"Alabast~" Pyrrha nudges the sleeping wolf Faunus.
"Ngh…" Alabast blinks his eyes open. "What is it Pyrrha?"
"I'm going over to team RWBY's room with Nora, I'm just letting you know" Pyrrha is sitting on the bed with her feet on the floor.
"Have fun…. What time is it?" Alabast looks around the room but doesn't barely sees any sunlight.
Pyrrha moves some of Alabast's hair out of his face. "It's-"
"I almost forgot what your face looks like" Nora comments over Pyrrha's shoulder.
"Good morning to you too Nora" Alabast rolls his eyes and rolls onto his back as he puts his hands behind his head as he stretches.
"Good Morning~!" Nora loudly whispers.
"It's around 5:30 right now" Pyrrha finishes and admires Alabast's figure beneath the thin bedsheet.
"How did you get up without me noticing?" Alabast asks.
"I just used my semblance to get everything ready that I didn't have set out last night" Pyrrha says.
"That… doesn't answer my question" Alabast shakes his head. "Whatever. Why are you two going over there so early? The dance doesn't start until…. idk, like 6?"
"The dance starts whenever people show up" Pyrrha corrects him. "And we will text you when you and Ren can pick us up"
"Around 6?" Alabast asks.
Pyrrha glances to the side and blushes. "Sorry, yes. Probably around 6"
"Good to know" Alabast goes to sit up but Pyrrha pushes him back down.
"Sorry, but you can go back to sleep. You don't need to get up this early" Pyrrha gets up from the bed.
"Alright, fine" Alabast puts his arms down to his sides. "Have fun"
"Bye Mr. Leader" Nora whisper-shouts as she enthusiastically waves. "Bye Renny!"
"Mhmmm~" Ren waves her goodbye tiredly.
"Bye Bast" Pyrrha whispers as she walks out the door with Nora.
*Kr-Chunk*
The door shuts and the room is left in silence.
Alabast rolls back into his side and slides his hand under the pillow. But having Pyrrha, or one of his girls, missing from his arms makes it difficult to fall asleep. 5 minutes of just laying there Alabast rolls onto his back again. "You still awake Ren?"
"Mhmm" Ren confirms.
"Can't go back to sleep either?" Alabast asks.
"Indeed" Ren sits up.
"Breakfast?" Alabast also sits up.
"Pancakes?" Ren suggests as he wipes the sleep from his face. He also sees Alabast's full face for the first time in a while.
"And Bacon" Alabast tosses the covers off him and swings his legs off the bed as he moves his bangs back to their usual spot.
Ren does the same. "And bacon"
Both men stand up and stretch. They don't bother changing and just slide something on their feet.
Ren silently and blankly stares at pink fluffy bunny slippers that Nora left him since she took his.
Alabast slides his on. It's a pair of fluffy Beowolf slippers. Ruby got them for him after she went shopping and got herself a matching pair, the size difference is very evident. Each slipper has 2 red eyes and 2 ears.
They both grab their scroll and head down to the dorms kitchen in their pajamas. It's 5:35 am on a Sunday. They aren't afraid of bumping into anyone at this time.
Ren is wearing a plain dark green shirt and black shorts, and his current slippers go with his eyes.
Alabast has his shorts and compression tshirt on that he normally wears to sleep.
Ren at this point is used to seeing his scars. But it's still hard to imagine a child getting those scars. Ren himself has some emotional scars he tries to keep covered up.
In the dorm kitchen the lights are off until they walk in.
Alabast and Ren get their things prepared. Alabast gets a prepared to cook the bacon while Ren gets ready to make the pancakes. They don't talk, just silently work together and enjoy the early morning silence.
Ren is glad that he is able to make pancakes without Nora eating them as soon as their done. And because Ren isn't cooking for Nora that means he doesn't need 20 pancakes.
Alabast and Ren sit and eat in peace. Alabast put on some music from Ruby's playlist to fill the air, the music isn't loud since it's still early in the morning.
Alabast finishes eating and wonders what they will do for the rest of the day. He doesn't really have much to do. "I wonder what the girls will be doing?"
Ren sets his knife and fork on his empty plate. "It is best not to try and wonder about that"
"True" Alabast says as he stands up and goes to clean the dishes they used.
Ren joins him in the clean up process.
——————
Alabast and Ren are just relaxing in the dorm room.
Ren is reading a book while Alabast plays with his semblance.
Alabast's Darkness needs to be rooted in shadows. He can take the Darkness and throw it without the need for it to be rooted, like he threw the Darkness blade to save Weiss from Ayaka. But if he can manage to have his Darkness form in the air it would open up many more options for his fighting style.
But it doesn't seem possible. His Darkness needs to be anchored to a shadow or a dark spot in order to form. His other half of his semblance doesn't need that, his Light can form anywhere he wishes. But at the moment it's restricted. It's still much easier to form the light from his body. And mixing the two isn't getting any easier.
Alabast is in the other room to not disturb Ren's reading. He is sitting on the ground and has his Darkness swirling around him. He can make it intangible or very tangible, same with his light. And Alabast has been able to generate some heat from his light. After the time he has spent with his girls and friends his semblance has grown stronger, but only in small increments. But it has allowed him to make small discoveries like the way he can change the color of his light.
After intense studying of the way light has a spectrum he is able to mess with its wavelength and alter the lights color. He showed it off with Ruby in the classroom, and since then he's been able to change the color a bit more since then. But it takes a lot of effort to accurately get the right color. It's like trying to use a bow and arrow. You have to know lots of things to be able to accurately hit anything with the arrow, but first you must be strong enough to even pull the arrow back on the string. He is now able to pull the string back, but is having to learn the way the wind and gravity affect the arrow.
Alabast wonders when his Darkness stopped affecting his emotions. It used to, but he only noticed recently it doesn't do anything anymore. And he can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It's likely from his semblance evolving, or his second semblance finally showing itself.
It's still weird to think that he might have taken over this body from the kid. But maybe the kid would have died if he hadn't taken over his body? And why was he shoved inside a 6 year old kid? Why not shoved into an unborn body specifically made for him? Or maybe he was? It's jarring to think he hijacked some kids body. And what is worse is that he was forced to go through puberty twice.
Alabast opens his eyes and watches the Darkness swirl around him and generate a small breeze.
*Knock* *Knock*
Alabast gets up and opens the door for the living room. On the other side he sees Ren going back to his bed while in front of him there is a short white haired girl.
"Hello Weiss" Alabast greets. "I thought you and Yang would be the busiest"
Weiss has her arms folded over her chest with a brush in her right hand and a bag over her shoulder. "We figured you would need help with your hair"
Alabast looks in a mirror and notices that his hair is the usual mess it always is, if not a bit worse due to the breeze his semblance was making. "I figured Yang would do this"
Weiss walks into the room. "I'll have you know that I also take very special care for my hair. I am an heiress and I have white hair. It can get very dirty if I don't take special care of it"
Alabast looks at Weiss' side ponytail as he closes the door. "That is true, but I figured that Yang would be adamant about being the one to take care of my hair for the dance"
Weiss sets her bag down on the couch. "Yes, however, she has to set up a few extra things for the dance. She forgot that the fog machines actually need something to make the fog. She's such an airhead sometimes"
Alabast walks over to the couch. "Seems she got ahead of herself"
"Indeed" Weiss points at the ground. "Now sit" She commands.
Alabast sits down on the ground. "How long is this going to take?"
Weiss sits behind Alabast and starts taking things out of the bag. "It will take as long as it takes"
Alabast uses his semblance to bring the remote over to his hand and turns the news on while Weiss begins brushing his hair.
"Have you ever had a haircut?" Weiss asks as she continues to brush his hair and get it straightened out.
"Not willingly. A few times in the past it got cut by a Grimm maybe" Alabast watches the news.
A reporter talks about the dust shortage and some speculations about how it will affect Vale and how it is affecting the shop owners and other businesses. The Grimm are drawn to the city due to the citizens worry and slight panic from recent events. But it's defenses and the Huntsmen keep the Grimm back.
Weiss holds Alabast's hair and looks at the almost white tips. "You seem to be happier"
Alabast goes to turn around and look at Weiss but the girl grabs his head.
"No moving! Or you're going to mess with the process" Weiss states as she holds his head forward.
"Fine. I won't move, but why do you say I seem to be happier?" Alabast asks as he goes back to watching the news.
"Because your hair. The tips are a much lighter gray than last semester" Weiss wonders if Alabast's hair will become as white as her hair in the future.
"Ah, that's yours and the others hard work" Alabast holds his palm up and forms a ball of light that spins slowly.
"Any new tricks you've found out?" Weiss curiously asks. Her own semblance is very versatile so it's always good to bounce ideas off another person who's semblance is also ver versatile.
"Not particularly" Alabast tosses the light at the tv.
Weiss' eyes widen and expects to witness the destruction of the tv. But when the ball of light hits the screen it shatters into thousands of smaller lights that scatter across the room. And then the white lights slowly change to various colors. Some become red, orange, yellow, or green. The lights slowly fall like snow down to the ground and become dim once they touch the floor before fading away.
"I can only make the light become red, yellow, orange, or green for now. I can't do blue yet" Alabast says while the last small specks of light disappear and the room goes back to normal.
"Is it really that hard to go through the light spectrum?" Weiss asks. Her glyphs change color, but the glyphs change based on what they are used for so she has never focused on their color. Weiss isn't even sure if she can change the color if she wanted to. Only if she adds some specific dust she can change the color willingly without making a different glyph with a different purpose.
"I have to change each individual light to a specific wavelength. And right now this is the best I'm able to do. I still can't control the speed I move at when traveling through the light, but I can make the light heat up now" Alabast says while he forms a small ball of light and increases the heat it emits.
"Do you still think you will be able to make things invisible?" Weiss remembers him speaking about this when he first found the extra abilities of his semblance.
Alabast closes his hand and the light gets snuffed out. "Maybe. But that goal comes after I'm able to make the entire light spectrum. I'll need to-"
"Refract the light around yourself or the thing you are attempting to make invisible. I know the process, I was just asking if you still thought it was possible" Weiss lets Alabast know that she is also the smart one not just Pyrrha.
"It is still a possibility. But only after a lot more training" Alabast winces as Weiss brushes a knot from his hair. "Any word from Ayaka? Jaune should have had his pep-talk with Ren yesterday"
Weiss rolls her eyes. "Ayaka stayed over at our place last night. She didn't really want to be with her teammates. And she wanted to have some girl time before we go on our missions tomorrow. She still is waiting on being asked to the dance"
Alabast wonders why Jaune hasn't asked her yet. Sure the guy has some self-esteem issues but he isn't incompetent. If anything Alabast expected Jaune to shoot his shot many times even if he gets rejected. But it's like Jaune is trying to be dense.
"How is Blake doing?" Alabast asks after a few minutes.
"She surprisingly actually got some rest. Whatever Yang did worked. She's still a bit moody but is ultimately in a better mood than these past weeks. About time if you ask me, it was actually starting to cause ME to start losing some sleep. I can't believe that Blake could be so irresponsible" Weiss vents a bit.
"If you start saying things like that you'll make it sound like the Ice Queen is melting" Alabast smirks.
"Don't you start with that" Weiss tugs on his hair, but a small smile forms on her face.
Weiss and Alabast continue to talk and Weiss eventually finishes with Alabast's hair. It looks basically the exact same as it normally does, but it's silky now.
"There. Now Alabast, don't go messing up my hard work before the dance" Weiss says as she puts the brush and other thing back inside the bag.
"I won't" Alabast says for what feels like the 15th time. He turns around and gets up onto the couch next to Weiss. "So what time do you think you girls will be ready?"
Weiss finishes putting the items in the bag and puts her hands in her lap. "That's a good question. I'll be at the dance setting it up so I won't be with you walking there. Nora and Ayaka plan to leave a little earlier but I doubt that Ruby will be moving very fast"
"Because the heels?" Alabast asks, it's either the heels or Ruby procrastinating.
"Sure" Weiss agrees but doesn't actually answer. "Now I must be going. Lots of things to do"
Alabast walks Weiss to the living room doors but stops her before she can open the door. "Thank you Weiss, I look forward to seeing your dress"
Weiss folds her arms over her chest. "You better, it's not everyday you get to see me in a dress after all"
Alabast thinks of her combat uniform and her coats that act like dresses. "Right… I'll see you when we get there" He leans down and gives Weiss a quick kiss on her lips.
Weiss blushes and takes a step back. "I-I must get going"
Alabast opens the door and motions for her to walk out. He even opens the dorm room door with his semblance. "Good bye Princess"
——————
At around 5pm Nora sends Ren a text that she will be ready to go soon.
Ren's eyes widen. Sure Alabast told him that Nora would want to leave earlier, but he is still getting finished getting ready. He quickly puts on his suit jacket and adjusts his dark red bow tie. He manages to finish just in time.
He walks past Alabast who is putting his dress shirt on and tucking it into his pants. "Good luck"
Alabast continues to get ready at a leisurely pace. "Same to you"
Both men sigh in unison.
Ren walks out the door and shuts it. When he turns around he watches as team RWBY's door opens.
Nora walks out with her usual hairstyle. She's wearing a strapless pink dress that transitions to white as it get close to the end of her skirt. She also has white tights with a hint of pink that match the end of her dress. She also has heels that make her slightly taller. Her turquoise eyes stand out and grab your attention compared to the shades of light pink.
Ren walks up to Nora who tucks some hair behind her ear. "Are you ready?"
Nora smiles with a slight blush on her face. "Yes!" She jumps next to Ren and wraps her arms around his left arm.
"Then let us be on our way" Ren calmly says and leads the way.
Alabast pokes his head out of the dorm room and sees the pair walk away and down the hall. As he is about to shit the door he hears the door across the hall open and shut. He's still wearing his dress shirt and dress pants so he isn't worried about being seen.
Out from team RWBY's dorm room comes Ayaka. She's wearing a very slim, form fitting, sparkly light purple dress. One thin strap goes over each shoulder and her left leg is visible from the slit in the dress. Her tails elegantly and slowly move asynchronously behind her.
Alabast looks down the hall in both directions before stepping out into the hall. "Jaune usually runs a bit late, told him to fix his damned scroll"
Ayaka sadly smiles. "I don't have a date to the dance"
Alabast exhales through his nose. "Why didn't you just suck it up and ask him? Nothing says the guys have to be the one to ask the girl" He leans his shoulder on the door frame.
"It may seem silly and stupid, but I like the old fashioned way" Ayaka grabs her right elbow behind her back.
"That…" Alabast closes his eyes. "… Jaune went looking for you yesterday. I figured he asked when I heard you were going to team RWBY's room"
"He was looking for me?" Ayaka looks to the side as the events of yesterday play through her mind. That guy asked her to the dance, but she caught the fragrance she put on Jaune at the beginning of their conversation. Was she not just imagining it?
"Yeah. I haven't heard much from him since" Alabast looks at Ayaka. "He will be at the dance, I don't recommend letting this chance slip by"
"Right…" Ayaka absentmindedly returns.
"You look good, surprised you went with the sparkles" Alabast changes the subject.
Ayaka glances down at her dress. "Yeah, me too. I don't even like glitter or sparkles"
"Ask Jaune what he thinks then, and try to have some fun" Alabast stands back up and shuts the door.
Ayaka sighs before she walks down the hall.