Dormrooms & Dorkwads

Chapter Two

By Lightningstrxu

Betas: Paulternative/Archivist of Nyx

With a sleepy stretch, Yang awoke to greet her day. Leaping from the top bunk, she staggered her way into the bathroom. It was good always being the last one awake; no competing for the bathroom in the morning, and no bickering since all her more punctual and responsible teammates had already left for breakfast.

Yeah, it meant she might be fashionably late for class and starving till she got lunch, but it also meant she got a nice peaceful and relaxing shower every morning. Plenty of time to take care of the myriad steps that went into crafting 'The Look' each day. Stepping out of the shower, her body shivered at the loss of the comforting hot water. Drying off and wrapping a towel around her torso, she went up to the mirror and began preparing.

First things first: the task of drying her hair. Stealing Weiss' high quality, fire Dust-infused drier, she set about her task, taking care to dry her hair and not fry it. Blond locks cleared of moisture, it was now time to apply her makeup, in that special, oh-so-subtle way that made her look like she wasn't wearing it at all. But in order to do that, she'd need to be able to see first.

For Yang had many secrets, one of which was known to only a few, like Ruby and perhaps Blake and Weiss if they went snooping through her section of the bathroom drawer, but they'd never tell. Yang was farsighted, and while she might not need precision to punch a Grimm in the face if she was going to do a proper job, she needed to be able to make out the finer details.

Going into her case of dailies, she found it empty, her supply of contact lenses exhausted. Well, that was a minor setback. Her order was due, so it was probably with the mail and she forgot to grab it. Heading into the main room, she searched through the mail her team had received, but there was no package to be found.

Panic began to set in as her heart raced. "It's supposed to be here, it auto ships every month on the dot," she thought. Scrambling for her scroll, Yang checked her package information. Delayed!? No, this wasn't possible! She paid top Lien out of pocket for punctual shipping. Well, someone was about to get an earful from her, as she began dialing on her scroll.

"Thank you for contacting Glamazon Shipping. How may I help you?"

"Yes, my order hasn't come in yet!" she nearly yelled into the scroll, as she rattled off her order number to the poor unsuspecting clerk about to get chewed out.

"Yes, it seems it was delayed."

"I saw that...but I pay an extra thirty lien every month to make sure these come when needed. So there better be a damn good reason it's late!"

"The delivery pilot was attacked by Grimm… Three people died."

"Oh…" Yang felt her fury die down as her face blushed from shame. "That's a pretty good reason."

"Yes, it is." the operator said dryly. "Will that be all?"

"Yeah...that's all." she whispered sheepishly.

"Well then, you have a nice day...bitch." the operator added under her breath before hanging up.

Yang wanted to be angry. Under normal circumstances, such a comment would have infuriated her, and she would have unleashed a hefty amount of Karen rage on the first manager she got in contact with, but she had honestly deserved that one. That still didn't solve her current problem, though. With a resigned sigh, she went to her drawer on the communal dresser. Buried in the deepest part, under a pile of stylish outfits, was a small case. Retrieving it, she cradled it in her hand and with a despondent sigh, she cracked it open.

A pair of black-rimmed glasses stared back at her.

It had been years since Yang had worn them, although she always kept her prescription up to date just in case of an emergency. Now technically it was an emergency.

But was it really?

Without her glasses, she could still see the board well enough. and could even just fake it a few days until her contacts came in. Yeah, there was definitely nothing wrong with this plan. Getting dressed and ready for class, she slipped her glasses into her pocket. Only to be used as an absolute last resort.

Half-blind and running late, Yang sprinted out the door.

######

As Yang listened to Doctor Oobleck prattle on at the speed of a meth-addled squirrel, she couldn't believe the bad luck she was having. It was like the universe was attempting to actively punish her for trying to be cool. First, she had ordered the wrong soda at the vending machine, and then Professor Port had assigned a pop quiz. He never did that! Thankfully, it was true or false, which left an optimistic fifty percent chance to pass. But history was her last class. She just had to get through this and she'd be home free.

"Miss Xiao Long!" Oobleck called out. "I noticed that you don't wish to follow along with us." He pointed at the closed book in front of her.

"Oh sorry. Where are we at?" She asked, opening the book.

"Since you seem to not care, how about you continue with the lesson. Chapter five, page seventy-seven."

"Right…" she said hesitantly. Lilac eyes attempted to focus on the page, its contents a blurred mess. She couldn't decipher it at all, she wasn't even sure if she was on the right page. Okay, time to roll with it. She wasn't going to get out of it at this point "Uh, long ago, in a mystic land, I, Aku, shapeshifting master of darkness…" Yang began to the snickers of her classmates around her. Sure, she could have bit the bullet and just put on her glasses.

But that wasn't going to happen.

She would go down for this, but she would go down on her terms. "...now the fool seeks to return to the…"

"Enough, Miss Xiao Long." Oobleck sighed. "Since you seem so knowledgeable on the subject, I expect a seven hundred word essay on the skirmish at Bluegrass Ridge and how it altered the course of the Great War in Vale's favor on my desk first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir." She sat back down breathing a sigh of relief. Yeah, she may have a bit of extra homework now, but it was a small price to pay to maintain her image. Hell, it may have helped it further, now appearing as her classic snarky and joking self.

Mercifully, that was the last she was bothered in class, and the bell ringing signaled her freedom from this hellish day. She could retreat back to her dorm where no one could bother her and hope against hope that her contacts would come in tomorrow.

"Hey, Yang," the featureless blob that, as best she could tell, was Jaune called out to her.

"Yeah?" Her eyes squinted slightly. "Need somethin'?"

"Yatsuhashi just texted me that there's time for a short session today to finish up the boss fight. If you're interested." Interested? If that wasn't the understatement of the year. "Then again you just got that extra assign…"

"Of course I'll join!" she cut him off before he could make any logical arguments against it. "You said it's a small session right? Just finish up the boss real quick and I'll have plenty of time to do my essay."

"Oh, cool. Let's go." Packing her things up as quickly as she could the pair of blondes then made their way down the hall, her heart racing with excitement as they went.

"So after we finish up do you think you'll want to join up as a regular?" Jaune asked

YES, YES, BY THE GODS YES!

That was what Yang's inner dork wanted to shout in the poor boy's face, But her own desire to remain cool managed to keep it in check. "I'll have to see," she said noncommittally. "But it's been enjoyable so far. Better than I remember."

"Well, you said you played with Ruby right?"

She did? Yeah, that was the excuse she gave for knowing the rules. "Yep, totally did. Just the two of us. I was basically a GM and a player with her."

"Well, that would definitely paint a bad picture of the game, having to do both at once and with so few people. Especially if you weren't super into it."

"It was rough, she was such a little rules lawyer, never just having fun when needed," she casually lied about her sister's B&B career.

Jaune chuckled. "That sounds adorable."

"Yeah, it was." Yang smiled, thankful her lie had been believed. Reaching the empty classroom, Yang was greeted by the other players. "Hey everyone, ready to kick a werewolf's ass?" she asked as she took her seat.

"Hell yeah!" Cardin agreed wholeheartedly.

Pulling out her character sheet and borrowing a set of dice again, Yang did an experimental roll to test their luck for the night, only to realize she couldn't decipher it at all. Crap...that was right; she still was blind as a bat. She couldn't possibly play like this. She looked down at her bag, her dreaded eyewear buried at the bottom. She couldn't possibly use them, they were for an emergency. She didn't even use them for class! There was no way this constituted an emergency. Taking another test roll and then glancing at her sheet, it was still just a mess of nothing. It was decided.

B&B was definitely an emergency!

Rummaging through her bag, she found the case, a task that would have been much easier if she had already been wearing them. It was funny how life works sometimes. Opening it up, she placed the black frames upon her face and a world of clarity opened up before her.

Except now the vague shapes that were now people were staring at her.

Mind racing, grasping at straws for any kind of excuse, Yang said the first thing she could think of… "Sup nerds!" she beamed. That was apparently not the right thing to say as Cardin and Velvet scowled.

"Are you mocking us?" Velvet bristled.

"Yeah, what gives?" Cardin snarled.

Yang shrunk under their gaze, she wasn't mocking them but she could definitely see why they'd think so. Sitting here in thick black framed glasses, the very image of a dork. Of course, she very much was one, but to them, she was wearing glasses for no reason other than to make fun of them. They didn't know that she desperately needed them.

And they never would!

Slipping the glasses off and setting them to the side, her world once again a blurred mess of nothing. "Sorry." Yang chuckled sheepishly. "It was funnier in my head."

Velvet nodded, and Yang guessed that the older girl's face softened as she sat back. "Good." She added.

"Now that that is all taken care of," Yatsuhashi spoke up. "When last we left off, you were about to do battle with the deadly Lupusregina Beta. Now, if you could all roll for initiative and please place a representation of your character on the map." Grabbing a spare die, Yang placed it on the grid in front of her, placing it near the others.

Picking up her d20, she rolled. Lilac eyes squinted in impotent rage, trying to discern the number. She picked it up, adjusting it and hoping that a different angle would make it decipherable. At best, she could tell it was a two-digit number. "Twelve," she called out her place. It was a safe, respectable number, the minimum possible number it could be with her initiative bonus of two. It could be higher, but she didn't need to go first, so that was a small price to pay.

As everyone else rattled off their rolls, Yang found out she was third in line. A perfect spot to scout out how this boss would fight.

"Alright then. Jaune, you're up first." Yatsuhashi motioned to the blonde next to her.

"Okay!" he reached across the table, moving his piece up to his foe. "I take a stab at her with my rapier!" The die clicked and clacked as it rolled. Jaune studied the roll carefully. "Does an eighteen hit?"

"It does." The GM confirmed.

"Awesome! Let's see..." He rolled his dice. "Twelve damage."

"Your rapier hits home, but you notice that it does less damage than it should."

"Crap, it has resistance," he sighed. "Looks like it will be up to you then." He looked at her.

Of course, it had resistance, their enemy was a lycanthrope. That meant it took half damage from non-magical weapons unless they happened to be silver as well. Both of which were extremely unlikely at this low of a level. That meant it would fall to her as a warlock to dish out some magic to hurt their opponent.

"Velvet, you're up." Yatsu motioned to his teammate.

"All roight!" Velvet acknowledged, taking on her character's exaggerated accent. "First, Imma fly into a right fury, en then gonna give this nasty sheila a right good wallop." The rabbit faunus moved her piece next to the werewolf. "Bangarang!" she exclaimed as her dice rolled. "Natural one! Son of a biscuit, I whiff," Velvet lamented, her voice dropping back to normal in frustration.

"Okay, that means the boss is up." Yatsu looked to Jaune. "And since you managed to damage her, she's taking a swipe at you with her great ax." The dice rolled. "Fourteen?"

Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "Just misses."

"Okay. Whenever the ax misses, Lupusregina lets out a howl of fury. As a bonus action, she makes a bite attack. Does a sixteen hit?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Her fangs sink deeply into your shoulder for eight damage."

"Ouch…"

Yang heard the telltale roll of dice from behind Yatsuhashi's screen, but the upperclassman said nothing. That wasn't good. Mystery rolls by the GM were never good. "Alright, Yang, you're up."

This was it, the moment of Truth. She'd have to get through this rolling the least amount of dice possible. Her best course of action would be an Eldritch Blast, which would guarantee minimum damage of six if she hit. But that would be two different dice rolls, one for attack and one for damage. Best to leave it to one roll. That left her two options.

"I cast Toll the Dead," she declared. "She has to make a wisdom saving throw of fifteen."

"Alright, she failed, deal your damage."

Picking the die up she rolled, it clattered across the table, its number facing prominently up. Lilac eyes strained to bring it into focus. "Seven." She said hesitantly

"Hey, that's a one!" Cardin spoke up.

"Oh, sorry, must have misread it." Yang apologized. "One damage."

"Right, so now Lupusregina lets out a howl using her reaction, in response to spell damage. If everyone can make a wisdom saving throw."

Yang lamented, having to roll the dice again. Picking up the d20 she rolled. She stared at it for several seconds as the others rattled off their results until only she remained undeclared. "Thirteen?"

"Aww come on, you rolled a five, she's cheating!" Cardin protested again. She should have expected that. Once players had a reason to suspect another of fudging dice rolls, they tended to watch them like a hawk.

"Yang, if you're not going to play fair, I'll have to ask you to leave," Yatsuhashi spoke sternly, a slight edge in his voice.

Yang felt her heart sink. There it was, the accusation that every B&B player dreaded. She was now a no-good lousy cheater. She could protest... but that would mean exposing that her glasses were real. Her reputation would be ruined! Even if she told the truth now, they wouldn't believe her. Her face crestfallen, she stood. "I'll get going, sorry for wasting your time."

"Yang, sit back down," Jaune said. "Guys, she isn't cheating."

"Dude, I know you believe the best in people, but come on." Neptune objected.

"Jaune, don't go out of your way, it's fine. I'm just going to go."

"I can prove it." She watched as Jaune pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it and held it up to the group. "You can't see, can you? Those glasses you were wearing, they're real, aren't they?"

Her eyes widened before narrowing. How could he have hit the nail on the head so succinctly? "Pfft, nah, what are you talking about?" She said dismissively.

"Humor me and read this." He held out the note he'd scrawled.

Grabbing it, she stared at it. Of course, she couldn't tell what it said at all. "And this is supposed to mean something?"

"Wow, you're really calm considering that says your hair looks like dry straw." There was a collective gasp from the followed by deafening silence.

Yang's eyes burned red and hair came alight. "What?"

"Now, before you kill me, humor me again and put on those glasses and look at the note."

Yang let out an angry snort. Very well, she'd know for herself what the note said. She'd have proof and probable cause before she committed murder. Slipping the glasses on, her eyes read the note.

You need glasses, don't you?

PS Don't Tell Yang what it says.

Her eyes slowly faded back to lilac, as her hair's fire died. Yang's blood ran cold and fear gripped her heart as she glanced at Jaune. A smirk was plastered on his face, hovering halfway between smug and some other emotion she couldn't quite discern. Sadness? Concern? Pity? In the end, it mattered not.

She'd been exposed…

######

Well, another chapter done. Did it from a different perspective this time as requested. The support of this fic has been massive and I thank every one of you. As always, read and review.

PS. Before anyone says anything I know Lycanthropes are normally immune to damage from non-magic/non-silvered weapons. I changed it to resistance cause I personally feel that that's too strong. A 5E werewolf could YEET themselves off a cliff and be unharmed by those rules.

Momo Chan the Skull Piler

Barbarian Level 3

Zealot

Goblin

Strength: 16

Dexterity: 15

Constitution: 15

Intelligence: 11

Wisdom: 12

Charisma: 13

Beta Notes (Spirit): Man, Yang channeling her inner Karen brings back the flashbacks to the call centers. Temper, Temper

Paul: I see what you did there...