A/N:
Hi friends!
Welcome back to RWBY: The Selection. Coming at you today with some Bellabooty ;) This is a *quality* chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it! (And it will be quickly followed by another, shorter one).
Shoutout to Six02 for the review! Glad to be back! :D
Once again, please review with any comments/questions/concerns/favorite Bumblebee headcanons/anything else that strikes your fancy!
Without further ado, enjoy!
Chapter 50: Blake
The only thing that made Thursday's Princess lessons bearable was Yang Xiao Long.
Breakfast that morning was a stunning array of bagels, cream cheese, cucumbers, capers, red onions, radishes, and, best of all, mouthwatering salmon. However, they weren't allowed to eat any of it unless they used the proper utensil and had proper posture as they listened to Lady Terra Dotta drown on and on about the importance of etiquette.
Blake took a dainty bite of her salmon using the tiniest fork she had ever seen. The fish was delicious, but the bite was far too small. In the White Fang barracks, what little food they could find was quickly devoured, often on the go. Taking tiny, delicate bites with tiny, delicate forks seemed inefficient in comparison.
"I'll trade you my salmon for your bagel," Yang whispered, leaning back in her chair.
"Posture, Lady Yang," Terra Dotta snapped.
Yang made a face, and Blake held her napkin to her face to hide her giggle."Deal," she whispered, once Lady Terra Dotta's back was turned.
Dr. Watts's class was, as usual, humiliating.
"While watching the Capital Report last week, I noticed that many of you… how do I put this delicately…" he mused, "failed to answer the interview questions with the slightest amount of decorum. Unsatisfactory answers ranged from focusing on the huntress training instead of His Royal Highness to indecipherable mumbling to wildly inappropriate comments,"
Yang snorted, and Blake understood why. Her interview had been a blast to watch. Blake had struggled to keep a straight face throughout as Yang fed the interviewers cringe-worthy pun after cringe-worthy pun. While Yang had been goofy and inappropriate, she had at least been confident. Blake, ever the introvert, had frozen the second the cameras had turned on her, and spent most of the interview deflecting questions with head shakes or mumbles.
"Now, since this is clearly an area where much individual attention and practice is needed, I want you to all form groups of two to three, design interview questions, and practice asking each other. Just as if we were in elementary school, I will move between the groups and monitor your progress. Take some time now to think of questions," Watts ordered, and he pulled out his scroll.
"Condescending bastard…" Yang muttered under her breath.
Blake snickered. "Do you want to pair up?"
"Sure." Yang shrugged.
"Not very ladylike," Emerald called out from behind them with a wink. She was in a group with Reese and Ciel, and the three of them were frantically scribbling their questions on pads of paper.
Yang rolled her eyes. She turned back to Blake and dipped her head. "My apologies. Allow me to try again: it would be my sincerest pleasure to pair up with you for this fake interview."
Blake shook her head.
"Too much?"
"Way too much."
They took a few minutes to write potential questions, and then, when Watts called "TIME!" they turned their chairs to face each other. Yang pulled her notepad close to her face and raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner (a face Blake had seen Professor Port make on many occasions on the Capital Report).
"Would you like to ask or answer, Lady Blake?" she asked in an overly pompous voice.
"I'll ask first, Lady Yang,"
"Fair enough," Yang tossed her notepad aside.
Blake cleared her throat, flipping through the questions she had prepared. Some of them were bland, the same she had seen Port and Oobleck use for all the contestants. Some were original, as she had tried to think outside of the box to brainstorm some call-in questions. Many had been scratched through, rejected before they had even been asked.
Blake decided to start with an easy one. "How are you enjoying the palace so far?"
Yang shrugged. "It's great. Little roomy. Little cold. Very purple. But overall I'd say it's a fine place to spend the summer."
Blake sighed. She had meant for Yang to discuss her experience in the Selection, not the palace itself. Why did that girl have to take everything so literally? "Do you get along with all the girls?"
"For the most part," Yang shrugged again. "There are some nerds, but-"
"Hey!" Blake exclaimed. "I take offense to that,"
"Let me finish!" Yang protested. "I was going to say there are some nerds, but I like nerds,"
Blake blushed. "Next question," she said hurriedly. "What do you think of Prince Jaune?"
"He's alright," Yang admitted. "His puns are total trash though,"
"Your puns are trashier,"
Yang's mouth fell open. "Now I take offense to that!"
"Ladies." Both Blake and Yang looked up to see the looming figure of Dr. Watts, his arms crossed and his mustache twitching. "Mind if I cut in with a few questions of my own?"
"Of course," Blake said quickly.
"I've chosen some particularly difficult call-in questions. Hopefully you'll have an adequate response."
Yang crossed her arms and jutted out her chin. "Try me,"
"Lady Yang, do you have any past relationships that could come… stirring up trouble for your position beside Prince Jaune?"
Blake felt a pit form in her stomach, but Yang simply replied, "Nope,"
Watts nodded. "Be more formal in your response, but otherwise: passable. Now, if you are selected to be Princess, what changes would you like to see happen to the kingdom of Remnant?"
Yang seemed to think for a second. Then, she spoke. "Well, the caste system is shit, so I'd like to see that go away."
Watts did a double take and Blake felt her breath catch her throat.
"Excuse me?"
"Was that not the right answer?"
"No," Watts said coldly, "it most certainly was not." He typed something on his scroll, and Blake looked at Yang, terrified, but Yang seemed devoid of any worry. What was wrong with her? How could she have the courage (or the stupidity) to insult the caste system so nonchalantly? "If you say anything like that in a Capital Report interview, consider yourself eliminated,"
Yang gave Dr. Watts a peace sign with her two fingers. "Cool,"
Blake's heart fluttered. Eliminated. If she could only get Yang to say something like that on the Capital Report, Yang could be eliminated. That meant, come the White Fang attack next month, she could be safe.
Watts glared at Yang, typed something on his scroll, and then turned to Blake. "Let's try something a bit easier for your partner, as words do not appear to be her strong suit." Blake's stomach dropped as he flipped through the questions on his scroll, before selecting one, "What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Prince Jaune?"
Blake bit her lip. She knew why this question was chosen. She hadn't exactly been the most articulate answering the same question during the Capital Report. She didn't really have a juicy answer, but, if she wanted to last long enough for the White Fang mission to be a success, she had to pretend that she did. "There's… definitely something there," she lied, "chemistry, compatibility… I certainly am optimistic."
Yang raised an eyebrow.
"Very well. Next question, from a call-in, as an Eight, do you really think you stand a chance in this competition?"
Blake looked away.
"You have to find a way to respond," Watts pointed out, his lip curling. "Deflecting the question will only lead to further humiliation,"
Blake thought for a minute. What could she say that would make her seem neither helpless nor arrogant? Yang raised her hand. "Denied," snapped Watts, not averting his eyes from Blake. She waved it about wildly. Dr. Watts sighed, "Yes?"
"I just want to express that I will fight anyone who asks Lady Blake that question,"
Watts rolled his eyes. "Noted," he turned back to Blake.
"Including you."
Watts stiffened. His mustache shuddered, and Blake resisted the urge to laugh. Then, he rounded on Yang. "Young lady, I can end your whole career with a snap of my fingers. Do you understand just how much power and pull I have in the royal court?"
"Not as much power as I have in my fist,"
Dr. Watts's eyes flashed dangerously, and Blake shook her head. This was getting out of hand quickly. "Dr. Watts, I think we can take over the interviewing practice from here. I'm sure all the other girls are anxious for your advice," she nodded at Ilia, who had paired up with Nora and Pyrrha, and instantly felt a stab of guilt for throwing her friend under the bus. "Thank you for all of your help."
Watts gave one final glare at Yang, and, with a swish of his cloak, stalked over to Ilia's table.
"Total jerk," Yang muttered.
Blake nodded. "Thanks, for standing up for me like that,"
"Hey, don't stress. We stood up for each other."
Blake blushed. She was used to Adam trying to protect her, even when she didn't want it. To be able to protect someone else, to have a mutual protection, felt unbelievably good.
"Mind if I ask some questions?"
"Sure," Blake set aside her notepad. "Fire away,"
"Alright," Yang cracked her knuckles. She consulted her notes and then, in her best Port impression, asked "cats? Or dogs?"
Blake rolled her eyes. "That's a no-brainer."
All of Yang's questions were silly 'this or that's. It was lighthearted, and a total waste of time to be sure, but it somehow made being in a class with Dr. Watts more bearable. After class, they had tea with the Princesses, where Yang (thankfully) took the lead in the conversation with Princess Primrose. They talked about videogames, and punching stuff, and why Jaune was so bad at puns, and Blake was just allowed to enjoy her tea, occasionally offering a snarky comment or sympathetic look. More than once, Blake caught herself staring at Yang: the way her eyes lit up when talking about something she was passionate about, the way her wide grins and loud laughs seemed to come so easily, the way she occasionally smiled or winked at Blake in ways that made Blake look away quickly, her stomach exploding into butterflies.
It was a disappointment when the girls arrived in waltz lessons only to learn that the Huntsmen had returned as dance partners. "Assuming you're all able to keep your hands and feet to yourselves," Cinder stipulated, smirking at Yang.
Blake was partnered up with someone named Sun, a roguish, goofy Huntsman who tripped over his own feet, but was curious and extroverted enough to hold a conversation, even when Blake kept glancing longingly at Yang (who looked very unhappy to be dancing with Mercury again).
"So, I'm not really keeping up with all this Selection stuff, but you're winning, right?" Sun asked as they twirled across the dance floor, stumbling occasionally.
Blake laughed. "Hardly. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm next to be eliminated."
"What?" Sun gaped at her.
"I'm an Eight, and I think I'm too quiet to be the prince's type,"
"Yeah, but you're—" he stopped abruptly. Blake raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, forget I said that. Anyway, cool bow,"
Blake gave a half smile. She hated her bow sometimes. It was a reminder that she had to hide who she was. "Thanks,"
"Although I think you'd look better with it off,"
She gritted her teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sun's eyes widened. "Not that- it's just- I mean- you like fish, right?"
"Excuse me?"
"I don't like fish," Sun said quickly, "I'm more of a banana kind of guy, if you know what I mean,"
Blake nodded slowly. She could connect the dots as to what being a 'banana kind of guy' meant. "Got it,"
"Good," Sun breathed. "It's hard for us, you know."
"What do you mean by 'us'?" Blake demanded. Sun could be a 'banana kind of guy' with minimal issue. He wasn't in a dating competition for someone of the opposite sex. Blake was. "We are not in the same boat in our ability to express attraction for someone of the same sex." Blake thought firmly, and then caught herself. "We're not even in the same boat in our attraction for the same sex. How dare he make that assumption?" "I like bananas just as much as you do," she snapped.
Sun raised an eyebrow. "I never said that you didn't. I just meant-"
"That's enough!" Cinder announced. "My eyes are burning after watching that. Huntsmen, to your guard posts. Ladies, prepare for your dates tonight. Everyone get out of my sight."
Blake pulled away from Sun before he could finish his thought. "I like bananas just as much as he does," she thought sternly. Yang winked at her as they left the ballroom, and Blake looked away, blushing. "I like bananas just as much as he does,"
