A/N Warning his chapter contains a scene that some readers may find distressing, while there are no explicit actions performed there is a segment heavy with sexual harassment, the worse parts of this scene will be marked so that those who do not wish to read such a thing may skip it.
"I still can't believe you both managed to get away with that with just a slap on the wrist!" Belka said in complete shock as she walked down the halls with her fellow team leaders, Scarlet and Juliet, after their last class of the day, still smelling like coconut from her hair and body wash after the showers. She had taken to following her friends to the dorms after an incident where she went alone and ended up being cornered by Alaska and Vera. Despite that event being over a week ago, her ribs were still sore. Thankfully, she could usually find someone to follow. Lao was her go to pick, since he didn't ask questions, but today, Lumi and Elizabeth had stolen him for a training session, so her picks were quite limited. Thankfully, Scarlet and Juliet had invited her to hang out this afternoon, an opportunity she practically jumped at.
"I mean, it's been a couple of weeks, if they were gonna do something, they definitely would have done it by now." Scarlet said, clearly just happy that she wasn't currently sitting in detention once again.
"Personally, I don't see the big deal." Juliet shrugged. They hadn't done anything wrong, the Professors even said as much! Belka sighed at their lackadaisical justification for their actions.
"You infiltrated a cultist base, with no backup mind you, and somehow the two of you were surprised when you almost got yourselves killed?" She had a rough idea of what happened, only receiving the abridged version of events, namely that SJJL and JWEL went out to find the group that Scarlet and Lumi's attacker belonged to, and subsequently got saved by Jaune and their weird cyborg Professor. Now that she had the two of them in front of her to explain what had fully happened, she was actually impressed by the stupidity they proudly displayed.
"Well, technically we were gathering information from Juliet's friend, it was the other guys who did that, and we knew that Professor Fuchsia and your brother-in-law would be there." Scarlet explained, as if it somehow absolved her of the recklessness of the plan. Belka sympathized somewhat, after all, it wasn't as if Elizabeth listened to anything she had to say, still, she would have at least been apologetic over it!
"That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard, how could you not see how much danger you were putting yourselves in!? You guys are lucky you aren't dead!" Before she could fly into another rant, the strong, tanned arm of Juliet was slung across her shoulders.
"Oh come on, you totally would have joined us if we asked." the girl said with a smile that was oddly contagious. Belka sighed, knowing it was true, though Goose probably would have been the one to volunteer them. If nothing else, she wasn't going to let them put themselves in danger without backup.
"Next time, just come to us as well. If it wasn't for the professors, that could have gone so much worse. Speaking of… how's Luna? Is she any better?" Juliet's smile faded at the question, apparently not.
"Not good, she's seeing the counselor about what happened, but he said it's going to take time." The poor girl had seemingly retreated into herself since that night, jumping at even the slightest sound, and seemingly developing a severe fear of the dark almost overnight, or maybe it just got worse? She had been using a nightlight before, but she'd honestly just thought it was a moth Faunus thing. Still, she felt for her friend considering she didn't really have a family outside of Rosaria and her dad, and while she didn't really know what Luna was going through, she could imagine that it hurt more than anything she'd felt before. "Not to pry, but is he good at what he does? This is just… hitting Luna hard, you know?"
"I wouldn't know, I don't spend much time with that side of the family." Belka admitted. She barely knew Weiss, most of the times they'd met were at social events like charity galas, and even then, it had mostly been as brief as a hello. Weis had more important things to do than socialize with what was a child to her, even if it was her sister…
"We should do something to get her mind off of what happened. It's not like we have anything happening until the Vytal Festival in a few months." Scarlet said. While they'd spent time together, they'd never really been able to just sit around and let loose, it felt like something was always happening. If anything, they all needed a break.
"All of us?" Belka asked, getting a roll of the eyes from Scarlet in response.
"Why not, come on, I bet you guys would get along great." causing Belka and Juliet to share a glance. It sounded nice, and if nothing else, it would be nice to have a normal experience without attacks, cults, plot twist revelations about someone's family straight out of a soap opera,or bullies. Besides, it was like Scarlet said, JWEL seemed nice enough, and… well, she did need more friends.
"I'm sure I can get Goose to agree to come at the very least." Belka knew it wouldn't actually take any convincing, if Lumi was going then so were Elizabeth and Goose, and they all knew Lao had nothing better to do.
"Great, how does Friday after classes sound?" Juliet suggested, causing Belka to wince guiltily. On paper, Friday sounded good, without having any classes the next day, they could stay out late if need be, but as much as she hated to cause a complication, there was just one issue.
"Friday doesn't work for me, I'm meeting with a friend who's taking me out to dinner." Rather than being met with complaints about how this was causing a complication like she had expected, Belka was instead met with a pair of surprised looks from the other leaders. Scarlet and Juliet shared a surprised glance that slowly turned into a pair of teasing smirks.
"Oh, I see how it is. Standing us up for a date, are we?" The sarcasm from Juliet more or less went unnoticed as Belka immediately sputtered out her response.
"I-It's not… really a date, he's just showing me more of the city, it's perfectly innocent." The pair pounded on the obvious fib in an instant, all in good fun of course.
"Hey, I'm not judging, go get some girl!" That- how could she casually encourage something so scandalous!? Belka suddenly found herself unable to look Scarlet in the eyes. That was not what she was thinking about, she wasn't some harlot who jumped right into bed with a boy! Even one who was as cute as he was! Ugh, she supposed she could overlook it just this once, after all, Scarlet was from a less than proper upbringing, maybe she just needed the proper influence.
"Oh, quit being a pervert! We haven't even kissed yet!" Belka muttered as they got to her locker, trying to ignore them as she went to enter the code.
"You just heard her admit she's thinking about kissing him, right?" Scarlet asked with a smirk, leaning against the locker next to hers.
"That I did." Juliet teased, taking her spot at the other side of the locker, sandwiching her in and leaving her unable to hide her blush as her mind drifted to the idea, only because they were putting the thoughts in her head of course!
"Degenerates, both of you." Belka chided as she taped the unlock button to her locker, opening it up and unleashing a tiny avalanche of paper shreds falling out and onto her shoes. She hopped back, watching in stunned silence as what looked to be a mixture of her notes, homework, and the essay on Mountain Glenn that Oobleck had assigned. "What the- Who did this!?"
"This sort of petty bullshit? Who else could it be besides SLVR?" Scarlet growled, kneeling down to try and gather the papers, only stopping when she saw just how irreparable they were, and just got back up, looking over to the red faced girl. She wanted to help her feel better, but at the same time, she figured she wouldn't find the fact that it was only one paper that realistically wouldn't be all that important in the grand scheme of things as comforting as she would.
"Gods above, I am sick of this! I spent weeks on this essay, now I have to ask Professor Oobleck for an extension." Belka's voice wavered on the verge of breaking as she kept herself from crying out of frustration. She decided to just settle for gathering the scraps and piling them back into her locker until she could come back with a bag so she didn't get in trouble for the mess.
"You know, if you want, we could probably kick their asses for you. Hell, I'll knock some of Alaska's teeth down her throat if you want." The offer from Juliet was accompanied by a series of satisfying pops as she cracked her knuckles. It was a tempting offer, really, it was, but she remembered all too well what happened when Scarlet tried to fight back, and she wasn't very eager to get Juliet in trouble over what were ultimately her own problems.
"And have her use that to get you in trouble? I appreciate the offer, but I just don't think just hitting her is going to work like you think it will." With a tired sigh, Belka closed her locker. No, she was not going to let them ruin her day, she would make plans with her friends, do her assignments, and pick out a nice outfit for Friday night.
Belka couldn't have hidden the smile from her face if she had been offered a million lien to do so. That had been exactly what she needed after the week she'd gone through, dinner had gone amazingly, better than she could have ever imagined! At least she was pretty sure it had, without having ever gone on a date prior to tonight, she didn't have an actual frame of reference to how a date was supposed to go, but this certainly set a high standard. She and Sherbet both seemed to enjoy each other's company, or at the very least, she had managed to keep his attention throughout dinner. He seemed especially interested about Beacon as she had expected, so she tried to keep the topic of their conversations on that, telling him about classes, her friends, and steering clear of any mention of a certain bluenette and her team. Sherbet had even told her about why he'd turned down going to Beacon to work in a nightclub. Apparently, it belonged to his uncle, and around the time he would have been starting his first year, he fell ill, and Sherbet, along with his brother and cousins, stepped up to help run it. As much as Belka hated to admit it, that got a pang of jealousy from her, especially when he mentioned not regretting his choice despite wondering what could have been. She imagined herself having that sort of relationship with Weiss and Winter, or even Lumi and Elizabeth. Her sisters and Lumi outright ignored her most of the time, and Liz made it no secret that she just didn't like her. Despite her dour thoughts, she tried not to let it show and did her best to ignore the intrusive thoughts. The rest of the date had gone well, and a couple of hours later, they were walking back to his club where she'd be given a ride back to Beacon, where she'd no doubt have to endure Alaska's torment once again. Even so, there was no way she could take tonight from her.
"Are you feeling alright? You seem pretty down." the man she knew as Sherbet asked, surprising her. She didn't think she had let her face slip, damn it, she didn't want to talk about her of all things. Looking away, Belka tried to hide her face as she composed herself.
"Oh, n-no, it's nothing!" Before she could think of an excuse, Sherbet reached over and caressed her cheek, taking her breath away as he tilted her head to look up at him; he didn't need to say a word to express his doubt. Hardly able to think straight with the way his thumb rubbed her cheek, she caved. "Okay, it's not nothing, I've just been dealing with a group of girls at school, they've been giving me a really hard time as of late. I just didn't want to bring down the mood by talking about it."
"Bullies? Seriously? I thought you guys were Beacon students, not a bunch of kids." Romeo scoffed. He wasn't even putting on an act with that reaction. Bullying? Seriously? He couldn't see the point, it was childish, not to mention that any thug could throw their weight around and push around someone smaller, where was the tact? The pizazz? It was just uninspired…
"I know!" While she really didn't want to talk about them, the validation from an outside set of eyes pointing out just how ridiculous this whole situation was seemed to set her off. It seemed that so far she was a part of the only team not involved in some kind of tomfoolery! "Seriously, on one hand I have SLVR, who seem to have forgotten the purpose of being Huntresses altogether, and on the other hand, my friends are going to the opposite end of the spectrum and are jumping right into trying to fight a Grimm cult!"
"Wait, they did what?" Romeo said, stopping in his tracks. For a moment, the mask of Sherbet fully dropped. SJJL getting involved with the cult changed things dramatically, no wonder Ruby had been so tight-lipped about what happened at the port, and it didn't help that Lavender still acted as if nothing had happened either. Damn it, he hated being kept in the dark. Thankfully, Belka mistook his frustration for the same exasperated feelings she was having over the events.
"Oh my goodness, did I not tell you? Okay, the short version is that they found a cult, an honest to the Gods cult, that seems to worship Grimm. And as I'm sure you can assume, they nearly got themselves killed from trying to look into it." Romeo nodded along, pretending to be shocked about the cult's existence as he let her tell him the basics, only for her to surprise him once again when she told him about Lavender protecting Luna. He mostly zoned her out after hearing that, deep in thought about the fact that Lavender had turned on one of them. Granted, to him it was obvious why, but his thoughts turned as to how he could use this angle to convince Lavender to fully leave that group of lunatics behind. Overall, this was a very good sign that she hadn't been completely brainwashed, now he just needed to figure out how to work this in a way that would show her that those crazies were all like that woman who tried to kill her own daughter. Mercifully, the rest of the walk went by quickly, and soon he was seeing her into Steele's car to go back home.
"I guess this is where we part ways?" Belka sighed. The night had gone amazingly, in fact that was the problem, it was so good that she didn't want it to end just yet. Still, she knew it needed to come to a close, she didn't want her friends, or Sherbet for that matter, to think that she was trying to make something happen like some kind of floozy. So she stepped on over to the car, and Sherbet, being the gentleman he was, opened it for her.
"Steele will make sure you get to the transports on time. Trust me, there's not a better driver in all of Vale." Belka went to sit down, but her reluctance stopped her. It was tempting to ask to stay the night, but even if she didn't intend for anything to happen, the knowledge that it was improper stayed on her lips. Even still, she wanted more, even if it was something small… then, without thinking, she leaned in and laid a quick kiss onto his cheek, really it was more of a peck, but still, she blushed like mad as she looked down at her feet.
"I had a really good time tonight." she said meekly as she took her seat in the back. Despite her flustered state, a small smile remained on her lips. Romeo chuckled, a small part of him had been worried that his more subtle act wouldn't have the same effect as his usual faster methods, but that peck all but confirmed to him that he had her wrapped around his finger.
"It was my pleasure. But if I impressed you that much, maybe we could do this again sometime?" As expected, her eyes lit up and she agreed without thinking.
"That would be delightful! Thank you, Sherbet." And with that, Belka closed the door and was driven off. As soon as they were out of sight he groaned, he was no stranger to putting on an act, but the clean cut nice guy was one of the few roles he hated playing. Still, it had been worth it for the information he got. Making his way back inside the club and up to the penthouse, he went straight to the bar, where JJ was waiting for him.
"So, learn anything on your little date?" Romeo skipped the small talk and went straight for the hard liquor, pouring himself a glass and immediately getting to work downing it. The taller of the two grabbed his own glass which Romeo also filled.
"Not much aside from what we already knew, SJJL's decided to do their own little investigation into the cult. That, and Lavender switched up on one of the cultists." It should have been good news, more eyes on the cult and Lavender showed that she wasn't blindly following them, but the lack of communication from his sister kept gnawing at him. Why hadn't she talked to him about it? Did she think he'd go off on her? Was it that she still didn't trust him? It was just so frustrating.
"She did? Okay, we can work with that. Why'd she do it?" Jumping onto the bit of good news, JJ tried to keep the boy thinking on the bright side.
"Apparently, one of them tried to ice their own daughter. Lavender saw it and stepped in..." Romeo sighed, remembering an incident in which he needed to step in to get their mother to let go of Lavender during what he now knew to be a psychotic break. As far as he knew, it was the only time Neo had ever put her hands on his sister, but once was more than enough to leave a lasting effect on the girl, especially combined with her already being neglectful towards her, that would eventually spiral into her running away from home. JJ noticed the way he scowled into his glass, he knew that face. Romeo could hide his feelings from most people, but he could clearly see his friend trying to work through his thoughts in real time along with the glass.
"You think you can get more out of her?" Finishing his glass, Romeo savored the burning liquid as it traveled down his throat before turning around with the best smile he could muster as he poured himself another glass right away, ignoring the worried look from his friend.
"I'm hurt you even felt the need to ask. Besides, I don't think that girl's had any real attention in her life, she was eating out of the palm of my hand before we even stepped foot into the restaurant." As he reached over to pour another glass, JJ grabbed the bottle and moved it closer to his end, getting a raised eyebrow from Romeo in response. His friend never knew when to pace himself, especially not when he was lost in his own head the way he currently was. Not that either of them were lightweights, but the whiskey he had grabbed was some strong stuff.
"Oh, there you guys are! I've been looking for you guys." Lavender said, leaning over the railing, letting herself roll over and drop down gracefully. When she was greeted with silence, she tilted her head. Having expected some sort of reaction, she looked to the boys and quickly noticed the tense atmosphere. "Is everything okay?"
Rather than answering, the boys shared a look. Romeo sighed, letting JJ have his win and keep the bottle on his side as he backed up from the bar, the liquor he'd downed already affecting him thanks to how fast he'd drank.
"JJ, would you mind giving us a minute?" Romeo said in a tone that made it perfectly clear that he wasn't actually asking.
"Sure, I've gotta check in with the bartenders anyway. I'll be back in a bit." JJ muttered, taking his cue to exit the room and leave the siblings alone. Lavender stood patiently, waiting to hear what her brother wanted to speak about, but instead he just gave her a stern, knowing look that she didn't know how to respond to.
"Romeo?" Lavender said hesitantly, taking a step forward as she spoke. He was acting weird, he was never quiet, he was the sort of person to voice his own thoughts out loud just to break the silence.
"So, do anything interesting lately?" The obviously pointed question caused her to recoil a bit. He sounded mad, why would he be mad?
"Not really, just hanging around like usual… I got some work done on my painting, wanna see?" The obvious attempt at deflection was met by more silence from her brother. She felt like she was being interrogated, what was this about?
"So, you haven't been to the industrial district recently?" Lavender broke eye contact immediately, he could tell she knew she'd been caught.
"W-what?" At her timid response, Romeo rolled his eyes so hard they could have come out of their sockets, she wasn't even trying to cover it up. Oh well, he had tried being nice about it, but at least now he was getting answers.
"You know, I had hoped you would have told me by now, but since I guess you still don't trust me enough to be straight with me, I'll just be blunt. I know you were at Vermillion Port last week." It was like the air had been sucked out of Lavender's lungs, she tried desperately to come up with an excuse, but she found herself stumbling over her own words.
"That… I was-" Lavender started to shut down, not knowing what to say. She didn't want him to be mad, but she couldn't just tell him what had happened, he'd never hear her out if he found out about someone like Moon being in their ranks. Unable to come up with an excuse, she just looked down at her feet and in turn, Romeo grew angrier.
"What the hell is wrong with you!? Did you just forget that I made a deal so Beacon would forget about you? Because believe it or not, I didn't stick my neck out and get my friend involved so that you could go off and listen to Moon Moffit's weird ass sermon." Maybe it was the alcohol in his system egging him on, or just his frustration with her shutting him out reaching its boiling point, but for some reason, he just had to hammer that point in. Why on Remnant would she even consider working with someone who was far gone enough to attempt to kill their own child!? After everything they had been through, she should have known better, he didn't understand how she couldn't see that was what this cult's bullshit fanaticism did to people! He had wanted to make a point, maybe even get through to her on some level, but unbeknownst to him, he had played his hand just a bit too strongly.
"I.. I- Wait, how do you know about Mother Moon?" that had been specific, too specific. If he had just mentioned the docks that would be one thing, but Moon Moffit specifically was a name that very few people knew.
"Ruby told me about the little spat at the docks." Romeo didn't even flinch at the question, lying right to her face. Angered by the obvious lie, she looked right into his eyes, growing defiant as her anger started to boil.
"No, that can't be true. They still think she goes by Moon Lucerna." The mismatching eyes staring back at her went wide as her brother realized his mistake. Then it started to fall into place, the weird noise from her Scroll, the fact that two Beacon Huntsmen just so happened to be there at the same time as her. "Did you bug my Scroll!?"
"You're goddamn right I did, and why wouldn't I when you're meeting up with wackjobs like her!?" Lavender's anger reached a new level, this was nothing short of a betrayal! She wasn't a stranger to betrayal, but seriously, her own brother would stoop this low? One of the only people she felt that she could fully trust? Moon was right, he was- no, no that crazy bitch wasn't right about anything, he didn't- it wasn't like that. She needed to get her thoughts under control, she would never let herself turn into someone like Moon or Neo. But damn it, this was inexcusable, how could he do this to her!?
"You son of a bitch! I can't believe you'd- this is just- Don't you trust me!?"
"Look, I want to, but trust is earned, not given. And honestly, so far you haven't exactl-" his rant was cut off as he was forced to duck. Lavender grabbed the mostly empty bottle on the counter and threw it right at his head, the glass smashing against several others on the wall, covering the floor in liquor and shards of glass. Romeo's jaw nearly hit the floor, she actually just tried to break that over his head! "What the hell is your problem!?"
Lavender was seeing red, she wanted to hurt him, to grab him by that stupidly bright hair and press him face first into the shards that now littered the floor. She needed to earn his trust!? Was he serious? She wasn't the one who had been spying on him, she had never sabotaged him! And why, because he didn't approve of what she believed? She hated this, she hated being treated like a stupid kid, she hated being second guessed by everyone, she hated that her own brother didn't trust her enough to make her own decisions even though she was actually a legal adult now! It was suffocating, she needed air and to get away from him for a while.
"Screw you! Don't follow me, and don't send your goons to follow me unless you want them in the hospital!" With her warning made very clear, Lavender ran over to the door, slamming it behind her with tears in her eyes as she left her brother standing there to contemplate what just happened.
"Fuck!" Romeo spat bitterly as he leaned over the counter and held his throbbing skull, of course he'd fucked it all up! He needed to get his ass in gear, get his head in the game. Thinking through the fog of his growing buzz, he made a game plan. He had to regain her trust after that blunder, show her that he wasn't bullshitting her and really did just want the best for her. The only thing he could think of was Scarlet, Lavender clearly hadn't let go of that grudge… it wouldn't be that big of a deal, right? One Huntress in training? They could play that off as an accident or a training exercise gone wrong. Then he stopped himself and those thoughts, no, he couldn't do that. He wasn't going to murder someone who didn't deserve it, he'd just have to figure something else out to make Lavender come to her senses. He needed to come up with a good plan, and he usually always did when push came to shove.
Breakfast at Beacon was nothing special by Belka's standards, that wasn't to say it was bad, and certainly nothing like the slop her father had warned it would be in comparison to the meals she'd grown up having made for her. In fact, most of the meals were ones her mother would make, such as cheeseburgers, pizza, Mistralian take out, and other basic but nonetheless delicious meals. Whenever her father was away on business, the woman would often just take her daughter and head down to Mantle to visit her godmother and order out, saying it was a good reminder of where she was from. Though, while she did disagree on whether those ordered dishes supposedly tasted better, sheheld a certain nostalgia for them regardless. Unfortunately, said nostalgia wasn't enough to offset her terrible mood, still dealing with Alaska's little prank. Thankfully, Oobleck had been gracious enough to grant her an extra week and she still knew the material, so it just meant she had to write it down once more. Unfortunately, that took enough time in itself to be worrisome, so not one to fall behind, she took it upon herself to work on the paper throughout the night, under the impression that a few of those energy drinks she saw Scarlet chug down during workouts would be able to get her through the day.
She was wrong though, she had been so horribly, horribly wrong. Classes had been hell to sit through, to the point that she could hardly remember what she had been getting lectured on by Professor Oobleck not even twenty minutes ago, but what was even worse was that SLVR had picked up on it. Aethelflad had been particularly vicious, using what she quickly realized was her Semblance to constantly make her slip and fall. Normally this would have been a dead giveaway, but given her obviously impaired state, the girl had enough plausible deniability to dismiss any accusations. They'd even gotten the pink haired girl who's name she hadn't bothered to remember involved. She had been the least of her worries until now, just following along with however her team had decided to torment her, but this time, she had personality gotten involved with the prank. On paper, it was harmless, she took a seat behind Belka, and using the fact that she was too drowsy to notice, tied her hair into a braid while no one was looking, and then tied her hair to the back of her chair. It should have been just a mild annoyance, provided that she hadn't tripped again at that point. What made it all the more irritating however, was that she was fairly certain SLVR had nothing to do with that fall, she had stepped on a pencil that just so happened to roll underneath her foot, meaning that if anyone's Semblance was to blame, it was most likely Goose's, which somehow made her angrier, especially when the girl from SLVR made a big deal about apologizing and she had to accept it to avoid becoming the bad guy despite being the victim in the situation. Instead, she just let her anger fester, trying to simmer down with her meal, but unfortunately, she was just becoming more irritated as just a few feet away, Goose was showing off her semblance as some sort of party trick for Scarlet and Jin, flipping a coin into the air and letting it fall onto the table where instead of landing on heads or tails, the coin landed perfectly on its side. Currently, it had been flipped four times, and Belka watched from the corner of her eye as it spun in the air. Surely it would have to land on one of the faces at some point, the probability of the coin landing on it's side five times consecutively was beyond impossibly low, right? Apparently not, as the moment Belka thought that, it landed on its side once again, much to the surprise and amazement of the pair watching.
"Seriously!? Dude, that's like the fifth time it's landed like that!" Jin said excitedly, completely captivated by the trick. Apparently, the way it worked was that if she concentrated, Goose could focus her Semblance on a single object or person. It wasn't like she could choose what happened of course, but with certain things, like say, a coin, she could pretty easily predict the least likely outcome. For example, repeatedly landing a coin perfectly on its side.
"Okay, one more time! Semblance or not, there's no way you're gonna get six in a row!" Scarlet encouraged, unknowingly irritating her. Oh, so they got to just sit by and get to see the good bits of her partner's Semblance, of course they'd be impressed, they didn't trip on pencils, or have to worry about vials of Dust going off in their hands constantly!
"Would you mind keeping the party tricks down for a minute? Some of us are trying to eat in peace here." The annoyed grumbling from the girl surprised the others at the table, but one look at her was enough for them to see that she was just in a bad mood, and that it wasn't worth starting an argument over in their eyes. Unfortunately, Lumi saw things differently than the rest of those at her table.
"You seem to be the only one bothered here Belka, maybe if it's such a distraction, you could move a table down so you aren't bothered by it." Lumi shot back, getting a glare from her least favorite aunt in return, which she ignored completely. Ignoring the typical spat that she'd grown accustomed to seeing between their weird little family unit, Scarlet looked her fellow leader up and down. To be blunt, she looked like complete shit, she had dark bags under her dead looking eyes, and bearing a constant miserable expression.
"Are you okay, Belka? You look…" Scarlet paused, her initial instinct being to repeat her initial thought, but thinking better of it at the girl's already annoyed scowl, she realized that she really wasn't in the mood to get chewed out over her language. "Really bad."
For a moment, Belka tried to put on an act that everything was just fine, but even that proved to be too strenuous at the moment, so she gave up and let her head rest on the table with a melodramatic groan.
"Not in the slightest. I stayed up all night redoing that paper Alaska and her cronies destroyed." Goose frowned hearing that, it was bad enough that SLVR was giving her a hard time, but now she was being hard on herself over it and depriving herself of basic needs like sleep to catch back up.
"You know what I think? I think that you need a day off, you've been working yourself ragged with studying and training, you're gonna work yourself into a meltdown at this rate." Goose said. Belka tried to object, but at this point, she would have killed just for a nap, a full day off to relax sounded heavenly at this rate, and it was certainly too good an offer to refuse outright, so instead, the part of her brain latching onto the idea that she had to keep going found a different excuse.
"Aren't we already all getting together for something like that?" While the question may have sounded rhetorical in her current state, between the drowsiness and irritation she genuinely couldn't remember. She thought they had selected a day? Or was that the one she couldn't make because she was going out with Sherbet? Ugh, she was too out of it to know.
"Well, I was more thinking something like a spa day, but we could make it a team thing. Come on, we haven't done anything like that." The other members of BGEL considered it, and it wasn't like she was wrong, SJJL had gone rogue twice now, and while it wasn't a conventional team bonding experience, it was still way more than what they had done. Seeing her team, and Belka specifically, considering the offer, Goose decided to add a bit more incentive to sweeten the deal. "It'll be my treat!"
"That sounds nice, but how would I get in with you guys?" At Lao's question, the girls of BGEL turned to him. Ah, that was right, Lao was a guy, and considering this was meant to be a team activity, it would be rude to have him spend the day on his own. Then again, maybe they wouldn't have to.
"We could probably sneak him in, right?" Goose asked, causing Jet to choke on his drink. She could imagine it, maybe adding something like a cute little bow to the hair to really sell it. Yeah, that could work!
"He's definitely pretty enough to pass for a girl." Belka said, not in a demeaning way, but as if she was just stating a fact, one that Lao didn't object to. Elizabeth looked over at him, more surprised at his lack of reaction than anything else. While it was true that he could pass as a woman rather easily, she had expected at least some sort of prideful response defending his masculinity.
"Really? Nothing to say about that? Nothing at all?" Elizabeth deadpanned, getting a shrug from her partner.
"After Jin said it, I'm sort of used to it." Well, as much as she didn't want to admit it, that sounded about right for him, because of course he'd get over it after hearing it once. Whatever, she wouldn't let it get to her, at least not until she had finished her pasta.
"You know what, that sounds nice actually, although there's no need to pay out of pocket, I can take care of it." Belka offered without hesitation. After all, she was used to being the one to pay for day trips; it wasn't like she minded either, at least, not with her actual friends.
"Oh, no, it's really not a problem, I'm rich, remember." Her comment had been innocent enough, if anything she'd just been acting playful, however, in Belka's stressed and sleep deprived mind, she heard something more in Goose's voice. It sounded like that same haughty tone Lumi and Elizabeth used to talk down to her, filled with judgment and a sense of superiority, and she didn't like that tone one bit.
"Uh, so am I?" Belka pointed out flatly, unable to hide the annoyance in her voice. Picking up on this, Goose chuckled nervously, picking a strand of ivory hair and starting to twirl it in her fingers.
"Yeah, but… you know..." There it was again. What, did she think that just because her mother was the head of the Schnee family that it somehow made her money better? It wouldn't surprise her one bit if that were the case. After all, she had been raised around Lumi and Elizabeth, it wouldn't have shocked her if this was just another distancing tactic. Well, if her partner wanted to play those games, then at the very least, she'd make her just come out and say it flat out.
"No actually, I don't, so why don't you just say it?" Now the others at the table went silent, just as confused as Goose who looked around for help, not knowing what she had done to upset her partner.
"For Pete's sake Belka, she's trying to be polite! Quit being so stubborn and let her do this for you." It was at this point that Lumi spoke up, until now, she had been content to just ignore her aunt to keep the peace, but if she was going to start an argument over something so minor, then fine, Lumi would give her an argument.
"I didn't make her say it like she did, if she wants to say something, then she should just come out and say it!"
"Trust me, she could have been a lot less welcoming towards you, and no one would blame her. You should be lucky she's even thinking of treating you with Grandmother's money considering how your father acquired most of his wealth." Elizabeth jumped in, similarly displeased with her sudden attitude. There it was! That same damned line of thinking that got them where they were now, well no more, she was done. They wanted to act like petulant children? Fine, she could play that role too!
"Oh, yes, I'm being stubborn, not the little brats who are clinging to a feud that has nothing to do with us!" The mood had quickly grown uncomfortable, the tables falling silent. Scarlet and Jet just ate in silence, unsure of how to approach the argument, or even if they should in the first place. Jin looked over to Lao for an explanation, but the boy just pursed his lips and looked down at his food, remembering what happened last time he tried to break up this same argument. While he did want to try and resolve this, he just didn't really know how to without making things worse, so instead he just sat there, helpless to do anything as the argument increased in volume.
"You know what, if you have such a problem with Goose wanting to be nice to you, then just don't come! I'd be more than happy to take your place if you're going to act like such an ingrate!" Lumi said sharply, Elizabeth nodding her head. She certainly wouldn't lose any sleep about their aunt not coming along. This just seemed to just work Belka up more as she stared them down with an increasingly furrowed brow. Except that wasn't all true, because as Goose watched the situation spiral out of control once again, she noticed the expressions her partner tried to hide, biting her lip to keep it from trembling, how her face scrunched just a bit too hard compared to how she normally looked while angry, she seemed more sad than anything. Not wanting the situation to escalate any further, she stood up from her seat and spoke with the calmest voice she could muster, trying to stop before someone's feelings were hurt.
"Please, can we jus-"
"Oh, shut the hell up!" Goose flinched as though she had been smacked as Belka snapped at her, unintentionally drawing Belka's ire her way as the girl let her pent up anger loose on her. "Gods above, I'm sick of you acting like you're just above it all! You know what? Fine, go without me, I wouldn't want to waste my time with someone as childish and annoying as you anyway!"
For a moment Goose just didn't react, the whiplash of being on the receiving end of Belka's fury leaving her stunned. When she was finally able to respond, she broke eye contact with her partner, looking off to the side in a failed attempt to hide her pained expression. Then she started to tremble, unable to hide how her words and the way she had suddenly shouted at her was affecting her.
"I-I… I'm sorry?" She didn't know why she was apologizing, or what she had done to earn that level of anger, she thought they were getting along. Had she done something wrong? It hurt hearing that from someone she considered a friend. Belka suddenly felt regret wash over her as she saw Goose start to cry, and suddenly all eyes were on them. Most just looked at her in shock like Scarlet, while others, like her nieces, glared at her for making her cry like that. Damn it, this wasn't what she had wanted to happen, why was she the bad guy here? They were the ones who'd ganged up on her, they were the ones making her feel like an outsider within her own family. But even still, she knew that Goose didn't deserve that, a part of her wanted to apologize, to comfort her. Another part of her, however, wondered what the point even would be though, Goose probably wouldn't forgive her, and Elizabeth and Lumi had already decided she was the villain long before this point, so why bother? She looked down at the half eaten dish, realizing she'd lost what little appetite she'd had left, so she stood up and walked away, ignoring Elizabeth as she demanded she explain herself.
As much as Jin didn't like to admit it, he hadn't kept up with his friends as much as he would have liked to since starting his training. It wasn't something he had done on purpose of course, training had simply just become more important as the deadline of Beacon's entrance exams for those not coming from a combat school grew closer, and then once he had gotten into Beacon, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try and make up for lost time, especially given that Lumi, Goose, and Lao would all attending with him. In fact, that had been his plan before the incident with Scarlet and Lumi set off the whole fiasco that was still going on to this day, though most of that was now in the hands of his professors. He didn't have to worry about cults, or weird foreign Grimm, or crazy scorpion girls trying to kill him and his friends, he could just sit back and enjoy student life, and the only hiccup remaining there was that his Aunt was seemingly making deals with criminals. Of course, that wasn't getting resolved any time soon either, thanks to the small hiccup that he couldn't really confront his Aunt, given that he flat out didn't know how to. He felt like a total jerk when he raised his voice at Lumi, even though she deserved it, butAunt Ruby was a whole other beast. This was the woman who had helped his moms change his and the twins diapers and made them homemade cookies whenever they'd visited, he didn't think he could ever be stern with her even if it turned out she was the queen of the Grimm or something else as cartoonishly evil. There was also the fact that she was second only to the Headmistress herself in terms of authority at Beacon, and as far as his understanding went, that basically meant she was quite literally above the law and there was nothing he could do about it, save for calling Mommy and Grandpa to try and guilt trip her into stopping. He was sure she had good reasons and that she'd be willing to share those reasons if asked once he finally worked up the courage to do so. After all, he was pretty sure she had plenty of other things to worry about, such as chasing the cult they had found, organizing the transfer and boarding of students to Vacuo for the Vytal festival, or putting out whatever fires inevitably popped up from working with criminals.
So, needless to say, there was a lot going on, but now that things had calmed down somewhat, he was determined to spend more time with his friends, both new and old. Today, that opportunity had practically come gift wrapped to him when Lao texted him asking to meet up. It had been actual years since they'd last had a chance to get together like this, three years if he remembered right. Either way, it had been so long that Jin had forgotten that his friend was, in fact, very pretty, the hair definitely making the biggest difference, since it had been about the same length as Jet's the last time they'd seen each other. Overall, it was a small change in the grand scheme of things, but it just added to the boy's androgyny. He imagined that he just needed a break, after all, things had been very uncomfortable with his team as of late ever since Belka's blow up at lunch, Liz and Belka were arguing even more than usual, and from what Lumi had told him they were mostly avoiding each other for the most part beyond that. Goose wasn't much better, just glumly going through the motions, still upset over Belka's harsh words. He had tried to help, along with Lumi, Scarlet, and even Jet, but she insisted she was fine, even as she lay wrapped in her bedsheets, gingerly holding a little Beowolf plushie. That sort of environment couldn't be good for the boy, so Jin took off as soon as he got the text asking to meet up in the gym. Finally getting to his destination, he found the facility mostly empty, and, making his way around the equipment, the young Faunus made his way to one of the boxing rings near the middle of the room, only to see Lao sitting in the middle of one of them, his legs crossed and his hands on his thighs as he meditated. Climbing over the ropes, he watched the copper haired boy for a moment. He looked as tif he was a statue, and if it wasn't for his high level of hearing, Jin would have assumed he wasn't even breathing. As he got closer, Lao finally opened his eyes, looking up at his old friend with a nod.
"Jin, thanks for meeting with me." Getting to his feet, Lao dusted off his pants. The mat was dirtier than he would have liked, but he wouldn't kick up a fuss over it, after all, it was noticeably cleaner than the others. He approached the taller boy and was suddenly pulled off of his feet into a tight hug.
"Not a problem man, it's been way too long since we've hung out, what did you have in mind?" Unaware that he was crushing his friend, Jin held on tight, both of them suddenly more aware of the disparity between their heights, Jin being well over a foot taller than the man currently in the vice that was his arms. Setting his friend down, Jin watched as he stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance. Clearing his throat and pretending he hadn't just been picked up like a small child, Lao took a few steps back to give himself some space.
"I'm… afraid I wasn't entirely honest with you as to why I wanted to meet. I need to clear my head." Jin tilted his head, not sure what he had meant by that, considering he didn't really know what the smaller boy had in mind in the first place, since the text sent just asked him to meet up. Then it clicked for Jin, they were alone and in the middle of a boxing ring. Now he understood, Lao wanted to spar.
"Oooh, you should have just said so, are you still practicing your Aura-Fu?" Jin asked excitedly, Lao watching with amusement as the blond started to stretch. He knew he could count on Jin, they had made it a sort of competition when they were younger to try and see who was the better martial artist, a light hearted one of course, but it always helped him release the pent up tension from keeping himself in check.
"It's called Qi Gong, but yes." After the gentle reminder, the pair stepped away from each other until they were in opposite corners, each taking their respective stances before deciding to get started. Lao was the more cautious of them, and he knew Jin's size advantage was going to be a problem, but so long as he was smart and remained observant, there was a chance he could play it to his advantage, even if it would be harder than trying to fight around a Grimm's size.
"So, how're you feeling about the other day?" Jin asked casually, lifting his leg to avoid a low kick from Lao that would have knocked his foot right out from under him. However, he then used his raised knee as a platform, kicking off and landing a rising kick right to the taller boy's chin. Having forgotten how hard his old friend could hit, he was dazed for a moment, but recovered in time to redirect an open palm strike intended for his chest off to the side. He could feel the air pressure give way as his Aura traveled out of the strike, getting hit by the blow itself was bad enough, but the added impact of his Aura would be like getting hit by a car, making a point to avoid even blocking in this fight. With Lao still in a negative position, he sidestepped the smaller boy and aimed a fading roundhouse kick for his chest with his back leg, using the residual momentum from his repositioning to his advantage. While the ginger managed to block the strike in time, he was sent sliding back from the impact.
"I stood by and did nothing while my team got into a fight once again." Lao said flatly, attempting to clear his mind of the issue and focusing on Jin as he once more went ro close the distance. Jin was used to fighting smaller opponents, so he kept his stancelow to the ground, and made sure he was keeping enough distance to take advantage of his longer reach. Lao, on the other hand, knew he couldn't count on his opponent whiffing strikes, the Faunus was simply too well trained for that. Realizing he had no choice but to try and force the fight to go his way, the smaller of them moved in, aiming a jab at Jin's ribs, only for his strike to once again get redirected, but in doing so, he left himself open and Lao jumped up, landing a second kick to his jaw. To his surprise, Jin powered through this blow and, despite him being in the air, the larger boy had no problem pulling his arm back and sending him crashing into the floor with an overhead strike. Right, he should have figured that he'd adapt to that kind of attack, he had already figured out how to handle his Aura strikes, redirecting rather than fully blocking.
"That wasn't on you, we all just kinda froze up. I knew they didn't like each other very much, but that was rough." Despite his kind and supportive words, Jin was currently taking a very aggressive approach, striking constantly with a mixture of punches and kicks that kept the smaller boy on the move. His words also made it increasingly hard to focus on the fight itself, just being reminded of the very thing he was trying to suppress. While he knew that this wasn't his larger friend's intention, he couldn't help but let the guilt and frustration leak out as he moved in, letting a punch bounce off of his temple as he threw a haymaker that lacked his usual precise form. Seeing the obvious wind up, Jin anticipated and subsequently flipped over the strike, before bringing his feet down one after the other, a pair of axe kicks hitting squarely on the top of Lao's head before landing in a kneeling position. Keeping up the offensive, Jin then sprang upwards into a rising uppercut with his whole body behind it, knocking Lao off his feet and sending him onto his back. Then… nothing, he just lay there, panting. The Faunus took a step closer in confusion, he knew that wouldn't be enough to deplete his Aura, and, looking down at his friend, he saw that Lao's typically pink eyes had shifted into a dark red as he stared up at the ceiling. He dropped his form after that, instead sitting down next to him, their fight having clearly done more harm than good if it had gotten him that worked up. They lay together in silence after that, Jin letting him breathe and calm down as he slowly but surely got his anger under control, the pent up emotion still simmering beneath the surface, but now at a manageable rate.
"I should be doing better, I'm having trouble even controlling my own emotions… I don't know how to help them with theirs. No matter what I do, it seems like I'm just making things worse." Lao said as he sat up. He'd been prepared for a lot of things to go wrong with himself, but his team, on the other hand, was something he just couldn't have seen coming.
"Well, yeah, but you're like, compartmentalizing." Lao raised an eyebrow, he didn't know what the exact term's meaning was, but he was fairly confident it wasn't that, he just managed them as best he could. Shrinking under Lao's slightly judgmental gaze, Jin shrugged. "I dunno, I think that's what Mama said it was. Look, the point is, you're treating your emotions like they're a bad thing."
Lao didn't have an answer to that, because in his eyes, they were. No one got hurt when he kept his emotions in check, he didn't lose control, or shut down, and end up getting others into trouble. Sure, it wasn't normal for a teenaged boy to be so calm, but this way he could be around his friends, he could be a Huntsman like his parents, he could have a life where he wasn't constantly worrying.
"You know why I do this, Jin." The firm reminder caused the young Faunus to sigh, he wanted to say that he knew where his friend was coming from, but the simple fact of the matter was that he didn't. He could try to understand, but that was it.
"Yeah… and I don't blame you, I'm just saying that emotions aren't all bad." Lao broke eye contact, looking down at his feet as Jin continued to speak. "Like how you're feeling about the girls, that's empathy, are you gonna say you think that worrying about your teammates is bad?"
Lao sighed in defeat, he couldn't have argued with that, even if he wanted too. Despite their difficulties, he liked the girls, and he had honestly been a bit worried that they'd treat him differently given that he was the only boy on their team, but they were all welcoming towards him. In fact, Elizabeth was the only one who seemed to have any issues with him whatsoever, but even so, it wasn't like she went out of her way to be rude to him. To each other though? That was the real problem, he and Goose had been enduring the perpetual fighting between Belka and Elizabeth from just about day one, and whenever they tried to help, their anger at each other was just redirected at them instead.
"No, but what if I get overwhelmed?" Seeing the smaller boy's worry, he smiled and patted the Mistralian boy on the back reassuringly.
"That's when you do the monk thing." he said, getting to his feet and holding out his hand to help the other boy up in turn. "Just… try not to be so afraid of feeling things, at least try and open up to the girls, okay?"
Lao tilted his head, he thought he was being open to the girls, he hadn't lied to them, or ignored them, he was always around for them to talk to if they wanted, and they knew that. But then, Elizabeth's tirade about him acting like a robot replayed in his head. Maybe they didn't know, maybe he had been more closed off than he had thought. Was he supposed to just say it? That was probably the best option currently, maybe it would even help if they had someone to talk to besides each other? Alright, he had a plan then. Accepting his friend's hand, Lao was effortlessly pulled to his feet as he nodded.
"I'll try, thank you Jin."
Sniffles escaped Lavender as she sat against the wall, her face buried into her knees as she cried harder than she had in a long time. She had wandered around town for the last couple of days, just trying to get her mind off of what Romeo had done, how he'd stabbed her in the back and showed no trust in her. That proved harder said than done, even when Melodias had offered her his couch to sleep on, she ended up repaying him by ranting for hours about what an asshole her brother was. It wasn't like she didn't try to get her mind off things, in fact, she'd tried just about everything, she'd prayed, tried to redirect her anger at Moon, Scarlet, and even herself for not seeing it sooner, and she obviously couldn't paint with her supplies being back where she was staying with Romeo. She'd even lashed out at a pair of guys who had decided to catcall her, beating them black and blue, her knuckles were still a light shade of purple from that. Well, it served them right, maybe next time they'd think twice before commenting on a lady's figure in such a crass way. While that had helped her for the moment, the adrenaline faded and she was left alone with her thoughts again. She could only bury her feelings so much though, and eventually, she broke down, sitting in a filthy alleyway and bawling her eyes out as the dam broke. Suddenly, her scroll started to ring. Pulling the small object from her pocket, she froze when she saw the name on it pop up. Henna was calling her, and, after ignoring her calls and texts for the last two weeks, Lavender wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to compose herself for the scolding she was no doubt in store for as she tapped the screen to accept the video call.
"H-Henna?" The woman on screen was clearly unimpressed with the girl, her scowl actually making Lavender wince. Henna had always been more than a little scary when she was angry, Lavender just wasn't used to her anger being directed her way.
"Lavender, I assume you've had time to-" after a moment, it registered to the viper Faunus just how raw Lavender's voice was, her anger fading for the moment as her protective instincts took over. "Are you crying? Lav, what's wrong?"
"Me and Romeo got into a fight… He bugged my Scroll, Henna! He's treating me like I'm so stupid, like I'm going to get myself hurt if he's not watching my every move!" There was more to it of course, but even as angry as she was, the thought of telling Henna about him feeding information to Beacon never once crossed her mind. She knew how Henna would react, and a fight between them was the last thing she needed. She wanted her family to be whole again, not to find a new reason to tear it apart. So she left out that detail, choosing to let Henna think it was just a standard family dispute.
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry." As much as she wanted to chastise Lavender for her actions at Vermillion Port and her generally disrespectful behavior towards Moon, that talk could wait, her sister needed comfort right now.
"I just… I thought that things would be better, this is exactly how it started with Neo! Every time I got mad, she'd act like I was going to hurt someone, I'm sick of it!" Lavender remembered those days all too well, by that point, she was old enough to realize that Neo was playing favorites. She tried to justify it by saying that Romeo needed more teaching, given that he was going to take over the family business one day after all, but she knew better. The mental gymnastics that woman went through to try and pretend it was anything else but clear favoritism would have made a sane person's head spin. So naturally, Lavender did whatever it took to get Neo's attention, she would stay out until the early morning, and when she realized Neo had never even noticed she was missing, she turned to shoplifting, despite them having more money than they knew what to do with. Then she turned to picking fights, an ironic choice considering the impulsive decision would lead her to discovering that she was a natural at it. That was also what finally got her Mother's attention, just not in the way she'd hoped. If anything, Neo looked at her like she was dangerous after that, and when Lavender raised her voice, she noticed her mother tense up like she was prepared to avoid an attack. It made her feel alone and unwanted, a feeling that was creeping back.
"Do you think that maybe you should come back to Vacuo? If things aren't working out for you in Vale, some time away to cool down could do you both some good." Henna suggested had to pick her words carefully, after all, this likely wasn't a private conversation. If Romeo had been listening in on their old conversations, there was a good chance that he was listening in on this one, or would be in the near future.
"No, I have to try, otherwise I'm no better than Moon or Neo. I just… don't know what to do." Being prepared for this response, Henna paused and considered her options. Okay then, what if they took the opposite approach?
"Maybe it's time we brought him in." The question seemed to shock Lavender, but Henna didn't quite know why. After all, Lavender had asked her to be the one to talk to him before, so what better way to do so then to teach him, to offer an olive branch that someone like the pathetic imp they called a mother never would.
"Huh? But I haven't even talked to him about it..."
"He's the one who was wrong in this situation. If anything, he owes it to you to give this a chance." The statement wasn't just directed at Lavender this time, knowing that there was a good chance he was listening in as they spoke, so she laid out the facts as she saw them; Lavender had tried being nice about it, now she would have to give the boy a reality check. "Best case scenario, we convince him to convert, at worst, he'll at least have a better understanding of where you're coming from."
"But what if he says no?" That question had been eating away at Lavender ever since she left. What if this just wasn't something that her brother could accept? What if he tried to make her choose, like Moon did?
"If he's not willing to put in the effort, then that says everything you need to know about him, doesn't it?" In Henna's mind, there was no room for discussion. She had taken care of Lavender, sheltered and trained her over the last several years, not him, she had far more of a right to be considered a sibling to her than a boy who let his own sister be mistreated and neglected.
"I… I guess so. I'll talk to him about it." For Lavender, the turmoil of the situation was tearing her apart. She'd just gotten her brother back, and despite his actions, she could tell that he obviously cared about her. As messed up and unacceptable as it was, deep down she knew it was out of a place of concern, of love even.
"Call me after you've talked to him. Stay strong Lavender, no matter how he responds." Hanging up the call, Lavender pressed her face back into her knees. She had to convince Romeo to come, to just give it a try, she had to convince him it would be worth it. It was up to her, she had to stop her new family from falling apart before it had truly been able to form.
Belka let her head rest under the showerhead as the warm water rushed down her body, rinsing away the mixture of sweat, soap, and suds that clung to her after she scrubbed herself down. If she was being honest with herself, the shower had gone on far longer than necessary. It wasn't that she was a neat freak, no more than the usual person was anyway, she just absolutely wasn't going to walk around campus smelling of sweat and dust residue, but that had stopped being a possibility almost an hour ago. The reality of the situation was that she was just delaying going back to her dorm for as long as she could, she just wasn't in the mood for another argument, or worse, seeing Goose. On one hand, she really did regret snapping at her partner the way she did, but on the other hand, she was also a grown woman, she had no reason to be so upset over getting yelled at once. Then again, she had a suspicion that the girl hadn't been yelled at or even seriously punished before. At the same time though, it irritated her that she had overreacted so strongly, she hadn't shut down after being called an affair baby or after her own nieces had made it clear that she wasn't wanted, but she broke down and wanted to act like a kicked puppy over a few harsh words? It just frustrated her more and more, which made her more likely to snap at Elizabeth for her clever little comments in a spiral of angst and anger that would have probably attracted an entire horde of Grimm if they weren't away from the safety of civilization. She didn't want it to be this way, but what else was she to do? Just sit there and take the abuse being hurled at her from all sides?
"Howdy.'' Speaking of abuse, Alaska snickered as Belka's head snapped around to face her, the taller girl's breath on the back of her neck alerting her to her bully's sudden appearance. The smaller girl backed into the wall, looking around for a way out of the situation, only to find Aethelflad standing off to the side by the entrance to the shower cubicle, leaving her no room to escape. They'd cornered her when she was at her most vulnerable, she had given them too much credit it seems, she hadn't expected them to stoop this low.
"W-what're you doing here?" Even while doing her best to keep up her angry and defiant attitude, she couldn't fully hide her fear. Stuttering in the face of the larger and, as she could now visibly verify, much better built girl. She clearly noticed, her smirk growing even wider as she acted casual about the situation.
"Showering, duh. I ended up working up a sweat in practice. Though, I can't quite figure out why you've just been standing about. I seen you today, you ain't do squat to need to be showerin' for this long." Belka did what she could to ignore the obvious attempt to get under her skin, crossing her arms and defiantly glaring at the nude hillbilly. Alaska raised an azure eyebrow at that, silently asking if that was really how she wanted to try and play this.
"Maybe she's just moping over the fight she caused." Aethelflad added in, unknowingly striking at the heart of it. Had it been Scarlet, Juliet, or even Lumi or Elizabeth, if they had been genuine, she might have opened up to them, admitted what was bothering her. But the smug, condescending tone Aethelflad spoke with caused her anger to spike up once more, overtaking any fear of repercussions as she snapped back at her.
"Should a brazen floozy such as yourself really be trying to bring up my team's drama? Look at yourself before worrying about anyone else." There was no witty response from either of the girls, not that Belka would have expected a sharp tongue from the brute of a woman before her, but the fact that she was further vindicated in her superior wit to Aethelflad didn't last very long as Alaska stepped forward, and with a single arm, shoved her right into the tile wall, the back of her head hitting it hard enough to break several tiles, shards of shattered ceramic falling with Belka as she collapsed to her hands and knees in a daze, her Aura activating to heal the wound forming on the back of her skull. In her daze, she couldn't make out who was speaking out of the two, but it didn't matter much as soon she found herself being lifted up by her arms, recovering just in time to be met face to face with Alaska, who immediately reached out and grabbed her chin tightly, forcing the smaller girl to look her in the eyes, meaning it was the redhead currently twisting her arms to keep her still.
"Naw, that uppity act you pull might work with your little rich girl family, but you're gonna wipe that stupid look off your face when you talk to me."
"Screw you!" She struggled as hard as she could to break free, but she only really managed to get Alaska's hand off of her chin, and if anything, just made Aethelflad hold her tighter. "What the hell is your problem with me anyway!? That I pointed out that you were doing something shitty?"
"You know, I could say a lot of things I don't like about you. You're annoying, soft, one of them… whatcha call 'em, Aeth?" Ignoring her plaything's question, Alaska looked over to Aethel for a reminder for the term she had used before, it was one of them fancy words that meant rich people. Back home, she would have just called her a snobby city girl and been done with it, but her teammates were encouraging her to try and expand her vocabulary.
"Blue bloods." The woman behind Belka said lazily, resting her chin in the crook of her neck in a way that had it digging into her soft skin. Trying to squirm free only made it worse as Aethelflad tightened her already painfully uncomfortable grip on her.
"Yeah, them.'' The Vacuan said as she looked her victim up and down, her intense gaze was made all the more uncomfortable by the fact that they were both in their birthday suits. It also had the side effect of making herself extremely aware of just how much skin contact Aethelflad was making, and how her other hand lingered along her hips. "But I gotta admit, you ain't bad on the eyes. Guess you gotta be good for somethin' since you can't fight worth a damn 'n all."
"Wh-what're you looking at!?" Belka asked, fear once again cutting through her anger as goosebumps formed on her skin under the bluenette's gaze as she eyed her body up and down. Her gaze wasn't the same predatory look she'd seen when Alaska was sizing her up for one of her 'pranks' or a sucker punch, it was far more intense, and while it could have just been the heat of the shower, she could clearly see Alaska's skin grow more flushed as she looked up and down her figure.
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"Oh hush honey, it ain't nothin we' haven't seen before. We're all girls here, ain't we?" As if on cue, Aethelflad chose that exact moment to reach down and pinch her rump, making her stomach churn.
"Ah!" At Belka's yelp, Alaska's eyes went over to her teammate, twin sapphires narrowing as she gave Aethelflad a warning glare, to which the redhead reluctantly nodded to and focused on keeping their victim's arms bound. The bluenette let out a huff, she'd already told the girl that they weren't going to get handsy like that, just scare her a bit… even if she did want to reach out herself, it was just too far for her. If things were different and the city slicker wasn't insufferable to be around, she'd have taken her shot months ago, but it just wasn't in the cards.
"Sorry, not my fault." Aethelflad lied, not even bothering to actually sound apologetic over the mild groping. She knew she was going to get an earful about it later, but for now, she was just focused on her fun. "It's like you said, her body's like, the only thing she has going for her."
"True, I bet all the boys back at home liked the view as well." Belka wasn't sure what to be more offended at, being ogled by these degenerates like a piece of meat, the insinuation that her body was her only redeeming quality, or that she was some loose tramp back home, though her anger eventually settled on the latter option, especially considering the reputation of the woman behind her. Hell, even the woman in front of her was a bit loose as well if the school rumor mill was even remotely accurate.
"Screw you, unlike that whore, I've ne-ack!" She was once again cut off, this time by the Vacuan's fist slamming into her gut, making her cough and wheeze. While she did manage to avoid hurling her lunch onto the shower floor, it was a close call.
"Now, now, you know how I feel about that word." Alaska chided, grabbing Belka by the chin once more and lifting her to get a good look. Taking a moment to reflect on what she said, curiosity got the better of she actually a virgin? It would match up with her holier than thou attitude and the massive stick up her ass, but still, she was a bit surprised, she thought those Atlas types were all supposed to be degenerates who threw any values they pretended to have out the window behind their stupid big, stupid expensive doors. "You ain't never been touched?"
"I'll have you know that unlike some people, I've never even kissed a boy on the lips." To her utter disgust, the two girls had the audacity to laugh at that, as if throwing themselves at boys whose names they probably didn't remember was something to be proud of. "What? Surprised that not everyone follows the first cute boy who gives them the time of day into bed?"
In a moment, Alaska's smirk was wiped off of her face and an angry expression quickly replaced it. She considered knocking out a few of the girl's teeth for that comment, but then, she got a better idea. Belka was gonna act like she was better than her and Aeth because she was a virgin and they weren't? Like it was so wrong for grown women to want to explore themselves and have some fun now that they were adults? Well, she wondered how she'd feel becoming a little less pure herself.
"Ain't never even kissed anyone, huh?" She asked as she grabbed a cruel amount of hair, holding on tightly as she forced Belka into the proper position for what she wanted to do, much to her confusion and worry.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
"A favor. Loyal overheard you talking about some boy toy who's been getting you all fuzzy inside." Her heart skipped a beat, they knew about Sherbet!? How? Why? Okay, okay, she had to stay calm. She was a brute, but as much as she didn't want to give SLVR's leader any kind of credit, the woman wasn't stupid, she had to know that trying anything like what she feared was a guaranteed jail sentence, so they weren't going to do what she was thinking, right? "It would be a shame if you gave him a bad first kiss, huh?"
Dread set in as Belka realized what she was intending to do, but before she could even try to escape, Alaska dove in, pressing her lips against her own. The texture was bumpy and rough, presumably from the bluenette chewing her lips so much. The kiss itself was rough and messy, and when she gasped, their teeth collided, gnashing together as she fought against the unwanted advance, but her grip was just too strong. In fact, the Vacuan took full advantage of her digits being entangled in her hair, forcing her deeper into the kiss as well as pulling at the roots, causing her to cry out in agony from the rough treatment, her yelps of pain being swallowed by the cowgirl as she teasingly slid her tongue along her lower lip. She tried to jerk back but found herself sandwiched fully between her attackers, wet skin rubbing together in a tangle of limbs. It wasn't just the sensations that filled her with disgust, the girl's taste was foul, and while she didn't go as far as to force her tongue into her mouth, likely because she knew that she'd bite down on it at the first opportunity, rather than that being the line she had drawn for assaulting her fellow student. She gagged as the taste of tobacco hit her, similar to the smell she was familiar with from her father's cigars, but leagues more pungent. She suspected it was from chewing tobacco, which just made sense considering how much of a walking stereotype Alaska was in every other area. As she started to realize that she couldn't breathe from how long the kiss had gone on, she found herself being dropped to the floor, not even realizing that she had gone limp before that moment. The two girls stood over her and started to laugh as she spat onto the floor and dry heaved.
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"Wow, did you spit in her mouth, or is this just her reaction to tonsil hockey?" Aethel asked her leader just a bit judgmentally, she didn't really get why she couldn't let her hands wander a bit around her body, yet 'Laska got to make out with her. The bluenette scoffed and rolled her eyes, seeing the reaction as overdramatic, if she had known she'd react this strongly, she would have just punched her in the mouth. Ah well, too late now.
"Oh, get over yourself, I didn't even use any tongue." Alaska said, using her foot to push Belka onto her back, the girl covering herself in shame, suddenly far more worried about their gazes on her. "It ain't like your little crush is gonna go anywhere, only way they could stand you is if you use your mouth for something other than talking."
"You don't know anything about me." Belka choked out, trying and failing not to show weakness as Alaska knelt down, a look of disdain clear on her face.
"Your own family doesn't even want you around, that tells me more than enough." Somehow, out of all the things that had just happened, that was her breaking point, as rather than fighting back, she started to bawl on the floor, curling in on herself. The two other girls just looked at each other. Well that certainly killed the mood, this was just pathetic, there was no way to make this fun when she was just giving up. Aethel shot her leader a frown, of course she'd broken the girl already, she never did know how to show restraint. The cowgirl in return just rolled her eyes and walked out, the redhead following soon after, leaving Belka alone on the floor. They were never going to stop, were they? They were going to torment her for as long as they could… at least, unless she did something about it. Alaska wanted her to fight back? Oh she'd get a fight, but it sure as hell wasn't going to be on her terms. Getting back on her feet, Belka stumbled out of the showers, she had some planning to do, she needed to finally put an end to SLVR's torment.