"Girls, I'm fine." Blake protested as Ruby shoved a thermometer into her mouth.
"How can you be sure?" Yang added from behind her sister. "We still don't know what happened."
"I think she should see the nurse." Weiss added from her bed. "Don't you think we should leave this to trained professionals, Ruby?" The heiress added emphasis to the last word to get the younger girl's attention.
Ruby stopped and looked from Blake to Weiss before turning back to her other friend, a white first aid kit in her hands. "How can you be sure you're ok? You passed out from touching a book. I just don't want it to happen again."
Blake sighed. It was a little annoying how Ruby could make herself look like a lost puppy dog when she wanted. It made it harder to be mean or stern with the girl. "I promise." She said taking Ruby's hand and putting the thermometer back into it. "I am fine. It won't happen again."
"I think we need to talk to him about that." Yang added, cracking her knuckles and staring at the door. They had shut Gregor and Sun outside after Blake had awoken, much to both boy's protest. From the voices, they were still outside the door. "I bet I can convince him to tell us what happened."
"Yang, you don't have to do that. It's not his fault." Blake said looking to her partner. "He didn't do this on purpose. He wouldn't."
"How do you know?" Yang asked, crossing her arms with a huff. "We just met him and the first thing he does is admit that his book almost killed you."
"It wasn't his fault. He didn't do it on purpose, he's not evil." She paused and sighed. "You don't know him."
"Neither do you." Weiss added, standing from her bed. "For all we know he could be a criminal. Maybe he's just here to poison the whole student body. Or sabotage the entire school!" The room fell silent as everyone turned from Blake to Weiss. "It could happen." She mumbled with a pout on her face.
"I don't think he's evil." Ruby mumbled.
"I don't trust him." Weiss added. "We should stay away from him, just send him off."
"I'm with Weiss." Yang said leaning on the wall and sighing. "We should just walk away and enjoy the rest of our weekend."
"I figured you would be the first one to be chasing after him." Weiss turned on the blond with a confused look which earned her a glare from Yang.
"I don't chase every boy we ever meet. This guy just seems boring and creepy."
"That's good. I'm sure he won't mind." Blake said quietly, brushing her hair over her shoulders as she looked to the ground. Ruby didn't say it but Blake wasn't acting right. She was always quiet, less so after Sun's arrival but now she seemed distracted, less aware than she usually was. Ruby watched her look wearily up and give a fake smile.
"Alright, let's go then. I still want to get some good food before this day is completely busted." Yang gave her sister a light slap on the shoulder as she opened the door. Everyone stood behind her and paused with Yang at the scene outside.
Both boys were against the far wall with Sun's fist wrapped around Gregor's shirt. When the door opened both sets of eyes turned to face the girls. In a sudden flash Sun slid away from the other boy letting him fall to the floor with a thud.
"This isn't what it looks like." He said quickly.
"I'm with him." Greg said from the floor. "Cause I don't know what it looks like."
. . .
The hall was deathly silent. Gregor had not said a word since the girls had shoved them out and didn't seem interested on doing anything more than reading through his book. Occasionally he would make a mark with his pen, filling the air with a scratch that rang like bells in the stillness.
Sun sized him up. He was thin and weak looking with his jacket hanging off like it was made for someone bigger. He had yet to make eye contact or even recognize Sun's existence since they had met. He was scared or maybe just really shy. He may be as quiet as Blake, but he didn't have her confidence.
"It's rude to stare." The voice was a shock to Sun when he finally spoke. Slowly, Greg's eyes rose from his book and the dark iris settled on him from beneath his grey hair. "If you want to say something feel free. I don't mind."
Sun grunted crossing his arms as he shifted his position on the wall. "I'm still trying to figure you out."
Gregor laughed from his spot on the floor. "Good luck with that. I'm more complicated than a rubix cube."
"A what?"
Greg looked up again from his book with a puzzled look to mirror Sun's. "It's a… You don't know what that is, do you?"
"No. Should I?"
"I guess not. I really need to be more careful about this stuff." His last comment was mumbled to himself. "So, I know this is a terrible idea but I can't help it and I'm just gonna apologize in advance. What is with the tail?"
"What?" Sun stared at the other man as he rubbed his head sheepishly and looked down. He curled his tail up before his face letting it wave before his face, examining it. "What's wrong with it?"
"Well nothing. I think. I mean I've just never seen anyone with a tail. Is it common or… Something?" His voice trailed off into a quiet whisper again.
"Have you never seen a faunus before?" Sun let his tail hang around his legs and glared on the other man. His eyes were cast to he ground, his hand scratching at his head. It was common knowledge who and what faunus were. How could someone not know that?
"Faunus." Gregor said slowly, as if he were testing the word on his tongue. "Well it's certainly more catchy than animas." Greg closed his book and tucked the object into his lap as he looked back at Sun with a new painfully forced smile. "Sorry, I'm rambling."
"You're not making any sense. Are you crazy?"
"That's a matter of opinion." He responded with a shrug. "But if I was I don't think I would know. Crazy person can't know they're crazy right?" he laughed at his own joke but his halfhearted laughter died when he realized he was the only one laughing. "Sorry."
"Why don't you just tell me who you are?" Sun said stepping away from the wall. He normally didn't care what someone was hiding but whatever he was hiding was dangerous. His halfhearted jokes and ignorance wasn't a good enough disguise. Sun knew how to hide, and this guy was trying really hard to hide his real face.
Gregor sighed and slowly stood from his space to face Sun. Standing now, Sun realized he was taller than the other man and he looked even thinner when he was standing, clutching his book to his side. "My name is Gregor."
"I got that." Sun tapped his ear. "I heard you before. I mean what are you doing here at Beacon?"
"Well, what are You doing here?" Gregor asked pointing a finger at Sun.
The faunus narrowed his eyes and felt his arms tense. "I asked first."
"Now doesn't that sound immature?" Greg said with another weak chuckle. Sun growled and pushed from the wall taking the first step to cross the hall. Greg held up his hand. "Easy man I don't want a fight."
"Then explain. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Sun wasn't one to jump right into a fight but this guy was off. There was something he was hiding and since he admitted to being the cause of Blake's sudden condition he was already low on his favorite person list. It might be worth hitting him first to get a real answer.
Gregor changed. His face lost the passive smile and fell into a sullen grimace. "Listen," His voice had gotten deeper. "I'm just passing through. I'm looking for someone and as I passed by I dropped my book. I'm sorry about Blake but that's why I'm here. I wanted to make sure she is ok. If you really want, I'll leave now before they come back out."
"What about her?"
"She'll be fine." Greg said with a wave of his hand. "I got to her fast and removed the cause of the damage. If she was back on her feet that fast, she should be fine. I don't mean to be rude, but I have a lot of things I need to do."
"You don't sound very sure.
"Sorry. I've only ever had two other people assimilate my book. One died after two minutes and the other couldn't put together a full sentence again for the rest of his life." Greg's face turned from the snarl it had gained back to the calm, tired expression he had been wearing. "The fact that she is still alive and got up without bleeding from her brain is a miracle."
"And the hug?"
Greg opened his mouth but paused. "I still have no idea. That was new. I could throw a few guesses but none that would do anyone any good. If anything gets worse come find me. Until then I have much more important things to do." Greg gave a quick halfhearted salute with two of his fingers and tucked his book under is shoulder.
"What about her?" Sun's voice was deeper when he asked this time, darker. "If you caused this, you need to fix it."
"I did cause it, and l did fix it." Gregor sighed and squeezed his face with his hand. "If you need me, come looking at the nearest restaurant. I need some food." Greg turned and took a step before he stumbled and fell against the wall with a gasp.
"Hey, you alright?" Sun rushed to his side helping the man stand against the wall. Greg started huffing, panting and gasped again. His face was pale but after a moment his breathing returned to normal. He looked to Sun and gave a slow nod.
"Sorry about that." He huffed, sucking in a gulp of air. "I really need to go now."
There was a click and both boys looked to the door across the hall. Yang's yellow framed head stared at them, quickly surrounded on all sides by the other three girls, all with the same cockeyed looks. In a sudden flash Sun slid away from the other boy letting him fall to the floor with a thud.
"This isn't what it looks like." He said quickly.
"I'm with him." Greg said from the floor. "Cause I don't know what I looks like."
"Are you alright?" Blake was the first one to push through the crowd and help Gregor to his feet. Sun started to move but stepped back scratching his head. The others filed out of the room as the grey haired man dusted his jacket and smiled.
"I'm fine." He looked at Blake and stared. "How are you?" he asked quietly.
"Good." She said with a nod.
"No headaches? Searing pain? Itching?" he asked with a shrug.
"She's good." Yang said, suddenly looming behind Gregor.
"Ok." Greg didn't turn around but gave a small cough. "We'll on that scary as all hell note, I'm going to leave." He turned to give Yang a fleeting glance before settling on Ruby. "If anything happens, come find me and I'll help."
"Where are you going to go?" Blake asked as he pushed his way past the girls towards the door.
"I have someone to go find." He said without turning around.
"Its Darkside isn't it?"
Greg spun, eyes wide and fixed on Blake. "How do you know that name?"
"I-I don't know it's just…" Blake touched her head. "I know the name…"
"You don't know how." Greg said, his tone softening from the accusation it had taken. "You know the name, other things too but you can't draw the connections between them, right?"
"Yeah."
"What are you two talking about?" Ruby looked between the two. Blake looked confused and Gregor who a moment ago had seemed ready to start throwing punches, look sad again. He took long breath and stepped back. He dint seem aware that any of them were there.
"That's because those aren't your memories you're thinking about, they're mine. My history you took from the book. Now I thought I wiped it all out." He gave a long sigh and placed a hand on Blake's forehead. "Guess I was wrong."
"What does that mean? What's going to happen to her?" Ruby asked, clenching her fist and shaking. Yang stepped away from the pair and wrapped an arm around her sister, though her eyes remained focused on Gregor.
The man looked from Ruby to Blake, his brow creased in a grimace. "You'll be fine, physically. But these memories are going to hang around. They're not dangerous just annoying." He took a long breath. "If you want, I can help you draw the connections, help it make sense."
Blake nodded slowly. "I would."
"Good." He said with another forced smile. "In exchange, how about some food? I'm broke." He gave another halfhearted chuckle but no one else even smiled. "I've got to work on my jokes."
Author's notes: I am quickly losing fuel and confidence in this story. Maybe once I reach a pick up point I'll feel better but I'm editing this and can't help but feel like it is quickly falling flat. I have a better idea than what I can put to paper and that's not helping.
I'm going to try and keep to a consistent release schedule, once a week, but I've made lies like this before so only time will tell.
Now that my self-pity session is over, I guess it's time to beg for reviews again. So yeah, do that. Review it. Feel free to tell me what I'm doing wrong.