(A/N: Hey all! This will be one short extra of many that came out of nowhere. Don't expect these regularly, but do expect a few more of them along the lines. Thank you for reading!)
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"Nick, you're up," my eldest brother, Justin, declared.
I sat up in the back of the large van and rubbed at my tired eyes. Taking the invoice booklet, I jumped down onto the pockmarked asphalt and stepped into the supermarket.
Normally, I would have protested taking this delivery. Justin is the one getting paid for delivering. I get practically nothing. Not that I'd complain, but...
The humid, hot air from the outside stuck my faded red shirt to my chest. The cold, dry air from the store was pleasant but short lived.
I checked off the breads from the shelf on the booklet to take inventory. No need for item returns? Good.
Reluctantly, I exited the cool building out to the wet concrete and clearing clouds. Rain in the early morning sets the midday up to be unbearably hot. I hate it.
Constantly raining is probably the only other type of weather I would not want to deliver in. Overcast is ideal and sunny as fuck is still much better than evaporating water. Thinking about it, snow is probably the worst type of weather to-
A loud honk and screeching tires brought my attention to the white sedan at my right coming to a halt.
"Oh fuck!" I put some distance between me and the stopped car as its owner rolled down his window. He looked more scared than mad, but he was clearly upset.
"Watch where you're going!" He warned me. Heart pumping intensely, I told him something I learned from my driving classes.
"Pedestrians have right of way!" I yelled back. He rolled his eyes and put his hand up to drive away. I shook the adrenaline out of my head and pulled myself into the delivery van.
"What happened?" Justin put his phone down onto the dashboard and reviewed the numbers on the paper meant to represent the bread on the shelf.
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Signal Academy, Four weeks before the Ninth Schnee Dust Company Charity Works Celebration
Consciousness came back to me steadily with a nudge.
"Gray, get in the shower."
I sighed. How long ago was that dream? Fifteen years?
"Why?" I groaned to Desiree. "Let me sleep in. We have two more days." And like that, I shut my eyes to continue to sleep.
"Wake up," she said in a lower voice. "It's one in the afternoon. Get up. Yang and Kermes want to hang out one more time."
Ugh. Okay.
"What are we gonna do?" I asked, rubbing the sand out of my tired gray eyes.
"Probably just walk around. Hang out." Digging around in her closet, Dez produced a black skirt and a blouse the same dark red the rest of her wardrobe was comprised of. She didn't bother going into our bathroom before changing out of her relaxed wear.
"Can't you go with them? Make it a girls' day thing." I planned on cleaning Thunderstruck today. "I was planning on cleaning Thunderstruck today." Like I said.
"You cleaned it yesterday! Stop making excuses for being antisocial and get ready!"
"Well, yeah I had field stripped it and oiled its parts... I wouldn't say I cleaned it..."
"You took it apart piece by piece and scrubbed it down and then you put oil on it." My sister cocked her hip to the side and fastened her skirt. "You are coming with me."
I relinquished my time for the day and went through with my average morning procedure. Shower, brush teeth, the norm.
Since Dez was going with a new look, I figured I would too. Black jeans would stay, but I went with a classic red-black-gray flannel shirt with rolled sleeves. No armor for today, not that it would matter anyways. Thunderstruck was coming with me, though. No exceptions.
In our common area was Yang and Kermes, browsing stuff on their scrolls. They knew we were there, they were just busy with their scrolls.
"Yo." Kermes, or "Kay" we usually called her, greeted. She put her scroll down. "We haven't decided what to do just yet." I sighed.
"Is there anything any of you want to do?"
The girls registered what I said in the same way. They dissociated from this reality and stared into the void before them. They all turned to me at random intervals as if to tell me they couldn't think of anything to do.
I let my head drop. Digging through distant and foggy memories that were more than rough around the edges, I thought of something to do.
"No? I've wanted to ice ski for a while."
"I have! It's fun!" Kay excitedly revealed.
"Alright, looks like we're doing that." Yang added. "I haven't since me and Rubes didn't care much for winter and snow."
"How have you guys not? Doesn't it snow long here on Patch?" Dez replied. She and Yang had a whole fast conversation about Yang's not having ice skated. Turns out her dad didn't get her and Ruby skates because he simply didn't know if they wanted to.
That's just a taste as to how well they got along. They like talking and Kermes likes to listen. She doesn't speak often, but she has a very vocal and caring personality. She keeps this little pocket journal to sketch things she sees that she finds inspiration in, somehow.
In the time I've gotten to know her, she's let me see this journal a few times. Following her hospitalization, she drew a gray silhouette - me - sitting in a chair, hunched over as if mourning something. I have a pretty good idea as to what that was. When asked about it, she simply said,
"Thanks for being there. I knew it was you."
In the meantime, we had boarded a shuttle to the mall we would usually go to for whatever we needed. It was a large complex and it was common for tourists - both abroad and domestic - to visit.
From there, we headed over to the rink and Kay taught us some basic tips using the blades we rented. Lean forward, don't look down, and some other useful stuff. The passersby watched Kermes do the cool stuff and averted their eyes from the friends she had who fell.
No matter what she said, I didn't like falling. I mean, sure everyone will very likely when they begin, but I still didn't like it. Whatever.
After a few good hours of making fun of each other for falling on our asses, we caught some lunch in the food court, catching up on classes and experiences.
Yang talked about how her dad liked to cook and bake. Ruby would often ask her mom for cookies, but ever since she passed on, their dad assumed the role of baker and cook. It's because of their dad that Ruby hasn't broken her cookie addiction. Yang says she's assumed some of that knowledge.
Kermes has an older brother in the police force. She mentioned how he would often try to persuade her to join even after entering Signal. She could join the police force as a huntress like Celeste did, I think.
On that topic, Yang asked what we would all be doing.
"I'm probably gonna either enlist in the Vale Reserve Guard or the police force if not that," Kermes said with little thought. She had clearly been thinking about her future for a long time already.
"I'm applying to Beacon and go pro," Yang added, taking a deep drink from her cup of soda. I said something like that too.
"Yeah, same here. I don't know what else I'd do."
"I might go to Atlas or Shade, but I don't know just yet," Desiree said next, having a few seconds of thought between her and my answers. "I might stick with you two and go to Beacon too."
'I would very much like that' I sent to her over our scrolls.
On that note, I would like to end there. That was our last get-together for the school year.
I would like to mention that I always suspected Yang would want to go to Beacon from more than the shows perspective. Her dad went to Beacon and she was following his footsteps, so it makes sense she would do the same.
No matter the case, I would also be going to Beacon. My grades and performance have been impeccable and I plan on keeping it that way. If I am to change the world, I am to change it with RWBY at Beacon, one way or another.