The bullhead is absolutely cramped with people. Even with the disguise, Neo still sticks out like a sore thumb among the common people.
"Why does that girl have so much ice cream?"
"I dunno, son, She must really like Neapolitan ice cream."
"Can I have some?"
"We'll see when we get to the store."
What neither he or his son know is that all of the ice cream has been cleared out, now resting in the arms of said girl and her much taller, more noteworthy assistant. The bullhead stops for the third time on this route, and the two suddenly leave, walking right next to each other in perfect lockstep. As the bullhead closes on them, the son can't help but wonder:
Can she really eat all that?
And thus a thought breaks into his mind: You're not the only one who can binge.
Neo and Roman watch as the bullhead flies off, growing smaller and smaller until it is just a tiny black speck in the otherwise all-encompassing blue sky, before disappearing entirely. At that moment, Neo turns off her semblance, completely discarding her black hair and green eyes, replacing it with her normal attire. Roman is turned back into his signature self, complete with the bright orange hair. Even though they are back at the house, and she's just a few minutes away from starting on yet another pilgrimage down into the milky depths, there is one thing that she's disappointed about…
Roman notices her arms fold in on herself as she puts the ice cream in the freezer for the final cool-down.
"What's wrong Neo?"
"I never got to stare into someone with those eyes…"
"Here, I'll be your little subject. Stare into me."
"It's not that easy Roman. I need to have a reason."
"Oh really? Well, I got just the thing." Neo looks on in anticipation as he realizes he doesn't actually have anything.
Shit, gotta think fast…
He looks on his scroll for one little push, anything to give him inspiration, something he can make up real fast…
Wait! What is he thinking?! The lock story from earlier! Just replace the locks with ice cream!
"Oh no! It looks like they're running a recall on Neo's Neo! Guess we have to bring it all back to the store!"
That did it. Neo's back into her old costume before Roman can even blink, and as soon as his eyelids return to their open position…
…
WOW. He is stunned silent as those bright green irises give Roman such a big look of contempt that he almost falls over into his chair. It's so bad that he even backs up several feet, only to see those eyes follow him like a hawk looking at its prey. He is so thankful that she's on his side…
"Alright Neo, it was just a joke, okay? Your ice cream is fine."
But that doesn't stop the staring. They feel like lasers, especially after they stop looking straight into his eyes, and instead begin traveling downwards. He's seen this happen before, and his stomach churns at the thought. She's looking for weak spots.
"Neo! It's not true okay! Remember you wanted to use your eyes!"
They continue to pierce for about a second, but thankfully for Roman, her eyelids start to close shut. After just one blink, they are back to their normal color, with her outfit fading away again shortly afterwards. His nerves can finally relax. But his body, on the other hand…
"That was worth it. But you still scared me! As punishment, you are going to bring me my first ice cream!"
"Really? You can't just ge-" He is silenced by a hand clamped tightly shut over his mouth. There's no chance of escaping this.
"Yes, really! You made me live in fear! Now bring me my ice cream."
She removes the hand and rushes down to her room. Roman considers just "accidentally" forgetting to get it for her and instead drumming up plans for his next robbery, but a reshuffling sound coming from her room dashes those hopes.
"She's really looking forward to this one, eh? ...*sigh*"
Roman gets up from his chair and opens the freezer door, the cold air blasting him in the face causing a slight recoil. He reaches inside and grabs one of the top containers at random. The slight glow emanating from it goes completely unnoticed by Roman as he sets up the cutlery. He brings out the bowl, which is, of course, Neapolitan-colored. His left hand swiftly opens the silverware drawer and grabs one of the many identical spoons from their little cuddle area, and begins the laborious process of tearing off the packaging.
Actually, I lied. The packaging comes off with the most satisfying rip that one can imagine, with Roman throwing it off to the side without a care in the world. But not only does he get the honor of opening the packaging, he also gets the honor of bring the first person to penetrate the ice cream plateau, something that is usually reserved for Neo. His mind thinks nothing of this important moment as he puts about 5 scoopfuls of ice cream into the bowl before closing it up and making the long trek to Neo's room. The door is open, so Roman decides to walk right in only to see a Neo with slightly closed eyes, clearly having wait on him. He hands it over straight to Neo, who snatches it from his grip with the fury of a starving lion. In the commotion, a single drop of the strawberry variety jumps out of the bowl and falls down to its quick death. Neo's eye twitches slightly, and this colors her statement of thanks that immediately follows.
"Thank you. Now leave us alone!"
Without another word, Roman shuts the door.
In mere moments, he's back in the chair with his newspaper, eyes scanning through the classifieds.
Sometimes there is an interesting observation to be had, but today, as with most times, is full of nothing. He turns the page over to see an ad for a bartending job at Crow Bar. Isn't that one of the places using the Merlot locks? He's running through his brain looking for a definitive answer when his scroll starts to ring.
"Hello?"
"Pleasure to talk to you Roman!"
"Oh. Hey Cinder." Roman's relations with Cinder are… rocky, to say the least, but she's got him by the nuts for the time being.
"I see you still have your charm!"
"Same to you. What's the deal this time?"
"Just calling to make sure you have your people ready for the next phase of the plan." Said plan being the attack on the Vytal Festival that is coming up in about a week from now. Roman's part of this plan is to "acquire" the required Dust resources for whatever Cinder wants them for. He almost had a perfect 100% on that front, but that dastardly Little Red just had to show up, didn't she?!
"Yes, they are all ready and loyal. I have them sent off to you by tomorrow."
"Good. They better not disappoint!"
"I'm sure they won't. How's Neo coming along over at Beacon?"
"She is serving her purpose." Typical Cinder.
"And you still won't tell me what that is, will ya."
"You will see in due time."
"*sigh* Alright. Nice talking with ya." He hangs the phone up before Cinder has any chance to respond.
"God, that conniving bitch."
Just then, he sees Neo out of the corner of his eye running down the hallway at high speed, making a beeline for the freezer.
He watches her take out four containers at once, and then speed straight back into her room without stopping for anything, not even to get more bowls. Now that is odd…
"Man, she really must have been missing that stuff."
*tap tap tap tap*
Those are the sounds of a spoon repeatedly hitting the ice cream container's side walls. Now this lovable Neo does enjoy ice cream, but this is a new level of speed, even by her standards. Gone is the hyper-efficient, never-miss-a-drop eating style, in with the new; Eat at all costs.
Multiple drops are spilling out of the spoon with every gulp as she eats like she was starved. First container finished, she throws it aside, bouncing off the neatly stacked pile of containers from the previous binge (she forgot to point that out to Roman, dammit!) and onto a small desk, sliding to a stop just before it hits the lamp that is resting there. In an instant, another one is ripped open, and the rhythmic sounds of the spoon hitting the edge begins anew.
Why such a frenzy? Neo doesn't really know, but something in her mind is just telling her to eat. It's all-consuming, to the point where even basic decorum doesn't even cross her mind. All that is there is the desire to eat. Even a massive brain freeze isn't slowing her down one bit. The showdown continues, as the second container is chewed through faster than an artist goes through paint. It's barely 10 minutes before all four containers are completely cleared out, and like a flash she is off for more. This time Roman pays no mind as Neo grabs four more for the bottomless pit that is her stomach. And so on and so on…
The third trip around, even Roman has to take notice of this unusual behavior.
"Neo why are you eating so much right now? Don't you wanna save some for later?"
Her head whips around to look at him, her eyes both the same milky white color. She hurriedly signs a simple "no" before diving in the freezer for more.
"Whatever. Don't come crawling to me if you run out!"
Neo's already gone before he even finishes.
"What's gotten into her today?" His musings to himself, however, remain just that. He has never understood Neo's addiction to the stuff, and there's no way that Neo would ever help figure it out for him. Especially not now.
"*sigh*" Roman returns to his scroll, which by now had replaced the newspaper that was completely wrung dry of information. At least in that field there is something he can think more coherently about…
A few hours later…
*BEEP!* Low Battery!
Hours of scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. It was very fruitful, with him stumbling across a list of businesses in Vale that are using Merlot locks, but also a long journey. He looks at the time. 10:30.
"Is it really that late?" Of course it fucking is. Not that this is unusual, as he typically heads to bed around this time, but to look through articles for that many hours in a row? Now that is unusual. He gets up and heads on down to bed, sparing a quick glance over in Neo's room. Other than the ice cream containers strewn about absolutely everywhere, it's just like how it usually is. She's over in the bed, already asleep like a baby. But there is just one small issue…
She's glowing.
Why is she glowing? Roman tries to think of solutions to this conundrum, but his tired mind quickly overloads and ends up drawing a blank, making him even more tired. In this new state of super-tiredness, he no longer has the energy to try doing anything else. His subconscious drags him away from Neo and back toward entering his room. He moves to open the door, but just as it starts opening, it encounters an unexpected object, knocking it over with an unsatisfying *clunk*. He checks back to Neo, who has not moved a single muscle, and is still peacefully asleep. With his mind satisfied, he carefully pushes the stack aside and opens the door fully, quickly bringing himself in before shutting it right behind him.
I'll get that first thing tomorrow…
That is Roman's last thought of any note before he passes into a welcome slumber.
*bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt*
A careful finger disables this annoying alarm. Roman gets up and goes through a few small stretches before opening up his scroll and checking his schedule. Only one thing is on it today.
1:00 PM - Meeting With White Fang
Oh yeah, that. He looks down and notices the stacked ice cream containers that were set here earlier by none other than Roman himself last night. He picks them up and slowly walks out of his room. He quickly glances at Neo's room to find the only real difference being a tumble of sheets where Neo once was. But, that also means the ice cream containers are still hanging around too. And boy, are they messy… It's only 7:30, so he's got several hours to work with before the meeting (never mind Neo's return from Beacon), and it's not like he hasn't done this before…
"Screw it."
Roman enters the ice cream princess's domain and begins cleaning house. He's gonna be busy for quite a while…
Over at Beacon…
It's just another day, complete with classes and all. Other than a certain winless huntsman finally pulling off a come from behind upset against Cardin, nothing is out of the ordinary. The foursome of fake huntresses is sitting down for lunch, today's being some delectable chicken tacos with a side of green beans, some salsa, and a cookie.
But only two of the four are paying any sort of attention to it. Cinder, as not only the leader but the unofficial "mature" one of the group, is working through the taco with a fork and knife, just like the gods intended. Not a single piece of the toppings spill out of the shell as she tries her best to ignore most of the teenage antics that flare up around her for the time being. The other one currently eating is Emerald, and although she dabbled a bet in teenage activities, it ended up not really being her style. But that doesn't me she can't have a little fun sometimes…
"Man, this has got to be the cheesiest place in all of Remnant. Do we really have to do it like this?"
That's Mercury, and he's barely even bothering with the food. He'll get to it eventually, but what he'd rather do right now is either train or kill something. But there's not too many opportunities for that in a place like this, so his mind is just aching for a release.
"Hey hey! Lighten up a little! You definitely need it."
"I'll stay in my dark cave, thank you very goddamn much."
"Aw, c'mon! Don't you wanna try to get some action while we're here? Like that one!"
Emerald points to Yang, who is currently walking to class, but not with Blake at the moment.
"Psssh."
"Really? At least-"
The inevitable jab is intercepted by the sound of a scraping tray, that being Neo's as she pushes hers over in the direction of Emerald without taking a single bite of anything. As she is otherwise just an average person in regards to eating habits (save ice cream, of course), this bizarre move pulls both Emerald and Cinder away.
"I guess you do not care for tacos?"
"More for me!" Emerald doesn't attack it immediately, but keeps it in mind for later. Meanwhile Neo is signing away her reasoning, but her hands can barely reach out past chest-level because of her condition…
"Upset… Stomach…"
"Let me guess, eat too much ice cream?"
Neo frantically nods her head yes at Emerald's comment.
"Sad. Oh well, you'll survive. Just look at Mercury, he ate 20 wieners a few days ago because Cardin put him up to it, and he's still here!"
"It was worth it."
"Merc, I didn't attack you! Now stop staring at the wall and eat something."
Neo has completely tuned out the conversation by now, her mid struggling with the pain that has been getting stronger and stronger since the morning.
The ring of the lunch bell is one of the few things that can sap her mind out of it now, and she watches as everyone begins to finish up, some already done, some cramming their mouths with the last few bits.
"Can I have the rest of that?" Jaune seems to be really hungry today...
"Wha- no! It's not proper to give you food I've already eaten."
Yang interhects with an extremely tasteful jab. "So you're saying you two wouldn't wanna slurp up a spaghetti noodle together?"
"Of course not!"
The laughter of the rest of that particular group drowns out whatever the rest of that conversation would have been. But it doesn't mask just how unhappy Weiss is looking right now...
Neo shakes her head a bit. Not important. What is important is this upset stomachhhhh…
With no schedule yet due to being recent transfers, all four of Cinder's crew have some free time to do basically whatever. Cinder's gone before any of them can blink, off to grab as much info as possible about the layout of the academy. Mercury was dragged by Emerald off into a hallway somewhere, and before Neo could ask anything they had completely disappeared. Poor guy.
*grumble grumble*
There's that damned stomach again. It's twice as bad now, getting more and more unsettling with each passing minute. Neo staggers up, just wanting to get back to the dorm and lay down. But every step begins to feel more and more like a 10 ton weight. Even the short hallways feel like a marathon. In the junction between two hallways, she keels over and falls to the ground, a faint blue glow overtaking her vision before she mercifully falls unconscious.
15 minutes later...
…
…
Wait, I can actually think now? No more upset stomach?! Finally! Now to just get ba-
…
Legs? Work?
Neo tries to look down but quickly realizes that also seems to be broken. In fact, she can't even move or see anything at all.
What the fuck? Did they find me out or something? This is impossible!
The one thing that poor little Neo couldn't see was her shape. The tri-coloring that was once confined to her hair is now coursing through her entire body. Any and all limbs, breasts, and even hair has been whisked away into non-existence. And as for the lack of movement? Well… She is kinda trapped. In a container. The kind of container that one would find in a grocery store, specifically in the freezer section, sandwiched in between some whipped cream and popsicles, and just a short distance away from some french fries and TV dinners… oh I'll just say it.
Neo is now a 10 foot tall bucket of ice cream.
How? Well, it's actually surprisingly simple. The glowing bucket of ice cream was somehow infused with a special potion straight out of the factory. This potion, probably spilled on accident by some witch working there, works in two parts: first, it makes you have an insatiable craving for whatever it is mixed with, and then sometime later you would turn into said mixture. This potion was supposed to stay exclusive to the witch domain, but… Anyway, the potion was intended to be a 1 to 1 conversion: Eating one bucket of ice cream would lead to the unlucky victim turning into a similarly sized bucket of ice cream. Well, as one could probably guess, Neo ate way, way more than one… thanks to the massive, massive amount of ice cream that was ingested, the effects multiplied… and now you have this monstrosity.
And now for the million dollar question: what next? She can't move, can't speak, can't even shut her mind down… she's stuck on this roller-coaster whether she wants to be or not. And who gets to be the first passenger on this journey? Why, none other than Sun Wukong! Standing at a respectable 6'0", he's the perfect candidate to take this sweet treat for a nice test drive! There he is now!
Sun is skipping history class. It is Dr. Oobleck, so that's not too much of a surprise, but this is the first time in over a week that's he's brushed him off. He's on his way out to the local ammo shop to get more rounds for his nunchucks, and maybe some bananas for good measure. He rounds the corner only to be presented with a massive ice cream container reaching almost to the ceiling. His tail has stopped flopping around as he stares in shock at the offending object. Suddenly, he pulls up his hand, and gives himself a top-quality bitchslap, wanting to confirm that this is not some fever dream. But the only confirmation he gets is the red print on his face.
"Uhhhhhhh…."
Not really fancying any ice cream at the moment, he slowly walks out of the academy, taking special care to not look over that way again. Who could blame him? A couple minutes of relaxation follows, enough time for Neo to recollect.
Is that how everyone's going to react to me? Also euuugh! What is that liquid on me?!
Said liquid being the beginnings of melting. Thank the gods above this isn't painful… can she even feel pain? The first drops of liquid fall into her peripheral vision. She can't move her sight anywhere, so she is stuck watching them ever so slowly make their way down… She notices their colors; white, pink, and brown. A ghastly idea suddenly enters her mind.
Did I get turned into ice cream? No, that can't be right. But it would explain why I can't move anything… No! There has to be something else… has to be…
While Neo is having an existential crisis, in the far distance a powerful gust of wind is heard, followed by some very powerful footsteps.
"Sun? Where are you!" echoes the booming voice of Coco Adel, scanning the area for that thrifty faunus.
Oh god, another one. Is all Neo can think about as she hears the footsteps get closer and closer…
"I swear to god if he doesn't sho-"
She is stopped dead in her tracks by the towering form of the ice cream container, just as Sun was. She walks up very close to it, carefully inspecting it more closely than she does her clothes for wrinkles. Some of the ice cream drops are crawling down the outside of the container, and Coco decides to reach for one, waiting just a fraction of a second for it to settle on her fingertip. She carries it into her mouth, swiftly pulling the finger out with only a minuscule amount of saliva coating the tip.
"Yep, definitely Neapolitan ice cream. This is gonna be so much fun when I drag Sun back over here." She abruptly runs toward the front doors, leaving Neo alone once again. But she barely has any time to think before the shrill noise of a bell cuts through the air.
Uh oh…
The first few seconds are the most uneasy silence in her life. Even that, however, is abruptly cut off by a quite hyperactive student…
"*gasp* A gigantic ice cream!" Nora's eyes suddenly become laser-focused on her new prized possession. She runs toward it and tries to jump on top, only to ungracefully smack the side just a few inches short, shamefully sliding down to the floor.
"Oh, it's war!" While she scans around for ways to climb this beast, her two most loyal allies make their approach.
"There you are!"
"Get away from it!"
"Let me help you!" Ruby speeds toward her while Ren, realizing that nothing can be done to stop this expedition, reluctantly follows.
"Climb on this!" Ruby sets Crescent Rose up straight next to the container as a form of step. Nora immediately latches on, both figuratively and literally, and balances herself on the top edge, now easily able to take a stab straight into the brain of this milky fortress.
"I claim thee for Nora's Domain!" She jumps high in the air, her feet clearing the top of the container with ease. But what really sells it is the way she's holding her hammer; she looks all too ready to push the tip deep into the ice cream, almost like one planting a flag.
This better not hurt… Neo prays to the gods above, just this once, please!
*shhhhhmp*
She leverages herself on the now firmly stuck Magnhild, twisting around and landing perfectly on her feet.
"Get up here Rubes!"
"Sis, I'm not letting you-"
Yang was completely ignored as Ruby jumps up on Crescent Rose just the same as Nora, except choosing to just pull herself up on top this time around. How boring.
By now almost everyone is rushing up to stare at this new scene. But the million Lien question is going through everyone's mind. Who will be the first to vocalize it?
"Well? How we are gonna devour this thing?"
"Yeah! You two can't hog it all to yourselves! Leave some for us!" Neptune then holds Sage's hand, violently raising them up for all to see. In any other time, this would have sent shockwaves throughout all the students, but today is an exception…
"Yeah! I want some too!"
"It would not be unwelcome to have a few bites…"
"Get us some ice cream and get down there!"
A small pause radiates through the hall as both Ruby and Nora realize their mistake.
"We need bowls! And spoons!"
"What she said!"
The same thought burrows into everyone's mind, and all except the two ice cream queens make a rush for the cafeteria.
Ruby and Nora simply watch them go. They're now both completely alone, legs dangling over the edge with no shame. Their arms brushing together brings shocks of happiness to their minds. Ruby suddenly shifts away a little, and like a baby losing its security blanket, Nora's face is peppered with disappointment. That is quickly removed when Ruby returns back to her side with a finger up in the air. She turns Nora to face her directly, and pushes it up about 6 inches from her face. That finger is absolutely loaded with strawberry ice cream. A smile breaks out on her face as she takes the finger into her mouth, her tongue scavenging for every area of that delicious flavoring. She finally releases with a satisfying *POP*, leaving the finger glistening thanks to the bright hallways. Ruby stares at it for a brief moment before turning to Nora, who has not stopped smiling since this whole thing started. They stare at each other for a few seconds, light blue eyes gazing into silver ones, both a divine mix of surprise and elation… One solitary "heh" escapes Ruby's lips, before she tries to swipe a quick kiss. Little did she know that Nora was trying the exact same trick… Their lips meet right in the middle creating such a perfect seal that they seem to be stuck better than superglue. Not that it would matter, as neither of them are even remotely interested in breaking off. Ruby's tongue probes her lips, just waiting for the hammer-wielder's inevitable ascension to the taking this to the next level. Nora is all too happy to provide her the treasure, opening up just enough for that tongue to dart in and-
"Hey! How about you two go get a room and let us have some ice cream!"
Ruby's gasp is completely absorbed in the cocoon that is Nora's opened mouth, and shortly after she separates, putting both hands over her shocked face as her face turns extremely red, even redder than a cherry. Nora looks down to her audience, which contains some annoyed faces, but most of them are faces of shock, with a few suspiciously hiding theirs in their hands. Neptune is holding a ladder gotten from God knows where, while everyone else has a bowl and spoon, ready to enjoy their delicious treat. That is, as soon as these two lovebirds move out of the way…
"Hand me the ladder, Neptune!" He wastes no time setting it up for Nora to climb down, and with Magnhild in one hand and a shocked Ruby in the other, she slowly descends, hopping off with a glorious jump to skip the final three rungs. A tsunami of starving students wash over where they stand, bumping the pair several inches away, with the ladder creaking thanks to sheer weight of everyone trying to use it. Yang runs up to them, and instinctively Nora steps back a bit, expecting the worst.
"That's the first time I've ever seen her react like that! Now I got ammo to tease Rubes for ages!"
Yang shoves the scroll up to Nora's face, where she has two pictures: the two sharing the kiss, and Ruby's face rapidly turning red, right before her hands can cover it up. Behind her the ruckus continues, with a set of bunny ears towering over the rest. This is the result of Yatsuhashi holding Velvet up high in the sky, allowing her to dip her spoon in with ease. Yang is distracted by a hand resting on her shoulder.
"Life sure is a circle, isn't it."
"Blake! You gotta see these pictures!" And in an instant, Yang's focus is shifted away, leaving the two back alone.
"I-is it over?" Ruby's face is still hidden, with the blush not calming down one bit. Nora is just about to answer when a very… "fun" thought comes to her head. She moves a few steps toward their dorms before setting her back down on her feet. She lets go for only a few moments before taking her anew, lifting her up only a few inches off the ground as she stars to whisper in her ear.
"Who said it had to be? Do you really want this to be over~?"
The implications clear in Ruby's mind, she tries desperately to sink into her cloak as the blush begins to return with a vengeance, making her face darker and darker with each passing moment.
"Uhhh… e-e- no…"
"Was that a yes? Because I think someone's body is telling me otherwise...~! It sure would be a shame to miss out on someone so hot and bothered for you, wouldn't it? I bet yo-"
She is then abruptly cut off with a searing kiss, with so much force put into it that Nora is barely able to stand upright as the rose pushes her back lip by lip. Both of their weapons scatter to the ground as Nora is barely able to open the door to the JNPR dorm as they continue their journey somewhere much more private. A ragged, lust-filled breath is the last thing heard before the door slams shut.
While Ruby and Nora are over experiencing a sugar rush, the rest of the students are dividing the ice cream amongst themselves. Over a quarter of it has already been claimed, with many people standing or sitting down having their fill. Several are choosing to share a bowl, mostly the usual suspects that have been seen frolicking around together earlier on. But that's not to say there aren't some surprises speckled in… one being Pyrrha and Ren, both slowly taking out their portion. Each waiting for the other to finish their bite before getting theirs. It is almost zen-like, the two of them are. Even a monk would be impressed. Those two are suddenly splattered with ice cream, courtesy of Neptune flipping a bowl over.
"What the hell Nep?"
"You were eating too much!"
"Well now neither of us can eat any!"
"Get us some more then!"
"No you do it! You spilled it!"
"*sigh* Alright I'll get it."
That was a little too easy. Ren is out with several napkins to clean both himself and Pyrrha off with similar ease.
In all of this commotion, one thing is forgotten, and that is Neo herself. How is she dealing with being forced to watch herself slowly get consumed, with nothing she can do to stop it? Let's take a look…
…
Acceptance. Not a surprise, considering that she figured out that she can't move a while back, but at least it's better than desperate denial or internal screaming. At least there's no pain to speak of. The grazing of a spoon through ice cream is just a dull rumble, almost like someone lightly scratching a person's skin. The melting droplets are barely even detectable, with the collection at the bottom functioning as a cruel, cruel bath. Even the planting of Magnhild was more of a gentle push on her end. So, what now? Neo has decided to only wait and see what would come of this. Hell, maybe this would help Roman out in some way… it's the worst way to go about it, but at least she has visions of that future to comfort her in these last moments. Oh, and some of the shenanigans going on right now sure are hilarious. There's another one now!
"Why did you skip?" Coco has finally rejoined the club, with a disinterested Sun dragged behind her.
"Babe, please! I wanted to explore, have some fun!"
"And to miss out on this?! You clearly have no priorities! Now go get us some ice cream!"
He looks to complain, but a clear stare in the direction of said ice cream silences everything he had to say. Before Coco can reprimand him, he presses forward.
As the one farthest away from the container, Jaune is the unofficial greeter at this gathering, ready to welcome him with an unused bowl and spoon.
"Here you go, Sun. Glad you could make it."
"Two."
"Two huh? Who's the other for?"
"Coco."
The tiniest smile breaks out on his face as Jaune puts 1 and 1 together.
"Oh, okay." After some quick rummaging another bowl and spoon are procured. "Here you go."
"Thanks man. Say, where is Weiss at?"
"Oh, she's in the RWBY dorm. Said she didn't want any of the ice cream."
"Typical Ice Queen." He laughs to himself at the joke, expecting Jaune to be joining him, only to hear silence.
"I wish I could find that funny."
"Relationship not going well?"
"I guess you could say that."
"So why not go over there and fix it?"
Jaune takes a quick glance over where Weiss is before replying.
"I tried. She just yelled and said that I should go and enjoy the ice cream, and not to worry about her."
"That's just sad. Here, come with me to get some more ice cream, you need a pick-me-up."
"Can't think of a reason to say no." And with that, Jaune finally does something other than entertain the thoughts about him and Weiss that are swimming inside his head. It was the complete opposite a week ago, with Jaune over the moon, sun, and even solar system at the opportunity to pursue a relationship with his long-time crush, but now everything just feels… grey. That fire seems to almost be extinguished.
As they climb the ladder, which is finally relieved of footsteps for the time being, Jaune continues on about his woes.
"It's not even that she's mean either." He pauses for a reaction, but hears none. "She's not degrading me or anything. She's just so… nitpicky. Couple of days ago I volunteered to help her out picking out one of the decorations for the dance coming up, and it just drained me. All the colors.. ribbons.. even the 'embroidery' stuff. Didn't know too much about it, but I thought I could help her out, so I stated my opinions, even though a lot of those opinions were 'That's fine.' or 'It looks good.' And it just sucks, you know?"
"I think I get it. You feel like she isn't trying to get to know you as a person, and you think she doesn't care about what makes you you at all?"
"…...How- You- you said it better than I ever could, Sun. You're too smart for your own good."
"Uhh… Thanks, man. Always ready to help. Oh, and have fun with your ice cream." Sun breaks out into a smile as he descends the ladder, forcing Jaune to look into the bowl. It is absolutely overflowing with ice cream thanks to Sun, almost like a sundae.
He only chuckles before descending himself, feeling much better, much more determined to chow down on all of this tasty dessert.
As the groups gradually begin to finish off their portions, there is still one problem: What to do with the rest? There's still just over half the container left, and everyone's gotten a bowl, even Cinder and her crew. The first steps to answering this question are being taken right now, with Blake going around the hallways getting everyone's scroll number for addition into a special group.
"Jaune! There you are." She takes his scroll and begins adding him into the group. "Have you seen Nora and Ruby?"
"Can't you just add them on your end? You have their numbers."
"I could, but that's a lot of tapping, it's easier to do it this way. So you haven't seen them?"
"Nope. Didn't you try asking Yang?"
"She didn't know either."
"Maybe they're in the dorms?"
"Guess I'll look. Thanks anyway Jaune." She scurries away toward the two dorms.
Jaune goes the other direction, back toward his seat, only to bump into Coco on the way.
"Where's Sun?" Jaune points in the direction of where Sun probably is. "Thanks!" She moves only a few paces before seeing him and breaking out into a brisk jog.
*ping!*
He checks the scroll to see a message from Blake herself, coming from the brand new group.
What should we do with the rest of the Ice cream? Put some ideas down here.
He opens it up to see several ideas already floated, with more being posted with each passing second.
Make it into a pool!
Save it for later! I want more!
Milkshakes!
Food fight?
FOOD FIGHT?! HELL YES
Please no food fight. How about a competition for it?
I second the pool idea.
I third it.
Food fight!
Throw it overboard like a pirate!
PFFT! THAT'S INSANE!
Milkshakes! We could put cherries in it and everything!
Jaune throws his hat into the ring.
I like the milkshakes idea. Loading it up with fruit sure sounds good.
See! Someone agrees with me!
Your idea sucks. FOOD FIGHT!
Quickly realizing her mistake, Blake creates a poll of some good ideas.
Everyone stop! I drew up a poll so I could keep track of everyone. Vote on it now.
1. Food Fight
2. Milkshakes
3. Pool
4. Other
The poll is like a lightning rod, grabbing the attention of almost everyone for a few minutes, before all the votes are cast. The final results are:
1. Food Fight - 7 votes (Yang, Nora, Sun, Mercury, Neptune, Fox, Emerald) WINNER!
2. Milkshakes - 4 votes (Jaune, Yatsuhashi, Ruby, Velvet)
3. Pool - 5 Votes (Blake, Coco, Ren, Pyrrha, Cinder)
4. Other - 0 Votes
Weiss, Sage, Scarlet - DNP
A chorus of "YEAH!" and some bonus cheering breaks out at the poll's closing, even from some of the people who lost the vote. But Blake almost immediately breaks this collective happiness with the most obvious of follow-up questions.
Who's gonna be the teams?
"Every man for himself!"
"Really?"
"Of course! This is just for fun anyway!"
Neptune is already preparing to launch a preemptive strike when Blake halts him with a loud "Wait!"
"Everyone needs a fair start. While we could all go get it by climbing up there, I think it would be easier if we just tip the ice cream over. Who wants to do the honors?"
Yang, Jaune, Sun, and Yatsuhashi jump out of their seats and rush behind it, waiting to push it over. Blake gets out of their way as they all take positions, waiting for any signal to start this all off.
"C'mon Blake! Why won't you s-
"Just tip it already!" both Neptune and Emerald yell.
The four push with all of their strength, and in a near instant the cylinder succumbs to gravity, tumbling down and laying bare the cold, cold goodness inside. Another tsunami converges on the container as everyone desperately tries to get the first projectile in their hands. Blake does not participate, instead deciding to bite the bullet and go back to Ruby and Nora's hideout.
As she makes her approach, she internally sighs in relief, with her faunus ears not detecting any lewd sounds. She begins to open t-
*whack*
A ball of ice cream narrowly misses her head, ungracefully splattering on the door in front of her. She turns around with eyes narrowed, but no one sticks out as suspicious. With an annoyed sigh, she turns back around and continues opening the door.
Her eyes widen as she notices Ruby and Nora huddled near each other, but luckily for them (and for this story's rating), the two are merely cuddled next to each other on Nora's bed, with massive smiles on both their faces.
"You two better get out here! There's an ice cream fight going on!"
"You mean a… food fight?" Nora gets an interesting glint in her eye.
"Nora please… just a little longer…" She pushes her into the bed, not wanting this cuddle session to end.
"aa… bu-…" Her mind is torn in half between joining the fight and surrendering to her favorite rosebud.
"Sorry! You know I can't resist a good fight!" She stands straight up, taking Ruby with her, who slides off in the most agonizingly slow way possible. Ruby barely has time to let go before Nora is on the move, zipping through the door and into the ruckus.
Ruby lets out the saddest sigh one can make, before a great idea strikes in her brain.
"You're so gonna regret that, Valkyrie!" And off the red reaper goes.
Meanwhile…
"Thanks for hiding me!"
"Wait, you used me as a hiding spot?
Before Yang can respond, Jaune gets hit right in the leg with a chocolate scoop.
"Hahahaha!"
"DAMNIT REN!" Yang's human shield rudely decides to leave her to pursue Ren, exposing Yang on all sides.
"Uh oh." Yang runs as fast as she can as a hail of multi-colored handfuls follow behind her.
After only 10 minutes, the entire hallway is covered with melted ice cream. It would be a work of art worthy of a picture, but nobody seemed to care enough to think about that. Instead, it can only be experienced by people who lived in the moment. The container that was once filled to the brim with dessert is now almost completely barren. The only evidence that there was even anything there is a small stream meandering from the very bottom of the can. Two students suddenly crawl inside, taking refuge from the storm.
"Let's just hide in here!" Velvet is the first one in, quickly moving to the back
"Very smart idea, Vel." Yatsu begins to turn it such that the opening is directly against the wall, using the container as a shield against any attacks. But a set of white hands spin it right back around, shocking them both as they come face to face with the perpetrator.
"Oh no you two don't!" She takes some ice cream left from a bowl and crawls inside the container, splashing them both. Yatsu immediately responds with one of his own before trying to push her out, but another fighter makes sure that is not happening.
"There you are! There is no escape!" Nora tosses a handful up and swings at it like a baseball, coating the entire inside with ice cream, including the three hunters inside.
"...you son of a-"
She is then interrupted by another shot, this one coming from Jaune himself. Intended for Nora, Jaune initially shows some concern, but that flies out the window as soon as he sees Coco's extremely annoyed face.
"Pfffft! Ahahahahaha-" He is then bumped very, very hard by several people, so much so that it forces him, Nora and Coco deep inside the container. And from there, it turns into a mad dash. Everyone wants to get the last shot in, so much so that they all converge on the opening, forcing themselves more and more in with every step..
The pushing force is so great that the ice cream container begins to tip backward, but nobody notices. People are shoved against the edge, barely able to breathe as the pileup rages on. Neo's mind realizes what's going on, and for the first time in a long while finally feels some sense of emotion. A sneaky undertone colors this thought:
This is gonna be so, so good.
And just like that, gravity takes over once again, as the container tips back to straight upward, trapping every single student inside the container walls. Everyone's eyes suddenly widen at once as they realize the situation they got themselves into.
"Everyone! Push!" They all push on the sides, but the forces all balance out, resulting in the container barely moving at all.
"Dangit!"
"I can just blow us out if you want!"
Everyone screams "NO!", not wanting to be singed by her flares. This only increases everyone's squirming, and the container starts shaking all about as everyone tries their hardest to move.
…
"How long do you think they'll be in there?"
"Oh… about 5 to 10 minutes."
"Really?"
The teachers have "taken shelter" (more like watched the party go down) in Ozpin's office, and have watched the entire thing on a gigantic 60" TV.
"Of course! I have faith in my students."
"Thought you had more faith than that!"
"It would be unwise to overestimate their capabilities, Oobleck. I'm assured that you have seen that in action."
He doesn't respond.
"Is this going to be a regular occurrence?"
"Why so glum, Glynda?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because this is the second food fight in a week that I have had to deal with?"
"And? It's not hard for you to clean."
"You think I care? This academy is supposed to be professional!"
"And the defenders of humanity can't have a little fun from time to time?"
Glynda is real, real close to snapping her whip, but she forces herself to calm down.
"...*sigh* Yes, they can have fun. But they can do it outside of the academy."
"How are they going to have fun outside if they are stuck in there?"
Ozpin's mouth morphs into a smug smile.
"Damn you to hell, Ozpin!" And she runs off toward the warzone, ready to snap at anyone who happens to cross her path...
oh no I gave ruby the tiniest bit of sexual prowess how dare I! I put way too much effort into ships that were quite literally decided with a dice roll. Yes, I rolled (virtual) dice to decide what ships to shoehorn in for shits and giggles, completely disregarding canon. Hope this was worth the read! The only thing that makes me sad is that I couldn't have Nora use Magnhild as an ice cream scooper.