Reed sat in the library, looking through history books about the Faunus war. He rapidly scanned through the texts, factoring different information in as he continued searching. He barely even noticed Nina looking over his shoulder, tail swishing curiously behind her.
"Whatcha doing?" She asked.
He looked over at her. "Just...looking for something."
"Oh...can I help?" She offered.
He hesitated. "No, it's fine. This is something I need to find on my own."
"Are you sure?" She questioned. "I thought it was okay for teams to work together on projects."
He nodded. "I'm sure. This isn't for class, this is personal."
"Okay..." She pulled up a chair. "Then isn't that more reason for me to help you as a friend?"
He sighed. "You're being very persistent about this."
Her ears flattened. "Oh...is...is it bothering you?"
He saw her looking down, then looked at the book he was holding. He closed it, along with the others, and began stacking them.
"This can wait." He stated. "Why don't we do something else together?"
Her ears perked back up as her expression became hopeful. "Really? Okay!"
He smiled a little. "Let me just put these away and we can figure out what to do."
He returned the books and took the opportunity to think of any activities Nina might be interested. He found himself drawing blanks.
"So...what exactly do you like doing?" He asked.
Nina scratched the back of her head. "The thing is...I was hoping you could introduce me to some new things...seeing as..."
Reed paused. "Did Kane never..."
She shook her head. "He taught me basics...how to fight, how to read, how to heat up leftovers, but...once I knew enough to survive, all he focused on was finding a place where I'd be safe."
"I see." Reed muttered. "Then...how about...playing a video game?"
"Oh, is that the thing everyone does on their scrolls during class when they get bored?" She asked.
He chuckled. "Yes...yes it is. But, uh...we have a bigger screen set up in the dorms, so..."
"Cool! Let's do it!" She shouted.
Immediately, another student shushed her. "Hey, hey! This is library!"
"Oh...sorry." She giggled nervously.
The two returned to the dorms, where Reed set up a high-speed platformer featuring cartoonish Faunus. He spent some time teaching her the controls, before tagging in as her 2nd player. The two raced across impossibly shaped green hills, strange chemical plants, a floating island, and even a little planet where time shifted at random. They struggled to fight a massive water monster, and sang along with the soundtrack as their characters had to escape a city on skateboards. Hours passed as they mocked the poor story writing and glitchy mechanics in the later levels, and took turns designing increasingly ridiculous characters to play as in bonus stages. By the time they'd had their fill of the game, it was already dark. They shut the screens off, but decided to stay cuddled up together. There was something comforting about being close to someone you could trust.
"Hey, Nina?" Reed looked over to her. "You asked me before what I was looking for."
She nodded. "You looked...serious about it...I figured it was something important."
"I was...looking for...reasons...answers..." He explained.
Nina looked confused. "Answers to what?"
He sighed. "Joining the White Fang...helping Kane and Lizzie reform it."
She gasped. "Reed...no!"
He looked away. "And that's the reaction I was afraid of."
"That's...Reed..." She pulled him into a hug. "Reed, you don't understand. Their bad reputation doesn't come from nowhere...even Kane's group."
"I know...but...the more I look at things, the more I see how awful humans can be. There are some that are good people...that treat us as equals...but most see us as less than the animals we share traits with...they see us as if we're just as bad as the Grimm." He adjusted his glasses. "The fire that separated me and Lizzie...it wasn't started by one person...and sure, Alabaster may have been manipulating them, but it was still just normal people..."
Nina held him tighter. "Reed...have you ever killed anyone?"
"What?" He was shocked for a moment. "I...no..."
"Me either." She said. "And I never want to...that's why I didn't join the White Fang."
Reed hesitated. "Nina, I-"
"That's what they do, Reed!" She closed her eyes, hugging him as tightly as she could. "They kill people. Even Kane...even Lizzie. I've seen it, Reed. It's bloody and cruel, and...that's not you, Reed. You're kind...you care..." She opened her eyes to look into his. "This eye...isn't mine, Reed. It's not a Faunus eye...it's Human. I didn't get it in a hospital...Kane cut it out of someone, and used his semblance to put it in my head."
"I...didn't know." Reed hugged her back. "You're right...that isn't me...thank you."
She cried into his shoulder, as he wrapped his wings around her in a comforting embrace.
