The other side of a glass tank - Octavinelle (& Twisted Wonderland) X Reader

Chapter 88 - Welcoming

"What's going on, Jamil? Nobody told me to expect company!"

Everyone was silent and tense while staring at the usually sunny housewarden, who was facing his vice.

"Kalim, there's a good reason for this, I assure you." The dark haired sophomore took a precautionary step forward, as if ready to calm his peer down the moment the latter possibly blew up.

"Uh, this guy seems like bad news..." Grim anxiously mumbled, shuffling a bit behind the magicless human.

"Huh? No... Kalim is-..." Said prefect meekly stammered, not loud enough, and their brows furrowed from a mix of feelings that those around them didn't take notice of.

"How many times must I tell you to always inform me ahead of time when inviting guests?! If you had..." The white haired boy was frowning, strutting toward his dorm mate with a serious look.

"...I would have arranged for an even finer banquet and a whole band!" The red eyed dorm leader suddenly sighed, slumping his shoulders in disappointment. Unbeknownst to him, all the other students present visibly relaxed.

"Huh?" The fiery beast blinked, meanwhile Kalim happily walked up to the dark blonde.

"Welcome to our dorm, Yuu! We finally got a chance to hang out, here. Sorry for not throwing you a welcoming parade!" He smiled widely, hands on his hips, before turning toward the gray monster.

"Wait, is this the first time we meet? If it is, I'm Kalim Al-Asim, housewarden of Scarabia." The second year pondered to himself for barely a moment before energetically introducing himself.

"It's not, actually." Jamil interjected.

"Grim burned your posterior at orientation, and he was there when Yuu came to ask us questions, before the Spelldrive tournament." The young man with the ponytail pointed out, making his fellow sophomore make an expression of sudden recognition.

"Oooh- really? Ahaha, sorry!" The cheerful housewarden laughed in a carefree manner.

"I've always been terrible with names! I hope you won't take any offense. Regardless, it's nice to meet you all over again!" He amiably addressed the small creature, who unsurely shook his head.

"Huh... no prob, I guess..."

"All the food looks incredible, as always. How did everything turn out, Jamil?" The Scarabia dorm leader looked over the enormous amount of food spread over the big and comfortable lounge carpet.

"Splendidly as ever. There are no dangerous substances in any of these dishes, so eat whatever you like. They've also been poison-tested already." Jamil had a smile on as he casually made that affirmation.

"Wh-why is THAT relevant?!" The cat-like beast screeched in surprise and concern, Yuu also widened their eyes.

"Kalim is the heir to a very wealthy family. The unfortunate dangers related to that mean that everything he eats must be vetted." The composed vice calmly explained.

"You just love blowing these things out of proportion, Jamil. Really, who would do that?" The sunnier student waved his hand dismissingly.

"Nobody's tried poisoning me since that time four years ago when I went comatose for two weeks. It's a thing of the past now." He confidently stated, a big and unbothered smile on his face.

"Yes, because you've had someone to specifically prevent that from happening for the past four years." Jamil pointed out with a mildly peeved expression.

"I ensure that anything hazardous is identified and disposed of before it crosses your plate." Same scholar underlined further, sighing and appearing a bit exasperated.