Rose-Red Loverboy

Vi

Once they had calmed down— once the overwhelming aura of magic had died down, They cautiously made their way back into the garden. The housewarden was passed out on the dead grass, the headmaster and those who had stayed gathering around his unconscious body. The warmth was slowly seeping back into his form, but he still looked ill. And the blot markings on his body were left leaking small droplets of crimson blood. To know that if they hadn't managed to snap him out of that state he would have lost his life was terrifying.

"Gah!" Riddle jolted up, looking  up started at the group that had gathered around himâ€" Cater, Trey, the headmaster, Grim, Yuuka, Ace, Deuce, and a few other people from the party. He seemed startled, and oddly somber.

"He's back!"

"Well, it's about time... We were just about losin' our heads here - figure of speech, sorry - 'cause we thought you might never wake up!" Cater was clearly worried for his friend, and of course everyone else was glad he woke up as well. {y/n} stood off to the side awkwardly. they wanted to get closer, to make sure he was okay even if he had always been a jerk to them, and yet it felt wrong in a way. They at least wanted to make sure he calmed down and he got to talk to Trey, Cater, and the headmaster before they went up to him. Other than where the weird blot patterns had formed on his skin and the clear signs of exhaustion, he seemed fine.

They vaguely heard Trey speak as he lead the shorter man to lay down on the grass rather than trying to sit up, he wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself and wasn't in pain.

"Yo, that's just the sort of coddling that led to him going nuts in the first place! Now the garden is tore up from the floor up, not to mention that we could've died!" Ace's loud voice disrupted the peace, clearly still upset about what had happened. And of course it still wasn't the time for it, considering Riddle was laying injured on the dead grass of the garden that still reeked of that gross metallic scent from his overblot.

"He's right. It was looking bad for a while there." Deuce seemed more genuinely worried for his housewarden compared to his ginger companion.

"For cryin' out loud. When you humans let that stress build up, the results sure ain't pretty." Even the cat had something to say, but {y/n} couldn't say that they didn't agree with Grim. It almost made them feel bad for the tiny tyrantâ€" to think that things got so bad in his mind that it led him to these far extremes. Even though they hated his guts, they couldn't help but worry.

"The truth is, I... I really wanted to eat the chestnut tart." Riddle spoke suddenly, his voice soft, prompting them to get a bit closer to make sure they heard him. It was a shockâ€" it was an admission against the very rules he lived by. And yet, his tone was so softâ€" so genuine, but almost as if he was scared to admit their truth.

"Huh?" Ace looked confused, and the others looked at him with great surprise.

"And I don't care if the roses are white, or the flamingos are pink. And I prefer honey to sugar cubes in my tea, and I like milk tea better than lemon tea anyhow.And after a meal, I want to be the one sitting around talking with everyone.." His voice shook with ever consonant that left his lips, filled with such great emotion. His eyes were cast down at his hands rather than looking up at the people who surrounded his form laid out on the blackened grass..

"Riddle..?" Trey reached down so his hand was rested on the shorter man's shoulder, the concern in his face and voice only deepening.

"And I really wanted to play with you and Chenya more, Trey…" the man let out a few sniffled before he started straight out sobbing. Tears poured from where they bubbled in his eyes down his cheeks. He was normally such a level headed person, and yet here he was, sniffling as he messily cried in the garden of Heartslabyul in a mess of his own making.