Cater knew that this year would be hectic. Only time would tell if his actions had changed anything at all.
Before the initiation ceremony, he made a point of tracking down Malleus. He was rather amused the fae had yet to get ready for it.
"I bet Lilia would be thrilled if you actually attending the ceremony this year," said Cater, leaning against the doorway.
Malleus blinked at the intrusion.
"What brings you here, Cater Diamond?" asked Malleus.
"You do realize the initiation ceremony is tonight," said Cater.
"The ceremony is tonight?" said Malleus.
"You mean you didn't notice everyone in their ceremonial robes?" asked Cater. Malleus stared at him in confusion.
"I had wondered why everyone was dressed up. I was not aware it was a formal occasion," said Malleus.
"I had a feeling, which is why I decided to track you down just in case," said Cater.
It took a few seconds to switch to his ceremonial robes. Malleus followed Cater to the mirror hall where the ceremony would take place.
"Look what I found, a straggler!" said Cater cheerfully.
"So that's where you went to," said Lilia amused. "Vil mentioned you went looking for someone, but he neglected to say who."
"I can think of a few people who would be thrilled to have their Lord present for their sorting," said Cater. Namely Sebek.
Lilia chuckled at that. It was good someone had thought to remind Malleus of the ceremony, as he had missed the last one.
Cater just wanted to see Malleus' reaction to Yuna showing up, as the two had gotten together last time. How that happened, he had no idea but they were so cute together!
He settled into his seat, keeping an eye on the coffins. He almost couldn't wait for the show to start.
A few hours later...
Cater got dressed for the initiation party. As the head of the etiquette club, he wanted his students to put their best foot forward and show the freshmen what Pomefiore was about.
He was rather proud of how successful the club was. Last year they had survived hosting a tea party with Malleus himself and managed not to make any massive mistakes.
Malleus had admitted he was rather pleased at being invited and graciously ignored any small fumbles.
Cater finished his make-up, placing his usual diamond mark on his cheek using a light dusting of deep blue. That way it at least matched the dorm's colors rather than Heartsabyl.
It was weird, seeing Grim and his partner again.
His make-up done, he finished his hair and placed his robes on. Vil would never let him hear the end of it if he appeared at the party looking the least bit put together.
Vil gave him a once over before nodding in approval. They headed out into the dorm proper to mingle with the freshmen and make an impression.
Where Vil was the unapproachable Queen who set the standards, Cater had the image of the calm older brother figure the students could go to for advice.
Epel definitely recognized them on sight. He gravitated towards Cater without a second thought.
Cater grinned and ruffled his hair slightly, and the action calmed the kid down.
"So this was the dorm you mentioned during the sled race?" he asked.
"Appearances are deceiving," said Cater grinning. "You wanted to aim for Savanaclaw, right?"
Epel nodded, and he was highly disappointed he ended up in what he initially saw as the 'weaker' dorm.
Cater had a friendly smile on his face, as he really did like Epel. The kid was a total spitfire, and it was hilarious to see people's reactions to him snapping.
"Tell ya what, why don't you join the Etiquette club on top of the Spelldrive club. Imagine how proud your Meemaw would be if she saw you showing off your new skills," said Cater.
"What's the Etiquette club?" asked Epel.
"Cater here," said Vil, having overheard his boyfriend, "Is the head of the etiquette club. It's where he teaches the other students the finer arts of acting in high society and mingling with the upper crust. It was even recognized by the future king of Briar Valley."
Seeing Epel didn't get it, Cater explained it better.
"Think of it this way. You mentioned before you want to revitalize your hometown and make it shine so new blood comes in, right?" said Cater. Epel nodded, as Vil's influence had sparked a bit of a tourist boom, but that was about it. "Well the best way to go about that is with money. The thing is that most people with the sort of money you'd need won't talk to someone who constantly picks fights to look tough."
Seeing he had Epel's full attention, Vil elaborated.
"Most of those with real money and influence are often part of high society. They take manners very seriously, and would look down on those from a lower income bracket because they don't know how to behave properly," said Vil.
"I won't have to act and dress all fancy all the time, right?" asked Epel.
"Pomefiore has a standard to be upheld. We do represent the Fairest Queen, who demonstrated great tenacity when it came to beauty and behavior after all," said Cater. "That means we have to at least behave with a certain level of decorum while in public."
Seeing he had everyone's full attention, Cater smiled at them all. This was the reason why Vil had made him, not Rook the vice housewarden...well, besides the sheer tenacity he had shown before his living situation had been cleared up.
In less than an hour, the freshmen looked to Cater as the official "older brother" of the dorm and Vil as their Queen and exemplar when it came to how they were supposed to behave. If either were unavailable, they knew to go to Rook for help.
And yes, Cater had a quiet laugh later at the look on Epel's face learning Vil planned to groom him as the next housewarden once he left for his apprenticeship next year. Epel clearly knew he was in for it, but he had yet to learn how bad it would be just yet.
Cater gave him a few days, a week tops on that.
Cater was quick to shield the statue of the Queen of Hearts from Grim's fire.
"Whoa there!" he said with a quiet laugh. "No need to do that much damage!"
"Grim!" scolded Yuna. She was as adorable as he remembered. "I am so sorry about that."
"It's cool," he replied. He then turned to Ace. "And you need to chill. She's clearly not from around here, so odds are she won't know about the Seven or the little festivals we hold throughout the year. And I highly doubt her familiar would know either."
Ace looked slightly embarrassed, being called out by an upperclassman like that.
"Thank you," said Yuna.
"The name's Cater. I'm the vice housewarden of Pomefiore and an unofficial member of Heartsabyl," he told her.
"How can you be an unofficial member of another dorm?" asked Ace, confused.
"I pretty much adopted your housewarden after a potion's accident last year, so he made it clear I was considered one of them by default. Doesn't hurt I pretty much know the Queen of Heart's rules, even if I don't have to follow them the same as you lot," said Cater cheerfully. "Which reminds me, you'll probably see me later since I usually tend to help out the other students with the Unbirthday parties."
Cater made a point to show Yuna and Grim around the school. He highly doubted Crowley ever intended for them to actually be janitors...usually the lesser fairies took care of that.
However as predicted, Ace's big mouth pissed Grim off and somehow he got Deuce roped into the mess as well. Cater did his best to mitigate the damage, but they still somehow shattered the chandelier as before.
Crowley was pissed, but since there were plenty of witnesses that saw Cater trying to stop them and prevent the destruction, he at least was not roped into the punishment.
Or rather, the threat of expulsion.
Several hours later...
Okay, hearing about it was one thing, but seeing that thing was another. He also had the sense to photograph the damn creature, because no one had ever believed Ace and Deuce's claim about it being real.
Yes, he was also fighting back against the thing, but he had one of his clones recording the fight with his phone and his digital camera.
Riddle looked beyond pissed, and it took Cater a few moments to remember that Ace and Deuce had inadvertently broken one of the Queen's rules.
Not his problem, since he wasn't actually part of that dorm. Instead he escorted Yuna and Grim to Pomefiore to get some real food and clean up. He remembered how bad the conditions at Ramshackle were, and no one would bother them in his room. Vil and Rook certainly didn't care about sharing with him.
Yuna's eyes went wide when she saw the dorm.
"Wait, won't your housewarden object to this?"
"Nah, my boyfriends know I take in ducklings," said Cater dismissively.
Yuna blinked.
"Boyfriends?"
"Roi du Camera!" said Rook enthusiastically as always. "I see you've picked up yet another stray."
"I'm sure Grim here will be on his best behavior," said Cater, eyeing the cat.
Grim's stomach chose that moment to make itself known.
"I'll do whatever you like so long as I get fed! I'm starving!"
"I'll give you two a rundown on the basic rules, but first let's get you cleaned up," said Cater. The fight had made a mess of the outfit Yuna was wearing, and no way would Vil let them stay in rags.
Vil eyed them for a few moments, before he looked at Cater.
"Three days," he said simply. "And get them a change of clothes."
Yuna looked to Cater in confusion.
"There's a nasty storm front coming in, according to the weather forecast. It's supposed to rain for at least today and tomorrow. Considering how derelict Ramshackle is, you'll almost certainly catch a nasty cold staying there," clarified Cater.
He remembered how miserable Yuna had been last time, since Ramshackle had a ton of leaks and openings. The ghosts didn't care at all, but she had been sick as a dog after the whole Overblot mess.
The first thing he did was feed Grim. Once he had something in his stomach, the cat allowed Yuna to properly clean him up using the same soaps Cater used on Umbra. He came out extra fluffy looking, and liked the new snazzy collar that Cater gave him. It was a spare one he had gotten Umbra, but was now too small for the wolf.
Yuna looked a bit odd in the Pomefiore outfit, rather than the Heartsabyl one.
"Um...why are you being so nice to us, Cater-sempai?" asked Yuna quietly.
Rook gave the odd pair a gentle smile.
"Cater is known as the unofficial big brother for a lot of the students here. Knowing him, he saw your situation and decided to take you under his wing like he does so many others," explained Rook.
It wasn't his place to explain Cater's home life after all. Vil suspected that Cater's habit of picking up 'ducklings' as he called them stemmed from the way he was raised. He wanted to fill the void left behind by his mother's abhorrent behavior.
His therapist believed it was a good thing, since it meant Cater hadn't given up on people. Trein had no objections to this odd habit either, since it meant his nephew gained a lot of potential connections he otherwise wouldn't have had.
On the plus side, Yuna and the others would avoid being expelled because Cater had called his uncle, who spoke to Crowley about the replacement stone. Crowley picked it up personally, and was very surprised at the video Cater had taken.
He honestly had no idea there was a monster made of Overblot in the mines to begin with.
And while Cater could have feasibly fabricated the thing, why would he bother going to such effort? He would have had to known in advance they would break the chandelier and head to the mine, and known what an Overblot monster would look like.
Yuna was thoroughly grateful to Cater for letting them borrow his room, especially after seeing the broken window in her new dorm. It wasn't in one of the habitable areas, but the hole brought enough of a breeze that she would have almost certainly gotten sick from it.
Cater enlisted the help of Epel and a few others to help repair the worst of the damage the storm had done. At the very least, the dorm was a bit more habitable, and Yuna planned to make an extensive list of the repairs she would need done.
Yuna was very relieved Vil permitted her to crash in Pomefiore whenever a bad storm was about to hit.