cross post, not like this will be noticed lmao

Ever since Crowley allowed (read: gave in to the demands of the students) the tsum creatures to stay in Night Raven College, the environment had more or less become more relaxed and pleasant. As if saying thanks, the same wormhole that bought the first group of tsums reappeared over Ramshackle and out came the remaining lookalike creatures. It was as if everyone had their own little sibling or baby to take care of. Sometimes the tsums would start acting bratty and the only way to get them to calm down was to have them gather in an open area and stack into a pyramid. Which also meant having to interrupt class to do just that.

Luckily, they were easy to care for and were described as "good little dumplings" and every other food-related noun that fit their appearance.

Which brings us to a certain influencer's bedroom inside the lovely Heartslabyul dorm.

Tucked away in the little orange blanket was the owner, Cater Diamond. And in his arms, was his tsum (or his "adorbs little baby" as he liked to call it). Though his owner was deep sleep, the tsum was not. He simply laid there with his eyes wide open, seemingly having a hard time trying to catch some Z's. Something felt missing but what could it be? He was in a quiet comfy room and he had double the warmth heating his little body: the blanket and the hug of his owner...or would mother be a more appropriate term? He overheard some jokes of Cater and Malleus being a father and mother whenever all three of them were spotted together.

Oh! That's it!

Malleus was the one missing!

Faes were naturally nocturnal so he would still be awake at this time.

Carefully as to not awaken his owner, Cater Tsum slipped out of his owner's loose grip and made his way to the open window. Giving the sleeping human one last look, the tsum jumped and landed on the soft patch of grass, letting out a squeaky sound upon making contact. Thank the Sevens for having a squishy body! Cater Tsum shook off some of the grass blades that stuck to his body and began to make his way in finding the exit out of Heartslabyul.

Where IS the exit anyway? This world is so big for a little tsum! All he could see were hedges and the occassional white roses, some of them being half painted in red. Cater Tsum decided to do some trial and error and went through every open pathway he could access to see if he was getting closer or farther away from the exit.

Thump, thump, thump...

Footsteps! That must be Riddle doing his nightly curfew check!

Thinking quickly, the tsum wiggled his little body to charge and launched himself into the hedge to hide from the housewarden. Riddle came to a stop and eyed one of the hedges. "Hmm...I thought I heard something..." He examined the foliage for a few minutes before shrugging and went off.

What a close call! After no new footsteps could be heard, Cater Tsum jumped out of the hedge and shook off the leaves that got stuck. He bounced on the path that Riddle took, thinking that it would lead him to the exit.

And there it was! The streetlights came into view and the tsum immediately exited the dorm. Out came the little tsum tumbling out of the Heartslabyul mirror and into the mirror hall. Now to figure out which one led to Diasomnia. But there were so many mirrors! It was as if all seven of them looked the same with minor aesthetic differences.

Cater Tsum thought for a moment and decided to head to the mirror on his right.

Savanaclaw

Hot! Too hot! This was definitely the wrong mirror! The tsum landed on a (hopefully fake) skull and squinted his eyes to analyze his surroundings. Was the moon always that bright? Some of the dorm lights were still lit, indicating that a few of the residents were still up and about. Cater Tsum jumped down from the skull and decided to explore the dorm he had just entered before he left.

He kept his squeaky noises as low as possible to prevent the others from waking up and catching him (or worse, would they eat him?). There were lots of rocks everywhere he went, along with really big trees that provided a nice shade every morning. Without noticing, the tsum had climbed a set of stairs and found himself in the Spelldrive training area.

It was a really vast and wide area, perfectly made for players. But what caught his attention was the really big ring at the end of the court. The tsum, feeling a little playful, decided to have some fun. He positioned himself at a suitable distance from the ring and began to wiggle to charge up some power.

Boing!

Cater Tsum launched himself through the ring and slipped perfectly through the big ring. What he did not take into account was that he was literally heading straight to a wall. Not like he cared, until...

SMACK!

A loud squeaky sound echoed as the tsum made contact into the wall and bounced right off it. The tsum landed on the ground with another squeak as he tried to recover from what just happened.

"Oi, who's there?" A deep voice asked. Uh oh! Someone heard it! Scrambling, Cater Tsum hid behind a tall rock and peered out of the corner as the dorm's housewarden momentarily came out to check his surroundings. "This ain't funny if it was a joke..." Leona grumbled, before going back inside to resume his sleep. After deeming the coast clear, Cater Tsum went out of his hiding spot and exited Savanaclaw to enter the next mirror.

Octavinelle

If tsums had mouths, could speak and had one important tidbit to tell their owners, it's that they can't swim. They can float but cannot do doggie paddles to save themselves. As soon as Cater Tsum stepped inside, he felt himself float and desparately moved his little hands and feet to stay grounded. He tried to breathe through his nose as he (poorly) swam to the entrance of the dorm, silently praying that the inside is dry.

And thankfully, he was right. As soon as he entered, he fell to the floor with a squeak and dried himself off. It was very quiet and the lights were off, giving him a challenge to navigate through the darkness. Gently bouncing to make quiet squeaks, he explored the aquatic dorm, stopping momentarily to admire some little fishes that would sometimes pass by.

"Ahaha~! What do we have here~?" A sing-song voice rang. Oh no, that didn't sound like a good sign! Cater Tsum looked behind him and was face to face with Floyd Tsum's owner. "Oh! It's Seabream's tsum!" Floyd picked up the little orange tsum and dangled him in front of his face. The tsum struggled in his grip, trying to free himself and escape the dorm.

As if to mock him, the eel booped his nose with his finger. "Awww, calm down~" He cooed but it didn't soothe the tsum. "You know, I was gonna have a midnight snack but now I wanna do something fun with you!" Floyd proposed, making the tsum stare at him with wide eyes. What fun? Was it gonna involve being cut open and have his cotton insides taken out?

"I've always wondered..." He began as he walked to one of the very exquisite fish tanks in the lounge. "Can tsums that take after their humans swim?" And that was his cue to break free from the scary eel's grip and get out of here. Cater Tsum began to swing violently and charged straight to Floyd's face, knocking him down. "Yeouch!" He yelped, releasing his hold on the tsum and allowing him to exit Octavinelle but not before going through another torturous swimming round back to the mirror hall and to the next dorm.

Scarabia

If Savanaclaw was hot, this dorm was hotter. Cater Tsum felt like his skin was going to melt off from simply standing in the environment. Was this a dorm or a desert? The tsum made his way to the entrance and found a beautiful fountain illuminated by the lights. Rad! That looks totally cammable! Though sadly he didn't have his owner's phone to take a picture of it. He remembered that he was feeling hot and decided to take a splash inside the fountain. Luckily everyone was asleep so hopefully no one will catch him, right?

"Ooh! You look cute!" A cheerful voice said. The tsum stopped what he was doing and was carefully picked up by a pair of hands. "I was wondering why I was hearing splashing sounds. You're really adorable!" Kalim squealed, pressing his cheek against the tsum's. What a friendly guy, not like the other one who was planning to drown him.

"Are you lost?" He asked. The tsum bounced in response. "Haha! I sometimes get lost too and need Jamil to come find me! Here, I'll let you out. Good luck with your adventure!" Kalim gently let Cater Tsum down and he did a tiny wave before he left the dorm, now cooled off after having a soak in the fountain.

Pomefiore

This still wasn't his right destination...but by the Sevens, that was a beautiful castle! The apple lights were a nice touch on the exterior, now he wished he had his owner's smartphone. The gate was locked to keep intruders out so maybe this time, no one will see him. Cater Tsum quietly bounced as he took his time to admire his surroundings and...wait, is that a well? The tsum climbed the well and peered inside it. Nothing but water in it. Maybe he thought it was the wishing kind where it was full of coins.

As he prepared to climb down, an arrow headed straight for him struck the well's roof. Cater Tsum jumped in surprise and fell on the stone pavement, letting out a soft squeak. "Fufu~ I have missed~" A thick voice said. The tsum looked up to a see a blonde man holding a bow and arrow, which caused fear to slightly crawl up his spine(?). "Oh la la! You must be une petite version of Monsieur Magicam!" Rook picked up the tsum with his fingers and booped his nose. "Truly his beauty was carefully replicated in such a delicate creature! Perfect for Roi du Dragons!"

Cater Tsum pretended not to hear whatever what Rook was saying (who's Monsieur Magicam and Roi du Dragons anyway?) and bonked him on the forehead to free himself. "Gah!" Rook flinched and clutched his head in pain as the tsum began to bounce away from the tall weirdo in the Pomefiore dorm uniform. Not today, sir! No thank you!

Ignihyde

Unlike the others, this dorm had that really mysterious vibe and aura. The hallway was completely barren, save for the rare ones who only got out to pick up snacks or do their own thing. Still, Cater Tsum decided to explore and find someone or something that could at least tell him where Malleus was. On the walls were blue screens that flashed some important looking data that was not important to him. The tsum soon found himself in the very empty lounge, with the same screens flashed in the center.

If he touched that, would he get a map? He learned not to mess with other's things without permission so he just went the opposite direction. "Hello!" He heard a young voice greet him. Cater Tsum looked up and saw the adorable face of an android. He gestured a tiny wave to the young boy. "What are you doing out here?" Ortho asked as he knelt down to the tsum's level. The tsum just stared at him in response. "Oh, I forgot you don't have mouths..." The android remembered.

Ortho picked up the tsum and led him out of the dorm. "I wish I can help you but I need to keep an eye on big brother. Bye bye!" He waved to Cater Tsum, who returned the gesture before going back to the mirror hall.

Mirror Hall

Ugh! This was tough! Finding Malleus was a lot harder than he expected. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. His owner could find him easily but since he was by himself, it was a really big challenge. One half of him wanted to give up, call it a night and go back to Heartslabyul but the other half urged him to keep going. There was one more mirror he hadn't check so he might as well give it a try. If he failed there, he would be extremely upset.

Mustering up the courage, the tsum headed for the final mirror.

Diasomnia

Cater Tsum adjusted his eyes as he analyzed his surroundings to check if he was in the right dorm. 24/7 dark clouds? Thorns? Black castle? This was definitely it! The tsum began to happily bounce and make his way inside the dorm, letting out happy squeaks. As if on cue, the tsum could see Lilia and...Malleus! There he was! Cater Tsum sped up his bounces and charged straight to the dragon.

"Oho? What do we have here?" Lilia giggled as the orange tsum began to happily smoosh his chubby cheek against Malleus'. "Seems like your little baby is excited to see you, Malleus." He teased, watching Malleus blush a little.

"W-We are not going through that stage yet, Lilia." Malleus reminded then turned his attention to the tsum. "Hm? What is it you want?" He asked. The tsum got down the dragon's shoulders and faced the opposite direction. "You want me to follow you?" He interpreted, making the tsum bounce.

"Don't be shy, Malleus. After all, it's important to spend intimate time with the person you love." The shorter fae said smugly, as if he was implying other things.

"L-Lilia!" Malleus stuttered, making his guardian laugh.

"I'll tell Sebek where you are in the morning. Run along now." Lilia ceased his laughter and watched as Malleus and his "baby" (as he jokingly called) exited Diasomnia and into the mirror hall to get to Heartslabyul.

"Fufu. Young love..."

Back in Heartslabyul

Success! Cater Tsum finally found Malleus and led him to his owner's bedroom window. The two quietly and gently climbed through, being careful not to disturb and awaken the sleeping human. "Ah, so this is why..." Malleus let out a soft giggle as he watched the tsum re-enter Cater's hug and softly bounced, indicating him to also join the bed. "Alright, alright." Fortunately, he was already in his sleepwear so the dragon gently slipped under the covers and wrapped his arm around his boyfriend and the tsum. "Goodnight, my love." He whispered, kissing Cater and the tsum's forehead.

Maybe calling the tsum their baby in their future family wouldn't be bad.

The next morning...

"M-Malleus?! What are you doing here in my room?!"

"I believe you have your tsum to thank for that..."