SLVR

As soon as Vance took a better look at Gabe, all of his preplanned words went flying out the window. He felt his eyes trail down the panther boy's chest, having to force himself to look back up and avoid looking at the bare skin. Things only got worse when Gabe came back out with only boxers and a bathrobe and he just had to have glasses, didn't he? The wolf boy's face was a tomato by the time Gabe finally realized who he had invited in, but he stubbornly kept his gaze on the other boy. The nervous fluttering in his chest increased tenfold as he watched Gabe go about his business and get himself ready. Finally, Gabe gave Vance the go ahead.

Vance opened his mouth to speak and his mind short circuited. "I lied to you yesterday." And there went his big mouth. Realizing his mistake, he rushed to fix it. "No! No, I mean, not about the dance, I still really, really want to go to the dance with you, but about you being my best friend. I mean! Not that we aren't, I mean, we never said anything, but we're really close, and it's always fun when we hang out, but I mean, maybe I feel-I mean I know this is weird but, I just, I... I..." All of his thoughts had flown out of his head as he stared at Gabe. He hadn't realized how close he had gotten to the boy in the midst of his explanations and ramblings. Blushing and looking still somewhat sleepy, Gabe looked, dare Vance say it, cute. Vance faintly felt his face heat up more, as if that was even possible. "I..." He tried once more before leaning in.

The kiss wasn't much of a kiss, just a quick peck. Their lips barely brushed before Vance jerked back, his eyes blown wide as he realized just what he had done. "O-oh no..." He whimpered before rushing into a full on apology. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to overstep like that! I just, I couldn't get my words out and you just looked so... so... a-and you make me feel all weird and tingly inside and I've never felt that way before! Every time I see you, I feel all warm and happy a-and I just wanna hang out with you all the time, and you're just so talented and smart and cool and you take me seriously! I like it when you smile and when you talk to me and listen to what I have to say! I thought that just meant that we were really good friends, but you're... you're really special to me and I think I like you more than that. I... I have a crush on you, Gabe!" Vance was practically shaking, his wolf ears flat against his head. He panted. The air suddenly felt ten times heavier than before. A pregnant pause followed, the tension thick enough that they could cut it with a knife.

"I..." Vance started, a hand on his chest. He had gotten it out there, but why was he still so shaky and nervous? Everything was supposed to be fine now. "I have a crush on you, Gabe." He repeated, the words foreign yet so, so right on his tongue. "I just didn't realize it because I'm kinda dense about these things. Either way, I shouldn't have just... I took it a bit too far. I just wanted to make sure you knew so there wasn't any misunderstandings or any bad things happening. I..." Vance looked away, trying to find the words. He took one look at Gabe before starting to head towards the door. "I'm sorry, I should get going. I'm sorry I overstepped. I'll see you in class." Vance could still feel his heart pounding in his chest, his ears still hidden in his mass of hair.

~~~

Before Sylvia could blink, Lev had left and she was left all alone with Seymour. At least Lev had told her what happened to Gabe. Turning back to the gazelle boy, she smiled apologetically as he insisted she take a nap. "Ah, right, I'm sorry about this, Seymour. I was just up late last night working with Lev to get his weapon started and then I had to work on my own project for the dance which I would totally tell you about, but it has to be a surprise so I can't really tell you." The silverette rambled, slowly moving the sparse plate of food and coffee she had gotten off to the side to make room. "Thanks for doing this by the way. It seems like you're always doing stuff to make things better for me like comforting me and training with me and helping my team and getting me to go to the dance and giving all those speeches." She slowly lowered her head onto her arms, using them as a sort of cushion as her mind grew hazier and hazier. She didn't even realize she was still speaking as she slowly fell into a sleepy doze. "I wish I could make you smile like you make me smile..." With that she was out, her whole body slumping and her breathing evening out.
 
Seymour looked at Sylvia's dozing form for a moment before letting out an exhale he had been holding for a while. Plopping his chin on his hands, he watched his fellow leader snooze with a smile. A thrum not unlike the sound he had made the night they first spoke began to wake from his throat, and before he knew it he was humming again. A song or two from his past went by, and Seymour found his chin on his fists again, though this time his arms were flat against the table, and his head was turned for a more comfortable situation.

"It's harder than you'd think." Seymour found himself whispering his thoughts; responses to the silverette's desires. "...making people smile, when you can't feel the way they do, is so...so hard..." He felt a couple tears slip from his eyes as he let them shut, but he continued with a smile regardless. "But if you really wish it, then I can't wait to see what you try." With a yawn, Seymour finally let himself go limp across from Sylvia. Slowly, the gazelle boy reached out one of his arms in a stretch, only to find a bit of Sylvia's hand sticking out from her resting form. Slowly, his fingers wormed their way into her grasp as if by instinct.

"I hope you're up for the challenge..." Seymour breathed out slowly as he fell asleep.

-

Gabe's ears rung with the words that Vance was trying to get out. It was one disjointed idea after another with him, always so scattered and incomplete, but none-the-less sincere and matter-of-fact. Such a dog, Gabe thought to himself with a smile as Vance worked through his confessional, ears rising and falling with the mood he was trying so hard to establish. Then the talking stopped. Gabe's ears took a moment to stop ringing, but that was just enough time for Vance to take him for a spin. Gabe's eyes closed, then opened, both without an expression to color them. The kiss was registering...registering...

Then the ringing returned, louder, this time. It was the sound of bells; of chimes in a hurricane, clashing against his eardrums with little mercy. Pine needles felt like they were raining on his arms and neck and chest, and his face was scorched with something redder than red. His legs were wooden and visibly planted to the floor, but in his head he was uprooted, no ground to keep his footing... Gabe looked at Vance, whose mouth was still moving, and it all made sense. A tree to the storm. A wild but happy sort of storm that Gabe could've sat in for hours.

The panther would've been happy to revel in his slow uptake of his emotions, but Vance was leaving already, and after so much! Had he apologized? Was he assuming Gabe wasn't happy? It didn't matter. The moment the wolf boy turned his back, Gabe was everywhere. His semblance was hardly a limit to him as he tore open his clothing drawers, yanked out something, anything, slammed the bathroom door, and didn't bother reopening it before snaking his arms around Vance's neck, pulling the wolf closer and closer until their noses touched. The dust-grey, old country street-lampish color of Gabe's eyes reflected a bit of amber from Vance's, becoming brighter and hotter, and it became clear he had put in his contacts in order to be this close.

The closeness, along with the reciprocal eskimo-kiss, only lasted for an eternity of a few seconds before Gabe disappeared. Due to the range of his semblance, it would've made sense to see him down the hall, but he wasn't in either direction. It was unclear where else he could've disappeared to until the clap of shoes on pavement was heard outside team SAGE's window, followed by the gasps of a few onlookers. The sound of running quickly faded into the distance as Gabe fought to retain the feeling of breathlessness he was left with on the way to class.
 
Last edited:
Vance had been ready to just leave when arms turned him around. He blinked as Gabe pulled him close, their noses touching. Strangely this almost felt more intimate than their earlier kiss as Gabe stared Vance straight in the eyes. Neither boy said anything, but all too quickly Gabe was gone, leaving Vance in a daze. So did that mean... Gabe liked him too? Well, the panther boy had already accepted his invitation to the dance without knowing that at the time Vance was asking as a friend. His mind swirled in a drunken haze as he slowly started to leave the room, faintly registering that Gabe had ran outside of his dorm. A silly way to get to class, honestly.

The wolf boy walked through the halls, trying to take in the fact that Gabe liked him-Gabe liked him! The eskimo kiss had left him feeling dizzy and light-headed, but Vance found he didn't quite mind. He slunk into class and melted into his usual seat, not paying attention to much other than the burst of butterflies in his chest and the tingling crawling down his limbs. A permanent blush seemed to be painted across his face as he recalled how intense Gabe's eyes were, how pretty they had looked as they stared straight into Vance's soul. A shiver ran down his spine. Oh, he had it bad.

~~~

When Sylvia next woke, she blinked as she noticed how empty the dining hall was. Yawning, she started to look up when she saw the clock. Class started 20 minutes ago. Class started 20 minutes ago! Cursing, Sylvia turned to Seymour and shook him awake. "Seymour, we gotta go! We're late to class!" Without waiting for the boy to fully wake up, she slid over the table and started running, dragging the poor boy with her. Throughout the whole run, Sylvia never let go of Seymour's hand even as they burst into the classroom, Sylvia nearly tripping as she panted. "I'm so sorry we're late!" She burst out, blushing from embarrassment as the professor regarded her.
 
Last edited:
Seymour woke at the same time as Sylvia. Her alertness shivered through his hand before she even registered the time. However, he kept his eyes closed, and with a smile, let the silverette drag him along. When they arrived at the classroom, Seymour couldn't help but laugh at the rush of being tugged along.

Dr. Monarch was already in his seat when the two leaders burst in. With hazy eyes, he looked them over before rolling over to his desk, grabbing a clipboard, and rolling back to his position in the class's center. Making eye contact with both of his students, he slowly read out their names. Despite not looking too expressive, Monarch was, without a doubt, absolutely livid.

"Sylvia Slater and Seymour Shen...absent."

With an exhale, the doctor let out a thick cloud of grayish pink smoke that swirled around the silverette and the gazelle boy until they could no longer see. While it was visibly thick, it didn't seem to have normal smoke properties. Rather, it was like a mist or fog; watery, but arid and easy to breath. As it bent around the two leaders, the murmurs of the class seemed to disappear, as did the feeling of Monarch's cold, dead stare. When the smoke dissipated, they both stood outside the classroom, the door closed behind them. In the time it took for the smoke to surround them, Seymour had turned stark white, taking Sylvia's wrist in his grasp and squeezing tightly to mitigate what he felt, or rather, what he didn't. A few moments after the duo had been left outside the class, color finally started to return to the boy's face, but it wasn't enough. He took a loud, shaky breath, then another, and another, until it seemed he was close to hyperventilating. His hand slid from Sylvia's wrist down to her palm, desperate for the contact, and he began coughing as the breaths became too much. The coughing took him to his knees, but he refused to let go of Sylvia's hand. If anything, he held it all the tighter as he pulled himself together.

It took a while, but eventually Seymour was on his feet once more, and breathing evenly to boot. However, for the first time, he couldn't bring himself to look into Sylvia's eyes. Their hands were still intertwined, though the faunus had stopped squeezing, and had instead slid his fingers into the silverette's, interlocking them in a more natural way. And when Seymour finally spoke, his voice was quiet and distant, a far cry from his public demeanor.

"I am okay..." He breathed, ensuring no shakiness would be audible in his voice. Once the phrase was out, he tried it again, still in a whisper, "I am okay," and then again, and again. Rather than coming out like a statement to Sylvia, or even himself, it sounded more like practice, as though he were familiarizing himself with how the words worked and sounded. Then, in a sudden shift, Seymour turned to Sylvia with his natural smile and pleasant demeanor, chuckling as he said the phrase again, this time as perfect as it could be.

"I am okay. Don't worry about me."
 
Last edited:
The smoke surprised Sylvia as they were suddenly transported into the hall. She had been about to make a joke to lighten the situation when she noticed Seymour whispering to himself, almost reciting his words before he finally spoke them to Sylvia. She frowned, her eyebrows scrunching up in concern as she searched Seymour's face for some kind of clue or sign of what he was truly feeling. She could still feel his hand in hers, remembering how tightly he had gripped it as they had been teleported into the hallway. "Are you sure?" She ended up questioning, frowning at the sudden turn and new side Seymour had shown. Sure, she loved to learn more about her friends, but this seemed far more serious than she thought. The silverette was tempted to note how he was holding her hand, but she refused to take the focus off of the issue at hand. However after a few moments, she let it slide and sighed. "Well, I guess we've got some time to just hang out until next period."

The incident seemed to slide by easily for the rest of the day. Soon enough, everyone was back in the room, going about their business. Vance had mostly recovered from his dazed morning, though there were still moments when he would suddenly seem to remember that morning and blush redder than the tomato. This earned him lots of teasing and questions which he hesitated to answer. Sylvia had settled herself back at her desk, ready to work on Lev's weapon and her own projects once the group had finished settling down for the day.
 
Sylvia and Seymour had gotten a stern word from Dr. Monarch after class, but it wasn't anything they weren't expecting, leaving them to go about the rest of the day as normal. Everyone in SLVR and SAGE seemed to have something to smile about, whether it was Sylvia and her weapons, Vance and Gabe, Reyna and Uriah... Seymour was simply happy to see everyone else happy, and even Ellie had something to be smily about.

"I was invited to help host the dance! I'll be the first face y'all see when ya get there, greet'n everyone with a smile!" She proclaimed proudly at breakfast the next morning. The feeling was infectious, coming from everyone on both teams. Gabe returned to breakfast, and, though remaining quiet as ever, couldn't help but smile when he caught Vance's eyes in his own. Seymour was a blushing mess whenever the two were around, but it never stopped his smile and laugh from going on. And Reyna, whenever she was around, would do any number of things to keep herself occupied as she thought of her boyfriend...

-

"H-Hey, I'll...I'll be right back. I gotta do, uh, something."

Lev stood from his seat a night before the dance, clenching and unclenching his hands. He had been working on his weapon with Sylvia, and it was so close to being done. Just one more night of work after the dance would finish it, and he could get back into the groove of things. But tonight, after watching his team go through new motions for what felt like forever, bucked up his resolve and walked out the door and down the hall.

A few minutes later, a scream like the engine of a jet screeched through the dorm. A second after the screech, a loud knocking came at SLVR's door. Seymour opened it wide, breathing hard with a face red from laughter, before anyone could do so for him, and he collapsed on the ground in a fit of snickers. Before he could pick himself up to say what he wanted, Lev skirted down the hall behind him, using various door hinges and handles as push-off points for his semblance. Half a second behind him was the jet scream, Abby, propelling after him as if they were on the battlefield. The sound wrought another fit of laughter from Seymour, and he desperately kicked the door closed behind him before the situation could repeat. The black haired boy and the lioness were apparently making laps inside the dorm in a vicious chase.

Gasping for breath at this point, Seymour finally picked himself up using the wall as support. "D-Did you all tell Lev to do that?" He finally asked, brushing back hair behind his horns. "I've never seen Abby so flustered in my life!"

Reyna's eyes shot open as she tried to piece together what was going on. "Details. Details, Details, Details, DETAILS!" She grinned maniacally, hopping on the edge of her bed to listen. Lev causing trouble hadn't ceased to entertain her, even after the two became decent friends. Seymour looked to the other SLVR members before sighing, shrugging, and relaying what had happened only moments before.

-

"Hey, Ellie! Wanna be my date for the dance?"

Lev had walked in unannounced in the midst of team SAGE. The environment, frankly, wasn't much different from SLVR's room. Seymour sat crosslegged on his bed, meditating. He didn't even bother opening his eyes, but waved in greeting to Lev, who clearly had bigger fish to fry. On the other side of the room, Gabe was listening to music through his headphones. With the volume he had it at, it was easy to hear what he was listening to. Classical.

Abby, meanwhile, had gone immediately on the offensive before realizing it was Lev and settling down to read what looked like a romance novel. She shoved her thick rimmed cherry red glasses as far up as they'd go before digging back into the pages, as though to tell Lev to shove off. Then Ellie, who had set up a hammock (somehow) in place of her bed, sat swinging with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry hun, I'm gonna be too busy with greetin' durin' the dance. Well, that, and I ain't really a guy's gal, y'know what I'm sayin'?"

Lev kicked the carpet with an understanding nod. "Tsk, alrighty then... how's about you, Abby? I mean, since Seymour isn't going with you, and Syv isn't gonna fall for me any time soon, we might as well stick together. Birds of a feather and whatnot, yeah?"

-

"And at that point, Abby just..." Seymour made an explosive motion with his hands before laughing it off. "Then she and Lev took off. I don't even know if she's given him an answer... Oh well, I suppose I'll see you at the dance tomorrow! We should all walk over together, so let me know when you all plan to leave!" Seymour let the last of his heightened joviality flutter out as he exited SLVR's room and headed back to his own. The chase between Lev and Abby went on for a good half an hour longer before both returned home, opening the door only to collapse on the floor, Lev with a sly grin, and Abby with a vengeful snarl that held a small hint of something else...
 
Sylvia hadn't paid much mind when Lev left the room. Everyone was doing great and getting paired off this way and that. There seemed to be no reason to worry. Then, of course, there was a loud screech, alerting Sylvia and her team to some sort of shenanigans happening. A knocking at the door had Sylvia pull herself flush against her desk before Seymour stumbled in. She relaxed a bit as Vance looked up at the intruder. "Seymour? What's up?" She asked, only to have her answer come rushing through the halls, leaving Vance to stare after them in awe. "What did Lev do?" Sylvia switched gears, her voice taking on the tone of an exasperated parent. As Seymour questioned their involvement, Sylvia repeated her question. "No, what did he do?" Then the explanation came.

Vance burst out into laughter as soon as Seymour had finished. The wolf boy found it far too funny that Lev had so bluntly asked the lioness out as fellow rejects. Sylvia couldn't hold in her own giggles over the hilarity of the situation. One did not simply ask out Abigail, especially how Lev had. The silverette calmed down enough to answer Seymour. "We'll probably leave about ten minutes before the dance since it's not all that far away. We'll see you then, Seymour!" She gave a few last chuckles before turning back to her own workspace. The next half an hour was quiet until Lev returned. Turning to the boy, Sylvia smirked and leaned against her armrest. "So, did she say yes, Champ?" She teased, watching the ravenette with eyes full of amusement.

~~~

Time flew by and soon enough SLVR was in their dorm, getting ready for the dance. Vance had already gotten dressed and ready, his yellow vest and bowtie matching his sunny personality wonderfully. He fidgeted with the bowtie that Sylvia had helped him put on, his hair brushed for once though it still ended up looking messy and fluffy. Sylvia hadn't gotten into her dress yet, wearing a robe instead as she worked on braiding Lev's hair for the event. Her own hair was curled and pinned to one side, falling gracefully onto her shoulder. Her makeup had already been worked over, and she had already finished helping Reyna curl her own hair. "I can't wait to see all the others and go to the dance! I've never been to a dance before. Or a date! I bet it's going to be lots of fun! Or at least I hope so. I mean, It will be!" Vance jittered, smiling brightly despite his nervous fidgeting and twitching ears. "Sylvia, when are you going to get into your dress? I don't wanna be late!" He whined, looking over at the silverette with puppy eyes.

"I'm sure you'll have a great time with Gabe." Sylvia smiled as she continued Lev's complicated braid. "While you and Reyna are off canoodling with your dates, the rest of us will all go and have fun and maybe dance a bit." She kept her focus on the hair in front of her, glad to finally be able to play with her partner's long locks. She laughed at Vance's whine. "I'll get my dress on when I'm done with Lev, then we can all go meet up with everyone. I promise you we won't be late. I just wanna make sure Lev here looks the best he can for his own 'date'." The silverette joked. Her fingers wound through the locks skillfully, creating an elegant braid with deft twists and turns. Vance groaned before turning to a mirror and adjusting his bow tie for the millionth time.
 
Reyna spun around happily in her dress, admiring her hair and her overall look with a bright grin. Vance's jitters were getting to her too as she thought about the night ahead. Something that Sylvia said made her pause in her pirouettes for a moment, but it wasn't for long. "Sylvia, please don't say canoodling." She put her hands on her hips with a playful pout. "It makes you sound totally like my dad, and that's weird..." She thought for a moment before spinning around again, watching her dress twirl with her. "Anyways, I gotta know what you picked out! Lev stopped sending me pictures after the suit, the tease."

Lev would've responded, but he was too busy cringing, wincing, and being difficult in general. "S-Syv, y'know this is th- OW! ...this is the first time anyone's touched my hair outside of my parents. I'd appreci- OW! ...appreciate it if you could be a bit more gentle." In reality, his scalp was simply sensitive, but despite having so much hair, he knew very little when it came to making it look nice. "And I told- OW! ...told you, she didn't give me an answer. I mean, not directly. I'm kinda taking the chase last night as a negative, not that I didn't figure as much."

"I'm just glad you got back before any of our seniors could put you down for making so much noise so late in the night." Reyna retorted, moving to Vance's side in the mirror. "Now stop fiddling with your bowtie. It looks cute, like I thought it would." The pinkette nodded her head in approval of her choice for Vance before taking his bowtie out of his hands and into hers, adjusting it with a keen eye. "You should really find something less obvious to mess with. You're gonna turn some heads, Vance, and you should look perfect when you do it!"
 
As Reyna fixed his bowtie, Vance tried to find something else to mess with, ending up just rubbing his hands and messing with his fingers. "I just wanna get going already! If we keep waiting then we're going to be late and we'll have to make SAGE wait and then Gabe's gonna not wanna go with me and then-"

"Vance!" Sylvia interrupted, pausing in her ministrations to look the wolf boy in the eye. Once she knew she had his attention and that he had stopped rambling, she turned back to her task and continued. "We've still got a good ten minutes before we need to leave. We're not going to be late, SAGE won't have to wait, and Gabe will most definitely still want to go with you. Now, I need to finish Lev's hair, or else we'll never be able to get going." Sylvia started finishing off the braid, shaking her head at Lev's complaints. "I'm being as gentle as I can while making this look good. We're almost done anyways." With a quick twist and a hair tie keeping everything together, Sylvia finally pulled away from the ravenette and nodded. "There. Now, let me get my dress on and we can head out." With that, Sylvia slipped into the bathroom.

Vance pouted and flopped onto his bed, tapping his foot and looking between the girls' bathroom and the door. After what felt like an eternity-and in reality was simply a few minutes-Sylvia stepped out. Vance jumped up and immediately started heading to the door. "All right, let's go!" He started before taking a moment to look over Sylvia's outfit. Her dress was nearly floor length, the green fabric clinging to her form before falling gracefully. The neckline was cut low, showing off Sylvia's chest and dipping far on her back. A single slit ran all the way up to a little below her butt, revealing the fishnet stockings she seemed to wear. In reality, the stockings were completely opaque with a fishnet design allowing an illusion of the more risqué clothing. Her boots had changed as well, now black with heels that added to her height.

Twirling, the silverette smiled at her teammates as she gestured to the dress. "What do you guys think? I think I look pretty good. I also made some new boots to go with it. Stylish," She lifted one of her boots up, letting the blade hidden in her legs slide out, "and still deadly." She quickly put away the blade and put her foot down.

The whole outfit looked cool in Vance's opinion, but he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as he leaned to look more at Sylvia's back. "What's on your back, Sylvia?" The wolf boy asked, tilting his head.

Blinking, Sylvia turned to look. "Oh! Have I never shown you guys my tattoo? I thought you'd already seen it." She turned, showing off her back to her teammates. Right in the middle of their leader's back sat a silver colored fox with its snout turned upwards toward Sylvia's shoulder. It's tail wound around the body, and its ears stood at attention. The bold lines contrasted with the watercolored hues. Vance gaped at the image, his eyes practically sparkling at the tattoo.
 
Lev was glad for the torture of his scalp to finally be over when Sylvia went to change. Looking in the mirror, he let the braid fall between his fingers, as if getting used to the feeling. He could already feel his hands trying to reach for his mass of hair, just out of habit, and not feeling it meet his palm made him grimace. Not that he didn't like the look, but it just didn't sit right with him. Of course, seeing Sylvia step out with her new dress gave Lev more important things to think about.

"Look at you!" He whistled, removing himself from the mirror to give her a full inspection. "Decided to go rogue after Reyna and I recommended red, huh? I should have expected as much...still, now I feel bad for Seymour. That poor, innocent guy doesn't know he's taking a total seductrice to the dance." He jested, giving her hip a bump with his own. Of course, the jest was only to quickly conceal a plethora of other feelings he had about the whole thing. He would've gone on, but Reyna had pushed him aside to get her own look at her friend.

"Shut up, you. She looks great. And I gotta agree, the green suits you, Sylvia! You look like a total knockout. I must look like I'm straight from a dollhouse next to you." She laughed before catching the same thing that Vance had. Reyna was about to comment on it, but noticed that Lev was turned away, trying to hide behind hair that no longer existed. "Lev, did you-"

"Yeah, I already saw it. I just forgot to ask what it was." He interrupted, if only to save himself from the in-depth explanation of what lay upon Sylvia's bare back. It was ungentlemanly, for one, though he still had other reasons to look away besides that. Such a tease, Lev thought to himself with a sigh, and a mean one too. Honestly. Can't be anywhere with her...

"Well, I'm gonna head out and meet Uriah. See you all at the dance! Don't be too much trouble!" Reyna interrupted Lev's internal monologue with her farewell, running off before anyone had a chance to say otherwise. With that, the black haired boy assumed it safe to turn around.

"There she goes. I guess we should be off too. Knowing Seymour, they're probably waiting for us."

-

Lev was spot on. SAGE sat outside on the dorm's porch, sans Ellie, trying to get Abby acclimated to her dress, a long and loose-sleeved, off shoulder, black and red sort of thing that seemed to be a fine blend of Mistral style and modern wear. The dress hugged Abigale's form as it flowed down to her ankles, showing off her slim figure, but was still loose enough to keep the definition of her muscles hidden under the fabric. Looking at her now, she seemed fragile; something that not even her team was prepared for. Now when they tried to dote on her, it was almost impossible to predict how hard her fist would hit. Gabe and Seymour were already nursing bruises when SLVR came out to meet them.

Gabe was the first to initiate, to everyone's surprise, teleporting straight to Vance and giving him another eskimo kiss. It was shorter, and more casual, but Gabe's eyes were still digging straight into Vance's. However, rather than teleporting away, the panther moved to his date's side, taking Vance's hand in his own. His face was almost glowing with pink as he took his eyes away from the wolf's, but he remained; a first for Gabe.

After getting over that shock, Abby was the next to move. Lev felt his smile widen sheepishly as she stepped forward against him, one resounding stomp after another. Everyone knew what was going to happen. It was too obvious for it not to, but that didn't cause anyone to step up in the raven haired boy's defense as Abigale wound up and punched his face into the ground. A residual scream of her jet semblance echoed off into the distance, making it apparent that she went all out, at least for that second. Then she stood over Lev's dropped form, waiting.

"I guess I deserved that?" Lev groaned, picking himself up slowly from the cracked concrete floor. He wasn't bleeding, but his aura dropped 20% to make up for it.

"Yeah, you did deserve that!" Abby retorted with a growl. "Where do you get off, asking me as second pickings right after asking Ellie? And while we're both in the same room! Are you an idiot? Do you not know how to treat girls right?" By this time, Lev was standing, using his right hand to nurse a soft bruise on his cheek. Abigale was quick to take that same arm and interlock it with hers. If it hadn't been for the lioness punching Lev down just moments before, they would've looked like a regular couple, arm in arm. Looking up at Lev, she gave a toothy grin. "I'm going to do everything to make this dance a hell on earth for you, rabbit, as payback."

Lev was stunned for a moment, but he returned her smile with one of his own, externally casual, but internally meeting the challenge and butting heads with the lioness. "Rabbit, huh? ...well alright then. It's a date."

Abigale's eyes widened as the boy caught her in a web of her own schemes. She attempted to wriggle free of their interlocked arms in order to sock him again, but Lev was obstinate, keeping her at his side with little effort now that she was flustered. Eventually she tired herself out enough for the raven to complement her dress, and so the two began talking aside as they often did after sparring, although it was clear that Abby was having a hard time not blushing at it all.

Lastly was Seymour. After watching his teammates do what they would, he stepped up to Sylvia with a grin from ear to ear. The gazelle, unlike the rest of his team, and likely the rest of the school, was dressed, as Lev guessed, in a kimono. The majority of it was a bright, snowy white, but the forest-y pattern was a deep, dark sage, making the ensemble look like evergreens covered in snow; an appropriate style for one like Seymour.

"Men aren't exactly supposed to wear much color when it comes to kimonos," he began, stepping to Sylvia's side to admire their teammates getting along, "but Ellie said it suited me, so I caved. I'm still not sure if I'm happy with the look, but you, on the other hand, look fantastic! I'm glad I didn't have to force you myself, or else I would've had to miss out on such a beautiful surprise." Seymour chuckled for a moment before looking ahead towards the dance hall, then back to Sylvia. Lifting a hand in offering to the silverette, he smiled. "Shall we?"
 
Last edited:
Vance frowned at Lev's dismissal before quickly following Reyna's lead and dragging the rest of his team with him. Sylvia raised her eyebrow, wondering when Lev had gotten a peek at her tattoo before. Either way she brushed it off as they headed out to meet up with SAGE. As they approached, Vance could feel his smile widening before finally catching a full glimpse of Gabe. He blinked as his smile fell into a surprised 'o'. Oh no, he's hot. Vance thought as he took in the panther boy with a growing blush. Sure, he already technically knew that Gabe was attractive, having seen him around in various states of dress and undress, but seeing him in a suit just served to solidify the fact that yep, he was extremely attractive. The blush only became worse as Gabe teleported to his side, giving him a quick eskimo kiss before grabbing his hand. This brought the smile back to Vance's face and he squeezed back, bouncing a bit as he started to chatter. "I'm so excited, this is going to be so fun!" He beamed at his date, some of his nerves starting to slide away.

Sylvia couldn't help but smile at how well the two teammates were getting along, chuckling as Lev trapped Abigale into a 'date' with him. She blinked as Seymour approached, giving him a friendly smile back as she took in his kimono. "Well, Ellie's right, it does suit you. I think you don't look half bad yourself." Sylvia quipped, giving the gazelle boy a playful wink. His compliments had stuck in her mind, making her heart beat just a little bit faster. She took his hand gratefully. "We shall." She responded, giggling a bit at how insanely posh that sounded as the duo led their teams into the dance.

Immediately they were bombarded with sound. Music was already playing while the dance floor was slowly being populated by people. Most stood off to the side, chatting amongst themselves and generally having a good time. However there were still quite a few brave ones off generally either bouncing along or flailing as they laughed at each other. Vance at first was taken aback by the volume, his sensitive wolf ears hiding for a moment before popping back out and twisting and turning to catch all the different sounds. He felt tempted to just pull Gabe onto the dance floor, but hesitated for a moment. Ellie was supposed to be greeting after all. They couldn't just rush off and not say hi to her! Sylvia let out a low whistle as she looked around the place. "The dance's barely begun and they're already blasting the music as if there's no tomorrow." She commented, bumping Seymour's shoulder as she took everything.
 
And so the two teams walked to the dance, everyone coupled up for one reason or another. Abby finally got Lev to let her arm go, though she stuck close to him anyways, Gabe's fingers were happily intertwined with Vance's, and though he hadn't even spoke a word, it was clear he was feeling something of a rush being with the wolf boy. Then there was Seymour, who held Sylvia's hand as delicately as a flower petal, and as dignified as a queen's.

Upon reaching the dance, the first thing everyone noticed was the music.

"Obnoxious..." Gabe spoke under his breath, though he didn't seem to have problems with the volume. Regardless, he pulled himself closer to Vance and tried to relax.

Meanwhile, Abby was pumping her head to the beat of the bass. Lev couldn't help but let his grin spread from ear to ear as he watched, wondering if it was something she was doing intentionally. Her shoulders started swaying as well, and she had just begun to get her arms into it when she noticed Lev watching with his stupid smile. Her face turned red once more, her body stiffened, and she took a wild swing at his shoulder. Lev dodged easily enough, and she would've swung again, but she was fatigued as it was. Then she looked at Lev's face again, and swung anyways.

"You should really save your energy if you want to dance that bad." Lev commented, letting her fist collide with his upper arm so he could stop her short. "Besides, I'd like to dance a bit too!"

"W-Well..." Abigale was tongue tied now that she was flustered, but she recovered just enough to point a finger at him and hold a wavering smile to counter his. "Well I don't want to dance, so now you can't! As my date, you have to stand at my side and be absolutely miserable!" Of course, Lev simply chuckled in agreement, causing Abby to give up taunting him further.

Seymour winced at the music, but was overall unaffected. "You're right, though I suppose this is a sort of cultural thing for Vale. At home, we have a saying regarding noise like this. To drown one's emotions in the crashing of the waves, one must be close enough to drown in the waves themselves. It's rather morbid when you first hear it, but it is actually a proverb for the passionate. To be so close to death is to quench the desire for thrill and change in the-"

"HEY Y'ALL!" Ellie interrupted her leader's proverb unknowingly when she hugged him and Sylvia from behind, then bounded over to Gabe and Vance, then Abby and Lev to do the same. "Welcome to the Beacon Dance!" She beamed, pulling up a clipboard with a guest list and checking off the names of her friends. "I can't stick around, but I'll catch up with y'all once someone takes over for me. Have fun!" She cheered before running off to do her job.

After that, everyone was left in the pulsing bass to wonder what to do next. Gabe looked to Vance, willing to be dragged wherever. Abby and Lev continued to butt heads, and Seymour gave Sylvia's hand a rare squeeze, not even bothering to finish his explanation. "Shall we get something to drink, then find a nice seat with a view?"
 
Sylvia jumped as Ellie hugged her and Seymour. "Ah! Oh, Hey Ellie." She chuckled. "I'm sure we will, see you later!" She waved to the girl before turning to Seymour. "Sure, that sounds wonderful!" With that she let the gazelle boy lead her to the snacks table where both were able to get a glass of punch. With that Sylvia managed to find them a spot to sit, carefully smoothing her dress as she sat and taking a look at the dance and their teammates. "I'm glad everyone's getting along mostly and having fun. I was a little worried after the whole thing with Lev, but it looks like he and Abby are having some fun together. Of course Vance and Gabe are getting along great. I never thought those two would get together, but the world is full of surprises..." She sighed as she turned her attention back to Seymour. "So, anything you'd like to talk about? Strategies, style, the secrets of life?" Sylvia asked, pausing to take a sip of her punch.

Vance smiled as Ellie greeted them all, glad to have seen her and be able to get started with the dance. As soon as Gabe gave the look, Vance was pulling him along to the dance floor. He settled themselves in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by other couples and friend groups bouncing along to the music. Vance grabbed Gabe's hands and started to dance with him, his smile wide as he just hopped about and dorkily spun. He laughed, realizing just how silly they may have looked, but not caring in the slightest. For the next few songs, Vance just had fun trying various dances with Gabe, laughing as he enjoyed his time with the panther boy.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's slow it down a little bit. Grab your partner or that lucky lady or guy and let's set the mood." The DJ called out as he started playing a popular slow and sappy song. Couples around Vance and Gabe started to pair off, boys setting their hands on the girls' waists while girls wound their arms around the boys' necks. Vance blinked, unsure what to do before hesitantly putting his hands on Gabe's shoulders. He blushed as they started to sway, the song crooning sweetly in the background. Most of the other couples were cuddling up, not really speaking but just enjoying their presence.

After a moment, Vance spoke up. "You, uh, you look really good tonight." He managed, unsure what else to say as he took in his date. This wasn't like just talking to Gabe at the breakfast table. Well, maybe it was. Instead of eating breakfast, they were just dancing. Yet, Vance couldn't think of anything else to say, looking around at the other couples. While most were cuddling up to each other, some were making out. Vance flushed and quickly looked away, staring at the floor as he tried to calm his blush so he could actually look at his date.
 
Seymour, with the perfect poise of someone trained in the social arts, made it seem effortless to pour drinks and provide treats to both Sylvia and himself while wearing formal attire. Even as he took his seat with the silverette, there were no crumbs, no spills...not even a dot of sweat could be seen or felt on his body-encompasing formal wear. He seemed to pause a moment to take pride in that fact before responding to his fellow leader.

"It is pleasant to see our teams so meshed. Nothing could make me happier than knowing I've helped team SAGE make a few long-lasting friends. I will be honest, I never expected anyone to ask Abby out, especially as flippantly as Lev did. However, I think it did her some good." Meanwhile, Abigale and Lev stood by the snack table, doing nothing in particular. Lev sipped some punch while Abby stared at the dance floor with a glare. She was punishing herself in order to punish the raven haired boy at her side, and even then it wasn't working out. Seymour chuckled at the sight before continuing. "She's been a handful for as long as I've known her, but her intentions are always pure. As for Gabe...well, I suppose I can tell you now, but Gabe is very vocal with us, like you would never believe! And ever since they met, he's talked about Vance as often as he can. So, we've known for a while that Gabe wanted to go out with him."

Seymour had to think a moment when Sylvia asked what he wanted to talk about, but he didn't have time to bring anything up. An unfortunately familiar cackle sounded off from the side, and with it appeared Zeppah of AZUR, dressed in what could only be described as a casual tuxedo. It's sandy tones seemed to run away from the black base, making it look like the hyena either didn't know how to dress, or just didn't care. The smile on his face as he approached made it easy to assume the latter.

"So the tree-hugger and the smarty-pants are an item, eh?" He gave a toothy grin, hunched over them with his hands in his pockets. "Feelin' comfy, new-bloods? Like you could take on anything? Well how's about we step outside and really-"

Zeppah's taunts were cut shorter than usual this time around. Azule had walked up behind him, and without skipping a beat, grabbed the hyena boy's lower jaw, dragging it downwards. It seemed to take very little effort for AZUR's leader to bring his teammate down to his height, and in the next second, he had Zeppah in a lip lock. The kiss was deep, almost vicious, befitting the Grim Reaper of Beacon, and it lasted a solid five seconds before Zeppah started panicking, pulling away from his leader with heavy, ragged breaths.

"Y-Y-You d-didn't n-need to g-go tha-that far, d-dude!" The hyena shivered, his breath coming out as puffs of frozen vapor. Even so, he blushed as his leader shoved him away, leaving Azule's blue-clad self to give a curt bow to Seymour and Sylvia.

"I am sorry for my date. You have my word that he will not be a disturbance to you from now on...Oh, and Slater," The frozen dynamo went about the whole thing as a commonplace occurrence, frost from his lips fading away as he caught the silverette's attention, "...please restrain your teammate in the future. I've evaded this day for three years, and I intended to graduate without stepping foot in this place, but her fraternizing with Uriah ended up attracting the rest of my team here. Since you've seen how Zeppah can be on his own, I was forced into this torture." With that, Azule turned away to find where his date had wondered off to. In the midst of it all, Seymour's face was red as a tomato, and his hand had subtly taken hold of Sylvia's yet again.

"W-Well," the gazelle faunus finally spoke after being momentarily confounded by what he had witnessed, "we could always talk about that!"

-

Meanwhile, Vance had dragged Gabe on the dance floor. The panther had to fight the urge to hide his head in his hand as the wolf boy started flailing about. It didn't take Gabe long to join in with a sigh, dancing in a more knowledgable and, as a result, seductive manner, melting easily into more feminine movements that showed off his slender form. Then a slow dance came on, and the panther boy's eyes lit up under his stoic exterior. At least now he could pace Vance himself, rather than watch him romp around, regardless of how entertaining it was to watch him. However, it came as a surprise when the wolf's hands ended up on his shoulders.

Gabe let it be for a while, content to dance with his date for the time being, but the second Vance tried to speak up, the mood was clarified, and the panther grinned with a gleam in his eye. Slowly, Gabe eased Vance's hands off of his shoulders and onto his waist, then he placed his own arms around Vance's neck, as he had when the wolf had first confessed. Gabe's chest was fluttering with the memory already, especially since he didn't feel the need to escape anymore, but this was a dance. It needed one more something. Something to push the envelope a little further.

With a gentle hand, Gabe guided his date's head back until their eyes were locked. Once again, the panther's smokey streetlamp eyes were aglow, and, as was expected, he went in for an eskimo kiss. However, after a moment spent in the familiar position, Gabe let his nose slide to the left, and in a very cat-esque maneuver, the panther faunus ran his head along the side of Vance's, smiling as he felt the friction and heat between their cheeks. A clean shave? That's...cute.

Then came the purr. By the way Gabe's chest jumped when he made the noise, it was evident it had been unintentional, but after the moment of shock, it came again, more prevalent this time, as Gabe let his head rest right under Vance's. And there they swayed to the music, Gabe purring like a motorboat. His last hurrah of affection went into his tail, which curled softly around one of the hands cupped on his waist.

-

With everyone getting into the mood, even Abby finally succumbed to the slow-dance, despite her only real option being Lev. Of course, she only tells herself she "succumbed to her desire to dance" because she doesn't want to admit that Lev was able to drag her to the dance floor despite her struggles. And so the two danced, though it was here that the raven haired boy became much less of a tease. Instead, he looked at Abigale with a sober expression; soft, yet deadly serious. The transition surprised Abigale, then she was surprised again when he began to whisper. Soon, she was whispering her reply, and before long, the two dancers, looking straight into each other's eyes, were discussing something amidst the crowd of couples. Sometimes they'd smile, and other times they'd frown. Abby nearly cried at least once, and in the end, they danced until the slow songs were through.
 
Last edited:
Really, Sylvia could have gone the whole night without the interruption from half of AZUR. Her previously relaxed demeanor switched out for a glare as Zeppah decided to try and taunt them. She rolled her eyes at the hyena, ready to come up with some calm retort when the Grim Reaper of Beacon himself came to take care of the situation. Sylvia was about to just ignore the duo when Azule pulled Zeppah into a kiss. Her eyes widened as blood rushed to her face, wondering how they could be so bold. Once they broke apart, Sylvia calmed just a bit as she realized what the upperclassmen had been doing. Her cold glare returned as Azule lamented having to come to the dance, practically blaming Sylvia for not having complete and utter control over her teammates. As if she was going to keep Reyna from going to a dance with someone she liked! She trusted Reyna not to get herself into too much trouble.

Seymour's words brought Sylvia out of her raging thoughts, forcing her to cool off as she gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, Seymour. I was hoping we could have avoided encountering them, but I guess since Reyna's with Uriah, it was at least inevitable that they would have shown up sooner or later." Scanning the dance, Sylvia frowned as she couldn't seem to catch the familiar pinkette anywhere. "Speaking of Reyna, I wonder where she is? I mean, I know she's going to the dance with Uriah so of course she isn't going to hang out with us, but I at least expected her to say hi... She can handle herself, but I still get on edge whenever she goes to hang out with AZUR. I can't really make any judgements about Uriah since I don't really know much besides Reyna's gushing, but I know the others aren't the most... pleasant people. I worry they're going to take advantage of her or she's going to get herself into some big trouble she can't pull herself out of." The silverette sighed as she turned back to the faunus.

After a moment, Sylvia realized that she had been unintentionally squeezing Seymour's hand throughout her whole rant. She quickly loosened her grip but still kept her hand in his, "Ah," She started, reaching to rub the back of her neck with her free hand. "Sorry for just ranting off like that on ya. This is supposed to be a fun night and stuff. I find it way too easy to talk to you about these things. I should probably lay off just a bit since you've got your own stuff, huh?" Sylvia smiled at the gazelle boy before her eyes dropped to their joined hands. Her smile fell as she remembered the last time Seymour had taken her hand and his strange behavior that had followed. Her eyebrows creased together as she wondered if she should have just let him go so easily that day. Sure, Seymour seemed fine afterwards, but that didn't keep the incident from haunting the back of Sylvia's thoughts. She gnawed her lip, still keeping a gentle hold of Seymour's hand,

~~~

Gabe seemed to know exactly what to do to make Vance blush. He blinked as his hands were moved to Gabe's waist, the panther boy wrapping his arms around Vance's neck. As Gabe dove in for a familiar eskimo kiss, Vance wondered if the other boy could hear just how hard his heart was beating or feel how quickly it was trying to escape his chest. The butterflies in his stomach bloomed to life as Gabe rubbed cheeks with him. Vance's mind short circuited for a moment. He could only think of how nice it felt to have Gabe so close and how warm he was and the butterflies were going crazy in his stomach and wait, was that purring?

At first Vance could only look at his date in confusion before the purrs returned, reaching Vance's bones as they swayed back and forth. The wolf boy stared off blankly for a few moments before a wide smile pulled across his face. He buried his nose into Gabe's hair, nuzzling the boy and taking in his intoxicating scent. The sudden feeling of Gabe's tail wrapping around his hand sent a shiver down Vance's spine. He pulled Gabe closer, simply basking in the panther's purring and presence.

After the slow songs finished, the tempo shot back up, everyone starting to romp about again. Vance had been about to continue his own dancing when a familiar song picked up. A bright smile lit his face as he exclaimed, "I know this song! My mom used to play it all the time!" With that, his movements became more controlled, more precise as he danced with Gabe to the song. He twisted and turned, his body rolling with the beat of the song as if he had danced to it all his life. His eyes practically shined as he danced with Gabe, finally pulling him away to get something to drink after the song ended. "That was so fun! I never knew you were such a good dancer, Gabe. You'll have to teach me sometime!" He smiled as he started to wrap his arm around Gabe's waist. He paused and turned to the panther boy with concerned eyes before his arm could actually touch. "I-is this okay?" Vance asked. His arm floated, waiting for the go ahead to wrap itself around the panther boy.
 
Seymour, realizing Sylvia's reaction to the upperclassmen, sat by patiently as she ranted. Once she finished, Seymour gave her hand a reciprocal squeeze and smiled. "Please do not apologize. If you are troubled, then perhaps I should be the one saying sorry, especially since I goaded you into coming here. As for 'my own stuff,' as you say, well..." Seymour paused for a moment, attempting to think of something clever or witty before simply turning back to Sylvia with a shrug. "No worries here!" His enthusiasm was genuine, but when Sylvia looked down to their hands, he felt his chest tense up briefly. Lifting her hand up to eye level, the gazelle made sure he had her attention before speaking again, this time in a sober and serious tone despite his smile still being present. "Do not worry for me. If I couldn't handle a little smoke and dust, I wouldn't be at Beacon, now would I?" With a light kiss to the tips of the silverette's fingers, Seymour wrapped up his command, and returned to his natural expression. His timing was impeccable, as before Sylvia could respond, Reyna popped her head between the two of them with a sly grin.

"Now what are you two up to?" She sneered before giving Sylvia a hug and standing back up. Uriah stood at her side, her hand latched comfortably in his own. Though he was stoic as always, nothing could hide the heavy blush and the faint stain of lipstick on his cheek.

-

The slow dance was over too soon for Gabe's liking, but seeing Vance as happy as he was made for a decent tradeoff, and watching the wolf dance to a song he actually knew was more refreshing than the panther boy could've imagined. He danced along eagerly, matching his movements with Vance's to remain as close as possible on the dance floor. Then, before he knew it, Gabe was being dragged away to the punch bowl and Vance was talking to him; complementing him. Gabe couldn't help but blush at what the wolf thought of his dancing.

"I just..." he began, having trouble finding his voice. Nonverbal communication was his strong suit, and after doing so much of it during their slow dance, it wasn't easy to bind his thoughts to words. "I-I used to lift from clubs back in Atlas, so I learned how to dance from...from watching the girls." It felt embarrassing to admit, but seeing Vance's arm hover so politely in wait around his waist, and hearing him ask permission even after how forward Gabe had been during the dance, all hit him even harder.

Even so, all Gabe could do was sigh away his inhibitions and take hold of Vance's waiting hand, curling it around his waist until their hips touched. "...You're cute as hell, Vance. Don't change for me." Gabe managed to get out as he rested his head on the wolf's shoulder. It might have been a bit esoteric for him to say what he did, especially to Vance, but with the way his face was heating up, and by how hard and fast his heart was beating, there wasn't a chance he'd be able to say anything better. So rather than try, Gabe simply snugged his fingers in between the ones settled on his waist with a smile.
 
The silverette had been about to remark that worrying was just what she did when Reyna popped in. Sylvia sighed and smiled at the pinkette, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks in favor of making sure her friend and teammate was having fun. "We're just talking and having fun. Though it looks like you two have been up to some things yourself. Nothing too bad I hope." The silverette teased, winking at Reyna. Sylvia gave Uriah a wave as she caught up with her pink haired teammate, still keeping an eye on the upperclassman as she observed how he acted around Reyna.

Vance's face lit up like a Christmas tree as Gabe's words resounded in his head. Cute... He thought he was cute! His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest for the nth time that night as he gladly wrapped his arm around Gabe's waist and pulled him closer. Was this how it felt to have a boyfriend? Would they be considered officially boyfriends after one "date"? Vance wasn't sure, but he knew that whatever they were, he liked it. As he soaked in the panther boy, he couldn't help but smile. He never wanted this night to end.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The dance was a resounding success, with most students raving about how good it was. The night after the dance Sylvia and Lev worked on the final touches to his weapon. "That's it... That's it... Steady now..." Sylvia coached as she had Lev add the last piece to the weapon. Just with this final touch, it would be complete. She kept a careful eye, making sure that Lev didn't end up placing the piece wrong and ruining his weapon. With bated breath, the duo finally completed the weapon, Sylvia giving it a once over to make sure everything had been attached correctly and worked as it should. "There we are! Your own weapon. We're gonna have to take it for a test run tomorrow." Sylvia noted, handing the gun off to Lev with a beaming smile. Despite her tired eyes, the girl stood tall with her shoulders back and her chest puffed out. Her whole body seemed to fill with warmth as she watched Lev with his new weapon, grateful she got to be part of the process.

After the dance the teams quickly resumed their regular routines, with Vance slinking off at times to go somewhere with Gabe or sometimes bringing Gabe with him to hang out in SLVR's room. Sylvia took the time to occasionally tease the couple whenever they came into SLVR's room, but mostly left them to their own devices. She had gone back to designing her own weapons and reading up on tactics and strategy. Their mornings remained mostly the same with the only change being Vance now sitting beside Gabe rather than across from him. The wolf boy seemed to find it necessary to snuggle up to Gabe whenever he had the chance, chatting to Gabe about what he had learned recently or the animals he had noticed while up early that morning or just whatever crossed his mind. Overall the two teams seemed to be doing well.

A week after the dance, Vance sat anxiously on his bed as he waited for his teammates to wake up. Bags under his eyes and solemn silence replaced his usual bright mood and bursting chatter. Sylvia frowned when she woke to the wolf boy curled on his bed, his ears twitching between flat on his head and pulled back. "Vance...?" The silverette questioned, sitting up to get a better look at the wolf boy. Vance startled at the sound of his name, blinking before slumping and getting out of bed to get his clothes on. "Vance, are you okay?" She got a quick nod before Vance slipped into the bathroom to get dressed. Sylvia's frown deepened. Her brows furrowed together as she stared at the bathroom door before she started to get herself dressed. Once Vance came back out, Sylvia tried again. "Vance, are you sure you're okay? Are you feeling sick?" She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, keeping her hold gentle.

She finally received a verbal response. "I'm not sick. I'm okay." The wolf boy murmured out, looking less than convincing. Sylvia frowned and felt the boy's forehead. He didn't feel warm at the very least, but that didn't explain his strange behavior. She didn't get a chance to try to check again as Vance started to head out, seeing the rest of his team was ready to head to breakfast. Sylvia huffed and followed him. Once in the dining hall, Vance ignored the food to go straight to where SAGE sat. He slunk to Gabe's side, curling into the boy and burying his head into Gabe's shoulder. He kept his arms wrapped around the panther boy's waist and pulled him close as he cuddled him. Gabe could feel Vance shaking, though most others couldn't see the boy's shivers, just a tired Vance draping himself over Gabe.

Sylvia frowned as she brought two plates of food to the table, sliding one over to Vance in an attempt to maybe get him to notice. "Vance, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go back to the room and take the day off." The wolf boy tightened his grip on Gabe, shaking his head vigorously as he kept himself nuzzled up to the panther boy. Sylvia sighed before trying a different tactic. "Can you at least tell us what's wrong? You're not your usual self and we're worried." She kept her gaze on Vance, her concern written all over her face. Vance hesitated, keeping his head buried in Gabe's shoulder as he debated whether to tell the others what was going on or just keep it to himself.
 
The dance had ended with laughs and smiles. Even Lev and Abby walked away from it all with big grins, arms slung over each other's shoulders like fellow warriors out of a bar. It may not have been very couple-like, but it was a start, and Seymour got a good laugh out of it anyhow. Reyna and Uriah got their five minutes of fame on the dance floor, the pinkette strutting more stuff than anyone would have guessed she had, and her date keeping up with her ballroom antics as though he had choreographed it himself. And of course that talk almost paled in comparison as the student body finally caught wind of the Ice King and his date. Though, the shock came less from Azule's relationship status, and more from Zeppah's. A number of things were thrown at him by girls of all years for the tormenting he had done. If it hadn't been for Azule, he would've walked away with more than just a few bruises. Regardless, he was smiling and cackling the whole way through.

The good fortune lasted for a decent time afterwards, with Lev finally crafting a new weapon for himself. Under Sylvia's guidance, he looked down on his piece, proud, flattered, and hopeful of what it had in store. This was the final dive. Now he could become a hunter with no regrets.

Meanwhile, Reyna finally got to catching up with her team. It wasn't necessarily by choice, but it was a positive change regardless. "Yeah, Azule and Roxie chewed me out because they have to start this insane training regiment to prep for the Vytal Tournament." She admitted when arriving at breakfast one morning for what seemed like the first time in weeks. Of course, she fell back into the groove of her old morning routine as happy as could be, at least after reminding herself that everyone in SAGE was a super-cool faunus, anyways. Roxie and Zeppah were two, but now she had five!

Gabe had to get used to being taken away from his comfort zone after the dance. Vance tended to drag him along regardless of the situation, and though that was okay, sometimes they ended up in SLVR's room, surrounded by the wolf boy's teammates. It was during those times that Gabe would blush the hardest, and it was also during those times that he would glare. Not at anyone in particular, but whenever his face was out of Vance's sight, the panther's piercing eyes would narrow. It was hard to place the emotion, but it certainly wasn't something he ever showed near Vance. And of course, the second Vance could see him, he fell back into a red-faced softy, hardly able to return any affections as long as eyes were on him.

With Vance sitting next to Gabe at breakfast too, Seymour was only happy to find a new seat. Anything for his team, after all. So he took his new spot next to Sylvia with a smile. While his personality never really changed after the dance, the rare holding of Sylvia's hand became just a smidgen more frequent. It was always casual, and always at the strangest times; during a conversation, while listening to his teammate speak, laughing at a joke... Seymour would give the silverette's hand a gentle nudge before taking hold, his smaller palm cupping itself in hers like water and sand in a bowl. And whenever she'd look at him for an explanation, he'd give nothing away, continuing on with breakfast without skipping a beat except for every now and then, where a mischievous gleam could be caught in his eye, like visible laughter at her surprise.

Their routine was set once more, and it stayed constant until about a week passed. Vance's state took Lev by surprise when he woke up. After hearing him every morning, there was an almost nauseating silence around the wolf now. The black haired boy made sure to stay in step with his teammate this morning, concern filling his breath. Something happened. Something happened. What happened. What happened. Routines like this weren't broken that easily.

Reyna, on the other hand, didn't catch anything until they all reached breakfast. She had been fast asleep as usual, missing the biggest tells of Vance's shift in demeanor earlier that morning. It was Sylvia's question once they were all seated and Vance was hidden in Gabe's arms that tipped her off. "...Vance, please tell us what's up." She echoed her leader's request, unsure of how to pry something out of this new Vance.

Gabe, meanwhile, was in the greatest shock. After spending so much time with the cheery wolf boy, his hair stood on end in reaction to the shivers of what could only be described as someone completely different. It was off-putting. Gabe's first instinct was to hiss and teleport away, but by what the rest of SLVR seemed to say, it really was still him. It still smelled like Vance. Still looked like Vance... Very off-putting indeed. Gabe nuzzled himself along the side of Vance's head, feeling the boy's hair brush against his chin and cheek. Of course, it was a feint. With teeth bared, Gabe gave the wolf boy's ear a small nip the second it came into range, then pulled back to watch for a reaction, concern pulling the sides of his mouth in a frown.
 
Vance had been in the middle of debating telling everyone what was really wrong with him when there was a sudden nip at his ear. His reaction was instantaneous, his ear flinching back from the sudden sensation and Vance lifting his head to pout at Gabe. Vance had gotten into the habit of pouting at the panther boy whenever he messed with his ears just a bit too much. This was definitely still their Vance. However, tears were welling in his eyes as he tried to find the words to explain what was going on. "... I feel like something bad's going to happen." The wolf boy finally managed before the words started to just flow out of his mouth. "I don't know why and I don't know how to make it stop, but I'm just worried and scared and I feel like my hearts gonna burst out of my chest and I'm worried that something bad's going to happen to everyone and it's going to be because of me and I won't be able to help you or keep you safe and-and-" Tears had started to fall as Vance tried to explain, still not giving everything about the situation. "It's stupid..." He muttered, moving to hide his face once again in Gabe's shoulder.

Sylvia frowned as Vance explained. At the very least there didn't seem to be anything seriously wrong with him. "Vance, it's not stupid. It's just what your feeling, and you can't control that. It just would've been easier for us if you had told us right away. Then we could have figured out how to help you a little faster." She tried to give the wolf boy a supportive smile, something to show him that everything would be okay. "Nothing bad's going to happen, and if something does then you know we can handle ourselves. Even if we can't we can always get a professor or somebody else to help." Vance still hid against Gabe, though his shivers had calmed somewhat. "I don't understand where this is coming from though, Vance. Did something happen?" The silverette asked.

Again the wolf boy hesitated before murmuring out, "I had a nightmare." His whole body drooped, as if he had admitted some kind of shameful secret. "I had a nightmare that my... that someone I thought I knew came and hurt you all, and you guys all hated me because of it. It felt real, so real." His voice was thick with tears. His shivers had mostly died out though the wolf boy still kept a firm grip on Gabe. "It's stupid." He finished, looking away from the group as he curled himself around Gabe. While that was most of the explanation, Vance couldn't help but worry that one day his sister's letters would come true. They knew he was at beacon, they knew how to send letters to him. They could easily come and try to take him away as his sister had suggested they might do one day. His heart nearly shattered at the thought. His family or his friends. If it came down to it, could he really choose between them? He held onto Gabe as if just by keeping him in his arms he would be able to keep him safe from the dangers and decisions in his future.

"Vance..." Sylvia sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's not stupid. Everyone's had nightmares before. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I wish you would've just told us outright." She reached over and pushed the plate a little closer to Vance. "Nightmares are scary and may feel real, but they're just in your head. We'd never hate you for something you couldn't control. It'd be pretty much impossible to hate you, Vance. Now, how about you eat some breakfast. That'll help you feel better, I know it." Though the silverette seemed to play things off as she tried to mother hen the wolf boy into eating, she couldn't help but wonder what had triggered the nightmare in the first place. Nothing terribly horrible had been happening lately. So far the team had been doing better than ever, especially with Reyna spending more time with the team rather than without. Vance hadn't seemed upset about anything in particular. He and Gabe were doing wonderfully, and the wolf boy had even been able to focus on his schoolwork somewhat! Maybe it was just a coincidence. Whatever the reason, she needed to get him to eat something otherwise he would complain all day. Vance seemed to be stubborn in keeping himself wrapped up in Gabe and avoiding letting go at all costs.
 
Lev listened intently to Vance's story behind his mood, catching every word, and making a list of every detail. "My,"...my what? The black haired boy thought, sticking himself to the one incomplete phrase Vance left hanging. Friends? Family? It was something personal, that was sure. Lev thought back to his conversations with the wolf before, and things began to connect. No-home buddies... so family, then. But why? Lev continued to wrack his brain for answers as breakfast drew on.

Reyna, however, did not have the mental fortitude to sort through her various conversations with her best friend. That said, she was more worried about his behavior than what was causing it. She looked to the wolf with an open mouth, expecting the words to come to her as they always had, but seeing him in Gabe's arms struck her voice numb. Maybe it was because she had been so distant with him and the rest of the team... It felt so, so wrong. Determined to rectify this, she plopped her chin on her fist and began thinking as hard as her pink haired little head could.

Then there was Gabe, looking down on Vance's fluffy head of hair, then to the food he wasn't eating, then back to his hair. Digging his nose into the shaggy locks, the panther took in the sent of the poor boy. Such a dog... He thought, sympathetic tears dotting his eyes. After wiping them away on Vance's head, he pulled the wolf boy's face up to meet his own, locking eyes in a forceful manner.

"Eat." Gabe nodded to the food, "...or I'll force you."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back