Chapter 32…
Asher was very warm.
The grey eyed boy was laying on his bed in the dorm, his eyes feeling heavy and stuck viewing the ceiling. Asher licked his dry lips and rasped out a dry breath, shifting his body to make sure his limbs didn't fall asleep. The dorm room was humid, the heat of the sun fighting through the drawn curtains and making the air heavy.
Despite the sweaty situation… Asher didn't dare move. He could have moved if he wanted to but he didn't want to end the strange but pleasing situation he had been quite literally dragged into. Asher was currently being pinned to his own bed by the warm and comfortable weight of Mauve. His team leader was sprawled on top of him, her arms wrapped around him and her face buried into the crook of his sweaty neck; her tips of her lynx ears tickled his cheek a little bit every time she breathed in.
The strangest part was that she hadn't even said a word to him…
It had been a few days since the doubles round and Mauve's training schedule was no longer limited by her teammates' objections. It had been like living with a ghost for the past few days, she kept disappearing early in the morning only to crawl back into bed with him in the dead of night. Asher would have been worried if he didn't already know Mauve and understand her drive…
Today had been a strange exception though. Asher had been left to his own devices in the dorm room, with Sage and Rust leaving to conduct their own affairs. His video games had been interrupted when Mauve stumbled into the room, dressed in her workout clothes and covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Asher barely had the time to say hello and shut off the console before Mauve dragged him onto his bed and pounced on top of him.
Asher had no idea how long it had been since that happened… but the situation he had found himself certainly wasn't a bad one. The fair haired boy returned her quiet affection by clamping one hand on her rear and using his other to gently pet the back of her head. Mauve hummed quietly at the gentle movements he was making, indicating to Asher that she hadn't fallen asleep.
"So…" Asher near-whispered. "You got any plans for today? Other than pinning me to a bed?"
"Meeting my dad this evening…" Mauve mumbled into his neck, hot puffs of air tickling his skin. "But I have a few hours to spare…"
"Mmmmm." Asher hummed with a smile. "Isn't this a waste of valuable training time?"
"Needed a break…" Mauve mumbled.
"Taking a page out of Rust's book?"
Asher felt a blast of heat as Mauve yawned into his neck. "I'd be lying if I said this wasn't inspired by him…"
"Heh… I'll have to thank him for putting the idea in your head."
The two fell into a drowsy silence and squeezed each other tighter. Asher removed his hand from the back of her head and moved it to her back, rubbing soothing circles on her sweaty shoulders. Mauve hummed in contentment and tightened her arms around his chest.
"Can I ask you something?" Mauve almost whispered. Asher was taken by surprise and snapped his eyes open… he was on the edge of falling asleep for a moment there.
"Shoot," he rasped.
"Talk to me about Mary… how do you know her?" Mauve elaborated.
Asher blinked in confusion. "Mary from the coffee shop?"
"That's the one… unless you know another one?"
"Nah… just the one." Asher chuckled. "Why are you asking… seems a little out of the blue…"
Mauve lifted her face off his neck and turned to observe him, hair matted and eyes drowsy. "I have my reasons… but I want to hear you talk first."
"Alright." Asher complied. "I met Mary two years ago… I started going to the cafe whenever I was in Vale and became a regular."
"By yourself? Didn't she mention your parents…"
"Yeah." Asher's face darkened. "They followed me into Vale one day when I was with that faunus friend I once mentioned. That was the day they found out I wasn't devoted to A.F.A.L like they were… they threw a fit in the middle of the cafe… derogatory remarks and all."
"That's awful…"
"Mhmm." Asher agreed as he closed his eyes. "It cost me my friendship and mortified the patrons. I snuck into Vale a few days later and apologized to the staff for their behaviour."
"And Mary?"
"I told them that I was planning to keep my distance… didn't want to hurt the establishment any more than I did; Mary was the one who convinced me to come back… she and the staff knew I wasn't to blame for the trouble that was caused." Asher stopped his tangent and craned his head to meet Mauve's eyes. "Why are you asking about Mary?"
Mauve was quiet for a moment, flicking her gaze downwards for a moment before meeting his eyes. "I think she and my father have become involved…"
Asher blinked. "Romantically?"
"No clue… but I'm pretty sure I saw them together in the crowds back in Amity."
Asher chuckled quietly and laid his head back on his warm pillow. "If you're worried don't be… I've only known her to be hospitable and friendly. If they're involved then your dad made a good catch…"
"I told you I was planning to meet him later… should I bring it up?" Mauve questioned, Asher nodded his head and lifted up his head to smile at her.
"I think you should sit him down and grill him over it." Asher laughed, a smile beginning to emerge on his girlfriend's face as he spoke. "Treat him like he treated us…"
"That'll show him!" Mauve snorted in laughter. Her quiet chuckles evolved into laughter and buried her face back into the crook of Asher's neck.
Asher smiled and shifted his arms. He removed his one hand from her rear and raised his other hand off her shoulders. He moved his two hands down to wrap around her waist and pull her even tighter against him. "You mentioned that you had a few hours… let's start brainstorming some questions, shall we?"
In Team VHLT's dorm…
"Bwaah! Please don't kill me!"
Sage blinked in confusion.
"NO! Time to DIE!"
Sage watched in a mixture of revulsion, curiosity and amusement as another teenage side character was killed by the slasher. He was pretty sure that the movie was called "Gore Fest 5" or something like that… it was a low-budget slasher flick with a shaky camera and practical gore effects… they were dime a dozen.
Sage raised an eyebrow in confusion when he felt his pillow vibrate, the melodic noise of Honey's laughter above him. Sage shifted his head in her lap so that he could peer up at his girlfriend, giggling in amusement at the violence on screen.
"Hey." Sage grabbed her attention. Honey turned her big green eyes down towards him, a look of curiosity present in the twin orbs. "Are you seeing something I'm not?"
"Pardon?" Honey raised an eyebrow.
"That's like… the fifth sexually-deviant "teenager" that got chased and killed… it's like clockwork."
Honey chuckled and rubbed his ears with her hand. "Sage… you don't watch films like this for the quality!"
"Then why watch them?"
"Because…" Honey snorted, holding up a hand to gesture to the television screen. "It's laughably stupid from start to finish… it's hilarious!"
"Oh-kay…" Sage drawled. "What about the violence though?"
"The practical effects?"
"No… every time someone dies horribly you laugh and cheer… should I be worried?" Honey tilted her head back and laughed erratically, Sage felt her small hands tighten on his shoulders. "Honey?"
The blonde girl gave him an unnerving grin, not loosening her grip on his shoulders. Sage groaned in realization and rolled his eyes good naturedly. "You're an even worse actor than these guys are…"
Honey snorted. "I'm not that bad!"
"Hmph, okay." Sage turned his head back to the movie and wiggled deeper into Honey's comfortable lap, humming when she resumed rubbing his ears. As it turns out he hadn't missed much, another lame chase scene occurring with another ditzy teenager.
"Get em!" Honey cheered when the slasher caught up… with a grisly murder following.
"Are you cheering for the killer?" Sage questioned.
"Of course!" Honey answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's what makes these movies fun!"
"You don't want anyone to live?"
"Pff… why would I egg on a bunch of idiot teenagers when there's a cool slasher?"
Sage huffed to himself. "I will never understand you…"
The two were interrupted by a knock at the door. Sage extracted himself from Honey's warm lap and slid off the bed. The faunus boy navigated his way to the door and swung it open to reveal a total stranger. The man on the other side of the door was dressed as a pizza delivery man, the warm cardboard box in his hands being another indicator of his occupation.
He also looked pretty miffed…
"You guys weren't lying about the quick delivery!" Sage exclaimed.
"Yeah." The delivery man huffed, sweat visibly dripping off his forehead.
Sage pulled the appropriate amount of lien from his pocket to pay him, extracting a separate wad to serve as a tip. The pizza man looked a little miffed at the size of the tip, peering down at Sage and raising his eyebrow.
"Really?" The pizza guy groused.
"What?" Sage responded.
"You know how fast I had to run to get here… I had to take a bullhead for crying out loud!"
Sage was about to respond when he felt another form slide up next to him. Sage spotted the top of Honey's golden head as the short girl offered a small pile of lien to the delivery man. "Happy?"
The delivery man looked at his small fortune and nodded, passing the pizza box into Sage's outstretched hands. "Very… have a nice day." The surly man tucked the lien into his pocket and disappeared down the hallway.
Sage turned to observe Honey, the pizza box in his hands uncomfortably warm. "Probably should have expected him to ask for a fat tip…"
"Can't blame the guy…" Honey yawned. "C'mon."
Sage and Honey plopped down on the bed, staying separate to devour their food without making a big mess. Sage turned his attention back to the low-budget horror movie.
Honey was right… it was far more enjoyable when you rooted for the killer…
Later that evening…
Mauve smiled as the familiar taste of green tea made contact with her taste buds. While she had come clean about only drinking it for the health benefits Mauve had to admit she found the taste far more pleasing than coffee.
Her father was sitting across from her, the silver-haired man sipping from his own beverage. Mauve noticed that Argent was drinking coffee, something she had never seen him drink.
"Coffee?" Mauve inquired.
"Yes." Argent nodded.
"I thought that you didn't like coffee?"
Argent shrugged and took another sip. "Perhaps I was just drinking the wrong coffee…" Mauve thought that was pretty suspicious but decided to not press further for the time being. "So, are you excited for the singles round? You told me that your team selected you to proceed."
"I am." Mauve smiled. "I've been preparing myself for the challenge for quite some time now."
"You have always been dedicated… I'm very proud of you."
Mauve retained her smile. "You've always made that very clear."Argent chuckled and held up his cup for a toast. Mauve accepted by moving her own cup forwards, the ceramic containers making contact with a "clink" that echoed throughout the cafe. "Are you coming to watch my match?"
"Of course dear!" Argent nodded. "I'll be in the same seat I was in last time."
Mauve gave him a sly smile and moved forwards to prop herself up on her arms. "Will Mary be sitting next to you?"
Argent froze mid sip and set his cup down. The older man regarded Mauve with a small smile as he leaned back into his seat. "You spotted her from that distance?"
Mauve tapped her face. "Faunus eyes, dad. When did you two meet?"
"After you and Asher left." Argent answered. "I stayed behind to order another drink and she struck up a conversation… she mentioned you were a regular and the conversation developed from there."
"Are you two a thing?"
Argent shrugged. "Perhaps… but that's a discussion we have yet to have."
Mauve smiled and sipped her tea. "I'm happy for you dad." Argent observed her with a smile but looked confused when the smile dropped off Mauve's face. "But I have to do this… may I speak with her?"
Argent had a look of barely contained laughter. "Chip off the old block…" Argent turned his head towards the kitchen and waved at the window. Mauve spotted Mary's brown and blonde head, her light brown eyes peering nervously at the father and daughter. Argent made a beckoning motion and Mary disappeared, reappearing at the kitchen door and making her way to the table.
The pretty older woman pulled a chair out next to Argent and slumped down into the seat. She offered Mauve a polite smile which the lynx girl returned.
"Hello Mauve." Mary spoke in a friendly tone. "You did very well in the tournament!"
"Thanks." Mauve took a sip from her drink. The silver and purple haired girl leaned forwards again and gave the two a hard look. "Where to begin…?"