Chapter 38
"The General made you an offer while you were asleep" said Blake, eyes peering down upon Yang. "Winter too" she added as she glanced over her shoulder, Winter was still sleeping.
The curiosity of Yang had been caught as she stared up at Blake with a questioning expression, "Offer?" she asked.
Blake nodded once, "Remember when... you were talking about an artificial arm...?" she asked in return.
"Wait... seriously?" responded Yang with an uncertain look upon her face, catching on to as what Blake was likely about to say.
"Kind of... There's a catch, or two. It's not free. If you want it you either need to pay for it or... join the Atlesian Military..." answered Blake as she frowned at the thought.
Yang raised a brow at the proposal, "What like... be a soldier?" she asked. Blake nodded in response to her. The blonde pondered on the options for a second, "How much does it cost?" she asked.
"More than you can afford" answered Blake. "The General suggested Winter maybe paying for it but... Yang, that's a lot of money" she added.
"Well I'm not joining the military" said Yang firmly, hearing such words came as a relief to Blake. "So either I find a way to pay for it or I just keep going like I am. Being free to do what I want is worth more to me than a metal arm" she answered. Blake smiled at the blonde. "What?" asked Yang curiously.
The Faunus shook her head, "Nothing" she replied with her smirk.
Yang's lilac eyes peered over to Winter across the room, "There's something else I've been wanting to tell you Blake. It's about the... woman, the one who..." she sighed to herself at the thought.
"What about her?" asked Blake as her expression turned into that of a more serious one.
"Her name is Raven, she's my..." began Yang, though it was all she needed to say.
Blake's golden eyes glanced over to Winter before returning to Yang, "Really? That was her...? What was she doing there?" she asked in response.
Yang shrugged her shoulders lightly, "I dunno. I spent so long looking for her... I guess I never expected her to be the one to find me. But it's happened before. Just this time instead of talking to her I just wanted to... Beat her to a pulp..." answered Yang, eyes narrowing in anger.
"If you want answers, maybe the General could help? If Weiss' dad knows who she is maybe the General can get him to make her appear...?" asked Blake.
"It's a thought but... After what she did to Winter, I don't think I could say anything to her. I'll probably just get mad, or upset. It's weird, after all this time searching I barely want anything to do with her now. She had her reasons and they're probably not even good ones" said Yang as she looked back up to Blake.
The Faunus wasn't sure how to react to such a personal situation so instead of giving an answer she decided she would give her support instead. "Whatever you choose to do I'll be by your side. If you want to confront her, I'll go with you. If you don't, that's fine too" she answered.
Yang's lilac gaze watched Blake closely, after a pause she closed her eyes and smiled. "Look at you being the best girlfriend around" she smiled softly.
"You know it's really embarrassing when you actually call me that" answered Blake as she smiled back.
Yang opened her eyes to look upon the Faunus, "So what would you rather me call you? My love? My babe? … My kitty?" she answered with a wiggle of her brow.
Blake chuckled softly, "If I'm a kitty you're a dumb bimbo" she answered.
"Hey, I'm not dumb, I just know a lot of useless things. I'm totally blonde though, natural blonde I'll add" she replied with a wink. Her thoughts quick to shift away from the unsavoury topic of her biological mother.
"It shows" smirked Blake in response. She glanced over her shoulder towards the door. "Weiss has been gone a while, do you think she got lost?" she asked.
"I hope she did because the alternatives aren't great, forget who she's with...? Maybe you should uh... Go find her... Just to be on the safe side..." answered Yang as her expression faltered slightly in concern for her friend. They were in a hospital though, surely Neo wouldn't attempt anything in a place like this?
Weiss was panting heavily, her face red and slick with sweat. Her expression was bordering that of pain as her silver-white hair bounced up and down repeatedly to the motion. "Wh- Why would you-... D- do this to me?" she asked in a struggled tone. Like her Neo was in a similar state, her fringe bobbing up and down with each movement, her eyes locked firmly ahead, face red and sweating with a wide smirk as she continued to dance on the arcade machine.
The two had found the entertainment room of the hospital and in it was an assortment of machines, board games and tables, Neo herself particularly liked the dance machine. She had picked the longest track on the list, eleven minutes in total. Her score was through the roof while Weiss struggled to keep up on the machine besides her, missing steps as the directions came up on the screen. How had she even been convinced that this was a good idea? She understood why Neo might want to do it, she wanted to test just how far she could push herself now that she was awake and moving. But why did Weiss think it was a good idea to let her drag her onto it too?
The song finally ended as Weiss stumbled. Neo placed her hands upon her hips, panting silently as she looked to her score on the screen with bright eyes. She then looked to the scoreboard and saw a list of three-letter names. Typing in her own as NEO she found that she now held the record by quite the margin. Weiss reached a slightly shaking hand towards the keypad of her own machine as she tried to enter in her full name, she only ended up with WEI before it auto-accepted and entered her into the scoreboard. "B- But that's not my name- Wait... why aren't I showing up on it?" asked Weiss as she looked at the scoreboard. Neo leaned over towards her machine, still panting as she started to scroll down through the scores. She got to the hundredth name and still WEI didn't show up. Her score had been so bad she didn't even make it into the top one hundred.
Neo looked to Weiss with a judging stare.
"It's because I'm in heels-!" Weiss stopped herself as she glanced down to Neo's boots, she was also in heels. "Because..." paused Weiss as she tried to come up with an excuse. She straightened her posture and tilted her chin upwards, "It's because I wasn't feeling very competitive" she nodded. "If there was something to win besides bragging rights you would have found yourself in second place" she added with a smug smile.
Neo tilted her head at Weiss, maybe the heiress would prefer a less physical game? She glanced around the room before spotting a pinball machine. Her smirk widened as she pointed towards it. Weiss followed her gesture as her ice blue eyes looked to the device.
"Pinball?" she asked with uncertainty. Truth be told she'd never played, but despite that she couldn't let Neo have the last victory. For some reason however she could not shake the thought that she was forgetting something important. "Very well, but you will go first" answered Weiss, if only so she could learn Neo's technique. The smaller woman nodded happily before making her way over towards the pinball machine, Weiss stumbled after her, legs still wobbly from the eleven minutes of pain she just endured.
The pinball machine was simple and plain as Neo stood in front of it. Like most machines in this room she didn't need to pay to activate it. The lights started flashing as she gripped the sides of the machine, thumbs over the only two buttons. She pressed her hips up against it as the game activated. Weiss watched her thumbs click down and activate the flippers that would send the ball up inside the machine, hitting various lights and points that seemed to accumulate score. She also watched Neo's form, oddly enough at times she would seemingly thrust her hips against the machine, other times she would almost try to tilt it to one side roughly. Her technique could be called aggressive but it seemed to be working as she manipulated the ball inside slightly with each bump to the machine.
Weiss continued to watch as the scores grew higher and the game came to a close. Seeming satisfied with the results Neo took a step back from the machine and gestured for Weiss to have a go. The heiress only momentarily looked worried but quick enough did her determined expression appear upon her face. She stepped in front of the machine and attempted to mimic the stance Neo had taken. She pulled back the spring device to send the ball into play. Her eyes narrowed as they tracked the silver orb, descending down the board. When it came close enough she pressed her thumb down on the button. It was too soon as the ball rolled past the triggered flipper. Her eyes widened in surprise, such reflexes were needed for a mundane game like this? Her ice blue gaze tracked up to the score, it was pathetic. She frowned to herself at the fact she had failed so spectacularly.
Hands were placed over hers and pressed them firmly against the machine. Weiss blushed as she felt Neo also press her body against her own, intentions becoming clear. Neo was aiming to hold her hand through the game and teach her how to play. Weiss had half a mind to tell her she didn't need help, that her pride demanded as much, but the way Neo was so willing to help her... Her eyes glanced down to see Neo pull back the spring-loaded device to send the ball back into play. When it came down towards one of the flippers Neo pressed her hand down against Weiss', pushing the button and sending the ball back up into the court. The simple fact she struck it brought a grin to Weiss' face.
But nothing could prepare her for Neo's legendary pinball techniques, ones that she had so readily forgotten. As the ball was reaching its apex and narrowly about to fall short of a point Weiss felt Neo thrust her hips against her, and as a result against the machine. The ball hit its mark before turning back towards the flippers but Weiss' face was more red than she thought possible as she stared at the ball descending. Again Neo's hand pressed against hers as the ball was launched back up, following soon after was enough thrust of the hips. She could feel Neo's entire form pressed up against her back, certain curves more noticeable than others. Weiss dared not ask Neo to stop for some reason unknown to herself, perhaps she was too shy to admit she was embarrassed by something so simple as contact. Or maybe she felt that turning away the girl's help would only offend her. Either way she had to wait until the game ended.
Only... for the time being it didn't seem like it ever would. Every time the ball came back down Neo would knock it straight back up. It was starting to appear like the only way the game would end would be if Neo let it end. Behind her the girl's eyes were both coloured a shade of magenta, a soft blush on her own pale complexion. She was enjoying every second of the moment. She liked that Weiss was embarrassed, she liked the feel of her hands over hers, she liked thrusting her hips against her soft rear. She knew she was maybe getting ahead of herself but she didn't want it to stop just yet as her eyes looked to Weiss' neck, the temptation to plant a kiss against it was strong. She bit her lip before turning her eyes back to the machine in front of her, she had beaten her previous score already and decided she would grant the heiress some respite.
Weiss watched as the ball started to descend once more, she herself was frozen and hadn't been playing the game at all, it was just Neo controlling her. Her eyes focused on the silver orb that was drawing right towards the middle of the flippers, the dead-zone where neither would be able to reach it. Her eyes widened as it drew closer, was Neo not going to do anything about it? "Th- The ball!" exclaimed Weiss as it moved between the flippers, neither one being pressed. The game had ended and she felt Neo slowly push herself against her one final time before moving away, hands sliding gently off of her own. Ice blue eyes glanced up at the score, she couldn't be any more unsure about how she felt towards the whole thing but if one thing was for certain... She had beaten Neo's score. "I... won?" she asked to herself. "I- I mean of course I won" she answered, turning around to face Neo. She was hoping her blush had dissipated by now but still it remained, not that she was able to tell. "I told you didn't I? When I get serious I get results" she answered, tilting her chin up once more in a snobby manner.
Neo smirked at the girl and nodded towards her. She didn't care about the score, she already had her fun. Her once more mismatched eyes glanced around the room for further activities the two could partake in, and that Neo could use for her own agenda. Being a hospital though she found the variety lacking. She would surely have to try and take Weiss to a proper arcade in the future, preferably one with a motorcycle game so that she could straddle her on top of it in an excuse to help teach her again. Seeing a lack of such fun games though she settled her eyes on a simple pool table. Maybe she could teach Weiss how to properly lean over one to take a shot, and in the process lay on top of her. She grinned at the thought and pointed her finger towards the table, glancing back at Weiss.
The heiress was still blushing as she looked over to it, brushing a hand through her fringe. "Pool...? I don't know the rules" she answered as she followed Neo over towards the table. The silent girl halted as quickly she began to think on how to explain the rules to Weiss.
"Oh, here you are" came a voice that never failed to annoy Neo. Blake had opened the door to the entertainment room and spotted them both. "Weiss, are you okay? You look... exhausted..." asked Blake, eyes narrowing at the fact that the heiress was not only a bright shade of red but also had a sleek shine of sweat on her face from the dance machine earlier.
"Ah-!" startled Weiss as she turned to look at the Faunus, holding her hands to her chest in surprise. "Y- Yes, I'm fine. Why?" she asked in return as Neo silently looked over to Blake.
"Uh... Nothing, it's just you've been gone a while now..." answered Blake. It then hit Weiss, she was meant to have looked for something Yang could eat and drink. "Did you get lost or something?" asked Blake once more.
Weiss weighed the options in her head. Which sounded more pathetic? Getting lost or forgetting about her friend in need? She made the judgement in her mind and nodded to Blake, "I... got lost and thought that maybe... I could rest here for a bit...?" replied Weiss, unsure of her own excuse.
Blake's golden gaze set upon Neo suspiciously. The short woman was leaning on a pool cue and smiling back at her innocently. "Okay then... Do you want me to help you get back? I remember the way" offered Blake.
"Oh, no, that's fine. I'm fine. Everything is fine" replied Weiss. It dawned on her that she had no idea why she refused Blake's help, because she sure as hell didn't know the way back.
"Well... Alright. I'll pick something up for Yang so don't worry about it" said Blake as she turned to leave.
"S- See you later!" waved Weiss with a smile. She glanced back to Neo, now holding the pool cue behind her neck with both hands as she raised a brow at Weiss.