Hailey finally let go of my arm once were about to the school.
"Could you do me a favor Cian? Please don't mention what we talked about to anyone. I don't want to worry them." She said.
"I can try. You know there's a chance they might find out on their own right?" I said.
"I know…" She said still looking a little down.
'I'm gonna hate myself for what I'm about to do.' I thought.
When we started exiting the airship I purposely mis stepped and fell face first onto the ground.
Hailey started trying to suppress a laugh while trying to help me up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thought I was past this tripping and falling on my face stuff." I said getting back to my feet.
Once I was back up, we started walking towards the dorms.
"You didn't have to do that." She said.
"Do what?" I asked.
"Fake tripping." She said.
"You think I would purposely fall face first onto the ground?" I asked.
"If it got me to smile before we got back to the dorms so no one would be suspicious of something bad happening while we were out. Thus, needing to have to think of an excuse to not give them the real story. Then yes I think you would." She said.
"Huh, and here I thought I was being clever with that." I said.
"Nice try." She said.
"Hey, it worked didn't it?" I asked.
"Yes, but maybe next time try a joke or something." She said.
"I'll try to think of something." I said.
We got to our dorm and found Proton was here, but Ariana was still out. He looked up from his scroll.
"So, you two together yet?" Proton asked.
"What are you talking about?" Hailey asked sounding completely confused.
"Still being stubborn about it. Got it." Proton said going back to whatever was on his scroll.
Hailey looked at me and I shrugged.
'Really dude?' I thought.
I laid on my bed and noticed a message from Emerald on my scroll.
'Not a date?' She sent with a smirk emoji followed by a picture of us on the bench.
'Were you following us?' I typed back.
'No. Ruby was taking me to that same place for something when we found the two of you had beaten us there. Sooooooo?' She asked.
'So what?' I typed.
'Are you two finally together or not?' She asked.
'No' I typed.
'You've got to be kidding me.' She said with a rolling eyes emoji.
'Wait, did she reject you?' She asked with a surprised emoji.
'No, we didn't even talk about being together.' I typed.
'You're either lying to try keeping your relationship a secret, one of you rejected the other for some stupid reason, or you're both avoiding it for stupid reasons.' She said.
'Or you're looking too far into it and we're just friends like you and Ruby.' I typed.
'Riiiiiight. Stay in denial if you want.' She said.
I put my scroll back in my pocket and got up.
"I think I'm gonna get some training in, anyone care to join me?" I asked.
"Nope." Proton said.
"Isn't it kinda late for that?" Hailey asked.
"I've still got some time. Never hurts to get some practice in when you can right?" I asked.
"I guess." She said with a hint of confusion in her voice.
"So, care to join me?" I asked again.
"I'm good for now. If anything, I might go see if Weiss is actually free." Hailey said.
"I didn't realize you two were actually friends." I said.
"I'm not sure if we're friends exactly, but she has been helpful with everything that's been going on." She said.
"Yeah, she doesn't make it very clear whether she's really friends with anyone." I said.
"You should probably head out if you're going though." She said.
"Right, later." I said before heading out the door.
On my way to the training room, I ended up running across Neo.
"Hey Neo, what's up?" I asked.
She shrugged her shoulders with a small smile.
"Well, I'm gonna get some training in if you'd like." I said.
She nodded and followed me to the training room. I put my full armor on but left my swords behind. When I came back from the locker room she was waiting for me with her umbrella resting on her shoulders.
"Ready?" I asked.
She nodded and positioned herself. Holding her umbrella like it was a one-handed sword.
I activated my gloves and extended the blades on them. I charged in and tried for a mixture of slashing and punching. However, she was able to parry or flat out dodge most of my strikes. I tried adding a couple kicks, but the outcome hadn't changed. The last kick I sent she caught my leg and went for a low sweep. I fell to my back but was able to quickly roll back to my feet. As soon as I did though she landed a shot to my stomach with her umbrella and jumped for a high kick straight to the side of my head. I used my semblance to propel myself back to gain some distance before getting back up. I charged back in with my semblance charged into my gloves once again. I went for a Superman Punch and fired my semblance at the same time. My attack shattered her figure, and my blast went straight into the ground. I took a couple steps forward and was immediately tripped up. I rolled over and she pointed the blade of her umbrella to my neck.
The look on her face said she was either annoyed or disappointed.
"Was I really that bad?" I asked still laying on the ground.
She retraced the blade and crossed her arms.
"I mean I'm trying to get better with hand to hand without relying on my semblance. So that was probably part of it." I said dejected. I stood up and collapsed my gloves. "Clearly that didn't end up working out."
When I looked back at her she tossed me a scroll with a message on it.
"You know, when you said you we're gonna train I expected you to at least take it half serious." She said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
She pulled out another scroll and started typing out a message on it. I looked again and noticed the scroll she handed me was my own.
"Wait, when did you take this?" I asked.
A message from her came in. "You're clearly distracted by something. I've seen you fight with Mercury. The way you're fighting right now is vastly different from what I've seen against him." "I snuck it from you on the way here."
I looked back at her. "First off if you wanted my number, you could have just gotten it from Emerald. Second am I supposed to respond with my scroll or speaking?"
She shrugged and started typing again. "Seemed more fun to try sneaking it from you. Plus, I figured you'd have noticed. I wasn't stealthy about it. I thought at first you knew and just didn't care. Now it's obvious that you've been distracted with something. You can respond however you like."
When she finished typing, she nodded her head towards the bleachers. The two of us walked over to them. I decided to just message back using my scroll.
"Like I said I'm trying a different fighting style. Of course, I'm gonna be off." I typed.
"You don't expect me to believe me that do you?" She said.
"What do you mean?" I typed.
"It's not hard to figure out you've got something else on your mind. I'm guessing the main reason you originally came was to just use the training dummies. Perhaps to just get some frustration out?" She asked.
"There… may be a little truth to that." I typed.
"You wanna talk about it?" She asked.
"Maybe another time. Mostly because I'd rather not take the chance of it getting back to Emerald. She bugs me about enough already." I typed.
"I don't actually talk with her or the rest of my team much. We don't really have much to talk about a majority of the time. Well… I don't anyway." She said.
"So, I don't mean to be rude abut are you actually able to speak or not?" I typed.
She rolled her eyes before typing out her response. "No I can't. I'm more disappointed you didn't figure that out on your own."
"I just figured you were the quiet type like Ren. It was a welcome change compared to Ariana, Nora or Yang." I typed.
She shook her head before responding. "It's a long story possibly for another time. Back to the main topic. Like I said I don't interact with my team much. Emerald and Mercury mostly just do whatever Cinder tells them to and I get left to my own devices. I don't exactly fit their notion of a cohesive unit. Not that I'm complaining either. The main thing we do as a team is when I have one of them answer a question for me in class. Not that I technically need them to. I have an app on my scroll that can speak for me, but I hate the voice so much."
"I can sort of sympathies with you on the teamwork aspect. I don't think any of my team has gotten along with each other since we got here. We even had to trade a member with one from another team. It's gotten a bit better, but I'm almost certain Hailey and I are the only ones on the same page. I think." I said.
She seemed to perk up at that. "I'm guessing she's the girlfriend Emerald mentioned?"
I sighed before typing my response. "More like Emerald assumed. I wish people would get off my back about her. I've heard so many people keep telling me we should be together."
She gave me a quizzical look before continuing. "So, I'm guessing something happened between you and Hailey and that's why you came here?"
I paused looking over the message debating if I wanted to tell her or not. I knew the longer I waited the quicker she'd get her answer regardless. "… kind of."
She gave a soft smile if only to confirm what she already knew. "I won't make you talk about it, but it might help."
I took a bit to reply. "Don't let anyone know I talked to you about this. Especially Emerald."
She rolled her eyes again before looking at me with an expression that just ready 'Really?'
"I'm just covering my bases." I said setting my scroll aside. I took a deep breath before I told her everything that had happened between me and Hailey since we'd met. Only omitting the part about Weiss and I's deal. Instead, I told her I'd decided to ask her to go to town with me in order to officially ask her out.
She leaned back seemingly taking in what I had told her. She seemed to think over the situation before she began typing again.
"Have you tried the jealously angle? Like seemingly getting closer with someone else making her more jealous until she can't take it anymore and finally confeses?" She asked.
"Technically no, but I think she thought there was something between me and Emerald at one point and still didn't say anything then. So, I don't think that will work." I typed.
"Did you tell her right away there was nothing going on?" she asked.
"Yeah." I typed.
"Then you didn't give it enough time. She needs to think there's something going on and when she thinks the time is right, she'll strike and tell you how she feels." She said.
"That, or it'll turn into one of those, 'I'm happy as long as your happy,' situations." I typed.
"Never hurts to try. If that happens just 'break up' or 'turn the other girl down' and move on to the next plan." She said.
"This seems a lot more like manipulation than dating." I typed.
Neo shrugged her shoulders before continuing. "Sometimes a relationship just needs a little push."
I sat in thought about that for a minute before responding. "I guess your not necessarily wrong."
She gave a teasing smile before continuing. "Some girls just want a little dominance. Someone who is able to take charge."
I could feel my cheeks turning a bit red and started rubbing the back of my neck. "Somehow I doubt that's the case with what she's been though."
She gave a slight laugh. "I'm just saying you have some options. If you want to continue this endeavor that is. It may not be a bad idea to let this go for a while and see if things continue to progress on their own. There's a chance it's just a crush that wouldn't have amounted to anything and she was just overly grateful for what you did. The two of you have only been at this school for what a couple months. Not only that but I'm guessing the two of you have only known each other for a couple weeks of that time. You need time to actually get to know each other. It would be a real shame if you got together now only to find out you aren't compatible."
"Wow, that's actually the best advice I've heard on this subject." I typed.
She stood up and stretched before responding again. "This is why I keep saying people need to listen to me more."
"You need people to actually hear you in order for them to listen to you." I said with a light chuckle before pocketing my scroll.
She gave me a slight scowl before flicking my head.
I started laughing as I began rubbing my forehead. "Anyway, it's getting pretty late. We should probably be heading to bed."
She gave me an evil smile before typing something out. She stepped closer and snaked her arm around mine and pulled me in close. Trapping my arm against her chest. She then showed me what she'd typed out.
"If you actually bring your A game next time. Maybe I'll give you some 'special' advice." I felt my face turning a dark crimson. She gave another slight laugh before releasing her grasp on me. Her smile changed and she stuck her tongue out signaling she was only joking before returning to her scroll. As soon as she had finished typing, she turned the screen towards me so I could see it. "Sorry couldn't resist."
I shook my head. "Between Yang and Ariana you'd think I'd be used to jokes like that by now." I gestured towards the door and we started heading back to our dorms.
As we walked back she made a note to confirm that she had no intentions of letting anyone know about what we'd talked about. When we had to separate, she gestured towards her room location and gave a small wave goodbye. Before she got too far away, I called out to her. She stopped and turned back towards me.
I gave a slight smile before continuing. "Thanks. This is probably gonna sound stupid, but I feel like you're the only one I could trust to talk about something like that. For the record I'm not saying I think I'm falling for you or anything like that."
She looked at me with a bit of uncertainty before her expression changed to a softer one. She nodded before turning to continue walking away. Right as I got to my dorm my scroll buzzed with another message from Neo.
"One last thing. I know this might not be the most encouraging thing, but… be careful who you give your trust to. People only show what they want people to know about them. What they show may not be the real them"
I looked the message over again before entering my dorm. When I looked around, I found my team was fully back and already passed out. I decided to grab some clothes and get a quick shower before I went to bed. As I stood under the water Neo's words came back into my mind.
'What they show may not be the real them.' I finished my shower and got dressed. Before I left the bathroom I stopped and looked in the mirror and stared at the mask that I head been wearing since I first arrived here. Her words ran though my head again and again as I stared at it. I began thinking over some of the things I'd heard people say since I'd come here.
"It's a miracle that we haven't told you to fuck off and quit. This bullshit certainly isn't worth it." Proton said.
"There was something odd I noticed. There was a tone change when Hailey mentioned her condition. Like it hit a nerve in Archer. Proton seemed to have a similar reaction." Coco said.
"We have reason to believe that the rest of Cian's team are actually working for someone else. That they are here undercover." Yatsuhashi said.
"She's just making you all feel sorry for her. If it wasn't true, she'd be defending herself right now. Instead, she's just sitting there quietly because she knows the truth is finally out to all of you." Mars said.
'Maybe Neo has a point. I refuse to believe what Mars said about Hailey, but if Ozpin's suspicions are true. Then who can I trust?' I thought. It took a while before I finally passed out.
The next morning, I groggily woke to see I'd received a message from Weiss saying she needed to speak with me. I responded asking where and when.
"The gazebos. 10:00" she said.
'She couldn't have waited til a bit later?' I thought. I responded with a thumbs up emoji before heading to the kitchen to make myself some coffee. Feeling I would especially need it today. Proton came in shortly after and started pouring out a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's.
"You're up early for getting back so late." He said.
"And you're the last person I expected to be having that for breakfast." I said.
"How else do you think I get my sunny disposition?" he asked as the machine finished pouring into the pot.
I poured a cup and took a drink before responding. "By making things explode?"
"Which is where these come in." He said pulling out a bag of rock pops candy. He then proceeded to open the bag and pour them into his cereal.
"That… That can't be good for you in any way." I said unsure how to react further.
"Not in the slightest. Then again, don't knock it till ya try it." He said before shoving a big spoonful in his mouth.
"I'll stick to my coffee." I said taking another drink.
"That shit will stunt your growth and tastes bitter as fuck. At least add some cream or sugar. Something. Hell, I'll buy you some damn ice cream to put in it if that'll help." He said.
"I need this stuff, Otherwise I'm likely to go off on someone like I did to Archer. Also, I never would have pegged you for a sweet tooth." I said
"I like to think of myself as a high-quality flavor connoisseur. I like to make up food combinations that normally someone wouldn't think of or aren't very common." He said.
"And now you sound like you're some top-quality chef. Alright, let's hear some of these combinations." I said taking a seat across from him.
"Let's see… frozen pickle juice." He said.
"That sounds terrible might as well drink it straight from the jar at that rate." I said.
"Believe it or not there is a slight difference in taste. Aight, try this one on for size. Toaster pastries with butter." He said leaning closer.
"That's a common thing back in Mistrial. There was a debate over whether you should do it with the frosted ones or if it was a crime against food. Never cared for it myself either way since I'm not big on sugary stuff." I said.
"Aight, fair enough. I've had it both ways and it most just depends on the flavor of the pastries. Let's see how you do with this one. I heard about this one back in Vacuo, but I haven't actually tried it yet. Chicken bacon ranch pizza." He said pointing his spoon at me.
"That sounds like an abomination. I mean, I don't really think about adding chicken to pizza regardless but mixing the marinara with ranch just sounds horrible." I said.
"Nah nah, see apparently what they do is use the ranch as the sauce. No marinara. Just crust, ranch, chicken and bacon. I've heard a few other things added for like a garnish but they say it's just unnecessary after the main ingredients." He said.
"That… I was about to say that sounds worse, but I'm actually not sure which one would be." I said thinking it over.
"Been something I've been meaning to try making for a while. Just never had time. Here, I might finally have some extra down time." He said leaning back.
"You saying you can actually cook too? You're just full of surprises today." I said crossing my arms.
"There's a lot you don't know about me. I'm a very deep person when I wanna be." He said.
"Right, and how much is left that I don't know about that isn't related to food or explosions?" I asked.
He gave a small laugh before continuing. "More than you know, less than I'm gonna admit. So, willing to give this disaster a test with me? We can try it out this weekend."
"Why not, if you're willing to cook, I'll invite some others over. They say misery enjoys company, right? Get a few extra laughs in case it tastes bad." I said.
"That's the spirit kid. I'll head into town Friday and pick up some supplies." He said.
"If anything, I'm surprised you're willing to do something with the team. And our friends for that matter. Usually, you prefer to stay off in your own world." I said.
"Well without Archer around to make our lives hell I don't have to make excuses to dip out. Besides, Ariana may be a pain, but you two ain't too bad. And if these recipes are as bad as I think they'll be. Then I'll definitely get some laughs at your friends expense. In fact, make sure that Schnee girl comes. Watching her squirm in disgust will be hilarious." He said waving his spoon around.
"I'll see what I can do." I said giving a small laugh at that thought.
Ariana walked into the room soon after. "Proton keep it down, I'm not in the mood to deal with your happy ass this morning." She started pouring her own cup of coffee and plopped down onto a chair.
"Aww did someone have a little too much fun last night?" Proton asked.
"You look like you were hit by a truck." I said.
"Let's just say don't ever go out to Junior's Bar with Yang. You wouldn't be able to handle it." She said.
"Didn't that place get attacked not long before the semester started?" Proton asked.
"Yep, our friendly neighborhood blonde was said perpetrator. I got to have some fun with those twins that work there. They definitely have some interesting moves both on and off the dance floor." She said.
"Aren't the two of you supposed to be underage to be in a place like that?" I asked.
"Normally yes, you have to be over twenty-one to drink. However, being a huntress in training has a few hidden bonuses. They figure if you're old enough to be using big guns and blades and fighting big scary demon things that a little alcohol isn't really such a big deal. At least in Vale anyway. Vacuo is dangerous enough that as long as you're over sixteen they don't care. Mistrial is a minimum of eighteen no exceptions. Solitas has different rules depending on if you're in Atlas or Mantle. Atlas, as long as you're from the right families, you're allowed to start at fourteen. However, it's mostly just wine with low alcohol content. Like snooty rich people normally do to make themselves feel like they are better than everyone else. Unless of course you're a huntsman in training or part of the military. No alcohol period. No exceptions. You get caught and you're immediately kicked out and sent to live in Mantle. Speaking of, legally you have to be at least nineteen, but with the conditions there. They don't always enforce it. That being said, on any continent it's technically legal if you don't get caught or the cities themselves choose to have different rules. Some towns even encourage it because they think people will be in higher spirits when they are drunk so it'll be like a form of protection from the Grimm. Too bad most of those towns forget that in many cases alcohol is also a depressant and will actually increase those negative emotions. Those towns don't usually last long. All it takes for them is one bad day, and suddenly the whole town is gone. Like it never existed." She said.
"Not that it's important but what about Menagerie?" I asked.
"Don't know. I've heard rumors from anywhere between eighteen to twenty. I've also heard rumors that its forbidden there. Being a human, I'm not allowed there so I've never been able to confirm it. Surprisingly never met a faunus from there either." She said.
"Can't picture you as a drinker anyway kid." Proton said.
"Like she said, Mistral is pretty strict on that. So, I've never gotten the chance to go drinking before. Also, I was curious since she mentioned everywhere else. Figured I'd ask about the one place she didn't mention." I said.
"Fair enough." Proton said taking another spoonful.
"I gotta get going. Feel free to the rest of the coffee, I'll clean it up when I get back." I said.
"Where are you off to so early?" Ariana asked.
"You know it's almost ten, right?" I asked.
"I was more curious about him leaving without Hailey." Proton said.
"You know I can have a life without her right?" I asked.
"For now." He said.
"Choosing to ignore that. My sister wanted me to call her for some reason. Figured I could use some fresh air while I was at it." I said heading out of the kitchen.
When I got to the main area realized Hailey had woken up and gotten in the shower. I grabbed my scroll and headed towards the gazebo area. As I was walking, I got a message from Neo.
"Forgot to mention last night. You might wanna put a password on your scroll. From what I noticed I doubt I was the first person to steal it from you." She said.
"Noted" I replied. I quickly set up a password for my scroll as I continued. As I headed to met with Weiss, I thought about what Neo said again and how it related to mine and Weiss' situation.
'Do I even trust Weiss with this? Or is it just because of our similar situations? Weiss must trust me to some extent if I was the only one, she confided this situation to. Right? She seems like she genuinely wanted my advice and wanted to help me in return.' I shook my head. 'I'm thinking too had about this. Weiss is one of the bluntest people I know. There must be some mutual trust between us otherwise we wouldn't be in this situation.' I started thinking about the bet we'd made. 'Unless she was using me to just give herself the motivation she needed. She wouldn't do that though… Right?'
When I finally made it to our meeting spot, I found that Weiss had already arrived.
'I've gotta just be overthinking things with the lack of sleep. We agreed to meet today regardless to relay outcome of our bet… Which I lost. Maybe I'll get lucky, and she'll rescind the bet due to the circumstances.' I thought. I took a deep breath before continuing towards her. As I got closer, I noticed something seemed off about her. She didn't even really notice my presence until I'd sat down.
"Good morning." I said.
"Morning. You seem to be in a decent mood." She said slightly disheartened.
"Coffee helps with that. Not to be rude but you seem like you didn't sleep at all." I said.
"I didn't." She said flatly.
I gave a small sigh before turning away from her. "I'm guessing you were to excited to sleep?"
"Not exactly." She said.
I looked back to see she was refusing to look at me also. "So, I'm guessing things went just as well for you as it did for me?"
"He rejected me." She said.
"I'm… I'm sorry what?" I asked bewildered. "I'm gonna need a little more context on that one."
"Last night we went to a small coffee shop in town and I told him that I'd been thinking more about our situation and that I'd wish I'd reworded my previous rejection. That I'd thought about what I'd said and realized it didn't matter. He told me that I was right from the beginning, and that it would probably be for the best if we didn't become more than friends." She said.
"I'm guessing he didn't take the rejection as well as you originally thought and just didn't want you to worry about him." I said.
"I understand that. Because of how I worded it he probably doesn't wanna jump into it only for him to get his heart broken again." She said.
"Not to sound insensitive, but I'm curious if you're more upset about the reason behind the rejection or the fact that Jaune of all people rejected you." I said.
She looked at me with annoyance before relinquishing. "Both. More so the reasoning."
"At least you at least got to talk to him about it. I didn't even get that far." I said refusing to meet her gaze
"What happened?" She asked.
I stayed silent for a bit before responding. "Before I say anything I need to reiterate that everything we talk about stays between us."
"Of, course it does." She said getting slightly annoyed at any accusation otherwise.
"I mean absolutely no one. You pretend like you don't know about this. No matter how much you don't wanna." I said finally turning back to her.
I could see her expression change once again to that of concern. I explained to her exactly what Hailey and I talked about once we got to the overlook.
"I can see why she'd think she was a burden. Although the only ones I can see actually having a problem with her being the original members of your team. None of the others have seen her in that way." She said.
"I know, that's what I tried getting across to her. I think if anything she still just needs time to get more accustomed to the new normal. She needs to be given more confidence. Between the whole Cardin thing and unlocking her semblance she's lost any confidence in herself she's had." I said.
"So, what are you going to do?" She asked.
"Act like that never happened. Just continue on as if I didn't know she was faking. Hope no one else catches on. If everyone thinks she's doing better they'll treat her like nothing's wrong. Hopefully she'll eventually believe it. Just be there for her as I always have." I said.
"Are you gonna be okay with that? You know things might never progress between the two of you if you do that." She said.
"I'm aware. At this point I'm gonna take it one day at a time. If after a while it seems like we're still close, I might give it another shot. If not, I'll accept that it was just a crush and move on like I did with Pyrrha." I said.
"If you think that's what's best." She said.
"Honestly with everything that has been going on I'll admit I haven't actually gotten to know her all that well. There's a chance we wouldn't be right for each other anyway. It's not really fair to either of us to start dating based on a prince charming situation. That only works in fairy tales." I said.
"You say that like you've had a lot of time to think about this." She said.
"Something like that." I said.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm embarrassed of how much more mature you're being this whole situation than I am." She said.
"If you want my advice. Give it some time. You only took back your rejection a few days later. Give him some time to calm down, but don't completely distance yourself. Show him that you do still care about him. I'm sure he still cares about you. In about a month or so try talking to him again and see where you both stand on the whole situation. In that time try actually getting to know him and be a little more open with him. I don't know what you two talk about when we aren't around, but I doubt you two have told each other everything about each other." I said.
"That, might be for the best" She said.
"Also try not to let any of your team know he turned you down. Blake I wouldn't worry about, but Yang and Ruby definitely would start harassing him about it. Yang might even castrate him for it." I said.
"And how do I explain the way I came back last night?" She asked.
I thought for a bit to try coming up with an answer. "You could come up with an excuse involving the White Fang. You're a Schnee and they steal dust from you right?. I'm sure you could come up with some excuse that they would believe. Or maybe your dad called you and ended up yelling at you for something that seemed small but hit you hard."
"You know, you actually can be smart if you actually try." She said with the closest thing to smile I've seen since I sat down.
"And you aren't a complete pain when you actually try getting to know someone." I retorted.
She let out a snicker before continuing. "Yeah, I'm slowly realizing I need to give people a better chance before denouncing them immediately. You, and Jaune have showed me that."
"Good. So, about the bet… I did lose it, and I'm a man of my word at least. So, what's my punishment…" I said before pausing, hating what I was about to say. "Mistress Schnee."
"Forget about it. Circumstances like that make deals like that null and void." She said.
"I'm not much of a businessman, but I'm pretty sure that's not how contracts work." I said.
"By your own admission you're already under contract to someone else. Once that one ends if you choose not to resign then I'll have free rein to have you under contract with me. However, by then we may have to review some terms and conditions." She said.
"The business world isn't fun." I said.
"It can be if you know what you're doing." She said standing up. "Thanks for the advice."
"So, does this make us friends now?" I asked standing up as well.
"I will admit that I have a higher value of trust for you more than a majority of the people at this school." She said walking past me.
"That wasn't a no." I said.
She continued walking away without responding.
'There's that word trust again. Maybe I was just overthinking things.' I thought while heading back to the room.
And there we have it the saga continues! I'm really sorry about how long this took to get out. Between changing jobs, moving and minor computer issues. Not to mention getting hit with a sledgehammer labeled 'Writer's Block.' I looked over this chapter and reworked it multiple times up to now because I was just not happy with it. I even thought about giving up and switching to one of my other stories, but this chapter was bugging me too much. I'm hoping to finally get back to writing more often, but I can't promise anything. Again I'm really sorry.
Also, I really wanna promote a couple fellow authors on the site 'That Guy Smoking a Pipe, and Sybaen.' I don't know if either of them has read my stuff or not but between 'A Man of Honor and Black Lotus respectively they have both been keeping me interested in writing so that I don't fully give up on this.
Anyway, I look forward to hopefully seeing you all in the future. Ciao!