Cardin Winchester
Age: 5
Cardin laughed as he ran and played with the other children. He had recently turned five and was having a grand time playing in the park with his friends. having just started a new round of hide and seek, and being lucky enough to not have been called "it", Cardin was now looking for a hiding place. Being braver than some of his counter parts, Cardin decided that a sure fire place to win him the game would be in the forest that borders the park.
Cardin ran into the mass of trees and began to look for a good spot to hide in. As he entered a clearing, he noticed a man standing at the other side. The man appeared to be in his mid-thirties, and was dressed in a dirty trench-coat; however, the most notable feature the man possessed were the two animal ears perched atop his head. Now, Cardin's father had told him many times to not even give "those filthy faunus" the time of day, but his mother had taught him to be polite no matter what. Deciding to take his mother's advice, Cardin greeted the man. "Hello! How are you?"
The man's response was less than welcoming. The man growled and began to walk towards Cardin. "You Winchesters. You all think that you can just get away with everything don't you?" Cardin stepped back in fear and confusion as the man approached him. "You just think that because you're human, and you've got a fancy name that you can just walk all over whoever you like. Well, I'm gonna prove you wrong. I'll prove them all wrong!" Cardin's slight unease turned to terror as the man pulled a wicked looking blade from the folds of his coat.
Knowing that nothing good could come from this, Cardin ran. As Cardin ran through bushes and around trees he could hear the man gaining on him. If he could just get to the edge of the forest, then he would be safe. As if fate was cheering for him, Cardin could now see the edge of the forest. Of course fate also had a sick sense of humor, as the man caught Cardin and hauled him back into the forest and began to cackle. "Your family has taken so much from me. Well guess what? I'm going to take from them now. Starting with y-!"
The man was cut off from his mad ramblings by a shaky voice. "Hold it right there! L-Let the boy go!" Turning towards the intruder, the man was dismayed to see a police officer shakily pointing a gun at him. "I mean it, let the kid go, and no one has to get hurt." The angered faunus growled and moved Cardin in front of him as a shield, moving the knife to the boys neck as well. "Don't come any closer human. One more step and I'll slit his thr- gack!" The man didn't even finish his sentence as the rookie cop lost his nerve and shot him in the face.
The last thing Cardin remembered was a blinding pain, and then darkness.
Age: 15
Cardin sighed as his show ended. It was getting harder and harder to find radio stations that would run reruns of the old radio shows. He became even more annoyed as the news was next. He didn't need all the negativity, he could generate enough of that on his own. Maybe he could convince his sister to help him download some radio show episodes to his scroll from the dust net when she got home later. Maybe he could get some good "The Shadow" episodes, or maybe a comedy or two.
As Cardin prepared a mental list, he was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of his door creaking open. From the weight of the footsteps he gathered that it was his mother. "Cardin dear, are you up?" Cardin sat up in his bed and responded. "Yeah mom, just listening to the radio." His mother hummed in response and sat on the edge of his bed. "I have some great news! Your sister got accepted into Beacon! Her letter came in late so she'll be leaving later this week." Cardin was overjoyed to hear this. As long as he could remember, she was always talking about becoming a huntress and would always tell him stories about them. he was so proud of his big sister and was happy for her.
Cardin retracted his previous statement, he hated that his sister had gone to Beacon. He was now laying across his bed, bored out of his mind. Since his sister had left, he had burned through all the radio shows he had downloaded, as well as his audio books and podcasts. His mom was still attending a council meeting and wouldn't be back for a while yet. With no one to assist him, his options were limited to activities in the house, no going into town for him.
Cardin was broken out of his self-pity by a loud knocking on the front door. Cardin chose to ignore it, as his mother warned him to never answer the door when he was home alone. The person on the other side of the door finally gave up after a straight minute of knocking. Cardin sighed in relief as the assault of noise ended, only to suck in his breath as the sound of the door lock opening reached his ears.
Cardin began to panic, no one he knew would knock on the door and then unlock it. Cardin did his best to remain silent as he tried to listen to the sound of the footsteps in the hope that maybe it was just his mom or a family friend. After minute he could hear them walking down the hallway, towards his room. It was most definitely no one he knew. Maybe if he was lucky they would pass his room and he could try and sprint out of the house. Of course, if they had moved any furniture he would be in trouble.
Before he could come up with a better plan, his door was opened as the intruder stepped into his room. As Cardin waited for his doom, a voice rang out. "There you are! Nice to meet you Mr. Winchester. I'm Velvet, your new care taker."
"Say what?"
Cardin mulled over the new information he had gathered as he chewed on the sandwich that Velvet had made for him. Apparently, Velvet was a nursing student at the local med school, so his mother had hired Velvet to help him, as she didn't like him to be home alone for so long. He had to admit, with his sister gone to Beacon, and his mother being tied up with the council so much, maybe having someone new to talk to wouldn't be so bad.
The first few days with Velvet were, awkward to say the least. Cardin lacked social skills, as his disability had kept him confined to the house, or gatherings where he could rely on his family to help him through conversations. Pair his social ineptness with Velvet's natural shyness, and you get two teenagers sitting in an awkward silence.
Cardin, finally getting fed up with the silence, decided that if no one was going to talk, then he would listen to a radio show. That is, until he remembered that he had already listened to all of the ones he had. "Um, Velvet? I don't suppose you could help me with something?"
After Velvet helped him download a new show, Cardin made himself comfortable on the couch, while Velvet went to take care of some chores Mrs. Winchester left for her to take care of. Cardin was quite happy to sit and listen to his shows, and he could hear Velvet sometimes stop in to listen when the show would reach a high point as well.
Finally, once the show was over Cardin heard Velvet sprint into the room. "What? Is it over? I didn't get to find out who did it." She wailed dejectedly. Cardin chuckled. "Hey, I can tell you what happened if you want. We can also listen to a few more. If that would be ok I mean." He heard Velvet giggle as she sat in the opposite chair. "I think that would be great."
Since then, Cardin would spend his time with Velvet listening to radio shows and audio book mysterious then talking about them. As the days grew into weeks, Velvet would find herself hanging out with Cardin even if she wasn't scheduled to that day. Soon, the two teens began to call each other friends and would talk about more than just the radio shows. Which is where they began to run into issues.
"Those White Fang scum are nothing but animals! Why can't they just leave people alone?" Cardin exclaimed as the radio played the news of a recent White Fang raid. Currently, Velvet was taking Cardin into town to go shopping for a new scroll. His old one was starting to not work correctly, and it didn't have many features to help the vision impaired. If Cardin could, he would have seen Velvet's face turn into one of sorrow, but then quickly go back as she tried to mask the sadness in her voice. "Maybe they just need to be treated better and then they'll stop." Cardin grunted. "Those stupid faunus need to just shut up and learn their place."
Velvet tried to not let these outbursts get to her. Cardin didn't know that she herself was one, as it had never came up in conversations, and after the first outburst she certainly wasn't going to let it slip now. Still, it did hurt a bit to know that here arguably best friend wouldn't be as inclined to to associate with her if he knew the truth.
Eventually, as things tend to want to do when you put two teens together for long periods of time, the two's friendship began to turn into something possibly more. Or at least, Cardin wished it would. The teens had progressed to regular hand holding as their friendship had progressed, and Velvet had begun staying at Cardin's house whenever his mother would be gone for the night. Cardin had been trying to move their relationship forward, but Velvet would always push him away, sometimes literally. To say Cardin was getting frustrated was an understatement. But one day that changed.
It was a nice spring day, and Velvet had decided that the two had been cooped up in the house for too long, so she drug Cardin to the park so that they could both enjoy some time outside. While Cardin was sitting at a bench enjoying the feeling of the sun on his face and the smell of the grass, Velvet decided to go and get the two of them ice cream. Cardin was quickly broken out of his reverie by the sound of shouting, and the unmistakable sound of Velvet whimpering. Cardin wasted no time in making his way over to her, almost forgetting to use his cane in his haste. "Please, let me go." He heard Velvet whimper. "Shut up freak, learn your place." Cardin became enraged at this. "Hey, leave her alone!"
Cardin could hear the smugness and disgust in the man's voice. "Or what? You think you scare me boy? I aught to take that little cripple stick and stick it up your ass. Now move along, I need to teach this freak a lesson." Before the man could register what was happening, Cardin's cane slammed into the side of his head, letting Velvet loose as well. "You'll regret that you stupid crip-" Cardin didn't let the man finish as he flicked the taser in his can on and delivered a crushing blow to the man's skull. Hey, when you're blind you aim for the sound.
After the incident, Velvet decided that it would be best if they headed back to Cardin's house. Cardin would be lying if he said he wasn't worried, Velvet had been silent the whole way home, ignoring Cardin's many attempts to make conversation. Once they got home, things got more awkward as Velvet led Cardin to the living room and had him sit down and then sitting down beside him.
"Why did you help me?" Velvet finally asked. Cardin was slightly confused by the question, but he answered. "Because you're my friend. I'm not going to let some idiot hurt you if I can help it." He heard Velvet sniffle then continue. "But, are you sure you want to be my friend?" Cardin was even more confused by this response. "Why wouldn't I want to be? I'm pretty sure I'm the one who should be asking that in this case." Velvet giggled at the subtle put down he laid on himself, but then did something unexpected. Taking Cardin's hand in her own, she moved it and placed his palm on the side of her face. "Um, Velvet, what are you..." Velvet shushed him. "Shush, just feel."
Having permission, Cardin began to move his hands, apologizing when he accidentally hit her nose. He was mentally mapping out her features when he stopped on something odd. On top of her head were two growths. They were both furry feeling and and reminded him of rabbit ears. Cardin pulled his hand back as the reason for her mood hit him. Velvet took him jerking his hands away as a sign of his disgust with her and jumped off the couch. "Velvet, wait!" Cardin yelled after her, but she refused to be present and have to face him. Cardin was only able to get up in time to hear her slam the door of the house closed.
"Damn it. I am such an asshole." Cardin muttered as he remembered all the times he had insulted the faunus and White Fang when she was with him. "Alright Cardin, your best friend is in severe emotional distress and has run out of the house. If you get a move on, you might be able to catch her before she gets too far outside of the area you know. So get moving and go get her." Cardin pep-talked himself as he opened the door and walked out. He had never been out side the house by himself, but he had asked Velvet to help him become familiar with the local layout in case of an emergency, he figured this qualified.
Velvet ran from the house and into a local diner and took a seat. She just couldn't stay there and witness her one solid friendship die. Logically, she knew that things wouldn't go as bad as she worried, probably, but she just couldn't stay. Sniffling to herself, she ordered a hot chocolate and pulled out her scroll. She would have to email Mrs. Winchester and tell her that she wouldn't be able to work anymore and that she should find someone else. As she was typing up the email, she failed to notice the person who took the seat across from her. That is, until the waitress came and took his order. "What will it be hun?" Velvet, who was startled by the question, jumped. "I'll have a hot chocolate, and we'll take to slices of carrot cake."
Velvet's blood froze as she heard them order. Looking up, she saw Cardin sitting in the seat across from her. She also noticed that to get out of the diner, she would have to walk past him, cutting off her escape. "So, would you like to explain that little outburst?" Cardin asked. Velvet shifted in her seat, glad for once that Cardin couldn't see her fidgeting. "I ran because... I ran because I'm afraid you hate me now." She finally choked out. when she looked up, she was saddened to see a look of anger on Cardin's face. Afraid that she had been proven right, she began to sob. Cardin, previously angered that she thought so little of him, was shocked to hear the sobbing and quickly moved to sit beside her and hug her.
"I don't hate you. I could never hate you. No matter what you are." Velvet sniffled. "Do you mean it? You're not just saying that?" Cardin chuckled and let her go. "I mean that. I think that if anyone of us should be scared of the other hating them, it's me." The Cardin began to look uncomfortable. "Look, Velvet. I'm really sorry. About earlier, and just.. everything I said about the faunus." Velvet grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "It's ok Cardin. I understand, you had every right to be mad." Cardin squeezed back and shook his head. "But I shouldn't have been angry at all faunus."
After that, the two happily talked about the last radio show they listened to, as well as about the new audio book that was supposed to be released, and whether or not the killer's identity would be revealed in it or not. Finally, the two of them headed home. Once home, they just sat in the living room, content to listen to some music. As they sat there, Cardin had one question for Velvet. "Velvet? Would... would it be ok If I touched them again?" He said as he fidgeted. Velvet giggled and placed his hand on her head. Cardin then continued with his exploring and mapping, enjoying the feeling of her fur on his hands. Velvet couldn't complain either, as the feeling of someone touching her ears without hurting her was nice.
Eventually, Cardin's hands dropped back down to his lap. "Velvet, has anyone told you how beautiful you are?" Velvet was taken off guard. "No. I don't think so." Cardin grunted and put his hand on her shoulders. "Well they should have. You are the kindest person I know, and from what you've shown me today, I think you are the most beautiful person on the planet." Velvet stared at Cardin as he began to sweat. He had used all of his strength to get that confession out, and he was awaiting her answer. To say he was startled when her lips pressed against his would have been an understatement.
Mrs. Winchester sighed as she hung up her coat and walked into the house. She had just gotten back from a council meeting, and was just ready to go to bed. As she walked past the living room, she noticed that there were still lights on, which was odd as Velvet should have gone home a couple of hours ago, and Cardin was usually asleep by now, and he didn't need lights.
The sight that awaited her was one that put a smile on her tired face. There on the couch were the two previously mentioned teens, asleep in each other's arms. Laughing softly to herself, she turned off the lights and laid a blanket over them. But not before she took a few picture for future use.
Author's Note: This is another one of those ideas that just struck me. It was probably prompted by a picture I saw on reddit of Coco and Fox. Anyway, here you go.