Chapter Text
Cater… had a problem. No, he wasn’t failing History of Magic this time, or nursing another broken rib from trying to take selfies during PE (Riddle had his head for that one). It was so much more serious. Cater Diamond had been partnered with the man, the myth, the legend Vil Schoenheit for Professor Crewel’s final project. Vil is a talented alchemist, which sounds like it should be a good thing, right? Wrong.
Vil hated Cater for, like, absolutely no reason. Well, at least that’s how it seemed to Cater. Normally, he could ignore the haters; it comes with internet fame after all. Yet, Vil was different because, not only was he a celebrity with over 40 million followers on Magicam, but Cater was helplessly crushing on him. Bigtime. How was he supposed to cope with the crushing pressure of Vil being his partner for a final project? Even now, he couldn’t choose between worrying about how much he was disappointing Vil and just staring at the way his hair framed his face perfectly. Immaculate, as always. If I could just get one selfie with him for Magicam, my life would be complete.
“...mond? Diamond! Are you even listening to me? I said a teaspoon of beluga , not sevruga. You really ought to be more careful, especially with this high level of a potion.”
Oh, right. Maybe he should actually pay attention to what he’s doing instead of gawking at his lab partner like some kind of nobody with less than 1k followers.
“Ah! Sorry… got a little distracted. You just have that kind of #look today, Vil!” At this, he tried really hard not to cringe at his own dramatics, but totally failed when he saw Vil’s unimpressed deadpan.
“Do not speak in such an annoying cadence. You have so much potential, yet you waste it on being a walking Magicam account.” Vil rolled his eyes as he said this and went back to working on their brew. This certainly was not the first time Vil had been so cold to him, but still, his words stung just as bad as every time. He was well aware his Magicam persona was a bit over the top, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be vulnerable around others, Vil especially.
Cater’s sisters had given him relentless criticism all his life and always made him feel like he wasn’t enough for them. When he first realized his attraction to Vil, he was frustrated with himself for being interested in someone who would treat him as his sisters did. But that didn’t mean he could just shake his feelings. His plan was to get through this 3rd year and then be off to do work study and not have to worry about seeing Vil anymore. He’d be able to move on from his sisters and his stupid crush for good.
“Diamond, could you hand me my pen, please?” Vil called out to him over the smoking cauldron. “I need to cast the next part of the incantation, but I seem to have left it over there.”
This time, Cater was ready and actually managed to hand him what he asked for. Vil’s pen felt strange in his fingers, almost like it too was too elegant for him, though he wasn’t sure if it was any different than his own other than the crystal’s color.
“You really ought to be more careful, especially with this high level of a potion,” Cater couldn’t help but repeat back to him. Infatuated or not, sometimes opportunities to get on people’s nerves were just too tempting for him to resist.
As Vil retrieved his wand with one perfectly manicured hand, Cater could see him scowling through the colored mist the potion had begun to emit.
“Very funny, Diamond, but that hardly qualifies on the same danger level as adding the wrong ingredients. Need I remind you what happened last time you had one of your slip-ups?”
At this, Cater’s grin turned sheepish. Of course, he didn’t need a reminder. He was pretty sure Trey had forgiven him since only his grade suffered, but everyone present for the aftermath of Leona’s singed hair was still not letting him live it down. Plus, Leona wanted him dead, but that’s beside the point.
“You got me there,” he half-laughed, trying to keep his voice light. It annoyed him to no end that Vil was able to cut into him with his words so efficiently when all he was doing was stating facts.
Maybe that’s because you have so many facts to be ashamed of, his traitorous mind supplied. He’d had enough sleepless nights to know where this train of thought was leading, so he quickly returned his attention to the spell book for a distraction. Too bad for him, his thoughts continued to wander anyway, and it was seriously messing with his ability to concentrate.
The rest of the period slugged by (it felt more like three hours than just one) and Cater managed not to get on Vil’s nerves anymore, or at least that’s what he liked to think. The state of their cauldron said otherwise, though. It was supposed to contain an advanced sleeping drought, used by the Fairest Queen herself, but Cater’s repeated blunders had just made a sticky booger substance that looked nothing like the picture. When he finally heard the toll of the school bell outside, he felt a rush of relief. That is, until Professor Crewel came over to their station and began criticizing their work.
“Tsk tsk. While I’m not surprised Diamond has failed so miserably, this is quite the disappointment of Schoenheit,” Crewel said with a scowl on his face. “I believe you both will be attending a secondary lesson this Saturday at 8:00 am to correct this bad performance.”
“But Saturday is the first day of spring break-,” Cater began before Crewel made a loud crack with his whip and glared.
“Do I look like I care? Pups do as they’re told. After all, it’s not my fault you have not only failed, but brought Schoenheit down to your level.”
“Professor Crewel, surely you understand this is not a lack of ability on my part,” Vil said, smiling pleasantly. Cater could hear the animosity behind his voice as he spoke and winced. “We are both aware of Diamond’s...” he cleared his throat theatrically, “lack of focus.”
Ouch.
“One bad dog should not bring a good dog down to its level. Therefore, in my eyes, you are both very bad dogs. If you are not here Saturday, I will hunt you down myself. Is that clear?” The steady rhythm of his whip against his fingers left no room for disobedience.
“Yes professor,” they said in unison.
“Very good,” And with that, Crewel flashed a wicked smile and left.
At this point, everyone else had already gone to lunch, so it was just Vil and Cater standing stunned in the classroom. Cater ventured a glance over to his lab partner, but immediately regretted it. Vil had pushed his goggles up his forehead and begun holding the bridge of his nose and Cater swore his knuckles were white around his pen. Cater hadn’t been present for the incident before the SDC, but Ace and Grim had been loud enough about it that he sincerely hoped he could get out of this room without sending Vil over the edge.
“Sorry…” he practically whispered as he gathered his things. Since when was he crying? That was so five grades ago.
“Just-“ Vil cut himself off and took a deep breath. Cater had never actually seen him anything less than calm before.
“Just do better on Saturday.”
His words hung in the air as he took his leave, gliding out of the classroom, albeit a bit less gracefully than usual. But Cater wasn’t watching him enough to notice that, of course.
His icy tone had scared Cater out of his pathetic wallowing, so soon he too got his act together and made for the cafeteria.