You'll notice that this is actually a bunch of chapters of In Another Place. Because all of these were very attached to each other and I'd been referring to this as a separate work for ages.

The Great War

"Tell me again how you managed this," Nero said, entering Shelke's room behind her.

"I did nothing. I came back from class and found a note, stating that Rosso took my laptop and put it up into the ceiling panel, then took the chairs out and locked them in Angeal's room." Shelke pointed up at aforementioned panel, which had clearly been tampered with.

Nero stared doubtfully up at the ceiling. He could certainly touch it, but only by jumping, and even then, only with his fingertips. "And you want me to assist with this retrieval?"

"I want you to try." Shelke looked up at the ceiling. "Perhaps you could lift me up and I could attempt the search."

Nero shrugged and knelt onto the ground and Shelke uncertainly placed the crooks of her knees into his hands, effectively leaning against his back. Nero stood up and, for the briefest moment, all Shelke was processing was the scent of Nero's shampoo and the feel of his hair against her face. Then she processed the fact that she was peering around the dusty section between her ceiling and the third floor's room. For a moment, there was nothing but darkness. After Shelke's eyes adjusted, she looked for the tell-tale glowing light of the laptop in sleep mode. "I don't see it."

"You're kidding," Nero groaned.

"Nero, while I'm not sure why you would want to shove Shelke into the ceiling, she'll never stay up there all semester." Shelke's feeling of irritation, bordering on despair, was overridden by the sound of local Dead-Pan Snarker, Weiss, in her doorway. "The ceiling is too flimsy."

"Hello, Weiss."

"Hello, Shelke." His volume hadn't changed, so Shelke could only assume that he hadn't actually entered the room and was still leaning against the door frame. "What are two of my favorite people up to?"

"Collectively, about seven and a half feet." Nero knelt down and Shelke dismounted. "Rosso has hidden Shelke's laptop in the ceiling, but we can't find it."

"Hang on… It's orange, right? Like, a burnt orange?"

"Yes."

Weiss shook his head with a smirk on his face. "I saw that thing sitting around on Angeal's desk when I went in to get my calculator back from Genesis." Weiss sat on the counter. "I think I saw the chairs while I was in there too."

Nero cast a murderous glare at the door. "Really," he drawled.

"Gentlemen, shall we proceed to the plotting stage of revenge?" Shelke assumed a cross-legged sitting position on the carpet.

When Weiss sat down next to Shelke, Nero's grin stretched. If there was one thing he enjoyed more than his music theory classes, it was proper planning of a plot. "Indeed."

TBC