Not much to tell this time around. Easter had me running around everywhere doing a whole bunch of family stuff, and I had a few meetings this week that bit into my free time. Other than that, nothing exciting.
Just realized Hybrid wasn't credited in the last chapter, I'll go back and fix that.
As far as this weekend goes, I got a day off, and I'm spending it making portabella burgers with potato wedges, and whatever other random things I find at the store. And meatloaf. I make a mean meatloaf.
As far as reviews go, I wanted to give a shout-out to Just a Joe. Ren's a character that I feel often goes overlooked, and I decided I wanted to fix that. Making sure everyone has their own agenda is my modus operandi – it practically writes the conflict for you and allows characters to interact in interesting ways, plus it prevents characters from coming off as bland by comparison. I'm also glad to hear you think the pacing's good. That's something I struggled with in my earlier work.
With all that done, I think it's time to work on the next chapter. I fell a bit behind thanks to time loss and motivation issues. Oh well, at least it's shaping up to be an action-packed chapter that won't take too long to write. spoilers
Chapter Thirteen: Study Buddies
Beta: HybridAlabaster
Ren's report had put Cardin in a wonderful mood. He had Pyrrha's Semblance, it wasn't working, and she would continue to stew while Jaune dates Blake. So, in accordance to his promise with Ren, that Monday evening, he went to Professor Goodwitch's office.
She looked annoyed when he entered, but she hid it well. There was a large stack of homework that she was looking through, and the red pen in her hand looked as though she had almost worn it in half.
"Mr. Winchester, is there something I can help you with?"
"Me?" He asked with his largest, most innocent smile. "No, I don't need anything, but I do know another student that could use your help."
Professor Goodwitch gave him a kind smile somewhat spoiled by the shadows under her eyes and furrows in her forehead. "I would be more than happy to help."
"Well, it would appear that one of your students is suffering from severe hunger pangs. They had used up not only their own stipend, but also their partner's, to purchase additional food."
The smile was gone now, and the furrows had grown deeper. "I was not aware of that. Had they come to me, I could have–"
"As they are not receiving enough food and have run out of funds to purchase more, they have taken to raiding the pantry at night, which is against school rules."
"Yes, yes it is." She folded her hands in front of her, over the paperwork. "What are you trying to say?"
Cardin pulled a chair from the corner of her room and sat down on it, propping his feet on her desk. She scowled and pulled her papers closer to her.
"Mr. Winchester, that is–"
"Do you understand how precarious your situation is?"
Goodwitch blinked and gawked at him. "Excuse me?"
Cardin picked at his fingernails. He waited until he could hear the professor grind her teeth. "Ozpin received additional funds from the Council to promote student welfare at Beacon and prepare them for the Vytal Festival. Imagine what they would think if they learn that he was not feeding his students enough."
He heard the crinkle of leather as Goodwitch's hand tightened on her riding crop. "Are you blackmailing me?"
"I blackmail lots of people. Now, I'm getting tired of doing all that extra reading Professor Oobleck's been assigning me every week. I would also appreciate it if, say, if I were caught doing something frowned upon by this school, that it be overlooked, just like I'm overlooking the fact you're letting your students starve."
"I assume you have proof to show the Council?"
Cardin took out his Scroll, opened up a recording, and set it on the desk. Nora's wailing, hysterical voice sounded tinny on the Scroll's tiny speakers, and her tear-streaked face stared up at Goodwitch.
"I thought so," she said. "After finding all that food in her locker." She picked it up and looked more closely at it. Her jaw tightened, and one finger hovered over the screen.
"Delete it if it makes you feel better," Cardin said. "I have copies."
Goodwitch started, and the finger fell away. "I was looking for the volume control." She handed it back to him. "I'm sorry Cardin, but I cannot allow any transgressions of school rules, nor can I remove Oobleck's punishments. Ozpin will just have to deal with the consequences."
"I wonder, would he agree with you on that?" Cardin stared her in the eyes and waited for her to look away. "His situation's precarious enough without a scandal on his hands. Imagine if, say, they decide to entrust the management of the Vytal Festival, and its funds, to one of the Dukes?"
Professor Goodwitch gave him an expression that could have soured milk. "Threats won't change my mind."
"But they will change Ozpin's." He turned towards one of the ceiling's corners and waved at it. "Right Ozpin?"
Goodwitch turned her chair to see what Cardin was waving at. "Very funny Mr. Winchester. I will see you tomorrow evening for detention. Now, unless you have anything else to say, please leave my office. I have a lot of homework to grade."
Cardin smiled, kicked off the desk, and sauntered out of the room. Russell was waiting next to the door.
"Damn, she sounded pissed."
"She'll be even angrier tomorrow."
The next day, Cardin was the first called up to battle. As he whirled his mace in his hand and inspected the cleaning Russell had done, Goodwitch leaned towards him and muttered, "Your detention is cancelled, as is your additional reading from Doctor Oobleck." She scowled at him through the match and gave harsher critique of his reliance on Aura to land a counterattack, but otherwise, she said nothing. As the students left, she stopped Nora and had a short conversation with her. Goodwitch gave Cardin a passing scowl as he walked by them.
Nora was beaming with joy as she bounded and skipped into Oobleck's class. She talked animatedly with Ren as she sat down next to him. Cardin stared, waiting for Ren to look for him. After a minute, Ren's eyes roamed the classroom and settled on Cardin. He gave Ren a firm nod and opened up his textbook.
After the lecture, Ren lingered while Nora sprinted out of the room, and the other students walked out. Russell hung by the back wall, and Sky and Dove left with the rest.
Ren walked up to him and took the seat next to Cardin. "I thought you were going to be the one providing the food."
"I said I'd make sure she got to eat however much she wanted. I never said I'd be the one footing the bill."
"True," Ren said, "But that means you can't make them stop, can you?"
Cardin watched Ren out of the corner of his eye. Ren had a neutral, almost apathetic monotony of expression, and not a muscle in his face, chest, or arms twitched. It was as though someone had wrung all the emotion from him and left him to dry.
"Pretty smart of you, but don't be sure. Watch this." He rose his voice and waved at Oobleck. "Hey Professor!"
"That's Doctor, Mr. Winchester," he said. "Is there something that I can help you with?"
"Yes. What is the difference between a pickaxe and a Faunus?"
The Professor adjusted his glasses and took a swig of coffee. "Quite an interesting question you have posited, Mr. Winchester. Why, I could give you dozens of different, correct responses off the top of my head, but judging by your tone of voice and the nature of the question, I can only assume that you have some form of comedic intent in mind, and while I could imagine dozens of answers, I fail to find a single one that could possibly have any hint of humor. So, I would most appreciate it if you could proceed to the punchline."
"Pickaxes don't die when you use them for mining."
Professor Oobleck bolted out of his seat. "Mr. Winchester, that was completely out of line! I am going to have to assign you–" Oobleck looked as though he had just bitten on a lemon. For a few seconds, his face twitched, and the coffee mug went nervously from his lips to his desk without a drop leaving it. With a deep sigh, he sat back down. "I would appreciate it if you could refrain from inappropriate humor in the future. Such 'jokes'," he said the word with a bitter snarl, "Perpetuate misunderstanding and mistreatment of a group of individuals that deserve our respect. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly clear, Professor."
Doctor Oobleck went back to the book on his desk. Ren stared at him with the same unflappable expression.
"Impressive."
"So," Cardin said, "If you want things to stay the way they are, I advise you make sure Nora doesn't get anywhere near Blake." He thought for a moment, and added, "Or me, for that matter. She still wants to break my legs, right?"
"She's worked her way up your ribcage. Making her hungry is the fastest way to make her furious."
"Noted. Now, we better hurry before Nora realizes we've been talking."
Ren took the cue rushed out of the room. Cardin followed at a leisurely pace and arrived at the free training period five minutes late. Goodwitch reprimanded him for tardiness, and in a lower whisper, told him not to push it.
Just as he was wondering to himself on the track how his day could possibly be going so well, Weiss raced up to him. She was nearly out of breath, but she fell in next to him.
"Hello Cardin," she said, panting. "I know this is really sudden, but I was able to book a room at the library for a study group. I was wondering if you and Sky would like to come. Your other teammates are welcome as well."
He tossed and turned her words in his head and found himself satisfied with her invitation.
"Who else would be there?"
"I invited Ruby and Blake, and a few students from other teams."
Yang's exclusion from the list of her teammates didn't go unnoticedby Cardin. She had to have noticed that putting the two of them in the same room would end poorly. He made a mental reminder to reassess Weiss' political expertise as he got the time and location from her.
Just after dinner, Cardin's team went to the library. He had expected Russell to tag along, and Sky had leapt at the chance for a study group, but Dove's acceptance surprised Cardin. After mulling it over, Cardin couldn't see any specific reason Dove went besides getting homework done, and simply nodded in response.
Weiss was already at the room, writing notes on the whiteboards and sifting through a stack of old homework assignments. A quick glance showed him a lot of scores in triple digits. Bags of chips and a two-liter of soda sat on the table, along with stacks of Styrofoam cups and paper plates.
Weiss looked up when she saw the door open. "Cardin, do you think the tables should stay in a circle, or would setting them up in rows be better?"
"This is a study group, not a class, right? Circle."
"I thought so, but I wanted a second opinion." She counted the chairs. "We should have enough."
Cardin also counted the chairs and wondered how many she had meant when she said a "few" students. It'd be harder to stay conspicuous with more people in the room, and it raised the chances of another spy, but it would make the group stand out less.
"Is there a particular topic of study?" Sky asked, setting his pack down on the table.
"Not really, just preparing for the exams. With the Vytal Festival coming up, the professors will be wrapping up the semester's classes soon."
"I have some notes from Doctor Oobleck when I went in for office hours. He said they would be topics on his exams."
Weiss smiled at him and leaned over his shoulder. She sifted through the notes.
"Yes, those look perfect. Could you get the first two points on that whiteboard over there?"
Sky and Weiss went to work on the boards. Weiss wrote in slow, fluid strokes, while Sky attacked his board with furious scribbling. Russell helped himself to the bag of chips and some soda, while Dove took out his Scroll and sat in the corner. While his teammates were distracted, Cardin went up to Weiss' side. Pretending to study her writing, Cardin took the note out of his jacket sleeve and reached towards the pocket on Weiss' skirt.
Just as he slipped the note inside, the door slammed open. Cardin's hand shot back, and he involuntarily glanced towards the door. Ruby Rose was holding two cartons of cookies in one arm and a jug of milk in the other. One carton fell to the floor. Ruby's cheeks were turning red.
Cardin mentally slapped himself. With timing this awful, this had to be some kind of nightmare. His brain worked furiously to come up with some way to explain the situation, but Weiss beat him to it. "Ruby! You shouldn't slam doors like that, this is a library!"
Ruby made some strangled sounds as she gingerly stepped into the room. She set the cookies and milk on the table, having forgotten the fallen carton, all the while watching Cardin. Sliding around him and practically leaning over the table in an effort to keep away from him, Ruby rushed towards Weiss and pulled her to the far corner of the room. Her voice was a harsh whisper, but in the tiny room, Cardin heard every word.
"Weiss, he was going to touch your butt!"
Cardin felt his cheeks burning. Weiss flushed and reached into the pocket. Her fingers found the note.
"It's okay Ruby."
"It's okay! Seriously Weiss?"
"What, he was just–" She cut herself off, glanced at him, and blushed as much as Ruby. "Well, I mean…"
"She had chips on her skirt," Cardin said, gesturing to the open bag in Russell's lap. "I was just helping her dust them off."
"Yes!" Weiss shouted. "Yes, that's all, just some chips on my skirt." She made a show of brushing off the skirt. "That's all it was Ruby."
Ruby had a sullen glower as she stared at Cardin that suggested she believed none of it. Cardin added, "What did you think I was going to grab her butt? I mean, she's cute and all, but too flat for my tastes."
Both Weiss and Ruby choked. Ruby stammered that she didn't know what the hell was going on, while Weiss chided him for being so misogynistic.
Right as she was yelling, "My breasts are just fine the way they are, thank you very much," The door opened again. Cardin turned, wondering who he'd have to explain this situation to, and felt his blood turn to ice.
Yang tossed her hair and gave Weiss a cold stare. She had Ruby's missing cookies in one hand. "Do I even want to ask?"
Before either of the girls could say anything unwise, Cardin said, "I was just telling Ruby that I didn't have any interest in Weiss. Too flat."
Yang smirked as Ruby and Weiss both struggled to respond. "What about me, then?" She stretched up, letting her boobs press against her shirt. "Am I big enough for you?"
Ruby achieved an even deeper shade of scarlet and buried her face in her hands, while Weiss crushed a marker in her hand. Cardin knew all too well that a wrong answer here would cost him a broken nose. He looked back at his teammates. Russell was smiling and shoveling potato chips in his mouth, Sky watched in abject horror, glancing between him and the door as if calculating the velocity required escape the room before it would be spattered with blood, and Dove gave him a raised eyebrow through his Scroll.
This was no nightmare. Blake had killed him, and he had gone straight to hell.
"Honestly, I like them just fine. Problem is, I don't think I'd survive touching them."
Yang grinned. "Good answer."
She set the cookies down, sat next to Russell and yanked the bag of chips out of his lap. Russell gave her a wary sidelong look, but he kept eating from his plate.
Blake came in moments after. She gave a small start when she saw Cardin, and she went to the other side of the room, sitting next to Dove. By this time, Weiss and Sky had inundated the white boards with enough writing to make Cardin's legs itch.
"So, is this everyone?" he asked Weiss.
"No, we're waiting for a few more. They should just be a minute."
Yang set aside an empty bag of chips and grabbed a two-liter. "So, what are we learning, teach? Aerodynamics? I hear you're an expert, given, you know." She gestured towards her chest.
Weiss scowled, but she said calmly, "We are reviewing for the exams."
"Gotcha. Not sure the docs are gonna find anything there, Weiss-cream, but it can't hurt to check."
It took Weiss a few moments to get the joke. This time, there was an edge of anger in her voice. "The school exams, Yang. Could we please stop talking about… that stuff, and start taking this seriously?"
"Fine, fine, we can put this to breast."
Cardin wondered if he could use these shenanigans as a convenient excuse to leave. After all, he had already given Weiss the note. The thought had him out of his seat and at the door. Just as he was about to say his goodbyes, he opened the door and found Pyrrha Nikos on the other side.
"Oh, um, hello," she said uncertainly. Her hair was combed, and she smelled of a shower, but there was a red tinge to her eyes. "Is Weiss here?"
Weiss waved at her from behind Cardin. "Yes, hello Pyrrha! I'm glad you could make it."
Pyrrha gave Cardin an uneasy glance as she passed him. "I wasn't expecting so many people here."
"Well, I thought it would be nice to have everyone together to get ready for the finals. Since Sky does really well in class, I thought having him here would help us cover all the material."
Cardin hid a smile at the perfect explanation of his presence. He sat back down, close to the door, and decided to spend the time studying his target.
Pyrrha looked back at him again, but the tension left her shoulders. "I see. Thank you for inviting me."
"Of course. I noticed you were absent for a few days, and I thought you would appreciate some help."
"That's very kind of you. I hope you have a few extra chairs, I invited my teammates with me." She looked down and nervously twirled strands of her hair between her fingers. "I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all. They told me they were coming, so I got extra chairs for them."
Cardin did a quick count of the room's seats. Ruby was still standing in the corner, Weiss and Sky were at their whiteboards, and Pyrrha sat in the middle of a three-seat gap between Blake and Yang.
That left exactly two seats for three teammates. Cardin groaned to himself, as he already knew which wouldn't be coming.
The door slammed open, and Nora Valkyrie stormed in. There were leaves and twigs in her hair. "Hello!" she shouted in a cheery voice. The smile wavered when she saw Blake and died completely when she saw Cardin.
Cardin wondered what he had done to deserve this.
Ren stepped out from behind her. "Sorry we're late. Nora thought she saw a squirrel in one of the trees."
"It was spying on us!" Nora said. "It had a cute little pair of binoculars and everything!"
"Yes, very nice," Weiss said. "Why don't you take a seat, we have refreshments."
With a grim smile on her face, Nora went towards Blake, but Ren dashed ahead of her and took that seat. Nora sat next to Yang, noticed the chips, cookies, and soda on the table, and raked everything towards her.
Ruby gave a start as Nora started tucking into the cookies. She swooped in with a flash of rose petals, swiped a carton and the milk, and stopped at the edge of the room. Glancing back and forth at the remaining seats, she eventually chose the one next to Cardin. Yang gave him a sidelong look with a dash of murderous red. Cardin buried his face in a book.
Weiss tapped the whiteboard with a marker. "Right, we have a few weeks before finals, but it never hurts to get a head start so we know where we stand. I think we should start with Grimm Studies, since that's the most heavily weighted portion of our grade." She saw the cover of the book Cardin held. "Excellent! Cardin, could you read the section on Manticores? That's bound to be an essay question."
Cardin felt the jaws of a trap closing around his leg. He made a show of looking at the index and flipping through pages. "I can't find it," he said.
"Here, give me that." Weiss snatched the book out of his hands. Cardin gave a sigh of relief, but Weiss handed him the book, flipped to the page on Manticores.
"Why don't you start with the combat patterns near the bottom? Port's essays always focus on how to kill Grimm."
Cardin felt himself getting light-headed as he struggled to breathe. "Shouldn't we quiz everyone first? If everyone already knows the material, then we shouldn't waste our time reading it."
"Kind of hard to know something that won't be covered until next week," Yang pointed out.
Cardin swallowed and glanced at Blake. She was staring at him with a small smile on her face, and she gave him a shrug. He searched for help in his other teammates. Russell shook his head from behind a handful of chips, and Dove was engrossed with his Scroll. He stared at Sky, who looked nervously at Russell and spoke up.
"Shouldn't we start with the earlier topics? It's more likely that we forgot about those."
"Professor Port's not going to lecture on it anyways, so we might as well read it together," Weiss said. "Cardin, if you would."
Sweat ran down Cardin's forehead, stinging his eyes. He leaned back and let the book lie on the table.
"I'm not in a reading mood today. Ruby, why don't you do it?"
Yang scowled at him, and Weiss frowned, but Ruby nodded and took the book. Cardin felt his chest loosen up, and once again, he was able to breathe.
"Can Cardin not read?" Nora asked.
Cardin felt every pair of eyes in the room dart towards him. Blake hid a grin behind a hand, his teammates' expressions had a mix of alarm and concern, and the rest stared in disbelief.
"Of course he can read," Weiss said. "How else would he be able to do his homework?"
Blake looked tempted to speak out, but Nora beat her to it.
"He could have someone read for him, like one of his teammates."
"We don't," Russell chimed in. "Cardin does his own reading."
Cardin stared directly at Blake, daring her to say a word. The smile vanished, and she looked down at her own notes.
"Then prove it, Cardin" Nora said. "Read." She started chanting the word and gesturing for the others around her to join in. Yang shrugged and followed suit, and once she started, Ruby nervously copied her. Russell shrugged and joined in, and Dove mouthed the word.
Cardin's fingers trembled as he took the textbook from Ruby.
"If you want me to read that badly, then fine." He cleared his throat, using the moment to scan the first line. He read in a loud, pompous voice, as if mocking Nora and the others while buying time to struggle through the other lines.
One paragraph. All he needed was one whole paragraph, and he could pass the book back to Ruby. His eyes slid down the page, hunting for an indent. Twelve lines. Of all the pages in the book, Weiss had to choose the one with the longest paragraph ever written in human history. He slowed down, enunciated every syllable, made grandiose gestures, and mimed hacking apart a Manticore wing by wing, then the hind limbs, as the book advised. Three lines. Four. His mouth caught up with his brain by the fifth line. Each word became a theatrical performance, each syllable a monologue, as his brain slogged through the quagmire of text. Six lines. Halfway there. He was getting annoyed stares from his classmates and a look of incredulity from Blake, but he was halfway there. Weiss looked ready to yank the book out of his hands, Russell stopped with a potato chip halfway to his mouth, and Blake stared with a sullen glower and crossed arms. The end of this sentence. If he made it to the end, and he could pass it to Ruby. Five more words. Four. Three.
The word 'eviscerate' tripped him.
His tongue twisted around the 'vis', repeating it in a loop. He tried again, starting the word over, but he lost his place in the paragraph. He had finished the word, but he was left dangling, speechless, at the broken-off end of the sentence. As the silence stretched out, everyone stared at him in shock and confusion. Russell dropped the chip and shook his head. Sky studied the floor. Dove stared at the Scroll, finger frozen over the screen.
Cardin slammed the book shut. "Excuse me, I just remembered something important."
He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Once he was out of the library, he sprinted back to his dorm. He left the lights off, fumbled around for his mace, and sat on the bed with it in his lap.
The lock clicked open, and a knock came at the door. It opened slowly, and Russell poked his head inside.
"What happened?" Cardin asked from the darkness.
Russell sat across from him. "No one knew what to make of it, and the group went downhill from there. Sky and Weiss argued over what to study, and Nora and Ruby fought over the cookies."
Cardin grunted and leaned back on his pillow.
"That was pretty good," Russell said. "I thought you had it."
"Well, I didn't. Secret's out now." His grip tightened on his mace. "Nora will pay for this."