A/N: Hope you're all holding up with the social distancing! Stay healthy :)
Let me know what you think!
Inked
Neptune was a lucky guy. His life, in general, wasn't bad at all- no big disasters nor worries plagued his days, aside from the regular bills and dating failures. However, the increasingly erratic texts he was receiving from his roommate were more than enough cause for concern in his point of view.
Sun usually was never with his phone, unless they were on duty at the desk for the night. And yet, here Neptune was, getting a million and one messages from Sun, each one as cryptic as the last. They mostly consisted of streams of GIF sets, all coming down to one key message: we're fucked, dude.
Neptune sighed, neatly putting his freshly-printed paper into his backpack. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he slipped out of the student printing centre and began sauntering towards where Sun had asked him to meet earlier. Apparently, neither of them had had a victory that day.
As numerous students darted around him, his mind strayed back to Weiss. He had literally known her for years now, and ever since the beginning, he had thought she was beautiful. There was this grace around her; a pristine aura that probably came with coming from such a wealthy upper-class family.
At least, that was what Sage and Scarlet always told him. His other roommates from back in his first year at Beacon had always laughed at his not-so-secret crush on the pale, petite woman, saying that she was too good for him.
If only that was why Neptune had feelings for her. As he strode through the student centre, sneaking little snacks off of tables at booths for clubs he'd never sign up for along the way, he couldn't help but think back glumly on all the times he had spent with her. Weiss was pretty, yes- but she was also insanely witty. She was clumsy, and crude, and she tried to cover it all up with this whole 'heiress' schtick, but he wasn't buying it. He never had.
He liked her anyways.
Fuck it, whatever. She's not coming to the Formal.
What a shitty day.
Finally, he found himself at their meeting point. Neptune's eyes fell upon the giant poster hung by the Financial Advising Office's doorway. Are you eligible for a tax break on tuition? the sign asked in bold yellow and blue lettering. Do you and your partner qualify? Make sure to speak with our Financial Advisors and find out!
"Yeah, no thanks," Neptune grumbled. "Single dude with single taxes, here."
…Weiss doesn't even need to worry about tuition, huh?
He sighed, slipping into an empty chair near the FAO's doorway. He shifted in his seat, pulling out a granola bar he had snuck away from the Beacon Boarding Club's booth on his way there. Munching on the chocolate and pecan, he unlocked his phone again, sending a message to Sun.
-Bruh, I'm here
It barely took a second for the other to reply. And, just as promised in his message, Sun strutted out of the FAO a minute later, looking every bit like the surfer boy he wanted to be with a smoothie in hand. Neptune grinned fondly at his best friend, shaking his head ruefully when the other man stretched, his shirt lifting so that his defined abs were visible underneath. Two passing girls shared an impressed smile which was not unnoticed by either boy; unfortunately, Sun promptly ruined the moment by shooting finger guns at them both, firing off a pathetic wink. "Hello, ladies," he murmured.
Instantly, the two women rolled their eyes and walked away.
Neptune's smile grew as he watched his best friend slump, shuffling over in his jeans shorts towards Neptune. Sun moaned, "Man, I almost got'em."
"Maybe you should work on your moves, man. How do you think Blake is gonna love that kind of loser?"
Sun pulled a silly face toward him, rolling his eyes- but the tinge on his cheeks was clear. Neptune smiled- it was no secret that Sun had a fondness for Blake. Why else hadn't he written up her for all the weed she brought into the dorms?
Gesturing towards the office door, Neptune changed the subject. "So. Why did we meet here? Doesn't your class normally end in the Earth & Forestry building? Did something go wrong with your loans?"
Sun sighed melodramatically. "See, bro," he murmured loftily, "I happened to get a lovely email today."
"About the tuition increase?" Neptune deadpanned.
At those words, Sun's whole demeanor shifted. "Yeah, man! I can't afford that!"
"I know!" The two young men huffed simultaneously and began walking towards the student centre's exit, ready to go to the dorm's cafeteria.
"At least you'll be fine," Sun mumbled. "Your other job pays tips." With the most sincere look, he asked, "You'll be able to cover it with those, right?"
Neptune snorted bitterly. "Well yeah, but twelve Lien split between three people per shift isn't exactly useful in the education department… so yeah." He paused, waving to one of his friends across the hall as they sprinted past to their next class. Once that was done, he finished, "To answer your question, I'm kind of fucked indeed."
"Shit, man…"
The two of them wandered out of the building and down the large front steps together. Due to the timing of their departure, the courtyard outside was packed with bustling bodies heading home or to class.
Amidst the crowd, they both spotted familiar faces. Nora Valkyrie's orange hair was pretty recognizable, as was her ever-present shadow in Lie Ren, after all. The two of them had been together since high school, always spending time with Pyrrha, one of the sweeter residents in their dorms.
"Are those two legally together?" Neptune pondered aloud as the couple walked by hand-in-hand.
Sun nodded, sipping loudly from his smoothie. "Yeah, Pyrrha got them to finally put something in stone."
Neptune whistled, impressed. "Damn. Is it that easy?"
Sun shrugged. "Apparently. Oh well. We were all expecting them to do it, anyways- now they've just got all the legal mumbo-jumbo out of the way."
Neptune hummed in response, trying to shove down the little sliver of jealously that bubbled up into his heart. In his mind's eye, he could so easily imagine himself and Weiss in place of Ren and Nora, his arm wrapped around Weiss' shoulders, her arm around his waist-
"Wait a second. That's it!" Sun stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes practically glowing in excitement as he spun on his heel. Grabbing Neptune's shoulders, he shook his friend, crying, "I've figured it out! Dude, we'll never have to worry again!"
"What are you talking about?" Neptune spluttered.
Sun pumped a fist into the air, skipping forward excitedly. "Dude, if getting married or being common law or whatever will give us reductions… why don't we just get married?"
Neptune rolled his eyes, chucking his empty candy bar wrapper at Sun's head. "To who, dumbass?"
And Sun smiled wickedly, and in that moment, Neptune felt more fear than he had ever felt in his life.