Heyo Kariotic here!
So uh... yeah. World's on fire. I can't do much but try to write as much as possible while I have all this free time on my hands.
Love each other. Stay safe out there.
Enjoy the read! See you next chapter!
"We're going where?" Ozpin asked, incredulous. The three still awake adults stood in the kitchen one evening after the students had gone to bed. The two men drank tea as Winter was absorbed with a certain book. "After you agreed to restrict the amount of people leaving the house?"
"I said we might go to the city," Kay repeated his point. "It's not a solid plan. Besides, I had already thought of it way before you started restricting numbers last week."
A week. A whole week since Ozpin and Winter learned that their Aura had been compromised and was beginning to weaken. The only functioning theory they have is that the longer they stay away from the world of Remnant, the sooner they may lose their Aura completely. Time was of the essence. Another week spent here meant another month had passed in Remnant without any signs of progress. The immortal wizard looked over at Winter, who was reading through one of the geographical reference books borrowed from Kay's personal library. The two's eyes met returning back to their respective businesses. The Specialist requested the book to understand the world and local region they lived in after their host suggested the trip south. The Headmaster took a sip of his tea. Neither had made any attempt to tell Kay about the recent Aura development; he had enough on his plate as it was.
"It's literally an hour drive down, and we can drive back up once it starts getting dark!" Kay assured them.
"Are you concerned for nightfall?" Winter asked. "Is the city that dangerous?"
"Nighttime is when the area I want to show you guys gets the most foot traffic." Kay answered. "At least in the daytime, we can see each other and the sights clearly."
"And the occasion?" Ozpin asked.
"Change of scenery since it's a holiday," their host answered with a shrug. "I've got some time off with the semester ending, so I could take you guys down there for a quick sightseeing trip."
"While I agree it would be a nice trip for the children," Ozpin sighed. "We barely have enough chaperones, between the two of you."
"Do you not count?" Winter asked, her eyes still scanning her book.
"I could barely look over Jaune's shoulders, let alone keep an eye on a troupe of Beacon students." Ozpin countered.
"We do have a third adult to chaperone," Kay said, catching both Hunter's attention. "Roman."
"Your…" Winter recalled the man in question. "Friend."
"Friend, editor," Kay listed off. "Atlesian Specalist's fencing target."
Ozpin delivered the greatest spit take Kay had ever seen in his life, causing the writer to laugh heartily at the sight before passing the poor man a paper towel. Winter simply scowled at Kay as she finally closed the book and slid it over to him.
"Are we going back to your school anytime in the coming weeks?" Winter asked. "I noticed you didn't go out for work yesterday."
"Finals week," Kay's simple answer got a sympathetic nod from Ozpin, but a raised eyebrow from Winter. "Depending on the class, students will either simply submit their final assignments online or go on campus to take physical exams. My classes only require online submissions, so I don't really need to leave my house to do my work. I go over submissions, email them back to the students with my last remarks to them, and submit their final grades to the system from the comfort of my office."
"Convenient." Winter noted. "We only ever took exams over computer monitors our academy's labs."
"All of the exams and final presentations are done in-class at Beacon," Ozpin added. "But I know the local civilian colleges do have similar models to yours."
"You know," Kay leaned onto the kitchen counter. "For a seemingly futuristic world of technology and magic, your system feels very archaic."
"If it isn't broken, as they say." Ozpin dismissed.
"Progress and change are the ways of nature." Winter and Kay were surprised to hear their comment repeated simultaneously. Kay simply saluted with a slight raise of his tea mug. Winter continued, "As Hunters and soldiers, we must be aware of how society changes and learn to accommodate appropriately."
"Back to the matter on hand," Kay said. "Roman, who is also aware of who you are, is someone I trust."
"How does he know who we are?" Winter asked.
"He slipped it out of me." Kay admitted. "Also, it doesn't help that he easily recognized the person who terrified him by looks and voice."
"He was also a fan?" Ozpin asked.
"We watched the show together through high school and college," Kay answered. "It's one of the reasons we got close in the first place. Again, I would trust him to help me keep y'all safe."
"We would need to meet him properly first." Ozpin suggested. "All of us."
"That can be arranged." Kay nodded with a sly smirk.
The next evening...
"Kay!" The unassuming redhead cheered as Kay opened the door to his home the next afternoon. "What's with the sudden invitation, buddy? Is it work related?"
"Kind of," Kay's nonspecific answer didn't seem to trouble Roman. "Just follow me."
Roman followed Kay inside, taking off his shoes after crossing the threshold into the writer's home. He looked around to see Teams RWBY and JNR chatting animatedly on the couch as Yang and Jaune played some FPS game on the television. Oscar and Winter were sat in the kitchen, the latter of which was idly watching the gameplay with an eyebrow raised.
"They have this sort of game in this world?" Winter asked no one in particular. "Where one pretends to be a soldier in wartime?"
"It would seem so," the voice of Ozpin came from the young farmer's mouth. "Though research shows there is no correlation between these games and actual soldier activity."
"Hm," Winter nodded before realizing the new person in the room. "Ah, you actually called him."
"Of course," Kay pulled his best friend forward to face the Specialist. "Roman, meet Winter and Ozpin."
"M-meet?" Roman;s green eyes switched rapidly between Kay, Winter, and Ozpin. "Like, meet-meet or interrogate?"
"Just meet," Winter answered, rising from her seat and offering her hand to shake. "I would like to apologize for what happened when we first met."
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Roman asked before pointing to Kay. "He's the one that got punched."
"What he's trying to say," Kay butt in. "Is that he understands why you reacted in the way you did, Winter."
"Y-yeah, totally!" Roman nodded enthusiastically. "I look a lot like one of Remnant's most notorious criminals. It makes sense that you'd act like that. I hold no grudge."
"That is good to hear, Mr. James." Ozpin said with a soft smile.
"If calling me by my first name still makes you uncomfortable," Roman said. "I have no problem going by simply James."
"We may not have to do that," Kay muttered as Ruby walked over to the kitchen and noticed their guest.
"Hi Roman!" The reaper greeted with a smile. At the sound of the greeting, the rest of the youth echoed the greeting with a wave or other callout. None of it seemed forced, which surprised the editor. "Whatcha doin' here?"
"Kay asked me over here for some reason."
"Need something, Rubes?" Kay asked. Ruby pointed to a bag of chips on the counter, which the host easily slid over to the girl. She took it happily back to the group. "So back to the matter on hand…"
"Why did you call me over, Kay?" Roman asked. "Is it about your writing?"
"No," he answered. "We just needed a third adult chaperone."
"Chaperone?" Roman repeated. "You planning some sort of trip?"
"Down to the city," Kay nodded. "To see the sights."
"Oh, nice!" The redhead smiled. "Perfect timing. And I suppose Ozpin wouldn't be a great chaperone being stuck in Oscar's body."
"Correct," was the Headmaster's simple answer. "We asked you here to get to know you better. Kay trusts you; we would like to think we can trust you as well."
"How do we go about that?" Roman asked.
"Hey!" Kay's voice caught the attention of the teens in the living room. "Roman's here! Didn't y'all wanna bother him about the show?"
"Wait wha-!" The poor editor was immediately swarmed by the teens as they asked their rapid-fire questions.
Kay watched on, amused, as his friend was besieged by the youths asking their questions about what he thought of them and the show. Roman did his best to bounce between questions. His green eyes kept glancing over to him, asking for help, but to no avail as Kay simply let the horde reign for the moment.
"Who is your favorite character?" Blake asked calmly. She was still holding Kay's fanfiction-turned original story in her hands, obviously still enjoying it despite reading it over several times now.
"I-I would say," Roman's eyes scanned the group as he tried to make an unoffensive answer. "Ruby!"
"Yay, me!" The leading protagonist cheered at Roman's answer, raising the bag of chips above her head and causing some to spill out.
"Ruby!" Ren scolded her and began to clean up the mess. His cries for calm were ignored until Winter approached the group.
"Children, I believe you're overwhelming him." The Specialist's presence and authority made the group calm down and step back instantly. She turned back to their host. "Kay, I'm disappointed that you would be this petty."
"Hey, he's the one that forced the truth outta me," Kay shrugged with a smug smile. "Thought I'd just torment him a bit."
"Rude." Roman stuck a tongue at his friend. "So when's the trip?"
"Trip?" The word was repeated among the students. Kay and Ozpin simultaneously lowered their heads into their palms while Winter simply sighed.
"We were going to introduce the idea during dinner," Ozpin said. "But I suppose we could bring it up now since the cat's out of the bag."
"I was planning on taking a group trip down the city," Kay declared to the group. "It's a special time of the year and I wanted to give y'all a change of scenery for once."
"Oooh!" Nora's eyes shone brightly at the idea. "That sounds AMAZING!"
"When do we leave?" Jaune asked, his blue eyes wide with excitement.
"In a few days," Kay answered. "Since we needed another chaperone to keep an eye on all of you, I decided to bring Roman in to help."
"Why not tomorrow?" Ruby asked.
"Forecast calls for rain tomorrow," Kay took out his phone and showed them the weather app. "Plus, I gotta submit the rest of my classes' grades by then to finish up work for this semester."
"What now then?" Roman asked.
"We can talk shop," Kay shrugged. "Then the kids can torment you again during dinner."
That night, Roman had happily treated the gang to Chipotle. Kay, ever the fan of the place, was happy to stay silent and enjoy his food while Roman was interrogated by the kids.
"So," Nora fought through the food in her mouth. Kay chuckled at the sight of Ren moving to scold her before resigning himself to finishing his own meal. "How'd you guys meet?"
"We met in high school," Roman answered. He elbowed Kay's arm, earning him a scowl as the latter dropped some food from his spoon from the blow. "Saw this guy reading alone in the corner during detention."
"Detention?" Oscar repeated. Ozpin decided to let the young man join the socializing this time. "You, Kay?"
"I never claimed to be a saint." Kay shrugged.
"Anyway," Roman regained his audience's attention. "I saw that he was reading the RWBY manga, and realized he was also a fan. I asked him about it and we hit it off."
"He annoyed me about it every week at detention." Kay corrected.
"Every week?" Weiss piped in, sipping her soda.
"I was a good student, I swear." Kay defended. "I did nothing wrong."
"You would cut class to read your books and write in the library." Roman reminded him.
"Class was boring." Kay snarked. "Plus, I ended up passing and graduating."
"You did," Roman nodded. "Somehow."
"My grades were better than yours, too."
"Hey!"
Ruby giggled as the two threw friendly banter at each other about their pasts. From what she gathered, Kay was the quiet loner kid that just wanted to coast along and do what he liked, while Roman was the outspoken, energetic kid who enjoyed people's company. It reminded her a lot of Blake and Yang's personalities.
"So how did you both end up moving up here?" Weiss asked.
"Honestly," Roman began. "I followed Kay up here. I work remotely for my company, whose HQ is in the city. I still go down there once in a while for important meetings. Since he was assigned to me as a writer, I thought it would be easier to just live somewhat close to him for work purposes."
"Do you only edit for Kay?" Blake asked, pushing her empty platter away.
"I have a few more clients, but Kay is the most active." he answered. "Working online helps with being an editor. My assistants back in the city also help a lot."
"Indeed." Kay nodded.
"When did you first publish something, Kay?" Winter asked.
"I published my poetry book after graduating college." Kay answered. Similar questions about the two friends continued as the crew finished dinner. Kay and Ren cleaned up the mess left behind as Ozpin took control once more and let them return to their games.
"We leave in two days, then." Ozpin said.
"So you're fine with it?" Kay asked.
"You're right to say that it would be a nice break from the monotony of our current environment," Ozpin began. He quickly turned to their host. "No offense."
"None taken."
"And we now have a trusted third pair of eyes to help keep track of the students." Ozpin said. "Roman, do you have a vehicle that can hold enough of us?"
"My car fits four," Kay answered for Roman. "Roman's SUV is big enough to fit the other six."
"Do you live alone, Roman?" Ozpin asked. The editor nodded. "And you own a family car?"
"Hand-me-down," Roman shrugged. "It's still reliable for being a few years old. It's survived your move, Kay."
"Then it's settled," Ozpin announced. "The trip happens for the good of the students."
"For the good of the students!" Kay cheered, raising his fist with a smile.
"Before I leave, I need to talk to Kay." Roman turned to his friend. Kay nodded and led him into his office, closing the door behind them.
"How long are you willing to keep this up?" Roman asked, his normally cheerfully aloof demeanor had gone. "You're losing money everyday to keep them fed. You might even be spending more daily than a regular family!"
"I'm well aware of that," Kay retorted. "Winter being here means progress is being made, Roman. If she was able to get here afterwards then there is a chance of people on the other side building a way for them to return home!"
"So you're just playing a waiting game," Roman concluded. Seeing Kay nod, the redhead sighed. "I'm just concerned dude, what if they get hurt? I saw that story at the Five Guys last week."
"That's why Ozpin restricted the amount of people leaving the house at a time," Kay reasoned. "And now he's trusting you to join us and help keep them safe while we're in the city."
"Hmph," Roman wiped his face with his hand. "I wanna keep them safe, too."
"I know you do." Kay nodded. "I don't know anyone else who'd be willing to help me through this sorta thing."
"Who else would believe you?" Roman laughed, breaking the serious atmosphere between them. "Oh, the fictional characters from my favorite show are now real and they need me to protect them until they get home. Real psych ward type shit, Kay."
"Exactly." Kay said. "I dunno if this was luck or fate. Who knows what could've happened if they landed anywhere else?"
"Do you believe in destiny?" Roman teased.
"Fuck off," Kay's final statement was accompanied with a middle finger.