Golden Thorns: Chapter Twenty-seven
The next morning, conversation of the dance was prevalent. People in the canteen would not talk about anything else. Students eagerly discussing what clothes they were going to wear, what music they liked, in some cases even who they were going with. The room was buzzing with anticipation and yet, over in the corner were six exceptionally tired looking students. RWBY were sitting around a meagre breakfast with what looked like the monkey Faunus and a guy whose entire look just screamed "cool." They had all been out very late it would seem. Probably something to do with the early morning news broadcast that Coran had caught before going to breakfast.
"Hey, Coran! Remnant to the unconscious! Marie and I are making the trip to vale today to pick out dresses." Jo shouted in his ear, a few flecks of scrambled egg colliding with his face.
"Yes thank you for sharing both the information and your breakfast. It's always appreciated"
"Always welcome" she said, a satisfied smile appearing as they left.
"See you later" Marie said over her shoulder
They sat in silence for a time, Coran slowly chewing a slice of toast and Devlyn swallowing strips of bacon. "So…" he said slowly. Devlyn's eye flicked up to him. "Check out team favourites over there. Late night? Or just not morning people?"
"Late night. Even Ruby looks wiped" Dev said as he looked casually over his shoulder.
"Good point. Speaking of which, you'd better get on with asking out Yang before someone else does." Coran leaned forward onto the table.
"Really Coran?" he responded exasperatedly as he got up to leave, "You are not going to leave me alone about this, are you." Coran followed him down the corridors of beacon.
"Frankly, no. If it's not a crush then what is it? We've noticed how you act around her, looking when you think no-one else is, your shoulders stiffen whenever she comes up in conversation. You clearly feel something towards her." He said softly
"Oh! Oh! You're going to lecture me about subtlety are you?" Dev spun round to face him. "Everyone else might be clueless but I've seen the way you look at Marie. The look in your eyes when she got injured, that was more than concern for a teammate." His whispered voice filled Coran with dread. It was his turn to go on the defensive.
"Watch your step Dev. That's precarious ground you're treading on." He snarled threateningly, "besides, that's different."
"Isn't it?" he said darkly.
"You first then."
He let out a sigh. "Okay… for starters. I don't have a crush on Yang." He paused, "or at least not in the same way as you all think. Yeah she's attractive, but so are so many people around here, have you noticed that? Sorry. Focus. Yeah there's that, but it's more than that. She's everything I'm not, what I've never been."
"A… girl?" Coran asked quizzically.
"A normal human being you moron! She's good looking, she's popular. People want to be around her because she's fun, and interesting and not in any way repulsive. Believe it or not but the scales do tend to put people off somewhat. Don't say it. You were put off when you first saw me too." Coran closed his mouth as Devlyn continued. "For the past twelve years it's been nothing but 'what a freak' or 'Dev, he creeps me out' or my absolute favourite 'touch him. He's not slimy, he's scaly!' believe it or not but I didn't have a friend to speak of before I met you guys. And who can blame them. Who'd want to be seen with the creepy lizard kid? Social suicide of the highest order, that is." He paused for breath, the air rattling between lips which at this moment did seem remarkably reptilian. "The worst wasn't even the bullying. That was bad but as you know I heal quick. The worst bit was the silence. The lack of communication from others. It was really demoralising." This was barely a whisper. He mustered his resolve and carried on. "I guess I'm attracted to Yang because people treat her the way I wish they'd treat me. Sounds pathetic doesn't it. It's not even like a proper crush or anything…"