Chapter 6

"Again." The voice was harsh, but somewhat faded, and having some small distortion, it felt more distant than it should. That didn't stop the command from being all-encompassing, the sound of his voice forcing Xavier's body forward as he repeated the combination once again. His fists, elbows, knees and shins would each crash into the hard bark of the tree, strike after strike finally beginning to show some ware against the great pine. Already his knuckles were bloody and his legs were bruised, his body was soaked in sweat and his chest heaved with every breath. He didn't know how long they had been at this, only that each moment felt like hours with pain coursing through his entire body.

"Again." Came the command, Xavier froze. He clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms as anger welled within him, just how many times would he have to do this?? The answer came immediately following the thought. "We're going to be at this all day if you keep hesitating. You can't be afraid of pain, little man. Pain is just weakness leaving the body. Again." The pain and frustration consumed his thoughts as he once more struck the pine. Over and over again, each strike sending electric sensations of agony coursing through him. "Again." and again. "Again." and again. Until Xavier finally turned to face him...

"ENOUGH!"

Xavier bolted upright, looking around his room in Beacon, far from the pine forest he once called home... His body was no longer sore, the pain of his left arm and ribs having dulled significantly as he slept. He would adjust his glasses and rub his eyes before taking a look around the room. His sheets were... Messy, to say the least, but there was no sign of Blake. With a weary sigh, he would slowly get up, dress himself with his shapeshifting garb forming into his usual attire, and make his way to the showers.

The morning passed agonizingly slowly as Xavier made his way around campus, casually going to places where she may have been. He made stops in the library, the cafeteria for breakfast, and a few of the quiet places that he had only discovered by careful exploration in his first month in a practically empty school. With all other options exhausted as the afternoon dragged on, Xavier went to the courtyard to gather his thoughts and calm his nerves with a smoke. ...The first few didn't exactly work. He was getting close to throwing in the towel when an airship landed at the pad just outside the main gate, off the ship stepped Professor Port, returning a bit early it seemed. Xavier raised a brow as the older man approached him, a bit of a spring in his step. "Good day, Mathis!"

Xavier could only give a weak chuckle at the display of positivity, lighting up his fourth in a row. Port seemed to notice the butts on the ground, and would pause before deciding to sit down not far from Xavier. "What troubles you so?"

Xavier sighed after taking a drag. "let's just say... i had a hunt that didn't exactly go well,"

Port would stroke his mustache, musing a bit before he spoke. "I understand the feeling all too well." Xavier would give an expression that indicated some semblance of disbelief, which got a laugh from the older man. "You don't believe me? That's perfectly fine, but allow me to leave you some words of advice: There are times where your only option to succeed is to pick up the trail at a later date. Especially if your quarry is in no danger of being taken by another, it can be best to let her come to you instead."

Xavier's eyes widened and a blush spread over his cheeks. "how did you-"

Another boisterous laugh cut off Xavier's train of thought. Port would place a hand on Xavier's shoulder. "When I was your age, I had quite a few 'hunts' that went poorly, but just as many that ended in great triumph! Patience will most certainly be a deciding factor." He would pat Xavier's shoulder before rising to his feet and making his way back towards the school, leaving Xavier to finish his smoke. And once he had, Xavier would make the grave decision to check one final place. The very dorm from which he had been excommunicated just yesterday. Arriving just outside the door as the sun was just barely still over the horizon. His hand hovered just over the door, hesitating, tensing, what would he even say if she was there? Much less if she wasn't alone. Or would that be worse? His mind was racing in circles with no answers... But then the door would open.

Xavier would find himself face-to-face with Yang Xiao-Long, Blake's partner on Team RWBY and a beauty all her own, her violet eyes widened as she was somewhat shocked to see him. "Uhh... Mr. Mathis? What's up?"

"er... you don't have to be formal with me, i'm not even a proper teacher," He would awkwardly rub the back of his neck, but knew he would have to get to the point, and quickly. "...is blake here?"

"I should be asking you that!" In the blink of an eye, Ruby Rose would press herself between her teammate and the doorframe as she jabbed Xavier's chest with an accusatory finger. Her expression was incredibly stern, if she weren't so short and, honestly, adorable, it may have been intimidating. "Blake didn't come back at all after she wandered off with you! What did you do??"

Xavier was caught entirely off guard and could only really stammer out an answer. "t-that's... honestly... what i'm trying to figure out, ...apparently i don't understand women,"

"I understand women!" Yang would immediately chime in. "...I think. Maybe I can take a stab at it?"

"uhh..." Xavier's face lit up scarlet as his expression became a mixture of confusion and horror at even how to respond, Yang seemed to catch onto the implication immediately. In fact, she would go so far as to pull Ruby back as she glared daggers at Xavier.

Yang caught onto his distress rather quickly. "Oooookay, something tells me this conversation isn't met for 16-year-old ears. Sorry sis." Ruby attempted to object when Yang quickly stepped past the threshold and closed the door, nearly running into Xavier who only barely stepped back in time. "Why don't we take a walk?"

Xavier and Yang would make their way in awkward silence towards the library, which was surprisingly populated, but everyone seemed to have their own conversations going. Yang would find a nice, out of he way corner behind a bookcase to sit down before Xavier started to speak. "...last night, did ruby tell you anything? like, what she walked into?"

Yang gave a cheeky smile, but decided to bite her tongue instead of making it worse... For now. "She walked in on you two cuddling right? I mean, that's cute and all but it really set her off."

"eheh..." Xavier awkwardly laughed a bit, it was a dry, disingenuous laugh, but it came out nonetheless. "yeah, well... it didn't end there," He fidgeted, enough nervous energy in trying to avoid explaining as much as he could. Unfortunately that wouldn't be in the cards.

"Back up." Yang gave a small sigh. "I know it's awkward, but I don't know you at all, and I only met Blake like last week in the heat of combat." She laughed a bit. "You're gonna have to use actual objective reference points for what you mean by that. Tell me what you did."

Where once there was an intense crimson across his cheeks, hearing those words drained the color from Xavier's face. "...i'm not getting out of this am i?" Yang would cross her arms under her sizable chest and shake her head, giving Xavier a glare that could only come from an older sibling's scolding, and it sent a chill down his spine. Xavier would take a deep breath, and soon began recounting the evening that he had with Blake. How things went from warm to steamy to blazing hot incredibly quickly, and by the time it could have cooled off, she was already gone.

It was Yang's turn to be struck speechless over what turned out to be a much juicier story than she anticipated, slowly leaning in closer as things got interesting or shifting back when surprised. Despite staying silent throughout the explanation, she was certainly expressive. After Xavier stopped talking, she would wait another moment before letting out a soft "Damn..." After taking a few minutes to digest all of the information she had been given, Yang had an answer. Perhaps not the right answer, but an answer nonetheless. "Well, for one, she likes you. Really, really, REALLY likes you." She laughed a bit. "Don't take that for granted, I cannot overstate it. She's down bad." Yang nodded. "The second thing is... It really sounds like she just got carried away, to me. I mean you said you didn't want to, but then she wound up sort of coercing you into it. She's probably feeling like... Maybe ashamed of doing it at all, but maybe worse because of that part?"

Xavier wasn't entirely sure if he believed that, but that explanation made more sense than any he had come up with. He slowly nodded before letting go of a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Yang seemed to be waiting on a response, however. Eventually, he would give one. "...so, ...when i get to talk to her next, i... tell her i'm okay with it?" It would seem that he realized how that sounded once it left his mouth. "and become the biggest tool to walk the world in doing so, nevermind,"

Fortunately, he was in the company of someone with a great sense of humor as Yang snickered intensely from his awkward bit of self-reflection. "Man, you really don't understand women, huh?" After another brief snicker subsided she stood up, turning the chair around to lean forward on it before being seated once again. "Listen, after what happened you should wait a bit. If you saw her again today, you'd just picture her naked right?"

That... Hadn't really occurred to him, and while he initially wanted to object... "first i'd think about her wellbeing... then i'd probably picture her naked," It was a weak joke but seemed to land as Yang tried and very much failed to not laugh at it.

"See? That's exactly what I mean. After what happened that awkward mutual feeling would probably just get you two back on the same wavelength. Once was enough, right?" Xavier was surprised at her insight on the subject and had a few questions about Yang that he was too afraid to ask right now, but a nod of confirmation would be enough to show he was following her train of thought. "I mean, the only thing that could make it worse is if you had an ex that was similar, those feelings never go away."

"...uh" Xavier gave a sheepish smile at the notion, causing Yang's eyes to widen as she quickly reached forward and grabbed onto his shoulders.

"Tell me I didn't just call it."

"i mean, i'll say it but..."

"Oh my god." She would sit back down and cross both arms over the back of the chair as she placed her chin on top. "Okay, tell me about this girl."

Xavier immediately stood up. "yeah how about no,"

Yang cleared her throat. "You wanted my help. And from that reaction, you really need it."

He felt a shutter run up his back as he shook his head a bit. "look just... that was a bad relationship, sure they're similar in a few ways but-"

"But nothing." Yang cut him off. "If you see your ex in Blake, even if it's just some of the good stuff and not the bad, that's all you're going to think about. And she apparently hurt you bad enough that you won't even say her name, so what's that say?"

"julie," Xavier answered back before he could catch himself, and would take a deep breath. "her- her name was julie... and you're right, she hurt me, bad..."

Yang slowly nodded. "So you understand that she'll always be a part of this, right?"

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Xavier's fists clenched briefly before he steadied himself with a deep breath. "...maybe, ...just ...sorry, sensitive subject"

Yang stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. "No need to apologize to me. But hey, you'll want to give her some space for a bit. Blake I mean. ...I won't hammer anything in, do you maybe want something to drink?"

"unless it's stiff, i'll pass," He said dryly, though wouldn't face away from Yang, she had been kind enough to lend an ear and offer her advice after all. Yang seemed to catch onto that, and gave him a small, affectionate slug in the arm.

"What you need is to get your guy friends and have a blowout, a nice distraction."

Xavier shrugged. "could always hit the gym,"

Yang shook her head. "Training isn't a distraction, I mean something fun!"

He could see the value in that but... "well, all my friends are... nowhere near vale," He admitted with some reluctance.

Yang would immediately wrap her arm around his shoulders, pulling her scroll out from her pocket. "Change of plans then!" Before Xavier could ask, Yang started talking again. "Rubes? Hey, any luck...? Gotcha, well listen, our friend here doesn't have any guy friends to get through this with so I'm not gonna leave him in this state. ...Yep! No worries. Just give me a call when you find her." She hung up, placing her scroll back in her pocket before smiling at Xavier.

Only one other time had he so quickly regretted an act of kindness, but wasn't about to complain given how much leniency had been shown to him already. "so... what's the plan?" Was all he could think to ask.

"You need a real distraction, working out or training is venting, not a distraction." Yang poignantly pointed out, slapping his back hard before dragging him back towards their dorm. Xavier didn't even try to fight it, only regretting that he couldn't smoke right now. But while he was curious, he didn't say anything until after they had arrived.

"...you know, i'm sort of reminded of something,"

"What's that?" She knew she was probably going to regret asking...

"my big brother, he kinda raised me... usually after something bad happened, like breaking a bone training, he'd try to take the evening and spend some quality time, like a movie night or something," He couldn't help but give a weak laugh as the memories, like his dream from last night, started to return. "...wow, i haven't thought about that in a long long time,"

That made her blush a little. "Y-yeah? I mean, Ruby and me are kind of the same way. Whenever she would get hurt as a kid, big sis would take care of her." She wasn't about to go into her parental situation with someone who was basically a stranger. A girl has to have principals somewhere. Though that didn't mean she was above borrowing Weiss's streaming accounts! "Alright, let's see... I'm not like, SUPER prepared for a party or anything like that, but... If you shut your brain off and pretend you're a kid again we can have some fun." She laughed a bit, not really thinking about that odd choice of wording.

He couldn't help but get a genuine laugh out of the bad phrasing of that. It seemed her own corniness was something he appreciated. Xavier paused for a moment before rummaging through his sylladex. "a party? what kind of party are you thinking of miss xiao-long?"

"Oh the usual, sugary snacks, drinks, and something that you would've rented off of a store shelf based on the box and immediately regretted." She rummaged through Ruby's dresser, knowing full well where her younger sister kept her secret stash of snacks. No popcorn, but a few small bags of chips and some cookies were more than enough. Yang would pay her back next week when they could make a trip into town. And for his part, Xavier had something stashed away that would make good for such an occasion, one of the many variants of Faygo that were alchemized throughout his session, items made en-masse for different effects. This particular one was a deep, artificial light blue.

"oh blue this time, thank the gods... let's see what a good movie from here looks like, you pick,"

She cocked an eyebrow at his weird soda... "What the heck is that?" She put on some raunchy buddy comedy film, similar to The Hangover, but with a Chicken Faunus who has to learn to stand up for himself. Called... "Mr. Chicken" Not the strangest thing either of them had read a summary of, but it worked.

"faygo: aquamarine sugarbomb flavor, it's going to taste like the single most artificial blue drink you can possibly imagine, it's strangely addictive" The 2-liter bottle seemed to almost sparkle a bit as it was cracked open. Part of him wondered if she would even try it with that description, but Yang took a swig without hesitation, handing Xavier a bag of chips for his trouble. Hell, she seemed like she was threatening to chug the whole thing, but only managed about half since it was warm.

"Eeugh! You weren't kidding, that's like 90% sugar!"

"told you," He said with a laugh before taking the bottle back and pouring some into his mouth. Something that surprised Yang given how she had handled that bottle earlier. The two would turn their attention to the movie as the plot began to kick off, leaving the four main characters to a night of partying gone wrong and to deal with the consequences, including being arrested, cheating a casino to pay back a criminal, and other scenes that essentially made this Remnant's version of The Hangover. And as a general rule, stupid comedy is best enjoyed in lighthearted company, that's exactly what they did, laughing at most of the terrible jokes and even a few of the surprisingly clever ones. By the time it was finished, their sides hurt, both from the movie itself and the consistent jokes they told one another throughout. Yang's sense of humor was a bit dirtier than his own but Xavier would find himself having to catch his breath more than once. "that... was such a terrible movie, i loved it,"

"Right? I've been meaning to watch it for a while but I never got the chance when Blake's around. Obviously." She stretched a bit, lifting her arms and inadvertently showing off her deep cleavage, as she had long since taken off her jacket. "Mmn~! How are you feeling? Wanna keep hanging?"

Xavier had to stop himself from making a joke about something 'hanging out', even if she would have found it funny, he wasn't about to be an ass just yet. "...you know, yeah, i've been having alot of fun" He ponders for a moment. "...actually, i could show you one of my movies"

"Yeah? Let 'er rip. I'll go grab some more snacks from the cafeteria, and probably change." She stood, looking out the window behind them, the sun was setting already...

"alright, i'll be back in a snap," He would exit the dorm first... With the sun going down, the weekend was coming to a close. He wondered... As he made his way back to his own dorm, if this was even a good idea in the first place to show her a movie literally from another world, but given the production quality of what he had in mind, he may have been able to pass this off... By the time Xavier had returned, laptop in hand, Yang had changed into her pajamas, consisting of a loose orange tank top and a pair of very short black shorts, perhaps showing off more than she may have intended. Regardless of intent, he felt something in the back of his mind when he saw her.

Yang had just finished brushing her long blonde hair by the time he had arrived and waved him in, the door being open enough to see who was coming. "Yo! What's up?"

Xavier cleared his throat awkwardly and attempted to hide his blush as he entered, closing the door behind him. He would attempt to figure out if it was possible to hook the computer into the TV as he began to explain the movie. "so this one's called clerks, it's a bout a pair of convenience store workers having one helluva day..." Fortunately it seemed HDMI was a universal format. Convenient.

"Really?" Yang looked a bit surprised, though a mischievous smile would soon come to her. "It sounds pretty plain, hope it gets extra wild to double down!" She would lie down on her bed watching while Xavier would take the floor not far from it. The first part of the movie would pass with a slow start but soon enough the writing would start getting masterful.

Xavier's first words throughout the film were a nonchalant "try not to suck any dick on the way to the parking lot" Before they both broke out into laughter, which quickly became side-splitting following the line "In a row?" Other such gems throughout included: A mistranslated heavy metal song sung by a Norwegian, ordering a bunch of porn tapes over the phone in front of a kid and her mother, roof hockey, the funeral scene, and of course, the old man who died masturbating in the bathroom. He wasn't wrong about this whole thing being a wild ride. However, the speech between friends at the end, about getting over yourself and getting your life together, it always hit home. "...funny thing is they didn't know how to end the movie, there was a cut where dante was going to get robbed and shot, but they decided against it"

Yang ended up LOVING the movie, every second of it. It was hilarious in just the right ways, she was obsessed. But... It definitely clearly stood out as being from another universe, which was bizarre, but nothing was too out of place to not be funny. She turned to him after the ending, going back through her thoughts on the movie, and, speaking without much thought, threw out. "Is thirty seven really that much?"

"yes, yes it really is," He had to restrain a laugh as he remembered the scene, but his reply was near instantaneous and fairly serious. "...why, were you considering going for a record? can't recommend it," At this point he was messing with her, though she seemed to be actively considering something. Before long, she would snap back with a bit of a sultry joke.

"I could change your mind~" The implication was obvious as she leaned in close, showing off purposefully now. Xavier's eyes shot wide open as his face turned scarlet.

"uuuuuh..." He would try to lean back a bit, ironically getting a better look at her chest- And not meaning to. Yang would immediately pull back and clutch her sides as she laughs.

"Dude... I was kidding!" After getting herself back under control, she would place a hand on his shoulder. "If you're that easy I'm just gonna embarrass myself." Xavier stammered a bit, but before he could say anything, Yang would turn her attention to the door. "Damn... Nobody's back yet?"

He gave a sigh of relief at the change of topic. "yeah... it's dark out by now, it'd be a little suspicious if three members of team rwby are missing come monday,"

Yang shook her head a bit. "I don't think anyone's stupid enough to miss school. Blake will probably be back sometime in the middle of the night when she thinks no one is awa-" The sound of the lock opening would quickly break the tension before the door opened up, a disheveled Blake entering the room, and immediately freezing up.

"X-Xavier??"

He turned to the voice and froze, fortunately this position wasn't compromising despite how little Yang was wearing, but he... didn't know how to react. Or what to say. ...This could go very bad very quickly. "blake..."

"Uh... Crap." Yang would say before rolling out of bed. She laughed a bit, standing up and grabbing Blake, who was frozen in place as well. "Be right back, dude!" No time to rest for the blonde one...

Xavier paused before getting back onto his feet, trying to gather himself for a bit. He didn't know why Yang decided to take Blake out instead of him leaving, but hoped they returned before Ruby, explaining what he was doing there may be a tad difficult otherwise. The girls stayed gone for about... 20 minutes. Chatting and meeting up with Weiss and Ruby as well to get the situation together... Yang returned to the dorm by herself to meet Xavier when they were finished, to talk to him. "Heyyyy buddy! Um... Sorry about that."

Xavier had one last good chuckle at the absurdity of being apologized to. "i'm the intruder here, if anything i should apologize..." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "is... she alright?" It was obvious that she wasn't, especially seeing him again, but Yang would comfort him by placing an arm around the slightly shorter boy's shoulders.

"Honestly? I'd feel bad if I didn't get you caught up. Like, at least a general rundown." She sighed, clearly not good at handling complicated conflicts like this. "She's not like... Super angry or anything like that, and she doesn't suspect us of anything or anything like that."

"i hoped for that much, i mean it's not like i tried to take you up on that joke" May as well try to salvage some humor from this situation. "but that's not the end of it, right...?"

"Ehhhh..." She made a bit of a face, kicking at the carpet with her bare foot. "So basically like... She definitely needs some space, she apologizes because she got super carried away since she hadn't had sex or even felt like having it in like almost a year, and she's only a little pissed you didn't double down on stopping her, but she can't complain because she didn't stop herself either so she understands." She nodded a bit. "She's not gonna tell anyone about you guys other than us, but she said she can't see you until she figures out her own feelings and... You figure out yours."

Xavier would slowly nod after a moment of silence, digesting the information, mulling it over. All in all, it could have been a much worse outcome. "that... sounds fair... i'll be honest, i kinda caved for the same reason, been too long, ...and i feel honestly terrible for it, but i'll respect the need for space," He took a deep breath before starting to make his way out of the dorm. He paused at the doorway however and looked back at Yang. "...thanks for tonight, if you ever wanted to catch another bad movie sometime?"

Yang smiled, while she thought of a playboy joke she decided against it. "I'd like that, you'll have to show me some more of those weird indie flicks." Xavier would give an enthusiastic nod before collecting his laptop and heading back toward his dorm.