As they prepared for bed, she broached the subject.
"What do you think about returning to civilization tomorrow, after lunch?"
"I dunno. You see, I'm really enjoying some quality time with this girl. And I'm afraid someone else might try to muscle in."
She rolled her eyes and whacked him gently on the shoulder. "You are impossible."
"I'm told that. Story of my life. Hegsih, do'er of the impossible." He smiled with humor, dark skin around his eyes crinkling. "Seriously though, yeah, I'm fine with it. You know best." He reached an arm out, and she leaned into a side-hug. He was warm and comfortable, and she let him draw her down as he lay back. She closed her eyes, content, for just a second.
She opened them what seemed a moment later, and the room was dark and still. She was little-spoon again. And there was a hand… gently cupping her left breast. Another wrapped around her waist. His torso and hips pressed gently against her back as he snored quietly.
Well, this feels familiar. Except of course for… no. Not a twinge. And no intrusive body parts. Not like last time. Blake let her thoughts drift… they drifted into some rapids. She felt some very familiar and insistent stirrings as her body warmed against his. She thought about pushing those feelings away, but instead let the current flow, becoming very warm indeed, enjoying the combination of her fantasizing and the very real subject of that fantasy, pressed against her, all unknowing.
What do you want? Do you want a friend? A lover? Have you dreamed of a tall, dark, handsome human to make your life complete?
What do I want?
Well right now, she wanted… firm body against hers. Lips on her skin. Other things. Other places.
She sighed. She obviously knew what she wanted now. But was that fair to them if she didn't know what she wanted tomorrow?
Overly affectionate friends, he had said. She turned that over in her head. That was an invitation, wasn't it?
Why do I have to always be afraid? What if I just want… intimacy, closeness, without being worried about what might happen weeks or months or year from now?
Why can't I have happiness on my terms?
…
Who says I can't?
She closed her eyes briefly, swallowed, and rolled over to face her bedmate. "Hey popsicle-man," she whispered softly. She caressed his face, enjoying the play of emotions over it as he tried to wake up under her touch. One eye, then the other, cracked open.
Hegsih woke to find luminous amber eyes close to his, and an eloquent look on Blake's face, and smiled. "I would love to," he murmured.
That night was very unlike their previous times. Their first had been dominated by her desperation to obtain relief as quickly as possible. The second, more a desire to return the favor for his prior consideration.
This time, there was a tenderness to it. There was real affection, a desire to understand, to explore, to please. They covered each other in kisses, caresses, touches. They murmured encouragements and gentle corrections. They twined and joined, and moved against and with each other. They experimented, and found what worked and what didn't, at least for now.
She'd never experienced anything like it. It was quiet. It was passionate. It was comforting. It was exquisite.
She was gently kissed awake. She cracked open her amber eyes as he pulled away, smiling softly. "Good morning, Kitty Cat."
She reached up to caress his cheek. "Mmmm. Good morning to you, Brownskin."
His eyes flicked to her nightstand. "I wanted to let you sleep in, but… I thought it was important that we keep promises."
"Oh. Oh! Yes." Yes, that was important. "Let me… let me send a quick message, and then I'll get dressed and call them." She tapped out a group "Good morning!" message, and then stretched. That word again. Languid. Yeah, that definitely fit.
He gazed appreciatively as she stretched, enjoying the sight of her. He sighed. "So, we've graduated to lovers?" Golden-brown eyes met amber.
Trepidation tried to germinate, was stamped out. I can have what I want. "Yes." Eyes held unflinching. "That's what I want."
"Good. Because that was… relationship-altering sex. At least rounds 1 and 2 were. I'm not sure what the hell round 3 was."
She laughed, kissed him, and rolled over to the side of the bed. "Round 3, as you called it, was because we could, and because I wanted to."
"I'll take that." His stomach grumbled. "And I'll make breakfast while you take care of morning stuff."
She had just finished brushing her hair into something manageable when she heard him call from the kitchen, an odd tone to his voice.
She went down the stairs, and found him looking… disturbed but controlled. He held out his scroll to her as she approached.
Mr. 'Jorgensen'.
Be kind to explain to me why, exactly, I should not send an Atlas patrol to our family's cabin *right now* to determine who you really are, how you got inside, and why you are availing yourself of my family's property. You have five minutes.
-Winter Schnee
Blake's face went ghostly, ears pinned hard against her head.
Then she screamed, almost making him drop this borrowed device, as her own scroll began buzzing angrily in her right hand.
It was Weiss that appeared on the screen, but not in their quarters. It was some sort of small, bare room.
"Weiss." Blake whispered, dread overtaking her.
Weiss answered, softly and carefully controlled. "Blake, are you safe?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Who is Hegsih Jorgensen?"
Blake tried to speak, but words wouldn't come out past her suddenly tight throat.
"Blake please. I need to be sure you are safe and well. Do you understand me? There's a man in the cabin, someone no one knows anything about, and we have no idea what's going on."
"Blake it's okay." Hegsih spoke softly. Weiss started at the sound. She looked actually afraid. He lifted the scroll from Blake's boneless hand, turned it toward himself. "Hi Ms. Schnee," he said gently. He could see Blake's hands beginning to shake. "Whoah, one second... Blake sit down... There you go."
He got her into a chair even as he heard the tail end of Weiss making demands. "- right now! Do you understand me?!"
"Sorry, sorry wanted to make sure she wasn't going to fall over or anything first."
"Show me both your hands. This instant."
"Excuse me?"
"I need to see that your hands are empty."
"Oh. Oh right. I'll do better than that." Leaning, he propped the scroll on the table, and stepped back so she could both Blake, who looked like she had been struck by lightning, and his entire upper body. He wiggled his fingers, then tapped Blake gently on the shoulder. "Blake, your Team needs you to focus. You friend needs to know you are okay, and I've got… three minutes to tell Ms. Schnee's older sister that I'm not some criminal stripping the cabin to the floorboards."
Weiss blinked, even as Blake stirred. "Oh. No, you've got a few more minutes than that. I talked to Winter before I called. That's why I called. You have to convince me." She paused. "Blake? Are you well? Convince me that you are well."
Blake took a long, shuddering breath, and let it out, closing her eyes. She opened them, looked at Weiss, then up at the man to her right. Her hand met his and squeezed as she turned back to the screen. She saw Weiss' eyes widen, her scar standing out on her pale skin. "I'm sorry we scared you, Weiss. I really am. I didn't realize-" She swallowed. "We were going to explain in person. We were coming back today."
"We," Weiss said flatly.
Blake nodded. "We."
Weiss was angry. She'd never seen Weiss this angry. "So, all of this. The sketched mountain. The supposed trek in the woods. Making us all crazy with worry. Breaking-" Weiss shook her head, and her voice continued, low and shaking. "This was all for some sort of… tryst?!"
As Weiss's angry words had spilled out, Blake's eyes had grown wider and her face paler. "No! No! It-"
"Ms. Schnee," Hegsih interrupted. "Blake told you the truth. She found me, half dead, out there in the wilderness. That's why she was stuck out there overnight. She was trying to keep me from freezing to death."
Weiss blinked, looked at Blake for confirmation, and got a slow nod. She wrapped her arms around herself and took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them. "I… I see. That is… somewhat better."
"I was coming back, Weiss. Today. I was coming to tell you everything. I didn't realize…"
"- that registering a guest on one of the backup scrolls at the cabin would pop up a flag in the security software Winter had installed?" Blake and Hegsih blinked at each other. "That she would be able to use that same software to browse the guest profile's history?" Jaws dropped. "And that she would then cross-index it to one Hegsih Jorgensen?" She glanced down. "Of the city of Beergeen, Kingdom of Norway? " She looked back up. "Is this some kind prank?"
"No ma'am."
"And would you care to explain how it is that you don't exist? Anywhere?! In any database or system? Mr. Jorgensen of the Kingdom of Norway?"
"I need to sit down."
"Oh, I am sure you do."
"Ms. Schnee-" he began.
"Weiss-" Blake tried to intercede, shaking.
"Oh no, I'm not talking to you yet. I'm talking to tall dark and mysterious."
"Ma'am," Hegsih interrupted in a quiet, matter of fact voice. "you are terrorizing your friend, and she doesn't deserve it."
You would have thought he'd reached through the scroll and slapped Weiss. She looked away and he was sure she was counting to twenty. "I-" the infuriatingly rigid Schnee façade broke, and she turned back to her friend with a pained expression. "I'm sorry, Blake. To be fair, I was terrified first."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't realize you could find out like this, or I would have just told you or done something else."
There was a long pause, before Weiss exhaled out through her nose. "Okay. I am convinced you aren't being held hostage, or drugged, or being blackmailed. So, I am now not terrified. And I understand you were trying to do the right thing. So, I am not angry now, either." Her eyes shifted back and forth. "Is this true, you found this man out there? In the forest?"
"Yes. It's true. There's…. a lot more to it. But yes. He was alone, and I ended up having to save him from hypothermia. It was a close thing."
Weiss's attention shifted. "Mr… is that really your name?"
"Yes ma'am. My friends call me Hegsih, or just Hegs."
"That is your actual name…"
"Yes."
She sighed. "Mr… Hegsih. What were you doing alone, in the middle of a forest, in Atlas-controlled territory, hours from civilization?"
"Honestly, besides freezing to death, I have no idea." Weiss's eyes narrowed. "Seriously. As far as I can tell, the only reason for me to be there…" he blinked, and continued softly, "was so Blake could find me."
"Do the others know yet?" Blake interrupted.
"No. No, Winter sent me the message, and I immediately found a private spot to call so as not to alert anyone." She looked to the side. "You need to come back to Atlas. Now."
"Okay. Okay we will."
"Yes. Both of you. I need to… I need to see both of you in the flesh. I'm not convinced this isn't some sort of elaborate trick, or I'm having a mental breakdown."
"Wiess."
"Five. Five hours. Jaune and I will meet you at the Mantle transport hub, at the facility where you obtained the snowmobile." She disconnected abruptly.
Shit.
"Shit."
Hegsih looked at the scroll still in his hands. Considered his search history. "Fuck." He pulled up the messaging app, and started typing furiously.
"What are you doing?!" Blake hissed. Aren't we in enough trouble?"
"Get your stuff packed. I'm messaging Winter."
"You're what?!"
"I believe Weiss, but better honest than sorry. Get moving. You said it's a four hour trip, so we've got 1 hour to clear out." He sniffed. "God, I've got to get a shower in. You too. We smell like… well, each other."
Blake reddened a little. That was good, he mused. The shock was wearing off. "Okay. Right."
"That's my tough girl. You get knocked down, but you get back up again."
"Was that-"
"Yes, and I'm not sorry at all."