Chapter 8: Heated explanation.
Blake sat on her bed, which was thankfully unoccupied, and tried to start again,
"I went into Heat not too long ago-"
"Into HEAT!?" Weiss said, vexed and outraged; although nobody knew why.
"Like a bunny?" Ruby questioned, shocked but confusedly intrigued, her eyes as wide as saucers and her mind jumping to Velvet and whether or not she was 'in Heat' too. Images of Velvet trying to make-out with dudes filled Ruby's head, and she tried to wash them away by shutting her eyes.
"Heat?... Like sexually-driven, 'I'm going to find a funk-buddy like Ruby finds cookies', sort of Heat?" Yang asked, to clarify. Blake twitched at the idea that she was as… ravenous as Ruby in cookie-seeking. The room began to swirl and twist for Blake – the building Heat overloading her senses, and she lost track of what was being said for a second. She sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time since the night previous and organised what it was she was going to say next.
"Yes, but let me explain…" Blake nodded and paused; gesturing to her friends that they remain calm, which they did, surprisingly. Blake felt very fortunate to have such good friends, who trusted her and did not overtake her when she tried to explain to them what it was they wanted to know.
Blake inhaled deeply. The room stopped swirling and she elaborated on her statement,
"Faunus – as you know – are part-human, part-animal…" Blake paused once more to see if her friends would respond. None did, they all just nodded, eager anticipation highlighted on their faces. Blake was stunned – they've never been this quiet and eager before. Blake felt confident that all questions would be saved for the end of her talk, and continued reassured,
"…and in the animal kingdom, there is a typical period or season for when mating and procreating should occur…" again, her team nodded, though they didn't speak. They did however look more intrigued by what she was saying. Now would be a fantastic opportunity to slip in a lie to free herself from admitting her 'predicament' to them, or allow her and Jaune to slip away and do the 'Bad Touch' with both team's contented with an excuse.
But Blake could not find the indecency to do so, and instead returned to her current promise of explaining herself,
"…well, the same applies to Faunus. Once every second spring, since the age of maturity, the Faunus population experience a great upheaval of emotion, sensitivity and desire. They lose most of their self-control and give in to the wild temptations they begin to have. Their romantic and sexual proclivities will increase immensely and they will regress to be more primal in their act to attain a mate.
"I am going through it right now." She concluded to silence. Complete silence. While she felt she hadn't covered everything necessary for their knowing, she didn't know how to continue. She was hoping they'd butt in like they normally would in this scenario, but they remained quiet. She looked at them.
All members of Team RWBY were dead silent, staring at her with invested interest. The silence was a little daunting now, she didn't know what to do. She found the situation a little panicky, and slightly titillating. Being in a power position made her feel the slightest twinge of arousal, but that was immediately suppressed by the nervousness that piled on top of her.
To compromise, she was about to step clumsily to the next point but then her friends burst forth with questions, like a volcanic eruption,
"So you mean you're horny?"
"You want to make a baby?!"
"You're a sexual-driven animal now?"
Each query punctured her composure like a knife. It was quite a shock that respectively Yang, Ruby and Weiss would ask those sorts of questions. She had been hoping for a slightly more compassionate response to her situation, but what was she expecting, really? A pat on the arm and a reassuring bowl of soup? They don't fully understand yet.
Though she would like to continue, she answered them as best she could,
"Kind of. No. And basically." She said flatly, turning to each respective questioner with each response and then attempting to reconnect the conversation,
"How so?" Yang questioned, crossing her arms, squinting at Blake with a perceiving eye.
"Let me continue, and I'll explain." Blake answered her and glared back.
A unified sigh was all that was heard from her teammates before they relaxed their tensed shoulders and allowed her to continue,
"Thank you. Now, while it is a natural process, it happened pre-maturely in my case. I'm a year early, and now I have to deal with it how best I can, without letting any more… complications arise. Outside of the older students, I should be the only Faunus affected by it at this time. Most of the older years are on break anyway, so you shouldn't be seeing anymore Faunus acting up like I will.
"But I must warn you, my body, mind and senses have been hormonally amplified, so even the smallest stimulation feels immense. And while it pains me to admit, you're most likely going to be hearing… and, regrettably seeing… me in my weakest state. I will be a slave to my desires and will be acting towards finding a mate with all my effort. During those times, I just wanted to say 'I hope you can forgive me for what I will do, and most likely cannot stop'." Blake said with a respectful bow of her head.
She then gazed upon her team once more, hoping she's allowed them to understand a little better.
"So you're super horny now?" Yang stated in an understanding tone.
"You're going to be 'making babies', but you're not trying to make babies." Ruby said, trying to wrap her head around the idea how best she could.
"You've become a man." Weiss replied bluntly, eyes half-lidded in disapproval.
If Blake could visually show her teammates how irked she was she would – like in those animes, have the red vein thing pop up while smoke billows from her head.
Blake felt her eye twitch and she recited the meditative chant she used for when she was stressed in her head. She replied to them once more,
"Essentially. NO. And that's just cold Weiss." Blake replied, and she continued under her breath "even for you". Although Blake hadn't said the last part, she almost had, her Heated voice slipped out of her. She steeled herself to ensure no more slip-ups happened while she explained herself. Gods know what sort of anarchy would arise if that Voice was left untamed.
The three looked irritated that they'd yet to receive a clear answer to what she was doing. While it was all well and good that she clarified this to them, it didn't specifically answer any questions they had. What was she doing last night? What was the constant leaving the room and slamming the door for? What is she going to do about this? What, what, what?
Their equal irritation bled out into words,
"So what then, exactly, is happening to you?" Weiss barked out, her finger pointing at the stealthy-Faunus like a dart.
Blake herself became irritated, "I just told you, I'm in Heat."
"So what is this, like your pleasure period?" Yang asked, which made Ruby flinch from the mention of the most dreaded function of the human female body.
"In a way, yes!" Blake said, slightly offended by her partner's insensitivity.
"And so, when were you planning on telling us?" Weiss demanded in an angry growl.
"I was going to tell you this morning, but… things provoked me last night." Blake answered, embarrassed at her outburst the night previous, a light blush slapped across her face.
"Really, like a boy?" Yang retaliated with a sneering smug expression. One of her favourites to do. Blake could not find the courage to speak her mind at that point – her own insidious Heated voice practically leapt out of her and she caught it between her teeth before it could manifest into words – and so decided on not answering at all.
This only infuriated the fire-and-ice duo. 'Why couldn't she just tell us? It's not like girls don't talk about sex, what's the big deal?' Yang thought with a frown. Yang thought they were friends, and could be trusted with stuff like this. Personal stuff. Or at least notify other people who live in the same room as you that you're going to be acting up for a while. 'Especially if they need some "Alone Time".' She added.
'How inconsiderate! How indecent! How inconceivable! How dare she just announce her sexual awakening like this! Not a single word beforehand of anything like this. It's just rude.' Weiss thought with a scowl that brought a wrinkle right across her scar. While it was small, and almost unrecognisable, she found it to be the bane of her life. It was ugly. The mark was there, always there, bright in her reflection but dull in anyone's eyes. The single imperfection, within a reminder, forever distilled upon her.
Weiss thought upon this minute mark and remarked at how similar it was to Blake; it just became a problem overnight, without any warning. She deepened her scowl, and deepened the mark that Blake had become on the face of Team RWBY.
"So what are you going to do? Hook up with the nearest guy you can find? Bang a few hot studs until you're good?"Yang asked, glaring at her partner scrupulously. While veiled, she held a disdain for Blake not entrusting her own teammates – and especially her own partner – with the knowledge that she was going to be active like this. The lack of trust was what worried her, not her promiscuous nature becoming prevalent.
Yang had not even seen her sister flinch in horror at the foulness of her question, she didn't care.
Weiss tacked on in indignation, "Do you intend to bring strangers back home? Into our dorm? Upon our beds?!" Weiss near screeched, stepping forth and looming over Blake now. Blake was flustered by the advancing Heiress and at how scandalous she made her Faunus friend's condition seem. She attempted to answer,
"I don't know, but I was hoping to have the room-"
"'Have the room'? Just 'Have the room'? Without any mention or permission from us? With us still in here!?" Weiss shouted at her, completely enraged by her teammate's indecency. Never before had she heard of such vulgarity.
She considered Blake to be one of the most composed, well-organised Faunus she'd had the pleasure of knowing by name. While the relationship between them both was shaky, they had made amends. They both attempted to keep one another in top regard in terms of colleagues and friends, lest the relationship became agitated once more and they suffered a repeat. But upon hearing of this perversity, from such an upstanding Huntress-to-be, was ground-shaking and degrading.
With a cold flame alight in her sky blue eyes, Weiss looked down upon her once trusted teammate.
Blake was appalled by Weiss' reaction. She could see that icy fire burning in her eyes, and could see, as clear as a summer sky, the withheld resentment from when Blake last ran away. Blake knew it wasn't completely resolved, but she didn't expect it to resurface so quickly. While it was in Weiss' ways to be like this – indignant but reinforced – she was fuelled by past grievances and did not really look at this with a sympathetic eye to Blake's confliction.
To this notion, she tried to defend herself, shaken though she was, "No, of course not! I was hoping you guys would leave-"
Just then Yang revolted against the Faunus as well, interrupting her,
"So you just want us out of the room huh? Whenever you're in the mood? You wanna bang in our room with some stranger and expect us to allow you?!" She said heatedly, now on the level with Weiss in enragement.
Yang knew that some people needed their Alone Time – even if it was with another person… or multiple – but could not help but feel betrayed. Blake and Yang were very close – best friends, co-operative teammates, greatly complimentary partners – but this condition of hers… speaking only of it now, when she knew full well that it would impact on them as well… it was ground-shaking.
Yang's eyes were ablaze as her fiery temper ignited within, and she gazed down upon her once trusted partner.
At this query, and the sight of Yang's betrayed glare craning over her, Blake felt her heart clench. They didn't trust her whatsoever! And Blake thought they'd understand! It seemed that she was wrong, nobody trusted her. Nobody supported her in her time of crisis. Only Jaune did. Maybe she should have just taken Jaune where he was last night; circumvent this horribleness, or in fact elope with him before she has to hear any more of their condescending attitude to her wondrous suffering. She knew he'd understand, he'd be there for her.
Blake's golden irises sparkled with Heated anger, and she glared back at her teammates. Resentment, betrayal and indignation was thrown in-between the three young Huntress-in-training, like cannons from artillery.
At this point she snapped, "NO!" she cried, making her teammates recoil for an attack.
"IS THAT WHY YOU RAN OUT OF THE ROOM TWICE?!" Ruby screamed, louder than anyone previous. The other three members of Team RWBY stepped away from Ruby – though Blake shuffled back – peeling back in the sudden spike in volume. They all instantly remembered she existed.
It was good she intruded when she had – another minute and they'd have erupted in a full-blown fight. Her outburst chilled the three teammates right down – froze the fires within them completely – and they regained their composure shortly after, calming down the spirited scythe-wielder at the same time.
After everyone had calmed sufficiently, they each turned and sat before Blake, taking a seat on the floor. The question still stood and they peered at Blake, waiting for an answer.
She sighed and spoke quietly, admitting what she dreaded to say,
"The reason I left the room in a hurry was because… I was…"
"You were what?" Ruby softly prompted her friend. Blake's eyes softened at seeing Ruby's kind, silver eyes – absent of any glint of malice or discontent. She flashed a minute smile – more a twitch at each end of her lips – which Ruby returned and sat erect upon the bed, dignified and regal,
"I was pursuing a mate." Blake said boldly. Though she was not feeling especially superior in admitting that, she showed she was not ashamed of what she was doing.
"And you didn't succeed, obviously." Was Weiss' curt remark. Blake looked at her with an indifferent – though annoyed – eye; she was sitting with her knees to her chest on the rug beside her bed, gazing back with a look matching her response. One brow was raised in an undermining way that got under Blake's skin, it infuriated her. Blake's golden eyes squinted to a loathing slit.
Weiss looked away, indifferent but accepting. Blake regarded her frame with a smile, "There is more than one way of pursuing a target." She said in a low voice, an empowered sense of dominance coursing through her. Blake felt immensely satisfied by her comment. Like she'd overpowered a mighty beast and demonstrated her superior intellect, or like she'd conquered an especially stubborn animal in a hunt.
She very much enjoyed that response, perhaps a lot more than she should…
Blake turned to look at the food tray her Team left on the windowsill and plucked a fat umbraberry from its cluster. She popped it into her mouth with a skilled toss. The taste was sensationally flavoursome. Unbelievably sweet but also tangy and bitter, with a tinge of the unique dark flavour in these fruit. Only now it was exponential, while normally it was neigh unperceivable. Blake popped a couple more into her mouth.
Blake left her response open-ended, and nobody knew how to continue with the conversation. They all just sat there and watched her eat slowly and saw her eyes light up with every chew.
"You seem awfully calm about this. If I were you I'd be a nervous wreck." Ruby remarked with an awkward chuckle from her seated position cross-legged on the floor. The other two then expressed a shift of emotions across their features; they changed from irreverent annoyance to empathetic guilt. They hadn't considered how hard it must be for her to be like this – so far from what she is like normally. Losing your self-control, that was harrowing to imagine, and they imagined it must be so for her as well.
"I'm not. Not really. I just look like I am." Blake responded with a casual shrug, now finding the dark taste of the berries overpoweringly rich. Blake took a bite of the croissant Yang hadn't finished to counteract the darkness of the berry.
On the bite down she moaned deeply as the chocolate filling of the croissant reached her tongue. The taste was exquisite, it sent shivers down her body like a velveteen sleeping gown, but she hardly noticed it under her shameful outburst after biting into the pastry. Her face turned red and she shimmied away from the food tray and faced her teammates. They all looked back at her like a freaky caricature mirror – each girl different, but reflecting the same expression as the Faunus looking at them.
It was hard to imagine it being pleasant, being in Heat, the fire and ice duo thought. It must be so far beyond pleasant it's not even pleasurable. And that must be wonderful. That's what Yang and Weiss presumed after hearing Blake moan from just a croissant and some umbraberries. It sounded like she was having a food-gasm, and it was after one bite!
'Gee I'll have what she's having.' Yang thought as she reached over from her casual sitting position with her elbow resting on her knee and plucked a few berries and put them on her croissant before taking a slow bite. She could almost feel the judging eyes upon her as she closed her mouth around the sweet pastry.
'How blasphemous.' Weiss thought with a scowling regard of the food tray and the berries she'd been saving for herself. They were especially delicious, she knew that as they were hand-picked by berry-sensitive Faunus in the vast Schnee Fields in Menagerie. She intended to eat them, but found such a luxury unappealing all of a sudden.
Not one to leave a stagnant moment sitting, Weiss hopped back into the conversation, almost as if Blake hadn't just made a humanly purr.
"So you must've known this was going to happen to you; this Heat. You must have been expecting this and thought out a 'game plan' to keep your head straight." Weiss asked, a hopeful suggestion laced in her words, an offer for help for her struggling peer.
"It must be nice for you." Yang said incredulously stunned, having taken a bite of her croissant/berry infusion and not received the same response as Blake when she had. "Being in Heat… It must be nice. Even knowing before it happened…" Weiss glared at her, stunned by Yang's words and irritated she had derailed a perfectly good attempt at unveiling Blake's plan on how to deal with her Heat.
"No," Blake said, surprising the group. She looked out the open window to her right with eyes glossed over and distant, her voice a dreamy, balanced tone, "no, actually, I've been dreading it. And I haven't given it much thought other than the last night and morning."
Though her words suggested otherwise, this was not a thing she'd given little thought. But her first admission – that of her dread – was true; it was also an admission that rang back into her time with the White Fang; to a time she where she felt her greatest confliction, until now of course.
Her deepest love and her strongest grievance combined and became her greatest abjuration in her life, seconded by her current Heat. Her Heat's arrival – and her feelings towards it – stemmed from the last few days of her membership of the clandestine organisation. She recalled her experience of the Faunus-rebellion group with dread, and she regarded her current situation with dread.
But for what reasons, she did not want to think about.
In the recesses of her thinking she heard Weiss say, unsure,
"Have you given any thought to a plan for this… 'predicament' of yours?" Blake returned to her forefront reality, shaking the unpleasant memory into the catacomb of her consciousness. She still gazed out the window with gleaming prowess in her eyes but answered the question, now engaged in the present,
"Yes. I have," Blake's voice elicited several snap-turns in attention from the three, "quite a bit, in fact."
Blake's voice was a bit of a shock to hear. She'd turned blind, deaf and mute for a fair few minutes and her friends wondered if this was like a waking sex-dream for her (well at least Yang had) and if she will erupt from her revere like an explosive repeat of the previous night (which is what Ruby feared). They each remained silent as Blake confided in them the most revealing piece of evidence of herself she had all morning.
She turned to them fully as she spoke, a ghost of her former – or current – self,
"I intend to find an appropriate mate, fulfil the desires my body craves, and then continue on with my life."
Complete silence from the team. And then,
"That seems pretty blunt." Ruby said aloud into the silence with diluted despair, her eyes matching her frown in the faint disappointment she felt in Blake's confession.
"Yeah Blake, kind of hollow-sounding." Yang responded in likewise fashion to her sister.
"Just plain cold." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head. She exhumed an air of sardonic facetiousness that made Blake want to cringe with laughter. Blake answered the three collectively,
"I spared you all excessive details." Blake said with a courteous nod and an affirmative eye-contact with her young leader. With Ruby turning red at the prospect of more illicit details to Blake's plan, Weiss and Yang were thankful of this last fact. Weiss resumed where she left off before,
"Right, but back to what I was saying; you knew it was coming-" Blake's womanly entrance tingled especially when Weiss said that word and Blake instantly stiffened her legs to halt the reaction, "-and you haven't really thought of a strategy. I can understand that-"
'Oh, can you?' Blake thought with malicious curiosity. She stifled this and listened to Weiss,
"But can you not just hold off from it, until it dies down?" Weiss questioned – almost imploringly. She looked sceptically hopeful at finding a solution less indecent than Blake's. 'Finding a mate' was not an upstanding plan for a woman of her stature! Especially if she's connected to Weiss in some way. She said it herself, she's barely within maturity, and she's cavorting to find a 'mate'. Weiss would not stand for such deplorable actions! But this was not her choice to make. It is not her decision to let loose her inhibitions and be tempted by lust. She respected Blake's choices, and would not say otherwise unless she was concerned for her peer's well-being.
She means well, but just has a misguided way of showing it.
Blake, looking slightly irked but understanding, explained, "If I don't handle it now, then it will just come back in a few weeks' time. It would be best if I did this, rather than let it build up." She said astutely of her condition. Ruby shuffled closer behind Yang – the words 'build up' cropped up the repressed mental image of Blake's 'sexual eruption'.
Weiss, looking defeated, turned her gaze to her side in thought, thinking of other ways of subtly, without being obtuse, influencing Blake into doing little to nothing about her Heat.
Ruby jumped in at this point, "Have you thought about anybody in particular? Somebody you could go… canoodle with?" Ruby censored herself with cringing pride. Ruby was genuinely curious, she wanted to know who Blake might choose, and it wasn't very intrusive of her privacy and it saved Weiss sometime of wracking her brain for a question. While it wasn't clear, it was a subtle way of seeing whether or not her choice was suitable, acceptable or safe to Weiss.
With this in mind, Weiss gave Ruby a small nod and listened to what Blake had to say,
"Well…" Blake began.
This was it… Now or never. This is where Blake had to admit her strictest truth to her friends, but without allowing them to interfere in her future plans. Blake hadn't had the proper time to prepare for this eventuality, and so did the best she could with what she had available to her. She took in a deep breath.
Her body began to quake in the uproar of sensation and lust she'd garnered overnight, and her mind was abuzz with images and comments and numerous other perverse things within her head and her body tightened and loosened in an ecstasy-like way of orgasm. She tried to bite down these feelings as best she could.
This made her feel tight. Tight all over. Constriction in her throat, constriction on her heart, constriction on her brain, constriction around her body with the fantastical memory of Jaune in her dreams. She was driven mad. And all she was going to do was talk about him. Without all the juicy details.
Dear Gods this Heat was one big hot mess.
With a throat-clearing cough Blake confessed,
"…Yes…" she said softly, looking down at her hands laid upon her knees. She was not ashamed of her being in Heat with who she chose, but still found admitting it to others… strange, let alone admitting it to herself. She was one step closer though. One step closer to being free with Jaune in ecstasy and not being interrupted by anything. Hopefully.
Nobody said anything. Just watched with listening eyes and watchful ears. One step back it seemed.
Blake took as deep a breath as her Faunus lungs could manage and said the one name that gave her unending tingles and drove her made with desire and brought her to magnificent feeling in her waking and unconscious dreams, that 12 hours ago would have meant 'friend', no more, no less.
She turned her head, neck and eyes to the door, her face cast in shadow, "…Jaune…" she uttered barely over a whisper. One step closer.
The room was silent. More than silent, actually. All noise and light seemed to be drained from the room at that moment. Each girl leaned slowly back like the draining light, faces slackened in awed shock, their eyes practically jumping out of their sockets and replacing the moon out in the night with how large they were. Two steps back.
"…Jaune…?" Weiss questioned in what looked like an appalled shock. She turned her gaze off to her side, the expression still pressed upon her face.
'Oh, here we go.' Blake thought, both her inner voices saying this, her golden eyes darting away from Weiss as she hid her scowl.
"Yes." Blake answered croakily; her voice betrayed by her nervousness but soothed the clench in her stomach at her admission, a stronger blush creeping up her cheeks in the darkness.
"Jaune? Jaune Arc?" Yang questioned in unbelieving shock. Her mouth hung open in a slack 'O' shape whenever it wasn't busy forming words. Ruby was silent beside her, unmoving, confused shock thrown upon her soft features.
"Yes." Blake repeated, but with greater pride in herself, showing to them that she is without shame in this moment how subtly she could. However her stomach clenched once more.
"Jaune Arc…?" Yang enunciated in great confusion. She sounded as unbelieving as she appeared, and her entire body language – which was the most active and obvious of the three girls – shouted in corroboration of this disbelieving thought.
With a sigh and with a surely deep blush on her face, Blake looked away from the group altogether, noticeably irritated and somewhat self-conscious in her dejection. She knew this would not be easy, but found even this confusion detrimental to her confidence. She wouldn't have feared this if she could have prepared better. Cursed Heat. Didn't allow her to think of a way to deal with it. It's like a wild child that doesn't understand the problems they're causing, or a disobedient pet; it was making life very difficult.
'Just you wait until tomorrow,' her Heat voice reminded her, 'you'll lose more and more of yourself to the wonder of the sexually free, and then you won't be able to stop yourself then.' Blake cracked her neck in response. Blake didn't need reminding.
Tomorrow was going to be the absolute no-turning-back moment for Blake. Her Heat will be so prominent that she cannot deter or defy it. She will be unstoppable and completely stopped all at the same time. She knew this, and faced it with both trepidation and excitement – her Heat-free mind did at least. The Heat-adled mind was picking out sex-starting lines to use, and contemplating attractive scents for her womanly features.
Back in the world of the confliction-free Ruby, Yang and Weiss sat on the floor bemused, unthinking and unmoving. They were all stupefied by what they heard, each of them wondering if they'd heard correctly. The three had a minor mental reboot and shook their heads almost in unison when they regained their senses. Never would they have ever, and that means in forever would they have imagined… Blake?... Jaune?... How?...
Ruby, Yang and Weiss sat in stunned silence, unmoving in their internal deconstruction of Blake's motives and choice. One major step done for Blake.
Three minor steps undone at the same time.
After a fair few minutes nothing was heard, said or done. Nobody knew how, or particularly wanted to, continue the conversation. The moment was extremely tense. There was still much left unsaid for the three to be informed in, but nobody was really daring to start down that road.
Then, Yang, like the mighty Sun of Remnant, commented from nothing, "Wow, brave." She said with a look similar to being impressed, while still being stunned.
Blake was thankful for the break in the tension from her care-free partner, but still chirped a response to her comment, her face reclined in darkness. She was glad of the break, but was not glad with the statement.
Not feeling she's said enough to elicit further talking, Blake elaborated,
"Mmm, I suppose. We all know the danger in him." She said with a wary glance at the door. The rest of her team nodded knowingly, but remained silent. It was a start at least.
It was clear as day that there was a major issue with her choice, aside from who he was or what he's like; Pyrrha Nikos. The Mighty Spartan Warrior of Team JNPR and an undeniable holder of feelings for Jaune. She was danger enough as it was, but now with the mental note that Blake sought Jaune for more than friendly consultation… she was very brave indeed.
The Team, as if the tension needed further breaking, stood and stretched their tightened muscles and joints. The discomfort of the past hour only now became physically apparent. At the same time their analysis of the confession began,
'Of all her possible choices, of all her rationality, of all her upstanding nature, she chose… him? That runt? Jaune?... How… That's just… How could… That's despicable…' Weiss thought quietly and looked blank. 'Does she really think so lowly of herself to select such a poor subject? Has she actually been swayed by his endless rupture of deplorable pick-up-lines? Did she really aim that low? I'm mean sure, the boy has his charms, but he's still not… right. Not for her at least. The monkey clod I'd have been fine with, but THIS!? Why?!' Weiss internally demanded with a shake of her head.
Yang was completely blown away by this revelation. 'Really? Jaune?... I mean he's a nice guy and all, and he's definitely been toning up since he got here, and I may take a quick peek when he's bending over or stretching or swimming but this?... Sex?... Animalistic sex?... with Jaune?... Why?' Yang mused disbelieving and failing to comprehend what it was Blake was saying.
Ruby flexed and stretched automatically, '…Why...?...Why…?...Why…?...' echoed and returned to her inner voice and echoed again within her head. While it impacted the three girls immensely – Weiss blown away in the 'scandal' of this moment, Yang uncomprehending the situation – none were more so impacted than Ruby. While it was new-found territory for her to discuss sex in this way, the subject matter was her best-male-friend. She was shocked.
She and Jaune were very close, and she and Blake were quite close, but those two being that close… it made Ruby shiver. Jaune was a friend, and she wanted to protect him, and often times lately did, against advancing women who sought nothing pleasant from him. While this was also an action towards her own fostering crush for the daggy blond, the important fact was that she didn't want to see Jaune get hurt. Or worse still, abused. But the impending woman this time was such a close, trusted friend. Ruby didn't know what to do, think or say. It was all so… unexpected. She had to do something.
But what that something was, she did not know. But a feeling like this was always right in her experience.
While the girls did their own stretches for what they needed doing, Blake looked at Ruby, predicting a question from the expression on her face.
Almost on cue, Ruby dropped her leg she'd freshly stretched and stood irresolutely, "So why Jaune? Why him?" Ruby asked quietly, eyes downcast upon her slippers, while she clutched her arm across her body, loosening an especially tense joint. The other two listened, for they too wanted to know, though they didn't stop their stretches.
Ruby sounded downtrodden, almost… heartbroken when she asked that of Blake. She was clearly emotionally attached to the situation, and possibly, especially, Jaune Arc.
Blake sympathised with her young leader, knowing full well that Ruby definitely thought of Jaune in a romantic way – she'd caught her doodling little pencil drawings of herself and a blond knight kissing and holding hands as well as writing an invitation to a private study group to be sent to one person - a person with a blond-haired icon - that was never sent, and knew what she must be thinking right now.
'I do hope this is nothing major for her. I'd really hate to steal Jaune from her.' Blake thought with a frown.
Blake spoke softly as she answered, "Let me explain;-" the other two showed they were listening, "When a Faunus enters Heat, they select a Mate. That Mate is whoever is most appealing to them in the opposite gender. When a Faunus has selected a mate, they then mark them as their Chosen One, and ensure that the mate is theirs without contention. Once a mate is selected, and the marking made, a Faunus cannot choose another. They become 'locked' on their Chosen One, and cannot find any other potential Mate appealing. All they strive for is their Chosen One, and will not rest until they claim them in mating-"
Blake paused as she noticed Ruby shuffle uncomfortably for a second. Blake knew she didn't want to know why a Faunus chooses a mate; she wanted to know why Jaune specifically. And Blake would not withhold her that.
Blake answered Ruby with a soft voice and a hand on her shoulder, "Jaune is the closest thing to a mate I have in terms of a relationship. And while he may not seem like an ideal partner, he is the safest option I have. He's kind, and charming, and chivalrous, and has unwavering loyalty for his friends. He's a far better choice then most I could make…"
Blake saw Ruby, although cleared up on the issue, physically deflated a little at the reasoning Blake gave. Although not entirely helpful to her leader, it was true. What's more, she still could not allow her to interfere. Ruby was competition, competition that needed to surrender, not be defeated. With that notion Blake added,
"What's more I've already targeted him as my partner, and so I will only be aroused by him. Any other possibility is out now. It's Jaune, no matter what."
Ruby did not look pleased by this response whatsoever. Even Yang and Weiss didn't look pleased by that. Blake found her own convincing argument waning under scrutiny. She wanted to really nail the sign to the wall, but she hadn't guessed it would come out like that. So venomous.
Blake felt the need to clarify, "I don't intend it to be a quick one and to leave it at that, that's indecent and insincere. I wish to lay with Jaune, but I want to do so after I get to know him better, and get his consent to do this with him." Blake said in a reassuring tone.
Why Ruby needed reassurance Blake wasn't entirely sure why. Blake knew how Ruby thought, if she wanted to do something she'd do it, and if she wanted Jaune, she'd do him. Not like 'do' him, just, 'get on with it' rather- 'Blasted Heat.' Blake thought with a grumble.
After a quick breath, Blake reaffirmed herself and her Team, "I know it may sound insane, but I cannot, in good conscience, do this without doing it properly." Blake will forfeit much of herself in her pursuit of Jaune, but she will try to make it as easy and as reciprocal a pursuit as possible.
However easiest she can make it.
"Do you love him?"
That was not expected. And not an easy obstacle to surpass. And what was stranger still, was that Ruby did not say it, for someone had beaten her to it. Somebody had beaten Weiss as well, who looked close to saying it herself but instead didn't dare look anywhere but in front of her. Yang asked the million lien question. Not the other two.
While it was strange and confronting, and although Blake had actually expected it in the recesses of her Heat, she knew it was not. Her Heat just appealed to her sense of romance to make her sway more to the influence. She knew that. And hopefully so will the others.
"I do not."
Silence enveloped them once more. This time, all air of confusion or fuss swiped from them. Blake knew – and the others too after a moment's thought – that this was not a cumulative and exuberant act to 'Undertake the Mooning' as Nora once put it, but was something worse then that. It was a surgically animal venture, one that Blake has no previous backing to support. It was something she could not deny any longer, but was not something she wished to continue.
As she said 'The Faunus (her) will regress… become more primal… lose self-control…' Those were several things Blake disliked – it reminded her of the Grimm. And so it was clear: Blake was going to do right by Jaune in her act to sleep with him, but will do so out of convenience and necessity, without complete desire in herself to do what she's doing. Her conviction was enough to show how dead-serious she was. She will do it because she must, not because she wants to.
At least that's what they think.
And from there it was made doubly so clear: If it was not legit, and was 'unstoppable' as Blake said, they were not going to interfere. While they personally did not like the insincerity or the obscurity, they were respectful enough not to involve themselves in this. It was not worth the turmoil or trouble.
But, they could, however, flip that around.
Yang tugged Ruby and Weiss into a crude huddle and spoke quietly but hastily to the other two. Blake knew Yang knew she could be heard, but Blake gave them the courtesy of not listening, instead trying to pinpoint what she could hear Pyrrha saying to Jaune outside on the lawns,
"Oh Jaune, you're so-"
"OK!"
The three girls then nodded as one, and with a deep breath Weiss turned to speak to her Faunus teammate, her attention fully grasped,
"Look, Blake, while your choice may be… unexpected, we do respect your decision. And so, as a peace offering, we will not interfere as you fulfil your physical journey but will otherwise make ourselves available to help you in whatever way we can- WITHIN REASON…" Weiss dictated.
Blake blinked. This was unexpected. Very unexpected. She did it. They backed off. They won't interfere now. And now they're offering support? Why?
Blake queried them on their sudden change of disposition as she gazed at Ruby, her typically silver eyes diluted to a duller grey,
"Stepping aside while you attend to your venture might speed up the process and end the chira- ploy- action-" Weiss said, glaring at Yang after several jabs to the ribs for her diction. "-With Jaune, and not allow any excessive… interaction… then absolutely necessary." Weiss enunciated with stabbing eyes at Yang, who looked back with fighting eyes herself.
"And if you ever need to talk... or plot… to somebody, or just need some time to yourself, we're here for you." Weiss said with harshly supportive eyes. Complacently agitated read her eyes like the cover of a book. That was obviously a suggestion from one of the other two. Although who was a mystery. Blake didn't care.
They were stepping down and giving her a medium to vent to in one fell swoop! They were no competition and they were still her allies, her Team, her friends in this.
She leapt from her bed and held each girl in a tight Faunus hug.
"THANK YOU!"
Note: Jesus it has been a while.
Like most chapters before this, it was an absolute pig to write, but I'm glad I could get down something that I'm comfortable with releasing. I must warn you, I take my time with how characters interact, so this story will take a while, but will be – or at least should be – worth your time. I have very many ideas laid out for the story, just have to fill them in with all the delicious RWBY-ness we come here for.
Kind of like a pie.
Plus, this story has gone way past my expectations. Everyday at least one person has Followed or Favourited, and now this sits with close to 25,000 views. I hate gloating, but this is just too cool not to be proud of. Thank you all so much.
And with that, I bid you adieu.
P.S. I'm on holidays right now, but I may not be updating as often as I'd hoped. Got a lot of plans for my holidays, and have only recently found the proper pepper for writing. I'll update as often as I can, but still, no guarantees :P
See you around.