Work Text:
Arslan Altan was a sore loser.
As she stepped off the ship, onto the shore of Menagerie, she felt like she'd lost a little too much, here recently. Her team had lost to one that was several years younger than her. How? Team RWBY's leader was almost five years younger than she was! And yet, she still kicked ABRN's collective asses!
That particularly loss was bad enough. But to top it off, a terrorist had attacked. Beacon had fallen, hundreds had died. And she hadn't been able to stop anything. Sure, one Deathstalker had fallen to ABRN...but four students fighting one Grimm. It had taken them precious time, and...
And one Deathstalker didn't make any difference. Especially since once again, she'd been beaten by Ruby. No one else knew anything about what she'd did, but Arslan had seen the Qrow guy carrying her down from the Tower--mere moments after the blast that had taken out the Wyvern. Arslan knew, somewhere in her gut, that Ruby had been the one to take it out.
And that pissed her off.
Arslan didn't own a house in Menagerie, or, a house anywhere. She'd begun renting an apartment, but still had to go get food. She hefted her wicker basket, filled with food, and opened the door to the apartment building where she was staying.
Which was when she noticed the faunus.
Arslan turned to the dark-skinned girl, leaning casually against the wall, watching her with intent gray eyes.
"What do you want?" Arslan asked.
"Just curious," the faunus replied with a shrug.
"About what?"
"Few humans come to Menagerie," Ilia replied vaguely. "I wonder why you came."
"That's none of your damn business," Arslan replied, stomping through the doorway into her apartment.
The next day, Arslan went down to the front desk, where the landlady sat, and prepared to pay her rent. The landlady waved her off. "Your friend already payed."
Arslan frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Who?"
The landlady looked at her. "I dunno. She said her name was Ilia, and payed for you for two months."
Arslan wasn't paranoid, but she found that suspicious. As she left the apartment, intent to go on her morning walk, she noticed the faunus girl from yesterday. She paused in the doorway, then asked, "Are you Ilia?"
The faunus smiled and nodded. "Ilia Amitola."
Arslan glared at her.
"And what's your name?"
"Why did you pay my rent?"
Ilia cocked her head, watching the brawler. "Most people would say thanks."
"I didn't ask to be stalked," Arslan growled.
Ilia held up her hands placatingly. "I'm trying to be friendly," she said. "Didn't mean to cause offense."
Arslan sighed. "None taken."
"That sounds like a lie."
Arslan glared at the faunus, who shrugged. "It does."
Arslan decided to ignore her, walking past her and starting on her walk.
The next day, as she exited the apartment building, she noticed Ilia standing there. "What?"
"I never caught your name," Ilia said.
"Arslan," the human replied. "Arslan Altan."
"Nice to meet you, Arslan." Ilia's eyes flitted over to the wicker basket. "Shopping?"
"Food doesn't buy itself," Arslan said, giving the basket a little shake.
A shine lit up Ilia's eyes. "I could buy you some, sometime. Dinner sound nice?"
Arslan thought the request over. "Eh. Sure."