Chapter Text
Deep-sea fish are so pretty. It's such a shame that they're too far away for everyone to see just how beautiful they are.
That's all that ran through Riddle's head the first time he visited an aquarium; it was for an elementary field trip his mother begrudgingly signed the permission slip for.
She couldn't fathom what learning about aquatic life would do for her son's future prospects, but it would look bad on her if Riddle were the only child not to go.
It was much to Riddle's delight; it was his first time ever going somewhere so bright and colourful. The young boy was left awestruck by every exhibit they passed through.
His big grey eyes lit up at a glimpse of a world he had never seen before. He would trail behind the rest of his class, eyes lingering on each tank they passed.
Before long, Riddle had found himself separated from his assigned group.
By the time he had realised what had happened, an almost eerie silence fell over the once lively rooms, which he had been too caught up to notice.
His little heart began to race as panic set in, the boy hurried his step in hopes of catching up to his class.
He passed through countless tanks that just moments ago brought him so much wonder, now feeling endless.
What was more than his fear of getting lost was the thought of what his mother, what would she think? What would she say? Just how disappointed would she be to find out he was reckless enough to get separated?
He mindlessly wandered around, not noticing he had entered a dim section of the aquarium that was unfamiliar to him.
It was a rather quaint so much so that most people wouldn't have given a second look, on the right side of the room was a large tank taking up most of the wall.
Inside was a variety of deep sea fish swimming about, their luminescent scales lighting up their surroundings ever so effortlessly.
Riddle skittishly took a step towards the enclosure, his eyes fixated on the tank before latching onto an eel that was floating at the bottom.
It seemed to disregard everything around it, instead choosing to freely lurch at the bottom by itself.
And for a second, even then as a child, Riddle felt it was silly, but it was as though the eel looked back at him, holding his wide-eyed stare, his eyes had dried out before he had even realised he'd been crying.
It's weird, he never thought his eyes would land on another eel after that day.
-
“Earth to Riddle, hello?” Trey waved his hand in front of the boy's face, trying to get his attention.
Snapping Riddle out of his zone-out state, his eyes landed back onto a rather concerned-looking Trey.
“Ah- I'm sorry for scaring you.” Riddle cleared his throat, patting himself down; he wasn't too sure why he'd been zoning out so much recently.
“I must just be tired.”, Riddle waved Trey off as if trying to lessen his concern.
He'd done so much for him after the whole overblot incident, no ever since they first met, it infuriated him just how much he made him worry.
“Oh yeah, the sophomores totes have their big chemistry exam coming up, studious as always Rids!” Cater popped up from behind Trey, placing both his hands around him, interlocking him in an ambush embrace.
“Naturally, as Housewarden it's imperative my scores stay impeccable.” Riddle puffed out his chest with a proud look on his face as he spoke.
“You know you shouldn't put too much pressure on yourself, you can always ask for help, I can give you some of my notes-”
It didn't take too long for Trey to realise what he had just said. Cater looking back at him with one eyebrow raised, was telling enough.
Neither one of them were particularly good at studying, despite the fact both of them were Juniors. Riddle wiped the floor with them academically.
He IS the top of all of his classes after all, if anything, they should be the ones begging Riddle for help.
“Say, what you've been working so hard, how about I bake you a tart?”
By now, this seemed to be Trey's go to line, but that didn't stop Riddle from perking up at the suggestion with an excited look he tried to suppress.
“Maybe later Trey, I think some fresh air would do me good.” The red haired boy stood up rather abruptly the moment he had made up his mind.
Leaving behind two rather concerned juniors on his way out.
-
His mind began to rush as he walked out of the dorm. A blast of cold air hit him as he passed through the rose garden.
Despite the fact that it was getting dark, his eyes instinctively landed on the rose bushes.
He could feel his face burn up, his teeth clench as he noticed the roses weren't painted red, there were three no, four white roses someone was begging to be beheaded- just what was he saying?
He took a deep breath, unclenching his fists before continuing his walk through the garden
He was still getting used to the whole being Riddle Rosehearts thing.
He was no longer the Rose red tyrant, well he was trying his hardest to discard the title, but every step towards felt like a rope tightening around his throat.
He didn't even know where to begin with being normal, and more importantly, he couldn't stand the pitying glances of all those in Heartslabyul.
He was meant to be someone for them to look up to, someone they could rely on, instead, he was being constantly treated like he could snap at any moment, not that he could particularly blame any of them for that; he felt all the more helpless at the thought of making them all worry on his behalf.
He didn't even know when he'd ended up in the main building; it seemed to be muscle memory leading him back into the library.
As he had done it a dozen times over since enrolling, pacing through the shelves of books before settling down at one of the tables with his textbooks.
it was a good thing that it was getting dark; it meant there was nobody else in the library, most students had already turned in their dorms for the night.
It was just him and his books, the dim library lighting and the solace of his chemistry textbook.
Studying was one of the things that now just came naturally to him, without having to worry about snapping and hurting anyone around him; it was just him and his…
“Woaha goldfishie whatcha doing here so late?”
Riddle jerked up almost instinctively. Feeling his heart stuck in his throat as he swung his head around to glare at the boy behind him
“Ack Floyd..!” Riddle exclaimed, off all people, it just had to be him in the library right now, just his luck.
As soon as he'd opened his mouth to usher him away, Floyd had already moved around the stunned boy, grabbing his chemistry textbook off the desk in front him.
“Aren't you already like suuupperrr good at chemistry, I know cus Jade goes on and on bout it.” Floyd flipped through all the pages artificially before looking down at Riddle with a wide grin on his face.
“I don't need to explain myself to yo- ugh give that back!” Riddle jumped out of his seat.
He tried his hardest to retrieve his book from the taller boy's grasp, only to have Floyd move his arm higher every time he tried reaching for it.
“Gyahaha Goldfishie, have you always been this short-” not sparring another second, Riddle stepped down with his heel onto Floyd's foot, causing him to drop what he had been holding as he recoiled back in shock, more than any real pain
Riddle smuggly collected his book from the floor, looking back at Floyd with a patronising smile as he placed it back onto his desk.
“Auhhh you're too cruel~” Floyd groaned in an over-exaggerated tone before pulling out a seat on the other side of the desk, crashing down onto it completely uninvited, all whilst laying his head down on the desk, looking up at Riddle
“What are you doing here? Isn't it late? I'd have thought you had some crazy strict rules bout curfew,” Riddle scoffed at both his comment and actions so far.
Despite this, he didn't demand that he leave or go off on him; instead pulling out his own chair before sitting down across from him.
If anything, there was a strange side to him that was glad it was Floyd of all people here with him, though he'd never admit it out loud.
He didn't have to hold himself back around Floyd; Sevens knew he could handle Riddle at his worst, nor did he have to use any basic courtesy with him. The Moray lacked all manners after all.
Unlike his brother, who was overly polite to the point of being dishonest and unreadable, Floyd wasn't hiding anything; there was a sense of transparency to Floyd that Riddle found oddly intriguing.
“It's certainly none of your concern. I'm not here to converse with you, I-” Riddle glanced back down at Floyd.
Being met with a pair of gold and grey eyes earnestly looking back up at him from the desk in a way that caused him to trail off mid-sentence.
Riddle sighed, meeting the other boy's gaze before looking away, slightly embarrassed by the eye contact.
“I needed some place to clear my head, though it isn't your business.” Riddle huffed.
Floyd let out a half-hearted chuckle, his eyes tracing Riddle's desk before landing back onto the red-haired boy, pursing his lips before speaking.
“Yknow, not alot guys are strong enough to upturn their entire lives and not go crazy.. woah goldfishies really cool.”
Riddle could practically feel his heart leap out of his chest as he froze up, completely stunned. Did he hear that right? Was that a compliment? And from Floyd, no less, was he feeling ok?
Maybe he stepped on his foot too hard back then, and it-
No, he was mocking him; he had to be. How dare he? He knew how hard he was working to change, and yet, there that eel was making fun of his efforts directly to his face.
Riddle felt his face burn up before glaring down at Floyd, all his animosity vanishing in a split second; there was no trace of mockery on his face or his usual smug grin after he'd said something to rile up Riddle.
Instead, the boy wore a soft expression as he glanced back up at him.
Riddle felt himself go red for a completely different reason now.