Chapter 11
Social Hour(s)
A/N:Hey, sorry everyone for the super late update! This is going to be a little long-winded so stick with me… My computer needs to be repaired and I've been busy. I lost a lot of files but luckily, most weren't important, my videos and music having been transferred to my phone's SD card, so no major losses except for retyping this chapter on my phone. I went to Marine boot camp and MCT these past few months. So, yeah… unannounced departure with delayed… sorry. Umm… Music suggestion… Avenged Sevenfold's 'The Stage' album.
I really want to let you guys know that I appreciate how far you've read till now and stuck it out. I really want to thank you guys. Sorry to be so late… like all the time. Another chapter, much quicker than four months is coming, I swear!
Also, looking for artists I can commission for drawing my characters, so, yeah… email me if interested, and submit something. Again, thank you.
It's the Friday of the party and I'm directing my various volunteers from each year of the academy. Well… not just me. Weiss is helping. We were asked by Shroud of Gold to sing one of their new songs at the after party. She was skeptical at first, asking if it was some sort of promotional deal but Ramses cleared it up by telling her that it's only something for fun and that it was up to her if she wanted to leave me alone or not to do it.
She's so much like Carmine. When we started, I didn't know how much she put into her singing. We warmed up for the past two weeks for an hour, Weiss's nagging forcing me to take her habits seriously and to participate in them. I asked if she had any event planning experience and her eyes practically lit up. She offered her help without question.
From proper poster placement to plenty of space for socializing between the entertainment. A man in a dark blue suit with industrial styled mahogany hair and a sky blue hex-patterned tie arrives comes up to me, "So you're my daughter's partner? My internal network of consoles will be here soon. Just tell me where you want them and I'll tell my boys."
I nod and point to the opposite sides of the athletic hall, "There and there so they can communicate strategy without the other group hearing."
He nods and tells me, "Hope you kids have fun tonight."
He seems to be a very selective and well-thought speaker, very opposite of Terra. He walks off, hands hiding in his pockets, looking around with interest. A tap on the back of my right shoulder catches my attention. I turn around and am greeted by the band mates of Shroud of Gold: Ramses Apollo, Eury Dice, Miriam Vortex, and Freki Riveaux. Team REVR (Reaver) by our standards.
Ramses, the lead singer, is wearing a zipped, hoodless, black leather jacket with a thin layer of some sort of polymer weaving over it in a grate pattern, almost unnoticeable without paying close attention. It has a long left sleeve but no right one, having been ripped or torn off, indicated by the patch job done to preserve that portion of the jacket. In its place is a gold shoulder cape covering down to his hand, a black metal-scaled gauntlet underneath, a black, fingerless glove with gold studs at the end of the gauntlet. He has a similar gold-colored waist cape coming out of his jacket to his lower calves over the backs of his legs in black pants and combat boots. His hair is short, black, with a golden glow if looked at in the right light, his eyes a dark brown with flecks of gold in them.
Eury, the backup vocalist/lead guitarist with the occasional verse or two in some of their songs, is wearing a yellow jacket with its sleeves rolled up to her elbows, black bracers of a tough leather with metal plates on the backs of them. The jacket is zipped halfway up her chest, revealing her emblem, three white E's in (of course) a dice shape on her black shirt. Her pants are also black but she's wearing lightweight shoes similar to Terra's that are grey. Eury's faded blonde hair is shoulder-length, her eyes a pronounced red hue.
Miriam, the drummer, is in a purple muscle shirt (is that what it's called for girls?) with a black medical cross made of four shotgun shells. Her pants are a dark olive color and are pretty loose-fit, almost baggy. She has heavy boots on and the top of her pants have two straps holding an assortment of pouches. Miriam's hair is long and brown, hanging it all over her right shoulder, her eyes are a faded light blue, almost white sort of color.
Freki is in a grey winter jacket, similar to Neptune's, except his has a hood with dark blue husky-like fur inside of it. It has small, blue, metal plates on the shoulders and back of the arms. His pants are a darker shade of grey, almost black, but he has two dark blue pistol holsters on the outside of his thighs, his shoes also being of the same blue as his other accessories. Freki's black hair is a little unkempt, his eyes being a dark blue, contrary to Miriam's, almost black.
I greet them all and Weiss shows up, also saying her hellos and I ask, "What are you guys here for?"
Ramses responds, "Well, to set up our band equipment and practice a bit before the party."
I nod and point at the stage, "Well, it's ready for ya."
I notice the number of starstruck volunteers around and wave my hands above my head, "Yo! You're staring! Not… cool! Back to work!"
I laugh a little at their reaction to our guests and plenty are still slowed down but luckily we're almost done. I dismiss some people who have been working the hardest and persuade those that feel like it's unfair for themselves to leave that it's fine.
One of the last things to set up is a system of some overhanging TVs that display the outdoor duel stage and laser tag arena from changing angles, changing game screens from different players, and the stage for the band, each set of TVs in groups of four to show these areas, multiple sets indoors and a few others outdoors to allow people to still be entertained by those events while waiting in line for something else.
After that, we're finished. It looks grand, orange, red, black, and white banners hung across some of the higher parts of the athletic hall, each bearing the academy's emblem. Horror memorabilia and decorations strewn about nicely between everything but still allowing enough space to move and socialize. The locker rooms are something most of the volunteers who worked on it are proud of, having made a truly impressive horror house. Several of our theatre and art students are volunteering to run it for a good two hours. It's a great culmination of our efforts.
I dismiss everyone, leaving us all with a little less than three-and-a-half hours of free time. That means several people will have time to prepare their costumes. Weiss asks me on our walk back to our dorm building, after some visible internal debating, "Would you like to 'hang out' at my team's dorm until everyone returns?"
I'm a little surprised by her asking and nod lightly, seeking companionship just like her. I tell her, "Yeah, that sounds like fun. Just let me get changed before I come over."
She nods and tells me, blushing slightly, "Don't take too long…"
We both temporarily part ways, me speeding up and going ahead of Weiss to make sure she doesn't have to wait long. I enter my team's dormitory and something on my bed immediately catches my attention. It's a folded set of clothes with a metal mask on top of the pile. I grab the mask and examine it. It's identical to one Ramses would wear on stage while performing. The mask has no mouth or nose slots, three small holes in each cheek to allow breathing, two rectangles with black visor-material to allow vision. The metal is pure gold in color, a single black stripe running down the right eye, almost concealing the presence of the black slot.
There's a note stuck on the inside and I grab it. It reads, 'Sorry we kept it a secret so long but we knew you wouldn't mind. Enjoy.' It's signed by each of the band members of Shroud of Gold and their social media manager and I shake my head, dumbfounded by how much came from Coco recording me several weeks ago. The clothes are a black jacket that fades into a type of gold at the tips of its sleeves and the bottom of the torso. It has an extension of a gold waist cape going to the back of the calves, one of my black pants included under the jacket to denote that they'll work with it. I grab a black shirt and put on the jacket, zipping it up to the middle of my ribcage and slip on my pants and current boots.
I walk out and down to the RWBY dorm, mask in hand, knocking on the door and wait. Weiss opens the door and looks me over, "What are you wearing?"
I reply, "A custom outfit from our guests."
I put on the mask and she gives a nod of approval. I ask her after taking the mask back off, "So what are you doing?"
She's organizing different articles of clothing from the closet and tells me, "The other girls asked me if I could prepare their costumes and so I am."
I nod, "What're your costumes?"
Weiss replies as she pulls another outfit from the closet, "Well, Blake's going to go dressed as a ninja, I'll be a necromancer, Ruby'll be a sort of reaper, and Yang's costume is an MMA fighter."
I chuckle. They all seem appropriate. Well… maybe not Weiss's outfit. I'm a little confused, "'Necromancer'?"
She nods and tells me, "Ruby wanted us to match. After some insistence from Blake and Yang, they agreed that we should do something as partners. I humored the thought, but Ruby actually came up with a good idea."
I understand and offer assistance, "Anything you need help with?"
Weiss shrugs, "Maybe with applying face paint to me and Ruby."
She goes into their closet and walks out wearing a dark dress that goes down to her knees, thick leggings going down to her black boots. It seems entirely gothic. Not a single variation in its color. It has long sleeves and she's wearing a large cloak over the dress. The back of it has a brown, faded, decrepit skull printed on the back, looking quite twisted. Myrtenaster has been replaced by a wooden sort of staff and she tells me, "You can help with the facepaint about a half hour before the others show up."
I nod and look at the other costumes. Ruby's is a dress nearly identical to Weiss's except it has lacing and such with crosses and other holy symbols inside of it. It also has a similarly designed corset off to the side for her to wear over the dress. There's a black hood meant to replace her red one and a prop traditional scythe to take Crescent Rose's place.
Blake's ninja outfit is mainly dark purple in the center but progressively becomes a lighter shade the further it goes into the limbs. There's a black scarf that can act as a mouth and nose cover and a black headband with a metal plate in its center. A blade shorter than Nadeshiko's Sheena and some fake throwing knives in a belt are meant to be her 'weapons' instead of Gambol Shroud.
Yang's MMA costume is pretty simple, but effective. It's a black muscle shirt (still wondering if I'm right) that has yellow text reading 'SHUT DOWN' on the back, the 'O' replaced with a red power icon, a bigger one on the front, 'SHUT' perfectly above 'DOWN'. The shorts are yellow and go about two inches past the buttocks, so in short… pretty short. The same text in black on the outside of the thighs and yellow sparring gloves are ready to simulate Ember Celica. She still has to wear shoes due to party rules and restrictions.
Weiss asks me, "So you made a new weapon?"
I nod, excited, "Oh, you mean 'Gold Omen'!?"
She raises a confused brow and nods slowly, "Sure… why?"
I shrug, "Well, because Amon and Barbados are too close range. I needed something capable of range and melee, unlike Amber King or my knuckles."
She adds another query, "Won't it be awkward to add it to your fighting style?"
I give a side nod and shrug, "Yeah but I'm up for the challenge."
Weiss asks, "So how do those batteries of yours work?"
She doesn't know what she's unleashed. I tell her all about how they feed off of my Semblance passively (the container is a sort of resonator with an energy Dust panel in it that needs replacing every two years) and a complex system of conversion rates between the different modes my weapons have.
She seems truly entertained, adding her own input towards how else I can use Dust to improve performance and asking other things in relation to why certain setups work while others don't and within what range of volts, conversion frames, and amperage. The others arrive, accompanied by my team. I let out a surprised 'Huh…' followed by looking at the time. We spent a good while discussing my technology and its applications. I tell GNT, "You guys can get ready. Let me help Ruby and Weiss for a little."
They leave and Weiss just wants me to apply 'grime' around her eyes using the black face paint. With her eyes closed, it almost looks like the sockets of a skull. For Ruby, I have to apply a black layer base followed by a white skeletal design, the same for her hands. Weiss uses a small glyph to make it symmetrical and to ensure that their face paint remains through whatever condition.
That's about seven minutes spent before a knock on the door is heard. Carmine asks, "You guys ready?" We step out and JNPR joins us in the hallway. Their outfits are also quite appropriate for each of them.
Jaune is in an Atlas soldier (the one from that store Ruby and I went to!) and I can hardly hold in a sigh.
Nora is in a poofy, pink dress with long, white boots and gloves. She's wearing a tiny, off-center to the right, golden crown. She is quite literally, the 'Queen of the Castle'.
Ren is in a similarly regal outfit. He's wearing a green kingly sort of long-sleeved shirt with a red cape and brown pants. He has his own crown of normal size.
Pyrrha is dressed as a centurion. She has large pauldrons and an additional chest piece over her corset. Her sword has been replaced by a simpler double-edged Gladius and she's wearing a helmet with a red mane leading from the top of her head to her lower back. All of the new pieces of armor are the same gold as her normal set.
We head out, our motley of costumes making us easily noticeable in normal circumstances but other groups are headed to the cafeteria where the main party is, meaning we're in the norm.
The event is being hosted by the Grey Professors, Port, and Oobleck. The sister of the twins is dressed in a sort of phoenix-woman outfit, her hair dyed red, progressively becoming purple, just like the tips of her outfit. Mr. Grey is dressed as a mummy, Oobleck as an explorer, Port is dressed like a lumberjack, so Ms. Grey definitely takes the winner's crown out of them.
Seeing the other students' outfits that just express themselves in a new way makes me smile.
There're quite a few things around that catch our separate interests. Nora's at a candy bowl that seems to refill every time I look away and back to her. Jaune and Pyrrha are playing a co-op arcade game that involves swordplay while Ren is at a 'Move! Move! Revelation!' machine, moving and transitioning quite smoothly into dance moves not only involving his feet, but also using his arms.
Weiss is watching some of the other students here for the Vytal Festival. Blake is hanging out with Sun… and Neptune… because he can't seem to hang with someone else. Yang's… I don't know where she is. Ruby's going around and taking in everything.
Carmine is trying to talk to some girls. Failing. Terra and Nadeshiko are talking with Professor Grey. Me? I'm just sitting off to the side doing nothing but watching everyone else do their own thing.
I feel a tap on my right shoulder and it's Ruby. She tells me, "Hey, fellow team leader. What're you doing?"
I shrug, "Just watching."
She shakes her head, "That's not okay. You should be having fun! Come here."
She grabs my hand and leads me to the dance floor. I chuckle, "Ruby, I don't dance. I hardly sing."
She doesn't accept my answer, telling me, "I don't think so! You're going to dance because I'm telling you to."
I shake my head lightly, "What if I don't?"
She tells me, "I'll pout and tell Weiss to force you to dance in front of everyone before you two perform tonight!"
She doesn't seem to be joking at all. I let out a breath and tell her, "Alright. What do I do?"
The song seems to be electro-pop and Ruby's moving along with the beat quite smoothly. She notices my tenseness and tells me, "Relax a little! Have fun. If it feels right, do it!"
Her bright expression doesn't match her face paint. She spins me around by the left hand and her cheerfulness is contagious. I start to move a little more. Not as coordinated as her, definitely not like Ren, but my own pace. She's giggling at seeing me dance. Not at thinking that my dancing is stupid, rather that she's enjoying the time we're spending together. Her face paint is staying the same as when I applied it, thanks to Weiss's glyph from earlier. Eventually, I'm worn out from about twenty minutes of dancing and tell Ruby, "You can keep up with it. I'm going to take a break."
I sit back down and the members of my team arrive, sitting with me. Terra asks, "So what're the plans for the evening?"
I give a shrug, "Well… I'm hosting. Won't be able to do anything with you guys until later in the night."
Carmine nods, "Well then… we'll do our own thing until you can join us. So what're we going to do first?"
Shiko replies, "We should play laser tag first."
I nod agreement, "Then… we could do the haunted house after."
Terra pitches in, "Hey, we could probably get a chance to duel."
I smile behind my mask, glad that we came up with something. The party lasts about another three and a half hours, ending at 8:30, us having spent some time with teams COCO, JNPR, and RWBY.
I leave a little before everyone else to get onstage, a microphone in hand. There're four professors chaperoning the event. Two indoors, Chroma and Pitch, the two outdoors running the duel stage and laser tag arena are Torn and Tirrian, respectively. The Grey Professors and Professor Amber will be joining to offer their help in a few minutes. Shroud of Gold isn't here yet but there is a music machine onstage behind me that's playing music through some of the spread out speakers in the hall. Once a decent amount of people file in and are waiting by the manned attractions, I announce, "Welcome, all of you, to the first year after party! We may be inexperienced, but we're the gem of youth at this academy!"
Several people let out a cheer and I continue, taking off my mask, "I, Munsell Regent, will be your host. I hope my choices of entertainment are enough to satisfy you guys. Please, have fun and enjoy yourselves."
Several people clap and cheer before indulging themselves in the temptations of the entertainment around them. I chuckle behind my mask and put the mic back on its stand. I get off of the stage and several people greet me. They really seem to be enjoying everything that's been provided. I roam around, asking people how they like the party. Some respond well, some others get people to take pictures of me with their group, others take selfies with me. I'm more well-liked than I thought.
Some of the girls give me nice hugs, hold my arm while their friend holds the other, take a picture of them kissing my mask's cheek, that being done by a quarter of them. I blush behind my cover, taking the hint, my heartbeat rising.
Some of the guys high five me hard, others try to champion me as their friend, and some try to tell a story with me there to… impress me?... but I remind them I need to make sure everyone's fine.
I find Hale after about ten minutes of keeping my eyes open. I message Terra, 'Found Hale. By the gyroscope.' and say hello, "Hey, Hale. How've you been enjoying the party?"
She gives a nod and tells me, "The food and snacks are good. I'm indifferent to some of the attractions, but the rest I want to use."
I nod, wondering when Terra'll arrive but she does right as I think of it, "Hey, Munsell! I brought you a drink, knowing you must be thirsty under there."
I ask Hale as I take off my mask, "You meet Terra?"
She nods and shakes Terra's hand, "Yeah, we share a couple classes."
I down the cup, "Uh-huh. So you guys take care. I'm going to do some more host things."
I hear Hale mention to Terra, "That was… awkward."
Terra responds, "Yeah, but he's my partner, so what am I s'posed to do?"
They giggle and I shrug. At least they're kicking it to a good start. It's about nine; Weiss and I sing at around ten, after that, I can tone it down on the hosting. Shroud of Gold is getting their equipment ready, everyone in similar outfits. The main feature for everyone is black coats like Ramses's from before (both sleeves, however).
They wear dark colored pants and each has their own golden accessory. Ramses has his mask, Freki sports some black headphones with golden trim, Miriam wears a gold choker with a black buckle, and Eury has donned a golden scarf. Ramses asks as he adjusts his mic, "You guys enjoying the party!?"
The crowd cheers and Eury asks as she tunes her guitar, "You guys ready for some music?"
She gets a resounding cheer before Miriam tells my peers, "We've got about half an hour to warm up before we actually kick off the real stuff. What to play first…?"
People nearby the stage start to SCREAM suggestions for songs and artists. I can tell that the former alumni are enjoying their interaction with the current generation of students. I sigh with satisfaction and start to roam around once again, looking for Weiss after a good amount of time passes.
I find her associating with Neptune, having peeled him away from his Faunus counterpart. I walk up, interrupting their conversation, "Yo. We got ten minutes."
She nods and Neptune asks, "For what?"
She responds, shifting a little as she says, "We're singing together. New song by our guests."
He nods, "Sure. Sounds pretty chill. I'll be listening for sure."
I notice Weiss stiffen a little and she tells him, "I hope... you like it…"
We walk away towards the stage and I elbow Weiss's side, "Nervous for your Prince?"
Weiss blushes and tells me, a little bit timid in comparison to her usual self, "Qu-Quiet you. It needs to be perfect, alright? Can you please do that for me, Munsell?"
Her eyes are soft instead of their guarded, searching norm and I nod, grabbing her pinky with mine, "I promise. Now, don't you chicken out on me at the last second!"
She casts a glyph on herself and her robe and makeup disappear, a pure white dress and boots taking place of what she was wearing, "As if."
We stand a few feet behind Ramses and he moves Eury's mic next to his. He speaks into them as he sets them up, "My young Beacon friends. We have a special gift for you. Your host and the Schnee wonder child will be debuting our new song, 'Dear Anesthesia'."
We stand behind our mics and everyone's quiet. Not even any dueling is taking place outside.
Light and sweet guitar that rips into a heavy rock riff before caing down in the middle where most of the song takes place.
I start, Weiss singing slowly and beautifully in the middle of the verses.
Oh dear Anesthesia
Won't you come and wake me up…?"
*Quick riff.*
You brought me up, you taught me love.
Then I was broken, now I am rough.
(I don't need you)
Now I'm a bastard, it's not enough.
I am a heathen, you hurt too much,
(I don't love you)
Now that I need you, I have tough luck.
I can't keep fighting, I will give up.
So now we go our separate ways,
But I'm the only one who's parted.
You took away every single thing
And gave me just a broken heart and
I know they'll make me sin again
'Cause I'm the bringer, you are the end.
I feel… this… pain… deep in my chest
Within… my… bones… it will never rest.
You will not run, you will not fight
I want your soul tonight.
Please don't deny me
I feel myself dying!
Oh dear Anesthesia
(Oh dear Anesthesia)
Fuel my blood and wake me up
Know that I want you to live
(Know that I want you to live)
The rest of this life I will give
So stay by my side, I'm ready to try
(I'll stay by your side, I'll keep you alive)
You're with me tonight, I'm ready to die
We sing at the same time now.
Oh dear Anesthesia
Chill my soul and make me numb
Take this pain from in my chest
Help me reach my final rest
Take my spirit, take my soul
Because you helped to make me whole
You can take it all, my love
Take my life, take enough…
Weiss creates a glyph underneath our feet and I drop to my knees. She walks up to my side and lowers herself to where her face is near mine, tilting my head to face her. She presses her lips to my mask and her glyph makes ice crystals form on us all over, making us look like an ice sculpture of sorts and I charge our Auras with healing energy, causing us to glow. When the instruments stop playing, we move and the crystals shatter, creating a beautiful display of sparkles that glow and shine in the light.
Our fellow students let out a cheer and clap, creating a commotion of sorts and Ramses claps our shoulders with his hands, "Great job, you two. Definitely a night to remember."
I notice that Weiss's attention has been caught by Neptune and she tells Ramses before leaving, "Agreed."
I look around and spot a certain short-haired scythe user, "Ramses, I thank you for letting me sing that song. See you in a bit."
I walk offstage and have my mind made up.