Chapter 47
Two days had passed and Yang found herself staring out at the city from a balcony in the hospital. It was the first time she had been outside since she arrived and so the fresh air was welcomed as she drew it into her lungs with a deep breath. She had found that the hospital was a single section of one of the large spire-like towers of the city, the hospital itself was around half way up the building. Her eyes glanced down to the street as she leaned on the banister in front of herself. The people below were like black dots amidst the lightly snow covered pavements. The sky above was clear and it was around noon with the sun shining down upon the metropolis.
Few things had passed in the last two days, the first being that she had approached Winter about the arm she said she would pay for. The reaction she got from the woman was not what she expected however. She seemed uncaring and cold, her voice flat. She agreed to pay for the new arm but she showed no opinion upon Yang's choice, as if it didn't even matter to her. Ever since Winter had spoken to Weiss about Neo she had been like that, and Weiss had never visited her since. So now Yang waited for the General's arrival, soon she may even be able to leave this place and search for Ruby.
Though that was another matter. She had attempted to call Taiyang but she had received no response, it was although he had switched his scroll off or had no connection. It worried her, not being able to know how he was progressing in his search, not being able to know if he was okay. As a result she wished to return to Patch as soon as she could to pick up on where he said his trail would start, it surely led him somewhere and so hopefully it would do the same for her.
Weiss had been keeping mostly to Neo, but on the occasions she visited Yang she could see that she was improving emotionally from the wreck that Winter had left her in. Neo would often accompany her but she herself had grown more distant to both Yang and Blake. Sometimes she wouldn't even look at them, which was odd, especially when considering Yang. But at least it looked although Neo was treating Weiss with some respect and care.
Blake had been as she always had since they entered Atlas. She was always nearby, always supporting and always loving. There was little Yang could not say to her as by now she trusted her completely, not that there was any doubt to begin with.
As if she could sense she was being thought about her voice could be heard from behind her. "Yang, he's here" spoke Blake softly.
Yang turned to face her. Blake was standing at the entrance to the balcony, leaning against the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. "The General?" asked Yang as she made to follow her partner.
"Who else?" answered Blake as she led the two back into the hospital. They soon found themselves walking through its many corridors once again.
"Does he have it? That was quicker than I thought it would be. But I guess he did say he had a few prototypes or something laying around" spoke Yang as she turned a corner after the Faunus.
"He has a big suitcase again, so probably. What do you think it will look like?" asked Blake in turn.
Yang pondered briefly and recalled some of the General's words to her. "Well, an arm. Like a proper one" she answered.
"That's going to look strange in a suitcase" replied Blake. They quickly arrived at the door to Yang's room, it was open and inside stood the General.
The man turned his attention towards the two and nodded in greeting, "Xiao Long, Belladonna" he spoke. Upon Yang's bed was a large grey suitcase, larger than the one that had been used to transport Winter's new hand.
Yang's lilac eyes shifted towards the suitcase as she entered the room, "Hey" she greeted plainly as she looked back to the General. Blake remained silent as she shadowed Yang's footsteps.
"I trust you know what this is?" asked the General as he gestured to the suitcase, once more drawing Yang's attention towards it.
"I got a good idea..." nodded Yang.
"Well in that case let's not beat around the bush" spoke the General as he turned to face it. He reached his gloved hand down towards the suitcase as he undid the clips. The case was opened to reveal inside, well, an arm. It looked as real as any other.
"Woah... Blake you were right, that's pretty creepy..." answered Yang as she leaned down to look at it. "Can I touch it?" she asked, eyes glancing back up towards the General. He gave a single nod with a proud smirk as Yang returned her attention to the arm. With her index finger she prodded at it. The texture surprised her as she withdrew her finger. It felt... real, like skin. She prodded it once more as her finger pushed in against it, it was soft and even felt warm. "This is... crazy" grinned Yang as she continued to prod it. Blake approached at her side and titled her head at the arm curiously.
"I thought you'd like it. Of course we have some things to take care of before we can apply it to you. First being a socket for it, meaning we'll need to permanently attach a segment to your arm. You'll need surgery for that, the chip too" he answered, tapping the metallic chip above his brow in reference.
"It's safe?" asked Blake with slight concern upon her features as she stood up straight, addressing the General.
"Any surgery involving the brain usually has some risk involved, but this isn't the first time we've done it and we have become exceedingly adept at the task. I can assure you everything will go just as planned. The arm itself will be child's play" he answered.
"Sweet, so when do we start?" asked Yang as she looked back to the man.
The General raised his arms in a questioning manner, "When do you want to?" he asked. "My team is prepared and ready, you need only say when" he answered.
"Tomorrow then?" asked Yang once more.
"Yang, you should probably think about this a bit more" replied Blake with a frown.
"She's right, it's still a decision not to be made lightly-" the General spoke before pausing himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll as he looked upon the screen. "Forgive me ladies, I need to take this" he spoke with eyes narrowed upon his scroll.
"Oh, sure, take your time. I'll just keep poking this arm" answered Yang as she nodded, turning her attention back to the prosthetic. The General thanked them both with a nod as he made his way towards the door.
"Yang it's not a toy" sighed Blake.
"Come on, touch it. Touch it!" chuckled Yang as she urged Blake, grabbing her hand. The General closed the door behind himself to take his call.
He glanced behind him at the door as his blue eyes turned back to the scroll. He brought it up to his ear as he answered. "Mr Schnee..." he greeted.
"James" came the bold response from the other end of the scroll. The General clenched his jaw in annoyance.
"Did you need something?" he asked in return.
"Yes as a matter of fact, my daughter" answered Mr Schnee.
The General sighed audibly, "I told you that Winter is under my jurisdiction" he answered.
"Do not take me for a fool James, I know that you have Weiss. My men reported seeing her enter your private hospital" replied Mr Schnee.
"Then your men were mistaken" stated the General, his brow furrowing.
"Continue traipsing around this matter General, it will not serve you well" came the response, the man's tone growing deeper.
The General paused as he glanced down one of the hallways, "Be careful where you toss your empty threats" he warned.
"Systems been lagging lately, James?" asked Mr Schnee.
"That was you, was it? You realise I could have you arrested for tampering with Atlas military property don't you?" replied the General.
"Tampering? The Schnee Dust Company designed those machines, their systems are simply being updated" answered Mr Schnee.
The General grit his teeth before responding, "Your updates are riddled with faults in that case, it would be best for my own technicians to see to their systems from here on. I'm sure you could agree that is a reasonable solution" he responded.
"You needn't worry, my own men are already working on fixing the errors made with the last system updates. They will all be..." he paused, "fully operational within the next twenty four hours..." came the reply, his voice putting emphasis upon his final sentence.
Silence drew over the conversation between the two. "Are you really going to bring it down to this?" asked the General.
"Atlas was known by another name once, who's to say it can't change again... You know what I want. Twenty four hours General, or we face another civil war" responded Mr Schnee before he hung up.
The General looked down to his scroll, his gloved hand tensing around it. He glanced around before pocketing it and breathing a sigh. He rubbed his eyes with finger and thumb before entering Yang's room once more. "Sorry about that, business call" he answered.
Yang and Blake both looked back to him, "Nothing serious I hope" spoke Yang.
"Debatable. Something did come up however. You need to undergo the surgery within the next twenty four hours or not at all. It's completely out of my control" he spoke.
Blake seemed a little shocked at his words but Yang took to them well. "Awesome, I'm ready whenever" she answered.
"Yang-" came Blake's voice.
"Pfft, stop worrying Blakey" replied Yang as she smiled to the Faunus, hand patting upon her shoulder. "I'll be fine" she added. Blake didn't look convinced as she frowned.
"In that case an escort will arrive for you soon. Until then, try and take it easy" spoke the General as he approached the suitcase, closing it and picking it up into his hands.
"Thanks again by the way, I mean it" spoke Yang in a more sincere tone.
The General offered a half smile to her, "You're welcome" he nodded before swiftly departing the room.
After a few seconds Blake turned her eyes to Yang, "Did he seem like... He was in a rush just now?" she asked.
"Well you heard him right? Business stuff" replied Yang as she sat down upon the edge of her bed.
Later in the day the sun had long since vanished from Atlas once again. There was now only the lights from outside and the moon. Weiss was in a bed, the lights were off and she rested her head upon Neo's chest. Her eyes were wide open as she stared out the unobstructed window. She could feel a hand tangled in her silver white hair, gently stroking her. Winter's words still plagued her thoughts. The way she treated her, the way she spoke to her. It was like some sick imitation of their father and it hurt her to view her sister in the same light as him. Her hand slowly moved to place itself upon Neo's bare arm, squeezing softly.
Ever since the group had been moved from the larger room Weiss had spent her nights in Neo's. At first she simply slept in the chair but after Winter had scolded her she turned to sleeping in the same bed as her partner for comfort. Even now Neo granted her a sense of safety, a sense of protection. She felt Neo's arm squeeze around her form reassuringly. There were seldom any words between the two but her actions spoke loud enough. She could feel their legs brush against one another beneath the quilt along with the warmth that radiated from her body.
Weiss raised her head slightly to look up at her face. Neo was watching her silently and offering a weak smile to her in response. The two of them had decided to stay together despite the words of the others. They found solace in one another and that was all they needed. The heiress leaned her face closer as she pressed a kiss down upon Neo's lips. She could feel her hand stroke upon her bare back, fingers tracing up her spine and sending shivers through her body as the kiss was deepened. As usual Neo was ever-eager to return the kiss, her tongue promptly dancing with her own. Weiss had grown used to the sickly sweet taste now, it had become something she craved as she felt herself being rolled over. Neo moved herself atop the heiress before finally parting from the kiss with a silent sigh.
Weiss smiled back up at Neo who planted kiss after kiss against her jawline, moving down to her neck as she nipped and licked at it passionately. Weiss tilted her head back as she turned to look out the window. She understood their relationship was perhaps more physical than it ought to be, but what alternative was there for Neo to demonstrate her affection to her? She winced slightly as she felt her hand grope at her chest through her bra and her teeth graze across the pale skin of her neck. If Weiss was to criticize Neo's behaviour it would be for her to perhaps perform more gently. Weiss was a delicate girl after all.
"N- Neo..." spoke Weiss as the person in question moved her lips to peck at her cheek lovingly, her attention now upon her voice. "I think... When Yang is ready... We should leave..." she answered. Neo halted her actions completely as she tilted her head down at the heiress curiously, questioning her words with suspiciously narrowed eyes. Weiss turned her ice blue gaze back to her and noticed her expression. "I-... I mean to leave without Winter. But I want Yang and Blake to come with us" she answered with a slight frown at the thought of fleeing from her sister. "Do... Do you think that's something you could agree to? I know you don't really like Blake that much..." continued Weiss.
Neo appeared to ponder the question in her thoughts as she stared down at Weiss. Eventually she gave a hesitant nod down at her partner.
A smile appeared on Weiss' features once more, "Thank you Neo" she spoke as her slender fingers moved beneath her chin, gesturing for her to bring her face closer. Neo did as instructed as Weiss pulled the two back into another kiss. After a few seconds they parted again, but Weiss had caught onto something. From Neo's actions alone she was able to discern how she was feeling, and her previous eagerness was lacking all of a sudden. "You're not fond of the idea, are you?" she asked.
In response Neo frowned and tilted her head both ways in an unsure manner.
"You don't know how to feel about it?" asked Weiss. She received a nod in response. "Well... We'll get to leave the hospital, we'll be with friends, we can travel together. We can even go find Ruby" spoke Weiss as she tried to list the better reasons for leaving. Towards the end of her sentence Neo's eyes locked firmly onto her own. With a short pause she smiled down at the heiress and nodded. "See? It'll be... It'll be fun" nodded Weiss. She gave out a soft yelp as Neo pressed her lips back down upon her, her fiery passion seemingly renewed as her hand groped again at her chest after deftly slipping under her bra. Weiss' eyes widened as her blush grew stronger. For Neo to be touching her so directly, it was the first time she had done so.
But she moaned in soft pleasure as her eyes closed in delight at the attention she was receiving. Neo's mouth pressed down harder upon hers as her hand fondled at her body. Weiss' eyes shot open once more as she felt Neo press her leg between her thighs with intent. The heiress moved her hands to push back against Neo's shoulders but she halted herself as her partner began to rub her leg against her in a motion. Weiss knew exactly what was happening and she knew she should probably stop it, she wanted to take things slow after all. But with Neo's tongue in her mouth, her hand upon her chest, her leg between her thighs.
She didn't want it to stop. Her expression softened and turned into pleasure, eyes gently closing once more as she allowed Neo to do as she wanted. It was how she demonstrated her love, surely.