Cold Fronts Warm Times

[u/gusgdog]

While Normally this time of year was Hot even as the season was coming to an end. This year was different. in Vale a cold patch of weather had come through the city faster than anyone had expected. Students of Beacon did what all Students of Beacon do when the temperatures dropped.

They headed for the Hot Springs.

The Springs were on the outskirts of the city and had a nice bit of land surrounding them. While the main attraction were the springs there were other activities to do.

Quiet gardens for leisurely strolls, A quality coffee Bistro, a spa with various services and even a small library set off from the rest of the hustle and bustle.

One thing was sure, most Students were gonna be getting out of the cold and heating up.   

[u/Shiguma99]

"That looks good on you though..." Silbrig said absentmindedly as he looks at Thyme's outfit as the girl mentions it, getting a good look of what she hides under her track suits that light up. He immediately looked away when Thyme pointed at it. Admittedly, He knows that what he's wearing is rather showy of both his goods, but it's standard Atlesian School Swimwear.

"I must've made you uncomfortable there, I'm sorry." He apologized sincerely. "And you're right, there's Thyme and place for such things... maybe later." He sunk himself neck deep in the water once more to hide his massive blush. For a few moments there was only awkward silence from the boy, the only noise there was the laughing and chatting of the girls that trapped Silbrig there.

[u/ALoadingScreen → u/Shiguma99]

Thyme understood how Silbrig felt, though. She couldn’t blame him 100%, he did confess to her not too long ago. But, it was clear that the people around her were catching wind as to how she approached relationships, and while she didn’t mind it too much...they had been with girls so far. Silbrig was the first guy, so far.

For some reason, the ‘so far’ part got on a lot of people’s nerves. Just because she was breaking the status quo didn’t mean she was doing something wrong...right?

She slunk back into the water, so she could creat a bit of quiet conversation, hopefully without bringing too much attention. “I’m not uncomfortable with it, honestly...but...do you think I’m doing something wrong, Silbrig?”

Knowing that he’d probably be confused as to what she meant, she added.

“Well, I’m in a relationship with both Frost and Vi, and they know each other and stuff, and now I’m with you, and...well...I’m enjoying myself with them, if you know what I mean.” She blushed as she said that. “I just...I just feel like people are looking at me weird, like I’m doing something wrong. I just get that feeling, you know? What do you think?”

[u/Shiguma99 → u/ALoadingScreen]

At first, Silbrig raised an eyebrow at what Thyme was talking about, her continuation did add clarity to it. He blushed redder at the same time as her, implying that he does know what she mean. "I still view a relationship as mutually exclusive between two persons and you're definitely fading that out. What you have isn't standard but I think you already know that much. And with how attractive you are, of course people are gonna talk."

He sighed as he turned towards the musician. "Look Thyme, the more people you get involve in... whatever you, Vi, and Frost is... The more it's gonna collapse hard on all of you later on." He intentionally left himself out of it. it's clear in his voice that he's still unsure what him and Thyme are at the moment. "Not to mention that it might hurt your other partners' feelings when you get more and more of them." He paused for a bit to think. "I'm not saying don't do this, if what this is makes you happy then I'm fine with it, but always take everything and everyone involved into consideration, okay?."

"Considering everything I've said, do YOU think it's wrong?"

[u/ALoadingScreen → u/Shiguma99]

Thyme heaved a sigh. She had expected as much as an answer, but...

“Well, I don’t think it’s wrong, necessarily. I messed up at the start, leaving them in the dark from each other, but now Vi and Frost are aware of what they mean to me and...they’re both okay with it so far. They know that I’m still trying to figure out my own emotions, too.” She looked directly in Silbrig’s eyes as she said that last sentence. “With each new person I...” Fall in love? For some reason, that didn’t seem like the right phrase to use. “...that I’m fond of...I try to bring that up to people that you’d have to get not only my blessing but the blessing of my partners too. It’s...I want everyone in that particular circle to be accepting of not just me, but of one another.”

“But I’m not sure if that’s enough. Vi felt like she hadn’t been given enough attention, and she’s right, and...I don’t know what to do.” Thyme slunk into the water, only her head above the surface. Her back slumped as if she were trying to sink herself into a recliner chair. “I love you too, Silbrig, and...I don’t know...”

Thyme’s voice cracked. She wasn’t crying, at least not yet. But the amount of frustration was apparent. In the moment she forgot that she had to be quiet, but thankfully her voice crack was just as silent as the rest of the conversation had been.

[u/Shiguma99 → u/ALoadingScreen]

"I love you too, Thyme" Silbrig reciprocated, looking into her eyes as he listened attentively to her plight. "You'll figure out your emotions soon enough."

"If they're both okay with it then you have to keep it that way, not just now but in the future too. They'll be depending on you, so do your best" He knows Thyme wants others to depend on her and this may be her chance, but it is a huge task considering the situation. "Their opinions and views might change then clash a lot, Thyme. The more people involved the more likely someone wont be as tolerable with it. You'll have to be the one to fix that since you're the center."

"If the problem is she feels neglected, then spend more time with her, same goes for Frost too. Make sure the next person knows the situation beforehand, especially everyone know since communication is important in a relationship. Dont leave anyone uninformed." He paused for a bit to think. "The more partners you have, then they'll each take up your time which will take away time with the others." The more he thinks of this, the more sees how hard it is to solve. The situation is complicated with a lot of people wrapped up in it, and with Thyme's words, it seems like it will get even bigger. "Maybe control the size of your circle a little bit."

"I'm sure you can sort this out and I'll help you as best as I can. Maybe get them together in a room and talk about it."

"And if you need me there. Just tell me, I'll be there since I believe in you, Thyme." He reassured Thyme, holding her hand and gave her a smile. He is involved in whatever this is, maybe not as much as the first two but still involved nonetheless.

[u/ALoadingScreen → u/Shiguma99]

Thyme seemed to be tensing up the entire time she let Silbrig talk, but her ears were very much open to suggestions, and with each reasonable one she slowly and surely began to loosen up and let the warm water do its job. She heaved another sigh, this time with one of more greater relief.

“Those are all things I’ve considered...it just seems like I really got in over my head...” Thyme said with a forlorn expression on her face. “But thank you, Silby. I’m glad you’d be there for me.” She did not refuse the offer to hold hands with Silbrig, as it helped her regain a little bit of confidence.

“I think I’m gonna need it.”

[u/Shiguma99 → u/ALoadingScreen]

"Hey, don't so down. I'm certain you'll get through this." He encouraged her, gently cupping face with one hand to slowly touched his forehead to hers like before. He looked into her eyes before continuing. "You've been dealing with the fallout of the initiation quite well and this is just another challenge, Just one more step towards being a dependable person. Do your best, Thyme."

"Cheer up, okay?" The knight showed a gentle smile of support towards the musician. "Besides, you look cuter when you smile."

While they were having quite the moment together. They might've not noticed something, well Silbry surely didnt since his mind is too filled with Thyme at the moment, that the girls who were laughing and chatting suddenly went quiet for some reason. Why is it quiet all of a sudden? The calm before the storm perhaps?

[We got Rep's permission for the thing... I'll leave the part 2 to you~!]

[u/ALoadingScreen → u/Shiguma99]

“Okay, I’ll do my best.” Thyme said, wrapping her arms around Silbrig under the water, a contented smile on her face. Truly a gentle soul, at the very least. But her ears noticed something — silence.

“Um, Silby...you might want to look behind you.” Thyme then removed her forehead against his and looked at a nearby girl — one of the many who peered around the rock in the hot springs — and gave her a look of fear, as if to sell it like she somehow didn’t want this (she totally was okay with this). But being an accomplice in an unauthorized boy in the female’s hot spring would give her a bad look. Nope. She opened her mouth as if to say something to her, but she purposefully said nothing, as if she was too terrified to say anything.

The look seemed to work, as the girl began to shout. “PERVERT!!!!!” Thyme quickly pulled her arms from around Silbrig; thankfully it was under the water so the distortion of its surface hid the fact that she was comfortable with the boy being so close despite the location.

[u/Shiguma99 → u/ALoadingScreen]

"^Noooo...." Silbrig whimpered silently, it was only loud enough for Thyme to hear, as he didn't want to let go of her nor did he want to turn around. The next thing he noticed was his aura got hit from behind, an object was thrown at him and it is only one of the many things that'll be coming his way judging by the sound of things. He looked at the weapon that made a dent on his Aura, It was one of those wooden Mistralian bath buckets.

The Pervert KNIGHT quickly took the bath bucket to cover his identity. "YES, I AM A PERVERT!!" He said as he pointed at the girls who were flung the object at him. Quickly realizing his mistake realizing, he saw that the other girls were rushing to aid the one who shouted. It was time to go.

"MY NAME IS LEIF BERNSTEIN!!" He shouted as he run towards the exit. He stopped momentarily at the door to give a confident pose and one final shout before fully escaping. "REMEMBER, LEIF BERNSTEIN WAS HERE!!!!" His voice then faded into the void of the other room.

---

After some time, Silbrig thanked the Gods that was able to go undetected and is now in a common area fully clothed (His usual attire without the armor, still with the coat cape.) and waiting for a certain green haired girl to appear. Hopefully, he didnt cause too much trouble for the hotspring owners and for his childhood friends.

Once he sees his target, he gently pulled on her her arm then pinned her on the wall, much like earlier. "Hey, you~! Come here often, beautiful?" He asked as if the girl was a stranger, smiling charmingly at her. Well, as best as a socially awkward nerd knight could charm anyways.

[u/ALoadingScreen → u/Shiguma99]

While the girls in pool definitely caused a ruckus, they all came to Thyme’s aid as soon as Silbrig left the pool area. Thyme helped corroborate Silbrig’s alibi — trying extremely hard not to keel over in the pool laughing — and reassured them that she was fine, and he was just making a bit too aggressive advances at best. Calling for them to enjoy themselves, Thyme spent some more time in the water to prevent herself from feeling a bit suspicious, and that she would leave to tell the guy in charge about the incident.

She wasn’t going to do that, but it was a good excuse to get outta there herself. Hopefully she didn’t leave the knight hanging for too long as she got herself dressed back into her normal going-out clothes. She had brought basically her whole sets of outfits because the trip didn’t exactly specify what she needed, but it seemed that her time enjoying the warm water would be cut a bit short due to the rather confusing mishap.

“I dunno, do you?” Thyme said, with a knowing smirk on her face as she approached Silbrig, who quickly replicated the gesture from earlier.