When Coal and Rain woke up they didn't really know what to say. Rain figured "good morning" was as good a place to start as any. A nurse carrying trays of fruit and oatmeal came by before scurrying away to her other patients.
When they were alone again he turned to Rain. "Can't... move... Feed me?"
"Get the nurse doofus," she replied between bites.
"I thought we were closer than that," he carefully reached over and picked up his tray.
"Close enough that I know you're a liar," she replied.
He shrugged, but immediately regretted the motion. "You're no fun at all, maybe I'll go solo."
She raised an eyebrow. "If you were that easy to drive off I'd be rid of you by now."
He laughed. "So you do want to be rid of me."
She smiled as though imagining the rest of her life in perfect, calm, solitude. "Can't say the idea isn't tempting."
"As I recall," Coal pointed his spoon at her, "it was you who begged me to come here wth you."
Rain scowled, and Coal matched it with a victorious smile. Then the two of them cracked into a loud (and unfortunately painful) fit of laughter. One of the nurses entered, worried about the noise, but after ten seconds of attempting to question Coal she left the room muttering furiously.
"Don't be mean," Rain half laughed half growled.
"She asked me if she could do anything for me, I just answered the question. Besides I'm practicing my honesty."
"That doesn't mean you have to say everything on your mind."
"Look," Coal began, "I'm a simple man with simple needs. Her pestering me is not one of them."
"It was pretty efficient," Rain admitted.
Coal beamed.
The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon in an almost-silence. Coal read while Rain watched passerby's out the window. All the while people outside rushed from one room to the next.
But the window's view grew stale and the books were a ragtag affair, so it wasn't long before the pair plotted escape from confinement.
Rain locked Coal's arm as he wobbled out into the surrounding courtyard. She squinted at the sun's glare. It bounced off of the pavement and melting snow, setting the walkways alight with cold fire.
A flash nearly blinded them. Coal glared at the camera lens pointed in their direction.
A tall faunus girl approached sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to blind you," she offered a hand, "I'm Velvet."
Rain stuttered out a smile and hurried to introduce them.
Velvet was one of Rain's idols. She looked around for the other members and was rewarded with a casual wave from Coco Adel herself.
"What are you doing here?" Rain thought aloud.
The rest of the team members finished approaching before Coco finally answered the question. "We were in the area when that grimm showed up. We're staying in town for a few days to mop up anything left over."
For Rain it was a dream come true. She made sure to get their autographs and gush about how cool they were. Coco just smiled. "You weren't bad yourselves" she said.
Coal wondered who they had come to see. He turned to see Rain putting on her best happy front. She gave them one more wave and when they were out of sight she let her mask fall.
"What are we doing?" Rain wondered aloud.
"Do you want to go home?" Coal asked.
"Absolutely not," she spat back.
"Then we're doing something that's not that," he replied.
A shrug and a sigh (and a lot of paperwork) later, they were free of the hospital. They gave little information besides their first names and they payed for the care with anonymous credits.
They left nothing aside from footprints in the snow and rumors of a new grimm.
Ozpin and Crow sat and listened to the clocks and gears above them grinding ever onward. Ozpin nursed his mug while Crow regarded his flask and thought about where to begin.
"Grimm don't just appear in homes and start kitchen fires Ozpin. She's making moves in the North, and not the little games of chess you two have been playing in your heads either. That city could have gone under if there hadn't been a team nearby-"
Ozpin stopped him. "But there was a team nearby-"
"By blind chance," Crow finished.
"By blind chance," Ozpin agreed. "Just as this attack may have been 'blind chance.'"
Crow stood. "The walls were breached just last week, and you want to tell me that's just a coincidence?"
Ozpin looked Crow in the eye. "Yes. I do." He stood and put his hand on Crow's shoulder, "I would love to tell you as much. You know as well as I do that she has a much finer touch than this. And even if she decided to abandon that touch, we can't afford to."
"I know," Crow sighed.
The pair approached the door to Ozpin's office. "And that's why I need you to treat this delicately. Not lightly. But delicately."
Crow thanked him and stepped into the hallway, alone. The tension in his body finally began to dissipate. Ozpin hadn't been upset by his decision to break cover and return. And he had gotten permission to investigate, or something like that... But something still felt strange.
Ozpin had a knack for seeing outcomes, but when it came to the wildcards in the population we was nearly blind. He was the kind who might take the queen only to be trapped by a pawn. Crow was not going to let that happen.
