Well, Yu had returned before her, if the pair of tennis shoes in the entryway served as any indication. She decided to leave her shoes there as well, figuring it would be easier to silence her footsteps without them. It took a bit of effort to remove them without her hands, but she eventually managed it and made her way towards the kitchen.
Elle hefted the bags up onto the counter, once again cringing at the noise they made, and quickly sifted through them for any non-food items, as well as the tuna cans. She could already tell she would have to put those on a high shelf and ration them out, lest Grim eats them all in one sitting.
After successfully stashing away the tuna cans in an upper cabinet, she placed the remaining items into one of the newly emptied bags and made her way to the bathroom, where she left the rest of the items in the sink. It was late. She could put all this stuff where it actually went once she wasn't exhausted. With that in mind, she headed to her room.
It was still wild to her how she had space for herself in this world. Not that she didn't have her own room back home, but this one felt less....stifling. Maybe it was the fact that there wasn't a working lock on the door. Normally that would be worrying, but it was reassuring to her. She was never a fan of locks.
She collapsed onto her bed, only to feel something hard and rectangular underneath her. Ah, that's right. The camera. Elle let out an annoyed groan, pulling the device off of her and placing it onto the nearest surface she could reach: the TV that she had moved to the foot of the bed. She could probably find an actual place for it to go in the morning, but at this point, she was just ready to sleep.
She rolled herself up in the sheets, silently lamenting that she had forgotten to get pajamas for both her and Yu, and shifted around until her head hit the pillow. She was asleep before she knew it.
....
In the dark of the night, an unplugged television jumped to life. Sparks of electricity jumped around the room, casting odd shadows.
'Finally, FINALLY! Finally this place isn't completely empty! Now I have an actual chance of bustin' outta this joint! Now, let's see here...'
The TV fuzzed, the shadow of...something...darkening for only a moment, before a particularly large spark hopped out, circling the room before homing in on the one currently occupying it.
'Whaaaaat?! This one doesn't have a lick a' magic in 'em! And I thought I was supposed to be lucky...ugh, rats.'
It then circled around to what she had placed on top of its prison.
'Looks like all they got on 'em is this dusty ol' camera too. Yer really telling me this fossil is where the magic I'm sensing is comin' from? Well, beggars can't be choosers, I guess...If it gets me outta this rickety ol' shack, then I don't care!'
With that, the spark leaped into the camera, electricity bridging between it and the television. Elle began to stir.
'Aw, nuts! C'mon, I can't let my cover be blown now! Hurry up, hurry up!' The light intensified, wrapping around the camera and lifting it into the air. The round ears on the lens elongated, now resembling that of a rabbit's.
'YES! Ha HA! It's not exactly freedom, but it's good enough for me! Sayonara, you stupid CRT! I'll see ya NEVER!'
Elle opened her eyes. The camera fell back into place. The TV shut off. The electricity was gone. Elle rubbed her eyes, looking around.
She had always been an incredibly light sleeper, often waking up whenever she heard movement in the hall, so the fact that she woke up despite the exhaustion weighing on her had her on edge. She listened closely for anything that could have alerted her. Sure enough, after a few moments of silence, she heard something.
Someone was knocking on the door.
It was a stupid hour of the night, so of course she wasn't going to answer it. She rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep. ...And instead laid there, listening for any attempts at a break-in. The dorm didn't exactly have great security, after all.
About a minute had passed before she faintly heard the cadence of Grim's voice. He must be talking to Yu. She was proven correct when she heard the boy leave the room moments later. She listened attentively as he went down the stairs, through the lounge, and stood by the door for a while before opening it.
Yu wasn't an idiot, so he probably wouldn't let a stranger into the dorm. That led her to believe it was either a staff member, such as Crowley or maybe Crewel, dropping off uniforms at a ludicrous hour, or a student they know, such as Ace or Deuce. Who knows why either of them would be here, though.
A new voice began to speak, and she could already tell it was too light to be an adult. It was also too light to be Deuce, so why the hell was Ace here? She sighed, already gearing up to get out of bed. Obviously something happened, and she had to figure out what before it came up on her from behind without time for her to plan.
She dragged herself out from under the covers, then quietly made her way to the door. She turned the knob slowly, then pulled upwards as she quickly opened the door, to minimize squeaking. The voices were slightly less muffled now, and they got clearer as she neared the staircase.
"Man, I thought you'd be more sympathetic! I'm a victim of the housewarden's tyranny here!"
Ah. Was that her fault? She had started the manhunt for Ace in the first place, and Riddle seemed pretty upset at the time...
"He may have been a little extreme..." Yu's voice said tentatively, before Grim cut in.
"But you stole food! That ain't cool!"
So, it wasn't her fault. At least not entirely. That made her feel a little bit better. So Ace got caught stealing food...? She needed to make sure they didn't kick him out. At least not without food.
"Tomorrow, go and apologize." Yu chided.
"You don't go messin' with another man's meal... Hey, wait a minute! I just realized I never got those cans of tuna the headmage promised me!"
"I got some cans at the store, don't worry about it. Unless you want to go confront Crowley again tomorrow, but personally, I would rather not." She called, leaning on the bannister at the top of the staircase.
"Myah?! Elle! When'd you get here?!"
"Sorry for waking you, Elle."
She waved off her two dorm mates, instead tilting her head at Ace.
"So what exactly happened?"
"Elle! Listen here, these two are so cruel, they completely blew me off!"
"He stole a slice of his Housewarden's tart and got collared."
"Oi! Don't interrupt me!"
Ace looked back over to his last hope of sympathy, desperately hoping that Yu hadn't just obliterated any chances he had of getting her on his side. She placed a hand to her chin.
"Whole tarts? Or like, pre-cut ones? What size tart are we talking, here?"
"They were about this big. And there were three of them." He said, making a circle with his arms.
"Ah, well there's your issue. Next time, steal something small and individually wrapped, preferably something not set out in a grid shape. That way, it's hard to notice it missing. Also check for witnesses."
"Wh-Elle?! You shouldn't steal someone else's food in the first place!" Yu cried. Elle shrugged.
"Sometimes you gotta."
"Elle gets it, see? I knew you'd see where I'm coming from!"
"You should apologize, though. Even if you're not sorry. He has power over you, so you have to play nice until you're confident you have a countermeasure. Step one is getting that collar off."
Yu sighed. It seemed that more often than not he was worrying about her home life. Grim, meanwhile, hid behind his leg. "Elle can be super scary sometimes, yanno? What's with that shady way of thinkin'?!" He whispered. Yu shot him a look. If Elle heard, she didn't show it. Her eyes remained fixed on the collared freshman.
Ace groaned. "Uuugh, I hate that you're right. I'm dragging you guys with me though, since it was your idea in the first place."
"Fair enough." Yu sighed. Elle looked at Ace apologetically.
"I would, but I have work before morning classes. I'll be free after school, though, if you want to do it then."
Ace shook his head. That collar looked...uncomfortable.
"I want this thing off ASAP, so I'm going in the morning. I guess I'll just drag Grim and Yu with me, but you owe me one."
Not on her watch. "How about food? I doubt one slice of tart was enough after all the running around we did, if you even got to eat the whole thing."
"Wait, you actually have food here?"
"Just went grocery shopping. I could get you a granola bar. We also have applesauce, or I could make rice."
Yu perked up. "Rice sounds filling. I don't think any of us had dinner, so it's probably our best bet."
"Your vote, Ace?"
He crossed his arms, thinking. "....Eh, good enough for me. Give me an applesauce while you're making it, and we'll call it even.
"Deal. Grim?"
"Can you put a can of tuna on it?"
"Done deal. Alright, let's get this grain."
"....what?"
"I'm sleep deprived."
.....
One pot of rice later, and the four had managed to find four bowls that weren't completely destroyed. They had a few chips here and there, but overall, they were in working condition. Unfortunately, the only usable utensils they could find were soup spoons.
"This has the same energy as eating chicken nuggets with a fork."
"Is that a thing people do in your world???"
"I should hope not."
Elle let out a quiet laugh through her nose, scooping another spoonful of rice into her mouth. Grim had given up on the spoon after about five seconds, instead just shoveling rice and tuna into his mouth with his paws at an alarming pace. Elle was half expecting him to choke at any moment.
"The rice actually came out pretty well, considering all I did was add salt."
"Thank you for making it, by the way."
"No problem, hun. We have enough to last the week, so we're probably going to have a lot of rice dishes just in general."
"You sure do love giving people nicknames, huh?"
Elle choked on her rice.
"Wh-huh?! I...not especially, I just...it's a habit, I guess? I never thought it was all that odd, though I guess I only ever really talk to my family.... Um, I could try to tone it down...? Uh, sorry."
Ace sighed. "Jeez, you and Deuce are on opposite sides of the same spectrum. I don't really care, so just keep doing whatever."
"I-I don't mind it either!" Yu chimed in. "It's one of the unique things about you, so I like it." He said, scooping another spoonful of rice and eating it while averting eye contact. Ace nudged him on the shoulder.
"Dude, that was so lame."
"Shut up!"
"Super lame! How can you say cheesy lines like that with a straight face?"
"I don't need feedback from you too, Grim!"
Elle found herself smiling before she realized it. This felt warm. She liked it. What would this be called? Of course, she wasn't an idiot, and she was practically raised by the internet, so the first thing her mind jumped to was found family, but that didn't seem quite right. She's only known these people for two days, maximum. She didn't know them well enough.
Maybe this is how a dorm was supposed to feel? A bunch of unsupervised teens bullying each other while eating rice at four in the morning with soup spoons. The energy was unparalleled, honestly.
Elle stifled a yawn, which didn't go unnoticed.
"It's late. We should probably head to bed soon." Yu said quietly. Elle nodded.
"Just put your bowls in the sink, we can clean them when we aren't sleep deprived."
"Alright, works for me. Hey, by the way, any idea where I'm sleeping tonight?"
"You were serious about that? Outside of the bedroom me and Yu use, and Elle's room, this entire dump is buried under a foot of dust. So if you wanna stay, you better start cleanin'!" Grim said flatly, crossing his arms.
Elle chewed on her bottom lip. That would take way too long. With everyone's current energy levels, he wouldn't be done cleaning the room until morning.
"Dude, no way! I hate cleaning!" Ace pouted. His eyes flicked to Elle, but then quickly redirected to Yu. She noticed that the tips of his ears were red, but she wasn't exactly sure why. An issue of pride, if she had to guess. Why her opinion would matter to him, though, she had no clue.
"Let me just stay with you, Yu. I'm real slim. I won't take up much space."
Or that. That made more sense. Good call, Ace. That would be super awkward. Yu raised an eyebrow, folding his arms.
"Allow me to introduce you to the lounge sofa."
"Tch. You're about as flexible as a brick."
"Um," Elle spoke up. Yu and Ace turned to her, one with a sudden spike of anxiety, and one with a sudden spike of hope. "Ace can stay in my room for tonight. I'll take the sofa."
"Seriously?!"
"What?! Elle, seriously, you can't spoil him this much, he's just going to take advantage of your kindness..."
Elle shook her head. "I don't think I'm spoiling him all that much. Not having anywhere to go, sucks. Missing a meal when you have nowhere to go sucks even more. That collar's already going to make it hard to sleep, so he should at least have a bed."
"Elle....you are my one and only ally in this cold, cruel world! You're the only one who gets me!" Ace melodramatically cried, draping himself over her like a cat. Elle didn't push him off, but she didn't support his weight either.
"Ace, you're gonna fall. I'm going to start walking and you're gonna fall."
"Nooooooo...."
Well, she warned him. She made her way over to the linen closet, and Ace lessened his weight on her, just so that he could walk with her and not fall over. Yu had never wanted to wipe that smug grin of his off the red eyed boy's face more.
"I'm too tired to change the sheets, so you can take some new ones, or just use mine. I don't really care. Anyway, I have a blanket now, so I'm sleeping. G'night."
She pulled Ace's arms off and put the blanket she had just stolen in their place. She shuffled over to the couch and flopped over. "Actually, there's a bunch of pillows in the room I'm staying in....ugh, I don't wanna go upstairs....."
"I'll get one for you Elle, don't worry about it. Come on, Ace. I'll show you where the room is."
"Okay, sure."
"Thank you Yu, I owe you my life."
She heard him chuckle as he went up the stairs. Yes, she got a good grade in funny, something normal to want and possible to achieve!
.....she seriously needed to get some sleep.
A short while later, a pillow was thrown down to her, which she happily took, and she was asleep minutes after that. a pretty successful day, all in all.
~~~
Hi. Hello. This fic has hit 11K views. H????? Thank you very much! I am glad my silly little story is entertaining to so many of y'all.
So, I cut into Heartslabyul a little bit, but this concludes the prologue! We are now in intermission, baby! I will spend the rest of October writing the Halloween event, and hopefully post it on Halloween itself, then focus on Heartslabyul.
In the meantime, I have a little extras chapter I'll post next week with character bios, trivia, and a little bit of behind the scenes commentary. It ain't much, but it's something!
If you can think of anything quick I could drop on your heads during the intermission, feel free to leave your suggestions here!
I can't think of any more announcements I haven't brought up yet, so I guess that's all for this week! I will see you guys later! Hopefully before the end of Halloween!
~Astroleap