zerotohiro | Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

We need to talk.

[Hey Hiro, it's Death. How are you today?]

[Oh jesus why.]

Heyyyy Weiss…how's it goin'?

[RIP Hiro Hamada, please leave nice flowers on his grave, etc etc.]

20 minutes.

[Now's not the time for formalities. Here's a set of coordinates for inside the park.]

[...]

Sure. 20 minutes. See you then.

[He follows those coordinates shortly after and while he knows he's walking to his doom, he's keeping his chin tilted up and trying not to be nervous. Do your worst, Schnee.]

[When Hiro arrives on the scene, he will be greeted with the twisted, unrelenting horror that is... a park bench. With Weiss sitting on it. She doesn't look particularly happy, no, but considering what she had imagined herself doing when she first heard about this news? This isn't so bad.

Weiss shades herself under a floppy white hat adorned with white flowers, her eyes blocked by small circular sunglasses. When she spots Hiro, her blank expression doesn't change. She hardly even turns her head to acknowledge him.]

Sit down. We have a lot to talk about.

[Let's be real, he's kind of afraid of sitting next to her. He's more afraid of what she'll do if he says no though and for the first time in his life he actually feels a little embarrassed by the fact he's in his usual cargo shorts and hoodie. He'd been in the middle of a project when Weiss texted him and it's incredibly clear that he dropped everything to meet with her, judging by some of the pencil smudges on his hands and the fact that his undershirt's starting to untuck from the waistband of his shorts. He's careful not to trip over his untied shoelace as he sits on the bench next to her, turning to stare at her quietly.

The bright side is that they're in public. She wouldn't dare kill him in broad daylight. (Hopefully.)]

…this what I think it's about?

[She has ways to make it look like an accident.]

Yep.

[Well, he's not scoring any points with that look, but Weiss didn't exactly give him time to prepare. Were it a different situation, Weiss would amuse herself with the thought of this kid arriving in some poor-fitting tuxedo. However, she remains stone-faced, staring straight ahead.]

I'd like you to explain your relationship with my partner.

[whycantwebefriends.mp3]

Wouldn't that depend on what she's already told you? [Maybe that's a rhetorical question and maybe he shouldn't push Weiss's buttons.] …I don't really know what to explain about it. I like her, she likes me, we're working on the dating thing. It's only been two weeks.

Unless you're just asking to hear my side of everything from the beginning. [But you really don't want that, do you, Weiss?]

Thank you.

[For explaining your side. She's not about to sit here and listen to you go into some puppy love tangent about how she is your sun who rises in the east. It's more important to maintain control of the conversation.]

You understand what Ruby is, and what she does, correct?

[He wouldn't be able to say any of that with a straight face anyway, it's okay Weiss. At her question though, he appears a little confused.]

She's a huntress. Well, a huntress in training. All of you are…you, Ruby, Yang, Blake…and Jaune, too, but he's on a different team. And it's your job to go to a place like Beacon to train and learn how to fight the Grimm and protect people. Am I missing something?

[Well at the very least that means that Ruby has been up front with him about her life.]

Good, it's important you know that a Huntress' safety always comes second to the people she protects.

You said you're a hero, right? How well can you fight?

And that's why I'm here to protect her. [It slips out without him even thinking about it, but his eyes are slightly narrowed and his jaw's clenched. It doesn't help that Weiss has hit on one of his own insecurities.

"How well can you fight?" He knows. He knows he's almost useless without Baymax and even if he's training with Yang and knows hand to hand combat it's barely enough to really keep him alive. The gunblade he's made since arriving in Cerealia helps, but even then…]

Good enough. [He draws himself up to try and be a little bigger than he actually is.] Well enough. I know enough hand-to-hand to keep training. I'm learning more from Yang, and…you've seen Baymax. Anything I can't do myself I can make. [A beat.] And Yang unlocked my aura for me a few weeks ago.

[The answer is... acceptable, but barely. She respects him for his commitment in gaining strength for the sake of protecting others, but its immediately clear that he's not thinking with all of his head. Love is clouding his judgment, causing him to think that everything will be fine in the future just because they like each other.]

Not good enough. You want to protect her, but as it stands you're not strong enough to do so. You won't stand a chance against anything powerful enough to shake her.

[Her posture shifts, shoulders slumping with an exhale. For the first time, she turns to look at him directly. This wasn't just about intimidating him anymore, this was making sure they would both be safe.]

You're starting to just learn now, while Ruby has been training her entire life. It would take nothing short of a miracle for you to catch up to her.

Edited 2016-01-30 01:07 (UTC)

[...what's happening here? She's...relenting a little? He watches her for a moment, holding his breath like he's waiting for her to strike but when she continues to talk he sags back into the bench and it's his turn not to look at her as he looks skyward instead.]

...it's not just about protecting her even though that's a huge part of it. I'm making it my job to protect everyone I can and I'm doing everything I can to make sure I get strong enough. You don't think I don't know I'm not yet? [A beat.] Look, Weiss...there are some things you don't know about me but I need you to believe me when I say that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she stays safe or die trying. That was true even before I wanted to date her. Ruby's been important to me almost since the day I got here and she's been my--[He stops just before he can say the word "partner."] I'm not you. I know that. And I know I can't protect her as well as you guys probably can, but I made myself into a superhero. I'm going to make myself better, and I'm going to make things better for people.

[And he stops, tilting his head down to look at her.] Here's a question for you. Are you going to give me a chance to prove it, or do I have to find a way around you to make that point?

You're contradicting yourself. Is it your job to protect everyone, or is it your job to protect Ruby? [She pauses briefly.] And don't say Ruby is part of "everyone". You know what I mean.

[She leans forward, folding her arms across her lap. She's not exactly comfortable filling this kid in about the reality of being a hero, but if he's going to date a Huntress and wants to be strong enough to help her, these are things that need to be known.]

Look, I'm not here to scare you. If you and Ruby care about each other so much, then that's great. [She feels better knowing that he feels this way, even if his logic needs adjusting.] I just want you to be able to put everything into perspective. You seem like a smart guy, but that doesn't mean a thing if you're not thinking clearly.

You don't scare me. [Other than the part where Weiss is sort of terrifying, too. Why is everybody on team RWBY except for Ruby sometimes terrifying?] Why can't she count as part of everyone? What about this isn't clear thinking? I know what I want to do and how I'm going to do it.

[She totally scares you. It's okay.]

Something has happened and you need to make a choice. A radical group has rigged an airship full of people to explode. During the struggle, your teammate-- Ruby, falls. If you go to save her, you will not have enough time to disarm the bomb.

Who dies?

Wrong. [He fixes her with a fairly level stare.] I'm smart enough to figure out how to disable a bomb, Ruby would use her semblance to catch the wind and slow her fall and then me and Baymax would catch her before she hits the ground. Problem solved.

[...he's fourteen, what do you want from him.]

[She sighs, taking her forehead into her hand. You have a lot of growing up to do.]

Just... make sure you're coordinated with your full team before doing anything dangerous, okay?

Hey, at least I'm not going to almost get killed by a death stalker because I was busy arguing with my partner. [Surprise, Ruby told him about that, too.] ...I have a full team back home. I already know what happens when you aren't coordinated.

Hey, that was our first time-- [She catches herself, clearing her throat.]

I'll have to speak to Ruby about gossiping about her team.

[There's a nervous laugh under his breath.] I wouldn't call it gossiping...we were comparing notes. It's okay, Weiss, she still thinks you're incredible. [Who knows if he's being serious or just trying to win points.] I think she's missed you a lot and just hasn't really said so.

Oh, she's said so.

[Don't think there's any love lost between these partners.]

She just has a tendency to leave her mouth running when her brain is off.

Her brain's not off that often. [...he can't deny that Ruby sometimes has motormouth syndrome, but then again he does, too.]

I know you just want her to be safe. I'll find a way to make sure that happens. Okay?

[She sighs. Maybe she wasn't clear enough. What she wanted to tell him was that it wasn't just to protect Ruby, but to make sure you're not a burden on her. It's not worth it to drag this conversation out longer, or scold him for not getting the message. Maybe its better just to look out for them both and see what happens.]

...You said they unlocked your aura. Have you found your Semblance yet?

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