"Alrighty everyone!"
Cobalt watched Astra as she stood in the middle of the room, hands on her hips.
"Time to play Introductions: Lily Edition!" The ginger-haired girl announced. "Everybody sit!"
Cobalt shot a kind smile at Lily as all four team members sat in a square on the floor. They'd given her the night to relax after what had happened yesterday and she was now ready to open up a little. Cobalt couldn't describe the relief he'd felt when she and Luna had come to an understanding; if his best friend and his partner had spent too long at odds, it'd have made for a difficult year. And he was glad Lily seemed happier now, of course. He didn't think he'd ever seen her smile before yesterday.
"You know," Cobalt pointed out cheekily to Astra. "Don't you think Luna should be in charge of this? You know, our leader?"
Luna grinned. "He's got a point."
Astra poked her tongue out at Cobalt. "Okay, now let's get this one thing straight," she started, "Luna may be our team leader, but I am the leader of friendship. I deal with friendship things."
Luna nodded. "Checks out."
Cobalt leaned forward and placed his fist under his chin. "Okay, so what about me? Am I the leader of anything?"
Astra looked thoughtful. "Hm…you're…the leader of…being chill."
Cobalt sat back and nodded, satisfied. "Checks out."
Astra smiled at Lily, who sat between her and Cobalt. "What about you, Lily? Wanna be the leader of anything? I'm very good at assigning roles."
Lily looked mildly surprised, holding up a hand. "N-no, that's okay. I don't need to be a leader of any kind."
Astra shrugged. "All good. You can be the leader of not leading anything."
Lily looked unsure of how to answer. Luckily for her, Astra seemed to finally remember to get back on track.
"Okay, so!" She chirped, her green gaze fixed on Lily. "Tell us everything about yourself."
"Uh, within your comfort zone," Luna added. "You don't have to tell us anything you're not comfortable with us knowing yet. Or even ever."
Lily gave her a nod. "Okay, well uh…my name is Lily…I'm 17 and the daughter of a reformed criminal…but that's all stuff you guys knew already, so…" She looked awkward, her eyes glued to the floor.
Cobalt offered her a smile. "Hey, don't worry," he assured her. "We won't judge you for anything."
A small smile crossed Lily's face. "Right. Okay, well…I'm also a transgender woman and bisexual, if that's anything."
Astra looked delighted. "You're like a mix of Cobalt and me!"
Cobalt didn't bother correcting her grammar.
Astra stared at Lily and it was easy to imagine stars in her eyes as if she were in a cartoon. "Do you want one of my stickers?"
Lily tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, that'd be nice. I wanted to ask for one a while ago, but…"
Astra squealed and immediately wrapped Lily in a hug, only for the other girl to flinch away.
"Astra." Luna warned, clearly having picked up on Lily's discomfort.
Astra pulled back at once, covering her mouth with her hands. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked. "I really need to work on that…"
Lily smoothed down her hair. "It's okay, I just…really don't like being touched without my saying so…or much at all, really. It always feels weird."
"I'll remember that, I promise." Astra swore earnestly.
Cobalt nodded. "I'll remember too. We all will."
Lily smiled at him. "Thank you. I appreciate it. Is there uh…anything else you guys want to know?"
Cobalt thought for a moment. "What combat school did you go to? You've got some pretty great moves." Not Signal, he was guessing; he couldn't recall ever seeing her around. Then again, she probably wouldn't have made herself noticeable.
"Actually, I didn't go to one," Lily replied. "My mother trained me, in case I ever needed to defend myself against…" She rubbed her arm. "You know, against people who might hold a grudge."
Luna blinked in surprise. "Really? I mean, I got some training from pretty much my whole team as a kid, but for one person to do it all themselves…your mom sounds pretty tough."
Lily nodded. "Yeah, she raised me totally on her own. My father walked out before I was born, and my mother didn't feel like she had anyone to turn to. It's been just us for seventeen years."
Luna looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry you guys have had to deal with so much on their own. I wish my parents could've helped out more."
Lily stared at the ground and sighed. "They probably would have if my mother had just told them something. I understand why she didn't, but it would've made things a lot easier."
"I think we should get them together to talk," Luna commented. "Team RWBY and your mother, I mean. There's still time to make things right."
Lily nodded slowly. "That's a good idea, yeah. I'll call her about it and let you know what she says." She stood up.
Luna looked up at her. "You're going now?"
Astra glanced at the clock on their wall. "Library closes soon," She explained. "My scroll doesn't have a video function, so I need one of the terminals. Probably better I do it sooner than later."
"Oh, shoot!" Cobalt jumped to his feet. "I've got a book I was supposed to return earlier, do you mind if I come? I won't listen into your conversation or anything, promise."
Lily shrugged. "If you want."
So some of that bluntness was still there, then. It would probably take a while for Lily to completely drop her guard, Cobalt figured.
Grabbing the book from his bed, he followed Lily out of the dorm building and into the school's library. He'd always loved coming here, not necessarily for the books, but because it was simply a nice, quiet place to hang out, with lovely décor to boot. He always enjoyed gazing at the various paintings hung around the walls.
As Lily headed off to use one of the terminals in one corner of the room, Cobalt spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Coco combing through one of the bookshelves. He dropped his book into the drop-off box and headed over.
"Hey," He greeted her. "Didn't expect to find you here. You don't read." He teased.
"Finding something for your mother," Coco replied. "And for the record," She gently batted one of his ears. "I've read plenty of books, thank you very much."
Cobalt grinned. "Yeah? What about? And fashion magazines don't count."
Coco scoffed jokingly. "I've read entire fashion novels."
"Got me there."
"So hey," Coco suddenly became more serious. "I heard about what happened with your team yesterday. Is everything okay?"
Cobalt glanced across the room at Lily, who was at a terminal facing away from them. "Yeah, actually. The whole thing was due to a lack of communication, but we've been talking things out. I think we'll be fine, given time."
Coco smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. Lily sounds like a good kid. I'd have felt really bad if I'd have to re-assign teams or anything like that."
Cobalt couldn't resist his curiosity. "What did you think when she applied here? When you saw her last name, I mean?"
Coco shrugged. "Nothing, at first. Glynda and I weren't aware that Emerald even had a daughter, so we figured that they probably weren't related. Couldn't deny it when I first saw her though, but I've still never had any reason to judge her. Or her mother, for that matter."
"Emerald beat you in the Vytal tournament, right?" Cobalt inquired. "Do you ever feel upset about that?"
Coco chuckled. "No more than anyone else who's ever lost a Vytal battle. Her tactics were…shifty, but there's no rule against using whatever Semblance you happen to have. I was honestly surprised to find out she was with Cinder. She could be a little smug, but I wouldn't have expected her to be a criminal. It was good to find out she'd left that life behind."
Cobalt gazed at Lily again. "I think it'd do Lily some good to hear stuff like that more often. She doesn't feel as welcome here as she should."
Coco ruffled his hair. "I'll be sure to let her know how well she's doing some time. It's good to hear you looking out for your partner, kiddo. Although…" Her expression grew concerned. "I wouldn't say her concerns are entirely unfounded. In the years since the final battle I've heard a lot of whispers and complaints from those who believe Emerald didn't deserve to go free."
"I guess she had a good reason not to trust any of us to begin with," Cobalt commented, sympathy weighing on his chest. "She's been dealing with this her whole life."
"If you ever notice any students giving her hell, let me know, okay?" Coco placed a gentle hand on Cobalt's shoulder. "Or any discrimination, for that matter."
Cobalt twitched his ears, knowing he'd gotten dirty looks for them just in the few weeks he'd been here. "I will." He promised.
"I may not run this school- yet," She added with a wink. "But I'll still do everything in my power to make sure bullying isn't tolerated here and I'm sure Glynda will too."
Cobalt felt a warm glow of love for her. "Thanks, mom."
Coco pulled him into a hug. "Anytime, kiddo." Releasing him, she added. "Now, help me find this sewing book. Velvet's been asking for it for days and she's getting impatient."
Cobalt chuckled. "Sure." As he helped Coco delve through the books, worry still stuck in his mind. After all these years, there were still people out there who discriminated against people for things beyond their control. And despite Coco's promise to deal with them, Cobalt knew it wouldn't be that easy. It never was. Back at Signal, he'd known a student that had been notorious for using slurs against Faunus and sometimes even hurting them. The school had suspended him, only for the student's father to threaten filing charges unless his son was remitted. Things never seemed to work out fair in that way. He looked at Lily again and decided he at least had to try. She probably didn't consider him a friend yet, but Cobalt hoped he could be one to her in time. And no matter what the odds, no matter how fair a situation was, Cobalt would never fail to stand up for his friends. Not in a million years.
