Disclaimer: I own nothing. This story basically takes canon up until a bit after the food fight at the beginning of V2, and then diverges wildly. It was also initially written with the intent of 'one sided bumbleBY, end game Monochrome' with plenty of Yangst, because I wanted to write a serious amount of angst for some reason. This is the end result.
Yang always felt that part of being a good partner- no matter the kind of relationship- involved being heavily invested in her partner's present state of mind. It was her job to be a cheerleader, a Drill Sergeant, a mother, a shoulder to cry on, or supportive, depending on the situation. That was a given.
The fact that it wasn't always easy kinda sucked, though.
"Hey, Blakey, why the long face?" She slid onto the bench beside her partner, wide grin in place despite being nearly ninety percent certain she already had the answer.
Sure enough, when amber eyes hesitantly met hers, she was proven correct. "Just... the usual."
"The little Ice Queen giving you a hard time again, huh?" She wrapped a supportive arm around the Faunus' shoulders, lowering her voice and casting a cursory glance around. They were alone in one of the many gardens surrounding Beacon, the twilight driving most people either to their beds for an early night or to the sanctuary of the library for a mid week study session. If she had to guess, her sister and other teammate were in the latter, especially given Weiss' tendency to study way more than the woman obviously needed. She might not admit it to the prissy heiress' face, but the shorter woman was ridiculously well read. "What happened this time?"
"She didn't do anything, Yang. I just- I was going to tell her, and then..." Blake shrugged, leaning into the blonde's side and setting her head against Yang's shoulder. "I can't."
"Oh, don't be like that, Blakey!" She cajoled, glancing at the bow the Faunus insisted on wearing despite the rest of her team being more than aware of her heritage. Jeez, that was one heck of a fiasco, but everyone made up and they were playing nice for a while after.
Until Yang noticed not all was right with Blake. It had taken weeks to coax the truth out of the quiet Faunus, but eventually Blake fessed up: she'd developed a bit of a crush during their time at Beacon, aimed directly at the one person she viewed as entirely unattainable: Weiss Schnee.
Of course, this revelation was a bit... jarring, but for all the wrong reasons. That Blake, a Faunus, was crushing hard on Weiss, who up until recently had been a bit of a... well, fantastically racist jerk in regards to the Faunus, that should have been the part to throw Yang for a loop. But, nope. It was realizing that the blonde had to bury her own feelings that had brought the biggest smack in the face to Yang.
But she was totally handling it like a boss.
"She said she didn't care, remember?" Yang started gently running her fingers through raven black tresses, careful not to get too close to the special little black bow. "If you want to be honest with her, then you should go for it, see if she can put her money where her pretty little mouth is."
It was something of a double whammy for the blonde, really. Yeah, she had developed a bit of a crush on tall, dark, and mysterious currently humming thoughtfully at her side, but she also had developed a bit of a crush on short, loud, and moody, too. It wasn't entirely ridiculous- these were two of the people she spent the most time around who weren't related to her, after all, and she'd long ago discarded the concept of giving much of a damn about social norms and what was between a person's legs- but Blake and Weiss appealed to two very different sides of her rather expansive personal tastes.
Blake was committed, strong willed, calm, and deadly when she was in her element. Taken out of it, she was nervous, skittish, and vulnerable. Yang liked having someone she could rely on to essentially pop out of the nearest shadow whenever her anger blinded her, just to watch her back; at the same time, she liked being able to soothe away the Faunus' doubts and fears, gently pulling her back to her feet.
Weiss was... different. She was confrontational, headstrong, loud, and precision lethality. But, the shorter woman was also her own biggest critic, pushing herself to attain something that was impossible, and pulling everyone else along with her. Yang liked that Weiss would have a reply for anything the blonde said and would match her verbally where she couldn't physically; of course, she also liked chiding the shorter woman about obsessing over things and forcing her to step back and relax.
Both of them were smart about some things and dumb about others, graceful with their slim weapons in hand and complete klutz while distracted, unable to escape their pasts no matter how they tried and that sort of pain was exactly what Yang wanted to burn away with gentle caresses and fiery kisses. They were as different as red and white wine and the blonde wanted to drink from both cups.
Her own internal monologue was straying towards the ridiculously sappy, a side effect of sneaking those 'romance' books Blake kept tucked away to try and get a better handle on the situation.
(Fun fact: they weren't helping.)
"Yang, what if it's not that simple?" The Faunus drew back, amber eyes brimming with unshed tears. "What if... what if I am the reason..."
They hadn't talked about it, not properly. After finding Blake at the docks and becoming a team once more, all four of them had consciously avoided mentioning anything even related to the White Fang. It just seemed... safer. But, when Yang pestered the Faunus about why she couldn't own up to her crush, the story had tumbled out too quickly for either of them to stop, leading to a horrible conclusion, one neither of them could really prove or disprove.
Weiss never explained how she got the scar marring her otherwise perfect, pale features; she never clarified what she considered a 'difficult childhood' to be. Somehow, Blake had arrived at the theory that the heiress might've received the scar in a fit of her father's rage while ranting about a very specific loss of Dust cargo from a train. Yang doubted it- either because she had such a good relationship with her own father that the very idea seemed ridiculous or because she just had a gut instinct that said it wasn't true, she couldn't be sure- but Blake's rather poor opinion of any Schnee she wasn't romantically interested in spoke for itself. The only way they could get any closure on the issue would be to ask Weiss or for Blake to recount her final mission as a Faunus of the White Fang.
The former had the potential to upset the woman, which neither Yang nor Blake wanted to do, because it had hurt them both to hear the genuine anguish in her voice from that night. It wasn't something either of them wanted to repeat... for the exact same reason.
"Look, Blakey, you're just going to drive yourself up the wall until you tell her, but I'd give her the benefit of the doubt." The blonde gently nudged her partner. "Every time you take off your bow, she doesn't flip her lid or anything, so that's got to be a good sign, right? And I told you that, in the entire time you were gone, she never once blamed you or lumped you in with the other White Fang explicitly."
"I deem 'explicitly' a worrying qualifier, Yang." The Faunus mumbled.
They'd been through this particular song and dance a hundred times before, though, so instead the blonde cut straight to the chase. "So, what have you got to lose?"
"A lot, Yang." The Faunus sighed, blinking away her tears and offering a weak smile as she marshaled her courage. "But I'll still have you, right?"
"Of course!" She pulled Blake into a hug, wrapping both arms around the her and careful not to squeeze too hard. "You aren't getting rid of me that easily, partner." Even if it killed her on the inside, the blonde was determined to help Blake get the girl. That's what a good partner was supposed to do. "Say, there's a carnival this weekend. How about we bug Ice Queen and Rubes into going? Team bonding crap, Rubes'll go nuts for it. Then you can tell her about the whole train thing."
With her head so close to the blonde's chin, it didn't take much movement from those hidden cat ears to lightly smack Yang's jaw. "How, exactly, is a noisy carnival going to help my situation in any way? Should I wait until we're getting our faces painted or until after the bouncy house?"
"Oh, come on, it's perfect! And don't diss the bouncy houses; Ruby still loves 'em." She pulled away just enough to catch that beautiful amber gaze. "All you gotta do is hang out together, remind her how absolutely awesome you are, and then you can tell her how sacrificing the cargo was the only way to save the crew! She can't be mad about that! Heck, a story like that could melt anyone's heart, even our resident Ice Queen's!"
Blake rolled her eyes but nodded slightly. "You really think so?"
"Like I said, you've got nothing to worry about." Yang gave her biggest smile. "Either she'll see how amazing you are and ask you out then and there or she's irredeemably straight and you never stood a chance anyway." She winked. "No matter what, come next week, you won't be beating yourself up over a crush."
Blake shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "Irredeemably straight?"
Yang pursed her lips together and then nodded her head resolutely. "Yup." She pulled away slightly to strike a pose, jerking a thumb against herself. "Anyone not attracted to me must be irredeemable! There's laws about this stuff, ya know."
The Faunus laughed, lightly whacking her arm while standing up. "Let's go, Yang. We can start trying to convince those two to come along. They're probably done with studying by now."
"Alright." She stood up, patting Blake's shoulder. "Let's go set up your secret date!"
Amber eyes rolled but a blush rose in Blake's cheeks all the same, turning Yang's smile a thousand watts brighter.
It didn't matter how much it hurt, she was going to be the best partner ever.
Thursday night saw all four members of team RWBY in their dorm room. Ruby was nose deep in her Grimm Studies book, Weiss was working on an essay that wasn't due for another week, Blake was busy with some... personal reading material, and Yang was planning her avenue of attack. They'd brought up the carnival and, while Weiss had seemed lukewarm to the idea, Ruby had jumped on board immediately. While she absolutely adored her baby sis, this whole plan had a very specific endgame in mind, so she'd need to pull out all the stops.
Biding her time, the blonde pretended to be absorbed in her History book while watching the shorter woman out of the corner of her eye. Eventually, Weiss would lean back and roll her neck, an obvious sign she'd completed whatever paragraph she was working on and needed to regroup her thoughts before continuing. She needed to catch her teammate's attention at a moment when she would be most receptive to hearing whatever Yang had to say and the middle of a sentence was not that moment.
After only a few more minutes, Weiss took the break the blonde was waiting for, and she instantly jumped at the chance.
"Hey, Weiss, do you have a minute?"
Blue eyes danced across her page before shifting to meet lilac. "I suppose."
Hopping down from her bunk, Yang carried her book over and pointed to a specific paragraph. "I'm having some trouble with the homework- the Mistralian Trade Agreement thing. I just don't, like, get it, ya know?"
Although she rolled her eyes, Weiss accepted the book, beckoning her down so they could read it side-by-side. With ease, she summarized the MTA's purpose and historical impact and Yang silently thanked her lucky stars for just such an assignment. If there was one thing that put the heiress directly in her zone, it was talking business policies.
"Okay, so, they basically just made a Remnant-wide standard that everyone could agree on?"
"Basically." Weiss flashed her a small smirk. "And now that I've explained it, let's hear your undoubtedly stunning logic for going to the carnival."
"You wound me, Weiss." She dramatically clutched a hand to her breast, feigning hurt. "Can't I ask one of my esteemed teammates for assistance without suspicion of an ulterior motive?"
In a second, the proverbial Ice Queen mask was firmly in place, those pouty lips drawn into a firm line. "No."
The blonde sighed, shaking her head. "Well, because I respect you far too much to let you be utterly wrong in this particular instance, I guess I'll have to think of something real quick!" She cocked her head to the side. "Just don't hold it against me if it's not quite up to your standards, Princess; I really wasn't expecting to be put on the spot like this."
"Oh, please," Weiss replied, rolling her eyes. "You absolutely thrive in the spotlight."
"Guilty as charged." She winked, earning a shake of the shorter woman's head for her troubles while putting a finger to her chin. "Now, let's see. I guess the best excuse I can come up with is that, seeing we're all ahead in our classes, we deserve to take a break and hang out as the bosom buddies we are!"
Her smirk grew a little wider when blue eyes darted briefly to her considerable bust, firmly setting another tick in the 'at least bi' category. Weiss realized a moment too late that her brief distraction didn't go entirely unobserved, glowering at her briefly before looking anywhere else.
"Well, you have been abnormally studious as of late, though I fear that if I agree, you'll assume you're enough into my good graces to start slacking off again." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not entirely sure I should encourage such manipulative behavior."
The blonde chuckled, so very tempted to take the obvious bait but instead crouched down until she was looking up at the seated heiress. She might never say so out loud but Yang got the distinct feeling that Weiss really liked being able to look down at someone who usually towered over her. Not to say she had a height complex or something; just that the way those blue eyes were glimmering spoke of an amusement that Yang was all too happy to provide.
"Aw, come on, Weiss, don't be like that! I started really applying myself before I even heard about the carnival!" She flashed that brilliant smile she was so well known for and tilted her head. "Besides, maybe I'm trying to better myself for my team and this'll just be positive reinforcement for getting good marks!"
"Well, I can't very well check the veracity of that claim, now can I?" Weiss huffed, reluctantly nodding along. "Okay, fine, I'll go to the carnival, too. Happy?"
"Heck yeah!" Yang shot up, doing a little victory dance in the middle of the room. "We're going to have a blast this weekend! Friday night and all Saturday, and then Sunday will be relax and study day!"
Weiss blinked in surprise, leaning around Yang so she could look at Blake. "Study day?"
The Faunus shrugged, ears far too rigid to be entirely comfortable, something she did subconsciously whenever the heiress looked her way. "I thought it might be a good idea to set aside some time for us to study together."
"We do have that test in Grimm Studies next week." The heiress noted absently, flashing a small smile at Blake. "Thank you for talking some sense into her."
Yang finished her little dance, shrugging off the subtle dig and clambering back into her bed, textbook in hand. Before she could start trying to actually read anything- she was actually being serious about buckling down on her schoolwork; the carnival was just a happy coincidence- the conversation below continued.
"By the way, is everything... okay?" Weiss' voice had taken on that uncertain quality, as it always did whenever she was trying to talk about something personal.
"Of course. Why?" And there was Blake, being smooth and pretending like she wasn't a hair's breadth away from turning into a stuttering mess.
Honestly, Yang really liked that about her; unless someone spent an inordinate amount of time studying the Faunus- in this scenario, Yang- it was hard to tell when she was being genuinely disinterested or just masking her nerves with the front.
"It's just that, well, I've noticed you usually rotate your ears whenever you first remove your bow, so I had... perhaps incorrectly assumed that it was painful to keep them still for too long." A sure sign of a flustered heiress was the slip into an overly formal tone, like the one she was currently using. The blonde only regretted retreating to her bed so soon; flustered Weiss was best Weiss, in her opinion. "I was merely concerned that something had occurred, seeing as you didn't do that today."
Oh, right, Yang had drug Blake along with her to the library to grab some books for class, allowing Ruby and Weiss to beat them to the room. She'd noticed the same thing, of course, but, with the whole 'Weiss being here before us' thing, had expected as much from the Faunus.
"Oh. I, uh, didn't notice." Lying Blake was worst Blake, in Yang's opinion. Not just because she didn't like insincerity as a whole but also because Blake looked extremely uncomfortable while lying, to the trained eye. "They do get a bit... stiff, though. Moving them usually... attracts attention."
"Well, in the privacy of our room, you're allowed to attract all the attention you want. I hope you're aware of that."
The blonde could hear the smile in Blake's voice. "Right."
An easy silence enveloped the room and Yang allowed her lilac eyes to stray from the page she admittedly hadn't been trying too hard to read, looking across to her sister. It belatedly occurred to her that their esteemed team leader hadn't immediately joined her in celebration upon Weiss agreement to their weekend plans. She started looking around for something small to chuck over there when Weiss spoke up.
"Yang, don't you dare even think about it." She narrowed her blue eyes. "She's asleep."
The blonde raised a brow and grinned. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely." She gestured up towards their team leader's bunk. "I practically live under this swinging deathtrap, remember?"
"Okay, fine, I'll be boring." Yang shrugged, turning her attention back to the text. She was actually being very truthful about buckling down on her studying habits; with Blake so close to screwing her courage to the sticking place, she wanted to do everything in her power to provide as few distractions and obstacles as possible. So what if that meant giving up her otherwise fun off time for reading some boring crap she probably will forget by next year anyway? If it made things easier for Blake and Weiss, it was hardly a sacrifice.
Friday afternoon, classes over, and the four members of Team RWBY were heading to the carnival. Oh, sure, Weiss put up a few last minute complaints, which were rather ineffective seeing as she voiced them while changing into her casual attire, and Ruby practically spent the whole day brimming with energy just trying to get through classes but, hey, that was part of the fun! The moment they stepped onto the street lined with booths and gimmicky little rides, Yang could tell that her plan was going to go off purrfectly for her partner!
Of course, she would need to stay close and observe, just to make sure things didn't crash and burn prematurely. There were a fair number of their classmates also at the carnival, too, so she'd need to ensure none of them accidentally ticked off Weiss or discouraged Blake. Oh, and keep Ruby from getting all weird and curious and- wait, where was her sister?
"Uh, Rubes?" The blonde looked around, trying to spot either the telltale cloak she always wore or those little rose petals she left behind, neither of which caught her sight. "Where'd she go?"
"That's odd." Weiss frowned. "I thought she wanted this to be a team bonding excursion."
Thinking fast, Yang recognized the opportunity when it presented itself and immediately latched onto it. "She probably just saw something she liked. Tell you two what, I'll go find her real quick and we'll meet you, uh, over there!" Both of her teammates acknowledged the rendezvous point, between two food shacks that were emitting some rather delicious scents, which meant awesome food, which would be excellent after a little time spent 'looking' for her sister. "Feel free to look around a little! Oh, and find us a game to play when I drag our illustrious leader back!"
If there was one thing that brought them together, it was friendly competition. Plus, some of the plush prizes were kinda cute.
With a little wave, the blonde started weaving between people, pretending to look for the tiny terror that was her sister on a mission. Once she felt like the other two weren't looking, Yang doubled back, slumping her shoulders so she wouldn't be as easily seen in the crowd. A flash of white hair tipped her off to the location of her two targets and she did her best to stay by the edge of a particular large booth, peeking around the corner to spy on Weiss and Blake.
Currently, the duo were observing some other people throwing darts at balloon and talking, though Yang wasn't close enough to make out the conversation. Their postures, on the other hand, were easily read: relaxed but a bit awkward, turned towards each other. Whatever they were talking about, it was going pretty well, but they were starting to get nervous. This was probably one of, if not the, first solo, one-on-one conversations the two had engaged in since the drama bomb exploded and were just now realizing it.
Yang had predicted this might happen and she'd coached Blake through several foolproof icebreakers. All her partner had to do was capitalize on the moment, steer the conversation towards subject she excelled at, and drop a few lines in just the right places.
"Come on, Blakey, you got this!" Yang muttered to herself, noting the slight twitch of the Faunus' bow.
The tension that was formerly locking up her shoulders slowly ebbed away, amber eyes glancing towards the blonde's hiding spot very briefly as her lips curled into a small smile. That's right, wingwoman Yang was on the case, no need to worry. She had a handle on this. Then Blake said something to Weiss and the woman locked up completely.
Uh oh.
The blonde could see it clearly: Blake was already starting a tactical retreat, opening her mouth to apologize or make some sort of excuse, when the weirdest thing happened.
Weiss laughed. She immediately tried to stifle it with a hand flying to her mouth, of course, but the sound was initially loud enough that even Yang heard it, her lips tugging into a dopey smile. She really wished the shorter woman would laugh more often; it was a really pretty sound! Blake obviously liked it, saying something and ducking her head to hide her own dopey grin. A gentle hand on her arm, just below the armband the Faunus always wore, brought their gazes together again, smiling at each other as all the awkward tension slid away.
Yang wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. On the one hand, stage one success! Her two teammates were talking now, smiling and chuckling, motioning towards whatever caught their fancy, and they looked so damn happy together that even Yang had to smile. On the other, of course, her two crushes were being friendly and flirty and they looked so damn cute together.
Oh well. She was a good partner and a good teammate and she cared about both of them. All that mattered was their happiness.
"Hey, is that Weiss?" Lilac eyes were ripped away from the display, zeroing in on an all too familiar shock of blue hair next to a very familiar Faunus.
"Yeah, and that's Blake!" Sun and Neptune exchanged those stupid, suave guy smiles with each other, and oh hell no were these two about to wreck all her hard work.
With speed that Ruby would've been jealous of, the blonde plastered on one of her characteristic grins, not-so-subtly stepping into the would-be interlopers' path. "Hey guys! What's up?"
"Oh, hi Yang!" Sun smiled, monkey tail swaying lazily behind him. "Haven't seen you in a minute. Enjoying the carnival?"
"It's a lot bigger than the ones we had on Patch, that's for sure." She chuckled, setting a friendly hand on their shoulders and- in that patent pending way she'd perfected- turned them right around, throwing an arm around their shoulders as she steered them away. "But, I gotta tell ya, this place is great! Awesome food, the games are alright, and have you checked out the prizes they got? Not to mention the rides!"
"Uh, yeah, we were going to see if Weiss and Blake wanted to, ya know, join us." Neptune tried to look behind him. "On the rides, I mean."
"Yeah. Those two could totally use some fun, right?" Sun waggled his eyebrows and, if he wasn't trying to wreck Operation Secret Date, Yang would've probably commended him for it.
However, as things stood, these two were obstacles she needed to remove, time fucking now. "Ah, you two don't wanna bug 'em right now. They're kinda in the middle of an... well..."
"Argument?" Sun raised a brow.
When it came to fighting, Yang was not a 'plan for every little thing' type like Weiss, a 'use misdirection and subterfuge' type like Blake, or a 'think fast and move faster' type like Ruby; she went with her gut, for better or worse. Apparently, this was one of those times.
"More like a debate, honestly." She let out a melodramatic sigh. "Don't get me wrong, they're getting along great now, and it's awesome having them so chill with each other, but those two love to pick opposite sides of a topic, just to see how the other will defend their point, ya know?"
Neptune laughed while the Faunus let out a relieved sigh. "Sounds like them, alright. They are just so smart."
Yes, she was highly aware of this, and maybe once Blake and Weiss were officially dating, she could call these two up and they could all cry to each other over their broken hearts. "Exactly."
"What are they debating, though?" Sun lowered his voice, cringing slightly. "It's not anything about... you know..."
"What? No, dude, y'all should give Weiss some credit." The blonde laughed, squeezing their shoulders. "Like I said, she's over that."
"Oh, well, maybe we can join their little debate." Neptune winked at his companion. "I'm sure we could provide some illuminating perspectives."
Yeah, she didn't believe that and she didn't expect either of these two to stop of their own accord.
Okay, so dissuading two suave lover boys was going to take her reaching into the emergency bag for help. She'd rate this just under a three in terms of severity, needed something they couldn't possibly have an opinion on one way or the other, and a distraction. A sign out of the corner of her eye gave her the last one, so all that was left was for her to reach deep within herself and embarrass the shit out of them.
"Well, not sure how much you two could help!" Yang brought them to a stop, looking between the two and a slight frown. "See, Ruby's all about teamwork and team bonding, right?"
"Yeah." Neptune and Sun responded in unison.
"And part of that is being on the same page about things, yeah?"
"Of course!"
They were too invested in where she was going with this to back out now. "Well, seeing as all of our menstrual cycles have finally synced up, it's come down to figuring out which hygiene product works best." Idly, she wondered if other gals could be so blasé about this particular subject matter. By the looks on their faces, the males in front of her were too shocked to think to stop her. "It's really inconvenient, ya know, because we all have very unique fighting styles, so weighing comfort against practicality is splitting us down the middle. I mean, you've seen the way Blake moves; can you imagine have a-"
"Maybe we really don't have the experience to contribute to that conversation." Neptune offered in a dead tone that did nothing to temper the blush rising in his cheeks.
"Yeah, that sounds like something you should, uh, talk about as a team with no outside influence whatsoever." Sun gulped, offering a weak smile.
Ah, boys. If they weren't so cute, she'd consider going full time lesbian.
Instead of teasing them though- and the urge was strong, so kudos to her for resisting- Yang merely shrugged off their dismissals. "Yeah, you two are probably right. Oh! But, whenever we're done and got some free time, I can tell them where you guys are!" She blinked innocently. "Uh, if I... know where you two will be, I guess."
That seemed to snap the two back into action, all smooth smiles and confidence as Neptune nodded. "Yeah, we'll probably be hanging around the rides."
"Oh, liiiiike, that one?" She pointed towards a rather hysterically garish 'Tunnel of Love' sign, a knowing smile on her lips as the two coughed and mumbled affirmatives. "Tell you two what; as soon as we're free from the shackles of team bonding, I will send your wanna-be lady loves straight into your awaiting arms. Sounds like a plan?"
"Absolutely!" Neptune and Sun exchanged grins, high fiving and totally missing Yang's eye roll.
"Great!" She smirked, giving them two thumbs up. "You two practice your lines and they'll be heading your way before you know it!"
"Thanks, Yang!"
"Yeah, appreciate the solid!"
As the two interlopers were successfully diverted, Yang returned her attention to Weiss and Blake. Thankfully, Neptune and Sun were more invested in listening to her talk than checking on what their crushes were actually doing; Weiss was trying her hand at the dart game, with Blake watching and offering a teasing remark or two. Although she was too far away to be certain, there looked to be a little red in those very pale cheeks.
Wait, was Weiss trying to impress Blake with a show of dexterity? Aw, that's adorable! Yang couldn't help but smirk a little, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hey, little lady, wanna play a game?"
The blonde turned, half tempted to ask what was 'little' about her when she caught sight of the game the man was obviously trying to entice her to play. It was one of those swing-a-hammer, ring-the-bell things, with a myriad of colorful plush toys hanging all around it to serve as prizes. Most of them were run-of-the-mill carnival fare but there, at the top row, were five or six plush golden dragons roaring down at her.
Damnit, she wanted one.
"What's the game?" She walked over, putting on her best innocent, inquisitive expression while stealing a glance down towards Blake and Weiss. The Faunus was comforting the shorter woman, although they both seemed rather amused by whatever happened, with Weiss animatedly trying to wave her off while throwing down some more lien.
"Pretty straight forward," the man said, indicating the multicolored hammer set next to a metal stump. "Just hit the bulls-eye with the hammer. Hit with enough force to make that little runner ring the bell and you get a prize!"
"Oh? Which of them can I pick from?"
"Any one your little heart desires," he replied with a slick grin.
She was going to have fun with this. "Alright, I'll play."
Now, she wasn't Nora by any stretch of the imagination; that woman was beast with a hammer. Still, she spent her life punching through her problems, so she had a respectable amount of strength in her arms and core. Really, how hard could it be to ring a bell?
The answer: actually, pretty frickin' hard! She should've known that the games would be rigged in case any Hunters came around trying to play; her first swing only brought the little runner halfway up the pole. Sure, she didn't try too hard, because she didn't want to pay for breaking his game, but the stupid thing obviously encountered resistance somewhere around the mid point.
Okay, she could adjust. She'd just hit harder.
Second try, no dice. She got three quarters of the way but there was even more resistance.
"Aw, so close. Wanna try again?"
Yang had to temper the urge to smack him. She was getting that damn dragon and it didn't matter she'd probably already paid more than the thing was worth.
Her third try, the blonde didn't bother trying to ring the bell. Instead, she deliberately set her feet wrong and leaned too far over, swinging the hammer as hard as she could. Predictably, the stupid thing ricocheted off the bulls-eye and beamed her in the middle of her forehead. Her aura absorbed it instantly, though she made a show of acting like it hurt.
"Maybe it's time to stop?" The man offered warily, unsure if she was seriously injured or not.
"No, I'm fine! One more, come on!" She smiled wide, rubbing at her forehead. "Please? Just one more try?"
"Well, alright." He tipped his head. "On the house; that last one didn't count."
Ha. Sucker.
Allowing the minimal damage to fuel her movements, Yang brought that hammer down as hard as she could, jumping up in victory as the clear sound of a ringing bell echoed out.
"Yeah! Nailed it!" She set the hammer down, turning to ask the poor guy to go grab her dragon when she caught sight of something much different.
It was probably the last one the guy had: a huge, plush, adorable black cat with ears just like Blake's. It even had yellow eyes a shade too light to be hers but... it was so adorable!
"Can I... get the cat?" She pointed, smiling when the man nodded and started wrestling the black cat from its perch.
"I thought you were supposed to be looking for Ruby?"
The blonde stiffened, turning around with a wide smile on her lips and excuse at the ready. It died on her tongue when she finally caught sight of the heiress, struggling to carry a huge, plush, flexible... golden dragon, like the one she was trying to win. "Uh..."
Behind Weiss was Blake, arms conspicuously held behind her back while the shorter woman was leveling a halfhearted glare in Yang's direction. "Well?"
"I, uh, got distracted?" She shrugged. "But, hey! You won one of the games?"
"Yes. And here." Weiss threw the dragon's head up in an arc, looping its soft body around Yang's shoulders. "I thought you might like it."
"Aw, that's sweet, Princess." She couldn't help but beam, trying to contain her excitement. "But, uh, didn't you get something for yourself?"
"Oh, it's nothing, it was just a silly game, Yang." Aw, Weiss was blushing! That was absolutely adorable.
Blake obviously thought so, too. "The booth didn't have something suited to her tastes." She smiled wide, pulling a plush white fox from behind her back and holding it out. "The ring toss game, however, did."
"Blake? When did you..." Weiss' expression softened as she reached out and accepted the gift, carding her fingers through fur that matched her hair. "It's beautiful."
The Faunus shrugged nonchalantly, biting her lip slightly as she ducked her head. "I left a shadow clone so I could win it for you. I was back by the time you won, though."
Weiss reached out, again touching Blake's arm and offering one of her rare, wide smiles. Although the Faunus couldn't hope to clamp down on the blush rising in her cheeks, Yang smiled at the two of them. They really were adorable together.
"Here ya go, miss."
Yang turned just in time to accept the black cat, immediately offering it to Blake. "Here."
Amber eyes lit up as the Faunus chuckled, scratching between the plush's ears. She wasn't paying too much attention but Yang thought she saw a distinct flicker of disappointment flash through Weiss' eyes before they all smiled at each other.
"Now we all bear the fruit of our conquests." She cuddled the white fox to her chest as though it were alive. "What's next? More fruitless searching for your wayward sister or one of these rides of questionable structural integrity?"
Rides?
Ahahaha, nope.
"Actually, I'm kinda hungry." Yang made a show of shrugging the golden dragon around her shoulders into a better position while moving towards one of the food shacks, effectively keeping their attention on her. It wasn't that she was concerned either Weiss or Blake would go running off to be with Neptune and Sun, but, well, one could never be too careful. She had a mission and she was going to see it through. "How about we grab some grub?"
"Now that you mention it." Weiss turned, scanning the assembled temporary establishments and picking one out. "That one specializes in seafood, I think. They seem to serve fish based dishes, at the very least. We could go there."
Blake licked her lips as her gaze instantly honed in on the shack in question; Yang noticed not only the action but how effectively it captured Weiss' attention.
Yup. All she had to do was ensure no one screwed things up and these two were set.
The more she realized that, the easier it was to accept. It still hurt like no other but... she would get used to that, in time.
Sporting a big grin, she swept an arm out. "Well, then let's eat!"
The food was, in a word, awesome. The whole meal was filling, delicious, and, strangely, a lot of fun. Unlike the traditional shack, this place offered Huntress sized meals and then some, encouraging dining partners to pick off their friends' plates. Although Yang tried to keep to the side and just observe, Blake had managed to snag little pieces of fish that peppered her bowl of noodles and Weiss had leaned all the way over to steal a few of the sautéed vegetables. This, of course, meant she had to retaliate, and the meal quite nearly devolved into another food fight. How none of them choked on their food while giggling was beyond the blonde's guess.
At the very least, they all managed to peacefully share their chocolate dessert cake, though the blonde couldn't resist the mischievous inclination to scoop two fingers through the chocolate icing and paint a lazy line across the cheeks facing her. Blake and Weiss raised a brow at her for a moment before exchanging a look, fully realizing what the blonde had done while she busted out laughing.
"Very mature, Yang." The heiress rolled her eyes, though she immediately stiffened when Blake reached out and swiped up the majority of the chocolate on the shorter woman's cheek.
She immediately stuck the offending digit in her mouth and hummed, withdrawing a clean finger. The Faunus must've realized how incredibly forward- and hot, very hot- that action was after it was far too late, her bow twitching slightly as she averted her gaze. "I-"
Before she could complete her excuse or apology- Yang wasn't sure which- Weiss reached out and repaid her in kind, removing the chocolate from the Faunus' cheek and licking it off her finger. When she looked up, Blake was staring at her slack jawed while the blonde made the conscious effort to tear her eyes away; these two were going to be the death of her. "Was... that alright?"
Sensing the genuine tremor of fear in the heiress' voice, Yang subtly poked Blake's side, jolting the Faunus into smiling wide. "Yeah, uh, yeah. Sorry, I should've warned you first. Uh..."
Without a word, the blonde pushed a few napkins towards her flustered teammates, pretending to be distracted by something else. Deciding she might as well clean herself up as well, Yang popped the perpetrating digits into her mouth quickly while reaching for a napkin. She really hadn't anticipated how weird she would feel, effectively being the third wheel to a couple she had crush on, but that was fine. She was good. She was handling it.
Glancing at the duo in question, Yang raised a brow. Their faces were clean and they were both quite blatantly staring at her. Probably because she was holding them up. "So, what's next on the agenda?"
Blake seemed to perk up. "Well, we could try one of the rides. A rollercoaster, maybe?"
"I'm not sure I would trust one of those things with my life." Weiss muttered, glancing behind them and at the rollercoasters in question.
Confidently, the Faunus reached out and took one of the shorter woman's hands in hers, smiling. "We'll be fine. I'll be right beside you. Yang, too."
Yang fought the urge to wince and just barely won. The perfect chance to be smooth and of course her partner would take the safer route. What was she going to do with these two?
Weiss squeeze the hand holding hers and sighed. "Alright, I suppose trying it once wouldn't be too traumatizing."
"That's the spirit!" The blonde swung off the barstool, pointing to the tallest of the carnival's attractions that wasn't a Ferris wheel. "Let's go on that one!" She flashed her teammates a winning smile. "Since Princess is only going to ride one, it might as well be the biggest, right?"
It occurred to her the moment after she spoke exactly what she'd said, trying valiantly to contain the sputtering laughter than was just dying to come out. When Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes in tandem and groaned, however, she couldn't hold it any longer, laughing uproariously at her own double entendre.
"I can't tell if that was simply vulgar or just plain horrible." The heiress shook her head, carefully tucking the white fox under her arm as she got off her stool.
Blake slid off hers, the black cat laying over her left shoulder. "I'm voting for horribly vulgar."
"You two are no fun," Yang replied, taking the dragon's tail- its body still draped over her shoulders- and tossing it completely around her neck, rocking the plush like a boa. "I'm fabulous."
They laughed, heading towards the ride which, conveniently enough, was at the opposite end of the carnival from the Tunnel of Love ride.
Idly, Yang wondered just how long Sun and Neptune would wait there and just how mad they would be the next time she saw them. Ah, well. She'd take them out to dinner as an apology, where they could bemoan their collective heartbreak together.
Author's Note: Will update daily until complete, purely because the whole thing's already finished. Thirteen chapters in total; I apologize ahead of time for the wonky chapter breaks, but I don't ever write with the intention of keeping the segments a uniform length. In fact, I have no idea what I'm doing, ever. Blame Alexlayer. Also, thanks to twin-3, Zearth, and Alexlayer for encouraging me to finish this.