[Metroidhunter]

When he finally decided to get back at her for her laughter, she pouted a little, getting slightly peeved as he made a joke on one of the things that she had just mentioned. "Low blow, man." Of course, she deserved it, the smile returning to her face as that realization hit her.

The average look of the building was interesting to Vivian. With where they were, and the way he was, she expected something a little fancier. She actually thought it was very nice looking, as something like a mansion would probably be a bit intimidating. It reminded her somewhat of her own parents' home, though his own home most definitely had a larger garage.

[Mikelobmike]

Michael smirked as she pouted, the table turned briefly. Michael would step out of the limo first, leaving the door open for Vivian as he stretched. "Well, this is my house. If you wanted to stay here, there is a guest bedroom upstairs that you can use. Up to you, really." he said as he walked toward the front door, fishing out a key from his pocket.

Unlocking the front door revealed a nicely decorated but strangely bare house. The walls had few fixtures on them, leaving them with a deep blue shade of paint. The furniture was black leather, and there was an elaborate entertainment center immediately walking in. Further back, you could see a full kitchen behind an island counter, with dark stone tile counters covering the space. Close to the front door, there was a coat closet, tucked under the stairs leading to the second floor. The house looked strange in the fact that it was immaculately clean, more like an exhibit than a living space. That gave it a somewhat off-putting vibe.

[Metroidhunter]

Vivian followed behind him as he exited the limo, shutting the door behind them. It didn't seem like anybody was here, which was a little strange, considering the size of the house. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll just go back to the dorms. I don't mind hangin' out for a bit if you want, though."

Her suspicions were confirmed when they made it inside and it was empty... Strangely empty. Regardless, it was a pretty nice house, even if it did look like it could get boring around there.

[Mikelobmike]

Michael took off his jacket and put it on the post supporting the handrail on the stairs. "Welp, your call. I should go grab that library book, then." he said before heading up the stairs and turning left, disappearing behind a wall. Then, the sound of a door opening, the thud of a shin hitting a bedpost, and a muffled expletive resounded through the floor.

About a minute later, Michael walked back down the stairs with a book in hand. He quickly grabbed his jacket, slipping it back on. "So, Beacon?"

[Metroidhunter]

Vivian nodded as Michael mentioned the book. Watching him start going up the stairs, she leaned against the wall, folding her arms together as she waited for his return. Her rabbit ears popped up at what sounded like him hitting something, the yelling afterwards reaffirming that idea. She couldn't help but chuckle a little, almost feeling bad as she did. By the time he had gotten back, she was only giving him her usual content smile, not showing any signs that indicated that she had heard him through the ceiling. After all, he looked fine now, so he couldn't have hurt himself too bad.

Seeing that he was putting his jacket back on, she headed for the door, her metal hand wrapping around the doorknob. "Yep." As she turned it, an entertaining thought came to mind, one that she simply refused to pass up. Opening the door, she stood there and held it open before bowing down in an elegant manner while using one arm to gesture outside. "After you, good sir." It would be obvious to anyone that she was teasing him, poking fun at the multiple occasions where he had held a door for her.

[Mikelobmike]

Michael walked past her, pushing her ears down over her face playfully as he went. "That's for stealing my line." he said, closing and locking the door behind them. He quickly got back to the limo, pulling the door open and climbing back inside. Once they were settled in, the driver pulled out and started toward the airship docks.

"I wish I could get a team." he said, a slight smile on his face. "It would be nice for someone to have my back for once."

[Metroidhunter]

When he pushed her ears down, she only chuckled a bit, not resisting much as she knew that she had it coming. She followed behind him until they had both gotten into the limousine. By this point, Vivian had mostly gotten used to the fanciness of it, but she certainly wasn't going to get bored of riding in it anytime soon.

"Teams are cool, but they don't always work out. Sometimes trying to keep one together can be just as difficult as not having one." It was clear that spoke from experience on the rather somber subject, and yet, she didn't seem upset at all by it. "I may not be the same year as you, but I can still have your back. Especially when it comes to jewelry thieves." As she said it, she smiled back at him. While she was joking a little with the last part, the rest of her statement was serious.

[Mikelobmike]

"Thanks." he said, strapping himself in. The limo had a quick pace as it went toward the docks, the route well-memorized by the driver. "It's just been difficult, you know? Being this far away from home and everything." Michael finally bit the bullet and pulled out the cigar, lighting it with a silver lighter and taking a deep puff. The limo did not fill up with smoke as expected, instead only a thin layer of smoke appeared at the top of the cabin.

[Metroidhunter]

The faunus leaned back in her seat and began to relax, not paying much attention to the fact that he had lit the cigar. After all, it definitely wasn't the first time that Vivian had been in the company of someone smoking. She didn't prefer smoking cigars herself, but she could deal with it. "I guess I can see that. I mean, I haven't lived at home for a while, so I can't really relate a whole lot." She closed her eyes while resting against the seat, but kept talking. "Also, I don't wanna be too nosy, but do you live in that big ol' house by yourself? Because that doesn't seem very fun, honestly. I would get bored reeeally quick."

[Mikelobmike]

"Yeah, it's just me in there." he said, small puffs of smoke coming out of his mouth as he spoke. He then exhaled, a long trail of smoke crossing the cabin before it rose to the ceiling and disappeared. "It does get pretty boring after a while, yeah. I've just kind of gotten used to it. Not exactly the sociable type, you know?" he said, setting his cigar down in a built-in ashtray by the door of the limo.

'Not exactly the sociable type' was Michael's way of saying that he had no friends. Not hard to see why, considering he not only missed a lot of time a person would use to make friends at an early age while in the hospital, but was a giant in Atlas. Not exactly the friendliest place to people who stood out. Michael's smile faded when he thought of his seemingly failed attempt to start over and make new friends in Vale, a familiar scowl returning to his face as he thought.

[Metroidhunter]

His change in expression was easily noticeable, with Vivian noticing it almost right away. However, she had no real idea why, and didn't think it'd be a great idea to push on that subject a whole lot. "I, like, really need to socialize with people. A lot. I don't even have a ton of buddies or anything, I just love talking to people. Everyone seems to have some interesting story or another, or maybe somethin' else about them that's cool. I feel like I'm missing out if I don't get to hear about those things." She opened one eye, smirking at him. "Like you, for example. If I wasn't very social, well, we probably wouldn't be here right now. So that's good." Moving to lie down on the seats, she closed her eyes again. While she wasn't going to take a nap or anything, she did feel like getting a bit of rest while they drove to the docks. "Not sayin' you have to try harder to be more talkative, though. You do you. Sometimes it's better to have less connections to hold you down."

[Mikelobmike]

Michael's scowl slowly dropped from his face, which changed to more of a neutral expression. He picked his cigar back up and puffed on it, which seemed to calm him down a bit. "Atlas would be a living hell for you, believe me. Nobody up there would socialize with you if they thought it would hurt their precious image. Useless, the lot of them." he said. He shook his head, taking another long drag of his cigar. "Honestly, if anyone saw me here, with you, I'd get chewed out like you wouldn't believe. To be honest, I'm surprised you'd talk to me after all that shit, god knows half the faunus around here think I'm the devil."

Michael ended his rant with another drag of his cigar, a long trail coming out of his mouth as he went. He sank back into his seat as he realized he went a bit too far in new company. "Sorry." he said, putting his cigar away once more.

[Metroidhunter]

Despite the fact that she was simply laying there, she still listened to Michael closely, nodding in agreement as he made his comments on the people of Atlas. "Yeah, I'd say that's mostly accurate. My dad actually came from there, and while he's great, I've met 'friends' of his that were... not exactly enthusiastic about him having me around." Vivian chuckled a bit, shaking her head. "To be fair, I was kind of a punk when I was a kid, but I don't think that was the entire reason either."

Considering the rest of what he said, she sighed a little herself. "Sorry if this is rude, but like, fuck those people. Whether they're faunus or not, it's retarded to judge someone that heavily if you don't actually know them. That's kinda why I didn't hate you right away. You obviously had some sort of reason to act like how you did." She almost stopped herself from asking the next part, as it was probably a bit personal, but her curiosity got the best of her. "Why do you think most faunus hate you, exactly?"

[Mikelobmike]

Michael let out a deep sigh, his head falling back into his headrest. "I mean, it's mostly reputation. Being a family from Atlas is one thing, but we've got a legacy of being dicks to faunus that seem to follow us wherever we go. My grandfather and great-grandfather used faunus slave labor in factories. To this day, most of our workers are faunus. I'm not saying the hate is unjustified, it just gets old after a while." he said, looking out the window as they went. "That's why I like not having people know who I am. It's part of the reason I went to Vale and not Vacuo or Mistral. Vale is the place where we are the least known. Yet, I still have people vandalizing my car, throwing garbage at me. Before I got this house, I got a brick through my bedroom window." he said, turning his attention back to her.

[Metroidhunter]

Vivian could only nod as she listened to his explanation, suddenly understanding what he had to deal with. It made sense. If she didn't already know him, she probably would have fallen in with those that made assumptions and judged him. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

"Well. That's not entirely your fault, is it?" While she was still lying on the seats, she turned her head to look at him as she spoke. "I don't think trying to avoid people is a really good idea. Then again, the other option is to distance yourself from the company. Which is, well, equally shitty. Can't say I really have any good ideas to help you there."

The girl sat up, leaning forward a little and smiling at him. "But hey, at least I know you're not a dick. Maybe having a faunus to hang out with will make some people think the same thing?"