Cobin sat with his legs hanging off the back of the ambulance as a paramedic knelt on the ground with some special tool and picked bits of glass out of his hand. On his left side sat Ruby, who remained silent and just sort of looked at the ground as the paramedic went about her work. They had insisted on putting a shock blanket on Cobin, which now hung around his shoulder like some kind of cape-of-shame, and the tired old soldier wore it with a definite slouch in his back and deep, dark circles under his eyes. The rest of the students had formed a semicircle around them, either looking on at the medic's work with interest or completely lost in thought.
"So…" Cobin said slowly, looking up, "What happened with the camera guy?"
The three members of team RWBY that made up the large group shifted nervously for a moment and diverted their eyes from him, and he could feel Ruby herself do the same, even though he wasn't looking at her.
"We lost him inside the hotel," Blake said, being the first one to speak up, "We only caught a glimpse of him before his disappeared back into his room, and he might have already been on the ground floor by the time we made it up there."
"I'm sorry," Ruby said quietly from her seat next to him.
"It's alright," Cobin said, nudging her, "You don't win every battle, you don't catch every bad guy. If all of my missions back home had gone as well as this little escapade than it might have been a much shorter…" Cobin suddenly realized the audience he had and stopped before he said anything more. He scanned quickly over the faces of Sun and Neptune, and they definitely looked a bit confused. Ah shit, Cobin thought. Then he looked down at the medic, who was so involved with what she was doing she wasn't paying any attention. "... Well, you get the idea," he said.
"But you did catch him," Weiss said, "Even when we couldn't it."
Cobin looked at Weiss, it amazed him how the woman could sound so accusing even when she was complimenting somebody. "Yeah, well, I've been doing this for a long fuckin' time," he said, "And Serendipity favors me, I'm like her pet chihuahua," he chucked at his own joke, but no one else did.
Cobin got silent for a second as he looked past the students at a scene unfolding behind them: Three more paramedics were lifting a stretcher with the cameraman on it into the back of another ambulance. They already had two IV's hooked into him, and one of the paramedics was operating a pump that led into an oropharyngeal airway, breathing for him. From the distance Cobin was sitting at, the face behind the oxygen mask looked like little more than a bloody pulp help together with gauze. He looked limp. Cobin's memory from the past thirty or so minutes was shaky, but he knew the kid couldn't have been over twenty years old. Terrorist or not, once the moment's over and the rush is gone, it's one of those things that's hard to deal with.
"Alright, you're set to go," the paramedic said as she snipped off a pair of loose gauze hanging off of his hand.
"Thank you," he said, examining the bandage, "Any need to go to the hospital?"
The paramedic gave him that were-you-born-yesterday look that he had become all too familiar with these past weeks, "Of course not," she said, "I got all the glass out, and that biogel I put on your hand before the bandage should have it healed up in no time. If it gets infected -which it shouldn't- go ahead and see the doc, otherwise you'll be fine. Can't guarantee there won't be a nasty scar, though." And with that, the paramedic climbed past him, into the back of the ambulance.
"That's fine," Cobin said, "What's one more?"
"You need a ride somewhere, Mister Cobin?" The paramedic said from behind him.
"Nope, legs still work fine," he said.
"Alright then, I'll send the release form to your scroll. Just make sure you e-sign it sometime in the next twelve hours, or prepare for a nasty fine." The paramedic said, sending him off with one final warning.
"You got it," Cobin said. He stood, shrugging the shock blanket off his back, and stepped forward away from the ambulance. Ruby followed.
"Alright," He said, addressing the students, "Who's ready to go the fuck back home?"
All the students nodded in agreement, "Professor Goodwitch is waiting for us at the Air Hub," Pyrrha said.
"Sweet," Cobin said, "Don't worry, I'll take the fall for this one."
"Rocco…" Ruby started.
"Hey, I'm the responsible adult," Cobin said, looking down at the girl, "There was probably a better way I could have handled this. I'll talk to Goodwitch."
"Are you sure?" Yang said from the crowd.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Cobin said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "But afterward, I'm gonna get wicked fucking drunk." This comment was met with an ocean of confused or otherwise eyebrow raised looks from the students, "Uh… I mean… responsible adult things… like sleeping, and reading…" That one prompted a small round of laughter from the students, lightening the mood. Cobin smiled, "Alright, let's get out of here," he said.
…
Professor Ozpin was sitting at his desk on Saturday evening when a telecall from the Vale Police Chief came up on the screen of his desk-top scroll. Ozpin and the Police Chief, a heavy-set man named Quibs, had a very long and very interesting working relationship. At first, the two men didn't care for each other; Quibs saw Ozpin as the egoistic head of an institution that did nothing but produce maniacs with superpowers who tore apart his streets, and Ozpin saw Quibs as an overly political, loud-mouthed incompetent who had good ideals but not enough brains to make them a reality. But, as the years went by and cases of Beacon students assisting in the falling crime rate stacked, Quibs started to become much more understanding when he caught an aspiring Huntsman or Huntress up to something deplorable while on vacation in Vale. Many favors had been exchanged and now the two men, while still not quite friends, appreciated each other very much.
Ozpin pressed the "Accept Call" button on his screen. "Professor Ozpin speaking, how may I help you today, Chief?" Ozpin said.
Chief Quib's face appeared on his screen. "Good afternoon, Professor," Quibs said, "Everything going alright up there on that big old mountain?"
Ozpin chuckled, "Yes, Chief, quite alright. But I hear it's not so down where the real people are," he said, sipping his tea.
Quibs shook his head, the man looked exhausted, "They got a lot of people this time, Ozpin. I mean, that breach in the old subway that happened a month or so ago, that was big, don't get me wrong. But those were Grimm, and your students and staff were already there to hold them off when they hit. This time…" the man looked off to the side of the screen, it was obviously very difficult for him to talk about this, "They got families, Ozpin. Whole families. They hit a major Dust store at peak hours on a Saturday, and took out the bakery and the card shop on either side of it. You can't retaliate against a car bomb."
Ozpin was a man of small expression, he just didn't move his face very much, but anyone who had known him long enough could tell this news had made him very somber. "My deepest sympathies to the families of those lost. Beacon Academy is very much a part of the Vale community, and as the headmaster I officially extend our hand in helping recover from this catastrophe in any way we can. Just say the word."
"Well, that's sort of what I called to talk to you about," Quibs said, "Because some of your students and staff already did."
Ozpin nodded, "Yes, I'm aware," he said, "Did they cause you or your officers any unnecessary trouble?"
"No," Quibs said, shaking his head, "Quite the opposite; if your students hadn't been there we might not have even caught any of these people. I simply don't have a task force capable of dealing with this sort of event right now. So my gratitude goes to you and your academy."
"Thank you very much, Chief," Ozpin said.
"But," Quibs cleared his throat, "It's not your students I need to talk to you about, it's this new instructor of yours; a Mister Rockland Cobin?"
Ozpin's minor facial expression suddenly became very serious, "Yes?" he probed.
"Well, I gotta ask, Professor, where in the Dust did you find this guy?" Quibs suddenly looked down, appearing to be sorting through papers on his desk. "So, he's directly responsible for apprehending four of the five terrorists that are now in our custody, and all four of those individuals are now in intensive care at Vale General Hospital." Quibs now produced a small pair of glasses that he doned as he held a report of some kind up to his face. "God, we've got broken jaws, broken legs, skull fractures, a bent… a bent trachea? Holy shit." Quibs shook his head again and put the report down, turning his attention back to Ozpin on the other side of the screen, "He damned near killed two of these guys, and one of them needs like, full facial reconstructive surgery. IF he makes it, that is, they don't even know yet." The Police Chief suddenly looked very serious, "Ozpin, I've never, ever seen anyone from your academy -student or staff- fight like this guy. What the hell is going on up there?"
Ozpin was silent for a moment as he formulated his thoughts, and took a long sip of his tea before answering. "Sergeant Rockland Cobin was in the military for a very long time, in multiple different kingdoms. He is a professional soldier to end all other professional soldiers. But like all men with his experience, he's working through the things that he did and saw while serving. He sort of… fell into our lap here at Beacon, and we've taken him under our wing as part of his rehabilitation process. And almost universally, his presence has been a positive force on campus so far." Ozpin gave it a second to let Quibs absorb all of that, "However, he is being constantly evaluated to ensure that he does not pose a danger to my students or the kingdom they're training to protect, and this incident will be discussed with him."
Quibs nodded, accepting that answer as sufficient, "Alright, Professor. I've trusted you for quite a few years, and I see no reason not to continue. But please, keep an eye on your lost puppy, if you would."
"Understood, Chief," Ozpin said, "I wish you and your officers the best of luck following up with this incident, and please let me know if there's anything that Beacon can do to help."
"Thank you, Professor," Quibs said, "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Ozpin said as the call disconnected.
Ozpin stood from his chair, and walked to the large window overlooking the campus behind his desk. He squinted, and in the distance he could see the air shuttle that almost certainly held the students and staff in question approaching the landing platform. Ozpin looked down at his wristwatch. It's late, he thought, I'll let him have a nights rest before we meet. Plus, I've no doubt that Glynda has already roughed them all up quite enough. He took another sip from his tea, and held the cup up in front of his face, giving it a rather disappointed look. "There are some days when I wish I had something stronger around," he said.
…
The morning was coming to a close on Sunday as Blake and Yang walked silently down the road toward Cobin's shop. The girls walked side-by-side, looked straight ahead, and held closed fists. Yang also carried the clothes from the previous days shopping trip, which had been such a nice little adventure until…
"Looks like his front door is still closed," Blake said as they neared the shop, "Just want to use the skylight?"
Yang shook her head, "I don't know if you saw what I saw yesterday, but I don't think it's a good idea to just randomly drop on top of him from the sky anymore. Especially right after everything that happened."
Blake nodded in agreement, "Are we going to talk about it?" she asked.
"Talk about what?" Yang said, pretending she didn't understand.
"Come on, Yang," Blake said, looking over at her teammate, "You just said it yourself, you saw what he did to that guy yesterday."
Yang sighed, "Yeah, I did. But I also know that, that guy had it coming. And Rocco isn't the bad guy in this situation."
"I'm not arguing that," Blake said, "I just…" she shook her head, trying to get a handle on her thoughts, "I just think it's time we really get him to talk about what he did before he came here."
"Yeah, well. Now's our opportunity." Yang said, as they stepped onto the short driveway.
The clothes had been recovered despite the unfortunate way that the shopping trip had ended, and Yang had decided that they should deliver them to Rocco that morning. Yang had wanted them all to go and do it as a team, but they had been unable to get Ruby out of bed; she was either literally too exhausted from Saturday to get up, or she was faking it because she didn't want to. Either way, Yang didn't blame her. Weiss had agreed to stay back and keep a watchful eye over their leader, leaving just Yang and Blake to make the trip.
"Okay, let's get this thing open," Yang said as she dropped the bag to the ground and squatted down to grab the handles on the garage door. Even before the door opened, she could tell just how loudly the music inside was playing because she could hear the bass and feel it in the vibrations emanating from the door. When the door rolled up and the inside of the shop was revealed, both girls got wide-eyed and froze.
"...And drop the attitude,
Why you acting like that little sticky pass is some kind of rite of passage, dude?
Keep rapping 'till you get discovered,
but better believe it's the last time we ever see each other
'cause you played yourself…"
The inside of the shop was absolutely trashed. Tools were strewn about, all over the counters and floor; all of the rolling tool cabinets were on their side, scattered about the place; pieces of wood and metal were littered about; even some of the heavier appliances that had been bolted to the floor had been uprooted. Yang and Blake couldn't even believe what they were seeing.
"Rocco…" Yang said hesitantly, just loud enough to cut through the music, "You home, buddy?"
Several seconds passed, and there was no response.
"There!" Blake said, pointing to the back of the room.
Yang looked, and sure enough, back up against the wall exactly opposite of where they were standing, there appeared to be a figure slumped over on his side. Neither Blake nor Yang hesitated, and rushed into the shop toward him. After they had crossed the short distance, they found Cobin, completely passed out and surrounded by empty bottles. There was an empty handle of a gin, and a broken whisky bottle, as well as an uncountable number of beer bottles, surrounding him like a glass nest of regrets. Yang knelt down to get a closer look at her friend; she could see that he was breathing but his face looked positively sickly, he was very green and pale, and drool trickled out of his mouth.
"Damn," Yang said, "he wasn't kidding yesterday."
"Is he alright?" Blake asked, peering over Yang's shoulder.
Yang nodded, "Yeah, but he's going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up."
Suddenly, Cobin grumbled, causing Yang to shuffle back a bit. "Five… five more minutes…" he muttered out, the words falling from his mouth in the most sloppy way possible.
"God, is he still drunk?" Blake asked.
Yang raised an eyebrow, "I don't know…" she said. She moved forward again and patted the big old soldier on the cheek. Cobin rustled a bit at the touch, and began grumbling again. Yang took this as a positive response, and kept patting him until Cobin finally muttered out…
"Fuck you, mom."
"Oh yeah," Yang said, "he's still drunk."
"Well, what do we do? We can't just leave him like this…" Blake said.
Yang shook her head, "Alright, go into the wash room and start filling up the wash basin."
Blake nodded, and without another word walked past Yang and into the small wash room. After several moments, Yang could hear the water start running.
"Alright, you fat mother fucker," Yang said, grabbing Cobin by the shoulders and sitting him upright, "Let's get you cleaned up."
And throughout all this time, the music still played….
"...Girl please, don't treat me like you'd treat a toy,
you wouldn't look twice if I was the pizza boy…"
Yang was a hard-hitter, no denying that. She had trained and worked extremely hard to be in the kind of physical condition she was in, and she remained confident in her ability to fight even when her Aura was depleted. Once she had Cobin sitting up-right, she got her arms under the much larger man's armpits and lifted him to his feet. By the time Blake had come back out into the main shop floor, ready to help carry the heavy soldier, Yang already had him in a fireman's carry over her shoulder.
"...You ain't gotta flash me your ass and tits,
I'd rather fantasise that you're a rap advocate…"
"Wow," Blake said, a bit taken aback, "You need any help with that?"
"Nope," Yang said, smiling, "I'm good," and then she proceeded to carry Cobin past Blake and into the washroom. Blake followed her, and once they were at the back, where the wash basin was quickly filling up, Yang gracefully laid Cobin back down on the ground, and then began fiddling with his shirt. "Here, help me get this off," Yang said, looking back over her shoulder at her teammate.
"...Look around, you see all these women?
They came for the music, you came for the scenesterism…"
"Umm…" Blake was hesitant, "We're not going to… bathe him, are we?"
"What?" Yang asked, startled, "Oh Dust no, we're just going to hydrate him a bit," she as she finished pulling his shirt over his shoulders.
When Yang looked down at the man, she saw a torso riddled with scar tissue. It was difficult to tell exactly how many instruments of death had been brought to bear on him, but it was more than either of the girls really wanted to think about for too long. Burn marks, bursting shrapnel, bullet holes, blades… just a few possibilities. Yang stared at it for longer than she would ever admit.
"...The validating game is degrading,
got me cornered at the bar to boost your ratings…"
The song made Yang snap out of it, "Alright," she said, now I need your help to pick him up."
Neither of them said anything, about the scars or otherwise, as they lifted Cobin off the ground and turned him over, so his face would be facing the inside of the wash basin. While Blake held him up by his belt, Yang took control of his head and shoulders, and began dunking his head in the deep pool of lukewarm water that now inhabited the wash basin. She'd dunk his head under, hold it for a second or two, and then bring it back to allow him to breath. It wasn't going to make the alcohol in his blood go away any faster, but the green color did seem to be leaving his face.
"...I'm getting too old for the trap,
go wiggle that cleavage at the opening act…"
"Is this actually helping?" Blake asked.
"Maybe, maybe not," Yang said.
"What?"
"Yes, it's helping," Yang said quickly, "I think I've been to a few more bad parties than you."
"...Plus you smell like a bucket of Vodka,
I would never put my meat sauce up in that pasta…"
After a few more dunks, Yang pulled him away from the wash basin, and the two girls sat him down, sitting up against the wall. "Here, toss me his shirt," Yang said. Blake complied, and once the fabric was in her hands, Yang set about quickly drying him off with it, before discarding it on the floor next to him. "Okay, big guy, let's get you into bed…"
"... The shows over, so why're you waiting by the bus
Like I'm supposed to be impressed with the basics…"
Together this time, Blake and Yang carried the man out of the washroom and through the second door, into the office space where his cot was. Yang held him up while Blake quickly went over to the bed and removed the covers.
"... you don't believe that I don't wanna see you naked,
but I'm not hanging out, take care and stay safe, kid…"
Together, they moved him over the bed and set him down gently, with his head resting on the pillow, and then Blake threw the covers back over him. As if sensing it was time to really rest, Cobin began to move underneath the covers, pulling them closer and curling up beneath them. He grumbled a bit, but the noise didn't last for very long before he was peacefully back asleep.
"...You played yourself!
Yeah, I have actually heard someone say that to me before…"
"So what now?" Blake asked.
"I don't know, I think we should wait a bit, make sure he doesn't hurt himself," she said.
"...You played yourself!
You realise I can clearly see your clitoris, through your jeans…"
Yang shook her head, and squeezed her eyes shut, "Turn that music off, though. That can't be be helping him sleep," she said.
Blake nodded and went over to the desk, where Cobin's scroll had been set down. Swiftly, she opened it and hit the pause button the blaring music, and the shop was washed with peaceful silence.
"Finally," Yang whispered.
Blake took a seat at the desk, in Cobin's office chair, while Yang opted to sit on the end of the cot, just past Cobin's feet. The two girls sat in silence for several minutes, just listening to the man softly snore.
"I'm so glad Ruby wasn't here to see this," Yang said, breathing a sigh of relief. The blond girl rubbed her eyes. In all truth, she wanted to still be in bed, too. But they couldn't all be completely incapacitated.
Blake said nothing right away, she just kind of looked at Yang for several seconds, and then her facial expression became sharper, "What was all that about yesterday, with that yellow dress?"
Yang's eyes grew a bit wide. "What?" she said, looking up from her hands at Blake.
"Don't act like you don't know what," Blake said. She wasn't about to give up any ground on this one.
"Look…" Yang said, but she had to pause, "I just wanted to know how I looked in it, it wasn't a big deal," she said.
"It seemed like a big deal," Blake said, "And you could have asked anyone. Why not an employee? Why not one of us? Why go all the way from the back of the store, to the very front of it to ask him?"
Yang closed her eyes again, she could feel the headache building. She really was too tired for this. She opened her eyes again, and looked directly at Blake, "You're really just not going to let up on this are you?"
Blake sat back in the chair, and crossed her arms, "Absolutely not," she said.
"Gah. Alright," Yang made an exasperated noise, and then diverted her gaze, looking to the side and down at the ground, "You know…" she started, "Guys our age are assholes. All of them. It would just be so nice, just for once, to be treated like an adult by an adult. You get that?"
Blake just raised an eyebrow, "Umm…."
"Oh, right, I forgot," Yang said, "You've got Monkey Boy. No offense to him or anything."
Blake shrugged, "It's an apt description," she said.
"Yeah, but he's a nice guy," Yang said.
"Don't try and change the subject," Blake said.
Yang sighed, "Look, I'm not into Rocco or anything," she said, looking over at the man sleeping next to her, "It would just be nice to feel like… I was on his level, you know?"
Blake uncrossed her arms, "I think I feel that way too," she said, "but in a different way than you do."
Now it was Yang's turn to raise an eyebrow, "Oh?"
Blake nodded, "You know about my past, right? Everything that's happened with me and the White Fang?" She shook her head, "I can't explain it, but for some reason it's really, really important to me that he takes it seriously. That he knows about it. But I haven't told him yet."
"Well," Yang said, "We haven't known him for very long, relatively. But it might be getting close to that time."
"Yeah… We'll see," Blake said.
They sat in silence for several more seconds, absorbed in their own thoughts. But after a while, Yang said, "I think he's out like a light. Let's just get out of here," she yawned.
"Sounds good to me," Blake said.
They stood, and made their way to the exit of the office. Yang let Blake go first, and then turned back to take one last look at the sleeping man before she followed her teammate toward the front door. They put the bag of clothes just inside of the garage door's threshold, on a spot on the ground devoid of the rubble that Cobin had left in his wake. They both reached up and pulled the old creaky door back down, sealing off the disaster zone. But when they turned back around, there was a surprise waiting for them...
"Good morning, students," Professor Ozpin said, sipping his tea, "Didn't expect to see you here."
Both Yang and Blake jumped a bit when they saw him. It still amazed them both how the man simply seemed to… appear.
"Good morning to you to, professor," Blake said, once she had recovered from the startle. Yang Just nodded. "What brings you here this morning?" Blake asked.
"Well, I figured after a good night's rest, it would be a good time to come and check in our friend. I've been meaning to have a chat with him since yesterday," Ozpin said.
Yang and Blake's eyes got wide simultaneously "NO!" They shouted in unison.
Ozpin was a bit taken aback, "Please, do explain," he said, looking skeptical.
"Well, you see," Yang said, scratching the back of her head, "He's a bit… incapacitated."
"Oh, Dust," Ozpin said, shaking his head at them, "What did you two do?"
They both got red in the face, "We didn't do anything!" Yang said, "He's just… still recovering from the events of yesterday."
"Professor, please," Blake said, cutting in, "This one time, take our word for it, and give it another day before you go in there."
Ozpin sighed, he took a sip of his tea and stared at the space beyond the two girls for a moment, thinking it over. "Alright, Miss Belladonna, this one time," he said after several seconds of silence, "I know you two girls only have the best of intentions, but please, I urge you to be careful, and not lose sight of why you are here."
"Of course, professor," Blake said.
"And one more thing before you go," he started, "I shouldn't have to remind you two of the Beacon policy about fraternization between instructors and students, do I?" The question may have been verbally directed at both of them, but Ozpin was looking directly at Yang when he said it.
"No, Professor," Yang said.
"I thought not," Ozpin said, "Alright you two, run along and I'll do the same, I'm sure the three of us yelling at each other right outside his door is not good for Sergeant Cobin's rest."
Blake and Yang nodded, and without any other words walked past the headmaster and down the driveway. They were maybe a half a block away before they no longer felt his eyes on the back of their heads.
"Close save," Yang said, once they were getting closer to their dorm building.
"No kidding," Blake said, "It would have been a very bad day if Ozpin had found him like we had."
Yang just shook her head, "Well, let's just be glad it didn't work out that way."
"He did say something yesterday about Serendipity liking him a whole lot," Blake said, "I wish we could borrow some of that."
Yang laughed, "I think this whole place could use a bit more of that," she said.
When they pushed the door to their room open, they found Weiss sitting alone at her desk, but Ruby was completely absent from the space.
"What the…" Yang said, scanning frantically for her sister, "Weiss!"
The silver-haired girl looked up from her homework with a tired, apathetic expression, "What?" she asked, as if someone had just interrupted her at the opera.
"Where's Ruby!?" Yang shouted at her teammate.
Yang was unperturbed, "I don't know, I went to the bathroom and when I came back out she was gone."
"You were supposed to be looking after her! Why didn't you at least call us?"
Weiss shrugged, "Hey, Ruby's a big girl. She won't get herself into any trouble she can't get herself out of. And she is our leader, you know." And without another word, Weiss turned her attention back to her studies, and began scribbling notes again.
Yang took a deep breath, her big-sister reflexes were cooling down, and she was coming to her senses. "That's right," she said to herself, "Ruby's fine."
Blake put her hand on Yang's shoulder, "Don't think about it too much," she said, "Sometimes people just need time to themselves."
…
When Cobin finally awoke and opened his eyes, his vision was still quite blurry. He could tell he wasn't drunk anymore, because he could feel the hangover. Still, after everything he had put his body through in the last 24 hours, it needed a minute to run the diagnostics and make sure all systems were green. He propped himself up on one arm, and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again the first thing he saw was a ball of brown and red fabric staring back at him from his office chair. Ruby was silent, sitting on the chair with her legs tucked into her chest and her head down, peering at him through the space between her knee caps. When their eyes met they just looked at eachother for a long moment. Then Cobin shook his head, and sat all the way up, swinging his legs over the side of the cot, and draped his covers around his shoulders like a cloak as he did, leaving only his grey, pale face and messy hair exposed.
He breathed deeply, "How long have you been there for?" he asked.
"A while." Ruby said quietly, without lifting her head.
"How did I get into bed?"
Ruby shook her head, "I don't know."
Cobin nodded, "What time is it?" he asked.
"A bit past nine," Ruby said.
"Oh my god," Cobin said, turning his head up to look at the ceiling, "I can't even remember the last time I felt this awful." He looked back down, meeting Ruby's eyes again, "How's the shop look?"
"Not good," she said.
"Hmm. Figured." He shook his head back and forth, trying to wake up a bit more. "So, what're you doing here, Rubes?" he tried to force a smile, but the energy just wasn't there.
"I… I wanted to make sure you were alright," she said, picking her head up for the first time.
"Oh, you don't gotta worry about me being alright, Ruby," Cobin said, "I'll be fine. You need to focus on taking care of yourself. It was a bad thing that happened." Cobin searched for some more words, or maybe a facial expression that would bring some comfort to the situation, but found none.
Without saying anything else, Ruby got out of the chair, and walked over to the cot. She sat down next to Cobin, and leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder. The two of them simply remained like that for a very long moment. And it was one of the most peaceful moments that either of them had enjoyed for a very long time. "You saved my life," Ruby said, still very quiet.
Cobin sighed, "No I didn't," he said, "You've got that Aura of yours, remember? You would have been fine. I'm just a hyperactive old man."
"You need to stop doing that," Ruby said.
"Stop what?" Cobin asked.
"Removing yourself like that," there was a bit of frustration in the girl's voice, like she might cry if this went on for too long, "It's okay to be human every once in awhile, you know."
Cobin took a moment to take in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Is it bad that my reaction is always to not be?"
"Yes," Ruby said, "But I'm going to fix that."
"Hmm," was all Cobin could think of to say.
"Rocco?"
"Yeah?"
"Who is Sergeant Groth?"
Cobin's eyes got wide, "How… how do you know that name?"
"You kept saying it in your sleep," Ruby said. She nervously wrung her hands and fidgeted a bit as she spoke.
For the first time since the girl had come and sat down next to him, Cobin turned his head and looked down at her, where she rested against him. "Ruby…" he said, but he paused, "That's…. that's one of those stories you're going to have to let me keep to myself for now."
She turned her head, meeting his eyes even at the uncomfortable angle. "Okay," she said, "But promise you'll tell me someday?"
"Ruby, someday I'll have to," Cobin said, "Trust me."
…
Song- "You Played Yourself" by Atmosphere.
Hey everybody, I hope that nobody has lost interest in this story in its absence, it's been a crazy week for me and this is probably how the rest of my weeks for the foreseeable future will look. But I'm glad I was able to get this chapter finished when I did, this one is important to me.
In the meantime between my updates here, if you're antsy and can't get enough of bad ass soldiers from Earth rocking it in Remnant, you can always go and read my main man Resolution's story, "Legends Scatter," he's quite a bit more prolific than I am and has been updating almost everyday for the past week if you can believe it. He's got great OC's, does great action sequences, and is a first class world builder. Give his story a try if you haven't already.
And yes, I still don't really plan on doing any relationships in this fic… but unrequited infatuation is another matter entirely ;)
Love y'all. Thanks for reading.
-Wahs.