Chapter 37
A day had now passed since the events that took place at the mansion. During that time regular check-ups had been made on the three that were recovering. Neo had practically made a full one and could now be found often sitting up in bed or idly wandering around the room. Both Winter and Yang remained asleep however, according to the staff it wouldn't be long until they both woke up. Blake's eyes glanced away from Yang to see Neo, she was sat at the edge of her bed facing Weiss who appeared to be talking to her, or at least having as much of a conversation as you could with Neo. For some reason the two of them seemed to have become fast friends, a notion that confused Blake. It was likely a result of the fact that Weiss didn't fully understand what Neo was capable of. As a result she made it a point to tell Weiss some time in the near future and with any luck she would keep her distance from her.
The light from the sun shined in through the window and for the first time since they arrived they could see Atlas in the day, where as before they had arrived at night and the morning after was clouded and dulled by the storm. From what little she could see from her position she could tell that the price on sunglasses must be expensive. All the buildings were stark white, added with the snow and the shining sun she found it amazing that everybody wasn't crashing their cars in the street or walking around covering their eyes from the brightness. It was different from Vale in every way.
Her golden eyes turned back to Yang and were met with lilac. Blake paused in realization, she was awake? Her soft expression was looking up to her, eyes half-closed. "You're pretty cute from this angle..." muttered Yang in a gentle voice. At first the Faunus wasn't sure how to respond, her expression simply lost. "Cat got your-... No, wait, I used that one before..." muttered Yang once more. Her voice was quiet enough that neither Weiss nor Neo could hear her.
Blake's expression shifted into that of sorrow as tears began to form in her eyes. Her voice was cracked as she whispered, "I- I'm sorry. I tried to stop it... I tried..." she spoke. Yang frowned at the Faunus as she slowly reached her hand up towards her face, calloused fingers brushing across her cheek as she shushed her. "Y- You keep getting hurt because of me..." continued Blake as she held her hand over Yang's.
"Shut up Blakey... Neither of us saw it coming, there was nothing we could do... And didn't we have a talk about blame?" asked Yang to which Blake nodded. "You know all things considered I... I feel really good..." she added.
Blake reactively smiled as she whispered again, "That's because you're on drugs" she answered in a more light-hearted tone though her depression could still be heard in her voice.
"Oh... Guess that's why I don't feel that much pain..." replied Yang. Her eyes widened slightly after a brief pause, "What about Weiss? And-..." she cut herself off as memories of Winter and her mother, Raven, returned to her. At first she was confused to see Blake smiled down at her widely.
"They're both okay. They're here" she answered.
"Wait... Winter isn't...?" began Yang as Blake shook her head. She moved aside slightly to grant the blonde vision across the room. She strained her eyes to see the back of Neo, Weiss and behind them a sleeping Winter. Weiss caught her glance and instantly rose to her feet in surprise, prompting Neo to look back at the two. Yang offered a weak smile to the both of them. Neo looked back to Weiss who briskly started making her way over to the blonde, which in turn caused the shorter woman to follow her.
"Yang!" exclaimed Weiss with excitement as she stood besides Blake, Neo placed a hand upon the shoulder of the heiress as she peered over her towards Yang.
Yang winked at Weiss, "Ice Queen" she said quietly before turning her eyes to Neo, "Shortcake". The nickname alone seemed to fluster Neo as her face disappeared further behind Weiss.
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt? Are you hungry?" asked Weiss concerned. Blake had turned her face away from the group to wipe away what was left of her tears.
The blonde couldn't help but give out a soft chuckle at the way Weiss was acting before answering her questions one by one. "I feel pretty good. A little and yes, very" she answered before asking her own question, "Where are we by the way?" she said, lilac eyes glancing around at her surroundings.
"A private hospital primarily used for the Atlesian military" answered Weiss.
"Wait... how did we get here? The last thing I remember was..." asked Yang once more.
Blake looked to the blonde, "It was the military and General Ironwood, they heard what was happening at the mansion..." she answered.
"The General...?" said Yang. She recalled the time she met General Ironwood back in Vale after she had injured Mercury. Back then he had sympathized with her, saying that sometimes you can see things on the field of battle that aren't there, that you can become confused and disorientated. At the time she swore by what she saw but now she wasn't so sure. Perhaps she really was just seeing illusions.
"Yes, the General" confirmed Weiss. "Now, I'm going to go find a member of staff and also something for you to eat and drink. Do you need anything else?" she asked.
Yang seemed to ponder her answer before pointing a finger towards the heiress. "Actually yeah, take Neo with you" she answered. For a moment Weiss seemed confused before glancing towards Blake.
"Ah. I see" she answered knowingly before glancing over her shoulder towards Neo. "Are you okay to walk?" she asked. Neo nodded in response to her. "In that case I will return shortly" she finished as she smiled at the two before turning to make for the door of the room, Neo kept her eyes on Yang for an extended moment while she followed after Weiss. After the door closed behind them Yang's eyes turned to Blake's.
"Does she know about...?" started Yang as she raised a brow up at Blake.
The Faunus gave a nod, "She does. I told her earlier and she seems to be completely fine with it" she answered.
Yang gave out a soft sigh, "Well that makes things simpler" she said.
"So what did you want? You sent Neo with her for privacy right?" asked Blake.
A smirk appeared on the blonde's lips as her eyes locked onto Blake's golden gaze. "Wanted to tell you something, come closer" she spoke.
Blake's cheeks were coloured a light pink as she glanced around. She turned back to Yang and leaned her face down towards hers, stopping her dark hair from falling over her face with her hand. "What is it?" she whispered, close enough to feel Yang's gentle breaths against her skin.
Yang's voice was as soft as ever as she spoke, her usual up-beat tone being replaced with a more serious one. "So... I've been in a few relationships in the past and... Well, they don't really last long. Either it never works out or I just get tired of it and move on..." she began, her hand steadily moving up to hold the back of Blake's neck as the Faunus stared into her eyes. "And I never really considered myself much of a romantic, I always thought I had other things that needed my time more..." her eyes broke from Blake's as they turned aside. "With you though... it's different... I'm not tired of it, I don't feel like I'm wasting my time... I mean you're really smart, you're cute, your new pants have been awesome to look at since the day I found you again" she grinned as her voice lightened slightly as her eyes turned back to the Faunus that blushed.
"They're comfy" retorted Blake.
"They look comfy" smirked Yang before her voice returned to her serious tone. "But I guess what I'm really trying to say is... I..." her words stuck in her throat as Blake watched her, eyes widening slightly at the realization of what was happening.
"I love you-" spoke the two at the same time, their words cutting themselves short. Blake placed a hand over her mouth as she spoke, "I'm sorry- You were trying to confess and I just blurted it out over yours" she said in urgent apology.
"Ah- No- I should have stopped when it looked like you were about to say something" replied Yang awkwardly.
"But it was your moment-" began Blake before being cut off.
"Can we just kiss?" interrupted Yang.
Blake paused as her eyes glanced away in embarrassment. "I guess" she said before golden eyes returned to meet lilac. Yang smiled up at her as she drew her face closer. Their lips pressed together softly as Blake reached up with her hands, placing them gently upon Yang's cheeks. She felt the blonde's hand on the back of her neck apply pressure as their lips parted into a more passionate kiss. She could feel Yang's tongue press against her own as she released a soft moan of content. Her own breathing became heavier as she half-pulled herself onto the bed. She thought she heard Yang moan for a moment, but instead it became clear to her as a yelp of discomfort instead. She broke the kiss and looked down to her. "What's wrong?" asked the Faunus as Yang winced in pain.
"You bumped into me" answered Yang as she glanced down with her eyes. Blake followed her gaze and found that her knee had bumped into Yang's waist as she attempted to climb onto the bed.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" apologized Blake hastily as she pushed herself off the bed. Whenever they seemed to have an intimate moment like this something would go wrong. She supposed it couldn't all be perfect.
"Don't worry about it" chuckled Yang softly. "But for real though... I love you Blake" she confessed with bright eyes.
The Faunus shyly looked back at her, she couldn't help but smile herself. It was everything she wanted after all, ever since seeing her again back in Vale. "I love you too Yang" she admitted.
Yang narrowed her eyes at the Faunus as a thought struck her. "By the way... Next time we get to share a bed together... Wanna like... Try something new?" she asked, her own cheeks gaining a rare blush.
Blake widened her eyes at the question, "What...? You mean...?" she asked in a flustered manner.
"Hey it's... It's about time we... Right? I mean, unless you don't want to or something" responded Yang awkwardly.
"It's not that I don't want to, I wouldn't mind- I don't mean that in a dismissive way or anything, I'm just trying to say... Maybe...? Yes? Okay?" replied Blake as she scratched the back of her head nervously.
Yang paused and grinned at her, "Did we really just schedule that?" she asked.
"You're annoying" sighed Blake as she smiled at the blonde.
Weiss continued on down the hallway with Neo following behind. She had already found a member of staff and informed them of Yang. Now she simply wandered around looking for something to eat or drink. She could ask directions sure, but that would make her seem lost. She really wasn't lost. Her eyes glanced back to Neo before looking forward again. She totally wasn't lost.
Neo kept her eyes glued to the back of Weiss' head as she walked after her in a casual stride, now and then her attention would be caught by doctors and nurses passing by, or windows against the wall. But mostly her sights would return to the heiress as they resumed their exploration of the hospital. "I feel overdressed" commented Weiss quietly to herself as she glanced around another corner before making her way down it. Neo tilted her head at the girl as she followed. Weiss halted outside of a closed door and Neo saw this as a chance. She kept walking and idly bumped into the back of Weiss, making sure to press her body against her for a second or two before stepping back. Weiss glanced back to her with a soft blush, "Sorry, did I stop too suddenly?" she asked, to which Neo of course nodded with a polite smile.
The smaller girl looked to the door they were stood outside of, it seemed like a janitorial closet. She looked at the door puzzled before turning her attention back to Weiss.
The (slightly) taller woman looked back to her, "Wait here, I can't deal with feeling out of place any longer. It's unacceptable" she answered before moving towards the closet and opening the door. It was dark inside but the heiress quickly found the light switch and entered the room. Neo had half a mind to follow after her, maybe try and initiate an early and intimate moment. But she decided against it with her better judgement as she casually folded her arms behind her back and waited.
After a short while Weiss re-appeared, but her clothing looked slightly different. Instead of the long flowing skirt she now had a much shorter one that was similar in design to the, quoted, combat skirt she wore back in Beacon, only it was coloured in the same theme as her previous longer skirt with a light fading blue. She also had a white band of fabric tied around her waist. Even her shoes had changed from stilettos into platforms, keeping the same design. With all of this change Neo had to wonder what happened to her clothes, did they transform? Did she keep spares in janitorial closets across Atlas? Was it the work of an enemy semblance? She believed she would never truly find the answers for the questions she couldn't ask.
Her eyes stared down at Weiss' pale legs long enough for the heiress to blush once more before turning and continuing down the hallway, pretending she hadn't seen Neo blatantly watching her. "Let's keep moving, it's not far now" she spoke, still feigning the fact she knew where she was going. Neo followed closely behind, eyes mostly maintaining locked to her thin, smooth legs. With her eyes this low on her form she noticed something, a pocket just above her skirt? It was hard to spot but there was something hanging out from it. She reached forward and pinched the blue fabric and stood to a halt. Weiss kept walking as her longer skirt was pulled further and further out from her pocket. Neo watched idly as finally Weiss turned around to question why she had stopped. She then saw her long blue skirt, going from her pocket to Neo's hand. "D- Don't just grab people's things!" yelled Weiss defensively as she snatched the skirt back, rolling it up and placing it in her pocket.
A good time to test just how much Weiss cared thought Neo to herself as she glanced asides dejectedly.
Weiss held both her hands out towards her as she approached with a worried expression, "Ah- I didn't mean to yell" she apologized. Everything was working so well for Neo as she looked back to the heiress and nodded, offering her a smile in her own apology. Weiss softly smiled back, "Let's keep going" she said as she turned to walk. She was halted as something clutched her hand however, glancing back with yet a deeper blush to see Neo was holding her hand. She wasn't sure how to respond, in fact she believed it best that she shouldn't and turned to keep walking down the hall now with Neo in hand. She glanced to Neo who now walked besides her and noticed just how... pretty she was. A worrying expression came over Weiss as she stared her eyes forward with one of the most awkward expressions she had managed that day. I'm not gay, I'm not gay, I'm not gay repeated Weiss in her thoughts, her movements were stiff and she received curious glances from passing people. What a troublesome girl this Neo was.