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The interior of the Ramshackle dorm was freshly renovated, leaving few traces of its previous hauntedness. The wallpapers were changed into an elegant purple, much more relaxing and photo-genic than the tacky green wallpapers that have previously lined the walls. Jellyfish-like lamps replaced the broken chandeliers hanging with cobwebs, casting a soft glow onto the wooden tables.
The leathered couches arrived a while ago, and they spent some time moving everything into the lounge and setting them into place. After a last nudge on the couch, Cater collapsed face first into the cushion, and all the copies of himself dispersed.
“This is a mistreatment of your employees,” he whined. “Where can I file a report?”
“You have to file it to yourself, Cater,” said Trey from the kitchen.
“Ughhh, this isn’t fair. And Azul-kun, you didn’t even do any work.”
“Why, Cater, I assure you I’ve been doing plenty of work. Namely, the budget reports you have failed to finish.”
Cater froze. “Ah, I forgot about that. But that doesn’t mean you guys could just sit here while me and my copies work to our deaths carrying like twenty of those super heavy couches!”
Azul smirked, setting a sheet of paper aside as he continued to work on another. Trey’s chuckles echoed from inside the kitchen. Neither of them replied to Cater’s complaints.
“Both of you are meanies!” he cried.
An aromatic smell drifted from the kitchen, awaking Cater from his slumber. He looked at his phone. 9:34pm, it showed.
Azul looked up from the stack of papers as Trey peeked his head out. “I’ve tried out some new recipes for the cakes,” he said. “Want to try them?”
“No,” said Azul and Cater at the same time.
Trey laughed in defeat. “I should have brought someone else along to try the cakes, knowing how you two are.”
“It’s not like I have something against cakes, you know,” said Cater, staring at the phone which he held above his head. “If you can somehow make them salty or spicy, I’ll be glad to try them.”
“And nutritious,” added Azul. “Nutritious cakes that could be eaten as part of a meal is something you can consider working on, Trey. If we were to serve that as Ramshackle Branch’s special, we might attract some curious customers, and it might help spread the new branch’s popularity!”
“Ahahaha… I’m pretty sure those things are called bread,” Trey said, shrinking back into the kitchen, and muttering to himself that he was going to sell the cakes to other Octavinelle students tomorrow morning.
Cater sat up from the couch and took the papers from Azul, earning a surprised look from their dorm leader. “I’ll finish the rest of the paperworks,” he said.
“Are you sure you can finish them?” Azul said, sounding a little dubious.
“Yeah, yeah. Cay-kun’s wide awake now after taking a nap!” He took out his pen and started underlining words and making some notes here and there.
“Besides, it’s getting late. You should head back and rest for tomorrow.”
“It really isn’t like you to start working so seriously all of a sudden,” remarked Azul.
“Come on now, Azul-kun. I’m always serious in what I do!”
“Only when things benefit you. And you know that as well as I do.”
Azul waved goodbye to him as he headed for the doorway. “Bring those papers with you when you come to Ramshackle tomorrow,” he said.
Cater returned his attention to the papers, boring through them one by one. His eyelids closed from time to time, but he somehow kept himself from dozing off. After what was probably half an hour, he put down his pen and stretched.
“Finally finished! Time for a Magicam check!” he reached for his phone when he saw Trey walking out of the kitchen.
“Did you finish cleaning up?” Cater asked.
“Yep. What about you?”
“All done.” Cater gathered the papers into a neat stack. “Should we head back, then?”
“Mmhmm.”
When they exited the Ramshackle dorm, it was raining a little. But their paces weren’t rushed as Trey held Cater’s hand, and they quietly sauntered under the tiny droplets sprinkling onto their clothes.
Trey’s alarm clock beeped, and Cater reached his hand out and closed it. He sank back into the blanket because it was so warm and so fluffy and-
“Cater, it’s opening day,” reminded Trey from beside him.
Cater sat up, now fully aware of the situation. He crashed at Trey’s room yesterday night (totally because Cater has problems waking up on his own, yes, that’s the reason), and Trey suggested that they head to Ramshackle Branch early and get the lounge all prepped before Azul arrives. They changed into their dorm uniform and headed to the Octavinelle mirror.
The Ramshackle dorm still looks worn out on the outside, but they’ve fixed the doorway, Octavinelle style. The old wooden door was replaced with a shiny glass one, and on the pale purple sign hanging on the door, written in elegant letters, the word “closed”.
Dark carpeting stretched from the doorway, into the room furnished neatly with leather couches and tables. The wooden tables were remade from the planks and the old furniture that were previously scattered around the dorm, and was one of the aspects that set the branch apart from the original Mostro Lounge.
Compared to the main lounge, the Ramshackle Branch was more mansion-like, more antique. Cater, Trey, and Azul made a custom menu centered around providing their customers with a brand new dining experience, and aside from promoting it on Mostro Lounge’s official Magicam account, Cater made sure to broadcast it all over his own account as well. Unfortunately, Trey and Azul were both tech abominations, but oh well, Cater has a large enough follower count to reach a considerable amount of audience.
Cater put the paperworks on the table closest to the entrance, then followed Trey into the kitchen. Trey set the new bag of ingredients he grabbed at the school shop onto the counter. He put on an apron, then took out a set of glass bowls and spatulas.
“Trey-kun, you’re baking something again?” asked Cater, propping himself onto the center island of the kitchen.
“There’s still some time to spare, so why not.”
Trey put a block of butter into the bowl, and poured some flour over it. He started stirring slowly, adding in new ingredients every once in a while. Cater took out his phone and snapped a photo behind him.
Trey glanced back and saw the camera of Cater’s phone facing towards him. “Don’t post pictures of me onto Magicam, alright?” he said, returning to mixing the dough. “I don’t like having too many people stare at pictures of myself.”
“I know, Trey-kun. I won’t,” Cater said, and added in a quieter voice: “I just thought you looked really cool when baking.”
He wasn’t sure if Trey heard that or not, but if he did, he showed no reactions.
Cater heard the oven door close. Ah, Trey must be done baking, he thought, his gaze not leaving his phone.
Trey walked over and pushed both his hands onto the counter, his arms almost circling around Cater and looking him in the eye. Cater almost dropped his phone.
“W-what are you doing?” he stammered.
“And you look adorable sitting on the counter,” said Trey with a grin.
“Adorable?” Cater sighed. “Trey-kun, that’s like a downgrade from cool. Use a better adjective.”
“Hmm… then attractive?” Trey tilted his head, leaning closer to Cater. “Hot?”
Cater laughed. “On second thought, none of those sound right.”
He grabbed Trey’s collar and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Trey laced his fingers in Cater’s hair and kissed back, parting his lips, and Cater breathed in heavily and hugged his arms around Trey’s shoulders. The scent of violet from Trey’s hair was making his head feel light.
Trey supported his hand behind Cater’s back and moved his head, kissing Cater in a different angle. He wrapped his legs around Trey and let him almost pin him down onto the counter, ravishing his neck and his cheek with his lips.
Cater swallowed down a whimper. He opened his mouth and nibbled softly on Trey’s lips. Trey tugged on Cater’s shirt, and his tongue slid into Cater’s mouth, evoking a sigh from Cater.
Three loud knocks rumbled on the open kitchen door. Cater jumped down from the kitchen counter, and Trey sprang away from him. He went over to his unclean utensils and quickly carried them over to the sink. Azul walked in from behind the door.
“You two are working in the kitchen this early?”
Cater flattened out his hair with his palms. “Haha, yeah, Trey wanted to do some early morning baking.”
Azul sniffed the air. “This smells like smoked salmon.”
“You can tell?” said Trey. “I’m baking smoked salmon tarts right now.”
“Savory tarts…” Azul muttered. “These could be potential menu items as well.”
“Having less sweet dessert options is actually a good idea,” said Trey, “so people like you and Cater can have something to order, too.”
“We can probably put this together as a promotional special for next week,” said Azul, leaning on the kitchen door. “However, right now we need to focus on getting the lounge ready for opening. I'll go call up some students from the dorm.
“Don't get too distracted, you two,” he said with a smile and left, leaving the two standing in a stunned silence.
Cater buried his face in his hands. “He knows. He definitely knows.”