Neo was rather satisfied with the level of success she and her confidante had enjoyed lately. They had managed to commandeer a Mistral airship, learn of Ruby Rose's probable location, and even spare enough time to steal some new outfits. There were only two problems at the moment: Mistral airships being slow as fuck, and Cinder being difficult about there being only one bed in the pilot's quarters.
Neo had to admit to herself that if this Cinder woman was anything, she was gorgeous. One thing annoying about her, though, was that Cinder knew she was gorgeous, and then some. She was the exact opposite of humble, and it was getting on Neo's nerves.
"You cannot honestly expect me to sleep on anything but a proper bed, especially not something like...this," Cinder said, gesturing with her normal arm at the small, unimpressive mattress before them. It was lined with plain light blue sheets, with a white pillow adorning the head of the cot. Cinder turned to Neo, her eye glaring at her. "Can't you create something more suitable?"
Neo sighed and shook her head, hoping Cinder would get the hint. She was perfectly capable of doing something like that, but suspending such an illusion for an entire night was physically impossible for her.
Cinder scoffed and crossed her arms under her shawl, a displeased grimace on her face. "Well, what are we supposed to do then?"
Neo looked at Cinder in the face for a good five seconds, then held up her index fingers, gesturing one toward Cinder and the other to herself, then brought the two index fingers together, gesturing them both toward the bed. It was her way to communicating what she thought was obvious: they would just share the bed.
The Fall Maiden leaned away, shaking her head. "Neo, you can see this thing, right? There's very little room for one person, let alone two."
Neo shrugged, pointing at herself, then gesturing her hands in a narrowing manner. Neo, of course, was small.
Cinder rolled her eyes. "I'm aware of your short stature, but my point still stands. We need to come up with another idea."
Neo was not surprised with Cinder's response. She wished Cinder knew sign language, because if she could, Neo would give her quite the piece of her mind. Instead, Neo did her best to convey her point: Cinder would either sleep in this bed with her, or sleep on the ground. She pointed at the bed, then at the floor, and signed "which."
"Neo," Cinder said, sternly. "I would rather stay up all night than sleep on the floor."
Neo grinned and sat on the bed, patting the spot next to her. "You choose this one, then?" She asked, hands moving at their normal signing speed.
Cinder put her hand to her face and sighed. "Fine. You win. Just...if you so much as breathe on me, I will burn you to a crisp."
Neo held her arms close to her chest and faked shivering in fear, then blew a raspberry as she stood back up. "Going to the bathroom," she signed.
Cinder glared at her as Neo left the room, heading toward the back of the airship to find the lavatory. Only then did the thought of sleep attire cross Neo's mind. She did not expect sleeping in white jeans and a caped corset to be very comfortable. She was not sure whether to feel amused or concerned about the fact that she'd have to strip to her underwear if she wanted a chance at sleeping comfortably. It would likely bother Cinder, and that would either be funny or even more annoying, depending on the woman's reaction.
The last thing Neo expected when she returned from the bathroom was to see Cinder beating her to the punch. Neo rounded the corner and entered the small room, only to find Cinder with her shawl and top removed. She still wore her black shorts and halter top.
Her scars and Grimm arm were on full display.
Cinder looked at Neo. "Wanna sleep to my right, so you can stay away from this?" She asked, raising her Grimm arm.
Neo was not prepared to be confronted with this sight. Cinder was a woman of great power and strength, but now, Neo saw the remains of the consequences for Cinder's pursuits of power. The flesh all along her left side, from her face to her neck and down the side of her torso was calloused, inflamed, and red. Neo noticed that Cinder's top seemed specially modified. Unlike on the right side where Cinder's bra wrapped around her back with a wide black strap, two thin white straps were all that went over her left, perhaps to minimize irritation.
Cinder's demeanor had noticeably changed, too. She sat on the bed, hunched forward, a bitter glint in her eye. The black-as-night arm that hung to her side was unnaturally long and thin.
"Thanks for staring," Cinder groused, looking to the side.
Neo felt a sudden pang of guilt as she snapped her gaze away, raising her hands up to show she was sorry. Still, should could not shake the odd feeling of seeing how...different Cinder seemed. It was as if revealing her scars had changed her entire personality from being so headstrong and commanding to being...almost broken, despondent, and exhausted.
Cinder scoffed and got to her feet. She walked past Neo, leaving the room. "Get in bed if you want. I need time alone."
Cinder had requested "time alone" three times that day. Neo never knew why she always needed to leave and stand in an empty alley or distant table in a bar, but now she knew. Everything that had happened to her weighed heavily on her, and Cinder had no one but herself to understand.
Neo got the urge to follow her, but figured she couldn't help, especially since Cinder wouldn't be able to understand her, anyway. Instead, Neo turned back to the bed, noticing the pile of clothing left behind by Cinder just beside it. Neo leaned down to move it aside, then sat on the bed. It wasn't very soft, but Neo had slept on worse. She stared at the wall for a moment, unable to move her thoughts away from seeing Cinder's scars. Neo always had this impression of Cinder that she was an untouchable mastermind, but now she knew that even one of the most powerful beings in Remnant was subject to her haunting past.
Neo brought herself to start removing her clothes, beginning to realize how tired she felt. She took off her gloves and boots first, tossing them into their own pile beside Cinder's clothes. Neo thought for a moment weather she should still bother with taking the rest off, but she knew she'd either get no sleep or would lie awake for hours until finally taking the rest of her clothes off anyway. Sure, it felt odd and a little intimidating to think about the fact that she'd be sharing a small bed with an equally undressed Cinder, but there weren't any other inviting alternatives. She unbuttoned her corset and pushed off her jeans, revealing her black bra and underwear ensemble. She once again considered checking on Cinder, but instead chose to do as Cinder had said and get into the bed. Whether Cinder ever did get in bed or if she stayed up all night was her decision. Neo wouldn't press her anymore.
Cinder eventually did come to bed, just as Neo was beginning to fall asleep. The short girl had the sheets pulled over her shoulder, her back facing the door as she began to dose, but the sound of the door opening and shutting jolted her back to full consciousness. Neo flinched and rolled to the side to see Cinder standing by the bed, arms crossed. "Move over," she murmured to her.
Neo did as she requested, moving to the side and almost tilting over the edge as the Maiden sat on the bed's other edge. Cinder lifted the sheets up enough to maneuver herself beneath them, then lied down on her back, looking up at the ceiling. She didn't rest her head on the lone pillow, the one Neo had her own cradled in. Instead she just lied there, sheets tucked under her arms, her hands folded together and resting on her abdomen. She looked like a body positioned in a casket.
Neo looked away from her for a moment, then lifted her head off the pillow and pushed it toward Cinder enough for it to touch the side of the woman's head.
Cinder's head turned away from Neo. "Keep your pillow. I'll be just fine."
Neo sighed and shoved the pillow a bit further, insisting Cinder take it. Neo knew she would not be able to sleep knowing Cinder would be lying next to her wide awake.
"Neo, just sleep," Cinder commanded.
Neo stopped pushing the pillow, resigning to Cinder's refusal of her attempt at kindness. Neo pulled the pillow back under her own head and rolled back toward the wall, hoping to quickly return to her impending slumber. She acknowledged the newfound feeling of warmth in the bed now that Cinder had joined her, but Neo made an effort to not move much from then forward, knowing even the smallest roll backwards would bring her into contact with Cinder. Neo knew she would have to make do with the mildly uncomfortable situation, knowing Cinder was likely wide awake and would remain that way for who knew how long. The best Neo could hope for was to fall asleep soon so she could stop worrying.
And soon enough, she did.
Neo soon woke up...via being shoved out of bed.
She hit the ground with a thud, and she immediately pushed herself to her feet, instinctively readying herself to fight, but when she saw Cinder on the bed, sat straight up, her eye wide open and her breathing rapid, Neo knew what had happened.
Fiery light poured from her eye, but just as quickly as she had sprung upright, Cinder relaxed, her shoulder's lowering and the light from her eye disappearing. She sat there for a few seconds, motionless. Neo wasn't sure what to do in that moment, but when Cinder finally did move, Neo was at an even greater loss.
Cinder's head bowed forward as she laced her fingers through her hair, and to Neo's shock, she began to cry. Cinder gritted her teeth, her eyebrow slanted inward as she sobbed. Neo wasn't certain if Cinder was angry or what. The only thing she was sure of was how much she wanted to get out of there. Neo had never seen Cinder at her angriest, and she was not interested in finding out what she was like.
However, as Cinder continued to cry, her posture became less and less threatening as the woman placed her hand over her other eye, the scarred-over eye covered by her eye patch. "It..." she croaked. "It hurts when I cry."
Neo stood frozen to her spot without a clue of what to do. Was Cinder...confiding her pain to Neo? Why? Did she think Neo could help, because if so, Cinder must have been desperate. Nevertheless, Neo did her best to calm down from her fight-or-flight response, as well as recover from suddenly falling out of bed. She realized that her elbow was bruised, but beyond that, she was fine.
Cinder inhaled audibly. "Sorry for pushing you."
Neo slowly sat down on the bed, not looking directly at Cinder. Hearing her cry was surreal. Everything about this was surreal. Cinder's crying, Neo getting shoved out of bed when she was sleeping as deeply as she possibly could, not to mention them both being in their underwear, all was a wild combination that almost felt like a dream.
Neo reached out and tapped Cinder on the shoulder, garnering her attention. Neo signed "dream" on the off-chance Cinder would understand.
Cinder stared at her for a moment, her eye red from her tears. She then nodded, closing her eye. "Yeah. Just a nightmare. Happens often, not really a concern."
Neo pointedly glanced back to the spot beside the bed where she had fallen, part of the sheets still on the ground. Neo gestured in that direction, and Cinder seemed to understand. "Right," she said. "I don't usually wake up from them like that."
With the knowledge of the fact that Cinder had frequent night terrors like this, Neo confirmed her suspicions. Cinder had not and likely would not ever recover from the Fall of Beacon. She was now Fall Maiden, but it came at a terrible cost. Now the only thing that motivated her was her pursuit of vengeance on Ruby Rose, and Neo knew even if they managed to kill the Silver Eyed Girl, peace would still evade Cinder.
Neo felt she could do nothing else but hug her.
"The hell are you doing?" Cinder asked, her voice raspy, refusing to return the embrace in any way but not making an effort to avoid it.
Neo had her arms around Cinder's shoulders, her cheek mere inches from Cinder's face. Neo faintly acknowledged how odd this was, but her combination of drowsiness and concern prevented herself from feeling any sort of embarrassment.
Neo didn't have many methods of effectively communicating with Cinder, but this was the best she could do to let her know that she had someone. Even if Neo didn't know her well, even if she didn't one-hundred-percent trust her, Neo felt Cinder needed some human contact. Also, maybe Neo just wanted to be close to such an attractive woman.
"Are you going to let go?" Cinder asked, quieter than before, but still sounding unimpacted.
Neo squeezed her a bit as a way of saying she had no plans to release the hug soon. Cinder's words were obviously not indicative of her desires. Deep down, Cinder needed this.
After a long silence, Cinder sighed, groaned, and wrapped her arms around Neo, leaning her head against her shoulder. "This means nothing," she claimed.
Neo smiled slightly at Cinder still trying to maintain her guise of aloofness. It was very obvious that this meant a lot to her. Cinder likely never allowed such affection like this, but in the aftermath of a nightmare, she was finally getting what she had been unconsciously wanting.
The two of them lied back down and got under the covers, all while maintaining their embrace. Neo had been up against Cinder long enough to move past the initial shock of getting to hug her and now began to notice the details of the feeling. Neo had her arms hooked around Cinder's neck, hand resting on her scarred shoulder. The unburned flesh on Cinder's right side was soft and smelled faintly of ash and Fire Dust. Neo had a very close view of Cinder's neck and upper chest as she rested her cheek partially on Cinder's shoulder.
Neo had to admit to herself that she had never felt emotions like this before. Being in the arms of a beautiful woman was an experience she regretted never having before. She knew Cinder was far from trustworthy, but she was attractive, strong, and, as Neo now realized, sensitive, at least about herself.
Neo would never want to be in a long-term relationship with Cinder, nor did she ever plan to, but if she got this chance to be with her now, to comfort her, and initiate so much close contact bordering on romantic intimacy, Neo wasn't going to pass it up.
Cinder obviously was not falling asleep, because she squirmed in her spot every minute or so. After a while, she spoke up again. "Neo."
Neo nodded a bit in acknowledgment.
"As I said, this means nothing," she repeated, though saying so twice made it all the more obvious this meant a lot to her. "This is not something I will usually allow."
Neo's breath hitched, waiting for her to continue. She nodded again for good measure.
Cinder sighed. "Neo..." She turned her head away for a moment before turning back. "Come closer to me."
Neo blinked several times before understanding Cinder's request. How much closer could Neo get? Their only points of contact were her arms around Cinder's neck and her face resting on her shoulder. Neo felt under the impression that anymore than that would be too far for Cinder, and yet, the woman was requesting it, or...ordering it. Neo had noticed that Cinder never asked questions, opting to just tell Neo what to do, but Neo wasn't going to confront her on it, at least not right now. Neo was too busy trying to keep her excitement from boiling over.
"Well?" Cinder murmured. For the first time, Neo realized that Cinder had her arm behind her, and she felt it against her back, gingerly pulling her towards her.
Neo nodding again, letting her know that she was getting to it. She had calmed down just enough to actually move forward instead of freezing in anticipation. Neo moved herself closer, moving her arm down to around Cinder's abdomen, allowing herself to enjoy feeling the soft firmness of the woman's stomach. Her own chest and abdomen settled against Cinder's side, their legs interlacing with one another.
Cinder was not subtle about her need for Neo's comfort. Now that she was closer, Cinder could wrap her arms completely around Neo, bringing the shorter girl close enough to tuck her nose into the Fall Maiden's neck. Neo gritted her teeth, for Cinder's Grimm arm was touching her, the thin, skeletal-esque appendage resting on her waist. It did not feel particularly different than Cinder's right arm which was tucked around her neck, except how the outermost layer of...skin seemed to not be completely solid. When Cinder would move slightly and lift her Grimm arm up for a half-second, it left behind a cold feeling where it once rested on Neo's skin, like it was sapping her body heat from that spot. It was unnerving at first, but Neo came around to realize that this was what Cinder had to make do with. If Cinder wanted to touch her, she would have to use this arm. After a while, Neo accepted the feeling. It still felt strange, but Cinder was breathing calmly now. It seemed this close contact was helping.
It was doing wonders for Neo, too.
As much as Neo enjoyed getting to work independently like she had for the past few months, traversing the Kingdoms and making her own living, she now realized how good it felt to be with someone. Of course, she had never done anything like this with Roman (who was the type who hated any type of contact), but Neo had been in a relationship here and there. She had not experienced anything to this extent, though, with such a lack of clothing and such a high level of intimacy. Neo would never have predicted this ever happening when she first shook hands with this woman, but she couldn't have predicted Cinder's inner trauma coming out the way it did, either.
If Neo slowed down and cleared her thoughts, she knew one thing for certain: She felt very strongly about comforting Cinder. She wanted her to feel better, and Neo seemed to be helping that fact, if the occasional tug at her waist was any indication.
Neo began to feel her drowsiness set back in once again, but Cinder did not allow her to fall asleep. Instead, the Fall Maiden shifted her position to look at Neo. Neo's head fell to the pillow as she looked up at Cinder's face. Cinder's eye was misty with tiredness, her mouth slightly open. Her hair covered more than half of her face. "How would you feel if..." Cinder started, but her voice trailed off, uncertainty evident in her expression as she looked to the side, avoiding Neo's gaze.
Neo stared up at her, noticing the way her lips moved as Cinder pressed them together. It was then that Neo first thought about what a kiss from Cinder would feel like. Neo quickly decided that she would definitely move closer and give her a kiss if she asked for one. As much as Neo was doing this for Cinder's good, she was just as interested in her own self serving. Cinder was a beautiful woman with gorgeous features despite her injuries. If Neo was granted further consent to anything more, she would take the opportunity, because just as Cinder had said earlier, she would not do this often.
"I'm not going to get much sleep," Cinder said, utmost certainty in her voice. "If any at all, so...I'd rather spend my time awake enjoying...your company, so to speak."
Neo silently chuckled at Cinder's words. It was oddly cute how Cinder was trying to sound formal, though the fact she was not thinking about Neo's desire sleep was reminiscent of Cinder's self centered nature. Neo could look past that, of course. Neo suspected sleeping would pale in comparison to what was ahead.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Cinder asked.
Neo nodded, moving her hand from Cinder's stomach to her upper chest, resting it over her heart. A small voice in Neo's head told her to move her hand a bit lower, but she fought that urge away, opting to let the flow of the moment dictate her next move.
As it turned out, Neo wasn't the one to make the next move. Cinder's grip on Neo's waist tightened at she pulled her a bit closer, bringing her eyes to meet Cinder's lone uncovered ember of an iris. Neo's mouth opened a bit, feeling the taller girl's breath on her face as their noses came close to touching. For once, Cinder's expression did not display her usual smug certainty or displeased sneer. Her facial features were lax, her eyelid drifting as the mood between the two began to float, their common restraint and stoicism beginning to take a back seat to their desire to reap comfort from their closeness.
The thought of kissing her once again crossed Neo's mind, but before she could think further on that, or anything for that matter, Cinder had tugged her a bit more to close the distance between them. First, their lips came together, followed by their chests, then waists, then legs. They held each other close like lovers, even if this kiss held no meaning beyond both women wanting to kiss the other.
Neo had never thought of her short stature as a disadvantage, especially in a situation like this. She was more than happy to allow Cinder to move her closer and lift her a bit so she could maneuver her arm under her. Neo felt herself smile a bit as their kiss continued, the soft need behind Cinder's lips both amusing and enthralling. Neo boldly brought her arm back down to Cinder's torso, this time resting on her hip and moving its way down, grazing over Cinder's shorts before reaching her bare leg.
Neo had somehow allowed her attention to drift from Cinder's kiss, instead focusing on the Maiden's body, how it felt under her hands, how warm it made her feel. Neo was beginning to feel even more bold, and had she acted a bit sooner, she would have acted on that bravery.
An alarm interrupted proceedings.
Both women flinched and rolled away from one another, looking around to see the red light in the ceiling pulsing with the alarm. They looked back at each other, their weariness fading to full consciousness, and Cinder put a hand to her face and sighed. "Of course," she murmured. "Nothing ever comes easy."
To be continued...