Adjustment Period
"Hoooooo," she exhaled, her legs restlessly bouncing as she sat on the shuttle waiting for it to dock. "Come on don't freak out just act normal," she scolded herself, wiping the long white strands of hair from her face. She had straightened it today and so far it had held pretty well, she was thankful for that. Her hair had grown even longer than it had been last year, the snow-white locks flowing down past her butt. She had changed the cut too, allowing herself to have bangs for the first time in years, though they were still styled off to the side and faded into the length of the rest of her hair.
She was alone on this ride to the school, as she expected to be, being that she was showing up in the middle of the day. Not to mention of course that she was four months late for the start of classes for her sophomore year. She had tried to come back earlier but the engineers and doctors had wanted to be absolutely certain that she was ready. She'd wanted to come back and see her friends but truthfully she had been quite worried about what living with her injuries outside of home would be like.
She had bundled up at the very least. Sure it was decently cold and there was snow on the ground, but she had far over prepared just so that there was no chance anyone could get a look at the device that she so badly wanted to keep out of sight. She didn't want anyone to think she had become some kind of freak or a cyborg or something so she had taken extra precautions to cover it up. She was still annoyed with how much it protruded out of her skin. 'That damn whirring,' she thought to herself as she reached behind her and shoved her hand up the back of her shirt to feel around the device, making sure none of her wounds had somehow opened up in transit across the continents.
She had started the day back in Mistral and very quickly boarded a flight to Vale so she could arrive around the end of the school day and get settled back in. She had watched the sunrise on the airship and worried her entire way what her friends' reactions would be. As she pulled her arm out from under her shirt and checked her hand for any sign of blood she sighed in relief, again finding nothing. Somewhere deep down she knew she wasn't in any danger of her wound reopening but it had become an impulse to check every few minutes.
Countless weeks had been spent changing bloody sheets, even a month or two after the operation had been completed. She was, of course, lucky all things considered, to be a part of such a well off family who was more than willing to spend the money to get her the best possible outcome from her accident. It annoyed her that her new body part whirred a lot and that it was VERY visible through clothing but nonetheless couldn't complain that she had been saved from a lifetime of being paralyzed. As soon as her parents had shown up in Vale to find her in the hospital the device showed up alongside them from Atlas. As soon as her parents had found out she was paralyzed they had called up anyone they could find to throw money at to build her the small machine.
She had only shown Ambur what it looked like and was very hesitant to let anyone else get a look at it. Ambur had been in and out of the hospital to check on her every other day for the entire time that she was in Vale. Everyone else lived too far away to make the trip on a whim and Liv knew that she would have never made it back to school without Ambur's visits. To her surprise, it hadn't taken long to get used to the way the machine worked. She had only been down for about a month and a half before she was up and walking again.
This was of course helped by the swift arrival of their purchase, as the surgery was able to be performed long before Liv would suffer any sort of muscle atrophy. As soon as her nerves were hooked up to it her feeling came back. This of course was met with an incredible wall of pain, but after lying completely still, unable to move or feel anything for a month and a half the pain was a welcome sensation. They had had to dig out all of the shards of her spine from below her shoulder blades to just above her hips in order to make room for her new one. The device, however, was not as compact as Liv had thought it was initially and it was not able to completely fit inside of her small frame.
It stuck out of her back about an inch along its entire length, broken into several small segments simulating her lost vertebra and the edge where it met her skin didn't look like a clean cut. It was uneven and some of her skin seemed to be stretched to make contact and it made her sick to look at. She had never had so much as a single stretch mark on her body until now and had always taken flawless care of her skin among other things. It embarrassed her and she thought that the other students would be disgusted by the sight of it. If she ever wore a thin or tight shirt again it would be incredibly obvious to onlookers that her spine was protruding out of her back because her shirt would be pulled tight across it.
It was why she chose to wear so many layers, even if she wasn't very cold today, so she could sneak into her dorm room without anyone noticing it. Getting through airport security had been an absolute nightmare and she had sworn off air travel for the rest of her life because of it. The thing no one else knew was that an extra feature had been built into the device. This was the reason the device had been more cumbersome than anticipated. Her weapon had been built into it. Upon being presented with it Liv initially hadn't liked the idea, but by the time the surgery came around, she had been convinced and the request was made to work Isenheart into the device.
She was lucky of course that her weapon, all things considered, wasn't very cumbersome. The telescopic metal 'skeleton' that spread across her limbs could fold up to be extremely small, as could the pressure activated nodes that rested on her elbows, palms, and knees. She had even added two more to the setup, one on each shoulder. The device's battery life was quite considerable, and having it attached directly to her nerves helped that immensely since it had direct access to the electricity produced by her own body. However she had been instructed to go to bed at least once every other week with the device, and indeed herself, plugged into the wall. She had been provided with a very long charging cord and a wall charger to plugin with.
The cord was coated by a cloth sleeve to try and make it less noticeable to her at night if she lay on it by accident, and the port on her spine was positioned in such a way that she would be able to lay on her back without damaging the cord by laying directly on top of it. She had become used to it at home but she dreaded the day that she would need to plug it in at night with her teammates in the room, already able to feel their gaze upon her. The more she would use her weapon too the battery would drain but even this would allow for her to use it several times a day for a few days before needing more power.
As the shuttle landed she was pulled from her thoughts, grabbed her bags from the floor beside her and walked down the ramp and out into the crisp winter air. It wasn't too cold today thankfully but there was some snow left on the ground from several days ago. She had been video chatting with Ambur at the time, as they often did, and Ambur had expressed what a crazy winter storm it had been. The pathways were wet but thankfully there were no large puddles for Liv to step into. She hadn't worn any of her heels today and she was becoming more and more thankful for her decision to simply wear sneakers for once.
As she made it to the dorm building and made her way up the stairs she was surprised by just how quiet the building was. She knew most of the students were in class right now but she barely passed by anybody, no one that she recognized anyway. As she made her way to her room she hesitated at the door, her hand brushing against the knob lightly as she looked down at it. After several moments of worrying, she pulled the door open, surprised to find their room more or less the way they had left it the year prior.
Hunter and Caroline's beds were pressed together and everyone's belongings were strewn about the room in much the same way. All except for her bed of course, which was, to her surprise, still made. As if no one had even sat on it all semester. As she walked inside and set her bags down she sighed before walking over to the large window and pulling it open. The cold air rushed in briefly but with it so did the noise of the wind and winter birds chirping in the courtyard outside. She just needed some form of calming noise in the strangely silent room to help her unpack, besides, a little cold never hurt her. It was far warmer at school than it had been at her house this morning that's for sure.
As she pulled off her heavy coat and set it on the bed she walked over and nudged the door halfway closed, moving behind it to look at the full-length mirror hanging off the back, right where it had been the year before. She looked herself over, surprised to find her hair still pin straight after her long and uncomfortable flight. She pulled her hoodie and long-sleeved shirt up to her shoulders so she could inspect her back. "Hhookkaaayyy," she sighed in relief, again finding nothing wrong with what she saw as she let her clothes fall back to normal.
However, as she went back to her bed she heard a voice come from the hallway as the door across the hall opened. "Hoouhhhhh," she heard. A male's voice she figured as he yawned. "Hm?" She heard him hum audibly, figuring he saw her door partially opened.
"Must have left their door open this morning," he sighed as he shrugged and stepped across the hall. Though as he was about to grab hold of the doorknob and shut it Liv grabbed hold of it first, pulling it wide open to find the wolf boy staring back at her with surprise in his face.
"Mydnight," she gasped in a bit of shock as she couldn't look away from his face. He was very different from the last time she had seen him and it was very jarring. Ambur hadn't said anything about it, trying to keep their conversations more focused on Liv's health and how school was going rather than what her teammates were doing. "You're hair," she smiled.
He was very different indeed. His hair was cut short, buzzed down on the sides and back with the top styled up into a very short fohawk which faded to his left. Much more jarring was the amount of facial hair he now had, having a very full beard that connected up to his sideburns and a well-kept mustache. Not to mention that now that he had cut off his long hair it was far more obvious just how many gray hairs the Faunus actually had. "Liv," he finally let out with a smile, "You're back!"
Liv was surprised at his tone, seeming to be far more enthusiastic and expressive than how she had last known him to be. As he registered what she had said he ran his hand through his short hair and groaned a little. "Yaaaa that happened over the summer I didn't really...get a choice in it. But that's not important! Does everyone else know you're here?"
"No, I uh...I didn't even text Ambur yet I just got here and I wanted it to maybe be a little surprise," she thought out loud before looking at him with a quizzical expression. "Why aren't you in class?"
"Oh, I uh..." he began as he looked to his sides and made sure no one else was around to listen. "Oz had me do something for him late last night and excused me from class today. Just woke up actually. Do you need help with anything?" He asked as he looked behind her and was surprised at how many bags she had brought. "Did you just carry all that up here alone?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
Olivier furrowed her brow at his words, annoyed with the way he had come off. "You think I can't do it myself?" She huffed as she folded her arms over her chest and looked away from the wolf.
"What?" Mydnight asked nervously, "No that's not what I meant," he replied as he scratched the back of his head. "Why would you think that?"
"Did..." Liv let out as she looked back up into his face in surprise. "Did Ambur not...?" she let out as she recalled that Ambur had promised her not to tell anyone about Olivier's condition. Everyone, of course, was aware that she was in an accident but most of her friends really weren't made aware of how severe her condition was. But Olivier had really expected Ambur to at least spill the beans to Mydnight. She knew Mydnight had been away all summer but they had had months back at school now and Ambur really still hadn't told him? How had she held that in? Liv had made her promise but realistically she had expected Ambur to tell SOMEBODY. Perhaps the two partners hadn't connected as well as Liv had expected them too upon returning to school? "Sorry..." She let out softly. "I didn't mean to be so rude I just...people have been treating me like I'm helpless for a few months..."
"Oh," Mydnight sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Well the offer stands but if you want some alone time that's cool."
"No no...it's okay I could...use some company," she smiled as she turned around and headed back into her room. Upon sitting down on the bed, however, she could faintly hear the whirring sound of her spine. She was as annoyed as ever but as she looked back to Mydnight, who had followed her inside, she saw him cringe a little as his ears perked up.
"Jeez what was that," he said as she saw him shiver before taking a seat on Gretchen's bed, facing Olivier.
"Oh gosh I...I'm sorry I forgot you'd probably be really sensitive to high pitched noises like that...That's my...that's me..." She sighed as she leaned down and unzipped her first suitcase, beginning to pull items from it and sort through them on the bed, all the while the device continued to whir as she forced it to bend up and down with her movement.
He could tell of course that the sound was coming from Olivier he just couldn't tell exactly where. "Ya, but what is it though? Gonna take some getting used to if that's gonna keep happening," he smirked with a mildly pained expression on his face.
"It's uh...it's on my back it's the thing that fixed me from the accident..." she said shyly. Mydnight could clearly tell that she didn't want to talk about it however, her tone more than enough to let the wolf know to drop the subject.
"Alright well...at least it works huh?" He smiled before leaning forward and changing the subject. "Did you bring this much stuff to school last year? This is a lot," she laughed.
"Hah Hah," she fake laughed with a smile, glad that the wolf had found something else to focus on. "Yes I did and it's not that much!"
"You do realize that you can't take this much stuff with you everywhere when you become a licensed huntress ya?"
"Ya well, I don't have to worry about that right now do I?" She retorted with a smirk of her own before taking out her scroll. "I should probably tell everyone I'm here shouldn't I..?"
"I mean that's up to you. Class gets out in like half an hour. You could just let it be a surprise ya know?"
"Are you gonna stick around for that?"
"Ya, why not?" He smiled as he relaxed back onto Gretchen's bed.
As the minutes passed and Liv raced around the room to get all other belongings where they belonged the conversation eventually turned to Mydnight's partner. "So how're things with Ambur?"
"I mean, she's good as far as I know. Sure she'll be happy to have you back."
"No I mean like," she hesitated before finishing her question. "Like WITH her," she said, accentuating the word 'with'.
"What like...romantically?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yes of course I mean romantically," she rolled her eyes as she passed by him.
"Well, what makes you think that there's something romantic going on between us?"
"Is there still not?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
"No, I..." he began as he looked down to the floor, "We're not."
"Sooo what about you and Rosa then?"
"Nope. Not involved with anybody. I told Rosa that I needed a break in June and I haven't been letting Ambur make any more moves on me since the concert. Besides I've been keeping busy helping Oz and Qrow with missions and stuff in my free time so I haven't been around much lately."
"Oh..." Liv let out quietly as she contemplated his words. Though before she could delve too deep into them she saw Mydnight's ears twitching toward the hallway. Soon enough she too could hear students coming up the stairs toward their rooms. As they passed by they would eventually hear their friend's voices coming their way right up until they saw OCHR's door, already open.
"Did you leave the door open?" They heard Gretchen ask as they got closer, Mydnight looking across the way to Olivier with a smile.
"Well, I hope you're ready for five people to freak out for a few hours. This is what you get for making it a surprise," he laughed out before Caroline responded.
"I don't think we did?" She let out curiously as they came upon the door, the three members of OCHR peering around the corner. As they did, however, they fell silent and their lips parted as if to say something. As the silence fell Ambur and Bronzine turned back to catch a glimpse inside the room before they too were taken by surprise.
"H..Hey guys," Liv smiled shyly, her voice shaky. She had never had any issues with being nervous before in her life but these last few months had really trained her to be nervous all the time. "I uh...I'm back," she let out quietly as students rushed past them in the hall.
Rosa, however, was the first to speak again, having lagged slightly behind the group. "What are all of you dorks looking at?" She asked as she peered into the room, finding Olivier ad Mydnight staring back at them. "Oh great," she rolled her eyes sarcastically before turning back to her own door and opening it. "Gangs all here," she added before closing the door behind her with a bang.
Gretchen Carol and Hunter were the first into the room, Mydnight backing off to give them space, leaning up against the door frame as Bronzine came to rest beside him. Mydnight held his hand out while Bronzine gawked at Olivier, surprised to see their friend back. After a few moments, Bronzine clapped his hand against Mydnight's, lo-fiving his friend as they smiled. Ambur waited her turn, impatiently, to greet Liv, maneuvering around everyone else in the crowded room to get to her best friend.
"Ambur," Liv let out quietly with a smile as the Amazon reached her, both girls pulling each other into a hug.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming today!?" Ambur asked as she hugged her softly. "I'd have decorated or thrown a party or something!"
"That's why," Liv laughed. "I just wanted to see all of you...nothing big." Liv could feel Ambur's hands exploring her new spine and began to wonder if that was the reason that Ambur had hugged her so daintily. "You know you're not gonna break me if you hug me tighter right?" She smirked.
"Well sorry I just...you know my strength I don't wanna...chance it," she sighed as the girls broke off their hug. As they pulled away from each other Liv could see Ambur flexing her hands, closing and opening her palms over and over again while looking at them. The other three had wrapped their arms around Liv's upper back or neck so they hadn't felt the device.
"So how weird is it," Liv breathed out nervously, Ambur looking back up into Liv's eyes from her hands.
"It's a little weird but, I'll get used to it," Ambur smiled.
"It?" Caroline asked in confusion.
"I haven't uh..." Liv began, searching for the right words. "I haven't really told the rest of you everything...about the accident."
"What?" Hunter added, "Why not?"
"Well I didn't want you all to worry and I wanted you to all have a good vacation and get back to school without having to worry about whether I was okay so..."
"Well...can you tell us now? Don't leave us hanging..." Gretchen said softly as she walked over and took Liv's hand.
"...Okay but...don't...freak out or anything alright..." She asked sincerely, the other students feeling uneasy due to her secretive nature. As she saw them all nod their heads in agreement she turned away to face the wall. She put her hands on the bottom of her shirt and began to lift the shirt and her sweater up to her shoulders. As more and more of her back became visible the other students' eyes became wider and wider. Caroline even had to lift her hands to her mouth stifle a gasp.
"Oh my god," Gretchen breathed out as Ambur walked over to Liv and began to run her hands across her scar tissue and across the device itself, having become increasingly curious about it over the past several months.
"Liv what the hell is that?" Hunter asked as he looked away.
Bronzine and Mydnight were silent as their eyes took in the sight of Liv's new spine. The boys seemed far less offended by the sight of it but couldn't deny that it wasn't a very easy sight to see.
"I was paralyzed in the crash...my...spine was really screwed up and broken apart...so they took it out and my parents paid an Atlas engineer to make me a new one," she shrugged before letting her shirt fall back down.
"You knew about this?" Gretchen asked as she shot a glance at Ambur.
"I-" Ambur began before Liv cut her off.
"Don't Gretch just... don't do that okay...I asked her to keep it a secret...from everyone. She didn't tell a soul just like I asked...I'm fine. It works and I can fight with it. It's actually more armored than I would have otherwise been."
"Why does it...stick out like that?" Hunter asked.
"It's uh...cos I'm too small and they couldn't make the thing any smaller."
As the group fell silent, still trying to process what they had been shown eventually Ambur spoke up as she once again pulled Liv into a tighter embrace. "I'm just really glad you're home."
'Home,' Liv thought to herself as she let her eyes drift shut and nuzzled her face into Ambur's neck. "Thank you, Ambur..."