Chapter 8

There had been a routine to the week, as Xavier continued bouncing from class to class, aiding with demonstrations and general busywork. However, come Friday, things would take a somewhat different turn. After the sparring matches had concluded for the day, everyone was dismissed... "Mr. Mathis, I need to speak with you." ...Well, almost everyone. Glynda had fortunately managed to cool off about the library incident as there hadn't been any particular incidents after, Xavier had kept his head down and his nose to the grindstone, only pausing to catch up on his reading or occasionally hang out with Yang, who was quickly becoming a good friend.

Xavier yawned and stretched, feeling a bit fatigued for some unknown reason, nevertheless, he would approach Glynda's desk and ask "what can i do for ya?" His hands were in his pockets and he had bags under his eyes, it having been a couple of days since he actually slept. Glynda paused briefly and showed a bit of concern but it quickly faded as she cleared her throat.

"Follow me." She directed simply as she grabbed her riding crop, the two would make their way from the amphitheater towards the main building, in the west wing sat a classroom that had only received basic maintenance and cleaning it seemed for some time. It was smaller than the other rooms, with room for only a few dozen students at a time. There sat a basic desk off to one side, as well as a chalkboard built into the wall as opposed to dry erase or even the more advance Light Dust powered screens others had, its age was more than apparent, but taking a look at it made him a combination of nervous and excited. Glynda sneezed as she entered the room, and seemed to be averse to it in general. "No classes have been taught here for over a decade. Professor Ozpin is evidently expecting something of this room soon, however, and it will be your responsibility to get it back into shape. You may use your abilities to achieve this, but do not leave the door open while doing so."

Xavier raised a brow, noting that Oz apparently avoided telling Glynda exactly what his plans for this room were. That being said, it may have been a better idea this way, Xavier nodded, observing the few spaces this room had for any form of decoration. "...i can make this work," He stated confidently after giving a small smile. Glynda nodded.

"Good, I will return to see your progress on Monday." Xavier's head snapped around to her.

"...only two days?" He asked with no small hesitation.

Glynda scoffed and gave him a glare. "I'm hardly placing the weight of the world on your shoulders, just... Make it presentable." That was vague to say the least, but it seemed for the time being that his future prospect would depend on the scrutiny of Glynda Goodwitch. She would soon leave the room after handing down her instructions... And Xavier knew better than to tell her about his Saturday plans.

"...guess i'll just have to bust my ass sunday then, ...tonight let's get some rest" He yawned midway through his sentence, beginning to realize that he needed rest far more often nowadays. He had put it off for as long as he could before his eyes grew heavy just from continuing to stay up, and an energy drink wasn't cutting it. As he approached his room, avoiding getting any food for now, a sinking feeling crept into the back of his mind about what kind of dream awaited him. Xavier grit his teeth a bit as he turned the knob. This last week had gone well enough, maybe he wouldn't dream at all...

He was wrong.

One of the problems with being a Space player was the clarity of one's dreams, having once been connected to Skaia*, it gave a certain amount of lucidity that made any dream based on a memory into one that was all too real. Before the sun had even set, already he was tossing and turning in bed as the scape of his mind brought him back into a rather... Painful part of his past.

"I am telling you that is not how it works."

"just trust me,"

"I do it is just..."

The brunette tossed her long, braided hair back, her pink eyes meeting his blue with a reserved, but devious light to them. "...What will it even feel like? If we share sensation, how can we concentrate?"

Xavier gave a shrug. "it takes practice, but i know you can do it..." He held aloft a tarot card in his hand. 0, The Fool. Juliet would take it from his grasp swiftly before making use of it... To become two versions of herself, identical in thought and feeling, they looked one another over. Both wore the same backless black dress that hugged their figure well, both wore the same somewhat scuffed black and white canvas shoes, and the same striped thigh socks. Their makeup was identical from the pale foundation to the burgundy lipstick. They looked at one another for a moment with some interest before the original Juliet spoke.

"I do not suppose this one will be Margot?" The second would immediately get red in the face and cross her arms. "I know where we keep our shotgun."

Xavier tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh. "okay, okay, no cat fighting... now that you're here, why don't we give it a try?"

The two identical girls would briefly smile at one another before retrieving two slightly different violins from their sylladex's. Xavier's laptop would begin to play the initial melody before the original Julie would begin, her other self joining in a harmony as the Dance of the Violins could finally be completed as it was supposed to. It was an enrapturing performance throughout, and it was a shame that his bass couldn't be a part of it... But by the end, both seemed more than satisfied at the result of their duet. It wasn't perfect, not yet, but there would be time to practice. The copy would fade away, The Fool resuming its shape afterward. Juliet would hand the card back to Xavier and take his hand in the process.

"I... Will not forget this. I promise." She smiled warmly and traced her thumb over his knuckles. "You always do so much for me..."

"julie..." He hesitated, but before he could find his words, the pull of the waking world was beginning to drag him from his slumber. "i-"

Xavier's eyes opened, he hadn't awoken with a start this time, but there was a lingering pain. One that was always brought on when thinking of her. He sat up and sighed as he put his glasses back on. At least today he could have some fun. After dragging himself through a meal, and a shower, he would dress in something a bit different than his usual attire. This would be his first day out on the town after all! He wanted to look a bit sharp. After combing his hair back, Xavier would form the Spiral Overcoat into a somewhat casual outfit consisting of a black polo shirt, dark blue jeans that looked fairly new, and a pair of black and white skate shoes. It wasn't exactly spiffy, but it was a change. After checking the time, he would make his way to the room that had caused so much trouble before, the Team RWBY dorm, and lightly knock on the door.

Fortunately it was late enough into the morning that the others seemed to have set out for their plans today, leaving a pajama-clad Yang, who was still very much waking up, to answer the door. "Heyyy..." She yawned. "...What's up, bud?"

Xavier smiled softly, offering a chocolate bar he had bought for just such an occasion. "oh you know, just being fashionably early,"

Yang quickly perked up and snatched the snack from his hand. "Aw sweet! Free breakfast." She stood in the doorway as she quickly opened the candy and took a bite, more than one passing late riser pausing to stare at a pajama'd Yang for a moment while they talked. "Okay... Gimme juuuust a few minutes and I'll be good. Didn't realize how late it was." She would take another bite and the full size candy was nearly gone.

Xavier nodded. "sounds good, i'll grab a smoke out in the courtyard, wait for you there?" She gave a thumbs-up before closing the door. Right as predicted it wouldn't take long as she changed into... not her usual outfit, but something more casual. Some Khaki pants and a tight orange crop top. With a black bra underneath at least.

"Yoo! What ups?"

Xavier took a look around, spotting a few students who seemed to just have gotten out of bed. "ha, not them that's for sure... so," He turned to Yang and smiled a bit. "actually, before we take off, i wanted to ask you something?" He sounded unsure himself.

"hm?" She tilted her head adorably... Actually showing a resemblance to her younger sister for once. "Totally, what's up?"

He hesitated. How to even broach the topic? Well, specifics might come if necessary but may as well start with a general. He nodded, confirming his own line of thought before actually talking. "...how's blake doing?"

"Um..." Yang paused, having to think about it for a minute. "I haven't actually seen much of her lately. She and Weiss got into a bit of a fight a while ago, but... She seemed alright other than being pissed off at her."

"weiss... your other teammate? she seems... nice?" It was obvious that he was being a bit sarcastic here, from what little he had truly seen of this girl, she was way too self-assured. At a guess, he figured it may have had something to do with Blake being a faunus. "well, they'll probably make up, shall we?"

"Yup!" She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, walking him towards the airship that was about to leave for the main city. From now on, on Saturdays and Sundays, three ships would go up and down from Beacon Academy to the city of Vale, the largest city in all of remnant, by both area and population. One in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one at night. With three similar trips going back up from the city to the academy with the same schedule, offset two hours later. He was in awe of this city from the moment it came into view. His only real memories of a major metropolitan area was the brief trips he had taken into St. Paul as a child. It was an almost childlike sense of wonder that he hadn't felt in so many years. From the air one could see that it was built around a large river or lake, with many docking areas along the coast and the city itself building from the flat lands of said coast towards the mountains. He managed to take in the bigger picture, and it kept his mind off of his general fear of flying. Or at least, machine flying.

"damn... this place is massive,"

Yang had let him take the window seat along for this ride, keeping ahold of his hand throughout as she could tell he had some anxiety over the trip. It was honestly kind of cute. "Oh yeah, totally!" She stepped off the ship, stretching a bit. That ship was crowded as hell, being the morning ship on the second Saturday, it was everyone's literal first chance to get out and play. In fact, the first ship down and the last ship up were always the busiest, since most people would spend all day in the city... "I haven't had a ton of time to explore, buuuut I've looked around a bit. We should hit the clubs next time we're out." She snickered a bit, swaying her hip to bounce his.

A gesture he would follow despite not being nearly as gifted in figure. "ha, at your age what do you even get at a club?" This was a man who just didn't get hints it seemed. Then again, his idea of a club usually had more in the way of jazz, and being an American, the age to drink was always 21 instead of 18.

"Haha, you kidding me? I'm SO popular at clubs, we're going next time." She hummed a bit, dragging him around town in the general direction of the theater, but stopping frequently to eye shop windows and anything she found interesting. While she seemed somewhat interested in the clothing or movie/game stores, Xavier took more of an interest in weaponry, music stores and anyplace that caught his nose with good-smelling food. Despite Yang's frequent assurances that it was fine to take their time, they both ended up sprinting towards the theater at the end. Only barely having time to grab some drinks before taking their seats, having even missed the previews.

The next two hours were spent genuinely enjoying an expectedly terrible movie, it helped that they were basically the only ones at this particular premiere. While there were numerous callbacks and tasteless exploitations of the faunus character's newfound sense of confidence, the jokes that hit were bullseyes each time, causing one or both of them to bust out laughing. It also helped that they could bounce their own lame jokes off of one another throughout. By the time the credits began to roll, they were both spent, sides hurting, it always helped that one could enjoy a bad comedy when no one was telling you how bad it is. They would make their way out to the parking lot while continuing to occasionally laugh from a reference.

Yang would soon come to a stop as they were back out in the sun. "Aw, and I forgot to offer to suck your dick in the theater." She very obviously joked, sticking her tongue out and giving a wink. Though Xavier was prepared for it.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"i mean we didn't even have enough time to get a popcorn bucket to make it work, proper theater etiquette and all," He remarked back, cracking a smirk. He had yet to embarrass her like she had to him, but he'd find a way eventually...

"So! Where we grabbing lunch?" She just breezed it by, letting him get away with it once again.

Curses, foiled for lack of reaction. "you pick, hell if we've got time maybe one of your clubs,"

Yang scoffed a bit. "Nahh, clubs don't open until 5pm, and then you're early. You wanna get there like, 8 if you're gonna be there all night. But I'd take you at like 11 for your first time."

"happy hour or something?" He honestly had no idea, but shrugged it off. "...actually, know what i haven't had in ages? a good burger,"

Yang smiled wide. "Oh yeah? Now I'm thinking about it too." She laughed a bit. "Man, I dunno where the good places are around here..." She would pull out her scroll to look something up, which gave Xavier a thought.

"...no lie i should probably get one of those too, might be a bit more convenient,"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "So that's why you never messaged me?" Xavier shrugged, but Yang gave him a small punch in the arm. "Well, get one tomorrow then! I've got hilarious stuff to show you."

Part of him wanted to turn that into a dirty joke, but decided against it as she apparently got a hit. The two began to make their way towards a dive deeper into the city, one of those hole-in-the-wall places that were known and loved by locals. She sure knew how to show Xavier a good time, although there were a few questions that always crossed his mind whenever he was enjoying himself a little too much. "...so um, do you just make friends like this all the time?"

"Hm? Yeah, why?" She was so casual that guys just sort of gravitated towards her. She was way too upbeat and inviting to be intimidating due to her attractiveness. Not like Weiss or Pyrrha. Though before he could really give a proper reply, they heard a familiar voice.

"Yang?!" Yang would immediately turn towards it to find Blake standing just across the street from them, and just a turn away from their destination.

"Uhhh... uh-oh." Yang's face went a bit pale at the sight of the angry cat girl. Xavier would just now turn to look.

"uh oh? why uh- ...oh" He was a bit embarrassed, not expecting to see Blake outside of class just yet, but giving a smile towards her anyway. "um, hey..."

"Wh-what the h... What are you guys doing here?" She forced a polite smile, but from the look in her eyes it was clear that she was pissed.

Xavier looked to Yang, who in turn looked back at him. Both seemed embarrassed despite it the situation being innocent, but given the track record of placing his foot in his mouth, he decided to let Yang speak first. "Blake I swear this isn't what it- ...Oh my god."

"Soooo... Is this a bad time to introduce myself, or?" Right behind Blake was a tall, tan and handsome monkey faunus, unbeknownst to Xavier, Team RWBY had chased after this guy quite literally just the other day. He wore a sleeveless white vest, open of course, to show his admittedly impressive abs. He also wore faded blue jeans and red sneakers, his hands bore a fingerless red glove on each. He had somewhat messy, short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a rather charming smile even though his body language, tone, and even the motion of his long yellow tail showed he felt incredibly awkward.

Xavier's jaw hung open for a moment, both at the shock and... Well, this guy wasn't exactly... Unattractive. "er... this is already super awkward, so what's one more body i guess?" He blinked in surprise as there was a silence with both girls blushing a bit and looking down. "i'm... sorry, who are you?"

Yang would rather quickly seize the opportunity. "Let's let these two get acquainted, we'll see you inside!" She would rush across the street and grab Blake to take her behind a corner somewhere, as Xavier and the mystery monkey man looked at each other for a moment before shrugging mutually.

He would soon cross the street and give a proper introduction. "Sun Wukong! Ditched school to check out the place. The Vytal festival is in a few weeks, I heard." ...Sort of proper, anyway.

"oh no kidding!” Xavier had no idea what that meant exactly, but it sounded like fun. And it was better to roll with the punches. "...wait you don't go to beacon do you?"

Sun laughed. "Nah, a place like this is wayyy too prissy for my type." He idly swayed his tail behind him as he spoke. "It's supposedly this huge festival celebrating uh... I dunno, some history crap. But it's held at one of the huntsman academies every year, and all the schools get together in one place to party. There's a dance and a tournament, and just loads of other stuff. It was at Shade last year and I was so frickin' pissed I didn't get to go, like man! Soooo, what's a few extra days out here gonna do?"

Xavier was already feeling a bit put-off by this guy. "well, i won't say nothing if you don't... out of, uh, curiosity, how do you know blake?" He didn't want to jump to any conclusions, she probably wouldn't have gotten so angry if she was seeing Sun, but still. Something about this guy was familiar... And he didn't quite know why.

Sun casually placed his arms behind his head as the two walked to the restaurant. "Oh, you know. Playing the game, dude." He laughed, giving Xavier a bit of a shoulder punch. "Meeting up in secret, hanging out at clubs, just seein' where it goes. She's totally into me though, I got a feeling for that sorta thing." He laughed again. "Yo, Dukies! Man, I could go for a burger." He headed inside, only waving a bit for Xavier to follow him.

Xavier paused for a moment, a thin smile on his face but unconsciously he was reaching for his knife... before realizing and just following the monkey faunus. Now he could place it just fine. Although he'd prefer to hear from Blake before kicking this guy's ass- er, jumping to any conclusions. "hmm, yeah i get playing the game," That.. came off a bit harsher than he intended, but he tossed that aside when the waitress came over. "orange pop, and an extra large with bacon, thank you"

Sun seemed to have similar taste as he didn't even need to look at the menu. "Whatever's on tap... And same deal, extra cheese." He nodded a bit, getting a beer and not being questioned about his age at all. "So what's up with you? That chick was HOT man. Girlfriend?"

That got a surprise laugh from Xavier. "ha, like i could pull someone like her, appreciate your confidence in me though," He could at least start to relax a bit with the atmosphere of this place. Getting somewhat back into character, he introduced himself. "xavier, by the by,"

Sun nodded, seeing someone who just needed a bit of a lesson. "It's all about confidence. Let them come to you, ya know?" He nodded firmly, taking the beer from the waitress with his tail before she left again, dexterously bringing the beverage to his lips, he took a good, long drink before he continued. "Girls are more forward than people think. They'll make it pretty obvious if they want you."

Xavier gave a casual shrug before plainly stating "shame how most guys don't get the hint... one direction or another," A subtle jab but he doubted it taken as such. "so, what kind of firepower do you carry?" If there was anything he could change the subject with, it was weapons. ...He also wondered what was keeping the girls.

Sun's face lit up more than usual. "Ryui Bang and Jingu Bang. Check it." He pulled the folded staff from his hip, whipping it into it's full length and setting it on the ground. It was about the same height as him. That caused a few patrons to turn towards their table. "I can handle this thing better than anybody handles any other weapon. Guaranteed."

Xavier's smile became somewhat forced at the awkward amount of attention now on them, several of the patrons turning to their table, some with fascination but most with some level of disdain. "...all about that confidence aren't you?" Fortunately, their food wouldn't be too far behind, he hoped to take a break from this since this guy was annoying even talking about weapons. Like 1911 owners, yes they're awesome but tone it down.

Sun, on the other hand, would just be enjoying the moment. "Sweet!" He smiled as their sizable burgers were placed on the table before them, he folded his weapon back up and tucking it away before diving in. Just as Xavier had hoped, shutting entirely up as he did.

(thank the gods...) Although... He wouldn't be entirely upstaged, so he decided before taking a bite of his burger, to give it a little toss and slice it in half, nearly perfectly, followed by the cliched sheathing of his weapon before the cut was seen. Take that, show-off. Sun laughed a little bit, but before he could properly react...

"We're baaaaack~!" Came the voice of Yang before an awkward laugh followed, the girls walked over to their table.

Xavier would move aside to let one of them sit beside him, though he wasn't sure if Blake would even want to. "hey... these burgers are awesome,"

It would be Yang that took that spot as Blake decided to sit beside Sun, pretty much as far from Xavier as she could manage. Her ears drooped down a bit "H-hey... Sorry."

Xavier noticed that, apart from the stress that would have come from their meeting again anyway, Blake looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her hair wasn't neatly groomed like usual, her bow was missing entirely, and she had bags under her eyes on par with his own. "uh... you alright?" His voice was low, and he seemed genuinely worried. Actually being able to look her in the eyes for once. Blake simply nodded... Honestly it seemed like everyone here needed a chance to talk to everyone else alone to really process the situation, so Yang was just going to try and keep things together for a moment.

"S'cuse me! We've got two more here." She smiled, ordering for herself and Blake real quick. "So! What were you guys talking about?"

Xavier gave a shrug. "the good things in life," He answered somewhat dismissively, taking another bite of his burger and hoping the monkey man didn't ruin the moment.

However... "I'll drink to that, man! Weapons and Women!" He laughed, holding a fist out to Xavier for a bump as Sun took a swig of his drink with his tail. Xavier visibly cringed, but did indeed return the bump before blushing and looking down. That wasn't the worst thing Sun could've said, it might have been up there though. Deciding to ignore... That. Blake forced out the awkward question.

"So..." she cleared her throat a little bit. "How've you been, Xavier?" She put on a strong face. Smiling even though there was clearly a lot more she wanted to say.

"um, ...pretty busy, gonna be teaching something useful soon," He kind of awkwardly remarked. "how about you...?"

Blake gave a half-hearted laugh. "Uhh... Eugh." She shook her head, not responding...

"I'm sure it'll turn out fine." Yang interjected before she nodded a bit at Blake. ...And taking a bit of her food once it arrived. "There's a lot going on right now, after all. No need to worry about everything at once."

Xavier would scarf down another large bite of his once sizable burger, swallowing before he spoke. "sound advice... take things one at a time," Though he almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything, and proceeded back to his food. It was absolutely delicious. Blake did the same, enjoying the meal more than anything... At least she was able to take her mind off of things for a while... Giving Xavier a few sad glances from time to time, but overall managing to relax a bit. He attempted to return the occasional glance with a smile, as if to say he was here for her... But it wouldn't be long until they all received a check and it was starting to get late.

Taking the initiative once again, Yang spoke up. "Alright! So uh... What do we wanna do?" She put it flat out, glancing from Blake to Xavier... Since it was Saturday, it wasn't technically a problem to stay the night in the city. Though, knowing what they didn't, Xavier was hesitant at the prospect.

"ha... if i'm gone too long goodwitch might try to hunt me for sport, unless you know a place to lay low?" He turned to Yang with his usual amount of banter ready, hoping to liven the situation a little.

Unfortunately that particular course of banter had the opposite effect as she blushed a bit, so did Blake. "Yeah, totally! I know a couple places..." Yang glanced back at Blake who was now avoiding eye contact.

Eventually the faunus girl spoke. "Sun and I... will probably get a hotel together."

And Xavier immediately froze up. "oh... um..." He would finish the last of his drink before he spoke, Sun and Blake both giving him entirely different expressions, but both anticipating his reaction. "that's... cool,"

Immediately, Blake's expression fell. She wordlessly stood up and dragged Sun with her as they left the diner. Sun with a big smile and giving Xavier a thumbs-up. Xavier and Yang were now left with the bill, and the awkward silence that followed as even Xavier couldn't believe what he just said. Yang would take a deep breath and turn to him with a sympathetic expression. "Well... That went terribly."

Xavier nodded. "yep, i kinda fucked myself didn't i?"