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What was supposed to be a simple event planning session for the Prefect's upcoming birthday, instead turned into a hostage situation—is what Cater told any ear bored enough to listen to his tale.
A few days before the celebratory date, Riddle called Cater over for some help. The third year was knowledgeable in all sorts of fun and exciting things, so while Trey prepared the desserts and the Adeuce Duo argued over who got to accompany the Prefect down the aisle (what did they think this was??), Riddle and Cater brainstormed over some games in the lunch hall.
"I don't know, Riddle-kun," Cater chirped. "That does sound fun, but I think the Prefect might like something more than 'blindfolded sudoku.'"
"I'm aware of that." Riddle said, crossing out the words in his notes.
This was the first time Riddle took initiative in planning something that had nothing to do with any rule. This was no Unbirthday Party, nor any mandatory event The Queen of Hearts gave importance unto; but to compare a friend's birthday to any of those formalities made Riddle . . . hesitate.
The Prefect had done so much for Heartslabyul, including Riddle Rosehearts himself. He almost could not count the number of times they helped him this month alone; whether that was dealing with his rowdy freshmen, painting the roses, taking care of the hedgehogs . . . and especially what happened after his Overblot.
Riddle couldn't deny that it was nice having the Prefect around. They do so much, and he could see that they often received little or no help in their own predicaments. It worried him, and this birthday party was the least he—anyone of them could do.
It was one of Riddle's own personal rules that his friends must be treated correctly. He wouldn't allow anyone under his care to be subjugated to any type of mistreatment. Putting his past deeds aside.
Besides, he quite liked the Prefect.
Riddle shivered.
"Ahem," he adjusted his tie, finding it suited to his collar already. "Do you have anything else in mind?"
Cater grinned and waved his phone. "You betcha!"
He leaned closer towards Riddle and gestured for the latter to do the same, the phone placed between them. The screen showed Cater's Magicam page on a post captioned 'happy bday Aya!!', the picture itself portraying a group of friends in some sort of hide-and-seek or tag adjacent game.
The celebrant seemed to be blindfolded, holding a giraffe plush in their hand. The other attendees, Riddle assumed, were hiding from the celebrant with huge smiles on their faces. It didn't help that the room they were in was dark minus for the camera flash illuminating the place; Riddle was torn on whether the photo was a prelude to a crime scene, or just a ridiculously reckless "game" he had never heard of.
"You know that one mobile game with the scary granny?" Cater asked.
". . . I'm afraid not." Riddle knotted his brows.
"Ooh, you've gotta try it out sometime, Riddle! It's super fun! I've already gotten Trey on it."
"Is that why he is—? Wait, we're getting out of topic. What is this supposed to be?" Riddle gestured to the photo.
"Okay." Cater hushed his voice. "From what I know from Chime, this is, like, a real-life version of that game! We find a room, we blindfold the granny—uh, the seeker, then everybody has to be quiet while the seeker—"
"—goes around . . . hitting the hiders?" Riddle concluded, mouth agape.
"Yep!"
"Absolutely not, Cater!" Riddle snapped, slapping his notepad and magestone pen atop the table. "This game sounds incredibly dangerous! What if our members get hurt!"
"Oh, come on, Riddle-kun!" Cater pleaded with glassy eyes and twinkles around him. "This might be the only time CayCay gets to do something this fun with friends! If this were anybody else, I'd go home with broken bones and blot on my face! It'd be awesome!"
Riddle sighed. "You . . . You're doing this for yourself!"
"Hey, I'm not heartless! I'm doing this for the others too. I know a lot of people who would love this game."
"Game?"
Riddle and Cater paused, their breath seizing at the same time. They know that voice.
Their pulses quickened in their chests, and Riddle especially dreaded turning around to meet their uninvited guest. Luckily, Cater swiveled so quickly, Riddle thought he'd get whiplash.
"Oh, crap—hey, Floyd!" Cater greeted cheerfully.
Finally, Riddle turned his head.
There stood Floyd Leech, eyes gold and dark and absolutely teeming with mischief. His teal hair was slightly disheveled. Azul and Jade were nowhere to be found, so either Riddle and Cater were unlucky enough to be located by Floyd, or Floyd was sent to look for them. Riddle had to be wary of Jade too, if he were around.
"Goldfishie! Seabream!" Floyd grinned and bent to their level, casting a shadow over their faces. "What'cha doin'?"
Riddle swallowed. "That's none of your business, Floyd."
But Floyd was never easy to deter. He slipped into the seat beside Cater, who was now sandwiched between two sophomores and inched closer towards Riddle. "Boo . . . I heard about a game! What game are we talking about?"
"Just something between us dorm members," Cater said, fanning Floyd with his free hand. "Shoo, now. We're actually quite busy! Bye-bye, little butterfly!"
"Is this about Shrimpy's birthday?" Floyd grinned, his sharp teeth sounding Riddle's alarm bells.
Was Riddle close to using his many Floydtingency (Floyd + contingency) plans? Perhaps.
"Why, it's . . ." Riddle cleared his throat. "Why do you ask? Is your Housewarden planning something similar? If Octavinelle needs assistance—"
"Who said anything about Azul? I wanna see this!" Floyd snatched Riddle's notepad and held it aloft.
"What the—FLOYD!" Riddle surged from his seat and attempted to reach the merman. "That doesn't belong to you!"
Cater sweated, holding his hands up between them. "Uh, gang, maybe we should—"
Floyd then snatched Cater's phone from his hand, flipping it over his fingers with a large and sharp grin. "Hehehe!"
"FLOYD, STOP!" Cater yelped and stood, hands coming up behind his head. "THAT'S MY BABY!"
Cater's yelling brought quite the many heads toward them. Riddle had nearly forgotten that they were in a public space, and that one terrible move might forever strip them of their dignity. He did not have the time and energy for any of Floyd's shenanigans; Ace and Deuce had already sucked his energy dry with their incessant back and forths that morning.
"Floyd!" Riddle pointed towards the other sophomore with a red face. "Cease your insolent behavior this instant!"
"Haha~! Silly Goldfishie, you know I don't understand legalese!"
Riddle sputtered. "That wasn't—what?!"
"AHHH!" Cater screamed.
Riddle jolted, his hand gripping tightly around his pen. "Cater, what is it?!"
"I forgot my hair tie!"
"W-What?" Riddle faltered.
"I mean," the third year chuckled, nervously fanning his face with his phone-less hand. "I don't actually use it a lot since my hair's already tied up, but my wrist feels naked! I use it to stay calm, you know? It's my second baby."
"Cater . . ."
"Heeey! You guys are having a party without us!" Floyd whined as he flipped through the notepad. "Music! Decor! Food! Games! So this is about Shrimpy, I wanna help!"
"No." Riddle gritted his teeth. "This is between us Heartslabyul members only."
"But Shrimpy isn't even from your dorm!"
"He's right, babes," Cater whispered to Riddle, who glowered in return.
"They're a special guest!" The Heartslabyul Housewarden reasoned, aiming for his notepad a few more times, but Floyd continuously kept it out of his reach.
The merman grinned wider. "Nuh-uh. I'm not about to let you and Seabream have all the fun! Let's see here . . ." Floyd began scrolling through Cater's phone.
"H-Hey!" Cater made a grab for his device, which ultimately failed when Floyd turned his back against him. "That's an invasion of privacy! I can't believe I'm getting bullied by an underclassman! How much aura points do I lose from this?! Don't look through my photos!"
"Oooh~ Goldfishie, Seabream, this looks fun!" Floyd showed them a video of the game they were discussing earlier. "I wanna play this!"
"Enough!" Riddle snapped and rose to his feet. "Why are you here, Floyd? If this is a ploy from Azul then tell him that we're already aware of what his plans might be."
"As I've said, Goldfishie, I ain't doing anything for Azul," Floyd blanked.
"Then, what are you here for? And don't tell me that you're just bored like last time."
Floyd frowned. "Ehhh? I just wanna play with Shrimpy, that's all. You're the one making a big deal outta it . . ."
Riddle gaped. "It's always a big deal with you!"
"Kids, I think we should all settle down and be nice, 'kay?" Cater leaned back with a sigh. "Floyd-kun . . . It's going to be the Prefect's birthday in just a few days from now. Me, Riddle, and the rest of the squad are there to make sure that they stay happy and vibing~! So, we can't have any insane stuff happen in the meantime, or else CayCay and, uh, Riddle-kun here will go crazy. If you want to celebrate with us, go ahead, but maybe ask Riddle first?"
That somehow tempered Floyd a bit, as his energy dulled and he seemed to not want to jump out of his seat and onto the table now. Still, Riddle did not trust his sudden silence at all.
"Fineee." Floyd slumped and continued scrolling through Cater's phone.
Riddle raised a brow. "Just like that?"
"Hey, Goldfishie, is this you?!"
"WHAT?!" Riddle reached across Cater but to no avail.
"No grabbing!" Floyd laughed, before his eyes sharpened and his gaze bore an icy glint. "Unless tiny, little Goldfishie wants a squeeze?"
Riddle blinked. "Wha . . . WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"
"Ugh . . . I'm getting super hungry." Floyd groaned.
Immediately, he slipped out the seating and tossed the phone and the notepad behind him, both of which Cater and Riddle managed to rescue before they hit the floor, grunting in unison.
"Floyd!" Riddle called for the merman, but he was already making his way out the lunch hall.
They scrambled up and raced after the second-year, weaving through the other students and passing under the doorframe. By the time they made it out proper, Floyd was nowhere to be seen.
"Man," Cater panted. "You'd think that with how much of a bean pole the guy is that we'd see him in the crowd."
"Why say that he's hungry and then leave the lunch hall?" Riddle grumbled as he opened his notepad. "No . . . !"
"Something wrong, Riddle?"
"He . . . Floyd—!" Riddle sifted through the pages and found the birthday plans missing, the papers ripped from the spine. All of them, even the ones dating back from weeks ago, all gone.
Riddle's hands were shaking.
Cater sighed. "Oh, dearie."
"FLOOOYD!"
.
.
.
Ruggie watched as Riddle stormed out of the lunch hall with Cater in tow, leaving chaos in his wake.
He sunk back into his seat and pried open the box, seeing six donuts of varying flavors; double chocolate, strawberry, caramel, glazed, matcha, and cider. Sniffing at the contents, he took the double chocolate donut and bit into it, immediately melting at the moist and fudge. Not too sweet despite its appearance, just right.
"Man," Ruggie licked his lips, muttering to himself. "I sure hope I won't regret teaching Floyd that trick . . ."