Colors of Remnant

Aster hadn't meant to arrive so late to lunch, but with so many errands to run - and with them being spread out across the campus for some godsforsaken reason - by the time he managed to make his way in past the doors, more or less all of the seats in the dining hall had been taken. There were a few here and there, but it seemed as though the only empty ones were such tight spaces that there was no way he was going to fit without shoving someone else aside to make room.

He sighed a little to himself, and took one last look around, hoping against hope that there'd be somewhere empty and roomy enough for him to sit down, instead of traipsing elsewhere to get something to eat. To his surprise, that extra look around found him a space that, if his eyes weren't failing him, seemed to be wide enough to accommodate him. There was someone already there, however - and if experience had taught him anything, it was best to ask before just sitting himself down next to people he hadn't met. While Vale was nowhere near as bad as Atlas in how Faunus were treated, from what he'd heard, there were always going to be people who didn't take kindly to his kind.

Aster trudged forward and waved to get the stranger's attention, a polite and friendly look on his face as he addressed them. "Hey, you mind if I sit here? It doesn't look like there's anywhere else that'll fit me right now." He ended it with a slightly sheepish chuckle - something to keep the mood light, hopefully.

What year was it ?
Al was unsure at this point, that history lecture went on for ever, especially since the professor kept switching to side topics and had to answer every single question at length!

She shook her head, now she was free, she could take her time to process all thst information that was filling her head.
Yeah, do some training!
No that had to wait, unlike her head her stomach was not full.
Thinking about this over some good food did sound nice too.

Soon Al was seated, he had taken a quick detour to her room amd tossed away her bag and put on a simple dark red hoodie over her school uniform, she was really tempted to change out of the skirt too, but she was to lazy AND hungry!
Atleast one of those things would be an easy fix with this delicious looking steak that laid on her plate.
She looked around just a bit, happy to notice that there was some space between her and the next person left of her, before lifting up her mask and started eating.
DELICIOUS!

Halfway trough she was interrupted, Al was busy eating and did not pay much attention to who asked so she just nodded as a response, since her mouth was curremtly stuffed with meat.

Then she felt the bench bend a little and she turned to him.
Whoa he was big!
And a faunus too, those ears were very noticeable after all.
Oh wait, horns ?

Al felt a little wierd about eating steak suddenly.

The stranger hadn't seemed opposed to the idea when he asked. In fact, they'd seemed not to say much of anything, likely being busy with eating, and had just nodded. Aster decided to take the seat slowly, giving them a chance to object should they so choose, but found himself sitting comfortably in short order. "Thanks." He said, smiling warmly at the person, trying to make himself seem a little less imposing. "I wasn't sure where I was going to sit, and I don't think I'm allowed to take the plates outside no matter how crowded it gets in here." He held up his lunch for her - a sandwich of such size that, by all rights, he shouldn't have been able to take a bite out of it. And yet there one was, right at the top.

The bench creaked and bent a little beneath him, but he wasn't worried much. He'd sat on them before, and he'd seen bigger students put them under more stress - he was more worried about intruding on someone that didn't much want his company. Until they said as much, however, it was there that he would stay. He took another bite out of the sandwich, before glancing quickly at her lunch, then back up to her. There was a tense few seconds where he was silent, his mouth preoccupied with chewing the bite and washing it down with a swig of tea, before he spoke.

"Aw Brothers, don't tell me I missed them doing steak." He said, putting on an expression of mock disappointment, and feigning it in his voice as well. It was all obviously in jest - just a joke to try and help lighten the mood, or make conversation. "I guess that's what I get for getting in here late." Aster shrugged with a light smile, and started digging into his sandwich again, chewing slowly on the stack, wanting to relax and take his time before he ventured off back to lessons once again. At the very least, she didn't have to worry much about what she was eating.

Well instead of being offended, he was sad that he did not actually get to eat any steak himself, understandably so.
She gave him a smile behind her mask, as she yet continued to eat.
"I can relate, it would be much nicer eating outside."
She nodded, as she spoke with a soft voice, almost like a whisper, it was somewhat hard to hear over the sound of the dining hall.
"I'm Al, by the way, and who are you ?"
She asked, turning to the tall dude, he could see her mouth just enough to make out that she was smiling.
But she turned back to her steak, continuing to wolf it down, soon finishing the bit that was left over.
She wiped her mouth with a paper towel, leaving that on her plate, before she pulled down her mask, moving her hands behind her head to tighten it to her head with a resounding "click" again.
"Sorry, there was no steak for you left. I'll grab you some next time if you want.

"Aster." He said, before taking a bite out of his sandwich, and swallowing that down too. The thing was of considerable size, to say the least - but it seemed that he had a mouth and an appetite to match it, casually taking chunks out of the sizeable stack without too much trouble. He set it down for a second to take a swig of water, while his other hand waved dismissively at her suggestion. "Ah, don't worry about it, I'm usually here early enough to get some." He said, once that morsel had been washed down. "I'll try to leave some for you when I’m around next time.”

That being said, the sandwich wasn't that bad of an option either. The tomato and lettuce was about as crisp as could have been hoped for, given that he was late to lunch, but the meat was far thicker and tastier than he'd expected out of it. Perhaps not as filling a meal as a slab of meat and a stack of carbs, but for something that he'd only chosen because it was the only thing left, it didn't taste - or look - that bad. "Might get another one of these, though..." He mused idly, mostly just thinking out loud, but trying to make some light conversation too.

Was that a challange ?
Al titled her head as she listened to Aster, she was always up for a challenge, but was a little unsure as to what he was saying.
Urgh, she wasn't good at talking, like some others, but just to not make this awkward she would have to try.
"You sure I Should not be the one saving you some ?"
Al asked with a chuckle, as she propped her chin on her hand and leaned over to him a little.
"I am pretty confident in my speed, you know ?"
She leaned back on the bench as she spun her fork between her fingers, usually she would do this with a pencil in class, but a fork would do.

Aster gave off a quick chuckle, took another swig, then placed his arm onto the table. He leaned forward a little as well, the corner of his lips curled into a wry smirk, and a glint in his eye. "I know I don't look it, but I'm not that slow." He said. "You put me in the ring against someone else, and I'll be in their face before they can blink." It was difficult to tell if his tone was confident, self-assured, goading, or some mix of the three - regardless, he certainly didn't seem like he was bluffing, despite his size and his weight.

Well he was pretty big and somewhat intimidating with the way he was leaning on the table, but while she was rather small compared to him, she wasn't gonna back down!
"Well, that sounds promising, you wanna test that theory ?"
Al leaned forward in a quick motion, using her momentum to jump up from her chair as she just titled her head, pulling up her mask a little to show him a fanged smirk as her other hand still spun the fork.
"Who ever first runs to the fountain outside, sound good ?

What had been a friendly expression turned to something altogether more confident, more eager. A spark flickered to life in his eyes, and he leaned back in his chair, seemingly chomping at the bit to leap up and get things going. "Oh, now you're talking. You're on!" It was difficult to tell whether he was confident or just overzealous - regardless of which, there wasn't a hint of apprehension in his voice or how he held himself. From the looks of things, as soon as the signal was given, he'd be out of his seat like a shot, dashing towards the fountain with everything he had.

Al chuckled to herself, this guy's enthusiasm was infectious, not that she was excited before, but his fighting spirit really got her heart pounding.
"Alright...3...2...1 GO!"
Al said as she went from standing still and into a sprint, bending down to keep a low profile, which helped her a lot in this little race. She would weave between groups of people instead of having to run around them, she of course watched out for any plates that would get in her way.
Yet a row of table got in her path towards the door, she grinned and with a leap jumped on the table, her feet hit the wood yet with a graceful landing and using her full body to absorb the force of her landing Al leapt off the table and towards the door.
It was open, so she charged trough and started sprinting towards the fountain, she had lost sight of Asterion, but she was not gonna let up now, only about a few hundred feet left until she had won!

As fast as he was, Aster wasn't anywhere close to a match for Al when it came to agility. Where she was able to weave between crowds and leap clean over obstacles, he had to slip through and try to push himself through the narrowest gaps. With so many twists, turns, and stops in his way, he hadn't the time or the distance to build up any kind of momentum, no matter how fast he tried to sprint from a stop. But once he passed the threshold and saw that open expanse before the fountain, he saw that perhaps there was a chance to snatch victory back.

He didn't pause for a moment. Using what little momentum he'd built up, Aster bolted forward, building up to a charging sprint, barrelling through to close the gap like a raging bull. Rapid, heavy footfalls rang out into the air as the distance between them grew shorter and shorter - though he couldn't say for sure if it would be enough.

Oh, crap!
She did not need to turn around to know that Asterion was behind her, as her ears had perked up with fear, as they picked up the heavy footsteps the second he left the building.
She really had to pull out all the last stops to make sure she won!
Al leaned forward, her fist clenched as she leaned forward, her steps getting faster as her entire body leaned itself into the momentum of her sprint, she was low to the ground and her cloak was now flying behind her as she was racing towards her goal.
A red and black streak could be seen charging through the gardens as Al only had her eye set on her goal.
She had put all her focus on maintaining her pace, so she could not hear Asterion anymore, no matter! She was going to be first!

Al reached her goal, having to lean back to stop her own momentum from having her crash into the wall of the fountain.
She stood still, her breathing heavy as the boost of adrenaline faded.
She looked around towards Asterion.
"Dang, for such a big guy you are scary fast, at least in an open field. Good race dude."
She raised her right hand for a high five, as he could yet hear no hint of cockiness in her voice, her compliment was genuine.

Aster wasn't quite as fortunate as Al. Desperate to close the gap in those scant few seconds that remained before she reached her goal, he focussed solely on moving as fast as possible. In that moment, it didn't occur to him to try and stop, or even slow down a little. By the time that he did manage to think that perhaps trying to slow down would be a good idea, he was only a few inches away from the fountain's wall - and by that point, he supposed that it would be more dignified to just accept his fate and take it like a man.

There was a great thudding noise as his entire body crumpled against the wall, and a few light footsteps as he staggered backwards from it, wiping dirt off himself immediately afterwards. There were a few bumps and scrapes on him, but those were easily fixed with Aura, and it wasn't like his pride was especially damaged by the experience either. Not if what he had to say about it was any indication.
"No match for you though!" He said, returning the gesture, though with perhaps a little more force than was appropriate - he was a big guy, after all. He didn't sound bitter in the slightest, with even his very slight disappointment at losing eclipsed by his excitement. "Man, that was close, though. We gotta do this again sometime."

Al cringed a little as the big guy crashed into the fountain, she really was not sure if she should feel bad for him or the construct, she was about to pull out one of the little ice-dust cartridges to help him cool any big bruises, but he didn't really get damaged too much, so she stuffed it back into her pocket.
"Nah, I'm just a lot more nimble than a big guy like you, pretty sure you would have left me in the dust in an open field."
She chuckled, as she pulled her hand back, rubbing it slightly, he had a pretty firm grip.
"But sure, we can butt heads again, you seem like a fun guy."
She lifted her mask slightly, showing him a grin, she kept it lifted, only so that he could see her mouth.
"But just racing would be kinda boring, wouldn't it ?"
She rubbed her chin, thinking a little as to what else they could maybe do.

Aster pondered the question for a moment, but only shrugged his shoulders once he'd apparently finished thinking. By the looks of it, he didn't have much of an idea of what they could do either, a vaguely puzzled expression plastered across his face once he finally deigned to speak.
"I dunno." He said, tilting his head to the side a little. He paused, once more in thought, the gears beginning to turn in his head as he started to ponder something else. "...I wonder if this place has an obstacle course..." He mused, muttering mostly to himself, but loud enough that she'd be able to hear anyway.

Huh, man, suddenly she really had lost her drive.
She joined Asterion in a sitting pose, holding her cheeks with her hands and her elbows propped up in her lap.
Wait...should she ?
Why not ?!
Asterion seemed like he could appreciate this kinda stuff.
"Come with me!"
Al said as she grabbed his hand and began dragging him off, well not really, as there was no way she could actually get Asterion to move anywhere.

As he followed her, Al brought them away from all the big happenings, to a more remote part of the garden the last little corner of it, where no one would notice what she was gonna do.
"Here watch this!
Al stepped away from him as she took a deep breath, clenching her first, embers began to collect around her, heat gathered at her mouth as she took one more deep breath.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
With her best attempt at a loud roar, flames shot out of the slits at her mouth, a bright orange spire shot in to the sky as she raised her head back.
The burst stopped, as smoke came sizzling out of her mouth and Al faced Asterion again.
"Cool, right ?!"

Al's enthusiasm for the mystery subject moved him more than her muscles could. Just seeing how eager she was to show him... something... had him grinning ear to ear and following behind her with all due haste, though he had to lean forward a little to let her hold onto him properly. However, quite what she was going to show him, he couldn't figure out. Having left most of the buildings of significance behind, he wasn't sure what there was to actually see, but his unanswered questions only served to heighten the anticipation that hung in the air.

He stood back once she'd stopped, and watched her with eager eyes, thumbs wedged into his pockets as he stood idly by. The expression on his face quickly turned to one of awe as he watched the scarlet flames burst out of her. It even took him a moment to respond, his eyes still wide a few moments after she'd finished - and when she finally did, that grin returned, and a glint came to his eyes.
"You can just do that? Aw man, I only get to do that kinda thing once a fight! That's so cool!"

Al rubbed the back of her head, giggling, yet suddenly leaning forward and coughing up more smoke, which clung to the slits in her mask, making Al pull it off a little and rub it off.
She shakes her head and puts her mask back on, going back to being excited as she walks closer to Asterion.
"Yeah I can! Just you know...would not recommend the smoke."
She coughed once more, just to emphasize and finally get all the smoke out of her throat.

"But yeah, that's my semblance."
She made a theatrical bow, followed by a small spin as she faced Asterion again.
"Pretty cool, huh?"
Al asked, with a knowing smirk under her mask, she loved boasting about her semblance power and while she did feel a little bad about flexing it like this, it just felt really good to show off just a little.

Aster made no attempt to hide how impressed how he was by the whole display, even after she'd finished explaining - though he did at least manage to restrain himself from clapping, despite the bow.
"Wish I could do that." he said, somewhat ruefully, though mostly just as an expression of just how awed he was at the whole thing. "But I gotta ask - how do you keep the flames from going everywhere if you're in a forest or something? I'm still trying to figure out how I'm supposed to do it with my explosions." Given that they were only a single - and not often seen - part of his Semblance, it wasn't a huge issue, but he figured it'd be best to ask while he had her there, in case she could help him figure something out.

Al was still happy with his response, but she did catch that slight hint of frustration in his voice, she didn't know how his semblance worked exactly or what he meant with explosions, but this did catch her interest.
"Wait, you're a pyromancer too ?! That's awesome!"
She almost shouted, her voice full of excitement, but she did bridle her excitement just so she could explain a bit more to Asterion.
"Well, I can control my flames pretty well, if I don't want em to do something I don't like, then I can just stop them from doing it."
She explained with a giggle as she once again let flames spark from her hands.
"Here, let me show you."
Al said, as she spawned another pillar of flame, this one was only about 5 feet tall and broader.
She twisted her hands a little to twist the flames more, as they took on a humanoid shape, limbs sprang from the fire as it took on a vaguely female form, soon Asterion could make out the features of Al's metal mask, as a clumsily made flame copy of Al now stood beside her, her features were off and her clothes were barely discernible besides the mask and her cloak.
"HAHAHA! An improvement!"
She laughed as she did a little twirl on the spot, the replica following her movements, as both then looked at each other and Al made it high five her, yet before their hands could meet an orange flicker went over Al's body.
"Damn it..."
Al got out as her flames were blown into the wind and she herself fell forwards.

Aster was about to display his excitement and approval at her act, with his face even starting to shift into an awed expression once again. However, Al's sudden turn for the worse put a halt to that, and he instead watched in confusion as she tipped forward. Unsure if it was something that she was supposed to have done, he waited a moment to see what was happening, before deciding that perhaps it would be best to at least check up on her. Aster crouched down near her, reaching a hand forward to shake her shoulder, and try to get her attention - or rouse her, if she had fallen unconscious.

"Hey, you doing alright?" He asked, looking with a vaguely worried expression down at her. It didn't look like anything too serious, and he didn't suspect that it was anything worth worrying too much about. Still, she'd fallen over out of seemingly nowhere, and it was a question he felt warranted asking. "You just kinda fell over out of nowhere. You think you can stand?"

Al sighed, rolling on her back as she took a deep breath.
"Yeah, I'm okay, just neec a breather."
Al pushed herself up to sit, which she did with visible strain.
"Thats the big drawback of my awesome semblance, it literally burns through my aura supply."
She tried to get up, pushing herself off from the ground with her arms, but they gave out under her.
"Could you help me up ?"

"Uh... sure thing."
Aster found himself largely uncertain of what he was supposed to do with his hands for all of a moment. Did she just need to lean on his shoulder? Could she not move at all? He supposed it didn't matter much. Asking would just make things more awkward than they had to be, so he just followed his gut, and bent down to pick her up. Though he made some token effort to treat her with some kind of care, he was far from the most delicate of people when it came to handling others, and him slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes only served to reinforce this. "So, where to?"

Well then, that was a lot more seamless than she thought it would go.
Aster just picked her up like she weighed nothing and slung her over his shoulders, while this approach was not the most gentlemanly it did work.
And hey, any embarrassment was stopped by the fact that she had her cloak to cover her backside.
"I uh..."
Al said, still a bit dumbfounded, as she thought for a while, she just needed to lay down, so her dorms would be the best, but a boy going into the girl's dorm like this would be uncomfortable at best and at worse would get Aster in trouble.
"Just bring me to the dormitories for now, I can find my way from there to the girls dorms."
She then responded, as she finally relaxed now assuming her best impression of that sack of potatoes he seemed to be carrying her like.
"And uh...thank you. Sorry for doing that, I'm still working on keeping that in check."

"Dorms it is!" Aster said cheerily, seemingly oblivious to the compromising position she could've been in. From the way it looked, Aster just seemed like he was happy to help out. "Need me to carry you in, or just drop you off there?" It seemed like he was oblivious to the implications of carrying her into the girls' dorms too - though with his sunny tone and the friendly smile painted across his face, it was doubtful that he'd realise anything was amiss until someone pointed it out to him. "And just lemme know if you're uncomfortable back there. I, uh, don't really carry people a lot."

Well, despite his at first rough treatment of her, he was actually pretty nice, fair to say, carrying someone around like this was probably unusual to anyone.
"While the view is good...could you carry me differently ?"
She squired just a bit, trying to look up, the only thing she managed was to slap her tail in his face.
"Sorry...but at least I made my point."
She giggled a little.
"How about princess carry ? That'd be way less cumbersome."
She suggested, raising her hand a little, as if she was suggesting an idea to a teacher in class.
Then his first question finally clicked.
"And no, I'm fine...if I have to I'll crawl to my room, or I'll just ask one of the other girls, most of them are like twice my height anyway."
She shrugged a little, she had never really felt that short as a girl before, but now that she was at beacon and all these super fit women were around here she did feel a little self-conscious about her height.

A sheepish look crossed Aster's face, as if brushed onto it by her tail hitting him in the face.
"Oh! Sorry about that!" He exclaimed, his tone stuck somewhere between embarrassed, apologetic, and cheerful. "Let me just..." He started shifting Al around as he spoke, and though he moved as gently as he could, it became quickly apparent that he was as delicate as an actual bull. Still, he managed to manoeuvrer her into a princess carry fairly easily - and, as far as he could tell, without accidentally damaging anything. "Then I'll just leave you at the door. Shouldn't be far now, right?"

Wow, he was, uh, something else with the way he basically swung her around like a sack of potatoes, still could not blame him, she had no idea how she would carry anyone ever.
"Hey, it's cool, let's just be happy the situation isn't reversed."
She joked, the scenario of her having to carry a collapsed Asterion was pretty funny to her, she could already imagine the back pain.
"But yeah, just drop me off...don't literally drop me, though!"
She added that last part with some urgency, she didn't mean to belittle Aster's intellect, but she said it more as a joke, as they walked Al then turned her gaze up towards him, the black tinted lenses of her mask staring at him.
"Weird question, did you ever use those horns to kill a Grimm ?"
Al tilted her head, rubbing her chin as she imagined it, honestly it would be super badass.

Whether Aster simply took her comments as jokes, or was simply too dense to even think that there could have been a hint of malice to any of them, he didn't seem to mind what she said. In fact, if the goofy smile plastered across his face was any indication, he seemed to actually find them quite funny. The look quickly changed to one of concentration, however, when he tried to remember if he'd ever actually used his horns offensively.

"Does headbutting a Grimm count?" He asked. "Because I did that once. I'd dropped my weapon, and it was all like 'RAAAARGH' in my face, so I just kinda, yanno, slammed it." Before he could continue with his story, however, he came to a stop near the front of the entrance to the girls' dorms. It hadn't been a particularly strenuous walk, especially for someone like him, but it was still a lot shorter than he'd reckoned it'd be. "So, what'll it be? Want me to chuck you through the door or a window?"

Al was a little disappointed, but in retrospect headbutting a Grimm was probably just as badass if not more so than goring one with someone's faunus trait.
"Yeah, that's pretty badass too!
She exclaimed, wiggling a little in his hold as she stretched out her limbs in a "Hooray" motion, of celebrating his talent for Grimm violence.
"I wanted to do something similar."
She said and pulled up her mask a little, grinning at Asterion with her sharp and quiet deadly looking fangs.
"I want to bite a Grimm to death at some point, but I don't know if I can handle the taste."
She said, shivering, as the smell of Grimm alone was already pretty bad.
"But I'm gonna do it, just for the style points!"

She then noticed that they had arrived and that she was feeling a little better, so she could probably walk on her own by now.
"Just let me down."
She hopped off his hands, wobbling a little as she tried her best to stand, but fell backwards and against Asterion, which would barely even nudge him.
"Ergh, still feeling a little queasy, but nothing some rest can't fix."
She chuckled, but then had an idea as she pulled out her scroll.
"Hey, can I have your number ? Hanging out with you was fun, so let's do that again sometime!"
She asked with a genuine smile, her mask still being pulled up.