#typhoon rwby

Russel didn’t- 

Okay, no. That was a lie. Russel did care that he couldn’t see colour. It was completely that he wanted to meet his soulmate- though he did! He definitely did. But he knew the world was so full and he couldn’t help it, the world felt empty when it was only in shades of black and white and grey. All of them were named for colours. His parents, his friends, his brother, and he couldn’t see a single one. It saddened him sometimes. He wished he could look at a shirt and know for sure. He wanted to be able to look at the sky and be able to say it was blue and see and know that it was truly blue . Bright and brilliant and maybe even as soft as he imagined it would be.

The Vytal Tournament was fun and their spirits were so high when the team won the first round. It was a clutch and it was exhilarating. There were so many people here, too. Teams of students from other schools. People he’d never met before. Russel was a social butterfly, he couldn’t really deny it. He fluttered from student to student, wishing he could see the colours. See where their name came in. That one was named Mint- did they have pale, green eyes? Their name was Topaz- was their hair more orange or brown? It looked light, more grey than white. Almost silver. She introduced herself as Aurea- which part of her was golden? Her personality, or was that the true colour of her dark eyes, her dark hair? He said his name was Fuscia- was that the dark colour staining his nails as a reflection of his name? Did that mean he’d found his soulmate?

By the time Russel removed himself, put himself in a corner that was more quiet, his mind was swirled with colours he couldn’t even see. There were two new numbers in his scroll. Some part of him had to admit he’d hoped to find his soulmate in the crowd of the fairgrounds. It wasn’t terrible that he didn’t. He was glad to have made not just one, but two friends. But he still found himself staring up at the awning of the building next to him and wondering what that black translated into. He’d bet it was red. If he could, he would ask Cardin. But Cardin didn’t like crowds and he didn’t want his brother to worry. So he sat and he stared.

He had no clue how much time passed before someone else stepped over. Russel didn’t bother to look at them. Some part of him was tired right now. The part that cared about the colours. That was fascinated with the idea of what the world would look like. How bright it would be. And he closed his eyes, sure that looking over would mean nothing but more grey. More black. More white.

“Can I sit here?” The person asked and Russel nodded.

“Sure! The seat’s open.”

“Thank you,” the person said. Their voice was soft and it sounded tired like Russel was. Russel took a breath, because he could feel that feeling itch up his chest. The almost need to be a little more peppy than he felt. To be happy, so that the person around him could be happy too. There were so many people. He didn’t think he had the energy.

It was a hard instinct to fight.

“I’m Russel! He/him.” He said and he put pep in his voice that he knew would convince anyone that wasn’t Cardin, but he kept his eyes on the sky above. His mamma was blue. She’d described it before and he liked the way it sounded. Even without colour, his mamma’s hair looked bright and dark and beautiful. Sometimes he looked at it and wondered how the colour could ever really translate correctly. He wanted to know. Though there was a lot he wanted to know, that was definitely high on the list. The sky. His mamma and papai- Lazuli and Simin- blueandsilver. 

His soulmate was on that list too. There would so many colours. Which one would he embody?

“I’m Neptune. Also he/him,” the other boy, Neptune, said and Russel nodded wordlessly. The chair near him creaked when Neptune sat down. “There’s so many people here, I’m not quite sure how to keep up,” Neptune chuckled. It was nice sound. It made Russel smile.

“There are! It’s nice, though I think even I’m a little people’d-out,” Russel joked. Even a social butterfly had limits, Russel knew. Though he enjoyed the crowd and the noise and the people, there was a point where it became just a little too close to ‘too much’. A little too close to overwhelming. At least Russel felt he knew himself well enough to know where that limit was. It didn’t mean he always listened to it. But at least he knew.

“Oh,” Neptune made a worried noise. “I’m sorry, should I go? I can find another empty spot somewhe-”

“No!” Russel interrupted him, quick to reassure. He sat up so fast his head spun a little bit. Neptune stretched out to steady him. “Thanks,” Russel said. “No, you don’t have to m-” Their eyes met, and Russel stuttered. He lost track of his words as… As something bled into his vision. Eyes, bright and deep like how his papai described the ocean. There was a gasp, but Russel did not know who it came from. Too preoccupied with how full his world suddenly was. Bright and warm and dark and colourful. So fucking colourful. Russel smiled and his cheeks hurt because it was too wide but he couldn’t stop. The hands on his forearms that Neptune used to steady him tightened. For a long moment, Russel ignored them. He looked back up.

The awning was still dark, but it wasn’t grey. He thought it might be red. It looked vibrant, like red. The was more bright, more soft, than he’d imagined. So, so blue. There were more colours- things he had the words for but couldn’t quite connect. That was bright and warm, maybe orange. Leaves were normally green now and there was a tree there- that bowl matched the colour though it was darker. The tables were wooden and brown. A loud swallow brought his attention back and the tight grip filtered in. Was it bad that he hoped it left imprints in his skin? That there would be bruises- pin pricks of what he’d been told would be blue and purple in the flesh that he could now see properly. Tan.

Neptune had backed just the slightest bit away, but Russel could still see his eyes so clearly when he looked. The other boy flinched back further when their eyes met again but Russel couldn’t focus on that. Didn’t have the capacity to care about that at the moment, to reassure and talk. It felt like he’d been mute. They were definitely blue. When compared to the sky, they were a much darker blue, but they were blue. So very blue. If that really was the ocean, Russel thought he wanted to go to one immediately. Or as close to immediately as he could. The double rounds still had to be done. Maybe the singles after that. Until then, this was a good replacement. They were deep and Russel had been in deep water before and it felt like he could drown and be happy. He forced himself to look past them, to see skin just a touch paler than his, to see hair a lighter blue than Neptune’s eyes. There was black in his jacket, but the colour there that made up most of it looked like the awning, just lighter. More vibrant. The lenses of the googles in his hair looked darker, but they looked like the sun. Yellow. His hands reached up- or maybe they were already there- and he gripped Neptune’s arms in return and a laugh bubbled up in his chest till it exited his mouth. Till it filled the air with floating sound. There was so much blue and Russel could remember being a kid and thinking that would be his favourite colour as his papai described it. As he talked about seeing his mamma’s hair for the first time and the way it shone in the sun. How he wished that blue would be his first colour, too. And maybe his laugh turned a little hysterical. Maybe Neptune’s expression turned worried in response.

Russel, somehow, couldn’t find it in himself to care. Even as it occurred to him that he was probably crying. They were tears of joy, anyhow. So who really cared?

Apparently Neptune did. The words didn’t fully reach him. There was too much laughter, he couldn’t control it. But he tried to anyway. Because Neptune sounded concerned. Looked concerned. (That was the colour blue turned when it was tinted by concern- a little wider, a little darker.) Tried to choke it down until it simmered to just giggles, popping out every so often. “I’m sorry,” Russel managed to get out, half gasping for breath between words. Before he went to Beacon, he’d gotten his mamma to help him dye his hair. So that when he met his soulmate- he’d hoped, he wanted colours, he believed but he wasn’t sure it was enough. it was enough and he could barely believe it, could barely contain it- his hair would be more colourful than silver. She described the dyes to him as best she could. Together, they chose green. He wondered how it looked to Neptune.

“Are you okay? Is it too much?” Neptune asked. Sometimes, when people talked about getting their colours, they talked about how overwhelming it could be. When Cardin got his it’d given him a headache. Russel was too happy to be overwhelmed. His chest felt too warm, too big. The world was full. And he was giddy.

“Is my hair green?” Russel asked instead of answering. Neptune blinked at him and Russel repeated himself, a little clearer. There was so much noise in his voice that he couldn’t quite keep down.

“I… guess?” Neptune said. He looked around, found a tree close to where Russel had, and looked back at Russel. He squinted and the blue changed again, shadowed by the way Neptune’s head tilted down slightly. The other boy was taller and Russel hadn’t even noticed. “It’s lighter than the trees, but yeah, I would say that’s green.”

Russel smiled again- smiled more?– and a few more bubbles of giggles escaped. He breathed deep to try and control it. “That’s so cool,” Russel said, because he didn’t really know how else to put to words all the fullness that he was feeling, finally being able to see colour. Finally having one of his greatest wishes– a world that was vibrant, and bright, and full – being able to experience blue first, deep and beautiful– come true. Cardin had always been better with words than he had been, even though he spoke more than Cardin ever did.

“So you’re… okay?” Neptune asked and Russel nodded firmly, once, then twice, and then a third time just for good measure.

“I’m good. I’m really good. Thank you. Thank you so much,” Russel said. It felt like he might be crying again. The giggles bit back, his body released the overflow a different way. “ Thank you, ” Russel said again just to make sure Neptune really got it. The boy looked confused, and Russel didn’t think he did, and the only thing Russel knew to do about that was ramble. So he rambled. “I’ve wanted colours since I found out colours existed- The world’s always been so empty, I’ve been looking and waiting so long for colour. For you. You’re beautiful. You found me. You’ve given me my greatest dream. Thank you. Thank you so much. You gave me colours, thank you. ”

Neptune blinked and blinked and blinked. The grip on his arms softened and then tightened. “You’re… welcome.” His voice sounded breathless. He smiled, small and still a bit confused, but sincere.

“Thank you,” Russel repeated. “Thank you for colour.”

“You’re welcome,” Neptune repeated. “You’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome.”

Russel’s cheeks hurt again as he smiled. He didn’t look away from a blue as deep as the ocean for the rest of the day.

He couldn’t.

There was so much colour around him.

His world felt bright. It felt colourful and warm. Neptune let him wear his jacket. He gave him his hoodie in return- it was green, like the grass in the shadows. When he did, Neptune smiled at him and Neptune’s eyes brightened just a bit. Russel held Neptune’s hand and saw the black leather more than he felt it against his skin. He snuggled into the jacket- into warmthandred. His papai always described red as vibrant. If Russel had to describe it, he thinks he’d describe it as warm instead. The jacket’s zipper was hidden, but it was silver. But deep blue was his favourite. He watched as Neptune’s eyes changed in the sun and in the shadow and inside under the artificial lights. How they darkened once the sun went down.

His world felt bright, and vibrant, and it felt full. He was so thankful for Neptune.