Chapter 21 - What Nico Does in his free time
The following morning, Nico awoke with a tired groan. The first thing he noticed was that Neptune was no longer in his bed, which filled the teenager with relief. She kept her word and didn't cause any mischief that would damage his reputation, much to his surprise. Usually Neptune would like to troll people for her own amusement, wonder what was different this time?
Deciding to not think about it too much, male got up and out of bed, throwing the Covers off him. He looked down at one of his most prized possessions: his Bracers. He had so many fond memories of these things saving his life countless times. As such, he never went anywhere without them, hell he even slept with them on.
Reaching down, Nico pressed a few Keys and brought up the time in Hologram bubble writing form. 'Hmmm, 8:45 AM, just like yesterday…' the male thought to himself, remembering the previous night when he and Compa shared the same bed. How long had it been since they last did that? How long had it been since he last saw her sleeping face as she dreamed in ignorant bliss? Nico didn't know, and that bothered him immensely. It had been a while though, that much was for certain, and to him that was already too long. He was majorly happy that he got to see her beautiful face again, Nico would give an arm and a leg to see it once more. It was one of the few things he saw as beautiful in the world.
Then, memories of last night came to him, and his brows furrowed as images of Neptune sleeping beside him began to surface. Last night, Neptune had taken Compa's place, sleeping next to him through the night. Yet, her face… when one sleeps with a girl, especially like how he did, usually one face is all they can remember, for a sleeping face like that would be the only thing they would pay attention to. But when he thought back, Nico could picture both their faces with perfect clarity, his mind not forgetting a single detail.
Why was that? Nico knew now that another thing those two shared was their similar facial expressions. They resembled that of sleeping angels, having worked long and hard through the day and now were resting their weary wings. It surprised, confused, and flattered him that they would do that to him. To show him such beautiful expressions. When a girl who trusted you enough to sleep by your side without going into… intimate territory, they tend to show things that would make any man's heart heat up inside. Just the gesture alone was an honor, one that many took for granted, and Nico had seen two girls give him that honor.
He wouldn't say he was lucky as that would indicate signs of arrogance and possessiveness. Arrogance for thinking that they would only do that for him when they would likely do it for anyone they trusted. Possessiveness for wanting them to only do that for him. Nico wouldn't be either of those things for one reason: he didn't want to lose their trust. That was a great fear he had, the fear that one-day Nico would lose their trust and never get it back.
Thus, Nico would do right by them, he would make sure to treasure those girls' and their trust in him.
His eyes hardened, Nico stood from his bed and decided to go take a morning shower. When he opened the flaps and stepped out however, a person was waiting on the other end. "You had fun there, dude?" the voice of IF broke him out of his silent musings, making him look up at her. She was still in her PJ's surprisingly, but she looked like she had some sleep unlike the previous night in that Hotel. She wore her Tank top and shorts, but her Coat was hanging by the bottom of the bed, alongside her Boots and phones. It looked like she was in between changing when she had noticed him exiting his tent and had walked over to him.
"Huh? Oh, morning IF, and what do you mean by fun last night?" the male asked her, stifling a yawn in his hand as his brain didn't quite catch up to the situation yet. Which was to be expected of course, he had only just woken up after all. Though if he was awake, he would have seen the knowing gaze the brunette directed at him.
The brunette rolled her eyes at seeing him in this state, resting a hand on her hip and leaning on one leg. "Um, duh, I mean your night with Nep, Nico." She told him, further clarifying what she wanted to know from him as she looked him up and down.
NOW his brain was fully awake, just from the realisation alone that Neptune and his night together, no matter how bad that sounded, had been realised by someone. A million questions rang though his mind, but the male pushed them aside for the most obvious ones. "Did Neptune tell you about it? I mean, she wasn't in when I awoke, so…" he asked her.
"Yeah, she was REALLY happy when she woke up this morning, nearly knocked Noire out of bed had she not woken up in time. The two were chasing each other around last time I checked." IF replied as she remembered the sight herself. Fortunately, she had the foresight of plugging her ears with earplugs this time, so she could get a proper night's sleep. She was mildly surprised that Nico had gotten sleep at all, with how Neptune snored and was a chaotic sleeper, but she pushed those thoughts away in favour of trying to get the answer out of him. "Anyways, you didn't answer my question. You had fun with Nep, last night?"
Okay, Nico could now sense a slight edge in IF's voice as she asked him the second time what happened to Neptune and him for her to be so happy this morning. The male's eyes narrowed as he glared at her, his heart pounding as a wave of indignation washed over him. "I did NOTHING of that sort, IF." He spat, insulted and offended deeply. "Honestly, you think I would do that to someone as pure as her? To any girl without her permission? FYI, we just cuddled together, that's all. Like me and Compa did back at the hotel. Come on, gimme some credit here. What happened to what you said last night to Noire?"
IF looked at him critically, and a tense atmosphere took over… before her lips twitched and she formed a smirk on her face as her eyes danced with amusement. "Hey, chill dude, I was just teasing ya. I knew you wouldn't try that with her even if Nep made the first move. The fact that you don't smell of the stuff is a bonus. Anyways, I'm not mad I'm just curious. Nep and Compa seemed really happy whenever they get hugs off you. What's with that, are you holding a magic hug skill or something?"
With the atmosphere now light-hearted instead of tense, Nico gave a small smile of his own, his eyes filled with mirth as he shook his head. "Nope, nothing of the sort." He said, before his gaze landed back on her. "They say I give good hugs for some reason, though I don't know why."
"Huh, maybe I should try it sometimes." IF mused, before shaking her head to get things back on track. "Anyways, Noire's gone out on an errand, Nep's outside playing tag with Compa and Chian's working away in her factory. I'm going to be on some quests soon, so I won't be back until the afternoon."
The male nodded his head in understanding. Seemed that everyone had something to do for the day. "Alright, you do that, I have to go do my morning routine." He said, gesturing to the Shower room. IF nodded and stepped aside, allowing him to walk towards the shower room, open the door and step inside, closing it behind him.
Moments later, Nico emerged, showered, teeth brushed, face rinsed and dried. His attire was that of his Spec Ops Agent as he looked around and noticed that he was alone in the room. 'Alright, looks like I'm alone. IF said she was going on some quests, Neptune's occupied with Compa, so wha should I do? I could always go see if any Abnormals have appeared and hunt those, but I'd rather wait till my Armour has been finished for that to happen. Hmmm…' Nico thought to himself while moving back to his Tent and beginning to de-build the Tent to its individual pieces before putting them back in his Void Storage.
Afterwards, Nico sat back down on the bed and held his Bracers in an 'X' formation on his lap. An idea came to him as he tilted his head, reaching to one of them and opening his Void Storage once more. Nico saw the list of items in it, and navigated though them till he found the one he wanted, before selecting it and holding his hands out. In a few Datastreams, the item manifested out of the Void Storage dimension into the physical plane of existence: revealing itself to be a Laptop.
The Laptop was an 'Asus' make, which was based in Lastation but had branched out into Planeptune recently. Nico had been requested (read: FORCED) to buy one and some games along with it to have some downtime whenever he found that he had nothing else to do. The Laptop had a mix of red and black colours in scheme, two of his favourite colours alongside orange and yellow, which had attracted his attention when he found it on sale.
It's not uncommon to see companies that should be supporting their Nation's Goddess branching out to other nations to make a profit. It used to be frowned upon by the Basilicom fanatics and there was high tension between them and these companies in the past. Now however, it's an accepted practice, and it played into how the total shares in each Nation were calculated. For example, Planeptune had many Shares from its populace, but thanks to the Guild and other Companies, there were Lastation, even a few Lowee and Leanbox shares detected there. These Shares were added to their respected Nations, thus making the total sum. It didn't matter where the Shares came from in current times, as long as there was faith flowing into the Goddesses, people wouldn't mind it's origins.
With the Console War however, there aren't as many as there could be for fear of retribution by the Basilicoms. While it was allowed, it was neither encouraged nor frowned upon, rather it was treated in a form of middle ground and heavily regulated. The Guilds of Gamindustri had many Agents who lived in one Nation but believed in the Goddess of another, so those who had the tech of different nations generally were them.
Nico himself? Well, he had made his opinions on the CPUs clear already.
Opening the Laptop and logging in, Nico looked through the Apps he had on: Word, Chrome, etc. Usually he would use his Laptop for research purposes, recording evidence from his Bracers in them, but often he would focus on playing the games on it. the list of games he had on this Laptop were as followed:
Halo 3
StarCraft 2 – all expansions
Four Goddesses Online
Right now, Nico wasn't feeling like playing any MMO's, but what he did feel like playing was an RTS game. StarCraft 2 was one of the well-received titles in Leanbox that even got some servers in the other Nations. Nico preferred the Leanbox server, though, as homage to the Company that made the game, Blizzard he thought it was. They were based in Leanbox, but had branched out to Planeptune and Lastation. That was how he heard about the game, and after a few hours playing its Demo Nico bought the entire game, with every Expansion.
He learned more about the StarCraft Universe, like the lore, the history and the events of the previous game and its expansions, as well as the business side of the series. Apparently, it took them 10 years to push out the Sequel to the original game, putting in tons of money, manpower and development time into it. In his opinion, the game was well worth the wait.
Opening the game up with a few clicks, Nico saw the opening screen and grinned to himself, his light blue eyes shining as he went onto the Online Multiplayer there, selecting for a 1v1 matchup. Fortunately, this place had Wi-Fi, and StarCraft was free to play when downloaded unlike Four Goddesses Online.
The matchup was formed and the loading screen followed. The players were as follows:
BlackDEATH675 Vs LadyGH
(Nico – Zerg) (Terran)
The Username of his opponent caught Nico's attention in seconds. He knew that player all too well from Four Goddesses Online. Apparently, this player's gaming time was so great that nobody else could match it, her/his hours, he wasn't naming genders here since he didn't know this person IRL, were insane, to the point where Nico suspected the person had no sleep playing it. The person's prowess was nothing to scoff at either, this player was almost godly in how he/she played, and whenever he/she went on Dungeon raids it was always guaranteed to be a success, even if his/her party members were under-levelled. This person was that good. Of course, Nico made a point not to lose against her, and his Avatar in four Goddesses online had special Mythical class equipment and abilities derived from long hours' worth of grinding, research and perseverance.
For someone like that to be playing an RTS game…
The screen fully loaded and Nico found himself staring at his home base, the default number of Drones already hard at work collecting his minerals. Just before he could play, he got a message from LadyGH.
LadyGH: Hello again, Black DEATH675. It's a pleasure to finally meet you on this game.
BlackDEATH675: Okay, did NOT expect someone who plays MMO's to be in an RTS game. Nice to meet you BTW.
His eyes narrowed as he quickly began building his base, morphing Drones to some defences while quickly setting up some better spawning by making an Evolution Chamber and Spawning pool. He wanted to keep his base safe from any quick rush attacks from the enemy, and this one seemed to have the goddess of gaming's blood running through their veins.
While the male thought of a plan, their chat was as follows:
LadyGH: Yes, I decided to make a change for once, since Four Goddesses Online is running maintenance today. I purchased this game a while ago, gave it a shot, and found you here.
BlackDEATH675: So, you're just starting out? Heh, be ready, these games can get quite competitive, there's a lot of pro players on these matchups. Someone with your skill? Definite pro-player material.
LadyGH: My, you flatter me. Such a gentleman, or woman. Though with your Username I feel that you're a male.
BlackDEATH675: Not admitting to anything.
LadyGH: Aw C'mon, dearie, we're friends in Four Goddesses Online, why not here? ?
BlackDEATH675: Well, you KIIIIIINDA forced me to after you tried to fight my Avatar in PVP… and lost, spectacularly, if I might add.
LadyGH: ಠಠ
BlackDEATH675: LOL beware, in RTS I show no mercy!
LadyGH: I accept your challenge. However, lets spice this up a bit.
BlackDEATH675: Oh? Do tell, ehehehe…
LadyGH: How about a little Wager? If I win, then in Four Goddesses Online you and I will exchange wedding vows, becoming husband and wife.
BlackDEATH675: (O □ O) Okay, what the heck?! You still on that marriage stuff? Didn't I tell you no the first time you asked me to marry your Avatar?
LadyGH: A wife never gives up on her Husband dearie, you should know how stubborn I am.
BlackDEATH675: Well, you got a point there… #Sigh# very well, but if I win that doesn't happen, alright? You already forced me to become friends with you, and I barely escaped joining your Guild.
LadyGH: Once again, terms are accepted. Now, ready yourself, for you will be mine.
BlackDEATH675: Hehehehehe, oh man, you just don't realise what you've unleashed.
And then they were off. During that chat Nico had been building his first and second bases, with a third one on the opposite side of the Battleground with moderate defence. His Main was highly defended against air attacks since he knew Terran players tended to use those Medivacs to surprise the enemy, and with LadyGH as well as his dignity as a free Avatar in Four Goddesses Online on the line, he was taking no chances. The Gaming Skills of LadyGH were insane, as he had previously mentioned, but in RTS Nico could truly show his battle prowess! Strategy formation and changing plans on the battlefield taught him many lessons, which were used to make him one of the best StarCraft Players that hadn't played in Pro tournaments yet! LadyGH would regret challenging the DEATHSTROKE on this matter!
The gaming was intense.
For an accurate comparison it would best be considered as hot as a pool of lava, with the tension radiating through the battlefield, out of the computers and into the rooms that the two players were in. So much intensity was in the air that it would have made lower-ranking players lose their ability to breathe. This was what a game between pros was like, they would lose themselves to the game and enter a world that only they could see. Their senses were heightened, their cells were alert, everything was stacked for them to exploit.
In the beginning, the Zerg played defensive while the Terrans dropped their forces throughout the map, trying to cut him off from expanding too much with the Creep since it sped up Zerg Forces. However, before that plan implemented several Drones had already escaped to the opposite sides, becoming Hatcheries and Lairs. Zerg were spawning there without the Terrans Knowledge, at least until the Terrans launched a radar scan to all four corners of the map, revealing the horrors that lay within.
The Terrans were immediately startled and an aerial attack force was deployed to destroy the Zerg bases. They were beset by random attacks with Zerg structures and anti-air units designed to slow them down, and by the time that they arrived a full-scale battery had been set up and was lying in wait. The battery managed to severely damage the aerial fleet, quickly forcing the Terrans to retreat. They thought they were safe, with their base defences on high alert, ready to strike down the attacks the Zerg had coming.
They were ever so wrong.
It happened without warning, the Zerg came in masse, streaming across the ground and flying from multiple sides. Another Zerg Hive base had been set up at another corner as supply, generating the income for one big wave of Zerg. Zerglings, Roaches, Hydralisks, Mutalisks, Corruptors and Brood lords descended upon the Terrans, who fought valiantly to defend themselves.
In the end however, there was only one winner…
Satisfaction rushed through him as Nico stretched his arms above his head, his grin so wide that it threatened to split his face. The Laptop on his lap showed him the Victory screen of the Zerg, their symbol in purple with the battlefield in the darkened background, a purple light coming from the centre with the words VICTORY in big bold white writing.
Once again, Nico had shown his battle prowess as BlackDEATH675, also known as the 'Gaming Reaper' as he put an end to many people's gaming careers with no mercy given. Much like in battle where he fought against monsters that wouldn't hesitate to bring him down by any means necessary. It taught him that in battle you must be ruthless, to be willing to do what you can to strike down your enemy. It had also taught him patience, cunning, planning and calculation.
Made him one of the damn near worst people you could cross.
Many Players feared him on multiple different games, whenever someone would find him as an enemy, Nico could practically feel how they would stain their pants. The reaper would give no fucks as to who his opponent was, all he would do was fight, and fight to win. In this case, LadyGH may have been a formidable adversary, but the Reaper always gets his prey. This time was no different.
After he went back to the main menu, another chat opened, curtesy of his defeated adversary.
LadyGH: Aw, poo. I lost. ಠಠ
BlackDEATH675: Hehehehehe, I told you. You should never underestimate the Reaper lest you find yourself impaled on his Scythe.
LadyGH: Why is it that you are great at these games, better than many of my top-ranking Guild Members?
BlackDEATH675: Probably because I put skills I learn on active duty to use in Gaming, being a Spec Ops and all.
LadyGH: OMG! You're from one of those branches?! You must be very skilled indeed!
BlackDEATH675: You could say that, though I make it so I'm not well known for one reason #shudder#... fangirls.
LadyGH: …I can see the appeal of that, yes, I do. If those fangirls lay a hair on your head let me know so I can… visit them, for a bit.
BlackDEATH675: Uhhhhhh, down whatever gender you are.
LadyGH: Hehehehehe woof!
BlackDEATH675: LOL, so anyways, now that you've lost no marriage for you. #Grin#
LadyGH: one of these days I'll get you, dearie. #Insert evil witch cackle here# Maybe IRL if we ever meet.
BlackDEATH675: Oh, gods let's not let that happen, I fear for my chastity.
LadyGH: oh? So, you have never dated before, have you?( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
BlackDEATH675: I'm not answering that.
LadyGH: Awwww…
BlackDEATH675: Anywho, how's life treating you?
LadyGH: Fine, I suppose. The Basilicom's being a pain with how it always tries to interfere with my business, though my ranking within it makes them unable to do much but swarm around me like flies.
BlackDEATH675: sounds to me like you don't hold them in high regard.
LadyGH: Oh, it's not that I hate them or anything, they're good people, it's just that they're mostly boring old men who are too stiff and formal for my tastes, even if I'm sort of like that myself.
BlackDEATH675: I see… well, do your best and stick to whatever path you see fit, LadyGH, don't let anyone tell you different.
LadyGH: Oh, I will, thank you for the advice. I am serious though, I really want to meet you IRL. When do you think you'll come to Leanbox?
BlackDEATH675: Not sure, maybe soon. I'm in Lastation with a Party right now, and things here are looking more fucked than the last time I was here. I won't say what happened that time, cause its classified by the Guild.
Lady GH: I see… Very well, I hope that you resolve your business at Lastation. I must go now, it looks like Four Goddesses Online is back up now. speak to you later, my dearie. #Wink#
BlackDEATH675: Yeah, me too, pleasure playing with you again!
With a grin, Nico shut the game down and then his Laptop, closing it before putting it in his Void Storage. The male, despite the weirdness that their conversations generated, found LadyGH to be an interesting player to know. While she did force him into friending her and joining her Guild, he did admit that it was a heathy experience to play with someone who was considered his equal. He may be the reaper, but someone like her, with her Goddess Level Skill, was someone he saw worthy of respect, and he wasn't being funny, but Nico somehow felt that she felt the same way about him. Though why she wanted him to marry her in Four Goddesses Online was a mystery in of itself.
The marriage system worked as such that the two players shared inventory space and had increased healing buffs whenever they hit each other with support abilities. His Avatar's class was an all-rounder with decent stats, skills and weapons to use, though he preferred the use of Scythes, with his black and purple mythical skeleton armour, his nickname as 'the Reaper' was well earned.
When he had fought LadyGH in PVP, Nico had made the mistake of underestimating his opponent in the beginning, which had costed him dearly. Never making that mistake again, Nico had learned from it and played defensively, gauging his opponent and calculating how much damage could be done by LadyGH before going for the fatal blows. Afterwards, the two had talked and before he knew it, Nico had been friended and recruited into LadyGH's Guild: The Goddess Core Knights.
Time passed, and as they talked, becoming closer and closer to the point where Nico could call this player a friend, LadyGH had dropped the marriage bomb on him, much to his shock and surprise. It hadn't taken him long to refuse of course, due to having a reputation as a Solo Player to keep up, even if he was in a Guild. While he had been nearing the limits of what a solo player could accomplish, Nico wouldn't let himself lose what remained of it. The Reaper must roam. Ever since though, LadyGH had been repeatedly nagging him about marrying in the game and meeting him in IRL. If this person was a guy, being married in the game would make Nico feel a little awkward since he didn't swing that way. But if it was a woman, well… Probably awkward as well.
The sound of the doors to the Café opening and closing alerted him to someone coming inside. So, Nico decided to see what was up, standing from the bed and leaving the bedroom.
Noire stood in a separate room, another guest room to be precise. She had snuck in here without anyone noticing, neither Neptune nor Compa had seen her when she came in. Although that might be because they were too busy in the Café talking about random things that Noire didn't pay attention to.
She walked to where a human sized mirror was leaning against a wall, and from her Inventory she summoned a package she had gotten from her 'errand'. She knew that her clothes, form and mannerisms would give her away, so change a bit of her and the disguise is perfect! At least, that's what she was thinking.
The girl brought the package up to where it was level with her chest and reached for the lid, pulling it off to reveal an object underneath. A big smile slowly spread across her face, an excited gleam shining in her eyes as she put the object on them, her hands concealing the object from view. "Ta Da! I bought Eyeglasses!" she cheered, lowering her hands to reveal a pair of red rimmed Glasses on her face. "If I wear these, no one can find out who I am."
"Now let's give these a try. Let's see… mirror…" she mumbled, leaning towards the mirror to inspect her new addition to her outfit. She tiled her head into multiple angles to get a better impression of them, until she hopped back with a bright smile and a giggle she wouldn't let anyone catch her sporting. "Hm…. Not bad… in fact, I think I look pretty good in these." She remarked to herself in a moment of self-evaluation.
The Glasses did indeed add to her appeal. They gave her the look of someone intelligent, and combined with her outfit it made her look even more professional than she did before. It was like she was a CEO of a large business firm, which was ironic considering her position. "I should be able to hide my identity with this." The thought had occurred to her late last night, when she was getting ready for bed. It would be problematic for her if Avenir recognised her like Chian had, and she didn't want her cover to be blown like it almost had before.
Thus, Noire had gotten up before the others, showered, dressed and snuck out of the Cafe to get some Glasses. She had experience in clothes stores from her…hobbies, that she wouldn't let anyone know she had under pain of death. The shops hadn't been open when she got out, though, so she had to wait till one of them opened, preferably at the earliest time so she could solve this issue as soon as possible. Now, she had her Glasses and was feeling pretty good about herself.
"I never really tried eyeglasses on before, but I think I can handle it." Noire remarked to herself as she once again checked her new accessories in the mirror. Fashion was an important part of a girl's routine, something only girls could understand just like how boys understood things only they could. She made several faces, ranging from stern, to focused, to scolding etc, until her face settled on happiness as she hummed happily to herself. "I got that "I can do anything!" look to me. Pretty cool. I should put them on when I work at a desk or something. Heh-heh."
The blackette grinned to herself while a chuckle escaped her lips at the thought of her wearing eyeglasses while signing documents behind a Desk. With how she liked to do everything in a professional manner with her no-nonsense attitude, Noire could totally see herself doing things like that. An idea sparked in her mind, one that she blurted out without thinking. "Oh, right. I should show this to Neptune and Nico…"
Blinking several times, Noire's brain registered what left her lips after a few moments, and her face lit up like a candle as she held her cheeks with her hands. "Wait, why am I getting cosy with them?! One of them tried to kill me!" she exclaimed, slapping her cheeks to try and stem the redness on her face. Though this only made it worse as the blush soon became from the pain instead of the embarrassment.
Soon, she managed to get herself under control. Her face returning to its original colour. A stressed sigh escaped her lips as the girl moaned in fatigue. "It isn't good for me to get close to Neptune…" she mumbled to herself, her gaze aimed at the ground. "And that Nico guy… judging from what I know, that form he takes is one he's unable to control, which means what happened was an accident. If I got too close to him I bet I'd be killed, too…" she mumbled, before some of her embarrassment returned. "N-not like I wanna get close to him or anything! It's just that he's done a lot for my Landmass when I was up in Celestia! Yeah, he has!"
Memories of what Chian told her about the Racoon City Outbreak resurfaced, and her embarrassment faded away into a scowl that scrunched up her otherwise flawless features. "Of course, how could I forget that? Such a horror took place in MY Landmass, with MY people. what kind of C-no, what kind of leader lets something like a Console War get in the way of keeping them safe? Especially from a nightmare like that? Someone like Nico shouldn't have had to come from Planeptune to stop this… and yet he did… the more I hear about him, the more I admire his courage…"
"Noire! Let's go eat some pudding!" A feminine, childish voice suddenly shouted right from behind her. Noire shrieked in shock, completely caught off guard as she nearly fell forwards. After she regained her balance and stopped herself from falling over, the blackette turned to glare at the source of her ire: a mischievously grinning Neptune. Said girl realised what had happened and sheepishly laughed while rubbing the back of her head. "Whoops, did I surprise you? Sorry." She apologised awkwardly.
Anger flushed all other emotions from her mind as Noire made to yell at the preteen. However, it soon turned into dread when she began to wonder what Neptune had heard from her. "You… didn't hear what I was saying, right?" she asked with fear in her voice. She didn't want to have blown her cover so easily, then her pride would never be able to recover!
Neptune's face turned to one of confusion as she stared at the panicked blackette, her mind unable to register what she was talking about. "Huh? what do you mean?" she asked, her previous energetic mannerisms now stale.
This showed Noire that the preteen was not aware of what she had been mumbling to herself about, which wiped out her previous emotions and reinstalled relief into her systems. This was shown by her lacking defensive posture and how her shoulders slumped in relief. "Oh no, Nevermind. I was just mumbling something embarrassing to myself." She vaguely explained in a manner that suggested that it wasn't important.
Though she would soon come to regret that as Neptune suddenly jumped over and wrapped her arms around the blackette's neck, hanging off her like a leaf on a tree branch. "Oh, now I wanna know! Aaah! What kind of embarrassing thing could Noire have been saying? Maybe she was singing a song she had made?! Oh wow, that would be embarrassing!" she exclaimed with excitement. Hearing some embarrassing gossip about one of her friends? Why the heck not, she liked having gossip, you could say she was the 'Gossip Girl'. She was an energetic carefree girl, it was her nature to gossip. Like in the anime when she blabbered something on the internep and got scolded by characters that haven't made their appearance yet!
At both the closeness and the insistence Neptune sported, Noire's face went aflame with a mix of embarrassment and anger as she tried to pry her off. "Wh-What are you saying?!" she shrieked during her attempts. However, let it not be said that Neptune didn't have a strong grip, her grip was like iron, and Noire had trouble prying her away from her. If a certain male Spec Ops Agent were here, he'd be seeing a familiar sight happen to someone other than him. "Who would do such a stupid thing like that?!"
Eventually, with the help of a Crowbar she found by the side of one of the beds in the Guest room, Noire managed to stick it between themselves and push the girl away, much to her protest. Once it was done, the preteen crying crocodile tears while proclaiming how mean Noire was, the blackette exhaled a breath before she gazed at Neptune's form, which was curled in the fatal position. "Anyway, you were here for something else, right?"
At her question, all of Neptune's depression suddenly vanished out of existence, her attitude turning a complete 180 as she shot up and took Noire's hands in hers. "Oh yeah! Here you go!" Neptune shoved something into Noire's hands, and when she looked down she saw that it was a cup of Pudding. Noire mentally blanched, she realised now that this was Neptune's favourite food. But why was she giving some to her?
The answer came to her soon enough, as Neptune continued where she left off. "Pudding!" she cheered, raising her arms high. Noire idly noticed that she had some Pudding as well, in her right hand where does she get this from? "It's really good!" she then got to the point seeing the confused look that Noire held on her face. "Um, I got some pudding from Chian, so I wanna eat with you!" she said simplistically, like that was the key to her plan all along.
However, she was shot down by a blunt "No" from Noire as she shoved the Pudding right back at her. "Why don't you eat it by yourself?" she asked coldly while making to leave the Guest room. She had to distance herself from Neptune, she couldn't afford to get close to her at this rate. Many people depended on her for their survival after all.
She didn't get far though, as Neptune jumped onto her back, eerily similar to what she did before, still with that wide innocent smile on her face. "I wanna eat with N-O-I-R-E! C'mon!" she proclaimed, like it was a mission given to her by the Pudding gods or something along those lines. Her wide eyes full of joy and childish nature annoyed the black-haired girl, although part of her told her to accept the offer.
Unfortunately, Noire crushed it with no remorse and shrugged Neptune off. "#SIGH# I'm not nice enough to spend my precious time to be with you." She stated with annoyance at the preteen. She then pinched the bridge of her nose, before aiming a glare in Neptune's direction. "I'll say it again… eat the Pudding by yourself. I'm stepping out." She said with no room for argument.
"Huh? where are you going, Noire?"
"I'm going for a stroll. I want to be alone." Afterwards, Noire left the Guest room, leaving Neptune alone.
Chapter end
Fairly normal chapter compared to the last few, but don't worry, things will be heating up real soon. ;)
