"I got destroyed."
"Come on, you're a good fighter. It couldn't have been that bad."
"Nope, it was that bad. I got in one hit then that girl dismantled me. My semblance? Useless. Waxing Rose? I don't think I got in a shot or hit her with my axe, so useless." Corvo tilted his head. "Yep. It was my complete loss."
"Well, we'll go to Beacon, get stronger, find her, than kick her butt together!"
"Yeah!"
Corvo raised both his hands, hitting a quick double high five with Ruby.
They sat on the dark red rug at the center of her room, magazines and snacks spread around them, many of both opened up, a few things only half read or eaten. Ruby pulled over a magazine, bringing it up to her as she grabbed a half eaten cookie from inside its wrapper. Normally he would've grabbed one himself or peeked over at whatever caught her eye, but he found himself falling back.
He hadn't been exaggerating when he said he got destroyed.
His semblance, strong as everyone always said it was, consumed so much of his aura, that snap a way to help him minimize its use and a weakness, made irrelevant by that girl. Then he'd been brought down, aura shattered and blood drawn.
Training mistakes did happen but with aura he couldn't remember that last time he'd been cut in any way.
That girl was dangerous. Definitely not someone he should have anything to do with. Definitely not.
The hand, already back in his pocket and toying with that number, seemed to think differently.
Why didn't he just hand it over to the cops? To Glynda? There was no point in keeping it, especially since there was no way he would be calling or texting it. At this point he might as well just throw it away and forget he ever had it.
"You okay, Corvo?" Ruby asked, her eyes appearing over his, she having crawled over to his side. Silver eyes. Red hair so dark it appeared black at the roots, only brightening at the edges, others often mistaking it for highlights. And so many other things. He and Ruby were practically spitting images of their mother, all their features and even style shared among them.
They'd probably look completely identical if either one of them had been born the other gender.
"Just tired. I guess getting beat up will do that." She moved aside as he rose up with a yawn. "I'm going to head to sleep early. Don't eat everything by yourself."
"K."
With a stretch he rose to a full stand and made his way out of her room, turning off the light on his way out. As she called for him to come back and turn it off, he smiled to himself, completely ignoring her.
Why bothering doing that? Purely for the love of the game.
That bit of entertainment aside, he had to make sure to throw away that number.
In the morning.
XOXO
His hair was pushed aside, fingers running over his head. Despite that being the only place he was injured, his regenerating aura having already closed and healed the small cut, the rest of his body was given the same thorough check.
"Mommmm, I'm fine."
"Glynda showed me the video. You were almost killed."
"I am kind of training to be a huntsman."
Hands on the side of arms, his mother stepped back, normal cheer overwritten by pure concern. She was only a little shorter than him, but more or less a taller version of Ruby with little in the way of differences.
"That may be true but that doesn't mean I can't worry about my babies." She sighed as she stepped back. He supposed it must've been a parent thing, but he didn't really understand how she could call any of them babies. He and Ruby were eighteen and were at the top of their classes last year in Signal while Yang had finished her time at Signal as the best student in her entire year.
A bunch of people who could fight like them couldn't really be called babies.
Then again, he did just get demolished.
"Where did you say you were going?" She asked.
"Just going to hang out around the city."
Her brow rose, hands on her hips. "Without Ruby or her friends?"
"Well, we're going to Beacon soon. I hope we end up on the same team but there's a chance we don't." He said, looking down and adjusting Waxing Rose at his hip, best done to ignore the ugly twist of his stomach. "I might have to get used to dealing with new people."
"Hmmm, look at you, sounding so mature." She said before wrapping him in another hug. "If someone tries to fight you again, you use your semblance to run this time, okay? If that doesn't work, then you fight and you fight hard."
"Yes ma'am."
Nodding, she let him go and he quickly took off, escaping the living room and slipping out the front door.
A sigh left Corvo as he descended the steps of their porch and looked back. He never lied to anyone. Not really.
But it's not he could tell his mother he was going out to meet the very same person who'd been positioned to kill him.
XOXO
Corvo adjusted his belt and coat, then his gloves, giving himself a quick once over. Normally he didn't really think twice about his appearance, but this whole thing felt…different.
Finishing up his adjustment he looked back up at the building in front of him. It was some kind of restaurant? Bakery? Parlor? He wasn't sure but he could see plenty of people through its big windows, all eating all types of foods within their individual booths. The sidewalks were pretty full too, forcing him to step aside to avoid being caught up in all the movement.
It was out in the open and public. This was a horrible idea but at least he didn't have to worry about being attacked.
Hopefully.
Corvo headed towards the building's entrance, the bell above the door ringing as he stepped in. He made a beeline for the backend of the building, scanning everyone he passed. His steps slowed as he reached the final booth.
He was supposed to be meeting that Neopolitan girl, but some other girl was sitting in the booth they'd agreed on. Dressed in a plain black dress, she had matching dark hair and deep green eyes that caught his gaze.
Tilting her head, she blinked.
The right eye turned pink and the left brown.
His heart quickened, breath catching for a moment. Doing his best to ignore all of that, Corvo headed over, slipping into the seat across from her. Far removed from the windows, even with so many around, it did feel like they were isolated.
Or maybe that was just his mind playing tricks on him.
"You're Neo?" He questioned just to be sure. It was what she'd called herself when he caved in and texted her. Or at least he thought so; she didn't exactly use words in those texts. As she took another slice of the pink icing lined cake in front of her, she nodded, before popping it into her mouth. She hadn't said much over text, mostly sending symbols, pictures, and emojis, most of which he didn't really understand.
"Why'd you attack me?" It's the question that'd really been plaguing him, what little sense he could make of her generally wordless texts no help in finding the answer.
Neo pulled out a plain white scroll, pulling it open and after some tapping and swiping pushed it over. It showed off the picture of a limited time pack ice cream sandwiches.
There hadn't been any packs at the store he went to last night, but he'd found a single individually wrapped one and took it, planning to split it with Ruby.
The last one the store had in stock.
"You beat me up over food?" Corvo asked, pure disbelief overpowering all his nervousness. He'd noticed it'd gone missing after he'd been taken to the police station but just assumed it fell out of the bag at some point. He reached up, rubbing the spot where she'd drawn blood, the sensation still crystal clear. "That's crazy."
Neo nodded, smiling up at him.
"Why not just ask for it? Maybe I would've given it to you or shared it." She shrugged. Suddenly sliding out of her booth, she stepped over to his seat.
He looked up at her, unsure of what to do.
She stared down at him.
Then shrugged and dropped herself in his lap.
Heat instantly flooded Corvo's face and ears, his heart beating faster. All of it, what she was doing and the feelings were all new for him. It felt like he was in the middle of an intense fight against a tough opponent not in some restaurant.
One of her arms casually snaked around his neck while the other dragged her plate over, fork used to get a new slice that she brought up to his mouth smiling innocently.
The same deceptively playful smile she'd had right before overpowering and coming close to killing him.
Despite that he opened his mouth, letting the girl feed him the slice. She casually moved on to feeding herself as if she weren't sitting in his lap. He couldn't really enjoy the food the way she was, too focused on how close she was, her sweet smell tickling nose.
He'd told himself he was just coming here to satisfy his curiosity. To know the reason behind the random attack.
But this felt more like the dates he heard about and seen on TV.
XOXO
Blood filled the air.
Wincing but wasting no time on it, Corvo raised his axe, blocking the next stab from the umbrella's weapon. It didn't mean much when the next found it mark, another shallow cut left on his neck. Lashing out with a wider sweeping swing, it missed, Neo back flipping across the rooftop they were fighting on, that illusionary appearance she'd been maintaining dispelled.
One minute things really had seemed like a date.
They'd shared food in that restaurant, ended up in an indoor ice skating ring, then a movie, the morning and part of the afternoon both feeling like it'd gone on forever, but it'd been over in a flash.
Then, she suddenly led them up to a roof and he was being thoroughly reminded why all this was a bad idea.
His aura had been beaten down, semblance no longer an option and shallow bleeding cuts across his face, neck, and arms. While she settled across from him, that deceptive smile in place as his blood dripped off her blade.
He was outclassed.
He should've run from the beginning. He should run now.
Doing otherwise was stupid.
Corvo tightened his hold on his axe's handle and took a step forward before shifting into a full sprint. Neo stepped back as he neared, then dropped, falling into an alleyway. Taken off guard, he quickly rushed to the edge of the roof, the loud clangs of metal filling the air. Heels clicking against it, Neo ran her way down a fire escape only stopping to glance up at him once she reached a window that she wasted no time rolling through.
An apartment building. Was that her apartment?
This was the perfect chance to run. He had a few more hours before he had to be home. He could find some place to repair the tears in his coat while letting his aura build back up to handle the shallow cuts then head back home. If he pretended this never happened no one could say otherwise.
It was the smart thing to do.