Blake was well versed in secrets. Obviously. For as long as she could remember she had been holding dark words and unknown exploits to her chest. From smiling at a clerk nervously as Ilia hurriedly shoplifted from the store, to rubbing her hands together timidly as she offered her sympathy to a corrupt cop she was making sure was alone, to casually having a long conversation about cell phones with an Atlas officer, barely hiding a bomb behind her back. Blake was a good liar if not for her dumb emotions getting in the way. The less she knew someone, the easier it was- but if she started to feel comfortable around someone, her guard would slip, and she'd let out things she'd rather keep private.
Which was why she had outed herself to Weiss. Despite the fact that she had been pissed at the white haired girl, she still felt safe around her, at least subconsciously. Ilia had called her an idiot, Sienna had called her dangerously sentimental, and Adam said she was weak.
But Blake was a good liar mostly. And of course she was. Every faunas in Vale was either spectacularly tough, or an amazing liar. There were two choices really- try to live your life normally, taking all the scowls and glares and looks of disgust given to you, letting human men around bars catcall you, and let the police press you to walls, the safety on their guns already unlocked. Or you could lie. Wear a hat, baggy pants, large hoodies, scarves, gloves, makeup, contacts, medicate yourself, file your nails, pierce your skin, rip yourself apart, wear a bow. And then you lie. You nod your head and agree with the racist bus driver, laugh as some stupid punks pull someone's ears, watch Faunus hate commercials without a scowl, openly complain about the audacity of the white fang killing people, and pretend not to know what it's like to be hurt enough to want to.
This type of lying Blake excelled at. Ilia had once told her that she had the stillest ears she'd ever seen trained on a Faunus. She hadn't said it like a compliment, because of course it wasn't, but it was worth some pride, coming from Ilia. Blake could keep her eyes from dilating through sheer will, she could stop herself from reacting to sounds a human couldn't hear (but what White Fang member couldn't with those horrid anti-Faunus high-pitched noise makers the police had employed) she could file her teeth in under a minute, and of course, keep her ears still. But some things were harder to repress. Instincts. Stopping herself from instantly balancing on an object like a human wasn't capable of- eyes drawn towards quick moving objects- the smell of fish fucking her right up- the urge to hiss or purr- these things were nearly impossible to stop from happening entirely. But she could hide them for the most part, and there were more unusual people than her at a Huntress school thank Christ.
But hiding who you are, much like lying, is hard to do when you trust someone. Sometimes when she was relaxed, natural instincts would just slip out. And team RWBY was getting the worst of it.
Blake had been very distracted the first time they had played this god forsaken game- but now that she was a bit more aware of her surroundings, she had become…well slightly more invested. It was board game, a popular one in Vale- she forgets its name but remembers seeing it on a lot of store shelves. It takes a surprising amount of skill to play, and Ruby and Yang have the obvious advantage due to their familiarity to it, but Blake's determined to win.
She never thought her knowledge of taking over states and converting masses would be helpful in anything as silly as this, but life was full of surprises she supposed.
"-so when I look around me, I see not faces of despair, or soldiers ready to die, I see courage built upon resolve, I see strength in hopeful faces, I see people prepared to fight to live!" Blake exclaimed, looking down at her friends seriously, putting as much emphasis and power into her voice as she could muster. Ruby was staring up at Blake in awe, her eyes widened with disbelief, Yang was pouting, glaring at the card Blake had put face up on the table. Weiss had her face in her hands.
"Oh my gosh Blake! How can you do that so easily!" Ruby bubbled, excitement passing over the young leaders face. Blake smiled and laughed, her laughing growing more mean spirited as yang huffed in frustration.
"What you should be asking is how she got so many fucking 'Make a Speech' cards! I can't believe out of all the cards to hoard you chose those!" Yang fumed, glaring at the card like it had wronged her family name. Weiss groaned from on the bed, her position slumped.
"Oh god, Vale's done for. That card gives her a fifty percent speed and attack bonus! She'll be inside my capitals walls as soon as her next turn!" Yang hummed in thought as Blake smugly looked on, happy to be winning a game for once. She had been on a streak of loses, unable to figure out what her playing style should be. Yang won the game's most often than not, but Weiss was close on her tail. Ruby was a good player, but she was terrible at keeping secrets and her poker face, if it could be called that, was not effective. Only this round had Blake realized that if she saved up cards like 'Make a Speech' and 'Stop Embargo' or the ever infamous Cause for Revolution' and then spammed them all at once, she could easily take large swaths of territory. 'Stop Embargo' would block certain luxury trade roots for enemy kingdoms, thus decreasing their happiness, 'Cause for Revolution' would persuade enemies citizens with abysmally low happiness to turn on their country and join your forces, and 'Make a Speech' would boost their stats immeasurably, if only you could impress the other players with a real speech. And as much as her team hated her right now, even they couldn't deny, she made a good speech. Mistral would be the only Kingdom left if she had anything to say about it.
"Well Blake- I admit you've done well, but while you were busy destroying the remains of Vale-" another pained groan from Weiss.
"- I laid a trap card that will destroy any and all trade stopping cards- which means no more 'Stop Embargo!'" Yang laughed gleefully, clapping as Blake's face fell. Fuck. She didn't have a plan for that!
"Uggg you bitch!" Blake spat, only half playfully, a hiss escaping her mouth so naturally she almost didn't realize she had done it. But the sudden quietness in the room alerted her to something amiss. Blake looked up from her cards, her ears flattening slightly at her friends looks. Weiss looked curious, perhaps vaguely guilty, and Ruby just looked fascinated. Yang looked a mix between happy and interested. Blake blushed realizing what she had done.
"uh…sorry, that was… it was automatic." Blake murmured, shame lacing its way through her bloodstream. Why did she do that! Fucking moron! Fucking stupid automatic animal instincts- fucking hissing like a domestic cat, right in front of her friends! Now they would know just how fully being a Faunus made you a freak, how closely it made you resemble a wild dumb animal-
"Whoa no need to be sorry Blake, I've just never heard someone hiss is all-were not- you know we don't judge you for your Faunus traits right?" Ruby asked, clarifying gently, a look of pity crossing her face. Blake winced.
"Even though I…just hissed? Like a cat?" This time it was Weiss who spoke up, a stubborn look on her face, internal debate apparently over.
"So what? I laugh and eat and run like a primate. It doesn't make you lesser than us, just because you follow slightly different instincts than we do." Weiss added, a prideful 'end of conversation' tone entering her voice like it always did when she was sure of something. Blake felt warmth blossom inside her chest. Yang smiled cheerfully, putting her hand over Blake's.
"Yeah! Besides, now we know one of your tells! Blake Belladonna hisses when she's about to fucking get her ass kicked." Blake laughed loudly, trying valiantly to stop from crying. Finally happy, with no more secrets to keep.