Chapter Text
"Is that… Cater?"
Trey found himself asking as he stared at the little boy perched on Lilia's hip. He's wearing the same lab coat and the school uniform, however it is too big on him, leaving it to cover his short arms and pool over at his sides. His green eyes wide in innocence as he looks around warily at the unfamiliar place and his ginger hair tied up with hairpins. He clutched onto the Diasomnia third year like a lifeline and then hid his face on his shoulder.
Yes. It is Cater. As a child.
His crush just got de-aged to a child.
"Indeed it is. Six years old to be more specific," Lilia replied, rubbing the boy's back soothingly, "An accident happened at the neighboring table while we were working on our potion. One of them accidentally knocked their beaker off the table, and Cater was unfortunate to get caught in the middle," he explains with a sigh.
"Why was the neighboring table working on an age regression potion then?" Trey asked, confused.
Lilia, "I don't know. Probably it was a mistake in their recipe for it to turn out like this," his voice soon became soft as he coaxed the boy in his arms, "Hey, Cater, look. Trey is here."
With that, the boy slowly lifted his head and looked at Trey's direction. He can see from how tight he was gripping on Lilia's lab coat to the hesitation in his green eyes, Trey can tell Cater is still shy and doesn't recognize him at all
'It seems his memories are regressed as well, Trey thought to himself as he gave a smile and a wave to the child.
Little Cater gave a shy wave back.
"He doesn't recognize anyone yet," Lilia says as if he read his mind, "Although, I'm lucky to be able to put my experience with kids to use."
"So you called me here because…?"
The fae smiled, "You have siblings of your own, yes? I'm sure you'll be able to take care of this little one just fine as I research more on the potion that affected him. And it is also good that you two are from the same dorm. It makes it easier to look out for him."
Trey went over his schedule in his head and he found himself lucky that he's free for most of the day, "I can take him."
"Splendid!" Lilia hums, "Now…" he whispers to the kid's ear, an attempt to let go of him in favor of the Heartslabyul vice housewarden. Trey can see how Cater pouted at the thought of letting go of Lilia but nodded obediently anyway.
"And up you go, into reliable big brother Trey's arms~" Lilia says, passing the child over to him.
He instinctively opened his arms as the child reached out to him and held onto his uniform, nuzzling his face on his chest and getting comfortable. Huh, you don't see that everyday with Cater.
"Awwwh he likes you," Lilia chuckles behind his sleeve, "Now off you go. It's best to get him changed or he'll catch a cold. We don't want that, you know."
"Right," Trey nodded as the boy in his arms curiously touched the flame of his glasses, "See you later."
And with that, he exits the classroom, walking to the school store. He hopes Sam has some clothes lying around that would fit Cater's size.
"Heeey! It's Clover! Welcome! Is there anything you need?" Sam greets him by the moment he entered, "Oho? And isn't this Diamond, I see?"
Cater shyly hid his face at the crook of his neck and Trey gave a soft chuckle, "Yes, it is Cater. Cater, say hi to Sam."
The boy peeks over and gave a shy wave, "...Hi."
"Oh~ Hello to you too, little imp," Sam greets with a grin, "I see that Diamond is in a predicament. Accident perhaps?"
"Mm, precisely."
"Mhm, I see. Good thing I have witnessed boys come and go who caught themselves in accidents like this to remember to keep stock of children's clothes," the school shop owner hummed in thought and went to get a neatly folded pile of clothes and places them on the table.
"Go and take you pick~"
The third year looks at the boy, "Cater? C'mon let's pick some clothes for you."
He settles the boy down, good thing he's tall enough to take a peek on what's on top of the table, and waits.
The boy looks at the like and his brows knitted together, inspecting the clothes. The clothes themselves were not too flashy or poorly made. They're simple and made in good quality fabric. Button ups, vests, shorts, socks… all of them for sure would suit a child his size.
Trey was looking at the other items in stock when notices how the child was looking at him. He raised a brow, wondering if Cater has already picked anything.
"Have you picked anything you like?" He asks.
The child looks at the floor, almost guiltily and responds, "But they're not cute…"
Cute?
"Why do you say that?" He asks, partly from curiosity.
The child fiddles with his thumbs while rocking himself back and forth on his heels slightly, "My sisters said I should wear only cute clothes and dresses. It makes me look good in front of people. If I don't…people won't like me and my sisters will dress me up in clothes they like," he shook his head at the thought, "I don't want that."
Trey was speechless.
What kind of sisterly advice is that?
He breathed a sigh through his nose, calming himself down, before giving the child a kind smile, "Don't worry. Your sisters are not here and people will still like you even if you wear something else. Trust me."
Cater bit his lip and his eyes darted from side to side before nodding, "Okay. I trust you, big bro Trey."
Trey smiles as he gestures to the pile again. Cater points to the first pile on the right with his sleeve covered hand while Sam happily takes it and putting it in a plastic bag before handing it over to Trey.
"Please keep an eye on Diamond," Sam tells him as he was about to pay. The third year was confused, cuz he needed no one to tell him that because he clearly needed to look after him, but he nodded anyway, "Of course."
"Thank you for stopping by then~!" Sam says.
Once more, he picks Cater up and heads to the Hall of Mirrors. Hsi journey they met some stares and confused looks were thrown at their direction. Cater uses his chest to hide his shy face and peek every once in a while and on the way, Trey was also lost in his own thoughts. He will have to explain the situation to Riddle first and hopefully, the guys at the dorm will take the situation with a calm head so they can decide what to do next.
The moment Trey snapped his train of thought, they had already arrived. He looks at the boy in his arms, who is curiously looking around the room and at the seven mirrors before them.
Trey smiles fondly before stepping through the mirror leading to the Heartslabyul dorm.
Upon stepping to the other side of the mirror, he can see the boy's green eyes twinkle at the sight of the heart shaped rose bushes and banners of the dorm fluttering in the wind. The lush of green and red somehow fascinates him.
Trey for sure remembers the day both of them first stepped into the dorm. Cater was just as fascinated and was very keen on taking photos of the place. So as a result, the moment they came to the dorm after the Orientation, Cater would often drag him along with him, exploring and taking photos, even if they had barely just met. It must be his friendly and warm welcoming aura that gravitated Trey to him and they started a really good friendship.
Trey then opened the entrance doors, greeting juniors and giving them half smiles as they looked at him and Cater in confusion. He quickly heads to the hallway.
He needs to speak to Riddle.
But first, he has to get this little one changed first. He can't be wearing the oversized lab coat and uniform forever.
Trey opens the door to Cater's room and settles him down on his feet. He can feel the boy look at him and he gave him the plastic bag, "You should take a bath and get changed first. You must be feeling uncomfortable in those clothes."
Cater nodded and held onto the plastic bag, "Okay. Thank you, big bro Trey."
"I'll just be outside the door if you need anything, okay?"
Another nod, and then the third year leaves, closing the door behind him.
He stands there, thinking. He wonders how Lilia will research the potion accident if it wasn't them themselves who concocted it. For sure, they could ask the people who were next to them. But what if there was a mishap that could affect the duration of the potion's effect? In turn keeping Cater at that age for a prolonged period? He rubbed his temples at the thought. He hopes this is nothing too serious.
"Trey."
Hearing footsteps approaching, he looked up to see Riddle, heading to his room.
"Riddle," he nods in greeting.
Riddle stops before him, glancing at Cater's door with what he could identify as slight worry and looks at him again, "I heard from some first years that you arrived with Cater," he started, glancing at the door again, "A de-aged Cater. An accident during Alchemy class? How is he? Tell me what happened."
Trey gave him a recollection of what Lilia told him. And by the time he finished, Riddle looks like he's ready to pop a vein.
"Accidents like these… I can't believe there are still students who are irresponsible enough to not look out for their apparatuses…!" He hissed, his worry for his predecessor on the position of housewarden spiked at the possible scenarios, "He's small, and vulnerable. Aged six mind you! What if he gets even more hurt?! It'll be off with heads the moment I'll find them—"
"Riddle!" Trey immediately interrupts, placating the second year, "It's fine. What's done is done, no one is hurt. We're lucky Lilia was there to look out for him before he could possibly get hurt. And Professor Crewel must have already dealt with the students responsible. You don't have to get yourself worked up, we should just focus on what to do next."
Thankfully, those were enough for the redhead to calm down and nod at that, "Right, right," he sighs, "I apologize. I just had a hard day today."
Trey raised a brow, "What could possibly be the cause?"
That question made Riddle upset, evident with the very annoyed look on his face, "It's Floyd again."
"Oh."
Of course. Only Floyd could get Riddle to react like that. He huffed a laugh before covering it with a cough, seeing the younger glaring at him.
"Anyway," Riddle says, followed by a sigh, "I would like to check on Cater, but I still have some homework and reviewing to do."
"Don't worry about him. Lilia asked me to look out for him," Trey reassures.
Riddle nodded, "Alright. We'll discuss what to do once I'm done with everything else. Until then, see you, Trey."
A nod, "See you, Riddle."
And just like that, the second year moved along to the direction of his room while Trey leaned against the wall next to the door to Cater's.
A few more minutes later, the click of the door opening caught his attention. He glances over to his left to see freshly bathed and dressed Cater, peeking out and looking at him with part of his face hidden from view.
Trey gives him a smile as he pushes himself off the wall, "All done?"
Cater shook his head before tugging on his sleeve, pulling him inside the room, "I need your help."
"Oh?" He asks, "What do you need help with?"
The child points at the desk to the open container of face paint and a used brush that they used to paint their suits with. Trey then glanced at the child to see a failed attempt at painting the diamond suit on his face.
He chuckles slightly at that, "You want me to help you paint your suit?"
Cater nods while looking at the ground shyly from the failed attempt, "If big bro Trey is okay with it…"
Trey laughs lightly this time and gives him a pat on the head and on his damp hair, "Of course, of course. But let's get your hair dried up first."
The child obediently climbed onto the stool while Trey grabbed Cater's hair dryer from one of the drawers. He plugs it in and turns it on, grabbing the brush and starts the process of drying the ginger locks.
So far, Cater is sitting very still, call it practiced even. He is letting his hair be dried and brushed through. It is as if he had been told to do so many times before that it became a part of him whenever someone would do the drying for him.
Trey decides not to think too much of it as he seems the hair dry enough for a final brush before styling it to Cater's usual hairstyle.
"Does big bro Trey know how to do braids?" Cater suddenly asks, looking at their reflection in the mirror. Well, how much of their reflection he could see at this height at least.
"Oh? Um," Trey replies while putting the hairpins on his hair, "I will not say that I am that good. I have a little sister and she sometimes asks me to do her hair. Though she isn't that pleased with my work," he chuckles.
"Oh," the child fiddles with his thumbs, "It must be nice to have a big brother like big bro Trey."
Trey, admittedly, doesn't know how to respond to that. Especially after hearing what kind of sisterly advice Cater's own sisters told him.
Once he's done, he grabs a towel and wipes off the evidence of the failed attempt of drawing a diamond from the boy's face. Afterward, he grabs the paint brush and dips it a little into the face paint before using his other hand to steady the boy's face.
"Hold still, okay?"
The boy nods and closes his eyes. Then with practiced ease, he paints the diamond suit on the boy's cheek, the red paint contrasting his peach colored skin. He remembers when Cater asked him to paint his suit on him when they were just first years, until he grew accustomed to doing it himself a little while later.
Once he's done, he steps back to admire his work before grabbing a hand mirror and giving it to the younger.
The boy grabs it and looks at his reflection, a smile slowly etching itself on his lips, "I love it!" Came the reply.
Trey pats his head again, a smile on his own face, "I'm glad you do, Cater."
"Nooo stop!" The boy whines, shooing his hands away and the older one immediately pulls his hand back, "Eh, what's wrong?"
The boy looks at himself in the mirror again, patting his hair, "I don't want to mess up big bro Trey's work. I like this hairstyle."
Trey blinks before sighing in relief and smiling again, "I'm glad you like it."
The boy flashes him a toothy grin, his little fang poking out, and his cheeks flushed. There's something about the smile that made Trey compare it to the ones Cater allows the world to see. This one seems a lot more…genuine.
"Oh, are you hungry?" He asks, wondering if the boy wants anything to eat.
A nod.
"Then come, let's head to the kitchen and grab something to eat."
The boy puts the mirror on the table and immediately hops off the stool, excited for snacks. He opens his arms up and hops a little, "Up!"
He laughs and picks him up, feeling the boy wrap his arms around his neck, "Yes, yes, I got you."
Cater nestles his head on his shoulder as Trey carries him out of the room, closes the door behind him, and heads to the kitchens.
Trey settles the boy on a high stool while he goes over to the cabinets, "Is there anything you want, Cater?"
The boy looks around and points at the stored tarts he made earlier that day, "Tarts, please."
He remembered very well how much Cater doesn't like sweets. He knows the reason why and it never fails to make his face scrunch up in distaste whenever he thinks about it. Cater's sisters fed him a lot of sweets to the point he doesn't want to stomach them anymore. And he also knows how Cater can't say no to them, therefore he just kept on being subjected to their whims.
Hopefully, this Cater still enjoys them at this age. If not…well, he can still ask him for what he wants and use Doodle Suit to cover the flavor.
He transfers a slice of the tart to a plate and grabs a fork, setting them before the boy, "Here you go. I hope you like strawberry tarts. I worked hard to make them today."
He can see how the boy's eyes twinkle at the sight of the tarts and his mouth hanging open in astonishment. So far so good.
Cater looks at the pastry then at him, then at the pastry again, "You made this???"
He huffs a laugh, "Yes I did. Try it if you wish."
Cater grabs the fork excitedly and as he was about to dig in, he paused. Just a few seconds of hesitance before taking a piece and biting into it.
Trey waits patiently yet he also feels nervous about what he'll think.
But thank the Queen and her roses that Cater happily took a second bite, a third, and a fourth. Oh sevens, he's eating too fast.
"Hey, hey calm down. You'll choke," he grabs a napkin and wipes the boy's mouth, "No one is stealing that tart from you."
"Sorry big bro Trey!" He giggles, "It's just so good! Much, much better than what my sisters make!"
Trey can't help but feel pride swell up his chest. He pats his head, "I'm so glad to know. But like I said, eat slowly so that you won't choke. If you want, I'll give you seconds later."
Cater heeded his advice and ate at a normal pace, clearing his plate and as he was about to hold it up for another slice, Cater's head hung, as if regretful.
Now that doesn't look good.
"What's wrong?" Trey asks, "Don't you want another slice?"
Cater bit his lip, "My sisters said that if I eat too much, like a second slice, I'll become fat and that's not cute."
Trey almost drops the serving knife at what he just said. Again, what kind of advice is that? For the same people who fed him lots of sweets later in his life, that's just a contradicting statement.
He gives him a comforting smile, "It's okay to ask for a second slice, it won't immediately make you fat like your sisters claimed. And they're not here to know anyway. So it's fine."
Cater looks up at him shyly, "Really??? You mean that???"
He responds with a nod, "I mean it."
"Then.." he holds his plate up, "Another slice please.."
Trey laughs and gives him another, "Here you go," and then just like that, the boy consumes it happily.
"After this, want to see the gardens later?"
"Mhm! Yesh pleash!"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," he chastises. Cater stops to swallow his food before saying, "Yes please!"
"Alright then. Finish your tart and we'll have you brush your teeth so that we could head out."
"Mhm!!"