Gratia Mindaro - Armoury

"No."

She wordlessly took the pair of binoculars from Luke, weighing the sturdy old piece of plastic in her hands. It would require some of her own work to restore to perfect working condition, but what she had been given was acceptable for her purposes. Her gaze drifted away from the other teenager and towards the plastic surface of the binoculars. Once likely a jet black sheen, they had greyed over the years, and a layer of dust was still present upon its body. It was a surprise, knowing that this object had survived so many years intact, to the point where had it not been for the colouration, she could have mistaken it for new.

Gratia lifted the binoculars up and in front of her eyes. Luke Schwarz' confused face was clear through the lenses. She tapped a button, and the binoculars seemed to whirr, a light noise escaping its mass as the view zoomed. Now she could see Schwarz' nose in clear detail, from the tiny, tiny blackheads to the red of the skin. She tapped a button again, and the binoculars whirred, zooming out.

They worked well.

That was fortunate.

The Mistralese huntress lowered her binoculars, once again allowing her cold, impassive eyes to meet those of the other teenager's.

She spoke.

"Merci."

Cold, impassive black met warm, amiable grey, and teenaged boy nodded in response. Looked like he'd pulled out exactly what she was looking for, after all.

"No problem."

Closing the box up, he shoved it back into its spot on the shelf, loosing a very small grunt, more a hnh, of exertion in doing so. Scooping up his own pieces, he glanced around the room for any more interesting-looking piles. While he did mention having everything he needed with the screen's addition to the contents of his looting, it would also behoove him to have a backup or two, right? Redundancy wasn't always a detriment, especially when it meant options.

Additionally.

He blinked, looking over to the short-haired gunslinger he'd moments ago subjected to his own breed of awkwardity and half an internal monologue. He ought to do right by her as well. Especially since she'd been so forthright with him about him practically needing to be walked through this class step-by-step. It was the least he could do.

"What about you, Cian? Anything you need help finding?"

Granted, phrasing it like that made it sound more like an obligation to repay a debt than an honest desire to help out...

His sister seemed to have gotten the "straightforward" genes as well as the "height" genes in his family.

Kuhaku Shiro - Armory Class

What to do, what to do? Shiro had a rough idea of what he wanted to make. A drafted 'schematic' crudely drawn onto his Scroll's painting application. All he needed now were the hard goods. The materials to actually create what he set out to come up with. White furry ears twitching like a pair of satellite dishes with an electronic version of Tourette's syndrome, Shiro wandered about looking at the classes' multiple random parts bins. Muttering to himself quietly like a madman, he held an odd back and forth conversation.

"For the body of collar, maybe some sort of polymer or plastic material? I think this class has a 3D Printer and CNC machine...I think. Bah, polymer would probably be better and able to stand up to the rigors of fighting."
Loudly, he rummaged through a bin he thought might have what he needed.
"It'll need to have a secure way of closing and snapping shut. Maybe machine out something like the way some game console controllers are made.."
Absent-minded, Shiro randomly tossed unwanted parts over his shoulder. Not exactly thinking about the mess he was creating or who he may potentially hit..
"After that, secure it shut with some small phillips head screws. Those should be around here somewhere...Now, what to contain the glow-in-the-dark chemical...Maybe some medical tubing with the ends sealed shut. Agh, where is...!"
At another bin, he located a bag of chemlights and the tubing he needed. Problem still was the material required for the body of his collar. Pausing his search, Shiro frowned and thought for a moment. He hadn't properly named his creation-to-be. Shrugging, he continued his loud search for mats. Ears and tail perking, he found a carton of sterile latex gloves and some protective goggles just in time for his Scroll's timer to set off.
"Oop! Gotta put this on hold for now." Trotting through the discarded mess he created, he set his found materials on his desk and trotted back over to the Degreaser tank where part of Kladenets lay in a grate. Removing his black gloves, he slipped the latex ones he found on over his bandaged hands and lifted the grate out of the tank. Dripping wet with solution, Shiro gently shook off the excess liquid and carefully removed Kladenets' spine. Looking around, he located the sand blaster and strided over. Kicking the back of the sand blaster open, he gingerly set the weapon part into the machine and slammed it shut. Staring through the glass window of the machine, Shiro remembered that he had forgotten. Forgotten a rather crucial step.

Letting out an muffled/exasperated sigh, Shiro removed his latex gloves and angrily searched the web on his Scroll once more. "Damn it. What PSI and grit did I use before?" Muttering to himself, he again wandered around the class looking for bags of a specific grit of sand.

Cian sighed as she looked at the small pile next to her full of small parts that was needed to make the headset work. Though she turned her head when she heard Lukes question what was she missing she had the major components for the headset and goggles what else did she need? Well beyond that the redesign required a different set of goggles but she had what she need with the basic frame she found. So all that really remained was a lens which she was holding and a transceiver she need a pair of them. "I need at least two transceivers Luke and a additional rectangular lens." she said as she went back to searching through the scrap pile looking for the items in question.

At last Abel's spirits began to rise. To assign credit where credit was due, Jack's bold move had come up aces for the team. Of course, a Megaladeus with its bite disabled provided a stiffer challenge than your everyday fish, its speed and strength would not prevent the students from serving up a hefty portion of defeat on plates of cold steel. Even Robert's tomfoolery -how did he even get into Beacon!? And how did I lose!?- failed to take the edge off Abel's good mood, even though his presence made the sudden invention of the first-ever Robert-ke-bob a remarkably probably event. While others kept watch, like Cobalt and Sangue, or did nothing, like Sepia, Diamond, Benjamin, Napoli, and Delta, Abel resumed his steady aiming of the Ampere. This time, with the Grimm monster at the surface in a mad effort to hydrate Robert and figure out how to not bite a giant foam lilypad, there lay for Abel a clear shot.

He did not waste it.

The guardian grinned as his weapon hit its mark, piercing its side. “Hey, listen for a sec'!” he shouted. “I hit a painful but nonvital spot so the thing doesn't berserk. If we kill it now, we can turn it into mincemeat before it goes nuts. I give it twenty-five seconds until our attacks don't work anymore. Time to move!”[/color] He closed his fist and pulled, threads of electricity yanking the speared Megaladeus toward the side of the pool. It was now or never.

"Like this one?" he asked, holding up a matching lens literally the second after she had finished her response with a smirk. Handing it over, he was almost surprised by his luck there. He'd literally been eyeing it as she had begun to respond.

Nice timing.

"Two transceivers..." he repeated, bringing a hand back to his chin to his chin and closing his eyes thoughtfully. He knew he'd seen some a while ago...

His eyes opened wide as it came back to him. That's it! the same box he'd been digging through while he started this whole sequence! He was fairly sure they'd been there, along with a plethora of other useful objects that he simply hadn't needed. Perfect!

Setting down his things once more, he deftly side-hopped over to original box, bending over and yanking it back out from the shelf.

Forcing the cardboard flaps apart as if opening some great set of double-doors, he beheld them, laying at the top of the pile: two gray blocks, what you might find if you disassembled an ethernet port or somesuch, the compact combinations of both transmitter and receiver.

"These?" he asked again, presenting them to her in each hand.

Ben almost rolled his eyes, probably would have if he weren't busy trying to find the chance to attack without overdrawing at the Aura bank. Something that, by now, he knew was impossible. So what was the next best option? Being as reckless as possible, of course. And nothing was more reckless than diving straight into the water, using Deinamig to pump up his legs, and going to town.

His first dive let him rake Artorius and Lawnslot along the beast's flank as he descended, and a few kicks of his legs brought him about to face it again as it tried to circle the pool. A few more kicks to put him on an intercept course, triggering the shotguns once he was close enough, and using the extra force from it and Deinamig to pierce deep. Remove weapons, reorient, repeat.

The downside, of course, is that he was eating up his Aura supply every time. A fact aggravated by his own weapons continuing to drain to try and replenish their own stores. He'd already popped both batteries but the boost didn't add up to much. Ben was going to have to hope that the beastie didn't manage to get a few good hits in while he was playing hit and run.

Chuckling at Emerald's boundless enthusiasm for the task at hand, Oswald contemplated her idea for goggles that connected to Scrolls. "Now, that's a good base idea, but I was thinking of something...a little more grand. It would take some serious engineering, but I think we could pull it off." Looking over at his teammate, Oswald nodded a few times.

"I was thinking we mount a camera or two- a small one- on ourselves. Maybe one in back, one in front? Then we hook those cameras up to these goggles and superimpose a small picture of the camera's capturing over the person's view. Just not sure how to toggle through or actually move the smaller feed if it gets in the way..."

Napoli Fiordilatte (THIS WEEK ON SHARK WEEK: GRIMM STUDIES)

Contrary to what appeared to be the popular opinion, Napoli was not, in fact, sitting idle. Instead he was dealing with the critical nuisance that seemed to plague so many snipers, bodies of water. The simple fact of the matter was that large depths would indeed slow down his bullets. He would have a few feet, but it wasn't enough.

This was a great opportunity to figure it out.

So while everyone else was playing the role of the fool in their awkward sword stabs and competing ideas of teamwork, Napoli was conducting an experiment. By utilizing wind dust bullets, he was able to displace quite a bit more water than normal with each shot, but it still wasn't satisfactory yet. That's when he started adding more bullets, utilizing his semblance to make the minor adjustments necessary to keep the bullets directly in line with one another. The first few bullets created a path that the last few used to kill the target.

Like a modern day Robin Hood splitting the arrow.

Satisfied with his experimentations, Napoli aimed his rifle with a large grin spreading across his face. It didn't matter where the shark ran too now, he'd be able to shoot it down without ever entering the pool. No need to get cold feet after all, Napoli mused as he fired off a stream of bullets at the shark.

BOOM.

HEADSHOT.

This is too easy.

Cobalt Chideta-Grimm Studies

Cobalt chuckled and clicked his gun to fully auto. The Napoli guy was smart, using sniper bullets to displace the water for further sniper bullets to get farther. A smart tactic, one that Cobalt wouldn't have thought of. Then again, he wasn't a sniper. Cobalt cracked his neck and began speaking.

"Alright, fire at will! Let's tear this oversized shark a new asshole!" Cobalt began firing at the Megaladeus rapidly, making sure to avoid any spots where others were melee attacking. The bullets sunk into it, but didn't penetrate very deeply due to the water slowing down the bullet. Everywhere above water though was fair game as they tore apart flesh with a wet thud. Cobalt remained steady throughout the firing, anyone else fired a bullet from this it would dislocated their shoulder.

Robert Fallson - Grimm Studies

Now that the Megaladeus had finally been stopped in its tracks, Robert used this time to regain his ability to breath. He climbed out of the pool, gasping for air, and just laid there for a minute, breathing hard. "Next time... someone else... can be bait," he said, taking in large gulps of precious oxygen between every couple words.

Getting back up to his feet, Robert looked at the Grimm that had just taken him on a very wild ride. Transforming his weapon into their ballistic form, the red-haired teen aimed straight at the space between the Grimm's eyes. "Looks like you'll be..." Robert quickly ran over to where he had left his stuff, grabbed his glasses, and ran back to the edge of the pool and put them on. "Sleeping with the fishes." Robert pulled the trigger and the 10mm round left his weapon with explosive force. Or, at least, should have. Instead, all that left the barrel was a stream of water that landed at Robert's feet. "Well that was anticlimactic."

Shuai Taidan and Kiran Ali Khan (After Combat Classes)

"Ah, that was fun~"

Enter Shuai Taidan, a Beacon-rooted Hunstman in the prime of his youth. Following his most-excellent duel against the heroic and adorable Jorie Ngo, a decapod crustacean Faunus of great skill and honour, he had retired to a quite-comfortable, mahogany bench of a complexion that was shared by its material. Clad in his tight, orange blazer and aimlessly playing with his glossy silver hair (silkier than a silkworm), the boy appeared to any voyeurs as almost a furnace lying upon the bench, eyes drifting upwards to watch the brightness of the ceiling.

You see, the boy was quite tired from the match, especially after flooding the entirety of the battleground with more than enough napalm to justify the Geneva Conventions. The heat and smoke ... as well the discomfort of a gas mask ... the exposure was all that was needed to exhaust a guy. And so, the costume-lover bathed in the radiation emitted by the flourescent lights above, hoodie covering his eyes and protecting them from the glare.

Taidan's radiated reflection was soon interrupted by a hearthy twhack alongside the back of his head.

Enter Kiran Ali Khan, a world-bound Huntsman entering adulthood. Following the excessive and reckless duel between the honourable Jorie and his immature, incorrigible, and far too energetic teammate, Kiran was left with no choice but to provide guidance in the form of a smack on the head. While Taidan reclined in comfort upon a bench that embodied the degree of opulence at Beacon Academy, Kiran stood firm behind him, his eyes gazing down in disappointment.

"How many times," Kiran sighed with an exasperation betraying the frequency of their 'lessons' on respect and honour, "must we speak about restraint? I'm certain we had this very discussion before my brief departure."

"This is number thirty-nine, Kibro!" was Taidan's muffled reply as he pushed himself up from the floor that his compatriot's smack had sent him rolling onto. He was, as expected of a member of the great Team KNVS, utterly unharmed and unphased by such lust for violence, and indeed, was in fact quite joyed to be in the presence of the dude he considered his 'best pal-bro-sidekick'. "And I was totally restrained man! I didn't burn down an entire forest this time!"

"You respond as though thirty-nine times is a good thing." Kiran shook his head, there was no end to his teammate's frivolity. Indeed in all their years together at the academy, Taidan had illustrated a remarkable aptitude for carelessly brushing aside notions of discipline and restraint. "Each tree in a forest in a forest of it's own. Teeming with the life of Remnant's creatures. To carelessly throw around such fire is to endanger multitudes of precious lives. Beyond that I've mentioned before that exhausting yourself and your resources through such wasteful spending would endanger us in the event of a second or even third wave. And..."

Kiran found himself sighing once more; he swore his blood pressure went up in every interaction.

"Is any of this reaching your thick skull?"

"Of course it is," replied the suddenly pony-tailed Huntsman matter-of-factly, seating himself down on the bench once again as he styled his hair back to what some considered his 'default' head option (the one attached when you bought a figma, not the extra options in the box). "But what is excessively wasteful and what isn't is like, subjective, and -"

"Burning down the arena is not subjective."

"-also depends on what the situation's all like, yeah?" he continued without missing a single beat. "Like, the last time I burnt down a forest was a few months ago, and that was excessively wasteful because like, whoosh, it was windy and I didn't calc in that and the mission didn't want landscaping as part of the contract either, but here in a duel, Ms. Goodwitch was all: 'go finish the fight quickly and solidly and with style', so like, dropping all the napalm works yeah?"

He propped his chin down against his fist, expression morphing into one of what could be described as 'somewhat relatively deep thought'.

"Hey, if we were like, members of a post-scarcity civilisation, would it be wasteful then?"

"Don't try and divert the conversation with your idle ruminations and fantasies. Not to mention I don't remember anything about Goodwitch asking for style." For the third time in as many minutes, Kiran sighed deeply and now took a seat next his bubbly teammate. Teaching the youth would take some time, and significantly drain Kiran of his energy, so it was best to approach the task from a seated position.

"You ask in terms of what is wasteful and what isn't. But it is there that your mindset is already flawed. Think more so in terms of what you can save, why expend energy that need not be expended. Focus your attacks with precision, strike quickly and efficiently and minimize damage around you. You'll find there exists far more effective attacks than simply dumping out everything you have."

Leaning back, Kiran chuckled as his eyes went up to the ceiling. "Look at all this pointless damage, and now imagine the power you would have if you focused all of it into a singular point. Why do you think I enjoy the sword, I maintain absolute control over its direction and am thus able to focus in solely on those that deserve its wrath. You must never enter a battle expecting the luxury of collateral damage. We should not believe in such concepts as an acceptal level of collateral."

Pausing for a moment, Kiran turned his head to his teammate, "Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"Yep."

Kiran laughed, "Why are you only succint at the times when I'd most appreciate a thoughtful answer? Regardless, I suppose that's enough lecturing for the day." Standing up, Kiran smiled and gestured for Taidan to join him, "We should probably track down the others, Naoko took quite the beating and I'm never quite sure what Varius is up to. Still, we need to choose a mission for later, it'd be best to discuss our options."

The cheery Huntsman rose to his feet, though next to his larger-than-life friend, he was admittedly rather small-looking. Pulling his hoodie back, Taidan fired off a beaming smile at Kiran, clearly happy to be reunite with the rest of Team KNVS for whatever diabolical plan was waiting in store for them.

"Sounds awesome, Kibro," he said. "Ooh, can we do one of the escort missions again? Always like to meet my adoring Internet fans."

"Honestly, I don't understand how I put up with your nonsense."

Lauren Negasi

Well, she could have made less progress today...

She just could have made more, too.

Blame Luke and the Mistralese girl for being so interesting, blame Chatsworth for giving her this assignment before she'd even had time to procure a pair of sacrificial Aviators (which, not being technological items as much as total babe starter equipment, were not included in the Armory tech Valhalla), hell, the urge to blame Amaranth for looking so irresistibly scruffy-cute next to her? There in spades.

Truth was, none of those were really applicable. Lauren had herself to blame, having spent most of the period sketching out blueprints and ideas for what she could do, only to cross out things that no one short of a nuclear physicist could possibly achieve with a frame and a couple lenses. What had survived made its way to four sheets of loose leaf, one with each member of BASL's name scribbled atop it in scratch much messier than the actual blueprints themselves. From here, design motifs for each member of the team, as well as functions that were uniquely necessary for each of those members (battery readouts for Ben, a link to Sangue's claw, etc.) were listed along with renderings of how the glasses would look. Ben's frames would be the thickest, as he had the Capitano-spec glasses that headed up the BASL network, and Amy was half-Faunus so she had the night vision thing going plus her Semblance, so maybe ease up on her lenses...

Ooooh, this is exciting! With any luck, at this rate, she could turn in the entire team's worth of glasses by the project due date!

Only the niggling problem of whether anyone else thought it was a badass, sexy idea to wear Aviators into a combat zone remained to her.

She glanced at Desire, who was currently spinning a propeller like a pinwheel and looking quizzically at a cap.

...

ROLLIN' WITH IT~

On yet a fifth sheet of paper, she began to scribble out a shopping list for the next time she was in Vale. The team was going to need some shades.

A fusillade of bullets, combined with a plethora of furious, adrenaline-empowered attacks, did not bode well for the Megaladeus. Through the Grimm's rage boiled its blood, too much of its ebony-colored vital fluid spilled out into the water to evaporate like smoke. Ultimately, it would have been able to work up the wrath to go berserk if it had not been for a high-caliber round straight through its control center. After that, all the ferocious shark could do was slump down into the water, turn belly-up, and become chum.

Quite abruptly, Abel's energy fell. In the pool, the last few charcoal chunks of the beast were melting away. Spent rounds floated to the bottom of the murky water, promising to give some poor filter technician a downright awful afternoon. Some of the students cheered, some posed dramatically, and some, like the guardian- simply remained still. To engage such a powerful monster in its own territory ignited primal instincts of fear and self-preservation in all, but in Abel they beat with a particular fervor. No matter how good he got at it, he supposed that he would never enjoy fighting Grimm. To him, it seemed like taking some medicine to calm a cancer: satisfying and necessary, but never free of concern for the fate that lay ahead. Solemnly, Abel dressed himself, and at Port's prompting seated himself along with everyone else back in the lecture hall to digest some intelligence about aquatic Grimm.

Whether due to fatigue or lack of focus, the time passed quickly.



Another day of classes had gone. Not for the first time, Abel remarked to himself as he sat on his dorm bed, bespectacled and reading, that the expectations Beacon placed on the students was huge. Aura could only take people so far; at the end of every school day, the student who didn't feel like a sack of wobbly potatoes on legs drawn magnetically to bed was a lucky one indeed. And to think that he'd be expected to fulfill this routine for four years!

Ah, well. Even if it did call for more energy Abel didn't know he could muster, another event lay on his schedule. His teammate, Gren, and his friend, Grane -what an odd coincidence...- were throwing some sort of bash, to which the guardian had been invited. Supposing that he might as well try this thing called 'fun' while the opportunity presented itself, Abel heaved himself from his bed, placed his book and his glasses on a table, and reached for his favorite jacket. Time to get ready.

---

Knock Knock.

His hand descended upon the wood twice, knuckles rapping against the door clearly and resolutely.

"Straight after classes. Don't be tardy."

That was what Gratia Mindaro had ordered of him, hours ago during the brief stint where they had shared a lunch table.

It was a good thing he'd broken out of a nasty habit of skipping such meetings outright. As his hand dropped back to his side, he found it subconsciously tugging against the edge of his uniform, straightening it out an almost imperceptible amount. The action arguably served the same amount of purpose as twiddling one's thumbs. Something to keep his nerves occupied.

The only time he truly found himself still was when he was asleep, after all.

Half-wishing he'd stopped by JCML's room to toss his messenger bag onto his bed for later use, he instead waited there in slience with it slung over his shoulder.

I'm going to have my hair studied by my Kuudere
Tsundere
KuuTsun

Tundra Mistralese transfer student classmate.

What manga are we parodying here, exactly?

I feel like I've read this.

Idle thoughts did their thing as they always did. He wasn't going to find the answer, but he couldn't help but wonder anyways. It was about the only place one could think of to find such a strange scenario. Granted, such a scene would also carry connotations he had long dispelled any hopes for in this instance...

Nonetheless, whoever wove the threads of fate seemed to be having a blast with him.

His free hand snuck into a pocket. He had no control over what situations life threw at him anyway.

Just what I do with them.

Even he couldn't get very far quibbling over nothing forever.

Kuhaku Shiro - After hours at the Armory

Staring into the viewing window of the massive walk-in furnace where Kladenets' spine was placed, Shiro removed his protective goggles and mask. Smiling as he slipped out his Scroll, he set a timer for two hours. Feeling productive, he set his hands on his hips and nodded affirmatively as the weapon part proceeded into its 'De-gassing' phase of its repairs. Turning on his heels, he started to make his way back to his dorm. Straightaway after classes let out, Shiro had prepped the damaged component of his blade. With the full intention of having it go through its longest process while he took care of a few other tasks on his list of things to do. He hoped that he could finally find the time to attempt to locate Sapphire's treasured heirlooms. By that time, he figured he'd be able to remove Kladenets from the furnace and set it aside to complete the remainder of the repairs some other time and day while he went to attend Gren's party. That was the plan, at least. Running through his plans again and again in his head, he made sure to have his priorities in order. The only real variable that he could foresee was the search for Sapphire's weapons. Two hours should be plenty of time, right? One hour in the water below, one hour along the cliffside. Should be more than enough time, right?

-Team SASG Dorm-

Door practically kicked open, Shiro stood with a big smile on his face. Happily humming as he walked over to his bunk and leaned against it as he thought of what he needed to bring and what not to bring. Ignoring Abel who peaceably sat reading, he began to rummage through his belongings. At the very least he needed something that would allow himself to see clear underwater, that purpose fulfilled by his swim goggles. Looking at them, he frowned. He hadn't found the time to relax and go swimming for one of his training sessions. He'd have to remember to do that in the future. Digging through his things, he figured all he needed then was a small handheld light that could work underwater. Simple enough, he had a rugged LED flashlight that he was positive that was rated for water-resistance up to 60 ft. Or something like that anyways. How deep was the lake again? Shiro shrugged. Nabbing a plastic bag to protect his Scroll with, Shiro stripped down to just his arm wrappings and trousers, leaving his discarded articles of clothing where they fell. Looking himself over, Shiro nodded and decided it was finally time to go 'diving'. Stuffing the flashlight and plastic bag-encased Scroll into his pockets, Shiro hung the swim goggles over his head and neck as he padded out of the dorm room. Bare-chested and bare-footed, Shiro slammed the door shut behind him. Cracking his neck and hopping in place, he figured the trip to the airship docks should be utilized to warm his body up. There was no telling how cold that water was going to be and he needed to be ready. Crouching down on all fours and stretching the major muscle groups of his body as best he could in that short amount of time, Shiro then exploded into a sprint towards the docks. He had to do this all within a certain time frame after all.

Reryl Harken- VGNB Dorm

Surprisingly (and perhaps luckily) the one to open the door for Luke was not Gratia. Instead the door opened to reveal a very sleepy looking otter faunus. She wore a set of rather rumpled looking casual clothes and stared at him in confusion for several seconds before understanding entered her eyes.

"You must be Luke." She said, opening the door all the way to allow the newcomer entrance. "Gratia said something about you coming over. I was half asleep at the time. Jetlag can be such a pain."

She turned away and made her way over to what seemed to be her section of the four bed dorm. As she did so she started working out a variety of kinks that had developed over the past few hours. Shoulder here, neck there, the ones in her back were dealt with by bending over backwards. Her tail provided support as she looked at the teenage boy in the doorway, now upside down from her point of view.

"Don't die" she mouthed.

The door opened, and his eyes widened briefly as an unfamiliar face blearily greeted him, staring half lidded for a few seconds as her brain tried to shake off the cobwebs, or so it appeared.

And speaking of appearances...

Casual clothes

He blinked, as if his eyes were a camera taking a snapshot.

Bedhead

"Ah," he began in response, filling the void of words between them after her greeting.

Nice demeanor

"I'll try not to." he replied in a low voice, stepping inside and ridding his feet of their shoes, placing them together just out of the way of the doorframe.

Stretching in plain sight!

Turning and shutting the door behind him, he felt his heart rework into a proper rhythm from the beat it had skipped. While he held no intention of breaking his status as a perfect gentleman, certainly not in regards to anybody he didn't know, he had to admit that this young woman's relaxedness even with him in the room was...

Nnngh!

He tilted his head back over his shoulder to look at her for a moment, before turning fully with the rest of his body. As Gratia was yet to be found in the room, he assumed he was actually a tad early. For now, it appeared to just be him and the unnamed Faunus girl in the room.

Part of that situation, at least, could be resolved easily.

"Yeah, I'm Luke. Luke Schwarz, from Team JCML." he responded, stepping further into the room to stay out of the door's way. Not that it did much to alleviate his standing there awkwardly, but never mind that.

"And you are? I can't seem to remember you having any classes with me..."

Jet lag. Something neither Gratia nor Napoli seemed to have been suffering earlier today. What could be the cause for that?

Neryl Harken- VGNB Dorm

"The name's Beryl Harken." She replied as she reached over her head, turning the tail stand into a handstand. "I'm the replacement team member for VGNB. Just got in today, hence the jetlag."

A quick push from her tail sent her back onto her feet. One last full body stretch accompanied by something that was halfway between a hum and a groan and she had all the kinks worked out at last. The entire process also had the added bonus of getting her blood flowing so the cobwebs were more or less gone as well.

"What are you two going to be doing anyway? Like I said before, half alseep when Gratia told me so I'm kind of curious."

"I see. Makes sense." he replied, eyes tracking her every movement as she casually displayed acrobatic capability that most people only dreamed of.

So agile... could she possibly be a gymnast?

To think it wasn't so long ago that I could barely even manage a handstand...

"Ah, that--"

e-herm.

He cleared his throat, bringing a fist to his mouth and forcing his mind to remain unilaterally on topic. Fate was playing with him indeed, but whether or not he accepted its provocations was his own choice, languid and catlike girl casually stretching out in front of him or otherwise!

Stay cool!

"I'm not quite sure if I understand it myself-- Meaning, I don't exactly comprehend the hows or whys of her intentions in having me come here. But basically, She, uh..."

He faltered, filling the space with a nervous chuckle. He expected oddities from being at Beacon, but to say this aloud, nothing could have made it casual. Nothing could have made it ordinary. It was, by very nature of the idea and implications the discussion spawning it had held, strange.

"She seems to be intent on studying my hair. Specifically, this little ahoge I've got." he finished, helpfully pointing towards the slightly curved, upright antenna that aggressively went against the natural flow of the rest of his black locks.