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SABL (Ashen Wolf x LittleCloud)

The debrief with the rest of team SABL went smoothly enough and compared to the biting winds of the tundra the heated meeting room with its round white table and matching see-through plastic chairs was downright luxurious, there was even coffee waiting for them when they arrived (it was probably a good idea to keep Lilac away from that). Henri stayed quiet and let Sable do the talking to explain their half of the mission and nobody thought this was particularly weird, he was the leader after all. The rest of the debrief?

That's when it got weird.

They did and they didn't find the missing Dust shipment, the Ursa ate it and not only that but the monster had somehow managed to metabolise the substance, not only weaponising it but rendering immune to the same and that was before even getting into its stubborn refusal to start disintegrating after it was defeated. After all was said and done the team were told to keep everything that they'd discussed to themselves before being dismissed, which for ABL meant that they could finally retreat to their dorm but for Sable it just meant....

"Sable! It's so good to see you!" Penny squealed brightly as she saw Sable approach, throwing her arms open to embrace him in a too tight hug and practically lifting him off of the ground "I hope you had a fun time with friends, Ciel can't wait to hear all about it!"

Of course behind the door Ciel Soleil was looking far less enthusiastic than Penny had implied, regarding him with cold professional indifference from one end of the briefing room's table (this one had no coffee at all), her pristine blue and white uniform marking her out as some other part of Atlas' bureaucratic machinary. "I'm sure you already know why you're here." She began, Penny take up a position standing behind her "Care to explain yourself?"
 
"...Something... like that..." Sable groaned, feet dangling above the tile. "Bleh..."

Sable could swear he could hear his spine shattering in two places. His redheaded supervisor didn't seem like much but her strength could move mountains when she got into it. Unfortunately for him, she really enjoyed getting into it. The small mercy here was that nobody was watching; he was sure that Lilac still thought that he and Penny were dating, and there was no doubt the purple-haired shortstack wouldn't let such an intense hug slide--especially since Sable was kind of leery about people touching him without permission.

His toes touched the ground and his torso hung limply and breathlessly, not entirely used to supporting itself once again. He stretched his back by drawing his elbows behind him, straightened out his wrinkled uniform, and walked in.

"Wow. Not even asking how my day went? Cold," Sable quipped dryly as he pulled up a seat at the table. She was one of Penny's teammates, but Sable was only passingly familiar with Ciel Soleil; Penny was the monitor who worked most directly with him. No doubt she knew more about his case file than he knew about her. She was pretty though. Shame about that stern expression on her face.

"Well, Operative Tortuga did say to keep my mouth shut about the mission," he smirked, "And good soldiers follow orders, am I right?"

A beat passed.

"Worth a shot," Sable shrugged. He leaned back in the chair, hugging his arms behind his head nonchalantly. "Someone decided to pick a fight, so I clapped back. Can I go now or are you just keepin' me here 'cause you have a thing for bad boys, Miss Soleil?"
 
Ciel observed Sable with an impassive expression that somehow still managed to convey a sense of superiority, it was a look that he would have seen a lot since being sent to Atlas, all she really wanted was to be done with this debrief as quickly and as smoothly as possible but it looked like Sable was going to dash those hopes in very short order. Letting out a sigh she steepled her hands in front of her and sighed.

"And that someone was not a target authorised by the Academy or by Operative Tortuga and your location means that the number of people who fit that designation is severely limited. We both know the particulars of your specific 'arrangement' so I would appreciate it if you could please cut the bravado and cooperate."

She purposefully reached under the table and produced her scroll, activating the glowing rectangle and letting one hand rest on the touch screen, she didn't really want to have to do anything that was going to make this interaction any less pleasent for either of them but Ciel Soleil was a very busy woman and she would if she had to and she wanted Sable to know that too.
 
"Yeah? Well, when your boots are on the ground and the snow's in your eyes, a sword to the face looks kind of like a pen on a permission slip," Sable shot back snidely. He never liked that look, even when it was coming from a looker like Ciel. Alas, it seemed that even his roguish charm wasn't enough to subvert the beret-wearing operative. Rather than any multitude of cute, funny, or otherwise agreeable reactions, Ciel Soleil decided to bring out the big guns: a scroll rigged to the control panel of his collar.

"You're no fun, Miss Soleil," the faunus crossed his arms. Sable's poker face was impeccable, but you didn't need to be a skilled gambler to tell that he had no cards here. Every single one was in the hands of the dark-skinned operator seated across from him. "But you do know how to make a very Mantlesian argument."

"So? What do you want to know?" He paused, then shook his head. "Actually, screw that-- You've probably read all my teammates' files. So here's what I want to know: how come I'm the only one with the collar when I've got a teammate who's willing to stab her leader at the drop of a hat?"
 
"So it was Miss Bronze." Now they were getting somewhere. Ciel's fingers danced across the glowing screen of her Scroll, no discplinary shock was forthcoming, instead she was simply taking notes, maybe she'd have enough time to finally eat something after all. "The Academy is aware of her...condition. Given the nature of the situation this isn't going to be held against you, however neither you or her were reported as having any serious injuries and that's despite your unsactioned actions. All we need is an explanation of what occured between the two of you and confirmation of your teammate's current..." Ciel paused for a second, she had absolutely read all of SABL's files but they didn't exactly come with a glossary "...demeanor. Then you're free to go."

Of course the answer to Sable's question was very Atlasian, money and status, the Bronze family were not only wealthy but their arms manufacturing business gave them a direct channel to the upper echelons of the military. Of course their little girl didn't have to wear a collar, even if she had a body count of her own.

While this was all going on Penny was unusually passive, simply standing by Ciel and watching the pair of them talk back and forth, only the rising and falling of her chest and the occasional blink giving any sort of indication that there was anything going on behind those bright green eyes.
 
"C'mon. If that was the kind of shit you wanted to know, you could've just talked to the big guy," Sable grumbled. If Tortuga was in his chair, everyone would've been much happier. Being a bit peckish didn't bother the faunus all too much, but having to answer the government's annoying questions did. It made him feel like a snitch, even if he was only snitching on himself.

"'No news is good news', am I right?" he muttered sarcastically. Now here was where things got a touch more difficult. No way he could just tell them that he face-fucked her into submission, but there were enough sensors in the band around his neck that he couldn't just play it off so simply... Or could he? Sable shrugged carelessly. "As it turns out, we have a lot in common: we take the same classes, we like long hikes in the snow, and we've both got plenty of blood on our hands. Not each others', of course," he raised his palms and shook out his jazz hands. "A murderess can be very agreeable when you're both surrounded by big guns and bigger teeth, but a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

He winked at Ciel. Although he played it off as a joke, it was actually the closest thing to the truth, sort of.

"Anyway," the bemused expression on his face dropped. He put his elbow on the table and leaned his cheek against his palm. "She's fine. I mean, have you seen her? She looks like a mouse could knock her down, let alone a Grimm. Pretty sure Seaweed would've put it in his report if she started stabbing folks in the Bullhead." He started to get up from his seat, unilaterally confident that his explanations were good enough to allow for his release. "You sure you want me to go, Miss Soleil?" he asked, unable to resist trying to fluster his warden. "I have my lunch hour free~"
 
Ciel tapped away at her Scroll as Sable explained his side of the situation, barely bothering to look up from the glowing screen while she was drafting the bones of the report that would eventually find its way on to some superior's desk, except to shoot him one last appraising looking and was that the beginning of a smile forming at the edge of her lips? Whatever it was it was quickly stamped out, replaced by that professional mask that members of the Atlasian hierarchy all seemed to be so adept at, either way she seemed to buy what he was selling.

"You can go now Mr Grey." Ciel quickly rose to her feet, snapping her Scroll shut and readjusting her beret "And might I suggest that you reread the Academy's regulations on fraternisation? Penny you can show him out."

"Yes Ma'am!" Sable's warden suddenly sprung back in to life, offering a cheery salute as Ciel made for the door herself "Lets go Sable!"

The whole debrief hadn't been completely text book but it had gone smooth enough for the operatives liking, though she very much doubted that Sable was actually going to take her suggestion for reading material seriously which was maybe why the rhythm of lessons and homework and sparing of the next few days would be interrupted by a message on his Scroll. The contents of the message wasn't too remarkable just a link to a section of the Special Operative Cadets Operations & Regulation Manual but perched at the top of that rather innocuous message did come the Scroll handle for one Ciel Soleil...
The remainder of the week went by with nothing much to comment on, at least by the standard of a military academy for heavily armed super-powered children but soon enough it was the weekend and it was time to claim the spoils of Lilac's victory over Alex, a trip down to Mantle! Meeting down at one of the Academy's hangars Lilac and Henri accompanied their leader, one in a baggy hoodie as gleefully pink as her own cotton candy hair and the other in a floor length skirt and green cardigan giving her the look of a nervous librarian, still clutching her cane close like a security blanket and as for 'Ms Aegean'...

~Flashback~

"So I can finally get some peace and quiet to myself or I can come slumming it on the ground with you? Oh you're serious, let me laugh harder."

~Flashback~

"Hey guys! Over here!" Wanda called out, waving excitedly by the open door of a cargo Bullhead flanked by the rest of her team (except for Daisy who was leaning against the hull of the airship and chugging from a thermos of coffee) "Ready to have some real fun?"
 
As the trio approached, Sable typed out a text message onto his scroll: Stay close. Avoid trouble. Click. Send. Henrietta's scroll buzzed. She got the message, and she'd get the message.

"I dunno, Wanda," the faunus glanced up from his device and tucked it in his back pocket. "Did we fill out enough paperwork to have fun?"

Everyone knew what he meant, but while most of the others had to fill out all the fun and engaging standard release forms that Atlas Academy required for off-campus excursions, he (and Henrietta, he wagered) had a much more daunting mountain to summit. Even with the collar around his neck feeding positional, biometric, and who knew what else straight to the scrolls of Penny and Ciel (and who knew who else!), he still had to sign off on all the creative threats and consequences that legalese could muster, provide an in-depth report on what his expected itinerary was, compose a report on what he actually ended up doing, and so. Much. More.... What a nightmare!

But that was a problem for the Sable of the past and the Sable of the future. He was Sable of the present, and Sable of the present was ready to spend a weekend outside of the hallowed halls of Atlas Academy. He still had his misgivings about going down to Mantle, but at least he didn't have to worry about being recognized. There were plenty of very good reasons for this, but the most important one was his outfit.

Unlike the others, Sable didn't managed to pack a new set of clothes while he was chilling in a detention cell, so the school supplied him with some. Unfortunately for him, If it wasn't the clothes he was wearing when he got caught, it was something out of the school store. Thus, losing the tie and replacing his vest with a school sweatshirt was the extent of his casual dress. Needless to say, he felt a bit frumpy and overdressed. 'Brothers, I'm just asking to get mugged,' Sable thought. 'I feel sorry for the poor bastard who tries.'

"Sadly, our fourth decided to come down with something instead of coming down with us," he joked, gesturing to the empty spot where Meg ought to have been. "Ironic, I know. You'd think someone who wears a mask would take better care of herself." He climbed into the Bullhead first, slotting himself right between Alex and Daisy.
 
"She's sick? I just thought she was being a snooty jerk face!" Lilac exclaimed, shooting her leader's attempt at subtilty in the foot, this changed everything! She knew an awesome place that did soup! Maybe if she helped Meg get better than she'd stop being so mean and they could all be friends and let her play with her hair (Lilac happened to think Meg would look great with braided pigtails).

"Her loss." Wanda's foxy ears twiched mischieviously as she laughed before she turned and hopped into their waiting transport, perching atop an empty crate destined to be recycled in a depo in Mantle below, a few moments later Lilac appeared next to her offering a compilation of cute videos on her Scroll to help pass the time, a pair of headphones quickly fished from the faunus girl's purse to share between them. Bringing up the rear Henri found herself sandwiched between Nikki and the hull with her cane clutched between her knees but she wasn't one to make a fuss and it still gave her enough room to bring up her scroll to check her messages, a small squeak would let Sable know that she'd gotten the message.

Once everyone was on board there was a few minutes of waiting as the pilot finished their checks but eventually the doors closed and the airship's engines kicked in to life.

"So Mantle huh?" Alex decided to try and talk to Sable, some people might think that being the only guy on a team was hitting the jackpot but he'd been so swept along by everything that had been happening that he couldn't remember the last time that he'd had a conversation with another guy "I've never been but Wanda can't stop talking about how great it is."
 
"..."

Sable could only pinch the bridge of his nose and loose a long sigh. It was way too early to deal with this, and he had no plans to disavow Lilac of whatever strange notion was behind that glimmer in her eyes. With any luck, the only one in trouble would be their absent shark. "Sick, snooty, same difference. Just..." He began to gesture exasperatedly at the pale-haired shortstack. "Just get in the Bullhead already."

Fortunately, she entered posthaste and they were all quickly off on their little excursion. Hopefully it would be the much needed vacation these students were looking for, but as usual, Sable's outlook was not exactly optimistic.

"Pfft. Is that what she says?" Sable spared a glance to the blond boy whose match had kickstarted this whole outing. Unlike his team leader, the Mantle that Sable remembered wasn't anything to look back on with great fondness. Just like there were stories about people building too high, there were stories about digging too deep, and Mantle was about as rock bottom as they came. Sure, life along the crater wasn't all doom and gloom, but with the sun stolen away by ever-looming Atlas, the undercity's darkness was just that much deeper to get lost in. With a wry, knowing grin, he answered: "I guess it's a pretty okay place... if you've got the mettle for it. Why? Nervous? Looking for advice or something? My advice: try the streetfood and avoid the backalleys."
 
Mettle? Avoid the backalleys? Alex tried not to look surprised but that really wasn't the sort of advice that he'd been expecting from Sable and he was just so akward that it was impossible for him to hide all of his nerves but he was training to be a Special Operative, if he could fight Grimm then how scary could Mantle really be? 'Try the streetfood' was way more in line with what he was hoping for.

"I'm not nervous!" He protested possibly a bit too defensively "I just thought since you're from down there you might know somewhere cool visit. Wanda wants to go to this arcade, says she's got a reputation to protect and Nikki's going to see her dad. I uh, don't know if Daisy wants to do anything specific."

Off in the corner, despite the flask she'd been drinking from all morning, the mouse faunus had lost her battle against slumber and had slid down along a crate on to the floor.

"I'll keep the food in mind though thanks. Anything you want to do when we get there?"
 
"Uh huh." Sable rolled his eyes. For a not-nervous person, Alex was looking very nervous. Atlas really did pick the best of the best for their elite program, didn't they? Honestly, it was a mystery how the guy even landed the gig with the infamous militaristic academy; although, Sable could say that for a few of his other classmates as well. Some of them were even on his own team!

"Looks like she wants to nap to me." Sable nudged Daisy's foot with his own as gently as possible, not keen on triggering his collar with anything more aggressive than that. He couldn't remember a class where Daisy wasn't slumped over her desk or carried on the back of one of her teammates. "And she's from Mantle too?" It was hard to believe she hadn't been kidnapped or something.

He turned his attention away from the sleeping mouse and back to the nervous blond.

"Well, I've got some ideas of what I'd like to do," Sable answered vaguely. The wolf had a reputation of his own down there, but one that was not nearly as pleasant as Wanda's, he wagered. Granted, it was not necessarily his, even though it was all certainly by his own work. Was it necessarily wise for him to have come? No, but there was something pleasant about seeing familiar sights, even if they were in a shithole covered in piss and grafitti.

Naturally, he knew plenty of interesting places... Just maybe not the kind of interesting anyone would've liked. And it was this realization that struck Sable as he blanked on a destination that wouldn't send a bunch of Atlas drones or Hand thugs his way. "Like..."

"..."

"...Dropping out, skipping town, and living in a cabin out in the mountains." He glanced aside at nothing in particular. "I don't think the school would take kindly to that, though. Or anything else on my very long and detailed list. Especially not while I'm wearing this outfit." It sounded like a joke, but it was only partially a joke. Brothers, what was an activity that normal young people did? All he knew was how to eat food, hang out in shady places, and commit crimes for money.

"Lilac owes me a noodle place. She was hyping it up during our entrance exam, so I have very high expectations." Sable answered much more normally, having decided that that was a very average thing to say. He made a show of glancing around to make sure nobody heard them, and quietly whispering: "But honestly, I was mostly here for to pick up chicks and get some privacy! Can't go anywhere in Atlas without a security camera counting the hairs on the back of my neck."
 
"I think so?" Alex replied, watching his teammate roll over on to her back and begin snoring with a look that said he agreed with Sable's assessment of the dormouse but lacked the nerve to actually voice that opinon "That's what Nikki says anyway, Daisy isn't much of a talker, unless you count in her sleep I guess..."

Then the conversation kept going kept going and while Sable might have been mystified about how some members of his class had made it through the selection process, Alex was equally puzzled about how he'd ended up as leader. Unlike some people that could be mentioned he wasn't going to hold it against him though, Wanda was his leader after all and as far as he could tell she was doing a good job, even if she was a little quirky about it. He looked at the other boy for a second, what exactly was wrong with his outfit...? It wasn't too disimilar to his own, a white shirt and blue pants afair combined with a jacket that looked like it was going to do less than nothing to protect him from Mantle's cold without the help of some fancy Dust.

He didn't have much time to ponder that question though as Sable quietly revealed his true intentions, colouring his cheeks a shade of red, it was a perfectly normal thing to want to do but Alex wasn't exactly a ladies man himself and anyway wasn't Sable already dating that girl on his team? Or was it Wanda? Or that girl with orange hair that sat in on some of their classes? The Academy rumour mill was many things but slow certainly wasn't one of them.

In an effort to clear up just what was going on here the blonde boy steeled himself and gestured up on the crate to where Lilac and Wanda both sat watching cute cat compilations "I thought you were...you know...?"
 
Sable looked down at the reclining dormouse, listening carefully for any sleep talking above the din of the Bullhead's engine. He could see a bit of her belly from the divide between her upper and lower garments, and it filled him with the urge to do mess with her a little bit: smack it, step on it, blow raspberries against it, or something. Who could blame him? She was so vulnerable splayed out like that! He ignored that intrusive thought though, and turned back to Alex. "Doesn't seem like she's in the mood for any small talk," he quipped, "Lucky that thermos is screwed on tightly. Coffee stains would be a pain to get out of these."

He gestured to his pants, which were the exact same ones issued by the school as part of their uniform.

"You thought I was...?" Sable raised an eyebrow and subtly followed the line of Alex's gesture to the two girls. It took a second for Sable to piece together the other boy's intent, but when he did, his lips curled up slightly. The blond's confusion didn't surprise him much; Atlesians were always more conservative when it came to matters of love. Polygamous relationships may not have been common in Mantle and elsewhere, but they weren't unheard of either. In Atlas, though? He heard they were big fans of arranged marriages and the like up in their castles in the sky. If you asked Sable, it came part and parcel with all the aristocratic, militaristic bullshit.

However, that was neither here nor there. He wasn't even in an official relationship with either of the girls, even if those rumors did come from somewhere. But Sable was a dog at heart, so maybe it was time to yank Alex's chain a bit.

"...Gay?" Sable whispered incredulously. Alex was gesturing at two girls, after all. Easy mistake to make, even if he hadn't made it. "Have you seen me talk to your team leader?"
 
Poor Alex, he fell for Sable's ruse hook line and sinker, and if there was one thing that an Atlasian feared more than the teeth and claws of the monsters of Grimm it was a social faux pas. "That's not what I meant!" He quickly blurted out, holding out both hands in front of him defensively, then he realised that he might have said that maybe a little too defensively and just for a second Sable might have seen a hint of fear in his eye "Not that there's anything wrong with that! I have friends who are..."

He abruptly shut his mouth, he had already dug himself a hole and it really wasn't his place to go naming names but the little outburst had already drawn attention from the hold's other occupants and Wanda tugged the earbud out from her canine ear, dangling upsidedown from the top of the crate she had perched and wagging a finger teasingly at the pair, the bodysuit under her clothes protecting her modesty as her skirt flopped down.

,,¿ǝɔᴉu ƃuᴉʎɐld oʍʇ noʎ ǝɹ∀,, She asked playfully, drawing a rapid nod from her teammate.

"We're fine!" He insisted "Sable was just telling me about Mantle."

Wanda slipped from the crate and landed on her hands before quickly righting herself with an acrobatic flourish and trotting over to them, looking to Sable to confirm the story, she maybe enjoyed teasing Alex just a little bit too much but she was from Mantle and a Faunus on top of that. How often was she going to get this kind of opportunity?
 
A wry smile played on Sable's lips, and for someone like him, who played his cards close to his chest, that may as well have been a hearty, side-clutching, waist-bending laugh. Man, that was way too easy! Alex was red-faced, fear-stricken, and heedless of the volume. Weren't folks from Atlas supposed to be better at the stiff-upper-lip, social repartee thing? Sable wasn't about to let Alex's vulnerabilities stop his fun, though. The faunus was very willing to let him sweat just a bit more.

His lupine ears twitched in the direction of fabric folding over itself. He looked up, coming face to face with Wanda, teasing them both like they were unruly children. But where Alex had opted to quickly cover for himself, Sable's thoughts lay elsewhere.

"..."

Instead of answering her question, Sable leveled a dumbfounded stare at the snow fox faunus. eyes narrowed like he was trying to decipher a particularly small line of text. "You heard that too, right?" Sable turned to Alex and pointed at Wanda. "How did she do that with her mouth?"

"...Erm. Never mind. Let's just forget about that," Sable shook his head, burying the incident deep into the recesses of his mind.

Sable looked between Wanda and Alex. He made sure to really linger upon Alex, like he was thinking really hard. Then, he answered. "Well... He's not wrong," the faunus crossed his arms cheekily. He stepped back away from the wall, taking a spot next to Wanda. "But that's not completely right."

"See, Alex was just asking me about... Me. And you. And Lilac." The wolf threw an arm around the girl's shoulders and tugged her to his chest. He leaned over, and in a stage whisper loudly enough for Alex to hear, said: "But if you ask me, I think what he was really looking for was some advice for a special someone."

Of course, he didn't know if that was even true. He suspected the boy's reaction would be quite enlightening.
 
Alex looked from Sable to Wanda but he wasn't really sure what the other boy was talking but I guess it was nice that he wasn't the most confused person in the room for once, his leader watching the pair of them with a smirk on her face. Unfortunately for Alex this didn't last very long as the Faunus' teamed up to round on him again, Wanda throwing one arm around the wolf and draping herself over him.

"He was?" Wanda asked, more than happy to play along with Sable's game "Well I guess they probably don't even teach them that kind of stuff up on the rock until its time to marry them off right?"

"What? No!" Alex started to protest when Wanda was suddenly in his personal space, sending the overwhelmed boy pressing back against the wall of the airship with a squeak.

"So who is it hmm? One of the HNTR girls? I bet it's the one with the glasses isn't it? Totally her right?"

Luckily for Alex before he could mount a defence that was probably going to fall on deaf ears the sound of the pilot came through the speakers "We're landing in five kids, welcome to Mantle."
 
Both Faunus loomed over the hapless young heir like a two-headed beast sizing up it's prey. Picking brains came naturally to Sable in every sense of the phrase, and ever the sadist, he found himself itching for the hidden intrigues of Atlesian students just as much as he did those of Mantle's backalleys. Wanda struck first, though, firing away with the obvious question: who was it? She seemed to have an answer in mind, which Sable disagreed with--and it seemed the pilot disagreed as well, as he had prompty cut her off with an announcement that they would soon arrive.

Sable grinned. Five minutes? Easy. Extracting this kind of intel took a bit more finesse than forcing an answer like Wanda had. It was not the approach Sable, master of the mind, would've used. Of course, he didn't need his semblance to crack an egg like Alex. He had a bunch of other mental magic tricks up his sleeve, no actual magic required.

"You're going at this the wrong way, Wanda. Watch and learn," Sable grinned, leaning in this time. "So who is it, loverboy? Is it..."

A comprehensive and rapid fire list of every female student who attended their classes soon. Unlike Wanda, who insisted on one option, he machine gunned him with every option, searching for the one that would make him sweat the most. Everyone had a tell, and he was sure Alex's would be quite simple to spot.

Insight: 1D20+10 = [12]+10 = 22

"Gotcha."

After finding (or not finding) the sign he was looking for, Sable promptly turned away and rubbed his nose smugly. Regardless of whether or not he saw something, he would definitely act like he saw something, and sometimes that was enough.

"So... What's the first stop, gang?" he asked blithely as the bulkhead doors depressurized. "Other than trouble, obviously."
 
Poor Alex, his parents had always tried to protect their youngest child and so without even the sort of sharp social graces that his Atlasian peers possessed, he was easy prey for the more forceful personalities of the two leaders. Caught completely off guard by Sable's barrage of names, he was an open book and what that book was saying was that he spent most of his day surrounded by girls who could beat him up and that terrified him (he spent a lot of time in his dorm with his eyes glued firmly to his Scroll or being very interested in the fine details on his shoes).

"Got me? What was that? What did I do?" Alex was quickly on his feet and following behind him trying to get a handle back on the situation as the doors slid open with a pressurised hiss to let them out on to a chilly street in Mantle's warehouse district, while Nikki brought up the rear, hauling Daisy up on to her feet and back to the waking world.

"Well since this was my idea..." Wanda was already infront of him, walking backwards out of the airship with her hands stretched above her head "...I say we hit the arcade first! We can beat the crowds."

"Ooo you can win me a prize!" Lilac joined in, suddenly beside Sable with one arm linked in his.
 
With a knowing look on his face, Sable quietly ignored Alex's pleas. It was not much of a surprise that the mousey Atlesian felt more inferior than infatuated, but Sable was content with making everyone think he knew much more than he actually did. Who knows? Perhaps, in his magnanimity, he would try to set something up for the lad (before Alex's own parents did, anyway).

"Sounds like a plan. Though, a crowd would be nice. We could hustle 'em for some extra change."

Mantle's warehouse district was, unsurprisingly, very familiar to Sable, but it felt surreal to see it in broad daylight, walking around like any other random on the street, absent the comforting cover of nightfall and the neon glow of streetlamps. He watched the warehouse skyline, as if he might chance upon a shadow of himself clambering across the lofty vantages, sneaking in through skylights, taking aim with Twilight's Fang, and all manner of assorted skulduggery.

...Not that he'd let himself get caught, even by himself.

A surprise against his arm brought his attention downward. Lilac looked up at him with such expectant eyes that he couldn't imagine denying her... but he didn't need to imagine it, because he was going to do it. "Hah! As if," Sable scoffed, "No freebies here. Just Three B's: Barter, Battle, or Bet. If you want a prize, you're gonna have to earn it, Lilac."

Along with the rest of the group, he followed Wanda to the arcade.
 
The gears in Lilac's head began to turn as they walked through the streets of Mantle, passed the hustle and work of the warehouse district with its seemingly endless stream of trucks and bullheads and the workers that came with them, supplying the floating city that hung in the sky above them with all the essentials that it needed (some of it more than likely went to the good people of Mantle too, but you know...after the rich folk).

"Okay then! I bet you can't win me a prize!" Lilac declared as the arcade came in to view with the smug certainty of someone who was sure they'd just made an iron clad arguement. The bright lights out front declared they had arrived at 'The Game Den' with the tinkling electronic sounds of the machines emanating from within to try and lure in passers-by. Competing with the attractive promise of fun and games was a pink haired rabbit faunus marching backwards and forwards passed the entrance brandishing a sign that read 'BOYCOTT NOW'.

"Who do you think this place gets its power from huh? THE SDC!" She yelled in a shrill voice.

"So does everyone dumbass." A man scoffed as he walked passed.

"Oh yeah? Well what about the lights?!" She gestured towards the entrance "They're flashing at a frequency to disrupt Faunus brain chemistry! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!"

Whatever the protesters problem might have been, there was something else that should probably command some of Sable's attention because even if he hadn't been here before then he had defintely heard of it. The Game Den was a front for the Middle, it made enough profit for the gang that it was worth maintaining as a legitimate business but its main value was in money laundering and giving them somewhere to conduct...other business in the higher floors.
 
"Hn." Sable grunted noncommittally, pacing forward in silence. He didn't expect Lilac to have enough brain cells to put a trick like that together. She had a good point, he supposed, and it was a fitting punishment for underestimating the hyperactive shortstack's cunning. Besides, what did he have to lose? Not that he would ever lose, of course. He had the utmost faith in his ability to school anyone on or off the training field. "Alright..." Sable answered with melodramatic fatigue, playing up his own exasperation at the situation. "What's the deal? What do I have to do if I don't get you a prize? And more importantly... What should I do with you when I get one?"

Sable sounded out every last syllable of his final question like it was a threat, which it was. He'd have to think long and hard about it. Maybe he'd have her take care of his chores and his homework for a while. Or maybe he'd have her do something a bit more fun than that...

His machinations were suddenly interrupted by a protestor. Sable couldn't help but to roll his eyes as the pink-haired bunny marched across their path, spouting accurate-but-ultimately-futile drivel about the Schnee Dust Company. And here he thought the permission slips were the last roadblock before their weekend could really start. He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the group and said, "I'll handle this."

"Hey, Crazy Girl," Sable upturned his chin a few times to get her attention. Then he lifted his hat, revealing a pair of wolf ears, before dropping it back on his head. "I dunno about you, but my brain chemistry's working fine. Why don't you take it to the factory across town before you piss someone off?"

Protesters weren't new in Mantle. Honestly, the words were probably synonymous at this point given how often they occurred here. But the Middle weren't exactly the most forgiving of the Hand's five fingers so blocking their business was definitely an unwise course of action unless you were interested in losing some teeth. More importantly, she was in his way, and that just wouldn't do.

Granted, considering that the Game Den was a well-known criminal front, he didn't entirely doubt that something illicit was secretly going on here--just not anything this kooky conspiracy theorist suggested. He wouldn't pry, though. As long as nobody caused too much trouble or won too much money, he was confident his pack of students would remain relatively unmolested.
 
"Uh..." Lilac was silent for a moment as her leader caught her off guard, she had been so pleased with herself for using his own words against him that she hadn't actually gotten as far as thinking what to do if he actually agreed, but while Lilac could be stymied, if you thought she could be stopped then you didn't know Lilac Langley! "If you don't get me one then you have to...do my homework for a week!"

A prize or no homework sounded like a win-win for her, but of course now she had to think of some tantalizing prize to motivate Sable and her mind went back to work as she skipped along beside him "Aaaaaaand if you do then...I'll give you a kiss!"

Off to the other side of him Wanda let out a playful "Ooooo." and watched for his reaction. The Atlas kids walking a few steps behind just shared a look with each other, while this was practically courtly compared to some of the other things they'd seen their leaders do, they still weren't exactly sure how they were supposed to act.

Of course Sable still had to agree to Lilac's terms but before he could do that he had to deal with the latest in a long of troublesome girls in his life, the protestor looking like she was about to launch into another unhinged rant until Sable revealed his ears, instead she squinted at him for a moment before shoving a scrunched up and poorly photocopied manifesto in to his hand and whispered "Don't let them get you." before hurrying away in to the crowd around them.

"Was she okay...?" Henri asked, sounding ever so slightly concerned as she watched the girl's sign move further and further away.
 
Sable met Wanda's feigned shock and the Atlesians' confusion with a steely gaze forward. Like Lilac before him, the gears turned in his head, concocting moves and countermoves that would stun even Atlas' most advanced artificial intelligence systems. He smirked knowingly, a death sentence in the parlance of those that knew him well enough. He looked aside at the bouncing shortstack. "A kiss? No details? No preferences? No restrictions? Winner's choice?"

Each question seemed vaguely more threatening than the last, intoned at a pace just slow enough to let Lilac's imagination run wild with the implications but quick enough that she could not offer a rebuttal or change of terms before Sable could talk over her.

"Deal."

Sable tucked the paper in his armpit and shook Lilac's hand like a spaghetti noodle. Little did Lilac know, it was a lose-lose situation for her. Sure, she'd have to give him a kiss if she lost... but he'd be doing her homework if she won, which was perhaps the worst fate of the two outcomes.

With that settled, Sable took one look down at the flyer in his hand and promptly folded it into his pocket. He didn't even need to read it in full to tell that it wasn't anything extremely out of the ordinary for people who were extremely out of the ordinary. She might as well have just handed him a used tissue for all the utility he expected from the sheet. But conspiracy theory nonsense was at least a little bit entertaining, so maybe he'd keep it around for light reading on the way back up. Or just forget about it when his pants went through the washer.

"Eh. No Faunus in Mantle is ever really okay. We just learn to deal with it in our own ways," Sable shrugged when Henrietta prompted him. He turned to face her, a wry look on her face as he snaked an arm around her. "Why? Is Miss Capitalist Heiress finally showing some concern for the little guy now that she's slumming it with 'em? Or do you just have a thing for cute--or handsome--Faunus?"
 
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"Deal!"

If Sable thought that his teammate was going to take even the slightest moment to consider the sinister implication of his words then he had severely overestimated her attention span, there was a prize to be won! Grabbing hold of his hand she was practically bouncing up and down as they shook on their agreement, blissfully unaware of what awaited her in the future, her eyes firmly focused on the glittering facade of the Game Den in front of her.

Lilac might not have had a single worry in her little pink head but Henri was exactly the oppostie, stumbling over her words as Sable turned his attention to her, she had just been trying to show concern for that strange Faunus girl, so why were her cheeks suddenly red? "I don't even control the means of productions..." was all she managed to mumble out in her own defence, letting out a squeak when she found his arm around her. Maybe if Meg was here she might have had something to say on behalf of the other girls but since she had decided she had better things to do, Sable had free reign to be a menace.

"Time's a wastin' guys. See you inside." Wanda butted in, dancing on the edge of the entrance and gesturing to the rest of them to follow, Nikki and Daisy making a move to follow their leader with Alex bringing up the rear, the young Atlasian seemingly making a point to take a wide arc around Sable as if that might spare him future teasing.

"She's right! Lets go!" Lilac tugged Sable towards the door insistantly, not letting go of his hand just yet until they were all inside, the bright flashing lights and cheery tunes of the first wave of claw machines designed to catch the attention of the unwary and seperate them with their money doing just that. Instantly Lilac was gone, her face pressed up against the glass of a machine with a big Pumpkin Pete plushie trapped inside.

"Saaaaaable! I want this one!"
 
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