Chapter 23…
Crimson carefully and gingerly used a small tube of glue to join two pieces together. He held the two parts as they quickly dried, applying even pressure before setting them down on the desk with the other parts. The wings of his newest model, a famous Atlesian dust ship classification known as the "Warbird" were coming along slowly.
Liz was sitting very closely to him, her moss green eyes scanning the instruction manual. She set down the piece of paper after a moment and grabbed the plastic racks that held the parts and twisted off two bits. She set the two small pieces aside and grabbed a hot glue gun to begin the assembly.
"I've been waiting to build this one for a while," Crimson mentioned to Liz, who was in the process of glueing the parts. "I just needed you to start it…"
"You're sweet!" Liz laughed. "Sorry… Polendina had us working like dogs lately… were behind on a bunch of projects."
"Behind?" Crimson questioned. "That's weird… Polendina always seemed a tad bit scatterbrained but he always got my stuff to me on time…"
"It was the weirdest thing!" Liz gasped, setting down her glue gun and turning her head in a flourish to face him, a shocked look etched on her face. "He and the other senior lab technicians just… locked themselves away in the R&D labs for four days."
"Why?"
"No clue… he was super tight-lipped to all of us, he only gave us light duties for those few days… were super behind now."
"You need any help?"
Liz chuckled and grabbed a new pair of pieces. "Do you know anything about robotics?"
"I build models with my super cute girlfriend…"
"Good save… but models are a little bit different from servos…"
"I try!"
"You do…"
Crimson smiled and shook his head. He had constructed the wings successfully while they were speaking, setting the identical sections down on some paper to dry and harden.
He reached over and picked up the lid of the box the model had come in, observing the picture of the completed vessel on its surface. The Atlesian Warbird was an older ship, long since rendered obsolete by the newest line of warships. Despite its age it was still an impressive machine, bristling with weapons and heavy armor that would give any massive grimm pause.
"I think the Warbird is going to be the flagship of our little fleet!" Crimson remarked, folding his hands behind his back and observing the many models hung above them.
Liz snorted loudly, getting Crimson's attention. "The Warbird? Really…"
"What? Is there a ship more deserving?"
"Of course! The Raven class vessels are so much better!"
Crimson felt his face heat up. "The Raven vessels are good! But they aren't Warbird good... if I'm being honest Ravens are just the disappointing little brother…"
"Bullshit!" Liz bit back. "Raven's were a leap forward in military technology! Just one Raven could stomp on a Warbird any day!"
"Are you forgetting that Warbird's have superior cannon technology? This thing has a mounted howitzer for goodness sake!"
"Howitzer Shmowitzer!" Liz grumbled as she hot glued another two pieces, which would eventually form an aft bulkhead. "The Raven classes of vessels have titanium armor while Warbirds were stuck with steel! It could out-maneuver any shots the Warbird took…"
"Well," Crimson stuttered, not wanting to admit that Liz had a point. "The Warbird has a full vehicle cargo bay!"
"But the Ravens have drop pods for quick insertion!"
"The Warbird has towing and hauling capabilities! Meaning they can be used for construction instead of just combat!"
"But the Ravens have V.T.O.L capabilities, which means they don't need a running start… unlike the Warbirds…"
The conversation reached an impasse, neither of them being able to offer a sufficient counter argument. Crimson set down the parts he was assembling and reached towards Liz. He gently cupped her face with his hands and locked eyes with her, offering a light smile.
"You're really cute when you talk about warships…" Crimson smiled, gently rubbing her cheek with his thumb.
Liz smiled back and reached up her free hand to gently adjust his glasses. "Not when I'm holding a hot glue gun, Crimson…"
"You could put the glue gun down…"
Liz half-closed her eyes and lifted her chin to observe him, offering a mysterious smile. "I could do that…"
"Alright, that's enough for me!" Carmine's voice rang out. The dark haired boy got up from his bunk and pulled off one of his earphones. "I'm outta here…"
"Sorry Carmine," Liz winced.
The red-eyed boy muttered under his breath and left the dorm, offering a lazy wave as the door shut gently behind him.
"Buzzkill," Crimson chuckled as he took his hands away from Liz's face.
"We should be a little more careful with the flirting though…"
"Yeah…"
The two properly separated and continued working on the model. Crimson lifted the now dried wings and began fitting them onto the main hull of the scaled down aircraft.
"So, Team MARS…" Liz began.
"What about them?"
"How do you know them?"
"Rust is dating my sister Vermillion, they met at Beacon."
"Oh!"
"Yeah, he delivered me a letter from her."
"That's pretty thoughtful, have they transferred up here?"
"I'm not sure to be honest!" Crimson tapped his chin. "I've never seen them in uniform or heading to classes…"
"Maybe it's a test run for them?" Liz offered.
"Maybe…"
The two fell into a comfortable silence for a moment.
"They're all pretty nice… although I don't know Sage all that well yet."
"Didn't they say he was in their dorm?"
"Yep… I'm pretty sure he grew up in Mantle actually."
"Hmm," Liz hummed as she helped him set up the ailerons.
"Oh! Did I tell you that Mauve and Asher are a couple?"
"Really!?" Liz's green eyes lit up. "Another human-faunus couple? I feel like we aren't as unique as we used to be!"
"We're not exactly trailblazers…"
"Still… it's nice to see other people breaking old societal taboos…"
Crimson smiled to himself, shifting a little closer so that they were nearly touching.
"So you're getting along with them alright?"
"Yeah… they're a pretty understanding bunch…
In Team MARS' dorm room…
"I just don't understand!" Rust loudly wailed, sinking into his bunk and laying his face in his hands. "Why would he do this!?"
"I don't know!" Mauve seethed. She was pacing back and forth in the center of the room, wringing her hands behind her as she stomped. "He's been erratic for the past little while… you told us you saw him coming out of Ironwood's office by himself…"
"Are you suggesting that this is all part of some elaborate plan?" Rust suggested.
"Maybe… I-"
"I don't know why we're wasting time speculating," Asher spoke in an even tone. The fair haired boy was leaning cooly against a wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "He said what he said… you all read his message…"
Mauve looked down at her boots, Rust looked at his own.
"It's going to sound cold," Asher muttered. "But Sage made his choice… he's not our problem anymore…"
"How can you say something like that?" Rust demanded. "He's our friend!"
"He's not my friend," Asher spoke in a cool tone, eliciting a gasp from his two teammates. "Not anymore… like I said, he made his choice… maybe he was always a stranger."
"That's not right Asher!" Mauve gasped out in shock.
"I don't know what's right anymore…" Asher admitted. "But I do know that he sent us that message and it aligns with his shitty behaviour the last little while…"
"He was right about some of it," Mauve muttered under her breath.
"What do you mean like that?"
Mauve bristled for a moment. "I was acting like a bit of a hypocrite… and I pushed and pried him to tell me about himself… I wish I didn't."
Asher looked very confused, rising off the wall and cocking his head. His dark eyes glanced back and forth between his girlfriend and Rust. "What are you guys talking about?"
Rust pursed his lips and locked eyes with Asher. "How much do you know about Sage's past?"
"His uncle is a criminal and he had a lot of trouble growing up due to his heritage."
"I see," Rust sighed. His gaze flicked to Mauve for a moment, she was regarding him with a cautious expression. "Do you know, Mauve?"
"More than I want to know…" Mauve admitted.
"What are you two talking about?" Asher demanded.
Rust adjusted himself in his seat. "Sage was abused by his parents growing up, his semblance unlocked when they tried to kill him-"
Asher had fallen completely silent.
"-his uncle took him in after he was separated from his parents…"
Asher was still quiet as he considered the information. His dark grey eyes were near unreadable and he sank back into his spot against the wall.
"Thats horrible," Asher whispered while shaking his head. "But it doesn't change what he said to us."
"You didn't really help…" Mauve whispered, her eyes widening when she realized she had said it out loud.
"What do you mean by that?" Asher asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"No- I meant nothing by that…"
"Indulge me," Asher grumbled. "I want to know how I was involved in all this."
"It's just…" Mauve closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply. "You can be very complacent during our arguments with him…"
"Complacent?"
"You just stay silent and cross your arms everytime Sage argued with us… you never jump in until after the point of no return…"
"Do you think I would have changed his mind!?" Asher snorted.
"Maybe not!" Mauve snarled back, making Rust jump in surprise. "But things might have been different if you didn't just wait around like a… like a-"
"Dog," Asher finished her statement in a whisper, his face and eyes still unreadable. "That's what you were going to say… weren't you?"
"Asher… I didn't mean-" Mauve tried to reach out but Asher batted her hand away.
"Don't!" Asher snapped, making Mauve shrink away. He stormed away from her in the direction of the desk, resting his hands on the backrest of the chair.
Rust gulped as Mauve turned away from her partner, a hollow look in her usually confident gaze. The lynx girl stumbled away and leaned against the wall Asher had been resting against a few moments earlier.
Asher's back was still turned to the two of them. He moved briefly to face the dorm rooms window, resting his head against the cool glass and visibly exhaling.
"What do we do now?" Asher muttered.
"I don't know…" Rust admitted, staring down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs. "But Team 'MAR' doesn't have much of a ring to it…"