Chapter 32

"Alright Jaune, truth...or dare?"

Jaune rubbed his chin for a moment thinking it over. "I'm gonna go with truth."

Nora's grin widened at these words, starting to look a little sinister. "What's the most embarrassing thing your sisters have done to you?"

"I uh, I'm changing my mind..."

"Nuh-uh, too late."

"Ungh..." my teammate let out a light groan while massaging his temples. "Okay so...when I was younger, my sisters would sometimes dress me up...in women's clothing..." he continued, embarrassment clear in his expression. "And they may have also...put makeup on me."

Nora and I chuckled causing his cheeks to turn pink. "Hey! They said I looked good!"

"AHAHAHAHA!"

At this point, Jaune's entire face went red. He pulled his hoodie over his head, completely obstructing his face. "Alright, alright!" he muttered.

"Now it's my turn..." I thoughtfully rubbed my chin. "Nora, truth, or dare?"

The orange-haired girl's eyes lit up and she excitedly clenched her fists. "Dare!"

"I dare you...to do a handstand for the rest of the game."

"Hah! And here I thought you were actually gonna give me a challenge." She immediately moved to the wall, pushing her head to the ground and steadying herself, she balanced on her head, looking at our group. "See? Nothing to it." No sooner had she spoken when her skirt, now being pulled downwards by gravity flopped over revealing her underwear. "GAAAH!" Nora immediately pulled one of her hands to her skirt on reflex before losing her balance, tumbling backward, her legs hitting me and Jaune. "You...YOOOOOUUUUU!" the girl glared viciously at me, her entire face pink.

"I am SO sorry, I swear I did not plan that..."

"Maybe we should just stop..." Jaune said nervously.

"No no, it's fine, it's fine!" Nora gave a devious smile. "It's just a game, right? All part of the fun. But now I can hardly wait for it to be my turn, Aero..."

Oh boy. Nora's definitely gonna try and get even... "Jaune, it's your turn."

"Right..." He lightly coughed, trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere. "Ren! Truth or dare?"

"I choose dare, what will it be?"

"Haha, alright Ren, I dare you to make a prank call!"

"A...prank call?"

"Yeah, you know." Jaune scooted closer to Ren and pulled out his scroll, dialing a random number. "You call a random person, and turn it into a joke or pretend to be someone and mess with them. I've always wanted to do this!" He excitedly handed the scroll to Ren as it started to ring.

"Hello?"

Ren quietly looked at the device in his hands as if unsure of what to do next.

"What are you doing?" Jaune silently whispered, "Go for it."

"Hello?" The voice on the phone was becoming more insistent. Ren cleared his throat and answered the phone.

"Hello."

"Who is this?"

"My name is Ren."

"Don't give them your real name!" Nora silently hissed, waving her arms.

"I don't know anyone named Ren, why are you calling?"

"Is your refrigerator running?"

"Is my refrigerator running? Yes?"

"That is unfortunate. You should go catch it before it escapes."

"...what?"

Ren promptly hung up, handing the scroll back to Jaune with a smile on his face. "That was a good prank."

"Uh...sure. Anyway Ren, your turn to ask someone."

"Mmm, very well." Ren sat there quietly for a moment before turning to Jaune. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Jaune, what is your favorite color?"

"Oh come on!" Nora suddenly pushed past me and sat in front of Ren. "You're supposed to ask something super embarrassing that they don't want to answer or dare them to do something crazy! Here's what you should do." the girl suddenly leaned in and whispered into his ear. "Now go with that."

Ren merely shrugged and turned back to Jaune. "Truth or dare?"

"Uh..." Jaune blinked in surprise. "Truth?"

"Have you ever put on women's clothes without your sisters forcing you to?"

"Dare! I meant to pick dare!"

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The sun long left the sky as the last customer left. And with it finally came a sense of calm to the once busy cafe. One of the workers getting up and changing the sign on the door to closed, in order to avoid any "last minute" customers which never seemed to end. Only then did the employees finally relax, letting out a collective sigh of relief. Aero wasn't one of them, barely having noticed the busy workday, still cleaning a pizza tin in his hands. Absentmindedly scrubbing it for the past five minutes grimly recalling a conversation.

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"We need to talk..." A knot formed in Aero's stomach upon saying this, he was almost uncertain of how to explain.

"Talk about what?" Cameron for his part took didn't seem to be taking this any better than Aero. "What do you mean you're not who I think you are? You've been acting strange recently? Cleaning your room, the house, going to work with a SMILE on your face! And how did you just hold fire in your hands?!"

Aero took a deep breath to compose himself. He had planned his conversation a few times in his head, but right now his mind seemed to have forgotten the words he'd prepared. "I'm not Nathaniel. At least...not the one you know. I don't know how to say this...so I'm just gonna be blunt. My name is Aero Cairn, I've somehow switched bodies with your friend." Aero watched Cameron's face, waiting for him to say something.

"This...this isn't funny."

"I'm not joking!" Aero reached out putting his hand onto the stove, ignoring the pain. Cameron watched in silent horror as the blue flames lapped at Aero's fingers. "Nathaniel doesn't have aura right? Could he do this?"

"STOP IT!" Cameron jumped forward, once more taking Aero's hand out of the fire. "Stop doing that!"

"You've been saying it yourself right? Haven't I been acting unlike myself?"

"Yeah! But I meant unusual, not an entirely different person!" he slowly retreated backward with a difficult expression, his eyes never leaving Aero. Wetting his lips he asked. "A few days ago before going to bed, you gave me something as a pick me up. What was it?"

"I don't know, a pizza?"

"NO! It was ice cream! Can't you remember that?"

Aero shook his head. "I wasn't here for that part. Look...I know this is difficult to understand I apologize you lost that guy but-."

"That guy?" Cameron asked, interrupting with a growl. "Nathaniel is a friend of mine, a roommate! A lot more than just 'that guy'..." He continued backing up, his hand stealthily moving over the countertop before it grabbed a steak knife. "What did you do with him?!" Cameron held the knife out in front of him threateningly. "Are you some sort of alien or something?!"

Aero closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Deciding to take this slowly, he raised his hands, keeping them both visible, and walked forward. "I don't mean you any harm."

"Stay back!"

Aero ignored the knife, continuing to move forward. Eventually, he had the tip of the blade pointed at his throat without batting an eye. Cameron had long since backed into a wall with his hands trembling, still holding the weapon. "You can't hurt me with that." Aero said speaking calmly. "Nor do I intend to harm you."

"You...what do you want...?"

"Answers." The huntsman maintained his level tone. "I don't know why I'm here any more than you do. I'm telling you all of this because you have a right to know. Can we talk this out?"

Cameron hesitated, eyes still locked on the guy in front of him. His grip loosened before letting go of the knife, the weapon clattering to the floor. Aero only nodded, taking two steps back to give him some breathing room. Cameron warily watched him like before, but at least now he wasn't frantic. Finally, he spoke. "What is it you are trying to do?"

"Like I said, I'm trying to get answers at the moment. If it's all the same to you, I'd like to continue staying here. Something is going on regarding me and your friend. It'd be wise to stay in case there's a new development."

"You wanna live HERE?! There's no way that's happening."

Aero looked over Cameron as if sizing him up. "You said Nathaniel was your roommate right? What if I DID leave? Would you be able to pay the rent all by yourself?"

"That's...well..." He had to admit that he currently wasn't able to.

"I know this is sudden, but this is for the best for both of us right now." He spread his hands in a placating gesture. "We both have something to lose here. I'll stay here and not cause you trouble. The sooner we work things out, the sooner we can try and fix this. Deal?"

Once more Cameron was silent, quietly thinking it over. He really didn't like this, or even understand any of it either. Right now he was in a difficult position. If he agreed, he'd have to live with a supernatural stranger. However, if he refused, it's very likely he'd end up living on the streets in a month's time. And he'd have no idea how to bring back his roommate. Heaving a resigned sigh, he turned back to Aero. "You can stay..." He watched as Aero nodded with a small smile. "But I need to know what's going on with you. Explain. Everything."