"Is there something on my face?" Ren asked.
I scratched my cheek. "No, I was just thinking that you look pretty human-like."
Nora gasped from beside him. "You can't say that to him!"
"It's fine." He smiled indulgently at me. "If you're looking for my Grimm traits, you won't find them easily."
He wasn't implying what I think he was, right?
"He's not implying whatever you're thinking," Weiss said cooly, tone even and seeming uninterested in the whole conversation. She pulled her empty tray closer to her stomach, doing the same to Ruby who decided to try and tiptoe past the guy waiting in front of her. Ruby, for her part, managed to look guilty, muttering a sheepish apology to her partner. Flipping around, Weiss simply shook her head. "You're lucky he didn't notice you playing around. Remember what happened last time you tried something like that?"
Ruby jutted her bottom lip out. "I said it's my bad."
"That's right, it's your fault. I don't care much for trying to clean someone else's intestines and bodily fluids out of my clothes again." She spared a glance in my direction. "Especially when it's not mine to begin with."
The chatter of the other students around us and their light-hearted conversation failed to mask the subject matter. They were discussing a murder like it was the weather, and somehow that failed to surprise me that much. I also wasn't that surprised when Ruby began tugging on my sleeve, clearly trying to get me to convince Weiss to drop it. She looked at me, I looked at her, and then I sighed, mentally apologizing for what I had to do.
"Ren, show me your parts."
Nora appeared as though she was going to pass out while Ren merely chuckled. "I'm afraid that would require removing almost all of my clothes, and I'm not sure we're quite at that level of intimacy. No offense."
"None taken, but I was under the impression that us creations"–the word felt wrong rolling off my tongue–"didn't care about wearing them or not."
He shrugged his shoulders. "It depends on the individual, mostly. I don't particularly mind one way or the other, but Nora is a stickler for this kind of thing."
Nora nodded her head enthusiastically. "Can't let any of the hussies around here sink their claws into Renny here. He's too sweet and innocent and that package of his is for my eyes only."
A few of the supposed 'hussies' rolled their demonic eyes, a strange correlation to how people had gotten used to Nora's over-the-top antics in Beacon as well. Ruby pressed up against my side, her horn rubbing on the sleeve of my dark undershirt. I had to repress a shudder while she spoke to me. "When she says package, she just means his Grimm parts. She doesn't actually mean, you know, his junk."
I moved a pace backward and ran a hand down my face. "Thanks for the clarification."
Her response was a sweet smile that almost made me feel like I was back in the past chatting with her about whatever inane things crossed my mind. Unfortunately, the crimson eyes and tar-colored veins creeping down her neck shattered such an illusion. Kind or not, this wasn't the Ruby that had been my best friend.
"Next," the lady behind the serving counter called. Since Weiss was first in line, she placed down her tray before the lady who looked more like a Grimm than anyone I had seen yet. She had a snout ending in the rhinarium and displayed a row of large, dagger-like teeth every time she smiled. At least, I hoped she was regarding us with a smile and not appraising us for a meal.
A miasma of rot hung around the steel counter that no one else reacted to. Regardless of the smell, nothing appeared appetizing, and the lack of steam rising past the glass held above it by intersecting poles on each side of the counter had me believing these hybrids didn't eat cooked food. That was another problem in and of itself as my stomach growled in protest of anything edible.
The lady flashed her terrifying smile again. "Don't worry, dearie. I'll fill your tray up as much as I can."
I chuckled lightly. "Thanks…"
Of the four metal trays, she chose to start from the one furthest to the left. Dipping the ladle into a thick concoction that could vaguely be considered soup, or perhaps a curry, she plopped it into the center of my tray. Without care for reasonable culinary practices, she then proceeded to dip the same ladle into each container and place them atop one another. At the end of it, I had a tray full of meat chunks and bones floating in a viscous liquid and covered in something that had to be blood; it was a little difficult to tell entirely with how it all mixed together into a haunting vortex of a meal.
A muscle twitched in my face as I followed Weiss to a table in the back corner of the cafeteria. I kept the tray an arms-length away to keep my potential to gag to a minimum. When we settled at a table, I found myself nestled between Ruby and Weiss, with Nora and Ren on the bench directly across us. While I had no overt complaints about the arrangement, I could have done without seeing Nora tear into her food like a demon-possessed. Blood coated her lips, a trail of saliva hanging connecting the tray to her bottom lip. The worst part was when a few chunks of flesh hit the center of the table with a sickening thunk.
I had to entertain myself by observing the cafeteria to avoid taking in any more of that unpleasant sight. However, there wasn't much that really managed to capture my attention. It was a rectangular room atop a cement floor, marred by the occasional crack and the beginnings of an array of holes to denote its age. The walls were coated in white plaster, giving the whole thing kind of a tacky presence. Tapestries and portraits covering them hardly eased this idea either, although I had to wager that Tyrian had a hand in that more than that monster herself. Over us, and in each of the cardinal directions, hung a banner that proudly displayed the crest of Salem Academy.
I turned back with a sigh upon feeling Weiss tap me on the shoulder. "Are you not going to eat that?"
Doing my best to ignore how her hot breath smelled like death, I pushed the tray toward her. "You can have it."
She obliged without fuss, and she seemed to have a much bigger appetite than the finicky meals the actual Weiss partook in. Thankfully, she, along with the others, were much more gracious eaters in comparison to Nora. They quietly snapped open the yellowing bones and sucked out the marrow without show. It still didn't sit quite right with me, but at least it was bearable enough. Ruby must have noticed my refusal to eat and made a subtle sound of remembrance. Her bony fingers dug into my shoulder, and her chest pressed into my forearm as she whispered into my ear. "I'll try and figure out where to find something you can eat later, so try and hang on for just a bit longer."
On the other side, I felt Weiss copying her motion, and placed her head into the crook of my neck. She was also whispering something, but it must have been gibberish because I didn't understand a single syllable. What I did understand was that two of my friends had become extremely touch-starved when they turned into Grimm. Ruby, I could understand, but Weiss wouldn't have been caught dead partaking in such a bold display of affection.
Well, I guess given the circumstances, that wasn't true.
I squirmed out of their weak holds, which grabbed Nora's attention. "Are you sure the three of you aren't trying to jump each other?"
Ruby stammered out a defense, and Weiss pressed her lips into a thin, white line. For my part, I looked at both of the girls and then stared hard at Ruby to try and gauge what an appropriate answer would be. There was no help to be had there. The woman was too busy, lost in her own world, and talking about buying her dinner first or something.
With a stroke of luck, Weiss decided to be the one to deflect the question. "Like you have time to be worrying about us. What about you and Ren?"
Suddenly, the tables were turned and Nora became an incoherent blubbering mess on how they were together, but not together-together. Ren gave the heiress one of the dirtiest glares I had ever seen from him, and she could only shrug her shoulders. A few grumbled complaints later, and the poor Grimm-hybrid was forced to try and pry off his childhood friend. Not an easy task. My many iterations of bruised ribs throughout our adventures together could attest to that fact.
"Thank you, Weiss," I whispered, hoping to not upset Ren any further.
She waved me off. "Think nothing of it. It is nobody else's concern whatever your intentions may be. Whether that's rubbing your hands all over me, or those lecherous stares of yours, or how you hide my body away from other males with your sweatshirt. Not to mention–"
"Alright, I think I got the picture." My cheeks were warm, and I couldn't bring it in myself to rebuke any of her claims. They weren't exactly the truth but explaining everything to her might only make it all more awkward with her unique means of phrasing events. "What do we have planned after this, anyway?"
"Today's a rather light schedule, so we only have to attend political science class with Professor Fall, and then we can retire back to our rooms for the day."
"Great," I replied, unable to hide the disdain in my voice.
Cinder had been cunning in life, and I doubted her rebirth dulled that particular trait of hers. The best I could hope for was that this lecture would be much less violent than Tyrian's and that I wouldn't manage to draw undue attention to myself this time. I had to do my best to play the perfect creation, and maybe this class would delve into some of Salem's motivation. After all, even false gods had to have determined some end goal to work toward.
Thanks for the great reception on my other fic! I had mentioned in that one, that I will be resuming this story again after some unfortunate personal problems forced me to place it on hiatus. As of now, I will be updating this story every Wednesday and Saturday. While it's not as long as I want it to be, I figured it was more important to get out a chapter today and increase the length going forward. Hope you enjoy, and I appreciate any follow, favorites, and/or reviews!
