ᑕᑌᖇIOᑌᔕEᖇ ᗩᑎᗪ ᑕᑌᖇIOᑌᔕEᖇ

🕗"ₒₕ ₘy fᵤᵣ ₐₙd wₕᵢₛₖₑᵣₛ! ᵢ'ₘ ₗₐₜₑ, ᵢ'ₘ ₗₐₜₑ, ᵢ'ₘ ₗₐₜₑ!"🕓

- The White Rabbit,
Disney's Alice in Wonderland,
1951.

Ace's POV

Deuce raises his pen at the ready, gathering a bit of magic with a look of total concentration on his face. He gave his pen a wave,
"Red... RED.. BAM!" He shot his spell towards an unpainted rose,  we watched as it turned into a bright red but then fade to an elegant blue.

"Wh-Whuh?? It turned blue?!"
Deuce sputters in confusion at the sight. "Change color, you accursed flower!! Myah!" Grim summons his magic and shoots the entire bush, a small azure fireball leaves Grim and the foolish feline panics as the bush erupted into a bright blue flame.

The rose bush looked like a lit match at this point. "Fire!! The damn bush caught fire!!!" Grim screams quickly backpedaling away from the wild fire. Cater let out a troubled sigh, with a wave of his magical pen he summoned a splash of water to douse the flaming rose bush. Killing the fire instantly. " Wow. You freshies are even less capable than I thought.. How are you doing so far cutie?" As we both turned to see Y/n's progress, she seemed to be genuinely  enjoying herself!

Her fingers and hands carefully painting the petals in a gentle fashion, with the confidence of a skilled painter. The roses on the bush looked as if they were naturally red, no signs of faded or cracking paint or over saturation.
We've been painting for a while and the joints in my fingers are sore and aching. But it doesn't look like Y/n'll stop anytime soon, I reach out towards her but before my hand could brush up on her right shoulder, I heard her muttering something strange, as if she was having a conversation with herself.

".. Ah, but it's very rude to sit down without being invited—
I'll say it's rude, it's very, very rude indeed!"

Concerned, I placed my hand on her shoulder she stops painting  and turns her head towards me. "Did painting these roses drive you crazy or something?"
She lets out a soft exhale and shakes her head, "N-No.. Just— Don't worry about it, how's it going with the mini magic lesson?" She leans to the side to peek behind me to see the dumpster fire behind me, "A.... Pretty blue rose bush and a burnt matchstick.. with ash on the grass."

Cater casts a spell on Grim's failed rose bush and instantly rejuvenates it with bright red roses in full bloom, as if it wasn't just lit up like a torch.
Y/n let's out an astonished  "Whoa", Cater raises an eyebrow and let's out a cutesy chuckle. "Pretty impressive huh? Color changing spells are a breeze once you get the hang of them."

With another wave of his magical pen, the roses on Deuce's bush transitioned from cobalt blue to a rosy red. Cater pockets his pen in his blazer's breast pocket, turning towards Deuce and Grim. "Acey your's is still two shades off." Cater chides.

Feeling my lip pull further down from a frown to a scowl, I pointed at one of the many remaining white rose bushes. "Maybe we should just leave'em white! They look prettier and would look much nicer than red." I say a matter-of-factly.

Cater holds up his hands in a half-hearted shrug, "It's the matter of tradition. You can't throw an Unbirthday Party without red roses." He continues his annoying explanation while walking towards the Croquet wickets, "And you certainly can't play a Croquet match without seven-colored flamingos as mallets and a hedgehog as the ball."

He turns his head over towards the white roses, his smile never leaving his face. "Oh, but of course, the roses need to be white when the garden flowers put on their annual Spring Concert. That's when it's absolutely crucial." His eyes gravitate towards Y/n, his smile changed into a flirty smirk. "They sure can put on a great concert, I wouldn't mind inviting you over to see it N/n~ It's a perfect venue for a date ♡." He flirts shamelessly, causing my patience to thin out quickly.