START OF CHAPTER WHATEVER THE FUCK(FOURTEEN)
Two weeks later...
So far, Ariad's days at Beacon had been rather plain. She'd bested everyone she had gone up against in the arena (which wasn't saying much when it was the first week of school. Weiss did give her a run for her money, however), excluding Olivia and I, and was doing just fine in her academics, even staying after class to discuss Grimm biology with Professor Port. It was a subject she was particularly interested in. Brafez and Yang had gone against each other in the arena, the match ending in a tie. They were pretty much forced to with half the arena turned to molten slag, not to mention the fact that the janitors were still scrubbing away scorch marks on the ceiling.
Team LINN, however, wasn't doing so good. Indiana had been falling behind in her academic grades, and as such Nielsen responded by working everyone twice as hard... except for himself. There was a reason for that. Before his acceptance into Beacon, Nielsen had been visited by Headmaster Ozzy over the years, occasionally imparting tidbits of knowledge upon the growing youth. As such, he was more than prepared for the first year studies.
That also garnered unwanted jealousy from certain groups, taking into account that while he said he was sixteen, he didn't look it.
And so, after having a victorious first week for team ABXO, and a not so victorious week for LINN, what happens next, you ask?
Well, Ariad was on her way back to her dorm when our unfriendly resident assholes showed up to harass her. As you can guess, she isn't taking any of that shit. Time for confrontational CRDL scene 679! (Warning; Overly OOC-ness beyond this point. Like, damn, that's very OOC.)
Ariad sauntered down the hall, feeling many a eye on her, both male and female. What could you say? She was a looker. Then Ariad stopped, quickly noticing the sneers directed at her by team DOUCHE. Stupidly, they had decided to stand between her and her dorm. Fucking idiots.
"Look at what we got ourselves, boys. A cat faunus." Ariad felt her eyes practically roll out of her eye sockets by the amount of cliché contained in that sentence, if you could even call it that.
"Your next line is; Shut up you animal!"
Cardin, obviously, was the first to speak. "Shut up you animal!"
"E-EH?!"
Ariad felt her amusement rise from their stunned expressions.
"Next you're going to say; How'd you know that, you freak?!" Ariad stated, her fingers twitching.
"How'd you know that, you freak-E-EH?!"
"In this world, there is one simple rule; Don't fuck with people who are smarter, faster, and deadlier than you will ever be. Wanna know why? Because, if you do, you are going to lose. Badly. Now, if you're done trying, and I mean that in the most pitiful of forms, to insult me, I think you should go back to your dorm."
"Y-Yeah? Why should we listen to you?!" Ariad chuckled, holding her stomach.
"Oh, that is rich! I am giving you a shot at surviving the next five minutes, and you're throwing it back in my face. Typical bigots, don't know how bad things are until they've been fucked sideways. Now, I'm going to make this very simple, and very clear,"
The sound drained from the air, turning the hall deathly silent. A dark aura emanated from her, her head cocked to the side with a psychotic grin that longed for their deaths. She vibrated their eyes until the hall transformed into a sprawling hellscape, tinted red. Apparitions of their families appeared on the rocky ground, dying gruesome deaths.
"If you don't move in the next five seconds, I am going to gut each and every one of you hubris inbreds. You are less than the dirt beneath my feet, the blood on my hands, or a fly on the wall. To me, you are nothing. And if you continue to bother me and my team, I will not hesitate to remove you from the field of battle. I don't care how much you're worth in battle, or how smart you are. If you fuck with me and my friends, you. Are. Dead."
Then everything returned to normal, sound gently replenishing. Ariad straightened out, placing a hand on her hips and smiling a feral grin at the team of inbred fucks. They shook, backing down and making way for the lynx faunus. They were dumb, stupid bigots, but they weren't suicidal. At least not yet.
Ariad walked passed them, running her scroll against the lock and going inside, but not before flashing back one last smirk that would haunt them for the rest of their pitiful lives.
"What's the matter?" Brafez asked, looking at her. She lay next to him, her hands behind her head and her legs crossed. Ariad pouted, a dilemma on her mind.
"It's...well, it's about Ruby, team RWBY's leader. She wants to be my friend, but..."
"But what? Talk to me Ari." She sighed, a small disgruntled look on her face.
"She's so...innocent. I don't want to ruin that, ya know?"
"I don't understand what you mean. Why would you ruin her innocence?"
"Well, I'd either do it on accident... She...reminds me too much of myself when I was six years old." Ariad said rather bluntly, looking at him. He was...startled. The little he knew about her childhood was that it was fucked to eleven, and that was pretty much it. He hadn't pried, or at least tried not to, with a great degree of success.
"And you don't want her to go through what you did?"
"Oh B, by all accounts I should be dead, and not because of my work as an assassin. That shit wouldn't- couldn't happen here. Too many legal ramifications. I mean, shit Brafez...Ruby's still a kid at heart. I can't- won't let her see how bad things can get."
"You're starting to sound like Yang."
"I am, aren't I? Just a big cat trying to hide her kittens from the evils of the world. I gotta realize that I can't save them all, that they need space. I couldn't save poor Nielsen, but that's mostly because I didn't know at the time, and I couldn't save...Dad. He was just so broken after Mom died, ya know? When I ran away he just...couldn't take it." Ariad had tears brimming her eyes, begging to be let out. Brafez placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing. She gave him a melancholy smile, shaking her head.
"You're not alone. It's not just your burden to bare." Brafez attempted to comfort her, despite lacking prior knowledge of what she was talking about. He knew her father and mother were dead, but not the causes, or what she had ran away from. Hell, Brafez hadn't even known she'd ran away.
"Brafez, while I appreciate the sentiments, please, don't you ever say anything that cliché ever again."
"Fair enough. And while I know you know I'll always be here for you to lean on, I just thought I'd give you a friendly reminder. Now, what are you going to do about Ruby?"
"I'll do something...But I want to ask you a question."
"Anything."
"Are you unable to love?"
"What? Oh, well...I guess I just don't understand what love is. It's not that I'm unable to love, it's just that I haven't felt it yet." Ariad visibly dampened upon hearing his words. "But with you, I want to feel it. Don't count yourself out just yet."
"Okay...No matter what B, I'll always love you. Even if you can't...love me back because you don't understand it, I will."
"Thanks Ari. Though if you utter such cliché words again, I'm going to hold you down and massage your ears." Ariad smiled at that.
"Please do. If you don't, I might just try to fuck ya."
"Please don't. It would cause irreparable harm to our relationship." They both let out a hearty laugh at that. It was odd, how easily they discussed their relationship theoretically being smashed to pieces because Ariad tried to rape Brafez.
I guess it comes with the business.
Team LINN's dorm...
Indiana studied Neilsen as he diligently worked away on a research paper from Professor Goodwitch's class. Odd, considering it was combat training. Maybe she could get a better look? Indiana shifted her weight, waiting for the boy to blink before she teleported behind him, snatching his paper and teleporting away.
Before her eyes could make out a single letter however, the paper was cut in half as Nielsen's zanbato split it in two. Overkill much?
"U-Um...hey, Niel-sama...how's it going?" she stuttered out, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"It was going just fine, before you stole my paper and used Japanese wrong." Nielsen mentioned, pulling his zanbato out of the floor and sheathing the big fucking sword. "Now I'm going to have to rewrite that, and you're going to fix the floor."
"W-What?!" Indy shouted in anger. "Why!?"
"Because, I am team leader, and I said so." She glared daggers at him, her whip out.
"That doesn't give you the opportunity to boss me around! Or any of our teammates for that matter! I mean, sure, it's fine on the battlefield, but not on the sidelines! Not everyone is as perfect as you!" Indiana raised her voice, teleporting inches away from his face. Nielsen flinched minutely, taking in her words and processing them.
"I...understand. My apologies. I did not mean to anger you-"
"Well, you did! And I for one ain't taking your shit anymore!" Indiana growled, punching him in the gut. But instead of doubling over, he just took the hit up front, not moved in the slightest. She looked down at her hands, then back to Nielsen. His face was stony. "N-Nielsen, I-I didn't...I'm sorry! I was angry at you and-"
"You have a right to your anger. I was, and I am, not being the best leader I could be. I deserve your anger."
"No, you don't! Stop saying that!" She groaned, sitting down and holding her head in her hands. "A-Atleast retaliate!"
"You want me to hit you back?"
"Yes! Do it! Hit me!"
"If you insist." Nielsen muttered, before rearing his arm back. Indiana closed her eyes, awaiting the incoming blow. It didn't come. She waited, and waited, but it still didn't come.
"Wha-" Indy opened her eyes, seeing his finger inches away from her nose.
"Boop." Nielsen said, poking her nose.
"A-Ahhh...um...what?"
"You insisted upon me hitting you, so I did. You're welcome."
"DUST DAMNIT NIEL!" She pounced at him, whipping his left arm and tearing the sleeve off. Trying to land on his waist was a bad idea, since Nielsen kicked her in the stomach and sent her flying into the ceiling.
"So, I've been thinking up ways to-" Brafez stopped, raising an eyebrow.
THUMP.
"So, Nielsen's finally getting some tail. A'ight." Ariad remarked, hearing several more thuds.
"Doesn't it bother you that your brother's having sex before you?" Brafez asked aloud.
"What, no! Pfft...okay, a little bit." Ariad admitted, causing her friend to smile. He knew her so well...except for the mysterious past thing, but whatever. "You know, sometimes I just want to smash my forehead against yours and just stare into your eyes. Is that weird?"
"Is anything ever normal with us?"
"No...sometimes," she sighed longingly, staring into his eyes. "You don't know how bad I want to fuck you..."
"Ariad-"
"I know. But I can masturbate, can't I? Gotta keep Hymen Buster going, eh?"
"Umm...Hymen Buster?"
"That's the ship with Calypso and I. You know...my weapon... That I masturbate with?"
"Welp, yet another entree into the book of things I wish I could forget."
"Brafez, we've both seen each other naked. At times I find myself wondering if you're a horse faunus in disguise. And please, while rabbit faunus are sexy, everyone can't keep their hands off a cat faunus. I think it's the ears, or it might be the eyes-"
"Definitely the eyes." Brafez answered immediately. She raised her eyebrows at the comment.
"And what about my eyes do you find attractive?"
"You have a good pair of bedroom eyes."
"Oh, so now you're sexually attracted to me?"
"Duh. I've always found you attractive. It's just now that I feel comfortable enough to tell you about it." She held her hand to her heart and let a heartfelt "aww" out.
"Thanks, hun. I'll remember to be on top when we finally fuck." she coyly replied.
"Ehh...sure, why not. I always thought I'd be the submissive one in bed."
"If you insist. You know, technically, I'm a lynx faunus." Ariad said, flicking her lynx ears.
"A lynx?" Brafez inquired hesitantly.
"Yeah, it's a type of big cat."
"Yep." Brafez said all too quickly. He knew how angry she could get over big cats. He didn't know why, and frankly, he didn't give a hoots canoodle.
"Relax B, I don't bite." Ariad smiled mischievously. "Yet."
"So very reassured."
"Yeperoony." She agreed. That's when she noticed something. There weren't any sounds coming from the room next door. Maybe post-coital nappage? "I'm going to go see what's going on in there."
Ariad got up, kissed Brafez on the cheek, and walked out of the room. She knocked a few times on team LINN's door before straight up kicking the door down. "Yo, wazzup- Oh. Huh."
Ariad stopped, dumbstruck.
Indiana was sitting down on the bed. Other than a few scratches, she was unharmed. But her face told an entirely different story. Ariad couldn't count on her hands nor her feet how many emotions were running through the redhead's mind at the moment.
Nielsen stood in front of her, his right sleeve torn to shreds. Indiana's whip lay on the ground beside him. But his arm...why was it armored? Why was he wearing armor under his clothes? Then it hit her.
That wasn't armor on his arm, it was his arm.
"Holy shit and fuck me sideways...You're...a cyborg." Ariad muttered, looking on with shock and awe.
"Hi sis. Yes, I am. I... did not survive past our first meeting." Nielsen responded, taking off his outerwear. "The only human parts left are my spine and my head. Everything else is robotic..."
"D-Damn... I, um, well... I don't know what to say."
"Nielsen, I-I-" Indy snapped out of her reverie, looking down at her knees in shame. The knight said nothing, walking up to her and cupping her cheek. "I didn't mean it!"
"I know," he replied, bending down and picking her up bridal style. His arm felt cold against her legs. "I'm going to explain this situation with Professor Ozpin, and then I'm going to tell everyone. I know I've put them through hell, but...it's only because I care. My body may be a machine, but my heart is human."
"I-I didn't mean to hurt you-"
"Indiana," Nielsen muttered, looking at her with warm eyes. "You may hurt me here," he thumped his chest. "But no one will ever hurt me like he did, here." He knocked on the space above his heart. "I went so long without love, without friends. I never learned how to trust, nor did I want to. And now... You are my friend, Indiana. And Lhu and Natalie. They're my friends too. And Ariad's the only family I got left. I think...it's about time I started trusting."
"...wait, you didn't trust me? Your own sister?" Ariad asked, feeling hurt.
Really, Ariad?
"What? He said it was about time he started trusting. That means he hasn't trusted anyone before, and I knew him!" Ariad folded her arms and pouted, trying to make her argument viable in comparison to the actual situation. "Is too viable."
Did I narrate you speaking?
"Actually, yes, you did-"
Nope.
Ariad looked around, unable to speak. She furrowed her brow, angry huffing and nodding her head.
Glad we could see both sides.
"Whatever you say, dick biscuit." Ariad watched the I and other N of LINN stare her down, disappointed. "Not you guys too..."
"That was mean, Sis. Belittling your brother's moment of maturation. How rude." Nielsen stated, stepping past the lynx faunus and walking towards Beacon's central spire. Ariad watched them go, a huff of frustration exiting her mouth.
"Aw well, time to go write another fic about Jaune getting gangbanged by CRDL. That always makes me feel better." Ariad said offhandedly, stopping as a scroll dropped from above and hit her on the head. "OW! FUCK! What in the devil?"
She bent down, picking it up and eyeing it suspiciously.
"What do we have here?" Ariad muttered, a monocle appearing on her left eye. She twirled a handlebar mustache below her nose, with a top hat descending from the heavens to land upon her scalp. "I shall now start speaking with a British accent, because why not?"
She then proceeded to speak in a British accent so ridiculous, and so bad, that it lost all offensiveness because of how bad it was.
"Ehem, bloody hell! Fish and chips!" Ariad looked back at me, raising an eyebrow. "A-Am I doing it right? I don't even know what Britain is. Is it a children's card game?"
"Ummm...sure. Let's go with that." I answered.
"Wanker!"
"Xeñoirê, I'm reading the script, and I just don't get it. Is this scene supposed to have comedic value or is it just offensive?" Ariad asked, holding up the script. I sighed, grabbing the script and turning it upside down. "Oh! Now I get it! Your supposed to talk with the Author for no other reason than because you can."
"Thank you. Took you long enough."
"Oh, bite me."
I dailed the Author's number into my BlackBerry, waiting for him to pick up. Soliloquy stood beside Ariad for no apparent reason. Finally, the Author stopped being a lazy shit and picked up his phone.
W-What?
"Hey. You want to play pool next weekend?"
Sure. Can I go to bed now? It's six in the morning.
"Kay, thanks."
No problem.
I hung up the phone, putting it in my pocket. Soliloquy and Ariad looked at me with awe.
"What?" I asked.
"Y-You talked with Author-Kun."
"Please don't start using Japanese on me. I understand it, it's just grating on my ears to hear it from a gender-bent me."
"I find that offensive." Soliloquy muttered.
"I find that I don't care." I retorted, adjusting my monocle.
"Have you guys seen Brafez?" Ariad asked aloud, having looked inside our dorm to find it empty.
"Probably fighting for equality with his fists." I said.
Meanwhile...
Velvet really wished these assholes would just leave her alone. Coco was really itching to shoot team CRDL with her minigun, however, the rabbit faunus successfully managed to talk her out of it. For now, that is...
Brafez Rasputin on the other hand...
"Are those real?" Sky Lark, one of the team members of CRDL, asked with a sneer. She sighed. Their bullying was practically ignored by the teachers except for in limited cases, but if she fought back you could but your ass they'd be on her faster than white on rice. It was like nobody cared about the social outcast.
"For the last time, yes, they ar-" One of the assholes made a grab for her ears. A blue blur intercepted his hand, replying in kind with a gentlemanly uppercut, straight into Sky's face.
"AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA AURA!" Brafez exclaimed, punching all four team members in various spots on their bodies, his fists of justice and equality blurs as they rapidly connected. If one listened hard enough, they could hear the racism inside the team curl up into itself. Ha! Take that, racism! "AURA!"
With one final haymaker, team CRDL was sent flying into the cafeteria's back wall, unconscious. Brafez sighed happily, justice having been served. Velvet tapped his shoulder.
"Yes?" Brafez asked, turning around.
"T-Thank you. You should probably leave before anyone sees you, though." Velvet said, looking behind the boy in blue at the unconscious team.
"Right. I hope your day's better from now on, Velvet." Brafez bowed at the waist, crouching down and bursting through the ceiling with a final "AURA!"
"Or something like that..." I shrugged.
"I knew he was my Stand." Ariad whispered in triumph.
"Say, Ariad. Why did you ask me to punch CRDL in the face, not that I have a problem with that request, while yelling AURA?" Brafez inquired, standing behind her. Ariad jumped back in surprise, knocking both of them over.
"Sorry 'bout that. My ass automatically sought your dick. Guess it found it."
Brafez let out a totally convinced "Mhm".
"Not my fault I'm in luv with you."
"Technically, I think it is."
"Whatever. The answer to your question is because, when I was a little girl, there was this show on TV, called JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The main character's Stand yelled ORA whenever it punched something." Ariad stood up, grabbing his wrist and dragging him into their dorm for a not-so well deserved nap.
Somewhere up there...
She brushed a purple strand of hair aside, yawning. A few rays of sunshine slid in through her window, leaving a hazy cloud in the air. Welsha pulled the covers off her bed with a groan, sitting up and stretching. As her hands brushed together, she stopped, lowering her left arm and staring at the robotic prosthetic. It still didn't feel natural.
"Doubt it ever will..." she muttered quietly, getting out of bed. "This whole thing feels unnatural..."
Welsha stripped, getting dressed with quiet efficiency. A few minutes later she stepped out of her bedroom, dressed in a purple v-neck with black pants, wearing a Nevermore feather in her hair. As she walked down the hall into her kitchen, she stopped, staring at a picture.
It was a picture of Brafez and her, before everything went to hell in a hand basket. She felt a sob escaping her throat, and clamped down on her resurfacing emotions. No, I won't break down...
Welsha continued walking into the kitchen after tracing the picture with her hand, taking out a glass and a bottle of orange juice. A ping echoed from her personal scroll. She grabbed it, reading the report.
"Target was seen talking with his best friend- gee, thanks, like I didn't know that already." She muttered with a laugh, drinking some orange juice. "Wow, the Sect's intelligence gatherers suck ass. Well, not that I didn't know that as well. Soon enough, this'll all pay off. I'll finally have my revenge. Then we can be together." She traced the feather with her human hand, whispering her name under her breath.
She turned to a wall, pictures connected with red string on it. The center picture was that of Brafez, and around him were his friends. But, that wasn't what the strings lead to. No, in fact, far from it. They all lead to the Sect's headquarters, with a hastily scribbled 'Revenge' above it.
Yes, she'd have her revenge.
Her brother's death would not go unpunished.
Ozpin's office, late that night...
"Professor Ozpin?" Nielsen asked aloud, opening the door. Indiana stood behind him, her gaze downcast.
"Yes, do come in, Nielsen." The aging headmaster replied, sitting at his desk. The cyborg nodded, taking Indiana's hand and leading her inside. "Ah, Miss Diclomedes, of what do I owe the pleasure to?"
"I wanted to tell her about my...condition."
"Very well. Shut the door behind you. If you want, I will wait outside." He nodded, closing the door behind him.
"If you don't mind, Professor." Nielsen responded, grabbing Indiana's hand and leading her into the middle of the room. Ozpin nodded his head, walking over to the balcony and waiting outside. "Please, take a seat."
"O-Oh, okay." The ginger muttered, sitting down on the floor. Nielsen joined her, sitting down on his knees in front of her. For a time it was quiet, then, he spoke.
"Seven hundred and twenty-one entrees of pain. Did you know that was how many I recorded?"
"...No."
"I would hope you didn't, or else you'd be a spy. I don't deal with spies well. Do you know that the night I met Ariad was also the day I died?" She looked at him, shocked and confused. "Like I said, I did not survive past our first meeting. This...armor, this suit, it is my legacy. As long as it functions, so do I. I am technically immortal. As of now, I am vulnerable."
He pulled off his jacket, setting it on the floor and stretching his limbs. The armor around his body hissed and disconnected from his main form, the synthetic body below it wrapped in gauze. Indiana backed away slightly, stopping as he placed a hand on her arm.
"I am yours to do with as you wish. If you truly mean to hurt me, do it." He tensed, ready for anything.
"Okay." Indiana replied, walking up to him... And wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him. Nielsen stiffened visibly, but returned the gesture after a few minutes. "I'm sorry I hurt you."
"You have noth-"
"Nielsen, shut up. I... always liked the boys. It was always just a casual fling. Once or twice we'd get serious, but it never ended well."
"No offence, but I fail to see how this applies to our current conversation."
"What I mean is that I like you."
"I know. You told me in the Emerald Forest."
"Dude-"
"Okay, I've had enough. You've been touching me in inappropriate places for the past five minutes, and I think you're trying to fuck me. If you are, please, don't. If you aren't, I apologize. Now could I please get back to-"
"Shut. Up." she growled, grabbing his back and yanking him into a rough and animalistic kiss. He tried fighting back, but realised it was a losing battle. "Is that your sword or are you just happy to see me?"
"I-I-"
"I'm starting to think that your head and spine weren't just the only body parts you kept."
"That too is synthetic. Now, could we please get back to the story?"
"Oh fine, get on with it." Nielsen finally got a hold on her, pushing himself away.
"Thank you. Please note, that you're also gaining extra work for that move."
"Dude! Come on!"
"What, sorry, I'm not the one who was groped- Oh, wait."
"Dammit, they always play that card." Indiana muttered under her breath, removing her leather jacket.
"As I was saying... Well, never mind. Come here."
"I hope you won't try to ravage me, my knight?"
"In your dreams." Nielsen retorted.
"I'm a lucid dreamer."
"Tell me, do people dream when they're comatose?" Indiana shut her mouth after that. "Thank you. You remember me telling Ariad and you that I didn't survive the night we met? Well, there's a truth to that. But first, I feel like you should know exactly what happened."
Eight years ago...
Nielsen watched the Bullhead go, the Grey Storm onboard. Once it was out of sight he fell to his knees, coughing up blood and clutching his chest. When his hand pulled away it was covered in blood. He grimaced; his adopted-father's beating had finally gotten the best of him.
"Ami-ne! Get the Avalon Suit on standby!" He barked into his earpiece, dragging himself to his feet. There was no time to waste. His body was shutting down and he'd be dead within minutes, maybe less. Two servants ran up to him and hooked his arms across their backs, dragging him into the dojo.
They hurried dorm the steps and into a series of airlocks, speaking passwords faster than they could be cycled through them. Once they passed through the final airlock into a sterilized hallway, the two servants pulled the dying Nielsen along, bursting through a door and entering a room, prepped for surgery.
"Get me on the table and begin the operation; we don't have much time." Nielsen muttered weakly, being placed on the table before a staff of surgeons entered the room. The last thing he saw was the lights overhead, and then darkness took him.
"Mr. Kanasia? Mr. Kanasia?"
Nielsen awoke sitting with his knees against his chest, in the middle of a white room. He noticed several things. One, he was in a different body. That was about it.
"Status?"
"The operation was a success. Now we're just checking to see if you remember how to move."
"Better than I hoped. How long was I out?"
"Three days."
"You went on the back-up plan I put in place for the company?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Good." Nielsen acknowledged, taking a shaky step forwards. The new body would take some time getting used to, but at least he was still alive. He had escaped his past with the loss of his old body, and he was ready to take control of his life and set out on a new direction. He didn't know where it would take him, but anywhere but backwards seemed pretty enticing. "Marly, get me a connection to Beacon. I want to talk about a new business venture."
"...That's it?" Indy asked, looking at him. He gave her a raised eyebrow. "What? I didn't know if it was over yet."
"Wow...you weren't even listening, were you?"
"What! Pfft! Of course I was!"
"What was the name of my assistant?"
"U-Uh...Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen?"
"WRONG!" Nielsen exclaimed, pointing at her nose. Indiana jumped back in surprise, a shriek escaping her lips. He sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "This...isn't going to be easy. Okay, how about this. Since your grades are so poor, I will make you study, and I will be there to help you. Now, since you don't really seem to have focus, I will play a game with you. Everytime you can correctly respond to a question, I will take off a single wrapping."
That perked her interest, among other things.
"Ah, now I have your attention. Think of it as a game of strip-studying. You study, you get closer to my body."
"What happens when you fully unravel?" She asked, looking not-so-subtlety at his crotch.
"Hmm, good point. Why don't you start studying?" Nielsen quipped as he passed by her, entering his armor. Indiana teleported to his side, holding out her elbow. Nielsen took it in hand, and together they left.
The next day...
"Conglaturations Miss Diclomedes! You passed the test!" Professor Peach announced, holding out her test. Indiana stood up, taking the test out of Peach's hands and looking at the grade. 97.5%
When she looked at Nielsen, he gave her a wayward glance, taking out a small strip of gauze. She smiled and returned to her seat, casting glances at his broad shoulders. If she kept up like this, she'd have him all to herself in no time. Nielsen was not ashamed to admit that she scared him at times. Honestly, he had no idea what he'd agreed to. If it took this to get her grades up, he'd grudgingly do so. Not because he liked her or anything, but because she showed great potential. She just didn't show it.
That night...
"Waiter! More drinkage for the lovely blonde!" I exclaimed, pretending to act drunk. Yang sat next to me, her head groggily held up. Junior nodded, passing me a beer. I nodded my thanks, giving it to Yang.
"Sho, leme get thish straight-" Yang mumbled, knocking aside several beer bottles.
"Go onsh."
"You were able to talk to my second mother, and she signed adoption papers, so now, you're my adopted brother?" Yang asked, sobering up at the mention of Summer.
"Yes."
"Thish a trippy-ass nightmare brah." I nodded, patting her back.
"There there, everything is going to be a-okay. Trust me." I said, passing Junior the appropriate amount of lien and throwing the now-sleeping Yang over my shoulder. "Thanks Jack."
"No problem. Just glad she didn't burn the place to the ground again."
"Who helped you rebuild?" I asked, knowing the answer.
"You did." Jack replied, shrugging.
"Damn straight." I retorted, walking out of the club and teleporting Yang into Blake's bed for shits and giggles. A woman rested against the outside of the bar, wings held tight against her back. She was tracing a lock of purple hair with her finger, sighing heavily. "Yo Hazel, you ready?"
"Yeah...just...just trying to look on the bright side. It's difficult, knowing that she won't remember our time together."
"I'm sorry, Haze. That's how it works. You...want to go visit her?"
"I'd like that, but..."
"Come on Hazel. Let's go." I offered her my hand, smiling at her. She took it, and I threw her into a portal. She flew into Welsha's lap face first, looking up at the startled woman.
"Hi there." The Barsküld said, giving her a small smile. Welsha looked up at the portal, seeing me tip my hat in her direction.
"Well, it's not the first time you've been in that position, so, go on." Welsha remarked, dragging her girlfriend up until she rested beside her. "We rarely see each other, so, why don't we make this last night count?"
"I was already planning on it." Hazel replied, kissing her on the lips.
END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A.N. So, yeah. Welsha and Hazel are a couple, and not just a few days thing, they met seven months ago, and had been going quite steady. Well, since I feel like it, why don't I just show you how they met?
Seven months before...
Welsha hated that she could do nothing. The Sect was responsible for multiple crimes against humanity, and nothing was being done about it. Now she was being sent to clean up their messes and...she abhorred this. It was raining on her way back home, and she had neglected to bring her umbrella. She barely noticed as the rain stopped hitting her, just focussing on getting home.
"Hello there, stranger." She heard a feminine voice say, sounding like liquid velvet. "Seems you've forgotten your umbrella?"
"Seems so." Welsha responded, turning back to glance at the woman behind her. Her breath caught in her throat. She was beautiful. The girl's hair looked like feathers, and a pair of midnight-black wings were out on display. Realizing that she was staring, Welsha cleared her throat and continued walking. "Why're you following me?"
"Seems wrong to let such a beautiful girl get wet, don't you think?" Welsha blinked, taken aback by the girl's tone of voice. "The name's Hazel. You?"
"W-Welsha. Pierre."
"You seem angry."
"I'm not angry, just pissed off."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Because, people are dying and no one's doing a damned thing about it!" She snapped, the girl next to her taking a deep breath, one that sounded awfully familiar. "Wait..."
"Ye-" Before she could finish her sentence, there was a dagger in her chest. Welsha looked furious, anger in her eyes.
"Grimm." She hissed, twisting her knife and making Hazel cry out in pain. Hazel smiled through it and turned to dust, reappearing a few feet away.
"Don't give me that look. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already." Hazel remarked, stepping up to the paralyzed woman and grabbing her wrists, holding them at her sides. When her wings covered them both, Hazel looked at Welsha and smiled.
"What do you want, monster?" She hissed, trying to escape.
"I find you interesting. So full of anger and rage...why not love?"
"Whatever you intend to do with me, you can go to Elsewyre!"
"None of that." The Barsküld whispered, tracing her cheek. "I'll have none of that. You're taking me home, and you're tying me up. Understand?"
"Never! Wait...W-What?"
"We both have something the other wants."
"Like you could ever offer-"
"Look at you... No friends, no family. You're hunting your only brother, all because they want the mess gone. I want a relationship. You want company. Let's compromise."
That's how they met. Sure, it was a rocky start, but it worked out.