Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Co-Authored with ToxicExotic
Watering the Flowers
Blake set down her tray onto the table before slumping into her seat. She and the rest of the team had recently received their test scores back on a major Gravity and Lightning Dust test. It had been announced last week, and while they had enough time to study, apparently it wasn't enough; for anybody but Weiss that was. The girl had yet again turned into the usual overworking hermit when confronted with a hard test, though had been a little better with taking breaks that Ruby had begun to make mandatory, and had passed with flying colors, coming back out on top. Even more than that, the fact that Flynt only got just over half of the questions right seemed to have put a smug smirk on her face.
So as Blake looked down at her own test, on which she had done rather well, she couldn't help but smile at the small amount of gloating that Weiss was doing. To her side, Yang had already left her results tossed aside, with a pretty reasonable test score considering both Dust types were not her specialty, and Ruby had actually done better than both of them. Granted, she had also been holed up with Weiss on those long study sessions, and Weiss was extremely proficient with both the Dust types, but the team leader had definitely been putting in the effort, and was bragging right alongside Weiss.
"...ee who's the smartest in the family now, huh?" She said, branding her test at Yang and sticking her tongue out.
"I can definitely see who has the biggest head."
"Nuh uh, that's you." Ruby replied childishly and pointed a finger at her sister. "I measured."
"Oh really?" Yang grinned, a mischievous grin pulling at her lips as a wicked look came across her eyes. "And I should trust a girl who thought she had D cups at thirteen because she measured them wrong, why?"
A gasp escaped the reaper as she turned just as red as the tips of her hair and used her arms to cover her chest. "You said you would never speak of that again!"
Chuckling at the sisters, Blake put her paper aside and leaned her head to the side in a joking attempt to see what Ruby was hiding. The blush deepened and the girl moved closer to Weiss, who quickly made a glyph barrier that repelled her partner. Sticking her tongue out, she reached over and stole half a cookie from the girl's plate. It felt good to finally be able to hang out with her team again at lunch.
The past week, both she and Yang had been in what was essentially detention, even if it was never called as such. After their night out, they'd both woken with massive headaches and little memory of what happened when they got home, though Weiss had quickly filled them in. She was a little annoyed at herself for being so clingy with Ruby, but Ruby didn't seem to be interested in an apology, and had indeed spent the night in her bed anyway. However, when they had all arrived in the cafeteria for breakfast and sat down to eat, a large, heavy book had been slammed onto the table by Professor Goodwich. The woman had then declared that she and Yang had both been volunteered to help Professor Oobleck transcribe the damaged pages into a new one. Thankfully though, the job had finally been done and Oobleck had cleared them to leave.
"They're good." Blake grinned, purposely keeping her words vague.
The girl's eyes widened, and she tore Weiss's test from the girl's hands to hide behind both of the pages. Letting out a small laugh, she leaned across the table and pushed them apart, seeing a smile on her girlfriend's face. Unable to control herself, she pressed a small kiss to her lips that was happily returned. As usual, Weiss let out a small scoff and stole her test sheet back.
"You meant the cookies, right?" Ruby asked with a definite hint of curiosity in her voice.
"Yup." Blake gave a small wink that Ruby obviously understood, and moved back to her seat beside Yang.
"Real smooth." The blonde whispered.
"Shut up." She hissed back. "So, Weiss, how's it feel to be back on top of the class?"
"It feels great, of course." The girl replied smugly. "Though I'm not sure why Flynt scored so low."
"Maybe he just sucks with gravity Dust." Yang shrugged.
"Doubtful." Weiss said dismissively. "As much as I loathe to admit it, he knows a lot about Dust. And works it in ways I've never seen before."
"You hear that, Flynt?" Came a male voice from nearby. Turning around, they saw Ivori and Flynt walking towards them. "She actually complimented you."
"That she did." Flynt grinned at them as they both sat at the table, though Ivori sat far away from Weiss. "Here I was thinking she'd agree with Yang."
"It was not a compliment," Weiss scowled at him. "Merely an acknowledgement of the truth."
"Long way from what ya normally give me. I'll take it."
He gave the woman a smile, but she simply shook her head and went back to talking to Ruby. If Blake wasn't mistaken, she saw a little disappointment in his eyes. She'd been suspicious of something for a while, but she guessed she finally had her answer. Nevertheless, with Weiss having returned to going over the answers with Ruby, Blake inspected the new arrivals.
She actually quite liked Flynt. Though he certainly had some arrogance about him, he was a good guy, and clearly cared a lot about his partner, Neon. He was also pretty helpful to anybody who asked, and Blake knew that he'd helped Ruby with her new upgrade. Ivori though, she wasn't sure. She knew that he too was a good guy, but it was undeniable that he was a little judgemental. With a vast majority of the students he seemed fine, but with those from the city of Atlas itself, he tended to be a little unwelcoming. Blake had noticed the same traits with Velvet and Mistralian people, so assumed that something had happened to cause it.
"So why did you score so low on this test?" Yang asked bluntly, not that Flynt seemed to mind.
"Like ya said, I suck with Gravity Dust." He didn't sound upset with that admission. "Learned everything I know from workin' in my dad's store, but that stuff's expensive, and hard to use, so not many people buy it. People don't buy it, he didn't order it. So no excess for me to practise with."
"Too much effort to open a book?" Weiss replied slyly, not looking away from Ruby.
Though it looked like Ruby was about to scald her teammate, Flynt just gave a small chuckle. "I do. But you should know that Dust is so much more than words can describe. When you handle it properly, it's like a part of your soul."
That actually made Weiss turn around, her eyes open in surprise as she looked at him.
"I… I suppose that is true." She said thoughtfully before turning back to Ruby, clearly finished with the conversation.
Turning to Yang, Blake saw her partner watching the pair with interest in her eyes. She knew Yang's theory too of course, but she wasn't sure if she agreed. Not that it would deter the blonde from making as many jokes as she could. Plus, Weiss was always touchy about her personal feelings due to having to force them down for so long as a child; so before Yang could say a word, Blake tried her best to change the conversation.
"So where's Neon?" She asked, since it was very rare to see Neon and Flynt apart for very long.
"Sparring with that Yatsuhashi guy. He said he wanted some patience testing."
"She'll definitely give him that." Yang retorted. "I honestly don't know how your team handles her all the time."
"People just don't understand her." Ivori replied bitterly, stabbing his pasta with a fork. "If you ask me, the ones calling her annoying are the annoying ones."
"Shows they don't really understand her." Flynt agreed with his friend and pointed a fork at Yang. "Did ya know she lost that part of her tail protecting Kobalt?"
"I didn't." There was a little shame in Yang's voice.
"Exactly. And bet ya didn't know she used her semblance almost every second of the day when it happened so that we wouldn't see her sad and Kobalt wouldn't feel guilty? That it reduced her healing speed and left her exhausted more often than not? Or that her semblance manifested because she just wants to try and make sure everyone around her is as happy as possible?"
Even Blake hung her head a little. Just like Yang, she too had been a little judgemental of the other cat faunus. Despite being friends, she had still been confused as to why Sun was dating the girl, and often found herself annoyed when around her for too long. While she did know the girl was a good person, she'd never actually tried to get to know her beyond anything surface level after their first interaction.
"Well now I feel like shit." Yang sighed and stabbed her piece of chicken. "She sounds just like Ruby."
The girl was too busy with Weiss to even notice she was mentioned. However, Flynt and Ivori let out a small chuckle.
"We ain't sayin she ain't difficult to handle at times."
"She definitely is every now and again."
"But she is one of the best people I know." Flynt said sincerely. "An example of what every Huntress or Huntsman should be. Ya just gotta look past her fighting style."
"Yup." Blake agreed. "Exactly like Ruby."
"Huh?" The girl finally heard her name. "What's like me."
"Being a doofus." Yang replied, throwing a piece of meat at the girl.
"Says the queen of all doofuses." Ruby said as she caught it and stuck out her tongue.
"Pfft." Yang scoffed and turned back to Flynt. "Anyway, if you suck with Gravity Dust, why don't you just ask Weiss to tutor you?" Blake let out a low sigh as the heiress' eyes narrowed. "She's our resident Dust genius."
For all Blake's attempts to stop the boxer butting in, she still always found a way.
"I would rather you not offer me up without consulting me first." Weiss scowled at the blonde.
"Don't think she'd waste her time doing that."
"Nah, she's Just like Neon. A big softy at heart." Yang grinned.
Blake subtly shifted along the bench away from her partner, since the odds of an ice crystal being thrown were getting higher and higher. But Yang didn't seem to care, and just gave the heiress a wink.
"I will freeze you to your bed."
"You will try to freeze me to my bed. Remember how that turned out last time?"
Blake remembered, and it wasn't pretty. There had been ice everywhere as Yang had exploded herself free. And since Ice Dust took forever to melt and they didn't want to spend the next few days being stabbed to death by tiny shards of ice, they had spent a good few hours cleaning up that mess. For that reason alone, Blake was staying out of the discussion.
"Come on, Weiss." Ruby joined in, though clearly unaware of what Yang was trying to do. "You're a great teacher. And Flynt needs help."
"Yeah." Yang agreed. "Plus, you never know. Study sessions are gre..."
Weiss' reaction was instant. Her hand slammed onto the table, and a line of black glyphs sped along the wood. Before any of them could react, the circles disappeared under Yang's tray, and the entire thing was lifted into the blonde's face. Chicken and rice went everywhere, sticking to Yang's hair and clothes, which were also drenched from the glass of water that had also been sent flying. However, even though Blake had moved away, she had been on the receiving end of most of the liquid, her own top immediately sticking uncomfortably to her chest.
"Godsdammit, Weiss." She sighed, reaching up to pull the white undershirt away from her skin.
She was grateful that she was wearing a bra underneath, since the material was already beginning to turn see through. A fact that Ruby definitely took notice of. When Blake looked up, the reaper quickly turned away, her cheeks red and her eyes a little flustered like when she was caught by Yang with cookies late at night.
"I said I don't like being offered up!" Weiss growled, her tone actually rather insulted. "I have enough of that from my father! If he wants tutoring, he will ask me himself!"
"Alright, alright." Yang breathed, flicking rice onto the already messy table. "Sorry."
"Flynt." Ivori pinched his nose and plucked a few pieces of rice from his shoulder. "Will you just ask her already? I would rather not have to spend my lunch break picking more food off of me than I eat."
"Don't want to turn into Kobalt?" Flynt chuckled, but received a short look from his teammate. "Calm down, I'm askin'." He laughed and turned to Weiss with a pompous voice. "Miss Schnee, would you do me the honor of tu…"
Weiss' eyes narrowed at him. "Ask me properly."
"'Kay, 'kay. Will ya please teach me about Gravity Dust?" He paused for a second, and what little of his arrogance passed. "It would be real helpful."
Vaguely aware that Ruby was still stealing glances at her top, and trying purposely to act like she couldn't see the girl doing it, Blake watched Weiss glare the boy down. She'd been on the receiving end of that look many times, and knew she was evaluating his worth. Thankfully though, after almost a minute, she shook her head in defeat.
"Fine!" She said sternly. "You will meet me in the courtyard tomorrow at four. You will not be late, and you will bring a copy of Lila's Guide to Defying Gravity from the library. I would rather not have my first edition print ruined by bringing it outside."
"Four o'clock in the courtyard with a big, boring Atlesian book. Got it." He said, standing from his seat and picking up his tray. Ivori did the same. "It's a date."
"It is most certainly not!" Her reply fell on deaf ears since Flynt had already walked away. Instead, she let out a low annoyed sigh and returned to her salad. "I am going to seriously regret this."
"Studying with a hot guy? What cou…"
"You shut up." Weiss snapped, though more agitated than angry.
With a shrug, despite the grin on her face, Yang returned to pulling rice from her hair. Letting her t-shirt go, since it wasn't really doing much but send small bits of water down her cleavage, Blake looked back at Ruby's who eyes darted away once again. It was her turn to smirk, and she leaned a little closer with a smile on her face.
"Have you got a fire crystal on you?" She asked with a falsely innocent tone. "I need to dry this. You know… Before people start staring."
"S-Sure." Ruby stuttered, her cheeks a blazing red as she rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a small fire crystal, almost dropping it in the process. It wasn't much but it would be enough. "Here."
"Thanks, Beautiful." She grinned and took it.
Keeping Ruby in sight as she activated her aura and ran it over her shirt, Blake had to hold in a chuckle at the fact that Ruby's eyes latched back onto the area. And though they weren't ready for that area yet, it definitely felt good to know that Ruby was at least interested in it so much.
Blake was quite happy as she sat on the soft grass with Ruby sitting between her legs. Since classes were over and the day was actually rather warm, the team had decided to hang out by the small river that ran along the eastern edge of Beacon's courtyard and eventually fed into the waterfall. The area was quite pretty, filled with flowers and trees that made the air smell like honeysuckle. However, the delightful smell of roses also joined them from the shampoo of the girl between her legs.
Though she'd brought a book with her for a little light reading, the novel had remained in her bag for the entire afternoon since she was having much more fun just holding the reaper while she munched on a small basket of strawberries. Even though there were other teams around, as well as Yang and Weiss, she was enjoying just nuzzling into Ruby's neck, her hand against the girl's stomach so that her fingers could gently graze along the firm muscle in the way Blake had found out Ruby liked. It was calming in a way, and the soft hums of approval that met her ears every now and again were definitely enough to make it worthwhile.
"Want another?" The leader asked, holding up a bright, red berry.
"Sure." She smiled, reaching out to take the offered food.
Plucking it from the girl's hand, Blake placed it between her lips and grinned at her girlfriend. Clearly understanding, Ruby leaned on and wrapped her lips around the other half. Biting into the fruit, she took her half into her mouth and let her lips graze against the reapers in a small kiss. When she pulled away, there was a happy twinkle in the pair of silver eyes.
"Delicious." She grinned and licked her lips, seeing a small red tint appear on Ruby's cheeks.
"Gods, you two are getting more sickening by the day." Yang scoffed, standing to her feet and stretching her arms. Since the brawler was wearing only a pair of shorts and her usual crop top, Blake noticed a few eyes turn towards her. "I'm going for a swim." She declared, sprinting off towards the river. "CANNONBALL!"
The blonde's hair glowed for a second as she leapt off the ground, soaring high into the air as she tucked her legs into her chest. However, just as she was about to land in the water, a large white glyph appeared over the surface. A loud thud echoed around the area, and everyone watched as Yang collided with it instead of the water, sliding for a moment before slipping off the edge with wide eyes. Just before the combined laughter of all the teams filled the area, Blake heard a chortle come from her right, and turned to see Weiss smiling in satisfaction. Before any of them could worry though, Yang reemerged a couple of seconds later.
"Serves her right." The girl muttered under her breath.
"HAHAHA!" Ruby shouted at her sister when she was finally able to breath again. "YOU LOOKED SO STUPID!"
"I DID, DID I?" Yang shouted back, though only because she was a short distance away. In fact, her eyes were alight with revenge. "WELL IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I GAVE YOU A BATH!"
The girl reared her arm back and her hair glowed brighter than the sun. With a huge grin on her face, she swung her arm forward, slamming it into the water with enough force that a small tidal wave was displaced and sent hurtling in their direction. Had Ruby not been sat cross-legged in her lap, Blake would have easily dodged it; but since she was, there was no hope. The chilly water splashed down upon them, immediately soaking their clothes and leaving them spluttering. Even Weiss hadn't escaped, and her entire left side was drenched.
"Godsdammit." Blake sighed at having yet again been caught in the crossfire. "That's twice in one day."
"Ewwww!" Ruby said, finally getting her feet untangled and standing up. "Gross."
Yang joined the ring of laughter now, and Blake had to flinch away as the younger girl shook her head like a dog, sending droplets everywhere. Before she could get to her feet to stop her though, Weiss had already stood up and hit the girl in the face with a blast of air from her rapier. Though it didn't really do much, it did get rid of the last remaining droplets.
"You're welcome." Weiss replied, hand on hip as she looked down at herself. The white jacket she was wearing was already see-through and providing zero coverage. "Well, since I'm already soaked thanks to that dolt, I may as well go for a swim too."
While it was easy to see why many might think Weiss would be uptight about her body, that was rarely the case. Though she did always try to act with some modesty, the girl was actually incredibly confident in her looks; and clearly for good reason. So It didn't surprise Blake that the heiress shamelessly pulled the jacket away to reveal a two-piece bikini that she was wearing underneath. However, in keeping with her need to be modest, the top was two layers of frills that reached down to the bottom of her ribs, and the bottoms were covered by a thin veil that hung from the waistband.
Throwing the jacket onto the ground beside her belongings, the girl gracefully walked off towards the river, and Blake noticed Ruby's eyes following her partner; who was already getting splashed by Yang.
"Should I be jealous that you're eyeing up Weiss?" She joked, peeling off her own jacket. Though she hadn't been as prepared as Yang or Weiss, she'd had enough forethought to wear a plan tank top since she knew what her own partner was like.
"Huh?" Ruby replied, tearing her eyes away. "Oh, No! I just wish I was that confident. And that pretty."
The last words had been said in a hushed tone, but Blake easily heard them. Wanting to reassure her girlfriend, she wrapped an arm around her and pulled the girl close to gaze down at her happily.
"You are so much more beautiful than Weiss." She said with a wide smile.
"Really? But I'm so… Plain."
"Hmm." Blake pulled back a little, letting her hands slip to her waist and looking down as she bit her lip. "You are definitely not plain to me." Letting her desire take over for a second as she felt the moment was right, she leaned in and whispered seductively into the girl's ear. "I wouldn't be dreaming of you so often if I thought you were."
Before the girl could recover from that, Blake slipped around her and started walking backwards towards the rest of their team. It took Ruby a second to recover, but she finally turned around with a smile on her face. Sticking her tongue out, Blake crooked her finger and beckoned for her to follow. Thankfully, the girl didn't need anymore convincing and quickly ran to join her side. Taking her hand when she finally caught up, they both jumped into the river; making sure to splash both Weiss and Yang as they did.
Raalm's Note
Hello all. Not really much to say since this was main just another fun chapter for you, with some other things thrown in and referenced. Mostly just team building that I hope you all found cute and enjoyable. For those of you that are eager for things to get a little more serious again, rest assured that it starts next chapter :)
Chapter 41 will be up on the 26th of July