Ruby remained silent as she sat upon the edge of the lecture hall's rooftop, staring out over the moonlit campus of Beacon Academy. The whipping wind and the sound of her cape rustling behind her hardly even registered to the girl as she watched figures mill about in the courtyard below. A year ago, she would have been unable to accurately count the crowd of students making their way down the sidewalks and loitering near buildings.
That night, she saw a total of eight in the span of three hours.
Ruby hugged her knees a little tighter to her chest as the wind picked up, blocking out the sound of the person approaching behind her.
"Y'know, there's a not insignificant part of me that wants to just boot your ass off the roof right now and pretend I have no idea what happened."
"It might make some things easier," Ruby mumbled as Roman sat down beside her.
"Oh, get over yourself," the older man snapped as he withdrew a cigarette from his black pea coat and produced a lighter from another pocket. "The chips are down, sure, but you're not actively fighting for your life right now, are you? Enjoy the moment while you can."
"I'm finding that hard to do," Ruby admitted. "What are you doing up here?"
"Smoking," Roman answered as he flicked the lighter and brought the stick in his lips toward the tiny flame.
"You don't say," Ruby replied flatly. "You know what I meant."
"No, really," Roman insisted as he drew the cigarette away and blew a trail of wispy smoke into the air. "Goodwitch has a fit if I smoke indoors. Besides, the view up here is nice."
"Since when do you listen to authority?" Ruby asked.
Roman paused for a moment, clearly caught off guard by the question. After a moment, he chuckled to himself and ran a hand through his russet orange fringe of hair.
"…don't know, Little Red. I guess when I realized just how bad things were getting. The problems Vale's facing are bigger than I can comfortably handle. Might as well throw that responsibility at somebody smarter and get the credit for carrying out their plans."
Ruby rolled her eyes, only to narrow them as Roman offered her a cigarette from his pack.
"…no," the girl said sourly as she waved a dismissive hand.
"You look like you could use one," Roman replied with a shrug as she slid the stick back into the pack with its brothers. "Something crawled up your ass, and I doubt it's just the girmm. Everyone saw you sulking down in Styx, and you're still going after dusk."
"And you want me to just open up to you?" Ruby asked in disbelief. "If I wanted to talk to someone, it would be Ren, Nora, or maybe even Sage."
"But not Oscar," Roman quickly pointed out. "This is already getting interesting."
Ruby sighed heavily and hung her head.
"…if I ask you something serious, will you actually answer instead of just basking in my misery?"
"That depends entirely on whether or not it's about relationship shit," Roman warned. "If you and Oscar are having a little fight…"
"It is not like that," Ruby seethed. "It's… not even about me. It's about you."
Roman took a long pull from his cigarette before answering, his tone full of warning.
"Careful what you ask. I can still kick you off the roof from here."
"…when did you know that things were getting bad?" Ruby asked. "Back when you were working for Cinder, I mean? You said you realized you were in over your head and being forced into something bigger than petty crime. So… when did you actually figure that out? Was it one sudden event, or a slow build, or…?"
It was Roman's turn to sigh and shake his head.
"…the first time I met Cinder, actually," the man explained. "By then, it was already too late to cut and run. She had Emerald and Mercury keeping eyes on me, and the White Fang eating out of her hand. She knew I'd be her new pawn, because I didn't have a choice. It started as running jobs alongside that green-haired bitch, and she lured me in to meet her boss. At that first meeting, Cinder told me we'd be stealing Beacon, and that's why she wanted a master criminal. I didn't know what she meant at the time, but I knew it wasn't anything good."
"So it started out by hearing something… off," Ruby said hesitantly.
Roman nodded.
"Yeah. Bad vibes. That kind of thing, you know?"
Ruby inhaled sharply through her nose and shivered. It had nothing to do with the wind.
"Yeah," Ruby replied. "Yeah, I do…"
"So, is there any specific reason you're requesting not to be paired up with Jaune again, or…?"
"Clover," Elm said angrily as she glared across the coffee table and toward her leader, who was sitting on the opposite couch. "I'm asking you for a personal favor. The reasoning shouldn't matter. Things were said that I didn't appreciate, and that's the end of it. We're all under intense pressure, and I do not need him needling me until I wind up over the edge."
"Jaune said something that set you off?" Marrow asked in disbelief from the kitchenette, where he had busied himself with making coffee for his team. "I honestly find that kind of hard to believe…"
"Because you're too close to them," Elm said venomously. "You're overlooking their naivete and small-mindedness. They're practically children."
"They're not… they aren't children!" Marrow balked. "Elm, you're being really unfair, a-"
"Harriet, back me up, here," Elm interrupted as she looked to the other female Ace.
Harriet had chosen to occupy the loveseat in Marrow's living room, her hands behind her head on one armrest and her feet kicked up atop the opposite one. She lazily opened one magenta eye and gave Elm an impartial look, angering the other woman further.
"…I don't know," Harriet answered. "A week or two ago, I would've agreed with you, but keeping my shit to myself and seething quietly is what caused me to lash out and almost get us all killed down in the mines. The more time I'm spending with those idiots, the more I'm starting to think Sun has a point with the way he runs things. After all… you called the three of us here. If you didn't want to talk or didn't trust us, this easily could've been you and Clover."
"Thank you," Marrow said pointedly as he walked into the living room and began passing out mugs to his teammates. "I was hoping we'd have this conversation soon, but I didn't expect you to be the one resisting it, Elm. If you're upset about something, you can tell us. You should tell us…"
Clover simply nodded along with Marrow's words before blowing across the top of his steaming coffee.
"Things used to be different between us," the man said carefully. "There's no reason it can't be that way again. Sun and his crew are proof of that- we can afford to be more than just colleagues, Elm. Marrow's been pushing for that since he got here, and all three of us have been hesitant to go that road. I don't think there's any better time that right now t-"
"We ended up talking about Vine," Elm admitted before Clover could finish. "It started innocently, just talking about life and how Jaune and I both try to be silent supporters within our respective groups. Somehow, from there, Vine came up. Jaune tried to psychoanalyze me, insisting that I was bottling my emotions and resisting the urge to let them be known for your sake, and Harriet's. He was right. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Marrow abruptly stopped in the middle of handing the final mug to Harriet, his eyes wide. Harriet herself had sat up on the loveseat, her face incredibly pale and her lips a thin line. To his credit, Clover maintained his composure, his expression entirely neutral as he took another sip of coffee.
"I don't think any of us handled his death particularly well," Clover said slowly. "And it's my personal failing as a leader to let you carry that this entire time while focusing on my own feelings."
"You were there when he died and you carried him home," Elm reminded. "What right did I have to say anything to you about how I felt?"
"Harriet!" Marrow called as the woman set down her coffee and began to stomp toward the door of his penthouse. "This needs to come out at some point!"
Harriet looked over her shoulder as she increased her pace to a jog, nearly at the exit to the hallway.
"Not to me, it doesn't. If you even think about using your semblance, then the second I can move again, I'm going to shove your boomerang so far up your ass th-"
"STAY!"
Harriet's movement slowed to an almost imperceptible crawl as her face began to twist into a scowl directed at Marrow. Within seconds, Elm had risen from the couch and walked over to Harriet with Clover not far behind.
"And this is exactly why I said nothing!" Elm explained as she, too, sneered at Marrow. "Even now, she can't even stand to hear his name, and I don't blame her!"
"So, what, we're all just going to keep running from it?" Clover asked as he spread his arms out to the sides. "The three of us are still here, and we should be taking care of each other! I already failed to do my part, but it's not too late to try to make up for it now. I want to hear you, Elm. And Harriet needs to."
"I might not have been there," Marrow started as he strained to keep Harriet contained. His heart skipped a beat as he watched sparks begin to collect at the edges of the woman's eyes and she began to bare her teeth in slow motion. "But I want to help, too! Infighting is going to make us weaker, and all three of you have trauma you need to talk through! It's clearly not resolved for any of you, and it's also pretty clear that all three of you care about each other, no matter how much you try to keep your distance!"
Just as Marrow lost control over Harriet, Elm reached out and wrapped the smaller woman in a bone-crushing hold as green crystals anchored her to the carpet. Harriet's sprint was stopped before it could begin, and she ended up being lifted slightly off the ground as Elm held her back. After only a few moments of struggle, Harriet realized that Elm's grip was starting to loosen, and she turned her attention to the burly woman instead of Marrow. Suddenly, it dawned on her that she was no longer being effectively restrained- she was being hugged.
"…it wasn't just my own feelings about losing Vine that have been eating away at me," Elm said softly as she leaned in closer and loosened her grip even more. "It was guilt over the fact that by distancing myself from my own feelings, I also distanced myself from both of you. I wasn't there when you needed someone most. Clover isn't the only one who retreated into his own head after the incident."
Harriet's urge to dive at Marrow all but disappeared as she settled into Elm's embrace, assaulted by mixed emotions. It wasn't long before Clover put an arm around Harriet's shoulder from the other side, and finally, Marrow made a slow approach.
"…you guys are right," Harriet admitted, her voice incredibly small as she practically went limp between Elm and Clover. "And so are they. We need to settle this. Preferably over drinks, because I don't think I can do this sober. Marrow, I'm sorry…"
"Don't be," the faunus said with a sympathetic look. "But… you're right, too. This isn't my place. The three of you need to talk this out. My part will come in after you do. Just… promise me that after this, the four of us can make an effort to be closer?"
Elm released her hold upon Harriet, only for the smaller woman to immediately walk forward and throw her arms around Marrow's waist. The faunus returned the hug enthusiastically, his tail swishing behind himself all the while.
"Yeah. We need to make some changes," Harriet admitted. "I'm a fucking mess, so is Elm, and…"
"…I will be by the time the night is over, if we're really doing this," Clover warned as he ran a hand through his hair. "Come on. Let's head out to a bar somewhere in town, and just… do what we should've done a long time ago. Marrow, you're welcome to come…"
"No, no, you three go on ahead," Marrow insisted as he waved his hand. "I… need some time to just decompress on my own. It was a long day out on those dust transports…"
"It doesn't have to be on your own, even if you don't come with us," Elm said with a nod. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, too. I should've been there for Harriet and Clover, and all three of us should have been there for you when you were just starting out. After tonight, we'll all make an effort to be less distant."
"Glad to hear it," Marrow offered with a nod. "We'll catch up soon."
Waves were briefly exchanged before the trio made their way out into the hallway, still maintaining contact around Harriet's shoulders. Marrow felt a sudden surge of adrenaline leave his system as the door slid closed, rendering him a bit weak in the knees. The faunus made his way back to the couch and flopped down onto the cushions with a sigh as he drew his scroll.
Hey, Weiss- finally back. Everything okay?
Marrow barely had to wait at all before the reply came, and his tail fell limp.
Not really. I'm in the usual place.
Author's Note:
Chapter 150 is coming up soon. I wonder what significant event could occur to celebrate the occasion…
-RD