Cassandra walked into the cafeteria, Grim on her shoulder, the Excalibur book open in one hand and a red tumbler cup that read 'Bite Me' in silver glitter and extremely extra font (a gift from Professor Trein's daughter, Diana. After she had been informed of her and some of the Court's 'condition', she had sent them red cups with witty remarks on them to hide the fact they were drinking blood. Also as a gift for her father's 'favorite students'.) in the other as she sipped her O negative from it. The other vampires were all holding similar cups, as well.
The entire cafeteria seemed to look at them when they walked in, but none of them paid them any mind. The tribrid walked over to a table in the center of the room, grinning widely when she saw its shape. It was large and round, likely big enough to host nearly three dozen people; too large for Cassandra's comparatively small group, but she couldn't help giving into the universe's inside joke. Taking a seat in one of the surprisingly nice black cushioned wooden chairs, everyone else followed suit, taking seats on either side of her. Setting her book and cup down, the golden eyed girl got up and looked over at the human members of her Court.
"Boys, do you want anything from the cafe? My treat.", she asked, knowing they had eaten a light breakfast and were likely extremely hungry (and broke). Grim and the other guys grinned and looked at eachother. They rushed over to get in line for lunch and Cassandra laughed and started to follow after them. Yue got up and followed after her, much to her surprise.
"Didn't think you'd want food, darling.", she said. Yue shrugged.
"I'd like to see what they have so I can lie to Shorter and say his cooking pales in comparison.", he said casually. Cassandra chuckled and the two joined the others in line.
For a while they were left to their own devices, talking and going on about all the food they were going to get (Grim wanted half the menu, and Cassandra agreed to buy it all so long as he shared with her, which shocked Ace and Deuce.). This unfortunately didn't last too long however, because just as they were about to get to the front to place their orders, a small band of Heartslaybul students came rushing around a corner with plates of food. They were loud and not paying attention to their surroundings, which resulted in the person who seemed to be the leader of the group crashing into Grim and Skip, who were playing around in front of the others. Everyone was fine, thankfully, and Cassandra and Yue walked over to the two to check them for injuries. Skip turned and smiled up at the older students.
"Sorry about that sir!", he said, genuinely sorry for causing trouble. Grim nodded in agreement. The leader only glared at him and growled when he saw his tray had been jostled, causing his food to be tossed about a bit. He then stalked over to the two boys.
"That was my lunch you just ruined, you little pricks! How do you plan to pay for this?!", the boy yelled, causing Skip and Grim to flinch at the volume of his voice. Cassandra glared at the student and stalked over to him.
"Do not speak to those children in that way; they were only playing, and while they shouldn't have been doing it in the lunch line, I take full responsibility for letting them do so. They apologized, and your lunch is a bit disheveled but fine, so I suggest you stop talking and walk away before you cause a scene.", Cassandra hissed, pushing the two nervous looking children behind her protectively. Yue, Deuce, and Ace came to stand a little ways behind her, arms crossed and seething glares on their faces. The other group saw they were outnumbered at four to three, and the two lackeys began to look nervous, but the leader played their numbers no mind and kept yelling.
"No, they messed up my lunch, so they should pay for it! Either with money or blood!", he said, taking another step towards Cassandra. The tribrid just glared at him with even more venom before smiling menacingly. At this point, every pair of eyes in the lunchroom were on them, and the rest of the Court looked ready to get up and assist their fellow members, but Cassandra only shot them a look that said 'stay where you are'.
"With what money? They're children. Surely you don't expect two little boys to give you their lunch money? That's a bit juvenile and cliche, don't you think? And blood? If I didn't know any better, I would think you were threatening the little ones.", she growled out in a voice that warned the idiot to stop talking before he said something he would regret. Unfortunately, he did not.
"'Children'? Why do you keep calling them that? I mean, the curly haired brat I get, but the thing on his shoulder is just a-", the leader started off-handedly, but was unable to finish, as he had been pulled back against one of the nearby support pillars. He was clutching his neck, and seemed to be choking from the noises he was making. His friends rushed to his side.
"Dude, are you okay?!", one of them asked.
"What's wrong?!", the other one asked. Cassandra, Yue, and Ace simply stood there, arms crossed, with malevolent smiles on their face and eyes glowing in rage and vindictive glee. Deuce had covered Skip and Grim's eyes, and was trying not to find joy in the bully's suffering. Had the two lackey's been paying attention, they would have noticed the thin but strong green vines wrapped around his neck and feet, cutting off his oxygen and holding him in place.
"I'm sorry-", Cassandra started, slowly stalking towards the three terrified bullies, hands now back at her sides as she flexed her fingers threateningly. The bullies felt themselves sweat when they noticed her clawed nails.
"- but I didn't quite catch what you just said? Care to finish that sentence?", she asked, voice filled with barely contained rage. Had anyone been paying attention to him, they would have seen that Yue's right hand was clenched slightly. He clenched his hand a bit more, and the vines tightened their hold.
"Because it sounded like you were just about to call my familiar a... what was it? Ah yes, a monster.", Cassandra hissed out through clenched teeth. The leader made some choked noises, and Cassandra took that as confirmation.
"And here I thought we had established the vulgarness of that word... oh well, I suppose some people require a more... permanent lesson.", she said, getting closer and closer, until she and the leader were a foot away from each other.
"You seem to have your definitions mixed up, so I shall correct you. A monster, is not an adorable young fire cat with dreams of being a mage; it is a beast, who spares nothing and will pay no heed to pleas for mercy. They are the demons, lurking in the shadows of the fairy tales told to children. They are creatures without love, without joy. They live only for the misery of others, and they are not so gracious as to explain their reasoning to you as I have been.", she hissed quietly enough so that only he and those with superhuman hearing would hear, and she then grinned widely enough to reveal the daggers she had for teeth.
"They are what good people can become at the drop of a hat if you push them too far. They have the devil's glowing eyes, daggers for teeth, hair dripping with the blood of their enemies, and they eat ignorant bastards like you for dinner.", she hissed in his ear, and as soon as she finished speaking, Yue clenched his fist all the way, causing the unnamed Heartslabyul student to be pulled taught against the pillar, his feet hovering just above the ground.
"So you best think before you speak, boy.", she hissed at him, and Yue opened his fist, causing the leader to be released and fall to his knees, gasping and coughing for air. His friends went down to catch him, and after they helped him up, the leader looked at Cassandra with teary eyes as she grinned with malicious glee.
"You crazy bitch!", he yelled. Cassandra only cackled.
"Ouch, ooh! Such an insult!", she then pulled him up by his shirt collar, her eyes stabbing through his.
"Let me know when you come up with something creative to call me you unoriginal, spineless, sour faced dirtsack.", she hissed loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear, before throwing him back on the ground.
"Now get out of my sight, before I shove my magic pen in your eye!", she barked down at him and his friends, who ran off with yells of 'your crazy!', abandoning the lunches they had caused so much trouble over.
"And don't you fuckers forget it!", she yelled back, hands cupped over her mouth to increase the volume. She, Deuce and the others were cackling and yelling at them the whole time. Once they were gone, she looked down at the abandoned trays with an annoyed expression.
"Honestly, they just left the food here after all the Cain they raised? That's a perfectly good waste of food- don't eat that Grim, you don't know where the riff raff has been.", she said, gently scolding Grim when he tried to take a bite of the leader's abandoned carbonara. He set the fork down and frowned, flying over to sit on Cassandra's shoulder as she straightened her clothes. She then faced the cafeteria crowd with hands on her hips, and an annoyed eyebrow raised.
"Well? Don't you all have better things to do than stare?", she said, and the entire still-shocked and scared lunchroom resumed their normal activities. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Honesty...", she whispered, turning back to Yue and the others. She gave the ex-triad boss a knowing and proud look, happy he was already figuring out his powers. She then clamped her hand onto Skip's shoulder.
"You alright, sweetie?", she asked, afraid she had scared the boys. Skip and Grim both smiled and nodded their heads.
"Yeah, I'm good. But did you see those guys? They were practically pissing their pants!", Skip exclaimed excitedly. Cassandra frowned at his language.
"Language, Skip.", she reminded. The boy pouted.
"Why do you and the others get to curse and I can't?", he asked. Cassandra looked at him with a blank expression that said this wasn't the first time they had this conversation.
"Because we actually know what most of those words mean.", she said, before she spotted Cater and another man with green hair standing ramrod straight near the cafeteria doors. She smiled widely and spread her arms out welcomingly.
"Cater! You're here, how wonderful!", she said boisterously, as if she hadn't just had a student strung up and publicly asphyxiated. Both Cater and his friend looked as if they feared for their lives.
"THIS is the girl you want to ask out?!", he whisper yelled urgently as he saw the terrifying young lady make her way over to them.
"Well technically I already asked her out, and she said yes. What I want now is to get her to date me officially.", he whispered back nervously but certainly. He wanted to be in a relationship with Cassandra, even if she scared the hell outta him (which honestly kind of added to the appeal).
"Do you have a death wish?! Not only did she just choke a bitch- literally, but Riddle will collar you for fraternizing with the enemy!", he said, grasping Cater's shirt collar and pulling closer to drive his point home in an uncharacteristic show of force. Cater shrugged.
"He's already gonna have my ass when he finds out I invited her to the Unbirthday party; might as well go out swinging.", he said simply. Trey's jaw dropped. Where was all of this coming from? Cater was always lax, but this was a whole other level. Cater then looked at him with an annoyed look and a raised eyebrow.
"You're the one that wanted to meet her so you could give her that 'sorry about the bullshit' cake, so don't pin this on me.", Cater then pulled away and put a happy smile on his face as Cassandra got closer.
"Look, I may not have known her for long, but I know Cassandra is harmless... to us.", he said cheerfully, tacking on the last bit in a slightly anxious voice. Trey looked at him with wide, terrified eyes and gulped. As soon as Trey was done with that, Cassandra had brought Cater into a tight embrace.
"So glad you could make it! And collarless as well! I see you did as I asked.", Cassandra said happily, pulling away as she said the last part slyly. Cater smiled mischievously, all his previous fear seemingly gone.
"Well, I didn't really have the chance to. Riddle knew it was you as soon as I said your name. He's on the hunt for you as we speak.", Cater said, remembering the regal huff the shorter boy had stomped off in yelling that he would 'find that delinquent even if he had to turn this school upside down!'. Cassandra only grinned.
"Excellent. That's exactly what I was hoping for.", she said, surprising both Cater and Trey. They were about to ask her what she meant by that when she changed the topic.
"So, I assume this is the infamous Trey I've heard so much about!", she said, holding a hand out for him to shake. Trey blinked as he took it.
"'Infamous'?", he questioned. Cassandra nodded solemnly.
"Of course. Haven't you heard the rumors?", she said in an affronted tone. Both Trey and Cater started to look concerned.
"Rumors?", Trey asked, concerned about what people were saying about him. Cassandra kept her face blank for a moment, before she burst out laughing hysterically.
"I'm kidding! There are no rumors, Cater told me who you were!", she laughed. Cater joined in, and Trey looked at him looking slightly offended, but laughing all the same. He looked back at the laughing girl with the gorgeous golden eyes. He smiled wider as she doubled over and kept laughing at the bad joke. He couldn't remember why he was so scared.
"Sorry about that, seeing you two just put me in a good mood; I had to deal with a group of idiots earlier, you see.", she said, her voice turning slightly annoyed. Trey flinched. Now he remembered.
Cassandra's smile returned soon, however, and she took both the boys by the hand.
"Come, you're probably hungry! Grab whatever you want, I'll pay for us all!", She exclaimed. Trey's eyes widened.
"You don't have to do that.", he said. Cassandra shook her head and kept on grinning.
"Nonsense, I insist! Come on, you can join me and my people in line.", she said, gently pulling the two third years towards where her group was. Grim was holding up the line with how long he was taking to get his food, but no one dared complain after seeing what Yue and Cassandra did minutes earlier. Ace and Deuce turned to face the three coming towards them.
"Oh, hey Cater!", Ace said, grinning at his upperclassman. He was more relaxed with the orange haired young man now that he had seen Cassandra had taken a liking to him. He knew there was a reason behind his girlfriend/leader's choice to go out with him, and he had to resist the urge to smirk. He was certain a certain emblem would be found on his skin by one of them sooner rather than later. Cater smiled back.
"Hey Ace, what have you guys been up to?", he asked, trying to make small talk. When he heard Ace's name, he looked between him and Cater suspiciously. Ace shrugged.
"Nothing much; just took a nap and helped Cass with some research.", he said, recalling how he had spent the bit of time they had before lunch curled up reading books on fae with Cassandra, before falling asleep. He smiled fondly at the memory. Cater nodded and started scrolling through Magicam as he went to grab his food. A look of realization came across Trey's face.
"Wait, if you're Ace, shouldn't you still be collared?", Trey asked. Ace began to look nervous and a look of surprise overtook Cater's features.
"Hey, he's right. Why aren't you collared?", Cater asked, putting away his phone. Ace looked everywhere but at their faces.
"Uh-well, see the thing is-", he started nervously, the two third years leaning closer to hear what he had to say. Just as Ace was about to spill the tea on Cassandra's newest magical acquisition, however, he was given a boon in the form of his navy haired best friend (a revelation he had relatively recently.).
"Hey Ace, we got our food! You guys hurry up and get what you want so we can pay!", Deuce called out, one arm full of packaged snacks and goods and the other struggling to swat Grim away from the food with an annoyed expression on his face. Ace huffed in relief at his saving grace.
"I'll go and help him, you guys get what you need, kay bye!", he said quickly, and like that he was gone. Trey and Cater blinked at the empty space that Ace had once occupied, before the yellow eyed man looked at his friend with a deadpan expression and a raised eyebrow.
"Why do I get the feeling this is only the beginning of the insanity?", he rhetorically asked. Cater looked back at where Ace stood and walked down to the end of the line, grabbing food as he went.
"You're not the only one. But it seems like the fun kind.", he said with a grin, and Trey looked at him curiously before following his example.
As all of this was happening, several people across the lunchroom were watching the events closely.
"Rook.", a champagne blonde said with an unreadable expression, staring at Cassandra intently from across the room. His fellow blonde looked away from the girl, who he was staring at as well, and glanced at his dorm head.
"Yes, Roi du Poison?", he said, a small smile on his face. The lavender haired boy, who was sitting on the other side of Vil, stopped eating and looked at him in curiosity. Vil smiled.
"Add some flowers to that order. Snapdragons, preferably; red ones.", he said simply. Rook smiled widely and Epel felt his eyes widen. The first year glanced at the red haired girl, who was paying for her group's food, and blushed a bit when he heard her laugh, before quickly looking back down at his food.
Leona was grinning widely from his table at the edge of the room. Ruggie, the only person who was sitting with him, looked mildly terrified by the fact his boss was smiling. Leona didn't smile unless he was planning something.
"Ruggie, keep tabs on her. I want to know everything you can get on her.", he said, looking at the girl with an unreadable expression, grin a bit darker but still on his face. Ruggie only nodded and internally began to fear for his life.
"I'm telling you two, she's up to something.", Azul whispered, looking at Cassandra from under his fedora. Jade and Floyd, who sat on either side of him, looked at each other and then him in confusion.
"She's been here two days, Azul; what could she possibly be up to?", Jade said, glancing back at the girl. Azul growled.
"She just is, okay?! We need her under our thumb now; we're not waiting until midterms for the plan. Trein does a history of magic test that almost no one ever passes right after the interdorm Magift tournament for 40% of his class's semester grade, we'll extend our services to the first years then.", Azul said, surprising both Jade and Floyd.
"But you said-", Floyd started. Azul glared at him and cut him off.
"I know what I said! Things happen, plans change. She's an unknown, a dangerous wild card; our entire operation is jeopardized the longer she remains unbound. We'll have her, one way or the other.", Azul hissed quietly in a tone that said the matter wasn't up for debate. If she could do that, who's to say what she could do to him with that mark? He needed her neutralized, and fast.
Jade and Floyd both looked at each other in concerned confusion for their 'boss'/friend. It wasn't like him to be impulsive or impatient; Azul was an expert at playing the long game. For him to be rushing his plan... something big must have happened. The octo-mer glared in the direction of the laughing redhead.
"Keep an eye on her, but don't get too close. Try to get info out of those around her, like the child or the familiar, but don't push; if they blow the whistle, we're done for.", the gray haired man said, his voice filled with such fearful certainty, it made the twins look back at the beautiful girl in fearful apprehension.
Lilia, Sebek and Sliver all sat at a table by the edge of the cafeteria. Lilia looked noticeably tired, and Sebek and Silver anxious. Sighing deeply, the short fae ran a hand through his hair.
"I can't believe this.", he said quietly. Silver nodded in agreement.
"You're not alone, old man.", she said lowly. Sebek was too out of it to even bother getting mad at Silver for the name he called Lilia. The red eyed fae leaned back.
"It's one thing after the other, so it seems.", Lilia says with a huff, looking at Cassandra's table with a longing expression.
"How I wish we could seek comfort in her.", he said, and both boys nodded in agreement. Lilia then steeled his expression.
"But we can't, not yet, anyway.", he said resigned, diverting his eyes. Sebek then looked at his second father hopefully.
"Can we at least talk to her, Lord Lilia?", he asked pitifully. Lilia felt a pang in his heart at that.
"Yes we can, Sebek; but we'll have to wait, it seems she has further company.", the short fae stated, and all three of them looked over at their soulmate, surprised to find a familiar face rushing towards her excitedly.
"Jamil, look! It's her, it's her!", Kalim said excitedly, jumping up and down as he tugged on the long haired man's uniform sleeve. They had just arrived for lunch. Jamil groaned internally and looked over to the direction his master was pointing in, his eyes widening when he saw the cause of most of his troubles taking a seat at the large round table the maintenance ghosts had been forced to replace the broken ones with.
"Let's go talk to her!", he said, grabbing Jamil's wrist and running towards the girl's table. Jamil cursed under his breath.
When the two arrived at Cassandra's table, her eyes widened in recognition and her ever-present smile seemed to widen, allowing her fangs to peek out. The tribrid then got up, abruptly leaving the conversation she was having with Cater about helping her set up her second Magicam account.
"Kalim! It's so good to see you, I've been meaning to speak with you!", she said, laughing boisterously when the Asim heir pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Did you get my gift?", he whispered in her ear giddily, in an uncharacteristic show of calm. Cassandra pulled away and nodded.
"Yes, and it's wonderful, as you can clearly see.", she said, finishing her sentence mischievously, bringing her hand up to her ears to highlight the opulent but tasteful ruby earrings she was wearing. She had put them on after she had returned to the dorm, having a gut feeling that she should wear them to lunch. Clearly, she was right to follow it. Kalim grinned.
"You wore the earrings! That means we match!", he exclaimed, turning his head so Cassandra could better see the headdress he was wearing. It was a thin gold band over a thick red and gold wrap around that was tied in a neat bow on the other side of Kalim's head, with small gold coins dangling from it. There were beaded loops of gold dangling underneath the coins, and every so often there was an oval ruby embedded in a circle of gold dangling from the band, with a coin dangling at the end of them. There seemed to be something off about it, however, on the side of Kalim's head opposite of the bow, two of the rubies had been removed. Cassandra looked at the ornament in awe.
"Is that...?", she trailed off quietly. Jamil watched the exchange curiously. Kalim gave her a closed eye smile and nodded.
"Yep, your earrings were made from this.", he said simply. Cassandra gave him a soft, watery smile and took his face into her hands.
"It was the most beautiful gift anyone's ever given me. Thank you Kalim, from the bottom of my heart.", the tribrid said sincerely, giving the white haired boy a quick kiss on the cheek before she pulled away, leaving a shocked and blushing Kalim in her wake as turned to face Jamil.
"And who might you be?", Cassandra asked with a sly expression. Jamil plastered a fake smile on his face and shrugged.
"No one special.", he said. Cassandra grinned wider and tilted her head.
"I beg to differ.", she stated simply, surprising Jamil. Usually people answered that remark with a laugh; no one had ever outright disagreed. Quickly shaking himself out of it, Jamil smirked.
"Oh? Then who do you think I am?", he said, crossing his arms and deciding a little banter couldn't hurt. Cassandra's eyes glimmered with mischief, and Jamil swore she was ten times more beautiful when she seemed to be scheming.
"A beautiful young man who has yet to tell me his name.", she said, shocking Jamil once more. She was so forward!
"It's Jamil.", he said, struggling to keep the blush off his face. Cassandra hummed.
"Last name?", she asked. Holding out her hand for him to shake. He took it and responded with a raised eyebrow.
"Viper.", he said simply.
" A 'beautiful and elegant' viper, how fitting.", she said, retracting her hand. Jamil's eyes widened even more, both at the complement and at the statement.
"You speak Arabic?", he asked. Cassandra nodded.
"I speak many languages, Arabic is just one of them.", she said mysteriously. Jamil raised an eyebrow.
"Your world speaks our languages?", he said. The red head's smile grew wider and she nodded.
"Yes. You know, your the first student to ask me such a thought provoking question about my home.", she said. Jamil was about to respond to that remark, when Kalim came out of his despondent state from the kiss and gleefully made his way over to his friend.
"Do you know what my name means habibi?", he asked, joining in the conversation. Cassandra turned to him.
"Yes, it means 'speaker', which is fitting, given how talkative you are.", she said with a laugh. Kalim laughed as well, with Jamil giving a crooked smirk, having to force himself to do so through his annoyance at having his conversation with the beautiful girl interrupted. The red eyed dorm leader took one of Cassandra's hands into both of his.
"You said you wanted to talk to me?", he asked, a soft expression on his face. Cassandra's eyes widened as remembered what she had told him and nodded.
"Yes I do, but... excuse me for one moment.", she said, walking over to Cater.
"Cater, is it alright if I leave to speak to Kalim alone for a moment?", she asked gently, bending down a bit so they were at eye level. Cater looked away from the conversation he was having with Eiji about photo angles and looked at Cassandra, confused.
"Why are you asking me?", he said.
"I invited you here so we could spend time together, it's only fair that if I have to take time away from you, I should ask your permission to do so.", she stated. Cater blinked at her and blushed a bit.
'I had no idea common courtesy could be so hot.'
"That's fine.", he squeaked, before quickly turning back to a smirking Eiji and shooting him an excited look.
'Did you see that?!', he mouthed. Eiji nodded with a smile and turned to wink at Cassandra when Cater wasn't looking. Cassandra smirked and winked back.
"Very well then. I'll be back in a little while.", she said, walking away from the orange haired third year and back over to Jamil and Kalim.
"We can speak now. Jamil, feel free to take a seat with the others and help yourself to some food.", Cassandra said with a smile. Kalim grinned widely and Jamil blinked, surprised by the generous offer.
"I'm fine, you don't have to.", the long haired young man said. Cassandra shook her head.
"It's fine, we kinda splurged and bought more food than we know what to do with.", she said awkwardly, pointing at the literal pile of food Grim, Skip, Ace and Deuce were slowly tunneling through. Jamil blinked in surprise.
"Well, if you insist...", he trailed off, not used to people paying this much attention to him. He then walked over to the round table and took a seat beside Yue, who was admiring his nails. The second year looked from side to side nervously, not used to to his surroundings, and flinched a bit when Yue glanced at him. They then both stared at each other, each looking the other up and down; then, they both smiled genuinely.
"I love your hair!", they both said at once, before they giggled at themselves. Normally, Jamil would have been mortified. Him, giggling? It was embarrassing and about as likely as Kalim kicking a puppy, but it seemed every impossible thing had it's day. He also supposed Cassandra Mikaelson was the harbinger of all impossible things.
The two young men then got into a conversation about hair care products, and Cassandra smiled back at the two as she let Kalim drag her away by her wrist. It was nice to see them making friends.
Kalim tugged her towards an empty classroom in an abandoned hallway a little ways away from the cafeteria. He opened the door and let Cassandra go in first before he himself entered the room and locked the door behind him. Any normal girl would be concerned with being locked in a room with a boy she barely knew, but Cassandra would never be able to fear those big, innocent red eyes that were swimming with kindness and generosity.
She stood in the middle of the room. Kalim, meanwhile, was still by the door with a warm smile on his face.
"So, about that gift you gave me...", Cassandra started, preparing to go into a long winded tangent on making certain of his intentions, what being in a relationship with her would entail should she be reading the signals correctly, and all the craziness she had just discovered would be a side effect of forming an attachment with her, when Kalim dashed across the room at a speed surprising for a human, embraced her tightly around her waist, and without warning, kissed her on the lips. Cassandra was surprised, but not shocked and soon melted into the kiss.
Kalim was about five inches shorter than her, but he still managed to get to about eye level with her on his tip-toes. Cassandra leaned down a bit to make things easier for him.
The kiss lasted for a while, though never became more heated than from when it started; Kalim never tried anything else, and whether it was out of respect for her or just because he didn't know how, Cassandra found it adorable.
Kalim pulled away, though that didn't last long, because soon enough he was peppering every piece of skin he could reach with kisses. Cassandra laughed at the tickling sensation the kisses left on her neck and collar bone.
"I love you more than all the celebrations in the world, I want to be with you forever. Please tell me you have one too. Please tell me you feel it.", he whispered in between kisses. Cassandra felt her eyes widen at the bold statements and the implications behind the last one.
"Have what?", she asked quietly. Kalim reluctantly released the tribrid from his hold and began to take off his white sweater, and then his vest and shirt. Cassandra blushed a bit and was about to ask him what he was doing when he turned around, now topless, and showed her his exposed back.
There, on the center of his back, was a mark matching the one Cassandra had on the back of her right forearm. Reaching out, she ran her fingers over it gently. Kalim shivered and blushed a bit.
"I feel it too, Kalim. I know what it is, and I have one as well.", she said, rolling up her jacket sleeve to show him her mark. Kalim's eyes widened as he flung himself forward, still shirtless, pushing Cassandra up against the wall. He wrapped his arms around her once more.
"Please don't ever leave, don't go away and never come back.", he whispered into her neck vulnerably. Cassandra's expression softened as she realized what his worst fear was; he had just gained something so wonderful, and now he was terrified that she was going to leave as soon as she found a way home and never come back, losing that thing forever. She laced her fingers through his hair comfortingly, jostling his headress a bit.
"I won't leave, I'm not going anywhere, love. I promise.", she whispered back to him. Kalim sighed in relief at her promise and tightened his hold. Cassandra inhaled sharply. By Hades and all his subjects, he smelled amazing.
"Can we just... stay like this for a little while?", he asked innocently, wanting to savor the moment before long talks of the future he knew were coming and reality ruined it. Cassandra growled a bit, causing Kalim to blush more than he already was and jump.
"You have no idea what you ask of me, sweet thing.", she growled lowly, yet affectionately. Kalim whimpered a bit at her tone. Just as he was about to ask what she meant, the tribrid gave into her hunger; she had just fed, but he smelled too good and he was practically offering himself to her in more ways than one. She couldn't take it anymore.
Burying her face in his neck, Cassandra inhaled his scent (water lilies and incense), and Kalim sighed in bliss; he soon ceased this, however, when he felt sharp teeth digging into his neck.
Eyes wide in surprise and confusion as to what was happening, the dark skinned boy yelped and bit his lip, trying to keep from crying out and drawing attention. Cassandra sipped his blood like she was starved, despite the fact she had just fed. Cassandra kept her arms wrapped around his waist to hold him in place, and Kalim had carded his fingers through her hair, whimpering a bit.
After a few moments of this, Cassandra felt her eyes widen in horror.
'What am I doing?!'
Pulling away, abruptly but gently so as to not cause Kalim more harm, she released him from her death grip, came off the wall and walked away from him. Kalim looked at her with his wide, innocent eyes and she wanted to cry. What had she done? He had just wanted to hold her and she had hurt him. She began to hyperventilate, looking like some sort of wild thing with the blood of the sweet boy who had only wanted to stay with her all over the lower half of her face. Kalim touched his neck gently and just kept staring at her.
"I-I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I-I'll just leave, you won't hear anything from me again-", she started, but Kalim didn't let her finish when he wrapped his arms around her neck.
"You promised me you would never leave, you can't just ignore that because you made a mistake. And-and I don't mind. I- you're like a vampire, right? So don't you need blood to live? I-I don't mind you feeding off of me.", he admitted, and Cassandra felt her eyes widen; slowly, she wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry... I was just so scared you would be afraid of me...", she mumbled. Kalim laughed.
"I could never be afraid of you.", he said, and Cassandra had to resist the urge to sob. She was so afraid those she loved would see her as some sort of monster; she didn't care what the world at large thought, but having her lovers fear she would break her.
The two held each other for a while, and soon they were having a long conversation about Cassandra's situation, taking seats on top of the desks. Kalim kept respectfully silent and nodded along, never judging or sneering.
"So, just to be clear, you're a vampire-werewolf-witch hybrid, you can copy Unique Magics, you have six soulmates not including me, likely more, you're endorsed by the Lord of the Underworld, AND you're the Prophecy King?", he said, trying to get all his facts straight.
"That's the jist of it.", she said. Kalim grinned.
"Cool!", was all he said. Cassandra blinked in confusion.
"'Cool'? I-that's it?", she asked, expecting a bit of panic or for him to need to take a walk. The white haired dorm leader just nodded.
"Yeah, I mean, you being a tribrid is super cool, so why would I be freaked out by that? You can't help that you have other soulmates, so why would I get mad at you for something you have no control over? It's love, the more the merrier! Plus, I have over thirty siblings, so I'm used to working with a packed schedule and general chaos. Also, King of the World and the favorite person of a member of the Great Seven? That's great! Kinda overwhelming, but great!", he said, sounding eager and happy the whole time. Cassandra looked at him in awe at how well he was taking this, before smiled
"You're a kind, understanding soul, Kalim.", she said, walking over to him and kissing him on the forehead.
After that, they were soon on the floor, curled up on top of a nest of Kalim's clothes and giggling over nothing and everything as they got to know each other. Cassandra smiled softly as Kalim wiped the blood off her face with a hanky.
"How did I ever get so lucky?", she asked, and Kalim giggled.
"The universe would rather cave in on itself than upset you, I suppose.", he said. Cassandra kept smiling, before she frowned as she stared at the wound on her love's neck, blood still dripping from it slightly. Kalim noticed this and gave her a soft, reassuring smile, running his thumb over her cheek.
"Don't worry, I don't mind it, and it... actually felt kind of good.", he admitted quietly, and Cassandra had to physically resist the urge to groan.
'Oh sweet Hades, he's a masochist. You just met him, you just got together, you are taking things slow for his sake...', she told herself, having to use every bit of self restraint she had to not pin him down with her body and get him out of the rest of his clothes. Outwardly, she only smiled a little bit.
"It makes me happy that you can say that genuinely.", 'and a few other things.', she thought. Kalim grinned up at her, and her smile became less forced. Cassandra's eyes then widened a bit as she got an idea. She sat up and, much to Kalim's confusion and concern, she brought her wrist up to her mouth and bit down on it hard.
"Hey, what are you doing?!", he yelled, shooting up as well and grabbing Cassandra's wrist away from her mouth. Cassandra chuckled at him.
"Relax, I'm a vampire, remember? It'll heal in a few minutes.", she said. Kalim glared at her with as much venom as a duckling.
"You still shouldn't hurt yourself!", he said, and Cassandra laughed while Kalim pouted.
"You don't want me getting hurt, and yet you are fine with me biting you? You make no sense, little one.", she said. Kalim glared at her again.
"I'm not little!", he said indignantly, and Cassandra raised an eyebrow.
"You are five inches shorter than me; I assure you, little one, you are little.", she said, and Kalim only huffed again as Cassandra laughed.
"And as I was saying earlier, while I
will heal in a few minutes, you will not. If you drink my blood, you will heal.", she said, and Kalim sighed.
"Alright... ", he yielded, gently taking Cassandra's wrist into his mouth and sipping her blood gingerly. He was so gentle, Cassandra could barely feel his lips.
After he was done, Cassandra leaned down and licked the remaining blood from his neck. The red eyed boy moaned and whimpered at the sensation. When she was done licking off all the blood, she pulled away with a smirk when she saw his blushing face.
"Now, if you would please put your clothes back on so we can go and rejoin the others. We've been gone a while, and I would rather Jamil not come looking for us and walk in on something he would be begging me to compel out of his mind should he have the knowledge of my ability.", Cassandra said, causing Kalim to blush even brighter as he remembered he was half naked.
After putting his clothes back on, Kalim and his new girlfriend left the classroom and walked back to the lunchroom arm-in-arm rather than hand-in-hand, so as to not draw attention to themselves. Cassandra blinked and looked down at her newest soulmate.
"Hey Kalim?", she asked. Kalim smiled up at her so brightly she thought her daylight ring would fail and she would burn to ash. The tribrid had to resist the urge to snort as she remembered her daylight jewelry. The lapis lazuli ring on her right ring finger had once belonged to the infamous Damon Salvatore, but during the whole cure debacle, long before she was born, her darling friend Katerina had stolen it from him in the chaos. She had kept it as a souvenir of the man she had once felt something for, and when she had left to go spend some time in her home country with her daughter Nadia when Cassandra was thirteen, she had given it to her as a parting gift.
"The fact that one day Damon is going to learn I gave his precious ring to the daughter of his worst enemy will bring me more joy than if I just kept the thing to spite him.", she had said to her over sodas and bourbon at Rousseau's. Cassandra couldn't help but laugh at the memory of one of her oldest and only female friends. Kalim looked at her oddly.
"What's so funny, habibi?", he asked. Cassandra smiled softly at the pet name and shook her head.
"Just a memory of an old friend.", she said. Kalim nodded in acceptance.
"So what is it?", he asked, and Cassandra frowned a bit as she remembered her question.
"Do you want our relationship to remain private? while being out in the open would certainly garner whispers, I'm already in the spotlight as it is thanks to Cater.", the redhead said with a sigh. Kalim's eyes widened as he remembered the post.
"Oh yeah! You were super cool looking! I was still worried for you, though, and I'm glad you're okay.", he said sincerely. Cassandra smiled softly at his concern.
"I'm glad I'm okay, too; but back to my question. I don't care what other people think of me, and neither does anyone else in the Court. We live our lives the way we please, and we will fight like hell for the right to do so. And since I am going to be... king, people are just going to have to accept my relationship, whether they want to or not.", she said with conviction that left Kalim in awe. Cassandra then looked down at her white haired lover.
"That does not mean, however, that you are automatically of the same opinion, and I will not force you to be. It is your life, so it is your choice whether or not to make this big change public. I know it will affect every aspect of your life, and I'm not going to force you to take that leap yet; we can take this slow, little one. There is no need to rush.", she said gently. Kalim looked up at her with big eyes.
"I don't care what other people have to say, and I know my family will come around. I love you, and I want everyone to know that.", he said, remembering the things that had been brought to his attention during his and Jamil's argument. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his friend was right about a lot of things. It had gotten him thinking of what he would do in any of the scenarios he had brought up, and Kalim had come to a conclusion;
It was his life and his heart. He could and would do what he wanted with it, and no amount of tabloid slander was going to change his mind.
Cassandra looked at him with wide eyes before she smiled.
"That's lovely to hear, darling, but since this is affecting the others as well, we should probably hold a Court vote on the matter.", she said. Kalim thought about it, and nodded in agreement vigorously.
"Of course! Whatever you want!", he said with a smile, before his eyes became even wider and hopeful.
"Wait, so... does that mean you consider me a part of the Court?", he asked hesitantly. Cassandra smiled and nodded, causing Kalim to squeal excitedly.
"Really?! Oh, this is so rayiea! Can I be the Court party planner?", he asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he walked. Cassandra nodded.
"Sure, but be warned, Yue is my personal assistant, so parties are part of his domain; he doesn't like it when people encroach on his territory.", the golden eyed girl warned. Kalim stilled and went quiet.
"On second thought, maybe I'll do something else. He's just as scary as Jamil when he's angry!", he said with a shiver. Cassandra chuckled.
"He seems that way to people he doesn't know, but once you get to know him he's about as scary as a kitten.", she said, recalling her prickly Asian lover. Kalim looked at her in disbelief.
"I find that hard to believe...", he trailed off.
Just as the two wrapped up their conversation, they came to the large, open double doorway of the cafeteria. Walking back to their table, the new couple found an odd sight.
Yue was braiding Jamil's hair, the latter's hair ornaments in a neat pile on the table and the hairstick the former took from the treasury in his mouth as he did this. Cater, Shorter and Eiji were laughing and taking selfies on Cater's phone; meanwhile, Skipper and Grim were happily pestering a highly amused Trey about all the things he could cook, and Ash and Griffin were talking to Ace and Deuce about guns from their world. Skip and Grim looked up from their conversation and waved at the two vigorously as they came closer.
"Cassie, you're back!", he called out over the chatter of the cafeteria. Everyone at the table looked at them as they walked back, Cassandra's lovers and Jamil's eyes narrowing in suspicion when they saw her and Kalim's linked arms. Despite this, no one said anything.
As the two took their seats, Yue finished braiding Jamil's hair, taking a hair tie out of his uniform pocket to tie the end, and another to make the braid into a bun. He then gingerly stuck the silver hair stick into his hair, handing Jamil a small purple pocket mirror and humming when he was done.
"Done!", he said happily, smiling at his work. Jamil looked at his new hairdo in the mirror and smiled appreciatively.
"Not bad. I'll have to remember how you did it so I can redo it with magic later. Do you want the hair stick back?", he asked. Yue scoffed.
"Keep it, it was just something I had lying around; in exchange for it, though, I want you to give me your phone number. You have no idea how cathartic it is to just talk shit about everything to someone who doesn't care about who you're talking about.", he said, flipping his hair sassily. Jamil looked back at him.
"Done and done. Give me your phone.", he said, holding his hand out. The two exchanged their maroon, gold and purple phones respectively and began typing away. Cassandra watched the exchange with a smile, before she turned to face Shorter.
"Shorter, could you please cook-?", she began to ask, but was soon interrupted by two hands loudly slamming down on the table. Cassandra's eyes widened and she looked in the direction the sound came from, finding quite the sight.
"YOU!", an extremely angry and red in the face Riddle yelled out, pointing an accusatory finger at the current bane of his existence. No one said a word. Everyone looked between the enraged dorm leader and the relaxed dorm leader.
Cassandra smiled widely. She put her hands behind her head, leaned back in her seat, and propped her feet up on the table after she crossed her legs. She looked at her fellow dorm head with a grin Loki would be jealous of.
"Me."
I know I promised Riddle, but then I remembered I had to address Kalim and that Riddle scene is too complex to really smoosh in with all this. I mean look at this! It's a twenty-five page long nightmare as it is! Also Yue and Jamil are going to have the most epic friendship arc and no one will be able to tell me otherwise. So if you haven't noticed, as you can tell from Azul's segment, I'm speeding up the plot a bit. I'm hoping I can get all seven overbolt arcs (plus ghost marriage and Halloween at some point) done before the end of NRC's first semester; reason being I want to get the TWST segment out of the way, so we can go back to earth, finish up that story arc and have the characters free to deal with family drama during the summer, because sweet fuck is there drama. Next time, Lilia being a troll, Cassandra being an even bigger troll, and Riddle having his entire world view smashed into a million pieces!
So long and Goodnight, Thackery Binx.