Chapter 26
Nex tapped the terminal, the locker hissing shut.
Oh well, oh well.
There would be time for some extracurricular activities in the future, as soon as he went down Vale and took his dust from Roman.
Maybe during the weekend.
For now, a certain someone was trying and failing to sneak past his extra pair of ears. Little red trying to sneak past the big, bad wolf.
Well, if their world was a fairy tale.
"Hey, Rubes," Nex said. The clacking of flats over tiles stopped. He spun to face her. "What's wrong?"
Ruby eeped, jumping on her tiptoes. "Nex! What what's wrong? Nothing's wrong."
Nex rolled his eyes. Says the girl whose smile strained as she tried to raise her head.
Evidently, something was wrong. And he would not be himself if he did not ask what. But still, there really was no point in forcing Ruby to tell if she did not want to. Everyone had a choice. It was distasteful to take that away from them.
"It's fine if you don't want to tell me," Nex said, offering her a smile. "But sneaking around isn't really your style."
Nope. Ruby Rose was loud, even if she seemed quiet at Signal. And she was definitely the exact opposite of her partner. The shy and introverted Blake Belladonna—the ghost-ninja of Team SSBR.
Ruby frowned, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "You've figured me out, team leader. It's just..."
She paused. Her silver eyes roved over the hallway. It was empty, save for the two of them. Benches lining the middle, a pillar here and there—the locker room looked the same as the one in Signal.
The sun sank past the half-closed window, painting the glass with strokes of red and orange.
Most of their fellow students would be out in the courtyard or in the cafeteria, seeking a reprieve from school life, while he would have checked on Oathkeeper, maybe swung it a few times. Or even his corgi hoverboard and maybe add some more modifications to the thing.
That plan was derailed when the missing R of Team SSBR showed up by the lockers.
Ruby never ate lunch with them. She even avoided sitting next to them in their shared classes. Weiss took it in stride, wanting to give Ruby some time to herself. Blake was as quiet as ever, reading one of her books whenever the issue came up. Some book called Ninjas of Love or something—an accidental glance over her shoulders had revealed.
It was probably not as interesting as The Man With Two Souls, though.
"How do you talk to Weiss?" Ruby said. She leaned against a locker, crossing her arms. "I know I asked you before, but you just seem to really get along. Like, at a more than just ordinary partners level."
It was doubtful that other pairs had to fight the White Fang alone. But maybe they did. Or maybe they had to fight some other terrorist cell or something. Like Grimm, petty criminals, or thieves.
Nex hummed, quirking an eyebrow. "You already know the answer. What's this all about?"
"It's Blake. I think she hates me," Ruby said, her voice coming out in a hushed whisper. Almost like she was spilling some dirty little secret. "You don't think she hates me, do you?"
Ah. So it was a conflict of interest between two of the socially challenged elites.
But still, Blake Belladonna was more of the quiet type, not the hateful type. Evidently, Ruby Rose saw it differently.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was Blake's partner while he was not.
"Nope. I don't think she hates you," Nex said, patting her shoulder. Huh. The silver-eyed girl was just a little bit shorter than him. "I don't think anyone can hate you."
Not even at the Sanus Festival when he accidentally lost control.
Hating Ruby Rose was like hating an innocent corgi. It was pointless—a waste of time and effort. The only things worth hating were manipulative fathers and losing.
More on the first one. Certainly more.
"Thanks," Ruby said, smiling as she stared at his chin. "But why is she ignoring me?"
It was doubtful Blake was ignoring Ruby as much as she was just being reclusive. But the bubbly, socially awkward girl probably saw that recluse nature as something specifically targeted towards her.
Fuck.
Someone else should have been giving the advice and the pep talks.
Not him. Oh, certainly not him—the edge lord, the anonymous thief, and even the sleepyhead.
Where was Winter Schnee when someone needed a few words of encouragement?
His partner's older sister always had something nice to say. Words only a big sister could have spoken, especially when she was drunk out of her ice-queen composure.
Nex shrugged, pushing himself away from the locker. "I don't know. Let's ask her."
Ruby frowned, fidgeting with the chain on her belt. "I can't. She'll get mad."
But then if she did not, then nothing would have happened. Standing still while something could be done was foolish. Playing in the park was a waste when people could have been earning lien or honing a chosen craft.
Well, maybe he could encourage her a little.
Nothing wrong with a little bit of encouragement from time to time.
Right?
"Rubes. Nothing will change if you don't act," Nex said. "I don't know about you, but I don't fancy the team breaking apart on our second day."
That would get her attention.
Ruby stared at her black flats—like the pair that his partner wore in Atlas Primary. "Alright then. Let's go ask Blake, team leader."
Apparently, he was right.
They strolled through the winding hallways.
Ruby Rose was silent the entire time. But still, there was no need for words. Certainly not when their course of action was already decided. She and her partner needed to talk. Not the terse, one-sentence answers Blake supplied. But a talk like the ones he and Weiss shared. It would not come to a hospital bed, but their dorm would probably be a close alternative.
Well, hopefully.
Ruby stopped before the door leading into their room. "So, uh... This is it. Yeah. You can do this, Rubes. You can talk to Blake. You can talk to your partner."
He placed his bracer over the terminal, just a few inches away.
The door opened with a click.
"Ladies first," Nex said, waving at the doorway.
Ruby stepped into their room.
Weiss sat on the edge of his bed, the bunk above it already hers. Her fingers danced on her scroll, a frown tugging on her lips.
Blake leaned against the ensuite's wall, sitting on the floor, a book already clutched in her hands. Her bow looked as stiff as ever.
Both of them were still in their school uniforms, class having been dismissed by only about an hour ago.
"You've finally found her," Weiss said, looking up from her scroll. She flashed him a smile. "Welcome back to Remnant, Ruby Rose."
Ruby waved a hand at his partner. "Hi, Weiss. Sorry about not eating lunch with you. Or not sitting with you. Or—"
"Stop. It's perfectly alright if you want some time to yourself," Weiss said, raising her left hand. "Just don't make a habit out of it, alright?"
Ruby nodded, twiddling her fingers. "Alright. So, uh, Blake."
The ghost-ninja looked up from her book—The Man With Two Souls again.
"You don't hate me, do you?" Ruby said, one hand clutching her elbow. Hugging it close to her chest. "Oh my gosh that came out all wrong, I mean, I didn't do anything to offend you, did I?"
Weiss shot him a look—a look definitely saying, we should go somewhere else.
Nex nodded. "Hey, team. Weiss and I will go grab some dinner. Find us when you're done."
Weiss pocketed her scroll, practically skipping towards him. "Yes. And we expect absolutely no one to come out. Not until you've finished talking."
Thus, they left the BR of their team.
Alone.
Weiss stared at the locked door, the varnished wood looking fresh. "You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"
Nex shrugged. "I may have guilt-tripped the loud R into talking with the quiet B."
Weiss arched an eyebrow. "Nexus Shade. Are you telling me that you manipulated Ruby Rose into having a conversation with Blake Belladonna?"
When she phrased it like that, the act sounded morally reprehensible. But well, if they spent all day shuffling words, then they could have made anything sound bad.
Bad and good were relative. Sometimes, people had to do something bad in order to do a lot of good. To foil Cinder Fall in particular, but there really was no point in thinking about that time bomb yet. The woman was an unknown, a person who seemingly did not exist anywhere.
At least, not on official records.
"Nope. Not really," Nex said. "I just told her that I don't want the team to break apart on our second day. So they better talk it out."
Weiss frowned, her hand already slipping into his. They strolled through the empty hallway, following the most efficient route to the cafeteria—something she practically made everyone on their team memorize.
Darkness covered the windows like ink, but the overhead lights did their job well.
"I can't blame you," Weiss said. "They're the exact opposite of each other. It's natural that they have some friction."
"We do have some friction, right?" Nex said, smiling. "I think it's the part where I like sleeping in class and you like taking notes."
Weiss smirked, fixing him a glare. "Why, Mr Shade. I think it's the part where you wanted to cower in a lab, while I wanted to fight off the White Fang."
Touche.
But then again, he never did claim to be a paragon of virtue. Or even an example of bravery.
Well, what did they say again?
Cowardly rats lived longer than the brave cat. Or something. That one probably came out wrong.
"You're braver than me," Nex said, nodding. "Besides, that turned out well enough. Right?"
"True," Weiss said, her smirk easing into a beatific smile—a loose, lopsided grin that could have outshone the lights in the hallway. Lifting the dimples on her cheeks, even—slopes of white arcing over pink. Like she just gobbled down a cone of ice cream. "That was my first, you know."
Nex quirked an eyebrow. The mess hall was right there. "First?"
"Never mind, sleepyhead," Weiss said, glancing at their joined hands. Her lips twitched, her smile definitely straining. "I'll tell you in the far, distant future."
The glass slid open. Loud, grating chatter flattened his extra pair of ears—seemingly the one constant in public places. The scent of meat lingered in the air, filling his empty stomach.
Nex shivered, the air surprisingly cool for a place that stored warm drinks and fresh food.
They made it to the short line of latecomers.
Weiss released his hand, snatching a steel tray from the rack. He reached out to take one, but she nudged his forearm.
"We can share a tray," Weiss said, smiling. "Unless you're planning to have a buffet for dinner?"
Nex shrugged, taking a plate of bagels and some sort of seasoned meat. He placed it on their shared tray, topping it off with a cute little banana. "You're right. It's not good to stuff yourself at dinner."
As the saying went, eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a princess, and eat dinner like an underpaid, Atlesian pencil-pusher—definitely a thin jab at his home kingdom's employment policies. He chuckled as they went down the aisle.
Weiss shot him a questioning look.
He shrugged and told her that it was nothing.
Weiss placed some salad and slices of pork on her metal plate. She copied his banana and asked for two glasses of water. He had to thank her for that one.
They made it off the counter, her hands gripping the edges of their tray.
Nex tapped her shoulder—she did suggest the idea. "Allow me, Miss Schnee."
Weiss grinned, pushing their tray towards him. "Oh very well, Mr Shade. Far be it from me to refuse your kindness."
Nex placed the tray in one hand, balancing it over his head.
Well, it was easy enough.
It was expertise gained from carrying drinks to tables in the Huntsman's Respite. Those were the days before the old bartender retired, and Mekel saw fit to promote him to the empty position. It was a fierce fight, with the other goons vying for the right to stand behind the glass counter, but he managed to ace the interview with his weapon. Hrunting and Vigilance was definitely scary—for them at least.
"Hey! Dynamic duo!" Yang said, raising her arm. "We saved you a spot!"
The blonde waved at them. Two tables away. The rest of team AXRN sat at the long table. There were four empty seats and four filled plates. Apparently, they only just arrived themselves, waiting for his team to show up for dinner. Their two teams did eat lunch together. Maybe it was going to turn into a routine—a clique, even.
They settled into adjacent chairs—the green metal ones. Undoubtedly, a school of super-powered teenagers had to have the sturdy stuff. Just like in Atlas Primary.
"Broody Face," Yang said, biting into her pork chops. "Where's Ruby and Blake?"
Nex shrugged, glancing at the opposite end of the table. "They're having a fun little talk."
Nora grinned, shovelling pancakes into Ren's plate.
Ren's fork blurred as he tried to separate the pancakes from his food, placing them on a different plate—the one with a stack of pancakes growing taller, slowly ascending into a pyramid.
The poor, stoic man. Partnered with an overactive girl like Nora. Maybe he was even a member of the socially challenged elite. But then again, there really was no way to know for sure. Certainly not since Lie Ren spoke even less than Blake Belladonna.
"Yes. They're undergoing a team-building exercise," Weiss said, taking a sip from her tall glass. "All for the sake of Team Snowbear, of course."
"Ruby's okay, right?" Jaune said, right across him, sitting beside their team's brawler. "She's been acting really weird."
Weird was an understatement. But hopefully, Ruby Rose would be back to normal. Right after she actually talked with Blake Belladonna.
"I think she'll be fine. It's just a minor hiccup," Nex said, slicking back his fringe. The thing, while awesome, was getting a little bit in the way. "Partner stuff. Nothing that's unnatural."
Case in point—them.
Yang raised an eyebrow, poking the drumstick on her plate. "She's having trouble with Blake?"
Nex nodded, biting into a bagel. "Probably. You're the big sister, right? You know Ruby better than us."
"Ruby's not the most sociable person," Yang said, frowning. "It's worse in Beacon. Because here, she's younger than everybody else."
Why did it even matter?
Age was only a number—a set of irrelevant digits. A huntsman's worth was measured in terms of his intellect and his skill of arms. There was an addendum about honour and morals, but those two were more flexible. There was no honour on the battlefield. Honour was reserved for the books or the movies—where real lives were not at stake.
And morals?
Morals depended on the person who held them. A serial killer had a very different set of morals compared to the ones held by a sheltered farm boy.
"That's why she's having trouble with Blake?" Weiss said, a slice of golden-brown meat speared on her fork. "How come?"
Yang nodded. "Yeah. I mean, look at Blake. She's leagues ahead in maturity. Quiet, graceful, buried in a book all the time. And my lil' sis likes weapons instead of books."
That made sense.
Nex chewed on the bagel already in his mouth, the sweet butter melting over his tongue.
Bliss. Liquid bliss that could have gotten him drunk.
The mass-produced bagels of Atlas seemed tasteless in comparison. Maybe he could ask Neo to bring some Valean bagels. Well, the next time she teleported into his flat. He could probably bribe her with more ice cream as soon as he refilled his fridge.
"That's true. But surely they can find some middle ground, " Weiss said, humming. "And meet halfway. They are partners."
Jaune put down his can of soda. "Wait, that reminds me. How did you and Nex... you know, become a thing?"
"I'm not sure how that's relevant to our discussion, Arc," Weiss said, crimson staining her snow-white cheeks. Her eyes narrowed into daggers, poking holes into the poor Vomit Boy. "That thing is strictly between my partner and me. Isn't that right, Nex?"
Faultless logic. As expected of his partner. Well, their partnership was strictly between them.
But maybe Vomit Boy was referring to something else?
Ugh.
What was it about people and their weird, arbitrary code phrases?
The world would probably be better off if people just said whatever it was they wanted to say.
Whatever.
Nex shrugged, offering the blonde a smile. His partner's glare was particularly freezing. "Weiss and I spend a lot of time together. I think that's what they need. Time."
"Yes. They need time," Weiss said, coughing as she flashed him a smile. But still, she was burning even redder. Maybe she needed to see the nurse? "They need time to adjust to each other."
Yang grinned, slinging an arm over her partner's shoulders. "Yeah, Vomit Boy. Leave the cute dynamic duo alone. We can talk about my lil' sister."
"Right," Jaune said, flushing as he grinned at the blonde brawler. "So... uhh. I think that's them, actually."
Speak of the devil. Or the she-devils.
Ruby and Blake slipped through the sliding doors, the shorter girl bearing a skip to her steps. She grinned and pulled her partner towards the line. The ghost-ninja smiled, even as she was dragged along by the silver-eyed girl.
"I think they'll be fine," Nex said, sighing. He bit into another bagel.
The pair took the last two seats at the table, putting down two separate trays.
Ruby waved at them, grinning as she held up a thumb.
Blake sighed, staring at her broccoli and tuna.
"I realize I've been less than receptive to our team," Blake said, frowning. "Especially to my partner. I promise I'll try to be more talkative."
Great. Even if she sounded a little terse, it was still three full sentences. Baby steps.
Right?
Chapter 27
And there were hundreds of them!"
Nora placed her foot on the tablecloth, standing up in her chair. She grinned as she recalled some sort of story about herself and her partner.
It was definitely embellished, like Professor Poop's entire life story probably was.
Yang, Jaune, and Ruby snickered as they leaned into their lunch table, hands pressed into the tablecloth, listening with rapt attention to Nora the Bard.
Blake had a book propped open on her lap, sitting right beside her partner.
Weiss took one glance at their impromptu storyteller, looked away, heaved a sigh—her shoulders sagging—and probably decided it was not worth the trouble to tell Nora to sit down and be quiet.
And well, it was probably not worth it. It was definitely better to just go with the flow when it came to Nora the Bard. Plus a lot of other things, really.
Nex smirked, holding a bagel with one hand, the slick butter hugging his digits. "Just a hundred? Surely you fight better than that."
Nora gasped, putting both hands over her chest. "You're right! I was wrong! It was a thousand!"
"A dozen," Ren said, shooting him a pointed look. "Nex, don't encourage her."
Nora grinned, rolling her eyes. Definitely at the tiny correction. "And there we were, surrounded by thousands of Beowolves!"
"I thought it was Beowolves and Boarbatusks," Nex said, breathing an exaggerated sigh. Lifting his shoulders, even. "I expected too much, I guess."
Nora pumped her fist, punching the lights on the ceiling. Well, if she could reach them. "I forgot! It was Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and Ursa! Thousands of them! And only two of us!"
Nex smirked. It was way too easy.
He leaned into the backrest, snatching a bagel from his plate as Nora the Bard continued weaving her hundredth-something tale.
The cafeteria buzzed with chatter and the clanging of silverware, filling his extra pair of ears with a loud energy.
Lunch came after another gruelling battle in Grimm Studies—a battle waged between falling asleep, his partner's heel, and listening to the man embellish another tale about his youth. Well, Professor Poop probably hid important lessons in his anecdotes. But then again, he never claimed to have found them.
Weiss definitely kept a transcript of Professor Poop's stories somewhere. He just needed to borrow them if he was—gods forbid—curious.
"And then the Pancake Maiden showed up and rained pancakes from the sky, destroying all of the Grimm."
Nora finished her tale with a mighty flourish, twirling back into her seat. "So, what do you think?"
Jaune grinned, holding up his thumb. "It was awesome. Better than any of Professor Port's stories."
"That's not saying much," Yang said, elbowing her partner's side. "Our Jaunediced leader could tell a much better story than Professor Port, eh? Eh? Eh?"
Silence.
A fly buzzed amidst the cacophony of voices and silverware.
Fuck.
Pareidolia calculated the odds of Ren developing a sense of humor, and decided those odds were infinitely greater than the chances of someone laughing at Yang's jokes.
But still, someone had to say something eventually.
Droplets of sweat glimmered on Yang's brow when even Ruby turned away and stared at her vegetables. Those broccoli being the same as the ones on the ghost-ninja's plate. He had to throw Yang a bone. Out of the mercy of his frail, withered heart. If there was one, anyway.
Did edge lords have those?
"Yeah, sure," Nex said, shrugging—the trademark I don't care, but okay shrug. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Yang."
Yang turned over the pork chop on her plate, the poor thing swimming in a sea of red. "That bad, huh? Well, I'm glad Jaune appreciates my unique sense of humour. Right, partner?"
Jaune chuckled, grimacing as if someone just stuck a knife to his throat. "Uh, yeah. Sure, Yang. Whatever you say, partner."
A squeal hit his extra pair of ears.
Some brown-haired boy was pulling on a woman's rabbit ears. Extra pair of ears like his, even. The boy smirked as his cronies cheered.
One of them waved his hands over his head, pantomiming an extra pair of ears. The other pointed and laughed, even as the woman's red-stained eyes probably held back a volley of the waterworks.
Fuck.
Fuckity fuck.
The three idiots were the testosterone-sacks of Team PWDS. Always picking on someone when their team leader was absent. And more often than not, the green-eyed redhead was nowhere to be found, for some reason or another. It seemed today was one of those days.
But still, this was probably the first time their antics were so-
"Despicable," Weiss said, glaring at the three idiots. Right. Despicable. That was the word. "How could Beacon tolerate such barbarism?"
Blake looked up from her book—The Boy With Two Souls since a few weeks ago—her amber eyes fixed on his partner.
"Poor girl. Cardin's a bully," Ruby said, practically spitting the word out, like it was bad cookie. Or maybe even spoiled milk. Gods forbid. "Why isn't she fighting back?"
Yang scowled, her fist clenching around her can of soda—the poor thing squeaking out a crunch of pain. "Because she thinks fighting back will make him push harder. Winchester's the worst type of scum."
Nex shrugged, even as his jaw clenched. "Will it though? Hey, Weiss. Want to do a Silverstain on Cardin?"
The smile on his partner's face could have made a professional huntsman urinate in his pants. There was no way—absolutely no way he would admit it to anyone else, but his partner was particularly... interesting whenever her face twisted into that look. A far cry from the look she donned whenever her parents came up.
There was definitely something primal in it. Something stimulating. Something honest and incapable of voicing out a pretty little lie. It was debatable if that interest stemmed from his half-heritage—the part that howled at the moon and coughed up fur balls once every few months.
Not that he actually did any of those, but the metaphor was definitely there.
"It'll be my pleasure," Weiss said, smirking. Her knee nudged his. "You have the dust, don't you?"
Nex reached into his side pocket, placing some shards of gravity dust on the tablecloth. Pitch-black even in its refined form. "I never leave home without it."
The moment Weiss Schnee planted Hard-on Silverstain into the ceiling was one of the happiest moments of his admittedly short life.
Well, he could have sent the racist into the hospital. Hrunting and Vigilance would have enjoyed the exercise. But then again, there really was no point in dwelling on what-ifs.
The racist was probably rotting in a high-security cell somewhere, never to see the light of the day again, if his home kingdom's law-enforcement commercials were to be believed.
And now, there was another racist in front of them, multiplied by three. Three. It would be three times the fun.
Jaune frowned, glancing at the exchange as if they were dealing with illegal substances. "You're not going to do anything bad, right?"
Nex hauled himself to his feet. To be fair, this was probably Vomit Boy's first time in a combat school. "Hush, Vomit Boy. Believe it or not, violence is encouraged in combat schools. It's in the name. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."
It was a fundamental truth of the world of Remnant.
Their planet was dangerous, prowled by the bloodthirsty creatures of Grimm, and even the creatures of men and women, killers and bandits—the real monsters who wore the same faces as them.
They could not simply tell the monsters to leave them alone. In the same vein, the rabbit faunus could not simply tell her bullies to stop. She had to act. Someone had to act.
If not her, then someone else.
Once upon a time, he would have shrugged, closed his eyes, and looked away. Or admittedly, asked his partner to do it for him, rationalizing it away in his brain.
But not now.
Not when he could do something about it.
Not when Weiss herself wanted to do something about it.
"Yes," Nora said, pumping her fist. Her eyes narrowed. "Go break their legs."
She did not need to ask twice.
Weiss stood up, circling around the hall, skirting around the rows of tables. She made her way around, almost like she was just taking a leisurely stroll. An admirable effort, if not for the smirk on her lips and the narrowing of her eyes. She stopped a few feet beside the three idiots, waving the back of her hand—definitely a signal for him to proceed.
Nex whistled, clutching a half-empty mug of his lunch coffee. He stood some ways from their quarry, just enough distance for him to dodge any incoming punches, or even some form of projectile-based semblance.
Pareidolia would warn him. It always did.
"I get that you're compensating for your lack of balls," Nex said, pushing his lips into a saintly smile. "But you're going about it the wrong way. Try picking on somebody your own size."
Cardin shot him a glare, releasing the woman's bunny ears. "The Schnee's little pet. But his mistress is missing. You lost, pet?"
The testosterone-addled sacks guffawed at the tasteless joke, filling his ears with the sound of laughter—like knives stabbing into a box of steel.
Their victim shrunk into her slight frame, staring at him with brown eyes—eyes that lingered on his extra pair of ears.
Nex flashed her a smile. It was a smile that did its best to say, don't worry, we got this, to someone who was definitely unused to his little gestures.
And they did have it under control.
Cardin Dumbchester just dug his own grave. That barbed insult definitely earned him an extended stay in the infirmary.
Pareidolia hummed—he was right.
Nex smirked.
Weiss Schnee's face twisted into the living manifestation of a blizzard. The gravity dust in her hand quaked. Three glyphs spun on the floor. All three of them were the colour of midnight. All three of them were potentially deadly traps. And all she needed to do was prime them. Then the three idiots would fly into dreamland, straight into three matching beds in the infirmary.
"Cardin Winchester. My partner is not a pet and I am not his mistress," Weiss said. "You will retract those words. Now."
The three idiots turned to face a fuming, red-faced Weiss.
And they made no move to run away.
Did idiots flock together, or was it just them?
If he had been in their place, he would have definitely run away.
No, not run away.
He would have performed a tactical retreat. Yep. A tactical retreat, as it was definitely called. Live to fight another day and all. Or even die another day.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that the Schnee cared for their animals," Cardin said, snorting. He smirked, staring down a boiling Mt. Weiss. "I thought you mostly use them as slaves."
Damn. It was incredibly difficult to not pat Dumbchester on the back. Doing his job for him and all. It was supposed to be harder to goad—ahem, to encourage the bully into running his mouth.
Yep. Keep going. Dig the metaphorical grave even deeper. It would only make the punchline more satisfying.
Dumbchester's balls of sheer, unbridled stupidity were envy-inducing. And it was the definitely reason why the idiot and his boy band were going straight up.
Literally.
Weiss growled, her fists clenching. The shard of gravity dust was definitely digging into her palm. Drawing blood if not for her aura. "You'll regret those words."
"What are you going to do, Schnee? File a lawsuit? Oh, I'm so scared," Cardin said, rolling his eyes. He placed both hands on his hips, jutting his chest out. It made him look like an oversized flat-iron. "The big, bad heiress is going to use her company to threaten the poor peasants."
"No. I won't," Weiss said, snapping her fingers. "But I'm going to do this."
Dumbchester and his two cronies yelped, their feet taking off.
Bang.
The idiot and his two cronies smashed headfirst into the ceiling.
Nex squinted. The white stone definitely caved in from the impact. He blinked and it disappeared—just another explosion on Weiss Schnee's ledger.
The three idiots flopped on the floor, nursing their skulls.
Oh, how he wanted to help them. He really did.
A concussion was a bitch and a half. Aura did nothing to prevent the raw kinetic force that scrambled their brains.
But there was only one thing he could do to help. One thing to help Dumbchester and his cronies.
For now, at least.
Nex poured his half-empty mug on their uniforms, smiling as they flinched. "Dumbchester. Run. Hurry. My partner's feisty when she's mad."
Weiss smirked, fiddling with a black glyph in her left hand and gravity dust in her right. "I can do this all day, Winchester. The question is, can you?"
Dumbchester and his cronies jumped to their feet. No one else could sprint out of the cafeteria as fast as they did. The brown-haired boy crashed into a pillar, sinking into the coffee-stained tiles. His two cronies dragged him off the floor, their arms shaking as they hobbled towards the exit.
The doors slid open, then they were gone—just another casualty on Weiss Schnee's murderous path.
"That was kinda disappointing," Nex said, heaving a sigh. He shook his head. "You should have sent them to the infirmary."
Maybe make them miss a few classes or something. The catch-up work would be hell. Especially since their next class was with Oobleck.
"Perhaps later," Weiss said, smiling as she turned to the woman. "Are you alright? That ruffian didn't do any lasting damage, did he?"
The woman raised her head, her puffy-pink eyes blinking. "I'm—I'm fine. Thanks for helping me, Miss Schnee. And..."
"Nexus Shade," Nex said, offering her a polite smile. "But you can call me Nex like everybody else. It's nice to meet you."
The woman nodded, flinching as she glanced at his partner. "My name is Velvet Scarlatina. I'm sorry, I have to go."
Velvet Scarlatina sprinted for the sliding door, the extra pairs of ears on her head flapping against the sudden wind.
"Wait!" Weiss said, stretching out her arm—the one without the dust. But the woman was already gone, slipping through the doorway. Almost as if she was being chased by the literal devil. Or even a horde of bloodthirsty, flesh-eating demons straight out of the bowels of hell. "That's certainly one way of reacting to being rescued."
Nex shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. His knuckles brushed his scroll and some rough shards of dust. The last of his dwindling supply. Or at least, the dust not folded into his sword. He needed to meet a certain thief again.
Some time within the month.
Maybe they could meet in a steakhouse instead of an ice cream parlour. Or well, maybe just straight in one of Roman's hideouts instead of a meet and greet.
Neo would frown and maybe whack Roman with her parasol, but his fellow thief could probably live with it.
"Can't blame her," Nex said, licking his dry lips. No point in thinking about that one yet. "You're scary when you're mad."
Weiss heaved a sigh, a deep frown tugging on her lips. "Come on. Let's go back to our lunch, partner."
Nora jumped on her seat, punching something in the air. Or a lot of things, judging from the sheer number of punches. She laughed, howling loud enough for probably the entire cafeteria to hear.
A metric fuckton of heads turned to look at them.
Well, let them look.
Let them look while he ate his free lunch—paid for by Beacon. A lot of things really, including his allowance. A generous subsidy for the underprivileged like him and the ghost ninja. Thank the gods for that. Going into Vale and taking lien from one of his hidden caches was proving to be a hassle, especially since he had to do homework and stuff.
Well, homework that was definitely non-graded.
"Take that, Cardin," Nora said, smirking as she lowered her hands. She sucked in a balloonful of breath, her chest even puffing up like one. "The bully finally meets his match."
Nex shrugged, biting into a much-deserved pork chop. "Well, it was all my partner. I just encouraged him a little. Everyone needs a little bit of encouragement from time to time, right?"
Both Ren and Blake smiled at that, shooting discrete glances at Nora.
"Nope. You poured the mug, Broody Face," Yang said, a shit-eating grin on her face. "I gotta admit. That was satisfying."
Jaune elbowed the blonde brawler. "What if he tells the headmaster? You might get in trouble."
"I don't think Winchester will," Weiss said, pursing her lips. The last slices of her pork were untouched on her plate. "If he does, then it's as good as admitting that he's been bullying students since day one."
Ruby nodded, chomping on a big, fat cookie. Brown crumbs rained all over her white vest. "Yep. Good work, dynamic duo. Down with the bullies, down with Cardin, amirite?"
"Down with Cardin!" Yang said, planting a fist into her palm. "We should make that our battle cry."
Nora grinned, standing on the table. Both of her feet, even. "Yeah! A cry that sends fear into the hearts of bullies everywhere!"
Huh. That was a thought.
The look on Dumbchester's stupid mug would be golden.
Weiss nudged his calf with her heel. "Nex. We need to talk. Alone."
"Sure," Nex said, quirking an eyebrow. "Should we go right now?"
His bagels and pork chops were already gone, consumed by the abyss called his stomach. His coffee was stuck somewhere on Dumbchester and his thugs.
Well, he was definitely ready to go to their next class.
But if Weiss wanted to talk, then they could come in a bit late. History could wait, after all.
Literally and figuratively.
"Sneaking off for a training session? Again?" Yang said, smirking. She waved a hand. Waving them away, even. "Fine. Just don't do anything irresponsible."
Ruby flushed, coughing into her glass of milk. Two trails of white burst from her nose and dripped down her chin.
Blake frowned, shooting her a look, even as the rest of their friends giggled.
Well, except Ren.
That one was probably a lost cause.
Nex smiled and bobbed his head into a nod. Despite the fact that his brain still did not get the idea behind that recurring phrase.
Maybe it was stuck in a thesaurus somewhere?
Weiss sputtered, tomato-pink as she grabbed his hand and practically whisked him away.
Chapter 28
So, what did you want to talk about?" Nex said, raising an eyebrow. "This isn't about homework, is it?"
His scroll was propped up against the bedpost, the grey numbers on the screen flickering. Forty-five minutes before History. Plenty of time to talk about whatever it was his partner wanted to talk about in the privacy of their dorm.
Their knees touched as they sat on the edge of his bed, her palm flat on his thigh. Her lips tightened into a frown as she shook her head.
Not about homework then. Maybe about the upcoming finals. Or even their papers.
"What Winchester said," Weiss whispered, breathing a world-weary sigh. She rested her head on his shoulder, radiating her particular brand of warmth. The dormant Mt. Weiss one. "You didn't let it go to your head, did you?"
Ah. That one.
But still, why was she even asking?
Whatever Dumbchester said, it already washed off like water on a duck's back. There was definitely nothing the racist could say that he had not heard before.
His days in the gutter, crawling with the filth of Atlas and Mantle, gave him privy to more creative insults—barbs and jabs about his half-heritage. He sat alone, thinking and watching as the world moved around him. Because no one wanted to sit beside the filthy faunus, regardless if he sat in the Huntsman's Respite or Atlas Primary.
Until the storm came and Weiss Schnee entered his life, taking a seat at his table—the first time someone ever did so of their own free will. With no strings attached, even. No Atlesian mechs to hack or some shit or another.
Nex shook his head, smiling as wisps of fire bubbled in his chest. "Nope. What did he say again?"
"He said that you're nothing but my pet," Weiss mumbled, her eyes fixed on her skirted lap. Her fingers curled, tightening over his thigh. Nails pressing through his slacks and into his taut flesh. "It's not true."
Come to think of it, that faunus girl in Atlas Primary seemed to imply the same thing.
Submissive.
Nope. He was the opposite of the word. Someone who crawled their way up from the bottom of the dirty barrel. He was a guy who refused to submit to the fate that befell the others like him—the ugly fate that visited the orphans in the floating city of Atlas.
"I know. You're not Dumbchester or Silverstain," Nex said. It was nothing but the truth. "You're you, Weiss."
Weiss smiled—a tentative little thing, lifting the edges of her lips. "Why? How could you believe in me so much? What Winchester said was true. My father, he—"
"You're not your father," Nex said. Screw it. "I'm not your father. You want to fix your company, right?"
"Yes. I do," Weiss answered, lifting her head. She nodded, turning to face him. Just like in the barbeque place. "There's no other way around it."
The fire smouldered over chips of ice.
Cloying warmth stuck to the back of his throat. His heart. Beating. Speeding off into sunsets and silhouette dreams. Thumping in his ears. Some sort of marching band lost without its guide.
Just like in the hospital.
But no Winter to interrupt.
Nex blinked.
His hand was already there.
Stopping right beside her temple.
His thumb brushed her scar, the warmth blazing—turning into heat when she flashed him a smile.
Weiss closed her eyes, leaning into his palm. Then she snatched his arm and tugged him towards her. Her back pressed into the sheets—both the wolf and the huntsman recognized the prey.
A huntress who had cornered herself.
Nex fell, their legs entangled into a knot—a knot firm as cotton. His face stopped inches from hers, his forearms fencing her head.
Her eyes peered through her tussled fringe, her scent teasing his nostrils—coffee with a hint of vanilla, and flowers and baby blue.
Weiss burned scarlet, her lips curling into a coy smile. "Nexus Shade. What are we going to do about this unspoken thing between us?"
His brain stuttered.
Somewhere far away, his father said something about women and their trap cards. Something about desirable.
Desire.
A firestorm raged in his stomach, killing that train of thought. He had to stop thinking before his skull imploded into chunky bits. Or before his cheeks burned hot enough to roast a barbeque.
"If we spoke it out loud," Nex said, pale blue closing in, like the walls of a great tide. Rain dripped all over. Pitter patter. Pitter. The maelstrom surged, swallowing the room. Her heart pounded against the gentle swell of her chest. It was vibrating through his ribcage. Waves lapping around his heart. "It wouldn't be an unspoken thing anymore. Right?"
"I'd love that," Weiss said, a giggle bursting from her throat. Her soft, calloused hand cupped his cheek. She leaned forward, their foreheads meeting. His brain sizzled—like eggs behind his skull. "Kiss me."
Nex flinched. His arms shook. "What?"
It must have been the humming of the air conditioner. The hiss. There was no way he heard that right.
Weiss scowled, batting her eyelashes. Her index trailed down his lips, her hot breath stroking his chin. "Do you need a diagram, Mr Shade?"
But then again, maybe he did hear what she said.
Screw it.
There was nothing left to do but act—the consequences be damned.
"Nope," Nex said, smiling. At the woman lying under him. His partner. Weiss. "I learn better hands-on."
He shut his eyes. Just like in the commercials. Or even in the pamphlets.
Right?
He tilted his head.
Gravity took control.
His lips locked against hers.
Weiss exploded into a rush of flavour, searing bonfires through his spine.
Nex sped through the clouds—a boy flitting between the borders of salty croissants and sweet, oh so very sweet, vanilla-flavoured coffee. Lava-wet dribbled down his chin, the fires of Mt. Weiss soaring into the clouds. Her chest rode against his, shy mounds tight under her coat. Lean thighs squirmed and ground against his crotch. Her hands groped at his neck, her toned arms snaking around his shoulders. Pulling him down, her core flushed against his—the anchor keeping his feet on the ground. Sparks crackled in his spine, even as she moaned, writhing under his touch, the sound explicitly music as it slithered through the hairs of his skin.
But eternity could not last.
Nex pulled away, a thread of white stretching from her lips.
Weiss beamed scarlet, her eyes snapping open, even as she drew ragged breaths.
And he was definitely doing the same.
"What do you want to do about this unspoken thing between us?" Nex said. His brain just impaled itself on the spikes of reality. She was a corporate heiress—the heiress of the SDC. While he was just a nobody—an orphaned faunus. An unwanted one, even. Fuck. "I happen to have an extra pair of ears."
Weiss reached out. Her fingers poked his extra pair of ears.
Nex shivered, the heat coiling around his spine.
"Someone told me that faunus and human are just labels and arbitrary categories," Weiss said, grinning from ear to ear. "What matters is who you are and what you're striving for. You're not having second thoughts, are you?"
Second thoughts like his father?
He hanged the idea before it could even protest. There was no way. Absolutely no fucking way. He promised. To himself, even. If he placed effort into a woman, then he would go all the way.
"Nope," Nex said, popping the p even more. "I'm not the type of guy to hit and run."
Weiss giggled, rubbing his extra pair of ears. The traitorous appendages quivered. Feathers tickled his spine. "Then we're partners. Inside and outside Beacon. Unless you want to share a different set of titles..."
Labels hardly mattered. But evidently, titles mattered a lot to the woman known as Weiss Schnee. And well, he could definitely live with it.
What was another title on his ledger, anyway?
"It just so happens, Miss Schnee," Nex said, heaving an exaggerated sigh. "That I do want those other titles."
Weiss winked, smirking as she poked his nose. "Then from now on, you're my boyfriend. Don't let it go to your head."
Nex shrugged, but it was definitely difficult in his current position. "Don't worry. You're now my girlfriend. I'd hate to disappoint."
Somehow, the word just worked.
It was definitely odd, like something that should have been way scarier. But there was nothing to be afraid of in his par—girlfriend's shining eyes.
He had to practice thinking with that word now, so he would not forget.
"Do we tell them?" Nex whispered.
"We don't need to," Weiss said, rolling her eyes. Wait. He should have been the one doing that. "Yang has half of the school convinced that we're a couple."
Nex quirked an eyebrow, even as she pushed back his fringe, her digits lingering on his extra pair of ears. "But we are a couple, aren't we?"
Weiss breathed a sigh—definitely in exasperation—but the twinkle in her eyes never dimmed. "You don't really care to notice, do you? Even if they're hurling barbs at your back and even straight to your face."
"Hardly," Nex said, cracking a smirk. "Yours is the good opinion I care about. Not theirs."
Never theirs.
Weiss grinned, glancing at his scroll. "While I'm happy that my opinion matters so much to my boyfriend, we only have ten minutes to get to class."
His scroll turned out to be right.
They skipped into Oobleck's lecture hall.
Weiss squeezed his hand as they parted, settling into adjacent chairs in the middle of the crowd.
Yang spun in her seat, elbowing Jaune as she smiled.
Oobleck scribbled something on the board, connecting pins on a map before class officially started.
"You're glowing, Weiss-cream," Yang said, sitting directly in front of them. She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't do anything irresponsible with the dense edge lord. Right?"
Fuck. So that was what the irresponsible bit meant. Or maybe not.
But still, all things considered, he was definitely dense.
A dense edge lord, even.
Weiss matched the smirk on the brawler's face, sweat trickling down her flushed cheeks. Lines of white glimmered on her chin—the remains of Mt. Weiss' volcanic eruption. "Maybe. But that's between us."
She got that right.
Weiss pulled out her notebook along with a set of coloured pens and highlighters. Her eyes turned towards Oobleck. The man posed in front as the rest of their fellow students filtered into the classroom.
Nex took a cursory glance at his bracer. Three minutes. Plenty of time to take a power-nap, if his now-girlfriend allowed him.
She gave him a wide smile, parking a shoe on his calf.
Unlikely then. Some things never changed. His ill-conceived plan sprinted off the trenches and died.
"Lucky bastard," Jaune whispered, grinning as he shifted in his seat. "How'd you do it?"
Nex shrugged, propping his chin on the desk. "I went with the flow. You should try it sometimes."
Jaune glanced at Yang, before turning his attention to Oobleck. Their history teacher opened his lesson with a metric fuckton of explosives. The words gushed from their professor's mouth at a rate that outmatched Ruby's, rioting in his skull before exiting through an ear.
Nex groaned, digging his head into his crossed arms. His now girlfriend's cologne stuck to his uniform, flowers and baby blue loitering in his nose, even as he nodded off, the discussion practically slipping away.
It took several minutes before Weiss' heel nudged his leg.
Nex blinked, opening his eyes to the man's rabid lecture. Pay attention for a few more minutes. Long enough to distract Weiss with her frantic note-taking.
Their teacher zoomed around the classroom, pulling at his atrocious yellow tie.
"And now! Have any among you been discriminated against because of your faunus heritage?"
Nex sighed, closing his lids and falling back into the dark.
Or at least, in theory.
Velvet Scarlatina raised her hand two rows below, her tall rabbit ears marking her among the other students. More students with extra animal appendages raised their hands, others who shared their supposed heritage.
Weiss shot him a look. The back of her pink highlighter poked his forearm.
"What?" Nex said, his lids half-opened.
"You're not going to raise your hand?" Weiss said, arching an eyebrow.
Nex shrugged as their teacher went on with his near-incoherent ramblings. Even Pareidolia could barely keep up. "I don't see the point. It wouldn't stop discrimination against faunus, would it?"
Weiss frowned, her left hand continuing to write in her notebook. "You're right. But you should still participate in class. It's not that hard to raise your hand, is it?"
His now-girlfriend had a point, admittedly. Thus, he closed his eyes and drifted off into the darkness. Pareidolia blared. A scream echoed in his head.
Nex flinched. His eyes snapped open. He lifted his face, ears straining to pinpoint the sharp, whistling sound.
There.
He swayed a little bit to the right.
A ball of paper smashed into the back of Jaune's head.
Vomit Boy yelped.
"Excellent! Excellent! Mr Arc, finally participating in class! This is a welcome development! Tell us, what is the event that many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the war?"
Poor Jaune.
Someone snickered behind them—probably the student who tossed the ball of rolled-up paper.
Dumbchester leaned into the back of his seat, just two rows above theirs. The leader of the three idiots smirked, his eyes narrowed.
Nex stifled a yawn, turning back to his improvised pillow.
Dumbchester should have aimed a little more at his centre of mass if the idiot wanted to hit him.
But still, poor Jaune.
"Err..." Jaune said, scratching the back of his neck. "Gesundheit?"
The class chortled.
Oobleck shook his head, taking a long sip from his thermos.
"The Battle of Fort Castle, teach," Yang said, shaking her head. She sighed. "Sorry if my fearless leader is a bit out of it."
"Doctor, Miss Xiao Long! Doctor! But indeed, it's the effort that counts! Now, can any of you scholars tell me the advantage that the faunus had over General Lagune's forces? Perhaps why the general lost the battle? How about you, Mr Winchester?"
This should be good.
Nex sat up for the very first time. Well, probably. Whatever words of wisdom spilt from the idiot's mouth would be golden. And the ensuing laughter could make up for his lost shut-eye.
"It's a lot easier to train animals instead of soldiers," Cardin Dumbchester said, snorting. Like he was presenting some sort of revolutionary thesis. "Just ask a certain pair."
Weiss Schnee's hands clenched into fists. Her eyes narrowed, the tip of her pen ripping into her notebook. Drawing a jagged line straight from the top and down to the bottom, crossing out whatever nuggets of wisdom she managed to take.
Disappointing.
Dumbchester had his chance, but he passed over it to dig a deeper grave instead.
Stupidity.
Sheer liquid stupidity.
"Don't mind him," Nex muttered to his now-girlfriend, offering her a smile. "He's going to get in trouble."
There was no need to use Pareidolia to come to that conclusion. One did not simply answer one of Bartholomew Oobleck's questions in the way Cardin Dumbchester did.
Weiss scowled, huffing as she turned her head towards the idiot. "You're quite the close-minded person, aren't you, Winchester?"
Nex sighed. Troublesome. There was no stopping his partner when she went on one of her tirades. Certainly not when Mt. Weiss just spewed lava all over her own notes. The only thing left to do was to sit back and enjoy the show. But still, there was definitely a reason as to why she snapped. And it was probably their newfound relationship.
Fuck.
Screw it.
How hard was it to throttle Dumbchester?
Maybe he could catch the idiot in a classroom somewhere, turn off the lights, and then wrap his fingers around his neck. And squeeze. Then squeeze just a little bit more.
Squeeze enough that the idiot's face turned blue while he choked on nothing, the rotten air banging on the walls of his lungs—a balloon just seconds away from bursting.
The best thing was no one would ever know.
That was, if he hacked the school's surveillance cameras and planted false evidence to throw them off his hypothetical trail.
"You got a problem, Schnee?" Dumbchester said, the sneer on his face practically audible.
Weiss shook her head, her ponytail tickling his nose. "No. In fact, I have the right answer. It's—"
"Stupidity," Nex said, saying the word loud enough for the entire class to rear their heads at him. "But if that brief, concise answer isn't enough for you, then I can elaborate."
Oobleck chugged his thermos.
"Please! Do so, Mr Shade! I would appreciate the opinion of a faunus on this issue! In fact, I would love to hear it!"
Weiss spun, shooting him a glare, her eyebrows definitely twitching.
"What are you doing?" Weiss hissed.
Nex shrugged. "Participating in class."
Her face twisted into something indescribable, definitely doing a lot of things to his stomach. Like honey splashed over an open fire. But there would be time for that in the future.
Nex cleared his throat, readying an impromptu answer for his adoring audience. That night with Winter. Being drunk without being drunk.
It was definitely the best model.
"It's simple," Nex said, nodding like a sage. "The general neglected to engage his brain."
Oobleck nodded at hyper-sonic speeds, frowning while he sipped his thermos.
Weiss kicked his leg even harder, her eyebrows vibrating into slits.
Not entirely unexpected. But well, he started it. It was too late to end it.
"He ordered his massive army to attack at night, failing to consider that faunus have the advantage of night vision," Nex drawled, cupping his chin with one hand. He propped his elbow on the desk. "Thus, the general rushed into the battle blind, literally and figuratively, and ended up being captured. You could say that he lost because of his lack of knowledge and awareness. Therefore, stupidity, or perhaps ignorance, as some might forgive."
Now, the cherry on top of the poisoned cake. The one thing that would push Dumbchester into taking a detention.
Let it be said the cake was a lie.
Nothing more.
Nex turned to smile at his prey. "If only the good general listened more in class and had more of a brain, then perhaps he wouldn't be remembered as a failure, would he?"
Dumbchester rose from his seat, his face scrunched up into a ball of red.
Nex smirked, turning away. Got him. Any moment now.
"Mr. Winchester! Please return to your seat and see me after class for detention and extra readings with Mr Arc! Mr Shade, you are indeed correct! Astoundingly so! But it would not be remiss of you to phrase your answer in a more academically inclined manner! Even so, your participation in this class is highly welcome! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this matter! Capital! Moving on!"
Oobleck dashed around the classroom, continuing his manic speech.
Jaune groaned, even as Yang patted him on the back. She grinned at them, before she spun and faced their hyperactive professor.
Weiss wrestled control of her twitching eyebrows. She blinked, her mouth hanging open before she slammed it close. Her teeth clattered.
Well, it was a little bit rude.
"What was that?" Weiss whispered, sounding like a girl lost somewhere.
Maybe in his eyes.
Nex shrugged, smiling as his chin crashed on the desk. "I'd be a bad boyfriend if I didn't back up my girlfriend, right?"
Weiss chuckled, shaking her head. "You're surprisingly motivated, Mr Shade. Perhaps we should fit more team-building exercises into our schedule."
Said team-building exercises probably involved what happened in their dorm earlier. Not that the proposition was unwelcome.
No. Of course not.
It was an opportunity to explore more of Weiss—a new side of his partner he had never experienced before.
That they had never experienced before.
Nexus Shade grinned at Weiss Schnee's glistening lips.
After all, it took two people to share a kiss.
Chapter 29
I got it," Ruby said, rose petals swirling around her as she sat cross-legged on her bed. She stared at him—no, through him. Like she was stuck somewhere else. "I just need to use more aura. Like this..."
Ruby's eyes narrowed. Her body flickered, seemingly caught between the physical world and a red-stained, incorporeal realm, fraught with pools bubbling with shadows and leaves painted with crimson.
Sulphur. Blood.
Nex blinked. What?
The mirage fizzled.
Gone.
The sheets exploded. Pillows and blankets spun around their room, followed by a swarm of red petals. The silver-eyed girl flinched, her body flashing.
Solidifying back into its opaque state.
Nex frowned, jumping off his bed and landing cross-legged on the floor. "What happened?"
"Ugh," Blake said, brushing a stray petal from her book. She sat against the en-suite—the ghost ninja's favourite reading position. She glared at the rosy mess. "I'm not cleaning that up."
Weiss stopped writing at their desk, spinning in her seat. "What was that?"
"I think," Ruby said, grinning as she smoothed her pyjamas. "I just saw the past."
Nex placed a hand on his chin. Nothing about that made sense—that split-second mirage even less so. Maybe that one was just a figment of his imagination. And maybe she was simply seeing things slower than them. If so, then she was technically seeing the past. Their past. Her present. Well, if that one made sense. But both eventually converged into the future when she stopped using her semblance.
"You did it then?" Nex said, quirking an eyebrow. "You saw things slower, right? Did we move faster?"
Ruby sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I don't know. Maybe. Everything was so blurry."
A shame. Perhaps they needed a more scientific way of testing her semblance. His brain spat out a few ideas—ideas that involved a lot of clocks. A metric fuckton of them even, judging from the number of times she exploded due to her semblance.
"How about you take a break?" Weiss said, pointing her pen at them. The metal one that had a little dust knife hidden in it. Being heiress of the SDC had its occupational hazards, apparently. "We have essays on History, General Herbology, and Dust Theory. I don't think either of you wrote anything yet."
Weiss had a point. But still, she was wrong on one front. He was definitely a little more motivated since their team-building exercise yesterday. Where motivated meant the non-grade homework was put aside for the graded ones. Cinder Fall and Roman Torchwick could wait a little while longer. Not like Roman gave him deadlines to meet or anything. That would have been, in his fellow thief's words, too much like school.
Nex smirked, placing a v under his chin. "Check again, Weiss. Second drawer to your left."
And there she would strike gold. Well, metaphorical ones.
Weiss pulled out the drawer, arching an eyebrow. Definitely at the fat stack of papers. "This is yours. You're already finished with everything?"
Writing under his blanket was difficult, admittedly, as the linens shifted if he was careless. But still, night vision coupled with an irregular sleep schedule did wonders for a person's productivity. He only needed to find his way to a regular sleep schedule, then everything would be perfect.
"This is literally perfect," Weiss said, smiling as she leafed through the sheets. The stack of papers was now on the desk. "Down to the handwriting as well. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you've been replaced by aliens."
Naturally, she would know if her boyfriend had been replaced by aliens. Aliens probably tasted a little differently. Maybe even smelled different. Doubtful strawberries or even cologne existed in space, after all. Not that anyone actually knew for sure, since no one managed to do a successful space launch yet—a shame that one.
Ruby tapped his shoulder, rose petals crunching under her slippers. Huh. "Hey, team leader. Can I copy your work?"
Then again, being capable of churning out perfect papers with Pareidolia had a couple of downsides. One of them was definitely the glare his girlfriend shot the silver-eyed girl.
Well, at least it was a half-win. Right?
"You won't," Weiss said, frowning as she placed his homework back into the drawer. It closed with a thud. "That will defeat the purpose of the assignment. You'll end up not understanding the lesson."
Nex ruffled the silver-eyed girl's hair, eliciting a pout. "Come on, Weiss. Let her have some fun. It's not like she's going to copy it verbatim. She's going to paraphrase. Right?"
Paraphrasing meant she understood his work. Ergo, solving two problems with one metaphorical stone. It solved the plagiarism part, as well as the not learning anything part. Well, it was probably shifty. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Besides, no one would really be harmed if Ruby Rose paraphrased his work.
In fact, it would even help her. Right?
Ruby smiled, holding up her thumb. "Right, team leader. I really need to slow down my time. Yang's been worried sick about me dying young."
The ghost-ninja looked up from her book.
"What?" Blake said, frowning as her book snapped shut. "You're not sick, are you?"
Weiss heaved a sigh, her pen lying on the table. "No. Ruby isn't sick. It's just a side-effect of her semblance. According to Nex, using it causes her to age faster."
"Yep. But don't worry about it, Blake," Ruby said, giving the ghost-ninja a tall nod. "I'm figuring out how to do the opposite."
Blake shot him a glance, her face as blank as usual. "I see. How do you know, Nex?"
Nex picked up a rose petal. It was rough on his index. Lifelike. Almost as if they came straight from that one park in Atlas. Real ones, then.
That opened another can of worms—worms that caused Pareidolia to spin at the implications.
It went against Polendina's widely accepted theory on aura and semblances. Aura was incapable of manifesting physical objects from thin air. Ruby Rose was pulling the petals from somewhere. The only question was where. Or maybe even when. The second, if true, violated a whole slew of other physical concepts. But still, he really had to stop thinking before he went further and deeper than he really should into the dark rabbit hole.
Blake was waiting for an answer.
"My semblance. According to Weiss, it allows me to see the future," Nex said, nodding as he rubbed the rose petal more. The red flaked over his fingers, black dew stretching between his index and his thumb. "She's not far off, though I can't really do that one. It confirmed my hypothesis that Ruby's semblance isn't superspeed. It's time manipulation."
Blake lowered her book, her mouth forming a small o. "She can time travel?"
Nex sighed, even as her mouth snapped shut. "Nope. I'm going to put a pin on that one, though. For now, think of it as Ruby speeding up her relative time so she appears to be moving faster than us. Thus, it results in superspeed without physically moving faster."
Blake nodded, her amber eyes fixed on Ruby.
The silver-eyed girl smiled, which the ghost-ninja returned. Well, good to see they were getting along better after weeks of team-building exercises—the non-couple kind.
Well.
Probably.
"What do you mean put a pin on it?" Weiss said, quirking an eyebrow. "You're not saying that Ruby can actually time travel, are you?"
Nex flicked the rose petal at the silver-eyed girl's forehead. "See that? Solid flowers. Ever read Polendina?"
Weiss huffed, glaring at the rose petals scattered around their room. "Polendina's Treatise on Aura and Semblances states that aura can't create physical matter. Not without interaction with dust or other elements, like in the case of my glyphs."
"Or my clones," Blake said, nodding.
Nex shrugged, swiping at another rose petal. "Exactly. She's taking the roses from somewhere. Or maybe even somewhen."
Ruby gasped, her eyes snapping towards him. "I can really time travel?"
"Judging by the mess in our room," Blake said, flicking another rose petal off her shoulder. "I think time travel is the least of your concerns."
Nex chuckled, nodding at the ghost-ninja. "I have to agree with the quiet B. Clean up, Rubes. You can look at my essays later."
The R of Team SSBR moved to do as he said.
Ah.
The glorious perks of being a team leader.
Ordering his team to do housekeeping around their dorm was definitely making his laziness pop out. Well, more than usual.
But of course, leadership did not come without its downsides. And one of those would probably come about right now.
"Nexus Shade. It's not right that you're condoning her behaviour," Weiss said, shooting him a pointed look. Yep. Of course. That one. Same old Weiss. "As team leader, you should encourage her to do homework by herself."
Blake turned a page on her now-opened book—still The Boy With Two Souls. What happened to Ninjas of Love? "My partner needs to focus on her semblance. Homework is useless if she's dead."
The ghost-ninja had a very valid point, as pragmatic as it was. At the end of it all, the goal of the academy was to teach them how to survive the dangers of Remnant. Dying was particularly detrimental to that goal.
"I hate to admit it, but you're right," Weiss said, breathing a soft sigh. "You can study our leader's work. But only until you've figured it out."
"Yes!" Ruby said, shovelling the last pile of rose petals into a garbage bag—courtesy of Beacon. She tied it close and zipped towards his partner. "You're the best teammate ever!"
Nex grinned as Ruby leapt, wrapping her arms around Weiss.
The silver-eyed girl rubbed against her chest. His girlfriend sputtered, turning red as she looked to him for help. But still, her arms clung around Ruby's shoulders, holding her close. Apparently, Weiss had a lot of practice with Winter.
"Hey. Easy on the hugs," Nex said, forcing an exaggerated sigh. "I might get a little jealous."
Blake frowned, fixing him a look. "Jealous?"
Nex grinned. "What can I say? I'm a little territorial around my girlfriend."
Dumbchester received first-hand knowledge about that little fact. The racist was definitely asking for it. Practically begged for it when he pissed off Weiss.
"What?" Ruby said, dashing away from his partner. "Weiss is your girlfriend? You're together-together?"
Ugh. Definitely Nora's influence.
Weiss nodded, smiling even as she drew a deep breath. "Yes. Nex and I are in a relationship. A serious one with mutual commitments."
She got that right. No way he would turn out to be like his father—or like her father. Not even if the world was against them. Well, not that it particularly was. Curse his overdramatic brain.
"Yep," Nex said, bobbing his head into a quick nod. He smiled. "What Weiss says is true."
"I knew it!" Ruby said, smirking at the ghost ninja. She held out her hand. "You owe me a hundred, partner."
Blake sighed, reaching into her yukata's side pocket, even as her eyes narrowed. "Alright. A bet's a bet."
Perhaps he should have been mad that half of his team placed lien on their relationship. In fact, they were probably not the only ones in on a bet.
Definitely Yang.
Weiss did say she was convincing the school behind his back.
What was it about people and pointless gossip, anyway?
"This won't change anything in Team Snowbear, will it?" Weiss said, a smile on her lips. "We promise that we won't let our relationship get in the way of our responsibilities. Nothing will change regarding that."
Nothing would, of course. They had lives outside of the school, as well as lives inside of it. Business and pleasure, as the saying went.
Blake nodded, her eyes darting between them—like a cat suddenly cornered, her back against the wall. Her heartbeat spiked. "Alright."
"Yep. I gotta tell our friends," Ruby said, grinning as she clapped once. "They'll be so excited."
Nex rolled his eyes. Excited for the settling of bets, no doubt.
Weiss frowned, pinching her nose. "I'm not sure if I should be mad that you're wagering actual currency. But you have to finish your homework first."
Ruby pouted, fidgeting with her scroll. "Can't it wait until tomorrow? It's Saturday. Team Auburn is—"
A fist rapped on wood. And then another one. Then it turned into five.
"Open up, Team Snowbear," Nora said behind their door. "Because tonight will be the night~"
Another fist rapped on the wood.
"Yeah. We gotta start this thing," Yang said. "It's a game night."
"That," Ruby said, grinning as she rubbed the back of her head. "We're playing video games."
Admittedly, he never played those. Video games were a waste of time.
But still, Ruby Rose did. Far be it from him to stop her.
Nex shrugged, shifting on the floor. "Well, it's a Sunday tomorrow. I don't see the point in rushing her homework."
Weiss breathed a sigh, smiling at the silver-eyed girl. "Oh, very well. But only because our team leader insists. I expect the essays to be done by Monday with no complaints about them."
His partner should have raised a fuss.
Weiss smiled, shooting him a glance. A coy smile, and a look that revealed exactly what she was planning.
Oh well, oh well.
He was the type of guy to go with the flow anyway. And there really was no point in refusing any of her desires.
Ruby opened the door. "Hey, guys. Ready to go? I'm itching to beat Jaune."
"Yep. Time to rescue you from this library, Rubes," Yang said, grinning as she poked her head through the doorway. "The scary books didn't get you, did they?"
Blake tore her eyes away from one of the said books, drilling two extra holes into the blonde's skull. "They're not scary."
"You're biased," Yang said, grinning as she glanced at the ghost-ninja's bookshelf. "Wanna come?"
"That's a brilliant idea," Weiss said, smirking at the blonde. "Blake should go with Ruby, and make sure they come back before curfew."
Curfew being ten. It was only eight-something. Plenty of time to play a couple rounds of chess without the chessboard. Well, both of them probably did not play chess. But the metaphor was there.
Blake sighed, dragging herself towards the doorway, her book clutched under her stiff arm. "You only want some alone time with your boyfriend. But alright."
"What?!" Nora said, her head poking in. Just above the blonde brawler's. "You're together-together?!"
Great. Now the entire school knew. Trust Nora the Bard to spread the tale by herself, belting it out for the entire hallway to hear.
"Yep. We're together-together," Nex said, rolling his eyes. "Please. Try not to make it tomorrow's headline."
Weiss stammered, flushing as she glared at the bard and the brawler. "My boyfriend's right. Don't gossip about our relationship. Especially you. Yes. You. Yang Xiao Long."
Yang smirked, wounding an arm around her sister's head. "Fiiiiine, Weiss-cream. Come on. Let's leave the dynamic duo alone."
The door shut, leaving them alone in their room.
"That was surprisingly devious of you, Miss Schnee," Nex said, cupping his chin. He smirked at her back, still dressed in her trademark pale blue blouse. The sleeveless one. "I thought you still have homework to finish."
Weiss heaved a sigh, tapping the wood of their desk with her pen. Tap. Tap. Tap. "I'm having a bit of trouble. Care to help, Mr Shade?"
Strange. But okay. If she wanted his assistance, then he would be glad to provide it. If he was going to let Ruby paraphrase his work, then he was going to help Weiss finish hers.
Nex plopped down on the empty chair beside her, glancing at her homework. A full page. "But you're already done."
Weiss smiled as she poked his nose, placing her pen on the sheets of paper. "I just wanted to talk to you, sleepyhead."
Nex shrugged, matching her smile. "Shouldn't we go on a date then?"
He had no prior experience. But then again, couples were supposed to go on dates. Right?
"You're right," Weiss said, her smile stretching into a grin. "How does the next weekend sound? It should be right after our field trip to Forever Fall."
Nex quirked an eyebrow, raising his arms over his head. His bones popped. Ah. "We're going to Forever Fall?"
Weiss scowled, placing her homework in a separate drawer. "You weren't listening to Professor Peach, were you?"
General Herbology. Well, he was probably off wandering in neverland, since they did not share the same schedule for that particular class.
Oh well, oh well. At least now he knew.
"Thanks for telling me," Nex said, nodding. "You're a lifesaver."
Weiss smiled, shaking her head. "I can't muster the energy to be mad at my boyfriend. How do you take your coffee?"
Nex smirked, fixing his eyes on her lips—glistening pink under the lamplight. "Brown with a hint of vanilla. She also happens to taste like croissants and smell like flowers."
Weiss stilled, red dusting her cheeks. "Right now? Oh, my. This is surprisingly forward of you, Mr Shade."
"What can I say, Miss Schnee?" Nex said, chuckling as he stole her hand. The one under their desk, hovering over a rack of mugs. "I'm not the one who whispered, kiss me."
Weiss fixed him a glare, raising her chin. His bare feet slid on the floor as his girlfriend dragged him towards his bed. She pushed him into the sheets, straddling his oh-so-vulnerable body.
A huntress on a mission. While he was just a poor and helpless huntsman.
Well, there were certainly worse ways to kill an hour or so.