"What…just happened." Neptune stared off into space as he tried to understand what Sun had just done. A temporary lapse in comprehension, that was all. His vision blurred slightly and he found it hard to stand by himself. He might have collapsed if Blake hadn't put herself between him and the ground.
"Oh great, what did you do this time?" Weiss tried to question as soon as she rushed to Blake's side. She was answered with a swift but harmless jolt from Ruby's elbow. From there, she became silent.
Without fully thinking and acting on impulse, Neptune ran after Sun. He didn't know what else to do. He left the girls behind to chase after his friend. After a few hundred feet, Neptune lost sight of Sun and had to improvise. He racked his head of places the monkey faunus would go when he felt hurt or upset. It wouldn't be around a lot of people, or really hardly anyone. Sun was a person who liked to keep his feelings to himself. The first place Neptune thought of was the dorm room. In an instant, he rushed inside the building and up the stairs. He didn't know why he was rushing himself, but he just did. He was lost for words, thinking only of Sun.
"What the hell is his problem? I don't even remember what I said or did...oh man…" Neptune thought to himself before reaching the door to his dorm. Fumbling with his scroll, he quickly unlocked it and slowly stepped inside.
"...Sun? Buddy?" Neptune looked around. The room was void of life. The next thing Neptune did was dial up a group call with Sage and Scarlet. His scroll started ringing and all Neptune could do was lean against the door frame, sliding down to the floor.
"Come on you idiots, pick up…!" Neptune whispered violently to himself, hoping his words would magically reach his teammates.
Nothing.
"Where even are those guys anyway?" Neptune picked himself up, thumbing his way to call Sun. But he hesitated, staring at the picture of Sun on his scroll. The golden-headed boy was smiling, almost seemingly happy to be on Neptune's scroll as a picture imprint. It was unmoving, yet still retained a life of energy. Neptune closed his scroll and put it away, thinking of a new plan.
"Alright, dude, where are you hiding…" Neptune walked through the hallway, trying his best to remember the places Sun would likely go. There was the dorm room, the courts, the roof, or…
"You're in the Janitor's closet, aren't you?" Neptune asked out loud to no one in particular, circling his way back to a tucked away closet down a dark hallway in the corner of the current floor. Neptune found the small hall leading to the sad looking wooden door.
"Well, this certainly fits the mood." Neptune whispered to himself, placing a hand on the door handle. He paused for a few seconds, hearing a slight shuffle against the back wall of the closet, confirming to Neptune that Sun was indeed behind the door. The curious boy very slowly opened the door just enough to slide himself into the closet area.
"Why are you here?" Sun was sitting on the floor against the back wall with his head down and his knees tucked up. He spoke softly without raising his head, wanting Neptune to just leave. But instead of leaving or speaking, Neptune sat down beside sun, leaning up against the wall and watching his unmoving friend.
"Well, it's because I care about you, dude. You just ran off. I didn't know what to do." He finally answered the lingering question. Sun was silent for a while, trying to process Neptune's words.
"I think I know why I've been so protective of you recently, Nep." Sun picked his words carefully. Neptune, ever so studious, had to think for a moment of Sun's actions. Taking him out for dinner the previous, taking him to the nightclub, offering his bed, wanting to go with to the courts to watch team RWBY. All things Sun had done for Neptune.
"Why's that? I thought it was just you being a good friend?" Neptune asked in a hushed but calming voice."
"No, no. It's more than just that. I mean, yeah, we're real good friends and all, but…" Sun raised his head a little, struggling to find the right way to describe how he felt. Neptune moved himself closer to Sun, encouraging the monkey boy to use his words.
"I thought it was about Weiss and you. But it's not. The reason I've so nice and all to you is because of how Blake has been acting towards me. All this time I thought it was about you but it was really about me. I guess, I kinda tried to replace Blake with you." Sun looked away, keeping his head low. Neptune had never seen Sun so moody like this. He was reluctant at first, but ultimately decided to put his arm around Sun to comfort him more.
"It's alright, trust me. You want me to be your, um, cat faunus girlfriend, then I'll be that for you. Okay that sounded really weird out loud." Neptune added the last part to lighten to mood a bit, which seemed to work out the way he wanted. Sun looked back at Neptune and tried his best to give a warm smile. The two of them sat together in a certain kind of silence they felt they deserved. Neither of them wanted to move, Neptune especially wanted to wait until Sun was feeling better. He simply didn't know what else to say to ease Sun's mind any more. He tilted his head to look over at Sun. The boy was sitting with his head held up, staring off into nowhere. Neptune took that as a good sign.
"You ready to get up?" The blue haired boy slowly rose to his feet and extended a hand down towards Sun.
"Yeah, dude. Let's go." Was the response. Their hands met and Sun was pulled to his feet as well. Neptune nodded and used his free hand to push the door open. They were greeted by the empty kindness of the hallway. Then with a newfound sense of pride for each other and a very bright idea of the future ahead, they walked to their dorm room. Together.