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comingyourlugubriousness · 1 year

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More Than Anything!

Yume Ume Birthday Vignette!

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Cater Diamond, Trey Clover, Ace Trappola, Grim, Yume Ume, Yuuta Midori, Yuuuhi Kiiro, Guest: Elie Akane

Words: 5.8k

Summary: “IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY!?!” Ace shouted, his voice echoing through the rose garden maze. As he did, time seemed to stop, all the Heartslabyul students' Unbirthday celebrations came to a halt at the words; they stared at their table.

(This is just a little fun thing I had in mind for Yume's birthday. Since it would be their first Birthday card I wanted to focus on some of their first friends at NRC; The Heartslabyul Gang! There's references galore and I'm sure people will spot them. Thank you again for all the sweet birthday wishes! (o´▽`o))

Birthday Card Art ⭐

Birthday Card Groovy ⭐

Asked to be tagged: @bunnwich, @cherryjkj,@ruggiethethuggie,@authoruio,@nicoliharu,@kittycat0419

“Hey what up everyone, it's ya boy CayCay! Here #live from another Heartslabyul Unbirthday party!” Cater said, flashing a wink and peace sign to his phone's camera as he went live on Magicam.

“Does he always do that?” Yuuta asked,to no one in particular, sitting next to Yume on the other side of the large round table.

“Every unbirthday party, on the dot, for the past three years.” Trey said lightheartedly, though Yume could hear the slight edge of exasperation that could only come from knowing a person’s habitual routine for years.Trey laid down a tray of tarts to the guest table causing Ace, Yuuhi, and Grim to cheer and dig in immediately. Yume waited a few seconds before the carnage was over to grab a piece of their own and placed it gently to the side.

“You get used to it pretty fast.” Deuce smiled with a good natured shrug, grabbing two pieces of a tart and laying one on Yuuta’s plate. The two of them shared a look and a smile, before turning back to their food. Yume caught Yuuta’s eye as they gave him a smug look, Yuuta rolled their eyes, saying nothing. Yume snickered, as their brother's fair cheeks tinted a bit pink and they stuffed a forkful of tart in their mouth.

“Today is extra special because we have our honored guests, *dun dun dun dunn~!* The Ramshackle gang! Say, “hi” guys~!” Cater said, humming a fanfare noise, before turning the phone camera around to the three brothers. Yume jumped and instinctually leaned to hide behind Yuuta's shoulder.

Yuuta gave Cater a look, before turning away from the camera as well, covering their face eating their tart. Yuuhi flashed a peace sign, as comments flooded the screen:

CayCay’s Very Merry Unbirthday!!!

🔴 [You’re live]

Chivalrousrichesse: OMG the food looks to good, #gimmie a bite

Bigcatluver69: Omg their eyes are green like their hair, its so striking!!! o///o AzzLuver89: Is that kid's hair purple? I can’t tell #weird

Carefold: are those the ppl from “another world” they look pretty normal to me… ;/

FeaturedLeo: Ugh the aesthetic of these things are always so cool! I wanna go! #NRChitmeup Bnutsquash: Happy Unbirthday everyone!! #MerryUnbrithday

FlirtyPsych: Cater plz dm!!!<3 #CayCaySimpAndProud

“Cater, don't spend the entire party on your phone.” Riddle warned, gracefully taking a sip from his rose patterned teacup.

Cater’s shoulders hiked at being called out and he sheepishly rubbed that back of his head.

“Yep yep, of course!” He said placatingly to Riddle, then he looked back at the camera. “That’s all for now! Gotta get back to my card soldier duty or it's off with my head~! Be sure to check my feed later for pics! Bye Bye~” He said cheerfully, giving a playful wink before ending the stream. Then, he sat in his chair, a content smile on his face as he scrolled through his feed of comments.

There was a sigh from Riddle, it seemed like he wanted to comment more about Cater’s media addiction, but decided against it. Trey laughed at his sigh.

“Well, he’s nothing if not consistent!” Trey said in good nature, coming back with the last dessert from the kitchen and finally sitting down in his own chair. “Oh here, Yume, try some of this cake!”

Yume perked up at their name being called. “Oh no, it’s okay I already have this tart.” They said politely waving him off. Trey raised a knowing eyebrow at them.

“But, you don’t like tarts, Yume.” He said coyly.

“Mh-!” Yume’s eyebrows raised in surprise, their brothers and friends looked at them curiously. Trey continued before they could deny it.

“You always take a piece to be polite, but you never end up eating it. You usually end up giving it to Grim afterwards.” He said, adjusting his glasses, as if he was making the observation right now.

“Uh, well I-It’s not that it tastes bad I ju-” They stumbled to get the words out.

“Hey, hey, it’s fine I’m not mad or anything. We all have different tastes here!” He said, holding his hands up in a placating motion. Yume sighed, not mad, but a little embarrassed at being called out.

“Sorry, it's not your baking skills or anything Trey, I’m just a bit picky about food is all…” Yume trailed off.

“You guys should see the way he eats popcorn.” Yuuta chimed in.

“Yuuta!” Yume slapped his arm playfully.

“Oh, it must be really weird.” Ace staged whispered teasingly.

Yume groaned dramatically, laying their head on the table as their friends had a good natured laugh at their expense.

“Like I said, I’m not mad or anything. Actually, I’ve been taking it as a bit of a challenge, to bake something you like-without getting your input, that is. So I think you’ll really like this cake.” Trey said, cutting them a slice and sliding it over to them.

It was a 3 layered cake with a light colored frosting. There was a light drizzle of red syrup and an arrangement of strawberries at the top to imitate a rose in full bloom. It looked good enough, like all the flavors Yume usually liked to eat. They gave a tentative sniff and didn’t have a problem, so they picked up their fork. They were a little on edge, it felt as though everyone was watching them and waiting for their opinion as they popped the piece of cake into their mouth. “Mmh~!” They made a noise of satisfaction as the cake touched their tongue. The frosting was sweet, but not overpowering. Letting them taste the light fluffy cake and tart tanginess of the strawberries and syrup. They closed their eyes in delight, their cheeks flushing with happiness as they smiled. Because their eyes were closed they missed Trey’s goofy fist pump in success.

A sudden click and flash, however, did make them open their eyes.

“Ah! Me-Me is so cute, that’s definitely getting a lot of likes!” Cater said, pulling his phone down to look at his picture. He received an elbow bump and a look from Yuuta.

“A-ah-, that is as long as Me-Me is okay with me posting it.” He amended. Yume let out a breath. Guess that “mom” title really stuck. Yume thought , looking at their brother. “I’ll want to look over it first, but then I don’t really mind.” Yume said, taking another bite of the cake. It’s not like Cater hadn’t already posted pictures of them before, so it wasn’t a huge deal. They barely went on their MagicCam for anything, except to use the messaging system. They swallowed down the tasty piece happily rocking in their chair.

“Y’know it's actually pretty nice to have some cake the day before my birthday!” They said, offhandedly.

“What!?!” Both Ace and Deuce exclaimed.

“It’s your birthday soon?” Ace asked, almost a little annoyed to only be hearing about it now. He leaned in. “You're not trying to pull a ‘Yuuta’ are you?” He sneered.

“Hey!” Yuuta said, giving him a look but couldn’t deny their past actions. At this Riddle was confused, clearly out of the loop, but before he could ask the conversation continued.

“No no, I wanna celebrate it just…maybe something small you know?” They said, fiddling with their cardigan sleeves. “I feel like it would be a lot considering Azul’s is right before mine. Two birthday’s back to back sounds exhausting, even if it's in different dorms. Yume sighed. “Ugh, why does his have to be the day before mine, couldn’t he have been born later or something.” Yu huffed in annoyance.

Trey faltered and paused as he poured Riddle some tea.

“Wait…what do you mean? Azul’s birthday was yesterday. ” Trey said, placing the teapot down.

“Huh, no no it's today, we didn’t wanna go to his dumb party that's why…” Yuuta trailed off as Trey’s face became more confused. “...It's the 24th today right…?!” Yuuta said, their confidence fading the more they spoke.

“Uh, nono “DoubleYu” today is…umm…w-well not I’m not so sure now ahaha...” Cater trailed off. “Elie, date and time.” Riddle commanded, waving a hand over at the taller Rabbit beastmen. Elie jumped, dropping the plate of cake and fork in his hand as he clumsily fumbled to get his pocket watch out.

“The date is February 25th, approximately to 11:13AM on the dot, Housewarden Sir!” Elie stated, his large ears standing up straight to match the rest of his posture when addressing his dorm leader.

“So that means…” Deuce began, a look of realization coming over his features.

“IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY!?!” Ace shouted, his voice echoing through the rose garden maze. As he did, time seemed to stop, all the Heartslabyul students' Unbirthday celebrations came to a halt at the words; they stared at their table.

“Oh naur...” Yuuhi grimaced, face palming his ears flattening against his head as he ducked in his seat. All the rest of the first year's shoulders hiked.

“GRIM, YOU LITTLE FLEA BAG, YOU TOLD ME TODAY WAS THE 24TH, I ASKED YOU THIS MORNING HOW COULD YOU GET IT WRONG!?” Yuuta growled, grabbing Grim by his scruff and lifting him off his chair stacked with pillows. “NYA! DON’T YELL AT ME, YOUR THE ONE WHO WOKE ME UP ALL EARLY ON A SATURDAY GETTING READY FOR WORK! I WAS HARDLY AWAKE, YOU CAN’T BLAME ME!?” He countered, swiping his paws at Yuuta.

“It’s your birthday today?” Riddle’s eerily calm voice cut through the chaos, a dead silence came over the garden. Out of the corner of their eye they saw Elie and Cater take a practiced step back.

Yume swallowed, a nervous grin appearing on their face.

“Um….well…yeah…seems like it…ahaha…” Yu said, an anxious giggle escaping them, though some part of them did think it was a little funny. Not that they would ever admit that outloud. Riddle took a deep breath, holding his hand in a prayer like position to his lip. Then he took another deep breath, then another. All the while his brows twitched in and out of a furrow, his face getting steadily redder. It was almost cartoonish, Yume would have laughed if they didn’t know better.

“Oh shit, now you’ve done it-! How could you forget your own birthday!?” Ace said snidely. “I don’t know-I mean- it just happened-!” They shrugged in exasperation. “Everythings just been crazy lately, AS USUAL!” Yume retorted.

Ace looked back at Riddle, his voice shifted to a charismatic calm. “Ahaha, listen Housewarden, it was just a misunderstanding, I didn’t know when I invited them hehe…” Ace said, holding his hands up in a calming gesture.

“T-that’s right, just a misunderstanding!” Deuce said, holding up his arms as if an actual explosion was about to take place. Yuuta gave Yume an uncomfortable look, a silent conversation taking place between them as they soaked up all the anxiety in the air.

“Hey, Riddle, it's okay, we'll figure this out.” Trey said, placing a hand on Riddle’s shoulder.

Riddle's eyes twitched before taking one more deep calming breath. He closed his eyes, his face losing its color and shoulders suddenly relaxing. He folded his hands in front of himself on the table calmly and smiled at Yume.

“It's alright Yume, you couldn’t have known what a big deal this is; as you do not follow the Queen of Hearts rules to the same degree that I do. It was an honest mistake.” He said calmly; a passive look of acceptance on his face.

“Oookaaay…” Yume said, somehow his calm response only freaked them out more.

“But, the rest of you DO know what a big deal this is, correct?” Riddle said with a smile, his eyes narrowing at his fellow dorm members. There were a few sheepish mutters of agreement throughout the crowd. Riddle nodded.

“Well in that case, this entire eVENT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!” Riddle yelled, his tone changing to a harsh shrill tone and his expression morphing into one of complete rage. The Heartslabyul students yelped and began scrambling; following through with the orders that Riddle was now barking at them

Yume and his brothers sat dumbfounded, watching the orderly chaos unfold.

“I WANT THE TABLES REARRANGED, YESTERDAY! CATER, IF YOU CAN’T REMOVE ALL THE BOYSENBERRIES FROM THE DISHES BY HAND; JUST THROW THEM OUT! THEY ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE AT A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!” Riddle screamed, barely stopping to take a breath as he marched around waving his scepter and giving commands.

“TREY GET THE BIRTHDAY FLAMINGO N O W!” Riddle demanded. Trey gave a practiced salute before running off towards the animal cages.

“AND WHAT IS THIS, WHAT IS THIS TABLE MADE OUT OF, OAK?!” Riddle asked, tapping his finger in irritation on the table.

“Actually I think it's Walnut.” Yuuhi sheepishly piped up, raising a hand as if he was in a classroom, Yuuta without looking at him grabbed his hand and lowered it.

“UNACCEPTABLE!” Riddle said, lifting his leg and bringing his heel down hard on the center of the table. Yume chose to believe that there was magic involved because they wouldn’t know how to deal with the fact that Riddle could break a table in half through sheer rage alone. As pieces of furniture crumpled to the ground Yume and his brothers stood up and took a step back. And Grim yelped and jumped into Yume’s arms.

“ACE, DEUCE!” Riddle called for them. And they popped up out of the crowd standing in attention. “START THROWING AWAY ALL THE WOODEN STOOLS! I WANT THIS PLACE LOOKING LIKE THE GREAT SEVEN ON ICE, IN ONE MINUTE!” He yelled, throwing one of the stools over the hedge of the Garden.

“YOU THERE-!” He said, pointing his scepter at a random student, who yelped in fear. “START PREPARING THE THRONE! WE HAVE SPAT IN THE FACE OF OUR GUEST OF HONOR BY LETTING THEM SIT ON THIS BIRCH ATROCITY.” He said, tossing another stood to the side.

“GET THE MAHOGANY THRONE FROM THE FOYER NOW, NOW PEOPLE!” He said, clapping his hands for emphasis. ”ELIE I NEED THOSE PILLOWS LOOKING PLUMPED! I MEAN FLUFFED!” He said to the rabbit beastman, who look close to a mental breakdown as he stuffed a pillow cushion full of feathers that flew everywhere.

“What the fuck is happening, I just wanted some tarts!” Grim whined, leaning into Yume’s hold. Yume gave him a little pat on the back.

“Should we just…leave?” Yuuta whispered to Yume. To which they shrugged unsure; this wasn’t how they expected brunch to go...

“Maybe we should ju- '' Before Yuuta could finish that sentence they were snatched away by Trey.

“Quick Yuuta, I need your help!” Was the only words spoken before Yuuta was yoinked into the crowd.

“Hey, wait wh-”

“And SOMEONE GET YUME PROPERLY DRESSED!!!” Riddle’s voice stopped Yume’s words in their throat.

“Huh?!?” They said looking at Riddle. They looked down at their outfit, then to Yuuhi, then back down. “Awh, oh mann, what’s wrong with my clothes?” They whined, feeling self conscious.

“We can’t! We have to start cooking their favorite food!” Someone yelled.

“UGH-! Riddle groaned, "I have to do EVERYTHING AROUND HERE!” He said, pointing his wand directly at Yume.

“RIDDLE, WAIT!” Yume yelped before a flash of magic enveloped them.

Twenty minutes later it was a much more peaceful scene. Somehow, in the short amount of time the Heartslabyul students had managed to rearrange the entire garden area from an Unbirthday party to an official Queen of Hearts Birthday celebration.

Yume now sat at the main table, in their new spiffy fresh birthday boy outfit; though their hair was a little tousled from Riddle's magic. Around the table were dishes of their favorite foods and a brand new birthday cake baked by Trey and Yuuta. All around them dorm students were finally settling down into their seats, exhausted from scrambling to fix the celebration. Next to them Riddle carefully adjusted their sash, making sure it laid correctly.

“...I…am so…fucking sorry you guys.” Yume deadpanned to their friends. Riddle looked up from his task as if to say something; but stopped short as if catching himself.

“You should be!” Ace said, dramatically slapping his hand on the table. “How could you forget your own birthday!?” He asked again, in genuine disbelief.

“It is kinda hard to believe…” Deuce agreed. Yume sighed, wanting to sink down in their chair, but opting not to so they wouldn’t mess with Riddle’s current task of fixing their outfit

“I mean- I don’t know. I guess…Well…” They looked down avoiding all the questioning eyes.

“Things have just been so…hectic lately. I guess it just slipped my mind and I got the dates mixed up. Besides; I didn’t want to make that big of a deal out of it.” They sighed again. “Guess that ship has fucking sailed.” They said, then immediately covered their mouth realizing they cursed in front of Riddle. Yume didn’t really care, but he had asked them nicely beforehand not to swear at the dorm. Riddle gave them a look.

“Worry not, the Queen’s rules state that “on one's birthday they can speak their mind freely, without criticism from anyone”. So you can curse as much as you like…today.” He explained, adding on the warning at the end as he finished adjusting their bolo tie and sat down in his seat.

“Oh…cool.” Yume said smiling, then subtly loosened the tie that was too tight.

“Still why didn’t you tell us? Between me and Ace one of us could have probably remembered…” Deuce said with a slight pout. Yume pursued their lips, sensing that they may have hurt his feelings a bit.

“ It just…it seems silly to keep reminding people, I didn’t wanna be that guy you know? There are other things we have to worry about….Plus! I thought the school made announcements or something?

“Only on school days.” Trey said.

“See!!! It snuck up on me too!” Yume said, gesturing to his words.

“Well, I kind of understand what you mean, sometimes when you're trying hard to just keep everything afloat, things like this get put on the backburner.” He said, adjusting his hat.

“Ahh! But that’s so sadface; you were just gonna have a late watered down celebration for yourself! That’s so tragic, Me-me. This kind of thing is totes important!”

“And we ended up making a big fuss of it anyway…” Deuce sighed, leaning his head in exhaustion on Yuuta’s shoulder.

“We should have kept better track of it, I knew it was coming up soon and I still…” Yuuta sighed, palming his face. Besides him Grim and Yuuhi’s ears fell on their heads.

“Geez you didn’t even think about the trouble you caused for others, keeping it to yourself… next time you could at least tell your friends.” He said a little harshly, a bit of hurt seeping through.

Each of their friends' words added another layer of guilt to their shoulders, even though they know they didn’t mean it in a genuinely mean way, it still made Yume’s chest ache.

“Ah… I’m…sorry…” They said, holding back the tears, and trying to keep their lips from wobbling. They didn’t want to cry, their friends were right and they knew all this came from a good place, but…

They swallowed hard, drooping a little in their seats.

“Enough!” Riddle's voice and hand being placed on their shoulder, started Yume out of their mini pity party. “Berating our guest of honor on their birthday is unbecoming for any student of Heartslabyul, I won’t tolerate it any more.” He said firmly, giving Yume a little pat on the shoulder.

“Also-” Riddle’s eyes narrowed. “Rule: #503: Any one who makes someone frown on their birthday must do a handstand while singing the alphabet backwards, until they laugh! So-” He pointed his scepter boldly across the table.

“Ace.”

Ace’s shoulder hiked as he squealed in indignance, around him everyone took a step away from him.

“-start singing!” Riddle demanded.

“WHAT?! Wh- why me- oh my I can’t even-!” He tried to stutter out an excuse, but the glare he received stopped him in his tracks.

“UGGHHH-! I can’t believe this bullsh…” He muttered to himself before beginning his first attempts at a handstand. Riddle cleared this throat, turning back to address Yume.

“Even so, I agree. We could have prepared a much better celebration had we known in advance… but regardless we can’t change what we did in the past, all we can do now is do better from here on. Isn’t that right?” He said.

Yume smiled, recognizing the meaningful echo of something Yume and his brothers had told Riddle before.

“Right!” They nodded, and saw their friends and brothers grin in agreement.

“Good!” Riddle smiled and nodded back. “Happy birthday Yume!...Now let me take this time to recite the customary birthday poem!” He said, pulling out a fully typed page of custom stationary from seemingly nowhere.

“The, WHAT!?” Yume laughed, in disbelief at the absurdity of their friends' actions.

“Ah, that laugh counts right-?” Ace’s exasperated voice, could barely be heard the above rest of the birthday merriment in the Heartlabyul gardens.

“Uhmm Riddle…are you sure the animals are okay?” Yume asked, watching the strange croquet game being played from their throne seat next to Riddle’s. Apparently it was some tradition, the birthday guest always sat at the side of the “Queen” during the first half of the croquet game before joining in the second half.

“I assure you it's fine. It's standard to play with flamingos and hedgehogs. Though I did see someone try with a crane once when I was younger…” He recalled curiously, holding a finger to his chin.

“In some parts of the Queendom of Rose’s, flamingos are bred specifically for the game.” He went on. “Actually, it's less about the skill of the player and more so on the relationship you have with your animals.” He explained, as they watched Yuuta jut his butt out at a funny angle to line up his shot. They swung hard, but at the last second his flamingo raised its head, making him completely whiff his shot; earning a big laugh from Ace and Grim at their expense.

“Okayyy, if you say so…!” Yume grinned, holding in a laugh at the absurdity of it all. The two of them watched in comfortable silence for a little longer before Riddle broke it.

“...Yume…?” He asked, quietly, pulling their attention away from the clownish spectacle.

“Hm?”

“...How did you forget your own birthday? I mean, as scatterbrained as you can be at times-”

“Gee thanks.” They deadpanned.

“-You’re not the type to forget important dates. ” He said seriously, ignoring their snark. Yume let out a breath through their nose.

“I mean…I didn’t really…forget I just… got them mixed up...” Yume muttered, offhandedly fidgeting with their birthday boy ribbon.

“In this case it's still one in the same, you would have missed your birthday if you hadn’t been reminded, it's almost like-” Riddle paused, and his eyes widened as if he just realized something.

“...You didn’t forget an important date…because this isn’t an important date to you… is it?” He asked carefully.

Yume turned away, avoiding his eyes, giving a non committal shrug. At this Riddle frowned.

“Yume-” Before he could start Yume sighed and interrupted him.

“That’s not it Riddle it's not that- it's not that it's not important it's just that-well…''The fumbled to find the right way to say it. “...Everything else is MORE important…y’know?” Yume gestured to him as if what they were saying was common knowledge.

Riddle did not seem to agree given the way he crossed his arms.

“Explain.” He demanded. Yume sighed again, rolling their eyes a bit.

“I mean, after everything we’ve been through.” They began listing things off on their fingers. “Getting dragged to his world, losing our memories, finding out magic is real, becoming students, the overblots, winter break and the whole gas leak.” They listed off things off the top of their head, though they knew there was much more.

“It just…I don’t know, it seems like a waste of time to celebrate something as trivial as my birthday, I mean this is nice and all ,but I could be spending this time doing something ACTUALLY important! Like trying to find a way to get my brothers home!” They said, gripping the front of their pants in a balled fist.

“The headmage is responsible for that.” Riddle said, matter of factly.

“And I’m just supposed to take his word for it?!” They raised their voice, getting a little heated.

Riddle leaned back, not expecting to be suddenly yelled at.

Yume pursed their lips, not meaning to snap at their friend like that. They peeked over, seeing that the others didn’t notice their outburst.

“I just…” They began in a much quieter tone. “Ever since I got here…it feels like…time is running out Riddle.”

“...Here?” He questioned giving them a confused look.

“Here, Twisted Wonderland or Night Raven college or maybe…this world? I-I don’t know I…” Yume struggled to put it into words. They paused, closing their eyes and collecting their thoughts.

“Sometimes…” Yume bit their lip, taking a breath before continuing “...Sometimes, I think, the only time worth spending, is spent helping others…and that I’m just wasting it being self indulgent…doing things that won’t really matter in the long run…” They murmured, slipping a hand in their jacket pocket to touch the charm attached to their phone...

At the words Riddle’s whole demeanor changed, a look of familiarity shone in his eyes. He adjusted himself in his seat, needlessly fixing his already perfect uniform before folding his hands in his lap. His brows furrow uncomfortably and he took a moment before speaking.

“I used to think similarly…” He whispered, as if admitting a secret. Yume turned to look at him in surprise, silently urging him to continue

“I used to think that time was a thief; a very sneaky one…At first I didn’t even realize it, how all day and everyday it stole my life away, as I worked and worked; preparing for a future that was already planned out down to the second; tick by tick taking everything I cared about from right under my nose…” Riddle said as he stared off into the distance; as if seeing something Yume couldn’t.

“Then I met Trey and Chen’ya and-” He stopped, seeming to get a little choked up at the nostalgia and memories.He flinched slightly when Yume placed a gentle hand on his wrist for comfort. He gave them a grateful look and took a moment to collect himself. “They made me realize…that everyday is a gift, every minute and every second.” He said resolutely then looking at Yume.

“So, you're not wasting your time Yume, you can’t waste a gift.” He said, shaking his head in full denial of that idea. Then he put a hand on Yume’s shoulder.

“Every second you spend with the people you care about, every minute you share in their company; making new memories or learning something new. And, even the time you spend in a peaceful solitude. That’s you! Enjoying your gift and…there's no shame in that!” He said, shaking their shoulders a bit for emphasis. He looked away. “I understand that now…” He said with solemn sincerity.

Yume stared surprised for a moment, taking in their friend's poetic words.Their brow creased up and they gave a bittersweet smile to their friend; feeling a sudden strong kinship. Yume threw their arms around Riddle's shoulder in appreciation. Riddle didn’t seem to expect it; or maybe he just wasn’t used to such casual affection? Regardless, he relaxed a few moments later, enjoying the half hug. After a few comforting moments Riddle spoke again.

“…I…want to give you something…” He said, hesitantly, removing himself from the hold.

Yume tilted their head, waiting curiously as he reached into his uniform pocket.

“Consider it a birthday gift.” He said, nodding, as he pulled something out and placed it in Yume’s palm.

Yume looked down to see a pocket watch. The bronze material made it a comfortable weight in their hand. It looked antique, but well taken care of. The metal didn’t have a scratch on it and shined beautifully in the natural garden light. The centerpiece, however, was the elaborate rose design; etched into the bezel. Simple but elegant filigree surrounded the design, a few spaces artistically hollowed so you could see through to the clock.

Yume tilted the watch in their hand, taking in every detail and enjoying the feel of the smooth chain as it glided across their palm.

“Oh, it's so pretty…!” They smiled, cradling the gift gently. Riddle nodded, agreeing with them.

“This is the stopwatch my mother gave me, to keep track of my lessons, my meals…everything, that is when she didn’t do it herself…” He said sentimentally. Yume gasped, their brows pinching up.

“O-oh, Riddle, y-you don’t have to give to me, it's too important-!” They urged, trying to quickly but carefully, place it back in his hands. “You should keep it in the family or-” They stopped short as Riddle firmly pushed it back into their palm.

“No…I want you to have it, really I do.” He said resolutely, using his hand to wrap Yume’s fingers around it. Making sure they had a good hold of it before pulling away.

“...Are you sure?” Yume asked. This felt like something too…personal to just hand over.

“I’m sure, besides it's broken.” He said.

“Huh?” Yume held it close to their ear, only realizing now that the clock was not ticking. “Oh…”

“It broke after my…overblot.” He said. His jaw clenched as he gritted out the word, as if it took physical effort. The shame was still evident on his face; but he still held his head high, as if he refused to hide from the reality of the situation.

Yume swallowed, realizing that this gift was more important than they previously thought.

“Riddle…” They gave him a worried look, and this time fully grabbed their friend's hand. They weren’t sure if it was for their own comfort or his. Riddle gave them a strained smile, trying to put on a brave face it seemed.

“I got the glass fixed afterwards, but I couldn’t bring myself to get the mechanism fixed.” He sighed. “After years of hearing its incessant tick tock.” Riddle huffed, before ever so slightly slouching in his throne. For just a second, he looked like any fed up normal teenager.

“I kept it, all this time, as a reminder of sorts…and now I’m giving it to you.” He said, sitting up in his chair and facing them, an adamant look burning in his eyes.

“Spend your time here wisely…don’t look back and regret it…okay?” He said, giving their hand a squeeze. It almost seemed like he was pleading with Yume. Sincerely advising his friend on a mistake he had long already made.

Yume suddenly felt choked up, the turbulent events of the past few months with their friends and loved ones replaying rapidly in their head. All the emotions bubbling up at once. Their lips wobbled, there was so much left to do and so much more to experience. They couldn’t do it all, they couldn’t. They didn’t have the time. So then…! “How do I know?!” They asked, desperate for answers. “How do I know what I should do….?” They trailed off, suddenly very fearful of regrets yet to come. He reached up, trying to wipe a stray tear that fell. But Riddle beat them to it, dabbing it away with his handkerchief.

“You’ll know…” He said simply, putting the handkerchief back in his pocket. “In fact…I think you already do…” Riddle said confidently.

“Hm?” Yume made an unsure noise.

“Right now, more than anything, what do you want?” He asked.

Yume took a second to clear their thoughts. What they wanted…? Well, They…wanted to stop crying, it was embarrassing. They wanted to appreciate all their friends' hard work at throwing a birthday party for them. They wanted to have fun and open presents and eat cake and take pictures. So that they wouldn’t forget, so that in the future they could be happy... But couldn’t they have that now…

That’s right more than anything they just…

“I just…want to be happy.” Yume admitted, their shoulders hiking up at how childish it sounded. “A-and I want it now, I…” They swallowed hard, not sure why it was so hard to say these words. “I don’t want to wait for it! I want to be happy now and enjoy things in the present! I don’t wanna look back and wish I’d done it differently! I don’t…I don’t want to waste any time!” They said, feeling a surge of confidence at the words. They took a deep breath, feeling like a weight was lifted off their shoulders. They peeked up at Riddle to see him beaming at them.

“Well said!” He agreed, squeezing their hand once more before standing up. “Then you must start immediately! Right now, this second! By enjoying today!” He said, the regality returning to his tone, but the kindness remaining as well.

Yume grinned, tucking the watch carefully into their pocket before standing to their feet as well.

“Right!” They cheered, suddenly feeling energized.

“Heeeyyy guys!” Cater’s upbeat voice echoed across the field.

Riddle and Yume looked over to see him waving for their attention.

“The first half's over! Time for the birthday boy to play!” He said, giving a wink and peace sign.

“We got your special flamingo right here!” Deuce said, holding the extravagantly dressed bird excitedly over his head. Next to him Yuuhi held up a cute hedgehog in a bowtie!

Yume laughed carefreely, feeling the full mirth of the party for the first time.

“Alright! Get ready because I’m going to win!” Yume grinned, jumping in place, before bounding over to their friends. Riddle following close behind.

Bonus scene:

“Riddle, is this super necessary…?” Yuuta started to ask, as they watched Riddle hold a pretty impressive handstand as he expertly recited the alphabet backwards!

“Yes IT IS! He made me do it for 10 minutes before Yume laughed. Ah-! Yume, I can see it on your face, don’t you dare- it hasn’t even been thirty seconds-!”

“I’m sorry, I pff- I just remembered how constipated you looked- *snort* -AHHAHA!” Yume couldn’t contain it, bursting out in laughter at the memory. As they laugh, Riddle gives a smug grin. Carefully, maneuvering out of the handstand.

“See, Ace! With practice and discipline ,you can easily follow all of the Queen's rules. Let this be a lesson to you!” Riddle said, allowing Trey to slip back on his cloak.

“Right, sure, whatever…shouldn’t we get back to the game now…!”

-END-

#don't know how to format on tumblr so i used buns birthday story as a ref #Yume Ume #mywriting #twst fanfic #twst oc #twst mc #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst yuu #yuuta is yume's brother!#Yuuuhi is also yume's brother!#This is post the dorm sorting stuff but I don't expect people to be caught up on that fic #not necessary to read The boy without a fairy for this.#yuuta x deuce shippers come get your crumbs #all relationships with yume are platonic

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