Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY series.
Keywords And Inspiration
Blake was following closely behind Jaune. She got herself a small bag dangling on her back while Jaune volunteered to carry two backpacks all the way.
There was barely any source of light along the narrowed path that cut through the wood. Fortunately, they could see a structure ahead. An old cabin located deep in the dense wood, Jaune let out a sigh in relief when he saw it.
"Well, guess we're on the right track all along." Jaune said, looking back at her over the shoulder.
With a faint smile, Blake nodded.
"It's sure it. Though..." She sneaked a glance at the brightest star of the night sky. "I honestly wouldn't mind if we had to set up a camp out here."
"I guess we could, Blake. But since we arrived at the cabin, I'm thinking of getting us a nice, warm and comfy bed to sleep on. Oh! And a nice pair of tea cups."
"That sounds good."
Blake couldn't agree more. She needed that after making a long hiking trip through the wild nature.
Ba-Dump! Ba-Dump!
The heartbeats were getting more prominent. The Faunus trait let her hear them so clearly. Blake had been wondering about a particular "something" in her mind while occasionally slipped out a sneaky gasps as she found it creeping in the dark. To make it weirder, that "something" was neither among the old myths born from the history of these woods nor the animals inhabiting it. It was within her. Deep in the back of her mind, underneath layers of convoluted thoughts, it had become even more intense ever since the Shattered Moon appeared.
It wasn't the hunger. They just finished dinner not long ago and Blake knew Jaune cooked the best meals, her apatite was satisfied. It wasn't a part of her affection towards Jaune, she'd already loved him plenty. It was the thirst for something else.
This isn't about the story of a young couple who went on a little trip to heat up their romantic relationship. This is more about a journey to find the right kind of motivation to help Blake continue her book. Jaune came up with the idea and she agreed to it without hesitation. She'd wished for this the moment that damned writer's block ruined her creativity.
Oh Yes! That was right! Her creativity was coming out but it also lacked a certain fact which Blake couldn't pin point. Urggh! The frustration boiled her blood. She would find it! The one detail that constantly escaped to the shadow of that imaginary light bulb in her head.
"Are you okay?" Jaune asked.
"No, it's nothing." Blake quickly replied.
He opened the door leading into the cabin. A fully decorated and equipped interior welcomed their stay.
"Wow! They literally set up everything for travelers here. This is awesome!"
Putting down the backpacks, Jaune looked around the vacation house in excitement. Yeah, keep that emotion running. Blake was arousing at the sight, too. Hm? Wait a minute, arouse? That word alone seemed to click an button in her mind. Why did it sound like an important keyword to her? Why did it somehow make sense?
Tea brewed. Blanket and pillows all set for a good rest. Fireplace burned nicely. The aroma from the incense tickled her nose. Blake hadn't stopped her train of thoughts even though the crickets' noises outside lured her into the relaxing mood.
On the other hand, Jaune was enjoying the atmosphere. He sipped a bit of that warm tea she made while reading a book at a slow pace. It was one of the novels she published. Wouldn't be much of a stretch to say he is her number one fan.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
Blake was leaning on his one of his arms. The book in her hands didn't get much of her attention. Inwardly, Blake was still trying to figure out what have been missing. Alright, time for backtracking.
"Jaune." His head turned as she perked up, meeting his eyes. "Before this. Do you recall what I was doing?"
"You meant right before we start this whole trip?"
She nodded. He closed the book and raised his chin for some thoughts.
"Were you writing a new book?"
"I were." Blake solemnly said. "But I couldn't get any more words to come up. I'm stuck."
"Yeah, you were running out of idea for the plot. It gave you so much stress that you almost afraid to pick up the pen again." Jaune added. "You mentioned about wanting to raise the stake for your writing skills. Guess that didn't turn out too well."
She did said that. However, Blake couldn't remind herself exactly where and when. Her mind continued to drown itself in confusion. The stake was probably too high the whole story flew over her head. She couldn't even remember what the original summary was about. Empty drafts and blanked sheet on a deadline can really drive a person crazy.
"Ah, right." Jaune snapped his finger. "There was that one time I caught a glimpse of your note on the desk. You listed some words in there. Keywords for your idea, I think."
Hm? Keywords? For her idea? That's IT!
"What did you see?" Blake asked, fully turned and closed to his face.
"Uhm..."
"Did I jot down any word like arouse? Excitement?"
"Y-Yeah. That's one word."
Oh her heart was beating faster! The light bulb of Blake's creativity was flickering brighter! This was it! She grabbed him by the shoulders and he let out a jolt. It was one of those rare occasions Blake's aggressiveness was on display.
"More Jaune! I need more! What else!?"
"Err. H-Hang on, err, there're also bedroom. Window view. Full moon. Suggestive themes?"
They blinked at each other. He seemed to end up inside the bubble of confusion just like her.
"Suggestive themes?" Blake questioned.
"Hey, don't ask me. You picked those words." He shrugged. "Then scrapped them. I assume those aren't the keywords you're referring to, right?"
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
No! Those were what she needed, Jaune! Nearly there, Blake could tell she was so close to the finish line.
"What else were on the desk?"
"A stack of books in a cardboard box. I didn't see the covers but there was another piece of note out side labeled as...err..."
Blake gulped in anticipation, waiting for the final straw to reveal. Please hurry up and out with it!
"Smut."
Blake's jaw dropped. Her eyes widened, cat ears stood straight. It felt like a thunder just struck her right above the head, giving that creative light bulb a well-deserved boost of energy to lit up the whole place. Blake remembered it now. The reason why she was so stressed out about the new book and the one details she'd been lacking in her imagination all gradually came back. It was so obvious! Blake wanted to pitch herself for not noticing sooner. The inner calling of her exaggerated cat side had been giving her the signals all along. The increasing heartbeats when the Shattered Moon reached the full circle phrase. The excitement mixed with those tender moments reading books with Jaune. The atmosphere and the environment they set up in the cabin captivated a perfect amount of inspiration to give her motivation a necessary push.
"I see." Blake muttered softly. She got it now.
She'd been trying to write something similar to the Fifty Shades of Youth. It was smut all along. Jaune's idea of going on a hike actually helped more than just clearing out the stress.
Gasp!
Words began flowing, new ideas were forming in her head. Quick! She gotta jot it all down. Blake jumped off the bed and searched for her note inside the backpack. Yes! Yes! YES! This is it! The thirst for inspiration. Blake was burning up! This is what she desperate needed! Her chest was thumping so harshly it demanded a break. Blake won't stop, not after she grasped everything before the imaginary light bulb turned off.
Crack!
Blake hardly fought back the urge to whine when the pencil echoed a sharp snap. Urggh! She was almost there. But Blake realized that anonymous detail was still somewhere beyond her reach. If she was to play the jigsaw puzzle game, it would be the only piece left missing underneath the couch.
She got the keywords. She got the right characters. She got the ideas of writing a big and juicy capitalized M-rating book for a chance. Yet a line was still drawn, a part of her was still resisting to step out of the safe zone because she didn't have a full picture of what makes smut a smut.
"Blake, you got it?" Jaune asked, smiling a bit at her enthusiasm.
Surprisingly, Jaune didn't look all that shock when he was fully aware of the direction of her next work.
"Yeah, I got it. Thank you, Jaune."
"Oh, good. I know it can be difficult to apply mycology element into a horror genre. If this trip helps you work it all out then I'm glad."
Err. Wait what?
Jaune didn't grow a second head on his shoulders, but Blake's bewildered gaze indicated so.
"Jaune, I'm writing smut."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"It's not a horror book I'm doing."
"Okay, cool. A sci-fi one then."
"No. It's the usual rom-com." He nodded. She realized it was not enough to make him understand. "With a mix of spice and sugar."
"You mean you switched to cooking theme?"
Blake hopped on the bed.
"Suggestive themes. Remember that?"
"Yeah, fungi and spore can be a lot of things if you twist the concept a little bit."
"No, Jaune. It's smut, not smut!"
"Smut?"
"Yes, Smut."
A subtle shake of his head spoke volume about the flow of their conversation. Blake could feel the intensity of her inspiration dying down. A writer's wisdom didn't just come on a whim and last long when the right feeling struck. Not good, she wanted to keep it alive. Jaune was mistaken about the whole point and she had to overcome this awkward situation without de-escalating the flame in her chest.
Blake's cheeks burned as she made the decision. She grabbed his collar and leaned forward. Sapphires slowly widened at the soft and warm touch on the lip. After a moment, she pulled away.
"Oh. Oh! So it's actually smut. You're not writing about fungus. Okay, that makes sense." It finally got through.
"What even gave you the idea in the first place?"
"Hey, I grew up on a ranch and big woods most of my childhood. Got to deal with ton of plant and fungal diseases to look after the farm. I can't help it if that was the first thing came to mind when I saw the word."
"You could just ask me about it."
"No can do. I tried to avoid spoiler, you know. And you were under stressed. Number one fan or not, I have to put my girlfriend over her best selling books."
Blake chuckled.
"I found it, Jaune. The inspiration. Just need to dig some more before I can make a full draft."
"Congrats!" He smiled back.
"What do you think, Jaune?" Blake suddenly asked. "Now that your girlfriend's going to write smut next, what do you think of me?"
Ambers stared into sapphires, somewhat nervous.
"I think you're going to have a hard time capturing the emotions in those scenes."
She slowly nodded in agreement. There was some truth to his remark. She tried to upgrade her writing skills by gazing at an entirely new horizon through a lacking perspective. The jigsaw puzzle was still missing one last piece, it was the knowledge she requires to create the next work.
"So..."
And Jaune wasn't finished. Without a warning, he swiftly flipped her around the bed. Having Blake lie on her back, he gazed down into the pair of fluttering ambers.
"I believe it's about time we should widen your view, Blake. Take some effort to progress, study and re-define all the definitions that fitted the suggestive themes for your smut book. How about it?"
Jaune grinned. Blake didn't need her boyfriend to put into words of what he was thinking. Right now, she shared the same thought.
"Also. I'm sure it will be great if you are willing to embrace that inner cat side of yours."
Cheeky Jaune. He made her heart beat faster.
"I'm not going to purr. It's embarrassing."
"It's fine, Blake." He pecked her forehead. "You always sound lovely to me."
Just as Blake wrapped her arms around his neck, Jaune grabbed the blanket and pulled it their heads. The crickets outside started to chirp a bit more louder.
/
Author's Note: Just a little short for Valentine day. I wrote this on a whim so apologize for any grammar mistake.
Thank you for reading. Take Care!