Blake was no stranger to fast speeds, but the series of events that had taken her from reading in one of Beacon's courtyards to sitting on the docks with Ruby was nothing but a blur. She sipped the grape slushy she did not remember buying and noticed Ruby had a cherry one, which she was drinking with much delight.
"Forgive me for asking if you've already explained, but why am I here?" Blake asked. A crowd of people passed behind them, loudly talking about a recent sporting event. The sun felt like it had somehow found a way to become even hotter, and a quick glance showed that there was no shade to rest in. Blake twitched her bow. She missed her book.
Ruby gave her a sideways glance and smiled around the straw. "Don't you worry your pretty little bow off, Blake. Everything is going according to plan."
Blake twitched her bow at the mention of it. "That's what I'm worried about. What is this 'plan' and why aren't Weiss and Yang here?"
Ruby took a long sip and looked away. The redhead's upper lip started to quiver and Blake was about to repeat the question when Ruby said, "Let's just say they're on a little bonding experience. Which I paid for."
Blake turned to see where Ruby was looking and she spotted a billboard for homemade cookies. Blake glanced back at her team leader and thought she saw a tear fall down Ruby's cheek. Should she offer her condolences? "Thanks for the slushy, by the way," Ruby chirped with forced cheerfulness.
"Don't mention it?" Blake turned the plastic cup around in her hand while Ruby went back to drinking. After spending a minute to get her head wrapped around the situation, she asked, "So if Weiss and Yang are on their 'bonding experience,' what are we doing?"
"That's simple. I'm spending time with my favorite bookworm!"
The compliment made Blake narrow her eyes. After all that had happened, she wanted to trust Ruby, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being buttered up for further purchases. Ruby kept smiling despite the scrutiny. Blake cursed the air of innocence that poured from the young team leader and soon found her mistrust draining. Although she missed her book, Blake decided that it would do her some good to hang out with Ruby. Besides, if Weiss and Yang were going to have fun, why couldn't she? She would just have to keep an eye on her funds and make sure Ruby didn't experience a sugar rush. That would be easy.
Weiss had enjoyed the motorcycle ride until they got to the highway. That was when Yang had decided to go as fast as she could, and that whipped all of her hair the only place it could go: directly into Weiss's face. The only thing that stopped her from losing her mind was the fact that Yang's bountiful hair was soft and smelled good. It was a shame that she couldn't see anything past it. As they continued down the road, being pressed against Yang had lost enough appeal so that Weiss didn't feel like her face was on fire. When the motorcycle slowed down and Yang's hair finally fell away, Weiss saw that they were in a parking garage.
Yang pulled into a parking spot, hit the kickstand, and said, "Alright, we're here!" She took off her helmet and turned around, every blonde hair falling into its original, perfect position. "Enjoy the ride?"
"I couldn't see anything past your hair!" Weiss said. She took off her own helmet and glared at the blonde.
Yang had the decency to look embarrassed. "Didn't think about that," she said, scratching her cheek. "But did you still enjoy it?"
Weiss thought of the smooth, citrus-smelling curtain that had enveloped her for the entire ride and realized that she didn't not like it. She looked away from the blonde and said, "It was… enjoyable."
"Aw, someone's blushing," Yang teased. Weiss was about to object before all of her breath was pushed out of her when the blonde's arms wrapped around her waist and squeezed. It reminded Weiss of Ruby; however, unlike Ruby's hugs, Yang was able to pick Weiss off the motorcycle and spin around.
"Put me down this instant!" Weiss shouted as she pushed against Yang's shoulders.
"Aw, let me have this," Yang pouted. "You're so cold the rest of the time. It's nice to see you loosen up a bit."
The words sent a shiver down Weiss's spine and she dropped her arms to her sides. At least Yang was asking for the hug, and the heiress couldn't say that she didn't desire the contact as well. However, just because she wanted the hug didn't mean that she didn't notice Yang was taking a long time. "Are you done?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry." Yang let the heiress go and Weiss immediately noticed a chill from her absence.
"So when are you going to tell me about this plan of yours?"
Yang bit back a chuckle. Weiss raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Seeing that the heiress was not going to react, Yang muttered something before saying, "Well, since you don't know anything about the Achieve Men, I'm gonna give you a crash course. So c'mon."
Weiss half-expected to be dragged along by the energetic blonde brute. She was pleasantly surprised when they were able to walk side-by-side out of the parking garage, down a set of stairs that smelled heavily of urine, and emerged into the hot weather of downtown Vale. The two set off at a relaxed pace until they came across a small café.
The heiress frowned as she remembered the last time she was in the café was when she didn't think well of Ruby. Weiss thought how ironic it was that she used to be so horrible towards the young redhead and now she was going to a concert with Yang at Ruby's expense. Though she had long since apologized for her past behavior, Weiss still choked a bit when she thought about it. Perhaps she could get Ruby something from the concert. Yang opened the door and waved a hand forward. "Ladies first."
Weiss shook her head. "Compared to you, even Jaune would have to go first."
Yang laughed and followed Weiss in. "I'll take that as a compliment."
The café was just as before. The muted, green tiles of the floor bore faint marks due to all of the traffic that had been through the store. People sat at the cheap, imitation wood tables, providing a buzz of conversations that Weiss didn't care to keep track of. Speakers spilled forth with unfamiliar indie music, which shared the air with the delicious, sweet scent of freshly grinded coffee. The two teammates didn't make it four steps before Yang forced Weiss to sit down at the closest table, which was at the front of the store, and shoved her scroll into Weiss's hands. "Here you go. I have all of the Achieve Men's albums right there, so educate yourself and I'll get the drinks."
"What about ear buds?"
"Huh? Oh yeah." Yang reached into her pocket and dropped a pair of yellow colored ear buds into Weiss's hand. Yang's symbol was on the end of each bud. "Have fun!" she sang before stepping into the line.
Weiss frowned. She didn't get to tell the blonde what she wanted to order, but she decided to give Yang the benefit of the doubt. Weiss sighed before scrolling through the extensive music library. She had already listened to all of the Achieve Men's albums, but it wasn't every day she was able to indulge in her guilty pleasure in public, so she settled on the first song her finger landed on: "The Ballad of Pubert Haywood."
The familiar, upbeat chords started pumping into her ears. Weiss resisted the urge to bob her head along with the beat, as she imagined Yang looking at her to judge her reactions. She felt heat spread up her neck and had to remind herself to sit up straight. She had no idea why she put her back to Yang. If anything, she should have been watching the blonde to make sure the orders seemed ordinary.
A text bubble appeared in the lower-right corner of the screen. It was from Blake and simply read, "Help me."
Alarmed, Weiss clicked the bubble and saw a picture was attached, which showed Blake sandwiched between Ruby and Sun. While all three of them were smiling, and Ruby and Sun had their arms over Blake's shoulders, Weiss could see a silent pleading in Blake's eyes. Weiss considered sending a response, but it wasn't her scroll and Yang would undoubtedly want to see the message, if only to laugh at it.
Weiss navigated through the scroll's menu to find the music player. She clicked on the little icon and was faced with Yang's extensive music library. Curious, she opened a list titled "Favorites." She expected to find more Achieve Men. Instead, Weiss only saw her own songs. "Mirror Mirror" alone had been played over one-hundred times.
Weiss felt her face heat up without the convenience of having any coffee cups to hide behind. With a few deft swipes, Weiss was able to go back to the Achieve Men songs in time before Yang came back.
"Sorry about that," Yang said and placed a large cup in front of Weiss, "the guy in front of me had to complain to the barista about how this store has gone too main stream." Her usual grin faltered and she asked, "So how's the music?"
"It's… enjoyable." Weiss said, thankful for having the cup. She didn't want to reveal how much of an Achieve Men fan she was so soon, and she felt dirty for violating Yang's privacy.
The blonde's smile returned in full force. "Yeah, it's pretty great."
"Oh, Blake also sent you a text."
"She did?" Yang leaned forward and maneuvered through the scroll's interface. When she pulled up the picture, she laughed and shook her head. "Oh man, she's so screwed."
Weiss could feel the heat radiating from Yang's body. It was a surprise that one person could be that hot and not constantly annoyed about it. At the same time, it also made Weiss think about the hug they shared, and how it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have another one. But she couldn't really ask for something like that, could she?
Yang backed away and took her own seat across from Weiss. The heiress shifted and tried to ignore the blonde, who was staring. She rested her head on her hand and had that same, lazy smile. Weiss wasn't sure what to do. Sure, they were supposed to go to the concert, but was Yang planning on having her listen to the Achieve Men until then? Were they not going to talk at all? Well, if that was the case, Weiss decided, she was going to stare right back. She straightened her back and lowered her chin before plunging into the depths of Yang's lilac eyes.
The song ended and another started: "Storming the Tower." To some, it was just a song about fighting for money. On the other hand, there were those that would argue that it was just a metaphor for sex. Weiss had tried to ignore the people that made that claim, but once the idea had lodged itself in her head, she couldn't shake the feeling. The song, paired with staring into Yang's eyes, who was still smiling, caused Weiss to burn with embarrassment.
Yang's smile grew and she imitated pulling an ear bud out. Weiss obeyed, slightly confused. "Are you okay?" Yang asked, her voice full of cheer. "You look like you're burning up."
"I'm fine!" Weiss squeaked. She instantly clamped her mouth shut and waited for the torrent of Yang's laughter to hit her. Instead, Yang just chuckled, a deep sound that came from her stomach. The sound dissipated Weiss's embarrassment, and she soon found herself mimicking Yang's easy-going smile. Perhaps spending time together before the concert had been the right move after all.