Chapter 7
"We should probably start heading back to Beacon sometime soon." Weiss said as she gave Neo a gentle shake. Much to her surprise, Neo had drifted off on her shoulder and, while not completely sure, thought that Neo may very well have drooled on her shoulder as well.
With a start, Neo woke as Weiss shook her and quickly covered her face to wipe the tendrils of saliva from the corner of her mouth. Great impression you're making! Drooling all over this girl. Quite literally. Sparing a glance at Weiss, she didn't think that the heiress had noticed yet. Mission accomplished! Drool hidden. Seeing Weiss's shoulder; she realized the evidence wasn't limited to her face. Neo's mind raced, trying to think of an inconspicuous way to wipe Weiss's shoulder dry. Well, it may be a risky move… But I have to take it.
Waving to catch Weiss's attention, she pointed at a spot down the canal. As the girl turned to follow Neo's finger, Neo quickly flung herself towards Weiss in what, she hoped, would be seen as just an excited hug. If she timed it correctly, she should be able to draw her hand across Weiss's shoulder and eliminate the evidence.
Weiss, the skilled swordswoman and ever alert, saw the small woman lunge at her and reacted without thinking. Making use of Neo's momentum, she grabbed the woman's outstretched arm, pulled Neo towards a cocked hip, and thrust her hips upward to execute a quick hip-toss, flinging the woman over her body and to the ground.
Neo hit the ground hard enough to knock her breath out of her lungs. Startled from Weiss's quick reaction, it took her a moment to notice the very angry Weiss hovering over her.
"What are you doing!?" Weiss screamed.
Completely mortified, Neo covered her face with one hand. Careful to avoid moving too fast and provoke another defensive move from Weiss, she slowly extended her other hand and pointed to the offending spot on Weiss's shoulder.
"Well, I wasn't going to say anything about you defiling our brand new hoodie…"
Neo covered her face with both hands now and hid herself from the adorable, yet still somewhat angry, girl over her.
"I'm sorry for flipping you but seriously, don't lunge in a threatening manner towards a Huntress!"
Neo uncovered her eyes, leveled her gaze at Weiss, and raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"In training…" Weiss added meekly.
Weiss's delay finishing her statement made Neo smile. As she pushed herself off the ground, still smiling at Weiss, she opened her arms wide towards the girl and tilted her head to the side.
"I take that as you're forgiving me?" Weiss said as she stepped into the small woman's arms, accepting the hug being offered along with the woman's forgiveness.
After a short embrace, Neo stepped back, took a quick look around to make sure they didn't attract any unwanted attention, and inclined her head back in the general direction of Beacon.
Weiss quickly checked the time on her scroll and nodded her assent. Reaching out, she extended her hand and hoped Neo would take it.
Still smiling, Neo enthusiastically accepted the proffered hand and laced her fingers together with Weiss's as they began the trip back to her new home.
A/N: First up, this is a pretty short chapter. There's a few of them throughout. Unfortunately, I'm ending the week on one of them and leaving you all hanging until Monday. When I write, I try to create chapter breaks where they make the most sense (to me) as I'm moving through the story. The result is that sometimes there's a 2000ish word chapter and other times, there's barely 500 words. It is what it is, I'm afraid...
Thanks for taking the time to Follow / Favorite / Review / or message me! I'm thrilled that there's readers out there enjoying this piece I wrote for fun.
With that ~ Have a great weekend!