A New Kitten Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Weiss returned to her spot at Blake’s feet as the faunus watched over her friends and began to message them. Jaune was fine, his endless aura seemed to be enough to keep anything worse than a scrap or two sticking on him. Coco too was more or less alright, she was cut up here and there, a handful of bad gashes, but nothing looked infected or like it wouldn’t close. Besides that, she was thoroughly shaken up from both what she’d seen and the fact that they’d all been stripped- a nice little jab back at Blake for making Weiss make the videos with little to no clothing. She was also extremely worried about Velvet. Blake assured Coco that her girlfriend was worried, but not any worse than a hangover.

Marrow was where things started to get rough. Much like Coco and Neon, he didn’t have the same aura reserves as Jaune, so he was rather cut up, but that was far from the headline for him. His tail. Blake’s blood ran cold when she saw what they’d done to it. It had been cut short like a pit bull raised for fighting. He said he was fine, but Jaune’s worried eyes portrayed that things had maybe not been as ok as he said.

Neon was the worst of them all. She actually looked like she fought the binds intentionally to punish and harm herself. Her whole torso had been torn up. Just like Marrow, her tail had been mutilated. Blake wanted to cry and scream and throw things at the sight. They’d flayed the skin off of her tail, left a stub and what looked to be a horribly painful limp half bloody flesh half bone remnant of her tail. Atop all that, Blake could see how Flynt’s betrail broke her. She would need extensive medical treatment when they landed, but at least part of her tail would be saved.

It was… worse than Blake had expected; the Schnee had rarely been cruel for the fun of it- there was no money in that, and money was all they ever seemed to care about. It was worse than she expected, but in a way, she also expected them to come back in coffins or not at all. Either way, it was thanks to Weiss that they would be coming home. It was thanks to Weiss, and Blake would not soon forget that. She should have simply asked Weiss for help to begin with- she felt horrible for not being better. With checking in on her friends finished, Blake picked Weiss up off the floor and held her tight. She expressed her deepest thanks repeatability and hugged and kissed Weiss. It was the first time they’d really kissed, and understandably, it was a little awkward as they learned each other's lips, but it was sweet and they did grow to understand each other better.

“You- you’ve never kissed me before; not really.” Weiss brought her fingers to her lips stunned but appreciative.

“No, I haven't.” Blake admitted. “I- it felt too intimate a thing to do. At first I didn’t really want to, so it wasn’t an issue, but… when…” Blake averted her eyes. “When things started to blur, and I actually wanted to… I just didn’t want to take that from you.” Gently, Blake took Weiss’s hand to her lips and kissed that too. “Shit- I should have ask-”

“No, it was perfect.” Weiss shook her head and leaned in to kiss Blake again.

“Thank you; if you were anyone else, we’d already be planning you a damn parade or something.”

Weiss chuckled dryly. “Yeah, I don’t much see the White Fang throwing me a parade.”

“No, neither do I.” Blake sighed. “But, they do owe you thanks.”

“Ha!” Weiss reeled. “Yeah, I don’t see that happening either.”

“We’ll see Kitten. We’ll see.” Blake hugged Weiss and kissed around Weiss’s newer ears.

Weiss purred and snuggled into Blake. This was exactly what she wanted; Blake happy and holding her.

In time, Blake prepared them both a meal. Eggs, toast, and a small bowl of yogurt for each of them. It was nice and quiet, but Weiss still seemed to lovingly slump into Blake. It worried the faunus but it did make sense that Weiss was drowsy, her body was still going through quite a lot. It was something mildly worrisome to think that Weiss might later be mad for another surprise change, but, it had been a long time coming. Beyond that, she did have a growing suspicion that Weiss would actually love what was coming, so that was of some comfort.

Eventually, with the goal of allowing Weiss somewhere to rest and recuperate while her body worked, Blake picked the Kitten up and carried her back to bed.

“Taking away my room?” Weiss smirked softly.

“Huh?”

“Bet you’ll turn it into some kinky dungeon knowing you.”

“I wasn’t trying to take your room, I just-”

“Teasing.” Weiss nuzzled into Blake’s chest.

“Ah. I can take you back downstairs if you li-”

“Don’t you dare!” Weiss hissed.

“Oh?”

“Your bed smells so much better; like Owner… feels home, warm, makes me… soft, craving, we-” Weiss’s eyes shot wide open at the realization of what she was saying. “I! I mean!”

“I know exactly what you mean Kitten.” Blake kissed Weiss’s forehead again before draping her down on the bed.

“Thanks.” Weiss mused and curled into the bed.

“The flight plan says everyone should arrive in about three hours.”

“Makes sense.” Weiss nodded and wrapped blankets around herself before stealing Blake’s pillow and holding it to her nose.

“I’ll have to go meet them. Marrow and Neon aren’t looking well, and I need to ensure they get treatment. Beyond that, I need to contact some of the other White Fang members; Velvet needs to know her girlfriend is safe. Everyone else will want to know too.”

“Mhmm kay.” Weiss seemed overly preoccupied with breathing in Blake’s scent from off the pillow.

“If you’re up for it, I would appreciate you coming with me to meet everyone.” Blake reached out to caress Weiss’s shoulder.

“W- what?” Weiss pulled the pillow away to reveal her shocked face.

“Yes,”

“You want me to meet the people who think I am at fault for four of their friends almost dying?”

“I want you to meet the people who’se friends you just saved.”

“No! No! I’m not doing it! I have no interest in more people telling me how horrible I am!”

“You’re not horrible Kitten.”

Weiss averted her eyes. “I-” Weiss whimpered.

“You aren’t.”

“I was more than complicit.”

“Weiss…” Blake massaged gently at the Kitten’s shoulder.

“I can’t face them.”

“You just saved-”

“I can’t.”

“You don’t have to.” Blake offered. “You can stay here if you need. I just wanted… wanted them to see… you aren’t what they thought- you aren’t what I thought.”

“Not so sure about that.” Weiss murmured.

“You’re wrong.” Blake assured.

Weiss just shook her head.

“Either way, if you change your mind, you’re welcome to come. I won’t let anyone say anything to you. You may have been their enemy yesterday, but today, you’re their hero.

“No hero.” Weiss muttered guiltily.

“It’s alright.” Blake soothed as best she could. “I just didn’t want to leave you alone; didn’t want you to feel alone for so long while I was out.”

Weiss’s expression grew distressed.

“I know my being absent hurt you yesterday, and I wanted to avoid falling into that again.”

“M… maybe.”

“What?”

“Maybe I’ll come.” Weiss offered noncommittally.

“Alright. I’ll let you nap for now though?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Blake again checked in on her friends and did her best to scour her dust stocks to see if she had anything that would do for Marrow what other dust did for Weiss. She wasn’t sure Marrow would want it, but… she needed him to have the option if he did. Neon might make for a more complex fix. Her tail being mutilated was horrifying, but it might be salvageable- though certainly scared. Worse yet, Neon above all the rest of them used her tail the most. It often helped her balance on her skates while fighting- Blake worried that might be over for her fellow cat faunus.

Velvet sobbed on the phone when Blake informed her Coco was coming home safe. Blake was just happy Velvet could have that fear lifted off of her shoulders. They kept the call simple- Blake still had some testing with her dusts to do after all- but before they finished, Blake made sure to warm Velvet, Weiss might be coming and that if she did, everyone needed to stay hush hush about anything to do with videos or photos. Blake skirted around an explicit explanation, but she made certain to have Velvet tell everyone else to shut their mouths and follow her lead if Weiss did in fact tag along.

With a keen eye on the clock and the chat log with her friend’s ship, Blake worked and tested different amalgamations of dust from her stocks for the following hour or so. She felt she’d approached a good enough formula, but wasn’t quite sure she was ready to test it on her friends when the ship began its long and gradual descent. That worked as her cue that it was time to meet them at the landing pad. Blake got dressed and ready in her old combat outfit before stopping by Weiss.

“Hey Kitten.” Blake greeted and brushed her hand against Weiss’s waving tail. The cute appendage wrapped loosely around her hand, soft and sweet. Blake could only wonder what might happen when Jacques finally caved. Would Weiss return home? Would not returning home be an option while still freeing the faunus? If the Kitten returned… what would she do about her new appendages? Fear shot through her at the thought that Weiss might opt into the same things forced upon Marrow and Neon. What about the ears? Blake wanted to vomit the further her mind slipped down the trail of thoughts.

“Hey!” Weiss rolled over on the bed. “You- you ok? You look pale?”

“I’m… fine.” Blake lied.

“You sure?”

“I’m headed out now. Have to go greet everyone and hold the next meeting.”

Weiss nodded.

“And I offered to give you the heads up, so, would you like-”

“I’ll come with.” Weiss offered overly fast.

“You sure?”

“Yeah! Let's go!” Weiss pushed forward a brave face, but Blake could tell that at least in part it was an effort to comfort her.

“You don’t have to, I’ll be alright.”

“No, I- I thought about it… and… it’s probably best to face some of… it’s good to meet all your friends.”

“Ok.” Blake settled. “But if you need to run home, that’s alright.” She pulled a key from her pocket and offered it up to Weiss. “It’s the key to the front door. This way you can be safe inside if you need to run off to be alone.”

Weiss crawled over the bed to hold Blake close. It was mostly a symbolic offer, but to Weiss it really did feel like being offered her freedom for the first time in her life.

End of Chapter 38