Weiss swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked out over the floor of the penthouse in stunned silence. Though she managed to halt the rest of her thoughts from spilling out of her mouth, she failed to contain one of her eyebrows as it rose nearly into her hairline.
"…yeah. Um… sorry if this isn't really what you're used to. My bad," Marrow offered with a guilty grin as he moved deeper into the room ahead of Weiss. The faunus picked up a pizza box from the stack of three atop the coffee table, and hastily tossed it down to rest beside one of the legs of the table.
The rest of the room was in a similar state of disarray, and the articles of clothing, containers, magazines, video game cases, free weights, and stacks of papers scattered all throughout the living space seemingly had no rhyme or reason to their placement. The apartment itself was well cared for and filled with expensive furniture and accents that had likely come with the room, but nearly every surface from the couch to the kitchenette had something atop or draped over it that clearly didn't belong there. It was enough to cause Weiss' breath to catch in her chest as she tried to imagine simply living within the absolute mess, let alone getting anything done.
"No, no, it's… quite fine," Weiss insisted with the widest smile she could manage. "After all… I lived with Yang for almost a full year, so this is fairly normal to me…"
"Yang's the blonde girl, right?" Marrow asked over his shoulder as he cleared what seemed to be a stack of classified reports off a spot on the couch.
"She is, yes," Weiss confirmed as she gingerly took a step closer to the faunus. She opened her mouth to continue, only to spot a display of action figures lined up along the mantle in a very particular order. A duo of figurines of a teenage boy with what appeared to be brightly-colored gas seeping from his arms and a coquettish girl with a bright pink gem inlaid in the skin just below her collarbone caught Weiss' eye, and she turned to consider them. They were each wearing matching blue jumpsuits of deep blue with white stripes around the chest and legs in distinct patterns, and sported heavily stylized facial features that reminded Weiss of the art style of some cartoon that Ruby insisted on watching daily back at Beacon.
"Is something wr-…" Marrow began, only to suck in a breath as he followed Weiss' gaze. "…yeah, I… have a collection of stuff like that. I swear it's not as bad as it looks in here! I'm uh, I'm in the process of reorganizing!"
Weiss shook her head and folded her arms across her chest as she turned to face Marrow. She hissed in pain as she completed the motion, though she tried to play it off as nothing while her shoulder burned in protest.
"Honestly, I think it's… cute. We all have our vices, Marrow. There are far worse ones than collecting action figures."
"Statues," Marrow emphasized as he finally cleared off the coffee table by placing the last of the pizza boxes into a neat stack next to the furniture. "They're statues, not action figures..."
"…what's the difference?" Weiss inquired as she moved to sit upon the couch while tilting her head. She realized only after she sat down that Marrow's dog bone pajama pants had been hastily thrown over the back of the sofa, and one of the legs was right next to her head. The material was wrinkled and frumpy, as though it hadn't been washed for several days.
"Statues are much cooler and more expensive! They can't be posed, since they're sculpted into one position," Marrow explained as he disappeared briefly behind the couch. "Statues are more adult collectibles…"
"Are they?" Weiss asked, unable to contain her teasing grin as she listened to Marrow rummaging behind the couch. "I have yet to meet another adult who has quite such a display…"
"…listen, I think they're cool, alright?" Marrow answered as he rose back into Weiss' line of sight. "My suite, my decorations," he added somewhat defensively, his face pulled into an exaggerated pout.
Weiss laughed lightly as she held up her hands in surrender, before fixing Marrow with a devilish smirk.
"If you think they're cool, then they're cool," the girl admitted with a noncommittal shrug.
"You don't mean that," Marrow stated flatly as he sat down next to Weiss while putting a medical bag up onto the coffee table. He sighed heavily and tucked a strand of hair back behind his ear, before giving Weiss a nod. "May I take a look at your shoulder?"
Weiss blinked in surprise as she watched Marrow take out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and several gauze pads, along with various other supplies.
"How did you…?"
"It's obvious," the faunus said quickly. "You're not great at hiding your pain, and crossing your arms sealed it. There's something nasty going on up there, isn't there? Is that why Elm brought you by?"
Somehow, the words seemed to cut through Weiss' chest like a hot knife. She made an uncomfortable noise as she shifted in her spot upon the couch and tried to refocus.
"I… yes, it is," Weiss admitted as she began to shuffle out of her uniform jacket. "I was impaled through the shoulder two days ago, and I've just been dealing with the pain ever since."
Marrow paused his gathering of supplies to give Weiss a rather serious look.
"…don't do that. Please, for your sake, and for everyone else who cares about you. I know you probably didn't have access to a medic on your boat, but to just let it go like that is bad, Weiss. You could cause permanent damage, if the wound is serious enough…"
"Actually… I did have access," Weiss confessed as she slipped her tie out from around her collar and began to unbutton her blouse. "Jaune can boost the strength of aura and use it for healing purposes. After his initial efforts, I… turned him down, while we were on our way here."
Marrow blinked several times, looking aghast. His eyes never left Weiss' face as she finally discarded her shirt and draped it over Marrow's pajamas.
"Why?" the faunus asked. "Please don't tell me you're about to say that you didn't want to bother him, or something like that. This is serious."
"No, no, I'm not quite that noble," Weiss said as she waved away the suggestion with her good arm. "Ilia's arm was broken long before I was stabbed, and Jaune has been tending to her on a daily basis for quite a while now. He's exhausted, and I didn't want to put even more strain on his semblance and mental health. I'm at least functional, and Ilia regaining the use of her arm took priority over my pain. That's why I wanted to wait until we arrived in Atlas, given that we were fairly close by."
Marrow heaved a dramatic sigh and shook his head. The man let out an annoyed grumble before scooting a bit closer upon the couch, his eyes still firmly upon Weiss' face despite her lack of clothing.
"I get it, but… still. May I inspect your wound?"
"Of course," Weiss replied as she raised a brow. "You're rather… careful, for a medic."
"I prefer 'respectful', and I have to be," Marrow countered as he finally allowed himself to look down at Weiss' chest. Just to the side of her white bra strap was a large stab wound with jagged edges. The skin around the cut was an angry, inflamed red. "You wouldn't believe some of the accusations that get thrown around when I'm tending to civilians out in the field."
"Because you're still relatively green?" Weiss asked as Marrow laid his hand upon her shoulder, just above the wound. His touch was gentle and warm, though even the light impact of his fingers was enough to make Weiss recoil slightly as shooting pain blazed through her collarbone.
"Because I'm a faunus," Marrow corrected. "I've got a tail, so I must be doing this just to get off. Rapist, fraud, I've heard it all while examining people I had to disrobe to fix wounds that would otherwise kill them. The second most popular question I get while checking somebody out is 'are there any human medics on your team?"
Weiss fell silent as Marrow continued to examine her injury. The man gently helped her turn sideways as he transitioned his hands to her back, where the wound was a bit smaller and more scarred over. Weiss made a point of avoiding Marrow's eyes as he worked, and her voice grew very small.
"It's… that bad up here, is it? People are that far gone when it comes to the faunus?"
"…I thought you grew up here?" Marrow questioned as he went about dousing a cotton ball in alcohol.
"I did, yes," Weiss confirmed as she folded her hands into her lap. "But in all honesty, I didn't really leave the Schnee manor often. I've only been down to Mantle a handful of times, and I… never really paid attention to other people when I was out shopping in Atlas. It's easy to shut out the rest of the world when you're so sheltered and escorted everywhere by guards. To be honest, the faunus and their plight never really made sense to me until I learned that one of my teammates had been hiding feline ears from me for months. It's all still fairly recent…"
Marrow grimaced as he listened to the girl, though he kept his tone entirely neutral.
"…hey, this is gonna sting a bit, okay?" he asked as he raised his cotton ball into her line of sight.
"…it already does," Weiss said softly as she finally forced herself to look the faunus in the eye once again. "Marrow, I'm so sorry for my fam-"
"Stop," Marrow commanded as he shook his head. "This isn't the time or the place, and unlike a lot of people, humans and faunus, you're doing something to help all of Remnant. Between that, and the fact that you haven't treated me, Sun, or Ilia any differently since I met you is enough to put you in my good books." He gingerly pressed the cotton ball to Weiss' shoulder and began to wipe away flecks of dried blood from her snow-white skin. "Well… other than criticizing my statues, that is."
Weiss rolled her eyes and found herself smiling through the pain, both physical and otherwise.
"…I did say they were cool."
"But did you mean it?" Marrow questioned as he lifted Weiss' arm and went about properly cleaning the wound.
"…maybe," Weiss teased before gritting her teeth as the scarred tissue around her shoulder ruptured.
"Easy," Marrow cautioned. "This looks infected, which isn't really shocking. I'll take you down to the infirmary after I get you cleaned up and pull some strings to get you what you need more quickly. I'm gonna get you on antibiotics and find a support brace, so you can still move. When does it hurt, generally?"
"It would be easier to tell you when it doesn't," Weiss answered as she watched Marrow remove a needle from his bag and sterilize the area around her shoulder with more alcohol. "It's been worse than ever this morning, but I think that's because adrenaline has been dampening the effects until now."
"Likely true," Marrow agreed. "Fighting with us on the docks probably didn't help matters. You need to rest for a few days, at the very least. Put physical strain off your 'to-do' list and focus on healing."
"I will," Weiss reassured as Marrow injected her shoulder. A cold sensation spread throughout her muscles, and she shivered softly. "But with all of that out of the way… I don't want to wave our previous conversation aside. I've been thinking a lot about the faunus and their situation lately, and in whatever downtime we have in Atlas, I want to help. I want to make up for what my family has done to your people. I want to become an active and public force for faunus advocacy, and Sun wants to help, too."
"Well… that would be nice, yeah," Marrow encouraged as he began to slowly stitch Weiss' wound with mechanical precision. "But seriously- don't overdo it. If you want to have some awkward conversations and see what it's like in Mantle, I'd be happy to help out and signal boost your efforts. Just be aware that you're asking for trouble, and for a lot of hate from both sides. People aren't really quick to forgive, unfortunately."
"You seem to be," Weiss pointed out as she watched Marrow work.
"That's because I believe in people," the faunus explained. "I can be your go-to guy for helping out the faunus in Mantle and Atlas. Some setbacks and nasty words aren't going to slow me down."
"I really don't deserve your kindness," Weiss lamented as she looked down to her hands while Marrow finished his last stitch. "Thus far, all I've really done is show up with my team and start requesting help."
Weiss bristled as she suddenly found herself enveloped in a warm, yet gentle embrace. The hug was too brief for her to even consider returning it, though the shock of the careful squeeze that Marrow offered was more than enough to give her a small rush of comfort throughout her chest.
"Everyone deserves kindness," Marrow corrected as he began to store his equipment back into his bag. "Now, c'mon. Chin up, and start believing we've got this. Your recovery, procuring gravity dust, getting Amity in place, and helping out the faunus. We can get it all done, especially with your help."
Weiss merely stared as Marrow stood and offered her a hand. She shook her head and smiled as she took it in her own and pulled herself up to stand beside him.
"Where do you get your endless positivity from?" Weiss asked before taking her shirt off the back of the couch and beginning to cover herself up once again.
Marrow merely shrugged, and zipped his medical bag closed.
"For a long time, it's really all I had to keep me going. But that's a story for another time… if ever."
"I'd like to hear it," Weiss offered as she finished buttoning her blouse. "Maybe… we could make a day of cleaning this place soon, and talk some more? About the faunus, about you, and about our goals…"
Marrow blinked and paused, before scratching feverishly behind an ear. He tried to suppress an enthusiastic grin at the suggestion, though his tail betrayed his excitement almost immediately as it began to whip frantically from side to side. Finally, he gave up, and allowed a smile to burst forth.
"…uh, yeah! That sounds good to me!" the faunus said with a nod. "I guess… I really have let this place get away from me, lately. There's just a lot going on, you know, and cleaning is… not fun…"
"It can be, with a friend," Weiss offered with a shrug as she picked up her Academy jacket and tucked it beneath her shoulder.
"…a friend would be nice to have, up here," Marrow grumbled as his expression turned suddenly dark.
Weiss paused, her face unreadable as she felt a chill at the sudden shift in Marrow's tone.
"…the other Aces aren't your friends…?"
"That's…" Marrow began, only to trail off as he made his way toward the door with Weiss in tow. "…complicated," he finished with a weary sigh.
"I don't see why it should be," Weiss protested as she made her way into the hall behind the faunus. "Friendship is what made Team RWBY as strong as we were, in some ways. It helps to really understand your colleagues on a level beyond what they can do in combat."
"I'm sure it does," Marrow agreed. He cleared his throat, before making his way toward the sliding door at the end of the hall. Suddenly, his enthusiasm returned, as though nothing had been amiss. "But anyway! Let's get you all braced up and go from there! We're burning daylight, after all."
"…sure," Weiss said hesitantly as she kept her eyes on Marrow's back. Her mind raced with uncomfortable thoughts as they made their way into the lobby together. The pair was silent from there to the infirmary.
Author's Note:
Next time, we'll get back to Blake. That's gonna be a fun one…
-RD