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ramshackle-ramblings · 8 months ago

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Chapter Two: First Day of School

In which there are pancakes, and Mouse sizes up Alise

A faint knock on the door roused Alise from slumber. She snuggled deeper into the sheets, not wanting to be awake yet. A faint smell of orange blossom cling to them.

After a couple of minutes, she flung the blankets to the side and lay staring at the ceiling in her borrowed pajamas - a T-shirt for a band she’d never heard of that was long enough to be nightshirt on its own, and a pair of pink, green, and plaid flannel pants that puddled around her feet. Even with the drawstring pulled tight, they rode low on her hips.

Another couple of minutes wasted before she rolled out of bed and padded toward the kitchen. Maybe there would be coffee. Or chocolate. Or chocolate coffee.

“HENCH-HUMAN!!!” A very shrill voice rang from the kitchen, as well as a very evident sound of… some… kind of struggle? “I said I wanted tuna pancakes! Not normal pancakes!!”

“For the last time, I am not making tuna pancakes! Now hold- hold still!! Unless you want me to choke you with the ribbon!!” Mouse’s voice rang out as well, followed by a very dramatic gasp and a “YOU WOULDN’T DARE!!”

Alise leaned tiredly against the doorway and squinted at the … cat? raccoon? very loud chinchilla? that was engaging Mouse in some kind of argument over baked goods.

Wait, did you bake pancakes? Don’t pans go on the stove? But cakes definitely go in the oven.

“Sir,” she said, “sir, your ears are on fire.”

Grim stopped his struggle against Mouse when he heard a new voice, looking over at Alise with his large teal eyes. He was silent for a few beats before looking up at Mouse (who took advantage of his stillness and tied his ribbon) and pointing at her

“Nyeh, Mouse, who’s the kid?” He asked, with a tone akin to that of an annoyed toddler.

“Grim be nice. That’s Alise, the girl I told you will be living with us for a while,” Mouse responded, sighing almost in defeat.

The beast then turned smug, placing his paws on his hips with a devious smirk “OOOOOHH!!! The new hench-human huh!? Here to serve the Great Grim!!”

“No,” Alise answered flatly, pushing herself off the wall and shuffling toward the kitchen island, ignoring the … baby cabbit? Whatever it was. Ignoring the look of shock it had taken on. “Though I might be convinced to allow you to be minion, if there was coffee,” she continued, clambering onto a stool.

Grim stuttered, looking between Alise and Mouse before putting on a very grumpy face and turning his back towards Alise. He sat down on the island with his lil feet out and crossed his arms defiantly.

Mouse laughed, shaking their head as they looked through the cabinets for a pan, a bowl of batter was already made on the counter next to the stove.

“I’m afraid you only have instant coffee, if you’re okay with drinking that,” they said, not turning to face Alise. “But you’ll have to forgive Grim, he’s a bit uhm… How do I say this nicely…?”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” Alise flopped off the stool again and padded over to the cupboard Tsunotaro had acquired the cup from the night before, too-long pant legs flopping off her feet. “It seems I’m left to make it myself, since my minion is being obstinate.” She pulled open the cupboard and assessed the collection of mugs, then eyed the countertop calculatingly.

“NYEH!! I’M NOT YOUR MINION!!” Grim growled, shouting over his shoulder at Alise before turning away, still pouting. Mouse just laughed again.

“I’m sure we could ask Sam for some much better coffee when we stop by to get you your books.” Mouse commented, finding a pan and placing it atop the stove. “Oh! Right! That reminds me that Tsunotaro will be bringing over your uniform soon as well.”

“Ah, that’s good, on both counts,” Alise planted both hands on the counter and hoisted herself onto it. She stuck her tongue out at Grim’s back as she settled on her knees on the counter. “I was wondering if I was going to have to wear yesterday’s outfit.” She twisted around and picked a mug off the now much more accessible shelves.

Mouse gave Alise a quick “No feet on the counters” but it was just a small passing quip at her. waggled her feet up and down to prove that they were not, technically speaking, on the counter, resulting in much waving of excess plaid. Mouse simply nodded in return, just happy that there was something resembling compliance from her, and properly responded to the conversation; “Oh no, I’m certain that Riddle would have my head if that happened. Already gets on my case for a tie tied wrong for one thing.” They turned on the burner under the pan, moving to grab butter from the fridge before returning to the heating stovetop. “Regardless, it’s much too cold for you to be wearing that out at this time of year.”

Alise nodded like she knew who Mouse was talking about and leaned back a little to survey the remaining kitchen cabinets. “Which one has coffee?”

“Should be in the spice cabinet next to the honey,” Mouse said, reaching over and opening one of the cabinets by the floor. “You know. At normal people height.” They then returned to what they were originally doing - making everyone pancakes

“Wonderful,” Alise said, slithering off the counter and pattering over to the spice cabinet. “Minion, do you drink coffee?”

Before Grim had the chance to screech, Mouse cut in - answering for him. “He’s not allowed to have anything with caffeine.” They said it very matter-of-factly, something that wasn’t up for discussion, as they poured some batter into the pan.

Alise caught Grim’s eye and winked at him. She put the mug and the instant coffee on the counter and trundled around the room, opening and closing drawers at random until she discovered a spoon. She heaped too much coffee into the mug, filled it with water from the sink, and stood staring at the microwave like it was some kind of foreign beast and might attack if she moved too suddenly.

Mouse paused, turning to just stare at Alise before motioning to the kettle on the back burner of the stove. “We have a kettle… You don’t have to microwave it.”

Grim spoke up then; “No no! I want to see if it’s broken today.”

Alise jabbed at the microwave, hitting buttons seemingly at random until the door popped open. “It’s okay. I got this. I have definitely used a microwave before,” she declared unconvincingly, putting the mug inside and pushing the door closed with both hands. She jabbed experimentally at buttons until the microwave whirred to life. And then again, after it wound down after three seconds. Mouse paused again, glancing over to the microwave with… Plenty of worry.

Maybe… Maybe Mouse shouldn’t mention that it had a broken window when they first got it…

“I’m very good at microwaves.” Alise insisted. It may not have been the least reassuring thing she could have said, but it almost definitely made the top ten.

The microwave decided to work eventually, though it was unclear if the stuttering start was the result of its own idiosyncrasies or operator error. Alise stood in front of it, poised to continue the attack if it should decide to stop before the coffee was hot.

Mouse’s phone pinged, pulling their attention from the curious standoff as they turned to swipe in before Grim could.

“What!! Hey!! I wanna see what they said!!” Grim protested, making Mouse stick out their tongue at him.

“Nope, my phone - my privacy!” They put in the lock for it, scrolling through the messages and getting to the last one and just… Snorting. They put it down on the counter next to them and commented; “Wow. Soooo helpful.”

Alise glanced at Mouse. “Huh? Do you need help with something?” she asked slowly, trying to figure what she’d done, or rather, hadn’t.

Mouse glanced back at Alise, shaking their head and smiling “Oh, no not exactly. Just asking some friends for advice.”

They flipped the current pancake in the pan… Wait when were there already two plates made? Well anyways.

Grim piped up then, flopping onto his stomach and reaching for one of the plates of stacked pancakes. “Mouse is the assigned "prefect” of the dorm, but you’re the first other person to be assigned here. So they’re asking the other housewardens for advice.“

"Ah, that makes sense. I feel like you probably didn’t get much in the way of help after you were assigned,” Alise said darkly. The microwave dinged, and she jumped, staring at it in horror like it was sprouting legs and fangs as she watched.

"You'd…” Mouse paused, smiling to themselves as they thought. “You’d actually be surprised. I’ve actually gotten more help than I could ask for.” Mouse hummed, mentioning something about how it’s nice to be loved as they topped off the third stack of pancakes and started on a fourth one.

Alise had the microwave open, and was trying to figure out how to retrieve the mug from it. “That’s good, then,” she said absently, gingerly gripping it with her fingertips. She managed to move it about two inches closer to freedom before she had to put it down, chanting “hothothothot” and blowing on her fingers.

“We have kitchen towels underneath the sink” Mouse pointed out, glancing over to Alise again.

They pointed towards the sink then, before deciding to stretch - their back popping and cracking in certain places and causing them to hiss

“That sounded painful. You okay?” She found a towel and wrapped it several times around the mug. Retrieving it, finally, from the microwave with a little cry of “success!”, she placed it on the kitchen island, leaning at a dangerous angle on the edge of the towel, and scrambled onto a stool.

“Oh… Yeah, I’m all good.” Mouse responded, it wasn’t a full lie. But it was a bit farther from the truth than intended. But they wouldn’t really want to tell the truth of the situation.

They finished stacking the fourth plate of pancakes though, when there was a knock at the door.

Alise took a drink of her coffee, and immediately made a face.

“Oh! Uck! Ugh! Sugar! Is there sugar? I need sugar. Or … napalm, maybe.”

Mouse snorted, placing a plate in front of Alise before grabbing the jar of sugar they kept on the counter. “Just don’t use too much.” They chided, grabbing another plate and putting it before Grim.

Mouse walked, towards the door. Opening it to reveal Tsunotaro and…

“OH!! Li-Lilia!!” Mouse exclaimed, covering their chest quickly with their arms (they hadn’t gotten dressed just yet) and stepping away “I uhm… Wasn’t expecting to see you so early today…”

“How could I not come? You two have apparently been playing dress-up with since last night, and I had to see the results.” Lilia grinned impishly at Mouse. “Do I smell pancakes?” He brushed past Mouse and headed toward the kitchen.

“Oh … uhm …” Mouse moved to the side as Lilia pushed past them before turning to look at Tsunotaro.

He hummed, offering Mouse the clothes that he had taken from Lilia. “Here is Alise’s uniform.”

“Thank you,” Mouse welcomed him in with a smiling face. “Well come on now, Tsunotaro. Before Grim decides to make your plate his.”

Tsunotaro followed Mouse inside, before Mouse handed him back the clothes. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen, would you mind handing Alise the uniform and starting some tea for us?”

“Of course, are you off to get dressed?” he asked.

Mouse nodded, motioning towards the kitchen. “I trust him, truly - I do - but I have to play it safe… Or…”

He grimaced but nodded in return. “I understand.” Is all he said, before walking towards the kitchen. Nodding at Grim who was currently downing his plate of pancakes.

—

“I do smell pancakes!” Lilia crowed gleefully, entering the kitchen.

Alise looked up from shoveling sugar into her mug. “Bathrobe Boy! Bathrobe Boy? What are you doing here?”

“Seeing what is happening to all my clothes,” he answered, sliding onto the stool next to her.

“I think I’m wearing them,” she was still putting sugar in the mug, swinging her feet idly.

“I think you are, too.” Lilia nodded at her coffee. “You might be dangerously close to the saturation point.”

She sighed down at her mug. “I hope so.”

Alise nodded at him, cautiously taking a sip of her coffee, while Lilia watched curiously, grinning in anticipation.

“Well,” she said slowly, carefully placing the mug on the counter and pushing it gingerly away from her. “It’s not worse…”

“I wanna try!” Lilia practically pounced on the mug. Alise watched him with the same mischievous anticipation he had watched her. He took far to big a gulp, eyes widening as the sugar bomb exploded in his mouth.

“That is amazingly terrible. You have to try this!” He thrust the mug at Tsunotaro.

Tsunotaro physically cringed, pushing it away lightly and shaking his head. “Ah… No… I think I shall pass.” He walked around, placing the uniform next to Alise.

“The Child of Man has asked me to make us some tea…” He admitted, walking over to the cabinets and gathering everything to prepare said tea.

Alise tore off a piece of pancake and chewed on it, idly fingering through the folded stack of fabric. She pushed the plate toward Lilia and nodded meaningfully at it. Lilia tore off his own hunk of pancake.

Tsunotaro started the kettle, standing idly as he placed a couple tea bags into the teapot. Eyeing one of the two plates on the counter, before not so sneakily sliding it over to himself.

“I should probably get dressed, I guess,” Alise sighed. She flopped off the stool and headed up the stairs, clutching the uniform stack.

Lilia watched her go, and turned back to his pancakes, and Tsunotaro.

“I don’t think,” he said, chewing thoughtfully. “That my clothes fit her quite as well as you said they would.”

“I only did what the Child of Man asked of me.” Tsunotaro spoke, turning to Lilia with a smirk “I believe they thought you might be a better match in clothing.”

—

Mouse in the meantime had walked upstairs and to their room. Getting out of their pajamas and avoiding looking at themselves in the mirror as they gathered their uniform.

Mouse sighed. Looking at the binder before glancing at the mirror and cringing at the dark purple and red splotches on their skin, some blisters lining them here and there and… Oh god… Is that one infected?

Jesus fuck it was, it was oozing pus…

It’s fine, Mouse had a first aid kit in their room. Throwing the binder onto their bed and fetching the kit, before dressing the infected blister and then properly getting dressed into their uniform.

Mouse sat on their bed, taking in a few breaths - in pain - before standing up and exiting the room. Shivering slightly as they walked down the hall

—

Upstairs in her own room, Alise tossed her pajamas haphazardly on the unmade bed, and proceeded to try on the school uniform.

It didn’t fit.

The pants settled on her hips. After some jumping up and down, she determined that they should not, in fact, fall down. They had been cut off to capri length for Lilia, which was a blessing, and made them just a tiny bit long.

The shirt sleeves stayed mostly in place when buttoned, but she could shake her arms wildly about and they would slide over her hands. Which she spent far too long doing, giggling and making spooky sounds the entire time.

The jacket was a lost cause. It was easily three sizes too big for her. Which meant, puzzlingly, it was also too big for Lilia. But it would be better than walking across campus without it.

She needed a belt.

These pants had no belt loops.

She needed … two belts?

Some riffling through drawers, with mumbled promises to make it up to Ace, whenever she met him, resulted in four belts, and one complicated arrangement of leather later, the pants were secure on her waist and she was - mostly - dressed.

She opted not to button the vest, because it almost looked like it fit if she left it open, but was obviously too large when buttoned.

And she hadn’t a clue what to do with the tie. Mouse’s horny friend wore his like a, well, a tie, but the Provider Of Clothes had his in an elaborate bow, and she wasn’t sure how to do either.

She was pretty sure she was running out of time, and swept her hair up quickly into two little round buns on the top of her head, green marbling through dark purple.

—

Mouse moved downstairs and into the kitchen, bee lining it to Tsunotaro and placing their arms on his hips before smashing their face into his back.

Not like he really cared, tearing a piece off of one of his pancakes and popping it into his mouth only to turn and observe one of the teacups he had taken out.

“Would you like Chip, or shall I have him this morning - Child of Man?” He asked, a muffled response being his only answer - and he decided that Mouse would have Chip.

“Have you eaten yet?” He asked again, and another very “I’ll just grab something at Sam’s” response was given. Only for him to shake his head, slightly disappointed

“There’s still pancakes,” Lilia offered, pushing the last plate in their direction.

This was an unexpected interaction, but he was pleased about the friendship.

Mouse turned to look at the last plate, a tad shocked to see it still there and not eaten at. Especially with… Oh… No, Grim was trying to get at Lilia’s plate…

Mouse offered Lilia a small smile “Oh, I had just assumed everyone got their own plate. Thank you”

They let go of Tsunotaro and grabbed the plate, pulling off the top pancake and slapping it onto Grim’s to save Lilia’s and Alise’s plate from being devoured before sitting at the island.

Tsunotaro hummed, placing the teacup down as the kettle started to whistle and pouring the hot water into the teapot and then carrying everything over to the island. “Thank you, Lilia.” He whispered to the older fae, glancing over at Mouse who had slowly started to eat.

Lilia nodded to him wordlessly.

“Of course we saved your plate!” He said to Mouse, with mock offense that they thought he wouldn’t have. “What is the plan for today? I find myself doubtful that Crowley provided either you or her with any kind of instructions.”

They could hear a dull thudding from upstairs, like someone was jumping up and down.

Mouse nervously looked up at the ceiling, slightly worried the house might cave in on the four of them, before looking at Lilia as they responded “Ah… I’ve thought up some things, but I'm… Unsure how they might work with Alise.”

Mouse smiled, remembering the events of last night “She's… A bit of a firecracker.” They commented, thanking Tsunotaro silently when he filled their teacup. “But I was going to introduce her to Sam first, and pick up the books that she would need.”

Lilia grinned evilly. “Considering the story I heard about last night, that seems like an apt description.”

Grim reached for Mouse’s teacup, only to be pushed away by them. They moved it out of his reach, sounds of protest coming from the weird beast.

“Then, honestly, I’m just going to shove her onto Deuce… I’m assuming she’d be joining my class but… My schedule is vastly different from everyone’s since I take a second year potionology class,” Mouse explained before taking a sip from Chip and shutting Grim up with their last pancake.

Tsunotaro then spoke up, pouring Lilia’s and Alise’s cups “I had almost forgotten about that. You take Potionology with Rosehearts and Leech, correct?”

Mouse nodded.

Giggling drifted down the stairs, interspersed with “spooky ghost” noises.

“I had never realized getting dressed could be so entertaining,” Lilia commented, eyeing the ceiling, infinitely amused. “I’m tempted to go join. They are my clothes, after all.”

Mouse snorted, covering their mouth to keep in the giggles trying to escape before responding “Why do you think girls go clothes shopping together all the time?” They quipped, placing Chip down once they deemed it safe from Grim.

Tsunotaro finally sat down, having brought his plate over to the island and choosing to be between Lilia and Mouse (the obvious place to sit) and pouring his own cup. “Was she as amused when you gave her the pajamas?” he asked, taking a sip from his tea.

“I’d have no clue, she was in the shower and I went to bed after I gave them to her,” Mouse answered.

They heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Alise appeared in the kitchen doorway, jacket in one hand, tie in the other.

She stared hard at Lilia’s tie for a minute.

“That’s just a bow,” she said accusingly.

She dumped the jacket unceremoniously on an empty stool and proceeded to struggle with the tie.

Mouse turned to look at Alise, eyebrow raised. “Would you prefer to wear a bow?” they asked, getting off their stool and walking over to help Alise with their tie without question.

Though if Alise would prefer a bow, that would mean Mouse would have to ask Riddle on how to tie it like one. Since the bow that they wear and Grim’s bow were different.

Alise relinquished control of the tie to Mouse. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t know how to tie it either way.*

"That’s okay, I’ll have someone teach you” They respond, focusing on the tie as they spoke. They weren’t the best at tying one, but in the time they’d been here, Riddle had taught them enough to make one passable. Though… it was often that someone still fixed their ties…

“Thanks,” Alise smiled. “It’s not something I normally wear. Uniforms generally aren’t.”

“Oh no, I get that.” Mouse chuckled, looking over to Tsunotaro and Lilia after the tie was finished. Saying nothing as they walk back to their seat and pick Grim up to sit on their lap. “I’d much prefer to wear something like Jamil’s or Idia’s uniforms, but I’d probably be too comfy, I’d fall asleep.”

“Always a danger,” Alise agreed.

She padded over to the counter where Lilia offered her the last bit of pancake off their plate. She refused, so he ate it.

Mouse nodded, leaning on the island as they thought over what they just said… Idia’s uniform huh…

Well, he does look comfy in general - blue firey hair, nice big jacket…

Mouse sorta started to melt, imagining what it would be like to steal Idia’s jacket. Tsunotaro poked them in the cheek, causing the magicless student to shake their head aggressively.

“Oh yeah, very much so. Definetly a danger…” Mouse commented, glancing over at Tsunotaro who was just sipping at his tea, pancakes now gone.

Alise watched Mouse curiously, a tiny smile playing at the corners of her mouth, but she said nothing.

Mouse coughed, downing the rest of their tea before standing up, cradling Grim in one arm and huffing just slightly. “Well uhm! If we’re-”

Tsunotaro cut them off “I’m not finished with my tea just yet.”

Mouse retaliated by tugging on his horn, causing him to make a face before sipping at his cup.

“If everyone - but his highness Tsunotaro -”

“His highness Tsunotaro, hah,” he mimicked, amused.

“ - is finished, we should be getting Alise to the store and buying her books.”

Lilia tried, desperately, to keep a straight face. Right up until “his highness Tsunotaro”, when he cracked up, and very nearly slid off his stool he was laughing so hard.

Tsunotaro and Mouse both looked over at Lilia in shock, Mouse going as far to rush over and push him back onto his stool and just kinda hold him there. Tsunotaro looked confused about what could’ve caused Lilia such glee.

“Yes, that seems important,” Alise agreed.

“It is, uh… Very important.” Mouse responded, partially nervous.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Lilia gasped. “I’m okay.” He stood up to prove it, still chuckling. “We should go, then, and get books. It wouldn’t do to be late on your very first day!”

He linked arms with Alise and marched with her toward the door, snatching her jacket off the stool as they passed.

Mouse followed behind them, observing.

They stopped at the door so she could put her boots on. Boot.

“Why have you got only one shoe?” Lilia asked curiously, looking around.

Alise, bent over tying her boot, pointed to the other boot still in the lounge.

“I don’t, I have two. That one just had a flying lesson last night.”

Lilia appraised the boot, on it’s side, tongue hanging out, laces a mess. “I don’t think it did very well.”

Alise joined him in appraisal, standing lopsidedly with one boot on. “No. It was a disappointment to all who saw it.”

Lilia fetched the boot, and, handing it to her, suggested that perhaps this boot was made for walking.

Alise stared at him for a minute, and then doubled over with laughter. It was Lilia’s turn to look confused as the tiny girl sunk to the floor, laughing too hard to stand.

Mouse snorted and started to giggle. Alise fell to the ground, and they started laughing like a hyena - Ruggie would be proud - holding their stomach as they laughed.

“And that’s,” Alise gasped, “just what … they’ll do!”

Lilia looked to Tsunotaro for help.

Tsunotaro watched Mouse with concern, their laughter sounded more like crying.

Grim… Grim was on the ground staring at everyone like they were stupid before pointing at Lilia and saying “You did this.” In the most serious tone the cat thing could muster.

That only pushed Mouse into laughing more, almost falling over. Tsunotaro stood up.

Alise reached ineffectually toward Mouse. “One … of these … days … ”

Mouse reached a hand out towards Alise, covering their mouth with their other hand to try and control their laughter. They ended up falling over, and Tsunotaro quickly covered the space to catch them.

Lilia looked helplessly at Tsunotaro. “I think I did do this, but I don’t know how. All I said was that boots are for walking.” This immediately renewed Alise’s laughter.

He shook his head at Lilia “I am unsure as well… Quite a troubling scenario I must say.” He spoke before hauling Mouse over his shoulder, which caused them to shriek and start hitting at his back - still laughing.

“I’ll take this one outside to calm down… I’ll leave the troublesome one to you,” he announced, Mouse objecting in between almost wheezing breaths and laughter as he walked towards the door.

Lilia shifted his helpless look to Alise, who was desperately trying to collect herself. It was several more minutes before she managed to, and Lilia was very careful not to say anything about boots.

“I want to ask … ” Lilia started, and stopped when Alise started giggling again.

She giggled all the way through putting her second boot on. Lilia offered her his hands, and pulled her to her feet when she accepted.

“There’s a song,” she giggled.

“Oh?” He looked down at her, his curiosity piqued.

“I really just know the chorus, but that’s the important part. ‘These boots are made for walking’,” she sang, “and that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk right over you.”

“I see,” Lilia laughed. And then laughed harder. Which made Alise laugh again. They stumbled out the door, supporting each other, after Mouse and Tsunotaro, giggling like mad.

Grim followed after Alise, running on all fours to keep up with the two of them and jumping up onto Alise’s shoulder as soon as he was close enough “NYAH!! DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME!!”

“Never!” Alise laughed, helping little grey creature settle on her shoulder. She shivered against Lilia. “I don’t know where I’m going.”

"That’s okay! I do!” Lilia draped the jacket over Alise and Grim.

Grim snuggled onto Alise’s shoulder, his ears flattening under the jacket. “I do too!” he argued, even though there was nothing to be argue about.

—

When Mouse and Tsunotaro had left the dorm, he didn’t put Mouse down immediately - walking out towards the rusted gate before doing so and staring down at the giggling student who was now clinging to him.

He let them laugh, watching as they eventually calmed down into wheezing gasps of air.

Now that Mouse was calmer… God… It hurt to laugh actually, to breathe as well…

The two of them didn’t talk, Mouse clinging to him as they focused on catching their breath through the pain, and Tsunotaro insuring that the human was - in fact - getting their breathing back to normal.

Mouse peeked under his arm, noticing Alise and Lilia heading for the two of them. Unnecessary panic rose in their throat as they pushed away from Tsunotaro and turned their back to them, focusing on their breathing as he turned to face the group of three.

“Grim knows where we’re going,” Alise informed them as they caught up.

“These boots, they’re made for walking,” Lilia said gravely. Alise started laughing again, and Lilia caught her before she could collapse entirely, guiding her past Mouse and Tsunotaro. “And that’s just what they’ll do!” He called over his shoulder.

Grim’s ear flicked from under the jacket, making sounds of protest and digging his claws into Alise’s shirt when he felt her dip below him.

“HEY!! BE CAREFUL HENCH-HUMAN!!”

Mouse covered their mouth, holding their stomach again as Lilia walked past. Trying their best not to laugh as Tsunotaro looked on in confusion.

He then sighed, placing a hand on Mouse’s back to calm them. They looked up at him as he started to walk behind, pushing Mouse along gently.

Alise swatted at Grim’s claws. “You be careful, minion,” she giggled at him. “I prefer my shoulder without holes.”

Grim shouted at being called a minion - puffing out fire in her general direction but not directly aiming at her. “HOW DARE YOU!! I AM THE GREAT GRIM - I AM NO ONE’S MINION!!”

Mouse called out from behind, still next to Tsunotaro. “Alise, be nice to Grim! Grim, DO NOT set Alise on fire!”

Grim just huffed in response, going limp on Alise’s shoulder.

Thankfully, the school store wasn’t that far away, though Alise’s teeth were still chattering from the cold by the time they got there. She was sure it had been just as cold last night, but today she lacked the adrenaline and the fury both that had kept her warm then.

“Hello, little imps!” They were greeted as they came in. “What brings you all here so early?”

When the group was welcomed in, Mouse walked around to be in the front - waving sheepishly at their ex-boss and (well if we’re being frank) older brother-figure and then waved towards the back at the shadows “Hey, Sam… Uh…” They motioned to Alise. “You wouldn’t happen to have any extra textbooks you could sell me, for our new student here?”

Sam smiled broadly at Mouse, looked at who she was pointing at, and laughed lightly. “This explains the note I got this morning.”

He shuffled through some papers on the counter, and handed one to Mouse. It said, in Crowley’s overly elegant handwriting; “Sam, need girls uniforms. Skirt? Girls wear skirts, yes. Size: S.” He had crammed an X in front of the S, then another smaller one in front of the X. And then written three more X’s above the other two.

“I thought it might be about something else.” He walked around the counter to get a closer look at Alise.

Lilia had wandered off to peruse the shelves, leaving the tiny girl with the disgruntled cat.

“What classes do you have this semester?” Sam asked.

“No idea,” Alise answered honestly, and Sam nodded his understanding.

“Just the standard ones, then. You can come back if you need others.”

“Yes. And, uh, notebooks and pens and such if you have them. Cro - uh, the headmaster -” the word dripped venom “- said to charge anything to him,” she added.

“Of course!” Sam disappeared into the back.

Mouse looked at the paper, eyebrows raised at the… Unreasonable amount of Xs in front of the S. Showing it to Tsunotaro who just looked at the paper in confusion.

“What difference would it make if she wore a dress or a suit?” He asked, glancing at Mouse

“Misogyny.” Mouse answered almost immediately, making him hum.

He didn’t know what that word meant.

Mouse then called out for Lilia and Alise, motioning the two towards them

“Could you two come here for a second?”

Alise wandered over to Mouse, touching everything as she walked by.

Lilia returned the knickknack he’d been looking at to the shelf, and joined the group.

Mouse stared at the two of them before crossing their arms. “Alright, Lilia, could you stand behind Alise for me?” They asked, completely forgetting that they could just borrow a measuring tape.

The two exchanged a look, but lined up. Lilia was not quite tall enough to rest his chin on the top of Alise’s head, but had his heels been a little taller, or her boots a little shorter, he would have been.

He looked curiously at Mouse, waiting for an explanation.

Mouse walked to stand in front of the two, picking Grim up off Alise’s shoulder first and putting him on their’s instead. Before patting Alise down a bit - focusing on the hips and waist area.

They had remembered when Crewel and Vil did the same to them during the Fairy Gala fitting. And they had somehow gotten the measurements almost right. But Mouse was comparing the two to each other.

When Mouse was done patting down Alise, they moved to stand behind Lilia and did the same to him. Stepping away from the two for a few seconds and just… Staring… Before turning to Tsunotaro and simply saying “I think Alise is an extra-small men’s.”

Alise swatted at Mouse as they patted at her, and Lilia giggled, accusing Mouse of tickling him.

“Is that what this was about?” Alise asked, sounding irritated. “You could have just asked. Extra-small is still a little baggy on me. Extra-small mens shirts are usually okay, but the pants won’t work if they’re meant to sit on my waist.” She looked down at the pants she was currently wearing. “These don’t fall off, but they require help to sit even close to where they should. And they’ve been tailored, quite extensively, so I wouldn’t trust what off-the-shelf size you told me they were.”

Lilia stood behind Alise, hands on his hips, looking proud about … something.

“A women’s xxs, or size 00 is usually okay, but if you want it actually fit? Three X’s. Or 0’s.” She shrugged. “Girl’s size 12 is honestly usually the best fit. At least in the US. I … don’t actually know how to size things here.”

Mouse looked at Alise, before looking back at Tsunotaro and motioning towards her. The dragon chuckled.

“What I want to ask is why you didn’t grab a measuring tape,” he hummed out. Mouse flushed and looked around before crossing their arms.

“I… Didn’t think about it… At the time…”

Sam returned with a small stack of books, and a black leather messenger bag with the Night Raven College crest on the flap.

“Pick out some notebooks and pens, little one, and I’ll get these rung up.”

He pointed Alise to the rack of notebooks, and she gave a little squeal of delight and started picking over them.

“I don’t have any uniforms small enough in the back, but if you stop by this afternoon, I should have something by then. Not Crowley’s special request, of course, but standard uniform parts.”

Alise laid some notebooks and a variety of pens on the counter beside the books, and Sam finished ringing up her order as she stuffed things into the bag.

Of course, she had a backpack, but she’d left it in the dorm. And anyway, the Night Raven College crest was pretty cool.

“Charge it to the headmaster, you said?” Sam asked.

Alise opened her mouth to answer, but was interuppted by Grim shrieking, “Wait!”

He lept off of Mouse’s shoulder, and across the store, coming back with his arms full of tuna cans. He pushed them up over his head and onto the counter.

“Get these, too, hench-human!”

“You’re going to carry them, minion?”

“Nyah!” Grim stomped his little foot in frustration. “I am still not your minion!”

“And I’m still not your hench-human,” Alise shrugged.

Mouse sighed, picking up Grim and the tuna cans - placing the cans to the side and offering Sam an apologetic smile.

“Just Alise’s stuff please, on the headmaster’s tab,” Mouse spoke, struggling to hold the now struggling and objecting Grim before adding on. “I’ll uh… Pay for some of the cans separately.”

Grim then calmed down, cheering and trying to reach for the cans.

Tsunotaro watched, narrowing his eyes and opening his mouth to speak - only to get interupted by Mouse.

“It’s alright Tsunotaro, I can pay…”

“I don’t mind putting the tuna on the headmaster’s tab,” Alise said darkly, but offered no more argument than that.

She slipped her arms into the too-big jacket, the sleeves falling down past her fingertips. Alise shoved the sleeves up, adjusted the strap on the bag, and swung it across her chest.

Mouse shook her head, not saying anything in return as they fished through their pockets for their wallet.

When they found it, they pulled out a small wallet - something that they got for cheap - that was covered in painted flowers that were chipping off.

“How much for a couple of cans again, Sam?”

Sam grinned and waived her off. “It seems to me that feeding Grim counts as a legitimate expense. I will write them down as such.”

He didn’t charge the entire stack, but handed Grim four cans.

“Alright!” Grim exclaimed. “Charging things to the headmaster! It’s about time he started taking care of us properly!”

He tried to stick his tuna cans in Alise’s bag, but she shooed him off.

“It’s your snack, you carry it!”

“You have a bag, and I have tiny little arms!”

The two of them headed toward the door, arguing about who was responsible for the tuna transportation.

Mouse turned to watch them leave, turning back to Sam and bowing slightly.

“Thank you for that… Really…” They spoke, their voice slightly muted but filled with a lot of emotion. “If there’s anything I can do in return, please let me know.”

Sam waved them off. “You’d better hurry before you’re late for class!”

This got really long, so we’ve broken it up into chapters. You can read the next chapter here.

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