Chapter Text
Leona was sleeping in the garden, as he usually did, most didn’t dare annoy him aside from a small select few that didn’t care.
Though, Leona had nothing to do today, meaning there should nobody bothering him.
He ignored the sounds of walking nearby and even the opening of the shed, thinking they’d simply walk by.
The footsteps stopped right infront of him, they were lighter footsteps, which Leona internally groaned at with the idea Cheka was probably there, until he thought for an extra second.
Cheka was with his father this time, Cheka wasn’t here, maybe some other guy’s little sibling or something????
“Um… excuse me?”
The voice was small and incredibly British, so British Leona knew exactly who it was.
He opened an eye and looked up to see Riddle, but smaller, way way way smaller, in an oversized lab coat that gave Leona a faint idea of how Riddle was so tiny.
“Uhhhhh, hello, littler red.”
“Hello.”
Riddle replied, stumbling slightly when he attempted to do a curtsy, standing straight as he looked at him.
Leona noticed how Riddle’s face was slightly flushed and his eyes were all teary from what he presumed to be tears.
Even if Leona didn’t care he couldn’t leave a baby alone, so he sat up and motioned Riddle to come closer, which he surprisingly did, plopping into his lap.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m… um…”
“You’re…? Hungry? Hot? Cold? Sick?”
“Uh… first one, I’m kind of hungry… it’s fine though.”
“If you’re hungry I can get you something to eat, what do you want, kid?”
“I don’t know…”
Riddle shrugged and looked away, which Leona only sighed and stood up, picking up Riddle with him, holding him up with one arm.
Riddle was extremely light, even for being a child, Leona felt like Riddle was so light he’d accidentally drop him.
“Alright, let’s get you something to eat, what do you like? Whatever you want you can get.”
“My mother wouldn’t like that… she usually feeds me low calorie meals.”
“Well she isn’t here, is she?”
“No…”
“Exactly, now let’s go see what you like.”
Leona said as he walked out of the school, he was a grown ass man meaning he’ll do what he wants and walked into the portal to the town.
He didn’t bring Cheka out like this, mostly because he was an ‘heir’ and all but he did go out here enough to know what foods he liked and didn’t.
Leona turned into one of the small pastry shops and Riddle tugged on him to get his attention.
“Where are we?”
“Cafe, they have nice sweets.”
“I’m not allowed to eat sweets, mother says it will make me unhealthy.”
“If you eat too many, probably, but it’s okay, it’ll be our little secret, yeah?”
Leona placed Riddle into a seat before he went up to get something, which he wasn’t sure what Riddle liked…
So he bought it all.
Riddle seemed to be a bit nervous with all the food brought back to the table, looking at all the food with an almost scared expression.
“Whatever you want, try them and tell me what you like the best.”
Leona said, taking a bite into the food he had got for himself, watching Riddle hesitate before he reached for a those realistic strawberry-looking pastries.
Leona had tried them… meaning he knew how messy they got when bitten into but he was a bit late to say anything with food in his mouth and watched with very slight amusement when Riddle bit into the strawberry and it cracked, getting the boy all messy with the strawberry filling.
“Oh! Um… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
Riddle was almost immediately in tears, looking down at the mess he made with an almost terrified expression that made Leona’s amusement immediately switch to concern.
“It’s okay, little red, it really is, no need to cry.”
“No but it’s not! I made a mess!”
“You’re like 4, you don’t need to be the cleanest person in the world.”
“I’m 5!”
“You could pass as 3 so it’s fine, here.”
Leona sighed and stood up, walking over to Riddle, who actually flinched and cowered in fear but Leona grabbed napkins, starting to wipe at his face.
Riddle allowed Leona to wipe at his face and cried softly at the mess, softly apologizing still until Leona finished and picked up another fruit that wasn’t as mess-inducing and held it up.
“This one isn’t bad, promise.”
“… really?”
Leona nodded and Riddle looked up at Leona before hesitantly taking a bite of the sweet, chewing softly before his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Is it good?”
“Mhm! I really do like it!”
“Good, try the other things.”
Riddle nodded and started to eat the pastries as though he was starving and by the end he messy this time but didn’t seem as afraid, giggling as Leona wiped his face.
Leona lifted Riddle up after paying and the boy leaned on his shoulder, closing his eyes.
“You sleepy?”
“Mhm…”
“You can sleep, it’s fine.”
Leona insisted and Riddle snuggled into his neck more and soon enough after Leona walked around town, the motion made Riddle fall asleep, slowly breathing against his neck.
Leona made his way back to NRC and entered the portal, by this time it was quite dark, the last bits of sun being completely smothered out by the night, he had half the idea to bring him to Heartslabyul or even a teacher but that was on them for losing him.
Plus, he’s been gone for a few hours now and he was keeping Riddle wither anyone liked it or not.
He got to Savanaclaw and just walked into his room, lying on his bed with Riddle lying on his chest.
He closed his eyes, planning on heading to sleep if not for his door opening and he looked to the side to see Ruggie.
Ruggie walked in, about to sabotaging before Leona motioned him to stay quiet and he did, walking close to look at Riddle.
“Awe, so cute, anyways, boss.”
“Quieter.”
“… anyways, boss, when ya came back a Heartslabyul student saw you and told Trey and apparently he, Cater, Ace, and Deuce have been looking for him for hours and have been freaking out… they’re demanding you bring him back.”
“No way, he’s sleeping right now, it’s not my fault they lost him.”
“Thought so, bye.”
Ruggie shrugged, pulling his phone out with a pretty hopeful look and Leona just ignored him as he snapped a photo before leaving and Leona decided to sleep.
Leona was just wondering how the hell 4 students could lose one child? Sure, Riddle was small but he wasn’t exactly hard to miss.
He was the only super red head in this entire school, though he supposed in Heartslabyul you could mistake Riddle for a small rose.
By the time he woke up Riddle was still sleeping, he had woken up when Riddle shifted but he went back asleep he realized Riddle was just moving to sleep beside him and not on him.
Leona yawned as he sat up, looking at Riddle, he was still a child and drooling on the pillow below him, his hair pointing in all different directions, it wasn’t too long until Riddle sleepily got up at the feeling of Leona getting up.
“Rise and shine, teeny tiny.”
“Hi…”
Riddle grumbled as he sat up and Leona had to hold back a laugh, bringing one hand up to ruffle the boy’s already very messy hair.
Leona decided to get the boy out of the lab coat and put him in one of his shirts instead, which was still extremely long on him but at least it was short sleeve so he didn’t have to struggle with everything.
He could’ve put Riddle in Cheka’s clothing but he still was a bit small so Cheka’s clothing would’ve hung off of him which was worse than this, he was able to find some garments and shoes from about a year or two ago for him to wear at least.
Riddle’s hair was a bit longer as a child so Leona took some time to brush the boy’s hair fully once he finished brushing his own, however Leona looked confused when Riddle’s face had grown a bit sad.
“What’s wrong?”
“I… am I a bad person? When-when I become a grown up?”
Riddle stared at Leona through the vanity mirror, his bottom lip jutting out with his big eyes full of tears.
“I don’t think you’re a bad person, why do you think you’re a bad person when you grow up?”
“…”
Riddle didn’t answer his question and instead looked down, playing with his fingers but Leona could still see the tears falling down the boy’s face.
Leona finished brushing his hair and sighed, setting it down and sitting on the chair, picking Riddle up and setting him in his lap, bringing a hand up to wipe away Riddle’s tears.
“You don’t have to tell me but I cannot help if you don’t.”
“I- I don’t want you to help!”
“Why’s that?”
“Because- because… mommy said I have to do things myself now, because I’m a big girl now, it’s rule… rule… um- I…”
If Riddle wasn’t crying beforehand he definitely was now, it wasn’t silent tears this time but instead he immediately bursted into a loud cry, pushing away from Leona and nearly falling off the chair on his head if Leona didn’t catch him but he barely registered it and ran.
Leona didn’t stop Riddle from running under his bed, guess Leona had a much better idea of how Riddle’s entire being was engraved with rules.
The entire time Riddle was shouting ‘no,’ and ‘I’m sorry’ that admittedly break Leona’s heart, all the way until he climbed under the bed, pushing himself against the top of the bed next to the wall.
“I- I’m sorry! I- I didn’t mean to forget!”
Leona got up and walked towards the bed and laid down on the floor, looking under the bed at Riddle, he was curled up crying, using the back of his hands to wipe at them furiously.
“Red…”
“Go away! I’m sorry! Please go!”
“I can’t really do that, but I’m not mad I promise.”
“Yes you are! You’re mad!”
“I’m not, I’m really not.”
The underside of Leona’s bed wasn’t messy at all, thanks to Ruggie, so Leona didn’t worry too much about getting dusty as he crawled underneath bed, making Riddle flinch.
Leona stayed a bit far away on the other side, he was never so grateful for having a more elevated bed, it was still a bit tight for Leona but he knew he could fit with the amount of times he dragged Cheka out from under here.
“Why would I be mad at you?”
“Because I forgot a rule! I- I didn’t mean too!”
“I don’t even know the rule, Red, how can I be mad when I don’t know the rules?”
Leona explained and Riddle looked at Leona with a shocked expression, at least he wasn’t screaming anymore.
Leona took in a breath before he crawled a bit closer to Riddle, stopping about half of the bed length.
“Look, I don’t even like rules, you can trust me that I’ll never get mad at you forgetting a rule.”
“I- you- you promise?”
“Promise, now can we get out from under the bed? It’s easy for you but I’m having some trouble.”
Riddle looked at Leona for a few seconds before slowly nodding and Leona had to take a big breath of air now that he was exposed to open air and looked down at Riddle, who’s hair was messy again, which meant Leona’s was the same.
Leona quickly brushed Riddle’s hair before he started to brush his own fully, shaking out anything before Riddle whispered something.
“What was that?”
“The- the boy said I wasn’t a good grown up…”
Leona placed down his brush and walked closer to Riddle, who he placed on the couch and sat next to him.
“Who was the boy? This is an all boy’s school.”
“The one with the heart, the one here.”
Riddle pointed to the corner of his eye, his eyes were still a bit swollen with redness and occasional tears still came out but the boy was much more calm.
Ace really couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut if his life depended on it, huh?
“Is that why you left?”
Riddle shook his head and Leona waited patiently until he started to speak again.
“Everyone was so… loud… so loud… I don’t like it when they yell…”
“Yeah, Heartslabyul is really loud, Savanaclaw isn’t loud like Heartslabyul, right?”
Riddle nodded and Leona got up, making Riddle look at Leona curiously as he opened his closet and dug through his clothes until he found his mini fridge and he opened it up, bringing out a yogurt and a plastic spoon before getting back.
“You must be hungry so here.”
Riddle opens his mouth when the first spoonful came, taking it down rather easily since Leona was a bit afraid he’d choke on one of the pieces of tiny fruit, but he gladly had another bite that made Leona a bit at ease.
The door was knocked on and soon enough Ruggie came in, looking at Riddle with a small smile.
“So this is Riddle?”
“Mhm.”
Leona nodded at Ruggie’s question, bringing another spoonful of yogurt up into the boy’s awaiting mouth, sure, Riddle could probably feed himself but he wasn’t exactly objecting to this.
Riddle’s eyes curiously went to Ruggie every now and then, still obediently eating the yogurt but definitely wary, which was ironic given Riddle completely trusted Leona upon first meet.
Ruggie crouched down, now face to face with Riddle sitting on the couch and smiled a bit.
“Hi, I’m Ruggie, your Riddle, right?”
Riddle shook his head slowly after a few seconds, confusing Ruggie, who looked at the equally confused Leona.
“Um… then what is your name?”
“Rosalie.”
“… Rosalie? Your name is Rosalie Rosehearts?”
Riddle, well, Rosalie if they were going by his previous name, nodded and Ruggie looked between Riddle and Leona before he took a breath.
“Why does everyone call me that… Riddle isn’t my name…”
“Well- uh…”
“It’s what people know you as, when you were a grown up.”
Leona explained, tossing the empty yogurt away into a nearby trashcan and picked Riddle up, setting the boy in his lap.
“Why would I want people to call me that?”
“Cool name, but do me a favor and don’t tell anyone your name, okay? I don’t think grown up you would like it.”
“… okay.”
Riddle nodded in agreement, Leona gave him a small fist bump and gave Ruggie a look that he understood meant to not talk about what Riddle had just said.
“Are you still hungry or do you want something else? We’d have to go to the cafe if you wanted to get something.”
“I’m still hungry.”
“Kay, let us go then.”
Leona stood up, motioning Ruggie to come with them and he to the cafe, maybe he should’ve kept Riddle a secret from the general population he turned into a baby but Leona really couldn’t bring himself to care when his child was hungry.
The place was as bustling as ever, not as much since it was a Sunday, but there was still a bunch of people and Leona sat down on a bench a bit away from everyone else as Ruggie got their food but it was clear a good chunk of eyes were confused about the child.
Riddle kicked his feet looking around before he grabbed Leona’s hand, pointing at them.
Leona looked over to see Ace and Deuce arguing with Ruggie, probably about Riddle, before Ruggie made an exaggerated motion and pointed at Leona and Riddle.
Leona pulled the boy up into his lap as the two idiots came by, looking relieved at just seeing Riddle.
“Housewarden Leona.”
“Spikey, Spade.”
“Could we uh…”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what we were gonna ask!”
Ace shouted and raised his hands, that made Riddle press himself more tightly against Leona, arms wrapped around him with his cheek pressed against his chest with his eyes closed.
Leona brought a hand up, pressing it against Riddle’s ear and gave the two a look.
“Quit yelling, he doesn’t like that.”
“And how do you know that?”
“…”
Leona’s look quickly turned confused at Ace, could Ace not CLEARLY see Riddle pressed against him closing his eyes that he only did when Ace yelled????
“What?”
“I really hope you never have kids in the future.”
“Hey, boss! Little boss!”
Ruggie came by setting down one tray in front of Leona that had a bit extra food and one for him
With the regular portions.
Riddle finally opened his eyes and looked up at Ruggie, which Ruggie smiled at and gave him a wave that he returned.
“Didn’t know what ya’d like, little boss, so I got stuff I’ve seen grown up you eat.”
“… little boss?”
They were just ignoring Ace and Deuce by now, Leona picked up a piece of bacon and broke it in half, giving it to Riddle to eat himself.
“Yeah, you’re like my boss’s little kid so you’re my little boss until you’re back to a grown up.”
Riddle seemed to accept that explanation and continued to eat the bacon, actually taking the initiative to grab a piece once he realized Leona wouldn’t mad at him for doing it.
Leona finally turned back and looked at Ace and Deuce.
“You two should head out, I’m not bringing him back since he’s clearly fine with me.”
“Look we kinda NEED to bring him back.”
“Yeah! Trey and Cater have been losing their shit and I think they’re gonna kill someday if we don’t bring him back.”
“Maybe shouldn’t have lost him.”
Ruggie shrugged, taking a piece of his egg and feeding Riddle it, Riddle seemed to enjoy it and even held his arms out and Ruggie had to hold back laughing before he picked up Riddle and set him in his own lap.
Soon enough since Ace and Deuce figured they were falling on deaf ears they left and Ruggie had an idea and looked at Leona.
“How about we take him to the park? You wanna go to the park?”
“I… mommy says that-“
“Ah ah ah, no more ‘mommy says this’ or ‘mommy says that’ do you want to go?”
Leona said and Riddle thought about it for a moment before he nodded and Ruggie smiled, the three finished their breakfast before Ruggie stood with Riddle in his arms.
They left and passed by Jack, who looked curiously at them and waved to Riddle.
“Hi, little Riddle.”
“Hi…”
“We’re taking him to the park, can you tell those herbivores of yours if Trey and Cater want to see him the can just go there.”
“Okay!”
Jack nodded, and left into the cafeteria before soon enough they left through the portal and headed to a park.
Ruggie placed Riddle on the ground but Riddle didn’t move, his hands worrying at the hem of his shirt, and Ruggie placed a hand on the back of Riddle, giving him a tiny push.
“Don’t you want to go play?”
Riddle shook his head and the two looked at each other before Leona picked him up, walking over to the swings.
“You wanna go play on the swings, it’s fun.”
“Okay…”
Riddle nodded and Leona put him on the swings and Ruggie sat on a swing next to him as Leona gave him a small push, making sure not to go too high.
Ruggie however…
“Ruggie, if you go any higher than that you’ll fall off the swing and hurt yourself.”
“No I won’t! I’ve done this a ton of times and I’ve only fallen twice!”
Ruggie swung higher, his feet kicking high in the air and Riddle watched curiously as he went high in the air, like he was considering asking Leona to push him higher but even then Riddle was still gripping the chains tightly like he was going as high as Ruggie when Leona was barely pushing.
Leona gently pushed Riddle, looking over at Ruggie, who was just going higher and higher until he went high enough and Ruggie was barely holding on the chains.
He obviously fell.
“Owie…”
Ruggie groaned and held his back that made Riddle gasp, wanting to jump off but nervous so Leona stopped the swing and helped the boy down, who immediately went to Ruggie.
Riddle stood over him looking extremely nervous and looked to be in near tears, that Ruggie noticed.
“Ow… I’m okay, little boss, I’m okay… shit…”
“Are- are you sure?”
“Mhm!”
Ruggie nodded and sat up, wiping away the wood chips on his back, looking at Riddle with a playful-pain smile.
Riddle wiped away his tears once Ruggie got on his knees and held Riddle’s shoulders, giving him a hug and scooping him up.
“I don’t want to go on the slides anymore…”
“Just because I got hurt doesn’t mean you will, boss isn’t pushing you high.”
“I don’t wanna go on anymore!”
“Okay, okay, how about the slides? Slides are fun!”
Ruggie said and started to walk to the slides, Leona decided to go to the bench and sit down, watching the two from afar.
Ruggie climbed on the playground, making sure to not strike any kids, though there was maybe 3 at most, and got on a slide, placing Riddle in his lap and wrapping his arms around him.
“You ready?”
“It’s… it’s quite high.”
“For someone so teeny tiny yeah, but you’ll be safe, I’ll protect you, okay?”
Riddle didn’t seem swayed by Ruggie’s words and gripped the edge of the slide, looking over with a worried expression.
Ruggie had to take Riddle’s tiny hands off the railing and held his hands, saying ‘here we go!’ Before he immediately slid down.
Riddle let out a small scream before they were down and looked to be registering what the hell had happened as Ruggie stood up and bounced him.
“There, all good, right? It’s nice and fun!”
“I… um…”
Ruggie patiently waited for Riddle to properly figure out how he felt about the slide before Riddle smiled, and raised his hands in the air.
“Again! I wanna go again!”
“Again? Alrighty then, do you wanna go alone or do you want me to accompany you?”
“Um… I want to…”
Riddle played with his fingers, looking at the slide and Ruggie took the initiative to walk to the slide and place him on the top, holding his waist.
Riddle squirmed nervously, unsure if he wanted to tough it out or go down, looking at Ruggie before his eyes went to Leona sitting on the bench, who was watching and gave him a small wave.
Riddle let out a small whine and closed his eyes tight before he went down the slide, where Ruggie lifted him up afterwards.
The boy opened his eyes and looked around, making sure he was still alive before he smiled and giggled.
“Again! Again!”
“Okay! Let’s g-“
“Riddle! Oh Riddle there you are!”
The two looked over to see Cater and Trey running over, Riddle didn’t even make an attempt to get down, his arm still lazily wrapped around Ruggie’s neck, laying his head on his shoulder.
Cater and Trey stopped by the two, looking down at Riddle like heartbroken parents and Ruggie looked at Riddle too, motioning for him to go to them but Riddle shook his head adamantly, hugging him tighter.
“There’s ya answer, Riddle doesn’t wanna go with you.”
“Well- Riddle, why’d you run away? Did you know how worried we were?”
Trey questioned, and Riddle didn’t answer, turning his head, his gaze going to the slide and he tugged on Ruggie’s shirt.
“Wanna go back on the slide?”
“Yeah.”
Ruggie smiled and turned around, placing him on the slide for him to go down again as Trey and Cater watched.
Leona walked up behind them, watching Riddle giggle and shouting ‘again’ over and over, it made Leona a bit solemn at the idea this was probably the most fun Riddle has ever had in his life.
“I don’t get it….”
“You guys are too loud, anyways, what happened to him?”
“Oh, Ridz got into a freak accident in lab, Crewel told us to watch him for a few days while he made the potion to turn him back… but I guess you’re watching him now…”
Cater explained and Leona only nodded and walked closer to Riddle, who was still on the high of riding the slide about 7 times now.
Riddle looked up at Leona, raising his hands to be held up and Leona lifted the boy up, ruffling his hair.
“You know there’s other things to play with, right? There’s more fun things than the slide.”
“Slide! Again! Again!”
“You might get sick going down the slide so many times…”
“Again!”
Leona sighed and walked to the slide and helped him up.
He got sick.
By the time Riddle was done throwing up he had tears in his eyes and let Leona wipe his face with a napkin, gently scolding him.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
Riddle nodded, taking in a deep breath as Ruggie gave him another sip of a water bottle he had bought.
Trey and Cater had left after watching Riddle have fun, talking in hushed whispers before leaving, Riddle didn’t seem to mind in the slightest though.
After Riddle had regurgitated his breakfast he laid his head on Leona’s shoulder, closing his eyes for a nap.
“Oh, I talked to Professor Crewel and he said the potion should be good by tomorrow, meaning this will be the last time we see red so tiny!”
Ruggie said as Leona scooped Riddle into his arms and bounced him as he thought about it, sure, he would prefer to have Riddle back but in his heart he liked this little version of him.
Maybe he just liked being a parent to such a clingy kid.
Even then Leona only nodded to Ruggie’s words, his hands carding through Riddle’s hair gently.
“Little Red, you wanna take a nap?”
Riddle sleepily nodded, blinking slowly before he completely closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.
While Riddle napped, Leona and Ruggie started to walk around the town, even getting some snacks before they went back to NRC.
Leona felt himself getting insanely tired seeing Riddle so tired and handed Riddle, who was still sleeping, off to Ruggie, and left to go take a nap since he didn’t really want to have Riddle wake up with him still knocked out.
Ruggie checked his phone, noticing how it was around the time he’d go to Scarabia, he considered canceling it but he was sure Kalim not Jamil would mind too much…