Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MidwayLives]

"Yeah, I wasn't lookin for a conversation or anything." :|

"Fair enough, dude. We'll be around when it's time to get going. C'mon, Blanche."

Blanche gave not one but two finger guns at Lance.

As both of them moved to depart the tent, Char leaned in towards Blanche.

"What do you think of him?"

"Who? Lance? We just met him."

"Yeah, but he's cool right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely."

"Between the three of us? I think we'll make it out of...whatever this is, just fine."

"Damn straight!"

~~~



Trifa hadn't gotten up from where she'd been sitting outside, near the entrance flap to the tent.

She could have gotten up and seen Tyrian, checked in on him.

She should have done it.

But she couldn't, not after she'd messed up like she had.

All the time they'd spent together what had she really been able to bring to the table?

Making a prosthetic for Tyrian's tail was one thing. But everything after that...

​

The man suddenly went slack with a faint glow behind him, a gasp of pain so consuming that his eyes started to roll back into his head as he began to pass out and slump backwards. If anyone else had been standing there, what happened next would've been almost completely unavoidable, but Trifa's semblance was screaming in the back of her head to duck, and assuming she listened, a bright blue beam of energy tore straight through the mans chest in an explosion of burnt flesh and vaporized blood and rain to pierce the air where her head had been half a second before.

"-Is to be shot."


The man slumped to the ground as another stood up behind him, a sleek, long, gleaming black rifle in their hands. their robes were archaic, a dark purple color loose in the sleeves that hung from their elbows over a black and red set of clothes underneath and the jut of a short blade's hilt could also be seen peeking out of the robes. Their physique was hard to make out underneath their clothing, but they held the rifle with casual grace despite its size. An elegant tousle of white hair tickled their shoulders, only just now being dampened from the rain. That was all of their head that the could see; the rest was hidden behind a white mask with red and black accents that depicted a smiling fox. Its eyes seemed shut, yet its gaze was unmistakably boring into Trifa's own despite how both their eyes were covered, and its head tilted to the side. Three white tails slowly twisted in the rain behind them , almost hypnotic as they circled each other in a rhythmic pattern, keeping time to a tune unknown.

"...Hrm. The scene's been ruined. You're quicker than expected, little spider. Eight nimble little legs packed into two. I'll have to try harder, if I'm meant to hunt you."

The voice was as melodious and charming as it was entirely inhuman, an alien undertone to the words that didn't seem quite human, faunus, or even grimm. The rifle folded in on itself from the bottom as the handle shifted into a hilt, and a blade of hardlight dust the same color as the beam that had nearly put a hole in her skull formed along the edge of what was swiftly becoming a one-sided sword, the rain hissing as it burned to steam wherever it fell along the blade. It twirled a few times in their hand with a dancer's sense of style before it was levelled at the spider faunus.

...they sighed and just as swiftly spun it back down, the edge flickering out of existence as they turned to walk away.

It was only thanks to her semblance that she was here.

Fox could have-would have-killed both of them if it so inclined the Talon.

In his hotheaded pursuit of finding Ichabod's killer-whoever it may be-Tyrian had declared war on one of the most dangerous factions to roam Remnant.

She'd just been along for the ride.

​

"Semblance is going off! Gotta-"

*CRASH*

An arm ripped straight through the door and grabbed Trifa by the neck and hoisted her straight off her feet. Slamming her against the door so her face was pressed against it, the owner of the arm knelt down so the two were at eye level.

"Hello."

"Wh-Who are you?!" Trifa sputtered. Whoever they were, they had a grip like a vice!

The stranger slammed Trifa's head against the door again.

"I've been watching you...."

Trifa paused in between yelps of pain.

"what...?"

"You can call me....Jack.~"

He'd called himself Jack.

From what she'd been able to gather after the dust had settled, 'Jack' was just a personality. A small facet of the man who'd captured her.

Another fight she'd struggled with.

One she had to be rescued from.

Rolling up her sleeves and pantlegs, she saw the scars that he'd left on her.

He would have probably killed her, eventually, she'd become a loose end. A nuisance that the other personalities had tired of. But to Jack she was something else. She-no, all faunus like her and Tyrian were something he lusted after. It disgusted her but in a way it almost felt pitiable. A man who had desires he repented and repented until they drove him crazy.

If things had been different, maybe there could have been somebody to help him.

Before he became what he was.



​

"...fuck off."

Goodwitch had it pegged. You couldn't pit these two against each other.

Someone was going to get hurt.

"Ugh!"

She leaned forward, her hands on either side of her head.

Seeing Tyrian get hurt like that.

Ontop of everything else?

It'd drudged up some of the spider's insecurities.

She'd agreed to come on this 'revenge quest' because she missed Ichabod and because....she cared about Tyrian. The two had been there for eachother during their time in the club but when all was said and done, it was just a gig for Trifa. A roadstop before she moved onto something else. The scorpion's heart had always been in there. So what was she doing when that'd happened?

Standing on the sidelines, unable to do anything to help.

Usual fucking Trifa. Good for looks, terrible for...just about everything else it seemed like.

Her mask was pulled off and left by the entrance of the tent.

Some hero indeed.
​

Well, strange treatments aside, she was sure that her big brained partner could take care of things here. So it was with one last look at Tyrian that she did her best to slip away while all eyes were on him and his hippie doctor, leaving the tent in search of the nearest edge she could sit on and dangle her legs off of, to take in the beautiful sight of the cavern and just...think.

Trifa had reached an edge of her own.

What she was going to do at said edge was up to her.

Her hands remained balled up at her sides and she stared dead ahead.

Eventually, she settled on sitting down over...whatever else she may have done.

*sniff*

gradually turned into...

*sob*



"Why couldn't I...*sob* be stronger....*sob"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Neo blinked as she stepped through the flap and came face to face with that, her expression befuddled for a split second as she took in the sight of him, Emerald, and what was missing from the room.

That was the only beat she missed before she met Mercury's smoulder with one of her own, stepping forward with a twirl that had her land with her back flush to his chest as she looked up and batted her eye lashes, the affect only marred by the edges of fierce concentration she was doing her best to conceal as the hand not clasped against her own heart traced a messy swirl of words in the air

'I thought you wanted to be the team dad, not daddy~"

She held herself there for a good few seconds before there was tinkling of broken glass as her left hand shattered in favor of the real one that gently tweaked Mercury's nose, before she stuck her tongue out at him and spun all the way around him, spinning deftly under his arms and with a gentle hop was latched onto his bag like a koala to a tree, her legs wrapped around it and her hands and chin resting on top as she gave him a calm, questioning flick of the eyebrow as the words in front of him shifted from their ugly cursive to a still pretty not great print of a different question.


'Where we going?'

"Woof."

"Hmf."

Rare was the occasion Neo managed to throw both other heads of the three-headed prank Cerberus that was their team at this point so completely from their set programming, but if she kept any kind of a count today doubtless went down in the history books as her gameness in the face of Mercury's charms scored an unprecedented double knockout on a pair who in one sense or another were both expecting that to play out very differently. No matter which way she looked the reaction was priceless, Mercury's features roving through a whirlwind cycle of flummoxed, captivated, intensely guilt-ridden and dismayed as Neo happened across one of supremely few ways to shake his confidence in himself during a game of flirtation chicken by making him read messy cursive at the same time; Emerald's nigh immediately flattening to something midway between jilted bridesmaid and full-fledged gremlin.

The display spurred the thief to hover out of view slightly longer than she would have, while the nose tweak and twirl had Mercury cough loudly to reboot himself in safe mode, aka the face he'd turned to just about every girl who smiled his way at Beacon three dates deep when he was getting bored and wanted out: overt, dismissive disinterest.

They only ever wanted him more after that, of course. But his faith in just how much of a douchebag he could be had never wavered, and he wore it like armor now as he gave a sigh rife with impatience and boredom and started walking on, cool as a cucumber in spite of her extra weight's efforts to disrupt his balance.

"Well, right now I'd say we're probably all gonna go check out Emerald's freaky sinkhole. Where am I headed once we're done doing that? Who can say." He made it sound like as casual a process as possible for all involved, voice a lazy breeze as he fixed his jacket's collar. "Only thing I know for sure is it's high time Mercury Black cut the girly strings and embarked on a long, fruitful endeavor as a solo artist. Sorry, toots. We had fun times and everything, but an eagle can only stay caged for so long befo—"



"BOOOOO! ENABLERS! YOU ENABLE EACH OTHER!"

He was cut off by a tandem of Emerald's increasingly forceful boos and a pillow—which, again, felt like at least three pillows condensed into one—drumming him full in the face as the pickpocket shimmered into existence between them and the door, pivoting her swing's trajectory to clatter Neo as well if she was still on board. Her hiss was like that of a cornered mongoose, eyes fiercely defiant as she reared back and coiled for another strike.

"Look, you don't have to deal with this, Neo, it's just—a stupid guy saying stupid things so he can have some big, STUPID change of heart after we all kill a Grimm together or something! And then he gets to look stupider than ever before putting all his stupid shit back where it was." Her huff was incorrigible, albeit far more forced than the notes of concern her frustration was already ceding to. "So... it's fine. Let's just go back up and let whatever this is tire itself out. You shouldn't feel like you have to start tracing words again just to save us from our melodrama."



Mercury, once recovered, threw out a laugh that was far more effortlessly detached, though not without its own conscientious inklings either. "Well, she's right about that last part. On top of me being stupid. Fair warning, you're gonna totally regret blowing your big therapy goal moment somewhere it made literally zero difference to anything. Hey, congrats though! Mommy and daddy are very proud."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Trifa had reached an edge of her own.

What she was going to do at said edge was up to her.

Her hands remained balled up at her sides and she stared dead ahead.

Eventually, she settled on sitting down over...whatever else she may have done.

*sniff*

gradually turned into...

*sob*

"Why couldn't I...*sob* be stronger....*sob"

Cinder glanced over to the side, her solitary thinking interrupted by...whatever was happening with this woman. She didn't know exactly, heck she didn't really know her name. Either she'd never been told it or it had just gotten buried in the whole heap of everything that had just went down so very recently. Yet even so, the wretched sobbing provoked curiosity and concern, the maiden ignoring her first impulse to just move away and find another quiet spot to instead speak up. "Um...hey...you okay?" She questioned.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Yet even so, the wretched sobbing provoked curiosity and concern, the maiden ignoring her first impulse to just move away and find another quiet spot to instead speak up. "Um...hey...you okay?" She questioned.

Trifa's semblance caused a shiver to rush up her spine.

She'd been spotted in the midst of her breakdown. It could have been dangerous.

But it wasn't and all the 'Natural Alert' had done was embarrass her.

"Oh! Y-You're Cinder, right?" *sniffle* I'm Trifa." She introduced herself while wiping at her eyes. "S-sorry, I should have made more of a statement after you bumped into Tyrian." As for the suggestion of being okay? Trifa tried her best to fake a smile. "He talked a lot about you and his other friends before we met up again so I could fix his tail.

....For about a couple of seconds before it faltered.

"...No, I guess I'm not." Laying flat on her back, Trifa stared up and sighed. "All that stuff that just went down. It's...It was...It IS a lot to handle."

"...How are you handling it?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Oh! Y-You're Cinder, right?" *sniffle* I'm Trifa." She introduced herself while wiping at her eyes. "S-sorry, I should have made more of a statement after you bumped into Tyrian." As for the suggestion of being okay? Trifa tried her best to fake a smile. "He talked a lot about you and his other friends before we met up again so I could fix his tail."

"Yep, that's me! Cinder. Cinder Fall." She replied. "And hey, don't worry about that, no need to apologize. That's no big deal. Oh, and that was you who did that, huh? Nice. Glad to know Ty has other people looking out for him. He...he needs that, sometimes, I think. More than he would care to admit." The maiden smirked.

"So, thanks, for...y'know...that. For being with him and helping him when...some of us weren't." Her smile was genuine but it was even briefer than Trifa's, there and gone fast.​

"...No, I guess I'm not." Laying flat on her back, Trifa stared up and sighed. "All that stuff that just went down. It's...It was...It IS a lot to handle."

"...Yeah. No kidding, there." She admitted, turning her gaze back forward to the wide open cavern before her even though she kept talking towards the spider faunus.​

"...How are you handling it?"​

"Me? I'll be fine, just need some more time to...to think about it. I...well. Let's just say I didn't have the most fun childhood. Putting it mildly but you know, whatever. Point is, I had to deal with plenty of pretty sucky situations before, but I've always come through. I've found the best way to handle stuff like that is to just try to be the best version of myself. Not to be corny, but I know it really helps me to...to be as much of a ray of sunshine as I can be, to brighten up awful situations. Usually that's enough for me. I'm more worried about them, honestly. Way more." Cinder sighed.

"...There are a lot of people out there who've been handed a rough life. I know that too well. None of us ever asked for it, but we do what we can. I know some can't rise above the hurt. It's just...too hard. And I don't blame them. The way I grew up, yeah. I could have ended up being...angry, all the time. Or just learned to keep my distance emotionally, always. Or just let myself become...somebody hateful. Spiteful. Who...who only cares about herself. Someone who could just let the world burn without remorse." She thought of her older, monstrous self, and knowing that there was a reality where she did become that kind of person still stung as much as the day she first learned it.

"But if I did that...if I let myself be that person...it'd feel like giving up, to me. Like I'd be saying to my parents, congratulations. You guys won. You broke me down, made me into someone just as bad as you. Or worse, even. Well...literally the last thing I ever want in my life is to have them think they won some kind of twisted fucking victory. So I do what I can to not be that person. To be kind, and helpful, and just somebody who...loves life. That's how I get myself through the hard times. I know I don't always succeed at being that person. sometimes I get pretty angry and lose it, but...that never gets me to stop trying to be. And..." The teenager looked back down towards Trifa.

"...and I really really really hope I could help the others too, by being that person."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...Huh."

His tail lulled to the side.

"....I like my tail. I like spiders. I like the smell of rain. I love my parents. I like shaking my hair after a shower. I like the feeling of wind in my hair."

Tyrian frowned.

A lot of the experiences that most kids could said to have had?

Tyrian struggled to think of them.

"...um."


"I can't think of anything else...."

"Heyyyyy! Realization Friday: your likes sound just like my loves! And that round you only used the word 'love' one time, for the 'rents. Iiiiiinteresting. I am so sorry." She finished in a mortified hush, drawing as many of the amber rays as she could muster towards the mangled shoulder she'd made the ill-advised decision to grace with one of her wimpy punches. Her recovery was swift, once again draping herself in a veil of cryptic wisdom. "Now not to say ya girl doesn't have a lotta love to give, but reflecting on my list I think maybe I put too many, right? Like, I dig cotton candy a lot, but would it be a hard choice if I could only save Lance or a bucket of c-floss from a burning building? I mean, maybe. I could be hungry. But would I ever value that hunger over the life of such a good dude and loyal knight? Mmmmmmmmmm... nah. Pretty sure I'd never mourn candy that long."

She took far longer picking a definitive side of the fence for that answer than Lance appeared completely comfortable with, however effortlessly she ignored the flap of his arms and vivid 'what the hell' look he was sending her across the tent. Nevertheless, there was never a time when the hollow eyes and tranquil smile didn't seem assured in what they were saying.

"My point, my man, is sometimes love feels like like and like feels like love. And sometime you just wanna eat. Which leads me to my next question: when's the last time you got laid?"​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Heyyyyy! Realization Friday: your likes sound just like my loves! And that round you only used the word 'love' one time, for the 'rents. Iiiiiinteresting. I

"Oh, uh, thanks-ow.."

Tyrian groaned and flopped back as the punch-limp as it was-made contact with his shoulder.
​

I am so sorry." She finished in a mortified hush, drawing as many of the amber rays as she could muster towards the mangled shoulder she'd made the ill-advised decision to grace with one of her wimpy punches. Her recovery was swift, once again draping herself in a veil of cryptic wisdom. "Now not to say ya girl doesn't have a lotta love to give, but reflecting on my list I think maybe I put too many, right? Like, I dig cotton candy a lot, but would it be a hard choice if I could only save Lance or a bucket of c-floss from a burning building? I mean, maybe. I could be hungry. But would I ever value that hunger over the life of such a good dude and loyal knight? Mmmmmmmmmm... nah. Pretty sure I'd never mourn candy that long."

"don't worry about it. I've felt worse." The faunus waved it off before listening to what else Morgiana had to say.

"I'll be honest with you..."

He shook his head.

"I don't get it."
​

She took far longer picking a definitive side of the fence for that answer than Lance appeared completely comfortable with, however effortlessly she ignored the flap of his arms and vivid 'what the hell' look he was sending her across the tent. Nevertheless, there was never a time when the hollow eyes and tranquil smile didn't seem assured in what they were saying.

"My point, my man, is sometimes love feels like like and like feels like love. And sometime you just wanna eat. Which leads me to my next question: when's the last time you got laid?"

He got that though.

Very much.

His eyes shot open, he wasn't sure they could have opened any wider without tearing his eyelids. What kind of question was that??

"I-I-what-"

The truth was that Tyrian was no stranger to well, that sorta thing. Others might have seen it as the monumental step of a budding romance. The step you'd take after months, maybe even a year of getting close with the person you love. But it'd never been about that in his experience. He just enjoyed the effort of it all. The excitement it brought out, the enthusiasm, and the fun of it.

He saw it like a challenge.

"....not lately."

He looked at his injuries and then back to Morgiana.

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything.." He winced as he tried to adjust himself so he could lean in. As much as he could given the extent of his injuries and how close Morgiana already was.

"....was that an invitation?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

He looked at his injuries and then back to Morgiana.

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything.." He winced as he tried to adjust himself so he could lean in. As much as he could given the extent of his injuries and how close Morgiana already was.

"....was that an invitation?"

Tyrian had to deal with a minor jolt of pain as the exuberant little gasp she gave rocked her in her seat, but after a few slow blinks she quickly banished the giddy look of exuberance on her face for one of coy fascination. She arched her back in her chair, batted her eyelashes once or twice with a devious twinkle, and leaned slightly in herself to bite her lip in a come-hither way, not quite enough to close the distance between them but as though inviting the faunus to ponder what might happen if he made the rest of the journey himself.

"If I said yes would you wanna make out right now?"

Her own voice dropped to an even lower tone, an arcane purr that stood out from the others in how clearly it was meant to titillate.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Yep, that's me! Cinder. Cinder Fall." She replied. "And hey, don't worry about that, no need to apologize. That's no big deal. Oh, and that was you who did that, huh? Nice. Glad to know Ty has other people looking out for him. He...he needs that, sometimes, I think. More than he would care to admit." The maiden smirked.

"Well, it's nice to meet you one-on-one, Cinder."

Trifa ran a hand through her hair and sniffled.

"Wish the circumstances were just a smidge better but ah well." She gave her shoulders the lightest of shrugs. Even though it was clear enough through her crying fit that she didn't or couldn't just pass off everything that'd had transpired as of late. "Yeah, Tyrian and I well, we hung around in the same circles. I ended up developing something of a knack for creating things and figured I'd put it to use to try and do some good." She held out her gloved hands. "I'm a spider faunus and so I can naturally shoot webbing out of my hands. Sounds gross, looks even grosser, but unlike real spiders I can't just slap my hand on a wall and stick there." She pulled back her lips revealing her gums. "I bon't even rave rany vangs, see?" She closed her left hand and opened it up again. "But that's where my suit comes in handy. Built into the fabric are dozens upon dozens of miniscule little servomotors that grip onto any given surface and boom I'm stuck like a fly on paper."

She didn't mention the more malicious things that could be done with such technology. Such as 'sticking' onto an opponent's face while their aura's down and giving a hard pull....

"Also lets me carry things I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Basically gives me a bit of 'superstrength' if you really wanna call it that. Overload the motors though beyond a certain weight capacity? Boom." She spread her hands apart. "Could take hours, maybe even days to fix. Given where we're at though it could possibly take weeks before I got my hands on what I'd need to fix em." She gave a small smile but looked away at Cinder. "Heh. I like to think I'm playing hero. I dress up and help out the local authorities sometimes."

Didn't do much to help here.
​

"So, thanks, for...y'know...that. For being with him and helping him when...some of us weren't." Her smile was genuine but it was even briefer than Trifa's, there and gone fast.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Tyrian and I go way back."

Spoiler: 'Way back'

It'd been a particularly strenuous training session but as usual Trifa held just a slight edge over Tyrian. For all that he possessed in raw brute strength and ferocity, her semblance always let her stay just one step ahead. "Hey, not bad this go around, Ty." Trifa complimented as she took a swig from her water bottle. Tyrian huffed and folded his arms across his chest while his tail swayed dangerously from side to side. The air of frustration coming off him was thick enough one could almost choke on it. "Yeah, but I still haven't gotten a win out against you."

"Hey." Trifa paused from her rehydrating to shake a finger in Tyrian's direction. "Don't knock yourself like that, everyone takes time to improve. Just because you've been here longer doesn't mean you're gonna instantly be the greatest fighter around. Give it a little bit."

"How much longer is a 'little bit?' A year from now? Two?"

"Tyrian..."

Before the two could converse any further, the door opened and the two heard the familiar tapping of a cane against the floor.

"Heya oldtimer."

"Ichabod!"

Tyrian practically leapt from his chair and rushed over on all fours, his tail flailing in the air behind him. Pushing open the door the rest of the way, Ichabod smiled and held out his free arm as Tyrian leaped against him in a warm embrace. "Well, well, given that Tyrian here's in such good spirits, I presume the trainin between you two is going well?" Tyrian looked up and nodded his head. "I'm getting better each and every day, Ichabod! I'll be the champion of this place before you know it!" Keeping that same gentle smile, Ichabod ran a hand through Tyrian's hair. "Aye, I'm sure you will, lad." Turning his attention towards Trifa, Ichabod gestured to the hallway.

"Trifa, if I could speak to you for just a moment?"

"Oh, uh sure."

Tyrian blinked and looked up. "Don't you wanna talk to me? See if I came up with any new moves?"

Ichabod shook his head. "Perhaps in a bit, Tyrian. Right now I gotta talk to Trifa is all. It won't take long." Seeming just a touch disappointed, Tyrian stepped back from Ichabod and headed back to the center of the room to work on his form. If whatever Ichabod and Trifa had to talk about wouldn't take long, he could at least get a bit more training in. Watching as Tyrian backed off, Ichabod again motioned and Trifa followed behind him all the way down to Ichabod's office. "Soooo, what's up-"

"Shut the door behind you."

Trifa blinked. The door was shut.

"Ooookay, now what's up?"

Taking a seat behind his desk, Ichabod clasped his hands together and leaned forward.

"This is a serious matter so I won't waste your time or mine. It's about the Shadow Fang."

Trifa's blood grew cold.

"....What about them?"

"They're quickly becoming something of a concern and as one of the fighters in my employ, I felt I needed to inform you of this."

"Well...Why me? Why not Tyrian?"

Ichabod looked over his glasses at Trifa and the spider faunus swore she felt the room getting warmer.

"That's part of why you're here."

Spoiler: 'Way back'

"That right there is what I came to discuss with you. The White Fang and this....'Shadow Fang.' are growing in number and I've gone many years trying to avoid incurring their wrath. My compatriots as you have no doubt experienced have not. I'm worried about you, Tyrian. Would you...Would you join them if they asked you?"

....That was a genuinely difficult question. Tyrian knew the White/Shadow Fang both fought to help the faunus get a better place in this world right?? It was just the means in which they did it that people didn't like. Killing people was never okay! Then again, how could he judge them sitting in relative luxury like this? Sure, he had to deal with jerks who could ruin his life if they desired but Ichabod always protected him. But what if the White Fang went after him? What if he had to-"

"Tyrian. Would you kill me if they commanded you to?"

Tyrian felt his blood freeze.

What.

What had Ichabod just asked him??

"Y-You're joking right...? I....I would never-"

"Tyrian. I notice how antsy you seem to be about your tail. That you swore you'd never use the stinger. Sometimes I see it tense up after a tough fight. As if you're going to lash out and sting somebody. Maybe even hurt them more than you need to. Am I wrong?"

"....no. No, you're not. B-But I'd never hurt you! I promise! I'd never think of killing you!!!" Tyrian felt tears welling up and he cried into the man's chest as Ichabod hugged him. "That's all you needed to say, my boy. I'm sorry for frightening you."

"I already spoke to Tyrian about this matter. He assured me he wouldn't join their ranks and I'm sure he wouldn't."

Ichabod quirked his head to the right slightly.

"...Not at first anyhow."

"That's-This-This is ridiculous. Is that why you called me in here, Crane? So you and I could speculate on if Tyrian's gonna join those psychos? You know him, I know him-"

"Do you?"

"...What?"

"Do you really feel you know Tyrian as well as you think you do? I'll not argue with you that the boy has good intentions. He'd do almost anything I'd ask of him. In return I've given him whatever he's asked of me, within reason of course, and I doubt that he'd ever see you or me any harm. Intentionally."

Leaning against the wall with her hands on her hips, Trifa narrowed her eyes. "So, just what are you getting at then? If you're not worried about Tyrian 'turning on you' whatever the hell that means, what's there to be talked about here?"

Ichabod slowly glanced over in the direction of a display case of medals. Shoved to the back of the room with the casing covered in dust, Trifa's eyes followed. She'd learned from the man himself after spotting the medals that he was a man the faunus had grown to despise: The Burning. It'd set such a stark contrast between the kind businessman who'd seemed to have taken Tyrian and Trifa under his wing to the brutal soldier who'd been reported/documented killing/torturing faunus soldiers/POWs. Something that even present day Trifa was still struggling to deal with emotionally. Especially now that she'd gotten herself locked into a revenge quest for a man who in his younger years had hurt so many of her people. "You know the man I used to be, Trifa. I'm not so naive as to think I'll be lucky enough to die peacefully in my bed. That's a luxury I simply don't have. I'm sure whether it's today, tomorrow, or even ten years from now. I'll get what's coming to me and I'll deserve every bit of it." He removed his glasses and moved to wipe the lenses. "That being said, the thing I don't want you taking away from this conversation is that I don't trust Tyrian. I hold the boy near and dear to my heart. But you know as well as I do that he's....a touch excitable. Always eager to rise to new challenges. No matter how daunting they are. I'm not worried about him joining either group."

He finished wiping and put the glasses back on.

"I'm worried about him starting a war with them."

Trifa leaned back, her mind racing at just the thought.

If the Shadow/White Fang threatened her, Ichabod, hell even any of the staff here who'd treated Tyrian decently? It wasn't a stretch at all to imagine the kid would have gone on some kind of rampage to avenge them.

"....What are you going to do?"

"The only thing I can think of. Whatever might happen to me, I'm prepared for it. But if the worse should come to pass then I want you to be there for Tyrian. Protect him no matter what." Ichabod rose from his seat and moved over to gently place a hand atop Trifa's shoulder.

"Me? But why-can't your bodyguards-"

"No." Ichabod said firmly. "I...I can't ask them to do more than they have for me already. You don't have to be nervous, Trifa. I'll train you, ready you."

Although Ichabod didn't say it, the faintest worry that Tyrian would side with the terrorists hadn't entirely left his heart. While he couldn't bring himself to harm Tyrian if it came down to that, if he trained Trifa in just the right way....

'To do what needs to be done.' ​

"I'll always be there for him."
​

"Me? I'll be fine, just need some more time to...to think about it. I...well. Let's just say I didn't have the most fun childhood. Putting it mildly but you know, whatever. Point is, I had to deal with plenty of pretty sucky situations before, but I've always come through. I've found the best way to handle stuff like that is to just try to be the best version of myself. Not to be corny, but I know it really helps me to...to be as much of a ray of sunshine as I can be, to brighten up awful situations. Usually that's enough for me. I'm more worried about them, honestly. Way more." Cinder sighed.

Trifa did her part and listened.
​

"...There are a lot of people out there who've been handed a rough life. I know that too well. None of us ever asked for it, but we do what we can. I know some can't rise above the hurt. It's just...too hard. And I don't blame them. The way I grew up, yeah. I could have ended up being...angry, all the time. Or just learned to keep my distance emotionally, always. Or just let myself become...somebody hateful. Spiteful. Who...who only cares about herself. Someone who could just let the world burn without remorse." She thought of her older, monstrous self, and knowing that there was a reality where she did become that kind of person still stung as much as the day she first learned it.

And listened....

Spoiler: 'Rough'

It'd taken months of grueling training but Trifa had shown vast amounts of improvement. Although he hadn't seen any of the Fang's latest best of the best in combat, Ichabod felt he'd done what he could for her to play the role he'd asked of her. To watch over Tyrian from the shadows, keep him on the straight and narrow.

'And do what needs to be done.'

If necessary. But Trifa didn't know that part. She couldn't, she wouldn't if she knew.

Over the course of her training sessions with Ichabod-who'd proved that even as an old guy he still knew how to wield his semblance to maximum effectiveness-Trifa had gone through the effort of putting her creativity to the task and making a suit. When Ichabod had inquired of her what the point was, if Tyrian ever found out somebody was following him, better to let it be a mystery than for him to think his best friends had been keeping a secret from him? It still formed a pit in her stomach to think like that but Ichabod was right. If the nightmare scenario occurred and the Fang ever attacked this place....

She'd protect Tyrian no matter what.

Standing before Ichabod in costume, Trifa huffed and puffed. Another day of exhausting training done.

"Well...*pant* I think I'm finally ready...."

"Aye."

"....So...I just *pant* keep an eye on Tyrian? Watch out for the Shadow Fang?"

"Aye. You'll basically be my partner, Trifa."

"Nonono, call me....'The Midnight Crawler"

Ichabod didn't seem impressed by the moniker.

"C'mon! I spent all this time thinking on it!"

"Trifa will do just fine." Ichabod murmured as he rose up to his feet. "You know what to do if you find any signs of Shadow Fang activity, don't you?"

"Report it back to you if it's too big for me to handle?"

"Aye. But if it isn't?"

"Take them down and report them to the authorities."

There was a lull in the room.

"No."

"Huh?"

"That's what you'd do." Ichabod hobbled over to the display case holding his medals-relics of the past that he was ashamed of. "What would the old me do?"

"I...I don't understand. The old you? What-What does that have to do with this?"

Ichabod wiped a bit of dust off and blew off the rest. "Because the men and women fighting under this banner aren't common criminals, Trifa. It would solve nothing to just 'knock them around and leave them at the local police station.' You have to take measures further. Just as they would. Just as....the old me would have." Trifa couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he seriously asking her to kill any Shadow Fang members if she saw them? "Why would you even think to ask me that?! The answer is no! I'm...I'm not going to become a murderer! I'd be no better than them! I thought this whole thing was to protect Tyrian! Not to go on some kind of eye for an eye killing spree!"

"....I was afraid you'd say that."

"....What?"

Ichabod moved towards Trifa.

"All these months....I'd been training you, instilling in you a certain mentality. You just haven't let it sink in. As though there's been some kind of mental block. I was hoping to avoid telling you this. I knew you would disagree if you did...and so you have. I have no other choice." His cane rapped against the floor. "If I'm to do this then it must be done right or not at all."

"I-Ichabod, what the hell are you talking about?!"

She felt her 'Natural Alarm' go off. She lashed out without meaning to.

Ichabod grabbed her wrist and she felt a searing pain burning against her aura.

"O-Ow! You're hurting me!"

"Code. Recluse."

It was though a switch had been flipped. Trifa blinked and she no longer made noises of protestation. Ichabod released his hold on her and stepped back. The room was still growing hotter and if one paid close enough attention, they'd see the paint chipping from the walls.

"Trifa?"

No answer

"Black Recluse."

Trifa's eyes turned towards Ichabod.

"Good. I was worried all this time had been for naught." He looked at the burn mark wrapped around Trifa's wrist. If there was any look of guilt or remorse on his face, he quickly shunted it away. "There's no more time to waste. Put your mask on and get out there. If you spot any suspicious activity, report it back to me before proceeding." 'Black Recluse' nodded and headed for the window.

"....Unless." She looked back over at him. "....You can handle it yourself."

She nodded and leapt from the window into the night.

Mark that up with a murdered father and Trifa squirmed in place as Cinder spoke. Shitty childhoods/teenagehoods(?) all around it seemed like. But at least Cinder had one up on her: she'd probably come up with a better name than 'Silk Seducer'

"I...I have to be honest. When Tyrian spoke of you, it was nothing but compliments and praise all the way down. How he'd enjoyed your company, how much you and the rest of his friends at Beacon meant to him. I can't imagine that he would have said that and meant it about the kind of person you're describing."

"You seem like a good kid. I'm sure once we get going on this 'quest' or whatever, you'll only prove me right on that."

She pointed in Cinder's face.

"Now, I want you to hold me to that. I'd feel like a real big jerk if you turned out to be a little brat."

But then the smile returned.

"....As if that'd ever happen."
​

"But if I did that...if I let myself be that person...it'd feel like giving up, to me. Like I'd be saying to my parents, congratulations. You guys won. You broke me down, made me into someone just as bad as you. Or worse, even. Well...literally the last thing I ever want in my life is to have them think they won some kind of twisted fucking victory. So I do what I can to not be that person. To be kind, and helpful, and just somebody who...loves life. That's how I get myself through the hard times. I know I don't always succeed at being that person. sometimes I get pretty angry and lose it, but...that never gets me to stop trying to be. And..." The teenager looked back down towards Trifa.

"...and I really really really hope I could help the others too, by being that person."

Trifa kicked her feet back and forth...

Spoiler: 'Who?'

During her time as 'The Black Recluse', Trifa had no awareness of it at all.

It was though who she was had become subsumed by Ichabod's brainwashing. When around Tyrian, she still played the role of friendly rival/best friend. But when nightfall came, she suited up and went out on the town. It didn't matter if there were three or four or even five. If she calculated it out in her head and figured that her odds of winning were still better than her chances of losing, she'd chance it. Arms were broken, knees were dislocated. She was a menace to those she preyed upon. Ichabod had spent precious time getting to know Trifa. He'd known that if it came down to it and if a member of the Shadow Fang begged for mercy, Trifa was likely to grant it.

Not. Acceptable.

She continued to act as his unoffiical 'partner' for months. What Trifa had believed was her willing departure from the fighting scene was Ichabod ordering 'Black Recluse' to cut ties behind the scene. The more free time she had the better. It didn't matter if she wasn't in the ring earning money. She was doing something far more important: keeping an eye on these terrorists and keeping Tyrian safe. Even if he didn't know it.

.....It all came to an end on that fateful night when they attacked.

Somebody had tipped them off-later it was revealed to be Oblique. One of the establishment's most openly racist proprietors. In an attempt to cut Ichabod out of the equation entirely, he'd given a tip off to the White Fang. They were upon the place in hours. It was only due to Ichabod's intervention/luck that there were any survivors at all(mostly all faunus).

She'd seen it all. From the shadows of course.

But whether it was Ichabod's demise that caused it or Trifa's subconscious itself resisting, something had broken that night.

Trifa had reemerged. Unaware of all that she'd done or even the Black Recluse's existence. False memories here and there. All she could remember for sure was what Ichabod had asked of her.

To kill.

But after all that time who had she become?

Tyrian's friend? Or Ichabod's agent?

....Even she didn't know.

"....Kid-Cinder."

She sighed.

"I...I know-knew truly terrible people. I've only known you a short time. Hell, this is the first time we've ever actually sat down and talked. Sheesh." She shook her head. "But...despite everything that's happened and how it's got everybody all fucked up? You're not out here feeling sorry for yourself. You're still thinking of how you can be better. How you can help others."

Trifa ran another hand through her hair.

"....Part of why I do my 'other' job is because the stress gets to be too much for me. I need a break. Or else I'll explode and who does that help? No one. My job lets me unwind and relax-for the most part you would not BELIEVE some of the people I getbutreallyshouldn'tbetalkingaboutthatwithakidsorryyyy-and...I just take it little by little, small victory by small victory. If I can say anything it's that you've definitely won me over." Trifa flashed another smile the young maiden's way.

"I'm glad to have met you. Seriously."

The spider held her arms out for a hug. If Cinder wanted one, anyhow.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Tyrian had to deal with a minor jolt of pain as the exuberant little gasp she gave rocked her in her seat, but after a few slow blinks she quickly banished the giddy look of exuberance on her face for one of coy fascination. She arched her back in her chair, batted her eyelashes once or twice with a devious twinkle, and leaned slightly in herself to bite her lip in a come-hither way, not quite enough to close the distance between them but as though inviting the faunus to ponder what might happen if he made the rest of the journey himself.

She'd gotten Tyrian's full attention if she hadn't had it before.

The blunt fell from his mouth.

His tail slowly moved to rest part of itself atop one of Morgiana's thighs.
​

"If I said yes would you wanna make out right now?"

Her own voice dropped to an even lower tone, an arcane purr that stood out from the others in how clearly it was meant to titillate.

Tyrian couldn't help himself. He chuckled.

He started to lean in.

"I think the answer is...."


"Yes~"

His tail moved to give Morgiana a bit of a gentle 'push' to his embrace. As much of one as it could be given the state he was in.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Tyrian couldn't help himself. He chuckled.

He started to lean in.

"I think the answer is...."


"Yes~"

His tail moved to give Morgiana a bit of a gentle 'push' to his embrace. As much of one as it could be given the state he was in.

"Eheheheheheeee, weeeeeell then..."



As Tyrian found himself emboldened by her words and the placement of his tail grew braver, the suave mysticism of his healer began to drift more and more towards the extremely awkward and strained countenance above, Morgiana's eyes darting rapidly back and forth between her patient and one specific corner of the room as events escalated at a rate far beyond anticipation. The SOS signal was received, and events braked to a tragic halt at the last possible second courtesy of Lance's prodigious hand closing around Tyrian's entire skull, bodyguard temporarily acting as orderly to gently pin the faunus back down to the mountain of pillows behind him.

"...guess that means you're prolly not really in love with moonbeam, huh?"

Lance stepped back, revealing Morgiana having slipped loose of Tyrian's embrace like a contortionist and returned to an appropriate healing proximity as the kaleidoscopic color patterns continued to drift from her eyes. She proceeded to act like that never happened and go back to acting like a more standard advance columnist, hands resuming directing the cats' ethereal harmony towards the faunus's shoulder.

"I mean, think about it for a second duckling. How much do you even really know about her? Neopolitan may be grooviest of blooming cherry blossoms, but her life is gripped by turmoil and heartache she struggles so terribly to express. Before committing to big, worldly concepts like love dontcha think the wiser path is to slow down and question whether 'love' in this case is simple one-sided sentimental affection brought on by loneliness compounded by this almost symbiotic relationship formed during a shared activity of great personal significance to you?"

​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Eheheheheheeee, weeeeeell then..."

As Tyrian found himself emboldened by her words and the placement of his tail grew braver, the suave mysticism of his healer began to drift more and more towards the extremely awkward and strained countenance above, Morgiana's eyes darting rapidly back and forth between her patient and one specific corner of the room as events escalated at a rate far beyond anticipation. The SOS signal was received, and events braked to a tragic halt at the last possible second courtesy of Lance's prodigious hand closing around Tyrian's entire skull, bodyguard temporarily acting as orderly to gently pin the faunus back down to the mountain of pillows behind him.

Tyrian let out a small muffled yelp.

His tail swung upwards and then drooped, the stinger pinging against the side of the bed.

"..."

He'd messed up.
​

Lance stepped back, revealing Morgiana having slipped loose of Tyrian's embrace like a contortionist and returned to an appropriate healing proximity as the kaleidoscopic color patterns continued to drift from her eyes. She proceeded to act like that never happened and go back to acting like a more standard advance columnist, hands resuming directing the cats' ethereal harmony towards the faunus's shoulder.

"I mean, think about it for a second duckling. How much do you even really know about her? Neopolitan may be grooviest of blooming cherry blossoms, but her life is gripped by turmoil and heartache she struggles so terribly to express. Before committing to big, worldly concepts like love dontcha think the wiser path is to slow down and question whether 'love' in this case is simple one-sided sentimental affection brought on by loneliness compounded by this almost symbiotic relationship formed during a shared activity of great personal significance to you?"

"I'm sorry...I...you're probably right."

Tyrian snuggled into the mound of pillows behind, beside, and around him.

"....I wish I DID know more about her. I should have made an effort."

He frowned and brought his tail in close to him.

"....romance, love, they were never really my strong suits. I mean I know I LOVE my parents. They did what they could for me."

But when it came to actual fledged relationships? Something beyond just sex?

He didn't have a clue.

"....Ugh, here I am laying in bed moping. My anger, my feelings, everything is just out of control. Trifa saw it, Mercury saw it. I wouldn't be surprised if those two guys who came with could see it." He exclaimed, sounding as frustrated as somebody who couldn't solve a puzzle they'd been working at for weeks. "...the whole reason this started and i ended up like this is because I just couldn't accept it. What he said to me."

​

"—EVERY PENT-UP SACK OF SHIT WITH ISSUES WHO WANDERS BY—"

"—TO STOP TREATING HER—"

"—LIKE THEIR PERSONAL PUNCHING BAG!"

"I lashed out because I couldn't believe what he'd said. What he accused me of: his friend. But..."

Tyrian couldn't bring himself to look at Morgiana.

"Maybe he was right. Maybe all I know how to do right is fight..." He gave a look at his leg and how it was propped up. Maybe not even that.

"She was here by my side and yet here I am saying things like 'love' when I don't even have the slightest idea what it means to feel for somebody like that."

He threw up his hand.

"I just....don't." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Well, it's nice to meet you one-on-one, Cinder."

Trifa ran a hand through her hair and sniffled.

"Wish the circumstances were just a smidge better but ah well." She gave her shoulders the lightest of shrugs. Even though it was clear enough through her crying fit that she didn't or couldn't just pass off everything that'd had transpired as of late.

"Same all around."​

"Yeah, Tyrian and I well, we hung around in the same circles. I ended up developing something of a knack for creating things and figured I'd put it to use to try and do some good." She held out her gloved hands. "I'm a spider faunus and so I can naturally shoot webbing out of my hands. Sounds gross, looks even grosser, but unlike real spiders I can't just slap my hand on a wall and stick there." She pulled back her lips revealing her gums. "I bon't even rave rany vangs, see?" She closed her left hand and opened it up again. "But that's where my suit comes in handy. Built into the fabric are dozens upon dozens of miniscule little servomotors that grip onto any given surface and boom I'm stuck like a fly on paper."

She didn't mention the more malicious things that could be done with such technology. Such as 'sticking' onto an opponent's face while their aura's down and giving a hard pull....

"Also lets me carry things I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Basically gives me a bit of 'superstrength' if you really wanna call it that. Overload the motors though beyond a certain weight capacity? Boom." She spread her hands apart. "Could take hours, maybe even days to fix. Given where we're at though it could possibly take weeks before I got my hands on what I'd need to fix em." She gave a small smile but looked away at Cinder. "Heh. I like to think I'm playing hero. I dress up and help out the local authorities sometimes."

Didn't do much to help here.

".....Huh." She had to admit, she was more than a little surprised. "Well, fangs or no fangs, I can't say I've ever met a super-smart spider hooker hero before...so that's pretty cool." She flashed a grin. "Guess I can mark that down in the list of stuff I never expected. Heh. A suit that lets you stick to things...you can crawl on walls and stuff. That's gotta be handy. Made it yourself too, right? So like...your weapon must be even cooler huh?"​

"Hey, don't worry about it. Tyrian and I go way back."

"I'll always be there for him."​

"I knew it. You are his girlfriend."​

"I...I have to be honest. When Tyrian spoke of you, it was nothing but compliments and praise all the way down. How he'd enjoyed your company, how much you and the rest of his friends at Beacon meant to him. I can't imagine that he would have said that and meant it about the kind of person you're describing."

"You seem like a good kid. I'm sure once we get going on this 'quest' or whatever, you'll only prove me right on that."

She pointed in Cinder's face.

"Now, I want you to hold me to that. I'd feel like a real big jerk if you turned out to be a little brat."

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell...just don't ask Arthur about that. Oh, or play me in video games. Don't do that either if you looking to avoid dealing with a little brat. I'm kinda...really competitive." Cinder admitted, tapping her fingers together awkwardly. "I get super into it, haha..."​

"....As if that'd ever happen."

"....Kid-Cinder."

She sighed.

"I...I know-knew truly terrible people. I've only known you a short time. Hell, this is the first time we've ever actually sat down and talked. Sheesh." She shook her head. "But...despite everything that's happened and how it's got everybody all fucked up? You're not out here feeling sorry for yourself. You're still thinking of how you can be better. How you can help others."

"Well we just sort of met like...now and there was a lot going on, so...yeah. First time. Not that weird. And hey, don't treat me like I'm special or nothin' for that. It's the way huntresses should think, right? That's all. Just trying to do right by the job. Well, the job I was training to get, anyway. Haven't gotten it official-like. Maybe someday though."​

"....Part of why I do my 'other' job is because the stress gets to be too much for me. I need a break. Or else I'll explode and who does that help? No one. My job lets me unwind and relax-for the most part you would not BELIEVE some of the people I getbutreallyshouldn'tbetalkingaboutthatwithakidsorryyyy-and...I just take it little by little, small victory by small victory. If I can say anything it's that you've definitely won me over." Trifa flashed another smile the young maiden's way.

"Grooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooss."​

"I'm glad to have met you. Seriously."

The spider held her arms out for a hug. If Cinder wanted one, anyhow.

"Oh, um...you too!" Cinder replied. Didn't go for the hug though.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

View attachment 881344View attachment 881346

"Woof."

"Hmf."

Rare was the occasion Neo managed to throw both other heads of the three-headed prank Cerberus that was their team at this point so completely from their set programming, but if she kept any kind of a count today doubtless went down in the history books as her gameness in the face of Mercury's charms scored an unprecedented double knockout on a pair who in one sense or another were both expecting that to play out very differently. No matter which way she looked the reaction was priceless, Mercury's features roving through a whirlwind cycle of flummoxed, captivated, intensely guilt-ridden and dismayed as Neo happened across one of supremely few ways to shake his confidence in himself during a game of flirtation chicken by making him read messy cursive at the same time; Emerald's nigh immediately flattening to something midway between jilted bridesmaid and full-fledged gremlin.

The display spurred the thief to hover out of view slightly longer than she would have, while the nose tweak and twirl had Mercury cough loudly to reboot himself in safe mode, aka the face he'd turned to just about every girl who smiled his way at Beacon three dates deep when he was getting bored and wanted out: overt, dismissive disinterest.

They only ever wanted him more after that, of course. But his faith in just how much of a douchebag he could be had never wavered, and he wore it like armor now as he gave a sigh rife with impatience and boredom and started walking on, cool as a cucumber in spite of her extra weight's efforts to disrupt his balance.

"Well, right now I'd say we're probably all gonna go check out Emerald's freaky sinkhole. Where am I headed once we're done doing that? Who can say." He made it sound like as casual a process as possible for all involved, voice a lazy breeze as he fixed his jacket's collar. "Only thing I know for sure is it's high time Mercury Black cut the girly strings and embarked on a long, fruitful endeavor as a solo artist. Sorry, toots. We had fun times and everything, but an eagle can only stay caged for so long befo—"

View attachment 881365

"BOOOOO! ENABLERS! YOU ENABLE EACH OTHER!"

He was cut off by a tandem of Emerald's increasingly forceful boos and a pillow—which, again, felt like at least three pillows condensed into one—drumming him full in the face as the pickpocket shimmered into existence between them and the door, pivoting her swing's trajectory to clatter Neo as well if she was still on board. Her hiss was like that of a cornered mongoose, eyes fiercely defiant as she reared back and coiled for another strike.

"Look, you don't have to deal with this, Neo, it's just—a stupid guy saying stupid things so he can have some big, STUPID change of heart after we all kill a Grimm together or something! And then he gets to look stupider than ever before putting all his stupid shit back where it was." Her huff was incorrigible, albeit far more forced than the notes of concern her frustration was already ceding to. "So... it's fine. Let's just go back up and let whatever this is tire itself out. You shouldn't feel like you have to start tracing words again just to save us from our melodrama."

View attachment 881371View attachment 881372

Mercury, once recovered, threw out a laugh that was far more effortlessly detached, though not without its own conscientious inklings either. "Well, she's right about that last part. On top of me being stupid. Fair warning, you're gonna totally regret blowing your big therapy goal moment somewhere it made literally zero difference to anything. Hey, congrats though! Mommy and daddy are very proud."​

Neo's arms pinwheeled as she got a facefull of pillow and knocked her back flat to the bed behind her with a silent 'ooph'. She swung back up to it, her feet pressed against each other with her hands holding them together as she shot them both a sour look that was more annoyed than hurt. The words she traced next somehow came a little easier than the ones before, though they were far less fanciful and colorful in their blunt, still messy print.

'You're both full of shit'

She planted her hands on the bed to launch herself back to her feet with a sniff, her arms crossed as she gestured towards the door with one hand, clearly intending to walk from behind and making sure Mercury didn't make a run for it on the way to the tent.

The moment they both looked away, her face flickered down into a far more worried frown, but it was gone by the time either of them had a chance to look back

 

[Gus Gungus]

Neo's arms pinwheeled as she got a facefull of pillow and knocked her back flat to the bed behind her with a silent 'ooph'. She swung back up to it, her feet pressed against each other with her hands holding them together as she shot them both a sour look that was more annoyed than hurt. The words she traced next somehow came a little easier than the ones before, though they were far less fanciful and colorful in their blunt, still messy print.

'You're both full of shit'

She planted her hands on the bed to launch herself back to her feet with a sniff, her arms crossed as she gestured towards the door with one hand, clearly intending to walk from behind and making sure Mercury didn't make a run for it on the way to the tent.

The moment they both looked away, her face flickered down into a far more worried frown, but it was gone by the time either of them had a chance to look back

Given Mercury seemed to be making as concerted an effort to blow the two illusionists off as possible, it came as no surprise when he read the sentence with little more than a scandalized gasp and blatant mockery of Neo's pose from a few seconds ago—complete with hand on his chest and what ended up being a far noisier (though no less graceful) twirl in and under Emerald's next swing owing to the weight and composition of his legs. That left her to react for both of them, attention split between scanning the words and impeding Mercury's progress as he slipped out of the room behind her with a cordial but unconcerned two-fingered salute. Her own response was immediately far more recognizable as genuine, the thief—still by no means the most put together this morning herself and feeling eternally miscast as the voice prone to the least extreme leanings on her team—as kneejerk as ever to the sensation of someone trying to get inside her head, tightening her features to a wounded glower and making her displeasure known with a curt huff.



"Yeah, guess we just can't compete with your world class honest communication skills, Neo. All hail you, queen of open books."

She turned with a ponytail flip so frosty Weiss Schnee would've been moved to a respectful golf clap before any accurate measure of how bad she felt for throwing that back at the other girl could be attained, taking brisk, lengthy strides to snatch the lead away from even Mercury. He gave a low-pitched whistle when what felt like straight up a wall of cold air whisked past him, his own pace still loose and casual as he watched her pull away with flawless poise discounting the slight hunch her crossed arms folded her in, and when he threw his head back towards Neo it was with one eyebrow arched higher than the other and a dry tilt of the head.



"So this the part where you and me stage an intervention on her now, or was the plan you two on me, or we still on the two of us being stressed out over you every day or what? Gotta say, at this point it feels like we're moving into convoluted territory. You guys're gonna really come into your own as a double act."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"I lashed out because I couldn't believe what he'd said. What he accused me of: his friend. But..."

Tyrian couldn't bring himself to look at Morgiana.

"Maybe he was right. Maybe all I know how to do right is fight..." He gave a look at his leg and how it was propped up. Maybe not even that.

"She was here by my side and yet here I am saying things like 'love' when I don't even have the slightest idea what it means to feel for somebody like that."

He threw up his hand.

"I just....don't."

"Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Heavy, my dude." She continued encouragingly, clearly having led Tyrian to a far more profound and existentially depressing revelation than she intended to and wanting to exercise damage control without necessarily cutting him off. She stood up sharply, using the bombasticity of the motion to force a break in his musing as she swept around the other side of his bed to make a start on his collarbone. "BUT ALSO: not so much? Not to stymie this spiritual deep-dive, but love is a sensation, baby goose. It starts in the soul and manifests itself physically through all these groovy little cats in our brain called synaptic connections. You're talkin' like you think some part of your crappy childhood, like, negated your ability to feel that stuff, but take it from me when I say the soul has literally never worked that way! You either have one or you don't, and I see yours just fine. The only things in the entire world cut off from love are Grimm."

Then she frowned, a sigh slipping out through her lips as her otherworldy voice steeped further in sympathy.

"Course... sometimes the link between body and soul isn't as strong as it's supposed be. Souls who experience the worst cruelties and injustices either put themselves back together, learn to shine more brilliantly than they did before, or... they try to escape. They pull as far away from the body they live in as they can, and that body drifts further and further from becoming the person that soul was meant to be. It's how cruelty propagates, you know? Evil doesn't exist in the soul. It's a product of environment. We all start with a clean slate; Sometimes the tide of life just drags us out to sea, leaves us stranded far from the shores of who we are."

Being as intensely affected by a room's vibrations as she was meant she started to look and sound outright forlorn the further she got into her cryptic musings, though as she shook herself from her thousand yard stare and refocused on Tyrian she made a halfway decent attempt at a reassuring smile.

"Your soul's connected to your body just fine, Sweet Tea. You'll feel stuff like love well enough when it's their time. Mercury, though..." She shook her head with a tut, returning the bulk of her attention to healing. "Man. He's trying, but... the soul who did a number on his soul must've had a terrible life. Poor kid. Shoulda seen his face when I told him about the blockage."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Given Mercury seemed to be making as concerted an effort to blow the two illusionists off as possible, it came as no surprise when he read the sentence with little more than a scandalized gasp and blatant mockery of Neo's pose from a few seconds ago—complete with hand on his chest and what ended up being a far noisier (though no less graceful) twirl in and under Emerald's next swing owing to the weight and composition of his legs. That left her to react for both of them, attention split between scanning the words and impeding Mercury's progress as he slipped out of the room behind her with a cordial but unconcerned two-fingered salute. Her own response was immediately far more recognizable as genuine, the thief still by no means the most put together this morning herself and feeling eternally miscast as the voice prone to the least extreme leanings on her team but still as kneejerk as ever to the feeling of someone trying to get inside her head as she tightened her features to a wounded glower and made her displeasure evident with a curt huff.

View attachment 882102

"Yeah, guess we just can't compete with your world class honest communication skills, Neo. All hail you, queen of open books."

She turned with a ponytail flip so frosty Weiss Schnee would've been moved to a respectful golf clap before any accurate measure of how bad she felt for throwing that back at the other girl could be attained, taking brisk, lengthy strides to snatch the lead away from even Mercury. He gave a low-pitched whistle when what felt like straight up a wall of cold air whisked past him, his own pace still loose and casual as he watched her pull away with flawless poise discounting the slight hunch her crossed arms folded her in, and when he threw his head back towards Neo it was with one eyebrow arched higher than the other and a dry tilt of the head.

View attachment 882125

"So this the part where you and me stage an intervention on her now, or was the plan you two on me, or we still on the two of us being stressed out over you every day or what? Gotta say, at this point it feels like we're moving into convoluted territory. You guys're gonna really come into your own as a double act."​

Mercury turned around in time to see Neo's internal wince externalize much more than she intended to let it, her hand shooting up to run through her hair with a sharp breath through her noise as she squeezed her eyes shut. Hello??? What was she even saying? They weren't both full of shit, Emerald was literally trying to- She just meant that- ugh.

A small, whinier part of Neo's brain wanted a redo, to run that entire little sequence back, she hadn't used words in months, she was rusty, it was always Roman's perogative, but that wasn't how life worked. She, in fact, did want to cry, very much, the thought of Mercury just up and leaving after what just happened a blow that cracked her armor just as badly as any thought of Roman and his killers;

But she'd been the fragile one for months now, and she wasn't going to pretend it had done Mercury and Emerald any favors. It was stupid; It was something she felt horrifically guilty about, and had ever since she'd seen their expressions last night, except wallowing in that guilt would just make everything worse; put her in the same state that had them both so miserable in the first place. And now all that was on top of Mercury crippling Tyrian, in her defense, right before they went to Emerald's destroyed childhood home, because of her.

Watts and Mercury and Emerald could hem and haw and wring their hands about how guilty they felt about what just happened all they wanted, and it wasn't like all of it was on her own shoulders. But it all circled back to her; and this time she was determined not to just run away or hide from it.

So whatever she actually felt like she wanted to do, she just sniffed and schooled her face back into her best firm schoolteacher glynda special, and raised her eyebrows at Mercury before flicking two impatient fingers in the direction Emerald had gone.

 

[MidwayLives]

"Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Heavy, my dude." She continued encouragingly, clearly having led Tyrian to a far more profound and existentially depressing revelation than she intended to and wanting to exercise damage control without necessarily cutting him off. She stood up sharply, using the bombasticity of the motion to force a break in his musing as she swept around the other side of his bed to make a start on his collarbone. "BUT ALSO: not so much? Not to stymie this spiritual deep-dive, but love is a sensation, baby goose. It starts in the soul and manifests itself physically through all these groovy little cats in our brain called synaptic connections. You're talkin' like you think some part of your crappy childhood, like, negated your ability to feel that stuff, but take it from me when I say the soul has literally never worked that way! You either have one or you don't, and I see yours just fine. The only things in the entire world cut off from love are Grimm."

Then she frowned, a sigh slipping out through her lips as her otherworldy voice steeped further in sympathy.

"Course... sometimes the link between body and soul isn't as strong as it's supposed be. Souls who experience the worst cruelties and injustices either put themselves back together, learn to shine more brilliantly than they did before, or... they try to escape. They pull as far away from the body they live in as they can, and that body drifts further and further from becoming the person that soul was meant to be. It's how cruelty propagates, you know? Evil doesn't exist in the soul. It's a product of environment. We all start with a clean slate; Sometimes the tide of life just drags us out to sea, leaves us stranded far from the shores of who we are."

Tyrian's tail coiled up around him like some kind of natural protective blanket.

He wasn't sure he'd known anybody that was outright evil.

Sure, he hated this world's Qrow for what he'd done to his tail. He hated Fox and the Shadow Fang for whatever role they played in Ichabod's death. He HATED Ozpin. It was the forces under his command that lead the attack at Haven that resulted in...

Tyrian nestled his head against the pillows a bit more.

They'd lost someone that day but Neo? She'd lost someone closer to her than Tyrian or anyone else would understand, he imagined.
​

Being as intensely affected by a room's vibrations as she was meant she started to look and sound outright forlorn the further she got into her cryptic musings, though as she shook herself from her thousand yard stare and refocused on Tyrian she made a halfway decent attempt at a reassuring smile.

"Your soul's connected to your body just fine, Sweet Tea. You'll feel stuff like love well enough when it's their time.

....But at least he'd been reassured that despite his fears, his concerns about what the others had pointed out: his growing inability to control his anger, his eagerness to fight even when the 'match' was clearly over, etc.

He was still him.

Tyrian Callows and he....wasn't bad.

Right?

"Thanks." He smiled back.

....It didn't last long.
​

Mercury, though..." She shook her head with a tut, returning the bulk of her attention to healing. "Man. He's trying, but... the soul who did a number on his soul must've had a terrible life. Poor kid. Shoulda seen his face when I told him about the blockage."

Tyrian's left hand balled up into a fist.

"Trying...."

His tail slinked over the side of the bed, nice and slow.

"Trying...." He repeated. "I wonder how hard he's trying if I'm stuck laying in bed like this while he can walk away from this like nothing happened!" Catching himself at the last second before he got too worked up and potentially injured himself further/lashed out at Morgiana, he panted and nestled back against the pillows. "Sorry, sorry. Again. I'm...."

Tyrian's gaze couldn't meet hers again.

"He was my friend. I went to him when I'd heard a serial killer had kidnapped Trifa-that spider faunus you might have seen with us. She's the one who got gunk all over Lance. Biological webbing, heh." Noticing that he was stalling what he really wanted to say, he sighed. "He...He actually was willing to help. All of them were but he was biting at the bit to help me out. It meant a lot to me. I can't even remember if I thanked him, Emerald, and Neo enough. However many times I did it wasn't enough, still isn't. Wouldn't have been able to do it by myself. The guy was....just too strong." Tyrian hissed out with a heavy reluctance lingering on his words.

"I can admit he may have had his point. I can admit that....I've...I've gotten too caught up in my own business. So eager to fight, so eager to get stronger, better. Without realizing just how far I was going." He looked down at his injuries with a miserable look on his face. "I don't want to sound ungrateful. You're doing all that you can for me. That means a lot. This....This isn't even the worst anyone's ever left me."

His thoughts wandered back to that one rigged fight.

"....but it was the first time someone i looked to as a friend ever hurt me like this." He said, his voice cracking.

"I don't doubt you'll heal me as best as you can. I probably won't be hopping all over the place. But I'll be back on my feet. But....the pain goes deeper and I'm not talking about my bones." He shook his head from side to side. "I'm here. I said I'll help find this relic, fight alongside the others. I meant it. But...."

Tyrian's eyes glistened slightly.

"....i don't know if i want to be near him again. ever." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Mercury turned around in time to see Neo's internal wince externalize much more than she intended to let it, her hand shooting up to run through her hair with a sharp breath through her noise as she squeezed her eyes shut. Hello??? What was she even saying? They weren't both full of shit, Emerald was literally trying to- She just meant that- ugh.

A small, whinier part of Neo's brain wanted a redo, to run that entire little sequence back, she hadn't used words in months, she was rusty, it was always Roman's perogative, but that wasn't how life worked. She, in fact, did want to cry, very much, the thought of Mercury just up and leaving after what just happened a blow that cracked her armor just as badly as any thought of Roman and his killers;

But she'd been the fragile one for months now, and she wasn't going to pretend it had done Mercury and Emerald any favors. It was stupid; It was something she felt horrifically guilty about, and had ever since she'd seen their expressions last night, except wallowing in that guilt would just make everything worse; put her in the same state that had them both so miserable in the first place. And now all that was on top of Mercury crippling Tyrian, in her defense, right before they went to Emerald's destroyed childhood home, because of her.

Watts and Mercury and Emerald could hem and haw and wring their hands about how guilty they felt about what just happened all they wanted, and it wasn't like all of it was on her own shoulders. But it all circled back to her; and this time she was determined not to just run away or hide from it.

So whatever she actually felt like she wanted to do, she just sniffed and schooled her face back into her best firm schoolteacher glynda special, and raised her eyebrows at Mercury before flicking two impatient fingers in the direction Emerald had gone.

Neo had plenty of experience with Goodwitch at her sternest to draw on, but it still might've served as some surprise when upon seeing her imitation Mercury did exactly what he always had when Goodwitch told him to do something: the opposite.

Still, there was something more than an immersive scene partner at work in the way his boots ground to an immediate halt, the second look he gave her one that dropped the relaxed flippancy for an intensely analytical squint that lingered as he searched through the lines of her face for something. Whatever it was slowly had his features slide more and more towards the kind of scornful attitude he might actually reserve for a Goodwitch trying to exert her authority, bottoming out in an impertinent sneer as he used the doorframe to lean out into the cavernous hallway and call after the retreating thief.

"You know, I think she thinks we're—"



"Oh my god, BOOOOOOOO! I knew it! We are not the fragile ones!"

If the Emerald Neo last glimpsed had been offended, the one who materialized suddenly on Mercury's blindside and almost bowled him over in shock with her most emphatic and rigorous of boos yet just looked devastatingly petulant in how incensed she was by whatever conclusion she and her partner appeared to have drawn at the same time. This boo, surprisingly, was reserved entirely for Neo, and the extremely dense pillow the non-illusory Emerald still held was gripped in a manner that suggested she was giving serious consideration to taking another swing as she went on, tone sharp.

"And by the way, I don't see why there even has to be a 'fragile one'! Why just one, huh? Why can't we all be the fragile ones?? We all got messed up by what happened, then none of us TALKED ABOUT IT!" She settled for just kind of thwomping the pillow onto the floor with a yell of prodigious frustration, the breeze that washed over them from the impact far heavier than anyone could've ever expected from a pillow. "Which, by the way? Just one of many things, including my meltdown, Mercury going psycho and Watts getting as far up our ass as he did about that stupid lamp, that were just SO INCREDIBLY NOT your fault, Neo! Because shock twist, it shouldn't fall to the chick who doesn't say anything—and who yes, is going through it in a way none of us really get right now—to facilitate A HEALTHY FREAKING LINE OF COMMUNICATION WITH HER FRIENDS! Not that that part should even really matter, because WE UNDERSTAND YOU, DOOFUS!"



Mercury by this point seemed to be rigorously mulling over his chances of slipping out before Emerald went off any harder, eyes surreptitiously darting between her and the door, but something ultimately made him stay. He coughed and just sort of drank in the experience, not wanting to make himself an active participant just yet; the pickpocket, on the other hand, had taken to madly scribbling out a string of total illegible gibberish on the air with her fingertip, only to furiously scrub it out of existence with her opposite palm the moment it was finished.

"You don't have to spell stuff out for us! How's that any different from just forcing you to talk again?! No, better question, have you seriously been following us around this entire time thinking neither of us knows how to read someone? Like, hello??? This dude's dad was an assassin? I've been picking people's pockets since I was nine years old!"

Mercury leaned over, far more in common with the standard student on the receiving end of a Goodwitch reaming now than he had before as he kept his input tentative and noncommittal. "It's true, you're not that deep. Plus a few months into the school year we just made Roman show us how he did it. Guy had a whole process. Pretty rad. I'm interrupting."

He petered out like the kid who'd been caught whispering after just a few seconds of eye contact from Emerald's withering stare, but it already looked stressed, drained, and deeply perturbed more than truly agitated, her meager frame unable to sustain such abstract levels of scathing energy. "No, I'm basically done, just... ugh."

She was not, however, basically done. She did try to rein herself in, drawing in a deep breath and lowering her hand to resettle her ruby eyes on Neo with a more steady gaze, distilling her disordered thoughts.



"This just proves what I'm saying. Neo, if you've ever felt like you don't have a voice around us then there's a reason. And I'm so sorry you think that reason is you, but it's not. You could've been a bigger loudmouth than Mercury these last few months and it wouldn't have made a difference. Not if nobody around you was listening!" She huffed, letting her shoulders sag with the release of air as she folded her arms again and let her fingers drum rhythmically. Emerald had always been an adept wielder of blunt honesty, but only with her next sentence did the target in this instance become clear, cadence steady and eyes staying firm on Neo's so there was no chance of misunderstanding no matter how it went against her nature to be so forthright.

"We're the reason. We're the reason everything went so bad last night, and today. Us and our dumb, above-it-all, allergic-to-feelings Mercury-and-Emerald schtick. Which, y'know, pretty much just works for us cuz it stops anyone getting close enough to tell either one of us could count every actual friend we've ever made on two hands; And there's some major overlap." Any hopes of Mercury contesting that when he started silently counting off on his fingers were dashed a moment later, a deeper crease in his brow as he sheepishly lowered them back to his side after reaching seven. "I swear we tried, okay? Whatever else happens, we both genuinely did try. But we didn't try hard enough. Not only that, we were so full of ourselves we tried to be there for you when you literally needed someone to be and then we sucked at it! We didn't have a clue what we were doing, we just... kept faking it. Guess we all saw where that led."

She ran a hand down her face, and while Mercury's sober countenance made it obvious he knew what was being referred to equally obvious was how little either of them really wanted to be the one to drag it up. Not in the thick of everything else about this shitshow of a morning.

"We couldn't be what you needed. We couldn't have been much further off if we wanted to be. You could've ended up with Cinder, or Hazel and his sister, or—hell, freaking Watts, probably, or just about any random combination of people off the street, and they all could've taken better care of you than we did. Instead you stuck with the two lowlifes who don't even know what friends are supposed to do for each other, and all they did was drag you down." She tried to diffuse some of the morning's stress with another exhale, ineffectual though it was. "We know that now. No puttin' the air back in that balloon. And honestly, I... dunno what to do about it. I'm not sure there's a whole lot anyone can do besides just sit with it for now. But I promise I am not just gonna let it get swept under the rug by whatever the hell else is even happening this morning. And neither is this asshole."

She gave Mercury a stoic nod and two or three seconds of adamant eye contact for him to rise to, argue or otherwise voice disagreement if he wanted, but he did nothing of the sort. Then she turned back to Neo, and only when she was absolutely positive the shorter girl had nothing further to get off her chest did she face the other direction and resume what at least seemed like a marginally unburdened stride, leaving Mercury's features locked in a contemplative staring contest with the cave floor as he remained where he was, somber.

It ended without a clear victor, MTEN's former leader abruptly jerking his head up to present Neo a flawless imitation of her impatient Goodwitch finger flick in sarcastic offerance of the lead, the tribute undercut only by the sly grin on his face.

"Notice how she didn't say we were worse options than Tyrian."

"Yeah there are like, so many steps before you can say his name jokingly again."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

View attachment 882182

Neo had plenty of experience with Goodwitch at her sternest to draw on, but it still might've served as some surprise when upon seeing her imitation Mercury did exactly what he always had when Goodwitch told him to do something: the opposite.

Still, there was something more than an immersive scene partner at work in the way his boots ground to an immediate halt, the second look he gave her one that dropped the relaxed flippancy for an intensely analytical squint that lingered as he searched through the lines of her face for something. Whatever it was slowly had his features slide more and more towards the kind of scornful attitude he might actually reserve for a Goodwitch trying to exert her authority, bottoming out in an impertinent sneer as he used the doorframe to lean out into the cavernous hallway and call after the retreating thief.

"You know, I think she thinks we're—"

View attachment 882227

"Oh my god, BOOOOOOOO! I knew it! We are not the fragile ones!"

If the Emerald Neo last glimpsed had been offended, the one who materialized suddenly on Mercury's blindside and almost bowled him over in shock with her most emphatic and rigorous of boos yet just looked devastatingly petulant in how incensed she was by whatever conclusion she and her partner appeared to have drawn at the same time. This boo, surprisingly, was reserved entirely for Neo, and the extremely dense pillow the non-illusory Emerald still held was gripped in a manner that suggested she was giving serious consideration to taking another swing as she went on, tone sharp.

"And by the way, I don't see why there even has to be a 'fragile one'! Why just one, huh? Why can't we all be the fragile ones?? We all got messed up by what happened, then none of us TALKED ABOUT IT!" She settled for just kind of thwomping the pillow onto the floor with a yell of prodigious frustration, the breeze that washed over them from the impact far heavier than anyone could've ever expected from a pillow. "Which, by the way? Just one of many things, including my meltdown, Mercury going psycho and Watts getting as far up our ass as he did about that stupid lamp, that were just SO INCREDIBLY NOT your fault, Neo! Because shock twist, it shouldn't fall to the chick who doesn't say anything—and who yes, is going through it in a way none of us really get right now—to facilitate A HEALTHY FREAKING LINE OF COMMUNICATION WITH HER FRIENDS! Not that that part should even really matter, because WE UNDERSTAND YOU, DOOFUS!"

View attachment 882207View attachment 882208

Mercury by this point seemed to be rigorously mulling over his chances of slipping out before Emerald went off any harder, eyes surreptitiously darting between her and the door, but something ultimately made him stay. He coughed and just sort of drank in the experience, not wanting to make himself an active participant just yet; the pickpocket, on the other hand, had taken to madly scribbling out a string of total illegible gibberish on the air with her fingertip, only to furiously scrub it out of existence with her opposite palm the moment it was finished.

"You don't have to spell stuff out for us! How's that any different from just forcing you to talk again?! No, better question, have you seriously been following us around this entire time thinking neither of us knows how to read someone? Like, hello??? This dude's dad was an assassin? I've been picking people's pockets since I was nine years old!"

Mercury leaned over, far more in common with the standard student on the receiving end of a Goodwitch reaming now than he had before as he kept his input tentative and noncommittal. "It's true, you're not that deep. Plus a few months into the school year we just made Roman show us how he did it. Guy had a whole process. Pretty rad. I'm interrupting."

He petered out like the kid who'd been caught whispering after just a few seconds of eye contact from Emerald's withering stare, but it already looked stressed, drained, and deeply perturbed more than truly agitated, her meager frame unable to sustain such abstract levels of scathing energy. "No, I'm basically done, just... ugh."

She was not, however, basically done. She did try to rein herself in, drawing in a deep breath and lowering her hand to resettle her ruby eyes on Neo with a more steady gaze, distilling her disordered thoughts.

View attachment 882193

"This just proves what I'm saying. Neo, if you've ever felt like you don't have a voice around us then there's a reason. And I'm so sorry you think that reason is you, but it's not. You could've been a bigger loudmouth than Mercury these last few months and it wouldn't have made a difference. Not if nobody around you was listening!" She huffed, letting her shoulders sag with the release of air as she folded her arms again and let her fingers drum rhythmically. Emerald had always been an adept wielder of blunt honesty, but only with her next sentence did the target in this instance become clear, cadence steady and eyes staying firm on Neo's so there was no chance of misunderstanding no matter how it went against her nature to be so forthright.

"We're the reason. We're the reason everything went so bad last night, and today. Us and our dumb, above-it-all, allergic-to-feelings Mercury-and-Emerald schtick. Which, y'know, pretty much just works for us cuz it stops anyone getting close enough to tell either one of us could count every actual friend we've ever made on two hands; And there's some major overlap." Any hopes of Mercury contesting that when he started silently counting off on his fingers were dashed a moment later, a deeper crease in his brow as he sheepishly lowered them back to his side after reaching seven. "I swear we tried, okay? Whatever else happens, we both genuinely did try. But we didn't try hard enough. Not only that, we were so full of ourselves we tried to be there for you when you literally needed someone to be and then we sucked at it! We didn't have a clue what we were doing, we just... kept faking it. Guess we all saw where that led."

She ran a hand down her face, and while Mercury's sober countenance made it obvious he knew what was being referred to equally obvious was how little either of them really wanted to be the one to drag it up. Not in the thick of everything else about this shitshow of a morning.

"We couldn't be what you needed. We couldn't have been much further off if we wanted to be. You could've ended up with Cinder, or Hazel and his sister, or—hell, freaking Watts, probably, or just about any random combination of people off the street, and they all could've taken better care of you than we did. Instead you stuck with the two lowlifes who don't even know what friends are supposed to do for each other, and all they did was drag you down." She tried to diffuse some of the morning's stress with another exhale, ineffectual though it was. "We know that now. No puttin' the air back in that balloon. And honestly, I... dunno what to do about it. I'm not sure there's a whole lot anyone can do besides just sit with it for now. But I promise I am not just gonna let it get swept under the rug by whatever the hell else is even happening this morning. And neither is this asshole."

She gave Mercury a stoic nod and two or three seconds of adamant eye contact for him to rise to, argue or otherwise voice disagreement if he wanted, but he did nothing of the sort. Then she turned back to Neo, and only when she was absolutely positive the shorter girl had nothing further to get off her chest did she face the other direction and resume what at least seemed like a marginally unburdened stride, leaving Mercury's features locked in a contemplative staring contest with the cave floor as he remained where he was, somber.

It ended without a clear victor, MTEN's former leader abruptly jerking his head up to present Neo a flawless imitation of her impatient Goodwitch finger flick in sarcastic offerance of the lead, the tribute undercut only by the sly grin on his face.

"Notice how she didn't say we were worse options than Tyrian."

"Yeah there are like, so many steps before you can say his name jokingly again."​

Neo's glare vanished in a surprise jolt as Emerald suddenly whirled back around, feathered armament still in hand, Neo's own hands flicking into a defensive pose, complete with one foot off the ground in a poised stance. It didn't last, and she slowly let her arms drop even if the words were anything but relaxing. None of the faux stern anger or stubbornness returned. Instead, a flustered frown overtook her face the longer Emerald went, Neo's cheeks darkened slightly with mixture of shame and frustration as she nonetheless sat and listened, her hands balled up at either side.

The moment Emerald stopped talking though, those hands immediately shot up to trace the air, except nothing really came out legible as Neo stopped and restarted and her writing came out in messy jumbles, the real life equivalent of watching someone try to edit a word document at mach speed while not actually having a clue what to type.

'I di~~-_~_--_man-' *shatter* 'You're no_-__--__-~~gi_e I' *shatter* 'Why do-~-~ be my--~---~~`~-_' *shatter*

She knew what she was thinking, but it wasn't anything close to what she wanted to say, and for once it wasn't that she couldn't, its that she didn't know what she did want to say. She let out a frustrated huff and settled for just nodding. She glowered at Mercury's mirroring of her, but set off after Emerald's pace.



A few steps in though, she gently caught Emerald's hand and pulled them to a stop, and very slowly traced out what she thought the most important thought in her head was.

'You two stayed. They didn't'

And that mattered.

They'd all seen Neo, the state she was in. They all understood why she did what she did at the camp. It wasn't like it was a secret. But Cinder went after her bandit maiden, Hazel and Gretchen went after Cinder, Tyrian wandered off, and Watts left with the relic. She didn't hate them for it or anything. She understood all those things were important, and she was happier than she'd had a chance to express to see them all again. But it didn't change the fact that when she was truly at the bottom, at the lowest point of her life, they left. All of them.

Except Mercury and Emerald.

So what if they weren't professional therapists? Or barely knew a genuine emotion if it wasn't busy gutting them on a personal level? They stayed. They didn't let Neo just drift away, past whatever it was after rock bottom.

'I'm not okay. But I'm better than I would've been if you two hadn't been there. like loads. and I just w~nt to be th~~~ ~~r y~u t~e ~_~- way _e-~-s~ I lo~~-'

The longer it went, the more erratic the words got, the less sure Neo's face was after she'd finished tracing the most important, undeniable truth in favor of what was inside her, and eventually she smashed the whole thing with a frazzled swat of her hands and took a flustered breath. Instead she just took Emerald's hand in her other one too and just squeezed, as tight as she could, as if she could hold it enough in this few moments to make up for everything she hadn't been able to do or say for Emerald the last six months, or last ten minutes, before she released her poor teammate's appendage and stepped back and waved for her to continue leading the way.

 

[Gus Gungus]

A few steps in though, she gently caught Emerald's hand and pulled them to a stop, and very slowly traced out what she thought the most important thought in her head was.

'You two stayed. They didn't'

And that mattered.

They'd all seen Neo, the state she was in. They all understood why she did what she did at the camp. It wasn't like it was a secret. But Cinder went after her bandit maiden, Hazel and Gretchen went after Cinder, Tyrian wandered off, and Watts left with the relic. She didn't hate them for it or anything. She understood all those things were important, and she was happier than she'd had a chance to express to see them all again. But it didn't change the fact that when she was truly at the bottom, at the lowest point of her life, they left. All of them.

Except Mercury and Emerald.

So what if they weren't professional therapists? Or barely knew a genuine emotion if it wasn't busy gutting them on a personal level? They stayed. They didn't let Neo just drift away, past whatever it was after rock bottom.

'I'm not okay. But I'm better than I would've been if you two hadn't been there. like loads. and I just w~nt to be th~~~ ~~r y~u t~e ~_~- way _e-~-s~ I lo~~-'

The longer it went, the more erratic the words got, the less sure Neo's face was after she'd finished tracing the most important, undeniable truth in favor of what was inside her, and eventually she smashed the whole thing with a frazzled swat of her hands and took a flustered breath. Instead she just took Emerald's hand in her other one too and just squeezed, as tight as she could, as if she could hold it enough in this few moments to make up for everything she hadn't been able to do or say for Emerald the last six months, or last ten minutes, before she released her poor teammate's appendage and stepped back and waved for her to continue leading the way.

Emerald's initial hiss of breath carried notes of a groan as Neo snagged her hand, guilt a feeling so rarely experienced by the thief that its touch now, courtesy of the guilt she herself was causing the other girl, was as caustic as acid. She hadn't wanted that. There was nothing she wanted less in the entire world. This was why she kept her feelings to herself, one of the reasons at least, why she kept the more revealing details of her childhood to herself, why she made a rule of being actively resistant towards letting anyone into emotional proximity of her in general. The thought of anyone throwing her a pity party was bad enough. Making Neo feel worse than she already did, on literally any level? That made her feel like packing up all her shit like some idiot and skipping town with Mercury; the idiot in question.

The harsher edges of the expression gradually smoothed out as she watched, though, Emerald's eyes eventually flickering away from the increasingly frantic scribbling to instead maintain a steady gaze on Neo's face with lower lip curled in thought. Okay, no. This was dumb. They were not gonna fall into some infinitely self-sustaining vicious cycle of feeling bad for themselves over their inadequacies as friends—or Emerald wasn't gonna be the one who did, at the very least. That was all she'd been trying to tell Neo, at the heart of it. That it was okay for her to feel as bad as she did, or as bad as she wanted, for as long as she needed, and that Emerald was going to try be more... well, just more. Except she'd phrased it by booing her and delivering some pity-wringing, finger-snapping takedown rant, because that was just who she was, and now the poor kid felt worse than when she started, and it was all just so...

Neo got a true sense of just how fed up Emerald was getting with the whole 'communication' process when she jerked away from the shorter girl's hands and just suddenly ensconced her in an embrace. It was no less tender than the one Morgiana had subjected her to right before everything went to shit, but far fiercer, Emerald's face heated and heartbeat arrhythmic with self-consciousness amid her efforts to get right down to brass tacks and choose the most simple, direct route of expressing what she wanted to get across. Genuine hugs of affection from Emerald Sustrai were about as rare as a solar eclipse, and always carried the vaguest inkling of the thief's covetous nature; arms tight around her upper back, chin resting in her crown so the words that came out soft and uncertain were little more than a mumble.

"I love you too. But you both need to stop pulling away or I'm seriously gonna kick your asses."

Her eyes went to Mercury, who'd been watching with an eyebrow raised in muted surprise ever since she went for the hug, but failed to meet her gaze now as his own wandered across the cavern instead. She only let Neo go when she got the impression the girl wanted out, separating them to arm's length but keeping her hands firm on her upper shoulders as she collected herself into a look of genuine warmth, uncharacteristic of her in what she hoped was a reassuring way.



"And since it should be obvious to anyone with eyes how majorly rich that is coming from me, the tradeoff is I'm gonna try be more... available. Approachable? Whatever. Look, I'm here no matter what you need. Just... help a girl get a clue what that is?"

Emerald ending her sentences questioningly or with anything less than total self-surety was almost as uncommon as a hug from her, but just to show she was serious where one hand fell away she let the other rub down Neo's arm and encircle her hand rather than walking away with a harrumph and one of those mean girl power struts this time. She did, however, turn to Mercury, eyeballing him like the crown jewel of a collection and sarcastically offering him her free hand.

"Wanna get in on this, tough guy? I can walk with no hands."



"No thanks. Don't get me wrong, cute moment, great emotional growth all round. But check this out."

He pointed, where past the jungle of interconnecting bridges and platforms linking the cavern together his eyes spotted Cinder and Trifa sitting over one of the place's more scenic (if risky) precipices.

"One of us should prolly get over there before someone pulls a Neo."

She narrowed her eyes at him, getting distinct impression he was trying to weasel out of the moment.

"One: way too soon, dick. Two, Tyrian's skank sticks to stuff and Cinder can fly."

He was already jogging away. "Yeah, but now's the time to round up the kids for the school bus anyways!"

She shot Neo an exasperated look. "Um, okay, but have you considered how literally no one wants to talk to you right now?"

"Have you considered my ass? C'mon, it'll be a good practice run for the tent!"

"Ugh!" She rolled her eyes and started after him, keeping a spry pace with Neo in tow unless she had any overt objections to walking hand in hand.

"Oh, um...you too!" Cinder replied. Didn't go for the hug though.

Whether it was the good kind or bad, fate doubtless had as heavy a part to play as Mercury in interrupting the excruciating awkwardness of this moment. He made no efforts to hide his heavier-than-normal footfall as he approached along the catwalk leading to the two's overlook from behind, no indication that he planned on acknowledging what had happened as he kept his bag slung over one shoulder and extended his voice towards them in a casual tone.

"You two still along for the ride on this? Daylight's burning. Think it's past time we moved out."​

 

[MidwayLives]

".....Huh." She had to admit, she was more than a little surprised. "Well, fangs or no fangs, I can't say I've ever met a super-smart spider hooker hero before...so that's pretty cool." She flashed a grin. "Guess I can mark that down in the list of stuff I never expected. Heh. A suit that lets you stick to things...you can crawl on walls and stuff. That's gotta be handy. Made it yourself too, right? So like...your weapon must be even cooler huh?"

Trifa held up a hand.

"Hey, thanks! I'm glad you think it's cool!" Trifa looked off to the side. "...When I first started doing all this stuff, the local media had to come up with some kinda name for me. Which, y'know sounds cool at first. Maybe it'll be something mysterious like the 'Midnight Heroine' or something dangerous like 'The Crawling Caper' but..." She folded her arms across her chest. "They settled on the 'Silk Seducer.' I...don't really care for it. But the folks who live around where i usually patrol do so I generally let it slide. Personally, I always kinda thought Spidergir-"

At the mention of her weapon, Trifa was cut off from that dimensional copyright infringing name.

"My weapon? Eh..." Trifa flicked her wrist and a knife came sliding out. It didn't seem like anything too special.

"Tyrian always said I should take the tech I put into my suit and put into my knife, boost it somehow, but I dunno. I really only generally use it when I need to cut off my webbing in a hurry. If I need a bigger and better weapon?" Trifa curled her fingers and held her palm out. "I can just stick my webbing to my opponent's and yoink it to use for myself for a bit. Most guys I tussle with usually don't see it comin."


"and it's not really important but I generally prefer 'sex worker'. no biggie tho!"
​

"I knew it. You are his girlfriend."

Whether Trifa heard it or not, she didn't acknowledge it either way.
​

"Oh, um...you too!" Cinder replied. Didn't go for the hug though.

Trifa lowered her arms and smiled.

"Well, thanks!" Wiping at her eyes once more, the faunus sighed. "Gotta admit that I feel a little bit better after talking to someone. Maybe-"
​

Whether it was the good kind or bad, fate doubtless had as heavy a part to play as Mercury in interrupting the excruciating awkwardness of this moment. He made no efforts to hide his heavier-than-normal footfall as he approached along the catwalk leading to the two's overlook from behind, no indication that he planned on acknowledging what had happened as he kept his bag slung over one shoulder and extended his voice towards them in a casual tone.

Her semblance went off like an alarm bell ringing in her ears.

Danger! Danger!

She gripped the handle of her knife and looked over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed and her posture ready to fight.

It was him.

The leader of Tyrian's friends that'd helped save her from that psycho back in Mistral. The one who'd did that to Tyrian.

The contrast was stunning.

Needless to say she wasn't happy to see him, at all.

Her muscles tensed up and she exhaled through her nostrils.

It'd looked as though she were prepared for a fight...
​

"You two still along for the ride on this? Daylight's burning. Think it's past time we moved out."

....But in the end she relented.

Even if she won whatever fight there was to be had here, it wouldn't change Tyrian's current situation.

If anything, if she'd gotten hurt it would have only upset him more.

Instead, she slipped the knife away and looked back at Cinder.

"Thanks again for the talk, Cinder. It was nice to meet you."

The smile faded the second she turned away and went to move past Mercury.

"Prick."

She kept on walking.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Hey, thanks! I'm glad you think it's cool!" Trifa looked off to the side. "...When I first started doing all this stuff, the local media had to come up with some kinda name for me. Which, y'know sounds cool at first. Maybe it'll be something mysterious like the 'Midnight Heroine' or something dangerous like 'The Crawling Caper' but..." She folded her arms across her chest. "They settled on the 'Silk Seducer.' I...don't really care for it. But the folks who live around where i usually patrol do so I generally let it slide. Personally, I always kinda thought Spidergir-"

"You're welcome!" Cinder nodded and smiled, though the expression didn't last long before confusion replaced it. "Wait...silk seducer? Then doesn't that mean you...I mean...does that mean they, um, knew you were a hooker?" ​

"My weapon? Eh..." Trifa flicked her wrist and a knife came sliding out. It didn't seem like anything too special.

"Tyrian always said I should take the tech I put into my suit and put into my knife, boost it somehow, but I dunno. I really only generally use it when I need to cut off my webbing in a hurry. If I need a bigger and better weapon?" Trifa curled her fingers and held her palm out. "I can just stick my webbing to my opponent's and yoink it to use for myself for a bit. Most guys I tussle with usually don't see it comin."

"Oh."

Well that was kind of supremely ultra lame but she didn't directly say that. Apart from the slight disappointed edge to her oh, that is. Cinder guessed that method would work for like...basic blades or regular guns like criminals use, but anything like a more unique corrupt huntsman or huntress weapon, without the training that...that could be bad. The teenager studied Trifa for a second, wondering but say nothing about what she wondered.​

"and it's not really important but I generally prefer 'sex worker'. no biggie tho!"

"Uh, right, my bad."​

Trifa lowered her arms and smiled.

"Well, thanks!" Wiping at her eyes once more, the faunus sighed. "Gotta admit that I feel a little bit better after talking to someone. Maybe-"

"Glad to hear--"​

Whether it was the good kind or bad, fate doubtless had as heavy a part to play as Mercury in interrupting the excruciating awkwardness of this moment. He made no efforts to hide his heavier-than-normal footfall as he approached along the catwalk leading to the two's overlook from behind, no indication that he planned on acknowledging what had happened as he kept his bag slung over one shoulder and extended his voice towards them in a casual tone.

"You two still along for the ride on this? Daylight's burning. Think it's past time we moved out."

Her semblance went off like an alarm bell ringing in her ears.

Danger! Danger!

She gripped the handle of her knife and looked over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed and her posture ready to fight.

It was him.

The leader of Tyrian's friends that'd helped save her from that psycho back in Mistral. The one who'd did that to Tyrian.

The contrast was stunning.

Needless to say she wasn't happy to see him, at all.

Her muscles tensed up and she exhaled through her nostrils.

It'd looked as though she were prepared for a fight...

The smile faded the second she turned away and went to move past Mercury.

"Prick."

She was silent for a few moments as Trifa strode away before she turned and looked back towards Mercury with a vaguely apologetic and certainly awkward smile. "That went well, I think." Cinder pointed out. Her gaze swung back to the view in front of her, taking one last look of the pretty sweet sight before she stood up herself. "Yeah, I guess." She spun around to look at him again.

 

[Gus Gungus]

The smile faded the second she turned away and went to move past Mercury.

"Prick."

She kept on walking.

"Ho." He clapped back on reflex, albeit with no real teeth in the return serve as he shouldered the bag, laced his fingers on the nape of his neck and instead focused on the gaping abyss. Better than looking at some lady who hated him.

She was silent for a few moments as Trifa strode away before she turned and looked back towards Mercury with a vaguely apologetic and certainly awkward smile. "That went well, I think." Cinder pointed out. Her gaze swung back to the view in front of her, taking one last look of the pretty sweet sight before she stood up herself. "Yeah, I guess." She spun around to look at him again.

He looked far, far less prepared to parry a reaction of Cinder's nature than he was Trifa's, throwing up a far cooler version of the same dorky little hand sign back at her and leveling her with a snort of minor incredulity. "You know, just holdin' it down, keepin' it tight. Bag's for when I hit the road once we get this done. How 'bout you, what's got you all this way out here? Still appropriately horrified?"


​

 

[MyrtenRose]

He looked far, far less prepared to parry a reaction of Cinder's nature than he was Trifa's, throwing up a far cooler version of the same dorky little hand sign back at her and leveling her with a look of minor incredulity. "You know, just holdin' it down, keepin' it tight. Bag's for when I hit the road once we get this done. How 'bout you, what's got you all the way out here? Still appropriately horrified?"

She couldn't help but snort at the returned hand sign. Well, a quieter half-snort. Something like that, though her expression snapped back to serious. "...when you hit the road? What...what do you mean?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow, the follow-up things he himself asked her seemingly ignored for now.​