Chapter 8 - Let's Yang Out
The front door clicks back into place as my body collapses onto the living room sofa, a puffy groan escaping my mouth as soon as I make contact. Prone, I let the fatigue wash over me, the ever-present aching feeling in my limbs there as a reminder of the hellish exercise I just put myself through.
Good. That means I did it right, even without Qrow to teach me.
This morning, before I was about to head out to the usual place, Qrow informed me that he wouldn't be able to train with me today despite the fact he was usually off on the weekend. Apparently, he had some sort of 'thing' to go to in the nearby kingdom: Vale. He didn't go into detail about it but, the fact was, I'd be training by myself today. It's not the first time I've done so in the last two weeks since we started but there's something a little... odd about the whole thing.
Not that Qrow went away. From what I've heard around the household, Qrow has a tendency of leaving to take on Huntsman missions and other odd jobs. It's probably the reason why he never shows up to lunch or dinner. For him? That's not odd.
For Taiyang to leave with him? Now, that's odd.
Sure, Taiyang's a Huntsman too but from the sound of things, he doesn't leave as frequently as Qrow but when he does, it's not for very long and it's never with Qrow. Not to sound horribly pragmatic but, Tai's a single father and he has two daughters to look after: he can't risk his life like Qrow can. There's too much for him to lose.
So, what in the world would be dangerous enough that it requires both him and Qrow to go to at the same time?
Pushing myself up from the sofa, I stumble into the kitchen with the benign hope that Tai might've left a note or some kind of clue as to why the two of them had to leave. A glance around the kitchen and my hopes quickly crumble to pieces. There are no notes or hints to be found in this room, nor the living room. Whatever they're doing, they want kept confidential...
"Oh. Hey Eren." An upbeat voice greets me, causing my heart to jolt faintly. I turn around and there standing before me with a friendly smile is Yang. "What's up?" She asks casually.
"A-ah. Yang. U-um, hello. I was, uh..." I take another glance around the kitchen, I think about finishing my sentence but I shake my head clear of the thoughts. "Nothing. I was just thinking." I don't know why this is bothering me so much. It's really none of my business. What they do during their jobs is their business. It has nothing to do with me.
"You wanna give those thoughts some air?" She queries.
"I-it's nothing, really. Um, thank you for offering though." Yang's gaze lingers on me. I avert my eyes to avoid hers, waiting for her to make some kind of move.
Finally, Yang shrugs her shoulders. "Alright. Suit yourself." A tiny relieving breath passes my lips. "But," The muscles in my shoulders tighten as Yang's back makes contact with the door frame, her legs stretching flippantly taking up the entire length of the door. "I want to talk to you about something." She's wearing a smile on her face but the hairs in the back of my neck are still prickling.
"U-um..." I swallow hard. "O-okay."
"It's about where-" A gargantuan gurgle growls from my stomach. Instinctively, my hand lands on top of the groaning spot as I feel my cheeks enflame. It's always at the worst times, isn't it? I keep my head down, resisting the urge to hide underneath my hood. I can hear her struggling to hide her chuckling. There's no point, I've heard her laughter. Just hurry up and let it all out so I can die already.
"Hungry?" She says after she finally represses her chortles. I hope she's not being serious. She takes my weak murmur as an answer. "Heh. Well, you're in luck." I hear the floor creak as Yang pushes herself off the door. I look up to see her move further into the living room, towards sort kind of jacket and a pair of what looks to be black MMA gloves with yellow padding on the table. She continues, "I'm just about to head out to Patch to grab some package Qrow ordered. I was gonna grab some lunch on the way." She clenches her right hand, testing its security as the fabrics emits a rather loud crunch. She looks back to me. "You can tag along. I know a couple of places that'll knock your socks off."
"U-um... That's-" Without warning, Yang cuts me off.
"And you don't have to worry about that 'Paying me back,' stuff." I go to open my mouth in protest but she stops me once again. "Nope! None of that! This one's on me. I won't take no for an answer." Her tone's firm. I'm tempted to try and object again but this uneasy feeling in my gut's telling me that I'll just be causing trouble if I push this. I let out a weary sigh. Guess there's no helping it.
"A-alright. S-sure! Uh, t-that sounds really nice of you." It's not like going with her is a bad thing. I've never actually been to Patch. I wonder what it looks like. Besides, when we get to wherever she's taking me, I'll just grab whatever's cheapest and save her some money. Whatever it is on this world, anyway.
"Great!" Yang zips up her jacket, soundly pulling the zipper to the top emitting a click. Now that I have a better look of it, it looks eerily similar to one of those leather biker jackets I've seen in movies. "It shouldn't take us long to get to Patch. I'd give it about, hm, ten minutes. Fifteen tops."
Wait, I thought Patch was further north? I thought it'd take us about two hours at least to walk there. Unless...
No. There's no way. She's the same age as me. There's no way that she could have...
Oh dear god. She does.
"Well?" Yang smiles proudly, "What do you think?" Snow crunching beneath her boots, she strolls out of the family shed, tenderly pushing it along by the handlebars. What stands before is the strangest looking motorcycle I have ever seen in my life. Well, strangest looking real motorcycle that is. Bright yellow with a tinge of orange the occasional black blending together: a slim yet powerful design that seems to prioritize speed above all, and the distance between the seat and the front of the bike that screams sporty. It looks so...
"Cool." The word springs from my mouth before I have the chance to stop it. My jaw's practically on the floor right now but I can't help it. It's a motorcycle! A freaking motorcycle! It's just, "So cool!"
"You like her? She's custom-made. Had to call in a couple favors to build her. Paint-job was all me though." She pats the motorcycle affectionately, "I call her Bumblebee." Bumblebee? Well, of course. It makes sense. Yellow and black, I can totally see why she called it that. Still, the name brings a certain giant robot to mind foremost.
"That's amazing!" I awe. I don't know anybody that owns a motorcycle like this, let alone someone just a few months older than me. I could only dream about owning one of these. That's incredible!
"Ready to take her for a spin?"
"...Huh?" I look between Yang and Bumblebee. "U-um, y-you mean, t-together? A-at the same time?" She scoffs.
"Well, yeah. I didn't bring you out just so you could ogle my bike." She swings a leg over the driver's seat and settles herself. "This is how we're going to get to Patch." 'Really thought that was obvious,' she mutters under her breath.
"B-but isn't that a bit, um... dangerous?" I shuffle slightly, arms by my side. I mean, what if one of us falls off? Or we crash or something? I don't know about her but I don't want to test the durability of my Aura by smashing head first into a tree at a hundred miles per hour.
"Oh don't worry! I've made the trip to Patch about a thousand times by now. I could do it in my sleep," she beams brightly. I can't really tell if she's being truthful or if she's just spouting a bunch of hot air. "Besides." She continues, her smile contorting into a devilish grin. "The danger is what makes the trip fun." A shiver strokes down my back. Is it just my imagination or did my blood just turn to ice? "Anyway, come on! Do you want to walk for three hours straight, or do you want to ride in style?" She pats the back of her seat. I'm really tempted to pick the former, but I already have to deal with the weather enough these days.
Letting out a breath, I clumsily climb onto the back of Bumblebee. Clipping on a yellow helmet over her gigantic hair, Yang passes me back a black and red helmet with an oh-so familiar red rose on the front of it. She's giving me Ruby's helmet? I guess they just don't have that many helmets to spare. I mean, there must not be that many gloves in the house if Yang is using MMA gloves for cover.
"Uh, dude?" Yang looks over her shoulder. "I thought you were worried about falling off?" I look down at the way I'm sitting, just barely edging out the back of the seat. Sure, it's not exactly... ideal but, I don't really have much of a choice here. Yang's just a mere metre away from me. If I got any closer... it'd be far too close. Far, far too close.
"I-it's fine." I'll just have to make do and... not fall off.
"Yeah, no. Not buying that for a second." Yang deadpans. "Look, if you're really worried about falling off," she points to her waist. "Grab on and hold on tight." W-w-what?! Th-th-that's a little, well uh, for the lack of a better term, rather... close. I-I-I mean, it seems a bit, you know, ...risqué. I-I'm, uh, really not sure if that's- "Well? Come on! I wanna hit the road already!"
"Oh! Uh! Right!" I'm... still not entirely comfortable with this but, I'm not taking my chances with that irritable tone. "Um..." Okay, here's a question I never thought I'd have to ask myself. How do you wrap your arms around someone without making it weird or awkward? I'm shuffling side to side, trying to figure out the best angle and position to do so without coming off as a complete creep but I just can't figure it out. Every time I reach out my arms, I immediately reel them back before they can touch her. Disarming a bomb's easier than thi-
A deafening boom! A sudden explosive combustion rings through my ears, practically shattering my eardrums. Squealing, my arms lurch forward and away from the far end of Bumblebee.
With an erratic voice and my body shaking, I screech "W-what the hell was that?!"
"The engine," states Yang.
"T-the engine? That was the engine?!" That sounded like a nuclear bomb going off! What the hell's powering this thing? Uranium?!
"You holding on tight?" What? I look down and... oh. My, uh, arms are currently wrapped around her waist. I must've done it unconsciously when I, um, freaked out. Well, uh... At least I'm holding on now? Oh god, this feels so uncomfortable right now. I feel like I'm sitting on a cinder block. I mumble a meek 'Yes,' before bowing my head, hiding my burning cheeks from sight.
"Great!" With a powerful twist of the handles, Bumblebee's engine roars with a ferocious fiery blast. Every rev causes me to cling on that much tighter like the beast would hurl me off with every burst of energy. I look up at Yang, a wild smile and furled brows focus on the road ahead. Just looking at her, a hint of doubt plants itself in my mind whether I'm actually any safer holding onto her or not. "Hey Eren," she glimmers. "You know how I said we could get there in ten minutes?"
"Y-y-y-yes?" My voice quivers. Evil glints in her eyes.
"Let's do it in five."
As the loud humming of the motorcycle's engine begins to die, I can feel the wheels clamp into place, stabilising the bike.
"You can open your eyes now." Yang says, stifling a chuckle. Tentatively, I crack open one eye to gaze at the snowy ground. After waiting for my brain to catch up, I quickly collapse off of Bumblebee. My chest is heaving in and out: my heart is pounding fiercely, my insides feel like they've been through a dozen turbines and the my usual sense of gravity is non-existent. I've never gone that fast in my life.
That... was a rush.
"Geez..." Yang starts, looking down at me. "It wasn't that bad." Well, I never said it was 'bad.' She attempts to stick her hand out but I suddenly jump back onto my feet, stiffly dusting the snow off of my hoodie before she's given the chance. Before I can offer any kind of reply, I start to notice the whir of voices surrounding us. I look around me and part of me is overwhelmed by the sight of the much talked about Patch.
I have to say, the descriptions didn't nearly give the place justice. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't but find the sight of this new culture astonishing. Everything here is just so different from anything I've seen before it. Different architecture: different looking vehicles, hell, even different looking people with their bright incredibly expressive clothing. Stuff like a girl wearing some sort of gothic pirate garb or a guy looking like a mercenary rock-star; outfits as bizarre and crazy as that. If these people existed back home, they'd have people pointing them out and mocking them on the streets. Here, nobody seems to bat an eye. It's so... different.
I feel like a tourist here. Observing this strange new culture that accepts things that my own would scoff at it. They'd find this inane and immature. Personally, I find it, well...
"Amazing." I gasp.
"Really?" Yang asks, raising an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, I like Patch and all but, it's just your typical town." She shrugs her arms. "It's kinda boring, honestly." Well, of course it would be boring for her, she goes to Signal here every day. She probably finds this place as dull as I find my town. Highschool does that to you. "Anyway," she starts walking. "Come on. Let's grab some lunch."
"A-ah. Uh, yes." I cough, trailing after her as she leads us through the somewhat bustling street.
Following her lead, Yang brings me to this quiet, quaint looking cafe that's no bigger than a convenience store. As Yang shoves open the door, a bell ringing to alert the workers to our presence, we're greeted with the subdued chatter of the few patrons enjoying a quick meal. It's not empty but, nor is it obnoxiously loud. It's perfect.
As we nestled ourselves right next to the cafe window, I find myself leaning on my arm and watching as the tightly wrapped residents walk-on by without a single care in the world. Almost like they've completely forgotten the kind of world they're in.
Honestly, change the clothing and the strange colourful appearances and it'd be like living back home.
Except back home, we didn't have to deal with horrid monsters threatening to slaughter every human left on this planet for no good reason other than it's just their worthless purposes in life. Remnant is both strangely horrible yet, somehow at the same time, kind of livable in a way. Well, I suppose that's thanks to their defences and the Huntsmen, isn't it? Hm.
"Oh. So she is on the clock today." Yang says with a hint of astonishment, taking my attention away from the window and towards who she's looking at. Walking towards us is a young waitress wearing an absurdly normal apron and casual clothing combo. Nothing really notable or anything, I've seen far more elaborate outfits today, but something about her seemed really... off. I can't quite put my finger on it.
"Yang!" She greets quite peppy. "Hey! You didn't tell me you were going to come by today." Yang responds with a smile.
"It was a spur of the moment sorta thing. My uncle had stuff to do so, he's making me go grab one of his parcels for him."
"Oh. I see," she nods. As the two begin to chat, I notice that something seems a little... off about the waitress' posture. She's constantly arching her back like an old hunchback whose had it broken several times over. For somebody who looks like she's the same age as Yang and I, that doesn't look right. Or comfortable for that matter.
"You know, there aren't that many people in today," Yang remarks. "You can totally rest for a couple minutes." The waitress' warily looks towards the small bar, the furthest end of the cafe.
"You think so?" Yang nods brightly.
"Yeah, totally. He's too busy in the back anyway. He won't catch you." She shrugs. It's not like any of the other patrons are going to snitch. You can afford a couple of minutes." The waitress looks down, humming to herself. Looking up, she offers Yang a bright smile.
"You're right." Digging into the back of her jeans, she brings out...
I bound back in my chair, staring at the fluffy dog tail slumping out from the waitress' back as it wags to and fro just like a real dog tail. There's no question about it: that thing is a real dog's tail on a human being! As I'm engrossed with the tail, the waitress stretches her back out with a heavy sigh.
"Ahh! That's much better!" Her eyes snap to me, tailing halting. "Huh? Uh, Yang? Is your friend okay?" Yang's gaze flashes between us before simply waving her off.
"Oh. Don't worry about him. That's just Eren." If I wasn't so engrossed with the dog tail right now, I might've given that one a glare. A small one. Maybe.
"Eren? Weird name..." she remarks. She's about to turn her head away from me when she suddenly stops. "Wait," she gasps, slumping down onto the table next to Yang. "Is he that mystery guy who's been living in your house?" The long haired girl nods her head.
"Yeah, that's right," Jolting, I direct my attention away from the dog tail and to Yang's candid answer. Wait, has she been telling people about me? Why do I have the worst sense of dread right now?
"Oh, wow! I thought I was never going to meet him!" The dog waitress cheers for some strange reason. I'm not given any time to ponder further before she completely zones in on me. "Hey there!" The girl greets me rather loudly. Having little to no distance between, I struggle to find the proper words to reply with. How do you put 'Hi,' and 'Holy crap, you have a dog tail!' in the same sentence? However, I spend too much time thinking on an answer that the waitress just pulls back from me with a hand on her waist."Hm. He doesn't say much, does he?"
"Hit the nail right on the head!" Yang affirms with a big thumbs up while I fidget to myself. I'm not that quiet, am I? Who am I kidding, of course I am. The waitress follows up.
"The girls kept making all these wild guesses about him, I thought they were never going to go away." I sigh lightly to myself. Great, so they have been talking about me. I really don't want to know what kind of strange questions they have about me. I can barely stand being asked for my name. "Oh, crap! That's him coming back." The waitress splutters, tucking her tail inbetween her legs. "Quick, give me your orders!" She hastily brandishes a notepad from her left side and twirls a pen from her right. Yang answers first.
"I'll take the usual." Shooting me a glance, I swallow before I answer the strange waitress.
"W... water," I gasp. Simple, cheap but the thought of drinking it sounds like the most refreshing thing in the world right now. Jotting both of our orders down, she gives us both an energetic bob.
"Great! I'll get these to you ASAP. I'll talk to you later, Yang. You still coming to that party next week with the girls? Winter break's coming." Yang smirks with a fiery look in her eyes.
"Heh. You know it. See ya." The waitress waves to us bot, walking to the back of the cafe with our orders in tow. I blink twice. Well, that was certainly... something. "Let me guess, they don't have Faunus where you live, huh?" Yang asks, startling me slightly. I shake my head gently.
"N-no. They don't." When they described the Faunus to me that day, I had this picture in my head of them being... well, more animalistic than human-looking. Her appearance really took me by surprise. I never thought they'd look so human. It's actually kind of... fascinating. I wonder if could get another chance to... No, no. That's a stupid idea. I'd just be bothering her. Better leave it be for now. Yang accepts my answer with a firm nod.
"Yeah, I figured as much. I take it you don't know about the Great War, either?" A vivid image of a series of World War documentaries flashes in my mind for but a second. I shake my head. We're not thinking of the same war here. I shake my head again.
"N-no. I haven't." Yang hums lightly, finger trailing on her chin.
"That explains a lot. Right. I want to ask you a couple of things."
"O-oh. Okay," I reply, fiddling with my thumbs.
"It's about where you come from." My body freezes. The same sense of incoming dread I felt the first time they questioned me returns, albeit in a weaker form. I think about saying something but in this condition, I'll be as coherent as flopping fish. "I want to know how exactly you ended up in the woods that day." My head's in a whirl, scampering for answers. With a quivering voice, I attempt to dodge her query.
"I... D-didn't I t-tell you? I-" Yang instantly interrupts me.
"Don't know. Yeah, you said that a lot but you didn't say anything else." I cast my eyes adrift. Well, there wasn't exactly much else I could say on the matter. "You didn't say much else about a lot of stuff, actually." I smother the urge to furl my eyebrows. I know why I didn't say much else, I know my reasons for doing so but that doesn't mean I have the right to get annoyed right now. I simply reply,
"I'm... I wasn't lying." She shakes her head.
"I don't think you were lying." The muscles in my shoulders relax slightly. "But that's the problem. If what you're saying is true, then there's some sort of uncharted civilization out there with its own technology, doesn't have Grimm, doesn't have Faunus and they have no idea how Aura works. You know how crazy that sounds, right?" She lists out every fact with her fingers. For every reason she points out, my mind matches it with another reason to counter it. Reasons that I know full and well are completely true.
Yet, I stay silent. Yang huffs and tosses her bright golden hair over her chair.
"Look, I don't know if you're telling the truth or not. But I know that you weren't telling us everything. Especially the way you started stressing out and everything." Well, I have to admit, I was a little red throughout the questioning but...
"I... It wasn't that bad." I retort weakly. In response, Yang folds her arms on the table.
"You looked like you were going to explode. Literally. Explode, you were so red." W-well, they were asking me quite a few questions! I honestly wasn't that bad in comparison, I swear. "You're trying to keep something hidden from us, I know it."
"...Is it okay if I can be honest?" With a blink and a nod from Yang, I puff out my chest and zip down the front of my hoodie. Despite the freezing snow outside, I feel like I'm melting in this room. Letting out the air in my lungs, I tell her exactly without any further hesitation. "I don't want to tell you." Yang jerks her head back, taken aback by my blunt answer.
"Why not?" I look down at the table, avoiding her eyes like they'd burn right through my skull. I speak my mind further.
"Because you're not going to believe me." Hell, part of me still doesn't believe that any of this is happening and I'm living it. If I'm still struggling to fully grasp what's happening to me, why should I think that a total stranger would instantly believe me. She leans forward, arms on the table.
"Look, if you're going through some trouble, just tell us. We can help you." Drastically, I shake my head.
"You are helping." Hell, they've been helping me too much. More than they really should, honestly. "It's just..." There's no way they're going to believe me. No way. I bow my head, my answer final. "I can't."
"Eren..." I look out the window, away from her. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely steadfast in my decision not to tell them but I'd rather not see the disappointment on her face right now. "Ah, geez." I can hear the weight of her chair shift as she leans as far back as she possibly can, laughing bitterly to herself. "Well, I gave it my best shot."
"I'm sorry," I sigh. There's no helping it. Without any solid evidence, there's no way that any sane person would believe me. Some irrational part in my head's telling me that if I still had my phone or even my spare change that I must've lost back in the forest, I might've been able to change their minds. It wouldn't be that simple. Of course, it's never that simple. Yang lets out a loud groan, sitting in her usual position with an arm laying casually on the seat. Her tone rather muted but still distinctly full of energy.
"Look, if that's how you really feel about it, then fine. I'm not gonna force you to do anything. It's none of my business anyway," she says, stroking her large hair. "Just, y'know, if there's anything you want to talk about, you can tell me," she says, flashing me a cocky smile. "Trust me, I'm a better listener than I look."
"I... I will." I don't know what pushed me into saying that but, I don't feel even the smallest indication of dread from saying so. Sure, Yang can be a bit... bombastic but, when it comes down it,"You're a really nice person, Yang," I tell her with a smile. She has to blink a couple of times, almost like I was just speaking another language.
"Woah. Where'd that come from?" I merely shrug at her.
"Just... being honest, that's all." Well, I am. I haven't known her very long but, I think she's a good person. I think the entire family's filled with good people. That just seems to be how they are. Even Qrow, though he's a bit of a jerk. Without questioning me further, Yang giggles.
"Heh. Honest. I like it when you're honest." A beat goes by. I blink like a complete idiot, like I thought that I could hear with my eyes instead of my ears. Did... did she really just say that? But that... that doesn't make any sense. Why would she want me to be honest? Before I have any say, Yang almost jumps out of her seat. "Oh! That something. You being here is actually perfect! I can just give it to you instead of Uncle Qrow."
Huh? Give what?
"Here you go," Yang says merrily as she presents a bright white box with a picture of a sleek looking device that looks -eerily- like an iPhone from back home. It's looks like the same device that each of the family members have. I think they called it a 'Scroll?' I didn't have time to ponder as I take the box from her arms, staring at it like I'm holding thin air.
"This... is for me?" I ask her. She replies with a cherry nod.
"Yep! Qrow ordered it for you. It's the most update to date model they've got." Qrow... bought this for me? That's so unlike him. I figured he would just prepare me for the exam and that would be it.
"Why would he..." My words trail off. Yang's more than happy to fill in the blanks for me.
"Well, Scrolls don't actually cost that much anymore. They're kind of a mandatory thing with the kingdoms and all. I'm pretty sure Qrow's exact words were," Yang clears her throat and begins imitating Qrow with a voice so over-the-top husky that it could be in a film noir. "'Hmph! That kid doesn't have a clue about scrolls. Without one, he won't have a chance of getting into the entrance exam. I'd better go buy one for him. It's not like I care or anything s-s-stupid!'" I hold back a giggle, letting a small smile pass my lips.
"He didn't actually say that, did he?" She just shrugs at me.
"Eh, close enough. It came from the heart," she says in a dream-like tone. It's like she's fawning over her own acting skill like a primadonna. I make sure she's looking the other way when I roll my eyes, still with a smile on my face. "Well, you gonna open it?" I blink.
"Huh? Here?"
"Yeah. It shouldn't take too long to start up." I look back down at the box, gulping down a sliver of saliva.
"Well, um, okay." Hesitating slightly, I slide the quality packaging off and slip my hand through, tenderly taking the device out of the box. "Wow," I gasp. It's... sleek. Very sleek. Holding it in my hand, it feels like a paperweight. Like I'm carrying carboard. Of course, as I'm twisting the device around, I only have it in its sheathed form, the one where it looks like a simple white envelope. Curious design. Clicking on the obvious bright yellow button, the device unfolds into its proper touchscreen form. Is the screen... holographic? My eyes light up, that's so cool! They have proper holograms here! They're so far ahead of us technologically that it's not even funny! It's just amazing! I tap on the screen and...
Nothing happens. "Uh."
"Need a hand?"
"No, no! I-I've got it." I tap it again. Nothing. Puffing up my cheeks, I urge myself on as I start rapidly tapping the screen over and over again. Nothing. Nothing. Still nothing! Crouching down, I furiously resume my attempt to get this damn thing to work! "Just need to- Oh, come on. You stupid. Little. Thing!" Groaning audibly, I stand up and gaze at Yang wearing a great big smirk on her face. "Um..."
"I gotcha." I gently hand the Scroll over to her as she quickly goes to work, opening the screen without so much as a two second delay. "Okay. It's looking for your full name. So, 'Eren'" With nimble fingers, she enter my first name into the device with the correct spelling. "Got it. What's your surname?"
"My surname?" I have to pause for a moment, resisting the urge to smack myself in the head as the realization strikes me."Oh, that's right." I never told them my surname. Or rather, I merely assumed they only wanted my first name when they asked for it. I didn't wish to annoy them so soon after meeting them. "Well, uh..." I scratch my neck.
"Liddell."
"Liddell? Eren Liddell," she says like she's testing how it sounds. With an approving hum and a bob of the head, she inputs the last few characters without delay. "Alright, that's you in. There's a couple other things you'll need to do first but we can sort those back at the house." Before handing the device back to me, she taps something in without any allusion as to why. "Alright. There. Here you go." Yang offers the Scroll back to me as I tilt my head a little. Softly taking it back, my curiosity takes over as I -not without effort- scan through for some sort of discrepancy. Given my history, I pick out what she did to my new Scroll almost instantly.
"Yang, your... your contact information's in here." She snorts at me.
"Well, duh. I put it there." My eyes widen but, Yang continues regardless. "Anytime you want to ask me anything, you can send me a text. I don't have your information yet so, you're going to have to send one first." I shuffle slightly.
"Oh. I see." I... guess that's fair. I did say that I would talk to her if I needed to back at the cafe. Can't say that the whole thing doesn't make me a little uneasy, though. Having someone outside of the family have my number? It's... a strange feeling.
"You should think about asking Ruby for her number." She states, giving a faraway glance with her following words. "And maybe Qrow and Dad if you really want, I guess." I give the idea a moment of thought before bowing my head.
"Y-yeah. I'll... think about it." I have no clue as to why she would suggest that but, it's not like I talk to anybody else these days. Yang rests her hands on her waist, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, just let me know if you have any problems 'Scrolling' through that thing." With the extra emphasis on the word,
"Heh," I chortle quietly, clamming up almost instantly when I fully understand what I just did. Part of me prays that she didn't catch that.
"Huh? Huh?! Did you just laugh?!" Oh crap. Wiping the smile clean off my face, I greet Yang's question stone faced. "You totally laughed. You laughed at my pun!" Responding, I shake my head violently. My composure withering as she continues to gawk at me.
"N-no I didn't." I reply with a wavering tone, doing my absolute best to try and deceive her. Her eyebrows furl and whatever hope I had of her dropping this conversation is thrown right out the window.
"Hm..." Yang leans in closer, wearing the same evil grin she wore during the motorcycle ride. "You know, you were looking really rough when Ruby first brought you in. It's a good thing that Dad 'Patched', you up."
"Keh!" A splutter of laughter seeps through my mouth but a firm bite of my lower lip pushes it back. Her devilish grin widens even further than it does before. Once again, she leans in closer.
"Hey. You came with me all the way to grab that parcel, right. Do you wanna know what that makes you?" I don't think I can hold my laughter back any longer! Please don't! "An Eren'd, boy."
I burst into a guffaw loud enough that it practically echoes throughout the streets Cradling my gut with both of my arms, I'm struggling to find the strength to stop. There are probably people staring at me like I'm some sort of deranged madman but there's nothing I can do to stop it! Damn my crappy sense of humour!
"Yes!" Yang jumps for joy, arms stretched out into the air. "Finally! Someone who appreciates my puns!" As I continue laughing, Yang leans in closer.
"Hey! Hey! Don't get started yet, I've got a whole lot more of where those come from!"
A/N: I will never understand how there are people on this site who can write stories with only dialogue. That cafe scene was absolute hell. This is why I like having a quiet anti-social protagonist! Bleh!
Also, I started this story with a word limit for certain chapters. Guess I can throw that out the window now. To be fair, there was a lot to cover in this chapter and I don't think I was able to fit all of it in. There was supposed to be a more in-depth talk about the names but it only really served to derail the conversation. I tried to fit as much of Yang's sass and confidence as I could but, there's only so much I could've shown considering how serious and humourless the conversation in the cafe was. I'll get more chances later on.
As always, if you have any opinions good or bad about the story or character portrayals so far, be sure to leave a review or send me a PM if you have any questions.