Author's Note: Short chapter on account of family matters that came up, as well as work calling me in early multiple days, as well as exhaustion finally taking its toll on me. Had a migraine so terrible it crossed over into straight up nausea and I ended up throwing up at work so fiercely that my nose bled from the pressure accumulating in my head, not to mention it stripped a few layers of skin off in my esophagus. Much better now, but I need to be less of an idiot and not run myself ragged without giving myself any moments to rest.

Regardless, please enjoy this chapter, short as it is.

Chapter 49

Pressure was something Carol was used to. It was something he took strength from, as the more difficult the situation was, the more he strove to rise above the challenge. However, it usually came in the form of people being antagonistic against him, which was what made his current situation all the more frustrating. Harsh words he could deal with. Fistfights, sure. This strange situation of being caught between a jealous girl, a sadistic girl, and a naive girl was more than he could handle, and he'd stayed up for seven days straight working. Twice!

...Okay, so almost twice, but still.

It wasn't like he hadn't tried to mediate; He'd explained the situation to Weiss and Ruby that no, he wasn't having any late night trysts with Mint, and yes, he was very busy with a new project. Of course, they invited themselves to watch him work as well, but this time it wasn't because of a desire to see him fail. No, he could deal with that issue. The problem he was currently having was the fact that now he had admirers instead of detractors. It was a strange feeling that was oddly not unwelcome, and that fact twisted something inside him more than anything he'd felt before. He felt like his skin would slough off if he were to garner more attention.

He wiped the sweat from his brow as he took a brief respite from hammering the dao into shape, moving it back into the furnace to heat up once more. The majority of the work was done, now he was just hammering the fine details into the weapon. He took the time to look about the forge, already knowing the unfortunate sights he'd find. Weiss was closest, and he couldn't tell if her face was red from her proximity to the furnace or... well, he'd rather not think about that. Ruby had forced herself in between Weiss and Mint, fiercely pouting at the latter, while smiling encouragingly at the former. On Mint's part, she had a brief period where she was almost awkward with the introduction of the other two, but it had quickly passed. Now, she seemed to live to frustrate him. "So, you all just gonna sit there and stare at me, or what?" Mint not so helpfully nodded, to which Ruby and Weiss fixed the girl with a harsh glare.

Carol had to admit, he was at a loss. He couldn't try to flirt in an attempt to get under their skin, as Weiss would probably take it as serious, Mint would use it to piss off Weiss and Ruby more, and Ruby...

That was just wrong. She was practically a kid, only fifteen years old!

His temple pulsed angrily, and he pinched his brow. Great, now he was thinking about asinine shit. He blamed the terrible threesome. "In my defense-" Weiss started, turning away from giving Mint a death glare,"-I'm merely observing an artisan at work. It would be impossible to not watch you and still see the work being done." He knew that, but the logic didn't help his pysche. "Though I must admit, I do regret being blinded by my own aversion before; It's actually quite relaxing to see the blade take shape." Carol stared at her, causing the girl to redden slightly. "What?"

"Are you saying that because you genuinely feel that way, or are you just trying to compliment me?" Weiss made to respond, but was cut off by Ruby.

"Both!" The redhead energetically said for her partner, though it wasn't quite as well received.

"Ruby!" It was surprising to see just how much more red-faced the heiress could get. "I do not need your help!"

"Help with what?" Carol asked, raising an eyebrow high. He knew damn well what it was, but maybe playing ignorant would be the best course of action.

"Nothing!" The heiress nigh on shouted. Mint simply watched with a smile, before pantomiming a feint with the back of her hand to her forehead, earning the ire of Weiss once again. "Yes, and why are you here, again?" The widening smile was the only thing she answered with, and Carol could see Weiss beginning to fume.

While he'd love to say nothing and let the two have at it, he couldn't just throw Mint under the bus for something she couldn't control. "Already asked that. Best I can figure is she's getting some sort of kick out of it." Carol answered for her.

"Yes, well, I'd still like to hear it from her." He simply shrugged.

"Go ahead. I'd love to see you get a mute girl to speak." There was a strange hesitation as she looked over to Mint, and Carol could imagine that she was waffling between a half-hearted apology or just stepping past it, like he did.

"Yes, well, I suppose that would make it a bit difficult, wouldn't it?" Weiss settled on. Damnit. "It still doesn't explain why she's still here, what with how much you love to drive people off." A good question, one he couldn't really explain himself. It may have been the fact that she came from an entirely different school, so he had no bad taste in the mouth because of past interactions. Or, perhaps, it was because she didn't ask dumb questions, on account of not being able to ask anything. It definitely wasn't because of how, despite his most desperate attempts, he was beginning to empathize with Huntsmen in general. Nope, definitely not that.

"Can't a man improve inter-team relations?" The deadpan stare he received was both expected and disheartening. "Right, walked right into that one..." A trace of a smirk made itself apparent, Weiss satisfied with her wordless quip. "I could ask the same of you, you know."

"A reignited interest in weapons technology, coupled with the fact that you are the closest individual I can use to research it with?" Now it was his turn to give the girl a deadpan stare. "Okay. It was-"

"-Ruby, right?" Carol interrupted. He didn't know the content of the latter half, but he felt it better to steer the conversation towards a neutral ground. Weiss, who was cut off, settled her lips in a fine line, slightly irritated.

"Er...yes. Though I can finish my own sentences, thank you very much." Carol turned away, peeking into the furnace, and found that the blade was once again hot enough for hammering. He carefully pulled it out with the tongs, and slowly turned around to face the anvil, only to almost run blade first into Weiss.

"Woah! Brothers, woman, personal space!" Carol grumbled, maneuvering around the petite woman to reach the anvil. "It's almost like you want to get burned..." Carol grabbed his hammer, beginning to raise it, only to sigh as Weiss decided she wanted a much, much closer look at his work.

"I trust you to not be that careless." He stared at her, not sure to be flattered or disappointed at her lack of self-preservation. Regardless, he choked his grip upwards on the hammer, placing the head sideways on against Weiss's midsection and gently pushing her away. "Hey!" She complained, brushing the dust off of the front of her uniform.

"Trust is one thing; Standing next to someone swinging a hammer hard enough to dent metal is another." Satisfied with the distance he'd created, he once again raised his hammer- and paused once again. Ruby, in all her bright-eyed glory, was now on his other side, though at least at a safe distance, even if it was still uncomfortable for Carol for her to be there.

"So, whatcha makin'?"

"A dao." He succinctly replied, irritation settling in at the proximity of the two girls. Calm down, Magnusson. You know what happens when you lose your temper. He heavily exhaled through his nostrils, the action slightly easing the tension in his psyche.

"Oh, who's it for!" The girl chipperly asked.

"Someone with more money than sense." His gain, so it wasn't that bad. Still, one of the more strange requests he'd received.

"I don't know, paying a blacksmith to make a weapon makes a lot of sense to me." Carol rolled his eyes. Yeah, no shit. "But seriously, I'm sure you're going to make a really cool weapon. Right, Weiss?" She ended, spurring Weiss on.

"R-right!" Carol didn't know which reality he accidentally stepped into, but Ruby being more subversive than Weiss was something he wasn't sure he liked. And just when he thought things had finally settled, and he had his room to work, as soon as he began to raise his hammer to strike the metal, Mint appeared in front of him, her mismatched eyes reflecting the glowing metal. Sighing in frustration, Carol lowered his hammer, resting it at his side.

"Right, that's enough. All of you, out." He received a trio of incredulous looks. "I'm not joking, get out."

"What? Why?" Weiss asked, though unintentionally aiding Mint, who nodded in agreement.

"You're distracting me-" Carol said, looking at Ruby, who smiled sheepishly, "-You're frustrating me-", he directed towards Mint, who took a bow, "-and you're getting in the way of my work. Physically, I mean." Weiss looked a bit off-put by his reaction, but she didn't seem overtly offended. She was, at the end of the day, one of the more logical thinkers of the people he knew. She'd understand, even if she was somewhat unapologetic about her actions.

"...Alright. Come on, Ruby." The redheaded girl ducked her head, but complied and walked over to her partner. Okay, that was two down. He turned his vision to Mint, who was still standing there. "He meant you too." Weiss spoke, saving him the trouble of saying it himself. Shockingly enough, she complied, but not before getting one last jab in. As she walked around his back, he felt a finger trace on his back from one shoulder to the other, sending a weird tingle down his spine. His own glare was matched, or perhaps superseded, in its intensity by Weiss. She walked towards the stairs leading up, almost bouncing on her feet in a jaunty, careless pace. Stopping by the archway, she spared a wink towards Weiss, who responded with a glorious flush as she attempted to bore into Mint's skull with her vengeful glare. He couldn't help but grow a small smile, which was eliminated by the time that Weiss turned back to him, Mint hopping up the stairs to make her exit. Weiss, still hesitated to leave. "Listen, Carol, I-"

"Don't worry about it." He interjected. "You're interested in a new subject, I get that, but next time, don't endanger my project's integrity." He finished the statement with an almost understanding air, but it still bred discontent in Weiss's expression.

"That's not what I-" She huffed. "Very well. I suppose it can wait for another day. I look forward to observing you tomorrow, then."

"But I didn't say-" Carol blinked, revisiting what he just said. Specifically, the 'next time' clause that implied there would be another opportunity for her to sit in while he worked, and she clearly latched on to what his mouth said before his brain could stop it. Damnit."Yeah. Maybe." He finished lamely, Weiss smirking victoriously. You win this one, Princess.

"Good evening." She turned on her heel to exit the forge, and Carol tried his hardest to not watch her hips almost sway as she ascended. The clacking of her heels echoed through the archway as she exited the forge, Ruby's muted thumps from her own sneakers accompanying them. And he was alone again.

He breathed in the air, relishing in the silence. Yet, even though he got what he wanted, still he felt dissatisfied. It was strangely nice to have some company with him, and he almost missed it. Blinking, he raised his hammer to tap on his head. Stop it brain. We've got work to do. Not much, admittedly, but complacency was ever the foe of progress, so he set to finishing the blade. He only had a short amount of time left to savor the feeling of crafting, as he was aiming to have the blade done in a few days. Unless something major came up, he'd be seeing it out in the morrow at the earliest, or the day after that. But really, what could possibly happen that would be so dire?

Carol yawned, tapping the counter as the pot of coffee filled. He'd finished the small spat of work he'd had last night, had a good night's rest and even a good training in the morning. Things were finally looking up for him, despite the looming threat of the missions, which he still didn't know much about. The rumors about Beacon was that they would be supervised by a licensed Huntsman or Huntress, but he would much rather not think about the possibilty of fighting Grimm. Headstrong as he was, he still couldn't help but feel anxiety about going out and actually slaying one, when he knew well what they could do. He was brought out of his reveire by the sound of two pairs of footsteps shuffling on the carpet behind him. "Finally coming to join my for a cup of coffee, huh, guys...?" He said while turning around, finding a twosome he wouldn't expect would ever approach him, on account of his comments he'd made.

Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. Quiet and loud, reserved and outgoing, professionally distant and a menace to kneecaps everywhere. "Carol," Ren started, "-We need to talk."

End note: You know how it is.