Chapter Eleven
I glared up at the ceiling fan as it spun around, unable to move. My ankles hurt from the rope binding them together, and my arms were burning something fierce from being tied behind my back. I would have voiced my displeasure, but the cloth tied around my mouth, gagging me, preventing any noise from coming out.
To my immediate left was the small she-devil responsible for this. Her head was on my chest, one arm draped over me while the other was under my back, holding me tightly, and one leg draped over my own two while the other was underneath them.
In short, I was a living body pillow for this madwoman, and an angry one at that. Unfortunately, all I could do was huff in irritation to show my displeasure. I couldn't even roll off the bed, as the first time I tried that, the woman let my head bounce off the floor a few times before dragging me back up. She was surprisingly strong for such a tiny thing.
How had I managed to land myself in this situation? Well, it slowly started after my night with Cinder, which is still something I'll never be able to forget, no matter how hard I try to...
After Cinder had woken up that morning, she had promptly thrown me out the room, making a few remarks I will not delve into, or ever utter to another living soul for as long as I live. It makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it even now!
Anyway, I had come to the conclusion that I was spending WAY too much time surrounded by Estrogen, and a desperate change of scenario was required. Namely, I needed to spend more time around members of the same sex as myself, lest I lose my mind and become more feminine.
So after giving it some thought, and pooling together my Lien, I decided that a trip into Vale with the guys was in order. Besides, it gave the girls times to themselves to gossip, and us guys time to ourselves. With that in mind, I invited Jaune, Ren, Sun, Neptune, Fox, and Yatsuhashi to go see a new action movie that was playing in theaters.
As luck would have it, they all agreed, and we spent the afternoon watching General Atlas: Uncivil Conflict. It felt good being able to do something NORMAL for once without fear of having a girl drag me off, or get locked in somewhere with one.
"That was AWESOME," Jaune said excitedly as we left the theater, "General Atlas is the coolest superhero ever!"
"I don't know," Sun smirked, walking backwards to look at us as we went, "Coal Tiger was pretty cool."
"You just like him because he reminds you of Blake," Neptune said causing Sun to splutter in denial while the others laughed.
"General Atlas should be commended for sticking to his morals and code of honor," Yatsuhashi spoke up. It was surprising that the big man would volunteer to see an action movie, but he took it in stride, "A man is nothing without his beliefs."
Fox said nothing, and just nodded along. It was honestly eerie how he could see, despite his eyes being pure white, and the way he never talked, or smiled. But he seemed to have enjoyed himself, so I guess that counts. At least, I hope he enjoyed himself.
"Speaking of Coal Tiger," I heard Jaune say, bringing me back to the present, "His fighting style is almost like yours, just with less jumping about."
It took me a few seconds to realize he was talking to me, and when I looked up, I realized they were all looking at me.
"Indeed," Ren spoke up, "It is strange that the styles are similar to each other by that much. Did you perhaps take inspiration from the character?"
"Nah, my family's developed that style for generations," I replied, "It's just a coincidence that they're similar. Coal Tiger's inspiration is a cat, so it makes sense for him to fight that way."
They all hummed in agreement, and we continued walking, until Neptune spoke up.
"Sooo...ladies. You. How do the two mix so well?"
"We don't," I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose, "They're the ones who decide what happens, not me."
"Besides," Jaune spoke up, glaring at Neptune, "Why would you want to know, anyway? I thought you liked Weiss?"
"Oh I do," Neptune quickly replied, holding his hands up lest Jaune leap at him, "I was just curious as to how he could somehow end up in the arms of some of the most popular girls at Beacon at night, and have it all be completely innocent and platonic."
Well, if there were anyone who knew that nothing dirty went down during those situations, it was the guys, and for that I was extremely grateful.
"I don't even know," I complained, slumping as we sat down at a fast food restaurant to eat, "Sometimes it just...happens! Other times it's because the girl heard the rumors. It's getting old, to be honest. Most guys would think it would be a dream come true, but they have no idea how it feels to wonder if the girl talking to you wants to use you so they can sleep better or not. One of the reasons why I invited you all to tag along today."
"Ohhhh," Neptune and Sun both said in unison, while the others looked at me in sympathy.
"It is odd that you seem to attract girls to you for something as innocent as platonic cuddling though," Ren spoke up, hands folded under his chin as he stared at me, "Even odder that Nora and Pyrrha haven't seemingly succumbed to it yet."
I had a mental image of Nora cuddling with me, breaking my bones and snapping my spine in the process, and I'm sure I turned pale, even as I shivered in horror at the thought. Ren must have realized what I imagined, because he was quick to continue speaking.
"Well, I'm sure I can understand why. Pyrrha and Jaune are finally together," and with that, Sun and Neptune cheered for him as Jaune blushed deeply, while Yatsuhashi calmly congratulated him and Fox ignored the conversation entirely, "And Nora...well Nora isn't like that."
"That's because you two are together," Jaune mumbled, getting back at Ren for putting him on the spot, and the quiet boy simply coughed politely.
"We're not together-together."
"Yeah yeah, so you constantly say," Jaune said dismissively, waving his hand.
"When will you two be, though?" Sun asked, and everyone turned to look at Ren, who, to his credit, was unfazed by the question.
"I assure you, if that should ever happen, I will let you all know. Or Nora would, I'm sure. Along with the rest of Remnant."
We laughed at that, because we could easily see Nora doing such a thing, and Neptune turned to Yatsuhashi and Fox.
"How about you two? Are you two close to Coco and Velvet?"
"I look out for Velvet and protect her," Yatsuhashi said solemnly, and we waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. We then turned to Fox, who stared back at us, not moving an inch. The air around him was almost challenging, like he was daring to ask us about his and Coco's relationship.
"Riiight," Neptune said, then he turned to me, "So, how about you? Which girl to you like?"
I sighed and rolled my eyes; "I believe I've already said this before, but I'm not looking for love at Beacon. It's not what I'm there for."
"Oh c'mon," Sun spoke up, "Humor us at least! If you could get together with one of the girls we all know, who would it be? Hypothetically?"
I mentally debated about it, and decided to at least entertain the thought, knowing it wouldn't happen. But when I thought of all the girls I knew, none came to mind on who I could see myself ending up with.
"Nobody," I started, and held up a hand before they could protest or complain, "I'm being serious. I actually decided to think about it, and nobody comes to mind. I'm just not interested."
They seemed disappointed at this, and Jaune shrugged.
"Well, I think you'd go great with Yang," he said, and we all stared at him.
"What? You can't tell me that they're not alike in some ways! Long hair, their fighting styles are a little similar, they get along really well, and she's always grabbing him and dragging him off with her."
"Yeah, to interrogate me," I grumbled, crossing my arms, but they paid me no mind, now caught up in pairing me up with different girls.
"What about Ruby," Neptune asked, "From what I heard, she was the first girl to cuddle up with him!"
"OH HELL NO!" I retorted fiercely, but I went ignored.
"What about Weiss," Sun asked, and Neptune threw him a look, "Sorry dude, but I can't just see it working out between you two. Besides, the two seem to share something that could make it work. Have you seen her tutor him on Dust? I didn't think the Ice Queen could ever be that patient with someone."
"I'm right here you know," I grumbled, "I can hear you."
"Oh yeah," Neptune retorted hotly, "What about him and Blake? She seems to trust him, and has no problems talking to him. Plus we've heard about his family's tradition!"
"...Dude," Sun said, looking hurt.
"How about Emerald," Ren spoke up, causing all heads to turn to him, "I heard the two spent quite a bit of time two days ago in Vale, and she was asking around about him."
"Nah, I can't see it," Neptune said, waving his hand lazily.
"I have to admit, I don't either," Yatsuhashi spoke up, "But Coco did show some interest in him after we heard he helped Velvet out."
Great, I thought, rolling my eyes, Now Yatsuhashi's getting in on it too. And I thought Ren was above all this!
Beside the larger guy, Fox simply nodded, arms folded, expression the same.
"Actually," I said loudly and firmly, getting their attention, "Coco was only interested in the rumors about me, and wanted to see what type of person I was, probably to make sure I had no ulterior motives regarding Velvet."
"Ahhh," they all said, and Neptune spoke up.
"Well...maybe girls aren't what you're interested in?"
My head hit the table.
"Ha-Ha no," I said flatly.
"I still think he and Yang would be a great couple," Jaune spoke up, and after some fierce debating, everyone started to agree with him.
"Could we kindly stop trying to pair me up with girls when I'm obviously not interested in love?!" I demanded, trying to glare them into submission. They all stopped, turned and looked at each other, and promptly resumed the conversation. I groaned and stood up.
"Whelp, that's that. Here's the money, tab's on me, sorry guys, but I'm off."
Jaune waved his hand to indicate he heard me, but didn't bother looking at me and continued the topic. I sighed and put the Lien on the table before leaving the restaurant.
I wandered around Vale for a while, just enjoying the silence that I got only when I was alone. It was a nice day, and although the fairgrounds were set up, it wasn't so noisy that I couldn't hear myself think. It was rather nice. As I was walking around, a girl caught my eye. No, not in that way, and not because she was like Cinder, who I couldn't even look at the same way again.
No, it was because she was so tiny! She had to have been around four foot something, as she was shorter than Nora, and she was only five foot one! She had black hair in twin ponytails, and was wearing a black outfit that exposed her midriff.
She was wandering around the fairgrounds, as though looking for someone, looking this way and that, biting her lower lip as she went.
Nope! Not getting involved this time, no sir! Sorry girl, but you're on your own. I would help, but nothing good ever comes from me helping women!
I forced myself to turn around and walk a few steps, before looking back at the girl, who was just standing there. I turned and walked a few more steps, before stopping and groaning. With a huge sigh, I turned around and walked over to her, inwardly cursing myself for my kindness.
"Excuse me," I said, and she turned to me, "Are you lost?"
The girl looked at me for a moment, before her eyes lit up. She nodded enthusiastically and I withheld a sigh.
"Are you looking for someone?"
She shook her head, and I realized that she hadn't said a word to me.
"Uhm, please don't think I'm being rude for asking, but...are you able to speak?"
She tilted her head and blinked, and I mentally kicked myself. She reached out to grab my hand and pulled it towards her, and started running her finger across my palm, tracing what I recognized as words.
I'm here for the Vytal Festival with my team from Mistral. I wanted to visit the fairgrounds and got turned around.
"Ah," I said, scratching my head, "Well...would you like me to show you around?"
Her eyes, which I noted were green, widened and she quickly started writing on my hand again.
Really?!
"Sure. I'm not doing anything right now, and it wouldn't be right to leave you lost around here."
She grinned widely and wrote Thank you on my palm, before tugging on my arm, pointing to a stall, and I let her drag me over there. I was still a bit hesitant in helping her, but in the end I went along with it. I mean, that WAS what being a Huntsman was all about, helping people.
We went from stall to stall, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. It became embarrassingly obvious that I was pretty bad at the stalls with the guns. I did well in the ball toss though. I REFUSE to say how I did at the dancing contests.
All in all, it wasn't TOO bad. The young girl was enjoying herself, and I'll admit I was too. It wasn't a bad way to spend the day.
While we were going from stall to stall, I had asked her for her name, since it'd be rude not knowing her name even though I was spending a few hours with her.
She had simply grinned and traced her finger across my palm, writing out the letter N, before giggling silently and running to another game.
"...N?"
Was...was that it? Just N? Or did her name start with N? I followed after her, thinking hard. I couldn't just call her N, could I? It felt so impersonal. Or maybe I was overthinking it. If that's what she wanted me to call her, then oh well.
We wondered around a bit more as I showed around, all the while visiting stalls. It was slow, but after the things I'd gone through the past few weeks, I was alright with it.
The day was wrapping up, and it was time for me to be heading off.
"Well N," I said, turning to the girl walking beside me, "It's getting late. Do you need help getting back to Beacon?"
N shook her head and I smiled.
"Well, alright then. I'll be off. Take care now, and try not to get lost again!"
N grinned and I turned and walked away, heading towards Beacon. I was sure the other guys would have gone back by now, so no sense in returning to town. Unfortunately, I didn't get too far.
I was nearing Beacon when something struck me in the back of the head. Hard. I'm pretty sure I dropped like a sack of bricks, because I was unconscious before I even hit the ground.
When I came to, I was in a dark room lying on a bed, with my hands and feet bound together with thick rope, while my mouth was gagged with a cloth. I couldn't see anything until my eyes adjusted to the dark, but I knew I wasn't going to sit around and wait for that to happen, so I started trying to undo the ropes while keeping calm.
Huh, I guess Professor Port's lessons and stories about being captured by a cannibalistic tribe in Vacuo actually paid off.
That's when I heard a quiet giggle off in the darkness, and froze. Huntsman or not, lessons or no, when you hear something like that, it chills your blood. My eyes darted back and forth, trying to pinpoint the source. My heart was pounding, and I was trying to assess the situation as best I could while trying not to panic.
Then I heard footsteps getting closer to the bed, and N suddenly came into view. I blinked stupidly, trying to process what I was seeing. The young girl giggled again and held up a piece of paper.
My team has told me stories about you. I figured I'd see if they were true.
Oh for the love of-
I let out a curse, which was muffled by the gag, and N giggled again, right before sliding onto the bed with me, wrapping her arms around me and shifting one leg under my own, while the other rested on top. She then laid her head on my chest.
Great, so now I've been delegated to 'personal body pillow'. Fan-TASTIC.
I laid there for hours, staring up at the ceiling. At one point, I rolled off the bed after I thought she feel asleep, hoping I could sneak out. No such luck, not when I ht the ground with a thud, and when she leaned over to pull me back up, she not only bounced my head off the floor a few times, but she was in no way gentle hoisting me back over either.
So that left me to lay there in pain while she used me as an angry body pillow all night, a content smile on her face, and a glower on my own.
Prompt; "Neo ties your feet together, pins your arms behind your back, and uses you like a living body pillow."
Thoughts: Tfw your friends try shipping you with your other friends. Slightly based on a true story, by the way. Brrr. OK, I think THIS is by far the weakest chapter. I don't like it. Nothing was satisfying about writing it, outside of maybe the first half. Maybe. Neo made it difficult to write, as outside of her being smug, she has no personality. But I digress. Apologies for the long wait. I haven't been totally quiet though. I DID go back and edit chapters 2, 3, and 6. Give 'em a re-read, they should flow a bit better now. Also, like the new layout for the AN? I figured this was easier to read and better than one big ass note squashed together. Each chapter is now like this, with the prompt up there and my thoughts about the chapter after.