Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Most people remember the coldest they’ve ever been. For Deuce Spade, it was the time he’d gone on a camping trip with his middle school class. He had initially tried to skip out, since bailing on school functions was a key aspect of his delinquent status. But when he was caught at the last minute and forced to participate, he decided to sneak off with some friends in the middle of the night instead. From there, the plan was to start their own campfire and spend the whole night talking trash. It seemed a fitting alternative to playing hooky. Deuce would set out on his own, get the fire started, and then his friends would follow with the glow of firelight as their signal.

Leaving the trail was a mistake. Deuce had wound up getting so lost in the woods that none of his friends could find him. In the end, he’d ended up hiding in a cauldron all night. He remembered wishing he had brought his backpack along, wanting to put on as many extra layers as possible to keep the cold from seeping into his skin. 

When teachers found him the next morning, shaking and afraid, he’d been sent home. But the days that followed - where the young man had been sick in bed and forced to face a worried and disappointed mother - were not what stood out in Deuce’s mind. It was the long hours he’d spent alone, so cold that he couldn’t manage a wink of sleep. The kind of cold that felt like a full-body tattoo and made solitary hours seem longer and lonelier. That was the coldest he’d ever been.

Until today.

The Monday after Trey’s overblot and the fight with the Frostlich had already felt off. With Trey still unconscious in the infirmary, Riddle worse for wear (though going about his business as usual), and Cater back at the dorm with an arm that was broken in two places, campus seemed weirdly vacant. Ace Trappola had suggested the entirety of Heartslabyul take at least a mental health day, but it isn’t hard to imagine the response he got from his housewarden.

“Why is this day dragging…” the heart complained, painstakingly making his way down the corridor with his classmates. “Every minute feels like an hour! What are we, stuck in a weird time vortex or something?”

Epel Felmier slumped forward, equally exhausted. “Tell me about it. I tried to stay home from classes today, but no dice…”

“Same.” Ace sighed. “At least it’s finally lunch time. Hopefully the rest of the day won’t be too much of a slog.” He glanced to his left, noticing that Deuce had been rather quiet during this conversation. Come to think of it, he’d been quiet for most of the morning. “Oi, Deuce. What’s your damage?”

“Huh?” The spade looked up, cyan eyes widening. “What… sorry, were you talking to me?”

Before Ace could reply, Epel interrupted, concern in his tone. “You don’t look too good, Deuce-kun. Are you sick?”

Deuce shook his head, arms clutched around his sides. “No, it’s just…” He glanced between the two. “Are you guys not cold? It’s freezing today. Even the classrooms felt chilly.”

Ace raised both eyebrows. After the battle with the undead monster who had conjured up magical snow, everyone involved had felt a chill that had lasted hours. The fact that it was January certainly didn't help matters. But after Ace had settled into bed the night before with warm pajamas and an extra hoodie, he’d awoken feeling just fine. The only exceptions seemed to be Riddle, who had been shaking like a leaf when he thought no one was looking… and apparently Deuce, who currently looked like he wanted to crawl into himself.

“I’m okay,” Epel replied wonderingly, his aqua eyes large with confusion. He cupped both hands against his own chest in a show of earnestness. “Are you still cold from yesterday?”

“Yeah, I guess so…” Deuce sighed, a small lock of his dark hair falling past his eyes. “You guys go on to lunch. I think I’m gonna head back to the dorm and grab another jacket to wear.”

“Eh?!” Ace balked. “You know it’s BBQ day, right? You’re gonna miss out!” He shook his head, adopting a taunting tone. “Are you really gonna give up on all that good grub just because you feel a little chilly? What a baby.” He snickered.

But Deuce didn’t seem to have the energy to defend himself today. “I don’t really care,” the spade replied, getting ready to turn around.

“Wait!” Epel reached out and touched Deuce on the arm. “I have something that might help. Meemaw - I mean, my grandmother makes really warm sweaters. I have a bunch. I guarantee they’re warmer than anything you’ve got.” He smiled youthfully. “I’ll go back to my dorm and grab one for you!”

Deuce gave an awkward smile, not sure how to put this delicately. “Ah… Epel… I’m pretty sure your clothes won’t fit me…”

“They’re over-sized! And super comfy. Trust me.” The Pomefiore student seemed a bit eager now. It wasn’t often he got to show off genuine articles from his hometown. His accent slipped out. “I’ll be back lickity split!”

“But you’ll miss all the good food in the caf…”

Epel smirked. “Just get me a BBQ sandwich and we’ll call it even.” 

“Ha. Deal.”

Ace shook his head. “Great, now can we get a move on, please? Before all the good stuff’s gone!”

♥️♠️🍎🐺

By the time they were seated in the cafeteria, Deuce had hoped that the body heat generated from the population of the room would do him some good. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. He sat at the table surrounded by his classmates (sans Epel), poking at the food on his plate lethargically. There was an empty space next to him with the promised BBQ sandwich, and the spade could only focus on how stiff his own muscles were getting. Suppressing the urge to shiver was starting to become a hindrance.

“Deuce, are you gonna eat that?!” Grim squawked, reaching his little paws across the table toward him.

The Prefect, engrossed in a conversation with Ace, didn’t even spare the direbeast a second glance while they reached to the side and held Grim back by the collar.

“Um. Y-yeah, I’m going to eat it… just slowly…” Deuce finally took a bite of his food, chewing thoughtfully. As he swallowed, he used the motion to allow himself a small shiver, one that he hoped would go unnoticed.

Jack Howl had already finished his meal and was eyeballing the cafeteria line, assessing the possibility of going for seconds. “Why can’t every day be BBQ day?” he mumbled out loud.

“Because then Grim would need twice as many baths,” Ace joked, gesturing to the sauce that was all over the direbeast’s face. 

“FNYAH! You think that would stop me?!” Grim retorted, nose scrunching up as the Prefect reluctantly turned to clean his face with several napkins.

Ace laughed at the display. When he noticed Deuce wasn’t laughing, he eyed him from the side. The spade was still eating slowly and seemed to be shrinking into himself, hunched over like one of the croquet hedgehogs rolled into a ball. By now, it was fairly obvious that he was shaking.

The heart was torn. Any concern he had for Deuce was vastly overpowered by his nearly constant desire to tease him. It wasn’t like he could just ask him if he was okay, right here, in front of everyone… in front of the Prefect, no less… But Deuce wasn’t normally the type to let things get to him like this. What am I supposed to do?

“Deuce,” he mumbled. “Are you…”

“I’m back!” a fresh voice announced, and everyone turned to see Epel hurrying over to their table, a large sweater in his arms.

Deuce practically melted with relief. He gave the other boy a grateful smile as he approached.

“What do you think?” Epel held the sweater up in both hands. It was dark blue and had detailed patterns woven into the seams. “Will this do?”

“Wow… your grandma really made that?!” Ace exclaimed in surprise.

“Yep! Meemaw makes sweaters for everyone in my hometown. Ain’t nobody can do better work than her!”

Deuce took the sweater into his hands. The material felt soft and fuzzy. He instantly pulled it over his head and slid his arms through the sleeves. Though the garment was comfortable, it didn’t seem to do anything for him right away. Maybe it’ll take a moment.

The spade looked over to his friend and smiled. “Thanks, Epel. I promise I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.”

Epel let out a sweet giggle before immediately turning into a gremlin as he sat down in front of his lunch. “Take your time. Just don’t tell anyone at Pomefiore you saw this.” With that, the lavender-haired boy ripped into the sandwich with all the poise and grace of a baby raccoon.

Even Jack widened his eyes at the display. “Take it easy there. I’ve seen literal wolves eat slower than that.”

As lunchtime continued, Deuce waited a moment for the warmth of the sweater to soak into him. One moment turned into two, then three… and the next thing he knew, the bell was ringing for the end of the period. The cold was still as strong as ever, settling into his chest and lungs, its icy burn flowing with every breath he took. 

But Epel was nice enough to lend me this sweater. I can’t let him think it isn’t helping. Plus it’s only a matter of time before Ace starts making fun of me again. Ugh, I can’t be a wuss about this! I’ll just need deal with it for the rest of the day. It’ll be fine.

... It'll be fine.

♥️♠️🍎🐺

Ace walked toward the Hall of Mirrors, his school bag over his shoulders. Once classes had let out for the day, he’d decided to pay a visit to Trey in the infirmary. He’d been surprised when Deuce had opted not to come along. 

The clover’s overblot had not been easy on any of them. Trey’s inner feelings of frustration and pain had boiled to the surface, and more than a few people had suffered for it. But as Ace recalled the way Deuce had stepped up once Cater had been injured, even he had to admit it was an impressive display of bravery on the spade’s part. If it hadn’t been obvious before, Deuce’s admiration and respect for Trey had been put on display in front of most of the dorm (and Epel). So his refusal to visit the upperclassman was a bit strange.

It turned out that the visit was short-lived, anyway; Trey still had yet to wake up, though the nurse had informed Ace that the clover wasn’t unconscious, just asleep. Relieved at even that much news, Ace decided to head back to Heartslabyul and see how Cater and Riddle were holding up. By sheer coincidence, he ran into Cater on his way out of the infirmary.

Seeing the diamond in a cast and arm brace was probably the most bizarre part of all this. Cater Diamond usually maintained such an upbeat and energetic persona. Witnessing him fly through the air and crash into the unbirthday party table the day before was something Ace would not soon forget. Thankfully Cater seemed to be doing alright and even offered Ace a tired smile as they briefly exchanged greetings.

Right. Now to check in with the housewarden...

Just as Ace moved to step through the mirror, a figure burst through one of the others and dashed right past him. He nearly fell over with the motion. “GAH!”

Who was that? All he’d managed to make out was a blur of blue.

With an annoyed sigh, Ace stepped through the mirror that would lead to Heartslabyul and made his way up the path. The blue-haired figure was shockingly already leaps and bounds ahead of him. Wow. That guy’s fast. Wait a minute… is that… Idia-senpai?!

Ace hardly knew Idia Shroud. For the longest time, he’d been convinced that the older boy was literally just a tablet. He was surprised to find out that there was a regular dude on the other end of that tech, albeit a dude with very unusual hair. What was he doing at Heartslabyul?

Idia faceplanted in the middle of the path, and Ace winced. Oof. That looked rough.

But then the Ignihyde housewarden was back on his feet - his sock-clad feet? - and running toward the entrance with the same amount of speed as before.

By now, Ace was such a distance behind him that he didn’t even bother trying to catch up. He lingered behind as he saw Riddle emerge from within the dorm, exchanging a few words with the other housewarden. Ah. Just who I wanted to see.

Though his instincts told him to just barge on over and interrupt, the heart continued to dawdle. His relationship with Riddle had changed exponentially since the beginning of the school year, but there had been another shift over the last few days. When Ace had found Riddle crying in the hedge maze over the weekend, he’d felt something inside of him unlock. And although his efforts to cheer the other up were childish, they’d still worked. Maybe I’ll never really understand that guy, but I guess… that doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends.

So instead of butting his head into whatever business Riddle and Idia had, as he usually would have… Ace decided to wait until Riddle had departed and continued heading down the rose bush pathway toward the Hall of Mirrors.

The Heartslabyul housewarden was carrying a lunchbox in one hand and a vase of sunflowers in the other. Ace stepped out from behind one of the rose bushes and smiled with a casual wave. “Hey, Housewarden Riddle!”

Riddle blinked, and for a moment, he seemed annoyed that he was receiving yet another interruption from the purpose of his excursion. But that annoyance was merely a flicker, and then his expression smoothed back into something more neutral. “Ace. Are you headed back to the dorm for the day?”

“Yep. I just saw Trey-senpai and Cater-senpai.” Ace looked the other boy over. Riddle had a bandage over his forehead and his sprained wrist was wrapped, the material peeking out just past the sleeve of his blazer. “Trey-senpai’s still asleep. But I think Cater-senpai is hanging out with him now.”

“I see. And did Cater seem alright to you? I haven’t had the chance to check in with him.”

The heart nodded, a hand coming up to ruffle the back of his own red hair. “Mm, yeah… I mean, he seems a little beat. But that’s just compared to usual. Cater-senpai’s energy levels aren’t exactly standard.” He chuckled.

“I suppose.” Riddle glanced to his right and watched as Idia awkwardly shuffled past the two, having made his way back down the pathway. His eyes were glued to his phone and he seemed to be trying to hide inside the hood of his jacket. A quick peek downward confirmed Ace’s prior theory - the boy was not wearing any shoes.

Once the Ignihyde housewarden had disappeared back into the Hall of Mirrors, Ace gestured toward him with his thumb. “Uh… what was that all about?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Riddle shook his head. “Anyway, I’m headed to the infirmary as well. I trust you and the other students to behave yourselves while the dorm is currently unattended.” He glared.

Though Riddle normally would have been within his rights to make such a statement, Ace knew that the housewarden was still bent out of shape about the fact that they’d had an unscheduled unbirthday party the previous day… one that had resulted in the worst possible disaster, at that. “Ahh, I got it, I got it!” the heart insisted, shoulders slumping.

Just as Riddle turned to leave, Ace suddenly remembered the actual reason he’d wanted to speak with him. “Hey, wait! Uh… I mean, just a second, please. Housewarden.”

Riddle couldn’t help an exasperated groan. “What now?”

“Remember how all of us were cold yesterday? Because of the… what’s it called… the Frostlich and the blizzard and all that?”

“I could hardly forget such a thing so quickly.”

Ace cleared his throat. “Well… uh, it was just magic, right? So… shouldn’t it just wear off on its own…?”

Riddle suddenly stiffened. “Are you still cold, Ace?”

The heart quickly shook his head and waved his hands in protest. “No! But uh… you are, aren’t you?”

Riddle lowered his eyelids, ashamed that someone else had noticed. It lasted only a moment, and then he straightened his posture again. “I’ve recently learned that the nature of necromantic magic targets the soul. The ice spells we endured yesterday were conjured to affect us from the inside. That’s why the cold spell lingered. My encounter with the Frostlich started long before it ever breached campus yesterday. So my only conclusion is that it will take longer to subside in me than the rest of you.”

Ace nodded, watching as a well-timed shiver slid down Riddle’s shoulders. “That’s a relief. Er… it’s a good thing that it’ll wear off, I mean. Eventually.”

Finding it hard to believe that Ace would be so concerned about him, Riddle arrived at the next logical conclusion. “It’s Deuce, isn’t it?”

Ace gave a jolt. “HUH?”

“He seemed weary when I saw him this morning. I suspected he may have been hiding or downplaying some sort of ailment.”

“Well…” The heart glanced downward and shuffled his feet. “Yeah. Something’s off with him.”

Riddle shot him a sly smile. “How kind of you to worry, Ace.”

“Who said I was worried?!” Ace scoffed and shook his head. “Whatever. Now I can just tell him to suck it up deal since it’ll go away on its own.”

“Ensure that he gets plenty of rest,” the housewarden added. “I don’t want anyone else in the dorm overworking themselves. Our numbers are down enough as it is.”

When Ace didn’t reply, Riddle’s expression hardened. “Is that clear, Ace?”

“… Yes, Housewarden.”

With a firm nod, Riddle turned and stepped through to the Hall of Mirrors, leaving his card solider alone.

Ace sighed, adjusting the strap of his bag over his shoulder. It was a relief to know that the cold spell would only be temporary. Grappling with such conflicting feelings about his roommate's condition was something the heart did not relish in. 

Well… guess I’d better go give Deuce the update. The sooner things go back to normal, the better.

Chapter Text

As soon as Ace returned to his dorm, the silence hit him like a sudden downpour. For a room shared with three other guys, any semblance of quiet was a bit unusual. “Hello? I’m back,” he announced, stepping in and placing his book bag carelessly to the side.

Nobody replied, but Ace had the feeling he wasn’t alone.

Another sweep of the room revealed a single figure sitting at Deuce’s desk on the other side of his bed. They were swaddled in a blanket, hunched over, reading under the light of the small table lamp.

“Oi… what are you doing?” the heart inquired, taking a few steps over to confirm his suspicions that it was in fact Deuce sitting there.

The spade barely looked up. He scrawled down notes with a shaky hand, completely cocooned by the blanket clutched in his other. “Homework…” he muttered.

As soon as Ace got close enough to see his face, he let out a small gasp. Deuce’s lips were blue and he was shuddering much more vigorously than before. 

“Okay, I don’t care what you say, you are definitely coming down with something…” Ace leaned over and tried to feel the other boy’s forehead to check his temperature, but as soon as his hand made contact, Deuce reached up and swatted him away. 

“W-would you cut it out??” the spade snapped between chattering teeth.

But Ace was already staring in shock, one red eye much larger than the other. “Dude, your skin is ice cold!”

“Yeah, you think I don’t know that?” Deuce sighed, turning back to his work. “If you’re g-gonna make fun of me, then just shut up. I’m t-trying to study…”

Ace mentally replayed the conversation he’d just had with Riddle. Even the housewarden hadn’t seemed this cold. If the magic was supposed to be gradually waning, why did Deuce seem to be getting worse?

He thought back to the previous day’s events again. During the fight with the Frostlich, everyone had banded together to form a shield against the water attacks. Even Cater had managed to create an uninjured copy of himself to help so that they could protect Trey, who had only just snapped out of his overblot moments prior. At one point, Riddle had begun to use fire magic to swiftly attack their enemy.

Once the rest of the group had been made aware that the creature was weak to fire, Deuce had been the first person to jump in. Ace remembered the fierce look on his roommate’s face and the tone of voice he’d used, slipping into full-on delinquent mode as he took a daring stance in front of the rest of the team.

“YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG MAGES, FROST-FACE! HRRRAAAH!” 

Though Deuce’s fire spell had landed, the spade wasn’t skilled enough in magical combat to block against any retaliations in time. The ice spell that the Frostlich had sent his way was so strong, it’d knocked Deuce off his feet and into Cater’s arms.

Now it all made sense. As the reality of the situation dawned on him, Ace sighed to himself. “You idiot,” he mumbled, repeating the same phrase he had the day before after witnessing the aforementioned display. This time his tone was not so accusatory - instead, it was laced with disappointment and concern.

Deuce ignored him. He went back to his studies, his handwriting a scribbling mess in his notebook as he tried to steady his hand.

The heart shook his head. None of this was going to fly.

“Look, the housewarden said this is going to wear off eventually,” he stated. “It’s probably just taking forever because you acted like a total doofus yesterday.”

At that, Deuce lifted his head, his interest piqued. “Y-you mean… it’s just t-t-temporary?”

“Yeah, apparently. So quit moping around, will ya?” 

Deuce went back to his notes yet again. “I’m n-not moping. I have homework to do…”

“UGH.” Ace dropped his arms to his sides and rolled his eyes, exasperated. “Can you stop being such a try-hard for like two seconds? You can’t even hold a pen!” He reached forward and tugged on the back of Deuce’s blanket. “Just get up and go to bed, already. You’re supposed to rest.”

Deuce stumbled to his feet, but the blanket wound up slipping from his shoulders. When Ace looked him over, he saw that the spade was still wearing Epel’s sweater, along with several other layers of clothing that made him look more than a bit foolish. Deuce glared and snatched the blanket back, wrapping himself up like a burrito. 

Ace bit down on his lip in a poor attempt to quell his own amusement. “Dang. I didn’t realize you’d gone full-on marshmallow.” It was hard to keep from cackling now. Ace let the laughter and quick remarks slip before he could stop himself. “You look like you fell out of a holiday tree and hit every ugly sweater branch along the way! Ha ha ha ha!”

For a moment, there was a flicker of sadness in Deuce’s blue eyes. He quickly replaced it with irritation so the other wouldn’t notice. “I d-don’t need you being a jerk right now,” he muttered, sitting right back down in his chair. “Or pretending to be c-concerned when we b-b-both know you’re enjoying this.”

Ace finally stopped laughing, staring at the back of Deuce’s head. How could he possibly think I’m enjoying this? Does he really think I like seeing him this way? Arggghh… Ace, come on. Make your point.

“Look, if you must know, Housewarden Riddle said you need to rest,” the heart said, his tone serious. “You don’t want to stress him out, do you? Especially right after our vice housewarden overblotted because he didn’t get any rest.” He poked Deuce in the shoulder. “So get into bed and just wait it out.”

Mentioning Riddle again seemed to get Deuce’s attention. He hesitated, still less than pleased at the thought of obeying instructions from Ace, but if they were technically orders from their housewarden… he had to comply. Like a true honor student.

Deuce sighed, standing up from his desk and shuffling over to the bed. He tumbled onto it and curled up on his side. Ace watched as the other boy’s shoulders trembled from beneath the blanket. The heart let out a sigh. Finally.

With one last glance over his shoulder, Ace reached forward and clicked off the desk lamp.

 ♥️♠️🍎🐺

Despite the odds, Deuce did manage to fall asleep. 

The dreams came and went like snowflakes: a flash before a moment of bitter melting into the next. The longest one saw him back in the cauldron in the woods, curled up and waiting for either his friends to find him, or for the cold to give way to a more permanent end to the situation. Even in his sleep, he just couldn’t get warm.

Ace, in contrast, slept like a baby that night. He’d told his roommates upon their return that Deuce wasn’t doing so well, and surprisingly, everyone had stayed quiet enough to let the spade get some sleep. This allowed the heart to hit the sack a bit earlier than usual, himself. What was the point of staying up late if he didn’t have Deuce to talk to?

So the next morning, when Ace’s copper eyes cracked open to the dawn, it wasn’t to the sound of his alarm. Instead, the pitter-pattering of rainfall reached him first. His eyelashes fluttered for a moment; why wasn’t his phone going off? 

His eyes bulged and he sat right up in bed. Oh crud, I slept through my alarm!? AGAIN!? I am TOAST this time!

But when Ace looked at the time, he realized he was actually awake earlier than usual. Huh. I guess it pays to go to sleep on time once in a while.

He pressed the button to turn off the impending alarm and glanced around the room. His other two roommates were on one of the winter sports teams and had early practice, which explained why their beds were empty. When he looked toward Deuce’s bed, all he saw was the same lump buried beneath the blankets that had been there yesterday.

With an ungraceful yawn, Ace shuffled out of bed and over to his friend. “Oi…” he said gently, ruffling the back of his own hair. “Deuce. Rise and shine.”

The pile didn’t move. Ace reached over and shook the blankets vigorously, raising his voice a bit. “Helloooo, anybody home? Come on, it’s raining today. We’d better get a head start so we don’t get caught in it.”

Nothing.

There was a brief flare of anxiety in Ace’s chest. Deuce wasn’t normally this difficult to rouse. Suddenly fearing the worst, the heart reached up and began yanking the blankets down until he caught a glimpse of the person beneath them. What he saw made the color drain from his face.

A stalk of Deuce’s dark hair had turned so white, it now matched the sheets on the bed.

“Whoa!” Ace quickly pulled at the blankets some more to get a better look. “Deuce! Wake up!”

A groan came from between two frozen lips. Deuce weakly opened both eyes and stared up at his roommate. “Wh… what…”

Ace took in the rest of the other boy’s changed features: the frost that lined both eyebrows, the corpse-like paleness of his skin, and the puffs of icy breath that were visible in the air. Since Deuce had not washed it away the night before, the spade marking on his face had faded, its remnants coated over with ice. Yet, out of all of this change, the streak of white hair was still the most alarming to Ace, and it made him start to panic.

“Dude… this is bad.” Ace crouched over and ventured to touch the other boy’s skin again. It felt like placing a bare hand against a blanket of fresh snow. “Can you hear me? Say something!”

But Deuce only glared. “Leave me alone…” He attempted to pull the blankets back up, his movements slow and languid.

But Ace tugged the covers back again. “No way! Do you have any idea what you look like right now?!”

“I t-told you… stop making f-f-fun of me…”

“I’m not, I - UGH. You are in bad shape, seriously! We need to get you to the nurse - no, Housewarden Riddle will know what to do!” Ace reached forward and pulled on Deuce’s arm. “Come on, can you get out of bed?”

Deuce yanked his arm away from the other, his glare intensifying. “Back off!”

Ace blinked, dazed as though he’d just been hit in the face. His friend was not normally this defensive unless he was channeling his inner punk from his former rebel days. The heart conjured up one of his own fiery glares in response. “Hey, I’m trying to help you-”

“I n-never asked for your help! I’m f-f-fine, so j-just buzz off, already!” With that, Deuce rolled over and burrowed beneath the blankets again, huddling further into himself.

Ace clenched his fists to his side, his worry and anger mixing into one frustrated emotional cocktail. “Fine!” he sniped. “Just lay here and freeze to death. See if I care!”

With a whirl, the young man stormed out of the room, fully intending to go about his day without giving the spade a second thought. But as fate would have it, the very housewarden he’d just mentioned was on his way up the staircase as Ace approached. 

A little embarrassed to be caught in this less-than-ideal moment, Ace tried to smooth down his unkempt hair and arrange his features to look more pleasant. “Housewarden Riddle,” he greeted with an awkward smile. “Good morning!”

Riddle was already dressed in his school uniform, his shirt pressed and his blazer crisp. He held a tray of food in both hands, balancing it perfectly as he reached the landing. “Ace,” he greeted in return. “You’re up earlier than usual.”

“Yeah, well…” Ace smiled - it hadn’t been a compliment so much as a simple observation, but the heart treated it like one anyway. He glanced down at the tray of food. “What’s that for?”

Riddle’s features softened. “I’m bringing Cater some breakfast. I was unable to do my usual rounds last night and haven’t checked on him.” There was guilt hidden in his tone of voice as he said this. Sensing it, he cleared his throat. “Which reminds me, how is Deuce faring this morning?”

The mention of Deuce made Ace blink. So much for avoiding the subject. He gave an awkward laugh.

“Ahh… ah ha ha, well…” 

Riddle peered at him. “Ace.”

“He’s fine! Well…” The heart put his hands on his hips and mumbled. “He’s insisting he’s fine. Taking a page out of Trey-senpai’s book, I bet.” He shook his head quickly. “Anyway, he didn’t seem to want my help.”

The housewarden sighed. It seemed there would be no end to  keeping order around here. “Is he worse than yesterday?”

Finally putting his annoyance aside, Ace nodded, though something occurred to him at the same time. In the opposite fashion of the spade, Riddle’s condition showed vast improvements from the day before. He appeared well-rested and no longer shivering with cold.

Before Ace could say anything about it, Riddle shifted his stance with the intention to continue walking. “I will check up on him as soon as I see to Cater. It is probably best if Deuce does not attend classes today. This weather would do him no good.” He stepped around the other boy. “You’d better be on your way, Ace. Just because you woke up early, that is no excuse to dawdle.”

“R-right…” Ace watched his housewarden head down the hallway, feeling even more unsettled than he had beforehand. What was Riddle going to say when he saw the shape Deuce was in? Would he deem the situation more or less serious than either of them had initially assessed? 

As usual, there’s nothing I can do. No wonder he didn’t want my help. Well, whatever. I was useless during Trey-senpai’s overblot and now I’m useless all over again. I guess some things just aren’t meant to change.

 ♥️♠️🍎🐺

“So he’s not coming to class today?”

Ace shook his head no, hand on one hip, umbrella in the other. “Our housewarden said he should stay out of the rain.”

Epel’s youthful eyes looked especially puppy-like as he frowned. “Poor Deuce-kun… I thought for sure that Meemaw’s sweater would warm him right up.”

Jack stood nearby beneath his own umbrella as the three congregated just beyond the main steps of the school. “Some people just really can’t take the cold, I guess.”

“It’s more than that,” Ace defended, surprised as the words left his mouth. “It’s some sort of ice spell. You know, from the other day.”

Epel gasped, clutching the handle of his umbrella to his chest. “From the Frostlich?! Now that you mention it, Deuce-kun did take a hit from that thing…”

“Sounds like it was quite a fight.” Jack sighed in a way that sounded both complimentary and envious. Everyone at the school had been gossiping about the events that had taken place at Heartslabyul over the weekend, despite Riddle’s chiding. Speaking of which…

“ACE TRAPPOLA!”

The heart winced as he heard his full name shouted in that familiar, enraged tone. Even Epel and Jack froze their expressions as they watched Riddle Rosehearts barge over. Beneath the cover of his own dark umbrella, the rouge on his face stood out like a blister.

“What? What did I do!?” Ace immediately squawked, already bracing himself for the familiar feeling of cold, heart-shaped metal around his neck.

Riddle’s approach was accented by a crack of thunder that caused all three boys to flinch. The housewarden pointed accusingly. “When I asked you this morning if Deuce had gotten any worse, was there a reason you neglected to inform me that he has nearly completely frozen over?!” He tapped his foot, his features wrought with fury. “Whatever your excuse is had better be good!”

Ace gulped. “Ah! I mean… he is worse, right?”

“His hair is WHITE!”

“Only some of it!”

“ACE!” 

“Okay okay! I… I should’ve told you.” Ace sighed. “It’s just… he kept saying he was fine and he was kind of acting like a jerk so I figured, hey, he doesn’t want help, then whatever. Let him deal with it himself.”

“That’s pretty cold, even for you,” Jack inserted.

Epel’s eyes widened and his mouth hardened into a straight line. “He’s fixin’ to freeze to death and ya just up and left him there like a day-old chicken pot pie?!”

“I - huh?”

“That just ain’t done, I tell ya!” Epel was starting to look just as furious as Riddle, and now Ace felt backed into a corner. There was no way to come out of this situation smelling like roses.

“Alright, I get it! I’m… SORRY.” He slumped forward. “But what am I supposed to do? It’s not like any of us know how to fix this!”

Huh. A rare Ace Trappola apology. One that he hadn’t even been forced into making. That seemed to be enough to make Riddle relax a bit, the red slowly draining from his cheeks. He straightened his posture. “You said Deuce insisted he was fine? That he didn’t want your help?”

Ace nodded.

Riddle’s eyelids lowered. “He did the same thing to me.”

There was a collective gasp from the group. “I… find that really hard to imagine,” Jack commented.

“Me, too,” Epel agreed. “He doesn’t usually act like that, does he? Pushing people away, I mean?”

“No… not like this.” Ace stood still, listening to the pelting of raindrops that surrounded them. “Sure, he can be stubborn, but no more than anyone else around here. He’s not above asking for help when he really needs it.”

Riddle softened his voice to keep any other passing students from overhearing. “The thing about undead magic is that it targets the soul.”

“Yeah…” Ace glanced from left to right. “You explained that yesterday.”

“But the Frostlich itself fed off negative energy,” the housewarden continued. “That is why it selected victims based on the nature of their souls and whether or not they were on the verge of happiness. I have the feeling that the magic Deuce was hit with may have been one of those spells.” He gestured with his free hand as he spoke. “I’ve broken free of the magic I was afflicted with because someone who knows me quite well… helped warm up my soul.”

Ace tried to keep from smirking. He was pretty sure he knew who that was.

Trying not to blush, Riddle continued. “The three of you know Deuce best, correct? It would seem you’re the most suitable to help him.”

“But how?” Epel wondered.

“Yeah,” Jack added, a hand coming up to touch the back of his own neck. “It’s not like you can put gloves and a jacket on someone’s soul. What are we supposed to do?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have a straight answer for you.” Riddle’s gaze lowered again. “Everyone’s soul is different, and therefore, no two souls can heal the same way. I suggest you pay him a visit later and speak to him. Don’t let him shut you out.”

“The shutting out… the ‘negative energy’ you mentioned…” Ace stepped closer to Riddle, his expression serious. “Is it… what I think?”

Riddle nodded somberly, and Ace felt his stomach drop.

“What?” Epel asked. “What is it?”

Ace’s fingers tightened around his umbrella. He remembered the phrases Trey had yelled at the Frostlich during the battle the other day. He really is taking a page from Trey-senpai’s book. 

Riddle took a breath to answer Epel’s question, but Ace took it upon himself to speak first. The words came up sour from his dry throat.

“Deuce is becoming cold-hearted.”