Milk of the Siren || Various!TwistedWonderland X Siren!Reader

✧14. Tart.✧

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You begrudgingly crept out of your warm bed and walked down the stairs towards the door. Yuu and Grim had also emerged from their room, probably hearing the knocking. "... who is it...?" You called out in a tired town of voice. "It's me, Ace! Just let me in, all right?" The ginger's voice called from the other side. You groaned and opened the door, seeing the ginger. He looked annoyed. There was a collar fastened around his neck. He stared at you for a second. You forgot that you had gone to bed wearing your shorts and your button up. The first three buttons were undone. You didn't really own any other clothes so this was your choice for clothes to sleep in.

"Ace? It's the middle of the night! B-bwah! That collar!" Grim frowned at the familiar collar. Now that you think about it, you have seen this collar before. At the entrance ceremony when Grim was  being a little bitch. Ace pushes past you, trying not to stare for too long. "I can't go back to Heartslabyul House. I'm joining your dorm. For good." He crossed his arms. You rubbed your tired eyes and plopped down on one of the lounge couches. "Myah?! Come again?!" Grim exclaimed, surprised about Ace's proclamation.

The three boys follow you to the lounge, Yuu sitting down next to you, Ace sitting across from you, and Grim laying down on your lap. "I'd recognize that collar anywhere. It's the same one that psycho stuck on me at orientation!" Grim frowned at the sight of the collar. "What'd you do to get shackled with that?" Ace crossed his arms. "I ate a tart." The room was silent for a second. "You... ate a tart?" Yuu furrowed his eyebrows. You leaned your head on Yuu's shoulder. You were still sort of waking up. "Yeah, that's it! That's all I did!" Ace began "I was a little hungry, see, so I went down to the dorm kitchen and found some tarts in the fridge. Three whole tarts! Big ones, too!" He gestured to the size of the tarts with his hands.

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"Man, I'm still tired from our little adventure. I missed dinner, too, and now I'm starving!" Ace was still in his uniform as he opened the fridges door. "Got anything for me, fridge?" He spotted three large strawberry tarts. The strawberries on time practically shimmered like jewels. "...Whoa, score! Tarts! Those look amazing! And plenty to go around, too! No one would notice if I snagged one teeeeensy little slice, right? Right. Of course not." He grabbed a tart and a plate, serving himself a slice of tart. He bit down on the tart happily. "Mmph... SO good! I'm in pastry paradise right now!" This tart was good enough to make a grown man cry!

An unknown person responded from the shadows. "Of course they're good. Trey made them. His tarts are always exceptional." The familiar voice informed. "Yeah, but I mean... These are CRAZY good!" Ace looked up at the figure, not realizing who it was. "Like, he could sell these at- wait, Housewarden?!" Ace was shocked to see Riddle standing there, his arms crossed angrily. "That you would think to touch something of MINE... Well, I'm impressed with your audacity, at least." The redhead frowned. "But the Queen of Hearts's rule 89 is quite clear. "Never eat a tart without the Queen's permission." The theft of tarts is a serious crime!" Riddle grabbed his magic pen and aimed at Ace. "Off With Your Head!" A magic collar appeared around Ace's neck..

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."And... here I am." You stared blankly as Ace finished his tale of woe. The room was silent. "So... The point is you're both terrible?" Grim deadpanned. "I mean... I'd be pretty mad if one of my sisters took my food..." you mumbled. "You don't think that it's insane for my magic to get sealed away for eating ONE slice of tart?!" Ace gestured with his hands dramatically. "For a mage, that's like having your arms and legs bound and shackled!" He made the number three with his fingers. "And there were three whole tarts! THREE! It's not like he could eat 'em all himself! C'mon, you KNOW this is messed up!" He looked at Yuu. "...it does seem a tad extreme." Yuu offered his sympathy.

"Riiight?!" Ace groaned. "Yeah, but..." the fur ball began. "I mean, if there were three of 'em, they were probably for a party. Maybe it was someone's birthday or somethin'? Lookit that! I'm, like, a master detective too!" Grim praised himself. You absentmindedly combed your fingers through Grim's fur. Ace seemed to consider it for a second. "A birthday party, huh...?" "That would explain it. Did you even apologize?" Yuu asked the ginger haired boy. "Man... I thought you'd be more sympathetic! I'm a victim of the housewarden's tyranny here!" Ace gestured to himself like he was the victim. He kind of was. Though, you're kind of sympathizing with both Riddle and Ace. On one hand, maybe Riddle is food aggressive. You get it because you're also food aggressive. On the other hand, you do think that collaring Ace and kicking him out was a bit too extreme.

"Stealing food is a serious offense." You deadpanned at Ace. Ace wore an indignant face. "Aw, you gotta be kiddin' me!" He groaned. "Tomorrow, go and apologize. If you apologize, I'm sure he'll forgive you." Yuu advised. "You don't go messin' with another man's meal..." Grim stated. You nodded in agreement with Grim. "Hey, wait a minute! I just realized I never got those cans of tuna the headmage promised me!" The feline suddenly realized.

"All right, all right. Fine. I get that I should apologize." Ace pointed to the three of you. "But you guys're coming with me. This was your idea, after all." Yuu simply shrugged. "Fair enough." You nodded again. Really you were too tired to speak right now. You just wanted this conversation to be done with so you could return to your bed. "Anyway, you got a place for me to crash tonight?" Ace looked at you. "You were serious about that? Outside of the bedroom me and Yuu use and Y/N's bedroom, this entire dump is buried under a foot of dust. So if you wanna crash, you better start cleanin'!" Grim gestured to the broom in the room.

"Dude, no way! I hate cleaning!" Ace whined before turning to you. "Just let me stay with you, Y/N. I'm real slim. I won't take up much space." You were about to agree just so you can end this conversation sooner but you were interrupted by Yuu. "Allow me to introduce you to the lounge sofa." He gestured to the sofa Ace was sitting on. "Tch. You're about as flexible as a brick. Well, fine. The sofa it is. Night!" Yuu got up, taking Grim with him. "Night!" He smiled as he walked to his room. "Mhm..." you mumbled as you also got up and walked to your room. You stopped halfway up the stairs and looked back at Ace. He was struggling to get comfortable on the old dusty couch. He didn't have a pillow nor a blanket. You felt bad. Sympathy on a man? You're getting soft, Y/N!

"Ace." You said his name, getting his attention. "C'mon." You gestured for him to follow you. "Sweet! Thanks!" He smiled and hopped up from the couch, walking towards you. The both of you walked into your bedroom. It was dusty but the bed was habitable. Your clothes (and a towel) were strewn across the floor. You hadn't bothered to be neat. You were too tired. You flopped back into bed, covering yourself with the comforter. You think you wanna be a better person this time. That means being kind. You guess it's really no skin off your back to let Ace have a nice place to sleep. That's a kind thing to do, right?

Ace had taken off his vest, blazer, and tie. He unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. He eventually climbed into bed, trying to keep a distance from you. He's not trying to seem like a scumbag. He turns away from you.

You fell asleep almost immediately. You didn't dream this time. Not about Demeter, Not about your sisters. You just didn't have a dream. Why had you been dreaming about Demeter recently? You never usually do. You'd dream of her every now and then but it was never as frequent as it has been. You miss her.

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