Understanding the Subtleties of Love

Chapter 1: Blake Abandons Yang Except This Time It's Not as Serious

Yang found out on Sunday night as they were getting ready for bed.

"I got a job," Blake said in the casual way she said most things. "An internship actually."

She leaned over from above and peered down into the shadows of Blake's bunk where she could see her partner's luminous eyes flicking back and forth, scanning the pages of a book.

"What? Why?" she asked. This had come out of nowhere. She hadn't known Blake was even looking for a job.

"We're in our second year and it's time I started thinking of my future," Blake stated without looking up from her reading. "I was planning on starting a Faunus rights group, one that didn't resort to terrorism. And I needed to learn more about running an organization so I asked Professor Goodwitch if I can help with anything. She said yes."

"Oh. I didn't know about all this."

Blake must have heard the unusual quietness in her voice because she lowered her book and gazed up at Yang.

"It was sudden. I didn't mean to keep it from you for long. Sorry."

"Aw, it's alright," she smiled, cheered from the fact that it wasn't meant to be a secret, "when do you start?"

"Tomorrow. I have to report to Goodwitch's office every day after classes end."

"How many hours a day?"

"Two."

Yang furrowed her brow. "So what am I supposed to do while you're gone?"

Blake had returned to her book.

"I dunno. You'll find something."

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It was Monday afternoon and Yang had finished her last class for the day. She hated having Port for last period when her energy was lowest. The professor's voice had a way of burrowing into her brain and scraping at the back of her eyes. It didn't help that the rest of her team didn't have the same class. Due to the variety of their electives, her teammates had been scattered across the schedule. Blake had Port in the middle of the day while Ruby and Weiss, at Weiss' insistence, had him first thing in the morning. But all that didn't matter now because the day was over and she could finally relax.

Yang burst into the dorm with gusto. "Hey, Blake, you'll never guess—"

She was met with an empty room.

Oh, that's right. The internship.

She tossed her bag onto her desk chair and clambered into her bunk. Usually at this time, she would chat with Blake about the day including complaints about their professors and the homework they assigned. Then she'd ask Blake if she wanted to do something to which the reply was almost always "no." She would then drag the Faunus out of her bed and they would play video games or head to the training room or study in the library or just hangout outside. With her partner now busy in the school office, Yang had nothing to do save for staring at the ceiling and counting the little points of stucco until her eyes drowsily eased shut.

"You idiot, let me see that."

It didn't feel like had she slept for long before voices pried into her subconscious and forced her awake, though she still couldn't find the strength to open her eyes. Weiss and Ruby had come back from whatever they were doing and now Weiss' angry hisses were filling the room.

"I can't believe you have to rewrite this. How much time did you spend on this?"

"I—uh…20?"

"20 what? Minutes?"

Yang could imagine Ruby had nodded guiltily because she heard Weiss take a deep breath and slowly let the air out through her nose. Yang found it in her to crack open a single eyelid. Weiss and Ruby were standing on their side of the room next to their beds. The heiress was holding a piece of paper, no doubt the offending essay that had to be rewritten, while Ruby hung her head in shame.

"You spent all weekend playing games and now look at what's happened. Your essay was so bad, Professor Oobleck made you do all of it over again!" Weiss marched over to where her and Ruby's desks sat side by side and slammed down the essay. "We are going to sit here until you've corrected all your mistakes."

Ruby's head snapped up in protest. "But you said we could go sparring today!"

"That was before I learned I had underestimated my partner's irresponsibility," Weiss pointed at the chair in front of her, "Now sit."

Yang watched in amusement as her sister slowly trudged across the room, dragging her boots on the ground to show her displeasure. This did nothing to deter Weiss' determination, the girl crossing her arms and tapping her foot in impatience. Truth to be told, it was Yang that had convinced Ruby to play Ninja Fighter 3 all weekend though she hadn't known Ruby had only spent 20 minutes writing the paper. She mentally shrugged. That was her sister's own fault.

It was quiet now. The pair had settled down at their respective desks, Weiss reading a book and Ruby hunching over her essay. Yang couldn't see if Ruby was writing or not, but there was no movement or sound of a pencil on paper so she assume the latter. Predictably, it wasn't long before Ruby let out a cry of frustration and threw her down.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she whined, "Weiss, help me!"

Yang winced. This was definitely not going to go over well with the ice queen. She saw Weiss take a deep breath to no doubt explode in rage. But surprisingly, she exhaled and quietly scooted her chair next to Ruby's.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

"Uh…"

Weiss let out a huff. "Fine, we'll take it line by line."

She leaned over and pointed at something on the page.

"Look at this sentence. It's Major Gray, not Captain. He didn't lead the charge up Tulip Hill, he commanded his troops from the back. And he definitely did not slaughter 200 beowolves with his bare hands."

Weiss slowly began working through the text, pointing out mistakes, grammar errors, and places where Ruby just made up facts to "make things more interesting." Yang yawned. The heiress could blather on and on about boring things for a while. She didn't know how Ruby could stand being lectured all the time. Yang could only handle a few minutes of Weiss' talking before her gaze slid over to her sister.

As expected, Ruby wasn't paying attention. She wasn't even looking at her essay. In fact, Yang noticed, she was staring at Weiss. As Weiss was talking, Ruby's silver eyes roved around her partner's face, jumping from her eyes, to her nose, down to her lips, and back again.

What was this? Had Ruby always looked at Weiss this way? It wasn't a normal look like when she held a conversation with somebody. It was like she was trying to study Weiss' face. Like she was trying to commit every little detail to memory. And also something else. Something that was off. Something strange. Yang finally remembered when she'd seen this look before. She'd seen the same look of Blake's face that time the cafeteria served grilled salmon for dinner.

It was the look of hunger.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Weiss' irritated tone snapped Yang out of her reverie. Ruby was now nervously glancing back and forth between Weiss and the paper.

"Yes, of course I was."

Weiss glared. "Then what was I talking about?"

"You were talking about the supply chain to the forward operating base being cut off during the Spring Offensive."

"Hmm," Weiss gave Ruby a surprised look. "So you were listening."

The short-haired girl frowned. "I always listen to you."

Weiss scoffed, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "When? When do you ever listen?"

Ruby grinned.

"When it matters."

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Blake came back soon after and Yang pretended to stretch when the Faunus woke her up. Weiss and Ruby were still at the desk, squabbling over something about pencil smudges. But Yang's mind was blown. What had occurred was completely different from anything she had ever seen from Ruby and Weiss. First, the heiress had actually been nice and had even smiled a little. And then Ruby's staring. What the hell was that all about? Part of her suspected the reason, but she had to be sure. She had to get to the bottom of this.

"Yang."

She shook her head, clearing any confusing thoughts out of her already overloaded brain.

"Uh, what'd you say?"

Blake raised her eyebrows. "I asked you if you found something to do while I was gone."

"Yeah," she nodded thoughtfully, "I think I did."

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