@Ryonara

Teàrlag Cirsium - "Student Counselor"

Fine? When you're hyperventilating and shoogling harder than a bunny that'd fallen into the coffee supply? Oi brat, I'm worried for you here, not because I want to be or anything, but an obvious lie isn't going to bloody help you out, you know? If you're that embarrassed about your uh, wrestling outfit, then change out of it. I don't think you should participate in that wrestling thing if this is going to be how it's making you feel.

Especially if you think it's dangerously fun. Think of how weird all the other buggers are going to find it. I'm not going to talk about what floats your boat right now, but you'd have all those blokes around when all you want is to fight. You already look like a seriously awkward bugger. And you can't fight if you're so panicky.

"Let's get you back inside," I say, handing over my hoodie. I don't think a teenager would want to wear it or anything thanks to these weird bunny-ear things, but it'll cover her up at least. "You can't fight if you're flailing about like a sliced sausage, okay?"

Main thing is to get her inside to calm down. Away from the judgement of everybody else.

Just gotta make sure she's all right.

@Plank Sinatra@Silvan Haven@Write@LokiLeo789

--

Vega Venetia - Team VGNB - Dorm

“I’d like tea” she said towards Jericho. “Green Tea.”

Jericho's breath had stopped in his chest, muscles underneath his black t-shirt constricting tightly as the Schwarz family both doubled the population of their party and produced enough noise to make passers-by think they had tripled it. He had barely heard Vega's request for green tea, a conservative enough choice that only made Jer more certain that there would be a lot of tea going around in the next couple of minutes.

The last thing the Sonic Heroes here need is a stimulant.

Imperceptibly, his chest rose again as his breathing patterns returned to normal, control reasserted after the sisters' outburst. He tilted his head back towards Vega, long hair dangling precariously close to Beryl Harken's tail, before inclining it to show he'd received her order; his head returned to a normal human position to stare unblinkingly at Luke and his ilk.

"So did I," he lied neutrally, though his gaze only fell on Luke for a second. "Schwarz sisters, Luke's mentioned you both. Jericho Piper. You can stick with Jer if it makes you happy, since there's no use having a rank or being a Gold Stripe in a place like this."

They were both staring at him with huge grey eyes, larger than Luke's. He got the feeling they were just waiting from a signal from him to start screeching again. His eyes ran over the younger sister - honestly were i not as good with faces as I Am her cartoonishly small height, in addition to her physical description. Why I may even have confused her for one of Luke's teammates a shameful, shameful and embarrassing display - and landed in a cool stare with the older sister.

His gloved hand twitched; at the tip of his hair, a light small enough to be balanced on a thumbtack pulsed on a few strands of hair.

"Well met, both of you," said the knight politely.

@Crimmy@Ayazi@LokiLeo789@Write@Plank Sinatra@HereComesTheSnow


"Biiiiiiiiiaaaaaaancaaaaaaaaaaa" Came the excited voice of the young Faunus as she careened through the doors of the cafe with Geni all but flapping in the wind behind her. She came to a sliding stop in front of her white haired friend and let go of Geni to give the other Faunus a hug by way of greeting.

"Can I buy either of you a tea?"

"Tea? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Sure! Does this place have any jasmine tea?"

Before the conversation could get farther than that the place was suddenly packed with people. Lasai followed behind Luke and his own group of people, Vega had been right behind Beryl. It was all talking and greeting and laughs and people talking over one another.

Beryl's tail idly swatted at whatever was tickling it as she looked on at the scene fondly.

@Crimmy @Ayazi @LokiLeo789 @Write @Plank Sinatra @HereComesTheSnow @Silvan Haven

A ridiculously conspicuous individual wearing a hooded grey trenchcoat and fox mask weaved through the thick crowds. Skye was already nervous just being around so many people after so long, but the looks people were giving her made her even more so. Constantly she turned this way and that, almost jumping now at every new sound. And it was a busy place, there were sounds everywhere, all the time, many quite loud. It seemed that she was not as ready to walk outside among people as she had assumed. Someone gently touched her shoulder, politely offering an 'excuse me' as they tried to get around her. She almost lost it right there but managed to just bite her lip and back away from the majority of people as best she could. She decided she needed a break, a moment to catch her breath and try to adjust to the change of being around so many people. A change that was like night and day from what she had known these past years.

She bumped into something behind her. Doors. She wasted no time opening them and slipping through, assuming there had to be less people inside a building than out. Exhaling a breath she had not noticed she was holding, she turned and discovered she had just entered a cafe. Full of people. She slowly, quietly sidestepped away from the door until she had solid wall at her back, and that made her slightly more secure. Realizing this was probably the best she could get in terms of collecting herself she focused on calming down. After a few moments she did not feel as dizzy and took a careful look at the people enjoying the cafe. She also tried to ignore the particularly delicious smells filling the air and not imagine how much better the food here must be over the standard fare at the hospital. She was hardly successful.

I should not have left the hospital, I'm not ready. It would probably be best if I went back, but... what kind of defeatist attitude is that for a Huntress to have? Well, future Huntress. Hopefully. She took a deep breath and pushed away from the wall. I guess I should at least ask someone how to get back, if I really can't handle this. Maybe... it would be nice to actually talk to someone other than medical staff. It's been so long... Shaking her head at that last thought Skye made up her mind and quietly approached the nearest group of people. She opened her mouth to speak and... nothing came out. What was she supposed to say? She stood there looking awkwardly from one person to the next, unable to produce a single word. She considered just backing away and leaving, but where would that get her? Finally she settled on a simple greeting and found her voice.

"Good... morning." Her voice had a notable rasp and was somewhat muffled by the mask. OK, Skye, it's a start. Now..... now what? Words failed her yet again and she found herself reconsidering the option of escape.

@FlitterFaux@Plank Sinatra@Ayazi@Silvan Haven@Write@LokiLeo789@Crimmy

Lucas Schwarz

Chaos.

In the time it had taken for the Atlesian expatriate to simply answer my question, the scene had devolved into pure, unmitigated chaos. The amount of people in our small group had roughly tripled, with Beryl hugging the life out of Bianca, after dragging in some wiry-looking faunus guy that I could only assume was their new teammate following Napoli's departure, Vega was right behind her ordering tea from Jericho, a respectable-looking older woman had followed them in and was now idly being chatted up by Tanner...

"Uh, righ—"

"Whatever he's said about us, take it with a grain of salt!"

"I have the shaker right here!"

"That's the way, throw it over his left shoulder!"

"Wasn't it supposed to be the right shoulder?"

"Get both, just to be sure! No evil spirits on this guy's shoulders!"

"No bad luck, either!"

Did they both just think they could do whatever the hell they pleased with other people's personal space?! Did their classmates just let them pull this nonsense at Signal? As a concerned elder brother, I feel like I should be looking into this if I want to continue my transition towards being the responsible type...

"Would you two please knock it off?" I demanded, unable to keep the annoyed growl out of the firmness in my voice. Poor Jericho didn't even have time to cut in between them.

"Why would we knock the salt off? It's there to ward away bad luck." April deadpanned back to me, with a flat "are you stupid" type of expression. "Do you want him to be unlucky?"

"I want him to have his personal space respected! He's not me, and even I don't like it when the two of you pull one of these gags!"

Like leaving garlic on my windowsill after watching a vampire movie, or sticking crosses in my face at random, and not to mention all of the wrestling moves at eight in the morning every single day!

"Huh. Well," Dawn began, setting the salt shaker back onto the table and primly returning to her seat as April did the same across from her. "He does give that older brother vibe though, right?"

What? No he doesn'—

"Yeah, he does. Say, are we right, Jer-kun? Are you an older brother? You've got the same kinda frowny face as Luke!"

"I do not have a frowny face."

I'm not that pretty, either.

Before I could further retort, however, my attention was sidetracked by a wispy, raspy, and sort of muffled voice floating in from roughly behind me. Evidently, all the commotion had attracted the attention of other patrons.

With a sigh, I turned and gazed up at the tall, vaguely feminine figure donned in the fox mask and overcoat looming over me.

Right, no identifying features aside from height. Not suspicious at all but...

I glanced back at the two girls currently abuzz over the fairly nonplussed looking knight.

What the hell, right? This cafe's full of weirdos I know. Not like I can really judge.

"Good morning," I said in return, inclining my head slightly to the woman(?) in apology. "Are we being too loud?"

Yes.

Yes we were.

That was definitely true, whether they would say as much or not.

"Yes."

Skye was so relieved that someone returned her greeting she spoke without thinking. A moment later she realized she had no idea why he had asked if they were too loud. The whole city was alarmingly loud. Her own response felt off to her as well, but why? It was an honest answer. Rude! I'm being rude. Explain, Skye, use your damn words like a person. "I-I mean, no! No, I do mean yes. Idiot. You're an idiot, Skye. You've been talking to one person after another for three days at least. You remember how to hold a basic conversation so why are you floundering now? Maybe it's because I haven't spoken to a boy close to my age in years? ..... That's a stupid reason.

Skye shook her head and took a step back. Trying to regain some semblance of composure she unconsciously crossed her arms over her stomach and took a deep breath. She was disappointed to note her heart rate and adrenaline were about as high as when her life was in danger. Pathetic... Though to be fair the sheer number of people and the whirlwind of activity near her was about as terrifying as any Grimm right about now.

"I'm sorry. What I mean is, yes, you all seem very loud to me but this whole city is a bit... much for me. I've never been any place like this before, it's all very... overwhelming. I... just meant to offer greetings and... maybe ask for directions. Or just... talk? There you go, Skye, that should clear up your blunder. I hope. But... why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?

...

"Oh! S-Skye! My name is Skye." Introductions. Duh.

@FlitterFaux@Plank Sinatra@Ayazi@Silvan Haven@Write@LokiLeo789@Crimmy

Lucas Schwarz

"Yeah, I figured, sorry about tha—" I began, before the masked girl abruptly and hastily cut me off to amend her statement. No, but yes? What was that supposed to mean?

Did I not have to clock my sisters?

Luckily, I didn't have to wait long before she explained her words further, very plainly fighting through nerves. It wasn't that we were overly loud so much as everything around her was loud and disorienting, then?

I blinked.

Waited a moment.

Sat on things as she floundered through her sentences, understandingly nodding along. Been there before, don't worry.

And then, finally, I spoke once she had explained herself all the way out. If we weren't directly at fault, all the better, but still being part of the overt noise overload still did feel kind of bad. Not to mention, if she needed help getting somewhere, I had no reason to turn her down with a scroll and the map function so handy.

I favored the masked woman with an easy, friendly smile.

"Ah, yeah. I can get where you're coming from. The hustle of a city's a bit different from the countrysi--"

"S-Skye!" she abruptly spurted out, cutting me off mid-sentence again. I really hoped that wouldn't be a trend...

And evidently, we'd both forgotten about the whole "names" thing. How embarrassing. Had I forgotten common courtesy's first rule, here? All these last-minute trips and missions must have been getting to me, really.

I guess that meant neither of us really needed to apologize, at least?

...I got the distinct feeling that it was a lot less understandable on my end than it was for her. After all, I was, if nothing else, clearly more used to talking to people...

"My name is Skye."

"And I'm Luke." I returned the introduction, hoping that she wasn't fretting too hard about it. Donmai, daijobu desu. We all screw up, Fox-lady. "Pleasure to meet you, Skye. You said something about needing directions?"

---

@Crimmy@Sho Minazuki

STERLING JOHNSON

"Yo, Shuai! Varius!"

The food stand, recently deprived of one of it's few customers, was approached once more by a tall, powerful figure. A masculine, if somewhat rougher than usual voice was calling out to the staff, whilst an arm of pure silver waved in greeting, the advanced machinery looking almost human in the fluidity of the motion.

Running his organic hand back through his short and disheveled silver hair, the former acting leader of the currently defunct SESL smirked as he drew up to the stall, his stubble-lined jaw seeming almost as though it, for a brief second, needed to remember how.

"Slow day out here, huh, guys?"

Sterling Johnson had finally manned the hell up and come out of hiding.

That, or he may have ran through his stockpile of "I just cocked up bad" liquor and felt like hell in a handbasket, but either possibility probably meant that him being here was an improvement.

Hopefully, the guys wouldn't care too much which was which.

Emerald quietly slipped out of the firing range. She felt bad about leaving without a word, but her mom kept saying embarrassing things about her! Not only that, but she hadn't even seen her dad yet! Instead of waiting for him to show up she would look for him herself. Apparently he got distracted with catching up with an old friend, it figured.

The cat faunus wandered down the halls somewhat sluggishly. She was still recovering from her injuries, getting gutted wasn't something she could just shrug off, even if she tried too. She might have overdone it in the shooting range a little. She clutched her side and winced.

"Ow...stupid injury...wait, what's that smell?" She sniffed the air, she wasn't exactly sure where in the school she was, but that was the unmistakable smell of seafood. It was making her mouth water as if it was a waterfall.

"Fooooooood..." Her plan of finding her father was forgotten as she continued to sniff the air and follow her nose towards the source of the amazing smells. She felt so hungry now she couldn't take it! She either going to have seafood or die trying.

Her nose eventually found it's target, the scent of tuna was overwhelming, it almost made her woozy with how hungry she was. She had found herself at a food stand of some kind, with some short guy who appeared to be a waiter along with a cook. Man, that waiter is short...but I'm still shorter! Am I really the shortest person in the school!? >_<

Well, never mind that, right now she needed food! She went up the the waiter guy, breaking personal space as she did.

"Please, Mr. Waiter guy, I can smell your delicious tuna and I really need it!" Her mouth drooled as the smells overwhelmed her. She would get that tuna. After all, how could they say no to someone as small and bandaged up as her? She was wearing more bandages than clothes at this point.

@Crimmy@Sho Minazuki

@Crimmy @Sho Minazuki @HereComesTheSnow @abillioncats

Kiran Ali Khan

Kiran Ali Khan was the kind of man who believed in diligence in all things. If something was to be done, it should be done well after all, and that meant putting in all the proper preparations. Even if that something was the half baked ideas of his teammates to set up a stall on parents' day. Knowing them, Varius was likely spending all his time either prepping his knives or showing off his skills rather than actually paying attention to the customers. Noëlle was on off on some other business back at Haven, and well Taidan, well he was a special case.

He probably figured a cute outfit was enough to qualify him as a waiter and then customers would magically appear.

In all honestly, Kiran was well aware that he probably should've been around from the beginning, but these things took time. In his case that meant acquiring all of the proper ingredients. Lamb and Chicken were obviously a must, as well as the pita bread. He also had an assortment of vegetables, tomatoes, cheeses, cucumbers and more for the different tastes of his customers.

Not to mention what sort of Shawarma was complete without a variety of dressings and spices. Plus he needed the tools for the trade, and thus he also had packed two vertical splits for both sets of meat, alongside his variety of knives, and some aluminum foil for the to go customers.

Kiran did not like to remain unprepared of course.

All of this was dragged along inside yet another cart he planned on parking next to the whatever stand Varius and Taidan had set up. The only thing he was really missing were beverage options. He hoped the others had saw fit to bring at least a cooler, or else some more daring customers of his might find that the spice they ordered was just a bit too much.

All this in tow, Kiran finally arrived at the Beacon grounds to see a freshman practically drooling over Varius' displayed goods. "What a surprise, you two actually got a customer. Now why don't the two of you help her out before she devours all of Varius' goods. Oh and you don't have any Fugu buried in there right?"

The senior swordsman's grin only grew larger when he spotted a familiar face talking to his teammates. "Sterling, long time no see. Mind giving me a hand setting all this up. Plus I've got room on this cart for another station. We'd make one hell of a team."

---

Raelyn Mauveine sat patiently, admiring the view from the Airbus window, looking down below at Beacon Academy. Next to her, sat her eldest daughter, Chelle Mauveine, who fidgeted with her scroll.

Raelyn along with her daughter, were able to catch a flight all the way from Mantle for a surprise visit. She wanted to look presentable, wearing her standard business attire: a gray suit over a white button-up with black slacks, with black flats. Chelle took a more comfortable approach, wearing white shorts and a red polo, with black sneakers.

The Airbus slowed, beginning its descent towards the air-docks of Beacon. "We are now arriving at Beacon Academy. Please have your ID's ready, and please stay buckled and seated until the Airbus comes to a complete halt!" the intercom blared an attendants peppy voice. Raelyn dug her ID out of her small green purse, while she glanced over to Chelle, who had her ID in her hand.

Chelle smiled at her mother, "Do you think Charon will know we're coming?" she fidgeted with a strand of her black hair anxiously.

Raelyn shrugged, "Perhaps, but I'm not sure how much he's gotten used to his semblance," Raelyn brushed her dark brown hair she noticed was out of place.

Raelyn understood a few things that Charon told her about his semblance, but that was about a year ago, so she assumed that Charon had time to research and understand aura and get used to his semblance; She distinctly remembers him spending almost all day doing for several straight months. She was a little eager to see how Charon has developed since then.

Chelle on the other hand was left in the dark, as she only knew a few things about any of it. She was finishing grad school for her medical degree and the way Charon put it, when she called him one day, "Didn't want to bother you when you're so busy." So much of it was left to Raelyn to explain what she could understand to Chelle.

The Airbus slowed almost to a halt, hovering in place until it set down on the air-docks, the engines whirring down as the doors slid open. People unbuckled their seat-belts and shuffled along, grabbing their belongings above or below them until they exited out onto solid ground. Everyone bunched up in a crowd for a brief moment, forming a line to several security personal checking people's ID before letting them off the air-docks.

Raelyn showed her ID card, while the Security person squinted at her card, muttering "50 year old... Raelyn Mauveine" while typing it into a computer, glancing through his list before letting her through with an impassive "Go on through."

Raelyn waited for Chelle to pass through the checkpoint, glancing around at the school, noting its impressive size and clean grounds. At least Beacon is more subtle than Atlas, Raelyn thought to herself, thinking about how impossibly big Atlas Academy was, being more of a fortress than an actual school.

Chelle maneuvered her way out of the stream of people towards her mother, "So where do we find Charon?"

"Heeeyyy Chelle!" Charon shouted from the distance, waving frantically to get their attention.

Chelle turned to see Charon jogging towards them, muttering to Raelyn "Well that didn't take long," whilst waving back to Charon with a smile.

Charon stopped in front of both of Chelle and Raelyn to catch his breath, looking up at both of them, "So... what are you two doing here?" as if expecting a response he already didn't know the answer to.

Chelle shrugged, "Oh you know... we caught the wrong flight from Mantle, and so happaned to end up here,"

"Oh hah-ha, but in all seriousness: I thought both of you guys were booked throughout this whole week!"

"I managed to work some extra hours, so I was able to get some time off; Chelle managed to finish a day early as per permission from her professor, so now we're here!"

Charon took a step back for a moment before looking back up at both of them, giving them both a nice warm embrace, "Well... I'm glad you're here then! I uh... What should we do then? I was on my way to town to find some parts for my drone and happened to notice both of you coming in on an Airbus so maybe I can show you two around town?"

"Well what about the tour of your school first? I thought that was the whole idea?"

"Oh but you guys should see how nice the town is first! Then we can save the best for last? Besides..." Charon took off his hat, and a mess of hair was revealed underneath, "-I kinda need a haircut since last month."

Chelle was the first to react, "Charon! Geez! I've never seen your hair this bad!" She started to mess with his hair, trying to comb it in a fashion that would make it look presentable, much to Charon's discomfort.

"Well it's settled- OW! Stop messing with my- Gah! Stop!" Charon tried to shoo away her older sister from his hair, before planting his hat over his head to cease her attempts to "fix it".

The red-haired huntress nodded. It wasn't really hard seeing that Lauren was a bright person.

Lauren's mother treasured Lauren. And it was something Sangue would have expected from the parent of a good and cheerful person who treasured people.

The first time Sangue met Lauren, she never thought they would get along. Almost everything about them were different, from their personalities and hobbies. But Lauren approached her with open arms and let Sangue inch towards her, getting to know of what kind of person she was. Even now she continues to learn things of her team member- her friend.

It also wasn't hard to see that her family loved her very much. It wasn't a sight she got to see every day, but perhaps it was something she wouldn't mind seeing any time.

Especially with how her father just swooped right in and got straight to the point. She bowed politely at Lauren's father.

Sangue remained silent as she stared at him.

_{@Plank Sinatra@Krayzikk@Kaithas}

@HereComesTheSnow @Plank Sinatra @Ayazi @Silvan Haven @Write @LokiLeo789 @Crimmy



It slowly dawned on her that she was interrupting Luke. Repeatedly. The poor guy was trying to respond during the long pauses she left open, but she was so stuck in her own head trying to figure out what to say and how to say it she had cut him off maybe three times. She had been doing that a lot to the staff at the hospital and the representatives from Beacon as well. Luke looked a little annoyed and she cringed inwardly, unable to blame him.

"I'm sorry. I've just gotten so unused to being around people and-" Don't make excuses, she thought, interrupting herself this time. "I'm sorry. I never meant to upset you. If I could retrace my path back to the hospital... I'm usually very good at reading the land and remembering where I've been. But the city... so many people. I..." Excuses again, already?

She looked at the people immediately surrounding Luke. His friends, possibly even family. He had come here to enjoy himself with people he knew, not waste his time on a stranger. He had said it was a pleasure to meet her but he was probably just being polite. She bowed her head and sighed, hoping he could just point her in the right direction. The faster she could be on her way the sooner he could get back to spending time with his friends. And the tempting treats the cafe had to offer. The tempting, heavenly smelling, undoubtedly delectable baked goods...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



@Onarax @Crimmy @Sho Minazuki @HereComesTheSnow @abillioncats

Fishnet. It was all about fishnet today. Fishnet and leather. A small black haired girl, wearing little more than the aforementioned fishnet and leather, literally bounced and skipped through the streets. She wore a small miniskirt and tubetop but these hardly even qualified as clothing; her boots, wrist bands, and choker covered more skin. Her ensemble earned her more than a few looks, but even the negative attention only seemed to encourage her. Not that she needed much encouragement to act like a hyperactive, undisciplined juvenile fascinated with everything in sight. That came naturally.

Annabelle Valentine was especially excited today, though. For today, or more accurately tomorrow, a detail she was quick to gloss over, she was a student of Beacon. She was going to train to be a Huntress and, she expected, the best Huntress there ever was. Sure, there were a lot of people ahead of her but she was confident she would catch up and even surpass them soon enough. After all, how many came to this school with years of training already behind them? Probably quite a few, she decided on second thought. Beacon didn't exactly take in anyone off the streets that wanted to enroll. Surely not. So, OK, she probably wasn't unique in that regard buuuut her training was the best money could buy, and learning from a very young age had to count for something. Even here. Then again she was still pretty young, a fact her mother loved to remind her about, usually concerning certain habits.

Annabelle realized she had stopped in the middle of the walkway, inadvertently blocking another girl's way. The girl was giving Anna a look like she had a second or third head. "Oh. Have I been thinking out loud this whole time? How long have I been standing here?"

"Long enough for me to consider calling whatever hospital you escaped from to come pick you up."

Anna paused, blank faced for a moment, before bursting into laughter. "You're too funny, I like you!" She grabbed the other girl by the shoulders, kissed her on the cheek, and then promptly began to walk away from her stunned victim. "Ciao!"

"Now then. What or who or where to do..." she muttered to herself, weaving through the crowd. Her answer came quickly in the form of delicious smelling food and a mix of cute and handsome boys preparing said food. I love this place! She skipped her way up to the food stalls all smiles and walked down the line sampling everything with her eyes. The food looked good, too. Seniors, surely. Well, maybe not her. Cute outfit, short dark hair, small chest. Yep. Had to be their female mascot. Still, making friendly with the upperclassmen would be a fine start, miss Valentine. Thank you, I thought so as well. She giggled at her own nonsense and then noticed another customer, a young faunus girl she almost bumped right into. Annabelle shamelessly looked the girl up and down, taking in her adorable ears and tail and obliviously missing the extensive bandages. So cuuuute! I wish I could be a faunus! Except for all the racist crap I'd have to put up with. Catching the tail end of what the girl was saying Annabelle swooped in on the situation, putting her arm around the cat faunus as if they were great friends. She winked and smiled at the one she was talking to. "You heard her, this girl needs her tuna. All the tuna. And I do mean all of it."

Annabelle was distracted briefly by another older boy, one that apparently was friends with the cooks here. And someone that smelled faintly of hard liquor, a scent she could catch even amidst the aromas of the food so nearby. She found herself wondering if that was the scent of whiskey, and what quality this guy preferred. She could always just ask. But first things first. Her new friend needed her tuna.

@FlitterFaux@Onarax@Abillioncats@Sho Minazuki@HereComesTheSnow@Ryonara

Shuai Taidan - Food Cart

The arrival of Sterling brought a dazzling smile out of Shuai Taidan, his pretty face lighting up as he whipped around to meet his fellow (and once-thought-gone) senior Hunter-in-training. He'd been worried for how the taller man had been faring ever since he'd returned from KNVS' own mission, especially after hearing about how disastrous things had gotten and the dissolution of SSEL in the aftermath, but he hadn't been able to go check up on the other senior team, not when the resident Mr. Metal Man had gone and disappeared himself. Even a guy as amazing as himself wasn't able to find Sterling like that!

"Sterling!" he said happily in a break of character, placing the previous customer's order down on the counter. "I thought you'd gone hikkomori on us! Welcome back!"

He strolled over and embraced Sterling in a hug, but his nose wrinkled up slightly soon after.

"You're reeking, bro," complained the shorter young man as he pulled away, looking up to meet Sterling's face. "We need to get you to a shower. But anyway, business is pretty slow - one our customers even ran away!"

There was a note of lamentation in his tone, one reflected by the drooping of his cowlick, but that immediately disappeared on the arrival of a new customer and the leader of his team.

"Kibro, who do you think we are?" said the prettyboy extraordinaire of KNVS with a huff, flicking his hair to the side. "We're not going to get out customers killed! Now-"

His attentions shifted once more to the newcomers.

"How do you want your tuna, senoritas?" he asked, falling back into the role of a waiter.

"Soot, can I ask you something?" As much as the absence of a certain purple-eyed girl was beginning to concern Sepia, it had provided her with a chance to talk privately with her father. Whenever she called him at their home, Datura was almost always lurking somewhere nearby if not front and center by his request. While the brunette did value his attempts to facilitate friendly communication between the two most important people in his life, she was missing having a private outlet for her feelings and questions.

He smiled with just a hint of sadness behind it. "Of course." Sepia had a feeling he knew where this was going.

She shifted uncomfortably for a moment before finally blurting out, "Were you afraid to tell me? About the baby, I mean." Silence hung in the air for a few moments as she worried her lower lip. Did she really want to know any of the possible answers?

Her father sighed and closed his eyes before replying, "The situation is delicate. Aside from the long list of physical complications, we weren't sure if you might feel that you were being abandoned again." Huh? They'd never left her, not-oh. He wasn't talking about himself and Datura.

"Hey. You two had nothing to do with that." She put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to reassure him. "If anything, you've been the most constant person in my life. Hell, according to you, you took me straight from the midwife's arms. Pretty good for a teenager." She let out a small giggle.

He smiled. "Watch your language."

---

Things were getting serious. Preparing to defend herself should the need arise sooner than expected, Datura gave a quick once-over to the bracers wrapping around her forearms and lower legs. If last night's assessment of the telescoping function was still accurate, she should be fine in the kind of combat this student seemed ready to engage in.

"Of course. Now, do you wish to proceed to the gym, or would you rather start getting "calmed down" right now?" She allowed just a hint of arrogance to slip in at the end. Hopefully, this girl would surprise her with her decision.

@FlitterFaux@Onarax@Abillioncats@Sho Minazuki@HereComesTheSnow@Ryonara





Emerald nearly jumped out of her skin when some stranger wrapped her arm around her as if they were the closet of friends. Now Emerald didn't mind making new friends, but seriously who was this chick? She'd never seen her before in her life!

Of course as the cat faunus was thinking this the new girl started talking about getting all the tuna for her. Okay, I don't care how weird this girl is I like her. Emerald had decided at that moment that this girl would have to be her friend. That was probably what she was going for anyway, with the spontaneous hugging and trying to get her tuna asap.

"How do you want your tuna, senoritas?" The waiter guy said, snapping Emerald out of her thoughts. Right, she had to order her tuna...getting to know her new friend could come after. "I uh...would like them to be edible...I mean fried! I'd like them fried." So much was happening that her mind felt scrambled, the pain killers weren't helping with that matter either.

With that out of the way, she turned her head to look at the girl still clinging to her, analyzing her a bit. "So...are you a scantly clad angel come down from heaven to make sure I get my tuna?" Had to get the most important question out of the way.

Geni's finger was merely a taut strap of bone and strained muscle against the weight of Beryl's running body clasped at the end of it. As a result, he was thrust into an awkward half running-half flying position behind her. His desperate pleas to slow down were lost to the wind, and for the next few minutes Geni was dragged like a kite through the air. Oddly enough it he wasn't adverse to the situation. His mind was rather preoccupied on other matters of importance such as:

How in hell is she so strong? the voice in Geni's head cried out.

Supplements?

It was only a matter of time before Beryl finally came to a stop, leaving Geni to dress his now strained finger. "That was my favorite finger, man. he sighed as he absentmindedly rubbed the appendage. While he licked his wounds, Geni took a moment to glance at the Cafe's occupants, most of which contained students he didn't recognize. Although the large brooding guy from before was present, and he seemed to be just as disgruntled and he was.

Geni nodded his way. Comrade. it seemed to say.

Once again he surveyed the room. More students seemed to have appeared.

Christ, how many students come to this Cafe? Geni mused.

Why hasn't management kicked all the little bastards out? the voice replied.

Why haven't I made my presence known?

Not sure, I thought that was our thing? the voice jibbed.

Well why don't we begin? Geni grinned

Why don't we.

With a breath of preparation, Geni rose to his full height, looked into the withering mass of students, and:

"Naw man I'm not a tea person, if they have juice though that would be great."

@Onarax @Abillioncats @Sho Minazuki @HereComesTheSnow @Ryonara



Shiny!

The more fragrant of the hunks present caught her eye again as she noticed his arm. That had to be cybernetic, right? Excitement rose in the already overly amped up girl as she decided that was the only possibility, and now that guy was without doubt her very next target. She perked up even more as the cute one suddenly came forward and embraced the man. Oh, please be a couple, that is too- hey, her hair isn't short, it's just in a ponytail. Hm. She paused for a moment taking a closer look. Waaaaiiit.. that's a boy! Ohmygosh! Even better! Pleasepleasepleeeaase be boyfriends! She was bouncing again, as a half dozen very inappropriate fantasies raced through her head."Hot..." She whispered as the cute waiter boy broke the embrace and returned to take care of business.

Focused again on her new cat girl friend, or as focused as she ever could be, Annabelle giggled. "Yes, edible. All that tuna better be edible." She looked at the boy in front of them with an expression of mock severity, but that fell away as something else occurred to her. "Just fried? Not bad, but have you ever had raw tuna before? It is sooooo good. I could get down on that all day. And, yes. Yes I am, straight from on high to where the fish is needed most." She gently poked the girl's abdomen to make it clear where the seafood belonged. "Totally forgot my wings up there. Guess I'm earthbound now. I'm Annabelle Valentine by the way. What's your name?"

She meant to wait for the girl to respond like a normal person would, she really did. But something that had been said just a few moments earlier caught up to her bullet train of what could be considered thoughts. "Huh, why are we dying?" She looked at the well toned, dark haired guy with what looked like genuine alarm, then back at the faunus. Then she noticed something else and that train in her head jumped tracks again. "Hey! We're the same height! Oh right, sorry, I'm being a rude angel, huh? I'm just so excited to be here! What was your name again?"

"N-No!" Yue accepted the hoodie but didn't follow the teacher. Though nervous, she was smiling. The excitement was thrilling. "I-I-I have to do this... No... I want to do this. I've never done this before but if I don't do it now, I may never get a chance to do it ever again..." All sorts of emotions were rushing through Yue's body and mind. The sheer rush of it all made her want to jump off a cliff so she could elbow drop a grimm. She understood that some people might think for a delicate maid like Yue, she shouldn't be doing what she's doing. But she'd rather live with the regret of having done something she wanted, than to never having a chance to do it at all. She just needed some support.

"I can fight! ... At least I want to show them I can. I don't want them to think I'm just going to be the shy, quiet maiden in the background all the time. I just... I just want to be a part of something crazy too. Even just a little bit like this..." Yue was starting to have second thoughts again, but thought back to her training as a maid. She's felt this sort of embarrassment before when her parents made her try and properly set a master bedroom without any training. It was a new and exciting thing to do, but without a guide and something at risk, she panicked and made a mess of things. She couldn't let that happen again. So Swallowing her fears she stood up straight and a bit more confident. "I... I just need your help! Please cheer me on! I want to know that what I'm doing is... Is amazing! That I'm doing a good job! All I need is some encouragement and I can do this."

It was than that Yue remembered something very important: she had order sushi and completely forgot about it! "Oh no! I need to get my food!" Yue ran off with the hoodie and returned to the food stand serving the fish. A lot more people were here now, but her mind focused on the food. As a Maid it was her duty to ensure that such meals were never wasted, and if she had any pride in herself, she'd make sure to finish every bite of it.

@Crimmy

@Ryonara@Abillioncats@Crimmy@FlitterFaux@Onarax@Sho Minazuki

STERLING JOHNSON

"Long time no see, buddy." Sterling chuckled, ruffling Shaui's long, silky black hair as the smaller man pulled him into a bear hug with one of those radiant smiles that made you think, at least for a moment, Yeah, I probably would. "Sorry for disappearing on you guys like that. Shit got rough and I really flipped out."

The napalm-factory-turned-waiter's recoiling with as much speed and upturned nose only made him laugh harder. "Damn, am I that bad? Coulda sworn I took at least one." Being the absolute model (heh) of a hard worker, though, Taidan seamlessly returned to taking orders from the sudden influx of hyperactive freshman— who he'd bet all kinds of money were attracted primarily by his maxed out "prettyboy" looks— after trading a light-hearted shot with the newly arrived Kiran Ali Khan, master of sword and schwarma.

Raising Nuada and spinning the hand in greeting, Sterling returned the smile to the leader of KNVS. "Yo, Kiran! Been a while!"

As it had with everyone. Estelle had gone whole-hog into becoming the survival class's teacher, Sarina had become disgusted with his sudden and severe alcoholism and had promptly disappeared to parts unknown, Lilac had never enrolled after that spectacular failure of guarding the supply shipment, Jorie was nursing a major concussion, Clair had to leave the school before he'd even returned home, as had Jasmine...

His whole team was gone before his eyes already, Ozpin just decided to twist the knife further by making it official.

"Yeah, let me at it. Just tell me where you want everything, boss." he nodded, his sobriety becoming a metaphorical trait as well as a physical/biological one. Tapping the cart and every loose hunk of metal within, he nigh-thoughtlessly activated Airgetlam and brought them up to a gentle float reminiscent of an object in zero gravity. "It's funny you should mention that, though."

His easy grin had long since become a disquieted grimace.

"I may end up helping you three out a whole lot more often."