Meal Break (Complete) [Mature]

[Ax L Rose]

Test anxiety. It had her clenching her fists and her jaw when she meandered the halls after class. She felt like she knew her stuff but her brain just wasn't cooperating.... she was one of the last people to turn in. It undermined her confidence just a bit, and unfortunately her mood was tangible. As she walked the busy halls, her tension seemed to rub off on people around her. Everywhere she looked, it seemed like negativity was following her. Pushy students, people cutting each other off as they walked... dirty looks and little huffs and sighs of displeasure. It started to get to her after a bit. When she finally reached the exit from the building and was out in the gardens again she let out a relieved breath of air.

She ran herself through a practiced mental routine as she raised a hand and brushed her hair from in front of her face. The test was over. There was no reason to still feel anxious about it. She could breathe... yet the tension wasn't going away easily. What was it that was getting to her now? She couldn't pinpoint it... not until a strange, gurgling sort of sound startled her out of her trance. Was... was that her stomach?

Shit. That was it. She hadn't eaten all day. She'd forgotten to grab a snack bar on the way to class that morning. No wonder it felt like her synapses just weren't firing right during the test. From the gardens Ax strode on towards the dining hall.

She usually ate back at her dorm, in town, or out in the gardens, often times with Nym. It'd been her way ever since her first year for the most part - after a particular bit of drama that led to her throwing a guy off his chair and onto the floor for saying some rude shit about one of her friends, she ended up deciding that the dining hall was just... too noisy. And too full of assholes. Habit had kept her from going back most of the time, but she was ravenous and would happily settle for school food in that moment. That, and it'd been a while since those old days when she'd get into a fight seemingly every other week. These days most kids seemed to know better than to fuck with her.

She pulled out her scroll as she walked, her metal thumbs quick on the keys as she shot a message to her best friend.

'i won't be at the dorms this time, i forgot to eat and im dying of hunger so im just hittin up the dining hall. come join me? c:'

She missed Nym. She'd been using her lunch hour to catch up on work lately so they hadn't eaten together in what felt like weeks. It'd feel good to see her again. Things just... didn't feel right at Beacon without her partner.

Within a few minutes Ax was seated with a tray of food at a relatively quiet table at the edges of the dining hall. She'd greeted a few other friends along the way, but thankfully had no issue finding a nice chill spot where she could be by herself while she waited.

[Nym Magenta]

Schoolwork was too damn hard. The thought rattled around in Nym's brain as she trudged out the door of what she was sure would amount to just another checkmark she had to fill out in order to graduate. Not all of her classes were so dry or so demanding, but they all took effort. They took more effort than it seemed like her peers needed to give. Her best barely brought her passing grades! She was constantly cursing the fact that she'd never had a proper schooling every time she had to rewrite her notebook to make facts and statistics sink into her brain long enough to spill out onto a test. At least Grimm studies had the benefit of immediate, real world applicability.

Her pocket vibrated, shaking her out of her thoughts and giving her something to think about. It was a message from Ax. Her best friend was calling her to lunch. It didn't take long for her to type out a quick reply.

'yes, b thr soon'

There had been a time when she'd been self conscious about her short messages and abbreviations, but now she didn't care. Who was she sending texts to that would judge her for them?

Lunch with Ax sounded like a good break from the mountains of schoolwork that always seemed to be threatening to bury Nym the second she was anything less than the most disciplined, studious faunus the world had ever seen. It would be nice to just sit and chat and let the world do whatever it wanted to do while she stared at Ax's pretty face and listened to her gorgeous voice. Yeah. Yeah, she really hadn't been seeing her much lately, had she? Beacon was making her life miserable, but this would be a nice reprieve.

She was well familiar with the hall by now. While she much preferred to eat elsewhere, the schools cafeteria was convenient and budget friendly for someone who had nearly no concept of the value of lien. She'd gotten enough free lunches to know that the quality wasn't half bad, either. Or maybe she was just easy to please. She didn't think too hard about it as she let her stomach decide that it was going to be pizza and cookies for lunch today with a sugary, mouthwatering bottle of chocolate milk to wash it down.

Yeah...she was probably just easy to please.

She nimbly made her way through the crowd to the spot where her friend was waiting. Ax was easy to pick out of a crowd. If she wasn't at the center of it she still had a silhouette that was unmistakable, and Nym's exceptionally sharp nose could pick out the smell of her perfume with an accuracy that only came from spending hours upon hours wasting their time with each other. Tail swishing happily back and forth, ears perked up, Nym took a seat right across from Ax and wasted no time taking a bite out of her lunch.

With a mouth half full of food, Nym greeted her best friend. "G'day, love." It was only her first bite, but she'd already managed to get sauce on her cheek.

[Ax L Rose]

She smoothed out her skirt while she waited for Nym to text her back. She wasn't a fan of her school uniform, but she made it work. Thankfully the faculty seemed to be mostly okay with the various things she'd done to customize her look and stand out a little more. Soon enough her scroll shook and her eyes flicked back to it where it rested on the table beside her tray. She snatched it up and took a look, a faint smile forming on her lips when she read Nym's reply.

There ended up not being too much time to kill between the text and Nym's arrival. Ax did eat most of her food in that small span of time, but she'd keep Nym company regardless. Soon enough she caught sight of the dark-haired fox at the main entryway, and as soon as she locked eyes with her she sat up a bit and gave Nym an enthusiastic wave so she'd know where to go once she'd picked up her food.

"Whatup baby," Ax greeted her as soon as she was close enough, gesturing across from her. Nym took her seat and Ax immediately perked up a bit, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table. There wasn't a whole lot of food on Ax's plate - a small, partially-eaten hamburger, a few crisps left from some fries, a cup of fruit, and a bottle of water. Ax never wore the jacket of her uniform, instead leaving it tied around her waist. As usual, Ax's makeup and hair were flawless. She didn't look half as rough as she'd felt after her test. Her semblance radiated warmth as Nym approached and took her seat.

"Missed you. S' been a while! Man, when's the last time we had lunch here in the hall?"

[Nym Magenta]

Nym paused before taking another bite, grabbed a napkin, and hastily wiped the grease off her fingers before she loosened up the tie around her neck. It had taken her an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to tie it herself, but that was her own fault. She didn't have to opt for the male student uniform, but she would rather have died than wear a skirt in public. It was well fitted to the curves of her hips and waist. She kept the jacket unbuttoned almost always, otherwise it got too tight around her chest. Satisfied with the loosened tie, she pushed a few errant strands of jet black hair out of her face and managed to completely miss the sauce.

"Pff, bloody foreva'," her tone was amused. "Missed ya too, Ax. S'been a real struggle keepin' up wif classes n' tryin' t' still do anythin' fun." It was a struggle she was failing! She hadn't done anything fun in, like, a week or two. The days were starting to blur together. It was a relief that Ax had texted her. She might have fallen into some kind of academic vortex of doom without another human to talk to about something that wasn't classes. "Foods still's good as eva', eh?" Truthfully, she'd be happy with just about anything that was put in front of her. She'd never been very picky.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax watched Nym mess with her tie with a faint smile all the while, her eyes fixating for a moment or so on the sauce on Nym's cheek. She seized the first opportunity she got to uncross her legs and lean forward enough to reach across and wipe away the sauce with her thumb - this was an ideal way to resolve the distraction, as she didn't have to interrupt this way. Satisfied, she shifted back to a normal sitting position and crossed her legs again, flicking her wrist and leaving a little saucy mark on her plate.

"Fuckin' tell me about it," Ax nodded emphatically. "If I knew they were gonna be working us to the bone this bad this semester maybe I'd have thought twice about taking on the workshop assist gig."

Her blue eyes flicked down briefly at her mostly eaten food before she looked back to Nym and gave a small, noncommittal shrug of her shoulders. She had never been much of a fan of the meal options at the academy dining hall, but... she had to admit, it was pretty convenient.

"Better burger joints in town, that's for sure," she paused to pluck a grape from the little bowl of fruit on her tray and popped it between her lips.

[Nym Magenta]

Nym's eyes tracked the approaching hand and the thought of just biting Ax's fingers floated through her mischievous head, but she didn't act on it quite fast enough. The splatter of sauce on the pan quickly cleared up why she was reaching across the table. "Ch...cheers," she murmured gratefully. Her eating habits were notoriously messy. She was sure that it got on some peoples nerves, but at least Ax had never given her too hard of a time about it.

Even though she was already stuffing her face with garbage, the thought of a burger from one of the many places in town sounded amazing. Her feathered friend always found the best places to eat. Never in her life would she have thought to put peanut butter on a burger, but it was now in her top five favorite burgers, a list that only existed thanks to her friend's kindness. "We oughtta get outta 'ere fer a night or somethin'. I really need t'...do anythin' but read books n' write more bloody notes." Training was a nice reprieve from studying, but it was still work. "Got time t' go inta Vale n' jus' bullshit 'round with me layta?" Her tone was hopeful, but she wasn't going to be crushed by a no. They both knew how Beacon could be. They were best friends. They'd saved each others lives more than once in the heat of life or death combat. There was no one in the world that Nym felt closer to, but even they had stretches like this thanks to the demands of their classes!

[Ax L Rose]

"Tonight? Fuck it, sure," Ax grinned. "I'll go crazy if I don't do something impulsive soon anyway."

Ax's eyes rolled up toward the ceiling in thought for a moment as she reached into one of the hand-sewn pockets of her plaid skirt and pulled out her scroll, no doubt checking her schedule. She continued to stare at it as she spoke, scrolling the device with her thumb.

"As for a proper night out... after next week I should be able to commit a weekend to something that isn't academic...?" her words degenerated into a mumble about halfway into her sentence. She seemed only half-certain judging from the uncertain aura about her as well as the small frown that accompanied the words. Her expression brightened after a brief pause.

"Yeah. I'll be done with my project for Advanced Dust which should free up a ton of time. Got someplace you wanna check out? I'm down for something different. Ah... except for that new place that opened up. The Illuminous or whatever. I kinda got into a bit of an incident there..." Ax kept her voice low as she looked back up at Nym from her scroll, a conspiratorial smirk rising on her lips.

[Jericho Galley]

No way, no way that that test was that easy. World Politics with the books and diagrams that had always strained his eyes. But this test, simply asking questions about criminals, their history and where their operated, seemed too easy. He had been taught while out at sea, though that was a lot more pirates than these landlubbers that Beacon focused on, like Blackhand and the Bluesails. As he thought about it, he had filled it out too quickly, perhaps the first one or so that turned it in. Maybe he was just that stupid, compared to everyone else that took their time.

In all honesty, a sliver of him that thought he actually did well was jumping for joy. He was currently failing the rest of his classes, but maybe he was starting to get used to this student life. Maybe. For once he wished his mother had taught him how to read and write earlier than twelve years old. If he had gotten things right, he just hoped his spelling had been correct. That would prove as detrimental to his grade as if he actually wrote 'I'm too dumb for this' as his answers.

There was time between now and his next class, or, was he done for the day? He checked his scroll, looking at the time. He stared at it. And stared. And stared. And sighed. He honestly had no idea when his classes were, or on what day they changed. He was marked tardy for so many lectures he thought it would be a rumor among the teachers, wondering just how few brain cells he had. He really needed to be better about that or people would start asking questions. In either case, he headed for the mess hall.

He wasn't particularly hungry, as he had entirely missed his first class of the day by sleeping through half of it and then eating breakfast through the second half before he realized what the time was, or more importantly, what the time meant in terms of classes. No, he wasn't hungry, but it had something he had wearily thought he'd go without during his stay at Beacon. Fruit, and fruit juice.

He loaded a tray with four cups of differing tropical fruit juice, spread to each corner, all courtesy(pff, look at him, using the word 'courtesy') of a drink dispenser that had just about anything you could want. In the middle were multiple bowls of fruit. Grapes, mangos, grapefruits, apples, and the holy pillar(was he using that word right?) of citrus fruits, the mighty orange.

As he walked back with his booty in his hands and his mouth slightly watering, he couldn't help but take a bite. He put the edge of the tray on his left forearm and had his Helping Hand take his glove and support the other side, holding the whole up as his right hand plucked a mango slice and an apple slice, putting them both into his mouth before he resumed his original hand positions, his glove crawling back to his wrist under the tray.

He barely had a handle on the tray before he heard two things that he had thought were barren at this school. One, cursing. Two, an accent belonging to Wind Path of all places. He blinked and turned towards the two girls talking, seated across from one another. He was standing not two paces away, and he had passed behind them as he had eaten those fruit. Why the heck did he feel... warm? Friendly warmth. It was so genuine, as if he were best friends with them, and hadn't seen them in a long while. Like he enjoyed spending this time with them, but he had hardly spent ten seconds with them as he just stood and stared, blinking.

Now this was awkward. "A-are you, uh," He began, shakily. Damn it, since when was he bad at talking to lasses? Especially since he recognized them from his class. He cleared his throat. "You from Wind Path?" He asked the dark-haired one.

[Nym Magenta]

"Noice," she responded triumphantly through a mouthful of food. Impulsive was best. Nym had never been very good at planning things out more than a couple of days in advance. That was something they both had in common! It made their scheduling mishaps a lot more forgivable. Luckily, after next week was about all the commitment that Nym was looking for. Her eyebrows raised and her ears perked up as an amused smirk lit up her own face, mirroring Ax's look. "S'at right, Ax? Well, now thatcha mention it, The Illuminous Or Whateva' sounds like it could be kinda fun." She raised her eyebrows a couple of times to nudge Ax to explain her little incident. More than likely, she'd gotten into a fight. It happened! Nym wanted to know the details. She probably wasn't going to get an answer right away, though. The sound of heavy boots stopping a scant few feet from her didn't escape her notice. It didn't necessarily mean anything, whoever it was might have been looking for a friend or checking their scroll, but as the seconds ticked by and they didn't move, she started to feel just a hair uneasy. Until the boy spoke with a shaky voice. Then her unease dissolved, replaced by amusement.

Nym turned to look. Her eyes rested on the man's tray of food first and foremost. Fruit. So much fruit. There was a joke to be made here, but she just couldn't do it, it was simply too shocking an amount of fruit! Who ate all that and didn't feel sick afterwards? Well...she probably could. Sugar hadn't ever left her with an unsatisfied stomach. His bizarre choice of lunch and utterly unintimidating voice removed any worry she made have had about him asking after Wind Path. "Crikey, mate, ain't no galah, are ya?" She was leaning heavily into slang she rarely used for the sake of being understandable, but it might be funny, right? "Y' don' sound like yer from the Outback, you a dag fer girls wif an accent? D'nno 'f 'm really lookin' fer a man stuffin' 'is cake 'ole wif fruit fer tea, ta." The mischievous smirk hadn't left her face. It was the most roundabout 'Yes' she'd ever given.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax had been about to spill the details on a pretty juicy tale that likely could have resulted in her receiving some disciplinary action should the word happen to have gotten back to the faculty... so when someone new stepped into the conversation just as she was getting to the good part she felt her heart rate spike a little. Her eyes were quick to turn in the direction of the newcomer, following Nym's gaze.

This wasn't an unfamiliar situation for Ax. This guy was tall, gorgeous, and he was naturally taking an interest in Nym. Guys took an interest in her all the time, and by now she felt like she knew these types all too well. Ax was immediately suspicious - even more so as he mentioned Nym's accent. What was this guy looking to prove? Was this some kind of joke or prank about to unfold?

Ax's eyes flicked back to Nym as soon as she started to talk, her eyes widening slightly as the fox's outlandish accent took an unusually harsh turn toward the indecipherable. Ax blinked and stared for a second or two before it got to her - Nym's cheery demeanor along with the apparently absurdity of what she'd just heard had, for now, delayed the ticking time-bomb that was Ax's paranoia and possessiveness. Ax's chest overflowed with bubbly laughter that made her nearly double over where she sat.

[Jericho Galley]

Jericho couldn't help but laugh at her putting a ton of wind in her accent's sail. He had visited there quite a bit in the past, so he understood exactly what she said. He looked down at his tray and all the colors, a mischievous smirk of his own on his lips. "Eye, bu' when yer 'way from yer 'ome fruit, ya sorta miss i'. Thought me never ge' ta chance again, so 'ere I am! Takin' i' all 'efore i' goes off the menya, ta!" He might have messed up the accent a little, mixing it with the slang of the ship. Was he getting Wind Path slang right? Oh well, it was the thought that counted, right? "An' I ten' ta notice when garls from 'roun' 'ome are speakin' me tongue!" Johnny was from Mistral, right? That's where they had picked him up... But he might have moved there from another kingdom. Shit! He was too deep now, he would have to assume that Johnny was from that land.

Then he saw their trays. Hamburger, fries. Kraken's breath, it was lunch time! That's what noon meant! He should have noticed from all the hamburgers and rice and other things meant for actual meals. He figured they might have just served those all day. Stupid Jericho, stupid!

He glanced at the second girl's tray and noticed the fruit bowl, and her, for the first time. Dang, she was a knockout. Less hair on the head than he liked, but everyone had their preferences. "An' i' seem a' if tis lass is a wan' fer fruit a' well! An' yer berati' I?" He laughed a little again before he had to put the tray down because of its weight, drinking some of the guava juice in long gulps before placing it back down with his left hand.

[Nym Magenta]

As the fruity man in front of her opened his mouth to reply, it was clear he'd read the joke well. Nym tilted her head, cocking one ear to the side in a quizzical look. His slang and accent were all wrong, nothing like what she'd expect from someone who was even attempting to mimic her hometown's accent, much less a native speaker! She had to laugh, though not quite as loudly as Ax, a quiet chuckle, a bemused expression on her face. This guy seemed harmless. He also seemed like he had a sense of humor. Both of those together were a big rarity for the type of student who walked up to the two of them and started asking questions.

"Bloody 'ell, yer accent's awful," she'd turned the dial on her outback accent down considerably. "F'you promise t' talk like a regula' person, I'll do the same, eh? Fer both'a yer sakes." She flashed Ax a grin. Her indecipherable slang could usually produce a laugh from her feathered friend, but prolonged conversation was impossible. And yeah, the accent's from Wind Path." One elbow down on the table, she cupped her chin with her hand as she actually gave him a look over. He was tall. She wasn't standing up, but even on her tip toes he'd probably still tower over her. His hair was a mess, probably worse than Nym's and that was something! She resisted the urge to ask him if his hair lost a fight with a weed whacker. Other than that, he didn't stick out too much from the men of Beacon.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax seemed to get a hold of herself pretty quickly, a smile lingering briefly on her lips as she regained her composure in time for the new guy to try his hand at the accent. She did her best to try to make out what he was saying and was pleased to hear his words were slightly more intelligible than whatever crack Nym had just made. She noticed that he sounded a little more like a sailor than the fox did. She gave the young man an appraising up-and-down glance as he paused, and her feather-tipped ears seemingly perked up a bit when he spoke up again, this time seemingly addressing her.

A few things happened in her mind pretty rapidly. She became aware of an uneasy feeling in her gut again, but it was stronger this time. It took her a moment to really recognize that her emotions were quickly becoming a little too strong to be appropriate for the situation. With that, she deduced that this boy was anxious about something. That was nice to be clear on, because when he finished speaking Ax was dead silent and blank-faced, clearly not quite caught up to what the hell the guy had just said. It was as if his words had gone in one ear and out the other. As tended to sometimes happen, Ax's semblance completely distracted her.

Ax's eyes quickly shifted back to Nym as she spoke, and she was silently grateful that Nym kept the exchange going before Ax's quizzical expression could be noticed as a serious social blunder. The fox seemed amused and unconcerned. She smiled a little at Nym's damning commentary on the boy's accent, and her smile only grew when Nym briefly looked back to her.

"I caught the first part of what he said, at least," Ax commented before she looked back, expectantly, over at the handsome newcomer.

[Jericho Galley]

He scratched the back of his head with his right hand, the only one that could do that really, and swallowed again. He had spoken more as he had on the ship instead of Wind Path's accent. That wasn't good. Even with a live example, he had only gone back to old habits. "Yeah, I'll talk normally." He said with a chuckle. "I was only surprised because I thought I was the only one from around those parts. Mind if I sit?" He motioned to the space next to Ax. If allowed he would sit but not uncomfortably close to the girl.

Did she have torn ears? No, no those were feathers. Woah. He blinked at that and responded to her comment. "Sorry about that, kinda rusty with Wind Path, been a while since I've been over there." He drank some mighty orange juice before setting the cup back down. Then something occured to him, and he wondered how quickly he was going to regret stopping to ask about her accent. He raised the glass to his lips again much slower, looking closer at the black-haired Faunus as he took small gulps.

Then he set it slowly back down on the tray. Her hands were on the table, her head resting on her elbows. She couldn't shoot him under the table. He scooted the tray just barely past the table edge on his side, bracing his Helping Hand in its glove against the bottom of the corner as if he was ready to throw it up at her and the girl he sat next to. The whole movement would be hidden by him leaning slightly closer, stopping the girl on his right from seeing his hand on the tray. He wouldn't show it in his face, not a smidge, but he was only a heartbeat away from breaking out into a cold sweat in utter fear. His heart hammered in his chest as he tensed his legs to rise and run as fast as he could depending on her answer. If she had come the past few weeks, or mentioned a Corsair or a black hand...

"How long ago did you leave Mystral?" He asked slowly, one eye squinting as he did.

[Nym Magenta]

"I meet plenty'a Mistralians 'round Beacon, but I reckon it's been ages since I've met anyone from Wind Path." She only gave him a nonchalant shrug at his request to take a seat and looked meaningfully at Ax. "I don' care, but if Ax wants ya gone, better scram, love." Oh, she ought to mention her own name, too. "Nym, by the way. Pleasure." He didn't wait too long after asking to take a seat anyways. Ah well, they'd probably have fun chewing him out if he really made an ass of himself, right? It had been a long time since shitty guys making weird passes or trying to bully her really affected her.

But there was something about his demeanor that was a giving Nym a weird vibe once he finally took a seat. He looked tense. She couldn't point to any one thing about his body language that gave it away, but she'd spent enough time around desperate people in desperate situations to get the feeling that he was knee deep into his fight or flight reflex. She glanced over her shoulder. Had someone strange walked behind her? But his eyes hadn't been trained on the crowd, they'd been on her. Maybe he thought he was being subtle, or that a faunus huntress in training wouldn't see the slight cues in how he sat and postured saying he was on edge. Either way, she was suddenly not so sure that answering him straightforwardly was the best choice.

"What's it to ya?" Her tone was all casual and she didn't bother changing how she was seated. They were in the middle of Beacon's cafeteria, what was the worst that could happen? Maybe he was just intimidated by hot girls and was trying to test his courage!

[Ax L Rose]

Those deep blue eyes of Ax's flicked from the stranger over to Nym and then back again as soon as he sought permission to join them. A 'no' was on the tip of her tongue until she remembered where she was. If she were just about anywhere else, she'd have already told this guy to fuck off. She didn't know this guy and given his apparent anxiety, she didn't exactly have much for assurances that he wasn't about to do something stupid. After a moment of deliberation and with clear reluctance... Ax's shoulders rose slightly in a shrug and she acquiesced with a nod, right around the time Nym chimed in, handling introductions more or less for them both at once.

"I'm Ax. You can chill here, sure. We're all civilized folks here, yeah?" Ax spoke up softly, her eyes finding the stranger's. There was an intense quality to Ax's gaze that practically dared their uneasy guest to try something for a moment there, but she eased up after a moment and looked back over to Nym as he took his seat. She was reluctant to revisit her earlier conversation topic - the story of what occurred at the Illuminous would have to wait for later. She shared a discreet look with Nym, a curious raise of her brow, a brief aside glance, as if to silently indicate that Ax wasn't getting the most pleasant vibes from this guy so far.

She slowly lowered her metal hand to her tray and plucked a grape from her fruit bowl as the man asked Nym when she left Mistral. This struck Ax as a suspicious and weird question. Anyone that paid attention in class knew that Wind Path was full of unsavory sorts by default, but Nym had unresolved history there as far as Ax knew. It didn't seem impossible that Nym's shady past might have taken to trying to track her down. Ax's knee began to bounce beneath the table. She felt tense. She felt worried. She felt... afraid? Afraid of this guy? Afraid of something?

Not her fear. His fear. He was afraid. Ax inhaled a deep breath and tried to separate herself from the stray emotions threatening to infect her - deep-breathing was a common sign that she was feeling a little overwhelmed by her semblance at the moment. To the uninformed stranger, one might've assumed Ax was struggling with a headache or something.

[Jericho Galley]

"What's it to ya?" She had said. It was everything. But almost too late, almost, his mind came back to him and kicked him to think a little farther than the next two seconds. The two lassies were subtle about it, the feather-eared girl seemed to be having a headache, but they had noticed his sudden change in demeanor. It wasn't like he had been subtle like them. Stupid Jericho, you need to think further ahead if you're going to compete with these students.

Jericho visibly stilled, pressed his lips together, then let out a pent up breath, closing his eyes as he did. He was in the middle of the cafeteria, and so were they. They wouldn't try anything here, even if they were working with Blackhand. If they did, his Aura shield would be able to hold them back and get help from any number of capable warriors, maybe even a teacher. He pushed his tray back fully onto the table and shook his head, releasing the tension in his legs as he tried to relax. They had introduced themselves and had been friendly, Ax saying that they were chill. He hadn't even said his name, only taken a seat and interrupted a conversation.

"I'm, uh, just wondering if you had heard anything from back home, any news. You know. Goings on." He took another sip of orange juice to shut himself up before saying, "You can call me Johnny, by the way. Sorry for not saying that earlier. Nice to meet you."

[Nym Magenta]

Yeah, Ax was definitely getting some strange feelings from him. The curious look, the tapping of her foot beneath the table, it wasn't just Nym's imagination that he was wringing his stomach in knots. Ax wasn't exactly a wireless router of other people's feelings, but there were signs that could be read. Nym had been reading them for years now! It looked like their sailory acquaintance was trying to untangle his weird feelings, though, so maybe this wasn't bound to be a flaming wreck.


"Don' think I've eva' called that place 'ome in me life," Nym said with a deadpan expression. "So, nah mate, ain't 'eard a thing." She hadn't really answered his question, had she? But she didn't feel a burning desire to open up about her history in Mystral to any guy that sat down at her table and recognized her accent. She was surprising herself, though! This was about the most generous she'd ever been with random strangers interrupting her and Ax. It looked like Beacon was starting to teach her a little bit more about socializing with other students.

She decided this was a good opportunity to start eating her lunch again. Since Johnny didn't seem to be ready to upend the contents of his tray anymore, her food was no longer at risk of becoming soggy and sweet. Pizza once again started to make it's way down the hatch.

[Ax L Rose]

She exhaled a breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and shook her head slightly, selling her 'headache' because she needed to externalize her discomfort in some manner. With that, she opened her blue eyes and popped the grape between her lips, chewed, and swallowed in the time it took for the boy next to her to seemingly make an effort to compose himself. The intensity of the fear died down along with the deep breath he let out - it was enough where Ax felt like she could feel herself again underneath it all.

While Ax wasn't exactly satisfied with the answer Johnny gave, him actually introducing himself made some of her disjointed thinking suddenly snap into place. She recognized this guy from the last class she'd just had. She'd seen him around. She was honestly a little surprised it took her this long to actually realize that she recognized him. She could probably blame it on the fact that her World Politics class so boring she was always a half-second away from passing out.

Well, chances were that he probably knew who she was. She did tend to stand out after all. She felt like she understood this guy just a little bit better than before. As far as she was aware, he'd never shown any interest in her before, thus she'd never exactly had any reason to pay him any mind in turn. This reinforced her earlier idea that he was here for Nym.

"You're in my Third Year World Politics class. I remember you," Ax noted quietly, as if talking more to herself than to him. She continued to look at him with a narrow-eyed, scrutinous expression as if he was a puzzle that she intended to solve. If she was remembering right, he was one of the first people to turn the test in, too.

Ax absently shifted her gaze back to Nym after a moment or so of that. She was pleased that thus far it didn't seem like Nym was on edge at all at least. It seemed like Ax didn't really want to get too involved in the conversation so far, and was mostly content to listen and observe for now.

[Jericho Galley]

Right, dummy. Because those who leave Wind Path likely want to leave it behind them or come back with illegal intentions. He nodded his head at Nym. "I know what ya mean. Wind Path is a simple but hard place. I only visited with my, uh, family, from time to time. You sound like you grew up there." He gestured towards her with an orange in his left hand. WIth the nails of his right hand he dug in and tore the peel off. It was an unconcious habit, but he hoped it wouldn't be too out of place here or for Nym.

The other girl spoke softly and he turned to see her staring at him before turning to look at Nym. He peeled a slice from the orange and chewed on it before replying. "Yeah, I saw you taking the test too." She had been the last, he thought, to turn it in. Either she just double and triple checked her work, or she had struggled with it. "Criminals, eh?"

[Nym Magenta]

Criminals, eh?

This was starting to make a little more sense to her. He visited Wind Path with his family, like some kind of bloody tourist, and he was talking about the place like he knew all about it, like he was familiar with it. Apparently he was a big fan of Crime and World Politics. This was all some big exhibit or something, right? Ah, look at the faunus girl with the funny accent from the crime infested nowheresville. Maybe it'll be exciting talking to her and her friend! What sorts of crimes will I get to hear about? What whacky hijinks could she have gotten up to? Ha ha!

She wasn't really sure whether to be amused by how poorly a supposed third year at Beacon was introducing himself, or angry that he was talking like he knew anything about where she came from.

A bright laugh bubbled up out of her stomach. Yeah, it was amusing. "Yeah, yeah, 'm sure ya know plenty 'bout Wind Path from yer family vacations n' Beacon Classes there, dontcha? Can't say I've got anythin' t' add t' that." The thought was so poignantly absurd that she couldn't help but giggle at it and shake her head before giving Ax a Get A Load Of This Guy look, shaking her head, raising her eyebrows and cracking a smile before finishing off the last bite of her lunch.

[Ax L Rose]

"Criminals, eh?"

Ax exhaled a little huff of annoyance, her fingers curling into a fist on the tabletop. She wasn't sure exactly what it was about what he'd said and how he'd said it, but she was already starting to regret giving him a chance to sit with them. She seemed to make a deliberate point to not look over at him at first, instead tilting her head down to focus on her food with more enthusiasm and haste than before. It'd give her something to do while she let Nym do the talking. When Nym looked over at her it was clear that Ax wasn't enjoying this so far - her brow was creased and her lips formed a plain flat line when she wasn't chewing on what remained of her food.

Ax was here to hang out with Nym, not deal with some interloper stealing their time together because... what, he wanted to get to know Nym? Ax's patience was starting to run thin. She felt like she dealt with this all too often. Someone was always inserting themselves between them, and Ax was simply not in the mood for it.

"Sooo, what is this exactly?" Ax asked after a moment, between a few final bites of her food on her tray. She paused to take a swig from her water bottle before she looked over at Johnny.

"You're here to shoot your shot, right? Gotta work up the guts first, maybe?" Ax glanced meaningfully over at Nym, before looking back to Johnny, clearly intent on cutting to the chase with this whole exchange instead of dragging it out.

"I've been picking up on your weird neurotic energy the whole time you've been here so far, with my semblance. Shit, you might be the first guy I've met so far that's this intimidated by the prospect of asking Nym out. I know she's hot as fuck, but c'mon dude. Seize the moment, take the leap already. Dragging it out with small talk isn't gonna up your chances."

She was aware, of course, that she might've gotten the wrong idea, but frankly she didn't care at this point.

[Jericho Galley]

He could tell easily from Nym's tone of voice and word choice that she was mocking him for his apparent knowledge of the place. He knew more of the place than he was letting on, it being a frequent place him and the rest of the crew of The Corsair docked. Fenced stolen items, spent Lien, repaired the ship, procured clothes and supplies, and other things. It wasn't the only port they docked at, but it was one of their favorites.

Jericho realized that his hasty repair was already leaking. Heck, bursting at the seams. These two were heavily annoyed at him. Johnny had told him once that Huntresses could be difficult people at times, but you didn't want one as your enemy. If Jericho just up and left now, he'd have two peers that thought him annoying and a prick. If he got into any trouble, they wouldn't lift a finger to help.

He opened his mouth to say something to Nym when Ax interrupted him. Shoot his shot? Work up the guts? Jericho was confused at her question and was only able to make a "Wha-" before she continued. Ask Nym out? That was the last thing on his mind! He glanced back at Nym and for the first time saw her as a lass to look at. Normally he wouldn't have to make the effort, but he had been so caught up with the subject of Wind Path that he hadn't thought of her like that.

She was fine, both of them were. But that's not what he was here for. "I-.. I'm not..." His eyes moved between them both before he sighed and shut his mouth, thinking before he spoke. He was ruining their time, and maybe only the truth would help. Though, not the whole truth. He could still maintain the identity of Johnny Silverhand. But this girl's Semblance, she felt his energy? What was that about? What would give her the thought that he wanted to ask her out? Wouldn't she have felt that he was ready to throw food at her and run?

"I'm a transfer student from Haven Academy." He explained, looking down at his fruit solemnly. "Recently arrived. I spent a bit of time at Wind Path before then. Know some people there. It was just nice to hear a voice from back home, that's all." He had no idea where this was coming from, though most of it was the truth, to him it sounded good. He kept his eyes towards his tray. "I didn't say that before because, well, I don't know." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't exactly interested in asking anybody out." He whipped his head up, afraid of insulting them. "Though you both do look really nice! And I wouldn't mind that, but I, uh..." How was he supposed to say that he didn't want to get close to anybody because he would have to concentrate on so many more lies? "I have a bit on my plate and struggling with classes right now. Don't have a ton of time."

[Nym Magenta]

"Sooo, what is this exactly?"

Oh boy, here it comes. Ax was clearly not as amused as Nym was and Nym couldn't blame her. Johnny here didn't seem like that bad of a guy. His totally awkward and somewhat suspicious approach probably wouldn't have been that bad if he'd caught Nym by herself. Unfortunately for him, this was the first time Nym and Ax had gotten a chance to chat in a week or two thanks to their hellish classes! She almost felt a little bad for him. Almost. She didn't quite have the time as Ax gave the guy a metaphorical pat on the back and 'Go Get 'em, Tiger.' She had to bite her tongue to not burst out laughing at Jericho's meek, awkward response. He clearly didn't mean any harm here, he'd just picked the wrong moment.

Transfer student with no friends? Nym could relate. That had been her a couple of years ago. This guy was just looking for some friends, right? Had Nym been this bad at it when she was new to Beacon? No, she was probably worse, she had actively avoided strangers as much as possible. There was definitely something to admire in his brazen attempt. It's too bad he was being so roundabout and vague. If he wasn't asking Nym out, what was he so nervous about? Was the prospect of talking to strangers that scary?

"Wind Path ain't no home a' mine, jus' left it's mark on me." There were harsher things she could have said about that city, but she didn't really feel like smacking this guy over the head with a verbal hammer. "Look, mate, you got a lot on yer plate, eh? Maybe ya oughtta go start clearin' some of it off, yeah?" That was about the nicest way she could suggest he exit, stage left. She wasn't about to leave him a scorching crater. Well intentioned, awkward delivery, bad timing, they weren't capital offenses. Nym was gonna have to find this bloke later and see if he had an easier time talking one on one or something. Second chances and all that, right?

[Ax L Rose]

She felt Jericho's mood shift from something resembling anxiety to shock as she spoke, and with that, she instantaneously deduced that she was actually wrong about his intentions. This did not improve her opinion of the man - the fact that she couldn't quickly make sense of his emotional state only made this whole exchange more irritating to her in that instant. Johnny's shock at Ax's assumption quickly echoed back, and Ax's emotional state twisted quickly into incredulous anger that burned like cold fire in the bird's eyes. It only made her words sound sharper and more accusatory.

She realized how pissed off she must've seemed a second later. Some part of her managed to recognize that her anger was quickly becoming disproportionate to the situation, bubbling up in her veins like lava. She bit her tongue and let the boy talk, though her eyes remained expectant as he began to to elaborate on what he was doing there. As she listened on, her anger ebbed and gave way to guilt. She knew she wasn't really being fair to this guy. She'd been suspicious and unfriendly just now, even going as far as to project some of her past insecurities about Nym onto him. His explanation about his situation seemed to elicit some sympathy from her. She knew what it was like to feel like the outsider, unfamiliar with everyone.

Ax's eyes flicked over to Nym as she spoke, only to wince when Nym made her suggestion. It was pretty diplomatic, and Ax had to give the fox some credit for that, but her guilt wouldn't allow her to simply be silent and agreeable this time, even if it'd have probably been easier on her in the short term.

"Hang on," Ax followed up Nym's words quickly before exhaling a brief little sigh and turning to look back at Johnny. She raised a hand and brushed some stray bangs behind her neck, hesitating for a brief moment before speaking again, this time in a much cooler tone of voice than before.

"...hey. Look, it's... maybe we should just start over. Hi. I'm Ax. I'm an empath. I passively pick up on people's emotions, especially in close proximity. It's extremely distracting. You've been two steps away from a meltdown since you showed up, and it's making me feel two steps from a meltdown."

She rose a hand and gestured to Nym.

"This is Nym. Nym has been dealing with my semblance since we met, and she's more experienced than just about anyone else here with it. She's trying to look out for me because she knows how it can be stressful for me. She and I also routinely have to tell douchey fuckboys - usually humans - to leave us alone because we're faunus, so if I seem a little on edge, I hope you're not taking it personally."

[Jericho Galley]

Jericho could take a hint. He wasn't wanted here.

Without another word he stepped out from the bench and was about to pick up his heavy tray when Ax spoke up. He left his tray there, straightening up, and listened. She was really trying to make this a better encounter. And, she explained her Semblance a bit more. That would explain it, and yeah, on the inside he was really scared that he had just met some of Blackhand's assassins. If she felt that, she'd be really confused as to why. He had to pull it together.

Although, his pride was wanting him to make the point that he doesn't need pity. But then what was that sob story, you dolt? He thought to himself. He closed his eyes and pushed it back. The girl could sense emotions, and conflicting ones wouldn't help right now. He turned to Nym as Ax gestured to her.

These two were close, huh? And had a history with types like him. They were trying to protect each other from him, who they perceived as a threat. At first he didn't quite get it, but then he thought about the times the crew of The Corsair had almost attacked a ship simply because it seemed to be a military vessel at the time, seen from very far away, until one of their mates, a lassy named nicknamed Fox could detail it out with her own Semblance. Fox cleared the fog of war and they were able to tell friend from foe from civilian. Ax was clearing the fog here. That made more sense.

"Well, thanks Ax. I appreciate it." He did. "Like I said, call me Johnny. And no, now that I know, I won't take it personally." He gave a small fleeting smile. "But I'm sorry for interrupting you lass- uh, girls." He picked up his tray carefully. "I'll go take care of, um, studying. See ya." He flicked his head in a gesture of good-bye. He thought of throwing something back in a Wind Path accent, but he didn't feel up to it.

[Nym Magenta]

Ax was doing her best to lay her cards on the table and throw the guy a rope. Her semblance could be tough to work with even when you knew it was there. Not having a clue why Ax was being so touchy was probably a bit tough for Johnny. Even with the explanation, it sounded like he was getting a move on. Nym felt a little pang of regret that it hadn't quite been enough to help him stay, but she wasn't too sad to see him go. There'd be other chances to make a cleaner introduction down the road. Beacon wasn't that big. There were only so many people, so many places to be. They'd run into each other again, right? She gave him a casual wave as he took his leave. "See ya round, Johnny."

After he was gone, she looked back towards Ax and shrugged at her. "Weird bloke, eh? Least 'e wasn' tryin' t' ask me out or nothin'." She sniggered as she remembered the look on his face when Ax had told him to get it on with. "Hoo, bloody 'ell. S'a good thing I wasn' in the middle'a drinkin' nothin'." All's well that ends well, right? No one had gotten physically hurt!

"Don' think ya overreacted or nothin' if ya ask me." Ax usually didn't ask, but it probably didn't hurt to hear it from someone else. "Think we were both pretty patient."

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's lips started to curve subtly into a more positive expression as Johnny spoke, only to gradually form back into something nearly resembling a frown when it became clear he'd made his decision. Despite his reassurance that he hadn't taken it personally, she wasn't sure she bought it. As he took his tray and started to walk away she visibly struggled with it; her lips parted to speak, but no words came out. It wasn't until he was well and away from the table that she finally got her thoughts in order, but by that point there wasn't really any point in shouting to him when it was several tables away.

Oh well. She'd make it up to the guy next time, assuming there was a next time. Maybe he'd be in a better mood and she'd be able to undo some of her quite rocky first impression. As Nym spoke, Ax's attentions snapped back into place, focused on her best friend and partner again. She brightened up quickly, thanks in part to the fact that Nym was seemingly unphased by the exchange that'd just occurred.

"Truuuuue," Ax agreed with a nod. The last guy before this one that'd come by to barge into a conversation with them had earned every ounce of Ax's ire. Her lips curved into a smile to mirror Nym's as she continued.

"Thanks for reassuring me. Yeah, I 'unno, I felt like I was kind of being a bitch? Guess I shouldn't generalize all the Beacon boys..." Ax rolled her eyes lightly, propping herself up with her chin resting on her hand, her elbow on the table.

"Boys..." Ax sighed softly, as though exasperated by the very concept. She'd forgotten whatever the hell she was talking about so far, so she contented herself to just lazily look over at Nym. Her food was mostly all gone, so at this point, Ax was just hanging out.

[Nym Magenta]

"S'cuz y' are a bitch, Ax," Nym said nonchalantly, as plainly as if she was calling the sky blue or water wet. "Baddest bitch on campus, eh? S'a difference between bein' a bitch and being a bitch, though. N' yer def'nitely a bitch, but I don' think you were bein' one." Nym stuffed the last of her food into her mouth, once against astonished at how quickly she ate compared to everyone else around her. Ax and guys seemed to mix like water and oil. Nym didn't really have that problem. Maybe her problem was that she mixed with them a little too well, a little too easily.

"Girls really are where s'at," Nym nodded in agreement with a statement that Ax had definitely, for sure just made. "I like girls betta' anyways. Boys 'r nice, but..." She shrugged noncommittally. They definitely talked this topic over lots of times, but it never really got boring talking about how much she liked things. "Girls 'r nicer." What had they been talking about before? Nym was struggling to recollect as thoughts of all the girls she liked slowly played their way across her brain. Ax kept popping up between every one of them. Neither of them would have been surprised if Nym had said it out loud, perhaps surprised that it wasn't just Ax.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax rose her eyebrows lightly at Nym's initial remark, early for the punchline that it certainly must've been leading to. Her smile broadened slightly as Nym turned it around into something more properly resembling a compliment.

"Took a DNA test, turns out I'm 100% that bitch," Ax grinned, her words leaving her lips in a singsong tone that suggested she was quoting lyrics. She rose her other elbow and rested that on the table as well, adjusting so that her chin rested in her palms, leaned forward with interest as Nym spoke up on an old, familiar subject.

Ax knew Nym's tastes pretty well by now, but she didn't really get tired of these little moments where the fox seemed just a little bit enchanted with her. She probably should've felt guilty, given the kind of intense conversations and awkwardness that'd arisen prior to when they started to drift apart earlier in the year... but Ax really couldn't help it. She eagerly drank in every last bit of attention the fox gave her, and she probably always would. Commitment issues or no, it was hard not to love attention from Nym.

"The only guys that ever do it for me seem to be girly as fuck, and even then it's like... eh, it's a fun idea but I don't think I'd actually take one to bed... and I'd definitely never date one. 'Course, I haven't actually seriously dated technically since before I started here at Beacon..." Ax's eyes wandered upward toward the dining hall ceiling. Calli didn't count - they weren't really official. Man, now that Ax was thinking about it... her academy career had been pretty love and sex-starved. She'd been giving thought to changing at least part of that, and she couldn't think of a better person to talk to about it than her best friend. Hopefully it wouldn't be a sore subject.

After a little thought, she looked back over at her pretty, golden-eyed fox friend.

"What about that guy? Johnny? He looked... conventionally attractive. I don't actually know what kind of guys you're really into, now that I think about it," Ax pondered aloud, more or less just making conversation while she considered the subject of opening up about other thoughts she'd been having as of late.