"Remind me again why you're the one leading us? You're just an Omega!"
"Ara, I heard something rude just now. Do you need a reminder of why we're in this mess in the first place Mister Alpha?"
"Ace, just drop it!"
Moonlight spilled from above, revealing the odd quartet. One was a monster, leading the way with his flames. The 'leader' of the group was a female Omega, who strode confidently and clearly wanted to get this headache over with. The two boys, an Alpha and Beta respectively, followed her.
Iris was still annoyed they had gotten into this mess, which for once wasn't actually HER fault. If Ace hadn't skipped out on his punishment, they never would have had to look for him in the first place! And then he just had to get Deuce involved, turning it all into one big catastrophe because he hadn't thought things through and destroyed the expensive décor.
If asked why the two were following an Omega, the reasoning was simple. Iris had no issue scaring the shit out of the other two into complying with her orders, and Grim had been bribed with three cans of tuna if he didn't argue with her.
Their mission was to retrieve a manastone big enough to replace the one that was broken.
"Also, the reason I'm in charge is because out of the four of us, I have the most experience in this sort of thing," said Iris.
Ace grumbled, but otherwise held his tongue. It was more out of manly embarrassment that he complained at all, as he had never followed a female Omega before. All his experiences told him that females, especially omegas, were weak and submissive.
Iris held herself like a queen and took no shit from anyone. She was the furthest thing from 'weak' and 'submissive' as you could get.
"So what's the big deal about this mine anyway?" asked Ace.
"Apparently there's some violent ghosts in there, which is why it was abandoned," said Deuce. "That and it was tapped out centuries ago."
Iris said nothing...ghosts weren't that terrifying in her opinion.
Entering the mine was easy enough, and the ghosts were more interested in scaring them off than trying to actually hurt them.
It was the odd monster with the ink pot that caused the real issue.
"What the heck is that thing?" shouted Ace in shock.
"Who cares, run!"
Iris rolled her eyes, but held up the rear and made sure that the thing didn't make a potshot at them. Once outside, she waited for the boys to calm down.
"Well that was ridiculous," she said.
"Why aren't you freaking out?" asked Ace. Even Deuce was surprised at how calm she was.
"You call that scary. I call it a regular Tuesday," said Iris.
Seeing the look on their faces, Iris shrugged.
"Now what do we do? We can't get the stone with that thing blocking us," said Deuce.
"Then we deal with it," said Iris flatly. "Here's what we're going to do..."
Ace and Deuce followed her lead without a second thought, because they honestly had no better ideas.
It became immediately apparent that Iris wasn't joking about this being an old hat for her...and that she was obviously a battle mage.
Ace looked at Iris with genuine respect, and any thought of being her superior due to the fact he was an alpha and she was a female omega went right out the window.
They managed to return with enough time to spare, and barely avoided being kicked out.
Crowley...was more surprised that Iris was a trained battle mage who's core was badly damage, rather than her being magic-less.
He still counted her and Grim as "one" student though, since Grim was adamant about attending classes.
Later, around 2 in the morning...
Iris' glare at Ace was downright terrifying.
"So let me get this straight...you decided it was a brilliant idea to eat a tart from the fridge without asking...and your housewarden kicked you out and collared you?" said Iris twitching.
"It's totally unfair!" said Ace.
"...I'll let you sleep on the couch, and in the morning we'll clear this up. But you will be apologizing or so help me I'll make your life hell for waking me up," said Iris flatly.
Ace could tell she wasn't joking and meekly took the couch. She was at least nice enough to give him a proper pillow and blanket, as threadbare as they were.
Considering she hadn't had a chance to properly clean up the place, let alone get the necessities beyond throwing a few quick and dirty cleaning charms around her room, she was not looking forward to the inevitable clean up.
Ace was indeed in hot water, but at least there was a chance for him to make amends.
Iris sighed.
"So just to be clear, the only way Ace is going to be allowed back in is if he replaces the tart he ate. Is that correct?"
"Pretty much," said Cater.
"Do you mind if I have a quiet chat with your housewarden to find out which tarts would be acceptable for the party?"
Cater looked dubious.
"Riddle's pretty busy for obvious reasons."
"With how serious he takes the rules of the Queen, I'd rather curtail any issues," said Iris. "From what Ace implied, Riddle has all of them memorized so I'd rather narrow down the list of what is allowed."
Cater blinked at that, as did Ace.
"Let me send him a quick text," said Cater.
Iris perked up at the phone in his hand. While Cater sent the text, she cheerfully asked about his phone.
"You know how to use a phone? I thought those from Avalon were luddites?" said Cater.
"I'm part of the Veela Sisterhood," explained Iris. "When I found out Fleur had a phone that connected to the magical version of the internet, I asked her to help me acquire one for myself since I was bored out of my mind considering I'm on restricted magic use."
With how long her appointments took, the phone was a magic-sent miracle that kept her from being bored to death. It had also enlightened her that not all magical communities were completely in the dark, technology wise. Just the more insular areas like England.
Honestly, she was planning to move to one of those magical countries when she got picked up by the Night Raven carriage and ended up a student.
Riddle looked tired, like he was a piece of butter stretched too thin over too much toast.
Whatever Cater expected, it was not for Iris to walk up to Riddle, toss him over her shoulder and tell Trey in an oddly calm voice that she was kidnapping their housewarden for a few hours before literally teleporting out of their dorm to who knew where. Even Ace was gaping in disbelief.
"Did she seriously just kidnap him?" said Ace.
Trey had a slight panicked look on his expression.
"Cater..."
"Already on it," he said, splitting apart to look for them.
In an undisclosed area...
Riddle looked pissed, and who could blame him.
"Before you say anything or try to use your signature spell... which I agree Ace completely deserved for being such an idiot... I have only one question for you."
"What is that?" said Riddle, his face beet red.
"How do you like your tea?"
"...What?" said Riddle.
"I could tell right off that you were beyond stressed and Ace's stunt wasn't helping. So I kidnapped you to give you a few hours to yourself where you don't have to deal with your dorm and enjoy the peace and quiet," explained Iris.
Riddle stared at her in utter disbelief.
"...Black with two sugars and a slice of lemon," he said finally.
Iris beamed at him. It took her a few minutes, but they soon had a cup of hot tea made exactly how he liked it. Riddle sipped once it was cool enough and detected a slight hint of some sort of potion. Closer inspection revealed it to be a calming draught.
By the second cup (which she hadn't laced) his temper had cooled slightly. It really was good tea.
"Do you mind if I make a general observation? You can tell me if I'm wrong or not after."
"Does this have anything to do with why you kidnapped me so abruptly?" said Riddle.
"Yes," said Iris.
"Then proceed," he said.
Iris' green eyes seemed to peer into his very soul. Riddle shivered slightly, and took note of the way her scent had pervaded the room so subtly he had almost missed it until this point. She wasn't trying to lure him, as there was little point for an Omega to try and lure another Omega, but the scent was oddly comforting in a way he couldn't explain.
"You have one or more parents who have pressured you with unreasonably high standards, and has placed a highly restricted diet on you for reasons of their own personal preference or because they want you as a showpiece for their profession...likely in the medical field in one form or another. This pressure includes high grades, a certain image to be upheld, and has resulted in all your friends being heavily screened to insure they were the 'right' sort," said Iris calmly. "You know something is 'off' but you've been pressured so much by this third party that has some measure of control over your personal life that you have no idea how to break free of their influence, or even if you have the ability to do so."
Riddle had almost dropped his cup in absolute shock. His gray eyes stared at the other Omega in disbelief that she had guessed his relationship with his mother and the extent of her control over his life without having met him once.
"How in the name of the seven did you..." started Riddle, shock evident in his voice.
"One of my best friends, who's practically my sister in all but blood, suffered from an almost identical situation," she explained. "However her parents were mundanes... they had no magic. She once openly stated, at the age of eleven mind you, that being eaten by a bloody Cerberus was preferable to being expelled. After a certain incident she eventually opened up to me what her home life was like in private. It was only because her parents had zero influence on the school that she started to grow into herself and become the woman she is now."
Well...that and the war, but Iris tactfully wasn't going to say as much.
Riddle's confidence had taken an unexpected blow, having the lone female student guess at his home life so easily upon meeting him.
Iris gave him an exasperated sigh, before calmly walking up to him and pulling him into a hug. Riddle stiffened for a moment.
"What are you doing?" he said.
"Hugging you, because clearly you need more than just a few hours to yourself," said Iris firmly.
She had wrapped her scent around him protectively, almost like a cocoon. Some part of him that he had thought was firmly buried wanted to cuddle with her. He rejected the idea outright, as it wasn't proper.
"You do realize that the others are searching for me, right?" said Riddle.
Iris rolled her eyes, but let him go as she felt he had calmed down a bit.
"I would expect no less," she said flatly. "If only because the teachers would get on their ass about it. Are you feeling better?"
Riddle paused, before saying "A little bit."
"Then it was worth the headache of kidnapping you. Though since we still have half a pot of tea left, it would be a waste to leave it."
Riddle smiled at that.
"Agreed."
"Since Ace still owes the dorm for his idiotic stunt, I had a few questions regarding the party and what he can do to fix his mess. Specifically regarding the sort of tarts permitted and which ones are strictly on the banned list," said Iris.
Riddle perked up at that, mostly because he enjoyed talking about the Queen's rules and was rather pleased Iris had at least asked first, rather than make an accidental faux pas.
Something inside him relaxed around the other Omega, as he outlined the rules of an Unbirthday Party...paying particular emphasis on the list of foods that were required or were forbidden.
Treacle tart, as Iris was delighted to learn, was not on the banned list of foods. Riddle had heard of the treat, but had never actually eaten it before.
It took all of ten minutes after leaving the hidden area Iris had taken him to for Cater to find them...and become very puzzled at how much calmer his housewarden was acting. It was highly suspicious, if you asked him.