"Soda," Egrer said, eyeing the history teacher with a bored gaze. Since none of them wanted to study and they had to kill time somehow, they decided to play word chain. Magenta and Yort refused to join in and were entertaining themselves.
"Abyss." Illmond was also watching Professor Oobleck.
Moving around the auditorium at an inhuman speed, he shouted out more words per minute than a machine gun could fire bullets. His gestures were so wild that a stray wave of his hand could easily knock over a desk or swat an insufficiently quick student in the front row. Sometimes he would slow down, speaking coherently and clearly, but only until he took a swig from his thermos. After that, Oobleck would start darting around like a madman again.
As a teacher, Bartholomew Oobleck hadn't fallen far from Port's tree; his lectures were even worse in some ways. For one, he didn't let his students sleep during class or mind their own business. The history teacher paid close attention to ensure every student was engaged in the lesson and periodically checked how well they were absorbing the material.
Egrer tried to avoid looking in his direction altogether; just the sight of the professor made him want to wash his eyes out with soap. If Goodwitch was the embodiment of order and law, then Oobleck was chaos and sloppiness, which reflected perfectly in his appearance.
A carelessly worn, wrinkled shirt with a couple of stains was only half tucked in, a yellow tie was knotted askew, and his green hair had clearly never seen a comb or decent shampoo, forever frozen in one bizarre shape. The classic mad scientist, and thank the Gods he was obsessed with a safe science like history. If the professor had been that fanatic about physics, for instance, Remnant would have blown up a long time ago.
"Hmm... silicone." Egrer answered after a couple of seconds of thought. They had been playing almost since the beginning of the class, for two solid hours now. The bell would ring soon, and they would finally be free.
"Eros," Illmond replied almost instantly.
"Hmm... s... scorpion."
"Nemesis."
"Are you picking words ending in 'S' on purpose?" Egrer grumbled quietly. "That's like the fifth time in a row."
"It's not against the rules. I just want to win."
"This isn't a game to win, it's just to kill time."
"I still want to win." Illmond shrugged. There was no smile on his face, but he was definitely pleased right now.
Hypothesis: the subject exhibits an irresistible urge toward any opportunity to show that he's the best at something. I mean, absolutely anything, even something this insignificant. The release of dopamine isn't enough to trigger a smile, but it definitely lifts his mood. Hypothesis: dopamine is released in proportion to his perceived importance of the victory won and/or the approach to it.
Egrer checked a box in his imaginary notebook. He had just taken a small but important step in diagnosing Illmond's illness.
It would be logical to assume, began his internal assistant, who for some reason spoke with Weiss's voice, that his snarky comments are designed to belittle his opponents so he appears taller in comparison.
Noted. Egrer mentally filed this thought away with a dozen others.
"So, your word?" Illmond asked, staring at the ceiling.
"Slut." Egrer said it in a tone that made it unclear whether it was an insult or an answer.
He actually wasn't angry at all; he only answered that way so as not to arouse suspicion. If he were just playing a word game without any ulterior motive, he would act exactly like this.
Egrer might not know how to lie, but he wasn't artless. Not with a childhood spent surrounded by criminals.
"Tetanus."
"Are you kidding me. S... S... soda."
"We already had that."
"Did we? I don't think so." Egrer tried to play the fool, but his goofy smile immediately gave him away.
"We did."
"No, we didn't."
"What, are you running out of words starting with 'S'?" Illmond was already giggling in anticipation, smelling an imminent victory. "Just say another one."
"Sofa!" the right word popped into his head. It sounded almost like "soda," which was probably why he thought of it so quickly.
"See, that wasn't hard at all. Atlas."
"I'm gonna fucking choke you, you homegrown intellectual."
While they were bickering, Magenta quietly hummed a little song to herself and folded origami out of notebook paper. Next to her lay failed attempts at some weird creatures that looked either like flat hippos or squashed bears. All day long, she hadn't been able to shake an abnormally good mood.
"Yort, look, look! It's a dog-toad, Peter the Thirteenth," she loud-whispered, showing off her creation to the Vacuan mafia boss on the run.
"And are these scraps of paper his twelve older brothers?" Magenta didn't pay any attention to his snarky tone.
"Look, if you pull here, his little ears wiggle! See? See?"
"Uh-huh."
"And if you flick here, he jumps!"
"Wow," Yort noted emotionlessly, watching as Peter bounded a couple of rows down and hit someone on the head.
"What the hell is this?" a Faunus with horns muttered to himself, examining Magenta's freak of nature.
"This is Peter the Thirteenth, Supreme King of the dog-toads, Great Unifier of the dog and toad tribes, General of the Golden Host, Chairman of the International Association for the Protection of Animal Rights, Lord of the Nomads, Vanquisher of the black empire of dog-cats and General Lagoon, Liberator of nations, Sovereign of the Great Nefomratru Mountains and Conqueror of the city of Castle."
"Castle Fortress," corrected Professor Oobleck, whose unexpected appearance made all the back rows hiccup and frantically assume a busy look.
"Right!" Magenta got fired up and started recounting all the exact same titles to the Faunus, but with that one correction. He, however, couldn't care less; like everyone else, he put on a thoughtful, contemplative expression and started scribbling something in his notebook.
"Well, I am glad that you, Miss Toti, were listening to my lecture, even if it turned into mush in your head," the professor nodded vigorously, after which he took a swig from his thermos. Suddenly, he started shouting. "But! I cannot ignore the fact that you, Miss Toti, were doing origami instead of studying! History is the queen of sciences, and an improper attitude towards it will come back to bite you, Miss Toti! Allow me to look at your notes!"
Magenta watched in terror as Oobleck flipped through her blank pages at nearly the speed of light. Egrer and Illmond, meanwhile, began frantically not even writing, but simply filling their notebooks with lines and squiggles, merely imitating handwriting. They purposely made their scrawl as illegible as possible so the teacher wouldn't realize they had just been fucking around the whole lesson.
"What irresponsibility!" exclaimed the professor. "In all my lessons, you haven't written a single word, Miss Toti! What kind of example are you setting for your team?!" A moment later, he appeared behind Egrer. "Allow me to take a look, Mr. Peleni!"
Egrer obediently leaned back and hid his face in his hands. In such a short amount of time, he had only managed to fill half a page. Oobleck adjusted his thick glasses and inquired:
"Mr. Peleni, during my lectures I provide approximately one hundred and fourteen times more information than what is written in your notebook."
"Uh, I was just extracting the most important stuff, Profess—"
"Doctor!" Oobleck corrected. "I didn't bust my hump for several years to get a doctorate for nothing."
"Sorry, Doctor."
"And your latest entries..." The teacher looked at his notebook again. "Can you read this, Mr. Peleni? Because even my many years of experience as an archaeologist and cryptologist are not enough to decipher your writings." A snicker rippled through the hall; the nerds in the front rows looked at him with superiority.
"Uh, of course I can. Right here it says about Castle Fortress." Egrer spoke slowly, drawing out his vowels to buy himself more time to think. He remembered absolutely nothing from this lesson and was relying solely on the titles Magenta had rattled off earlier. The professor had said she remembered something from his lecture, and "something" was better than "nothing." "Right here is about General Lagoon and his battle with Peter. Here is about the Nef... what were they called? Nefratatu Mountains."
"Mr. Peleni, I asked you to read, not to give me a brief summary of an already brief outline. I dare say you yourself don't understand what you wrote."
"It's just that you speak so fast I didn't have time to write normally." Egrer gave a goofy smile.
The professor adjusted his glasses and quickly peeked into Illmond and Yort's notebooks. What he saw did not please him.
"Team Majesty, I will ask you to stay after class," he said calmly, after which he downed some of that slop from his thermos and regained his former vigor. Even his green hair ruffled from the recharge of pep.
Egrer didn't give a shit about classes, he was only interested in music; Illmond didn't give a shit about anything, and Yort would gladly only attend PE and combat training. So it turned out that only Magenta took Oobleck's words seriously. And even she would forget about it all in a couple of minutes.
"Let us return to the topic of the lesson!!! So, who among you can tell me what moment became the turning point in the third year of the Faunus Rights Revolution?!"
"The Battle of Castle Fortress," Weiss answered, clearly fishing for praise. She raised her hand in every situation and had obviously crammed the textbook from cover to cover. "General Lagoon attacked the castle at night, forgetting that all Faunus have excellent night vision. It was a crushing defeat: his army perished, he himself was captured, and the initiative was seized by the revolutionaries."
"Excellent, Miss Schnee, simply excellent!" The professor grabbed a pointer and smacked it against the huge map behind him. "In this place, my friends, the history of that war was forged! Who knows how everything would have ended had Lagoon remembered that fact?!"
"They would've caught all the Faunus and put them back in their place," Cardin said, pretending he didn't realize the question was rhetorical. "In the mines or on the plantations."
"So that is what you believe, Mr. Winchester," the teacher noted evenly, taking a sip from his thermos. "Then answer me, what served as the prerequisite for the start of the revolution?! I am listening, Mr. Winchester! Come on, Mr. Winchester!"
"Well, like..." he pondered. "The Faunus kinda killed the Prince of Vale."
"First of all, Mr. Winchester: you are confusing the Faunus Rights Revolution with the Great War, which took place several years prior. And secondly: what you said is merely a falsification and a long-debunked myth! I spoke about the true prerequisites for the Rights Revolution just fifteen minutes ago, Mr. Winchester. Oh, Miss Schnee!" he noticed her hand stretching toward the ceiling. "You are, as always, ready to share your knowledge! Commendable, commendable, please go ahead."
"The prerequisites for the revolution were..."
Egrer tuned out; history didn't interest him at all. Cardin's reaction to this mini-lecture, however, made him chuckle quietly. The guy pointedly ignored her, and when Weiss finished, he muttered "nerd" under his breath. She wasn't about to tolerate the insult.
"Perhaps if a certain someone studied harder, they would know such trivialities," she scoffed. "It's exactly because of ignoramuses like you in the army that the Faunus won."
"What, you tryna start something?" the medieval thug bristled.
"Hoh? Did I say anything about you? I meant General Lagoon; as if I care about you." Weiss pointedly began examining her nails, which infuriated Cardin even more. "Oh dear, it seems my polish is chipping."
Now that's a fatality! Egrer, as well as the other students, could barely hold back his laughter; quiet giggles filled the room. Cardin stood up from his desk and clenched his fists.
"You smug bit—"
"Let us return to the lesson!" Oobleck yelled across the entire auditorium, and the bully stopped with a frustrated sigh. He turned back around, but on the way gave a smack to the back of the head to Jaune, who was sleeping with his eyes open.
"Fuck off, asshole," he answered automatically, rubbing the back of his head. It had already become a habit for him.
Badass, Egrer thought just as automatically. But the professor did not appreciate this act of self-defense, or, to be more precise, the way it was expressed.
"Mr. Arc!" Oobleck seemingly teleported; a moment ago he was at the blackboard, and now he was already looming over Jaune's desk. "I will not tolerate foul language in my class! Nor your psychotic behavior, Mr. Winchester!" A blurred motion and he was now next to Cardin. "I will ask both of you to stay after class. Now stop disrupting my lesson and listen carefully! The things I explain in my lectures are absolutely vital for the younger generation! Without them—"
The bell rang.
"Damn it, fine, go," Oobleck waved his hand.
When only the guilty parties remained in the classroom, the professor sat on his desk and examined each of them with an attentive gaze. He spoke in a surprisingly calm voice.
"You all have been falling behind in my subject since day one. You must be thinking, 'hey, why the hell do we need history, we came here to slay Grimm!' Stop that. If you don't learn from the mistakes of past generations, they will inevitably repeat themselves. Do you know who the gifted were before the formation of the Huntsman academies?"
The students exchanged glances and shrugged; continuing the lesson was exactly what they hadn't expected. Egrer had thought they were going to get scolded, but then this happened. Still, Oobleck was speaking clearly now and wasn't darting around the classroom, so his words were much easier to digest.
"The first Huntsman academies were built immediately after the Great War, and until then, the secret of unlocking Aura was known only to a few individuals in the service of kings. The gifted served tyrants as sword and shield, and only a massive war with one another weakened their regimes enough that the oppressed people were able to overthrow them. This little revolution went almost unnoticed; the war-exhausted kingdoms simply lacked the strength to resist. Even in history, this episode is barely covered. And do you know what happened next? Jaune, share your thoughts with us."
"Well... democracy started after the war?" he said uncertainly, slightly disoriented by the shift to an informal tone. "The Councils were formed, the kings were executed."
"Good. Egrer, what do you say?"
"Um, I agree with Jaune, I have nothing to add."
"Anyone else?"
"The systematic oppression of the Faunus began," answered Illmond, staring at the ceiling. "The new system was hanging by a thread and needed resources to rebuild after the war. Faunus were already hated before, and if they didn't exist, then they would have enslaved people based on skin color or eye shape, for example."
"That's a nightmare," Magenta said in horror. "To dislike someone just because they're a little different."
"That is exactly what is still happening with the Faunus," Oobleck nodded. "In essence, there are no psychological differences between the races."
"They all act like their animal ancestors," Cardin objected. "Cats like milk, dogs like bones, parrots or whatever repeat after others."
"Unfortunately, I am forced to agree with you, but only partially," the professor said, under the surprised looks of the students. "Society demands conformity. If society believes that cats like milk, then a cat Faunus will convince themselves that they like it too. Otherwise, they won't fit into the environment that has firmly bound them to this association. After all, how could that be? Their ancestor is a cat, and how can they not like milk? This psychological disorder applies not only to Faunus but to anyone who behaves exactly as the majority expects them to. So the issue isn't that such behavior is in the Faunus blood, but that it is imposed on them. Egrer, have you experienced something similar?"
"Actually, if you think about it..." His eyes seemed to open to the realization of this truth. "I'm a massive fan of wolves. Which is kinda normal in itself, but I also love to howl. Though that's also normal since my trait makes it a sin not to use it. Also, in my thoughts, I often call myself an alpha and my team a pack. Does that count?"
"Yes. I am, of course, no psychologist, but I can say that you are susceptible to this disorder," the professor assured him, and Egrer immediately looked downcast. "Do not worry, you are not abnormal. Quite the opposite—the desire to conform to society is the pinnacle of normality."
"Pfft, you're a Faunus and you're friends with a Schnee?" Cardin asked mockingly.
"Shut up, you idiot. That's also a stereotype, that all Faunus hate them. Just because Weiss's dad is an asshole doesn't mean we have to despise his kids."
"Beautiful words, although you could have expressed yourself more decently," the teacher praised, and Egrer discreetly flipped Cardin the bird.
"I don't have anything like that," Magenta said thoughtfully, feeling her multicolored hair for some reason. "I mean, I like flowers, but lots of girls like them."
"Not surprising," Oobleck shrugged. "There are few stereotypes about insects, because, for the most part, they live unseen by humans. But let us return to our main topic, which is why I detained you." The professor cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "The rebels formed councils, planted the seeds of democracy, but stepped on the very same rakes as their former masters. Not even ten years had passed since the end of the Great War when a new and equally massive one began. What war are we talking about, Cardin?"
"The Faunus Rights Revolution," he answered dryly.
"Correct, this time you didn't mix anything up. If they had understood why they rebelled, they would have understood why others would rebel against them. If you do not know the history of the formation of the Huntsman institution, its causes, consequences, and iconic figures, you will repeat mistakes over and over again, and the first Huntsmen had quite a few. Our current apolitical stance was earned through a series of bloody conflicts, trial, and error. That is how it is," the professor chuckled, taking a gulp from his thermos. "You worked hard to get into our school, for we accept only the best of the best."
At these words, the majority of those present awkwardly averted their eyes. Ironically, out of the six of them, only two had a primary Huntsman education: Illmond and Cardin. Although, Egrer wasn't sure about the latter; he was way too stupid and aggressive. So, most likely, he too had paid some abstract "Sarah" and gotten fake documents.
"Therefore, you must remain worthy of this honor! History is an important thing, ladies and gentlemen, and if we do not learn from its mistakes, they will inevitably repeat themselves. It deserves as much close attention as Peter's Grimm Studies or Glynda's Combat Training. Pages fifty-one through ninety-one, I expect essays from you by the next lecture. That is all, go." Oobleck dissolved into thin air, and only the front door swinging wide open indicated that he had gone outside.
Cardin immediately took advantage of the fact that he was no longer being held in class and left. The rest began to exchange glances and share their impressions of this improvised lecture. Even Yort liked it, and if history interested *him*, what was there to say about the others. Egrer, for instance, hadn't known that before the Huntsmen, all the gifted served tyrant kings. He hadn't even been entirely sure if there was anyone capable of using Aura back then.
But no matter how interesting it was to learn this, Egrer still wasn't going to study any harder. And he'd do the essay half-assed, if he even did it at all.
Stepping out of the classroom, he immediately bumped into Weiss, who blocked his path. Judging by her displeased look and hands on her hips, she was about to scold him for something.
"I didn't do anything," Egrer instantly shielded himself from all possible accusations. He took a step to the side and tried to pass, but Weiss stepped in front of him again. The others didn't wait for him and just kept walking, too scared to get involved in this.
"Exactly, nothing. Instead of studying, you did nothing during class. Do you even realize that as the secretary of the general secretary of the union, you're casting a shadow on our entire organization?"
"Oh, that's what this is about." Egrer scratched the back of his head. "Sorry."
"Sorry?! Just sorry? We already have a catastrophic situation with our reputation, and you tell me 'sorry'?!"
"I could say nothing."
"You'd better not say anything right now, Egrer Peleni!" She poked him menacingly in the chest with her finger.
"Oh, come on. We're supposed to act in opposition to the teachers, not suck up to them. We're supposed to be revolutionaries!"
"You have a very childish view of the world, as if the teachers are our opposites and worst enemies. But in reality, it's the exact opposite; they're the ones who will make worthy Huntsmen out of us, and that's why we need to take notes in their classes! And also, at least occasionally, raise a hand and show more participation in the lesson." Overall, she was right, but it was so damn hard to agree with that truth!
"I do write in my notebook," Egrer brushed her off.
The longer the union existed, the less he liked the idea. It would be one thing if he were the boss, but unfortunately, their general secretary was Weiss. She absolutely loved giving orders; everything had to be done not just the way she wanted, but exactly the way she said. Any deviation from the plan, even the slightest, or any initiative, was mercilessly crushed.
Egrer frankly felt sorry for the girls on her team; living with Weiss was probably unbearable. And the hell that would start for them when she became leader... it was terrifying to even imagine.
"Since you're done, I'll go catch up with my guys then." Egrer left Weiss alone. For a while, she just stood by the classroom doors, watching his back, after which she went for a walk around Beacon. Unlike him, she didn't want to go back to her team at all; she wasn't friends with anyone on it.
He couldn't help but wonder, did she even have friends? Egrer had never once seen her with someone she was just chatting about nothing with. She kept away from her team, maintained strictly professional relations with Egrer and Nora, and the rest of Beacon's inhabitants seemingly didn't exist to her. Just background, like a pattern on the floor.
But it was her own fault. It was stupid to expect people to love you for your constant nagging and bossing around, especially when it was accompanied by the snarky comments that Weiss never skimped on. It was probably very lonely living with a personality like that.
However, Ren could probably get along with her. He was quiet, unobtrusive, smart, had nerves of steel, and possessed experience in dealing with difficult people. Having spent almost his entire life alongside Nora (which in itself deserved a medal), it was impossible not to become like that. Egrer couldn't even picture himself in a similar situation; if he had lived next to Magenta for that many years, he would have gone crazy or hanged himself a long time ago.
All that was left was to introduce them... It wouldn't be a bad idea to drag Ren into the union; he was no stranger to keeping an eye on Nora, and he could be trusted with a lot. Their cause would only benefit from his participation, which meant the music club would be revived sooner. Two birds with one stone.
Egrer was certain that if he told Ren the real reason Glynda had summoned them to the headmaster after their campaigning, he would gladly join them. If only for the company.
Catching up with his pack, the alpha immediately noticed one small, but terrifying detail.
"Alright, where's Madge? You didn't let her go anywhere alone, did you?"
"Are you kidding?" Yort answered, nodding toward the window. Outside, by the pond, sat Magenta. "There she is, feeding her octopus. We're keeping an eye on her."
"Feeding him normally?"
"Nothing's exploding," he shrugged. "Means it's normal."
"I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm gonna go check on her."
Magenta was sitting with her back to him, her legs tucked under her. With the precision of a metronome, she was tossing tiny fish into the water and humming some little song. Egrer would have found the scene endearing if not for that exact premonition and one "but."
"I'm no octopus expert, of course, but... how do I put this..."
"Yeah-yeah?" Magenta tossed another fish into the pond. Egrer watched its flight with mixed feelings, not even knowing if he should say anything about it. An oil slick spread out where it landed, and he finally made up his mind.
"Don't you think sprats are a bit not the kind of food an octopus needs?"
"What's your problem this time?! It's fish! And a really tasty one, too." From the greasy residue around her lips, it was clear she had figured this out from personal experience. Egrer couldn't look at this disgrace without tearing up, so he pulled out a handkerchief and gave her mouth a good wipe.
"Like a little kid. Eat more carefully, and don't forget to wash your hands after."
"Okay!" Magenta nodded and resumed throwing sprats into the pond. Egrer just stood nearby, watching this with an apathetic expression, as if something like this happened every day. Though why "as if"?
Suddenly his Scroll chimed; a message had arrived.
«Union meeting today at six. Same place as usual.»
Egrer let out a heavy sigh. He had wanted to spend this evening with his team, but there was nothing he could do.
***
"Welcome to the first union meeting," Weiss said, placing a thermos of tea and a pack of cookies on the desk.
Since she was the one who called the meeting, the responsibility of bringing snacks also fell on her shoulders. And she bought significantly more sweets, and much more expensive ones, than what Egrer had brought to the Order's meeting.
Because of this, he was lost in guesswork: was she showing off her wealth, or was it perfectly normal for her to buy absurdly expensive wafers? Or maybe it was a hint? As if she was saying, "I can easily fund the union, which means I can handle the Order too. If I become the boss, you'll eat the best cookies in the world!"
He decided to stick with the thought that such expensive purchases were nothing out of the ordinary for her, seeing as Weiss's face never formed that particular smirk she got when she considered herself better than everyone else. Besides, she had become a bit calmer after getting power in the union. At the very least, she had something to do now.
"Question for the general secretary." Egrer raised his hand, but quickly lowered it to grab a second one. She had already grabbed a handful of candies for herself, but Egrer wanted to savor them one by one, not swallow them all at once. "How does this meeting differ from the Order's meetings? We have the same members, the same treats, and we're not using code. We even picked the same classroom for the meeting."
"By the fact that I'm in charge now."
"Logical."
"Maybe we could come up with some kind of organization for me too?" Nora asked plaintively. "I want my own kingdom with an army, and I want Pancake Day to be a national holiday! And Renny will be the head chef in my castle..."
"Ignore her," Weiss said in a half-whisper. It all brought back a strong wave of nostalgia; their first Order meeting had gone exactly like this. Except that the tradition of bringing snacks had appeared later. "So, I've prepared two topics for discussion today: the rebranding of the union and the modernization of your plan, secretary of the general secretary. I'll start with the most important thing—I've been thinking and decided that we need to slightly flesh out our initial concept. From now on, we must show our best side not only to Miss Goodwitch, but to the other teachers as well."
"I disagree," Egrer objected immediately, warming his hands on a mug of hot tea. Delicious, much tastier than tea bags. "That's going too far. At this rate, people will think of us not as radically minded strikers, but as the headmaster's tame pets. You might disagree with the idea that we need to act in opposition to the system, but the rest of the students think otherwise."
Judging by Weiss's face, she was fiercely against his words. But to her credit, she decided to first pretend to mull over someone else's opinion before shooting it down.
"We're not supposed to look like revolutionaries. I won't argue that such a reputation would help us recruit, but it essentially escalates the conflict between us and the headmaster. We shouldn't forget that we are in the role of petitioners, and good relations are absolutely essential for us."
Egrer didn't understand how she could simultaneously harbor a dislike for Ozpin's authority and a desire to curry favor with the teachers by getting the best grades in their year. Unless the headmaster had ended up on some sort of blacklist of people who didn't deserve respect.
"But if we have an army of disgruntled students, we'll be in the role of demanders. He won't have a choice," he said loudly, turning toward Nora. Egrer was frankly playing on her love for conflicts, which did not escape the general secretary's notice.
"Wow!" the private exclaimed, distracted from her airy white candies. "Well said!"
"Let's leave that option as a last resort," Weiss replied displeased, hastening to change the subject. "Now let's talk about rebranding. Our recent campaigning in the cafeteria revealed our weak points; we need to learn from that defeat and become stronger. The union needs a symbol, a catchy name, and, ideally, an anthem."
Hey, that's a good idea. The Order should probably get on that too.
"I'll handle the symbolism," Nora nodded eagerly, cranking her imagination to the max. She began actively waving her arms, tracing weird figures in the air. "A hammer surrounded by flashes of lightning, as a symbol of our resolve and strength! A burning star flying from the ground straight into the sky, as a gesture of defiance and breaking the rules! A sickle, as... um... as a connection to the working class? But we're students, do we work? Oh, I got it! A sickle as our readiness to reap a bloody harvest from our enemies! The headmaster will be terrified!"
"First, I'd like to clarify how strict the censorship will be," Egrer began, and Nora slowly lowered her hands. She remembered that Weiss was in charge right now. "Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't give our imagination free rein at all."
"I've never restricted you guys in anything." The private and the secretary of the general secretary exchanged glances and simultaneously raised their eyebrows. "Fine, maybe restricted you a tiny bit... but as a leader, I have a better perspective on where we need to go."
"Still, I'd like to hear a solemn oath that you won't be a buzzkill for no reason."
"Alright, I promise I won't be a 'buzzkill,' whatever that word actually means. Are you satisfied now?" Nora nodded happily, but Egrer remained skeptical.
"Knowing you, I'd draft up some official contract, but knowing you, you'd easily find a loophole in it anyway."
"What are you hinting at, Egrer?" Weiss narrowed her eyes in displeasure.
"But I'll take your word for it and gladly take on the anthem. I've even come up with a line that fits Nora's idea perfectly." He grabbed an imaginary guitar. "And on my peaked cap - a sickle! A hammer and a star, how touching! A sickle! A hammer and a star!"
"Wow, sounds awesome!" Judging by everything, the private really liked this collaboration.
"Well, wonderful," Weiss nodded, "then I will take care of the name. Just don't get too carried away; that applies primarily to you, Nora. And also, make sure to prepare several variants of your projects. Well, and... that's all," she concluded, starting to pack up. "To be honest, I expected us to stay a bit longer."
"We can definitely stay and finish our tea," Egrer noted, eyeing the unopened box of chocolates. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to try a couple. Or better yet, all of them.
"These wafers are so tasty!" Nora exclaimed. "They literally melt in your mouth."
And then it dawned on Weiss that not everyone could afford to buy such delicacies in such quantities. That signature smirk of superiority finally crept onto her face, and after that, she couldn't just get up and leave. Weiss spread her arms in a hospitable gesture, taking in the whole desk.
"Help yourselves."