Weiss takes a seat on the familiar black fabric inside of Blake's car and settles in for a drive to someplace she has no idea where.
"You sure you don't want to tell me what exactly it is we are doing?" Weiss tries to keep the strain and suspicion out of her voice.
"I have to keep some tricks up my sleeve. Also, mostly I couldn't risk Yang ruining the surprise either."
"I mean, I wore jeans and close toed shoes for you. That's basically the highest level of trust and sacrifice I can afford on a first date." A small smirk appears on her face before she turns away from Blake slightly to look out the window.
"Well thank you for dressing down for me." That same light smile appears on Blake's face, in contrast to the smirk on her companion's. "I definitely plan on us having dinner, but I did plan for us to do something fun. Or at least I think it's fun."
"And what exactly would that be?"
"How do you feel about go kart racing?"
"I- I don't know. I mean I'm not sure really. I've never been."
"Not ever?" Blake raises an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Not once." Crossing her arms loosely, Weiss shakes her head.
"Well after today, you won't be able to say that anymore." Blake's smile is just so warm and genuine that it makes something ache in Weiss' chest.
When they arrive at the outdoor track, Blake gets their tickets and helmets and returns, handing Weiss a helmet. Quickly, Blake sizes her own and clips the buckle under her chin, looking up to see Weiss struggling to figure it out.
"Would you like some help? The strap things can be a little tricky sometimes, because you can't really see them."
Weiss feels her whole body stiffen as Blake steps closer, reaching up to bring her hands up towards her face and begins to swiftly adjust the straps under Weiss' chin before successfully attempting to secure the clasp and buckle.
"Thank you." Weiss mutters, trying not to stare too intently at the golden eyes that are looking downward, focused on Blake's hands.
"No big deal. Have to make sure it's snug enough to keep your head safe. Chin up?" Blake asks and Weiss immediately tilts her head so that Blake can finish fastening the clip on the buckle.
As they approach the area with the go karts, Weiss can't help but notice the increasingly loud sounds.
"I had no idea they were so loud." She leans over to talk more closely to Blake's ear before pulling back awkwardly once she notices the proximity. But when she leans back, Blake leans forward to follow as she answers.
"Yeah. They are kinda loud. Like a lawn mower."
When the attendant lets them into the area to pick which go kart they would like to drive, Weiss looks around quickly, eyes bouncing from kart to kart, unable to decide.
"What about the light blue one?" Blake suggests, pointing toward a kart that immediately catches Weiss' eye.
"How did you know I would like that one?"
"I don't know." She shrugs half heartedly. "It just matches the color of your eyes." Unable to hold back the smile from her face, Weiss shakes her head dismissively as she begins to sit down in the light blue go kart. "And now that I've completely embarrassed myself, I'm just going to pick this one."
Blake plops down in the kart beside Weiss. It's a darker purple color with white accents similar to those on Weiss' kart. Weiss can't help but wring her hands nervously over the steering wheel as the attendant comes by and checks to make sure their safety belts are fastened appropriately.
"You ready?" Blake asks as she pulls down on the ends of the straps to tighten her own safety belt. She can tell Weiss seems a little nervous. "It's going to be fun, I promise. Unless of course, you lose the race."
"What race?" The challenge immediately catches Weiss' attention.
"That's the whole point. We are racing. So don't be sad if you don't win." Blake flashes her an over exaggerated frown.
"I'm not going to lose." Rolling her eyes in response to Blake, she sticks her nose in the air.
"Guess we will have to see about that, huh?"
The proposition of a challenge wipes any nervousness from her mind. Now the only thing Weiss can focus on is winning. The attendant gets on the loud speaker and goes over the track rules, there were a few other people on the track besides the two of them, but they didn't matter. Weiss had a race to win, against Blake. Everyone else was inconsequential. As soon as the light turns green Weiss slams her foot down on the gas pedal.
Now she knows why Blake had asked her to dress comfortably. And honestly, Weiss had totally blocked out what the rules were. The only rule was that she had to win. She turns the first few corners, easily out maneuvering the younger drivers. Oddly enough, when she looked to the sides, Blake was no where to be found. At first, she was a little worried, maybe something had happened. Maybe there had been mechanical issues with Blake's kart, or a wreck. But she decides to worry about that after she wins.
The track was pretty long and the races were three laps total in length. Everything was going just perfectly. Weiss had blazed past any competition and was almost halfway through the final lap when she takes a turn on one of the last corners, the finish line in sight. At the very end of the turn her kart is suddenly jarred and pushed to the side, causing her to nearly over correct the wheel.
"Miss me?" Blake flashes her a smug smile.
"Yes and no." Weiss admits, too focused on the track in front of them, but she still manages to hear Blake's laugh.
"You didn't think I was going to let you win, did you?"
Weiss huffs in determination. They were about to head down the final stretch. The last straightaway to the finish line. And she was still in the lead. But just barely. With only about one hundred feet to go, Weiss is confident in her victory. That is until she hears the measly roar of Blake's kart engine as she surges past her, crossing the finish line about half a kart length ahead of her. She wants to act like a good sport, but she doesn't quite know how to control her anger.
"You cheated!"
"Oh really?" Blake tilts her head slightly and smirks. "And how do you suppose I managed to cheat?"
"I don't know. Maybe you lured me into selecting a faulty kart."
"Those odds are highly unlikely. We can always just race again, if you would like?"
"We aren't done?" Weiss asks with a tone of surprise in her voice. Blake can't help but giggle quietly before she continues.
"Not unless you don't want to race anymore. We can race three more times before I have to go get more tickets."
"Well then let's go, Belladonna." Weiss' eyes narrow as she looks forward, ready to race.
"Hands on the wheel, Schnee." She's taken aback by Blake actually knowing her last name. But before she can ask, Blake tells her what she wants to know. "One time you got something in the mail and they left it at my door, so I moved it and I happened to read the label." She shrugs, not making mention of it any further.
Weiss can't figure out if Blake just doesn't know who she is, or know that she belongs to a rather successful Atlas based family, or if she does and just genuinely doesn't care. When she gets caught staring pensively at Blake she quickly clears her throat and turns herself to face forward.
The countdown light turns green and they begin their second race. It's way more competitive than the first. Instead of hanging back until the end, Blake pushes and nudges the entire way. And just like the last time, they reach the final turn, only this time Weiss clips the back bumper of Blake's kart, causing it to turn and allows for Weiss to scoot her way around her and floor the gas pedal. She inches over the finish line first.
They take a few more races on the track before they call it quits. Each of them winning a few more times. The competition was friendly, of course. And even though Weiss would tend to get a little overzealous, Blake never seemed too bothered by it.
After turning in their helmets and laughing at their helmet hair, they start the short walk back to the car and Weiss can't help but ask.
"So, where are we off to now?"