Blake and Yang followed the girl back to the house, pace even, unsure. After their little interaction earlier, Blake had no intention of pursuing the matter of Weiss's misadventures. The Faunus fully intended to give the girl space. She glanced at her blonde companion, who clearly had a different idea in mind. Yang was trying to hasten her pace to catch up with Weiss but Blake's firm grip on her hand made sure she stayed put.
"Why are you two so slow?"
The question made both girls jump. Blake looked at Weiss, whose face didn't betray any emotion aside from a raised eyebrow. The white-haired girl stopped and faced the pair.
"I don't remember telling you two to stay away," the girl crossed her arms and frowned. "Quit being scaredy cats and walk beside me."
"… Okay," Blake felt Yang's hand leave hers, who didn't really need any further encouragement and took off to walk beside Weiss. Blake quickly caught up and flanked to Weiss's left while Yang took the right.
"If it's got something to do with our previous conversation," Weiss started. "You can forget about it. It was stupid of me to bring it up but you can't be too careful these days."
"It wasn't stupid," Yang affirmed, rubbing her hand. Blake nodded.
Weiss raised an eyebrow but kept silent. Blake glanced at the blonde, who seemed hellbent on keeping close to Weiss. Well closer than usual, that is. The trader noticed the decreased distance but didn't say anything.
"It seems like that conversation sparked up that old big sister instinct in Yang," Blake noted. "Like she's about to deck anyone who looks at them funny."
Clearing her throat, Blake began, "Listen, Weiss I know it's not really the smart thing to do, but could we resume that talk? At a later time, perhaps?"
Weiss didn't bother hiding her exasperation, "Later." She said in curt manner.
"Well," Blake sighed, thinking the conversation will be either not very civil or there will be a lot of talking to a wall. "I've made the bed, gotta sleep in it."
Aside from obvious pointers like the scar and Yang's story from before, there were some other layers to Weiss's story before she came to Vale. It's not healthy to keep all that in. But then again, who was she to judge? And who's to say it's not best left alone?
On the other hand, keeping all of that buried deep within can ruin a person. Crossing her arms, the Faunus stared at the ground, chewing on that little nugget while keeping steady pace with Weiss and Yang.
Yang noticed Blake's stature and nudged the black-haired girl, grabbing her attention and raised an eyebrow. Blake shook her head and mouthed "Not now." Yang nodded and went back to her position to Weiss's right.
"I sense your turmoil, Blake," Weiss suddenly piped up, making Blake stumble. "You're rather transparent for being more quiet of the two."
Weiss paused and shook her head, then muttered, "Do not worry. I will speak with you on this matter." The trader gave a small, stretched smile. "When I'm ready, that is. I do hope you understand."
"Of course," Blake said quickly. "I won't force you to tell anything right away."
"Hey. Why does she get special treatment?" Yang pointed at Blake with her thumb. "I can keep a secret too."
"Not to imply anything, Yang," Weiss exhaled. "But you did tease me about our… bodies and… watching."
"Ah," Yang deflated a bit and looked to the side. "Fair enough, then."
Weiss quietly chuckled, "You and Ruby truly are sisters."
"That they are," Blake chimed in, more than happy to change the subject.
Rest of the walk back was spent making small talk and idle chatter, the three lapsing back to more or less comfortable atmosphere. Blake tried her best to not revert back to her previous train of thought. All of them had enough to deal with, especially Weiss. The Faunus looked up at side-windows near the level's ceiling. The sunlight was dimming, signaling the coming of evening. As with the sunlight, the lights on the station began changing from warm to cold blue light.
Closing the door behind them, Blake watched as Weiss took off her jacket, leaving her in a shirt and moved to the TV, immediately picking up a controller. Yang did the same albeit with slight hesitation. Ruby was nowhere to be found, back in her room more than likely.
"Let's play something," Weiss turned on the console and, to everyone's surprise, sat down on the floor with legs crossed.
Blake's eyes widened as Yang plopped down next to the girl and Weiss quickly adjusted so that there was enough space. If Yang was affected by the action, she didn't show it.
"So, what should we play?" The blonde asked.
"I don't know," the trader scratched her chin. "Something with less energy than our training."
"An FPS it is, then!" Yang quickly scrolled through the catalogue.
"Shouldn't we," Blake hesitantly started. "… take a shower first?"
Weiss moved her hands and sniffed, "I'm good. I don't smell anything."
"Okay then," Blake moved upstairs, taking off her shirt in the process.
Weiss's eyes followed Blake's movements and she noticed that shit-eating grin on Yang's face, wiggling her eyebrows at the trader.
"Don't be a pest," Weiss scolded, flushing. "I admit, she has nice forms."
"Oh yes, she does," Yang nodded sagely then cleared her throat. She turned back as well, sneaking side glances at the girl.
Next ten to fifteen minutes were spent playing a competitive PVP shooter.
The speed of the gameplay was nowhere as fast as the game they played earlier that day but there was a noticeable lack of energy in both girl's playing nonetheless.
"So," Yang began. "I'd like to know something."
"What is it?"
"Do you have family? Distant relatives?" Yang slowly inquired.
"Family?" Weiss looked at the ceiling. "None. Distant relatives? Probably."
"An orphan?" Yang asked, watching the trader slowly nod. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Weiss waved her off. "I'm used to it by now."
"By now?"
Yang found herself snaking her arm around the girl's shoulders.
She felt something touch her hand. Glancing down she saw Weiss squeezing the hand that was around her shoulders. A simple gesture.
But it was enough to make the blonde pull Weiss in a gentle yet firm hug. The trader didn't protest and relaxed into the embrace. Yang felt the girl's hands wind around her mid-section and Weiss shifting her body for better position. Weiss put her head onto the blonde's shoulder and exhaled.
"For all it's worth," Yang muttered and rubbed the girl's back. "You'll always be welcome in this house."
The blonde didn't miss a small hitch in Weiss's breath and the hold on her body tightening ever so slightly. When did she become so familial with the white-haired girl?
After a few minutes, Yang noticed Weiss's breathing evening out, her chest moving at a steady pace and the noticeable slack in the girl's posture.
Yang adjusted her position to stand up with Weiss in her hands. She turned off the console, changing the channel back to default setting.
After fumbling for a few moments, the blonde gently sat down on the couch and laid Weiss down next to her. Yang kept carefully rubbing the girl's forearm while flicking through channels, reflecting back on the day's events.
Upstairs, in the shower, Blake did the same: reflect. Scrubbing her hands and shoulders, her breasts, the Faunus girl thought about everything that has happened and how quickly she grew attached to Weiss.
The girl's mysterious and sometimes haphazard shift in attitude left Blake perplexed. First time she met the girl: she was confident yet polite.
Then the next day she was blunt, dismissive yet easy to converse with. She played games with Yang, made small talk with Blake, showed off her genius both to the blonde and herself. Then she went ahead and asked that question. Then all went to hell.
After that Weiss herself tried to rectify the situation, to what extent wasn't for Blake to say. Deep down the Faunus understood exactly why Weiss acted the way she did: it was her way to venting the stress after traumas. Them sticking close to her like flies on spilled honey probably didn't help either.
She knew that Yang understood that too. The Faunus was instantly reminded of the blonde's lapses when Weiss grew passive aggresive. Blake turned off the water and stepped out of the cabin, grabbing the towel. After drying herself off and wrapping the second towel around her head, careful not to touch the ears, the black-haired girl put on simple sweatpants and a blouse and exited the bathroom.
Descending down the stairs, Blake noticed Yang sitting on the couch with Weiss sleeping soundly next to her. Her white hair spanning over the couch like a snow blanket. The Faunus quietly slid into the chair.
"I presume the situation is diffused?" Blake asked in hushed tone and kept her gaze on the white-haired girl.
"Sort of," Yang answered in equally low tone and scratched her thigh. "I didn't really do anything."
"Maybe not," the black-haired girl conceded. "But you do have that effect on people: making them act on their deeper, baser instincts."
"Thanks, I guess," Yang kept moving her arm to comfort Weiss.
Weiss mumbled and moved closer to Yang's lap, her forehead touching the blonde's thigh. Yang giggled at the action and massaged Weiss's temple.
"Not gonna lie," the blonde grinned. "I kinda wanna just cuddle her like a little spoon."
"Normally," Blake eyed the sight before her. "… I would disagree."
Yang's eyes widened at the response, fully expecting being reprimanded for the remark. Her expression morphed into a warm smile and she beckoned for the Faunus to come closer. Blake slowly shifted the chair closer to the couch and leaned in. Yang lifted her left hand and scratched the base of Blake's cat ears. The Faunus leaned into the touch and closed her eyes. Some would say it was demeaning to give in to her baser instinct, but like she stated earlier, Yang has that effect on people.
Stirring up, Weiss noticed both Blake and Yang dozing to her right, the Faunus was perched up near the armrest with her head on the blonde's shoulder. Yang was slightly tilted to the left, her own head resting against Blake's. The trader scooted slowly to the opposite side of the couch and stood up.
Stretching her joints with a satisfying pop, Weiss went to the kitchen and put the cup of tea into the microwave, not wanting to wake anyone up by a whistle of the kettle.
"Hey, Weiss."
The trader jumped at the words. Turning around, the blue eyes met Ruby's orbs of silver. The brunette had what Weiss could only presume to be dust smidge on her face. Ruby wore a small working apron with goggles strapped on her forehead.
"Hello, Ruby," Weiss nodded. "You're busy with something?"
"You could say that," the youngster rubbed her forehead with a frown. "I was actually hoping you could help me. Just a little?"
The trader heard the quiet ding of the microwave and retrieved her tea. Ruby rummaged through her apron's pocket and fished out a small holo-disk. Weiss tipped her head towards the table motioning Ruby to take a seat. Ruby sat down, putting the disk on the surface. Weiss took a sip and tapped the sensor on the device. An 3D image spurred to life, illuminating the table underneath it in red-ish light.
"Is that supposed to be..?"
"A locking mechanism, yes," Ruby crossed her hands over the table. "I want to take schematics of regular locks and augment them with Gravity Dust rods."
"You're basing it off an assumption that usually," Weiss started. "If two Gravity Dust rods are near each other: the one with weaker pull will get attracted and stuck to the one with stronger pull."
"Yeah."
"Not a bad idea," the trader nodded. "However, then it would require quite a resource management and a way of disengaging them."
"That's what I wanted you to help me with," Ruby drummed her finger on the table. "Looks like Dust is your field."
"Any particular reason you're doing any of this?"
"Part of the assignment," Ruby shrugged. "We, the guys in tech class, are supposed to make something new out of something old."
"I see."
Putting the cup down, Weiss started manipulating the scale of the blueprint. With a small clap of her hands, Weiss spread her arms out. The projection immediately grew at least four times its size and soon, Ruby and Weiss were looking at the structure of the mechanism in great detail.
"Maybe we could..," the pair spent some time, brainstorming the ideas for energy consumption, blocking for the rods, wiring and energy backups.
Waking up from the noises in the kitchen, Blake begrudgingly stood up to check whatever was going on. Gently settling the sleeping Yang down on her side on the couch and taking off the disheveled towel from her head, Blake went to the kitchen.
Poking her head in the door, the Faunus was met with the kitchen bathed in red light plus Ruby and Weiss, mulling over a blueprint. The trader had that cute frown that she had whenever she was trying to come up with solution for a riddle. Not wanting to disturb the two, Blake went back to the couch and woke Yang up.
"Hmm?" Yang rose up. "What is it?"
"Nothing," Blake patted the blonde on the leg. "I just thought we need to decide on the sleeping arrangement."
"What?"
"I'm not sure Weiss would be willing to sleep with you again," Blake dryly noted.
Raising her finger the blonde looked like she was about to protest, then put it down, "Fair enough."
Blake's features softened and she rubbed Yang's shoulder in encouragement, "We could have her stay with Ruby, however weird would that be."
"No," the blonde shook her head. "I think it would be good for you to take her in."
"Me?" Blake's eyebrows shot up. "Why?"
"Remember when you said that I make people act on more instinctual level?" Yang questioned. "Well you're better at listening people. Letting them spill their hearts out."
Blake fell silent, considering the option and imagining the awkward atmosphere that would reign with her and Weiss in private. She wasn't as brave as Yang to power through the fog nor did she have the blonde's lack of social awareness at times.
"Okay," the Faunus girl exhaled. "I might get a chance to talk to her about… you know."
Yang nodded, standing up. Blake uncertainly inched her way to the kitchen entrance and leaned against the frame, watching Ruby and Weiss do their thing.
The trader and the brunette acknowledged her presence, nodding but otherwise paid no mind. The hologram was now deconstructed to several parts. Blake observed the way Weiss's fingers ghosted along the "surface" of the hologram, the way her fingers moved, the slow and methodical swipes to change the size and position of holographic parts.
"We can't put the wire too close to the G/D rod, the shielding might get torn off with time…"
"Ruby, Weiss," Blake cleared her throat, drawing attention. "It's getting late, we should head to bed."
"Oh, okay," Ruby got up and checked her pockets, reaching out to the disk.
"Ruby?" Weiss spoke up. "Do you mind leaving the blueprint to me? I'll try to get it done for you by morning."
"Really?" The brunette skipped a little and gave the device to Weiss. "You think you can pull it off?"
"I'll do my best to do so," Weiss flexed her left shoulder. "By the way, where is Mr. Xiao Long?"
"Oh dad always gets home late on Sundays," Ruby shrugged. "He usually goes around shopping for the next week and gets materials for the shop."
"I see."
The three put the chairs back, turned off the lights and went upstairs. Waving her goodbyes, Ruby slipped into her room. Blake and Weiss watched the door close with a quiet hiss.
"So," Weiss shifted slightly. "Where do I sleep this time around?"
"Mmm, Yang and I decided that it's better for you to bunk with me," Blake shuffled her feet, suddenly nervous.
"Okay," the trader went further into the corridor and stood next to the door to Blake's room. "I do hope less ogling will be involved?"
"Ogling?"
"Indeed. While I don't care about my body much, I'd like to not be an eye-candy."
"… Oh." Blake's ears fell flat. "Yang commented on your body?"
"Mhm."
"Positively, I assume."
"I suppose."
"I promise not to ogle you," Blake crossed her heart.
"Good," Weiss ran her hand through her hair. "Also I don't plan on sleeping too much… or at all for that matter."
Blake's eyes widened and her ears perked up again, "Why?"
"Because of this," Weiss waved the holo-disk. "I did promise Ruby to finish it by morning, remember? The task has proven to be quite a hurdle."
"… Okay. But if I catch you nodding off, you're going get thrown into the bed." Blake half-joked.
"Noted."
Blake's room was, by far, the most organized out of the three rooms presented to Weiss earlier. The layout was similar to Ruby's room which was just an inverse of Yang's room. The Faunus girl didn't have two tables like Ruby or bars for pull-ups like Yang.
Only a plain desk with few old books on it, a chair with a bag hanging on it, a slightly wider one person bed and a drawer next to the closet.
Blake took off her clothes, silently thanking Weiss for turning around and put on her kimono-styled pajamas.
Settling down in her bed, Blake watched as Weiss quietly sat down at the desk and kept spinning the hologram, drawing lines of wires and details.
"Still not at all subtle, Blake," the black-haired girl jerked at the remark. Shaking her head, she realized that she already broke her promise.
"… I'm usually not that visible or obvious..," Blake grumbled. "How do you keep noticing?"
"Not noticing," the trader corrected. "Sensing."
"Sensing?" Blake raised an eyebrow, cat ears twitching. "What, you got a sixth sense?"
Due to it being a half-hearted joke, the cat Faunus truly didn't expect the answer she got:
"In a way. However I don't see the future like some people can in calm environment."
"… What," Blake straightened up and put her back against the pillow. Weiss didn't turn around, still tinkering with the blueprint. "You're serious?"
"Am I?" Blake could clearly hear a smirk in the trader's voice.
"Is that, by any chance, why you were able to block all the attacks in our session?"
"Only partially," the girl admitted with a mild shrug. "The rest was your teachings."
"So," Blake cleared her throat. "Is it a gift or a skill you've developed?"
"What kind of question is that?" Weiss snorted. "It's both."
"Intriguing," the black-haired girl thought, tapping her finger on her thigh.
Blake decided to keep silent and digest the new information she got. While rumors of people with extraordinary abilities weren't uncommon, it was more or less hearsay. And now she finds out that her new acquaintance has keen environmental and sensory awareness. Now all the times she caught Weiss staring into nothingness and meditating made sense.
Blake had decided to lapse into her usual routine and closed her eyes, letting her cat ears scan the room for any new and old sounds. Finding the small hum of the hologram and Weiss's breathing the only new noises in usually very quiet room, the Faunus slid back under the blanket, slowly drifting off to sleep.
Some notes:
Now, I know there's been really only one "action" sequence so far. The main reason for this is that I want to spend a good chunk on the characters first.
Plus I suck at describing combat scenes, so that way I get to write character moments while getting the hang of that.
Since this is AU, the fights will feel and look a lot different than usual. Main inspirations for those are Star Wars (specifically The Clone Wars, Rebels and the Mandalorian), Metal Gear series, Naruto series and the Witcher, where the fight scenes are much more surgical and precise.