Geni spared Gratia a fleeting glance as she took the seat next to him unannounced. He had expected at least some kind of acknowledgment, even a look would have sufficed, yet none whatsoever appeared. She went on as if the world around her ceased to exist and only her purpose yielded her undivided attention. From what Geni could gather she either proved to be a single-minded and goal-orientated woman or a rather arrogant kid. As if to add insult to injury, the acknowledgement he seemed to so desperately crave finally arrived in the form of a ponytail to the face.

Yep, it's looking a lot like arrogance. he mused.

Going on as if he hadn't noticed, Geni stood and unclasped the weapon-pair holstered on his back, dropping them on his worktable. It's sheath quickly joined them.

He chuckled as he worked. "Ever heard of the Nap Theory? Nap's aren't bound to our illusion of time. They exist outside our reality. I'd explain further but..."

Before continuing he shrugged off his jacket, during which it's side-front whipped across Gratia's face.

...my skill lies only in the action, not it's theory." he chortled.

Geni tossed the jacket across his backrest as if nothing had transpired and held out his hand for Krysanthe to shake.

"Krysanthe. Nice name. Mine's Geni. Pleasure's all mine." he simpered, further playing up his innocence by using his other hand to clean the dust off his black tank-top.

It took Gren a few seconds to connect the dots.

Anna was talking about a blonde.

Gren thought she was pointing someone out.

The missing link was that Anna was talking about herself.

”D’oh.”

Gren needed to make up something fast. The first thing that came to mind was sun and stars; both of those things were a blonde yellowish color in certain shades. Gren looked back to Oswald’s notes and pretended to play it cool, his stony facade nearly cracking in embarrassment. ”A single star may shine at night, but the sun will always stand out in the sky.” Gren had no idea if his words had any meaning. He certainly didn't intend to for it to be meaningful. He just needed to save face.

Back to the matter at hand Gren focused on Oswald’s request. He wanted a handgun, which was easy enough. True that his caliber of bullets would severely limit his ammo count but Gren imagined that Oswald was going for stopping power, not suppression. 20mm was going to stop a lot of things dead or alive. As for the shield generator Gren had something of an idea though it will take time to make it as good as Oswald wants it. ”If that's the case, I do got something of an idea. I saw it on some Atlus Tank in a magazine I read. Reactive Armor, its called. Basically the protective bits only activate during the few moments you need it.”

Gren took his scroll back to look for shield generators that could do that. While Gren doubts he could find a generator with the same juice as the Amity Colosseum barrier, with a bit of elbow grease and a lot of moxie, Gren could rig something similarly. ”Basically I'll put a trigger on your shield generator. When you really need to block something, pull the trigger and a big-ass barrier will activate. Release the trigger and shield goes down. This way you only use it when you need it and not constantly have it on. Now making it super strong is going to be tough path part but hardly impossible.”

Leaning back Gren clapped his fingers in front of his face and looked at Oswald. Now for the real challenge; One that he knew not many people, not even the strongest of Hunters could always overcome. ”I hope you realize this is going to be very expensive. The shield alone is going to carve a deep hole into my Lien, if I pay for it. Even trying to rig something like it with the parts here is going to take a few weeks of trial and error. Buying it will save us time, if you're willing to pay that price."

@Abillioncats@FlitterFaux@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

@LokiLeo789@Ayazi@Eklispe

Gratia Mindaro - Armoury

The ponytailed girl glanced in Geni's direction, her stoic expression changing naught even as her gaze seemed to grow more intense through the clear lenses of her safety goggles. Her onyx eyes were flat, but they soon returned to the soldering iron in her hand, one that she immediately began to apply to a roll of solder, the scent of burning and smoke rising up into the air.

Noticeably, in fact.

However, she had no time for dealing with the bullshit of the masses.

The circuit board sat in front of her, and she carefully began to apply the solder to the connections between the pins. The moment the joint formed, she pulled the iron away, glancing critically at her work. It appeared stable. It was very likely stable. She wasn't some fucking retard who hadn't managed learn from all the experience she had gained in this type of work. No, she was aiming to complete this contraption before the end of the class. Fuckups were forbidden.

@FlitterFaux@Lucius Cypher@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN





Now you wouldn't expect it, but Emerald actually knew a thing or two about designing gear and weapons. She had built her original weapons after all. Of course her dad had helped her a TON with the design and pretty much everything, but still, it wasn't like she didn't learn anything from that.

She listened to Gren as he explained how he'd design Oswald's new gear. It was actually some pretty awesome stuff, Reactive Armor sounded badass. For now all this was distracting her from her more troubling thoughts, except when Oswald mentioned their last mission, that made her visibly shiver and flinch as if she could still feel that blade slicing into.

Ugh, don't think about that...

She shook that thought out of her head, there was no use thinking about that anyway, her wound was still there, but all it did was feel sore really at this point, by the end of the week it would be all healed.

Just in time to get injured again on our next mission, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

She blinked.

Damn that was unusually pessimistic of me...I need to distract myself.

Oh right, there were the goggles they'd been working on! She still needed to work on...a lot of the more technical stuff.

"That shield sounds freakin awesome. Though we also need to work on our goggles, remember Oswald?"

@Abillioncats @Lucius Cypher @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

Annabelle Valentine
Armory

What in the world does he mean by that? Sun and stars what now? It's a dig at me not being a natural blonde isn't it? Or is he trying to flatter me by saying I'm the sun to this Krysanthe person's star? Damn you and your cryptic bullshit, Gren!

Annabelle was saved from spiralling into a pit of madness of her own creation by Oswald, albeit indirectly. The large man mentioned something about last Friday, and the subtle shift in Emerald's demeanor caught her attention, pulling her out of her musings and back to the here and now. Tuned into Emerald's mood as she was, she could see now that Oswald's own statement had put him into a foul state. The fact that Anna had yet to meet their team leader was starting to feel a little ominous. She hadn't heard much about Diamond so far and she hadn't gotten the impression that anything was seriously wrong. But Oswald and Emerald had been pretty beat up...

Thankfully the topic quickly switched back to the projects at hand before Anna herself felt the need to come up with a distraction of her own. And what better distractions could there be than hand cannons, shield generators, and goggles? Actually a few things immediately come to mind buuuutt those things are good enough.

She leaned forward more closely examining the many drawings and notes scattered across the table. She hadn't even noticed she had gotten up on her knees on the bench, intently and excitedly putting everything together in various ways in her head. Before long she was completely immersed in the projects, and her hips began swaying from side to side as more and more possibilities came to her. Her eyes were bright and focused intensely on the work she had promised to help with, and she kept one ear tuned into the theoretical chatter though she was practically in a different world at this point. She even started muttering out loud as her thoughts raced.

"Yep, super revolver quick and easy, buuuutt could design a customized, oversized frame. Ozzie has-" She glanced at his hands and nodded to herself. "-yes, big hands. He can take it. Could push a huge cylinder, very bulky but slow slow reload. Every shot counts, right? Duh. Rhetorical, Valentine. Sword is... Oh that's just gonna be too much fun. Better watch our fingers, though... Hmmmmm." She propped herself up on her hands and briefly looked up at the ceiling in silent contemplation.

"But all of that can wait, can't it? The real treat here... from the start..." She stopped swaying and suddenly locked Oswald in an intense stare.

"The shield."

Anna stared at Oswald like this for a few seconds then broke into a grin and knelt back down on the bench. That's right, Gren mentioned funds. Well, well, well, don't I know a certain someone with a decent amount of lien? Oh, that's me! She giggled at herself and her personal credit card appeared in her hand. "I can help with this shield in so many ways. Not the least being," She propped her head up on one arm and held up the card. ",the ridiculous price tag attached to this gem of a project. But!" The card vanished as quickly as it had appeared and Anna was leaning forward again looking at everyone in turn. "I want Tiger to have his own shield generator, and pretty much the opposite of Ozzie's strength over duration. While I could figure it out myself with enough time, it would go much faster with help. And..." She sat back down and put her hands in her lap.

"I would like to make that with friends."

It looked like this was happening. Gren was already thinking on the same lines as he was, and that was fantastic. "That was actually how I'd originally imagined it, Gren. It seems crazy guys like us truly think alike." Looking around at the little gathering he'd developed, Oswald smiled. He was gonna do this. They were gonna do this.

And Gren was even being sweet about money. Hell, Anna said she'd pitch in. It wasn't necessary, thankfully, but it was appreciated. "That...won't be necessary. I can get you all of the materials you'll need. I have a few favors I can pull after these two missions we've had. 'Exposing' a 'lone, corrupt official' within the Schnee Dust Corporation earned me their 'unceasing thanks.' Not to mention that after that shitshow of a mission we went on Friday, there are a few people who are....invested...in my continued growth."

A beat passed while Oswald wondered about just how exactly he'd be of use to those people, especially since their support came at a price. It was a price he was more than eager to pay, frankly, but it locked his options down after graduation quite a bit.

Picking his Scroll up without regard for who was looking at it, Oswald quickly sent a message before setting it back down, open to the schematics file for the shield. "That's something to be dealt with at a later time. Suffice to say, we'll have everything we need brought to us relatively quickly." Anna's comment about his hands managed to get a smirk and half a smile, but he was more interested in her ideas for her Tiger.

"If you're looking to poach my shield ideas, we might just have to pool resources and brainstorm. Hell, if you're looking for a low-intensity shield that lasts longer, we might be able to use the same design for what I'm using, just modified." Nodding, Oswald swept his arms out in a grand gesture before wincing. "Fuck, that hurt. Regardless, think of a dimmer switch for a light. Lower the dial, light goes down. Push up the dial, light goes up." Smacking his hand down onto the table, Oswald laughed.

"But we do it with the shield! Give it a high-power mode, and a power-saver mode! Or, to keep it simple just work on two separate styles and cross what ideas and parts we can where we can!"

Oh yes, this was happening.

"Oh, and Anna..." Oswald turned to the now-blonde girl and smirked. "I'm so flattered you can call us friends. My big hands are just trembling in excitement."

I've got your back Gren.

You big giant idiot.

Everything seemed to be going well. Gren managed to deflect potential accusations about his density away and refocused on Oswald's equipment. Gren was slightly amused that Oswald actually thought Gren was going to put money for his shield generator: Gren could laid labor easily, but money is harder to part. That being said apparently Oswald had the resources to purchase what he needed, so Gren didn't bother to bring it up. Putting everything together, Gren was going to divide the workload into the three (Possibly four if Emerald wanted to help) workloads. He organized the papers and handed them to the others.

"Right then, here's what I suggest as we tackle this. The first two things we're going to focus on is the pistol and sword. The Shield we can't really do anything about until the parts arrive, so all we can do is brainstorm. Oswald, you and me ought to work on your sword. Again, I can't really do much until I get a good look at your blade and I'm sure you're more familiar with it than I am. Anna, I think you should work on Oswald's new pistol. It shouldn't be too hard, but let's not get too many people involved in the design, yeah? I trust that you know what you're doing."

Gren then looked at Emerald. She knew how to take care of her own equipment and she already had plans for some high tech goggles. It wouldn't really be fair for them to force Emerald to put her designs aside just for Oswald. Gren debated how he could help when he had an idea. "Googles huh? Hmm... My helmet has a Heads-up Display built into it. If you could wait for me to go get it, feel free to cannibalize parts from it. I got spares." Gren's helmet, and subsequent armor, was with his weapon in his locker. It'll just be a short walk for him to go fetch it for Emerald to toy with. He gave the cat faunus a wry smile and scratched his head. "... Sorry I can't help you much more than that, Emerald. I'll be busy giving Oswald a hand. Oh and Anna," Gren turned to face the now blonde huntress. "We'll need to discuss your shield later. Unlike Oswald's shield, if you want longevity over strength we'll need to find a more efficient generator for it. Anaerobic and Aerobic, you know, they have different builds even if they look similar. With that in mind you and I will need to look into different forms of protection. Also, I don't think I've ever seen your weapon before. I'd really like to take a peek at it, get a feel for it, you know?"

And of course there was Gren's own things he wanted to do. He doubts this project will be something that can be done just in class, less so if Gren wanted to do his own stuff too. Class hasn't started yet, but a few other students (Well just one) seemed to already be working on projects. Leaning his head into his hands Gren debated leaving for a bit to gather materials and decided to do it; he needed to let the others mull on his decisions anyways. "Well... You guys think about it. I'm going to get the stuff we may need. If you'll excuse me." Gren excused himself from the desk and went to his equipment locker to fetch his helmet and some other gear he thought might be important. He even hauled his two giant Gatling guns, his God Eater and Annabeth, though that was mostly for himself. He needed to do some conversion from the God Eater to Annabeth that he's been putting off for too long.

@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN@FlitterFaux@Abillioncats

"Hey, hey, hey, who do you think you are, Cap? Nah ah, Luke. You gotta give some tat if you ever want to get some tits."

Lauren grinned and popped her BaSTEELs back on, popping open her arcane notebook of ideas and flipping to a page marked with a little black bookmark, cut into the shape of a stalk of hair. Sketched out on the page was a surprisingly well-shaded, if cartoonish, depiction of Luke wearing a pair of BaSTEELs for himself; they were somewhat sleeker than the Aviator-style smart shades that Lauren had designed for her teammates, probably in a vain, innocently racist attempt to match up for her protege's squinty Shiroyaman eyes. A series of scribbled out ideas and features, plus a handful that were punctuated with question marks, underlines, or circles and underlines, were on the right side of her sketch.

"These are gonna be for you!" she said excitedly, gesturing towards the page with her pen. It was clear she was hoping for a bombastic reaction at the style points Lauren had deemed worthy of dumping upon Luke. "I'm making them special before I do any work on my weapon. They're my way of saying thanks for your help Friday - little bro."

But Lauren Negasi was a con woman first and foremost, and with her introductory presentation made to keep Luke hooked with the promise of reward, she reached into her drawstring pack and withdrew two long, smooth weapons.

This time, she knew for certain she got the surprise reaction she wanted.

Artorius and Lawnslot were in Lauren's right hand, resembling a double-barreled shotgun in Luke's face perhaps a little too uncannily for the boy's comfort.

"Chk chk~!" she vocalized. "Be-hold, kiddo. The keys to the kingdom."



Jericho seemed faintly pleased both by Beryl's willingness to assist him with his bicycle and to learn. His mouth hardly twitched, but the long streak of scarlet towards the back of his hair pulsed in faint gratitude. It settled down a second later, as Jericho began to idly spin his sharpened hair pin around the bench with periodic flicks.

"I appreciate it, Beryl," he thanked the otter Faunus cordially. "As soon as this professor gets his ass over here, I'll ask if we can go get it and bring it over here. Moving it should be a breeze, if it's still where the dock workers said they moved it. Apparently there's some garage that they store student vehicles in somewhere on campus, but I would rather work in here than out there unsupervised."

Partially because I don't trust you not to throw me in the pool on the way there.

You never knew with a girl like this. She did seem to enjoy watching the water fight the other day.

@Crimmy@Ayazi@LokiLeo789@Plank Sinatra



Beryl's eyes flicked towards the glow in Jericho's hair, her gaze automatically drawn to the sudden change in color and brightness. It was an unusual feature. One that intrigued her and that the young man seemingly had no intention of explaining. Of course Luke also had his hair...thing, so she supposed a few glowing strands weren't all that out there.

"The teacher here is pretty casual so I don't think he will have any problems with that." She said as her eyes returned to her classmate's face. "I've never been to the garage myself, don't have a vehicle to store there. But from what I remember its somewhere on the other side of the pool building."

It wasn't called that of course. There were a variety of fitness and exercise facilities also held within the building. To the young Faunus though, it was the pool building. Ever since she had figured out where it was her entire mental map of the campus had formed with the location of the small body of water at its center.

She idly wondered if they would have time for a quick dip. Her bathing suit was in her bag, as always. Jericho looked fit enough to be fun playing with in the water. She had seen him in splashing around with Luke back on the cruise but hadn't been able to join in herself. She hadn't been entirely sure she wouldn't send them both over the side of the boat by accident.

The building's walls are made of reinforced concrete, right?

I snorted.

The saying went "tit-for-tat", so if we really wanted to debate semanti--

"Wait, me?! Why me?"

Back up, Lauren! Hadn't we just had a conversation about how woefully underequipped you were on Friday? What happened to that?! We'd both agreed that a fire axe wouldn't hack it against things like that Manticore...

Heck, even I myself was investing in more powerful weaponry than what I'd gone into that mission with, and I had far better equipment than she did. For her to be spending her time on making something for me without obligation to was charitable enough already. But to postpone her own rearmament?

"I..."

I searched for my words after getting over the initial shock, swallowing whatever nonsensical retorts had naturally wormed their way to the tip of my tongue.

"I appreciate the gesture, but you should really be focused on yourself fir-- Hey!"

I had been looking down upon the honestly well-rendered, if animesque and disconcertingly familiar, drawing of myself as I spoke, and thusly hadn't paid attention to what the artist was doing.

Big mistake.

I was now staring the hafts of two very familiar tonfa, which I also intellectually knew to be the barrels of two very familiar shotguns.

So, not only was that momentarily terrifying, but--

She had plans for her arsenal after all! The BaSTEELs were just a ruse to lure me in, and get me thinking that I was going to owe her, even more than I already do! Aaaaaargh!

"Point those somewhere else— and give me my concern back right now!"

I want it in writing.

But, still.

Good thing for the both of us that she wasn't just trying to foist this whole period onto a project for me. I really would have felt bad, and the sooner she was up to her full potential capability, the better. The next missions we went on weren't likely going to involve two teams co-operating again— with only three other people instead of six that could potentially watch her back, Lauren really didn't need anything shackling her prowess.

"So," I refocused. "Is Ben just loaning you those, or are they yours for keeps? I didn't get much chance to talk to him about it yesterday or today, but he's got something huge now, right? A greatshield, I think?"

I just knew he had been lugging around something heavy, metallic, and probably heavier than his entire team all morning.

Made it look easy, though...

@FlitterFaux@Lucius Cypher@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN





"Eh, forget it, goggles are lame anyway..." Emerald said dismissively to Gren. Oswald didn't seem interested in the goggles anymore, and Emerald didn't really care to work on them alone anyway.

As Gren took his leave, Emerald resorted to looking around the classroom. There were a few people in class that she didn't recognize at all.

First thing that caught her attention was the girl with the otter tail. Emerald was pretty sure she'd never seen the other Faunus before, and she was fairly good at remembering faces. The otter girl was talking to some hot guy who she also didn't recognize.

And wait a sec, is that a lion Faunus? Seriously, where did all these people come from?

---

"Join Beacon Academy!" She said. "It'll be fun!" She said. His mother was always one to be brimming with optimism. It was the kind of optimism that was infectious and convinced you to go do things. Llyr had to admit though, trying new things was always fun. Meeting new people was even better, especially their varied expressions. However, being a Faunus usually led to altercations with the human folk... Not that he minded it all that much. Perhaps his mother had signed him up for this academy to try rid him of his 'morbid' personality, but that would go against mother's old mantra of "Mummy loves you just the way you are!" Something often said when he was a child.

It's not that Llyr was anti-social. He was just really, really weird. For example, right now, he's skipping to class after a wonderful three periods of things he didn't give a rat's ass about. Next period. Grimm Studies! Because Armory sounded too much like Weapon maintenance. He had a cane that turned into a whip. What's so difficult to maintain? Better off learning about Grimm so he can mess around with them in a more amusing way!

As he arrived at the classroom, he noticed other students going in and out of the door. The entrance! He sprinted towards it and did a BARREL ROLL! Through the door, smoothly getting back onto his feet after the feat was done. He inspected the room. It was big enough. 'For what?' You may ask... For anything, really. Aside from the other students blabbing with each other, he noticed a lone boy. A red haired one at that. He looked all gloomy and.. shitty. TIME TO GO MESS WITH HIM!

Silently, he got up on a desk, walking along them like a footpath. The squid hopped off a desk, landing behind the gloomy boy. He leaned in close enough to the boy's ear, the tentacles in his hair slowly creeping around their head. Suddenly, the tentacles slapped and grasped at both the boy's cheeks. "RISE AND SHINE! THE MOON'S OUT AND THE GRIMM ARE FRESH FOR THE PICKING!!", Llyr exclaimed excitedly before laughing as if someone had made the most fantastic joke ever.

@NarayanK @Write

”Rough morning?”

The Faunus girl currently planted face down on her desk certainly looked like it. Afternoon had just started and something had her down. Maybe lack of sleep, maybe personal issues, who knew.

But she kinda looked like Professor Nuit, from what he could see, and that was reason enough to be kinda curious.

Plus he needed to find somewhere he and Sangue could sit together or she’d be upset and this fit the bill. It wasn’t lost on him that she’d followed him from lunch, and pretty much through all their morning classes. His morning hadn’t actually been that eventful, all things considered, though the way he woke up was different. He’d gotten a pretty good night’s sleep, which he needed after pulling an all-nighter the day before. Results were worth it, but goddamn sleep deprivation was a bitch.

”Hey.” He greeted with a raise of his hand when she looked up, sliding into the chair next to her with a friendly grin. His notebook met the desk with a light thwack, but the noise had nothing on the thunk of Joyous Guard meeting the ground. The shield lay horizontally on the ground behind him, resting against the next tier of desks. Only way to keep it from blocking someone’s view. He patted the seat to his left, making sure Sangue knew she could sit there, before he glanced back over to the Faunus. ”Ben Lloyd. Good to meet you.”

“Don’t suppose you’re related to the new Survival teacher, are you?”

Was he…

Was he talking to me?

The confident looking young man took a seat in the chair beside me and lay his hulking shield behind him. I glanced up from my arms and found piercing pale blue eyes staring back at me.

”My name is Bianca Nuit, it’s good to meet you too.” I said, my wings always portraying my heart on my sleeve as they fluttered in cautious anticipation. Not many people came up and spoke to me, I didn’t give them a chance to half the time.

Wait? Benjamin Lloyd? Like the boy who has his name on the wall in the girl’s bathroom at least twenty times? I mean, look it’s a big school but Napoli only had his name on the wall twice and once I’m pretty sure was more of a threat from Gratia. Luke was on there about seven times but he was basically an immortal Olympian at this point. Especially since he really started training himself. Even Jericho was on the wall and he had just shown up. But Ben, he was all over it.

I chuckled softly. Catching myself thinking that this felt so purely innocent. Just a couple of kids trying to survive until the next period.

”Oh Stella? Yep! She’s my big sister!” I said looking back at Ben and the girl who was trailing him. I suppose that made me either the coolest kid around or completely unenviable depending on how Stella’s first class went. Hopefully that went well.

”Just watch your foot, my bag is really heavy, I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself if you tripped over it or kicked it.” I said pointing in between Ben and me at the small handbag that lay completely rigid on the ground. Its appearance completely betrayed the truth of its weight.

I wanted to ask the boy a thousand questions, what team was he on, how was he finding classes, who did he know. But I just couldn’t bring myself to open my mouth any further from that point. I was petrified of scaring him into taking another seat the next day. So instead I just waited to see if he would continue the conversation or if he preferred peace and quiet. Either was perfectly fine of course.

The nap theory? How amusing. Krysanthe winced as Geni unceremoniously struck the girl next to him across the face with his jacket, not even bothering to look at her and seeming rather pleased at the petty act. Perhaps not the best decesions when the girl in question was armed with a soldering iron and his jacket and flesh were unprotected but hey, that was his call. Regardless his victim didn't seem bothered at all by, if anything focusing ever harder on her work. "I'll have to look into this nap theory later, for now I'll concede the point to you." Krysanthe said as she shook his hand. "Do you know what she's working on?" Krysanthe asked pointing at Gratia's construction. She felt bad for the mutual rudeness and was hoping this would go towards absolving it, plus she was kind of curious as to what the girl was just so focused on.

The lion faunas ignored the pony-tailed girl's intense stare to which felt as if a branding iron had been taken to his back. The acrid smell of superheated metal didn't help his integrity, yet he managed to remain stalwart and focus his energy on the project before him and Krysanthe to his right.

Geni palmed one of the twins, holding it up the the light for a moment. It had taken him two weeks of vigorous construction to complete, yet his Apex Predator still remained imperfect. And imperfection had no place in Geni's arsenal; a soldier was only as good as his weapon.

Or was it hero? Bah, same difference!

With a small flick of the wrist Apex Predator shifted into axe mode, it's transformation quick yet rather violent, causing his hand to jerk a small bit.

Shifting mechanism needs work. An Ursa's ass, this his shoddy craftsmanship! he mused apathetically.

Geni set the twin down and picked up the other, testing the shifting mechanism on that as well. The result remained the same. It couldn't be helped. Sure he noted the fault during his bout with Sapphire, yet with all the adrenaline coursing through him he had passed it off as usual procedure.

At least this time I'll be working on the weapon instead trying to work it into someone's head. A small growl reverberated from his throat as that thought occurred.

Taking heed to Krysanthe's question, Geni glanced as Gratia's project for moment before returning his focus to Krysanthe. "Couldn't tell you. I really just met her yesterday, so that's a question you outta ask her yourself." he paused and leaned in closer. "Watch out though, she bites." he whispered.

"You too?" Ashe raised an eyebrow. She'd heard Beacon had some pretty strict entry requirements, but was that really true? All she'd had to do to be accepted was find a pen an administrator had dropped in the woods during a previous entrance exam. She was pretty much certain that civilian academic universities had higher reqs, but then, maybe test scores weren't what the headmaster was looking for here. Skye had almost admitted to also having, let's say, a poor education. What's the common theme here...? Either way, Skye didn't seem to be a mass bombing psycho, so Ashe was getting more comfortable by the second, even if masked Faunus worried the hell out of her. "It's my first day too, and let's just say I have very little idea why they let someone like me in. I have almost no idea what I'm doing here... _{andImay'vefailedmymathquizthismorning.}"

"So it's the first day for us both? That seems... lucky, doesn't it? Neither one of us being alone in having just arrived." The fact that Ashe also felt she didn't belong definitely struck a chord with the fox Faunus. Skye tried to smile encouragingly, though she was not sure if her words would even make Ashe feel better. Ashe met Skye's smile with her own. It was still forced, but at least this time it had some genuine quality behind it.

"I wouldn't exactly say 'lucky's the right word. We're both new and if you're as behind as you say you are, we're probably both flunking our core classes. But it's nice knowing we're in the same leaky boat, right?"

"Yes, it is. However, if you think about it, we are both now in Beacon Academy. Against whatever difficulties we had to face we still made it here. And again, on the same day. So... I'm glad for our leaky, lucky boat."

Skye truly was glad. She did not like to feel alone. Even lost out in the wilderness there had been the other survivors, if not right there with her then near enough to run to. She had not felt completely alone until Lily had died. Even when she made it to Vale and found herself surrounded by so many people, that sense of loneliness had persisted. Luke had been the first person she had met that had changed that. And in just the few minutes since he had left for his own class that isolated feeling had returned. But since she had approached Ashe she had started feeling better. I suppose in the end none of us want to be alone...

Ashe's mood seemed to have been improving as well, but her eyes had been locked on the mask for some time, and... Oh. The mask. This isn't the first time I've started a conversation and forgotten I was wearing it. But Skye's concerns were the same as every other time the thought occurred to her. Maybe I could at least explain it to her, then at least she won't think I'm being rude or intentionally creepy.

"Sorry about... my mask. I'm not trying to be mysterious or anything like that. It's... my health. I would prefer to spare everyone the sight of me. At least until I get my weight back up. I really am sorry. I should have said so sooner." Skye looked away awkwardly, her eyes unintentionally drawn to the captive Grimm once more. She wanted to ask why Ashe felt she might not belong here, but at the same time she was unsure if she should.

The mask question was answered, and Ashe hadn't even had to have asked. One more layer of anxiety fell away, and she was left with roughly half an anxious onion left -- which was good, because that was just slightly more onion than she usually ran on back at home. "So that's what mask's for? That's a relief. Here I was thinking you might be-- Er, nevermind." Ashe caught herself before continuing. She was almost certain she wasn't sitting next to a murderer now, but Skye hadn't explicitly said that she wasn't with the WF. Hard conversation shift! "You have your disguise, I have mine. We can be disguise buddies or something!"

Skye's eyes moved away from the Grimm, surprisingly without any of the difficulty it had taken to look away before. Skye's gaze came to rest on Bianca once more. Bianca looked very much alone, somehow, even with people all around her. Skye hoped it was just her imagination, but judging on that sense bordering on compulsion, she now doubted that was the case.

Ashe's eyes drifted toward where Skye's eyes were aimed as well, and... Well, she felt it too. An aura of depression radiated from the winged Faunus girl across the room like a cold fog, and Ashe found her thoughts turning towards the Barbarians. Wonder if they'll get along alright without me... It was a lonely thought, but there was no cure for it other than incessantly messaging them on her Scroll, and that wasn't really the healthiest solution. She had to move on.

Skye suddenly realized Ashe had said something that struck her as a bit odd. The other girl had thought she was... what, exactly? What or who did she remind Ashe of, and why? It seemed to bother her, whatever it was, as she had quickly moved on. But what she said after that was strange, too. Disguises? I am very confused now.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean by disguises. I mean, I suppose I am literally hiding behind my mask for now. But how are you in disguise?" A thought occurred to Skye right after she asked that question. Back in her village she had known some people that preferred to dress and act in ways... contrary to what one might expect. One of her cousin's best friends had been like this, and Skye remembered the subject to be somewhat sensitive.

She leaned in close to Ashe and whispered so she would not be overheard. "Please, ignore me if this is too personal a question, because I don't mean to offend. But, when you say you are in disguise do you... do you mean... are you a man?"

Skye's question brought her back to her comfort zone, and Ashe couldn't help but stifle a quiet, short-lived giggle. She wasn't even remotely uncomfortable talking about this sort of thing. "Yeah, uh... Totally. Yep. That's it," she quipped. Zero. Sincerity. At. All.

Close to the mark, but not what I was talking about. Not today at any rate,she thought to herself. It'd been a few weeks since she'd gone boymode and she wondered when she'd flip again. But that was irrelevant. Meanwhile, Skye was having some very similar thoughts - if perhaps on the wrong track. Oh. Well she- he? No, she currently. Right? -makes a very convincing and attractive young woman. I never would have suspected if disguises hadn't been brought up.

Ashe responded to Skye's assumption by whipping out her Scroll and pulling Skye against her for a picture with nearly blinding speed. Skye almost jumped away when Ashe grabbed her, but the girl was shockingly fast. Skye tried to check her movements around people; she had a tendency to accidentally break things. So instead she relaxed her body and let it happen. Click! With the picture taken, Ashe let go and scooted back out of Skye's personal bubble just as quickly as she'd invaded it. Cameras didn't seem to be affected by her Semblance at all.

When Ashe showed Skye the picture of the two of them, she became confused. If she just wanted to take a picture of us- Skye's eyes widened as she caught the inconsistency, and she looked at Ashe again. No horns. So that's what she really meant by disguise. How is she doing that?! But... more importantly, why? Why is she hiding the fact that she is a Faunus?

Since donning the Beacon uniform over her more useful long coat, Skye's own ears and tail were plain to see. But no one had mentioned those features specifically. There were other Faunus in the school, too, not the least of them being Bianca with her beautiful wings. Back in her village there had been very little of the discrimination she had heard plagued most Faunus in other parts of Remnant. Here in the academy as well she had seen little to no mistreatment towards the Faunus students. Maybe that White Fang group has been making a difference lately? It has been several years since I last heard anything about them. But then why is Ashe hiding her horns?

Ashe was, in all honesty, only hiding them because she'd been hiding them all morning. Beacon was an alien place, and she hadn't been sure whether Faunus were well accepted until after she'd been in class for several hours. There had been a couple of bullying incidents in the hallways, but those had gotten shut down very quickly. Most of Beacon's students seemed to despise racist jerks. Ashe shot a somewhat concerned glance toward Bianca, who was still quite alone. "So, how 'bout we go make a friend? Seems like someone needs the company." But then a boy sat with her, which seemed to have cheered her up a lot... followed by an entirely different feeling drifted through the classroom: awkwardness. ...Yeah. She's a train wreck.

As Skye wondered if it would be appropriate to ask about these things, Ashe changed the subject to Bianca. When she thought about it that was no surprise; Skye had spent a fair amount of their conversation staring in that direction. Even more so than the Grimm, maybe. To be honest she was glad her new friend(?) had suggested they go sit with her. Now Skye might feel less distracted and Bianca less lonely, if that was indeed the problem. She seemed to now be talking to someone since last Skye had glanced her way. Even so she felt Ashe's suggestion was a good one.

Nodding silently, Skye stood and began making her way in that direction, and Ashe followed. What appeared to be a loose chunk of very vocal calamari in a black dress flew across the room and began harassing one of the other students, and the two hastened their walk lest they be accosted by the thing themselves. It didn't take long to reach the back corner of the room where Skye's teammate was, and as luck would have it there were still free seats. Still, Skye felt she should ask first before just taking the seats. "Good afternoon, Bianca. May we... sit with you and... your friends?"

Ashe conversely plopped down two seats over, leaving one empty space in the middle for Skye and completely nulling the point of the masked girl asking for permission. She shot a smile and a wave across the lecture hall desk toward Bianca, Benjamin and Sangue, then introduced herself. "Heya, hope you don't mind us sitting here. Thanks! I'm Ashe."

@Krayzikk@Write

(derp post - clicking things on mobile is stupid)

Sangue peeked at Bianca behind Ben. As he took a seat, she predictably sat at the seat Ben tapped at for her.

And she sat in silence.

Behind her long hair, Sangue’s eyes trailed across the room. Nothing had changed in particular, though her memory served her well enough to see that some students were not present, and some were unfamiliar to her.

She blinked as her gaze fell upon the white-haired girl. The girl named Bianca Nuit, whose blue eyes reminded her of Ben’s own, was very polite. Something about her made Sangue relax. Oftentimes, the looks Sangue received were more out of wariness rather than simply being interested in her. Some told her it was the face paint that threw them off. Others would imply that she just looked a bit intimidating.

She felt none of that from Bianca. In fact, she generally did not think such thoughts of most students.

When Sangue’s eyes fell upon the Faunus’ wings, she stared at them curiously. They fluttered, and their movements mesmerized the redhead for a moment. She remembered finding pictures of Faunus with wings back at her old home. The pictures depicted the particular Faunus with powerful, intimidating wings- like that of an eagle’s. Bianca’s wings, however, were very pretty.

Eventually peeling her eyes away from the girl’s wings, Sangue greeted Bianca.

“…I… am Sangue,” she spoke quietly.

The redhead bowed politely before falling silent. At the presence of others approaching the seats around her, however, she perked up before turning to a Faunus with a mask and another person with her.

Blinking, she stared at the mask for a brief moment, her idle expression remaining. Sangue wondered if the student was feeling alright, as her thin body stated otherwise, but she did not question the student and decided she probably had her own reasons. Perhaps her body was just thin in general, or she really wasn't feeling well.

Sangue’s gaze shifted to the student with her, Ashe. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, but she did seem more lively than the person with the mask. Retaining her silence, she bowed to both of them.

Staring at the unfamiliar students next to her, she silently glanced between them, and occasionally at Ben.

@Abillioncats @Lucius Cypher @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

Annabelle Valentine
Armory

Wow. Oz has the favor of the Schnee frikkin Dust company?! Is it my imagination or did he suddenly just become a lot more attractive? Yeesh, Valentine, you sound like a gold digger.

"Your call, oh great and powerful wizard. I will be poaching the hell out of your ideas. Just promise me you won't cut any corners and get lesser quality materials. I'd rather fight with my mother over my spending habits than play with tech this advanced using inferior parts. And at least let me cover my own costs." She could tell Oswald was very excited and into the project, so he likely wouldn't be careless ordering what was needed. Even so she needed to clarify and get that reassurance.

She was briefly surprised when Oswald made the comment about his hands, but she quickly decided she must have been thinking out loud. Whoops. What else have I been saying? She leaned forward and got a sly look in her eye, opting to just have fun with it. "Oh, but Ozzie, of course were friends, especially because of your big hands. It's true what they say about that, you know. There's even research to back it up."

Letting Oswald mull that over Annabelle turned to Gren, nodding agreement as he made suggestions to divide the workload. "Easy. You and Oz better watch your fingers, though. I'd hate for anything to happen to those big, beautiful hands you guys have." She winked at the both of them, apparently not finished teasing Oswald after all. She stole some paper and pens, deciding to draw up some designs oldschool. She nodded again at Gren, already knowing what he brought up would be the case. "Yep, lots of ways to approach this shield. It's gonna take time and I can wait. I mean, damn, I've put the shield upgrade off for years, a few days or even weeks more won't kill me."

She froze in the middle of her flurry of activity when Gren asked about her weapon. That's right, Gren was already gone last night before I got around to showing off my masterpiece. Or more like my life's work. And neither my life nor that work is even done yet. So this will be a complete surprise to him... and the entire class! Her expression slowly shifted to one of pure delight. She took out her new scroll and brought up a map of the academy, estimating how long Gren might be gone and how long it would take Tiger to respond to a standard summons.

At the same time she interrupted Emerald from slipping into any kind of melancholy, snapping her fingers and holding out her free hand. "Tsk tsk, sis. Don't you start pouting on me! Plans. Gimme. I wanna see these goggles for myself. Sir Gren is already fetching parts and you are in the presence of the queen of multitasking! Or... maybe princess. Depends on the day, really..."

Time to wow the crowd, hehe~