Though she'd never really mention it to anyone, Vesna wasn't doing all that well. Not to say she wasn't happy to be reunited with and engaged to Vic, but there was a certain set of issues she had to deal with mentally before she went any further with anything in this life. She just didn't know how to bring it up, simply because she'd worried Victor enough. She'd worried everyone enough, in fact. After a heavy sigh, the girl looked down at her left hand, at her ring finger and the glowing little gem attached to the metal band wrapped around.
Lifting it up, she stared at it with a smile and could feel her tail wag. She chuckled a little, then, without looking, put a hand down over the fluffy extra appendage. Feeling her ears twitch and pausing as she heard the door open, she sprung up to her feet, walking over to see who'd come back. And, indeed, there he was. Her Fiancee, back from a trip out with Paul. She grinned, went on all fours and hid for a second, waiting for the man to pass the door of their bedroom.
He and Paul were talking, laughing about something relating to their weaponry as Vic passed by the door. Wiggling her butt a little like a cat to prime herself for the pounce, Ves watched him appear at the edge of the door, then she jumped, wrapping him in a hug and causing him to let out a short, happy laugh as he greeted her, "Hey, hon," with such joy in her voice it made her heart skip a beat.
"Privyet, moya lyubov~!" She greeted back, almost singing as she felt his hands wrap around him. Paul snorted, which caused Ves to look over at him, still smiling as she asked, "Oh, what's wrong, Paul? Katja not around to do the same?" and that got a laugh out of Vic. The Hungarian rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Very funny, Ves," He spoke as he poured himself a glass of fresh, cool water. He turned to face them, leaning back onto the counter and stating, "Not like you need me to tell you, but she's off on patrol with Lita right now," before bringing his glass up to his mouth and mumbling to himself, "And I'm sure she's talking her ear off about the same jokes…"
"I wasn't kidding," Ves replied, "You two really should stop playing around," only to pause and yelp as she felt something touch her hip. Blushing, she looked up at Vic, a bit embarrassed as her heart suddenly started firing off like a Machine Gun. Vic, though he was surprised, took it in stride and eased the hug a little.
She shook her head and hugged him back, though Paul saw it firsthand:Her going a bit pale at the touch. He stared, but chose not to say anything. It was their own business to solve as future husband and wife. He downed the glass of water and said, "Well, if you two wanna just talk, I'm gonna head on out and see how the prep for that away mission to Pavel's village is going."
"Alright," Vic nodded, then paused as he saw Paul give him the lightest tilt of the head to the left. The Hungarian's left, that was. It was aimed at Ves, though the girl also picked it up. It was a sign for Vic to talk to her about that little jump just now. He hugged her closer as Paul waved goodbye and walked out the door.
The young man looked at his wife-to-be, smiled and picked her up from the waist, causing her to giggle and feign fighting back a little as he carried her to their room. He gently set her down on the bet, then breathed in and knelt in front of her. He asked her, "Hey… Are you okay, hon…? D'you not want me touching you randomly anymore or-"
"N-No," Ves spoke, taking his hand, "Vic… I'm fine," She then added, visibly distraught. "It's just… I… You caught me by surprise, like you always do," and she smiled awkwardly. Vic stared at her for a moment, those deep emerald eyes locked onto her beautiful sapphires. She visibly waned, her voice low as she told him, "I'm okay, Vic…"
He watched her for a moment and clearly determined she was lying, but he hesitated in pressing the matter. Letting out a sigh, he leaned forward, cupped her chin and planted a deep kiss on her lips, causing her to let out a happy whine. Taking a small step back, he told her, "Ves, if there's anything wrong, you come to me first thing, alright?"
"Of course," She smiled softly. He smiled back, caressed her cheek and saw her lean into it, holding his hand. With a nod, he stood to his feet and walked over to deposit his gear in the 'makeshift' armory they had set up. Afterward, he took off his jacket, leaving himself in only his short-sleeved shirt and pants. He then went over to the kitchen to look into cooking them a meal.
Li and Katja walked in next, with the former whistling and commenting, "Blyat, Vic, back to cooking? It pasta again?" and that got the Romanian to let out a low laugh. Lita herself snorted, then noticed the door to their room was half-open. She saw Ves inside, looking at the floor, seemingly distraught. She spoke, "Imma go talk to Vesna real quick if the Husband approves?" and the Romanian gave him a thumbs up. She saw he was visibly concerned over something, too.
As she entered their room and slowly pushed the door, leaving a simple crack visible, she walked up to a surprised Ves, knelt in front of her and asked her in their native tongue, "You still haven't told him?" with the most audible sense of concern Ves had ever heard out of the shortest member of the Platoon. She frowned and shook her head, to which Lita told her, "You should before it blows up in your face. I get there might not be many nightmares or worse due to him being here, but all it takes is the wrong thing to trigger an episode."
"I don't want to worry him more than I already have…" Ves whispered, her voice cracking.
"Worrying him now is better than having him mourn you again later, Vesna. He fucking noticed, blyat," Lita replied in a low growl, staring down her team's de-facto Commander, "If you think you're protecting him from worry, you're fucking wrong. This will only get worse if it isn't treated, so I'm begging you as one of the two people who kept you safe during our Basic Training and one of your two closest fucking friends, devushka… Talk to him and let him get you help… I want to attend a wedding, not a fucking funeral again."
"... I will," The girl replied after a hint of hesitation. Lita sighed, pinching the bow of her nose in frustration. She was well aware Vesna was gonna put off talking to Victor about the War until something forced her hand. She stood up, stared at her for a moment, then simply gave her a nod turning and leaving. Ves frowned, wanting to assure her that she would, clearly, but Li wasn't gonna listen at the moment.
"... Did we ever get that blood test done?" Vic asked just as Lita walked out. Katja snorted and shrugged, to which he continued, "Swear to God, would be fuckin' funny… Nuns always told me my dad sounded funny when they dropped me off, almost Polish," and cut carrots. Lita snorted at that, smiling a little.
She told them, "You two feel like you'd be related. Fucking dense as tungsten, the both of you," as she walked over to help, trying to put on a happy face.
"Jim still avoiding advances?" Katja joked with half-a-mouth, garnering a laugh out of Victor and a glare from the diminutive Ruski. The Pole raised her hands defensively, shaking her head as a bead of sweat fell to the floor. Tarasova grinned at that, then turned to help them. Kat told her, "We're cooking what's basically beef tushonka. Vesna's favorite from KFOR, if'n'Vic recalled right."
As she took a ladder to climb to the top, she confirmed, "He did," and opened one of the top cupboards, retrieving a bag of barley from it and handing it to Vic. She asked, "How is Ves, Vic?"
"She's fine…" The man replied with half a mouth. That confirmed Lita's suspicions that Vic knew, or at least was suspecting something. He sighed and asked, "Hey, where's Sam?" which caused Lita to frown a little at the change of subject.
"She's off with Yang, meeting a possible new Informant in Vale's seedy underbelly," Lita replied as she set the barley down and started prepping stuff to make the stew. She then added, "And Rob's probably off interrogating Torchwick at the VPD precinct again," which made her grow a slightly sadistic smirk. She spoke, "Bastard's almost cracked. Already gave up the details of a small-time Dust trade going on for weapons."
"We gonna take that?" Kat asked as she cubed the beef. Lita clicked her tongue and said no, to which the Pole chuckled and mumbled, "Makes sense. We still gotta keep training the First Regiment of the Vale Self Defense Force… Stupid name," then was handed the vegetables by Vic. As she started chopping them, she said, "We should'a gone for 'The New Vale Army'. NVA."
"You're neither DDR nor Vietnamese, Kat," Vic quipped as he set the water to boil. He turned to the girl and crossed his arms, "And I thought you hated Commies 'bout as much as I, my sis and the Nemeth twins do," which was, to say, enough hate to fuel'em, Vic thought to himself as he stared the Pole down.
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Katja smiled darkly, "If I ever met a live commie here, I'd just skip to the last part of their revolution:Shooting the useful idiot," then she relaxed a little and said, "But, sadly, or thankfully, there's no Commies here," as she got back to chopping the carrots. Vic snorted and shook his head, fully understanding the young woman's beliefs.
Lita cleared her throat and said, "Disregarding your absolute hatred for the ideology that helped bring whatever was left of Old Russia to ruin," as she picked up the lid of the pot they were using, which was a pressure cooker. The two nodded and got back to helping with the cooking, all while Vesna watched them work from the door, a smile on her face. Victor had always been an interesting cook, considering everything, and the fact he'd listened when she said that her favorite food from home was something as simple as a stew…
She smiled to herself, then sighed and mumbled, "I am gonna tell him, Li…" as she stretched, then added, "Later…" as if it really wouldn't be a problem if she talked about a potentially pressing issue much later than she should've. She then walked over and said, "Can I help?" with a smile on her face. Without hesitation, the three others nodded, with Vic walking over and giving her a peck on the lips that made her giggle.
'Too cute', thought both Lita and Katja as they looked at one-another. Kat herself shook her head, mumbling something about Paul only for her to hear as she blushed, thinking back to the last sleepover they had together before both went their separate ways in their childhood and what he told her then. Wow, they really weren't capable of processing emotions like normal human beings anymore. Fuckin' war really did a number on all of them.
Vale
Through the busy streets of the city, roared the engine of a familiar, very fancy and science-fiction-looking yellow bike. Holding on for dear life on as she rode on the back, Sammy Lee grit her teeth and shielded her face from bugs flying into their helmets as she and Yang Xiao-Long, proud owner of the bike 'Bumblebee', rode on.
"Traffic laws, Yang!" Sam yelled, her voice sharp and loud as she held onto the blonde's waist. The daredevil laughed heartily, taking a turn by hitting the brakes and pushing through into Vale's more night-life-y area, a district filled with strange architecture, winding pipes and large roads floating over their heads.
Sam had decided to be a bit more civilian and incognito this time around. A black leather jacket, plain blue undershirt, black jeans and comfortable sneakers, as well as sunglasses. Sure, it wouldn't fully hide her identity, but it probably worked well enough for her to keep herself hidden as they met this new contact at the Club that was strangely named 'Junior's', after its strange owner, Hei Xiong Jr, fondly nicknamed by the Junior moniker.
When they stopped in front of the Club's entrance, Sammy was shivering like a wet dog, tail weirdly looking as if she'd been hit by static electricity. Yang told her, "Well, we're here," before she tried to get off. Looking back, she said, "Uh, Sam? Ya mind lettin' go?" to which the Wolfgirl barely managed to unclench her fingers.
The blonde chuckled as she stood up, kicking the stand down and locking the bike as Sam finally managed to wobble her way off. Dusting herself off, Sam mumbled, "Next time, I'm asking Hassan to drive our asses here in the Warhound," as she looked at Yang. She crossed her arms and examined the unassuming entrance, mumbling, "So, this is one of the most prolific hotspots of both Vale's Nightlife and its underworld, huh…"
"Yup," Yang crossed her arms under her chest. She said, "You mentioned while we were on the way here that Junior's got a Chinese name," and Sam nodded, sticking her hand in her coat's inner pocket and feeling the cold steel of her pistol's slide. Approving that she had her piece on her, she showed Yang to lead the way inside.
The Blonde had also brought Ember Celica, clear by the fact the thick bracelets were neatly folded in on themselves. She was also dressed in her standard 'Huntress' Clothes. As they walked forward, the other people walking around noticed them and seemed to steer clear. She clicked her tongue as they walked, hands in her jacket's pockets.
She paused, catching a glimpse of someone staring at them from an alleyway, then nearly doubled over as she saw the barrel and gas block of an AK. She stopped Yang from pushing forward more, then showed her to follow far behind with a motion of the hand. Though confused, the blonde nodded, extending Ember Celica while Sam walked over toward the alley, left hand wrapped around the grip of her pistol.
As she crossed the corner, she drew it, putting it right up to the face of a young man that barely got to raise his AK-12 to meet her. She saw it had an optic on, one of the Russian holographic sights. And she also saw a familiar unit patch on the young man's shoulder. She spoke, "... How long have you been here, my Ruski buddy?"
"... A Chinese soldier?" He spoke, his accent a little heavier than she expected. He breathed a sigh, lowering his rifle and mumbling, "Past few months? Getting lynched in my hometown transported me to another world… Who'd have thought?" and he laughed awkwardly. She lowered her pistol, stowing it into the jacket holster.
"Yeah…" She spoke, then wiggled her ears and smirked, "... You're from the same unit as a few friends of ours, by the way," to which he perked up. She nodded and told him, "C'mon. We'll talk more when we're inside, but me and my associate here have a club man to shake down for information about underworld stuff."
"Alright…" He replied, thumbing the safety of his AK on and walking with them toward the place. He was visibly surprised by the Faunus traits that Samantha was exhibiting, obviously. As they entered the place, the first of Junior's staff, black suit and red-tie clad gentlemen with bowler hats and red sunglasses, appeared, only to blank the moment they saw a grinning Yang. The blondie cracked her knuckles, much to the Russian boy's surprise, which got the men ahead to scramble for cover.
Sam took a step back and let Yang do her thing, the thunder of shotgun gauntlets filling the air as they walked down the corridor, alongside the bodies of these bodyguards being slammed into the walls. The Russian commented, "And cue concussions," while keeping his AK close, just in case. Sam snorted at that.
"Didn't get to ask you your name, soldier," She said as she nonchalantly waded through the Carnage provided by the Xiao-Long girl.
"... Oriel, ma'am. Oriel Kiselev. You?" He replied.
"Lieutenant Samantha Lee. You got a keen eye if you managed to guess I'm a CO," She spoke calmly, "Especially in Civvie gear," and paused, dodging a man that was sent flying her way, screaming his lungs out while Yang laughed, taunting them in various ways. She said, "And that is Yang Xiao-Long. A friend of mine and my unit… And yours now."
"... Is the Major here, too, ma'am?" He asked, clearly having wanted to get back to chatting about his force. She pulled her left hand from her pocket, gave a thumbs up, then put it back in said pocket as they waded through the main door and into the club itself, to the sight of a dance floor, a second level and the bar to the left. Oriel smiled, then hummed and pulled the safety off his rifle, only to flinch and stagger as every man in the place pointed guns at them.
Sam sighed deeply, then said, "I'm here to talk to your boss," before taking her sunglasses, or more like the sunglass-style covers, off her normal vision assistance glasses. She told them, "Lieutenant Sam Lee. Misfits Private Military Contractor. If you don't put those guns down, well…" she shrugged, "Up to you if you want this place still standing or not. I'm not here to fight, I'm here to do business."
"Alright, alright!" Barked the voice of a man. Coming through the crowd of mooks, a man clad in a similar suit to the others, though with a sleeveless black jacket instead of a normal suit one, stepped forward and said, "Rein in Blondie if that's the case. I've got enough guys in hospital because of her," before looking at her. Yang grinned, giving the man a sly wink.
"Junior Xiong, I presume," Sam spoke, looking up at the man. She was certainly a head shorter than him and a bit thinner, but she had a brawler and a rifleman on her side, versus a bunch of faceless mooks and their mafia leader. She extended her hand and said, "Lieutenant Sam Lee, Misfits. Yang pointed me here in case I wanted a little more info than Torchwick was willing to give."
"So, you're the leader of the mad bastards that got him in custody, huh?" Junior locked eyes with the young woman. She grinned, baring her fangs as her tail wagged and ears twitched. He snorted and said, "It's the talk of the town that you all managed to put that psycho behind bars again… C'mon, you and your two pals. Want a drink?"
Sam replied calmly, "Sure. Something light for all of us and-"
"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice," Yang quipped, crossing her arms as they walked through the crowd. She suddenly jumped toward one of the guys to try and scare him, before taking a step back when she saw he backed away. She chuckled, then looked back at the Ruski that was following them all confused and asking, "You alright, pal?"
He paused, looking at her, then blinked and nodded, "Y-Yes, I'm alright," and pulled his balaclava down. Yang paused for a sec, face turning a bit red, but she smiled and gave him a gentle punch in the shoulder. As they entered the bar area, the bartender started mixing a few drinks for them, Yang's included.
They sat down at the bar, on opposite sides, obviously, with Sam stating, "I'd suggest we get straight down to business…" as she leaned onto the counter top. Junior blinked, having probably expected a bit more parlay beforehand. She told him, "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not much for chatting when it comes to deals. Offer's simple… You give us an in on the Underworld, like I know you can, considering you knew Torchwick according to Yang, and we keep you safe."
He blinked, then asked, "How exactly are you gonna keep me more safe than my boys-" only to hear Yang chuckle a bit. He sighed deeply, annoyed, as he cast a glance at the men and the two Malachite Twins, two girls that looked close to how Weiss would dress, but with black hair and fairly obnoxious eyeliner, before adding, "So… Soldiers, huh?"
"Better than nothing," Sam offered, "So, what do you say? Tit for tat?"
"This has to be the easiest negotiation you've ever undertaken," Mumbled the man. He extended a hand. Though Sam grinned while they shook, she noticed a strange figure in the corner of her eye:One of the man's mooks, a female, staring at them quite intently from behind her red sunglasses. She could swear she saw two different-colored eyes behind the red.
Yang, meanwhile, looked at Oriel and asked, "So… How'd ya even get here, Oriel?"
"Well, as I mentioned," He sighed, "Lynched by some of the hardliner Ultranationalists in my home town," before shuddering, feeling the phantom pain of their fists and knives. She paused, then put a hand on his shoulder and showed him to calm down. The moment her drink slid her way, she offered him a sip. He took it in his trembling hand, then took a sip from it and seemed to calm down.
She raised a brow, "Better…?"
He nodded.
She told him, "No need to talk 'till you're ready, dude. We're strangers, after all," then she smiled. She paused, realized, "Well, not anymore, really, heh. But you'll be hanging out with us back at Beacon, so… Yeah," and she looked over at Sam. The Chinese officer gave a thumbs up, then showed them to follow after bidding goodbye to Junior.
"Thanks," He said to Yang as they walked. He slung his rifle over his shoulder, then paused as he could swear he saw someone vanish to their right. Choosing to ignore it firsthand, he followed them back out, before pausing as he saw the bike. He told the two, "Guessing there's no subway to go over to where we're supposed to go, right?"
"Relax," Yang chuckled, "We're gonna be home in a jiffy, all safe and sound," as she climbed aboard. She joked, "You also don't need a helmet, since ya got your own! Hop on!" all while a distraught-looking Lieutenant Lee narrowed her lips and whispered a prayer as she walked up to the bike. She mouthed a 'good luck' to the man, then showed him to get on.
He did, rather awkwardly, before Yang quipped, "Hang on tight!" and revved the bike. Holding onto Sam, who was, in turn, holding on to Yang, the young man felt the Bike lurch forward, then, before long, the buildings were rushing past them as the girl put the metaphorical pedal to the metal to get them rolling out back home. The only thing that really brought him comfort in this entire mess was his unit still being alive and being here, too, meaning they'd found some new purpose with this 'Misfits' PMC he'd seen so many ads of.
… Yang was also surprisingly sweet for such a boisterous girl, he thought to himself.