Ruby stared at the massive, dark-gray clouds overhead, her dismal expression reflecting the weather perfectly. The rain had stopped for now, but the fairgrounds were still damp and depressing. The sudden downpour had also forced set-up to stop, pushing the crew behind schedule. Ruby sighed a little. She had been hoping to impress Yang by taking the lead on the gala. And this was definitely not part of the plan.
"Don't worry Ruby!" A friendly voice piped up. Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to give her roommate a smile.
"We still have ample time to finish our preparations," the girl continued. "I'm sure Yang will be impressed by how well you're handling this situation."
"Thanks Penny," Ruby said, her expression brightening a little. Penny had always had trouble reading people and their social cues, and she still did, but after living with Ruby for years she had grown amazingly adept at picking up on her roommate's feelings. Which Ruby was very grateful for.
"Alright, looks like it's clear for now. Let's get back to work guys!" Ruby called to the small crowd that had taken refuge from the storm under one of the few tents they had managed to raise. The "crew" comprised of several of Yang's friends and acquaintances, who had volunteered so the campaign didn't have to spend unnecessary funds. Even Taiyang, notorious for his distaste for politics, had shown up to help out his daughter. He give Ruby a nod and a smile, then proceeded to pick up a huge stack of chairs without breaking a sweat.
Ruby checked the time. Slightly after 9. Penny was right, there was still plenty of time, as long as nothing else went wrong. "I hope things are going smoother for Yang," Ruby said to herself, moving to join a group that seemed to be struggling to secure their tent.
"—UCKER!" Yang screamed, grabbing furiously at her hair. Blake stood a safe distance away, unsure of how best to calm her down.
"Yang," she started.
"I should've KNOWN she was up to something," Yang growled. "You stupid IDIOT."
"Yang?" Blake tried again, but Yang continued grumbling to herself, furiously pacing up and down the sidewalk and pulling at her hair. Blake approached her cautiously, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. Yang started and made an abrupt about-face.
"Heeeeey Blake! How's it going? Good? It's going good? I'm good. This is good." She gave what was probably the most forced smile Blake had seen in her life.
"Please calm down, Yang," Blake said in an even tone. Yang barked with laughter.
"Me?" she asked, gesturing frantically at herself. "Dude, I am SO calm."
"That's a lie. Seeing as you're lapsing into 'surfer talk' I'd say you're about two minutes from committing serious property damage."
Yang glared at her silently.
"It's not that bad," Blake continued gently. "I barely even noticed it, and I look at you every day. Besides, I'm sure it'll fade quickly." Yang's glare didn't waver.
"That's very logical and all Blakey, but I have a pretty major public appearance iiiiin—" she checked her watch "—like six hours. So I'm gonna need a better solution here."
"I'm trying to help…" Blake muttered, sounding more defensive than she intended. Yang immediately softened.
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry," she apologized. Then she sighed and ran a hand through her newly dyed hair. "There's no time to re-dye it...I guess I'll have to go with it," she said with a cringe. "I can't wait to hear what Qrow's gonna say." Then her eyes widened. "Oh god, what is my DAD gonna say?"
"Spiraling, Yang," Blake stated quickly. "It'll be alright, I promise." Yang gave her a shaky smile. "Now, we really need to go. Come on, I'll drive," Blake said, leading her to the car. Yang collapsed into the passenger seat like a pile of bricks. Blake took her seat gracefully and started the car.
For the first half of the drive Yang sulked silently, gazing out the window as they made their way through the cramped streets of downtown Vale and then past the more open shopping complexes and neighborhoods of the surrounding area. Eventually, she stirred slightly and gave Blake a sideways look. Blake was entirely focused on driving, her hands perfectly placed in the ten-and-two position, and her eyes carefully watching the road and her speedometer.
"Are you always this tense when you drive?" Yang asked suddenly. Blake somehow managed to tense up a little more, although her eyes remained glued on the road. She was quiet for a long moment, and Yang began to resign herself to being ignored.
"No," she spoke softly. Yang glanced at her again. Blake's brow creased slightly. "There was…an accident a few months ago. A couple weeks before I met you for the first time. My—" she paused for a second. "My boyfriend at the time was driving. He hit the curb while speeding and the car flipped over. But he wasn't hurt at all. And I was only slightly worse off. Cuts and bruises…" Blake trailed off. Yang waited for her to continue, completely enraptured.
Finally, Blake took a deep breath and pressed on. "Anyway, it totaled the car. That's why I didn't have one the first week I was working for you." She shrugged. "I guess I'm still a little on edge from that experience, that's all."
"Damn, that sounds awful," Yang said. "I'm sorry." Blake shrugged again.
"No need to be sorry. Accidents happen," she said in a level voice. There was silence for another moment, and Yang busied herself with staring out of the window again. They were nearing the outskirts of Vale and the fairgrounds site now.
"Yang?" Blake spoke up again.
"Yeah?"
"Since you're talking now, do you mind telling me how you managed to dye your hair purple?"
Yang growled. "Seriously, you've gotta bring that up?"
"I'm only curious," Blake said, clearly slightly amused. Yang crossed her arms.
"Okay, let's get one thing straight here. I did not dye my hair." She held up a hand before Blake could make a snarky remark. "Seriously! I was TRICKED by that she-devil Emerald Black."
"Mercury Black's wife?"
"Yep that's the one." Yang's hands clenched into fists. "She's the one who bought that violet toning crap for me to make my hair 'even more lustrous.' I can't believe I thought she was just being nice," she said, slamming her head back into the headrest.
Blake took her eyes off the road for a fraction of a second to shoot her a worried look. "Why were you talking to the wife of your opponent so much anyway?" she questioned.
"Because I thought she was trapped in a bad marriage and didn't actually like that smug shit," Yang explained. "Which isn't a terrible assumption seeing as he's the worst."
Blake nodded in agreement. "He's despicable." Yang's eyes lit up slightly at that.
"Wow, Blake. That might be the hottest thing you've ever said."
"There was also that hand holding incident," Blake continued, steadfastly ignoring Yang's comment. She was referring to the media footage of Mercury attempting to hold his wife's hand while walking into the Black Industries building, and then getting his hand coldly swatted away.
"Oh absolutely. Plus that was hilarious," Yang replied. "But seriously, all of the signs were pointing towards disgruntled trophy wife. I thought it would be good to be friendly with her." She scoffed. "Obviously I was real wrong on that one."
"Well you shouldn't have to be wary that people are going to try to dye your hair against your will," Blake said with an eye roll. "It's like some middle school prank."
"And people say I'M immature," Yang grumbled. She looked out the window again. The fairgrounds were coming up next to them. "Geez, it's so gloomy out." Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the ground outside. "Wait, did it rain?"
Blake inhaled apprehensively. "Yes, I was going to tell you. But then...you know." She tilted her head slightly towards Yang's.
Yang sighed so heavily that Blake was worried about the state of her voice box for a minute. "Oh well," she said. "At least it's stopped now." She gave Blake a sideways smile. "Bet you thought I was gonna freak out, right?" Blake wisely remained silent.
Yang smiled again. "I'm not THAT unstable." They were quiet for a minute as Blake turned into the fairgrounds entrance.
"I'd never want to be unstuck in time," Yang mused.
"What?"
"Like in Slaughterhouse-Five." She ran a hand through her hair. "Probably should've given you some context," she laughed. "But y'know, unstuck in time. Like Billy Pilgrim. It seems awful."
Blake considered that for a minute. "I don't know, I wouldn't mind it." Yang looked at her somewhat incredulously. As usual, Blake took her time elaborating, pulling into a parking spot carefully before opening her mouth again.
"I like the idea of it at least," she explained. "To move around constantly, and to know what's going to happen at the end." She opened her door. "It lowers the stakes."
Yang clambered out of her side. "Really? You don't think it would be boring?" She straightened her blazer as she spoke. "I like living without knowing what's going to come next. I'd probably be miserable jumping around like that."
"That makes sense," Blake replied. "And you like to focus on one thing at a time. Also, your collar is folded." She grabbed Yang's lapel to straighten it herself. Yang tried to avoid staring at her face, which was suddenly close enough to make her heart beat a little faster. Blake's eyes were lowered, and Yang quickly found herself mesmerized by her long eyelashes.
"I dunno, isn't your attention span better than mine?" she muttered. Blake finished her task and Yang slowly exhaled as she stepped away. "Would you really enjoy flitting around your life all the time? How would you ever move forward from things?"
They began making their way from the parking lot to the open fields, where several white tents, along with tables and chairs, had already been set up.
"It's easier when you know you'll be somewhere else soon," Blake stated. Yang blinked a few times, unsure how to respond to that.
"Whoa, emo."
"I'm not emo!" Blake frowned at the ground.
"Alright, alright." Yang raised her hands in surrender. "You're a bubblegum pop princess who loves flowers and the color pink, happy?"
Blake shrugged. "Lilies are pretty."
"Not as pretty as you," Yang said with a wink. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what she had just said.
"Real smooth." Blake lightly laughed it off, much to Yang's relief.
As they approached the tents, Yang walked slightly faster. She spotted Ruby under one of the tents, currently giving instructions to a group of Yang's gym buddies, who proceeded to pick up a pile of heavy looking tables to move. Yang couldn't stop the proud smile from growing on her face.
"Hey Ruby! May I have your a-tent-tion please?" Yang called with a wave. Blake, trailing a few steps behind her, rewarded the effort with a loud groan. Ruby whirled around and beamed at her sister.
"Yang! Took you long enough," she said.
"Seriously? That's the greeting I get?" Yang griped.
"For that pun? You should consider yourself lucky," Blake stated bluntly. Yang shot her a look.
"She's right you know," Ruby added good-naturedly.
"And now you're ganging up on me!" Yang complained. "That's not very FAIR." Ruby and Blake stared at her blankly. "Y'know, cause we're at the fairgrounds? No? Guys?" The stares quickly morphed into glares.
"Okaaay never mind that one then," Yang continued sheepishly. "Ruby, what's the status here?"
"Set-up is back on schedule despite the rain delay," Ruby checked a clipboard she had conjured from somewhere. "Uncle Qrow and Ren just arrived with the food stuff. And Sun texted that the band is on schedule too." She smiled and looked up from the board. "Operation Yangtastic is going off without a hitch!"
"Well, besides the rain." Ruby laughed nervously.
"It looks like the sun is coming out," Blake offered, pointing up at the clouds, which were indeed looking brighter than they had been all day.
"Nice work, Ruby," Yang said with a grin. She ruffled her sister's hair a little. "Not too shabby." Ruby giggled and dodged out of Yang's reach. "Alright, I'm gonna go help Qrow."
"Sure thing!" Ruby chirped as Yang turned and stepped out from under the tent. "Heeeey wait. Is your hair...purple?" she asked, totally perplexed.
"Oh GODDAMMIT." Yang turned back around with a pained expression. "Is it that noticeable?"
"Umm..."
"It's fine, Yang," Blake stepped in. "It's maybe...a little more visible now that it's brighter out." Ruby nodded her agreement, eyes wide in fear for whoever had dared to mess with Yang's hair.
"UGH. Okay never mind that Qrow idea." Yang rubbed at her eyes in irritation. "Ruby, can you go check on that? I'm staying a safe distance away for now."
"Of course!" Then Ruby hesitated for a moment. "Sooo what happened to—" She cut off abruptly at the sight of Blake frantically shaking her head. "OKAY I'M GOING!" She spun to leave, colliding directly into her uncle.
"Whoa, what's the rush, kid?" He chuckled at her, then addressed Yang. "Nice to see you finally joining us." He raised an eyebrow. "Something happen?"
Yang shifted uncomfortably, picking at her fingers in agitation as she tried to figure out how to explain herself.
"Hold on." Qrow's eyes narrowed. "What the HELL did you do to your hair?!"
"It's not her fault," Blake said quickly. She opened her mouth to continue, but Qrow held up a hand in front of her face.
"Not talking to you," he stated bluntly. He glared at Yang intently. "You do realize how unprofessional you look?"
Yang sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. "I'm sorry, Qrow. I made a mistake."
Qrow scoffed. "Oh? You made a mistake? Let me go ahead and call the local news sources and tell them not to jump on this latest Xiao Long fiasco because—oh, you made a mistake, right?"
Yang glared back at him. "Look, I said I was sorry," she said through gritted teeth. "Yell at me some other time, I have work to do right now."
"I'm not yelling," Qrow said gruffly. "But you need to learn that your choices have consequences, whether you want to deal with that—" He fished a flask out of his pocket and took a swig. "—or not."
"It wasn't my fault though!" Yang protested in frustration. "It was that asshole's asshole wife!"
Qrow shook his head. "Doesn't matter. You and I both know how important public appearance is in this business." He took another drink then jabbed a finger at Yang's chest. "But you still let it happen." He jabbed again. " So YOU have to deal with it." Yang took a breath, her eyes downcast.
Blake's hands clenched into fists as she watched the exchange. She felt an overwhelming urge to smack Qrow right in his condescending face. Even Ruby was looking uncomfortable at the extent of her uncle's diatribe.
"Giving my daughter a hard time again?" A new voice spoke up. Yang's expression somehow got even more miserable as her father joined them next to the tent. "What did she do this time?"
Qrow gestured disgustedly. "See for yourself."
"Ohhh." Taiyang stared at his daughter's hair for a moment. "Well, I think it looks good!"
Yang's eyes snapped up. "Really?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah, really." Tai smiled warmly. "Qrow's being anal, it's a nice change of pace." Qrow glowered at Taiyang, who pointedly ignored him.
"I'm trying to teach a lesson here Tai," he growled.
"Yeah, well maybe chill with the lessons," Taiyang shot back. "She's a grown adult in case you forgot."
"Uh, right here guys," Yang cut in, waving a hand. Qrow gave her a look.
"We'll continue this later," he said. Then he glanced at Blake. "Away from this crowd. Tai, a word?" Taiyang raised an eyebrow but followed him away from the tent. He paused on the way to lay a hand on Yang's shoulder.
"You're doing great, firecracker. Sorry things got so in-tents." Tai laughed loudly at his own pun, and managed to make Yang crack a smile.
"Daaaaaad!" Ruby called in exasperation as he left, not nearly as amused by the joke as his other daughter was. Tai just laughed again, patting her head as he passed by.
"...Whew, that was rough," Ruby sighed once Taiyang and Qrow were out of earshot. Yang nodded in dismal agreement.
"What the hell is Qrow's problem?" Blake grumbled sourly.
"No, he's right," Yang spoke up. "I should've been more careful, and now I've gotta deal with it."
Ruby frowned slightly at Yang's somber tone. "Yang, you can't just blame yourself," she encouraged. "I'm gonna go check if Ren needs help now, alright?"
Yang gave her an absentminded wave over her shoulder, still fuming silently. Blake debated trying to calm her down, but eventually decided to stay quiet. She watched as Yang rummaged through some cardboard boxes of assorted decorations and lights.
"Okay, no time to worry about this mess right now," Yang murmured, half to herself. "Let's get the lights up," she addressed to Blake, who quickly moved to help her.
Set up continued without further incident as the morning wore on into the afternoon. Tents and tables were erected in arcs surrounding a large wooden stage, with stalls for several local food and art vendors interspersed among them. Pyrrha, showing a unsurprisingly good eye for decoration, had selected a nice assortment of ribbons and banners to make the fairgrounds even more welcoming. Watching the place transform from a relatively bare field into an attractive fall festival also seemed to improve Yang's mood.
"These balloons are really...something," Blake had said carefully, inspecting one of the members of the so-called "Xiao Long Balloon Corral." It was a bright yellow balloon with the words "Just Yang in there!" written in large black letters. Someone had also doodled a bumblebee in sharpie on the back.
"Ooh, do you like it?" Yang asked. "They're for the kids though, sorry to break it to ya."
Blake rolled her eyes, triggering a laugh from Yang.
"Seriously, kids love balloons! And puns! But who doesn't love puns, am I right?"
Ruby and Jaune raised their hands in unison.
"Wha— Where did you guys even come from? Get outta here!" Yang swatted at them with one hand, snatching the balloon from Blake with the other.
"And now you've lost your balloon privileges."
Blake snatched it right back.
Soon enough, some of the various local performing artists began to arrive, including the headliners. At the sight of the SSSN tour bus, almost all activity ceased as everyone craned to get a look at the boyish pop stars. Yang zipped her way over to greet them, Blake trailing her somewhat warily.
The first man physically leapt out of the bus, landing heavily on the grass then looking around with a wide smile. Blake immediately recognized him as the lead singer, Sun Wukong, identifiable by his blonde hair and obvious dislike of shirts or other upper body coverings.
"Finally, I get to stretch my legs!" He held up a hand at Yang in greeting. "Hey Yang, how's it going?" Then his gaze continued to land on Blake and his eyes widened.
"Whoa, who's this?" he asked with a grin, offering a handshake. "Hi there, call me Sun."
Blake cautiously shook his hand, watching as the rest of the band exited the bus in a more orderly fashion. Ruby had shown up and was currently speaking to the red-haired pirate-looking one while gesturing to their equipment.
"Blake," she introduced. Sun gave her a look as though he expected her to say something else. Blake just looked at him blankly, unsure what he was after.
"OKAY, yep, that's my campaign assistant, Blake Belladonna," Yang said, sliding over to stand in between them. She gave Sun a pointed glare. He looked between the two of them rapidly, then his mouth fell open.
"Ohhhh, I see! Y'know, Yang, you could've just asked if you wanted me to wingm—OW." He cut off as Yang smacked him in his perfectly chiseled abs.
"Good hit, sunshine." The blue-haired man who Blake was pretty sure was called Neptune had materialized next to them. He gave Yang a wink, but she just laughed at him.
"Keep dreaming Neptune," she said.
"Hold on," Blake interjected. "You already know them?"
Sun gave Yang a wounded expression. "You didn't tell your girl—OW—assistant! Your girl assistant!" Yang looked like she wanted to stab him.
"Nice save bro," Neptune said with a laugh. Blake looked between the three of them impatiently.
"Okay, yeah, we all went to college together," Yang explained.
"So then why did you pretend it was going to be hard to get them to play?" Blake questioned, crossing her arms.
"You know how it is Blakey," Yang began, with a perfect air of fake seriousness. Sun and Neptune immediately exchanged a glance as Sun mouthed "Blakey" with a downright gleeful expression. "Fame changes people," Yang finished with a mock sigh.
"Nah, she wanted to impress you," Sun blurted out. Yang growled and shoved his shoulder. Blake stared at the two of them, totally confused by the exchange.
"What exactly is going on here?" she asked in a somewhat demanding tone.
Sun opened his mouth to respond but Yang quickly cut him off. "Not a word monkey-boy," she hissed. Sun looked like he was going to say something anyway, risking the full extent of Yang's ire, but Neptune swooped in to diffuse the situation.
"Uh-oh looks like Sage and Scarlet need some help, we gotta go!" he said, forcibly pulling Sun away.
"Uh, what? I was just messing around!" Sun protested. "I'll see you guys later! Love the purple hair by the way!" he yelled as Neptune dragged him away.
Yang winced a little but still smiled. "Let us know if you need anything!" she called back. She turned back to Blake with a shrug. Blake was still standing in the same spot, arms crossed and her eyebrows knitted.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"Huh? Nothing! Sun just says weird stuff all the time." Yang forced a laugh.
Blake stared at her in blank silence.
"Anywho," Yang continued, determined to ignore the tension. "People will be arriving soon so I'm just gonna go make sure everything's ready and stuff?" She gave Blake an awkward smile.
"You're..." Blake stared directly into her eyes and Yang could feel herself break out into a light sweat. "...such a dork."
"God, give me a heart attack why don't you?" Yang complained as her heart rate slowed back to normal. Blake laughed lightly at that, and Yang found herself smiling back in spite of herself.
AN: Oh man sorry I got off schedule again ;~; To make it up I'll be posting two (2) chapters this week so get hype! Thank you so much for reading, you guys are all fantastic! 3
