[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ffeBWYD.jpg[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/1B5ekYa.jpg[/img][/center]

Although she did not show it well, Sangue felt a bit bubbly after hearing someone compliment her prosthetic. She did give the girl a short “thank you,” but the redhead wondered if there was anything else she could say to properly express herself.

April then asked where she got it.

Well, someone as uneducated as Sangue wouldn’t be able to craft something with so much care even if she wanted to.

[color=f7976a]“My fr…”[/color]

Were Shiro and Gren her friends?

She did not know if the thought was mutual, but Sangue believed them to be her friends. She just needed more time to know more about them. Like how she learned about her team steadily.

Yes. Steadily.

[color=f7976a]“…M…y friends… made th…is,”[/color] Sangue spoke, unsure if she expressed it correctly.

Dawn asked if she or Cian could show their weapons to them.

Wouldn’t it be dangerous…?

Then again, Sangue herself knew that the way she used her own weapons always risked cutting herself. Before she received her prosthetic, almost every attack had to be calculated to remotely keep up with the trained and talented students of Beacon. Even with her prosthetic, she could still see herself falling behind others if she did not continue to train herself.

And the two girls just seemed so excited to see their weapons.

Her expression unchanging, she quietly lifted her arm as she closed her eyes. Her nerves called for the Claw installed within her prosthetic to slither out slowly, the chains making clanking noises as the Claw extended itself.

[color=f7976a]“I… don’t ha…ve… my blade, but… I… use this…

“…

“…thing…”[/color]

Even Sangue herself had no idea what to call the Claw. She decided to call it the Apep Arm in her mind.

Before she could do anything else, however, her scroll made her jump. She took it out quietly, only to find that she received a call from none other than Apep.

[color=f7976a]“I… sh…ould be… going…”[/color] Sangue whispered as she focused on letting her nerves pull the chains back into the prosthetic. With a small bow, the snake departed from the colorful bunch, hurriedly trying to find a quieter place to receive Apophis’ call.

He hated loud places.

[hr]
[i]
 [color=f7976a]>“Apep…”[/color]
 [color=ed1c24]>”I’ll be there in a moment.”[/color]
 [color=f7976a]>”…O…kay…”[/color]
 [color=ed1c24]>”You with your team?”[/color]
 [color=f7976a]>”…N…o…”[/color]
 [color=ed1c24]>”Then where the fuck are you, then?”[/color]
 [color=f7976a]>”Alone…”[/color]
 [color=ed1c24]>”Well- oh, I’m actually here. No need to meet me at the docks- I’ve already been at this shithole before.”[/color]
 [color=f7976a]>”Then…?”[/color]
 [color=ed1c24]>”Cafeteria. I’m hungry.”[/color]
 [color=f7976a]>”Okay…”[/color][/i]

The dial ended abruptly.

Staring at her scroll for a moment, the red snake quietly put it away as she wandered off to the cafeteria. On her way, however, she still wondered if Apophis actually knew where the cafeteria was. He never told her that he had been at Beacon before.

So…

[hr]

[color=ed1c24]“…Is that why you came over to the docks like I told you NOT to?”[/color]

They ended up meeting at the docks.

Apophis raised an eyebrow, an extremely aggravated look frozen on his face. Sangue stared at him, her eyes wider than usual.

He didn’t have any more scars on him compared to when she last met him. That was a good thing.

Lifting her arm(s) slowly, Sangue approached him like a mock-up jiangshi. Much to his annoyance, the red snake quietly gave him a hug.

[color=ed1c24]“Okay, I get it. Stop.”[/color] The ex-manhunter growled in an almost comical way as he pushed Sangue away from him. [color=ed1c24]“You’re gonna flatten the fucking bread I brought.”[/color]

[color=f7976a]“...?”[/color]

Sangue stared at the transparent bag Apophis waved in front of her face. It had bread, like he said.

[color=ed1c24]“Most of it’s for me,”[/color] he muttered as he lowered the bag. [color=ed1c24]“Leftovers are for you. Already heard that you upgraded the shit I made for you, so maybe you could practice eating with that prosthetic of yours.”[/color]

The snake nodded. Before Apophis could solidify their schedule of eating first, however, something crossed her mind.

[color=f7976a]“A…pep…”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“What?”[/color]

[color=f7976a]"It's... been... a while..."[/color]

He couldn't disagree with that.

[color=f7976a]"Apep..."[/color]

[color=ed1c24]"[b]What?[/b]"[/color]

Reaching out for his wrist, her organic hand wrapped around it as she shook it a bit.

[color=f7976a]“…My… friends…”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“…”[/color]

…

…

…

…

Sangue tugged at his wrist softly.

[color=f7976a]“…My fr…iends…-“[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“Sangue.”[/color]

[color=f7976a]“Apep…”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“I understand you like your team. Like, a lot. But maybe we can wait a bit as we both prepare ourselves to meet them at top condition so that nothing could go wrong when I meet them.”[/color]

[color=f7976a]“…?”[/color]

Realizing that Sangue didn’t get it, Apophis screamed,

[color=ed1c24][b]“BITCH, I’M [u]HUNGRY[/u].”[/b][/color]

Nevertheless, despite calling her a bunch of names, he still followed her. It didn’t help that Sangue didn’t even know three-fourths of his insults in the first place.

[hr]

It turned out her team was not in the dorm.

Standing outside of her dorm, she shut it, wondering where her friends were at.

[color=ed1c24]“You know where they went?”[/color]

[color=f7976a]“…No…”[/color]

After a moment of silence, they resorted to just wandering down the hall in an attempt to find Sangue’s team.

Scratching the back of his head, Apophis refused to admit to her that he did kind of want to know what her friends looked like.

[color=ed1c24][i]What are they like?[/i][/color] He wondered as he put up a thoughtful look- a rare expression that is usually overshadowed by his common, angry one. [color=ed1c24][i]Are they emo or grunge? Goody-goody or bitchy-bitch? I don’t need a bunch of edgelords infecting Sangue with bullshit.[/i][/color]

He thought about it for a second. Just minutes before, she clung onto him like he was her dad or something. Imagining someone like Sangue spouting out Jayden Smith tweets while clutching half of her own face with her new prosthetic with a grin…

[color=ed1c24][i]Fuck, that’s worse than everything I’ve done up to this point of my life. Then again, there's probably a reason as to why I'm not rotting in a jail cell yet.[/i][/color]

[color=ed1c24][i]Eh. I’ll prepare myself for anything. As long as they don’t look like they’ll turn Sangue into a skank, I think I’m-[/i][/color]

A voice called out in the hallways. Glancing at the direction of the noise, he shook his head as he turned to keep going down the hall, but he stopped when he noticed Sangue standing still.

[color=f7976a]“L…auren…”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]“…Say what now- FUCK, STOP PULLING AT MY ARM!”[/color]

The two began heading to the Armory.

[sub][@HereComesTheSnow][@Suku][@Crimmy][/sub]
[@Plank Sinatra][@Krayzikk][@Kaithas]