Crimson Immoderation Part 16: An Honest Conversation

 Okay. Deep breaths. This is a stupid plan. Weiss told me over and over again how stupid this plan is. But if Pyrrha wants to be a polite asshole she's kind of cut down my list of options. She wants to turtle up in her shell?

NUH-UH, MOTHERFUCKER! “I'm borrowing this!” I shout and with a sudden sweep of my arms I scoop the redhead in a fireman's carry.

“What?!” Jaune gasps, unable to do anything to stop me for oh so many reasons.

“... Huh?” Ren just looks confused, not moving to do anything.

“Gasp! HALT, EVILDOER!” Nora doesn't wait at all, immediately chasing me down with a big grin.

Pyrrha's team are fun.

The girl herself doesn't waste time on words. I'm not stupid enough to try this when she has her metal armour and weapons. Instead we're both in uniform. She doesn't have many options, especially with the extra tool I employed to make this happen. Before she can do more than struggle against my grip her arms and legs are bound in some pretty tough rope. Again, non-metal of course.

“Vlad, what are you doing?” she asks, still pushing against the rope in hopes of breaking it. Her voice is trying to stick with polite but has a little bit of panic in it.

“Kidnapping you for friendship of course!” I announce proudly as I pass by Yang, slapping the buxom blonde's hand. “Tag!”

The bombshell's fists crash together as she stands in Nora's path. “Come get some!”

“More villains! Renny, come help!”

“This really doesn't feel necessary!” Pyrrha comments with an uneasy smile as we leave the dorms, my feet taking us towards the main school building. “We could just talk?”

“Yeah, that probably would have been easier, huh?” I ask as I pass by Blake. “Tag.”

The secret catgirl sighs theatrically as she steps in the path of Ren and Jaune. “Look, I don't actually care about any of this and think it's kind of dumb. Could we just not and say we did?”

“FRIENDSHIP TRAITOR!” Ruby shrieks from further the dorm rooftop, stepping in to block Ren instead.

“You know,” I say conversationally to the pretty girl slung over my shoulder, “Ruby was actually the easiest to talk into this plan. If you say anything is in the name of making friends she'll pretty much go along with it. It's actually kind of concerning.”

“Yes, I can see how going ahead with crazy plans would be a cause for concern.”

“Sarcasm!” I note, tone full of praise. “That's a big step up from forced politeness! See? Plan's already working! TAG!”

Weiss' eyes roll but she still steps into Jaune's path. “Do you really want to try, or can we save each other that embarrassment?”

“I won't let your boyfriend hurt my teammate!” Jaune insists heroically. Aww, good for her.

“He's not going to hurt her you dunce! He just wants an honest conversation for once.”

Pyrrha gives me a strange look. “Is that really why you're doing this?”

“This may come as a surprise to you Pyrrha, but it doesn't feel great when someone brushes you off with false politeness while thinking unpleasant things about you.”

She looks away, shamefaced. Mm, delicious, cheatery metaknowledge! Though her head does turn back to me when she notices something strange. “Why isn't anyone else trying to stop you?”

“I have my ways,” I respond cryptically. Delicious, cheatery Emerald hax ways. “Though it might also have something to do with that. Hey Professor.”

“Mister Dracul, Miss Nikos,” Glynda acknowledges us as we pass, not looking up from her scroll. Pyrrha gaping at the woman just letting this happen.

“Yeah, they don't really care,” I admit with a shrug that Pyrrha can feel more than see. “As long as nothing actually malevolent or destructive happens they're pretty okay with letting whatever happens happen.”

She doesn't speak for a moment as my feet plod along at a more comfortable pace through the halls down into the basement floors. “I can't believe they would let you get away with this.” Despite the situation, there's laughter in her voice as she says it. “Would it be strange if I said it was pleasant?”

“A little,” though I know where she's coming from. In Mistral I probably would have been dead fifty times over already for pulling a stunt like this. More for who I'm kidnapping than the act itself, to be clear.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Here.” A tap of my scroll on the door scanner opens the room, a practice room opening up before me. Not the same one as me and Glynda used on Saturday, that one was already booked. But they're all built the same anyway. I semi-carefully lower my trussed up redhead into one of the chairs and take another for myself. Only then do I notice I was err... “Sorry about how I did the ropes, by the way,” I offer with a wince as I notice I somehow did the ropes in... Well, in a way that I've done for Cinder pretty often over the past couple of weeks. Lifting and separating her breasts, arms behind her back. “Force of habit? You do look great like that though.”

“Are you going to untie them?” she asks with hope in her voice.

“I mean,” I drawl, “I think we both know if you really wanted to get out of them, you could. Did we accidentally discover you like getting tied up?”

Her face flushes dark at my teasing. She could get out. Plenty of metal implements here she could use, or even could have used on the way here. But that would mean revealing her semblance. “Fine. You have me here, at your mercy. At least until my team get past Team RWBY. What do you want?”

“My dear Pyrrha, I want to do the most devious, dastardly, diabolical thing with you,” I taunt. If I could I would have an ominous music sting here. “Have an honest conversation! WooOOooOOoo!” Wavy hands added for effect.

“You seem to be acting quite unlike yourself,” she notes with narrowed eyes.

I shrug. “How would you know?” I ask, with maybe a little accusation in it. “I can be a little cooky on occasion if I feel like it. It's hilarious with Weiss. She's so much fun to tease sometimes. Poor thing doesn't realise she brings it on herself with how cute she gets when she's flustered.” I shake my head to drag myself back to the matter at hand. “Anyway, you seem to think you have an accurate picture of who I am from the... twenty or so words I've actually spoken to you. So I'd like to put that picture to the test. Feel free to ask me anything you like. I promise to answer honestly.”

She blinks at me, looks down at herself as her body wiggles in her bindings, then back up to me. “I feel like this suggestion is a little backwards.”

I sniff a slight laugh. “This isn't an interrogation, Pyrrha. This is me pinning you down so you can't run away in a cloud of affected politeness. Do you know I think 'sorry' is the word I've heard most from you?” I don't comment as her lips pinch together. “I suppose I would like for this to be a two-way street. I said I want a conversation after all. But I can't really compel you to answer me honestly.” I cross one leg over the other. “So, you know, feel free to lie. But I won't. And you can check with Weiss or something after if you don't believe me.” I lean forward a little. “I just want to make sure if you dislike me, you dislike me, not some picture you've painted of me in your mind.”

There it is. The guilt as the realisation sinks in she's been doing to me what she hates people doing to her.

“So ask away,” I offer, leaning back again. “Consider me an open book.”

She sighs as she wiggles backwards in her seat to get more comfortable. “Then I will need to test that. What is your most embarrassing memory?”

“Oof! Going for the throat right away, are we?” I ask, wincing.

“You promised honesty.”

“I did.” I look up, thinking back. There are things I could bring up that I remember from my first life that are probably more embarrassing than anything in this one, but they wouldn't make sense in the context of this life. “Well... I could probably tell you about the many, many times I tried to woo Weiss' elder sister when I was a child. It became a competition between my and my brother Radu, though I think in the end it was a race to the bottom rather than a battle for her heart. Our schemes only got more foolish and ridiculous as the years went on. Wait... Actually, yes. Any of those would be my most embarrassing memory. Not because they were terrible and humiliating in hindsight, but because every time we ignored that Weiss was even there. Yes. That is the most embarrassing thing I can remember. Every time I forgot such a lovely girl existed. It isn't my greatest regret, but it's up there.”

“I feel like you evaded my question.”

My arm waves her off, “Not really. Those are the things I'm most embarrassed by and why. But if you want something a little more specific...” Hm. Yeah, probably that one. “Radu and I once got into a fistfight over who got to sit next to Winter at dinner. I'm... fairly sure I started it. Honestly it's a wonder either of the Schnee daughters still give me the time of day.”

“And you're telling me this so I'll think better of you?” the redhead asks with confusion.

“Once, Radu and I dug up the gardens so we could give Winter a bouquet of flowers we 'made ourselves'. Only at the last second I stole it for myself to give to her. He chased me through the halls, tracking mud everywhere. She was with Father at the time but my precocious crush was strong enough I didn't even care presenting her with the flowers in front of him. My punishment was to take care of the gardens we destroyed by myself from then on. Radu got off scot free.” My shoulders roll. “It's a more fun memory, but not my most embarrassing, which is what you asked for.”

“I...” She trails off, not finishing whatever she was about to say. “You may be right. It's possible I'm letting my preconceptions get the better of me. It was unfair to ask for the worst of you.”

“My turn to ask a question?”

“If you must.”

Ooh, what to ask, what to ask! Anything about her status is an obvious no-go and to be honest I quite genuinely don't care about that. “Who do you like best on your team?”

“I like everyone!” she asserts with mild affront.

“Not what I asked,” I point out with a wagging finger.

She slumps as much as she can in the chair. “... Nora.”

I perk up. “Really?” Not the answer I was expecting at all. Oh, wait, that probably came out poorly. “I mean there's nothing wrong with Nora at all, don't get me wrong. She just seems like she would be a little much to deal with all the time. A little tiring.”

“Yes I suppose she can be,” Pyrrha admits. “I feel if I were the focus of her attention like Ren is I may not cope with it as well as she does. But I can't help but admire her attitude. She's always so unashamedly upbeat and energetic! So honest with herself.” She stops, doubling back over her words. “Well... In most things, at least. To be honest I wish I were a little more like her.”

“I don't know about that,” I laugh. “Two Noras in this school sounds terrifying.” She laughs with me and by Blob does that feel like progress. “Your turn.”

“Hmmmm,” I feel like if she could she'd be tapping her chin theatrically. “What are the weaknesses of your semblance?”

“Ooh, that's playing dirty!”

“All is fair in love and war.”

“I'll have to remember you said that.” I forcefully blow out a breath of air. “I'm fairly certain you could gather them just by watching so I doubt I'm even telling you something you don't already know. I need to touch the target to activate it. That and the berserker state from going over my natural limits by draining someone...” I stop, hesitating. I promised honesty. “Or from killing someone with it.”

She swallows hard. “You killed someone?”

“The bandit who killed my brother.” I answer solemnly. “And then several of his compatriots after the berserker state kicked in.”

Her face shows sympathy, and more guilt. “I'm sorry, I... I shouldn't have asked that.”

I give her a soft smile. “There's that word again. I appreciate the sympathy but I've made my peace with it. We were both doing what we could to protect our home. If there were more I could have done, I would have done it.” I forcefully jerk my head to shut out such dour thoughts. “Anyway! Let's get away from such things. What do you do for fun?”

“I'm fairly certain you could find the answer in any number of magazine or online publications.”

I scoff. “Of course I could get fake interview Pyrrha's answer. If I wanted that I wouldn't even be talking to you and definitely wouldn't have kidnapped you,”

“I still feel like you're being overly blasé about the whole kidnapping thing...”

Meh, she's not wrong. Though now that she mentions it, “Your team are taking a long time to get here, huh? Anyway, my question?”

She wriggles uncomfortably, enough that her eyes widen as she topples out of her chair, “Wah!”

Whoops. Walking over, I pick her up and put her back in her chair.

“Could you just untie me already?” she complains.

“But the ropes are doing such wonderful things to your breasts!” I complain in turn, earning a flushed glare. “Oh, fine,” I sigh, undoing the knots securing her bondage, the ropes quickly unravelling. She stands as she rubs at her wrists, mostly for show because aura. “So?” I press again, returning to my seat.

Her eyes flick to the door, considering just leaving now that she very much can. Instead, “I, err... I read?”

“That came out more as a question than an answer.”

“I...” She sighs. “I read, occasionally. I just assume you won't take my real answer as an answer.” My eyebrow only raises in response. “... I train.”

“You train for fun?” I ask, getting a nod. “That makes sense. I do too.” Much as fucking has taken up an inordinate amount of my time recently. “I enjoy fighting quite a bit. Pushing my body is a fine substitute for when I can't get some good sparring in.”

Her head shakes, “I don't enjoy fighting. Fighting just brings on the expectations of my reputation. Fighting means I have to win or I let everyone down.” Her tone, formerly strained, turns wistful. “When it's just me, when I'm competing against myself, the only person I can disappoint is myself.”

Oh. Oh, that's... “I'm sorry I asked you to spar when we first met. I honestly had no idea.” And here was me hoping that I could get a match going after this. It was why I set this up to happen in a training room. Scrapping that plan then.

She smiles weakly at me. “And I'm– I shouldn't have assumed the worst of you based on that. I understand now that you were just trying to be friendly in your own... particular way.” Which is code for she still doesn't appreciate that kind of thing but she doesn't judge me so harshly for it anymore.

But this is it. I have my foot in the door now. She won't purposely avoid me anymore. Exactly what I need. “I think it's your turn to ask a question again.”

“I don't think I need to anymore,” she shakes her head with a fuller smile. “It would be rude at this point.”

“Maybe,” I admit. “Though I think there's one question you wanted to ask that you've been backing away from.” I shrug again and offer a reassuring smile. “Go ahead. No lies.”

She doesn't look at the door again, instead studying her wringing hands, before looking me in the eye. “Why have you been trying so hard to get close to me?”

“Because you're an incredibly beautiful woman, inside and out,” I answer with enough intensity to make her flush the scarlet of her hair in an instant. As I speak, I stand and move toward the suddenly uncertain hoplite as she takes a half step back. Even so, she doesn't take another as I enter her personal space. “I'm very fond of strong women. But you aren't just strong, you're kind to a fault. You want to do your best for everyone no matter how much you suffer for it. A woman like that shouldn't have to suffer.”

A finger raises her chin so she's looking up at me. “U-Umm...”

I lean in, voice lowering to a whisper. “I believe you deserve every fleeting pleasure, every bone-deep joy that life has to offer.”

She doesn't back away as my lips close that last inch to press against hers. Her thoughts seem to slow, focusing on this one action as her head tilts just so to deepen the kiss, her eyes closing as she finds herself melting against me.

And then her eyes snap open again as she backs up one step, two, and trips over the chair. “Ah! Umm, that– I'm sorry I– I'll see you later!” She hunches in on herself, fingers to her lips as she flees out the door.

I take a deep breath in through my nose, then let it out through my moth as a satisfied sigh. Victory. It tastes like apples, apparently.

Did I manage to get under her combat skirt? No. But the seeds are sown. Before now she was completely unaffected by most of my perks. The only one that might have worked for me was Winter's but that needed her to be willing to even hold a conversation with me.

Hence, an honest conversation.

Pyrrha Nikos is submissive. That's practically a rule of the fucking universe. She does whatever people tell her to no matter how much she suffers for it. And the secondary factor of Winter's perk? The more submissive a girl is, the more devastating any flirting is. In this single conversation she went from utterly disinterested to melting into a kiss, just from some honestly quite clumsy flirting. And then she ran. Why would she run, if not because she was scared of what she would do if she didn't? The next time I see her I'm going to get her in those ropes again, and only those ropes.

I can't wait.