Neo stared down at Yang's sleeping form. She shook her head and prodded the sleeping blonde.
Yang murmured and buried her face deeper in her pillow. Neo's response was to shake her.
"Mmf. Go 'way. Lemme sleep..."
Neo felt a surge on annoyance. She'd walked through the snow to be here, no way was she letting Yang enjoy a warm bed. Besides, they had work to do.
Luckily, Neo had experience leveraging weight. She planted one high-heeled boot against the bed and grabbed Yang's left arm with the other and hauled her out of bed. The blonde yelped and landed with a loud thump on her bedroom floor. Neo stepped back as Yang stumbled to her feet, furious.
Neo smiled triumphantly as Yang towered over her, fist clenched. She even thought she saw a tinge of red creeping into the edge of Yang's eyes.
Yang's breathing slowed, and she relaxed. Neo pulled out her Scroll and typed out a message.
[There. Got you out of bed.]
Yang glared at her.
"Whatever. Let's just have breakfast."
As she walked to the door, Neo held out her hand. Yang stopped and looked down at her angrily.
"What now?"
Neo reached up at Yang's face, and the brawler flinched away, only to relax when Neo touched a lock of her blonde hair. It was tangled, and Yang reached up to run her fingers through it as Neo released it and held up her Scroll.
[When was the last time you showered?]
Yang looked away uncomfortably.
"Don't remember," she mumbled. Neo began typing out a response on her Scroll.
[Shame, I liked your]
One of the few benefits of being unable to talk freely was being selective in your words. Neo realized what she was typing and paused. She quickly erased it and started again.
[Well, whatever. We've got a lot of work to do, sunshine.]
Yang looked at the Scroll, then at Neo. Then she pushed her way past her and made for the bathroom.
"I'm taking a shower."
/
Yang could accept Neo's presence. She'd spent the last couple days coming to term with her feelings and had decided that no matter what the girl's motivations, she and Yang were in this together. And the more time passed, the more Yang began to enjoy the idea of getting her arm back, training up, and finally getting back at Adam. Sometimes her hopes were tempered by the reality of the situation, but it was enough of a motivation for Yang to want to keep going. Besides, at the end of all this Yang could have the chance to beat some sense into Neo.
So, yes, she'd decided that it was easier to just go along with Neo's plan.
But she sure wasn't making it easy to do so.
Why the comment about my hair? she thought as she turned on the shower. It bothered Yang more than she wanted to admit. She used to be proud of her hair. She used to take good care of it, but after losing her arm and falling into her depression, she didn't bother anymore. What was the point?
Neo was right, though. It was getting matted and dirty. As Yang waited for the water to heat up, she looked at herself in the mirror and felt a surge of revulsion. She hated what she saw there, the weakness that had cost her not only her arm, but her spirit. She'd let her hair, the symbol of her pride, fall into disrepair.
That ends today.
Steam curling around her, she undressed and stepped into the shower.
/
Neo stopped short as she walked into the kitchen and was met by a smiling Taiyang. She smiled innocently as he turned to greet her.
"Good morning, Florence! I heard you come in so I thought I'd make breakfast for you and Yang!"
He paused and looked behind her.
"Where is Yang?"
[She's taking a shower]
Taiyang smiled and set a stack of pancakes down on the table.
"That's great!" he said. Neo realized she was staring hungrily at the pancakes, and Taiyang gestured at a chair.
"Have you eaten?"
In fact Neo had not had a full meal in a while, but she shrugged and sat down.
[I could have a bite, I guess...]
Taiyang smiled as she began loading her plate. He watched her expectantly, as if waiting for the chance to speak. Luckily, another benefit of speaking through text was that she could carry on a conversation while eating.
She typed as she shoved a forkful of pancakes in her mouth, savoring the warm fluffy texture. The only thing better than food was good food.
[Is there something you wanted to ask me, Mr. Xiao Long?]
"Actually, I wanted to thank you for helping Yang."
Neo swallowed her food and wiped her mouth daintily on a napkin. She smiled broadly.
[Anything to help a friend!]
Taiyang's face grew somber.
"Well...you're doing more to help her than I did."
He sighed, and Neo put down her fork and glanced around the kitchen awkwardly. She guessed some emotional moment was forthcoming and wasn't sure how she should react.
"I went through the same thing, after I lost Ruby's mom, but...I never knew how to get out of it, except taking it day by day. And so I couldn't really offer Yang any advice except to do the same..."
He swallowed, and Neo looked from him down at the table, unsure of what to do. She felt a little guilty, since her reasons for helping Yang were ultimately selfish, but at the same time...
"You know, with everything that's happened...especially after Ruby left, and seeing Yang the was she was, I felt kind of...helpless."
Neo felt a pang of sadness.
There's a lot of that going around.
Taiyang cleared his throat and put on a shaky grin.
"I'm glad you came along," he said, "I think Yang just needed something to change."
Before Neo could answer, Taiyang stood up and made his way towards the stove.
"I hope you like bacon!"
Neo stared down at her plate thoughtfully. She'd just been hoping to get Yang back on her feet so that she could be useful in her quest for revenge. It hadn't really ocurred to her that she'd actually be helping her, or her dad for that matter. That was...an interesting feeling.
"Morning dad. Oh, pancakes!"
Yang strode into the kitchen, dressed in clean clothes and with her hair bound up in a towel. She sat down and began eating. Neo stared at her for a moment, then smiled and turned her attention to her own plate.
She felt...good.
Yang suddenly stopped eating and put down her fork.
"Something wrong, firecracker?" her said asked. Yang shifted uncomfortably.
"It's just...I'm going to have some trouble, brushing my hair with only one arm..."
Neo briefly thought about helping Yang brush her hair, running her fingers through those golden locks to looks for tangles, but before she could type anything out Taiyang smiled and put a hand on Yang's shoulder.
"How about I help? Just like when you were a kid, right?"
"Thanks dad," Yang replied with an earnest smile.
Neo blushed and focused on her food. It was a stupid idea anyway.
/
Yang bit her lip.
"I think we should start with cutting it off above the elbow."
Neo raised her eyebrow and stepped back, looking towards the cabinet that held the acetylene torch. Yang stayed seated.
"It's just...with one arm, I'm not sure if I can hold the torch steady. Too fast or too slow and it'll mess with the edge. And we only have one robot arm..."
Neo nodded. She wasn't experienced at forging weapons, but it did seem like crafting them with one hand lent itself to some trouble. She gestured to herself, and Yang shook her head.
"No, you're a novice, you wouldn't know what to look for."
Yang stared at the arm for a moment, giving Neo enough time to think of a response. Clearly Yang was worried that her arm would hamper her skill - which it would, to some extent - but she also clearly needed to complete it herself.
She just needed to take it one step at a time. Neo pulled out her Scroll and typed out a message.
[I think you can do it.]
Yang looked from the Scroll to Neo's face. She nodded.
"Okay. Let's get the torch."
/
The torch's roar was cut off suddenly as Yang shut it off. She raised her welding mask and looked at Neo. The smaller girl nodded at her and quickly loosened the vice's grip. She picked up the robot arm and moved the magnifying glass over on its long arm.
Yang watched nervously as Neo inspected the edge of the arm. She tore herself away and shut off the welding torch, storing it in the cabinet under the workbench. When she raised her head again, Neo gave her a smile and a nod, and Yang felt a rush of relief.
"Really? It's good?"
Neo nodded again and moved aside for Yang to inspect it herself. Sure enough, the cut was smooth, no jagged edges, clean through the arm at the point Yang had designated, halfway between what would be the elbow and the shoulder. Neo had carefully removed the wires and circuits with a pair of needlenose pliers, leaving only the metal sheathing and main skeleton intact above the elbow.
"Guess I wasn't as useless as I thought..." Yang said quietly. Neo tugged on her sleeve, and she turned to see that the smaller girl had typed out a message on her Scroll.
[See? I knew you could do it.]
Yang sighed and lightly shoved her away. She didn't need to be patronized right now.
"Let's get this over to the grinder and smooth it out," Yang said. In truth, she still felt useless. As far as she was concerned, this proved nothing. So she could hold a welding torch. Big deal. She was still too afraid to do it herself until Neo had prodded her.
Still, they had taken the first step. She'd started the project, and she intended to finish it, even if she'd still be just as useless at the end of it.
Neo looked up at her, holding the robot arm gingerly in her hands.
She picked up the arm and moved over to the grinder. This, at least, she knew how to use.
/
The lathe screamed as it carved the metal cylinder into a perfect ring. Yang flipped the switch and turned off the machine, then watched as Neo removed the cylinder and set it on the workbench, where she quickly began to measure it. After a moment, Neo gave Yang a thumbs up, and Yang smiled.
"Alright, if it fits the measurements, it's ready to go. We'll weld it to the arm, then add the screw thread. And that'll be the socket," Yang explained.
Neo took out her Scroll.
[Explain it to me again.]
Yang nodded and reached for a shelf that held containers of screws, nails, nuts, and bolts. She grabbed one, a mostly empty jar, and handed it to Neo. She unscrewed the cap and hefted it in her hand.
"It's like this. The lid goes at the top of the arm. The jar is...it's like the harness."
Neo imagined the robot arm, a socket at the top, fitting over a metal cap that itself would fit over Yang's stump. She replaced the lid and turned it forty-five degrees, just as the arm would fit on Yang's harness. She set it down and picked up her Scroll.
[And then we attach the clasps]
"Right, so it'll stay in place," Yang said. She reached into one of the boxes Neo had brought and pulled out a little clasp, like the type one would find on a toolbox, and inspected it.
Neo looked back at the in-progress socket.
[Think you can handle the torch on your own?] she asked, a smirk on her face. Yang grinned.
"I know I can!"
/
Yang turned the vial of Dust over in her hand. She was lying across a big armchair in her family's living room. On the couch across from her, Neo was studying a book on Atlesian cybernetics, gnawing nervously. With Yang stuck with one hand, and her non-dominant one at that, it would come down to Neo to handle the delicate adjustments that would need to be made to the circuits in the arm.
Yang didn't like that. Even if it was the best course of action, it was still a reminder that she was still severely hampered by the loss of her arm.
It's your own fault anyway...
Yang rubbed at her right shoulder and rolled over to look at Neo. The girl was sitting daintily on the couch, legs tucked underneath her as she turned the pages of the book.
"Hey, Neo?"
Neo looked up from her book and reached for her Scroll.
"Where did you get all this stuff? Not the Dust, I know you had it stowed away, but like, the arm and the parts and everything?"
Neo closed her book, using one finger to hold her place, while she moved to the end of the couch closest to Yang, so that she could read out her texts.
[What do you think?]
Yang frowned.
"Stolen. Course."
Neo rolled her eyes.
[Don't you want to get a new arm?]
Yang sat up, placing the Dust vial down on the coffee table as she did.
"Well, of course I do!"
[Then what's the problem?]
"I just wish you didn't have to steal the parts!"
Neo glared back at Yang, standing up as her fingers danced angrily across her Scroll.
[I'm helping you]
"Just because you have good intentions doesn't mean it's still bad," Yang hissed. She tried to ignore the part where Neo admitted she was trying to help. This argument wasn't about that, it was about Neo continuing to ignore her guilt.
"If you really want to help, you can do it without stealing."
/
Neo blinked and stared at Yang as multiple responses popped into her head.
Why do you care? Don't you want a new arm? Why does it matter that I'm stealing?
But those questions vanished as she looked at Yang's face. She looked...upset. Seeing that, Neo felt a pang of something - sadness? Guilt, even?
Instead of a question, she typed out one word.
[Fine]
She quickly folded up her Scroll and strode to the front door huffily. She didn't need to deal with this.
Another question popped into her head. Why had she agreed?
Ordinarily, she'd get defensive. She'd stomp her foot and insist that she was justified, that it didn't matter what other people said. She was looking out for Yang - and never mind why she was doing that, either - so what did it matter what she did? But this time Neo's first instinct was to listen, to realize that her actions were upsetting.
Neo turned one last time to look at Yang. The blonde was gathering up the materials they had left lying around the living room, glancing at Neo out of the corner of her eye.
Why did she care about not upsetting Yang?
And why did she feel a twinge of sadness when Yang shook her head at Neo in disappointment?
It was...something to think about.