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themaladaptivewriter12 · 11 months

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Title: Slumber Party!

Part 2 of my “Every Other Friday!” series. Part 1 here.

Parings: Platonic

Summary:

Another Friday passes and it's time for yet another Housewarden meet, so how about a slumber party in the Ramshackle Dorm?

Cw: Light angst but nothing too big

a/n: This was like the second fic I’ve written for this fandom, and it’s been sitting in my docs since last year lol, anyways, enjoy!

Reblogs are appreciated, just use my custom tag, #TheMaladaptiveWriter12, if you do! ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡

Cross posted from my Ao3: TheMaladaptiveWriter12

It was the Friday after next and this week was “Slumber Party.” What better place to throw it than Ramshackle Dorm. Mirai was excited. None of them, besides the inhabitants of Heartslabyul, had ever been to his dorm, and that was only to help clean, and now it was. There were no more squeaky floorboards, no holes in the ceilings, no torn and dirty wallpaper, no chipping paint, no more water damage, no more flickering lights, and no more dust. Mirai was proud that he was able to host this event, and everyone chipped in too. Trey and Jamil were bringing food, Kalim was bringing blankets and pillows, Idia was bringing board games, junk food, and a movie projector, Azul was providing drinks, and all Mirai had to do was provide housing, since he didn’t really have anything. So Mirai made sure everything was in place. The floors had been swept and mopped, the carpets were cleaned, miscellaneous objects were put away, Grim’s cat toys, or that’s what Mirai likes to call them, were put away, and as for Grim, well, Mirai couldn’t stash him away. But Mirai also wanted to bring something to the table, so he called Jamil, who picked up on the third ring.

“Mirai? Has something happened?” Jamil asked through the receiver.

Mirai tended to see Jamil like an older brother, although Jamil worries too much, which Mirai hated sometimes, but he always was looking out for Mirai.

“No, I’m fine. I wanted to know if I could make something for Kalim if you were there to supervise the process?” Mirai asked carefully.

“Supervise?”

“Well, Kalim always says that he can’t eat anything but your cooking, and I know you being his advisor makes you weary of what he eats, and I wanted to bring a little bit of home to the party, so I-”

“You wanted to make it in front of me so Kalim could eat it?” Jamil finished.

“Yeah. Is that okay?” Mirai asked. “You can help if you want.”

There was a long silence before Jamil made a noise of affirmation, “I don’t see why not, but I can’t leave Kalim by himself.”

“What about Cater or Lilia?”

“Ah, of course. Be there in twenty minutes.”

“Thanks. See you then,” Mirai beamed from his side of the phone.

“You are quite welcome, Mirai.” Jamil said, a hint of a smile in his voice.

“See you in twenty. Later.”

“Good bye.”

Mirai hung up the phone and rejoiced, dancing a bit. He had been racking up some courage to ask Jamil, but couldn’t do it. He really wanted to bring a piece of his home to his new one, and what better way to do that than food.

“What’s got you in such high spirits, human?” Grim asked, walking into the lounge chomping on an apple.

“I’m excited for tonight. I finally have the right stuff to make something from home,” Mirai exclaimed.

“Is it edible?!”

“Yes,” Mirai laughed, “And you’ll get some if you be a good little cat and do not cause any trouble.”

“I’m good! Ima be good,” Grim said eagerly, practically drooling.

“That reminds me, did you want to hang with us tonight, or are you gonna disappear like you always do after eight?”

“I don’t know yet, but you better save me some snacks,” Grim demanded little paws on his little cat hips.

“Of course,” Mirai said, racing down to pet Grim between his flaming ears.

“Hey! Hey,” Grim shouted, “Enough with that sappy stuff! You’re weirding me out!”

Mirai laughed as Grim scampered off to somewhere in the dorm, and went to prepare the things for when Jamil arrived.

A while later, knocking at the door had Mirai jumping from his kitchen cleaning.

“Grim! Could you get that? My hands are full,” Mirai called from the kitchen.

“Who are you to be bossing the Great Grim around,” Grim griped, but did it anyway.

Not long after Jamil was following Grim to the kitchen. It was five-thirty, and the party started at seven-thirty. They still had a good amount of time.

“Hey Jamil! Glad you could make it,” Mirai said, washing his hands.

“Hey,” Jamil chuckled, “It looks great in here.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks man,” Mirai said, quickly busing himself with tying his hair up into a bun, sliding his favorite blue cloth headband over his bangs, “It took a while, but without the help from the guys at Heartslabyul, this probably wouldn’t be happening.”

Jamil was silent for a second but Mirai ignored it. He was used to the stares when people saw the state of the left side of his face.

“Hope you don’t mind,” Jamil said, lifting up a duffel bag in one hand, and a tiered cake tray of food in the other, “But I didn’t know how long it would take, so I bought my stuff with me.”

“No, no, you're fine. Just stick the bag in the foyer and the food can go on the kitchen table.”

Jamil left and came back shortly after, and Mirai just got done putting a glove on his prosthetic hand. Jamil walked up after Mirai finished and washed his hands.

“So, what are we making?” Jamil asked, drying his hands.

“Shoofly Pie,” Mirai beamed.

“Shoo-Shoofly Pie?” Jamil stammered.

Mirai cackled. “Yeah, Shoofly Pie. It’s a pie from where I come from. It’s mainly molasses and sugar, but once it bakes, it’ll have a cake-like texture. Hence why we call it the cake baked in a pie shell. No actual flies needed.”

“Sounds good. What do we need?”

Mirai scurried around the kitchen, preheating the oven, getting out the flour, the dark brown sugar, some cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, molasses, baking soda, and a stick of butter. Jamil watched with amusement, letting the Prefect do as he wanted.

“Oh wait! Bowls,” Mirai gasped.

Mirai raced over to the cabinet where Grim and he kept the bowls and began climbing the counters.

“Woah, woah! What are you doing?!” Jamil yelled, rushing to the Prefect’s side.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Mirai waved off, setting two mixing bowls down next to his knees, then he closed the cabinet.

Jamil sighed, grabbing the two bowls and set down at where they were cooking, before racing back over to Mirai. “Here,” Jamil said as he grabbed Mirai by his bony hips and lifted him up off the counter, and then lowered him onto solid ground.

The whole moment seemed to slow down time. All Mirai could focus on were Jamil’s large hands, clamped around his waist, and the straight face Jamil seemed to always carry. Even if it was so little, his face still told a whole story, held so much weight, so much emotion.

“I-I was fine, r-really,” Mirai stammered, when Jamil let him go.

Jamil sucked his teeth in annoyance, thinking about a certain white haired Housewarden, “Now you are. So what’s next?”

Mirai walked him through the steps of measuring the flour, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon and put them in a bowl.

“Now we slowly add the butter,” Mirai muttered, breaking off bit by bit of butter, mixing it into the dry mixture.

“Is this the filling?” Jamil asked as he mixed up a decent pie crust.

“Uh, no. It’s for the crumble on top.”

After the crumble topping was made, Mirai grabbed their third bowl and started on the filling. Mirai added the light molasses, water, baking soda, and one lightly beaten egg.

“Is that really all?” Jamil asked as he kneaded the pie dough.

“Yep,” Mirai chirped, mixing the filling. “I’ve had it a couple of times for the holidays, it’s quite sweet.”

Jamil didn’t look too convinced, but he kept his mouth shut.

The two continued in a comfortable silence, the two of them doing their respective jobs. Jamil finished the pie crust and started the process of rolling it out. Mirai on the other hand began cleaning up around him, putting things back where they belonged, putting their used dishes in the sink, and cleaning off the countertops.

Jamil was still rolling out the dough when he had gotten a call from Kalim. “I gotta take this. Finish rolling that out for me?”

“Sure,” Mirai said, changing the glove on his prosthetic, “One sec.”

Jamil didn’t say anything as he left the room.

Mirai walked over to where Jamil had been rolling out the pie dough and took over. But as Mirai began to roll out the dough, or in this case, tried to, he realized that he was struggling. He was too short, well, short enough to where he needed a stool to actually get a good push on the rolling pin.

“Give it here,” Jamil said.

Mirai jumped, Jamil scaring him, and allowed the Scarabia Vice to take the rolling pin from Mirai and began rolling out the pie dough like a pro.

“How come you make that look so easy?” Mirai pouted.

“It’s nothing really,” Jamil mumbled, rolling the dough.

“Well, I wouldn't say that,” Mirai said, looking over his shoulder, “I surely couldn't do that, and it looks like you have a lot of experience in the kitchen. I admire that.”

Jamil was silent, but from the way Jamil lost his steady hand, and the way he turned his face to the far left, Mirai could tell he was flustered, but he didn’t comment on it.

Now that the dough was rolled out, Jamil filled the pie tin, Mirai filled the crust with the filling, and once the crumble topping was added, Mirai put the pie into the oven to bake.

“Well that’s done,” Mirai sighed as he stretched his arms over his head.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Jamil said, drying off his hands, “You did good.”

“Thanks.”

“Anything else I can help with?”

“Uh, you don’t have to, but I was gonna make some hot dogs.”

“We still have some time to kill,” Jamil said, looking over to the clock on the wall. “Just tell me what to do.”

Mirai and Jamil spent the next hour making hot dogs, they were the prepackaged kind, but they had to make quite a lot of them. But halfway through, Jamil suggested also making a chili to go on top, and so they divided the work until there were thirty hot dogs and a pot full of chili.

“Thanks Jamil,” Mirai smiled, taking a sip of his water.

“Why are you thanking me?” Jamil asked. “I just helped you cook.”

“You're smarter than that Jamil,” Mirai chuckled, untying his hair, and removing the cloth headband, “I think you can figure it out.”

Jamil looked taken aback, beautiful dark eyes going wide. “I didn’t do anything, really,” Jamil mumbled, playing with his bangs, “I should be thanking you.”

“You’re welcome, Jamil.”

Jamil smirked, before patting Mirai on the shoulder, “You’re welcome, Mirai.”

“Now let's get cleaning,” Mirai whooped, rolling up his sleeves.

Jamil shook his head fondly.

Just as they finished cleaning the kitchen, the oven timer dinged.

“Pie’s done,” Mirai chirped just as a knock sounded at the door, “And just in time too.”

“Human,” Grim called from the lounge.

“I’m busy,” Mirai sang back.

The door sounded and muffed talking could be heard. Mirai checked the time, it read six-twenty.

“What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

“Cay-Cay,” Mirai cheered.

Cater laughed, opening his arms in invitation, “Didn’t I say it was Cay-Cay if you were cray-cray?”

“Well, there’s your answer,” Mirai laughed, returning the hug.

Mirai snuggled against Cater. He liked hugging Cater. He was warm, he always smelt good, like something fresh and crisp, with a little hint of spice, and he always felt safe in his solid form.

“You comfortable there, Hon?” Cater asked, one hand scratching through Mirai’s hair, and his other was rubbing at Mirai’s waist.

“Yeah,” came Mirai’s muffled reply.

Cater chuckled fondly.

“You just smell really good,” Mirai groaned, letting Cater go.

Cater laughed loudly, and Jamil chuckled from his spot next to the stove.

“You here by yourself?” Mirai asked.

“Yeah,” Cater said, “Riddle is helping Trey, and Kalim is with Lilia.”

“Thank the Seven,” Jamil sighed.

“You know I wouldn’t leave him by himself.”

“Well, we’re almost done,” Mirai said, pointing to the table full of food. “The pie just came out of the oven.”

“Ooh! What kind is it?”

“Shoofly?” Jamil asked more than said.

“You remembered,” Mirai smiled.

“Never heard of it,” Cater said. “Does it come from your home world?”

“Ding! Ding! You would be correct!”

Cater and Jamil chuckled at Mirai’s sound effects.

“We also made hot dogs and chili dogs for those who don’t want pie,” Mirai informed.

“Aww, look at you,” Cater gushed, pulling the Ramshackle Prefect into a hug, “Always so thoughtful!”

A set of knocks echoed throughout the dorm and Mirai perked up.

“I got it,” Cater called, letting Mirai go to answer the door.

There was shuffling from the lounge and shortly after Trey and Riddle entered the kitchen.

“Evening guys,” Mirai greeted

“Evening, Prefect,” Trey greeted, “Where should I put this?”

“The kitchen table is fine! We can fix it when everyone gets here.”

“Sounds good.”

“Evening Mirai,” Riddle greeted happily.

“Hey, Riddle, how are things?” Mirai asked.

“Everything is in order, as it should be.”

“That’s good.”

“Oh, we didn’t know where to put our bags, so we just sat them with the other two. Hope that’s okay?” Trey asked.

“You’re good.”

“Well now that we’ve got more hands,” Cater chirped, “Let’s get this party started!”

Cater pulled his Bluetooth speaker from his bag and began playing wherever he felt fit the mood, and with the help from Jamil, Trey and Cater, Riddle directed from the top of the stairs, Mirai rearranged the lounge so that everything faced the window. The couch that was in front of the window was moved to sit along the rug, the couch in front of the stairs was moved horizontally to the window, the rocking chair was moved to the base of the stairs and the end table and coffee table were moved to sit horizontally to the window. Grim just sat there on the couch as he read, letting them move him about. Halfway through, Vil and Rook showed up and watched it all unfold.

“Evening, Rook, Vil,” Mirai called over the music.

“What fun this looks, Roi du Sommeil,” Rook commented.

“It’s getting there,” Mirai huffed, walking over to the two, “Just set your things there, we’re almost done.”

“I was told to bring fairy lights,” Vil said, holding up the two large plastic bags.

“Fairy lights?” Mirai asked.

“Those are for later,” Cater cut in, taking the bags.

There was a knock on the door, and Vil opened it to let Kalim, Lilia, and Malleus in.

“Hey guys, drop your stuff in the foyer for now,” Mirai instructed, “After we get this situated we can go from there.”

“Okay,” Kalim complied, “I bought even more blankets!”

As Trey rearranged the food on the coffee table, Mirai, Jamil, and Malleus laid out the blankets so that the hard wooden floors were covered and cushioned, then Kalim added the pillows. Cater and Jamil stopped midway through and had a dance break, then Lilia changed the music to something harder, the base loud and booming, which he screeched along to. Riddle and Vil perfected everything, looking as pretty and important as ever as they gave orders. With help from Rook and Trey, Mirai brought another end table down to the lounge just as the Octavinelle trio arrived.

“Little Shrimpy,” Floyd called, “Where are you?”

“Lounge,” Mirai called, “Just drop your stuff near the door.”

Azul, Jade, and Floyd entered the lounge, the drinks in a cooler.

“Oh, that goes next to the coffee table,” Mirai directed, pointing to the space next to it.

“Of course,” Jade said, walking the cooler to the coffee table.

“Shrimpy,” Floyd yelled, tackling Mirai onto the floor.

“Floyd,” Azul chided, “Be careful!”

Mirai grunted as he hit the floor, taking the entire weight of the six foot two eel human.

“You okay, Prefect?” Jade asked.

“Y-Yeah,” Mirai coughed, strain in his voice, “Fl-Floyd, it’s nice t-to see you too, b-but you gotta be c-careful. You might b-break m-me.”

Floyd cackled, snuggling his face into Mirai’s hair, “Shrimpy’s weak.”

“Yes I am, that’s why you gotta get off me,” Mirai laughed, patting Floyd on the back.

“Okay!”

Floyd sat the two of them up, sitting cross legged on the blanket pallet.

“What time is it?” Mirai called.

“It’s seven-ten,” Malleus answered.

“Thanks.”

“Idia’s here,” Vil called.

Idia entered the lounge with his projector equipment, and a long black bag.

“Heyaz,” Mirai waved from within Floyd's hold, “Set it up whenever you’re ready.”

Idia nodded, walking his equipment over.

“We’re setting it up in front of the window, right?” Idia asked guesting to the small blank end table next to the surge protector plugged into the wall.

“Yep. Is that okay?”

“No, no, that’s fine. Just making sure,” Idia said with haste.

“Cool, just tell me if you need something.”

“Here Cater,” Idia said tossing the long black bag to him.

“Thanks,” Cater chirped, “Okay Ima need help from my tall guys for this!”

“For what?” Mirai asked.

“It’s a surprise,” Cater said with a finger to his lips.

Cater left the room to gather everyone else, and Floyd followed shortly after being called by his brother.

“What are they doing?” Mirai muttered.

Mirai turned his body around to look at Idia. Mirai thought he looked cute in his hoodie as always, and this time, he wore his hair in a ponytail, a baseball cap atop his head, and with the light of the golden afternoon, Mirai thought he looked even prettier, ethereal even. And the way he worked with the equipment, he looked more in his element than ever. His hands were working fast as he positioned the projector and his laptop, plugging in cords here, there, and everywhere, his eyes were narrowed in concentration, the tip of his tongue peeking from blue tinted lips, with a flash of his sharp teeth here and there as he muttered to himself. Mirai found the tall gamer all too cute.

“Wh-What is it? Did I d-do something wrong?” Idia asked after realizing the Ramshackle Prefect was staring.

“N-No,” Mirai stammered, “I was just watching.”

“O-Oh. It’s nothing interesting,” Idia muttered.

“You just seem really good at that kind of stuff, and that’s what makes it interesting.”

Idia’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly, as he tried to come up with an answer. Mirai laughed while getting up to leave Idia to work.

“W-Wait,” Idia called, grabbing Mirai’s arm.

Mirai was surprised, but so was Idia, his face was red, hair growing pinker and pinker. He looked like he was surprised with himself, like didn’t mean to do that.

“Leona and Ruggie are here,” Lilia called from somewhere in the dorm.

Idia let go of Mirai and quickly busied himself with the projector again. Mirai took that as Idia wanted to forget what just happened, and got up to greet the last of his guests.

“Oi Herbivore,” Leona called, “Move your dorm. The walk here is too long.”

Mirai laughed. “I don’t think I can do that, but I’ll ask the Headmage and let you know what he says.”

Leona smirked, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips.

“How come we’re the last one’s here, but on time?” Ruggie asked, dropping his stuff next to everyone else's.

“They were helping set up,” Mirai explained.

“Hey Ruggie, come here,” Trey called from somewhere.

“Coming,” Ruggie called back jogging off.

There was a sound of pattering feet from behind, Mirai turned around to catch Trey, Azul, Malleus, and five Caters scurrying into the lounge.

“What are they doing?” Mirai questioned, walking off.

“Hey herbivore,” Leona said, running his whole hand across Mirai’s head, tangling his fingers in thin blonde strands and pulling, “you smell good.”

Mirai made a surprised noise akin to a choking cat, and tilted his head back, bending his body, as Leona pulled him by the hair.

“Good?” Mirai grunted, trying to get Leona’s hand out of his hair, “I’ve been cooking and moving around all day. Ya sure it’s not just sweat?”

“No, like, you smell really good,” Leona muttered. “Like meat?”

“Leona,” Mirai whined, face flushing, “That’s just gross. Even if I was just making hot dogs, that’s still gross.”

Leona chuckled. “Yeah that’s what it is.”

“Ugh! Now I wanna change my clothes. That’s just plain nasty.”

Suddenly there was a crackling sound and then the whole dorm went dark.

“Guys?! What happened?! Are you okay?!” Mirai yelled, wringing himself from Leona’s grasp.

Mirai tripped over the bags as he scrambled to the lounge, thinking of the worse. When he entered the whole room was pitch black.

“G-Guys?” Mirai called wearily.

One by one, strings of fairy lights lit up the room, little balls of light danced around the room like golden fireflies, making the huge blanket fort more and more visible. The top of the fort was peaked, hanging from the chandelier, a side was connected to the fireplace and the railing of the stairs above the couches. And at the front, there was a little pathway leading from the entryway into the fort, and the little door was made of blankets and sheets, tied on the edges to keep them out of the way. Mirai was in awe. He’d never seen anything like it. He just stared at the setting in front of him.

A flash broke Mirai from his stupor, making him startle. Cater was smiling from behind his camera.

“You gonna come in or just stand there?” Cater chuckled.

“Wh-What’s happening?” Mirai asked, voice a little distant.

A push at Mirai’s back had him whipping his head around to Leona who was smirking at him.

“C’mon,” Cater smiled, grabbing Mirai’s hand, leading him in.

They had to crawl in the little path way, but once they pushed past another set of blankets, the fort opened up. Kalim’s red, orange, burgundy, and purple blankets looked even better from the inside. Fairy lights lit the inside of the fort, and the little balls of light from outside also floated around in here. There were poles situated in the corners, where the fort, keeping it all in place, and in the back, there was yet another doorway, just like the one Mirai had crawled through. Mirai honestly didn’t know how they did it.

Azul and the twins were chatting on one of the couches, Kalim, Jamil, Trey, and Riddle were sitting around the coffee table on the blanketed floor. Malleus, Lilia, and Vil sat on the other couch, Rook sat at Vils feet on the floor, Idia sat next to the projector, and Ruggie sat around one of the other tables. Leona scooted in from behind Cater and Mirai, crawling over to Ruggie, where he promptly got comfortable.

“You can thank Cater for orchestrating all of this,” Azul said from the couch, “It was all his idea.”

“The light’s were from Vil and I,” Lilia added.

“Idia engineered the fort layout,” Malleus imputed. Idia flushed at his honorable mention.

“I bought extra blankets and sheets,” Kalim cheered, raising his hand.

“Rook and I concocted a potion that glows in the dark, mimicking fireflies,” Trey said racing up to a ball of light.

“What’s happening?” Mirai muttered again, still in shock, “H-How, why?”

“Because we wanted to,” Cater said looking Mirai in the eye, “And according to a little kitty cat, a certain Prefect was feeling down, and wanted to find a way to cheer him up.”

Grim poked his head in from the other blanket door, ears flat to his head.

“You weren’t supposed to go blabbing all that,” Mirai chided

“Well you said you were homesick,” Grim mumbled, “And you were all mopey. A-And it was annoying, so…”

Mirai was taken aback by Grim’s confession. Yeah he was feeling a little homesick. He missed the food, he missed the music, he missed the familiarity of it all, he missed not having to try and understand everything that was thrown at him, but he wouldn’t trade this for the world. He now had friends that cared for him, he now had a purpose, even if it was small in the greater of things, he now had a reason to look forward to tomorrow and what was to come. Yeah it was hard sometimes, yeah some of these guys could kill him with their pinky finger, but he was happy with life, more than he’s ever been for a long time.

Mirai threw his head back laughing, mirth spilling from his lips before it boiled over into misery. Tears filled his eyes, and Mirai bowed his head and cried into his hands.

Everyone was everywhere at once. Mirai couldn’t tell who was who, or what anyone was saying over his own sobbing voice. But he was trying to stop the tears that just wouldn't stop falling.

“I-I’m f-fine,” Mirai sobbed.

Mirai was pulled into a pair of soft arms. They smelled sweet like strawberries and something floral, like roses. It was Riddle.

“Ramshackle Dorm Rule by default, Mirai must confide in his upperclassmen whenever he’s in trouble, no matter the problem,” Riddle muttered, petting into Mirai’s hair.

Mirai pulled away, sniffling as he wiped his face with his sleeves, voice wet and raspy, “Thanks guys, I mean it.”

“You’re welcome,” chorused around.

Mirai smiled, wiping at his eyes again, “You guys are the best, you know that?”

“I mean, I already know that,” Leona boasted, a snarky smirk on his lips, “But I don’t mind hearing from you.”

“Please,” Vil scoffed, “If anyone here is the best, it’s me.”

“I think it is I whom he was referring to,” Malleus’ deep baritone voice rumbled.

The three began to bicker, much to everyone’s chagrin and Mirai watched the scene unfold in front of him.

“Ready?” Cater asked, bringing the Ramshackle Prefect from his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Mirai nodded.

“Alright! Party in the Blanket Castle of Ramshackle is a go!”

Everyone filed out and changed into their pajamas, and Mirai found it a funny sight. Riddle was in a red button up pajama set rimmed in white, the cuffs of his sleeves and the hem of his pants lined with white lace, Trey was wearing a green T-shirt and red plaid pajama pants and Cater was wearing a black muscle tank, an orange and white striped pair of pants, and a cardigan that matched them. Leona was in nothing but a pair of yellow pajama pants, Ruggie was dressed in an yellow oversized t-shirt and light blue shorts. Azul wore a purple button up pajama set rimmed in black, Jade and Floyd both wore blue pajama pants with little shells printed on them, and instead of the white tee like Jade was wearing, Floyd wasn’t wearing one. Kalim was dressed in a loose champagne pajama set, and Jamil was in a red tank and loose blank pants. Rook was in a dark blue button up pajama set, and Vil was wearing a flowy dark blue satin gown. Idia was in cyan blue pajama pants and a black graphic tank, and black ankle socks, Lilia was in a large magenta shirt and black leggings, and Malleus was wearing a black satin pajama set, rimmed in a fluorescent green.

“Everyone ready?” Trey asked, from inside.

“Coming,” Mirai called, crawling on his knees, back into the blanket fort.

Mirai was wearing a loose long sleeved shirt, the sleeve that held his missing arm was tied a little ways below the stump. His loose black shorts reached his thighs, and on his feet were black ankle socks.

“C’mere you,” Cater cooed, holding Mirai under his arms, and pulled him into the fort.

“Cater,” Mirai laughed as they both tumbled inside, Mirai ending up lying on top of Cater, both of them giggling.

“Getta room,” Leona hollered.

Cater stuck his tongue out at the Lion Beastman.

“Where’s Grim?” Mirai asked.

“Over here,” Trey laughed.

Grim, who was currently pouting, was dressed in a tiny blue t-shirt and gray pants, and he looked absolutely adorable.

“Aww,” Mirai gushed, “You’re wearing clothes!”

“Well he had to fit the dress code,” Kalim laughed.

“Wait,” Mirai gasped, untangling himself from Cater, and reached up onto the mantel to grab the Ghost Camera.

“Is that a Ghost Camera?” Cater asked.

“Yeah,” Mirai nodded, turning it on, “The Headmage said to use it to take pictures of my time here, to record all the nice moments, and why not use it now?”

“Then allow me.”

The ghosts, Biggie, Smalls, and Rangy, materialized and took the camera from Mirai.

“Good idea,” Mirai chirped, getting into position.

Everyone shuffled around, pushing and shoving here and there. Floyd made a scene about sitting next to Mirai, which caused Kalim to act out as well. Eventually to make it fair, Riddle made everyone sit in height order, shortest in front, tallest in the back, and Grim in Mirai’s lap.

“Everyone ready? On three,” the Rangy said, “One, two, three.”

The camera sparkled and shook, white mist swirled around it before it stopped.

“Thank you,” Mirai thanked them, putting the camera away as they dissipated once more.

“So Jamil says you made something for everyone?” Malleus asked.

“Oh yeah,” Mirai shouted, scooting over to the snack table. He only fell on his face once, but no one commented on it. “I made Shoofly Pie!”

“Fly?” Floyd asked. “Is it made with flies?”

Mirai snorted a laugh, “No. It’s just called that. It’s mainly molasses, and it’s kinda like a cake, well, a cake in a pie crust. But it’s really sweet.”

Trey cut the pie beautifully, serving it to those who wanted some, topping each piece off with the choice of a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. Mirai waited for everyone to get a slice before eating a piece.

“It’s sweet,” Riddle said, surprised.

“It kinda tastes like chocolate,” Kalim said with a smile.

“It's weird,” Floyd laughed. “It’s like cake, but it’s pie.”

“That’s the point,” Mirai laughed. “That's why we call it the cake in a pie shell.”

“You did good,” Jamil said, smiling as he ate.

“Thanks,” Mirai smiled, finally being able to taste home. Mirai felt like crying again, but refused to cry again for a second time.

“Well don’t stop here,” Jamil said, “There's plenty of food to go around.”

And like that, the slumber party was in full swing. Trey passed around cakes and cookies, Jamil dished out a slew of finger foods like fries, wraps, sandwiches, and more. Idia bought out the chips, some dip, and some candy, Azul passed around bottles of soda, water, iced teas, and fruity drinks. Mirai bought the hot dogs and chili out, Ruggie, and Leona were more than happy to have some meat, and Cater and Lilia were more than happy with the added spice from the chili. Once the food was passed out, Idia pressed play on the movie, starting the movie marathon, and apparently it was a series about a magical dark academia. Mirai dug into almost everything. The sandwiches were amazing, so were the chicken and lettuce wraps, he also had some fries and some chips. And before he could forget, he made a plate for Grim. As they ate, Mirai tried not to look at Leona as he devoured the meat in his plate. For some reason, the look Leona had when he bit into his food, Mirai would flush, and he didn’t need to have to go down that route in explaining himself.

“Shrimpy sure eats a lot,” Floyd chuckled.

“I could eat an entire pizza if I wanted to,” Mirai answered, gulping down some cream soda.

“That’s disgusting,” Vil cringed, “Do you know how much grease and fat is in that?”

“A lot, but hey, I’ve eaten worse.”

Vil scoffed, eating his wrap.

“Mirai,” Kamil called, “Try this!”

Kalim was in his face in an instant, in his hand was a plate of spherical pastries, swirled with chocolate.

“Wha-”

“It’s called Luqaimat,” Kalim said, sticking one of the dumplings with a toothpick, and bringing it up to Mirai’s face, “Here, open!”

Mirai complied, opening his mouth, letting Kalim feed him the dumping.

“How is it?! How is it?!” Kalim asked excitedly.

Mirai chewed thoughtfully, eating the sweet dumpling. It was soft and fluffy, deep fried, and smothered in chocolate. It was good.

“It’s good,” Mirai laughed.

“See,” Kalim cheered, eating one himself, “Here, here! Have another!”

Mirai laughed, finding Kalim’s excitement adorable. And he complied, letting the eager Housewarden feed him.

“I want some,” Grim called, bounding over to Kalim.

“Here,” Kalim said, feeding Grim.

Grim’s big eyes lit up at the taste. “I want more!”

Kalim laughed, “There’s plenty!”

Later on Idia, Azul, Trey, Riddle, Jamil, Ruggie, and Lilia played a very intense game of Old Mage, which resulted in a screaming match between Riddle and Idia. Mirai could vaguely hear Riddle saying something along the lines of something being against the rules, which turned into him screaming his little red head off. Trey tried to calm him down but he seemed too far gone to care, Idia started going on about something like ‘you noobs being no match for me’ which resulted in an even angrier Riddle. Ruggie laughed the entire time, and Mirai was pretty sure he was cheating somehow. Cater had a photo op, taking pictures of everyone and everything, Malleus, Kalim, Jade, and Rook were very engaged with the movie and its storyline, Vil sat off to the side, having a very extensive conversation about potions with Rook, and at some point, Mirai ended up lying between Floyd and Leona.

Floyd lay to Mirai’s right, stuffing his face with treats, while he read a comic book, and on the other side of the Ramshackle Prefect was Leona, the Beastman playing with the back of Mirai’s hair as he dozed, his long tail hitting the back of his leg as it swished lazily. Mirai knew he was doing it on purpose, but it didn’t bother him, so he let him be.

But right now, Mirai was internally having a crisis. He was stuck between the tall, pale, lean muscles of Floyd, his shoulder blades sharp, and the tiniest hints of his rib cage showed through his skin when he moved. And on the other side was tall, broad, and bronze Leona, who was pure muscle, so Mirai distracted himself by reading a book he had been meaning to read.

“Will Shrimpy’s arm grow back?” Floyd asked, lightly touching the shoulder of his remaining arm.

“No,” Mirai laughed, “Human’s can’t grow their limbs back.”

“That’s not fair. Azul can grow legs back in his Octopus form.” There a moment before Floyd asked softly, “Does it hurt?”

“Sometimes, but it doesn’t really bother me anymore,” Mirai said, looking up at Floyd.

Floyd was pouting, heterochromatic eyes distant.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mirai giggled, smiling.

“Shrimpy’s too nice to me,” Floyd whined, throwing an arm over Mirai, “I can’t be mean to him.”

He was changing the subject. Mirai guessed he didn’t like, or more like, he isn’t used to genuine niceties being given to him.

Mirai laughed, “That’s called being conscious of other people’s feelings.”

Floyd was silent, a thoughtful expression returning to his face. For a moment, Mirai thought he was gonna just ignore his comment, or worse, squeeze him for it, but it never came.

“Well I don’t like it,” Floyd finally said, pouting. Floyd got up and crawled over to his brother, draping himself around Jade from behind. Mirai could tell he was just embarrassed, and Mirai found it was endearing.

“Is that also where the scar on your eye came from?”

Mirai rolled his head over to look at Leona. He was dreading having to face Leona again, because he didn’t know how he would act having to be totally aware of his state of undress.

“Mn,” Mirai nodded.

The scarring was pretty bad. It mimicked a burning pattern, flesh dark in some spots, light and shiny in others. It started at his forehead, and it traced down over his eyebrow, splitting it in two, down his left eye, over his cheek, and chin, ending a little ways down his neck and shoulder. It was so bad that his once green eye was now mixed with a cloudy white, little flecks of green now only shown through the top of his iris. Only on the worst days did it throb with pins and needles of pain.

“Does it still hurt?” Leona asked quietly.

“Sometimes,” Mirai answered.

Leona reached over, running the backs of his finger across Mirai’s cheek, turning his hand, he ran the pad of his thumb tenderly over the scars across Mirai’s face. Mirai stared intently back at Leona. His eyebrows were frowned a bit, eyes not looking anywhere in particular, filled with an intensity Mirai couldn’t name. When Leona’s thumb reached Mirai’s eye, he closed them. It was too soft, and too intense, and Mirai didn’t know if he could take it.

“What about your scar,” Mirai challenged, sounding too soft, too raw for his liking, trying to revert the attention away from him.

“That’s a secret,” Leona smirked, letting his hand fall, catching the hint.

“Fine, I’ll come up with my own story behind it.”

“Oh?” Leona chuckled, “And what would that be?”

“You are six years old, and stuck in a tree,” Mirai smirked.

Leona growled something deep from within his chest, and Mirai was sure the noise would be engraved into his brain for the rest of his days. But the smirk stayed on his face, so Mirai knew it was okay to continue.

“You’re calling for help as you're stuck, and your brother comes to your rescue. The branch breaks, landing you into your brother's arms, but in your descent, you cut your face in the process.”

Leona laughs, like, genuinely laughs, and Mirai is absolutely smitten. He ends up laughing too. After their laughter dies down, Leona speaks up again.

“You okay?” Leona asked, propping his head up on his hand.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Mirai asked, tilting his head a bit.

“Well earlier, you were upset.”

“Yeah, I’m fine now. Jus’ a lot of stuff going on, and I failed to remember what was in front of me.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s in front of you now?”

Mirai was genuinely going to answer his question, until he noticed the slyness behind it. He knew, Leona knew.

Mirai stuck his tongue out, making a little noise as he did.

“Careful, Prefect,” Leona warned, “I just might have to bite it off.”

“Bleh,” Mirai said, sticking it out again.

Leona growled, and lunged at Mirai.

Mirai yelled as was pushed down as he and Leona wrestled, rolling around in the blankets, pushing and shoving.

“No roughhousing in the Blanket Castle of Ramshackle,” Cater laughed chidingly, even if he was taking pictures of the two.

“He started it,” Leona said, trying to keep Mirai still.

“Did not,” Mirai shot back.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched.

“That looks fun,” Floyd commented, “Shrimpy fight me next”

One of Leona’s hands ended up skirting Mirai’s waist and Mirai squealed, pushing Leona away.

They both went stock still.

“You’re ticklish?” Leona smirked.

“N-no,” Mirai denied, panic slowly going on his face.

Leona started inching closer.

“Le-Leona, st-stop,” Mirai demanded, shooting away from his assailant.

Leona lunged forward, legs bracketing the Magicless Prefect below him, his attacks switching their target to Mirai’s waist, fingers skittering his belly.

Mirai laughed uncontrollably, as he kicked and wiggled, trying to get away.

“Say I win,” Leona breathed a laugh, “Say I win. Say you yield.”

“Y-you win, you win,” Mirai cackled, “I y-y-yield!”

Leona stopped his assault and looked down at the boy beneath him. Mirai was panting, face flushed red from laughter, mouth stuck in a smile as he giggled as if he could feel the tickle.

Leona chuckled, “You-”

Leona grunted as Mirai whopped him upside the head with a pillow.

“Now you’re gonna get it,” Leona roared, snatching a pillow from behind him, and started beating Mirai with it.

“Hey, he’s defenseless,” Kalim yelled, grabbing a pillow and whacking Leona with it.

“My turn! My turn,” Floyd cheered, grabbing a pillow, and smacking Leona.

“H-Hey! Why am I getting hit?!” Leona asked, shielding himself as he tried to hit the other two.

Mirai gasped as he was yanked from under Leona by under his arms. Looking up, Malleus was smirking down at him.

“Thanks,” Mirai said, going in to hit Leona again.

“Ruggie, help me,” Leona yelled.

“I don’t know,” Ruggie said in fake thoughtfulness, “You look okay ta me.”

“Don’t worry, Leona! I’ll help you,” Cater yelled, raining his attack on Kalim and Floyd.

Floyd whipped and flung his pillow around, smacking anyone who got to close. On one of Floyd’s backswings, it ended up flying from his hands, hitting Vil in the face.

“Hey,” Vil shouted, picking it up and throwing it back, it hit Riddle.

Riddle yelped, as it smacked him dead in the face.

“You,” Riddle growled, grabbing the cylinder shaped cushion, swinging it by the tassels, flinging it back, it hit Azul.

Azul screeched, picking up a pillow and throwing it back.

The chain continued until everyone had a pillow, attacking each other. Floyd was in no man's land, hitting anyone he could reach, Jamil had joined Floyd's side, tag teaming Riddle and Trey, getting his hits on Kalim during the battle. Malleus joined in some time after, using magic to throw pillows at Leona with a vengeance, and then that was when Ruggie and Lilia joined their charges’ sides. Jade and Azul took turns fighting off a very unpredictable Floyd or they set their assaults on Vil and Rook, who had deadly precision.

“Fl-Floyd! Floyd! Floyd,” Azul shouted at the cackling eel twin, “You’re hitting me in the face!”

Floyd laughed as he wailed on Azul, before turning around and hitting his brother.

“A dangerous game you play there, dear brother,” Jade said, a sinister smile gracing his lips.

Grim kept a stash of pillows at his side, using to hit anyone who got too close. Mirai found it cute as Grim tried to lift some of the bigger pillows and throw them. Mirai on the other hand, ended up crawling from Cater, who made it his mission to hit him, and in the process, hit Idia, who was sitting very still in the corner.

“Oopsie, sorry babe,” Cater apologized.

It was like night and day, one second Idia looked like a cornered rabbit, then next he was a hawk, sinking his talons into his prey. In a flash, he was snatching a pillow from beside him and was wailing on Cater.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Cater chanted, trying to get away from Idia.

“Thanks Idia,” Mirai laughed.

Idia nodded.

Mirai laughed and playfully hit Idia in the arm with his pillow, Idia snickered and hit him back.

Slowly but surely, the pillow fight ended, everyone huffing and puffing as they lied there in a pleasant silence. Kalim giggled, then he went silent, then he giggled again. And like a virus, they were all laughing.

“‘M tired,” Floyd giggled, still catching his breath.

“As I,” Jade agreed.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Vil said fondly, “You have quite the hit, Azul.”

“As do you, Vil. But you can thank Floyd for that.” Azul laughed, glasses long gone.

That tidbit earned him a couple of chuckles.

“The Great Grim wants a do over,” Grim huffed from where he was spat on the floor, “All you guys did was hit me.”

“You’re an easy target,” Leona gruffed.

“Fynya! Am not!”

Laugher rang out once more.

“I suppose this should be a good time to settle down,” Malleus muttered, looking off to the windows.

Riddle hummed in agreement, “It is already nine-thirty.”

“Then I suppose some cleaning is in order.”

“Then let’s hop to it then,” Mirai said, sitting up.

After the food was cleared out, the tables were moved for the right, to give more space. Mirai helped clean up the best he could before Trey and Cater sent him away. Mirai helped out elsewhere, and in no time flat, everything was cleared out for the night.

It was late, Mirai realized, the sun had long set, making way for the moon and the stars in the dark sky. Everyone was beginning to wind down, the energy from earlier melting into something more calm and cozy. Mirai entered the fort once again, and found Idia sitting by himself, knees to his chest, biting his thumbnail as he watched the movie.

“You seen this before?” Mirai asked Idia as he sat down next to him, shoving a chip into his mouth.

Idia jumped, but settled back down when he realized who it was, muttering, “Yeah.”

“So what’s it about?”

Idia started out small, telling Mirai about the story from its origins as a novel, but once he kept going, he couldn’t stop.

“The film is a masterpiece all in itself,” Idia rambled, flames growing brighter, and larger, his smile turning into a smirk full of sharp teeth, “Like the storyline, totally S-tier, the producers were fans themselves, so they wanted to make sure the movie hit the best points, and it did! The acting is great, although I think Henry’s acting skills are a bit mid. And like, the special effects team totally out did themselves, everything is on point. And don’t get me started on the OST.”

Mirai giggled at Idia’s rambling. Mirai found it cute when he geeked out.

“Like the use of the fog machine in this scene, genius! And-”

Idia suddenly clamped his mouth shut, face flushing a lovely red.

“Sorry,” Idia mumbled.

“What for man? So you like the makings of films that originated as literary masterpieces? We all have our likes and hobbies, so why be embarrassed about it?”

There was a beat of silence before Idia’s eyes narrowed harshly. Mirai was about to ask what was the matter when he spoke once more.

“Why are you so nice to me?” Idia finally asked, tone harsh.

“Why not?” Mirai asked nonchalantly.

“Well you’re not gonna gain anything from this, so you might as well stop your efforts.”

“You just seemed like a really cool dude.”

“Cool? You think I’m cool?” Idia asked, unconvinced.

“Mn,” Mirai nodded.

“What’s so cool about me? Who wants to befriend an introverted trash-tier Housewarden, who won’t leave his room unless he really has to, to only binge play MMORPG’s all night?”

“The introverted trash-tier Magicless Prefect, who never left his room unless he had to, binge playing FPS’s all night,” Mirai deadpanned.

Idia clamped his lips together, eyes widening.

Mirai sighed. “Being here has let me see the other side of things,” Mirai spoke quietly, “Being here has let me make friends. That little Housewarden meeting was the first time I actually felt seen since coming here. Being here has let me cook with someone, for someone, and talk to people who actually care about me. So even if it’s for a little while, why not try and start over and befriend the S-tier Housewarden with the cool flaming hair?”

Idia hid himself, pushing his blushing face into his knees.

“You’re not trash-tier,” Idia mumbled, “Definitely S-tier with some cool DLC.”

Mirai laughed.

“But seriously,” Mirai said, “Next time, if you need a gaming buddy, call me! I need someone who will binge play all night with me.”

Idia laughed loudly, accepting.

“Prefect, come!”

Mirai waved to Idia and kneeled his way over to Vil, who was sitting on the couch with his legs curled underneath himself.

“Sit,” Vil said, gesturing to the space in front of him on the floor with a brush.

Mirai crawled over and sat.

Vil ran his fingers through his hair, combing through the thin strands, starting from the root, manicured nails scratching softly at Mirai’s scalp, as he pulled gently down to the tips. Vil said nothing as he did this, they both sat in a comfortable silence. After a while, Vil ran his long thin fingers over Mirai’s forehead catching the headband with the tips of his fingers, pulling it back and down off his head.

Vil was terrifyingly beautiful to Mirai. He was a force to reckoned with, he let no one in his way, and he let no one tear him down. Mirai loved his presence, his confidence, the way he held himself, he was like a diamond, so pretty, yet unbreakable.

“Your hair is so thin, though it’s soft, like bird feathers,” Vil muttered, “you have to take better care of it.”

“It’s always been that way,” Mirai answered.

Vil sucked his teeth in annoyance as he grabbed the brush and started running it through his hair.

“Rook,” Vil called, “Get that purple bag.”

“Yes, Belle Vil,” Rook obeyed happily, crawling out of the fort.

“No, no,” Mirai stammered, twisting his body from Vil, “You don’t have to-”

“Hush child and sit still,” Vil scolded softly, tapping Mirai’s shoulder with the brush.

It wasn’t long after Rook came back with a travel bag filled with hair care products, and another filled with tubs, tubes, and vials of creams.

“Here,” Vil said, passing the bag of creams, “Do his face.”

Vil busied himself with opening various vials of oil and dumped them into his hands, rubbing them together, then from root to tip, Vil began running his oil hands through Mirai’s hair. Mirai’s face contorted as Vil tugged at his roots, head lolling back every time.

“Roi du Poison’s grip is strong, non?” Rook laughed, mixing various creams into his large hands.

“Am I hurting you?” Vil asked, hands in his hair stilling.

“N-No,” Mirai stuttered.

“Good,” Vil said, continuing.

Rook rubbed his hands together, as he stood on his knees, scooting closer to the Ramshackle Prefect until his knees bracketed Mirai’s crossed ones.

Mirai found Rook pretty. He was strong, yet so soft, it made his beauty even more intense and overwhelming. His jaw was sharp, but his eyelashes were long and soft. His green eyes were a fierce green, while his lips were in a soft smile. It made Mirai’s stomach flutter.

“Head up,” Rook commanded and Vil tilted Mirai’s head back.

Rook got closer, placing his large warm palms on Mirai’s cheeks, using his thumbs to massage the creams into his face.

Mirai winced at his touch.

“Son visage est si rouge,” Rook laughed. Vil leaned forward and looked down, he smirked with a chuckle, sitting back and continuing his work.

“Smells good,” Mirai mumbled, closing his eyes and Rook worked his thumbs higher on his face.

“Which one,” Vil asked.

“Both.”

Vil grabbed a comb this time, and started at the tips, working his way up to the roots, getting the knots and tangles. Rook grabbed another cream, it was pink, and began working it into Mirai’s cheeks and the dark purple bags under his eyes.

“Your freckles are magnifique,” Rook mumbled softly, “Like the stars in the skies of the Savanna. And your scars, they’re like a map, joining those constellations together.”

Mirai could feel his face flush, lips pursing themselves together.

“Beautiful,” Rook cooed, massaging Mirai’s temples.

“Don’t hide your insecurities, you’ll never learn to live them. You’re far too beautiful to hide yourself away,” Vil mumbled, his voice bitter, “Learn to take compliments, learn to love yourself. If you continue to compare yourself to others, you’ll never learn of your own beauty.”

“There’s nothing beautiful about me,” Mirai mumbled bitterly.

He thought he came to terms with himself, with his appearance. But then again he wouldn’t be so beant on hiding his face with his hair, and hiding his prosthetic with a glove, calling a fashion statement. He wouldn’t be holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. He spent his whole life comparing himself to others, indirectly downgrading himself into nothing. It was hard to see himself as anything at all.

“Don’t cry, Roi du Sommeil” Rook soothed with a sad smile, holding Mirai’s face in his hands as he leaned in to place a chaste kiss on his temple, “You’re too pretty to cry.”

“There is nothing pretty about too thin lips, too thin hair, a body that’s too thin, too boney, too pale, too many freckles. There’s nothing pretty about missing an arm, or the scars that burn my face, and the discoloration of my left eye,” Mirai bit out, angry and bitter.

“If you don’t see it, then I’ll make you. I’ll shower you in the love you deserve, until you see it,” Vil threatened.

“Where you see your flaws, I see your assets,” Rook whispered, “Don’t see yourself short.”

“But-”

“Hush, now. Let us take care of you,” Vil chided, lips brushing the crown of Mirai’s head.

Mirai sighed, keeping his eyes down, because if he looked at Rook, he didn’t know if he could take the feelings those green eyes held.

The night waned on and the party atmosphere was starting to dwindle. Vil took up one of the couches, a light-up hand mirror in Rook's hand as he applied his face creams. Leona was asleep towards the back entrance, snoring a little loudly. Floyd was dozing against his brother as Jade, Azul continued to watch the movie. Idia was dozing as well, but continued to watch, even if he had seen it many times before. Jamil and Trey were discussing their vice Housewarden duties quietly, Malleus took up the rocking chair, book in his hand.

“Hey guys,” Lilia whispered, “Come look.”

Everyone looked to where Lilia was referring to, and as Ruggie got up, he stepped on Leona’s tail.

“What is it?’ Leona asked, waking with a snort.

In the far corner of the fort, Mirai and Kalim were sleeping. Kalim was clutching Mirai like a stuffed animal, snoring quietly into his hair, and Mirai was snuggled into Kalim’s chest, legs wrapped around the Scarabia Housewarden like a koala.

“You stepped on me for that?” Leona gruffed, lying back down.

“Oh, I gotta getta pic. Where’s my phone?” Cater whispered excitedly.

Kalim muttered something in his sleep, his body curling over to hold the Prefect a little tighter, and Mirai twitched at the movement, his breath stuttering, but the two never woke.

Mirai woke up hot and sweaty, his shirt sticking to his back like a second skin. He looked up and found Kalim’s sleeping face above him, his lips slightly parted as he drooled into his pillow. Giggling, Mirai shimmied himself out of his grasp, which caused Kalim to promptly turn over and snuggle him into Jamil’s arms. Sitting up, Mirai stretched his back, looking around the room. It was quiet. The only thing lighting the room was the fairy lights at the peak of the fort, and even with that, it was still quite dark. Mirai felt around for his phone, but he never found it, and he didn’t dwell too much about it. The movie was no longer playing, Idia’s laptop closed with a sleeping Idia lying next to it, his giving off a dim blue glow, the flames tame and low. Vil had his back turned to everyone, taking residence on the couch next to the stairs, thin body wrapped in a soft purple blanket, and Rook was below him on the floor wrapped in his own. Riddle was on the one above Mirai, leg and arm flopped over the edge, Jamil was to Kalim’s right and next to him was Trey. Cater was to Mirai’s left, sleeping facing up, and next to him was Malleus, who was facing Lilia who was next to him. In the front, Azul was squished between the twins, their long legs tangled together, Floyd muttering in his sleep, chewing on Azul’s collar. In the back lies Leona snoring like a freight train, with Ruggie at his side. Grim was nowhere to be found, probably in his room.

“You’ll be tired come dawn, Dear Boy.”

Mirai jumped at the deep voice, whipping his head around, a pair of glowing half lidded magenta eyes started back at him. “Lilia,” Mirai pouted, his voice quiet.

“Apologies,” Lilia chuckled quietly, sitting up, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“N-No, it’s fine.”

“Did you have fun?” Lilia asked, tilting his head to the side, a smile in his voice.

“Yes, I did,” Mirai whispered.

“I’m glad. You deserve to-”

Leona’s snoring stopped abruptly, making a sound akin to someone choking. Mirai and Lilia froze. Leona's ears twitched, as he rolled over into Ruggie, throwing an arm over his shoulders, cuddling more into hyena, and a moment later, he was snoring again.

Mirai laughed quietly.

“You deserve to live your youth the way you want to,” Lilia continued, a chuckle in his voice, “You only get one chance.”

“I know, and yet I still asked for a second. That’s why I can’t mess up this one,” Mirai whispered.

“A peculiar child, you are. Come.”

Mirai slowly as he tried no to step on anyone, made his way over to Lilia, who grabbed him when he was within arms reach. Lilia situated them so that Mirai was in between him and Malleus.

“Says the vampire,” Mirai chuckled, once he was comfortable, pulling the blanket over the two of them.

“Is that what I am to you, a Vampire?” Lilia asked mirthfully.

“Are you not? You have fangs, pointy ears, red eyes, and every time I see you, you have a bat next to you. Not to mention that you speak like you’re older than everyone, and when you tell stories, they sound too personal to be just a story.”

“Lilia, sleep.”

Mirai looked up, and Lilia craned his around. Malleus’ glowing green eye cracked open tiredly.

“You too, Son of Man.” Malleus mumbled, throwing an arm around Mirai, fingers brushing against Lilia’s as he closed his eyes once more, “You’ll be tired come morning.”

Lilia chuckled, wrapping his arms around Mirai, “I’ll be whatever you want me to be. Now sleep.”

And Mirai did.

11 notes · View notes

junker-town · 7 years

Text

We asked for your wildest World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party stories. Here are your, uh, best

Florida vs. Georgia (or Georgia vs. Florida) has a case to be considered the trashiest rivalry in all of college football, and it’s pretty clear a whole lot of fans like it that way. (Some of these are obviously NSFW.)

Anyone who’s familiar with the rivalry between Florida and Georgia can agree that it’s one of the wildest rivalries in college football, and not just because it’s so hard to predict on the field. It can get a little rowdy, given the copious amount of alcohol that’s consumed all weekend. You could even make the argument that Jacksonville becomes the silliest fan scene in college football every year.

After all, for years, this game was called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, even though CBS isn’t allowed to call it that anymore. One of the rivalry’s most famous moments, Georgia’s 1980 game-winner, even ended with UGA announcer Larry Munson predicting an especially eventful late night:

Do you know what is gonna happen here tonight? And up at St. Simons and Jekyll Island and all those places, where all those Dawg people have got those condominiums for four days? Man, is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight! 26 to 21, Dawgs on top!

Naturally, we decided to ask some fans of games past to submit their messiest WLOCP stories and memories.

You folks did not disappoint!

These aren’t all the submissions, but I tried to pick the best ones.

Nick, a Georgia fan who attended in 2012:

I was in college. My best friend and I traveled form Birmingham last minute to go to the game. Needless to say, we got to Jacksonville late (5 a.m.). We sleep under a bridge in the car and we woke up around 8 a.m., surrounded by UF fans who at this point have made fun of us for two hours by now for being sleep. We party like every other kid that day. We go into the stadium an hour early so my friend could sleep before the game, and he lays down in the aisle.

Game kicks off, he is still sleep. The people next to us didn’t mind and kinda laughed — a guy mentioned that he hasn’t seen his granddad and he was supposed to be here by now.

Granddad shows up with hand cuff on his hand screaming ‘I ESCAPED!’ I couldn’t believe it. I asked ‘from what?!’ He apparently got arrested or detained before the game and as they were putting cuffs on him, a fight broke out, and he slipped into the stadium.

My friend meanwhile wakes up at the end of the first quarter and looks at me and says ‘Have I missed anything?’

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Tripp, a Florida fan who’s attended every year but one since 1993:

The year was 2008. Tensions were high, and beverages were flowing. My girlfriend, who is now my wife, and I were really getting after it. Bloody Marys at 9 a.m. Beer all morning. Bourbon in the afternoon. Typical day at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. We let the day get away from us.

Before we knew it, it was about 20 minutes to kickoff and we had forgotten to go get our tickets from my parents' tailgate. We had no way of getting in touch with them at that point, because phones don't work down there, but fortunately we were able to find their spot. They'd been parking there for years. Unfortunately, they were long gone. Our only hope was that they had left our tickets in the car, which I was able to unlock via numerical keyless entry. Meanwhile my girlfriend, who "wasn't feeling great," took a load off in the front seat, I ransacked the car from bow to stern. No tickets.

Then the barfing started. My girlfriend tried her best to point it out the door, but she yakked all over the floorboard of the driver's seat of my mom's Mercury Mountaineer. I removed the floor mat from under her feet to shake off as much puke as I could, uncovering TWO TICKETS to the 2008 Florida-Georgia Game. I found some paper towels and wiped things down as best as I could, started the car (my dad always leaves the keys inside), cranked the air, got some water for my future bride who was now sleeping peacefully in the front passenger seat, put her ticket in her jacket pocket, locked the door, and sprinted for the stadium.

I didn't get to see Brandon Spikes ruin Knowshon Moreno, but it was the only play I missed. My girlfriend, on the other hand, missed most of the game. She joined us, feeling refreshed, just in time to sing "We Are The Boys of Old Florida."

Tripp, do you have a brother? Chivalry is not dead!

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Jack, a Georgia fan who attended from 2008-11, and 2013 and 2015:

Friday of the WLOCP Weekend is known as Frat Beach Day to the Georgia students who make the trip down to St. Simons Island. It’s day drinking on a strip of beach with 5,000 of your classmates. By the end of the day the beach is a battlefield of blackout 20-somethings staggering through sand, publicly urinating, and, in the case of 2013, engaging in the timeless art of public sex.

Those of us still on the beach in the late afternoon that day were treated to a, uh, “public display of affection” when a couple of coeds confused the Atlantic Ocean for their hotel bed.

Jack submitted a photo of the act (which we’ve edited to obscure identities by putting old Georgia logos on the faces of the people who are making love in the ocean in October), and it’s well, something!

Josh, a Florida fan who’s attended most of the 1990s, as well as 2004, 2004, 2007, and 2011:

I am reliably informed that I was found halfway under a truck, singing the chorus of “I’m Alright” by Kenny Loggins (2007). My female friend was pushed into a bush by a Georgia frat bro. She responded with the hardest nut kick I’ve ever seen (earlier in the week, 2007).

Someone at our tailgate got into the vodka-soaked pineapple and ended up grabbing a hot grill with his bare hands. He finished the day in an induced coma. He went off to medical school the next year.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Joe, a Florida fan who’s attended from 1979-this year: Stealin’ golf carts!

1986 we were staying in the motor home, under the bridge, and had walked to the other end of the stadium. This was the Friday night before the game, to check out everything. A lot of cocktails were being consumed, and we were heading back to the motor home, which was a long walk ,and all of a sudden we saw a golf cart sitting empty. We looked at each other, and both at the same time jumped in and took off.

As soon as we pulled up to the motor homes and got out ,everyone was like ‘what the hell did you guys do, steal a golf cart?’ And we were like ‘well kind of, it was just sitting on the side of the walk.’

We rode it all over that evening; finally the batteries died. The next morning, we wake up, and come to find out ,the golf cart was owned by the city of Jacksonville, and they were letting their police officers drive them around for security purposes. We left it where it died, and it was still there when we left on Sunday. Never heard a word about it, and still park in same lot to this day.

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Raul, Florida fan: Years attended: 2000-06, 2008-12, 2014 and 2016:

2002 (year we played at night) game Nov 2. Halloween was Thursday night. We decided it would be a good idea to drive to Jacksonville on no sleep at 7am. On the way to Jax, we decided it would be a good idea to kidnap this random freshman we were sort of aquatinted with name “Miami Mike”. We drove to keys complex and knocked on his door. He opened the door. We told him to get his stuff because we’re taking him to Jax to make a man out of him. There were two girls sleeping in his bed at the time. He looked back at them sleeping and said that he was in. He just left the girls in his room, didn’t pack clothes or toiletries and got in the car.

A big part of our crew played on the UF hockey team and they had played UGA in hockey that afternoon. A fight broke out, so they were fired up. We got drunk and belligerent in the hotel that evening . At 9 p.m., Gator City Taxi took us to the landing. UGA fans were extra chippy that year because they were undefeated in Richt’s 2nd year and UF had three losses (sound familiar?) in Zook’s first year. Several fights broke out at the landing including a 25 minute tug of war over a UGA flag, that was hanging on the stairwell next to Hooters, with a group of croakie wearing UGA fratties in long sleeve button downs and khakis. The UF crew eventually won the tug of war and burned the UGA flag around us chanted ‘it’s great to be a Florida Gator.’

The next night we beat UGA in the only night game in the series and dashed their hopes of a national title.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Will, a Georgia fan who attended from 1999-06:

I am pretty sure it was in 2000. Our group was walking to the game from our tailgate, we had a few road beers in hand and it was a pretty typical walk to the stadium, cheering as we walk etc. About 500 yards from the stadium, a Gator fan with orange and blue paint on his face and chest runs up to our group. He is yelling ‘Go Gators’ and doing the Gator Chomp. Innocent enough to start, we laugh and keep moving, but he follows us and gets louder and more demonstrative in his chomping. We get to the queue to enter the stadium and he is still yelling now louder and more in our face. We ask him to stop, he gets louder.

After a good five minutes, I take my half full beer and do the only thing I know to get him to leave. I throw it in his face. A dick move for sure, but we were out of options at this point. A cop witnesses the whole incident, the painted Florida fan is aghast and points to me and yells at the cop and says that guy threw his beer on me.

The cop just laughs, and says I saw it all go down and you deserved it; now leave them alone and get in the stadium.

Tyler, A Georgia fan who attended from 2014-17:

I’m a member of the Redcoat band, and it never fails that there is some crazy fans that love to taunt us when we go on to the field for halftime. Last year (2016) we had just gotten out on to the field when some Florida fans started waving Milkbones in our direction.

A friend of mine decided to show off a little so he asked for them to throw a bone down to him. The fans obliged and my friend decided to take a HUGE bite out of the dog treat. The Florida fans went wild and so did everyone in the band.

After our performance my friend said that he didn’t regret doing it, but that the treat didn’t taste great.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Anonymous Florida fan who’s attended “Since dad could carry me into Alltel Stadium (still will only call it this):”

I want to say 2010 or 2011, when the city wanted to really crack down on the partying outside of the stadium. All the UF fraternities had their tailgates at the usual spots in Lot J, right up against the pond. About an hour or two into our tailgate we get raided by ATF agents. Not normal cops doing security, but guys in bulletproof vests and machine guns. Tables covered in liquor and mixers start being flipped — ‘we know you're underage!’ being yelled.

The next day, a friend of mine appears on the front of the newspaper holding his head in his hands with some ‘has the partying gotten out of control-esque’ headline. Good times.

In 2010, EDSBS asked fans to submit stories, and there were some great ones in this batch as well.

bba:

We go over near van buren just north of the stadium each year. old houses that let you have bathroom access. plus there is this shady guy across the street that cooks a mean batch of ribs. there is also a house that was/is full of animals. this dude has all sorts of birds and such. one year we lost a friend and looked up to see her standing in the window w/ a macaw on her shoulder w/ the animal dude holding a raccoon beside her. i don't even have time to get into the lizards or pelicans. i really am not making any of this up.

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Hogtown beatdown:

Back when they would sell the 32 oz beers at the Landing, we would go up to the food court where they were only $4 apiece. This was also where most of the Greek system partied when at the landings. I’ll never forget this as long as I live. Upon buying 2 of the big ass beers, a Tri-Delt girl I had hooked up with from BALLS bar at UF saw me and asked if I wanted a "gameday line", as she pointed to their table. That’s when I saw the 6 Orange Adderall lines alternated with 6 Blue Xanax lines.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

hailtogeorgia:

After a long night drinking on St. Simons, everyone awoke early in time to board the charter buses leaving the island at nine to head down to Jax. My fraternity had purchased kegs and cases of beer for the bus rides, but since the buses are loaded more or less first come first serve, I was stuck on a different bus without beer. Thus, I was forced to crack open my handle of Jack for the ride down. Needless to say, a few short hours later, I was quite possibly the drunkest I've ever been without blacking out. I had a girl taking care of me who thought I was going to be sick, so she asked if I needed to go to the bathroom. Naturally, I took this as her implying she wanted to go to the bathroom with me to hook up, so I answered affirmatively...off to the row of porta-potties we go. We get inside, I make my move, and somehow, she's semi-OK with this. One thing led to another and finally was ended with her realization that she was, indeed, about to have sex with a drunk guy in a porta-potty at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. We decide that she should go out of the john first, so out she goes. Unfortunately for me, she couldn't inform the 60-year old woman waiting in line next that I was still inside, and I promptly had the door opened up to me zipping my pants with an obvious erection. She screamed, I screamed, pulled the door back shut, and waited it out for the next 10 minutes peeking out of the top of the door until she walked off.

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Shawn:

A fist fight started between a Georgia fan and a Gator fan amid a large crowd. There was cheering for both sides and occasionally it looked as though it might pull in a few participants. This isn't rare. This happens all the time. What was odd was how the fight stopped. A giant Miller High Life truck was rolling down the street toward us with many people with cameras following in tow. We're all still watching the fight - what do we care about some photogenic beer truck? Turns out that Windell Middlebrooks, who I'm sure everyone knows better as The High Life Guy was sitting in the passenger seat, hanging out the window talking with people and getting pictures and such. As soon as this was discovered, the residents of greater Duval county and beyond immediately dropped any interest in the fight and became starstruck. Maybe 30 seconds later, the fighters themselves finally heard that the huge celebrity, High Life Guy, was here! They could not disengage from their fracas quickly enough to go and meet this guy. Florida fan had a ripped shirt, Georgia guy had a bleeding cut on his face, neither of them cared. They had to meet him.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Silver britches:

My best friend is a train fanatic. It's disturbing. The man had a Microsoft Train Simulator. This was not an exciting game.

In 2001, while walking to a liquor store in a questionable part of Jax, we came across some tracks about 1/4 mile from our hotel. The wheels start turning. We get back to Athens and he locks himself in his room. He comes out with satellite images of railyards, schedule tables, and pictures of engines and various cars. He's hopping a freight train to Jacksonville in 2002. He wants me to come with him. He was no stranger to this - he constantly hopped from Athens to Abbeville, SC and back. But. . . this. This was going to be his Mona Lisa. My rail experience consisted of taking MARTA to Hartsfield on occasion.

A year later we give our bags to a friend that's driving down and we're dropped off outside a railyard in Athens around midnight. We hop a fence and start looking around. He knows what train to hop because he has the engine number of the one we're looking for. This guy couldn't figure out the UGA bus system, but could find out which freight train to illegally hop to go to the Cocktail Party. After hiding in some scrub, we hop on once it starts moving. He says for the most part we'll be doing between 5 and 65 mph, but once we get south of I-20, we'll spend some time in excess of 80. After an interminable (yet scheduled) layover in Waycross and a train transfer, the last leg seems to take forever. He starts checking landmarks and rail switches, blah, blah, blah until he tells me it's time to get off. The only problem is that the train is going much, much faster than it was when we got on. He informs me it's not slowing down again until roughly Tampa. The trick is to kind of roll into the landing. At 1:45 a.m. Friday morning, our friend answers the door at the hotel to find the two of us, completely black from grime. It only took us about 23 hours what a Ford Explorer accomplished in 6.

Then we fucking lose.

My personal highlight from the 2014 game was seeing this dude passed out in the press box.

Morgan Moriarty, attended in 2013 and 2014:

Someone spent too much time at The Landing before coming to the press box. #UFvsUGA http://pic.twitter.com/IZIiv1htIL

— Morgan Moriarty (@Morgan_Moriarty) November 1, 2014

My colleague, Richard Johnson, who’s been to the game from 2010-15, also weighed in:

My fraternity in college used to get two parking spots right next to each other in the stadium parking lot donated by alums. For the visual, head to the 31-second mark in this video. Those are my fraternity brothers standing on pickups:

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The year was 2012, and that day, everyone jumped on the trucks so often during pregame that the shocks on one of the trucks got ruined, and it had to be towed out of EverBank Field's parking lot.

We salute you, Florida and Georgia fans, for admitting your debauchery!

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