"Hey Simon." Ruby said as she sat down next to him at the lunch table.
"Hello Rose." He replied smiling at her. Haeley was on the opposite side of him and was currently focused on the book she was reading.
"Watcha reading Haeley?" Ruby asked as the rest of her team joined them.
"Oh it's nothing." Haeley said without looking up; Ruby noticed it was the same book from the day before.
"So…" The group began casual conversation. Every now and then someone would ask what was inside Simon's flask; and he'd avoid the question in its entirety. Eventually JNPR arrived and joined in on the small talk. Then someone reminded Ruby of their plans tonight.
"Oh, that's right we were going to have a sleepover!" She said excitedly. "Pyrrha, Nora, you guys wanna come?"
"Why not Jaune or Ren?" Pyrrha asked.
"Girls only." Yang replied.
"Oh, ok sure I'll come." Pyrrha said with a smile.
"Meee too!" Nora yelled, before stuffing her mouth with food.
"What about me?" The group turned to see Coco standing behind Simon. "Can I come?" She asked again.
"Umm, sure yea I guess you can. Is that why you came over here?" Yang said to the upperclassman.
"No I came over for something else." Coco responded glancing at Simon; who had his eyes closed and arms crossed since the group mentioned 'sleepover'.
"Go ahead." Simon told her. Coco placed her left hand on his shoulder and used her right to cover her moth as she whispered into his ear.
"But didn't you just invite yourself to their sleepover?" He asked; mostly likely in response to her words.
"…"
"Oh, ok; yeah sure."
"See you then." Coco told him walking away.
"What." The group said in unison. Simon pulled out his flask again and took a sip.
"It's nothing don't worry about it." He told them as he put away the silver container.
"No, it's not 'nothing'." Yang said. "The most popular girl in school just walked up to you and whispered in your ear."
"I think I know." Haeley felt nine pairs of eyes fall on her. "Tell me Simon; where were you this morning."
Simon looked at her intently, and smiled.
"Hahahaha," Simon stood from the table and walked away. "I think you'll find out tonight."
As he stepped out of the mess hall the class bell rung; the two teams looked at each other before following him to their classes.
"Simon and Lie Ren." Goodwitch called out to the class. The two combatants rose and proceeded to the locker rooms to prepare for their duel.
"Hey Simon?" Ren asked as he retrieved his weapons from his locker.
"Yes Lie." Simon responded from across the room.
"Would you mind using your weapon against me?" Ren asked closing his locker.
"Why?" Simon replied shutting his own. They walked to the door and stopped next to each other.
"I'd like to see how you fight with it; I'm sure everyone does." Ren told him. Simon brooded on his words.
"Ok, but you have to promise me something;" Simon said. "don't get upset when I beat you into the ground." He smiled.
"Of course." Ren responded returning the gesture. They walked back to class in silence. As they stepped into the arena the large overhead screen lit up with their information.
Simon reached up with his left hand and drew his blade. Strange; Ren thought, I could've sworn he was right-handed.
They heard a gasp from the crowd and everyone turned to Haeley; who wore a concerned expression.
"Begin!" Goodwitch shouted. Ren pointed his weapons at Simon and sprayed; but Simon didn't dodge, he ran through the gunfire letting his aura take the hits. When Simon was upon him, Ren leaped into the air over his opponents head; only to be followed.
Ren observed the next moments as if they were slowed. He watched Simon spin his blade around his body and slam the flat into Ren's chest; launching him downward. As Ren hit the ground he felt his Aura drain. God he's strong; was he using his Semblance?
Ren heard Goodwitch call the match; opening his eyes he saw Simon towering over him, his blade to his throat. Sheathing his weapon Simon held out his hand to his fallen companion; which they gladly accepted.
Ren looked up at the duel screen; his own Aura had a considerable chunk taking out of it, about a third; but Simon's… appeared to have not changed at all.
"You two may return your gear now." Goodwitch told them. "Next are Sky Lark and Nora Valkyrie."
"That is all the time we have for today; you are dismissed." Goodwitch told the class as the bell rang. The students got their stuff and left the room. Ruby watched Haeley storm off with Simon hurrying after her; it was obvious she was upset. Ruby told her team she'd catch up with them and followed after the pair.
Ruby followed them to one of the emptier parts of school. She was about to follow them around a corner when she heard a loud smacking sound. She poked her head around the corner and saw that Haeley had slapped her companion.
"Haeley…" He started.
"That was unbelievably reckless Simon!" Haeley yelled at him. Ruby was surprised at this new side of the Faunus.
"Haeley I-"
"Stuff it Simon! You could've killed him!"
"Haeley, listen-"
"I said SHUT IT!" Ruby watched as The Faunus's hair began to glow and rise into the air. "I can't believe that I'm the one who has to remind you-"
Ruby covered her mouth as she watched Simon force the Faunus into a deep kiss. After a few moments her hair returned to normal and she closed her eyes. Simon pulled away and caught her as she collapsed; he slowly lowered her to the floor and stayed next to her until she regained consciousness.
"Simon I'm sorry. It's just-" She said sitting up but he silenced her with his finger.
"Haeley I know it was dangerous; but while we're here you're going to have to trust me when it comes to things like this. Okay?" He looked into her eyes and she nodded. The two stood up and shared a hug.
Ruby pulled herself away from the corner and snuck off; she decided not to tell anyone about this. Ruby stopped running when she felt her scroll vibrate in her pocket; when she pulled it out she saw a message from Simon.
It's not very ladylike to eavesdrop like that Rose.
Ruby rose and walked to the door; when she opened it she saw Coco standing there with a small bag.
"How did you know where our room was?" Ruby asked the girl as she let her in.
"Simon gave me directions" She replied walking into the room. "Hello Velvet." Her teammate looked surprised to see her leader here.
"You guys invited her?" The bunny Faunus asked her hosts; she herself was typically invited to things like this by RWBY and JNPR.
"She kinda, invited herself; we just said yes." Blake told her.
"Anyway, now we just have to wait for Haeley." Yang said.
The entire group looked at the door.
"Damn that usually works." Yang said frustrated.
"So what do we do until she gets here?" Velvet asked.
"Hey Coco, what did you say to Simon at lunch?" Weiss asked; the group stared at her.
"Haha, well…" She was cut off when they heard a knock on the door. Ruby opened the door and saw Haeley standing before her; Simon was with her as well. When Haeley saw Ruby her face turned red and she averted her eyes.
After Haeley was in the room Ruby turned to Simon. "What's wrong with her?" She asked him.
"What do you think?" He answered raising his eyebrow.
"Hey Simon!" They heard a voice from inside the room.
"Hello again Coco."
"We're still on for tomorrow right?"
"Of course we are."
"See you then."
"To you as well." Their conversation ended as Simon walked away.
"Seriously; what are you two on about?" Yang asked.
"It's nothing; don't worry about it." Coco responded.
"Can I take a guess?" Haeley spoke up drawing eyes to her once more. "Does it have something to do with why Simon was missing when I woke up this morning?"
"Maybe."
"And is it going to be the reason that you're gone when we wake up?" Haeley continued. Coco smiled at her.
"Simon told me you would most likely be one to figure it out." She told the Faunus.
"I'd say I know him too well to not know about something like this." She spoke back with a smile of her own. "Can I feel your hair?"
"Of course you can." Coco sat up as she let the Faunus feel her hair.
"I knew it." Haeley said under breath. "Did you do anything else?"
"Not yet." She said as the girl sat down next to her. The group around them sat there speechless as the two talked back and forth.
"Can you just tell us already?!" Yang shouted at them.
"I don't think Simon would want you to now; at least not yet." Haeley said to them. "He'll tell you when you deserve to know. Until then however; Simon said I could answer almost any question you have about him."
"Really?" Weiss asked her; the girl nodded back.
"Three questions each." Haeley said.
"What's his favorite color?" Nora wasted no time in asking questions; in fact the group was surprised she hadn't said anything yet.
"Phosphene." Haeley answered; when she saw the group's confusion she elaborated. "It's the color you see when your eyes are closed in a pitch black area."
"Favorite food?" Nora asked.
"Lemons."
"Favorite instrument?"
"Violin. That's three Nora no more questions." Haeley told her; Nora let out a long 'aww' when she was told this.
"Does he play an instrument?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yes."
"Which one?"
"He plays the violin and occasionally the piano." Her answer surprised the group a little but they shrugged it off.
"Does he have a girlfriend?" Yang asked. Haeley flashed Coco a look only she noticed.
"He does not."
"Out of all us girls here; who does he like the most." Weiss asked; they all gave her a questioning look but she ignored it.
"That's debatable currently."
"What's his favorite animal?" Pyrrha asked. Haeley pointed to her own ears. "Wolf?"
"Fox."
"What kind of fox has white fur?" Nora asked her.
"An arctic one."
"How'd he get his hands on a royal seal?" Weiss asked; thinking of his letter to Ruby.
"He's part of the royal family."
"How's he related to the King or Queen?" Weiss asked.
"That's three Weiss; he is the King."
"WHAT!" The group let out multiple sounds of awe, before they began showering her with questions. It was a while before they calmed down enough for her to answer.
"If he is the King; how is he here?" Blake asked.
"He left the Queen in charge while he was gone."
"He's MARRIED?" Ruby shouted.
"Nononono; he and the queen were in an arranged marriage but they always hated each other, so when their parents died they called off the wedding and decided to rule through a partnership." Haeley explained.
"So he's not married." Ruby confirmed.
"No, he's not." The group talked back and forth about this new information before they started asking questions again.
"Is that why he has so many Faunus slaves?" Blake asked. Both velvet and Coco were taken back; Haeley explained to them the situation in her town.
"Oh ok, so how many does he have?" Velvet asked.
"Seventeen; including me."
"You're a slave? You don't look like one."
"He's never treated me like one; he's never treated any of his slaves like they were slaves. Except when they were being punished." Haely told her Faunus friend.
"Speaking of which; what did he do to you yesterday?" Blake asked.
"Is that your third question?"
"Sure, why not?"
"He didn't do anything yesterday; he couldn't think of anything."
"Not even like… put you in a maid's outfit or something?" Yang asked.
"He thought of that; but we didn't have any."
"Oh, so does he have a maid- no better question; does he have any fetishes?" Yang asked smiling.
"Well, he doesn't have a maid fetish if that's what you're asking…" Haeley said; her face blushed.
"But that's not what I'm asking." Yang replied to her.
"Umm, he does have a thing for legs…" Haeley responded.
"But I've never seen him looking at any of ours." Blake said aloud.
"Oh, he does; he just makes sure you don't see him doing it." Haeley explained; face still red.
"Any others?" Yang asked her.
"Oh, umm…" Haeley looked down at her hands and stayed quiet.
"Well…" Yang was now next the fox Faunus; leaning against her.
"No, not that I can think of." She said still looking down. "So, Ruby and Velvet have two more questions; Coco you have three."
"Why does he wear that strip of cloth on his hand?" Ruby asked.
"He uses it to hide a scar."
"Why?"
"I can't answer that." Haeley looked at Ruby.
"Ok, umm… Why me?" Ruby asked. "What would a King need with me?"
"In all honesty; he doesn't know." Haeley told her. "You're going to have to ask him for the details."
"How old is he?" Velvet asked; drawing attention to her.
"He is twenty I believe." Haeley waited as Velvet thought of her next question.
"On a scale of one to ten; how strong is he." Velvet asked; Haeley thought about the question for a minute or two.
"Ten." Haeley looked at her. "But only under certain conditions."
The group looked at each other in silence. Until they realized Coco hasn't asked anything yet.
"Coco?" Haeley asked her; the girl looked up from her thought and leaned towards Haeley. The group watched as Coco whispered in the Faunus's ear.
"No he's not…" Haeley's face reddened. "I-I wouldn't know... He's never told me how..." She gave three answers the rest of the group would never know the questions to.
A bit ironic if you ask me.
They harassed the two for the questions but they didn't tell. Eventually they gave up and instead decided to discuss what hey learned from the fox Faunus.
At some point someone mentioned sleep; which they all agreed to, and they settled down for the night.
Blake awoke to the sound of the door opening; she looked across the room and saw the silhouette of Coco leave the dorm and close the door silently behind her. Tomorrow. She thought before returning to her dreams.
Dust here, sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed. Also; I have decided that the side story I'm doing with be a simple genderbend; Simon will be in it but this time he will be joining Beacon the same time RWBY did.
Anyway, that's all for this Outsider…