Gym Bros Being Bros

A/N: Just here to say that, once again, team TCNO won't be a regular occurrence. They won't be getting all that much screen time. Their purpose is to give a sense of normalcy to Gray, who happens to be embroiled in a life of sex and powers trying to destroy the world. And sometimes, bros just need to hang out with their bros. You know how it is.

---

Gray stepped out of the locker room wearing the gym clothes that were provided by P.E class. A towel was slung over one shoulder and he had his gym bag in hand. The main floor was still quiet, just the low hum of a few treadmills and the occasional clang of plates. He scanned the free-weight area and spotted them right away. Tanner was spotting Classius on bench, and Nero was doing slow, controlled curls in the mirror. Orrin was leaning against a rack tapping on his scroll with that perpetual half-grin.

Tanner noticed him first, face lighting up.

“Gray! There he is. The ghost of Beacon!”

Gray grinned back as he walked over. “Morning, assholes. Thought you’d all still be snoring on a Sunday.”

Orrin looked up and pocketed his scroll. “We wanted to, but Tanner’s got us on a schedule. You know how he is.”

Classius racked the bar with a soft grunt, sat up, wiped his face with the hem of his shirt. “Good to see you, man. Been a minute.”

Nero gave a small nod, smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth. “Figured you’d forgotten we existed.”

Gray dropped his bag beside a nearby bench and started stretching his shoulders. “Nah. Just… busy, I guess. New team, new schedule. You know how it goes.”

Tanner snorted, crossing his arms. “Busy. Right. We’ve been in the same dorm building for a week and you haven’t swung by once. What, too good for us now that you’re living with a bunch of girls?”

Orrin laughed, loud and sharp. “Come on, Tan. He’s got four, four-” He said with emphasis. “-girls in his room! Why the hell would he come hang with a bunch of sweaty sausages when he could be surrounded by tits and thighs all day?”

Gray rolled his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitched. “It’s not like that. Well… not entirely.” He, of course, was lying through his teeth.

Nero’s smirk widened. “Sure it’s not.”

Tanner shook his head, exasperated but amused. “You’re disgusting. All of you.”

Classius chuckled quietly, the sound low and rumbling. “He’s got a point though. We miss you, man. Swing by sometimes. Even if it’s just to eat junk and talk shit.”

Gray nodded, sincere. “Yeah. I will. Promise. Been meaning to. Things just… escalated fast.” Though Gray was more thinking of the whole Grimm Lady thing, than just dealing with all his girls and classes.

Orrin leaned in, eyes gleaming. “Escalated, huh? Speaking of... we heard you make that bet with that Jeanne girl during that sparring exhibition. Winner gets a date. You lost, but then you’re walking into the cafeteria holding hands with her like you won anyway. Smooth, dude. Real smooth.”

Gray laughed under his breath as he moved to the cable machine nearby and started adjusting the weight stack. “I asked her out after the match. She said yes. So, it looks like I didn’t need the bet.”

“Still cheating,” Nero deadpanned, switching arms on his curls. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Hey.” Gray resented that.

Tanner groaned. “Can we focus on lifting instead of Gray’s love life? Some of us are trying to get stronger.”

Orrin ignored him completely. “So, how’s it going with the rest? Yang’s a sexy bombshell. Blake’s quiet but hot. Ruby’s… tiny but cute. And Weiss, damn, that girl looks like she’d freeze your balls off just by glaring.”

Gray pulled the cable down into a tricep extension, slow and controlled. “They’re good. Different from hanging with you idiots, but good.”

Classius finished his set and sat up again. “It’s gotta be weird though. Being surrounded by girls like that all the time.”

Gray exhaled through his nose, switching arms. “Yeah. It is. Girls are… different. A different vibe. There are times when it feels like I’m treading on eggshells or a mine field.” Gray had somewhat mitigated this with his Semblance, but he still felt like it was mostly true. “With you guys it’s just… easy. No pressure. More chill in a way I can’t explain. We just lift, joke, eat, repeat.”

Orrin nodded sagely. “Sausage solidarity. Can’t beat it.”

Nero snorted. “Poetic. Also, gross.”

Tanner finally cracked a grin. “Don’t get soft on us now, Farran. You’re still one of the idiots.”

Gray laughed outright. “Never said I wasn’t. Just saying, it’s nice to remember what normal feels like.”

Classius gave a small smile. “You’re always welcome to hang out. Gym, dorm, whatever.”

Orrin slapped Gray’s shoulder as he passed to grab a pair of dumbbells. “And if you ever need a break from the estrogen overload, we’ll be here. Probably complaining about Tanner’s 6 a.m. wakeup calls.”

Tanner flipped him off without looking up from his next set.

Gray settled into his reps, the familiar burn settling into his triceps. The banter kept rolling around him. Orrin recounted for them his sighting of some girl he’d seen in the library yesterday. Nero would drop his dry one-liners, occasionally making Classius snort mid-rep. Tanner tried (and mostly failed) to steer them back to form checks.

It felt like Lantern all over again. No world-ending plots, no mind-control powers, no criminals to manage. Just sweat, dumb jokes, and the steady rhythm of iron moving.

Gray realized, mid-set, that he’d missed this more than he’d admitted. The simplicity. The lack of subtext. Hanging with the girls was amazing and erotic, but also complicated and emotional. But this... this was grounding. Like relaxing your abs after a hot girl has walked away and out of sight.

He wouldn’t trade the girls for anything. Not even close.

But yeah. He really should make time to swing by the guy's dorm more often.

For now, though, he finished his set, racked the cable, and wiped his face with the towel.

“Alright,” He said, grinning at them. “Who’s spotting me on squats? I’m feeling reckless.”

Orrin whooped. “That’s the spirit! Let’s see if you can still go heavy without crying.”

Gray laughed again, the sound echoing off the rubber mats.

For the next hour or so, everything felt simple. And that was exactly what he needed.

---

Gray finished his last set of squats with a controlled exhale, legs burning pleasantly as he racked the bar. Sweat dripped down his temples and soaked the collar of his shirt. Around him, the guys were wrapping up too. Tanner was wiping down the bench, Classius stretching his massive arms overhead, Nero already rolling his shoulders like he was done for the day, and Orrin dramatically pretending to collapse against a rack.

“Alright,” Tanner said, clapping his hands once. “Showers, then food. I’m starving.”

Orrin groaned theatrically. “You’re always starving. You ate half a cow at breakfast yesterday.”

“Protein,” Tanner shot back without missing a beat. “You should try it sometime.”

Gray chuckled, grabbed his towel and bag, and followed the group toward the locker room.

“You two argue like an old married couple.” Nero quietly dropped, which earned a middle finger from both Orrin and Tanner and a low laugh from Classius.

Inside the locker room, it was the usual post-workout routine. Steam from the showers, the slap of wet feet on the tile, the metallic clank of lockers opening and closing. Gray stripped quickly, tossed his sweaty clothes into his bag, and stepped under a hot spray. The water pounded against his shoulders, washing away the sweat and the faint tension that had lingered from the morning’s heavier thoughts. Salem, agents, commands, the weight of everything he now carried.

He briefly fantasized about showering with Yang or Blake after a workout but stopped his thoughts before he could get a boner. He didn’t want to have to hide it when dressing and walking out for the guys to see his pitched tent. Still, the scenario was a nice idea for another time.

So he kept it short. No lingering. Just enough to rinse off and feel human again.

By the time he toweled off and pulled on fresh clothes, a simple black tee, cargo shorts, sneakers, his scroll buzzed against the bench. He picked it up.

Yang: u done with the gym yet big guy? (She added a flirty smirking emoji.)

Gray grinned, thumbs moving fast.

Gray: Just finished. Heading to cafeteria to see if breakfast is still being served.

Yang: same. we all overslept like corpses. girls are dragging themselves out of bed now. meet u there?

Gray: See you there.

He pocketed the scroll, slung his bag over his shoulder, and stepped out to find the others already dressed and waiting.

“Girlfriend checking in?” Orrin asked with a knowing grin.

“Something like that,” Gray said, falling into step as they left the gym.

The walk across campus felt good. The morning sun was warm and the air still carried that fresh dew smell. The paths were mostly empty; weekend laziness had claimed most of the student body. Only a few stragglers hurried toward the cafeteria building, probably chasing the last dregs of breakfast.

Orrin kept the conversation alive, as usual.

“So,” He said, nudging Gray with an elbow. “How’s it actually work? Four girls in one room. Do you guys draw straws for who gets cuddles? Or is it a free-for-all?”

Tanner groaned. “Orrin. Boundaries.”

“What? I’m curious! It’s not every day your buddy gets a harem.”

Gray snorted. “You expect me to kiss and tell?”

“Ah, you’re gonna be like that, huh?” Orrin said, giving him the side eye.

Nero, walking a step behind, spoke up in his usual low drawl. “Watch out, he might be a possessive boyfriend.”

Gray glanced back at him. Nero’s smirk was small but sharp.

“Guilty,” Gray said without hesitation. “Yeah. I am.”

Inside his head, he knew he was possessive. The quiet, familiar guilt hummed just under the surface. He had made subtle commands for his friends to not feel any romantic or sexual inclinations towards the girls of RWBY and JNPR. He had also done the same for the girls themselves, so they would only see Gray as a potential boyfriend and no other man.

Selfish. Possessive. Controlling.

He knew he was these things. But he didn’t regret it.

Not really.

The thought of one of his friends looking at Yang, or Blake, or Jeanne, or Ruby the way he did… it made something hot and tight twist in his chest.

He could loosen the reins though. Maybe play wingman and find other girls for his friends to get close to. There were plenty of cute first-years, second-years and upperclassmen that might like the Lantern crew.

But that was a thought for later.

For now, he just walked with them, listened to Orrin ramble about some girl he’d seen on campus yesterday, and watched Tanner roll his eyes and try to steer the conversation back to weekend training plans.

It felt good to keep things simple. Just five guys bullshitting on the way to get food. They eventually reached the cafeteria's doors, and the smell of bacon and coffee hit them immediately.

“Smells promising,” Tanner said, pushing the door open.

Gray scanned the room as they stepped inside. A lot of the tables were empty up and down the hall. Of the already occupied ones, there was no sign of RWBY yet. They were probably still dragging themselves across campus.

The line at the serving counter was short. There were only a handful of students ahead of them. The guys fell into line behind a pair of second-years and Orrin immediately started critiquing the remaining spread through the sneeze guard.

“Still got hash browns. That’s a win. Bacon looks like crispy goodness. Eggs are questionable though.”

They inched forward in line. The chatter kept rolling with Orrin speculating if any students would throw weekend parties. Tanner grumbled about wanting more variety of food for the cafeteria. And Nero wished they had fries and pizza for the breakfast spread.

Gray stood there, tray in hand, half-listening as he looked back to the entrance.

Still no sign of the girls.

The line moved, and Gray picked out his food, going for bacon and some of those questionable eggs. Gray had just finished piling the last of the remaining hash browns onto his tray, crispy edges still intact, thank the Lords, when some people walked through the cafeteria doors again.

He glanced up casually, and there they were: RWBY and JNPR filing in as a loose pack, still looking half-asleep but moving with purpose. Yang led the charge, hair a wild mess, stretching her arms overhead, shaking off the last of her sleepiness. Jeanne trailed close behind her, rubbing one eye. Ruby bounced a little on her toes despite a yawn, already scanning the room. Blake walked beside Weiss, both of them scanning too, presumably looking for him.

Gray stayed quiet, letting the line carry him forward as he watched.

The group paused just past the entryway. Yang said something low, pointing vaguely toward the counters. A quick huddle: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Ren peeled off toward the tables to claim space while Yang, Jeanne, Pyrrha, and Nora headed straight for the food line.

Yang’s gaze swept the line and landed on him.

Her eyes lit up and she leaned in and murmured something to Jeanne. Jeanne, Nora, and Pyrrha looked over and saw him.

They also saw the four Lantern guys around him.

Yang’s grin flashed. Jeanne gave a small wave. Pyrrha smiled politely and Nora just beamed like she always did.

But they didn’t approach.

Instead, Yang jerked her thumb toward the line with an exaggerated shrug as if to say, “we’re at the end anyway” and the four of them fell in behind the last stragglers, content to wait.

Gray exhaled through his nose, a small smile tugging at his mouth. Smart. No need to crowd the line or make a scene.

His tray was full now. The boys turned away from the counter, trays loaded, scanning for a table.

Orrin spotted the girls in the line first.

“Whoa. That’s your crew, right?” He nodded toward the girls

“Looks like it,” Gray said.

As they approached, walking past the girls still lining up, Yang grinned and said, “Well, well. Look who we ran into.”

Jeanne laughed softly. “Morning.”

Pyrrha gave a polite nod. “Hello.”

Nora bounced on her toes and looked at Classius’s arms. “Hi! You guys look strong! Do you lift a lot?”

Classius blinked, then gave a shy smile. “Uh… yeah. Sometimes.”

Orrin jumped in immediately. “We do now. Gray dragged us here. Threatened us with cardio if we didn’t show.”

He didn’t need to wingman him like that. Gray just nudged him in the side though.

Yang snorted.

Gray cleared his throat. “Did the others go to claim some seats?”

“Yeah, they should be keeping a table warm for us somewhere.”

“Can these dumb dumbs sit with us too?” Gray asked, shrugging his shoulder at Orrin.

Yang waved a hand. “Sure, if there's an empty space.”

Jeanne, Pyrrha and Nora nodded along. The boys then peeled themselves away to go and find where Ruby and the others were. It didn’t take long for Gray to see them. Weiss being the only one among the remaining four with white hair sort of made her stick out.

The quieter girls of the group of eight, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Ren, were already seated at a table along the middle of the hall. They looked up as the boys approached.

Gray gave them a small smile. “Hey.”

Ruby perked up instantly, waving with both hands. “Hi! Morning!”

Weiss offered a polite nod, then eyed the others with him. “Good morning.”

Blake’s lips curved just slightly. “Hey.”

Ren gave a small, calm wave, her expression as serene as ever.

Gray introduced them quickly, gesturing to each one in turn. “Guys, this is Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Ren. Girls, this is Tanner, Classius, Nero, and Orrin. They’re old friends from Lantern.”

Ruby beamed. “Nice to meet you!”

Weiss inclined her head. “A pleasure.”

Blake gave a quiet “Hi.”

Ren said a calm, “Hello.”

The boys murmured an assortment of hello’s and hey’s.

“Do you mind if they sit here?” Gray asked, pointing to the table next to theirs.

The girls looked at each other, then shrugged. Then Ruby took it upon herself to say, “Sure, we don’t mind.”

With that, they settled in.

Gray picked the end that was closest to his girls, with there being a gap between him and Ruby. Orrin sat next to him with the other two sitting opposite.

Conversation didn’t immediately start up between the groups until the more outgoing half of the girls, Yang, Jeanne, Pyrrha and Nora returned.

“Alright girls, it's your turn. There’s plenty food, just no hash browns left.” Yang told them.

“Aww, darn.” Ruby moaned.

Gray looked down at the three that he had swiped and felt a little guilty. “Hey, Ruby, I’ll share mine with you.”

“Oh! Thanks Gray. You don’t need to though...” She said with hope and hesitation.

“Go get your food and get this when you come back.” He said, pointing at one of his hash browns. Then he shooed her away.

She and the others left their table to get their own breakfast while Yang’s side sat down. But then...

“Hey, why don’t we put the tables together?” The blonde asked as she looked between the two tables. “Since we’re eating together.” She finished with a shrug.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Nora was immediately on board. She got up again and grabbed one side of their table. Yang helped as Jeanne and Pyrrha just pushed their benches back to make way.

Luckily none of the trays of food got messed up or any drinks spilled. Now, the girls sat back down and started eating. Yang looked to the guys with Gray and started up conversation.

“So, which one of you is the troublemaker?”

Orrin grinned proudly and pointed to himself for some reason. “That’d be me. Gray’s the quiet one who somehow ends up in the middle of everything anyway.”

Nora laughed. “I can see that!”

Jeanne smiled at the boys. “Which one was the early riser? Gray mentioned one of you dragging everyone out of bed.”

Tanner groaned good-naturedly. “Guilty. Someone has to keep these idiots alive.”

Pyrrha tilted her head toward Classius. “Classius, was it? You look like you could bench a Beowolf.”

Classius flushed slightly but smiled. “Maybe two. On a good day.”

Pleasantries were passed back and forth until the quieter girls came back with their trays of food. They took their places again, with Ruby now directly next to Gray now with no gap between the tables. Ren sat next to Nora. Blake and Weiss were at the end.

Ruby chatted lightly when she was asked about her scythe. The boys were pretty impressed when they realized she had made it mostly by herself. Weiss listened more than she spoke, occasionally adding a dry comment that made Nero smirk. Gray had a feeling that his sarcastic nature would appreciate her dry tone. Blake and Ren ate quietly, offering a word here or there when directly addressed.

Gray sat in the middle between his team and friends, one elbow on the table, listening to the split conversations.

At some point, Jeanne and Pyrrha had started recounting an old Mistral tournament they had both fought in. Tanner had asked the Mistral champion about Pyrrha’s fights, which led to a sort of story time.

“Second time we fought in the finals,” Jeanne said, fork waving for emphasis. “I actually made it past some really tough brackets that year. There was this one guy with a spear that kept extending. I thought I had him until he wrapped it around my shield and yanked.”

Pyrrha laughed softly. “That fight had me on the edge of my seat. I had faith you would win, but your stumble still scared me.”

“Yeah, I got him in the end. Then I had to fight this monster.” Jeanne said, pointing at Pyrrha good-naturedly.

“You still almost had me. Your Aura reserves are ridiculous.”

Jeanne waved her off. “Nah. You were just better. Always were.”

Orrin leaned in. “Wait, wait, so... you two fought in a tournament? Like, televised?”

It seemed like it hadn’t really sunk in for him yet that he was talking to someone famous.

Jeanne nodded. “Yeah. Mistral’s big annual thing. Juniors and seniors mixed in some brackets. Foreigners too.”

Tanner looked impressed at Jeanne. Gray knew that Tanner kept up with this sort of thing. “That’s legit. How’d you do?”

Jeanne shrugged, a little self-deprecating. “Made finals. Lost to her.”

Pyrrha tried to downplay it. “She had me on the ropes for half the match. I just got lucky with positioning.”

Jeanne snorted. “You’re ridiculously strong, Pyrrha. Everyone knows it.”

“Still, fighting on par with Mistral’s champion means you must be pretty strong.” Tanner said, praising the self-deprecating blonde. To which Jeanne chuckled a little shyly.

The boys were hooked. Orrin asked about specific moves, with Tanner nodding along. Even Classius quietly asked about Aura management in long fights. Nora jumped in with excited commentary about the fight they had in the Emerald Forest. Yang grinned, clearly enjoying the back and forth.

At the other end, Blake and Weiss were talking quietly. And Ren sipped her tea like nothing could bother her.

Gray watched it all unfold.

The groups had naturally split: the louder, more outgoing ones were trading stories with the boys. With the quieter ones at the edge, content to eat and chime in occasionally.

He caught Weiss glancing his way once, expression neutral but not unhappy. Next to him, Ruby looked up to smile at him. He bumped shoulders with her silently and rested his leg against hers. He was content to just let the friendly banter carry on without much input from him.

There was no tension. No awkwardness. He didn’t feel like he should worry about there being any weird developments between the girls and his male friends. He mostly trusted his power now. All the tests he had done over the last week meant that he could relax and just enjoy the atmosphere.

Still… he noticed that the more quiet reserved girls were quieter than usual. He filed away the thought: the reserved girls might not love being suddenly surrounded by a pack of guys. He’d check in later. Make sure they were okay.

For now, though, everything felt pretty friendly.

The story about the Mistral tournament wrapped up with Orrin trying to reenact one of Pyrrha’s winning moves with her help. It looked ridiculous and earned him some laughs from everyone. Even Weiss cracked a small smile at her end of the table.

Gray leaned against Ruby’s shoulder, tray mostly empty, coffee cup going cold in his hand.

It was a nice group moment. A nice, simple, and normal moment.

He’d take more of these if he could.

---

A/N: So, a thought occurred to me as I was editing this chapter. Should I set these four guys up with some girls? It wouldn't be some great big romance arc, but rather a mostly off screen thing, but if I did then who would it be? There aren't any other all-girls teams except for that Shade Academy team in volume 3. And there aren't that many side characters in Beacon Academy besides team CFVY, and they have two males.

But then I thought about gender-swapping Fox and Yatsuhashi. I had trouble picturing it but then got an AI to show me what they could look like, and the result was pretty good. I could upload those pictures on my patreon for anyone who needs to see it to help them square that away in their minds.

But then I thought, if I made them all girls, then why can't I just add them to Gray's harem? I could do that, but then I thought, the harem is already big and it's going to get bigger with some milfs and other side characters. I think I can afford to have Gray set his friends up with team CFVY. But what do you guys think? Should I post the images first to give you a chance to think it over? Or not even bother with that whole subplot?

---

patreon.com/CandidBandit