Ravus lifted his hand over her eyes as she and his team exit the exhibition hall. He always forgot how dark it was compared to outside. Then again his eyes might be dilated from watching Pyrrha kick Team CRDL's butt. That was so satisfying to watch. He looked over at team RWBY, who still seemed to be staying distant from him and the others. He glanced over at Aero to see if he noticed or had any reaction.
You. Are a Schnee? Yang asked seriously.
Yeah. Ran away from home. Ravus remembered how noticeably on edge Aero had been when he told everyone.
Hmm, alright. Yang responded. So long you don't mind us calling you Ice King.
Please don't call me that. Aero responded, though a smile crept at the corner of his lips.
While Yang had taken it well, the rest was mixed. I guess almost like when Blake turned out to be a Faunus… but on the other end of the fight. At the thought of her name Ravus looked up to see where she had headed. As he spotted her, he saw Sun go up to talk with her.
"So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend..." Ravus felt his face drain.
"Woah, are you OK Ravus?" Vivian quickly asked, looking over at him.
"…but you and me, I'm thinking, not as lame, huh?" Ravus furled his eyebrows as he looked at Sun smile at Blake.
"Ravus?" Natasha asked.
"Let's go this way." Ravus gestured to his team, walking in the opposite direction of Blake and Sun.
"But, our next class is the other way." Natasha responded confused.
"We'll take the scenic route." Ravus answered, hoping his mock cheeriness could convince his team to follow. They however, did not seem convinced.
"Ravus, there's a time for scenic and there's a time for efficiency." Aero responded. "The best way to get to class is the way we always go."
"Don't you want to mix it up though?" Ravus asked, opening his arms. "Variety is what makes life interesting."
"Ravus, yesterday you said you wanted to make a complaint to the cooks because they kept changing the drinks that they served at lunch." Natasha giggled at Vivian's comment and Aero tilted his head in agreement. Ravus looked past his team and couldn't see team RWBY, or Blake, so decided it was safe and joined them.
As they walked to class the girls started to outpace the boys and soon Aero and Ravus were out of earshot of Vivian and Natasha.
"So are you gonna ask Blake to the dance or are you not into dark haired girls anymore?" Aero suddenly asked, causing Ravus to almost drop his books.
"What?" Ravus accidentally shouted, quickly regretting it.
"Oh, so you're not over her." Aero joked, leading Ravus farther along the hallway.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ravus responded.
"I know you're lying on both accounts." Aero returned. "Yang asked both of us earlier if we would be available for a 'guy's opinion'," Aero air-quoted, "if she was concerned about something for the dance planning. Plus you might not be a talker about your crushes but your cheeks speak for themselves." Ravus instinctively covered his face, making Aero smirk.
"Ok, yeah. I like her. So what." Ravus admitted, looking down at the floor.
"So the dance might be a good chance to see what happens." Aero answered, the sarcasm now disappeared from his voice.
"I'm not going to go to the dance." Ravus responded. Aero raised his eyebrows.
"Hmm," he started, "interesting choice. Tell me how you plan getting that past Yang. You know how much she likes to raise the roof." Ravus couldn't help but smile at Aero's play-on words in honor of the subject in question. It's always easier to laugh when you aren't the one being laughed at.
Natasha glanced over at Ravus again as the four of them made their way back to their dorm. He didn't show any more signs of sulking so she presumed whatever Aero had said back in the hallway helped him. He sighed as he dropped his things by his bed, and appeared to follow his normally decompressing routine.
"Hey, look what someone slipped under our door." Vivivan said, holding up a bright piece of paper. "Beacon Acadamy Vytal Festival Student Dance. This weekend! Formal attire please. Refreshments provided. Bring your Dance Moves but leave the square dancing behing because we're going to have a Ball! Well, I think we know who wrote that." Vivian joked handing the paper off to Natasha.
"Oh, I cannot wait for the dance. Finally a chance to just have some fun!" She jumped in the air excited but was quickly deflated upon seeing Ravus. He didn't seem excited. Or even apathetic. He actually looked sad. "Ravus?"
"Huh. Oh yeah. Yay dance." He said sarcastically, not even trying to feign enthusiasm.
"Oh, you don't like dances." Natasha stated, placing the flyer on her desk.
"It's not that." Aero commented, folding his arms as he looked at Ravus. Ravus returned with a glare.
"The music? We can bribe the DJ." Natasha half-joked, hopeful to get Ravus to come. He shook his head. "The food? We can go out to eat beforehand." Another shake. "The outfits? I'm sure suits aren't that uncomfortable."
"There's nothing wrong with going a lone Ravus." Vivian suddenly commented.
"What?" Ravus shouted, suddenly losing his composure. "Why would I care if I don't have a date when I'm not going?" Natasha to stepped back toward the equally shocked Vivian, but Aero just shook his head.
"Wow," Natasha breathed, "this is not how I expected you to react when you have a crush?" She finished with a smirk.
"Who said…"
"You did." Vivian answered dryly, shooting down Ravus' protest. He looked at her silent. "Ravus, you don't have to say anything for people to get a message." She let a small smile, trying to show she cared.
"Yeah. And it's OK to like someone Ravus." Natasha added.
"That's what I tried to tell him." Aero commented with a shrug.
"You were teasing me!" Ravus objected, pointing a finger at Aero.
"Ravus, the only times we've been able to get a word out of you is if we ask you about your training or say something that upsets you." Aero responded. "Do you think we like not seeing you around?"
"Or only hearing you when you get upset?" Natasha added. "We want to hear about how you're feeling. Who you like. Viv already knows who I like." She smiled over at her teammate and friend. "I could tell you and then you could tell us."
"Pass." Ravus sighed, starting to make his way toward the door.
"Ravus…" Aero began.
"Nope." Ravus cut him off before he could finish. "I don't want to hear it." He left the room and closed the door behind him. A thought struck him and he frantically searched his pockets until he felt his scroll. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At least I'm not locked out. He began walking down the hallway toward nowhere, just wanting to get away. I need to improve and be the best so we can be great. What's a stupid dance going to do anyway? I need to be a leader and that means train. That's how Aero got so good. Training with Uncle Qrow. Ravus looked down at the floor, thinking of Aero. He probably should have been chosen any way…
"Oomph." Ravus rubbed his head and quickly looked around. Great, I hope nobody saw me run into a wa… His thoughts were interrupted at realizing what he had actually ran into. "Oh, hi Blake."
"Ravus." She responded, beginning to pick up her books.
"Here, let me help you." Ravus quickly said, bending over and grabbing as many books as he could hold.
"Um, do you need help?" Blake asked. Ravus could only smile, his focus on his grip on the bottom book he held tightly so it wouldn't fall. "Well, um, I'm going to find an empty classroom if you want to carry them."
"Sure." Ravus responded, gently turning around the follow Blake. How does she carry these by herself? They walked mostly in silence until one of Yang's dance flyers. "Can you believe they plan to have a dance?" He scoffed, looking over at Blake. She didn't seem to hear. "I mean, dances are fun for some but I don't think they're that cool."
"Hmm." Blake hummed. "Yang thought for sure you'd want to go." Ravus tripped at this but recovered to save the books.
"Really?" Yang's been talking about me to Blake? What else has she…
"Yeah. She said that you always wanted to join her when she went to the club." Blake continued.
"Oh, yeah, well," Ravus started, trying to sound calm, "I wasn't really going for the dancing and stuff. You see, Yang is, well Yang." He continued, feeling himself relax. "And it seemed that every time she went somewhere she got a black eye or gave someone one. Mostly the latter." He laughed at that, thinking of when Yang punched some jerk who had made fun of him and Ruby at Signal. "I just wanted to be there. Make sure she was safe." A book slipping reminded him of where he was and looked over at Blake, though quickly looked back down the hallway.
"Sooooo," Ravus drew out, "I guess you are going to the dance?" He asked as he walked.
"What?"
"Because" Ravus continued, not hearing Blake, "I saw Sun ask you earlier and I mean, of course you'd say yes."
"Ravus," Blake began, but he continued to ramble.
"And I mean, why wouldn't you? You always look so calm around Sun and if I could make you even half as happy as I see you with him,"
"Ravus," Blake said again, more stern.
"then I would be happy because I love you!"
"…Ravus?"
"Yeah Blake?" He turned to her, surprised by the look on her face. It almost looked like shock. Was it something I… Ravus felt his eyes grow wide.
"What did I just say?" He squeaked. Without thinking he let go of the books and ran. He didn't know where, but anywhere was better than there.