Overthinking Is Pretty Stressful

The tower lobby was as circular as the outside had suggested. In the middle was a long desk that wrapped around the central pillar. Staff members stood behind the desk and attended to some students and a teacher. There were also four elevator doors along the wall, spaced evenly like the points of a compass. A couple students were leaving an elevator just then.

Gray wondered up to the circular desk and looked for a receptionist that was free. He found two just to the right and approached. They were both women and chatted softly to each other as they typed away at their computers. They weren’t exactly the best looking women he had ever seen. Not ugly, but definitely not his type. Not that it mattered, though, since Gray did tell himself to not expand his harem beyond Teams RWBY and JNPR.

For now.

Gray shook off the thought and addressed the receptionists.

“Hello,” He started off. “I had an appointment with the headmaster today after classes.”

The two women looked up at Gray. One of them answered, “Of course. What was your name?”

Her fingers tapped away on her keyboard as she navigated to the right page for appointments, presumably.

“Gray Farran. On Team RWBY.” Gray replied, giving that little extra bit of info.

“Thank you, one moment please.” She said. She tapped away some more before reading something on screen. Then she picked up an office phone and pressed a number on the number pad by the hook. She pressed the receiver to her ear and waited. A couple moments went by with Gray barely hearing a soft ringing tone coming from the receiver.

Someone must have picked up since the lady behind the counter began speaking.

“Hello Sir, there is a student, by the name of Gray Farran of Team RWBY waiting to see you.” She told the headmaster. She then listened for his response. Gray could only hear a little faint voice from where he stood.

“Yes, of course Sir. Thank you.” She then hung the phone up and looked back to Gray. “He’s ready to see you. Please use that elevator over there. Have a nice day.”

“Thank you.” Gray told her, glancing at the elevator she pointed out. The frame looked slightly different from the others and a sign above the door did state, ‘Headmaster’s Office.’

The receptionists went right back to talking and ignored Gray once more.

Gray walked away and approached the elevator. He found the call button and pressed it. Immediately the doors opened and Gray stepped through. The inside looked like a mixture of modern panels and old-fashioned lattice work at the corners. Opposite from the door was a narrow vertical window to the outside. Looking out there, Gray wondered what the view would be like as he would ascend.

Turning around to the floor buttons, Gray found that there were only two buttons, one for the office, and another for the ground floor, and a metal keyhole next to those. It was pretty odd to see only two buttons in an elevator but Gray shrugged it off and pushed the button for the office.

There was a soft ding sound and the doors slid shut. Gray felt the strange feeling that an elevator evokes when in motion. He was on the rise and turned around to watch the view outside. The large town square-like courtyard fell below as Gray rose through the air. The people grew smaller and the backdrop of the academy buildings made for a stunning sight. Especially as the sun was on its journey to the horizon. There was still light enough for this late in the afternoon, around four o’clock, though.

Gray pulled out his scroll and took a few pictures, each one at small intervals of his ascension to the headmaster’s office.

Eventually the elevator came to a controlled halt. Gray put his scroll away and turned back to the doors. There was a dinging sound and the doors slid open.

They opened to reveal a large room, circular like the tower itself, with floor to ceiling windows, interrupted by pillars all the way around. And yet there was no actual ceiling. Just an open design into the floor above. There was a walkway that wrapped around the walls above the pillars and larger windows looked out onto the academy. The open space above was filled with gears and cogs turning in their mechanisms. The glowing green orbs could be seen through the gaps in this machine.

The floor was designed in concentric circles, looking like the face of a clock but without the numbers and the clock hands. To the left and the right, the windows and pillars were replaced with these semi-circular contraptions filled with more gears and cogs. Directly at the end of the room opposite the elevator sat the headmaster's desk, and behind that, in the wall was a window clock, yet only half of it could be seen from this floor. The whole of it was meant to be seen by people viewing it from the outside. Hence, why this was called the “Clocktower.”

The headmaster himself was sitting at the desk looking at a holographic screen hovering above the surface of the desk. Glynda Goodwitch stood on the other side of the desk and to the side, hands clasped in front of her. Gray could hear them conversing, the noise coming out as murmurs from across the room.

Gray stepped out of the elevator and waited a couple moments. The elevator doors slid shut behind him. He stood there waiting a moment more and saw nothing that might lead him to believe that he was being monitored by any device. Not even cameras. Though, with all the gears around and the green orbs above, Gray couldn’t rule anything out.

He took a few steps forward and noticed that the two professors still hadn’t looked his way. Gray looked down at his hand to confirm that his Semblance was still in place. The blurriness was still there. With a little renewed confidence Gray stepped forward the rest of the way.

“Hello, Professors.” He announced himself. “I’ve come about my room key.”

The two heads of the academy looked over to him at his words.

“Ah yes, Gray Farran. Thank you for coming by.” Ozpin greeted him. “We’ve taken the time to adjust the record for your team to include you and have prepared the room key transfer.”

Ozpin tapped at a holographic keyboard for a moment before the holo-screen disappeared and a portion of the desk lit up with a square shape inside a circle.

“If you could place your scroll there, we’ll transfer it right now.” The headmaster said.

For a brief moment, Gray debated on whether or not he should use his scroll to put a bug in Ozpin's system. For reconnaissance purposes. He certainly could, but it was likely that the headmaster had better security. He decided against possibly getting caught like that.

He placed his scroll on the table. One moment later and the screen lit up with a loading bar. It went by very quickly. A couple seconds and the screen said it was complete.

“And with that, you’ll be able to enter and leave your dorm room with no trouble.” The bespectacled man said. “If you have any trouble, say, with a scroll update or you acquire a new model in the future, you can come to the receptionists on the first floor of this tower to renew the key.”

“Oh, great, thanks.” Gray replied.

“Not a problem. Again, we are very sorry for the trouble. Will there be anything else?” The Professor asked.

Gray hesitated and wondered how to proceed with his plan. Should he just ask for JNPR’s room key too? Is that too obvious? He could try going with the bunk-beds first. That seems like a more believable angle to go with.

“Um... my team mates mentioned that they would like to exchange their beds for bunk-beds. Is that allowed?” Gray asked, bracing for a bad answer.

Ozpin looked thoughtful before answering.

“Originally, bunk-beds were a consideration for the dorms, but we decided against them because some students might have preferred normal beds. We went with the safest option.” He said. “Is there a reason for this, or do they just like the aesthetic?”

“Heh, well, one of our team mates, Weiss, brought a lot of luggage with her and they take up quite a bit of space.” Gray told them. He could see the amusement on both of their faces, and recognition in their eyes at mention of Weiss’ name. “The rest of the team thought that if we had bunk-beds then there would be plenty of space afterward.”

“Hmm, indeed.” Ozpin admitted. “Unfortunately, things like these cost money. Are you asking the school to pay for this?”

Okay, this was it. Gray had to exert some will to get what he wanted. This would be the test to see if he could manipulate the headmaster in his own office. Gray glanced at his hand again for more reassurance before taking a breath.

“The school will pay for two comfortable and sturdy bunk-beds for Team RWBY’s dorm room.” Gray said, feeling like a fool as he heard his voice break a little near the end.

He didn’t have to feel like a fool for long. Ozpin nodded his head.

“Of course. It may take a little bit of time, since it is a school week, but I’ll see that it’s done.”

Gray let out a shaky breath in relief. His knees felt weak.

“Thank you. You can send a receipt to me and I can figure out if I can pay it back at some point.” Gray wouldn’t completely **** his power and leave the school in debt.

“Of course.”

“In fact, Professor Goodwitch will exchange contact info with me to keep me posted on this issue.” Gray said, issuing another command with more confidence now. This also meant that he would have Glynda’s number. That opened up a whole vein of possibilities. He looked at the woman and had trouble forgetting about her breasts from combat class. They were covered now, unfortunately.

“That’s a fine idea. Glynda, would that be alright with you?” Ozpin asked the woman.

“Yes Headmaster, that would be fine.” The blonde teacher pulled out her scroll and did the same thing that Team’s RWBY and JNPR had done earlier. Gray hurried to pick his scroll up from the table and receive her info.

The transfer was completed with a ping and the student now had an avenue to his attractive professor. Gray got excited at the thought of making her his woman like he planned with the other girls. He had to hold himself back though. It would be safer for him to keep testing things before going all in like that.

“There was one other thing I wanted to ask.” Gray told them.

The teachers looked attentive again.

“Would it be a hassle to also get Team JNPR’s room key?” Gray asked.

“Hmm, not so much a hassle as much as it would be against the rules for a student to have the room key for a team that wasn’t theirs.” Ozpin replied.

“Yes, but if you were to give a room key on short notice, would it be as quick as what you just did for my room key?” Gray asked a different question.

“Yes, all I would have to do is find the appropriate key on the database, and allow for a transfer like what we did with yours.” The professor easily told him.

That was good. Gray didn’t want to have to wait for another day.

“You will give me Team JNPR’s room key.” Gray asserted.

“Alright. Please wait another moment.” The headmaster replied. There seemed to be no confusion or consternation on his or Glynda’s face at these manipulations. Hopefully this would never change for Gray.

Ozpin tapped away again. It took a little bit longer this time, but not by much. Another moment went by and the desk lit up again. Gray didn’t waste any time and pressed his scroll back down. The transfer was complete and he took his scroll back.

“Thank you for your time, Professors.” Gray said, bringing an end to this little meeting.

“Certainly, Mr Farran. Do have a good evening.” The headmaster replied.

“And make sure to prepare for tomorrows classes.” Glynda added.

Gray nodded. He wasn’t surprised that she would end things by saying that.

With all that he wanted to accomplish having been accomplished, Gray turned around and left. He re-entered the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. With one last look at the teachers, Gray eyed up Glynda’s body before the doors closed.

Once they were out of sight Gray sighed in relief. The elevator got to moving and the weightless feeling reminded him of his slightly shaky knees. He stomped his feet a little to try and shake the feeling off, then he turned back to the wonderful view outside.

I’ll get that sexy teacher Glynda at some point, Gray thought to himself. It didn’t have to be now. He could be patient and play with RWBY and JNPR for now. And they were already more than enough. Eight girls! That was insane. Gray had eight girls to play with when he got back to the dorms.

He had to shake his head at how absurd his life had become. He was building a harem. And he was fooling everybody with perhaps the most ridiculous Semblance he had ever heard of. Maybe even the most powerful Semblance. He hadn’t yet found any glaring flaws with it. Sure, it couldn’t change anything physical about a person and it wasn’t a combat focused power, but the potential influence it could have...

Gray had the dizzying thought that he might be able to affect things... on a governmental level.

If there was no one to counter his Semblance in the entire world, then... then he could end up becoming the most powerful person in the world.

His thoughts went silent. He stared out at the courtyard beyond the window. He stared at the people walking around. There were less people now. The sun was burning some of the clouds orange now. Evening was fast approaching.

He wasn’t excited.

The thought of controlling the world didn’t excite him.

Gray felt a weight in his stomach. Worsened by the fact that the elevator was slowing down and coming to a halt. When the doors opened Gray walked out feeling a little unnerved. The lobby still had a couple people hanging around but Gray ignored them and turned to the exit.

Maybe taking a walk would help him calm down.

Before he did though, he remembered to open his mapping software on his scroll. He thought he may as well make some progress on that, while he was trying to ground himself.

---

There were some interesting nooks and crannies in this academy. Places that were reserved for classes for the older students, some buildings were reserved for certain clubs, old buildings with old looking classrooms, little hideaway spots and forgotten corners. There were some old looking paintings and statues dotted around. There was even a greenhouse on the edge of campus, next to a small farm. Beyond that was a wooded hill with a gentle swell leading to a stream.

Further along, Gray found what looked like a hiking trail. A sign was pinned to a tree with arrows on it. He didn’t bother walking up to read it.

Walking back inward, he found a large building. The library. The design of the place was like that between a church and a modern train station. Only without the tracks and trains. Having stepped inside, Gray found the ceiling to be high enough to support two additional floors. He spotted the balconies and was proven right. Then came all the bookshelves.

The place was an organised jungle. There were shelves and shelves, desks and shelves. Students wondered around; others perused the books, and yet others studied at the desks. The carpet softened Gray’s steps and a reverent hush blanketed the whole place like it was a church. Doors led to who knows where, and stairs led to the upper floors.

Gray walked through the center of the library taking everything in. Gray liked libraries. They had a relaxing energy to them. It was a nice quiet place to think and ponder. Gray looked down the aisles of bookshelves. One after the other he saw students making the best out of their study time. He also saw some others passing the time like he was. He even noticed someone reading a comic book.

He continued to look down each aisle but his attention was caught by something. Or rather, by someone.

A woman was placing books back on a shelf. There was a cart full with more books next to her. She wore a typical librarian pencil skirt. Nothing too short, or tight, but enough to get a young man’s heart pumping and his imagination stirring. She also had a white-collar shirt and a red sweater vest. Again, nothing too tight. She didn’t seem to want to be anyone's librarian wet dream. But then again, one didn’t have to always try to be sexy, in order to be sexy. Some people just had it.

And looking at this woman's face, she definitely had it. With a full head of brown hair, somewhat curly, down to her shoulders, a face unblemished and with minimal make-up besides a nice shade of red lipstick, and glasses. And her tits were not small either. They filled that sweater nicely.

She was definitely a librarian wet dream.

Gray tentatively wondered closer. He didn’t have plans to mess around with more women and he hadn’t quite come to grips with his sudden existential crisis, but there was something about this woman’s attire, her appearance and her hips that drew him in.

The least he could do was find out her name and if his powers worked on her.

He stepped up to the shelves next to her and wondered how to test her. He needed to glance at the blurriness around his hands again. At some point he won’t need to do that, but right now his confidence was shooting up and down with irregularity.

His Semblance was still in place.

With that out of the way Gray looked back at the woman. Damn, even just the profile of her body was something. Cautiously, Gray raised his hand to the books on the shelf in front of her, making it seem like he was just here to find some knowledge. And he was. Though, he just wanted knowledge of her.

Gray watched her eyes to see if she noticed him reaching for books while getting into her personal space. His arm went pretty far into her space but all she did was pick up another book, read the title and author name and look for its place on the shelves. She didn’t seem to notice his arm in the way.

Gray stopped pretending to look for a book and tried something else. He brought his already raised arm and moved it closer to her face. Any other person would have flinched or blinked or moved to avoid contact. This woman didn’t do anything even when Gray’s hand came so close to her face that he felt her breath on his hand.

He waved in front of her face and only then did her eyes blink. It was probably from the fast movement or the air displacement. She didn’t say anything though. She just placed the book on one of the shelves.

Next, Gray poked her shoulder, of course with a question at the ready in case she did turn to him.

Nothing happened.

The librarian looked through her cart of books. Gray was left to look at her back and butt as she leaned over the cart. That was definitely a nice view. He poked her back. Still nothing. His finger poked and traced its way down to the top of her skirt. Gray saw the zipper keeping it in place but decided to leave off from going that far.

He did, however, slide his hand down her butt cheek.

Warm. Her ass was warm.

Which, of course it was, but the sensation got him every time. The curves of a woman's body were so addictive, that’s exactly why he had to stop himself from going any further. Why did he have to stop? Well, the almost silly reason was that he wanted to save some of his energy for his Team tonight. For some reason, he was feeling a little loyal to the first girls he added to his harem. Them and JNPR.

That wasn’t to say that he wouldn’t add others like Glynda or this woman, but he knew that he had to pace himself. He couldn’t just snag every attractive woman he came across. On the flip side, he also knew that he would likely end up having a lot of women in the future. Simply because of how perverted he was.

He didn’t really know how to feel about that.

Regardless, he noticed this woman and wanted to get her name, and that’s what he was going to do. Then he would head off to find his team.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” He spoke up.

The woman turned around to look at him. “Yes, how can I help?”

“I just wanted to get your name.”

“Oh, it’s Minerva. My friends call me Minnie.” The woman, Minerva, said. Her voice caught Gray off guard. She sounded soft spoken, and yet at the same time like someone who could sing. How he could hear that in a simple greeting, Gray didn’t know. He only knew that she had a nice voice.

“Um, would you happen to be single?” Gray had to ask. He didn’t want to take away someone’s woman so he thought it would be best to ask.

“Yes, I am.” She answered, unperturbed by the question. She simply spoke to Gray as if the subject matter was of no consequence.

“And do you have anyone that you are romantically interested in?” Gray also asked.

“No, I don’t have anyone like that.”

Gray nodded to himself.

“You will exchange contact info with me.” He told the woman.

“Alright.” She said, nodding along.

Minerva pulled out a scroll from underneath her sweater vest. It must have been in her shirts breast pocket. For the third time that day Gray exchanged numbers with a female. Although, the first time was with eight girls at once. But even getting one number was almost unheard of for Gray.

Ten numbers from girls in one day was a record.

Now, with that done Gray decided to peel himself away from this sexy librarian's side. He’ll figure out what he wanted to do with her later. Right now, Gray felt like meeting back up with the girls, despite not finding an answer for his early life crisis.

“Thank you for that. Bye.”

“Bye.” The brunette librarian said.

Gray resolved to explore the library another time. There was certainly more to see, what with the other floors and rooms. Right now, it was getting a little dark and he was getting quite hungry.

On his way to the exit, he turned off his Semblance and messaged Yang.

Gray: I’m done with my meeting. Where you guys at?

A message didn’t come until he was outside looking up at the blazing dusk clouds.

Yang: The cafeteria

Yang: Dinner isnt served yet but they keep the doors open for people to hang out or study

That made things easy. He threw a quick reply out.

Gray: Im on my way

Another message came just then from Nora.

Nora: Hurry up and kiss your woman

Gray couldn’t help but laugh out loud when he read that. He walked in the direction of the cafeteria. As he walked, a smile stayed on his face, in spite of his earlier mini-panic attack. There were so many things to be excited about. The first day of school was over, he had gotten himself a girlfriend, he could sleep with any of the four girls in his team, his powers continued to work miracles, school was fun, dinner was being prepared and he had a girl to kiss.

He couldn’t stop smiling.