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Thrown to the Wind

Kindred

"So, Pyrrha, how was the game today?" Yang asked knowingly before catching another grape in her mouth. Nora liked to throw them at her across the table. The dining hall staff didn't like it, but it never stopped them.

The redhead sighed, pushing string beans across her plate. "It was actually really fun," she admitted. The session had been much more entertaining than the silent study session she endured alone afterwards. Unfortunately, those papers weren't going to write themselves, and Saturday was her only pure rest day.

"Then you should join in next time!" Ruby said cheerily. "You only watched today."

Pyrrha chuckled dryly, averting her eyes from Yang's prying expression. "I don't know if I want to play- watching was enough for me." By the end of each round, the accusations had been far too intense for the redhead to keep up with. The fact that everyone was still friends afterwards baffled her.

"Was it really that fun?" Nora whined. She had had to go to the theatre all morning and right after lunch to set up for an upcoming show, which is why she hadn't joined Pyrrha for her Mafia adventure that morning. "Can I go next time?"

"Nora, every time you play anything, you end up messing up the board and playing make-believe with the pieces," Weiss pointed out. "It ruins the game."

"Maybe your games are boring," the girl pouted, sticking her tongue out.

Ren sighed, turning back to Arslan to continue their previous conversation before Yang's question. "So Neon's going to be hosting it this year?"

Every year, there was a giant Halloween party the closest Friday to the date itself. It was always hosted by either Flynt, or one of his friends- if Neon was hosting it, then they all knew exactly what to expect. As the serious girl nodded, everyone let out a collective sigh. Neon's parties were always themed- in order to please her, all costumes were going to have to be extremely specific.

At this revelation though, Nora elbowed Pyrrha lightly. "Invite your boy!" she cried. "Tell him the theme and match him, it'll be so cute-"

"What are you talking about, Nora?" Pyrrha nervously interjected, quickly glancing at everyone else. Thankfully, the others were engaged in discussing what the party could look like, so no one noticed the sudden pitch up in her voice. Quieting down and leaning in, she whispered, "Do you really think that he'd go with me?"

"Pft. Heck yeah, he would!" Nora's grin was impossibly wide, the girl beaming at her roommate warmly. "Girl, I saw how he was sitting with you. He was looking at you, y'know." She winked. "No guy would say no when they're already like that!"

"What's this?" a voice from behind called. Pyrrha glanced up, finding a smiling Velvet looking down at her. The older girl's hair was tied up, still wet from a shower- the lithe girl competed in long jump, and their training ran late on the weekends. "Pyrrha, you have someone in mind?"

At her innocent words, everyone instantly honed in on their conversation. They all said the exact same thing with their eyes- Pyrrha wants to go with someone? She had never expressed interest in anyone before, after all.

Pyrrha chuckled, pulling on the calmest expression she could. "No, there's no one," she said smoothly, expressly keeping her eyes away from Yang, whose smile was growing more and more certain. She shifted to the side, allowing Velvet to sit next to her on the bench.

The older girl who slid in sighed once everyone resumed their own conversations. "Y'know, I don't know if I approve," Velvet murmured.

Pyrrha traded confused glances with Nora. "What do you mean?"

Velvet pouted, then flashed Coco a grin as the other girl passed her a tray of food. Cutting into her quiche, she explained, "Well, Mercury isn't exactly-"

"Why the heck would Pyrrha ever go anywhere with Mercury?!" Nora shrieked, slamming her hands down on the table. "Over my dead body she'd go with that guy!"

"He's not that bad," Ruby said, glancing over to where Mercury sat. He always ate his dinner with Emerald and Cinder, two people with whom Pyrrha had never gotten along- but Emerald was a sprinter, so the redhead always was polite to her. Occasionally the boy was joined by Neo and Roman, although the latter two were the only ones with whom any of Pyrrha's friends would ever interact. Currently, the boy was sniffing a piece of tofu suspiciously, and Emerald and Cinder were just trading annoyed looks.

"I'd never go with Mercury," Pyrrha explained quietly. "He… there's something about him. I'm not a fan." It was true. Ever since her first party at Beacon (and oh god, what a terrifyingly college-movie-esque experience that had been for her- they had had the stereotypical red cups for beer pong, and 18-year-old Pyrrha had been appalled) she had never been a fan of Mercury Black. The boy just had a tendency to look a little too much, linger a little too long- it made her shudder, and not in a good way.

Velvet hummed quietly, eating her food. That was the last they mentioned the party that night.

But as Nora, Ren and Pyrrha returned to Ren's single room to hang out, letting the boy begin his next wave of assignments and practice problems, Nora wouldn't let her walk inside. "Go visit him," she urged. "You've only got a few weeks left until then! October won't last forever."

As much as Pyrrha hated to admit it, Nora was right. She did want to ask Jaune to go with her. She'd take any sort of hangout with him, that was true- but while she didn't like parties very much, only going for Nora usually, it would be a lot more fun with him.

So, she spluttered, rolled her eyes, and then lightly and demurely scurried back to their room so she could grab a jacket.