(A/N) Welcome to the Finale of Act 2, Beautiful Hunters! As with Act 1, the normal page limit I try to set for each chapter doesn't apply, so this one is naturally going to be much longer than normal. I hope you have fun with it! Also, thank you for being patient with the two day delay. New Year's and Christmas, you know? I really appreciate your patience.
On a more personal note, I've been working on this story, this novel for almost an entire year now with 13 main chapters and 1 filler one-shot, and Act 2 is now finally finishing up. Admittedly, that's… kind of terrifying for me. It's just now sinking in how long I've been working on it, how much effort I've put in, and how many people tune in every month to enjoy the product of my work. I really can't put into words how great it feels to look back on all that I've accomplished over the past year, and then turn around and look at what is to come later in the next. In short, I want to thank you guys for making this worth it each month.
Anyway, let's put aside the sappiness and get on with things, shall we?
Act 2
Chapter 8
"I don't think they're loud enough," Grey tried to be heard over the bass of the speakers, covering his ears, barely able to even hear himself.
"What?!" Yang shouted back, evidently proud that she was going to lose her hearing at 22. Her pugilist comrade rolled his eyes. Following that, however, was the pair rolling aside when the machine exploded into a hail of bullets, flames, and then was bisected cleanly enough for the top half to slide smoothly onto the floor. The two turned around cautiously to see Blake, Ruby, and Weiss glaring at them in perturbed astonishment.
"Are you trying to make us go deaf?!" Blake demanded, putting her weapon away, the other two following the motion.
"Oh, come on, Blake!" Yang defended, "This is going to be a dance! You know, a party? Everyone is going to be shouting over each other so they won't be able to hear the music anyway. It needs to be loud!"
"True, but not for the later half of the night when everything is winding down to slow songs and everyone starts leaving," Weiss shot back while watching a shirtless Grey replace the broken system with a new one, discretely wiping away her drool, "And before the party even begins is a dinner, and the dance is mostly going to be a black-tie event anyway. You've probably got an hour worth of hardcore partying at best."
"Yeah, alright Miss Doilies," Yang dismissed, "After living in Atlas your whole life, you probably wouldn't know a good party if we set one up in our dorm." Weiss puffed her cheeks out, ready to challenge the obnoxious woman, but quickly getting distracted.
"That reminds me," Weiss said, pulling two color swatches from her sleeve and holding them out to Grey, "Which do you think would look better?" Grey stared at them blankly.
"Not sure. Why don't you try something white?" He smiled playfully at the girl who put the Pearl and Eggshell patterns away, but as she turned around, Grey caught her hand and spun her into him, making her yelp as her hands hit his chest, her face way too close to his, "I'd go with Pearl. The other one would throw everything off because it would contrast too harshly with the tablecloths." Weiss blushed, smiling happily that he agreed with what she had been thinking, and skipped away with glee. Blake sidled up to Grey.
"You had no idea what you were talking about, did you?" she asked knowingly.
"Not a clue," he admitted, "But she talks in her sleep."
Shaking her head at him playfully, Blake walked away and began helping Velvet and Yatsuhashi with the banners at the entrance to the auditorium. While watching Yang and Fox argue over the layout of the nauseatingly expensive stereo system, Grey stepped over to where Coco and Ruby were chatting over some pizza Weiss had ordered for the committee and joined their conversation.
Before Grey even sat down, Coco was already teasing him and Ruby about their romance. After Grey gave two of his favorite hoodies to her and Weiss, a collection he wore often enough that everyone knew who the hoodies truly belonged to, word had spread like wildfire through the academy about the trio's budding relationship. They had even earned the name "Red Ivory," the first word being Ruby's favorite color, the second being Weiss's, and the ivory supposedly being a metal meant to reference Black Steele. Coco's passively vulgar comments earned a quick blush from the pair who tried to ignore her.
Granted, they weren't together yet. After Grey had given up his favorite hoodies, effectively claiming the girls as his as high school tradition demanded, nothing had happened between the three of them. No one made a move. Grey especially hadn't tried to kiss either one of them, or even try to hold their hands, let alone ask either of them on a date or anything "coupley" like that. Fortunately, if nothing else, at least their feelings for each other were clear. Weiss and Ruby had been perfectly honest with Grey about how they felt about him, so really, the ball was in his court if he wanted anything to progress with either of them, and yet he hadn't done anything yet. If it weren't for his eager surrender of his clothing to them, the girls would have lost all hope about trying to be with him.
A few minutes went by and Coco left the table to go order some supplies for the dance such as carnations, confetti, plastic utensils for the hors-devours, or anything else they might need. Flirtatiously, Ruby waited until she was gone, then cuddled up against Grey, her head buried into his chest. She was comfortable there. It wasn't like snuggling was anything new to them, always having been connected in some way before things progressed from friendship to a potential romance, but now, Grey didn't seem to want to touch her. When she pushed against him, he tensed up like she slapped him. Blinking, she pulled away. He denied that there was anything wrong when she asked him about it, but she knew there was something. When she saw him glance over to Weiss, she thought she knew what it was.
Grey was a very physical person. He would often pick Ruby up over his shoulder to carry her to class, or crash into her with a hug, but ever since Weiss got involved, he would always keep her at arm's length. It was infuriating. If he was trying not to make Weiss jealous, Ruby admired his sweetness, but that didn't mean she was any less angry with the heiress for ruining their cuddle time.
Her scroll buzzed. As if it were a gift from the heavens, Weiss had texted her, asking if she could help her with something. Ruby gratefully excused herself from the table, ready to argue. Grey frowned sadly as he watched her leave, but Velvet came over as soon as the seat was vacated and cheered him up by distracting him with the seating arrangement.
"I'm glad you called me," Ruby said as she got within strangle distance of Weiss, "I wanted to talk to you."
"I've been meaning to speak with you, as well," she admitted, her hands on her hips. Ruby could see that the fencer was looking over her shoulder at their crush behind her, but she caught that the heiress's eyes weren't filled with their usual affectionate longing for him that they normally had. In fact, she seemed… worried?
"Is everything OK, Weiss?" Ruby asked, holding her teammate's wrist gently. Weiss looked up at her blankly.
"I'm worried about him," she said quietly. Ruby raised her eyebrow, her frustration with the girl put aside for now.
"Is he acting weird around you, too?" she asked, lowering her voice. Weiss leaned in, making it look to anyone outside their conversation that they were gossiping like they high school girls they often forgot they were. Training as the world's most elite warriors could easily make a teenager forget how young they were.
"It's not just me," she said importantly, "Blake, Yang, and Velvet all said that they were having trouble with him. Even Penny noticed something was off about him and they've only had, what, one conversation about clogs?"
"I'll admit, he has been acting pretty strangely…" Ruby muttered, "Every time I try to touch him, he gets really tense until I move away from him." Weiss nodded.
"It's the same way with me, too," she agreed, "Except that he seems fine being the one to make the move. He'll occasionally stroke my hair or hold my hand for a few seconds, but if I try to do the same, he'll move away. This morning, when we were all in the common room before class, I tried to brush his hair out of his face, and he backed away and held his hands out like I was about to hurt him. He laughed it off, but it was just-"
"I get it Weiss," Ruby interrupted, not wanting to hear about how the man she desired was so willing to touch another girl but not her, her hand up to her chin, pondering all of this. As much as she didn't want to hear about Grey flirting with her love rival, she knew that she had to put that nonsense away for now since something was clearly bothering their friend. "Do you think it has anything to do with Black Steele?"
Weiss straightened up at the name. It had been a few days since they had fought during gym class, but even now, even though she knew that the black heart was an ally, the name still gave her chills. It was surreal how everyone was suddenly OK with him now. Even Pyrrha didn't seem too put off by the demon perpetually waiting in the wings of Grey's psyche, giving him a wide berth most commonly, but not unwilling to treat him kindly.
"I don't know, Ruby," Weiss grumbled, shaking her head, "I don't doubt his fusion with Black has somehow changed him in some way, but this doesn't seem like something as simple as a personality shift. He doesn't seem… confident anymore, if that makes sense." Weiss peeked over Ruby's shoulder at Grey one more time, only for Ruby to see Weiss's eyes grow wide. "We'll have to talk about this later. It looks like he left." Ruby sighed.
"He's going to get into trouble, isn't he?" she asked rhetorically.
"Probably," Weiss admitted.
In truth, Grey had left the room to go hang out with Team JNPR. In the paraphrased words of an anime he ironically enjoyed, the two season harem comedy seeming more like a fanfiction than a serious story, "hanging out with women all the time is fine, but every once in awhile, dudes need other dudes to stay sane." He was currently sprawled out on Pyrrha's bed while Ren paced around the room while proofing his manuscript for an upcoming speech, and Jaune at his desk working on an essay.
"You seem tense, Grey," Ren noticed, not looking up from his notes. Grey turned his head lethargically and looked at his friend with narrowed eyes.
"I can never hide anything from you, can I?" he asked flatly. Ren smiled at the remark, making Grey sigh and explain. "It's about Weiss and Ruby."
"Too much trouble?" Ren offered.
"No," Grey murmured, "I'm not going to lie, that is definitely an issue right now, but it's not that. It has more to do with… you know what? Let's not talk about this." Finally, Ren looked up from his paper, side frowning at the diversion from the topic, but choosing not to say anything. If Grey didn't want to talk about it, Ren wouldn't make him. Still, with the emotion that was permeating off of Grey like a really expensive cheese, Ren had a pretty good idea what was bothering him so much. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Jaune decided to join the conversation.
"How are you holding up with the two of them, though?" he asked, "I can understand why having two women fight over you can be rough. I saw it happen with my sisters and one of their boyfriends growing up, so I'm not going to pretend that this is ideal for you."
"If I'm being honest with you," Grey said, "I'm crazy about both of them, but there is no way in the Nine Hells that I'm actually going to tell them that. I already know that they think I'm avoiding them, but the reason for that has nothing to do with the drama that comes from having two women on your arm. You said you understand the issue, Jaune, and I believe you. How do you think your sisters would react to a guy that made them feel like he was doubting his affections for them?"
"They'd probably feel like he'd never be happy with his choice," Jaune said after some thought, "And would probably feel like they would never be good enough in his eyes, and he would end up with neither of them, and both of them would probably hate him afterwards. I can see why you would be worried about that."
"Pretty much. If I choose one, it would wreck the friendship with the other girl. If I choose neither, it will break both of their hearts and our relationship would be irreparably damaged. Even if I do make a choice, there's no telling that I would even end up staying with the girl I choose, and once I'm in one relationship, chances are their friendship would suffer as a result. And that's not even what's got me in this big of a funk," Grey announced the last part with a grin, then pulled out his scroll and began typing on it, receiving a glinting glare from REn at the motion. Now? Was it time? "But that aside, what are you guys going to do about the dance?"
Ren stopped pacing, Jaune shrunk in his chair, and they exchanged a nervous glance. Grey rose an eyebrow at them. They held that stare for a good few seconds before it was made very clear that their romantically endangered comrade wasn't going to let them slide without giving him an answer. They hadn't even thought about it, really.
"I don't really hold any strong feelings for anyone in this school," Ren declared, "So, I was thinking I would just go with Nora as friends." Grey desperately wanted to call that bluff, but chose to turn to Jaune instead.
"And you?" he asked. Jaune crossed his arms and shrugged.
"I don't really think I'll have too much of an issue," he decided, "The girls in this school outweigh the boys three to one, so I should be able to find someone willing to go with me. I already know who all the couples are, so I'll have to avoid those girls, and I doubt too many of them would be doing what Ren and Nora are doing, so I like my chances. One of them is bound to say yes."
"You should try asking Cinder or Coco," Ren decided, and Grey smirked at the jab. He saw what Ren was getting at.
"Oh, yeah, I agree," Grey teased, sitting up and smiling slyly at the farm boy, "I mean, the worst that they would say is no, and even though you probably have no chance with either of them, how many guys do you think can say they went after the hot chick? I say go for it. What's the worst that can happen?" Jaune's face turned beet red and he began studying the floor so hard his eyes might have burned a hole through it.
Grey and Ren shared a mischievous glance. The more reserved aura seeker was normally entirely emotionless, his semblance being able to block out all feelings, but now, his lips were curled into a wicked grin. More to his combat style, though, he wasn't about to hit his target directly.
"Jaune's hopeless but amazingly ambitious love life aside, what do you think Pyrrha is going to do for the dance?" Ren asked, his attention focused on Grey but his question being directed to Jaune. Grey shrugged, pretending to forget the previous conversation with the farm boy.
"I seriously doubt that girl could a date," Grey mused. Jaune laughed.
"Oh, please. If Pyrrha doesn't get a date, I'll show up to the dance in a dress," he announced sarcastically, but withered under Grey's and Ren's cunning looks. Ren and Grey had been planning this conversation for months. It was finally time to put it in play.
"I really, really want to hold you to that," Grey intoned, then sat up and looked at Jaune like he was a dumb puppy, "I grew up with Pyrrha, Blondie. I could go on for hours in the most detailed historical epic possible about how everyone was afraid to even talk to her when we were kids, but I'd rather put this as simply as possible for you. No one outside of your team even talks to Pyrrha. What makes you think anyone is actually going to make a move on her?"
"Because she's Pyrrha Nikos!" Jaune huffed indignantly, "She's the smartest, kindest, most beautiful person I know. She's a champion, world class fighter, not to mention that she was and is a famous celebrity, and that she was popular enough, and a good enough athlete to be featured on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's Cereal! Why wouldn't anyone want to date her?"
Grey raised his eyebrow darkly. Step One of this plan of his was to get Jaune to admit what he thought about Pyrrha, but he wasn't expecting such a passionate answer. That would make Step Two much easier.
"People tend to be intimidated by her," Grey said, waving his hand dismissively, "No one thinks they have a chance with her, so they don't do anything about it."
"They're idiots," Jaune spat. Ren whistled.
"Wow, that's a little harsh for you Jaune," he noted.
"That's true, but can you blame me?" Jaune said, "Pyrrha is incredible, and any man would be lucky to have her. She's my best friend, and I really want to see her happy, you know?" Jaune stood up and walked over to a full body mirror where Team JNPR had hung up some photos, frowning as he examined a solo shot of Pyrrha overlooking the city. "Actually, she's way more important to me than a best friend. She… Hey, Ren? What does it mean that I want to say she makes my heart smile? She's made me the man I am today, and there's nothing in this world that I care about more than her."
Grey's and Ren's smiles both dropped. That confession of his, as confusing as it may have been for him, told the two aura seekers more than they had ever thought they would hear. It tugged on their heart strings, despite their emotional shallowness. They were grateful they knew each other, and were friends, because they were the only two people in the Academy who were able to see Jaune's invisible aura glowing pink with the subconscious feelings for his teammate he had expressed to them, and they were glad they could share the experience with one another. Lacing his fingers over his mouth and closing his eyes, Grey took a deep breath to steady himself. Ren had to use his semblance to create a good response to the success of Step Two- Jaune recognizing his feelings.
"That's love, Jaune," he stated, "You love her." Jaune blinked.
"I don't think that's accurate, Ren," Grey growled, trying not to keel over from this scenario and knowing how drastically the right words could change the setting, "He doesn't simply love her. He's in love with her."
"What? But- but I- I can't- I wouldn't- I shouldn't," Jaune stammered, "There's no way I could! She's my teammate! It wouldn't be right! And she's way out of my league, anyway!" Grey raised his eyebrow, looking at him over his hands.
"First of all, as her cousin, bodyguard, and the guy who more often than not fills that big brother role for her, if I thought it was a problem, I would have mentioned, just you're aware of that," Grey noted, making Jaune blush, "Second, part of the reason I'm OK with it, and part of the reason I think you should make a move on her is because I'm at least 95,000% sure that she's crazy about you, too." Jaune rubbed his arm, trying to shrink up and go unnoticed.
"I don't think I could even talk to her about this," Jaune whispered, "I… I do love her. I'm in love with, and you're right about that, but…"
"You don't have to talk," Grey said, "Because she's been sitting outside the door listening to everything we've been talking about."
Nora opened the door and jumped into Ren's arms, hugging him tightly with a loud cackle, and following just behind her, a light smile on her face as tears streamed down her flushed cheeks, was Pyrrha. Standing in the doorway, she wiped her face, not breaking eye contact with Jaune. Sitting in the corner, Grey could feel his eyes sting as if he was about to start tearing up himself, remembering their childhood, and how lonely she had been outside of his company. She never had a single friend, and this idiot had somehow become her first, and then fixed her broken heart right after sneaking into it. Apparently, all it took to become Pyrrha's friend was to have no idea who she was, and then not care about her status after finding out about it. True to Grey's first impression of the boy, Jaune was an idiot. A loveable, kind, caring and compassionate idiot.
Grey loved him for it. Pyrrha deserved to be happy. Seeing her break down and hug the farm boy, holding onto him for dear life, he could see just how much Jaune meant to her, and how happy his confession had just made her. Pyrrha was in love with him. Having learned her feelings for him were requited was greater than any paradise this life or the next one could offer. As she planted a kiss on Jaune's lips, Jaune returned the gesture in kind. Gently, he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her in. His movements seemed awkward to an onlooker, not that the other three people in the room should have been watching them at that point, but in reality, they were filled with desire. It was clear just how much Jaune wanted this, having refused to believe it until now. The reason his grip on her was so stiff, the way he was so hesitant to run his hands along her back or pull her more closely to him, was because he thought this conclusion he found himself in was impossible, and now that he had it, he was trying to be careful so he didn't lose it. It was weird, but at the very least understandable.
Either that, or Grey was reading too much into it, and Jaune just had no idea how to hold a woman. Probably both. Regardless, Nora and Ren joined him on Pyrrha's bed and whispered to him about this event.
"You guys are so lucky you got me in on your plan," Nora said, shaking her head proudly, "There is no way you could have done this without me."
"That's true," Ren admitted.
"Originally, I thought doing something great and bold and pushing them into this direction by force would have been good, but you guys know them well enough to know that wouldn't have worked for people so humble as them," Grey explained, "I figured something subtle like tricking Jaune into a love confession would be better. You and I both know they would never do it on their own."
"If we left their relationship in their own hands, nothing would have happened," Ren agreed, but he looked somewhat uncomfortable. Despite the result of their meddling, Ren didn't like that he involved himself so deeply in Arkos.
"So, a big question I have for you guys is was this a spur of the moment thing, or were you planning this all along?" Nora rolled over the bed and put Grey into a headlock, making him gag for a second, then pinned him underneath her knee but giving him enough room to talk. This was a threat. She wanted to know how much of his and Ren's secret agent work she had missed out on. Grey knew that if he told her they had been hiding this from her for so long, it wouldn't have ended well for him, but if he lied. She would know. He didn't need to experience it firsthand to know Nora's anger was worse if it was truly earned.
"Months, Valkyrie. Months," Grey revealed. Grey's hair stood on end when he saw the soul drain out of Nora's eyes at the very moment she decided to kill him. Before she could grab her hammer, though, Grey whimpered one more thing. "Please don't hurt me…"
Grey looked up at the girl with a puppy's eyes. Squinting, then grimacing, and then that grimace deteriorating to a full on cringe, Nora finally gave in and let out a defeated wale, letting him sit back up on the bed. However, she did have one more question for him. A smirk found its way on her lips.
"Now, just what are we going to do about your love life?" Nora mused, wiggling her eyebrows at her single friend.
"Not mention it or get involved in any way under pain of death?" Grey ask sarcastically, smiling tightly, his voice devoid of all humor "Or at least talk to me about it tomorrow. It's late, and I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight!" With that, Grey walked out of the room, everyone calling after to him as he left, but Nora held her hand up a bit too long, showing that the gears in her head were turning. Ren saw the dangerous look in her eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Nora, please don't get involved," he pleaded.
"Oh, I'm totally going to get involved," she decided. Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren all spoke up to respond.
"Nora, no!"
"Nora, yes!"
She didn't have the chance to make her move. The minute she shot of bed, Pyrrha had grabbed Milo and pinned her to the wall in spear form, Ren giving his permission to leave her there for as long as it took her to calm down.
(...)
It was 2 in the morning, and Ruby couldn't sleep. Ever since that conversation with Weiss earlier in the day, and Grey's sudden disappearance, she had been unsettled. What made matters even worse for her was that Pyrrha and Jaune were suddenly a thing now, thanks to Grey, which only made her heart ache more for a more intimate relationship with her crush. Sure, Arkos finally setting sail was amazing, but given how they so easily jumped into a relationship- and it was about time they did -it made Ruby agonizingly jealous that her own situation couldn't resolve itself like that. She had to do something.
She just had to wait until morning and then she could try talking to Grey. Lying awake in bed, unable to sleep was one of the most annoying, uncomfortable experiences a person could go through, tossing and turning and unable to get comfortable, their eyes getting glued shut without rest and only ending up more tired than before. It was even worse when they shared a room with someone else. If she were back at home, she could have just drug herself downstairs and turned on the TV, had a snack, and went to the bathroom, but now she had to keep herself as still as possible so she wouldn't wake up the rest of her team. Yang was a heavy sleeper, her left arm and leg hanging over the side of the bed, drool dripping from her lips, but the other three would wake up if a fly landed on the bathroom door.
Anxiety was terrible. Even if she did fall asleep, it wouldn't be a good night for her.
Turning on her side slowly, trying to make the sway of her bed and creek of its ropes as inaudible as possible, she stared silently at Team RWBY. Blake was absolutely adorable when she was asleep. The faunus often slept restlessly, kicking off her duvet the minute she was unconscious, but right now, she had her arms wrapped tightly around her memory foam pillow, biting into it like she was dreaming she was eating a giant marshmallow, her legs pulled up against her chest. Ruby dipping her head out of her curtains, she was slightly disappointed with Weiss's position. As prim and proper as always, the heiress was stiff as a board. Lying on her back, she had at least four blankets, maybe more, pulled up to her chin, and only ever moving every few seconds when she took a breath. Occasionally, she would giggle. Ruby gaped when she heard why.
"Oh, Grey, you're so bad!" Weiss murmured. Ruby's face grew hot, deadpanning at the girl below her.
"Pervert," she grumbled. Weiss's face devolved into a scowl, and she turned on her side.
"You're one to talk to, Ruby," she whispered. Ruby's eyes went wide.
"You can hear me?!" Ruby hissed.
"Of course, I can!" Weiss spat, "It's not like you're being subtle up there!" Ruby stared down at the ivory princess for a few seconds before smiling cunningly.
"Then why did you say that?" Ruby whined back, referencing Weiss's pretend dream. The princess smirked, her eyes still closed.
"Just to mess with you," she admitted. Ruby's cheeks puffed out, her lips pouting in defiance at the remark, but then she realized that if she had really woken up Weiss with her mattress splashing, the girl wouldn't have had the coherence to make that kind of plan. She couldn't wake up without coffee. Slyly, Ruby smirked.
"You can't sleep either, can you?" she teased. Weiss groaned quietly before responding.
"Not a wink," she agreed, "I've… been having nightmares."
Frowning, Ruby deftly jumped to the floor, hardly making a sound due to her years of training, and kneeling next to her friend's bed as Weiss sat up, her eyes puffy and bloodshot like she had been crying. Ruby took her hands, massaging them gently, and was surprised to see that the rich brat wasn't pulling away. Suddenly very concerned, Ruby quickly pulled Weiss into a hug. Weiss immediately wrapped her arms around Ruby's shoulders, putting the younger girl into a vice as she shook and sniffled, trying so hard to hold back her sobs.
Ruby had to jump on the bed with her. This wasn't the type of crying one has because of sadness or anger, or even pain, but something a person only expresses when they're afraid. After her mom died, Ruby had cried this cry more than once. Weiss's current bout easily lasted ten minutes, making Ruby jump in bed next to her and pulling her more closely, more comfortingly in an effort to calm her down. When Ruby's night shirt was effectively stained with tears, Weiss was finally able to regain control of herself, wipe her face, and rest her head on Ruby's shoulder in calm silence. Her hands were shaking.
"What were they about?" Ruby finally asked, pulling one of her juice boxes out of her bedside drawer and inserting the straw for her distraught teammate. Weiss took it gratefully.
"Battles, mostly," the girl revealed, nearly finishing her drink in one sitting and her friend grabbing another for her, "None of them make any sense. I don't see any Atlas troops, or Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, but there are hordes of grimm. The humans and faunus are able to defeat them easily enough, but after awhile, it becomes pretty obvious that the grimm, most of which I've never even seen before, are winning."
"Are there any huntsman?" Ruby asked, placing a hand on Weiss's knee which the aristocrat removed. Ruby didn't protest.
"No," Weiss said, shaking her head, "There aren't even any trick weapons or dust. All they have are basic swords and shields, pikes, axes, and nothing that any huntsman or soldier would be caught dead using today, besides Jaune, of course, but he said his is a hand-me-down from his grandfather. It seems like these battles are hundreds of years old. That would explain why the militaries are wearing long coats with brass buttons, why there aren't any permanent kingdoms, and why the grimm look so alien and confusing."
"You don't think these dreams are real, do you?" Ruby asked. The way she was talking about them, her tone sounding so confident and assured, made it seem like she was treating them like a history textbook in movie form rather than her subconscious playing tricks on her. Weiss waved Ruby off.
"Oh, not at all!" she dismissed, "It's just that there's someone in the dreams that is consistent throughout every single one of them." Ruby raised her eyebrow.
"Who is that?" she asked, suddenly very intrigued. Recurring dreams were disconcertingly rare.
"There's this man there, tall and dark with ashen skin and black veins running up his arms," she explained, "He looks like… he kind of looks like a demon, and his infernal black eyes just add to that. I see him arguing with someone else, a smaller, more gangly man that looks like him kind of, only more handsome and with silver eyes like yours, and they're just… watching the battles. Sometimes, the other man isn't there, but the larger one always is, and he's always watching. All I really remember about him from these dreams, though, is his name even though I've never actually heard it, so I keep drawing it in my diary to try to get it out of my head." Weiss's voice cracked, her speech becoming more erratic. "It's just always repeating. Aber, Aber, Aber. Who is he?" Ruby shook her head, and pulled one leg up on the bed to her chest, holding it against herself and resting her head overtop Weiss's who buried her face in the younger girl's shoulder.
"I wish I knew," Ruby admitted truthfully. Weiss drained her second juice box and politely asked for another, which Ruby readily gave to her, and then the dreamer continued.
"It wouldn't be so bad if these nightmares weren't so vivid," she groaned, "I'm not creative like you or Blake, so I shouldn't even be able to subconsciously come up with grimm like that, and what does it even mean that I'm dreaming about the slaughter of humans and faunus in the first place?" Weiss shook her head. "Nevermind. I've talked enough."
"Are you feeling better?" Ruby asked, patting Weiss's cheek, the girl looking at her flatly.
"I guess. Thanks, Ruby," Weiss agreed, but as Ruby jumped out of her bed and began climbing back up to her bunk, Weiss stubbornly pulled her back down. Ruby eyed her curiously and returned to her perch.
"What's up?" she asked. Weiss played with the hem of her nightgown stiffly for a second before answering.
"Ruby, would you consider us… f-friends?" she asked stiffly. She was completely insulted when Ruby began cackling at her, even if it was quiet enough to make sure she didn't wake up Blake and Yang, but accepted the torturous hug when it came.
"Of course I do, Weiss!" Ruby admonished her happily, "Where have you been the past school year?!"
Smiling happily, trying to keep her joy restrained, Weiss returned the hug. Who would have thought that the most immature brat of the first year class and the girl that blew her up in the courtyard on the first day of school would become her best friend?
They agreed to have a sleepover for the rest of the night to enjoy their newfound status, but around 3 AM, they heard a beeping in the corner of the room, then some rustling in the same direction. Their hearts jumped into their throats. They turned into the direction of the sound, towards Grey's cot, and saw the blankets ruffling violently with Grey jumping out of bed as easily as if he wasn't even asleep to begin with, pressing off on the alarm on his scroll. He didn't even know Weiss and Ruby were awake until he looked up and saw them staring at him.
"Uh… hi," he stammered.
"Hey," they greeted him unblinkingly.
"What are you guys doing up?" he asked, his voice groggy despite appearing so energized. The huntresses glanced at each other before answering.
"Couldn't sleep," Weiss mentioned.
"What about you?" Ruby said, somewhat accusingly.
"I…" Grey hesitated, his eyes growing dull and glassy as he tried to come up with an answer, "Had to go to the bathroom. So… G'morning."
With that, he hurried out of the room, carrying a tote bag over his shoulder. They didn't see it right away, but as he fled from the dorm, the girls caught that he had slept in his gym clothes instead of his pajamas. Weiss and Ruby gave one more look to each other suspiciously.
"He's lying, right?" Ruby asked somewhat rhetorically.
"Obviously," Weiss agreed.
"So, are we going to follow him?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, obviously!" Weiss declared.
As quietly as they could so they wouldn't wake up the other members of the team, Blake probably already having woken up and refusing to acknowledge them so she could hopefully get another few hours of rest, they grabbed their weapons. Neither of them bothered to try getting dressed. Grey was too fast for them to waste any time putting on anything other than their shoes, and after sheathing their weapons at their waists, they dashed out of the room. Gym clothes, a gym bag, and no weapons? This wasn't a mission for Ozpin that Grey was being sent on, nor was he heading out to the city. He was training. Why he was training so early in the morning, neither of the girls could guess, but they still wanted to find him. If he had just said he was training, or admitted whatever he was doing, they wouldn't be chasing him, but if he was so willing to lie about it, and lie as badly as he did, then they had no choice but to run him down. They weren't sure if they should be angry or worried. All they needed to do was find him.
Fortunately, Grey was easy to follow since he didn't bother leaving a trail or picking up his pace, and he was too tired to pick up Weiss's and Ruby's energy signatures behind him, so he didn't know he was being followed. Keeping an even pace behind him, the girls still made sure they had cover just to be safe. Every time he turned the corner, they would disappear behind the wall, and whenever there was an alcove in the wall they could hide inside, they would take the opportunity for what it was. It wasn't very long until Grey was walking into the training arena, donning his gauntlets before he walked through the doors.
"Ah! There you are Grey!" Came a familiar voice from inside, "Good morning!"
"It's three o'clock, Ozpin," Grey grumbled, "As far as I'm concerned, it's not morning yet."
The pair of stalkers shared a confused but intrigued look, then snuck their way up into the stands to spy on the two. They knew Ozpin had probably already picked up on their presence, but they both assumed and hoped he wouldn't call them out since he enjoyed their drama like a bad sitcom.
"In any case," Ozpin dismissed Grey's sleepiness, "How are you feeling today?"
"If I'm being perfectly honest with you," Grey admitted, stretching his arms, "I'm doing better. I'm still in enormous amounts of pain, but these sessions have definitely helped."
"He's in pain?" Ruby muttered to herself.
"I feel absolutely horrible now," Weiss simpered, "We've been complaining all this time about his attitude and not letting us touch him, and it turns out he's been injured?"
"I'm more upset that he didn't tell us," Ruby grumbled, angrier than Weiss felt comfortable with. Weiss looked at her bemusedly.
"Maybe this goes beyond physical pain, Ruby," Weiss offered, trying to give Grey the benefit of the doubt so Ruby wouldn't be so angry with him, "Let's keep watching, OK?" Reluctantly, Ruby agreed. If he was physically injured, then it was his responsibility to tell his teammates about it so they could plan accordingly, but hiding emotional and mental pain was at least somewhat understandable.
"I meant about your situation on Team RWBY," Ozpin clarified, stepping around Grey who faltered in his stretching for a second before dropping to the floor to continue his warm up on his legs.
"Sensei, I would tell you how I'm doing with that, if I only knew how to handle the situation," Grey responded.
"That wasn't what I was asking," Ozpin shot, turning directly to his protege, "I was asking how you were handling this, not how you were going to resolve it." Ruby's and Weiss's breath caught in their throats. This was more than they had bargained for when they followed their mutual crush.
"There is no doubt how I feel about those two," Grey said after a bit of thought and a dirty look shot towards his master, the answer itself making the eavesdroppers begin to slightly hyperventilate, "It isn't any question that I'm mad about both of them, but that's just it- I'm mad about both of them."
"And that is a problem because…?" Ozpin muled, Weiss and Ruby taking a noticeable step away from each other.
"I'm from Mistral," Grey explained, jumping onto his feet and shadow boxing, "Polygamy isn't exactly accepted there. The faulty leadership- no offense-"
"None taken," Ozpin intercepted, being a representative of said leadership.
"-doesn't really accept that kind of lifestyle. Being the largest criminal empire in the world, the council takes its role a bit too seriously at times, and views anything even remotely group oriented, or against social norms, as being an act of defiance against their laws. Not to get political or anything, but I consider the Mistral Government to be the largest criminal organization in the kingdom because they never follow the letter of the law like they're supposed to. They only ever follow the spirit of the law which is their way of saying 'we can do whatever we want, and you're just going to have to deal with it. They're a dystopian, Orwellian, totalitarian nightmare. That might be jumping the gun a little bit, but faunus rights aside, not even human rights are exactly high on their list of priorities. If they believe something has any chance of becoming criminal, they will persecute it. No exceptions. As far as polygamy goes, it took one member of the White Fang who had four wives to get in trouble, and it ruined the system for everyone else." Ozpin nodded, allowing the explanation to sink in before speaking.
"But what exactly does this have to do with Ruby and Weiss?" Ozpin noted.
"Tell me," Ruby grumbled to herself, and Weiss found herself agreeing.
"Please," she whispered like a balloon slowly letting out air.
"By itself, absolutely nothing," Grey proclaimed, making everyone furrow their brow, "The Mistral Government was corrupt at best, and totalitarian at worst, so with my parents actually falling in love with more than one person, but with the threat of execution looming over their heads, it weighed on them. Eventually, the love my moms had for my dad, and the love he had for them, gave way to paranoia, which ended up in Mama Ryokellia and Mom Arsen arguing in public where they didn't know they were being observed, and then followed back home where my dad was waiting with dinner, my two sisters, and myself."
"I'm afraid I don't understand," Ozpin admitted. Grey scoffed tiredly. He wasn't trying to get into a story of his childhood, but with how little sleep he had, a proper explanation was eluding him.
"Imagine hiding behind enemy lines. You can never sleep in the same place twice, you always have to cover your tracks, you're always looking over your shoulder, and this can make a group incredibly touchy," Grey regaled sourly, "I was too young to understand it at the time. As far as I was concerned, polygamous relationships were normally very conflictual. I didn't realize until much later that they were always fighting because they were worried about getting arrested by our fascist dictatorship all because they wanted to live together." Ozpin stepped a bit closer to his apprentice and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder fatherly.
"Grey, are you hiding something from me? Or rather, from your team?" he asked kindly, "You're much too stubborn to allow someone else's bad experience to prevent you from having your own. That can't be the end of the story."
Grey shrugged Ozpin's hand off of his shoulder and walked away, his back turned to the headmaster. Ozpin patiently waited for a response. As Grey paced a few feet towards the door, facing away from the man who had trained him for most of the year, he wiped his dry eyes, feeling as if tears he had shed long ago would resurface if they hadn't been dried up.
"That's when I realized just how deadly Black Steele could be," he finally revealed, "Rouge had been training me to control him for weeks until my moms got us caught and led the police to our refuge, and while they fought tooth and nail to try to protect me and my sisters, I had the bright idea to hide instead of run like they told me to. When I saw my parents were losing the fight, Black Steele decided to make his debut. The only problem was that I wasn't really able to control him at the time, and… let's just say it wasn't a capital punishment that killed my parents, or Rouge."
"So, if I'm understanding you correctly-" Ozpin tried, but Grey interrupted.
"I relate polygamy to Black Steele and the deaths of my family," he spat, "And I'm not exactly willing to get Weiss or Ruby involved in that. Mentally, I know that Black Steele had nothing to do with my parent's deteriorating marriage, or Black killing them and Rouge, but after finding myself in a similar scenario, it's… not as easy as I'd like it to be. No matter how much I try to tell myself that it wasn't my fault, instinctively, the guilt is still there, so I've been avoiding them for awhile. It's not like I wouldn't be willing to try dating both of them, as long as they consent to it and were aware what was going on between the three of us, but I don't want them being subject to my personal baggage. That's even if they would both be OK with sharing me."
"Part of the reason I've been training you is so you could control Black Steele, Grey. That, and how creating the proper mindset can help you defeat any obstacle you face," Ozpin announced, tapping his cane on the floor, making ebony blocks of metal shoot up from the floorboards and circle around the arena, "Now, show me how far you've come, Mr. Arsen. Show me Black Steele!"
Finally ready for combat, Grey and Ozpin shared a smirk, albeit for different reasons, and Grey focused his energy. With a trite scream, he released it. The hot wind that signified his transformed energy, the trademark of his conjured power, flung itself across the room more powerfully than anyone had ever felt it, blasting Weiss and Ruby's face warmly even from the distance they were at. His fists at his sides, Black looked up at his teacher. His eyes were red as blood, his pupil slit like a viper's, and around his irises were fields of abyssal obsidian, signifying that the transformation had been completed. The eyes seemed a bit overkill, though. He still had that red glow burning around him, and his hair was floating like the gravity surrounding him was breaking apart.
"Interesting," Ozpin examined, stepping around Black who stood in his place, "No burn marks this time, and the Turn took less than a second. How did you manage to perfect it?"
"I've figured out a way to perfectly fuse mine and Black's energy to become a unified soul," Black/Grey nonchalantly examined his gauntlets as he explained, "In the past, Black would overtake my body when I was in a weakened state, either when my aura had been depleted, or if a powerful enough negative emotion blinded me to the point where he would find it as an opening to do some damage since I couldn't focus on holding him back. After the grimm invasion in Beacon awhile ago, after Weiss and Ruby were murdered in cold blood, I remembered how I empty I felt at the time until Black not only filled my aura, but my mind, body, and soul. It was… comforting. When I found myself at rock bottom, he came to greet me, and gave me a chance at revenge." Black smiled at that, warmed by the memory, but his grin seeming malicious and bloodthirsty as he began shadow boxing.
"After that," he continued, "channeling him became easy, but it was still incomplete. I didn't perfect the Turn until I began looking more at what had allowed me to summon him in the first place when I was fighting the hunter, and I realized that Black wasn't a tool. I couldn't use him like Animus and Albatross by taking his energy as I pleased. If he wanted to help me, he would, so if I needed him, I would have to ask him for help, and he would willingly grant it to me. The only thing I had to do was empty my mind again. Essentially, I kill off my humanity temporarily so he can work his magic. What's made the Turn as strong as it is now is that he and I can work together if I give him the choice to. If I force him to help me, or if he has to possess me on his own, then the Turn would be unstable at best, or worthless at worst."
"Fascinating," Ozpin admitted, examining Grey's new presence excitedly, "And yet, I still can't figure out how this works. As far as I can tell, your semblance stops at your shields."
"As far as I'm concerned," Black mocked, "That's all my semblance is. Black Steele isn't a raw, uncontrollable mass of personified energy, Ozpin. I may not know what he truly is, but I can tell you that he isn't a semblance." Ozpin seemed to frown slightly. His composure wasn't often lost; not unless something didn't go according to plan, or had caught him off guard which was incredibly rare. Black's shoulders tensed when he caught the blocks spinning around the arena pick up speed.
"Only one question remains before we begin," he asked importantly, pushing his glasses up, and getting a tilt of the head from Black, "Are you happy?" Black's face twitched.
"What kind of question is that?" he snarled.
"It's meant exactly as it sounds," Ozpin reiterated, "Are you happy?"
"Incredibly," Black snapped, shooting a target that jumped into the air at a nod from Ozpin. Black narrowed his eyes and growled lowly and slowly, "So, I guess we started…"
"Are you sure?" Ozpin continued to pester his trainee. He was clearly trying to get something out of Black, but could tell that asking him directly wasn't going to get him anywhere. He needed a distraction. He needed to piss Black off.
"Nothing is bothering me!" Black repeated, striking down everything Ozpin threw at him with a single punch, but not getting a moment to do anything other than defend himself from the metallic cubes, "Stop asking!"
"We've been doing this for months, Black. Don't pretend I will be satisfied with such an empty excuse," Ozpin spat, "Can you really say you have no worries? Not even after watching Miss Rose and Miss Schnee die by the hands of an unbeatable enemy?"
"Leave them out of this!" Black demanded, throwing a wave of destructive force towards his teacher, but his attack never made it. Ozpin retaliated by tossing his own wave of metal at the attack, blocking it and cancelling both of them out.
"Should I?" he replied with a raised eyebrow, "And who is going to stop me? If you couldn't defeat a single enemy, what could you do against one who can defeat hundreds? You could do nothing to stop me, just as you couldn't save them."
"Shut up!" Black snarled at him, ignoring his onslaught and trying to find any way he could to break free from his cage and snap his teacher like a twig.
"You couldn't save them because you're weak!"
Black let off a scream like a nuclear missile, blasting his energy through the air and destroying everything in his wake, leaving not only a scorch mark into the floor beneath him, but a deep crater, the wood caving in on itself every second. Against the crystal glass surrounding the training arena, the aura wasn't able to break through, but still, Weiss and Ruby were so terrified by the inferno before them, the flame coming with so pressure that the glass began to crack, that they hurriedly jumped to top row of seats. Black's physical form was completely masked by the blood red flame he was creating. It wasn't until his screaming stopped that the crimson gust died away to reveal a weakened Grey on his knees, that saturation in his person decoloring his entire body to his namesake. He was bent over on all fours with his face buried into the ground. Ozpin stood over him, having by some ungodly miracle or some mystical power been able to survive.
"It's OK to be hurt, Grey," Ozpin said soothingly, "No one can go through what you did without it breaking them in someway. Please, let your team help you."
With Grey unable to move, Ozpin directed his staff to the ashes and telekinetically directed them through the air and into several trash cans to be disposed of in the morning.
"I think we're done for the day," Ozpin decided, stepping around him with a disappointed frown, then glancing up to where Weiss and Ruby were hiding, a joyful smile returning to his face, "I suppose you three have a lot to talk about, don't you? Why don't you come down here and help him?"
"How did you know we were hiding?" Ruby whined sadly.
"Oh, please, I haven't been around as long as I have and not picked up a thing or two," he teased, "And I do believe chamomile helps with training the mind to use such a skill. I think I'll go have some. But before I go..." he gave the two a serious look, "Don't be too mad at him. Death is a very serious issue. Not many people come back from what you both experienced. I'm not saying you should hide how you truly feel from him, but please. This is a much more serious issue than anything else you three might have going on." He gave them a wink. Evidently, even the teachers knew about their romantic tension.
With that, Ozpin exited the room, Weiss and Ruby feeling like they were just shot between the eyes at his last words. As soon as he was out of sight, Weiss and Ruby charged Grey's unmoving, cradled form, and lifted him back onto his feet, helping him hobble over to a bench. His limbs were limp and heavy, nearly knocking Weiss off of her feet until Ruby got his other side. His eyes looked half dead, and his hair was pale and unhealthy. Even worse in their mind was that Grey's gaze was frozen into the ground, unwilling to meet that of his two friends, even after they set him down and made him down an entire bottle of water. After a few minutes of silence, the color began to come back to his face.
He still wasn't looking up. Even after his body returned to a healthier color, a crackle of his normal silver energy twisting around his arms to show his aura was repairing itself, he wouldn't say a word. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, he threw his head back and groaned loudly. He didn't stop until he was out of breath.
"I guess I can't hide it anymore, can I?" he asked.
"Nope," Ruby said succinctly.
"I'm honestly surprised we've put up with it for this long," Weiss scolded, crossing her arms, then looking at him out of the corner of one eye and taking his hand tightly, "Please don't hide something like this from us anymore." Ruby followed this up by wrapping both of her arms around the one on her side, her fingers linking with his loosely during the motion.
"You watched us die, Grey," she finally, verbally admitted, "That would take a strain on anyone, especially when we turned out not to really be dead. Why did you pretend this wasn't hurting you?" Grey's smile was tight and sad when he answered. He figured they were going to talk about his feelings for them, but Black's outburst must have changed their minds.
"I didn't want to stress you guys out," he croaked, "I figured that since Yang, Blake, and everyone else was taking it so well, I didn't really have much of a choice than to put on a brave face for you. I figured continuing to be sad would have been selfish."
"Grey!" Weiss gasped appalled, slapping his shoulder sharply, "You can't really be serious about that. When you're hurt by something, or you're happy, or jealous, or whatever, it doesn't matter. No matter what you're feeling, no one can tell you that your feelings or selfish or that they don't matter or that their pain is worse than yours because you're still feeling it. So what if other people are handling it better? It doesn't mean you're doing the same." She tightened her hand around his. "You have a right to your own feelings, and no one can tell you otherwise."
"Wow, Weiss," Ruby applauded, "That was surprisingly profound."
"Yeah, whatever," she dismissed, "You know how my father was growing up. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I picked that up. Seriously, the stuff I had to tell myself growing up… ugh." Weiss shook her head, annoyed at her memories, smiling lightly while Ruby and Grey chuckled at her.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. After the morning they had, there was no way either of them were going back to sleep, so there was really nothing else to do than to wait for the sun to poke over the horizon. Grey would like to think he was enjoying their company, but something was off. As Weiss cleaned her nails and tried to put her hair up in a nice ponytail, having set Myrtenaster at her feet and straightening out her nightgown, Grey could sense that Ruby was holding something back. Frowning, he glanced at her.
"Ru?" he asked, "Are you OK?" She shook her head, and when she spoke, her voice cracked.
"Yang wasn't fine…" she started, and Weiss and Grey turned to her worriedly as she explained, "After my mom died, Yang was all I had. Uncle Qrow wasn't around and my dad was too broken to try to raise his daughters, so Yang had to pick up their slack and take over where mom left off. It was really tough on her. Most six year old girls don't end up becoming moms at that age. When I died, it hit her really hard and…" Ruby sniffled, taking a deep breath, "When I woke up, she told me that she didn't… that she didn't feel like she had anything to live for anymore." She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Ruby…" Weiss tried, but didn't know where to begin to try to comfort her. Ruby had been so good at it with her only a few hours ago, so why couldn't Weiss do the same for her? She owed her that much.
"I just…" Ruby stuttered, "I know that people deal with this kind of stuff in different ways, but hearing you say that you were trying to make sure we were OK, and not thinking about yourself after hearing what my sister went through… It hurts." Suddenly, Ruby gasped when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her.
"I'm so sorry, Ruby," Grey growled, struggling to get the words out through his gritted teeth as he hugged her, burying his face in her hair, "I didn't even… I don't… I should have at least let you know…"
Grey couldn't figure out the words he wanted to use to express how sorry he was. He didn't even know why he felt the need to say anything at all, or why he was feeling like such an idiot. When Ruby said he hurt her, it broke something in him. She was his best friend, and hearing her say that he betrayed her trust that way poisoned him at his very core. He wanted her to know how much he cared about her and how he wasn't aware of how much of an idiot he was being, but since he couldn't use his words properly, he settled on something simpler instead.
"Do you think you can forgive me?" He asked. It may have been the tight, high pitched whine that came along with his plea, or it may have been the way his heart was pounding erratically against his chest, bouncing off of her own that sent that wave of calm crawling over Ruby's body, but only the briefest pause passed before she returned the hug he had her in.
"Of course, I can," she soothed him, "Dolt…"
"That's my line, Ruby," Weiss said off to the side, her arms crossed loosely and one hand propping her chin up with a smile, reluctant to admit that she admired the pair, "And even I have to say that you two are surprisingly cute together."
Breaking apart from the hug, Ruby giggled and stuck her tongue out at her friend, holding up a peace sign while her crush jumped onto his feet. A blush burnt against his face. Weiss was sincerely compliment Ruby and Grey as a cute couple? And Ruby accepted it? What had happened to those two? Seeing the girls prance a few feet away and begin whispering to each other, smirks on their lips as both pairs of eyes trained on him, Grey couldn't help but smile at them. There was no longer any animosity in them. They had gotten to the point where Grey could truly consider them real friends, and it only took their own hellishly painful deaths to do it. He hoped it wouldn't take a battle and huge death toll to fix any major problem they would have in the future.
Granted, this was a double edged sword. When they were yelling at each other it was one thing, but now he felt undeniably uncomfortable with them. If a man sees two girls whispering to each other and laughing while looking in his direction, he knows they were talking about him and that he probably did something stupid. Girls had a strange power over men that way. A single look could completely alter a man's mindset due to the anxiety it filled him with. It was a strange enough power that he brought up the second topic they needed to talk about, what in his mind was more important, out of fear more than anything else.
"So, if I remember correctly, there was one more thing we should probably settle tonight," Grey said in a slight panic that got the attention of the girls.
"Oh? And just what might that be?" Weiss mused, prissily returning to her seat with her hands under her to smooth out her skirt.
"This sounds so interesting," Ruby declared, sitting next to Weiss with just enough space in between them for one other person to join them, then patting that spot while she and Weiss shot a venomous grin at Grey. He was sure they would eat him alive. Gulping, he sat in between them and stared off into the distance. His breathing had become shallow and his pulse raced. Honestly, this second conversation was going to be much more gut wrenching than the last.
"Since we're currently in the practice of pushing me to my emotional limits, I want to get something off my chest that I know you heard Ozpin and I talking about," Grey stated, rubbing his thighs tightly in fear, "And to be perfectly honest, I'd rather talk about it now than worry about when and if you guys were going to mention something about it."
Weiss and Ruby both froze when he said this, becoming stiff as a board at the implication. He wasn't really bringing this up now, was he? After that last terrible conversation? Wait, what was he even going to say? Was he about to confess his feelings for them? Sure, Black had told Ozpin how he felt about them, but did that mean Grey felt the same? Did they share those feelings? Hearing him say it to someone else was one thing, but if he was about to tell them directly how he felt… Oh, dear God, they weren't ready!
"So… I don't think I can hide it from you anymore," he said with his mouth dry as cotton, "I don't know if I was exactly clear before when I was channeling Black, or if you completely understood me, or some other third thing, but I want to be very clear with you guys now, and I don't want to split hairs with you about it. I spent my afternoon using my silver tongue to get Pyrrha and Jaune together, and after Ozpin kicked my butt, I seriously don't have the energy to be anything other than direct with you."
"OK…" Weiss and Ruby said simultaneously. Ruby was twitching constantly, unable to sit still and reaching up to her face, covering her mouth, swinging her legs on the seat and unable to get comfortable, while Weiss simply stomped her feet in anticipation, sitting upright. This was the moment. Now, they would figure out if there was any hope for them at all, or if the past semester had been completely wasted pining after someone who they couldn't have, who didn't want them. Their stomach was twisting in knots.
Grey took a deep breath. After they kissed him, he knew damn well how they felt about him, but verbally expressing his affection for them for the first time had him feeling like throwing up. The words were stuck in his throat but they desperately wanted to come out. When he finally spoke them, it felt like the world had stilled and all of reality froze to accommodate their conversation.
"I like you," he admitted, practically heaving out the words, "I like both of you. I'm completely crazy about you. There is not a single word in any language to describe my feelings for you. There is no number that has ever been measured that can approach how much I care about you. You guys are just…"
He finished his statement and laughed. He wanted to keep going, but he was bad with emotional confessions on a normal day, so after having expressed them so deeply in the past hour, his words had run dry. He prayed he was clear with them.
"Wait…" Ruby breathed, making Grey cringed at the oncoming tirade, "So, you actually do have a crush on me?!" Her words came out as a squeal, her arms shaking as the girl flailed on the ground, screaming all sorts of verbal euphoria. Grey raised his eyebrow at her, taking in a breath he was holding out of relief. She actually fell on the floor out of excitement.
"Oh my God…" Weiss mutter next to him, her face red and her eyes watery as she tried to steady her excited breathing, her hand on her beating chest, "He actually likes me… he really… he really does like me…"
Grey blinked at the scene before him. One girl next to him having her own personal earthquake, and the other being swept up in her own vortex of hyperventilation. Fun, he thought. He wasn't even entirely sure that they were aware of his existence anymore, being lost in satisfaction, so he stood up and watched them silently, sipping on a second water bottle. He wasn't sure if he was proud of this mess he had created, or deeply concerned. Either way, the one thing that he was completely positive about was that no matter how you looked at it, he was the one that did this to them. At least he could tell they liked him back, which was satisfying.
Then, they turned on him. Their eyes flashed at him with a deep shade of either affection or loathing, or possibly both. That's when they charged him. If Grey said he didn't scream when that happened, he would have been lying to himself, and if anyone asked, there would be no point in trying to hide that. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground, two beautiful demons glaring down at him.
"What do you mean you like both of us?!" they both demanded simultaneously.
"And there it is," Grey gulped, "That's what I was worried about."
They pulled him onto his feet, yanking him by the collar. He figured he had gotten off lucky when they didn't throw him against the wall, but those judgy looks still made his skin crawl. He probably would have preferred getting burned alive. Quickly, they patted him down, wiping off his clothes from the dirt and grime from the training he had gone through, and then turned to him with their arms crossed.
"So, you like both of us," Weiss stated the obvious.
"And I am prepared for what's about to follow," Grey proclaimed casually.
"And what's about to follow?" she asked, Ruby giggling like an idiot off to the side.
"Either you're going to roast me, freeze me, then electrocute me in that specific order and bury my dessicated body in a ditch somewhere, or you're going to completely let this slide and we never speak of it again. Or something in between," Grey crossed his arms and smirked, knowing he was in trouble no matter how he looked at it, so instead of doing what any rational person may have done and remaining silent, choosing instead to dig this hole even deeper, "And I'm thinking there's maybe a one percent chance that I could get lucky in the next few minutes. I'm just waiting to find out which of those is true."
Weiss's face began to burn so hot that steam billowed from her hair, making her tighten up in a cute pose with her hands stamped at her sides and legs pressed together. She couldn't believe that Grey would be so bold right now. She was even cracking from that pressure so easily! Ruby, on the other hand, continued to cackle at her side. Unlike Weiss, the younger huntress thought this was funny, and didn't at all seem put off by the fact that Grey wasn't committed to either one of them. Turns out, Ruby didn't really care about that. Instead, she leaned against his chest and gave him a suave, deep kiss before breaking away and grinning. Weiss shrieked. She only broke the kiss, though. Ruby's hands were still pressed against Grey's chest, one leg pushing its way in between his own.
"Don't worry," she said comfortingly, "We'll figure this out in the morning. You've been working too hard and need a break, so get some real sleep, OK? We'll talk to Ozpin and see if we can get you an excuse letter for classes tomorrow. See you up in the dorm, OK? Good night!"
With that, she ran off. From Weiss's point of view, it looked like she was running from her problems, partially bouncing up and down the halls as she did so, unable to comprehend that this really didn't matter to her. Looking back as she opened the door to the arena, and waving as she ducked out.
Weiss couldn't move. Her face was stuck open in a scream, and her face was twitching. Grey couldn't tell if this was because she was so caught off guard by Ruby seeing a chance and taking full advantage of it, or by the sheer absurdity of this whole situation. Both? Probably both. Suddenly, Grey had an idea.
"Don't hate me, Weiss," he sighed.
"I won't hate you for Ruby kissing you," she said, her eyes closed and taking a shaky, mildly angry breath, "She's right, though. It's time we went back to the dorm and got some sleep before classes start, and we'll try to get you excused at least from the morning classes. You need a break. As for what happens now between the three of us… We'll see." Grey nodded, pouting confidently as he let that sink in.
"That wasn't what I was referring to," he declared.
"Then what are you-" Weiss began chiding him, but her voice caught in her throat when she felt his hands around her waist, his lips pressing against hers. She saw it when it happened. He was quick enough to surprise her, but not quick enough so she wouldn't be able to see him leaning into her, his eyes softly closing until their lips connected in a tender caress. She could have denied him. However, instead of kneeing him in the groin or running off, she pushed into him, pulling him towards her with her arms wrapped around his neck, standing on her toes.
Grey noticed the difference. It wasn't a matter of who was better or worse, but that Ruby's kisses were quick yet passionate, and Weiss's were slow and gentle. He could get addicted to that stuff.
They pulled away from each other with a breathy moan. He pressed his forehead against hers, refusing to let her get out of his embrace. For Weiss, if it were able, she would have melted into him even more. Silently, they stared in awe at one another, not speaking, not moving, and hardly even breathing so they wouldn't ruin their moment. Unfortunately, Grey had one last thing he needed to get out before he did anything else.
"And you're sure you're OK with this…" he struggled to find the right word, "Brouhaha?" Weiss tried to restrain her giggle before she was able to give him a real answer.
"You mean sharing you with Ruby for the time being while you try to figure out where you would like things to go with us in the future?" she clarified somewhat sarcastically, "Honestly, it's not ideal, but for you, I can wait."
Grey laughed quietly at that. Pressing his forehead against Weiss's once more, returning to the warm passion that brought them together the first time and realizing that if Weiss, of all people, was willing to put up with this tragic comedy, then he wouldn't let that patience be for nothing. Nuzzling her hair affectionately, he understood why people enjoyed this type of relationship.
"So… I'm going to stay with Team JNPR tonight," Grey said, breaking the warm calm.
"Sounds like a good idea," Weiss hurriedly shot back, bouncing off of him and smoothing her skirt.
Grey gave her one last wink and rushed off. Weiss stood where she was as she watched him go, the phrase "hate to see you go, love to watch you leave" coming to her mind as he ducked away. Before he disappeared behind the door, though, he gave her one last look. Rather amorously, he was sporting a goofy smile, and maybe a small chuckle that she couldn't quite hear from where she was, and ran off.
She waited one second… then two… and then she just couldn't hold her excitement. Weiss screamed to high heaven. He actually liked her.
(A/N) I can't believe Act 2 is finally over. Remaining individual chapters aside, this story is 2/5ths over! I've spent roughly one year working on this, and to see it working its way towards completion the way it is is just… amazing.
Anyway, this chapter took me FOREVER to get right. I told you in the first Act that Act 2 would be primarily about Red Ivory became a thing, and after months of outlining the plot, figuring out the major and minor details and working out the kinks, not to mention actually writing and editing the chapter itself, I finally figured out how I wanted to do it. Yes, I know they're not actually TOGETHER together, as Nora so eloquently puts it, but the fact that this Act ended with a confession and not the beginnings of a real relationship is going to be much better in the long run. I know some might disagree with me, but you have to remember this is the second Act out of five. We still have three Acts to go.
If you want to figure out why this is better to the plot and the overall storytelling than the alternative, then… well, at this point, if I had to tell you to keep reading, you probably didn't make it to this chapter. To those people, I say "pity." They're missing out on something great.
As always, leave your theories, comments, criticisms, praises, flames, and spam in the reviews. It's not like I'm not accepting feedback. I'll see you glorious creatures in the premiere of Act 3! Tune in next month.