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Chapter Text

His anxiety only seemed to get worse after that night. 

It was nerve-wracking and infuriating how Pluto’s recent interaction with Eulalie continued replaying in his exhausted, substance-addled mind. Shuddering ever so slightly, he sighed tiredly, holding onto his pillow tight and curling into it. The emotions he was experiencing in his desperate attempts to unwind were extremely intense and suffocating, and the fact that he could still hear her voice was unbearable. 

Pluto’s heart felt like it was on fire. It couldn’t be possible that he’d fallen in love with Eulalie. He was pretty sure that this wasn’t what that was supposed to have felt like. If that’s even what falling in love was supposed to feel like, anyway. He didn’t understand why he craved Eulalie’s presence while also wishing to avoid her completely. It wasn’t like him to feel this way about anyone. He wasn’t the type of man to give a fuck about much, especially after all that he’d already been through.

Yet, there was just something about the girl’s lingering energy that had suddenly set Pluto’s darkened soul completely alight. The memory of Eulalie standing so close to him in that abandoned library under that strangely romantic moonlight taunted him, causing him to squeeze into his pillow a bit harder. Pluto felt completely tormented by the imprint that this mysterious girl had spontaneously made on his heart.

Thinking of how her lips had been parted while she listened to him speak that night, her deviously curious eyes glimmering like the ocean on a sunny morning…

These thoughts were more than enough to completely do him in.

I hate that she has this effect on me, he thought bitterly. Squeezing his pillow and releasing a frustrated huff, Pluto tried his best to ignore the growing bulge in his pants. This is not okay. I should not even be thinking of Eulalie in this way. 

Awareness of his intense desire for Eulalie shocked Pluto’s system, embarrassment and feelings of shame flooding into the depths of his vulnerable psyche upon the realization that he was becoming consumed by his attraction to her. What scared him about all of this was how it had come completely and seemingly out of nowhere. 

Seriously, what the fuck! He hardly even knew Eulalie. This was uncalled for. Why was his body even reacting like this? So many questions wracked his brain for what felt like hours on end, his chest tightening as he curled further into himself.

Tears of shame inevitably trailed down Pluto’s cheeks as he quietly turned around on his mattress and burrowed further into his blankets. He made every possible attempt to think of anything other than Eulalie, hugging his pillow still. Pluto was desperate to not feel like he was defiling someone he was deeply fond of with what he perceived as meaningless carnal desires not worth indulging. 

Eulalie, in his mind, was too precious to Pluto. It wasn’t that he worshiped her, but rather that he respected her. To lust after her just felt wrong, especially after a rough night where he’d chosen to stay up late sitting in his deep-seated angst as he pondered the world around him. 

But could it even be all that bad? Does she ever think of me in this way? Pluto found himself wondering. Yet, he didn’t want to get too far ahead of himself. He stopped himself from indulging in such thoughts and buried his face into the pillow. Dark hair flopped over his bad eye, and a few choked anxious sobs escaped Pluto’s lips.

I’m sorry, Eula.

It took a while for his mind to eventually calm itself enough so that his heart rate could slow down, but in the end, he fell into a deep sleep. All Pluto could hope for when he awoke later on was that all this body stuff causing his panic was nothing more than just a nightmare. 

After all, he knew deep down that there was no real reason to fear Eulalie. He just didn’t know what to make of his sudden lust for her. That was something he’d have to sort out. 

The following morning was a shitshow in the making.

Pluto groaned as he rolled out of bed and dragged himself across the room. He did his best to ignore his headache, avoiding the light of the sun and grumbling tiredly to himself. Exhausted still, he was glad that his roommates were nowhere to be found. He knew that they were most likely gallivanting about and getting themselves into trouble. 

Had those assholes seen him crying over a girl, they would never let Pluto hear the end of it. The knowledge of this truth alone was enough to make him feel gratitude for the peaceful solace of not having anyone in the shared dormitory with him. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to his friends’ endless gossip this early in the morning as it was. I’d probably slap someone for even mentioning Eulalie if I’m being honest with myself. 

Pluto swiped his lighter and an ashtray from the desk beside his bed. He immediately noted the empty cigarette box on the desk he’d grabbed the ashtray from and frowned, disappointed. Great, nothing to smoke. Sucks. Because it was a new day and he knew that his friends would show up at some point to check in with him, he didn’t want to think or feel anything related to Eulalie.

The lustful feelings he’d experienced out of the blue the night before weren’t something that he wanted to trigger, let alone experience again. That whole experience had already spooked him enough as it was. There was no reason for another repeat. Sure, Eulalie was pretty, but Pluto just wanted to drown out all the loud noises in his brain. He was suddenly thrilled when he found a cigarette inside his jacket pocket. It had been draped over his desk chair. 

“Thank fuck that everyone’s gone,” Pluto said, sighing contentedly after lighting the cigarette and taking a drag. He savored the taste of the tobacco as he breathed the smoke out of his lungs and into the room, watching on quietly as the haze wafted through the open window.

“Mornin’ Sunshine~” said a voice.

“GAH. Fuck’s sake!” Pluto cried, startled. This quickly became irritating, however. Right when I think I get a moment to sit back and enjoy my morning in peace…

He’d flinched so hard at the sound of Berenice’s voice that he’d slammed his desk chair, nearly knocking it over and falling on top of it. The cigarette was still lit in his left hand, smoke wafting from it as some of the ash fell onto Pluto’s shirt. Frowning, and now wide awake, he cautiously crawled back into a standing position and tossed the cigarette on the ashtray. 

“I don’t know where you are,” Pluto spoke, his voice low. It contained a hesitant but dangerous edge. “But I will find you and–”

“Whoa, whoa. Cool it, Catboy,” snarked the voice in response. “It’s just me.”

“Of course,” Pluto said flatly, glaring at Berenice. He reached over for the cigarette again and lit it, placing it in his mouth before taking another huff. Exhaling smoke, he cleared his throat and found himself feeling like a complete and total asshole. Of all the people that he’d gotten to know at Nevermore, Berenice was the one individual who he knew did not deserve his wrath, no matter how awful he felt. 

Better her than Duke, innit. Pluto made a face, displeased at the sudden thought. He was not in the mood for Duke and his sassy shit talk. This was the one man who would never let him rest if he knew about the Eulalie thing, and that was a reality that he wholeheartedly wanted to avoid. Pluto’s tired shoulders sagged as he folded his arms over his chest, now leaning against the window frame. If he was being completely honest with himself, he wasn’t too thrilled about being startled like this.

Berenice, for her part, couldn’t resist snickering at Pluto’s intense emotional reaction to her presence. Though she truly hadn’t meant any harm, Berenice didn’t want to make her friend’s anxiety worse than it already was. She knew that he was trying his best to hide his discomfort, not wanting to seem weak. 

“Hey, I get it,” she said, aware of Pluto’s anxiety. She winked as she held out a hand to help him up. “Sorry to frighten ya, babes.” 

“S’fine. Maybe warn me next time?” Pluto griped, rolling his good eye and taking another drag of his cigarette. His anxiety was still through the roof and he was far too fucking tired for this shit. An exhale left his lips, followed by more smoke. He looked over at Berenice, watching as she sat on his bed and placed an unopened bottle of wine beside her. 

“So,” Pluto said. He tried to get a good look at the bottle next to Berenice. “What are you even doing here?”

“The Deans were talking about a bunch of dumb shit we don’t care about, so.” Berenice shrugged nonchalantly and plucked out her pocket knife, picking at her fang with it for a brief moment before folding it and putting it away. 

“What’s in the bottle?”

“Oh, that?” Berenice snickered. She smiled deviously as she reached into one of her pockets for a corkscrew. Then she realized that she’d left it behind, having used it as a weapon in a previous fight. “Merlot. Duke and I got bored and decided to steal it from the Deans.”

Pluto stopped giving a shit within five seconds of his closest friend opening her mouth. By this point, he’d already dropped the cigarette onto the ashtray and rushed toward his bathroom. Thunder pounded in his mind as he stood in front of his bathroom sink with his palms gripping against either side. 

One, Two, Three… Pluto counted as he breathed deeply, trying to regulate his anxiety. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, exhaling deeply as he noted his anxious expression before looking away and glancing down at the sink drain. Pluto shook his head, his hair flapping about as he regained his focus. Turning on the faucet, he quickly rinsed his face, hoping that the cold water would wake him up and alleviate some of the discomfort. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair before leaning forward against the sink again.

“Pluto, did you hear me?” Berenice asked, her head poking into the bathroom doorway. She was holding up the wine bottle. She’d shown up originally to keep him company. It wasn’t like her wine-drinking buddy to turn down a yap session. “I said I poured you a glass. It’s by your ashtray.”

“I heard you, Bee. Shite,” Pluto finally snapped, glancing up with a frustrated expression and turning away from his sink to face her. Although his attempt to regulate himself did not work, he was secretly relieved to have a reason to forget about Eulalie for a while. He grabbed the bottle from Berenice’s outstretched hand and began to uncork it. When he noted that it was a screw cap rather than a cork, he shrugged and took an impulsive chug. 

Berenice repressed a chuckle as she held her hands up with her palms facing him as if to placate him. Stepping away from Pluto to give him some space, she noticed the intensity with which he’d walked right past her. She could not resist the way her eyebrows raised as she watched him sit on the edge of his bed. He looked pitiful.

Berenice was not used to this side of her friend. Pluto was normally very quiet and withdrawn, the type to only speak when he felt it necessary. More often than not, he preferred to keep a distance from others and regularly observed his loved ones from afar, not particularly wanting to be involved in what he felt were mere trivialities. 

Pluto looked at the bottle in his hands, eyebrow furrowed as he felt himself becoming a little hazy from the wine. He grabbed the bottle by the neck, holding it like a bowling pin between his parted thighs. Looking at his window, he swung the bottle back and forth as he leaned forward from where he sat on his bed. That was when he suddenly noted that damned raven that Lenore was always running off to perched on a tree outside. 

“The feck’s he doing out there?”

“Who?”

Pluto nodded toward the window next to his bed. “That feckin’ bird Lenore’s always on about,” he replied. He took another swig of the wine and considered that he might not even be seeing anything at all. After all, alcohol had a bit of an effect on his rather small body. He was also still exhausted from the night before. At this point, Pluto was quite certain that he was already drunk. He tried to not think about it too much.

Berenice stood up, curious as to what Pluto saw. It was hard for her to see the branch the raven had been perched on from where she was. Furthermore, the bird had already flown away when it saw Pluto staring at it. Was the raven spying on them? Neither of them had any idea. 

“Could just be some other bird,” she offered.

“If ye say so,” Pluto snarked, inwardly sighing in relief when he found an unopened carton of cigarettes in the top drawer of his nightstand. He grabbed one from the box and lit it, taking a drag before exhaling with a cough. 

“Gimme that bottle,” Berenice said. She noticed that Pluto never even touched the glass of wine that she’d poured for him while he was freaking out in his bathroom. It was still there on his desk, still and bloody red. Just like their hands during the pact.

Pluto, catlike as always, leaned away from his window and toward Berenice, who stood to reach over for the bottle of wine. He flopped back with his cigarette in his mouth, one knee crossed over another one as he exhaled and played around with smoke rings. All he could think about as he heard Berenice’s casual drinking sounds was that book.

He’d originally gone to that library to find that fucking book.

Everyone knew that Pluto was a bookworm. If he wasn’t reading something, he was usually staring at everyone with disinterest and quietly sizing them up. Besides, why bother with socializing? Pluto did not see the point in meaningless chit-chat. There were too many interesting books for him to read in that abandoned library, for one…

Ah, shite.  

The memories of his brief moment with Eulalie in the library got to him again. Pluto groaned loudly, frustrated at the sudden unexpected reminder. He was foolish to have ever thought that he’d sleep this one off. 

“You’re not right today,” Berenice said, breaking him from his reverie. She sat on the edge of Pluto’s writing desk, sympathy in her gaze. 

Pluto took another drag of his cigarette and groaned miserably, aware that he was unfairly being an asshole. “I am not okay,” he said, disappointed in his confession. “I am so not fucking okay.”

“That’s obvious, love,” replied Berenice, eyebrow still raised. She took a swig of the wine and shook her head with an amused expression, the alcohol already starting to get to her. Although it was ultimately none of Berenice’s business, she started wondering about what might have gotten her friend so upset and out of sorts. She had never really seen this side of Pluto before. 

Pluto shook his head and held up a hand when she quietly offered him the bottle. “No, drinking in the first place when I’m anxious was stupid of me,” he said, rolling over and draping his arm over the edge of his bed, cigarette still in hand. He was careful not to drop it. “I don’t need more.”

“...Did someone say alcohol?”

Oh, feck. 

Pluto was not up for dealing with this noise so early in the morning. Out of the people at Nevermore, Lenore was the biggest shit-talker and her constant scheming with Duke was at times exhausting. Though Pluto loved his friends dearly, now he found himself wishing that he’d kicked out Berenice. He was drunk, tired, cranky, and horny as hell for Eulalie, the latter of which made everything so much worse. Ugh, can’t these buggers feck off for a bit and let a man rest?!

“He’s pretty pissed off this morning for some reason,” Berenice cheerily explained, drunkenly waving a hand and smiling at Lenore. “You’ll have to overlook it.”

Pluto just rolled his eye in response to this. “Oh, shut it, you,” he said. Then he sat up and pounced toward Berenice to reach for the wine. “Give me that.” He snatched the bottle from her again and handed it to Lenore. 

“What’s this for?”

Pluto gave her a pointed look. “Go pour it out or something.” It was his way of trying to get everyone to leave. Giving someone a menial task was a way to politely send them off, right?

Lenore raised an eyebrow and made a face at Pluto as she grabbed the bottle of wine by the neck. Holding it up and inspecting it to see that it wasn’t even half gone, she shrugged. She then looked at Berenice and Pluto once more, then back at Berenice before folding her arms over her chest and sighing. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “Nah, the vibe is off. I’m gonna go find Duke.” Then she held up the bottle as she grinned and walked away. “Thanks for the booze. Cheers!” 

Pluto stuck his middle finger up at Lenore’s back as he shooed her out of the room, not caring at all that Lenore was laughing hysterically when he closed the door sharply behind her back. It’s not like she cared, either. That crazy girl was always on some other shit, wreaking chaos and making power moves for the sake of keeping them alive, all while yearning for her blonde lover queen with the heart-shaped hole in her chest. 

Despite his harsh opinion, Pluto loved Lenore. He trusted her far more than Duke, but sometimes he just wished that she’d find better ways of going about things. She was too impulsive. Pluto didn’t want her recklessness to get them killed; they’d already risked themselves and each other more than once by now. With him being neutral, it was a given that Pluto felt the need to maintain the social balance of his group by ensuring that everyone was held accountable when fucking up.

Of course, it’s not like Pluto had any room to talk when it came to the concept of accountability. Especially not when he had just lost control of himself and willingly and impulsively chugged a bit of booze to cope with his inability to deal with his feelings for Eulalie. As he sat back down on his bed, Pluto thought to himself, I am such a hypocrite. Nobody should ever take me or anything I say too seriously.

The lack of sleep due to Pluto’s earlier panic attack had made it far too difficult for him to sleep too deeply; he was also already more than certain that he was half-dead. If one could be half-dead when they were already dead in Nevermore, that was. Berenice’s presence was helping him ground himself, at least. That, in his point of view, was ultimately a good thing. What also helped was that Berenice was still just being her usual self. Despite her comments, Pluto knew that she wasn’t judging him. 

That was when Pluto decided to tell Berenice what was going on. Sighing deeply and putting his cigarette out before placing it back on the ashtray, he leaned back against his bed again. He stared at the ceiling for a short moment, the silence somewhat deafening. 

“So,” he started, the feeling of hesitation making itself known in the tone of his voice. “You know Eulalie pretty well by now, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Berenice asked, confused by the question. She found it odd that he’d ask about Eulalie. Though it was true that she and Eulalie had already become fast friends during their first day at Nevermore. It was no secret that they’d often meet after classes to make little hex dolls together. Others thought that this shared activity was weird, and some were frightened enough to avoid picking fights completely. Some felt it neat that the two girls had genuinely bonded over their mutual appreciation for witchcraft, especially as Eulalie didn’t consider herself to be close to anyone in the group, either. 

What Berenice had observed a long time ago was that Eulalie and Pluto both happened to share a tendency toward solitude. She was confused as to why he’d ask about her, though. Did something happen between them that she didn’t know about? If so, why couldn’t Pluto talk to Eulalie himself if he had a problem with her?

“Pluto, did something happen between you two while I was out practicing my manifesting with Lenore and Morella?”

That question forced Pluto to sit up in his bed. His face was beet red as he glared at Berenice. “I…” He paused, swallowing and clearing his throat before looking away from his friend’s entertained stare. “I like her. I like her a lot, and I have had some thoughts about her that are terrifying me,” he finally managed to say. 

For his part, Pluto thought Eulalie’s interest in using her arcane gifts for good rather than for evil purposes made her far more interesting than any of the others. He thought of how he felt when he was with Eulalie in group settings. The energy was different than when they had their brief moment in the library, but the constant was that he always felt safe with her around. When Eulalie was around, he noted that he felt more relaxed. 

What neither of them was aware of, though, was the fact that Eulalie was eavesdropping on the other side of the door. 

“I…” An anxious throat clears. He speaks again after a brief silence. “I like her. I like her a lot, and I have had some thoughts about her that are terrifying me.”

Oh. Oh, my. I was right, Eulalie thought as she quickly stepped away from the closed door with a startled gasp. She’d had her ear pressed against the door, eyebrow raised as she eavesdropped on the private conversation between the two friends. Now she was flat against the wall behind the door, trying to calm herself. 

To hear Pluto tell Berenice that he was crushing hard was certainly not on Eulalie’s list of expectations for the day. Of course, she always suspected that there was some sort of reason underlying his overall skittishness. After all, he wasn’t like that with anyone else. Though she often played coy, she always felt that there was something more to his behavior. 

Eulalie was both shocked and confused upon overhearing Pluto’s confession. She wasn’t sure how to play it off as though she’d heard absolutely nothing, but she knew that she’d have to do exactly that to not frighten him off. Pluto surely had to feel vulnerable and nervous while confessing. It stood to reason that he might even have had moments before now where he felt so conflicted about his emotions. 

Crushes have a way of making people do things they normally wouldn’t do, someone once told Eulalie. She couldn’t remember who it was that had said this to her, or if it was linked to something about her past life. All she knew was that it often was a phrase that proved to be true in most cases. With everything that was already happening at Nevermore, there was no reason for her to assume that Pluto’s crush was rooted in some sort of delusion. 

“That’s it?” she heard Berenice say to Pluto. “What’s wrong with having a crush on someone?” 

Eulalie could still hear them from where she stood. She imagined Berenice giving Pluto the most aghast expression, fangs protruding and eyebrows furrowed in disappointment. Berenice was the sort of person who never felt any shame about having platonic crushes. 

Because of the wall that separated them, Eulalie couldn’t see Pluto stand up to walk to his bedroom window. She couldn’t see the hopelessness in his body language. Surely Pluto was beyond grateful for the fact that she wasn’t in the room with them. She didn’t think that Pluto would ever openly confess his emotions aloud. 

“It’s been like this for a while,” she heard Pluto say, his voice soft but distant. It was almost a whisper. Eulalie had to press her ear against the wall again to hear him more clearly. “She’s been on my mind a lot.”

“For how long?” Berenice asked him.

“Since a month ago,” Pluto replied. He sounded tired, almost disappointed. “I just.” Pluto paused again, groaning in embarrassment and muttering to himself, “I just feel like it’s wrong for me to want her.”

Eulalie shoved herself away from the wall and ran back to her dorm, face reddened thoroughly due to what she’d just heard. There was no one in the hallway to notice her, thankfully. Once she got to her dorm, she opened the door and locked herself in. Then she threw herself atop her mattress, grateful that her roommate was gone. 

If she was being completely honest with herself, Eulalie’s feelings toward Pluto were mutual. But she also wasn’t sure how to approach him in that way, especially given how easy it was to startle him. That was why she had never bothered to flirt with Pluto, or even treat him in a way that made him feel singled out. We should be handling him with care was the common sentiment that everyone had toward the young man.

Just the other night during their brief moment in the library, Eulalie saw the way Pluto had been watching her. She remembered how she’d felt the intensity coming off of him in waves, and how she’d even felt it in his gaze. But she also knew, deep in her heart of hearts, that he would not dare harm her. She couldn’t explain it with logic or reason, but she knew that Pluto would be the one person in all of Nevermore to handle her with utmost care. 

Yet, Eulalie wasn’t fully prepared to move things in that direction with him. She felt that she needed more time to figure things out, at least emotionally. She needed to look inward to figure out where exactly she stood. To merge with Pluto was a risk. She needed to weigh the pros and cons. But why am I overanalyzing this? Eulalie asked herself, sighing deeply as she stared at her ceiling. If he likes me, and I like him, too, then shouldn’t it be the logical next step that I try to talk to him more?

But, then, what would happen if she couldn’t follow him to their second chance at life? What if they got split up again? She had already nearly lost him once; Eulalie did not want to risk falling in love only to lose them. The thought of that sort of abandonment hurt her heart. She’d already been through this more than once already and did not think that she could bear to withstand that kind of pain again. 

She turned over onto her side with another tired exhale. Closing her eyes and allowing sleep to claim her, she thought one last thing. I should try to get to know him better. He won’t hurt me. I know it. So, instead of being weird about his confession, I need to stop running away and face this challenge head-on. 

All she could realistically hope for, in the end, was that he wouldn’t know that she’d been eavesdropping outside his dorm. She knew that she was going to have to play it off somehow.

Chapter Text

Smooth jazz filled the otherwise peaceful air in Eulalie’s dormitory. Her stomach had already begun singing the symphonies of sorrows as she slowly rolled over to her side, yawning and sitting up with a groggy groan. Rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand, she yawned again. 

Berenice was already seated in front of her writing desk, her legs propped up against its hardwood surface. She’d been enjoying one of her favorite records while reading one of Eulalie’s many mystery novels for a couple of hours while she slept. When she heard her roommate yawn, she looked up and marked the passage she was reading with a dainty ostrich feather. Then she carefully closed the book and set it on the desk.

“You missed dinner, babes,” Berenice said to her roommate, by way of greeting. If she knew about Eulalie’s prior eavesdropping, she made no show of it. 

Eulalie made a pained face at the realization, quickly glancing outside their dormitory window and noting the darkened cloudy skies. Nonetheless, she still waved Berenice off. “You know I’m still going to raid the kitchens after I fix my hair,” she replied, a devious giggle in her voice. She quickly grabbed her hairbrush from her vanity table and headed toward their shared bathroom. 

Berenice laughed at her roommate’s response and shook her head, returning to her book. She reached for it again and opened it back up to the premarked page. The jazz music from her phonograph still filled the room with a calming aura, something she was grateful for. “Just don’t get caught by the Deans.”

“Screw the Deans.”

That dry comment only made Berenice laugh harder. “Now you sound like Lenore.”

Eulalie poked her head out of her bathroom, looking at Berenice with a genuinely confused expression. “I never said I liked the Deans.”

Berenice giggled and reached for one of the two other bottles of already unopened wine that she’d previously stolen from the Nevermore authorities. Taking a small swig of what appeared to be riesling, she set the bottle down and got cozied up in her chair. 

The book she was reading was about a woman who had met another girl in another land, having fallen in love with her and wanting to create a life together, only to be star-crossed. 

This doesn’t seem like the sort of thing Eula would read, Berenice mused, looking carefully at the hardcover. She dragged a finger down the intricate patterns embossed into the leather, noting the quality of the book binding. This also wasn’t just any romance novel. 

It was a book that Eulalie had secretly written in her past life. 

Berenice quickly felt ashamed, removing the feather from the book and slamming it shut before running over to the bookshelf on the far wall of their dorm room to put it back. Upon trying to find the book’s original space, she noted that most of the books Eulalie had carefully organized on the mini library shelf were split into separate categories. 

The book that Berenice was reading, titled Rootless Skies, was a romance novel. There were no other romance novels on Eulalie’s bookshelf. All of the content available to read in her collection was either arcane, historical, dark, macabre, or rooted in mystery. 

I learn something new about this girl every day, Berenice thought to herself, chuckling softly. She never once pegged her roommate as a romantic, but considering the conversation she’d had with Pluto earlier that day? Well, it was all starting to come together.

If Berenice was being completely honest with herself, though, she was quite grateful that Eulalie had slept all day. Given her earlier conversation with Pluto, and especially the confession he’d made in a moment of profound vulnerability, Berenice just wouldn’t be able to look at her roommate and keep silent for too much longer. 

However, Berenice also knew that it seriously wasn’t even her place to tell Pluto or Eulalie what to do, let alone how to navigate their potential future relationship. Even if she wanted them to confess to one another, she knew that it was best to let them figure it out. She’d even told Pluto to do what he felt was best before leaving him alone that morning to mull things over. 

“You don’t plan on going out into the shadows with Duke and Lenore tonight, do you?” she heard Eulalie call. She was still in the bathroom, presumably rummaging through her toiletries and applying a face mask. 

Berenice flinched, forgetting for a moment that her roommate was still around. 

“Yep, you know it! Why?” she replied, quickly putting the secret autobiographical dream journal away before Eulalie could notice that she’d read it. Seems like I’m the one uncovering secrets, she thought as she found herself suddenly trying to be casual. She shook her head, amused at the reality of the situation she was in the middle of. Then she was running back to her desk to quickly shut the phonograph off. 

Eulalie had rinsed off her mask and was now brushing her hair. “Hey!” she yelled, putting her brush down and peering out of her bathroom to glare at Berenice. The products she used for her eye makeup lay scattered across the side table near her sink. She had been quietly humming to herself, enjoying the rhythm of the sounds when the music had suddenly stopped. 

Berenice grimaced, not liking the stern look that Eulalie was giving her. This girl had the sort of stare that could make even Montressor cower in shame. Berenice looked down as she pulled her jacket collar over her shoulder, adjusting it off-handedly. Then she looked up and away. “Sorry, loves,” she replied, smiling nervously at her roommate. “Anyway,” she continued, now heading toward the door and reaching for the handle. “Find me if you need me, okay?”

Eulalie said nothing, instead opting to continue to give her roommate the most disappointed stare that she could muster as she watched her open their dorm room door before disappearing through the threshold and closing it shut. The music playing from Berenice’s phonograph had been easing her nerves, and now that she was gone, she was already thinking of Pluto. 

“I wonder what he’s up to,” she said out loud, her voice soft. She didn’t want to tell Berenice that she’d overheard their conversation, and she also wasn’t sure if Berenice even knew that she’d been eavesdropping. It was never intentional and it wasn’t as if Eulalie had planned for any of this. All Eulalie knew was that she was relieved to have run away from Pluto’s door in time. The awkwardness of being found out was worth the secrecy, at least from her point of view. 

Thankfully, Berenice was also very good at keeping secrets despite her loud and gregarious persona. Eulalie knew intuitively that she could trust her to not blab about Pluto’s confession, even if she’d inadvertently misheard it. She was more than certain that they wouldn’t have chosen each other as roommates in Nevermore otherwise. 

“Now… What to eat tonight, I wonder?” Eulalie said again, now looking around her room to see if maybe she’d hidden any snacks.

She and Berenice had a shared habit of roaming the kitchens some nights for the forbidden items that the Deans often hid from the others, not realizing that the Nevermore students had already made the discovery. Holding her index finger to her chin as she looked up in thought, Eulalie then slowly tilted her head, glancing toward the door where Berenice had just been. Maybe I should head to the kitchens, then.

Eulalie was still quite hungry. Having already missed dinner due to oversleeping, she didn’t want to go the rest of the night without any food. Relieved to not have to turn the music off herself, Eulalie quickly grabbed her dorm key and walked out of the door. Before moving forward any further, she quickly but discreetly looked from side to side to see if there was anyone around in the hallway who might be watching. When Eulalie was sure that there wasn’t anything bad snooping around waiting to attack her, she locked her door after shutting it behind her.

While making her way through the empty halls, Eulalie pondered on her afterlife. She caught glimpses of dated oil paintings depicting Deans and other authority figures from throughout Nevermore’s long history as she turned through candlelit corners. Bats screeched as they narrowly flapped past her head and shoulders, causing her to flinch on occasion. Eulalie brushed a hand on her head to smooth her hair once the bats had left, relieved when she looked up and saw that she had finally arrived at the empty kitchens. 

The tables in the large hall were still set, the used dishes from the most recent dinner having already been tended to and replaced for breakfast the following morning. None of the cafeteria staff were around, and none of the candelabras in the area were lit. There were no torches or candles, either. Just pure darkness, with the only light coming in from above being the light of the moon itself. 

The only noises at this hour were from the humming of the refrigerators that had somehow been pulled into this mysterious realm from a modern era. Eulalie reached out with a palm, feeling the energy of the refrigerator before deducing that this refrigerator was from a time she’d never even lived in. 

There were also a lot of rustling sounds coming from the pantries in the far back end of the kitchen. It sounded like paper being shuffled and crinkled, and maybe even plastic. Eulalie couldn’t help but step closer, noting the frustrated huffs coming from the floor. She couldn’t see them, but she could sense from the moonlit shadows that someone was indeed snooping about in there and looking for something to eat.

“Hope there’s still some chocolate cake in here!” the voice said. Eulalie chose peace upon realizing it was only Morella. 

“Chocolate’s not a bad idea,” Eulalie said in response, smiling and stepping forward. She placed a hand on her chest and laughed, shaking her head and looking at her feet sheepishly. “Though, I just wanted some bread and milk.”

“Eula!” Morella greeted, her voice a sharp whisper so that no one could hear them. She wasn’t expecting to see her friend here, either. Blushing and blinking in surprise, she ran over to hug her. “Are you alright?” she asked, now pulling away with her arms on Eulalie’s sleeves. “Why weren’t you at dinner?”

Eulalie grimaced, glancing at Morella and looking away. “I suppose I was tired after our recent exams. Also,” she paused, looking at Morella’s hands. They were still holding her sleeves pretty tightly. “Can you please let me go?”

“Sorry!” Morella said, apologizing quickly upon catching Eulalie’s hint. She gently but quickly released her friend. 

“It’s fine,” Eulalie replied. She then tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. “What are you doing here, though? Didn’t you eat?”

Morella shrugged. “I did eat, but I heard there was chocolate cake hidden back here. I wanted to see for myself.” 

“Oooo, cake,” Eulalie mused, holding her fingertips together in front of her face steeple-style for a few moments before lowering them and placing her hands behind her back. She looked behind Morella, eyes still narrowed. “Did you find it?”

“No, but I already found some other things,” Morella replied. She gestured for Eulalie to follow her as she gracefully stepped toward another pantry cabinet. “Quick, get a basket.” 

Eulalie walked away and found a stack of empty and unused wicker baskets on a shelf across from the emergency exit, which had already been blocked off with a padlocked wrought iron gate. She rolled her eyes at the obnoxious-looking metal padlock, remembering the design as being similar to the many locks Pluto had told her he’d had to sort through during his shared trial with Duke and Lenore. Trying to not think of Pluto, and redirecting her focus back to Morella, Eulalie grabbed one of the baskets before smiling and chipperly returning to where she stood. 

“Ah, good,” Morella mused, nodding happily when she saw Eulalie approaching with the requested handbasket. Carefully, she put a couple of carefully wrapped chocolate cupcakes in the basket, along with some loaves of French bread, and a bottle of rice milk. “Will that do?”

Eulalie nodded, pleased at Morella’s craftiness. This is a side of her that most weren’t exactly aware of, for they mainly saw her as a prominent fighting spirit, Morella’s spectre being a guardian type seemed to align with her nurturing tendencies. 

“I know you’re grateful, so it’s okay if you can’t say it,” Morella said, reassuring Eulalie. She knew that her friend at times got overwhelmed with emotion and struggled to convey her powerful feelings of gratitude with her voice. It was partially why Eulalie often left little notes containing positive and thoughtful messages in her friends’ belongings, after all. 

“Oh, no,” Eulalie suddenly said, graciously holding the basket in front of her and nodding with a smile. “I’m just thinking of someone.”

Morella’s eyes widened, her cheeks turning red. She looked away from Eulalie and grabbed the counter. “Hey, um. Eula, I wanted to ask you something,” Morella said, her voice quiet. “Now that you’re here, anyway.”

Eulalie was confused now. “Sure, what is it? Did something happen while I was asleep?” She noted how Morella’s demeanor had quickly gone from chipper and blissful to stern and protective. Could it possibly be that news of Pluto having a crush on me is already traveling throughout Nevermore?

It was Morella’s next question that hit her like a bag of potatoes. “Is that someone you’re thinking about… also occasionally prone to wandering about the halls in feline form?”

Either I wasn’t the only person eavesdropping, or someone decided to mess with us and plant rumors that others, even Morella, have chosen to entertain.  

Eulalie found herself thinking about all the things that she wanted to achieve once she could make it out of Nevermore. The biggest dream that she’d had was opening up her spirit detective agency, and it had been this precise dream of hers that had led to her undoing. 

In Nevermore, Eulalie was not at all living out her witchy dreams alone in a cottage. She had friends now, sure, but she often found herself feeling like they didn’t take her seriously. At the very least, she felt that they didn’t seem to consider her perspective when she’d make genuine attempts to explain occult lore. Occult knowledge and psychic insights were amongst her many unusual magical skills. She felt that having these traits made her someone sorely underappreciated by many. 

Yet, for all of the Misfits’ faults and their unfortunate tendency to overlook and undervalue her occult expertise, Eulalie was still eternally grateful to them. They’d saved her life more than once, and even with all the aloofness she at times displayed, there was no question about it. The misfits genuinely loved her and wanted her around. 

What somehow made it all the better was knowing that Pluto liked her, too.

Yet, she wasn’t sure how to approach her feelings for him. The betrayal that Eulalie had felt in her past life was so painful that the feelings carried over into her life at Nevermore Academy. The friends she had back then were dear to her heart, but they didn’t want to help keep the dream they’d once shared alive. If she were to get a second chance and start over again, Eulalie hoped that this time, she wouldn’t be doing this all on her own.

Pluto, for his part, was perhaps the one person who might have a reason to take Eulalie seriously. Others had already quietly noticed how he’d grown more protective toward her over a few months. Though he always maintained a respectful distance, to not give her cause for alarm, Pluto seemed to be watching her closely. 

When he wasn’t anxious or panicking, and especially when he wasn’t seeking immediate comfort, Pluto always gave Eulalie and the other misfits plenty of space. He was by nature a very quiet person, and most would have said that he didn’t bother anyone. Even Prospero, the one who’d originally sent Pluto away, had once admitted missing having his peaceful energy around. When Pluto learned about this from Lenore, he'd merely rolled his eye and huffed. 

I suppose he’s not that bad of a match, Eulalie thought to herself as she finally glanced down at the basket in her hands and sighed. Then she looked at Morella, who still patiently awaited her answer. 

“Indeed they are,” Eulalie finally replied. If Morella had already connected the dots and observed Pluto’s spectre in action, then there was no point in her playing coy. “I accidentally overheard him telling Berenice that he has a crush on me.”

Morella’s eyes widened, cheeks reddening as she brought her hands to her face. She suddenly wished she could cheer with joy, as she’d always secretly liked the thought of Eulalie and Pluto as a pair. She just didn’t think they’d ever actually be a thing if that made any sense.

“Why do you seem so shocked?” Eulalie asked Morella, tilting her head as she did so. “If anyone should be surprised, it’s me. After all, I had my suspicions, but I also thought I was reading too much into his behaviors.”

“True, he is hard to read at times and much is easy to project onto his neutral nature,” Morella mused, thinking about how skittish Pluto has always been. She was still struggling to contain her inner fangirl. Leaning in to whisper her next words, Morella couldn’t resist the devious glint in her eyes. “Does Pluto know that you know?”

Eulalie shook her head. “No, and Berenice doesn’t know that I overheard them talking about me, either.” She sighed and shrugged, careful not to drop the basket. 

“And if you overslept and missed dinner,” Morella added, a finger raised, “then you also missed Monty’s drunken ranting. He and Duke almost got into a fight.” 

Eulalie’s eyebrows shot up at this. Though she was no stranger to Montressor’s random bursts of dangerously evil and chaotic behavior, she didn’t expect Morella to be the one to tell her about it. Of everyone available to deliver the grim news, Eulalie expected Ada to be the one amusedly sharing the details.

But, given Morella and Ada’s shared fangirling tendencies, Eulalie supposed that she shouldn’t be all that surprised at Morella’s reaction. Fangirls were often the ones with most of the key information in their respective communities, anyhow, so Eulalie instead accepted this reality for what it was. She then shifted her focus back to the food Morella had given her, quietly glad that the milk was still cold. Even better, the bread and cake are still warm. 

“Nothing too crazy, though. Your hypothetical beau got Duke to stand down.”

“I’ve not been awake long, and thus far I’ve feigned ignorance on everything,” Eulalie finally said. “From this fight I’m just now learning about, and Pluto’s feelings for me.”

“Smart plan to play along when you’re the unspoken elephant in the room,” Morella said. She now twirled one of her braids around one of her fingers, standing on her toes as she smiled and looked up at her friend. “Do you like Pluto, too?”

Eulalie couldn’t stop herself from blustering at the question. It was the first time she’d ever been outright asked about her feelings for Pluto. Nearly dropping the food basket that she’d been holding in front of her, she nodded and tried to hide behind her bangs. 

Morella couldn’t help but smile and laugh at her friend’s reaction. “Aww, that’s too precious! I always thought you two would look so cute together,” she sheepishly remarked, now filling her own basket with cupcakes and other snacks. 

“You’ve drawn us kissing in your journal, haven’t you?” Eulalie teased, smiling at Morella. She had somehow gradually taken after Ada’s romantic tendency to swoon over people she found appealing but in a very different kind of way. Still, she thought that Morella was a genuinely sweet and loving person. It wasn’t that hard for Eulalie to imagine Morella secretly drawing fanart of her and Pluto in precarious positions.

“You’ll never know,” Morella squeaked, immediately changing the topic when she spoke again. “Also, he sometimes sleeps in here, right near the oven. Just so you’re aware.”

When Eulalie looked at Morella in confusion once more, Morella explained that she’d already seen Pluto scampering about multiple times in his spectre form, scavenging the kitchens for fish and shrimp. It was miraculous each time he did this that he’d never once attacked anyone. Pluto would quite literally grab a snack, devour it, and curl up around it as if to protect it from being taken from him. She also explained to Eulalie that Pluto himself had also been the one to find the Deans’ hidden snack stash while sniffing around one night and that neither of them would be in there filling baskets with food if not for him.

“The rumors about him liking me have been ongoing for months,” Eulalie heard herself saying in response to Morella’s raving. The fangirling was starting to overwhelm her, but she knew Morella to be earnest and honest.

“And this morning,” Morella said, excitedly. She couldn’t contain her enthusiasm, though she still managed to restrain herself enough to not speak so loudly. “You manage to discover that they are true. Though I think the rumors only started because he accidentally forgot his notebook in class that one time.”

“Pluto forgot his notebook?” Eulalie asked, her eyebrow raised. She was starting to want this conversation to be over. “Well, I hope he is reunited with it. I know how fickle he is about his belongings.”

Morella shrugged. “I don’t know,” she replied, now unwrapping a cupcake. Extra care was taken as she peeled the paper back and took a bite. She chewed for a bit and swallowed before speaking again. “It could be linked to the fight he had with Monty and Prospero before he moved in with Duke. Probably why Monty tried picking a fight with Duke again earlier.”

Eulalie sighed again, remembering how anxious and scared Pluto was when they first met. He’d always latched onto Duke any moment he got, not willing to let go for even a second. Until recently, anyway. She could only begin to imagine how his crush on her might have only added to whatever preexisting stresses he was already working through. She was also quite relieved that nothing happened while she was asleep, though she was certain that her own spectre had already played a significant role in helping Pluto to get the energy of the crowd neutralized.

“Lenore’s been working to try and get it back for him, though,” Morella continued, aware that despite Eulalie’s silence, she was still listening. “Even though he’s already told her to let it go.”

Eulalie couldn’t help but feel bad for Pluto. It was at that moment that she decided that she wanted to try to enter the dream realm and help him find his journal. “Should I try to find it for him?”

“I mean, if he said for people to let it go, maybe it’s best to respect it.”

Ah, right. Boundaries. 

Pluto surely had his reasons for telling Lenore to drop it, pragmatist that he was, but Eulalie still found herself wanting to do something to satisfy him. Realizing that Morella was trying to save her from the potential embarrassment of misreading a social cue, Eulalie decided to not pursue her original impulsive plan to enter Pluto’s dream state. He would surely hate her for it if she did, especially given how fickle he already was about sharing his innermost thoughts. As it stood, for her to tap into his dream state without his explicit consent would have been a huge violation of trust. 

“Well, despite his unfortunate notebook situation, I do think I should tell Pluto how I feel,” Eulalie said, now sorting through the items in her basket. She handed Morella a napkin and gestured for her to wipe her lip. 

Morella smiled and threw the napkin in a nearby wastebasket once she was done tidying her face. “I think you should tell him, too,” she said, placing a reassuring hand on Eulalie’s shoulder. “Besides, we’re not even actually alive.”

Eulalie realized that Morella had a point in reminding her that they were technically already dead. “What do we have to lose in pursuing a little bit of love after death?” she heard Morella say.

“In which case, may a book be my doorway to a personal win,” Eulalie said, shrugging as she thanked Morella for her pep talk and nonchalantly headed toward the double doors at the otherwise empty kitchen’s main entryway.

“Good luck!” Morella said in response. She chose to stay behind, feeling quite happy to see that Eulalie was swallowing her fear of rejection and choosing of her own volition to reach out to Pluto herself. She felt that it was ultimately for the best that Eulalie let him know about her feelings and try to see where this would go, especially now that she knew that Pluto liked her. 

The thought of Eulalie getting to live out her romantic dreams warmed Morella’s little fangirlish heart of hearts, and the smile on her face remained unfading for the rest of the night.

It was cloudy outside the Nevermore Academy walls as always, undead crows and other mysterious beings from the far unknown frolicking about and making their immortal mark on the foggy lands beyond. If time were a thing in Nevermore, then it had to be sometime around three in the morning by this point. All Duke could see from beyond his window was darkness. 

As he sat on the edge of his neatly made bed, he found himself staring at the wall, thinking deeply about his recent drunken misadventure with Berenice and Lenore. They'd met up with him shortly after last night’s dinner. Duke had been quite thrilled when Berenice handed him a bottle of wine, smiling at her (and then to himself) as he grabbed the bottle by the neck and thanked her before opening it. The night went on with the two of them exchanging stories about how their days went and gossiping about the latest news on campus. 

The empty bottle from earlier remained on the desk in front of Pluto’s bed, which was empty. For a brief moment, Duke wondered where he’d gone. The only show of his earlier presence was the empty cigarette cartons on his nightstand and an orange lighter. Mon minou probably scampered off to sleep elsewhere in one of his many secret hiding spots.  

Duke knew that Pluto could look after himself and therefore wasn’t too concerned about him, though he very much did consider him the best roommate he’d had in a while. The energy between them unfortunately had been quite tense throughout the day, though. It was immediately apparent to Lenore that Pluto was not speaking much in class or during his breaks. 

Normally, Pluto and Duke would discuss different philosophies over snacks and a game of chess, as was part of their pre-established routine as roommates. While Pluto was likely not even asleep, Duke found himself feeling glad to not be out there in the hallways tonight. The most recent trial that he and the rest of the Misfits had survived had wiped him out completely, and it was only recently that they had all finally managed to regain their strength.

Looking away from Pluto’s empty bed, Duke remembered how Lenore had gone for just chugging the wine out of the bottle while she and Berenice were visiting earlier. Berenice, of course, only went along with it and encouraged her to drink more. They’d already left for the night, Lenore deciding to look into some things she had suspicions about. Berenice was probably in her dorm with Eulalie, fast asleep.

“Hey, what was that argument at dinner all about?” Lenore had asked Duke earlier in the night. When he’d given her an annoyed stare in response, Lenore had simply smirked and punched him on the upper arm. “Oh, come now, darling. Don’t be so serious.”

“Touche,” Berenice had babbled, already drunk and hanging upside down as she reclined on Duke’s bed. Duke recalled that Lenore was seated across from them on his dresser. “Monty would have deserved it.”

“If not for mon minou, I wouldn’t have stopped,” Duke remembered himself finally saying, smiling in his usual charming fashion. He had also adjusted his tie and patted his chest before leaning forward against his desk. He’d even angled his left arm and rested his cheek on his hand. 

Berenice and Lenore had also shared an amused glance during this earlier conversation. Though it was for the best that the fight during dinner last night was neutralized before it could actually occur, they’d both wanted to see Monty get throttled. After Berenice had successfully damaged his spectre (with Eulalie’s help) in the past, it went without saying that there was a shared antipathy toward Montresor that kept the Misfits deeply bonded. 

It had been Lenore, however, who’d decided to redirect the energy of the conversation back to Pluto. She’d casually noted his absence and had also mentioned having asked him during class if he was alright, to which he’d said that he was just tired. Lenore also ended up telling Duke and Berenice that she’d suspected that there was a lot more to Pluto’s demeanor than mere exhaustion.

“Je suis sûr qu'il va bien,” Duke remembered himself replying, still frowning and waving his right hand dismissively. Lenore clearly didn’t fully understand Pluto’s anxiety, and, honestly? Neither did he, really. However, even now, after that earlier meeting had already come to a close, he never once underestimated his roommate. The boy was quiet, but Duke knew better than to ever assume that he was unintelligent. “Pluto is far more capable than even he realizes.”

“True,” Lenore had mused, reaching for the wine again and taking another swig. She’d handed the bottle over to Berenice. “He did manifest before we did, after all.”

Duke remembered frowning and rolling his eyes, leaning forward and resting his fingertips over his temples. “Merde! Don’t remind me,” he’d said, slouching in his chair for dramatic effect. “I’m still a bit bitter about that.” 

By now, the alcohol had already bubbled up and clouded Berenice's mind. “Not as bitter as Pluto was this morning,” she chirped, grinning devilishly. 

“Yes, he did seem quite touchy indeed,” Lenore had said in response, ignoring Berenice’s cackling. She wasn’t nearly as drunk as Berenice. The wine made Lenore feel calm but still somewhat energetic. “Yet,” she continued, still sitting on Duke’s dresser with a leg crossed over the other. Her left foot dangled as she spoke. “Pluto still managed to stop Duke from tearing into Monty without really trying.”

Despite how drunk she was, Berenice also noted – something that Duke himself had later on observed while reflecting in his room – how Lenore had seemed to be speaking more to herself than to them at that moment. She’d even narrowed her eyes, taking another swig of the wine before sheepishly smiling and saying, “He and Eula both manifested almost around the same time, remember?”

That statement, Duke recalled, had immediately silenced everyone in the room. Duke felt like it wasn’t more than a minute ago when he’d dropped his hand, and his jaw had moved a few times as he attempted to formulate a response. Though, even now, he couldn’t fully deny that Berenice, for all her drunkenness, was on to something with having made that remark about the timing of manifestations for both Eulalie and Pluto. “Mon très cher petit ange vert, please give me the wine,” he’d said to her then, sternly gazing at his dear friend and holding out his open palm. 

“But, why!?” Berenice had whined, immediately clutching the wine bottle to her chest and frowning at Duke. “Besides,” she’d slurred, hiccuping as she tried speaking the rest of her sentence. “I talked to him – hic! -- this morning, you – hic! – know!”

“Mais pourquoi nothing , Bee. You’ve had enough,” Duke had replied, admonishing her gently. He’d even held up his hand and looked over to Lenore for backup. She did not say anything, only shrugging and holding her palms up, instead. 

Duke did not know this, but Berenice had already immediately realized upon handing the bottle over to Duke that she’d almost spoken on something that she’d already told herself was not her place to speak on. Again, she and the others felt it right to blame the alcohol for her loose lips. Duke’s opinion, however, was that this was not fair to Pluto. He was their friend. Why were they talking about him behind his back, and why did they care so much about Duke fighting with Monty? All he wanted was to enjoy dinner with his friends in peace.

Not only did Duke notice that Berenice seemed unusually interested in Pluto, but he’d also quietly observed her skittishness throughout the day, as well. Though, it still obviously went without saying that she couldn’t fully understand Pluto’s hesitance in telling Eulalie how he felt. In Berenice’s mind, it was rather simple and she genuinely felt like Pluto had complicated his own emotions for a ridiculous reason. 

“Do you like someone?” the others would often overhear Berenice saying to anyone who asked her for relationship advice. “Does being around them bring you joy, peace, and satisfaction? Tell them flat out if they do, and allow the cards to fall wherever they may. The least someone you pour your heart out to could do is tell you no .”

As a skilled magician in his former life, even Duke understood all too well just how important it was for anyone worth their salt to be willing to brave the risk of putting himself on the line. Was it terrifying? Of course, but the rewards were often worth it. Yet, he had no idea about anything going on in Pluto’s mind, if only because they never actually talked about it. 

“Agh, fine – hic! – No use arguin’ – hic! – with you,” he remembered Berenice saying when he took the wine from her. She’d sighed and grabbed the canister filled with the warm tea that she’d originally left her dorm with and nodded at Duke. 

“S’late,” Lenore then said, looking over at Berenice. She’d been pouting at Duke, who was still sitting at his desk at the time. “Think we should go to sleep.”

“Good idea, mon très cher ami,” Duke said, grabbing the bottle of wine and taking a final swig before tossing it in the wastebasket next to his desk. “It’s been a long day, and we have important things to prepare for in the coming weeks.”

That conversation, though it happened seemingly ages ago, remained fresh on Duke’s mind as he still sat on his bed. Nothing more could be done as he allowed himself to psychologically detach, the weight of the fortunately averted fight in the cafeteria heavy on his tired mind.

Two hours had passed since Duke had dozed off. Pluto was still gone, and it was close to sunrise. 

Though the sun never shone in Nevermore, day would eventually come, and Duke had already fallen fast asleep. Fortunately, there were no sounds in the otherwise empty dorm room other than the sounds of light snoring slipping from Duke’s lips. Tiny little orbs of bright light appeared a moment later to sate its curiosity by peering into the dimmed dormitory, finding entertainment in watching Duke sleep. 

Hebetudinous fool, the raven snidely thought to itself, turning its beak up at the sleeping young man on the other side of the window. The cranky bird watched on for a bit, cawing in amusement. Once it got bored, it eventually took flight and left. 

All that remained on Duke’s windowsill was a shiny black feather, and only Lenore would be the one with the power to see it.

Chapter Text

Duke found himself considerably exhausted the following morning. 

Very nearly, he struggled to make it out of his dormitory on time for class, and the culprit was his hair. Getting his frizzy curls to cooperate with him had taken up a good volume of his time, but, in the end, success was achieved, and he was out of the door shortly before his 6am alarm went off. He smiled at those who smiled at him first as he made his way through the crowded hallways, fist-bumping those he recognized from previous trials.

“I wonder why mon minou hasn’t been around,” he thought aloud. He knew that the catboy was still around somewhere. It wasn’t like Pluto had anywhere else to go, either. Where could he possibly be? How is he not in trouble for being absent?

“Maybe he’s upset with you,” said a voice. Duke turned to his right and saw Ada. She briskly matched his pace, snidely looking up at him while twirling the ends of her ponytail with one hand. “Ever consider that he avoids you guys because you’re all a bunch of assholes?”

Ada’s instigation was cut short when one of the Deans spoke. “Mind your manners. Surely even Duke would agree when we tell you that you have absolutely no room to be calling anyone that, young lady.” 

“And don’t think that we aren’t aware of the fight in the mess hall you and Monty tried to start last night,” Mourn added. “You and Monty both get 20 demerits for the trouble, lass.”

The two brothers stood side by side, smugly staring down at her with their arms folded over their chests. Combined, their wit was no match for Ada’s. She quickly shut her mouth, her face reddening in embarrassment. 

“Ah, that’s right,” Mourn continued, casually glancing over at Merry with a smile. He then looked right back at Ada, who still said nothing as she awaited further chastisement. “I seem to have forgotten that this one’s a brownnoser. Just as she was in life. Tsk.” 

“Surely she isn’t bright enough to understand what that word means,” Merry said, not even caring that the student in question was starting to cry. He looked to Mourn. “I’ve also heard rumors that she couldn’t properly pronounce the word macabre while trying desperately to impress Prospero. Can you believe this?”

“So I’ve heard,” Mourn replied, now grabbing Ada by the elbow. He ignored her frustrated shouts. “She is no match for him. Perhaps placing her in a remediatory English course would help her improve her pronunciation, wouldn’t you say?”

The Deans were too busy nitpicking Ada’s linguistic skills to notice that Duke had already slipped out of their sight. Though he didn’t like Ada at all, he couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. Yet, when it all came down to it, he also knew that she was a snake. Everyone on his team, even Pluto, would gladly throw her under the bus if it meant getting her to shut up. 

Lenore and Berenice waved him over as he finally entered the classroom. Both of them sat at the very back, and they’d left an empty seat for him between them. There was a slouching figure wearing a hood sitting to their far left, and this person appeared to be sleeping. Duke overlooked this as he made his way over to his friends. 

“Rise and shine, darling,” Lenore said, gesturing to the notes Ms. Poppet had written on the blackboard at the front. The notes were hard to discern; a code of sorts. “I’ve no idea what that’s about.”

“Je vois,” Duke replied, his voice flat. He sat in the empty chair between Lenore and Berenice. “Glad I didn’t miss anything.”

“We would never allow that and you know it. Pluto’s over there, by the way,” Berenice said, pointing at the hooded figure. She looked like she was hungover. Duke could tell from the way that she groggily sipped her coffee and rested her head on her hand. 

“Regrets?” Duke said to her by way of greeting. He smiled at Berenice as he adjusted his seat and prepared to grab a pencil and paper from inside his desk. “Or are you gonna do it again tonight?”

“Shut up, Duke.”

“J'espère que tu as bien dormi,” he amended, gently patting Berenice’s shoulder. As he studied her carefully brushed back hair, Duke was suddenly glad he’d taken the wine away. She would have been drinking in class and dancing on the desks. Though it was often hilarious to see her behaving so outrageously, this wasn’t the time for that at all. 

“Wishful thinking,” Berenice muttered. “I’ll just take a nap after class.”

“Is that Pluto? Why’s he sitting over there?” Lenore wondered aloud, glancing at Pluto. He probably wasn’t even asleep, anyway. Or maybe he was. She didn’t know. 

“Apparently, he’s upset about something,” Morella said, now joining them in the back. “I don’t know what, though.”

“Hold on,” Lenore said. “I’m going to try something.”

“You’re not gonna wake him up, are you?” Duke said, his eyebrow raised. As Pluto's new roommate, he knew better than anyone else that waking him up was always a bad idea. “Maybe it’s best to give him some space.”

Lenore ignored him. Giving Duke an apologetic glance, she grabbed a sheet of paper from her notepad and balled it up. Quickly looking at the front of the classroom to make sure Ms. Poppet didn’t see her, she turned away and tossed the paper ball in Pluto’s direction. He did not react. 

“Wow. Tough,” Berenice replied, disappointed in how the ball simply rolled off of Pluto’s back and hit the floor. “I don’t think he’s awake.”

“I surely do hope that you’re not back there stirring up trouble, Miss Vandernacht.”

“Ah, shite,” Lenore said, aware that Ms. Poppet saw her after all. Looking over at Duke, who merely shrugged, Lenore looked back at Ms. Poppet with a sheepish grin. 

Morella, aware of the situation, quickly jumped to her defense. “Ms. Poppet, I assure you that Lenore was simply asking Berenice for some assistance on decoding what you wrote on the board.” A pause. A breath. “Furthermore,” Morella continued, “I don’t see what’s so wrong about us trying to help each other.”

Ms. Poppet narrowed her eyes at Morella, who only returned a sheepish smile. She couldn't argue with this logic, and Morella was one of the most well-behaved students as it was. The instructor then turned her stony gaze toward Duke, Lenore, and Berenice, and sighed after a few moments. “I see. There will be consequences if you disrupt my lesson again, however. Do be mindful while in my presence.”

“Understood, ma’am. I apologize,” Morella replied, her eyelashes fluttering as she nodded at their instructor with respect. 

When Ms. Poppet turned back to her blackboard, presumably to add more code, Morella turned and smiled at her friends with a wink. “You’re welcome,” she said. Then she turned to focus on taking down the required notes in her book.

The rest of the class went fairly smoothly without any interruptions, and everyone took notes for the assignment. Pluto had managed to awaken by the end of class, and by then, Ms. Poppet had already erased everything from the blackboard. Panicking, he scrambled to look for his notebook, only to remember that he’d forgotten about it the last time. That's when it got stolen. Damn it, my poems for Eula are in there! What if he saw them?

“Fuckin’ Monty, that little shite,” Pluto muttered to himself, sighing deeply as he remembered that the devilish fool had likely already stolen it. He made his way toward the front of the classroom with his knapsack over his shoulder. “When I get my hands on that man…”

That’s when Duke approached him. He’d been waiting for him on their way out of the classroom with an extra copy of the notes on the board, saving Pluto the trouble of having to write everything down. He held out the notes, which Pluto gratefully accepted. “I know about your notebook having been stolen from you. Everyone’s been talking about it. I’m sorry,” he said. 

Pluto winced. This was not the sort of news that he wanted to hear. You’ve got to be feckin’ kidding me. I’m never getting that notebook back, am I? Am I doomed?

“Oh, and mon minou.”

Pluto turned to face Duke. There was that nickname again. It infuriated him to even hear it, especially when he did not understand French. “What?”

“Don’t worry about thanking me,” Duke said to him. 

Pluto simply looked up at Duke with a very annoyed expression. He did not like being unprepared for class, and he certainly wasn’t about to admit that his missing notebook was the reason he’d slouched off in the corner the way that he had. As it stood, he hated that Duke had quickly figured it out. “Wasn’t planning to,” he said. 

“You’re not mad at us, are you?” Lenore asked him, her voice showing a tinge of genuine concern. She’d just walked up to join them at the door.

“No,” Pluto stared at all of them with pure disinterest. Could they please just move out of the way so I can leave? “Just tired.” 

Pluto then nodded in greeting at Berenice. She nodded back. The look he gave her almost pierced through her soul, though she made no point in saying so. She simply watched the tense exchange between him and Duke, and tried her best not to say anything that would potentially start another fight. 

Though he was grateful for their concern, Pluto had to admit to himself that he liked knowing that they didn’t dare question his whereabouts. He was upset about his inability to confess his feelings for Eulalie, for one. The other issue was with Monty and that damned notebook. 

Anxious to get away, but surprisingly hiding it well, he started to walk away from his friends. “I’ll be in my dorm,” he said. “Please don’t bother me. See you guys later.” 

Duke and Berenice shared a confused glance. This is the most avoidant they’d ever seen Pluto act. Something was obviously wrong, and now they were concerned. “What’s his deal? Why’s he shutting us out?”

“It appears that our dear friend needs some space,” Lenore assumed, not realizing that she was right. “Let’s just leave him be for now. He knows where to find us if he needs anything.”

Duke agreed that it was for the best to leave his friend alone, though he couldn’t help but worry. He and Pluto were friends, and it wasn’t like him to shut him out this way. Could I have done something to upset him? How can I make it right?

For her part, Morella pretended as though she didn’t know what was going on. She wasn’t willing to spill the details of her and Eulalie’s previous conversation. She knew too much, anyway. 

So did Berenice, apparently. 

Aware of what was unspoken, Morella smiled at Pluto as he walked past her. To her surprise, he nodded at her in acknowledgement before turning and disappearing around the next corner. Blushing, she turned to face Lenore and the others and waved goodbye. When they said goodbye to her in turn, Morella went off on her own, presumably to go find Will.

“So,” Duke said, changing the subject. To lighten the mood, he decided to indulge them in some gossip. “Our dearest mademoiselle Ada got dragged by the Deans earlier.”

“Did she now?” Lenore said, curiously listening now. “Do tell. Truly, I wonder how she embarrassed herself this time.”

“Such a shameless creature, that one,” Duke scoffed. “They were talking about placing her in remedial English.”

Lenore sucked in air through her teeth and shook her head. “That’s… something, I suppose.”

“Did the Deans even see you?” asked Berenice. The three of them were walking together to go get lunch. 

“Nope, they were too busy belittling Ada to notice me slipping away,” Duke replied. He grabbed Berenice and Lenore by the arms. Interlinking his arms with theirs before skipping along to the mess hall, he declared his next sentence with bold enthusiasm. “Now, let’s enjoy ourselves a meal, shall we?” 

“Sure, whyever not?” Lenore replied, letting herself be pulled forward. It was hard for her to hide her smile. There was always fun whenever Duke was around, and she appreciated him for it.

Berenice found her spirits brightening as well. Smirking up at Duke as they walked, a fang protruding as she did so, she added, “We have earned ourselves a feast.”

Pluto did not go straight to his dorm, though he was glad to see that Duke hadn’t followed him when he’d finally arrived in the evening. The window next to his bed was still open, and the ashtray was clean. It seemed as though Duke had tidied things up a bit in his absence, which made for a small grateful smile on Pluto’s face. He's probably out drinking again with the others at Lenore's...

He closed his door and set his bag down on his desk chair. Grabbing a cigarette, he walked to the window and lit it up before sitting down on his bed.

“It’s been like this for a while,” he said, thinking out loud. He wasn’t thinking about class anymore, though he’d already pinned the notes from Duke on their shared corkboard. He’d have to memorize it later, just in case. 

So far, Pluto found that he was feeling pretty exhausted despite having gotten full rest, and he knew that his exhaustion was due to his obsession with Eulalie. Though, he wasn’t sure that it was an obsession. Was it? Exhaling smoke from his cigarette, Pluto set it down on the ashtray and lay back on his bed, his legs dangling from the left side as he stared off into the ceiling. His voice was soft but distant, almost a whisper. “Eulalie, I wish I’d seen you in class today…”

“What about Eulalie?”

“HOLY SH-.”

Pluto sat up so fast he almost transformed into his alternate self. Morella was standing at the door. He knew she was harmless, but he had been thoroughly startled. “First of all,” he started, gesturing at Morella with a pointed finger, “what I said about her is unimportant. Secondly, how in the feck did you even get in here without a key?”

Morella tilted her head and observed Pluto’s body language. Though he didn’t manifest, his hair was standing awkwardly at all angles. He noticed her staring at him and self-consciously ran to the bathroom to smooth it out. 

“I was already here,” he heard her say. 

“What do you want from me? I have no quarrels with you.”

Morella leaned against the dorm door, which still remained shut. She’d been in there for some time, patiently waiting for Duke’s return. They’d agreed to meet late after dinner to discuss their assignment. Explaining this to Pluto, she was relieved to see him gradually calm down.

“I see,” he replied. “Well, can’t you two meet elsewhere? I wanted to be alone tonight.”

“I understand, and that is more than fair,” Morella replied. “I am sorry for intruding, but I do want to pass a message to you before I go.”

This caught Pluto’s curiosity. Poking his head out of his bathroom before quickly walking back to his nightstand to grab his cigarette, he relit it and took another puff. He exhaled, and said, “I like you, Morella, but please just say it and go.”

Morella tiptoed around his energy, aware that he was upset, and careful not to make it worse. She gently walked to his desk and pointed at a hard copy of a book that Duke had left for him there, and said, “Eulalie asked him to give this to you, actually.”

Wait, what? 

“She did what now?” 

Sighing and reaching for the doorknob, Morella took a final glance at the now confused Pluto and shook her head. “She approached Duke earlier today and said she couldn’t find you, but mentioned that she wanted to leave a book recommendation.” She then glanced again at the book. “He didn’t make a fuss out of it, if that’s what you wondered. No idea what’s up between you, anyway.”

That last part was a lie, but she knew better than to linger. Shifting her tune to a more chipper one, Morella opened the door. “Please try to get some rest, Pluto. Enjoy your evening, and I apologize again for disturbing you.”

Then, she was gone. 

Pluto was stunned. Had Eulalie really left him something? Duke had actually gone out of his way to bring something she wanted him to have to him? This felt like a dream. He couldn’t believe himself when he reached for the book and saw the title embossed on the cover. 

Rootless Skies. 

He opened the book and turned to a page that had a drawing of two young women holding hands. One of the women looked almost exactly like Eulalie, and the other appeared to be a younger brunette. The art style itself looked modern, or at least from a time period Pluto probably wasn’t even from. Either way, it was beautiful. As a queer man himself, he was happy to see this. He hadn't known that his crush also favored women, though he also wasn't sure if this was actually her. 

That was when he noticed the envelope neatly placed along the margin of the book. It fell out as he lifted the book to turn the pages; by this point he was grateful to be distracted, as the art was pulling him in. He knew she wouldn't have left this book with Duke, let alone have told him to bring it to him, if there wasn't a good reason for it.

Eulalie, for all intents and purposes, was not as foolish as the others thought. She was clever, and Pluto noticed it the first day they'd ever spoken all those months ago. It was partly why he'd fallen in love with her.

Yet, the envelope seemed important. It was pink, lined with gold. Pluto carefully took the envelope into his right hand and lowered the book with his left, setting it aside so he could unseal it. When he pulled the folded letter out of the envelope, he was surprised to see Eulalie’s beautiful penmanship reaching out to him, happy to see a piece of her heart in his hands. 

Hi Pluto, I'm sorry for the roundabout communication and I hope you're okay.
I noticed you were upset today and I know you were tired; I didn't want to bother you in class.
Just writing this to say that I liked spending time with you the other night. I also think I'd like to see you again.
If you're not tired still, you can find me in the library tonight. It's okay if not; feel free to toss this note and keep the book.
You might enjoy the story; If you're not interested, give the book to Berenice.
She's been anxious to read it and I've already caught her ogling it on my shelf.
– Eulalie 

Stunned, he realized that she’d meant every word. He remembered the rest of the conversation that he’d had with Berenice. Obviously, he didn't know that Eulalie had not overheard the rest of their conversation. When Eulalie had already run off to her dorms, Berenice had stood up from where she’d been perched. She'd walked over to Pluto, and she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Berenice had asked him, bluntly and plainly, “Can I tell you my honest opinion?”

“That’s why I told you this,” Pluto had replied to Berenice in kind, smiling sadly and looking at his feet. “I'm obviously hesitant, but I'm also a fool. I want to know what you think I should do. She’s… I don’t want her to hurt.” 

“You’re in love with her,” Berenice said pointedly. She looked like she wanted to laugh, but her golden eyes betrayed her as she teared up a little, before she sniffed and looked away. “Man, that’s just too sweet.  Sweeter than the wine, even." She'd shaken her head at him. "You should talk to her.”

Therein lies the problem. Pluto at the time didn’t want to feel this way toward Eulalie. Sure, Eulalie was pretty, and he did admire her. It was true that he was in love with her, but something about this situation genuinely felt wrong. 

That is, until he saw her note. He'd felt like he'd been running around in circles up until now, when he realized with a start that there was a strong possibility that his feelings weren't one-sided. Pluto blushed intensely, hid the note under his pillow, and rubbed a hand over his face to cool himself off. Taking another drag of his cigarette, he put it out, and from there he made his way over to Eulalie.

He didn't want for this to be some sort of sick, twisted prank, because if it was? Oh, he wouldn't be able to live with the humiliation. Refusing to overthink things further, he swallowed his pride and kept on walking toward the abandoned library. All Pluto could hope for, upon his arrival, was for Eulalie to be there eagerly awaiting him.