Straight-Up Not Having A Good Time At Night Raven College: Prologue

Prologue Chapter 9: Meeting A Freshman

"Queen a' Hearts?" Grim repeated, tilting his head.
"Is she famous or somethin'?"

The student laughed, rocking back on his heels.
"A reeeeal long time ago, she was a queen who lived in a huge maze of roses," he informed them.
"It's said that she valued order above all else-- she wouldn't tolerate a single rose being the wrong color, or any of her playing-card soldiers being a second out of step. Basically, she ruled over a kingdom of madness...  But not even one of these totally mad subjects even DARED to defy her."

Taking a few steps back, he waggled his eyebrows, crossing his arms behind his head.
"You wanna know why?"

Kat glanced sideways at Grim, then shrugged.
"It seems like you're gonna tell us anyway," she said flatly.

"HA!"
The student laughed.
"Okay, then-- it's 'cause the punishment for breaking even a SINGLE rule was..."
He drew a thumb emphatically across his neck.
"...IMMEDIATE decapitation!"

"Weh!" Grim yelped, cowering  against Kat's shoulder.
"Y-Yikes! That's seriously messed up..."

Kat frowned.
Queen of....
She put her fingertips to her forehead, closing her eyes for a second.
Ugh-- it felt like she might be getting another headache...

"Huh, really? No way-- I think it's cool!" The student objected, hands on his hips.
"Actually, I'm a big fan! I mean... If a queen was all kind and soft-hearted all the time, nobody would bother to obey her, right?"

"Hmmm..."
Grim rubbed his chin, brows knitting.
"Yeah, I guess... A leader's gotta be strong after all, right? But, puttin' that aside..."
He pointed a paw at him.
"Who are you, anyway?"

The student grinned, rubbing the back of his neck.
"The name's Ace," he chirped. "I'm a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed first-year here as of... Today, I guess!"

He laughed again.

"Pleased to meet'cha!"

Grim jumped down off her shoulder, walking up to Ace with his paws on his hips.

"I'm Grim!" He announced proudly, chest puffing out.
"A magical prodigy who's plannin' to be the greatest mage who ever lived! Oh, and she--"
Here he gestured vaguely back at Kat. "She's my hench-human, Kat-- but she's not that interesting."

"Nice to meet ya, Grim!" Ace said, crouching down and shaking his paw.
"And..."
Standing back up, he gave Kat a curious look.

" 'Kat', huh? Name's got kinda an odd ring to it... Ah, not that it's BAD, though!"

He laughed again, putting his hands up. For some reason, he had a single black leather glove on one hand.

Kat rolled her eyes, waving dismissively.
"It's fine..."
Stepping forward, she extended a hand. "Nice to meet you-- but I'm not anyone's hench-ANYTHING."

She shot a glower at Grim, but he was looking the other way, pretending not to notice her.

Ace took her hand in both of his, giving it a hearty shake.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Kat!" He beamed, releasing her hand and stepping back.

"So," he added, hands in his pockets with a casual air.
"You're a chick, right?"

Kat rolled her eyes again, bending over the trolley and picking up the battered broom.
"Are you asking for my preferred pronouns?"

"Uh-- I guess," the redhead replied, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward grin. "I mean-- I'm a guy, and mine are, y'know, he, him... Got 'em when I was born and never really felt the need to change it up. You?"