A/N: Yes, yes, I am back if your monthly dose of... This... Thank you all for your continued support with this fic, if not for that, I'd have dropped it ages ago.
My P a treon changed a bit, so feel free to check it out at p a treon com / Lushikatomikyarimimo
Have at thee, this set-up chapter for the upcoming ones.
Arriving back at Beacon wasn't exactly the most thrilling experience, not for Bemaia at least. His instructions after a long day of travel? It was not a date with his pillow all night long, nor was it to take a bath and enjoy some nice dinner served at Beacon's cafeteria. No, it was to deliver a report and an explanation to the Headmaster.
"See you." Weiss waved him goodbye, parting ways once inside Beacon grounds.
"Yeah." He said, without an ounce of energy left in his body. The plane must have really taken its toll.
He had left his weapons in his usual locker and was now making his way towards Beacon Tower. It's a chilly night but whenever he felt somewhat cold, his mind reminded him of the sheer cold that was Atlas. That gave him a reason not to complain for now.
His team knew he'd arrived, but he hadn't met them yet. His main priority was to talk to Ozpin.
A receptionist waited for him, eyes glued to the book in his hand, seemingly bored.
"Hello, I believe Headmaster Ozpin is waiting for me. Bemaia is the name."
The receptionist looked up from his book, eyed Bemaia from top to bottom, and then moved to check his computer for anything related to that. "Bemaia, yes?"
The former librarian nodded.
He hummed for a moment while scrolling through a list of sorts, likely Ozpin's agenda.
"Um, sorry, It doesn't look like Ozpin is waiting for anyone..." The receptionist said, making Bemaia sigh.
"Is he even here? Could you call him for me?" He pleaded.
The receptionist turned to the fixed phone on the table next to him. "Sure." He then took the phone, raising it to his ear after pressing a button.
A moment passes.
"Hello, sir." The receptionist speaks. "There is a student here that needs to talk to you."
Bemaia can't hear what the other side of the line is saying. Hopefully, he didn't come in at a bad time.
The receptionist pulls the phone to the side for a moment. "He's busy at the moment."
The librarian scoffed. "Say it's Bemaia."
Placing the phone back into his mouth, he speaks. "He wants me to tell you his name is Bemaia, sir."
Another moment passes.
"Alright." The receptionist then places the phone back where he first got it. "You can go to his office."
Bemaia nodded, walking past the receptionist's table, toward the elevator.
Where should he even begin explaining what happened?
Should he start with Gus? Tell him another person from the City is in Remnant?
Or maybe the White Fang? Explain how there is a strong fighter actively hunting down him and Blake.
He rubbed his hands together. "It's chilly... Autumn is here." He notes, pulling his singular wing closer to his chest as a makeshift blanket against the cold. It's oddly effective, the fluffiness of the wing is a pretty nice isolator without to mention the warmth it provides.
The elevator door opens, prompting him to step out.
Ozpin's office remains the same as when he last visited. The same table in the middle, the same spinning gears on the ceiling... One thing changed though.
Ozpin was in the middle, standing up next to the window near his table sipping on his mug. Glynda was there, the same place he remembered her being at, crossing her arms and staring at Bemaia. The general was also there, the the right of the table as always, striking his signature pose with both hands behind his back.
The difference was the extra person in there.
Ruby Rose.
The young girl appears to have been having a talk with the Headmaster. Curious. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Bemaia says, walking toward Ruby.
The one to answer was Ruby. "Oh, not at all! The Headmaster was just telling me about my team's next mission." She said with great enthusiasm, only to be suddenly hit with a sudden realization. "Wait... If you're here, it must mean that Weiss is back!"
Bemaia blinked once at her. "Yes." He said. "But I'm a bit tired, so let's just skip to the point, okay?" The small reaper nods her head.
Ozpin then motions toward Ruby. "Then, It's best if you leave Ms. Rose, It's already late and we pretty much covered everything."
"Okay then-" Ruby spoke, only to be interrupted by Bemaia raising his arm.
"It's best if you hear this. It concerns two of your teammates after all."
Now that piqued Ruby's interest. "It does?" Bemaia nodded.
The Headmaster shared a glance with the General, then motioned for the librarian to speak. "Halfway through the way toward Atlas, our train was derailed and stopped by the White Fang," Bemaia said, making Ruby adopt a more serious look.
"I've received the news," General Ironwood stated. "Three retired Huntsmen, an Atlas council member, and fifty-six passengers had their plans to Atlas ruined by the attack. We know it's the White Fang, but not the ones inside the organization responsible."
'So there was a council member there...' Bemaia takes a mental note. "I believe the raid was coordinated by Adam Taurus. Weiss and I managed to fight him off, but I came out gravely injured, and he managed to escape."
Ironwood nodded, scratching his beard. "I see. You two did well. Reports say that no one died, good job."
Bemaia noticed a slight approving nod coming from Ozpin.
"So... What's got to do with my team?" Ruby asked.
Bemaia placed a hand on his chest. The wound was almost healed, but it still hurts when touched. "It's what Adam wants. He said he wanted me dead because of what we did back in Mount Glemm, then he said he wanted the Schnee because he knows that with her he can get his hands on Blake." Bemaia said.
"It's her Ex or something. I think." He added right after.
Ozpin then turned to the General. "James, do we have anything on this... Adam?"
The General nodded. "Adam Taurus is a White Fang general who has been on the run for years now. He's been a ghost and no one really knows where he's hiding." He said. "If Ms. Belladonna is what it takes to bring him out of hiding, then we should arm a trap for him."
The Headmaster was about to open his mouth to dissuade his friend from that plan, but Bemaia was faster. "That will not work. He now knows that we know that he wants to get to Blake. Anything that we do concerning 'that' will be met with silence. He must take the first move, not us."
Ironwood's expression softened a bit, surprised by Bemaia's response. "I... Severely underestimated your deduction skills." He admitted. "A well-thought-out response on top of that..."
Bemaia did not feel anything from the General's praise. "It's all part of Fixer's work. I'd be a fraud if things like that didn't come naturally to me."
Ruby, who was quietly hearing this whole thing, spoke up. "Then... With Blake's stalker on the loose, shouldn't we re-think the mission? I mean, he knew where to find Weiss, so he must know that we will leave tomorrow too."
Now it was Bemaia's turn to be impressed. The girl's deduction skills were enviable.
"Bemaia, you fought him off, how do you gauge his fighting prowess?" Glynda asked, feeling the necessity of that answer as things moved forward.
And that was a difficult thing to answer. "Eh... He's strong. No joke there. I don't think I could win that duel... And next time he won't be alone... We'll need more than a team to deal with him."
Glynda then asked him another question. "How strong were his attacks? Physical prowess."
That was an easy answer. "He destroyed my Aura, which was still in the green, in one blow, that grazed me, through a wall of Ice. Yeah, he's a beast alright. I blacked out as soon as the adrenaline stopped flowing." Bemaia then took off his suit and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a large blood stain through industrial amounts of bandages. "He didn't hit me, he grazed me, through a wall."
Ozpin sighed. "So I suppose you won't be up for another round so soon..." He said, taking another sip off of his mug. "As for your question Ms. Rose, no, I will not cancel your mission. The information that you will go out in a mission is only known to the people in this room. I doubt this Adam will even hear about this before you're even done."
Ruby nodded, both excited and concerned.
"Anything else to report, Bemaia?" Ozpin asked. Ruby decided to stick around, because why not?
Bemaia nodded. "I got the funds to start my own shop at the Festival. I'll see to that tomorrow though, I'm beat."
The Headmaster nodded. "I'm glad, I'll be sure to stop by and support it. Anything else?"
Then comes the hard part. How does he tell Ozpin that there is another guy from the City?
Straight to his face, that's how.
"At the Schnee manor, I met with an old friend of mine, Gus is his name. Nice fella." There we go. Nice, smooth, and casual. Nothing that would trigger an unwanted reaction from him.
"... I see." Ozpin didn't seem to know how to react to that information. "And did he tell you how he arrived?"
Ironwood quickly butted in. "This is getting out of hand Oz. First these three, then Kyleneath, now this 'Gus' he met. We could be at risk of an invasion!"
Bemaia was quick to dismiss that possibility. "It's unlikely that the Head will try to do anything to Remnant. They care little about expanding the City's borders, nor do they care about anything that happens outside of it. All of us, who ended up in here, got here by accident." That should clear some of the worry boiling in the General's heart. "I'll write you how exactly he got here, I'm not in the best shape to discuss that right now."
Ozpin nodded. "That would be much appreciated. I believe that's all. Why don't you two go back to your respective dorms? It's rather late."
There was one last thing though. It's a small and silly thing, but Bemaia would be doing a disservice to his old friend if he didn't tell Ozpin. "One more thing," Bemaia said, putting on his best joking face, not knowing the gravity of the situation. "Gus had a message for ya. He said it's from a woman named, uh..." What was her name again? "Saylem. I think was her name."
Ruby watched curiously, it felt to her as though Bemaia was about to tell a joke.
Well, it's far from it. Hearing that name was enough to make Glynda tense, widening her eyes. Ironwood opened his mouth to say something but decided to wait with morbid curiosity.
Ozpin however... Well, the mention of the name alone, even if miss pronounced, cracked the left lens of his glasses.
"And what was it that she said?" Ruby asked, waiting for a punchline that would never come.
Bemaia approached Ruby, "I'm gonna say a bad word." and covered both of her ears.
"What! That's mean!" She complained.
The librarian spared no words to describe Salem's message. "I'll recite what Gus told me," He cleared his throat. "'You tell that sick man you call a Headmaster, to shove it up his ass if he thinks he'll be able to send some mentally-ill monster to pacify me!' Those were his exact words to me." Bemaia explained.
Only to then remember one last part. "And that's after Gus attempted to seduce her, I believe." He clarified. "That's all." Bemaia then let go of Ruby's ears.
"What did you say?! Tell me without the bad words!" The girl immediately snapped at Bemaia, very pissed off. "Or else!"
The librarian stopped for a moment, pondering how he should approach the girl's question. "When you go out with your sister, does anyone try and flirt with her?"
Ruby stopped for a moment, then answered. "Flirt? No, I don't so."
Bemaia sighed. "Let me rephrase." He then took a deep breath, mustering all of his dwindling patience. "When you go out with your sister, and someone happens to complement her, does she ever snap at them with colorful words?"
The little reaper nodded. "Yeah! She suddenly yells at people when we're out at night. She curses too..." The girl was too gullible, Bemaia thought. "I always wondered what that's about."
Bemaia nodded. "That's basically what happened. This woman said things like that to my ex-coworker after he... Well... Complement her in the wrong way."
Ruby responded with an innocent "Oohhh..."
The General, with a low and serious voice, asked the librarian one question. "Did he say anything else about this... Saylem?"
Bemaia shook his head. "Nope, but he made it very clear that she tried to kill him multiple times."
Ozpin's companions wouldn't dare make a move before he shared his thoughts on the subject. Ironwood was unarmed at the moment, visibly sweating, and Glynda held on to her crop for dear life.
"Ozpin?" Glynda asked, turning to the headmaster.
"I think," He began, setting his mug on the table. "That it's late and you two should rest." The Headmaster spoke with authority, effectively commanding them. "Ms. Rose has a mission tomorrow, and you have just returned from Atlas."
Bemaia nodded, turning to the elevator.
"Very well sir!" Ruby said with excitement after being reminded of her mission the next day.
Ironwood then squeezed in a comment, before the two left. "In the report you'll give the Headmaster, please also add in this 'ex-coworker' of yours, and exactly what he looks like alongside any distinguishable features. If he's In Atlas, I must contact him." Bemaia simply nodded. "Good," Ironwood said before the elevator doors closed with the two students in.
The ride down was a bit awkward. Neither of them spoke a word, even as they walked back to their respective dorms. Just before the two were about to go their separate ways, Ruby spoke.
"So... That means you'll be cooking?" She asked, sheepishly.
Bemaia stopped dead in his tracks, looking at the girl, whose eyes resembled the eyes of a dog begging for food. He did not answer.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that... I just really liked those cookies you made, and there is no one else on campus who knows how to cook aside from Ren and Jaune, or so they say... And they won't make anything sweet because of Nora and because they don't really have to... So, like, when you said you had the money to-"
Her rant was interrupted by Bemaia raising his right hand. "Do you want cookies?" He asked, plain and simple.
She nodded profusely.
"Then I'll bake you some when I get the stand going." He said, sounding much more like a promise to the younger girl. "Anything else?"
Ruby smiled. "Thanks, and also yes." She said, Bemaia sighed. He only asked that to be polite. "Who's Adam?"
And with that, Bemaia's patience has run dry. "Don't know, Don't care, Ask Weiss or Blake." He said, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Talk to you later, I need a bath and sleep." A bit too rude for his own liking, but he was pretty tired.
"O-oh... Okay, see you around..." she answered, a bit deflated.
Bemaia turned tail and walked back to his dorm room.
He stopped right before the door to the dorm room. 'If there is a god out there...' He thought, 'Please let no one be there.' And with his prayers completed, he opened the door to his ultimate deception.
"Friend Bemaia!" Was the very first thing he heard upon opening the door. His heart dropped, sighing internally.
"Hello Penny..." He muttered, closing his eyes momentarily, before heading inside the room.
Penny was right in front of him, standing up and currently shaking his hand. Francisco was there too, humorously enough, he was knitting something whilst lying in bed as his left arm hung on the side of the bed. Fred silently scrolled through his scroll, giving him a small nod as a greeting.
"So," Francisco began, "How's the date?" He asked, putting down the fabric he was working with, glaring at him.
Bemaia couldn't be bothered to answer Francisco's provocation, instead, he simply threw the top part of his suit on the corner of the room and took out his shoes and socks.
Poor Penny's face was beet red from watching her teammate take off his shirt. "Um, Bemaia? I don't know if you realized it, but I'm still in the room and I can see you-" Her complaints were cut short by Bemaia throwing his shirt on that very same corner.
"You're a robot and they are both men. I don't care." Bemaia stated unperturbed by the girl's pleas, as he closed the bathroom door behind him after taking his pajamas for the ride.
"Not a good date I see," Francisco said, lamenting on Bemaia's behalf. "Can you still hear me from there?" He asked, receiving a short, "Yep." From Bemaia.
The loud noise of the turned-on shower occupied the room. "Great, I have something to tell you," Francisco said, pulling Bemaia's attention.
"Ozpin called us this afternoon before you got here. He asked that we go with Team RWBY on a mission in a city near the coast. Someone died there I think." Francisco began, "Since he specifically 'Asked', Fred opted out, said he didn't want to smell like fish for a week." Fred didn't react to that comment, instead continued to scroll through his scroll.
"And General Ironwood said Penny won't go," He continued. "So it's up to me and you." He finished.
The shower stopped abruptly as shuffling sounds leaked through the bathroom door. The doorknob turns, opening the door only slightly. "He asked, right?" Bemaia asked.
"Yep."
"Do you even know what I went through at the Great Lake? One time, and never again! Tell Ozpin to fuck off. Go enjoy the beach alone." He shouted, angry for even considering the request. "I'm tired, and I still have to get the food stand thing going." He finished, uninterested, closinging the bathroom door, and returning to his bath.
Francisco sighed, glancing at his unfinished tailoring work. An idea he'd be sure to regret later came to him. It was the only choice he had if he wanted these suits ready before the festival.
"You." He began, pointing his index finger at his team Leader. "I have a very important quest for you, Penny."
Penny perked right up. "Me?! You never ask anything of me!" This was a huge moment for her, Francisco was sure of this. "I will make sure to have it done to the best of my abilities!"
He nodded. "I'll be gone on the mission for some time, I don't know how long. That means that I won't have the time to finish this before Vytal comes." He said, clutching the clothing he's been making for a while now. "Pick up from where I left this. I've got no text or schematics on this. Sorry, you'll have to figure that out on your own."
Her eyes shone brighter than the sun. She was ready to prove herself to him. "Don't worry my bald friend!" She began, "I have been watching you ever since you began your project, I've documented all your progress and I will have no trouble helping you! I will make sure to not disappoint you!"
Francisco stopped for a moment, letting that unsettling comment settle in. "You... Documented me?" He muttered. "Sure, thanks." He said, laying down on his bed and setting his project aside.
The morning came and Francisco was up as early as 5 A.M. He took a bath, put on his best suit, A.K.A his only suit that was thankfully washed, readied Downpour on his back, only to then eat a bit at the cafeteria.
By 5:40, he was ready and waiting next to the bullhead which would take them there.
He was somewhat saddened, however.
The suit he'd been working on was not done yet, meaning he wouldn't be able to test it out in this mission. Worse yet, Penny has a high chance of simply finishing the dammed thing before he returns.
He sighed. Maybe that's simply how things usually go for him, never according to plan.
"Ay brother, can you tell me the time?" Francisco called out for the pilot.
The pilot was quick to answer. "Five Fifty! I can wait until- HOLY SHIT!" He interrupted himself after taking a glance at Francisco's direction.
The librarian was startled, his face quickly shot in the direction the pilot saw. "What is it?!" "WhAT iS IT?!" Both Francisco and the Mimicry on his cheek exclaimed, turning back to the pilot.
He pointed at the librarian's face. "What the hell is that?!"
'Ah, that's the issue here.' Francisco thought to himself. "It's just my semblance, don't worry about it."
The pilot seemed to have calmed down after that, but that didn't change the fact that he was spooked. "By the Brothers... talk about a freak..." Francisco couldn't blame him for the unsavory comment.
After taking a moment to reconsider his life's choices, the pilot continued with his answer. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean it... Anyways, It's Six now and I can wait until Six Ten before lift off. Tell your team to hurry it up!" The pilot answered back, in an increased voice tone.
"I take no offense." The librarian said, turning to the academy.
Francisco's feet restlessly tapped the ground. "Where even are they? Can't these girls arrive on time for once?" Two times did he depend on the timing of team RWBY. Now, and at Kyleneath's place. Both times they arrived late.
What would be their excuse this time?
'Ruby not waking up in time perhaps?' That's plausible, Francisco could see that happening.
In the distance, the librarian watched three colorful silhouettes approaching. One of them was missing. The Black silhouette.
Blake wasn't with them.
Francisco sighed, and when they approached, he taunted. "I seem to be in the company of team 'Roowee'! Good morning." He commented, climbing in the bullhead and taking a seat.
'This is weird. I expected Weiss to not show up, not Blake.' Francisco thought to himself.
"Sorry for the wait," Weiss spoke first, taking a seat across from him. Francisco noted that she wore her usual combat attire.
Next in line was Yang, who took the seat to his right. "Really? Roowee?" She commented, crossing her arms. "You dare steal my joke?! I'll have you know that is punishable by noogies!" She half-yelled, she wasn't angry though, that much Francisco understood. Was this an attempt at joking back?
"I will try to keep that in mind." He answered back, with no intention of keeping that in mind.
"You're forgiven... For now." She said, scratching her jaw. "It depends on how other people will react to it in the future."
Ruby was next and last in line, sheepishly getting inside and sitting next to Weiss's right. "Sorry for the-" She stopped herself mid-sentence.
*YAWN*
She then recomposed herself. "Sorry for the wait."
Maybe Francisco's only theory was correct. Maybe Ruby did sleep in. He wouldn't say it, but it sure felt implied that it happened. "Why didn't Blake come?" Francisco asked.
Yang and Weiss shared a glance, then both looked at Ruby. Their look told him they didn't want to talk about that, and Ruby should be the one to tackle that subject instead.
"U-Um..." The poor kid was already stuttering. "She said she was sick, but didn't say what were her symptoms."
Francisco hummed in response. "Sounds like someone doesn't want to do their job."
Ruby shook her head in response. "No, it's nothing like that!"
Her teammate, Yang, said bluntly to Francisco what Ruby wanted to say. "After she heard what happened to Weiss and your partner, she locked herself in the bathroom. After I punched the door open, she wasn't there anymore."
Francisco's eyebrow rose slightly, not really understanding why that would happen. "If you girls want, I can handle this by myself if you want to stay and find her."
Yang shrugged. "Nah, it's fine. Turns out, when she jumped out of the window of the third floor to escape, she didn't have her weapon with her, and fell directly in her face."
The librarian heard it with a straight face.
"We took her to the infirmary, where the doctor told us she broke an arm."
Weiss then drew the obvious conclusion. "So I suppose that's why you're here covering for her, right?"
Francisco was invited to go before that accident even happened. "I did not know that she was hurt." To which Yang responded with a low 'huh.'
It was Weiss's turn to speak her mind. "This is the second time she tries to run away. I swear this happens every time when someone says 'White Fang' close to her..." She sighed. "At least now she's with the staff here at Beacon, so she won't be going anywhere soon."
"Welp, no point in worrying about that now." He said, changing subjects. "How long will this flight take?"
"An Hour!" The pilot replied, approaching the group with four pairs of headphones. "You kids, wear this."
He handed each of them a pair. "You all used a bullhead before, you know the drill." The pilot spoke, as Francisco observed the object in his hands with mild interest.
He did not, in fact, 'know the drill'. He did use a bullhead before to reach Mount Glemm, but no one gave him a pair of headphones. He did find it curious that Bemaia used one in that instance...
Glancing at the girls, he noticed how each of them put the Headphone on their heads, whilst having a thin wire coming from their headphones protruding outwards above their mouth.
Shrugging, he put the thing on his head like the girls did.
The headphones seemed to block all sound from outside, even the sound of the bullhead's motors turning on. What was the use of this thing anyway? This way he wouldn't be able to communicate!
"Can you hear me?" He spoke in an increased tone, as he couldn't hear his own voice.
"Loud and Clear," Ruby replied.
Now it all made sense. The utility of this artifact was clear to him.
"Nice." He answered.
And for the rest of the one-hour flight, Francisco got himself as comfortable as he could and eventually fell asleep.
"Everything Hurts." Bemaia groaned. At this moment, he is having his bandages taken off of him by Beacon's medical staff.
Waking up in a hospital with a wound that covered half of his torso, having to deal with the balls-freezing temperatures of Atlas, only to then have a twelve-hour flight, all on the same day... Indeed, everything should be hurting.
But he had no time to waste with rest, not when the festival was but a week away.
What he needed now was caffeine in his body, and for the nurse to take off the bandages so he could start researching who and what he needed for the food stand idea.
The money he had finally covered.
The cook was himself.
Francisco said he'd help with the cleaning... With his singular functioning arm... That part may need to be revised.
He did not have the ingredients yet.
He did not have the spot for the stand yet.
He did not have the utensils for the stand yet.
He did not have a way of acquiring any of them.
"I guess I'll have to cry to Ozpin about this... Maybe he can cough up some contacts?" He spoke aloud, the nurse unwrapping him off of his dirty bandages and glanced at him for a moment.
"He's the headmaster, and he also said to come to him if I needed anything. There shouldn't be any problem." He nodded to himself.
As the nurse continued to remove the bandages, Bemaia noticed how little blood leaked out, better yet, there wasn't even a trace of the wound left on his chest by Adam.
He let out a jovial whistle. "I'm still impressed with Aura. I really underestimated it." And that's for a reason. A forcefield-like effect with strength-enhancing and healing effects? You can buy that crap in a back alley for a few hundred thousand Ahn. Still, nothing as consistent as Aura could be bought with cold money.
The nurse had finished her job and promptly sent him on his way. He touched his chest with his hand. 'Just a new.' He puffed with satisfaction, hitting his chest with a hand closed to a fist. 'Yep, still just as new.'
It still hurts though. Phantom pain, he theorized.
Just as Bemaia left Beacon's nursery, he spotted a familiar snug black bow atop a black-haired girl's head. He stopped dead in his tracks, immediately intrigued by the prospect of Blake being here and not on the mission with the rest of her team.
He approached the room she was in and rested his hand on the door frame, peering inside.
Blake was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back turned to him. She was wearing Beacon's Uniform, except for her left arm, which was encased with a plaster casting. She's facing an opened window.
"Hey." He spoke, pulling the girl from her thoughts.
"Hi..." She said as her eyes flickered to everywhere in the room, doing everything in their power to avoid looking into his eyes.
"So..." Bemaia tried to think of something to say- Actually, Bemaia tried to think of something that didn't have anything to do with the fact that he was attacked by this girl's ex-boyfriend. "What's with the arm?"
Blake took a moment to breathe. "Um..." She struggled to speak. "I-I fell." That was her answer.
The former librarian's face tilted to the left. "Fell...?" From where? A flight of stairs? Aura would protect against that. "How high?"
She lowered her head, looking at her arm. "...Three stores high." She sounded... Ashamed. Hurt even. Not in the physical sense at least.
Bemaia sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "I thought you were supposed to be the calm and collected one."
The faunus girl shrugged with an increasingly pained expression on her face. Bemaia couldn't see it, be she was fighting against her trembling lips.
"I'll address the elephant in the room, which is also the reason why I decided to drop by anyway." As those words left Bemaia's mouth, her back straightened upwards. She wasn't ready to talk about that, about Adam.
But Bemaia knew not of her current internal struggle, neither did he know of Blake's history with running away. She was ready to turn away once again and simply walk away from him.
So he spoke with an unfiltered mind.
"I was wondering if you'd like to work with me on that food stand I talked about after Kyleneath's. I can't promise payment right now, I don't really know how much I'll invest into it, but... I promise good food."
She blinked.
"Did... Did you just ask me to work for you?" She stared him straight in the eyes this time. "Instead of getting mad at me or curious about him... You're asking me for help?"
He nodded. "I think that's what I said, yes."
"Why?" She asked.
"Well... Fred doesn't wanna help, I don't think Francisco will do much with just one arm, Penny will be busy with the fights most likely, and I don't want to ask Ruby or Yang for this 'cause I don't think they'll want to, and Weiss... I don't like Weiss."
Blake couldn't even begin to form an understandable sentence. "What." That's not at all what she asked about. "I don't care about that!" She yelled, getting up from the hospital bed and walking to Bemaia's face.
She was... Pissed. To her, It seemed like Bemaia was playing with her.
Which in Bemaia's eyes is better than her being sad.
"Oh. You mean why wasn't I here because of Adam?" He exaggerated a facepalm. "Maybe it's because I don't care?" He asked rhetorically.
"Why do you not care?! He almost killed you because of me!" Blake snapped back at him with rightful indignation.
But Bemaia was unphased by her. "Don't get me wrong, If I see him I will try my best to murder him, but until then?" He shrugged. "He's not my problem."
"Adam wanted your head so he could get to me... If I were in your place, I'd be furious."
Bemaia shook his head. "Nope, that's not the case. Adam wants my head because of what happened to Mount Glemm. And even if he plans to kill me, he'd have to invade Beacon Academy to even try it."
The former librarian then patted Blake on the back. "So cheer up, I don't blame you, and neither does that blue-blooded brat."
Blake couldn't pinpoint why the librarians acted the way they did, and she definitely wouldn't dare to call them normal, but... It was refreshing, in a messed up way, to see people who act without a care in the world. "How are you like this? So care-free?" She asked.
That question came out of nowhere for Bemaia, so he pondered for a moment. "Well... Ask yourself this: Do you have a problem? If not, there is nothing to worry about. If you do, then ask yourself another question; Can you do something about that problem? If the answer to that is yes, then you don't have to worry about a thing since you got that covered, and if the answer is no, then you shouldn't worry about it because you can't do anything to change the situation."
So, It all boils down to 'Don't worry about it.' Blake chuckled. "I can't believe this..." She said, incredulous at his answer. "You? Who has the White Fang hunting you down and has a vampire arch-enemy... You're telling me that you fix all your problems with a simple... Don't worry about it?"
Bemaia shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."
That confirms Blake's theory. It wasn't a revelation that struck her with that speech, nor was it a major piece of the puzzle. It was but a final nail in the coffin.
These people are actually insane.
"So, about my offer," Bemaia asked with a greedy smile on his face. "You up for it?"