#beacon timeline.

[ephmrele]

@teamlarl.

Blake had been strange that day… Not that he had been paying frighteningly close attention. But she hadn’t been nearly as enthusiastic in class, which grabbed his interest immediately. That was rare for her. Usually she’d be jumping down his throat to prove her point… But not today.

And yet, last time he had suspected something was wrong with her he had been proven wrong by the girl herself. He had completely misread the situation. And so he was content to leave well enough alone, knowing she would come to him if she needed anything. But what were the odds of that?

Then she bumped into him.

“Just me?” Renatus coyly repeated. “So I’m not worth an apology?” It was meant as a jest, just as hers had been. He knelt down, helping her to pick her books off of the floor. All was not well, he noted. It had taken her shockingly long to register what had happened, and even longer to recognize him. Far be it for him to jump to conclusions… but his mind was already racing with possibilities. “Here.” He told her, standing up and handing her discarded books to her. “It wouldn’t do to lose any of these.” from.

transfer students   -   she believed   -   completed their end of year assignments prior to travelling for the vytal tournament,   but those from beacon weren’t quite so lucky. when renatus handed back her books she made a visible grimace, as if he’d done some great wrong, but in truth she was wondering if she’d have to resort to energy drinks to keep up with her deadlines. it wasn’t there long, quickly needing to smother another yawn with her hand. the belladonna made a small noise of amusement in his jest, the only acknowledgement to the tease before her expression became pensive once more.

‘   —   hey,   do you think you could skim over one of my essays   ?   ’   it was a great way to relay from an indirect insult, but he had offered his help before.   ‘   ...   just   —   being in a school environment,   it’s weird.   i’m not used to it.   i’m not sure if i’m formatting my essays,   or citing my sources properly.   my regular tutor is busy.   ’   there were other people she could go to ; blake had made regular use of the educational aids provided to students with unique circumstances   (   in this case, not attending a prior combat school and being homeschooled for most of her life   )   but as was expected those resources were scarce this time of year.   ‘   i’ll buy you coffee as a thank you   ?   ’

[becomestorm]

@ofmagnhild.

    nora nodded quietly, still unsure of how to feel about all of this. the worst part about pining over someone in pyrrha’s situation was that you didn’t have anyone to be upset with, really. no scapegoat, no mental source of all the pent-up frustration. no one to blame for it all. after all, it wasn’t like nora could be upset with jaune or pyrrha for having their own separate, natural feelings, just because they weren’t for her or ren. “y- yeah.” she barely heard what ren had even said, resting her hand on the other’s in an attempt to comfort them.  from.

their gaze drifted down towards her hand,   brows creasing momentarily as they squeezed her grip in turn but then let go. that was one of the reasons they didn’t seem available in the first place, the misconception that nora and ren might harbour romantic feelings for one another. the prospect in itself was absurd, but that they couldn’t deny that their closeness often gave way to a misconstrued perception. their heart hung heavy. neither of them had said anything out loud, but both knew one another well enough to understand their plight.

nora got crushes semi - often, and she knew the disappointment of discovering someone wasn’t interested, or taken. ren had had a crush once when they were younger, and had sworn off them until jaune stumbled into their lives and made it that much harder. there was a solidarity in this hurt that might have been making it easier, but it didn’t feel like that at this point. melancholy eyes turned away from them, laughing at one of jaune’s ridiculous jokes, jaw tensing as they ignored a pang in their chest.

‘   —   do you want to get coffee   ?   ’   yes. they fully intended to say “ coffee ”. they’d spoil nora if that was what it took to make this pain hurt less.

[ridrose]

@nebelkrahe

she’s still trying to get used to this whole romantic idea. for a girl who has only really known about love through fairy tales, the real deal was a bit jarring. even just being snuggled up together and occasionally talking made her heart race. feeling qrow’s presence so close       it was new and exciting ! summer couldn’t help but nuzzle deeper into this unfamiliar sensation. she feels at home resting on his rising and falling chest. silvery eyes close and while summer is nervous beyond comprehension, she can feel herself start to relax.  she has to convince herself that just because qrow is everything she’s ever dreamed of doesn’t mean he is perfect; so he won’t mind her flaws ( like little snores ) because he has his own. like being too pretty, or having this one specific look that makes her knees weak, or. . . other things like that. 

[becomestorm]

              for the first few seconds she does not notice      ,      lithe fingers dancing      gleefully      over her scroll      ,      tongue tip poking just barely free of her lips as concentration sets in the dip of her brow      .      it is in her moment of victory      ,      virtual enemy blasted to smithereens      ,      that the device falls to her lap      &&      arms raise high in triumph      ,      that she finally becomes aware of the tugging to her jacket      .

              ren      ,      their back flush against her own      ,      has their head tilted in her direction      ,      fingers clamping tightly around the hem of her bomber      .      though they do not speak      ,      only pulling lightly at the piece draping over the valkyrie      .      within seconds      ,      sea-tinted hues brighten with understanding      ,      smirk daring to cross her lips      .

              ❛     y’know      ,      there’s a blanket like      ,      three feet away      .      you      COULD      just take that      .      ❜      as she speaks she leans forward      ,      carefully tugging the ends of her sleeves over her hands     &&      wiggling her way out of the magenta fabric      .      once free      ,      she is careful to place the material over their frame      ,      palms flat against the breadth of distance between their shoulder blades      ,      smoothing out the jacket to her satisfaction      .

              ❛     are you almost done with your book      ?      because i’ve only got a few more bosses left      .      we can probably head to the dining hall soon for dinner      ,      since that’s probably where jaune and pyrrha’ll end up      .      ❜

there’s an art, a language to understanding ren that many failed to grasp,   that others often didn’t have the capacity to. their silence was both soothing, and intense in the right circumstances, and though mellow that didn’t always mean the dragon’s composure could be taken for ease. they often found the ability to read beyond their carefully constructed masks daunting, and invasive, but they knew that nora’s familiarity had stemmed from a careful, and delicate observation over the years they’d been friends. it was a welcome realisation, like a balm that soothed over the cracks in their facade. without even realising it, the mask would fade away in her presence, if only for a little while.

‘   this is better than a blanket.   ’   she - tempest had responded with what seemed like playful ire, but even then nora was shrugging off her jacket to drape the material over cold shoulders. laundry day was difficult for someone without many clothing pieces to their name, the garb of their black undershirt couldn’t provide enough heat on its own. the jacket was warm, scented of maple, fitted to form but not uncomfortably so. their voice was quiet, raspy from disuse. they hadn’t needed to speak the entire day. there was a nice solace in that, a comfort in only needing to give a look or sign a little with their hands to get their message across.

ren made a small affirmative noise to her question, temperament almost sleepy with their contentedness. they brought their knees up to their chest, near her where they’d been lounging on floor of the dorm. crossing arms over legs, they regarded her and then the game curiously. they’d never been good at those games. they had an old version of snake on their scroll for dire boredom and nothing else. elegant fingers pulled their bookmark from the tome to rest gently on top of it, before pushing the novel aside. ren stifled a silent yawn, scratching briefly at temple as they tried to make out the scroll’s holographic interface.   ‘   does your game have a story   ?   or is it all combat   ?   ’   @heartbxmbs   +   from here.

[becomestorm]

‘   —   would you like to try some   ?   ruby loves this blend.   ’   here we go again with the ridiculous smoothie plugs. ren, please have mercy on the poor girl.   ‘   although, i did need to take out everything that made it unique   ;   like the cauliflower,   the citrus peels,   and the tofu.   it’s essentially a matcha strawberry milkshake now.   ’   what better way to make a first impression than to get to penny before nora slandered their good name with her anti-smoothie propaganda.   @hoardofheroes   (   @penny   !   )

short starter call. ( acc. )

[ephmrele]

history was notably the only subject that blake found herself actively engaged in to the point of speaking up during class. professor ooblek often posed interesting questions as to what could have been done differently to avoid disasters, the saving graces of some major history events, and piqued her interest about some issues that were still shrouded in mystery. after so much history being destroyed in the great war there were gaps left to rebuild and salvage from the ashes. ordinarily she’d be the perfect one to ask about this kind of thing, but   —   ‘   —   they don’t have much on the valean king who won the great war   ?   ’   belladonna turned to the haven student   (   what had ruby said their name was   ?   “ cinder ”   ?   )   with a questionable look, noticing only now she’d never been able to find anything similar.   ‘   i actually   ...   don’t know where i’d even start looking.   i thought i combed the great war section of the library.   ’   golden hue regarded cinder curiously.   ‘   it’s kind of weird isn’t it   ?   ’   @washuman   (   plotted starter.   )

[ephmrele]

the glare does nothing to him, instead ignoring it completely while he randomly reaches up to grab her tongue between his thumb and forefinger. from.

instinct snaps to attention as sharpened canines immediately move to bite down on his offending hand, before ripping mouth free and spitting onto the ground in the most unladylike fashion possible. golden eyes were slits, acid in her voice as she resists the urge to wretch. ‘ you’re the worst. ’ @basedmercury.

[ephmrele]

“Yeaa–… I really hate to be the one to break it to you, Blake, but you kinda do and as your friend, it’s my job to be honest about the fact that you scream dark and brooding vibes. It kinda pains me just how clueless you are, really.” Emerald’s arms folded over her chest, sighing out deeply as if a grave injustice was being done.

“I think the worst bit about it is that, somehow, it just rakes people in.” That ‘mysterious’ aesthetic worked wonders, apparently. Emerald may yet argue that it was far too dark and depressing though– “Which is an insult to both my amazing dress sense and my charismatic demeanour.”

How did this woman have friends? Heck. from.

feline tonality had mean to signal the end to that particular train of thought, emerald’s observations as well as her emphasis on the word “ friend ” ticked blake off for reasons she couldn’t quite ascertain. she shrugged it off with a quick roll of her neck, a disingenuous, dramatic sigh. ‘ was that not coming across ? ’ acrid cadence, hostility under the smooth pitch of her voice, like honey drizzled over gravel. ‘ i guess i left my happy sunshine puppy persona back in my dorm. ’ therein lie the issue ; blake’s reactions only served to prove how right emerald was, original hesitance had come form being called out for such behaviour. if belladonna had been trying to act more friendly and approachable, she’d need to much more work in that department. a brief huff of amused laughter, possibly the most genuine reaction so far. ‘ can’t forget how humble you are. ’ ah, more sarcasm. @iruzurru.