Team BRNZ Oneshot
"I don't wanna be here."
With a sympathetic smile, Roy patted her back, "It's alright, May, we'll get through this together."
"Ugh, you guys are so dramatic!" Brawnz groaned, "Remember, we're here to build connections. Which means I want you--all of you--to socialize."
"Wha-I'm not talking to anybody here! I look absolutely ridiculous!" the girl lifted a section of her a-line dress, small sequins that covered its brassiere shimmering under the luminous chandelier before she unceremoniously dropped the hem with a huff.
Beside her, Nolan looked down at his own suit, "I don't know, I think we look pretty good."
While Brawnz wore a standard tuxedo, the only splash of color being a faded purple bowtie, Nolan had replaced the rented white dress shirt with a maroon button-down and rolled up the sleeves of his blazer.
"We might look the part, but we are hardly prepared," Roy said, "What exactly are we supposed to discuss with these people? They're in a whole other society from us."
“Uh, just, you know, talk like Team NDGO. They go to these things all the time, somehow.”
May hunched over, covering her well-endowed chest behind her arms, “That’s because Gwen’s aunt is a higher-up in the Schnee Dust Company. She’s invited to Atlesian parties so she can promote their future business.”
“Oh.”
Nolan scanned the room, “Are we going to get kicked out when they figure out we snuck in? ‘Cause I saw some awesome finger food over there, and-”
“Alright, alright,” Brawnz combed a hand through his hair, slicked back with a sheen of gel, “Let’s split up into pairs. May, you’ll come with me while Roy keeps an eye on Nolan-”
“Hey!”
“-and works on his social skills.”
“I resent that, but won’t deny it,” the man frowned.
“I know you guys feel like fish out of water, but just think of these folks as potential clients after we graduate. We’re Team BRNZ, we can handle a party in a fancy mansion, right?”
By then, Nolan and Roy had disappeared, the former dragging his boyfriend across the dance floor to a long table covered in platters of food. Before him stood May, hugging herself uncomfortably tighter as a curtain of short purple hair fell over the left side of her face. His eyes softened, and with a gentle touch, he brushed it behind her ear.
“When we get back to school, I’ll let you play any game you want, okay?”
She glanced up at him, “Even two-player?”
“I mean, I don’t know why you insist on playing with us since you always win, but… sure.”
“I like winning,” the shadow of a smile graced her lips, and she lowered her arms. The pair stood in a comfortable silence while the music flowed in a soft, slow cadence. From the other side of the room, Roy watched Nolan devour another pastry until he heard an unfamiliar feminine voice nearby.
“Oh, hey, are you Vacuans?” a woman dressed in a strapless white gown walked up to them, “It’s just that I’ve never seen you before.”
Roy avoided the sight of her cleavage peeking out from the tight corset, his cheeks warm with a blush hidden under his dark skin.
Nolan swallowed a mouthful of sugar, “Yeah, we’re students at Shade Academy, just a little ways from here.”
“Ohhh, you must be friends of little Gwen! Ms. Darcy is an associate of mine, with dust exports into Vale.”
“Gwen’s pretty cool,” he spared a glance at Roy, “We share a few classes with her and her team.”
“I see. Well, I hope you tell her that if she ever finds herself in Vale, she can just find me,” pulling out a small card from her clutch, she reached it out to Nolan. However, once she noticed the remnants of chocolate icing on his fingers, she swiftly passed it to Roy.
“And, if you boys really do know little Gwen, I suppose I can extend the offer to you.”
Roy turned it over to read her name and contact info under ‘Schnee Dust Company’, “Thank you, Ms. Linen, and you can call me Roy Stalli-”
“She’s already gone.”
He looked over to see her speaking with another lady, and Nolan licked his fingers clean before wiping them discreetly against his pants. With a sigh, he tucked the card into the chest pocket of his pinstripe vest before adjusting the ascot wrapped around his throat. Soon, the classical piece faded, and an upbeat rendition of some jazz song boomed through the parlor. A group of drunk patrons flailed about in the center of the dance floor, laughing as their drinks sloshed out of glasses and spilt onto their clothes.
“We should find the others,” Roy took Nolan by the hand and led him along the row of tables, searching for their partners' red dress or gray locks.
“I need to find a bathroom,” Brawnz said, “Are you okay waiting here?”
She nervously ran her tongue over the grooves of her molars, before nodding.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah… Yeah, I can do this,” May offered a small smile.
Her boyfriend returned it with one of his own, “Alright. Be right back, babe.”
She watched him weave around men and women to ask a server for directions when a low chuckle rumbled beside her. A man, who looked only a few years older than herself, stepped into her personal space with a cocky smirk and a tall glass of champagne.
“Oh, dear, please tell me what such a beautiful young woman like yourself is doing with someone of his caliber? I hope he hasn’t been fooling you with that cheap suit.”
“Um, we’re, um,” she mumbled, too flustered to finish a single sentence. The stranger was far too close for comfort, and she could smell the stink of alcohol on his breath. She took a step back, but felt her rear bump against the table behind her, trapping her as he loomed over and shamelessly leered at her curvy figure.
“May-May!” Nolan called, “How’s it going?”
Quickly stepping behind his girlfriend to rest his arms over her small shoulders, Roy aimed his steely gaze at the newcomer, “Is this man bothering you?”
“Nonsense, I was simply indulging her with the presence of a true gentleman, after seeing her about to fall victim to one of the pathetic frauds that tend to sneak into parties like these,” the dirty look he shot Nolan was followed by another smirk, “My name is William Rudolf, a pleasure to meet you.”
“Roy Stallion, of Team BRNZ at Shade Academy, and I believe the ‘pathetic fraud’ you were referring to was my team leader.”
His mirth simmered into a pert frown, “I see, well, perhaps you and your… befitting partners should take your leave back to school.”
Once he soaked up another eyeful of May’s body, he turned on his heel and sauntered off, leaving her with an embarrassed blush and a pit in her stomach. Brawnz suddenly returned from the restroom, confused to see his boyfriends with her.
“Did something happen while I was away?”
She curled her arms to hook over Roy’s, trapping him close in an embrace while she stared down at her feet, “Can we just go now? Please?”
He exchanged a look between the others, but took May’s shaky fidgeting as a sign not to press. He led his partners through the crowded ballroom, shouldering a surly woman who nearly spilled wine on her suit.
“Hey, watch it!” she yelled, but a glance at the girl made her blink, “Wait, are you Team BRNZ?”
May turned her head, her shoulders relaxed once she saw the fascination in her eyes.
“Um, yeah, that’s us,” she answered shyly.
“My wife’s a professor at Shade Academy, and talks about you all sometimes. You’re Ginger’s favorite students, you know.”
Nolan hip-checked Brawnz out of his way, “Aw, yes! Finally, I get to call a teacher by her first name. So long, Professor Goldgoose; hello Miss Ging!”
“Here, I’ll give you my card,” she offered, “I’m sure you’re in Atlas to promote yourselves for future work?”
“That’s right, but it hasn’t been working for us. Some people here are either creeps or uninterested because we don’t have any connections yet.”
She smiled at Roy, “Well, now you have me. That has to count for something, right? As for the creeps, you just have to point them out, and I’ll take care of them.”
Watching the head developer of Human Nextwork chew out Rudolf was the highlight of their night. They were eventually escorted out of the party, however. Once they returned to their hotel room, the group took turns showering and Nolan reinserted his insulin pump as soon as he changed into his sleepwear. May played on her scroll until Brawnz wrestled it away from her, and hid it in his bag for the night.
“Hey,” he said, “I wanted to apologize for leaving you alone like that. It was stupid on my part.”
She closed her eyes and stretched her slender legs under the covers, “Mmh, it’s not your fault. I just don’t like crowds.”
“But I should’ve been there to defend you…”
“And you will next time,” she scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder, “I still trust you, Brawnz. I’m not just going to lose faith in you after one pervert waited for you to leave my side for a few minutes.”
He smiled down at her, her damp hair sticking to his skin like a warm, messy kiss. When he planted one of his own on her cheek, she barely stirred, and fell asleep. Nolan soon followed after his friend, spread across the other bed like a starfish and drooling a puddle on his pillow. Brawnz had never seen Roy asleep, as he always managed to stay awake the longest, but no matter how hard to he tried to stave off sleep, it consumed him.
And finally, Roy was alone. In the darkness, he rose out of bed, threw on his jacket, and slipped out the door.
“Rudolph, you have no idea what you’ve just done,” he hissed.
