trey pinched the bridge of his nose.
It took some time for them all to get up on their feet, wincing in pain at the impact of the fall. As if on cue, the headmage materialised out of thin air.
“Can someone explain the damage on the roof of the lab’s area?” Crowley’s serious expression means that he wasn’t in any mood to goof around.
The three of them took turns to explain the whole situation to the headmage from the beginning until the events of this very moment. When Crowley opened the door of the lab to access the damage, he let out an exaggerated gasp, falling down to his knees while expressing the significance of the lab and how the three have destroyed a piece of history.
“You are juniors! Third year students! I expected better from you three, especially given that you are from Heartslabyul and Pomefiore.” Well… that stung.
“TWO vice housewardens! Not one, but TWO! Trey Clover, Rook Hunt, you two especially are supposed to be role models for the other students. This is unacceptable…”
None of them could protest because it’s true. What if Vil and Riddle find out? What would their FAMILY think if they found out as well? The thought of it was sickening.
“And Jameson Crochet, I hope this is not one of your ways of rebelling against the system,” He stood there wide eyed at the headmage’s assumption. Sure, he had a serious case of ‘homesickness’ during freshman year but to purposely get himself expelled in the name of sailing the seas? Unbelievable.
He swore he could throw up right now. It doesn’t help that he felt like a ticking time bomb about to go off. Literally.
“No, Headmage. Not at all,” he replied curtly. Crowley tried to find fault in his words but he couldn’t find any.
A harmless activity that was supposed to bring them closer did the exact opposite. The Headmage issued the three of them suspension for two weeks, community service within school grounds and extra classes during weekends. What a way to live through their third year.
They couldn’t even see each other the same way since then, especially Rook and Jameson since the latter had murderous thoughts every time they made eye contact.
Rook, what have you done?