Blake flicked through her Scroll, squinting at the screen as she made her way through the library's aisles. The recommended book list that she downloaded the night before seemed to have reverted to four point font with every other word italicized into near oblivion.
"C'mon, you useless piece of shit, work …" Blake grumbled, trying desperately to maximize the screen as best as she could after getting her eighth error message in a row. Stubbornness was a trait that she'd yet to grow out of.
"Excuse me?"
Blake looked up, eyes wide in surprise before meeting eyes with a girl pulling down gold-rimmed aviators down the bridge of her nose. Her gaze was commanding and critical, the gaze of a girl who had been born a leader.
"Shit, I'm sorry. I was talking to this - " Blake gestured down at her Scroll dismissively. "- not you." The girl's eyes lost their cold edges, and she tilted her head at Blake before pushing her sunglasses higher up her head, taking a blonde tipped ringlet along with it towards her ear.
"Lemme see that." Kidskin glovelets brushed across the backs of Blake's hands as she took the Scroll from her. Her touch was sturdy and assured, the leather stretched along her hands sleek enough to leave behind a wake of thin goosebumps along Blake's skin.
The other girl's long fingers tapped around on the luminescent screen, and Blake took notice of her groomed nails, cut short and lacquered a sheer pale color. In seconds, the reading list's font was adapted to the display monitor and all of the book titles were neatly arranged in ornate bullet point. The girl handed the Scroll back to Blake, decidedly pleased before smiling with half of her mouth.
Blake looked at her, past all of her domineering airs and the way she stood square on her feet like a goddess and the broad hand on her corseted waist. She took notice of the fat gold flecks simmering in her eyes and the playful angle of her mouth. Underneath the bravado, there was a thin layer of sportive teasing directed towards Blake.
"Thanks."
She shrugged. "The Adel Association helped figure out the new software for those bad boys. It's still in its beta though, so it's the least I can do for a citizen in need." The sentence was punctuated with a flippant little salute, sarcastic enough to coax a smile out of Blake, drolly eager enough to amuse even the other girl.
"Do you work for them?"
Coco smiled at that, teeth sharp against the pale line of her mouth.
"Something like that. I'm Coco."
"Blake."
Coco arched a neat brow and shifted on her feet to cross her arms along her chest. Her stance was angled and broad, the treads of her combat boots seated heavily on the library's old carpet.
"So, you're that Blake. Velvet's told me a lot about your team." The knowing look on Coco's face sent bone deep embarrassment sinking into the pit of Blake's stomach like an anchor.
"Contrary to popular belief, we did not set a forest on fire." Coco tugged her beret closer down to her brow and stayed silent until the quiet became interrogative. Blake paused to reconsider. "Actually, I think that did happen."
"It happens to the best of us." Coco gestured broadly with her right hand. "You know, when Velvet was still new in her mage apprenticeship, she set my hair on fire. It was the textbook definition of a clusterfuck."
Blake raised her brows.
"I'm sure she spent two months apologizing profusely."
"Six, actually. But she's from Vacuo, what do you expect?"
Blake laughed aloud, pressing her hands to her smile in an attempt to conceal it. Coco returned her smile and would've held it if the hour hadn't ticked over and the grandfather clock in the library hummed a sharp reprimand. Her grin fell and she cursed loudly.
"Shit! I was supposed to meet Yatsuhashi at the campus fountain ten minutes ago." Coco's mouth pursed in agitation before catching eyes with Blake again. "I've gotta go, but hey, I'll see you around." She didn't pose it as a question, and somehow, Blake knew that she was going to see Coco again sometime soon, whether she liked it or not.
Coco took off towards the exit before twisting midstride to walk backwards.
"Third Crusade's the only one worth reading on that whole list, by the way. Only one worth being read by a pretty girl like you." Blake stood in shock and watched as Coco stalked out, pausing at the door.
Coco tipped the edge of her sunglasses down to reveal her left eye and winked saucily before shoving the door open with her hip and disappearing into a doorway of light. Blake laughed to herself before making her way over to the library clerk.
"Would you mind finding me a copy of Third Crusade, please?"
… and a lover's kiss will taste like honey, sticky down your fingers, like a happy laugh.
Blake closed the cover of Third Crusade and stared down at the book for a long moment. It had been one of the shorter books that she had read, but managed to pull her in its sparse, minimalistic span of words.
Spring cleaning in Team RWBY's dorm had left Blake without anything to do; her five possessions were dusted off and rearranged while Yang and Ruby unearthed relics from their childhood with added running commentary. ("It's my old stuffed animal!" "Whoa, I remember throwing up on that!" "Aw, Jesus, you couldn't have told me that before I stuck my face in it?!"
The weather was mild, so Blake had perched on the campus fountain to finish the last few chapters of her book. Blake looked down at the author biography and skimmed it, barely taking interest at the filler words.
The writer currently resides in Menagerie, researching Faunus civil rights for her next book. Blake widened her eyes. Faunus civil rights were never written about unless an entire section of town had been destroyed by rioters or the White Fang. Menagerie was in a year round state of political unrest, and yet no one chose to discuss what was happening there.
"... and as your team captain, I'm telling you that we're all gonna get shit faced tonight. That's an order." Blake looked up and blinked in surprise at Coco and her team making a slow path across Beacon's courtyard. She walked in front, and her gait was challenging and self assured.
"It's Thursday night, Coco! We have class the next morning, and the last time we tried to train hungover, you almost bit my head off." Velvet protested. Coco waved away her concerns with an errant hand.
"You worry too much. Think of it as pregaming for the club opening that Yatsuhashi got us tickets for this weekend." Velvet rolled her eyes but stayed quiet. "Besides, I need to get tipsy before I go talk to - " Coco caught sight of Blake and paused. "Wait here."
Coco walked towards Blake, holding her gaze all the while. Blake set the book to her side and waited. "I told you we'd see each other again." Coco glanced down at Blake's book and pointed to it. "Was I right, or was I right?"
"You were right. It was incredible." Coco smiled, all gleaming white teeth and sly interest. "And the writing style… I don't think there's anything like it." Coco pushed her sunglasses to perch atop her beret and nodded slowly.
"I'm glad you weren't scandalized by the smut in some of the chapters." Blake shrugged at Coco's comment. "Some people get so turned off by bondage." Coco gave a cheeky smile. "They're not my kind of people."
The color that rose in Blake's cheeks was involuntary, and she became hyper aware of how hot her skin felt under Coco's steady gaze. She looked down for a moment and laughed under her breath.
"Like to be tied up?"
"Depends on who's doing the tying."
Coco's wit surprised Blake. She was sharp, and nothing seemed to get past her. Blake liked her perceptiveness and how she cut her eyes across everything like she was burning it into her memory.
Blake shook her head.
"You're ridiculous." Coco laughed aloud.
"See, if you were doing the tying, I wouldn't put up a fight." She looked Blake up and down. "I wouldn't kick you out of bed."
"What are you trying to say?" Blake asked suddenly. Coco's double entendre had been abandoned in a second for blatant flirting, and she wasn't sure to make of it.
Coco sighed. "You can read and comprehend a book as confusing as Third Crusade but you can't read any signs? I'm attracted to you, Blake. I think that we'd do well together." Blake opened her mouth to speak but Coco cut her off. "And I especially think that I want you in my room every night this week."
Blake lifted her chin up towards Coco.
"I don't suppose that we'll be talking much when I'm in your room." Coco cradled Blake's chin in her palm, thumbed along the dip of her skin. She smiled slyly, leaned down a bit.
"Depends if you're into pillow talk or not."
When Coco leaned down the rest of the way to kiss Blake, it was softer than the Faunus had expected. It was cautious in all the right ways, but when her tongue mapped a tentative path along the hood of Blake's mouth, she parted her lips willingly. Coco pulled away, eyes half-closed, still smiling.
"Room 409 in the West Building. Meet me there in an hour and we can put this ribbon to good use." Coco wrapped her hand along Blake's right forearm and kissed the back of her hand before turning to meet back up with her team.
Blake laughed under her breath and shook her head. She had no idea what she was getting herself into; besides the fact that Coco's touch was electric and sweet enough to savor, she had an hour to mentally prepare herself for fucking in Dr. Oobleck's office.