"... keep ourselves occupied?"
"Yes, that," Weiss brought her eyes back up to Blake, her thoughts skipping from the safe and logical 'avenues of escape' to the much more dangerous track of 'Blake is attractive and is also my girlfriend'. Weiss would deny that she had been avoiding this line of thinking for most of the past twenty minutes to her dying breath, and she really didn't want anyone to think poorly of her, or of Blake.
Still. They were going to be stuck here for who knew how long.
She opened her mouth to speak but shut it before making any sound. It would probably only a few minutes, she told herself.
Everyone was in bed, probably.
She could be patient.
Or…
… or she could kiss Blake again.
That would be fine. That would be more than fine—it was perfectly reasonable to want to kiss your girlfriend, after all. It had gone well the first time, and since there was no one around now that Yang and Ruby had gone to bed, this was pretty much the perfect time to try it again.
This all ran through her mind in fairly quick order. The air was still full of steam even though Blake had turned the water to cold. Weiss shifted her shoulders in the smothering heat of her school shirt and jacket.
So maybe it wasn't the perfect time (at least the setting left something to be desired) but it still seemed like a good idea. She cleared her throat as she nervously broached the topic, both hands still in Blake's, "So… earlier, you said we were even?"
A heady thrill shot through the smitten Faunus at the look Weiss was giving her, but she reigned herself in and simply nodded. She had indeed said exactly that, but she coerced her features into a solemn state of contemplation, searching the eyes that were currently searching her in kind. "I'm sorely tempted to skew the count," she admitted.
"Well we may as well take advantage of our current situation," Weiss huffed with a slight toss of her white, mildly humidity-frizzed hair in an attempt to hide how skittish she suddenly felt. She bridled at this confusing ingrained reticence (because the rest of her really, really wanted to kiss Blake) and she stubbornly forbade her gaze to drop below Blake's eye level, "We may as well… if you want to, I mean."
Blake answered with a single raised brow, and small smile that smile stayed put even as she leaned in to capture Weiss's lips in yet another kiss.
Sometime after that first kiss, which was slower and longer than the others had been, and after the second one, where Blake's grip on Weiss's hands loosened… possibly sometime around the third (which was almost more a continuation of the second), Weiss decided that she liked kissing.
She liked it enough to not care about her plans from earlier, or about the two of them being stuck in the bathroom in the middle of the night. She liked it, and something in her chest wanted it so much it burned.
In the heat of it, she got her arms around the taller girl's neck and kissed harder.
The extra pressure pulled a light gasp of surprise from Blake, and the reeling Faunus returned the kiss with equal fervor. At least, as best as she could. She had not predicted Weiss accepting her proposition with this level of enthusiasm, but she hoped her own enthusiasm would make up for any shortcomings as far as kissing experience. For the moment, Blake found herself caught up in a wash of sensation - touch, taste, scent, sound, and everything was Weiss.
Having lost hold of Weiss's hands, Blake's arms found new purpose, leaving their position suspended in the air in shock to coil around the smaller girl's waist, tightening like a welcoming vice, pulling her close so quickly she took an instinctive step back to keep her balance.
Weiss pressed her advantage, not even breaking for breath as her momentum carried the two of them backwards, past the sink and off the maroon bathroom rug entirely.
She didn't think anything about the loud 'thunk' of Blake's legs hitting the edge of the built-in bath tub until she suddenly pitched forward on top of Blake into the ice cold, still running shower.
The water hit, and Weiss shrieked into Blake's mouth.
Normally, Blake's expert reflexes would have been enough to save them, but distracted as she was the most presence of mind she could find was to tuck Weiss's head to her chest as they fell hard, crashing down in a sprawl of limbs and confusion. And of course everything was always ten times louder with the acoustics of tile. Blake's ears flattened to her skull at the sound, the motion helped along by sheer embarrassment bubbling in her gut.
Half in, half out of the shower/tub combo, Weiss got an arm free and lunged for the shower knob, missing once before she managed to grab it and turn the water off.
A few last drops trickled from the shower head.
"Ugh," Weiss pushed herself out of the bath and looked down at herself to inspect the damage- her school jacket had taken most of the initial hit, but her hair was wet and the water was all soaking through anyway. She scowled and shook droplets from her hands before remembering Blake.
"Are you alright?" she nearly slipped and fell back into the shower in her rush to offer her a hand up, "Did you hit your head?"
Blake accepted the offered hand and shakily got to her feet. "Yes, but it's all right," she said through teeth clenched in a grimace as she rubbed the back of her skull where it had cracked against the tub. Fortunately her aura had flared up, soaking most of the damage, but she'd somehow managed to hit the exact same spot that had been graced by Yang's collapsing bunk, so it still smarted something fierce. At this rate, she was going to have a concussion by the end of the week.
Right now though, her attention was back on Weiss, checking her over for injury both visually and physically, hands light as they brushed across her head, face, neck and shoulders. Though, her plan to ask if Weiss was all right unraveled with the sound of quickened footsteps and someone trying to open the locked door.
"Hey!" It was Yang. "Are you two okay in there?"
Weiss quit swatting at Blake's hands to get her to stop checking her over and froze.
Dust. Yang was still awake. Dust. There wasn't any use trying to hide now after that ruckus. Exchanging a resigned glance with Blake, Weiss called out, "Yes, we're fine. You can go away now."
There was a lengthy pause.
"I'm... not getting a shower this evening, huh?"
Heaving a great sigh, Blake gave Weiss's shoulders a light squeeze before leaving her side to unlock and open the door. She did her best to glare intimidatingly up at her partner, but found herself completely unable to. The brawler had poured her heart out to her not a few hours ago, and in a twisted way this almost felt like rubbing everything in her face all over again. Succumbing to the light blush crawling up her face, Blake's ears flattened in an apology that she couldn't help but voice as well. "Sorry."
Yang blinked at the soaking wet Faunus, then leaned to look past her, finding a dripping, scowling heiress.
Blake caught glimpses of several emotions flicking rapid-fire through her partner's lilac eyes, too quick to put proper names to. She half expected to see flashes of red, but instead she cringed internally when Yang finally seemed to settle on mild amusement.
"Yeah... you know, I think I'm going to go sleep." The brawler spared one last glance at Weiss, then locked eyes with Blake, holding her gaze just a little too long for comfort before a quick wink and a smile had her pushing the door back shut in Blake's face.
Great. Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose briefly to ward off a headache. "We have class tomorrow. You may as well shower," she dropped her hand, fighting a smirk, "Or at least finish showering."
They were both so soaked water had pooled on the floor between them.
A low, sleepy groan was Blake's only response as she returned to Weiss, quietly burying her face in the heiress's shoulder as if she could hide from her guilty conscience, as well as her newly earned reputation. She would probably never live this down... Not that it hadn't been completely worth it.
Either way, Weiss was right. A proper shower sounded wonderful. She definitely needed to cleanse herself after that salacious wink she'd just been subjected to. And yet, she found herself rooted in place, pleasantly addicted to her girlfriend's presence. "I may as well," she said aloud, trying to motivate herself to move.
"Then go," Weiss pushed her towards the shower. She straightened her dripping jacket and fussed with her hair in the mirror for a second in order to recapture some measure of decency, "I'll talk to Yang."
Blake raised a brow at Weiss's reflection in the mirror, catching herself and turning in a quick about-face before she could get pulled back in by her girlfriend's natural allure. With her back to Weiss, Blake stole one last glance over her shoulder as she started unbuttoning her shirt. "Good luck," she offered with a look somewhere between gratitude and empathy.
"Since when have I ever needed luck?" Weiss scoffed, very consciously not looking at the currently undressing Blake. Kissing was certainly one thing, but watching your girlfriend undress?... Weiss caught the doorknob before that thought could progress and stepped out of the warm light and into the quiet dorm room.
She shut the door behind her and waited a second for her eyes to adjust.
There was a light ruffle of sheets from Yang's bunk, but the brawler's usual snore was distinctly absent from the room.
Weiss listened to the quiet, and then shed her jacket. She fumbled in the mess of Ruby's things next to her dresser for a hanger, set the piece of her uniform to rights, and hung it from the side of Ruby's bunk to dry before re-crossing the room to stand at the window next to the head of Yang's bunk.
Weiss looked out over the starlit campus. One of the lamps along the walk flickered erratically. She scowled and turned her sharp gaze up to what she could see of Yang over the edge of the mattress. "There are other showers on the hall, you know."
Slowly, and making a great show of effort, Yang rolled over onto her stomach, flopping an arm over the side of her mattress and fixing her eyes on the heiress below - at least, the one eye that wasn't buried under golden waves of hair. Her irises glowed faded red like low burning coals. "Uh huh. And there are other places to make out." She flashed a smirk. "I could show you a few choice locations."
"Shut up," Weiss countered, too indignant to back down over Yang's change of eye color (but not too indignant to blush through her frown), "You knew we were in there. What happened to 'making yourself scarce'?"
Crimson rolled in a perfect arc. "I dunno. I thought I was doing pretty well until someone sicced a very angry Blake on me. I wonder who that might have been."
"At least I was trying to help," Weiss clenched her fists at her sides.
Yang said nothing at first, pushing her hair out of her face to get a better look at the girl glowering defiantly up at her. She carefully studied Weiss, trying to take in every detail of the person her partner had chosen over her. Blake had obviously found something positive, something lovable in this tiny stress-ball of icy prickles parading about as a huntress-in-training. And... she had to admit, if it weren't for Weiss's intervention, she would still be moping around somewhere, avoiding her own team, the people who cared about her, like an idiot.
Though her eyes continued to burn, Yang's smirk softened into a tired smile. "You did help."
Weiss's brow rose in surprise.
"Well. Of course I did," she crossed her arms over her button-down shirtfront and faced the window again. She spoke carefully, "and I can see how this would be... difficult. For you, I mean. Not that it's exactly simple for anyone."
Even Ruby had been worried, for how long Weiss wasn't exactly sure. She hadn't exactly been a great partner to the younger girl these past few days, which was understandable, but still. Doing some homework together had helped, and had been... grounding. In a good way. At least, Ruby had been enough at ease to be soundly asleep now.
Weiss glanced up at her partner's bunk in an attempt to ground herself again, putting off thinking of Blake and of the warm feeling of her arms around her neck and... she straightened her shirt collar, flushing as she addressed Yang, "Do you think you could maybe... give me and Blake some space for a little while? You don't have to disappear, just... don't jump at every chance to completely mortify us."
Yang could see it a million times more and she would never cease to be amused by the sight of Weiss flustered and blushing, which of course added a considerable amount of counterweight to her decision. Still, Blake wanted them to get along. She wanted to get along. If sacrificing a bit of teasing would help, then the answer was a no-brainer.
"Sure. I can do that." The brawler pushed herself up on one arm to level a lingering gaze at the bathroom door before slowly rounding on Weiss, expression unreadable as she reached her other arm out, extending her smallest finger. "Just... swear you'll treat her right."
Weiss let her arms fall to her sides. Her gaze flickered from Yang to her hand and back, unfamiliar with this sort of sign language, "I'll do my best."
"Oh for the love of..." Eyes rolling, Yang leaned over the edge of her bunk, practically shoving her pinky up Weiss's nose. Despite her play at frustration, her smile had returned in full at Weiss's answer, crimson finally fading to a cooler hue. "Come on now. This is a pinky swear - one of the most sacred and binding of promises known to modern man. How am I supposed to know you really mean that if we don't link pinkies and shake on it?!"
Beneath her skeptical exterior, Weiss was much relieved at the change back to amethyst. She leaned back to get more distance between her face and Yang's pinky. Sacred, binding promise? "Is it more or less serious than signing your name in blood?"
Yang looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'd say it's about on par, actually."
"I suppose that's acceptable, then," Weiss said and hooked her little finger with Yang's. "Though it's not as if Blake couldn't handle herself if something in our relationship were amiss."
"You got that right," the brawler agreed without hesitation, more than pleased at Weiss's acceptance of her gesture and sealing their promise with a firm shake. She let go when the low hiss of shower water ceased. She didn't even recall hearing it start up.
Setting her jaw, Yang flashed a smile to Weiss and rolled over to face the wall again before any sorrow could creep back into her expression. "So, in the spirit of this rare and wonderful mutual agreement of ours... I'm going to sleep."
"Yes. I mean, good night," Weiss's heart rate had picked up when the shower stopped. She strode back to her side of the room to finish changing into her night clothes and slipped under the covers before Blake could finish in the bathroom.
A beat passed, and she bolted up, removing her hairpiece and earrings and placing them on the bookcase beside the bed. Then ducked back to the pillows, pulled the blankets to her shoulders, and feigned sleep while she listened for Blake. Of course, Weiss didn't have a problem with saying good night, but, well, she already had, and it might be awkward, or take a while, and after all they needed their sleep.
The bathroom door opened then, Blake stepping into the darkness and making a quick survey of the room. She was pleased to find nothing was on fire and no one was dead. Things must have gone well between Weiss and Yang. And despite the expert show both of them were putting on for her now, she was pretty sure they were both still awake considering she'd heard them speaking just minutes earlier.
Quietly slipping into her nightclothes, Blake dared to venture over to Weiss's bedside, a soft smile gracing her features as she watched Weiss pretend to sleep for a minute. When she was unable to fight back a yawn, she knew it was time to follow suit and get some sleep herself. Mindful of her team leader - the one person in this room who was actually asleep - Blake ducked underneath the edge of Ruby's bunk and leaned over her girlfriend, leaving enough distance to grant her personal space, but close enough that she'd be able to hear her whisper, "Good night, Weiss."
Weiss stiffened at Blake's words so close to her. Her dark hair left drips along the edge of Weiss's covers. That was alright, though. She could keep this short.
"See you tomorrow," she whispered back without opening her eyes or looking up.
Backing away with a smile, Blake crawled across her bunk and backed up against the wall to get a good look at her partner.
"Yang." She waited until the brawler's bleary eyes opened. "Thank you."
Yang blinked, uncomprehending.
Lips pursed, Blake struggled for a way to articulate what she was feeling. Guilt, empathy, gratitude, affection, sorrow – everything mixed together in a hopeless jumble that not even the countless books under her belt could help her find the right words for.
Fortunately, Yang smiled anyway - a genuine smile that Blake hadn't seen in far too long. She hadn't realized how badly she'd missed it.
"Sure, sure," the brawler winked, then closed both eyes, "now sleep already, freakin' night owl."
Blake let slip a relieved sigh, tension bleeding away, replaced by the warmth of familiar banter. Smiling to herself, she slipped into her own bed and attempted to close her eyes and rest, but before long she found her gaze drawn back across the room to Weiss.
Exhaustion was her only salvation against the endless looping replay of their heated kisses running rampant through her head, dragging her overactive mind down into the depths of sleep she so desperately needed.
A/N: And so our heroes fail miserably at attempting a secret late night bathroom tryst. Will they attempt another? Will Yang survive the consequences of skipping detention? Will Ruby ever allow kisses within 30 feet of her? Actually, I guess she just did... hahaHAHAH!
Tune in next time~
Hugs,
Defenestrator