Blake Belladonna liked to think of herself as a very patient person. Perhaps not the most patient person in the world, but she could put up with a lot of nonsense. However, her best friend was currently managing to push all of her buttons.
"Ruby, for the last time, no," Blake said, glaring at the girl sitting across the table from her. "I'm not going on a date with your sister. I hate blind dates. I hate normal dates. You know this."
"Blake, come on," Ruby chastised. "At least give her a chance. You need to get out more and talk to people."
"I talk to you…" Blake muttered underneath her breath. Ruby managed to hear her anyway.
"Yes, but I'm the only person you talk to. Don't get me wrong, Blake, I love you, but you can't live your life with only one friend."
"Of course I can," Blake said indignantly, not even believing her own words.
"You never even come out with me when I invite you!" Ruby yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
"Can you really blame me? You always bring Nora and Weiss along. Nora always tries to set me up with anyone she can find who's drunker than herself, and Weiss barely says a word to me until she's too drunk to hold a serious conversation," Blake explained.
Ruby shot Blake a sidelong glance "Are you calling my friends drunks?"
"Yes," Blake deadpanned.
"Look, Blake, if you meet Yang and you don't get along you don't have to see her again, okay? Just, at least try to make an effort to get to know her first? For me?" Ruby pleaded in a tone far more serious than Blake was used to hearing from the young redhead.
Blake sighed and looked down, muttering something about 'big silver puppy-dog eyes'. She looked back up to Ruby and relented. "Alright, I'll give her one chance."
"Great!" Ruby exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. "Because she's on her way here to meet you right now!"
Blake closed her eyes and slapped her hand to her forehead, her elbow resting on the table. "I don't know why I expected any less of you."
Ruby giggled, before gasping and whispering loudly "There she is!" Blake looked up to see who she'd be spending at least the next hour or two getting to know. Blake's eyes widened as they fell upon the woman who just walked into the coffee shop.
Ruby's sister Yang was absolutely gorgeous. She was tall, but not intimidatingly or awkwardly so, with voluptuous curves in all the right places. Said curves were currently covered by a white v-neck shirt, and a blue and white flannel tied up at the bottom with the sleeves rolled up. Her long legs were currently being shown off by the high-waisted denim shorts she was wearing, ending in brown hiking boots with knee high socks. She wore a series of differently shaped yellow, brown and orange bracelets on her arms, the entire outfit completed with the aviators resting on her face. Her long mane of blonde curls was tied up into a ponytail, leaving her bangs in front, which Blake assumed was just about the only way the massive tangle of hair could be controlled. It was a simple look, but Yang pulled it off with aplomb. She took off her aviators and tucked them into the collar of her shirt, shifting her weight onto one leg and putting her hands on her hips as she scanned the coffee shop for the pair.
Her face lit up with an immaculate grin as she located Ruby and Blake, and she trotted over, an obvious skip in her step. Blake managed to tear her eyes away and glared at Ruby, hissing under her breath "Why didn't you tell me your sister is hot enough to be a supermodel!?"
Ruby simply shrugged. "It didn't come up."
Before Blake could throw a few choice words Ruby's way, she was interrupted by Yang's greeting. "Hey guys!"
Ruby gave her older sister a small wave. "Hi Yang. This is my friend I was telling you about, Blake. Blake, my sister Yang." Blake nodded shyly towards Yang who grinned and waved her fingers at her.
"Nice to meet you!" Yang cheered as she sat down.
"Likewise," Blake said.
Ruby beamed at them, obviously proud of herself, before giving Yang a quick side-hug and excusing herself. "I wish I could stay and catch up but I really have to go. Besides," she winked at the two of them. "I'm sure you two wanna get on with your date as soon as possible. See ya!" With that, Ruby gathered her things and left, Blake thinking of how she was going to murder the younger girl the next time she saw her as she glared daggers at her retreating back.
"So," Yang began, bringing Blake's attention back to the situation at hand. "Ruby didn't tell me how pretty you are." Blake couldn't help but blush and let out a short, small laugh at that. Yang was certainly forward. She raised her eyebrows in a silent question.
"Sorry, it's just I thought the exact same thing when you walked in," Blake explained, causing Yang to grin. Yang leaned forward onto the table, supporting herself with her folded arms.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I've never done this before. How about we take turns? I'll start. What's something you like to do in your spare time?"
Blake allowed herself a small smile before she answered. It seemed that Yang was going to make this easy for her. She wasn't surprised that Yang was this friendly and easy to talk to after what Ruby had said about her. "I like to read most of the time." Blake saw no reason to lie, though she doubted this answer would interest Yang very much. She was wrong.
"Oooh," Yang said, her eyes widening just slightly as her mouth formed an 'o' shape. "What's your favorite kind of book to read?"
"I suppose I don't really have a favorite," Blake lied, a light dusting of pink adorning her cheeks. "I like all kinds of books." There was no way Blake was going to tell this girl she just met that she mainly liked to read trashy romance novels.
Yang simply nodded in acceptance. "I really like fantasy myself. Harry Potter, stuff like that. I probably get it from when I used to read fairy tales to Ruby when we were younger," Yang chuckled to herself. Suddenly she opened her eyes wide and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oops! I shouldn't have said that. Ruby's gonna kill me."
Blake merely grinned and leaned forward, playfully whispering "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
The two of them continued to chat for another couple of hours, both fully enjoying being in the other's presence. Blake had been nervous about meeting Yang, especially since Ruby had described her as being pretty much Blake's polar opposite. She had to admit, though, Yang was a very likeable person. She could see herself becoming good friends with this girl, if nothing else.
Yang finished laughing at one of Blake's jokes and flashed her another dazzling smile before placing her hands on the table and standing up. "Hey, I'm gonna get something to drink. You want anything?"
"No, I'm fine, thank you." Blake replied politely. As Yang went and waited in line to order Blake took out her phone and began texting Ruby. Okay, you were right, she isn't so bad.
Ruby's reply came almost immediately, Blake's phone buzzing as she was setting it down. I told you!
Blake smiled and shook her head. I suppose I should thank you for at least not setting me up on a bad date.
Don't thank me yet, give her time. She could still blow it.
Blake chuckled to herself until she heard a voice from behind her.
"What's so funny?" Yang asked as she sat down with her drink.
"Your sister," Blake replied, stuffing her phone back into her back pocket.
"Oh God, what'd she do this time?" Yang smirked as she took a sip of her drink.
"I was thanking her for setting me up with you even though I didn't want her to, and she said-"
"Hold on," Yang said with a frown, holding up her hand signaling Blake to stop. "You mean you didn't agree to this?"
Blake stammered, caught off guard. "I- er, well-"
"Ruby tricked you into this, didn't she?" Yang interrupted. Slowly, Blake nodded.
"I thought you were in on it."
Yang shook her head and looked down, grumbling her sister's name under her breath. She looked back up at Blake after a moment, guilt and… something Blake couldn't quite place shown in her lavender eyes. "Look, I'm sorry Ruby tricked you into this. I wouldn't have come if I had known you hadn't agreed to it. I wouldn't have wanted to meet you like this. If you want, I'll leave now, you don't have to go through with this just for my sake." With that, Yang stood up and turned to leave.
"Yang, wait," Blake called after her. Yang stopped and looked back at Blake, a quizzical eyebrow raised. Blake was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. She hadn't expected Yang to actually stop.
"Yes?" Yang asked when Blake took a moment too long to speak her mind. Blake cleared her throat and gathered her courage, not being used to putting herself in a vulnerable position like this. There was something about Yang, though, that made Blake want her to stay.
"I'd… really appreciate it if we could continue our date," Blake said in a small voice. "I may not have wanted to at first, but that's just because I'm a very shy person. I've really enjoyed your company though, and I'd like to continue to enjoy it if you'd let me." Blake bit her lip and looked down, not able to look Yang in the eyes after laying her emotions out in the open.
Yang stepped closer and placed her hand on Blake's arm. "You really don't want me to leave? You're not just taking pity on me, are you?"
Blake shook her head and looked up. "I truly would like to keep spending time with you, Yang. And Ruby's right, I do need to break out of my shell more."
Yang smiled warmly at Blake before firmly grasping her hand, dragging her out of the shop and exclaiming "Come on, then! Let's go crack that shell wide open!"
Blake's eyes widened as she allowed herself to be dragged along. What did she just get herself into?