Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sun

"How do you not know what a Grimm is?" Sun's dad frowned as he chugged his coffee, though in all fairness the expression could have just been how his face was set. Sun didn't often see his father with a smile.

Sun, the tiny child he was, furrowed his eyebrows and held his tail with both hands for comfort. "They're scary on the TV, and you an' Mom don't let me watch scary TV."

Sun's dad rolled his eyes. Like Sun, he had pale blond hair and deep dark eyes, black like the nothingness of space, although his eyes were sunken and echoed with rings of tired purple. The air conditioning was broken again, and so patches of sweat had already started to form under the man's armpits, stains creeping into his yellowed work shirt. The fur over his round monkey ears stuck to his skin, darkened to a gold hue from the humidity.

He sighed, already tired at 7:45 in the morning. Already tired before he'd even left the flat. "Grimm are uh... They're like, they're big monsters that appear when someone is too sad or angry or... Whatever."

"Why do they appear?"

"Jeez, I dunno... They're like ghosts. They just... Appear."

"Um, actually," Sun's mother appeared, scooping him off the floor and using her round pregnant belly to balance the boy. He smiled up at her face, her amber hair - from the curls on her head, to the intense waves of fur covering her arms and chest. Not all Faunus were born with the more ‘attractive’ features that humans tended to seek, but he thought his mother was lovely, fur or no fur. She continued, "they come from a person's soul, from their Aura. If you're filled with anguish, they are born and they gobble you up."

"Ew." Sun pulled a face. "What's an anguish? Is it like an avocado?"

Sun's father chuckled. "No, kiddo. It's uh... It's a special type of sadness. It's not very nice."

So they weren't nice things. That meant they were kinda like avocados.

"Now, no more nasty Grimm talk." She plopped Sun back down on the ground before he had the chance to use her as a climbing frame. "It’s nearly schooltime. Why don't you go find your little friend?"

"Okie." Sun pinched two oranges off the counter as he ran out of their little flat and down the cracked and ageing halls of the apartment complex, the walls old and yellowed like his father’s shirt. He said hello to every little bug he came across, from the spiders to the cockroaches, and jumped in the elevator. His father was very smart, and had shown him how to use the buttons for if he needed to do it by himself. And he was a big boy now, at 6 and a half years old, and was a pro at the elevator. Using that knowledge, he took two floors down and skipped right out into an identical aged hallway.

Neptune, his bestest friend in the whole wide world, was already waiting outside the door to his own flat. He saw Sun, and happily called into the flat. "I'm going out now, Grandpa!"

Before the old man, Neptune's sole relative, could even answer, the two boys were running down the hall together, back to the elevator, and out into the vapid Vacuo sunshine.

Sun handed Neptune his orange, Neptune got out two juice boxes from his big pockets, and they sat with their snacks outside a derelict building that had apparently once been a library. Sun liked to imagine that the old place still smelled of paper, of the freshness of cushions and carpets, but it simply lingered with the scent of baked cement and ash. Large NO ENTRY signs had been plastered over the place, but the reason for its danger had long been spray-painted over, layered thick with gang symbols and dirty words.

"I found out what Grimm are." Sun exclaimed proudly from around the straw of his juice box.

"What did your dad say?" Neptune peeled away the leathery skin of his orange.

"They're big evil ghost monsters that come from our souls." Sun nodded. "They feed off our avocados."

"Nuh-uh." Neptune pulled a stinky face. "My grandpa said they eat your happiness. He said they're beasts that don't have souls."

"They come FROM our souls, dummy." Sun stuck his tongue out.

"You're the dummy!" Neptune retorted.

"YOU'RE a dummy! I'm gonna tell everyone your new name is Neptune the Dummy!" Sun laughed, jumping up and running off. Neptune yelled in protest, chasing him through the derelict building, hopping over beer bottles, crumbling books and old office supplies. He ran until Neptune was far, far behind him.

But then Sun came across a single empty room. Perhaps it had been an office or an emergency exit, it was hard to tell. There was nothing in it save for browned glass from a broken window, a knotted length of rope hanging from what remained of a ceiling fan, and a large black shadow trapped on the wall. The silhouette was tall and thin, a dozen or so holes in the body and large spindly horns branching out over the ceiling. Sun swallowed, silenced by the echo of the beast. It was too tall and skinny to have been a person, and too still to be alive. He slowly dragged his eyes downward to the skirting of the room, and by the shadow of the creature's feet was a little note written on the wall in ancient pen ink.

im sorry octavia im so sorry

Something about its presence, enrapturing, drew Sun closer to it. Feelings he didn’t understand yet began to flow through his veins; dread, unease, paranoia, but above all the most intense waves of sorrow began to wrap their arms around him, beckoning him toward that black stain on the wall that could have never been a person. This building must have been full of people once, but now all that remained was the echo of this intense... thing.

The arms of sorrow tightened. He took a step closer.

Neptune finally stumbled into Sun's back. "Hey! This isn't a good hiding spot -!" He stopped as he saw the blackness staining the yellow walls.

The boys stood there for only a few moments longer, and Neptune silently pulled Sun away from the darkness before the stagnant air suffocated them both. They left the building and finished their breakfast outside, and decided not to speak of that place when they got to school.

 —

Adam

The children had been cruel. But then, they were always cruel.

Adam’s face was sore, from the frost biting at his cheeks and nose, and from the most recent fight with his peers. Mantle’s orphanages were never short of Faunus children, but that never allowed them to be seen as a constant in the minds of the humans. They were still the ‘other’, for reasons Adam couldn’t quite understand. Although everyone, and that meant everyone, was miserable in this place, still the humans found clever little ways of making it worse.

They were let in from the expanse of snow and stone that was their playground. Adam hadn’t wanted to go out in the snow and dark anyway, but it had been made clear early on that he didn’t have a say in the matter. If he was scheduled to go outside, then he would be going outside. So he’d zipped up the coat that must have belonged to several different children before him, and set out into the cold. Carers were supposed to watch the children, but that didn’t mean much if they didn’t actually do anything to help. And today had been like any other, with carers looking the other way as the older children tried their best to make playtime fun, and if that resorted to picking fights with other kids - Faunus kids - then so be it. They always went for someone younger, Adam found. Someone smaller. Someone with as few friends to back them up as possible.

So, it was often for them to pick Adam to torment. To drag him across the playground by his horns until his entire head hurt. To hit him until patches of purple covered his skin. They’d even thrown stones at him before, but the ice had frozen everything into place so, this time, it was seen as too much effort to dig the stones out of the ground. The only reason the bullies had even stopped today was because the bell rang, and although that was never a guarantee to get them to leave, today it seemed that getting inside and warming up must have been much more preferable to attacking him. And it was bitterly cold that day. The sort of cold that made you wonder if it would ever get better.

So, everyone had scrambled inside, been made to take off their shoes and coats, and were pushed into ‘the living area’. The carers preferred the more sterile name as opposed to ‘living room’, removing any warmth or homeliness the place could try to pretend to have. It could hardly be called a home, after all. Just a place to exist.

The other children sat huddled in groups while Adam was alone, because Adam was always alone. He watched some of them hovering around a human girl playing her music box, all she had left of her old home. Within a few months, someone would smash the thing. Adam was sure of it.

Another group, much younger, followed an older kid who’d taken their storybook. They didn’t have a great many books, and the younger orphans fawned over the pretty pictures of princesses and dragons, of dancing skeletons and rabbits in waistcoats. By the end of the day, that book would have half of its pages torn out. Adam was sure of it.

Because this little place bred cruelty like flies bred maggots. Even at 6 and a half, he had learned the rules of this place; this was not his home and it never will be. Other children had homes, and families, and toys of their own and a bed that nobody else had slept in before them. But Adam did not have such things. Adam wasn’t allowed such things - maybe the horns on his head were a warning to the grown-ups looking to adopt, to show them to stay away. That was how they acted when they saw him, anyway.

Maybe one day, someone nice would come in and take him away from this place. But that day had not come yet, and he was stuck here.

And Adam sat on his own. Because Adam was always alone. He sat in front of a holo screen, the blue tones coming through harsher on the older models such as this one. There were plenty of holo-screens and even older television models dotted around the orphanage, but this one was too busted to have been linked to any children’s channels. It only ever played the news, old opera and, at night, true crime documentaries. As such, most children ignored the thing. Luckily, it meant that while Adam was by it, there was a higher chance that they’d ignore him too.

The brown carpet wasn’t clean by any means, but Adam sat regardless. Whenever he’d tried sitting on a cushion, he’d always had it yanked out from under him by either an older orphan or a carer chastising him for putting it on the floor. Pointing out how filthy the floor was only made things worse. Instead, Adam tried to pretend that the carpet was naturally that shade of brown, that the stains were patterns he couldn’t quite figure out.

He stared into the blueish screen. Someone had busted it more than before so the channel could no longer be changed from the opera one. Adam had only just caught the end of a white-haired woman singing a low, slow melody, before standing before a pitch black crowd as she received her applause. The song made him sad and he wasn’t sure why. The lady herself looked sad, tired deep down. Her dress was blue, complete with an ornate logo that looked like a weird snowflake printed on the front. The strange snowflake glimmered like freshly fallen snow, but the light of it did not reach the lady’s eyes.

A new act came on the screen, and Adam was just about to get up and leave when he saw her. A tall woman, pale blonde hair in a bun. Gorgeous green eyes observing the audience just as much as they observed her. He tilted his head to the side; something about her posture spoke volumes in its own right. She was regal, elegant, but she carried with her a sturdiness he’d never seen in any grown-up. Not even the meaner carers seemed strong like she was.

So, as the announcer presented Glynda Goodwitch to the stage, Adam watched with big eyes as she summoned long black ribbons seemingly out of the sky, and began to climb. The music was eerie, frightful almost, but Adam remained focused on her, enchanted. Because, for once, he wasn’t thinking about the way his head ached, or the dirty carpet, or the careless carers or the bullies and their stones. He only thought about the lady on the silks, spinning, wrapping the ribbons around her wrists, ankles, as though she’d done it a million times before. He only thought about how the music picked up as she spun and spun and spun, green eyes flashing as she moved and dove and danced, and danced, and danced.

It was as though she really were a witch, casting a spell on him. The music crackled through the dusty speaker, the vision wavered as the signal went bad, but she returned as soon as she’d left. Adam wondered how she could do it, how she could dance in midair like that, how such delicate-looking ribbons could hold her so well.

It felt like it was over far too soon. The room darkened and the sorry lot of children were told to go to dinner. All through the night, Adam thought of the lady on the silks. How beautiful she was. How fearless she was, high above anyone who may ever want to hurt her.

How, maybe one day, Adam could do the same.

—

Sun

Shade Academy was everything that Sun had dreamed of and more. Its big, imposing walls that tilted inwards somehow held the most hopeful, freeing touch to him, its studios spacious and decked out with everything a dancer could need. From photos he’d seen online to what students spoke about in interviews on TV, it seemed like a marvel made of brick and glass. It was his golden ticket, his opportunity for stardom, handed to him on a silver platter.

To be a Performer had always been Sun’s destiny, both his and Neptune’s, he could feel it in his bones. To spend his every waking moment in the spotlight, to dance, to sing for crowds across the world – what could be better than that? Grimm were on the rise according to the miserable reporters on the scrolls and holo-screens, that people were spawning these demons of despair more and more until everyone had to take notice. The streets of Vacuo’s most inner city had shadows that moved and writhed, encouraged every passerby to give into their darkest fears, their doubts, their nightmares. It was a scary world to live in, where your own emotions could become so intense that they gain a life of their own.

Granted, most scientists ushered away claims that Grimm had their own souls – they come from souls, they come from the living, but that doesn’t mean they themselves live and breathe like we do, think and feel of their own accord. Grimm were simply manifestations of heartache, the only issue was they were sometimes able to use that heartache to kill their creators.

Sun had heard of it happening time and time again – a bride abandoned on her wedding day would be found dead days later, her very Aura drained from her corpse, and a weeping Grimm adorned in a black veil would be found haunting her home. A father would be lulled into an unending sleep by tiny whispers under his bed after his child’s funeral, and a collaboration of shadows and bone would be found in a half-assembled crib. 

The heart was a beastly thing, but that’s not all it could be.

That was why Sun wanted to perform, to be a Performer. They were the only people this world had to offer to counter the Creatures of Grimm. They actively hunted the beasts, searched far and wide for any soul they were haunting, and strove to heal that soul. Through music, through song or theatre, or – most famously – through dance; active art, as Sun’s teachers used to call it, was able to sway people like nothing else. Performers put their very Aura into their techniques in order to inspire hope in people. They ignited the first sparks of love, and courage, and even if they could not do that, they could at least offer catharsis to those whose hearts had already been darkened by the presence of tragedy. This was the cure for a Grimm infection, one of the only cures Remnant could offer.

Sun was more than willing to admit he wanted the fame. He wanted the attention, the adoration, the money. But although his parents scoffed at it, Sun wanted to help people. He couldn’t imagine how it felt to be so fallen, so far gone in the waves of agony that your soul could even begin to create something as dreadful as a Grimm. He never wanted a single person to be subjected to that.

The thing is, the only way to get the right to be called a Performer was to earn it. To train and, more importantly, to graduate one of the schools designated to this precise career. Sure, anyone could dance, anyone could sing (well, maybe not Neptune, but Sun didn’t wanna hurt his feelings), but Performers seemed to just have that... spark. Something that lived in them that was able to inspire the best in people, both humanity and the Faunus. Perhaps it was simply their mindset, or perhaps their Aura was bound in such a way that they could activate and use it like no other person could. A spark that set them apart, that made them destined for greatness.

Sun knew he had that spark. Since he could walk he’d been dancing, since he could talk he’d been singing. And he’d been doing it well . Since he was a kid, he’d been going out after school, dancing on street corners with his friend, entertaining the elderly with dance styles from days gone by with the energy they may have had in their own day, sometimes even earning money from it. But it wasn’t about the money he earned – although that was a brilliant boost – it had taught him something else. Something valuable.

He could make people happy.

He could make people smile, and laugh, and clap their hands and sing along. People gravitated to him when he danced, people who would usually sneer at just another Faunus loitering the streets or ignore him entirely would suddenly gather round, and cheer, and toss a few coins his way with no regard to his messy hair or tail or tattered clothes. And when he was with Neptune, those crowds only grew, for Neptune had the same fire in his own soul that Sun had, and people could feel it radiate from them like beams of light. They were destined for greatness.

So when he got expelled from Shade Academy on the first day, it was kind of a bummer.

They’d entered the imposing school with high hopes, but they hadn’t expected the atmosphere it stagnated in, like the smell of sweat in old locker rooms at night. The halls were strictly monitored, as was each and every class, Shade’s teachers eyeing up every student like they were a collective meal. Headmaster Theodore greeted them in the Assembly Hall, but it was brief and clipped, as though he couldn’t wait to be rid of them all. The welcoming speech ended with a damning warning to behave, and so the rest of the morning Sun was just itching to get into trouble.

He couldn’t help it, he never could. It would be his downfall, many warned, but the simple fact of the matter was that he couldn’t stand it when people tried to tell him what to do, tried to tell him how to act, how to behave, as though they knew everything about him and disapproved of it all. What did they all know? With their dismissive glares and clicking tongues?

So what choice did Sun have other than to make life difficult for them?

Their class had been ushered into a studio like cattle, to be greeted by Professor Rowena Sunnybrook, a woman who’s surname did not match her demeanour, and a handful of ornate black platforms. Atop each waist-height platform, contained in glass cases, was Dust. Some small shards for easy use, but that wasn’t what Sun was focused on. Instead he gazed in awe at the biggest pieces – huge rocks of the stuff in their purest forms, glistening like the creative – and destructive – forces of nature they were, commanding respect they rightfully earned simply by existing as they did in this world. 

“C’mon, man, don’t.” Came Neptune’s voice, giving Sun a look.

“What? I haven’t even done anything.” Sun shoved his pal.

“You got that look in your eye, dude. I know you too well.”

Sun only chuckled as Prof Sunnybrook cleared her throat and greeted the class. “Let’s start things off lightly. Today will merely be dedicated to adjusting yourselves to the feeling of Dust, not the manipulation of the substances. Dust is in every facet of our lives and will be valuable tools to your shows – assuming you have what it takes to graduate.” She let her gaze cast over every student like a bad smell. “We will not be manipulating Dust to any degree, only handling them. Be careful, and...” Her eyes lingered over Sun in disdain as a teaching assistant removed the cases from the platforms, “no monkey business .”

Oh, she was going to pay for that one.

It wasn’t as commonplace for the people of Vacuo to care about such things as whether you were Faunus or human, not the way people apparently cared so much in Atlas or even Mistral, so it was a noticeable act of wilful ignorance to be like that here, especially from a teacher . Sun had gotten comments like that before, of course he had, and every damn time he made sure to throw it right back at them. Today wasn’t going to be any different.

“Sun...” Neptune breathed as he spotted his friend making a beeline for a chunk of golden-red Dust, the smell of bonfires and gasoline seemingly moulded into the very essence of the piece. Other students grabbed and held little shards, awkward and delicate, while Sun scooped up the entire thing. It felt rough in his hands, like a chunk of sandpaper, and despite it being the side of a baseball, the piece weighed much more than he’d imagined. It likely cost more money than his dad brought home in a month, and Sun wondered if rich people used stuff like this as doorstoppers.

“Careful with that.” The Professor looked over at Sun, but she was too far away to stop him from trailing up the curtain, tail helping him balance as he climbed up the high arches of the window. He laughed as he sat atop, looking down at the crowd like a gargoyle as Sunnybrook stomped her way towards the window. He knew he was going to get detention. He didn’t care. “Get down from there THIS INSTANT! You don’t know how dangerous that Dust is!”

“Oh come on,” Sun chuckled, juggling the Dust carelessly between his hands until Sunnybrook’s face turned the same colour as the rock, “you said no monkey business, so how about monkey playtime instead?”

Neptune put his hands on his hips, but his grin shone brighter than any attempt at disapproval he may have tried to give off.

“I said get down from there NOW!”

Sun rolled his eyes. “You also said today was all about getting a handle of these things, so...”

What Sun was going to say next was that he clearly had a very good handle on the Dust. What happened instead proved the exact opposite.

The Dust ball slipped from his grip, flinging downward to the ground. Sunnybrook’s face paled. Sun had just enough time to gulp as the Fire Dust hit the floor, and everything went red.

Chapter Text

Sun

Both of the boys were chased out of the school some hours later, once the flames had been extinguished and it was discovered that nobody was seriously hurt – nothing their Aura couldn’t handle, at least.

Sun’s ears were ringing, one side from the absolute bollocking that Prof Sunnybrook gave him, and the other from every yell that Neptune gave back to her while defending Sun’s recklessness. So while Sun was officially expelled, Neptune point-blank walked out in protest.

“Man, you can still go here,” Sun pleaded with him, “I don’t wanna drag your dreams down with me, dude.”

“You’re not dragging anyone’s dreams down!” Neptune slapped an arm around Sun’s shoulders. “We don’t need that crappy school or that crappy teacher. There’re other schools.”

Sun rested his head happily on Neptune’s shoulder, and caught the bus back home. The streets were crammed, they always were, with people trying to sell you stuff you didn’t need, people trying to rob you, sometimes people trying to do both! Kids were running in the roads, people were yelling at each other from their windows, smoke and steam wafted from food vendors. It was loud, and busy, and hot , but it was home.

Until it wasn’t.

Despite them both being 19, old enough to drink and get arrested for doing anything stupid after, both had their families notified of Sun’s expulsion and Neptune’s mutiny. Sun saw Neptune off, overhearing the eruption of laughter his jackass grandpa spat at him upon learning of the expulsion. “Told ya, kid!” The old man roared behind the door.

Sun clenched his fists, but Neptune had told him long ago not to get involved when his grandfather went off on one. He always said he learned to zone out the old man’s ‘banter’ when he got like this. To help, Sun had pinched him a pair of wireless earphones from some tech store the day it opened in their area, one he could connect to his scroll seamlessly.

But there was no such way for Sun to avoid his own parents, nor his small army of siblings - not that they ever really got involved anymore. He was used to arguing with his parents, so honestly it felt like he was being welcomed home. The flat was tiny, so he practically had to step around his siblings just to get to the kitchen table and properly welcome their screams. His father had only grown saggier and more sunken with age, as had his mother. Dad, from constant work. Mom, from having 7 kids. Twins Venus and Mars sat at the table trying to finish a puzzle, dead to the argument above them as they always were. Saturn... honestly could have been anywhere in Vacuo at that point. Jupiter was probably hanging out with their cousin Starr and her friends, and Pluto was in the hallway trying to do homework with Sun.

Oh, yeah. Baby Sun, the youngest child. Sun’s parents had forgotten they’d already used that name for one of their kids, so they tried to pretend her name was Sunny, to be cute. But Sun had seen her birth certificate. Truthfully, he’d not liked her when she was born, but it wasn’t her fault.

When Jupiter arrived, the flat felt a little cramped but they were happy. But then Saturn came along, and so did the twins, and unlike their family, the flat did not grow. Many times, their parents had tried to buy a new place. And many times, they had failed to find anywhere better than the little apartment they already rented. Money grew tighter and tighter, and their patience grew thinner and thinner. There came less bedtime stories or trips to the park, and more silent dinners and blistering arguments over whatever Sun had done at school (that was when they weren’t arguing with each other). Their mom got a job, and so Sun ended up being lumped with the responsibility of looking after whoever was youngest at the time. Things were so tight, so why they continued to have two more children baffled Sun to no end.

The screaming could be heard on every level of the apartment complex, Sun reckoned. It was the same old thing, about how disappointed they were, how they were tired of him bringing trouble to their door. This time was a little different though.

Because this time, they’d packed away his things in an old duffle bag and threw it at him, and locked him out. He kicked the door, his heart racing and his head throbbing with stress and the rising temperature in his body, and he made his way up to the roof of the building. Neptune was already there, as if waiting for him. Sun sat by his friend and watched the sun finally setting on the sweltering kingdom, blessing the streets with lower temperatures and dimming light as the sky erupted into waves of purple and red.

“What’re we gonna do, man?” Neptune asked the sky, offering Sun an earbud. Sun took the bud and put it in his own ear, listening to the beats of the song playing.

All I need is a hand I can hold

And a crowd at the show

And a rhyme and a flow

And I wish I had a pocket full of gold...

“We’re gonna be alright.” Sun crossed his legs, his tail swishing to the music that kept the pair of them in their bubble. “We’ll find somewhere else, okay?”

Neptune chuckled, nudging Sun. “Ever the optimist.”

“Hey, I gotta be, dealing with you!” He grabbed Neptune in a headlock and mussed up his blue hair, and the two laughed as if in defiance of the blazing heat, of the duffle bag, of the expulsion and the apartment and everything in between. Defiance at a world that hadn’t seen the last of them.

(Song Featured: Pocket full of Gold – American Authors)

 —

Sun

It shouldn’t have been surprising how easy it was to board the ship. A cruise for lovey dovey couples docking a Vacuous beach for a brief morning in the sun wasn’t exactly on the lookout for stowaways, and there had been enough spare rooms for Neptune and Sun to go pretty much unnoticed.

A few people had given the pair odd looks, given their sudden introduction to the roster of holiday-havers, but there were far too many people on the ship to properly take notice. In fact, the hardest part of the plan was getting Neptune on the boat at all. Granted, as a teenager, his fear of water was far worse than it was now, but that didn’t mean he had a great handle on it. Sun almost pondered if packing him in the duffle bag would have done them both a favour, but at least they were on the boat.

It wasn’t easy looking for other placements, especially so far into the year. In fact, it seemed borderline impossible to find any school or class that would have them, especially now the sun had an expulsion on his record. They had sat together in Neptune’s room, having pinched his grandfather’s holo-computer while he was asleep (not that he knew how to use the thing), scrolling desperately to find anything, anywhere, even in other cities, other kingdoms, when the name Beacon Academy finally graced the screen.

Neither of them had heard of its specialised program, as no other Performer Academy seemed to offer any type of class like it. The Final Level of Education Under Disciplinary Guidelines – or “The Last Resort Class” as it was dubbed in the description – was a program for students who couldn’t be placed in the usual classes due to behavioural issues, marks on their records, or simply those who need a more in-depth style of learning that other Professors were unable to give. And there were even clauses allowing students to join at any point within the first semester.

“This... This could be it.” Neptune had said at the time.

“Even if it’s all the way in Vale... You’d think they’d take us?” Sun had responded.

But he never needed to worry. They applied individually, helped each other in filling out the forms, and it felt like a gust of wind had blown away their anxieties. This place, however out-of-the-way it was... actually accepted them. It was going to be okay!

Vacuo was filled with the scent of roasted sand and boiled ocean water, but Vale was so different. The air was fresh with life, the summer breeze and wildflowers breathing new joy into Sun. It was a wonderful place to be. It was quaint, it was charming. It was everything he could have dreamed of.

So it was a shame that he’d finally been spotted by a member of staff, stealing towels and shower gel from a freshly-cleaned room. After that, the pair spent several hours diligently finding new hiding spaces, weaving through actual customers in the all-inclusive breakfast café (and pinching a few goodies; that duffle bag had really come in handy), and trying to stay out of sight while the cruise ship finally docked.

Sun left his hiding spot to lean over the edge of the ship, a grin blooming over his features as he watched the edges of Vale approach, the boat stopping at long last as customers were asked to gather their items should they wish to step out for a few hours of Vale festivities.

He’d made it. They’d made it, safe and sound. The scent of saltwater and fresh grass flooded his nose, the air crisp and light in his lungs and the sun a pleasant warmth as opposed to the oppressive heat waves of his home. Oh, it was lovely.

“Hey! Stop that Faunus!” A guard called, and the group of supposed “security” rushed towards the pair.

Sun laughed, and he looked to Neptune. They always split during their escapes, and they both had their routes. They’d meet up at the school, they’d decided beforehand. “See you on campus, bro!” Sun shouted as he darted in one direction, watching Neptune rush through a crowd the opposite way. He grinned, the air in his lungs sparking his adrenaline, the want for mischief always in his veins as he hopped up onto the railing of the ship, casting one last look over the guards. “Thanks for the ride, guys!”

With that, Sun launched himself into the air, the sound of the guards like music to his ears. And he ran along the docks, darting just under the arms of a crew member and clambering up a lamp post. And there he remained, pulling a banana out of his duffle bag for a snack just to show off.

“You no-good stowaway!” He heard from the crowd, and rolled his eyes.

“Hey, a no-good stowaway woulda been caught! I’m a great stowaway!” He glanced over the crowd who’d stopped to pry. Nearly all of them were human, many with scowls, some with their scrolls out to film the scene as guards scrambled off the ship to apprehend him –

There was a young man observing the whole thing, with shocking red hair and a blindfold over his eyes. He was tall, exceptionally so, and pale, and all in black. Even with the ribbon or fabric or whatever it was around his eyes, he was handsome, at least to Sun, but what stood out above all else were his horns. Nearly as black as his coat, curving dramatically back as if following the waves of his hair. He stood there, watching silently with a hand in his pocket and a fist clenched around the handle of his small suitcase.

Sun’s attention was drawn back to the guards, watching him with glares of helpless anger. “Get down from there, you filthy animal!”

Sun could only laugh and chuck the banana peel on the face of one of the guards and, in the distraction and disgust, he hopped down and ran, ran, over cobblestone paths and through the crowd.

And he crossed paths with the redhead, with his pretty, stoic face and ribbon wrapped protectively over his eyes, and despite that Sun could feel that he was being watched, that the man could see him clear as day.

And for a moment time seemed to slow down for him, as he caught the scent of the man’s sharp cologne, saw his lips part so slightly as he prepared to step back.

Sun winked, hovering only long enough to allow the moment to gather the attention it needed, and as the wind was his sails, he took off again.

He laughed to himself as he heard a guard falling and landing smack on his face, and from there the path to Beacon Academy was clear.

It was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

Sun

Beacon was huge. It was like a castle straight out of a fairytale, with white towers and gold-accented archways, all elegant and pretty and powerful. The sky was already waning in colour as the hours grew late, the trees ancient and massive and lit up in gold from the setting sun. Unlike Vacuo, which was blinding in its heat and unrelenting, its nights cold and howling with darkness and wind, this place was gentle. It was restful, lulling. Where Vacuo was a street fight, this wonderful place felt more like an embrace. Sun was going to like it here.

There was a sign on the entrance to the Academy, projected neatly onto a wooden plaque that nearly every student seemed to ignore. Sun went over to it, shrugging his duffle bag further up to stop it slipping as he read the holographic message in the pleasant blue screen.

PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ASSEMBLY HALL BY FOLLOWING THE GREEN TRAIL.

TO ALL STUDENTS OF THE FINAL LEVEL OF EDUCATION UNDER DISCIPLINARY GUIDELINES [L.R.C, ROOM 478], FOLLOW THE RED TRAIL TO CLASS BEFORE ASSEMBLING IN THE HALL WITH THE REST OF THE STUDENT BODY.

THANK YOU.

Sun looked at his acceptance message on his scroll and, just as he’d read over and over when he and Neptune got the message, there was the number 478. He knew where to find this place, and he knew what L.R.C meant, too.

The Last Resort Class.

He couldn’t have readily expected to be given a place without drawbacks, not after his track record. But he felt it was a bit harsh to just go out and call the class of kids with no other chances such a strict name. But hey, at least it was to the point. He noticed the rainbow stripes then, the ones that curved sharply around the buildings. Purple and blue and green paint darted off to the right, where a good number of students were directed in and a noticeable amount of teachers, while red and yellow and orange all went to the left, and smack-bang in the middle of the school’s entrance was where they converged, plaiting over each other in a bow around the main entryway into Beacon’s main building. Sun wanted to skip ahead and just see what the fuss was all about, following the rest of the student body, but at the same time... he wanted to know what other troublemakers he and Neptune were going to be put with.

Speaking of which, where was Neptune? He hadn’t called or even texted yet. Was he alright...?

Sun took a breath. Of course he was okay. He was Neptune! He was always okay! He might have already been in class by now, might have arrived at Beacon before Sun even. And so, with a smile on his face and a spring in his step, Sun made his way in, following the red trail around the left. Further and further... and further away from the rest of the school, until he reached a garden lined with benches and a single, massive dead tree in its centre. The entire area seemed lined with trails of red, all leading through the cobblestones to a separate building marked with a big crimson door.

He felt a brush against his arm, knocking him off balance. But when he twisted to complain, he found a surprisingly young girl, her skin like moonlight and her hair black that bled into red and her eyes –

Her eyes were silver.

Sun blinked in surprise. He didn’t even know people could have silver eyes. And he knew he wasn’t mistaking them for grey either; they reflected light in the most beautiful way, swirling like melted metal as she stumbled and looked up at him in a brief panic.

“Sorry!” She offered an awkward smile before rushing to the door, followed then by a taller blonde girl who trailed behind her like a firework. She paid Sun no mind at all, focusing instead on the tiny kid that seemed to leave red petals behind her like breadcrumbs. He chuckled, finally entering the room himself.

Sun tried to pretend he wasn’t nervous, but it was undoubtedly obvious on his face. He knew he kept fiddling with his collar but it was no easy feat to just switch off the act; instead, he tried to focus his attention on other things. On the room he was in, for one.

It was surprisingly large, the floor a shiny wood that was a beautiful rich brown, almost lingering into a sweet red. The walls were a pale cream, like roasted vanilla – Sun remembered he was hungry, he’d only had a banana that morning after all – and the ceiling was the freshest white. One wall was lined with silver poles, another with a rail that was just as shiny and chrome, and that was the only wall that wasn’t painted. Instead it bore a massive mirror, seemingly one single sheet of looking glass with delicate white swirls painted on the corners.  Massive arched windows trailed the wall opposite the mirror, lined with black iron and holding wooden benches beneath them. And, to Sun’s intrigue, a corner of the room was dedicated to silken ribbons suspended from that ceiling, the silks themselves a warm grey. Beneath were poles built into the corner of the room designed to hold a safety net – the net itself not yet put into place – and it was only then that Sun truly realised just how high up the ceiling was. He’d love to go climbing one of these days.

He smiled. At least the atmosphere was much nicer than Shade, the mood much less oppressive. The rest of the room was pure open space, nothing much else to see, so Sun took a deep breath and smelled the unique scent that was Beacon Academy. The sea salt in the air, the polished wood, the faint wafting draft of old parchment.

The two girls from before, Silver Eyes and Blondie, were hugging in a corner not very far away from Sun. Or rather, Blondie was suffocating Silver Eyes with her entire body, lifting her off the floor in fact. “I still can’t believe my little sister is going to be in class with me!” The blonde girl cried.

Sisters? They looked nothing alike. Sun shrugged. He’d seen bigger divides in family trees, he supposed.

There was also a trio of students quite happy to sit with their suitcases and bags in the middle of the studio. One was a pale young man with long hair, black as ink, save for that one magenta streak tangled somewhere between his bangs and locks.

He remained silent as his friend, a petite but loud ginger who sat atop her pink suitcase, carried the bulk of the conversation with enthusiasm. She seemed pretty sweet.

And finally, with her back straightened and hair pulled into a wine red ponytail, sat the final part of their trio. Even sitting down, she looked taller than the pair of them, and had a soothingly polite smile on her face, but it was obvious that she was tired. Sun wanted to join them, but they seemed enthralled in their own conversation, and he felt better off not disrupting them.

Sun leaned on the railing, looking around for more distractions. The teacher hadn’t arrived yet, and the groups were talking amongst themselves, so he looked to the large door as if hoping to summon someone new to be his friend.

To his surprise, it seemed to work.

Much better than he expected.

That young man from before, with the red hair and the ribbon over his eyes, came through the door, glancing around the room and frowning to himself.

“Dude!” Sun called to him as though they were friends – because after all, they could be soon. However, the warm greeting made the guy jump, his frown deepening.

“You’re the one from the docks?” He raised an eyebrow, his voice strained and monotone for reasons Sun couldn’t place his finger on. “The great stowaway ?”

Sun laughed softly, realising he was having to tilt his head to keep eye contact. This guy was tall in a way Sun really liked, and he held his hand out to greet the new friend. “The one and only. I’m Sun! What’s your name?”

“Taurus. Adam Taurus.” He said as if that was the end of the conversation, completely ignoring Sun’s hand in favour of checking out the silks.

“...Okay, well...” Sun followed, tail swishing this way and that, “what’s your specialty? What’s your vibe, man?”

“My... vibe?” Adam frowned.

“Yeah! What’s your thing? Your style?” Sun grinned.

Adam stared at Sun until the urge to smile started to shrink. “You just focus on your own problems. I have enough of my own.”

“C’mon man, I don’t – ” Sun began, only for Adam to completely look away and scowl openly at the door.

Sun glanced around. A young woman with black hair and feline ears walked in, eyes golden and figure thin. She was super pretty. But clearly Adam didn’t want to get near her, more content with turning and continuing onward. And when she spotted him, her ears flattened atop her head and she made a point of sitting in a corner with nothing but her suitcase and book for company. There was a bitterness in her amber eyes that Sun clearly had no way of understanding – not yet, anyway.

He followed Adam to the silks nonetheless, watched him take the material and feed it between his gloved fingers. The resentment on his face seemed to mellow out in favour of something lingering on satisfaction at the quality of the silks. It seemed that Sun no longer existed to him, so he hummed to himself before restarting the conversation.

“So... why do you think we’re being made to meet here instead of the hall with everyone else?” Sun looked up at Adam as the pair scanned the main studio. The sunlight, ever gentle, still shone in through the high windows and down onto the glossed wooden floor, warming each panel. In Vacuo, dry wooden floors were heavily discouraged if they were in view of the sun, lest a fire break out, so while it looked nice it did set a subtle alarm bell in Sun’s head seeing them here.

Adam raised an eyebrow, having not realised Sun had followed him. “It’s not obvious to you?” He tilted his head to look over Sun and, when he didn’t receive any type of response, leaned by the wall and sighed. Even leaning, he was still taller than Sun, than most of the other students in class. “We’re the delinquents. We’re the ones nobody wants to deal with. It makes the normal people feel better if we’re tucked away. Out of sight and out of mind.”

Sun frowned. “You’re kind of a pessimist.”

Adam smirked. “Oh, you have no idea.”

And just like that, the main door to the studio opened, and in walked a man who Sun immediately recognized as Qrow Branwen, the legend who would be teaching them during their time in this place. He’d seen Branwen on his scroll and holo-screens before, his name was known to most everyone who had any name at all in the field of performing arts. Sun used to stay up late with Neptune as kids, huddled together on the roof of their block of flats – where the reception was best – and watch the old shows on a beat up scroll Sun would pinch from his father until he was old enough to have his own. He’d seen Branwen’s solo dances, his incredible feats, but he’d seen so many of the shows he performed in with his team, those two beautiful women, his best friends.

Those were before the tragedies. But nobody liked to speak of them.

Sun noticed Adam getting up off the wall at the sight of the man. The man who was pale like vanilla, who’s clothes would have looked smart had he taken the care to iron them, who’s ancient red cape drifted in behind him like a crimson shadow –

“UNCLE QROW!” Cried Silver Eyes as she flung herself toward their Professor. A bouquet’s worth of petals marked her journey over to the man, who gave a surprised chuckle as he accepted the hug. “Ah, I’ve been so excited to see you! Did you miss me?!”

Branwen gave a wry smirk as he pulled himself out of the girl’s arms. “Nope. Not a smidge.”

Blondie, who was as unfazed by all the eyes in the room as Silver Eyes and Branwen was, went over to her uncle with a beaming smile on her face. “We were starting to think you got lost.”

“I never get lost, firecracker.” Branwen ruffled those golden locks of sunshine, before glancing over at the rest of the students who were very much watching his every move. He rolled his eyes and separated himself from the two girls. “Alright, you little shits, let’s do this the old fashioned way. Sit in a circle.”

Sun raised a brow, but the class did as they were bid – more or less. They all came together in a wobbly shape on the floor, the black-haired boy seemingly guarded by the two redhead girls, while the sisters each sat on either side of their uncle. Meanwhile the dark-haired Faunus girl clutched her book to her chest and sat between Silver Eyes and the redhead with the ponytail. Sun sat near the Professor, his tail wagging lightly as Adam found little choice other than to sit next to his fellow Faunus. He was stiff, Sun noticed, in all his movements. He knelt as though preparing to spring into a run at a moments’ notice. His hands were on his knees, clenched so hard they twisted the black material of his gloves. Sun frowned to himself, but wasn’t given enough time to ponder it when Branwen began to speak.

“Everyone here?” Branwen asked.

“My buddy’s still not arrived, but he should be here soon.” Sun offered, trying to reach the Professor with a friendly smile.

However, Branwen only narrowed his eyes at Sun, rosy red irises locking the boy into place. “And which one is he?”

“Neptune. Neptune Vasilias.” Sun explained. “He’s gonna be here soon, though. Just uh, got a bit caught up with stuff.”

“Right.” Branwen said with a voice that made it obvious that he didn’t believe a word of it. He took out his scroll, looking at a list of names, his eyes glancing over each student from time to time. Adam unclenched his hands, tapping a rhythm against his knees. Sun’s tail swished to and fro as he grew impatient, and he took his time to watch the other students.

Blondie looked different up close. When he first saw her, she looked like an ordinary, if not shockingly pretty, young lady in an orange tank top and booty shorts. But now that Sun was sat so close, he noticed her form. Her muscles. She had a beautiful figure, her top cut short enough for Sun to make out the deceptive hints of what must have been abs of steel. She was already like many professional Performers in that aspect – a lithe looking body that hid a core of pure, bulletproof muscle.

The cat-eared Faunus girl next to her was much the same, only toned in ways that pointed more towards acrobatics than athletics. Her limbs were long and her body thin, and dressed all in black with the smallest hint of purple, and even the casual nature of her sitting position looked graceful. She seemed shy, her eyes glued to the front cover of her book, her ears swishing from side to side as if to try and gauge her new classmates as subtly as she could.

The ponytail girl was pretty – then again, Sun thought most girls were pretty. She sat with her back in a healthy, upright position. She seemed warm... but subdued. Her neutral expression was already growing anxious, even though they’d only been sat there a short time.

The boy sat by her seemed much the same, calm but nervous, with his hair attempting to spill from around his rounded shoulders. He sat cross-legged, sharply tilting his head from time to time to flick his bangs out of his face to no avail.

The petite ginger couldn’t have been more different, however. She too sat cross-legged, tapping her leg as she watched Branwen excitedly. Her big bright eyes only left him from time to time to glance around the room, and when her eyes met Sun’s, she grinned the goofiest grin he’d ever seen on a girl. He couldn’t help but grin back, and when she stuck her tongue out at Sun, he smushed his nose up and snorted at her. She chortled, only settling when the boy by her side put a soothing hand on her knee.

Adam sat by her, and then there came Sun himself, who sat by little Silver Eyes in her red hood. She leaned her arm comfortably against Branwen’s, her body weight a mere fraction of his own. Her face was round and her hair cut into a choppy style that was currently quite popular among emo kids, not that he knew much about the genre. Silver Eyes looked so young... Sun knew that students of any and all Years could join the Last Resort Class, but she looked barely old enough to be in an entry-level training school. Was she really just that petite?

It was good to note that none of his classmates-to-be truly seemed like ‘delinquents’, but Sun learned early on not to judge people by how innocent they seemed. Even cute little kids were just as capable and willing to rob you as anyone else who was greedy or desperate enough. If anything though, it just made him even more curious about them all, about their stories, what had led them all to this last chance.

“None of you here’s a Schnee, right?” Branwen looked up, and the silence told him all he needed. “Right, so she’s late too.”

“Wait, there’s a Schnee in this class?” Adam’s hands clenched again, the old thin leather of his gloves creasing violently. “I didn’t think this place was... to their standards.”

“Well you can ask her as many questions as you like when she finally arrives.” Branwen narrowed his eyes at Adam, before smacking the side of his old scroll when it started to freeze.

“I don’t want to ask her shit. I’m just surprised someone like that would risk coming down to mix with the peasantry.”

Branwen raised a brow at Adam, and it was hard to tell if it was a reaction or a warning.

“Oh, calm down already...” Came a quiet, bored voice. Sun glanced over to see that the words came from the Faunus girl, who seemed to be making a point of looking anywhere that wasn’t Adam.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” He snapped, his attitude rising as fast as a struck match. “It’s bad enough I have to be stuck here with you, but now I have to deal with two whiny, entitled brats?”

“Whoa, easy dude.” Sun tried to simmer the fight about to go down, which was about as smart as stepping out into traffic with a risk of very similar consequences.

“Just who are you calling a brat?” She turned to him properly, her ears flattening to her head. “You’re the one throwing a fit.”

“You’re the one butting your head in where it isn’t wanted.” His upper lip curled up, and Sun saw how obviously awkward it made the other students trapped within the argument. “Not that I’m implying you’re wanted anywhere - ”

“Enough, both of you!” Branwen snapped with a voice that demanded attention. “You, enough of your smarmy little comments,” he narrowed his eyes at Adam, but his head snapped to the girl before she could even think of looking smug, “and you, keep your advice to yourself next time. I don’t care what crap you two have going on, but it’s not going to be brought into my studio. Capiche ?”

Adam growled to himself, jaw wired tightly shut. He clearly had mountains more to say, but if there was anything all the students here could agree on, it was that rocking the boat would only end with them all in the water. It was why they were in the Last Resort Class, after all – this was their last chance of pursuing their dreams. Everyone here wanted to be a Performer, but one way or another, every avenue to that dream was closed off... except for this classroom and this teacher.

“Now, before you all start ripping each other’s heads off,” Branwen gave a sigh, “I’m going to start this thing. Anyone who hasn’t turned up yet is just going to have to catch up.” He took a long drink from a flask he had hidden in his shirt, and looked over every student. “Right, Belladonna? Blake Belladonna?”

The Faunus raised her hand, significantly more drawn into her shell than before. Her ears were now fully flattened against her head.

“Nikos?”

“Pyrrha Nikos, hello.” She gave a happy smile, trying not to be dampened by the explosion from before.

“Hello, Nikos. Pyrrha. Yeah – fuck it actually,” Branwen put his scroll away, “let’s just introduce ourselves. You, what’s your name?” He gestured to the dark-haired boy sat by Pyrrha.

The boy stood up straighter with the limelight briefly on him. “Lie Ren, but just call me Ren if that’s alright.”

And from there, they went down the line of names in order of who sat where. “Nora Valkyrie!” Said the ginger girl.

Branwen gestured swiftly at the last of the group, Sun and Adam, “which one wants to go first? Got anything more to say, hothead?”

Adam’s head stilled, and Sun had a feeling he was rolling his eyes under his blindfold. “Adam Taurus.”

“And I’m the one, the only, Sun Wukong!” Sun declared, pointing at himself like he was the best attraction a circus had to offer. He got a few chuckles, which was good enough.

“Right, real cute, kid.” Branwen ran a hand through his hair, before clearing his throat in the direction of Blondie and her sister.

“You already know our names.” Blondie groaned at her uncle.

“Yeah, but nobody else does, firecracker.” Branwen crossed his arms. “I’m not giving either of you special treatment, by the way. You’ll be working as hard as everyone else, and if Ozpin doesn’t see any improvement, there won’t be anything I can do on my end to keep you here.”

Blondie seemed to sober at that amid the nervous chuckle of her little sister. “Fine. Uh, hi everyone! I’m Yang!”

“...Do you have a last name?” Pyrrha gently encouraged Yang, who stammered out two syllables that Sun didn’t quite hear properly.

Her little sister sniggered. “And I’m Ruby Rose.”

“You are so small,” Nora gawped like it was her first time seeing the little girl. “Are you a baby or are you just, like that?”

“Nora.” Ren gave her a look.

“Actually, uhm... I think I am a bit younger than the rest of you.” She looked down at the floor, clearly not used to the attention, which was ironic, given the career path she’d chosen. “I’m 15, so uhm... yeah.”

“Oh my GOD you ARE a baby!” Nora grinned excitedly. “We’re all gonna have to look after you!”

“You’re adorable.” Pyrrha cooed.

“How did you get transferred here?” Ren enquired, genuinely curious.

“Easy, give the kid space to breathe.” Branwen waved his hand before the group became too invested. “Ruby here’s something of a prodigy for her age. I mean, of course she is,” he gave a smirk, “I trained her.”

“You and Dad.” Ruby stuck her tongue out at Branwen, who only scoffed in return.

 “Whatever.” He ruffled her hair, before straightening out his back and beginning with a proper introduction. “Now that everyone’s all nice and friendly with each other, I’ll introduce myself. My name is Qrow Branwen, and assuming you survive the next 3 years, I’ll be your teacher. Year groups do not matter in this room. Races do not matter in this room. Backgrounds do not matter in this room. I shouldn’t have to tell you, but I will; the reason you’re with me instead of in the Main Hall with everyone else is because you’ve all either proven that you can’t behave yourselves, or the other teachers don’t want to risk finding out what your problem is the hard way.”

Branwen made a point of looking at each and every one of the students sitting before him, observing them, letting them look straight back at him. “Now, to me, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done. What matters is what you’ll do . So I’m going to give you one chance to prove to me that I haven’t wasted my time with you. If you need help, tell me. If you’re struggling, tell me . We’re going to be stuck together for a long time, so you’re going to have to get used to it whether you like me or not. Understood?”

“Professor Branwen,” came a voice from the door. One of the other teachers, Sun supposed, with a nervous look on their face, tried to get Branwen’s attention without entering too far into the class as though it was forbidden territory, “a few of your students are in reception. There’s been a... a situation.”

Branwen gave a long sigh, before turning to the rest of his class. “Alright, follow the signs and you’ll find your way to the dorms soon enough. Any stuff you had sent separately should already be there. And uh. Try not to kill each other.” He left the group of misfits in peace at last.

“Wooo, he’s intense, huh?” Sun looked up at Adam as the group began to disperse.

Adam shrugged, silently going back over to the silks. No safety net was laid out yet, so trying to use them wouldn’t exactly be clever. Sun wasn’t sure if the guy was actually examining the material of the ribbons, or if he just wanted to get as far away from everyone as possible, including the Belladonna girl and perhaps even Sun himself. Either way, Sun felt it best to stay away this time. After all, there was no safety net for him either.

Chapter Text

Sun 

Like the studio, the LR students had a dormitory nearly completely sectioned off from the rest of the student body, but Sun liked that. He had no problem with crowds, but honestly? More people were just more hassle sometimes. He liked the hustle-and-bustle of the world around him, but even extroverts sometimes needed sanctuary away from others. At home, he never really got that; it was why he and Neptune would always find themselves on the roof of that building. They’d dance together up there, blasting music from their scrolls as they clasped their hands and wiggled their hips and kicked their feet. It was solitude and unity all soaked in the merciless Vacuo light.

Prof Branwen said their stuff was already in their dorms, but all Sun really had was the duffle bag he’d been carrying with him. He’d never really had much stuff of his own due to money – whenever he outgrew anything as a kid, it’d be passed down before he had time to blink. Even stuff that still fit him, his parents would just take from the drawer in his room and hand it to whoever needed it. He wasn’t really allowed to be angry, if Saturn or Jupiter needed it, he wouldn’t let his siblings go without. But whether he was allowed to be offended or not didn’t seem to matter to his heart, because he still felt all of it.

He stood outside the dorm building, staring up at it wide-eyed. It looked like a castle all its own, with two turrets on either end of the light stone building. It was lined with red and white roses in the flower pots, and like the rest of the LR area, a long red line ran around the building. Whether it was the idea of Branwen or even Headmaster Ozpin, Sun couldn’t tell, but the red accents throughout the exterior seemed designed to soften the harshness of the lines keeping them caged into this sectioned area of the school. It was as though they’d tried to actually be welcoming, which was already heaps better than Shade and their lessons hadn’t even started yet.

Yang nudged Sun’s elbow with her own, the sunflower scent of her hair giving off her presence before Sun had even spotted her. She wiggled her scroll in front of him. “You got your key-card yet?” Sun focused on her scroll once she finally stopped moving, to see the light blue holographic screen displaying her name – XIAO LONG, YANG – and a circular bar-style code. “It’s supposed to have come with your acceptance email.”

“Oh! So that’s what that was.” Sun scrambled to get his own beat-up scroll from out his pockets, and Yang laughed softly.

Their dorms were a large building that at first looked disconnected from the rest of the school, but there were hallways within bridging it to the rest of the dormitories. The large oak doors were framed in that familiar red stripe that Sun was beginning to recognize as a warning sign for himself, his fellow classmates. He quite liked the colour.

Yang made a point of showing the other students who were staring at the doors wondering what to do, as she pressed her scroll against the little silver pad built into the oak door. As it recognized her barcode, the key-card, there came a deep click from behind the door, and she pushed it open and waltzed in. Blake blinked in surprise, ears flicking, and she followed behind Yang. From there, Nora giggled and linked her arm with Ren’s as if to help him in, insisting on taking both of their suitcases. Sun went to follow but, as he went to move forward, he heard the familiar call of “HEY, DUDE!”

He turned in delight to see Neptune at last, looking a little sheepish as Branwen held a vice-like grip on his arm – but they weren’t alone. Held in Branwen’s other hand with just as much force, was a slender young woman with expensive clothes, silky white hair in a side ponytail, and a prominently sharp scar over her left eye. But Sun didn’t have time to focus on her or her petulant scowl, because his best friend was here!

He ran over to the trio, and Branwen let go of Neptune so they could crash into each other’s outstretched arms. “BRO!” Shouted Sun.

“BROOO!” Neptune cried, ruffling Sun’s hair.

They laughed together as Branwen let go of the petite woman. “I’ve already had to have words today,” he warned them, “any fighting, even a hint, and you’ll all be dragged to Ozpin. Got it?” He narrowed his eyes specifically at the young woman, who scowled and marched away to the dorms. Branwen rolled his eyes and made his own way over, red cape – the same shade as the stripe decorating all the LR spaces, in fact.

“What happened, man? What’s the drag?” Sun looked over Neptune with concern as they made their own way back at their own pace.

Neptune seemed covered in glistening blue Dust, and he was cold to the touch. His jacket crackled as they walked like he was breaking out of a layer of frost that had encased him. “I’ll tell you what happened, Sun Wukong!” He frowned, “as soon as we left that boat, those guards chased me all through the town! They wouldn’t let up! Then I nearly fell into a FOUNTAIN! Then I tripped over a lady’s dog, then the dog was chasing me too, then I ran straight into that crazy Schnee chick and fell into all her Dust crap and she threw the biggest temper tantrum and tried to get me arrested!”

Sun pouted, crossing his arms. “You have all the fun.”

“Fuck you, man.” Neptune huffed. “What about you, huh? You been surviving well enough with me?”

“Dude, this place is awesome!” Sun began. “We got our own dorms, and our own studio we don’t have to share with anyone else! And – !”

Sun stopped suddenly as he looked over to the direction of the Main Hall. They were being so loud that they’d gained something of an audience. Adam and Ruby stood by the flower bushes, watching them. Ruby giggled softly and rushed away, and Adam’s stare lingered long enough for it to be uncomfortable before he, too, left the pair. The Schnee girl was nowhere to be seen.

“...What was all that about?” Neptune asked.

“Oh. Heh, yeah. I’ve kinda made a new friend. Sort of. Kinda.” Sun explained.

“Oh? You and the tiny goth kid? Or the weird blindfold guy?”

“I mean - !” Sun scratched the back of his neck; what did he mean? “Blindfold dude – Adam. He was there when we made our grand escape. He saw how awesome I was, so when I ran past him, I winked at him. Because I’m just cool like that.” He allowed himself a little smirk, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Neptune stopped. “You winked at him.”

“Yeah!”

“The guy with the blindfold.”

“Yep.”

“The guy who might not even be able to see. Who might be blind. Because he wears a blindfold.”

“...”

“You winked at him.”

“I don’t like your tone.” Sun looked away, no longer pleased with himself.

Neptune only scoffed and shoved Sun’s shoulder. “He seems kinda weird though. Like I’m not trying to be mean, but... vibes, man.”

“Look, dude,” Sun defended, “he’s cool, okay? He didn’t try to record me, or make fun of me, he didn’t even direct the guards to me. And everyone else here’s pretty cool too! There’s this blonde girl who’s awesome and this loud ginger girl who’s super friendly and – ”

“Alright man, it’s cool. I got it. You can introduce me, huh?” Neptune shook his head as they finally went to enter the dorms.

Everyone was standing around with their backpacks and bags in the living space. Sun whistled at the sheer amount of space; the floorplan was bigger than his apartment back home, for sure. There was a large entryway at the end that connected this place to the rest of the dormitories, and the main flooring was a comfortable dark wood. The walls were dark brown and the furniture was a deep red, much fancier than Sun had imagined. The sofas and armchairs were up against a corner by a large holo-screen, the type Sun had seen rich people own on TV.

There was a large wooden table equipped with more chairs than the class would need, and the kitchen area was in full view of the rest of the living space. The floor for the kitchen wasn’t wood like the rest; instead, there were large white tiles, definitely the slippery kind, and the countertops were all black and freshly cleaned.

The living quarters were filled with the familiar scent of sterilised lemons, of bleach and fragranced room spray. He noticed Adam pulling a face at the smell, while Neptune breathed it in gladly. It must have been refreshing compared to the warm dampness of his grandfather’s flat. The two sisters, Yang and Ruby, were already looking around like curious children, while Nora was exploring the fridge (and getting deeply disappointed that nothing edible was there to greet her). Pyrrha seemed uninterested in her surroundings, instead looking through her bag for something. Ren had already sat down, taking a sharp breath from an inhaler, and both Blake and Weiss sat by him too.

“Um, are you okay?” Weiss straightened her back at the sight of the inhaler.

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a big day,” Ren replied with a soothing smile. “I imagine this is exciting for everyone.”

“Right, so everyone is actually here now, right?” Branwen put a hand on his narrow hips and looked around, gathering the students to him like chicks to a nest. “Now, this will be your home from now on. You can decorate it – to an extent – and as long as you’re not reckless and messy, we should all get along just fine.”

Sun grinned, looking around the airy place. “Do we sort ourselves out for food and stuff?”

“Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided by the school, and you’re welcome to eat in the Main Hall with the rest of the students.” Branwen pointed to a document taped to the fridge. “If you want to know when, look at what I’ve put on the fridge for you. If you want any snacks or any other meals, you’ll have to buy and prepare those by yourself. Obviously.”

“Wait, we have to make our own food?” Weiss cocked a silver eyebrow. “All the time?”

Adam chortled, the forced laugh of a man who either wanted to kill himself or everyone else. Were it not for Qrow’s burning stare, Sun could have easily seen the comment spiral out of control. He’d seen how rich kids acted out in the past, and it had a tendency of resulting in cartoonish levels of comedy.

“Like I said,” Qrow dragged his eyes over to the Schnee, “main meals will be served but anything else has to be bought and prepared by hand. Or you could starve. I won’t judge.”

Weiss huffed indignantly, and Ruby gave a little groan, but Sun didn’t see the deal. He just needed to bring Tupperware to the Main Hall every meal and he was good to go.

“Down the hall are your rooms – the ones with the red outlines, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now.” Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. “You’ll find all the luggage you sent beforehand in there waiting for you. Dinner will be soon, and Headmaster Ozpin will be holding a speech, so I’ll be back for all of you by then. Try not to kill each other before the end of the day, alright?” He gave them all a look, before leaving the students to it – for better or worse.

Down the hall was a row of rooms just like Branwen said, a list of names on a sticky note attached to each wooden door. There were more dorms than there were students, and it seemed a great many of them were spread out. Sun rubbed the strap of his duffle bag between his thumb and forefinger, and he and Neptune set out reading each sticky note.

First they read the doors on the left side of the hall, finding that each of the female students had been put together.

Nora Valkyrie

Pyrrha Nikos

Yang Xiao Long

Ruby Rose

Weiss Schnee

Blake Belladonna

“Cool,” Neptune said, nudging Sun, “all the girls are together in one spot.”

“Shut up, man.” Sun stretched, trying to pretend he wasn’t nervous as they turned to the right.

Only two doors on this side had sticky notes, so Neptune went over to one and smiled. “Hey look! It’ll be me and y... ah.”

“What is it?” Sun went over to his friend, looking down at the note.

Neptune Vasilias

Lie Ren

Sun turned to the door next to them, his heart sinking a little, to find his own name written in the same scrawly font that he could only imagine was Prof Branwen’s barely legible handwriting.

Sun Wukong

Adam Taurus

Sun swallowed, and suddenly Neptune’s comments from before joined the forefront of his mind. The ‘weird vibes’ he’d spoken of. The guy wasn’t that weird though, Sun told himself. Maybe he was just nervous, like everyone else. Besides, it could just be an opportunity to make a new friend! An opportunity, wrapped in old, fraying ribbon.

“Uh...” Neptune’s voice alerted Sun to the shadow cloaking the pair of them, and he turned to find Adam standing before the pair silently.

“Oh. Uh,” Sun straightened his back, “looks like we’re bunking together! Cool, right?”

Adam said nothing, merely peering over their shoulders to stare at the sticky note. He grabbed the innocent yellow paper, crushing it in his fist like it had done him a personal slight, and edged his way between the pair like he didn’t want to touch either of them. Sun and Neptune shared a look as Adam was the first to enter the room. Neptune pulled Sun to the side, speaking quietly. “Come on man, we gotta stick together. Why don’t we just ask Ren if he’d be willing to - ?”

They glanced into the room Neptune and Ren would be sharing, finding the young man already putting away his neatly folded clothes. Medications of various types were laid out on a bed he’d already chosen for himself, as were books, a case of energy drinks, and a very old stuffed animal.

“...He’s made himself at home already, huh?” Sun smiled sadly. “Look man, we’re literally divided by like, one wall. We’ll be like neighbours.”

“But...” Neptune peered into the room, finding Adam staring at a bouquet of delicate white flowers welcoming them on a desk. The rooms themselves were nicely spacious, sporting two desks and two red beds on either side of a large window. Adam picked one of the bouquets up and scowled at the sweet flowers, dumping the entire thing in the bin between the desks.

He was strange, that was for sure. But Sun just shrugged. “Look, bro, it’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

He bumped Neptune’s shoulder with his tail, trying to cheer him up. It didn’t seem to work. Sun couldn’t help but feel for Neptune as he watched his friend enter his dorm as though it were a prison cell; as laid back and social as he was – as they both were – it was hard in this world to make close connections like the one they shared. And as such, it was hard to be apart from those you’ve made that connection with.

Sun dropped his duffle bag at the foot of the door, and at last entered the dorm he’d be sharing with Adam. Over their desks were shelves, along with a smaller desk by the doorway holding a smaller holo-screen. Sun had never had his own TV before, so everything he’d watched was nearly always on his scroll. By each bed was a full-length cupboard built into the wall, and there was a bathroom on the left. Sun passed the desks and the bin filled with flowers to peer into the bathroom, his eyes widening.

“Oh sweet! We got a bathtub!” He walked in excitedly. The tub was up against the wall in a corner, the shower cubicle up at its end. Adam stood in the doorway, watching Sun. Sun smiled up at him. “Cool, right? We had a tub where I lived but it was cracked so we never got to use it.”

“You’re easily excited.” Adam commented.

“Heck yeah I am!” Sun stood up and puffed out his chest. “There’s a lot to be excited about!”

“Did you actually just say ‘heck’?” Adam gave a wry smile.

Sun chuckled. “I mean – come on! This is gonna be cool! Big room, holoscreen, we’re all close together and stuff – ” He came out, noticing Adam had put his bag on the bed furthest away from the bathroom, so Sun plopped onto the other bed, “comfy beds too.”

Adam was quiet, watching Sun’s tail swish here and there.

“So... why’d you throw your flowers away?” Sun sat up. “Do you have hayfever or something?”

Adam suddenly scowled, and turned away without an answer. He pulled a book out of the suitcase and read in silence, and Sun scratched the back of his neck awkwardly; did he strike a nerve or something…? They were only flowers.

When he was sure Adam wasn’t going to respond, Sun went to speak, only for the holo-screen to switch on by itself, revealing a stern-faced woman with platinum blonde hair tied back into a bun. “All students, please gather at the Main Hall immediately. You are all being summoned by Headmaster Ozpin. Thank you.” And she vanished as quickly as she arrived.

Sun groaned as he got back up off the bed, using his tail to shove himself up.

“That...” Adam began, his voice lighter than it had been before, “that’s Glynda Goodwitch.”

Sun tilted his head. “You know her personally or something?”

“Well, no. Not at all, no.” Adam shook his head as the pair left the dorm, the door locking automatically behind them. “She’s an aerial silk dancer. The best in Vale. Probably the best in all of Sanus.” Adam turned to Sun. “You have at least heard of her, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen her on TV and stuff.” He explained, “but I wouldn’t know much about silks. That’s more your thing.”

They followed the rest of their class mostly in silence out of the hall.

“You could teach me, eh?” Sun suddenly looked up at Adam.

Adam’s forehead wrinkled, giving away how one of his eyebrows raised under the blindfold. “I... I don’t think you’d make much progress if you’re only starting out,” he answered honestly, “although, with your tail, you’d probably make a good start if you really tried. I’m not a teacher, though.”

“Aw, come on. It could be fun.” Sun laughed softly.

“Maybe for you. Definitely not for me.”

“Hey, don’t be a party pooper just yet.” He went to nudge Adam, but something in Sun warned him not to. The man held himself the way a broken bone holds its fragments together - awkwardly stiff, condensed together as if in fear of unravelling. One push in the wrong direction and… it wouldn’t be fun anymore.

Still, Adam tilted his head to observe Sun cooly, a hint of amusement in his voice. “You’re really just a big kid, aren’t you?”

“Nah. I’m just, you know, easily excited.” Sun winked.

Adam gave something close to a chuckle before Neptune abruptly joined Sun’s side. “Dude!” He punched his arm. “Wait up next time! I thought you were gonna leave me behind.”

“Shut it, we’ve only just left the dorms.” He rolled his eyes, turning back to Adam – only to find the man walking away from the pair quickly. Sun was disappointed at the end of the conversation but soon shrugged it off. If they were sharing a room, he supposed, they’d have plenty of time to get to know each other, strange as Adam was.

“So,” Neptune directed Sun’s attention back towards himself. “Did you check out the bathrooms? There’s – ”

“Bathtub. Sweet, right?” Sun smiled, feeling a calming sense of familiarity as they chatted together. The new environment, the new people, the new weather; as exciting as it was, it was also starting to get a bit overwhelming.

That wasn’t helped when they were funnelled into the Main Hall, a massive room filled with long rows of dark wood tables as if pointing to the stage. Behind the stage was an ornate wall decorated with the shadows of huge cogs and bolts. Where the shadows were being projected from, Sun couldn’t tell. Many students were already there, taking seats at the tables. In each corner of the room were vending machines, although Sun couldn’t exactly make out what each one was for over the heads of every other student.

The Main Hall smelled nice though, of savoury food and old books. He could finally see a large set of tables off to the side walls; a buffet of hot food explaining the lovely smell, each dish in a large metal container covered in a glass lid, each also coming with its own metallic serving spoon and a shelf in front to allow space for serving trays. Sun hadn’t realised how hungry he was, and was still allured by the food even as one of the teachers beckoned for the students to hush.

As they all sat on the rows upon rows of tables, Sun was able to finally see the teachers all up on the stage. Branwen, with a hand on one of his hips and a tired look on his face. Glynda, who stood by him as crisp and firm as she was in the announcement. Two new faces he didn’t quite recognize – one tall lanky man with a crazed look about him despite his statuesque posture, and a large man in red twiddling with his white moustache and eyebrows so thick they essentially acted as a fringe.

And then. A thin man with white hair and glasses who took to the stage, glancing out at the student body. He looked young but he dressed like an old man – at least, that’s what it looked like from where Sun was. He had an air about him as though he wasn’t truly there, eyes a colour Sun hadn’t seen before, stance beyond human, beyond Faunus. Beyond anyone Sun had seen before. He was… wispy, as though the wind may carry him away from this place. As if he wanted it to. He leaned much of his weight on his ornate cane, head bowed until the students were all settled.

“I’d like to say a few words.” Headmaster Ozpin’s voice resounded through the room, as though his words came from every direction. His voice was strange; each word had the quality of an echo, yet there was no original sound to create such a thing. Each sound a memory before it even appeared. What a strange man indeed. “You have come here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft, and acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to inspiring the people, to give them hope, joy, and to offer them closure through your practices.”

Ozpin looked out at the crowd, as though he was looking each and every student in the eye. When those eyes landed on Sun, although it was brief, it felt as though the clouds had just rolled in.

“But I look amongst you,” he continued cooly, “and all I see is wasted energy... in need of purpose, of direction. You assume that knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.”

He went to exit the stage, before looking back at the student body. “It is up to you... to take the lead.”

Ozpin left the stage older than it had been before he’d stepped upon it, and in his place stood Prof Goodwitch. “After dinner,” she began, her voice still strict but at least sounding alive, “you may go back to your dorms and settle in for the night. I trust your teachers have already shown you where they are. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready .” She cast her eyes like a spell over the entire school, sharp, prepared, and she left just as Ozpin had done so before her.

Sun looked around, at least at ease in finding that the other students looked equally as uncomfortable, as immersed in their own thoughts as he was.

 —

Sun

Sun had managed to sneak back handfuls of fruit to the LR living space, setting them by the fridge before flopping into bed. He yawned. The only flaw he’d found with the dinner had been that every dish was obscenely healthy. Not a pizza slice or French fry in sight. 

By now, the journey and excitement had caught up to him, and he snuggled down on top of the bed sheets. Adam sat in his own bed, seemingly dead to the world as he read his book, earbuds blasting a song Sun didn’t recognize. Adam had finished dinner early, so by the time Sun got back, he found his dorm mate had shoved his bed into a corner of the room by one of the cupboards. When asked, he simply replied that he preferred a corner bed.

Now, Sun waved his tail in Adam’s direction until the man took notice and tilted his head, clicking his scroll to pause the pulse of drums and guitars. He stared at Sun inquisitively.

“You wanna take a shower first, or...?” Sun asked.

“No, thank you. I’m done with the bathroom tonight.” Adam turned back to his book, but Sun could tell he’d not turned his music back on. It was as though he was... listening out. For Sun? Or for something else?

“So,” Sun stared up at the ceiling, “how did you wind up here in Last Resort?”

“None of your business.” Adam responded.

Sun frowned. “What’s with you and the Bella’ girl?”

“None. Of. Your business .”

Sun was tempted to tell Adam to go fuck himself if he was going to be like that, but instead he scowled and sat up, crossing his legs. Still, Adam hadn’t turned his music back on. What did he want, then?

“Okay, sheesh. What about transport? Did you get here by boat as well?” Sun turned to him. “Or is that none of my business either?”

Adam curled his upper lip, before napping his book shut. His tone, however, wasn’t as forced or irritated as Sun was expecting it to be. “Boat. Uh. I got here by boat as well. From Mistral.”

“...Alright. Maybe that one was obvious, with you being on the docks and all.” Sun looked out at the stars. They weren’t as clear as the view in Vacuo, but it was still a nice night. “Neptune’s scared of the water, but it was the only option we really had.”

“You great stowaway .” Adam remarked, angling his head to regard Sun properly. “Couldn’t you afford a ticket?”

Sun shook his head. “Nope. Had to get out here somehow though. I think one of the guards tripped up when they were chasing me.” He chuckled.

“I tripped him.” Adam said simply.

Sun hesitated. “Huh?”

“He was being an asshole, calling you a filthy animal . So, I put my leg out and tripped him.”

“Aw, I knew we could be friends!” Sun grinned.

“What?” Adam frowned.

“You tripped a guard for me!”

“No. It wasn’t for you .” Adam looked back down at his book. “I always do that.”

Sun tilted his head, unsure of what direction this conversation was heading in. “I don’t get...?”

“If I see police, I'm making their jobs harder. It's not illegal to be annoying. I have weaponized this fact since I was 12.” Adam laid down and put his book by his bed. “Trust me, it was less Pro-You and much more Anti-Them.”

“...Oh. Uh. Okay.” Sun watched as Adam laid down properly, and at last played his music through his earphones again.

He was starting to get what Neptune was saying now. This guy was weird. And maybe a little mean.

But if Sun played his cards right, he could be weird in a fun way.

And besides, they were going to be sharing the same room for a while now, so they may as well try to get along. And if Adam actually turned out to be an asshole, then hey, a new guinea pig for Sun’s pranks! But he wasn’t going to bring out the big guns yet, not until he figured out what Adam’s vibe really was. 

Sun decided, as he got up to have not a shower, but a bath , that unless something serious were to happen, they would become friends eventually.

Whether Adam liked it or not.

Chapter Text

Adam

He still remembered the gentleness of her voice, it's softness. He remembered her expression being just the same as she turned, staring into her tea that night. “Have you ever met someone and thought to yourself, ‘they are the personification of This Word’?”

Adam tilted his head, his gaze beneath the white bandages purely on Blake. “Not... often.” He admitted slowly.

She gave a gentle smile, glancing out of the window and up at the golden light that surfed over the slick tropical trees. The Belladonna Estate likely had the loveliest view in all of Menagerie; in fact, Adam was still struggling to process that this sight had been Blake’s everyday home, that she had grown between these walls, stared out of these windows since she was tiny. It was a shocking contrast to anything he’d ever known, this place. People were friendly without needing to be, the weather wasn’t cruel with its temperatures (even though he was still getting used to the shock of constant humid heat), and while it was cramped, it was peaceful.

Blake pushed a lock of hair behind her smaller, human ear. “Okay, well... I remember getting to know a few people when I was little and thinking ‘she is the personification of curiosity’ or ‘he is the personification of strength’. But when I looked in the mirror... I could never come up with a word for myself.”

Adam waited for her to continue, and when she didn’t, he contemplated her words. Boiling somebody down to a single trait? A single aspect they willingly showed you? Was that... normal? Honestly, he didn’t know. He’d never needed to know more about people after ‘will they hurt me?’ or ‘will they try?’ and once he got those answers, he simply had left it at that.

But Blake had changed that. When they’d met, he’d wanted to know more about her than he needed. He’d wanted to know about her family, her life, her beliefs. With every scrap of information, he built her, carved her into his head so that at least there was something beautiful in there. And he couldn’t find it in himself to boil her down, to reduce her to a single frame of the entire episode that was Blake Belladonna. She was sweetness. She was elegance. She was shadows and mystery and eyes like the golden blood of trees.

But she was also impatience and insistence. She was naivety. But she was still so many marvels when Adam compared her to himself – something he didn’t do often, for fear of tarnishing the soil of her altar with his presence.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, trying to scrounge for some way of relating to her, “what word am I then?”

She giggled shyly, and the heart lodged between his ribs fluttered. “Jury’s still out on that one. But...” She looked him up and down, her smile coy, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Her hair smelled sweet, and he wanted to save that scent forever. “I’m leaning toward passion.”

“Why passion?”

“I’ve seen how you dance on your own.” She explained honestly. “You hold back when you’re with me, I know you do. But you let go when you’re alone. It’s... charming. You just seem to throw your entire self into it.”

He didn’t want to tell her that dancing alone was just easier. He didn’t have to worry about following someone else, or keeping track of them. Blake was a beautiful dancer, and her Semblance helped dramatically – she would leave trails of herself across the floor, shadowy spectres of flicking ears, flowing hair, arching backs, and he could dance between each and every one of them, using his own Semblance and flashing between steps. Blake’s Semblance didn’t allow movement the way his did; all she left behind were static shadows, so she had to make a small army of them, all holding different poses, and Adam would weave between dozens of dance partners, all with echoes of golden eyes and graceful smiles, and a thousand times he would have to let go of the different versions of her in order to move to the next.

But he noticed the most peculiar thing. Her shadows... they were dreadfully cold. A body is warmth, it is softness and smoothness and heat, but a shadow was just that – a shadow. They lacked Blake’s warmth, they lacked her spark. When he held hands with shadows, his hands came away freezing. Something about it unnerved him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why exactly.

“If you had to choose a word for me...” Blake uttered, catching Adam’s attention once again, “what would you choose?”

Adam opened his mouth, trying to summon something from himself. A dozen of those words from before came to mind, and so did twice as many new ones. Beauty. Justice. Serenity. Quiet. Lonely. Independent. Irate. Shadows. Cold.

“Intriguing.” He answered.

Blake’s ears flicked at him curiously, but the response seemed to satisfy her. “You’re so weird. Come on, let’s go find my parents.”

The little memory was ripped from his arms in place of sterile blue sheets, and dust, and Dust.

And moving, and sinking. And falling, drowning, drifting.

Swirling, spiralling. Darkening. Burrowing, bleeding, and growing. Growing. Growing.

Such lovely white flowers they were. How quickly they bloomed, like bamboo made from silk. How their seeds turned to buds of leaves, and how those buds blossomed into flora, spreading themselves out like the beautiful parasites they were.

How their roots tore through his flesh like soil.

How they swallowed mouthfuls of his blood like rainwater.

How his body was locked in a coffin of breathing tubes and sterilised sheets. How his horns shattered atop his head. How he suffocated in the darkness, in the quiet, decontaminated underbrush.

Adam shot up in bed like a bullet, hands covering his face and fingers poised to claw. The fabric over his eyes felt damp, soaking up his sweat. His heart punched his ribcage as if demanding to be removed from his body, a passenger scrabbling to escape a sinking ship. He taught himself how to breathe again, to set his shaking arms by his sides, to suck the cool air down into the depths of his lungs and force it all out again. Adam tried to pretend he was forcing the nightmare out through his lungs too, tangled up in his breath. It helped sometimes.

He glanced over at his new roommate, Sun. The guy was completely dead to the world, having fallen asleep face-first into his pillow (was he breathing? Should Adam check?). Half of his blanket was on the floor, revealing he’d only gone to bed in boxer shorts – shorts with a hole cut in the back to accommodate his tail. How was he so comfortable in front of a stranger to be sleeping in his underwear already?

Adam frowned to himself, pushing his hair out of his face and silently removing himself from his own bed. It was an awkward time in the morning – too early to really do anything, but too late to get a proper rest if he were to fall back to sleep. He knew what might await him should he fall asleep again, so he pushed his body back into action, making his way to their ensuite bathroom.

He locked the door behind him, squinting under his blindfold at the harsh, artificial light. His hands hesitated, but nonetheless he undid the knot at the back of his head and laid the ribbon down by the sink. Adam stared at his reflection – he tried to, at least, but a familiar, acidic heat rose up through his chest and he tore his eyes away from the mirror before his reflection could inflict any further harm. It was too early to feel so shit, although part of him argued that he really ought to be used to this.

He showered, setting his products up by the mirror (and keeping his head firmly down) only to then spend an awkward minute trying to find a towel that was actually big enough for a person and not just a head of hair. There were cute little flowers embroidered into the corners. He scowled, the memory of Dust and blood and cleaning products enough to make him choke. Adam swallowed through it, as he always did, and dried his face enough to put the blindfold back on. It was a smooth material, gentle to even the most sensitive and mangled of skin, and although it didn’t seem it, Adam found it easy to see through the fibres. It was black and a high-quality material, but by now it had long since began to fray in all the edges. In fact, he’d had to stitch it in several places, leaving him with the knowledge that, eventually, it would be rendered unusable. Adam would have replaced the damn thing by now, but...

It was silly how much a length of ribbon meant to him. That didn’t stop it from meaning as much as it did. Life had a funny way of spitting in the face of your feelings, Adam had found.

He got dressed, smoothing out the arms of his jacket, and tried to be quiet as he exited the bathroom. Sun’s tail twitched and moved in his sleep, and for a minute Adam found himself watching the movement curiously. It only swished at first, but as Sun mumbled to himself, it swayed back and forth and even curled at the end, finally wrapping around Sun’s ankle. Adam went to chuckle, though he froze when Sun’s head turned to him.

Thankfully, he was still very much asleep, leaving a trail of drool on his pillow. Since they’d met – well, collided, more like – he’d been strangely nice, as if they were friends already. Adam definitely didn’t recognize Sun from school, from anywhere in Mantle in fact, certainly nowhere in the shithole he’d grown up in.

Adam doubted anybody in all of Solitas had the capacity to be as warm as Sun had made himself out to be, although it could just as easily have been a face. He’d learned the hard way that people only showed you what they thought you’d want to see. The closer you got to someone, the easier it was to get what you wanted from them. But what did Sun want from him? Adam had nothing to offer.

This was still on his mind as he left the dorms, making sure to bring his scroll with him (because he’d be damned if he got locked out this early in the morning). He scouted out the grounds, finding an unused bike shed lined – hidden – by overgrown berry bushes towards the back of the dorm building. He tiptoed over the plants and leaned on a rusted black lamp post, and he lit a cigarette. And as red-hot smoke filled his lungs, as his nerves diffused, still he thought back to his roommate. What did he want? What could he gain from being nice to Adam? Definitely not social status, although it was too early to tell how anyone would react to that in class. Could it just be to look good in front of Branwen? The old man didn’t seem the type to be impressed by that sort of thing.

Adam turned his head and blew the smoke at a rusted old NO SMOKING sign, and looked out at the sky. The morning was rolling in too heavily for the stars to be seen anymore, that familiar murky swirl of grey and white acting almost as a curtain over all of Vale. A warning to put dreams to rest, to come back to the waking world. If only it were that simple.

White flowers. Small and delicate. Trampled and dripping with blood.

He shook his head and stubbed the cigarette out on the brick wall. If only it were that simple.

—

Adam

“Who’s played Spin The Bottle before?” Branwen’s voice caught them all off guard.

Breakfast was over, and the group were loaded back into their studio with Branwen. He looked over each and every one of the students, expression still stern but now adding notes of familiarity as he looked over his class. At his feet was an empty whisky bottle, rolling numbly between his shoes. He kicked the thing lightly to the group, the bottle knocking against Neptune’s boot.

“Uh...” Neptune piped up, “why’re we doing this?”

“You remember what Glynda said last night, don’t you?” Qrow stepped forward, cool as ever. “Your initiation begins. Everyone, like yesterday, sit in a circle.”

“We’re really doing this?” Yang looked at her uncle uncomfortably.

“You got a better idea, firecracker?”

She looked away. Adam stared at Branwen curiously as they all sat around the bottle. His eyes looked redder than yesterday, and he wondered if anyone else had noticed. Adam had seen the man on stage, the feats he was able to accomplish, his signature move – Harbinger. And, like most everyone, he had heard about what had happened.

Like most people, it looked as though the man still suffered. The general public hadn’t been given all the details, but it shouldn’t have been hard for anyone to piece together the pain such tragedies could cause. Adam looked to his nieces sat opposite him; he watched their faces. Ruby twiddling with her thumbs, her face almost a pale sheet of blankness. Was she ignoring what was obvious? Or was she too young to understand? She must have been tiny when –

He looked briefly to Yang next. She was rolling her eyes, leaning back as if it simply didn’t affect her. She needed to work on her poker face, Adam decided.

When it came to Qrow, however, it was as though he wasn’t trying to hide anything. He looked like shit and probably felt like shit, and Adam found himself... not hating that honesty.

“So!” Sun perked up, and that was when Adam realised the man had sat next to him. Again. He raised an eyebrow at Sun’s closeness; he usually had a rule where he wouldn’t sit close enough to someone to be able to smell them, but personal space must have been a foreign concept to Sun. Their fucking knees were touching, for the love of the gods. “Who wants to go first? What’re we doing again?”

Qrow gestured out at the group as if asking for a volunteer. When nobody went forward, he scowled. “For crying out loud... alright, we’re doing randomized dances to get an idea of everyone’s styles and adaptability. C’mon guys, can’t I surprise any of you?”

“So we’re just choosing partners?” Blake raised her hand gently.

“Not permanent partners, don’t worry.” He explained. “We’ll do a routine with each pairing, and then spin the bottle again until everyone has had a dance with everyone else – or at least until lunchtime. It depends on how long you kids take.”

Adam clenched his jaw, looking over the group as they all looked over each other. He preferred solo dances above everything. The last time he’d been part of a duo...

He glanced at Blake. He saw the way her ears flicked and moved, picking up every little movement. He saw how she pulled lightly at the sleeves of her jacket. And he saw how she was trying to avoid his gaze. That acidic heat rose in him again, in his head, toxic. Sun’s arm nudging accidentally into his brought him back to reality, and Adam noticed his fingers digging into his legs.

He took a breath. It didn’t help as much. He hoped he’d be with anyone else. Yang, her little sister Ruby. Ren, maybe. Or –

“Are we allowed to use our Semblances?” Weiss pointed out, her legs crossed elegantly.

Okay, also not Weiss. No, definitely not Weiss. Not in a thousand years.

“So long as you don’t go too crazy. And don’t you dare try to carry the whole routine on your Semblance.” Qrow warned her, before looking over the entire class. “I’ll be making notes on your skills , not how cool your Semblances are. If I see you trying to rely on that, I’ll be banning you from using it at all.”

“Can I go first?” Sun repeated, shooting his hand up.

Maybe Sun wouldn’t be too bad to work with. Even if he was being fake, at least it was an easy type of fake to work with.

Qrow shrugged, gesturing to the bottle. “That’s the point, kid. The floor’s yours.”

Sun happily leaned forward like a little kid playing a board game, his tail swishing enough to almost hit Adam as he grabbed the brown bottle and spun it. The sound of the glass against the floor was enough to make Blake flatten her ears against her head, and Adam got a kick out of that.

The bottle slowed until it pointed straight to Ruby, who was too busy fiddling with the cross buttons on her cloak to notice right away. “Hm? Me ?”

“Yep. You.” Qrow smiled softly. “I’ve already picked out some easy songs, so try to focus on both your partner and the music, okay?”

So, the pair stepped out before the rest of the class, and bubbly classical music began to play from a speaker Adam hadn’t yet spotted. Perhaps it was built into the room? The walls?

Nonetheless, Sun held out his hands to the small teenager, his smile genuinely sweet. Ruby smiled back, before gasping as she was yanked close and Sun initiated the dance. His gentleness did not impede on his speed, Adam noticed. And he had a very good grasp on his own body, on how to move, how to kick his legs and turn his hips reminiscent of old timey styles, the sort you’d expect from black and white musicals about boys in suits and girls in poofy dresses. Adam couldn’t quite remember what the style was called, though.

Ruby didn’t need long to recover and fall into the style though. For a little thing, she was shockingly good at holding her own with Sun too. She wasn’t consumed by his style, no. When he lifted her from the floor, using his tail to balance the new weight, she hoisted herself onto – and over – his shoulder and spun. Sun looked confused for a moment, before grinning and grabbing her tiny form again, throwing her up into the air. Again, with laughter, she flung herself over Sun’s shoulders, this time with more acrobatics as she hit the floor. Petals followed her every move, disintegrating after her like sugar in tea, and the pair clasped their hands and spun, until all that could be seen was a red blurring cloak and a sandy monkey tail.

As the pair fizzled out, and the music died down, the group applauded. Adam watched Branwen making several notes on his scroll. “Unbalanced,” he told them as they re-joined the circle, “but you noticed each other’s styles and played into it as well as you could. For a first go, well done.”

Ruby giggled, and Sun was beaming as he sat by Adam again. He really did have a sweet smile. Warm and kind. It’d be nice to be smiled at like that.

Why was Adam thinking about that?

“That was so cool!” Nora exclaimed. “I’ve never seen someone dance like that!”

“You’ve never seen swing dance?” Sun smiled. “You’d love it, it’s so fun!”

“So you’re a swinger?” Yang smirked at Sun, only for him to wink back.

Qrow cleared his throat. “Alright, let’s see who we have next.” He gave Weiss a pointed look, as she was sat right by Ruby’s side.

She bristled a little, before regaining her composure. Her pinkie finger flicked out as she spun the bottle, round and round it went from each student. Sun was bouncing lightly next to Adam, watching as if hoping for another go.

The bottle pointed directly next to Sun. It pointed to Neptune.

Neptune looked surprised, and Weiss almost looked happy. But it wasn’t for very long.

Neptune, Adam found, shared Sun’s dance style. And he attempted to share his enthusiasm, with little fortune. He yanked Weiss forward, only for her to break completely away from him and begin her own routine. She was delicate, and elegant, and flimsy. She barely let Neptune hold her hand as her body demanded that she lead him , and he had little hope of slowing down to her level. The music was still a classical tune, but that didn’t fit either of them. It was too upbeat for Weiss, and too slow for Neptune. If Sun and Ruby had been unbalanced, these two were repelling each other like magnets.

“Alright, alright.” Qrow cut the music. “What the hell was that?”

“He has no class!” Weiss pointed to Neptune. “He won’t cooperate!”

“Won’t cooperate?” Neptune crossed his arms, “just because I don’t do ballet it doesn’t mean I wasn’t cooperating with you! Why don’t you try cooperating with me?!”

“Because I have standards.” She curled her upper lip at Neptune. “I’m better than this.”

Qrow sputtered out a laugh. “If you were better than this, you wouldn’t be here .”

“Excuse me?!” Weiss looked back at Qrow with indignation.

“Oh? You want me to repeat myself?” Qrow stood with a frown. “You’ll have no hope of passing a single year, a single semester , in this class if you won’t get down from your high horse and work with whoever you’re assigned to! And since you're here, sugar cookie, your standards are clearly higher than you are.”

Weiss said nothing in return, she simply stared wide eyed at the Professor, before looking away with embarrassment rising in her cheeks.

“Right, that’s what I thought.” Qrow put a hand on his hip, before turning to Neptune who’d already situated himself by Sun’s other side again. “And you. You can’t let yourself be bossed around by a partner and you definitely can’t pretend to do your own thing if you’re tasked with being part of a duo. Terrible job, the pair of you.”

Qrow was harsh , Adam had found. But deeply amusing. He was grinning as Weiss sat back down by Ruby, now looking like the emotional equivalent of a crushed soda can. Sun patted Neptune’s back sympathetically.

“Now, who here is actually willing to get invested in - ?” Qrow began.

“Do me next! Do me next!” Nora jumped forward from around Weiss, grabbing the bottle and spinning it so hard it nearly flung away from the circle. Qrow raised a brow but it was clear he appreciated her enthusiasm.

It was a long, awkward minute as the bottle spun, urged on by the force Nora put on it. But, at last, it stopped and it chose Pyrrha. Pyrrha gave a polite, if somewhat nervous, smile at Nora, the excited girl she was. Adam had seen Pyrrha on shows before, in magazines, even cereal boxes. He wondered how someone with such a reputation had ended up here, and why she of all people would be nervous about anything.

If he followed gossip, he’d know exactly what forced her here. But it didn’t seem like anyone in class really knew or cared. Nora especially seemed happy to work with the girl.

So, they took to the stage – the ‘stage’ being a few feet away from the main circle, and held hands.

Like Sun, Nora was full of energy and couldn’t wait to start. However, (and Adam noticed Qrow smirking about this), the music played for them was slow and gentle, leaving Nora to falter and silently stare up at Pyrrha for advice. And Pyrrha smiled, leading into a softer dance. She moved as though pretending to be Nora’s shadow, encouraging the smaller girl to follow her movements with as much grace, as much leisure, as she was able to muster. Elegance was clearly not Nora’s strongpoint, not that it needed to be, because her movements were still rough and fit with energy.

Like Sun did with Ruby, Pyrrha lifted Nora – with one arm though – and spun the girl about her like a bouquet of orange hair and bright eyes. Nora laughed, dropping out of Pyrrha’s grip and spinning. She stopped to hold out a hand to the taller girl, who gladly took it.

Then, in a move not unlike that of a grenade launcher, Nora threw herself at Pyrrha and expected to be caught.

Pyrrha did not have time to catch her.

The two redheads instead flopped unceremoniously onto the floor in a pile of pale limbs and various shades of warm hair.

Qrow cut the music and rushed to them, as did Ren, helping the girls. “You alright?” The Professor asked them.

“That was... deeply unexpected.” Pyrrha said, though Qrow’s heart was clearly eased as she started laughing and looking at Nora. “You could have warned me.”

“Sorry! Kinda got lost in the moment!” Nora snickered, squeezing Ren’s hand. “Your perfume is super nice, by the way.”

Pyrrha blushed, and Qrow ushered the trio back to the circle.

“Now, let’s see...” Qrow gestured vaguely over each student to remind himself who’d already had a turn. “Ah. Yang, it’s your move.”

“I’m on it.” She grinned, glancing over Adam, over Sun, over Neptune, and then to Blake. Was she trying to choose a partner? Blake’s ears flicked curiously as her eyes met with Yang’s.

“No. No, actually.” Qrow took the bottle from her. “I know you too well.”

“Eh?! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know how but I can tell you’re gonna try and rig it.” Qrow gave her a look, and she scowled.

“Don’t be a butt, Uncle Qrow!” Ruby defended Yang.

“It’s Professor Branwen in this room. Neither of you are getting special treatment here, kiddo.” Qrow spun the bottle on Yang’s behalf, much to her chagrin.

The bottle’s point fell upon Ren, who looked... apprehensive. But nonetheless, he stood, looking to Qrow for guidance. Their Professor noticed, and looked to Yang. “Yang, be good . Not everyone is as big of a powerhouse as you are.”

Adam couldn’t understand Ren’s issue, but he felt he was about to. Yang rolled her eyes again and led the way. Nora sat up, paying careful attention.

The music was like a winding wire, slow at first, as Ren and Yang circled each other to get a feel of the other. Adam could already see the way Ren held himself, poised, the refinement in grace in his steps as natural to him as the way he breathed in long, measured breaths.

Yang, on the other hand, circled Ren like he was her opponent, like they were a fighting pair instead of a performing duet. Then again, there was a thin line between fighting and dancing, it always boiled down to perspective.

And Yang was a fighter . She danced, yes, but it wasn’t for the sake of a spectacle. It was on her own terms, and it was then that Ren was dived at. She swiped her arm through his, closing the circle but not once stopping the spiral motions of her beginning moves. She led him, dragged him, into her style. Ren was flexible though, able to move and spin around her like he was dodging Yang’s bursts. She jumped, she twisted her hips, grabbed Ren’s waist to keep him close. And he, too, allowed himself to be dipped if only to fling himself into a backflip to force Yang to release him. It was as though the night sky was battling against the fireworks shot up into it, but both seemed to be having fun.

That was, until a rattling wheeze came from Ren, and he shoved Yang away without a whisper of the grace he’d had beforehand. He doubled over as Yang processed the sudden halt, and Nora jumped up as Ren coughed and gagged. “Be careful with him!”

Qrow cut the music and helped sit Ren down on the nearby benches. “Come on, kid, you’re alright.” Qrow spoke, kneeling by him.

“Holy crap, did I hurt you?” Yang’s confident exterior broke away as she and Nora went to Ren’s side while he tried to teach himself how to breathe again. “I’m so sorry. Oh my god.”

“It was an accident – I told you to be careful.” Qrow told her.

“What’s wrong with him?” Sun got up, as did the rest of the group. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“He’s got lung problems,” Nora explained, her bubbly attitude long gone, “they didn’t develop super well when he was a kid. Too much activity and...”

Qrow took out Ren’s bag from under the bench, one Adam hadn’t even noticed, and helped the young man with his inhaler. Nora stayed by him as the entire class was paused, rubbing his back. Adam cringed at the wet rattle of Ren’s breaths, and couldn’t help but pity him. Why in high hell was he in a Performer’s Academy if he couldn’t handle ‘too much activity’? A lifestyle like this would kill him, wouldn’t it?

“I’ll be...” Ren gasped, looking up at Yang as if to try and soothe her worries, “I’ll be okay. I uh...”

“That’s alright.” Qrow repeated, turning to Neptune. “You’re sharing a dorm with him. Take him back so he can lie down, okay?”

Neptune swallowed, but nodded and went to help Ren. Nora looked up at Qrow pleadingly, and he gestured for her to help Ren. So, she carried his bag and stood on his other side as they left the classroom. Neptune, about the same height as Ren, allowed himself to be used as a frame to lean on as the trio disappeared out the doors.

They left, and Yang looked down at her feet. Qrow sighed, ruffling her hair. “He’ll be fine, firecracker.” He gestured for her to go back to the circle. “Maybe I should’ve let you cheat after all, huh?”

That did crack a small smile out of Yang as she sat with her sister once again, and although nobody was in the same mood, Qrow did try to get the class back on track.

“Alright. You’ve all been lucky you’ve only had to have one go. It’s usually at this point that someone’ll keep getting picked and’ll be run ragged.” Qrow chuckled, handing Blake the bottle.

She hesitated, taking it and giving it a spin. And Adam realised, then, that neither of them had been picked yet. And he hoped, desperately, that someone else will be chosen. Do not let the bottle land on him, Brothers Light and Dark don’t let the bottle land on him –

The bottle pointed at Adam.

“No.” Adam stood up and went to the door.

“Hey.” Qrow frowned, standing. “Nobody else complained about their partner.”

“She’s not my partner .” He growled at the older man.

“I can spin again,” Blake said quickly, “I want to spin again.”

“No way in hell.” Qrow gestured, before turning back to Adam. “I don’t know what your issue is, kid, but if you don’t learn soon to look past it, you’re never going to pass. You both need to learn to tolerate each other or else you’re both gone.”

On the one hand, the vision of dragging Blake to hell with him was amusing to Adam, but on the other (more important) hand, he wasn’t going to let her of all people ruin his chance of graduating. So, begrudgingly, he stepped out before the rest of the class, and so too did Blake.

She stared at him at last, reluctant, as the music swelled ominously.

As Yang had done with Ren, they circled one another, and he glared at her as though she had purposely caused this. And she stared at him, somehow looking angry and sad. Did she pity him? She better fucking not.

She reached her hand out to him, and he went to take it, only to activate his Semblance and flash-step past her, yanking her arm between frames and sending her off balance. He broke her elegant façade, and as she gasped and realised what he’d done, she glared right back at him. She still tried to maintain her composure, to give a good impression, as In The Hall of The Mountain King began its curious, imposing melody.

And Blake reached again. He flash-stepped again, though this time he could only grab familiar, cold blackness as her shadow disintegrated around his hand. He looked around quickly to try and spot the real her.

There she stood behind him, her expression daring him to try again. Oh, the sourness in those yellow eyes was to die for. To kill for. He gave a bitter grin and circled her again, as they once used to do. As they had done so many times before.

The music began to burst, half in mischief, and half feeding into Adam’s desire for destruction, for ruin, because if he was going to be forced to play this game he certainly wasn’t going to play fair. She grabbed him again before he could stop her, yanking him close as though he was hers. He wasn’t. He never would be.

Adam shoved Blake away, only for her to grab at his hands, his wrists. She was trying to do as she was told. He couldn’t allow that.

The music was a crescendo, filling Adam’s senses as if it was giving him permission to take the metaphorical gloves off. He wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of a pleasant dance. She couldn’t even give him the satisfaction of closure –

And like that, it was a war of two minds, Adam flinging her away with reckless abandon and Blake twisting around shadows to grab back at him, however little she really wanted to. Swinging and diving, their feet retracing old steps that might have once worked in tandem, but now were breadcrumb trails into anger, into reluctance. Each time he had to grab her was not a dance. It was a punishment. For her presence. For her movement. For what she had done –

The music swelled, crashes of violin and drums rubbing salt into every puncture, echoed every hateful step. Blake was grabbing at him with each of those steps like she wanted to rip off his arms. His joints ached from how hard she pulled. The war they pretended to call a dance was becoming an all-out fight for survival against two players who quite clearly did not want to live in the space of the other.

The music cut suddenly and Qrow pulled the pair away from each other. “For fucks sake!”

“THIS IS WHY I DIDN’T WANT TO DO THIS!” Adam roared, ripping himself out of Qrow’s grip. “NOT WITH HER!”

“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” Blake shouted in return, tears in her eyes. Tears? Why the fuck was she crying?! What did she have to cry about?!

“IT’S YOU! YOU’RE THE PROBLEM! YOU STILL DON’T SEE ANY OF IT, DO YOU?!” His blood was burning under his skin, muscles roasting and bones igniting as adrenaline coursed through his bloodstream like the worst drug he’d ever been on.

“ THAT’S ENOUGH! ” Qrow’s voice cut over both of theirs. He shoved Blake to one side and Adam to the other. “You both wanna act like a pair of kids?! Fine! You, in one corner!” He shouted at Blake to sit by the benches, “and you! Get out of my studio! Take a breather!”

And with that, Qrow pushed Adam towards the doors. Adam smacked Qrow’s hand off his shoulder and he left.

He was sweating under his clothes, his teeth clenched so hard together they may very well break. This wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair gods be damned –

Why did she have to be here? Why Beacon of all places? She could have gone anywhere. She had her parents, private tutors. Barring Atlas Academy she could have gone to any fucking school in all of Remnant.

But no. She was here. And she was meek and quiet like she was the victim.

Adam’s feet took him up to the dorms, to his bed. He flopped onto the mattress, took a very long breath, and screamed into the pillow until his throat burned.

When he couldn’t summon anymore screams from himself, he opened his scroll and began to blast whatever song he came across first.

I made a mess out of my hand - 

I put it through the wall!

I made a fist and not a plan,

Call me a reckless wrecking ball…

Adam couldn’t tell how long he’d been like that. Had he almost fallen asleep?

He supposed there was no way to tell really, not until the music was interrupted by the sound of a glass tapping close to his head. Adam looked up in confusion, to see Sun putting a glass of water on his headboard. He stared up at him in confusion.

“Crying makes you dehydrated.” Sun explained, pointing to the glass.

“I wasn’t crying.” He croaked, not doing a good job of persuading anyone in spite of his honesty.

Sun merely shrugged. “Well, Blake was crying for a bit. So I figured you might’ve been too.”

Adam frowned. “So you came up here to rub that in my face.”

“What? Dude, no.” Sun rolled his eyes. “You two were like... you were close, weren’t you?”

Adam’s nerves, still fried, were telling him to shove Sun away. The gentle look in Sun’s dark eyes were enough for him to reconsider that move. “Yeah. Yeah. We were... close. I guess.” He took the glass of water and chugged most of it. “...Thanks, by the way. Why did you come up here? Did Branwen send you to come get me?”

Sun plopped on the bed next to Adam. “Nah.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Then who sent you?”

“Dude, nobody sent me. I just wanted to see if you were alright.”

That felt... strange. Adam stared at Sun, trying to gauge his expression, search for any hesitation, any hint of denial or conceit. But... no, Sun was being genuine. Completely genuine. Why was he being genuine? Why was he being helpful? “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Being nice to me?”

Sun blinked as though he’d never been asked such a thing. “Because... because it’d be shitty to not be nice. I wanna be friends, man.”

“Do you just not like Blake?”

“I don’t know Blake. I don’t really know you much either. I just wanna make friends. It’s nice to have friends.”

It was nice. Until they stab you in the back. Adam finished the water and left the room. “You’re wasting your time. Thanks for the water.”

(Song Featured: Wrecking Ball - Mother Mother)

— 

Sun

Sun noticed the way Adam sat alone at lunch later that day. Alone, on that wooden bench under that dead tree. Either nobody noticed him or nobody wanted to, and he seemed perfectly content with that. He had no book, no scroll. He just stared straight ahead and took small, methodical bites of his sandwich.

Most people in LR had bagged up food from the Main Hall to bring into this area outside the studio, as all students were allowed to do. Most of the girls were sat together, with Pyrrha and Yang on either side of Blake. She looked exhausted, but not physically tired. She looked like her soul was tired. 

Ren sat with them too, with Nora holding his hand under the bench. Ruby had made a point of sitting with Weiss closer to the studio itself. There was still a resounding tension in the air and nobody was quite sure what to do with it. Sun certainly didn’t have the answers.

Still, Adam sat alone. Sun frowned by Neptune’s side on their own bench, watching the taller man eat.

"I'm gonna talk to him." Sun stood up.

"Sun. Come on." Neptune gave him a look. "He's weird - I mean, you know. He gives off some crazy vibes. I remember what you told me when I left with Ren."

"I'm gonna be his friend."

"Dude, just let a man eat his lunch in peace -" but Sun was already marching over to the lonely table, and he made a point of sitting right by Adam.

He saw the man visibly stiffen at the company, his jaw clenching and his shoulders tightening, but still Sun tried to put on a happy face. After all, he'd never met a single person who truly wanted to be alone. "You know, lunch is always a lot more fun when you spend it with friends!"

Adam's head slowly turned to Sun, the texture of his horns lighting up in the dappled sunbeams. The ribbon over his eyes blocked out any possible visual, and yet Sun could feel the contempt radiating through veiled eyes. "Really." Adam's voice was strained, as if years had been spent training it, clipping it into a forced monotony. Sun still didn’t know if Adam really had been crying after class or perhaps just screaming, but it sounded like his voice hadn’t yet recovered. "Well go and spend it with your friends, then."

"Well first I might need a few. And hey, you do too!" Sun explained. "Seeing as we're in the same boat, why don't we - ?"

"I'm not sitting with you."

"Aw, don't be like that!" Sun shoved his shoulder, which Adam clearly did not appreciate. He remained in position, stonelike. So, Sun ran a hand through his hair and just about managed a chuckle. Then, because of course he couldn't figure out what else to say, he jumped onto a new idea - jokes! Everybody loved a good joke! "Knock knock."

"...Are you really doing this."

"C'mon, man! Knock knock!"

Adam stared. "Who's there."

"The interrupting sheep!"

Adam looked as though he wasn't even breathing. "The interrupting sh - "

"Baaa!"

Yang and Pyrrha glanced over from their table, stared at Sun, before going back to their conversation. Adam didn't budge an inch, his mouth didn't shift. He could have very well been made of porcelain.

Sun glanced at Neptune for help, who had his head in his hands and was contemplating just about his entire life.

"Hm, well... Why did the skull NOT go to the party?"

"...Why."

"He had no-BODY to go with!"

Adam continued to stare. Neptune hit his forehead against the edge of his table.

"Okay, okay, do you at least wanna hear the joke about paper?"

"I feel like you're going to tell me anyway."

"Nah I won't bother - it's tear-able!"

Adam continued to stare until Sun was sweating in his shirt. He tried to keep a brave face, his smile big enough to take up more space than it usually would, but being under silent scrutiny from that pale face, those obscured eyes that could hold so much weight without a second thought, began to lay heavy on him. Who was this dude? What was his deal? And why was Sun so eager to find out what was under that faded, fraying ribbon...?

"I'm just... Going to eat my sandwich now." Adam said with a note of finality.

Sun knew he'd outstayed his welcome, so he stood up and gave an awkward pat on Adam's shoulder. "Well okay! Uh, if you ever, ya know, wanna hang out, me and Neptune are always open! Okay?"

Adam took a pointed bite of his sandwich, and a defeated Sun sulked his way back to his table.

"That was just about the cringiest thing I've seen you do." Neptune said between his hands.

"Well at least I tried!" Sun exclaimed, probably louder than he should have. "You just sat there!"

"Not everyone wants to be a bro, Sun." Neptune rolled his eyes.

"Well... I disagree." Sun crossed his arms, his eyes taking in the red and white embroidery on the back of Adam Taurus' jacket. Some people wanted to be a bro. In fact, a lot of people did. They just weren’t sure how to go about it. And sure, Adam was… weird . And quiet. And angry. Really… really angry…

But Sun was fascinated by him. So a bro he was going to become.

Or a prank target. It was his choice.

Chapter Text

Sun

Sun snorted awake, his tail wagging away the remnants of his dream. The blurry world bled into focus around him as he awoke, and with muscles that had forgotten they were muscles, Sun pushed himself up out of bed. The bed itself was so unlike what he was used to. His mattress back home had never been changed out, they never managed to find the time nor the money, and it was always hard on his back. He’d learned soon enough to sleep just about anywhere; in fact, Neptune often teased him for it. Up in a tree, under a desk, anywhere with a solid surface was a bed.

These mattresses, on the other hand, were like marshmallows under his body. The moment he laid down, Sun had completely sank into the softness of it. It was devilishly hard to wake himself up with how comfy he was, but the downside was the lack of support. His pillow must have fallen off the bed as he slept, and so his neck ended up in an uncomfortable position all through the night. Aches ran between his shoulder blades and up his neck right to the base of his skull, and he grumbled as he gingerly rubbed away at it.

He glanced around the room. The dormitory, one of many at Beacon Academy. The one Performer’s Academy that had accepted him and Neptune. As the information rushed back into his brain, so too did the excitement of it all. He was truly here.

Sun looked over to the browning flowers in the bin, and then to the bed shoved into the corner. Adam was already gone, his pyjamas folded in a rush and dropped at the end of the bed. Had he gotten up super early?

Sun looked over at the clock on the wall. 8:53am.

He was going to be late for class. And even worse, he’d missed breakfast! FREE breakfast!

With a yelp he hopped out of his bed, throwing on the same clothes he’d had on yesterday. Neither of them had properly unpacked when they’d arrived, with Adam’s suitcase half-open at the side of his bed and Sun’s duffle bag still where he had dropped it. He didn’t even know what his parents had packed into it, if he’d really been given all his clothes and things or if most of his stuff had truly been given to his younger siblings. Quite frankly, he didn’t have the time to risk looking for a pair of undies in there – he didn’t have time to unpack any of it, physically or emotionally.

He did grab a banana from the kitchenette before he rushed out of his dorm, down the hall and out of the red-striped exit. Thankfully, it was a short trip from there and back to the LR main area. The studio door was already wide open, although Prof Branwen was nowhere to be seen. However, most of Sun’s classmates were already outside. The others, he could only assume were in the studio or even later than he was.

Pyrrha, the pretty one (although honestly they were all pretty), was sat on one of the benches dotted around the area. She was clearly trying to make polite conversation with Blake, the smile on her face not unlike what you’d find on a retail worker, while Blake receded further and further into her book. Ruby joined the table, much to Pyrrha’s relief. Sun could just about hear the girl enquiring about Blake’s book, but as he went to draw closer he felt a tug on the crumpled collar of his shirt.

“At last, he rises.” Neptune smirked.

“There you are!” Sun punched Neptune in the arm. “Why didn’t you wake me up, asshat?!”

“I tried! Your hothead roommate locked the door after himself so I couldn’t go in!”

Sun huffed. “You coulda just asked him to unlock it.”

“I did. He growled at me.”

“...Ah.” Sun frowned, tail swishing in agitation.

“Eh, nevermind.” Neptune shrugged, before lowering his voice. “Branwen’s gone off to who-knows-where, making us all promise again to not kill each other while he was gone... it all still feels kinda tense this morning.”

“What kinda tense?”

“The kinda ‘we’re all waiting around for Emo Chic and Hothead to actually murder each other’ tense.”

“There’s something going on with those two.” Sun shook his head, before marching straight over to Blake.

“Sun what’re you – oh for crying out loud...” Neptune followed miserably.

“Ladies.” Sun sat on the edge of the table, greeting the trio. Both Pyrrha and Ruby looked straight up at Sun and Neptune, while Blake seemed to inspect them more with her ears than her eyes.

“Good morning.” Pyrrha greeted the pair, seemingly relieved from the task of carrying the bulk of the conversation.

“Ready for another day of being awesome?” Ruby sat up, her smile wide and her eyes glimmering like a sea of melted metal.

“Heck yeah!” Sun grinned. “Where’s your uncle? If we’re the bad kids, should we really be left unsupervised?”

Pyrrha looked decidedly agitated by the label Sun had collectively given them all, meanwhile Blake gave up on her book and shut it. “We’re all adults, he trusts us not to do anything stupid.”

“Really? Because last time I was unsupervised, I blew up a portion of a building.” Sun gave a cheeky grin.

“You weren’t unsupervised,” Neptune reminded him, “you were just out of reach.”

“How did you explode like that? Your Semblance?” Ruby asked, her eyes wide at the spark of violence.

“Oh, Fire Dust! Our old teacher was being a total hag, making jokes about me being a Faunus, so I got back at her. A bit too much, though.”

“You should have reported her.” Blake frowned sadly. “Still, I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

Sun waved her off, deciding to actually sit on the bench while Neptune leaned on the edge of a trash can nearby. “So! What about you guys? How did you lot end up here?”

Silence fell upon the table then. Blake’s ears went down, Pyrrha stared at her hands, but Ruby simply shrugged. “Uncle Qrow said that if I was going to be bumped up so many grades, I should be supervised by him. He’d been training me ever since I was tiny.”

Sun noticed the silence from the other girls, but focused on Ruby. If there were really bad vibes around, he didn’t want to make it worse. “Aw, that’s awesome!”

Ruby nodded happily. “I was total garbage before he took me under his wing, but now I’m all like whoa and whapoosh !” She made several choppy moves with her arms, and Sun chuckled.

“Your style does remind me of him.” Pyrrha did add, “I saw one of his shows when I was your age. The way he can balance himself is like magic.”

“Oh, it’s all about knowing how to adjust your own weight.” Ruby smiled up at Pyrrha. “You gotta commit to what you’re about to do and throw your whole self into it! But if things don’t work out perfectly, all you have to do is readjust. It’s hard at first, but you get into it pretty quickly.”

“You’re so little, so there’s probably not much of you to throw about.” Neptune pointed out with a grin.

Ruby grumbled up at him. “I’m not that little.”

“Nah, remember? She’s a prodigy .” Sun mimicked Branwen’s raspy voice as he elbowed Neptune and the pair shared a small laugh.

Ruby snorted. “You’re just jealous that I can whoop butt and you can’t.”

“I can whoop butt! I totally whoop butt!” Sun argued as a sly smirk graced Ruby’s face, rounding out her cheeks with a smile.

“Oh, stop teasing each other.” Pyrrha pretended to scold the pair, putting an arm around Ruby’s shoulders. “Honestly, Sun, picking on a little kid.”

“She started it!”

“She absolutely did not.” Blake pointed out with a roll of her golden eyes.

Sun huffed, leaning back and pressing his tail against the ground to allow such movement, before diving headfirst into his real question. “So! What the fuck, by the way?”

Blake stared aimlessly at Sun. “You’re... going to need to be more specific.”

“Okay. What’s all the weirdness with you and Adam?”

Blake blinked in surprise then, before frowning. “You’re blunt.”

“Yeah, he can be.” Neptune gave Sun a quick ‘ what the fuck, dude? ’ look.

“I mean, we’re all thinking it.” He shrugged. “How come you almost committed a murder/suicide in class yesterday?”

“Bit dramatic, but yeah,” Neptune did back him up this time, “like, it definitely counted as assault and battery.”

“You both are being rather garish about the entire thing – uncomfortable as it was to watch.” Pyrrha stated.

Blake did look majorly put out by Sun’s upfront nature, but while it did seem tempting to go on the defensive, in the end she simply sighed. It took a long, awkward moment for Sun to realize she was trying to figure out a way of wording her thoughts, as there must have been a lot of them.

“You two were close?” Sun asked, his voice softer this time.

Blake hesitated, pained. “Yeah. We were close. Really close... It ended badly, though. I guess people aren’t clams. You can’t force them to open up if they don’t want to.”

Sun tilted his head at her.

She continued, her ears flicking downward briefly. “Some people just don’t open up easily. But I’ve learned that pushing through for their sake is – ”

“Invasive at best and inconsiderate at worst.” Sun stopped her, not liking the way she spoke. He didn’t know the details of what may have transpired, but he was never one to shut up if he disagreed. “People have boundaries for a reason. You gotta respect that even if you think you know what’s for the best.”

Blake actually looked offended for a few long seconds, as though she was going to stand up and argue.

But before she could even humour the notion, Neptune looked Sun up and down. “Respecting boundaries? Since when do you do that, you little bastard?”

“It’s funny when I do it,” Sun explained, “that’s different.”

“Look,” Blake finally punctured, “I thought I was doing what was right. I thought... it doesn’t matter. He hates me and I can’t change his mind about that.”

Sun nodded, empathising with the way Blake seemed to deflate, to sink into a shadow of herself. He hated that darkness. So he sat up straight and smiled. “I know I’m his dormmate, but... that doesn’t have to make things awkward between us. I mean, we can still be friends, right?”

Blake looked at Sun cautiously. “I thought I was invasive at best and inconsiderate at worst.”

“Pfft, that’s not who you are, that’s just what you did - or might’ve done, I dunno. Besides, something you did ages ago isn’t exactly proof that you’re still an ass. You at least seem like you’re trying to be better, and that’s good enough.” He smiled.  “Plus, Faunus gotta stick together! Am I right?”

Blake seemed soothed by his words, if only by a fraction. “On that note... have you had to cut holes into all of your pants?”

Sun opened his mouth to form some kind of response, taken aback by the question. “Huh?”

“Your jeans. You’ve clearly cut a hole in them for your tail, but it’s frayed so much we can all see you’re not wearing underwear.”

Sun went pink at Blake’s blunt assessment, meanwhile Neptune and Ruby chortled. Pyrrha stared at Blake in surprise at her honesty.

“I’m only bringing it up because I know a place that can help.” She added quickly. “It’s a Faunus-exclusive fashion store, they have a location in Vale. It’s mostly dedicated to women, and it’s a small business, but they’ve expanded a lot over the years. They’re great at making things to accommodate our traits, and they even do custom orders. If you give me your scroll number, I can send you their details.”

Sun brightened at her help, thanking her and taking out his scroll. Soon enough, that resulted in everyone at the bench exchanging numbers.

“Should we make a group chat, too?” Pyrrha brought up. “To keep everyone in the loop?”

“Yeah!” Neptune nodded. “The Last Resort Chat!”

“I already have Ren and Nora’s numbers. I’ll put them in, too.” Pyrrha excitedly started making the chat on her own scroll.

“I’ve got Yang’s.” Ruby nodded, helping add it to the chat. All their scrolls began to ping with the notification that they’d been invited.

And so, aside from Weiss and Adam whom nobody had spoken to much yet, everyone in their little class was a part of the chat. Pyrrha had even used a photo she’d taken of the outside of their studio as the chat’s main image.

So, with everyone’s spirits heightened and the tension eased bit by bit, Sun went into the studio, leaving behind Neptune who wanted to chat more with the girls (because of course he did).

The studio, their studio, was alight with energy, the sound of spinning, swishing, all stained by the added sound of frustration.

Yang let out a roar in a corner of the room, her hair becoming alive with flame as she continued to spin and spin and spin, but her feet just wouldn’t allow her to remain in that position after the third or fourth rotation. She grabbed at chunks of flaming hair, her fists surprisingly not burning up at the touch of direct flame, and she yanked the golden locks up into a high ponytail and continued until there was nought but a firework flowing down from her head.

Ren accidentally smacked Nora in the face as they tried a new routine, and she looked on the verge of tears. Ren desperately tried to help her calm down, and Sun noticed with intrigue that when their hands linked together, the pair became consumed by a grey filter. It was as if they were no longer there, mere ghosts of themselves. Slivers of magenta bled over Ren’s body, letting Sun know that this was his doing. They weren’t the tell-tale signs of a low Aura, though; it was merely a reaction. Aura flickers were odd occurrences, only really happening if you activated your Semblance too quickly, but at least Sun took comfort in knowing the guy wasn’t hurting. Because he was worried, especially after yesterday. He made a mental note to check in on his future friend to see if he was truly okay.

Weiss, meanwhile, was holding onto the rail by the huge mirror, lifting herself higher and higher towards the tips of her toes, only for her leg to wobble at the last minute and all her weight to crash back down. She took several deep breaths in place of screaming. Screaming probably would have helped more, though.

Everyone was struggling, it seemed. But not Adam.

Sun looked over to him, staring up at strands of seemingly-delicate silk. Pure white, and miles sturdier than anyone gave them credit for. Sturdier for sure than his own ribbon that covered his face and ended at the back of his head in a carefully crafted knot. It wasn’t something one could just loop their fingers through and unravel, it was designed to remain steadfast, to remain invincible to those who wished to undo it – not that Sun had any desire to do so anyway.

He was tall. He was exceptionally tall. Sun realised properly then that he was taller than even their Professor. His jacket, embroidered in flicks of red and white, was clipped accurately around his figure, coming away from him like a second skin as he slipped it off and chucked it onto a bench. Beneath that was a shirt, blouse-like almost in its cut, only it folded around Adam’s chest and was tied away by his side. It was far deeper in its crimson tone than the other accents on his outfit, as though the other reds were a fresh blood and this, this was aged. It suited him.

Sun swallowed dryly, coming back to himself and glancing around the room to see if anyone had caught him staring, but luck was on his side that day as everyone was still caught in the whirlwinds of their own frustrations.

So, not wanting to push that luck, Sun sat on a bench and began to fiddle with his shoes, giving him just a bit more time to watch the figure in crimson as Adam took handfuls of silk, flicking his hand just so to allow the fabric to twirl around his wrist. And he began his silent ascension up the silk, barely making use of his legs for now as his arms were more than capable of holding his weight. And the way his back moved clear as day under his shirt, on display for all to see... it was an art in and of itself, seeing muscles tense, seeing shoulder blades move beneath what Sun imagined to be creamy skin, until Adam let himself tilt in order to begin wrapping the silk intricately around his feet and up one thigh. Sun gripped his shoes, hoping the flush rising through his face was nothing more than the simple act of being impressed. After all, this was his first time seeing an aerial silk dancer! It was nothing more than that, he was just astounded at Adam’s strength!

Adam looked over at the people now beneath him, and watched himself in the wall mirror. And then, without any more thought, he began to angle his hips forward, then back, forward and back in a rhythm until he was swaying, bending his knees and straightening them out again until Sun realized what he was doing. He was rocking himself, like a child on a swing set. Sun had to smile at that – Adam wasn’t really practising, he was simply enjoying himself. Enjoying the rewards earned to him through his skill and hard work. That was one of the best things about these crafts, being able to simply dance and hop and skip with all the grace in the world – just for fun.

He was too enamoured by the display of gentle fun that he almost didn’t notice Prof Goodwitch arriving at last, in a rich purple leotard with silvery laced sleeves. She was the tallest woman Sun had ever seen, towering over Branwen by her side like he was nought more than a teenager to her.

She looked up at Adam before shaking her head, putting her glasses away, and making her own climb upward with a grace that damn near rivalled Adam’s at double the speed. While Adam had been leisurely with his movements, taken his time, she was a woman who had places to be and no patience for nonsense on the way there.

Sun saw how Adam stopped, how he watched the woman join his side from under his blindfold. He remembered how Adam had reacted to seeing her in the flesh – well, almost – only a day ago. This meeting, despite its sudden coming, likely meant more to Adam than Sun could even predict.

“I don’t see why you intend on wasting your time during practice,” she berated him, clearly not bothering to care who else could hear, “you can have fun after school hours. But for now, you need to be more serious with your training. You need to be more daring.”

Adam stared at her, the same way he’d stared at Sun at lunch, but while Sun had shrank away under that gaze, Goodwitch gave a pointed look back as though a thousand children before Adam had cast her that same stare. But what she couldn’t have anticipated was Adam letting go.

His hands slipped from the silks and he tumbled down, spinning manically as he fell. She cried out in brief panic, reaching for him, but he was out of her reach, and Sun’s heart was in his throat, his blood shot to boiling point at the drop of a hat. Branwen’s head snapped over, his eyes widening as he watched the fall helplessly, all panic and dread within the space of a few measly moments. Adam’s hands didn’t even reach to grab at silk as he tumbled downward.

But Adam never hit the ground.

Nay, he never even reached the safety net. The way he’d tied the silk around his ankles, around one thigh, prevented any casualty. His free leg was crossed over the bound one, gripping the silk expertly, and Adam shot a wry smirk at Goodwitch from several metres below. “Is this daring enough for you, Professor?”

A quiet unease locked the classroom, all eyes on the student and the teacher as though they were held hostage by the silence, a scene in a snow globe. Adam was still smirking even as Branwen walked over to the silks, close enough to touch the safety net.

But then, Glynda smiled.

And then, she grinned .

And with that, Adam’s own smirk wobbled in confusion, staring up at the woman as she began to slink down the silks, barely moving her posture, merely feeding the material through her hands as she lowered herself to Adam’s level.

“Do not.” Qrow breathed.

“Well,” Glynda gave an airy reply, “if he’s so skilled already...”

“Glynda, don’t.” Qrow levelled his eyes at her.

Glynda began to tilt, to rotate, until she too was upside down with Adam. She stared at the student not unlike the way a snake may stare at a cornered mouse, and Adam fit the paired role as much as she did, his cockiness now nowhere to be seen.

Glynda crossed her arms, her entire weight held up by her legs alone. “Would you like to dance with me?”

Adam stared, his head cocking to Branwen briefly as if looking for guidance. “This feels like a trap.” He replied honestly.

Glynda hummed. “As smart as you are talented. So you’re the hothead my colleague was telling me about. Mr Taurus, wasn’t it?”

Adam stilled.

“I’m – ”

“I know who you are.” He spoke finally. “You’re Glynda Goodwitch. You’re one of the most well-known silk dancers in Remnant.”

“My reputation precedes me.” She responded, as if their conversation was private, as if they weren’t both hanging upside down in front of the class like overgrown bats. “You should come down. Your forehead is starting to go about as red as your hair.” She untangled herself with ease and dropped onto the safety net. Branwen could only laugh as he held out a hand to the woman, helping her off as Adam, too, dropped down with a hurriedness Sun hadn’t yet seen from him.

“Everyone!” Branwen clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention – including those currently outside. Once everyone was surrounding the pair of Professors, Branwen gestured to Glynda like she was the star of the show. She was a massive woman in her height, taller even than Adam and certainly Branwen at 6’5 feet. “This is Professor Goodwitch. After that absolute wreck of a routine yesterday, I figured I’d need to enlist some backup. Same rules, same routine, same – ”

“You’re not making them play Spin The Bottle.” Glynda glared daggers at Branwen, before addressing the class personally. “Ignore him. We’ll be taking today’s route in a more traditional sense. Line up and get ready to engage. Now.”

Nobody was eager to make Glynda wait, and as such they rushed into positions, lining up by the mirror.

“After yesterday’s assessment,” she announced, “I’m going to take some educated guesses on who’ll be working with who. Leaving things to chance will only ever result in failure.”

“Thanks.” Branwen added.

Glynda happily ignored him. “Miss Belladonna?”

Blake perked up, watching the tall woman. “Ma’am?”

“You’ll be working with Miss Schnee today.”

“Um, excuse me?” Weiss raised a hand. “Don’t we get a choice in the matter?”

“Oh? Do you happen to take issue with Miss Belladonna?” Glynda pointed her question at the Schnee. “Or do you take issue with my decision-making?”

Weiss hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment. “I don’t exactly feel comfortable working with members of the White Fang. I’m sure that should be understandable.”

That was a name that wasn’t thrown about too much in Vacuo, so Sun hadn’t heard much about them. All he’d known was that they were always there to help the Faunus, although they had been much more prevalent in the past when times were tougher and laws were looser. They were still certainly about, though, and because of them, Faunus communities across the globe were more integrated into the rest of society. Nothing was perfect, as Sun knew, but it was at least better.

In fact, Menagerie was no longer seen as just a place to send off Faunus folk who ‘didn’t like’ the other Kingdoms, and was seen in all ways other than its title as a Kingdom of its own. The last that Sun had heard of the White Fang was that they were well on their way to building an official Performer’s Academy exclusive to Menagerie, even looking into more ways to make the courses more accessible for those with the most unusual of Faunus traits.

“Excuse me?” Blake flattened her ears at Weiss’ comment. “My family’s organisation helps people. What about that makes you uncomfortable?”

“I am uncomfortable because you people are violent and petty.” Weiss explained with an air of elegance unfitting her views.

Adam snorted, his mouth forming a shape that couldn’t be distinguished between a smirk and a snarl. “Oh this is rich; turns out the Princess of Menagerie and the Princess of The Mines don’t like each other.”

Both girls glared at Adam, and Branwen pinched the bridge of his nose. But before either teacher could cut in, Weiss straightened her back and continued. “All you people do is complain that the world isn’t fair enough for you! That my father’s company is still too cruel! And I’m not a Princess; I’m an Heiress – ”

“The world isn’t fair and your father’s company is cruel!” Blake spat back. “And you’re neither of those things – you’re a brat!”

Sun and Neptune shared a look.

“Guys, please - !” Ruby tried cutting in.

“How dare you! He pays you lot the same wage as everyone else!” Weiss cut over her.

Blake’s pupils narrowed down to slits. “No he doesn’t! It’s been proven that he doesn’t!”

“He actually doesn’t, to be fair.” Adam butted in again, thoroughly enjoying the argument in a weird way. “I worked for your shitty company, I would know.”

“Would you stay out of this ?!” Blake snarled at Adam, who only served her a shit-eating grin.

“See? You’re already at each other’s throats!” Weiss pointed at the pair as if they’d just proved her point.

Suddenly a sharp smack came down on the rail by the mirror, and everyone jumped several feet away. Glynda’s knuckles were white as she held a deep brown riding crop, its fabric end purple in colour. Her eyes were like green flames. “I have had enough of all of this. This reflects on all of you ." She looked first to Weiss who had jumped furthest away. “I’m disappointed but not surprised that you’ve adopted such an outdated worldview. But if you so sincerely believe it, I’ll have you repeat what you’ve said today to Headmaster Ozpin after this first period.”

“What?!” Weiss looked to Branwen as if he would side with her. In a bizarre twist of events, he didn’t. He simply glared at her behind Glynda. “But it’s not outdated! They’re a violent organisation! It’s backed by history and – !”

Glynda smacked her riding crop back down onto the rail. Then, she slowly closed the space between herself and Weiss, her huge stature dwarfing the Schnee. “If you’re so worried about working with a violent Faunus student... I suppose you’ll have to dance with me today.”

Weiss paled – well, as well as she could given she was already the colour of skimmed milk.

“I’m a human, after all. Surely I’m not violent, or threatening.”

Weiss looked over at her classmates. At Blake’s reddened face and flat ears, Ruby’s disappointed frown, Adam’s vicious grin, and finally at Branwen again.

“Well, thank the gods you have standards , eh?” He smirked at her.

Weiss turned pink, and looked away, refusing to answer.

Gylnda at last turned to Blake, who was red in the face not from embarrassment but from anger. “Well,” she spoke in a softer tone, “at least I already had Yang as a backup for you. Hm?”

Blake looked up at Glynda, before taking a deep breath and nodding. Yang tentatively put a hand on Blake’s shoulder in support. It felt as though the entire class took a breath of relief, and Sun leaned back on the mirrored wall. Were they not going to have one period without a fight? Not even his high school in Vacuo had this many sparks flying. Maybe he’d have been more amused by the in-fighting if he hadn’t been directly in the crossfire. His tail swished anxiously by his ankles.

“Now...” She looked over the students with her composure once again in her firm grasp. “Mr Ren?”

“Uh, it’s me, uh – ”

“I spoke with Professor Branwen and we agreed that today you’ll be having a one-on-one session with him, in order to accommodate for your needs.”

“Last time he had a breathing attack.” Nora warned, holding Ren’s hand.

“It’s why I want to get a proper assessment on him.” Branwen assured her with a much gentler look. “So we can go forward in this class with his best interest in mind. Just for today, at least.”

Ren gave Nora a reassuring look, before turning to the professors. “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all we can ask of you.” Glynda smiled, before continuing. “And Miss Valkyrie, you’ll be with Mr Vasilias today. I want to give you both a challenge.”

Nora turned to Neptune like he was her next meal. Neptune very clearly thought the same thing, and looked to Sun for help. Sun only snorted.

“Miss Nikos, I want you teaming up with Miss Rose today. You both seem like you’ll learn a lot from each other without anything... too catastrophic happening as a result.”

The two looked happy, and so finally Glynda turned to Adam and Sun. “Mr Taurus, I was planning on taking you on personally today, but it’s clear that my attention is needed elsewhere. So you’ll be with Mr Wukong today.”

Adam’s expression soured, and he turned his head slowly to Weiss. “ Thanks . Thanks a fucking lot.”

Weiss clenched her jaw as she met what she assumed were Adam’s eyes, before she looked away and tilted her chin in the air. And so the groups dispersed through the hall, and a more neutral melody from more classical times began to play through the speakers. It was definitely not Sun’s vibe, but he tilted his head back, shut his eyes, and tried to find a beat he could move to. He could almost see the instruments in his mind’s eye; long fingers twitching excitedly over a piano, drums being beaten into melody, the tap of a golden triangle, hands plucking the strings of a guitar, gloved hands - 

When he opened his eyes, his blood warmed by the music and his Aura exciting his veins, he found most of the other groups already finding their footing with one another. Pyrrha making a point of admiring Ruby’s talents - the child was very good - while Nora actually worked well with Neptune, amused by the bizarre sway of swing. And their professor had stuck to his word, treating Ren far more gently than his niece had, even stopping from time to time to assess his footing and give him tips on how to throw and draw his weight back to himself to alleviate his breaths.

Where was his own partner, though? Sun looked around and, sure enough, Adam was by the ribbons, gently wrapping them around his hands, taking a few steps around the safety net to get a feel for the weight of the material in his grip. Sun sighed. Had Adam never danced with anyone before?

After that explosion from before, with him and Blake… it seemed to have echoed something. Like they’d done it before. So Adam must have known how to work with partners… did he just not like Sun?

Impossible. Everyone liked Sun. They either liked Sun or they were stupid.

So Sun went over to the safety net and leaned on it. “Hey, dude.”

Adam looked down at him. “Hello, stowaway .”

Sun smiled. “C’mon down. Lemme show you how it’s done.”

“You think you’re better than me at this sort of thing?” Adam didn’t sound offended. He didn’t even sound annoyed. Actually, he sounded amused, the corners of his mouth even threatening to turn upwards.

“Well, prove me wrong.” Sun jumped back, putting his hands on his hips. Adam scoffed, but he did indeed come down from his haven of ribbons.

Sun held out a hand to Adam, and when the guy hesitated, Sun thought back to every time he’d done this before. Every time he’d put a hand on Adam, even suggested physical contact… Adam had shrunk back. Sun wanted to know why he was so stiff around others. He was at an Academy, so it certainly wasn’t from lack of talent (not if Glynda Goodwitch had taken notice of him, after all). 

And when he was with Blake, as violent as it was, the dance did work in a strange way. There was certainly a sense of staccato rhythm, but with Adam’s Semblance, he made it work, moving between every note as though the music had been his and his alone. There, he wasn’t hesitant, he wasn’t stiff, but when he wasn’t dancing… he was like a stick. Static and painfully upright.

So, Sun waited for Adam. He waited with his hand outstretched, with a single breath hovering between them. Was Adam looking at him now? It was hard to tell, save for the single feeling of something lingering in Sun. The hairs on his arms stood on end as Adam stood before him, weighing out his options.

Then, at last, Adam took his hand. Sun grinned, his other hand reaching over like a hidden weapon and landing on Adam’s hip to pull him close. Stiff and awkward or not, Sun was sure to brush that away the same way one does to a blanket of frost over a roof. 

Adam wasn’t one to be lead, it seemed. His own free hand grabbed Sun’s side, a little under his armpit, and he swung them both around to steal to gravity from beneath Sun’s feet. For a moment, he was one with every beat of music, every plucking of string, every tap of piano keys. Adam’s feet danced Sun over each beat with no hesitation, pure fluid motion that so harshly juxtaposed the transition he made with each step. He didn’t even need to use his Semblance to flash around their corner of the studio, and like a leaf caught in a river jumping lanes, Sun was caught along for the ride.

For a shining while, Adam was truly confident in his every move. But Sun wasn’t going to be shown up by some tall grumpy guy (who actually smelled really nice this close), he was Sun Wukong and he was about to tell that to the whole world. So as Adam moved to hop into a new twist, to move Sun around him like he was in orbit, Sun instead tightened his grip on Adam’s hip and yanked him close. 

He smirked in the moment Adam had to take to catch his steps, and he tapped his feet ever back behind himself, forcing Adam to follow like they were stuck together like glue. Sun was very nearly falling out of step with how quickly Adam recovered, but for some time they were a push and pull of energy, of competing magnetised steps. Sun hadn’t had this much fun in so long - 

The entire time, Adam’s lips were pressed together in a thin line. His jaw was wired shut. Sun could even see the lines in his forehead as his eyebrows furrowed. Adam looked like he wanted to run into the abyss, to smack Sun away. Fear and possibly even hatred were at war across his features (did he really hate Sun? He didn’t even know Sun), but he never did it, not at any point. He stayed. And Sun couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.

Was it Sun himself that Adam despised? Or was it the touch? Was it the way they were so close they breathed the same air, trod the same path? What was eating him away like this? How could Sun stop it?

Their chests pressed together, and Sun could have sworn he felt Adam’s heart hammer against his own, panicked, violent, and then there was a bright, burning blackness. Adam used his Semblance to flash away from Sun, his breaths heavy and his hands balling into fists the moment their fingers unwound from each other.

“Adam, you alright?” Sun stopped himself from reaching out for fear that Adam would entirely shrink away into nothing.

“I uh… I’m. I’m fine.” He tried to compose himself, pale features turning pink with exertion and the sharp rise in his body temperature.

“You wanna go slower? I think you - ”

“I’m fine .” Adam pressed, cutting the conversation short. “I’m going to get a drink. Entertain yourself for a while.” And with that, he left the studio.

Sun sucked in a breath, half offended, half confused. Had he done something wrong? He couldn’t think of a single thing on his end that would have caused Adam to not like him… Is it because he was nice to Blake? He wasn’t going to stop being nice to someone because it pissed Adam off.

But… something in Sun’s brain told him it was something else entirely. He wondered briefly if he ought to follow Adam for answers. He looked back to the rest of the room to see if anyone else had noticed Adam’s departure.

He looked over first at Weiss with Glynda. The teacher was running the girl absolutely ragged . Her perfect head of hair was frizzing from sweat and her silver ornament was tangled in the locks of white, her cheeks were a painful pink from over-exertion, her legs were shaking from overuse. “Isn’t this so much better than working with someone violent ?” Glynda asked as she activated her Semblance, yanking Weiss into an upright position by focusing on pulling her belt. “Ready? From the top...”

Blake and Yang, meanwhile, seemed well suited to each other. Blake had pulled out a long black ribbon, not unlike the one Adam kept around his eyes, although hers was in much better position and attached to a finely-crafted black stick. “This is what I call Gambol Shroud… bit of a silly name, I know.”

“I like it, actually,” Yang responded, “sounds like something from a fantasy novel.” 

So, for a brief while, Sun watched the girls dancing, Blake expertly twirling Gambol around Yang while she followed it, a back and forth blooming between the pair in a way that almost, almost , echoed her dance with Adam. But here, they both looked happy, playful even.

Nobody had noticed Adam was gone.

Perhaps nobody would notice if Sun slipped out as well, then.

“I haven’t dismissed you.” Qrow’s voice caught Sun’s attention. Sun looked behind the professor to see that Ren was sitting out briefly to take sips from a can of energy drink, cheering on Nora as she and Neptune found a clumsy, although very fun, rhythm together. “Where’s your partner? Did he storm out again?”

“No, as a matter of fact.” He puffed out his chest at Qrow’s accusatory tone. “He went to get a drink.”

“Ah. So he hadn’t attempted to murder you while my back was turned.”

“No! We actually did really, really well together.”

Qrow raised an eyebrow at Sun, and smirked as he took a long swig from his flask.

Soon, though, the silence got the better of Sun, and he asked, “hey uh, is Adam gonna be okay? With all the attention from Glynda? You seemed pretty…”

“Hesitant?” Qrow gave a raspy chuckle. “I dunno, kid. He made the worst mistake of his life today.”

“What?”

Qrow looked behind him at Glynda as Weiss’ stamina finally started to give out. “He showed Glynda he had potential. It’s why she’s so zoned in on him now.”

Sun gave a little pout. “You realize that kinda implies that she thinks we all suck, right?”

“Oh don’t worry, everyone does compared to her, that’s normal.” Qrow said casually, standing by Sun to watch over the class as a bird does over its chicks. “No, I mean on the silks. She's the only one in Vale - I’d argue in all of Remnant - who made her career on those things. There are plenty of Performers who do aerial silk routines, but they're her mainstay. It's her signature style. Hell, even now she's just doing the basics with students, what she’ll put Adam through won’t even come anywhere close to what she'd do on stage for real.”

The two stood in silence for a moment. Qrow swished the flash about in his hand, contemplating taking another drink, before putting it back into his breast pocket. “I saw it in her eyes, she’s not looked at a student like that in years, decades. She knows he has the potential to match her now.”

Sun raised an eyebrow. “Does he? Like, for real?”

Qrow pursed his lips in thought. “I dunno. But Adam’s the first one in a long while that hasn’t gotten a definitive ‘no’ from Glynda. But potential can only carry you so far. If he keeps up with that short fuse, she’ll drop him like a worm-infested apple.”

Sun made a grimace. He never really liked apples anyway. “Do you think he’ll be okay… in general?”

Qrow chuckled. “Hey, he wouldn’t be here if he was okay. Go find him for me, would ya? And don’t get in any trouble while you’re out there, kid. I could do without Oz breathing down my throat this early in the year.” And with that, Qrow went back to Ren to check if he was alright, and Sun took off out of the studio.

—

Adam

He hadn’t meant to make it awkward. Honestly, he hadn’t. 

It had just… been a while since he’d danced with someone he didn’t know, didn’t trust. He’d paid too much attention to the way Sun swished his tail to keep balance, the way he fought against every one of Adam’s move with an air of playfulness the likes of which you’d expect from a child.

Adam scowled to himself as he gathered a few bits of food from the cafeteria, placing a sandwich on his metal tray from the chilled selection laid out on the far wall. Sun’s grip had been firm, like he’d done this all through his life. He was practically joined at the waist with that human, Neptune, so perhaps he had. Perhaps this sort of thing was second-nature to him.

He packed the food away in a bag and stepped out of the cafeteria, looking over at a boisterious laughter erupting on his right. Prof Port was clutching his belly as he chortled, summoning the laughter of the group of students who stood before him. If Adam hadn’t landed in Last Resort, he may have landed in Port’s class. The students, tall boys all clad in a shirt donning a symbol of a golden bird, smirked and chuckled among themselves as they walked away from the teacher. A wannabe boy band, it looked like. One of them, the tallest, glanced over at Adam and suddenly his smile soured. Adam held the student’s gaze, as if daring him to do something, say something. “Go ahead. See what happens.”

“Cardin, one of those freaks opened up a book shop in town recently...” One of the smaller, weaker, of the group caught the student’s attention, and the group carried on their way. Adam didn’t notice he’d been gritting his teeth until he began to feel aches riding up into his cheekbones, and he unwound his jaw as he walked away, back into the Last Resort area. It was pathetic that people like that were allowed to have the opportunity to be in a school like this. Wasn’t this place supposed to promote hope? Inspiration? All that shit? How could you be hopeful, inspirational, if you were also shallow, hateful, spiteful?

Adam himself was spiteful, too, though. Sometimes he wondered if he was any better because of it.

He spotted Sun and Neptune under the dead tree in the middle of the area, Sun sitting on the top of the bench and Neptune sitting like a normal person. It brought Adam’s mind back to other things. More recent things. The swishing of the tail. The playfulness. How easily they collided.

He wasn’t sure if he liked how quickly Sun had adapted to him, or how quickly he’d adapted to Sun. He wasn’t sure he hated it.

Sun turned suddenly as if sensing Adam’s thoughts, and a bright smile awoke on his features. His eyes were dark, so dark. If they were brown, it was the deepest shade of brown Adam had ever seen. But they held so much light, like a star at midnight. Why was he smiling at Adam like that? They weren’t friends.

Sun’s tail swished as he waved at Adam. “Hey man! I saved you a seat!”

Adam blinked in surprise. What was Sun’s deal? At every turn, he’d been welcoming, honest, kind. Why was he being kind to Adam?

It was a trap. It had to be. Adam had it all figured out.

He played along this time, walking over to Sun as Neptune gathered up his trash. “I’m uh, I gotta throw all this away.” He got up just as Adam sat down; Adam noticed. “Besides, if I don’t introduce myself properly to the ladies, they might never look my way again.”

“Go live your dream, man. You gonna go for the ice queen?”

Neptune shook his head. “Nah. Blondie’s more my thing. I love a woman who can kick my ass.”

Sun laughed, waving Neptune off before looking back at Adam happily. After that morning’s... situation, things had been awkward in the studio. But Sun looked so happy now. Had he read too deeply into it, or was Sun trying to cover up his distaste?

“Did you want something?” Adam asked.

“Why’re you wearing gloves?” Sun responded, “your hands must smell so gross, dude.”

“Oh that's just so I don't feel the things I touch. Ever.” He thought. “A nice comfortable layer of separation between me and this terrible fucking world.”

“It's to prevent friction burns on the silks.” He said out loud. “Goodwitch wears them for the same reason.” He pondered, for a moment, if it would at least be safe to admit that a big reason was also that he simply wanted to emulate the woman he admired so dearly, but that was something he also chose to keep to himself. “Besides, I just like them.”

“You like smelly hands?”

“I like my gloves.” Gods, this was going to be a long day.

“Is it ‘cause you’re cold, too?” Sun popped open a can of cherry soda. “I’m from Vacuo and holy crap it’s cold here. But Vale isn’t even as cold as it can get!”

“You could button up your shirt. You could wear more than literally one layer. You could go inside and leave me alone.” Adam wanted to say, though he wondered if he really did want Sun to leave. Instead, he told Sun, “It’s warmer here than where I grew up, actually.”

Sun shrugged, and they were quiet for a while. Adam realized he was still holding his bag of food, almost enough to rip the brown paper, and he set out his lunch on the bench under the soft shade of the dead tree. He wondered a little what it would have looked like when it was alive. He thought of soft shades of green, or perhaps sharpened holly leaves that snapped when you stepped on them. Or perhaps tiny, white flowers –

He didn’t want to think about that. Not right now. Not of flowers, not of blossoms, not of surgical tools and not of the ribbon secured around his features. He actually wanted Sun to talk, to say something just so he’d have something to listen to, anything.

“You’re awesome on the silks, dude.” Sun sipped his drink.

Adam looked up at him. “You think?”

“Yeah!” Sun smiled. “I’ve never ever seen someone do that in the flesh – you don’t do it like Glynda though.”

“Well, no, not yet. She’s twice my age. She’s spent one of my lifetimes and more practising.”

“No, no. I don’t mean like, your skill. I mean your style.”

“...How do you mean?”

“Well,” Sun hesitated then looking away and holding his tail as he tried to form the words, “she’s all like, swoopy and elegant and fancy. You’re like, sharper. Snappy and... stuff. I like it. It looks dope.”

Adam was quiet. It had to be a trap, no matter how genuine Sun sounded. “Thanks.”

“Do you use your Semblance when you dance? It’d look sick, dude.”

“Sometimes. When I think it’d elevate the performance.”

“You’re talking like a real Performer!” Sun smiled again. His smile was so warm, so honest.

Was it a trap?

Adam couldn’t help but chuckle. He was surprised Sun had noticed those details. “You said you’re a swing dancer.”

“Yeah! Neptune’s grandpa showed us some old videos when we were really little, and we kinda stuck to it like glue. I could teach you, if you want.”

Most of Adam wanted to retreat at that. That was normal. What wasn’t normal was the part that didn’t want to retreat, didn’t want to fall back from the offer. Dancing with Sun hadn’t been awful, after all… Actually, t didn’t feel bad at all. Sun was clearly capable, he had a very good understanding of his own body and how to use that to work alongside another person. And on top of that, he’d adapted to Adam’s own movements surprisingly fast. 

And even with all that… what shocked him most is that Sun seemed to want to dance with Adam. Like he enjoyed it. There was nothing transactional about his movements; if anything, he was just playing. Why bother being nice like that? Why go the extra step? They would have gotten through the session fine without it, and yet…

“Are you self-taught, then?” Adam dodged the offer.

“Mostly, yeah. We did have an extra-curricular thing in my middle school for a few years, like an activity club where this super cool Performer would come in and teach us a few of the basics. I got kicked out though because me and Neptune set off the fire alarm during History.”

“You disrupted the entire school for a prank. I respect that.”

“Oh no, there really was a fire. I tried to destroy my report card, our friend Sage had a lighter and hairspray, one thing lead to another and uh...” He laughed fondly at the memory. “We kinda melted a toilet seat, too. That was cool but it smelled gross.”

“Well, Stowaway,” Adam smirked and leaned on his hand, “you’ve been a delinquent since birth then.”

“Best way to be, baby.” Sun winked, letting go of his tail. “In fact, the only reason I’m here is because I exploded a lecturing hall in Shade Academy.”

“You have a knack for fire.”

“Fire has a knack for me, man. I’m innocent, I swear!”

Adam found himself laughing, almost properly. Surely he wasn’t being played this easily by some dumb blond, right?

Or maybe Sun wasn’t playing at all. The idea still seemed so ludicrous to Adam, but it was still there in the back of his mind. “So,” he followed, “how big was your report card that you had to take a lecturing hall down with it?”

Sun sighed, taking a long drink of his soda until his eyes watered from the bubbles. “Oh, dude. That time was more out of spite – sorta.”

“I do support spite.” Adam nodded. “Go on.”

“Well,” Sun carried on with big gestures, “turns out our teacher was a total bitch! She singled me out for being a Faunus even though I didn’t do anything! So, we were handling Dust, I figured if she was going to be all racist and stuff then I’d give her something to actually be shitty about. One thing lead to another and...”

“Did she get hurt in the blast?”

“Nah, she was fine.”

“Shame.”

Sun shrugged. “I don’t get it, man. I didn’t even do anything.”

“Humans are cruel.” Adam said lowly. “They always have been, and they always will be.”

“Well, not all of them.” Sun countered. “Look at our teacher, Branwen. He’s nice.”

“Give him time. He gets paid to be nice to us.”

“No he doesn’t. He gets paid to teach us.”

“Whatever.” Adam waved him off.

“Well, Neptune’s nice to me.” Sun huffed.

“He got up the moment you invited me over here.”

“You growled at him last time he spoke to you!” Sun gestured, and Adam didn’t respond. They were quiet for some time, before Sun finshed his soda and crunched the can in his hands. “I know what you’re talking about, though. It’s not fair.”

“I’ve heard there are some teachers in Atlas who refuse to teach Faunus students.” Adam curled his upper lip, enjoying the familiarity brought from the black rage in his stomach. “They say that most dance choreography just isn't suited to ‘people with extra appendages’ - I call horseshit.”

“What the fuck, dude?!” Sun frowned, crossing his arms. “If they can’t figure out how to accommodate us then they shouldn’t be teaching!”

Adam nodded, pleased to find some common ground with Sun. Then again, they were both Faunus, of course they’d find unity in suffering and mistreatment. “They recently hired a Faunus professor at the Academy, but I bet it’s just to keep the White Fang off their back for a bit longer.”

Sun scoffed. “On the subject of ‘extra appendages’ - what I really hate is how hard it is for so many of us to find clothes that actually accommodate our bodies. My parents had to shell out so much when I was growing up! Eventually they just gave me a pair of scissors and told me to make do.”

Adam gestured as though that proved his point. “We’re treated as outsiders in our own homes. We live here too, but people can’t bear to let us be comfortable or even feel safe in some places.”

“Dude it sucks !”

“I mean, is there even a single store you've seen in Vale that offers clothes you can wear with your tail?”

“Nope!” Sun replied. “It's why I don't wear underwear! Not unless I’m going to bed, anyway. And even then sometimes I don’t bother.”

“It - wait, what?”

Sun shrugged. “I just never wear underwear, dude.”

The two stared at each other for some time as Adam tried very hard to not let his mind create visuals.

“...Never?” Adam asked quietly.

“Nah. Too much hassle. Besides my jeans I’m pretty much always naked.”

“Okay so that's a thought that's just in my head forever now.”

“You’re very honest.” Adam swallowed.

“Thanks! I gotta pee.” Sun hopped off the bench and went to their dorms. Adam found himself conflicted as he watched him go. People weren’t kind. People weren’t nice. And when they were, it was because they wanted something or they had something very, deeply wrong with them.

He glanced over at Blake, sitting closer to the studio’s entrance. Ruby, the small girl, was sat with her asking about the book. That old book, with the rips in the pages and the ancient coffee ring staining the front cover. He should have known she’d have brought it with her.

He remembered when she let him borrow it. She had been kind, then. Back then he hadn’t figured out why - in fact, he hadn’t even questioned it. He almost didn’t want to give it back, because back then he saw her in the pages, in the fraying edges and smeared ink, he saw her in the rips in the pages and the ancient coffee ring staining the front cover. He loved that book.

He couldn’t stand it now.

When people were kind, it was because they wanted something or they had something very, deeply wrong with them. 

Adam finished his lunch, and realized Sun never came back. The part of him he’d been ignoring was asking to go after him, to feed into curiosity, to look for the trap that didn’t feel like a trap at all. He ignored it.

He didn’t notice he was gritting his teeth.

—

Sun

Sun flopped onto the bed with a happy sigh, paying no mind to the aches in his muscles. After lunch, Adam had danced more with him, showing much more of that Semblance – Flash-Step, he called it. And perhaps Sun was wrong, but he reckoned even Adam started having fun.

Qrow was good at picking music, it seemed. It seemed chill enough to match everyone, but there was also an undeniable kick to it that pumped up everyone’s energy levels. And Adam was fast, but so was Sun.

It had become something of a competition at some point, to see if either of them could make the other miss a beat. Adam had flashed just out of Sun’s reach, but what he hadn’t expected was Sun’s own backup – Via Sun, he liked to call it. And yet, despite his extreme reservations, especially to touch, he was happy to dance with the clones – used to it, even. 

He hadn’t said anything, but he seemed... impressed. It was hard to tell what someone who covered their eyes was thinking, but Sun reckoned he’d get used to it soon enough.

Adam was still out smoking, so Sun decided to have a shower. He glanced at the duffle bag as he got up, realizing he’d not undone it yet (and he definitely needed to wear something new). But... he hesitated. It wasn’t that he was frightened – he was The Sun Wukong, he wasn’t frightened of anything – but he was apprehensive at the thought of his parents packing his stuff away like it was nothing. Like he was nothing.

He shook the thought out of his head as though it meant little more than dandruff in his hair. They still loved him, of course they did. They still cared for him, deeply. He was their first kid. And he had brought so much trouble. Still, as Sun plopped the bag on his bed, he couldn’t stop the jittery flutter of nerves rising up through his chest as he fiddled with the zipper and fished through the bag for... anything.

He had been right from before. Most of his own clothes were missing. His favourite shirt, a birthday gift from when he was younger, was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the last time he’d seen it, Jupiter was using it for pyjamas. The row he’d had with his younger brother – and then his parents who got involved – must have kept the entire set of flats up that night.

There were only a few pairs of pants too, and two of them weren’t his. One pair didn’t even fit – it was Saturn’s, after all, and she was still in high school.

Frustrated, he upturned the bag and dropped all the contents over his bed. There were barely any clothes at all, and even less of them were going to fit properly. One of the tops, he could get away with cutting the front and wearing open all the time, but he shouldn’t have to do that. Hell, one of them was his dad’s yellowed work shirt.

The framed photograph that had always been by his bed was in there, albeit with the glass smashed from the bag being thrown about so much. It was a photo of Sun from when he was little, very little, and Jupiter himself was just a toddler. His mum, Stella, was on his right, belly already rounding out from Saturn’s oncoming arrival, and his dad, Capri, was the one holding the camera so half his face was cropped out.

Sun stared at the photo, and then at the junk now covering his bed. The rest felt like trash in that moment – toys and trinkets he and Neptune had won over the years in the local arcade, an old charger for his scroll, a portable speaker shaped like a cute monkey, his birth certificate and passport... and a candle. Granted, it was a nice candle, but that wasn’t the point. He didn’t even have his fucking toothbrush. He’d not noticed any of this on the cruise ship - he’d simply been using everything the staff left out in the rooms, the bath robes, the toiletries. To be honest it was perhaps for the best that he’d not had the courage to open the bag on the ship; this crushing wave that was sinking into him might have been too much.

And his heart did sink at the pile. Had he really fucked things up that badly? Were his parents really that cross with him? When Stella felt things, Sun had found, she felt them passionately. She loved with a fervour, but it also meant she hated just as strongly too. Her voice was often the one matching Sun’s during arguments, while his father sank back. Capri’s personality just seemed tired, and not much more. He didn’t hate things, he wasn’t strong enough to, but sometimes it made Sun wonder if he was strong enough to love.

These thoughts plagued him as he showered, using the little bottles the school provided, unscented and impersonal. Had he always been a bad kid? Had he really always made his parents angry? Was he the reason they were so tired all the time?

He tried shaking the thoughts out of his hair, tried to imagine them going down the drain with the shower water, and wrapped the bath robe around him. He also realized, then, that he had about 2 pairs of underwear to his name. He was in desperate need of a shopping trip, but he hardly even knew where stores would be in Vale. He sighed as he cleared up the crap and shoved it back into the bag, deciding to ask one of the girls for help tomorrow – maybe he’d put it in the group chat, now that he thought about it.

He was wringing water out of his tail when Adam came back to the room, glancing at the flowers still on Sun’s desk. “You should throw those out before they wilt.” He curled his upper lip. “They smell awful.”

“Whatever.” Sun frowned, kicking the duffle bag under his bed and laying down. If Adam was going to be weird and offhanded, then Sun wasn’t in the mood for it.

Adam raised an eyebrow, a hint of brown peeking out from the top of his blindfold. “What’s the matter with you?”

Sun rolled his eyes. “I’m just tired. It doesn’t matter.”

Adam was still, before he glanced at the photo that was now on the desk by the flowers. He tilted his head at the smashed glass, before looking back at Sun. Sun met his gaze (well, he assumed he did), wondering what the strange man was thinking, what conclusions he was drawing in his mind. He said nothing, however, and went to his own bed, pulling out a band top to use for pyjamas. Three flickers of candle light seemed to be the main draw of the design, with the name Mother Mother swirled around the image. It was a very old shirt, well-worn and ripped at the sleeves - although that may have been part of the design. Sun didn’t recognize the band. 

Sun rolled over to look at Adam properly, suddenly feeling bad for his tone. “Just family crap,” he finally admitted, knowing Adam was still thinking about the photo, “we have our ups and downs, but it’ll be fine. You know how it is.”

“I wouldn’t. Mine died when I was 2.” He said simply, before stopping and realizing what had slipped out of his mouth. His head snapped over at Sun, at Sun’s wide eyes. That... certainly would explain a lot. “I mean. Sorry. I’m sure your situation will be… resolved.”

And with that, Adam hid away in the bathroom to change, the confidence in his stride having fled in favour of a more awkward bumble. Sun watched him go, trying to process the strange interaction. But he was tired, he was incredibly tired. And so he flopped back in bed, thinking still of his parents, of his younger siblings, of his tiny sister who’d been given his name as if that, too, was a hand-me-down. He thought of the last things his parents had said to him. How they wanted him out, wanted him gone. How he was trouble.

Sun wondered how in all of Remnant that could be ‘resolved’. 

Chapter Text

Adam

Blake had been alone when he first saw her. She was curled up in an armchair in the corner of the lounge room, a fluffy purple throw draped over her legs. By her side, he’d spotted a pile of books, many of which with their own bookmarks peeking out from between the pages. Had she been reading them all at once?

He was still getting used to only using one eye, his other still covered in bandages, so he tried to not stagger from lack of coordination as he walked. He stood by her chair, noticing first the scent of perfume that, for once, covered up the smell of stale bleach and plastic that hospitals were known for. She smelled floral, soft, warm. Her hair was black like ink, spilling around her shoulders like puffs of smoke, her Faunus ears flicking here and there as she read. She looked pretty. She looked content. She looked... lonely. But was loneliness and aloneness really the same thing? Adam had never known how to differentiate them. Nonetheless, lonely or alone, she was somewhere between.

She hadn’t even noticed how close Adam was to her chair, hadn’t noticed anything at all. He cleared his throat, but she didn’t even look up. “Excuse me?” He croaked, having not used his voice in so long.

That was when she finally looked up at him. Her eyes were huge, golden, framed by thick, black lashes. He could feel the words dying in the back of his throat as she finally noticed him. “Can I... are these books, uh. Do they belong to you?” That was all he could muster.

She glanced down at the pile as if she herself had forgotten about them, and she nodded silently. Her every move, though they had a weakness to them, a frailty, also held an elegance so ingrained in the girl it was as if she’d been born that way. He wondered briefly what she was doing in this place, and if she was this pretty while ill, he wondered too what she would look like in full health. If he’d ever get to see that.

She held her voice, and Adam realised he was going to have to fill the space, to continue the conversation. He’d come over here for a reason after all.

“Oh, cool. Uh. Could I borrow one?” He finally got the words out in a way that, at last, didn’t sound like the worst thing he’d ever uttered. “I’ve read everything I’m interested in from the ‘library’.” Adam gestured behind him to the pitiful bookshelf of children’s stories and magazines that had been labelled ‘ Hospital Library (Kids) ’ in faded neon stickers.

The moment he’d been well enough to actually start walking around, Adam had been bored out of his mind. He wasn’t as frightened to sleep anymore, certain that the… nightmare, he supposed, wasn’t going to come back when he was alone, so he didn’t have to spend his days napping in the narrow hospital bed and dedicate his nights to watching, waiting. He sometimes observed the younger patients, the little kids sitting on each other’s beds and playing with toys or braiding each other’s hair or simply chatting away about nonsense. It was sweet at first, in a way. But many of the children were just like those in the orphanage, immature, spiteful, impatient. The only difference is that they had families.

So Adam got bored of watching them. He got bored of the food, bored of the books, bored of the apps on his scroll, and he certainly wasn’t going to waste what little money he had on the rentable holo-screens. So, he’d been wondering the halls of this place – as far as he was allowed to go – and just tried to find something to take his mind off... everything that had led to him being here.

And that had been when he saw her.

“Oh. Oh!” She smiled at him – what a lovely smile – and nodded enthusiastically. Like a snail coming out of their shell, she sat up and pulled the blanket away. He could just about spot the bandages around her neck, and the ones hiding under her long-sleeve top, although he tried to not look for too long, as she bent down and picked up the entire stack of books like it was nothing. “Of course. This is all I have right now, what sort of genre are you into?”

Adam noticed quickly that a lot of the titles were horror stories. ‘Children of The Grimm’, ‘Mistral’s Most Prolific Serial Killers’, and ‘Borne of Blood’ stuck out brightly. But also among them were romance stories and YA novels, none of which Adam found particularly inspiring.

“I like horror.” He nodded at her collection, although in truth he didn’t know exactly what he liked. There weren’t many books at the orphanage outside of ruined fairy tales and schoolbooks, and he’d read them all cover to back by then. “I’m fine with true crime stuff, but… that one on the top looks interesting. Can I…?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s more eldritch than true crime, but it’s definitely entertaining.” She held out ‘Borne of Blood’ to him, the front cover showing little more than a mysterious looking workshop in front of a red moon. The pages were folded in many places, the cover itself very faded and even glued in some spots. It had been well-loved by the girl. Adam wondered what that felt like; to be so well-loved that he tore at the edges. “It’s really gory, too, but the story is incredible. My dad got it for me when I was a kid.”

Adam smiled, taking the book. “I think I’ve heard of this before, but I never got the chance to read it. Thanks.”

“I hope you enjoy it. I’m in Ward 9 when you want to return it – I’m Blake, by the way.”

“Thanks again. I’m Adam. I’m in Ward 6.” He gestured down the hall.

She smiled again, swiping a lock of hair behind... a human ear. She had human ears? Was she not a Faunus? The fluffy feline ears definitely moved like they were real.

When Blake realised what he was staring at – had he been staring? – she looked away briefly, the smile washed away from her face.

“Sorry,” Adam said quickly, “I just – what, uh, what are they?”

“...A birth defect.” Blake said quietly, very quietly. “It’s a thing in my family, apparently. My grandma had the same thing. Sometimes Faunus genes go a bit weird, and you end up being born with doubles of... stuff.”

“Oh.” Was that all he was going to say? He couldn’t just leave the conversation at that. He’d clearly upset her – but how could he fix it? “That’s... really interesting. I’ve never seen it before.”

Blake nodded again, still looking a little embarrassed. “They’re non-functioning. I’m completely deaf in them. Apparently you can get surgeries to remove them, but...”

Adam tilted his head. “You shouldn’t have to.”

Blake looked back up at him, golden eyes curious.

“They’re a part of you, defective or not. You shouldn’t feel like you have to get rid of them if you don’t want to. Do you want to...?”

“No,” she answered honestly. “No, not at all. I don’t want any of that. I’ve had people tell me it’d be better, it’d make my life easier... but I’m not bothered by them. It’s always everyone else that has the issue.”

Adam nodded, glancing back down at the book. Part of him wanted to rush away, hide back in his ward. But... Blake was still watching him. She still looked so curious... so trusting. There was a sweetness to her expression, not examining him, not interrogating him with the golden glow of her eyes. Simply watching. 

So, he responded to the expression, his voice quieter than it had been before. “I don’t think you should get rid of them just for other people. If we all did that, there wouldn’t be a Faunus alive who wouldn’t have an amputation or plastic surgery.”

“I completely agree.” She turned more to Adam. “If someone told you to get rid of your horns, it doesn’t mean you should.”

“If someone told me to do that, I’d break their nose.”

Blake laughed at that, and he found himself chuckling along with her. “On that note... fair warning with that book. There’s a lot of... amputation, if you can call it that.”

“Duly noted. Thanks, Blake.”

And Adam went back to his ward, to his bed, and as he read the book he noticed many other things alongside its story. He noticed the pages that had been folded or crinkled in the past. He noticed the way the spine had been broken in multiple points. He noticed the ancient tea stain on the final chapter when he got to it.

And, then, once he was at the final page, Adam noticed a note written into the book with purple ink.

Happy 10 th Birthday, Blake! Don’t tell your mother I got you another horror story. I know how much you love the gorey stuff :^) 

Lots of love,

Dad

That made Adam stop, break away from the immersion of the story. He glanced out of the window, at the sky that was now pitch black. There weren’t many stars from where he was – Atlas in all its glory was large enough to cover half the sky – and so all there was to greet him was a sea of darkness. He tried to swallow around the lump in his throat, tried to quell the sudden heaviness in his heart.

Someone had loved Blake. Someone had loved her since she was very small.

He looked around the ward. Most of the children and teenagers were asleep, leaving him alone in the bubble created by his lamp. They were probably all loved, too. Loved and worried about and cared for. And they’d probably all been loved since they were born.

Adam didn’t know if he’d ever been loved. They’d been dead for a very long time, his parents, but he couldn’t remember if they had wanted him or not. If they had played with him, held him close, stroked his hair the way parents did in movies. If he’d ever had a book with his name written in the back of it. He didn’t even know where they were buried.

The purple words blurred wetly in his vision, and he pushed the book away before it inflicted any further harm. It hurt in the same way an anchor hurt, pulling him down into a lake of quietness. A fact he couldn’t escape.

That nobody loved him in this world. That nobody stopped to think about his presence. Not the other children in the orphanage, not his miserable co-workers in the mines who couldn’t care less that they had to work with teenagers. Not the carers who were meant to look after him. Not even the doctors who’d fucked everything up, made everything so much worse - 

Nobody loved him. Nobody loved him. Nobody loved him.

He shook his head, switching the lamp off in a hurry as he sought to escape. Adam pulled the covers over his body, his little bandaged head, and tried to think of better things. But what better things were there?

There was Blake’s smile, her little library. There were books and there were stars, distant as they were.

There were the people he’d seen dancing. The Performers who put on shows, and sang, and spread happiness through the world. He pulled out his scroll, opening up a video he’d downloaded the second it became available. A very old video of Glynda Goodwitch opening for the Vytal Festival that year.

Her entire form was wrapped in green and blue silk, and she bloomed from it like a butterfly. She spun herself to and fro in her old cocoon, all grace and strength and not a moment’s hesitation. People loved her.

Adam muted the volume, and he watched until his eye stung from the light and the need for sleep. He watched the spectacle end, he even watched as Team STRQ were introduced that year. The video’s quality was piss poor from how long ago it was, but he watched nonetheless. The dark-haired women dancing in unison, the blond man guiding them between steps, the lanky man swinging above them from a suspended ariel pole. That team had won the festival that year because of their performance, and it had been the opening student act. Nothing had topped them. People loved Team STRQ.

He wanted to be like that. He wanted to do that. He wanted to reach for those silken ribbons, to be pulled away from this place. This loneliness.

Was it wrong to want to be loved, too?

Adam placed a hand over his bandages, putting down his scroll and holding onto his horn with his free hand. He had been practising before now, every single day after school and after work, no matter how exhausted he was. He didn’t have the money to go to actual classes, not that there really were any in Mantle, but he had watched those videos obsessively until his eyes had gone red and glassy, until his long limbs ached and his skin became damp with sweat. Until red stained his shoes.

Was it wrong to want to be loved? Maybe for him. But was it wrong to want to be a star? To follow a dream?

He wasn’t going to let that be a dream anymore. He couldn’t.

__

Sun

Adam was getting better at dancing with a partner, Sun thought.

It seemed he knew where he was at with Sun. He knew what he could get away with, and what he couldn’t. He couldn’t run from Sun, for starters. He couldn’t twist out of his range (most of the time), he couldn’t ignore his partner. And, to his credit, he almost anticipated the natural unpredictability that went along with Sun’s style. 

A lot of Sun’s dancing came in the moment, erupted at the drop of a hat depending on what Sun was feeling. Adam’s style, on the other hand, didn’t seem to revolve around allowing a vibe to evolve on its own. It was sharp and followed a linear, trusted path; despite this, they found they got on well when there was music. The tracks playing from the invisible speakers were a lot more chilled out than what Glynda wanted for them, and Sun appreciated the lack of classical melodies. It seemed to allow Adam to relax a touch in those shared moments. And in those moments, he wasn’t the weird angry guy in class who had exploded in as many weeks as they’d been there. He was simply Sun’s partner.

Granted, while he wasn’t angry, he was still immensely awkward. He hesitated between steps, he cringed when Sun held his hand, he even hated his moves being mimicked. And Sun overstepped constantly, because that was all he was really able to do. He thought Adam was giving him room to come closer; instead, Adam was trying to retreat, to give himself respite from the touching, the reality that he wasn’t alone in this dance. Sun couldn’t understand it – was it Sun himself that caused this reaction? Or was it something else entirely?

What had truly happened between him and Blake? Was she to blame? Sun doubted that too; she seemed too nice to have done anything out of malice to the man. Was it someone else who made Adam this way? Or was the concept of touch, of companionship, truly that garish to him?

Indeed, Sun didn’t understand. But then, he didn’t necessarily have to in order to respect it. If Adam wanted some space, some breathing room, then Sun could learn to give him that. He doubted they’d be dancing together for very long anyway; before he knew it, Sun would be back by Neptune’s side – or maybe with one of the cute girls. 

He certainly wouldn’t mind that. Blake herself would probably be a delight to dance with. Her skills with Gambol Shroud – why did she name a ribbon? – were beyond impressive. In many ways, she was already at the level of a professional, if only she didn’t stray so far from her partner. Unlike Adam, who shrank away from contact almost as if he were flinching, Blake seemed to simply forget she’d been assigned a partner at all. No matter who it was, Ren, Ruby, Yang, someone was always left in the after-flicker of her ribbons and shadows. Sun wondered if he’d get left behind too.

Ruby, on the other hand, would be awesome to dance with. Every time they had so far, it had been a whirlwind of rose-scented shenanigans. The way she knew how to throw her body weight about her was almost magic, too. He’d seen fully-grown Performers with less precision and wits about them compared to her, and she did it all so elegantly it was as if she were born to dance. She was also super young, though. And that came out in other ways – her landing, for one. She had no clue how to finish her movements yet, and while it was hilarious watching her literally body-slam Weiss for the tenth time that lesson, it was clearly not fun to actually be in that situation (not for poor Ruby, and not even for Weiss).

And speaking of Weiss... she wasn’t cool. No, Sun definitely didn’t like that girl. She was rude and all hoity-toity and she spoke like a rich person. The way she’d spoken to Blake before really set Sun on edge around her too – he thought people in Atlas were meant to be smart, but he supposed they just told everyone they were. However, in spite of her personality, she was at least pretty, and a good dancer too. Her movements were classical, all swirls and sharp points and sophistication, and yet it felt... real. The ballerinas on TV were so precise with their technicalities that a lot of dances felt robotic, and yet... Weiss seemed to stubbornly hold onto herself with the way she moved. It was inspiring, seeing her breathe actual life into a style so many people wrote off as haughty and impossibly difficult to master. It almost made it a shame she was kind of a bitch outside of that.

Yang, though... now that was a girl who knew how to party. She was all flames and sunsets, with a proper gut-punch of a style that Sun could totally get behind. She didn’t get too caught up in the elegance of it; she kicked, she writhed, she thrusted, she felt each beat and melody with her whole body. There were definitely similarities between her and Ruby, with how they put their entire weight into things, but Yang was clumsier with it in a way that worked for her. Simply put, while Ruby was more technical and clearly happier in solitude, Yang seemed to care more about being in the moment and encouraging others to join her. Dancing badly with someone was better than dancing well by yourself.

It was wonderful, Sun thought, how one could tell so much about another student based just on how they danced. How they saw themselves, how they held themselves, how well they coped with irregularities and with people. Sun looked back to Adam. To his partner who fought to lead the way in their dance, yet flinched when Sun got too close. He wondered what it all meant. He wondered, and wasn’t sure where those thoughts took him.

He supposed it wouldn’t matter. They weren’t going to be dancing together for very long.

Qrow clapped loudly to gather the students, and Adam stepped away from Sun as quickly as he was able. Sun did try to not take offence to it, but that was all he could do. Try. The group gathered in a circle around Qrow, who looked like his usual tired self. After a few weeks, Sun was starting to get used to the man’s rugged appearance, to his weird smell. By his side stood Glynda, who had been making her presence less and less known to the class as the weeks went by, so seeing her here today took Sun by surprise.

“Alright, you little bastards. We’ve got some big news for you before your lunch break.”

“Are we getting a waffle maker?” Nora hopped over.

“The fun thing about that,” said Qrow, “is you have your own money. You can buy one yourself.”

Nora looked infinitely disappointed, and let Qrow continue.

“I had a talk with Glynda about everyone’s development,” he continued, “and we figured it’d be in everyone’s best interest to try and set you all up with each other. Seems like hardly any of you can communicate, so if you’re going to survive in the real world, you’re going to need to develop those skills fast.”

"Uncle Qrow?" Yang asked.

“It’s Professor. Remember, spitfire?”

“ Professor Uncle Qrow?

"...Yeah?" He looked somewhat defeated at that. Glynda snorted.

"Why would so much of our training focus on teaming up? Can’t we just pick our own people?"

“If it were that easy, I never would’ve met your dad.” He crossed his arms. “Being a Performer isn’t just about putting on big shows in front of people or goofing off with your pals. It’s not just fun. It’s about saving people’s lives – and saving their minds and souls from despair.” Qrow paused to look at each and every one of his students. “You’re all good kids, but you’re hopelessly stubborn right now. And if you go around starting fights with people you don’t like or start point-blank refusing to cooperate because you don’t agree with someone, you’re as good as useless to the world. Sometimes you’re gonna get called and told there's a Grimm nearby, and there's only one other Performer near enough, and it's someone you hate. And you do it anyways, because that's what you do. That's why we're here, kiddo."

Sun smiled as Qrow finished up, and he felt Ruby bouncing lightly by his side. When he looked down at her, she was beaming, and although there was nervousness on her silvery features, she still looked endlessly hopeful.

As Qrow took out his scroll, he felt Neptune take Sun’s other side, and Sun nudged his life-long friend, his brother in arms. They were going to have a beautiful career ahead of them, and despite everything, he had a feeling he was going to be put with Neptune. After all, he’d seen the guy struggling with a few of the other students he’d been paired with so far. Weiss was a no-go, Ruby and Nora were way too hyper, and he wasn’t really sure what to do with Ren. Neptune himself hadn’t ever been paired up with Adam which Sun noticed - in fact, Adam had been handed off to Sun more and more these past few lessons, and he’d noticed Qrow watching them as the days, weeks, progressed. It was… weird, to say the least.

Nonetheless, maybe Neptune was a bit weaker when it came to enthusiasm, so they’d probably see that he just worked best when he was by Sun’s side.

“Blake, for the next few weeks, I want you with Yang.” Qrow looked over at her. “You’re a good dancer, but you’re closed off. I need to see you prove you’re able to work with someone else without running off or getting overwhelmed. Got it?”

Blake blinked at being so thoroughly assessed, and all she could do was nod in reply.

“Let’s party!” Yang nudged Blake happily, which at least got a smile from the elusive girl.

Qrow continued. “Ruby, I love you and I’m sorry, but I’m putting you with Weiss.” 

Both of the short girls looked at each other in shock, before looking back at Qrow. “But – why?!” Ruby protested.

“Isn’t she a little young to even be in this class?! I was doing fine on my own!” Weiss crossed her arms.

“No she’s not and no you weren’t.” Qrow said simply. “Quite frankly, sugar cookie, I want to see you get taken down a peg. You’re not bad, but you’ve been refusing to cooperate with just about everyone. And hey – at least Ruby’s human! I know you’re... sensitive, about that sort of thing.” Qrow gave Weiss a shit-eating grin as she turned pink, and Ruby receded into her black hoodie.

“Ren and Nora,” Qrow carried on without a care in the world, “you’re already pretty capable of working with people and each other, so I’m going to keep you two together. Nora, you have a pretty good understanding of Ren’s medical limitations, and Ren, simply being with Nora at all shows me that you can work with energetic partners as long as you don’t overexert yourself, so I’m very happy with you two right now.”

Nora squeaked in delight, wrapped her arms around Ren, who nodded happily at Qrow’s assessment.

“Pyrrha... You’re doing very well as you are – on the dancing front. However, for Neptune’s benefit, I’m putting him with you.”

Neptune paused, and he shared a look with Sun. Weren’t they... weren’t they going to be put together? The best duet Remnant had ever seen? Were they really going to be torn away from each other for the rest of time?

Qrow continued as if it wasn’t tearing Sun’s world apart. “He’s barely getting by as is, but your attitude might help him get his act together.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Pyrrha smiled politely. “I’d be happy to work with Neptune.”

“But – Sun’s my friend.” Neptune blurted. “Like – like you said with Nora and Ren, we know each others limits and styles and – ”

“You don’t have a medical situation preventing you from being pushed to your brink. So far, what you’ve shown me is lacklustre while what I’ve seen from both Sun and Pyrrha especially is... promising. You need someone who won’t cut you any slack just because you’re friends.” Qrow turned to Pyrrha. “Don’t go easy on him. Break him if you have to. But I want to see some improvements.”

Pyrrha chuckled, somewhat nervously. “I’ll... do my best?”

“And so,” Qrow looked over at Sun and Adam, “that leaves you two.”

“Why us?” Adam’s words came through gritted teeth, and Sun wasn’t feeling generous enough to not be hurt by Adam’s hesitation, his remarkable affinity for pushing Sun away.

“You work well together already, whether you like it or not.” Qrow explained. “You’re both on a very similar skill level, but you both need to learn to share the spotlight. That’s the sum of it, really.” Qrow took out a flask and took a long drink, much to Glynda’s quiet chagrin.

Glynda took the lead as Qrow drank. “You’re excused for lunch now. I hope you plan to spend this time contemplating your new development and where this may lead you.”

Sun looked over at Adam as the crowd dispersed, to the sounds of hurrahs and the sounds of arguing. Did Adam really just not like him? Did he not see Sun as good enough or something?

That was bullshit. That was total bullshit.

Sun hadn’t done anything other than be nice to Adam since they’d first met, and he was just being pushed away. And now, to top it all off, he wasn’t even allowed to work with Neptune!

The feeling hung over him all through lunch, even as he sat by Neptune’s side in the cafeteria. “This is totally stupid.” Neptune lamented to him. “I mean, Pyrrha’s nice and all, but she’s not you, man. You’re my bro.”

“We’ve always worked well together! It’s not like I wanna be that guy’s partner!” Sun moaned, angrier than he realised he was. Maybe it was the stress of the move. Maybe it was Adam’s flippant attitude to him. Maybe it was Sunnybrook’s comments. 

Maybe it was the duffle bag. 

But Sun kept thinking of the way Adam had to push those words through his teeth. He kept thinking of how hesitant he sounded – how repulsed he sounded. Sun hadn’t done anything wrong, after all. Gods forbid they at least try to work together.

Speaking of which... “Where’s Adam?” He looked around the room for red hair, finding none of it belonging to his temporary partner.

“Who cares?” Neptune whined. “What is with you and that guy? First you wanna be friends with him, now you’re mad you’re partnered up with him?”

“I’m mad that I’m not with my bro.” Sun stood up. “I gotta go talk to him, clear some air between us. If we’re gonna work together, we gotta be on the same page.”

“Whatever, man. Just don’t forget about me on your way to stardom.” Neptune flopped his head against the mahogany table.

Sun sighed, putting an arm around Neptune. “Dude. Never. Bros for life.”

“...Bros for life.” Neptune tried to give him a weak smile.

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone, okay?”

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” Neptune winked, and Sun walked away chuckling even though the joy didn’t really reach all the way up.

He wasn’t sure why his feet brought him to the library, but it was the only other part of the school that was properly accessible to everyone during lunch hour. The place was empty, which didn’t surprise Sun - he’d never been super into books.

It was impressive, but not in the same way Shade was. While Shade Academy felt intimidating, rough around the edges, secretive , Beacon’s library was big and open as though implying with its layout that it had nothing to hide - that the place was welcome for each and every student. Sun could almost imagine Ozpin speaking those exact words, the odd man he was.

The ceiling was sky high, the walls a very dark wood like something about of a mystery movie, though the highest points of the building were adorned with massive windows to let in the soft light from outside. There were rows upon rows of holo-terminals and oak desks out in the open, but what Sun found himself most drawn to were the shelves of books far taller than he could ever hope to be. They were all lined up like jenga pieces, but Sun could tell he’d sooner break his leg than be able to actually tip one of those shelves over. If the builders had any sense, and Sun assumed they had, they’d have nailed the shelves into the ground too.

His gut had guided him well. Adam was looking through a series of books on a lone shelf – fairy tales, it looked like. But upon closer inspection, the stories seemed to linger less on children’s stories and more on mythology. Adam himself held a book detailing brief snippets of what Remnant knew of the God of Darkness, specifically.

The world knew Gods had come. The world knew Gods had gone. It was evident in old ruins, in the roots of many religions, even the general groundwork of the planet. But nobody knew why the Brothers had abandoned this place. Many speculated that they were waiting until the world was ‘worthy’ for their rule again. Some believed it was divine punishment, and existence in Remnant was merely a fragment of Hell (it seemed like at least a good explanation for Grimm; what were they, if not demons?). Sun himself wasn’t sure he cared at all – as far as he could tell, he was alive, and he was going to make the most of that.

“Is there something I’ve done?” Sun said out loud, alerting Adam of his presence.

Adam turned to him, looking unsure of what to do for once. “What – what do you mean?” He responded, lips parting.

“Why’re you being all hot-and-cold with me? Mostly cold, but...?” Sun shrugged, gesturing vaguely around himself as if to find some external reason for this strange build-up in emotion. Why did he care so much what Adam thought of him? It didn’t seem to matter what the reason was; he cared nonetheless. “Do you not like me or something? Did I know you from before Beacon?”

Adam was clearly not ready for this conversation, so he put the book back and shook his head. “It’s not you. I’m not giving you special treatment.”

“What, you’re just a bit of an ass to everyone?” He didn’t like the roughness in his voice but he was no longer able to hold it back. He wanted answers and he was going to get them.

“Would it matter if I was?” Adam frowned.

“Well yeah! Actually! I’ve tried to be nice to you and you’re really making me feel like I’ve wasted my time here. So tell me, dude, have I wasted my time?”

Adam scoffed, turning fully to Sun and putting a hand on his small waist.”If you want to believe I’m an asshole, then go ahead. I don’t have to prove myself to you and I don’t have to be your friend. Maybe life is easier alone.”

“Is that why you and Blake aren’t together anymore? Because it’s easier - ?”

Maybe Sun shouldn’t have said that. Maybe he really, really shouldn’t have said that.

A flash of red light and pitch black, and Adam’s hand was on his arm and they were very, very close. Close enough that Sun could feel the excited crackle of Adam’s Aura, see the flicker of it just beneath the pores of his skin. So close Sun could see the curling scar on the outskirts of Adam’s blindfold, swirled in a way he’d not often seen scars.

“Don’t. Say that. To me.” Adam warned.

“Then stop. Pushing me. Away.” Sun raised his head in defiance, because fuck it, he knew how to take a punch and he certainly knew how to give one back if it was going to come to that. “It’s going to be like, what? Two weeks? If there’s something about me that makes me that shitty of a partner to you then just tell me!”

“It’s not about you !” Adam shoved Sun back. “Since I’ve got here, all you’ve done is follow me around like I’m some kind of – !”

“I was trying to be your FRIEND, you fucking walnut!” Sun exclaimed in frustration, trying still (for some reason) to level with Adam, the strange man with those hidden eyes that narrowed at him with such intention. Sun wasn’t actually the biggest idiot on Remnant, regardless of how he so often liked to pretend he was, so with the vibes Adam was giving off he should have taken the hint and just backed away. But there was something undeniably intriguing about him, like catching a scent of heat in the icy breeze, and when Sun’s attention was captured so completely, he hadn’t much choice other than to follow it. Besides, he wasn’t going to stand here and get spoken to like an idiot by some edgelord with anger issues. “Maybe you should take your head out of your own butt and realise that we’re gonna have to work together whether you like it or not! We’re partners now, so – !”

“I don’t want a partner. I don’t need a partner.” Adam’s upper lip curled. “I got here on my own, I’m leaving on my own. Just because that old bastard decided to put us together it doesn’t mean you’re chained to me. So just back off, got it?”

Sun opened his mouth to respond, but they were both alerted by the sound of a cry, and laughter so brutish you could taste the cruelty in it. From behind the high shelves of the library, there came a girl’s whimper and the voice of a boy who sounded as though he thought he was very clever. “See? They’re real! I told you, they’re stuck to her head!”

“What a freak. What should we do with her, Cardin?” The other voice, lighter, had a drawl to it that made Sun’s skin crawl. He’d rather Adam just yell at him more than listen to anyone with a voice like that.

Adam followed the voices without thinking, and Sun followed Adam – also without thinking. On the other side of the shelves was a petite Faunus girl with long bunny ears, cornered by a pair of clearly-not-Faunus boys. They both sported grey matching shirts with a rather generic silhouette of a golden bird printed on the fronts. Sun had seen them around the campus in a group all sharing that logo, fancied themselves as some sort of boy band he supposed.

“Please, stop...” The girl clung to her book, looked as though she wanted to curl around it completely, hide away in its pages. But the bigger of the pair, Cardin, with his brown hair slicked back and his jaw chiselled to disgusting perfection, reached out and yanked her ear so hard she stumbled toward him.

And Adam lunged forward without another word, throwing his body weight into the human and sending him staggering back. His friend, Dove, jumped back, noticeably shorter than the enraged Faunus before him and – for perfectly understandable reasons – unwilling to step between Adam and his leader. Sun rushed forward, first with the intention of pulling Adam back, before his eyes caught the poor girl still stuck in the middle of the scene. She looked terrified.

Sun put a smile on his face and a hand on her shoulder, guiding her back from the fight so she was at least at a safer distance, and finally set himself by Adam’s side.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” Adam spat, upper lip curled to a sneer as Cardin regained his footing.

“Gods, you weirdos really do travel in packs, huh?” Cardin’s response came with a disingenuous huff, as though being knocked back so sharply was more of an inconvenience than the threat it was obviously meant to be. “You’re Taurus, right? The creepy guy with the blindfold? And who’s this? Your boyfriend?”

“Oh, we’re the weirdos?” Sun frowned, at first not noticing the way Adam’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You’re the one picking on some poor girl – ”

“You really wanna piss me off, you filthy human?” Adam growled over Sun, and Sun had to cringe at the danger in that tone.

“Humans? Humans aren’t the filth here!” Cardin barked out a laugh. “You’ll swallow those words!”

“Not before you swallow your teeth.” Was the only warning Adam gave before he darted away from Sun, before afterimages of himself flashed a violent red, before a gloved fist slammed into Cardin’s cheek. The boy hadn’t a single chance to defend before he was on the floor, clutching his face.

But it didn’t end there.

Sun could have counted at least a dozen different Adams, all shades of bloodiest red and inkiest black, shapes of himself thrown around Cardin, each one delivering a fist, a kick, to his stomach, his face, chest, anywhere Adam could think to attack. It could have only been a few seconds, but that was more than enough, and Sun could only hit himself for not being able to dive in and drag Adam off the bully quick enough.

Cardin’s friend hadn’t offered any help; in fact, he’d ran, crying for Goodwitch, for Ozpin, for anyone who could intervene, leaving only Sun with his arms firmly looped around Adam, who was clawing to get back at Cardin on the floor, and the poor girl who’d backed away into the corner with horror in her eyes.

“Freaks! You’re both a pair of freaks!” Cardin spat, scrabbling to get back onto his feet. His nose was pouring with blood, as were the corners of his mouth, staining the golden bird printed over his chest. His Aura pulsed in flashes as it struggled to focus on his injuries. “You’ll regret this!”

“What the hell is going on here?!” Qrow’s voice finally arrived from down the hall, Dove a safe-ish distance away from both the teacher and the group. Adam writhed and yanked and pulled in Sun’s arms, bursts of his Semblance making Sun see red as he fought to keep Adam still. He felt his head bang against his chest, his horns scraping Sun’s skin. Adam’s hands grabbed Sun’s arms and squeezed until Sun winced, certain of the bruises that would soon come.

“Professor - !” Sun went to call, but couldn’t finish before Adam had wriggled out of his grip at last and was back on Cardin with no care for who witnessed it. And now that he was no longer using his Semblance, they both scratched and punched at each other before Branwen was finally between them. He had one foot on Cardin to keep him down as he gripped the scruff of Adam’s neck, his collar, yanking him up and off the boy on the floor.

“GET OFF ME!” Adam spat.

“Calm it, kid!” Branwen’s grip was firm, no matter how Adam struggled, before rosy-red eyes burned into Sun. “What the hell is going on here?!”

“It was Cardin! He started it!” Sun protested.

“No I didn’t! You feral bastards just jumped me for no reason!” Cardin was finally let up off the floor when it became apparent he wasn’t going to attack any of them.

Sun glanced around and saw that, to his luck, the girl was still there, crouched on the ground. He held a hand out to her, and she sniffled and took it gladly. “That’s not true,” Sun explained, “Cardin was being a bully, and we were just trying to help!”

“Yeah, and like usual we had to deal with it on our own!” Adam finally tore himself from Branwen’s grip. “Meanwhile there were no humans to actually help, but you’re more than happy to cast the blame on us!”

“Nobody’s pointing the finger at anyone. Cool it,” Branwen narrowed his eyes at Adam, who only scoffed. The professor nursed his forehead and gestured to Dove, Sun and the rabbit girl, “you three. Ozpin’s office right now. If you’re not there in 5 minutes I’m sending Goodwitch after you. And you two,” he frowned at Adam and Cardin, “with me. Now.”

Sun frowned sadly as Adam was ushered away down the hall, but as soon as they were gone, Dove only turned back to the Faunus with a scowl. “Now look what you lot have done.”

“Us? You and your friend started it!” Sun frowned, pointing at Dove, “two against one, real manly, dude.”

Dove only shook his head, flicking his fringe out of his face and walking away, and as much as he didn’t want to, Sun was forced to walk behind him. He could just bail and not go to Ozpin’s office altogether, but they’d find him eventually. And, of course, it’d probably only get Adam into more crap than he already was - not that he should care what trouble Adam got in anyway. Yet he did, despite everything.

His heart was pounding after that, his vision still pulsing with afterimages of ultra-bright red and black. He’d seen fights, been involved in a lot of them, but he hadn’t seen anyone wail on someone else quite like that. It was like a switch flipped in Adam, sharp as a knife. Sun swallowed dryly.

“Are you okay?” Came a gentle voice with a strange accent.

Sun looked over at the girl, finding her chocolate eyes cast down at Sun’s chest. It was then that he realised the damage Adam had done while Sun had been trying to hold him down. There were cuts across his chest from those horns, along with an array of bruises already starting to come up across his arms thanks to his accelerated Aura. He sighed. “I’ll be fine, nothing I can’t handle. What did those buttheads do to you?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” She offered Sun a weak smile. “Thank you, anyway.”

What a wonderful day this was turning out to be.

Chapter Text

Adam

His blood began to cool inside his veins. His head dulled to a droning ache. And as the adrenaline burned off, his hands began to tremble. Adam could feel the bruises coming up from under his gloves, the throbbing complaints of torn skin. Cardin’s own fists had left Adam’s cheekbones purple, his blindfold wet from the red smattering that had come from the human’s nose. These weren’t the best shoes for a fight; he wished he’d worn his boots instead of these. His toes even ached. He felt it all, but that was the only thing he could feel.

Inside there wasn’t much apart from the inky well of tepid nothingness, the comedown after the adrenaline, the rage. He was drowning slowly in this numb aftermath, and like a stone, he let himself sink in it. Adam wasn’t sure why he got like this, but...

He tried to tell himself it made things easier. To drown into himself. To let the noise of the world dissolve like a painkiller in a glass of water. The seats in Ozpin’s office were soft, but he couldn’t take comfort in it. Nor in the rich smell of roasted coffee, or the blood up his own nose. So Adam sat, head flopping forward, hearing the conversation between Qrow and Ozpin but not actually taking in the words.

Qrow’s shoes creaked as he paced back and forth from the other side of Ozpin’s desk. His skin crinkled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what my kids are like, Oz. At least we’re getting these things out of the way early in the year.”

Adam looked up slightly at that, finding Ozpin’s expression... puzzling. Was he disinterested? Was he amused? Was he batshit infuriated? Adam, back to reality for at least a flicker, found it unnerving how unreadable the Headmaster was. “He bruised his team mate,” Ozpin began in a tone equally unidentifiable, “utterly terrified the girl he was ostensibly trying to help, and knocked out three of the boy's teeth – as well as causing serious oral lacerations in the process.”

Qrow threw his hands up in a wild gesture. “Yeah but nobody died, right?”

“Qrow... The boy's father wants us to press charges, since as a student of a Performer Academy he's under our jurisdiction, not the Council's.”

Qrow only scoffed at that, leaning on Ozpin’s desk and arching his back. “You know we're not gonna.”

Ozpin sipped his coffee. “Well. No. But you need to talk with the young man.”

That was when Qrow looked over at Adam, their eyes meeting. When most people looked at Adam, they weren’t sure where on his face to look. Blake tended to look at his horns, his lips, when they’d spoken. Sun seemed to stare between Adam’s eyes, the general area of his ribbon, but Qrow... Qrow was staring straight at him, as though there was no barrier covering his vision. It almost made Adam want to reach up to make sure his blindfold was actually there, the spike in panic managing to anchor him to reality properly this time.

Qrow hummed to himself, tilting his head as he watched Adam cooly, before turning back to the Headmaster. “Right, right. So Adam's a ‘young man’, and Cardin's just a ‘boy’?”

Ozpin opened his mouth, leaning forward to defend. But Adam watched his face, and found that the older man couldn’t find his words.

“Wonder why that is, old man.” Qrow smirked, standing up straight and putting his hands behind his head. “I wonder why.”

Adam actually smirked at that, looking over at his professor. Now that he was mentally in the room, he took the moment to realise – Qrow was defending him. This human teacher, who gained nothing from taking Adam’s side (in fact it was obviously causing him nothing more than frustration), was actually defending him against higher authorities.

Why, though? Qrow may have been his teacher but he didn’t need to go this far. In fact Adam had been sure Qrow didn’t even like him, which wasn’t unusual, most people didn’t like Adam and Adam didn’t like most people, but...

Ozpin gave a frustrated sigh, clearly not used to losing his control over these sorts of conversations. “I frame things like this simply because he escalated the situation drastically.”

“Yeah, and you wanna know why he did that?” Qrow cocked his head. “Because he got noticed. Because he made us notice. The thing I wonder, Oz, is how many times shit like this happens that we don’t notice, because nobody knocks out someone's teeth.”

Ozpin gave a deep sigh, taking his time to let the words settle in the room. And Adam took the time to reiterate to himself, “Qrow’s defending me? He’s actually sort of on my side? He’s trying to help me?”

Ozpin glanced at Adam, noticing that he’d been watching the entire dispute, and leaned in to speak quietly to Qrow – but the room was big, and echoes stretched far along the cold walls of the office. “I’m not going to sit through another meeting with Vale’s Council trying to justify your class’s existence to them. I’m only asking that you talk to him, Qrow. Not punish him. Not this time.”

Qrow took a moment to consider Ozpin’s words, before laughing as though he didn’t care who could hear. “So, you want me to teach him how to kick someone's ass without knocking their teeth in.”

Ozpin laid back in his chair and gestured vaguely. “You are his teacher, after all.”

Adam couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing, what he was witnessing. Maybe Cardin had given him brain trauma during the fight, hit his head against a shelf or something. But when Qrow took a sip of his flask, gestured for Adam to follow him to the elevator, when Adam could smell the man standing next to him, he knew it couldn’t have just been a hallucination.

“So I take it I’m getting neither expelled nor arrested.” Adam finally said, feeling the shift beneath his feet as the elevator began to drop.

“Well, no, but Goodwitch might murder you in cold blood.” Qrow answered coolly, before properly looking at Adam. How was this bastard able to look at him? Was there actually a problem with his blindfold? “He needed stitches on the inside of his mouth.”

“Nice.” Adam said.

“I kn - no that’s bad!” He gave Adam a look, before simply rolling his eyes as they stepped out of the elevator. The fresh chill in the evening air let Adam know his eyes – eye – was still very much covered, but the panic spike didn’t quell in his chest. “You're supposed to stop at first blood.” Qrow explained, exasperated.

“Oh, huh. So I should try to take as long as possible to make him bleed next time.” Adam nodded.

“Brother of Light in fucking Heaven – ” Qrow bored his eyes into Adam, who could only smirk at the look on his professor’s face. “You better make damn sure there isn’t a ‘next time’ at all. I can’t cover your ass forever, hothead. But...” Qrow rolled his eyes again and glanced up at the sky for a brief moment, “on paper, you're supposed to stop quickly. But uh, yeah, that is in fact how we enforce that rule.”

Adam nodded at the handy information, but then Qrow had nothing else to say. Instead he scowled to himself and pulled out a cigarette from his breast pocket, before patting himself down for something to light it with. Adam shifted awkwardly on his feet – what now? Did he apologise for being an inconvenience? Did he thank Qrow for sticking his neck out for him? Did he make a hollow promise to be good next time? These weren’t situations he often had to deal with. “I uh. It’s late, so. I should go to the dorms.”

“You’re not going anywhere if you’ve got a lighter on you.” Qrow sighed in frustration, gesturing impatiently to Adam.

Adam very much did have a lighter in his coat’s inner pocket, along with his own cigs, but he was smarter than ratting himself out about that. “Isn’t there a rule about smoking on school grounds?”

“You say that like I don’t know you smoke.” Qrow replied, and Adam handed him his lighter.

And so, the pair sat by a bench directly outside of Ozpin’s office and smoked until the sun turned all shades of blood and gold, giving way to all shades of dreamy blue.

“Would I have gotten expelled if you hadn’t spoken to Ozpin?” Adam asked finally.

“Hell, no.” Qrow answered honestly. “You think a little tussle like that warrants expulsion? I had a girl in my class last year who set someone’s hair on fire. She graduated with higher marks than most of Oobleck’s kids.”

“Then... why did you defend me like that?” Adam frowned. “Seemed like more hassle than it was worth.”

Qrow turned properly to Adam, showing he had his professor’s undivided attention. “Look, kid. Lotta people don't really understand that Performers are warriors. We fight the darkness inside people’s souls – and yeah, we do it with performance art, but we're still fighting.”

“So it was more about the principal of the matter for you – ”

“Will you fucking let me finish?” Qrow gestured, and Adam frowned deeply.

“Sheesh, fine.”

Qrow shook his head, finishing his cig and flicking the butt in the vague direction of a trash can. “You did the right thing, in my honest opinion. Guys like Cardin can be shown the most amount of kindness, can be given the best and most inarguable points written up in the perfect way to deflect any counter, and he’ll still refuse to take any of it in because it’ll mean admitting he was wrong. I’ve found guys like that need to lose a few teeth to get the message across. It might not change his mind, but it’ll change his actions. While I’m not going to encourage that you commit assault against anyone who disagrees with you, I will say you had to fight today, the same way everyone here will have to at some point.”

Adam was taken aback by that. He watched Qrow, studying him, trying to find even the tiniest crack to prove the older man was just buttering him up, lying to him, manipulating him – but Qrow was being genuine.

Genuine in the same way Sun so often was.

“...Ozpin said I hurt my classmate.” Adam’s voice was smaller than he wanted it to be.

Qrow sighed. “He refused to go to the nurse’s office, insisted he was fine. To be fair his Aura will sort out most of the damage.”

“Why did he not go to the nurse?”

“Who knows? Maybe he thinks it’s manly to sit with your pain instead of getting it sorted out. Maybe he didn’t want everyone to worry.”

Adam looked away, the guilt bubbling like bile in the bottom of his stomach. He had been lost in his rage... again. He hadn’t even realised what he had done to Sun, so focused on hurting Cardin as much as he could that nothing else mattered, nobody else mattered.

He told himself he wasn’t going to be like that again. And yet here he was, with bloodied knuckles and more blood on his ribbon. He was going to have to wash the fucking thing.

“Why did you assign Sun to me? Or, me to Sun?” Adam looked up at the sky. The skies in Vale were so much clearer than Mantle could ever hope to be. The stars here were like diamonds, so bright and clear he almost thought he could touch them, if only he reached.

Qrow chuckled, getting up. “Like you said, it’s getting late. You should head back – no more fights for a while, yeah? I have enough paperwork to be getting on with.”

Adam frowned at Qrow’s sudden departure, having strangely enjoyed the human’s company. Qrow wasn’t like other teachers Adam had been put with growing up, or most adults in general – he wasn’t dismissive, or cruel. He was crass, but not rude. In fact...

He was, kind of, sort of, nice.

He was a bit like Sienna.

Adam slumped against the bench and let the darkness take over, let the cold air fill his lungs, and he looked back in the direction of the dorms, marked out by the scarlet line drawn over the nearby buildings like warning signs. He... he should really talk to Sun about all this.

Why did Adam care about what Sun thought of him? Why did it hurt to think Sun might hate him? He tried to shake the thoughts out of his head as he would rain water off his horns, but they remained, just as stubborn as every other aspect of himself.

If Qrow was genuine, and Sun was genuine too...

The stars were so bright. Adam bit his bottom lip and got up. Fine. He’d talk to Sun about this – or he’d try to. This wasn’t his usual thing, but... Sun had been right before. They were going to be stuck together whether they like it or not, and Qrow was clearly not budging on that for whatever reason. So, he began the short trek back to the Last Resort dorms, and he soon realised that Qrow had stolen his lighter.

—

Sun

Sun assumed he was going to be attacked from the minute he walked into the dorms. Instead, he seemed to walk in on a fight already occurring.

Yang sat with Ruby by the holo-TV, an arm around the younger girl, and Ren was preparing leftovers into snacks by the kitchenette. Down the hall, Weiss and Blake were roaring their heads off at each other.

Sun looked to Yang for an explanation, and she shrugged tiredly. “Blake put up a little White Fang flag, and Weiss felt personally attacked by it. I’m done getting involved in that drama - believe me, I tried.”

“Jeez.” Sun sighed. “Where’s Neptune?”

“With Pyrrha,” Ruby said from within the folds of her cutely oversized hoodie, tiny fingers poking out from the sleeves to fiddle with the decorative pins on the hem, “Goodwitch is making them do an extra training session.”

“You think he’s still alive?” Sun climbed over the sofa and hung off the arm.

Yang snorted. “He’ll be fiiiine. Eventually.” Then, her demeanour changed when she spotted the marks carved into Sun’s chest. “What happened with you?”

Sun really didn’t want to rehash the situation, his energy levels finally bottoming out for the night. “Got in a fight. You should’ve seen the other guy.”

“What, did he have a knife? Is there gonna be an expulsion?”

“Nah, uh…” He scratched the back of his neck, glancing down at the cuts. Some days he wished for a faster Aura. “This was me pulling Adam off the other guy. He got a little too into it.”

“Wait, Adam did that to you?” Yang frowned.

“It’s not too bad, he didn't mean it.”

“C’mon, Sun. Don’t make excuses for the guy.”

“I’m not - okay like, not properly.” Sun waved the girl off. “It’s only a few scratches - ”

There came the sound of a door slamming from down the hall, the argument having been going on the entire time. Nora marched out of her room in a fluffy pink bathrobe and a look of pure fury on her face. “IF YOU TWO DON’T QUIET DOWN WHILE I HAVE MY BATH - !”

“Oookay.” Ren left the kitchenette to jog after Nora, in no particular hurry to go down and quell the ongoing fight.

That was when Blake herself came out and marched through the LR living spaces, ears flicked so far down on her head they were near enough invisible. “ - THE MOST INCONSIDERATE, BACKWARDS, PRIMITIVE - !”

“THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO’S PRIMITIVE IS YOU!” Weiss’ shrill voice carried from down the hall, her voice breaking with how loud she yelled.

And with that, Blake was out the door with nothing but her backpack slung over one shoulder. Yang and Sun shared a look, and Yang glanced at Ruby. “I’m gonna…”

“Don’t leave me with - !” Ruby got up, gesturing to the white-haired fury who was retreating back to the dorms.

“Then come with me! I dunno!” Yang threw her hands up in frustration and turned to leave, before glancing back at Sun. “Word of advice, don’t take shit from other people, even if they don’t mean it.”

With those parting words she left, and Ruby seemed to have no other choice than to follow her big sister.

Sun, who for once was happy to stay out of the way, rolled his eyes and went to his room. There were still flowers rotting in the trash can, and there was still the duffle bag half-hidden under his bed. Sun stared at it, and with a sense of numbness that only came with exhaustion, he began to unpack it properly. Since that night, he’d been half-blindly pulling things out from it, trying to not think of what it felt like. But now, he didn’t feel much. Maybe he would tomorrow, but in that moment, there was nothing.

He folded the clothes best as he could, and simply flung the ones that wouldn’t fit into a corner by the bathroom door. There were cheap toys that he put on his desk, the ones from the arcades at home. He moved the picture of his family closer to his bed. The folded clothes went into his cupboard, and the bag itself?

He shoved it as far under the bed as he could. Its scent, the texture of the fabric, everything about it needed to be rejected by his system. Sun’s parents still loved him, he knew that. They still cared. But... it still hurt.

The door opened and Adam walked in, jacket still scuffed and a bruise on his cheek. “I heard there’s been an argument.” He said at first, voice uneasy as he shut the door behind him.

Sun looked away, still crouched by the side of his bed. He only shrugged in response at first, before facing Adam. “You went totally crazy earlier.”

Adam crossed his arms. “I won’t say I’m sorry about the fight. That asshole deserved it – ”

“I’m not talking about the fight.” Sun narrowed his eyes at Adam, getting up.

Adam tilted his head and didn’t speak at first. His mouth did open, but he summoned no words.

“We’re still partners whether you like it or not, so maybe you could do with not being so on-and-off with me. If you don’t want me to be your friend, then fine, but I’m not gonna sit around taking shit from you.”

“I wasn’t trying to give you shit, I – ” Adam stopped himself then, and by the way his head tilted downward slightly, Sun could tell he was staring at his chest. At the bruises. The cuts had mostly healed by now thanks to his Aura, but there were still aggressive red lines running down his front.

The pair stood in silence for a single, unstable moment. Sun had only ever wanted to make friends, and now... he was being pulled away from the guy he saw as a brother, there was clearly drama within the little class, he was halfway across the world and in an entirely different kingdom, and now he was being chained to the one guy here to seemed to actively dislike him for seemingly no reason. Sun was tired and they were barely at the start.

Adam looked away from Sun at last. “I shouldn’t have hurt you.”

Did he mean the cuts and bruises, or his words? Sun wasn’t sure. “Look, it’ll heal. I know you didn’t mean – ”

“It doesn’t matter if I meant it or not. I still did it.” Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of generic band-aids, setting them on Sun’s desk. “I... went to the nurse’s office before I came here. I thought you could use these.”

And before Sun could respond to the gesture, Adam was gone, down the hall, down the dorms, and through the door that led up to the roof. Sun went to follow before stopping himself and standing instead in the doorway of their dorm. He let the quiet settle, listening to the sounds outside. To Ren and Nora in one of their dorms, to Weiss pacing back and forth across in her own space, to the holo-TV nobody had been paying attention to.

He was tired.

Neptune and Pyrrha finally arrived, their session with Goodwitch finished. Pyrrha looked tired too, but her exhaustion was more physical, it lingered in the way her shoulders rounded around her form and the way her hair was slipping from its high ponytail. In spite of her energy, she still carried herself with a gentle pride rarely seen in others. It was almost the same with Neptune, a tiredness most people could easily understand. The tiredness in Sun felt like a cold, lingering ache in his bones, going down his spine and settling into the joints of his tail. Even as Neptune caught his eye and rushed over for a hug, it remained.

“Gods, you look worse-off than I feel.” Neptune commented, sitting with Sun on his bed.

Hours passed as Sun explained what had happened since dinner, rolling the paper box of band-aids in his hands, subconsciously counting each and every one he could see inside. The argument, the fight. The terrified girl, Velvet, and how gentle she was after the fear subsided. The feeling of black horns scraping his chest, of muscle and flesh writhing out of his grip, black and red flashes of rage. Having to stand before Ozpin and explain the situation, even write out a report. He held the end of his tail with his free hand as he went through it all, stumbling on words and shaking his head, and all the while Neptune listened. As he always did.

“It’s just... I guess it’s been a rocky start to things. I dunno. I dunno why I’m so... invested, man.”

Neptune regarded Sun with understanding in his eyes. “It’s been tougher than I thought it’d be, man. Branwen won’t cut us any slack no matter what. I...” He shrugged a little, letting Sun lean on his shoulder. “I guess we were hoping things would be perfect when we arrived, you know? Like, we thought the whole thing at Shade was gonna be the worst possible thing and it’d only start going up from here.”

“I guess.” Sun took a breath, looking over at the smashed photo of his family from so long ago. “I never thought I’d say it... but I miss home. I really... really miss it.”

“I don’t.” Neptune said plainly, before chuckling. “Between us, you’re always the one who puts on the bravest face and tries to make everyone happy. Well... now you’re here, you only have to make yourself happy, man.”

Sun looked up at his best friend, his brother, his twin practically, before giving a soft laugh. “I guess we’re both still getting used to stuff.”

Neptune nodded. “We’ll be fine. We always are. Now uh...” he stretched, yawning, “I for one am gonna head to bed. I’ll tell you all about my wonderful date with Pyrrha tomorrow.”

“It wasn’t a date, though.” Sun said.

“No, but I can pretend it was.”

“Dude, she’s out of your league. Don’t embarrass yourself.” Sun laughed as Neptune nudged him, and moments later he was alone, and it was dark outside, but things felt a little bit better. Most of the others had gone to bed, and at some point he thought he’d heard Ruby coming back in.

Which made him realise Adam wasn’t back yet.

Sun bit his bottom lip, rolled the band-aids around in his hand, before getting up and quietly making his way up to the roof. The door had been propped open by an old folding chair, and Sun peered out at Adam sitting by the edge of the rooftop under the starlight. The broken moon was waning into a sliver of its usual self, leaving enough of the sky dark to allow the stars themselves to take shape.

Adam’s right hand was held high above his head, like that of a child reaching for the stars. Sun knew that feeling all too well, of wanting to be up there in the endless dark, to feel the starlight the same way you could feel beams of sunlight on your hand.

But Adam’s hand was set a certain way, thumb straight out, wrist angled such a way, that it seemed far more deliberate. He tilted his head, stilled, then went and wrote something down on his scroll. What was he doing? Was he... taking notes of the stars? How could one tell which star was which? Sun knew there were constellations, but he’d never been able to figure them out. Adam sighed to himself, turning off his scroll and looking back out at the dark sky.

Sun realised then that he wasn’t wearing his blindfold. The black tattered ribbon was poking out of the back pocket of his pants, fluttering just that little bit in the half-hearted wind. He was facing away from Sun, so he could see now the way Adam’s hair shifted from that gradient of brown to red. Flicks of hair flittered upwards from his neck, brunet at first, before shifting drastically to scarlet. Whether it was hair dye or just strange genetics, he didn’t know, but he liked the look.

And he liked how relaxed Adam seemed in those solitary moments when he believed himself to be alone. He was more hunched, more relaxed where he sat. His hands weren’t curled into fists, his back wasn’t arched as though he was propped up by a rod. He looked... like he was okay. And Sun’s face softened at it. And he wished he knew what caused Adam to shut off this version of himself whenever he was around others. And, in spite of all else, he wished he knew what to do to help.

Adam took his ribbon out and started tying it around his head, and then he turned. Sun sucked in a sharp breath and vanished down the steps just before Adam had spotted him (he hoped so anyway), and like a little kid being caught up past bedtime, he snuck into his dark room and got into bed. The halls were dark by now, the dorms all shut and the silence only broken by the occasional sound of snoring. And in that dark quietness, Sun could hear Adam’s footsteps.

He barely had time to kick off his shoes before the door opened and Adam walked in. Sun fought the urge to hold his breath, to pretend to be asleep. He kept his tail pinched between his legs to stop it twitching anxiously. He hadn’t been caught spying, had he? Adam had no way of seeing him before he’d disappeared.

He remembered trying to sneak into the living room when his parents were watching a horror movie. He was only 7 or 8 at the time, and a sudden jump-scare made him gasp. It had alerted his mom and dad, and Sun had never before been able to get into bed quicker. He had flopped into the most uncomfortable position and kept his eyes closed, even as he felt his mother sitting on the edge of the bed, even as he felt her warm fingers going through his hair.

The adrenaline was enough to make him want to bolt up and apologise to Adam, but that would have just made things so weird. So, he remained still, evened out his breathing, and hoped Adam would ignore him.

Like a sixth sense, though, he knew Adam was standing right by his bed. Staring. What was he doing? Why was he standing there? Why didn’t he just go to bed?

He heard Adam sigh softly. It was a defeated sound, one that seemed to show Sun that Adam was tired in the same way he was. He heard Adam shift, move to the end of the bed, and then the sound of rustling. And then, to his surprise, the feeling of something soft being draped over him.

A blanket. His blanket, that had fallen on the floor when he’d gotten up that morning.

It was only after that, that Adam went to his own bed, got changed in the dark, and got in.

Sun wasn’t sure what to make of it, what even to think. But... it was a kind thing to do, wasn’t it? He felt waves of warmth rising to his cheeks, warming his face.

It was a kind thing. It was a gentle thing. And Adam did it on purpose.

Tired or not, Sun didn’t get much sleep that night, instead letting himself feel cocooned by the blanket, by the echo of Adam’s actions. By the apology that hadn’t made it into words. Because perhaps that was what this was. The band-aids, the blanket. It was a gentleness that didn’t match up alongside the rest of Adam, and it was a display nobody was meant to see. It wasn’t something he could gain anything from, so why else did he do it?

But why, why had he been so hot-and-cold with Sun before? Debating him, humouring him, only to turn around and act as though Sun’s very existence was a burden to him? What did he get out of that? Was he going to carry on like that?

Sun couldn’t stop himself from sighing, finally feeling safe enough to turn around into a more comfortable position. Maybe... these past few weeks weren’t going to plan for Adam, either. Maybe Adam had his own duffle bag to deal with.

Maybe things were going to be alright.

Chapter Text

Sun

“So why did you put me with Adam?” Sun followed Qrow around the classroom as the students went for lunch.

Qrow looked tired, especially after what happened the previous night. Naturally, things had been... somewhat awkward that morning. Goodwitch had called Adam out of their first lesson the moment it had started, and nobody saw him again - okay, granted, it was only lunchtime, but still. As a result, Sun had been briefly placed with Blake while Yang had been called on to help Ruby deal with having Weiss for a dance partner. 

She was still wispy, nearly out of reach from him, but she had been far more cooperative. And Sun had been practising with Adam so much he’d almost forgotten what it felt like to have a partner that was perfectly fine with being touched, grabbed, pulled along.

“You have a habit of taking the lead.” Blake commented as they slowed.

“Finally she speaks!” Sun proclaimed. “This entire lesson you’ve been giving me nothing but small talk and weird looks!”

Blake narrowed her eyes at Sun.

“Yeah, like that!” He gestured with his tail.

“Sorry, I just…” She frowned to herself. “I can’t pretend I’m not unsettled by you and Adam being such good friends. I mean - as much of a friend as you can be to him.”

“I know there’s… stuff, between you and him, I get it.” Sun related. “But again - I wanna be friends with everyone. I’m not gonna like, force you two to try and get along.”

Blake sighed. “Just… Be careful, Sun.”

“Why?” Sun asked. “Did he ever… Did he ever, like, hurt you, or anything?”

Blake hesitated as she tried gathering her words. “We hurt each other. A lot. A lot of the time we didn’t even realize what we were doing. That’s the dangerous part of it. Not knowing the effects your actions will have. Maybe I was… I don’t know. I just want you to be okay.”

Sun smiled at Blake, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Just me, if he gives me any aggro, I’ll kick his butt into next week. I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

She did return Sun’s smile, but as soon as the conversation was deemed finished, she crawled back into herself. Sun had expected as much; he’d seen her do the same with Yang. Always far away as soon as she was free. She was gone like a breath in the wind, black hair and golden eyes completely out of reach.

And that was when Sun had decided to start annoying Qrow.

The Professor looked over at Sun and took his time yawning. “He’s an angry, stubborn bastard and you’re a happy, stubborn bastard. If you don’t rip each other apart, you might just learn a thing or two from each other.”

Sun frowned, and wondered if teachers were really allowed to swear this much in front of their students, even with how old the class average was. At the same time, though, he wasn’t going to be the one to snitch on Qrow. “I’m not that stubborn.”

“Yeah you are.”

“No I’m not!”

Qrow gestured widely as Sun proved the man’s point, and Sun scowled. “No, really.” Sun insisted. “You could totally see I was fine with Neptune, and Adam doesn’t exactly enjoy company.”

“What are you talking about? Misery loves company.” Qrow took a swig from his flask. “Look, putting that hothead to the side – Neptune was my first choice for you. Until I saw how he dances with literally everyone else here. He hesitates, he stumbles, he doesn’t know how to align himself with anyone but you.”

“So if you keep him with me – ”

“Then he’ll never truly grow.” Qrow said in a softer tone, and despite everything, despite Sun not wanting to agree in the slightest... he did. Qrow gave a gentle sigh at Sun’s expression, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Go have lunch. How about, next lesson, I put you and your pal together and we’ll have a one-on-one? I’m keeping you with Adam until the end of this semester, because quite frankly he needs you too, but if I think it’d benefit Neptune, then we’ll see about putting some sessions to the side where you do your duo stuff.”

Sun smiled. Usually teachers (and most figures of authority) refused to budge even an inch when it came to their commands. Most would rather die before being negotiated with, terrified of being shown to have a loosening grip on their power. And yet here Qrow was, trying to actually help, to see things from Sun’s perspective.

And then Qrow began turning away, and Sun nudged his professor with his tail. “Really though, why Adam specifically?”

Qrow rolled his eyes and smirked. “Your differences might just be what’ll teach you your most important lessons in this place. You can’t have day without night. And you can’t have a moon without a Sun. Eh?”

“That was awful, Uncle Qrow.” Yang called from the wall she leaned on, several feet away from Ruby and Weiss – who didn’t look to be arguing as badly this time around.

“Oh come on, lemme have that one...” Qrow went over to his niece, leaving Sun in the shadow of the conversation. Sun sighed, stretching out and grimacing at the feeling of his tummy rumbling sharply.

He didn’t want to admit Neptune’s flaws just as he didn’t want to admit his own. He pinned the blame on the stress of the move, the nervousness that came with the new environment, the knowledge hanging over everyone’s heads that this was indeed their last chance, their literal last resort.

But Neptune needed help. Sun just wanted to be there when he needed that help the most. He loved his siblings dearly, but Neptune was the closest he’d ever felt to having a brother , someone so on the same page that they may as well share genetics. They may as well have been twins.

And if Neptune had shortcomings... what did Sun have?

Neptune was hesitant with new partners. Sun jumped in too quickly. Neptune had a stricter set of moves and struggled to improvise. Sun made most shit up on the spot to the point where he stumbled in and out of his own feet. Neptune couldn’t align himself with other dance styles. Sun dove straight in until he consumed whoever he was partnered up with.

Perhaps that was why he was with Adam. Like Neptune, Adam was strict with his style and technique. Unlike Neptune, Adam was so self-assured with those techniques that he refused to budge an inch unless it suited him. And unlike Neptune again, Adam was far more confident in himself, not even contemplating taking advice from a partner and certainly not letting them take the lead for him. And Sun found himself to be much the same.

So when two people were determined to lead the other, where would they end up? Like a snake consuming itself by the end of its own tail? Or...?

“Sun to Remnant, calling Sun Wukong to Remnant.” Neptune flicked Sun’s nose.

“Hey! Your hands smell weird!” Sun smacked Neptune’s hands away.

“Your face is weird. I’ve never seen you look so pensive.” Neptune crossed his arms. “Also you were about to walk straight into that dead tree.”

Sun blinked and looked up at the tree, the one they’d taken to sitting quite closely to. Its bark was greyish and splintering, its branches like thin strikes of black lightning. Sun frowned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m tired, bud. Especially after all that crap with Cardin.”

Neptune rubbed Sun’s back, guiding him to the cafeteria. “Sorry I couldn’t stay up with you more, dude. Your bruises are looking way better though.”

Sun glanced down at his chest. The cuts from Adam’s horns were mere scabs now thanks to his Aura, and his bruises were in their final stages of yellow and green. He nodded a little. “He went totally feral dude. But hey, at least Velvet was alright.”

“Velvet?”

“Yeah, the girl Cardin was bullying.” Sun explained, going over what happened after the fight. “Apparently that asshole has it in for Faunus kids, especially her. Y’know she’s a 2nd Year student, though? She said she just kinda takes it in stride.”

“Why do that, though?” Neptune frowned as they bagged up some food from within the cafeteria. Sandwiches, fruits, biscuits and cookies, alongside nuts and ‘healthy’ candy bars, and they began to make their way back under that dead tree. The tree, barren as it was, still offered shade from the Vale sunshine. It was nothing compared to the waves of steaming heat in Vacuo, but the shade was a welcomed respite nonetheless.

Sun shrugged as he sat on top of the table instead of on the bench. “Something about being the bigger person, I guess. Girls are weird.”

“Or you’re just stupid.” Neptune threw a peanut at Sun and Sun threw the peanut back at him. “You think Goodwitch went easy on your hothead partner?”

“Pfft, no. I don’t think Goodwitch goes easy on anyone.” Sun glanced behind Sun to see Adam himself arriving onto the Last Resort grounds, carrying the food he’d also gotten from the cafeteria. 

“Talk of the devil...” Neptune mumbled but Sun ignored him. He waved Adam down, who clearly hesitated at first, before going over to the table.

“You’re chipper as always, Stowaway.” Adam smirked at Sun, sitting by the Faunus and not acknowledging Neptune at first.

Neptune, noticing that, rolled his eyes. “And you’re cryptic as ever, Hothead.”

Before Adam could respond in kind, Sun took lead of the conversation. “So! Did you get told off by your idol?”

Adam frowned. “I had to write her a letter personally apologising for disappointing her.”

“Oof. What did you put?” Sun sat down properly next to Adam.

“I said I was sorry I wasted her time and that I didn’t break any more of Cardin’s teeth.” Adam opened a bottle of apple juice and took a sip. “She made me rewrite it until I took that part out.”

“It took you all morning to write an apology letter?” Neptune raised an eyebrow.

“Correction. It took her all morning to explain just how furious she was with me. She even threatened to throw out her offer to teach me. Said Ozpin was going soft if he ‘let me get away with this’.”

Sun went to speak, to agree that Cardin totally deserved the beating he got (even if Adam going from 0 to 100 did unnerve him slightly), when he felt the presence of another person nearby.

And so the group looked up as Velvet approached the table, a timid smile on her face. Her back was straighter, her ears perked all the way up, and a vintage-looking camera strapped around her neck. She nodded at the other two, but her attention was clearly on Adam. “I heard you got in trouble for sticking up for me.”

Adam raised an eyebrow under his blindfold, and shrugged. “That asshole earned it. I’m surprised you didn’t kick him in the crotch and run. You’re the right height for that move.”

Velvet blinked at Adam’s comment, before tapping the front of her camera. “I don’t believe violence on my end would have resolved anything. It would have just proven his point.”

“And his point was...?”

“That Faunus are animals, driven by instinct and masquerading as people.” She explained in such a manner-of-fact way that Sun had to share a look with Neptune. “You intervening did help, but if that attack had come from me then it wouldn’t have done anything to change his mind.”

“Why bother trying to change his mind when you can break his legs?” Adam turned to Velvet properly, not mocking her, not condescending her, but engaging as though he saw her on equal footing. Sun realised, then, that this type of topic was the sort of thing that, perhaps, he could find – or create – equal footing with Adam on. He could agree with both of their sides on this, but it wasn’t just about the topic at hand, it was about opening a dialogue (or at least the invitation).

Velvet gave a little sigh at Adam’s point. “Broken bones heal. Opinions can’t have a cast put on them.”

“Then fuck his opinion. And fuck his broken bones.” Adam waved her off then, less engaged this time. “It’s not our job to change humans’ minds.”

Velvet looked to Neptune, then to Sun, who gave her a smile. “You’re allowed to defend yourself if you need to. You just don’t need to go apeshit every time. Sometimes it’s a waste of your own energy.” Sun tried appealing to both sides.

Velvet smiled back at that, and Adam looked to Sun with a tilt of his head. There was a curiosity in his expression, a silent offer to let Sun expand on that. But before he was able to, Velvet cleared her throat and caught Adam’s attention again. “Well... you’ll always be entitled to your own view of the world. And it was nice that you went out of your way to help, so... thank you, Adam.” She gave him a sweet smile and held something out to him – a dainty pink envelope with a heart-shaped sticker over the seal.

Adam stared at the envelope, and Sun could practically see the loading screen rolling in his head, before he reluctantly took it. “Uh, yeah... yeah.” He made a point of turning away from Velvet, who let out a soft giggle and made her way back to her own corner of the school

Sun smirked. “Looks like you’ve got yourself an admirer, Adam.”

“That’s what you get for being a knight in shining armour,” Neptune joked, “and she’s quite a cutie too – nice , man.”

Adam grumbled indifferently as if his voice could wave away the pinkness in his pale features. He took quickly to ripping off the heart sticker and opening the overly cute envelope. Inside was an even cuter Thank You card, all different shades of pink and decorated in little white blossoms. But while Sun thought the card was utterly adorable, he noted to himself how Adam’s upper lip curled at the sight of those delicate flowers. Again with white flowers. He wanted to frown in confusion; maybe Adam just didn’t like girly things? Or girls at all? It was hard to tell.

Inside was a gift card for a local cafe. Sun raised his eyebrows. “ Hansel’s Chocolate House ? Lucky! That place is expensive!”

“But the chocolates are so good, dude.” Neptune sighed dreamily. They’d looked at the place online shortly after applying to Beacon, their way of getting a sense of the place. Hansel’s was one of many quaint cafes and coffee shops, but it had a charm to it, given how the website bragged about how every single chocolate was hand-made – there was an entire page about the building itself even, how it was once a small local church dedicated to the saints serving under the Abandoning Brothers, how most of the windows still had its original stained glass portraits.

In Sun’s opinion, though, it didn’t justify the staggering prices. Neptune and Sun had made a vow to try and steal at least a chocolate bar just to prove a point (the point being that they liked chocolate but not spending money), but they hadn’t yet had the chance to go down there in person.

“I don’t like sweet things.” Adam said flatly.

“How can you not like sweet things?!” Sun looked insulted, and despite his eyes being obscured as they were, Adam must have surely rolled them. “Chocolate can like, actually cure any bad day.”

“They make me feel sick.” He held out the gift card to Sun as if it was mere garbage, but Sun stared at it as though he were gazing at a golden ticket. “If you like the place, you can have it. At least someone’ll use it, then.”

“Wha - ? Dude! No way, it’s yours!” Sun protested.

“A cute girl gave it to you,” Neptune gestured at Adam like he was a mad man, “you can’t give that away so freely!”

Adam sighed and shoved the gift card into Sun’s breast pocket with a clear note of finality. “I don’t want it. Besides, she should be giving it to you anyway, not me.”

“Well...” Sun put his hand over his breast pocket, trying to ignore the phantom of Adam’s touch still pressing on his chest. “Hey, you did all the fighting with Cardin. All I did was drag you off.”

“And if you hadn’t, I’d have killed him.” Adam said simply. Sun didn’t really have a cocky response for such a thing – what was he supposed to say to that? But Adam waved him off before he could think to protest. “I’m not taking it back, so throw it in the trash or give it to someone else if you don’t want it.”

Sun felt the gift card, now slightly bent at the end, in his pocket, and realised then that this was a gift. Adam gave him a present – sort of. So, he smiled happily. “Thanks, dude! That’s super cool of you.”

Adam hesitated, before shaking his head. The pink was still there on his face. “Shut up. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Maybe it doesn’t, maybe it does. Maybe it means you’re finally warming up to me, huh?” Sun rubbed his shoulder against Adam’s.

But Adam scowled at the touch, taking his lunch bag and standing up with a sudden jolt of movement. “Don’t push it. You’re still an annoying bastard.” And he stalked off back to the direction of the dorms. Sun sighed a little as he watched the man go.

“Maaaybe one step too far, bro.” Neptune shook his head.

“Just when it seemed so chill.” Sun groaned. “It’s not like I jumped on him or anything.”

“Some people aren’t so touchy-feely. Maybe just give him space next time.”

Sun sighed, but agreed. And while the end of the conversation hadn’t turned out great, he had achieved a few noteworthy points – he found out one new thing to talk to Adam about. He knew Adam didn’t like sweet things... and Adam had given him something precious. Maybe it wasn’t precious to him, but it was to Sun. And deny it as he might, it was a kind gesture. So it wasn’t all a waste.

—

Sun

“Dude, just follow along!” Sun groaned.

“I am, idiot!” Neptune shot back.

“What’s gotten into you? This is a warm-up!”

“You’re acting all weird and moving funny!” Neptune protested, finally throwing his hands up in surrender.

The entire lesson, Neptune had been far slower than Sun remembered. Due to the natural unpredictability of swing dance, Sun understood that there was always the chance for mishaps, but beforehand that had been the thrill of dancing together. Watching out for each other, adapting so quickly to what the other was doing. Now, though, Neptune was all over the place.

Qrow sat on the benches a fair distance from them, watching, waiting. It was clear from the stoniness in his rosy pink eyes that he was taking mental notes the entire dance, analysing each and every step, every failure, every misjudgement, miscommunication. Sun felt as though he was a germ in a petri dish, looked upon with a calculated coldness. Not exactly uncaring, but there was no warmth or anticipation in Qrow’s stare this time around.

The other groups around them seemed to be doing fine; Ren and Nora were sat on the far end of the benches while Ren took a breather, Blake actually had to stop during her dance with Yang to laugh at whatever absurd pun she’d come out with, Pyhhra was making a polite attempt to talk to Adam – hell, even Ruby and Weiss were doing better than this morning. The Heiress herself was leaning on the metal bannister going across the mirrored wall, lifting herself to her very tip toes in order to show Ruby a certain method of angling one’s feet.

Besides Ren and Nora, none of the duos Qrow had set knew each other before class. None besides Sun and Neptune. That should have been their advantage. They were supposed to have each other’s backs, and yet...

“You’ve fallen out of sync with each other.” Qrow commented, suddenly by their sides without Sun even noticing. The professor crossed his arms, eyeing up the two.

Sun grimaced, staring down at his beaten-up shoes. It wasn’t fair. He was supposed to have stuck with his friend. They were supposed to be a two-man act. “Why? Like, how?” Sun looked up at Qrow in confusion. “It’s only been a few weeks.”

“Well, I’ve been passing Neptune around to just about everyone in this class to get him used to the unpredictability of a Performer’s career,” Qrow started, “aaand, I’ve had you with Adam for a lot of this time. Looks like you’ve already started getting used to your new partner.”

Neptune looked at Sun like he’d down this on purpose, and Sun looked to Qrow for answers on that front.

“To be fair, too,” Qrow smiled, “he’s started getting used to you as well. You make a good pair.”

“Great. Fantastic.” Neptune yanked his goggles off his head and shoved them in his back pocket, before storming off. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

The weight in Sun’s chest was anchoring him painfully to the current moment when he wanted to be anywhere but here. “You did this.” He looked at Qrow.

Qrow raised an eyebrow. “You wanna run that by me again, sport?”

“You shouldn’t have split us up!” Sun blasted. “We were doing fine as we were! We were having fun!”

Qrow didn’t look angry at Sun’s indignation, he didn’t even look offended. He simply looked sad. He gestured to the outside door. “C’mon, let’s take a short breather.”

Sun didn’t want to follow Qrow out of the studio, but he had little choice. What else was he going to do? Stand in one spot and stomp his foot? Run to Adam as if that would help? Why would he even consider that as an option - ?

The sun in Vacuo really did hit one’s face with its heat, while Vale’s happy sunshine was more like a caress from a mother, from a friend. It did little to quell the upset in Sun’s stomach, but little was more than nothing.

“I want to ask you a question,” Qrow told Sun, “and I’d like you to answer me honestly.”

Sun stared at Qrow, tail swishing in frustration.

“Why did you come to a Performer’s Academy?”

“Because I want to be a star.”

“Wrong.”

“...What?” Sun pulled a face.

Qrow put a hand on his hip. “Honest answers only. Why did you come to a Performer’s Academy?”

“Because I want to have a fun life with my friend.”

“Close, but that’s not all of it. Why did you – ?”

“Look, I get it, okay?!” Sun huffed, turning away from Qrow briefly and shifting his weight from foot to foot. He really didn’t like this old man sometimes, especially in these moments. “I want... I want to make people happy. That ain’t a crime too, is it?”

Qrow laughed gently. “You know... You’re a pretty selfless kid.”

Sun raised an eyebrow at Qrow. “Well that’s the first time I’ve been told that.”

“Well you definitely should’ve been told it more.” Qrow took a drink from his flask. “Nearly every Performer needs to carry at least some level of empathy with them, some want to be kind. A lot of people have the necessary amount, some people have just about fuck all of it, and some... have way too much. To the point where it holds them down, like a leash to the people they care about.”

“How do you...? I’m not leashed to Neptune. He’s my best friend.”

“ Just your best friend?”

“Yes, just my best friend! And there isn’t any ‘just’ about it!” Sun balled his hands into fists. “He’s a brother to me! I’d do anything for him!”

“Even risk your future career?”

Sun stopped then. It wasn’t through hesitation, no. It was through shock. What did Qrow mean? What was he implying?

“I’m not saying Neptune can’t pass this course. I’m not saying you have to leave him behind.” Qrow explained in gentler tones. “But I am saying that neither of you are going to get anywhere if you cling to each other. I had an old man once tell me that two people can swim to shore, but if they hold onto each other to keep afloat, they’ll both drown.”

“I’m not abandoning my friend.” Sun stood firm.

“And I’m not saying you have to. What I am saying is that sometimes, Neptune is going to need his own space. He needs to find his own weight, his own desire for this career other than to be here with you. And that’s a journey he’ll need to do on his own. And you...” He shook his head a little. “You need to trust him to be able to do that.”

“I do trust him. I...” Sun looked at Qrow, black eyes met pink, and Sun let himself crumble a little. “He’s not bad at this.”

“He’s not, no. He’s just nervous. He doesn’t think he’s any good if you’re not there.” Qrow explained. “Listen, this is going to hurt both of you for a hot minute. But... I think this might be the push he needs.”

Sun took in Qrow’s words, not liking it but understanding it. He wanted to see Neptune succeed, wanted to see him enjoy himself. But... was this really the right way to do so?

“Well... if Neptune has to learn by being by himself, then why does Adam need a partner to pass?”

“Sheesh, you got a crush on the guy or something? Every time you talk to me it’s about that hothead.” Qrow smirked.

Sun frowned, ignoring the something that word inspired in him. “Well, you did partner us up.” He responded weakly.

Qrow chuckled. “Different people need different things. You and Neptune, you’re gonna be alright. Just... remember that you still got a long way to go, and you’re learning every day.”

A black bird landed in the dead tree. Its squawk hung in the air like a ringing bell, a siren, an omen. Sun watched the way Qrow stared at the creature. What was that expression? A nostalgic one? Or a haunted one?

The bird flew off, and Qrow looked back at Sun gently. “If you ask me, I’m impressed by you lot already – if not by your skill, then your determination to do the best, to be the best. But you’ll only get there if you keep learning. If you never stop moving forward. Sometimes together. Sometimes alone.”

Sun watched his professor, trying to read the lines in his face, the slivers of grey in his hair. It was all a language he never felt he’d understand, a transmission he may never receive. But as Qrow disappeared back into the studio, Sun had to at least take his words for what they meant. He ought to go find Neptune, to talk to him properly about this. If Sun himself was upset, then Neptune ought to be downright distraught – not to mention embarrassed at the assessment.

He didn’t like that he agreed with Qrow. But the truth had a tendency of not caring if you liked it or not. So instead, he went back in the studio to give Neptune that moment to breathe, to sit with himself, to draw his own conclusions.

And until then, he danced by himself, found himself in his own steps, in golden clones that shared his features but not his face, in melodies he didn’t choose but didn’t reject.

Because sometimes that was okay. They were both going to be alright eventually.

Eventually together. Eventually alone.

—

Adam

White flowers were so easy to stain with blood. They brought out so much of that ancient red, that gruesome flow of life that lurked beneath the skin. It was easy to stain, and easy to spill.

It hurt.

Adam wouldn’t look up at his reflection in the mirror. The bathrooms in the orphanage were dirtier than he remembered, or perhaps he just wasn’t able to see it then, too distracted by the pain. Throbbing, cutting, like a dozen pieces of heated glass rumbling under his skin. How was he supposed to cope with this? How was he supposed to ignore it? How could they look at his face and tell him he was being silly?

It hurt.

The sink should have been white. It should have been, and at one point it really might have been. But now, the glossy varnish was cracked and peeling, revealing a strange grey stone, porous like skin almost. The plug hole was more like a mouth, and Adam was frightened that if he looked away, it’d speak to him. He didn’t want to know what it would say.

He felt like he was going to be sick. His stomach acid bubbled away until he could almost hear it inside him. His head felt heavy as though it could droop forward and fall off his neck and into the sink. And the pain, the writhing wouldn’t go away.

He gripped the sink until his knuckles turned white, and felt hot metal against his palm instead of cracked ceramic. Adam looked at his right hand, and saw the craft knife. It was more sterile than usual tools, like it was fresh out of the box. Shining silver, just about the only thing in the bathroom that was clean – including Adam himself.

Yes. He remembered why he came in. He remembered why he was up so late. How could he have been able to sleep when it was growing under his skin? Eating away at flesh? His left eye felt displaced, his vision blurry and pulsating. He saw things that weren’t there, his shadow flickering from behind him.

It hurt.

He raised the knife, let the cold blade rest on his wet cheek, and at last looked at his reflection.

It was too late.

White flowers unfurled like parasols, dainty, delicate, dripping with blood. Red droplets splattered in the sink as a gruesome bouquet flourished where Adam’s eye had once been. Blooming. Bleeding. He could see their roots under his skin, curling his upper lip, crinkling his forehead.

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt .

Adam woke calmer than he usually did, but the biting sickness in his stomach remained. He shook his head, letting go of the afterimages that hid away in the dark of his peripheral vision. Lazy, golden sunbeams streamed in through the window, settling at the end of his bed. Was it morning already? It felt like Adam had only just gone to bed. He wished the stars would come back.

He groaned, gritting his teeth as he sat up to ensure the contents of his stomach would stay put. He hadn’t had such gruesome dreams in a while... he blamed it on the sudden stress of the course. And especially the fight.

His hands had healed by then, though he almost wished they hadn’t. He didn’t like his hands, thought his fingers were too spindly, but he felt they looked better with bruised knuckles.

He hadn’t meant to lose his temper like that. Not again. She wouldn’t be proud of him.

Then again, he was used to that feeling. The feeling of nobody putting stock into him, nobody going out of their way to be bothered by what he did. It was why he was here, in this Academy – if nobody was going to believe in him, if nobody was going to help him, then he was going to do it himself.

Still, she wasn’t going to be proud.

“Yo.” Sun waltzed into the dorm, gaining Adam’s attention – Adam shouldn’t have looked up. Sun had, apparently, been roaming the dormitories with only a ratty pair of undies to cover his dignity, a size too small and a fraying hole cut at the back to accommodate a banana-yellow tail that swished around his ankles, curling up curiously.

Adam blinked, best as he could, and tried very hard to keep his gaze above Sun’s collarbone. The sunshine outside wasn’t as harsh today, not yet waning into a gold, and the bright light only helped to highlight the depths of Sun’s tanned skin, the unmarred honesty of that colour. The morning light seemed to enjoy gleaming on his pendant, outlining each of his abs, offering a glow to banana-yellow hair that sauntered vaguely downwards and Adam was definitely not looking above Sun’s collarbone.

“You have no honour.” He remarked, his voice one more syllable away from cracking.

“Nope!” Sun sat right by Adam, although this time making sure not to rub into him which Adam appreciated.

“Can I help you, Stowaway?”

Sun gave a little smile, glancing to the side and scratching the back of his head, before looking back at Adam. “It’s just uh... you know, I feel like things started off kinda... messy with us, you know? What with everything that’s happened, I figured it’d be a good idea for us to try and get off on the right foot this time round.”

Adam watched Sun’s expression, that genuine nature of his that startled Adam, gave him the second-hand unease one may get from seeing someone else’s exposed nerve, because surely Sun knew how liable he was to be hurt if he kept himself this open?

“You don’t need to bother. I think we’re fine.” Adam waved him off, before hesitating. “Thanks, for stopping me.”

“Huh?”

“With Cardin. I...” He reached up and traced the outline of his horns with his fingertips. “I suppose you could say I have anger management issues.”

Sun regarded Adam, before smiling. “Well, I get that! I’ve been told I have ‘issues with authority’ so I guess there’s something wrong with both of us!”

Adam gave an actual chuckle at that. Oh, the things wrong with him could get him locked up one day.

“I’m serious though,” Sun continued, “it’s been weeks and I’m basically the only person in class you talk to.”

“You’re the only one stupid enough to not leave me alone – ow!” He jolted as Sun’s tail poked his arm.

“I’m not stupid.” Sun wagged his tail at Adam in place of a tail.

“Prove it.” Adam shrugged.

“I will! I’m super fast at math – gimme a sum.” Sun puffed out his chest as though he were about to do something very clever.

Adam gave Sun a look, before thinking of a sum off the top of his head. “What’s... 86 divided by 4?”

“69.” Sun grinned.

“That... wasn’t even close.”

“No, but it was fast.” Sun winked, and Adam almost forgot he was only wearing undies.

“Ah.”

“Uh-huh.” Sun crossed his arms, very pleased with himself. “So anyway, if Qrow is having us partner up, it’d be a good idea to get to know each other more, ya know? See if we have any shared interests?”

If it ended the conversation, then sure. Adam wasn’t sure how much more of Sun’s cologne he was willing to breathe in. “What do you suggest? Any fun bonding exercises you have lined up?”

Sun gave a dirty chuckle at that and Adam regretted his wording. “Well…” Sun replied, “Qrow’s started leaving the studio open for us on weekends, so right now everyone’s planning on going down for a little dance-off – oh.” He took out his scroll then, showing Adam a group chat. “Can I have your number? We have a group chat!”

Adam rolled his eyes, but gave Sun his scroll number. His scroll immediately started going off with everyone chatting away, and he instinctively switched his scroll into silent mode.

“Cool! If you wanna get food and hang out there, that’d be cool. Plus...” He darted over to his bed, taking out the gift card Adam had given him.

“I told you I don’t like sweet things.” Adam reminded Sun blankly.

“They do coffee there, man! Good coffee too! Not the powdered crap, they roast the little beans themselves and stuff.”

“Wouldn’t you want to bring your little partner in crime instead of me?” Adam frowned.

Sun’s expression flickered then to something Adam couldn’t quite decipher. It looked... sad, almost. But it was gone in the blink of an eye, and Sun was smiling again. “He’s not feeling well, so he’s being totally lame and staying in his bed until he feels less like garbage.”

Adam nodded, but before he could say anything else Sun grabbed his jeans and headed out. “It’s a date then! See you in the studio!”

“But I – ” Adam stood, but his roommate was long gone. He scowled a little, before slumping his shoulders in defeat. That idiot was setting himself up for failure.

Why Adam? Why waste his time with Adam ? He wasn’t a good person and he wasn’t planning on being one any time soon. It wasn’t going to end well and Adam knew it. The poor bastard had better luck being friends with Blake – she was a spoiled, rotten bitch, but at least she didn’t have an anger problem that could result in grievous bodily harm.

No, her method of hurting people was far more calculated. Where he was gasoline and matches, she was a freshly-sharpened knife. He wondered if that was what had drawn him to her to begin with. He wondered if he should have known for the start.

All Adam knew for sure was that it was a mistake. The only good thing to come out of that situation was...

He glanced down at his wrists. The little black bracelet with the lavender beads caught in the inky threads. His anger simmered away to a tiredness he was achingly used to.

He showered, ate, and made his way to the studio. Both Blake and Neptune were absent, he noticed. Yang and Sun were flexing to try and see who had the biggest muscles. Nora was shouting for Sun while little Ruby was cheering on her big sister. Adam had wondered if he’d had any siblings; it certainly wasn’t on his record. He wondered if it would have been nice, to be a big brother.

Ren, he put his attention to, was sitting out of the competition with an inhaler in his hand. Pyhhra was by his side, chatting with him and trying to hide her worried glances at his can of energy drink.

Weiss was knelt by the mirrored wall, by a panel that Adam hadn’t seen before, which was opened to reveal a holo-screen the Schnee was flicking through. So that gave a bit of an explanation to where the music came from, he supposed.

“There you are!” Sun waved Adam over, and Adam glanced over each of his peers’ faces at his arrival. To his surprise – and suspicion – they weren’t particularly bothered by him.

“Hey Hothead,” Yang smirked, “we heard you stomped out that Winchester guy’s front teeth.”

“Not his front teeth, but yeah.” Adam nodded with a clenched jaw. “What about it?”

“Sheesh, you are confrontational.” Yang said as though she’d heard that from someone else. Adam couldn’t possibly guess who. “Did you keep them?”

“Keep...?”

“His teeth! Duh. You look like the type.”

“Nah,” Nora nudged Yang, “he’s an edgelord, not a serial killer!”

Adam spluttered. “Excuse me?”

But it only spurred laughter from Nora, and a string of giggles from Ruby. Adam struggled to tell the difference between friendly teasing and bullying – he’d normally only been on the receiving end of the latter, never the former – and his defences shot up around him like the stone brickwork of a castle. “I might be a serial killer.” Was all he could respond with.

The girls laughed harder. Adam wasn’t pleased.

“They’re joking.” Sun chuckled softly, gaining Adam’s attention. “Now, for real, who’s got the best abs in this room? It’s totally me, I know, but I need someone to break the tie because nepotism is bagging the winning vote!” He glared at Ruby.

But Ruby only rolled her eyes. “Just because you’re losing – you got nothing on Yang! I bet you can’t bench press an entire me !”

“Sure I can! Hey, Ice Queen!” He went over to Weiss. “I need to win a bet! Lemme bench press you real quick!”

Adam snorted at the look of utter fury and disgust that fluttered on Weiss’ features. “No! Ew!”

Nora joined Sun’s side. “But it’ll be funny!”

“I don’t know what juvenile humour you have - !” Weiss began, before shrieking as Sun, who had not stopped walking over to her, lifted her off the ground with one muscular arm as though she weighed less than a snowball. “Put me down , you – you rapscallion!”

“Only when you come up with a better insult!” Sun laughed, getting the attention of Pyrrha and Ren at last.

Pyrrha waved her hand at Sun. “Let her go, you’ve had your fun.”

“Nah, let her suffer a bit more,” Adam smirked, “as a treat.”

Pyrrha gave him a look, before going back to Sun. “Set her down before she gets upset.”

“Yeah, she might explode.” Ruby warned, and at last Sun set the small Schnee down.

She scowled, patting down her dress dramatically. “Typical behaviour from a ruffian.”

“A what?” Sun chuckled.

“A delinquent!” Weiss scowled.

As if she wasn’t one as well. “Have you seen where you are, Heiress?” Adam made a swooping gesture to the Last Resort studio. “Tell me, what did you do to get yourself put in this dreadful place? Hm?”

Weiss looked Adam up and down, before crossing her arms nonchalantly. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Really? Because I had to cave someone’s skull in to wind up here.” Adam revealed. “They were racist too.”

The aloof confidence in Weiss’ expression was gone then, replaced with a cold, startled look.

“You...?” Pyrrha went to ask.

“I’m not a racist.” Weiss interjected quickly. “I just know my place in the world.”

“Are you – are you for real right now? You sound like you sauntered straight out of a propaganda poster from the Great War.” Adam smirked. “Well, welcome to the bottom of the barrel. Nobody is happy you’re here.”

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Adam, the scar over her eye wrinkling. He’d never noticed the scar before; a clean slice of marred skin, the injury clearly not enough to ruin her eye. He didn’t get the chance to address the coldness in his stomach when Weiss spoke again. “I embarrassed him.”

Nobody asked for a follow-up. Nobody interjected. But the question everyone had hung in the air like overcast clouds.

“He wanted me to sing, just like my mother always did.” Weiss rolled her eyes. “It was a birthday celebration. My birthday celebration, and I had to do exactly what he wanted. I danced instead. He said the shame of my disobedience could have been enough to kill him. So now the only course I’m allowed to continue is here.”

Adam laughed. Well, he made a noise that he knew sounded like a laugh, his lungs spasming from the force he put into them. “Riiight, you made your daddy mad, so the best punishment he could think of was to send you to mingle with the peasantry. How sad for you.”

“I wasn’t allowed to do what I loved.”

“You weren’t allowed to do exactly what you wanted.” Adam rephrased. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“You have no idea what I’ve had to go through!” Weiss snapped at last at his antics. “I wasn’t allowed to express myself! I taught myself everything I know about Performing! You don’t know my struggles!”

“No, but I know your advantages .” Adam tilted his head, glancing around briefly to see if anyone was going to break up this particular fight. Interestingly, despite the unease etched into everyone’s expressions, nobody stepped forward. “Did he ever starve you? Hm? Refuse to feed you?”

“You don’t – ” Weiss interjected.

“Even if he did, you'd still know where the food is, know where the pantry is, you'd still have food. Or how about your bed? The muscle pains from training, I'm sure they feel better after a night's sleep in a bed, not that I know from personal experience – in my experience they get worse after sleeping on a thin mat on the floor.”

Weiss’ face only soured further and further, her elegant little hands balling into fists at her sides.

Adam stepped closer, closer than he’d have liked. As close as he needed to. “You may have struggled. But not like I did. And, I bet, not like how most people here did.” He leaned down, looming, and he almost wished their eyes could meet. “They say a gilded cage is still a cage, and they're right, but it's also still gilded. It's still better than a rusted death trap.”

Weiss raised her chin to meet his massive grin, and she straightened her back. He could almost smell her sweat. “You say you suffered so much. Did you learn from it?”

“I did.”

And then, to Adam’s surprise, Weiss moved away and extended a hand to him. “Prove it.”

Ruby gave a little ‘ oooh’ sound, fluttering over to the holo-screen and flicking through the songs. Sun chuckled, and when Adam looked over at him, there was hope, bright as starlight, in his dark eyes. The others looked on expectantly, excitedly.

Fine, he’d prove it. Not to her , not to anyone. But he’d prove it. He took Weiss’ hand, her fingers dainty and cold. Her grip on Adam was firm, stronger than he expected from one so small. The first few notes of a classical song began flickering in through the hidden speakers, the melody light and magical, but undeniably ominous, like the twinkling eyes of a shark. Sugar Plum Fairy began its coy rhythm as Adam and Weiss circled each other, her eyes pinned to the spot between his own, gaze sinking into his blindfold. He yanked her forward but she was prepared for it, and she grabbed his shoulder and slid a lithe leg between his.

She must have been paying careful attention when he had danced with Blake; the same tricks weren’t going to work on the ever-so-careful Schnee. When Adam tried pulling away she followed closer than he was happy with, her grip on his hand unrelenting like a block of carved ice. She was determined, her feet following his like the warning fin of a shark, elegant and sleek, and dangerous. Sure, she was letting him take the lead, trailing her in circles, but she wasn’t falling behind for even a moment.

He flashed in black and red, and for a minute Adam thought he’d gotten rid of Weiss. But no, her arm linked through his, like a spear, and she set herself up on nearly the tips of her toes, flicking her other leg out like a victory.  Over and over, he tried to trick her, tried to push her out of step. But her hands were steady on his, infuriatingly elegant as she spun, as she posed, as she mirrored his steps this way and that. 

He couldn’t let her have this victory. Adam dipped Weiss suddenly, yanking her out of her elegant pose. He could have easily dropped her if he wanted to, and when their eyes met – best as they could – Adam knew that she realised that.

Sure, she was probably only going to grab Adam’s jacket. In hindsight he knew that. But then, in that moment, it looked remarkably like she was going to grab his horns. His insides caved in suddenly, the coldness pulsating, and he had to flash away from her.

His black and red eclipse was outshone by a bluish white force, and an echo of dread far too familiar to him. He looked back amidst the gasps of his peers, and his stomach dropped.

There Weiss stood on knobbly knees, her Aura flickering white around her, her eyes whited out, and the ghost of a Grimm hanging over her. It was skinny, its arms too long, several long spindly hands poking around its hips like a gruesome tutu. Its eyes – all ten of them – wept a pearlescent cream, strings binding the memory of the creature to Weiss’ back.

Adam flew into a panic, feet scuttering him away from Weiss until he was up against the cold looking-glass surface of the mirrored wall. Weiss gasped for breath like she’d just been far beneath the ocean waves, and the Grimm echo vanished out of existence, and she was herself again.

“Been a while since I’ve seen a Schnee in action.” Qrow’s surprised tones carried through the studio, and the class all turned to him. He made his way over to the group, checking Weiss over. “You alright, there?”

Weiss collected herself and gave a nod. “I’m fine, I just – I suppose I got carried away.”

Qrow looked to Adam, who couldn’t tell Sun had joined his side in concern. His heart was hammering, the low drumming in his ears making it hard to hear Qrow’s voice. “You okay, Hothead?”

Adam brought himself to nod, glad his features weren’t on display to study. Qrow glanced around the room, the confused faces, before giving a chuckle. “You wanna explain or should I?” He turned to Weiss, who at last noticed the looks on everyone’s faces.

“Are you possessed by a demon?” Nora asked earnestly. “Because that’d explain a lot.”

“Nora.” Ren gave her a look.

Weiss looked surprised like she expected them to know, before putting a hand on her hip. “ My Semblance is hereditary. Every Schnee has the ability to summon Grimm we’ve encountered – even Grimm we’ve defeated ourselves. We can summon the memories of it, at least. We’ve been using this power to help humanity throughout history.”

“How? That’s so cool!” Ruby stepped forward, eyes wide.

“Well, my creations are connected to my soul, to my Aura,” Weiss raised an eyebrow at Ruby’s enthusiasm, but it was clear she took no offence, “my Grimm are... projections. They bind themselves to true Grimm and use my soul to destroy them. To neutralise them. I’m still learning how to summon most Grimm types, but...”

“Why didn’t you warn me you were going to do that?!” Adam finally spat, getting the sudden rush of adrenaline out of his system.

Weiss turned to him, taken aback. “Would you believe me if I told you I really, really didn't mean to do that?”

Adam curled his upper lip, and found even a Schnee might be capable of telling the truth. Damn these people and their dangerously open nature. “You know, normally I wouldn't, but uh, just this once? Yeah. I can tell that surprised you.”

The pair were quiet for but a moment, and the air felt more even between them. Adam could hear Sun chuckle at the aftermath of the performance, Ruby’s giggle, Pyrrha’s sigh of relief. Then he realised, to his horror, that he was experiencing a bizarre moment of genuine connection. To a Schnee. “Fuck you, though.” He added, before leaving the studio. Qrow’s laugh followed him to the door.

 —

Adam

Hansel’s Chocolate House was one of the most adorable places Adam had ever been to. The photos on the web didn’t even do it justice. The café was shaped like a cottage, its brickwork the colour of cake frosting and its door a gingerbread brown. From inside the window, Adam could see the curtains were striped white and red, the exact shade of festive peppermint canes.

Even the tables outside were cute. Each one was circular, the tops designed to look like sugared cookies and the cushions on the chairs shaped like jelly beans. The table Adam and Sun sat at was specially themed around white chocolate shortbread, and the scent of sweet coffee and birthday cake was practically baked into the very building. 

The menu was sporting a new item – a bubblegum sundae; 5 scoops of ice cream so pink they practically glowed, assaulted with an army of rainbow sprinkles, along with bubblegum balls, clouds of cotton candy and bright blue squirts of whipped cream topped with white chocolate stars and their ‘newest abomination’ sour sauce. At least they were self-aware.

Just looking at the café made Adam want to brush his teeth; he really wasn’t fond of sweet things, never had been. But Sun had seemed ecstatic to go here, and for some reason he had been adamant on bringing Adam in place of Neptune. Even if the guy was sick, it didn’t make sense to bring Adam. The gift card didn’t have a sell-by-date, after all.

Even in the gentler afternoon light, it was warm enough to sit outside. Adam appreciated the warmth Vale had as opposed to the frigid dangers of Mantle’s temperatures, it took the pressure off just existing outside. The warmth was kind, in a way. And he hadn’t seen a single restaurant or store warning Faunus folk to stay away, which made things... easier.

“Man, Velvet must be totally loaded!” Sun exclaimed happily, looking at the gift card. “I’m getting that sundae thing for sure.”

“It’s half of your recommended calorie intake,” Adam commented neutrally, “I don’t think you could finish it on your own.”

“Oh I could finish it three times over – but I’d wanna share it, and you won’t want any.” Sun huffed a little, looking through the menu. “Oooh, they’ve got a drink called a Pool Floaty. Look.”

He pointed the item out to Adam – it was a raspberry lemonade in a tall glass, with strawberry laces at the bottom of the glass and a scoop of lime ice cream on the top – it even came with a tiny paper umbrella with the café’s logo printed on it. 

“Do they do any normal drinks here? You said they do good coffee.”

“I wouldn’t know, I don’t like coffee.”

“...You just said that to try and convince me to come with you.” Adam stared at Sun until his new friend snickered.

“Yeah, I’m a sucker, huh?” Sun scratched the back of his neck, his tail playing with a spoon left on the table.

Adam scoffed a little, unable to stop himself finding a sweetness to Sun’s nature. He was starting to believe that, perhaps, Sun really was like this. Kind. Happy. Friendly, even. The way the breeze ruffled Sun’s hair affectionately, how the light seemed to brighten his dark eyes, pools of ink that held a joy to them the likes of which Adam wasn’t familiar with –

“You should’ve taken Velvet here instead of giving the gift card to me.” Sun said.

Adam blinked. “Why? I don’t know her.”

“Yeah, but she’s super cute and she’s obviously into you.” Sun smirked devilishly. “You could’ve asked her on a date. She’d have totally swooned.”

Adam shook his head, leaning into his chair. “I doubt it.”

“Oh come on, girls totally like you!” Sun laughed. “You’re tall and handsome, and you got that misunderstood edgy vibe going on.”

Adam tried to not think of what it meant that Sun thought he was handsome. “I’d rather stay away from dating for a while. Maybe forever. No marriage before death.”

“Aw, man. Didn’t fancy you as a prude.”

“I’m very uncomfortable with that statement. I’m getting a black coffee.” Adam tried to clear the lump from his throat, but it didn’t want to budge.

Sun waved happily to a waitress who took their order, and soon their drinks came. Sun’s drink was bigger than it looked on the menu, almost enough to justify its price tag, and Adam’s coffee came in a pumpkin-shaped mug for reasons he couldn't quite grasp.

He could at least appreciate that Sun went straight into drinking his lemonade, lapping at the lime ice cream and pulling a soured (but satisfied) face. Whenever he’d gone out with Blake, she wouldn’t let him eat until she’d taken a dozen photos on her scroll of their meals, their drinks, even the fucking table sometimes. He once stirred in the foamy pattern of her coffee before she could snap a picture, and she was so upset she didn’t speak to him the whole meal. It was the best night out he’d had with her.

“So,” Sun spoke in that tone people only used when they knew they were about to ask a difficult question, “you and Blake.”

Adam nodded, drinking his shockingly good coffee. “Me and Blake.”

“Match made in Hell?”

“Match made in a Mantle hospital.” Adam swirled the coffee in the cup. “She was nice at first. People change.”

“Why were you in a hospital? Wanna talk about it?”

“Ha ha ha. Nope.”

“Think I can wear you down until you do?” Sun smirked lightly.

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Adam replied bluntly.

“Wanna try my lemonade?”

Adam blinked. “...Sure.” He took a sip through the straw Sun hadn’t used, and the bubbles almost burned on his tongue. The artificial taste of blue raspberry and lime made his mouth water, shockingly sour, unreasonably sweet. And after that, Sun didn’t ask about Blake at all. Adam appreciated that.

“So,” Sun said in a lighter tone, “the guy who’s uh, skull you caved in.” He hushed his voice despite there being nobody else around. “They survived, though, right?”

Adam shrugged. “His heart is still beating last I heard, yeah.”

Sun frowned. “That's almost worse than saying no, that's amazing.”

“Hey, almost worse still isn’t worse.” Adam smirked.

“What did they do, man?” Sun’s frown deepened, this time more in concern. “I know you get super into your fights, but you don’t attack unprovoked.”

Adam took a long sip of his coffee. Truthfully, he didn’t remember the entire incident. Just the police report. And Sienna. Her expression. Her voice cracking as she had shaken his shoulders. And the blood on the concrete.

“Sienna Khan was my tutor for a while when I was in Mistral.” Adam began hesitantly. “You’ve heard of her, right?”

Sun’s blank stare answered instead of his blank tongue, and Adam sighed.

“She’s a very famous Performer in Mistral. One of the only Faunus Performers to have graduated in her generation. She got in a lot of shit with the Mistral council for hosting Faunus-exclusive dance classes. Even though Haven Academy has a fucking Faunus Headmaster, its beyond rare for our type to be approved – the usual shit about extra appendages making things ‘complicated’.”

“She sounds awesome.” Sun smiled.

“She was – she is.” Adam nodded. “She let me live with her, so long as I assisted in some of her classes.”

“Man, you must be really good if she let you help – like a teaching assistant?” Sun beamed, impressed, and Adam chose to not mention that the only class she let him help with were the summer classes she hosted for 6-year-olds. Those summers taught him a lot about himself – specifically that small children hated him. He would never forget the tiny horned girl, Teal, who cried every lesson because he was ‘too tall’.

“She was an excellent teacher – and she was also the target of a lot of hate. Unearned hate. Humans didn’t like that she was better than them at something, and further, they didn’t like that she was doing exactly to them what they did to us.”

“So... what happened?”

Adam was quiet briefly, glancing at Sun to watch for his reaction. It was alright. As soon as he didn’t like the direction Sun’s face was going in, he’d just recede back into himself. “There was an end-of-year ceremony, and as we were walking back to her home, a few humans followed us. They were drunk and thought we wouldn’t put up a fight.”

“You put up a fight.” Sun followed.

Adam grimaced. “It’s why I’m here. Sienna spoke to Ozpin on my behalf. That night earned me a criminal record.”

“Damn. Good for you though. For standing up for yourself.”

Adam’s grimace only deepened. He didn’t want to tell Sun how it frightened him, how easy it was to lose control, to become utterly feral. How that boiling, black rage took over him so quickly. How he remembered exactly how Sienna screamed for him to stop.

And yet... he wanted more than anything to convey that to Sun. He wanted to say it for once, instead of hearing it in his head, over and over, a mantra of self-hatred. He just... wanted to have a normal conversation with someone.

“It’s crazy,” Sun sipped his lemonade, “how cruel people can be. It’s why we gotta stick together, eh?” He smiled then, his smile warm... was it warming him? It certainly had some affect on Adam, one he found he didn’t hate.

“Lookie who we have here!” A familiar, nasal voice entered the bubble around Adam and Sun, and they both looked up to see Ren and Nora entering the little café garden.

Nora had replaced her bomber jacket with an oversized blue coat (probably Ren’s) that nearly consumed her little form, her hair swept back with heart-shaped hair clips. Ren was dressed exactly as he was earlier, in a tight black vest and sage green pants. In class, his hair was often tied tightly back, but now he had it down, Adam could see how long it was.

“Yooo!” Sun beamed. “Pull over a table, let’s make this a double date!”

“Oooh, so this is a date, hm?” Nora grinned at Adam, who shot Sun a ‘ what the fuck? ’ look. Sun merely laughed in response, helping Nora align the tables. “Your boyfriend with the blue hair might be hurt to hear about this.”

“Naaah, he’s just my brister from another mister.” Sun plopped back into his seat, with Ren next to him now and the two redheads opposite. Adam grit his teeth and sat back into his chair, taking his coffee in his hands as he prepared to interact. He hoped Sun would carry most of the conversation.

“Really? There’s nothing going on between you two?” Nora looked genuinely surprised.

“For real! People mistake us for a couple all the time!” Sun shook his head, his smile warmer than morning light. Was it wrong that Adam wanted Sun to keep his attention on him? “Speaking of which, you two are...?” He gestured at Ren and Nora with his tail.

Ren nodded, putting a hand over Nora’s affectionately. “For a few years now.”

“Aw, that’s super cute!” Sun smiled again. “So, like, what did you do to end up in Beacon together? Did you Bonnie-and-Clyde a bank together or something?”

“Pfft, I wish it was that cool!” Nora shook her head. “I just had to put some bullies in their places!”

“You don’t seem... durable.” Adam found himself commenting, focusing on Nora’s petite frame. Maybe that was a mistake on his part.

She narrowed her eyes at him, blue like the Atlesian sky, and she gave a wicked grin. “Want me to prove it?”

“I’ve hardly finished my coffee.” He responded, getting a laugh out of the small girl.

Ren smiled gently as he watched his girlfriend. “Due to my lung condition, a lot of teachers gave up on me quite easily. Insisted our dream of being a Performer duet was medically impossible. Professor Branwen is the only teacher I’ve met who’s willing to work with me.”

“Plus, his condition made him a target for bigger, dumber people,” Nora frowned, “you’d be surprised how many buttholes I’ve had to deal with.”

“Nora has a record of 27 separate counts of assault, 3 of them directed at teachers.” Ren explained, and even Adam raised a brow at that.

“27?” He looked at Nora in surprise.

Nora nodded proudly. “I was hoping on rounding it up to 30 before we came here, but I suppose 27 will have to do – but you just let me know if that Winchester boy gives you any more trouble – ”

“No.” Ren gently reminded her.

“I’m kidding ! They know I’m kidding!”

“ Do they?” Ren replied, and Nora merely giggled brightly before directing all her attention back on Adam – much to his dismay. “So! Caving someone’s head in, eh? You didn’t just say that to freak out Weiss did you?”

“Uh. No. That very much happened.” Adam stated.

Nora made a low whistle, leaning into her chair as she studied Adam. “How did you do it? Was it a hammer or did you kick ‘em in the face a bunch?”

Ren gave his girlfriend a look. “Nora.”

Nora put a hand on Adam’s arm, a hand that had destroyed 27 people including 3 teachers apparently. “Do you need help with like, evidence or something - ?”

“ Nora .” Ren patted her free hand and she collapsed dramatically into her chair.

“Alright, ugh! FINE, how has your DATE been?”

Adam cringed, and was about to interject when Ren gave Nora another nudge. “No, Nora, I mean...”

At first she looked completely blank, like there was a loading screen right before her eyes, before she hopped up in her chair like she’d been struck by lightning. She turned to Sun. “OH RIGHT! SUN YOUR ASS HAS BEEN SHOWING ALL DAY – YOU NEED NEW PANTS!”

“Thank you.” Ren nodded at last.

Adam saw the blush rising over Sun’s face like a horizon of bashfulness, and he frowned at the shy human. “And you couldn’t say that yourself because...?”

Ren shrugged, making a vague gesture with thin, elegant hands. “Sometimes I don’t know the polite way to broach a subject... so Nora does it rudely for me.”

Nora looked proud of herself as she sat back down. “I'm so good at that.”

“Evidently.” Adam mumbled.

Sun, however, wasn’t bothered after the initial shock. Instead, he shifted in his seat to adjust his belt. “I do the same thing for Neptune all the time. He’s so busy trying to impress girls – he’d be lost without me.”

Nora and Ren laughed softly, and then there was a nice quiet at the table. Adam sipped the last of his coffee. “Anyway it was a brick.”

Ren’s face lost much of its warmth. “Oh.”

The returning silence wasn’t as soft this time. It was still quiet, but in the same way that boiling water was a silent burn against one’s skin. Sun took the umbrella out of his drink and played with it. “So. Was my ass the only reason you came over? I know my ass is amazing and all, but I don’t usually get an audience for it.”

Ren chuckled, clearly pleased that the silence was broken. He was turning out to be a gentle sort of human, which was unusual for their type. He didn’t seem particularly ignorant or dismissive, just quiet, like a flower. “We're also here because we can't afford this place but always wanted to come so we figured we could probably at least get a free Sunday out of the two of you. Forgive us.”

Nora nodded. “Oh yeah this place's security is like, next level! You can’t even steal the ashtrays here – and the ashtrays are so cute! Look at this!” She picked up the one currently on their table; it was in the shape of a donut. It was undeniably cute. “It’d make a great holder of my earrings but noooo apparently this café has security!”

“Are we really allowed to just say these things out loud?” Adam asked with unease, despite also not lowering his voice in the slightest, as he noticed the same waitress from before heading over. “I feel like we shouldn't be doing that. At all.”

The waitress looked beyond tired, like an elderly woman was trapped just beneath the skin of a much younger girl. She didn’t seem phased in the slightest by their conversation. “Don’t worry, it's only illegal if you get caught, now would any of you like a water?”

Sun contemplated the waitress’ words, before wagging his tail. “What if we say no?”

Ren shrugged. “Then we still get a water, and a lovely bonding experience with you.”

The waitress left, and Adam looked at Ren. “Can I ask how you roll with this level of absurdity so calmly?”

Ren gave Adam an elegant smile. “No.”

Adam blinked. “Alright.”

In the end, they (Adam) did buy the bubblegum sundae Sun had spotted before. He couldn’t stand the sound of them all fawning over it on the menu, and once it was brought to the table, Adam realised how it may have been a mistake to give Sun and Nora such unrestricted access to so much sugar.

The thing was massive, served in an ornate glass bowl with each scoop of pink ice cream set up just so to balance all the toppings. He picked at the white chocolate stars while Ren tried to regulate Nora’s intake of cotton candy, and while Sun got immense brain freeze. The air was starting to cool by the time they were finished, the sun beginning its meandering descent behind the buildings. The table smelled of candies and treats, and cigarette smoke once Adam lit one up (Nora graciously lent him her lighter which was decorated with a picture of a grey and pink hammer). Ren had snuck several cans of energy drink in Nora’s bag which he shared with Adam and Sun. Nora took way too many photos. Sun shared stories of his and Neptune’s greatest heists in Vacuo. Adam wondered if this is what it felt like to have friends. Adam wondered why it didn’t feel bad.

“Come on!” Nora sat up happily once they finished the monstrous ice cream. “I’ve heard the arcade in this town is epic!”

“I was planning on heading back and practising.” Adam shook his head as they all rose from the table, but Nora simply waved him off.

“Oh don’t be a wuss!” Nora chuckled. “Just because you’re not good at arcade games it doesn’t mean you can’t learn! You’re talking to a table hockey professional here.”

“Nora, no, not the table hockey.” Ren whispered.

“C’mon Adam, it’d be fun!” Sun jumped excitedly, the sugar having clearly gone to his head.

“I’ve had enough socialising today.” He insisted.

Nora stared at him. “I bet Weiss is better at table hockey than you.”

Okay, he wasn’t letting go of that one. “Where’s the arcade?”

It was a 5-minute walk from Hansel’s, closer to the docks than Adam had expected. Stepping in through the blacked out doors of the rather uneventful outside felt like stepping into a different dimension. The neon lights were overwhelming, and combining them with the low-hanging black ceiling fogged the world in a dreamy, purple blur. Each arcade cabinet was alight, with video game characters beckoning the audience to play. Forever and ever and ever. The sounds harkened back to a more retro time, with blurred whirring buzzes and clicks and beeping. Holographic screens lit up with INSERT LIEN TO PLAY and GAME OVER- TRY AGAIN? Plastered over pixels.

Adam had never really frequented these places, they were much too loud for him - and it wasn’t as though he had anyone to go with either. But Sun looked right at home in this environment, breathing in the smell of cheap fried food and popcorn and sweat, rubbed his sneakers into the sticky carpet. He looked happy here. It was nice to see him happy, to see the pixels lighting up his dark eyes. He was like a little kid in this place.

“There’s my baby!” Nora pointed to the little hockey tables, with scoreboards lit up in blue holographic projections and slots on the side for coins and Lien cards. She linked an arm with Sun’s and dragged him over to a free table. “How about we team up? You think I can trust Adam to protect Ren in a fight?”

“I want to beat you first, one-on-one.” Adam stepped forward, taking his place on one end of the table and feeling stale popcorn crunch under his feet. He’d have to clean his shoes after this. “You insisted you were a professional, Nora, so prove it.”

“Oh dear.” Ren mumbled.

Nora grinned wickedly and took out a cute coin purse with a lightning bolt on the front, put a few coins in the machine, and took up her puck, and waited for the table to switch on. The hum of the cold air was low and soothing, and Adam was surprised he could hear it at all in the bright and loud arcade.

He picked up his own puck as the table spat out the striker on Nora’s side of the table. “Just so you know,” he warned, “I won’t go easy on you just because – ”

He flinched as Nora hit the striker so hard it smashed straight into Adam’s goal, spitting out at him. He blinked as Nora roared with joy, the holo-screen displaying that she’d earned the first point of the round.

He swallowed as Sun and Ren cheered, noticing Ren was far tamer in his cheers than Sun. Adam grumbled, putting the striker on the table and letting it float. “What was that?” Nora cooed. “You won’t go easy on me - ?”

Adam used her moments of distraction to whack the striker, but before he could blink Nora had hit it back with the fury of a thousand suns, and earned herself another point as it bombed Adam’s goal. The plastic coin-shaped bastard had nearly hit his finger, damn it. And Nora’s face was smug. She knew what she was doing.

Oh, it was on.

He held the striker in his hand, the plastic coin cold from the air it hovered on, and he pressed it onto the table. He swept his arm right to feign a direction, before backhanding the striker and nearly landing himself a point. But Nora was too fast, bloodthirsty for victory, and she threw the striker back to his side of the table with her puck. She was clearly more experienced with this game than he was, but Adam had something Nora probably didn’t - spite. And spite can be very motivating.

Back and forth, the striker darted violently around the table. To describe the noise it made as a tap would be a gross understatement; it was sharp, it was quick, and it was deadly. And Adam was determined to win.

But determination can only carry someone without skill so far. And although by the end Adam had gotten a remarkable 2 points in, Nora had won the other 3 rounds. And it took 6 to win. If he was able to look up at her face, Adam would have seen the sweat on her brow and the wretched grin on her face, but he had to keep his eyes on their pucks, on the devilish striker, or all would be lost. Ren and Sun were still cheering for them after all. Strangely, he didn’t want to let Sun down.

“TASTE MY FURY!” Nora roared as she slammed her puck into the striker, sending it flying off the table. 

Adam ducked as it flew straight for him, then behind him, and then there came a shrill cry of pain. They all looked over to Ruby, who was clutching her face while the striker laid at her feet.

“Oh my GODS I’M SO SORRY!” Nora ran to Ruby’s aid, trying to pry away her hands to get a look at the damage. “Are you okay?!”

“Ruby?!” Sun went to the small girl, soon joined by Ren.

When Nora was able to peel away Ruby’s hands, her face appeared to be bright pink, and a lump was already appearing on her forehead. She looked ready to burst into tears. Adam cringed at the angry red spot where the girl had been hit. “That’s going to bruise.” He said more to himself than anything.

“I had no idea you were there! I’m so so sorry!” Nora cried, hugging Ruby to her. “What’re you doing here?!”

“I usually come here on the weekends!” She rubbed her eyes as the group of older students led her to a seating area, the game completely forgotten about. “I saw you guys and wanted to say hi!”

Ren wrapped a cold energy drink in a handkerchief and gave it to Ruby to press against her bump.

“How many of those do you have?” Adam asked Ren.

“Enough to last me.” Ren replied. “That’s a bad mark. Any lower and it would have gotten your eye. Should we take you back to Beacon?”

Ruby looked around the group, unsure of what she wanted. She could only focus on the pain. 

“Come on,” Sun knelt by her, “let’s get you back to your big sister. Okay?” We gotcha.”

And so that concluded the day out, with the group chaperoning Ruby back to the dorms and to Yang. Sun explained what happened and Nora kept apologising profusely until Yang eventually took Ruby into their dorm, seemingly for the night.

“It was an accident.” Adam commented, looking at Nora’s face. She seemed distraught.

“She’s only a little kid, though.” Nora sighed. “Like, what if I’d actually blinded her?”

“Then she’d learn to live with her other eye.” Adam said.

“Oh come on! That’d be such a garbage thing to happen to someone!” Nora shook her head and went to her dorm. 

Adam grit his teeth, grinding them deeply. He tried to not hold it against her. He really did.

Sun, oblivious, flopped onto the sofa. “Man, what an end.”

Ren nodded. “I’m going to check on Neptune. I’ll see you both tomorrow. Thank you for the day out.”

Adam could hear Sun talking to him but he couldn’t focus on the words. He didn’t want to, maybe. Instead, he went to the dorm room and showered, getting rid of the smell of the arcade, the sourness in his mouth. And he took off his blindfold and looked at himself in the mirror.

It was beyond garbage. It was shit. It was all shit.

Chapter Text

Sun

The night sky was pitch black when Sun woke up. His head throbbed and his lips were cracked and dry – he couldn’t recall the events of his dream, only the residual feelings remained. Something repulsive. Shameful. Something deeply unnerving, at least. People, places, all fizzed away behind his eyes before he could grab hold of any of it. A yellowed room. Rope, maybe. A shadow that was far too tall.

Sun grumbled to himself, his body longing for more sleep. However, his mind was still racing and it had no plans to leave him be. So, he pushed himself out of bed with a silent grunt. The studio definitely wouldn’t be open by that time, but he supposed he could exhaust himself with some exercises without waking anyone up. He definitely needed a drink at least.

He glanced to Adam’s bed in the corner, hoping to not wake him. However, Sun didn’t need to worry about that – Adam wasn’t in bed at all. Sun frowned a little, glancing to the bathroom door. It wasn’t occupied, unless Adam liked pooping in the dark with the door open (Sun wouldn’t judge).

Sun resigned himself to pulling on his jeans and a jersey jacket, something from high school that still miraculously fit him, and he left the dorm. “Adam...?” He whispered into the warm darkness, a darkness that felt alive – and with his presence, startled, like a deer by a car.

Whatever presences swam through the darkness dissipated, and Sun stepped out. Faunus naturally had better eye sight than humans, and while devoid of much colour, the living space looked much the same as it did any other time. Adam’s silhouette would have been hard to miss.

So why wasn’t he here?

Sun grabbed his scroll and left the LR dorms, half-surprised that Qrow didn’t lock them in at night. It’s what he expected, but...

Would it be worth checking the roof? Adam did tend to go up there, likely to avoid everyone else, but the door didn’t seem to have been disturbed. There wasn’t really anywhere to go this late unless Adam had left the campus.

Relief did reach Sun once he spotted Adam under the dead tree, sitting at the bench, smoking what looked like the last of his cigarettes. Sun allowed himself a smile, spotting also the knot at the back of Adam’s blindfold. Even when he was on his own, he wore the thing. Why? What did he have to hide that was so shameful? Was it even shame?

Sun certainly wouldn’t judge him over a scar, or a wound, or a birth deformity. The rest of the world might, but... they were alone, in the dark. Who else would see?

Then again, Sun himself was wondering around at night; anyone could stumble upon Adam given the right circumstances. It made sense for Adam to keep his guard raised, even if Sun disagreed with it.

“Hey, man.” Sun went over to Adam, only for him to not reply. Sun frowned a little, tail swishing; he went to put a hand on Adam’s shoulder before thinking better of it. Even if Adam was okay with touch, it was the middle of the night and Adam clearly thought he was alone. It’d scare the shit out of him – if it was Neptune, Sun would have totally taken the chance to frighten him. But he didn’t imagine Adam shrugging it off.

So instead, Sun wondered to the side of the table, finally noticing Adam’s earbuds in. Adam still didn’t notice him – perhaps his peripheral vision on that side was a bit buggered, so Sun stood in front of the wooden table. Adam at last looked up, jumping just a little, before taking out his earbuds and stumbling to turn off the music at his scroll. “I didn’t think you’d be up.” Adam stated.

“I didn’t think I’d be up either.” Sun yawned, joining Adam at the table. “You get funky dreams too?”

Adam hesitated, before taking a long drag of his cigarette. “That’s one word for them.”

Sun nodded in sympathy. “I got my Lien on me, wanna go grab a bite?”

Adam tilted his head. “You think anywhere would be open? This place is quiet.”

“Dude, this has gotta be a student hotspot. You might not be able to hear the night clubs and restaurants, but they’re absolutely buzzing.”

Adam shrugged, stubbing out the end of his cigarette and tucking a pink lighter into his pocket.

“Is... that Nora’s lighter?” Sun said as they got up.

Adam nodded. “That old bastard stole mine. Don’t worry, I’ll give it back to her as soon as she notices it’s gone.”

Sun chuckled, and the pair left the campus. The night sky was utterly littered in stars, bright and twinkling in the millions above them. Each shard of the moon was on full display, dazzling despite their broken nature. Adam was quiet, Sun noticed, but it didn’t feel like a bad type of quiet. Instead, Sun also noticed, it was just because Adam was distracted by those stars. He kept his head tilted slightly upward as they walked, as if keeping an eye on the night sky, like it may run away from him the moment he looked away.

“You like stars?” Sun asked, not really sure what to expect the conversation to turn into.

Adam licked his bottom lip. “I grew up in Mantle. Atlas blocked out most of the sky, and what little sky we had was drowned out by light pollution. Over here... they’re clear. Most of the skies have been clear in this place. It’s... nice.”

Sun gave a little smile. “I get that. You should see the skies in Vacuo – it’s cold as balls at night, but the sky is all lit up, and the moon...” Sun gave a low whistle. “You could walk down the street and see exactly where you’re going, it’s so bright. You’d love it, man.”

He noticed Adam smiling just a little, a shy smile, and Sun couldn’t pretend that his heart didn’t flutter at that. Because he had to be honest – blindfold or not, Adam had a handsome face. High cheekbones, a neat nose, a jawline you could cut paper against. His hair swished back wildly around his horns, fluffing out at his sideburns. He was cute. He was very, very cute.

And Sun could appreciate that. If he wasn’t so socially awkward and jagged, he’d have been an absolute lady-killer (he must have done something to snag a girl like Blake, even if that ended in a trash fire).

And he had a lovely smile. He really did. Sun liked the way his cheeks rounded out. He liked how lop-sided it was, like it was an expression he wasn’t accustomed to making. And with that, the reality crashed back down on Sun, because he realized Adam probably didn’t have a lot to smile about. He probably didn’t have many friends, he clearly didn’t have a partner, or family...

“I remember you saying your parents kicked the bucket pretty early on.” Sun said. Gods, why did he have to say it like that? What the actual fuck was wrong with him? “Did um... did you have someone to uh, look after you and... stuff?”

Adam regarded Sun, as if searching for something, scanning him, jaw clenched. When he didn’t seem to find anything of note, Adam looked straight forward. “I got put in some rundown orphanage close to one of the public schools. Last I checked – which was a while ago – the place is still running. Unfortunately.”

Sun nodded. “Yeah, I get that. You must have been tiny. Do you remember anything before it?” Why was he still talking? Why was he pushing? Why couldn’t he shut his mouth?!

Adam looked back up at the sky, before glancing over the road at a fast-food joint that was still open. “That place looks cheap and greasy. Do you want to go there?”

So, Sun didn’t push the question further, and they went into the little joint that was squished between two completely different (fancier) restaurants. Sun sat best as he could on the steel chairs, which weren’t designed with his tail in mind, and they remained quiet for some time. This time Sun couldn’t tell what type of quiet was being held between them, cradled like some joint creation of theirs.

Sun actually ordered a meal while Adam only got fries and a soft drink. The store owner, a human, gave the pair a dodgy look but didn’t turn away their money. He might have said something, but Sun noticed the man looking Adam up and down, and clearly deciding against opening his mouth. So, they sat with their food in their little paper boxes, and their drinks still in their cans, and they ate together.

Adam picked at his fries, getting oil on his glove. “Yellow walls.”

Sun paused amid his mouthful of chicken burger. “Hmf?” He tried.

“I... remember yellow walls. Not an old, burned out yellow. A fresh yellow, like... it makes me think of ducks. A bright, vibrant yellow. Not gold, but...”

Sun swallowed. “Dandelions.” He smiled before the food turned into a lump in his throat that he had to wash down with sugary fizz.

Adam nodded. “Yeah, like that. The walls in my room were that colour. There was a brown wardrobe, too. And a window over my bed – my cot, I think.”

They returned to silence for a while, and Sun tried to not stare at Adam while he waited to see if he’d continue. Eventually, he took another big bite of his burger, and of course that was when Adam carried on speaking.

“I uh... There was someone there. Sometimes. I don’t really remember her face, just... her smile. And her hair. It was red, and it’d fall into my cot – or she’d tilt her head and let it fall in, I don’t know. I just remember holding it in my hand. It was soft... I think.”

Sun chewed very slowly, not wanting to interrupt Adam. He’d taken way too big a bite for this conversation, and was trying to not spit lettuce and mayo at Adam’s earliest core memories.

“It’s a weird memory, it’s barely a few seconds of... nothing really. Just her, and her hair, and the yellow walls. She was there a lot... and then she just. Wasn’t.”

Sun swallowed his food, putting down the burger. He nodded as Adam took a sip of his drink. “Your mom, right?”

“Must have been.” Adam shrugged, like he wanted Sun to believe it wasn’t important. Sun didn’t believe such a thing. “That’s kind of it, really. Just... yeah.”

 “You know what happened?”

Adam shrugged again. “Dad had a heart attack a short while after my 2 nd birthday. Mom died in a vehicle accident almost a year after that. I know I was in the orphanage by then because I remember getting a little cake for my 3 rd birthday. They only gave cakes to the really little kids.”

Sun wanted to lean back into his seat but his tail wouldn’t allow it. “The Brothers really just let us do whatever, huh?” Sun shrugged. He noticed that Adam didn’t respond to it at first; he remained silent, waiting, and when he ran out of patience he looked at Sun properly. Somehow, Sun knew their eyes were meeting. He wished he knew what those eyes were liked.

“Thanks, for not saying you’re sorry. I’m sick and tired of people telling me they’re sorry. Like being sorry could help, like it could fix anything, like – ” Adam stopped himself, glancing away again.

“It’s alright, man.” Sun responded. “It’s okay. I can’t say I totally get it, I had a huge family growing up, but... I know what you mean. If that makes sense.”

“I know. I know.” Adam took another sip of his drink, pulling a face at its sweetness. “So. A big family?”

“Yeah, yeah. I got 6 younger siblings.” Sun chuckled, picking the sesame seeds off his burger bun. “I’m the world’s most awesome big brother – I mean, if you asked my parents they’d say I’m a bad influence and shouldn’t be around kids. But hey! That’s their stupid opinion.”

Adam looked a little surprised. “That must have been a lot to put up with.”

“Oh, no, I love my little sibs. I even share my name with one of them.”

Adam frowned. “Is that allowed?”

“Yeah yeah, we just call her Sunny so it’s not confusing. My parents totally forgot they’d already called one of their kids Sun.” Sun got himself to laugh a little.

“How do you feel about that?”

Sun blinked. “About what?”

“About what you just said. Your parents forgetting your name. Giving it to someone else. That doesn’t bother you?”

Nobody... nobody had ever really asked that. They only ever joked that it must make home life confusing. “I uh... I never really thought super hard about it.” Sun said.

Adam tilted his head. “You love your parents?”

“I mean, duh. It’s not like they’re abusive or assholes. They’re just tired and boring, like most people.”

Adam nodded a little bit, and crunched his soda can up. And that gave Sun a moment to study him more. His broad shoulders, his elegant hands. The very edges of a swirling scar that peaked out from under Adam’s blindfold, hinting toward his nose.

“So...” Sun spoke quietly. “Is it hard to see with that blindfold?”

Adam shook his head. “It obscures my vision a bit, but the fabric is very fine. Have you ever held netting or chiffon right up to your face? It’s a bit like that.”

“It’s super old, are you thinking of getting a new one?”

Adam shook his head. “If I can’t be buried in this one, I’ll get as close to the grave as I can before I replace it.”

“Why?”

That was when Adam went quiet again. He had nothing to toy with, nothing to hook into the silence to keep it with them. So, he sighed a little. “You ask a lot of questions.”

“I do!”

Adam gave a soft laugh then, a genuine laugh. A warm light flickered in Sun’s heart, and he let it stay.

“Me and Blake... used to dance a lot. She was my partner before I – we – came to Beacon.”

“Was she an orphan too?” Sun asked.

Adam shook his head. “Actually, no. That was why – it’s – it’s complicated. Anyway, we taught each other a lot about our styles, and she taught me specifically about ribbon dancing. It was something her mom specialised in, so...”

“That’s your old ribbon from back then?” Sun kept his voice soft, and gave Adam the space he needed to nod in response. “So... why do you still wear it?”

“...It’s useful.” Adam said, and Sun left it at that. His fingers tingled from the want to reach over and trace the feeling of the ribbon, to feel how old and fragile the fabric was. He wanted to see the difference between the material and Adam’s cheek. Would his skin be cold? Or would it be alive with warmth?

Sun didn’t reach up – he couldn’t, that’d be weird. Even if Adam would have been more okay with being touched... Sun didn’t even reach for Neptune like that. He suppressed the need to shake his head, to scowl at his antics and urges. After all, he doubted it would lead to anywhere good.

Soon, they left that place, and the night sky seemed lighter as they walked back to campus. The quiet softness between them had a new energy to it, or at least Sun thought there was. There was warmth here, in the space between their shoulders, their unclasped hands. Would Sun want them to be clasped?

There was a pleasantness here, in the sound of their footsteps, as synchronised as something like this could be. What was this ?

There was a gentleness here when maybe there shouldn’t be, because Adam wasn’t gentle. Adam wasn’t warmth and pleasantries and held hands. He was quiet, and observant, and looming. And when he wasn’t quiet he was snarling, and shouting, and growling. He never made an attempt to be anything else.

Except he did. Tonight. And not just tonight. He could be a warmer quiet, even if he didn’t realise it yet. Even if he didn’t see it in himself. There wasn’t just anger there. There was the same hope Sun had, there was determination. There was a strength he was clearly not credited for. There was warmth even if it came from a cold orphanage in the bitter heart of Mantle.

Maybe the winds of Solitas howled in Adam, as the heatwaves of Vacuo burned in Sun, but they didn’t collide in the way Sun would have expected in hindsight. After all, the sun and moon never fight the sky for dominance. They meet in the middle twice, and only twice, when the world turns purple and gold and pink. And red.

They made it back to the dorms, and Adam dropped Nora’s lighter in the kitchenette by the toaster. And they laid in their beds wondering if the other was asleep yet. And Sun put a hand over his heart and felt the warmth that was settling there. He knew what this feeling was, yes. He didn’t give it a name yet. He didn’t quite want to. Not until he was certain Adam saw him as a friend.

Because, for now, that was all Sun wanted.

His dreams weren’t as turbulent after that.

--- 

Adam

They liked him. They really, really seemed to like him.

Meeting Ghira and Kali for the first time was unlike anything Adam had expected. He’d been sat in the hospital for months now as the poison worked its way out of his system, and the doctors were certain there wouldn’t be any more growths. And although, by then, his trust in them was long-since dead, he’d had little choice but to do as they insisted.

He and Blake had gotten used to the smell of bleach and hand sanitizer by then, both being stuck in the confines of their wards. They’d visit each other daily, talk for hours on end. First it was just the books, but it had branched out into so much more. Blake was in the White Fang; he’d only rarely heard of them at all before all this. She had been dancing since she could walk. She had few friends back home. She was so much like he was. Her gold eyes practically glowed, even in miserable Mantle daylight.

She sat and held his hand every time he had new bloods drawn. He reminded her how to breathe when nurses changed her bandages (he was still behind a curtain, for obvious reasons). It was nice, having someone be there for him, and having a reason to be there for someone else. She was sweet. She was kind when she didn’t need to be. And she’d spoken of her parents at length. How her father was the leader of the movement, how much progress he’d made in the last decade alone. Her mother, who’d travelled the world spreading the message, fighting – sometimes literally – for the sake of those who couldn’t. How amazing they were, and how she was so frightened she’d never be as brave as them.

So to see them sat across Adam in the hospital canteen, casually holding hands on the table like normal people, left him sat upright in his seat like he’d been set on a stand. He wanted to impress them, he wanted them to like him. Since when did he ever care about what adults thought of him?

“Every time we come in for visits,” Kali explained, offering Adam a gentle smile, “Blake has just seemed brighter and brighter now she’s made a little friend.”

“Mooom.” Blake hunched over in her seat, olive skin turning rosy as she clutched her hot chocolate, nearly crunching the paper cup in her grip.

“Oh, we mean it in a nice way.” Ghira laughed with his whole chest, and there was a lot of it to laugh with, and he put a hand on Blake’s shoulder. “Honestly, it’ll be a shame when she’s well enough to come home. I’d suggest you become penpals, but if you’ve seen her handwriting...”

“Dad! It’s not that bad!” Blake protested, but there clearly wasn’t enough bite to it to be taken seriously. Her ears hadn’t even gone down all the way.

Adam realized, then, that Ghira had brough to the front of his mind something he’d not been wanting to think about for far too long. What was Adam going to do once he was discharged? He’d turned 16 in the hospital (Blake bought him a slice of carrot cake from the canteen), so legally, the orphanage didn’t need to house him anymore. They could kick him out whenever they wished, and most of his stuff was supplied by the place so he wouldn’t even have anything to take with him.

And... he couldn’t go back to the mines. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t. Not after everything they’d done to him.

He swallowed dryly, taking a big chug of his bottled water. Was that it, then? Blake would go home? And he’d be... here? Is that just what his life was going to be? What life was that? What was the point of a life like that?

Would it even be worth continuing?

Adam hadn’t even realized Kali had been watching him that entire time, eyes the same gold as her daughter’s, only... aged. Deeper, like wells of pure, bleeding amber. Honey in a dark, summertime storm. Adam met that gaze – best as he could with his one exposed eye – and Kali’s massive ears flicked here and there in contemplation. “Blake has been telling me all about your hobbies, pet. You’re quite the dancer, aren’t you?”

Adam bit his inner cheek, and nodded. “I’m self-taught.”

Kali smiled a little. “We’re trying to get our own Academy opened up in Menagerie. You wouldn’t believe the demons we’ve seen out there, and it would help the people greatly if we didn’t have to outsource our Performers every time something tragic happens. I reckon you’d be a wonderful addition to the student body – Blake’s already agreed to be enrolled as soon as it’s ready.”

Would Blake forget him once she was back home? Would she make new friends?

“It’s a long way to get from Solitas to Menagerie.” Adam commented with a nod. “Expensive, too.”

Kali and Ghira looked at each other, and Ghira offered Adam a smile. “You know, lad,” he began, “we’re aware of your... situation, regarding what happened at the mines. It’s why we came to Mantle to protest how ridiculously easy it was for something like this to even occur. We don’t want this to happen to anyone again.” Ghira leaned over the table until he was eye-level with Adam. “And we don’t plan on leaving anyone behind.”

Adam blinked, best as he could. “What do you mean?”

“A fair number of workers injured in the event were willing to migrate to Menagerie and start new lives. It’s part of our program, to give our people a place where they can feel safe and welcome while we work on making the whole world open to everyone. It’s a program that, Blake has insisted, you may be very interested in.”

Adam glanced at Blake, who was staring straight down into her drink. That rosy tone had deepened on her skin into sangria, eyes wide and hair covering her like a nightly curtain. Kali slid a document across the table to him, the White Fang logo printed on the front proud as can be.

“Everything you might need to know about travel and living arrangements is all there.” Kali assured Adam. “Any Faunus in need, or even interested, is given the chance. We all deserve help sometimes.” And then, she glanced at her daughter, and grinned at Adam. “Unless... there’s another arrangement you’d be interested in hearing.”

Adam couldn’t believe what he was being told. At first, he was cautious. Extremely cautious. What if it was a cult? Trafficking? The old TV in the orphanage could only play opera channels and true crime, and he’d had a filling share of both growing up. What if they were tricking him? He’d open the file in front of him and it was all blank, all false hopes put together to rile him up - ?

This was Blake. This was Blake’s family. This was the White Fang. They wouldn’t do that.

“I don’t think you could tell me anything better than this.” Adam choked up.

But Kali simply scoffed at that. “Is that a challenge?”

“Mom,” Blake urged quietly, “I didn’t mean – that might not be – where would he even stay?”

"Your old room across the hall!"

"But mom..."

“Oh love. You don’t need that old playroom anymore, you’re a big girl now.”

Adam blinked, not following the conversation. “Huh?”

“Well, Ghira and I have been thinking,” Kali squeezed her husband’s hand, who in turn kissed the top of her head, “and we realized just how close you and Blake are. She’s not had such a good friend to her in so long. And... it would break my heart to see her alone again. It’s sad to see a girl all alone.”

Blake grumbled, before looking over at Adam ass if watching for his reaction. She looked frightened. Timid. Shaken... and hopeful.

“What I’m trying to say, pet, is that the Belladonna house is open to you.”

Adam looked from Blake to Kali. Then to Ghira. Then Kali again. Then Ghira again. Then Blake and Ghira and back at Kali. “Huh?”

Ghira chuckled. “Why don’t you move in with us? Let us see how well you’ve taught yourself, hm?”

He’d not known warmth like this before. He’d not known kindness like this. It felt like... it felt like sunlight, filling him up inside until he glowed with it, until his bottom lip wobbled under its weight and it was all he could do to form “thank you, thank you, thank you – ” like a mantra of a desperate worshipper to a god.

Ghira’s hand clapping his back wasn’t seen as a threat by his instincts. Kali brushing his mop of hair away wasn’t something he steered away from. And Blake’s smile was one he mirrored in its fullest that day, sat in the hospital canteen, with kind people.

---

Sun

It seemed that Qrow had two specific reasons for randomizing their dance duets.

For starters, he was doing it a lot less often now that the class was settling in. Everyone was more accustomed to the studio, but also to the music Qrow tended to set them to (although nowadays people were given the option to put earbuds in, which was nice), so it seemed like Qrow’s randomizing lessons were more for him to see any updates in everyone’s skills.

The other reason, Sun theorized, is that Qrow was also a cruel bastard who liked making them uncomfortable. Or at least that was what Sun felt he had to assume, because that was the only reason their Professor had put Weiss with him that lesson. Granted, she’d clearly improved on her... personality, he supposed, but her dancing style was clearly never designed to accommodate a partner. Ruby was able to survive with her by virtue of her own style also being rather solitary, but Sun was all about company. He liked dancing with people, not around them. He reached for Weiss, and her hand simply danced around his and returned to herself. He laid out a path for her to follow, and she wouldn’t. She was as graceful and serene as a ballerina stuck inside a music box, forever spinning, forever gorgeous, forever alone. Plus, he was a little nervous that a weird blue monster was going to bounce out from Weiss’ back with no warning.

He glanced over at Adam once their sequence was finished. He’d been excused from Qrow’s line-up on Goodwitch’s request. She was still furious with him, Sun had realized, and she was working Adam to the bone on the silks much like she had that first lesson with Weiss. It appeared to be her unique form of punishment, in a sense. Sun could see the sweat on Adam’s exposed arms even from a distance, the way it made pale skin shine in the afternoon light. He swallowed dryly.

“That’s... better?” Qrow cocked an eyebrow at Weiss. “I was optimistic after the last time I saw you and Ruby, but... that was messy. That’s not entirely your fault, though.” He gave a pointed look at Sun.

“I was trying to help!” Sun claimed.

“I’m not saying you weren’t,” Qrow noted, “but you weren’t giving Weiss an opening.”

“Yeah I was, I – ”

“You were trying to get her to follow your lead,” Qrow narrowed his eyes at Sun, “you do that with every partner, I’ve noticed. You gotta hand the spotlight over to someone else, from time to time.”

Sun went pink as Weiss rejoined Ruby’s side. Blake offered Sun a sympathetic smile, and Goodwitch’s alarm went off. Qrow glanced over at them, and Sun watched the woman grumble before slipping down the silk ribbons as though she weighed nothing.

“Leaving us so soon?” Qrow smirked.

“Meeting with Ozpin. Wish me luck.” Goodwitch responded, gesturing for Adam to leave the silks alongside her. Then she blinked, looking at Qrow almost in a panic. “I didn’t mean – ”

“Shush. Go on before you’re late.” He did that laugh people tended to do when they tried to pretend they weren’t annoyed, and Goodwitch left the studio in a bigger hurry than Sun expected her to. He raised a bit of an eyebrow at that, but didn’t have time to comment before Adam joined the group. “You can retire for the day. Rest up after your one-on-one.” Qrow addressed Adam.

“I’m fine.” He shook his head, and Qrow merely shrugged before looking back at his scroll. Goodwitch had certainly made a point of not letting him use an empty bottle to pick his students during these lessons – he still did when she wasn’t there, but – so Qrow swiped over Sun’s and Weiss’ names until they turned red on his holographic screen.

“So. We only had Pyrrha left so I was going to reset the list and mix you all up again – ” The entire class groaned at Qrow’s words, for they’d been at this since this morning, going through endless unpredictable dances with one-another, “buuut seeing as we have a new player, I reckon we could have one more duet before we head to dinner. Sound fun?”

Pyrrha nodded happily, and Adam smirked. “I guess I should be honoured to have a dance with the Perfect Atlas Girl.”

“Don’t you start.” Qrow rolled his eyes.

“I’m not.” Adam put his hands out, feigning defence. “It’s not every day you get to dance with a former Atlas Academy student – I can’t believe I haven’t had a turn yet.”

“I don’t count?” Weiss crossed her arms.

“You barely made it onto campus grounds before you got... redirected.” Adam smirked at Weiss, before Pyrrha sighed and straightened her back.

“Leave her be. Sometimes the chips fall in different places than you might expect.” Pyrrha reasoned as she made her way to the side of the studio that they’d designated as their impromptu stage.

“Only if you let them fall there.” Adam joined her as Qrow looked through his scroll for an appropriate song, as he had been with each duo. “Speaking of which, whatever did happen at Atlas? Must have been quite the scandal for you to have ended up all the way down here. With us.”

Pyrrha’s customer-service smile waned. “I’m sure we all have our reasons. Yours must have been provoked too, I’m sure.”

“ Too ? So you were in a fight as well?” Adam sported a Cheshire Cat grin. “You didn’t strike me as the type.”

“I didn’t say that...” Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the other students.

“As much as we’re all enjoying this banter,” Qrow drawled, waving his hand, “we do have a dance to go through.” He switched on the music and the pair started to circle one-another, as two predators might over prey – the prey in this setting being the spotlight.

Sun wasn’t entirely sure who would win – Adam was good, but Pyrrha was better. She was better than most everyone in class; Sun had watched her through the classes, and she had earned the term ‘Perfect’. He’d not seen her put a step out of place, not once. It was almost creepy, like a doll designed to do one thing. Even if she did it well, it terrified Sun the same way tight-rope walkers did at circuses. She moved as though her very life depended on her movements. As though everything would come crashing down at her feet. The violin was sharp from the speakers, matching the voice of a woman Sun didn’t recognize.

Pyrrha held her hand out to Adam, a gesture as neutral as it was kind, and Adam flashed into her personal bubble and grabbed her elbow. Her eyes widened as he pulled her close, and for a brief moment she darted after the path he made. But it wasn’t easy to lead someone like Pyrrha Nikos. She arched her back and used her body weight to force Adam to twist around her, and he grabbed her waist for balance, and she grabbed his shoulder for control.

So it began.

Are you satisfied with an average life?

Do I need to lie to make my way in life?

Pyrrha moved in long strides, elegant, confident, and Adam grinned as he had to dash to keep up with her lest she mop the floor with him. He yanked her off the ground and spun her in one arm, and when she was weightless she was defenceless. Yang whistled from where she stood. Blake stared wide eyed, searching, as if waiting for lightning to strike. Sun wondered if he’d be able to lift Adam like that.

Could he? Would he want to?

High achiever, don't you see?

Baby, nothing comes for free!

They say I'm a control freak, driven by a greed to succeed.

Nothing can stop me!

Pyrrha’s hands glowed almost black, and she wrenched herself from Adam by dragging her force towards the metal banister. Sun hadn’t seen Adam have this much fun with a partner before – he didn’t grin like this when they danced together. Was it normal to be jealous?

Perhaps Adam didn’t see Sun as that big of a challenge. Pyrrha was well-known, apparently, and was evidently skilled and trained in ways Sun couldn’t hope to have been. Perhaps Adam enjoyed the fact that Pyrrha was giving him more of a workout. Sun felt himself frowning.

Pyrrha took Adam's hand again and let him swing her away from the banister, close to him. She matched his every step and he was clearly trying to make her stumble. Sun wondered if she was used to wild partners. He would have made a joke after about it not being her first rodeo, but he didn't think Adam would appreciate it.

She didn't just mimic Adam's moves, she improved upon them. His every move, precise as they were, had a course feel to them, rough, rudimentary - at least when he was on the ground. Pyrrha gave each flick of the arm an elegant touch, each jump and step an extra sense of grounding. Adam yanked Pyrrha close to him until her back was against his chest – it intrigued Sun how Adam hated touch if it was outside a dance – and dipped her low enough for her hair to nearly sweep the ground. She stretched her arms out far above her head as she leaned into the pose.

It's my problem, it's my problem,

If I feel the need to hide.

It's my problem if I have no friends,

And feel I want to die!

Adam dropped Pyrrha.

With nothing to grab fast enough, she flopped onto the ground like a dead fish, clearly hurting her back in the process. Qrow stopped the music immediately and stared at Adam to see if it was intentional.

The class held their collective breath. Was this on purpose? Was there going to be another fight? More drama? Blake’s ears snapped downward, her pupils shrinking to slits. Nora pulled a face, and Sun’s tail straightened out.

Adam hadn’t moved an inch as though he’d been frozen in place. Pyrrha stared up at him, owl-eyed. She didn’t even look upset, just shocked.

Adam spoke quickly. “I genuinely thought you'd make that work I am so sorry.”

Pyrrha frowned up at him, but there was... something else in her expression. Disappointment? “Oh. Um. No, no. I just. It’s alright.”

Adam still hadn’t moved. Arms still outstretched, feet still positioned to have taken her weight in his arms. Qrow cleared his throat awkwardly. “So it's been about forty seconds now, the Grimm have killed both of you and then died of embarrassment at how easy it was. Are you going to pick her up or not? ”

Adam shook himself out of it as he awkwardly helped Pyrrha back to her feet, and reality seemed to slap back into the studio.

“You can’t just do that!” Weiss shouted, which was possibly the first time Sun remembered seeing her get so upset on somebody else’s behalf. “Do you have any idea who you just dropped?!”

“Weiss, sheesh,” Sun shrugged, “it was an accident! Kind of!”

“You dunce! Pyrrha isn’t like the rest of you – she graduated top of her class at Sanctum.”

“Never heard of it.” Sun smiled.

Weiss scoffed. “She’s won the Mistral Regional Tournaments 4 years in a row – a new record.”

“The what?” Sun’s smile widened as he pushed each of Weiss’ buttons – the ones he knew, at least.

Weiss gave a flabbergasted expression, before giving up. “She was on the front cover of every Pumpkin Pete’s Flakes box!”

Sun had no idea what those were, his family had never been able to afford branded food so they only ever got the store-brand essentials. Ruby, on the other hand, gasped so loudly she quite accurately resembled a party balloon being blown up. “That’s you ?!” She pointed at Pyrrha excitedly. “They only do that for celebrities and cartoon characters!”

Pyrrha was clearly trying to put on a smile, but it didn’t fit her face like it used to. “That cereal isn’t very good for you...” Was all she could think to say.

Qrow frowned, observing her for a moment, before clapping his hands sharply to bring the attention on himself. “Alright, fun’s over. Go get something to eat and for the love of any god left in this place, go have a shower. This place smells like an Atlesian locker room and not in the fun way.”

The motley crew of students began to leave, before Qrow put a hand on Pyrrha’s shoulder. “Do you mind staying behind for a minute? It won’t be long.”

“Oh – of course.” She nodded, flashing Ren and Nora what was probably the last smile she had left in her that day, to encourage them to go on ahead. Sun wanted to stay behind too, partly to eavesdrop, but mostly to make sure she was alright. He hadn’t gotten the chance to speak with Pyrrha out of everyone, but he still liked her a lot. She was kind and good-natured, which was a hard quality to find these days. But he couldn’t hang around as he wanted to, so he joined Neptune’s side as they headed for dinner.

“Wonder what that was all about.” Neptune commented as they entered the line in the cafeteria.

“You think she’s okay?” Sun asked.

“I genuinely didn’t mean for that to happen.” Adam’s voice came from behind them, and Neptune jumped out of his skin.

“Don’t do that – !” Neptune gasped.

“I really thought she’d recover.” Adam gave a wonky frown, like he wasn’t sure where to put himself.

Sun went to pat Adam’s shoulder, but thought better of it. “She’s really good, that’s the first time I’ve seen her fall out of step. We’re all fallible, man.”

“She didn’t fall out of step.” Adam explained, grabbing a tray. “I made her do that.”

“Don’t tell me you feel bad for hurting a human .” Neptune began to load his tray with French fries and pizza. “She’ll be fine, dude.”

Adam gave Neptune a look that bordered too closely on murderous for Sun’s liking, so he switched places to stand between the pair. “We’re talking about Pyrrha Nikos. The Perfect Girl! Why did you call her that, actually?” Sun smirked at Adam. “Do you have a little crush on her?”

Adam tilted his head, and Sun could almost envision his eyes rolling under his ribbon. “She’s well-known in both Mistral and Solitas. Weiss was right – she’s won more competitions and tournaments than you can count. From the minute she was in school, she was enrolled in specialist Performing Arts classes – which I imagine stems from pushy parents, a natural knack for dancing, or both.”

“For real?” Sun raised his eyebrows as he filled one of his plates with chicken wings.

“I remember hearing about her during my last year in Mistral - she was enrolled in the Aesop class, that’s top tier Atlas skill. Nobody gets into that class unless they’re rich, related to someone important, or so talented they may as well get a Performer’s license printed on a gold fucking plaque.” Adam reached for a premade bowl of dumplings and soup. “What nobody knows, though, is how she got here. Atlas Academy starts their semester a few months before we do, so whatever she did got hushed up pretty quickly. You can’t have anything below perfect in Atlas.”

A new voice joined the conversation. A very unwelcome voice. “You think they threw her in the trashcan alongside you weirdos?” Cardin grinned at them from a table closest to the line. “I mean, that’s what your class is, isn’t it?”

“Hello, Cardin.” Adam smiled. “How much did the tooth fairy give you? I hear molars go for a good price – even yours.”

Cardin’s forehead wrinkled from the effort it took to keep his eyebrows from furrowing. “You should be careful. We all know what they say about bulls in China shops.”

Sun laughed. “Yeah, and we all know what they say about your mom behind the McDonald’s parking lot.”

Cardin glared as he and Neptune snickered, and he kicked Dove under their table for laughing. He soon settled his eyes on Neptune specifically. “I’m surprised to see a human wasting his time with a pair of animals. Were you raised on a farm or are you just deluded?”

“Neither, actually.” Neptune ate a French fry casually. “I just don’t get all my information about the Faunus from angry old men on the internet.”

“And where do you get your info from? Hm? From the freaks themselves?”

That was when Yang passed by the group and sat right by Cardin, bubbly and blonde as ever. “Hey! You’re that guy from Professor Port’s class, right?”

Cardin looked surprised at the girl’s appearance, but took a look at the size of her chest and decided it was worth engaging in conversation. “That’s right. I have a band.”

“Wow, that’s so cool.” Yang rested her arm against his, and Sun watched with intrigue. “Do you think I could watch you perform?”

“Oh, you can totally watch me perform. Could even give you a private show.” Cardin put an arm around Yang, and gestured dismissively toward the group of boys watch, especially Sun and Adam. “Away from all the freaks. What do you say?”

Yang giggled. “Freaks? You mean the Faunus? Think you could beat one up?”

“Oh, totally.”

“Think you could beat me up, then?” Yang batted her eyes.

Cardin finally started to look uneasy. “You? I mean... I wouldn’t...?”

“Do you think you could beat me up? It’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question.” Yang giggled. “Go on. You won’t hurt my feelings.”

“I... guess?”

Before Cardin could say anything else, Yang grabbed his arm and head. She slammed him down onto the table, using his own body to keep his arm pinned, and he couldn’t reach her with his other arm at such an angle. “Are you sure? Come on, be honest.”

“Let – let go of me you bitch!” Cardin cried as his cronies scrambled to get up. Sun gasped out a laugh as Adam grinned wickedly at the display.

“Nuh-uh. Don’t like that word.” Yang shook her head. “Try calling me ‘sir’.”

“Fuck off - !”

“Just try it!” She pressed her weight into him until his arm was being crushed by his own chest and the wooden texture of the table was starting to imprint into his cheek.

“Okay! Get off me sir ! For fuck’s sake!”

Yang at last released Cardin, and by then the rest of his boyband were finally up and active. She laughed as she rushed out of the room, hair almost glowing pure spun gold in the light, and 3 boys all chased her out into the light of the campus. Sun could see, in the distance, as Yang rushed up to a tall spindly teacher he’d learned was called Oobleck, frantically explaining the situation until the trio caught up with her. Sun could only laugh as the Professor stepped forward and started yelling at the students, not giving them an inch of room to explain themselves.

“Not bad.” Adam chuckled a little, having watched the same thing. “For a human.”

“Your class is a bunch of freaks.” Cardin staggered to his feet, cradling his arm.

“You really wanna instigate Round 2?” Sun beamed. “In front of all these witnesses? Sure, they saw Yang go at you, but attacking us unprovoked ain’t a good look.”

Cardin growled and stalked off to where the rest of his little band were, and Sun nudged Adam and Neptune. “Eat in the dorms where nobody can find us?”

“Apt plan.” Neptune nodded, and the trio left the cafeteria having forgotten entirely about Pyrrha.

(Song Featured: Are You Satisfied? - Marina and The Diamonds)

Chapter Text

Adam

Adam held the book in his hand, the spine a worn leather that he habitually rubbed his thumb into. It was an old thing, and clearly much loved. In fact, many of the books in Beacon’s library were said to have come from Ozpin’s personal collection. As such, many of them were old beyond belief. Some in languages Adam didn’t recognize, some using words and phrases long since abandoned by modern vernacular.

There was a lot of content in the old leather book that took Adam a moment to understand, and that had made him take twice as long to read the thing. Still, he enjoyed it and the time he spent with it. He pressed his scroll up against a glowing blue hologram on the main desk, letting the computers recognize his library card and take the book off his record. Anywhere else, and he might have considered just keeping the book, as there wasn’t really anything preventing him from that. But given the age of the book, and the stern warnings he’d already gotten in recent weeks due to his behaviour, he decided it wasn’t worth the added stress of rocking the boat. Karma had a funny way of biting you in the ass anyway, and life was cruel enough. Of all the things he could do to get expelled, he wasn’t planning on petty theft being the final nail in that coffin.

Adam brought the book back to the shelf he’d taken it from before the librarian at the desk could offer the Drop-Off basket to him. He ignored her little ‘tut’ as he walked off, and instead focused on breathing in the scent of paper, of ink, of waning warm air and light. The library was nearly empty, allowing him to be alone with his footsteps, with the scents and gentle light, but it also meant he was alone with his thoughts.

He arrived by the shelf in the far corner, hidden from the rest of the world by the rows of other, more frequented stories, leather-bound biographies and documentaries added into the mix. It was so quiet here he could hear the harmless hum of the computers set up along the way, the buzz of the blue holograms, the crows screaming on the roof. The air held more dust, as though this quiet corner kept itself closed off from the rest of the world, not wishing to interact. The shelf held a great number of odd books, ones that could neither be labelled as Religious Ideologies, as History, or even as Philosophy. Instead, it held no category, save for a simple message at the top written in the Headmaster’s bizarre, swirly chicken scratch that read ‘ do help yourself ’.

Maybe in another life, Adam would have been far more sceptical of the Gods. He wouldn’t have been so quick to believe that every single piece of torment, of tragedy, came from some higher beings so detached from their creations they couldn’t even comprehend emotion or regret, or love. Like breathing beings wondering if clay could ever have lungs, completely deaf to the screams of their air-dried monstrosities.

He shook his head and put the book back. The title ‘ Teachings of The God of Darkness ’ left his vision, and he left the book there, wondering if he’d ever pick it up again.

No, Adam would have been sceptical. He wouldn’t have been silly enough to believe that there was an entity, a creature , that defined itself (Himself?) as benevolent and yet did nothing to ease the mass suffering on this planet. That it had a beastly brother who seemed to only take pleasure in stomping on what little good there was in the world.

But the Gods did exist. That was common knowledge in this world. Gods and monsters, all moving within the same air that Adam did. The monsters he’d seen, but the Gods? He didn’t ever want to see them. If he ever did, they would have a lot to answer for.

But he still found himself fascinated. Against his better judgement, he found himself drawn to curling horns and golden antlers, to rivers of light, lakes of darkness.

The God of Darkness, back in the day, was rumoured to be the beginning of all of Adam’s kind. According to some mythos, anyway. And of course that same line of dialogue insisted that humans came from Brother Light, the ‘good’ one. Pathetic, of course, and he could see the hubris in that belief clear as a bull could see a red veil, and yet... he was intrigued by it.

Sometimes, he’d read the different interpretations people had about them, about him . Some called him a devil, some called him Hades. Some simply saw him as one side of a coin. Adam disagreed with many interpretations, but they all carried the same weight with them even if in different bundles. That he created the dark, the night, and Adam, and despite everything, he took comfort from that.

After all, there wouldn’t be any stars without the dark.

Adam was snapped out of his ponderings by hands yanking on the back of his arms. Immediately his guard was shot sky-high, his skin crawling, burning with the feeling of being touched. In a moment there was air under his feet and his arms were pulled up high enough for his shoulder joints to sting, but the two assailants remained safely behind him. His heart was a steam hammer, his skull was stone, and Cardin Winchester was stood before him in desperate need of having more teeth removed.

“You thought I wasn’t going to follow up on my promise?” The human smirked, cocking an eyebrow at Adam as his cronies held him in place. “I’m a man of my word, Adam Taurus.”

“Your words are worth less than shit.” Adam growled, and the reality set in like settled snow. The librarian was too far away to hear the commotion, and nobody else was around. There were at least three humans, and only one Adam. Things were going to get messy. “I’ve done worse to your sort for less than this.”

Cardin chuckled, crossing his arms. “Strong words from someone who’s outnumbered.”

“Yeah, three to one.” Adam spat. “Very brave.”

Cardin grimaced. “Four to one. Russell.”

Adam felt smaller, sweaty hands grab his horns and yank his head up, his entire skull jutting with the motion. He needed to get off. They were touching his horns. He needed to get off. Not there.

Adam let out something of a scream, something of a yowl, and began writhing violently in the groups’ grip. The world eclipsed briefly as he tried flash-stepping out of their grip, but they were more aware of his tricks this time, and their hold on him tightened until fingers were pinching his skin. He twisted his head this way and that, hating how animalistic it felt but having little choice. He hated, hated people touching his horns. They were his, only his, they needed to get off –

At the orphanage, it was the first thing they’d grab. One of his earliest memories was being dragged around through the snow by his horns, which were little more than nubs at the time. The headache that followed was intense enough to leave black spots in his vision for the rest of the day, and nobody cared how much he’d cried.

“Whoa, whoa!” Cardin laughed, pretending to hold his hands out. “Easy there, boy! You know what they do to wild animals like you? Stags, studs, calves?” He grinned widely, his remaining teeth as straight and white as a military graveyard. “They break them in.”

And then, Cardin grabbed Adam by the chin, steadying his head and forcing their gaze to meet. Cardin clearly looked frustrated for a moment as the blindfold blocked his ability to actually look Adam in the eyes, and Adam took the opportunity to snap his head down and bite Cardin’s hand.

If they were going to call him an animal, he’d remind them that animals have fangs.

“AH! GET HIM OFF ME!” Cardin cried, and Adam ignored the feeling of fists bashing on his temples and nose in favour of savouring the way Cardin’s skin broke under his teeth, the taste of iron and rage suddenly on his tongue. Adam clenched his jaw until he could feel a knuckle buckling under his grip, until Cardin’s other hand connected with his cheek, smacking him hard enough to disorient him.

At last, the digits were out of his mouth and a mixture of blood and saliva drained down to his chin while the human nursed his hand. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“I’m a wild animal.” Adam spat at Cardin’s feet, ridding himself of the taste. “And you’re nothing but a useless, hollow moron who peaked as a middle school bully. Attacking me won’t change your worth, but it will sure as hell give me ammunition for next time.”

Cardin grimaced, shooting his team a disgusted look at their inability to restrain their new target, before he straightened up. “Look me in the eye and say that, you weird bastard.”

New panic boiled in Adam’s chest as Cardin reached for his blindfold, and the grip the team had on him left him nowhere to go, no space to shrink down into. They needed to get off. Get away. Get away!

Some strange mix of blue, yellow and tan burst onto Cardin, knocking him clean on the floor. Adam could only see the rich oak wood floor as he was knocked down into it, then the flash of a yellow tail, and then... golden footsteps. Ones he knew well by now.

“C’mon!” Sun grabbed Adam’s wrist and yanked him up, half-dragging him for a minute before Adam found his footing.

“Get those assholes!” Cardin shouted, throwing a random book in their general direction as the entire team chased Adam and Sun out of the library, but Sun took a different route than back to the dorms. Instead, he’d gone through a back door that led out into open fields on the back end of the school, the grass damp under their feet from recent rain.

The air was cold in Adam’s chest, thrilling, lighting up his thoughts and urging him to run with Sun. The adrenaline in his veins stopped him from even caring about Sun’s warm hand around his wrist, causing the purple beaded bracelet to dig into his skin. Team CRDL’s voices, their footsteps, became little more than ghosts behind them as they entered the mouth of the forest. For the first time in a long while, Adam remembered what it felt like to be free.

Even without the threat, they ran together, Sun’s hand warm on Adam’s wrist, their paces matched as they ran across moss and mud, breathed in the smell of wet pine and stone. The grey sky was completely blocked out by the span of leaves, of holly, of berries and nests in the trees. Crows screamed and blackbirds sang. They were safe.

They stopped to catch their breaths, and Adam felt a dizzying rush blanket his body as his adrenaline gave out to make way for the new bruises on his face, the throbbing migraine localised around his horns, the gross slime on his chin. He wiped it away on his black jacket sleeve, looking over at Sun who was leaning on a tree and wheezing. And yet he was still cracking a massive smile, tanned cheeks pink from perspiration, tail whirling and wagging from the excitement.

“Where... where did you come from?” Adam gasped out.

“I uh... I was looking for you, actually.” Sun admitted with a shy smile. Adam felt a pang in his heart, but this time it wasn’t from panic, or dread. It was... pleasant. He watched Sun’s smile, watched how he tried wiping his hair out of his face. He was... pretty like this. Genuinely pretty. His dark eyes seemed to hold so much light in that moment, a kindness, a loveliness. What was this? Admiration? Respect?

No. He’d admired Sienna. He’d respected Qrow. All that felt wildly different from... this. Not even Blake had made him feel like this. “Why...” He swallowed around those feelings. “Why were you looking for me?”

Sun’s eyes widened, and he blinked twice – “Adorable” , Adam thought – and he gave a little chuckle.

“Well,” he started unevenly, “you’d been gone for a few hours, and... well, it’s a small class, so... I just like making sure I know where my friends are at.” Sun nodded. “Also Nora wants to rematch with you at the arcade and won’t shut up about it.”

Adam gave a little breath, but before he could respond there came a loud whip-crack of thunder, deep, foreboding, before the sky seemingly opened up and rain poured down once more. The pair flinched and panicked at the oncoming rain, before Adam spied a vague shape in the distance, a red roof of sorts. A gazebo? But this deep in the forest...?

“Over there.” He pointed and quickly led the way before the pair got completely soaked.

And from there, he noticed the way the ground was shaped... differently. As though the very soil had been moulded into rudimentary steps. He followed them, only if he was sure he could hear Sun behind him, and the steps began to lead to ancient cobblestone, smashed in places and overwhelmed by a dark purple moss the likes of which Adam hadn’t seen before. This place... felt different. Like a different slice of reality. Like stepping into a scene in a snow globe. He’d read things online about liminal spaces – places not designed for long term stay, so outside the norm of reality that they only seemed to hold strangeness – and this new realm felt somewhat like that, alive, but... not interested in harming him. He wondered if Sun felt the shift too.

They scrabbled along the cobblestones, and found themselves standing outside an old, old, old building. Maybe once the roof had been completely red, and maybe once the walls had been a black wood. Now, though, it smelled of rot and abandonment. The tiles were chipping off and the glass windows were completely smashed in. The only flair of personality remaining were ancient stones and pieces of metal hanging like windchimes on every entrance, like charms, like talismans. Nobody had been out here for a very long time.

Still, the pair entered the little room, and it was just a tiny square inside with the front entrance they’d come in from, and another doorway opposite them, equal in size. Every wall was lined with rotting, wooden benches, perhaps black at some point too. But what caught Adam’s attention was left in the very middle of the room, left behind alongside the building itself. The only thing not yet stolen by time.

An obsidian bust of a faceless man with horns was there to greet them, on a plaque just barely chest-height, features only vaguely referenced. Horns that curled dramatically downward. Adam felt like he was being observed – not watched, not stalked, just... noticed.

Sun flicked his tail about to try and rid himself of the cold rainwater, as they’d not been quick enough to get out of the monsoon. “What... what is that?” He nodded at the statue.

“This... this place...” Adam began in a small voice, “this is a shrine... to the God of Darkness.”

Sun stilled, hesitating as he stepped past the threshold and into the proper heart of the decrepit shrine. The leaky roof allowed droplets of rain to sink in, to splash against obsidian horns. Adam ducked as his horns, more bone than they'd ever be anything else, were given the same treatment. "I doubt we'll find any other shelter." He stated in a voice that he hoped wasn't too quiet.

Sun simply nodded and sat in the corner on one of the benches, going to crouch before realising something. With a smile, he turned to Adam. "Look, there're slots in the back that my tail could fit through! It's like it was made for tails!"

Adam had to smile at the childlike glee Sun expressed as he was able to sit, and glanced at the bust. So his suspicion was right - probably. This place was built by Faunus folk. He sat next to Sun about a foot away from him in silence, and memories he hadn't touched upon began returning to him. The scent of lavender incense. A cushion under his knelt legs. Book upon book of philosophy, ideology, of magic. Despite the leaks in the roof, the wood was bone dry, and hard as metal. He had no fear of the ancient bench breaking under them. In fact, in a very strange way, the place felt... Kept. Perhaps it wasn't by a person, but it felt lived in, and Adam had the sensation one might have of entering a stranger's house only moments after they'd popped out.

All they had for company now, though, was the utter flood breaking down from the clouds, deafening in its shower, and a caterpillar by Sun's shoulder that was munching away at an unruly swath of ivy that grew from the walls. It was... Nice, this place.

"Ozpin never mentioned places of worship near the school, did he?" Sun asked after some time. He swung his feet a little from the bench. "And this far away from the school..."

"I don't think 'worship' is the right word." Adam found himself saying. "Not anymore."

Sun tilted his head, those dark eyes capturing Adam where he sat. "The gods... Why do you think they left?"

Adam only scoffed. "Look at the state of us. Of this world. Who wouldn't leave if they'd created such a mess?"

"I wouldn't."

He turned to Sun in confusion, and found a calmness in those inky eyes that he'd seldom seen before. A sadness, too, but not like Adam's sadness. It wasn't bitter, or even active, it was just... There. Floating in pools of starless space.

Sun looked at the bust once again. "If I messed something up, I'd want to fix it."

"You think it's possible to fix all this?" Adam gestured vaguely. “Poverty? War? Monsters that we make from our own souls? You think a world this twisted even deserves it?”

"Not on my own, but I'm not a god. I'm definitely not two." Sun leaned back into his seat and properly regarded Adam. "Besides, if you don't think you can fix anything, why are you here? Why did you decide to be a Performer? What’s the point?"

Adam had to look away for his own safety, or the black hole of Sun's eyes would have swept him clean away from this world. He swallowed dryly; how could he explain that it was the only way he could escape the suffocating misery of his life? That it was the only part of himself he considered worth saving? That there was nothing in this world, nothing , that brought him so close to happiness besides being able to dance?

Well, nothing up until recently.

When he thought of happiness, he'd always thought of the silk bound around his wrists, the air under his feet and between his horns, music so loud it drowned out his heartbeat.

These days Adam seemed to find happiness, in short bursts, in other things. Sun's goofy, wonky grin. Glynda's eyebrow cocking up with approval. Sun's tail swishing as he dreamed. Qrow standing by his side in defence. The warmth in Sun's hands when they danced. The way he never stopped trying to keep up, to take the lead from Adam. The way he, for reasons unknown to anyone alive or dead, refused to give up on being Adam's friend.

Adam cleared his throat. "I..." He began, "I can't fix the world. I just... I deserve to prove that I'm not... That I..."

"...That you're worth something." Sun whispered, and Adam looked back at him. "I know what that feels like. My dad always said it wasn't worth the cash putting me in a proper training class - not that we ever had the money anyway. Most every teacher I remember told me I was no good, that I'd just be another street rat."

Adam listened to the sound of Sun's tail brushing against the wooden floor, to the words that spoke to his own heart.

"I hated it so much. Yeah, I was naughty. And easily distracted. And maybe I'm not super smart like you are, I don't read as a hobby and I don’t get good grades. But... I'm still worth something, you know?" He looked at Adam, and this time those calming, jet-black eyes held a sense of hesitation to them, like he feared that Adam's reaction wasn't going to be in kind.

But it was. Because Adam did understand that pain. That frustration. Even if he expressed it differently to Sun, he certainly knew its origin. "There was this time in the orphanage..." He started, immediately wishing he hadn't. He didn't really want to open up like this, relive old memories. He shook his head at himself, wanting to curse his own name for being so easily dismantled by one person.

But when that one person was so trusting, so honest... What else could Adam do? "Well, sometimes couples would come in to adopt. It really didn't happen often, but... This human couple came in, they seemed friendly enough. Nobody ever really wanted to look at the Faunus kids, but they did. It's not actually allowed, but we'd always get sectioned off when people came in..."

Why was he rambling? Why was he hurting himself with useless details? Still, Sun watched him as if his every word mattered. And with that attention on him, he couldn't stop himself. Not with Sun. What was with him? "They were really excited to see all of us. They were looking for a specific age range, so me and about 5 other boys got brought into a waiting room. I was... Excited. Really, really excited. I tried covering up my horns with a hat, I sat nicely, I was patient and calm. But... This other kid, he just... I guess he'd just accepted his fate in that place, he knew he wasn’t getting out. But he didn't want to see anyone else get out either. So he... He just teased me, relentlessly. He just kept on and on at me while we waited. I was the last one to be seen right after him, and... When he came out of the room they were in..."

"You're squeezing your legs."

"Huh?"

"You're squeezing your legs really hard. You might get hurt, bud." Sun gestured as if he was going to put a hand over Adam's, but their hands never met. Adam looked at his lap, the hot sting of his fists, having closed around his outer thighs, suddenly hitting him between the temples.

He unwound his digits shamefully, hearing his finger joints creaking with the effort. He took a long breath and shook his head. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Sun spoke softly, and it wasn't okay, it was stupid, it was ridiculous that Adam would hurt himself like this so casually, that he’d make Sun uncomfortable, that he was breaking open his memories with a crowbar for conversation's sake -

But Sun said it was okay.

"We can stop if you want." Sun nodded.

Adam went to bite his inner cheek but pushed against the urge. "It's okay, I just got too into it." He glanced at the little caterpillar as it left a trail of bite marks from leaf to leaf. "He smirked at me, so I lost it. I grabbed him and threw him onto the floor, and we just clawed and kicked and bit each other until we were pulled away by the carers. He'd been sweet as pie to the couple, but I'd never seen a pair of adults run so fast out of a building before. Nobody got adopted in the end."

Sun had scooted closer to Adam without him noticing. He found that... He appreciated the closeness, for once.

"That wasn't even what stayed with me. It was afterwards, in the nurse's office. She... She treated my injuries - wet paper towel and a cup of water for my bloody nose - and she knelt in front of me and... I remember her exact words, she said... ' this is why nobody wants to adopt you animals' ."

Sun frowned, a look of tired disappointment. And of understanding. Adam took comfort in that. He took comfort in so much of Sun, he was noticing. Perhaps Sun had been too touchy-feely before, but now he seemed to understand when to stop. Adam wasn’t overwhelmed by Sun, and he expected himself to be, with how extroverted and loud he was. But Sun was a summer day, he was bright and fun and welcoming, and Adam... Adam knew how to hate a lot of things, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate Sun. In fact... what he was starting to feel wasn’t hatred at all.

"How old were you?" Sun asked gently. Ever so gently.

Adam shrugged. "Probably still a single digit. Not that it matters."

"It matters to me."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend."

"How am I your friend?" There Adam went, ruining things again. His legs stung as he stood up and his heart pounded and the rain drowned out any internal monologue he would have held onto in this moment. Any voice of reason telling him to shut the hell up, to stop this, to not ruin it all over again. "Since we met, I've done nothing but brush you off and involve you in crap you shouldn’t have had to deal with. You don't need to know about my sad, shitty life. You don't need to feel sorry for me. I don't -"

"Adam," Sun interrupted with a stern expression, "shut the fuck up for a minute."

Adam blinked. "You -"

"Dude. You think I feel sorry for you? You think I'm actually that dumb?"

"...I just..." Adam curled in on himself a little.

"I'm friends with you because I like you, idiot!" Sun turned properly to him with a wry grin, "you're weird and funny and you don't take shit from anyone! You're sarcastic and all anti-establishment and stuff! Contrary to popular belief, you're actually fun to be around."

Adam sat back down slowly, not quite sure how to process any of Sun's words. “I’m... fun?”

"I think so! Yeah, you got problems. But so do I! So does everyone = especially in our class! Our professor used his drinking problem as a learning tool for crying out loud! You think I don't notice stuff?”

Adam swallowed, staring down at his feet. Sun really liked him? Adam wasn’t even trying to be likeable. He wasn’t trying like he had with Blake. He was just being his true, miserable, awful self. And Sun liked him? Could it be... that he wasn’t actually an unlovable prick?

Maybe that was one step too far, actually. He knew he was a prick, and was definitely unlovable. Likeable , though... he could work with that.

“So yeah,” Sun continued, his tail brushing against Adam’s ankle, “you're weird and angry and rough around the edges, but you’re also passionate, you put your whole dick into everything you do.”

“Don’t say it like that – ”

“You do what you think is best! You’re not fake, you’re really smart, you say funny stuff in your weird voice – !”

“My voice isn’t weird.” Adam protested weakly.

“My Name Is Adam, My Voice Isn’t Weird.” Sun smirked as he put on a monotone, forced impression.

“I don’t sound like that.” Adam found himself smiling.

“My Name Is Adam, I Don’t Sound Like That.” Sun puffed out his chest as he continued, and Adam actually chuckled. He was being insulted , but there he was laughing along with it. Sun’s mockery wasn’t laced with spite, it was... almost endearing. It was sweet. He spoke to Adam like he spoke to Neptune, or Weiss, or Ruby, or any of their classmates. “So yeah! I do like you. And as a result, I'm gonna keep hanging out with you until you either decide to be a shithead or, I dunno, one of us dies I guess?"

Adam stared at Sun and blinked, before turning away from him slowly, almost embarrassed. "Your uh, your friend doesn't like me as much."

"He hasn't liked half of my girlfriends and ANY of my boyfriends. He'll cope, dude."

Adam swallowed again, and the pair returned to a much more soothing silence for some time. It could have been an hour and neither of them would have known, as neither thought to check their scrolls. Sun watched the rain from the window, and Adam watched the obsidian horned man as if looking for movement. As if certain that, the moment he looked away, that representation of darkness would come to life and stare straight back at him. And then who would be the statue?

"What did you mean again?" Sun broke the silence once more. "About worship? Are you religious?"

Adam licked his bottom lip, trying to not clam up again. He'd gone over his usual allowance of opening up for the year, so was currently going across uncharted territory. "N-no. Not really. I just... What do you know about the God of Darkness?"

"That he's the one who made the night and his big brother made the day." Sun paused. "Nobody really liked him. Apparently he was the one who got up to no good."

Adam wanted to smile, because of course that was how Sun would answer such a question. "He was the polar opposite of his brother. Darkness brought destruction, and ashes, and pain. Light brought warmth and abundance. One brought life and hope. The other brought despair. Of course, there's no way to completely mark down who gave what to the world, but..."

Sun sat with Adam, still, let him speak, let him find his words. Adam couldn't say how grateful he was for that. For his friend . When was the last time he’d had one of those?

Oh, right. Blake.

“The funny thing about it, though, is that he was necessary. He wasn’t wanted, or welcomed, he wasn’t even accepted by most of his own creations. You don’t often find stained glass windows framing him in a good light, or framing him at all without his brother. But you need that darkness. You need fire and pain to balance out healing, and love, and all that shit. People don’t like to accept it, they all think it’s something they have to fight against, and throughout history people fought with everything they had. It’s no wonder he left, it just baffled people that his brother left with him.”

“Yeah, light and dark. Yin and yang, that kinda stuff. But I get why people wouldn’t want to worship him. A lotta religions see him as, like, an adversary .” Sun nodded. 

Adam hesitated, before finally finishing. "His brother still loved him, though."

Sun blinked. "Weren't they... At war? All the time?"

"Maybe, but they still loved each other. The God of Darkness was cared about, and thought of, and loved . Even though all he brought was ruin." And there Adam stopped, because he couldn't bring himself to say how deeply that mattered to him, how that one fact alone had dragged him through his life. It was hope. And hope could be deluded and ridiculous, and dangerous in its purest form, but it wouldn't ever stop being hope.

Because he knew how it was to feel as though the only reason for existing was to bring about endless misery. He knew all too well what it felt like to be seen as a burden, an omen, a burnt page in somebody else’s story. But, Brother Darkness had that exact existence, and if even he could be loved...

"How do you know so much about him?" Sun asked.

Adam stopped for a moment. "I read about him in Blake's books. And uh, her dad’s a very religious man. Darkness was rarely worshipped alone - except by us. By the Faunus." He turned to Sun. “I take it you’re not overly religious in Vacuo?”

Sun shook his head. “Not round my parts, at least.”

Adam nodded. “Well... humans see us, you and me, as monsters. Throughout history, that’s always been the case. We’re the outliers to their society. We’re the wild animals in their tamed civilized world. We’ve been hunted, enslaved, and hurt over and over again. Humans saw themselves in the image of Brother Light, leaving us with Darkness. So... we took that image onto ourselves. It’s like he’s a... patron saint for the Faunus. That, uh, that means a lot to me.”

Sun smiled a little at that. What a lovely smile.

Adam had to ask. “So... knowing all that, why’re you friends with humans? Why’re you so... okay around them?”

Sun looked legitimately surprised by the question. “I’m not friends with them because they’re human, or in spite of them being human. I’m friends with them because they’re nice to me.”

“Cardin isn’t what I’d call nice.”

“That’s why Cardin isn’t my friend.” Sun smiled patiently at Adam, glancing back at the bust. “Neptune’s my friend because we basically share the same braincell. Yang’s my friend because she’s super fun and cool. Ruby’s my friend because she’s really sweet. Pyrrha’s my friend because she’s like the mum of the group. Nora and Ren are my friends because they’re constantly down to clown. And you’re my friend because... well, we already went there. What we are doesn’t have to be relevant to who we are, man. Where I come from, we don’t hold onto that sorta shit. We all got enough problems.”

Adam sighed a little. “It’s... a lot different back in Mantle.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you ain’t in Mantle. You’re here in Vale, at the finest delinquent class the world has ever seen!” Sun beamed. “And... you’re with me. And I’m not gonna be shitty to you unless you’re shitty first. Deal?”

Adam couldn’t stop himself from smiling a little. “Deal. Whatever.”

The downpour carried on for an hour more. Just as the rain began to slow into a stubborn drizzle, Adam turned to look out of the smashed window behind them both. The Emerald Forest spanned out for miles, and it was almost as though he’d forgotten there was a world outside of their little sanctuary.

He felt something weighing on his shoulder, and looked down to see Sun’s head resting on him. He’d fallen asleep in the quiet, slumping towards Adam without even knowing. Adam’s heart picked up suddenly, like a shot of adrenaline splashed his veins, but... it was nice. Sun’s hair smelled of apples and the seaside, and the flicks of blond that brush Adam’s chin was soft and wispy. He raised his eyebrows, and discovered that he wasn’t repulsed by the connection. So, he felt himself relax in the little bubble they’d found just outside of reality, and he let the rain fall in the quiet, and he let Sun dream.

—

Sun

The walk back to the dorms was a peaceful one, the mud under their shoes the only sound to keep them company. Sun lagged behind a little, choosing to look around the forest, the ancient trees, the spiderwebs now jewelled by raindrops. At the knot Adam had at the back of his blindfold, the line of bare, vanilla neck poking out from the edge of his jacket. Sun followed the footsteps he left in his wake like it was a breadcrumb trail, and he hummed to himself all the while.

The shrine had felt… different than the rest of the forest. Timeless, even, as though they’d been holding their breaths once they entered the little realm. He’d seldom seen anything like it at home - his parents had taken him to the beach once when he was small, and he’d found little stones shaped like houses lining the bottoms of the cliffs. His mother told him little spirits lived there. He still remembered the coral and oceanic moss growing over the roofs. They, too, held that little pocket of unreality that the shrine in the forest did.

Sun watched Adam still, and wondered if they’d ever go back to that place. He wanted to, at some point. He wondered if Adam would tell anyone about it - chances are, he wouldn’t. Sun took comfort in that; he kind of wanted to keep that place a little secret, just for him. Just for Adam.

“You know we should talk to Qrow about this, right?” Sun brought up. “About Cardin.”

Adam grunted. “He’s only going to defend me so much.”

“But you were defending yourself. And besides, you’re clearly more beat up than Cardin – uh, no offence.” He jogged so he could join Adam’s pace properly as their dorms came into view. “I don’t think Qrow’s a bad guy, he’ll get it.”

“He’s human – ” Adam stopped himself, before sighing. “He’s the teacher of a delinquent class, he’ll expect lies. Even if he believed me, it isn’t a guarantee that Ozpin will side with me over a Winchester.”

“Neither of them are stupid.” Sun reasoned. “At least they don’t act like it.”

The pair entered the dorms to a surprising amount of energy. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang were sat around the table playing a board game while Neptune and Nora were sat together playing a video game in front of the holo-TV. Pyrrha and Ren prepared food in the kitchenette quietly, half-listening to a podcast playing from Pyrrha’s scroll on the counter. 

Weiss, clearly not understanding the rules of the game, had to ask Yang over and over what each of her cards meant. Blake was slumped back on the sofa, and Sun couldn’t tell if she was struggling with the rules too or if her social battery was just drained. Neptune was enraging Nora with the racing game they were playing (his character threw a little blue shell at her, the most egregious of crimes), and Ren sat at the counter chopping herbs while Pyrrha ran her fingers over what looked to be an old recipe book from the library. It was a nice, cosy feeling, and Sun was happy to see everyone getting along.

Neptune looked over at the pair and dropped his scroll suddenly, launching himself at Sun and hugging him. “Dude!”

“Dude!!!” Sun hugged Neptune back.

“Don’t you ‘ dude ’ me!” Neptune frowned as he pulled back, “I’ve been calling you! Where’ve you been?”

“Oh, uh...” Sun took out his scroll, only to find a million messages and missed calls. It had been on silent and he’d not noticed. “Ah ha... sorry.”

Neptune grimaced, squinting his eyes suspiciously at Adam until he noticed the bruises on his face. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Cardin Winchester. That’s what happened.” Adam shrugged.

“That guy?” Yang looked over at the trio by the door. “You should go to Ozpin! He needs to get kicked out before I shove my foot up his – !”

“Yang!” Ruby shoved her big sister, before fluttering over to the group in a burst of petals. The air smelled fragrant upon her arrival. “Really, you should go talk to Uncle Qrow too! He’ll help you.”

Adam chuckled at Ruby. “Isn’t it a little past your bedtime?”

Ruby frowned, her round, white cheeks going pink, before she shook her head. “I can talk to him with you after our game if you want. Do you guys wanna join?”

Adam frowned. “What makes you think I want to play with any of you?”

“Dude.” Sun said.

“Well... if you don’t know the rules, we can pick another game.” Ruby shifted her weight from foot to foot.

Adam stared down at the tiny girl before scowling and looming over her, putting his hands on his hips patronisingly. “Sure, let’s play Cluedo. I’ll be the killer, you’ll be the detective, Schnee can be the witness, and as usual , Blake can be the victim.”

“You know what your problem is?” Blake stood, ears flicked down.

“Here we go.” Neptune breathed.

“Your problem is you can’t let anything go. You just have to hold a grudge like it’s all you have. Ruby was being nice to you.” Blake narrowed her eyes at Adam, who simply scoffed.

“Well if we’re going to list our problems – ” He began.

“Which we don’t have to,” Sun butted in.

“Would you both shut up?!” Yang was the one to intervene then, getting off the sofa and pulling Ruby out of the line of fire, who looked understandably disturbed. “You don’t get to be an ass to my sister and you don’t get to come over here with your shitty comments! And here we were trying to stick up for you!”

“I don’t need you to stick up for me.” Adam growled.

Yang puffed out her chest in response, before shoving her finger into Adam’s chest. “Fine then! I hope next time that moron breaks your nose!”

Adam only grinned wickedly, stepping forward and smacking Yang’s hand away. “I hope he gives me any excuse I can get to break him right back. Now why don’t you go back to pretending to be friends, and leave me alone?”

Sun went to step back in and interject, as did Ruby, before Blake put a hand on Yang’s shoulder to let her step away. Her expression, gentle and tired, surprised Sun, and the words she directed at Adam were just as soft. “Look, that’s... I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry . Let’s... not get other people involved in this.”

Adam’s upper lip curled at her response, and he stiffened like a piece of bark ripped from a tree. He pushed past Blake, knocking his shoulder into hers, before retiring to the bedrooms.

“He was fine earlier.” Sun regarded Blake sadly, his voice low. If only he knew what the problem even was with them, maybe he’d actually be able to help, but...

Blake sighed, offering Sun a little smile. “I think... I think I’m just going to head to the library.”

“...We hadn’t finished the game.” Ruby protested weakly as Blake left, and Weiss chucked her cards on the table.

“It’s not like I understood what to do anyway.” She sighed. “I might go get a coffee from the cafeteria. Wanna come?”

And so Ruby and Weiss dispersed, leaving Yang to groan as she was the only one left to clean up the game board. Nora, who’d been looking over at them the entire time, scratched her head. “Anyone know what that was all about?”

“Couple drama. Like usual.” Neptune shrugged before going back to sit with her. “C’mon Sun. This one’s multiplayer.”

“Eh, maybe I should check and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Sun gestured to the direction Adam went in.

“Come on, man! When’s the last time we were able to properly hang out?” Neptune frowned.

“We hang out every day, man.” Sun gave an awkward smile but it didn’t seem to appeal to Neptune. Maybe Neptune was right; they hadn’t properly sat down together outside of class or their breaks, but... they’d spent their whole lives together. Neptune was making friends with the rest of the gang just as Sun was.

His friend simply rolled his eyes and waved Sun off. “Fine. Do what you want.”

Sun gulped, torn then. But, in spite of the pain, he remembered what Qrow had told him. Neptune needed space to grow, whether he liked it or not. Adam, on the other hand... had probably always been alone. And while Sun knew it wasn’t his responsibility to help, he still wanted to reach out.

So, he straightened his back and walked to their dorm room, making sure to shut the door behind him. Adam sat reading at the desk with his earbuds in, the music so loud Sun could hear the beat from where he stood. He sighed and took his own chair, sitting the wrong way on it and propelling himself forward with his tail until he was by Adam’s side.

“Get lost.” Adam didn’t remove his earbuds, so Sun nudged him with his tail. “I said get lost, Stowaway.”

“Nah.” Sun poked and prodded at Adam’s leg until his partner scowled and took out his earbuds, pausing the music.

“What do you want now?” Adam regarded Sun properly, his forehead wrinkling as he furrowed his brows.

“So! What the fuck was that all about, man?”

“You know things are... complicated.”

“Yeah but you started that.” Sun frowned. “Yang and Ruby were only saying the same thing I did, and you didn’t snap at me.”

Adam bored his gaze into Sun; was he trying to intimidate him? It didn’t really work as well as it might have done at the start of the year. “What, do you want me to snap at you?”

“I want you to not be dumb.” Sun rested his chin on the top of his chair. “You still haven’t said sorry to Pyrrha either.”

“I said sorry when it happened, didn’t I?” Adam frowned.

“Yeah but I mean an actual apology. Look, people here... We wanna be friends, Adam. That’s all.”

Adam only scoffed and turned back to his book. “People only want things from you.”

“What do I want, then?” Sun sat up, exasperated. “That whole talk we just had. You think that was just me trying to get something from you? What could I possibly want?”

“This is going nowhere.” Adam went to put his earbud back in, but Sun instinctively took Adam’s hand in his. Adam paused, looking to Sun for answers as he stiffened up. He knew how much his partner hated touching like this, but he couldn’t think what else to do.

“I’m your friend , Adam.” Sun said, kindly but firmly. “I want you to be okay. And I want my other friends to be okay too.”

Adam grimaced as if in pain, and it took him a while to sit with the statement before he spoke again. There was a different tone to his voice now, unsure… afraid? “It’s...” he started, “it’s... reflexes. Easier to keep everyone else away before they get the first punch in.”

“You don’t push me away.” Sun retorted.

“Not anymore.” Adam used his free hand to take Sun’s off his wrist, his movement gentle, slow. “You’re my friend, after all. I guess.”

“They can be your friends too.”

“Not Blake.”

“Maybe not Blake. Maybe not even Weiss. But Yang and Ruby? Totally. Nora and Ren? Definitely . They want to be friends, man. So let’s be friends with them.”

Adam hesitated, before giving a long sigh. “You’re wasting your time. With me.”

“I don’t think so.” Sun shook his head. “And I stand by what I said earlier – you really should talk to Qrow. Hey, maybe he’ll give you your lighter back.”

Adam did chuckle a little at that, before realizing their hands were still connected, and he pulled away quickly. He had a tendency to fold in on himself - he and Blake were a lot like that. “I. Uh. Yeah. I’ll think about it.”

Sun smiled, going to continue speaking (not that he had much left to say) before Qrow’s voice came from down the hall. “Anyone seen Hothead?”

“Later. I’ll think about it later.” Adam got up and locked himself in the bathroom, and Sun sighed in defeat, flopping his head on the desk. Gods, he sure knew how to pick the weirdest friends, didn’t he?

Adam hadn’t paused the music playing through his earbuds, which now lay lifelessly by Sun’s head. His scroll still had the song’s title and timestamp up on the screen, and Sun stared at it as he listened to the soft, faded melody.

Ask me if I’m happy, I don’t know

If it is a place we need to go,

Ask me if I’m happy, I don’t care

Maybe I’d be happy if you disappeared…

What was Sun doing wrong? Why couldn’t he help Adam the way he could with all his friends? His family? 

For the sake of the gods, he’d only known the guy for a few weeks now - it really had only been a few weeks. Why did it matter so much to Sun? This strange, closed-off man who was rude, and blunt, and awkward in any place outside of a dance studio… he was just some guy, right?

But he seemed sad. He seemed so, so sad.

And Sun didn’t want anyone to be sad.

Ask me if I’m happy, la la la,

Happy is a pill for the faint of heart…

Sun sighed. Definitely sad. And definitely angry. Angry at the entire world, and maybe even angry at himself. Why else would he be so mean to himself alongside everyone else?

Adam wasn’t just meanness and solitude and arrogance, though. He could be nice. He could be smart. He could be funny. He could be a good friend.

He could be someone Sun could care about, perhaps more than he realized. Perhaps more than he wanted to admit out loud. He sat with that same little feeling in his chest, that warmth, wrapped up in Adam’s words from the past like pages from a story crumpled together to form a delicate little coat.

Besides the anger, and the sadness, there was something in Adam that Sun wanted to know, wanted to help.

Happy is a place in the dark,

In the dark, in the dark,

Yeah, you know it is…

(Song Featured: Happy - Mother Mother)

Chapter Text

Adam

“This is the second time in as many weeks that I’ve had you both in my office.” Ozpin’s cool voice was layered with an irritation that Adam hadn’t expected from him. Glynda stood behind him, glaring as many daggers at Cardin as she was at Adam. She was disappointed in him, she had to be. Quite frankly, that was the only part of all this that gave Adam a genuine feeling of regret.

“Honestly,” Glynda started, moving around and pacing at the front of Ozpin’s ornate desk. He loomed over the pair of them, tall and lithe enough to make Adam feel like a child again, as she continued, “this is not the sort of sentiment that Beacon Academy plans to carry. I will do everything in my power to ensure that this useless waste of energy dies here, in this school. Otherwise you’ll both be doomed if you try getting into the Performer industry with such attitudes.”

“This shit is inexcusable.” Qrow crossed his arms, leaning on the side of Ozpin’s desk and cleaning his flask’s lid on the fraying edge of his cloak. “I don’t expect this from middle schoolers – I should know, I was a teacher at one of those hellholes.”

“Absolutely.” Glynda nodded in stern agreement. “If it were up to me, you’d be removed from campus purely on the grounds of threatening the rest of the student body.”

Adam bit his bottom lip, trying to keep from biting so hard he drew blood (although usually he didn’t bother to stop). “It was in self-defence.” He didn’t breathe through his words, trying to keep them level.

Glynda raised an eyebrow at Adam. “If you please, Mr Taurus. I wasn’t addressing you.”

Cardin, who had been sitting by and sniffing his fingernails, suddenly looked up at Glynda with a mixture of surprise and offence. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What made you think we were talking to you, Hothead?” Qrow took a swig of his flask.

“Because it’s... usually my fault?” He was at a bit of a loss. Even if he hadn’t done anything wrong, people always blamed him. That’s just how things worked... right?

“Why would you be mad at me?” Cardin furrowed his brows. “He attacked me!”

Qrow scoffed. “Jumping a guy with your little boyband doesn’t count as you being attacked, kid.”

“You don’t even have proof of that!” Cardin scowled, gesturing to Adam the way a child in trouble may gesture to the family dog, shifting blame from himself. “He’s one of your lot anyway, Professor ! You should know what he’s like by now.”

Before Qrow could respond, Ozpin at last rose from his seat. His eyes met Adam’s, somehow, before drifting to Cardin. “You’re quite right, young man. All of your friends have shared the same tale as you – that you were quietly checking out a book when suddenly Mr Taurus lunged at you, biting and clawing, so viciously that he had to be dragged away by his peer.”

“That’s right.” Cardin frowned indignantly, and the whole ‘lunging and biting and clawing’ thing sounded quite tempting to Adam just then.

“Tell me, Mr Winchester,” Ozpin stood before them, statuesque, “what book were you checking out?”

Adam couldn’t help but smirk at the hesitation in Cardin’s features, the way he wobbled and then hardened with the surest resolution to be believed. “‘ The Grimm Child’ ; I had the idea of writing a song about it.”

“Ah, yes. A delightfully wicked story.” Ozpin nodded with understanding, before taking a sip of his coffee and feigning sudden confusion. “Only, it’s so odd. Your dear friend, Mr Russel Thrush, was quite insistent that you were going to check out a biography of the old king of Vale. And the nervous Mr Dove Bronzewing said you weren’t checking out any books. You simply wanted to use the computers to print out some of your well-crafted lyrics.”

Cardin’s frown deepened. “We had a few things to do in the library.”

“Oh, right, right. That would explain it. That would, only Mr Sky Lark said you were in fact returning a book too – a book that, upon a quick bit of research, doesn’t exist. At least, certainly not in my library. If I didn’t trust you, I’d have thought he’d made the title up on the spot.”

“Sky gets a bit confused about crap – about stuff, I mean. What – how is this relevant? That animal broke my knuckle!” He gestured wildly with his bandaged hand.

“Don’t.” Qrow warned in a tone Adam hadn’t heard him use in class yet.

“It is only relevant,” Ozpin took a long sip of his coffee, “in how well I wish to build a picture of today’s events. As you pointed to earlier, the situation is merely a case of words against words – Mr Taurus and Mr Wukong against, well, your entire team. Our school has had the utter pleasure of having you here for two years now, while Professor Branwen’s reformation class is hosting an entire band of strangers to our staff.”

“Exactly. And they’re delinquents. Unpredictable.” Cardin nodded, so sure he was winning. It was sweet. Mostly pathetic, but sweet.

“It would be so useful, you know,” Ozpin continued, “if there were only someone with reliable proof. Or at least some kind of acknowledgement of your character, hm?”

“...I’m not sure what you mean, Professor.” Cardin leaned back into his chair a little.

“Well, you bringing up Mr Taurus’ status as a ‘delinquent’ is a show of what you believe his character to be. You believe him to be violent, and unworthy of face-value trust. If that was true, then we have more than words to work with. We would have a reputation to rely on.” And then, Ozpin left his desk and stood directly before the two students. The room seemed dim. His shadow reached longer than it ought to, and Adam found him... stretched. His body a bit too thin, his limbs a bit too elongated. His eyes half-closed in an expression that couldn’t be comfortable to hold, and yet the man’s face seemed sculpted into it. He smelled of old parchment and ink. Of dust-eaten clothes. Of things Adam really shouldn’t know about. He felt as though he shouldn’t even be sitting so close to the man, if that’s what he truly was.

Cardin felt that same sense of unease, clinging to his chair as though it would anchor him to reality, hoping it would keep whatever Ozpin was out of reach. Hope makes you do silly things, doesn’t it?

“What I want, Mr Winchester,” Ozpin spoke softly, “is a show of your character. Or rather, I want proof of it.”

The room streamed with light as Ozpin took a step back and smiled politely behind them both, and Adam vaguely heard the sound of Qrow chuckling. He turned to see Velvet who, from the looks of things, had been silently waiting to be called upon in a corner of the room. She cradled her vintage camera, stroking the top of the lens with her thumb as though it were the snout of a delightful companion.

“Miss Scarlatina? If you wouldn’t mind, my dear.” Ozpin gestured for the tiny girl to join them all.

When she passed Adam, she went a little pink and waved, which baffled him if nothing else, before she set her camera on the desk. “When Professor Goodwitch first noticed Cardin’s treatment of me – of other students in our year,” she began as though starting an essay, “she was prepared to kick him out on the grounds of unprofessional behaviour. I’ll always appreciate her compassion.”

“I specifically said ‘behaviours unfitting of a Performer’, but we’ll let it slide.” Glynda waved a hand dismissively. Adam looked over to Qrow for guidance, who despite grinning at the entire scene, looked like he had no clue what was going on.

“But,” Velvet smiled gently, the tips of her ears twitching as she kept a subtle tab on the situation, on Adam watching her closely, on Cardin bouncing his leg anxiously in his seat, “it seemed like a better idea to see if he’d improve over time. Give him a chance to settle in. A lot of young men like him only lash out because they’re scared.”

Cardin looked Velvet up and down and cradled his bandaged hand. “What, you think I’m scared of you?” 

“You look like you’re about to be.” Adam shrugged, revelling in the hot hatred in Cardin’s expression once it was turned back to him. Oh, if he could make a profession out of people hating him, he’d be rich enough to finally kill someone and get away with it.

Velvet tried to not let her smile widen, and Ozpin helped her plug his scroll into the not-so-vintage side of her camera.

“Why Port allowed such behaviour from his students is beyond me.” Glynda frowned as she watched Ozpin help Velvet. “But it’s gotten worse over the start of this year. I wasn’t sure how much more I’d be able to take of it.”

“Is that why you’ve been haunting my classrooms?” Qrow snorted at Glynda, who simply rolled her eyes.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Cardin spoke quickly. “Professor Port always says it’s just boys being boys, it’s just a joke – ”

Cardin was cut off by a holographic sparking up at the end of Ozpin’s desk, three screens all alight in vivid blue. From there, a whole montage of footage began to play. Much of it was blurry at first, pointing to the ground and showing nothing but feet. Adam could see some of Cardin’s lap on a bench, and he suddenly recognized the flooring as the same one in the cafeteria. He was laughing, much as he had been in the library, and Velvet’s tiny feet in their little brown boots was scuffling in an attempt to move away.

“See? I told you they were real! ” Cardin’s voice suddenly burst from the speakers built into Ozpin’s odd desk. “She’s like a proper little playboy bunny! ”

“Let go of me! ” Velvet’s voice joined him, strained and in pain.

“Come on, bunny, why don’t we play a bit? ” Cardin could be heard sneering, the camera lifting up briefly to his face as if to confirm it truly was him. He yelped when Velvet’s boot kicked his shin and she rushed off, and the clip ended – only for another to begin.

The new clip was held still, steady, and the camera made its little clicking sounds as it zoomed into Cardin’s team cornering a pair of 1st years outside a dorm room Adam didn’t recognize, its walls lined with blue as opposed to the Last Resort’s signature red. The older students pushed the younger pair up against the wall, their words too faint to make out – but that didn’t mean their tone wasn’t lost. 

What Adam found surprising, even though perhaps he shouldn’t have, was that these students were human – at least, human-passing. They barely came up to Cardin’s chest, their eyes cast downward as if used to this behaviour. The group pushed and shoved them, even smacking the backs of their heads until one of them opened their wallet and held out a few Lien cards. 

Cardin snatched the cards away, only to look to his right suddenly and pocket the cash. In under a moment his arms were wrapped around the younger students as if they were all friends, and Professor Oobleck scattered by in a flutter of coffee-fueled nonsense.

Adam slowly turned to Velvet as scene after scene played out, every clip and recording damning Cardin more and more while the human could do little but shrink deeper and deeper into his chair. Velvet caught Adam’s eye at last, her proud expression switching to brief inquisitiveness.

“Very clever,” he mouthed to her with a wicked grin, so large it hurt his face from lack of practice with such an expression.

Velvet immediately went pink and she quickly turned away from Adam, and he could only give himself a little chuckle as he went back to the footage with wretched delight.

Ozpin shut off the film, took a breath, and sat back in his chair. He finished his coffee and looked to Cardin. “You called Mr Taurus a delinquent, claiming his status as one of Professor Brawnen’s students to be a reliable insight into his character.”

“I don’t – It’s just – ”

“I, quite frankly, disagree with that notion. I couldn’t care if Mr Taurus is a reforming student or from my own Green Choir class. I am a firm believer in the stance that actions are the main evidence of one’s character. I’ve read over both of your files. I’ve listened to peer reports on the pair of you. And while Mr Taurus is clearly a deeply troubled student, I take comfort in knowing that he is not a bully. He does not hurt people, not innocent people, not from what I’ve come to see. While he has much to work on, I can at least trust him around others. You, on the other hand, have broken my trust, Mr Winchester."

"But - this is ridiculous!" Cardin rose from his seat then, going red in the face. "They’re fucking animals - !”

“I would take very good care of what you say to me next, Mr Winchester.” Ozpin warned Cardin, and Qrow took a closer step towards Velvet for good measure. “As you know, 2nd and 3rd Year students are required to go out into the field and accompany certified Performers in their Grimm-hunting missions. However, as of today, I am removing you and your team from any and all of these curricular activities.”

“YOU DON’T GET TO DO THAT TO ME!”

“Oh, child. If I can’t trust you around your peers, I certainly can’t trust you around real monsters.” Ozpin adjusted his glasses and Adam was utterly bathing in the karma, swimming in it even. It joyed him to no end to see Cardin strung up like this, to be seen as who he truly was. This sort of thing never happened in the orphanage.

“I’m telling my parents about this!” Cardin’s voice wobbled as he became already reduced to his last line of defence.

“Oh I do assure you, they’ve been made aware of the situation.” Glynda smiled – well, ‘smile’ is a strong word; she certainly bared her teeth.

“You can’t just – this could damage Team CRDL’s future! We need those required classes to make connections! This could ruin us!”

“Maybe think about that before you harass other students?” Qrow shrugged casually. “Sheesh, kid, we can’t graduate for you.”

“On top of that;” Ozpin continued, calm and collected amid the explosions of protest, “I’ll be having extra monitoring put in any class you and Miss Scarlatina share, and I’m suspending you for the rest of the week. This behaviour is disappointingly imbecilic at best and downright dangerous at worst.”

“It was just a JOKE!” Cardin gestured. “HE BROKE MY KNUCKLE – HE KNOCKED MY TEETH OUT!”

“Ah, good memories.” Adam nodded gleefully.

“Strange.” Ozpin replied. “You're in your second year here at our fine Academy; you should know by now that wounds of the flesh, well...” He narrowed his eyes at Cardin. “...Are not our concern. And yet, you have placed an inordinate weight upon a physical wound, as if the psychological ramifications of your deplorable actions weren't by far the most dangerous sort of behaviour a prospective Performer could ever exhibit.”

“Yeah.” Qrow scoffed, taking a drink from his flask and using the old thing to gesture. “You'd almost think that the only reason you want this job is because it'd give you power over others, eh?”

“Power you are not, in any way, even remotely fit to wield because you fail to understand it. it is a responsibility, and your actions are very... irresponsible. The damage you have inflicted on others could be considered enough to birth monsters the likes of which I doubt you’ve only seen in long-forgotten nightmares.”

“Oh come on!” Cardin shook his head like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “It’s just jokes! Nothing compared to what that weirdo - !”

“While we agree that his actions were overly violent,” Ozpin pointed out, “Mr Taurus displayed an important aspect of a model Performer that I’ve yet to see from you – he’s shown empathy.”

Oh? That genuinely surprised him. When the hell had he been empathetic or nice - ?

“He jumped in when you were being cruel to me.” Velvet spoke softly to back the Headmaster up. “Yeah, you beat each other up, but he helped me.”

“I’d appreciate toning down the degree of ‘help’ – ” Glynda narrowed her eyes at Adam, “but yes. Not only has he shown an understanding for the suffering of others, he has actively helped those he felt were in need of it. You, on the other hand, have been a royal pain in my ass since you arrived on campus.”

Adam felt himself glowing at that. It was silly really; she wasn’t exactly smothering him in praise. But she was still Glynda Goodwitch and she was defending him. If he died then and there he’d have been – well, not happy, but certainly satisfied. He looked up at her, as he’d done for years, and he looked to Qrow. These people were... on his side? Defending his actions? Or at the very least trying to understand why he had made those choices?

This felt like something he’d not felt in years. It felt like a new weight was in his chest, but it was a good one. An important one he wanted to carry with pride, and while he was deeply suspicious of it, it was a nicer-feeling poison than others. That, added to the lack of dark weight on his shoulders, made him feel... God’s, what was this feeling? What word was he looking for?

Qrow caught Adam’s gaze, and he gave his student a reassuring wink.

Validating. That was the word.

“Whoa, Glynda, bringing out the big guns.” Qrow chuckled as he drew the attention back to the current scene.

“Don’t you start.” She scowled affectionately at Qrow.

“THIS IS RIDICULOUS! THIS IS PATHETIC! YOU SHOULD BE ON MY SIDE!” Cardin burst, his features contorted and ugly.

“Well, to be as monosyllabic as possible,” Ozpin gestured vaguely, “I’m not on your side. You have a lot of making up to do to get back on my side. You’re excused.”

Cardin seethed, his eyes burning at Adam. Adam offered him a toothy grin, and the human stormed out of Ozpin’s office.

And then, Adam was alone with the trio of fully-fledged adults – and Velvet. There was a brief span of complete silence as they all looked to Adam, as if expecting him to end the silence.

“I promise I won’t bite him again?” He shrugged.

Glynda’s eyes narrowed at Adam and she crossed her arms as if to hold back from brandishing her riding crop. “All I want is to have a regular conversation with you, and yet every time we leave the studio... this happens.”

“Hey, he wasn’t asking to get beat up in a library.” Qrow put a hand on his hip.

“No, it’s normally a lot more public than that.” Adam nodded.

“Don’t.” Glynda snapped her attention completely on Adam then. “The life of a Performer is dramatic enough, I can assure you. You’ll drown if you keep diving into the deep end without even knowing how to swim!”

“What, you want me to say that I’ll just let myself get attacked next time? Because that isn’t going to happen.” He stood up then, frowning.

“Easy, that’s not what any of us want.” Qrow stepped forward to Adam’s side. “We just wanna help ya, kid – ”

“Oh yeah. Sure. Everyone wants to help .” Adam gestured as he felt himself souring. “Nobody ever wants to hurt me, but everybody tries.”

Ozpin at last addressed Adam directly. “Mr Taurus. Would you say you had an anger problem?”

No, he didn’t have an anger problem. He had a people-who-deserved-getting-their-heads-kicked-in problem. But that was more of a mouthful, and the differences too insignificant to really get into. “There’s a lot to be angry about.” He chose to reply.

Ozpin gave a nod – in agreement? Or just in acknowledgement? – and moved around his desk to join the other teachers. Even the way he moved was indescribably off-putting and Adam just couldn’t place his finger on what was exactly so unnerving. “I have to say, young man, that I owe you thanks.”

“You... why?” Adam took a step back with suspicion.

“Well, thanks to you and the lovely Miss Scarlatina,” he gestured to the tiny girl whom Adam had, somehow, entirely forgotten was standing there, “we finally have enough evidence to put some restrictions on that... vocalist.”

“He’s been here for two insufferable years now.” Glynda pulled a face. “Bullying is hard enough to prove in mainstream schools as is, but at higher education facilities such as this one, it’s even harder as we can’t legally use words alone to convict. But now... the Winchester family can’t accuse us of knee-capping their precious lamb’s career. Everything from this point on will be on his own shoulders.”

“As a result,” Ozpin continued with eyes that had never left Adam’s, “I’m willing to offer a touch of... lenience to you. Providing you don’t drop any more bruised students on my doorstep, I’d be quite keen to give your class gentler rules. Pull a thorn out of my side, I’ll pull one out of yours, hm?”

“Would they be allowed in the Beacon Star Championship?” Velvet suddenly piped up, her voice more hopeful than Adam expected.

The Beacon Star Championship. Now that... that would be a tall order. But it wouldn’t be undeserving, Adam thought. After all, the Vytal Tournament was due to start at the end of this year, where all 4 (and soon to be 5, once Menagerie’s was finalized) Academies would come together for a grand competition. Each Academy had a little tournament of their own, their own Star Championships, and any class that won that championship would have great advantages in the Tournament.

But Adam knew, once Sienna had helped him sign up to the Last Resort class, that he would never be allowed near the Star Championship, let alone the Vytal Tournament. It was one of the drawbacks of being in Qrow’s class; apparently they couldn’t be trusted.

Qrow turned to Ozpin then, looking at the older man’s reaction. “Oz...  it’d be a good show of inclusion. You can’t deny that.”

Ozpin very nearly frowned then, before returning to his chair and saying nothing.

Glynda seemed to speak his thoughts for him then. “I think the Last Resort class will have to do a lot more to earn our trust. In the last few weeks alone, we’ve had your students up here – Oobleck even put in a report about one of your nieces.”

“Yeah, yeah I read that. Leave Yang out of it.” Qrow waved her off. “I’ve been petitioning for this for years, Oz. My kids are held back enough as it is; being excluded like this always ends up hurting their careers after they’d graduated. They’d lose out on so many connections.”

Ozpin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, stared at Adam for a very long time, before giving a sigh. “Not another report until the end of the semester. I don’t want to hear of any fights, any conflicts. And then I’ll consider it.”

“That’s my reward for helping you show Cardin a lesson?” Adam gestured, looking to Qrow for support, to Glynda, either of them. “You warn me to be good and then you’ll consider it? That’s nothing. I didn’t get chased into the woods for nothing.”

“You’d be surprised how much nothing can be, Mr Taurus.” Ozpin warned him. “Nothing includes no punishment for having been involved in two fights in as many weeks. Nothing includes being allowed to remain in classes. Nothing means no detentions, no exclusions, no expulsions, no letters home – ”

“I don’t have a home.” Adam growled.

“No, but Mr Wukong does.” Ozpin narrowed his eyes. “You don’t want your friend getting into trouble now, do you?”

“Are you threatening my other students now?” Qrow took a step between Adam and the Headmaster, as if Adam needed protecting.

“I’m simply making myself clear. I know your students are troubled, and I know that shouldn’t exclude them from opportunities available to all others. But it does. And I need to follow the protocol given to me to the best of my ability. So I’d advise you and your students to keep to themselves until I’ve made my decision.” Ozpin looked back at Adam. “Trust me when I tell you, be grateful that I’m giving you nothing. I’m not usually so generous.”

And with that, he was excused.

Qrow led Adam out of Ozpin’s office, and he’d already started laughing the moment the elevator doors had shut. It made Adam feel... vindicated, which he’d never expected. “Wasn’t expected the film role, eh?” He snickered, his breath laced with enough cheap whisky to tempt Adam into leaning away. “That old bastard – he could’ve warned me!”

“You’re acting like you enjoyed that more than I did.” Adam stated, unable to stop himself from taking comfort in the man’s laughter as they left.

“Maybe I did – Port and Oobleck barely seem to notice little shits like that, which is why it’s been so hard actually getting anything done about his behaviour. You can’t trust a guy like that around a bucket of piss, let alone a fully-fledged Grimm. It wouldn’t have been safe letting him out on missions with an attitude like that.”

“Aw, now I’m starting to regret doing anything.”

“Hey. Someone that inexperienced could wind up getting killed by those things – even worse, consumed.”

“Consumed?”

Qrow scowled, going to take a gulp of his flask only to find it empty. He frowned bitterly. “Sometimes... sometimes a Grimm can’t actually kill you. Not entirely. It’s rare, but... like usual, they’ll eat away at you, at your Aura, until there’s nothing left... but for some reason, some people just... don’t die.”

“But without Aura...?” Adam frowned, his lingering satisfaction turning cold.

“Yeah, I know.” Qrow looked out at the skyline. “These people... they’re one step below brain-dead, somehow. They die eventually, but... there’s nothing left. It actually makes dying to those things seem like a relief. Now, Cardin, I hate that kid, but I don’t want him to die , and I definitely can’t stand the thought of that happening to anyone.”

Adam was tempted to ask why, but thought better of it. The pair walked back towards their dorm area, and Adam noticed the more pronounced stagger in Qrow’s step. He’d definitely had too much to drink. He didn’t enjoy being around drunk people – at the best, they were depressing and constantly in need of care. At the worst, they were chatty and droopy-eyed and... touchy. So, so touchy.

He tried to focus on that, though, on watching Qrow drag his feet on the cobblestones, on him stumbling to put his hands in his pockets, because that meant he didn’t have to think about Grimm. About long, spindly limbs. Maws foaming with pretty white flowers. About misshapen eyes at the end of the bed, hunched over as it filled up an entire section of the wall –

“Apparently you were an absolute ass earlier.” Qrow grumbled. “Wanna tell me what that was about?”

“No.”

“Shame. You’re gonna tell me anyway.”

“Or what?” Adam turned to Qrow.

“Or else I can’t do anything to help.” Qrow stuck his arms out. “Remember what I said at the beginning of the year? If you’re struggling, you need to tell me. Surprisingly enough, I can actually help, Hothead.”

Adam looked away, breathing in the scent of freshly-fallen rain to clear his head.

“Heard you and Blake had another spout – and that my nieces got involved.”

“They didn’t need to – ” Adam started. But what could he say? He didn’t know why he’d turned on Ruby or Yang. They had just... been there. It wasn’t even that they were near Blake – she was just there too.

And Sun... he’d pulled himself open so Sun could peer inside. He hadn’t done that for anyone in years. And every second, he’d expected Sun to reach in and rip away all the important bits, to hurt, to destroy, and laugh in the face of it. But he’d been gentle, he’d been so gentle. And kind. And Adam wasn’t used to that, he had been so sure that everyone was cruel, that everyone would eventually turn on him the moment they were able –

Sun was always so kind to him. What was this warmth in his chest?

“You know,” Qrow said, bringing Adam back to the forefront of reality, “I heard an old man once tell me... Anger can be important. Because that anger is the part of you that cares about you the most.”

Adam stopped, and Qrow stopped with him. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” he started, the slur leaving much of his voice, “despair is what you get when you wallow in all the pain that’s been dished out on you. Sorrow is you understanding how you’ve been hurt so much. But your anger is the part of you that demands justice, because it knows you deserve justice. Adam, it’s okay to be angry at a world that’s hurt you this badly.”

Adam didn’t respond. Instead he wondered... had Qrow felt the same way? Was it possible for anyone to have felt as Adam had felt? To carry this crushing, boiling anger in his bones at every waking moment? In every lucid dream? Did Qrow regret what had happened all those years ago, with Team STRQ?

Is that why he drank?

He’d always been told to be ashamed of his rage. To view it as something to hide away, to ‘work through’ – whatever that meant, and in a brilliant decision of spite he’d begun to do the exact opposite, carrying it with him like it was a friend, wrapping it around his whole being like a blanket to keep out the cold. And it was very good at that – but it also kept out everything else. Adam told himself he didn’t mind. That he’d never needed comfort. That he'd never needed friends.

But... now he had friends. Now he had a place he almost, not really but almost, felt comfortable in. Now he had... Sun.

He turned to Qrow to find the man still watching him with worried, rose quartz eyes. “But what’s not okay is you taking that anger out on the wrong people. Ruby’s not done anything wrong to you. Yang neither.”

Adam remained quiet, glancing down at his feet, because he had no answer. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t take back what he’d said, or what he’d done. So why try? Why not just... let them hate him? They wouldn’t be the first, nor the last, and it would be better for them in the long run anyway.

“You know what I’m going to suggest.” Qrow gave him a look.

“No.” Adam shook his head, not in misunderstanding but in refusal. “No.”

“Why not? Don’t you owe them an apology?”

“It was a joke!” He lied.

“You don't joke.”

“Why does it matter? Why does any of this matter? Why not just let them carry on with their lives, why not just let them hate me?”

Qrow gave a long chuckle at that. “Oh, if you think this is enough to get either of them to hate you, then you know nothing about my nieces. See, Ruby? She can forgive, hell, she can forgive and forget, if she thinks you really plan on changing. She’s always seen the best in people. Yang... she’s stubborn, but she won’t hate you. She’ll just fuck with you for a bit and get bored. It’s better to have them as friends, because quite frankly, it’d take a lot more effort to make them your enemies.” Qrow lit a cigarette – with Adam’s lighter – and blew a long whisper of smoke into the cooling evening air.

“...I don’t know why I was shitty to them.” Adam began, and Qrow watched him. “I... They didn’t do anything to me, personally. They were all just... there. They were there, and I figured they could take it.”

“Well, they can’t and they shouldn’t have to, neither of them. I’m not saying buy Yang roses or let Ruby beat you in Mario Kart. Just... how about this? You need someone to take all that anger out on, yeah? Take it out on me.” Qrow held his hands out with a smirk, and Adam just gave him a funny look.

“What exactly would that entail?” Adam crossed his arms. “Besides, you’re supposed to be my teacher...?”

“Exactly. If anyone can take your shit, it’ll be me. I’ve been dealing with you this entire semester so far, haven’t I?”

Adam huffed, but shook his head and went to snatch his lighter back, only for Qrow to hold it out of reach tauntingly.

“We got a deal? You apologise and play nice, and I’ll continue covering your ass.”

“Wow, at this rate I’m getting more special treatment than your nieces.” Adam drawled, dodging the question.

“What can I say? Neither of them are as... in need of my assistance.”

“I’m not a charity case. I don’t need your help.”

“Oh come on, Adam.” Qrow shrugged, grinning and using his tongue to shift his cigarette from one side of his mouth to the other. “You never know. Making friends might make the next few years a bit more bearable.”

Adam sighed, before holding out his hand. “Okay, I won’t rip your niece’s heads off next time. Deal?”

“And you’ll apologise to them.”

“For the love of... alright. Whatever.”

Qrow smirked. “As stubborn as you are talented, kid. I’m only half-sure you were born like that.”

“Well, therapy is too expensive, and I don’t like the taste of whisky.” Adam shrugged, only for Qrow to laugh.

“You know, you sound just like – ” And just like that, Qrow stopped himself. Adam tilted his head, furrowing his brows, only for Qrow’s own expression to shift from soft joy to... bitterness. What had Adam said? What was that all about?

Qrow looked up at a large, black bird landing in the dead tree in the middle of the garden outside the LR area. It was too big to be a crow, and too full in its body to be a jackdaw. A raven, perhaps?

“I’m closing up the studio.” Qrow fumbled for his keys, his voice strained now. “Get back to the dorms.”

Adam did so, less out of a want to do as he was told and more to simply get away from the strange man. That couldn’t have been Adam’s fault, right? He didn’t have the slightest clue why the tone had shifted so suddenly.

Why did Qrow look so sad?

Chapter Text

FRIDAY - 8:52PM

NORA: so what's happening tomorrow??

YANG: there's the Highway Shopping Store 10 mins away from campus. I'll send over the bus route I'm taking tomorrow.

SUN: cool! Who's coming??

WEISS: me

RUBY: YE

RUBY: me*

ADAM: I'm coming.

BLAKE: I'm cominh

ADAM: I'm not coming.

YANG: ffs

SUN: :(

NORA: its ok sun! Turn that frown upside down!

SUN: ):

NORA: listen here u little shit

NEPTUNE: what food places are there?

WEISS: I'll send a link through, there's a new coffee shop that opened inside the centre.

YANG: omggg I'm so looking forward to this,qrows been busting our asses rn

WEISS: well obviously it's what we need. We can't be seen falling behind. You know Headmaster Ozpin has had his eye on us.

NORA: is that y glynda keeps visiting us???

REN: she's tutoring adam

ADAM: she's tutoring me.

ADAM: yeah.

RUBY: are you sure that's her only motive? Maybe she's a SPY

ADAM: she's not a spy.

NORA: OMG SHE'S TOTALLY SPYINH ON US FOR OZZZZZ

SUN: EVIL SPY LADYYY

NEPTUNE: SEXY SPY LADYYYYY

*ADAM has left the group*

*ADMIN PYRRHA has added ADAM to the group*

*ADAM has left the group*

*ADMIN PYRRHA has added ADAM to the group *

ADAM: LET ME DIE.

PYRRHA: be nice!!

YANG: oooo someones defensive over his teacher :3

SUN: AWWW

SUN: actually EW kinda sus

YANG: sus

RUBY: sus

NORA: sus

REN: sus

NEPTUNE: sus

ADAM: I'm going to swallow a bottle of bleash.

ADAM: bleach.

YANG: BLEASH

SUN: BLEASH

REN: bleash

NORA: BLEASH

NEPTUNE: bleash

ADAM: I fucking hate all of you so much.

ADAM: I hate it here.

SUN: wat time r we meeting up btw?

ADAM: I hate everyone.

PYRRHA: 10am, the meetup point will be the cobblestone steps outside the shopping centre :)

SUN: hhhhh so early 

PYRRHA: Adam please relax we're only teasing. Let's try to keep swearing to a minimum guys! 

ADAM: fuck

ADAM: fuck

ADAM: fuck

ADAM: fuck

ADAM: fuvk

RUBY: heck

WEISS: now look what you've done.

SUN: ggdatjdjdtykfulglgijglhfkjgdjdgghkljg

SUN: hehehhehe poop

BLAKE: oh my god guys I'm in the libray

BLAKE: blowing up my scroll rn

YANG: THEN MUTE THE CHAT SCRUB

PYRRHA: Okay so, let's actually get this in one message. We're meeting at the Highway Shopping Centre, 10am. We'll wait for about half an hour for everyone to get together before heading inside. Sound good?

NORA: ye!

REN: thank you for organising this, Pyrrha.

PYRRHA: np!! Weiss helped me find a nice location.

WEISS: :) 

WEISS: also @SUN, 10am is early for you? Really?

SUN: YES IT'S EARLY AF

SUN: IT'S A SATURDAY AND I DON'T EVEN GET OUT OF BED UNTIL THE AFTERNOON ON SAT

NEPTUNE: it's soooo early

WEISS: I get up at 6am most days.

RUBY: nerd lmao

WEISS: hey!

ADAM: wow impressive. I used to get up at 4am to work for your company before school.

WEISS: we don't hire school kids??

ADAM: you do in mantle.

NORA: WEISS THAT'S MEAB

WEISS: I DIDN'T MAKE THE RULES

ADAM: aw.

PYRRHA: everyone, please. Who's coming tomorrow?

BLAKE: me. And yeah - the SDC has been hiring children 14+ in Solitas and 16+ in Anima. Everywhere else is 18+.

WEISS: ???

ADAM: haha, you really didn't know? You're going to inherit that company one day.

PYRRHA: guys. Shopping.

BLAKE: I need new books. I'm coming. 

YANG: ye

RUBY: YE WANNA CHECK OUT THE COMIC BOOK SHOP

NEPTUNE: we're coming

REN: coming

NEPTUNE: me and sun*

SUN: HELLA

ADAM: no. 

SUN: aw come on :(

WEISS: yes 

NORA: HELLAAA <3

NORA: come on @ADAM, I wanna kick ur butt at the arcade properly this time!! 

REN: noraaaa

ADAM: arcade can wait. i have extra-curricular practice tomorrow. 

PYRRHA: it's alright, Nora. We can go to the arcade together soon ^^

NORA: I WANNA WIN REN A TEDDY BEAR

REN: ok

RUBY: I WANNA COMR

NORA: are you sure after last time?? :(

RUBY: it's ok it was an accident!! I wanna play the zombie shoot-up games

PYRRHA: so we know to wait for @SUN, @NEPTUNE, @REN, @NORA and team RWBY - congratulations on the team-up btw!! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful semester together! 

SUN: ??? 

REN: you're a team now?? 

RUBY: yeah! Uncle Qrow put us all together! Said we can balance each others issues out. 

BLAKE: yeah. 

Weiss: apparently we're "uncoordinated" and "need direction" 

ADAM: "apparently"? 

REN: well, congratulations, I hope it does you all good. 

YANG: well I think it'll be fun

YANG: thanks Ren!! <3

WEISS: YES "apparently". I don't entirely agree with all this. We all have entirely different styles - and besides, I didn't even join the class for dancing. I wanted to focus my career on singing. 

ADAM: lol 

ADAM: rip I guess 

NEPTUNE: sjffhkgljfyhllftikc stfu edgelord

ADAM: you can make me

PYRRHA: we have enough arguing in class. Can we not fill the chat with this? Please? 

RUBY: I second Pyrrha. Come on guys, we're better than this! 

SUN: the whole school thinks we're trouble makers and delinkwints. We don't have to prove them rigjt

YANG: you did not just try to spell delinquents like that 

YANG: but yeah everybody stfu it's annoying 

WEISS: //links.highwayshopping.vale/foodcourt.com

SUN: HELL YAH NICE WEISS

NEPTUNE: YAAASSSSS

RUBY: NICE WEISS NICE WEISS

*RUBY changed WEISS's name to NICE WEISS *

NORA: WAIY YOU CAN DO THAT???

REN: oh no

NICE WEISS: WTF?!?!

*NEPTUNE changed ADAM's name to EDGELORD *

*NORA changed NORA's name to EXPLOSION ARCADE HAMMER PRINCESS *

SUN: LOOOOOOLOLOLOLOLOL

EDGELORD: we are reduced to this already

*YANG changed RUBY's name to PIPSQUEAK*

*PIPSQUEAK changed YANG's name to SMOTFACE*

*PIPSQUEAK CHANGED SMOTFACE's name to SNOTFACE *

SNOTFACE: IDIOT

PIPSQUEAK: U STARTED IT

*SNOTFACE changed BLAKE's name to MY CHEMICAL EMO *

MY CHEMICAL EMO: really 

SNOTFACE: JOIN IN

NICE WEISS: THIS IS SO CHILDISH OMG

*EXPLOSION ARCADE HAMMER PRINCESS changed NICE WEISS's name to BIG MEANIE*

*NEPTUNE changed SUN's name to MONKEY KING*

MONKEY KING: AYOOOOO

*MONKEY KING changed NEPTUNE's name to KING OF COOL *

KING OF COOL: WE KINGS BRO

*MONKEY KING changed REN's name to THE INCREDIBLE INHALER MAN*

*ADMIN PYRRHA reset the names in the group *

NORA: meanie.

*ADMIN PYRRHA's name has been changed to ADMIN PARTYPOOPER*

PARTYPOOPER: What? 

*the dance studio isn't the only thing of yours I'm running kids*

PARTYPOOPER: Professor?! How are you speaking through notifications?!

RUBY: THATS SO COOL UNCLE

ADAM: Where's my lighter you bastard

*ADAM has been removed from the group*

PARTYPOOPER: I can't change my name back?

*ADMIN PARTYPOOPER's name has been changed to ADMIN PYRRHA*

NEPTUNE: Pretty sure I just saw Adam bolt for Qrow's office btw just so everyone can get their alibis in order

YANG: I am a Good Girl and have been in the library this entire time. Blake can totally vouch for me

BLAKE: She's telling the truth

RUBY: Yang I'm beating your ass in ALL BRAWLS don't lie to them

NEPTUNE: You beat everyone's ass at that game 

NORA: DONT NEED ALIBIS IF THERES NO WITNESSES

REN: Are we letting that happen though? I'm fine with that I just want to be clear.

SUN: ITS FINE I FOUND HIM EVERYTHNGS FINE MAYBE STAY OUT OF THE EMPTY CLASSROOM BY QROWS OFFICE THOUGH NO REASON JUST SAYING PROBABLY BETTER TO AVOID THAT

NEPTUNE: We gonna just not mention Blake lying at the drop of a hat?

WEISS: Why would we? It's hardly surprising. 

BLAKE: totally not lying rn

BLAKE: What

WEISS: What? You usually help Yang. Is that rude to say now?

BLAKE: .............no?

NORA: WEISS SHE THOUGHT YOU WERE BEING RACIST

WEISS: That's not surprising either

BLAKE: Okay you get a pass on that one but that's it

SUN: hey so like just curious and all but is it normal to pass out from yelling 

BLAKE: Yes

YANG: Yes

RUBY: yeah

NORA: yeah

REN: Yes.

NEPTUNE: NO????

WEISS: Yes.

WEISS: Yes it is Neptune

NEPTUNE: ITS REALLY NOT THOUGH

PYRRHA: I just want lunch, guys

YANG: can qrow really do that? Like, check up on our chats???

PYRRHA: because of our “status”, unfortunately he has to as a safety precaution. He can’t access our private DM’s though.

BLAKE: YOU KNEW???????

PYRRHA: OMG WHY DID YOU THINK I WAS TRYING TO KEEP US ALL ON TRACK?? I DON’T MIND SWEARING BUT NOT IN FRONT OF OUR TEACHER!

SUN: update hes ok just tuckered out

REN: okay so are we set for tomorrow??

PYRRHA: yes! Thanks Sun; just one last thing left to do then!

*ADMIN PYRRHA has added ADAM to the group*

ADAM: image.1

SUN: AAAAY YOU GOT YOUR LIGHTER BACK :D

BLAKE: is

BLAKE: is that my dad’s lighter

ADAM: . 

ADAM: I mean he wasn’t using it so

SUN: OH SHIT THIS FOOD COURT HAS A PHO PLACE

SUN: I’VE NEVER HAD PHO IS IT GOOD

WEISS: it’s so good

BLAKE: wait but like did you take it??

ADAM: now why the FUCK would you assume I stole it

ADAM: oh so we have bad blood so that means I’d treat your family like shit too right

BLAKE: I just want to know why you have my dad’s lighter

YANG: I’m about to lose my shit rn

ADAM: yeah! Me too! He GAVE it to me!

BLAKE: OKAY

YANG: CAN YOU ASSHOLES AT LEAST DO THIS SHIT OUTSIDE??? OR IN UR DMS?

YANG: JFC I’M SICK OF YOUR EX BULLSHIT DRAMA

RUBY: guys please, we can get along if we just don’t antagonize each other like this

ADAM: WHY DID YOU COME INTO MY LIFE AND RUIN EVERYTHING

BLAKE: I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE

*ADAM has been muted for the next hour*

*BLAKE has been muted for the next hour*

RUBY: Uncle Qrow??

PYRRHA: no. 

PYRRHA: not this time.

YANG: WELL FUCK ME THERE IS A GOD

SUN: FYI ADAM JUST WALKED OUT

RUBY: I just heard doors slamming?!?!?! As in MULTIPLE doors?!?!

REN: looks like they’re taking your advice, Yang. They’re outside my window. Talking very politely.

YANG: jfc

PYRRHA: omw

RUBY: I’m coming outside

YANG: RUBY STAY THERE DON’T GET INVOLVED WITH THAT PRICK

NORA: got my camera ready

NORA: love a bit of drama

NEPTUNE: lmao

SUN: rubys gone im heading out. uh omnipotent professor branwen now would be a great time to intervene

NEPTUNE: bro u dont need to be all up in their business

SUN: hes my friend!

NEPTUNE: ok

YANG: cool he’s outside too.

YANG: qrow*

WEISS: omg he’s pulling them both into his office

NORA: image.1

*REN liked NORA’s image*

NEPTUNE: did you just post a selfie??

NORA: I always look my best when there’s drama <3

NEPTUNE: ohhh

YANG: ok rubys back with me. fuck this I’m turning my scroll off. Night yall 

NEPTUNE: night night beautiful!

YANG: ew

REN: sleep well. See everyone tomorrow

REN: @NORA please be in bed by 12pm latest. I love you

NORA: ily2 <3 <3 <3 

SATURDAY 1:45AM

SUN: goodnight everyone

Chapter Text

Sun

“You sure this is the place?” Neptune frowned at his scroll as they waited outside the shopping centre. It was far too small to properly be considered a mall, but it was the closest place to shop off-campus. In fact it was quite close to Hansel’s and the arcade, which gave Sun some reference for where they were.

The shopping centre was busy enough for a Saturday morning, the stone steps up to the doors lined with students from not only Beacon but other schools and colleges in the area. A tiny girl in a Signal Junior High School uniform was sat outside playing with a dog. A man was wondering around shouting nonsense down his scroll. A pair of way-too-friendly humans were very eagerly handing out pamphlets filled with excerpts from one holy book or another, Sun wasn’t sure which. He’d flicked through the one he’d been given, finding it to be filled with a short story about two brothers killing one-another to prove their loyalty to a higher being in the sky. It would have made for a great horror story if only it weren’t so boring. There were no pictures or conversations, and what sort of story was that?

“It’s absolutely the place.” Sun nodded as he shoved the pamphlet in his pocket. “They’re just late, that’s all.”

“It’s stupid – they’re the ones who wanted to meet up.” Neptune grumbled and put his scroll away. “I’m surprised you didn’t bring Tall, Darky and Moody with you.”

“Hey,” Sun frowned, “he doesn’t grabble about you behind your back. Besides, you know what happened last night.”

“...Whatever. Sorry. I’m just so hungry – we skipped breakfast to get the bus out here.” Neptune stretched.

“I know, dude.” Sun rested his head on Neptune’s shoulder. “We’re definitely getting Schnee to pay for food.”

The shopping centre was a large structure, shaped like a massive, hollowed-out egg, with blue glass making up much of the front and nearly all of the high ceiling. People passed by, all absorbed in their own lives and wants and needs, and still Sun and Neptune waited for the girls (and Ren).

The bus finally brought the rest of the group to them – most of them anyway. Team RWBY totted out of the bus, thanking the bus driver. Although, Ruby wasn’t with them, but in her place was Pyrrha. She smiled apologetically at the boys, clearly in a flurry. Her shirt collar was crumpled and her ponytail was mildly loose; it was the messiest they’d ever seen her. She was always pitch-perfect. Blake tailed closely behind in a hoodie with a band logo on the front, while Yang and Weiss were the last to get off the bus... arguing. Neptune and Sun shared a look.

“Look,” Yang frowned, “I just think it’s really ironic that you’re throwing such a fit over me not wanting to go clothes shopping with you. You think 50 Lien is a good price for a t-shirt.”

“Well sorry that I don’t think you’d suit hand-me-downs!” Weiss bemoaned. “If you went any cheaper you’d start looking like that - !”

“Like that what?” Sun crossed his arms, and it was clear neither of the girls had even noticed they were there.

“How long have you guys been waiting?” Yang blinked.

“About an hour.” Neptune frowned.

“I’m so sorry we were late, it’s been an absolute trainwreck of a morning.” Pyrrha sighed, pulling a strand of wine-red hair out of her face.

“None of us... really got any sleep.” Blake muttered, hiding her hands in her hoodie.

Sun went to ask further before Neptune beat him to the mark by saying, “Can we just get something eat? I’m starving!”

“I’m not actually that hungry.” Pyrrha explained. “Me and Blake had leftovers before everyone else got up.”

“Yeah, we’re going to head straight inside.” Blake nodded. “Ruby and the others will be coming soon.”

Already, the group split apart, and Yang and Weiss looked with the boys for somewhere to eat. The closest food joint was a delightful burger chain called Dinah’s Diner , a Faunus-run collection of restaurants that spanned across most of Vale and Mistral, although it had yet to release any locations in Vacuo or Solitas. Sun had, naturally, never ate there. “This place rocks!” Yang looped her arm with Sun and pulled him towards the place.

“A burger joint?” Neptune asked with wide eyes. “A cheap burger joint? Count me in!”

“It’s...” Weiss looked apprehensive. “Do you think they have anything that’s low in salt...?”

“They have bottomless coffee, Weiss.” Yang chuckled. “You’ll be fine.”

The odd quartet entered the little burger joint, and Sun briefly wondered why it was called a diner, and they were greeted by a young waitress with hair as red as old bricks and olive-green eyes. “Hi, I’m Octavia and I’ll be your waitress today!”

Something about the name itched Sun’s brain funny, but he thought little of it. As they went to speak, they heard roars from their right. Velvet sat alongside her team, and Coco and Fox were waving frantically at their fellow students.

“Yooo, Last Resort weirdos!” Fox yelled affectionately in their general direction, unable to truly spot their location without Coco’s help. Sun could only assume Coco had told him who was there. He also had to imagine they only knew of him and his friends from Velvet – and possibly Cardin.

“Yeah, get your asses over here!” Coco grinned, while Velvet and Yatsuhashi simply laughed and tried to draw their team back in.

Octavia looked surprised, before turning back to the group. “You’re from Professor Branwen’s class?”

The group all gave each other puzzled looks, before Octavia laughed. “I’m a 2 nd year! I’m in Velvet’s class! Come on, I’ll get you a table by those guys.”

“Oh, sweet!” Sun ushered the group to follow, and Octavia sat them by a circular table directly by the booth their new friends were in. “I thought I’d seen you guys around!”

So they sat happily with the group, Octavia got Sun a backless chair so he could actually sit without being uncomfortable, and she got them started on coffee and milkshakes.

“Wasn’t expecting you guys here!” Yang smiled at Coco, who pulled down her shades and smirked at Yang.

“Your rowdy crew is always welcome – especially after your little edgelord knocked Cardin up!”

“Knocked Cardin out , Coco.” Yatsuhashi cringed.

“You know what I meant .” She gave him a look. “By the way, party in our dorms on Saturday! We wanna see your motley crew up there, understood?”

Sun grinned. “Hell yeah! And yeah, I bet Cardin’s been to the infirmary more times than he’s been on dates.”

“Well, you know what they say.” Weiss frowned, sipping her coffee. “Violence for violence is the will of beasts.”

Velvet frowned quietly, and Coco exclaimed, “Oooh, the Schnee’s a poet now!”

Weiss scoffed but did not respond. Neptune rolled his eyes before leaning back to address Coco directly. “So! Can we get you lovely people some drinks? Tea, or something?”

Coco cocked an eyebrow at Neptune. “Before you start, I need you to understand that I like my men how I like my tea.”

“Oh? You mean strong, sweet and soothing?” Neptune smirked.

Coco looked to Yang. “I mean I don’t drink tea.”

Yang snorted, Neptune looked crestfallen, and Fox leaned over. “ I drink tea.”

“Nevermind.” Neptune put his head on the table and Sun rubbed his back comfortingly.

Weiss frowned deeply at Neptune, and Sun wasn’t sure why, and Octavia came back with a tablet to take their orders. Weiss ordered a mint ice cream and offered to pay for the platters the others wanted. “Aw, Nice Weiss!” Yang smiled.

“Oh, trust me, order whatever you want.” She gestured with her Lien card, one with the Schnee sigil printed on top of the SDC logo. “My dad’ll cover the costs whether he wants to or not.”

Where had Sun heard a sentiment like that before? “Trust me, it was less Pro-You and much more Anti-Them.”

“So what’re you guys doing out here?” Sun asked while Neptune recovered from his shameful failure. “You look like you’re celebrating.”

“We are!” Velvet smiled in delight. “Professor Oobleck and Professor Goodwitch have put our team on a real Grimm case here in Vale tomorrow. We’ll be accompanying a certified Performer, of course, but – ”

“It’ll be like an exorcism!” Fox explained with the same morbid joy as a horror movie fan explaining the lore of a much-beloved serial killer. “So this lady, right – ”

Coco smacked the back of Fox’s head. “Confidential!”

“Alright, I’m sorry! Fox scowled, holding his wee head.

“Don’t let Cardin hear you say that.” Sun chuckled, “from what we’ve heard, he’s gotten his team completely blacklisted after all his bullying.”

Velvet nodded sadly. “It’s such a waste. He really is a good singer.”

“He’s really kneecapped himself,” Weiss had to agree there, “if he even considered having his team try for the Beacon Star Championship, much less the Vytal Tournament, he’ll have needed that additional training.”

“But that’s months away.” Velvet reminded her, only for Weiss to wave her off.

“How could you not be excited already? It takes nearly all year to organize it!” Weiss smiled, and it may have been the first time Sun had seen her so happy.

“Here we go.” Yang breathed and with a grin of her own.

“It’s a festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There’ll be parades, the tournament, dances and themed balls!”

“Hey,” Sun nudged Neptune, “Weiss said ‘balls’.”

The two snickered together, and Weiss soured at them. “Quiet, you. The amount of planning and organization that goes into these things is simply breath-taking .”

“You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring.” Yang rolled her eyes, and Weiss scoffed.

“Hush, it’s going to be fun .” She said as Octavia brought over their food. And from there, they continued celebrating with Team CFVY, and Weiss went to pay as promised. Only, her card kept declining. She insisted that there must just be an issue with her bank’s servers – it’s Atlas-exclusive, they’re always rather shaky in other kingdoms, surely she could open a tab – until Velvet waved her off and paid instead, as thanks for the company.

They took pictures together, they laughed, Sun stuffed his pockets with sachets of salt and pepper and condiments, and couldn’t help but wish that Adam was there with them (especially if he wore that silly jacket with all the silly zippers; if they had more pockets, then he could help Sun steal more condiments). He’d said he was getting extra lessons from Glynda (Sun couldn’t tell if that made him very lucky or very much doomed), but could only imagine how hard Adam was working. He almost wondered if Adam was thinking of him.

Nah, of course he wasn’t. Right?

“Uh, Sun to Remnant.” Yang nudged Sun as they left.

“Uh? Huh?” Sun blinked at Yang, who only laughed.

“You were about to walk into traffic, you gotta be more careful.” Yang shook her head.

“Jeez, thanks mom .” Sun rolled his eyes, expecting Yang to laugh. When she didn’t, though, he continued. “Thanks, though. Maybe I’m just tired.”

“Your boyfriend running you ragged in class yesterday?” She smirked.

Sun shook his head. “Neptune’s not my boyfriend! Why does everyone think that?”

Yang deadpanned at Sun. “I wasn’t talking about Neptune.”

“He’s not dating Adam!” Neptune responded, sounding defensive, damn near offended.

“Really? I should hope not!” Yang exclaimed as Weiss led them back to the shopping centre. “You can totally do better than that asshat – I know he did a number on Cardin, but he’s still a dick in my opinion.”

“Look,” Sun frowned, “he didn’t mean – ”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t want you apologizing for him.” Yang warned. “He’s a big boy, he can do that himself.”

Sun sighed, having to agree. “Look, all I’m gonna say is, I wouldn’t be friends with him if he was a total douchbag. I’m no push-over, Yang.”

“I hope you’re right.” Yang put a hand on her hip as they entered the air-conditioned shopping centre, and Sun admired the fountain in the middle of the long hall that was lined with stores and eateries. The statue was of the Brothers, but an interesting take on them. Brother Light had a centaur-like body, his four legs dainty and thin like that of a deer, with the long antlers to match. The tips of his antlers had LED’s installed, and they changed colour alongside the bottom of his side of the fountain, all shades of sweet blue and golden yellow. Brother Dark, however, had a large wolf-like bottom, each leg ending in grisly clawed paws (Sun wondered if they’d sculpted toe beans for him; he sure hoped so). His horns were long and spindly, curving up to the sky unlike the bust he and Adam had found. His horns and claws also had LED’s, although his colours were pure red and bright purple. They faced one-another, holding hands, and a large glass ball lit up between them, pulsing with rainbow strobes that reflected beautifully against the surface of the water.

"His brother still loved him, though."

Sun softened at the statue, seeing beauty in it then that he didn’t before. It was important to love, even in the face of suffering. He wondered, then, if people had developed Auras, and Semblances, and art and beauty in the face of darkness and pain, or if all that had been brought to Remnant to balance out what they already had?

He’d heard a story when he was little, one of the last ones his mother had read to him and him alone, although he was somewhat sure she made a few bits up on the spot. It was about the sun, actually. His mother told him she’d named him after that story.

Apparently, the humans kept asking the sun to do all these different things for them. ‘Come closer!’ ‘Wait you've burned our crops, go away!’ ‘Wait come back, it's cold without you!’ All this stuff it didn’t need to do, shouldn’t have to do – but it wanted to please the humans.

Eventually, the sun crashed into the world and broke like a fishbowl, and all the light leaked out from it. The God of Light came down and helped the regretful humans patch up the old sun, but the damage had been done. So much light had leaked out that it was no longer as bright, and it wasn’t able to take its light back from the world. So, The God of Light gave it a new role – to be the moon. Soon after, The God of Light made a brand new sun that was far brighter and bigger than the old one ever was. So that was why they had a sun and a fragmented moon, because its pieces couldn’t fit back together properly, and it was melancholy that it can't ever shine as it used to.

Sun didn’t really like that story; why did the sun have to become the moon? Why couldn’t Brother Light just give it new light? He clearly was able, as he created a brand-new sun that was even bigger. Why couldn’t he just help the original sun? Why was the first sun forgotten? Why did his mother like that story so much?

Sun shook his head and gave a little sigh at his duffle bag of thoughts. It wasn’t what he needed to think about. He didn’t need to think about how his parents still hadn’t messaged him to see if he was alright. He didn’t need to think about how he hadn’t spoken to his siblings this entire time either. He wanted to think of better things.

He wanted to think of Adam. Maybe he should ask if they could meet at the shrine again.

Sun watched Weiss link arms with Neptune suddenly, pulling him into a clothing store that was completely out of his budget. “So... you’re in a team with Blake now,” Sun turned to Yang as she watched Weiss and Neptune go with disappointment. “You got any juicy gossip on the Blake versus Adam situation?”

“She doesn’t, no.” Blake said from behind them.

Sun yelped, Yang laughed, and Blake raised an eyebrow. “Sorry! I’ll definitely do that again!” He exclaimed.

Blake blinked, before giggling softly. Yang patted her back before going off to ruin Weiss’ private time with Neptune, leaving the two Faunus students alone in the store. Blake sighed, clearly not comfortable in the store – and she couldn’t be blamed for that, as the human cashier was hunched over the till glaring at the pair. He wasn’t even hiding his stare, not even when Sun met his eyes and glared right back.

“Sun,” Blake drew his attention, talking louder than she normally would have, “let me show you that Faunus store I told you about. Its prices are much better than this place, and its not dependent on slave labour.”

Sun chuckled as he left the store, letting Blake guide him through the shopping centre. To the left, through the food court – he was hungry again – and into a cute store named The Next Step , with a sleek black front and a smashed window that had been temporarily boarded up.

Blake sighed softly.

“Assholes?” Sun rubbed her back sympathetically, only for her to shrink away.

“Ah – sorry, my back is uh...” Blake went a bit pink, at least distracted from the vandalism briefly. “It’s pretty sore.”

“Oh! Sorry, sorry!” He shoved his hands into his pockets for good measure, earning a little smile from Blake. She walked him inside, and Sun was blown away by the variety the small shop had to offer. Shirts with sleeves designed for unusual arms, slits in the back for wings or other appendages. Pants and shorts with varying and extendable holes for tails (he was very interested in those). Hats intended for different ears and horns. And not only were the range of clothes inclusive, they were stylish too. The styles definitely fitted into more of an alternative fashion style, with studs and slogans and rips and fishnet, but Sun didn’t really mind.

“So.” She said after a while, leading Sun into the lingerie section, holding up different sets of boxers with holes at the back. Sun noticed that many had snaps and buttons to allow a variation in tail size. “You want to know more about me and Adam.”

“I mean... After last night, I think everyone does.” Sun explained gently. “Look, if it’s messy relationship drama I’m not gonna throw that sorta thing around. I promise.”

“Messy is a word for it.” Blake smiled sadly.

“Do you... uhm...” Sun began, “do you still feel, uh... anything for him?”

“You mean do I still love him?” She looked up at Sun with big golden eyes, hypnotic almost with their vivid shade. “No, I don’t. And honestly... I don’t think I ever did – not like that. He was always a good friend, and a dear friend... I just thought...”

“You thought...?”

“I.. I thought that, that’s what you’re supposed to do. That he was... supposed to be with me. I had a big thing about destiny, and I guess I thought the stars had aligned.”

“You wanted it to be like a fairytale.” Sun tilted his head.

“...Yeah. Just like all the girls in my books.” She put a set of boxers in a basket she’d picked up.

“You uh... You hold onto those books a lot, don’t you?”

Blake led Sun into the jacket section, picking up a long white coat. She crinkled her nose, picking up an identical one in black. “Life isn’t a fairytale. I learned that the hard way.”

“What’s, uh, the ‘hard way’ of learning that?” Sun pried, really trying to not sound like he was prying.

Blake looked up at him. “I had this.... idea of what we ‘should’ have been like. I held onto a version of Adam that just didn’t exist. I made up someone who was patient, and kind, and everything I wanted in someone. That... wasn’t fair on him.” She looked miserable as she picked up a shirt made entirely out of netting and studs. “To be fair he did the same thing to me. We were trying to force each other to be people that didn’t exist. And when we weren’t what we wanted from each other... we took our frustrations out on one-another.”

“Did ya’ll like...” He made a vague punching motion.

Blake shook her head, her ears flattening. “Not ever, no. He hated it when I touched him, absolutely hated it. It was like he had to steel himself just to hold my hand in the park.”

Sun nodded, feeling that ring true in himself. He wanted to make a comment about how that hadn’t changed much, although... Adam was getting better with that. But he didn’t bring it up, and let Blake continue.

“When we first met... you said it was wrong to force people to open up if they weren’t ready.” She sighed. “I still don’t agree completely , but in Adam’s case... I think I jumped the gun. I think I really, really jumped the gun.”

“What happened?” He finally asked.

“In the end,” She gestured vaguely, “we hurt each other far too much. He was staying with me and my family at the time, so we went out, and had this stupid, horrible argument and I...” She visibly cringed at whatever memory she was flicking through, “I hurt him, bad. And he couldn’t get past that, he just couldn’t, and I can’t even blame him for it. He just... left. Blocked my number, all my social media.” She looked down at a woven purple bracelet she had worn every time Sun had seen her. “He didn’t even say goodbye to my mom.”

“...Damn.” Sun nodded slowly, struggling to figure out how to comfort her without hugging her. “And here I thought you two would get on like a house on fire, ya know? You’re both quiet book nerds, you both like gothy rock music, you’re both super elegant dancers.”

Blake smiled again at the memory. “We developed some of our core dance styles around each other. That ribbon he wears? That’s the ribbon he used to practice with me.”

“No kidding?” Sun raised an eyebrow. “No wonder it’s all fraying and stuff now.”

“He’s stubborn – I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now.” She nodded. “And angry. Really, really angry – at the world, at me, at his old job, but... I think a little bit at himself, if I’m completely honest. I always tried to figure out why, but he never let me in that deep.”

“Anyway it was a brick.”

A shiver went up Sun’s spine but he converted it into a sigh, choosing to put the new thoughts on the backburner for now.

Blake took Sun to the counter, where she bought the jacket and boxers. “Wait, you wear dude’s boxers?” Sun frowned in confusion.

Blake gave Sun an amused look. “No? These are for you.”

“Oh – I don’t have the cash for this sorta stuff.” He tried to explain quickly.

“No, no, I’m buying them for you.” Blake explained, going pink. “See it as a thank you gift for letting me vent to you. You’re a good guy, Sun.”

Sun chuckled bashfully, scratching the back of his head. “Gee, thanks – how did you know my size, though?”

“Your waist is a bit thicker than Adam’s, so I went off on that.”

Sun blinked. “You know Adam’s underwear sizes?”

Blake went completely pink, and refused to answer.

Blake went completely pink and refused to answer. Instead, the woman behind the counter chuckled. She was a petite Faunas woman, with her hair up in two buns and scaled skin that held a slight green shimmer. Sun couldn’t tell where her makeup ended and her skin began, all he knew was that she was really, really pretty - even if she was probably the same age as his mom.

“Getting new clothes for a date? You two make a cute couple.” The woman, who’s nametag read as Lapis, began to scan their items.

Blake went an even warmer shade, and shook her head. “I’m… no, no we’re just…”

“We’re just getting clothes for school!” Sun explained happily. “We’re in the same class but we’re not dating or anything.”

Lapis blinked, before grinning. “Are you from Beacon Academy, then? That must be amazing! What a glamorous life - always wanted to be a Performer. Didn’t have the coordination. Do you need a bag?”

“Yes, please.” Blake nodded.

The chatty woman began bagging their items and Blake paid, but when Lapis handed over the bag she did a double-take at the girl. “Are you…? Wait, you’re not a Belladonna, are you?”

Blake’s eyes widened, and she nodded. “Why?”

Lapis only smiled warmly. “The White Fang actually helped me set up shop here. If it weren’t for you and your family, I’d have never made it out of Mistral. So… thank you.”

Blake seemed to glow with the woman’s words, and she smiled in return. “I’m… I’m glad you managed to find your feet.”

Lapis nodded, before giving Blake a sympathetic look. “Heard all about that nonsense up in Mantle. You must have been in agony, you poor thing.”

The colour drained from Blake’s face and she quickly took her bag. Sun noticed the little tremor in her dainty fingers.

“Honestly, people can be so vile - ” Lapis continued nonethewiser, only for Blake to storm out in a hurry, nearly knocking over a mannequin and forcing Sun to chase after her in worry. “Wait, your receipt - ?!”

“Blake?” He followed her round a corner until she finally stopped, sitting on a bench by another statue, this one simply of a dancer, swirling ribbons carved around her form out of some crystal. Dust-infused, possibly, because Sun couldn’t find any power source for the way the ribbons glowed. But then again, he wasn’t exactly looking. Instead, he sat by Blake in silence, desperate to ask if she was alright but knowing he had to be careful.

“Sorry… I’m sorry.” Blake breathed, and Sun offered her a gentle smile. “I just…”

“Match made in a Mantle hospital.”

Sun cleared his throat. “Adam said you two met in the hospital. Something bad happen?”

Blake held a lock of her hair, and sighed. “I was attacked during a protest. I really don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Okay, we won’t.” Sun nodded. “Can I buy you a donut? Girls like donuts, right?”

Blake was snapped out of her sadness by that nonsense, and she at last laughed. “Yes, Sun. Girls like donuts. Most girls, even.”

The pair went up to a donut stall, and Blake insisted on paying anyway. “You’re kind, you know.” Blake smiled up at him. “When I first saw you, I thought you were going to be intimidating. But you’re actually the goofiest person I’ve ever met.”

“I aim to please!” Sun smiled as they made their way back to the store Weiss and Neptune had vanished into. “Really, though. If you ever wanna talk to me about stuff, you can. Ya know?”

Blake smiled. “I know.”

They met back up with Weiss not long after, who was generously letting Neptune carry her bags, and Sun went up to him with pity. “Oh, bless your little heart, bro.”

“Shut up, man.” Neptune looked miserable.

“You insisted.” Weiss frowned with confusion.

“Yeah to be nice! Because you’re a girl!” Neptune frowned.

“Bro.” Sun said.

“Oh, a girl can’t carry her own bags?” She yanked her bags of clothes away from Neptune and stomped off, and Blake rolled her eyes.

“I’m gonna go after her...” She gestured before following Weiss, leaving the boys to their own devices.

“Sheesh. She just dropped more cash on clothes than your dad would earn in a month.” Neptune crossed his arms. “I don’t think she actually liked them all that much – apparently they were ‘basic wardrobe pieces’ that she wasn’t able to pack.”

“Daaaamn.” Sun chuckled as they walked together. “We love a poor little rich girl, huh?”

“She did buy me a coat with her second account...” Neptune nodded. “I didn’t want her to though, but she insisted. You can’t argue with a girl like that.”

“Dude, there’s a candy store over there.” Sun nodded to a bright colourful shop titled Hattie’s Mad Treats in big neon letters. “Wanna see if they’re giving out free samples?”

“Oh totally .” They rushed over to the little store, looking around at all the large glass jars filled with candy.

The candy store was small but packed in with glass jars lining every wall. Fizzy soda bottles, squishy turtle chews, gobstoppers, candy hearts. Chocolate bars from all around the world - pistachio cream white chocolate from Mistral, dark cocoa and espresso bars from Atlas, popping candy and marshmallow puffs from a local brand in Vale, only from Patch apparently.

There were even those big milk chocolate bars Sun would get for his mother, the ones where each square was filled with the creamiest white chocolate imaginable. The brand used to sell layered eggs too with toys inside, but apparently Atlas banned them over issues of the toy being a choking hazard. Sun would sit with Stella after school sometimes, before Capri got home from work, before his little siblings awoke from their naps, and they'd each snap off a cube of chocolate one at a time. "One for me, one for you," his mother would sing, "one for me, two for you. One for me, three for - what? The chocolate's all gone!" and she'd lift him into the air and he'd scream so loud his siblings would wake up - as well as the downstairs neighbours, who's slam their walking sticks into the ceiling in disapproval.

There was an entire wall dedicated to a pick-and-mix section, little plastic tubs with lids and scoopers or prongs chained to each container. Jellybeans, chocolate raisins (clearly untouched), fizzy rings, gummy bears, bubble gum, popping candy, even a fake register filled with packages of edible money. Sun just went giddy looking at all the sweet things, half-forgetting his conversation with Blake. He and Neptune saw the price of the pick-and-mix, looked at each other, and grabbed the largest containers each. The spindly old man behind the real counter only gave a chuckle at the boys and began restocking some of the jars, paying them no mind.

"You seemed super cut up about Adam not coming today." Neptune commented, stuffing his paper cup halfway full with gummy bears.

"Cut up? Naaaah, I just want us all to hang out." Sun explained. "We haven't actually had a day out as a full class yet - it'd be nice if we could one day."

Neptune nodded slowly, opening the tub of caramel chews, the ones shaped like cute little cat paws.

"Look," Sun said in a softer voice, "I know you don't really like him all that much."

"Really? Nah. I love grumpy, violent weirdos who get my friends involved in their fights."

Sun frowned. "He didn't get me involved."

"Yes he did whether he meant to or not." Neptune regarded Sun firmly. "You always feel like you gotta be the one to solve everything. But you don't always have to be the mediator, the hero, the... Whatever."

"Dude... That's the whole point of being a Performer." Sun stopped to properly turn to his friend. "I'm not just in it for the money. I do actually wanna help people. And I think, if I'm friends with Adam, that can help him."

"But you don't have to." Neptune repeated, before sighing. "Maybe you're just used to it, always having to referee your parents fights..."

"Can we please not talk about them right now?" Sun frowned, shaking his head. "Come on, man. You know things are still rough."

"I know, I know." Neptune stopped for a minute and frowned. "Your folks have messaged you, right?"

Sun looked back to the wall of candy, trying to lose himself in the wonderland of colours and sweet smells. But it wasn't enough. The echoes of their final argument lingered in his ears, like the whispers of virtigo after stepping off a roller-coaster ghosting his body. Stella's raging promises that she was washing her hands of him. Capri's rattling sighs of disappointment.

"... Sorry, Sun." Neptune whispered.

"It's... It's okay. I just..." Sun sighed gently. "I don't want anyone here to be alone. To feel like... like they don't have anyone to turn to. We're all at the end of the line so... I feel like we should all stick together. I think Adam deserves that as much as we do."

Neptune gave a slow nod, before filling up his cup with more candies. "You get so hopeful when you have a crush."

Sun blinked. "What? No. Naaaaah. Come on. Adam?"

Neptune stared at him. He gave a weary chuckle. "Bro, for real. You always pick the weirdest dudes."

"I don't have a crush of Adam!!"

Yang smirked at them. "You totally do."

The boys turned to her, and Sun went red. He didn't have a crush! He just thought Adam was really cool and funky and pretty and handsome and his hands were so warm when they danced -

Okay, good point.

"You're doing a discrimination." Sun pouted.

Yang chuckled while Weiss suddenly came into view, looking over the store with a hint of curiosity and hesitation. She looked like she'd never stepped into a candy store before.

"Whatever." Yang waved him off. "I get it. He's kinda cute - even if he is a massive douchebag who picks on little girls."

Sun frowned. "Still not said anything to you and Ruby?"

"Not a word." Yang shrugged. "Nora begged me to pick her up some candy hearts - but I saw the look on Ren's face, so I'm gonna see if they do any of those weird, sugar-free candies and pray to the gods she doesn't notice."

That did earn Sun a chuckle. So, the group paid for their sweets and left the store. And Sun hoped he could leave some of those thoughts behind in the shop the same way some people forgot shopping bags.

Sun checked on the group chat as the merry bunch followed Weiss around the shopping centre, seeing that Ruby and Pyrrha had met up at the arcade with Ren and Nora. "Roo's doing okay then?" He asked out loud to nobody in particular.

"Yeah, we ran into this weird girl earlier." Yang looked back at the boys. "She was on Ruby's wavelength so we left them at the arcade to do their nerd bonding."

Weiss only scowled at that. "Ran right into me - she was like a block of steel. Hit me harder than Neptune did at the start of the semester."

"Cute!" Sun chuckled as Neptune went pink, and he finally looked up at the store Weiss had led them into. It was a musical store, it seemed - Eric Et Christine , or something fancy like that - and it was clearly out of nearly everyone's budget.

"Uh, Weiss," Yang reminded her, "not everyone here is willing to drain their bank account on a guitar pick."

Weiss waved her off. "It's good to have an idea of what we should be striving for. Once we graduate, we'll be changing and upgrading our equipment on the regular - it's a good idea to see what's available."

Yang only rolled her eyes as she meandered towards a display set of yellow and black drums dubbed The Hornet on a holographic sign.

Neptune and Sun simply chose to wander the store, cooing over the electric guitars, wheezing over the price tags, and taking pictures of each other making silly poses by the mannequins. One mannequin sported a leotard with tight black leggings thin enough to be mistaken for tights. The back was entirely bare right down to the tail bone, and the sleeves were exceptionally puffy. The entire suit was black, save for thin trails of red, embroidered thorns running up the legs and chest. Sun could practically smell the fire Dust sewn into the materials, feel the supernatural warmth emanate from the display. The mannequins, made from a fine glass, seemed designed specifically to host these gorgeous bespoke pieces. Sun couldn't help but associate the red thorns and black fabric with Adam's favourite jacket, the roses seemingly choked in the design by their own petals, the black fresh and inky. He couldn't stop wondering if Adam would care for the puffy sleeves, what his legs might look like in the tights -

"You've been spacing out a bit today." Neptune noted, sighing. "Did you not get enough sleep last night?"

"I mean." Sun shrugged. "I was up with Adam last night during that group chat drama, so..."

Neptune went quiet again.

Sun frowned at him. "You know, even if I was into him - which I'm not saying I am - but even if I was - which I'm not - you don't have to worry about you and me. We're still a team, bro."

Neptune sighed a little, readjusting his goggles. "...What if..." He started, apprehensive, "what if I don't have what it takes to complete this course? What if I'm not good enough without you?"

Sun held Neptune's hand then. "Neptune. You're talented. You're so talented, man, I've not been piggybacking you. I just... I think you've been nervous without me, because, like, it's not what you're used to."

Neptune gave Sun a hesitant look. "Qrow's put me with Pyrrha because he thinks I need the extra help."

"Yeah, we all need extra help!" He explained. "Why do you think we're here anyway? We're gonna be great, man. Together. And apart. Yeah?"

That almost seemed to soothe Neptune, but when he went to respond they were both interrupted by a store assistant. "Do you mind?"

They blinked at the short young man, his clothes expensive and his face uninterested in the very concept of looking approachable.

"Huh?" Sun tilted his head.

The store assistant narrowed his eyes. "Your tail. It's waving about so much - you're nearly knocking things off their shelves."

Sun turned and stared at his own tail. It hadn't really been moving that much, just swaying and swishing like usual as he walked and talked. "I can't help that." He explained.

"If you can't help it, then you really shouldn't be in here." He spoke in a saccharine tone. "It's a danger to the merchandise - and the other customers."

"He's not exactly a helicopter, man." Neptune argued. "Nothing's been knocked off."

"Yeah, and what other customers? It's just us four in here."

"Whatever. Just don't blame me if the manager asks you to leave." The store assistant wondered off as if the conversation - that he initiated - was beneath him.

Neptune went to argue back before Sun wrapped his tail around his wrist. "Don't even bother, bro."

Neptune sighed as they moved to another area of the store, watching Weiss argue with the cashier that no, surely her second account wasn't blocked too, she wasn't even halfway through her monthly allowance, when Sun saw it. Hanging on the wall by several others of equally intricate patterns, was a ribbon. The type often used in ribbon dancing, with a strange stitching at the end to allow it to hook onto the funny sticks those dancers often used (Sun didn't know the name).

It was a deep, deep blue, easy to mistake for black if not for the lighting in the store that made things impossible to hide. The ribbon was thin enough for Sun to almost, almost, see his fingers on the other side as he ran his digits over the wonderful fabric. He had to wonder if it had Dust infused in the material; the silk was so soft it may as well have been magic. But that wasn't all - bespoke little embroidery covered the whole length of the ribbon, all in the shapes of famous constellations. The thread was a very fine silver, almost indistinguishable from the weave of the fabric itself. Someone must have sat down for hours, days, even weeks, for this single length alone. Something about it simply felt handmade to Sun, too loved to have been made by machine. He smiled as he took it off its display, and he held it up to his face. He could still see much of the world, only it felt like it was a permanent state of night. It was gloomy, but magical, and the embroidery didn't hinder his vision at all. He realised, then, that Adam must have seen the world in exactly the same way. Eternal night-time.

"Um, excuse me?" The same store assistant crossed his arms as he approached Sun. "You can't just take that stuff off the walls like that."

Neptune groaned. "You again? What's your problem?"

"Why can't I take it off the wall? It's not a display piece." Sun frowned, already getting rather sick of being singled out.

"It is a display piece, actually." The assistant looked Sun up and down. "Besides, it's probably a bit out of your budget."

The assistant flinched suddenly as Weiss' voice grew shrill. "MY CARD WORKED FINE 5 MINUTES AGO, WHY DID HE CUT IT OFF?!"

"Weiss, it's okay -!" Yang tried to soothe her.

"NO IT'S NOT, HE'S ALWAYS DOING THIS!" She continued, her snowy skin turning pink in frustration, in embarrassment, as the cashier tried desperately to put her card through again only for it to be rejected with a loud, judgemental beep.

Sun took the opportunity to wrap the ornate ribbon around the end of his tail, before bolting out of the store.

"Wait - HEY! SECURITY!" The store assistant nearly fell into a mannequin as Neptune laughed, rushing after Sun. Yang grabbed Weiss and Weiss grabbed her card, and the girls flew out of the store after Sun and Neptune. Sun's blood was on fire in the most wonderful way as they ran out of the store, out of the shopping centre, out of the city block and even to the docks where they'd originally started this whole adventure.

The shopping centre became little more than the silhouette of a building in the distance, the smell of sea salt and chilled air finally encouraging Sun to stop. He was panting, sweat darkening the fabric around his armpits. He took a long, deep breath to soothe the drumroll of his heart and he clutched his tail to admire his newest acquisition. "WOO! That showed him!"

Neptune laughed and the pair bashed the chests together in victory hard enough to knock the wind out of themselves. Yang’s hair was a mess of golden string, and Weiss’ skin tone had shifted from vanilla to strawberry, the petticoat under her short dress ruffled and bunched unevenly.

"What was that about?!" Yang took a long breath before she spotted the ribbon. When she did, she gave a wry laugh at Sun. "You bastard!"

"You STOLE from there?!" Weiss squalked, much less impressed. Sun thought of her in that moment in the same way he viewed his dad’s old kettle. It was something grandma had left behind after she’d died, originally a pretty red rusted down to the colour of half-dried blood. Its spout was a course metal, and when put on the hob, it would boil in utter silence until it would burst with the most frightening, mechanical screams. Sun used to have nightmares of monsters, Grimm who’d chase him around the flat and scream in that same tone, steam pouring from their jagged maws. Weiss was as pretty as a teapot, but due to erupt like that old kettle.

"Not so loud -!" Yang, sensing the tension, held out her hands to diffuse things with a joke before it could boil over.

Weiss was having none of it, though, and she finally cracked. "THIS IS WHY NOBODY WANTS TO BE AROUND YOU ANIMALS!"

The group fell silent, and Sun’s heart sank.

“'This is why nobody wants to adopt you animals'."

“How dare you?” Sun narrowed his eyes at Weiss. “Every time you’re around me or my friends, you’re always horrible.”

“You just stole something!” Weiss scowled.

“I only steal from stores! It’s not like I rob people!” Sun defended his actions. “You know not everything is in black and white!”

“Weiss, relax.” Yang tried to cut in. “I used to steal candy when I was a little kid. We all do bad stuff, it doesn’t mean Sun’s a bad person.”

“And it doesn’t mean it’s got anything to do with me being a Faunus!” Sun nodded. “Blake’s probably never stolen anything and you’re just as mean to her!”

“We’re not talking about stealing candy as a kid, or about Blake,” Weiss shook her head, and dropped her shopping bags on the floor, “this is about how every time I’m around you idiots something always goes wrong! Especially you, you rapscallion!”

“Are we really supposed to take that crap seriously?” Neptune rolled his eyes.

“We’re not the ones having tantrums at every corner!” Yang put her hands on her hips. “Qrow put us into a group because we’re all struggling – but at least the rest of us aren’t racist .”

“Like I’m supposed to take advice like that from your uncle, he can’t even show up to class without being under the influence.”

“Hey!” Yang bared her teeth, but Weiss paid her no mind, turning back to Sun instead.

“ And I know why Adam calls you ‘stowaway’!” She frowned. “I heard what happened to those cruise ships docking here! You’re the filthy Faunus who jumped on that ship illegally!”

“Why do you keep saying that?!” Neptune burst then, utterly fed up with her.

“Excuse me?” Weiss looked him up and down.

“Stop calling him a ‘rapscallion’! Stop calling him ‘filthy’!” Neptune gestured to Sun protectively. “He’s a person! And he’s my friend !”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Weiss tilted up her chin in childish defiance, “would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan? Or the lamp post as a lamp post?”

“Stop it!” Sun joined, hurt. “If you’re gonna hate me then hate me for what I’ve done , not what I am ! What’s wrong with you?”

“Why not? You broke the law, didn’t you?” She stepped closer to Sun, unafraid.

“What, are you going to tell anyone?” Yang moved away from Weiss and stood by the boys. “Maybe you should stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and focus on yourself.”

“How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!”

“ You are a nasty little brat!” Yang finally shouted. “No wonder Blake wants nothing to do with you! No wonder Adam teases you all the time!”

“’Teases’ me? He’s a mentally unstable bully!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Sun shouted, his anger coming from a place deep inside of him, so deep he didn’t even know it was there. In Vacuo, he was chased away and brushed off, insulted, even attacked, but it had never been over something so... silly. He’d been chased out of shops for trying to steal, but the shopkeepers weren’t his friends. He’d been attacked for starting dumb fights, but only with people who didn’t like him. But this... this was just so ridiculous. And yet he could see in Weiss’ eyes that she genuinely, whole-heartedly, meant every last word. Just what were they putting in the water up in Atlas?

“What? Defending your fellow Faunus?” Weiss snorted, before turning to Neptune. “I’m honestly shocked at you , inviting him along when it was just supposed to be us!”

“’Just supposed to be us’?” Yang grimaced, the ends of her hair snapping and glowing like the tail end of a firework. “So you were gonna third-wheel me! I knew it!”

“What?” Sun and Neptune shared a look briefly.

“Well, I’m sorry that nobody wants to work with a short-tempered, Faunus-sympathising country bumpkin from Patch with no friends and an alcoholic for an uncle – !”

Yang smacked Weiss across the face.

Sun and Neptune jumped. The girl in white staggered back, clutching her face. Her hand covered her scar briefly, processing what just happened. Yang’s hair crackled and spat with fire, flickering in a non-existent breeze. Sun could smell the scent of ash and bonfires and burning hair product emanating from her locks of flame. “You do not, do not , talk about my friends, or my family. Not like that. Not ever .”

Sun and Neptune froze, turning to each other briefly at the... exchange. Weiss’ cheek was red raw against icy skin.

“I don’t know what your perfect family has told you, but you don’t get to talk about the people I care about like that.” Yang’s flames licked down to a steaming bonfire, somewhat more focused, more contained, but not by much. “They love me, they don’t judge me, even with their problems. And I’m sorry you’ve been having a crappy day, or a crappy semester, or a crappy year! But I’ve had enough of your holier-than-thee attitude! So either get a life, or get lost!”

Weiss grit her teeth, having lost none of her own rage. “What, you think my family is so perfect? You think I don’t know how it feels to deal with useless alcoholics?!”

Yang raised her hand and Sun’s heart stopped. “Stop calling him that!”

“I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR UNCLE!” Her voice was shrill. Yang raised an eyebrow and Sun took a step forward, tail poised to pull the girls away should this escalate.

Weiss took in a shaky breath, her frozen eyes melting, glistening with freshwater tears. “I’m talking about my family! My rich, perfect, wonderful family full of narcissists and deluded LOSERS! Do you know what it’s like to have to drag your own mother to her bed because she passed out at a cocktail party and your father doesn’t want the guests to see her? Has your uncle ever had to take a drink every time he sees you perform because he hates that you can still do what he can’t?! Has your dad ever locked you in your room because you disagreed with him in front of people?! Sure, because my life is so perfect! That’s why I’m here! With all of you !”

Yang was not put off by Weiss’ outbreak, her upper lip only curling in disgust. “Aw, is this not what you planned?”

“This isn’t what I was promised ! This isn’t what I’ve been working towards my whole life!”

“WELL THIS ISN’T WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WAS PLANNING EITHER! I’m sorry your asshole parents made life hard for you, but at least your mom’s alive !”

Weiss gave a humourless chuckle. “Barely.”

“At least you didn’t have to spend your own life looking after your family, picking up the pieces after it all fell apart.” Yang explained.

“No, I didn’t, because there was nothing left to pick up when I was born.” Weiss rubbed her eyes finally.

“I’m sorry that I don’t agree with your moral compass, but right now I don’t care.” Yang’s eyes were red as blood, and her voice sounded as though it was dripping with the stuff. “You don’t get to act like you’re better than an entire race of people, and you don’t get to step all over the people I care about.”

And with that, Yang stamped away towards the bus stops, further than that, further still until she was lost within the streets of Vale. Sun and Neptune gulped, before turning back to Weiss. “You uh,” Sun started, “you okay?”

Weiss, with tears in her eyes and that raw redness spreading to her nose, stared at Sun in shock that he’d even ask. She swallowed and straightened her back. “I’m fine. Thank you.” Her voice sounded robotic, like those pre-recorded messages you’d always be greeted by whenever calling customer service or the doctor’s office on a busy day. She sounded automated, practiced.

Neptune gave a little sigh, readjusting his goggles. “Lemme take you back to the dorms or something. I’ll take your bags.”

Weiss shook her head, her voice going smaller and more watery with every word. “That won’t be necessary, thank you. I just... Um. I’m going to go get some coffee.”

She walked back towards the shopping centre, leaving Sun and Neptune alone. Sun’s tail curled awkwardly between his legs as he put his hand over the pocket containing the ribbon. All this over a ribbon?

“Well... wanna rock-paper-scissors over who goes after Yang?” Sun looked to his friend, practically his brother. “Or should I call Pyrrha and Ruby for ground support?”

Neptune shook his head tiredly. “Nah, I’ll make sure she gets back alright. You should head to the dorms – I know you wanna give Adam his present.”

Before Sun could respond, Neptune began to trace Yang’s footsteps into the streets, and Sun found himself unsure where to place Neptune’s tone. All he could do was stand there and watch him go, before biting his bottom lip and resigning himself to waiting for the next bus. He hopped onto the first one to come, actually paying for his ticket this time, and he took a seat in the many chairs lining the edges, as they were the only ones with holes built in – definitely not for his tail, but he made do. At least it was a seat.

He plugged his earbuds in and tried to fade into the music as he often did, but his mind was very much going down a specific path. He took out the ribbon and fed it between his fingers, feeling the silver embroidery of each star and wondering if Adam would recognize the constellations.

“I grew up in Mantle. Atlas blocked out most of the sky, and what little sky we had was drowned out by light pollution. Over here... they’re clear. Most of the skies have been clear in this place. It’s... nice.”

Sun sighed, looking out at the sunny sky and almost wishing there were stars out. And that was when he thought to himself...

He certainly knew a lot about Adam, given that he was so closed off. He knew he loved the stars, that he admired Glynda, that he didn’t like sweet things. Sun knew Adam grew up in Mantle, that his ribbon used to be the one he danced with. He knew that Adam had a... complicated relationship with religion. That he loved music. That he was passionate about the rights of his people. That he was kind in the small hours when he thought nobody saw him.

I'll take my time,

I'm not the forward thinker,

You read my mind,

Better to leave it unsaid...

Why can't I leave it unsaid?

(Song Featured: Talk Too Much – COIN)

—

Sun

The sunlight coming in from the high windows was a pure golden stream, illuminating the studio with a wonderful, sleepy glow. Qrow must have had a lot of trust in them all to leave the studio open unattended – or at least Sun assumed it was unattended.

Adam was high up in his nest on one of the sets of silk, as Sun expected, wrapping waves of silk around his thighs. His earbuds were in and his features were set into a stony display of grim concentration. His shirt was wet from perspiration, and Adam twisted himself in a way that looked to Sun to be a dramatic flare. But his legs wobbled at the last moment and Adam was flung downwards by about a foot.

“DAMN IT!” Adam, clearly having not spotted Sun yet, set himself up into a sitting position and yanked his shirt off before scrunching it up like it was a bad idea and flinging it across the room. “Tuck and twist, rotate, tuck and twist, rotate...” He growled to himself, breathless, his mantra drifting across the empty studio.

Sun sighed before giving a loud whistle to catch Adam’s attention. Adam’s features actually seemed to lighten to curiosity at Sun, and he let go of a handful of ribbons until he dropped, hanging upside down like a bat as he observed his partner. “I thought you were out.” He took out his earbuds to address Sun.

“Came back! The arcade was shut.” Sun shrugged. “Can I like, talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure.” Adam nodded, and made no attempt to move.

“I mean I wanna talk to Adam. Not Bat Adam.” He smiled softly.

Adam exhaled sharply, his tone a little off from how breathless he was, but Sun was beginning to learn that those weren’t scoffs, but Adam’s odd way of chuckling. The man certainly had unconventional ways of expressing himself, but it was a language Sun was finding to be not just understandable, but agreeable.

So, Adam slid down the silks and hopped off the safety net, staggering a little as he rebalanced himself, and Sun went to his side.

Sun could smell him. Sweat, yes, but Sun... he wasn’t sure if the word ‘like’ was accurate or if he just didn’t want it to be. Milky white skin gleamed to a vanilla tone in the golden afternoon, shiny from dew. Adam’s lips were parted ever so slightly to take in more air, his breathing silent, slow, and Sun swallowed dryly. He wasn’t into him. He wasn’t, he was just super impressed by how dedicated Adam was. That was totally it. It wasn’t that Adam had a cute little waist, or sharp broad shoulders, or a collarbone that was perfect for biting -

“Don’t look at his abs, don’t look at his abs, come on man you can get through this, don’t look at his abs – ” Sun looked at his abs. They were well defined, Sun felt, each nicely formed. Little sparks of hair brushed just under Adam’s belly button, wisps of red and brown, mostly brown, dipping down into black joggers, the very top of a red waistband poking out –

“Do you. Uh.” Adam coughed. “Do you need me to put my shirt back on, or...?”

Sun went completely red; man, had he lost track of time?! How long had he been staring?!

Ignoring his whole world shattering behind him, Sun tried to come up with something coherent, something to ease Adam’s nerves, something that wouldn’t come off as weird.

“You’re really hot!” Sun blurted with a grin, that grin being the only thing holding him together and preventing him from melting down into jelly.

“Oh.” Adam blinked under his blindfold, and vanilla skin turned pink. “Okay. Well. Uh. Good conversation.” And he turned to get back to the silks.

“No no – I mean - !” Sun began, shaking his hands at Adam. “Look, uh... sorry, sorry. I really wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

Adam stared at Sun, and tilted his head slowly. “Oh. Oh you actually meant it.”

“I mean, yeah. Why would I compliment you and not mean it?” Sun tilted his head back in confusion, mirroring Adam’s movements without realizing.

“...Sorry. You said you needed to talk about something?” Adam changed the subject, which Sun found very welcoming.

“Oh! Yeah!” Sun nodded happily. “So Velvet and Coco are having a party tomorrow in their dorms and we’re all totally invited. Apparently they found it really funny that you bit Cardin hard enough to break his hand.”

“I only broke his knuckle.” Adam corrected, running his tongue over his top row of teeth (Sun shouldn’t have been so enthralled by that). “Word travels fast.”

“Well, I say let them spread the word if it means free booze and snacks, right?” Sun smiled. “Well, uh. I was wondering! Would you wanna go? With me? Like, partners do stuff together and stuff so... Yeah?”

Adam stared at Sun again for some time, as he tended to do. “Tomorrow night?” He asked.

Sun nodded and leaned so his tail could hook Adam’s discarded shirt, and he handed – tailed? – it to his partner.

Adam took the shirt gratefully. “...Sure. I have extra practice in the afternoon with Glynda, but...”

“Oh dude, the party probably don’t start until 8 so we’re all chill.” Sun explained, and Adam smiled gently. It was a rare smile for Adam, rare in how sweet it was. He wondered just how many people had seen him smile like that, and what Sun had done to earn it.

“Sure.” Adam nodded, going to turn away once again.

“Oh! One last thing I swear.” Sun rummaged through his pocket. “Remember I said I was going shopping with Yang and Neptune earlier? I stole you something really cool – well I think it’s really cool. I really hope you like it.”

“Sun, you shouldn’t risk getting in trouble for me – ” Adam began, before actually seeing what Sun held out for him. It was that same ribbon from before, with the deep, midnight blue material, that special fibre that allowed for the potential introduction of Dust. The silver stars and constellations embroidered into the silk with so much care – or machine precision.

Adam was silent as he looked down at the item, lips parted to try and summon words with little success. Did he not like it? Was it a bad present? Sun began to explain in a smaller voice. “Well, it’s just... Your current blindfold thing is getting really worn out now. It’s thinner in some parts and I know you’ve had to sew it here and there. I know this one’s not exactly your colour but...”

“You got this as a replacement for my ribbon?” Adam asked, sounding genuinely dumbfounded.

“Uh-huh.” Sun nodded, really hoping he’d not offended Adam.

“...You don’t want to see what’s under this? You don’t want me to uncover it?”

“Well, like,” Sun lowered his hands, “I’m curious, obviously. Everyone is. But you obviously don’t want people to see what you got going on, so.” Sun shrugged. “It’s your little secret, or whatever. If you wanna show me? Cool! If you don’t? Also cool!”

Adam took the blindfold, the long length of dainty ribbon, feeling it between his gloved fingers, rubbing at its edges to check for fraying. But it had been closed off with elaborate stitches to hold all the threads together. He held it up to the light, and while at first it looked like it did a very good job of blocking the light, Sun could see that up close, as he’d seen in the shop, that one could see through the woven fibres if only one put it close enough to their face.

“You stole this for me?” Adam asked.

“Yeah! No need to thank me!” Sun turned to leave, and this time it was Adam stopping him. A gloved hand tugged on his shirt, and Sun looked at him curiously. He looked... conflicted. The pink in his face had taken over, taking on a stubborn hue, and his eyebrows were knitted closely together.

He fumbled for words at first, before making a good attempt to address Sun properly. “This is. Thanks. Thank you, Sun. It’s good that... thanks.”

Sun beamed, fireworks going off in his head as Adam accepted the gift. “I’m stoked you like it!”

“...It’s good. That we’re partners, I mean.” Adam explained. “It’s good to... It’s good being friends with you. You uh. Dance good.”

Sun chuckled, gently knocking his tail into Adam’s arm. “Stooop, I might swoon.” And with that, he looked up at the ribbons behind Adam. “Speaking of dancing...”

He rushed up, jumping onto the springy safety net, before grabbing a length of ribbon.

“Ah – be careful.” Adam began. “It’s harder than it looks.”

“It’s alright, I climb trees all the time.” Sun wrapped some of the length of aerial ribbon around his palm. “My mom actually had to call the emergency services when I was ten because I started scaling up our block of flats. She straight-up didn’t talk to me for a week after that!”

“Still, be careful – a whole week?” Adam frowned, but Sun had set his sights on climbing up the ribbon. He lifted himself off the ground – the net at least – but the silk was more slippery than he’d anticipated, so he took a breath and reached up to grab a second handful of the stuff.

Bit by bit, he got higher and higher off the floor, using his tail to keep himself from spinning endlessly as Adam watched from below. He was right; this took so much effort! He didn’t realize he’d had to put so much energy into just focusing on keeping himself on the ribbon alone. What Adam and Glynda were capable of doing now was suddenly shown in a new light to Sun. As nimble as he was, this was difficult. To make this look beautiful... Sun had to admire that. In three minutes flat he was dizzy and out of breath and clinging to the ribbons, and he glanced down at Adam.

Adam was smiling properly. Gods, what a sweet smile. It wasn’t the biggest smile in the world – heck, a lot of people wouldn’t even call that a smile, but Sun felt he knew enough about Adam to tell. And he looked happy. Happy and... something Sun couldn’t quite place his tail on.

“Alright, come on down, you no-good Stowaway.” Adam gestured for Sun to come to him. “Because you’re about to either pass out and vomit and I don’t think Branwen would want to deal with either.”

“You’re amazing.” Sun replied.

“I – what?”

“You’re really amazing, Adam.” Sun smiled dreamily, his tail playing in the golden light that had now began to wane. “Being able to do this... it’s so cool. You should be super proud of yourself, man.”

Adam swallowed, looking down for a moment, before clearing his throat and looking back up at Sun. “Yeah. Sure. I would swoon if you weren’t going green in the face.”

“Alright, alright.” Sun sighed, before letting completely go of the ribbons. “CATCH ME!”

“MOTHER OF FUCKING - !” Adam dove forward in a panic, and his body collided with Sun’s and they both tumbled across the safety net. They were but a mess of tangled limbs and lost breaths. “Don’t do that !” Adam sat up, gritting his teeth. “ Ever !”

“Now you know how Glynda felt.” Sun poked his tongue out at Adam, before shimmying out from under him. “Thanks, by the way! That was like a crazy trust exercise!”

And with that, Sun rushed out of the studio with pink in his cheeks and the lightest warmth in his heart. Whatever this was – he knew what this was – he’d keep it close. Whatever this was – he knew what this was – he’d keep it safe.

He knew what this was. And he didn’t mind.

Chapter Text

Kali was so happy for Blake to have someone in her life like this, although she wasn’t sure what to expect of the lanky, quiet boy with red hair and bandages hiding half of his face. He was thin, noticeably so, his knuckles pink on his white hands, his one blue eye flickering back and forth as if scanning for every door, every window. The moment they’d arrived he seemed keen to know every exit and entrance, as though he might need use for them in emergencies. He carried with him to Menagerie one fabric tote bag, barely a step up from what Kali used for groceries, so small it couldn’t have held more than 2 outfits in it. She didn’t notice any trinkets either, nothing to remind him of any former home. Besides himself, he really had nothing.

And he was odd, that was for sure. But she knew he was just scared; she’d lived long enough and known too many Faunus children shoved to the wayside to not know the signs. The wariness, the distrust. The silence, even the way they held themselves. 

She couldn’t sense any malice in the boy, though, and Blake had stuck to him like glue. So, one odd friend was better than no friends, and Kali made extra effort to help Adam settle into his new home. At first he seemed overwhelmed by all the space, his blue eye enormous as he looked around each and every room. It was amusing how surprised he was at their tearoom (“you just drink tea in here? Really? That’s all it does?” He’d asked as Kali had shown him around. “Are you not allowed to drink tea anywhere else?”).

She made sure to feed him throughout the day, knowing he was going to be too shy to actually ask for anything and also knowing that Blake was also going to be too overwhelmed to remember to check up on him – to be fair, Kali doubted that Blake herself would remember to eat with how up in the air things were now. She put out bowls of food, remembering all of Blake’s favourite snacks, she made a point of talking about how easy it was to just pop and get a drink from the kitchen – oh yes, she had to remember the climate too. Coming from the coldest place in Remnant to arguably the hottest must have been putting Adam’s system through the ringer, so she’d made sure they were stocked up on water and ice, along with milk for tea and cold snacks like meats and jellies, and her personal favourite, grape sorbet. 

He hardly spoke. Instead, he observed everything, followed Blake around like a shadow, glanced at Ghira and herself from time to time as he soaked in everything around the house. Despite his aloof expression and short answers, his fingers twiddled and he held onto his horns from time to time, as if reminding himself they were still there, that he was still there. He was a bag of nerves under a cold sheet of porcelain, bless him. And his hair was an utter mop of red, completely unkempt, and Kali fought the need to put a comb through it whenever Adam was sat still.

Dinner that evening had been pleasant. Very quiet, but pleasant. Blake tried to urge her mother to stop piling Adam’s plate with dumplings and meat, but Adam himself didn’t object, so she shushed her little girl. And in the end, she insisted on making Blake have an extra portion as well. She’d made sure to get Blake’s favourite fish in to welcome her back from the hospital - grilled salmon, all the bones still inside and the meat sizzling as Ghira carved the beastly thing. It was beautiful, seeing Blake light up at the sight, eyes glowing in a way they hadn’t in months. Her ears perked all the way up to take in the entire experience. 

Kali did notice, of course, that Adam wasn’t watching the fish or Ghira cutting out hefty portions for them all. He was watching Blake, staring at her excitement with a sense of curiosity. Perhaps one of relief, too, to see her so happy. They all stayed up later than they’d planned to that night, chatting and eating until the table was piled with bowls and bones and forks. Her husband’s cheeks went red from the sake and she had to fight the bottle away from him when he kept insisting the kids (because they were still kids in Kali’s eyes) try a celebratory shot. But eventually night had gone on too long, and Blake kept going to itch at her back and Adam’s good eye kept drooping, so she got them all off to bed.

Ghira had a friend from the outskirts of Kuo Kuana come in while they were away in Mantle, so Blake’s old playroom could be converted into a guest room for Adam. Her books still lined the wall, and her clothes still hung in her walk-in closet, but her childhood toys and games had been moved up into the attic for the time being, and the bed and wardrobe had been replaced to something more fitting for a teenager. And although Adam was taller than Kali expected him to be (she simply thought Blake was exaggerating; having a crush tended to make young girls do that), she hoped he’d be comfortable in the bed.

So by the end of the busy, busy day, Kali sat with Blake in her ensuite bathroom and unwound her bandages, chucking them into the trash and applying the cream over burns that splashed over pretty, olive skin. She cried inside at the way her daughter grimaced, flinching naturally away from her touch. “It’s alright, love.” She soothed her little girl, cradling Blake best as she could. “Just a little longer, and you’ll be all healed up. We just have to keep on top of things.”

Blake hesitated. “It’s always going to be there, though.”

“Well... that doesn’t mean it has to define you. You’ll still be able to dance once it’s healed up, and... if it’s really that bad for you, I don’t mind discussing tattoos with your father – once you’re old enough. Hm?”

Blake looked up at Kali with big, scared eyes. “I don’t care what it looks like. I care that... that somebody would do that. Why, mom? I wasn’t doing anything bad.”

Kali’s heart broke into pieces from within her chest. The only reason Blake had been there at all was for those protests. After the White Fang had received word of the SDC’s refusal to take responsibility for the explosion, their whole family had been down there as quickly as they could. Kali never should have let Blake join. If only she’d waited longer. Of course, she’d want to eventually, and they couldn’t hide her from the cruelty of the world forever, but this... this was horrific. This was beyond horrific, it was evil.

Who would bring acid to a peaceful protest?

Blake’s ears flicked all the way down, and Kali hugged Blake tenderly. “Oh, love, you’re right, you weren’t doing anything wrong... People... people are just cruel. It’s why we’re here, to stop this. They haven’t stopped the investigation back in Mantle and they’ll have to face my fury if they even think of dropping it.”

“...I wasn’t hurting anyone. None of us were. Yeah, we blocked off a road, but...”

“You were spreading an important message. People were getting hurt and the ones responsible were doing nothing. The only reason Adam was in hospital was because of that, remember?” She moved back and cupped Blake’s face, their eyes meeting. “Sometimes when you do the right thing, people who benefit from doing the wrong thing want to shut you up. You were wonderful, my love. I’m only sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

Blake sighed in her mother’s hands, ears raising a little in comfort. “It poisoned him, too. You should’ve seen him during the treatments. He kept, like... reaching out for something? Like there was something at the end of the bed he was trying to grasp, or… trying to push away. It was... scary.”

“Must have just been the medication.” Kali smiled reassuringly.

“Mom, I...” Blake shook her head. “I don’t think he’s had a happy life. He won’t let me see what happened to him, I’m… I’m scared it’s really serious.”

Kali took that information in carefully. Then, she took a clean roll of gauze and began covering her daughter’s burned back. “Then we’ll do everything we can to help him. Good thing he’s got a little dancer like you on his side, hm?”

Blake giggled tiredly at that, and soon Kali was helping her daughter put her top back on over the new bandages.

“You get to bed, love. And no sneaking into each other’s rooms tonight. I’ll hear the floorboards.”

“Mom, ew.” Blake went pink and hid behind her hair.

“I was a teenager once, too.” Kali smirked, crossing her arms. “In fact, when me and your father were younger...”

“Okay off to bed good talk night mom.” Blake rushed out of the bathroom and dove under her covers, and Kali chuckled, heading to bed herself. Ghira was completely out for the count, snoring his head off. By that point it was only white noise to Kali, so she rested her head on his chest and cuddled close to him, relieved to be home at last.

The following morning, Blake and Ghira had gotten up extra early to head to the market. Blake wanted to reunite with Ilia – the pair had been friends since middle school, bless them – and Ghira wasn’t keen on letting her out on her own after the nightmare in Mantle. So Kali woke up to an empty bed, and realized that Blake hadn’t specified whether she was planning on bringing Adam with her or not. She’d promised to only be out for an hour, so Kali supposed that they didn’t need to be joined at the hip. 

She wrapped herself up in a dressing gown, flicked the kettle on, and checked Blake’s room to make sure she’d actually gone out. Of course, the silly girl hadn’t made her bed, so Kali tucked the blanket in properly, even rearranged her plushies. And then she went down the hall further to reach Adam’s room.

“Adam? Are you up, pet?” She knocked on the door, only to be met with silence. She slid open the door just a crack, frowning at the sight of an empty bed. And it wasn’t just lacking a lanky teenager; it was missing all its pillows and blankets. Kali entered the bedroom and hummed in confusion, before noticing that the walk-in closet door was now ajar. She crept to it and silently pulled the door open all the way. And there Adam was, curled up into a corner of the closet amid a pile of pillows, cushions and blankets. He’d even pulled down one of Ghira’s puffer jackets (gods’ only knew why that was in there). He was sweating in his sleep, his face pink and his red hair damp on his forehead, but he’d cocooned himself nonetheless, perhaps for comfort. He suddenly looked tiny, and frail, and so much more like a child than he presented himself as.

Kali’s heart softened in her chest, and she crawled into the closet and knelt by Adam’s side. She rubbed his back gently, overly warm and also damp with sweat, as she tried to rouse him. “Adam, time to wake up.” She cooed.

Adam’s eyebrow furrowed, and he took a shaky little breath. There was pure fright in his eye the first moment he looked at Kali, which surprised her, before his expression settled once he remembered where he was.

“It’s breakfast time, pet.” She stood up, ignoring the smell of morning breath and perspiration when he grunted in response. She continued in a gentle voice. “Go have a shower, I’ll get you a bowl ready.”

She wasn’t sure what type of food he was used to – he was a Mantle boy, so he definitely didn’t have the same spice tolerance as she did – so she tried to stick with gentler foods. Ripe pear slices, miso soup with little pieces of fried fish. Toast and honey was always welcome, as was a glass of cold milk tea. She didn’t see herself as the best cook, but she at least had enough self-esteem to know it was a better breakfast than what he’d been getting at the hospital, so she set it out on the table with a sense of satisfaction before making the same for herself (only with crushed chillies that turned her soup a lovely blood red shade).

Adam came out of the shower quicker than she was expecting – perhaps he wasn’t used to taking long showers – and she noticed he’d changed the bandages on his face all by himself. “I could have helped you with that, pet.” She smiled at Adam, gesturing to his face, only for him to grimace as he sat.

“It’s. It’s fine. I can do it.” His voice was unsure, strained, enough for Kali to wonder if he’d gotten vocal damage from the Dust and soot in the mines. “Thank you, for the food. You didn’t have to make so much.”

“It’s no issue. Blake eats twice as much as this.”

“Where... is Blake?” He looked around as he took up a spoon.

“Her and Ghira popped out to the market. They’ll be home soon.” She wondered if she ought to bring up that Blake was meeting another friend, or if that would just make Adam feel excluded. So instead she prompted the topic gently. “You should meet some of her school friends, I’m sure they’ll be happy to meet the nice young man who’s been looking after her in hospital. She only has a handful of friends but they’ve been worried sick about her.”

Adam didn’t say anything to that, but he did nod slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes – eye, rather. And from there, they ate in silence, nothing but the sounds of the birds outside and clatter of cutlery to keep them both company. He really was quiet; she could see why Blake liked him. She’d never gone for boisterous, extroverted people, for better or for worse. She’d always kept to herself even when she was tiny, more content with a book than with people.

It worried Kali endlessly; Kali herself wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, but she wasn’t content with pure, unfiltered solitude like Blake seemed to be. Was she shy? Was she socially awkward? Countless nights Kali wondered if Blake was being bullied – but alas, she just enjoyed being by herself. It was why she was so eager to bring Adam home, so Blake could at least have someone to keep her company. Even if they dated, even if they didn’t, at least it was another person.

Besides, Adam helped to wash the dishes after. He even wiped down the surfaces. Now that was a friend Kali was fine with Blake having.

With nothing else to do, though, Adam seemed to follow Kali like he’d been following Blake around, and Kali... couldn’t say she enjoyed that. It was nice having someone help with the laundry, yes. It was nice having someone to sit and drink tea with. It was nice to have a yoga partner – yes she made Adam do yoga with her – but the silence was unending with him.

She got a text from Blake, stating that more friends had arrived to greet her - Trifa and Yuma, from the year above her and Ilia - so she was going to be out a little longer than she expected (and likely more than she wanted to be). She sighed a little and simply sent back a few heart-shaped emojis, and Adam glanced at Kali curiously. “Are you okay?” He asked, his voice strained and monotonous. 

“Yes, yes, just… I was hoping Blake would be home earlier.” She explained. “It looks like we have the house to ourselves, hm?”

Adam didn’t respond properly, instead grunting and glancing around the room as he tended to. So, resolute in getting the boy to talk, she let Adam trail after her into the tearoom once again and sat with him. “What’s your favourite flavour of tea?”

Adam blinked, shrugged, and that was all.

“Ghira’s more of a coffee person honestly, but he’s always loved sharing a lavender tea with Blake – I think it was one of the first things she bonded with him over back when she was still using a baby potty.”

Adam grunted a little, playing with a hole in the leg of his jeans.

“We do agree that earl grey is just a hassle – it gives me awful headaches. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Again, hardly any response. She fought the urge to pull a face as she took a little box in the middle of the table, opening it up only to find all the lavender tea was gone. Ghira didn’t like the stuff they sold at the market, so she’d always took the extra time to make the little bags from scratch, mixing up the herbs, grinding them up in a little pestle and mortar, but she’d wanted to show Adam the tea and now she’d have to make it all from scratch. In silence.

She huffed, sitting back and glancing over at Adam. A large lock of hair was out of place, like a crooked cowlick right on the middle of his head. In fact, his hair was so wild that his horns were almost completely concealed – he may as well have been human with how well they were camouflaged.

“Your hair is all out of shape, pet.” She said softly, knowing she wouldn’t get a response. Adam stiffened immediately as Kali sat by him, hands balling into fists atop his knees. His shoulders tensed, his jaw locked, though he made no other motion, no attempt to shift away. He was such a bizarre young man. What in all of Remnant would have trained him to be so on edge around people – ?

She remembered what her daughter had told her. In private, tucked away, under oath to tell nobody else that she was aware. Things Adam had told her about the mines, the orphanage, and whatever Hell he’d been privy to in those wretched places, and Kali was a smart enough woman to piece together the rest. And she had promised not to bring it up, not to Ghira (unless under extreme circumstances), not to her friends or White Fang associates, not even to Adam himself.

But it worried her dearly, that Adam was just so hesitant. Blake looked like the only person he could take comfort in, the only one he could relax around. The pair of them were inseparable; it was a sweet thing really, but it would be a sad little life if you could only rely on one person.

Kali reached out, moving so Adam could clearly see her hands, and she took a lock of vibrant red hair between her fingers. Then, with all the tenderness she would show Blake, she made a delicate motion and slowly swept the lock back, behind one of Adam’s horns. It curled in place, allowing that horn to show up much better. It was as though they were made of smoky quartz, striking out from his forehead like shards of black bone. Utterly beautiful. He shouldn’t have to cover them up with that mop of red.

He didn’t seem to mind Kali’s presence. In fact, it seemed as though he wanted to say something at last, yet he remained unwilling – or perhaps unable – to summon anything coherent. Kali smiled, shifting and threading her fingers through more fluffy crimson hair. And with the motions, she caught sight of the loveliest brown shining beneath all that red. Of course, some hair just fell in certain ways, laid atop his head in a way she couldn’t shift, but she still did her best to overlay lock by lock until those brilliant horns were no longer hidden away. “You don’t want to hide those, pet. They’re very beautiful.”

Adam swallowed, jaw still clenched, hands still in fists. But he nodded quickly, tilting his head so he could get a better look at Kali. A single sky-blue eye peered up at her - perhaps hopefully? It was a hesitant, shy expression, like he wasn’t sure if he should believe her. In that moment, he really did look like the child she knew he was under the black clothes and sparing words. In turn, she smiled warmly at him. “And you have such lovely hair. Has anyone ever told you that?”

She could feel his eyes on her (assuming he had one under the bandages), scanning, trying to decipher what in the world was going on. It broke her heart that such casual tenderness was so foreign to him, but she would be damned if she let it remain so. He shook his head.

She beamed again. “Well, it’s wonderful. It suits you. Would you mind helping me make some tea?”

He followed her to the kitchen and sat with her in silence, but now the silence was different, it was a happier tone somehow. They sorted through herbs and spices, and the specific cups for the brew and the tiny bags, and although he was so quiet, she couldn’t help but notice the littlest smile on his face.

Later, Blake came home with Ilia, and Adam at last left Kali’s side. She couldn’t deny she felt the tiniest bit lonely after that, as the trio retired up to Blake’s room to listen to music and do… well, whatever teenagers did these days.

Blake did seem happier now. Exceptionally so. And Kali wasn’t going to step in the way of that. So she left them to it, only popping in occasionally to offer them snacks and drinks. Ilia and Blake sat together on the bed, Ilia cradling a ghost plushie and Blake laying at ease on the bed. Adam, meanwhile, was always seated away from the pair by Blake’s desk, toying with her pencils and pens. Every time Kali popped her head in, it was Adam who was carrying the conversation, talking more to them about the orphanage, the SDC, about general life in Mantle, while Ilia shared her own stories of Atlas. Blake hardly said anything, more content listening to them both. Kali was surprised at how chatty Adam was now compared to before, and briefly wondered if he was simply uncomfortable around her. 

That troubling thought was put to ease much later, though, long after Ilia had gone home. Ghira came back, as the market trip had turned into meetings and conversations with White Fang associates and general Faunus citizens needing advice. They had dinner together as they had the previous night, although Adam was a bit more confident in refusing his fifth portion (perhaps he was just realizing the food wasn’t going anywhere).

Kali redid Blake’s bandages, massaged more cream into her daughter’s back, and she wondered if her heart would ever stop breaking so thoroughly at the sight of those grisly burns. The very outline was carved into her memory like a name on a gravestone, the acid having dripped down her back and over her arm. It had even singed her lovely long hair, resulting in a good few inches being cut away to preserve what was left. Kali supposed she ought to be grateful none of the acid got to Blake’s face. That sick bastard could have blinded her, or worse. And he wasn’t even targeting Blake specifically, it seemed; a fair amount of protestors got caught in the crossfire, but Blake had simply been the one to take the biggest hit.

The memory left her unable to settle for the night, so she sat in the tearoom and made herself a drink. She nursed her forehead and tried to think of other things, perhaps what book she ought to start, what else needed doing to help further Menagerie’s project with the Performer’s Academy. And that was when her little shadow appeared again.

Adam stood in the doorway of the tearoom, in the dark. He watched her, only looking away when Kali looked back at him. “You can’t sleep either, pet?” She smiled tiredly at him.

Adam nodded, somewhat conflicted. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, the words on his tongue unable to form properly enough to tell her what was on his mind. So, she patted the cushion next to her invitingly. “You want some tea? Hm? I have a box of shortbread I can open up, too.”

Adam did take the invitation and sat gladly by Kali, but it wasn’t tea or shortbread he wanted. He started with uncertain words. “You… earlier, what did you…?” He gestured to his hair, which had only fallen out of place in a few spots.

“Did you not like that?” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I must have gotten carried away. I always used to play with Blake’s hair when she was small…”

“No, no, I. Uh.” He kept his eyes down, almost embarrassed. Almost fearful. Then, he swallowed and finally looked up at Kali. “Can you do that again? Is that okay?”

Kali blinked in surprise, and it finally made sense. She had no idea what age he was when he was orphaned, but she didn’t need to know. She didn’t need any of the details, all she needed to know was that he was right there, and she hadn’t made him uncomfortable at all. “Come here, pet.”

She shifted closer and put an arm around Adam, and her free hand went back into his hair. His eye went massive, but it wasn’t long before he sank against her hand. She stroked her fingers through Adam’s hair in a gentle, repetitive motion, how she used to for Blake during the thunderstorms that frightened her so. His hair was soft, choppy at all the ends, and she kept sweeping it back tenderly, as a mother knew to, and his eye closed. The silence here was welcomed, it was a sign of contentment. 

She didn’t usually like it when odd young men followed Blake back home, but Kali decided to make an exception for this one. 

Chapter Text

Adam

Sweat ran down his arms like blood. He could see his own veins raised under his skin, pleading to relax, to let go. His horns brushed the safety net as the cold ticking of the metronome reminded him of the beat he was supposed to be keeping track of.

“Again.”

He ignored the trembling of his hands and flipped around onto his back, nothing suspending him save two lengths of ribbon crossed over his hips. He grit his teeth as he wound the lengths around his wrists, one up his leg, looping over an ankle. He had to be quicker. Quicker than this. Why couldn’t he do it quicker?

He arched his back and let his weight shift, angling him downward. His vision blurred into soothing black pulses, and he let go. Tumbling, downward, feeling the ribbon tangling his body, trying to find somewhere to hook to keep him upright.

The ribbon around his ankle wasn’t done properly. The entire length around his leg unravelled like a secret, twisting his leg uncomfortably and making him tumble far too low until his horns brushed the safety net. Again. Glynda’s metronome continued to tick as he fell out of its rhythm. He glanced up at her from the tangle of ribbons and failure. She wasn’t impressed, her whole body suspended by a single ribbon she’d wrapped around her thighs and hips. “Again.”

“I’ve done this again and again and again! ” Adam roared, nearly losing grip as he climbed up his ribbons. His hands shook within his gloves, the sweat gathering between his digits and under his nails making him feel groggy, sticky, useless. “I’ve been here all morning!”

“And you’ll be here the rest of the day if that’s what you need.” Glynda spoke cooly; if she was tired of this, she showed no sign of it. “Again. Wrap it counter-clockwise over your hand first – ”

“I know how to do it!” Adam groaned, jaw clenched enough for his head to ache. “It just isn’t working.”

“I made that technique myself. It’s what earned me my graduation.” Glynda crossed her arms, setting the metronome on her lap. Adam was sure he’d seen it on Ozpin’s desk before, but he hadn’t heard it actually working back then. “You will learn this. You will not fail me, and you will not fail yourself.”

Adam grimaced, his hands shaking, tremors in his thighs. He was trying. He was trying and failing over and over. He’d not felt this useless in years. “I’m...” He swallowed dryly. “I need water.”

“One more try, then we’ll take a break.” Glynda said.

“Let the boy get some damn water.” Qrow’s voice came from beneath them. Adam looked down at him in surprise; he hadn’t even heard him coming into the studio – then again, he couldn’t hear much from the ringing in his ears. “Adam, come on down.”

Adam looked between his teachers. Glynda didn’t look impressed. “We’re practicing. You know we are.”

“Yeah, and you’re grinding him into a paste up there. Adam, come on, it’s lunchtime.”

Adam took that opportunity to unwind and fall into the safety net, while Glynda glided down gracefully, spiderlike in her instinctive elegance. As Adam clambered off the net, he shifted himself in the direction of the bench where his water bottle sat, only for his legs to disagree with the sudden weight on them. He stumbled, only saved from the floor by Qrow jumping and grabbing him by the arm. A shock of disgust, of fright, hit him at the touch – it wasn’t Qrow himself that made Adam cringe, it was the sudden touch, hands on him. Hands grabbing, pulling, prodding, hitting –

He'd hardly slept the night before. Too many nightmares. Of blue gloves holding him down, of being bathed in bleach and cleaning fluid, of being buried in a flower bed of tender white blooms. He’d been tired before he’d even started training that morning, his head fuzzy, his face twitching with the phantom pains of unfurling petals. But he couldn’t shrink away, couldn’t push Qrow off him. His limbs weren’t his own anymore – the only thing keeping Adam together, it seemed, was his steam hammer of a heart, throbbing pulses going down under his skin like the thread of a ragdoll holding everything just barely in place.

“Brothers Light and Dark, Glyn’,” Qrow set Adam on the bench, “he looks like he’s gonna pass out.”

“Don’t call me that. We all had to go through this.” Glynda gave Qrow a look. “If he wants to achieve greatness, we have to keep pushing him.”

“You know I don’t agree with that... approach.” Qrow frowned, feathers ruffled.

Glynda only continued to argue as Adam downed his water bottle, the water turning his mouth from sandpaper back into real flesh. “Carbon can turn into diamonds under the right amount of pressure.”

“Yeah, and dough rises when you let it rest,” Qrow retorted, “just give him a break. He needs it.”

“What he needs is a push in the right direction.”

“To an extent. Not this. If anyone should be pushing this class, it should be me. Not you.”

“Qrow,” Glynda spoke with a gentler tone, which Adam noted, “just because Raven – ”

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Qrow snarled – snarled – and Adam blinked up at him. Glynda’s eyes widened at the sudden tone. Qrow seethed for a moment, sucking in a breath, holding it, and letting it go. “Sorry. Sorry . Just give the kid a damn break. I’m not having my students get hurt.”

Glynda looked uncertain of how to approach Qrow, and Adam could understand. He’d never heard his professor talk in such a tone. Under the odor of cheap whisky and linen, Adam could smell the slightest hint of bonfire smoke on Qrow, something deep, something wrong , and something horribly familiar. That... didn’t make sense, did it? Qrow had never...?

His thoughts were too foggy to follow, and Adam let the trail slip out of his mind as he leaned back against the wall, his shirt sticking to him like a second skin from all the sweat. He didn’t dare put his jacket back on over it, knowing the scent would stain it permanently.

“Besides,” Qrow continued, “Pyrrha was meant to do her one-on-one with Neptune about an hour ago. Their playlist is probably gonna upset your little clock thing.”

“...Metronome.” Glynda corrected him gently. “I just think Adam – ”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Adam finally slurred, forcing himself to sit up straight. He didn’t want to be defended. He didn’t want to be seen as needing it. He was going to learn. He had to learn. Glynda Goodwitch was teaching him and he had to prove he was worthy –

“After.” Qrow urged, and before Adam could protest any further, Glynda herself relented.

“Fine. But I expect more than this from our afternoon session.” She waved the pair off.

“Oh come on, Glyn’ – ” Qrow frowned.

“I can be better.” Adam growled. “I can get it right.”

Glynda nodded as Qrow shook his head, going to let Pyrrha and Neptune in. “I know you can, Mr Taurus. I wouldn’t be bothering with you otherwise. Be my diamond, won’t you?” And at last, she smiled before she left, and it was the only thing Adam wanted to see, wanted to hear. She actually believed he could be good, he could be worth it. It was a warmth unlike anything else, it was a joy, a hope, it –

It felt a bit like that when Kali smiled at him. When Kali praised him. Hell, even when Sienna did the same. He had to be better. He had to show them – all of them – that he deserved their efforts. That it wasn’t all a waste. He couldn’t be a waste –

“Adam, kid,” Qrow got Adam’s attention.

“I’ll do better.” He nodded, but Qrow only frowned.

“Just do your best. Alright?” Qrow put his hands on his hips. “And don’t kill yourself over it, for gods’ sake.”

Adam nodded, making himself stand. “I uh. Yeah. And. Qrow?”

“Yeah, Hothead?”

Adam swallowed, nearly convincing himself to push the words back down and replace what he really wanted to say with an insult. But whatever stupid goodness was in him rebuked that attempt. “I’m sorry. Uh. About Raven.”

Qrow stared at Adam, rosy eyes hardening. He smelled like death, like warm, cooling, suffocating death. Then, the scent washed off him and his gaze settled into gentleness, into sorrow. “Didn’t think your generation would have known about all that.”

Adam shrugged, unsure how to respond. After all, it wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things. And after all, he was sharing a class, a teacher, with people directly involved in all that – Yang, Ruby, who he still needed to talk to otherwise Sun would be disappointed (and maybe because it was also the morally correct thing to do) – and it didn’t feel right to not acknowledge it. “I just. I dunno. I’m sorry.”

Qrow sighed gently, taking out his flask. “Yeah. Me too. Now get out of here, I don't wanna chase you out with a broomstick.”

“Why, because I’m vermin?” Adam gave a little smirk, showing Qrow his teeth.

“No, because Glynda will need it to fly back home.” Qrow chuckled, and Adam turned to leave, feeling a little more confident on his legs.

And on the subject of apologies, he looked over at Pyrrha. She was fumbling with her scroll to find a playlist as Neptune did his stretches. He remembered Sun’s stupid words and his stupid wholeheartedness, and he ground his stupid teeth at how stupidly remorseful it made him feel. He’d already said sorry when it happened, he hadn’t done it out of spite – not entirely, anyway – so it shouldn’t matter anymore. It wasn’t like Pyrrha was bothered by it anymore, either.

Pyrrha caught him staring, and she gave an awkward smile.

Gods’ damn it, she was still bothered by it.

Adam shambled over to her, clocking how Neptune glanced up at his presence and said nothing. Okay, Sun’s friend or not, he wasn’t fond of the little idiot. He wasn’t overly fond of anyone who unironically thought of themselves as the coolest person in the room. But this wasn’t about that, this was about talking to Pyrrha. To hell with Neptune.

“Did everyone have fun yesterday?” Adam asked her.

She lowered her scroll, surprised to see Adam initiating conversation (which... fair), and she gave a nod. “It was lovely. Weiss and Yang had a little spout, but everyone seems to have had a good time.”

“Spout? What would Weiss have against Yang?” Yang was human, did the Schnees really just take issue with everyone? That was hilarious, actually.

“Family drama.” Neptune butted in. “It was super uncomfortable.”

“I wasn’t asking you.” Adam went to say, before biting it back until the words turned to ashes on his tongue, and he turned back to Pyrrha. “We’re never short of that in this place.”

“Oh it’s very...” Pyrrha trailed off, playing with a lock of wine red hair. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Adam nodded, allowing a moment of uncomfortable silence to float between them, before he cleared his throat. “Sorry, again, by the way. For dropping you.”

Pyrrha blinked, clearly needing a moment to remember. So it didn’t bother her? So she was able to forget what happened? Could people just make up their damn minds? “Oh, that. It’s okay, it was an accident.” Pyrrha put her hands together politely.

“It wasn’t though.” Adam explained. “I very much intended on tripping you up.”

Pyrrha wasn’t sure what to say for a moment, but her hold on her customer-service smile was tight as ever. “Why?”

“Good question.” “I just. I don’t exactly think highly of Atlas. Or... all of Solitas.”

“I’m not from Atlas though.”

“No, but you and Weiss are the only people here who’s ever stepped foot on Atlas Academy’s grounds. I figured it would be funny to use your failure to spite all of Atlas.” Wow that tumbled out of his mouth faster than he wanted it to. Neptune looked back up from his stretches, staring at Adam judgmentally. As if he could judge –

Pyrrha did look hurt at that. Adam fucked up. He definitely fucked up and for some reason he definitely cared. For the first time all semester, he looked at Pyrrha not as Atlas’ perfect girl, like she was some angel who’d fallen from grace into the land of demons, but he saw her as... Pyrrha. As a person, like he was. Maybe not as damaged, but still.

“Right.” She said quickly, crossing her arms and breaking eye contact – not that she was able to really make eye contact with Adam, but... “You’re from Mantle, right?”

“Unfortunately.”

And then, weirdly, Pyrrha laughed. It wasn’t joyful, or playful. It was soft, sad, as tender as a bruise. “That was the first time I stumbled since I started this course.”

“...You know it was only a machine.” He went to comfort her, trying to figure out how to lower his voice to match her softness. “You didn’t kill anything – ”

“She wasn’t a machine , Adam.” She said quickly. “She... she was nice. Thank you for saying sorry, but... I really don’t want to talk about this sort of thing.”

“Whaaaat are we talking about?” Neptune inquired.

“Don’t worry.” Pyrrha said.

“Shut up.” Adam said.

Nepune frowned at them both. “Yeesh, fine. Carry on being weird without me.”

“I.” Adam looked back to Pyrrha, certain he’d made things worse. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“I get it though.” Pyrrha continued. “You’re trying to be nice, and that’s very sweet of you. Just... please stop though, you're very bad at it.”

Adam coughed into his glove awkwardly. “Uh. Yeah. I get that a lot.”

“Really, I do appreciate it.” She put a hand on his shoulder, and it should have felt good, it should have felt comforting. But all he could feel was this grotesque need to flinch away, to smack her hand off his body. He held his breath and tried, tried , to let the touch stay, just a few more seconds, please, get off, hold out, stay still, a few more seconds –

Her hand slid lower down his arm and his skin rippled with goosebumps, and he thought he might scream just as she raised her hand off him. As her hand left, relief washed over him like water over a flame. The only person who’d had their hands on him recently was Sun, and he’d almost, almost, forgotten how much he despised being touched. Pyrrha’s hands weren’t like Sun’s, nor were Qrow’s. Sun knew how much pressure to apply, he knew how gentle to be, and he was warm, and sweet, and alive –

“ This isn’t productive. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!” “I just. It doesn’t change anything, does it?” Adam spoke, letting himself breathe again.

“Really, don’t. It’s in the past.”

“I just. It’s a machine, Pyrrha.” Adam explained.

Pyrrha’s expression only sank further. “Please don’t – ”

“Is upsetting cute girls your kink or something?” Neptune had enough and stood by Pyrrha. “Dude, go lurk somewhere else for a bit.”

“I don’t remember addressing you.” Adam warned.

“I don’t remember caring.” Neptune frowned.

“Come on, let’s not do this – ” Pyrrha tried to diffuse.

“Machines can be rebuilt.” Adam finished. “Machines can be fixed.”

Pyrrha was quiet for a moment, and this glimmer of light rose up in her eyes. Adam wasn’t used to this feeling, to igniting hope in others. He found he quite liked it. “O-oh.” She breathed.

Adam smirked as he left the studio. “It’s like I said. You didn’t kill anything. Enjoy helping Neptune catch up with the rest of us.”

And he left, heading to the dormitory. Hope. Now that was a funny concept. Especially the thought of giving it to another person with words alone. He supposed, if he was going to be a Performer, then he better get used to that feeling – and learn how to harness it properly.

The first thing to greet him as he stepped into the living area was Nora’s face, massive and filled with delight. “YANG BOUGHT ME CANDY!” She screamed into Adam’s very soul, jumping up and down on the spot.

“I’d like to formally apologize.” Ren called from the sofa. “Nora, I told you not to do that.”

“But it’s so funny!” She giggled. “Look at his face!”

“How’re we supposed to do that? Half of it’s covered in ribbon.” Yang shrugged from the other end of the sofa, not looking up from her scroll. Her hair was up in rollers, her own face covered in a thick layer of what looked like melted chocolate. A face mask, maybe?

“Heard you had a ‘little spout’ with our Ice Queen.” Adam smirked at Yang as he side-stepped around Nora.

“Heard you’re still a moody goat.” Yang put her scroll down and opened a bottle of nail polish, much to Ren’s frown. “What else is new?”

“Wow, am I a goat because of my horns? Is that your best insult?” He drawled.

Yang finally looked up at him. “No, you’re a goat because you’re a goat. You goat.”

“Riiiight.”

“SPEAKING OF WEISS - !” Sun’s head appeared from around the kitchenette counter. “Look! She bought some crap for Netpune he didn’t want so he gave it to me!”

His usual white shirt had been replaced by a knitted crop top – well, it was short, at least, Adam wasn’t really sure what to call it – with long sleeves. It was more a cropped jumper, and the actual weave of the yarn was so loose it clearly showed his caramel skin underneath. Adam could see Sun’s nipples from the holes in it, for gods’ sake. It was one of the most useless pieces of clothing Adam had seen in a long time - and even yet, it still looked good on Sun. He swallowed, his mouth dry again. He pretended he didn’t know why.

Sun looked happy. He always looked happy. His hair was ruffled, locks of pale yellow shooting in any way they pleased, his tail swishing lightly behind him. Those black eyes, wide and galactic. Adam hadn’t realized how much comfort he’d come to take from his roommate.

This definitely wasn’t normal. But then, Adam wasn’t normal.

“Oh gods, you stink so bad.” Nora waved a hand at Adam, pulling a face. “Have you been training literally all morning? You’re like a slime monster.”

“Nora.” Ren scolded lightly, moving to another seat so he couldn’t smell Yang’s nail polish.

“What? Look at him! He’s like a slug with feelings!”

“I am so offended.” Adam droned. “So horribly offended.”

“Truth hurts.” Yang painted her nails.

Adam didn’t like how much he was apologizing today. It didn’t feel right, didn’t feel like him at all. But... Sun looked so happy.

“Yang. Uh.”

“Yeah, Goatman?”

“ I will set your bed on fire.” “I’m sorry for being shitty to you and your little sister.” He glanced at Sun from under his blindfold. His smile was light, it was sunflowers. It was dandelions. “Are we good?”

Ren and Nora shared a look. Yang stared at Adam with eyes like dried lavender. Blank. She rolled those eyes, showing they were not, indeed, good. “Whatever.”

“Right. Uh.” Adam continued staring at her, somewhat insulted. “Good talk.”

“Yep.”

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Fine.”

“Guys,” Sun butted in, “nobody’s complimented me on my awesome outfit.”

“Sun, that top looks like it’s going to unravel if you breathe too deeply.” Adam gestured to Sun’s top, to the way it didn’t even cover his abs, his happy trail – oh, his jeans were new too.

“Yeah!” Nora nodded in agreement. “It totally suits you! It’s so cute!”

“Finally, someone with taste!” Sun grinned.

Adam shook his head, going to sit by Ren. He really did need a shower. He really, really ought to go do that. But then, Sun went and leaned on the armrest closest to Adam. A shower could wait a minute or so – besides, he still hadn’t eaten anything. If he went and showered while he still felt like this, there was a not-insignificant chance of him passing out in the hot water.

“Seriously, though.” Nora continued. “You smell like our old caregiver after a bad day.”

"Caregiver?"

“Me and Nora are orphans too, in case we didn’t mention.” Ren added helpfully as Nora came over, picking up her bag of sweets and holding one out to Adam.

“Get your laughing gear around these babies and then go have a bath!” Nora instructed.

“She means ‘eat it’.” Ren continued to explain. “She’s in a very good mood today.”

Adam hesitantly held his hand out to Nora, who dropped what looked like pastel-coloured coins into his palm, and then he recognized what he was being given.

Love Hearts. Little fizzy candies shaped like discs with raised details on the front. They usually had either a message or a cute face emoji printed in the confines of a raised heart. Messages from "heart throb" to "will u b mine?" decorated the sweets, along with winky faces and cute expressions. Lots of people saw them as the sweeter, more romantic version of fortune cookies, and it helped that nearly all of the messages were utterly positive - save a handful of sassy retorts. Adam hardly ever ate candy, but he had come across a few Love Hearts with “out of ur league” and “in ur dreams” written on them. He thought it’d be funny, once, to give Blake one years ago with the phrase “not my type” written on it. She cried. It wasn’t funny.

Adam watched Nora continue to happily hand out the candies to everyone else in the dorm, his gaze naturally drifting back to Sun as he laughed at whatever his candy said. His smile was wide and brilliant, his cheeks rounding up into apple-bites when he ate. And as the fizziness began to sizzle on his tongue, he squeezed his eyes shut like an excited child, relishing in the way the cute candy bubbled between the line of ultra sweet to sour.

He wanted to question why he was always looking to the other man, why he was so drawn to him, but he didn’t want to hear the answer. That would just complicate things. He cursed himself for it, but today he was tired of the frustration, tired that calling himself an idiot on loop in his brain wasn't solving the problem - as if it ever did. He just sighed, because honestly, Sun was easy to adore. His joy, his excitement, it wasn't just a front the way it was with so many people.

He was just that happy.

He was just that kind.

And while he boasted and put on a show, he never stepped on anyone or put anybody else down. He wanted them all to succeed... He wanted Adam to succeed. For once someone extended their kindness far enough to reach even him, and that was... New. And in the back of his mind, as Adam watched the rest of the class, he wondered if Sun might ever see him as a real friend, or at least more than a dance partner. What if there was anything beyond that?

He looked down at his candy. The message in dusty pink read "not a chance" .

“Oh, fuck you.” He thought, turning away and heading to his room.

Sun waltzed back down the hall after Adam, not following him, just leaving at the same time. “One more outfit and that’s it! Prepare your declarations of love!”

“Weiss might be offended that Neptune gave away her gifts.” Ren warned gently.

“Not my problem! I love getting free stuff!” Sun called. As Adam sat at his desk, Sun threw the top off and chucked it onto his bed. He just... started getting undressed, as if Adam wasn’t there, right down to his underwear (were they new? Adam tried to not stare long enough to guess).

“You are way too comfortable around me.” Adam sputtered, turning away and picking up a book so he could pretend to read.

“Don’t be a baby. You’ve grabbed my ass before.” Sun went over to his desk opposite Adam’s, picking up an energy drink Ren had given him.

“I have not.”

“Yeah you have! When we’ve danced!”

“I would definitely remember grabbing your ass.”

“Aw, is my ass special?” Sun smirked.

“For crying out loud, you’re insufferable.” He turned and fished out his earbuds, intending on drowning out Sun’s nonsense. It was all too sweet.

“You know... I don’t mind you playing your music out loud.” Sun cracked his can open and took a long sip, sitting opposite Adam.

“It’s... not really the sort of thing you’d like.” Adam explained.

“Really? I can get into emo music. Heavy metal. Rock and roll. Whatever.” Sun encouraged, which wasn’t encouraging at all.

“That’s just insulting.” Adam frowned.

“Okay, fair, I’m sorry, man.” Sun pushed his chair closer to Adam’s. “I just, you know maybe next time we’re in class, we can put on some of your music instead of the set playlists Qrow has. I wanna see what kinda stuff you’re into.”

“Again, it’s not...” Adam tried to explain, putting the piece of candy down on the table. “Not a chance.”

“You like that band with the funky-looking guy, right? Mother Mother ?” Sun nodded.

Adam blinked. “You’ve heard of them?”

“On the radio sometimes.” Sun nodded again, happily. “Why don’t we try picking one of their songs to work with? Might put you more into your comfort zone? And then I can pick a song, you pick a song, get groovy with it. We could even make a playlist.”

“Uh... Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good.” Adam nodded.

“Go on, then!”

“Huh?”

“Show me a song! Show me one you really like!” Sun crouched on his chair like a gargoyle, and Adam fumbled for his scroll.

“Okay, uh... This is on you, by the way. If you don’t like it that’s your own fault.”

“Pfft.”

Adam put on one the newer songs from an album he’d not gotten to yet, and put the scroll on the desk. He ignored the awkward jitter of nerves in his core, trying to blame it on the fact that he still hadn’t eaten. Sun’s expression looked so excited, so hopeful, as the warble of the guitar began to emit from Adam’s phone.

I don't got a god I can call my own...

And I don't got a body that feels like home...

Don't got a job,

don't got a buck,

don't got a house,

don't got no throne...

Sun looked at Adam happily, shutting his eyes briefly as he took in the music. Adam wasn’t even paying attention to the music itself, just the smile on Sun’s face, the light shining off his skin, the flicks of blond in his lashes.

Don't got a plan,

don't got a chance,

don't see a hand to hold my own,

But I got love!

Sun got out of his seat and danced, not trying to be good, not trying to be funny, not trying to be anything. He just let his feet carry him through the music, through the heavy drums, the voices. Adam blinked at how happy Sun seemed. It was... too sweet.

And I got my heart that's just beating around the clock,

'Cause I got love, I got love, I got love!

And I got my family, as fucked up as they are!

Adam could only laugh. Sun danced just like a child when they were here, like this, in this one moment where it didn’t matter how good they were, where nobody was marking them, judging them, trying to find what it was they were doing wrong. His weight shifted from foot to foot, his tail curled in and unravelled in bursts, his hands were high above his head. He pretended to play an invisible guitar, he blubbered the lyrics as he tried to guess what was being said before the words even came. He had fun with it. Adam almost wanted to join in.

“Don’t complicate things.” Adam almost frowned. “Don’t complicate things. You’ll ruin it. You’ll make it worse. You always do.”

Sun slumped on his chair as the song stopped as suddenly as it started, his cheeks pink and grin wide. “S-see?!” He beamed up at Adam, and there were stars in those eyes put there by the gods themselves. Perhaps it was the last good thing they’d ever done. There was goodness there, there was...

“Don’t you dare complicate things. You know how much it’ll hurt.”

“You’re sweet.” Adam remarked.

“I thought you don’t like sweet things.” Sun stretched out on his chair, smirking. His skin was shiny with perspiration.

“I don’t. Usually.” He held out one of the candies Nora gave him. “I don’t want these. You should... you should have them.”

And Sun stared at him for a moment, a long moment, as if regarding Adam, inspecting him, trying to figure something out. Right as Adam went to question that expression, Sun leaned forward. Taking the sweet. With his mouth.

His upper lip brushed Adam’s thumb as his teeth clamped gently around the Love Heart, starry eyes still up and watching Adam curiously – and he was still in his underwear . Adam held his breath, watching Sun back, statuesque. His heart hammered, and a new wave of sweat itched his skin. And a new kind of warmth began to pool in him – this time more downward, more direct - specifically in his lap.

Adam got up out of the chair before Sun could edge closer, before the pink could overwhelm his cheeks. “That’s – bath – I need – I need to go.” And he locked himself in the bathroom pretending to be deaf to Sun’s laughter, to his own heavy breaths, to the sudden wave of lust taking over his every other thought, even his constantly-present hatred of everything. “Shouldn’t,” he whispered to himself, “shouldn’t – complicated – don’t make it – ”

Undisturbed by all this, another candy laid on Adam’s desk, facedown like a secret. “It’s complicated” , it read. 

(Song Featured: I Got Love - Mother Mother)

—

Adam

He shouldn’t have napped after Glynda’s class.

All that filled his dreams were the silks. Rotted fabric strangling him, holding him, mummifying him. The tick of the metronome counting down to his fate. The studio, a hospital room, blue curtains and faceless souls staring down at him like he was a subject in a test. He had to dance. He had to keep dancing or the ribbons would tighten and tighten, cut into his skin. The soil on his bare feet writhed, and seedlings spurted up around his feet, between his toes, but they weren’t just blooming there.

The flowers tried to bloom over Adam's entire face as he danced, the ribbons binding his hands until he couldn't reach to claw away at the blossoms. A bouquet of madness stretched over his face, obscuring his vision as that thing – that thing – watched from the corner. It was all such a blur, an endless cacophony of meaningless noise. But then, a flick of a yellow tail.

Sun swam through the ocean of silk and thorny vines, the only thing Adam could see around the gruesome bouquet. His eyes had real stars in them, each going supernova and bringing so much light between them. And his lips, his soft lips, pressed into the head of one bulging flower. Adam felt it rot on impact and slip out of the hole in his head. The relief that death brought rocked through his body, and Sun was eager to continue healing him. Every kiss killed those ghastly white flowers, made their very roots wither away until they slipped out of Adam's skin and flesh, taking away the pain with them. Oh, it was wonderful. It was holy. Adam understood then why people believed that prayers were heard by the gods.

He untangled his arms and wrapped them around Sun, and they danced as the sea of silk ebbed and flowed. Each wave rocking them, cradling them. The hospital curtains burned away, the soil rotted under their feet, and that wretched figure could watch for all Adam cared. White dandelions and moon flowers bloomed lower down, on Adam's collar bone, on his stomach, lower still. Sun's lips followed, killing the dainty weeds and freeing Adam from the pain of their roots. He kissed so lovingly over his belly, between his legs. Between his legs?

Lips became a tongue. A tongue became a mouth, and a mouth became heat. Wet and sticky and worshipping, and Adam forgot how to breathe as his nerve-damaged body sparked back to life. The ribbons, rotted and loose as they were, beckoned his hands downward to tangle into Sun's hair and everything was warm, and bright. The air entered Adam's lungs and filled him with heady pollen once he remembered to breathe again. Sun's mouth was like honey, and Adam melted into it until he was nothing but burning nerves and swollen flesh in Sun's mouth.

And he woke up to the alarm on his scroll blaring like a siren. His blanket was halfway on the floor and, in the first moment of consciousness, he'd caught himself grinding into his mattress. Panic set in as he realised what had just happened, what the afterimages of his dream truly were.

He'd dreamed of Sun. He'd dreamed of him and tried fucking his own mattress while Sun... fuck, where was Sun? Had he seen any of it?

The dorms were quiet, most people out by now. His pillow was still slightly damp from his hair, and he remembered more of the actual day outside that wretched dream. Still a few hours before the party. Adam could just about hear Sun’s voice from down the hall, coupled with Yang’s, with Ruby’s. Laughter. The lust ached in Adam, untamed and demanding even as the dream drained out of him, and he was so hard it almost hurt.

On shaking legs he crossed the dorm room and made it to the bathroom with his dignity somewhat intact, and he locked the door with a quick metal snap. The shower was running and his clothes, damp from sweat and other fluids, were in a pile on the bathmat. But the water couldn't wash away the lust. He couldn't expect it to. With sleep sand still in his eyes - well, eye - he reached between his legs and pumped desperately, letting the water cascade down his back and wash away stale sweat. His cock throbbed in his grasp and he squeezed himself with each needy stroke, leaning his head against the cold bathroom tiles as he clamped his free hand over his mouth. His nostrils flared as pleasure pulsed through his abdomen and thighs.

Sun was still in his mind's eye. He tried to still his movements but he couldn't, his body far too desperate to stop now. Adam tried to think of other things, other people. Videos he'd seen online. The awkward handful here and there he'd shared with Blake - wait no that was worse than Sun actually - what could he think of then? What was okay to imagine in those thoughtless, half-asleep moments?

Sun kept creeping back into his mind. Gods, his eyes. Those soft lips, that wet tongue. Adam groaned behind his hand, and when he came, he was helpless in envisioning Sun sat at his feet, exploding stars filling his vision as creamy white spurted onto a sweet pink tongue -

Adam slipped down onto his knees, letting the water clear away his filth. He sat there panting, still holding his softening flesh, and all too soon he fully understood the act he'd just committed.

He was fantasizing about his roommate. His partner. His first friend in years. Sun was laughing just a few walls away and Adam had just imagined him on his knees and happy to take his cock -

He'd fucked up. He'd fucked up. Oh no, this was going to be in his head forever.

How was he going to look Sun in the eye again? How were they going to dance again? Would he be able to hold a conversation with him about anything other than this?

Adam could hear Sun coming into their room, and panic set in like coagulating blood, setting his body in place like a freshly abandoned corpse. He was going to have to go out there in a bit, and look at Sun, and make small talk with him as if he’d not fantasised about his friend. They were going to dance, to touch; his skin crawled at the prospect, and even then a small flutter of excitement flickered in his abdomen. Adam shoved it down – he was good at that – but it didn’t clear away the awkwardness.

“Hey man, you gonna be a while?” Sun knocked on the bathroom door. “I gotta pee real bad.”

“I’m busy.” Adam called back with a throat like sandpaper.

“You already had a shower, dude! I gotta pee – !”

“I’M FUCKING BUSY!” Adam burst, surprised at himself by the outburst. This was ridiculous.

“Alright, grumpy! Jeez, I’ll use Neptune’s bathroom!” Sun stomped off, and Adam cursed at himself, dragging his fingernails up his thighs in repentance. The hot water burned against the fresh red marks staring angrily back at Adam and he scowled. Today was going to be difficult.

It was worse, still, when he realised he hadn’t even removed his blindfold. It was now soaking wet, the material clinging to his face uncomfortably. Of course, he couldn’t even feel it on one side.

He swallowed, getting out of the shower and pulling the thing off his head, dropping it uselessly into the sink. And he stared at himself, his grotesque face, what he had left of it, and the dream was finally over.

What an idiot, thinking anything could come of this friendship. That there could be hope. That he could wash away the stench of blood and bonfire smoke off his skin.

That Sun could really care about him, the way Adam wanted him to.

The starry ribbon.

Adam saw his own eye twitch in the mirror. That dangerous flutter of hope was in his hollow chest again, a butterfly in a bone cage. Sun had gotten that specifically for him. He’d risked getting arrested... just to get him a gift. And it was a nice gift too, a thoughtful one. All covered in stars, thin enough for Adam to actually use.

Sun... Sun did care about him. Maybe not the way Adam might want, but... he didn’t know what he wanted. He’d had a weird dream, sure. But that ribbon...

He was quick to finish in the bathroom and wrap the material over his face, the width of the weave long enough to cover his eyes comfortably. It soothed him, somewhat. His insides were still turbulent, the bones in his legs felt hollowed out, but he felt very much himself now. It wasn’t a nice feeling, but it was familiar, even with the shame added to it. And so he tried to forget the dream.

He had a party to go to. Apparently.

Chapter Text

Adam

When Adam finally stepped out, he felt the buzz of activity from everyone in waves; his classmates were so excited it almost made him want to retreat back to his room. Ren was sitting patiently as Nora put tiny plaits into his hair, Blake was showing Pyrrha the brand of eyeliner she used – it was still the same brand she used from when she was 16, Adam would know – while Neptune and Sun were freaking out over Blake’s false lashes. Adam tried to hide in the darkness of the hallway for a moment longer, not yet ready to look at Sun properly yet, talk to him, see his smile - 

“They’re not real? Seriously?” Neptune gestured to Blake’s lashes with hand-flapping motions.

Blake gave a despairing look. “You see me every day. My eyelashes haven’t grown this much overnight.”

“They just... don’t look fake at all.” Sun tried to argue. In response, Blake sighed and peeled off a set of lashes, causing Neptune and Sun to shriek and run out of the dorms. Blake and Pyrrha laughed their heads off, and the sound set Adam’s nerves off like a fire alarm inside his head.

“What’s up their butts?” Ruby called from behind Adam, who moved to let the young girl through. However, she’d linked her arms with Weiss and Yang, acting as a living Get-Along-Sweater, so Adam had to move into the kitchenette just to let the centipede of girls through into the living area. Neither of them looked particularly happy to be there.

“They’re just being boys, don’t worry.” Pyrrha laughed.

But then Ruby looked to Blake. “Your eyes look all wonky. Are you okay?”

“Oh my gods.” Blake held her head in her hands to hide her grin.

Adam almost found himself smiling at that, and that was when Pyrrha regarded Adam himself. “There you are. We were all planning on going to the cafeteria before the party. I know it’s the weekend, but they keep their bakery open so it’d be nice to get some food before we start drinking.”

Yang grinned, unhooking her arm from Ruby’s with a shit-eating grin. “You guys can go to the bakery, I’m heading over to Coco’s early so I can get baked. Eh? Eh? Get it?”

“Very funny, Firecracker.” Qrow smirked from the doorway, causing everyone to jump.

“Professor!” Blake looked over at Qrow with fright. “We weren’t - !”

“We’re only getting a bit shitfaced, we swear!” Nora tried to defend.

“Right, right.” Qrow nodded. “You know only some drugs are allowed on campus - if I were anyone else I’d have to tell Ozpin about this little tidbit of info.”

“You won’t, though.” Adam piped up.

“Is that a dare?” Qrow grinned, before looking to his youngest niece. “Roo, c’mon. You’re spending the evening with your awesome uncle.”

“What? I can’t go?” Ruby frowned.

“You think I’m letting a 15-year-old go to a college party? Get your video games, we’ll have a nerd night instead.”

“Told you.” Weiss whispered to Ruby, who grumbled and stomped off.

Qrow only chuckled. “Don’t get too stupid, kids. And uh, Yang? If you come back to the dorms smelling of grass I won’t tell Ozpin.”

“I sense a ‘but’ approaching.” She responded.

“ But I will tell your dad. Get high and deal with him, or be good tonight? Your choice.” Qrow winked, deaf to Yang’s protests, and left once Ruby stormed out of the dorms with a bundle of video games and a sleek red and blue console.

“While you guys are getting food,” Weiss announced, “me and Blake will be getting more supplies for the party.”

“Booze. She means booze.” Blake sighed, going up to a mirror to reglue her false lashes back on. “Not napkins and bunting.”

“All I said was it might liven up the room.” Weiss scowled.

“Since when did you two get along?” Adam grinned at the girls.

“Since... I decided to work with my teammates.” Weiss answered carefully, lifting her chin and ignoring Yang’s snort of disapproval. 

“Wow, that’s really brave of you.” Adam tilted his head.

“Oh quiet, you.” Weiss rolled her eyes.

“Nice blindfold, Adam.” Nora grinned as she finished Ren’s hair. “Your boyfriend get it for you?”

Adam growled at the comment, trying to swallow down the echoes of the dream. He’d almost forgotten the hollow brush of shame dripping down his shoulders. “Nice attitude. Your parents give it to you?”

Ren’s eyes went wide at the comment, but Nora just barked with laughter. “YOU DID NOT! AS IF YOU CAN TALK!”

Yang ended up going with Blake and Weiss to the nearest store, and so Adam was left with Ren, Nora and Pyrrha to walk to the bakery. Sun and Neptune were already there by the time they arrived, sat on one of the long tables of the cafeteria. To call it a bakery was a bit of an exaggeration – one of the rows of food was simply active, and the shortest one at that. A bored woman sat at the end of the counter flicking through a gossip magazine, as the row of baked goods remained nearly untouched. Neptune and Sun were at one end of the table playing thumb wars.

“One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!” Neptune shouted.

“Five, six, seven, eight, I use this hand to masturbate!” Sun sang back, causing Neptune to scream and recoil his hand.

Sun laughed and cackled as Neptune tried to kick him under the table, and Adam was trying very hard to push away a mental image that was rising in his head while Ren took Nora to the bakery counter. This was already ruining his mood. What was going to happen the next time they made eye contact? When they next spoke, would Adam be able to trust his own voice?

“You two are such children.” Pyrrha chided them gently.

Sun looked up to retort, only to see Adam. His eyes went bright and he beamed. “You’re wearing it!”

There it was. The sparkle in Sun’s eyes. That excitement, that joy at seeing Adam. He had to remain focused on the conversation, think of nothing more. It was only a dream. “It’s comfortable. It’s useful. Thanks. Are you getting any pastries?” Adam nodded.

“Nah, there was a cool-looking thing and I thought it had chocolate in it – but it was chocolate covered raisins! Ew, ya know?”

“Chocolate raisins are delicious.” Adam protested.

“We can no longer be friends.” Sun crossed his arms as Pyrrha shook her head, going to buy some food.

“Fine by me.” Adam sat by the boys, knowing it would very much not be fine by him but trying to not show it. “I’ve seen you eat food off the floor. You don’t get an opinion on this sort of thing.”

“Ten second rule!” Sun explained with a frown. “Besides, anything that gets on the food is extra toppings.”

“Wonderful. You made me lose the desire to ever eat anything again.” Pyrrha gave them a look.

“Forgive him,” Neptune said, “for he knows not what he says.”

“Shut up, man.” Sun poked him with his tail.

Pyrrha simply shook her head and brought over a set of croissants and pastry pockets filled with chicken and white sauce. “I want to see everyone eat something before we head out; drinking on an empty stomach can have horrible consequences later on.”

“Aw, thanks Pyrrha!” Sun beamed as he took a pastry pocket. “Total wifey material!”

Pyrrha went pink and sat, going to brush his comment off before looking past their little group and tilting her head. Adam followed her gaze, to see the remains of Team CRDL on another table. Dove and Russell were huddled together like baby chicks without a mama bird to protect them, talking quietly amongst themselves. They looked very displeased to see the Last Resort students, especially Adam and Sun, and they got up and left without a word.

“Why isn’t Cardin with them?” Adam frowned. “He doesn’t seem the type to hide away when he’s pissed off.”

“I haven’t seen him on campus at all since, you know.” Pyrrha frowned gently. “Certainly makes you wonder if anything’s happened.”

“Bah, who cares?” Nora sat with them, having bought herself a bread roll shaped like a little cat while Ren stood at the vending machine getting himself another energy drink. She pulled off the coffee bean used as the cat’s nose, and chewed on it as she looked between Sun and Adam. “So are you two a couple yet?”

Adam froze around a huge mouthful of pastry, flakes of the stuff getting on his top. How could he answer that, after everything? How could he hide - how could he stop the afterimages of that ridiculous dream leave his head without Nora picking up on it?

Sun didn’t even look up from his croissant. “A couple of what?”

“Nora.” Ren said gently.

“Whaaat?!” Nora rolled her eyes and swallowed the coffee bean. “You two would make such a cute couple! Sun with his cuteness and happy style and sunshine personality, and Adam being all moody and grungy and evil and socially awkward – like the moon! Opposites attract!”

“I’m not – that isn’t - !” Adam frowned. “We’re not a couple!”

“A couple of what , though?” Sun looked confused, too distracted by free food to properly follow.

“Nora. I don’t think the moon is socially awkward. It’s just the moon.” Ren joined them.

“They’re not a couple.” Neptune frowned around half a croissant.

“It wouldn’t be any of your business anyway.” Adam growled.

“A COUPLE OF WHAT?!” Sun exclaimed.

“But we’re a class! It’s totally our business! And maybe it’ll help you get over – HMF?!”

Pyrrha grabbed Nora’s head and started scrubbing her mouth with a napkin. “LOOK AT THAT YOU HAVE BREAD CRUMBS ON YOU HOW SILLY!”

“She’s very excited for the party.” Ren whispered softly.

“I’m so confused.” Sun shook his head and went back to his food, and Adam decided to let it stay that way.

“Fiiiine, fine, I get the picture.” Nora batted Pyrrha away before grabbing Ren’s can, going to take a drink before reading the ingredients and glancing at Adam. “Taurine? Wait, isn’t that made out of - ?”

“This conversation is over.” Adam stuffed the rest of the pastry into his mouth and left.

—

Adam

The 2 nd Year rooms weren’t much different than the LR rooms, although Adam had to note they were higher up in the school building and had larger windows. In fact, the LR dorms were one of the only departments on the ground floor – maybe they just weren’t trusted on higher levels. Adam could understand why.

Like the LR dorms, the 2 nd Years had a living area, but it was far larger than theirs, of course to accommodate more students. Weiss clearly didn’t need to worry about decorations – rainbow bunting had been hung unevenly on the walls with tacks, and LED strips along the skirting and doors were the only form of light – save for the Lien Store disco ball rotating lazily from the ceiling fan. They’d had to follow the blue line up here, so naturally their furniture, save for any ornaments students had bought, were all in various shades of blue. In fact, there was a large table with blue cloth pushed up against the wall by the speakers, completely lined with red cups, buckets of cans in ice, glass bottles of gin, whisky, amaretto, wine, vodka and candy-flavoured liquors. He wondered why the girls in his class thought they needed to bring any more, and he actually agreed with Pyrrha about having eaten beforehand. He wouldn’t have minded getting completely wasted, but he hated the lack of control it put over him.

Students from all years were there, drinking like it was the end of the world. They were drinking like it was The Great War again and a doctor was coming to saw everyone’s legs off. A group of girls were huddled around a scroll crying over what Adam could make out to be a picture of a cat. Someone was trying to make pancakes at one of the stoves despite clearly not being able to stand on their own feet. The sole member of CRDL, Dove, who’d even bothered coming to the party, had passed out on a beanbag and was having penises drawn over his face and arms by Coco and a girl Adam didn’t recognize.

So the party was going great.

Coco looked over at the group, grinning and lifting her shades to rest atop her head (who wears sunglasses indoors?). “Delinquents! Weirdos! So glad you could make it!”

“We come bearing gifts!” Sun explained happily, “or, we will! When Yang and the girls arrive!”

“Your presence is good enough, kid.” Coco grinned, giving Pyrrha specifically a hug and a kiss. “Good to have some more beautiful girls up here. Even crazy ones, eh?”

Pyrrha went pink in the face, pushing Coco away gently. “Hush.”

“Hey, I’M crazy!” Nora piped up defensively.

“You’re also taken.” Ren smiled.

“I know , I just want to be validated!”

Coco rolled her eyes. “If you ever break up, cupcake, you know who to come to. We got a laptop set up on the speakers if you want to add anything to the playlist, drinks are on the house, and – ” she held up a tiny plastic figurine of Pumpkin Pete, a light purple rabbit holding a bowl of cereal; it couldn’t have been much bigger than her thumb, “if someone drops this in your drink, you have to down the whole thing or I’ll personally kick you out.”

“Is that how you got Bronzewing blacked out over there?” Adam smirked as the group actually began entering the room.

Coco chuckled in response. “What are friends for, if not to bully your pal’s enemies?”

“Now that’s a message I can get behind.” Sun nodded with a grin, looking over at the table. “Did someone make jelly shots?”

“Velvet did – she made boozy gummy bears too.”

Neptune and Sun rushed over to the booze table just in time for the girls to arrive, each carrying a bag of clinking glass bottles.

The group dispersed through the dorms, the girls bought the booze, and Adam found himself where he usually was at these things - in a corner of the room, watching, observing, waiting for it all to be over. He hated this, he wasn't sure why he even bothered coming. Sun had looked so pleased when he said he would, but where was Sun now?

Adam took a sip of whatever cheap garbage was in his cup (paint thinner, if he was lucky), and looked out to the crowd. He looked for that awful cropped jumper, for the wisp of a yellow tail, listened for the ringing of laughter. But the music was too loud, and the dorms heaved with sweaty students with faces that all blended together far too well. Even his own classmates seemed indistinguishable from strangers -

Because in a way, that's what they all still were. Sure, Ren and Nora tried sticking to him the same way Sun had, but he hadn't exactly reflected their efforts. Pyrrha was nice, but only because it kept the peace. Neptune was probably jealous that Sun paid more attention to Adam than he was to him. He wasn't on Yang and Ruby's good terms anymore, and Blake... Well, she was Blake. And who even cared about Weiss?

He shook his head and tried not to flinch at the drumbeat of the current song; he didn't want to think about that sort of thing. He didn't want to be jealous of the idiots around him, of how happy they all looked. How... Together, they all seemed. How he was the only one out of the loop. It had always been like this, he wasn't sure why it mattered now. Or why it made his chest tighten or made his teeth grind. He didn't know what it was but he wanted it to stop.

Something solid plopped into his cup, and he looked down to see the little Pumpkin Pete figurine floating in his drink.

"Save the king!" Velvet called from next to Adam.

He stared at her. "What?"

"Quick! Save the king from drowning! Drink!" She cheered, and behind her, Coco watched expectantly. As did at least a dozen half-sober 2nd Year students. Had the toy been sterilised before the party? Probably not.

He pulled a face and chugged until his cup was empty, groaning at the chemical burn going down his throat, the protest of his poisoned system. The students cheered, and Velvet clapped her hands like a child. She wasn't as balanced on her feet as usual, her ears floppy and her words slurred. She looked cute, admittedly; Adam couldn't help but think she looked better when she was messy like this. "You saved the king!" She smiled, but refused to take the toy back when he held it out to her. "No no no, you have to find someone else to give it to! That's the game!"

"How drunk are you?" He smirked.

"I'm not drunk!" She protested, cheeks going pink, "I've only had about... This many." She held up her hands.

"That's ten, Velvet."

"Yeah, I've only just gotten onto double digits. Thaaat's not loads yet."

"Don’t worry, we're looking after her." Coco called, significantly less drunk, and she put an arm around the smaller girl. Before Adam could say anything else, Velvet was steered away from him, and he was alone once more. He could have protested. He could have followed. He could have joined in. They seemed to like him. They seemed happy.

He stayed at the wall, staring at the figurine in his cup. He sighed, looking around for a victim to pass the curse along to. He peeled himself off his hiding spot and weaved through the crowd. Yang was draped over Weiss, half-shouting in the poor girl's ear about the best type of engines for a motorbike. Weiss herself was trying to not crumble under the larger human, staring into her cup like it might save her from the conversation. Ren and Blake were on the sofa, their conversation too soft for Adam to figure out. He could see, though, that Ren was pouring a green liquor into his can of energy drink. Nora, who was normally causing chaos or fused to Ren's hip, was sat opposite them on a bean bag. She held half a brownie on her lap, and was staring at her own hand in a trance. Adam chuckled as he passed the trio, not even bothered by Blake's presence. No, definitely not bothered. Not at all. Especially not when Yang pushed past him, freeing Weiss to yank Blake up and over to the speakers. "Come on, I love this song!" She shouted, glimmers of hot white shining through her golden hair.

Ren smiled warmly at Adam, patting the seat where Blake once was. "Rest here a while?"

Adam shrugged and sat by him, crinkling his nose. The sofa still smelled of her, of tea and jasmine and fresh cotton. "Are you enjoying the awful music and disgusting smell?"

Ren snickered. "It was kind of team CFVY to invite us all. They seem like good people."

"The word 'short' is longer than the word 'long'." Nora mumbled.

"She's fucked." Adam gestured to the redhead.

"Oh she's fine. I'll look after her." Ren responded, pouring some of his drink into Adam's cup unprompted. Adam blinked as the drink was shared, and Ren made a little sound of surprise as he noticed the bunny toy. "Oh dear, you got targeted."

"Do I have to down this or will I be kicked out?" He gestured to the golden-brown liquid the figurine was floating in.

"Oh, your secret is safe with me." Ren plucked the toy out of Adam's drink, aimed, and chucked it straight into Weiss' drink. She jumped at the sound, looked around, and groaned as she downed her entire cup. The face she pulled was beyond worth it.

"I know who I'm bullying tonight with that thing." Adam smirked, tapping his cup with Ren's can. And things felt... A bit better. Like it wasn't as big a waste of time as he'd thought.

And then Nora's face went green and she rushed off. Ren was on his feet immediately, rushing after his girlfriend into the kitchen. Over the music came the sound of violent vomiting, a plate smashing, and gagging as several people rushed out of the kitchen entirely. And Adam was alone once again. And this time, whatever he was feeling... Hurt. It came back like a pain, pressing into his ribs, scraping up his arms and legs. Just as he'd started to relax it had returned in full force. He hated this. He hated how lonely he was, how he seemed to be the only one feeling like this - why did he have to be the only one? Why was everyone else happy? Why was everyone else cared for, thought of, looked after? Why everyone else, and not him?

The night seemed longer than it should have, the songs stretching out into endless melodies and synthetic drum beats. The plastic figurine never found its way back to his cup. It found its way into Yang’s, who announced it loudly and emptied her whole cup in one gulp. It found its way to Weiss again, who whined at the terrible quality of the booze as if she was being held at gunpoint. It found its way to Pyrrha, who just looked more and more tired the more she drank. And it found its way to Blake, who’s pupils had relaxed into huge black spheres that reflected the lights in the dorms. Who’s makeup became a little more smeared as she danced and sweated and laughed until her social battery was dead. Who’s ears nearly flopped from how relaxed she seemed in this place, who seemed to have forgotten Adam was even there at all.

He looked between all their faces, their drunk, stupid, happy faces. And finally, he saw Sun, wondering away from the laptop. He smiled at Adam, big goofy smile, before Yang and Blake pulled him into a hug. Yang pulled out her scroll and took a selfie with the trio, with her and Blake on either side of Sun kissing each appled cheek. Adam grit his teeth, dug his nails into his legs.

In the school of love,

I was all mixed up,

I didn't get it, get it, get it, yeah

I wasn't quick to pick it up...

Why did Sun even ask him to this fucking party if he didn't want to spend time with him? Why did anyone act like they wanted Adam here? Why couldn't Sun just look at him, sit with him, talk with him, pay attention to him -

He couldn't even muster up the energy to hate Sun, to be truly angry at him. He couldn't tap into that part of himself, not that night. If anything, he just hated himself for getting so involved. For thinking anything good could come of this. Why did he have to get so attached so fast? Why did he have that horrible dream? 

In the school of slow dance,

I was shaking it too fast,

I didn't get it, get it, get it, yeah

'Cause I was always skipping class...

It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. It was ripping into him, this feeling. Long, black claws rooted around into his body until he was nearly ripping the fabric of his pants with his fingernails alone. They all looked so happy, without him. In fact, whenever he was around it seemed like everyone went on edge – and he couldn’t blame them. It was as if he was just... built like this, from the ground up. He couldn’t help it anymore. He didn’t want to be like this.

So tell me how to do it,

Tell me how to love like that,

Does it take a lot of practice?

Or do you gotta have the knack?

Would Sun want to dance with him if it wasn’t required? Would he pay any mind to Adam if he wasn’t forced to spend time with him? Didn’t Sun say he liked him? How could Adam reciprocate even that? It didn’t have to be anything else, it really didn’t, he just wanted to...

I really wanna do it,

I really wanna have the knack,

But I don’t wanna practice,

I just wanna have the knack!

He just wanted to care, the way Sun cared about him. He did, he did , but anything other than hatred was pushed so far down it was hard for Adam to tell what he felt anymore. Maybe this was why Blake... why it all went to Hell. Maybe he’d pushed her into doing that. Maybe he deserved it. Her laughter cut through the crowd for just a moment and he looked up, to see Yang drunkenly smushing her lips into Blake’s cheek as Sun took a photo, as Neptune wolf-whistled, as they all had fun without him.

In the art of the whisper,

I couldn’t paint such a picture!

I was screaming! Screaming, screaming loud!

When the boy was trying to kiss her...

He got up, needing a drink for his nerves. Maybe... maybe that’d help. Maybe if he let a bit of that control slip away, if he got himself absolutely shitfaced, he’d be able to feel it all properly. Not all of it, he couldn’t handle that, but... He wanted to be honest with himself. Be honest with Sun. Gods be damned, he just wanted to be normal for once. If it helped Qrow, maybe it’d help him.

The music picked up immensely as he wobbled over to the table, intent on making this light buzz turn into a flurry of honesty and forgetfulness. He grabbed a bottle of golden liquid, twisting off the lid and knocking his head back. He’d heard once that holding his breath helped things taste better, but this time, Adam almost wanted it to feel like poison. He wanted it to burn as mouthfuls were forced down his throat.

I just wanna have the virtue, and I don’t really want to hurt you,

Oh baby, don’t hurt me too...

I just wanna have the talent, I don’t wanna have to practise,

Like they do...

He thought he heard Velvet ask if he was alright. He didn’t look back to check. He just grabbed another bottle. Bubblegum vodka. Another bottle. Strawberry liquor. Another bottle. Premixed gin and tonic. In time, the thoughts in his head swirled like water down a drain. He staggered back, bumping into Pyrrha. He couldn’t hear her words, only her voice, only the sting of her hand on his shoulder. He needed to find Sun. Maybe Adam was a lightweight, maybe the booze was better quality than he thought, either way it attacked his system the moment it entered it, filling him with a haze of unfocused, meaningless, endless, thoughtless...

He needed to find Sun.

I just wanna have the knack!

I just wanna have the knack!

I just wanna have the knack!

“Are you alright?” Pyrrha’s voice ebbed and flowed like water through Adam’s brain, and he could barely make any sense of it over the next song that started. “I could take you back to the dorms.”

“Sun... I’m trying...” He slurred, not wanting to open his mouth too wide in case something worse came out than just his words.

“Brooo, you’re totally wasted!” Finally, there he was! He came through the crowd, the disco ball reflecting galaxies in his obsidian eyes. He was so beautiful. He was so beautiful. Adam stumbled to Sun, nearly falling into the man. But Sun only laughed, holding him up. “Come on, lemme get you to the dorms. Thanks Pyrrha.”

“I just... I was trying to...” He tried to continue, blessing the booze for giving him this confidence but cursing it for taking away his ability to speak or even think coherently. “It’s not…”

“Hey.” Sun’s voice came softly. So softly. “It’s okay.”

And Adam staggered, but Sun's grip was so strong, keeping him steady, an axis in the haze. He felt his head tipping forward until their foreheads were touching, but all Adam could think about was how deep Sun's eyes were, the darkest brown almost melting to caramel under the light. They widened at their gentle collision, and Adam could have fallen into them and drowned, and he wouldn't have minded. He wouldn't have minded at all.

It'd be so easy to kiss him right now.

When was the last time Adam had felt something unbelievably soft? Plush lips curled into the most perfect smile, lips that parted just that little bit, as if asking for him to come closer. He wouldn’t be allowed. Would he? Should he try?

Sun turned and wrapped one of Adam’s arms around his shoulders and began to lead the way out of the party. Out from the blur of strange music he didn’t recognize and the faces of people he didn’t care for. In gaining his confidence to say something, to fucking do something, he’d robbed himself of the ability to actually go through with it. And what would have been the point anyway? He couldn’t even admit to what he was feeling to himself, what would he have even said?

Sun would never see him in the same light. Sun wouldn’t care for him in any meaningful way. They would talk, and laugh, and chatter and dance their way through graduation and Adam would never see him again.

The night air was welcoming to his senses. Sun was warm at his side, cheeks pink, eyes sparkling, “He’s even pretty when he’s inebriated. Tell him that.”

“In – ineb’d -” Adam slurred, dragging his feet over the cobblestone paths leading to the LR rooms. “You’re ah – ”

“Come on, man, work with me here.” Sun wrapped his tail tightly around Adam’s waist, the surge of energy it brought almost enough to sober him up. “I can’t carry you – I mean I totally could, I’m super strong – but I don’t wanna.”

Adam gritted his teeth and tried working through the blur of the world. There were twice as many stars in the sky that night, all spinning and sparkling above his head as if they were dancing. He focused on breathing more evenly, hung his head down to watch his every step. Even though the world pulsed and faded, buzzed and blackened, they managed to make it back to their dorm room. To the sight of Sun’s bed just on the side of the window. To Adam’s bed, dragged into a corner where the moonlight couldn’t reach it.

Adam staggered forward and Sun said something he couldn’t understand – maybe to ask if he was okay – and flopped onto Sun’s bed. It was a bad idea. Sure, his legs were just about to give out, and standing upright was making his stomach turn, but Sun’s bed smelled like him. The sheets, the pillows. That soft scent of banana ice cream. Of sun-baked sand. Soft, worn cotton and ocean winds. Things Adam couldn’t have – shouldn’t have, for if they were ever his he was sure he would ruin them. He was rotten fruit and Sun was… he was perfect. 

“Hey, get your own bed.” Sun grumbled, tugging at Adam’s foot, completely oblivious to his turmoil. As he should be. He didn’t need to be let in any deeper. Adam had been a fool to have opened himself up as he had already. Like a desperate shellfish prying its wretched body open hoping to find pearls. “This bed’s taken.”

Adam should get up and leave. He should, but he couldn’t. The scent held him like he was never going to be held, it comforted him in ways that it really shouldn’t have. He shouldn’t be allowed such a thing, such a good thing. He wasn’t kind, he wasn’t gentle. He wasn’t anything worth knowing.

But he couldn’t will himself to get up. A mixture of alcohol and the anchor in his chest proved too heavy for him, especially that night, when the stars were so bright and the darkness was so comforting and he was so... confused. About everything.

He didn’t know how to love anyone, not properly. He’d never been shown. He’d never seen it, and not once did he ever feel like it was an idea he could be a part of. Love happened to other people, not him. Like tragedies, it always felt as though this was meant to happen on the news, or in books, or in snippets of gossip he’d hear on the other side of a hospital curtain.

“Well I’m not having your bed!” Sun grumbled stubbornly, drunk enough to believe it was a good idea to clamber into the same bed and lay down by Adam’s side. He was exceptionally warm, and while half of Adam screamed to get away from the horror of being touched, the other half of him wanted to crawl further into that space. To let himself feel that warmth, without fear of getting hurt. Of reaching out without fear for once – but there would always be fear. And with that, there would always be anger, at the world for inflicting this mindset on him. At himself, though, for feeding into it, for never being able to let go, for never once even trying to picture a life without it eating away inside him –

The stars were reflected in Sun’s eyes. Big, bright, lost in the deep void of space. Those bright eyes that were yet so dark. Something Adam could lose himself in. Something he wanted to be lost in, give himself to it. Perhaps it would be the only place that would accept him – or perhaps it wouldn’t.

Sun smiled gently, and Adam’s heart ached. “You’re such a stubborn bastard.”

Adam grumbled incoherently, gripping his sides.

Sun’s smile waned and he held a hand out to Adam, prying his fingers away from his sides. “Hey, s-stop that. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“’S not fair.” He murmured, regaining a strand of his voice as if he had to give up his confidence for it. “Not fair, and it hurts. It hurts.”

“...This isn’t about your side, is it?” Sun held Adam’s hand. Held it like it was the most natural thing to do. Like he wasn’t afraid.

“You’re not scared?” Adam slurred.

“Of what?” Sun’s voice was a whisper, a beautiful thing.

“Of me.” He wound his jaw shut like he had a length of wire threaded through it.

But Sun shook his head, shutting his eyes briefly. He squeezed Adam’s hand like it was nothing, like it was worth everything. “No. Not of you. It’s not that you’re unscary – I’m just. Not. Dunno.”

Adam curled into himself, hoping to find a replacement for the warmth he so desperately craved. There was nothing to be found inside. There never was. “Not fair.” He whispered.

“What’s not fair?” Why did his voice have to be so sweet? So calming? Why did Adam want to trust him so much?

“Not normal.” He grunted, keeping his jaw fixed so his teeth wouldn’t chatter from the panic of opening up once again. It felt like being awake on the surgery table. Being pulled and held open, and to find it wasn’t surgery – it was an autopsy. He hated it so much, like he hated most things, but Sun’s eyes were so gentle. They weren’t as sharp as a scalpel, weren’t as cold as a needle. They were safe. Right? “I’m not – can’t be. Can’t ever be normal.”

“...Nah, you’re not normal.” Sun affirmed (was it still safe?). But then he smiled so brilliantly. “I wouldn’t want you to be normal. I like you, Adam, I think you’re cool.”

Adam swallowed dryly. He wondered if this was okay. He hoped it was okay.

“None of us are normal. I think.” Sun pondered more openly. “Especially not in our class. And, you know? I think it’s important that we’re not normal. I think right now we’re, like, well, exactly where we need to be. Yeah?”

Adam tried to bury his face in the pillow, to stop the swirling of the room. “Y-yeah.” He coughed. He didn’t need to be loved, not right now, because Sun liked him. He didn’t need to be loved, he really didn’t, this would be enough. It would have to be enough.

It was never going to be enough.

(Song Featured: The Knack - Mother Mother)

Chapter Text

Sun

The early hours called to Sun like a friend’s voice, joined only by the softest whimpering. Sun groaned, rubbing his eyes as he just barely woke up. The faintest buzz of the party still remained in his blood, drowned out mostly by a light thump in his head and the unknown weight by his side.

The sharp scent of cologne, the undercurrent of sweat, drew Sun closer. Soon, the scent was accompanied by something more familiar. The smell of smoked ivory, of bonfires and leather, cherries and chocolate, fitted into his memory like puzzle pieces to a picture he hadn’t yet figured out.

“Adam...?” He whispered, putting an arm around the other man like he used to for his little siblings when he shared a bed with them. There wasn’t a single week when one of them didn’t have a nightmare, and they all knew not to disturb their parents when they slept. They’d always tug his arm or tail, whispering into the night about their fears, and Sun would lift his blanket and let them into the bed, with promises of beating up the monster haunting them.

Adam didn’t respond. He only whimpered, his shoulders bobbing in his sleep. His sleep – he was sleeping like this? Did he make such sounds every night? Sun slept like a log most of the time, so he never would have noticed. Adam was curled into himself like a gangly, folding chair one might bring to the beach. His sounds were hushed, muted as if he’d had to train himself to be quiet like this, but it didn’t affect how harshly his hands dug into his sides. Nor did it do much to mute his grimaces, the rolling of his head against the pillow. This wasn’t much, his movements weren’t dramatic, they were minute and, if Sun had rolled over, he simply wouldn't have noticed. But he was so close their noses almost touched, their knees knocking together, the crowns of their heads aligned like trees atop a forest.

Sun frowned sadly. “You having a bad dream? Hey...” He rubbed Adam’s shoulder, but it wasn’t enough to rouse him, and Sun’s mind, still addled by booze, was working too slow to offer any other ideas. “You’re gonna hurt yourself again...” He mumbled, unwinding Adam’s fingers from his sides again. They didn’t react to his touch as they might have done; those movements were, too, locked in the dream.

Sun sighed, bringing Adam’s hands to the pillow and letting them dig and wrap into the harmless fabric. Adam’s head tilted in his sleep, as if trying to lean away from some unseen force, some invisible hand grabbing at his face. Sun couldn’t articulate why exactly, but he felt the need to cover his friend’s head, bring it to his chest, hide that head from the night and the world and the slowly-rising sun. He’d slept like this with his siblings before, cradling them back to sleep, but also with Neptune, and girlfriends, and boyfriends who struggled with their dreams. But the movement would be too much for Adam, and he’d wake in a panic, Sun knew it. He knew the moment he was conscious again, Adam would curl away from him, would pull himself back out of the situation and pretend it didn’t bother him. Like a light, he’d switch off.

So, Sun shifted closer, got into a position where his arm wouldn’t ache, and he placed his hand over Adam’s covered eye, his cheek, hiding the edges of mysterious scarring. It didn’t even occur to him that such a moment would be excellent to take a peak, to peel the ribbon back and see just what Adam was hiding. It didn’t even appear in Sun’s head, addled or not, because it was none of his business. Besides, no matter what was under there, he was still Adam. Still weird, and quiet, and… difficult. But nice in spite of his protests. Still smart, and still sweet and funny. And cute. And it didn’t matter.

Adam stilled at Sun’s touch, and he pressed just a tiny bit more, hoping it would help to ground Adam, to anchor him somehow. “You’re okay,” he whispered, feeling the waves of sleep usher him back down, “you’re alright, I promise. It’s gonna be okay.”

Adam’s breathing pace went funny for a few moments, completely unregulated. His fingers twitched, his head tilted. Then... nothing. He slept, with deep, silent breaths. The occasional twitch, the odd groan or incoherent mumble. But nothing more. That side of Adam’s face felt… flat, in a way. The fabric was too thick to feel properly, and he wasn’t willing to press down any harder. It was just an odd detail he noticed.

Sun smiled to himself, shifting closer to the scent of cherries, and they slept through the rest of the night.

The bed was warm when Sun woke up again, the sunshine golden through the window. He didn't have his blanket over him, but he realised he didn't need it.

One of Adam's arms was slung over Sun, head bowed until his horns rested on Sun’s collarbone. Sun smiled a little bit, snippets of the night coming back to him, memory replacing dream. The music, the jokes. The little Pumpkin Pete toy. Blake and Yang laughing with him, Nora’s antics, Team CFVY’s terrible choice in music, Adam drinking furiously at the booze table. His soft whimpers as he slept.

It was 8am, and they'd need to be in class in an hour. But... The bed was warm. Adam was warm, and soft, and curled into Sun. They could get away with an extra few minutes like this before Adam woke up. Before he realised the situation, before he shrank away into himself. He hoped Adam had liked the song Sun added to the playlist - he wasn’t too familiar with bands like Mother Mother , but he recognized the name at least.

Both of their scrolls began to go off, and Sun's plans were ruined. He sighed and quickly shifted himself, allowing Adam to push himself up into the waking world, limbs unwinding. They shared a quick frustrated look (Adam mostly donning confusion as he awoke), before moving to get their scrolls. Like Glynda could send messages to the TV, Ozpin could send messages to their devices. "This is a mandatory meeting." His voice ordered, pre-recorded. "All students and staff are to report to the assembly hall immediately."

Qrow's voice came from the other side of the door, a knuckle banging on each dorm room. "Come on, come on! Get up, we gotta move! Either I can drag you out of bed or Glynda can! Hurry up, sugar cookies - !"

Sun and Adam shared another look, no time to confront the obvious, to say much of anything about sharing the bed as they untangled their limbs properly, as Sun unwound his tail from Adam's leg. They both looked awful; Sun already had rips in his new jeans and his jumper-thing was misshapen, and he could feel how crusty his face was. Adam looked like he'd sweated through the night, lumps of hair falling into his face and sticking to his horns, his body heat half-melting whatever hair gel he'd used. Anyone might have thought they'd done more than just sleep.

Thankfully, everyone looked like garbage upon leaving the LR rooms. Yang had pulled her hair into a loose ponytail that sagged around her shoulders, her top was pulled out of shape and hung limp from her shoulders. Blake and Weiss had both been sober enough to put on their pyjamas, although Weiss' nightie was the wrong way round and Blake seemed to only be wearing her dressing gown and a pair of Yang's boots. They both looked ill. In fact, Ren and Nora were the only two to look somewhat okay, if not a bit sleepy.

"What do you think's going on?" Neptune joined their side, gripping a bottle of water like it was going to save him. He looked just as bad as the rest of them.

Before Sun could respond, Pyrrha (who looked exceptionally tidy despite having been as drunk as the rest of them) joined the conversation. "Headmaster Ozpin doesn't often send for emergency meetings like this. Maybe someone got hurt last night."

"Maybe Cardin killed himself." Adam croaked, rubbing his forehead.

Pyrrha frowned. "That's not funny."

"You don't think it's about the party, right?" Neptune leaned on Sun for support as they went outside. The fresh air did wonders for some of them, but not all. Blake rushed to the side of the building to puke into a trashcan, resulting in Weiss sighing and patting her back. Yang plugged her fingers in her ears. "If I hear another person gagging I'm gonna be sick too."

"Too much grass, Yang?" Adam smirked, only to wince and grab his forehead again.

Yang glared at him. "Like you were any better, you goat. You hogged all of Weiss' bubblegum vodka! I wanted to try that."

"I could file a discrimination complaint against you for calling me that, if I was nice. Shame about the vodka though - a real shame she can't just buy any more, right?"

"Not this morning, guys." Blake whined as she rejoined the group. "I feel so sick."

Adam snorted, glanced at Sun... and said nothing. He held his tongue. Sun sighed, taking it as a good sign, as Qrow ushered them into the assembly hall. It was packed tight with students from all years and classes. The main stage was lined with the professors, all looking grim; Ooblek spotted Qrow and began waving like a madman in a silent movie, ushering him to join them. Qrow grimaced. “You lot, find chairs or stand at the back. If a single one of you is missing after this I'm hauling your asses into my office.”

"Where's Ruby?" Yang frowned.

Qrow shook his head. "In my office already. She's sick, so she's listening in on her scroll."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yang grumbled, but Qrow only waved her off hurriedly to join the stage (and put an end to Ooblek's wild gestures).

“We could have just watched this on our scrolls?” Blake groaned. “We didn’t have to get out of bed?”

Ozpin took the centre, holding up his hands to demand a quiet over the student body. When he lowered them, his face was stony, the fingers gripping his cane going white. "Yesterday morning,” he announced, his voice clear yet very strained, “a tragedy occurred. A preventable tragedy, worsened by the good intentions of an untrained student."

Sun glanced up at Adam, who only looked confused. He looked at Neptune, who looked sickly and barely able to pay attention.

"In the early hours this weekend," Ozpin continued, "one Mr Cardin Winchester was found in the grips of despair. After intercepting a mission report intended for a certified Performer, Mr Winchester was attacked by an evolved Grimm. The monster had already consumed two souls, and had proven itself far too much for a 2nd Year student to handle."

Sun's eyes widened. Was Cardin really that stupid?! They weren't supposed to go anywhere near Grimm, not before graduation. Not even Sun was ballsy enough to do something like that.

He looked over to where the 2nd Year students had gathered; Velvet looked distraught. Coco's face was hardened as she put an arm around the smaller girl. The rest of Team CRDL was nowhere to be seen. If they had any decency, they'd be in the hospital with their friend - assuming they even saw each other as friends.

Ozpin's voice remained strained, his eyes colourless. "This is precisely what I fear happening to all of you. This is a tragedy which not many can recover from. When a Grimm latches onto you, even if you survive, it can kill the parts of you that matter most. The patient that Mr Winchester intended on helping is now Consumed, and your fellow student is not far off that state himself - you need to be careful , especially at your skill levels. Leave the demons to their demons, and rest your own souls. As of now, there is nothing else you can do. Breakfast period is extended. Classes for 2nd Years are halted until tomorrow afternoon. You are all dismissed."

And so, with the shadows reaching further than usual, the students filtered out of the assembly hall. Yang split off to find Qrow, and Pyrrha led the rest of the class back to the LR dorms. "I had such a terrible feeling." She shook her head. "I just felt like something was wrong."

"There's nothing you could have done." Blake assured her gently.

"It serves him right." Adam growled. "After the sort of shit he's put others through - "

" Nobody deserves that." Weiss butted in, crossing her arms and trying to sort out her nightie now they were all inside. "I've seen what Grimm can do. I wouldn't even wish that on you, Adam."

"Bit late for wishing." He blurted, before biting his tongue.

Weiss gave him a look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"...It means we couldn't have stopped Cardin. None of us could have, like Blake said." Then he turned to Pyrrha, voice strained. "And it's not our place to. It wasn't our responsibility to keep him out of trouble. We have enough on our plates keeping ourselves out of trouble. Right?"

Blake stared at Adam intently. Pyrrha didn't seem comforted by his words. "It will be our responsibility one day, to some extent - keeping others safe. We're not supposed to be the cure, we're supposed to be the prevention. Gods, what was he thinking? Consumed ?"

Nora rested her head on Pyrrha's shoulder. "Hey. We're all tired and yucky from last night. Let's go get something to eat, okay?"

"Whether we like him or not," Ren offered, "Cardin is in the best place for treatment right now. We can only take this as a lesson."

Adam grunted, and it was hard to tell if he was agreeing or not. Regardless, Sun poked Pyrrha with his tail and smiled. "Come on. I heard they're doing miso soup for breakfast today."

Pyrrha smiled gently. "I do like miso soup."

"I'll need a minute to get ready." Weiss looked down at her nightie, then at the rest of her class. "I think we all need a minute."

They all retired briefly to their bedrooms, and Sun plopped down onto the bed. Adam watched him for a moment, before turning away and pulling out new clothes from his drawer. "Last night, uh."

Sun looked over at him. "Hm?"

"What happened when we came back here? I don't really remember all of it." Adam kept his back to Sun. "We didn't... Nothing happened, or did...?"

Sun wondered if he should tell Adam about the nightmare, about the closest thing they'd gotten to a cuddle. He went a little pink, and Adam turned when he didn't get a response. "Oh. Uh. No, no. We didn't do anything. Just got in the same bed. Drunk shenanigans I guess."

Adam nodded, turning away again. "Thank the gods."

Oh. That hurt a little. Sun frowned openly, biting his inner cheek so he didn't say anything. Was that how Adam saw him? He wouldn't... He wouldn't want to? Well, it wasn't a big deal, they weren't anything other than friends, anyway. Maybe Adam was ace, or maybe he just... Maybe he just wasn't into Sun.

"Y-yeah, thank the gods." He said in return. He'd thrown himself too deep into it, he did that sometimes. It was going to be okay. So Adam wasn't into him. It was cool. He didn't have to be. They were just friends, that's all they needed to be.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked.

"What? Yeah yeah, I'm fine. I'm great. Just a hangover, and everything." He chuckled a little. 

Adam's blindfold (the one Sun had gotten him) wrinkled on one side as he blinked, before he nodded. "Do you mind if I shower first?"

"Yeah sure! Knock yourself out!" He was making it weird, he was definitely making it weird.

Adam swallowed before leaving, hanging in the doorway. "Your bed's nice, by the way. I think it's better than mine. I slept great." Then he very quickly locked himself into the bathroom and Sun laid back on his bed, scowling.

Of course there wasn't going to be anything. Of course Adam wouldn't want him like that. He was dumb and loud anyway. Not even his folks wanted to talk to him -

"Hey." Neptune leaned into the main door to the room. "You look like trash."

He sighed as he regarded Neptune. “I feel like trash too. I feel worse than you look."

Neptune rolled his eyes and came in, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Is it the hangover?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

Sun didn't respond. He just curled around one of his pillows. He didn't really want to talk about how much, and how quietly, that tiny rejection hurt.

"Come on, man, talk to me." Neptune lifted Sun's limp tail.

He waited until he could hear the shower running, before he sighed. "You ever really like someone and realise they don't like you as much?"

Neptune bristled, not answering directly. "You can do better."

"It's not about that, it's..." Sun frowned. "Maybe I tried loading all my eggs into one basket, I think. I wanted something to go well after everything, like, not going well. Got too overwhelmed with moving kingdoms, getting kicked out..."

"Your parents are just being assholes right now, Sun. You still got me, you know?"

Sun looked over at Neptune. It still hurt.

"And I'm feeling kinda neglected over here!"

Sun chuckled tiredly, chucking the pillow so he could hug Neptune. "I'm sorry, man."

"You should be, putting your best friend in the whole world to the side just to chase some angry tail!" Neptune hugged him tightly.

"Not so loud...!" Sun laughed, trying to convince himself it didn't matter. He had Neptune after all, and he always would. He changed into new clothes and followed Neptune to the cafeteria. It still hurt. But it'd be okay.

But it still hurt.

—

Adam

The train ride into the heart of Mistral was a wretched one. Not because of the train itself - it was hardly at max capacity, and the scenery itself was quaint enough.

But Adam couldn't stop thinking. And thinking. And thinking. He'd barely slept since he left the Belladonnas, the one home where he'd felt truly accepted. He'd loved it there, he truly had. Surrounded by people who were like him, looked like him, treated him like he was actually worth something.

Kali had been so needlessly kind to him. Ghira was strange, but a good man, maybe even the sort of person Adam could have been had everything else... Not happened.

But everything else happened, and there was no turning back from that. And Blake...

He'd never felt so violated. So distinctly disgusted. So... Hurt. It wasn't just anger, it was a genuine pain in his chest that throbbed heavily with every heart beat. His jaw clenched until his teeth ached, and he tried taking a breath through his nostrils, tried desperately to keep himself grounded. Adam had to visualise the feeling, almost, as a boiling, black ink. He could watch it pouring down, thick like heated blood, into the lip of a glass bottle. He could even feel it burning in him as he did so, but it helped to at least keep him from ripping his hair out.

He pressed himself into his seat as the train whizzed past a stretch of fields. Sunflowers, cornflowers and poppies lined the fields for the most part, and he spotted what he at first thought was a scarecrow in the distance. It wasn't until he looked closer, though, that he noticed it was too spindly, malformed. It didn't seem affected by the wind either. It just stood there, bone mask stretched across its face, white flowers dripping from its mouth -

Adam got out of his seat suddenly, his heart close to bursting. His mouth wettened, his skin ached as sweat formed over it, the dizziness of adrenaline creating black holes in his vision.

But as he focused again, swallowing around the lump in his throat, he saw that it really was just a scarecrow.

His blood sank back down and he glanced around at the handful of people in the carriage. A pair of humans looked up from their scrolls at him, giving him a dirty look.

And then he looked to see a faunus woman who's dog ears had been cropped crudely into sharp jagged tips. And that seething blackness burned up his throat again like bile.

She was playing with a tiny boy, his tail wagging back and forth happily as he pointed out of the window. "What colour are those flowers?" She asked the boy.

"Lello." He responded with proud certainty.

"Yellow! That's right, clever boy!" She cooed.

Adam swallowed dryly, and thought of his yellow walls for a moment. Of red hair tumbling into his cot, of a smile he could just barely visualise.

For the briefest moment her face turned into Kali's, sweet and caring, and he felt the echo of a hand ruffling his hair. A hand he'd never know again because of Blake.

Adam couldn't stand it, how his thoughts spiralled and writhed inside his head. He couldn't seem to target one single thing to hate, because it was all tumbling down on top of him. It wasn't just Blake. It wasn't just his mother. It wasn't just those humans, or the surgery, or his Grimm -

He was going to be sick. Leaving his luggage in the overhead carriers, he threw himself in the direction of the toilets. The tiny cubicle forced him to crouch by the toilet instead of kneeling, and it was the sight of sterile blue at the bottom of the toilet and the scent of stale bleach that sent him over the edge.

And Adam crouched there for longer than he would have liked, gagging and vomiting up stomach acid and the remains of a bun from a vending machine.

He hated this. He hated that he was so far from the first home he'd ever had. He hated that the only thing he could find to hide his face was that fucking ribbon. He hated how calm Blake had looked when she ripped -

He was so close. He'd come so close to something happy. And it had been taken away that easily.

It was her fault. It didn't matter that she didn't mean to. It was still her fault. Because he had tried, damn it. He had tried to be normal and good and whatever the fuck he was supposed to be. It wasn't his fault he was fucking broken. What else was he supposed to do?

He wasn't going to cry about it. Even as Adam felt the hot sting in his eye he refused, shaking his head and seething through his teeth. He pressed his fingernails through his pants and dug them into his thighs, pressing and pressing until he felt that release from around his skin, finally giving way and letting wet red seep into the black fabric. The hot, cutting sting redirected his thoughts, gave him something else that was intense enough to focus on. But as his hands shook, as his fingers came away with red on them, Adam no longer felt the need to cry. His pain threshold had significantly improved since his time in the hospital.

He managed to stand, his throat burning and his thighs stinging, but he felt 'better' than before.

Getting up off the cubicle floor, Adam caught himself in the dim mirror of the bathroom. His hair was messy, greasy too from the long travel, flopping in front of his face and tangling around his horns until they were nearly invisible. And for a moment he thought of those humans in his carriage, glaring at him. And he thought of every other bastard human who'd made him want to hide them in the first place. Teachers who'd pretended not to see his raised hand. Bullies who'd dragged him across the streets by those horns even when they were only nubs. Random strangers who acted as though his very presence was a sign of the world's end.

Let them hate him. Let them feel uncomfortable and disgusted by him. Let them see him up on stage one day, and let them hate that he, he, was standing where they never could. He brushed his fingers through his hair, weaving each lock of bloody red through and around his horns just as Kali had done, until his hair was slicked back out of his face. Until his horns and black blindfold were on full display. Let them hate him.

He certainly hated them back.

Including Blake.

The train station seemed to be built directly into ancient ruins, many open hallways lit with traditional oil lamps instead of the holo-lights that filled the rest of the world. Adam had to wonder who even got paid to light those things - he couldn't imagine anyone doing it for free. The stone walls were old, in need of a good scrub, and while the station itself was undoubtedly emptier than usual, it still felt crowded to Adam. He hated how close people were to him, how their arms brushed his, how they glared the moment they spotted his horns. Let them rot along with the ruins.

Despite its people, Mistral's city view was impressive from the high-up station. Adam stepped out into a night sky, coming over to a steel rail and overlooking the sprawling city. Houses, temples and schools even, all of them were built directly into the mountain sides. The smell of moss and water filled his lungs and the humidity made his jacket feel like an unwelcome second skin. But the light pollution here was miniscule compared to Solitas, and the stars... Oh, the stars. They outshone every single light on the continent, even with the night market going on miles beneath his feet. For a brief moment, he felt... Content.

Then he compared the view to his bedroom window in Menagerie, and the taste of bile burned the back of his mouth again.

He marched off, ignoring salesmen, ignoring stalls of food and clothes trying to usher him over. He even ignored the small parade of drunk men who all sat at a rickety noodle bar. As they spotted him, and as their addled brains registered that he wasn't human, their arms gestured to him in offence, about as coordinated as the slur of their words.

"What do you think that one is, then?" One of them curled an inexistent upper lip.

"Dunno, could be a moth with those things."

"Nah, most of the bug freaks died out. Think he's a cow?"

"Wanna see if we can get him to moo?"

Well. He didn't entirely ignore them. He couldn't help but let his suitcase smack into one of those spindly wooden stalls, sending the man sitting on it straight into his friend beside him. Like the worst game of jenga, the group of morons fell into each other until they were a heap of sweaty limbs and toothpick stalls on the floor, and Adam smiled to himself for the first time that evening.

But he had other things to be getting on with.

He’d been half-tempted to take the back-alleys just to avoid the bustle of people, but he wasn’t that much of an idiot, and the idea of getting mugged at the best wasn’t particularly appealing to him. Besides, the studio he was heading to was already isolated enough that he didn’t need to add any more opportunities for attacks than needed.

Checking the CCT map on his scroll from time to time, Adam found himself being guided further and further away from the main crowd and into what was probably Mistral’s closest thing to a residential area. The houses were far simpler, the gardens non-existent, and each home had a dishevelled quality that reminded Adam of Mantle. He’d had to dig quite low into Mistral to get here, so he couldn’t expect anything more glamourous – not that he’d want to go any higher yet. The idea of rubbing elbows with those rich idiots and nepobabies who’d enrolled in Haven Academy made his skin crawl. When he became a Performer – and he would become a Performer – it would be through his own doing, not a fucking sponsorship.

The studio he’d been seeking out was at the end of a horseshoe road, a dead end. It wasn’t a particularly large studio; it was two stories high and no more than that, with very plain wooden steps leading up to it and boarded up windows. What Adam noticed above all else, though, was the vandalism. He’d seen the gates to the local primary school nearby, he’d seen the signs warning any drivers that this was a school area, so he should have been surprised by how vulgar the graffiti outside the studio was. He wasn’t, he couldn’t be that hopeful anymore, but he really should have been.

Anti-Faunus posters had been stapled and taped to the walls, words spray-painted over the entryway, even the ornate wooden railing had been carved into and one side even smashed away out of the ground it was rooted into. A nearby flowerbed had been stomped into nothing. His blood boiled at the sight of the place – anyone would think it had been abandoned. But he could still see the clear signs of repair, the repeated attempts at clearing up the mess. The walls were stained in places with older graffiti long since removed, the staples in the walls pointing to the past presence of other posters. The people running this place were clearly trying to get it back into working shape. The boarded-up windows made sense now. No point in glass when the locals were like this.

The one thing that seemed to cool Adam’s blood a little, though, was a plaque made in some kind of metal alloy, hanging proudly over the door. ‘ FAUNUS STUDENTS ONLY’ was carved into the metal, and despite the obvious attempts, nothing and nobody had been able to pull the plaque away from the wall.

Well. Adam had seen the signs hanging out of windows and on doors throughout Mistral by now. Blatantly refusing entry to Faunus was technically illegal, but given how low down in Mistral he was, he knew the law enforcement wouldn’t bother dealing with such an ‘insignificant’ crime, when they had so much other shit to put up with. That would be their excuse anyway. He could only imagine how upset humans would be upon trying to enroll here, only to be turned away at the door over the same thing that had allowed them to do the same to so many others.

Adam had a feeling he’d be safe here. Then again, he’d had that feeling before, so he pushed it down until it turned black inside him, poured it all into a bottle, and let it drop somewhere so deep he wouldn’t have to deal with it for a very long time.

The moment he decided to move forward, he was bathed in golden light from a window on the studio’s second story as it opened, and a head popped out. “Are you planning on standing in the dark waiting to be noticed, or did you just not see the bell?”

He looked up in surprise. Sienna Khan, the one who ran this little dance studio, was nearly hanging out of the window, looking down at him with eyes that reflected the light in a way many would deem as unnatural. But to him, it was a sign of comfort. All Faunus could see well in the dark, and he always appreciated the innate beauty of that trait.

“Alright, don’t answer me.” Sienna scowled, pulling herself inside and shutting the window. Adam stilled, wondering if she was really going to leave him outside as punishment. It wasn’t the sort of thing he would put past anyone.

But with time, she did open the front door, and he could see just how small the woman was. Smaller than Kali by a mile, but her loose-fitting night robe did little to hide just how muscular she was.

“You were supposed to be here hours ago. What happened?” She ushered him inside, not bothering to introduce herself – not that she needed to. She was one of the most well-known Performers in Mistral, having retired only very recently to focus on teaching her methods to new generations. Better still, she was one of the only Faunus Performers of her generation to reach such heights of fame – why she chose to stay in a shithole like this was beyond Adam, but he supposed old habits might die hard. Or just that the idea of ‘home’ was far less twisted in normal people.

Adam considered himself lucky to be standing in her presence, so the sheer casual behaviour she showed towards him left Adam feeling more awkward than he ought to have been. “Train delays. Sorry, my scroll’s signal completely cut out, otherwise I’d have messaged you.” He explained, holding up his scroll as if in evidence.

She waved him off. “Anyone give you any trouble, kid?”

He frowned a little at the nickname, but shook his head. “None I couldn’t return.”

Sienna’s massive ears flicked upward. “Is it going to bring anything to my doorstep?”

“I doubt it. They were too drunk to stand, let alone stalk me all the way here.”

She nodded, appeased, before turning and leading the way upstairs. “Bring your stuff, we have a lot to discuss. Adam, was it?”

The next hour was spent in the apartment that was Sienna’s home above her studio. And yet, Adam found he liked it. Although it was small, it wasn’t cramped or cluttered; Sienna clearly didn’t have a hording problem, unlike some of the staff at the orphanage. Everything had its designated space, and she only had exactly what she needed. The place wasn’t mismatched like the orphanage either, where everything was either donated from across the continent or bought second-hand. Deep, lustrous shades of red and brown decorated the whole place, and Adam took comfort in the dark warmth the space created.

Sienna poured them both tea from a pot that Adam swore Kali had in her collection, although Kali’s set didn’t come with the matching flask Sienna lifted from the side of the table. “You drink?” She gestured to Adam.

“No. Thanks.” He shook his head.

She shrugged and poured a splash of golden liquid into her tea, and she held the rim of her cup to her lips. For a moment, Adam studied her. She was older than him by far, also around Kali's age, he had to imagine. She was a beautiful woman, too, her hair chopped harshly around her face and her night robe slipping away enough to reveal swirls of tattoos like tiger stripes, completely playing into her Faunus heritage - as she had every right to.

Her eyes flicked up to Adam, almost quick enough to startle him. "So, what's with the blindfold?"

"What's with the graffiti?" He couldn't stop himself from replying.

But Sienna only have a wry chuckle. "Closed off, huh?" She put down her tea and lit a cigarette, holding one out to Adam. "You smoke?"

"No."

"You will. Take it. You're going to need some sort of vice if you're going to stay here and I'm not letting you get bent on anything harder than this."

Adam grimaced, but took the cigarette. He'd already sliced his thighs and face before, why not burn into his lungs too? She leaned over the table to light his cigarette, her form close enough to his so he could smell the remains of her perfume. He was making it weird. He was definitely making it weird.

"So." Sienna pulled away once the cig was lit, putting away her lighter. "You came all the way from Menagerie just for me? You got kicked out or something?"

Adam clenched his jaws tight as though they were wired together. "I've heard you're an excellent teacher." He mustered.

Sienna leaned back, letting her cig hang in her mouth. "You smell like bonfires, kid. Something happened to you, didn't it?"

How was he supposed to respond to that? What was he meant to say? That yes, a great many things had happened? That his entire life was a useless mess and if he didn't achieve this one goal then it would be proof that his whole existence was just an exercise in misery? That his despair had been enough to birth a demon - ?

"I know what it feels like." She simply said. "My life isn't a perfect reflection of yours, don't take it the wrong way. But I know what it feels like to have one of those monsters come from you. You don't need to pretend you're alright here. You just need to show me you're not going to go back there."

Adam hid one of his hands under the table so he could grip his legs, as if that would anchor him to reality. "Why would it matter to you if I couldn't?"

Sienna simply drank her tea. "I'm not prepared to lose anyone else to those monsters. That's all. Besides, if you're as good as you've told me, it'd be a shame not to have you out there."

Adam stared at his cigarette, and tried taking a drag of it. The smoke immediately burned his lungs and he choked, hunching over and coughing into his glove. Sienna only chuckled, patting his back. "Gods, you're a bit pathetic, huh?"

He glared at her best as he could manage, and she refused to crinkle under his vision.

"Rest the night here. Tomorrow, we can discuss how you can pay me back for this. I've been looking for an assistant, so if you can prove yourself, you might just find yourself standing beside me here. But only if you prove yourself."

Adam couldn't answer, trying to steady his breathing, but he nodded. It wasn't as though he had any choice, even if he didn't want to be here. He definitely wasn't going back to Menagerie, and he'd essentially spent his savings travelling here. He knew the Belladonnas would have been happy to help him move, which was why he had to leave without any of them knowing. He couldn't bare to owe them any more than he already did.

It was worth giving up a proper goodbye.

The spare room was right across from Sienna's, and Adam stared at the ceiling in the dark after that. And he wanted to think. He wanted to remind himself to be grateful he'd made it here in one piece. He wanted to tell himself to be grateful that Sienna Khan of all people had taken him on.

But exhaustion had whittled him away to nothing. He stilled in the unfamiliar bed, shutting his eye, and all he could think of as he slept was how different this room was to the one the Belladonnas had given him. The bed was already up against the wall, the blanket more worn than his old bed. Instead of art on the wall, there were masks, white like bleached bone, all with red markings distinctive to Grimm. One in particular seemed to watch him, a half-mask, with slitted holes for eyes and crimson swirls that were almost pretty. The room was humid, but he was cold in this new bed. Because it didn't feel like his. He felt like a guest in this place, but in Menagerie, he'd felt like he'd found a home. And now, he wasn't ever going to go back. And it was Blake's fault.

She told him she loved him. That what she'd done was supposed to help. And look where it had landed him. Miles from the only place he'd felt safe in, the only people who'd accepted him. He wasn't sure what she felt for him but it certainly wasn't love.

He knew what he felt for her, though.

He felt hatred.

That kept him warm. For now.

Chapter Text

Adam

He didn’t understand it. He really didn’t.

It had been at least a week since the party, and Sun had been acting… strange. Adam wasn’t usually the sort to notice or care when someone acted out of character, but Sun was different. Important, even. Gods, even hearing himself think that felt so foreign, like it was somebody else’s mind. Someone normal.

But nonetheless, Sun had been unusually muted, like he wasn’t sure where to put himself when he was around Adam. Even as they danced, he seemed more drawn into himself, and it didn’t seem intentional. Whenever Blake was upset with him, her movements would turn stiff and hollow, her body flinching away from his grip. But this was different than that (Sun was so different than Blake), this didn’t seem intentional – not necessarily. Sun had always been careful so as to not cross Adam’s boundaries, which he’d always appreciated that, but now he was going overboard with it. His tail would often brush along Adam’s form just so, and their hands would hardly meet. Adam had been enjoying their tug-of-war when it came to leading dances as well, he was surprised by how much he liked it. It was challenging having a partner that didn’t back down. But now, Sun was following Adam’s movements just to prevent them from colliding if he gave any push-back.

It was pissing him off.

Even Qrow noticed it. He frowned as he approached the pair, his hands on his hips and his eyes bloodshot. “Here I thought you two were getting on like a house on fire.”

“What? We’re fine.” Sun shrugged, which Adam knew was a damn lie.

“Maybe someone doesn’t want to take the lead.” He crossed his arms, thinking that perhaps Sun just needed to be baited.

Sun frowned, but to Adam’s annoyance, didn’t respond in any meaningful way. Blake gave a sudden, shrill laugh from across the room. Adam looked over at team RWBY, feeling his face harden at the noises. Whatever routine they were practicing had resulted in Ruby slamming herself headfirst into Weiss who had been expecting to catch a much smaller weight. The two small girls were in a pile on the floor, Yang was dragging Ruby off Weiss before she had a meltdown, and Blake looked like she was genuinely enjoying herself. Adam felt murderous.

Qrow glanced at the team before looking back at Sun and Adam. He sighed, wiping his fringe out of his face. “Why don’t you try practicing outside? Get some fresh air and try to wrangle out whatever’s going on with the pair of you. I’m expecting a new direction in your choreography by the next hour.”

“The next hour?” Adam growled. “We haven’t even picked a song yet, that’s not enough time – ”

“It’s going to have to be.” Qrow narrowed his eyes at Adam before gesturing to the front doors of the studio. “Go on, clock’s ticking, Hothead.”

Adam looked back at the silks longingly, before leaving the studio with Sun. And again, he was quiet. More so than usual. Adam ground his teeth as they stepped outside. And he circled Sun like enemies might, trying to get him into some kind of rhythm, something that he knew was pointless outside of the short term – Qrow’s assignment for them was approaching fast, and they hadn’t even picked a song yet. There was no point trying to structure any choreography or rhythm when they didn’t have something as foundational as their backing song behind them, at least Adam didn’t think so. Nonetheless, he played a gentle track on his scroll, barely a level up from elevator music, and set the device by the dead tree in the middle of the garden.

“You, uh.” Adam began, trying to sound normal. “Have you been. Okay ?”

Sun blinked in surprise, before nodded and offering Adam a smile. “Me? Of course I’m fine. I’m super chill, bro.”

“Right, that’s why you’re avoiding me.” Adam tilted his head, darting forward suddenly and grabbing Sun’s hands. A dare.

A dare not taken up on. Sun slipped his hands out of Adam’s grip, swinging his arms back and twirling to his side – or he would have, had Adam not reach out once again to pull him by his waist. He led Sun in a circle, and the bastard actually followed his lead.

Sun huffed indignantly. “Does it look like I’m avoiding you?”

“A little, yes.” 

“Look, let’s just…” Sun waved him off, wondering away from the tree. “Let’s just take a breather.”

“Why?” Adam frowned. “We’ve barely done anything. Don’t tell me your stamina’s lower than Ren’s all of a sudden.”

“I’m just a bit all over the place today, okay?!” Sun snapped, before receding. “Sorry, sorry, I… I’m not super cash-money today.”

“You’re not what ?”

“Hyped up! The vibes aren’t on today, man!”

“You’re trying to communicate with me. I’m sure you are.”

Sun scowled. “I’m just not feeling good. Not like, super inspired. That’s it really. I just want to take a breather.”

Adam was confused, a little frustrated too (more than a little, in fact a lot more than a little), but he gave in with a shrug and watched Sun meander away.

Sun put his hands on his hips, looking through the windows at the rest of their class. Adam followed his gaze; Neptune was dancing with Pyrrha again, copying her elegant moves and gestures without actually mimicking her. His own movements were much more independent now, more his own. When he stumbled, Pyhhra would glance at him but he would correct himself before she needed to.

"He's not as much of a copycat anymore." Adam commented.

Sun looked up at him, trying to understand if it was a veiled insult or a statement. It was sweet how much he cared about his friends, even if they were humans. "Huh?"

"When we started, he was pretty much just copying you. Following you. You never noticed?"

Sun looked away as if embarrassed, his skin tone warming further with the flush of colour. "How... Do you mean?"

"I mean he couldn't think for himself. But now it looks like he actually knows how to establish a routine for himself, like he's actually thinking about his next step. It's a step up from before." it was very rare for Adam to compliment others, get was aware of that. But in Sun's presence at least, it felt like a waste of energy to be cynical when it wasn't earned. Even if he was talking about a human. It was just to Neptune's fortune that he was a human that mattered to Sun.

"You saying I don't think about how I move?" Sun smirked.

Adam blinked. "No?"

"Well, you're talking about how DIFFERENT his style is from mine!" He feigned a look of betrayal that Adam finally cottoned on and realised Sun was just teasing.

He smirked back in response once he put it together. "Your improvisational skills are a lot better than his. You don't necessarily need to think ahead unless your performance is supposed to invoke a specific theme or idea. Usually, what you provoke looks silly and fun, so you work with your lack of planning."

Before Sun could respond, a raspy chuckle behind them interrupted the conversation. Adam turned to see Qrow standing there with his arms crossed. "Look at you and those analytics. I'd make you a teacher's pet if you weren't such a pain in the ass."

"Who said I wanted to be a teacher's pet?" Adam sneered, almost affectionately.

"Why aren't you inside watching the others?" Sun gestured inside.

"Because my two favourite troublemakers are out here.” He explained. “Besides, I don't appreciate you both slacking off on my watch."

"We're not slacking off!" Sun stomped his foot.

Qrow just chuckled, unconvinced. "It looks it to me. Come on, show me what you both have figured out for your routine. Maybe you could tell me what songs you’ve been experimenting with?"

Adam swallowed. It was hard to figure out anything for a routine when his partner would barely put his hands on him. Granted, a routine completely devoid of touch could be impacting, but that wasn't what they were going for. They couldn't even synchronise like this.

Qrow's expression soured at the lack of response, and he nursed his forehead. "I really hate to say this, but it's like you're not even trying."

"Hey!" Sun frowned. "Of course we're trying!"

"You both have been excellent partners since I paired you together, what's with this sudden wedge between you? Has some juicy personal drama made things awkward, or are you trying to present an exercise in frustration?"

Adam grimaced and looked at Sun. Good fucking question.

Qrow levelled his eyes specifically at Adam. "Look. I know you hate being touched. But this -"

"That's not it. That'd never get in the way of my work." Adam growled. Why did that make Sun look sadder than before?

Qrow hummed then, before stepping into Adam's personal space. "Prove it. Put your hands on my waist.”

Adam swallowed dryly. “I – what?”

“Am I speaking a different language? Put your hands on my waist .”

Sun snickered, cheeks rounding out as Adam stiffened. This was not a situation he was used to – granted, he’d performed a few dances with Sienna to showcase different movements and techniques, but this… this was Qrow. He smelled of old whisky and feathered things and burning cotton and –

Bonfires.

He reached out. He wasn’t going to cower, wasn’t going to back down. Not in a million years. It was just a human. Just his professor. He forced himself to move forward, slotting a leg between Qrow’s (burning inside at the touch) and grabbing the man’s waist –

Qrow snapped his hands around Adam’s forearms and twisted him around. He gasped as he was suddenly thrown out of place. Qrow was skinnier than he was, marginally shorter too, and yet Adam was spun around him like a concrete poll. He just barely managed to loop his arm over Qrow’s broad shoulders, taking a breath to stabilise his thoughts.

Qrow’s footwork was so simple, but so effective in making Adam follow his trail, as if he wasn’t even allowed to be in charge, to challenge Qrow’s authority in the courtyard.  “What are you - ?!” He growled out.

“You frustrated, there?” Qrow smirked, spinning on his feet and yanking Adam to him, lifting him off his feet for a few mortifying moments like he was spinning a beloved child in the park. Blood rushed up to Adam’s head, the scent of burning and sweat and fake leather making him want to bite.

Qrow was in his arms again without a second thought, Adam’s hand truly on his waist, when Qrow used his own weight to force Adam to stand straight. He leaned all of himself into Adam’s arm, puppeting, until Adam was forced to dip him down low. The professor arched his back until Adam was half-sure his spine would break in his palm, and Qrow gave him a smirk.

Laughter, then, as the ringing in Adam’s ears waned enough for the rest of the world to come back to him. He looked up, seeing his classmates watching from out the window. Weiss and Ruby giggling like schoolchildren, Blake and Pyrrha staring like they’d just watched the moon explode (again).

Yang, out for blood, barked out of the window, “Don’t drop that one, this time!”

Adam growled, but Qrow didn’t give him the chance to drop him even if he wanted to. He stood up straight as a needle, dusting himself off as he addressed the class. “See, kids? A little experimentation never hurt anyone. Let’s break for lunch, and we’ll see if I have something to report to Oz by the end of the day. Don’t make me look bad.”

“Couldn’t if I tried.” Adam breathed, hoping it was as clever an insult as his oxygen-starved brain had told him it was.

Sun high-fived Neptune from the open window. “Never let him live this down!” Sun made Neptune promise. And that pissed Adam off.

Because it was even him who was the FUCKING problem! It was Sun! He was making things difficult! Adam was actually trying to act like a normal person, cooperating, socialising, he even apologized for his actions every now and then! Was this his reward? To still be ostracized? By Sun ?

What the fuck was going on?

Adam was only in the cafeteria brief enough to grab a bag of food, ignoring Sun when he gestured for him to sit with their group. He tried not to dwell on Sun’s confused (hurt?) expression; he wanted solitude. To focus, to vent.

He sat at his desk, laying out the food he’d picked up. A Styrofoam box of fluffy bao buns. A sealed cup of soup with a pack of bread attached, and a bowl of fried rice. Very carb-heavy, but he chose to worry about that later. Or just not worry at all, he had other things to think about.

He didn’t get his solitude. As soon as he’d started eating, the spoonful of rice burning his tongue, Sun came bursting into the room with a literal handful of Styrofoam boxes, steam ebbing out from the edges.

“Go away.” Adam ordered.

“Come on, talk to me.” Sun sat on his desk chair, using his tail to fling himself over to Adam’s desk. He set down a few of the boxes right by Adam’s food, even opening a few to reveal more buns.

“What’s there to talk about?” Adam bared his teeth, keeping himself turned away from Sun. “If you’ve gotten bored of me already, then own up to it like a man, and give me the dignity of being left alone.”

“’Bored’ – dude, what?” Sun looked hurt.

“You’re avoiding me like I’ve got the plague.” Adam pointed out. “I know the ‘power of friendship’ isn’t something I have a lot of experience with, but I know you don’t do this sort of shit to people. Am I wrong?”

“That – dude, hold up!” Sun waved his hands in a panic. And Adam still couldn’t hate him. It was frustrating.

“WHAT?! What is it, then?!” Adam burst, swivelling his chair around so fast he hit his ankle on the metal legs.

“I just – I know you don’t like being touched, and I know I’m way too much sometimes, it’s just - !” Sun tried to reason.

"I'm not going to let that cause problems with my future." Adam said firmly, stopping Sun in his tracks. "Both of our chances hinge on us working together. So. We need to do that. Whether you like me as a person or not."

Why did Sun look even more distraught at that? Resigned, even? "So is that all you need from me?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, it's not just touch in general you don't like, is it?" Sun sighed.

"If you're asking if I'm asexual -"

"I'm not asking that!" Sun's head snapped up at Adam. "I'm not - I just want to know for sure if it's just..." And he sighed again, defeated by a point Adam simply couldn't grasp. "I get it if it's just me , okay? Like, if it's my touch specifically that you hate..."

"That..." Adam ran a hand over his face, nearly enough to shift his blindfold. Even with the thin fabric, he could see the upset in Sun's expression. "Why would you even think that? You’re basically the only person here who I can stomach being around regularly."

"Yeah, but I remember how you were when we woke up in bed together." Sun made several waving gestures like he was physically laying things out on the metaphorical table. "How relieved you were when you realised we hadn't been frisky or anything."

"Wh... Brothers, strike me down." He sat on the bed with Sun, who still looked upset but now with an added level of confusion. "Sun, I didn't act like that because it was you ." Gods, if anything like that was even possible with Sun, it might have just made Adam's life worth living. If it could be anything like that dream (that he was still very much trying to ignore), then he could almost part ways with his miserable past, if only briefly.

Sun's eyes still managed to twinkle in the dim light. "What was wrong, then?"

"We had been drunk ; horribly, stupidly drunk. I could barely remember anything from that night - I'd hate if, I mean. If we'd done something like that, I'd want to remember our first time. Or my first time with anyone . Again, not you specifically."

Gods, that was too much information. Too much vulnerability. Sun was definitely going to be able to suss him out, after that. He grit his teeth, preparing for the rejection he was so definite on -

Sun tilted his head like he didn't have a clue. "That wouldn't have been my first time, dummy."

Did Sun really not recognise the undercurrent of that statement? Of what Adam was admitting to? Had Adam been vague enough, or was Sun just too caught up in his own emotions to think on it properly?

"Would it... Have been yours?" He gave a little smirk, and Adam almost breathed a sigh of relief, the embarrassment not even enough to quell his spark.

"I uh... I've never let anyone get that close, so..." He admitted.

"Aw man. You know sex can just be like, a fun casual thing. Right?" Sun rubbed his tail against Adam's ankle.

Adam scoffed, running his thumb down the length of tail, feeling the intimidatingly dense muscle under the fur. "I don't just mean close emotionally. I still hate being touched - I tried getting uh. I tried making things happen. Always felt too awkward though, so it never really went anywhere."

"But you're so..." Sun tilted his head.

"So... What?" Adam inquired.

"Well... You're pretty!" When Adam scoffed, Sun doubled down. "No for real! Blindfold or not, you're a good looking dude! I bet you always had girls swooning for you. Just look at Velvet, she's super into you. Even if stuff with Blake didn’t turn out well, you still got went out with her."

Adam shook his head at Sun, and his silence made Sun think.

"Unless it's just guys you're into...? Either, or...?"

"Honestly... I've not thought about it too much." Adam lied, making himself shrug. "Both are fine, I suppose."

"You never did anything with Blake? Dude. Goth girls are like diamonds and you never even - ?"

"Sun."

"Not even a boob -?"

" Sun ."

"Okay, okay!" Sun held his hands up, immediately picking up the shift in tone. “So in all seriousness, you’ve never been with a guy either...?”

“No, not really.” Adam admitted, adjusting his blindfold. He paused then to think. “Well, nearly, with one guy, but it didn’t go far.”

“How come?”

Adam scowled. “He was some human I’d met in Mistral and made a stupid decision with. He looked at my horns and made a joke about how I ‘wasn’t his first rodeo’.” Adam looked over at Sun. “But I was his first broken nose.”

Sun laughed in approval, letting a bit of silence roll over them. "Sorry for making things awkward. I just didn't know how to, like, say anything. I thought you were mad at me."

"Well, you owe me after letting everyone see me dance with Branwen." He paused to let Sun give a bashful snicker. "But... What I'd really like is a dance."

Sun’s eyes were bright again, and a weight lifted off of Adam, like he was viewing the clouds leave the sky to reveal the clearest starlight. He nodded happily. “I think I can manage that. I actually do have some songs we could look into for inspiration.”

“I’d… I’d like that.” Adam felt himself smile naturally, and the two ate in relative silence as Sun put his scroll on the desk, letting a playlist take up the sound in the room. And it was a whole playlist, too; he’d really been thinking about this behind the scenes.

Last night, I had a dream about you,

In this dream, I'm dancing right beside you,

And it looked like everyone was having fun!

That kind of feeling, I've waited so long…

Sun’s shoulder brushed his from time to time as they ate. Adam didn’t mind. He watched Sun from time to time, his gentle smile, the relaxed slump of his shoulders; he felt Sun’s tail under the desk, slowly coiling around Adam’s ankle. Adam very, very carefully shifted his leg closer, letting Sun’s tail gain a proper wrap.

Ooh, I don't know what to do,

About this dream and you…

We'll make this dream come true…

It was hopeless, really. Letting himself indulge. It made Adam happy, a sort of joy he couldn’t remember being privy to before – well, once.

When he met Blake. She’d looked so small. So gentle. Back then, her eyes had been wide and her smile had been sweet. She’d sat with him in his treatments when that poison had been drawn out from him, her hands over one of his, tracing the purple-blue veins under his knuckles. He’d be devastated if something like that happened with Sun.

But he couldn’t pull away.

Why don’t you play the game…?

(Song Featured: Digital Love – Daft Punk)

—

Sun

The Hamlet Market was a thriving square full of stalls. Sun smiled at the charming little tables filled with trinkets and wares, covered from the gentle sunshine by stretches of colourful patterned fabric. Some sported the symbol of Vale itself, while many stuck to simpler patterns, like polka dots or pretty stripes. Those that didn’t rely on fabric for their shade, though, used solar-deflectors, thin black strips of metal that stored the sun’s energy and kept the stall beneath dark and cool.

Such was the case for a rather fancy-looking stall selling Dust-infused soaps and bath bombs, some even designed specifically to raise or lower the temperatures of whatever body of water you’d throw them into. Many soaps were beautiful and shimmery, cut into the shape of gorgeous crystals. The woman who owned the stall, though, had a pinched face that drooped completely downward. If she hadn’t worn such a visceral expression, Sun thought she may have been very pretty, but she looked utterly miserable – and when her eyes met Sun’s, she snarled at him like some sort of animal. Sun frowned in return, taken aback, and that was when he’d spotted the little sign on the edge of her stall – a holographic logo in bright red with what looked like the White Fang’s symbol, only with a loud cross smeared over it.

Weiss joined Sun’s side. “What are you staring at?”

“That stall. Isn’t that the most miserable old hag you’ve ever seen or what?” He gestured, caring little to whether the woman noticed or not.

But, surprisingly, Weiss raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “I don’t… I’ve never seen a sign like that before.”

Blake came over then, scowling and crossing her arms. Her ears slicked down so far she almost looked human – Sun chose to not point that out. “It’s an Anti-Faunus symbol. She’ll refuse to serve anyone who isn’t human.”

Sun almost expected Weiss to agree, but she frowned deeper in confusion. “What the... Why refuse sales? They're only hurting their own business.”

“ That’s your issue. Of course it is.” Blake rolled her eyes. “A lot of people are still like that. Don’t tell me you’ve never come across an establishment that’s openly Anti-Faunus.”

“But they're hurting their own sales.” Was all Weiss could say again.

Sun jumped at the sound of Adam’s hoarse chuckle. “You poor little rich girl. Why don’t you go over there and explain the damage she’s doing to her own business? I’d love to see if she appreciates the advice.”

Weiss rolled her eyes as he loomed over her, unfazed by his presence. “I'd understand it if it made SENSE, but they’re hurting their own business! Small businesses need all the help they can get.”

“Oof.” Sun whispered.

Adam’s smirk vanished and he pinched the covered bridge of his nose. “Oh boy. Alright look.” He put his hands out in front of him the same way a frustrated teacher might when explaining the simplest of things to the dumbest of children. “ Sometimes . Sometimes. People value hurting others over money. Your family is very unique in that they specialize in both! That make sense, Ice Queen?”

“Um,” Blake piped up again and Sun could see Adam visibly tense, “ technically they specialize in making money BY hurting others.”

Adam grumbled as he turned to his ex. “Capitalism does that by default, don’t give them credit for that.”

“I’m not giving them credit. I’m certainly not giving that idiot over there any.” She nodded towards the woman. “She’s advertising putting Dust in bath bombs – but I bet they’re not even cosmetic grade. You have no idea how badly the wrong kind of Dust can damage the skin – !” Sun could see Blake’s pupils shrink down into slits as she stared up at Adam. “I mean, you would – might – it’s just that – ”

“Shut up.” His voice went very low, the words squeezing out from between his gritted teeth. “Shut up. ”

Sun took a step closer in case the pair needed a barrier between them. He had no idea what just transpired between them, but between Blake’s wide eyes and the dark gathering over Adam’s face, it couldn’t have been good.

But Weiss, who had also very much noticed the strange cast over the pair, stroked her chin in thought. “Cosmetic-grade Dust… I might be able to find out.”

And so she walked over to the stall, back arched and chin pointing out like she already owned everything the woman was selling. She possibly had at one point.

Adam stalked off and Blake ran a frustrated hand through her hair, and as Weiss chatted with the woman at the stall, Sun put his tail around his peer in sympathy. She smiled tiredly at Sun. “I’m trying. Dunno why I’m bothering sometimes but I’m trying.”

“Whatever that was, I’m here for both of you dummies.” Sun reassured her, finally getting a chuckle out of Blake. “While Weiss is doing, whatever she’s doing, do you wanna see if we can find Ren and Nora? Neptune told me he’s gonna dare Nora to trying the testers at that hot sauce place and I gotta see that go down.”

Blake smiled. “Sure - like she needs to be dared. Is food all that spicy in Vacuo? I bet it’s nothing compared to what my mom can cook up.”

“Wanna bet?” He smirked as they made their way through the market, finally coming across Ren and Nora.

Ren was red in the face and breathless, desperately trying to pry Nora off an absolute unit of a canine. The dog she’d fused herself to was the fluffiest monstrosity Sun had ever seen, with spotted black and brown fur, paws the size of Sun’s face, a puddle of drool surrounding it, and the stupidest face to ever grace the planet. Looking into the dog’s eyes, Sun was sure it didn’t have a single thought in its head. In fact, it barely seemed aware of Nora’s presence.

“C’mon, Hades…” The tiny woman on the other end of the dogs’ lead gently ushered him up, to no avail. He was quite happy sitting there dribbling mindlessly as Nora rubbed her face into his fur.

“Nooooo, I love him!” She cried, genuinely cried – unless the wetness on her cheeks was dog drool.

Hades’ tail wagged for a moment as he spotted Sun and Blake coming over, and the most godlike bark erupted from the beast. Blake jumped out of her skin, ears flicking back as she hung behind Sun. Sun laughed gently. “You don’t like dogs much?”

“Oh I like dogs,” Blake stuttered, “I just don’t like dogs who can tear me in half.”

“Oh he’s very friendly!” The sweet woman assured them. “He’s just a bit silly, is all. He’s waiting for his big brother Fenrir to finish up with the groomer.”

Sun looked over to a large stall for dog grooming, expecting to see the beastliest of dogs being bathed. What he saw instead was an elderly corgi being gently showered and shampooed by the people running the stall.

“Just leave me here!” Nora whined as Ren continued trying to peel her off Hades. “Let me become one with the dog!”

“Didn’t you say she had allergies…?” The lady looked at Ren in sympathy.

“Yes, she’s deathly allergic to dogs – which is why she needs to get off .”

Sun nodded as he went to assist Ren, understanding now why Nora was literally weeping. “Come on, I’ll getcha some food – and medicine.”

“No, please!” She sobbed, her lips looking concerningly puffy. “If this is how I’m meant to die then I’ll make peace with it!”

Eventually, the pair dragged Nora away crying, and some of it was from her feelings and not just her allergies. “But I loved him…!”

“Let’s just get you something to clear your sinuses…” Blake gave her a sad smile as she trailed behind them, before pointing out a little pop-up café. Latte Da was the name of the place, and although it looked like a massive tin can on wheels, there was already a line of people waiting. She bought Nora a special ginger and caramel tea for her allergies, and bought Ren a bottle of aloe vera juice (insisting that he drink anything but the dodgy-looking cans of energy drinks they were selling). She also treated Sun to a drink, letting him pick out a banana milk tea.

Sun eventually parted with the trio, sipping his tea out of one of the decorative straws before he finally came across Adam – and Neptune, sat together, and not getting on each other’s nerves! It was a miracle!

The pair sat at a metal table by a yakisoba table, both with a paper bowl of fried noodles and fish balls. Even from a distance, Sun could hear Neptune chatting Adam’s ear off about how he totally had a chance with one of the 2 nd Year girls from CFVY’s party, while Adam shrank deeper and deeper in his chair. Sun chuckled and sat with them, gaining both their attention. “My favourite pair of dummies!” He called.

Adam stared at Sun as he always did, while Neptune kicked his BFF under the table. “Where have you been?” Neptune asked.

“Kicking ass and chewing gum.” He winked.

“Don’t you mean - ?” Adam tilted his head.

“Nope.” Sun responded. “I’m gonna try to slip Weiss some hot sauce from that special stall. You two in?”

“Aw, but she’s cute – even for a racist.”

“You have never looked so flammable before.” Adam looked at Neptune.

“I, uh. Thanks?”

“I’d absolutely be in when you poison that stupid – well look at that.” Adam stared behind Sun, who turned his head to follow his gaze. The woman from before was being made to pack up her stall by a pair of very bored-looking police officers. She was shouting obscenities at the pair of them, but not doing enough for them to warrant an arrest, unfortunately.

“You were saying about spiking my food with gross sauces?” Weiss suddenly appeared by the table, toying with an out-of-place curl from her ponytail.

“ You did that?” Adam smirked. “I thought you were fretting over that poor small business.”

Weiss turned her nose up. “It’s illegal in Vale to try and sell off-grade Dust – especially if you pretend it’s cosmetic-grade. You could kill someone!”

“Off-grade? What’s that?” Neptune frowned.

Adam answered in Weiss’ place. “It’s not just unrefined – it’s not safely usable. Without any form of processing, Dust like that can be unpredictable – and dangerous. The bitch probably grabbed the stuff off the back of a truck or something.”

“Look at you, with your knowledge checks.” Weiss tried to not look impressed.

Adam only shrugged. “I did work for your shitshow of a company. You pick up on a few things.”

Weiss frowned at that, crossing her arms before looking away. Then, her scroll began to ring in her pocket. She hurriedly rejected the call, before coming back to herself. “Look, I’m sorry your experience with the Schnee Dust Company wasn’t optimal – ”

“It was fucking Hellish and I don’t want your apology.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want you and your company to be better.” Adam glowered. “That, or I want all of your locations to be burnt to the ground. Either one works for me.”

Weiss crossed her arms and said nothing. Sun and Neptune shared an awkward look in the lingering quiet. That was when Sun stood up on his chair and declared. “Well, if I can’t spike you with hot food, can I at least dare you, Ice Queen?”

Weiss smiled up at Sun. “No.”

“I thought you’d dared me.” Blake chuckled from behind the group, having met up with Pyrrha who carried a handful of striped paper bags from various trinket stalls.

“That’s right! To the spicy food!” Sun declared.

“We’re still eating – ” Adam pointed out, only for Sun to pluck the last fish ball from his bowl and eat the entire thing.

“Not anymore!” Sun gave a massive close-mouthed smile, before rushing off to lead the group in the direction of the stall. It was a rather big stall with a line of seats like a bar, with various black glass bottles lining the walls. It very much marketed its signature sauces, but it was also very focused on fried chicken and dough balls, some plain for the same of dipping, others glazed and roasting slowly inside a Dust-powered portable oven on display for the group to see. A group of teenagers shambled away from the stall, fanning their mouths and dragging their sorry selves to an ice cream van, clearing enough space for the merry band of delinquents.

The stall, apparently owned by a brand called Crowley’s Devices , a food chain Sun had briefly heard of in passing but never paid much thought to, was staffed by just one person despite its size. The chef, a frail old man whom would wither away at the tiniest breath, seemed more than happy frying and mixing and roasting and drizzling, near enough juggling all the different sauce bottles while the group looked down at the menus that had been built into the bar, covered by the layer of glass to prevent food getting on them and allowing easy clean-up – at least that was what Sun assumed.

Weiss bit her thumbnail as she looked over the food by herself, while Blake explained the different spices and what they may entail to Pyrrha, who clearly wasn’t experienced in this sort of food. There was a little chili symbol on the bottom right of the menu, segmented into 10 sections. The bottom levels were shades of pink, that moved up to red, until the last 2 segments were black. Sun noticed, then, that each item on the menu had a smaller chili symbol by them, all various colours found on the chart. Only 5 items on the entire menu sported the coveted black chilis.

Neptune was busy wiping away a smear of sauce dark enough to resemble blood just so he could actually look at the menu.

And so Sun sat with Adam, trying to gauge if he was actually interested in the food or if he was just tagging along. “Are you gonna be daring today?” He looked over at the taller man.

Adam shook his head. “I’m here to eat something. Not embarrass myself.”

“So you can’t handle your spice.” Sun smirked. “No surprise, cute boy from Solitas and all – ”

“You reckon I’m cute?”

Sun spluttered as he realised what he’d said. “I mean – as in, like – you always make me say the dumbest crap.”

“Yes. I’m definitely responsible for all the dumb shit you say.”

“Piss off.” Sun crossed his arms.

Adam only chuckled.

“Just because you can’t handle the heat…” He grumbled petulantly.

“You don’t know what I can handle.” Adam turned to Sun, and Sun could just feel those eyes under that embroidered blindfold boring into him, like he was trying to burn holes through him. And then, the confusion set in once again – there was something in the tone Adam was trying to lace into his voice, right? There absolutely had to be something behind that strange, clipped tone going all soft around the edges.

And yet, Adam seemed repulsed by the idea of connecting to Sun outside of their dances. He hated that they’d shared the same bed together. He hated the idea of anything happening – Adam hated lots of things, but that wasn’t the point. Right?

Did Adam really hate it that much? Was Sun reading too much into it? He wasn’t sure if he was overthinking it one way, or overthinking it the other way. Gods above and below, his crushes had never been this frustrating before!

Sun swallowed, tilting his head. “Guess you’ll have to prove it.”

And Adam chuckled in a way that made the end of Sun’s tail curl up. His smirk was utterly wicked – wonky in the cutest way, his eyebrows furrowing under the ribbon in a way that folded that embroidered blindfold until an entire ray of stars vanished. Sun liked making him smile like that. 

“If you two could stop flirting and start ordering…” Blake stared at them.

“We aren’t flirting.” Adam snapped at her.

“I know how you flirt. Remember?” She drawled in the same tone he often did. “That was flirting. Bad flirting, but flirting.”

“Oh dear.” Pyrrha giggled.

Adam scowled and turned to the old man behind the bar. “What’s the best thing you have for a bet?”

The old man shook his head, like he’d seen this song and dance a million times before. He pointed on the menu to the platter section – particularly the Vacuo Roulette edition. That specific dish consisted of 20 skewers of fried dumplings, all glazed with red sauce. However, despite the dumplings looking like they all were glazed in the same sauce, each skewer had a totally random sauce applied to it. You might pick up the mildest dumpling and be pleasantly surprised, or you might end up with an unbearably hot sauce. The dish also boasted that 2, and only 2 , of the skewers were glazed in ‘ Devil’s Blood’ , a Crowley’s original sauce that apparently went above the Black rating on the pepper symbol.

The old man looked weary, but Adam looked smug. Sun felt the same way, and he turned to the others. “Wanna get fucked up, gang?”

Pyrrha, clearly aware of how this event was going to play out, ordered a round of milk boxes for everyone. Sun smiled as he held the thick, short carton in his hands, the printed cow on the front with dead, exaggeratedly cute eyes.

“Pyrrha,” Weiss spoke up as she punctured her carton with the accompanied straw, “weren’t you on an advertisement for this company a few years back?”

Pyrrha looked up at Weiss’ memory. “That’s right! It’s made by a dairy farm just on the outskirts of Mistral.” She smiled fondly at the memories. “The little farm boy who worked there was dying to get my autograph after. He was so sweet.”

“Child labour?” Adam ripped methodically at a corner of his carton. “Where have I heard that before?”

Weiss frowned, this time less out of frustrated petulance but more out of… something Sun didn’t recognize. Guilt? No, her features were too twisted for that. Pity? He felt that couldn’t be it either, but it was certainly something in between.

Pyrrha spoke over the atmosphere threatening to bubble up. “No, no, his aunts owned the farm. He was just training up to work there.”

“Oh, cool. Just nepotism.”

Neptune scowled openly. “Dude. Can you be like, not depressing for five minutes? Just five. I’ll time you.”

Adam took a long sip of his milk carton in thought. “No.”

“Oh buzz off, we love our local edgelord.” Sun curled his tail around Adam to imitate a hug without actually touching him.

For a moment, Neptune actually looked a little bit hurt, before he rolled his eyes. “Whatever man. You sound like you got Stockholm Syndrome or something. Cooped up in a dorm room with Tall, Dark and Moody.”

“Aw, you wanna swap?” Adam drawled.

“Play nice.” Pyrrha reminded the lot of them. “Today is supposed to be a day of relaxing. We’re all stressed with our first official assignment coming up – we don’t need to be biting at each other today.”

“Precisely!” Weiss pointed her nose high in the air.

“I think you’ve got a fangirl, Pyrrha.” Blake smirked quietly at Pyrrha, and Sun jumped as he remembered she was actually there. Thank the old gods he hadn’t been gossiping about her – not that he ever would, that was totally not cool. “You think she’s still got that promotional milk carton at home?”

Pyrrha gave a soft giggle as Weiss went pink, and Adam joined in. “She definitely strikes me as the type to keep a shrine.”

The group shared a laugh, and Sun absolutely beamed as Blake and Adam shared an interaction that didn’t resemble two raccoons trapped in a trashcan.

Weiss spluttered. “Don’t be rude! Besides, the carton would be disgusting by now if I kept it.”

“So you did buy one!” Blake laughed, and Weiss turned away petulantly.

Thankfully, the time to bully Weiss came to a close when a large metal platter was dumped unceremoniously on the counter in front of the group. The old man explained (in a series of groans and grunts) that each skewer had a number carved into it to signify the spice level, a level you wouldn’t find out until after finishing each skewer. Blake and Pyrrha took photos of the platter before anyone was allowed to touch it, leaving the boys to scowl. “It’s gonna get cold!” Neptune moaned.

“Yeah, no fair!” Sun reached over only for Blake to smack his hand away. Sun tried to ignore the growl that action drew from Adam. Why would that piss him off? Was it just because it was Blake? Or was it because she was hitting Sun’s hand in particular?

The familiar flutter in his chest came to life at that. If, by some completely and totally unlikely event that would surely border on a miracle, Adam liked Sun back in that way, or at all properly… would he be the protective type? His tail wriggled at the thought and he locked the tip of it between his ankles so it wouldn’t whack anyone. He’d spent the entire time letting it tap on the end of his seat, already.

“It’s probably the spiciest food you’ll find in Vale, Sun.” Blake rolled her eyes with that level of exasperation only found among friends. Almost forgetting Adam, Sun smiled again at the realisation that yes, the funny folk lined up on this bench were his friends. When he’d joined Shade Academy, there was a lot of discussion about every student viewing their peers as competition as opposed to friends or even allies. It certainly would have made duet lessons awkward. But here, they were all on the edge of their opportunities. They were all delinquents one way or the other. And… they were all friends! He leaned on Neptune’s shoulder as he listened to Blake’s words, feeling Neptune’s arm sling over his shoulders. “You’re probably used to spicy stuff if you’re from Vacuo, so I don’t think this’ll be much to you.”

“Same to you! I’ve heard Menagerie folk have crazy taste buds!”

Blake smiled as Weiss reached for the first skewer, inspecting the dumplings. “My mom used to make this amazing soup – Saints Brew , she used to call it. She said it came from a super old cookbook from well before the Great War. Apparently it was fed to a politician at a coronation centuries ago and he died of an aneurysm after a spoonful! It’s still debated whether or not it was deemed an assassination or a genuine mistake – ” She stopped suddenly as she realized how long she’d been talking; even the old man running the stall was looking at her.

Pyrrha, a little wide-eyed, patted Blake’s hand. “My father loves spicy food. Why don’t you send me the recipe?”

Blake, suddenly a lot more bashful, gave a quiet nod. How could a nod be quiet? Sun would never understand introverts, but he made a mental note to steal Blake some chocolate for after they’d gone back to the dorms.

“ ’Saints Brew’ ?” Neptune wriggled his nose. “Sounds like a miserable saint to me.”

“A saint of misery is still a saint.” Adam responded, before frowning gently to himself. “Where have I heard that before?”

“So anyway,” Weiss held out the dumpling skewer now that she’d fully inspected it, “this doesn’t smell too spicy.”

“Famous last words, baby.” Neptune winked.

Weiss spluttered something incoherent, before taking a dangerously big bite. She chewed triumphantly, before pausing, and her face immediately went red.

“Oh no.” Pyrrha whispered.

“Oh yes. ” Adam grinned.

Weiss coughed and gagged, barely choking down her mouthful before handing the skewer hurriedly to Blake and chugging down her carton of milk. “What monstrosity was THAT?!” She cried.

Blake inspected the skewer, biting off the rest of the dumplings. Completely unaffected by the spice, she smugly showed the number carved into the skewer to everyone.

Spice Level: 1

“Oh that’s pathetic.” Adam shook his head. “This is the best.”

“Really, that’s so bad, Weiss.” Neptune chuckled.

“Leave me alone!” She pouted, lips going bright red and eyes glistening. “As if any of you could do any better!”

“Aw, you poor thing!” Sun couldn’t help but laugh along.

Blake simply rolled her eyes as she put down the skewer, going to grab one for herself. She took an interested bite, humming in satisfaction at the flavour. “There’s a bit of a kick to it.” She nodded. “Not much though. I must have only gotten a 3 or 4.”

When she finished, the skewer revealed Spice Level: 7 written on it. Neptune gave a low whistle. “Man, you weren’t kidding about your mom’s cooking if that didn’t even phase you. Lemme see if I can match that.”

“Probably not,” Sun nudged him as he watched his friend grab a skewer, “you’re such a wimp when it comes to hot stuff.”

“Try me!” Neptune held out a skewer for Sun and they both had their own little competition eating. Sun’s skewer lit his mouth on fire, but it wasn’t enough to detract from the actual flavour of the sauce. He could taste garlic, black pepper, a strong tangy something that he could see himself getting addicted to if he dared to get a bottle of the stuff.

The rest of the competition played out very much like that with everyone, bullying each other’s reactions, looking closely to see if there was any indication or difference to the sauces on the dumplings, prompting each other to grab whatever could be perceived as the spiciest.

“ You are from Solitas too, you know!” Weiss frowned at Adam after his last comment of the session. She was still very much red in the face, so much so that Blake had given the girl her own milk carton. “Your spice tolerance shouldn’t be much better than mine!”

Adam picked up one of the last skewers, holding it carefully so as not to dirty his gloves, “I guess your tastes get more refined when you actually get to choose what you’ll tolerate your whole life, hm?”

“He’s just nervous he’ll get the worst one.” Sun winked at Weiss.

“You sure you should take the chance? Your spice tolerance isn’t…” Blake made herself speak, only for Adam to scoff at her.

“If it’s that bad I’ll spit it out.” Adam shook his head, taking a massive bite of the middle dumpling, in fact pulling it entirely off the skewer. He chewed, paused, and Sun watched him carefully as he looked down at the skewer. The number 10 could be made out on the skewer, and Sun snickered quietly.

“Are you alright, Adam?” Pyrrha watched him with a quiet frown. Adam didn’t answer; he simply put the skewer down, got off his stall, and sprinted to the closest trash can he could find.

“Bummer.” Neptune sipped his milk.

“Oof.” Sun got off his stool to help, and Pyrrha got off hers before Blake stopped her with a gentle hand.

“Don’t overcrowd him, he’ll freak out.” She sighed, and so Sun ran off alone to find Adam, milk carton in hand. Turns out, he’d found a metal trash can and was promptly taking his pain out on the thing, holding the back of his hand to his mouth.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” He croaked.

“I know, it’s bad.” Sun chuckled.

“MY WHOLE FACE HURTS!”

“Aw, bud.”