V2E9: Winding Down
At this moment, Anon was cursing up a storm as Glynda was patching him up.
"Fuck's sake!" He whined. "I just want to go to bed!"
"You're a mess and you're bleeding!" Glynda countered. "You can sleep later!"
Anon kept groaning at the nagging sting of the rubbing alcohol on his wounds. Ozpin smiled at the situation despite his eyes being glued to his screen. General Ironwood, meanwhile, was gnashing his teeth as he looked at the same screen as Oz. Displayed on the screen was the VNN report of Roman's rampage across Highway 17. At the current, It played the destruction of the Paladin, which ground the General's gears quite a bit.
"This project..." Ironwood said slowly. "Cost us...Tens of billions of Liens... to get this where it was."
He turned to shout at Anon.
"BEFORE YOU DESTROYED IT!"
Anon cleaned his ear with his pinky, wincing at the developed baritones of the Atlan military chief.
"No, don't thank me. Really." He mocked. "I'm so glad that you were worried for the civilians that could have been in the line of fire of a mech armed with energy cannons and miniguns!"
Ironwood flinched, clearly not having thought about that little detail. Glynda shook her head at him.
"Of course, you wouldn't think of that."
"Why would I? There were no casualties!" James defended himself.
"Of course there weren't, I made sure that we drew all the fire!" Anon exclaimed angrily.
Ozpin's smile grew wider.
"Indeed."
The headmaster of Beacon replayed a section of the reporting where Blake, Yang, Sun and Neptune took the criminal's aim away from innocent people as well as drawing him away from the more populated roads.
"This kind of thinking ahead is exactly what I expect from my Huntsmen," Ozpin said with pride.
The video then played the clip of Anon shooting the criminal point-blank in the chest. Ozpin's smile soured whilst Anon's grew.
"You were saying?"
Ozpin sighed dejectedly.
"I guess we have more to work on."
The Beacon Headmaster closed his screen and crossed his legs in his seat, just in time for Glynda to finish bandaging Anon's wounds.
"What have you discovered? You clearly haven't done all this just to get back at Roman Torchwick."
Anon snorted.
"You clearly underestimate how petty I can be."
"Considering that spite is the only reason you still haven't told me your real name, I would beg to differ."
Anon's smirk grew even larger.
"Then beg."
Oz inhaled sharply then exhaled loudly.
"Back... To the point at hand."
Anon chuckled mildly.
"Ok, I'll chill, I'll chill." His smile disappeared, turning serious. "We know where Torchwick and the Fang operate."
Ironwood and Glynda's eyes bulged out of their skulls in disbelief while Oz just raised an eyebrow.
"WHAT?!" The general and the combat professor yelled in unison.
"Is that so?" Ozpin said at normal volume.
"Yup."
"Where?"
"I'll tell on the condition that you'll let us deal with it and that, for once, you'll actually do as I said."
Ozpin frowned.
"I'll be the judge of that."
Anon matched the oldest man's frown.
"One, The Fang plans to blow a hole in the centre of the city. HOWEVER, we can force them to execute the plan early and force them to instead crash in the commercial district. What I want you to do is simple, get ready to respond immediately to the crisis and even have some 'Construction' set up to clear the place of civilians."
Ozpin shook his head.
"This... Is quite the situation."
Glynda grimaced in confusion.
"Why would they need to blow holes in the ground? What would that even accomplish?"
Anon's face hardened.
"A multitude of explosions within the underground tunnel system, opening entrances for hundreds upon hundreds of Grimm to pour in from." He stared chillingly into Glynda's eyes. "All that's left, is to create one. singular. opening, for the horde to... Well, you know the rest."
Glynda was now balking in utter horror, the general's own expression not too dissimilar. For once, Ozpin's cool was shaken.
"I can see how they got to that end..." Ozpin pondered out loud, his face alive with an unknown emotion. "The underground railway system would realistically allow them to be essentially anywhere. But how would they be able to do so in a reasonable amount of time? On foot, it would take too long... It couldn't be on a train, they would crash into the sealed doors."
"Easy," Anon answered. "A train with a battering ram to smash through any seal. All that's left to do is attach bombs to the train cars that are loaded with Dust and detach them at strategic points for maximum horde size and carnage."
Ozpin nodded in understanding before sneering angrily.
"Clever." he returned to his impassive expression. "Are you certain that you can force them into the situation you've described?"
Anon looked determined.
"Yes. All we need to do is use the field trip as an excuse to start our counteroffensive."
Ozpin was clearly weighing his options.
"I'll put aside my doubts and trust you with this."
Anon smiled thankfully after a glad sigh.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." Oz shot him down curtly. "What's the other condition?"
"This one shouldn't be much of an issue. All I need is for Ironwood to supply more soldiers to guard the CCT during the Vytal dance."
Ironwood crossed his arms, his stone-like frown was now more uneasy.
"Will they attack it?"
"No, too much trouble and there would be a tonne of Huntsmen-in-training basically right next door. They'll send one infiltrator to implant a virus."
"Just one?" Ironwood now looked more confident. "That's not an issue."
Anon glared angrily at the tinman who flinched at Hope's aggression.
"Pride comes before the fall, old man. I'm half your age and I know as much." He eased his glare. "This one infiltrator is the same person who sent Amber to the reaper's doorstep."
"The false maiden." Glynda's worry furthered.
"Yeah, if she can permanently bench a skilled huntswoman who's also a maiden, then she can deal with some Atlan grunts."
By now, Ironwood was thoroughly shaken. If what he said was true, then the virus in question could compromise the whole system, let alone Vale's. He considered that Arthur Watts could be involved and now that he thought about it, Watts could possibly even be a part of the theft of the Paladin... After serious consideration, Ironwood judged it wise to follow his old friend's lead.
"Done," Ironwood confirmed. "I'll make sure that the CCT tower is unbreachable."
"Thank you, General." Anon relieved.
"I'm only trusting you because Ozpin does. Do not misinterpret my intent, I'm doing this because Atlas could also be at risk."
Anon smiled.
"Always looking out for your own. Eh, James?"
"Always." He puffed out his chest proudly. "Above everything else, I am a proud soldier of my homeland."
"A patriot? I can respect that."
He stood up, ready to leave once he was done.
"Since you accepted my conditions, I'll tell you that their base is located in the train systems of Mount Glenn."
"That old ruin?" Glynda leaned back in surprise.
"Yeah, complete access to the Inter-Kingdom train system, it's mostly safe from the Grimm and there's enough space for them to set up shop comfortably until the time of the operation."
Ozpin nodded dourly.
"Indeed..." He became worried. "It's almost too convenient."
Anon couldn't help but snort.
"Almost like it was made to serve the plot."
"Plot to what?" Ozpin questioned.
Anon smiled mysteriously before walking towards the elevator.
"Wouldn't you like to know~" He sang as he pressed the button for the ground floor. "Remember Oz, me and my team are going to deal with this. You deal with the red tape and bend the rule where we need to."
The doors closed and with Hope gone, Oz crooked a brow with a coy smile on his lips.
"Your team, Mister Hope? And here I thought you didn't want to be involved."
Ironwood stared cautiously at the elevator where Hope just left.
"Can we truly trust him?"
Glynda scoffed.
"You're asking that now?"
"Wouldn't you?"
"I personally trust him. Putting aside my own bias, so far all of his predictions came out true."
The general turned to the wizard.
"Is it true?"
Ozpin nodded silently, his eyes returning to his monitor as it came back to life. Apparently, VNN wants a statement regarding Hope and the Vale's Huntsman Association's stance on Torchwick and the Fang's action tonight. Ozpin sighed, knowing that he now has to deal with the incoming media circus. Oh dear, oh dear...
After bellyflopping onto his bed and falling asleep almost instantly, Anon woke up the next day even more sore than he did yesterday. How? He had no clue and frankly, he didn't care too much. After taking some painkillers and putting on some clothes, he checked his equipment or more specifically, what he had to replace.
His entire outfit had to be trashed and Hope cringed, knowing that Coco will not be happy. Only the belt and holster combo were in good shape. The shirt was filled with cut holes and so are the pants. His gloves had it the worst, being caked in blood and gouged open. It saddened him that his coat was in no better condition than the rest of his outfit, considering all the cuts and the heavy scuffing from getting ejected from the van's hood. He sighed, hoping that Coco could either get it fixed or replaced.
Other than his clothes, he needed ammo for his guns and a new scope for Morrigan seeing as the other was ruined. Luckily, Ruby had sent him the address of the shop where she got the scope.
"Well, time to go weekend shopping while I'm at it. Get my mind off all this crazy stuff for a while."
...
"Thanks again, I'll be back next week to get the scope." Anon smiled at the gun store's clerk.
"Understood." The clerk waved at him. "See you then and thank you for your patronage!"
Anon waved back as he left the shop. He walked around the place, wandering his free time away. He whistled a tune as he walked by the CCT tower.
"Jeez, Ruby wasn't kidding." He admired. "This thing's like the Seattle space needle."
He stopped to look at the Atlan Knight-200 presentation. He didn't look too impressed by them.
"Considering they made Penny, this just looks like a massive fucking downgrade."
"Why thank you!"
Anon yelped and jumped back in fright, nearly stumbling to the ground. Penny stood with the biggest smile on her face.
"I am quite flattered by your compliment!" She continued, either oblivious or simply disregarding the fact that she nearly scared him half to death.
Anon blinked before shrugging facially.
I guess I can't stay mad at her. Then again, she's cuter than Ruby; which is basically cheating at this point.
Anon dusted himself and cleared his throat, trying to play off the embarrassing display he enacted. Penny gave her usual cute salute.
"Salutations, friend Anon!"
"Penny." Anon smiled and nodded a greeting. "Just so you know, you're not supposed to just pop behind people to greet them."
Penny held a finger to her chin, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Could it be that it is a problem?"
"I mean, you saw me nearly shit myself out of fright."
"Do not worry! My olfactory does not sense the smell of feces at the moment. Therefore, your dignity is intact!"
Anon blinked multiple time
"Right." He softly shook his head. "Anyways, How've you been?"
Penny smiled and danced in place giddily, causing Anon to smile at her adorableness.
"Oh! I've had such a lovely time!" She lit up. "Oh, oh! Yesterday, I've met up with friend Ruby and friend Weiss!"
"Yeah, they told me about that." He noticed an inviting-looking bistro by the park. "Hey, Penny? Wanna go get a bite? I'll treat you and we can catch up there."
Penny lit up, her eyes wide with happiness.
"Of course! I'd love to go eat out with a friend!"
Anon snorted.
She's just like a puppy, holy shit.
...
The bistro felt heartwarmingly familiar to Hope, reminding him of an old-school Italian family restaurant from back home. After getting seated, Penny scanned the menu. Her unfaltering smile beamed twice as bright.
"Oh! Friend Anon!" She showed him the menu, pointing to their frozen dessert selection. "They have ice cream!"
He whistled approvingly at their selection.
"Shit, they have flavours for days. They also have gelato and frozen yogurts, they even have ice cream dishes like Sundays and affogato." He hummed pleasantly. "That sounds good actually."
The server came by with a notepad in hand wearing a canned smile.
"What will be your order good sir?"
"I'll have a small vanilla gelato and an affogato."
He noted down the order quickly before turning to the orange-haired girl.
"And you miss?"
Her lower lip pursed in uncertainty.
"So many options..." she muttered. "I don't really know which to take!"
The server kept smiling.
"May I recommend our signature Supreme Sunday?"
"Oh my, that sounds lovely!" Her smile faltered when she saw the price. "Uhm, Friend Anon?"
He smiled despite rolling his eyes.
"Go ahead, I did say that I was treating you."
"Wonderful!" She elated. "I'll take the Supreme Sunday, please and thank you!"
The server nodded, noting it down.
"Happy doing business with you..." He said greedily before leaving.
Anon kept his eyes on the server's back.
"You didn't have to say it all assholey like that..."
Penny hadn't noticed the server's change in attitude. Instead, she was happily rocking back and forth in her seat.
"Ice cream, ice cream!" She quietly sang to herself.
Anon felt disgusted at how happy he was that she was happy.
What's wrong with me? Have I turned into sis-con trash?
She leaned on the table, putting her elbows on the table and holding her head in her hands.
"Thank you again, friend Anon!" She gratefully and sweetly thanked.
Yeah... Yeah, I am.
"No problem, Lil Bolt."
She started swinging her legs under the table.
"Friend Anon, I have a question."
"What's up?"
"How have you been since we last saw each other?" She asked in worry. "Has your back healed?"
Anon rolled his shoulder.
"I still feel it at times but otherwise, I'm basically all healed up."
She sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness." She frowned sadly. "When I saw you get injured, I... I felt like I had failed in my duties."
Anon put his hand in her head, stroking her soft hair to reassure her.
"Penny, you can't do everything. You can't save everyone. If you try to, you'll just go crazy."
Her frown remained.
"I... I understand."
He lifted her chin.
"Come on, Penny. Just the fact that you're giving it your all is enough. At least for me, it does."
"Is it?"
"Of course." he smiled. "I'm proud of you, Pen."
She gave small smile.
"Thank you, Friend An-"
Penny's smile suddenly disappeared, being replaced by a dejected frown. Anon was initially confused before turning around to where she was looking, the sight of a blue beret clued him in. His frown turned serious. The dark-skinned military student gave an emotionless stare.
"So that's where you were, miss Polendina," She said monotonously.
"M-miss Soleil." Penny avoided the empty stare.
Cradled under her armpit was a small notebook. Ciel whipped it out to inspect its content. She checked her watch, not bothering to look up.
"It is currently 1337 hours and 'lunch time' as ended seven minutes ago," she explained matter-of-factly. "It is time that we return to VHQ (Vale Headquarters) to continue optimizing our team synergy."
Penny looked down sadly before putting her hands on the table to get up. Anon just crossed his legs.
"Well, you're gonna have to wait."
Penny froze while Ciel looked at Hope.
"...Anon Hope, correct?" She seemed to faintly recognize him.
"That's me."
"May I enquire as to why you are so adamant that I wait?"
"Simple." He put his hands together. "I asked Penny if she wanted to grab a bite. She said yes and we made our order. She was really excited to get ice cream, you know?"
His neutral glance turned to a glare.
"I'm not gonna let you come over here and piss on her parade just because you want to train."
Sparks began to fly as the two matched glares, his fiery and furious whilst hers was calm and cold. Penny began worrying as she looked between the two, unsure as to how to deal with the situation.
"I cannot allow us to grow dull." Her tone was measured and glacial. "We are competitors in the tournament and we must keep sharp."
Anon scoffed contemptuously.
"All work and no play makes for a very dull existence, Ciel Soleil*," Anon explained angrily. "I don't know if you know but at a certain workload, productivity begins to decline. Why do you think there are maximum work hour laws?"
(A/N: Anon is pronouncing her name in proper french instead of saying it in English. So he pronounces it as Si-el So-lay.)
Ciel paused, carefully weighing her words.
"I doubt that miss Polendina has to worry about such base problems."
Anon glared at her emptily.
"Oh what? Just because she's not human that allows you to work her like a slave?"
The two flinched at the assertion with Ciel slowly losing her cool. Some of the people seemed to have overheard and began giving the Atlan cadet some dirty looks while others looked at Penny, unsure as to what made her not human.
"I can assure you that that is not my intention." She kept her monotone at the cost of a light sweat. "I merely wish for my partner to fight at optimal efficiency."
He separated his hands and put them to the side.
"Then, you'll let her have a break and unwind for a bit. Give her time to recharge her batteries."
The analogy made Ciel's skin crawl. Penny, however, looked at Hope with curious and awed eyes. Did he really know? Then how? Ciel sighed before taking a nearby chair and sitting between the two.
"You have five minutes." She said, looking at her notes.
"Make it an hour or I take her for the rest of the day."
"Fifteen." she haggled.
"Fifty." he haggled back.
"Twenty."
"Forty-five."
She groaned, letting her irritation slip.
"Thirty and not more."
Anon rubbed his chin, thinking.
"I'll accept on the condition that you make it a weekly thing every Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays."
She kept looking at him like she was trying to find cracks that she could split wide open. She shook her head, relenting.
"Fine, but only on the weekend."
Anon sneered in annoyance but accepted, holding out his hand deal-sealing shake. Ciel shook his hand, holding it firmly. Anon noted that despite her warm-coloured skin, her hand was as cold as her homeland. Penny blinked in shock. Ciel actually bent? Her shock was quickly swept away in a wave of happiness. She practically lunged over the table to give Hope a crushing friendship hug.
"Thank you so much, friend Anon!" She squealed.
Anon gurgled as he could feel his ribcage compressing.
"N-no problems." He shakily patted her head. "Please let me go, I think I heard my spine pop."
Penny returned to her seat at cartoonish speed, sitting down with a soft grin. Hope coughed violently, gasping for air. As he was haking up his lungs, the server returned with their orders.
"And there you go!" The server tilted his head with a canned smile "One Supreme Sunday, one affogato and one vanilla gelato."
He gave both of Anon's orders normally but the server presented the Sunday to Penny with reverence.
"Please! Enjoy." The server bowed before leaving.
The Sunday was... Extravagant. Lots of vanilla, chocolate and some off-white fruity ice cream, loads of chocolate sauce and a dinky flake on top with a glazed cherry. Penny's eyes turned to stars as she admired her frozen dessert.
"It's marvellous!" she marvelled quietly.
She looked up to him, beckoning him silently with her big eyes. Anon grinned.
"Don't wait for me."
As soon as he was done, she began devouring the frozen treat. Anon chuckled quietly as Penny was making a mess of herself. Ciel was perfectly content watching in mild disgust as she drank the complimentary glass of water. Anon had hoped that she would eye one of his things in envy, as a form of affirmation that she had actual wants and desires instead of being a meaty robot. So instead, he just enjoyed his affogato while it was still warm and cold instead of tepid.
Although he had hoped that Ciel would be eyeing him with envy, he found himself under a scrutinous gaze instead.
"Didn't your parents teach you that staring at people was rude?" he sassed.
"At the current, I find no valid reason to be polite towards a stranger that mucks up my schedule." she criticized.
Jesus, what are you? An autist?
"For a good reason." he countered.
"If you can call it that."
Hope snorted in amusement.
"What's so funny?" Ciel questioned.
"I just find this really ironic."
Penny raised her head from her Sunday, her face covered in ice cream and chocolate sauce.
"What is, friend Anon?" she said with her mouth full.
"It's just... She acts so machine-like while you're the opposite."
The Atlan girl's eyes sharpened.
"Shouldn't it be the way around?" he concluded.
Anon felt something pointy poke into his knee. A quick glance revealed a hidden knife that Cile removed from her boot.
"If you start acting funny, your kneecap will be the last thing you'll lament missing." she threatened quietly.
Hope glared sinisterly and an audible racking noise came from under the table. His pistol's hard, cold barrel pressed against Ciel's side to her shock.
"When did-"
"You have the right, to take my life." Anon quoted in an unknown accent. "But know, that I will also take yours."
He leaned towards her, his brow casting a shadow over his eyes in the light.
"If you don't put the knife down, one of us is going to get arrested for murder. And it won't be you."
Sweat began to pool on Ciel's forehead.
"I have the Aura of a trained huntswoman."
"So does Neopolitan, and one bullet from it sent her flying while three nearly depleted her Aura." He leaned forward, his dark lear growing darker. "And I doubt that you are anywhere near her in terms of control and abilities."
The Atlan Cadet's sweat worsened and looked to Penny for aid. Penny looked between the two, unable to decide what to do. On one hand, Ciel started the altercation with little cause or reason. However, Hope could do more damage. She gripped the side of her head as she tried to compute the proper response to this situation. Anon was the first to disengage, flipping on the gun's safety before putting it back into his holster. Ciel slowly put the knife back in her boot, still sweating heavily.
"How?" Ciel asked, dabbing her forehead with a handkerchief. "How do you know?"
Good to see not everyone is aware of me. Thanks, James!
"Put simply: Limited pre and post cognition," he explained. "Put even simpler:"
He smiled mysteriously.
"I just know."
Ciel glanced at him with apprehension. What else could this man know? Penny poked her fingers nervously.
"So... You know that I'm... Not a real girl?" She said quietly.
Some people tended an ear curiously, some others giggled while probably thinking of something rude. Anon finished his affogato before leaning close to the artificial woman.
"I knew long before I met you," he whispered low enough that no one could hear, even for the few Faunuses in the room.
Penny looked at her friend with hopeful eyes.
"And you still consider me your friend despite me being a fake person?"
Anon smiled honestly.
"Of course! Just because you're not made of meat doesn't mean we can't be friends or that you're somehow less real than me."
Anon took her hand and held it up, squeezing it gently.
"See? Real as can be. And even if it's made of metal, I know you have a heart."
Penny blushed. It was the first time she held hands with a boy before...
"I... I see."
Anon let go with a cheeky smile. Penny held her hand close to her chest where her core, her heart, lay. She closed her eyes, trembling with happiness. She lunged over the table again and squeezed the air out of him with another crushing hug.
"Oh, friend Anon! You're the best friend a girl could ask for!"
Heh, in more ways than one. Wait... Does she even have one? Or is it smooth like a doll? It'd be weird if her dad gave her one. But then again...
Anon quickly patted on the back as his face went from red to blue. Penny let go reluctantly, though still grinning ear to ear. As Anon was gasping for air, Ciel scoffed.
"Heartwarming." she drolled. "Now, if only you had the same attitude with our Paladin."
Anon coughed one last time before rolling his eyes at the cadet.
"Hey, fuck you! Not my fault it got stolen and I had to break it!"
Ciel ground her teeth furiously.
"Oh, don't remind me!" she complained. "If it were up to me, the incompetent sods responsible would have gotten shot!"
Someone's anal about potentially having a rat problem.
Despite this, Anon cocked a brow.
"Incompetent?" he repeated. "What tells you that it was incompetence?"
Ciel paused. Was it incompetence?
"Could you care to elaborate?" Ciel asked politely, pulling out another notebook.
"How come Torchwick and the White Fang even heard about the Prototype, let alone know where it was and how to get it?"
That... was absolutely a quandary that Ciel had no answer for. However, it raised an interesting question, with horrific implications.
"Are you implying that there's a traitor in our midst?" Ciel, despite not looking at it, was furiously scribbling in her notebook.
"Either that or a certain someone still has an in inside the Atlan systems."
"Who?"
Anon weighed his words, clearly hesitating.
"General Ironwood already knows who it could be."
"He does?" Ciel stopped scribbling for a moment out of surprise.
"Yes, and unless he makes a public statement, I doubt he'll tell."
"Who could it possibly be? He'd have to have been extremely influential to merely know, let alone influence it."
Anon looked around suspiciously before leaning very close to the cadet's ear.
"Arthur Watts."
Ciel leaned back, baffled.
"But... That's impossible, he died during an incident."
"I can confirm." Penny joined in, wiping the last remains of her Sunday from her mouth. "All reports confirm that he was indeed confirmed dead during a testing accident."
"Correction," Anon countered. "He engineered the accident in order to fake his death."
"But, why would he do that?" Penny asked.
"He was under investigation at the time, remember?"
"He faked his death to avoid persecution." Ciel nodded in understanding. "Even though he was posthumously disgraced for unethical experiments, he didn't get to suffer the consequences of his actions..."
"That about does it." Anon joined his hands.
Ciel leaned back in her seat, deep in thoughts.
"It makes so much sense now..."
"It always does when you have all the pieces, Miss Soleil."
Ciel looked at him oddly.
"You say my name I quite the strange manner."
"I'm saying it correctly, Fausse Grenouille*."
(A/N: The above means Fake Frog in french.)
Ciel blinked, not having understood a damn thing he just said. Anon hummed before checking his watch.
"Well," he stood up, throwing cash on the table. "I have to go finish my errands."
Penny blinked before looking down sadly.
"Oh..."
Anon felt his heart crack at how pitiful and sad she sounded.
Pain. Literally just, PAIN.
Anon held Penny in a warm hug.
"Don't be sad now, Lil' bolt! It's not the last time we see each other!"
Penny smiled hopefully.
"Really?"
"Of course! And even if we don't see each other soon, we'll see each other during the Vytal dance and VytalFest."
Now Penny's smile was ear to ear.
"Promise?" She held out her pinky.
Anon rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, still smiling.
"Yes, Penny," He joined their pinkies together. "Promise."
Penny then hugged back in her usual bone-crunching way and despite the horrible pain, Anon didn't mind. Ciel watched on this display of friendly (?) affection in mild contempt, snacking on Anon's gelato. Fucking normies.
Anon sighed pleasantly as he crashed on one of Beacon's benches. His ribs still ached from Penny's repeated compactor hugs but he was still content. He got to dunk on Ozpin some more, he secured his team's operation, he's gonna get a new scope, he had ice cream with a cute robot and her annoying handler and now he has all the ammo he could ever need. He closed his eyes, smiling wide.
Today was a good day. I wish they'd never end.
Despite the pleasant calm, Anon felt incredibly bored.
"I blame RWBY for making my life too exciting."
To stave off boredom, he pulled out his scroll and started browsing. Recently, he's been craving to play a tabletop role-playing game. Last that he can remember, the last time he played was with the office crew at his old job. He smiled sadly at the memories.
I feel like I missed something. How come I miss those times even when I felt so miserable? Was I just blind to it all?
He scrolled down one of the forums he's been frequenting, seeing all manners of treads. Most are from amateur gamemasters but one piqued his curiosity. He smiled as he recognized the original poster's usertag. Brazen_Bull_Samurai. He started typing in the tread, talking smack and exchanging banter with the tread's posters.
HeCalledHope: 'Wassup maggots, what'd I miss?'
Anonymous #1: 'Oh great it's this douche'
Hope: 'Love you too, anon. When do we meet up?'
Anon1: 'Ew'
Anonymous #2,3,5: 'Lmao'
Anon4: 'Sup namemag*, got any more stories to tell?'
(A/N: Replaced the term for an English cigarette with a shorthand for maggot.)
Hope: 'Easy there, newmag. first thing first, are you the goat-fuck guy?'
Anon4: 'No, that's 3. I'm the ERP blue baller.'
Anon3: 'Actually, update on the goat-fuck. It got worse.'
Hope: 'Oh my~'
Anon2: 'You tell it, it was so good.'
Anon3: 'It was fucking horrid, by the gods. In short, this fucker actually weaselled his way out of prison. WHILE WE WERE IN THE KEEP, TRYING TO BREAK HIM OUT!'
Anon2: 'It was glorious, I got TWO levels up in one session.'
Anon3: 'Piece of shit, I lost my character because of you!'
Anon2: 'I regret nothing, even if I got the gout.'
Brazen_Bull_Samurai: 'Gods, don't remind me. I got blood poisoning last session and my character's on death's door.'
HeCalledHope, Anonymous 1,2,3,4,5: 'rip'
Hope: 'Sup Bull.'
Bull: 'Hope. Still looking for a game?'
Hope: 'At this point, I'm taking a break from looking. Too many immature dicks and horny teens. I swear, it's all I get.'
Bull: 'I feel you. On my end, it's all a bunch of always-on political maggots with a grudge who think that TTRGS are their free therapy sessions.'
Hope: 'Good Christ, I know those kinds. I bloody hate those kinds of people, always so fucking joyless and creatively barren.'
Bull: 'One more time for the people in the back.'
Hope chuckled IRL.
Bull: 'Say, you're in Vale right?'
Hope: 'I fucking live here, why?'
Bull: 'I'm actually going there for a business trip of sorts.'
Hope: 'This isn't some weird sex meetup thing, right?'
Bull: 'I'm straight, dumbass.'
Hope: 'Could have fooled me.'
Anon #1,3,4: 'Lmao'
Bull: 'Assholes. Still, if we do meet, I'd love to chat. I've seen a few of your threads and the lore of your old games are really fascinating.'
Anon5: 'Can concur. The way you described the fall of Castle D'Ark and the bittersweet demise of the Dreadlord Karsk was actually really touching. And that moment when your party's cleric had a theological debate with a rock was actually hilarious.'
Anon1: 'Yeah it was pretty baller now that I think about it'
Hope: 'Psy always had that way of tangling at your heartstrings.'
She's also a fucking insufferable brain prober. Psionic bitch...
Anon5: 'Honestly, I'd love to play with you and your group.'
Anon stared at the screen, smiling sorrowfully.
Hope: 'Yeah, me too. I Hope they're doing good back home.'
The chat gave a unanimous facepalm emoji in response. Except for Bull, who sent a disapproving sideways glance emoji.
Hope: 'I blame my friend for my degrading wit.'
The cawing of corvids drew his eyes from his scroll. He looked into the trees and saw a flock of black birds roosting on one of the trees.
I wonder, is it a murder or an unkindness? Whoever came up with those names is a massive dork.
Feeling a grumble, he pulled from his bag a pack of trail mix. One of the corvids flicked to the sound of rustling packing foil. The bird eyed the pack, watching intently and waiting for him to open it. Once it was open, it took flight before diving straight for the pack. Hope's hand snapped up, just in time to avoid the black bird's grubby claws. The bird landed near, looking at Hope with a semblance of annoyance. He smirked, knowing that something was off with the onyx-coloured corvid.
Waited for me to open it for you, huh? Smart.
He held out the open packet toward it.
"I'm willing to share, you know." He smiled at the bird.
The corvid tilted its head, seemingly understanding what he said. It cautiously hopped closer before flapping up onto the bench, taking place next to Hope. Anon shook the pack to bring some of its content closer to the lip. The bird pecked at the pieces of chocolate candy and the corn nuts, almost exclusively.
It's pretty picky for a supposedly wild animal... Could it be?
Anon stretched in his seat, groaning in pleasure as his muscles were worked.
"Ah~. Glad everything went well with Oz." He said quietly, attempting at believability.
The bird stopped eating with a flinch. Hope hid his smirk, his suspicion partially confirmed.
Seems like I have something. Let's see.
"It would have been a pain if Yang and Ruby's team got set back."
The bird dropped a corn nut from its beak, now looking at Anon intently. Anon looked back, staring into the bird's red eyes full of intelligence.
"Now that Oz has given the green light, The team can do their mission in Mount Glenn during the field trip. I just hope that they'll be alright."
The bird's head lowered, seemingly thinking. It raised its head and cawed softly at him.
"No need to thank me."
The corvid hopped on his shoulder and the two looked at the horizon of Beacon's scenic grounds. Anon grabbed the pack of trail mix and popped a handful in his mouth. his face scrunched in disgust.
"You bitch!" He injured the bird. "You left me with the dried fruit and yogurt chunks!"
The corvid cawed a laugh, mocking him in his misery.
I don't care which Branwen you are, next time I see one of you, it's on sight!
V2E9: END!
NEXT ON PLAYLIST: V2E10 - PLAY?