Knocking. Someone was knocking on the door again. Why.
Elle forced her eyes open, staring at the dust falling down, only to notice that there was already sunlight coming in. She bolted upwards, staring at the window incredulously. Had she slept through the sunrise? She really must have been exhausted, if that was the case.
The knocking continued, the dust that rained from the ceiling cheerfully reminding her that there was someone at the door. She groaned, which turned into a sneeze. Ugh. Dust.
She pulled the blanket around her shoulders to fend off the morning chill as she made her way to the front door. Her quiet footsteps were easily drowned out by the knocking, so she made it to the front door without issue. Not that she was all that loud in the first place. A peek through the crack in the doorway revealed the morning visitor to be Deuce. She breathed a sigh of relief.
She was about to open the door for him, but then paused. She didn't want to startle him....but she also didn't want to raise her voice, especially after she just woke up. Eventually, she just....decided to knock back.
The knocking stopped. After a moment, she heard the blue haired boy's extremely confused voice.
"....uh, hello?"
She wordlessly opened the door, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Deuce stared at her for a moment before color rushed to his cheeks.
"O-Oh! Uh, Elle! Hey. Um. Y-You look—wait I mean- um- nice to see you! ....morning."
Deuce stared nowhere in particular as he mentally kicked himself for whatever atrocious word vomit had just come out of his mouth. He knew she lived here, he did! He just hadn't expected to see her this early, and without any warning... Now that the adrenaline of the previous night had worn off, he was once again acutely aware he had no idea how to speak to girls. It didn't help that he REALLY wanted Elle to have a positive opinion of him.
"Morning..." she yawned, using a hand to cover her mouth. It was unfair how cute that looked. Or maybe he was being weird. ...He hurriedly shoved that train of thought away. "You here to check on Ace?"
"Huh? Oh! Uh, yes. Yeah. So he's here?"
She nodded. "Mm-hm. I'm pretty sure he's still asleep though. ...do you know what time it is?"
Deuce quickly fumbled for his phone, nearly dropping it twice. His face felt hot.
"It's uh....7:17."
"Cool. I've managed to survive on less. Thanks."
She what. What? Survived on less what? Wait, she thanked him. He's probably supposed to respond to that.
"Oh! N-No problem."
Elle nodded, suppressing another yawn.
"Come on in, you may as well sit down while you wait. Do you want a granola bar?"
She began to walk down the hallway, and Deuce hastily followed. The door creaked closed behind him. He cringed. This building looked seriously abandoned...! He wondered why the headmage would even think of leaving them in a place like this. It was a wonder the whole thing hadn't collapsed yet. Elle made a tired yet grand gesture towards the lounge area, turning back towards the spade marked boy.
"Here, take a seat wherever, if a ghost shows up, they aren't gonna kill you, no matter how much they imply that they are. I'll be back with granola bars in a sec, so just hold tight, sweets." And with that, she disappeared into the kitchen. Deuce stood dumbly in the middle of the lounge for a moment, dazed. Sweets? Him?? Was she referring to Him??? He felt his heart hammer in his chest. How was she this kind? Was this normal? She didn't even comment on any of his awkward fumbling, which even he could tell was painfully obvious. She's really nice.... Hopefully nobody would try to take advantage of her hospitality...
...ACE.
He'd better not be mooching off of her too much. So help him...
The crinkling of cellophane and faint footsteps alerted him that Elle would be coming back soon, and he was still standing in the middle of the room like an idiot. He hastily plopped onto the nearest couch before she returned. It made a loud and pathetic squeak. Stupid sofa.
"Hello. Granola bar. Special delivery." Elle said, making her way over to the blue haired freshman.
She didn't bother silencing her footsteps, mostly because she didn't want to startle him. She actually made an effort to make her movements a little louder than usual, since he seemed a bit jumpy. She'd give him time to figure out that she wasn't going to attack him or anything, and hopefully he'll feel more relaxed around her by the time he left.
Honestly, she wasn't sure why he seemed so nervous. She didn't really consider herself all that intimidating, if she was honest. Maybe it was because she was an employee here? He seemed to respect Night Raven quite a bit, so it was plausible. Whatever the reason, she wasn't about to judge him for it. She would just do what she could to make him feel safer. In the meantime, however, she'd wave a granola bar in his face.
Deuce stared at her face with curious eyes. She blinked. Was he overthinking something? He seemed to be spacing out. After he didn't respond for a few seconds, she used the bar to tap him on the forehead.
"Knock knock?"
"AH-! Oh. Thanks. S-Sorry."
She nodded, handing the bar to him and plopping into the rocking chair to unwrap her own. She wanted to reassure him he didn't have to be so on edge around her, but she also knew the last thing she wanted when she was nervous was for someone else to point it out. She just decided to give him space and appear non threatening. Conclusions drawn by yourself were much more trustworthy than answers given by someone else, after all.
"No problem. The other three should be waking up soon, but you could probably ask the ghosts to get them if they don't." She took a bite of her granola bar.
"Huh? Are you leaving soon?"
She nodded. "Work. Before school and during afternoon classes."
"Oh. Okay, that makes sense, yeah."
The two ate in silence for a while, Deuce trying to think of something to say, and Elle slowly allowing her brain to boot up. Eventually, she realized something.
"Oh, we were supposed to get our uniforms and stuff today. Was there a box or something on the porch? Sorry, I'm tired, my brain isn't working."
Deuce blinked. "A box...? Oh, now that you mention it, I think there was one. Pretty big, too. A-And there's no need to apologize, it's early, after all."
Good, she wouldn't have to hunt down uniforms. She raised a finger as a signal to wait as she dashed out of the room, leaving her blanket on the rocking chair. She returned moments later lugging the large box into the lounge. She awkwardly picked at the tape, struggling to open it.
"Ah...! Let me help!" Deuce rushed to her side, quickly pulling at the tape much more effectively. He somehow managed to open the box in a matter of seconds. Elle blinked owlishly for a moment, thanking him timidly before searching the box's contents. Behind her, Deuce beamed like he was just awarded a gold star. He was helpful! Yes!
The first thing Elle found in the box was a note from whoever "Crewel" was saying that Yu's uniforms were on the left, while hers were on the right. Underneath that were forms for readjustments or modifications. Handy. The next thing she found was a note from Crowley. Apparently her PE uniform would double as her work uniform. Fair enough. It also contained her work and school schedule, as well as a list of daily tasks. She pocketed the note for later reference.
The only things left in the box after all the papers were removed were two piles of clothing, both wrapped in white tissue paper. Fancy. She grabbed the pile of clothing on the right, deciding to take the whole thing with her and unwrap it in the bathroom.
"I'll be back." She said. She left the room before Deuce could respond.
...
It was immediately clear that the uniforms of this school were very much designed with a corresponding dorm in mind. She could tell because there were multiple pieces of said uniform missing, such as the armband and vest, and the areas of the other two uniforms she assumed were supposed to have corresponding dorm colors were simply black or white. Free clothes were free clothes though, so she was fine with it.
She picked out the PE uniform and set it to the side, then quickly went through all of the usual morning hygiene routines, this time with actual soap and shampoo and stuff. She quietly cursed as she noticed another item that she had forgotten to get. Add tissues to the grocery list for next week.
The jumpsuit and T-shirt combo was actually pretty comfortable, she had to admit. Easy to move around in too, though she figured that was probably the whole point of a PE uniform. She once again wished she knew what time it was. Maybe it would be a smart idea to invest in a watch. She'd ponder the idea more later.
For now, she scooped up the remaining uniforms and made her way over to the room Ace was currently staying in. With any luck, he'll still be asleep.
Elle silenced her footsteps as she approached the room, her feet now markedly more used to the creaking floorboards of the Ramshackle Dorm. She placed her ear close to the knob, listening for any movement inside. All she heard were faint, steady breaths. Perfect.
She used the same method as the night before to open up the door, and silently slid over to the dresser. She briefly glanced over to the bed to confirm that the collared boy was indeed still there, and was relieved to see a lump of blankets with wild red-orange hair sticking out.
Having confirmed his location, she returned to the task at hand. She slid open the drawer as quietly as possible, placed her new uniforms in, and was about to close it when she spotted the abandoned vests and tie. She stared at them a moment, before placing one vest on top of her uniforms and snatching up the other. She slid the drawer back into place and silently made her way out of the room.
Vest in hand, she gently opened Yu's door, only to see the boy blearily blinking back at her.
"Oh, sorry." She said softly. "Um, our uniforms came in, and they didn't come with vests, but there were two vests in the dresser in my room, so...." she paused, awkwardly standing in the doorway for a moment. "....I'll, uh, leave it here." She hooked the arm hole over the doorknob.
"Mm." Was the tired answer she received.
"Oh, also Deuce is downstairs, just so you know. I'm headed off, so I'll see you in class, alright?"
Yu stared at her for a moment, obviously still waking up, and slowly nodded. "....m'kay. Good luck with work."
"Thanks. Sorry again for busting into your room." She smiled sheepishly, already backing out of the room.
"S'okay. I don't mind. I like seeing you."
She wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she just nodded, gently closing the door. She let out a sigh as soon as she was out of sight, and made her way back downstairs. She waved at Deuce as she approached him, and he very stiffly waved back. It looked like he hadn't moved at all since she left him. She was relieved to see he had eaten some of his granola bar, though.
"Alright, I'm headed out. Yu's awake, so he'll probably be down in a bit. Sorry for running out on you, Deuce. I'll see you, uh, either in class or at lunch? I trust you to make sure the dorm doesn't burn down while I'm gone."
He listened with wide eyes, doing his best to process all of the information that was being thrown at him, and nodded at the end. "O-Of course! You can count on me!"
"Thanks a million, sweetheart." She smiled gratefully at him before rushing out the door, leaving a star struck Spade in her wake. Warmth bloomed in his chest, and he couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto his face. He'd do his best...!
~~~
And we're back, gang! I will admit, I wanted to wait until I was at least halfway through writing the Heartslabyul arc before I started posting chapters, however I am impatient and excited. Will this come back to bite me in the future? Most likely, yes. However I hold no regrets in my heart.
I do have some sense of self preservation though, so until further notice, updates will happen every OTHER Friday. Just so I'm not scrambling in a month or so.
Deuce moment (:
I really hope I'm writing him okay, I have a bad habit of making characters develop bonds too quickly. I'm trying to work on it, to limited success. Baby steps I guess.
Excited for next chapter!!!! Also very anxious, but mostly excited! Apologies in advance to Riddle.
I think that's all I had to say, so I'll see you week after next! Make good choices and be kind to yourselves!
~Astroleap