Grim looked up.
"Hey, hey-- so how 'bout the other dorms? What're they like?"
"Wellll..."
Leaning forward on the table again, Trey adjusted his glasses.
"Like Cater just said, the dorms of this school are modeled after the Great Seven. First, we have our dorm-- Heartslabyul; modeled after the strictness of the Queen of Hearts."
Everyone nodded.
Trey continued.
"Next we have... Savanaclaw House, based on the persistent spirit of the King of Beasts. Octavinelle House, based on the benevolent heart of the Sea Witch. And Scarabia House, modeled after the mindfulness of the Sorcerer of the Sands."
He looked around to make sure everyone was getting it, then continued.
"Then there's Pomefiore House, based on the tenacity of the Fairest Queen. Ignihyde House, based on the diligence of the Lord of the Dead. And finally, there's Diasomnia House, based on the noble spirit of the Thorn Fairy."
Kat blinked hard.
That was a whole lot of information to absorb all at once.
But also-- ugh, was she getting another headache? How much water had she been drinking? Probably not enough...
"What's with all these NAMES?!" Grim demanded, looking baffled.
"They're way too long-- how's anybody supposed to remember just ONE of 'em, let alone all seven?!"
"Ah ha ha!"
Cater laughed again, winking.
"Well, as long as you get the basic outlines of 'em, that's fine! Don't worry, you'll be able to remember them all pretty soon-- whether you want to or not!"
Trey crossed his arms.
"Which dorm you get into is decided at orientation, where the Dark Mirror picks you one based on the essence of your soul... Or something like that, at least," he said, smiling.
"Because of that, every dorm ends up developing a distinct kind of... Character, let's call it."
Cater nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, yeah-- it's true! I mean, I totally see it-- all you gotta do is look around!"
Deuce frowned, looking puzzled.
" 'Character'?" He repeated, putting a hand to his chin.
"Hmm. For example..."
Trey started looking around the cafeteria. "Ah! I got it. That guy."
He nodded across the room.
Kat sat up a little straighter, squinting. "Which one-- oh."
There was probably only one person Trey could be referring to. She couldn't see many details, but they were tall and jacked, leaning against the wall with their arms crossed.
They had tan skin, spiky white-gray hair, and...
It was one of the kemonomimi furries.
Beastfolk, she corrected herself, that was probably the right word.
Whoever it was, they had a pair of husky-like ears on top of their head, the same white color as their hair.
As she watched, they swiveled their ears around. She saw something swish behind them-- a tail.
A big, white, fluffy tail.
"That wild, rough-and-tumble vibe he's got going on has Savanaclaw written all over it," Trey continued.
"For suresies!" Cater agreed, nodding emphatically. "That dorm's just full of athletic guys who are all into working out and fighting and stuff like that."
Kat squinted.
Just her luck-- he wasn't wearing a vest... And she couldn't make out the color of his armband from this far away.
"Man, what's the right word... Macho dudes? Big, gruff older brothers? Something like that... Anyway, the black and gold armbands's another dead giveaway!" Cater informed them.
Kat scribbled in the notebook again.
Savanaclaw... Savannah Claw? Klaw? How do u spell this shit lol
King of Beasts' persistence; the bara dorm
Gym bro vibes???
(Furries????)
Gold+black armbands
"Ohhh, I think I get it," Grim mused, nodding. "Okay then, how aboooout.. "
His own ears swiveled as he looked around.
"The guy with the... Gray an' purple ribbon around his arm?"
Everyone turned to look.
A few tables away, someone was sitting, perusing a book. They had elegant posture, side-swept, silvery hair, and a forkful of salad frozen halfway to their mouth.
Kat squinted.
Hey, isn't that...
"It's Glasses Boy!" She said out loud.
Everyone turned to look at her.
She clapped a hand over her mouth, blushing.
"Prefect, do you know him?" Deuce asked.
She shook her head.
"N-No-- not really, I mean. Um... I met... No, I guess saw?- him at the ceremony, and I only really remember him because he was the only one I saw wearing glasses, too..."
She looked over at Grim.
"And he was the one who chased you, besides that Riddle guy! You don't remember that?"
Grim frowned.
"Huh... I guess there was SOMEBODY else there, but I don't really remember... I guess he just didn't leave as big an impression as the crazy redhead."
He looked back at Trey.
"So? What house is he in?"
"He's gotta be from Octavinelle," Trey said, chuckling quietly. "And the one sitting in front of him, with the red and gold armband-- that's Scarabia."
Kat looked over.
There were actually two students sitting in front of the Octavinelle boy-- one of whom she also recognized.
"Oh-- I know him, too!" She exclaimed, pointing. "That's Headband Boy! He seemed really nice..."
The student sitting next to 'Headband Boy' gave her a sharp glare.
He had the same light brown skin as Headband Boy, maybe a little darker, and long dark hair in a low ponytail, braided with gold ornaments on one side.
She blushed again, lowering her hand and looking away.
"Those dorms are where all the smart kids are," Cater piped up.
"They're always in a dead heat in the academic rankings! Ah, but-- the current head of Scarabia doesn't actually seem to be much of a studier..."
"Okaay-- an' here goes Cater-senpai, off on some random story tangent," Ace droned comedically, rolling his eyes.
"Do you need your rocking chair, old-timer?"
"Hey!" Cater protested, looking around with a scowl.
Trey laughed, giving an approving nod. "You're a quick study, Ace," he said. "Okay, let's get back on topic."
Kat wrote furiously again.
Octavinelle-- benevolence of Sea Witch, gray+purple armbands
Scarabia-- mindfulness of Sorcerer of Sands, red+gold armbands
Both the 'smart kid' dorms??
"You see those flashy people over there?" Trey continued, nodding.
"The ones with a kind of twinkly aura, like a movie scene or something... They've got the purple-and-red armbands, so that means they're in Pomefiore."
Kat looked over.
Sure enough, two people were sitting, almost posing, at a table across the room.
One of them was taller, wearing a big hat with a feather in it...
What was that? It was too big to be a fedora, even the real kind of fedora, not the trilby that everybody thought was a fedora. She could see stick-straight blond hair and a sharp-chinned face.
The other one was a lot smaller, with fluffy lavender hair. They were sitting rather morosely, reading what looked like a potionology textbook.
"Oh!"
Grim perked up eagerly, tail twitching. "No way-- there's a SUPER cute girl over there!"
Kat looked at him again, then back at the Pomefiore pair.
The little one with the purple hair...
Okay, their face was pretty damn cute...
VERY cute, actually. But...
"Wh-- a GIRL?!" Deuce repeated, looking back and forth between Grim and the purple-haired student. "In an all-boys' school? No way..."
"You guys are idiots," Ace announced, crossing his arms and leaning back. "There's no way there'd be a girl as a student here..."
"I am right here," Kat interrupted flatly, crossing her arms as well.
Ace coughed, looking momentarily embarrassed.
"I mean-- there aren't any girls officially enrolled here, or assigned to a dorm by the Dark Mirror."
"HUUUUH?!" Deuce and Grim said in unison, looking shocked.
The purple-haired student looked up, blinking.
"Sshhh!" Kat hissed, smacking Deuce and Grim lightly. "Stop yelling-- they're looking over here!"
After a moment, the student shrugged, going back to their textbook.
"All the girl mages go to Crown Imperial, anyway," Ace said flatly. "You didn't know that?"
"N-No..." Deuce admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
Kat blinked.
"Crown Imperial?"
"Crown Imperial Finishing and Magical Education School," Ace informed her.
"Oh, it's not just a magic school, it's also like an etiquette school or something... Apparently girls from rich families, or princesses or whatever, all go there."
"Ooh, speaking of girls," Cater interjected eagerly. "There's a portrait in the west hall who's a real cutie! Her name's Rosaria-chan! If you want, I could set up something to introduce you?"
Ace winced.
"Uhh-- a painting? N-No thanks... I mean, no offense to this Rosaria-chan or whatever, but she's still a painting..."
"Aww..."
Cater pouted, scooting closer and slapping Ace on the back.
"Come on, don't be like that! Guys are into 2D girls all the time, right! But anyway-- they take aesthetics pretty seriously over at Pomefiore, right? Basically, the whole dorm's full'a models and fashionistas and stuff like that."
Grinning, he pulled out his phone.
"Actually, their dorm head's a Magicammer with more than five million followers! Crazy, right?!"
"Hey, hang on," Trey scolded lightly again. "They're not all just pretty faces, you know. The students at Pomefiore are actually some of the best at potions, alchemy and curses."
Cater laughed, bonking himself lightly on the head.
"Heh heh... Yeah, you're right."
Kat wrote again.
Pommfior?? Pome?? Pom?
Tenacity of Fairest Queen; red+purple armbands
The bishie dorm?? Pretty dorm?? Students good at potions+curses
"Next, we have Ignihyde," Cater continued, looking around.
"Their armbands are blue and black, buuuut... Yep, I don't see any around here."
He sighed, shaking his head.
"Let's just say they're not really the most outgoing bunch... I mean, even I don't have a single friend from that dorm! Can you believe it? You could say they're the total opposite of us sunny, fun-loving Heartslabyul types."
Grim crossed his front legs.
"So they're a bunch'a gloomy, reclusive weirdos, ya mean?"
"Hey, hey, no need to be so mean about it! They just have a reputation for being the quiet, serious types, that's all," Trey scolded again.
"Actually, that dorm tends to attract magical-energy engineers and kids who are good with computers and tech-- things like that. You know?"
Nodding, Kat scribbled again.
Ignihide? Hyde? Ignyhide?
Based on diligence of Lord of Dead
Blue+black armbands; the science dorm
"Okay, I think I get it," Deuce said cautiously, nodding. "So, that just leaves..... Um.. Diahonyalara? Right?"
Ace rolled his eyes.
"You started off okay, but totally messed up by the middle... It's 'Diasomnia'."
"I-- I know that!" Deuce protested, glaring. "It was just a slip of the tongue, alright?!"
Cater tapped his chin thoughtfully, looking around. "Diasomnia is... Hmm... Ah! I got it, I got it! Look over there!"
He pointed.
"See those guys in the special seating area?"
Kat looked over.
Sure enough, there was a slightly raised section, almost a balcony, with two stone staircases leading up to it, against the far wall. The tables up there did look a lot more luxurious than the ones on the floor itself...
"You can tell from the neon green and black armbands," Cater continued.
"But also, they've got this total elite, celebrity vibe to them, ya know?"
He laughed again, shaking his head.
"I mean, just looking at 'em, you can tell they have a completely different aura than regular nobodies like us... And their dorm head's got that going on to the max!"
Kat squinted again.
The closest people she could see were.. There were three of them sitting at the same table, two facing away and one facing out towards the rest of the cafeteria.
The two with their backs turned were taller... Okay, one of them was definitely taller than the other one, but the one facing out was pretty small.
The tallest one had pale green hair, the second-tallest's was silver, and the smallest one...
Well, it looked dark, probably black, and asymmetrically cut.
Ace craned his neck as well, frowning. "Huh? Hey-- is that a little kid over there?"
Kat looked back at the group.
Huh...
Yeah, the small one could be a kid, but...
"Ah-- well, it's not impossible," Trey said, shrugging. "We do get some child prodigies from time to time, but that guy you're talking about isn't a kid."
Everyone looked around at him, blinking.
"He's a third-year, same as me and Cater," Trey continued. "His name's--"
There was a faint twinkling noise.
"It's Lilia," a voice interrupted cheerfully. "Lilia Vanrouge."
Suddenly, appearing upside-down in midair with a friendly smile, was a small figure. Black-and-magenta hair hung down from a sharp, delicate face with huge slanted eyes.
Grim bristled, fur puffing out.
"What the-- H-Hey, where'd this guy come from?!"
The newcomer rotated in midair, dropping elegantly onto the bench between Trey and Kat. He put a black-gloved hand to his chin, legs crossed.
His hair, falling back into place, was cut choppily into an almost A-line bob with lots of uneven angles. He had very pale skin, a delicate frame, and a bright neon green vest, with his uniform jacket draped over his shoulders like a cape.
His eyes, framed with long, thick lashes, were a bright red, and as he smiled, she could see a pair of sharp, glinting fangs behind his lips.
"I understand you were curious about my age?" He-- Lilia?- asked in a surprisingly deep, elegant voice.
Then he laughed quietly, a sound that, if she had to transcribe it, would look very much like 'khu-hu~'.
"Well, despite my youthful, boyish charm and fresh-faced good looks, I am, indeed, not a child-- just as our bespectacled friend here noted."
Kat looked over at Trey, who grimaced.
" 'Boyish charm', he says..." He muttered.
Chuckling again, Lilia patted Trey on the shoulder.
"Don't feel the need to simply gawk at us from afar-- feel free to speak with us directly, if you so choose."
He looked around, beaming.
"After all-- are we not a merry bunch of schoolmates? We at Diasomnia House will always welcome you with open arms!"
Kat glanced over to the special seating area again.
The two at the table had evidently noticed that their companion had gone missing...
They were both staring over at their table with intense glares that she could feel from here.
"Um..."
Deuce rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Are you sure? I mean, those guys over there don't really seem very open to anything..."
Lilia laughed again.
"Well, you may be right about that," he admitted. "I, on the other hand, am always open for a chat. Forgive me for interrupting your meal-- I do hope we can speak again sometime soon."
Catching Kat's eye, he winked.
Getting up from the bench, he bowed, then strolled back towards the special seating area, humming quietly.
God, he was short...
Probably about five foot two, so the same height as that Riddle kid. And he really looked like a kid, too, even though he didn't act like it...
Wait a second, he was at the ceremony too, wasn't he?
Ace leaned forward across the table, casting a nervous glance at the retreating Lilia.
"Hey, what the fuck?!" He hissed in an urgent whisper. "That table's gotta be more than twenty yards away-- how'd that guy hear what we were talking about from all the way over there?! That's super fuckin' creepy!!"
Trey gave a nervous laugh.
"W-Well... Diasomnia does have a bit of a reputation for collecting some... Unusual students, let's say. A lot of them are extremely talented mages. Actually, their current housewarden, Malleus Draconia, is considered to be one of the top five most powerful mages in the world."
Kat blinked, surprised.
"Damn... Really? That's impressive..."
Malleus Draconia, she thought.
Guess that's who was missing during the ceremony...
And that's probably why everybody seemed so scared when his name got dropped.
Cater nodded eagerly.
"Yep, yep, yep! Malleus-kun's so far down the 'impressive' path that he's passed right through 'dangerous' and out the other side into 'scary'! Though, with that being said--"
Fiddling with a lock of hair, he sighed.
"Our beloved housewarden's not far behind him..."
"Yeah, no KIDDIN'!" Ace agreed, pounding his fists on the table and rattling everybody's plates and cutlery.
"I mean, look at this! He collared me over a single stupid slice of tart?! I mean, being a stickler for the rules is one thing, but this is more like obsession, right?!"
Kat blinked.
She caught Deuce's eye, who looked pretty panicked, then back at Ace...
Or, actually, over Ace's shoulder.
She wasn't gonna say anything... He'd find out soon enough.
"Hmm?" A quiet, calm voice mused.
"I have an 'obsession', do I?"
"Tch... Yeah, you got THAT right!" Ace grumbled, propping his cheek up on his fist. "I mean, he's just a petty little tyrant who leans hard into the whole 'rules' bee-ess to keep everybody in line and too scared to go up against 'im!"
Ace, you dumb bitch, Kat thought, rolling her eyes internally.
While she was more than happy to keep watching him dig his own grave, apparently Deuce couldn't take it anymore.
"ACE!" He snapped frantically. "Behind you!"
"Huh?"
Ace frowned, looking around.
Then he shrieked, jumping back up, hitting the table with his leg and almost spilling everyone's food.
"GAH! H--Housewarden?!"
The small, delicate boy with rose-red hair, who she'd come to know as Riddle Rosehearts, stood behind Ace.
His posture was ramrod-straight and his arms were folded as he glared up at Ace with a scathing look of disapproval.
_______________________________________
*casually slips in my girls' school I made up for a little extra worldbuilding*
TFW the descriptive adjectives for the dorms are just a whole bunch of synonyms....
Why Lilia got Lady Margolotta from Discworld energy tho