Chapter Text
There were moments where Ace regretted teaming up with Yuu sometimes, not because he wasn’t a bad lab partner, but because of Grim’s sudden outburst of feline attributes popping up in the middle of class. This was one of those instances where neither expected it; Yuu was about to add in a sprinkle of root powder into their mixture and then Grim just had to zone in on his dangling hand with the flask and try to jump and smack his hand, which resulted in Yuu’s hand accidentally pouring the entire bottle of the powder into their cauldron. With a large burst of smoke, part of the contents burst upwards like a volcanic eruption, but it was nearly impossible to see what was happening with all the smoke. A large splash hit Ace’s face head-on, and he could only blink in surprise when the translucent liquid slowly dripped onto the floor, and looked towards Yuu in shock. The other stared back with eyes as wide as saucers, blinking as he saw the liquids come back down and settle back into their container.
“Dude…” Ace mumbled, bringing his head down to avoid the potion from running onto his lips, and shielding his face from seeing the other’s expression.
“I- I’ll go get Crewel!” Yuu stuttered.
His friend had the decency to drag Grim away from their concoction and call for Crewel, hearing a sharp smack and then a pained yowl in the distance. He glanced back down to see the liquid change color into a now faint pink hue, which only made him feel as if this was going to be more trouble than he initially expected.
From the distance he heard Yuu finally get a hold of their professor, but walk back with his head hung low and cheeks flushed pink as he was chewed out again by their teacher. He couldn’t help laughing at the sight, but stopped when he heard a faint hum in the back of his mind.
‘I should have known Grim would act up, this is what I get for not bringing in a spare can of tuna to distract him while Ace and I worked together.’ The voice sounded way too much like it was Yuu, but he looked at him and noticed his lips weren’t moving as the two walked back to his station.
Ace owlishly blinked as Yuu gave him the most pathetic kicked puppy dog face he could muster while Crewel cracked his whip, “Pups move to the side, I’ve been caught up to speed with Yuu’s description of the accident so I’ll need some time to figure out just what type of spell this is. Now did either of you get any of it on yourselves?” His eyes glanced between the three students and nodded as Yuu and Grim shook their heads and said no. The ginger avoided looking in his direction and Crewel could only crack his whip once more to have him look back up.
He raised a brow in Ace’s direction. “Well?” Crewel narrowed his eyes as Ace meekly nodded and deeply sighed.
‘Of course Trappola would get caught into this.’ Ace furrowed his brows as he heard the older man’s voice echo in his head. Odd.
“No side effects from what I understand? You don’t feel nauseous or flighty I’m sure?” His professor asked, but Ace could only shake his head to say no.
‘Why is it that with Yuu things always seem to happen to these boys? At this point I think it would be better to have a private lecture with him in case Grim chooses to act up; these mishaps are cutting into the club budgets.’ Ace winced at the confession and mumbled out an apology before he could think twice.
“It’s not Yuu’s fault that Grim acts up, he’s just so food-driven sometimes and acts like a brat when he doesn’t eat every two hours.” Ace said, adding more emphasis on the last part so Yuu wouldn’t take as much blame this time.
“Hey that’s not true! You’re just really boring to work with so I want to make our experiments more fun!” Grim hissed, smacking his tail towards Ace’s shoes.
“Hah?! You think letting me get exposed to you of all things is a plus for me?! Dream on!” He stuck his tongue out as added emphasis, kicking back Grim’s hind leg and smirking when the former yowled and ran behind Yuu’s leg.
He glanced back up to see Yuu and Crewel staring back at him with confused expressions on their faces, and then realized something based on their reactions.
Oh no-
“Please tell me you said that professor…” Ace saw Crewel’s lips turn into a frown as he placed his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose to let out another deep sigh.
‘Of course he would be afflicted with mind-reading, but I also don’t know the full scope of how long it’ll take to wear off.’ Making direct eye contact with Ace, he raised his brow in understanding and received eyes widening a fraction.
“I’ll keep you updated on my research, until then, just live your life as usual. Come back if you notice anything life-threatening alright?” His professor looked at him with sympathetic eyes for some reason, and Ace could only dumbly nod his head as he saw the older turn his back on their group to walk towards his office, heels clacking on the floor with an authority he tended to forget his professor possessed.
Yuu was the first to speak up in the silence afterwards, “Aww look at you defending little old me, who knew you had a cute side to you.”
Ace could only attempt to kick his shin in retaliation, “Shut up!”
-
Of course, how could he forget that Crewel would report back to Riddle on their mishap.
He wasn’t as surprised coming back into the dorms to have Riddle chew him out for nearly three hours, but he was glad Yuu and Grim were also there to take the same punishment. His feet were so tired from standing that entire time, so he ignored the voice of Riddle yelling in his mind to save himself from a bigger headache.
Turning towards Yuu, he couldn’t help but grin as Yuu was trembling from keeping his balance for hours on end. He turned towards Ace and whimpered in pain.
‘I really should have sneaked in that tin because I don’t feel my legs-’
Yeah Yuu, you really should have.
-
In these past few days, Ace tried his best to figure out the extent of his mind-reading abilities by being around different groups of students around the school. He’d lie to himself if it weren’t partially driven by his nosiness in other people’s business, but it was also good to let Crewel know how badly Grim fucked him over. So he began to wander around and only ever got to hear thoughts of people he was on good terms with, not really acquaintances, but those voices were more of a whisper than anything. Good, at least I won’t really have a mental breakdown during lectures if that’s all I heard for hours. Second, he needed to be in close proximity with them to hear their actual thoughts, most of the time it was useless information that they would think about. Can’t really help that this school has more than a good handful of slackers, so it can’t help me either in these upcoming tests.
The worst part was when he was in Heartslabyul’s dorm. Sure Trey and Cater might have been the least offensive thoughts he would unfortunately overhear, worries over their schedules and future internship interviews, but it wasn’t much substance besides that when he hung around them. Maybe every once in a while they’d be thinking how cute Deuce, Yuu, Riddle, and him looked hanging out, but it was somewhat flattering how much they tended to dote on them.
He’d never admit that out loud.
What really seemed to haunt him weren’t Deuce’s thoughts, even if they did get violent at times when he would get riled up. That was normal Deuce behavior, so he just continued to live his life as-is.
-
No, what kept him up in the middle of the night were Riddle’s thoughts.
After he was lectured, Riddle went to lock himself up in his room to study and Ace, trying to get back on his good side, sneaked a tart from the fridge as a peace offering.
Knocking with his knuckle, he sang out a “Housewarden” and heard a chair slide on the floor and the tapping of feet on the wooden boards nearing the door. The creaks made his heart slightly race since he couldn’t tell if Riddle expected him already and would take his bribe as a mere snack.
“Yes?” Riddle asked, looking up at Ace with a blank expression, his facial features showing no sign of a smile or his usual head tilt in confusion at the other’s abrupt appearance. Staring down at the older boy made him more nervous as the other’s thoughts weren’t being broadcasted to him, so he knew that he wasn’t really thinking of anything at the moment. Which made him think that the spell must have worn off.
So with more oomph, he presented the tart with a smile, “Well I know you were kind of upset at us earlier, but I promise I’ll also keep Grim under my watch when we end up getting paired up for alchemy next time. I know you’re busy with housewarden duties, so use this as a snack to re-energize yourself. Can’t really promise anything on its taste though…”, Ace trailed off.
Feeling cold hands touch his, he loosened his grip on the plate holding the pastry to see Riddle huff out a laugh and glance back in his direction. “I can tell you’re sincere in your promise so I’ll take your word for it. I also realize I took it a bit too far with my lecture, but you do need to have more caution in those settings. I am the housewarden afterwall and I want to ensure all the students under my reign are well taken-care of.”
Ace felt his cheeks flush at the sincerity in the redhead’s words, and shuffled his feet in place awkwardly, “So I’ll leave you to it then?”
With a hum, Riddle nods and waves him off, “I’ll let you off the hook this time, so tell Yuu to bring Grim to help out at our upcoming Unbirthday Party. No exception.”
He couldn’t help himself as he puffed out a laugh, “Sure sure~ You got it housewarden!”
With a smile, he waved the other a goodbye as he turned to walk back to his room.
‘Ah he looked so cute trying to weasel his way out of a punishment, I really shouldn’t play favorites like this.’ Riddle’s voice echoed in his head in a stunning high-definition. He sharply turned his head in the direction of the other’s door, only hearing the click of the lock being put back in its place.
He stood in the hallways for another minute before he heard another voice linger in his mind.
‘Great Sevens… Ace shouldn’t look as cute… in my room… Maybe… Cage.’ His face couldn’t help but flush as he let the words sink into his mind, and hazy visuals began to conjure themselves. Thoughts that he was sure his prim and proper housewarden wasn’t supposed to manifest. With hastier steps, he sprinted back into his dorm and slammed the door, jolting awake his roommates and getting a pillow thrown his way by Deuce. He wiggled into his bedsheets and let them echo in his brain, nearly shaking the foundation of what he thought was his formidable housewarden.
How could he forget that he was just as much of a hormonally driven teenager like him?
-
This next week was going to be his personal hell if he was stuck hearing Riddle thirst over him. He wasn’t sure if he should use this to his advantage and act cuter around the other or scream into his pillow as the thoughts got raunchier by the minute.
Someone please help him.
Maybe strangle Grim while he’s at it since it’s his fault that he’s thinking this in the first place.
