Neo's umbrella swung around, Eliana batting it down and gripping it tightly, using it to level her shot and firing several off at Neo who dodged the bullets with ease, kicking Eliana in the chest and forcing the girl to stumble away. Eliana found her balance quickly, throwing up a barrier swiftly as Neo appeared. Her teacher's blow was deflected, she swung back around for Eliana with her parasol open, blocking Eliana's barrage as she sprinted in and slammed it into Eliana's chest. Eliana grunted as she slid back, pushing Neo away with a forcefield and opening fire once more, her gravity bullets directing Neo with enough force to turn the battle, one well-placed fire Dust shot and Neo landed on her ass, tumbling a few feet and throwing her hand up.

Eliana dropped to one knee, giving a thumbs up to Neo as she took a breath.

"Did you want to go one more round today Neo?" Eliana asked. Neo shook her head, finding her feet and brushing herself off. "Can I ask you something?" Neo looked at her, shrugging and sighing as Eliana approached her. "Let's say that I have this friend, and this friend of mine is my best friend ever, probably the best friend that a person could ever have. But Nee- I mean this friend just always seems to be watching after me and worrying more about me than worrying about herself. It's the great thing about her, but I don't want her to feel like she has to hold herself back for me."

Neo opened her mouth like she was about to speak.

"I know, right? I'll be fine, so why is it too hard for Nee- I mean… my friend to just keep moving forward? I think that she's waiting for me to catch up or something. It almost feels like she wants me to fall in love first. I'm always teasing her and she never really reacts, so I mean, it's obvious that she's not interested in women. I keep trying to find a guy for her, but every time I introduce her to them she brushes them off for me. They're nice guys, and if Neela doesn't take one of them soon I'll probably end up stealing one of them away." Eliana stared off. "I want her to find one first, then I'll know she'll be taken care of after we leave the academy, not to mention I know that we'll still be friends. I mean, she'll be fine either way, but she'll be better off with a man in her life as well."

Neo prepared to cut in again.

"Why didn't I think of it that way?! It's not that important that we find men, they're overrated meatheads, right? We'll be fine with each other. But, what if she finds someone and I don't. She'll still be there, but I'll be an awkward third wheel and I doubt she'll be willing to share him. Or that he'd be willing to share her. She's cute, but I don't see her being the kind to have an open relationship. Unless he was a really awesome guy and she was into that. We could both have the same guy, that would definitely fix the problem! Though it's not really practical… but I did read it in one of the Ninjas Of Love books that I read."

Neo rubbed her forehead.

"I'm sorry. I just keep rambling on. But you're right. Everything you've said was what I needed to hear. Thanks. All I can do now is just wait for her to find someone on her own time and maybe find someone myself. Can't sweat the small stuff, right? I guess I'm gonna get going and find out what Neela is up to, but thanks for listening and helping me out!" Eliana took off and spotted Neela watching her from the corner. "Neela! What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for someone," Neela told her.

"Cute guy?" Eliana asked.

"Cute girl," Neela said with a wink. Eliana shoved her and Neela laughed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere Ms. Xiao Long," Eliana replied. "What are we doing tonight?"

"I thought that the whole team could head over to my moms' apartment and we could have a celebration of sorts for the end of the semester," Neela suggested.

"You mean like last night's party?" Eliana asked.

"Not even close," Neela laughed.

"Better?" Eliana inquired.

"Better."

"We're here!" Neela announced. "And by we I mean everybody!" Neela came into the apartment with Eliana, Ilia, and Titus. They filed in slowly as they tried to make room for each other and Titus closed the door behind him.

"Gargoyle!" Shadow yelled as she weaved through them and leapt for him. He picked her up and placed her on his shoulders, smiling up at her.

"Been training hard, Shadow?" Titus asked. Shadow nodded.

"I'm going to be as strong as Neela one day, I can't stop training even for a couple of days," Shadow told him.

"Isn't that the truth," Titus said laughing with Ilia and Eliana.

"You're just jealous Titus," Neela commented.

"I'm so glad that you're all here!" Yang exclaimed as she entered the living room.

"We both are," Blake said. "But Neela, can you at least give us a twenty-four-hour notice next time?" Eliana flopped onto the couch and kicked back.

"Probably not," Eliana exclaimed. Ilia sat next to her, snatching the remote up and flipping on the screen as Neela moved into the kitchen and sat at the table, opening her satchel and dumping a pile of hallowed arrowheads onto the wooden surface. She separated them out and glanced back at Blake, giving her a coy smile.

"Mom, do you guys have any Dust around here, I'm running short and won't be able to make into town for more until Wednesday," Neela told her.

"I suppose we do have a little extra in the storage closet in the hallway," Blake told her. Titus navigated carefully with Shadow to the kitchen and sat at the table, Shadow laughing as he did so and swatting at Neela who slapped her hands playfully back.

"Neela, I've been meaning to ask you, how do your specialized tips work?" Titus asked. Blake set the vials of Dust onto the table and Neela nodded at her in thanks before turning back to Titus and smiling at him.

"You mean like my flashbang tips?" Neela asked.

"Right," Titus asked.

"I've worked with my Aunt Weiss for the last few summers now," Neela explained to him. "The science behind Dust is pretty easy when you use it in a weapon normally and figure out how to use your weapon to make it do different things, but in my specialized arrows, I use a more advanced knowledge to get the desired effect. My flashbang, specifically, uses both fire Dust and lightning Dust. The amount used in the tip determines how long before it goes off. Flashbangs have more fire that lightning so that the fire's explosion causes a chain reaction just a second after the tip's been destroyed."

"That's how you time them as well?" Titus asked impressed.

"Right," Neela told him. "Not only does my quiver's forearm control determine what kind of Dust the tip is, but it also determines the amount." Titus looked up at Shadow who yawned.

"Sissy is pretty smart," Titus told Shadow. She nodded sleepily and tried to keep from dozing off.

"Sissy is amazing!" Shadow managed with as much gusto as she could.

"I think someone is getting a little tired," Yang said.

"No," Shadow protested.

"Was that a yes?" Blake asked.

"No," Shadow yawned as Yang took her down from Titus' shoulders. "Mommy Yang didn't sing to me yet."

"Is that what you want?" Yang asked. "Don't you worry about the dark, I will light up the night with the love in my heart. I will burn like the sun, I will keep you safe and warm." Neela smiled as she turned to look at Yang, Shadow was falling asleep on her mother's shoulder and Neela joined in singing.

"Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day, I will be there to take all your fears away. With a touch of my hand, I will turn your life to gold," Neela sang along as Shadow passed out. Yang smiled warmly at Neela and moved down the hallway.

"You still remember Yang's lullaby to you?" Blake asked.

"Of course," Neela said remembering it. "It helped put me to sleep when I was first coping with losing my parents." Blake smiled as she rubbed Neela's shoulders, kissing the top of her head as she brushed past her and sat at the table examining the tips.

"You've gotten so strong Neela," Blake told her. "All of you have gotten stronger since you first arrived at Beacon."

"Thanks, Ms. Bellabooty!" Ilia yelled out. Blake stood up, her face red as she waited for Yang to return.

"Okay, she's in bed now so…" Yang spotted Blake and stopped before reaching the kitchen. "What's up kitty cat?"

"You have to stop telling these kids to call me Bellabooty," Blake said. Yang laughed.

"Which one this time?" Yang asked.

"Ilia," Blake told her. Yang gave Ilia a thumbs up and tossed ten lien at her. Ilia pointed and clicked her tongue.

"Anytime!" Ilia replied. Blake rolled her eyes and sat back down. Yang walking up to her from behind and massaging her shoulders. Blake reluctantly kissed her and chuckled.

"So did you kids bring that board game with you?" Blake asked.

"I could go and get it," Eliana declared as she leapt to her feet.

"We don't have to play Remnant: Conquest," Titus said. Ilia laughed.

"Titus, you just don't like it because you never win," Ilia informed him.

"That's not true," he said folding his arms. "You destroyed Neela last time."

"I still have fun with it even if Ilia is ruthless," Neela chuckled. Ilia crept over to Titus and leapt into his body, sitting rigid and exaggerating his movements.

"I'm from Atlas and I can't be beaten at tactics or otherwise it will bring dishonor on my entire family. I can't be stopped, I'm brilliant and should have been the top of my class and I don't seem to be attracted to women except for some girl from my past that I don't like talking about. Also… wait, that's a joke right?" Ilia said through Titus. She leapt out of him. "You beat me there, I'll give you that."

"You didn't want to say that I fantasize about you in my sleep?" Titus asked with a smirk. They looked at him. "I don't."

"Sure," Yang said laughing under her breath.

"He really doesn't, he forced that thought in there," Ilia told her. She looked at him with a smirk but his face was plain and he stared at her with stoic resolve. "That wasn't true, right?"

"You know I think of the three of you as sisters," Titus said reassuring her. Neela glanced back into the living room.

"Where's Eliana?" Neela asked. Ilia sat on Neela's lap, winking at her.

"I think she went back to get the game," Ilia said. Titus groaned. "While she's gone, why don't we talk about the elephant in the room?"

"We don't need to do that," Neela said.

"What's that?" Yang asked. Ilia smiled wickedly.

"Neela came back the other morning after spending an entire night out with Eliana and boy did she seem to be on cloud nine when she came back in the morning," Ilia told them. "I'm thinking that something happened. Finally, confess your love maybe?"

"It wasn't that," Neela said blushing. "But it was something."

"What?!" Yang asked hinging on her words.

"When I woke up my head was in Eliana's lap," Neela replied sheepishly. Titus coughed hard and Ilia looked at her wide-eyed.

"That's awesome," Blake told her.

"I'd agree normally, but this is Elli we're talking about. She probably just thought that it was appropriate for the moment," Neela said.

"She can be a bit naive Neela, but normally the 'letting you sleep on the lap' bit is a big deal," Yang said.

"I want to stay focused on school for now," Neela said remembering all that Eliana had told her the other night. "I'll tell Eliana when we're both ready for that." Titus nodded slowly and Ilia looked back at her with a shrug.

"Fair enough," Ilia replied.

"Cobalt!" Came a yell behind Cobalt as he was making his way down the hallway. He stopped dead in his tracks, all of his fellow students pushing out of the way against the walls in a single unified movement, Cobalt's mouth crawling into a smile as he pushed his glasses up on his nose, his fingers fidgeting as he prepared to turn around and face his opponent. Was this really the time and place that Titus wanted to call him out? Right here and now? Cobalt hated the idea of making an example of Titus in front of everybody, but he wasn't about to allow Titus to show him up. Cobalt turned around and faced him, looking at Titus for a long moment as Cobalt removed his talisman.

"You've been after me for a long time," Cobalt told him. "But there's no chance that you can possibly be a match for me. You've been trying to take this summon from me for months on end, but today I'm going to put an end to you once and for all. If I destroy your talisman you'll have no choice but to give up on fighting for the rest of your life, they can only stand three losses before being completely obliterated both in their physical and spiritual form." Titus stood unmoving for a long moment before he displayed his own Talisman. Cobalt's face twisted as sweat dripped from his temple and he shook.

"You fool. Did you truly think that I was only fighting you this entire time?" Titus asked. "I managed to defeat another fighter, the one that trained you in fact…"

"No!" Cobalt yelled. His eyes darted back and forth as the sweat began to pour. Eliana had been defeated by such an inexperienced opponent? But how?! Cobalt shook with rage as he looked Titus straight in the eyes, depth he'd never known he saw in the window to Titus' soul and he couldn't find his thoughts. It just couldn't be, he would avenge his master! If Eliana was unable to fight the spirit world was in even worse danger than Cobalt could have ever imagined. Was it still safe, could he still save it? "Then you're now in possession of her talisman!"

"Yes, and with what life mine had left, I gave new life to hers," Titus told him.

"You monster!" Cobalt shouted on the verge of tears. "It's not possible! You must have cheated!"

"You know that I don't care about the spirits," Titus told him with a sneer. "With the power of this one, I'll destroy all of them!"

"We have no choice, we'll have to fight him," the spirit in his talisman told him.

"But Ilia, we don't have a prayer against him," Cobalt told her sizing Titus up.

"We do if we work together," she told him. He gave a cocky smirk and held the card out in front of his, holding it parallel to the ground as Titus did the same.

"There's no way he can win!" Rowan exclaimed.

"What choice does he have?" Vin asked standing beside Rowan in the crowd of onlookers. "He's a Spirit Wielder, it's his duty to protect the spirits with his life!" Titus laughed as he ran his thumb over the top of the card, it shattered in his hand, the symbol burned into his palm as his spirit was summoned and he held her close with a chain.

"Neela!" Cobalt shouted. "What did you do to her?" Titus chuckled under his breath and turned up his nose.

"You know the rules, my spirit appears in a form of my choosing," Titus reminded him. "Too much skin for you?" Neela's normal attire had been replaced with something similar to a toga, large tears ran across it, revealing her midriff and threatening to release her breasts.

"Cobalt, stop hesitating!" Ilia yelled at him. He shook it off and summoned her in a similar manner, taking a step back as she was summoned, her blades at the ready.

"Can't you see that it's too late to beat me? To save them?" He asked. Titus yanked hard on the chains, Neela stumbling before firing an arrow off that narrowly missed Ilia but drew blood anyway. It was like the arrow had passed her before she'd even had time to react, and she flinched in pain, another arrow striking her just above the kneecap and forcing her to the ground. Cobalt watched in horror for a moment as Neela drew back another arrow and he quickly grabbed Ilia, the third arrow passing through his chest. The crowd gasped as they watched in horror, Cobalt doubled over and fell to his chest, coughing up blood.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"He absorbed her into his body to save her," answered another.

"I didn't know that was possible," Rowan said.

"It's her power," Vin replied.

"But why would he sacrifice himself like that?" Rowan inquired.

"Nothing matters more to Cobalt than saving these spirits," someone else in the crowd added. An arrow struck Cobalt's shoulder and he fell to the ground, his body in immense pain as he could hear Ilia's voice speak to him.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"I swore that I'd protect you even if it meant that I died first," he told her.

"You can't hold out as long as I can and I don't want to see you end your life this way!" She exclaimed.

"I have an idea," he told her staring up at Titus from the floor.

"There's no stopping me," Titus said. "I think next I might make that spirit you have my personal slave!"

"You won't lay a hand on her," Cobalt told him trying to struggle to his feet. "I'm going to stop you!"

"You know that Neela's power is supernatural sight!" Titus warned. "Don't do anything stupid and if you just hand her over, I might allow you to live." Neela slowly made her way to Cobalt and drew her arrow, prepared to put it through his head. "I'm not going to count to three."

"Do it then," Cobalt demanded. Moments before Neela could land the fateful blow Ilia leapt from Cobalt to Neela, taking the new host and hitting Titus in the middle of the chest with an arrow. Titus stumbled back, touching the blood on his chest in shock.

"Impossible," Titus groaned. He fell back, sliding away from them as he attempted to grip Neela's chain but it slipped from his grasp and she trained another arrow on him. Titus gritted his teeth and found his feet quickly, turning tail and running down the hallway. "This isn't the last that you'll see of me!" He disappeared in the crowd and everything seemed to return to normal, Neela turning to Cobalt so that he could undo her shackles. She pressed against his body, her breasts against his torso as he looked down at her.

"Is there anything that I can do to repay you?" She asked. He cleared his throat and looked away.

"Justice is really its own reward," he told her. "But I can probably think of something if you insist."

"Oh, I insist," she told him.

"Wake up Cobalt!" Someone yelled near him. His eyes slowly opened and he found himself sitting in a small room near Neela, she fixed a pearl necklace that hung from her neck as she looked herself over in the mirror. "For Remnant's best assassin, I'm a little surprised by the fact that you aren't all that punctual." Cobalt stood and stretched, moving to the closet and removing his suit, putting it on as Neela checked her scroll. "We have ten minutes to arrive."

"Then it's a good thing that we got a room across from the venue," he told her as he strained, tying his shoes. He smirked up at her as he polished the tips and admired his handiwork. "And how dare you question the methods of the best assassin in Remnant." He stood, giving her a smile that was met with indifference and kissed her on the lips. "Ready?"

"Once you sync your watch up," Neela told him. "I've been ready for at least fifteen minutes now."

"Let's go," he told her. They left the hotel, the museum across the road was already bustling as the event had started nearly thirty minutes ago, and Cobalt handed his briefcase over to security as he reached the door, they looked it over and examined the money. They nodded to each other, handing it back over and Cobalt smiled. "My wife's going to end up spending all of this." One of the men chuckled and she winked at them.

"I always do," Neela said. They entered and Neela stayed close, using her scroll to upload information to his implant, an alternative that he designed that was more obscure than his old visor. She tagged their target and she whispered deep into his ear. "Technology is truly amazing."

"When you can get it to work to its fullest potential in your favor," Cobalt told her.

"Tell me again how it works?" She asked.

"No one in here thinks to turn off their GPS, why would they?" Cobalt asked. "Not to mention that the only way to open the compartment in the bottom of the briefcase is using the electromagnet in my pocket." Neela nudged him, silencing him and he glanced to where she'd looked.

"Looks like we have company," Neela told him. Lykos. The man worked in the shadows as Cobalt did, and it was hard to know whether or not he was there to protect the mark or take him out. "I'm wondering how he got in here."

"Wouldn't that be like asking how we got in here?" Cobalt asked.

"We've never been caught," Neela said. It was true, Lykos had more kills to his record, but Cobalt was known by a collective moniker of assumed kills. Lykos was good but sloppy. They entered the next room where they found their target admiring one of the paintings on the wall and Neela approached him.

"You must be the General of the Atlas Army, Titus Prasinos, right?" She asked as she approached him. Cobalt left her, proceeding through the building to one of the back conference rooms. "I love a man in uniform."

"Then it would seem that you're in luck," Titus told Neela taking her hand. "Care if I buy you a drink?"

"I would hate to impose," she said. He smirked.

"For a beautiful woman such as yourself? Nonsense, I'd be glad to," he said. She smiled at him and she held his hand daintily.

"Shall we?" She asked.

"Thank you," Cobalt said to the woman as he nodded to her. She held the door open for him, waiting until he was fully seated to close and lock the door behind. He smiled, looking across the table at the man he was supposed to be meeting as a diversion from his real target. He reached across the table, shaking his hand as he looked at the two bodyguards beside the man. He'd have to kill the decoy first and then deal with the bodyguards separately. It would be simple enough and his contacts processed the exact numbers needed as he opened the briefcase and displayed the contents. "You need to hold up your end of the deal or all of this money is going to disappear, and I'd hate to have to do so."

"I can tell that you're a man of your word," Vincent said. He looked up at his men and waved his hand lazily. "Orin. Rowan. Bring the man what he wants." The men left for a moment, Cobalt stayed his blade to make sure that they had the product, a briefcase that was slightly larger than his own slammed down onto the wooden surface and Orin pulled it open, revealing several vials of Dread. Vincent sat up and placed his elbows on the table. "I think this had ended up being most profitable for the best of us. And to think that I was worried that you'd try…" The woman at the door cut him off, her hair pick penetrating his neck and he flailed back, unable to breathe as he gripped the long plastic prods that were pierced deep in his throat. The two men attempted to open fire, only to have the woman shoot one of the Dread vials.

"You might want to hold your breath," she said. He removed his electromagnet from his coat pocket and tried to open the secret compartment but it failed and he glanced back, noting that she must have somehow switched his out as she held the exact case in her hands. He swung the fake around, missing her but using it as padding as he slammed her through the door just before the Dread reached them. The men behind them screamed and he glanced back, a mistake as the assassin kicked his back and he slid for a moment. He looked back up to find that she was gone and muttered under his breath as he sent a message to Neela on his scroll.

Ilia is here also. We need to end this quickly.

"Too many killers after your mark?" Lykos said behind Cobalt. He spun around, removing the pistol that he brought for backup and Lykos chuckled as he diverted the shots with ease. People ducked as the gun was fired, screaming and scattering as the fight began. His fist met Cobalt's nose as he failed to react in time and he stumbled away, a shot narrowly missing Lykos knee as he brought it up and slammed it into Cobalt's jaw. "There's a reason that they all know my name and fear me, but they know nothing about you. You're too clean. There's nothing clean about murder."

"So you're working with Ilia?" Cobalt asked.

"Pretty perceptive," Lykos said. "We'll do what we need if it means getting the job done." Lykos dodged a shot, whipping the gun away and swinging it back around, only to slam it against the side of Cobalt's face. "But you must be getting sloppy if you didn't notice that your suitcase was exchanged at some point."

"Are you sure about that?" Cobalt asked.

"I need to get you out of here sooner than later Titus," Neela explained. "I needed to earn your trust, but there's a woman headed this way with a suitcase that we believe to contain a bomb. I'm sure you've heard of Ilia and Lykos, both of the assassins have been plaguing and avoiding your military for years on end now. We need to keep you in the building for now until we can clear a route."

"How would you know all this?" Titus asked. Neela presented a fake badge that listed her employer as a Council Secret Service agent from Vale. Did she work directly under Ruby? He'd never seen her. "I don't believe you."

"Because you've never seen me with Mrs. Rose-Schnee?" Neela asked. "Isn't that the point though?" He hesitated until he spotted Ilia rounding the corner with the briefcase, walking slowly and avoiding any suspicion from the rest of the attendees, though a large mass of them seemed to be fleeing the other room. "It's your choice, but the fact that you're in her line of sight and she hasn't killed you yet surprises me." He nodded and turned around.

"Take me to safety," he told her. She nodded, grabbing his arm and leading him into a side room that appeared to be used for storage of extra paintings and she moved to the door, peering through the crack.

"Once the coast is clear I'll come back for you and we'll transport you to a safe house for the time being," she told him. He gave her a nod and she slipped out of the room, greeted by a butterfly knife that she caught inches from her chest. She flipped it around in her hand, killing the man that approached her on the right before throwing it back at Ilia. The killer from Vacuo caught it and placed it back in her pouch, setting down the case and cracking her neck.

"A bomb?" Ilia asked. "That seems a bit much even for you and Cobalt."

"High priority target, biggest one yet. We need to ensure that the job is complete," Neela explained. Ilia chuckled and shook her head, rushing Neela as Neela ran at her as well, Ilia swung with the blade attached to the bottom of her arm but missed as Neela slid under her attack, grabbing the case and unlatching it. Lien crashed everywhere as she refused to stop and she removed her electromagnet from its hiding place between her breasts. The case's bottom compartment opened, allowing Neela to remove her bow which was in two pieces and snapped it together.

"That's not a bomb!" Ilia yelled. Neela drew back an arrow.

"Never said it was, you just assumed," Neela told her. Her eyes lit up and she fired directly at Ilia who dove out of the way, allowing the arrow to crash through the door and nail Titus in the back of the head. He flopped to the ground and Neela drew another arrow, pointing it at Ilia who scrambled away. "Looks like you've been defeated again." Lykos crashed through the wall moments before Cobalt who chuckled.

"It's amazing what this armor can do when I reroute part of the power from my contacts," he told her.

"How much power do you need for them?" Neela asked. He chuckled.

"It's a dangerous amount," he admitted.

"What's dangerous is how stupid you act sometimes!" Tawney blurted out. Cobalt looked hard at her as the scene melted away and he found himself in bed staring up at Tawney. He looked around, finding the two of them to be alone. He chuckled and pulled the covers back up over his head. She pulled them off and tossed them away.

"Why? Why are you always here when I have the weirdest dreams?" he asked her.

"Where the hell else would I be?" She asked. "And why am I never… never part of your little fantasies?"

"Jealous?" He asked.

"No!" She shouted storming away.

"Are you sure, because I can probably pencil you in pretty easily!" He called out as he leaped up out of bed and noted his distinct lack of pants. He shrugged, worse things have happened. "Tawney wait up!"

"I don't have time to wait up for you," Tawney told him as she left the room. He chased after her half dressed before finally catching up, chewing happily on his toast. "Why are you following me? And where did that toast come from?"

"I don't know where it came from, but it's buttered to perfection," he said through the food.

"That doesn't answer my first question," she told him.

"I can't just follow you around for the day? The new quarter begins tomorrow, and I thought that maybe we could do a little team building together before then," he suggested.

"Why does it have to be today Cobalt?" Tawney asked. "Does it really have to be before the start of the next quarter? I can't wait a day or two, maybe even three?"

"If you don't want to hang out, you can just tell me, it's no big deal," he told her. Someone came running through the hallway and bumped into someone who was passing by Tawney, spilling water all over the front of her shirt. Tawney looked down at her soaked torso before turning back to the guy.

"Maybe try slowing down asshole!" She called out. She wrung out what she could and turned to Cobalt with a sigh. "Fine, let me go change out of this and then we can get going." His eyes lit up.

"You're seriously the best, thank you!" He told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't mention it," she replied as they walked back to the room and she slipped inside. "Stay out there, this should really only take me a minute or two."

"A minute or two? Aren't you just grabbing a new shirt?" He asked.

"You really think it's that simple?" She asked. He shrugged, leaning against the door.

"I mean, as a guy it is, but I suppose as a girl you have to…" The door swung open without warning and he stumbled in, landing on his side and looking up at Tawney who was still shirtless. He blushed and laughed nervously, covering his eyes and rolling the other way. "Tawney you might want to cover yourself up."

"Oh, now you're a prude," she told him laughing. "Come on, have a look and get your fix out of the way." He remained motionless before she dragged him to his feet. "See?"

"I'm dreaming still, aren't I?" He asked.

"You bet your ass you are!" Tawney yelled. He felt a sharp pain in his side and he gripped it hard as he woke up, Tawney sitting across the room from him and her tonfa laying beside him. "Having another dream about me, were you?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He asked with a smirk. She lifted her other tonfa. "I'm kidding!"

"You'd better be," she told him.

"You ever wonder if you and I are like Neela and Eliana?" He asked as he sat up. "Both madly in love with, but unsure of how to tell the other?" She threw the other tonfa and it struck him hard.

"That never once crossed my mind," she told him.

"How do I know you're not just saying that?" Cobalt asked.

"How about I put my foot up your ass and we'll find out," she told him. He backed up across his bed to the headboard.

"Fair enough," he replied. Cobalt leapt up and threw his pants on. "So what are you doing today?"

"Aside from seeing how far my foot goes in your ass?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, apart from that," Cobalt said. Tawney shrugs.

"I guess I could use a training partner," she told him. "You can join me for that I guess." Cobalt smirked as he pulled on his shirt and stretched.

"What's in it for me then?" Cobalt asked. She stood and opened the door, letting him out ahead of her.

"How's about I don't put my foot up your ass?" She asked. He laughed and nodded.

"Of course."

Neela wants to focus on school instead of Eliana, but how long will that last? Next week, Chapter 71 - Poking the Beehive!

A big thank you to Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!