Ch 26: Feather Tether

On Christmas, Spadix wished Sterling happy holidays with the rest and sent him a happy birthday. She was a bit worried when she didn't get anything back from Jin but let it slide knowing she hated mornings. She grabbed the presents, more excited then she thought she'd be. Indi's gift was a set of really nice silk like ribbon bookmarks with metal tabs and some new stationary and highlighters for studying. Sterling had gifted her a new bag for her trips to the bookstore and library after her last one ripped in two. This one was leather and very well made with extra space for other things should she wish to use it for trips or school as well.

She ran her hand over Jin's gift happily, opening the box and removing the paper with a soft gasp, hand covering her mouth. Inside, was a folded note with something beautiful underneath. She opened the note,

'Little Bird,

A year ago I kissed you for the first time. Something beautiful started that moment. Everyday this special energy between us grows as we grow together and learn from each other. I wanted to find something for you that shows you how special it feels to me when I hear you say 'I love you'. Something that keeps me with you always and gives you comfort, especially when you feel you need it most. I hope you like them.

Merry Christmas.

Love,

Your Golden Dragon'

Spadix lowered the note and touched the soft, smooth fabric. She gently pulled it out the small box, revealing the item. In her hands was a new hood but in her favorite shade of a snowy white. This one had her usual false eye pattern on the back but the eyes were dragon eyes in the intense amber like Jin's eyes set in the fabric. The interior fabric was also gold. The tails of the hood ties were the same but the black stripes were swapped for Jin's golden color that was accented on the hood already and now the pattern was on both sides of the tails. Hidden in the inside of the hood, near the tip of the top where she normally tucked her face when she was shy or embarrassed, was hers and Jin's emblems, merged together pleasantly. The golden dragon jaw design built into the night eyes in such a way that made her smile, the stitching in the chestnut color of her outfit. A secret stitch she could look at when she tucked away to gain courage and seek comfort in.

There was also a new mask in the box. She trailed her fingers over it before pulling it out as well. The mask was in the iridescent pearly color of Jin's teeth that she loved, hidden stitching over the mouth area made the toothy outline of her lover's faunus trait like a protective shield to hide her face.

She held the items close to her chest, smiling brightly, fumbling for her scroll. She tried to call Jin but when she got no answer she messaged, 'It's all so beautiful I might cry. Thank you so much. I love you. Can't wait for you to get back.'

She quickly removed her mask and hood, swapping for her new ones and loving the smooth fabric and the extra warmth it gave, snuggled into them for the rest of the day. She nibbled on her talon worried with no response from Jin, which grew to a more frantic panic as the week went on. She got in touch with Sterling but all he said was that some crazy stuff happened over the holidays with his cousins.

Worry was riddling her body. She didn't sleep and barely ate. Indi was calling her each night, making sure she was doing as ok as she could be but the owl was distraught. It was worrisome that none of the team was getting anything back. Before the final weekend of the break, Spadix curled up in Jin's bed, hood tight over her head, Indi watched her in the call, "Spadix, I heard from Teach. Jin went through something over the holidays. She said… she said she's coming back different…"

Spadix tucked into herself tighter, "O-oh…"

Indi tried to talk to her but when Spadix seemed to go quiet she merely wished her goodnight and ended the call. In the silence, Spadix softly sobbed, her emotions worn, hugging herself tight.

She woke to the door opening. Jin walked in, setting down her bag. Spadix looked over at her with tired dark eyes. Jin closed the door, her own eyes looking worse. Spadix slowly sat up as Jin walked over and sat on the floor by her. Spadix looked over Jin and could only think that she looked like a wounded animal. She wanted to ask, wanted to comfort, but she just sat there, her own heart aching.

Jin stared at the sheets, "I'm sorry I didn't respond… I wanted to make sure when I saw you that what she said wasn't true…"

Spadix was confused, "Who? What?"

Jin messed with a tear in a sheet that came from one of Spadix's talons once during one of their more intimate moments, "said… you are only with me because you are scared I'll hurt you if you leave…"

Spadix was no less confused than before but reached out, falling into Jin as she wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her tight, crying, "How dare you just… doubt me like that…I've given you so much of me... I've been a mess with worry. I love you because of you, you idiot."

Jin fell back from the sudden weight shift onto her, eyes noticing the hood she was wearing. She felt her heart race and gently pulled Spadix tightly to herself, curling around her, sobbing as she held her, "Oh Spadix, I'm so sorry. I'm so broken right now. I… I.."

The owl nuzzled close and shushed her, "It's ok. My turn to take care of you, as long as you need. You don't need to explain. I got you."

The two stayed there, holding one another for most of the day. Eventually, Spadix got Jin into bed and crawled in with her, holding her close and feeling Jin grip her tightly, coiling around her small frame. The others would be back eventually but for now, Spadix was determined to care for her broken dragon.

Jin fell asleep to the feeling of Spadix stroking her hair and the sound of her even heartbeat, still tightly coiled around the owl in her embrace. Spadix dried her face and watched her sleep. She couldn't fathom what had happened but she could tell this was heavy on Jin's soul.

Once Jin had been asleep for a while, Spadix called Indi, chin resting on Jin's head. When the blue eyes and raven hair came into view, she held a finger to her lips and whispered, "Hey, she's back."

Indi nodded, speaking lightly, "Did you figure out what happened? Is the overgrown lizard ok?"

Spadix's eyes filled with sorrow and she slightly shook her head, "She's definitely not ok. I don't really know what happened except that someone apparently upset her pretty badly."

The inquisitive friend seemed surprised, "I didn't think anyone could bother Jin like that."

The owl glanced down, watching Jin sleep, "Me either… Indi… I'm worried… What if she doesn't bounce back?"

Her friend put some candy in her mouth, "Well, if anyone could understand that, it's you Spadix. You have gone to hell, walked through its flames, and returned with your scorched skin to try to walk in the sun away. She couldn't be in better, more considerate hands."

"Yea…"

The two idly chatted to help ease her mind before hanging up. Spadix stayed there, diligently caring for Jin, refusing to move or leave her. She was tired too but she tried her best to stay awake until nightfall.

She got Jin through the weekend but the silence from the dragon was hard. She didn't know how to help without knowing what really happened but she could at least care for her tenderly which seemed to be keeping Jin at least relaxed and present enough. The dragon spent most of it in her lap, rubbing the tails of the hood in her fingers while enjoying the soothing pets in her hair from Spadix.

When Spadix would go grab them food, Jin would take a shower or unpack her bag, trying to keep her mind occupied from her own thoughts. It was a suggestion her mother gave her when she dropped her off. As she set the unopened three gifts on the desk she stared at them, sitting at the chair and fidgeting with a ribbon.

Two hands ran along her shoulders and hugged around her, a chin resting into her shoulder. "Do you want to open them?" came a gentle voice softly next to her.

Jin gently touched Spadix's embracing arms before taking one, "Yea I think so."

The owl watched as Jin took Indi's gift and opened it, finding her favorite spicy chocolate inside. She turned it in her fingers a few times before setting it to the side, not really feeling like sweets at the moment, none of them really having as eager of a sweet tooth as Indi even if she did like them. The next one she grabbed was from Sterling. The box held a nice red scarf she'd been eyeing in town for the winter as well as a filler repair kit for the cuts and scrapes in Fang Fists.

She glanced over at the beautifully wrapped box from Spadix. Decorative but graceful holiday wrapping with a golden ribbon. Lightly, she untied the bow and removed it, pulling off the paper. Inside sat a black box with a smooth texture. It was engraved with a very fine brand name Jin didn't fully recognize. However, when she opened it, the items inside were so recognizable she would never mistake them.

At first, she quickly glanced at Spadix's hands, worried. But when she saw the talons were still there, she glanced back into the box. Delicate fingers reached in and grabbed at one of the black items, the cold steel soothing to her warm touch. With closer inspection, they were a few sizes larger than Spadix's talons.

She felt the owl nuzzle into her neck, "After the first few times you were considering adding blades to Fang Fists, I reached out to the best weapon parts makers in Vale. Sent them every detail of my talons and went into town to get everything cast and measured while you all were training with Professor Xiao Long. They came in just in time before you left for break. They were made to be a perfect replica in a size to fit on Fang Fists for you."

Spadix gingerly reached out, pulling a small bag from the side with all the pieces they would need to install them. Jin was admiring the black, shining objects that reminded her of one of her favorite features on her faunus. Not because she liked when they drove into her but because, like herself, they made life complicated and delicate to walk through. They made them both faunus that people were weary of and didn't understand, that people saw as predators first before people. Their faunus traits were ones that made it hard to get close to others and often caused them to hurt others even when they didn't mean to. Jin smiled softly.

As Spadix moved to grab for her tools, planning to go get Fang Fists and try to lift her lover's spirits, she felt the collar of her hood gripped softly and tugged. Jin pulled her sweetly into her lap and kissed her softly. The owl smiled and kissed her back. It was gentle, short and kind. Very different from Jin's usual kisses but that was fine at the moment. When the dragon pulled away, Spadix kissed her cheek, "I'm going to go get your weapons. We can add them together after we eat, just the two of us."

Jin nodded and continued to inspect her gift as Spadix left. The two enjoyed the plated meals when the owl returned, Jin even convincing her to try the chocolate despite herself. The dragon chuckled at Spadix's reaction. While Spadix enjoyed things that were sweet with a bit of heat, she was not really a fan of this snack and how it peppered at her throat. Her tongue poked out in distaste of the treat and she drank water to wash it down, ignoring Jin's light humor at her expense.

Jin set Spadix in her lap and reached around her as they worked together on Fang Fists, installing the talons over the four finger knuckles of each bracer. Jin had never been one to add upgrades to her weapons and had little knowledge or experience in it. The untrained fingers fumbled cumslily with the small precise tools and screws, brows tight in concentration.

Spadix pulled her legs up and criss-crossed them while in Jin's lap and glanced at Jin's face that was over her shoulder with a smile. She gently reached out, hands brushed past her girlfriend's as she took over. Spadix had designed and built Nox Oculus from the ground up, like most students, and did all her own upgrades and repairs.

Unknown to her team, her family's multi-billion Lien was in weapons parts manufacturing so she had learned a lot over the years from watching and listening to the business and work in the house around her long before she had ever considered even holding her own weapon. It was the only thing she actually loved that came with being an Umbra, even if she would never tell a soul that, having learned so much about gear and weapons.

Jin felt her hands on hers and let Spadix take the tools wordlessly. She watched in awe, always amazed at how skillfully her taloned fingers could do such finite, exact tasks and tiny movements. Jin glanced from time to time at Spadix's face, absorbed in the calm serenity and relaxed, subtle smile coming so naturally that Spadix always seemed to be in and have when working on weapons.

Jin softly slid her arms around the owl's waist and rested her chin on her shoulder watching her work quietly. Spadix merely glanced her way for a moment and chuckled softly before continuing, "I can teach you how to work on them."

Jin shook her head, "if you did that, I wouldn't get to enjoy this anymore."

The owl rolled her eyes but her smile brightened a bit. Some of the first meaningful conversations she and Jin ever had were while Jin watched her work on Nox Oculus. The memory was something she didn't realize she would find so special to her until this moment. Regardless of Jin's response though, from time to time she took the dragon's hands and guided her through some of the easier steps, enjoying working together on the weapons even more than doing it herself.

Had Jin been in better spirits, Spadix would've been a bit disappointed at the lack of playful antics but for now she was just happy that Jin was at least smiling and holding her. The install allowed for a thumb trigger, giving the ability to have the talons act in a lifted relaxed form that would fold them back against the bracers so Jin could still easily punch and things unrestricted and even use them when blocking to catch blades. If she triggered the grip, they would quickly swing forward and lock into a claw-like position and could be used for slashes and even had enough strength to be used for surface scaling.

With the weapons set on the desk the two relaxed for the evening again. The rest of the team would not be joining them until classes were to start the next morning. Night was hardest for Jin, still vulnerable and depressed in her sleep, holding tight to her lover to tether herself to something calming.