I frowned now.

"I'm not pouting."

I most probably was to an extent, but nothing that could be called "cutesy", you know? You'd have to be cute in the first place to pull that off. That is not how I'd describe myself. That's not how I'd want to describe myself. A guy's gotta be handsome, you know?

"Handsome". If I could pout handsomely, I might be okay with doing it, but the bottom line was that I didn't want to acknowledge the possibility.

Especially not if it was "cutesy".

For you see:

"Cute" is only okay in specific circumstances to start with, like Lauren calling me her "cute little brother she never had" or something like that. Maybe as a method of denoting a specific, more innocent breed of attractive, like that waiter Bianca was hitting up. "Cutesy", though, is right out! That means I'm trying at being specifically "cute", which would ruin any appeal it has in the first place!

I've watched my degenerate cartoons. I've read my fair share of manga. I respect "cute girls doing cute things" as a massively influential sub-genre of Slice of Life. I know the ins and outs of cuteness, far more than a boy my age should ever proudly claim. I cannot accept being accused of being "cutesy". If I am ever "cute", I'm going to be so naturally, dammit! Cultivating it and putting on a show of it is simply disingenuous, and I'm an honest enough man to say no to that every time!

I will be the respectable kind of "cute"!

...

Still, "handsome" is probably king amongst appearance qualifiers.

And I'm not quite nobility...

Didn't I also just say that I didn't want to describe myself as "cute", either? Lucas Schwarz, you are a real mess.

I sighed, noticing Gratia's eyes flicker upwards in that familiar, "I-think-your-hair-is-alive" manner of hers.

Back to something resembling neutrality, normalcy (at least for us), we went.

"So, any new findings on the great ahoge report?"

I only asked it in moderate jest. After all, I vowed to myself that I'd let her go about her business with it in exchange for leaving her in the dust.

Soon there was a knock on the door. Standing outside Team KESS's dorm was Guan Yue, that girl from yesterday. She spent most of that night fretting over Sepia, though she did enjoy the pizza and other activities too. Although she had a bit of a tendency to stay behind to clear (force of habit), it was nice not having to do her maidly duties all the time. After everyone parted ways however, Yue still felt rather lost. She was directionless and uncertain what to do. She only wished someone could tell her. Fortunately, as she was thinking about heading back to the city to book a motel for the night she was approached by none other than Ozpin himself. He helped clear up Yue's concerns and said that for now she'll be assigned to Team KESS until they could figure out what to do with her.

Not wanting to disturb the team while they were asleep, Yue did still return to Vale to book a motel for the night. Raising early in the morning she made sure to wash up and make herself ready for the day. But not only that, she had to make sure that Team KESS were okay too. Skyra had drank heavily yesterday so Yue was certain that she was suffering from a hangover. While there were plenty of "remedies" Yue could try to use, there was no better cure to a hangover then time and lots of water. But breakfast would help. Before heading back to Beacon, Yue had done some shopping the night before and brought some ingredients with her. When she arrived to Beacon, she used the dormitory kitchen to make breakfast.

Yue started first by collecting strained yogurt (Also known as Greek Yogurt if Greece existed in this world) in plain, strawberry, and blueberry flavors. Cold starters to get the palate ready for a full breakfast. Yue also brought four small bottles of orange juice too. She made oatmeal, four bowls worth, adding a pat of butter and a splash of milk for each bowl. She also had a seperate bowl with various dried berries and brown sugar that could be added depending on the other's tastes. She also made toast for everyone, with butter and jam on the side. She wished she had a little rack to keep them nice and crispy, but alas, she did not. Now these were only the sides and appetizer; what she wanted Team KESS to really enjoy was the big plate.

Cooking in bulk, Yue first started by frying some bacon. Good old bacon; even though one might think it's a peasant food, even her parents taught her the value of bacon in a meal. But Yue was considerate not to go overboard, and thus only made two extra long strips for each plate. Next, she took two tomatoes, sliced them in half, put a slice of cheese on top, and broiled them carefully in the oven. Yue did that as she was frying the bacon. Next she made some hashbrowns, swiftly shredding the potatoes into shreds with her knife. By the time she was done the bacon and tomatoes were finished, so she put them on a plate to cool down. Afterwards she mixed the potato shreds with an egg to make them hold together and friend them into a hash brown cake. Letting the hash simmer for a bit Yue simultaneously prepared the sausage, baked beans, and mushrooms. Using all four of the hotplates on the stove Yue stewed the beans, fried the hashbrowns, sauteed the mushrooms, and grilled the sausage.

Yue organized all of this onto different plates and placed it all onto a trolley, which she had brought from home. The last thing she added were many bottles of water, just in case Skyra needed to hydrate. She wheeled the whole thing to Team KESS's dorm and hoped they were still here. It would be a shame to let all this food go to waste. As she waited Yue cleared her throat and spoke, just in case whoever was inside was waiting to hear her speak. "Hello? This is Gaun Yue, from yesterday. I brought breakfast."

@PyroDash888@SevenStormStyle@Eklispe

@Silvan Haven@Write@HereComesTheSnow@Plank Sinatra



"What correlation is there between the intensity of its motion and the intensity of your emotional stimulus?"

She didn't expect Luke to provide an answer to that inquiry. His foolish denial of the existence of his ahoge's abilities meant that she would get fuck all from him even if he tried to explain. Not that she needed to be spoonfed the answers. She would obtain comprehension with her own observations, her own hands.

...

I did promise.

"I mean logic would suggest that there is one, wouldn't it?" I replied with a shrug. "If it's supposed to be a signalling tool for my emotions in the first place, it'd only make sense for some mechanism to be built in to denote intensity of whatever it's signalling."

If there wasn't, that'd be like a chameleon that could only turn a kind of ruddy brown instead of some vibrant orange. If I, purely for the sake of argument, accepted that her hypothesis was correct, then it would be important for others of the ahoge nation to be able to determine the intensity of the feeling as well as the feeling itself. That was simply part of communication, and was vital to anyone trying to engage in it.

I puzzled over it somehow, despite knowing for a complete, certain fact that this wasn't an anime and people's hair doesn't do weird things.

"...I dunno what it'd be. Maybe it does it real fast or something." I ventured. "You tell me."

It still was her study, after all.

@Plank Sinatra

Didn't give up the bouncing, though.

"No idea. Only been here since school started." Ben commented, still working on wrapping his head around the mechanics of Lauren's old scam. 'Bouncer bouncer' was a hell of a title, though, and he was going to have to remember it. That was a hell of a story to talk about. He stretched a little once they were off the airship, rolling his shoulders to try and ward off some of the post-mission ache. It wasn't too hard to do, not with the hype of a night out getting his blood going.

"Depends on what we're looking for, too. A club? A bar? Good side of town, or somewhere sketchier? Could hit up Junior's, but from what I hear we might end up in a fight."

A beat.

"Not that that wouldn't be fun."

Krysanthe quickly turned to her vibrating scroll and read it, briefly turning away from Sepia and pondering how to best help Skyra. The Emerald Forest huh? That sounded like it could be fun. Krysanthe wasn't a nature freak but she enjoyed a good walk through the woods every now and then. Sometimes you found the coolest stuff...

---

To: Able
From: Krysanthe
Subject: Hang Out
Sure, sounds fun. You wanna invite anyone else?

---

Krysanthe had just hit send when she heard a knock on the door followed by "Hello? This is Gaun Yue, from yesterday. I brought breakfast." Yue? Krysanthe was glad she'd gotten ready for the day while everyone else was still asleep. Krysanthe tossed the scroll on her bed; then quickly made her way to the door and opened it. She surprised to see that Gaun had come with a full meal deal not just pancakes or something: which would've been totally fine. Though she wasn't entirely sure why Yue had shown up in the first place, she wasn't going to question for now. She opened the door more and gestured for her to come in "Whoa, that's a lot of food. Come on in, we're just getting up. Skyra doesn't seem to be feeling great but I'm sure a big breakfast will help!_probably?" Krysanthe said cheerily, the last part muttered to herself as a question. Mhmmmm, the delicious smell of all that food prompted an instintive rumbling from Krysanthe's belly. Hehe.

Pain, there was intense pain, it was coming from the left side of her lower torso. She couldn't make out where she was, only that she was standing. What she could see was the clawed, sharp hand impaling her. Attached to it was the body of a woman, though it was almost laughable to call the creature before her that. She was pale and sickly, looking as twisted and evil as the Grimm she worshiped. She had an expression of sheer glee on her face as Emerald stood there in shock.

Of course that wasn't enough for the monster, before Emerald had time to even scream, the monster jerked her embedded claw upwards, ripping through flesh like a knife through butter. All Emerald could do was collapse onto the ground as the monster licked her blooded claws.

"Now...you become one of us..." The creature spoke with a chilling voice as Emerald's wounds seemed to miraculously heal. Emerald stood up as if she'd never been stabbed in the first place. "W-What...this doesn't make sense...I..." It was then she saw the color of her newly healed skin was a pale white, not unlike the creature's. It began to spread to the rest of her skin, corrupting it. Her veins began to turn black as the monster's poison spread through her veins.

Emerald was too horrified to speak, and simply ran away even as the creature laughed. This wasn't happening to her! She couldn't become a monster, she refused to accept something like that!

She collapsed as her whole body began to ache in agonizing pain. She...she couldn't stop what was happening to her! She watched her hand became long and clawed, her very essence being twisted. She screamed...

------------

NO! Emerald sat up suddenly, her entire body shaking and covered in sweat as she looked around frantically. She...she was in the hospital, that's right...the mission was over, she didn't become a monster. They got the poison out.

However, knowing that fact didn't make Emerald feel any better. Her nightmares had been steadily getting worse and more livid, it was getting harder to sleep, or even want to attempt to do so. Emerald realized she was still shaking, that dream had been way too real...

She locked her eyes on the first person she saw, Rowan. She'd been watching over them since they'd returned, and despite not really knowing the older woman well at all she took more comfort at her presence then she would have expected. But right now the cat Faunus needed something desperately...

Much to the dismay of probably every doctor or nurse who saw it, Emerald climbed out of her bed, pulling whatever IVs and whatnot attached to her with her. She nearly lost her balance doing so, she was still pretty weak and lacking her normal amount of blood in her system. She didn't care though, she knew what she needed.

Without much warning she latched onto Rowan in a hug, clutching onto her like her life depended on it. She buried her head into her shoulder, too tired mentally and physically to do much else. She didn't make a sound, or shed a single tear. She just hugged.

Skyra raised her head from the sink. This was stupid. She needed to stop this... now!
Well... after she was feeling better, of course. She went through her hair and sighed heavily, then she turned around and walked through the door.
However, as she came to face with her teammates standing worriedly in front of the bathroom door as well as Yue, who seemed to have prepared a very tasy looking and smelling breakfast, she noticed something warm trickle past her eyebrows, her cheekbones, over her cheek sliding down her jawline and dripping to the ground from her chin.
"Huh?"

Hesitantly she dabbed her hand to her forehead, retrieved it and moved it in front of her eyes. "Oh... ouch..."
It seemed like the bang on her head that was just supposed to help her wake up from the hangover did a bit more damage than she thought.
"'Tis but a scratch!", she decidedly stated. "Gimme a plaster or something. Should do it, right?" With this she looked at the three girls who were with her in the room. "It is just minor, right? Right?"

Bowing her head as she entered Yue quickly distributed breakfast, turning the cart into a table and bringing out folding chairs. They were more like stools really, but regardless they should be comfortably high enough for the others to eat. "I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to tag along with you yesterday. I apologize for my obtrusive behavior before," Yue bowed her head towards Sepia. "I overreacted to your injury. Though I do hope you're doing better?" Just as Yue asked, Skyra came out of the bathroom. The first thing Yue noticed was the bruise and blood coming from Skyra's head, as if she just tripped and fell onto something. Skyra seemed no worse for wear however, and indeed the injury wasn't that serious. That being said, Yue still reached into her bag and took out some gauze and bandages. No sense in leaving such it exposed.

"Indeed, and for someone like this this scratch will heal in no time. But a pretty girl shouldn't let people see something so unsightly." Dabbing away the blood Yue applied a fresh bandage onto Skyra's forehead. Snipping the bandage, now it looked like Skyra had a white headband. Yue thought it would make Skyra look cool. "There. Now I'm sure you're still hung over. I made breakfast for all of you, and I have plenty of water too. Dig in!"

@PyroDash888@SevenStormStyle@Eklispe

Jericho looked from Bianca down to the piano bench to the man behind the bar, face appearing faintly uncertain. Then his gaze shifted back to Bianca...long enough for him to slide into a seat beside Bianca and pluck a menu from the top of his cart. As she played the piano, he set the menu beside her piece of sheet music and read from the specials dutifully.

"Lesse here...it's Friday, so our specials for the evening are...chateaubriand with Hollandaise sauce with white wine and blackberries...you don't look poor and you don't look like a dieter, so nix the turkey...this snapper does not sound very bougie...you know what? Enough of this. Order chateaubriand."

"Well I-"

"Thank you for your order," said the waiter brusquely, albeit with an amused, faint grin. He placed the menu back on top of the cart and pressed a button on top of his Scroll. He turned his attention back to Bianca in a quarter of a second, as though he were remiss to let her out of his peripheral vision, and sat still watching her play piano for several seconds.

Finally he spoke up again.

"So you're new onboard, huh?"

"Well I-" He took control, oredered me a steak. Chateaubriand. Did he know of what that truly meant? The famous surge of romanticism in Mistral brought on by none other than Fracois-Rene de Chatenaubriand. He must know.

He does know.

Bianca smiled at the band who had been playing with her, she had simply been performing a little freestyle jazz before, now it was time to kick it up a notch.

"La Thèse de L'Ange Cruel?" She asked, they nodded, she grinned.

Her fingers flew accross the piano and her glee was undeniable. "Yeah I just got on a few minutes ago." She said just loud enough to be heard by Jer. "How long have you been on the boat?" She asked looking at him while still keeping her rhythm perfectly, making sure to hit every note just so.

She couldn't help but glance on Jer. He was cute, handsome really. Built to last, if she had to guess he was either from Vacuo or Atlas. All the boys from Vale had a certain protagonist feel to them, Jer felt more like a deteuragonist or perhaps... A love interest? Yeah, that was it. Captain Atlas would defintiely sleep with Jer.

"I suppose you're used to a girl being this happy, but honestly this is new for me." She said with a small smile, she wasn't sure if Jer would be able to catch all that as some more people had begun to crowd around the piano coming from the pool. They opened the glass doors leading to the pool so that everyone could hear the miniature concert Bianca and the band were putting on. This was magical.

All the preparations he needed to have a fine day complete, Abel stepped out of the dorm room and into the hall, closing the door softly behind him lest he should awaken the tubular dude still dozing within. He had a mind to visit the cafeteria, but before he could move five steps from his front door, his pocket became abuzz with his scroll's 'alert' sound. Krysanthe's response time made the guardian's heart just a little bit lighter, though of course, he reflected, she could have given him a swift and crushing 'no'.

This was not the case. He opened up the newly-received message to learn that the blonde huntress was keen on his idea. Silently patting himself on the back, Abel pondered how best to reply to her followup question. Frankly, he doubted that any of his teammates would want to accompany their least interesting teammate on such a mundane task, barring the fact that one was sleeping and the other two were who-knows-where, but he also didn't want to find out lest they confound his expectations by joining him. Was that selfish? Abel though so, glumly, but concluded that it was a necessary vice at this moment. If they ever cared to find out, his teammates would surely understand.

To: Abel
From: Krysthane
Subject: Re: Hang out?

I don't think my teammates would be very interested. If you know anyone that would hate to miss out on something like this, though, feel free to invite them along. Just now, I'm heading to get a quick meal. What do you say we meet at the cliff over the forest at 9:00?

Hopefully that would be suitable—and hopefully none of Krysanthe's teammates insisted on tagging along. While Abel wouldn't begrudge them unduly if they did, the last thing he wanted was for a forest hike to turn from a special event to a school outing.

...

I must have been hearing things.

I was hearing things, right?! There was no way that was a jazz rendition of Creul Angel's Thesis floating faintly from the deck up to this balcony! That couldn't be right! If Gratia wanted a reaction out of my ahoge, this surprise certainly had to be a candidate to start one, right?

Well, maybe. I was keeping myself decidedly neutral, thanks to the very real chance that I was indeed just hearing things, and not hearing a cleverly disguised reference to Eva from the jazz players on a luxury liner.

I mean, come on, people hide power levels for a reason, don't they? I've been pretty brazen in the past, but these people are playing for the upper-crust here.

There was no way. Just keep your AT Field up, Schwarz. It's nothing, you idiot.

Yeah, just hearing things.

Sapphire nodded as Oswald's assertion that the situation was getting out of control. "I feel as though..." Sapphire trailed off looking for the right words. "It seems like somethings happening, in the background, blended into the shadows. Something we're only getting glimpses of but the moment you reach for it vanishes into smoke. The one solid lead we've got is Pops." Sapphire wasn't sure when her vague suspicions and promise to look into the strange events at Beacon had grown to a 'we' but there it was. "If we could locate Pops he might be able to tell us more. Unlike the kid there's more information on Pops and starting place. I might take a trip down to the prison this weekend, see what I can find."

Oswald's insights about Gren weren't altogether surprising. He didn't know the boar faunus that well. If any one of them did it was Shiro and Sapphire could guess pretty well that no thoughts of Gren's motivations had ever crossed the tiger's mind. Still Oswald hadn't seem him in the aftermath of the Shelter mission. The look on his face when he was trying to convince everyone to burn the Shelter to the ground. The nearly fanatical glint in his eye as he vowed to find Pops' backup computer despite the bear faunus being completely unwilling to say anything as to a location. It had unnerved the azure haired girl more than she cared to admit.

Before she could say anything else however a nurse came over to Oswald's bed to check on his condition. "Excuse me miss, it's getting late and this patient needs a great deal of rest. You can come back in the morning but for now I'm going to have to ask you leave." The nurse said politely to Sapphire, as she motioned to the door. Sapphire nodded and got up from her chair. "I'll come check on you sometime tomorrow. Goodnight Oswald." she said before leaving the infirmary for her own dorm. The mission had been taxing and it was basically just the conversation with Oswald that had been keeping Sapphire awake until now. Almost the moment her head hit the pillow Sapphire was out like a light.

@Multi_Media_Man

---

The next morning Sapphire woke late. Well late for her. It was nearly nine when she opened her eyes which compared to her normal six O'clock mornings was fairly late. She showered, then dried and braided her hair before pulling on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white tank top over which she tossed on her usual knee length coat. To complete the ensemble she strapped on Somnus and Melinoe. She glanced at the summoners app on her scroll for her weapons but decided against it. She liked being armed but something about her shotguns didn't feel quite right. She liked the polearm form quite a bit as a style but something about those particular weapons bothered her. Deciding that was a problem best thought through in Armoury class Sapphire banished it from her mind as her stomach started to rumble. It looked like it was time for breakfast.

For school food the Beacon cafeteria had fairly adequate supplies. It wasn't exactly five star dining but Sapphire didn't have a problem with it. It was likely better than what Oswald was getting in the Infirmary anyways. Sapphire shuddered at the thought of Infirmary food before she loaded up a plate with waffles and whipped cream and grabbed two health smoothies. She scanned the cafeteria for familiar faces and her eyes fell on Abel, the silent member of Swansong. Her suspicions about Gren's possible involvement in Pops' disappearance resurfaced unbidden and they made Sapphire suddenly realize how little she really knew about her teammates, particularly Abel who didn't talk about himself often. Thinking it couldn't hurt to try and strike up a conversation Sapphire set her food down next to her partners. "Morning Abel," she said nonchalantly "You got any weekend plans?"
@Lugubrious

@Silvan Haven@Write@HereComesTheSnow@Plank Sinatra



"I'll need more evidence first," was her short reply.

The explanation Luke was offering was logical in its reasoning, raising her estimates of the black-haired youth before her slightly more. However, it was merely an assumption, a hypothesis arising from the expected purpose of the strange hair and all the evidence they had collected so far. There was a even only a correlation between emotional inputs and the movement so far; other variables were still important to consider.

That was the crux of the issue.

Evidence.

Such as the sudden upwards jolt of the hair. The teenage girl's attention immediately locked itself upon the wayward strands, noting the jazz that had materialised mere moments prior. What emotion had Luke felt in response to it? Was it the choice of song that had impacted upon him? The music had been a constant accompaniment, after all.

His expression was composed, but there was something lying beneath.

"What do you feel, Schwarz?"

...

"Tired?"

I'll be the first to admit it, I can be very slow on the uptake at times, and this wasn't an exception. Granted, there was the argument to be made for the abruptness and something-kinda-resembling-vagueness of her question, but...

If I was to make that argument, my window for it had already ceased just a moment later, as I noticed the nigh imperceptible flick upwards of her eyes. It seemed that despite the direction our conversation had just been going about it, I was going to have to engage in this song and dance with Gratia after all.

"Oh, I get it. I was just a little surprised for a moment. The song they're playing down there now sounded like one I know, but I'm probably wrong anyways."

...Then again, Eva always had been a bit more favorably received by the mainstream...

A few movie stars were pretty big fans of it, if I recalled correctly, but that could then again just be chalked up to them having off-the-wall interests in general.

Who knew?

Certainly not me.

@Silvan Haven@Write@HereComesTheSnow@Plank Sinatra



Surprise. So that was the emotion she could associate with the hair's attempt at mimicking an erection. The possible familiarity of the song being played below decks had induced such a reaction in the other teenager, although it (if the hypothesis on a connection between the intensity of one's feelings and the displacement of the ahoge proved true) was definitely a far more 'low-key' reaction in comparison to previous observations. That was to be expected; it was merely a familiar song, and its effects on Luke were likely to be not particularly sizeable.

It was, however, familiar to her as well. She had never bothered to learn the shit's title or its origins, but even with the faintest notes to work off, it was clear that it was one of the songs Bianca seemed to enjoy.

"What, you have shitty ears or something?"

Isn't everything shitty with you?

I was trying to be nice here and play along, and this was how I was rewarded? Second and third thoughts about this whole exchange came fast. I mean, couldn't she have eased off a little?

"No, more like I wouldn't expect to hear Cruel Angel's Thesis in this setting, at all. So I figured there was a higher probability of me mishearing than a bunch of weebs revealing their power levels on a high-class cruise ship." I explained, biting back my complaints on the verbal abuse. I suppose breaking out of that portion of her personality was still yet a pipe dream.

Nonetheless, I was determined to one day. I'm the type of stubborn idiot that gets fired up when something tries to beat me down.

If you can imagine, I'm sure you understand how many times I came home a bloody mess from training.

I listened a little longer to the notes drifting through the air.

"But maybe I should have went with it in the first place..."

Denying it was getting very hard, now that I was back to paying attention.

@Silvan Haven@Write@HereComesTheSnow@Plank Sinatra



"If you have wealth, such interests are considered eccentric rather than weird."

That was an advantage of the prestige associated with the upper bastions of the wealthy. Nobody would dare treat creepy hobbies as a reason for to shun someone, no matter how fucking retarded they could be. The power and influence that the rich possessed ensured that they could get away with nearly everything. As long as the bullshit they played with was shy of something overtly criminal, or utterly reprehensible, the worst they could suffer was a constant presence in some cheap-ass tabloid, like a zoo animal to be marvelled at. Gold digger! Washed-up actress discovered in amorous congress with Minister of Finance!

The shit never stuck.

So enjoying cartoons? That was pathetically mundane.

No matter what flaws they may have possessed, they would still have hordes of people lining up to suck their dicks. Even dressed in finer clothing, the unwashed masses never changed. Constantly pretending that they were important no matter what level of society they lived upon, that they were more than lowly, foolish insects.

She had a fair point, there. Oftentimes when one didn't hide away their more off-color interests, they were seen as weird and subsequently cast aside by society at large. However, if one had some measure of success to bolster their reputation, would that counteract the odd things they partake in for their own personal entertainment?

Maybe. I guess there's a degree of truth in the common line of thought being that those who succeed must be doing something right. If that were the case, the argument of them using such weird things as Chinese Cartoons for escapism from their comparatively terrible lives loses a lot of traction. If someone with wealth, fame, looks, and/or power enjoyed them, maybe it was more than something that just panders to society's weirdos.

Maybe the works they enjoyed had some merit to them as well. Sure, they were weird, but they were more an eccentricity and spot of uniqueness in taste than anything weird and bad, right?

To reiterate, I was trying to look at this from the view of an outsider to the culture surrounding it. As for myself, an admitted enthousiast?

"I'd probably need to get really rich, then..." came my wry, wan conclusion.