There was a sense of tranquility and familiarity in the air as Verdo deeply inhaled the distinct smell of the sea. The gentle bobbing of his boat on the waves added to the peaceful atmosphere, allowing him to fully immerse himself in the salty air. With a swift motion, he flicked the salt from his badger ears, a habit he had acquired from years of sailing. As he turned his boat into the choppy waters of the sea surrounding the island of Fade, he felt a surge of excitement. Pulling his sail taut, he picked up speed, and his movements were swift and confident. Verdo was a seasoned sailor, and the way he effortlessly dodged the rocks showed it. A true veteran of the sea.
He was finally able to enjoy some time to himself, away from the constant chaos of changing smelly diapers and his mother nagging his ass. As he sailed around his island, the wind blew through his black and white hair, giving him a sense of freedom and escape. The cool air sent tingles up his spine, adding to the peacefulness of the moment.
There was a sense of contentment that he could simply enjoy the tranquil beauty of the island without any responsibilities or obligations weighing him down.
He loved the swaying of the sea, even after his semblance activated. The gentle rise and fall of the waves calmed him, easing the tension in his body. But it was not just the soothing motion of the ocean that drew him in; it was the untamed nature of the sea. The Grimm could not control its power, crashing against the rocks and cliffs in a futile attempt to conquer it.
He gazed up at the towering cliffs, blackened by years of sea spray, and knew that beyond them lay over fifty miles of open and endless green fields. Though small in size, barely bigger than a county state, it was a place of freedom. The small forest and never-ending fields offered a sense of liberation that was hard to find in the rest of the world. Despite the constant fog and icy rains that plagued the region, it was a place of warmth and comfort. He remembered staying inside with his family, huddled around a warm hearth, and sipping on gut-warming whiskey. He wondered if his mom was waking the kids up.
BOOM
Verdo took his hand off the rudder as the sky roared as thunder clouds gathered, painting the sky a dark, ominous gray. Despite the powerful boom, the seas remained eerily still. Suddenly, a woman's voice pierced through the silence, booming directly into his ear.
"VERDO WAKE UP!"
--
Ilene smirked at what she was seeing. The faunus, still half asleep, bolted out of his bed at her scream, like he'd been struck by lightning. She felt happy at her handywork as she watched him untangle himself from the blankets on the floor.
But she couldn't help it; she needed to wake him up. He finally pulled his head from the blanket and gave her a glare as she held his ear plug in her fingertips, putting it together that she had woken him from dream land. She could see the irritation in his green eyes.
"Morning, Get up if you want to eat breakfast. We got lessons in like two hours." With a flick, she tossed his ear piece back at him, and he groaned, clearly not happy with being woken up so early. But she knew it was necessary, and she wasn't going to be late because he wanted to sleep in.
His eyes followed her every move as she sauntered towards the bathroom in nothing but a simple tank top and a pair of bright blue pants. The way her hips swayed and her backside bounced on top of her toned, long legs. He couldn't help admiring the view before she smugly closed the door behind her.
The faunus knew he should have requested a single room. Now his senses were going to give him a nose full of female hormones every day.
Verdo groggily rubbed the sleep from his eyes and noticed that Charlie was already up, hastily pulling up his pants and bidding his partner a good morning as he put on his new Beacon uniform. Verdo offered him a lazy wave and a nod.
Looking around their new dorm room, their belongings were still scattered about in their bags. They hardly had any time after they had been assigned their rooms; they had all nearly passed out as soon as they hit their beds.
Though he could hardly be blamed since they had traveled at least twenty miles in that forest and then had to fight several giant grimm. They were likely still tired because both Ilene's and Charlie's beds were still unmade.
Sasha's bed, on the other hand, was perfectly made and empty. Though with his one unplugged ear, he could hear two heartbeats from inside the bathroom, so he could guess where she was.
Looking at the display of their belongings, Veridian knew they needed to organize and set up rules for their personal spaces. But that would have to wait till they had a free period or something because lessons started today. Which meant he had to get moving.
Verdo slowly reached up and pulled out his remaining earplugs, letting the morning world assault his ears. He could hear the entire freshman dorm; the majority of them were still sleeping, though some were up and about this early.
He stood up, cracked his spine with great satisfaction, and then inhaled deeply before he coughed. The smell of their sweaty bed sheets filled his nose, with a little lingering of the boarbatusk they had taken out just the day before. Despite getting one night's rest, they were all still exhausted and sore. And Verdo was feeling the effects of it tenfold, thanks to his enhanced sense of touch.
"Hmm..." Verdo stood with a heaving groan before he reached over to his bed and looked for his scroll, finding it under his pillow. His eyes were checking the time and scanning the information on his screen. The new interface. It showed his team's aura gauges along with his own and also displayed his title that he had received yesterday.
Veridian Agro
Team VICS
:LEADER:
He knew his dad was stoically ecstatic when he contacted him yesterday to tell him the good news. As the son of the great general, Verdo was expected to excel in his training and become a powerful huntsman. However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that perhaps Ozpin had made the wrong choice in appointing him as the leader. He even pulled him aside to question his decision.
--
(YESTERDAY)
Verdo stood in the midst of chaotic students, trying to process what was happening. He had been appointed as the leader of his team, a title he never thought he would hold. As Ms. G continued to give instructions to the students, Verdo couldn't help but feel overwhelmed yet also extremely unenthusiastic about his appointment.
The weight of the responsibility fell heavily on his shoulders, and he felt it was crushing him already without even doing a single thing as a leader.
He quickly scanned the crowd and spotted the headmaster walking offstage, engrossed in his scroll. With determination, Verdo slipped past Ms.GoodWitch's gaze and ran after the silver-haired huntsman, the only person who could possibly rectify this situation.
"Uh professor Can I talk to you?"
Verdo's voice was a little shaky as he called out to the headmaster, pleading for a minute of his time.
Ozpin, who had just finished his speech on leadership, turned to face Verdo with a wry smile. He was a little surprised that he had been able to get past Glynda. The badger approached the headmaster, his eyes reflecting his determination to speak with him. Despite the headmaster's busy schedule, Ozpin could always make time for his students.
"Ah, Mr. Agro," he said with a curious tone. Glynda continued to herd the students, informing them of their rooms and what to expect for the morning. "Is there something you need?"
He must need something urgently; if he sent him out, then he must have a good reason. He didn't really have much else that needed his immediate attention at the moment.
"Uh, yes, sir," Verdo said respectfully as he approached the headmaster. His father had always told him to listen to anything Ozpin said, and Verdo could see why. The man was wise beyond his years, despite appearing to be barely in his thirties. It was clear that he had been chosen as headmaster for a reason. As Verdo stood in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and admiration for the man.
"I was wondering if you could consider making any of the others my team leader." He asked bluntly as the headmaster regarded him with a perked brow. Yet the man's body gave no other sign of betraying his emotions.
"You think I made a mistake by choosing you as the leader?"
"Uhhh, more like I don't want to be a leader."
Verdo spoke with a hint of hesitation as he expressed his reluctance to be a team leader to the headmaster. The man before him still stood ramrod straight, not even flexing his hand upon his cane to show irritation; he just looked right at him as if he were trying to stare into his soul. It made Verdo very uncomfortable, like he was expecting a more profound answer than throwing the promotion you were given back in the face of the one who gave it to you.
"Not that I don't appreciate the consideration, sir." He quickly added, hoping to save some face, as the headmaster sipped his coffee, staring at him and judging him.
"You've been a leader for all of five minutes, and you believe you're not capable... just because you don't want to be?"
Ozpin asked curiously, while Verdo felt a little embarrassed that the headmaster had expressed his objection to his title so bluntly.
Verdo had been struggling to come up with a good reason for why he didn't want to take on the role of leader, but the truth was, he just didn't feel like he was cut out for the job. It seemed silly to bother the headmaster while he was likely busy, just to say that he didn't want to be a leader. But Verdo couldn't shake the feeling that he would be a terrible leader and would only make the entire team miserable just because he didn't want the responsibility.
"Sir, I just know I'm not going to be happy as a leader, and I know I'm not the guy for it. Can someone else be the leader, please?" He urged Ozpin to just take his word on the matter, but the man just sipped his coffee, betraying nothing from his actions. Not even if he was annoyed at being bothered for a trivial reason such as this.
"Five minutes is hardly an accurate time to gauge one's abilities." Ozpin said as he stepped closer to Verdo, placing his cane under his arm. "Although I've seen many interesting things happen in my time, I've seen men who've never picked up a rifle in their life take up arms and lead their village to battle against the grimm, only to lose their lives. I've seen a man propose to a woman he knew for five minutes, and she accepted, and their child is actually starting school this year."
Verdo was dumbfounded by the headmasters trailing off. Was he agreeing with him? Or trying to get him to reconsider?
"But your situation is more than a spur-of-the-moment choice. The rest of your team was considered to have good merits as leaders as well; I just felt that you were the more capable choice," Ozpin told him, nodding back to the audience where they stood, leaving Verdo a little apprehensive about what was coming next. He was likely going to tell him to try his hardest. But he really didn't want to be the leader of his own team. Even if someone else led them, they could keep the awesome name.
"I'll tell you what, young man." Ozpin stepped forward, gazing at him with those autumn eyes. "Give it a week, and if you still do not desire to be a leader, we will see if any of your other teammates have the merits of a leader. Does that sound fair?"
"I...suppose, sir," Verdo relented, thinking that the offer was better than nothing, before Ozpin bid him good luck on his lessons and then walked away, leaving Verdo to rejoin his team. He'd just have to last the week. Then he can pass the offer on to one of the others.
--
"Hey Verd," Charlie's voice snapped him from his memory as the large boy adjusted his tie, and he turned to him and asked his leader for his opinion on his school uniform.
"How does it look?"
Verdo could tell that his friend was nervous. And he knew why he was about to be the only fat guy in a school of supermodels. And so he gave him a once-over and stood up. The uniform looked good; at least it wasn't atlas white, and his eyes were blinded by those suits.
"Pretty good, "Verdo said, giving him an analyzing look before he patted his shoulders, helping the large boy dust off and look better. "You look pretty good. You'll have to beat the girls away with a stick."
Charlie knew his partner was trying to ease his nerves, but he was glad for his words all the same. Giving him a smile, Charlie went back to looking himself over.
"I didn't think they had one in my size; honestly, not many people are seven feet tall," Charlie said, having to duck himself down to just look in the mirror. at his uniform. making sure it was all still snug and tucked in. and didn't budge when he moved. He made sure to tighten his belt and extra loop just to make sure that didn't happen.
He was nervous. He wanted to make a good first impression on the first day. He was already nervous enough about being with the Ravens, third in command.
"Oh, come on, you have a dad, and some girls are into that." Verdo joked, and Charlie made a swipe for his head, but Verdo was already out of range, heading back toward his bed. And so he just went back to making sure his uniform was right.
Verdo pulled his own uniform from the bag and lied about what he saw; at least he did, like beacons dark brown with gold trim; it looked fancy. And he didn't want it to smell like his body odor or his swamp ass from just yesterday, so he needed a quick shower.
"Hey, are you girls done in there yet?!" He called from the other side of the bathroom door while there was a responsive and loud yell back, and the door between them had him wincing.
"Hold your tits, skunk boy!" Ilene shouted before Sasha gave a barely audible.
"She didn't mean that!"
"Yes, I did!"
"We'll be there in just a minute," Sasha assured him, and she began to argue with Ilene about her manners.
Verdo sighed at the door before he plopped down on his bed again. He knew what it was like to grow up with sisters and other people in the house. But these weren't siblings; these were young, fertile women, and his teenage body sure knew it. He would visit the communal showers, but he wasn't smelling everyone else's stink and mildew in the bathroom, so he decided to just wait.
It was a nice, quiet morning after all.
--
Ilene had already taken her shower earlier than everyone else. She was used to waking up early because she was always surrounded by bandits. It was necessary to be up early to secure the best food for breakfast. Raven frequently challenged her for the best cuts of bacon and sausage, but Ilene usually won unless she impressed her. However, Vernal was a different story. She always fought Ilene until one of them passed out.
Despite her usual routine, Ilene was tempted to go back to sleep because this wasn't a bandit camp; it was a school for privileged children playing huntsman. Water and breakfast were plentiful and not fought over in scraps or with a portable water heater. So, she indulged in a nice, long shower simply for the sheer pleasure of it.
She was finally able to take a full thirty-minute shower without any interruptions. No one yelled at her to hurry up or shoved their heads in, trying to take a peek at her naked body. It was heaven—hot and steamy heaven. And during her blissful washdown, she remembered she wasn't the only one who needed to get ready for class.
So she made sure she woke up the only other girl on her team first. She assumed Sasha would appreciate the privacy, given her shy nature and mechanical limbs. Her partner was appreciative, although she was hesitant about Ilene hanging around while she was in the shower. However, Ilene was still wet from her own shower and needed to dry off, so she was able to convince Sasha to make herself invisible to her mind if she was shy. With the shower running as if it were being used by a ghost just running down an invisible silhouette, she knew this was a step toward getting Sasha a little more comfortable around her. She even asked while Sasha bathed if she needed any help with her robotic limbs. Apparently, she had sprung for the waterproof models.
Sasha was quick and still made herself invisible to Ilene as she dried off. A towel moved in mid-air. She had to admire the girls concentration on multi-tasking. Now, both of them were freshly washed and dried, trying on their new uniforms after she had woken up her leader.
Ilene glared at her reflection in the mirror, dressed in a short plaid skirt, knee-high socks, and a tight white button-up shirt. She could easily see her bra peeking through the fabric, and she was glad the uniform came with a blazer.
"Jeez, what exactly do we gain by dressing like raunchy schoolgirls?" she muttered to herself. As a student at a combat school, she couldn't understand the appeal of this uniform. Sure, it was pretty, she guessed, but what good would it do in a battle? It didn't offer much protection from the elements, and her shoes pinched her feet worse than her combat boots. What if they were called to fight at a moment's notice? Would she have time to go to the locker room and change?
"So impractical. I'm sick of how some people treat being a huntress like a fashion statement," she whined, while Sasha admired herself in the same uniform.
"I kind of like it," Sasha said as she adjusted the pleated skirt of the uniform before looking at her legs. The metal was already poking through in some places, threatening to rip her stockings.
"I just can't wear the tights. My legs have too many parts for them to shred."
"I bet that looks pretty metal, though," Ilene said, considering the idea of metal legs peeking through shredded tights.
"There's not much point in socks, either," Sasha said, folding them aside. "I don't have any toes to protect." Before she slipped on her metal foot, which looked like a petite, shining silver boot, into her new uniform shoes, Ilene had to admit she looked a little cute. She caught Sasha's pale, porcelain skin flaring red in embarrassment.
"Can't you really control that mental ESP? Can you?" Ilene asked, causing the cyborg to pause and gather herself. She then proceeded to button up her blazer. "Hey, it's fine as long as you don't go poking around on purpose. Besides, it's better to be in my head than be out there with those two. The Lord only knows what they've been thinking about while we're in here together."
Charlie may be as shy as Sasha, but he was still a boy, and Ilene knew from experience what guys like Verdo thought masculinity was.
"They aren't THAT bad, Ilene." Sasha defended her leader and fellow teammate as she began applying some concealer for her scars. But her skin was so pale that no matter how much she tried to hide them, they would make her stand out.
"Why do you think that? Did you already..you know?"
Ilene waved a finger at her head, asking silently if her partner had already peeked into their teammate's minds. She tugged at her buttons, mentally lamenting that it may be a size too small for her bust. Already, the blouse was causing trouble, with her buttons straining to contain her curves.
"Just a proximity scan, really."
"Proximity scan?" Ilene queried.
Sasha picked up her sun hat and began to explain her abilities.
"You know how you can get a read on people by how they interact around you or others?" She asked as she adjusted her hat, trying to find a good angle for her face to show just a little.
"Yeah," Ilene knew what she was talking about. She often had to use that skill to assess fellow bandits who thought they were tough sh*t.
"Well, it's sort of like that, but a bit more direct. I can sense a person's emotional state or feelings by reading their brain waves."
"OH really? I wonder what they give off. It's probably just horniness driven by teenage desire, eh?" Ilene asked with a mischievous glint in her eye, knowing their leader was likely listening in on their conversation.
"Oh, I really shouldn't say without their permission."
Sasha's tone was serious and cautious as she spoke those words. She knew the weight of keeping someone's secrets and how important it was to respect their privacy. Ilene, who was aware of Sasha's determination to maintain confidentiality, was evident in her eyes; she wasn't going to budge on this.
Besides, Sasha knew that they were good-natured guys, but they each had their own unique qualities. Charlie was often nervous, but he had a good heart. Verdo tended to be more mischievous and not really care much about his thoughts, often drifting towards a certain heiress. However, she kept this to herself because she sensed no ill will towards her for her appearance. So she gave them the same courtesy in return.
"What about me?" Ilene asked, and her eyes sparkled mischievously as she expertly tied her tie and slipped on her blazer. With a smirk on her face, she confidently strode towards Sasha, who couldn't help but be intrigued by her friend's question. As she got closer, her proximity readings set Sasha's sensors off, causing her to tilt her head in curiosity.
"What proximity readings do I give off?"
Sasha's heart began to race as she watched Ilene approach her, her uneasiness growing with each step. She could feel her back pressing against the wall, leaving her with nowhere to escape. But as she looked into Ilene's eyes, she couldn't sense any malice or aggression. Instead, she saw a mischievous glint and a genuine sense of curiosity in Sasha's opinion of her.
"Well, you were hostile, a little irritated, and somewhat paranoid. It seemed like you knew someone was following you, and you were eager for a fight."
Sasha recalled the day before and all of the feelings she felt off of Ilene.
As Ilene smirked, she couldn't help but acknowledge that the statement about her was true. She had always been aware of her flaws and imperfections, but she never let them hold her back. In fact, she often fueled her resolve with those feelings and determination.
"But... you also have this cloak of loneliness hanging on your heart."
Ilene's glare was like ice, freezing Sasha to her own steel limbs. As they stood facing each other, Sasha desperately tried to block out the thoughts she could feel emanating from Ilene's piercing gaze. But it was no use, as Ilene's cold eyes seemed to project her thoughts directly into Sasha's.
'What else have you seen in my mind, Sasha?'
It was clear that Ilene was not pleased with the intrusion, and Sasha could only hope to find a way to appease her before things escalated further.
"Come on, we'd better let Skunk Boy take his shower," Ilene said before she could even answer the question or have any other thoughts pushed into her mind. Sasha felt the emotions radiating off her, feeling like she had just made things awkward between them. She thought that maybe she should have kept that last part to herself, but she couldn't find it in her to lie to Ilene.
--
"So, what's on the menu today?" Verdo asked as he and his team walked into the cafeteria. He had taken a quick shower, and they had all hurried through breakfast since his teammates had pushed him faster. As he entered the room, he felt everyone's voices grating against his ears in a screeching symphony as their excessive deodorant, perfumes, and body odors mixed with the smell of food and everything else, making him groan. But Sasha's voice gave him something to focus on other than all around him.
"It looks like we have Professor Port for our first class," Sasha said as she looked at her scroll, which contained their schedules. "Then we have Professor Oobleck for history, followed by math, and then a free period. After that, our schedules change depending on the day."
"Actually, I meant what's on our breakfast menu today?" Verdo said as they got into line. Sasha rolled her eyes while they got their food. and then made their way to their table. Charlie sat happily and began to devour his large pile of waffles and grits. The whole cafeteria seemed to be filled with eager students, yet none of their new friends seemed to be here. But it was hardly a big deal; he doubted he wanted to hear Weiss and Verdo going at it so early in the morning.
"VERDO!" Sasha shrieked, and Charlie looked at his leader to see him pouring an amber liquid into his coffee too, which he shrugged. as though it wasn't a problem.
"What are you doing?" the girl asked, and Charlie looked around to make sure that no one was watching. while Ilene had to admit he had balls.
"I didn't think school was that bad that you needed to get drunk this early." She quipped, and he just rolled his eyes as he blew on his now Fadish coffee.
"I'd need a hell of a lot more to get drunk, this is just to take off the edge," he explained before he sipped his Fadish coffee.
"Edge of what?"
"Your senses." Sasha said as though she read his mind "earlier when we got here your mind was feeling distressed."
Verdo nodded, and when he felt that his coffee was at a good temperature, he began sipping it gently.
"Oh, it can't be that bad, can it?" Ilene asked as she sucked upon an orange slice.
"Oh yeah?" Verdo looked at her curiously before he looked at the orange in her hand. "You think that orange slice is a little tangy with my senses? It's like a lemon, just slightly sweeter, not to mention you'd be smelling everyone's body odor, the dog crap lingering in that little crevice on the bottom of your shoe, hearing everyone's heart beat their whispers, and having it all pinch you in the brain all the time."
"Oh, boo hoo." Ilene sobbed as she spat out seeds, and Sasha nudged her.
"Ilene, you shouldn't make fun; you don't know what that could feel like for yourself."
"Yeah, you wouldn't last a day if you could, I bet." Her team leader laughed in his seat, and Ilene had a thought in her head for a moment before she reached her hand across the table to hold it in front of Verdo.
"You're on," she said, making him and the others confused for a moment, looking between her and her hand.
Charlie looked between them.
"What do you mean I'm on?" Verdo asked as he looked at the haughty bluenette.
"I can copy semblances," she said before touching Sasha next to her, and then her hand glowed blue with her aura. The girl looked at her incredulously, as though her personal bubble had been breached.
"Hey, ask before borrowing semblances." She said she was wagging her finger at Ilene before the cyborg heard her inside her head.
'Sorry, Sasha' she said without moving her lips, and the other two boys looked at the girls of their team.
"Whoa, so you can read minds," Charlie said as he heard her voice in her head before he looked at Sasha.
Sasha shied under her hat as he asked her that question, "That's cool."
"Not as much as you think, but still, you should have asked." She knew that in the side of his head, despite saying it was cool, he had a flash of worry, likely turning to Ilene, who was just shrugging as she looked at Verdo.
"So what do you say?" She asked, knowing that the bright look she had in his head made him curious.
Verdo looked at Ilene, a little skeptical; she actually could go through with it, but he was a gamblin man.
"Terms?"
"If I can last until we go to bed and not turn off your semblance, I win. How much money have you got?"
"On me, Twenty Lien."
"It sounds good to me. Deal?" She held out her hand once more, and Verdo smirked before he shook it.
"Deal," he said as the moment her hand touched his, her semblance activated, and he smirked when her eyes went wide as the sensations rushed to her head in one go. She gasped, and the sharp intake of air was so potent she could taste the gravy from her biscuits upon her tongue just from their aroma, and then her ears became alive with the cacophony of the students talking about their first day, and none of it was inteligible at all. She could even smell the aftershave of one of the professors all the way from their side, and he was at least a hundred feet away. She could tell it was him because she could see him clearly trying to rub some of it off of his neck, but her eyesight was so sharp that it was like he was right in front of her. She looked to her team; she could see the stubble on Charlie's face starting to form on his chubby cheeks, even the faintest little scar from shaving, but it was as thin as a hair and only had the slightest discoloration.
"Ilene, are you okay?"? Sasha asked her partner. Being so close, her mind instinctively latched onto the flurry of emotions, and she was putting out a mix of awe and distress as she lost her focus.
"Whoa, this is cool," she said, looking around and taking in all of the sights, sounds, and smells, but Verdo just scoffed.
"Yeah, that's how it starts, and then when you can't control it and you take in too much, you get headaches and then notice things that you don't want."
"Like what?" Charlie asked, and Vedo answered, munching on his breakfast as he looked around the lunch room.
"Like that girl over there," he pointed, and Charlie followed his finger and could see a girl with straight platinum blonde hair at least twenty feet away down the table, acting like a typical girl about to start school, excited, and yet, with a teenage indifference, "she's fooled around with at least three guys and a girl since yesterday."
Charlie looked at the girl; she didn't seem to have any telling signs, yet somehow his friend could see it.
"How can you tell?"
Verdo didn't even look as he pointed out the signs, and Ilene tried looking at her closer to see them as well. "Watch her hand. She keeps adjusting her collar, probably trying to hide a hickey thats on her neck. The discoloration is the shade that says it's at least as old as yesterday. The next signs are that he has a male bite mark on her left ear lobe, and the girl left claw marks on her upper thigh that are rubbing against her thighs uncomfortably each time she steps, giving a scent of ladies perfume."
"How do you know it isn't hers?" charlie asked
"Because it smells different from her own," Ilene agreed with Verdo as she caught each of the signs he pointed out, like they were clear as day. Somehow, having something to focus on let her clear some of the haze.
"But that's two guys and a girl," Sasha pointed out, and Charlie agreed. Verdo had said she fooled around with three guys and a girl.
"What was the third sign?"
"The sausage on her breath," Verdo smirked, leaving the three of them confused for a moment as they thought it over. Maybe someone else's breakfast had sausage on it, and she still had some of it on her breath. But as Ilene tried to focus on the girl and took an inhale, she couldn't pick up much except the two smells of perfume and this musky smell from her breath mixing in with her oatmeal. It was kind of salty and musky when her eyes went wide.
"EW!" and Verdo let out a giant laugh as Ilene finally got it and cringed.
"What ?" Charlie and Shasha were lost. and then Ilene made a lewd gesture involving sticking out her cheek with her tongue while holding some sort of cylindrical object near her mouth. and the two of them blanched. Sasha went as red as a ruby cape and hid her head under her sun hat.
"Oh yeah, I get to smell when anyone does the deed or anything gross or personal, like knowing when hormone fluxes are coming for women when they start that time." Verdo complained about his semblance, though his tone was smiling and snide as he watched Ilene shake her head like it would erase the smell from her memory.
"Ugh, I'm never going to be able to get that smell out of my head now." She groaned, and Verdo asked
"Give up already?"
"No way," Ilene said stubbornly. "I just need to focus on something else. That's how you do it. Isn't it that you divert your focus on something else so the haze of everything else isn't so strong?"
"One way or another," he patted down his coat pocket where his flask was. "You can numb them just a little bit, though since I can't shut them off, it would take a lot of booze for them to shut off."
"I still say I don't support that method," Sasha said as she lifted up her hat. "That's not the right way to do things."
Verdo looked at the cyborg girl as she scolded him. It kind of reminded him of his mother; it was a little annoying.
Charlie thought the same, though his mother encouraged him to drink since she knew he could handle it, and he was a tougher fighter when drunk, and she used that to get him to do things at times.
Ilene knew Raven didn't give a fuck whether she did or not, so long as she could still fight and if she died.
Sasha looked at them all briefly with an estranged look on her face before she focused on her breakfast. That was when they recalled the girl's abilities to read minds, and she retreated further under hat. and they all felt awake, like they had each just given her a secret to hold against her will and didn't know how to broach the subject with her.
And so that just left all four of them eating their breakfast; at least it gave Ilene something to focus all her senses on all the different tastes melding together, and each of them was savored upon her tongue at least until they had to get to class.
--
Ilene couldn't believe all the sights, smells, and sounds that a single human body could produce, and then, having over thirty of them congregate in a class room just sitting around, she could smell and hear things that people were doing—the tapping of feet, their constant shuffling, their constant talking. It was all a disorganized symphony of different genres that didn't mix, and it was starting to get on her nerves already, even before their first period began.
"Ugh, I think I'm getting a headache," she said, rubbing her forehead.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked as Ilene was trying to plug her nose and ears at the same time but recoiled when she smelled them up close, and then she looked to her giant teammate, and she instantly regretted it because her secrets unfolded before her eyes, even if she didn't really know what some of them meant. She just shook her head and put on a tough face.
"Im fine"
"Hehehe." Verdo chuckled because he knew exactly what Ilene was going through, and Sasha puffed her cheeks out at him.
"You could try and be a little more sympathetic."
Verdo did know what she was going through and knew the more you looked, the more the semblance required brain power, but this was Ileane's idea to begin with, so he just shrugged, and he could feel Sasha's eyes bore into him even past her sun hat as she tried to hide. from the other students.
He could tell she was having her own troubles as she tried to shut out everyone's inner monologues, which reminded him that she had read their minds back in the cafeteria, thinking that she had invaded them. From her meek nature, he didn't think that she did it on purpose.
"I don't."
'...You know that doesn't help your case,' he told her, and she cowered harder under her hat.
"I can't help it if you project your thoughts right at me," she tried to explain.
Veridian tried to think of what he could say to her. He felt like he was scolding one of his younger sisters, but she wasn't, and he barely knew her, so the best solution was to probably let her be.
While Verdo was trying to figure out their quiet teammate, Charlie watched as Ilene kept trying to cover her ears. She looked ready to have an aneurysm, and he didn't know how to talk to her about it. He already asked her if she was alright, but she just ignored him because her ears were full of the mindless chatter of the students. They were just speaking in an average tone, but with her senses tuned up to the max, they were practically screaming in her ear.
"Ugh, will you all be quiet already?" Ilene growled at the students, who all turned to look at her and the team, making Sasha retreat into herself again and hide as all eyes were on them, and Ilene turned toward the door.
"And who the hell is running out there?!"
Verdo perked up his badger ear toward the door and could even see just then teams RWB and JNPR bursting through, and he smirked at seeing his snow fox falling upon the floor with her team before she saw him smiling at her.
"Cutting it kind of close, eh, you're usually so punctual," he teased, and he offered her a hand up, but she stood without his help, dusting herself off before "missing you at breakfast."
"We were held up because someone decided to shoot a whistle into my ear and that we needed to organize the room on our first day at 7 o'clock in the morning!" She seethed, looking toward her team leader, who grinned shyly up at her partner, who went to sit in the front row while the rest of the two teams decided to untangle themselves.
"Hey guys, are you excited about your first day?" Ruby said, and Ilene looked at her and her sister as Raven's daughter picked herself up. Her senses picked up the young girl's unbridled happiness, that made her want to throw up.
"I'm absolutely... (sniff sniff)giddy," she turned to Ruby and then grabbed said girl and then buried her face into the girl's hair before she inhaled deeply, making the young huntress blanch as she suddenly had someone sniffing her hair. "Oh my god, your natural body odor smells like roses."
"Uhhhhh," Ruby was absolutely as red as her namesake, as everyone was watching an older student smell another student's hair.
"You smell amazing."
Verdo knew exactly why Ilene was inhaling Ruby's body scent. For some reason, the girl smelled like flowers, and compared to everyone else's natural body odors, deodorants, perfumes, etc., the girl was a gem.
He looked at her team. Her sister was chuckling into her hand a hyena at the sight.
"You're sitting next to me!" Ilene wrapped her arm around Ruby to keep the girl near her, but she struggled to escape the embarrassing situation. Ilene made Charlie sit.
"Awee making friends, Ruby," Yang teased as she and her own partner walked on to join Wuss and left her sister behind as the larger girl was holding her in a headlock with her head buried in her hair.
"Yaaang, help me!" The girl begged her sister, who just took a picture, enjoying her sister's misfortune.
"Does she really smell that good?" Nora said curiously as she leaned forward, smelling Rubies hair as well as furthering the girls embarrassment. "Hey, she does smell nice, but not as good as Ren, though he smells like pancakes."
Verdo looked at the boy who merely shook his head; his whole being was completely steady; he was an enigma to badger faunus so far. But their focus was diverted suddenly by the teacher, who came from the back room, likely leading to his in-room apartment.
Professor Port.