The Hearts Mirror (Twisted Wonderland One-Shots + Requests)

Clone-tastrophe (Cater x Reader)

Requested by Esialyne

—

Cater wasn't known as the guy whose emotions got the better of him. If anything, he was the opposite - the one who always managed to keep his cool when his fellow dorm mates were bickering. When there was a fight in Heartslabyul, nine times out of ten his dorm mates would ask him to be the mediator, and then the fight would be over. Cater, out of everyone in the dorm of the Queen of Hearts, was the most collected and emotionally secure out of all of them.

So why was this happening?

Original Cater (currently dubbed Cater-O) buried his face in his hands, groaning. As much as he wanted to ignore the yelling happening in front of him, Annoyed Cater (Cater-A) and Scared Cater (Cater-S) were so loud he was shocked none of his peers had come running back from class to ask what the noise they could hear from the other side of the mirror was.

"Look, I'm pretty sure it'll be better if we just get it over with." Cater-A groaned.

"Yeah right! And what if we get rejected?" Cater-S shot back, eyes widening in disbelief. "We'd never be able to live it down!"

"If? Don't you mean when?" Pessimistic Cater (Cater-P) piped up from his corner. "Cause we're definitely gonna get rejected. For sure."

Cater-A gave P a tight smile. "Didn't ask for your input!"

The bickering (now slowly turning into a three-way argument) was more than Cater-O could handle. Usually he could deal with this kind of stuff, but now...

Normally he'd just let his clones argue it out then call them back. Actually, if he had any kind of problem, he would just call out a few clones, talk things out with them, and then stop using Split Card when he had his answer. Best advice is sometimes your own advice, or something like that. So why was Cater(-O) frustrated?

Because today marked two weeks of being unable to stop the effects of Split Card.

No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much magic he used, no matter how much he rested, waking up to the sight and sound of himself arguing with himself was slowly becoming Cater's new norm. All because of one small issue he wanted to sort out quickly! Well, it was a bit more than small, but did it really have to go this far?

The issue was whether or not Cater should confess his feelings to you. He'd found you cute from the moment he'd first saw you, how innocently you'd helped out painting the roses even though your lack of magic had made it a struggle. Your determination to find the Interdorm Magift tournament hijacker had endeared you to him further; soon it became his norm to seek you out during break, eager to take the next best selfie with you.

Sending selfies of just himself to you was enjoyable too, especially because of the compliments you gave him over the simplest things. And when you sent him one back, flashing the camera that adorable smile, knowing Cater would be the only one to see it? God, he felt the heat rising in his cheeks just at the thought—

He was getting off topic. Regardless of how cute he thought you were, there were still a few issues around asking you out. There was the normal things about whether or not he was your type or if you even saw him that way, obviously, but the main issue was the fact that you were from a completely different world.

The conversation when he found out had been bittersweet. On one hand, Cater loved watching how you practically glowed as your explained to him what your world was like; on the other, it broke his heart knowing how desperate you were to return there.

That didn't mean he wanted to stop you from returning - he'd never want to bring you that kind of pain. But it gave you the most valid reason to reject him - and if you didn't, if you did accept his feelings and reciprocated them, how would you feel when you finally got that choice to return home? What if your relationship made you feel obligated to stay, even if what you really wanted was to return to your friends and family you missed so much?