Outside the Scarabia dorm, the boys who chased you stand by the door. "I still can't believe the Ramshackle pair fled to Octavinelle."
"And they stole the magic carpet. If the housewarden were to find out about this..." He groans. "What do we do?"
"I think we'd better take this to Vice Housewarden Jamil to start with."
"Hello, gentlemen."
The two whirl around and see Azul approaching. "Mind if we pop by?"
Floyd uses his fedora to fan himself. "Good GRAVY, it's hot here. Feels like the middle of summer."
"You're the Octavinelle guys who gave us a thrashing last night!"
"What do you want with Scarabia?"
Azul places a hand to his chest and bows his head. "Permit me to apologize for what transpired last evening. It looked as though you were bullying defenseless animals."
You roll your eyes.
"I stood up for them on the spot, out of the goodness of my heart. But after I heard their story, it became clear to me that the two Ramshackle residents were thieves who had made off with Scarabia's magic carpet. Once I realized my mistake, I took personal responsibility for the matter. I apprehended the criminals..."
Azul slings an arm around you. The twins tied a ribbon that matches your Scarabia outfit tied around your hair. Grim has a similar ribbon atop his head.
"And I came here to return the magic carpet to its rightful owner." Azul gestures to Floyd who has the carpet rolled under his arm.
Grim growls in your arms. "It ain't fair, I tell ya..."
The two look very confused. "Well, uh..."
"Thank you for the... help?"
"Guys. It's about time for morning training." Jamil walks down the steps leading to the dorm. "If you're late, Kalim will-"
Jamil stops short when he sees the Octavinelle boys surrounding you. Azul waves cheerfully with his free hand. "Why, Jamil! Hello there. How are you?"
Jamil folds his arms, quirking an eye. "Azul Ashengrotto and the Leech brothers as well? What are you doing here?"
"Our home isn't the most hospitable place in the wintertime." Jade answers.
Floyd laughs. "So we spend our holidays in the dorm!"
"By the way, where might Kalim be?" Azul asks. "I'm here to return his magic carpet to him."
"Uh," Jamil looks between you and Azul. "If you need to deliver something, I'll take it to him."
Azul waves him off. "Oh, but I insist! This magic carpet is a legendary artifact on par with national treasures. If it were discovered to be damaged later, Octavinelle would be held liable. We can't have that, now, can we?" He grins. "I would prefer to hand it to Kalim in person and have him assess its condition firsthand."
Jamil takes a step forward, smiling but has a challenging look in his eyes. "Kalim wouldn't care even if it was damaged. Let me take it off your hands, okay?"
"Worry not." Azul steps forward, dragging you with him. "I won't even ask for my standard twenty percent finder's fee."
Jade steps to your other side. "Consider that our way of apologizing for our uncouth behavior towards Scarabia last night."
"We also brought a seafood pizza as a little present." Floyd adds. "You wouldn't want it to get cold, wouldja?"
"The point is," Azul continues. "I would MUCH prefer to deliver it in person. He's awake by now, I trust?"
"No, really, he's not feeling up for any-"
Azul pushes past Jamil and walks to the doors with you alongside him.
"Hey!" Jamil rushes to catch up. "You can't just barge in, Azul!"
Floyd chuckles. "You better keep up, Sea Snake."
Azul removes the hand from your shoulder and holds your hand instead. "Shall we, Y/N?"
"You know, this is so much nicer when I'm not on the receiving end of it." You giggle.
Grim rolls his eyes. "Yeesh, these Octavinelle guys are so pushy when they wanna be..."
Azul leads you into the lounge and you immediately spot Kalim. He sits on one of the cushions on the rug. Kalim perks up at the sight of you.
It looks like he's not in his bad mood.
"Oh, hey, Azul." Kalim stands. "What brings you to our dorm?"
"Hello there. It's nice to see you, Kalim." Azul looks around at the stunning room. "Goodness me! Scarabia never fails to impress every time I visit. It's a veritable winter wonderland outside, yet in here, the sun's so hot that it might as well be midsummer. You would have vacationers coming in droves if you opened up a resort here. It's an ideal location."
"You don't say?" Kalim smiles. "I don't really have the savvy for business stuff, but thanks for the kind words!"
"At any rate, I'm here today because I caught your magic carpet." Azul gestures to Floyd who still holds the carpet. "I'd like to return it to you."
"Really? It ran off again?" Kalim shakes his head. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that."
Floyd releases the carpet and it flys over to Kalim. He tells the carpet to go back to the treasure room and it begrudgingly flys away.
"Oh, it's no bother at all." Azul tilts his head. "By the way, is Scarabia having holidays in the dorm this year?"
"Yes, that's right. Is Octavinelle doing the same?" Kalim asks.
"Why, yes! Fancy that!" Azul smirks. "In fact, what say we take this opportunity to improve relations between our dorms?"
"What?" Jamil catches up to your group, standing next to Kalim.
Azul continues. "It seems there are many things to be learned from Scarabia's unique studying style that was apparently adopted this winter."
"That's right!" Kalim smiles brightly. "I would be positively honored to host Octavinelle's housewarden here in our dorm."
Jamil puts a hand to Kalim's shoulder. "Kalim, I must advise against this."
Kalim frowns. "Aw, why?"
"The whole point of our current training regimen is to catch up to the other dorms." Jamil explains. "If we invite the housewarden of one of those other dorms to join us, we're showing the enemy our hand."
"Oh, please." Kalim waves him off. "He's hardly an enemy. Besides, didn't you invite Y/N?"
Jamil looks to you sheepishly. "Well, er... Yes..." He turns to Azul. "Look, Azul. I'm saying this for your own good."
"You're absolutely right, Jamil." Azul nods. "Other dorms are always going to be, on some level, our rivals in the grade standings. I'm afraid we'd best take our leave, boys. Kalim, Jamil, best of luck with your training."
Azul sighs dramatically, leaning against you. "Back to spending yet another holiday stuck indoors in the dead of winter, just the three of us. It's unavoidable, I suppose..."
Jade shakes his head sadly. "And after we worked so hard to capture that magic carpet and bring it back..."
Floyd mimics their mock sadness. "And it made a huge mess outta the Mostro Lounge in the process..."
Grim nudges your leg as he whispers. "Layin' on the guilt trip a little thick there, don't ya think?"
You chuckle. "They do a good job at it, huh?"
The three Octavinelle boys turn around and head for the door. Azul, still holding your hand, drags you with them. Kalim rushes over and takes hold of your other hand.
"Hey! Wait!"
Jamil folds his arms, rolling his eyes. "Here we go."
Kalim turns to Jamil to argue. "Azul is one of the top magicians in our whole school. I think Scarabia would benefit greatly from having him over! Besides, turning away esteemed guests out of hand would bring shame upon the Asim family name."
Azul smirks before turning around, smiling. "Why, Kalim! What a kind and generous soul you are! Naturally, I would be more than happy to share any insights I have with you."
"The two of us will be happy to assist with cooking and cleaning." Offers Jade.
Floyd nods. "Yeah! We do it at the lounge anyway, so we're pretty good at it."
"That would be great!" Kalim smiles brightly. "And it would ease Jamil's workload."
"I don't NEED any help..." Jamil sighs, seeing Kalim not paying attention. "Forget it. You're not listening to a word I say."
Kalim fist pumps the air. "All right, let's get ourselves ready for some special training! It's your dorm versus ours. Put your things away and come to the courtyard."
"Certainly." Azul chuckles. "Do go easy on me, Scarabia gentlemen."