As Belka was reprimanded for her actions, she didn't argue or protest even once. There was no real point to doing so, they had her scroll, and the video of what happened, including the part where she blatantly provoked Alaska into hitting her, which didn't really help her defense about being bullied. If anything, the evidence showed SLVR as the victims of a set-up. Not that SLVR was completely off the hook though, goaded into it or not, they had ganged up on their fellow student and would be punished accordingly as a result, same as Lao. She was just thankful that she managed to convince the staff that he really didn't know anything and wasn't a willing part of her plan, actually convincing them that she had tricked him was its own process, but after she went on for a solid twenty or so minutes about Alaska's treatment, her frustration was made crystal clear and it was enough for Glynda to buy her story. But with no real evidence, there was nothing that could be done other than an empty promise that SLVR would be watched closer from now on. So yeah, the plan was a complete failure, something she had plenty of time to stew on as Glynda continued her rant from across the desk.
Three weeks of suspension, that was to be her punishment, and after her initial term was served, she'd spend another month on "probation", which was, of course, to be spent attending mandatory detention after classes. All things considered, it was a light sentence, especially since she had heard the words 'expulsion' and 'legal action' get thrown around several times when the Professors were speaking amongst themselves and they thought she couldn't hear. She was fairly certain that, if this wasn't her first infraction, they would have made an example of her.
"This behavior is unacceptable." Glynda said for what must have been the twentieth time in her rant, the usually calm if blunt woman worked up into a tizzy. This was the worst case of student on student violence outside of accidents that she'd seen in years. She understood the thought process if nothing else, gathering evidence of SLVR's wrongdoing and exposing them, but her benefit of the doubt flew out the window when she had decided getting them to attack her on camera was a good idea instead of, say, getting a member of staff involved, especially when she had direct lines of communication to both Qrow and Jaune. At the very least, the girl was clearly remorseful, meaning either she genuinely knew she had done wrong, or was smart enough and could act well enough to pretend that was the case.
"I understand Ma'am." Belka muttered as she looked up from her lap, somehow managing to look even more pitiful thanks to the bruises and bandages that littered her face. She'd felt awful about what happened with Lao, she truly hadn't meant for him to get wrapped up in all this, and SLVR… in truth, she was conflicted on SLVR. She couldn't deny that it had been cathartic to see them beaten to a pulp like that, but she knew that she shouldn't enjoy their suffering regardless, she was a Huntress in training, and Huntresses saved lives. Maybe if they'd just been a little roughed up instead of being put in the infirmary, it would be understandable, but that just wasn't the case. However, despite her genuine remorse, Glynda didn't let up, maintaining her stern glare.
"I don't believe you do. What would you have done had we not been there on time, or if young Mister Ren had killed any one of them?" Belka's breath hitched, indicating that her point had been so, she let the silence linger so her student could fully absorb the reality of what could have happened, she had to know that her actions didn't just affect her, and that there were consequences for failure. "We wouldn't be speaking of suspensions, his life would be over, all because you put a reckless plan into place that endangered not just yourself, but SLVR, and Mister Ren too."
"What's going to happen to Lao?" she asked, looking back down as she remembered that, just like her and SLVR, there were going to be consequences for him. While she had taken most of the blame and punishment, had they been civilians instead of Huntresses in training, they'd be crippled for months at the very least, potentially for life. Thankfully, he hadn't inflicted any long lasting damage, and despite how bad the injuries looked, nothing sustained would be permanent, the worst of it being the damage to Aethelflad's leg, which would only need a month or two of recovery time with a combination of proper treatment and her Aura, and most of that would likely be spent on getting her leg back into form rather than sitting around waiting for it to heal.
"Considering the circumstances and the evidence recovered from your Scroll, he's going to spend the next two weeks under suspension, and he'll be spending mandatory sessions with Councilor Arc for the foreseeable future." the Headmistress recited coldly, as if just reading from her paper. Even so, Belka's face lit up with relief hearing his comparably light punishment.
"Thank you for not putting all of this on him." Despite her thankful tone, it was clear Glynda was unmoved, emerald eyes still peering through her glasses with a disappointed gaze.
"That much was clear, what isn't nearly as clear is what we're going to do with you."
"W-what?" But- but she thought that had all been decided on already? Were they discussing more punishments? Seeing the confusion on her student's face, the blonde woman sighed, deciding to just be frank with her.
"You really have no idea how close you came to being expelled do you?" She thought she knew, yet apparently, it was even closer than she had expected. Swallowing hard, she listened intently as Glynda spoke. "Whether or not you were provoked into taking such drastic action is ultimately irrelevant, you put your fellow Huntresses, not to mention your own teammate, in danger to end your personal vendetta."
"It wasn't suppo-'' She stopped herself, remembering that it didn't matter. After all, nothing the Headmistress had said was wrong. Was she supposed to defend herself on the merit of what was supposed to happen? She found herself looking back down at the floor, no longer able to look into the unimpressed gaze of her Headmistress. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, be better. There are unspoken rules when it comes to what the faculty is willing to do, and one such rule is that we do not interfere with the dynamics or composition of our student's teams unless absolutely necessary. Your actions today have displayed a carelessness unbefitting of a leader, and while Professor Castleton's notes do not outright say it, it's clear to anyone that you don't have the respect of your team." Each word was like a stake to the heart, Miss Goodwitch clearly had no sympathy, and to a point, she understood, but did her remorse really mean nothing? She wasn't expecting to be let off the hook, but why bring up her performance of all things now? "To be blunt, there is going to be a discussion between the Professors and I about your position on BGEL."
The moment Belka got her answer, she wished she hadn't, she knew she had been less than perfect as a leader but to hear that she had apparently been performing so poorly that they were considering stripping her of the position made her feel sick, surely she wasn't that bad at it, right? But then she remembered why she was here in the first place, and what about Lao? Was he better off with a leader who accidentally led him into danger? Would Elizabeth feel secure following the orders of a woman who had stalked her across the world so she could talk with her away from her mother? Or Goose, was she doing her best under a leader who hated her because of something out of her control? Maybe… maybe she wasn't fit to lead her team.
"If you really think that it's what's best for the team… then I'll step down." Glynda stopped herself after hearing that, it wasn't the response she'd expected, in fact she'd expected outrage, or at the very least, some pushback. If she thought a play at maturity would have her change her mind, she was mistaken, however if it proved to be genuine, it was a step in the right direction.
"It is still a matter to be discussed, and with the preparations for the student transfer to the Vytal Festival in Vacuo, it likely won't be resolved before then. Until that happens, you're still acting as the team's leader." Belka nodded, not being able to speak a word through her shame and embarrassment. If nothing else, it seemed that the gravity of the situation was finally sinking in. In truth, Glynda didn't have much faith in the girl based on what she'd seen so far, but still, she was hoping to be proven wrong. Even then, the onus was ultimately on her to actually prove herself. "You're dismissed"
Upon being let out by the Headmistress, Belka didn't return to her dorm, she couldn't yet, instead making her way to the rooftop of the dorms. After today, she just needed to be alone for a bit, to compose herself and come to terms with herself. She was a failure, not just as a leader, but as a Huntress. Father was right, she'd made a mistake coming here, not that he'd ever openly said as much, but the constant reminders that she could learn from himself or her Mother had made his lack of faith clear. She'd wanted to prove him wrong, prove she could do this herself, that she didn't need to lean on his name or status to succeed. Well, look at where that idea got her…
"I hope Glynda wasn't too harsh on you." The sudden voice caused Belka to jump out of her self pitying mindset for the moment, after the day she'd had, she had not even a shred of patience to spare for someone to just pop up out of nowhere! Turning sharply on her heels, she came face to face with… Elizabeth of all people, only adding to her shock seeing that she'd bother to come find her. Not only that, but just how exactly had she found her in the fi- oh, right, she hadn't bothered to turn off her scrolls location function, any of them could have found her. The pair stood in silence, Belka didn't really know how to respond, she wasn't used to Elizabeth being… well, anything other than outright hostile to be honest. She assumed that Lao had told them about what happened, there really wasn't any other reason for her to suddenly be nice that she could think of, but in the end, she decided it didn't really matter, it was a pleasant change of pace for them.
"She said nothing less than I deserved." Belka admitted, rubbing her sore cheek. Elizabeth chuckled softly, but it quickly died down when Belka didn't join her, the air stifled from the awkwardness of what was clearly a forced interaction on both sides. Instead of just letting the silence linger, Belka decided to change the subject, particularly about the way Elizabeth addressed their Headmistress. "Wait, did you just call her Glynda?"
Elizabeth had to stop herself from laughing, while it was an obvious answer to her and most who knew them, she reminded herself that Belka, while related to her, wasn't really apart of the family, and as such didn't know about Cassia's relation to their headmistress, so she cleared her throat and simply explained the situation.
"She's Cassia's mom, we're not super close or anything, but I've known her basically my entire life." Cassia… her half sister? Belka wasn't completely sure if that was who she meant, but she knew the former General had another daughter with a woman other than Winter, and she didn't know what else made sense given the context. But to think it had been with their Headmistress was a strange coincidence, she supposed it was just a smaller world than she'd imagined. "It's why I'm not the leader, Glynda didn't want to look like she was playing favorites."
And with that sentence, Belka was immediately soured on her niece once more. Of course that was it, wasn't it? Even when she was trying to be nice, she couldn't just help but slip in a small jab her way, of course that was the only reason she wasn't the leader in her own eyes. After all, it was just impossible for her to be capable of the role under any other circumstance, right? Suddenly, her anger was reignited. Coming from the Headmistress it was one thing, but what did she know? She'd never listened long enough to know what she was capable of as a leader!
"Really? That's why you aren't the leader? Not because of your lack of strategic ability, stubbornness, or poor self-control?" That had knocked what Belka saw as a look of superiority right off of her niece's face. The smaller girl reacted like she'd been slapped, actually stunned by the audacity on display. She was trying to reach out to her after she'd been through something terrible, and this was the thanks she got!?
"Huh? I'm trying to be nice here!" Her protest was met with a scoff by the older woman, who placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly to lord her height over her.
"Why? Or do you really think I'm so dumb that I'll buy that 'you just felt bad'? You've made it abundantly clear that you don't like me, that my opinions and feelings don't matter to you, so why try to butter me up now?" Despite the attitude displayed by her leader, it felt empty. Maybe if it was being said to anyone else, it would have worked and she'd be hopping mad, but she was raised by a military family, she understood the concept of respect before she was capable of speaking full sentences, and as such, eye contact had been mandatory. To her, while Belka's face, tone, and body language all shouted confidence and dismissal, her eyes spoke a different story, tired and dull. But, if she was so defeated, then why make things harder for herself? In the end she decided it didn't matter, she wasn't her Aunt's keeper or therapist.
"Whatever, if you're really so stubborn that you can't accept an olive branch, then be that way." An olive branch, was that what she said this was? Sure, maybe it wasn't the best course of action to building up their non-existent relationship into something more than barely tolerating each other, but the satisfaction of getting to Elizabeth the same way she'd gotten to her was more than worth it. If Elizabeth and Lumi really wanted nothing to do with her, then fine, she wanted even less to do with them! Similarly fed up with the conversation, the pint sized girl decided to cut right to the chase, asking her aunt point blank. "Why did you lie for Lao?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." So that was how she wanted to play it? No half truths or even a made up explanation? Just outright denial? What was the point of that? Was it just to frustrate her further? Not that it'd shock her, but if that was the case, there were definitely better ways to go about it, and besides, that look in her eyes hadn't changed, nothing about this felt genuine.
"Don't bullshit me Gele, I'm not stupid." Upon being sworn at, Belka actually looked shocked, not expecting the girl before her to use such vulgarity. Then again, she would be, it wasn't like she knew her. "Lao already told us about how you tried to pretend you were fine after letting the fact that you had a plan slip, so drop the crap, and tell me what your angle is already."
"Maybe I'm just a better actress than you give me credit for." More deflection, this was going nowhere.
"Doubtful, considering how terrible it is right now." Upon being called on her bullshit, Belka looked away. So she was just checking out of the conversation entirely then? Fine, it wasn't as if she couldn't say she tried. "Whatever, be that way, just make sure you don't drag the rest of us down with you."
With that, Elizabeth turned away, leaving Belka alone on the roof. With nothing but the breeze in her ears, Belka looked out over the rest of the school, sniffling as she held her tears back. No more, she wasn't going to cry anymore over those who never cared for her in the first place. She'd shed enough tears already.
Touko watched as Ruby paced back and forth, talking on her scroll. The poor woman was being run ragged by all the fires she had to try and help put out ever since Lao's rampage. Since she'd helped carry SLVR to the infirmary, she'd been on near non-stop calls trying to explain the situation, and gently break the news to their parents that their children had been put in the infirmary, which wasn't even the worst of it. Although Mr Reading did throw a bit of a fit upon hearing that his daughter would be wearing a cast right up until leaving for the Vytal Festival, she conceded that their anger was understandable, as, while yes, there were risks in the field, training grounds were supposed to be safe and monitored. As angry as they were about that though, that didn't even remotely compare to the absolute shit storm that came from the parents then learning that their children were being punished after having the tar beaten out of them, threats of lawsuits were thrown around with reckless abandon, and some even threatened to personally come to Beacon to throw a fit. They were empty threats, but still, it was a hassle to deal with.
Ironically, the reception from SLVR's parents was nowhere near the most hostile response she had to deal with today. No, that coveted title went to Jacques. Ruby had spent hours on him alone, explaining what had happened, getting chewed out for not keeping an eye on his little girl, and then getting chewed out again for punishing her even after she thoroughly explained that she had been the one that instigated the brawl, and thus bore a significant amount of responsibility for what transpired. Eventually, Ruby just cut him off and told him that Belka was a big girl, and that if he wanted to come down from Atlas to drag his adult daughter home in front of her peers, then he was more than welcome to try, before immediately hanging up in a huff. Touko suddenly had a much better perspective on why Weiss was as prickly as she was, she'd only heard half of the conversation, and she wanted to pull her hair out, she couldn't even begin to imagine being raised by him. The woman could still go suck an egg in her eyes, but that didn't make her devoid of sympathy.
Yet, despite all of that, none of it was nearly as bad as calling Ren and Nora. Oh, that was a conversation she understood clearly, Nora's screams of 'my poor baby' would be something she remembered until the end of her days. By the end of it, Ruby had worked herself into a complete mess, but thankfully, Ren had entered the conversation, and they were able to talk about the facts rather than the emotions of the situation. Lao was fine, all maimings would be temporary and the situation was under control. Ren must have taken over the conversation at that point, or at the very least used his Semblance to calm Nora down, because her wailing swiftly ceased, and the goodbye seemed downright pleasant, with the only additional piece to be added being that Jaune would keep them updated on Lao's counseling.
Finally finished with contacting parents, Ruby collapsed down onto the couch next to her cybernetic companion, clearly tired from the very stressful events of the evening, hands tensed, and her hair was frazzled in what was, admittedly, a very pleasing way to look at way. No, damn it Touko, she's stressed, stop thinking about how cute she looks and help her! Reaching over, she started to rub at her friends back, the tension in her muscles being clear to the touch, even to her. Ruby leaned back into the rubs, letting out a long, heavenly sigh that definitely didn't sound suspect at all to her, nope, not in the slightest, and her quickly asking about Nora wasn't a distraction at all either.
"So, how's Nora?" From the way Ruby sighed and leaned back even further into her touch, she assumed the answer was about what she'd come to expect.
"All up in momma bear mode, Ren helped calm her down though." Touko nodded. To be fair, Nora was always in momma bear mode, it was just her default, even before Lao was born. When Goose and Lumi came into the world, Nora was ready to bite the head off of anyone who even looked at them the wrong way, but Lao was her baby, and she'd trusted her friends to keep him safe for her, just as she would for them. She couldn't even begin to imagine how she'd be feeling right now, knowing that they failed.
"I need to give them a call, I feel awful." Touko said, leaning into Ruby, burying her face in the nape of her neck. Feeling that, Ruby reached back and patted the other woman on the opposite shoulder, turning around to face her.
"They- well, Ren understands., Nora might need to break something first, but she'll come around eventually." Ruby said, doing her best to reassure her. Normally, it was something she was great at, but not this time, the fact of the matter was; a bullying campaign had gone on for months right under their noses, and because of this, Lao had to step in.
"Still, I need to apologize, we're in charge of their kid and we let this bullshit happen." Seeing her friend still slumping forward, Ruby reached out and held her cheek, the contact causing her cheeks to turn red. Damn it, why was she so easily flustered? Ruby was just being nice, nicer than she deserved considering how their last conversation went… Was now really the time for that? Did it even matter? It needed to be said at some point, right? Well, there was no time like the present. "It seems there's a lot of apologies I need to make as of late."
"Look, I know you don't think Romeo's-" Before Ruby could even start, Touko teached out and grabbed her cheeks with her gloved hand, squishing her cheeks into her mouth, and stopping her from speaking any further.
"Don't." Touko said gently but firmly. She really didn't want to talk about him, this moment wasn't about him, and it didn't get to be about him. Looking right into the silver eyes of her best friend, she started as sincerely as she could. "This isn't about him, I said something I shouldn't have, and I want to apologize."
After saying her piece, Touko let Ruby's face go, the goofball holding the same face for a moment before fixing her lips and smiling brightly.
"Apology accepted." Relief flowed through Touko like a river, now that she was willing to listen she cou- wait, did she hear her right?
"But… I didn't apologize yet, I just said I wanted to." Getting a giggle in response wasn't what she had expected, but Ruby couldn't help herself, especially when Touko was acting silly, like she'd thought she still held a grudge.
"And that's more than enough. I know you'd never turn your back on me, it just hurt to hear you say that." With that, the fuchsia eyed woman was able to fully relax.
"I still don't think it's a good idea… but I'm never just gonna leave you on your own." Touko hoped that was all that would be said on this for the time being. She knew it was an argument that would inevitably come up again, and one day, she or Ruby would have to give in, but for now, it just didn't matter to her.
"That goes both ways, you know." the reaper reminded her, a gentle hand clasping around Touko's own flesh and bone digits. This was nice, if nothing else, then she could take comfort in them being back where they had been before. Even if it wasn't exactly where she wanted them to be, this was acceptable. Feeling Ruby's thumb start to rub against the back of her hand, Touko coughed. Uh, right, they had business to discuss, right?
"So… what're we going to do about SLVR?" Touko said, just a bit faster than usual, garnering a giggle from Ruby.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them." Ruby said, a small smirk on her face.
"You think they learned their lesson?" Somehow she doubted that was the case, after all, in her experience, bullies had a tendency to pass the buck even in their own minds, and with Belka outright admitting to fixing things to play out a certain way, they did have some basis to just blame everything on the rich girl.
"Oh, they will, especially when we get to Vacuo."
"Ruby… what did you do?" The woman didn't respond verbally, but her smirk widened in a very proud yet mischievous way that she wasn't sure she liked.
"I tattled."
In the weeks that followed her team's beatdown at the hands of Lao, Alaska had a lot of time to think about what had happened, to reflect on herself and her actions, and to think about how she ended up in the position she found herself and her team in. But, naturally, that wasn't what she actually did with her down time at all, that was just what all her snobby Professors told her to do. The hell did she need to reflect on herself for? If anyone knows who the hell she is, it's her, right? It wasn't like they were even bedridden for long, hell, Loyal was runnin' around fetching things for them before the first week was over, and only a few days ago she heard Aethel groaning about wanting a soda, and then hopping up outta bed like it was nothing. Obviously, she wasn't supposed to, so she had to end up handcuffed to the bed before she would actually listen. She'd tried to tell her to lay down, but that only ever worked for a few minutes at a time, and then she'd be back up and at it.
Really, most of the professors were just stopping at their dorm for 'monitoring', but what for what exactly? She genuinely didn't know, most of their injuries were fine and healed up by the time she was awake, apparently the counselor's Semblance let him give his Aura to other people or somethin', and as such, after about a week of treatment, she felt right as rain, well, except for the cast. As good as Aura was for fixing people up, it wasn't perfect, they knew that first hand from Vera's own arm injury, so her wrist and Aethel's leg would have to heal the old fashion way. Hell, Aethelflad was the only one who really needed to be looked after at this point, her leg was going to be shot for a while, until about a week before they left for the Vytal Festival if the nurses were right. The muscle and tissue damage may have healed, but there was still physical trauma she'd have to work through, meaning she'd have to wear a cast until that point, and a brace for a good while afterwards. It infuriated her to no end, mostly because she had been completely helpless in the face of it all. It was like they were fighting a ruthless, inhuman monster, not some pint sized ginger who decided all of a sudden that the only emotion he could feel was anger. She'd get back at that little bastard, she didn't know how yet, but she'd figure it out.
Was the place to figure it out at Aethel's favorite nightclub, looking at the bottom of her glass of whiskey? No, but that wasn't the point anyway, the point was to have a night to forget about all the detention they were looking down the barrel of. It had taken damn near a month, but they were all finally up and about without any pain. Combat was completely off the table for all of them for the moment, and Aethel was still in a cast and crutches, but they could move, and damn it, they were gonna do something fun, not just lie around and stare at the ceiling. At least, that was the plan, she was supposed to get drunk, find someone to take for a ride or knock their teeth out, throw up until she felt better, and then pass out, but once the alcohol started to flow through her body, her ability to hold in her shitty mood started to slip. Pretty soon, she was just dragging the mood down, snapping at anyone who so much as bumped into her, so she just let her girls wander off and have their fun. She tried to distract herself from her thoughts by keeping an eye on her team, mostly just watching to make sure no one got any ideas. Aethelflad would usually be on the dance floor, but her cast and crutches made that hard, so she just wandered around. Vera was making her way down though, her inhibitions all but gone as she was well and truly plastered. Their favorite weirdo had never really gotten the hang of pacing herself, but hey, she was having fun. Loyal was just going around wherever her attention led her, and at the moment, it had her excitedly talking with a group of girls who were practically fawning over her. It might have been genuine, but she didn't trust the way they looked, too flashy and glittery for her tastes. As she was considering going over and introducing herself, something bumped her ankle, hard enough to sting, but not enough to leave any marks. Turning around and ready to throw a mean punch, she quickly stopped when she recognized the red bob of Aethelflad's hair, the brat had to know she wouldn't actually punch her with that cast on. Oh well, she'd just tally it all up once it came off. The hooligan she called her friend smirked knowingly and picked up her whiskey, taking a sip as she set her crutches against the wall, wincing at the burn it carried.
"Are you just gonna sit there looking all pissy all night?" While mostly teasing, she recognized the actual concern in her friend's voice. Gods, she must have looked even worse than she felt if the skater was making a big deal about it.
"I'm here to get drunk, not to be some party girl." As if to prove a point, she took her glass back and swiftly downed what little remained, just getting an eye roll in response. Deciding to get the topic off of herself, she went back to looking around, and she realized that, for once, Aeth was all on her own. Normally she'd have a boy following her, sometimes two, or the occasional girl depending on how she was feeling, but today, nothing. "Speaking of, why ain't you hanging off someone's arm?"
"I'm probably not getting any tonight, people are acting all weird about the crutches." the freckled girl complained, motioning to her leg. Besides, as much as she'd love to have someone's lips on her own right about now, there were more important matters at hand, namely Alaska's moping. This, of course, was something that she simply couldn't let continue, if she was just mad, that would be one thing, but as much as Alaska could pretend otherwise, she was down in the dumps. She didn't know if it was because of what the little bitch had said to her, or the beat down they'd taken itself, but either way, she needed to get her mind off of it. Thankfully, there were a few ways of cheering up her leader, mostly getting even with the people who wronged her, and stress relief. As it just so happened, she knew this club had the opportunity for her to do both. "What about you? I found someone that I bet you'll like."
Alaska raised an eyebrow as she motioned over towards the bar, seeing two men sharing a drink, one with what looked like cotton candy for hair, and the frankly massive bartender. She wasn't sure which of them Aethel was referring to, the bartender was huge and naturally attracted a fair bit of attention, but his friend was just so in your face with all those bright colors. Thinking like her friend for a moment, she was probably assuming the bartender's size was consistent with his nether regions, which, if true, was a touch more terrifying than enticing, not to mention that even if she was interested in him, she had a feeling she wasn't his type.
"I'm not in the mood, besides, given the way he tried to talk up Loyal and has been eying up the other Faunus girls in here, I think he may have some sorta Faunus fetish." It was actually pretty funny watching that big ox of a man try to flirt with Loyal, it wasn't like she was completely innocent, she'd spent her own fair share of time drooling over boys, but she was a simple girl. If you were interested in her, you needed to say so up front, otherwise she'd just think you were being friendly, and as such, after all the cringe inducing innuendos and the time spent buttering her up, the man was, hilariously, left speechless when she just walked off and waved goodbye to the nice bartender.
"Not him, his friend." Aethel said, reaching over and physically moving her head to look at the more colorful of the two, and Alaska quickly furrowed her brow taking a closer look at him. Like her, he was slumped over, probably drowning his problems in booze just like her. Well, that would certainly make him an easier catch than most, and even from her seat, she liked what she saw, a cute face, not too skinny, a little on the short side, but then again, next to that bartender, everyone looked on the short side.
"The walking gumdrop?" Despite considering it already, she tried not to look too interested. She knew what Aethelflad was doing, and while she appreciated it, she wasn't going to just give in, she wasn't even sure she was in that sort of mood tonight.
"Oh come on, don't tell me you don't wanna find out if he tastes as sweet as he looks." Alaska rolled her sky blue eyes at the suggestion, the red head certainly could be creative when she wanted to. Unfazed however, Aethel leaned in and started to whisper into her ear. "Besides, he's caught the eye of a certain someone."
Now that was a strange thing to say, Alaska didn't consider herself perfect by any means, but even she had enough standards not to act like a homewrecker. Aethelflad, however, just didn't care about such things, she'd hoped the first few times she needed to have a scorned lover of one of her flings pried off of her, it would dissuade her from such activities, but no. Still, the fact that Aethel had bothered to bring it up piqued her interest, especially considering she knew how she felt about it. "You wanna stop being all cryptic and just tell me?"
"I got one of my little boy toys to get into Belka's scroll and send me everything on it. It wasn't much, but take a guess on who she's been texting non-stop for the last two-ish months?" Realization slowly dawned on the bluenette's face as she looked back over at the bright mix of dye he called hair, then back to Aethelflad's smirking lips in disbelief.
"You serious?" she asked in complete shock. Almost taking it as a challenge, the freckled girl pulled out her scroll and opened a photo of Belka and this man, sitting together and sharing a drink. She had a big dumb smile on her face as she took the photo, and while the man mimicked her, something seemed off, his smile wasn't as full as hers and it didn't quite reach his eyes, but before she could get a better look, Aethel flipped to another photo, then another, all showing similar poses.
"Yup, mostly kiddie shit, but considering the amount of pictures of him she has saved, I think it's safe to assume she's head over heels for him." The implications of Aethel's words didn't fully sit right with her, as cathartic as it would be, this was well and truly underhanded, cowardly even… But was it more underhanded than siccing your psycho teammate on someone like an attack dog? Was it more cowardly than tricking your own friend because you're too weak to get your hands dirty? If anyone deserved this, it was her, right? This was no betrayal of trust, Alaska hated Belka just as much as she hated her. And besides, if those pictures were anything to go by and Aethel was being truthful, then he didn't really seem all that invested in her anyway. With that, her mind was made up and she stood up, setting her glass in front of Aethelflad.
"Watch Loyal's drinks for me, and make sure Vera doesn't try to bring home any weirdos while I'm gone."
Meanwhile, Romeo wasn't paying attention to anything around him, his mind was focused on the fact that he wasn't drunk enough, he was certainly on the way there, but it would take a few more drinks to get the job done. Stress had been eating away at him, although that was nothing new, he was a criminal mastermind after all, the best damn crime lord in Vale, managing stress was just part of the job, something to be balanced with fun, a steady stream of booze, and loose women. Unfortunately, it was doing little to remedy his current mood at the moment. Lavender still wasn't talking to him, and she'd either found the bug or gotten rid of her scroll, because Verde wasn't getting a signal from it anymore. Hell, if it wasn't for the fact that she was still crashing at Melodias's place, he wouldn't even know if she was still in Vale. It should have been enough to know she was safe, siblings fought, hell, even he and JJ had come to physical blows before, and Melodias was one of the few people he knew he could trust around Lavender.
If it was just a fight that had them not talking, he'd be fine. She was a grown woman now, and whether he liked it or not, she was allowed to spend some time away and blow off steam, same as the rest of them, she'd come back when she was ready to talk. But that wasn't all it was, he also had to worry about the cult, or more specifically, the snake in her ear. He just didn't know what to do, she wouldn't listen to reason, even if it was astoundingly clear that he was right. After Ruby had told him about the caged Grimm at Vermillion, he started to dig, and sure enough, that familiar feeling wasn't just him being paranoid, this was the exact same shit that got his old man killed. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if it was the same group, just now with their own goons instead of the Fang. So as much as she didn't want to hear it, yes, in this case, he did know what was best for her! But she didn't listen, all because they entertained her very stupid ideas about revenge. Hell, he'd considered the logistics of it more than once now, making it look like one of those cultists got a hold of Scarlet would be piss easy. The only real question was if he could live with himself after the fact.
He didn't want to think about that now though, he just needed one night, one night of distractions, no dancing around with Belka and pretending to be some stomach churning charming prince type instead of the real him, no contemplating the pros and cons of murdering Scarlet just to get Lavender back into his good graces, and the fact that he was even remotely considering that was worrying. But.. was it really that different from what he'd already done? The pig that grabbed Lavender, Floss, they were just doing their jobs and he had put them down without much thought, would it really be all that different? No, damn it, NO! Scarlet was innocent by all rights, she didn't deserve to die for something she had nothing to do with. Fuck, he needed a distraction, this wasn't him, it was just the booze making him look at the easy way out. He was better than that, it was something Neo, Roman, or Gods forbid, Tyrian would do, not him!
"Howdy sugar, mind if I buy you a drink?" His head turned to see a woman smiling at him as she leaned against the bar, already sliding cards of Lien over at JJ. How he hadn't noticed her was beyond him, she was tall, taller than him by a few inches in fact, had a sky blue head of hair that reached her nicely shaped hips, and eyes that matched it, and she wasn't just tall, but big in all the right places… Well would you look at that, a big, beautiful distraction, and she was coming onto him no less? Oh, he could certainly work with this, shooting a brief glance at JJ signaling to give the lady whatever she wanted before giving her his full, undivided attention.
"Not in the slightest. I'm just surprised, normally the ones worth finding don't make themselves so obvious." She noticed the way he pepped up upon seeing her, it was a nice change of pace from how he'd been moody a moment ago, a part of her was even worried he'd be intimidated by her height. It wasn't all of them, obviously, but her fair share of boys had clearly been intimidated if she was the same height as them, let alone taller, but if he cared, it surely didn't show.
"So, what's got a cutie like you lookin' so glum?" Ah, his problems, the very last thing he wanted to talk about.
"Oh, just old family drama rearing its ugly head." he deflected, already thinking of something to move onto. Her accent clearly wasn't from around here, that would probably be a good place to start. "But enough about that, I know that accent, you're a country girl, right?"
"Sure am, born and raised in eastern Vacuo!" It worked like a charm, country types were always excited to talk about their hometowns and how they were better and more welcoming than the big city.
"You're a long way from home then, just out seeing the sights, or are you here for work?"
"Nah, I'mma student, you, my friend, are looking at the strongest gal in Beacon Academy." Beacon? Again? Now that was a coincidence, it seemed like he was a student magnet as of late, not that he minded. They were typically fun and wild things, and this one absolutely screamed wild to him.
"A Huntress huh? You know, I considered it for a minute myself." Romeo paused for just a moment, taking a swing of his drink to mask how he thought about which excuse to use. It was just to lower her guard a bit, most Huntsman types felt more at ease around their own, yet for some reason he just… couldn't, none of them sounded good. No, that wasn't it, he just couldn't summon up the energy to pretend to be someone he wasn't right now. "But… it just wasn't someone I could see myself being. What about you? Why'd you go through with it?"
"Honestly? It might sound selfish, but I just want to be somethin' more than just a farm girl." She didn't know why she was telling him this, maybe it was the booze, maybe it was just that she could tell he was being straight with her, so she was returning the courtesy, but regardless, she kept going. "I don't hate it, and I'm damn good at it, but why do I gotta raise cattle just 'cause it's what Pa' does? I can fight, be my own woman, and do good while doin' it, not just bein' my Daddy's daughter."
"I get it, I've lost track of how many times someone's said I'm just like my old man. People say it like it's something to be proud of, but honestly, it just pisses me off every time I hear it." He wasn't planning on spilling all of… this to her, he had expected to just nod along and agree with whatever she flapped her lips about, but that... shit, that hit closer to home than he was ready for. It was something he and the Malachite boys all struggled with, being second and third generation criminals, it was hard to be seen as anything other than an extension of their parents. While Maverick set himself apart by being leagues more ruthless than his mother, Melodias did it by not playing the game as much as he could, and JJ set himself apart by being less ambitious than his parents and being happy with his lot in life. As for himself, he liked to think he set himself apart by being better than his parents were, by having morals and a code to stick to, not hurting innocents, only spilling blood when needed, treating the people under him like actual people, and making sure he looked good while doing so. Granted, that last one wasn't very different, but don't fix what ain't broke, right?
The issue was that in his case, he still couldn't escape it, anyone who knew his old man or his mother before she became a shut in would tell him at every opportunity how proud they would be of him, and he'd have to smile and go along with it like the words didn't make him want to puke. He'd fought tooth and nail to not be like them, to be better than they were, but that didn't matter, as despite everything, his name was what mattered, not his own actions. Yet here this girl was, actually on the path of escaping that track. Were he in a more foul mood, he might have broken the bottle over her head out of jealousy alone, but in his current mindset, he couldn't help but respect it.
"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be all moody and serious, I just got worked up about it." She said, patting him on the back as she saw a slight scowl starting to form on his face. He relaxed at her touch, firm, but not rough, and he swiftly decided he liked it. Normally, he'd be all in favor of not learning more than he needed, but this one was refreshing, and even more, what she said was actually resonating with him in a way none of the others had.
"No, you're fine, if anything, I'm envious. A farmer's life wasn't what you wanted, so you took life by the horns, made your own path."
"You do get it, huh?" She moved just a bit closer at that, just as JJ brought over their drinks. To Alaska's surprise, Romeo gave him a thumbs up, and he just left the drinks without taking the money. Oh? So her new friend was some hotshot here? She could work with that. They lifted their glasses, clinking them together.
"The name's Romeo, I don't believe I caught your's, miss..." Romeo, huh? She'd have to test how that sounded coming out a few times, and she had the perfect excuse to do so.
"Name's Alaska, don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to remember it." Now more familiar with each other, they drank to their introduction, and to the long, fun night they had ahead of them.
The first thing Alaska was aware of once she woke up was how sore she felt. It wasn't just the throbbing of her skull from the hangover she'd no doubt given herself, in fact it was mostly her legs, backside, and her arms. For some reason, they were all tender to the lightest touch, and having woken up just moments prior, she couldn't seem to quite figure out why this was the case, her knuckles and face felt fine, so it didn't appear that she'd been in a fight. She tried to ignore the feeling and curl up into the comforter to go back to sleep, considering there were no classes for her to attend today, but that just gave her a big whiff of the next thing she noticed, the smell. To be blunt, it was funky as Aethel would call it, like a mixture of sweat, booze, and… sex? Finally throwing the covers off of herself, she realized that she wasn't in her bed, or at Beacon for that matter. Okay, the room looked normal, a bit on the small side and very minimalist but still, normal. Oh, this was Romeo's room, right? Yeah, that's right, they'd had some drinks, talked until the club closed down,she'd asked to stay the night, and then… Ah, right, she'd slept with him. The memories came flooding back after that, things were still a bit hazy from being drunk, but all the important bits were all there.
Climbing out of bed, she went about finding her clothes, her underwear and pants were left thrown onto the floor along with her scroll., Sliding her drawers back on, she opened the scroll, seeing that there was about eight percent left in the charge and a lot of missed messages from her girls. Ignoring the texts for the moment, she entered her passcode, only to be met by the photo gallery, the most recent additions being a pair of pictures of Romeo passed out on her chest, and after that was a wall of filth, well over several dozen photos and a few videos of them doing it, the nasty, the bedroom rodeo, whatever you wanted to call it. She tried to put the warmth that spread along her cheeks and lady bits aside for the moment, trying to remember what the hell she had been thinking when she decided to film herself in so many compromising positions. Then she remembered why she had approached Romeo in the first place, that she was going to send them to Belka, rub it in her face that she'd taken a ride on the boy's Wick before her. In truth, it was still very tempting to do, she had gotten Belka's number from Aeth last night, and all it would take was one little message, she wouldn't even have to touch the little tart after that, just give her a knowing look whenever they walked by each other. Scrolling back up to the top, she clicked on the clearer of the two pictures. It was perfect, his head, complete with frazzled orange, pink, and white hair, lying on her bare chest, looking all tired, content, and… cute?
Well of course she thought he was cute, but what did that have to do with sending it? Maybe just because it was a nice photo of them? Yeah, that was it, this one was for herself, Belka wouldn't have a strong reaction to the photo, it was too sweet, with her hand in his hair and his arms all wrapped around her while he hugged her like a pillow in his sleep. Like the others, it caused a warmth to flood through her, this time spreading through her chest. Her thumb hovered over the share button for just a moment before she backed out of it. No, that was their moment, she wasn't going to make it lesser by being petty. Oh Gods, she was thinking about this like they were a couple or something, it wasn't like that! They'd spent one night together, it was just a hookup. Sure, she did like him, he innately understood her on a level most guys didn't reach even if they tried to, he was funny and confident even in the face of a girl who could bench press ten of him at the same time, but that didn't matter, she didn't even know him all that well… Then again, she'd certainly like to get to know him better… Maybe she could fix that. Oh… oh crap, had she caught feelings? Damn it all, how had she managed to catch feelings in not even half a day? Okay, this complicated things quite a bit, but she could handle that. He obviously didn't even like the little tart like that, hell, he wouldn't have gotten into bed with her if he had!
Her search for the rest of her clothes was fruitless, meaning she must have just left them discarded on the floor or something on the way to the bedroom. Erring on the side of caution, she found Romeo's suit jacket and draped it over herself, letting it give her some type of modesty. It was small enough on her that she couldn't fully close it, but that was fine, it covered the important bits anyway. Exiting the room, she found his apartment to be much bigger than she'd remembered from last night, it even had a second floor! The bottom floor was even bigger than the top floor where his bedroom was. In the middle, there was a whole dance stage complete with a pole that reached all the way to the ceiling, and one of the walls was just a straight up bar. In fact, as she walked down the curved staircase, she noticed that only a small section of the downstairs actually looked like it was used for living in. There was what looked like a living room set up with a couch that could have easily let twenty or so people sit on it at once, which just so happened to be where she'd left her top and bra last night, with a fireplace right by it and one of those obnoxiously big holo screens on the adjacent wall. One of the corners was made up like a kitchen with all the basic necessities, which coincidentally happened to be where Romeo was, dressed in nothing but a bright pink bathrobe and groggily looking into the open fridge as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Making her way over to him, she noticed his cigar sitting down on the counter. Picking it up, she gave it a once over, noticing that the paper band had a logo she didn't recognize on it. It looked decently fancy though, so she assumed it was either Atlesian or Mistralian. She then placed it to her lips and took a deep breath in, it was sweeter than she remembered, but it carried the same burn that she had learned to savor along with the familiar pleasurable tingle that followed. Hearing the inhale, Romeo spun around in shock, only to get a face full of smoke as Alaska exhaled.
"Mornin." Alaska said casually, setting the cigar back down as he realized who was in front of him. Aww, he looked all cute when he was confused. Granted, she probably wouldn't have thought it was all that cute if she saw his hand inch towards the knife on the counter next to them before he realized it was her, but he managed to pass it off by leaning against the counter, making it simply look like he was trying to play it cool. Internally, however, he was woefully unprepared for this. Sure, sealing the deal was something he had down to a science, yet he never knew what to do after the fact. In truth, he'd just never really cared about the morning after, most girls that he'd been with were smart enough to just leave, the allure of bedding a known criminal generally tending to wear off once the heat of the moment was over. It wasn't as if he'd lied, it was a hookup, nothing more, and anyone who was shocked that he didn't want them to stick around the next morning had no one to blame but themselves for coming up with false hopes. But this was different, Alaska was genuinely happy to see him, and that… actually felt rather nice. In fact, he dared to say he wanted her to stay, what the hell was he supposed to do with that?
"Oh, uh, good morning. You want some coffee?" Gods above, he sounded like a nervous teenager who didn't know how to talk to women. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice, grabbing one of the mugs off the counter and heading over to the pot.
"I'd love some, thanks." Okay, he wasn't screwing this up in the first few seconds, that was a good sign. Turning around, he grabbed some of the creamers, not really knowing what flavor she'd like. He just took a handful, turning around to see her drinking that bitter sludge in its purest form. Well, now he'd really seen everything. With the caffeine starting to kick her back into gear, Alaska walked over to the still open fridge, peering inside. "So, what's for breakfast? I dunno about you, but I worked up an appetite last night."
"Oh, I um, I don't know." The bluenette glanced back at him, expecting him to just be distracted by her backside, which, while flattering, didn't help the emptiness in her stomach she was looking to fill. Romeo eventually managed to tear his eyes away from her rear just long enough to glance into the fridge and see that he had practically nothing, maybe enough eggs to do something with, but only if she just wanted them scrambled. No, that was pathetic, he could do better than that. "Sorry, I guess I'm just not used to company in the morning. We can just order something if you'd like."
"Well, lemme fix that then, c'mon, you've gotta have something other than coffee and booze in here." Alaska chuckled. As nice as eating out sounded, it didn't beat a home cooked meal. Looking further in the fridge, she saw eggs, a staple of many breakfasts, about half a stick of butter, some peppers, and sliced ham. Okay, she could work with that. "See, you've got everything you need to make some omelets."
"I do?" Romeo asked, looking back into the fridge confused, somehow missing the ingredients right in front of his face. Collecting the ingredients for him, Alaska went about setting the stove. Once it was prepared, she turned around, and seeing the blank expression on his face, she couldn't help but chuckle. Was this boy really that careless, or was he just completely hopeless?
"You can afford to have a stripper pole in your living room, but you can't afford cooking lessons?"
"When you say it like that, it makes me sound irresponsible." Romeo countered, playing it off as a joke. However, he soon realized Alaska was dead serious as he suddenly found himself in an impromptu cooking lesson. If the coffee hadn't woken him up, the several small burns and cuts he gave himself finished the job, his inexperience clearly showing with every little screw up. It had been a long time since he'd been an amateur at anything, and as such, it was hard not to grow frustrated at the simple mistakes he was making. Alaska was having a good time at least, it let her be a show off, and her teasing was in good nature, so he couldn't really be mad about it. Besides, the omelets were surprisingly good, although, with no real dining area to speak of, they found themselves eating on the couch.
"So, you dodged my question last night." Alaska started, partly because she wasn't sure what else to talk about, but also because she just cared about whatever it was, he'd been hitting the bottle way harder than her and she'd been trying to make sure she didn't remember last night at all before Aeth pointed him out. "About what was eatin' atcha, you said it was some family stuff?"
"Oh, right. I dunno, it's… just a lot. I didn't wanna scare you off by unloading all of that on you." Again, he deflected, though less for the sake of fun and more because talking about his sister who nearly killed one of her fellow students alongside being groomed by a cult wasn't exactly first morning over material.
"What? You'll let me handle the family jewels, but not the family drama?" Romeo nearly choked on the last bite of his meal from the bluntness of that statement, and as soon as the food was down his gullet, he burst into laughter, soon followed by the cowgirl. This girl, this fucking girl, she was unlike anyone he'd ever met before. Okay, he got it, she was a big girl and could handle some unsavory bits of his life. Setting his plate to the side, he sat back and got comfortable as he began to open up to Alaska.
"I don't have a lot of family, not blood family anyways, it's just me and my sister. Okay, that's not completely true, my Mother's still alive, but we don't talk to her anymore." His tone had turned from somber to bitter the moment the word 'mother' left his lips, and it was clear that this wasn't the usual growing apart or differences of personality just making them not get along, it was something far more troubling. For a bond between a mother and her own children to fall into what sounded like genuine hatred from Romeo, whatever happened had to have been severe.
"Did she… I mean were you…" She didn't want to finish the question, her own mother wasn't exactly what she'd call great during the few times she did see her, and that already messed with her head enough. If Romeo's mom was putting her hands on them, she certainly didn't want to be the one to bring those memories back into the forefront of his mind.
"No, Ma' tried to be good to us, to both of us, she just fucked up… a lot." The words were spoken with a weariness she wouldn't have expected from him, as far as she could tell, it was like he was admitting it just as much to himself as he was to her. "I'm not gonna get into it all so I don't get angry, but the long and short of it is that it's just been me and my sister for the most part. But recently, I think I messed up with her, she asked me to do something that wasn't right to another girl, but I just don't think it's a good idea. She's got these people telling her that she's right to want it, but she's not thinking straight!"
"I know what you mean, not about the last part, but it's always just been me and Pa', my Ma' was never around for long when she showed up, guess she just had better places to be. Point is, I get it. Family, real family, isn't something you get to mess up. You'd do anything for her, yeah?"
"Yeah, but…" There really was no way to explain the severity of the situation without just being upfront about it, something that obviously wasn't an option. As he debated actually spilling the truth to the Vacuan, his thoughts were ripped away as she grabbed his hand, giving it a firm, yet comforting, squeeze.
"Look, I dunno what your sister is going through… but it sounds like she's asking you because deep down she knows you're the only one who'll really be there for her when the chips are down."
"I… guess I hadn't thought of it like that."
"You said she was askin' something of you that wasn't right. Like I said, I dunno what the situation is, and I won't pry, but it sounds like these people are gonna help her go through with it if you don't do something about it. If these people are really that bad, you can't let them replace you as the one she trusts, especially with this sort of stuff." Now that was a terrifying thought, Lavender had potential, he saw it, the cult obviously saw it, hell, even Ruby saw it. But potential had to be guided, and if it was them guiding her instead of him… well, he didn't want to think about it. She didn't know it, but she'd given him a lot to think about. Before he could thank her properly though, her scroll went off with a message, abruptly cutting through the silence with a cartoon 'yeehaw' sound effect. Glancing down, she swore as she read the message. Aethelflad had texted her, and this time not to pry about how her night had gone, her absence hadn't gone as unnoticed as she'd hoped. Apparently, that weird robot professor had stopped by and asked about her. Needless to say, she needed to hurry back to Beacon before she faced any consequences.
"Damn it all, I gotta get going, but I'm free Sunday if you wanna meet up again." Romeo sighed, but knew it was probably for the best, he had a lot to think about. For something that was meant to be just a throwaway night of carnal pleasure, this had been far more insightful than he'd expected. One upside was that he got to watch her take his jacket off to throw on the entire upper portion of her ensemble, and as he admired the view, he decided that this would absolutely need a repeat performance.
"Sounds like a plan, do I have your number already or…" Smirking at the question, Alaska picked up a pen from a nearby table and started to write it down onto his chest, opening up his robe to get more room to write the numbers, definitely not so she could get one last feel of him before she left, no ma'am. With her number written down onto his skin, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning to leave, only to come face to face with a girl. Like Romeo, she was on the shorter side, in fact she was downright tiny, but the face scrunched up in unamusement at the sight before her along with her coiling scorpion tail stopped the girl from seeming as cute as she would normally find her in the moment. Lavender wasn't sure what to make of the scene in front of her aside from the fact that it was just gross, they did not have to be that touchy or shameless about what they'd clearly done. Then again, she supposed she was just lucky she hadn't walked in on them in the act considering how it looked currently. Alaska was even more clueless about the sudden appearance of a new girl, her golden eyes looking her up and down with the same intensity a snake stared down its prey with before striking.
"Oh, uh, hello… Are you a friend of Romeo's?"
"He's my brother, who're you?" Wait, brother? This was the girl they'd talked about? For a moment, she straight up didn't believe it. Firstly, Romeo obviously wasn't a Faunus, she didn't find any hidden ears, tails, claws, scales, or anything like that last night, nor in her photos, but they also didn't look anywhere near as similar as she'd have thought for his sister, although that could just be explained as them having really fucky genetics or being half siblings, and it wasn't like she was hiding how suspicious she was of this newcomer in her home.
"Look who finally decided to come home. Lavender, this is Alaska. Alaska, Lavender." Cutting right through the tension, the half-dressed man introduced them casually, his soft tone immediately disarming Lavender as far as his lover could tell. Okay, sister then, it was important to make a good impression, so she held out her hand and smiled.
"Well, it's nice to meet you little lady. Sorry I can't stay, but maybe we can talk next time I'm over?" Lavender raised an eyebrow at that, there was going to be a next time for this one? While she'd been lucky enough not to see any of his flings before now, she knew of his… reputation. However, the way he nodded at her implied that was indeed the case, as weird as that was for him.
"Sure, sounds good." Lavender said, taking the bigger girl's hand and letting her shake it. After that, she made her way to the door, only stopping to blow another kiss Romeo's way before leaving. As soon as the door was shut, Lavender let her face fall as she stared down her brother as he went back over to the kitchen area. "I don't like her."
"You saw her for less than a minute." he deadpanned in response while pouring the Faunus her own cup of coffee, which she accepted, but refused to drop the subject.
"She was too touchy with you, I know you probably aren't serious about her." In her eyes, it was a very valid point. She didn't want her brother surrounded by a bunch of floozies, what if he caught something, or worse, ended up the father of an unwanted bastard because one of them lied about protection?
"I happen to like that she's touchy." His response worked as intended as she cringed into herself. She frowned in disapproval, it was obvious he was just trying to get her to drop it. She was just looking out for him, and this was how he repaid her? Seeing that she was ready to keep arguing, he decided to cut right to the chase. "So, do you want to have the conversation you came over to have, or are we going to go over the rest of my sex life?"
The room grew quiet at that, Lavender was fully expecting another fight considering her brother's earlier attitude towards her. She didn't want to say it, so instead she stopped pretending they didn't both know why she wanted to talk.
"You know what I want to ask you, right?"
"About Scarlet or Vacuo?"
"Both." Romeo sighed, he was just as eager to put this conversation off as she was, but it needed to be hashed out now.
"Let's start with Vacuo then, I assume you're going to go no matter what I say?"
"At least for a few months, yeah." Lavender said, rubbing her arm as she spoke. She'd already agreed to return after talking with Henna. She'd been putting it off for as long as she could, but now she only had until the end of the month before she had to leave, which in turn meant that it was all the time she had to try and convince Romeo to come with her, so he could at least try to understand what their Dad was trying to impart on them before he was taken from them.
"I'm going be blunt, I don't trust these people at all. Everything I've heard about them makes it sound like they're a bunch of death worshiping wackjobs." Lavender bristled, obviously taking offence to that description, but before she could argue, he held his hand up, stopping her. She didn't really have an argument against that that would convince him otherwise anyways, especially considering that so far, his exposure to the congregation was the actions of that psychopath Moon and a single call between her and Henna. "But… if it really means that much to you, I'll come."
In the blink of an eye, she threw herself on him, her arms wrapping around his neck in a tight and warm embrace as her feet dangled off the floor. Despite his feelings on this matter, he held her back just as tightly, he'd missed this, he had missed her.
"Thank you! Trust me, you won't regret it! Henna's actually really nice, I promise, just give her a chance!" Relief flooded through him as she threw her arms around him, but he was not happy about this concession. Sure, his operation could run just fine with JJ and Maverick at the helm while he was away, but the only reason he was even going through with this was because he knew he needed her trust, and showing her that he'd take this step was all he could think of.
"We'll see about that. But when we get there, don't expect me to get on my knees and pray for anything or participate in any weird ass rituals." He said, setting Lavender down.
"So… what about Scarlet?" Romeo sighed, picking up the cigar Alaska had left and taking a deep drag, he needed that hit of nicotine before he said this next part. Alaska's words from earlier rang through his head, if it isn't him, it'll be this Henna girl, or even worse, someone like Moon that she'll turn to in the future. His hands were tied.
"I'm absolutely not killing her, I think going through with it is a terrible idea." Lavender looked down, she'd known this would be a point of contention. He wasn't willing to spill blood, not yet, maybe after Henna talked with him, he'd understand, she just hoped he wouldn't hate her if her hand was forced before that. "But, if you're going to do it, you need to do it right. There needs to be no witnesses, no collateral damage."
"You mean…" She couldn't believe it, no really, a part of her just straight up didn't buy the sudden change in attitude. Was he just desperate to get back in her good graces? No, he was a schemer, was this part of some plan? For the life of her, she couldn't figure it out, but she was hopeful nonetheless.
"I'll sign off on her, but just her. After that though, you agree to put this little revenge mission to bed." Lavender could have jumped on him once again if she wasn't so shocked over it. This was, well, it was the best response she realistically could have hoped for! He was coming around, slowly but surely, she was making progress!
"You… you mean it? You'll help me avenge Dad? No tricks?" Romeo chuckled in a way that wiped away any lingering doubts she had as he patted her shoulder.
"Again, I think it's a bad idea and I don't agree with it, but if you're going to do it, I'm going to make sure you at least do it the right way instead of blindly wandering into a Huntsmen infested building." Romeo said, teasing her for her last, less than successful, attempt.
"And Henna, she's… I know you don't know her, but she's our sister too." Her brother paused for a moment, rubbing his chin thinking of how to respond to that before shrugging.
"Right… Well, I'll need to meet her and get to know her a little better before I can agree with that." Lavender smiled once more, it wasn't a no, right?
