Work Text:
“I am so so sorry”
Cater blinked the light out of his eyes, having just been clotheslined by a flying spell from across the common room. He got up off the floor, and brushed himself off. It was fine, just a little practical magic accident. He didn’t seem injured so it was fine. It didn’t even seem like there were any effects.
“Hey man, don’t worry. I’m fine, it doesn't even seem like it did anything,” Cater consoled the second year heartslabyul student. “Don’t stress okay?”
“Okay,” the student sniffed, looking terrified.
“What spell were you trying to do, if you don’t mind saying?” Even if he was fine, it was best to know.
“Just a lie detection spell, we’ve been learning it recently but I haven’t gotten it to work yet.”
“Okay, good luck. Be a little more careful doing magic in the common room okay?”
“Okay.”
It was in fact, not okay.
The first indication came about 20 minutes later, when he ran into Kalim.
“Hey Cater! How’s your day been?”
“Oh it’s been great!” Cater responded, out of habit. But as soon as the last word escaped his mouth, it felt like fire wrapped around his throat. His airway started to close up and his eyes watered. He wanted to cough out a breath, but when he opened his mouth, words spilled unbidden from his lips. “It’s been sucky actually.”
“Cater? Oh my god what happened? Are you okay?” Kalim cried as he stared, horrified, as Cater bent, gasping for air, hands reaching for his own throat.
“Yeah, no biggie, I’ll be fi-” Cater started, blinking through receding pain and straightening up, only to have it immediately flare up again. “I’m actually totes panicking because I think I’ve been hit by a truth spell!” Shit he didn’t mean to say that.
“Oh my gosh! Is it hurting you? Do you need help? I could ask Jamil-”
“No! No, that's okay.” Must be the truth. “I just need to not say anything untrue.” Easier said than done, but he didn’t have to tell Kalim that. He just planned on saying nothing at all.
“Oh. I guess if you think it’s best. I could come with- wait oh no! I forgot my magic pen, I need to head back to Scarabia!”
“You should do that! I’ll be fine-” Cater began to feel the pain closing in, but Kalim already left. “I will absolutely not be fine.”
Lie detection spells are only supposed to inform the caster of a lie, not hurt the subject. But if the spell had been done wrong…
And he didn’t know how long it would last either. Incorrectly cast spells had unpredictable side effects, and lasted until the magic wore out, since the spells usually imposed time limit wouldn’t take effect unless done correctly.
“I’m fucked.” It was an undeniable truth.
He managed to avoid talking to people in his whole first class, which was great. He still didn’t totally understand how the spell worked but he hoped he could keep it from activating until break when he could talk to Crewel about it or something. Alchemy was his next class anyway. He entered the room to see-
“Idia!” Idia waved back hesitantly. He barely ever came to class in person, so it was a surprise to see him, even in alchemy he tried to not have to come. Cater was both happy and upset to see his boyfriend. Although it was a relief to see him when he was having such a bad day, they hadn’t told anyone about their relationship, and the truth spell might make things… awkward.
He and Idia ended up paired for the class activity, which had Cater sighing in relief. Idia didn’t talk much when in class, and hadn’t asked him any questions. Cater watched Idia measuring valerian root with his tongue stuck out in concentration. He was momentarily distracted from his worries by how cute Idia looked while concentrating.
“Cater, can you hand me that?” Idia asked, but Cater was just staring into space. “Cater?” He tried again. “Cater!”
“Hm?”
“My dude! I’ve been calling you for like a minute! What has you so distracted?”
Cater kept his mouth resolutely shut. He would not lie, but he would not tell the truth either. Slowly, the pain crept in. Damn it! He was hoping there wasn’t a component that would force him to speak. “I was just thinking,” he spoke as though being held at gunpoint, “how you’re so charming in the way you stick out your tongue while concentrating, and I just want to kiss the little line between your eyebrows.” He slapped a hand over his own mouth, immediately swiveling his head around to see if anyone was listening. They weren’t.
Idia’s hair flared pink, and he stuttered out a “Wh-what?”
DAMN IT. “I said you’re so charming in the way you stick out your tongue while concentrating, and I just want to kiss the little line between your eyebrows.” Cater repeated, against his will.
“That’s- that’s nice. Can you not tell me that in class? You’re gonna make me spill acid everywhere.”
“No.”
“No, what?”
“No I can’t not tell you that in class if you ask what I’m distracted by.”
“Oh- okay?” Idia looked positively baffled, but seemed to go with the strategy of pretending everything was normal. “Just hand me the snail slime then.”
They continued on in awkward silence. Their potion was almost done, it just needed one more ingredient. Cater grabbed behind him blindly while still stirring, failing to put his hands on what he needed.
“What do you want?” Idia asked, looking around at all the various ingredients on the table.
“I want to be back in your room instead of in class. I want this day to be over. I want to not be scared to be myself. I want my family not to hate me. I wan-”
“Stop!” Idia cried over Cater’s litany. “What is going on with you?!”
Oh no. Cater didn’t want to speak, a question like that could have him saying way too-
“I’ve been trying to keep my mouth shut the whole class because I’ve been hit by a misfired truth spell,” Cater looked increasingly panicked as the words spilled out but the spell gave no regard to what he wanted. Students who were finished with their potions began to look around at him, but he couldn’t stop. “I want to stay silent but I can’t avoid answering a direct question. I’m distracted because I’m terrified you’ll ask me something vague-like you just did- that forces me to reveal too much, because usually I lie more than I tell the truth. I don’t even know what will come out of my mouth because I don’t know what the truth is about me. I was so glad to see you because I’m having a terrible day, but I’ve been worried the whole class that I’ll be forced to tell you how I’m so badly in love with you but I’m worried we aren’t ready for that so if I tell you I might lose everything. I keep having to decline my mother’s calls because she cannot speak to me while I’m like this.” Cater’s mouth just kept moving, and he couldn’t stop it. Rather than continue to spill his guts over “What was going on with him” He chose what he thought might be the next best option, grabbed his bag, and ran, words spilling behind him detailing every thought that was currently ‘going on.’
“I’m running because I don’t know how to stop speaking after a question that vague and I’m freaked out that I don’t know how long this spell will last. If I can’t stop spilling my thoughts with no filter, everyone will know too much about me, so I’m leaving to isolate myself until this stops.” He slapped a hand over his mouth as he continued detailing every recent thought in a garbled mumble. He ducked his head and slowed to a walking pace, trying to blend in with the few other students released from class early. It took all his concentration to quiet his truths to a whisper, and he pretended to be on his phone to explain the mumbling. He continued to Heartslabyul, seeming to exhaust current ‘goings on’ after one last horrifying admission.
“This is the worst spell that could’ve hit me because there isn’t even one person I feel okay telling the truth to.” He whispered as he rounded the corner to the mirror chamber.
“Mr. Diamond.”
Professor Crewel must’ve booked it here to reach the mirror chamber before Cater, but here he was. With…Idia?
“You’ve been hit with an incorrectly performed spell, yes?”
“Yes.” Cater responded. Not like he had a choice.
“And you decided not to report it? Bad puppy.”
“No. I was fully planning to report it, but I didn’t want to tell anyone something was wrong so I figured I’d wait until break. I almost made it too, but it would've been better to just commit and report it right away. It was so much worse to have to hit post on every thought I was having.”
“Alright, let’s go to my office.” Crewel said flatly. “I’ll get you sorted out.” He cracked his riding crop into his palm to emphasize the statement.
Cater looked at the floor. “Just don’t ask me anything okay?”
They all headed back across campus. Once they arrived in Crewel’s office, the teacher said he needed some devices to analyze the spell, and that he’d be back soon.
Idia and Cater stared at each other. “Why did you come with?” Cater asked finally.
“I wanted to know you were okay.”
“And? It takes a lot to get you out and about. What else is there?”
“I don’t know!” Idia said defensively. “You really freaked me out. I would’ve been spiraling in my room after everything. What if you weren’t okay? What if you never forgive me for those questions? I just needed to stay with you.”
“Oh.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“No! I won’t be able to not answer. What if-” He cut off, clipping his tone quickly and looking away.
“What if what? Oh shit sorr-” it was too late. Even if Idia hadn’t meant to ask, the question had already taken hold. With another Grimace, Cater began to speak.
“What if I have to tell you the truth and you don’t like it. What if you don’t like,” Cater forces his lips shut, his face twists as he tries not to say whatever he’s about to say. “What if you don’t like me?” It comes out soft and broken.
“Cay- that’s, I,” Idia starts and stops several times, then mutters to himself for a second, although Cater catches most of it, used to Idia’s muttering anyway. “How the hell do you convince someone who is already amazing that they’re amazing if they wouldn’t believe it? This is so out of my wheelhouse, I was never good with character interaction.”
And then, right in the middle of another mutter, Idia looks up at Cater’s expression. “Oh blast it,” He says and yanks Cater into the space between where they are sitting and kisses him. “I love you Cater Diamond, but why,” he kisses him again, “are you so confusing?! Do you know what kind of mixed signals it is to tell someone you love them,” Idia says pulling away, and going right in for another kiss, “and then tell them they wouldn’t like the real you in the same day?” He plants a kiss on Cater’s forehead, and then hurupmhs back into his chair, with his arms crossed. “Don’t gaslight me Cater Diamond- I know you. The real you. You’re a good liar, but no one’s that good. You just don’t believe you’re being genuine even when you are. So stop freaking out. You’re my main okay? And I love every bit of you that you’ve chilled out enough to give me, so just-” He takes a big breath, seems to recenter himself and starts again. “I’m in love with you, and you won’t lose me because you’re forced to tell the truth. I’m a little hurt that you feel like you’ve lied to me that much, but like. I get it. People are scary. And that’s okay. It’s gonna be okay. Crewel will take the stupid spell off, and we can go home. Thank god.”
Cater just stared into space and willed tears not to fall from his eyes. If he were at home, the scene he pulled today would’ve gotten him locked in his room for weeks. If it were his “friends” from home, they would’ve screamed at him for lying to them and left him behind. Or they would have just continued on as if nothing happened. They wouldn’t have comforted him, and chastised him for mixed signals while simultaneously telling him how much he meant to them (talk about mixed signals). “I’m so glad I have you.” He said, blinking the wetness from his eyes. And it was true. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Idia responded. Oddly anxious sounding given his recent little speech, but just so Idia. “Now I don’t mean to freak you out, but there is one thing that we have to do once the truth spell thing is over.”
“We do?”
“You may have told our entire class that we’re dating and you’re in love with me…”
“Oh fuck.”
Idia just scooted his chair closer and wrapped an arm around Cater’s shoulders. “I don’t mind, if you’re okay with it.”
“Okay. Okay,” Cater was just resigned to it. “If you’re okay.” He perked up- “Does this mean I could post our couples pics on Magicam?”
“Cay-”
Cater pouted- actually pouted. Lower lip and everything.
“Fine. Just don’t let anyone try to talk to me about it.”
“Okay!” Cater said, sounding truly cheerful for the first time all day.
When Crewel came back, Idia moved his chair away and tried to act like he and Cater did not both look like they’d been crying, red eyes and cheeks notwithstanding. Crewel poked and prodded Cater with various instruments and then left again and brought back a potion.
“Whoever cast the spell sure did a number on you Pup,” Crewel explained as he swirled the potion. “This would have lasted until the magic in the spell ran out- it has no set time limit in the effects. But lucky for you, I have a solution. This potion should give you enough imperviousness for the spell to ‘slip off’ and dissipate. But it will take a few hours, so you may be excused from classes for the day.” He switched from looking at the potion to give Cater a sharp look, pinning him with his gaze. “And next time, puppy, you come straight to me.”
“Yes professor Crewel.” Cater promised. “There better not be a next time though.”
“Indeed,” Crewel nodded, and then handed over the potion. It tasted terrible, but whatever it took to get out of that mess was okay with Cater. He and Idia both thanked Crewel and started on their way.
“So,” Cater said, much calmer than before, “I have the day off. Could I perhaps,” he put an arm over Idia's, linking them together, “go home with you.”
Idia just gave a wicked grin and nodded, pulling them toward Ignihyde. He wasn't planning on attending anymore in person classes anyway. And then-
“Cater!” It was Trey. “Cater! I heard you were hit with, like, a truth spell? Are you okay?”
“I was yeah. And I’m okay now, I got help from Professor Crewel, he’s giving me the rest of the day off since the spell will still be active for a few hours.”
“Oh good. I’m glad you’re okay. Day off huh? Are you thinking you’d just go back to the dorm? If I can ask a few people to keep freshies from bothering you.” Just then, Riddle started to approach too, as though to join their conversation.
“Well actually I’m going back to Idia’s. I’m hoping he can rail all of the memories of this horrible morning out of me.” Cater’s eyes widened as he realized the spell took “Are you thinking” as an opening to reveal what he was thinking on the subject, rather than a yes or no answer. He just stared at Trey, who stared right back, mouth open. Apparently close enough to have heard, Riddle looked on, scandalized, and began to turn red.
“Okay! we’re going,” Idia broke the silence, desperate to leave that conversation. They started away as fast as possible, still arm in arm, and Cater heard Riddle exclaim something after them. Idia just continued to drag Cater away and all the way through the mirror to Ignihyde, when suddenly Cater doubled over.
“Cater? Are you okay?”
Cater let out a snort. He was laughing. “If Trey hadn’t heard we were dating,” He gasped out, “He certainly knows now,” he panted between words, still laughing. “Riddle’s face-” He sucked in a breath. “Oh I am so paying for how “uncouth” that was later but-” He just giggled. He couldn’t stop. Too many emotions in one day made it so he kept giggling helplessly as they walked through Ignihyde. By the time they reached Idia’s room, he’d mostly stopped laughing and looked more serious. “Still…I hope Riddle isn’t too mad. I just don’t want to worry about that with everything else too.”
Idia, flashed him another wicked grin. “You can’t worry about what you don’t remember,” he said, with a deliciously low chuckle at the end, and he pushed Cater down hard onto the bed.
Later, they'd have to talk about it all. Later they’d have to sort out some of the truths that Cater had spilled. But they’d do it together. And for now, that was enough.