Neo's apartment was usually quiet. It would frankly be much odder if the apartment of a mute was loud, but it bears mentioning this anyway. None of her neighbors or the other residents of the complex had anything bad to say about her habits. She was quiet, cute, and mostly kept to herself besides attending the occasional party that inevitably went on in a college town. Therefore she was beloved by everyone, much in the same way a small animal is, and with the patronization that comes with such a role.
The only sound that came from Neo's apartment most of the time was perhaps soft music, or the sound of her doing dishes that were perhaps a little overdue (but not enough to warrant a call from a library or anything of the sort). Nothing out of the normal or that would cause alarm. It was ironically a little concerning how normal and how forgettable she was to the other residents.
Except when she was playing competitive video games online against enemy gamers. Whenever that terrible time occurred, she was possessed by a demon, and made full use of her soundproofed apartment after slamming on her 1hp desk that was really being held together by willpower (and a bit of ducktape). Some ragers looked tame in comparison when Neo was infuriated by her incompetent teammates. She had a penchant for flaming her own team more than the enemy when playing ranked in Underwatch, and was notorious for doing so. Even when she was smurfing she couldn't help herself and quickly resorted back to flaming her DPS for not being able to piss inside the general vicinity of a bathroom. All with paragraph long rants that she typed with practiced hand, but with a new, customized insult each and every time.
This infamy, and her nature in regards to online games had no particular cause for existing besides the fact that she had no way to verbally vent her anger or frustration (some of which was sexual). Her home life had been fairly normal and with nothing of note. Even during school, while she was somewhat of an outcast, the school and her colleagues went the extra mile to include her, and she had no hard feelings towards any of the teachers that had created awkward moments by calling on her, getting angry that she didn't answer, and then looking extremely embarrassed when they remembered her major malfunction.
And yet her soundproofing encompassing her apartment had done little work as of recently. Not because it had worn out due to the slamming of her fist on her desk, but because… she hadn't been participating in domestic wood abuse of any kind. Her desk, bruised and battered, was confused and a little afraid of the sudden change of heart. Neo no longer slammed her fist against it when she was killed by a teammate dropping their shield, or not seeing her incessant pings. She instead took it calmly, and typed out encouraging messages which kindly pointed out their mistakes.
She was flamed for it, but she didn't care. She felt like she was walking on air for the last week. Between hearing Jaune's voice almost every night over voice chat, and talking (more listening if we're being totally honest), she was happy enough that nothing the noobs on the internet said or did to her mattered. They could call her mother the biggest cum guzzling whore on the planet when they were in bed with her the night before, and she'd probably congratulate them for getting some.
And now, Jaune was going to come over to her apartment in person to work on the assignment that they may or may not have procrastinated an entire week on. But that was neither here nor there. They were both busy doing… things. Like shooting up the ranks in Underwatch. Important things that would definitely advance their career further and cement their place as a useful part of society.
And because Jaune was coming over, that meant Neo's tiny handheld vacuum was out as she ensured that her place was as clean as it reasonably could be. Which for a college age girl, is about 4.5 times cleaner on average than the apartment of any college age boy, and that was before she had put on her gloves and gotten out the cleaning supplies. If you were to stand directly outside the door of the apartment like some kind of weird stalker, you'd be able to hear the sound of soft music. But not the sound of Neo singing along or humming with it for somewhat obvious reasons. However, if you were to go a step closer, and go full creepo mode, and get out that device you could press against wall to hear things on the other side, you might be able to just barely hear the sound of Neo tapping her fingers to the song on the handle of her vacuum. And, if you were to somehow be able to see inside her apartment (perhaps with the use of cameras that you installed while she was out to classes- making you an extremely questionable person morally speaking and definitely creepy), you'd see her dancing to the beat and rocking out to the soothing sounds of Tornado of Souls.
Cleaning wasn't a torrid affair for Neo, but it did require at least a bit of effort. The majority of which, unsurprisingly, went to removing the numerous (empty) containers of Haagen Dazs that she had a few of lying around in almost every room. Except the bathroom, because even she had standards for where she ate her icecream. But the living room, her bedroom, and even the closet for some bizarre reason needed a removal of the small plastic containers, which were gathered in a large trash bag.
After making a quick run to the nearby dumpster, she was finished with the cleaning and plopped down on the couch, a light sheen of sweat covering her skin. She shifted her bare legs, wearing the shortest shorts she'd found in her wardrobe, and stretched much in the manner a cat does and with even more pomp. She took in the work that she'd done and was pleased. It was now acceptable for guests and she'd have no reservations about Jaune being over with the state it was in now. Even if she was a little peckish from the whole 'ordeal' (it'd taken an hour, max), she was going to resist cracking open another icecream and save her stomach for dinner. Which, if she was lucky, she was going to have with Jaune~
She imagined it in her head perfectly. They'd both be working on the assignment and doing it so well that they finished early, but oh no! Neo hadn't eaten and neither had Jaune, and there was only one way that they could fix the problem! They'd have to eat out at… Dairy Queen? Neo realized at this point in the fantasy that she didn't actually know a nice place to eat at besides Dairy Queen, and then began to wonder if she was actually basic bitch material.
Pulling out her Scroll, she searched the web for good places to eat and quickly realized that there were people recommending McSchnees for a first date place, and therefore there was no way in hell that she was ever even close to being a basic bitch. Ice cream places were normal in media, which meant they were okay… right?
She would've groaned if she had the vocal cords for it, and instead shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts, and re immersed herself in the fantasy.
Yes, her and Jaune were going to finish the assignment at light speed, and have the whole rest of the night to themselves. And… they'd order pizza! Which wasn't particularly romantic, but when she snuggled up against him as they watched the new hit series Ardragon, and he put his arm around her after they were both full, with the lights dim- that would be romantic. Jaune might even get a little handsy. Instead of just having his arm around her shoulder, he might move it even lower, down her arm and to her hip. And maybe if the beers in the fridge (which she rarely made use of, but were there) were to 'assist' matters a little, he might go even lower, and place his large, strong hand on her self-admittedly perfectly round butt.
Neo set her jaws as her hands wormed their way into her pants. Not that they had to go far with how little fabric they were comprised of, but she bit her lip as she felt her fingers in a familiar spot. Normally she would have a whole setup of a towel and KY jelly, but this fantasy was too perfect to interrupt. She was concerned that if she got up the whole thing would be lost, forever! And unattainable.
So she accepted the potential loss of a very nice set of lacy panties that matched her bra and continued fingering herself to the idea of Jaune taking her. He'd try to be a little stealthy at first, maybe rub her hip before he started stroking her bare, smooth legs. Try and make it seem as if it were natural. Nothing out of the ordinary for a classmate to do, really. Just a little bit of skinship between colleagues.
Skinship that he would endeavor to advance by moving a rogue finger that he definitely didn't have any control over up the hem of her shorts. If she were to react at all poorly, he'd blame it on a hand spasm, and remove them, and that would be the end of it. But if she were to react not at all, or perhaps even positively, with a soft breath, nuzzling into him, or a lewd moan-
The fantasy stopped, and she was frustrated with herself. She couldn't moan seductively. The entire plan was ruined! How was she going to win over Jaune if she couldn't even make soft moans to lure him in?! This was a tragedy, a true setback not unlike how the dark ages were for humanity as a whole, where scientific progress was halted and even shunned! An event that would be a strike upon human history, that was what this realization was for Neo.
She'd have to do something to win his attention, something to make him ignore the fact that she couldn't moan which would definitely be a massive turn off for him. Afterall, how could a guy be with a girl that couldn't moan his name when she was getting railed in the ass, face down ass up? But what could she possibly do to distract him from this massive issue?
Her mind ran through the possibilities, on full overdrive, before a lightbulb came on (it was just the living room one, it had a habit of shorting itself on something in the wiring in the apartment, and she'd looked to get it fixed by the landlord but had had ill luck doing so) and she also came to an epiphany. She could be on the offensive! She didn't have to be the one to lure him in, she could be the one stuffing her hands down his pants in a totally consensual manner!
She was standing now, pacing. All thoughts of masturbation and fantasies gone. This was no longer a game. Neo was in the planning stages of a war the likes of which had never been seen before. She'd need to execute this study date (well, Jaune didn't necessarily know the 'date' part of it now, but that was fine) perfectly, without a single hiccup. Which, as an aside, mutes still have to deal with. Along with taxes. They do still have to pay taxes, surprisingly. Had to look that one up.
And so she crafted the perfect plan in secret, and would've laughed evilly if she could have. Perhaps in another universe, she would've made her adopted father with orange hair proud with this magnificent scheme.
Jaune knocked on the door of the apartment, double checking his Scroll to make sure that it was the right one this time (he'd already screwed up once a few minutes ago and almost been pulled into an orgy). And although he was nowhere near the level of a creep, he thought he could hear the faint sound of running water. As if someone was taking a-
The door swung open a little too quickly, revealing a half naked Neo covered only with a towel (which for most people might only cover half of them, but for her went past her knees). She'd spent the last 10 minutes adjusting the towel around her cleavage to show just the right amount off over the towel but not to reveal anything truly terrible, and adjusting her hair until it looked perfectly unkempt. Her body was positively alluring, her skin smooth and soft from her recent shower, beads of sweat and water mingling and carefully tracing along her body, and her body tantalizingly close to being completely vulnerable. She opened her mouth in fake shock before shutting the door most of the way, peaking through the crack at Jaune 'reproachfully', her fake brown eye glaring at him.
And this was when Jaune would look away, bashful, embarrassed that he'd almost seen a girl nude, and was only a door away from seeing her bare skin once again! Neo was reveling in her victory when Jaune gently pushed the door open further, much to her surprise. Just enough to force her to gradually move out of the way, but not to her the like.
"Don't mind me, I'll just set up my laptop while you get dressed!" Jaune said cheerfully, empowered by the power of being around half naked women daily earlier in life (mostly because his sisters just really felt like messing with him).
Neo's mouth was agape as he did what he said, walking to the living room, taking off his backpack and admiring the place. He nodded to himself, but had yet to sit down or face her.
"You okay, Neo?" He asked, looking back at her with at least some concern.
Neo shut her mouth and nodded. Darting into the bathroom and shutting the door just a little too hard. Jaune raised an eyebrow at the action, but otherwise continued getting out his laptop, untangling the power cord, and any number of things that could be used for padding this writing but I'll leave to the imagination.
Neo was inside the bathroom and panicking. Already the first part of her plan had gone wrong, and she didn't know if she could still proceed as normal. Jaune didn't appear phased at all by her almost nude body! This was a serious issue. Was he not even into her?! What if this whole thing was pointless and she was just being an annoyance to him?! Had he entirely forgotten that she was his childhood crush?!
She covered her mouth and composed herself as she slowed her breathing. That couldn't be the case. She wouldn't allow it to be. It was too early in the game to chicken out, and there was always the chance of a late game come back. She'd had plenty of those. And carried her teammates through some of the hardest games ever. Neo could deal with an unconventional 1v1.
All she had to do was get dresssssssssssssssssssssssssssed…
She groaned as she realized her clothes weren't even in the bathroom. She'd been so caught up in (mentally) laughing at her evil plan she hadn't even gathered her clothes. Which meant that she'd have to grab her clothes from the living room.
Neo slapped her forehead. In a manic fit several weeks ago, she'd moved the drawers from her bedroom to the living room so that she'd have space for a minifridge to hold ice cream and her desk with easy access while she lay in bed. Which meant that if she wanted to get dressed… Jaune would see her getting the lacy underwear which she'd ordered online. Lingerie that Neo had ordered for this specific scenario, with more bells and whistles than a three man band that wore collars.
It was no longer often that this specific feeling occurred to Neo, but at this moment, she wanted to crawl in a small hole and die. She wanted to type 'ff, end fast', but she couldn't give up. She couldn't give in while there was still hope for her to take Jaune's last name. And perhaps, she concluded, she could use this blunder to her advantage.
She strode out of the bathroom confidently, drying her hair with a towel as she walked in front of Jaune who was messing around on his Scroll. He glanced up at her before doing a double take that Neo just barely didn't catch. The towel was beginning to slip and reveal quite a nice view of her wide hips, but Jaune's gaze on her body only tightened.
"Hey Neo, what's your wifi password?" Jaune asked.
She signed it to him and he nodded. "Thanks. Neo… Can…not…speak… weird password." He muttered while tapping away at his Scroll. Then, after a moment of uncertainty, his laptop dinged as he was finally blessed with wifi, all the while Neo was trying to show off her body. Wiggling her ass as she went through drawers that she knew didn't have the clothes that she wanted just to have extra time for Jaune to look at her. But after a minute of what she thought was no reactions, she conceded for the moment, cut her losses, and went back to the bathroom to get dressed. She was nowhere near ready to dress herself in front of Jaune, however amusing or potentially enthralling to Jaune it could be.
Her eyes were downcast as she donned her battle gear, with nothing but the sound of the bathroom fan and her hairdryer to sooth her as she stared into the mirror with an Underwatch DPS shirt on (which unfortunately was a little small for her bust size, as they weren't designed for shortstacks such as herself, given that women online are a myth), and realized that she'd brought yet another issue upon herself.
She'd been carefully dodging the issue of Underwatch. Ensuring not to bring it up nor move the topic away from it as to not arise suspicion. Except that now she'd just fucked herself. She had no other shirt one hand to wear, and if Jaune saw it, he'd inevitably get that cute excited look on his face, and ask about it excitedly, and give her a chance to stare into his deep blue eyes…
That didn't sound so bad actually, but it could blow her cover. At this point all she could do was steel herself and continue onwards into a trap that she'd made herself. Exiting the steam of the bathroom, she sat across from Jaune, making sure to give him ample time to peer down the neck of her shirt at her boobs (which he actually did do) and gave him a confident smirk that betrayed her giddiness.
"I finished the assignment by the way."
Time stopped around Neo. She'd intended for them to bond over the assignment and finish early. But they hadn't done the important part yet, bonding. They had no camaraderie, nothing that they could laugh about years later like saying after their third kid, when they were sitting alone after a night of rough sex at a hotel while the kids were being watched by a sitter, like talking about 'Good ol' problem 2b on assignment 3' and that it was how they'd first really begin to know eachother. They'd never have that opportunity now and she'd never become Neo Arc now!
"I submitted it for both of us. You doing okay, Neo?"
Neo gave him a thumbs up as she laid her head on the table in despair. It was a lie, nothing was okay. There was no recovering from this massive failure, one that she'd brought entirely on herself. Her plan had fallen massively short. Just like her aspirations, and also her height. Which was another issue- tall girls were in, damn them. Nobody cared about short girls anymore, they wanted tall amazons to sweep them off their feet and make love. Red haired ones, that were athletic and strong and independent. Bunch of basic bitches, she thought, trying to pin the blame on somebody other than herself.
"Sorry to bother you. I uh… really didn't think it would only take ten minutes. Want to go and get some food?"
Neo's head shot up and she nodded. Perhaps not all was lost, and she still had a chance… They could go out for some nice food, bond over that, come back to her (or maybe even his apartment!) and get at it~
"Nice." Jaune said, shutting the laptop he'd just unpacked and set up, and watching Neo quickly rifle through her drawer for socks.
The reason, of course, that he had yet to take the laptop off his lap, was due to the massive fucking boner he had nearly sticking out of his shorts. He'd played it cool when Neo answered the door nearly naked, but he'd had practice with his sisters. He'd even taken her coming out to get her clothes from the living room quite well (he didn't know why the drawer was there in the first place, but that was a separate issue), but he just couldn't help himself from peering down her shirt at her cleavage. It was just too much to pass up, and he couldn't stop his eyes from drinking it in. Peering into the endless abyss of flesh and desire that no man's eyes could escape from.
He had to get out of the apartment before he did something that he regretted, and truthfully he wasn't that hungry since he'd eaten a few hours before. But it was a good excuse, and Neo seemed happy with it, so there was no big loss on his end.
Jaune had to strain his thigh muscles to kill his boner with all the ass shaking Neo was doing in her tiny, tiny shorts. And only then did he put away his laptop and find some semblance of relief from the indirect attack coming from the cute girl's mere presence. He had to take a moment just to calm down as he made an attempt to not stare directly at the sun that was Neo's perfectly round butt, far too large for her small frame with large wide hips that were practically made for grabbing hold of, slamming his dick into, and breeding.
Neo looked up from the raiding of her own panty drawer as she heard Jaune grunting behind her, and looked back to see him fervently doing push ups. Somewhat distracted by watching her crush doing exercise, she abandoned her current task and crouched down in front of him. She had front row seats to the one man show Jaune was putting on, and she wasn't going to complain about the free tickets. Or the scent he was giving off, which she definitely didn't try to inconspicuously grab a larger whiff of by leering over him. But unsure exactly why he was doing such exercise for no apparent reason, she continued to sit in front of him, unfortunately causing even more issues for the poor boy.
As when Jaune looked up, he had a clear line of sight through the bottom of her extremely short shorts (which might as well have been called orts with the amount of skin they really covered), and directly to her lace panties which were causing all sorts of problems, ranging from the color on his face, to the blood flow in the lower of half of his body. Exercise was definitely one way to cure the issue of sexual frustration, so Jaune threw himself into it even harder, screwing his eyes shut with wingnuts to make sure he wouldn't get another peek at Neo's lascivious panties that called to his eyes to gaze upon even just once more.
Unfortunately, Jaune was a weak man in this universe, and did sneak another glance at the panties- but nothing more. For the moment the crisis had abated, and he could feel his desire lowered to manageable levels. Merely lewd thoughts instead of just horny. Like imagining them cuddling, instead of Neo getting her ass railed while she was ass up, face down in bed.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand as he stood up. Only to be even more confused as Neo was mirroring his earlier actions and… also doing pushups? He was pretty sure that wouldn't solve the type of issue he'd been having if she, you know… didn't have a penis, but maybe she was just feeling motivated to work out? He wasn't going to complain either, with the view down her shirt he was getting at that moment.
Not wanting to draw attention to his own outwardly strange actions, he respectfully waited for Neo to finish her set (with only the occasional glance to the thin slice of exposed back that she had between her shirt and orts, and her captivating cleavage). He hadn't really had a thing for any women at the gym, but if Neo had been there… that might be a different matter. He envisioned her in sportswear or workout wear and instantly his mouth watered with anticipation. Skintight yoga pants, a sports bra, and just the right amount of sweat would make her look perfect. Ideal for post workout sex.
His train of thought was luckily derailed (none dead, but five injured) by Neo standing up, a little wobbly. Unlike Jaune, she was not as practiced in the ways of 'going outside' and 'doing exercise' more than strictly necessary, so she was actually quite out of breath by the time she was done. She did her best to hide it, but unfortunately, her best in this context was not all that spectacular.
Good idea. She signed with a genuine smile, one that melted Jaune's heart.
Yeah, I just felt the urge, you know? Jaune lied through his fingers, knowing full well exactly why he'd done what he did and not at all regretting doing it or lying about it.
Yep, I totally get it. Neo replied in kind, definitely and 100% not getting it.
Now that they were on the same page, they awkwardly moseyed towards the door, with Jaune handing Neo her own keys as she nearly walked past them. She blushed, and immediately felt like a highschooler after doing so and taking the keys. It was just the idea of them both living together, both heading out together after having such moments of intimate bonding (which hadn't actually occurred) filled her heart with such joy that she was forced to turn away from him and squee internally. Sure, her plan hadn't gone at all like she had wanted, but the end result was as good as she could ask for. Surely, Jaune would take her out somewhere decent to eat, like a cafe that she'd seen while seeing basic bitches talking about how their man had taken them to McSchnee's for a first date, or maybe they'd just grab some grub from a food truck near the beachfront and have a romantic walk on the boardwalk! There were plenty of options, and as long as Neo spent the time with Jaune, she knew she'd be happy with whatever they did.
"Oh actually, can I use your shi- bathroom for a minute?" Jaune asked, stopping himself before he said 'shitter' in front of a cute girl (one who happened to say far, far worse things to people on the internet that involved hoses, mothers, and the actions she'd been doing last night to their fictional mother, which may or may include guzzling someone's sperm before swallowing).
Neo nodded and Jaune ducked into the bathroom, relieving himself. It didn't take long, though after dealing with a failed wiggle attempt, he washed his hands. But right before he was about to leave, he noticed the contact holders sitting on the bathroom counter. Curiosity overtook him and he poked them, as if to ensure that they weren't some sort of optical illusion. They obviously weren't, and Jaune mused to himself as he rejoined Neo (who had been wondering how to mention the fact that Jaune's pissing sounded like frying chicken in a somewhat flattering and flirty way, and failing terribly. She gave up on the idea with a small amount of disappointment).
"Do you live with anybody else?" Jaune asked as they went out the door.
Neo cocked and shook her head, with a questioning look on her face.
"Huh. I was just wondering why you had contacts, I didn't know you wore glasses."
Neo's mind slowly grinded to a stop, though luckily her legs continued to function correctly on autopilot.
Yeah, my eyesight's gotten worse over the years. Probably all the reading I do, HAHA. Neo lied on several points. The first being that she actually had 21/20 vision, with the second being that she read a lot. The only thing she read was online smut from Underwatch, and even then that was only if there was accompanying SFM animation.
During all this, Jaune was just wondering why on Remnant Neo had signed 'HAHA'.
"Oh. I think you'd look pretty cute in glasses, though."
A metaphorical referee entered Neo's mind as Jaune TKO'd her in the flirting boxing ring. '1… 2… 3!' The imaginary referee said (who was actually a wrestling referee and didn't know he was supposed to count to 10 instead of 3), watching Neo lay out cold on the ring floor, before raising Jaune's hand as the winner. The referee then quickly realized his transience, and the fact that he'd soon be erased from the world, and he pleaded for Neo to have some way to continue the bit. He had an imaginary family with imaginary children to feed, with an imaginary wife to come home to and have sex with. He couldn't just be forgotten and thrown away in a one paragraph joke, he had so much to live for! On his knees he begged, prayed for Neo to be merciful-
"...Neo? Neo?" Jaune asked, gently shaking her shoulder as they stood in line, ready to give their order to the McSchnee's cashier. Neo blinked away the absolutely bizarre fantasy she had, and was now trying to blink away the absolutely terrible reality in front of her, all thoughts of the quickly disappearing referee gone. Her worst fears had come true. Their first date was at a McSchnee's. She was the basic bitch on Quora.
Neo's eyes glazed over as she stared at the menu before finally settling on the only in-character option she had open for herself, and signed it to Jaune.
"Oh, ice cream? I can ask, but…" Jaune said, looking apprehensive.
"Actually, we just fixed the machine earlier if you want some ice cream." The cashier said, pointing to the large metallic device that broke down more commonly than the condom of a yandere.
"Sure. Just give me a McShnouble, a large fry, and an ice cream then."
While Jaune sorted out the money (as Neo was too spaced out to really pay close attention), her heart pounded. She was staring at his arm, almost like an eagle watching a field mouse from a few hundred yards away, readying itself to dive and claim its prey. And just like the eagle, she snatched the opportunity and wrapped her arms around his own, smushing her assets into him. If she were completely honest, she wasn't entirely sure why she chose that exact moment to do that, but given how Jaune froze mid sentence, she'd say that she still had a chance to steal his last name.
Jaune stuttered as he paid for their meal, before robotically and stiffly walking the both of them over to a table and sitting down.
It was Jaune's turn to space out as Neo moved her breasts around him, snuggling even closer and making the five minutes of pushups he did irrelevant. He had no idea what to say or do with Neo hugging his arm, and had to resist the urge to place his fingers on her soft, fluffy hair that was at the perfect height to stroke. She was a bit like a cat in that respect, where he felt the urge to pull her close, snuggle, and stroke her.
Except that he didn't usually feel the urge to fuck the cat (that was for a Jaune in a different universe, and after far more drama than reasonably made sense).
"So… you play Underwatch?" Jaune asked, giving Neo the four words that she'd been dreading hearing. It was her turn to freeze and pull away from Jaune meekly. She nodded, tight lipped (and more so than a mute would normally be). Under normal circumstances she would have been thrilled to talk about her favorite game, maybe even dominated the conversation for once. But her fingers were tied to her lies, and she had to keep a close watch upon them.
"Cool, me too! I've always been a fan of uh… McPleabargain? I find him a lot of fun, especially when you can actually land shots. What about you?"
Neo was about to sign that she was a fan of supports, and that they were her choice of poison when she had it (and wasn't forced into DPS or tank by her fucktard teammates), but then realized that it might act as evidence for her alter ego.
Yeah, I really like DPS too. I'm more a fan of Beeawoo man, though.
Jaune snorted, and then coughed to cover it up. Neo was fully aware of the territory that came with claiming to be a Beeawoo man main, and had to fulfill her cover or risk being found out.
I like his hit and run playstyle, getting multikills with his katana is pretty cool too. She argued somewhat halfheartedly, her fingers not really in it.
"Yeah, I kinda suck at him, personally." Jaune sighed. Neo nodded along with him, only to realize that Jaune was giving her a weird look. Because of Neo's time undercover, she actually knew that he sucked at Beeawoo man after watching him try and fail to play him (that had been one of three games that they'd lost in total after a week of playing).
Sorry! I just meant that he's really hard! Not that you suck at him or anything.
"Oh, yeah. That makes sense." Jaune said, the mood suddenly awkward enough to cut with a parasol.
Luckily, through the power of the cosmos (and plot convenience), their order arrived at their table. Jaune chowed down on his own food, while Neo licked in much the same way a cat does at her ice cream. Doing quick, small drags with her tongue, all around the frozen milk. With the occasional and semi random super long lick for no apparent reason. She found solace within the treat, her nerves calming down after a stressful last hour.
Jaune unfortunately had to endure watching Neo lick at her ice cream, and it was just as lewd and evocative as she'd made it out to be the week before when they first 'met'. His saving grace was that he had a table above his crotch so she couldn't see his flag being raised far more than half mast. Just imagining Neo licking his dick in place of the ice cream was incredibly arousing, her half lidded eyes focusing solely on his shaft, making sure to cover the entirety of his dick with her tongue and mouth… he'd need to fix this when he got home.
Just like Neo, he also sought solace in his food, chowing down on his burger before making his ways to his fries. Only to realize that after Neo had finished her ice cream, she was snatching a few of the golden cuts from his platter when she thought he wasn't looking. She just smirked when he finally caught her in the act, and took a few more fries as tax for good measure.
Jaune didn't even question why she was doing such a thing. His sisters had done it too and he still had no idea why. Even when they said they weren't hungry, they'd sometimes take up to half of his fries for no particular reason. Though after finally pestering them for an answer over the years, the answer he'd received from Paprika had been, 'because it tastes better stolen'.
This sentiment could be confirmed by Neo, who took great pleasure in 'sharing' Jaune's fries, if you were to take the definition of 'share' from the fucking commies. Obviously if he asked her to stop, she would, but she also knew that he wouldn't, and so she continued taking advantage of his generosity.
Except that when snatching one of the last fries, Jaune's hand intercepted her own, clamping down on it. Not anywhere near hard enough to hurt her, but definitely enough to make sure she couldn't move.
"Gotcha, thief!" He smiled. He then realized that he had no idea where he was going to go with this joke, but at this point it was too late to back down. Especially when Neo's face was redder than the ketchup he'd used for his fries. But nothing came to mind, and he chickened out, releasing Neo's hand.
He looked away awkwardly, tapping his finger on his pants. Only for his gaze to be drawn by Neo's hands moving up to sign.
I'm not the thief. She signed, slowly and deliberately. You are.
Neo wasn't giving herself the chance to think or screw up. She waited for Jaune's response, the one that she knew was coming.
"I'm the thief? What did I steal?" Jaune asked, falling right into her trap.
My heart. She signed, slowly and articulate enough that there was no way that Jaune could misconstrue what she had said. But you can keep it for now, if you want~ Neo added suggestively.
The universe, when about to take action with Jaune, rolled a nat 20. And so Jaune responded 'correctly', instead of being dense, or playing it off as a joke, or having some other issue come up.
"I'll keep it safe." He answered with sincerity.
Neo could hardly believe it. He felt the same way as she did? That was… she didn't know what to think.
I have to see where you'll be taking care of it. You keep it at your apartment, right? So why don't I spend the night and see that you're protecting it the way you should~?
"Sure, it's a date." Jaune smiled.
Neo could hardly contain herself, and decided to latch onto Jaune with both arms to try and calm herself. It didn't work, but at that point she didn't care. For the moment, she was happy. Then, riding off her high, she gave him a quick but hard to miss peck on the cheek. What she didn't expect was for Jaune to return the favor in full. Life was amazing. Nothing could go wrong at that moment.
And all she had to do was keep her cover up, and everything would be fine.
During the walk back to Jaune's apartment, the tension was strained enough that if it was snapped (probably due to a parasol), there was a good chance the both of them would be charged with public nudity… and if the cop was a guy, probably a high five for Jaune. However the both of them managed to keep their respective pants on, despite a few close calls when their hands gravitated towards each other of their own fiendish accord.
But when the both of them were safely inside Jaune's apartment… the tension went slack, not unlike when Jaune had been walked in on during his private time.
…or maybe not in one, very specific case.
It'd been a very long time since he last talked to Thyme…
Neo found herself subconsciously judging the apartment, and found it surprisingly clean for a college boy. No empty pizza boxes, or random food lying about. The floor was actually vacuumed, which Neo was definitely impressed at. So far Jaune was passing all her standards with flying colors. Tall, good hair, handsome, funny, cute… probably had a big dick… the normal standards for a college girl.
"Want to watch something on Schneeflix?" Jaune asked, rummaging in the kitchen. Neo signed an answer to him, but he didn't see her as he pulled out a large bowl. It was somewhat annoying that she couldn't easily call out to him, but this doubled as an opportunity. Not unlike when she had nearly shown her bare pussy to him in the living room, she could use this to her advantage.
She stealthily worked her way across the kitchen and wrapped her hands around his waist (she couldn't do any higher, she was almost the perfect height to just do a standing blowjob).
"FUCK!" Jaune screamed, startled. He'd been so used to living alone that he hadn't expected something to come up behind and touch him. Especially not with such cute little hands. But he was already wobbling and it was too late. Neo grunted as she tried to hold him back from falling but there was just no chance. She came tumbling down on top of him, her large, soft chest pressed against his own. They were still for a moment, just like that. Their breath mingled as the two of them stared into each other's eyes. Felt the other's warmth. And neither could disturb the other's trance.
Neo simply blinked as she enjoyed the close up view of Jaune's face. If she desired, she could lean down, close her eyes, and taste his lips. She knew the both of them wanted it, Jaune had already said as much earlier. He was fully along for the ride, at least for the moment.
...but she was the one to pull herself off of him and stop straddling him. She also did him the kindness of refraining from mentioning the length she'd felt against her butt. Why Neo had given up such an easy layup she couldn't articulate, besides perhaps the fact that it would feel wrong for her to do so.
Jaune coughed as Neo helped him up. "S-sorry about that. Did you want some popcorn?"
Neo shook her head, but any person with pattern recognition should instantly know that this was a fucking lie. Jaune's pattern recognition, however, was lacking, and so he didn't see through Neo's deceit. He went back to robotically making popcorn, and trying to process the last few seconds that happened.
There was an air of defeat in Neo's eyes and posture as she plopped down on what was definitely a second hand couch, with all the incredibly questionable stains on it associated with such an object. She'd had her chance, and given it up. She might not have another one at this rate. All because she was a coward.
"Oh, did you have anything you wanted to watch?" Jaune asked again as the popcorn began to pop in the microwave. This time, however, he was looking at her, so she was able to properly answer without a romcom situation occurring. She signed the answer and he took a moment to think about the motions she'd done and mentally form the words.
"...Thief of Aura? Never heard of it." He responded, tapping his foot as he waited for the microwave to beep annoyingly.
It's an indie film, so there's no reason for you to know. Neo signed. N-not that I'm saying you don't watch movies! Just that um… It's unlikely.
Jaune snorted, watching as Neo broke into a pout. "I don't watch many indie movies. Just not my thing, you know? Ren sometimes drags me along to one or two. Or more his girlfriend, actually. I think she just wants someone to suffer with her. Not that I'm saying indie movies are insufferable!" Jaune said, his turn to screw up the conversation. "Just that some of them are hard to digest and understand for someone like me."
It was Neo's turn to look smug and mighty, which she excelled at and took full advantage of.
The microwave beeped, giving Jaune a chance to turn around sheepishly and deal with dumping the popcorn into a bowl. He sat next to Neo as she navigated his TV with her Scroll, the cursor already over her choice of movie. Jaune turned off the lights before sitting next to her on the couch, their faces and forms illuminated only by the grace of the glass screen.
Neo hit play, and quickly scooted next to Jaune, her head nuzzling into Jaune's shoulder. Jaune felt this heart skip a beat, but it was more manageable this time. More pleasant than terrifying.
At first, neither of them watched the movie, instead focusing on the other's company. But after the opening credits… both of them became strangely enthralled in the amateur production. They were trapped by the media well enough that both of them forgot why they'd been watching it in the first place and simply enjoyed it. It wasn't even planned when Neo began to become genuinely scared and clutched at Jaune's arm- it was just her natural response. As it was for Jaune to pat her hand without looking down. She didn't need to sign or talk to him for them to communicate and enjoy each other's company.
And after the final flying mid air battle between the protagonist and the major antagonist (who was named Fred for some bizarre reason) which had surprisingly good effects, they both breathed a sigh of relief when the credits rolled.
"That was actually pretty good." Jaune said, nodding his head.
Neo just enjoyed hearing him talk, and feeling his body vibrate when he spoke. She nodded in assent. It was hard to make out her hands in the dim light, especially with the almost pure black credits, but Jaune did his best to decipher them nonetheless.
"Yeah, I thought it was a little weird that there was no forced love interest. That's the nice thing about indie films, I guess?" Jaune said with a shrug. "That was an uh… interesting movie overall?"
It grows on you. Neo stated simply, resting her head on Jaune's shoulder once again. She was happy, the happiest she'd ever been. And Jaune could say the same, enjoying just being near Neo and spending time with her.
But even with the libido of teenagers, it was late, and they were fairly beat after a day of cleaning their respective domicilies. Jaune rubbed his eyes and yawned, with Neo following suit not long after. Only for her hand to stop when she realized that she'd made a fatal error.
Her contact was no longer in.
And Jaune had already gotten up and was about to turn on the light. After he turned it on and looked at her, that would be it. There would be no more good times, and he'd never trust her ever again.
Time slowed, but not enough for Neo. Her heart and breath beat in her ear as she spotted the contact by its shine from the TV. She had only one path, or at least it was the only path clear to her.
The plan already formed in her mind, Neo picked up the contact with one hand without stopping her stride as she wrapped her arms around Jaune's waist. His finger a millimeter away from flicking the light switch. He pulled it away and Neo breathed out in relief. Jaune returned her embrace.
The first part of the plan was finished. Neo looked up at Jaune with her eyes half lidded and obscured by the dark. Jaune thought that her right eye looked different than usual, but wrote it off as simply being the odd lighting. She gestured with a finger for him to bend his back forward, and he did so lamely and without thought.
Only for Neo to simultaneously push herself up and him down. Tasting his soft lips, her eyes closed. This might've been planned, but she fully enjoyed her time with Jaune in that moment, the two of them connected in the dark apartment and lit by the dim TV.
Half a minute later, Neo broke off, a little lightheaded. That had not been part of the plan, but it'd been the first real kiss she'd ever had. And she was taking a moment to dispel the debuff.
Now, for the last phase of the plan.
She rushed past him, quickly putting on her shoes before leaving while Jaune was stunlocked. Neo could play it off as being embarrassed and no one would be the wiser. Especially considering that it was mostly true. Her cheeks were flushed as she jogged back to her apartment, touching her lips as she remembered Jaune's. She breathed a sigh of happiness at the memory, and relived the moment once again.
She almost shit herself when a hand clamped on her shoulder. She would've yelled expletives far worse than what Jaune had ever even heard or could come up with if she could, and whipped around to see that it was the man himself.
He'd chased after her.
"C-can I walk you home?" Jaune asked. "I know you're not far, but it's late and…" He trailed off.
Neo nodded stiffly, facing away from him and straight ahead. The both of them walked side by side with a different sort of tension than earlier. One of awkwardness rather than of a sexual nature (but could still be cut by a particularly sharp parasol).
"...did I do something wrong?" Jaune asked candidly, quietly. Neo shook her head vehemently. Jaune was definitely not the issue here.
"Then… why?" Jaune asked, his voice small. Neo looked down. She hadn't considered this part of the plan. The part where she felt bad for manipulating him. Her heart tightened when she saw his pained face. That was never part of her path. He was just supposed to think she was embarrassed, not whatever was occurring.
And this was her fault. This was something she had to right, she couldn't leave this to fester. Not if it actively made Jaune feel worse. She touched his arm, signaling for him to stop. She closed her eyes, breathed, and gathered her courage. She felt shaky as she reopened her eyes and looked back into his, purposefully bathing her eyes in the light of the street lamp so she could plainly see the difference.
"Wait- is one of your eyes different?" Jaune asked, extremely confused. Then, after a few seconds of delicately removing the other contact, she blinked and showed both her uncovered eyes to Jaune. One pink, the other a mixture of white and brown.
Jaune wasn't sure what to do at this sight, except to perhaps get a boner. He could never tell Neo this, but he was actually a massive fan of heterochromia for reasons that he both could not fully remember and also never disclose (unless he was under oath, he had no plans of committing perjury).
"W-wow, you have heterochromia? That's uh… that's really cool." Jaune said, both turned on and not entirely sure why that had forced her to leave.
My contact fell out and I didn't want you to see it. Neo admitted, holding both of them up for him to see on her fingertip.
"Oh… do people make fun of you for your heterochromia?"
Neo hesitated, and then nodded. She had been made fun of, and she knew that before she'd worn contacts that some people actively avoided her due to it.
"I just want you to know that I think it's hot."
There was a pause as it was Neo's turn to be confused. It took Jaune a full five seconds to realize what he'd said.
"I-I just mean that it doesn't change my view of you or anything! Yeah, yeah…" Jaune said, recovering as well as an economy does during a recession. While he babbled, Neo gently pulled him down and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek.
That's for walking me home~ She signed with a smirk. Just before she moved through the door, Jaune's arm barred her way, and his entire body trapped her. She was, somewhat (but not really) to her chagrin, turned on by the sudden move.
"I want you to know that you don't have to keep secrets around me, Neo. Really. And… Since you revealed one of yours…"
You really don't have to- Neo signed, but it was already too late.
"I really like catgirls." Jaune said, resigned to his fate.
Neo wasn't sure how to respond. Was hiding your eye color on the same level of hiding your love for cat girls? She just didn't know. Who was even knowledgeable enough on the topic matter to comment? What expert was there to call and ask about such a thing?
That's fine with me? She answered, a little confused.
"I just um… yeah. We're even now. Any other secrets we should get out of the way?" Jaune asked jokingly, and Neo froze.
Nope. Good night Jaune. Love- catgirls. I… also… love catgirls. Neo interrupted her own signing, shutting the door in his face before she could make a bigger fool of herself, and sliding her back down the door, her face in her hands. She wasn't sure if today was a success or failure, but she could at least live with the outcome.
Jaune started walking back to his apartment, not really sure what to think of the last few minutes. Besides that Neo was even softer than he thought she'd be, and that her lips were… really good? Jaune was simply a confused young man. As he had every right to be.
Especially because he swore that he could remember someone else that he knew with heterochromia, and with her exact type of eyes. He did, didn't he? That wasn't just-
His hand rattled on the knob of the door to his apartment. His plot-revealing train of thoughts that were derailed (no casualties) skidded onto the dirt as he was hit with a more immediate issue.
"Well… hopefully Ren's awake…" Jaune said, sighing and resigning himself to sleep on a couch yet another night because he forgot his keys and Scroll.
A/N: Thanks for reading the chapter and I hope you enjoyed! I was extremely happy with how the chapter turned out, and think it's one of the better ones I've ever written. If you do or don't share that opinion, feel free to share it with me in DMs/Reviews/Snail mail.
On an unrelated sidenote, I now have a commission slot open. I finally finished college and am currently job hunting, so I may reduce the number of slots or close commissions for the foreseeable future, but for the moment I'm still up for it.
Onto reviews:
Guest: Ask and you shall receive.
Memefarius: Ye
DepravedReader2010: Hopefully this lived up to your expectations, I also like the ship and unfortunately think that it is both a) underrepresented and b) misrepresented, so I was glad to have my own crack at it.
Cadmus8: Yeah brother!
Sdphantom10: No clue if/where this will go, so sky's the limit I suppose.
GNetNe: Ask and you shall receive.
T3ras0nofwar: Glad to hear it!