(A/N): It's been too long. I'll save my reasoning for the end of this chapter. For now let's just get straight into the story.
Chapter 12: The Ship Sets Sail
The next morning started pretty average for a Saturday in Fenix's eyes. He slept in, went for a morning run (which he encountered Nora and Pyrrha doing the same), and then did a quick meditation. Something he had discovered early on from a Hunter after defending his village from a Grimm attack was that meditation could help with controlling large aura reserves. So now it had become a part of his morning ritual.
After he had completed the first half of his routine he started heading back to his room to wake the rest of the guys and start getting ready. As he got to his hall he turned the corner just in time to see Alexis opening the door to their room with Yang and Blake behind her. Apparently those two couldn't resist the oncoming fireworks that was raging Alexis. As soon as Alexis disappeared into the room he heard her scream.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY ROOM?!" The sounds of the other guys being violently awoken by Alexis's screams could be heard from within the room. Fenix knew they were going to talk today about them apparently not meeting her cleanliness standards but now it just sounded like it was going to be a scolding.
"Fuck that." Fenix said as he turned back around to forgo his shower and changing of clothes to just skip right to breakfast. Hoping he could delay the onslaught of Al gal as long as possible.
That was his plan, at least, until he felt something tighten around him. He couldn't take another step since his ankles and legs where held tightly together. He would have moved to untie his lower half if his arms and shoulders weren't as equally bound. He looked down to see himself tied up in what he would have considered something similar to a straight jacket. He turned his head to see the source of the very familiar black ribbon coming from Blake's weapon.
He looked up to see Blake smirking and Yang flashing a toothy grin.
"Blake, I thought we were friends." Fenix said with a hint of pleading in his voice.
"We are. It's just this is too good to pass up." Blake replied as she slowly started pulling on the ribbon, thus dragging Fenix towards the room where his female teammate would surely have a few choice words for him.
"Think I can borrow that sometime?" Yang asked Blake much to Fenix's horror. He had an idea what she might be planning.
"Why? Did this give you an idea?" Blake asked Yang jokingly as she continued to reel Fenix in.
"Something like that." Yang purred way too seductively for Fenix's comfort.
"Blake…" Fenix said threateningly as he glanced up to her bow. Blake got the message and rolled her eyes at the fire wielder.
"I wasn't going to let her. No need to resort to that." Blake replied much to Fenix's relief and Yang's confusion/disappointment. Now Fenix was standing in front of the girls as Blake turned him so he was facing into his room.
"Have fun." With that she shoved him hard and started retracting her ribbon. The result caused Fenix to start spinning until the ribbon had completely freed him. When he came completely free, he fell over onto his butt. He got his bearings back and then made the biggest mistake of the day.
He looked up.
Right into the furious eyes of Alexis.
"Aw hell." Fenix muttered as he stood up.
"Do you mind explaining THIS?!" She shrieked as she waved her hand to show off the room.
Sure it wasn't its usual spotless self what with a few items out of place along with blankets and pillows strewn across the room. It looked like the other four still hadn't woken up before Alexis ambushed them. That being said, the room was by no means what any normal (or sane) person would consider a mess. Actually all things considered, Fenix thought it looked pretty good given the circumstances. He had seen the rooms of the Arc siblings. A shiver made its way up his spine as he remembered the horror of what Jessica and Jillian's room looked like on a normal day.
Back to the matter at hand, Fenix glanced about the room and then looked back at Alexis. He was momentarily prepared to begin his three point argument on why she was overreacting, until he noticed the look in her eyes. The fierce stare she was giving him was more than enough to make him reconsider. He just sighed in defeat and looked to Jaune and Ren.
"You guys mind if we have a little team meeting?" Both male members of team JNPR quickly gathered their things and made their way out the door. As they left Fenix went over to shut the door but Yang tried to hold it open. A brief struggle commenced to see who could force the door to their desired position. Once they reached a stalemate Fenix looked up to see Yang offering a challenging smirk towards him. Fenix dug into his bag of tricks and pulled out an old but effective technique. He took one hand off the door and brushed a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. As he did so he made sure to run his trigger finger along her cheek and jawbone the entire way. The light touch had its desired effect as her look of determination quickly changed to one akin of a deer in the headlights. He quickly retracted his hand and grinned as he pushed the door completely shut with his hand that had remained on the door. The sound of the locking mechanism latching and a rather unpleased blonde on the other side of the door signaled that they were indeed safe for the time being.
Fenix turned around to be met with the smug looks from his two remaining male companions.
"No." He stated simply as he went to sit on his bed.
"Alright first things first boys, I thought you said that you weren't going to get the room messy." Alexis sounded like a mother scolding her three children.
"Al gal, we didn't do anything too bad to destroy the room. Just let us straighten it up..." Fenix begun until Alexis interrupted him.
"And vacuum." She added.
"And vacuum…" He agreed.
"And dust." She added further.
"And…dust?" Fenix asked slightly confused.
"And mop." She added furthermore.
"IT'S A CARPETED FLOOR!" Fenix yelled back at her.
"Not in the bathroom." She stated simply as Fenix rubbed his temples in frustration.
"Look, Al gal, I think you have too high of expectations for us." Beau chimed in.
"Agreed. My home never looked this nice even when the Cheiftan came to visit." Liam spoke up. Seeing the three boys were in agreement against her she finally relented.
"Fine. On one condition, we need to set up a cleaning schedule." Fenix was surprised that that was all her demands were. 'Maybe the girls and her had a talk last night' he secretly hoped.
"Deal." Fenix accepted the terms without hesitation, knowing full well if any of them didn't do a good enough job Alexis would come up behind them to complete it so it met her standards.
"Also, I have a proposition for you guys." She caught all their attentions with that. They were all three secretly praying that it wasn't more stipulations on the cleaning or her pushing that they get on a regulated diet again. Seriously how many times did they need to shoot down that idea before she'd let it go?
"Last night in team RWBY's room I noticed they had made their own bunk beds. It looked dangerous how they put them together but it did allow them to have more room to move about. Would you guys be interested in moving to bunk beds?" Fenix admitted a little more space in the room wouldn't hurt.
"I get top bunk!" Liam shouted excitedly. All three members of his team slowly turned their heads to look at him in bewilderment.
"Nuh uh." Was all Alexis could muster.
"Nope." Beau deadpanned.
"Dibs on the other top!" Fenix hurriedly exclaimed. The look of shock on Alexis and Beau's faces was priceless. Matched with the shit eating grin coming from his partner it just made a Kodak moment.
"A seven foot bear faunus and a boy who can set the place on fire at any given moment are the two who get the top bunks? Nuh uh!" Alexis cried out indignantly.
"Yup! Sucks to be you two!" Fenix replied cheekily as he started getting his shower supplies together.
"Wait! How are we going to make something that can hold up Liam?" Alexis asked. Fenix froze as he carefully digested what she had just said.
"What do you mean make?" He asked slightly confused.
"I mean we have to set up these bunk beds ourselves." Alexis replied.
"What in the world of Remnant are you talking about? We don't have to set anything up. We can requisition some from the storage center here and they will trade out our single beds for bunk beds." Alexis blinked in mild shock at Fenix's words.
"What?" She asked as Fenix rummaged through his drawer before holding up a pamphlet each student got in their 'welcome to Beacon' package.
"In here it states that if you wish to trade out any of your furnishings for something different you just need to fill out a requisition form and the staff here will supply. As long as it is on the list of provided amenities which bunk beds are on said list." Fenix said as he handed the packet to Alexis to look over. She glanced over the pointed out section quickly before grinning evilly and looking up to the rest of the boys.
"Don't tell team RWBY about this." The three boys looked at her slightly confused.
"I'll bite. Why?" Beau asked the million lien question.
"Let's just say team RWBY's bunk beds are not exactly designed to be bunk beds." Soon everybody got the message as they all started laughing.
"I've got to see this sometime." Fenix chuckled as he finally walked into the bathroom to take a much needed shower. After he showered and got dressed in what he would consider date appropriate clothes, he started strapping his weapons on. His new outfit was his cobalt blue dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. He had his shirt tucked into his black jeans along with a black belt and comfortable black dress shoes.
"I thought you were going into town for the day. Why are you gearing up?" Liam asked his partner.
"Simple, a Hunter should never go anywhere unarmed." Fenix replied as he finished securing his sheathes to their normal position on his back.
"Speaking of armed Hunters, I would like to formally offer you guys my services. Since you are my teammates I want to offer this to you guys before anyone else. As I told you before I'm a class five weapons smith and am really good at utilizing dust in weapons. All of you have your own weapons but they're, well I'll be honest, they're rather basic." Liam looked slightly offended while the other two seemed interested in where Fenix was going with this. To stop Liam from going on a tantrum, Fenix spoke up again quickly after a brief pause.
"I'm not saying they aren't efficient, I'm just saying an upgrade wouldn't hurt to further your chances of survival. If you guys would trust me I would like to make some modifications to all of your weapons. . I'll also take any special requests each of you may have in regards to your weapons. Beau, I'd like to upgrade your assault rifle and revolver both if that's ok?" Beau seemed to think about it for a moment before speaking.
"I'd like to keep my pistol the way it is. Been in my family for generations and I'd hate to be the one to change that. And, don't change the body of my rifle. I've gotten used to it." Fenix inwardly grimaced. That was some rather steep stipulations to follow and it basically made his options extremely limited. Then he remembered something and an idea popped into his head.
"Beau you still wear that glove in combat right?" Beau nodded in confirmation.
"Yup." He answered simply.
"Perfect. I have my idea for you know. Now for you Liam, any problems with me giving you something that will make your sword more *cough cough* explosive?" Fenix knew the answer before he asked the question, but that didn't make the maniacal grin that was spread across Liam's face any less creepy. He swore Liam was a not so secret sadist.
"That would do nicely Fenix. I would be honored." Liam bowed his head in respect towards Fenix to which he reciprocated with a similar bow.
"And Alexis, what I have in mind for your weapons would require a lot of changes. Any requests from you?"
"Actually yes, I like how my weapons only stay to the exterior side of my forearms, I would like them to stay like that and not be turned into full fledged gauntlets like Yang's. I would also like to retain their current functions as well as add a few. I will leave the additions to you." Fenix nodded. Nothing he wasn't expecting from her and, to be honest, nothing he hadn't already planned on doing.
"As a little bonus I can have them ready by family weekend so you can showcase your new tricks to your parents. Maybe team RWBY or JNPR will act as our guinea pigs in a team battle. What do you think?"
"I think they would agree to that." Alexis spoke as the group started to break up the conversation so they could spend the rest of their Saturday doing their own thing. Fenix walked over to his dresser and opened it to reveal a decent sized rectangular box. After a bit of internal struggle he decided to put it on. Coco had no problem wearing hers to show she was once a part of the Order so he didn't see a reason to be paranoid anymore. If she hadn't had any issues and she had been here a year he figured he should be safe from accidently running into any active members. After putting it on he said his goodbyes to his teammates and headed out the door.
He made it to the courtyard and began walking towards the airship docks. As he passed the large statue located in the middle of the courtyard, he noticed Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Weiss walking his way.
"Morning ladies." He waved politely once they noticed him.
"Oh ha ha." Jaune sarcastically laughed as the two redheads giggled while Weiss just barely smirked.
"Morning Fenix! Ooooooo you look nice. Going somewhere?" Ruby asked excitedly.
"Yes. I'm headed into Vale." He replied to the group.
"Would you like us to accompany you Fenix? It seems a shame to spend your weekend in Vale alone." Pyrrha offered politely. Fenix could catch how she glanced at the oblivious blonde knight next to her. The subtle hope that Jaune would join her and basically give her (in her eyes) a date scenario appeared to elate her. Sadly he was going to have to shoot down that idea so to keep his and Neo's privacy.
"I appreciate the offer but I'd like some time to myself today if you don't mind." Fenix replied with a nod of appreciation towards Pyrrha. A half lie but Neo was very adamant that she wanted to remain a secret for now.
"Speaking of which, Ruby you think you could do me a big favor? Maybe you too Weiss?" He turned towards the little reaper and her partner.
"What cha need?" Ruby asked with her typical beaming smile. She was always happy to help out her friends. Weiss didn't seem near as enthused, rather more curious what he could want from them.
"Think you could keep Yang off my tail for the day?" He chuckled as the two girls in question rolled their eyes.
"I'll do my best, but you know how she is." Ruby sighed.
"Oh trust me. I do. Weiss I'm counting on you to keep Yang off of me and Ruby in line while I'm gone. It's a tough task. Do you think you are up to it?" He teased the heiress. She just stuck her nose up and turned her head to the side.
"Of course. A Schnee never backs down from a challenge." She spoke a little harshly but that was soon broken by Ruby's whining at Weiss. With a wave he said his farewells and continued walking towards the docks.
"I feel bad." Ruby spoke up after the group of four had gotten out of earshot from Fenix.
"What ever for?" Weiss asked.
"I just, don't like him being all by himself. He seems lonely sometimes." Ruby mused to which Jaune just softly laughed at her. He caught her irritated glare and decided to explain it to her. Her innocence was refreshing to have around their group but it also made some things difficult for her to understand.
"Firstly, in all seriousness, Fenix has always been a little bit of a loner." The girls all shot disbelieving looks towards Jaune. He started waving his hands in front of him in a bit of a defensive move.
"I mean he is a really good guy and very easy to talk to. But… you have to realize because of his abilities he has done a lot of things that no one our age should have had to do. He has seen and survived a lot of horrors. So, it's not unlike him to go have some time to himself to reflect on things." At his solemn words the group conversation shifted into uncomfortable silence, until Jaune spoke up again.
"Second, and on a lighter note, he isn't going to be alone for long." He winked as the girls looked back up to meet him smiling.
"Come on, did you see how he is dressed?" The girls turned back around to see Fenix in the distance in his date attire boarding a bullhead. Weiss and Pyrrha seemed to get it but Ruby still seemed confused.
"He isn't going to Vale dressed like that to just walk around. He is going to meet somebody. By the looks of his outfit, I'd venture a girl." Jaune winked to Ruby who blushed a little at the gesture.
"What if its one of your sisters?" Ruby asked teasingly once she had recovered. Jaune froze mid step and a frown made its way across his face.
"Oh he better not. If he does I'll start helping Yang with her little quest." The group started laughing at that as they continued towards their dorm rooms to contain the blonde brawler.
After a short bullhead ride, Fenix stepped out into city of Vale. He looked around not seeing his pink and brown haired cutie. He started making his way towards the end of the crowd until he noticed her. She was walking towards him down one of the side streets. Swinging her parasol with each step she took.
He didn't know what it was, but something was different. It wasn't her outfit, since she had opted to wear her typical Neapolitan themed outfit and not her disguise for some reason today. Maybe it was her make up? He honestly wished he could figure out whatever it was because she just looked so damn good. He kept admiring the sight of her walking towards him as he took notice of her looks, her outfit, and her jewelry. That was it! She wasn't wearing any jewelry last time! The piece that caught his eye was a rather cute looking neckl-
Wait.
No fucking way.
Of course it had to be THAT necklace. The same one that signified a female member of the Order. The exact same one he had seen every day on his master all those years ago and recently on Coco.
He was panicking. He needed to get her alone to talk about this now. He couldn't exactly strike up a conversation about this out in the open. Especially in a crowded area like what they were currently in. As she was about to reach him he got a strange feeling. His old sense of somebody was tailing him started acting up. He hadn't felt that one in awhile but when he did feel it, it was seldom wrong. That changed his objectives momentarily.
As Neo reached him and leaned in for a kiss he quickly dodged the kiss and grabbed her by the arm. Her shock was apparent enough as he wrapped his arm around hers and started leading her away from the crowded dock. He had to almost drag her with how fast he was moving. He wasn't trying to be forceful with her so he leaned in to ease her hesitant reaction to his actions.
"We are being followed." At that she seemed to perk up. She gave him a quick nod and pointed him in the direction of a side alley. They turned down it as Fenix could hear the unmistakable sound of boots approaching the alley from the street they had just turned off of. Whoever it was was still following them. Neo then pulled him down another side alley to help shake whoever was on their trail. Neo kept leading him down alley after alley, navigating the concrete maze with precision that could only be from experience. After over half a dozen turns they arrived at another alleyway but this time Neo pulled him into an alcove off to the side of the alley and placed the two of them behind a large air conditioning unit. It was big enough to hide the two of them but the space only allowed for them to stand single file. This ended up with Fenix pushing Neo up against the wall facing her while he pushed himself up against her to better hide himself. He turned to watch the alleyway to catch a glimpse of their pursuer. After a minute of hiding the footsteps got really loud and he could tell it was who had been tailing them. A certain blonde mane of hair came into view and paused to survey the area. Fenix saw the girl start to turn their way to look down the alcove and Fenix ducked back into their cover. When he did so he didn't notice how he basically pinned Neo up against the wall. The girl was thankful at that moment she was a mute because if not, the moan she was silently exhaling would surely have given them away.
Fenix didn't notice though. He was busy peeking out of their hiding spot to catch a glimpse of lilac eyes turning crimson in frustration as she turned and stomped away. He finally exhaled the air he had unknowingly been holding.
"God dammit Yang." He muttered and then turned to notice Neo raising an eyebrow at him in an unspoken question.
"Remember that girl I told you who is making the moves on me at Beacon?" He asked as he backed up a half-step to allow the woman a little breathing room. She nodded for him to continue.
"Well that was her." At this Neo's eyes shot open in surprise for a split second. The look that came across her face right after that though scared the ever loving crap out of Fenix.
He had seen some things. Some very unsightly things that he wished would never haunt his mind ever again. Not many of them compared to the look of pure evil that came from the tiny ice cream colored girl in front of him. It was the most sadistic grin he had ever seen in his life. It horrified him and yet, he found himself strangely attracted to this.
'Got me a bad girl here. Me likey. Wait wait (inwardly slapping himself) bad Fenix. Remember the main reason you wanted to get her away from those crowds before you realized Yang was snooping on you.' He thought to himself. Just as he finished his inner monologue, Neo moved to push past him and go confront Yang.
"Oh no you don't." Fenix replied as he went to pin her against the wall again. He noticed a flick of her wrist and he instantly reacted. Unsheathing his Veloces, he brought the blade up against her throat. He tried to do it as non-threateningly as one can when holding a sword to somebody else's neck. Attempting to show her that he was only interested in restraining her, not actually harming her.
The look of evil was not present anymore. Something much more frightening was on her adorable little face now.
A look of amusement.
That bothered Fenix for a second before she motioned down with her heterochromatic eyes. He looked down after he felt the tap of the blade from her parasol up against his inner thigh. His eyes widened in shock on actually being in this stand off before he spoke.
"Ok that's just not fair." He noted the confident smile returned as she gave a light huff of laughter.
"But while we are here we might as well talk about the elephant in the room right now." He paused to make sure she understood the severity of the situation. She clearly didn't. Hell he didn't either. They hadn't even actually talked about it yet, but he could tell this was not something either could just ignore.
"Where, the hell, did you get that?" He asked softly yet sternly as he pointed with his eyes to her necklace. She looked down to see he was indeed pointing at her jewelry and a quick look of fear flittered across her eyes as they both turned white. They quickly returned to their normal one pink one brown color as she moved her free hand. Fenix tilted his head to signal to her 'no tricks' which she rolled her eyes and held up her scroll with her other hand. She began typing something and Fenix had just enough time to amaze at how quick she was at that with one hand before she turned it to show him the message.
Pawn shop hotstuff. Why? Do you like it? Fenix started chuckling as she looked at him with curiosity as to what was so funny about it.
"Yes it does look good on you, but we both know there is no way in hell you found that at a pawn shop." The look of surprise came back as she seemed confused how he had caught her lie.
"So I'll ask again." He said as he brought his free hand up to unbutton another button from his shirt.
"Where..." He began as he started fishing inside his shirt for something.
"Did…" He said as he seemed to find what he was looking for underneath the fabric.
"You get this?" He finished as he revealed the item that caused Neo's eyes to go white again from the shock. She couldn't believe it. There was no way that this boy, the one that she felt so attached to, was one of them.
The item in question was a simple looking necklace for men. A cross hanging crooked almost at a diagonal angle held up by a single black cord.
The symbol that signified a male member of the Order.
She was so confused. He seemed like such a good guy. Nice, charming even, seemed to want to do things for legitimately good reasons, and really really cute. So how could he, be one of those who had hunted her for years? She had to get away from him. She couldn't be taken back. She would never go back!
She started applying pressure to his thigh to prove she wasn't going to go without a fight. Fenix started wincing in pain as he turned so that the flat side of his blade was pressing up against her neck. It was a sign that he wasn't meaning to hurt her.
"Ahh ahh hold on. I no longer have anything to do with them and I'm not here to fight. Just had to make sure you wouldn't try to stab me without thinking first, ok?" She thought his words over for a few seconds before sighing and retracting her blade back into her parasol. Fenix sighed as well as he took his sword off her throat and returned it to its sheath.
"So, current or former member?" He asked with a slight hint of concern to his voice. Neo began typing into her scroll with both hands. As she was typing up a storm, Fenix realized how close their bodies were to each other. An embarrassed flush sprouted to life on his face and he moved to step backwards to give her some space. As soon as he attempted to though, One of Neo's hands snaked around his lower back and pulled him closer to her. She just raised an eyebrow and gave him a look as if to challenge him to try to get away from her. He didn't need any more hints than that as he allowed himself to be pulled back against her. A few awkwardly silent moments later she had finished her message and held her scroll up for him to read.
Yes and no. Yes that technically I am still an active member. Only because they never officially declared me released from their services. But in every other sense I am not. I ran away almost seven years ago. They came after me to drag me back to them but I ran to one of the few places they were not permitted to touch me, Haven Academy.
"Wait. Two things. First what division? Second, are you telling me there is basically a no fly zone on Haven for the Order?" Fenix asked after he had finished reading her message. She nodded and then typed a quick answer.
Sanctorum de tenebris. And actually there is one over all of the huntsmen academies. It's not something they like to publicize because people like me would just run to them for safety. After some digging I found that the council has an agreement with the Headmasters of the academies to not interfere with their students. Fenix took those words in. It was true that some members would have defected had they known that little tidbit of information. That wasn't what bothered him though, for some reason it bothered him that the council withheld secrets from its members. He had no idea why this bothered him though. It should have been expected what with them being a SECRET organization and everything. He quickly brushed those thoughts of doubt aside. He was no longer a part of them and they were no longer a part of his life. Their problems were no longer his own so he needn't dwell on them. As if on cue, a petite hand cupped his cheek and brought his attention back to Neo. He hadn't even realized he had turned away from her but now felt sheepish that she had caught his mind wandering.
You know it's rude to zone out and keep a lady waiting like this? She smirked as he read the message out loud and then blushed a little bit as he realized he was still pushing her up against the wall.
"In my defense I tried to let you go but you pushed me back." Fenix quipped back at her.
Who said I was telling you to stop?
After reading her insinuating message he looked back to see her leaning in towards him. He had to admit to himself that he had been eagerly waiting this moment for the past week since he last saw her orientation day. He couldn't explain it but everything about this girl just ensnared him. Her touch, her fragrance, her smile, her… just everything about her was so addicting to him. He had also noticed his thoughts were increasingly drifting towards Neo the more time he spent away from her. It had only been one week but it felt like they had been apart for entirely too long.
He couldn't take it anymore.
His feelings for her consumed him as he quickly closed the gap between them and smashed his lips onto hers. He had been daydreaming about what he would do the moment he saw her all week. All his planning and thoughts about how to be suave just flew out the window as he initiated a full make out session. And as much as he wanted to kick himself, he couldn't bring himself to care. He was in a state of pure bliss and he didn't want it to end.
Neo on the other hand was having some very conflicting feelings. On one hand, she wasn't sure how to feel about him being a supposed former member of the Order. The very organization that had been hounding her nonstop ever since she left years ago. They had been after her in a weak attempt to drag her back into their ranks ever since she defected. Her brain was screaming for her to just run and not look back. Much like she had done every other time an Order member had confronted her. In all honesty she knew that's what she should do. But, the other hand was winning. The hand that had strong emotional connections to Fenix and was somehow convinced he wasn't a pawn for the council. The hand that yearned for him to be close to her. The hand that for some reason ignored all sense of logic and just melted into the kiss.
'Fuck it' she thought to herself as she pushed back and returned the kiss. Propping her parasol up against the wall next to her, she ran her hands behind his head so one rested on his neck and the other tangled in his hair.
After a few minutes (what seemed like only a few seconds to the two love birds) Fenix broke off the kiss. A quick once over showed Neo with a look of complete euphoria. Her eyes remained closed as she leaned forward as if to chase him down to continue the kiss. At this he leaned back slightly to maintain the separation. When Neo found she didn't make contact again, she opened her eyes. She turned her head and pouted as cutely as she could when she saw the smirk on his face at avoiding any further kissing. Her pout was rewarded with a warm hand cupping her cheek as he angled her face to make eye contact with him.
"Neo, I think us getting frisky behind an air conditioning machine in a back alley may be a bit much for our second date." Fenix wasn't going to admit that that idea did actually sound to his liking at the moment. He didn't want to move too fast with this one. There was something different about her that made him want to do everything right.
She just waggled her eyebrows suggestively and grinned at his statement. She actually liked the idea, what with her being on the mischievous side and all. It sounded so adventurous and exciting to her to just go at each other in these back alleys. She had noticed her exhibitionist kink early in her teenage years and the thoughts of them resurfacing sent shivers up her spine.
Fenix, having noticed the gleam in her eyes and the not so subtle quiver, immediately regretted giving her the idea and moved quickly to get them moving on with their date before she attacked him in the best way possible.
"Come on sweet thing, let's go get some lunch and actually start our date instead of hanging out in the back alleys." He said as he backed off of her and motioned for her to follow him out of their hiding spot and back towards the main streets of Vale. She sighed somewhat disappointedly and pushed herself off of the wall. After both brushed their clothes off, Neo took his arm and led him towards Main Street to find a restaurant.
Their walk back to the crowded streets of Vale was uneventful compared to Fenix's arrival to the city. No sign of the still prowling Yang Xiao Long allowed Fenix to relax a little bit. He still kept his guard up knowing if they were spotted Yang would cause a scene. He would rather avoid that little display today.
Eventually they found a nice looking restaurant that they decided to try out. On the outside it looked like a plain restaurant, nothing too fancy or flashy. The only thing that Fenix found odd was the name, "Fat Bottom Betty's." He found the name strangely humorous and pointed it out to Neo before they went in. She too found the name odd and silently giggled at it as she walked in the front door being held by the fire wielder. Once they both were completely inside the establishment, they were both pleasantly surprised.
The place had a rather young atmosphere to it. The first and most noticeable attributes of the place was the large pizza oven shaped like a dome. It had a steady fire burning in it that appeared to be powered by wood. Next to that was a fully stocked bar which Fenix was thinking he may use a few times during his stay at Beacon. The rest of the place had a rather sporty feeling to it. Beacon's athletics logos were plastered all around the place as well as ones representing Vale's professional teams. Holo-screens were placed all around the dining area. Most were showing sports games while a few scattered screens were playing rock and roll music videos.
They were seated in a booth by the front window. They both opened the menus and Fenix gasped. Neo looked at him confused as he was looking at the menu with an amount of awe that could only be described as a child in a candy store.
"I think I'm in love…" He paused and looked at Neo as her breath hitched. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of him professing his love for her like that. She knew she had strong feelings for him but she wasn't yet convinced that it was love. Everything about this seemed to be moving so fast. She needed more time to think about this. She was broken from her mental breakdown as he finished his statement.
"…With this place." He grinned at her as she gave him a look of disbelief.
'That son of a' she didn't even finish her thought as she gave a sharp kick with her steel tipped combat heel into his shin. He winced but kept the smile on his face knowing he deserved that one. Looking back up at her, he saw a cocky smirk across her face. As if she had put him in his place. Neo then started signing to ask him why he felt he loved this place already. When she finished signing she opened her menu again to browse the selections as he answered.
"Oh well the atmosphere is amazing, and have you seen the selection of the menu? Wings, pasta, salads, pizza, steak, and most importantly, burgers." Neo just replied with a quirked eyebrow.
"Burgers are by far my favorite food." Fenix stated simply as he returned to browsing the burger section of the menu. After a few moments of looking the waitress came and took their orders. Fenix deciding on a rather thick burger with fries and a side salad. Neo chose the shrimp fettuccini with a side salad as well. Once they had their orders placed the waitress took their menus and left. Fenix took this as the time to strike up conversation.
"So Neo, I couldn't help but notice you weren't using your disguise today. Why's that?" Sure enough, she was in her typical ice cream colored outfit that matched her hair and eyes. Neo moved to sign her answer but looked around at the somewhat busy lunch crowd. Figuring it would be safer to just type it out on her scroll instead of some civilian reading her explanation why she wasn't in a disguise, she started typing. Once done she put her scroll on the table and slid it to him.
I can be more relaxed with my identity in Vale than at Beacon. Typical civilians here don't know who I am but I'm a bit of a figure amongst the Hunters so I try not to attract too much attention if I have to go to Beacon.
That was a bold faced lie, and she knew it. Most people in Vale knew exactly who she was. They just knew better than to say anything because those who tried to stand up to her tended to end up dead. Nobody wanted to attract that kind of attention so they just did their best to pretend the murderous pint sized girl from hell wasn't in the same room with them. Even the local police knew not to cross her. Only a fully trained Hunter or Huntress could handle the ice cream girl in a fight and even then it was risky.
Fenix seemed to accept her lie with a nod of his head as he slid her scroll back to her. It's not like he had been around long enough to know any of these things and she would prefer it if he never knew that about her. She noticed he looked a little hesitant to speak about what was his follow up question. He glanced at her with a look as if silently seeking permission to ask. She smiled gently at him to signal she didn't mind.
"Soooo… something is kind of bugging me. About the Order. They didn't ever attempt to capture you after you graduated?" He asked somewhat skeptically. There was no way in hell that the Order just gave up and let her get away like that. As she began typing her answer he wondered to himself if Liam was starting to rub off on him. Liam never took something at face value. There was always a secret motive or hidden meaning to everything in the faunus's eyes. He was snapped out of his musing when Neo waved her scroll in his face for him to read.
Oh they tried all right. But remember my semblances? I'm perfect for not being detected. Plus the training I received at the academy helped to hone my fighting skills so whenever they did actually track me down I fought them off.
"Ah that makes sense. It was just weird to me how you act like you are in hiding from the Order but you have no problem walking around the capital city with no disguise." Neo nodded but held up a finger signaling him to hold that thought as she pulled her scroll back up. Her fingers became a blur from the speed she was typing at. It was obvious after years of this being her main form of communication that she had become quite good at it. Soon she was done with typing her message as she once again slid it across the table for him to read.
Yes but you have to remember the Order's method of action. They always send their underlings to locate and confront the individual first. The council is too stubborn to deviate from their age old tactics. So every time they have found me, they send one of their apprentices to try and capture me first. I usually have no problem handling them and after defeating them I just relocate before the big guns can come in response.
Fenix had to admit that she made a damn good point. The Order had too often stuck to their extremely outdated methods. Yet somehow they didn't seem to hinder the results too often. Except in situations like these, where people knew how the Order worked and how to find loopholes in their system. It was one of the topics in which he and his master often got into heated debates over. She would argue that the Order's tactics were still effective while he would argue that there were too many flaws. The fact that most of their debates just ended in his Master assigning him extra training out of frustration didn't annoy him at all. Not one single frickin bit. But he was getting himself side tracked again.
"I have to admit that is an advantageous flaw in the process that you are exploiting there." She smiled self satisfactorily to which Fenix had to admit looked adorable. He then remembered that he found many of her little looks to be adorable. Either that or terrifying. He was still baffled how something so absolutely beautiful could turn and be unnervingly frightening the next moment. She truly was an enigma.
He was saved from trying to continue the conversation after it had awkwardly faltered by their waitress returning with their food. They promptly dug in and fell into a comfortable silence as they began devouring their respective meals. A little small talk was shared between the two as they would alternate between answering and eating. Before they knew it their food was gone and Fenix had paid the bill. Neo moved to argue that she was more than capable of paying for her own food.
"No sweet thing I got this. My old master taught me that the male is supposed to pay for his date's meal. You will have your chance to pay for something later, don't worry about it." He saw this argument coming and squashed it before it could start. She raised an eyebrow to question what he meant by that.
"Well there's something I would like to do later but the place won't open for a few hours so I was going to suggest we go do something to kill some time. Would shopping interest you?" He asked somewhat nervously. He inwardly wondered to himself why asking a simple question would make his nerves on edge like that.
Neo's answer came in the form of a nod accompanied with a cute smile. As they left the restaurant she took his arm again as they started walking in the direction of the Vale shopping district. She knew it was cliché but she loved how he never failed to offer his arm for her to hold on to.
"So…uh… I know this seems like a lame question but what's your favorite color?" Fenix broke the silence first as they strolled down the sidewalk. She gave a silent chuckle at the completely lame attempt to strike up conversation. She gave a simple yet honest answer by pointing to the pink part of her hair.
"Isn't that a little junior high of you?" He asked with mirth in his voice. His smile was quickly cut off by four tiny fingers jabbing him sharply between his ninth and tenth ribs. He winced at the pain of her digits reaching deeper than he initially thought they could. Looking over he saw her holding up her scroll to show him a message she had somehow typed while he was preoccupied with the jab to his side.
Don't mock the color scheme. The message was accompanied with an all too familiar cocky smirk on the girl's face. He nodded as they quickly resumed walking.
He couldn't help but smile despite the still lingering discomfort in his side that reminded him to refrain from any excessive teasing in the near future. He found himself loving both of the smiles he had seen from her today.
The first was a wicked looking smile that always seemed to be present upon her face. A cocky smirk that showed she was confident in being able to handle herself no matter her opponent. It was the smile that scared the ever loving shit out of everybody who didn't actually know the girl. To almost everybody else, it was the smile of a sadistic killer who showed no mercy to her opponents. To Fenix, however, it the look of an independent woman who didn't care what others thought of her. She was who she was and the only opinions that mattered were a select few that she cared about. He just thought how lucky he was to be included in that select few.
The second smile was one that had the potential to melt Fenix's will. An authentic gentle and caring smile that he had only seen directed towards him in the short few days he had known her. It was a much calmer smile than the first, yet it spoke volumes more. The most important message it spoke to him was that the girl actually cared for him in a similar way that he cared for her. Something that he wasn't quite sure was love yet, but was definitely more than just liking her. If he was being honest with himself it was the smile that he preferred of the two even though the first one looked almost natural on her to be honest. It just fit her personality too well.
"Well in case you couldn't tell I actually have two favorite colors." He joked to her as he brought his attention back out of his inner musings. She just rolled her eyes at him and turned to look in front of them.
"No really, orange and blue. And I know this may come off as odd but I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about your heterchromia iridum? Only if it's ok with you though." He asked a little hesitantly for fear of accidently tripping over a sore subject for Neo. To his relief she just shrugged and nodded for him to go on asking whatever it was he wanted to know.
"Alright. Well for starters, were you born that way or did something happen to turn you like that?" Neo looked a little offended so Fenix hurriedly rephrased his question.
"Ok let me think of a better way to say that. Umm, ok you see my eyes?" Neo nodded as she peered into those fiery orbs. Before she could get lost in thought about how dreamy they were, Fenix continued.
"Well they weren't always this color. They were originally blue." He pinched the side of his shirt and brought it forward to emphasize his point.
"This deep blue. And then when I got my aura unlocked they changed to this." Once again to emphasize his point he pointed to his eyes. Neo was quite surprised at this. She knew that aura unlocking could produce some anomalies but she had never heard of it physically changing a person.
"So what I'm asking is, did your heterchromic traits appear when you got your aura unlocked or something along those lines? Or are you a natural pinkette/brunette?" He finished with a chuckle which caused Neo to bust out into a fit of silent giggles.
Au naturale cutie. She winked at him after he had finished reading her scroll. He grinned and rolled his eyes at her playful remark.
"So In my experience hunters usually get their color scheme from their family in some shape or form. Who did your heterchromia come from?" Fenix asked innocently.
Neo froze up at his question though. She had initially thought agreed to his questioning thinking he wouldn't trigger any painful memories but that is what he had just done. Her mind was trying to battle the inner turmoil that came when somebody mentioned her family. Fenix noticed how her hand gripped down on his arm tightly and her posture seemed much tenser at his question. Luckily they were passing a small park at the moment so he led the seemingly shell shocked girl to a bench for them to sit down at. As they neared the bench Neo seemed to have gotten it together as she tried to fight off Fenix from making her sit down. He firmly planted her on the bench and sat next to her.
"Wana talk about it?" He asked. Her reply was to cross her arms, give an annoyed huff, and turn away from him. He found it absolutely adorable but had to keep himself collected because of the serious nature of the situation. He noticed that she didn't look like she was going to give up and tell him what had caused her to act that way. He gave a depressed sigh and went with the only method that he knew how to progress with this complicated issue.
"I know what it's like for family to be a touchy subject." He paused as he noticed her perk up.
"Ever wonder how I got the scar on my arm?" He asked as she turned around to face him now. She could feel the emotion radiating from him as he took a deep breath. He then went into the story of how the Grimm attack on his village came to pass. How he ended up with the scar from the Beowulf on his arm. How he, his sister, and his father made it to the village square. How the Goliath trampled and killed his sister and father. Then how his mother unlocked his aura and died protecting him. He ended his tale with stating simply that a hunter team pulled him out of the ruins of his village and got him to safety. Once he finished, he sat there in a downhearted silence staring at his feet. After a few moments, the sound of typing on a scroll caught his attention and he looked to see Neo typing with a very intense look on her face. He waited patiently for a few minutes while she typed away. Finally with a resigned huff, she handed her scroll to Fenix for him to read.
My father was a horrible man. Ever since I can remember he would beat us. At first he made it act like it was justifiable, like we had done something to deserve it. After a few years he stopped caring and just beat us anytime he felt like it. My mother always tried to protect me but she never did anything to stop the abuse. She was everything to me. The complete opposite of my dad. Loving, caring, and would do anything to make sure I had the best she could provide. I was so tired of her taking the front of all of dad's rage so one day when I was eight, I stood up to him. Worst mistake of my life.
After reading the message Fenix put his arm around the girl and brought her into a close one armed hug. After consoling the girl silently for a few moments he noticed she was typing again with her free hand.
"You don't have to go on. I understand." She just waved him off and continued to type.
He started with his typical gig. Yelling at us for something that was in no way our fault but we were still getting the blame for. Something in me just snapped. I don't remember if it was something he said or just years of pent up anger finally surfacing. I started yelling back at him. I was calling him all sorts of names that I had heard him call us. He didn't like that, all the sudden he grabbed me by the throat and slammed my back into the floor. He followed through with the attack, straddling me and putting an iron grip with both of his hands on my throat. As he was strangling me my mother was trying to pry him off. Just before I lost consciousness I saw her finally get his attention by slapping him fully across the face. His rage then redirected to her and he lashed out. She fell backwards and hit the back of her head on the corner of the countertop.
The two sat in silence with Fenix holding the teary eyed girl as she typed up the remainder of her tale.
I don't know how somebody could take years of beatings like we did and then die from something so simplistic. She was gone before her body hit the floor. I slipped out of consciousness at that point and woke up later in the hospital. Apparently somebody had called the police because when they arrived they found my father kneeling over her corpse begging her to get up with me half strangled to death in the middle of the kitchen. He was sent to prison and I was put in the foster care program. A year later I was found by the Order and as they say the rest is history.
"So he's still in jail?" Fenix couldn't help himself from asking. Neo loudly exhaled and typed on her scroll again.
Oh no I killed the bastard. After discovering my semblances and a few years of training from the Order, I visited his jail cell. He recognized me and tried to act like he was justified for what he had done. I slit his throat and let him bleed out.
Fenix's mind was reeling from the sad story of the beauty sitting next to him. He gently moved her into a position where he could fully embrace her. As he did he tried to hold back the tears that threatened to escape.
"I'm so so sorry that happened to you sweet thing." He managed to say between the sobs.
He felt her shoulders moving and he assumed she was crying at this point. He pulled out of the hug to see that her eyes were indeed full of tears but she wasn't crying. She was silently laughing. He was confused beyond all measure until he saw her move her hands.
'I love that name.' She signed as she looked at him with those eyes gleaming and a look of pure joy on her face.
"Well I love you." He clasped his hand over his mouth as soon as he realized he had let those words escape from his traitorous mouth. A sharp inhale of air made him notice the stunned look upon Neo's face. He quickly moved to try and salvage the situation.
"I-I mean… well, I think I do. I know this is a bit early but you're constantly on my mind, your smile brightens up my world, and… well I could go on but you get the idea?" She slowly nodded with a dumbstruck look still upon her face.
"For Oum's sake we were both trained by the saints! How ironic is that?" The revelation that they had both been in the same division of the Order sent Neo further into her shocked state.
"Just being around you means so much to me Neo. I honestly just want to see you happy and I would be so happy if you would do me the honor of being my girlfriend." That finally broke her. She froze up and sat there not believing all this was actually happening. Fenix didn't know it was possible for her eyes to go any wider but sure enough he saw them reach a new definition of 'as big as dinner plates.' After a few awkward moments he finally caved under stare.
"Uh Neo?" That seemed to be enough to break her trance as she shook her head side to side. She then realized she had blanked and blushed a bit as she shyly nodded to answer his question. The look of fear that she would reject his feelings quickly disappeared to a wide goofy grin.
"Awesome." He said as she playfully slapped his arm. She wondered why he was so nervous. It wasn't like their previous make out sessions weren't a good indicator that she at least had some feelings for him. She wondered how this had affected him so. He seemed like a calm and collected person every other time she had interacted with him. She smirked a little at the realization that he was actually nervous she wouldn't return his feelings. Such a silly boy. She then remembered that he was indeed five years younger than her. That answered her question for her.
"Whoa didn't realize we have been sitting here that long." Fenix's voice broke her from her thoughts as she looked at her scroll to notice the time. They had indeed been sitting there for a lot longer than she would have thought.
"Come on, let's go shop for a little bit before our grand finale for tonight." He said playfully as he got up and offered her a hand helping her up. She accepted it and the two continued their walk towards the shopping center.
When they arrived Neo took the lead and started dragging Fenix to all sorts of stores. Nothing he wasn't used to since his stay with the Arcs had assured that he was constantly used as a pack mule alongside Jaune for the seven sisters. However, unlike the Arc girls, Neo made sure to take him to many stores more for men. She continued to try different outfits on him to see what she would like to see him in. By the end of the day, Fenix was tired of playing dress up for his new girlfriend and Neo was satisfied with the clothes she had bought for herself and her new boyfriend.
They started walking towards their final secret destination. They made a quick stop at a square in the city to get rid of their purchases. Neo teleported away to drop her stuff off at her place, while Fenix called his rocket locker. He shoved his stuff in and sent it back to the school just as Neo reappeared. They continued on with their date as Fenix led her to his secret destination.
Neo was actually surprised to find him leading her towards an arcade bar. As they walked in Neo found herself in what she would consider a nerd's paradise. Video games, pool tables, dart boards and arcade/amusement machines lines the walls of the establishment. In the center was a large circular bar that looked to be very well stocked.
She looked to see him grinning like somebody who had just hit the jackpot. Shooting him a 'really?' look she poked his side to get his attention. His smile didn't falter when he noticed the look she was giving him.
"Come on it'll be fun." He said cheerily. Neo just inwardly sighed as she realized he was a super huge closet nerd. She then smiled and raised an eyebrow as she pretended to wipe something off the corner of her mouth.
"Oh ha ha. I'm not drooling, I'm just excited to try this place out." He said with a roll of his eyes.
She pointed to the bar and wordlessly ordered him to go get her a drink while she started making her way over towards the dart boards.
"What would you like?" He called after her.
She just turned, shrugged her shoulders, and winked at him.
"So on our first date, I'm supposed to know what you would like to drink without any hints?" She nodded and winked again as she turned back around to continue walking away. Making sure to sway her hips just a little extra to add to her sass. Fenix just grinned as he walked to the bar.
Neo grabbed the appropriate darts and started causally throwing them at the board as she waited for her personal man servant to bring her her drink. As she did she heard somebody walking up behind her. She turned expecting to see Fenix but was slightly caught off guard to see three teenage looking boys standing there.
"Hey there. You are way too hot to be left alone. Why don't you hang out with us? It'll make your night much better." The one Neo would assume was the ringleader said with a cocky attitude and a flirtatious wink. She just rolled her eyes and turned away from the boys waving her hand dismissively.
"Aw come on, don't be like that." The same boy spoke up and grabbed her shoulder as once she had fully turned away. Neo acted on instinct and grabbed the boy's hand. She twisted it hard and spun herself around to round house kick him right across his face. The boy landed on his back with a loud thud and gasped for air since it had been knocked out of him from the collision. With one of the boy's hands still in a tight hold, Neo brandished her parasol. She flicked the hidden blade out of the tip of her umbrella as she stabbed it into the floor between the boy's legs. Everybody in the place stared at the petite ice cream colored girl as she just maliciously grinned at the boy on the ground.
"Guys I think that's her way of saying fuck off." All attention turned to Fenix standing before the group holding a drink in each hand. He had his eyes closed but once he opened them they were on fire to signify his semblance was active.
"NOW." He said calmly but with an amount of sternness to say there was going to be no arguing over the matter. Quickly the boys got their friend up and ran out of the bar.
"Was that really necessary?" Fenix asked as the fire in his eyes died down when he switched his semblance off. Neo just shrugged and grabbed the drink out of her hands that she assumed was for her. She took a sip and realized his choice in drinks was not just a good one.
It was fantastic.
Neo glanced to the drink to ask him what it was.
"Ah it's called a side saddle. Was introduced to it in Vacuo and quickly learned the recipe. Gave it to the bartender here and told him he might want to hold onto it. Could make him a lot of money if girls start coming in here." Neo nodded in agreement as she took another much larger drink. She then nodded to his glass to ask what he was having.
"Whiskey." He stated simply and Neo nodded once again.
Fenix went up to the dart board and put in the appropriate lien for a few games.
"Ladies first." He said as he stepped back to allow her to throw. Neo wasted no time in throwing three darts at the same time, all landing in the bullseye. Fenix's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he looked to see Neo with her signature cocky grin plastered across her face.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" He asked as Neo just nodded and went back to sipping on her drink.
To Neo's surprise, she actually enjoyed the place a lot. After thoroughly spanking Fenix at darts, they went to try out the different games the place had to offer. They found that Neo was much better at the more traditional games such as darts, billiards, and skeeball. Fenix, on the other hand, was more skilled at the video games. After a few hours of playing games and drinking they realized Fenix needed to start heading back to Beacon since the last bullhead was due to leave soon. The exited the bar and started walking toward the air docks.
"How in the hell did you get so good at those games?" Fenix asked Nee with an awestruck shout. Neo just smirked and shrugged her shoulders. She knew it was due to her time with Roman and the White Fang. When the people of the criminal underground get bored they usually resulted to playing cards, darts, or pool. Neo just had a lot of practice in on those games but she wasn't about to tell that to Fenix. At least not yet.
"Oh I see how it is." Fenix spoke as Neo stuck her tongue out at him.
'You know for being older than me she can be quite immature at times.' Fenix thought to himself. They continued to talk about how much fun they had as they walked arm in arm to the docks. Once they arrived they had a few minutes before the bullhead began boarding so they stood off to the side of the main area.
"Listen Neo, about what we talked about in the park." He paused as he got her full attention. She didn't really want to end the night on this topic but there seemed to be something eating at him about it. Fenix, paused only because he wasn't sure how to go forward with what he was about to tell her. After a few moments he finally sighed and pulled out his scroll.
"You know how I asked you about your heterchromia?" Neo nodded in response.
"And then about how you got it from your family?" She nodded again and held up her index finger to stop him. She typed on her scroll quickly as Fenix continued to navigate through his.
I never answered your question did I? Well the pink is from my mother. She had both the pink hair and eyes as well as my light skin color. The brown is from my father's side, more specifically from his sister. I only met my aunt a few times due to my father being the way he was, but I know I got the brown hair and eyes from her.
"I'm glad you told me that but I wasn't exactly going for that." Fenix chuckled as Neo looked at him in confusion.
"I was asking you those questions because of… this." He said as he turned his scroll to show it to Neo.
Neo currently found herself in one of the most surprised states she had ever been in her life. Her jaw dropped and eyes shot wide open as she stared at the picture that was currently on Fenix's scroll.
(A/N): I know I know you hate me for cliff hangers but I swear it will be worth it! NEXT CHAPTER IS THE ACTUAL FAMILY WEEKEND CHAPTER AND I THINK YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO LOVE IT!
Sorry it took so long to get this out guys. I actually had most of this chapter written out a few weeks ago when my laptop crashed. First the battery died and I replaced it only for the screen to give out. I tried typing it on my tablet but that was just a train wreck. Then I had to wait for a Bluetooth keyboard so I could actually type it on my tablet. So once again, sorry for the long delay.
If you enjoyed this chapter (or just the story in general) please favorite /follow /review!