It seems I didn't learn my lesson from a few chapters ago, and Ilex and Carmine's conversations got dark again. Heads up for some more childhood trauma this chapter.


Carmine didn't rush to find Ilex. Catching up to him would have been simple, but he wanted time to reflect himself. Besides, there was only one place where Ilex would inevitably wind up.

Carmine had been up to Beacon a couple of times since the night of the attack to help patrol for any lingering Grimm, but there had been so many other students doing the same that he felt his time would be better served elsewhere. As such, it was remarkable to see how far restoration had come along in such a short time frame. Virtually all the rubble had been cleared, damaged areas sectioned off, pathways re-established, and reconstruction progressing beyond just reinforcing the most critical damage.

While he didn't make a point to not think about it, Carmine did not dwell on the Battle of Beacon often. There was little point to it. Retrospect changed nothing but one's own future actions, and he had nothing left to take away from the night's events. At least, he hadn't before. Now, he had new context and insight into his team leader's actions, and that offered the potential for the greatest changes.

In a way, he'd been right about Aspen. Her traits and abilities that he'd noted as distinctly Grimm-like had been Grimm-like, but only insofar as the Grimm were like her. Back home, that alone would have been enough to justify… action but, here at Beacon, things were different. Or maybe he was different. Despite her raw strength and speed, inherent bloodlust, and emotional detachment, nothing Carmine had seen of Aspen suggested she was a killer.

She'd wiped the floor with Team RWBY—so the story went—but they were all still alive. She literally tore Grimm apart, and while dressing herself in their bones was a little macabre, killing Grimm was supposed to be what everyone at Beacon was there to do. She could have easily killed Ilex and even Rhys in the forest but, again, hadn't. And collapsing after a single crossbow bolt to her back? It could have been due to lack of rest as Goodwitch had described, but it still felt …convenient.

Which led him to the Battle of Beacon.

From the start, Aspen had very clearly been in agony. If negative feelings caused Rephaim physical pain, then Amity Colosseum would have been an emotional blender after that robot-girl had been torn apart. Yet, aside from a single scream, Aspen hadn't lashed out. She'd rallied the other students to defend the civilians in her own way and led the charge to retake Beacon. Even against the White Fang, who were filled with anger and weaker than any Grimm or student, she held back. It wasn't until their leader killed her—or nearly killed her, he wasn't sure how that worked—that she finally lashed out, and the outcome of that battle wasn't public knowledge. The amount of self-control she must have had in order to suffer through all that was… well, it was inhuman.

And yet, there was one moment that stood out in his mind, a moment of undeniable humanity: when Aspen attempted to save a dying woman buried under rubble. At the time, Carmine had been trying to figure out how Aspen had known she was there to begin with. Now that he had his answer, he realized how little it mattered. As hard as it was for him to admit, Aspen didn't have—couldn't have had—any ulterior motive for trying to save that woman. What she'd done, she'd done altruistically and yet, in spite of her efforts, she'd still failed.

What did death feel like to a rephiate? If Aura—life itself—had physical pressure and texture, did death mean the loss of that feeling? Aspen had nearly collapsed when the woman died, so it had clearly been unpleasant. For humans, experiencing death also resulted in an unpleasant sensation, triggered by a physiological response which, depending on who you asked, was either an evolutionary reaction or a divine mystery. Regardless, sorrow and shame weren't the only emotions with associated physical sensations. Pretty much every emotion did, which might have explained why they were called 'feelings,' now that he thought about it. Was it possible that what rephaim felt externally was simply what humans felt internally?

That… was probably enough reflection for the time being.

Ilex had been emotionally vulnerable when he'd stormed out of the classroom, so basic psychology dictated he'd try to find somewhere safe to recoup a sense of security. The number of such places on campus were limited to a handful already but, accounting for proximity, foot traffic, and lingering damage, there was only one place Carmine expected to find his partner: their old dorm.

Silence swallowed Carmine's steps as he ascended the stairs to the second floor, isolating him. He paused on the landing, straining his ears to hear any trace of sound in the building, only to hear nothing. It wasn't eerie, per se, but it did make his hair stand on end. Logically, of course the building would be quiet. Beacon was still officially shut down, which meant no one was living here, which meant even services like air and water wouldn't be operational. On a more instinctual level, however, silence meant an imminent attack. Carmine rolled his left shoulder to release the dull ache that had crept into the joint.

Even without seeing Ilex, it was clear to Carmine that he'd come to the right place. Only one door in the hallway was open, allowing sunlight to pour out and illuminate the darkness. Carmine walked slowly but didn't try to hide his approach. With his extra set of ears, there was no way Ilex wouldn't hear him coming.

Entering the room, Carmine found Ilex sitting on his old bed, legs pulled to his chest and back to the door. The ears atop his head twisted around toward Carmine, but he otherwise didn't react to his presence, so Carmine took the opportunity to take in the room. The furniture was largely set up how it had been when they'd first moved in, though all the bedding had been stripped, leaving only the bare mattresses on their frames. Even the curtains were gone, and Carmine detected the lingering smell of water damage in the carpet. The desks were where they had always been, but one of the chairs had been flung across the room.

When Carmine closed the door behind him, Ilex finally broke his silence. "What do you want?" he asked, voice bleeding with piteous rage.

Pointedly ignoring the question, Carmine walked over to the chair that had been cast aside. A small scuff on the wall marked where the chair had struck, but the chair itself looked undamaged. Picking it up, he carried the chair back to the other side of the room while keeping a slow, deliberate pace. He didn't want to do this, but it needed to be done and it couldn't be rushed. Placing the chair back in front of its desk, he sat down without so much as a word in Ilex's direction.

Similarly, Ilex didn't try to reengage right away. Carmine's eyes continued to roam. While the rest of the room appeared to have been refurbished—wall dent aside—the desk was the same one Carmine had been using all year. Scars from slipping metal marred its surface and large swathes of wood remained unbleached where pads and equipment had rested for months on end. Even the large burn where Rhys had left a live soldering iron sitting directly on the wood remained.

Finally, Ilex's patience gave out. "You knew."

Carmine pursed his lips. "I suspected."

"Bullshit. You knew." Ilex glared at Carmine over his shoulder. They both knew he was right, so Carmine stayed silent and kept his gaze on the desk. "How long?"

"The forest. I didn't see it first-hand, but her blood disappeared off my clothes, just like with you."

"And you didn't tell anyone? I don't mean that vague line you threw at me about her not being human, either. There were plenty of people you should have gone to."

Carmine looked up to match Ilex's glare. "Do you think I didn't?" he snapped. Being upset didn't excuse Ilex from being a moron. "I went to Professor Ozpin first thing and he told me to drop it. Telling anyone else would have been a waste of time without any evidence. Can you honestly say you would have believed me if I'd told you?"

Ilex held his gaze for several seconds before turning away again, ears drooping. "Well, I bet you're pretty proud of yourself for figuring that one out before the rest of us, huh?"

Carmine grimaced. That was the image he gave, wasn't it? He hadn't come here to admonish Ilex, but old habits were hard to break. He slumped back in his chair and sighed. "This… isn't what I wanted. I have always… looked for the worst in people. That's how I was raised. That's how I was taught to justify…" Too much. "I would have been more than willing to accept that Aspen was just an anomaly. Weird and maybe inexplicable, but human. Or faunus, even. Better than…" Why is this so hard? Carmine sat up again. "The point is, she is what she is, and we have to deal with it."

Ilex's ear twitched. "Deal with…?" He spun around fully, fire in his eyes. "I can't just 'deal with it.' She tried to kill me! What part of that do you not understand?"

Carmine didn't back down. "What I don't understand is why it's suddenly a problem."

"Because now I actually have context for what was going on!" Ilex rose to his feet and gestured toward the door. "It's like you said. When she was weird, I could look past it, but now I know what she is. Now I know that she's no better than a Grimm and could've snapped my neck if she'd wanted to."

Carmine was not going to give up any ground and stood as well. "And she didn't, so what does that tell you? Rhys and I certainly didn't keep her from finishing you off. The only thing stopping her was her so, by your own logic, she didn't want to snap your neck."

Ilex scoffed. "Am I supposed to be grateful for that? Just because she held back once doesn't mean she would in the future." He jabbed a finger at Carmine. "Why the hell are you of all people defending her?"

"Because if she were going to kill us, she would have done it when Beacon was attacked. She could have killed anyone at any time and gotten away with it. Hell, we followed her out into the middle of nowhere by ourselves and the entire time she was focused on saving people."

Ilex started to pace. "That doesn't mean anything. That… Deirean guy was there too, and he killed the woman responsible for the whole attack. They're both rephiam, so maybe they're just working together on their own plan."

Carmine cocked his head. "What does Aspen gain by staying?" he asked, pushing back on Ilex's logic. "Vale and Atlas both know what she is. I can only assume she's their source for all that info we just got, and they still put a gun to her head for it. Even ignoring that, I don't think she and Deirean are working together."

"Because they were yelling at each other?" Ilex said, rolling his eyes.

"That," Carmine conceded, "and I'm pretty sure Aspen stopped him from killing us."

Ilex stopped pacing and looked up at Carmine with suspicion. "You can't know that."

Carmine crossed his arms. "They might've been speaking a different language, but their body language doesn't seem all that different from ours. Aspen was afraid of Deirean—Aspen!—and she was trying to keep us from getting involved." He gestured broadly at the room. "This whole situation we're in right now exists because she tried to stop you from attacking him."

Carmine regretted the words as soon as he said them, fully expecting Ilex to retreat further into his stubbornness. Instead, the idea that Aspen had been warning them off seemed to come as a genuine surprise to his partner. "That was…? I didn't…" He looked away, cheeks taking on a reddish hue. His ears twitched, but then he frowned and hardened his face again. "She didn't seem that afraid when she yelled at him."

Carmine bit back a sigh of disgust, settling with rolling his eyes. "Do I seriously have to spell out everything for you? They agreed to something, and the only way that works out is if Aspen had something Deirean needed. She knew that and used it to get us out of there."

Ilex stared at the floor, face tightening as he probably tried to conjure up yet another inane argument. Eventually, all the tension in his body finally released. His shoulders slumped, and he sat back down on the end of his bed. "Maybe you're right… I still don't think I can trust her, though."

Walking over to his own bed, Carmine took a seat as well. "I never said anything about trusting her."

Ilex glanced at him in confusion, but he soon nodded in understanding. "Right." He said, a humorless smile tugging at one side of his mouth. "We just have to deal with it."

The two fell into a semi-comfortable silence, giving time for Carmine's mind to wander. Truth be told, he didn't think he trusted Aspen, either. He trusted her with his life, yes, but the same was true for pretty much anyone at Beacon. Even Rhys he could trust to watch his back in a fight. He could trust insofar as it was a professional trust. Personally… Well, that was another matter entirely.

Carmine didn't even know how to qualify that kind of trust. Honest? Open? Unguarded? By those definitions, the number of people dropped close to zero and, even then, the only one he could name with certainty was his sister, which… said a lot. If either of his parents knew that…Well, they weren't on the list.

And what about the other way around? How many people trusted him? With how he pushed everyone away, he couldn't imagine it extended far beyond his family. What about his team? Did Aspen trust him? He didn't even know if she was capable of that kind of trust. Rhys certainly trusted him no matter how much shit he gave him, but that was more by virtue of his own personality. Ilex…

Ilex was a variable. A month ago, certainly not. Neither of them had been shy about voicing their disdain for one another. Carmine wouldn't have even said they had a professional trust then, so what had happened to bring about such a drastic change? The Battle on Beacon, for one. Sending the others on ahead after he'd injured himself had been stupid and should have gotten him killed, but Ilex had come back for him. They'd saved each other's lives.

Which had somehow led to yesterday and both of them inexplicably volunteering information about themselves. Personal information. The kind of information you don't tell someone you despise. Why would either of them do that? Carmine didn't even have the excuse of reciprocation; he'd been the one to talk about his childhood first. So why did he do it? What benefit did he gain?

As Carmine dwelled on these questions, his scroll began buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the ID: Oliver Cyprus. He let it buzz one more time before answering. "Carmine."

"It's Mantis. Are you with Ilex?"

Carmine glanced at his partner. Ilex's ear twitched, but he continued staring out into space. "Yeah."

"Allllright." Clearly, Mantis didn't want to have to draw additional information out of him. Tough. "You guys planning on coming back here at some point? It would be nice to go back to the city and get some sleep."

Carmine frowned. Technically, the issue at hand had been resolved, even if there was still lingering damage to be addressed. Ilex would probably be willing to rejoin the others, but now Carmine felt something was holding him back. Something weighed him down, lingering in his mind and refusing to move until addressed. It took only a few moments of retrospective to realize what it was. "Actually, we're going to be here for a bit longer." Ilex cast him a curious look out of the corner of his eye, but Carmine shook his head in response. "You all should go ahead. We'll meet you at the hotel."

A long sigh vibrated Carmine's scroll. "I guess that's fine. I'll have our pilot come back for you once we're in the city. Let Tawny or I know when you're on your way."

"Will do."

Ilex kept a close eye on Carmine as he closed his scroll and returned it to his pocket. "Okay. So, now what's going on?"

Carmine leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. This… was not going to be easy, but he couldn't deny that it needed to be done. "You were right earlier when you said that we deserved to know what was going on with Aspen. There are some secrets that are too big to be kept secrets. Not when they could affect the rest of the team. Given that, there's something you deserve to know about me."

Shifting around, Ilex frowned. "Uh, alright? Is this going where I think it is?"

Carmine shook his head. He wasn't sure what Ilex was thinking of, but he also didn't see how it possibly could be. "It's about my family. Specifically, why I came to Beacon." Carmine kneaded his hands together, trying to find some amount of focus. His shoulder began to ache again. "My family has…" He grimaced. "…anti-Faunus leanings, though I'm sure that doesn't come as much of a surprise to you. They—We are part of an all-human militia in a compound outside of Valean authority. Coming to Beacon has always been a part of my training for that, not to be a huntsman." Carmine paused, waiting to judge Ilex's reaction. The silence in that interval was agonizing, but he didn't get the response he expected.

"I figured as much."

"What?" Carmine looked up in confusion. Ilex had relaxed his posture, and though his ears flicked agitatedly, he wore a small smirk. "You knew all that?"

"Well, I 'suspected,' " Ilex said, rolling his eyes and forming the quotes with his fingers, "but, yeah. It only took a little research to figure out that your grandfather was a general in the Faunus Rights Revolution. Piecing together the rest wasn't nearly as difficult."

Carmine had to take a mental step backward. "And this… doesn't bother you at all?"

Ilex scoffed. "Of course it bothers me, but it's your family that are racist assholes. You're a racist and an asshole, but…" He gestured vaguely with his hands. "…those parts have never really crossed over in a way that made me feel unsafe or anything. You're no Cardin Winchester."

Carmine ducked his head. Racist…The word had been thrown and spat at him like a brand to be shameful of, but it had never bothered him the way it did hearing Ilex drop it on him so casually. His stomach twisted itself into a knot. "You should feel unsafe," he said quietly, fighting against himself to say the words. He squeezed his fists tight. "I killed someone. A faunus."

This time, Ilex's reaction was much more appropriate. "You—you mean the White Fang, right? When they attacked Beacon?"

Carmine shook his head. "No. What I did wasn't self-defense." Maybe if it had, he might've been able to look his partner in the eye. He sucked in a breath. "I murdered someone."

Ilex rose to his feet and turned away, hands coming to his head. "I… I can't…" Carmine sat silently, intent on giving Ilex as much time as he needed. When he turned around, Ilex's eyes burned. "How?"

Carmine released his fists. Why were they still shaking so much? "Strangulation," he said. Despite being a detached explanation, it didn't make him feel better. Or, maybe it was because he avoided responsibility it left him feeling hollow. "My father—"

"Shut up, you bastard!" Carmine's head snapped back, and he fell over onto and then off the bed. It took him a moment to fight through the sudden fog and realize that Ilex had kicked him in the face. As it was, Ilex stood over him now with blades drawn and wearing a mask of rage. "I don't want to hear about your father! You killed someone!"

"I know!" Carmine yelled back. His temper flared, but it wasn't directed at Ilex. Using the bed, he climbed back to his feet. "I'm not trying to defend myself or deflect blame. My actions are my own. I just want you to understand."

Ilex ground his teeth. "Understand what? Why should I listen to anything you have to say?!"

"Because I need you to trust me!' Carmine took a breath, reeling himself back in. "That's what all of this is about, right? Trust? If we can't trust each other, none of it means anything." Ilex didn't immediately rebuff him, so he continued. "All I'm asking is for you to hear me out. You won't owe me anything."

Ilex's anger didn't fade, but he did drop his overtly hostile stance. "Fine," he said, retracting his blades.

Carmine felt sick. Where was he supposed to start with this? His entire life had been building to that moment, so there was no true beginning to the story. There was, however, an inciting incident that seemed as good a place as any. "My sister secretly started dating a faunus when I was twelve." Walking past Ilex, he sat down again on the inner edge of his bed. "When my parents found out, they disowned her. Probably would have done a lot worse if she hadn't run away before they could get their hands on her or her boyfriend. About a month later, my father and uncles dragged a serpent faunus into our compound, already beaten half to death. They told me that he was the 'animal' that 'stole my sister away.' They said he raped and killed her."

A familiar sense of rage built up inside Carmine at the memories. An automatic response, he knew, and one he hated. "I know now that none of it was true but telling me the truth wasn't the point. It never was with anything. The point was to get a foolish boy angry enough to want to take justice for his beloved older sister with his own hands." Carmine scoffed, letting go of his rage to embrace shame. "There was nothing 'just' about it. The man didn't even have anything to do with my sister. What I did… I did because I thought I wanted to." Despite himself, Carmine found something unexpectedly liberating about admitting his sins. After keeping it to himself for so long, every consideration of his action had become self-persecution. Now, however, the responsibility of judgement fell to someone else.

If Ilex judged him, however, he did not do so vocally. Instead, he sat on his own bed, opposite Carmine. He started several times to say something, but words failed him every time. Finally, he managed to speak. "No offense, but your family fucking sucks."

Despite the words not containing even a trace of humor, Carmine couldn't help letting out a short, barking laugh. "No shit." He'd meant what he said, though. It wasn't his family's fault that he killed that man. They may have led him to the metaphorical edge, but he'd been the one to leap off.

Ilex stared at the ground pensively. "So, back during the attack, when you fell behind and got surrounded by the White Fang… You were telling the truth? That wasn't just a bluff to intimidate them?"

It took Carmine a moment to realize what he was talking about. "It wouldn't be the first time I've taken a life." Gods, had he actually said that out loud? "You heard that?"

"Of course, I heard it. I was as close to you as they were."

Right. That had been right before Ilex intervened, so that made sense. "I… Technically, yes. I was telling the truth." At the time, it had been intended more as a bluff to intimidate them, but Carmine didn't think the moment called for specificity.

Ilex shook his head. "Gods. This is… a lot to deal with."

"I get it. Like I said, I just needed you to hear me out."

"No," Ilex corrected, "you said you needed me to trust you."

Carmine pursed his lips. He had said that too, hadn't he? Another case of his words not matching his intent, but he couldn't bring himself to take them back. "…"

After sitting in silence a while, Ilex broached a new subject. "So, your sister's alright?"

Carmine nodded. "Yeah. I dug into some things a couple years ago. She covered her tracks well and I had to do a lot of convincing that I wasn't going to rat her out to my family, but I did manage to get in touch with her. She's doing well. Changed her name. Started a family." A small smile crossed his face. "I've got a niece."

"That's nice."

"Yeah."

"You talk with them much?"

Carmine shook his head. "We haven't spoken since then. Neither of us want to pollute her new life with the shit we grew up with."

"I get that." Ilex smiled sadly. "Still, it must be nice to have a sibling. I know Rhys has a big family."

Carmine raised his eyebrows. "Does he?" It didn't surprise him how little he knew of his teammates, but it was disappointing. "That would explain why he's so hyper all the time."

"Heh. Yeah." Ilex's gaze drifted, falling out toward the middle distance. "I'm an only child. You probably know that, my being from a well-known family and all."

Carmine nodded. The Jae name wasn't as well known as, say the Schnee's, but it carried some weight. "Sure. Telecom, right?"

"Yep. Don't get me wrong; being an only child isn't horrible, but that means all my parents' attention is focused on me. It can be…" He grimaced, searching for an appropriate word. Several possibilities sprang to Carmine's mind, but none were quite as harsh as the one Ilex settled on. "…suffocating."

"Being showered in love and affection doesn't sound so bad." Compared to what he'd received, it sounded like a fantasy to Carmine.

Ilex seemed to recognize this and was quick to clarify. "It doesn't. I just wish that was the kind of attention they gave me." He sighed and slumped forward. By now, his voice was devoid of any warmth or humor. "Instead, every aspect of my life has been chosen for me, my entire future pre-planned. When I finish at Beacon, I'll go straight back to Atlas to finish being groomed to take over the family company. Probably be pushed into a political marriage, too. Picking Sanctum and Beacon has been about the only autonomy I've ever been given."

Carmine rolled the information over in his head, trying to understand what that life would be like. It was surprisingly easy. "If you're going to take over the company, why train at a combat school in the first place?"

Ilex shrugged. "Status. Something to brag about at galas and charity events. 'Our son, the huntsman!' Hell, the Battle of Beacon was just a publicity stunt as far as my parents are concerned."

Carmine let out a small huff. That too sounded familiar enough. He'd been limiting contact with his own family since then just to avoid their caustic commentary on the "White Fang terrorists" that had very little to do with terrorism. "I think I understand you now."

"Oh, yeah?" Despite his sluggish mood, Ilex seemed genuinely intrigued. "Do tell."

"You mentioned once that you had reasons for…" How to put this delicately? "…flirting with pretty much every girl you passed. Given what you've told me, it sounds like you were acting out against your parents."

Ilex snapped out of his stupor at the accusation of what he probably saw as childish behavior. "I was not…! Well…" He slumped down again in defeat. "Yeah, pretty much. I don't know entirely what I was expecting to happen, but I'd hoped it would make a big enough stink to embarrass my parents."

"That is an incredibly stupid plan."

"You don't have to rub it in."

Carmine mused on the issue for a moment. "Now, if you really wanted to stick it to your parents…" he said, letting a smug smile cross his face. "Well, what's the one thing they wouldn't want you to do, after all these years of investment?"

Ilex thought about it, then laughed. "No way. No." He looked at Carmine, and the humor faded away. "Wait, are you for real? There's no way I'm going to actually become a huntsman."

Carmine shrugged. "You saved my life during the Battle of Beacon. Even overcame your fear of Grimm to hold an Alpha Beowolf in place."

Ilex's face flushed, and he looked away. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that…"

Carmine felt warmth rising in his own cheeks. Praising others was not something he was accustomed to. "I'm just saying. You have potential." Quickly, he added, "Also, I really can't imagine anything else you could do that would piss your parents off more."

Ilex considered the point for some time, and Carmine could visibly see him shift back and forth on the issue. Finally, Ilex sat up and let out a breath. "I'll do it," he said, fixing Carmine with a determined look, "on one condition: you have to become a huntsman too." Carmine was taken aback by the boldness of the statement, so much so that he couldn't mount a defense before Ilex started prodding him, both verbally and physically. "You clearly don't want to go back to them. They're shitty people and you know it. Besides, they've been holding you back, Mister No-Semblance."

Carmine scowled at the teasing and brushed Ilex's hand away. "I get it! This isn't…" Ilex wasn't wrong, but his situation wasn't as simple as just not going back. "The militia… is my family. It's the only life I've ever known."

Ilex reached over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "That's not true. You have Beacon and me and Rhys and…" He grimaced as the logical conclusion to that thought occurred to him, and he pulled away. Then, his face lit up in a way Carmine didn't like. "Just think about it; if you don't go back, you'll get a chance to see your sister again. You'll get to meet your niece."

The idea was like a knife in the back, and it made Carmine's chest seize up. Ilex made a powerful point. It wasn't just a chance to see his sister and her family. It was an opportunity to redefine himself. To be a brother again. To be… an uncle. Taking an unsteady breath, he held out his hand to Ilex. "Alright." This was a big step forward, but he didn't have to take it alone. "We're together on this?"

Ilex smiled and took his hand. "It's a deal."

(- -)

When he and Ilex found their way back to the hotel an hour later, Carmine found himself utterly drained. Moving from what he'd thought would just be a normal day into an overnight mission into a complicated web of revelations rounded out by some unexpected soul-bearing and an unlikely pact was a lot to handle in a thirty-odd hour period. He didn't even blame Ilex for only giving Rhys a brief greeting in the hall before entering their room to go to sleep. Carmine decided he should at least fill Rhys in on the gist of his and Ilex's agreement, even if he didn't go into the details.

|I'm glad you're going to be sticking around,| Rhys signed. The long day was taking its toll on even the energetic faunus, his smile lacking its usual manic energy. He barely stifled a yawn. |Sorry.|

|Fine,| Carmine spelled back, struggling not to yawn in return. |Why you out here?|

Rhys perked up a little. |Oh. Aspen's getting cleaned up. Tawny's in there too, so I figured I'd step out and give them some privacy.| He rubbed his neck meekly. |I might've forgotten that I don't have a key for your room.|

Carmine glanced at the door to said room. Most of Rhys's stuff was in there, but it looked like he'd kept some clothes in his own room as it looked like he'd already cleaned and changed. |Want in?| he offered.

Rhys shrugged. |I don't think they'll be much longer. I can always get my stuff later.|

|Okay.| Carmine reached for his key, but caught himself. |Need tell you something.|

Rhys looked at him inquisitively. |What is it?|

Carmine hesitated. Saying everything a second time wasn't going to be easy. It was certainly not something he wanted to do in a public place. |Forget. Later. Better spoken.|

Rhys nodded. |That's fine. I can—|

The door to Rhys's room opened and captured both of their attentions. It was Tawny who stepped out, and she eyed Carmine over. "Looks like she was right." The presumable 'she' in question filled the doorframe behind her, an indecipherable look in her red eyes. "We good?" Tawny asked Carmine.

"Yeah," he said, crossing his arms. He tilted his head toward his own room to let her know where Ilex was. "No one's going anywhere."

"Great." Tawny turned her head to look at Aspen. "Let me know if you need anything, alright?" She paused, then added. "Preferably after I get some sleep." Aspen opened her mouth as though to ask a question, but she decided against it and simply nodded. Tawny gave her a small smile and walked away down the hall.

With the woman gone, Carmine fixed his attention on Aspen. She looked radically different from what he was accustomed to seeing of her, chiefly the loose ponytail her hair had been pulled into to finish drying. Tawny's work, most likely. She wore a white long-sleeved shirt that seemed half a size size too small for her, decorated with two offset black chevrons on the front, as well as a pair of black sweatpants and a pair of low-cut white socks. Even compared to the outfit Carmine had seen her wear almost every day, this was unusually casual.

Aspen watched Carmine with caution, eyeing even the slightest shift in his position. Clearly, she was deferring to him to speak first. "Okay. " He sighed and braced himself. "To put it simply, Ilex isn't thrilled about… any of this. To that point, neither am I." Aspen didn't move, but her gaze did droop. Carmine grimaced. It could be vexing just how human she was at times. "But, we are willing to accept it." She looked up again. "Things happened, some of which was out of any of our control, and that's just the way things are. We're going to stick around. It might take some time, but we're willing to put our trust in you as our leader."

Aspen searched his face for any deceit, and Carmine imagined he could feel her probing his Aura. That probably wasn't how it worked, though. He'd have to ask, some day. She glanced toward his room, likely at Ilex, then bowed her head. "Thank you. I will do what I am able to earn your trust."

Those words did more to put Carmine off-balance than her appearance had. It occurred to him that this was the first thing he'd heard her say since she'd been outed, and it didn't feel right for her to be thanking him and promising to do better. "Uh, yeah."

Rhys found no issues with her statement, however, and threw his arms up in celebration. His muted cheer swiftly transformed into a yawn and he drooped down like a clump of seaweed. |With that out of the way, I'm going to bed. Night, Carmine.|

Carmine smiled politely as Rhys trundled past Aspen, not bothering to point out that it was nearly the middle of the day. He looked at Aspen. She didn't need to sleep, so… "Will you be… meditating?" he asked, hoping that he was remembering the term correctly. Aspen tensed up for a moment, but then nodded. "Then, have a good… meditation."

Aspen cocked her head. "Thank you. Have a good… sleep."

There were going to be some kinks to work out.


and a touch of humor makes all the pain go away.

Right?

I've debated with myself about whether I went too far with Carmine's backstory but, having read through this a few times now, I think it only feels that way because it feels more "real" compared to some of the more "cartoonish darkness" I've put in the story. Beyond that, though, I feel it fits well within both the arc of this chapter and Carmine's personal/shared arc with Ilex, and there should be more fruit from it later. Honestly, I almost ended it after Carmine and Ilex's pact because it was such a strong moment, but I figure having three chapters dedicated to basically the same subject was probably enough. Let everyone get some sleep (or meditate) and then start up the next story segment (more of a mini-arc than a full arc) with a clean slate.

On a more technical side, I struggled writing this chapter for a few reasons that largely revolved around the characters (which is why it's taken over a month). I basically wound up having to write half the dialogue line-by-line with literal paragraphs of subtext to help me keep everything straight, then filling in body language and thoughts and such as I went back through. I took a similar approach with the other half of the dialogue, though thankfully without the extraneous information. I really like how natural that particular part of the conversation wound up feeling, and I'm curious how well it would work in a less emotionally drained exchange.

Side note: As someone with three young nephews whom I love very much, Ilex's line about Carmine getting to meet his niece completely caught me off-guard. I'm still crying.

Alright, that's that for now. As much fun as this period of emotional torture has been, I think it's time the characters got moving again. See you then! Au revoir!