Sun wasn't sure why he had decided to go along with Blake's ridiculous idea of joining the RolePlaying club. Perhaps it was the fact that he hadn't seen his girlfriend get that excited at something in a long time, the last time being when he had managed to get her the latest copy of her favorite book series - in a completely legitimate and not at all illegal way mind you - and she had started hugging him, unusual in their relationship since it was always either Yang or himself who initiated displays of affection with her.
He had made fun of Neptune for his love of books in the past, and though he'd never said the same to Blake, it was implied he thought all books were nerdy.
Yet somehow she had managed to find something even nerdier. He was actually kind of impressed, standing outside the Student Union room with an excited Blake to his left and Yang hanging off of her left, clearly about as pumped as Sun was.
"Blaaaaaaaaakeeeeeee" She groaned loudly into the black haired girls ear. "It's a Friday night we should be out hitting the clubs and being young and wild and free not sitting in a room with a bunch of sweaty nerds playing make believe."
Sun nodded vigorously with what Yang was saying. "Why pretend to have an adventure when we can have a real one?"
Blake, not letting her two partners skepticality ruin her mood, stated simply, "Because adventures with the two of you always lead to us almost getting arrested-"
"Keyword being almost!" She winked at Sun who finger gunned and winked back.
Blake ignored them and continued. "-And clubbing every weekend gets boring. I want a change of pace. Sue me." She paused then added, "And they're not going to be sweaty!"
Yang just rolled her eyes. "Whatever, but when we find out that this is a smelly waste of time and a good friday night you owe a month's worth of borderline legal adventures with me and Monkey Boy." She jabbed a finger in Sun's direction. She'd been calling him that ever since the two had one of their many, many dick measuring contests, that particular one involving who could eat the most bananas, with Sun the victor, but a trip to the hospital revealing that there were no winners. And revealing that eating 9 bananas is a really bad idea.
Blake hesitated. Was this really worth such a high price to pay if it didn't go well? But she supposed harrowing adventures with her boyfriend and girlfriend weren't exactly the worst punishment she could imagine, and they made for good stories, so the risk was worth it.
Damn it. Yang thought as Blake pushed open the door to the RolePlay club room. She was hoping that the Christmas Swap of 2014 fiasco alone would have been enough to deter her but apparently not. Sun too, heaved a heavy sigh. Both shared a look that said, this is going to be a long night before walking in after Blake.
The scene inside the club room wasn't what Sun and Yang had been building it up to be, that is, a horrid dungeon (you have to play Dungeons and Dragons in an actual dungeon right?) full of sweaty, smelly nerds.
As it was, the room was pretty normal. A long table filled most of the room with chairs packed in around it, with a small folding table in the corner that held refreshments. In one of the chairs near the head of the table sat a woman with dark brown hair and striking golden eyes, not unlike Blakes. With her were two others, A dark skinned girl and a pale boy with green and silver hair respectively.
The woman smiled coyly. "Ah, newcomers. Excellent. " making the trio a tad unsettled.
Of course the effect was ruined five seconds later when she chastised, "Mercury would you get your feet off the table you're making us look bad."
Oh ya, this was definitely going to be a long night.
As it turned out, the trio were quite early to the meeting. That wasn't exactly a bad thing, mind you, as Blake didn't fully understand how roleplaying worked and Sun and Yang couldn't care less about whatever roleplaying entailed. However, Cinder, as they found out the leader of the club was named, was more than obliging to help them understand the concept.
"...this isn't a normal D&D campaign." Yang nudged Blake in the side for the umptenth time that D&D had been said, like saying the letter D was the cleverest joke in the world. Cinder continued, unaware of Yang's juvenile humor. "There is some dice rolling involved, but it's not as in depth as regular D&D," Another jab to Blake's side, "It's just used to see if your action works or not… I kind of make it up as I go along." She smiled, creepily, the three would add, and continued. "I've made up an original story for this campaign, and you guys get to come up with characters that fit into the setting. It's basically like a bunch of people coming together to write a story!"
Blake lit up at that, and both Sun and Yang couldn't help but smile with her, as just seeing her happy made something inside of them feel good, even if they were in Nerdcity right now. "I saw that on the club webpage." Blake smiled. "That's why I decided to check this club out! It sounds like an interesting way to experience a story."
"Oh good! You checked the webpage!" Cinder smiled. Her smile seemed unnatural, like she had to practice how to play nice. "Then you know about character sheets?" She said hopefully.
And just like that Blake's smile faltered. "Um… I have a basic idea?" She offered.
Emerald and Mercury started snickering behind Cinder, who merely waved them off. "Ignore them. They were the same when they first came here. They're just proud of the fact that they're veterans of the club."
"Damn right we are! We managed to survive your Time Travel Campaign Through Hell! I'd say that's something to be proud of!" Emerald teased.
"Time Travel what now?" Sun asked.
Again Cinder just waved them off. "I was a young, innocent, bubbly GM. I had so many ideas, too many ideas. And I said I was sorry about that campaign!" She looked back to the trio, realizing she had lost her place. "Oh right! We were talking about characters. It's fine that you don't have character sheets yet, most people who are new don't. We spend most of the first session making builds and backstories, - don't worry about names either, we always end up forgetting them so now we just use the name of the player- and those who already have them I check over to make sure they're not OP or too weak… my RP's can get a bit brutal." She said it trying to seem shameful but the look on her face was pure pride. Emerald and Mercury just cringed thinking about all the vicious twists and traps Cinder had laid for them in the past.
Just then the door opened, and the girl who started walking through began, "Hey guys I know I said I'd bring the dip today but Weiss-"
"RUBY?" Yang squawked. "YOU'RE A NERD?" She said it as if she was Caesar being betrayed by Brutus, and in Yang's mind, maybe she really thought she was.
Meanwhile, Ruby was terribly confused. "Yang no why are you here no you can't know about this oh god no I'm never going to live this down." She started muttering incoherently, looking off into space.
Mercury looked to Blake. "I take it they know each other?"
"Try sisters."
As if on cue, something in Ruby's mind started to work again, and she realized something. "Wait! You're here too!" She was pointing incredibly intensely. "That means you're a nerd too! You can't use this against me!"
"Oh no little sis, you came here willingly! I was forced into this by my dear and loving girlfriend!
As the bickering went on, a new voice came from the hallway.
"What's all the yelling about? Are they really that mad about the dip?" Weiss poked her head around the door frame.
"Oh god your roommate's here too?" Yang groaned dramatically. "Is everyone I know secretly a nerd?"
Actually, yes Yang, everyone you know is a massive nerd.
As the time before the meeting became less and less a two more people trickled in. Jaune Arc, a clutz in the same History section as Yang, who came with Pyrrha Nikos, who trained with Yang in the workout room in the athletics center. Yang was ashamed in everyone around her and herself for choosing to surround herself with such geeks.
Once everyone had created their characters and they had been thoroughly reviewed by Cinder, she drew in everyone's attention by snapping her fingers.
"Right then. If you'd all introduce your characters then?"
It seemed as though everyone had gone over the top with their character creation, though perhaps Jaune didn't get the memo. He was horribly outclassed by people who could cast mental hallucinations, control magnetism, wield scythe sniper rifles, and whatever the hell weapon Blake had come up with.
"So it's a gun. And a katana. And a cleaver?" Mercury asked incredulous.
Blake blushed, feeling self conscious about her weapon choice. "It also has a detachable blade connected to a ribbon that allows her to swing around."
"So it's also a grappling hook?"
Yang and Sun looked ready to fight Mercury if he made Blake anymore ashamed of her, admittedly confusing, weapon.
Fortunately Emerald broke the tension. " Don't let him get to you. He's just upset that he only has gun boots."
"Hey gun boots are cool!"
"Not as cool as what she's packing."
That made Blake feel a little better.
"Hey at least it's better than a regular sword!" He gestured to Jaune, who found the ground incredibly interesting at that moment.
"Gotta give it to you there." Emerald sighed. "Jaune you're not even new! You know how brutal Cinders campaigns can get! Why do you always make such a weak build?"
Jaune muttered. "I like making underdogs."
Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a pat. "I think your character has a lot of potential Jaune. Lots of room to grow. And besides if he was that weak why would Cinder let you use him?" She looked to Cinder for affirmation.
"I just like seeing Jaune slowly regret all of his decisions but the way you put it makes me sound like a nicer GM." She shrugged. "Ok so now that all the niceties are out of the way, who want's to start roleplaying?"