After the almost disaster that was 'The breach' as the media was calling it Blake had returned to Beacon with her team and had to face certain... hurdles. Namely hurdles like having skipped or slept through many of her more recent classes during her hunt for Roman Torchwick and the White Fang.
Now that the criminal was behind bars and her former allies schemes seemingly quelled Blake should have felt satisfied. This was especially true with the excitement of the upcoming Vytal Festival that Ruby had more than qualified for even against stiff competition. However the familiar faces seen on the train, their near failure in holding back the tide of Grim and the simple knowledge the White Fang would go so far was not helping Blake find rest.
'Three or four hours of broken sleep isn't the worst I've had to deal with,' Blake reminded herself. 'Maybe I'm just getting soft,' she thought. Almost shaking her head Blake returned her attention to the professor, doctor, who had volunteered to help her catch up with her studies. Namely, Oobleck, she and the fast talking coffee addicted teacher were in Beacon's grand library. Blake was skimming some records on the computers holo-screen while Oobleck quoted passages from a stack of history books to test her response time and knowledge.
All in all, Blake could say it was kind of fun in a way. Besides, Oobleck had always been her favoured professor at Beacon given his views and clear passion. She'd never taken him for a fighter but then, many didn't take her for a Faunus, she should have guessed he could fight, apparently very well if Ruby was to be believed.
"... The cultural impact of which can still be felt in the law enforcement and courts of today," Blake finished.
"Ah excellent work as always Miss Belladona!" Oobleck cheered, taking a swig of his coffee he then went and did somehting that many would consider stupid. He reached out and patted her head. It shouldn't have been a surprise, Vale and Vacuo were often seen as more 'touchy' than their counterparts of Mistral and Atlas. In Vale a teacher ruffling a good students hair would raise no eyebrows nor offend anyone's sense of personal space. However Blake was not truly of Vale and more important she was a Faunus and the man's fingered had just rubbed her ears.
Blake's frame stilled, her lessons said to bat his hand away but the shock of it kept her prone for a moment. 'Did he know before? Does he know now!? I need to-'
Oobleck's hand flew back to his side and the man sucked in a breath before offering a slight bow. "My apologies Miss Belladona, I wasn't aware that three students would have raised their hands in my class instead of two." His voice was hushed and tense, as he met Blake's eyes with worry and concern. "You have my deepest apologies should I have caused any offence Miss Belladona."
'Three, what does he... The class on the Battle of Fort Castle? Of course he'd remember that,' Blake thought. Sliding back in her chair she saw his worry grow but he made no reach to stop her or demand she forgive his potential transgression. Tense fingers releasing the wooden desk Blake sighed and said, "Its fine professor. Now let us never speak of it again."
"Speak of what again?" He said, chuckling before bringing up another text book. "Surely you don't mean to forget the foolishness of Coronal Barbrady?!"
A small grin on her lips Blake answered, "Of course not Professor, that should never, ever be forgotten."
Closing the door to the Team RWBY dorms shut with a soft click Blake resisted the urge to crack and rub her neck. So many hours on the computer combined with the stress of catching up in class and the jarring discovery of her nature by Oobleck left the Faunus more than a little tense. She'd considered using her Aura to heal it but that somehow felt... wasteful.
"Oh! H-ey Blake!" Yang called from her up on her bunk bed where she'd draped her Beacon blazer over the end while having left the rest of her uniform on if looser. The faint sound of her Scroll being flicked off hitting Blake's sensitive ears. The blonde waved before flinging herself to the floor and meeting Blake's golden eyes with her own lilac one's and a smile.
'Something's wrong,' Blake deduced. Her eyes shot to the books holding up Yang's bed and then her shelves, 'Nothings out of place there. My Scrolls in my pocket... Gambol Shroud's in my locker, my uniform maybe?' Shaking her head the dark haired girl shrugged and said, "Hey Yang, good, evening I guess." She was just being paranoid Blake assured herself.
"Hey," Yang said, her toothy grin just a little too small to truly feel genuine. The blonde's eyes seemingly staying on Blake's own through sheer force of will against great opposition. "We missed you at dinner," Yang continued.
"Oh, sorry I was catching up on my classes and Oobleck got off onto a tangent about societal formations."
"Does that mean you skipped dinner?" Her partner asked, Yang's distracted state of mind seemingly vanishing as concern replaced... Whatever she'd been feeling before.
"I've eaten since then," Blake answered simply, as she deposited her bags on her desk.
"Neat," Yang answered, as she continued to stare at Blake searchingly while clearly trying to not look like she was staring.
"Did something happen?" Blake finally asked, she'd never been good at beating around the bush, all in or all out tended to be her way of doing thing, much to Blake's own detriment.
Frowning and puckering her lips Yang seemed to mull the question over for a moment before sighing. "Its nothing big just... Look I can't speak for your experiences but I guess these last few days, especially with your whole... thing, plus the Breach have been pretty stressful. Like, more-so for you than us."
'That would be an understatement,' Blake thought. A tell-tale and uncomfortable pressure springing up in the back of her head as she reflected on all the reason she had to be worried. 'The White Fang, Torchwick, the riot, classes and police interviews...' Blake thought. She hadn't lacked such peace of mind in a long time but then again she hadn't been in such a high stakes mess or at risk of discovery in a long while either. All of this flashed through Blake's mind in an instant and while she felt a headache coming on she simply shrugged at Yang, as placid as ever and said, "Its been different."
"I see...," The blonde answered, eyes flicking to the ground as her fingers stretched and clenched as if seeking something to do.
'Maybe I'm not as good at hiding things as I thought... Dammit this never would have happened before,' She lambasted herself.
"Look Blake if there's anything I can do to make life, I don't know," Yang said, scratching the back of her head, "easier, just say so. I'm your friend, your partner," she grinned, "You know I'll always be there for you right?"
"Thank you, Yang, that's," Blake trailed off as she searched for the right words, "nice of you," She ventured.
Yang grinned at her for a moment before sighing and running a palm along her forehead. "No problem Blake, look I have a confession to make."
"Shoot."
"I sorta heard what happened with Oobleck, the uh, patting thing," Yang said.
"Who told?" Blake half hissed, teeth clenching at the thought.
"No, no, no, nothing like that and if you don't want to discuss it, like quid-pro-quo I won't mention this again if it makes you uncomfortable."
"So how did you find out?" Blake asked coolly, she knew Yang's footsteps, knew her presence too well to miss it so easily.
Blushing a little Yang grinned, likely in an attempt to counter Blake's dour glare as she said, "Nora was there and she apparently passed by you guys on the way to meet me for a snack. I guess she didn't hear you didn't want to discuss it, sorry, I feel dumb now. If it helps I have some hilarious pics from Nora from when she and Ren were tiny," Yang said flicking out her Scroll.
'OK, that's funny,' Blake thought her bad mood ebbing a little as she looked at a much smaller Ren who looked to be wresting with Nora and losing, badly. "You meet Nora for meals?" Blake ventured.
"Yeah we wanted to swap baby pictures, Ruby was the cutest," Yang said, preening at the mention of her baby sister.
"I'm sure she was and... its fine, so long as she doesn't spread it around, you know what might happen then," Blake said.
"Got it, texting her as we speak ma'am!" Yang said as her fingers flew over the blue holo-screen of her Scroll.
"Is that what you were being so awkward about?" Blake asked as Yang hit send and sent the message on its way.
"Awkward? Me? Nah!" Yang laughed. Blake merely raised an eyebrow at her partner and the girl quickly dropped the act. "Well a little, I was gonna tell you after this and I'll totally get it if you're mad or want to tell me I shouldn't pry."
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, this level of evasiveness from Yang was, odd to say the least and unsettling.
Shrugging the blonde said, "After hearing about that from Nora I went and did some research on some Faunus run websites about-"
"About petting?" Blake filled in for her, voice neutral, arms folding as she stared into her partner's eyes.
"Yeah, I'm sorry Blake I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Yang said quietly. The blonde leaned forward and offered a bow and said, "I should have come to you first or maybe just forgotten it but I didn't want to make you uncomfortable; still going behind your back wasn't fair either."
Repressing a sigh Blake shook her head and said, "Calm down I'm not angry its just a... difficult topic. Did you do any reading on the history of the subject," Blake half spat.
Yang scoffed and said, "Yeah, you mean like assholes owning Faunus as pets back when it was legal and the fetish crap online now? I saw it," She ground out, the room's temperature raising just a little to Blake's sensitive skin. "It Pissed me off too, I can't imagine what it must be like for you."
"No you can't but... Thank you, for trying and understanding," Blake offered. "Lots of humans see that as an 'example' of how Faunus are barely separate from animals. Proof, that we're just beasts masquerading in human skin. Still it makes sense you'd be curious and its not like I'm going to fault you for trying to be scholarly for once," Blake said, hoping lighten her friends mood.
"Urg, why does everyone say that? I was a top student as Signal you know," Yang huffed, puffing out her cheeks even as she smirked back at Blake.
"Sorry scholar I won't make that mistake again," Blake chuckled as she brushed by Yang and moved towards her cupboard, undoing her tie as she went. Blake had expected a laugh, or a retort, or something so the silence surprised her as did what Yang said next.
"I wanted to be there for you," She said. Yang wasn't quiet, nor was it rushed. Yang seemingly felt no shame in what she said but there was a tension to the words that left Blake feeling like she'd been on the receiving end of some secret.
"What?" She asked, turning around to stare at her partner.
"Heh, sorry but I figured you should know 'why' I did it not just what got the idea in my head," Yang said. "I care about you, you know that right?"
"... Of course Yang," Blake answered. 'Where is this coming from?'
"Good, good, its just, when I heard Oobleck did that, well first I was pretty ticked on your behalf but Nora said you didn't mind so I looked it up and found out-"
"That not all Faunus mind, that the act itself isn't demeaning but that our former masters have tainted such displays of affection for generations to come and that their ideas still hold root. So much so that many Faunus refuse to acknowledge it at all, while others maintain that it should only happen between Faunus, that anything else is demeaning," Blake answered. She knew all of this, had read it, lived it, breathed, the oppressive weight of humanities influence on her people's history. She felt the marks it had left on every Faunus's life all while being invisible to a human onlooker.
Yang nodded, "Pretty much, you could say the part you said there about it not necessarily being demeaning, or even being, well, good, was what I wanted to learn the most about. But I figured there'd be a history behind it as well and I didn't want to mouth off about somehting I didn't know anything about," the blonde said.
"That makes sense but I'm guessing there's more to it Yang, you can tell me I'm not going to be mad," Blake assured.
"Its just, look at me, I like being there for the people I love you know? Ruby, my family, my friends and I can get a bit huggy too," She said with a warm deep laugh.
"I'd noticed," Blake said simply, reflecting on how much Yang tended to make physical contact amongst their group of friends. It didn't matter if it was a spar, or breakfast or class there was always simple pat on the shoulder, a gentle nudge, or even what could only be called a glomp. 'But she's always seemed like she knew people's limits, never pushing too far too fast but-'
"So you wanted?" Blake said slowly, guessing she knew where Yang was coming from but unsure.
The blonde blushed and said, "Like I said, I want to be there for you, in whatever way I can or however you want me to be. But you've never exactly been the hugging type and I don't want to press you if it makes you uncomfortable you know? Then I heard about the library thing and thought, maybe I just had the wrong approach? I was going to ask but then I got to researching just in case and yeah suddenly, that seemed like a less cool idea... Like I said, its been stressful for you and well, if you don't want to discuss it or want me to do anything that's fine. I'll never bring it up again if you don't want but... I just want you to know that I'll be here if you need anything from me, happy and willing to serve," She said with a tiny salute.
Blake looked at Yang, really looked at her partner as the girl stood before her, a human, completely exposed and awaiting a response. If she told Yang to leave, Blake was confident she would. If she demanded Yang never bring up such a thing again Blake was certain she wouldn't and would likely spend the rest of the week trying to make up for a perceived insult despite her good intentions. 'But will she ever look at you the same way again if she sees you act anything other than perfectly human? We're not humans, we're our own people, a species. Yang's never really seemed to care about the difference but that can cause its own problem.' 'humans just with extra ears' was a nice thought but one that dismissed the Faunus as their own unique people, different but one that should be equal, only seeing 'people' as those who act the same as them.
'If my differences are right in her face will it change anything? Will she change how she treats me? Sees me?' Blake asked herself desperately. Images of Adam flew threw her mind, the only person who she'd ever allowed to touch her like that had been Adam. He'd spoken at length of how their bond was special, something humans, nor any other outsider should see or taint with their presence as his sharp fingers ran across her ears and he held her tightly to his chest. The conflicting thoughts clashing in her minds and the memory of Adams's presence once such a comfort now turned cold and terrifying and... wrong, the more time she spent on her own and out of his grasp.
Blake was shaking, her breaths small and useless until a familiar blonde head came into view. Yang was kneeling in front of her, calloused and strong fingers just gently touching the tips of Blake's own, the barest of physical contact but enough to Bring Blake's mind back to the present. Yang stared up at her, eyes shining and her expression marred with worry as she seemingly ruminated on a way to banish Blake's demons. "Please Blake, whatever you need I'll help even if it means sending me away," She promised.
'She's your friend, she's a human, Yang's your partner, Adam would be furious, Adam would-' Bake slipped her hand into Yang's own and pulled the taller girl up so they were eye to eye. Using her left hand she undid her bow, lavender ears flicking up, twitching and stretching as a small sense of relief washed over her. "You said you were kind of a huggy person right?"
"Uh, yeah..." Yang said, her eyes moving from Blake's ears to Blake's face.
"We've had a stressful few weeks," Blake said quietly as she slipped her arms around Yang's waist. She nestled her head on the other girls chest, near the crook of her neck and said, "I think we could both use some help from a friend." She felt Yang's tiny laugh before she heard it, the blonde relaxing into Blake's hold as tension seemed to flee her body and warmth radiated from her frame.
Yang's hands slowly, with an almost alien sense of nervousness, reached for Blake's head. "Just tell me if I make you uncomfortable," She whispered. Blake merely nodded and smiled as she felt Yang's hands gently run across her silky hair. One simply massaged her neck, and Blake hadn't know how much she needed that until just now. The other slowly began to run across her hair, each gentle stroke bringing Yang closer to Blake's ears that that quivered in anticipation as the girls warm fingers danced around the base of her cold cat ears, warming the restricted extremities and soothing the now familiar tension Blake had simply grown to accept as normal.
Blake's eyes closed as she leaned into her friends hold, casting aside her memories and concerns just for a moment to relish in pure physical sensation. Yang's movements started as nervous and flighty but quickly became smooth and confident as she continued. Finger-tips sliding down almost velveteen ears, before moving to scratch the base while her hand slid through Blake's silky hair in calm gentle motions.
It was gentler than Blake remembered anything feeling for a long time, warmer than she'd honestly felt in an age and so much simpler than the thousands of thought that had left her mind so tormented. For the moment they, the outside world and the weight upon her brain were gone. Her dark thoughts being chased away by the light of a companions affection and the sense of comfort in allowing one's self to be cared for even just for a moment. Blake didn't even notice when her body vibrated and gentle purrs rumbled in her chest and throat before slipping from her lips.
Yang didn't say a word. She merely sighed in relief and relished her friends presence in her arms as the tension left Blake's weary frame and a calm smile she'd not seen before spread across her friends face.
'Thank you, for letting me be here for you...'
This oneshot came about after a fairly extensive discussion on the subject this fic pertains to with an author over on SB who is writing a RWBY/Nanoha crossover called (Hazredous' Interruptions (Nanoha / RWBY) which I recommend for solid writing, neat world building and an amazingly fast update rate, so thanks go out to 'EleventhMessenger' for letting me take this concept and turn it into this, hopefully anyone who has read this piece enjoyed it and please feel free to leave comment, questions or critique