Meal Break (Complete) [Mature]

[Nym Magenta]

What exactly was Nym's type when it came to guys? It was her turn to let her eyes wander the cafeteria as she mused on Ax's question. "I mean, 'e's fuckable, but s'not like 'm bitin' my lip thinkin' 'bout 'im. Like...yeah, not bad, but I guess 'e ain't the type t' really trip me trigga'." She pursed her lips to the side as she scanned the Beacon crowd around them. There wasn't really anyone in said crowd that was giving her any help with this, and that probably meant something. Beacon's students were undeniably some of the most attractive people on the planet. They were in peak physical shape and all youthful. They were a cross between professional athletes and soldiers. Eye candy and hormones were everywhere. It actually took effort to find students that were legitimately unattractive, and that was usual just a matter of taste! Some people were into bald dudes with foot long beards and arms that looked like support beams.

"I guess..." Her eyes drifted upwards. She did like guys that were a little more girly, probably because she preferred girls. "I guess I do kinda like soft lookin' guys. Guys who'd look good wearin' my clothes, heh, heh." She chuckled at the thought of some red faced boy at Beacon strutting his stuff in her shorts and leggings. "Guess I like guys n' girls who don'...I'unno, fit in regula' stereotypes fer guys n' girls. Er...well, ain't like I don' like girls n' guys who do, but...I guess I like somethin' a little dif'rent more."

She probably wasn't making a ton of sense, but it didn't sound utterly nonsensical!

[Ax L Rose]

"I mean, 'e's fuckable..."

Ax let out an outlandish sound that might've been a snort as laughter overcame her. She tended to enjoy Nym's often blunt way of expressing things like this. She slumped forward slightly and her eyes fell shut as she rose her cybernetic hand over her own mouth in an effort to try and make less of a scene in the dining hall. Some part of her recognized that Nym was most likely not really joking or trying to be funny, but it got her nevertheless. She composed herself soon enough, pressing her metal fingers to her cheeks to try and smooth out the smile on her lips.

Stars, Nym was so gay, wasn't she? A part of her wondered if Nym even was really into guys or if she was the same as Ax. The way she talked about this sounded pretty familiar, and she felt like she fell into a very similar boat. She might've found novel amusement at introducing some blushing boytoy to new things, but by this point she brokered no illusions about being into men in a sexual way.

"Birds of a feather, you n' I. Well, mostly! I mean, I think I gravitate towards the classic lipstick lesbian mostly. And you know... I also like girls that look like they could bench press me, but I've never been super into butch chicks? At least not so far," Ax shrugged lightly.

"I've tried guys before, back in Atlas... and you know, it wasn't all bad but it wasn't..." she hesitated, briefly looking away in thought. "I dunno. It just wasn't me. A part of me was trying to make it work, I think. I wanted to like guys. I tried! It just didn't really work for me."

She knew boys like Johnny weren't her thing. Girls like Nym were waaaaay more her style. A weird, distant little note of regret bubbled up inside of her. Ax's own uncertainties were the reason they weren't already a thing. She didn't want to make things uncomfortable now that she and Nym were hanging out again like nothing had changed, but she couldn't help but feel... weird, for some reason. Eager to dismiss the errant little emotion before it could get too noticeable, Ax chattered on and tried not to let herself get caught up in her head about it.

"You know... I feel like I'm all talk these days. I haven't gotten laid in like... more than a year," Ax said, deliberately lowering her voice so as to not be overheard. "I'm not about to start settling for guys, but I've been thinking it might be fun to like... look around casually again. I don't think I'm really ready for anything serious or committed or anything yet but..." she shrugged slightly, her eyes focused on Nym. She felt a little unsure about how she was approaching this subject now. She couldn't help but secretly hope her foxy friend would say something validating and reassuring.

[Nym Magenta]

Nym didn't pause as Ax started to snigger. This wasn't uncommon. There were times when they'd talk about sensitive subjects like this that would get a similar response. Nym just didn't have enough tact or self consciousness about it to know she ought to phrase things a different way or be less straightforward about a topic. It had been a bit of a hurdle for her to overcome being conscious of Ax's reactions, but Ax didn't hold it over her head or make fun of her for it. It was nice to just be accepted at face value and not be corrected or scolded for being a little weird. Nym was happy to listen along to Ax, nodding in agreement about liking girls who looked like they could bench either one of them. Strong girls were pretty hot,

Nym tilted her head and cocked one ear. Did she hear right? Ax thought like she was all talk? "Well yeah, ya do keep yer mouth yubbin' a lot," she quipped quickly, a slight grin punctuating her little jab. "But s'not like y' can't walk the walk if ya wanna. I mean, I got a sharp set'a ears, Ax. C'n just about always 'ear someone talkin' 'bout 'ow bloody hot or cool y'are wheneva' yer walkin' 'round campus with me." It wasn't every time, but it happened a lot. So many humans simply underestimated how sharp faunus senses could be, having spent so little time around them.

"You could prob'ly fuck anyone ya wanted to," Nym shrugged back. "So, I'unno, f'you feel like, go fer it I guess. Ain't like I c'n judge ya or nothin', all things considered." Her eyes trailed down to her empty plate for a moment as she felt a small pang of regret for all of the times she'd been casually intimate over the years. It wasn't all bad, though. It had been a lot of fun a lot of the time. "Live yer life, eh, Ax? Heh, might be fun hittin' on girls in bars t'getha'. Stars, c'n you imagine us gangin' up on some'a the nervous, bloody thirst girls y've met 'round Beacon?" Would they just melt where they stood if the pair of them hit on a girl at the same time? It was a lot of heat to handle all at once.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at Nym's little poke, but it was all in good fun wrapped up nicely with a compliment to soothe the burn so her smile didn't fade. Ax knew she was a chatty, needy little bird sometimes. She also got the strong feeling that Nym was right about how easy it'd be if Ax just tried. It was impossible for Ax to not be aware of her reputation, given the intense amount of mindful effort she directed towards controlling how others perceived her. She nevertheless felt a warm, fuzzy feeling at Nym's reassurance.

It was nice to hear Nym remind her that there was no judgment, but she couldn't help but consider *why* Nym said that as she felt a little note of guilt creep into her. She really didn't want Nym continuing to guilt herself over things that weren't necessarily Ax's business. She fought the urge to blurt out immediate reassurance, and instead let Nym finish her thought. She was glad she did, because Nym's purely hypothetical picture of them giving some girl a total complex was a pretty funny one... even if it was harder to actually imagine herself doing than she let on. The idea of her trying to seduce anyone other than the fox herself was getting tougher to imagine the more she thought about it.

Ax chuckled quietly, but her mind was half drifting away already. She really already had her eye on one girl she already wanted to take to bed, and it was the same girl she'd wanted to take to bed since a long time ago. She couldn't help but want to know what she was missing out on. She was envious of the people who got to know Nym's touch the way they did, and she had been for a long time. The thing that always held her back was fear. Fear of getting hurt, fear of the sting of rejection, fear of being just another. She wasn't sure why she was so afraid physical intimacy would cost her something. Nym wasn't just her best friend, she was her partner! They were sworn to accompany one another through thick and thin as huntresses...

...but then and there, in that instant, sitting in the dining hall with Nym... Ax really wanted to believe that maybe she could have her cake and eat it too.

"Oh yeah. I can see us now. Walkin' up to the bar arm-in-arm, looking like a couple of sluts, oozing so much raw sexuality half the club just short-circuits the moment we take a look at 'em," Ax let out a low, dry chuckle. The image in her head featured them both totally made up and looking trashy. It was unlikely to actually happen, obviously, but... it was kind of fun to imagine. Not as fun as imagining making a move on Nym was starting to seem, though.

Ax's emotional state was steadily becoming more ambivalent, as her uncertainty gradually shifted into reckless intent. Impulsivity was winning out over caution for the time being. She felt suddenly nervous as a chaotic, half-baked plan formed in her brain. It didn't show in her face, but it radiated from her aura as she reached to her side and quickly pulled out her scroll, more or less solely so she could pull up the camera and pretend to look at herself in it for a moment. She then put it away and looked back up at Nym, barely skipping a beat.

"I'm all done here, by the way. Got a bit to kill before class though. Come chill with me while I fix my makeup?" Ax asked. This wasn't an unusual suggestion and Ax's delivery was perfectly casual, but it was a little strange for Ax to radiate anxious energy with the question. There was also nothing obviously wrong with her makeup - it looked as obsessively perfect as ever.

[Nym Magenta]

Nym was ever so ignorant to the thoughts that brewed beneath Ax's surface. The feelings were easy to feel, the warmth, the tiniest hint of guilt, the ambivalence, and the shock of nervous energy. She wasn't totally in the dark. After the rather intense falling out and coming back together that they'd recently had it made some sense that this topic could be touchy, but it didn't seem like either one of them was too wounded that they couldn't laugh and smile about it. Nym's bubbling laughter filled the space between them as Ax depicted them as a couple of raging club lesbians. She felt good. She felt happy. There had been a moment not long ago that she was worried they wouldn't be able to just exist like this anymore, that their friendship had shattered like glass. What had she been worried for? They were built of much tougher material. Fighting in mortal combat, side by side, having each other's lives in their hands, it made for bonds that could hold together a lot.

She was glad that Ax had asked her a question, it was stopping her from reflecting too much on their friendship and tearing up like some kind of dork in the middle of the cafeteria.

"Yeah, got me fill n' I don' 'ave anotha' class fer a while, so I think I c'n squeeze ya in me schedule." A lie. Nym would have cut classes for days if Ax asked her to. What were a few days of catching up and cramming, a couple of scoldings from professors between best friends?

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's lips curved wider as Nym had a good laugh at her words. The fox's general contentment with the present moment was a needed dose of positivity that helped at least partially counter the inner chaos threatening to radiate outward from Ax's aura. She did her best to hold onto that feeling as she led the way - the pair rose from their table, tossing their food and putting away their trays. There were public restrooms near the entryway to the dining hall, but Ax apparently wasn't interested in heading that direction despite what she said. Figuring that Nym might pick up on the sense that maybe something was wrong, Ax spoke up as she led her elsewhere.

"There's a staff bathroom over in the hallway leading to the kitchens. I... think we've already had enough interruptions today," Ax said, surprising even herself with how casually she said it.

Ax wasn't the most subtle person, but she didn't want to draw too much attention from other students or staff. They weren't going anywhere they'd get in trouble, but they also weren't going anywhere where many other students particularly commonly had a lot of reason to go, barring special events. Ax strode across the dining hall with purpose, her tailfeathers bouncing seemingly impatiently as she cast a few glances back at the rest of the students in the dining hall as they walked. She felt reasonably confident that no one was really paying that much attention to them. She was eager to escape the emotional static of the crowd - it'd be so much easier to be mindful and in control of herself when she was alone with Nym. Or would it?

The murmurs of voices and idle chatter between other students was soon behind them both. The hallway Ax led them to was practically empty at the moment, and significantly quieter. There was a staircase that led up to upper floors where staff dormitories were located and a few passages ahead that were typically reserved for club meetings and the like, as well as a few other routes that led to the kitchens. Ax immediately beelined for a small door that led to a gender-neutral bathroom. The insanity of what she was thinking of doing started to dawn on her around this point, but she pushed on and fought through her nerves and doubts, slowing her walk only as they reached their destination. Ax twisted a knob that led into a dark, unoccupied room that lit up as she stepped in. There was a surprising amount of space. Unlike the public restrooms elsewhere in the academy, this one had a lock on the door and was clearly intended for one or perhaps two people to use at once - there was a urinal, a sink, a mirror, and a toilet, but no stall around it.

She gestured quickly for Nym to come in while the hall was silent...

...and as soon as Nym did, Ax closed the door behind them and twisted the lock behind her. Now they were alone. And all that was left to do was for Ax to find her nerve. She slowly, leisurely stepped over to the sink and looked at herself in the mirror, strangely quiet for a moment before she sighed and took a few deep breaths, visibly in an effort to calm herself a little. Ax's cheeks were redder than usual. She had a moment to gather her thoughts and really think twice about whether or not she really wanted to crudely proposition her best friend in one of the academy restrooms.

[Nym Magenta]

"Staff bathroom? Sure," Nym said, not even considering they weren't going in the direction of a public restroom when they exited the cafeteria in an unexpected direction. Ax just did things. If she hadn't opened her mouth, Nym probably wouldn't have even questioned it, trusting there was some kind of logic to her decision, even if it was as simple as 'whoops, forgot where I was going.' Her footsteps were practically silent as they moved through the halls. If it was actually a staff bathroom then they weren't technically supposed to go there, were they? That meant she could use a bit of discretion. She'd spent a lifetime trying to make herself unobtrusive and unnoticed. The skills never truly faded from memory.

It was a little difficult to remain quiet, as Ax was beginning to emanate a very excited energy through her semblance. Nym felt her legs aching to burst into a sprint despite not knowing exactly where they were going. Her gaze followed the bounce of Ax's tailfeathers when she wasn't glancing around to make sure they hadn't been discovered. Ax was nervous about something. Maybe they really, really weren't supposed to be here. Nym wasn't great with directions on campus so she never really had a good idea of where was off limits and where wasn't. A bit of relief washed over her as they slipped into a bathroom with a locking door and Ax secured it behind them. This seemed like a lot of effort to go to just to avoid interruptions, but Nym was okay with it. Getting away from other people was fine with her, and being alone with Ax was never boring.

As Ax stepped towards the sink, Nym leaned back against the door and sighed, sticking her hands into the pockets of her jacket and resting her head against the wood. Her heart was quickened by Ax's emotions and the light pace they'd taken. "Sneaky, sneaky, eh?" She muttered looking from the ceiling back towards Ax to see how she was doing with her makeup.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's eyes fell shut and she exhaled every last bit of air from her lungs. She felt the uncertain, frenetic energy that'd built up in her body and she took a moment to simply recognize it, aiming to accept it. This was normal. She knew this feeling well and she'd felt it many, many times before...

Her eyes opened and flicked over to Nym, who was now leaned back against the door. Nym, her best friend since she began as a first year at the academy. Nym, a beautiful tomboy of a fox faunus. She was always so effortlessly gorgeous with her radiant golden eyes and her short dark hair, despite seemingly investing so little effort into her appearance. How many times had Ax thought and fantasized about this? How long was Ax going to live her life in terror of fulfilling her desires? How long was Ax going to keep denying herself what she so clearly craved?

Her eyes flicked up-and-down over Nym's figure. Nym wasn't tall in the slightest - she was unusually short, in fact - but there was a feminine shapeliness to her figure that Ax could scarcely resist for as long as she could remember knowing her. Ax knew for a fact that, despite Nym's initially unimposing stature, the fox could could easily bench press her. She knew that beneath those sleeves there were scarred yet beautifully defined muscles and every time she saw them she wanted to touch them. She knew that beneath all the fear and uncertainty and reckless decisions they'd both made, there was something more to her connection with Nym than simple friendship.

Ax might've feared commitment, but she hadn't brought the fox all this way to simply ask her on a date. When Nym looked back over at Ax, a determined look was there in the deep electric blues of Ax's eyes. There was clearly no makeup that needed tending to.

Ax pushed up from the sink, straightening to her full height and stepping over to Nym. Before the fox could murmur any further questions or comments, Ax reached out and placed both of her hands firmly along Nym's collarbone, pushing her body back into the locked door before bending forward and seizing Nym's lips in a fierce kiss. Ax's nerves were still there underneath it all, and the emotion seemed to peek in that brief instant of time before their lips met... but the moment they kissed, Ax's thoughts seemed to go blank, and the flame of her desires took control.

[Nym Magenta]

Ax looked as pretty as she ever did, which was stupidly, enchantingly gorgeous all the time. She hadn't been looking in the mirror long and Nym was pretty sure that she hadn't even pulled out her makeup. Was something even wrong with it in the first place? Nym couldn't ever tell. Ax always looked like the hottest girl on the planet. Her beautifully dyed hair and lightning bright eyes, her makeup that was always good enough to show off her natural beauty, her wardrobe of perfectly fitting punk rocker attire, it all looked so good that every time Ax said she looked bad or needed to touch herself up it was hard for Nym to pick out what was wrong. Maybe it was just because Nym was so obviously in love with her best friend that it didn't matter how Ax looked, Nym was into it.

The bird was standing tall as she strode over towards Nym, more than half a foot taller even without her shoes. Nym gave her a faint smile as she was walking closer and quirked a brow. Did Ax need a second opinion on something? She was getting awfully close for that. Ax's hands pressed against her and pushed her back up against the door. Nym's heart skipped a beat. Ax wasn't about to ask her for something. The realization dawned on her just about the time they kissed. Her eyes were still wide open in surprise as it happened. Ax was kissing her. Fireworks exploded in her chest. Her tail stood straight up, fur fluffing out. Her ears were pointed at attention and her face was instantly red.

Should she have felt differently about this? Ax had just turned her down. It had hurt. It wasn't that long ago. Now she was so intent on kissing Nym she had to pull her into the nearest bathroom to do it! It was so sudden and so weird and she should have felt maybe conflicted, shouldn't she? But she didn't. Her heart was achingly full of relief and happiness and excitement that it was happening. What she'd said to Ax had been true. She was in love with her. Those sorts of feelings didn't just disappear. Nym closed her eyes as her ears flattened and she sighed a contented, loud, happy sigh of relief and kissed Ax back.

[Ax L Rose]

A warm feeling engulfed Ax's senses as their lips met and the fear in her heart was overpowered by a feeling of jubilant ecstacy. The direct contact between them only deepened and intensified the signal strength they'd already been building for years, and Nym's emotions usurped Ax's immediately. Ax's muscles tensed, her fingers curling into Nym's jacket as she turned her head to the side and deepened the kiss, craving more, more, more. One long kiss soon broke down into several smaller ones, and none were any less forceful. Ax drank in Nym's scent deeply and all but forgot where they were, a low hum of contentment rumbling in her throat. Her left hand slowly lowered along Nym's side, fingers sliding down the side of the fox's body, down to her hip. Her right hand rose, the warm metal tips of her metal fingers brushing over Nym's exposed neck before moving to firmly seize Nym by her tie.

For a long moment, Ax seemed content simply to kiss the dark-haired girl she was practically pinning to the door again and again, but soon enough she broke off. She lingered mere inches from Nym's face before she murmured a soft word with all the force of a demand. Ax's flesh-and-blood fingers tugged up insistently at the bottom of Nym's uniform jacket as she spoke.

"Off."

Ax's voice was imperious, her gaze intense, the smell of her vanilla and rum-scented perfume thick in the air. For that brief instant, she was a domineering woman that clearly wanted to be in control. Her gaze softened, however, the longer she looked into Nym's beautiful golden eyes, and she remembered just how much she owed to Nym. She owed the fox her life multiple times over. There were a lot of people that had claimed to love Ax in the years she'd been alive, but even when presented with the warmth of their emotions there was always a part of her that doubted and questioned.

But this time... Ax believed. She felt it strongly within that even if she wasn't sure about anything else, one thing was true. Nym hadn't lied to her. Nym loved her.

"Please."

The word left her lips like a sigh, and in that moment it was suddenly clear just how vulnerable Ax truly was allowing herself to be.

[Nym Magenta]

A small part of Nym's mind marveled at how right it felt to be making out with Ax in a damn staff bathroom tucked away somewhere at Beacon. Shouldn't this moment have been somewhere special? Weren't they supposed to be doing this on a lighthouse during a sunset or on a beach during a meteor shower or in the middle of the forest in the rain? But maybe this was the sort of perfect moment that fit both of them, wherever they were together it felt like the right place. It would have been special in any of those places, but it was special here, too. It was special because it was Ax's metal hand wrapped around her tie. It was special because it was Nym's hips she had her hand on. It didn't take anything more than that. It could've been in a back alley in downtown Vale. They could have been in a public bathroom in a night club or out on patrol in the Forever Fall. It just had to be her. It just had to be them.

When she pulled away and Nym opened her eyes to look back at Ax, she couldn't help but smile. Her sharpened canines gleamed brightly, her eyes shimmered from the powerful emotions that were swirling around in her chest. She had questions. Was this serious? Was this it? Was Ax picking her over everyone else, or was this something different? Was Ax just testing the waters to see if they were right? They didn't feel pressing. She wanted to know, but they were barely at the periphery of her mind. Ax was telling her to take off her jacket, standing right in front of her, wanting her. Nym didn't have anything she needed to say. She did have one thing, well, two things she needed to do.

With a very practiced move, Nym pulled her school jacket off with a quick flourish and let it drop. The second it left her hand it might as well have disappeared into the void. That was the first thing. The second thing still needed doing. She leaned forward, grabbing the knot of Ax's tied up jacket lightly just so she'd have something to do with her hands, and put her nose just beneath Ax's collar bone and inhaled deeply. Her nose was filled with a heady mixture of sweetness, molasses, earthiness, the subtle mixtures of every chemical that Ax used to make herself smell like Ax. Of all Nym's senses, smell was her sharpest, and getting a good, long breath of Ax was satisfying in a way she couldn't easily describe to other people. It sent goosebumps down her spine, her fur prickling lightly as the sensation passed over her. She held the breath for a second before letting out a long, shuddering sigh. That really, really hit the spot.