Enslaved To A Flame
Chapter 15
Strength and Strain
The workshop was clear this morning, giving William and Victoria a quiet place to work and talk. Victoria had retrieved her guitar, turning it to sword form at William's request and setting it on the workbench.
"So you have a problem with CQC." William started, already moving about the room, picking up a handful of wrenches and sockets as well as pieces of scrap metal.
Victoria watched as William cast his semblance out, hanging the tools around his waist in a crude belt. She glanced over, noting that there were actual tool belts only a few feet away.
"I do." She agreed, watching as William set to work on her weapon. She wasn't too familiar with it in all honesty. She'd built it two years ago and hadn't felt comfortable enough to name it yet. She felt like there was something missing in the design.
"So let's fix the blade then. Give you a straight sword to work with." William replied.
He'd already opened the weapon up, separating the two halves of the blade and exposing the internal coils of wire, along with the railgun system.
"Fix it?" Victoria shifted uncertainly as William pulled a few piece of scrap metal towards him. A sharpie flew across the room into his hand, she wasn't sure where it came from or when William had thrown the wire to get it.
"Your sword's tension is good for midrange, the wires are tight enough that it carries a solid amount of force and you have a good idea of how to control that distance. But up close, you struggle because the tension isn't high enough to keep the blade locked for proper defense or offense." William explained, tracing out a latch design.
"But if you create a latch mechanism then the magnets will interfere. That's the problem I had with it originally so I took it out." Victoria explained, joining him at the table as she looked over her weapon.
Sooner or later she would have to improve and streamline the railgun system. Right now it was a jumble of wires and capacitors that only functioned because she put a converter into the hitch for kinetic energy and Aura.
"Aluminum." William replied without looking up. He picked up the scrap, revealing eight latches traced onto it. Two for each section.
"Admittedly it's not magnetic. But what about the mechanism itself?" Victoria countered, following him to the metal saw.
William snatched two pairs of ear plugs from a passing bin, hanging one to her as a set of wires lined the metal up with the blade.
"Couldn't you cut that with your Aura?" The saw buzzed on. William let it spin, choosing to focus instead of speak.
The machine whined as it started cutting, but William didn't seem to mind the high pitched squealing of the blade as it tore into the aluminum.
"I enjoy machine work!" William called over the noise. "Figuring out how things work is one of my hobbies. People, weapons, buildings. Improving on it and building something off that is even better."
Idly Victoria wondered if William had ever thought of perusing architecture. He seemed like he'd enjoy it.
He handed the latched over to Victoria as he cut them out. "Go smooth the edges." He told her, nodding towards the grind wheel.
Victoria hesitated, then nodded. She sat down, and a string of wires came to life around her. A moment later another latch slid down it, hanging just to her right. She shook her head as she picked up safety glasses.
Cleaning them up wasn't too difficult. Keeping the edges smooth and not letting the wheel bite into the metal was proving to be another story. One of the latches already had a slight gouge in the side where she'd tilted it to get a burr, only to find she'd gone too far.
She set another latch to the side, a letting a loop of coil wrap around it and hang it next to the other six she'd finished. She picked up the seventh, setting to work on it.
A second set of hands startled her, but a dozen wires held her hands steady before she could jerk back or away. Only after a moment did she realize she almost jerked her hands into the grind wheel.
"Hey hey. It's just me." William cautioned. "It's easier if you use the force of the wheel." He explained, adjusting her hands and letting the grinder ease down the length of the latch.
Victoria nodded, feeling just about as awkward as possible as William leaned over her to inspect the latch. He nodded, pulling away and leaving her to finish the last on her own again.
A breathe of relief brought the peculiar scent of oil and pine to her nose. Did he spend a lot of time in the woods or something? She snorted, trying not to think about how he'd slid so close to her so readily. Nor how he'd kept her from grinding her fingers into nubs.
When she finished and returned to the table she found William had already rigged the first pair of latches. A separate circuit ran up the length of the blade, insulated so it wouldn't affect the magnetic field created by the magnetized railgun.
Victoria hummed, letting him work with startling speed as wires danced around him, plucking tools off his belt, aligning bolts and holes, and more than once he used it to tie his bangs back before they drifted into his eyes.
When he pulled back he'd reassembled her weapon entirely, though now there was an extended handguard at the hilt. She frowned, but William gave her a knowing smile as he headed to the testing area.
"It's just a pressure trigger. Nothing fancy." William explained. He flicked the guard out and something inside the blade clicked softly. He slashed, and the blade extended out. When it returned on of his fingers pulled the handguard back. He followed through a series of thrusts and slashes, but the blade stayed locked in place.
"Here." William tossed it to her, a jumble of wires springing to life, this time she caught the abrupt flick and jerk of his wrists as he strung them on the overhead beams.
The sword stopped in front of her, hanging in place. She plucked it out of the air, feeling the weight. It was heavier, but that might not be too bad… she might have to adjust the tension in the cords to compensate for that though.
Another pair of wires flicked past her, into the workshop. She glanced over, seeing William pull his hand back as if catching something.
His sword came tumbling through the air from the other room as if thrown. He caught it, and even though it hadn't been moving fast he spun with it into a ready stance.
"Well come on now." He called, tilting his sword at her. "Let's give you a fixed blade crash course."
Crash course might have been the nice term for it. William wasn't a kind teacher by any stretch, but as difficult as he made practice, he taught her only what she could handle.
Victoria grimaced, reaching back and rubbing her shoulder. That doesn't mean he went easy on what he taught though. Even coaching her through what muscles to swing with and how it differed from her chain-sword had been a bruising experience.
"Guess I could have been gentler." William observed, a few paces behind her.
She glanced back at him to give him a cold glare.
He shrugged it off, running his off hand through his hair. He was sweating a little, but barely out of breath. His clothes were still dry, and his shirt didn't cling to every inch of his flesh.
She, on the other hand, might as well had been dunked in a pool. Sure. Practice didn't sound hard. But William seemed to need to show her every variation of practical usage of the sword, as well as the differences. Different swings, different movements. Blocking, defending, and to some extent, mixing punches and kicks with the weapon.
He was a lot better at the last one than she was.
"Sorry."
"Sorry doesn't count when you literally punched me. IN THE BOOB!" Victoria snapped, rounding on him. He had. And it had really hurt!
William blushed, having the decency to at least look away. "Hey I told you I'd do something to make it up to you. We're going to Veil shortly anyway. Coco just texted me." William produced his phone, a notification on it.
Victoria growled. Great. Now she had to shower and put on cute clothes. Damn.
"She says they'll be swinging by the room in about an hour." William added, seeming engrossed in the text conversation. Probably attempting to read subtext. "Her and Fox spent the entire day cuddling." He said a moment later.
Victoria snorted. "You don't know that. You might be good at reading people William. But that's a text message." She gave him a pointed look.
William shrugged, typing away at the keyboard. "You can tell a lot about people's background from their word choice, how they structure sentences and what they say." He sent the text, then flipped the phone to Victoria. "Plus I asked her and she gave me a winkie face."
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She sped up. "Tell her we might be a little late. Also," She snapped a finger up. "I'm taking a shower first."
William nodded, typing out another text as he started fast walking. They made it to the dorms a few minutes later, and she ducked into the bathroom, showering as fast as she could. This time though she remembered at least some of her clothes.
She came out with jeans and a bra on, the towel wrapped around her top. William gave her a weird look, but didn't comment as he took his shower.
She finished getting dressed, fussing over her top, a cute little crème flowing top. It was either that or she wore a bright red one, but red wasn't really her favorite color. Neither was crème, but it went better with the converse she was wearing.
She pulled on the converse, lacing them up and wrapping the laces around once before tying them. Then she was at the bathroom door, banging it.
"William get out I need to do my hair!"
The water turned off, and a few moments later William opened the door, towel wrapped around his waist, a few suds still clinging to his arms.
"Really?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. Challenging her. Ass.
"Really." She pushed past him, getting to the mirror. She wiped the steam off it, then pulled out a hair brush.
William closed the door again, but she saw him walking back to the shower, stepping in. The towel came out from the curtain and then the water turned back on.
"Really?" She called behind her. The fog on the mirror plus the rippled shower curtain muddled his entire form into a fuzzy tan outline.
"Damn straight."
Victoria hummed, but focused her attention her hair. She blow-dried it, then combed the knots out of it. When she finished William stepped out again. She got a nice look at his butt, but he was fast enough with the towel that she didn't see anything more.
She wasn't sure if she could blush any harder even if she had seen more.
He walked out, leaving her to finish up. A knock at the door came though, and she could hear Coco talking as soon as it opened.
The conversation stopped, likely that they caught William with his shirt off or something. A moment passed before she joined them, finding William dressed in a surprisingly stylish pair of jeans and a V-neck shirt.
"Ready?" Coco asked, giving her a once over. Then she glanced between the two. "Cute couple material."
"No." The words were out of Victoria's mouth before she thought about it. She refused to date.
She could feel William's expression shift, but he didn't say anything. He just shrugged, reaching down and picking up her guitar, handing it over to her. She took it, slinging it over her shoulder and following them out.
She let Coco and Fox lead the conversation as they headed out to the station. They conversed easily with William. Even more, they seemed unsurprised when they learned he'd injured himself.
Had he opened up to them as well? How much? More than he had to her? Could she really call him a partner if he opened up more to them than he did to her?
They got on the transport and to her surprised Coco pulled her aside, leaving Fox and William to their conversation. She hadn't been listening to most of it, but she caught snippets. Something about echoes in the dark. Fighting?
Coco pulled her down the hall to an open space by the window. William and Fox were still both in view, but her full attention was on Victoria.
Victoria shifted, grasping her left wrist in her right hand. "Yes?" She asked. She swallowed, straightening her back before she started to slouch.
"Relax honey." Coco said, giving her a small smile. "I'm just concerned about William. I know a small piece about him. But I'm hoping he's opening up to you."
Victoria nodded slowly. "He's… started. But it's not my place if you wanted to know…" She shifted. Damn. Her feet were outward. She wanted to run.
Coco held up a hand. "Just be his friend. That's all I'm asking as your senior." She paused, then glanced between them. She squirmed, shaking her hips as if considering something. "But seriously," her tone turned salacious, "you and him…?"
Suddenly Victoria wanted to run for an entirely different reason. "I just met him. We both have a lot of things. And I don't think it's team condusive." She hoped that sounded right.
Coco rolled her eyes, but let out a heavy sigh instead of pushing it. Or so it seemed. "Alright. But rate that butt for me. As much as I hate to admit it. He has a nice butt for a guy."
"You can't be serious."
Coco shrugged. "Fine fine. He looks like he does some serious squats. Might have better legs than I do." She hummed, considering. "But I prefer Fox's."
Victoria huffed. "I… We. Are not discussing boy's butts."
"Then tell me something to convince me I can leave William in your care. One mission and he comes back banged up and bruised with one shoulder almost gone." Coco shot back, shifting tone so suddenly Victoria flinched. "Because I need to know you're going to keep him safe and alive. He's too reckless to let just anyone do it. I don't have the strength. Neither does Fox."
Victoria bit her lip, turning away from her and moving to the window. Blunt. Maybe a little rude. Quick to judge as well. What would make her leave?
A church passed by below. The bells chimed below, thought the sound was lost. For a moment Victoria thought of praying. But that passed just as quickly as it occurred. Later.
"I can't protect him right now." Victoria confessed. "He's too strong to rein in. And I don't have the strength myself to keep up. But he's starting to be someone I can talk to. And I don't want to lose that." She reached back, feeling the metal of her guitar. "And I'm doing everything I can to make sure I don't."
"… Good." A twist of her heels and Coco left. Leaving her staring out the window as the airship descended into town.
Yes. Yes. Yes. It's been hella long. I've been busy. Going into senior year at college. Got a few projects bouncing around. And I worked all summer. But every now and then this story really tugs at my heartstring. I want desperately to finish William's story. But I don't want to do it an injustice and make it terrible.
Otherwise we end up with useless characters and pointless chapters. *cough* Season 5 *cough* Ruby *Cough* Or really dull character development that could be summed up with "So and so snuck out and got a ticket to here. Trouble happened. But everything worked out bc plot armor." *Cough* Wiess *Cough*
As you can see I'm a little salty with RWBY Season 5. Not necessarily the animation or storyline of it. Just…. The lack of character development, plot motivation, and general execution.
Rant for another time.
Back to William. This will be painfully slow. I'm sorry. I'm trying.