A Queen and Her Kings

Painting the Roses Anything but Red

Cassandra sat on the ground in the rose maze, legs crossed and a smile on her face as she typed away on her phone. A happily grinning Cater, as she had discovered his name was, was looking at her expectantly and sitting beside her in the same manner. They were mostly left alone, as Skip and Grim had dragged Ace, Ash, Shorter, Eiji and Deuce into a paint fight a ways away (something she wasn't upset about due to the fact she had recently learned a spell to magic stains off of clothes. Frustrated witch mothers across the Quarter would be rioting for it when she got home.). Griffin and Yue had decided to escape the chaos by taking a walk by the nearby lake to admire the flamingos Cater had said tended to frequent it.

After getting over the shock that her plans to fly under the radar had been utterly destroyed not even two days into her stay (and that she had become this world's version of the pointing cat meme, something she really didn't know whether to be proud of or freaked out by.), the two had started a conversation. Apparently, Cater had pissed off Riddle by talking to him before he had finished his coffee, and to get out of being collared, he had promised to spend his extra free period painting roses for the dorm's annual Unbirthday Party. She had also found out the Braincell Trio was responsible for the extra free period, due to the fact the maintenance ghosts had yet to repair the chandelier and replace the tables in the cafeteria, delaying everyone's lunch by a few hours.

After talking for a few minutes about how hard it was to find eco-safe paint for cheap, the conversation had diverted to Magicam. Cassandra had admitted to not having any social media in her home world, something Cater was horrified by. He then insisted on helping her make a Magicam account, which had led them to this.

"... So I can put any name I want for my user name?", she asked the eager third year. Cater nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep! But I would suggest you make two accounts; one for your real-life self, and one under a fake name for stuff you don't want people to know you're involved in, like making jokes about teachers and stuff.", he explained helpfully. Cassandra nodded in understanding.

"Ah, I see.", she said, typing in her information. Once she had finished, she turned to Cater and smiled.

"Done. Thank you for your help.", She said, smiling radiantly. Cater felt his heart skip a beat and gave her a closed-eye smile.

"Hey, no problem! I mean, I kinda owe you after I posted that video without your permission.", the orange haired man said sheepishly. Cater had apologized profusely when the redhead had told him she wasn't trying to draw attention to herself. He knew he should have asked her permission to post the video regardless, but he had been so excited he wasn't thinking. Cassandra wasn't mad, knowing her endeavor to have a quiet school year would likely be futile for many other reasons.

"It's fine, really. I wasn't exactly an unknown beforehand; if anything, I'm happy because you humiliated Crowley.", Cassandra laughed boisterously, recalling all the Crowley slander in the post comments. Cater smiled.

"That's good. You seem really cool. I would hate it if you held a grudge against me for the rest of the year.", he admitted. Cassandra leaned back against the rose bushes behind her, hands behind her head, and smirked at him.

"I've come to find holding grudges is rarely worth it. Forgiveness is a powerful tool; an enemy turned ally can be one of your most loyal assets, if one merely shows them a kindness they have never seen.", Cassandra said, looking Cater in the eyes. Cater blushed.

"Wow, you talk like you're a general or something!", he said. The extroverted young man was finding that this girl was the embodiment of badassery. Cassandra only laughed.

"Something like that!", she laughed. Cater found the sound beautiful and infectious, and soon began to laugh as well. Once the two had finished their laughing fit, Cassandra stood up, hands on her hips. Cater frowned. He didn't want her to leave yet.