There had been quite the palaver in Atlas since Team VYPR had returned from their mission. Although, with the exception of Vertiya, they were mostly unscathed, they'd all ended up being rushed into medical bays to have check-ups. Afterwards Professor Naranja had gone to General Ironwood to explain the situation in the city they were in, and within a couple of hours there had been multiple upper-year teams and a small military force dispatched out. Vertiya could understand why – with a Grimm force that close, they would need to dispose of it as quickly as possible, otherwise they would run the risk of the main city of Atlas coming under siege. She herself had been cleaned up as well; her long, lime green hair back to its usual vibrant state rather than hosting a crimson red streak as it did from the blood from her head wound – which had also been attended to.
Unfortunately though, since that mission there had been little going on in Atlas Academy outside of the normal, day to day routine of lessons. Although Vertiya was fond of it – granted, she'd enjoyed going out on the mission, but academia was her forte – and Ruzovi managed, both Yimesz and Pluto were not really the type to deal with lectures quite as well. Sure, Pluto apparently seemed to know everything anyway to some degree, but he was definitely a hands-on type of guy, which Vertiya could only put down to his upbringing. Yimesz however was not the type to know everything, but he was perhaps worse at paying attention than even a drunk Pluto, and although he'd since at least been paying a little more respect to Professor Naranja since the mission, his general personality wasn't exactly going to change.
However, Vertiya wasn't currently in a position where she could afford to spend precious concentration in reminiscence. With Fen opposite her, her blood red irises eyeballing her every move, Vertiya's mind was whirring as a vast assortment of potential moves flickered through her mind. There were various outcomes to whatever play she made, and although Vertiya was unsure how Fen would counter, she realised that risking it would be the best option, and as such she moved her knight forwards to put Fen's king in check.
Fen grinned a little, looking at the board with a slight grin on her face. "I thought you preferred to play things safe? Rather unlike you, Vertiya," she said, as she moved her queen to the side, taking the knight. "I mean, I admire the attempt, but I wouldn't say it was your best play."
Vertiya, however, had a smirk curling the edge of her lips, as she moved her rook straight forward. There was a gap in between Fen's pawns, which was previously covered by the queen, but Fen had overlooked it and given Vertiya an easy line to get the rook towards her king. "Ah but sacrificing one piece to win the war is a play most overlook," Vertiya responded, with Fen's king now in checkmate. "I believe that makes it five three?"
Fen's grin had dropped by this point, but it wasn't replaced by anger, more just a look of humoured defeat. "Well, I took three games off the strongest tactician in our year, so to be honest I'll accept that," she said. "Besides, you still haven't taken me up on that duel offer."
Vertiya's eyes rolled, but her lips still curled upwards, thinning her emerald-green eyes. "Of course I won't take you up on that duel offer, because we both know you'd beat me with one arm tied behind your back," she responded. "After all-"
Vertiya got interrupted by a deafening combination of cheers and rage, and both her and Fen looked to the side to where it came from. Team FEKT had one of the largest dorms in Atlas academy, so the whole of VYPR had headed over to chill for the day as they'd been given it off. Fen and Vertiya had been playing chess, Tristov and Ruzovi had been chatting about weapons and such, and the other four boys…
Vertiya wasn't quite sure how Pluto had managed to get that much alcohol into Atlas, or whether it was some large store of what he used in his flask, but either way himself, Yimesz, and the two other boys from FEKT Emeric and Karmin were all on some racing game, accompanied with drinking. It was more even than Vertiya would have expected, and they had varying results – Pluto was the best at handling his liquor, but the worst at gaming, Yimesz was the opposite in that he was the quickest to get intoxicated but the strongest at playing, and both Emeric and Karmin fitted in somewhere in the middle of the spectrum on either. As such, the races between them had been far closer than they should have been, and the noise coming from the four of them had been getting progressively louder over the course of the day. "Boys," Vertiya muttered, with a slight shake of her head.
"Is that why you prefer girls, then?" Fen asked, a sly smirk raising the side of her mouth. "I don't blame you, especially considering the company we seem to have."
Vertiya went a little pink, and scowled at Fen, but there wasn't a serious note to it and it dropped from her face soon after. "There isn't really anyone of either gender here who I could see myself with – well, at least, in our year," she said. Her mind did briefly flit over to Pluto, but… Vertiya did not want to get into anything with anyone she was in a team in, she'd known that from the start. Plus, although the two of them got on really well, Vertiya was never going to be a huge fan of the alcohol. Vertiya also knew that Emeric had some notes of attraction to her, but she didn't quite see the same in him. However, on the note of Pluto, Vertiya had not forgotten that Fen had actually been doing some training with Pluto due to the fact that Fen still could not beat him in a duel, and if Fen was going to catch her out like that, she could always turn the tables. "What about you and Pluto, though? You've been spending a fair bit of time together," Vertiya asked, with an innocent expression.
The tiniest tinge of colour flickered on Fen's face, but she covered it up almost as quickly as it appeared. "That is purely a business relationship," she said, unwavering in both tone and guise. "Teacher-student-esque. Even if there were any feelings of attraction, I do not think that would last. We have too many contrasts."
"Well, as the saying goes, opposites attract," Vertiya responded with a teasing tone, pushing herself up to her feet. "However, I need to make a move. I trust the rest of my lot will be fine here?"
"May have to kick them out eventually if they keep this going," Fen replied, peering out the tall, thin glass pane to her side. Darkness had not yet settled on them, but the light was fading, and the rose-pink hue of the sky signalled that night would soon arrive, which was hardly a peaceful setting considering the volume of sound from the boys. Vertiya had learned to block out noise of this level due to having lived with Yimesz for so long and the sort of parties he'd throw, but Fen was less equipped to deal with this. "Or I'll just send you angry messages on your scroll. One of the two should work."
Vertiya chuckled a little as she made her way towards the door, with a small smile curling her lips. "Maybe I'll leave them with you until you stop requesting a duel with me," she suggested, not looking back as she exited the dorm.
Vertiya hadn't actually left for a given reason, as she didn't have anything going on in the evening that required her to leave FEKT's dorm. She just needed some peace and quiet, and a little time to herself, and that led her to wandering the corridors of the academy in the blissful serenity of night, flipping a pink card through her fingers. It was one of Vertiya's habits even as a child – wandering around in the late hours of the day – and even now she was still yet to grow out of it.
However, she was not so unaware as to miss out on hearing the footsteps coming towards her. The hallways were not completely blanketed in darkness, but even still it was not light enough for Vertiya to make out the figure until it came closer. At first glance, Vertiya had thought that it was one of the teachers she had yet to meet, as some of the teachers only dealt with classes for the elder years, but when an unmistakable mop of turquoise-blue hair came into view, Vertiya immediately knew who the man was.
"Dad!" Vertiya exclaimed, running up and giving him a hug. Vertiya's dad had a well-built figure – even as he was reaching close to forty, he had still attained an almost sculpted physique with broad shoulders, muscular arms, and a toned torso – and even with flecks of grey in his hair and the stubble that softly shadowed his face, he still looked not a day over thirty. Vertiya had to admit, though, she was a little confused. "What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling her head away from his shoulder to look up to him. Vertiya, at only five foot six, was a half foot shorter than her dad who stood at six foot exactly.
"I suppose it's a little late to say that I came here to see my two kids, isn't it," he responded with a chuckle, ruffling Vertiya's hair in an affectionate manner. Vertiya and Yimesz had spoken to their father multiple times thanks to their scrolls, but neither had actually seen him in the flesh since they left for Atlas. "I was originally here to see General Ironwood about the project we're working on, but on the way out I bumped into Griya- Professor Naranja as you probably know her, and we were chatting for a while," he explained. "Apparently you did quite a good job on your last mission, from what she said."
Vertiya grimaced a little at the memory of the mission. Sure, she had enjoyed it, but Vertiya was a little bit of a perfectionist, and her view on her performance was that it was at the very best sub-par. "I probably could have done better," she responded, sighing. She'd carefully skipped over the part where she concussed herself from nothing but lack of self-awareness, because although her father was a nice enough man, he would probably joke about it more than she'd like.
"Ah don't worry about it, it was only your first mission after all, and I'm sure there's bits you can pick up from it," Vertiya's father replied reassuringly. Sure, he was a practical joker at times, but if he needed to have a more serious tone, he could flip between the two almost immediately. "Besides, if Professor Naranja says you did well, you should take it. Back when we were on the same team she would nag me all the time because 'oh you're not doing enough damage' or 'you're aiming at the wrong targets' and such," he continued, sighing in such an exasperated manner Vertiya was convinced it was sarcasm.
"That's understandable, she is often like that in lessons with Y- wait, you were on the same team?" Vertiya asked, incredulous. Her father had said that he was teammates with Professor Naranja in such an offhand manner that Vertiya had almost missed it altogether. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never asked," her dad replied coolly, laughing. Vertiya did know that he didn't talk about his Huntsman life much, and as such she never really asked questions on it, but this was still a shock nonetheless. "Yeah, her and myself were part of Team Mahogany a good few years back. I'll admit, I did flirt with her a bit back then, probably more than I should have."
Vertiya cringed hard at that – she did not exactly want to know that her dad and her favourite teacher were close in that way. "I… you did not need to tell me that," she said, her expression contorted in disgust.
Vertiya's dad let out a hefty laugh at that whilst shaking his head, his blue eyes twinkling. Vertiya and Yimesz's hair colour was a halfway point between their mother and father – their father with turquoise blue, whereas their mother's was blonde – but almost everything else both Vertiya and Yimesz had inherited from their mother. Their mother was relatively slender, but somewhat curvaceous in certain parts, and both of the twins had that trait, as well as the emerald green eyes that came from their mother. "It didn't matter anyway. It wasn't too long until I realised that she wasn't exactly into guys anyway. Pretty sure she's still married to Ness from our team as it stands."
This evening was full of surprises for Vertiya, but the last one to hit her ears was more readily received. Vertiya had an inkling of a feeling that could be why she could relate to Professor Naranja easily, but it was more likely the personalities. "Wait, who was your leader then?" Vertiya asked. Mahogany was most likely a combination of the letters M, H, G, and N, and as Vertiya's father was called Halfayruz – often shortened to just Hal – with Professor Naranja being Griya and Ness being the third, the M was still unknown.
"Oh, a guy called Magnet," Vertiya's father explained in a nonchalant manner. "To be honest, I have no idea where he is now. He was a bit of an… odd one, so to speak, and the three of us lost contact with him not that long after we graduated from Shade." Hal sighed briefly on the memory, but after he looked down at his watch, he realised what time it was, and looked back to Vertiya in a different manner. "Anyway, I best be getting off if I want to get back home before midnight, because your mother will be wondering where I am. Give my love to your brother, and I'll probably speak to you in a few days," he concluded, kissing Vertiya on the top of the head before walking off. Vertiya turned and watched him go for a few seconds, before going back to flipping a card through her fingers, now walking back towards her dorm.