"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh," Automne groaned out of pure boredom as he stared up at the ceiling of his dorm. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh," he added as he rolled around on his bed. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh," he repeated in despair as he rolled off his bed and began to roll across the room like a stupid, noisy log. "Uuu-"
"Automne," Eve's soft voice said suddenly as he passed under a thick red curtain attached to a rail on the ceiling.
"Yes?" Automne replied nervously as he stared up at the railing and wondered if they should have gotten permission from the school before installing it.
"Can you please be a little quieter?"
"Sorry," Automne replied with a guilty smile as he wriggled his way across the floor, raised his head up like a snake and rested his chin on Petunia's bed to see Eve huddled on the center of her bed, surrounded by multiple stacks of books and papers. She was diligently thumbing her way through a pair of textbooks and underlining the occasional excerpt with a neon pink highlighter. "I guess you're busy right now?"
"Mhmm, I have an exam on Monday and I need to get in two hours and thirty-five more minutes of studying."
Automne blinked few times as she highlighted another line in her book then glanced over at a pocket watch. "That's weird, you're weird." Automne threw his head off of the bed and floundered about on the floor like a carp.
"It is not weird to be prepared for an exam." Eve replied in a slightly offended tone. "Besides the plot's probably going to be starting soon so we should really get a head start on our schoolwork."
"The plot," Automne muttered in confusion as he pulled himself across the floor like an inchworm. "Oh yeah, I forgot we had one of those. Well, I'm sure it's going to suck, so there's really no need to waste a good Friday night studying for… What are you studying for?"
"Emergency bone resetting in the field,"
"How do you even study for that?"
"Well, right now I'm just going over the procedures, but I do need to do a bit more practice on-"
"No," Automne said flatly as he stopped inching across the floor.
"But, I haven't even asked you yet."
"I know, but even if you did the answer'd be no."
"Well, you don't have to be rude about it. Now, can you please quiet down I only have about twenty minutes left to work before I have to get ready for bed." Eve said with a small, glum frown as she stuffed her face into one of her books.
"Get ready for bed? It's barely gonna be eight-thirty… and it's Friday." Automne pushed himself off the floor and jumped onto Petunia's bed. "Who goes to bed at –eight-thirty plus twenty minutes–" Automne muttered to himself as Eve tried to focus on her book. "That's about nine... You go to bed at nine on a weekend?!"
"Well, technically Friday's a weekday."
"No it isn't, don't say that. Nothing has ever been accomplished on a Friday. Friday is basically the first day of the weekend."
"A-alright," Eve said hesitantly as her eyes darted back and forth between Automne and her pocket watch. "Well, even if it is the first day of the weekend a responsible person needs to get eight hours of sleep every night. Now, may I-"
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, eight hours of sleep every night? That's ridiculous. What about when you have to pull an all nighter to study for a big exam in the morning?" Automne questioned in disbelief as he grabbed Petunia's pillow and held it against himself (a bit too) tightly.
Eve set her book aside and raised her eyebrows in befuddlement. "How would staying up all night help you? Good rest and proper study habits lead to good grades, not all night study sessions."
"Hold the phone." Automne stated in shock as he creepily rubbed Petunia's pillow against his cheek.
"We don't have a pho-"
"Figure of speech, now, Eve are you telling me you've never pulled an all nighter?!"
Eve looked back and forth in confusion. "Weren't we talking about study-"
"Have you ever pulled an all nighter?!" Automne anxiously persisted, tossing aside Petunia's pillow and jumping to his feet.
"No, I've never pulled an all nighter!" Eve yelped in fear as she flinched back into a stack of papers, knocking them off the bed.
Automne gave a gasp and straightened like a plank. "Eve," He started calmly.
"Y-yes,"
"Do you know what this means?"
Eve glanced over at her stack of papers which were still slowly sliding off the bed. "Does it mean I can go back to studying?"
"No,"
"Oh," Eve moaned in disappointment as Automne stood blankly in front of her bed.
"Eve," Automne said with soft pride as he reanimated himself and looked down at the dark haired girl. "By all the Dust in the quarries, you and I are going to pull the greatest all nighter of all time."
There was a brief pause.
"Automne, as… interesting as that sounds I think I'll have to pa-"
"Too bad, you're going to have fun. Now, get your shoes on and meet me up on the fourth floor in ten minutes. Oh and make sure to bring your Starlight Marionette." Automne demanded cheerfully as he rushed towards the door.
"Wait, Automne, I don't want to stay up all night." Eve clasped her gloved hands together and pleaded as Automne grabbed the doorknob.
Automne gave a groan and leaned backwards hanging off the door by one hand. The dreaded thought of having to reason with her arose in his mind, but then he paused for a moment as an idea drifted to the center of his mind. A large smirk crossed his lips. "Alright… fine then, if you don't want to stay up all night, how about a party? Ya'know like one of those little parties you have on… Wednesdays."
Eve gave a large gasp, fear slowly crawling into her eyes. "How do you know about those?!"
"Oh, I just tend to see a lot of things." Automne gave a giant, amused smirk and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. "Now, meet me up on the fourth floor in ten minutes, or else I'll tell Ty and Petunia all about your little parties." Automne's grin practically painted across his face as he pulled the door open and accidentally slammed it into his face. "I'm good, totally fine." He muttered through gritted teeth as he fumbled out of the room.
Eve gave a heavy sigh and closed her textbook.
"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to think you weren't going to show." Automne said with a large smile as Eve made her way up the stairwell with her Naginata in hand.
"Yeah, I'm here." Eve said miserably as she avoided eye contact with Automne.
Automne's smile quickly faded as she joined him in the dimly lit hallway; they stood in silence. He gave a sigh, "Alright, I won't tell Ty or Petunia under any circumstances about your little Wednesday happy hour. But come on, you wouldn't even have agreed to come up here if I didn't persuade you."
"You blackmailed me."
"You say Blackmail, I say persuade, but Eve, as your friend... we're still friends right?"
"Yes, of course-"
"Awesome," Automne said with a genuinely pleased smile as he backed out of the stairwell and into the hallway. " So, as your friend I assure you that tonight you will have the most fun you have ever had. I bet my scarf on that." Automne closed his eyes and ran his hand down the length of his scarf while Eve watched him in awkward silence.
"Well, alright then, I guess I'll try and have fun." Eve gave a forced smile and glanced up and down the hallway. "Sooooo, what are we doing up here?"
"Oh right," Automne said in a very dazed tone as he stopped stroking his scarf. "Well, I thought we should start off the night with something big, so I went down to my locker and grabbed us one of these." Automne said proudly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a paint grenade.
"Uh, why do we need a paint grenade?"
"Because my long-haired little busybody, we're going to pull a prank."
"A prank… on whom?" Eve held her weapon tightly as she looked back down the hall of doors behind Automne.
Automne began to walk backwards with a sly smirk on his face. He unnervingly gestured with a single hand for Eve to follow. "You see Eve, I've had just about enough of Sienaerde and all her smug 'I'm so much better than all of you'-ness. So after a bit of stalk- I mean snooping I've deduced that this is her team's dorm room." Automne concluded with a chuckle as he came to a stop in front of one of the doors.
Eve looked at Automne, skepticism heavy in her eyes. "Automne don't you think instead of making mean spirited pranks we should just talk to them and openly express our dissatisfaction with their behavior?"
Automne stared at Eve flatly, "You are such a killjoy."
"I am not."
"Are too,"
"Am not,"
"Are too,"
"I am not."
Automne pounded on the door and tossed the grenade to Eve. "Prove it." Automne said with a smirk before disappearing into thin air.
Eve stared down at the grenade resting in her palms. Her heart began to echo loudly in her ears as the door to the room gave an ominous click and slowly began to creep open. Eve took a deep breath, bit down on her lip and pulled the pin from the grenade with a satisfying snap.
The door to the room swung wide open to reveal a girl with long blonde hair and lavender colored eyes.
Eve didn't spare her a second thought, she simply tossed the grenade forward into the girls black gloved hands.
"Oh crap!" Automne's disembodied voice called out as the door to the room was hastily slammed shut.
Confusion and panic swept through Eve as she quickly came to her senses. Her eyes darted to Automne, who had suddenly blurred back into visibility; both of his hands were clamped to the door knob.
"Eve, this is the wrong room!" Automne shouted as a muffled explosion rang through the door. "Run!"
Eve sprang backwards and sprinted down the hall. The sound of loud banging and shouting filled the hall behind her as Automne tried to hold the door shut as long as he could. Eve's heart was racing faster than a bullet train as she swerved into the stairwell and leapt down the steps as fast as she could. Her weapon was bouncing against her wildly as a ferocious roar rang out from the halls above. Eve didn't dare look back in fear that she would come eye to eye with whoever she had just ticked off.
"Why did I let Automne get me into this?" Eve whined to herself as she reached the bottom floor of the dorm building and ran through the large double-door exit. Eve looked around quickly and gave a desperate groan as she looked out at a deserted lawn, scarcely illuminated by a few lampposts.
As Eve considered running across the grass and hiding behind a distant trash can a ravenous voice pierced the stone walls of the building behind her.
"When I find you I'm going to beat you senseless!"
Eve gave a small yelp and dove head first into a large bush sitting right outside the entrance to the dorm while clutching onto her weapon tightly. She suppressed the urge to groan in discomfort as mud and dried out branches covered her jacket and poked at her face. She rolled over as quietly as she possibly could just in time to see the doors to the dormitory blast open; small wafts of fire blowing outwards from the doorway as the blonde girl emerged. Eve clenched her teeth in fear as the paint soaked girl ran forward across the stone walkway, turned a couple of times and bolted off in one direction.
Eve held her breath for a few moments. She slowly raised a single hand to try and push some of the bush out of the way to gain a better view of where the girl had run off to. She quickly turned in a panic though as the doors to the dorm were slowly pushed open. Eve paused in suspense as she waited to see who else was leaving the dorms, but was surprised to see absolutely no one emerge.
"Eve," a familiar voice called out in a hushed voice. "Eve, are you out here?"
"Automne, is that you?"
"No, it's the other person at this school who can turn invisible." Automne's voice replied sarcastically as some unseen force pushed the bush to the side. Automne quickly faded into visibility with a relieved smile glued to his lips. "Why are you hiding in the bushes?" He extended his hand.
Eve puffed out her cheeks and extended her Naginata out towards Automne in place of her hand. "I'm in the bushes because you tricked me into being your patsy." Eve said bitterly as Automne reached out and took a hold of the shaft.
Automne rolled his eyes and shook his head a bit. "You were not going to be my patsy. I just wanted you to do something a bit –wild!" The last part said through a heavy grunt as Automne gave Eve's weapon a hefty tug and pulled her out of the bushes.
"W-well why were you shadow walking? You made it look like I was the only one there." Eve said defensively as she rested Starlight Marionette against her shoulder.
"Because one of us needed to slam the door shut after we threw the grenade and since I'm the one with the invisibility," Automne gestured up and down his body. "That one is kind of a no-brainer."
"Well," Eve looked down at the front of her jacket which was lightly soiled with mud. "My jacket is-"
"I'll do the laundry tomorrow. Are you finished?"
Eve paused for a few seconds and gave a sigh, "Yes,"
"Alright then, now it's time for phase two of 'Black and White All-night Friendship Adventure'." Automne said, beaming brightly as he unzipped a pocket on his vest and began rummaging through it.
Eve gave a small giggle. "That name is kind of silly."
"So are you. Now, let's get this show on the road." Automne whipped out a long cylindrical piece of plastic from his pouch, gave it a small shake, and bent it down the middle causing it to glow a fluorescent green.
Eve gave a large gasp and put her hands to her mouth. "Are we going to the disco-tech?"
"What? No… No we're not going to the disco-tech." Automne said with complete bewilderment.
"Oh," Eve looked around a bit. "So, what are we going to do?"
Automne gave a small chuckle, "Just follow me, Eve, and you shall see. Also I think we should move fast because I think that blonde chick is coming back."
Automne gestured for Eve to follow and they were headed off across the campus with the fear of impending death behind them.
As they made their way across the large empty campus faintly illuminated by lamps Eve couldn't help but shiver as a few shadows seemed to sway ominously in the distance. The large buildings constructed of smooth solid stone towered above them and cast long eerie shadows as they trekked across the empty campus. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes past nine, but the campus felt like another ancient ruin that had fallen at the unyielding force of the Grimm.
"Hey Automne," Eve said nervously, her weapon at the ready as they passed strangely dark sections of the campus. "Where are we going?"
"We're going to go tell ghost stories in the woods." Automne said with a strange amount of glee as they walked past a shrub which Eve could have sworn blinked at her.
"Wait what?!" skepticism heavy in Eve's voice as she stopped dead in her tracks and lowered her weapon.
"Well yeah, no night out is complete without some scary ghost stories in a creepy place." Automne replied as if he had no idea where they were.
Eve just stared at him in sheer disbelief as he jauntily walked towards the edge of the forest. "Wait, Automne, what about Grimm?!" Eve called out as she ran after him. "The Grimm are attracted to fear. If we start telling ghost stories we might end up attracting Grimm. And it's forty percent more likely that you can suffer from an injury in a night time encounter with Grimm."
"Shhhhhhh," Automne stressed with a single finger as he calmly walked closer to the edge of the forest. "Eve, we won't encounter any Grimm if we just stay calm and collected. Also my goggles have night vision in them. So, there's no need to worry about an encounter because I'm so trained for this I feel confident enough to walk into that forest bare foot." Automne stooped down low and removed his moccasins and socks as Eve watched him in shock.
"Automne, this is a bad idea. I don't think this can end well. Let's just go back to the dorm and-"
"Chicken,"
Eve blinked a couple times and furrowed her brow. "Alright then, let's go tell some ghost stories."
Automne pulled his goggles down over his eyes and pushed a button on the side causing them to glow an almost blinding yellow. "Alright then," He gave Eve a confident smirk and walked off into the forest.
"Holy mother of all that is decent! Okay, okay I'm fine I just stepped on a- Sweet fluffy pink bunny slippers! Ow ow ow that was glass, sharp glass, but I think I'm- Overcooked cream dumpling trash bag!" Automne shouted in distress as he fell to the forest floor. "Man down, I repeat man down!" He shouted in pain as he flailed about on the very edge of the forest as Eve watched from about five feet back.
"Do you want to go back to the dorm?" Eve said with a very concerned tone as Automne rolled around on the ground in agony.
Automne stopped rolling and laid face down in the dirt. He raised one of his arms up into the air. "I have a better idea!" Automne tried to push himself off the ground, but immediately fell back into the dirt. "Eve, would you mind?"
Eve gave a heavy sigh, clasped her hands together and began to produce a thick mist.
"Ahhh," Automne sighed with content. "Now, on to phase three!"
"Hey, what are you two doing out past curfew!" A guard with a flashlight hollered.
"Run, Eve, run!" Automne shouted as he sprang to his feet.
"Alright, Eve keep your eyes covered just a bit longer." Automne said with a smile as he rummaged through a closet on the other side of the student lounge.
"I still don't understand why I have to keep them closed." Eve muttered to herself as she sat on a blue suede lounge sofa with both her gloved hands covering her glasses.
Eve hadn't been in the student lounge before, but from what she saw – that is what she saw before Automne made her cover her eyes – she had to say it looked pretty cozy. From the room's cool lounge couches and coffee table set around a large television monitor to the contemporary leather chairs placed near the windows it just emanated a certain kind of serenity that Eve couldn't help but fall for.
"Automne, how often do you come up here?" Eve asked as she imagined falling backwards onto the couch and rubbing her cheek against its smooth soft fabric.
"Eh, not very often; I tend to keep to myself when I come up here."
"Oh… Oooh how about we bring the Ty and Petunia up here? We can relax up here, talk, and maybe watch some movies. Doesn't that sound-"
A loud thump on the table in front of her brought Eve's suggestions to a stop.
"Eh," Automne moaned tentatively. "I'll consider it, but first check this out; open your eyes."
Eve lifted her hands off of her glasses and looked down at a large, thick, black and white piece of plastic. She blinked a few times and looked all around it while remaining seated with her hands resting on her thighs. "What is it?"
Automne gave a loud sigh, "Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting. This Eve is the finest piece of hardware in gaming entertainment. The one console that outperforms all others in its field in every category. It is sleek, it is stylish, it is… The XStationU!" Automne finished with a bit too much flair as he flailed his hands back and forth over the chunk of plastic.
"The XStationU… Doesn't that name seem kind of," Eve paused for a moment as she stared down at the box. "Eclectic?"
"Yeah, I guess the name is kind of stupid, but at least it keeps the fan boys at bay. I mean seriously when it comes to no-life losers who obsess over overpriced, overhyped pieces of plastic that are meant to be used as entertainment devices these guys are not the guys you want to upset… or talk to in public. Now, let's fire this bad boy up and play some good old fashioned 'Horns'."
"What's 'Horns'?"
"It's basically 'Halo', but the name's been changed to avoid copyright laws." The moron paused for a moment after he realized what he had just said. "Oh Dust damn it. Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, let's play."
"But I've never played before."
"Don't worry, we'll start out on match between the two of us. You can learn from that."
"Wait a minute, shouldn't I practice before we-"
"Oh no no no," Automne silenced the frazzled girl with a huge devious smirk as he handed her a controller and turned on the console. "Eve, the best way to learn through video games is through repetition. So, the most logical way for you to learn how to play is by dying a lot."
"But, wait, I don't want to die a lot." Eve whimpered with an almost droll pout.
"Good, then you'll want to learn fast." Automne said with an almost cruel amount of glee as he pressed a button to start the game.
"Oh come on!" Automne shouted at the top of his lungs as Eve blew his character away with a rocket.
"Running riot!" The game proclaimed as Eve bounced up and down happily on the sofa.
Automne gave a grunt and fell backwards into the sofa. "I hate this game." He muttered bitterly to himself as he tried to move his character towards a hidden sniper rifle.
"I thought you said this was your favorite game." Eve asked politely, her eyes locked on the screen.
"Well, it isn't." He replied before he was directly hit with another rocket. Automne grit his teeth, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets as he gave a loud grunt. He quickly raised his controller above his head as if he were going to throw it across the room, but slowly lowered it instead. He took a deep breath and reclined back on the sofa again. "I'm not mad,"
"Why would you be mad?"
"I said I'm not mad."
"I know, but I'm just asking why you would be mad."
"Well, there's no reason for you to ask if I'm mad because I'm not mad."
"Alright, I'm just checking because you seem mad."
"Well, I'm not mad and you asking me if I'm mad makes me mad."
"I'm sorry; I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"Well, I'm alright so you don't need to ask if I'm alright because I was already alright."
"Alright then…" Eve said tentatively as she went back to playing.
Automne gave a heavy sigh, "… Alright…"
"…"
"…"
"Are you mad?"
"Alright, that's enough made up console! Let's move on to stage whatever."
"Awww but we've only just started."
"Eve, it's one in the morning." Automne replied flatly as he pulled back his sleeve to look at his watch.
"B-But, wait… we've been playing for three hours?!"
"Actually it's almost two so it's actually closer to four hours." Automne continued as he began to unplug the XStationU and carry it back to the closet.
Eve plunged her hand into her jacket and pulled out her pocket watch. Uneasiness washed over her face as she looked down at its face. "I've never been up this early before. I think the fatigue is-"
"No!" Automne shouted as he threw a punch right in front of Eve's face causing her to grab his wrist and throw him to the floor.
"Oh my gosh; why did you do that?"
"I'm trying to keep you awake. Now enough talking let's go down to the kitchen."
"Can you at least tell me why this time?"
Automne gave a groan as he rolled over onto his back. "No, secrecy lends to fun."
Eve paused for a moment and stared down at Automne who was beginning to peel himself off the floor. "That doesn't make sense."
"Well, then you clearly just don't understand the way of a ninja." He stated with a sense of pride as he set off for the door only stopping briefly to collect his weapons from a bin set near the entrance.
Eve gave a small chuckle as she grabbed her weapon and followed after him.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I just find it kind of funny that you call yourself a ninja." Eve said with an innocent smile as they made their way down a dark hallway.
"What do you mean funny? I've trained very hard to become one of the world's most elite types of warrior."
"Oh… Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were being serious."
Automne stopped abruptly, a morose frown now spread across his lips. "W-why would I be joking?"
"Oh, umm no it's not that I don't think you're a ninja; it's just that you," Eve glanced around, tugging at her collar as she sought out the words. "You never, umm, act like a ninja." She said weakly as she crossed her legs and began to fiddle with a couple strands of her hair.
"What do you mean act like a ninja? I'm wearing all black."
"And yellow… and brown, and you have a big scarf."
"Well… the yellow is for surprising them. If it's the middle of the night you don't expect to see a bunch of bright yellow. It's surprising." Automne pleaded as if he were trying to convince himself about his clothing choices.
"I suppose so,"
"And what about my weapons," Automne drew both of his escrima sticks and held them out for Eve to examine. "These are basically ninja weapons. I got the sticks and the short sword and the… okay the gun isn't really traditional, but it's got the suppressor and that makes it stealthy. And that's what being a ninja's about; being stealthy."
"Well, you do tend to pass out a lot during training. And you fainted during our morning jog yesterday."
Automne gave some forced nervous laughter as Eve watched with guilty eyes. "Well, of course I fainted; ninja's aren't about endurance, we're about stealth. And I'm all about stealth. Look, stealth is basically my semblance," Automne said spastically as he flickered in and out of visibility.
"W-well," Automne looked at Eve with an almost soul-crushingly miserable stare. "Well, I feel a bit silly for not noticing all of that sooner. Yep I see it all now, you got your scarf and your weapons and your semblance really brings it all together. I guess I'm just a bit absent-minded sometimes." Eve said with a big fake smile.
Automne gave a sigh, "Thanks, Eve." He said solemnly before he turned and continued to walk over to the student kitchen.
Eve gave a disappointed groan, "Dang it, Eve." She mumbled to herself before running off after Automne. "Wait, Automne!" she called out as she ran into the pitch black kitchen. She began to look for a light switch when a sudden rush of cold crept through the air.
Eve quickly stepped away from the entrance of the room with her weapon at the ready. "Automne," Eve murmured as she backed into the center of the room with her weapon drawn. A quick draft of wind swished through her hair.
Eve quickly turned and set her gaze on a pair of red eyes. She tightened her grip on her weapon and loosened her shoulders. "Automne, where are you?" Eve asked nervously as she held her eyes on the set of blood red dots hovering in inky blackness. "Automne," She repeated one final time before raising the long shaft of her weapon, but before she could plunge its blade forward into the Grimm an object as cold as ice pressed up against her cheek. Eve quickly swung her weapon around to stab into this new unseen threat and was immediately smacked in the face with a cold, circular object that smelled and tasted a lot like banana.
"And that Eve is why you don't insult a ninja." Automne's voice boasted happily as he walked over to the light switch and illuminated the kitchen. Eve was frozen in the center of the kitchen with her weapon raised and a large pie pan stuck to her face, large amounts of whipped cream falling off onto the ground as she stood there in silence.
Automne gave Eve a large grin as he merrily strolled over to a wooden table and pulled out a chair. Automne flinched when Eve spontaneously dropped her weapon to the ground with a loud clatter, but continued to watch in amusement as she slowly raised her hands up to the pie tin.
"Need any help with that?" he asked casually as he swirled around a frost covered glass bottle around in the air. Eve seemed to ignore him though as she pulled the tin off with a loud suction cup like pop. Automne set his bottle down on the table, walked over to Eve who was still holding the pie tin, and ran his finger over her glasses which were absolutely caked in banana cream pie. Automne slowly began to lap the pie from his finger as Eve looked out at him from behind the lenses.
"Don't worry," Automne said with an extremely obvious amount of delight. "We're even now."
Eve calmly removed her glasses to reveal her soft periwinkle eyes staring out at her borderline abusive best friend. She cast a small glance over to where the red eyes of a Grimm were resting earlier and was only met with a pair of solid red lights shining off from a blender. Eve tensed up as Automne ran his finger over her cheek and got himself another finger of pie.
Eve shut her eyes, "Can you please stop licking your finger?" Eve said in her most offended tone, which caused Automne to stop mid-lick and pluck the pie tin from Eve's hands.
"I'm just enjoying the pie. Now, do you want me to grab you a paper towel or a fork; because honestly this pie isn't half bad."
"A towel, please."Her unnaturally sweet voice asked in what was supposed to be a bitter tone as Automne began to wipe pie off the sides of the tin.
"You know what one of my favorite things about you is? Your tone, you're always so upbeat." Automne chimed as he walked over to the counter and grabbed a roll of paper towels. "Like no matter what we do or what I do to you, you never get mad." Automne rambled as he walked back over to Eve who was still standing in the same place with her arms down by her side. He slowly ushered Eve over to the chair he had previously occupied and sat her down. "I could never imagine Ty or Petunia putting up with stuff like this, but you always kinda just brush it off." Automne tore off a few sheets from the roll and passed them to Eve who was quietly sitting in her chair. Automne quickly took Eve's glasses and walked over to the kitchen sink. Automne flipped on the faucet and soaked the corner of his sleeve.
Automne gently began to rub his sleeve over Eve's glasses, wiping away the whipped cream and pieces of banana. "In all honesty you're probably the best friend I've ever haaaaaaa-ayayayaya- ahhhhhhhh!" Automne screamed out as Eve slowly poured Automne's bottle of ice cold liquid down the back of his sweater.
Eve began to laugh as Automne jumped around the kitchen in a panic.
"Ah ah why Eve WHY?!" The self proclaimed ninja shouted as he tried to pull off his tactical vest.
"Now we're even." Her soft voice broke out between her heavy laughter as Automne fell to the floor and crawled into the fetal position.
"We-we-we-we-well p-p-p-played," He shivered in defeat as Eve walked over to him with tears in the corner of her eyes as she continued to laugh hysterically.
"So, what's next?" Eve managed to ask as she clutched at her stomach.
Automne held up Eve's glasses, "J-j-j-just one m-m-m-more th-thing."
"So, there I was just fiddling around under Ty's bed when I came across it, the largest stash of manga I've ever seen. Like seriously huge. Like I've seen some large manga collections, but Ty's takes the cake." Automne loudly declared as him and Eve hung their legs off the side of the roof. The early morning was fairly still and serene aside from their occasional bursts of laughter which brought a very welcome amount of life to the presently desolate campus.
"Why were you nosing around under Ty's bed?" Eve asked with an amused smile as she jollily swung her legs back and forth.
"Because, Eve, someone needs to nose around under Ty's bed and if I don't do it then no one will." Automne said proudly as he placed a hand over his fresh black and yellow striped hoodie. "Now, it's your turn." Automne clarified as he leaned back against an object wrapped in a brown sheet.
Eve stopped swinging her legs and put her gloved hand over her chin. Eve gave a small, nervous giggle. "Well, there was this one time I asked Petunia if I could use her laptop and," Eve stopped for a moment her cheeks a dazzling shade of pink. "I changed my mind, you go again."
"Nope," Automne crossed his arms and shook his head, a broad smirk spread across his lips again. "It's too late now, spill it."
Eve shifted uneasily a bit before she took a deep breath. "When I opened her laptop… It was porn!"
Automne suddenly gave a loud chortle and rocked on the ledge dangerously. "Oh my Dust," He managed to sputter between his outbursts of howling laughter. "What happened next?"
"I closed it and immediately gave it back to her." Eve shouted in embarrassment as she buried her face in her hands.
Automne fell backwards onto the gravely rooftop, shoving his mysterious object out of the way as he continued to laugh uncontrollably.
"It's not funny." Eve whined loudly as she crossed her arms. "It's gross,"
Automne's laughter slowly began to peter out. "Oh, yes it is." He said with a chuckle as he began to get cozy on his back. Automne let out a large sigh as he wiped a tear out of his eye. "Dust, you are way too sheltered."
"No, I'm not. I just don't think pornography is… decent." Eve said defensively as an utterly repulsed look crossed her face.
"It's not just that; as hilarious as that is. It's the whole you, the strict schedule, the no touchy thing, your parents made you a prude." Automne said with a large smile as he brought his arms up behind his head.
Eve blushed brightly, "W-well I don't see what's-"
"Ep ep ep, I'm not saying that's a bad thing little Ms. Assume. I'm just saying they sheltered you a bit. It's kind of cool… In a way… sort of."
Eve paused for a moment and laid back on the rooftop alongside Automne. "How so?"
Automne shrugged, "I don't know, I guess it just shows that, eh, well your parents love you and they wanted to keep you safe; which is cool. And now that you're all independent and stuff you have a lot more to experience and see… and stuff."
Eve stared up at the large dark sky above peppered by glimmering specks of light. A warm smile began to cross her face as they laid there and looked out into space. A few calm moments passed before Eve turned slightly to Automne, her dark hair cascading onto the rooftop like black water.
"Hey, Automne, what are your parents like?" Eve's innocent, soft voice asked suddenly.
Automne paused for a moment; he blinked a few dozen times his eyes seemingly scanning the sky above for an answer.
Automne gave a heavy sigh.
"My dad, he's a cool guy… He, uhh, he used to work as a blacksmith. I don't think he really liked it that much. He'd always come home tired and covered in soot. But his dad used to be the town blacksmith and the town needed a blacksmith, so he had to do it. We didn't live in one of the kingdoms; we actually lived in a small town outside of the walls. So when there was a job that needs to be filled," Automne waved his hand through the air dismissively. "Ya' gotta do it."
Automne went quiet for a few moments as he looked back up at the sky. "When we moved here he decided to become a florist. He always liked flowers… And my mother… She used to be a florist. Well, florist in the general sense. She was in charge of the herbs and helping to keep the crops healthy. All that stuff." Automne stopped and gave another sigh.
"Is that how your parents met?" Eve chimed with a curious smile.
"Yeah… it is actually. My dad was looking for a flower or something for his house and… that's how they met."
A small, sweet smile crossed Eve's lips as she imagined the two meeting for the first time. "That sounds really sweet. What's your mom like?"
Automne paused for another few moments. "She… My mom… My mom was really nice. She was really… Beautiful."
Eve's smile quickly began to fade away as Automne went on.
"She's not really around anymore… She died." Automne said in the most casual tone he could muster.
"I'm so sorry." Eve said gingerly as Automne stared straight up into the heavens above.
Automne shook his head slightly "No, it's alright… It's… It happened a long time ago. I've gotten over the hard stuff; it's just… a bit hard to talk about."
"Automne, you don't have to talk about it."
"No… Talking helps and, at least people say talking helps and… And it's been about nine years now, so I really need to put this behind me." Automne closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "My mom had a little garden near the edge of the forest. I remember people would always tell her to uproot it and move it closer to town because it was too dangerous there, but my mom would always tell them no because the soil was richer near the forest. So, she never moved it, I remember it pretty well. There weren't many flowers in it, just lots of herbs and some vanilla plants.
"She'd take me out there occasionally when she needed help carrying back herbs and then she'd show me how to make vanilla ice cream when we got back to town. And I- I remember the last day we went out there. We were going to harvest a couple of the vanilla plants and surprise my dad with a big dessert. My mom never told me what the surprise was going to be about, but I still remember how excited she looked when she told me. So, she ended up getting me super excited about going out to help." Automne gave a heavy sigh.
"I was actually so excited that I forgot to bring one of the baskets. I didn't realize that until I got to the edge of the forest though, so I had to run back to the village to get it, so I was about half-way between when… when… my mom started screaming." Automne slowly rose out of his relaxed position and turned over towards his object wrapped in brown sheets.
"I turned around and I saw… I saw my mom's legs hanging out the mouth of a Grimm." Automne stopped and rubbed his hand over the brown sheets while Eve patiently waited for him to continue. Automne took a deep breath and gave a heavy sigh. "The thing looked at me with its giant blood red eyes and hissed at me… I pissed myself and ran back to the village screaming my head off." Automne gave one last heavy sigh and began to untie the sheet. "And that was basically the worst day of my life. My dad and I stayed in the village for about another year before we decided to leave. We slowly moved East until we moved into Vale about a month ago."
Eve sat in silence for a few moments with her legs curled up against her chest as she processed Automne's story.
"I'm so sorry for your loss."
Automne gave a small sigh, "Thanks… don't feel too bad about it though, it happened a long time ago so I try not to let it get to me. There's no use dwelling on the past, but if it's all the same to you I'd prefer to keep this secret. People always treat you differently over… stuff like this."
Eve sat quietly and stared off into the distance as Automne got frustrated in failing to untie a knot made in the sheets.
"Automne,"
"Yes," Automne muttered through gritted teeth as he tried to rip the sheets apart.
"I want to share something with you." Eve said calmly as she pulled her sleeve back and began to remove her glove.
Automne stopped tugging at the sheet and slowly turned over to Eve who had now begun to remove her other glove. Eve turned her head away for a moment and lifted her hands up to her face.
Automne leaned back to try and catch a glimpse of what Eve was doing, but was only met with her curtain of black hair so he quickly gave up.
"Alright," Eve said nervously, her head held low. "I'm going to show you something, but I want you to promise me you're not going to laugh."
"Eve, what're you-"
"Automne, please promise me."
"Alright alright I promise. Way to be dramatic." Automne muttered the last part to himself as Eve took a deep breath and swung her head around.
Her eyes were tightly shut and her lips were quivering intensely as Automne stared at her, completely clueless as to what exactly he was supposed to be looking at. Eve took another deep breath, her eyelids now quivering as if she were having trouble opening them.
"Sooooooo, what am I-"
"Give me a second!" Eve interrupted impatiently as she took one last large breath, exhaled and slowly opened her eyes, tears budding in the corners.
Automne stared into her eyes, completely taken aback. Where her eyes should have been white they were a deep black, speckled with small glimmers of what looked like starlight and her eyes were no longer periwinkle, but instead a silvery white that stood against the dark sclera like small bright moons.
The small moons darted back and forth in their sockets nervously as Eve waited for any kind of response other than Automne's astonished stare.
"I-It's a rare genetic mutation that runs in my family." Eve crossed her arms again as Automne continued to stare into her eyes. "When I was in grade school kids would always make fun of my eyes and call me names, so I wear contacts." Eve paused again as Automne continued to pierce into her with his stare. "Could- could you please say something? The staring is starting to get creepy."
"Oh, umm sorry. I was just… Nevermind, but yeah your eyes look really… pretty… Cool, really pretty cool. Is what... I meant." Automne bumbled as he tried to stop looking at Eve's eyes.
Eve's eyes softened as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Oh… thank you." She said softly as they proceeded to just sit there awkwardly and look around.
Automne cleared his throat, "So… yeah, I-uhh I assume you don't want me to tell Ty or Petunia about your," Automne waved his hand around his eyes.
Eve gave a simple nod.
"Alright then, so I'll keep your secrets and I'll trust you with mine."
"Sure," Eve's warm yet earnest voice replied.
"Alright then, well let's make it official!" Automne shouted as he bolted up into a seated position on the ledge and held out his closed fist.
"Alright, just let me put my gloves on."
"You can do this without your gloves."
Eve gave a gasp and looked down at her gloves. "B-but then we would touch and-"
"Eve, I thought you wanted to promise." Automne scolded as Eve looked at her gloves in concern.
Eve gave a loud groan, "Alright," she said hesitantly as she slowly began to move her closed, slender, pale fist towards Automne's at the pace of a lethargic snail.
Automne stared down at her hand and raised an eyebrow. "Preferably some time before dawn would be nice Eve." Automne said dryly as Eve's fist still moved forward like cold molasses.
"Give me a second." She muttered quietly, her silvery eyes fixated on their hands.
Automne gave a heavy sigh and closed the rest of the distance, causing Eve to flinch.
"Okay it's done. Now let me-"
"No, it's not." Automne clarified as he grabbed Eve by the wrist with his other hand and held her in place.
Eve let out what sounded like a gasp mixed with yelp as she stared down at the physical contact in horror. "Okay, okay what's next?!"
"Calm down, and I'll tell you."
"I'm calm, I am completely calm."
"You're starting to sweat."
"What do we do next?!" Eve squealed in a high-pitched frazzled voice.
"Alright, alright, the next part is simple. We just have to lock it," Automne turned his fist about ninety degrees and loosened his grip on Eve's wrist. Eve quickly turned her wrist and looked at Automne desperately for what the next step was. "Now just put it in your pocket." Automne said almost mockingly as he took his fist and put it into his pocket. Eve quickly whipped her hand away and shoved it into her jacket with a whimper as soon as Automne released his grip on her. "Now, was that so hard?"
"Yes, yes it was." Eve moped melodramatically as she started to pull her gloves back on.
Automne chuckled to himself a bit as he swung his legs around off the edge of the building. "You need to learn to chill out… Oh yeah, that reminds me I brought something." Automne chimed happily as he reached over to the sheet covered object and picked it up.
"I was meaning to ask you what that was." Eve said with a lot less angst as she tried to put her contacts back in.
"This Little Ms. Mary-jo-Lisa-"
"That's not my name."
"Whatever, now anyways, this is a little special something that I whipped up for a special occasion. The only problem is I can't untie these damn sheets."
"Here, let me try it." Eve asked politely as she scooted up to the ledge and grabbed the object.
"Well good luck that thing is-"
"This knot isn't even tied. These sheets were open the whole time."
Automne stopped and stared in bewilderment as Eve casually pulled a cooler out of the sheets. "Why does the universe hate me?"
"Maybe it's because you're mean to me."
Automne gave a sigh and took the cooler away from Eve. "Rhetorical question," Automne popped open the lid to the cooler and pulled out a frost covered glass bottle and handed it to Eve.
Eve looked the bottle up and down skeptically after she noticed there was only some tinfoil over the mouth instead of an actual bottle cap. "Umm, Automne, what is this?"
"This Eve is my own personal creation. And before you say anything, no there isn't any alcohol in it."
"I wasn't going to say that."
"Well good, because there isn't."
Eve stared at the bottle again with concern. "Why would you-"
"What do you take me for some kind of n'e'r-do-well?"
"What, I didn't even-"
"Oh, stop stop stop, look." Automne insisted ecstatically as he pointed out towards the horizon.
Eve slowly, but gladly, turned to witness the sun slowly starting to peek over the horizon and coat the land with warm rays of light. Eve's mouth fell open as the sunlight shined off the morning dew and coated the ground and rooftops with small wisps of steam.
"Congratulations, Eve, you pulled your first all- nighter." Automne said sincerely as he raised his own frost covered bottle out towards Eve for a toast.
Eve looked down at her bottle and raised it up high. "Thanks Automne, I want to propose a toast; a toast to our friendship."
A broad grin crossed Automne's lips as he tapped his bottle against Eve's with a loud clink. "Friends 'til the end," Automne threw his head back as he took a large swig from his bottle.
Eve looked at her bottle hesitantly one more time before closing her eyes and taking a small sip. Eve's eyes shot open as the drink's rich, sweet, creamy yet fruity fluid flowed through her mouth and washed down her throat far too quickly causing her to press the bottle against her lips again and take a couple large gulps.
"I take it you like it?" Automne said with a smug smirk as he watched Eve from the corner of his eye.
Eve nodded her head rapidly as she tried to savor the truly unique flavor of whatever it was she was drinking. "Iz zere more?"
"Yes, yes there is, but first it's time for the moment of truth. Eve Howlite," Automne called into his bottle as if it were a microphone. "Was this night the most fun you have ever had?"
Eve paused for a moment and set her bottle between her thighs. She held a finger to her bottom lip and stared out into the sunrise for a minute. "Hmm… maybe,"
There was a brief pause.
"The hell do you mean maybe? There was pie, there were video games, we pulled pranks-"
"That girl wanted to kill us."
"-I didn't say they were successful. What more do you want? A bounce house filled with strawberry gelatin?"
"How would that be fun?" Eve asked with a single raised eyebrow.
"I don't know, but at this point I don't know what fun is anymore." Automne gave a heavy sigh. "You know what we made an agreement and I'm just being sore. Here," Automne set down his bottle and began to unwrap his scarf from around his neck. He gently folded it and held it out to Eve in both hands. "Eve, I bestow upon you my scarf… Hand wash only and drip dry."
Eve looked down at Automne's scarf with big eyes. "Automne… I can't take your scarf."
"Eve, I made a promise and I always keep my promises. Now, take my scarf."
"Automne, I can't." Eve admitted as she pushed his hands back a little.
"Take it," Automne insisted as he pushed it towards her.
"No,"
"Yes,"
"No,"
"Yes,"
"No!"
"Ye-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Automne screamed in a panic as he lost his balance, Eve tried to grab his hands, but only caught his scarf before he fell off the roof.
"Automne!" Eve called out as she jumped to her feet. "Are you alright?!"
Automne rolled around on the ground and moaned a bit before he began to mutter something inaudible.
"What was that?"
"I said I have some good news for you! I'm pretty certain I broke my leg! Now you have something to practice on for your exam!" Automne broke into hysterical laughter as Eve threw Automne's scarf around her neck and grabbed her weapon.
"Don't move; I'm going to go get my kit!" Eve shouted in panic as she sprinted back across the rooftop and into the stairwell.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." Automne said with a couple more chuckles before fainting.
I don't own Halo, please don't sue me.
Thanks for reading. Follow, Favorite and Review if you want and check out my other stuff if that floats your goat. Thanks again to my editor NinjaSlayer4x who loves to make suggestions that I do not follow. More will be coming soon and trust me big stuff is headed Team TAPE's way.
Stay tuned, but until next time Peace out.
-CS
P.s. This is my favorite chapter. 3