"Uh… so why am I here?" Sun asked while scratching his head, blue-grey eyes looking at the ice cream enthusiast.
Before Neo could even think of typing out a response, Scarlet turned to his team leader and replied, "Well, the bird wants you to 'spot' her for something? Though I'm suspicious as to what since we're right by the Beacon Tower…" Scarlet narrowed his green eyes at Neo, who rocked on her heels innocently and sent a dazzling smile his way. She thought it as a victory when a faint blush arose on his cheeks before it quickly disappeared as he turned back to Sun. "But personally, I was hoping you could help me dissuade her from whatever she's planning to do as my pride has already been ripped away."
Sun blinked. "…what?"
"Caramel Crystal."
"Oh! She sure is something, right Nyx?" Sun laughed as Neo nodded and Scarlet groaned. "We should stop by as a team sometime—"
"We are not bloody talking about this right now!" Scarlet screeched, silent giggles erupting from Neo's throat. He mumbled, "Bloody hell is it the most emasculating feeling to… nevermind, would you just flipping help me?!"
"How am I supposed to do that?!" Sun shouted back as he threw his hands up. "I can barely handle Blake without saying something wrong, how do you expect me to convince the girl that Mercury can barely handle on a good day?"
"I don't know!"
Neo rolled her eyes before letting them bicker and beginning her task.
"Look, you and I know both Mercury is a pretty chill dude, and most of the insanity around here doesn't even make him blink. The only person that does make him lose his shit from time to time is that little bundle of sass and judo kicks. With that being said— wait, woah woah woah, Nyx, what are you doing?!"
Neo glanced down behind her to see both boys gaping up at her, and she moved her gaze briefly to her spikes that were imbedded into the side of the tower before shrugging innocently. Removing one claw, she one handed her scroll to type out a response to their silent judgement and let it drop into Scarlet's hands.
{I did say I needed a spotter didn't I? Just catch me if I fall, darlings}
Scarlet threw her scroll back up to her as he objected with such force his voice cracked to an unmasculine level, "But I don't- you just- we can't- why?!"
She looked over her shoulder with one brow raised, her expression practically radiating the response of why not? Inwardly, she was giggling at the distressed noises squirming their way out of Scarlet's throat, and as he tried to form a coherent response, she climbed a few more meters.
"Nyx, you could get hurt!" Scarlet exclaimed. "And there's nothing to gain from this!"
Aw, worried about me? She thought with a smirk as she ignored his cries. The two boys began arguing once more, probably trying to think of a way to get her down. This of course only made her amusement skyrocket, and she listened to them bicker like they were background music while she went higher and higher up. Hey, I could probably climb to the Headmaster's window and spy on that meeting if I hurry!
She made it to the first ledge and pulled herself up so her feet could rest on the small space, blinking her green eyes and smiling devilishly. This certainly is turning out to be a good idea!
A sudden rustling of leaves made her arch her eyebrows, and she squeaked as a certain monkey faunus appeared directly in front of her, hanging upside down by his tail on a tree branch.
"Come on Nyx, we can do something else to have fun," Sun desperately tried to convince her. "Besides, Scarlet's gonna have a heart attack if you keep this up."
"Yes! Please listen to him!" Scarlet shouted from below.
Nyx smirked and jumped to the right as Sun tried to grab her, spiking her claw into the stone wall as she regained her balance on the ledge.
"Nyx…" Sun said in warning. "Come on now…"
She threw her scroll at him.
{But wouldn't it be amusing to see Scarlet freak out? His voice can go to rather high pitched levels, and the bird noises he makes are rather adorable. Plus, you must have fun climbing too, since you seem experienced}
Sun made a contemplative face as he read the message. "Well… you're not wrong…"
"What did she type?!" Scarlet demanded.
"And I do like seeing Scarlet panic…"
"Sun?"
"Yeah… alright. You know, you've got a lot of evil in you." Sun gazed at her sagely, blank faced before breaking into a huge, mischievous grin. "I like that."
Neo winked in response.
"Sun?…SUN?!"
"Heh, I think he's gonna figure out I changed my mind soon." Sun glanced at her as he used his tail to flip himself up to the next branch.
She typed out a response and jumped towards Sun, him reflexively grabbing her hand and pulling her onto an adjacent branch. She balanced herself perfectly on the thin branch as she showed Sun her scroll.
{That's the point~}
Sun laughed at that, and Neo advanced up the tree until she reached the top level of branches. As she leapt back towards the tower and hastily jammed her claws into the divots between bricks, she heard the distinct noise of Scarlet gasping dramatically, so dramatically in fact he somehow managed to choke on air and began coughing furiously. The action was so undoubtedly Scarlet it made her smile. Sun joined her on the tower and smirked at her expression.
"So, Nyx…" she blinked and looked in his direction. "You and Scarlet…"
She cocked her head at him with curious eyes.
"You like him?"
Neo frowned contemplatively, squinting her eyes at the monkey faunus. Like was such a… strong word. Scarlet was a cutie, she had no problems admitting that, and he was quite amusing while flustered, but like? No… she wasn't so naïve to fall for a student. In her eyes, such a relationship was impossible thanks to Roman's connections with the thieving world, and where Roman goes, she goes without question.
Besides, she can control her emotions extremely well compared to her criminal counterparts. Well… when she's in control of herself that is and not influenced by the adrenaline of a fight. That whole ordeal with Yang on the train was beyond her control, and while sometimes it benefitted her there were many times in which it didn't.
But she was rambling, and she was worrying herself over the fact that she was still answering Sun's question in her own head. So she did what she normally does when she broaches toward dangerous territory, and stopped thinking about it and merely shrugged nonchalantly in response.
"Hmm…" Sun hummed suspiciously, still shooting suggestive looks from the corners of his sharp grey eyes. "I guess like is a strong term." Uh, how did he unknowingly guess her reasoning? Creepy… "How about…do you enjoy his company?"
She shrugged again with a cheeky smile.
"Okay, based on the smile I'm going to go with yes," Sun replied with an amused chuckle. When she didn't make any move to respond, he eyed her for a long moment. "You know, Scar normally isn't so doting with most people."
Neo stabbed her right hand claws in between two bricks before whipping her head in his direction. Her right pigtail hit her in the face with the sudden, violent motion, and she scowled at the offending chunk of hair as she spit out a few strands.
Once Sun smothered his laughter toward her misfortune, he climbed a few more feet and continued talking, "I'm just sayin', Scarlet hasn't talked about someone as much as he has about you, and I can tell he enjoys being around you. Just think about it, yeah?"
She felt herself grinning instinctively, but inwardly she wondered if she was making a mistake becoming so close to another student. Well, she was close with other students like Ruby, but not in the way Sun was suggesting.
Food for thought. But the thought would have to wait.
"Nyx! Sun!"
Neo looked down, eyes bulging with some surprise as Scarlet had started scaling the tower as well, his cutlass stabbed in between two bricks while the other hand was gripping onto a ledge for dear life. "I should have known you wouldn't help me with this!"
"What can I say, dude?" Sun shrugged helplessly as he grinned at Nyx. "She made a compelling argument!"
…
…
…
Nearly there. This. Is. AWESOME!
She could see the large curved window of the clock tower, just imagining how she'd perch on the foot wide ledge and peer in with a maniacal grin. Sun was keeping up with her, going brick by brick and not advancing forward to make sure she wouldn't fall. It was a kind gesture, but overall unneeded. She was positive that, if she did fall, she could use her spikes to catch herself on the wall in time.
"This has gone on too bloody long!" Scarlet yelled from about two meters below, having caught up to them in his feverish need to reach them. "You realize we'll be pancakes if we fall now?"
"You didn't have to follow us you know," Sun replied smartly, winking as Neo threw a smirk his way. "Then again, pancakes sound good right about now."
Neo used one hand to type on her scroll. {Careful. Nora might smash you to pieces if you eat pancakes without her present}
"Are you seriously thinking about your stomach right now?!" Scarlet screeched. "And whatever you just typed, Nyx, you're not helping!"
She stuck her tongue out childishly in response, her hand grasping the ledge. Oh! They made it!
Neo lifted herself onto the final ledge and stood confidently. She gazed out at the academy grounds with glittering green eyes and a wide grin. The students milling around were moving dots in a expanse of green fields and grey paths. Looming trees looked like large green bushes that swayed in the gentle breeze. Sun joined her in admiring the view once he stabilized himself on the ledge.
"Look at that view." Sun sighed, a serene smile on his face. He looked down to the still-climbing redhead. "Scar, get up here! The view is great!"
"I'm a little busy trying to avoid death," Scarlet commented with dripping sarcasm. Neo looked down to see him stab his cutlass into the bricks just a meter below them. She grinned at a sudden thought and typed out a note for Sun to broadcast to Scarlet.
Sun peered at the scroll that Neo held in front of him only to see his eyes bulge and his cheeks to fill with restrained laughter. Fist to mouth, he tried to keep in his laughter, but in result, he made a grinding noise with his throat that no one could properly explain and released his laughter with tear-filled eyes.
"Yo, Yo Scarlet," Sun began, laughing through his words. "Nyx is wondering if you're going slow just so you can take a peek up her skirt."
"Wh-What?!" Scarlet squaked, and did the instinctive human reaction of looking up. His green eyes quickly closed and pools of lava poured into his cheeks. "Oh, oh dear, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to look just now!"
Neo pouted, pretending to look offended. She showed another note to Sun. {Are my unmentionables not good enough for a reaction beyond that? Wow. How offensive}
Sun roared with laughter yet again, tilting his head back. "Oh Oum, why haven't I hung out with you before? You gotta stop by more often, Nyx!"
Neo grinned at the prospect. Funny, how just a day prior, she was lamenting over her boredom. While Roman was still imprisoned, which utterly sucked, at least she found a new source of entertainment.
{Sounds like a plan :D}
Sun's smile held a radiance she never crossed before. If she wanted to channel her inner-Mercury, or even Yang, she would say it shined like the sun. It felt good to be the cause of it, in a weird way. Even better that it was because she agreed to bestowing Team SSSN with her fabulous company.
Before they could chat more, Scarlet's hand gripped the ledge at last. Neo grinned as Sun held out his arms. "Hey buddy! Welcome to the top."
"And it only took a healthy dose of peer pressu-" Scarlet stopped speaking as his green eyes flicked upward. Neo and Sun shared a look, wondering what he was staring at that happened to be just a foot or two above them, and turned to see… a window. The window to Ozpin's office, to be exact.
Ozpin sat at his desk, chair turned at a diagonal to stare amusedly at the trio, hands pressed together. Ruby sat on the other side, mouth gaping wide before she descended into throws of laughter. Ozpin's small smile grew wider.
"Well," Sun remarked. "I guess we should have thought of that."
Neo winked at the two observing them before typing a note and turning to Scarlet, who had pulled himself up so he stood in between her and Sun. {See? Was that so bad?}
"My blood pressure spiked, we're staring at the Headmaster of the academy after scaling what's most likely the tallest building in Vale, and I have absolutely no clue how we are going to get down - besides climbing back down, which, I may add, I'm spent." Scarlet made a sour face. "Yeah. Bloody fantastic."
{Aww, Little Cherry is sleepy~}
Scarlet groaned in agony as Sun chuckled at his expense. "Need a nap, Scar?"
"We are officially no longer friends," Scarlet mumbled. "And you're having a laugh if you think I'm scaling back down without my arms giving out. And is Ozpin gonna do something about us just bloody standing outside his office?!"
"I think it's pretty clear he favors Ruby, so she'll be able to bail us out if he decides to do anything," Sun addressed the last part of Scarlet's rant.
{And who says we're climbing down?}
"What?" Scarlet quirked a brow.
"What?" Sun parrotted.
Neo grinned. It was predatory and malicious. {I do hope you've practiced your landing strategies}
Within a breath of a second, Neo was between the two boys. She grasped the collars of their shirts with her hands, and locked eyes with Ruby through the window. With a wink and a kick off the window, Neo and co. were sent tumbling off the ledge and down to the earth.
"AHHHHH I DON'T WANNA DIEEE!" Sun bellowed.
"WHEN I CALLED YOU A BIRD I DIDN'T MEAN IT LITERALLY, LOVE!"
Sun groaned. "I CHANGED MY MIND: THE GROUND CAN'T GET HERE SOON ENOUGH! WE'RE FALLING TO OUR DEATHS AND YOU TURN INTO YANG."
"IT'S A STRESSFUL SITUATION, SUN, I CAN'T CONTROL WHAT COMES OUT OF MY MOUTH!"
Neo heaved a silent chuckle. So overdramatic.
...
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Woah, I actually updated this fic?! I think the apocalypse is here, I'm on a streak. But hey, finally got it done! I don't know why, but whenever I sat down to write this chapter, I just...went blank. Like I had writer's block keyed specifically to Neo/Scarlet. Well, hopefully that's over now!
This will also be updated on AO3 in just a little bit. And I have some ideas for the next chapters, so that's a good sign! I hope you all enjoyed this little expedition with Neo, Scarlet, and Sun!
Happy writing to all, Lonessa out :)