Volume 2

Chapter 1

Mistral

Part 1

You know, I never really noticed at the time, but now that I'm taking the time to stop and really think about it, I can't believe I had never visited Mistral before my first tournament. Like, seriously, how? Kuchinashi wasn't that far away, so you would think that in our line of work, we'd have had business there at least once or twice in the space of 18 months… And yet, somehow, the day I stepped off the train from Kuchinashi was the first time I had ever even laid eyes on the City of Mistral.

I instantly fell in love. I would like to say it was the combination of the unique architecture as well as the overall atmosphere of the city which captivated me so, and, well, to an extent I guess that it was, but… Let's just say the city reminded me of a place I once knew…

Thursday June 28th, 3 BFB

(7 months, 26 days after the events of Contest)

(1 year, 5 months, 9 days since Day 1)

City of Mistral

"Omashu? Ba Sing Se? Were those cities in your world?"

From her perch on his shoulders, Neo wouldn't quite see the sheepish grin which suddenly adorned his features, but she would certainly be able to hear it in her partner's reply.

"In a manner of speaking," Lee replied, a sheepish grin plastered on as he all but admitted to yet another instance of using a piece of fiction from his old world. He had compared the layout of Mistral to Omashu, if it also happened to be the size of Ba Sing Se, in order to relate to his new reality… Not that he could really consider it new any more, given that he had been here for close to 18 months now. For a young man who was about 18 years of age, give or take (at least physically), a full year and a half should feel like a lifetime ago. Hell, it was a lifetime ago, given the circumstances… And yet, between living on the wrong side of the law and the rather unique company he now kept, this new life seemed to move at an incredibly fast pace, such that he sometimes barely noted the months that passed by. It certainly helped that, somehow, he was only just now seeing Mistral for the first time… And with that thought, Lee realized that he had trailed off mid sentence.

"Mistral looks much nicer though. Definitely crowded, but I think that's just a product of how narrow the roads and walkways are. It's just… busy. Doesn't feel quite so dismal, y'know?"

Silence, and the feeling of Neo's deadpan stare (which he didn't need to see, he could imagine it just fine on his own!) were enough to let him know what his girlfriend thought of that statement.

"Right, guess you wouldn't know…" Lee grumbled, causing Neo to silently laugh, which in turn caused Lee to pou- brood. But, hey, at least Neo was entertained, right? So what if that just so happened to come at his own expense… Such was the scene the couple presented as they made their way along the narrow avenues of Mistral, leaving the train station behind. Talking, smiling, and laughing as they made their way to the next intracity tram station.

Now, at this point, it should probably be noted that the train station, the same one that they just left, did in fact happen to have a connecting local line, to allow passengers arriving in the city to make it to their destinations within the city a little more quickly. However, Lee and Neo had chosen to walk, at least to the next station, so that they could start to gain a feel for the city itself. Thanks to some good planning on their part, they found themselves with several hours to spare. The hotel they would be checking into did not check guests in until 3:30 p.m., but catching a late train out of Kuchinashi Tuesday night had allowed them to arrive late Wednesday morning, around 10:00 a.m., leaving them plenty of time to explore the city and eat lunch somewhere before checking in at the hotel. The two could and would then spend the rest of their evening getting settled in and relaxing, before getting to the reason for their visit the following day. Before that though…

Thursday Evening

'Finally!' Neo 'said' as she flopped down onto the bed in their hotel suite. The single bed in their one bedroom. Once upon a time, Lee probably would have been flustered by that alone. But now, after everything he'd been through? Now, he was mellow enough to simply enjoy the moment, chuckling at the childish action. And then chuckling some more as Neo kipped up and began to jump on the bed, her loose hair seeming to float angelically behind her while she laughed.

Lee smiled, mostly in amusement, but also genuinely happy to see Neo able to relax and simply have some innocent fun. 'After everything she's been through, she deserves it.' Lee knew that better than anyone at this point; though it had taken a while for Neo to open up, Lee was currently the only one of their gang who had a fairly accurate picture of Neo's past, before joining the gang. Fairly accurate, because he was sure there were still things that Neo hadn't even told Lee about yet, but even without that, it had been a pretty depressing picture. He had been right in his assumption all those months ago that Neo had grown up wealthy, but honestly, he had thought that she couldn't be all too different from the average teenage girl, rebelling against her parents for what would in all likelihood seem like childish reasons in hindsight.

That couldn't have been any further from the truth. Neo's parents had certainly provided her with just about everything she could have asked for, the finest things that money could buy, but that didn't change the fact that even as a child, it was obvious that her parents viewed her as nothing but a burden and a disappointment. And nothing can replace the love a child should receive from their family, so, with that in mind, it was hardly surprising that Neo had chosen to run away at the age of 16, just a month or so before Lee had stumbled into the picture.

Yes, that was correct; Neo had been almost as new to this life as Lee was, back when they had first met. The only real applicable difference had been that Neo had received a top tier education from private tutors, which included subjects such as gymnastics and fencing, while Lee had, in his previous life, been nothing but an Average Joe. Not only were they both newly initiated to the criminal lifestyle, but considering the dynamic that existed between the group's other members at the time, it seemed obvious for the two new members to bond more quickly with each other than with the existing group. Neo had hit the nail on the head back then, when she called them 'best friends by default.'

Something of his thoughts must have been showing on his face, because when he blinked, he realized Neo had stopped jumping, and had tilted her head to the side to look at him, a quizzical expression on her features. Once she was sure he had his attention, she brought her hands up and gestured to him to come closer, before beginning to sign; "Are you alright? You look like you're having some deep thoughts over there."

To that, Lee could only shrug. "I was just taking a moment to appreciate how lucky I am to have met you." Lee plastered on his most charming smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist, fighting to keep the expression as amusement threatened to make him laugh; yeah, he meant it, but hot damn that was cheesy!

Predictably, Neo rolled her eyes and scoffed, just as amused as Lee was; if Lee had to describe her expression with proper words, he would go with "fond exasperation." Still, she welcomed the embrace, placing her hands on Lee's chest as she leaned in to meet his lips in a tender, yet brief kiss. The same fondly exasperated expression was in place when she leaned back again… Though that quickly shifted into a thoughtful frown as she turned her head to examine their surroundings.

Lee stepped back, smirking smugly, and didn't say a word, content to let Neo's train of thought play out. Not only was it fair play, considering just how often he himself did the same thing, but given the circumstances, he was fairly certain he knew what direction those thoughts were taking. Sure of the conclusion, Lee decided he would let Neo ponder, while he himself took a moment to appreciate her form.

With the midsummer heat and humidity that Mistral was experiencing, Neo had chosen to skip her usual coat, pants, and boots outfit, opting instead for a tank top, denim shorts, and knee socks, while Lee himself had ditched his own heavier garments, opting for a V-necked T-shirt, khaki shorts, and some sneakers. Both Lee and Neo in their usual color schemes, of course. For Neo, it was an outfit which, when combined with her hair currently being tied back and away from herself in a pair of pig tails, allowed her skin to breathe in the humid Mistrali Summer, and at the same time did very little to hide the way her thighs, mildly compressed by the shorts and socks, jiggled just a bit each time Neo bounced on the bed. Despite possessing a surprising amount of muscle on her lithe frame, it seemed that Neo's absolute territory would not be infringed on.

Some feminine giggling pulled Lee out of his observation, his eyes rather reluctantly pulling upwards and away to meet Neo's, crinkled in amusement, as she slowed her bouncing to a halt; apparently, he hadn't noticed that she'd finished thinking. She, however, had quite obviously noticed where he had been staring, and had obliged by starting to bounce lightly on the bed.

'Enjoying the show?' She signed to him as Lee stepped closer. His response, however, didn't leave her with the chance to say anything else, as Lee had closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her, firmly this time, burying his face in her cleavage, prompting Neo to sigh contentedly as she returned the embrace. Amusingly to them both, her short stature and the height of the bed actually left Neo, standing on the edge of it, just a few inches taller than Lee, leaving her to wrap her arms around his head and neck, rather than his middle like she normally would when they were both standing. Not that either party was complaining. For a long moment, the couple held that position, each content to simply bask in the other's presence, and enjoy the intimate moment.

The moment became both more intimate and more amusing when Lee leaned back, his hands settling on her waist while hers went to his shoulders, and then proceeded to stretch onto his tiptoes, not leaning in to peck her on the lips until they were at the same height. Giggling at the smug smirk on Lee's face, Neo one upped him by going on the tips of her toes so she could plant a smooch on Lee's forehead, only to thwarted by Lee when his hands, already firmly planted on her hips, pulled her back down to where she started, before one of them swiftly shot down and pinched her rear, eliciting a surprised squeak from Neo. Said squeak quickly turned into a gasp as she suddenly found her position changed; when she had jumped to escape Lee's pinching hand, he had let her. He didn't give her any time to react, however; in the time it took to blink, Lee had shifted his hands so that when Neo came down from her jump, Lee had positioned his hands to catch her in a way that resulted in her behind landing in his hands, and her thighs on her forearms. And considering that in her surprise, Neo had let go of his shoulders, but hadn't been dropped thanks to the strong arms effortlessly holding her in that position? Neo decided that Lee had earned the right to that stupid smirk.

It was Lee who found himself surprised next. He absolutely had expected the lust filled grin, and the way she fisted her hands in his hair and pulled him in for a steamy make out sesh. What he hadn't expected was for her to break the kiss fairly quickly, and then lean back a little, apparently trusting him to not drop her.

'Think you can hold me like this for a little while longer?' She asked him via signing, the inches between them just barely enough space to do so. Lee was in turn unsure of where she was going with that, but considering that she weighed less than a hundred pounds and he could deadlift a good deal more than that, he could only nod in confusion.

WARNING! LEMON INBOUND! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT, KEEP SCROLLING!

'Good boy!' Neo giggled as she patted him on the head, which caused Lee to pout, but that pout quickly turned into a grin when Neo, without needing to lean back, placed her thumbs on the straps of her tank top and stretched, pulling the shirt most of the way up and over her head in one fluid motion. The rest of it went more slowly, as Neo had to use her hands to roll the fabric the rest of the way up. Lee found himself thinking that the little minx's teasing grin as her mouth was revealed deserved some sort of response, so he leaned in and kissed her before she could get the shirt the rest of the way over her eyes.

Neo paused as she felt Lee's lips on hers again, more than happy to indulge, despite the awkward position. If anything, she felt like the way he held her firmly in place, able to move but unable to escape, was only adding to the excitement. Then the impromptu blindfold and wrist restraint that was her tanktop… Well, suffice it to say that Neo was pretty sure she had just developed a new kink. And given the moan that Neo had just let out into their kiss, Lee knew it too.

"Note to self," Lee muttered when they pulled apart again. "Buy some rope and a blindfold while we're here." He was lucky that they were both too aroused for Neo to make a snarky retort. No, in the state they had gotten themselves into, Neo could only grin as she pulled her tanktop the rest of the way off, leaving her topless except for a lacey black bralette. Which was swiftly unclasped and allowed to fall to the floor, leaving her breasts completely bare for Lee to stare.

"Oh, stop that already, it's nothing you haven't already seen. They aren't even that big…"

Despite the embarrassed 'tone' to Neo's gestures, Lee could tell she was enjoying the attention. "That may be true, but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it every time I see them! Besides, I think you might actually need to get some new bras soon, that one looked like it barely fit."

"Really? I thought they were starting to feel a little tight, but I wasn't sure. But are you sure you like them? You say they're big for my size, but I'm pretty sure Emerald's are still bigger…

At that, Lee took a moment to inspect them again, a giddy smile on his face while he did so. Sure, Neo's breasts were technically on the lower end of the scale as far as their actual size went. But that was pretty much expected for a woman as short of stature and petite of frame as she was. Considering just how much smaller her body was overall when compared to an average woman, her 30Bs honestly looked relatively larger than most women with similar body proportions. And when you took into account the fact that Neo was much shorter than average, being only 4'6" compared to the average female height of 5'2", well… long story short, if Neo were to suddenly grow 8 inches to reach average height, but her body retained the exact same proportions, she would need to swap out her 30B bras for 34Cs. Or, swap out the 30B and a half she would likely be upgrading to out for either a 34C and a half or possibly even a 34D. Which Lee knew for a fact was Emerald's size. And considering that Emerald was a couple of inches taller than average? Neo might have even had her beat.

"So? That girl's got a rack larger than most, sure, but having seen both sets up close and personal, I'm pretty sure you have almost the same proportions. But yours are the ones I love to look at so much, love."

'If you say so! Now go back to worshiping them!' Neo demanded as she wiggled in Lee's arms, making her breasts bounce a little.

"So demanding…"

'Worship me!'

Lee rolled his eyes as he retorted. "As my goddess commands." This earned him a swat upside the head, but that hand was quickly fisted into his hair once more when Lee lifted Neo higher, high enough to put himself face to face… or, rather, eye to areola with what, to his eyes, were the perfect pair of breasts, attached to the perfect woman. Lovingly, he tilted his head up so that he could smooch one, then the other, always making sure to center his lips right in the center of her areola, so that when he pulled back, there would be just the lightest bit of suction applied, aiding it on the path to perkiness, and causing Neo to hum lightly in contentedness, her own eyes fixed on Lee's as he attended her breasts. He would go on to increase his ministrations as he continued, beginning to tease the nipple with the tip of his tongue, flicking and swirling in an unpredictable manner which soon had the pace of Neo's breathing beginning to increase. And when Lee finally took one of her nipples into his mouth and began to suckle, interspersing some more tongue action and some nips as well? He felt like he more than earned the right to smirk when Neo's head lolled back and her hums transitioned into full blown moans.

"Is my goddess satisfied with this devotee's worship?"

"Mmm…" Neo hummed in response, before leaning back once again to sign. 'Down, bed, now!' Whether it was because she was too impatient or simply too incoherent to form full sentences at the moment, Lee didn't care. He simply obeyed the command, and turned before falling backwards onto the bed, where he soon found his own T-Shirt being pulled over his head. It was his turn to hum in contentment when Neo began to rub her hands over his exposed chest and abdomen, but that didn't last long before she leaned down to capture his lips for a steamy make out sesh, wasting no time in slipping her tongue out to seek Lee's own. This was, of course, not the only thing going on; with both torsos completely bare, Neo was taking advantage to rub herself against Lee, who was doing his best to assist her by holding her sides, keeping her from shooting herself off to one side or the other.

This was not enough, not with the frenzy they were working each other into. Soon, hands were reaching for zippers, with Lee finding his own first, thanks to the height difference leaving Neo straddling his stomach rather than his pelvis, and then Neo's, as the sound of Lee's zipper coming down prompted her to lean back just enough so that Lee could use both hands to undo her button and zippers. Though both were reluctant to come up for air, what was going to happen next would more than make up for it.

2ND WARNING! LEMON INBOUND!

Were they not already so far gone, Neo might have been inclined to put on a show, tease Lee a bit as she slowly stripped out of her shorts and panties. With how steamy they had already gotten, however, both of them were more than content for her to simply stand up and get them off as fast as possible, even as Lee, still lying back on the bed, shrugged himself out of his own. Both sets of garments were tossed to the side and promptly forgotten about, in favor of Neo returning to her previous position and starting the latest round in the duel of tongues.

Lee's hands alternated between kneading Neo's breasts, rubbing up and down her sides, and gripping Neo's delectable derrière while all actions which only served to spur her on, while Neo kept her fists firmly in his hair while continued to grind herself against his abs, some of her more exaggerated motions causing her rump to rub against his length…

"Mmmm…" Lee hummed as they finally came up for air again, opening his eyes to be met with a mischievous expression on Neo's face. She was going up onto her knees as she scooted back, causing her ass to rub against his length for the briefest of moments before she slid past, causing it to smack his own stomach when she slid off of his lap, only for her to keep scooting back, but begin to pepper kisses along his chest as she continued her descent, stopping only once she reached his belly, because that coincided with the moment that a wide eyed Lee watched her lower her body so that the tip of his length was nestled between her breasts. At that point, Neo winked, before switching from his belly, to his length.

It was Lee's turn to gasp when Neo's lips wrapped around his glans, eye contact being maintained as she began to give his bellend the same treatment he had lavished upon her breasts; flicks, swirls, swishes, if you could name a maneuver, Neo's plump lips and slimy appendage performed it on Lee's tip while one hand remained wrapped around his base, causing Lee to moan with pleasure. Pleasure which only increased when Neo began to bob her head, increasing the surface area which her tongue could reach, and pump her hand along the part of his length that wasn't in her mouth. And with her free hand, Neo pleasured herself, pleasured hums and moans transferring wonderful vibrations straight to Lee's member.

"Fuuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkkk…"

Lee's pleasured groan only encouraged Neo, the girl giggling around his member, which felt amazing, before going deeper, seemingly planning on getting all 7 inches inside her mouth, regardless of whether it was physically possible…

Unfortunately, it wasn't, just barely, but the disappointment didn't last long. Neo, having decided she was as deep as she could go in that position, slowly began to rise back up, a long, drawn out Slurrrrrrrrrrrrp! noise being heard as she ascended, leaving trickling lines of saliva behind, and seemingly trying to suck the very soul out of Lee's body.

"!"

The sounds that were coming out of Lee's mouth just couldn't be described with words.

Pop!

If Neo had been trying to suck the soul out of Lee's body, he was pretty sure that she had succeeded, as the shuddering his body was doing couldn't have been a result of anything else. And it didn't help that after that first long succ, she proceeded to repeat the process, complete with the tongue play and bobbing on the way down. Once, twice, thrice and more, Neo repeated this process, giggling at the state she was leaving Lee in, until, after several minutes of this, he had to speak up.

"Shit, Neo… if you don't stahahahhhhhhp, this is going to end w-ay too soon… fuccccccckkkk…"

For one long moment, Lee was afraid… hopeful? Concerned? That Neo either hadn't processed what he was telling her, or that she just didn't care. Fortunately… Or was it unfortunately? Neo was a merciful (cruel?) goddess, and paused once she was down at his base again. With a sultry crinkle of her eyes (her mouth being too busy to smirk, of course), Neo slowly worked her way back up, throat muscles seeming to fight to hold on to every last centimeter as Neo slowly pulled back. For Lee, it was both ecstasy and agony, as he fought a desperate battle to avoid the eruption that Neo was skirting the edge of. It took a colossal amount of willpower, but he just barely managed to not blow his load when he finally came loose from her mouth with one last pop, groaning and shuddering with the effort, much to Neo's amusement and arousal both. With Lee lost in the struggle to come back from the edge, Neo took the chance to skip over to the wash closet, giggling all the while, where she quickly rummaged through her bag of toiletries and found what she was searching for.

About a minute later, she was back on the bed, breath minty fresh, and pressed up against Lee's side as he finally seemed to catch his breath.

'"Think you can return the favor and ravish me, big boy?"

Lee could only nod eagerly in response, no words necessary to convey his eagerness. With a grin, Lee flipped them over so that he was on top, and proceeded to devote his efforts into showing her the same rapture he had just experienced.

He started by kissing her deeply, mauling her lips as their tongues warred in their mouths, thrusting and grappling rather than probing and caressing. The sheer intensity of it was more than enough to have Neo's engine going again, but Lee didn't rely on only that. From her lips, he moved down to her neck and throat, leaving kisses all over it, making her moan and groan, and he made sure to pay extra attention to her pulse point, biting and suckling so hard that it was guaranteed Neo would have a fairly impressive hickey when they were done.

They didn't care. Neo's left breast received the same treatment, right above her heart, followed by her nipples receiving a repeat of his earlier performance. And then down, down, down Lee went, trailing his tongue down her tummy, pausing only for a brief moment once he reached his objective. Eye contact was made, so that Lee could watch her reaction when, contrary to his previous frenzy, his tongue reached out to gently caress her inner thighs.

A sharp gasp, with Neo's eyes snapping shut, followed by a shuddering exhale, as Lee gently lapped at the sweet nectar which clung there, enjoying the taste almost as much as he was enjoying the look of agonized pleasure on Neo's face from the teasing; he was certain Neo had expected him to go straight for her core. But, she would find herself forced to wait just a little while longer, while Lee used his tongue to clean up all the juices which had pooled on her thighs.

Once that was done, Lee once again paused, hot breath ghosting over her core, and waited for Neo to open her eyes again. Once she did, Lee winked, and dove right in.

Neo moaned when Lee's tongue began to work at her folds, then gasped when he shifted targets and found her clitoris, seemingly with no effort; the whole time, Lee took great pleasure in watching the expressions of pure bliss that Neo was making. Especially when Lee added a finger to the action…

It was several minutes before Lee would finally have mercy and stop, leaving Neo nothing more than a puddle of bliss. It was a similar state to what Lee had been in when she went down on him, which in turn left Lee with the smuggest of grins as he rose up to his knees, and shifted so that his arms were tucked under her knees, so he could look down and watch in delight. The way her chest, impressively sized for her stature, heaved up and down as Neo struggled to get her breathing back under control. Her skin, normally pale as vanilla ice cream, had taken on a lovely red flush, evidence of the heat her body was putting off in reaction to everything Lee had just done to her. Her lips, parted into an 'O,' an expression only Lee ever got to see, and only when doing things like this… Yeah, Lee felt pretty justified with the grin that was threatening to split his own face in half.

Almost as if she knew what Lee had just been thinking, it was at that moment when Neo finally recovered enough to meet his eyes. Her own grin formed as she moved her hands down between their bodies, one taking a firm hold of his length from beneath, and beginning to idly tug back and forth, while the other hand was used to spread her folds invitingly. Almost as if to say: 'Speaking of splitting things in half…'

Lee needed no further invitation. With that invitation, Lee straightened up, picking Neo up by the legs and waist, her own impressive core muscles being enough to maintain a relatively vertical orientation. Then, with Neo's hands guiding the way, Lee lowered her.

"Mmmm…" Both of them hummed in pleasure as he slid inside of her, their previous efforts making it so that he went all the way inside in one go. And as always, Lee had to take a moment just to marvel at the sensation; he was definitely larger than average, and Neo was petite, so not only did her canal have to stretch, but he could actually see the bulge in her abdomen. Something which Lee was slowly growing used to, but before ending up on Remnant, had never seen outside of porn. Certainly not to the extent Neo's did; when Lee penetrated her to the hilt, the bulge went all the way to her belly button. And while it didn't quite reach hentai levels, Lee could only assume that hentai logic was in effect… Which he guessed sort of made sense, seeing as Aura and Semblances clearly operated on anime logic.

Neo adjusted her grip on his shoulders, and Lee snapped out of it, leaving his musings for a more appropriate time… such as when he wasn't buried balls deep. Not for long; Lee lifted her up again, much more slowly than he had penetrated. As he did so, he could feel every inch of her walls contracting around him, the rugae creating an increasing amount of texture as he pulled further out, reaching their most contracted when he was about half way out. Which was when he lowered her for another thrust, harder than the first, which elicited a noise from Neo which was somewhere between a yelp and a moan. Lee was concerned for a brief moment, but one look at Neo's expression, absent of anything other than sheer lust, was enough to assuage it.

Lewd noises began to fill the room as Lee went to work. Claps as flesh smacked against flesh, along with squelches as fluids were pushed around inside Neo. And the whole time, various grunts, moans, groans, and the occasional expletive as the pleasure mounted. At some point, Lee had ended up on his back, and Neo on top of him, doing all she could to remain mounted while Lee bucked like a bronco. And when Lee would slow down or stop for a moment? Neo's own hips would go to work, bucking and swirling, Lee's length being flexed and twisted with the motion of her hips. And soon enough, Lee felt himself closing in on the point of no return once more.

"Fuckfuckfuck! Neo, I'm gonna-!"

There was no doubting whether she had heard him or not this time; at that declaration, Neo's smile turned deliciously evil, and she simply pointed to their joined sexes before redoubling her efforts. For his part, Lee let her, but in the moment he felt his climax pass the point of no return, he grabbed her hips and thrusted hard once, twice, thrice, both of them screaming in joy as he finally erupted.

Thoroughly spent, Lee let his head fall back onto the bed, grin wide as he stared up at the ceiling. For a long moment, perhaps a whole minute, Neo remained perched on him, making small movements as her core milked every last strand from him she could before he softened. Then, finally satisfied, she flopped forwards, allowing herself to collapse against Lee's torso. Not satisfied with that, though, Lee pulled her too him, so that she was resting on his upper chest, and placed a tender, loving kiss against her lips.

Lemon ends!

"Welcome to Mistral…" Lee murmured, eliciting a giggle from Neo, before settling in to enjoy the afterglow… It would be the first of several rounds that night.

Friday

The next morning was half gone before Lee and Neo woke up in their room, the combination of an early morning the day before and then having stayed up for a late night left the two in need of the extra rest. Normally, even at home, they might have panicked about sleeping in so late; Cinder was a firm believer in not wasting time, and had ruthlessly drilled that into her four charges, such that any time they were allowed to sleep in after 6:30 AM was considered a rare treat. However, with the only thing on their agenda for the day being to arrive at Mistral Arena to get Lee signed in for the tournament at noon, so that Lee could then participate in a match which would occur later in the afternoon, being able to sleep in was a luxury the two had shamelessly taken advantage of. As was the chance to take a longer than usual shower, which then necessitated two colder, separate showers to actually get clean…

It was a good thing they had arrived early.

"So," a widely beaming Lee began, once they were finally leaving their room, around 10:00 AM. "Brunch, then over to the arena?" He asked as he closed the door behind Neo, who was equally happy.

"No," she replied while leaning her head into Lee's ribs, and wrapping an arm around his waist, while using her free hand to wrap Lee's around her shoulders, before beginning to sign: "We managed to make good time yesterday, but I think we'll be cutting things a bit close if we actually stop to eat."

A frown momentarily overtook Lee's features as he considered that, even as the duo made their way towards the elevator. While it was true they would have had plenty of time yesterday, today was the day the MRCT officially started, and thus, he and Neo were both fairly certain there would be heavier traffic around the area, as well as the crowd in the stadium grounds itself... "Yeah, you're probably right about that. I guess we'll just have to get some toast or something on our way out…"

"Yeah, about that… they stopped serving breakfast at nine…"

Neo actually giggled as Lee groaned out loud, as the realization sunk in that he'd be forced to wait a few hours before he could get some food.

"Yes, yes, tragic, I know. Maybe if you'd spent a little less time eating somethingelse this morning, we might have had time to attend breakfast."

2 years ago, a comment such as that would undoubtedly have made Lee flush, having been nothing but an insecure nine-to-fiver with little to no romantic prospects… And Neo, having been isolated by her lack of willingness to verbally communicate, certainly wouldn't have been confident enough to make such a randy comment, outward persona be damned. After a year and a half of building each other up, however, and roughly half of that time being spent as an actual couple, such jokes, as well as the activities which prompted them, had simply become a part of their routine. Thus, instead of flushing and stammering the way he would have back before… well, everything, he instead had a much more moderate reaction, missing his first attempt to summon the elevator while snorting with laughter at the well timed quip.

"Well shit, if that's how you feel, I'll have to limit just how much ice cream I eat in the future!" Fortunately, there was no real bite to those words, thanks to the laughter the both of them were indulging in. Any further comment, however, was cut off as the sound of a rather disgusted sounding sniff came from the couple's right.

A turn of the head, and a slight lean forward on Neo's part so she could see around Lee, revealed a man in his late middle ages, wearing an expensive suit, and his slightly younger wife, with an equally expensive, conservatively cut dress, which was itself adorned with a silver pin in a triskelion design. Both were looking at Lee and Neo as if they were the scum of Remnant. While the sniff had come from the woman, the younger couple instantly decided they did not like either of them. Still, Lee was raised to be polite towards strangers, so, despite that dislike, it was with a(n admittedly strained) smile that Lee addressed them.

"Can I help you?" It would be a lie to say that Lee succeeded in concealing his annoyance at the interruption, his words coming out with a sharp edge. Neo, for her part, was scowling up at the older couple, not even trying to be polite, something which Lee could tell without even looking; the hand which was resting against his hip had tensed up, clutching his belt like a handle. That alone, in Lee's experience, should have told anyone that continuing would be a bad idea… But, somehow, the woman seemed to think otherwise.

"Yes, young man, you can help by refraining from such disgustingly lascivious comments in a public space! Are the two of you even old enough to be engaging in such scandalous behavior?"

Lee could feel his polite smile shrink by a couple of molars as the vitriol washed over him. Actually annoyed now, Lee let the smile drop, in place of a condescending frown. "Seriously? Lady, you must not get out much if you think that was too much." Lee didn't need to look in order to see Neo punctuating that statement by sticking her tongue out at the old bag. "And seriously, who even says lascivious?" Ideally, he would have followed that up by stepping into the elevator… But, they were still waiting for it, which, rather unfortunately, prevented them from exiting on that line, and allowed the elder couple to continue to express their opinions on Lee's and Neo's activities.

"Why, I never! Young man, I'll have you know that I am one of Vale's most prominent socialites; as such, I 'get out' quite often, thank you very much! That does not change the fact that your comment was highly inappropriate for such a public setting!"

"No less inappropriate than outing yourself as a swinger while criticizing two strangers for talking about their own sex life." Lee quipped without thinking… Which then caused him to create a mental image to go along with what he had just said, which in turn required him to force himself to not gag. At his side, he could feel Neo expressing more than enough revulsion for the both of them.

While the older couple sputtered, Lee pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "We're in a freakin' hotel, lady, I can hardly think of a more appropriate setting for a couple to be talking about their sex life." A quick tug at Lee's belt had his attention drawn down towards Neo, who, with Lee's attention now on her, began to sign at the lady. Dutifully, Lee translated: "Surely you've heard the expression 'get a room?' Then again, with how prudish you seem to be, I'd assume you haven't!' Well, damn, Neo, no need to take it that far, she just outted herself as a swinger."

"Watch your tone, young man;" the older gentleman finally interceded. "I'll not have you speak so crassly to my wife." Lee supposed that the average young adult might have found themselves intimidated by the glare he found himself subjected to. While the man was not physically impressive, at all, the quality of his suit as well as the jewels his partner was wearing implied that he was wealthy. Wealth implied influence, and, when applied correctly, enough of that could make life difficult for someone very easily. Lee, however, was decidedly not intimidated.

"Then maybe, just maybe, she should learn to keep unsolicited opinions to herself, sir." A tug from Neo, which led to a sigh and some more reluctant translation: "Especially when said opinions are judgemental and hypocritical. Pretty sure that goes without saying, love…"

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

The most disinterested look Lee could possibly give the couple while examining them, combined with a fast, exaggerated, and very expressive series of gestures from Neo (she pointed at them with one hand, then the sides of her head with both, before throwing them up in the air in a 'what?' gesture, followed by gesturing towards herself and Lee, and finishing with her arms held wide and her chest held forward) served as a clear answer… though, they were not necessarily the same one. While Lee's expression and body language were meant to convey 'do you think we care?', the fact that Neo was also glaring up at the couple with an absolutely furious expression, compared to the apathy Lee was expressing, left very little room to interpret her sign language as anything other than 'do you know who we are?'

Fortunately for all involved, the elevator chose that moment to arrive, allowing a thoroughly disinterested Lee to gently drag an incensed Neo into the elevator, blessedly empty, and press the button to close the door in their faces. Though not before Neo was able to give them both a two finger salute. Concerned, Lee shot her a sideways glance. While it was true that they could each get just a wee bit overprotective of the other (an incident involving a split lip, stitches, and a frying pan, in that particular order, came to mind), it was markedly out of character for Neo to fly off the handle over something so… trivial. "You good, love? No sense in letting those jerks ruin our day."

A frustrated huff, followed by a series of very visible deep breaths, before Neo began to calmly sign. "I recognized them. I'll tell you about it later, alright?"

"Recognized them? From where? We've known each other a year and a half and been attached at the hip for most of it, when could you…" Realization struck him. "Oh. Must have been befo-" He was interrupted by a swift, yet light swat to the ribs. Hard enough to force the air out of his lungs, but not hard enough to hurt. Pretty easy to understand: 'Not now!'

"Alright, alright, sheesh… Let's just get going before something else happens…"

It had taken some doing, but eventually, the mood between the duo had settled back down into a companionable silence as they used public transportation to make their way to the arena. They could have, and in all honesty, probably should have picked a hotel that was closer to the arena, but Lee had insisted that he didn't want to stay in the same place as a load of the competition; he'd rather use the time outside of the tournament to relax, rather than the customary posturing that some of the morons who entered would likely subject him to. He'd get plenty of that on the tournament's grounds, after all, so why not choose a nicer hotel further away? He may have been regretting that decision now, but at least he and Neo were getting to spend some quality time just acting like the young adults they were. In this case, that meant silently competing with each other at a puzzle game on their scrolls ,which Lee had initially assumed was some weird version of Tetris. Lee had been skeptical of the genre at first, wondering why on Remnant she hadn't wanted to play a more traditional (to him, at least) fighting or action game. Upon playing it for the first time, however, Lee had understood; the game play was simple yet highly strategic for its fast pace, perfect for a mobile game, and boasted a soundtrack which sounded more appropriate for storming the depths of hell (or, if Lee was being cynical and more worldly based, storming the Grimmlands) rather than doing something as mundane as playing a trading card game…

Fortunately for Lee, Neo was a little bit better at paying attention to their surroundings whilst gaming, and was able to alert him that they'd reached their stop when he missed the tram's intercom announcing it. Sheepishly, he stowed his scroll back into one of his pockets, ignoring the good natured chuckles of some of the other people around. A quick nudge to his side had him glancing down towards Neo, who took the chance to fix him with an amused look and begin signing: 'I hope you have better situational awareness in the ring, Dum Dum.'

Lee groaned. "Remind me why I decided it was a good idea to learn sign language? It can't possibly have been for the titilating conversation…" A perfectly blown raspberry was all the response Neo dignified that with, leaving Lee to shake his head and scoff, though not without amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get moving," Lee suggested as he began to do just that, exiting the tram and beginning to walk towards the exit to street level. Once there, it would be a fairly straight shot down a main road towards the stadium, maybe a 15 minute walk, depending on how crowded the sidewalks were. "Maybe if we're lucky, we can get there early enough to grab a bite from the concession stand."

A glance down to Neo as she signed something at him, and he had to sigh in exasperation. "Fine, I won't use parkour to get there faster. I don't see why not, though…"

A silent giggle was the entirely predictable response.

Fortunately for the appetites of the two young adults, they did, in fact, find themselves with enough time to spare for grabbing a bite to eat, obtained from a small cafe on the road to the stadium. Lee was currently taking the last bite of his club sandwich (made with turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, of course), while Neo nibbled on her tray of finger sandwiches at a more sedate pace, despite Lee knowing for a fact that she had to have been just as hungry as he had been. I guess the etiquette lessons really stuck with her, despite how much she hated them. Though he had always suspected that Neo came from a more privileged background than their other companions, including Lee himself, he had been a little surprised to learn just how well off her family had be-

His internal soliloquy was broken when the subject of his musings had garnered his attention with a small hum and a raised brow.

"Sorry, just thinking…"

Her head cocked to the side, and her other brow joined the first.

"Nothing bad, I swear! Just taking a moment to reflect on how long we've known each other. I never would have thought I'd be lucky enough to meet someone as amazing as you."

A brief, yet wide smile, with her free hand held over her heart, and her eyes batted at him, prompting Lee, smiling himself, to lean down low enough so that Neo could stretch upwards to place a quick peck on his cheek. Somehow, despite having now had the better part of a year to become accustomed to such things, the mushy, public display of affection still managed to bring a flush to his cheeks, with the spot where Neo's lips had made contact with his cheek feeling especially warm. Some vague, distant part of his mind acknowledged that it was pure ridiculousness that he could still feel embarrassed by such a thing, given that the couple were sexually active, but he supposed that intimacy in private didn't exactly grant one immunity to embarrassment from public displays of affection. Fortunately, though, he enjoyed Neo's reaction more than it embarrassed him, so he chalked it up as a win.

And on that note, I had better go chalk up a win in the ring! After saying as much to Neo, Lee quickly made his way over towards the competitor's area, leaving Neo to make her way towards the stands.