Cobin stayed at the table on the patio long enough to finish his coffee after the students had left. When he got up, he did so slowly, pushed in his chair, and began walking in the general direction of his shop. The weak coffee from the cafe was doing nothing for him, and now that his initial burst of motivation from the morning was gone, he could feel his eyes getting heavy. Maybe now was a good time for the post-drinking laziness, he thought. Suddenly he yawned, and that only made it worse. Okay, he thought, all I have to do now is get back to my shop and get back into bed without…

"Say! My good fellow!" A voice called from off to his right.

Oh shit, please please please don't be talking to me, Cobin cringed. He turned, and yes, to his horror there was a man who appeared to be coming straight toward him. The guy looked relatively young, maybe even Cobin's age or younger, with absolutely wild green hair and a rather unkempt look, like the speed at which he moved somehow rattled his clothes about on his body. "Uh, hello?" Cobin asked.

"Yes, you sir!" The green haired man said, stopping in front of Cobin. "My name is Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, I'm also an instructor here at Beacon, but I don't believe we've been acquainted yet." The man's hand shot out from it's resting position at the side of his body in the most violent motion for requesting a handshake that Cobin had ever witnessed.

Hesitantly, Cobin took the man's hand and shook it. "Rockland Cobin," He said, as Doctor Oobleck jerked his arm so hard he was sure it was going to be ripped from his socket.

"Yes! Wonderful to meet you my dear boy!" Oobleck said, taking a swig from a thermos that Cobin hadn't previously noticed.

"Likewise," Cobin said, wondering how a man of such small stature could pack such a killer handshake.

"Anyway, I saw how you handled those boys out in front of the arena earlier today…"

Oh god, I fucked up, Cobin thought, here it comes.

"...And I just wanted to say, splendid job!" Doctor Oobleck said as he slapped Cobin's shoulder enthusiastically.

Cobin was a bit surprised by this reaction, "Wha...what?" He muttered out, his tired brain having difficulty processing this.

"Yes, you did a wonderful job of teaching those boys a lesson. They're always such a constant problem in class. It's good to know that we now have some staff here that can handle the ruffians!"

"Yeah, well, you see a problem than you've gotta fix it, right?" Cobin said, only struggling minorly to maintain coherent conversation.

"Yes yes of course!" Every word the man spoke he shouted, and it drove nails into Cobin's brain. Then the man looked around, as if checking for someone before he stepped in and got just a bit uncomfortably close to Cobin. "Let me ask you this," he said, more quietly, "are you the type of man that enjoys a good drink every now and then?"

"Um," Cobin said, unsure of how to handle this, "occasionally, yes."

"Well, just between you and me," Oobleck was practically whispering in Cobin's ear at this point, "there's a good chap down at the staff cafeteria by the name of 'Manny' who provides an excellent service for those of us who require a stiff drink to get through the day every once in a while. Go and see him, and tell him 'The Good Doctor' sent you for your medicine, and I'll ensure he knows to give you something, on my tab." Then the man recoiled suddenly, startling Cobin just a bit, but he was beginning to think that this was just the way that the man moved.

"Thank you," Cobin said, not wanting to spoil the moment by informing Oobleck that he was already very familiar with Manny and his 'excellent service.'

"Absolutely no problem, my good sir!" Oobleck said, shouting at his normal volume again. "Well, it's time for me to be off! See you around Mister Cobin!" and with that, the buzzy little man disappeared just as quickly as he had arrived, speed walking away faster than Cobin thought it was possible to speed-walk.

Cobin pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm never drinking again," he said.

…

When Cobin finally made it back to the shop, he found another surprise lying in wait for him.

"Good to see you again, Mister Cobin!" The young man said from where he leaned against the company car in the driveway of the shop.

"Likewise," Cobin said as he made his way up the driveway, "Got somewhere to take me today?" he asked the driver.

The kid shook his head, "Not today, just got a bit of work for you to do." he said, patting the roof of the car.

"Oh really?" Cobin said, honestly a bit worried, "So what's the problem?"

"Brakes started making a funny noise this morning," he said, shrugging. "Pads probably just need to be replaced, but I figured I'd take it over to our resident mechanic and have you take a look at it."

"No problem," Cobin said, nodding, "That's what they pay me for, right?"

"I'd certainly hope so," the kid said, laughing. "Here," he said, as he took the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Cobin.

"You need anything else?" Cobin asked as he caught the keys and put them in his pocket.

"Nope," The kid said, "If you need parts or anything just hit up the Resource Admin shop, they should already be logged as a contact in your scroll."

"Got it, thanks." Cobin said, moving past the young man to open the garage door.

"Well, if that's all, I think I'll be taking my leave," The kid said, "See you around!" He walked back down the driveway and turned down the street.

Cobin watched him walk away, and once he was out of earshot Cobin sighed and said, "Well, so much for that hangover nap."

Considering it was a vehicle with a possible braking problem, Cobin was careful with getting it into the shop and up onto the lift. This would be the first time he had used the contraption and he couldn't even be sure if it would work, which was troubling. Cobin had always done most his own work when it came to his cars but repairing the complicated hydraulic system that the lift operated on was beyond his expertise, and he was not a fan of the idea of suddenly causing a massive expense to the people who had so graciously taken him in after being ripped from his own reality. Thankfully though, with the press of a button the rack buzzed into life and effortlessly lifted the company car into the air. Once it was off the ground, he went to the front driver's side wheel and put his hand between the spokes to feel for the brake pad. Just as the kid had expected, it was almost entirely gone. Cobin knew from the inventory he had taken in the shop that he had a couple boxes of brake pads in the storeroom as well as some brake fluid, replacing these things would be a simple job and he could have the car back to its driver by the morning.

He put on some music and went about the job casually. In a way it was actually helping his hangover to have something to focus on, and it calmed him down immensely to have something that he could do with his hands again. As he was working, he thought a lot about the brief conversation he had with Blake over lunch. It was not like Cobin to be insecure, but he worried slightly if he had said the wrong thing. No, he thought, she wanted the burden of my truth and she got it, and I didn't even have to tell her anything. She was right though, he was trying to make a connection to these people, maybe desperately, in fact. It was a very strange feeling for him to have; to want to know people. The Army, he reasoned, can force you to have interpersonal relationships but never really teaches you how to manage them.

With a shop, tools, and a vehicle he was unfamiliar with, it took him a couple of hours to do the pads on all four corners before he could start the process of draining and replacing the brake fluid. He was under the car, maybe a quarter of the way into this second job, when suddenly there was a loud "Thud!" that seemed to come from above him. He quickly sidestepped out from under the vehicle and looked up to see none other than Ruby Rose standing triumphantly on the top of it, smiling at him. "Hi!" She said, waving.

"Ruby!" Cobin said, panicked, "Not on the car!"

"Oh!" Ruby said, her face suddenly dropping. She hopped off and landed on the floor of the shop, next to Cobin. When she looked up at him her face was red, "Sorry…" she said, scratching the back of her head.

Cobin sighed. "No, it's no problem. Sorry I snapped." He smiled at her, "It's just that, when you're fixing something for someone else they typically want to get it back in better condition than when they gave it to you. That's part of the job." He laughed.

"Yeah, sorry." She said, smiling again. "So you're really a mechanic?" She asked, looking up at the car on the rack.

"Not really," Cobin said, looking a bit guilty, "But I know enough to pretend to be one and get away with it, and right now that's the point."

"Ahhh," She said, understanding.

Cobin put the wrench that had been in his hand down on the table next to him and put his greasy hands in his pockets. "So what's up, Rubes'?" he asked.

Ruby pouted, disapproving of this nickname. "I don't like that," she said.

Cobin gave her a big grin. "And I don't like 'Rocco.' Life is all about compromise." He said.

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Fine," she said, and then smiled. She hopped up, landing with her butt on the counter that ran along the wall of the shop with her feet dangling over the side. "I just wanted to come see how you were doing," she said.

Cobin nodded. "Still worried about seeing me so angry today?" He asked.

Ruby got a bit red again, not aware that her feelings were so transparent. "Yeah," she said, "I mean, I get mad too. But that was something else, the way you were yelling at Cardin and his team."

"Yeah, it was," he said, "but it's all just an act. That's part of what drill is about, it's just the character I played when I was training soldiers. Doesn't really mean anything."

"Maybe," Ruby said, "but something else is on your mind too."

"Maybe," he said.

"No, there definitely is," Ruby said, folding her arms and giving him a stern look, "and you should tell me, because we're friends, and friends talk to each other about that sort of thing."

Cobin sighed, "And if I don't you'll probably halve me with that scythe of yours, right?"

Ruby gave him a big, toothy grin, "Or I can shoot you," she said.

"Excellent," Cobin said, laughing, "Okay, just give me a minute to finish this up."

"No problem! I'm cool with just listening to your music for a bit," Ruby said, kicking her dangling feet back and forth to the beat coming through the shop's PA.

Cobin nodded, and pulled out his scroll, "Here, let me pick out something good," He said, selecting a certain playlist.

Ruby silently watched and listened for about the next hour while Cobin finished up his work on the car. When Cobin looked over at the girl, she was usually looking up at the ceiling with this spacey look in her eyes, probably lost in her own imagination as she listened to the music. In a weird way, she reminded him of his…

Nope, he thought, don't think about that.

When he was done, he went over to his small mini-fridge in the washroom and grabbed a couple of sodas that Manny had given him as mixer. His hangover was gone and he sort of wanted a beer, but he made up his mind to not drink in front of Ruby. He came back into the main floor of the shop, where Ruby was smiling at him from her perch on the counter top. Cobin walked over to her and handed her the soda, before hopping up on the counter next to her.

"Cheers," Cobin said as they clinked their cans together, then taking a moment of silence to listen to the music.

"Steppin' on my rhymes, spending all my time, writing all these lines, sometimes it's cold outside, so I bring out my coat tonight…"

"Okay," Ruby said, "So what's really going on?" she asked, sipping the soda.

Cobin took a deep breath in, "It's complicated, and it's not your or anyone else's fault. It's just a thing," he said.

"Okay…?" Ruby said, "So what's the thing?"

"It's like…" Cobin said, taking a minute to frame it correctly, "Think about it like this; when you're born, and you see another person for the first time, that's the most depthful and meaningful relationship that you've had in your entire life, because it's the only relationship that you've had with another person, right?"

Ruby nodded, "Yeah," She said.

"And as you go through life there are some people that will get to know you, really well. Like, not who you present yourself to the world as, or who you try to appear to be, but really know you, aware of who you are on a more intimate level. When you're first born, you don't need that type of relationship, because you're unaware of other people and what bonding with them means, so every relationship you have is the most important relationship of your life. But as you get older, and you start to realize that there are people that really, really know you, sometimes on a scary level, that becomes really important to you. There are people that understand you, and even in the event of your death would have had an understanding of who you really were. Even when you're away from those people, just having the knowledge that they're out there comforts you."

"Yeah," Ruby said, "I know what you mean."

"Well I don't have anyone like that, not anymore," Cobin said, "Coming here, it's like being born again, but instead of being ignorant to my relationships with other people and what they mean, I'm acutely aware that nobody really knows me, whatever that is. And it's a lonely feeling. Regardless of how much you, or anyone else tries to comfort me, I'm just going to feel alone for a while, until I feel like somebody knows me again." Cobin turned and gave her a slight smile, "Stupid adult stuff, right?" he said.

"No, not really," Ruby said. "It makes a lot of sense actually. I'm just sorry that you feel lonely."

Cobin noticed how sad the girl looked suddenly, and questioned his decision to unload his feelings on a teenager. "Hey," he said, patting her on the shoulder, "I'm not always going to feel that way, and every time you come in here and talk to me, it does get less lonely."

She looked up at him, "It does?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, "Anytime I get the chance to talk to you or any of your friends. It really does feel less lonely. These things just take time, is all." He smiled at her.

Suddenly, without another word the girl reached out and wrapped her arms around Cobin's trunk, and buried her face in his side. If there was one thing in the world that Cobin definitely was not, it was a hugger. Something about the physical contact just made it uncomfortable for him, and he winced just a bit and froze up when Ruby embraced him so suddenly. It took him a second, but he finally snapped out of it and patted her on the head, "Hey, hey, it's okay, no need for that," he said, trying to figure out the most tactful way to reject the unwanted embrace. Thankfully though, the girl withdrew and returned to her normal sitting position.

"Hey," Ruby said, "is it cool if we just hang out and listen to music for a while longer?"

Cobin smiled at her, "That sounds great," he said.

…

That night, as Pyrrha practiced with Jaune on the roof above their room, she found herself more distracted than normal. For Pyrrha, being distracted at all, especially while fighting, was highly unusual. She found herself almost entirely zoned out and simply relying on reflexes to swat away Jaune's attacks as her mind wandered back toward the soldier. When he had refused to answer her question that day, it stung her. While her position and reputation had often been a point of insecurity, she did believe herself to be an extremely competent warrior, and almost felt as though she had been dismissed by someone less knowledgable today at that cafe table. But at the same time, it had been often impressed upon her growing up that she should respect her elders, and so she had let it slide without saying anything. But she still really wanted to know.

She came out of her brain space just in time to see Jaune take another swing at her, and this time her panic reflex kicked in, and as she parried his sword out of the way she also stepped in and automatically put her elbow straight into his solar plexus, causing him to be lifted off his feet and fly a good ten or fifteen feet away from her. Once she realized what she had done she gasped. "Jaune!" she said, running to where the boy lay on his back and kneeling at his side. "Are you alright?" she asked, scared she might have hurt him.

"Ouch." Jaune wheezed, coughing a bit.

"I'm so sorry!" She said, "God I'm so stupid, I wasn't paying attention."

"If that's how well you fight when you're not paying attention, then I'd be pretty scared to see what you could do to me when you're actually trying." He said, giving out something between a cough and a laugh.

Pyrrha smiled down at Jaune. That's what she liked about him, his sense of pride never seemed to interfere with his ability to take absolutely nothing too seriously. "Here, do you think you can stand up?" She asked.

"Uh, might need another minute." he said, a rather pained look in his face. "So what's on your mind?" He asked.

Pyrrha took a deep breath in and sighed. She got down, and laid on her back next to Jaune, looking up at the stars above them. "You really want to know?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course." He said.

"It's about that soldier guy, Cobin," She said. "I just… I can't stop thinking about what has to be so secret about what happened to him before. It bugs me that he would shoot at us without thinking but not answer a simple question about where he came from."

"Maybe it's not such a simple question, Pyrrha." Jaune said. "He did say he was at war, you know."

Pyrrha turned her head and looked over at Jaune, "Yeah, but... What makes it so much worse than what we've been through? I mean, we've been fighting battles, going on missions, training…"

Jaune turned his head to look back at her. "Pyrrha, I'm not nearly as smart, or as strong, or really as good as you in any way when it comes to this stuff." He paused, taking a deep breath, "But I do know that there's a big difference between going out to fight a battle and being at war. There's no really saying what he experienced, or why he's uncomfortable sharing it. But I think we should respect that."

She turned to look back at the stars, "I guess you're right," she said.

"Plus, it's not like he just straight up said 'no,' he said that that little cafe table in the middle of the school day wasn't the place or time. And I think that's even more understandable." Jaune said.

"Okay, yeah, you're right." Pyrrha said, giving it up entirely. "It still bugs me, though."

"Hey, you're allowed to be bugged by whatever you want, just don't kill me because of it," He said, managing a real laugh this time.

Pyrrha turned back to him and smiled, "Ready to go again?" She asked.

"Hell yeah!" Jaune said.

…

Blake and Sun sat on the slanted upper roof of the first year dormitory, enjoying each other's company and looking up at the night sky. It was a cool, breezy night but it was still comfortable, and since Blake had been unable to sleep she decided to invite her monkey-tailed friend for a bit of shared nighttime silence. Blake sat up a bit higher on the roof, while Sun had laid down closer to the edge just to Blake's left, so his face was just about level with her boots. Blake had taken her bow off for once and was moving her ears around consciously, stretching them out after having to keep them trapped and stationary all day.

"That's so adorable," Sun said, looking back at Blake as she did her little ear stretches.

"I will kick you in the face," Blake said, looking back at him.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. "But I don't think you invited me up here so that I could agitate you into violence. So what's up?"

Blake looked up at the sky, trying to decide how to keep the more incriminating details out of the story. "There's a new instructor that just arrived here from Vacuo, I think. And he bugs me."

"Yeah? So what about him bugs you?" Sun asked, trying to get a real answer out of the stubborn girl.

"He's… been around a bit. Ex military, but not like Ironwood or any of these Atlas soldier creeps. Like real military."

Sun laughed, "And so what? Is he bossing you around and making you do push ups or something?" he asked.

Blake shook her head, "No, it's nothing like that. He's just... he doesn't seem to get that we're grown up, I think he still sees us as kids, and I don't like it. But what really bugs me about it is that while I don't like it, I can't bring myself to not like him. He's an asshole but I feel like I should trust him."

"Ahh," Sun said, "So you found someone that you feel like you can relate to because you've also 'been around a bit,' but he's not treating you like an equal?"

Blake was honestly a bit shocked, she hadn't expected that level of analyticism to come from her goofy friend. "Yeah... I think that's it," she said.

"It makes sense, but let me ask you this," Sun said, "Does he know about everything that you've done?"

"Well, of course not," Blake said, "I couldn't risk that."

"Exactly," Sun said, "So what if he doesn't know what you've been through. You own that, so just live with him and his stupid attitude."

"It's not quite as simple as that... " Blake said.

"I'm sure," Sun smiled up at her, "Us 'lovable-asshole' types are just such frustrating people, aren't we?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling back at him, "Except you're more like a lovable doofus." She playfully nudged his shoulder with her foot.

"Ouch!" He said, "I felt that one in my soul."

Blake laughed, "Oh, shut up." She said.

There was silence for a moment, then Sun said, "Hey, Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for inviting me up here tonight."

She blushed a bit, thankfully it was much too dark for anyone to see. "Yeah, well, thanks for being my lovable doofus." she said.

"Anytime, ma'am." He said.

…

Hey! Thanks for reading!

I sort of want to publish a list of songs I believe would be on Cobin's playlist in this chapter. But I'm way to tired to scroll through all my music and make one, so I'll just give out a few that I think fit the vibe:

-Brother Ali: "Singing This Song," "Namesake," "Only Life I Know."

-Skiggy Rapz: "Steppin' On My Rhyme," (actually featured in the chapter.)

-Doujah Raze- "Hardtimes."

-Atmosphere- "Sunshine."

Once again this is the same type of underground hip-hop/rap that I've featured in previous chapters, and if it's not your thing (which it isn't for a lot of people, I get it,) go ahead and imagine whatever you want for what Cobin played for Ruby, this is just my interpretation.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, see you next time!

-Wahs.