The Schnee Black Sheep
A/N
Bit of a filler chapter really but I loved writing it. I like writing Coals kinder and more emotional side and this chapter was so much fun writing that it's become my favourite.
Chapter 29: IX - Angel
"Mr. Valiant!" Glynda screamed finally getting the attention of a daydreaming soldier. Coal jumped in his seat at hearing the shriek that came from his teacher. It had been a few weeks since he had been on a date with Blake and school was now pretty much back to normal. The only thing that had changed since his return, was himself. Coal had become increasingly distracted recently and it wasn't just his newly acquired girlfriend that was the cause of the distraction.
Coal had been searching within his own soul for the rest of his counterparts. Since his operation he had yet to hear a single word from either of them. Something that he had longed for, but now that he had finally acquired pure silence within his own mind. Though he wasn't concerned at all as to where they were as he already had a very good idea…
Other than his internal troubles, Coal had also been spending a lot more time with Blake. It was no secret between teams RWBY and JNPR that they were officially dating but the rest of the school hadn't figured it out yet. Why? They were very privet about their relationship. Both Blake and Coal kept the PDA to a minimum, only keeping up with the normal flirtatious quip every now and again. however, when no one else was around, things got steamy… Pretty damn quickly. Though Blake still respected Coals policy of no sex before marriage, she discovered that it was becoming very annoying to keep to that rule. Coal was also finding it difficult to keep to the policy as on more than one occasion, he wanted to give into temptation. Thankfully, his resolve was far greater.
"Mr. Valiant are you quite done staring into space?" Glynda asked tapping her foot impatiently.
"Nah, give me five more minutes." Coal shrugged with a yawn. "I was just about to fall asleep."
"Did you even pay attention to Ms. Nikos' match just now?" Glynda asked ready to give the boy detention for such immaturity.
"Yeah." Coal said sending a short wave to the spartan still down in the arena surrounded by the floored and exhausted team CRDL. "She kicked ass and I think she might have introduced Cardin to the world of fem dom." Coal said getting a few snickers from the rest of the class having also noticed the satisfied look on Cardin's face. "Might want to get the cleaners down there."
"Okay… That's enough of that!" Glynda groaned. "Stay back after class will you Mr. Valiant."
"Aww come on Barbie…"
"What did you just call me?"
"Nothing!"
"Would you like to demonstrate your abilities against Ms. Nikos for the class?" Glynda continued repositioning her glasses and glaring at the boy. "You haven't had an official spar against anyone since your release from hospital."
Coal and Pyrrha locked eyes for a second before both turning to face the professor once more.
"Actually, professor I'd rather not fight against Coal." Pyrrha said looking back towards her rival who nodded in agreement not wanting to fight against the spartan either.
"Yeah I'm with Pyrrha there." Coal smiled. "We've been waiting for a chance to settle the score and this tournament is the perfect chance to do so… So long as we both make it to the finals."
"Right now, our record is one, one." Pyrrha continued. "We agreed after the last match that the next win is final."
Glynda sighed knowing that neither teen would fight. They both had a high regard for one another and by the looks of it, wanted their skills to remain somewhat secret to hold an advantage should they fight in the tournament. Getting even more frustrated that Coal had once again slipped out of fighting, Glynda dismissed the final class of the day. After class, Coal stayed behind as requested and waited for the professor to start telling him off again. Coal had been given numerous detentions by the blond teacher, most of which he got himself into for not keeping his mouth shut, and was not in the least bit intimidated by the power-driven woman. Something Glynda hated as she could not control the boy beyond direct orders which if not given with specific detail, Coal would find some sort of loop hole to get out of completing said order. She had been warned about his utter disregard of authority but she had no idea that he could be so disrespectful. The only reason she did not push harder against him, was the fact that no matter what he did, he always produced good results. Only irritating her further as on paper he was the perfect student but in reality… He was a complete asshole.
"So, Blake." Yang asked as they left the hall. While Coal had swindled his way out of another match, again, Pyrrha was made to fight some kid named Mercury which turned out to be a pretty quick and uninteresting fight. "How are things with the new boyfriend?" Yang asked purposely slowing so that she could have a privet conversation with her partner.
"They are fine." Blake deadpanned, she wasn't one to broadcast her whole relationship. "Why?"
"Just because I noticed you sneaking out last night… Again." Yang said wiggling her eyebrows. "I know you have a spare key to his room."
"And what are you implying here?"
"I'm not implying anything. I was just wondering what you get up to."
"Nothing that you would think." Blake sighed slightly irritated, though her irritation wasn't directed towards her partner. "I'm trying to get rid of that stupid reflex."
"The one where he almost kills anyone who wakes him up?"
"Yeah that one…" Blake nodded. "It is getting better but…"
"Not as quickly as you'd like?" Yang offered completely stopping her and her partner. "need a hand?"
"I don't see how you could help." Blake said. "It's not like I'm getting anywhere…"
"Excuse me?"
Blake and Yang turned to their left to see a man roughly in his mid-twenties with short spiky brown hair walking towards them. The man was very tall standing at 6ft 5 and very slim, with a little stubble around his young-looking face. Dress rather casually in a red plaid shirt with a single black metal shoulder pad over his right shoulder engraved with a frost white roman numeral 5 (V) and beige shorts, the man waved politely to Blake and Yang, making eye contact with each girl with his own dark brown eyes before asking politely.
"Hi, I'm actually looking for someone and got a bit turned around… This place is rather big. Any of you lovely young ladies seen a boy around your age with white hair and a bit of an attitude problem?"
"Goes by the name of Coal by chance?" Yang ask sarcastically finally noticing that the man was bare footed. She thought it was weird how the man was walking around without any shoes against the rough cobblestone.
"Yes, that's the guy." The man laughed loudly pulling off his shoulder pad slash hipflask and taking a long drink. "Where can I find him?" Yang pointed over her shoulder with her thumb indicating he was still inside the arena getting another lecture. "Thanks a bunch… Angel! Let's go sweetie!" The man called out behind him replacing the shoulder pad on his right shoulder.
"Coming daddy!" yelled a small girl who skipped over to her adoptive father. Blake blinked at the sight of the small girl who could have been about 10 years old wearing a cream dress. Stitched into the skirt was a black roman numeral 'IX' (9). Her platinum blond hair tied up in a neat braid trailing behind her as she caught up to the man and gripped his hand looking up to him and pleading with her sky-blue eyes she asked her adoptive father. "Are we going to see uncle Coal now?"
The small girl never got an answer as at that moment Coal opened the doors and stormed out of the arena, fuming over receiving a 10-page essay on the importance of manors due in by next class as punishment. When a small bundle crashed into his legs and gripped tightly, his rage completely dissipated as he caught sight of the little girl burring her head into his stomach giggling hysterically.
"Angel?" Coal questioned not quite understanding why or how the girl was here. "Did ya miss me?"
The small girl, identified as Angel, tilted her head up so that she could show off her wide childish smile. Giggling for a short while she shook her head before answering. "No." Then buried her head back into the boy's stomach giggling hysterically once more.
"It's about time you showed up Runt!" The man said walking up to the younger boy.
"Ruin?" Coal smiled looking up at his old squad mate, clasping his hand and bumping shoulders over the small girl's head. "What brings you to this side of the world?"
"Do I need a reason to visit an old friend?" Ruin laughed seeing that his adoptive daughter was still giggling into the boy's stomach. "And Angel missed you."
"Did not!" Came the unconvincing muffled giggle from the girl.
"So that's your bird?" Ruin asked looking back over to the two girls he just spoke to and examined the hidden Faunus having found out about Coal's date through his own girlfriend who interrupted their first one…
"Cat actually." Coal corrected. "But yeah, who'd had thought it eh?"
"What? You breaking out of your shell or you actually managing to secure a relationship?"
"What do you mean break out of my shell?" Coal asked slightly offended.
"You were never very good around other people."
"Fuck you Ruin…"
"You said a no-no word!" Angel giggled prodding Coal in the stomach. "That's one strike."
"I know I'm sorry." Coal apologised to the small girl before turning back to his friend. "So, what's up Ruin, I know you're not here just to eye up my girlfriend."
"I need a favour…"
"Who are we tracking down?"
"Not that kind of favour!" Ruin shushed throwing a hand over the boy's mouth. "You know I'm retired from that life."
"Yet you still wear the number." Coal grumbled prying out of the man's grip and pointing to the engraving on his shoulder pad. "And still do the odd job for us."
"That's still not the point." Ruin sighed trying to get back to the real reason why he was here. "Would you babysit Angel tonight?"
"Yeah sure." Coal shrugged immediately. "You know I don't mind watching her whenever. What's the occasion?"
"Daddy is gonna postpone to Mommy." Angel cheered throwing her arms up in the air and bouncing in place. Coal just raised an eyebrow confused.
"She means propose." Ruin smiled reaching into his pocket and showing Coal a diamond ring. "But yeah… I'm going to propose to Myth tonight."
"Holy shit Ruin!"
"Strike two."
"You're actually serious?" Coal continued ignoring the interruption from the small child completely caught off guard by his friend's announcement. "You haven't even been going out that long…"
"Coal, one day you will understand just how much you could love and care about someone." Ruin said in a completely love-struck fashion. Coal looked at his old friend with wide eyes before turning away from his old squad mates and threw up his stomach contents.
"UURURRRGGG!" Coal emptied his stomach onto the ground getting a screeching 'ew' from the little girl and a laugh from his old friend. "Excuse me while I throw up again… UUUUURRRRGH!"
"Drama queen." Ruin laughed rolling his eyes as Coal cast a mischievous grin back at him.
"You know me." Coal laughed lightly. "Yeah sure, if you're adamant about throwing away your freedom then go ahead, I'll watch Angel for the night."
"Coal, when will you grow up and realise that your version of freedom and your version of alone are very similar." Ruin sighed.
"I have a girlfriend now Ruin and you know about my alternative selves…. How can I even be alone?"
"Never mind." Ruin sighed shaking his head. "Just make sure Angel gets all her homework done will you."
"Of course, I will." Coal grinned before looking down at the small girl. "You're going to get all your homework done, right?"
"Right!" Angel cheered grinning from ear to ear.
"And we are not going to be eating candy all night?"
"Nope!"
"And of course, there will be no games involved?"
"None, nada, zip!"
"And we will not be driving a car into a swimming pool like last time?"
"No promises…"
"See Ruin, we'll be fine." Coal assured his now overly concerned teammate with a light pat on the shoulder.
Now back in his room, Coal turned to face the small bundle of energy that was his squad mate's adoptive daughter. Even though the girl was very young to be involved with his old squad, she had actually been on more missions that him. Since she made it very clear that she was not going to sit by while her adoptive father was risking his life on a daily basis by sneaking her way onto missions either by smuggling herself into a crate or small space on an airship, Ruin eventually caved in and requested that Ironwood assign her a number so that he could keep a closer eye on her and keep her safe. Ever since then, the small girl had proven her worth and then some to the squad as she acquired a role as the squad's guardian angel.
"So, what are we going to play?" Angel asked bounding up to Coal after dumping her bright pink overnight bag on the boy's bed.
"You have homework to do little missy." Coal reminded crouching down to the girl's eye level. "If you get it all done before dinner… Then maybe I'll let you play on my game console."
"But I wanna play now…" Angel complained stamping her feet and pouting.
"Then I guess you won't be getting any sweets after dinner…"
Angel immediately ran towards her bag and started pulling out her homework, sitting down in the middle of the floor and scattering her book around her she set to work solving maths problems while Coal smiled at the sight. She had obviously picked up a few of his habits from spending most of her childhood around him and the rest of the squad. Just like he had picked up skills and habits from the rest of the band of misfits that had been brought together and numbered. Angel even chewed her pencil in the same way that he would when she was deep in thought.
"Coal I'm stuck!" Angel complained throwing her pencil away and pouting at the numbers as if they were supposed to solve themselves. "Stupid fucking numbers!"
"Hey that's a strike there young lady." Coal said calmly not needing to raise his voice. He never needed to with Angel.
"Sorry Uncle Coal." Angel smiled softly calming down instantly not wanting to get a second strike. "But it's too hard!"
"What do you need help with?" Coal asked sitting down beside the girl and handing her a second pencil.
Having mildly assisted the young girl through her homework without giving her any answers but allowing her to work out the sums for herself, Angel eventually finished her homework just in time for dinner. Coal guided Angel through the hallways of Beacon, ensuring that she didn't go wandering off down the wrong corridor when he wasn't looking, until they finally reached the lunch hall of the academy. Immediately, all eyes turned towards the hyperactive and hungry child bouncing beside Coal as they gathered some food and sat down at Coal's regular table with the rest of his friends. Who all glanced between the boy and child confused.
"What?" Coal asked looking across the many confused faces of his friends while Angel started digging into a whole chicken. "Oh right, Angel honey…" Said girl turned her head to look at Coal with half a chicken leg hanging from her mouth. She had learned her table manners from the boy babysitting her. "Introduce yourself will you." Coal requested while dipping his head down and returning to his own food. While Angel was still young, he intended to make sure that she could confidently speak for herself when needed to. Angel stood up on the bench and looked around Coal's friends, swallowing her food before speaking.
"My name is Angel. No last name, just Angel. I'm eight and a half years old and my favourite thing to do is dance. I've been an exe… Execu…"
"Executioner." Coal finished for the girl. Angel had trouble pronouncing some longer words.
"Yeah that, for the last three years and I carry the number nine. I also really, really, really hate homework!" The girl finished sitting back down and once again engaging herself in her dinner. Once again, all eyes turned to Coal still waiting for an explanation as to why the girl was sitting with them. Neither teams RWBY or JNPR knew really what to say or do with the small girl.
"I'm babysitting her for a friend." Coal stated. "It's only for one night so don't get too attached…"
"Did she say that she was an executioner?" Yang asked completely in shock over that fact alone.
"I am an executioner." Angel giggled. "And I'm not a baby!"
"Could have fooled me." Coal joked. "Anyway, since these guys are being incredibly rude and not even saying anything… That's Yang, her sister Ruby, my sister Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora and my girlfriend Blake." Coal informed pointing to each person. However, when Coal pointed out his girlfriend, Angel took one look and dashed behind Coal completely terrified. "Hey, it's okay… She's not like the others..."
"I DON'T CARE!" Angel screamed. "KEEP HER AWAY FROM ME!"
"Angel please calm down." Coal asked calmly. The girl took a while to respond but gradually sat back in her seat staring down at her food, no longer in the mood to eat.
The rest of the meal was relatively quiet as Coal explained why he was babysitting the little girl. Weiss, having already met Ruin and Myth before, was also surprised that he was already proposing to his girlfriend having only been dating for just over a year. Meaningless conversation filled the air until Angel got bored and wanted to play some games. Coal bid his friends farewell and guided angel back towards his room, where she sat down and played some game with Coal as if nothing had even happened. Something Coal didn't much appreciate.
"Angel?"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you suddenly flip out on Blake?" Coal asked calmly already knowing the answer himself but needed the young girl to voice it for herself. Angel stopped playing and slowly put down her controller favouring to hugging her knees close to her chest for comfort.
"She's a Faunus…"
"And?"
"They're evil…"
"Not all of them are evil Angel." Coal smiled softly rubbing the girls back for comfort, something that her adoptive mother would do whenever the young girl was upset. "You can trust her."
"She's your girlfriend, right?" Angel asked finally looking into Coal's eyes for any hint of misguidance. Fortunately, she couldn't detect any hint of the boy lying to her.
"Yeah, she is."
"And you're sure she's not evil?"
"Angel we are part of an unlisted ghost squad that operates on the edge of a grey area in the law." Coal laughed. "We aren't exactly the dictionary definition of good guys."
"We aren't evil though." Angel protested though finding a small smile from somewhere. "Daddy says we do bad things for a good reason."
"That may be true… But one person's good intentions could also be another's evil ones." Coal said turning the girl and himself to that they were now facing each other properly. "Harnessing both of those sides, understanding both the light and darkness will help you control your aura and semblance." Coal informed and getting a huge smile from the girl.
"And then I can help Daddy and Mommy!" Angel cheered throwing her arms in the air causing Coal to laugh from the girl's innocence.
"If that's what you truly want." Coal chuckled. There was a quiet knock at his door so Coal stood up and walked over to open the door to find his girlfriend standing outside. "Sup Blake." Coal greeted with a quick peck on the cheek and letting her into his room. Angel immediately gave into fear once more and hid behind the sofa trying to shield herself from the Faunus/
"Can we talk?" Blake asked glancing at the space where the small girl was concealed slightly hurt. Coal nodded knowing what was coming and motioned for them to do this out in the hallway where Angel wouldn't overhear them.
"I know what you're going to say…" Coal sighed lightly closing the door.
"Look I'm not upset by this." Blake interrupted folding her arms. "What I want is to understand why." Coal looked at his girlfriend slightly shocked at how quickly she seemed to accept the young girls fear of Faunus while also wanting to help. Blake noticed the look he was giving her and thought to explain herself. "You've proven that there's more than what's just on the surface… I'm starting to think now that your squad wasn't just a bunch of killers."
"Blake, you know I can't say anything about my squad." Coal sighed quietly before smiling mischievously. "But talking about friends is different."
"You're not going to get in trouble for telling me, are you?" Blake smiled going along with the boy's plan.
"Only if Myth finds out… She's a real stickler for the rules." Coal laughed softly before becoming fully serious. "We found Angel a few years ago… Ruin and I. It was supposed to be a routine mission to recover some intel but when we arrived in the village… It was completely burned to the ground. We found Angel inside one of the burned buildings, injured badly and very hungry. She was sitting over two bodies, her real parents, begging them to wake up. There was a lot of blood, most of it was on her for trying to wake up her dead parents. We think she actually witnessed them die."
"That's awful…" Blake gasped in shock. "Who could have done such a thing?" Blake asked not really sure if she wanted to know the answer or not. However, the look that Coal gave her told her all she needed to know. "The White Fang…"
"Yeah… Specifically Adam was the one to kill her parents." Coal informed. "I know a bit about forensics. And Adam likes to decapitate his victims, though you already knew that last part…"
"What was the name of the village?" Blake asked suddenly fearing what Coal would say next.
"Aurora."
Blake's eyes widened in horror. Feeling her knees grow weak she almost fell to the ground before Coal swiftly caught her and held her up.
"But it was reconnaissance… We were only looking for potential recruits…" Blake mumbled. Coal was starting to realise that she was going into mild shock.
About three years ago Blake had been sent on a mission to that very village under the impression that she was to find and locate some potential recruits. Not only that, but she was also ordered to identify any persons who acted against the White Fang so that they could 'avoid them' when they would search for more members… That was the last time Blake had even heard of that villages name as she had been relocated shortly after the mission to somewhere on the other side of the globe.
"Blake it's not your fault…" Coal tried to assure while his girlfriend could only beat herself up internally for not putting two and two together sooner. It had been years, why hadn't she even looked into the village since her brief assignment. Of course, she knew why… She was too blinded by that school girl crush on the faction's leader to care further than pleasing him.
"But it is my fault! I'm the one who scouted that village!"
"You couldn't have known." Coal shushed holding his girlfriend in his arms.
"But you did…" Blake muttered. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I didn't want you to blame yourself for something that was out of your control." Coal said softly.
"I'm the reason that girl has no parent."
"No Adam is that reason."
"How can you be sure?" Blake accused.
"Because I was tracking both you and Adam for years…" Coal informed getting a weird look from his girlfriend. "Don't give me that look, it was my roll. I was the tracker of the squad. I use minor details and senses to follow, track and then locate anyone and everyone."
"Another way of saying that your stalker." Blake managed to giggle managing to find the funny side of the information. Coal's way of finding a smile out of nowhere was definitely rubbing off on her.
"Yeah yeah… You're the one dating me remember." Coal chuckled alongside his girlfriend who was feeling slightly better. "You gonna be okay?"
"I think so." Blake shrugged. "I mean, it's not like it would have made a difference knowing or not."
"I hate to ask you but… Do you think you can help Angel get over her fear of Faunus?" Coal asked very sympathetically.
"I'll help any way I can." Blake agreed give her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek. Coal who was still getting used to the actions, couldn't stop his face from turning beet red. "That 59 to 43 Fluffles."
"In bird culture, that was considered a dick move." Coal joked.
"What?"
"Ugh… One day you will understand a reference I make."
"And one day you will finish Ninjas of Love."
"Get a room!" Yang shouted from inside her own room right next door to Coal's. The door wasn't even open yet she had somehow known that Blake and Coal were standing mere centimetres apart staring lovingly into each other's eyes, daring the other the make the next move.
"Angel?" Coal asked opening the door back to his room after resetting his mental state. Said child answered in a small cheer having beaten another level of her game before whipping her head around to see Coal and his girlfriend standing on the other side of the room. Immediately she dashed behind the cushions of the sofa trying to hide herself from the Faunus.
"Keep her away from me!" Angel cried out, not wanting anything to do with the Faunus. Coal stepped forward towards the child while Blake remained where she stood by the doorway, ready to leave if things got too hard for the child.
"Angel, it's okay." Coal said crouching down to the girl's eye level where she hid herself as best she could. "Is okay to be afraid of the things we don't really understand."
"I understand well enough that all Faunus are evil!"
"Angel look at me." Coal asked calmly. When angel final appeared looking over one of the cushions, Coal gave the girl a soft smile while he continued to speak. "Remember what I said before, harness both your light and dark sides to channel your semblance…" Angel nodded, closed her eyes and focused her energy. Her aura manifested around her in a bright yellow light, formulating into a pair of golden angel wings upon the child's back. When she opened her eyes, Angel looked into Coal's own obsidian black ones and spoke in an echoing angelic tone.
"You're telling the truth?"
"Have I ever lied to you?" Coal asked holding out his hand. Angel glanced at the hand for a second before taking it and completing the necessary requirements for her semblance. Coal started to feed memories of his encounters with his girlfriend to the young girl to show that she was nothing like the Faunus of the White Fang. Coal showed Angel how they first met in the forest, how he had nearly killed her all those months ago. The time in frost point where she had run in to save a small girl from a pack of Ursa. When they sat down at the docks on a weekly basis sharing stories and secrets that only they would know and also their first date. By the time Angel's hand left Coal's, she knew Blake just as well as himself. "You can trust her." Coal said softly clutching his head in agony and taking a seat on the sofa rather exhausted. One problem about the girl's semblance, was that while she could take a person's memories and experiences, she also borrowed that person's aura and on occasion she had also managed to borrow another person's semblance before. Though that had only happened under stressful circumstances.
Angel's golden glow faded with her semblance that she could only control to a certain extent. Finally crawling out of her hiding place, she gradually crept her way over to where Blake was still standing by the doorway looking rather uneasy.
Blake wasn't entirely sure what to do. she had very little experience with the younger generation and didn't have any siblings of her own to reference… Short story, she was fucked. It seemed so easy at the time agreeing to help in any way she could but now, she had no idea where to begin. Now she understood where Coal had learned to cope with younger children, he had been exposed to them for far longer and learned how to not only keep them happy, but also relatively sane… Suddenly Blake started to understand a lot more about Coal and his past. He was desperate not to let this little girl fall into the same state that he did.
Crouching down to the girl's eye level, Blake held out her hand much like Coal had done moments earlier. "Hi…" Great start.
"H-Hi.." Angel replied unsure about taking the hand the Faunus offered. "I still don't trust you."
Blake retreated her hand smiling in understanding. There was no way that someone could get over a fear like the small girls at the drop of a hat.
"I understand." Blake said softly while casting a small smiled to the small girl. "I wouldn't trust me either…"
"Uncle Coal trusts you."
"Why do you call him Uncle?"
"Because Mommy says that he and Daddy act like brothers." Angel shrugged. "That and I don't really remember my real family… So, I made my own."
Blake chuckled at the sheer childlike simplicity of the girls answer before noticing that the room was filled with the quiet snoring of Coal.
"Of course, he fell asleep again." Blake sighed shaking her head. She was surprised to find that Angel mimicked her actions and shook her head in the same fashion.
"He sleeps a lot… And it's scary when he wakes up."
"I know that all too well." Blake smirked as she crept over to her sleeping boyfriend on the sofa.
"Wait… Don't wake him up!" Angel protested starting to sound scared again. "It's against the rules."
"Since when does Coal follow rules?" Blake smirked back at that young girl who thought about it for a second before shrugging, not really able to answer the question.
"But still… Daddy got shot the last time he tried to wake him up."
Blake paid the warning no mind as she reached out to softly run her hand through Coal's hair. She managed to mess up his hair slightly for a few minutes before Coal eventually jerked awake and grabbed her hand, his other hand reaching for his revolver but for the first time ever, not drawing the weapon.
"Damn it Kitten not this again!" Coal groaned releasing his grip from both hands and only then noticing that his weapon remained undrawn and he had done no harm to anyone. "Wait…"
"See its getting better." Blake smiled resuming her calming hand motions through the boy's hair. "I told you this would work."
"Yeah but the amount of times I've nearly killed you…"
"Coal I don't care about that so long as this thing is rid of." Blake growled now pulling on the boy's ear. "It will only get in the way of things."
"Such as?" Coal asked biting down the pain in his ear. Blake gave him a hard glare as if he should know the answer already. "Oh… you mean that…"
"No shit Sherlock."
"Strike." Coal and Blake both turned their head to look at the young girl who they had forgotten about for a brief second. Angel seemed to be more comfortable being around Blake at least as she had a wide childish grin plastered on her face. "You act like Mommy and Daddy." Angel giggled pointing at the teens who were now sitting very close together. Coal and Blake looked back at each other rather embarrassed about the comparison and separated rather quickly.
"Do not compare me to that old man!" Coal said majorly offended. Though Blake was slightly more confused.
"Strike?"
"Being around a lot of adults we kinda forgot about our language from time to time…" Coal awkwardly chuckled. "So, we made a game where that if someone swears you get a strike, three strikes and you're out."
"So… what's happens when you're out?"
"Depends." Coal shrugged. "Different people have different punishments."
"Daddy punched Uncle Coal through a wall last time." Angel informed with a giggle remembering the human sized hole that was left at the time.
"And it fucking hurt too."
*BANG*
Coal jumped up and started hopping around on one foot while also clutching the other one in both hands having been shot in the exact same spot where he last ended up with three strikes. "Strike three Uncle Coal." Angel giggled who was now holding the smoking gun. Literally.
Blake looked from one human to the other confused for a second before simply shrugging the event off. She had expected something far different when meeting members of Coal's squad compared to this… This just made no sense yet still did at the same time. Needless to say, no matter who she would meet next, Blake was expecting it to be weird. Fun but very, very weird.
Late that night, Blake once again sneaked into Coals room like she would most nights of the week. Intending to prove that he was in deed getting better, Blake wanted to try and wake up Coal once more just to see how far he had recovered from his mental trauma.
Closing the door as quietly as she could, Blake suddenly remembered that Coal was babysitting and looked over to his bed to confirm her suspicions. What she found created a small smile on her face. Angel was sleeping soundly in Coal's bed clutching an oversized white plushie Beowolf muttering unintelligibly in her sleep.
It didn't take Blake only to find Coal lying on the sofa still fully dressed, minus his trench coat, with his eyes closed. Sneaking over to him, Blake once again made to run her hand through his hair before she was abruptly stopped by Coals deep whispering voice.
"I'm awake Kitten." Coal smiled opening his eyes fully and looking up to his girlfriend.
"Couldn't sleep either?" Blake asked as Coal shuffled across as much as he could to make space for the Faunus who lay down beside him.
"Angel has nightmares from time to time…" Coal answered in a whisper as to not to wake the sleeping girl. "I just wanted to be sure she was okay."
"You seem to really care about her." Blake said teasingly. "Anyone would think that she's your younger sister or something." Coal chuckled lightly at Blakes words thinking that she wasn't exactly far off with that description. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure kitten."
"Why are you really being so hard on Ruby?" Blake asked already having an answer in mind but wanting to hear it from Coal herself. Coal sighed figuring that maybe he could tell Blake a few things about his own experiences which he was trying to implement onto Ruby.
"She's young, manipulative, and relatively easy to break. Much like Angel." Coal muttered. "When I joined the squad… Lucian, my doctor, was also part of that squad and trained me to control my anger. He explained to me that people have both light and dark attributes which is where our auras and semblances originate. Mastering both of those sides enables you to unlock your full potential."
"So, your forcing Ruby's darkness out?"
"In a way, yes." Coal confirmed nodding. "Forcing it out here and now where it can be controlled, rather than in the middle of a battle with an unknown enemy, has already proven to be more beneficial."
"Let me guess… You know from experience." Blake said sarcastically.
"Not my own…" Coal whispered sorrowfully. "Angel wasn't exactly the same girl she was when we first found her. Instead of bringing out her darkness, we needed to rekindle her light. Ruin was the one who brought it out and since then, Angel called him Daddy. It wasn't long after that when Ruin officially adopted her... that and she tended to follow us around everywhere, even on missions. She ditched child services and foster parents just to find Ruin. She would latch onto him and never let go." Coal cast his eyes over to the sleeping child remembering back to those days. "She's terrified to be alone and only trusts a hand full of people…" Coal said softly. He never wanted to see the young girl act like she did back then.
"So you're not just a squad of killers." Blake muttered to herself. "You're like a majorly dysfunctional family."
"When you put it like, then yeah I guess so." Coal shrugged wrapping his arms around his girlfriend. Blake snuggled into the hold and let out a relaxed sigh.
"Why is it that the more I discover about you the more I realise just how wrong my first impression was?"
"I could say the same thing." Blake raised a questioning eyebrow, unsure about what the boy was saying. "Come on Blake do you really think I expected to end up like this?" Coal laughed gesturing to how they were cuddled up on the sofa. "That and you don't walk around with that patented Blake scowl every minute of the day." Blake looked at him relatively unamused by the comment. "Yeah that look."
"Keep this up and I'll go back to my room." Blake threatened.
"Don't you normally do that?" Coal asked rather confused himself. Blake shook her head and waited for Coal to figure out what she was implying. Sometimes her boyfriend could be dense. Coal looked blankly at his girlfriend for a minute… Then two and finally a third before finally. "What?"
Blake scoffed and shook her head. Through her peripheral vision she noticed Coals coat hanging up in the corner of the room and left her comfortable position on the sofa to retrieve it. lying back down on the sofa and throwing the makeshift blanket over them both, Blake snuggled back into her boyfriend and closed her eyes, signalling that she wasn't leaving anytime soon.
"Errr… I really don't think this is a good idea." Coal muttered awkwardly.
"Just shut up for once and do as your told." Blake yawned not moving from her place beside Coal on the sofa. Coal had no other option but to give into his girlfriend's demands and let her sleep beside him for once. Though Coal figured that he still wouldn't be doing any sleeping himself as he still had Angel to watch over as well as not wanting to accidently hurt Blake if he still couldn't control his reflex.
Blake, who was now fast asleep in her boyfriend's arms, snuggled in closer absorbing his body heat by pressing her body up against Coal's. it wasn't long after that when she managed to get her legs tangled up in his own.
It was going to be a long night…
