Chapter 17: And Now For Something Completely Different

Heeeeyyyyyy man, how ya doin'. You know me, it's The Draigg. Now, it looks like you need a little pick-me-up. See this thing right here? Another chapter. Pure, uncut. Perfect for using on your eyes. And hey, I'm your pal, so I'll give you this one for free. Now, before you go using that stuff, just remember that you owe Monty Oum for makin' RWBY. Now move, before you get both of us seen.

xxx

Velvet Scarlatina was having a regular Wednesday morning, all things considered. Sure, she was mostly alone and unnoticed, but that didn't really bother her. In fact, being mousy had its advantages. Nobody really protested when you cut in line for lunch, teachers wouldn't ask too many questions, and nobody would notice when you took secret photos of them.

Speaking of voyeurism, Velvet had just finished saving her secret phots to her vault app on her scroll. It had become practically routine at this point. She would save her photos, edit them for better quality, and then wear out the corner of her work desk at the Theater Club office in her own special way.

However, before she could get to step two of her private time routine, Velvet noticed that she had received a new e-mail. She opened it up, deciding that she could put her steps on hold for now. Oh, it was from her fanfic writing friend, 'ShadowCat333'! Velvet hadn't heard from her in a while. Or was it a 'him'? Nah, it probably was a 'her'. Regardless of the author's gender, what bothered Velvet more was that she (probably) had been updating less and less. That was disappointing, as she really did like talking to her.

The e-mail was another editing request. However, the attached file wasn't another chapter of one of her fanfics. It was some sort of script. Scanning it over, Velvet wondered what it was all about. It kept on mentioning proper dust usage and the do's and don'ts of dust. Velvet figured it was for a PSA of some kind.

Wait, wasn't there a rumor going around that Team RWBY left on a PSA tour? And if so, then that could possibly mean that someone on that team had written this script. All the pieces fell together for Velvet in that moment. Someone on Team RWBY had written those fanfics she edited! Wow, that changed… nothing really. But, it was interesting to know that one of her friends was also interested in writing like herself.

"I guess it's a small world, after all," Velvet inwardly thought.

So far, the script wasn't really all that bad. Sure, there were a few repeated words here and there, but that problem could be easily fixed. So, Velvet began to edit the script. She dind't have much else to do right now, anyway.

xxx

About an hour later, Velvet had finished editing the first draft of the PSA script. If only she had known that someone on Team RWBY was somewhat good at writing PSA's, she would have sought out their employment for her safe sex PSA. Maybe then a massive riot wouldn't have occurred and ruined the reputation of her club.

Standing up, Velvet stretched her back. As the bones in her spine creaked and cracked into place, she wondered what she should have for lunch. Maybe she would eat with her team today? Nah, that wasn't very likely. Velvet was never the social type. Sometimes, she felt like she had barely seen or known her team at all.

Instead, she figured that she could hang out with Team JNPR. At least she had common ground to talk to them enough. Working on theater projects had a weird way of bringing people closer together.

Velvet made her way down the hallway from her office, eagerly anticipating the food that the cafeteria had to offer. Or, as much as a student at Beacon could, anyway. Food poisoning was still a common illness around the academy. Velvet shuddered at the memory of the Eggplant Casserole Incident. The smell around the school was absolutely dreadful.

Pushing open the cafeteria doors, Velvet saw that it was surprisingly empty. Now curious, Velvet checked the time on her scroll. It was now 11:45. She had arrived before the lunch rush a half hour early.

Velvet felt nice for having good timing. Casually strolling over to the food counter, Velvet grabbed a chef's salad and a slice of carrot cake. Sure, it was a stereotype for a rabbit to eat that stuff, but Velvet still genuinely liked the stuff.

Looking around for a place to sit, she saw Team JNPR sitting in the corner near the doors. How convenient that they were here! Now she wouldn't feel lonely at lunch. She slid next to them at the table. Apparently, she had walked in halfway through on of Nora's dream stories.

"—So then, I grabbed a pencil off of the tree and stabbed the zombie right in the eye!" Nora boastfully described, pointing to her left eye. Nobody really seemed to be paying attention to her. Regardless of everyone's attention levels, she continued. "It turned out that the zombie had the key to the flying pirate ship, and me and Ren put on eye patches and got all the booty!".

Velvet slightly choked when she heard the word 'booty'. Her mind was still in the gutter a little, since she had been looking at pictures of booty of a different kind earlier. It wasn't her fault that people kept their dorm windows open. She just happened to be there at the time.

Her coughing drew attention to her. "Oh, hey Velvet. Didn't see you there," greeted Jaune.

"Hello there!" Pyrrha cheerfully waved at her. She still was as polite as ever.

Ren gave a short grunt of acknowledgement before returning his attention to his miso soup. It was some good soup, and he didn't want to stop eating it anytime soon.

Nora did the expected thing and threw herself at Velvet for a hug. As Nora glomped Velvet, one thought kept on running through her mind: "Don't look at her chest, don't look at her chest, don't look at her chest, don't look at her chest—shoot, I looked,". Velvet's eyes briefly flicked to Nora's bust before moving her gaze to the others. Velvet mouthed out the word 'help'. Jaune and Pyrrha shrugged, while Ren rolled his eyes.

"Nora, I think she's good now," Ren said in a bored tone. For him, this was an average thing to deal with. Nora heard his suggestion and let Velvet go. She still beamed at the rabbit Faunus girl.

"I'm glad you joined us! Wanna hear my dream?" Nora asked, jumping up and down in her seat like an excited puppy.

Velvet looked at the rest of Team JNPR for support. Jaune was signaling to cut her off, Pyrrha mouthing 'no', and Ren just shook his head. They had heard enough of her dream today.

"…No thanks, but I'm sure it was cool," Velvet decided on saying. Nora seemed to accept that deflection, and went back to facing the rest of her team.

"So…" Velvet said to Team JNPR, "What's up with you guys?".

"Oh, nothing much. Pyrrha's got me doing something called 'yowh-gah' and meditation," Jaune replied. Ren groaned from where he sat.

"First of all, it's called yoga, and secondly, lying face down on your bed isn't meditating. It requires discipline, silence, a clear state of mind—" Ren intervened before being cut off by Pyrrha.

"Come now, Ren. Meditation can have many different forms. It's just what works for some people," Pyrrha said in the couple's defense.

"Yes, if you want to do it wrong," Ren flatly stated. Why didn't everyone listen to him when it came to this type of stuff? He had centuries of his proud culture's teachings to back him up. And what did the others have? Just stuff they heard on mid-day talk shows. It bothered him to no end.

"It works fine for me. I bet it would work fine for Velvet in her private time," Jaune said, dragging Velvet into the argument. The others looked at her for her response.

"Umm… s-sure. I b-bet it w-would," Velvet nervously stammered. She didn't do all that well whenever she was put on the spot.

"See, she agrees with us," pointed out Pyrrha.

"Yeah, pick a weeaboo to defend you. Don't think I didn't see all that manga in your office," Ren shot back to Pyrrha and Velvet. Velvet was actually feeling slightly offended. It wasn't fair to pick on her hobbies.

"Well, maybe if you didn't take yourself so seriously, maybe you would have fewer problems," Velvet said, annoyed. That got her some slightly shocked looks from the others. It was a rare sight to see Velvet defend herself indeed.

"Hmph, whatever. Nobody takes anything serious anymore…" lamented Ren. The universe just loved kicking him around by sticking him with people who didn't understand anything he said. Maybe in some past life he did something to piss off some higher being. But, even then, that punishment was going too far.

Taking Ren's silence as him admitting defeat, Velvet felt a little triumphant. Yeah, defending herself had actually worked this time! It didn't end with her locked in a bathroom stall or her rabbit ears being boxed this time around!

Velvet dug into her food like some conquering king having a celebratory feast. Maybe she was taking her small victory a little too far. It was starting to get to her head, to stupid, suicidal degrees.

"Yeah, I can take those mean girls in Natural Medicines 306 now! They'll never spread a rumor about me again!" she declared in her thoughts. Well, at least she wasn't lacking in confidence this time around.

After her meal was devoured, Velvet stood up and took her tray. "I hope to talk to you all soon," Velvet said as she walked away. Pyrrha and Nora waved goodbye to her as Velvet put the tray back in its designated drop-off spot.

Velvet walked out of the cafeteria feeling like a million lien. Yeah, noting could touch her now! She was invincible! She could take on anyone and anything! In fact, she was going to take justice in her own hands, and go confront one of her tormentors right now: Cardin Winchester.

xxx

A few hours later, Velvet severely regretted her choices. As it turned out, just because you felt invincible, that didn't mean it was true in the slightest. Also, it wasn't a good idea to knock on a bully's door and lightly pound on their chest when they answered it.

Right now, Velvet was drying off her clothes back at her office. She had no idea how Team CRDL managed to fill a bucket of water that quickly, but somehow they managed it. At least her scroll didn't get fried out. That would have been terrible. But, that reinforced the idea that Velvet needed to keep back-ups of all the photos she took.

Velvet, not for the first time on her life, wondered how she ended up at this point in fate. When signing up for Beacon Academy, she didn't expect that sitting in your underwear in your office because you tried to beat up a bully and he threw water on you would be an actual occurrence.

Yet again, this wouldn't be the first time that Velvet considered dressing down in her office. As long as the window blinds were closed and the door was shut, Velvet thought that it would be kind of hot to do. But, the whole stupid situation she got herself in killed any arousal she could have possibly mustered.

Sighing dejectedly, Velvet decided to read over the script she was sent again. Nope, nothing had changed. That much was obvious, as she still hadn't sent her version over to Team RWBY yet. Well, she might as well send it now.

Pressing the 'send' button, Velvet sighed a little. What a day she had. Editing, arguing with Ren, trying (and failing) to beat up Cardin Winchester, and now she was half-naked in her office. If only she had a drink right now…

No, she couldn't drink. Given all the drunken flirting she did with Jaune and Pyrrha the last time she drank, she didn't want to think about she would do drunk and undressed. She would probably be expelled for improper conduct or public nudity, something like that.

Well, there was something she could to cheer herself up. Velvet picked up the latest chapter of Sweet Girl Berry X and began to leaf through the pages. If there was one thing she could always enjoy, it was manga.

So, Velvet engrossed herself in the world of inked fantasy. It was a place where the good guys always won, and that wishes made by the power of love would always come true.

It was a world Velvet sincerely wanted to live in. But, that's why she was at Beacon Academy, after all. To have that world, she would have to build it herself. It was a fair price to pay.

xxx

Bet you weren't expecting this chapter, did you? Well, I just couldn't leave out those characters! I needed to spice things up a little! Anyway, tell me what you think about the universe screwing over Velvet in the review section below! This is The Draigg, signing off on something unexpected!