〈 heartslabyul 〉〈 student 〉〈 tags: elliot 〉〈 mentions: huey, stellan 〉〈 word count: 1259 〉
- If you were to ask anyone, especially members of Heartslabyul, about Caden Milliner, the distinguished-looking student ever-decked out in a top hat, they’d likely tell you that trouble always had a way of finding him and his best friend, Huey Leveret… or rather, that they themselves were the problem, sowing chaos wherever they went. Not that Caden - Caddy - ever thought of himself in that way, mind you; what others (aka, a certain silver-haired housewarden!) considered troublemaking, he called having fun! After all, life would be so boring and repetitive otherwise… Case in point: just earlier that day, after having recently returned from winter break in the Queendom of Roses, the third-year had made it his own personal goal to discover a way to blow something up in Potionology, for the class was so dreadfully dull otherwise, he had to liven it up somehow, and he simply couldn’t wait to unleash his… explosive… potential at Science Club! Surely, he had thought, Divus Crewel would understand.
… Of course, in the three years that Caddy had been acquainted with the fur connoisseur, Professor Crewel had never changed his stance on these “unwanted” (as he put it) explosions. But that wasn’t for lack of trying on Caddy’s part!
The resulting combustion that occurred - in the midst of Crewel rambling over the semester syllabus. Perfect timing, really - had been as bright and colorful as it was loud and disruptive to the entire class, the resounding boom broken only by an equally stentorian whoop of triumph being let out by the unrepentant instigator himself. Thankfully, as always seemed to be the case with Caddy’s wilder ‘experiments’, no one had actually gotten hurt, which was perhaps a testament to what he was capable of pulling off - even without his inseparable, signature partner-in-crime! - given enough time, energy (which he was never short of!), and dedication. Or, at the very least, he’d thought it all very impressive and amusing; tragically, the professor did not share his appraisal. Utterly unamused with the hazardous state his classroom had been left in, the draconian teacher had promptly and soundly punished the culpable, shameless student with detention. Again. In other words — it had been a classic, typical day for Caden Milliner, who always managed to find himself in one situation or another, usually of his own making!
… And that was how Caddy found himself here, stuck in detention after classes had ended for the day, Professor Crewel looking sternly down upon him (heh, the teacher’s current expression kind of reminded him of Stellan when he was particularly angry, teal eyes barely restraining the urge to twitch in vexation-) while he boredly drummed his fingers against the wood of the desk he sat at, incapable of sitting still even now as he tapped a rhythm he made up in his head. He would have kept at it, too, but one impatient warning lash from Crewel’s signature pointer against the teacher’s table convinced him that wasn’t a particularly good idea… this time. Instead, donning his best impression of a sheepish smile (hell, he’d never been sheepish his entire life!), he proceeded to brazenly ask, “Say Teach, given how it’s a new semester and all, I really think you should let this one go. You know, in the name of the Science Club. By the way, have I mentioned yet that you’re looking more fashionable than ever? ‘Cause you are.”
This totally-reasonable, not-guilt-trippy-or-appeasatory-at-all appeal, of course, was simply met with a quirk of one perfectly trimmed eyebrow and a blunt “No.”
Not one to be let down, however, Caddy kept on beaming despite the refusal and, as he was the type of person who tended to put his foot in his mouth, leaned in conspiratorially to declare, “Ohhh, I get it, Teach! You just can’t get enough of my company! No worries, I can stay as long as you want then!” Nevermind that he had a very-important engagement to get to by six this evening. He was definitely not going to miss out on a party, thank you very much, especially one practically hosted by his best mate Huey, with food and tea galore! Besides, if he somehow ran late, he’d be having trouble with another authority figure, so…
Oh, okay, maybe that had actually been the wrong thing to say though, because Caddy swore he could see a vein forming on his teacher’s head, and he wasn’t keen on the idea of being re-trained or whatever else Crewel had in mind. “Kidding. I kid,” he said in an attempt at mollification, leaning back in his chair and holding up both hands in surrender. This seemed to temporarily appease his captor (because that’s what this was! He was being held captive from goofing off freely with Huey!), and with his attention diverted for the time being, Caddy surreptitiously pulled out his phone onto his lap, glancing down to see… oh, another 10 missed messages from Huey, each a different variation along the lines of ‘i hate my life’, ‘send help q_q’, and ‘stellan agrias is the bane of my existence and a DICTATOR!!!’. The last texts, though, had been in regards to Caddy’s uncharacteristic silence in their chat:
From ☼☼ BETTER HALF ☼☼: did crewel yell at u (8 minutes ago)
u ok? (8 minutes ago)
did u survive???? (8 minutes ago)
did u die (1 minute ago)
Glancing up, Caddy saw that the teacher’s attention was still momentarily pulled away by something in the hallways, so he bravely dared a chance to reply:
From you: sadly yes
but i lived :^)
getting out of here asap hold on
The next few minutes could only be described as ceaseless badgering, with Caddy growing bolder by the second, spewing out lines like, “You sureeee you don’t want to let me go early? Just this once?!”, “I swear I’ll do extra homework and everything, I’ll make up for it!”, “I’ll even write an apology letter, the whole spiel!”, “Come onnnn Teach, have a bit of mercy! I’m trying my best here!” Was it annoying? Most definitely yes, but something about it had to have been effective because in the midst of his pleading, Crewel seemed to finally lose his patience, snapping his pointer against the table before pointing it at Caddy and then gesturing at the door, as if he didn’t want to be in his student’s presence for another minute. Which, okay, yeah, understandable, but Caddy had made Huey a promise, and he wasn’t going to break it!
Making a mad dash out of the otherwise empty classroom, he held onto the rim of his hat as he bolted in the direction of the dorms, intent clear in his pace. However, focused as he was on returning to the Heartslabyul dorm to meet up with Huey, one of Caddy’s vices was how easily distracted he was, and it showed in how quickly he stopped in his tracks when he spied a dirty blond standing on his own in the hallways, just… looking at his magic pen?
Recognizing one of the new Ramshackle students, Elliot, Caddy didn’t hesitate to bound over, his return to the dorms momentarily forgotten as he called out cheerfully, “Afternoon! Whatcha doing here all on your own?” Because no one should have to be on their own, if you asked him! Leaning in to face the blond (personal space, what was that?), he flashed his wide signature grin before continuing, “There’s fun to be had, you know! You’re coming to our tea party tonight, right? Everyone’s welcome, especially new students! And you’ll all get to try Huey’s cooking! He’s the best, I tell you.”
