The Reward For Surviving

Steve found himself at a bit of an awkward position between "Mommy" and "Daddy". Had he known that Clyde was not supposed to put him on the hardest simulation, Steve would have backed out immediately. Clyde even tried to have Steve go in alone! Steve wanted to be mad at him, but the guy had his back when they were inside. He could have easily let Steve die then and there, and conjure up some lie to the whole group.

In fact, the dilemma they all were having could have been solved easily if Clyde had done that. Steve is the most dangerous BOW to the BSAA's perspective. To kill him off as a failed experiment would save the group a lot of struggle and strife. It easily goes to show that Clyde may be the prickiest prick amongst all pricks, but he's not a bad guy.

Steve was about to defend Clyde's screwed hyde, but Ada points her sharp finger at Steve. "You! go to the infirmary and check for bites." No hesitation then. Steve nods like the good boy he should be and walks off, before giving a glance to Clyde. Clyde sees the glance and rolls his eyes. Clyde will be fine. They both know this, however, Steve feels a bit of guilt to find him in trouble over a situation Steve was involved with. No point in moping over it. Just shrug the guilt off and see Yumi, he thought to himself.

He passed Ada calmly and coldly. It would be easy to spark a fight with her. All Steve had to do to is simply disagree with her over something she does and she would snap with a cold attitude. Ada grips Steve's arm firmly, halted him from going any further. This is where I die.

"The next time you go inside the gym, take me with you instead," Ada mutters quietly to him. her eyes showed an iota of pride towards Steve for making it out alive. Steve nodded quietly. He wanted to smile in response, but he knew she would not even react to his smile. Not in the mood she is in.

Continued walking, he did. He left the hall of the elevator with a swift stride. Steve walked further and further ignoring the absurd boringness of these halls. In every single angle, these halls all looked the same. It could get nauseating at how plain and simple these white tilled halls get. Throughout all of the facility, it's just these bland tasteless walls and halls full of rooms. A part of Steve is aching to see the outside, while the other part knows that there is probably a government satellite staring down their facility. One step out of the property, and there is no telling what could possibly happen. Steve sighed, annoyed at how he can't be treated normally.

He turns to enter the infirmary to a little miss Yumi at her desk, doodling little nothings on some paper. Her eye's meet his and smiles.

"I heard you gave some heroing speech and then tried to prove others your worth..." Yumi said, grinning. Steve gave a confused stare at Yumi before she continued, "Ada's words, not mine," she chuckles softly, to which made Steve chuckle as well.

"I mean, she isn't wrong. Going to level three in the gym with Clyde is exactly how to prove yourself," he said before he gave a cocky laugh. The look on Yumi's face showed fear and anger.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" she barked as she waltzed her cute self over to Steve. She immediately checked upon him. She shoved him onto the matted bed and grabbed an arm and started inspecting any tense muscles or anything straining. Her eyes kept glancing up to his face making sure his expression was not showing any signs of pain. Steve's glance did not show any difference other than worry to her worry. Steve didn't want YUMI mad at him too.

Steve chuckled awkwardly, finding her checkup a bit ticklish, "Yeah... I know now, how bad that is, but I got away practically unscathed..." Steve then recalled when Clyde had landed on him. How he had got the wind knocked out of him from Clyde's weight. "Can you check on my breathing though? I did have a nasty fall,"

"How bad of a fall?" Yumi murmurs under her breath as she reached over to grab the stethoscope on her desk.

Steve did not really know the best way to explain the fall so it took him a few seconds to think about how to say it. Steve exhaled sharply before he responded. "Hmm... I dunno... Twenty feet? Give or take. I also broke Clyde's possibly forty-foot fall."

Yumi paused all motion she had and had to really take in what he had just said to her. "...Wait, so you lept to catch Clyde mid-air to break his fall... By having you underneath him?" she could see the simple and casual look Steve was giving her. How he really does not get how mind-boggling that is to her.

Steve simply nodded "pretty much, ya."

She put the stethoscope away before even touching him with it, "well, this is something I never thought I would say, being a nurse and all. Be glad you have a really scary virus in you. How heavy is Clyde? Somewhere around two-hundred pounds? That much weight on a chest would shatter your ribs, possibly pierce a lung, and you would struggle for a good minute as you drowned in your own blood," she sighed as she lifted Steve's shirt to see if he had any bruising on his chest.

Steve was a bit caught up in the thought of him being stuck in that simulation gurgling and crying out his own blood. Zombies would circle his body and start devouring him. The thought alone got him shivers. He responded to Yumi in a sarcastic tone, "you paint such a lovely image, you know?"

Yumi chuckles. She kept on forgetting how Steve still is somewhat of a kid. He looks nothing like it though. A kid stuck in the healthiest thirty-year-old body she has seen in a while. If she didn't know what kind of a person Steve was, she'd swoon simply by his looks.

She then noticed she was staring at his abs for a bit too long. He had no bruising, that she could see. She lowered his shirt to reveal a look that Steve has been making. An eyebrow cocked with a grin saying that he thinks he could tell what she was thinking. A grin rose from Yumi as she glared, "...What?"

Brilliantly, Steve killed his cocky grin and acted like nothing was happening, "Nothin'," Clearly showed off the body he has to her. Steve then noticed her gaze as she stood up. here eyes locked into his freakish yellow glowing eyes. He slowly averted his gaze, breaking contact. looked away with a hint of shame and fear. Yumi noticed but chose to not acknowledge it. She could tell it could have been a sensitive topic to discuss.

She gave a heavy sigh and smiled softly, "You're in tip-top shape. If you got hurt, it healed up pretty quickly. How about a cup of warm water and some rest. You look tired," she stood next to him handing him a bottle of room temperature water. He grabbed it gently and scoffed lightly

"I always look tired, but sure. Can I rest here?" he said softly glancing over to her, "I understand you are still busy, but truth be told, I actually don't want to sleep alone right now," He chuckled awkwardly. Yumi gave Steve a rather baffled stare but after seeing the rather lonesome look in his eye, she could tell he had no perverted plan if she had agreed to these odd terms.

Steve put the bottle on the table next to the bed was too busy thinking how much he has changed - never really wanted to focus on the good parts that this virus had given him; fast health regeneration, inhuman strength, and essentially never-ending metabolism that burns off fat faster than the healthiest human body. He could never get fat, even if he wanted to. Though, there may be more downsides for him. If he doesn't eat like a fatass, he would get malnourished. He is stronger than he could even comprehend, he knows to take everything slower than a normal person would now, otherwise he might hurt someone. Nobody outside would ever consider him normal with those demonic eyes he now has. They would just stare in disgust or fear, not caring who he was or what was at stake through half of his unused life. They'd just treat me like shit. This is bullshit. It just feels like I shouldnt've been brought back, he thought to himself. Dazed in self pitty and loathsome thoughts, he practically forgot that he had asked Yumi for her company while he rested.

Yumi could tell he was too busy hating himself to focus on her. She figured it would probably help him feel better if she stayed. yumi gave a glance at her desk and stared at the files she was studying on. She gave a soft sigh and turned back to steve, "My papers can wait," she said in a bit of a soft tune. She walked to the bed and sat next to Steve. He looked over at her and was a bit shocked. He implied that she could watch over him at her desk while she worked on whatever she was working on. Steve wasn't exactly going to complain though, a very attractive girl wants to lay next to him.

Maybe she has more in stock than just cuddling and laying next to me... His mind drifted. There was some awkward silence between the two. No no no, he thought. Even if she wanted to, it's way to early to even consider that as a possibility.

"Hello?" Yumi hummed out as she leaned ahead to make Steve see her and stop drifting through his form of wonderland.

yumi's interruption snapped steve back into reality. He saw her and immediately his cheeks filled a cherry red hue. He had no idea why he would even think such a way, especially with Yumi right next to him.

"OH.. Uhh... ya... uhm... I mean- well- if... uh," he stammered. Steve, to his knowledge, had never slept next to a girl, let alone one so damn attractive. Stuttering and stammering his response were to be expected. He had no time to act cool and charming, pull out a facade, manly enough to grant him an attractive response. He was momentarily stuck on a "not so manly" loop of stuttering a simple yes.

Oddly enough, Yumi saw him fail to blubber out a response and she found it cute. To see someone so tough and strong not be able to respond to a cute girl, was a bit adorable to her. Her soft lips chuckled and her chuckle slipped into a soft laugh before she interrupted his mess of a way of speaking.

"Jesus, kid. Just lay down," she said through her laugh. Steve's broken record, now fixed, he simply nods and slowly lowered onto his side, facing the desk.

The mat-like bed was cold and hard but soon heated up by his body heat. Steve did not want her to see him so much flushed red in his face, so he avoided eye contact as she soon lay behind him. Her delicate arms wrapped around his waist. For some reason, at this single moment, Steve felt as if he was really fat. He did not want her to think he was hard to hug and it was just making things in his head so much worse. This was becoming a bit much for him to keep ahold of. To see her hand reach to his chest, to feel the warmth of her chest press upon his back, to hear her hum soft nothings as she got comfortable. She was so damn cute, he could barely take it. The moment Yumi put her arms around Steve, she could feel the heat emanating off of him. She shouldn't have been shocked, but she was. It felt cozy to her. Her arms then wrapped around his waist further, pulling him in so she could take in that heat.

Immediately, Steve felt his eyes grow heavy. He did not know it but he needed this. Just someone to hold. To know he does not need to feel so alone. A bunch of weight leaving his shoulders every second she would hold him this way. He wouldn't know how to thank her for this. His heart kept pounding like crazy, though. That made sense. A thirty-two-year-old virgin being held by a girl that he has been liking more and more the more he got to know her is now spooning him. He would consider this being a dream if he didn't know her. Yumi's cocky yet charming attitude she has with everything makes this a bit more believable, yet, to Steve, it's still shocking she was willing to do this with him.

Yumi turned her head and would place her ear onto Steve's back, hearing his body process this moment. His heart was pumping blood fast and hard. Of course, it was an inhuman rate for a heart to beat. something like a rodent's heartbeat sounded similar. She knows this because of the number of times Umbrella had her test on animals. Gerbils, bunnies, sometimes a dog, if the experiment was "special". Usually, they would all end up dead by the trials she had put on them. She forced herself to think of something different. She chose to focus on his heart. Listen to its beat and count the number of times it pumped. She counted two-hundred and sixty-four beats a minute. Must be because his childish mind can't get over the fact I'm cuddling with him, she thought to herself.

"Mmm... You so warm," she mumbled out cutely. His heart spiked twelve beats faster. Knew it, she thought. She smiled as she blushed over the realization that he might like her way more than she had anticipated.

Steve was at a loss for words. While he was slowly reaching slumber, Yumi groaned out how warm he felt. What was then slowly closing eyes had then shot open, wide awake to the situation. Come up with something to say. Say something cool, damn it.

Steve clears his throat before mumbling out, "I'm pretty sure you're significantly hotter than I am," Yumi snorts and smiles. A statement he very much believes. After all, the person he sees in the mirror is either a freak or a kid. Neither one is worthy to be with her in any genuine way. Steve had his stare again slowly drifting into a faint slumber the moment he thought about something else other than yumi's body that clung to him.

Yumi could tell he was not exactly saying what he wanted to say to her. She wasn't exactly a fan of him doing that. She'd never admitted it-she would say it is her concern as his nurse, to know what is wrong with him, but she just didn't want to see Steve this way. It was bad enough she practically threw herself onto him but to know he didn't exactly want her to do something like this, she needed to do something right before they part.

"Hey, Steve?" she whispers softly.

Once again, she interrupts his rest, but this time he really didn't seem to mind, "...hm?" he mumbled softly with his eyes closed

"what's been bothering you?" Yumi was not going to ignore it anymore. her short fuse was lit and it was no secret she cared for him. "I can tell it's something about this place and about you, but I'm not connecting the pieces."

Steve's eyes slowly opened halfway, looking at nothing but the thoughts that drift about. He considered just not telling her, but he did not want to be in her shit list again. "I think..." he stammers calmly, trying to find the words, "... I just feel like this place is my life from now on. I mean if I leave this place, I'm not even a wanted felon. I'm a fuckin' BOW outbreak the moment I leave the exit... If I leave."

"But you talk, and you think, and you care." Yumi slightly raises her voice, making sure Steve hears her. "You defend others and yourself. You survive some wild shit, and you're really really cute," she pokes his side, which left a smile on his lips, but after she stopped Steve's smile was shortlived.

"You're right, Yumi..." he softly responded, "But that stuff only matters to the people who are willing to look for it. I'm sure the BSAA won't be looking for a way to fix me or see me as something other-," Steve's voice went silent from the sudden shift he felt from his backside.

Yumi shifted herself somewhat above steve to see him as he would say such sad things, "Wait, wait... What?" Her voice went soft and gentle the moment her eyes met his. Steve tried to look away from her, but the stare she was giving, the look of worry and confusion. An aching, tormenting stare that he has seen too many times from his mom. "Fix you?" She quoted, "Steve... The Veronica virus only had physically changed you. everything up here?" she said as she then gently pointed and pressed her finger to his head, "All of that is exactly as it was, before... Everything," the look she had shifted into a rather endearing smile. Her beautiful green eyes stared into his, not wavering her gaze from the gentle shine his eyes gave.

At this point, Yumi was practically on top of Steve. His eyes would glance around the position she was in with him, but ultimately, would end up back to the emerald shining lakes that were her passionate stare. He could feel her gentle breath hit his chin and lips. She was right. Steve was significantly warmer than she was. Yumi's breath felt somewhat cold to him. He had never been in a position like this before in his life. There's the difference between me before and me now, He thought to himself. This is the first girl I've known in my life that actually seems to really want me.

"Well..." Steve says somewhat teasingly, "I don't think I've ever been this good with girls. Maybe the virus did something to me with that part of me," the smile she was giving him then grows into a grin as she giggles. It made steve smile just as brightly.

"Maybe..." she said coyly, "... Or... Maybe I'm just special" she slowly leans in. Her lips were so close to his.

Fuck it, he thought. "May. Be." Steve wanted to taste her then and there.

The moment he took the initiative they both hear an attentive cough at the door. Yumi's eyes widened as she jumps off of Steve and rushed to her desk. Ada was at the door staring at the two lovebirds. She was doing her damndest to hide her grin. There was no telling how long she was there. "Yumi, mind giving us the room?"

Yumi nods and abandons her wish-to-be lover to the scariest woman in the building. Nooo, Steve thought as he watched Yumi bail. Don't leave me. The moment Yumi leaves the infirmary, Ada closes the door behind her. Ada's stared into Steve slowly grew a cocky grin. "So when did you two become... This?"

"..I think, just now," Steve lowered his head like he was ready for Ada to swat the back of his head, have her tell him that love is forbidden, it break honor and code... Steve's imagination gets a bit much when he is scared.

Ada scoffs, "Whatever," Ada then sits next to him. "Listen to me carefully. I don't want you jumping into action without me, or Jason. I know Clyde had your side, mostly but he can't exactly-"

"Be trusted?" Steve finished as he laughed softly, "Just by working with him for a good half hour, I can tell he isn't one would call reliable," Steve gave her a smile.

Ada was a bit shocked to see him look this positive. There was a moment where Ada just examined him and smiled halfway as she stood up, "Keep her around more often. You're far more confident and outgoing with her behind your back." She gestured Steve to follow her, to which, Steve stood and did so.

Steve felt a bit warm and happy to know this girl, Yumi is so easily charmed by him, and him to her as well. He knew it wasn't love, or maybe it isn't yet, but the feeling of not being alone helped him fill himself with some pride and lust that he hasn't felt in over fifteen years. It was a breath of fresh air and weight lifted.

Time to be big boy, he thought. What's Ada gotta show me