The sound of crinkling paper permeated the room as Weiss bunched up a large wad of it in her hands. She deposited it into the garbage and cleared her throat as she steadied her nerves. Putting pen to paper, she began to write her letter once again.
"This is getting stupid. It's almost nine at night, she's never out this late by herself." Yang ranted, forcing out a breath. "Where in the hell is Blake?"
"I don't know." Ruby chirped. "Maybe try her scroll."
"I did, just now." Yang said, wiggling her scroll to prove her point. "She's not answering, Ruby, and that's just really freaking strange."
After making another mistake in her work, Weiss crupled another piece of paper. "Then she clearly doesn't want to be found, Yang. Let her have her space."
"In case you haven't noticed, it's been a really shitty week." Yang scratched the back of her head worriedly, frowning when her fingers found a tangle. "I'm just a little concerned."
"If you're so restless, take a hunt with JNPR or something." Weiss offered offhandedly, plucking another fine piece of parchment. "Pyrrha's been working Jaune into overtime, go help her with that. He could use someone willing to knock him around. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Pyrrha's too easy on him."
"Hate to break it to you, princess, but no can do. I've got plenty to do around here keeping an eye on you."
"Well then, here's a hint." Weiss threatened icily. "Don't."
"Come on, Weiss, you have to know something." Yang pressed while hanging lopsided off of her bed. Truth be told, she was feeling aggravated. Blake had been avoiding the dorm room for days now, and her disappearing act had Yang edgy. Weiss was nothing but one big walking human stress magnet, and her father wasn't doing anyone any favors. "You just tell me what's going on, and I promise I'll keep it on the down-low. Ruby will too, right sis?"
"Do you really have to ask?" Ruby asked from her place. "I'm not that big of a blabber mouth." She looked down at Weiss, who was hunched over the desk once more. "She knows I won't say anything I'm not supposed to...right Weiss?"
"Yes Ruby, I know that." Weiss replied levelly. "I just don't know what Blake's doing. I haven't asked, and she hasn't felt the need to tell me. That's it, that's all I know." Weiss retorted, hunched over her desk, busy with her own task at hand. "She would say something if it was overly important."
Since it seemed as if Yang wasn't having any luck prying an answer out of Weiss, Ruby decided to try. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong? Did you two get into a fight?" Ruby asked, knowing that accusation was farfetched, but she didn't have any better clues. "You can tell us if you did, we promise we won't make it worse. We're only trying to help."
"No Ruby." Weiss said distractedly. "We didn't fight, and neither one of us need help, at least night right now. Actually, I can say with absolute certainty that everything is going as it should, for once this summer."
"Something reeks fishy, and I don't know if I like it." Yang sighed, looking up and sharing a look with her little sibling. "I can't be the only one thinking that half of our team is acting wonky."
"The only thing that reeks in here is the gym bag we keep in the closet." Weiss shot back, knowing she would never get her work done at this rate. "If she wants some space, give her some space. Nothing good ever comes from trying to force her to listen to you. Furthermore, I would refrain from calling her wonky. That's even more insulting."
"Okay, fine, I'll lay off. I'm just a little freaked out." Yang said as she gave Weiss a sideways glance. "You two have been acting weird, admit it or not. I needed to make sure you guys weren't about to kill each other."
"We just need some personal time." Composing the perfect letter to her father wasn't an easy thing to do. She had drafted it several times, but none measured up. She wanted to break the news carefully, her decision to be with Blake wasn't going to be well received. She would have to take great care in how she presented the situation. She didn't plan on hiding Blake's heritage, but if she didn't meticulously craft her words, there would be trouble later. "It's best if you don't concern yourselves in these matters."
"Too late. We are…or at least I am." Yang perked up when her scroll buzzed, only to see that it was Nora, and she deflated once more. "Damn it Blake...where are you?"
"I'm sort of worried too, Weiss." Ruby finally said. "You're not studying, and you haven't been bugging me about my homework either."
"I haven't been lecturing you because all of that is supplemental material." Weiss said, gesturing to Ruby's workbook. "If you don't have a firm grasp of it by now, first and second year studying with you has been a complete waste of time. You and I are an entire year ahead in Grimm studies. Honestly, it's science, math, and history that you should be drilling. Even if all of those only account for ten percent of our total yearly grade. I haven't seen you pick up your chemistry book all summer. Study that."
This time, it was Yang's turn to scoff. "Way to dodge the question."
Weiss turned to Yang. "Says the one who should be diving into all of her studies head first." She set down her pen and collected the papers that were in neat stacks. "I don't have time for this, I have a meeting with Ozpin. And I'm not dodging anything, I'm just waiting for things to be settled properly. I refuse to go around spreading rumors that may or may not be entirely true." After gathering her things she headed to the door. "I'm serious, Ruby, start cramming chemistry while you can. Dust composition and the periodic table won't memorize itself."
The sisters shared a look, before Ruby closed her Grimm studies book, and went for one of her much larger tomes. "Well, I still don't like it." Ruby sighed, kicking her feet absentmindedly when she was finally left alone with Yang. "Weiss always tells me everything...this is like the first month of first year all over again."
"Yeah, well Blake's stonewalling me too. I'm sick of it. I know this is a stupid idea, but I'm going to look for her." After all, gawking at the wall didn't yield any answers to her predicament either. "Maybe she'll talk, or at least swear to me that they aren't actually fighting."
From outside, superior Faunus hearing served Blake well. Even if she wasn't intending on it, she could hear the entire conversation from just outside the window. Blake had listened to the entire ordeal from her spot nestled in the tree near the dorm window. She kept half an ear on Yang's ranting, mostly because Yang was being too loud to avoid it. Ruby was much softer spoken, and thus easier to ignore.
Blake went back to concentrating on the four strips of silk cloth she was intent on weaving together. She couldn't count how many times she'd made a band like this. It must have been hundreds of times by now. Yet, she had never made one for a human. That made things a little more difficult. She doubted Weiss would want to flaunt it like a Faunus might, so something easy to wear would be best. She also had a delicate figure. A thick band would hold more of Blake's scent, but it wouldn't suit the slender woman.
With immense effort, Blake took to her task with great care, feeling slightly guilty that her solitude was worrying the sisters of the team. Thankfully, she knew it wouldn't be too much longer until she was finished.
Leaping from the limb to the window in question, she pushed it open. "You can stop catching fire, Yang, I'm right here..."
AYangThang: Just a quick shout out in case you haven't seen my profile. I don't have time for very much content posting. It's all hands on deck at work during the month of December, work and family come first for me. Didn't think I'd be swapped onto dayshift, but, then again, anyone working 24 hour sales like I do knows just how finicky the month of December is…those of you in retail, I am so, so sorry for all of the madness coming to you this holiday season, lol.
