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[hider=Family Day – Sangue & Apophis]They sat at a bench. She nibbled on the bread he brought, and he soullessly stared at the skies.

After meeting Lauren’s happy family, Sangue eventually departed for a moment to meet with Apophis. She ended up finding him by the cafeteria, and they walked together in silence.

As of recently, Apophis treated her a bit less like a child, though he still generally saw her as one. She knew little, yes, but she had enough maturity to know the consequences behind something as simple as picking up a weapon and using it to end life- whether it be on the Grimm, and perhaps occasionally, people. She wished not to experience it too much, but she knew combat was a necessity in to purge the monsters of Remnant.

But as she grew, Apophis changed too. Not as much as her, but the change was still there. And the more she grew, the more she learned why people didn’t like him. She did not judge him, but many people were generally prone to judgment- and not all judgments were always unreasonable. Sangue Naga knew this, as someone who is frequently judged for her actions, and occasionally, her thoughts.

The bread tasted good. Plain, but good.

“This place doesn’t sit right with me,” Apophis muttered as he watched several students chatter excitedly with their families. “Never did and never will.”

From what Sangue knew, Apophis had been at Beacon before. Long before he met her, he did. He refused to describe why he had been there in the first place.

“…Apep.”

He remained silent, prompting her to talk.

“…How… were my friends…?”

Continuing to face the skies, Apophis raised an eyebrow as he snorted.

He didn’t know how to describe them. On one hand, they were a motley group with just the right amount of confidence that would normally piss him off. On the other hand, said confidence didn’t go to waste, instead being used to bolster the mold that held the team together. Something about the team gave him the impression that they would take care of Sangue well.

But they wouldn’t do too well in having her mature. At least, not now.

Sangue waited for his answer patiently, and somewhat expectantly.

“They’re alright,” he finally answered. “Immature for my liking, but they’re not using you like a tool.”

And at his answer, Sangue was honestly surprised. He never described anyone as “alright” before, let alone describe why they were alright in his book. She nodded as she continued eating her bread.

Their world fell silent once more. Sangue ended up receiving more bread from Apophis. She glanced at him, noticing that his expression looked more distant than ever.

As she ate her food, she continued to glance at Apophis every now and then.

“…I’m… happy to meet… you again…”

The crimson-haired man did not budge. He neither turned to her nor opened his mouth to respond. The muscles of his neck did not twitch. It was a common sight for Sangue.

According to Mark, Apep got into fights with many Hunters, though most of them ended violently. And all of them went to his favor- otherwise, he wouldn’t be next to Sangue. He would tell her that power was a privilege, and that he knew the privilege too well to the point where it hurt him. But he claimed that he never regretted for fulfilling the reason behind his lust for power.

And she, unlike him, feared that lust.

She was afraid. She knew the feeling of ending a life, but to treat it as a step in a staircase to strike despair was something she had recently come to disagree with Apophis.

She knew he simply did not admit that what he did was frightening. Yet, she decided to remain quiet about it, afraid to reveal conflicting views on a topic that determined others’ lives.

Because in the end, she did not want to lose the one man who knew of her earlier life. The life she lived before meeting Bastille.

It was still fortunate that he at least approved of her friends.

“...A…pep.”

“…”

“…Do… you know… what love… is?”

For a moment, Sangue regretted asking the question. As soon as the words left her mouth, his whole body froze deathly still, stiffening more than a corpse would. For some reason, he feared the word. Despite his apparent pride in hurting many for his own gain, he would falter whenever someone brought the topic up nearby him.

If he ever loved. Who he loved.

“You got some nerve to ask me that right now,” Apophis spoke flatly as his gaze to the skies went hollow.

Pausing for a moment, Sangue took a small breath before she spoke again.

“…Did… you…?”

His only eye finally tearing its gaze off the skies, a murderous glare turned to Sangue’s direction. It was the same look he made when he was about to thrash out at something more human than Grimm. Her soft gaze remained fixated to his own.

“It’s already bad enough you talk like you're mentally retarded,” he spoke. “Now you’re asking sentimental bullshit I didn’t ask for.”

Turning away from Sangue, Apophis cracked his neck- almost to a dangerous degree.

“I thought I told you I’m not telling you about my past life.”

He turned to her with a look demanding for an answer. Sangue fell silent as she chose her words in her head. She had mostly taught herself how to speak, with Apophis occasionally fixing her mistakes whenever he gets annoyed with her speech patterns. Thinking slowly often helped when she was not in combat, or was in a good position to think carefully.

She spoke truthfully, “I… want to know… if… what I feel for... my… friends…”

With her bread close to her chest, Sangue looked down and stared at the hands that carried the food.

“…is love.”

She turned to the crimson man with her sharp, yet soft gaze.

Apophis stared at her, his mouth opening to say something. But nothing came out when he realized that he had just talked her down before knowing what she was actually trying to ask.

She wasn’t trying to ask about him specifically. She wanted to talk about her friends.

She was asking a completely different question from what he presumed she would ask. Something that she’d obviously talk about on a family day.

And it caught him off-guard.

[i]I'm a dumbass,[/i] he thought as if couldn't trust himself.

Of course. She was different from most of the people he had to deal with. He kept forgetting that, even though it was something he shouldn’t forget. His habit of shutting people up regardless of whether they were very reasonable or not had gotten in the way again.

For a moment, he flinched, knowing that despite insulting her for her lack of knowledge compared to others, he had just judged her in an even more immature way. He wanted to refuse the truth again like he always did.

But to her, he just couldn’t. Not when she didn’t do anything in particular to deliberately piss him off.

Being at a Hunter academy was getting to him again. Sangue did not like being separated from him, yet she did in order to pursue a career as a Huntress. She probably waited for him to come and just talk with her, not have him be an insensitive moron who couldn’t stop being edgy in the middle of a family day.

Taking a deep breath, Apophis rubbed the temples of his head as he shook his head. “Ugh, give me a second,” he mumbled as he took a moment to fix his composure.

Shortly after, he looked back up as he leaned against the bench a bit more comfortably.

“Sorry,” he muttered, the word itself being a very foreign one. “That was pure shit on my part. Should’ve known you were trying to be… sensible, or whatever that’s supposed to be.”

He crossed his arms. "Just forget what I said. I won't bring it up again."

Sangue blinked. She then shook her head quietly, as if he had not said anything hurtful to her. “It’s… al…right…”

He really didn’t deserve her.

“Anyway…” Apophis put up a thoughtful look as he pressed the bottom of his lip against his upper lip. “My background literally comes from being a manhunter, but I… guess your ‘love’ is real? It’s not always the romantic shit people like fawning over. It exists for anything treasurable. I’m not an expert at this so fuck if I know.”

The redhead stared at him for a few good seconds. Suddenly, her lips curled into a small smile as she twitched. Apophis froze when he realized she was stifling a laugh.

“…What’s so funny?” Apophis growled as he scratched at the stitches at the corner of his lips.

Much to his surprise, she answered,

“It’s… nice to hear you… talking about love.”

His eyes widening, Apophis stumbled in his words. An extremely rare moment of him flustering occurred as a very faint blush filled his lifeless face. He quickly shot back, “I’ll put you on the ground if you ever tell Mark. That bartending shitstain’s going to have the time of his life if he knows I- dammit, you seriously better not tell him!”

With her small smile, Sangue nodded quietly as he sighed in relief.

She felt happy, knowing that Apophis opened up to her a bit more.[/hider]

[hr]

[b][u]Lunch -> Grimm Studies[/u][/b]

It was another day. A day full of classes, a day with things to learn.

With her lunch finished, Sangue waited for Ben. She would proceed to trail behind him as soon as he proceeded to the classroom.
[@Krayzikk]