Cater wasn't sure how to feel, as this was the first real family reunion he had been invited to. He knew she would likely be there as well, but he was done taking her toxicity.
Besides, his father had finally gotten around to looking into the strange transactions made on his account before he closed it, and had likely figured out something was amiss.
Professor Trein was dressed more casually than Cater had ever seen him. It was unsurprising the man had been in Pomefiore during his days as a student.
"Are you ready for this?" said Trein.
"Would it matter if I wasn't? I'd have to get it over at some point and this matter is long overdue," said Cater.
"Richard said he'd be there, if only to keep his wife in check."
And because Cater had made it abundantly clear he wasn't going to talk to his father unless it was face to face.
As they went through the portal, the first thing Cater noticed...was Cadence hugging him tightly.
"You came! I was beginning to think you wouldn't!"
"Professor Trein made it clear I didn't have a choice," said Cater flatly.
"We're outside school grounds. You are permitted to call me Uncle," he replied.
"It's still weird," said Cater. Just because they had acknowledged their blood ties didn't mean he would ever get used to calling the man 'uncle'.
Prudence looked her brother over.
"You look a lot better," she said. "Though I have to ask, where did you learn etiquette like that?"
"I'm a member of Pomefiore, which is big on appearances. Learning etiquette makes it easier to calm the housewarden from one of his snits," said Cater smoothly. Which wasn't a complete lie, as it did calm Vil down...but he had learned it to keep Riddle in check.
"His manners are surprisingly adequate," said Trein. Which was about as high a praise as he planned to give.
"Lucius looks as handsome as ever!" said Cadence, cooing over the cat.
Cater looked at the large number of people, some of which he recognized. Mostly because he had attempted to reach out to his family for help, only to be ruthlessly shot down.
He kept his mouth shut and let his sister's do all the talking. Pretty much everyone there were shocked to learn they even had a younger brother, and the resemblance was so strong that no one denied it. Having Trein back it up only cemented the fact.
It was dizzying, and having so many eyes on him was rather nerve wracking. Fortunately there were some adult beverages nearby.
At first he thought Trein would veto the idea...instead he poured him a small amount of strong wine.
"I'll permit it this once," he said.
"Thanks," said Cater. He sipped it properly, rather than chug it. It was the good stuff, as he could tell from the first sniff. Unnoticed by him were the looks of approval from certain adults, most of whom gave Trein the side eye for supplying alcohol to a minor.
Cater wouldn't be old enough to properly drink until next year anyway, but small amounts of wine were considered socially acceptable.
And then...it happened.
She saw him and became enraged to the point she was unable to properly hide it.
"What are you doing here? You don't belong here!"
Cater stared her down, and rather than cower like she expected, glared right back.
"Hello, mother," he said calmly. He swirled the wine a bit more before downing the remainder. "Were you really unaware of the actual reason my sisters put this party together?"
She glared at him, staring daggers into him.
Cater could honestly care less. After spending ten years of her systematically ruining his life and insuring he never made it out of the mire she had put him in, he had lost the ability to give a damn about her opinion.
"Cater," said his father.
Cater merely nodded in acknowledgment. While he had never actively participated in his wife's handiwork, he still shouldered part of the blame. After all, if he had been more present in their lives then maybe it would have never escalated this far.
"Did you ever figure out what was going on with my old account?" asked Cater calmly.
His father gave his wife the side eye. It seemed he had figured it out alright, or he had a strong suspicion.
Cater watched as his mother was forced to seethe in relative silence...for her. She was beyond livid the family was now aware of her son's existence.
Cater felt zero remorse, especially since now her own actions were being called into question. It felt very vindicating watching the distant relatives he never had a chance to meet go up to his mother and demand an explanation for why she never brought her 'delightful/charming/well mannered' son around.
It almost made him cackle at the beginning of some well deserved karma.
Instead he made the rounds of all the relatives who had turned him down before and poured on the charm. It took less than five minutes for the women to fall in love with him and the men to show a grudging respect towards him.
With Trein...
His nephew was certainly winning over the family in short order. Richard wandered over, as his wife was too apoplectic to be allowed near their son.
"I assume you've discovered the source of the discrepancy?" asked Trein, sipping his wine.
"She had a second card linked to his account in her possession," said Richard in disgust. "She was under the impression he had frozen the account, rather than empty it entirely."
Tracking down the source of the odd transactions had lead him down a rabbit hole he wasn't particularly pleased with. Learning his wife had been leeching off his son, despite the fact he earned more than enough to make such things unnecessary, had come as a nasty blow to their marriage.
Learning his son had gone to such extremes to protect his future, more so. He was still trying to find what bank Cater used to deliver the back-pay of allowance he was due...among other things.
"He won't forgive her, you know," commented Trein.
"I am aware. I'll be lucky if he ever trusts me again," said Richard.
With Cater
Cater was about to make another run to the food table when his nose caught the scent of something both comforting and familiar. Without thinking twice, he made a beeline for the source. He found a grumpy old man with an all too familiar bottle of mead.
"Is that twenty year old Fairest Apple mead?" he asked hopeful.
The man paused in his drinking, and looked at him.
"How do you know what type of bottle this is?" he asked, looking at Cater intently.
"I'd recognize that scent anywhere," said Cater. It was his preferred brand of liquor. "The bottle shape told me the vintage."
The man seemed to size him up for a moment, before he nodded to the seat. Cater cheerfully sat down...he had been doing a bit too much walking anyway today.
He poured a small amount of the mead into a clean glass, pushed it towards him, and Cater happily accepted. He took a good sip of the stuff and relaxed.
"It's nearly impossible to find any decent bottles of Fairest Apple," said Cater.
"I know. The people who distribute it are rather picky about where they sell to, so it's nearly impossible to find. If only I could find where the source was, I'd buy it in bulk directly," he commiserated.
"It's in Harveston," said Cater without hesitation. "The reason they're so picky is because the area is super rural and there's very few young folk in the area willing to stick around."
The man's eyebrows went up.
"Are you serious?"
Cater nodded, as he used to get the mead shipped direct from Epel. When he had asked why it was so hard to find, Epel had explained how they had trouble delivering it due to the fact that Harveston was super rural and they had few people capable of making the deliveries. Things were getting better, but they still needed new blood in the area.
"From what I recall from a friend of mine, they have trouble selling their stock because most people rarely come to visit such a rural place," said Cater. "I make a point to order direct from the families that own the orchards, so it doesn't go through any middlemen."
The man rubbed his scraggly beard.
"Any suggestions on who to contact?"
"The Felmier family. I have it on good authority they have a sizable orchard, and from what I recall the grandmother of the family used to be the leader of a champion sled team," said Cater.
The man poured some more mead into the glass.
"Glad to see someone in the family has sense. Most of the family looks down on me for working for my money, and for enjoying such a 'cheap' liquor," he complained.
"Ugh, tell me about it," said Cater emphatically. "Don't get me wrong, I love my sisters...but most of the family is a tad elitist and looks down on people who make minimum wage out of necessity."
Trein found his nephew polishing off a bottle of what was clearly liquor talking animatedly with one of the less liked members of the family. There wasn't anything wrong with the man, outside of the fact he worked a blue collar job. However the two of them were clearly getting along like two peas from the same pod.
It was the first time he'd seen Cater properly relax.
Cater did spend a few minutes alone with his father, where they were able to sort out his allowance. His father felt incredibly guilty for not noticing the issue sooner, and increased what Cater would be getting on top of giving him the back-dated amount.
On the plus side, he wouldn't have to scrimp and save for his lunch anymore. And at least this time his mother wouldn't be able to access the cash directly.
"There you are!"
Malleus paused in his walk to find Cater having tracked him down with his familiar.
"May I help you, Cater Diamond?" asked Malleus.
"You do realize there was a housewarden meeting scheduled today, right?" said Cater, catching his breath.
"There is?" he said confused.
"If we get moving now, we should be able to make it before the meeting starts. With Leona around it's unlikely they'll start for another thirty minutes," said Cater.
Malleus was still confused as to why Cater had tracked him down.
Cater had to admit he was rather amused at the look on everyone's face seeing Malleus at a mundane housewarden meeting, considering his habit of forgetting them.
Leona glared at Malleus, which had Cater rolling his eyes.
"I must admit, I'm impressed you actually made it to once," said Riddle to Malleus.
"I tracked him down, since Vil complained about him missing the meetings all the time," said Cater.
Leona snorted at that.
"He could have kept missing them, for all I care. No one wants the lizard here," said Leona.
Cater was so bored from this tedious that he decided to poke the bear...er, lion.
"That's rich from someone who paid Ruggie to be his babysitter, I mean minion," said Cater. "How much pestering did he have to do in order to get you to attend last week's budget meeting?"
Leona growled.
Everyone else (most of whom were just as bored as Cater and sensed prime entertainment for once) sat back and watched the free show Cater was all too happy to provide.
Malleus found himself asking Riddle while Cater continued to poke the lion's patience, "Is it normally like this?"
"I wish," he admitted. "We only really get a show like this when Vil is at work and Cater has to sub."
Malleus watched fascinated as Cater played Leona like a fiddle. However he managed to avoid crossing the line of truly pissing off the Savanaclaw housewarden. Perhaps he should pay more attention to the time of these meetings if he could get this sort of entertainment.
