When Yang and I got back to the infirmary, everyone seemed to be in a little bit better mood. Even Recherche managed a small smile every now and then. Yang started up her jokes again, and the others joined in, mostly with bad puns but we laughed. Wolf didn't wake up that night, or a few nights after that.
I spent most of my time looking after him while the others went back to their class. Our friends brought me food, and the nurses were nice and understanding enough to make up a spare bed beside Wolf for me to sleep on. Our friends in team RWBY and team JNPR visited often so I didn't get lonely. Occasionally Recherche or Bolt would come and look after Wolf so I could continue training and recover from my own wounds.
Yang and the others were healing well and improving their fighting style. Sometimes when I sparred with Yang she would try to push me into my Scary Neo mode. I had confessed to her that I thought that it was the only way for me to beat Sleepslicer, but that I couldn't control it. She insisted that I had to learn, and reminding me that control wasn't just holding it inside, but I wasn't ready. I'd come to care for Yang too. What if we tried it, and Scary Neo hurt her? I wasn't willing to take that chance with any of my friends.
I thought about it while I changed into my pajamas and crawled into my bed beside Wolf's. The beds were on wheels so I had pushed mine right to the edge of his. I laid my head on my pillow and reached out for Wolf's open hand, resting mine on his.
"Hey," I said softly to him, even though I knew he couldn't hear me. I had gotten into the habit of talking to him before I would fall asleep. I still wasn't very good at talking to people, but Wolf was different. He always had been easier to talk to. For some reason, I was still more comfortable talking to him than anyone else. His eyes moved behind his closed lids. The nurse's said it was because he was dreaming.
I traced my middle fingertip across his palm. "Are you thinking about waking up anytime soon? You're really starting to scare me." My fingers drifted up the vein in his arm and slowly back down to his palm. "Everyone is worried about you. Rech and Bolt especially... They're not doing so good." I began tracing his fingers with mine. "Or I suppose Bolt is doing alright. He doesn't joke around as much as the two of you used to though. I think it's mostly because he's worried about you and Rech. And Rech.... well... she puts up a good act. In front of everyone else, she looks completely fine. Strong and determined even, but I can see it. She's breaking, Wolf. Bolt even says that she cries in her sleep..."
I pressed my palm back down to Wolf's remembering the night after Nevermora had died. We had all come together to comfort each other, even fallen asleep together. We needed to come together again. "We need you back Wolf. Somehow... I don't know... I just, it feels like you coming back will fix everything. Your silly grin and a dumb joke might just be what we need to pull together again..." Sudden pressure around my fingers caused me to gasp in surprise and glance quickly back down to my fingers. Wolf had wrapped his hand around my own. I looked back up to his face to see his eyes blink rapidly before opening.
"Wolf," I breathed in relief as he tried to figure out where he was. He was startled and a bit frightened which, given our past jobs, was understandable. For a moment he was frantic. I sat up quickly and placed my hands gently but firmly on his shoulders. "You're okay... You're okay...," I told him soothingly. He began to calm down and my eyes switched color as I realized the truth to my words. "...You're okay." He had woken up. He was actually okay!
"Neo?" He asked, able to focus now. Unable to find the words that described the joy and relief that I felt, I just hugged the wolf faunas close to me. At first it shocked him, but he quickly recovered and hugged me back.
"What," he said in a teasing tone as he returned to his normal self. "Where you worried about me?" Unable to answer him, I just hugged him tighter, balling up the back of his shirt in my hands as the weight of my past worry from him washed back over me. I had been so worried... The thought of what would have happened if he hadn't woken up loomed over me.
"Hey," he said softly, pulling back gently so he could look at my face, keeping his hands on my thin shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"I..." a tear slid down my cheek. I took a deep breath and continued even though my voice shook, "...I almost lost you..." He cupped my face with his hands and wiped the tear away with his thumb.
"Where you really that worried about me?" he murmured softly.
"Of course you dummy, I..." I bowed my head and bit my lip. I loved him. I did. But how was I going to tell him that after is was my mentor and my plan that had nearly killed him?
Wolf tucked a loose lock of my hair behind my ear, "You what?"
I brought my eyes up to his, their color switching involuntarily. I let go of my bottom lip and took a deep breath, almost as if I were back on the cliffs with Yang and about to scream. "I love you Wolf." His eyes widened and his ears twitched in surprise.
"You... love me?" he repeated, as if he couldn't believe the words that had escaped my lips. I nodded, blushing furiously. I couldn't see, but I bet that the color of my face was even more pink than those parts of my hair. I held my breath, waiting to see what Wolf would do. My heart was fluttering fast, threatening to beat out of my chest. Wolf blinked in surprise, and I waited for him to hopefully repeat my words, or to tell me that I was being ridiculous, that we were just friends. But he did neither of these things.
Instead he brought his lips crashing down onto mine, but not too hard. A small moan of surprise and pleasure escaped me and my hand slid up his neck and entwined in his hair. He moved as well, one of hand drifted to my lower back and the other into my hair as he pulled me closer. A rush of electricity flowed through me and my heart beat even faster. I tilted my head and deepened the kiss. I wish that it could have lasted forever, but we had to pull apart so we could breath.
"I love you too," he panted in a low voice. I wanted to kiss him again, but the curtain that separated our beds from the rest of our infirmary wing was drawn back quickly to reveal a very flustered nurse. Her eyes darted away from us and I became aware that Wolf's heart monitor was beeping rapidly. I blushed even deeper now, probably a shade of red and gently removed my hand from Wolf's hair.
"I- I'll just come back and check on him later..." she stammered before quickly closing the curtain again.
Wolf and I broke out into a fit of laughter, but calmed down eventually and looked back to each other. He still had an arm around my waist and a hand cupped around my cheek. He gently brushed his thumb over my cheek and said,"I've never seen you blush like that..." which of course, only made me blush deeper as I became more self conscious. "And your eyes, I've never seen them do that before. I like it..." My eyes widen suddenly and I tried to remember what color I had changed them to last, before I came to the realization that my last change had been involuntary. They were both pink now.
The sound of fast footsteps caught my attention. Someone was running this way. I released Wolf and sat back, keeping my hands in my lap. He let me go to, but took my hand. The curtains were thrown open again,but this time by our teammates, who launched themselves at us, wrapping up Wolf and I into a sort of group hug.
"So you decided to wake up," Recherche laughed with a mixture of joy and relief.
"About time," Bolt taunted. We quickly filled Wolf in about what had happened and how everyone was doing. Rech reported that Wolf should be fine enough to come back to our dorm and back to classes. Bolt added in a joke about how I could come back too and didn't have to babysit anymore. Wolf gave me a surprised look when he heard that I had been by his side the whole time, and Rech noticed our holding hands, but didn't say anything. The nurse came over and checked over Wolf before clearing him to come back to the room with us.
Out of habit, I shoved my bed up against Wolf's. Bolt and Recherche gave each other a look and a grin, but said nothing. Wolf watched me closely, still silent, which I was grateful for, because I had no idea how to explain what I was doing. Staying on my half of the beds, I reached over and took Wolf's hand while Recherche shut off the lights.
At some point in the night, Wolf and I had drifted closer to each other. I hadn't realized it until I released his hand and rolled over, my back touching his chest. I froze, worried that my movements had woken him. He stayed soundly asleep, but his arm instinctively wrapped around my stomach. I sighed happily, comforted by his warmth, and drifted back to sleep.
