Chapter 3
That fateful day wasn't the first time, or the last time, that Weiss would feel that selfsame worry bubbling from deep within.
Blake was occasionally skittish. Sometimes, she hid in the shadows of her own fears. For better or worse, Blake had always been that way. Trust was hard to build, but it seemed as though that trust was even harder to keep.
Blake's strange behavior didn't stop, but rather, it slowly got worse.
The growing lack of intimacy was one tell-tale sign that something was gravely amiss.
It wasn't as if they had an explosive sex life. It wasn't dull by any stretch of the imagination, either. Blake couldn't often resist promises of the physical variety. In truth, the Faunus was shy. Somewhat afraid of being judged. In spite of that, Blake was also keenly aware of her interests. She knew what she liked, and exactly how to get it. Blake lusted in a way that Weiss did not. While it was also true that the white haired woman was far from a blushing wallflower, Blake had always maintained a much higher libido.
At the very least, Weiss had once considered their activities it to be rather healthy. Even when they began to falter, she merely accepted that encounters of the sexual sort would lessen in frequency as time moved on. After all, they weren't teenagers anymore. Life kept them busy. As the weeks had drifted on by, Weiss wasn't so sure anymore.
Blake's demeanor had shifted in an inexplicable way. A way, that in all the years of knowing her, Weiss had not expected. Blake had never resisted temptation before. Then again, Blake had rarely resisted at all, until recently.
Weiss asked questions, but received no answers.
That was no comfort either. The days trickled on by with Blake withdrawing more and more. The days when she left Weiss naked in bed were stacking in numbers. The Faunus was antsy, distracted, her mind drifting off in the most impossible places. Yet, that golden eyed stare seemed to see something that Weiss couldn't.
Weiss couldn't wrap her head round any of it.
She tried, desperately so.
Still, she couldn't begin to fathom that distant stare that would glue itself to book pages, a meal, or even the blank canvas of the ceiling. What did Blake see? Why did it captivate her so?
Weiss didn't know.
It didn't seem to make any sense, and yet, even that distant gaze was terrifyingly beautiful.
Despite the way Blake protected the matter closely, that gaze of hers was strange. Fiercely gentle. Pensively peaceful. There was a sentimentality to her expression that soothed over the depths of anger that bubbled away at Weiss. There was a fragility in that golden gaze, and Weiss took great care with it, fearing Blake might be thinking of something painful.
As people, they had their fair share of baggage. As former huntresses, they had a list of missions where blood had been spilled. Some things were best left in those dark shadows of regret.
Finally though, enough was enough. After two long weeks of watching Blake brood, and another two of watching her suffer in silence, Weiss was at her limit.
It was a busy Monday morning with meetings piling up. It was going to be a hectic day ahead of them. Actually, it was probably the worst time to barge in on Blake as she soaked away her anxieties in the bathtub. Still, those anxieties were things that Weiss was no stranger to. She knew them well, or so she thought. So, as she was about to join Blake in the deep ocean of bubbles that the Faunus had created, she noticed the way Faunus ears twitched.
The aversion of golden eyes.
The placid, but thoughtful frown.
The way that Blake, like so many other times, seemed off.
As if somehow, her world had been tossed askew.
"Blake," Weiss began hesitantly. "Are you alright?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Weiss bristled. "You seem as if you aren't."
"I'm fine." Blake said. "Just…"
"I'm listening…"
A soft growl of annoyance slipped from Blake's lips. "Yeah, and I'm thinking."
Weiss positioned herself to sit on the side of the tub, still in her bathrobe. "You seem to be doing that a lot recently."
"I know." Blake said. She looked up, finding that blue eyed gaze. "I just need some time. I want need to be alone here and there…just for a little while."
"I'll go start breakfast." Weiss said, though it pained her to say it. She forced a smile anyway. The picture of perfection.
Blake reached out to grab her slender wrist. Holding it gently in her own. How could she explain her mind? She wasn't sure, and chose not to. Her eyes were molten as she sighed away a great frustration. "One day." Blake promised. "One day, you'll know. I'll tell you. You'll see it's no big deal, and then you'll think I'm an idiot."
"I'll wait, then." Weiss said softly as Blake let her go.
Weiss slowly left the bathroom, one forlorn glance to Blake telling the Faunus that she hated doing so.
Blake could only sink down into the water, letting out a long sigh. A clump of bubbles flying from where they had collected along the water.
When she was little, she had books to pass the time. She liked the stories, she envied the happy endings. Even then, she wanted one that was all her own. As a child, she was stupid enough to believe in magic, and gullible to think she could have a happy ending too. Even as an adult, she could only look upon those pages with an angry sort of envy. Even if she could achieve what she wanted, even if she defied impossible odds, she'd never be remembered for it.
Her life wasn't as fantastical as the books she used to read.
There were no magic fairies to help fly her away from this world. There was no prince to shelter her from all of the painful things in the world. No fairy grandmother to make her perfect for just one night. For a little Faunus girl, life had been nothing like her stories. For a lonely teenager, the world knew only cruelty. For the Faunus woman that gazed into the water now, there was only reality as she knew it.
She told herself that she should be happy with it.
That because of who she was, what she was, she'd already reached her limit. She doubted she'd ever get anything else. Even if she asked for it. Even if she begged. She could plead to all of deities known to Remnant…
"It doesn't really matter if I tell her or not." Blake mumbled to herself. "It's pointless anyway…"
AYangThang: Double update tonight, expect chapter 4 soon.
