#tabithawrites

Lute was not quite sure what got into her today.

It was the same as any other day; follow her commander around, make sure he was completing the things he was supposed to be doing, make sure he got to meetings on time, and stand by silently until spoken to as he hypes himself to the hordes of fangirls who stop him as they stroll down the promenade to wherever they were headed next.

Maybe she just didn’t get enough sleep last night. Perhaps she woke up on the wrong side of the bed for some reason. Maybe the reason was that her godforsaken vibrator fucking died just as she was on the edge of release and it ruined her night.

She tries to tune him out as his bragging continues to drag on; going on and on about how his dick is the biggest in all of Heaven, how “fucking bitches” is his favorite go-to pastime, and about how badly women want him.

Well, Lute knows he’s at least right about the last of those things. There certainly are women who want him, or at the very least, they like the idea of being with him. The first one is still left up for discovery. But the second one—

“Ain’t that right, Lute?” Adam beams in her direction, fully expecting her to vouch for his crude statement of just how much “pussy action” he gets.

Something about today really made Lute’s tongue loose, “Respectfully, Sir? No.”

“Heh, yeah that’s what I— Huh?” He blinks in surprise, the mask covering his face glitching sporadically in bafflement.

Lute rolls her eyes to look away from him, following with an annoyed nose exhale. “I spend nearly every waking day with you. I know your schedule inside and out, and ‘’fucking bitches’’ is not part of it,” she sneers, making the air quotes with her fingers for emphasis.

“W-what?!,” Adam stammers, quickly faking a laugh to try and collect himself. “Bitch, you don’t even know what you’re on about. I have a life outside of you tailing me around, ya know,” he wafts his hand at her and brings his attention back to his fangirls, “Don’t listen to her, she’s just jealous.”

Lute’s eye twitches aggressively. She grinds her molars together, trying to fight the urge to bite back at him.

“Prove it.”

The surrounding air fell silent. Many eyes quickly turn to Lute at her sharp remark. Adam scoffs, “Prove what?”

“Prove that you get this so-called ‘’pussy action.’’ Because, frankly, I don’t believe you,” Lute crosses her arms over her chest sternly.

Adam skeptically raises a brow at her, “What, who here do you want me to fuck to ‘’prove it‘’ to you?” He waves his arm broadly, gesturing to the women around him.

“ Me. ”

Lute feels her heart rate skyrocket as the word leaves her lips. Her blood turns to ice, her body going stiff as the stunned gasps from the winners hit her ears. It’s too late to take it back now, she has to stand her ground and live with the choice regardless of the outcome. Lute’s unwavering golden eyes pierce daggers through Adam’s mask and directly into his own.

“S-seriously!?” Hope soars in his chest as his heart skips a beat, his voice wavering momentarily from being caught off guard by her directness. Quickly shaking his gaze away from her, he scoffs, “I mean— Seriously? You? ”

“My apartment. Tonight. 7 'o'clock. Do not keep me waiting,” Lute snarls, turning on her heel and speed-walking away. Adam watches her in disbelief as she rounds a corner, disappearing out of his sight.

Rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly, Adam lets out a half confident half nervous chuckle of an exhale. He tilts his head to side-eye the crowd, “Well, sorry ladies, guess I’ve got a date tonight.”

———

“Why did I do that? Why did I say that?!?” Lute screeches to herself upon entering her apartment, slamming the door behind her.

“And then why did I keep talking?!” She groans, making her way to her bedroom to collect fresh clothes for after her shower.

Right now, a shower is what she needs to get her mind off of this whole mess that she’s created for herself.

It’s definitely not to get prepared for tonight.

No, of course, it’s not. She always showers when she gets home from work.

There is no way that Adam took her proposal– (well, it came out as more of a demand, really) seriously, right? He’ll blow her off just like she knows he’s done to countless other women…

…Won’t he?

Sure he will, she’s no different to him. Why would she be?

“Am I a fucking idiot?! Actually insane!?” Lute voices in distress as she undresses, tossing her uniform in the laundry basket. She connects her phone to her speaker, and hits shuffle on her shower playlist. She sighs frustratedly as she steps into the shower.

She basks in the refreshing cool water as it rains over her golden flushed face. As the first song concludes and the next plays, Lute turns the water temperature up, wetting her hair and scrubbing in shampoo.

Just as the following song begins, Lute’s breath catches in her throat, her heart thumping in her chest in tune with the music. The music carries weight, building up into lyrics that become eerily relatable.

🎵-I’m seeing visions, am I bad? Or mad? Or wise?-🎶

She sucks in a breath, trying to ignore the way the melody is calling her to sing along with the chorus. This wasn’t typically the type of music she listened to, but sometimes there’s just those songs that resonate with you, regardless of genre.

‘Of course it had to play this fucking song right now,’ she bites her cheek as she rinses her hair, then begins smothering in some conditioner, and reaches for her razor.

Let’s be clear, she’s absolutely not shaving her downstairs for him. No, she just prefers that area to be smooth is all.

Besides, it’s not like he’s actually going to show up at her doorstep in a few hours anyway.

‘...will he?’

She shakes the thought from her mind as she puts her razor away and rinses the conditioner out of her hair.

As the song plays on, Lute hums along as she scrubs body wash over her arms, slowly giving in and softly starts to sing along, “My bedsheets are ablaze, I’ve screamed his name, building up like waves...”

Her voice trails off as her thoughts fade back into previous nights where she had indeed screamed his name; one hand clutching onto the sheets for dear life while the other fumbled with a bullet vibrator against her clit. The nights when she laid on her back, stifling back moans only to cry out his name in ecstasy at her climax. The whole time imagining his voice praising her for taking his cock so well.

Lute shutters in anticipation at the thought, followed shortly by a wave of embarrassment. ‘But won’t this make things complicated between us? I mean, for fuck’s sake— he’s my superior! That’s wrong on a multitude of levels…’

‘…isn’t it?’

As the music picks up and pulls her from her mind, a euphoric smile creeps up her face. This time she allows herself to sing along with the chorus. Assisting the water to wash away the soap bubbles, she slides her hands down her chest, down her sides, and past her hips, swaying with the melody.

🎶-What if he’s written ‘mine’ on my upper thigh only in my mind? One slip and falling back into the hedge maze, Oh what a way to die~ I keep recalling things we never did–🎵

Her fantasy could finally come to fruition tonight. ‘Maybe this will be a good thing. Things will be fine,’ she tells herself.

If he even shows up that is, which Lute keeps trying to convince that tiny voice in her head that he won’t.

The song finishes as Lute steps out of the shower, lightly shakes the water out of her wings, and wraps herself in a towel. She dries her hair enough so that it’s not actively dripping before turning the speaker off and picking up the clothes she had brought in with her to head back to her bedroom.

She changes her mind about what she is going to wear at the last minute. She eyes the black silken nightgown hanging in her closet as she puts her clothes back into her dresser. Slipping into the dress, she pats the fabric free of its wrinkles.

Don’t be ridiculous, she isn’t putting this on for him. It’s just comfortable and low maintenance, that’s all.

And she’s only drying her hair with a blow dryer because she doesn’t have time to let it air dry like the feeling of it being wet and sticking to her neck.

She’s also not going to doll herself up for him either. She’s just reapplying her eyeshadow and mascara because she likes it. There’s no other reason.

Lute curls up on her couch and looks down at her phone for the time.

6:28 pm

———

Adam rushes back to his penthouse, barely managing to escape the curious questions of the group of fangirls from earlier. Flying through his balcony doors, disregarding the need to close them, he flings himself into his on-suite bathroom.

If he’s going to do this tonight, he’s going to do it right. He has to be presentable. Lute had asked him out. Fucking Lute of all people. He never thought he’d ever get this chance.

He can’t say no to her.

Not after those nights when he’d thought about her being snuggled up beside him in bed. The mornings that he would wake up with an erection because she was doing things to him in his dreams. Or the countless times he’s pictured himself railing her in the shower.

Not after all of his thoughts of her throughout the day; the way her face lights up when he calls her name, the sound of her laughter at his antics and jokes, the subtle way she dances along to his music in the office.

She’s perfect in every single way. He’s known he loved her from the second he laid eyes on her. But…

Adam has kept these thoughts locked away, refusing to so much as hint that he harbored any sort of feelings for her. Sometimes being outright mean, just so she might not catch on to any slip-ups and start to think he cares. Because…He can’t go through that heartbreak again.

It would suck if she were to reject him, but it would completely shatter him if she reciprocated his feelings.

Because if she felt the same, then he was sure it would only be a matter of time until she left him, the same as those before her did. Maybe she’d stay with him for a few years, but eventually, she’ll get bored or fed up enough with him and move on. He’ll be left alone to rot all over again.

And he’s scared.

That’s why he’s created this persona who is seen as Heaven’s charming, lovable, fuck-boy. If people believe that he’s the hottest shit since sliced bread, then that’s what he is…right?

He’s just got too many women after him that he can’t find the time for all of them. At least, that’s the excuse he uses.

In reality, he can’t convince himself to actually go through with the date proposals he makes. He doesn’t want to risk getting close to anyone because he knows they’ll just leave in the end.

But Lute…he hopes she’ll be different.

Lute’s stuck by him, for whatever reason. Which he’s grateful for, don’t get him wrong, but he can’t understand why. So why would he take the risk of confessing his feelings to her and wind up being destroyed in the end no matter what she says? He tells himself he’s better off suffering in silence.

But this feels different. She asked him. Not the other way around.

So he can’t back out.

Things between them will only get worse if he blows her off. He’ll be risking not only what they already have together, but also her trust in him if he did. He doesn’t want to blow her off, he wants to take this risk, really he does. It’s just…

Adam pulls off his mask, setting it on the sink counter, and stares pitifully into his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. His gold amber eyes are tired, with dark eye bags to match. He sees sweat pimples scattered along his hairline, probably from excessively wearing his exorcist mask. His bottom lip juts out as he holds and shifts his jaw between his index finger and thumb, surveying his thin, patchy, sad excuse for a beard.

He looks to the shower, then down to himself. He can’t even see his feet because his gut is in the way. He looks away to look at anything else. He gets that all too familiar pang in his stomach, the one that always appears when he thinks about his appearance. His golden wings tighten around his sides in insecurity.

He misses the way his body used to look back in Eden. But since he isn’t willing to put in the effort to change that, he begrudgingly is fine with it. Until he starts to think about it again and the mental battle repeats.

He stares at his beard once again, ‘I guess I should try to do something with this…’ He picks up his razor and runs it under the faucet. He takes the blade to his jawline, removing the inconsistent patches until he’s left with a mostly intact patch on his chin. ‘At least it looks better than it did, I guess.’

Adam shucks off his clothes and piles them in a corner before getting into the shower. He sets the water temperature to lukewarm and it remains there for the duration of his shower; he’s not a fan of boiling water scalding his skin.

He pours a puddle of his 3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, and body wash into his hand and slathers it into his hair. As he works the lather in, his mind wanders into anxious thoughts he can’t shake:

‘What if I fuck this up?’

‘What if I’m so out of practice that I disappoint her…’

‘...What if I’m not good enough?’

He feels his heart sink into his stomach, wishing these thoughts of self-doubt would vanish. He spreads the body wash down his face, rubbing it into his beard patch before rinsing it all off. Wiping the water out of his eyes, he pours more liquid into his hand and washes his body as best he can, being sure to give extra attention to his groin. No one likes a smelly dick. Or sweaty balls.

With a heavy sigh, Adam steps out of the shower. He shivers from the change of temperature, over dramatically reflexing and shaking the water out of his wings, scattering droplets across the bathroom. He wraps his large towel around his waist before going back to his room.

‘This will be fine,’ he tells himself. Lute wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t want to do this. She doesn’t do things without thinking them through first. He trusts her judgment. Trusts her more than himself most days.

‘Ughhh…What the fuck do I wear?’ Adam grimaces, looking at the messily thrown clothes around his dresser. ‘Man, it’s a good thing she isn’t coming here…’

He picks up a hoodie, smell-checks it, and decides it’s good enough. ‘Oh shit, should probably check it for stains, right?’ He turns the hoodie a few times but doesn’t see any. He nods approvingly before hunting for some boxers and sweatpants.

After pulling on his clothes, he puts his mask back on and flops onto his bed, thinking he has enough time to dick around on his phone for a bit. You know, to calm the nerves.

He doesn’t.

He sees the time on his phone.

6:57 pm.

“ Shit. ”

———

Lute fiddles with her phone, having not moved from her spot on the couch.

7:07 pm.

She sighs with an aggravated, disappointed groan as she gets up from the couch. Not because he wasn’t here, but because she stupidly believed that he would be. That she even considered that he might.

Just as she was about to step into her bedroom, she pauses as she hears commotion coming from the apartment hallway. It sounds like running. Then it stops.

Lute steps cautiously towards the door, listening. She hears heavy breathing, but it sounds like whoever is doing it is trying their damndest to get it under control. She can hear them make a string of muffled curses.

Should she open the door and make sure they’re alright? Or does she decide it’s not her responsibility to look after some poor idiot in a rush?

Her answer comes in the form of a hesitant knock at her door. She opens it.

His feathers are puffed and messy, his clothes look a bit disheveled, and the expression on his mask shows a mix of fear, embarrassment, and even a hint of sadness.

Lute puts a hand on her hip, “You’re late.”

Adam opens his mouth to spew an apology, only to be cut off by her stepping to the side and motioning him into the room. He slinks in nervously, looking around at the objects in the room. He finds a place to stand that's not in front of anything, playing with his hands as he looks at her, “So uh…You were serious about this, huh?”

“I suppose so,” Lute saunters up to him after shutting the door, swaying her hips to make her nightgown flow nicely. ‘He’s actually here. Might as well take this opportunity while I can. If this goes bad, I’ll just die I guess.’ She lays her hand on his arm, looking at him enticingly, “So, what are you thinking?”

He swallows, eyeing up her dress as she approaches him. He feels his heart jump to his throat and his dick begins to throb, ‘Fuck, she looks good. Tell her she looks good!’

He loosely trails a hand up her gown, and trying to muster his typical demeanor he says, “Damn, babe, you look amazing in this dress. But–” Adam draws a line up her neck with this finger, making her look up at him, “I bet you’ll look even better without it.”

Her cheeks flush a golden hue. With a smirk, she rolls her eyes as she tugs at his arm, indicating to him to follow, “Well, let’s see if you’re right.”

Adam gulps silently, following her to the bedroom, ‘Fuck this is really happening. Oh fuck oh fuck–’ As Lute circles behind him to close the door, his breathing gets shallow as he tries to steady his racing heart.

“Do you want to undress each other or just do it ourselves?” She asks playfully.

Adam’s shoulders tense, ‘Right. Clothes come off for sex.’ He is so paralyzed by his anxious thoughts that he doesn’t notice Lute’s hands at his hips. He blinks down at her, “I-I don’t–”

“It’s alright, let me help you,” she says sweetly, balling the hem of his hoodie in her hands and slowly beginning to lift, “Raise your arms, Sir.”

Adam does as she instructs, “H-hey, Lute?”

She’s lifted herself off the floor with her wings, now being eye level with him as she works his hoodie awkwardly off over his mask. Once it’s off she looks at him in wonder, “What is it, Sir?”

“Could you maybe drop the formal shit?” He looks to the side, his mask showing a blush neither of them was aware it was programmed to do. “It’s kinda weird…You know, in this context,” he voices anxiously.

Lute lowers herself back to the floor, “Of course, my apologies.” She tilts her head slightly as she looks at him. He looks…uneasy. Feeling her eyes on his body, Adam tugs his wings in closer, trying to conceal as much of his stomach as possible.

Lute’s posture softens and she exhales a patient sigh through her nose. She sits on the edge of her bed, and offers him a soft smile as she pats beside her, “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

He slowly sits down beside her with his hands clasped in his lap. Staring down at his shaky hands, he replies quietly, “I do though…It’s just–” Adam draws in a breath before looking into her golden eyes for a moment and looking away, “I haven’t done this in a long time. Like, a really long fucking time. And I…I want to do this right. For you. Fuck, I mean– I don’t know.” He can feel his heart pounding, getting more anxious with every wrong word that comes out of his mouth.

“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t done this either,” she says reassuringly, placing her hand on his. “We can pretend like it’s the first time and you can follow my lead?”

He looks at her stupefied, “If you haven’t done it before, then how will you know what to do?”

“I just know what feels good, and go from there. Actual sex can’t be too much different, right?” Lute grins with a shrug. She hops off the bed to stand in front of him, her hands on his knees, “Are you sure you want this?”

Adam nods slowly with an exhale, “Yeah.” He raises his hand to lightly caress her cheek, “Yeah I– I want to. With you. Just with you.”

“Thank you, Si- –Adam. It’s an honor,” she smiles as she catches herself, her heart fluttering in her chest at calling him by name to his face. She closes her eyes and leans into his touch.

“Okay, let’s see what we’re working with here,” she says in a sultry tone as she slides her hands to the band of his sweatpants. He assists her slightly by shifting to either side allowing her to pull them down and off his ankles. She notices the bulge and growing wet spot on his boxers, “You weren’t kidding, you’re excited down here.”

“Heh, y-yeah,” Adam breathes as she works to pull off the boxers. “I gotta admit, I’ve thought about this before.”

“Yeah? Funny, me too,” she says, licking her lips absently as she stares in awe at his cock as it springs free. It was definitely bigger than she was expecting.

Then again, given that she hasn’t seen (and decidedly now won’t see) anyone else's, his dick is the biggest in Heaven for all she cares to know. A comfortable enough size to wrap her lips around to suck off the weeping tears leaking down his tip. She swipes her tongue along the underside of his shaft and back up to the tip, savoring the salty pre-cum as he lets out a small whimper from above her. “Calm down, I was just cleaning you up,” she suppresses a giggle.

Adam’s mask displays a blushed pout, “You’re a tease.” He reaches for the straps of her gown, sliding them off her shoulders and letting the fabric fall off her. His eyebrows raise as he realizes that was the only thing she was wearing.

Lute rests her hands on his shoulders as he finds her hips. She slides her hands up his neck to the base of his mask, “Do you want to keep this on?”

“Y-yeah,” he nods his head timidly.

She gives him a sad smile, trying to hide her disappointment, “That’s alright.”

For as long as they’ve worked together, Lute still hasn’t seen him without his exorcist mask on.

She crawls over to the center of the bed, coaxing him over as she lays back. She slowly spreads her knees apart with her hands, giving him a full view of her. He swallows hard, his cock twitching as he begins to position himself between her legs, his hands on the sides of her thighs. Lute runs her hand up his arm affectionately, “Nervous?”

“Of fuckin’ ‘course I’m nervous,” he whispers as a chill runs down his spine. “Are you not?”

She smiles up at him, her cheeks flushed, “A little.”

The silence hangs in the air deafeningly. Adam stares down into her eyes warily, “What do you want me to do?”

Lute slides her hands up and down his sides under his wings, squeezing his soft skin in her palms. “Um…I don’t know. You’re the one with experience,” she laughs with a twinge of nervousness.

“Obviously I know what to do, but what do you want me to do?” He says lowly, rubbing circles against her thighs where his thumbs rest, both as a sense of grounding himself in the reality that this really is happening and to see the way even the smallest touch from him has her shivering in anticipation. “I want to make you feel good, so you need to tell me what you want.”

Her eyes go wide as her heart thumps. Her pleasure wasn’t quite what she had expected his priority to be, given how he talks about women on the daily. Her breathing slows as she reaches her hand for his and places it at her hip, “I want to feel you. Inside and out. All of you.”

Adam wets his bottom lip and swallows anxiously. She really does want him. Him. He flinches as her hand slides up his side once more. The way her eyes look at his features adoringly makes his heart twist. ‘I can’t fuck this up. God, not this time.’

Lute gently runs her thumb over the scar covering his rib, her eyes softening. A reminder that he has given a part of himself to someone who wouldn’t do the same for him. Understanding that allowing himself to be this close to someone has only ever hurt him in the past. That being this intimate was a tremendous risk in his eyes.

Yet here he is, taking that risk. With her. Their naked bodies are mere inches from being connected.

“Do you trust me?”

Adam draws in a shaky breath before lowering his head, the crown of his mask meeting her forehead. The lights of his mask have turned off, indicating that he’s relaxed and succumbed to her control, his mind a blank slate. He harshly swallows and whispers, “More than anyone.”

Lute brings her arms around his shoulders, holding him tenderly for a few moments. She places a light kiss to the temple of his mask, before gently pushing his shoulders back, “Are you ready?”

Adam nods, flinching slightly as she slips her hand between their bodies to take his dick in her hand, lightly stroking him as she lines him up at her entrance. He bites his lip as she swipes his tip along her slit coating it with her arousal.

“Be gentle as you go in. And take it slow, there’s no rush,” she says softly, removing her hand as he inserts the tip and begins to roll his hips into her. A sharp gasp emanates from both their mouths as he slides in further than he meant to; things are slippery when wet you know.

Adam freezes, his body tense and afraid that if he moves he’ll hurt her. “You okay?” He asks frantically through a shuttered breath. Her face is scrunched in what he can’t tell is from pain or pleasure. Her nails dig into the flesh of his arms as he holds onto her waist.

“Y-yes. Keep going,” she pleads the demand, rolling her head to the side in ecstasy as her walls tense around his cock as they adjust to its presence.

Adam pushes into her the rest of the way, a whine leaving Lute’s throat as he slowly pulls out until just the tip remains still inside her. “You feel –amazing,” he pants as he glides into her warm cavern again, bit by bit.

“I don’t know how long I can keep up this slow ass pace, this is torture. Sweet, heavenly torture,” he groans as he agonizingly rocks back out and in again, trying to restrain himself and not to lose control and plow her like a madman.

“Just a little more…Ahmm–,” her sentence gets interrupted by a blissful moan as he bottoms out with his cock kissing her cervix, sending a white hot flash of lightning through her body. “Oh! — nevermind. Faster, I want you to hit that spot again.”

Adam sits back righting himself, steadying her hips with his grasp as he pulls back to dive into her. His heavy breathing and her elated moans are making things very hard to concentrate. He leans over her again, panting heavily as he watches her mouth form into an ‘o’ shape with her tongue poking out. He blinks rapidly as sweat from his forehead drips into his eyes, “Fuck, I can’t see.”

His hips roll to a stop as he tries to reach a finger under his mask to wipe at his eyes. Lute raises her hands under his mask, lightly attempting to lift it, “I think you need to take this off, you’ve got to be dying under there.”

Adam hesitates giving a response. He’s already balls deep inside of her, so what’s the harm in taking it off now? He hangs his head defeatedly. “Okay, you win,” he whispers a low chuckle as she pulls off his helmet.

“Better?” She asks, her hands cupping his round cheeks. She rubs her thumb along his cheekbone, taking in the way his golden pupils are blown wide as he stares longingly, even if still wary, into her eyes. His sweat-soaked stray hairs cling to his forehead as he absentmindedly wets his lips, parting them as if to speak.

Before he could find the words he was searching for, Lute lowered her hands to frame his jaw and began to gently pull him down until their lips collided. Adam closes his eyes as he melts into the kiss, running his tongue over her bottom lip before sucking it in between his teeth.

He doesn’t notice how his hips begin to move on their own until he’s swallowing Lute’s moans as she roughly laces her fingers through his hair. Lute breaks off for air, pressing her forehead into his collar with a faint cry of his name, “Adam, I’m–”

“I know,” he growls, forcefully taking her lips and slipping his tongue in her mouth to wrestle hers. “I know you’re close, I can feel it,” he muffles into her mouth before rudely unsheathing himself from her cunt, leaning back on his heels with a smirk.

Lute stares at him in a mix of rage and horror, “What the fuck?!” He knew she was close and he does that? Seriously?

Her anger fades into perplexity as she watches him lower himself to his forearms, slip his hands under her to hold her ass, and look up at her slyly. He plants coy kisses on her inner thighs, the gentle sensation driving her wild.

“I wanna taste you,” he says sensually before placing an open-mouthed kiss over her sopping cunt. “Can I, please?” Adam pleads desperately, ever so slightly grazing his tongue between her folds.

Her body jolts at his touch, sending a chill down her spine. Her legs open wider and she runs her hand through his hair. “That was a very rude way to approach. Maybe I should tell you no,” she says teasingly, scoffing joyfully at the way his eyes plead; like a begging puppy who wants a treat. He whines against her, not breaking eye contact as he nudges her with his lips. She rolls her eyes with a laugh, “You’re lucky you’re cute. Go ahead.”

“Yes!” He chirps triumphantly to himself, excitedly dipping his tongue into her.

Lute gasps intensely, throwing her head back into the pillows in a wave of pleasure. The heat from his mouth mixed with the way his tongue explores every crease of her walls is more exhilarating than anything she has ever felt before. She pulls at his hair, unintentionally but welcomingly forcing him to press harder into her. He complies without complaint, flicking his tongue over her sensitive bud.

“G-good boy,” Lute stutters through labored breaths as she roughly runs her nails along his scalp.

Adam’s eyes light up at the praise. Knowing he was doing well and she was craving him only gave him more courage to continue to savor her sweet taste.

“I could get addicted to that,” Adam licks his lips as he comes up for air. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before realigning his cock with her awaiting entrance, “Now, where were we?”

He doesn’t give her time to respond before he’s thrusting fully into her, watching her glassy eyes roll back in bliss. The moan that erupts from her is music to his ears. Her mouth hangs open with her tongue spilling off the side as he pumps himself in and out of her.

Lute struggles to refocus her eyes onto his, every time he hits that sweet spot her eyes roll and she has to start over. She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a breathy kiss.

“Adam! I’m—” Her legs begin to shake, her toes curl as she latches her legs around his waist. Adam keeps his pace but increases his intensity, colliding harder with each thrust.

He squeezes her hips and kisses her neck, “I know, I won’t stop this time.” He feels her walls clench and convulse around his shaft, pulling him in with no chance of escape. He grinds into her, riding through her orgasm as she repeats his name desperately. “F-fuck, Lute I’m gonna come too,” he grunts, trying to pull out of her before he does.

“Come in me,” she whispers softly, pushing her heels into his back and keeping him in place.

“W-what? L-lute if I do that, t-then—” his voice stammers fearfully. The last time he came inside a woman he got stuck with Abel. The last thing Heaven needs is another Abel.

Lute caressing his cheek cuts him off, “You don’t have to worry about that. It’s okay.” The horrified way he’s looking at her tells her he isn’t convinced. “Trust me.”

“O-okay,” Adam swallows dryly as he nods. If there’s one last person he trusts in this afterlife, it’s Lute. If she insists everything will be okay, then it will.

He dips his head to tenderly take her lips in a long passionate kiss, bracing himself above her on his forearms as he continues to rock into her cunt. Finding the perfect rhythm, with her nails digging into the flesh of his back leaving golden crescent shapes, he spills out inside of her.

She runs her fingers through his hair as he collapses on top of her, his head on her chest as it rises and falls with her breathing. She drapes her arm over his shoulder and rubs small circles in the space between his wings.

They lay peacefully in this serene moment until Adam began to stir beneath her, carefully tucking his arms under her to hold her. He nestles his head up under her chin before barely whispering, “Lute?”

“Yes, Adam?”

He draws in a shallow breath and lets it out shakily as he asks, “You won’t leave me too…right?”

Lute inhales sharply in astonishment. She brings her hand up to hold his cheek and makes him look her in the eyes, “Of course I won’t.”

Adam tries to look away as he feels tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes, but Lute does not allow him to, “I have always been with you since first becoming your lieutenant. If anything, this entire interaction has only reinforced my decision.”

“I believe you,” Adam whispers, a soft confident half-smile crawling up his face as his eyes close, laying his forehead against hers.

Lute chuckles, “So, what’s going to happen to this “fuck-boy” personality you put on? You plan to keep that facade up but now you’re blowing off all the other bitches for me?”

Adam blinks at her awestruck, “That’s a fucking great idea. And! And! I can say shit with some truth to it! I’ll just twist it into shit you and I have done.”

“We can build up to exploring those fantasies of yours. One night at a time,” Lute smirks, kissing his excited face.

Adam settles his head on her shoulder, looking up at her adoringly. Lute looks down to him, brushing her hand over his cheek and kisses his forehead, “I love you. And I will always mean it..”

“I love you more.”

 “No, Pyrrha you can’t, you saw how powerful she is. Pyrrha, I won’t let you d-” Jaune pleads, before being cut off by her lips against his.  His arms voluntarily pull her closer as he falls into her kiss. Pyrrha melts into his embrace, overwhelming with happiness and heartache. She pulls away and gently caresses his cheek with her hand, with her other hand over his heart.

She says a sorrowful “I’m sorry,” before quickly pushing Jaune into the rocket locker behind him.

Jaune begs her to stop. “Pyrrha, please don’t do this!” They stare at each other in a moment of silence as Pyrrha puts in a code to send the locker to. She steps away as the locker launches into the sky, taking Jaune with it.

She quickly makes her way over to the elevator. Forcing the metal doors open, she steps inside and exerts her semblance to bring the elevator up hurriedly.

When the rocket locker lands, Jaune quickly stumbles out and reaches for his scroll. He panics as he scrolls through his contacts for someone to help, he calls Weiss. Weiss and Ruby are been looking for the two of them and they are overcome with relief when Jaune calls them. “Where are you?” Weiss asks, unaware of the things that had conspired seconds before.

“Weiss! You have to stop her!”

“What?” Weiss questions.

“Pyrrha! She’s going after that woman...at the top of the tower! She doesn’t stand a chance!” Weiss and Ruby look up towards the tower.

Ruby looks back at her, “We should start going.” Weiss nods to Ruby and they start speed walking towards the tower.

“Jaune, what are you talking about? Where are you?” Weiss asks him.

Jaune’s voice cracks as he shouts over the scroll, “Don’t worry about me!” His voice goes quiet, “Please...You have to save Pyrrha.” Ruby starts into a sprint,

“We need to hurry, Weiss.” Weiss nods and starts to sprint as well. She says to Jaune,

“We will. Are you okay?” At her words, he screams and throws his scroll. The times he wanted her to care about him, she didn’t, but now of all times is when she chooses to. When he isn’t the one that matters. When he isn’t the one in danger. “Jaune? Jaune!” No response. Ruby looks back at her and smiles,

“I have a plan.”

“You always do.” Just as they reach the base of the tower, the Dragon flies above them and circles the tower.

The Dragon begins climbing the side of the tower, stopping near the top and looks through the glass panes at Cinder. The Dragon growls.

“Shh...This is your home now.” Cinder softly tells the Dragon. Cinder turns when she hears the elevator screech to a stop, quickly dodging Miló as it is thrown at her. Pyrrha throws Akoúo̱ and leaps at Cinder, but she’s knocked back. Pyrrha pulls Miló and Akoúo̱ back to her and the fight begins.

Pyrrha dodges and reflects fire blasts. She goes in to attack Cinder, but Cinder clasps Miló and presses her hand to Pyrrha’s stomach and with a burst of magic sends her back. Pyrrha regains her balance and lunges at Cinder, cornering her at a wall and manages to throw Cinder to the floor.

Pyrrha again attacks Cinder with Miló, but Cinder deflects it. Pyrrha grabs onto Cinder, and in an attempt to get away, Cinder uses another flare of magic, but her attempt at escape is futile. Pyrrha has her in a headlock with Miló in front of her.

Cinder is grasping onto Miló and begins to melt through it. The Dragon flies through the glass windows just as Miló breaks into pieces. Cinder uses a rush of magic to send Pyrrha flying. The remains of the top of the tower fall to the ground below.

Pyrrha cautiously crawls over to Akoúo̱ but stops to examine her surroundings. She notices the large gears and other metal debris around and behind Cinder. She hurls a large piece of debris at her and picks up Akoúo̱.

Once again Pyrrha is dodging fire blasts and maneuvering around debris. She tosses Akoúo̱ at Cinder but it gets deflected, but as she is sidetracked, Pyrrha surrounds her with the gears.

Straining to hold the gears, she causes Akoúo̱ to come behind Cinder and knock her off her feet. As Cinder’s down, Pyrrha calls Akoúo̱ back to her and struggles to bring the gears down onto her.

As the gears lay atop Cinder, she begins to glow violently. She quickly erupts in a fit of rage and the force of her blast sends the gears in different directions. Pyrrha holds Akoúo̱ up to protect her. As she’s hit with one of the gears, her aura shatters.

Weiss and Ruby are fighting off some Grimm that are surrounding the tower because of the Dragon, along with everyone's negative emotions. The debris that had fallen luckily didn’t land on either of them, but did trap a few Grimm.

“We have to hurry, we don’t have time for this!” Ruby cries out to Weiss as she slices a Grimm.

“There aren’t many left right now. I can handle them. You go get Pyrrha.”

“What? No! Weiss, I can’t just leave you!” Weiss kills another Grimm and creates a series of her glyphs along the tower.

“Go, Ruby. I’ll catch up. Don’t worry.” Ruby hesitantly agrees, activates her semblance, and starts to run up the tower.

Pyrrha has gotten back up and insists on stopping Cinder. She throws Akoúo̱ at her as Cinder shoots her arrow. The arrow touches Akoúo̱ but disintegrates over it and reforms.

The arrow catches Pyrrha off guard as it pierces through her armor above her ankle and through her heel. As she tries to stand, the arrow rips through her skin and the wound begins to bleed profusely. She tries to stand up again, but falls.

The arrow broke in two, leaving one half of it in her leg. The remains of the arrow render her immobile, she is hopeless. With her aura broken, it left her too weak to use her semblance to try to fight back.

Cinder strides over to her and assuredly states, “It’s unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours,” she lifts Pyrrha’s chin to make her look her in the eyes, “but take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined.”

“...Do you believe in destiny?” Pyrrha asks her in a oddly calm tone.

“Yes.”

As Cinder steps back, ready to aim her shot, Ruby reaches the top and as she lands, looks up at Pyrrha and hurriedly rushes over using her semblance to pick Pyrrha up and move her out of the way. Ruby sets her down by an area of wall that’s still standing. “Stay here, Pyrrha.” She looked up at Ruby and weakly nods. Her eyes are getting hazy.

Ruby turns to look at Cinder. “You’re fighting against me now. Leave Pyrrha out of this.”

Cinder smirks and shrugs, “Ha, if she couldn’t handle me, what makes you think you can?”

Ruby took at shot at her with Crescent Rose. “I can’t not try.” Ruby rushes at Cinder beginning the fight.

Weiss made her way up to the summit of the tower and is stunned when she sees Ruby fighting against Cinder. Gazing around the area, she looks for Pyrrha. She catches her out of the corner of her eye and runs towards her.

“Pyrrha, are you alright? Are you hurt?” Without waiting for a response Weiss looks her over for any bleeding or fractures. She hears a yelp from Ruby and worriedly looks to her. Cinder has her pinned to the floor. “Ruby!” she cries out. She is about to run over to help, but is amazed when Ruby kicks Cinder off of her.

“Weiss! I’m fine, get Pyrrha out of here!”

“But Ruby, I ca-”

“Weiss, go!”

Falteringly, Weiss lifts Pyrrha, only to get a distressed whine in response. Apologizing to her, Weiss adjusts her so she’s easier to carry. Weiss looks back once more to Ruby before creating glyphs and making her way down the tower with Pyrrha, “Don’t you die on me, you dolt.”

At the base of the tower, Weiss asks, “What were you thinking, Pyrrha?” She doesn’t get a response. “Pyrrha?” Weiss looks at her face and her eyes are closed. “Alright, this isn’t good. Let’s get you to the others quickly.” The Grimm are trying to attack them, Weiss evades them and heads over to where the others are waiting.

Sun begins to worry about Weiss and Ruby. He comes over to Blake’s side and puts a hand on her head. He looks over at Ren. “Hey, I’m going to find Weiss and Ruby, you guys gonna be alright for a bit?”

Ren looks up at him, “Yeah, I think we’ll be alright. Find them quickly if you can, we don’t know when the airship will be here.”

Sun nods and pets Blake’s head as he stands up. “She’ll be okay, Blake. We’ve done what we can for her. We made a makeshift tourniquet so she shouldn’t bleed out on us. We just have to wait for that airship to get here.” He was expecting some kind of response, but he doesn’t get one. “I’ll be back once I find them.”    

Jaune’s sitting on the ground with his knees tucked to his face and his back against the building. He’s hitting the back of his head off the wall, repeating shameful words about himself.  Stupid. Idiot. Selfish. Fool. Pathetic. Useless. Coward.

Sun is searching from atop roofs when he spots Jaune on the ground. He jumps down and touches Jaune’s shoulder. Jaune jumps at his touch and pulls away from him.

“Dude. why are you just sitting here? Ruby was trying to find you!”

Jaune mumbles, “I know…I...I asked her to save Pyrrha…Pyrrha…” Jaune stands up quickly, but topples over from getting lightheaded. Sun grabs his shoulder and helps his balance himself.

“Can you walk? Here, put your arm over my shoulder for support just incase.” Jaune does as suggested and they make their way back to the others.

“Jaune!” Ren and Nora cry out.

“...But where’s Pyrrha?” Nora asks both worriedly and sadly.

Jaune sits between the two of them and sighs angrily at himself. “I...I couldn’t stop her. And now I’ve put both Ruby and Weiss in danger by asking them to save her...why...why was I so selfish?!” He covers his face with his hands as he begins to tear up from anger.

Nora moves closer to him and puts her hand on his shoulder, “Jaune, it’ll be alright.”

“No, Nora. It won’t be alright. Not only could I not stop Pyrrha from going off to her death, but now I’ve sent two others to die as well. None of that is alright!”

Ren reaches out and touches his shoulder. “I’m not saying either of you are wrong, but we have to have faith in each other. Our teammates and our friends.”

Jaune’s shoulders shake but he nods. “You’re right, Ren...You’re right.”

After a few minutes of silence, Sun notices Weiss heading towards them. “Weiss! Pyrrha?” Jaune announces as he gets up and hurries over to her. “Pyrrha!” He takes Pyrrha from Weiss with shaky arms. He lays her down and rests her head on his lap.

His body’s trembling holding onto her. He swore she was gone, but he is relieved to be holding her.

Her skin is cold and clammy and his heart stops when he notices she isn’t breathing. “She’s...she’s not breathing.”

Nora gasps and brings her hands to her mouth, “No...Pyrrha,” Jaune brushes her bangs out of her face and presses his forehead to hers as his eyes begin to well up with tears.

He’s drawn back when a warm breath hits his face. “P-pyrrha?” She’s unconscious but her breath is faint. He rubs her cheek with his thumb, repeating her name softly, “Pyrrha, please wake up, please.”

Immediately remembering, he looks up at Weiss, “Where’s Ruby.” It’s not in a questioning tone, but more of a deadpan tone.

Weiss looks back towards the tower then brings her gaze to her feet. “I need to go help her.”

Just as Weiss turns to leave, there’s a flash of bright white coming from the tower. She looks back at Jaune and without a word runs off towards the tower.

Before Ruby’s silver eyes powers went off, Cinder and Ruby had ended up in a stalemate.

Ruby was out of breath kneeling on the floor, “Why are you doing this? What do you get out of any of this?”

Cinder grins, “It won’t be any of your concern.” She strides around the floor, circling Ruby as she speaks. “Oh, that’s right...That little android girl. Polly was it?”

“Penny,” Ruby corrects.

“Either way, you knew what was going to happen, didn’t you? If only you would have told someone the poor girl wasn’t human, she would still be ’alive’. So, I saw the chance and rigged the tournament. The girl was used as an example to the world. And the one you’re risking your own life to save? She was the one the world watched kill poor Polly. Yes, she’s alive, but the world will resent her for the events at the tournament. How do you think that’ll impact her, hm? Going from the most beloved student to instantly hated by the world. It’s sad really. She seemed to me like she was content with dying.”

Ruby stands up, staring at her. “You...You’re behind Penny’s death. But why? To cause mass panic around the world? How does that further your goals?”

Ruby is speechless. She plays over how she told Pyrrha to win one for Beacon. Then coming back to the tournament to find Penny in pieces. She knew Pyrrha wouldn’t do anything like that, and especially not on purpose. They had never really talked much, but Ruby knows Pyrrha isn’t the type of person who would do that. She remembers how Yang had attacked Mercury seemingly for no reason. All of that had to have been Cinder’s fault.

Cinder chuckles, “You poor naive girl, none of this matters to you. You just want to be the hero who saves the day, don’t you? You could have saved poor Pol-” and before Cinder could finish, Ruby burst into a fit tears and anger as a bright light consumed the top of the tower.

Soon after, Weiss arrives and is shocked to find an unconscious Ruby in the center of the room. She runs over and kneels beside her.

Qrow had seen the flash of light and headed to the tower as fast as he could. He sees Weiss and Ruby, and without words, scoops up Ruby. “She’s alright. Let’s go get on the airship and out of Vale.”

After the airship had arrived, everyone got on board and headed to where ever they planned to go. Jaune, Nora, and Ren, kept close to a still unconscious Pyrrha as they were on their way to Patch Island.

There is a hospital on the island. Pyrrha, Ruby, and Yang had been taken there. After Blake knew Yang was safely being taken care of, she ran off before Yang woke up. She was headed back to Menagerie with Sun following close behind. Weiss was forced to go back to Atlas and face her father.

At the hospital, the nurses look over Yang’s wound and wrap her nub in medical bandages and set a temporary tourniquet above the wound. They are going to perform surgery on her arm, until they are told by Taiyang that Ironwood in Atlas was already preparing her a prosthetic.

The nurses look over Ruby to check if anything is broken or fractured. They allow Yang and Ruby to go back home, but Pyrrha is in a more critical condition.

When she was brought in, she was rushed to the ER. The doctors and nurses searched her over and found the remaining bit of the glass arrow in her ankle.

They removed the armor on her leg and made incisions to remove the remaining arrow pieces. They had tried to save the ruptured Achilles’ tendon, but the tip of the arrow had severed it entirely. The doctors utilized the incision they created to remove the arrow, to go in and sew the tendon back together. They then sutured the outer incision, put a cast around her ankle, and brought her to her room in the hospital.

Pyrrha is hooked up to IVs and other wires. An oxygen mask is placed over her nose and mouth to regulate her breathing. A heart monitor to record her heart rate. She is still unconscious and the doctors and nurses aren’t telling the team why.

Jaune is anxiously waiting outside Pyrrha’s room while Ren and Nora’s injuries are being checked on in another room. Jaune is left alone. He’s spinning his thumbs around each other nervously.

A nurse walks by, “Are you alright, sir?” Jaune doesn’t look up at him but slowly nods. Jaune isn’t really in the mood for conversation. Realizing it’s rude not to make eye contact, he looks up at the nurse wearily and gives him a solemn nod.

Before the nurse walked away he says to Jaune, “You can go in and talk to Miss Nikos if you want. She’s still unconscious, but having someone talk to her would probably make her happy. It’s rumored that even though someone’s unconscious, they can still hear what people are saying to them.”

He wants to go check on Pyrrha, he does, but he doesn’t want to see the state she’s in. He thinks the worst. He fears she is in a coma, or dying and only being kept alive to suffer through whatever it is she is feeling.

After some time passes by, he reluctantly gets up from the chair and stands in front of the doorway. His heart races and drops at the sight of her. All the wires and equipment on and around her look intimidating. He feels his eyes start to water so he looks towards the ceiling to keep the tears from falling.

He makes his way to her bedside and pulls up a chair. He sets his hand on top of hers, loosely interlacing his fingers with hers. All he can do is stare at their hands and occasionally look up at her face, just to look away again.

He starts to rub his thumb against the back of her hand. He closes his eyes and swallows the lump that's been building in his throat.

“Pyrrha, I’m sorry that you couldn’t rely on me to help you and felt you had to face that fight alone. I couldn’t stop you from going. I tried, but I couldn’t do anything. I wish I would have held onto you tighter and not have let you leave. It was painful what you did. Kissing me, then just shoving me into a rocket locker to stop trying to stop you from going off to a fight you wouldn’t win. You didn’t even say goodbye...Though, I guess a kiss is a form of a goodbye. Were you thinking you were going to come back? It’s not that I don’t have faith in you and your abilities. You’re much stronger and smarter than me, but I don’t see how you would have won. That woman killed Ozpin. He was the headmaster, supposedly stronger than all of us, and he lost.”

Jaune takes a shuddered breath. “You really scared me, Pyrrha...You left me regretting everything. I regret not realizing your feelings ahead of time. When we met, I was so blinded by my crush on Weiss, that I had mistaken your flirtation purely as kindness. That was until the dance. After knowing that Neptune had some feelings toward Weiss, and that he’d turned down her request to the dance, I remembered what you said to me. The thing about me being the type of guy you’d rather have gone to the dance with. I didn’t know what you meant until it was too late to say something to you. But I figured I’d try to fix things. So I told Neptune to go talk to Weiss. I realized you were more important. And now look at you...I can’t help but feel that this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been such an idiot. Not been such a coward. If I could of helped…”

He stands up and caresses her face, similar to how she had to him, and lays a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I...I love you, Pyr. Please wake up soon...” He sits back down and holds her hand once more. “I won’t leave you alone. I promise.”

Nora and Ren were given pain meds after being looked over by nurses. They had some bruised ribs but they are overall fine.

They make their way to Pyrrha’s hospital room and as they get to the doorway they see Jaune holding Pyrrha’s hand and watching her dismally. Neither of them dare to say a word, but they go over to him. Nora gives him a side hug and Ren hugs the both of them.

Nora pulls away and reaches to touch Pyrrha’s arm, “She still hasn’t woken up, has she?”

Jaune shakes his head, “No, she should have by now…”

“You...you don’t think she’s in a coma, do you?” Nora replies.

“Well, usually a coma occurs when your brain is damaged. As far as we know she hasn’t suffered any head trauma. She did faint from blood loss, and eventually if the brain isn’t getting enough oxygen and blood it would cause it to stop working. So it’s a possibility,” Ren added quietly, “but the nurses or doctors would have said something if it was the case, right?”

Jaune grips tighter to Pyrrha’s hand. “You’d think they would. Or maybe they just don’t care. Maybe they all want her to die.”

“Jaune, why are you saying that? It’s their job to take care of injured people. Why would they let her just die?”

“Because of what happened at the tournament, Nora. The world watched Pyrrha kill that girl. The world now sees her as a murderer. Why would they want a murderer to live?” He is practically shouting at this point.

Ren places his hand on Jaune’s shoulder, “Relax Jaune, this is just everyone being high strung and overthinking things. Breathe,” Jaune reels in a breath and places his head in his hands. “Besides, I don’t think Pyrrha would appreciate all the yelling.”

Jaune peeks at Pyrrha through his fingers, “I’m sorry, Pyr,” lowering his hands, he looks over at Nora, “And I apologize to you too, Nora. I’m sorry I’ve been so hostile towards you. I guess it’s all the stress and nerves losing control and I’ve just been taking it out on everyone...I’m sorry.”

Nora pats his back, “I understand, Jaune. It’s rough for all of us. Everything that’s happened...The tournament going south, the Grimm invading the city, Beacon being destroyed, Pyrrha...It’s hard to take all at once.”  

The three of them sit in the dread of silence as they watch Pyrrha. Nora and Ren pull up chairs to sit beside Jaune.

“Well, it’s getting late. We should go find a place to stay for the night,” Ren suggests as he stands up.

Nora does the same, “Yeah, but let’s find some food too. You ready, Jaune?” No response. “Uh, Jaune?”

Jaune is rubbing his thumb across Pyrrha’s hand, “I...I can’t leave her,” he looks up at them, “What if she wakes up and someone isn’t here? She’ll think we just abandoned her. We can’t do that. I can’t do that.”

Ren sets his hand on Jaune’s shoulder, “Jaune, I understand, but we can’t stay here all night.”

“Yeah, pretty sure we’ll get kicked out before long anyway,” Nora chimed in.

Jaune brought his gaze back to Pyrrha. He stands up and leans over her, pecks her forehead, and gives her hand a squeeze. “I’ll be back first thing in the morning, Pyrrha.”  

As Ren and Nora left the room, hesitantly, Jaune starts to leave. As he passes by the front desk he gives the woman Ren’s number to contact them if Pyrrha wakes up before the morning. They never receive any calls.

Over the next few weeks, the three of them come to visit her daily. During the second week, she was showing a few signs of awakening. She was responding to touch and could squeeze their hand if asked. She had opened her eyes a few times, but when she did, she looked like she couldn’t really focus on anything. She just stared into space.

They keep talking to her, hoping it will help her recover faster. Another week and a half passes with these same signs.

Ren and Nora offer to go get some snacks, but Jaune refuses to leave the room. Jaune rests his hand on Pyrrha’s and rubs the back of it with his thumb.

He can’t help but think about how oddly peaceful she looks. “How are you feeling, Pyr?”

Her eyes slowly flutter open and she tilts her face in the direction of his voice. She can’t quite focus on him right away, but she knows he’s there.

She extends her arm to reach for his face. Jaune leans close to her and as she touches his cheek, he brings his hand up to hers.

Smiling, crying, and laughing at the same time, “Hey, Pyrrha. Glad you’re awake.”

Her eyes begin to tear up as Jaune wraps his arms around her as best he can without disrupting any of the equipment around and attached to her. She runs her fingers into his hair.

Jaune hears a muffled and cracked “I’m sorry,” and he holds tighter to her.

“You don’t have to be sorry, Pyrrha. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

Nora drops the bags of chips the second she sees what’s going on and runs over to Pyrrha. “Pyrrha! Thank goodness you’re awake, we were so worried you weren’t going to wake up. Ren! She’s awake!”

Jaune takes a step back to allow Nora to hug her. Ren picks up the bags Nora had dropped and sets them in a chair and goes to get one of the nurses. Ren and a nurse come back into the room.

The nurse removes the oxygen mask from Pyrrha’s face, “There. That must feel much better, huh? Nice to see you’re conscious Miss Nikos.”

The nurse turns and walks out. Jaune glares at her as she leaves, but takes a breath, sighs, and looks back at Pyrrha. Ren goes over and gives her a hug.

“How long have I been out?”

“Three and a half weeks. You had us worried that you wouldn’t be coming back to us.” Ren tells her.

“I’m sorry,” she says softly.

Jaune kisses the top of her head, “It could have been much worse. Thankfully everything worked out. Everyone’s more or less okay.  I’m glad everyone’s alright. Ruby and Weiss...I asked them to stop you.”

“Jaune, that was reckless-”

“I know, I’ve already been beating myself up over it...It was selfish of me to ask them to risk their lives for you. To do what I couldn’t. I’m sorry...I didn’t know what else to do but I knew couldn’t just not do something.”

Pyrrha reaches for his hand, “Well, if you hadn’t, I surely wouldn’t be here.” They share a moment of silence before Nora speaks up.

“Sooo, something happened between you two.”

Jaune and Pyrrha look at each other and their cheeks start to flush. They share a smile with each other.