"Brothers Grimm, do you HAVE to be so perceptive?" Blake says, holding the bridge of her nose.
"It's not my fault! Briar's super easy to read!" Yang responds, nodding at you.
Blake sighs and goes back to fidgeting with Gambol Shroud. "Well, you're right about that…" She glances at you and says, "And don't worry, it makes you cute. Not your fault SOMEBODY felt like encroaching on our private life." Blake glares at Yang.
"youre the one raising your voice you know" Yang states with a flat expression. Blake covers her mouth. "It only took one slip up for me to piece it together. Kinda hard to keep a secret like that when you came back from his room past midnight."
"That isn't even–" Blake lowers her voice again. "That isn't even when it happened! It *led* to it, but that wasn't what that was!"
"just sayin" Yang answers. "You're gonna have to be more careful sneaking around if I could figure it out."
"Ugh, we shouldn't even need to hide our sex lives." Blake starts unscrewing the blade hinge on her katana. "It's so archaic to try and ignore biological facts."
"blake you know about my sex life" Yang pauses, then turns to you. "oh yeah btw i talk with blake about my sex life (or lack thereof right now :p) hope thats not weird"
You scratch your head, glad to be included again. "As long as she hasn't talked about ours I guess…"
"what was that about hiding our sex lives blake what did you say about that"
"There's a difference between hiding one's sex life and not mentioning it. Just because we shouldn't be ashamed of it doesn't mean it needs to be common knowledge."
You suddenly start thinking about you know way too much about your boss' sex life. In your conversations with Stella, she had exactly zero hesitation telling you about her boyfriend, her fanService, or the many other sex workers she supports. Yeah, there's definitely a middle ground… For that reason, you decide not to share this information with Blake or especially Yang.
"And remind me, WHY did this conversation come up? I sent him to get my purse and now you're here asking what base we've gone to."
"oh yeah he saw me with my titties about to pop out and it was a natural progression from there"
"Wha–"
"like, not *intentionally*"
You can feel Blake's sigh coming before it comes out. You articulate, "She thought she'd be alone, so she tried on a sexy cosplay outfit."
"and my tit–"
"–the costume did not fit, which did not help the fact that it was also pretty skimpy to begin with," you interrupt, wanting to treat this whole incident with at least a little adultness. "I was looking for your purse, and she came out of the bathroom wearing it." You blink a few times and then hand Blake her purse, which is why you're here, to begin with.
Yang shrugs. "And your noble boyfriend only stared a little bit :3" She smiles at you, glowing slightly. "You really landed yourself a good one, Blakey." You start to turn red. "Anyone else would have been glued to me. He even turned down my half-off discount for my fanService if I decide on making one; chivalry truly lives!"
Blake ponders on what to do, then settles on smiling at you. "I guess I can be happy with that specific part, ignoring why you offered in the first place."
"i would have offered it to you, too…"
"Ge-huh what?" scrambles out of Blake's mouth.
Yang scratches the back of her head. "As a joke! Not that I think you would go for it…" Gauging Blake's response, she reads, "wait would you go for it"
Blake babbles a bit before calming down and answering, "Why is it always like this with you… Of course, I'd support you; you're my partner." She blinks. "Team partner," she clarifies. "As opposed to Briar, who is my partner-partner. Gahhh."
That familiar taunting smirk stretches across Yang's face again. "But would you *monetarily* support me? In exchange for *naughty* pictures~"
Once more, Blake loses her words. Finding nothing, she looks at you for support. She'd made it clear that she (like everyone) finds Yang pretty damn hot, so her being confronted with it is pretty damn fun to watch. It's enjoyable to see her flustered for once!
"I'm afraid I also don't have the cash to spend on," Blake plays up the honey in her voice, "*luxuries.* My pockets are going to be pretty drained after I pay for this upgrade." She holds up Gambol Shroud, which she'd been toying with this entire time. Oh, yeah, that's also why you were here in the first place.
You watch Yang hear those words, process them, pause, and then say, "But what if they were… free?" In a very uncharacteristic manner, she turns her head and looks at the ground. Is… is she embarrassed!? What is she saying!?
You and Blake both blink in unison. Blake actually finds her words first; she asks, "But doesn't that defeat the entire point? It's like–"
"–sending dirty pics to your partner?" Yang interrupts.
"I haven't sent him any dirty pics, Yang!"
There's an instant change in Yang's demeanor. Did she become… quieter?
"…Maybe I want to."
"…"
"To you," Yang adds. "…B-both of you."
Brothers Grimm, you're glad you woke up in that crater. Assuming you're picking up what Yang's putting down… "Are you… asking us out?"
Yang whispers, "Not quite…" Doing her best to hide behind her hair, she says, "If you two are at *that* level…"
A bright red Blake drops a screwdriver on the table, snapping her out of silence. "Yang, what are you saying!? Do you–"
"–of course I do." Yang's usual confidence immediate returns. "You know me; I know what I want and I want… you two. All that flirting wasn't just for show; you know exactly what my feelings are, and you two are *terrible* at hiding what you think of me. We know each other beyond just being friends." Yang looks at you, then flicks her eyes up at your beanie. "Oh, yeah, by the way, I know what's under there; I saw your ears when you got hit by that Ursa. I had to put on a brave face for Blake, but I couldn't sleep for a week after that. I saw how she looked at you in your bed and told myself I couldn't possibly get between you two when you woke up. Like some kinda romance novel…" Yang extends a hand. "But… but if there's room…"
There's a smile on Yang's face. Now, you've seen her smile a lot, obviously. Shine like the sun, and all. But… This was different. You'd seen her smile at her friends, laugh at jokes, snicker at her own jokes, music, food, fighting, but…
This wasn't… joy. That's not the word. Joyous, maybe, but that wasn't it.
It was an invitation. A message.
Goddamnit, really?
Seriously?
It was a goddamn awakening.
This wasn't where this conversation started. Yang was just teasing you about seeing her in cosplay. Figuring out you and Blake had slept together. It was just a normal conversation, but the pieces were there.
You didn't know it.
Blake didn't know it.
*Yang* didn't know it.
It wasn't until this moment, this conversation, that she realized that she was in love with you and Blake. She didn't just ache because she felt guilty about your injury. She wasn't just relieved to see Blake overjoyed when you woke up. She was devastated to live in a world without you. She was heartbroken to see the strings tie between you and Blake.
The right words, the right sequence of events just happened to be spoken that would bring her to that conclusion.
An accidental peep show.
Seeing you be attracted to her.
Knowing that you and Blake made love.
Joking about selling lewds.
Realizing she wanted to share them anyway.
Realizing that she wanted to see you wake up just as much as Blake did.
Realizing that she wanted you to wake up to her, too.
That smile was the crystallization of that realization.
"I love you. Both of you. I have for a while, but I don't think I knew that. I think I told myself I didn't–couldn't–because you were already together in my mind."
You… just heard that confession. It makes sense, of course. There was always a connection between Yang and Blake, and Yang was essentially the start of your life; she was the one that really introduced you to the world all because you happened to sit next to her at orientation. Sure, she was flirty with a lot of people, but…
Can you really say no to her feelings?
But… Blake…
You… yeah, you love her. Sure, you haven't been dating all that long, but what you did yesterday, how it felt, *that* was love. You just knew. That shared feeling was too obvious. Could you truly say you felt the same about Yang?
No, of course not. You *physically* can't. You shared yourself with Blake in an unmatchable way. *After* all of that time you spent loving each other.
You look at Blake. The woman you love. She looks at you, no doubt thinking these same thoughts.
Could…
Was there room to feel that way for Yang? All that would be missing was time. You've hung around her plenty of times, but not romantically (or was it to her?). You enjoy being around her, and you know Blake does too.
"Briar," Blake says. She pauses, clearly unsure of her own thoughts.
"Blake," you echo, hoping that somehow activates the right words.
You both stare at Yang, smiling that brilliant smile. As happy as she looked, there was a clear hesitation in her eyes; she was in the middle of those agonizing moments between a yes or no, that heavy weight caused by uncertainty.
Your ear twitches. You're unsure if you actually heard anything, but it moves you nonetheless. Without thinking and without planning, you extend a hand towards Yang, only to see that Blake does the exact same at the exact same time. You each take one of her hands and… that's it. No words, no special actions, nothing.
Still, the feeling comes across.
Reciprocation.
"…Does this mean…?" Yang asks, that hesitation in her eyes transforming.
"Yes," you and Blake say, again in unison.
You don't think anyone could have turned Yang down if she smiled at them like that. She was beautiful, kind, and radiant.
Yang closes her eyes, tilts her head, and her smile turns even more heartwarming. She tugs on your hands and brings you and Blake both in for a hug. "I'm glad. I don't know what I'd do if either of you'd said no…" Her embrace is warm and smells like lilacs. She lets go and sits down on a stool. "Fssssshhhhh…" Yang vocalizes, shooting out all of her stress like steam from a pipe. "*That* was emotionally draining…"
"Not used to asking someone out?" Blake says, smugly.
"That, and also the whole, 'wear your heart on your sleeve,' thing." You grimace and look at Yang's shirt, which has her specific heart logo on it, though on the breast instead of the sleeve. She sees this and pouts. "Not to that level :P" Realizing where your eyes are, she throws in, "Oh, and yeah, you're free to stare at my chest now ;)"
You immediately stare anywhere other than Yang's cleavage. Though, considering how she got to this point…
oh damn yang is dtf
"Anyway…" Blake says, saving you from that awkwardness. "Now that that's all settled, I ACTUALLY need to finish working on my weapon. So, if feelings are all sorted, then I think we need to focus a little."
"Sounds good," you and Yang say in unison.