Hey all, Kariotic here. I am so, so sorry for the delay. I had an enormous life change back in January, as a whole new job in an industry I was completely unfamiliar with took over my life and energy. I would come home drained and unmotivated every night and dedicated weekends to resting before the workweek started up again. So for right now, my goal of ending this story by the end of 2022 might not come true, as I have some more chapters to go. I do have a certain ending to this story, and I wanna build everything up properly and finally give my readers a good ending for once here.
Thank you so much for reading as always. Please leave a review below, it helps keep me motivated immensely. I'll try to get another chapter for y'all out soon!
Cold. Heavy. Kay's head was pounding with the echoes of pumping blood as he stared at the empty digital page in his document. A glance at the digital clock at the corner of the screen told him it was already 2:30 in the morning. Wiping the exhaustion out of his eyes for temporary relief from staring at a computer screen all day, Kay stretched his back before looking up at the wall of books opposite him.
"Romance?" Kay muttered under his breath, his gaze narrowing into a glare. The office space gave no response as he continued. "The fuck do we know about romance, idiot?"
Not much, if we're being realistic, his own voice sneered in his head.
"Fuck off, I"m trying to be productive." the writer dismissed, clenching and unclenching his fists. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "We're just tired, Kay. Let's just keep writing."
You want productive? The voice continued. I'll give you productive. We have a pretty short rap sheet when it comes to dating. Why not ask your little guests?
"That's… not actually a bad idea," Kay paused with his hands above his keyboard. "We got Ren and Nora, Yang and Blake, and… Oz?"
Ah yes, ask half of the couple that is essentially Remnant's source of Original Sin, very smart, totally unbiased. Kay rolled his eyes and sighed.
"He's had to have had all kinds of relationship experience that could help me."
So he's our best bet, then.
"Unfortunately so."
Hours later, Blake would discover Kay asleep at his desk with his head leaning on his crossed arms. Gingerly poking the dormant writer's head, Blake sighed at the lack of response and returned to the kitchen.
"Still sleeping," the Faunus told her friends as they finished breakfast. Ren quickly covered Kay's share of the food and set it aside for whenever the man would wake up. "He stayed up late again."
"Is this what writers usually do?" Ruby asked no one in particular. "It can't be healthy."
"From what I gathered, Kay's writing is very much fueled by motivation and energy," Ozpin answered. "It's as though he operates solely through a stream of consciousness."
"So he's just gonna keep writing until he runs outta steam?" Yang asked their Headmaster.
"It would seem so," the wizard nodded. He was no stranger to that sort of behavior. Then again, neither were his students. It was simply strange to see such a thing from a civilian standpoint. "He's dedicated, to say the least."
The sound of the office door suddenly opening caused the Remnantians to simultaneously look over to the door with mixed expressions of concern and surprise to the man finally awake wearing a light jacket. Kay rolled his shoulders, looked up to wave at the crew, and made his way to the door. Ruby used her Semblance and zoomed over to stop the man's progress.
"W-wait, don't you wanna eat breakfast first?" Ruby pleaded. She noticed Kay's eyes slowly followed one of the magical rose petals floating in the air before it dissolved. The writer blinked twice before meeting her gaze with a soft smile.
"I've got a bit too much on my mind right now," Kay said. Blake's ears perked up a bit and Oscar's head tilted slightly at the exhausted tone of his voice. "I just gotta clear my mind for a bit and I'll eat when I get back."
"Would you like any of us to go with you?" Weiss offered. The federal agents were still seen around the town during their errands and grocery runs. Kay being out alone could be a risk! Winter even made to rise from her seat before Kay held a hand out to stop anyone from moving.
"No, I…" He sighed and relaxed his shoulders. "I'd like to just take a quick walk alone right now. I'll be back soon." With that, he walked out the front door before anyone else could try to argue against it.
"That sounded bad," Nora looked deflated at Kay's expression. "He looked really upset."
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that," Blake noticed. Yang nodded.
"D'ya think it has anything to do with his writing?" Yang asked. "I know I'd be pretty down if I strapped myself down to a task like that for days straight."
"I could barely stare at a test back at Beacon without losing some hope," Jaune's joke successfully garnered some chuckles from the group. "I can only imagine the guy's head is going haywire."
"We also have to remember that this book is his current source of income for the future," Winter stated solemnly. "I apologize. I was too reckless in throwing my identity out like that."
"No one blames you, Winter," Weiss immediately replied. "We were bound to attract attention at some point, I'm sure."
"Your sister is right," Ozpin agreed. "You simply did what you thought was best for the sake of keeping us safe. Kay included. I'm sure he doesn't blame you either."
"I still don't like him going out there on his own," Nora huffed. "He might get hurt!"
. . . . .
Kay took in deep breath after deep breath of the cold winter air, watching the hot clouds leave his mouth. The writer had walked around the block a few times at this point, so as not to stray too far from home and get harassed by some bold federal agents. The man sighed and looked up at the cloudy sky, as though looking for some sign to guide him. Suddenly, the gradual sound of steps getting closer to him brought him out of his stupor. Kay finally looked down to see Oscar had joined him.
"Are you doing alright, Kay?" Ozpin asked, not the boy.
"How's Oscar doing?" Kay's mouth acted on its own, ignoring the Headmaster's question. "Haven't heard from the kid lately."
"He's been helping me with the theoretical side of the experiment to get us home," Ozpin asked. "He does play a lot of the video games you have, much to my dismay."
"I'm glad he's at least having some fun while he's here," Kay muttered. "Couldn't imagine being stuck in a whole other world entirely, let alone being lost and sharing a body with an immortal wizard."
"Has something been bothering you?" Ozpin cut in. "Your behavior has everyone quite concerned. While Grimm are no such threat in your world, negativity is still quite dangerous to humanity as a whole."
"Right, sorry." Kay sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to concentrate. "Ozpin, what would you say you know about… love?"
"Love?" Ozpin asked. Kay swore he saw what appeared to be fear in the boy's eyes before it was replaced with the Headmaster's trademark dead stare. "What brought this on?"
"Well," Kay was still trying to read Oz's eyes before moving on. "I don't know if you've heard, but my current project is a story involving romance. My own track record isn't the cleanest, so I thought I'd get some answers from someone who lived long enough to experience all kinds of love."
"I see," Ozpin's gaze was still uncertain. Is Kay truly asking about his work, or is he subtly pushing for something different? Something… closer? Ozpin feigned contemplation before meeting the young writer's eyes again. "Love is both the most unifying and divisive topic, Kay."
"Yeah yeah," Kay rolled his eyes, "With the power to start and end wars, love can be the greatest weapon of them all. Gimme something a little more personal, please. It's for writing purposes."
"For your story?" Ozpin's eyes narrowed, ignoring Kay's dismissiveness. The writer nodded, but refused to make eye contact and instead looked out to the side. Was he lying or was this a genuinely uncomfortable topic? To be frank, he truly did not know much about the younger man to avoid growing attached as the others had, though he was aware of his previous relationship ending poorly.
"Yeah," Kay continued. "I need an idea of a forbidden love. Not so much because of financial stature or moral standing, but because of a certain calling that makes it nigh impossible for it to happen.
"An interesting premise," Ozpin took a deep breath in. Did Kay not think that was a little on the nose? This development was sure to be a problem, and he needed to quash it immediately!
Or not, Oscar supplied from within. Why not give them both a little happiness?
Because that happiness, just like our stay, is completely temporary, Ozpin chided. It would be cruel to give such an idea hope when they both should be fully aware of the situation we're in.
"To be honest," Ozpin began, and Kay's gaze snapped to him with an odd attention the wizard wasn't sure he liked. "While love normally trumps all, one must consider the potential for collateral damage. Who else is involved with either partner, and the possible consequences the unity may have. The fight for peace is still a fight.
"That's a pretty good line," Kay nodded, mentally noting what Ozpin was saying. "And what of sacrifice?"
"Sacrifice?"
"At what point does a sacrifice outweigh the goal?"
"Death, of course," Ozpin answered immediately. "If lives are at stake, then it would be best for both parties involved to look around them and see that their desires are selfish. Individual pleasures must be culled for the greater good of the whole."
"Mmmm," Kay's gaze bored into Ozpin's for a moment before a smirk slid onto the writer's face. "That's pretty good. Can I use that?"
"What?"
"For the story, it sounds exactly how a certain character of mine would say," Kay explained, any earlier moment of torment.
"So that whole stressful moment of you storming out of the house was because you couldn't think of what a character could say?" Ozpin asked, doing his best to hide his frustration.
"Oh no it is," Kay answered dismissively. "I'm kinda... in the middle of an episode right now."
"Episode?" Ozpin was once again taken back at how nonchalant this man could be about his own wellbeing.
"I'm sure Roman might have told you about my condition by now," Kay began, waiting for Oz to nod before continuing. "Depressive episodes tend to last anywhere between a couple weeks to a month, and I've been powering through it by writing."
"Is that… wise?" Ozpin asked.
"It's better than just waiting for it to go away naturally," Kay shrugged. "At least I'm pouring my energy into something I care about and know I'm good at."
"Hm," Ozpin decided to dig in a little further. "Have you been using any of us as inspirations for your newest work?"
"Mhmm," Kay nodded, "But only surface level characteristics."
"Explain, if you will." Ozpin urged gently, unleashing upon himself the ramblings of the writer's hyperfixation.
. . . . .
"I'm worried about him," Ruby said sullenly, looking out through Kay's office window.
"We all are, Rubes." Yang consoled her little sister. Nora leaned against Ren's shoulder for comfort. "But, what can we even do about it?"
"Yang's right," Blake sighed. "What can we do? This isn't exactly something we can fight like we normally do. He's lost his job, he's being watched by federal agents, and he's still taking care of us out of pocket. If we could have done something already, we would have. All we can do is be there for him."
"Well said, Blake," Winter nodded, though she did her best to ignore the sparkle in Yang's eyes as she spoke. "While we await for clear comms from HQ, we will support Kay in whatever way we can. We'll be doing extra research for our project later again tonight, so let's be a little hopeful."
Not a minute later the front door opened, revealing Kay and Oscar. The former nodded and gave a small smile before retreating to his office once more. Oscar, on the other hand, looked simply tired.
"You okay, Oscar?" Jaune asked.
"Nothing to worry about, just a little talking." Kay answered for the former farmhand. "Oz wanted to know about my writing and I ended up rambling for a good few minutes."
"It's been thirty minutes," Winter noted aloud, deadpan.
"Never ask an introvert about their hyperfixations if you aren't prepared to listen to them for at least an hour." Kay joked.
"Regardless, are you feeling up for some breakfast?" Winter asked, gesturing to the kitchen. "We left some eggs and toast for you if you'd like."
"Sure," Kay nodded.
As the writer joined the group for his brunch and began socializing as normal, Blake noticed a few pointed questions here and there. On the surface level they seemed harmless, but surprisingly deep enough to catch some of them off guard.
"Hey Weiss," Kay got the middle Schnee's attention. "And sorry in advance, Jaune, but could you kinda break down the feelings going through your head when he started flirting with you?"
"H-hey!" Jaune whined. "I… I wasn't that bad, right?"
"I only know how the show portrayed it, so I'd much rather get a more genuine understanding." Kay explained as Weiss revealed her experience with Jaune while the swordsman seemed to sulk in the background. Nora kindly reassured him with an arm around his shoulders.
"I will admit I was quite rude to him at first, it does not excuse his inability to not take a hint. That, plus his misconstruing of his father's advice didn't help. Confidence doesn't equal pestering someone that isn't interested. Nowadays, I do value Jaune as a good friend and ally. He's quick on his feet when it comes to strategy."
Another question, this time at Ruby, surprisingly enough.
"Ruby, what would you say is attractive to you, both when you started Beacon and now, as you get older?"
"Now hold on a minute, buster!" Yang sputtered. "Where do you get off trying to ask my baby sister something like that?"
"Well, I was definitely into the whole knight-in-shining-armor type of hero," Ruby answered, ignoring her sister's outburst with the practice of a younger sibling. "So I guess I'm still kinda like that, but more… picky I guess? I dunno how to explain it. I'm also not exactly interested in that sorta thing, honestly."
"So would you say it's been more of a "disinterest" thing than an "innocence" thing?" Kay asked. "Alright, interesting."
"Oscar," Kay's next question went to the youngest member of the group. "Not in terms of romance, could you tell me, in your own words, what it was like to be dropped into the world of Huntsman in the most extreme way possible?"
"Terrifying." Oscar answered after a moment of thought. "Some old guy pops into your head and tells you how you're destined to save the world from a shadow war that's lasted longer than modern civilization itself? And he pushes you to leave your family and the small, quiet world you know your entire life? I can't imagine what it would've been like if I hadn't had everybody here. I'm glad I was finally able to catch up enough to make a difference."
Kay let the others clamber over the young man with supportive words and quick hugs and a noogie from Yang, much to the boy's chagrin. The author would go around the room asking more and more questions: Blake on her opening up to Yang, Nora and Ren's history, even Jaune on how his parents taught him about love. He had asked everyone in the kitchen… except Winter, Blake noticed. Looking around the room, Weiss's not-too-subtle looks to her older sister and Yang's crossed arms told her she wasn't alone in that observation. It wasn't long until Kay returned to his office with the promise of ordering dinner for them later. The atmosphere in the house relaxed, if only a little bit.
Hours passed, dinner came and went, and the teams prepared themselves for the night as another day of entertaining themselves ended. Winter tossed and turned on her bed, the sofa, unable to sleep. She tried focusing on things around the room in order to calm down. The television, turned off. Yang had challenged Jaune to a puzzle game, losing emphatically to the superior tactician. Perhaps the Specialist should focus on something less trivial? The small clock, ticking away on the floating shelf below the television. How long had they been in Kay's home, a month? That'd be approximately four months if her guess was right. She recalled Kay saying it had only been a week that the children were here when she arrived. How much longer? Her eyes traveled over to the metal cube from their home world. Winter sighed, praying that the glorified paperweight was a sign of resolution upon the horizon. She tried closing her eyes again, but couldn't ignore that nagging feeling in the back of her mind she'd been pushing away since lunch. Opening her eyes again, Winter sat up and glared at the empty bedroll that lay on the living floor.
"Hm, you okay Winter?" If Kay was startled by her sudden entrance into his office, he didn't show it. The former teacher looked up from his computer as though she were a student approaching him during office hours. "Can't sleep?"
"I'd honestly ask the same of you," Winter took stock of the moment to realize Kay was wearing glasses. If it weren't for the evident exhaustion in his usually attentive and warm brown eyes, she'd say he looked quite sharp in them. "You've been working non-stop since dinner. It's well past 11 at night, Kay."
"Sorry for worrying you," he didn't sound sorry at all, but he continued. "I've just been making so much progress!"
"All those questions today truly helped?" Winter asked as she sat down in one of the chairs against the bookshelf wall. "I'm glad you've found inspiration, but I'm sure a good night's rest would be beneficial as well. A rested mind is a valuable one."
"I would agree most days, trust me," Kay replied, the clickety-clack of his typing filling the space around his words. For some reason, Winter found it quite soothing. "But when I get a train of thought going, I plan on riding it until I run out of steam."
"I see," Winter was reminded of how General Ironwood would often work through sleepless nights on certain missions, especially during Salem's initial siege on Atlas. "I suppose I can understand. You don't have much of a choice in the matter."
"What?" The typing stopped.
"If I hadn't thrown my identity out there to your sister, you may not be in this mess at all," Winter continued. Despite all the progress since that night, Winter felt the guilt fall immediately into her soul once they had learned who had spilled the beans about Kay's situation. "If I simply let you-"
"Stop," Kay's stern tone caught her off guard. Blue eyes met his brown to see a little bit of the warmth she grew familiar with had returned. "With this situation, something would've happened sooner or later. Nora might've freaked out on a mailman, Ruby could've used her Semblance in public, or Yang might have fought somehow who tried to confront us. I don't consider what you did as a negative. I know you did it to try and protect us. Despite where it's landed us, I still appreciate it, Winter, truly."
"I…," Winter's eyes closed for a moment to take it in. The sound on Kay typing returned, the white noise she was trying so hard not to nod off to. "Thank you, Kay."
"Of course," the writer replied softly. More typing filled the space between them. Winter continued to take in the cozy atmosphere of the small office from behind closed eyes. "Winter."
"Hm?"
"You wanna take a quick look at my story?"
"Oh?" Winter's eyes opened slowly. She left her seat and made her way around the desk and leaned over Kay's shoulder to read the page shown on the monitor. What came off as a wall of text at first gave through to show very personal, emotional lines between what appeared to be a princess and a peasant-turned-hero. The princess had developed a deep fondness for him, but the paramour insisted she stay away for the sake of the throne. It felt very personal, very relevant, for some reason. More text, more dialogue that she scanned as Kay scrolled downwards to let her read on. Winter suddenly felt warmth along her neck and shoulder and pulled back as she came face to face with Kay. The Specialist's face shone red in harmony with the writer's as Winter's mouth moved on it's own. Her eyes flicked back towards the text for some sort of helpful line. "Does… would this mean you could be my peasant?"
"Winter?" Kay didn't move his head as she slowly moved in closer.
"Winter?" Kay's mouth didn't move as she heard his voice in her ear.
"WINTER." The young man's stern voice paired with a rough shake of her shoulder shocked the Specialist as Winter's eyes shot open, the woman breathing hard as she took in her position. She was still in the office chair, nowhere near the desk, and had fallen asleep listening to Kay. She took a few more deep breaths before looking to Kay, who looked back at her with some concern. "You really knocked out hard for a second, but I don't think you'd appreciate a knot in your neck from sleeping in that chair all night."
"I was…" Dreaming? Fantasizing? Winter struggled to find words. "I was waiting for you."
"Waiting?" Kay repeated before looking at his phone for the time. Realizing how late it really was, he sighed. Kay yawned into his shoulder like one would with a sneeze, Winter noticed. Winter blinked the observation away before nodding sleepily. "I guess I have been up for a while. It's past midnight already and I got a good amount of work done. Come on, let's get you back to the couch and I'll get ready for bed too."
Winter stayed quiet as they walked together into the living room and let him guide her onto the couch as though she were intoxicated. In truth, there was a distractingly strange warmth coming from both Kay and within herself. Nothing lewd, she assured herself, rather somewhere in her chest. Her heart? She wasn't sure. Winter lay down her head on the pillow facing the rest of the living room, making sure to watch as Kay, who changed into his usual black shirt and joggers, slipped into the covers of his bedroll.
"Thanks for joining me tonight, Winter." Kay said, prompting her attention once again. "I'd love to show you the story, but I wanna make sure it's good enough for other eyes first."
"I-I see," Winter said, hiding her stutter behind a fake yawn. So she didn't even get to peck -she mentally screamed at her little slip of the tongue - peek at his writing? Dust damn it, she sighed inwardly. "I look forward to it."
"Good night, Winter."
"..."
"Win?"
"Y-you too, Kay."