Chapter 10: Where mortal minds best not wander:
Blake sat alone in their team dorm room.
Yang had left some time ago to sign Solaris out of the medical ward and Ruby and Weiss were out studying, apparently. Together.
Leaving her alone in the room.
Blake paced back and forth, wandering if she should try to see if she could spend some time with JNPR, in their room, and leave Yang and Solaris be. Or she could find Ruby and Weiss and tell them not to return for a while…but then again, telling Ruby what her sister might be getting up to might weird her out, and Weiss would no doubt object to any…intimacy…with anyone inside their shared room. Blake pondered if she could go find Sun as another option for avoiding awkward situations.
She was about to do get up to do just this when she heard something whisper.
"Is anyone there?" Blake said, calling out to the empty room. She opened the door to the closet to see if someone was hiding there. Nope. She looked in the open bathroom. Nope. Under the beds?
Also nope.
Yet she heard it very clearly once more.
"…come find me…" Whispered a disembodied voice. Blake looked around the room. Was someone's scroll left behind playing music? No…nothing could be heard, and besides…who left their scroll here…
Solaris.
All his stuff had been placed around his hammock, his armour on his stand. Blake knew she really shouldn't look through his stuff, but she had to find where that sound was coming from. She saw Solaris scroll lying on one of his pillows. She reached out for it, fingers almost touching it…
"…I am the power in the dark. I am the light that shines defiant. I am the burning soul of time forgotten. My time to return is nigh! Who dares oppose this?"
Blake recoiled, her hand inches away from Solaris scroll. It was stone dead. Off. Silent. Nothing came from it. So, then, what was making that sound…or…more accurately…speaking?
Blake looked around and caught sight of Solaris jewel. It was glowing silver.
"…I am the strength, I am the power, I am the forge of nobility…"
The jewel whispered seductively, ensnaring Blake in its subtle whispers. She looked into it and saw her reflection, but it wasn't really her. It showed her standing in front of a crowd, roaring their adulation, a crown on her head, queenly robes flowing from her back, the Faunas and Humans standing side by side, the races united by her rule. She saw a tower in the desert, a city in ruins, and then she saw an alter image, the same city, intact, green and sparkling, beautiful beyond compare, five flags flying at the top of the majestic tower, depicting a different animal stylised in heraldic fashion. She saw crowds of adoring citizens chanting the name of some benevolent ruler, clad in the finery of a thousand kings. She then saw the city once more, only this time it was in ruins, the banner of a raging serpent, one of the five flags she saw earlier, the only one that remained, as the others fell. An explosion shook the city and the vision blurred.
Blake reached out to touch the jewel.
"…I am the will, I am the desire. I am the power to make change…"
Blake's fingers touched the surface.
"…I am the light, I am the radiant beam, I am the perfection of civilization…"
Blake suddenly realised she had no control over her arms anymore. Her hand reached out and removed the jewel from its place in the chest plate. She looked deep into it, her body no longer hers to control.
"…You have found me…" Called the jewel, and Blake saw before her a vision.
A man stood in front of her, clad in the finery of kings, black robes sweeping from his back, inlayed with gold and lined with red streaks. He wore pale white armour, in which five circular holes, arranged in a pentagon, encircled the chest plate. He had auburn hair and vibrant green eyes, his pale complexion making him appear half dead. He wore a crown of gold upon his head, and a band of diamonds adorned it. He carried a sceptre capped with a silver skull adornment, the simple blackwood handle banded in orange. He wore a blue and red glove on each hand, blue on his right, red on his left. The man looked at Blake, and Blake looked at him. He was the man from the visions.
"...I am so close to manifesting in full form, all I need is the jewels…" He said, his voice hollow and toneless. His hand stretched out, reaching for the jewel in Blake's hand, his fingers becoming blurred, like wisps of smoke, upon nearing the surface, as if he was blowing away by drawing to near. Blake was about to step closer when the door opened and Solaris and Yang walked in. Their conversation died down as they saw the same thing Blake did.
"Blake, NO!" Solaris yelled, and dove forward, knocking the jewel out her hand. The man vanished into ethereal smoke as the jewel fell, only to be caught by Solaris before it hit the ground. He turned around and looked at her.
"What did you hear?" He demanded, leaning in.
"What did he say?" Solaris yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Blake looked as if she had awoken from a trance. She looked around, eyes wild, before she settled down and fixed her gaze on Solaris.
"I…he said something…something about…why can't I recall it…something about being the perfection of civilization…and…and the power to make change" She said, the effort of remembering clearly very difficult.
"You saw one of the previous owners of this jewel. The first, in fact" He said simply, remembering Ozpins report, which would probably be ready tomorrow.
"I tell you later" He said, looking at the two girls. Yang looked Blake in the eye and asked her if everything was alright, to which Blake nodded. Solaris was impressed. Either Blake had remarkably strong willpower to resist going mad at the sights the jewel could show you, or she had seen something which had inspired her. It was possible, Solaris knew, for the jewel to show you sights of the future as you desired it, albeit one far more selfish, arrogant and power hungry, but it could show you everything you could want fulfilled. The ambition of a mad ruler of a bygone time was contained within these jewel, and while only a very small fraction, what little you were exposed to could have you realising just how grand a vision of the world you possess. Blake got up and looked at the two, before she said something about going to the library. No doubt she wanted to sought that vision out by finding out who…or what…she had seen. Solaris doubted she could find anything worthwhile, but he knew if anyone could find something, it would be her.
Solaris looked at Yang, who seem baffled by this recent turn of events.
"Who was that man?" She asked, pointing to the empty air where the vision was.
"It was who I said, the man who made this jewel. The first owner. His soul is partially imprinted in it. He thought it would make him immortal. It didn't. Only in passing." He explained to Yang, who folder her arms.
"You're not making any sense" She protested, and Solaris smiled, sitting on his hammock and putting the jewel back into his chest piece. He watched as the light within died down to a harmless, soft, glow.
"I know. I might make more sense in the morning. I'm still addled after the fight. Fighting someone who uses mind and thought alteration is really annoying, even if you're not directly exposed to it…the presence of someone like that, the presence itself, it still…messes with you, however slightly. Gives you a headache afterwards."
Yang smiled, and stepped close to Solaris.
"I could always help you with that." She said, leaning in.
Solaris sensed where she was going with this, and smiled, kissing her softly on the lips. Yang gently grabbed him by his arms and raised him out of his sitting position on his hammock and lifted him upright. She ran her hands through his hair, as he held her waist. Yang looked into his eyes, and he looked into hers, lilac on deep blue. Yang smiled slightly, and then pushed Solaris ever so gently back. Onto Blake's bed.
"Uh…Yang?" He said, realising this was getting a bit out of hand. "I don't think Blake would approve of this…" Solaris said, as Yang lowered him onto his back.
"That's what makes it fun" She whispered naughtily. Solaris tried to sit up and protest.
"What? And my presence doesn't?" He joked, titling his head. Yang put a finger to his lips and motioned for him to be quiet.
"Just don't tell her then…" She informed him, and started taking off his shirt.
"Uh…while I am all for sleeping without a shirt in hot temperatures, I am not quite sure that that is where this is going" He said in a sort of hurried tone. Yang smiled. He was nervous. She was making Solaris nervous. It seems the intimate charms of woman might be his weakness.
"No, it isn't…" She left the statement incomplete. Solaris tried to say something, but Yang shushed him again, and took off his shirt completely.
"Uh…Yang? Wha-what are you d-doing?" He stuttered nervously. Yang relented long enough for him to say what he wanted to say.
"I am not sure I feel entirely comfortable doing this, Yang" he said slowly, not looking her in the eyes. Yang smiled, and turned his head towards her.
"Why not? You like me, I like you, it's only natural for our age" She said, kissing him. Solaris looked at her pleadingly.
"No…I-I understand that, it's just that…well…Blake's bed…it seems a bit…well…intrusive" He finished rather lamely, his ability to formulate coherent and rational sentences abandoning his mental capacity as Yang slowly undid her top whilst he was talking.
"Not nearly as intrusive as this" She said lustily, putting her hands down Solaris shorts, and then grabbing the underwear beneath, yanking them down and off. Solaris lay before her. All his clothes were on the ground. Yang finished taking her top off, exposing her bare breasts to Solaris.
How did I end up here?
"…Well. This escalated quickly" He said, regarding Yang with new eyes, before she took off her skirt and shorts as well. Yang put her legs on either side of Solaris and straddled him by the waist, before pushing him gently down on Blake's pillows, and then bending over to kiss him on the lips. Solaris run his hand down her blonde hair, over her bare spine and to her lower back. His other hand held her by the waist. Yang held Solaris in the kiss whilst she ran her hands over his chest.
She eventually released Solaris from this kiss and looked up and down his naked body, liking (with a passion) what she saw, especially his well-endowed lower self. Solaris still had his hands on her waist, and she gently took them and placed them on her chest. His hands were very warm yet surprisingly soft, yet he didn't seem to do anything of his violation unless Yang made him too.
Could he really be that unsure? Yang thought, while imagining all the things she could probably get him to do. Solaris had a faint smile on his lips as Yang leant back, revealing just how truly…buxom…she was. Solaris really had no idea how what to do. Was he supposed to say something, do something?
Yang merely smiled as she saw Solaris blush, actually blush, knowing how great his ignorance was in this area. Yang was about to take it to whole new level for him, reaching down to grab his…
"Er…Yang…listen…" Solaris said in hushed tones. Yang stopped what she about to and listened. Voices. Coming down the hallway.
Ruby and Weiss were coming back.
Moving at speeds hitherto unknown to man, Solaris and Yang scrambled for clothes, as Yang barricaded the door shut with her body whilst Solaris hastily put all his clothes back on.
"Just my fucking luck" Yang complained. "I finally get you naked, and they come back!" She whispered/shouted to Solaris, who had got his pants back on and was putting his shirt on.
"Now, Yang, as much as I know you'd like me to gaze openly your heavenly, busty, bare beauty, I think some clothes might be in order for you, too!" He replied, throwing her bra and skirt to her. Ruby and Weiss's voices grew clearer and clearer. They were almost at the door. Yang hurriedly dressed herself, as the door handle began to turn, then stopped, as they heard Jaune's voice in the hallway, trying (unsuccessfully) to flirt with Weiss on her way back to her room.
That's the second time that man has saved my skin. I should get him a medal. Solaris thought, as Yang finished redressing, fixed her hair, and sat down on her bed as if she had been there the whole time.
The door opened and Ruby and Weiss waltzed in, completely unaware what they had just interrupted. Most likely for the best.
"Hiya guys!" Ruby shouted cheerfully at the two, Solaris casually leaning back in his hammock and pretending as if nothing was wrong.
"Ruby, you've been quiet for hours, am I supposing that a few more minutes will I sit down in our dorm is too much to ask after the library session?" Weiss inquired. Ruby nodded, jumping up and down on Weiss bed.
"Ruby! Cut that out!" Weiss said. "Is there anything else that could be worse than jumping on someone else's bed without their permission?"
At this moment Solaris struggled to hold in a snigger, holding a clenched fist to his mouth as he looked the other way and made a muffled "Hmmmkkkk" noise into his hand.
Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Did I say something funny?" She demanded. This time Yang was the one snickering gently.
"No. Not at all. I was…just remembering…the…ah…joke Yang said earlier" Solaris improvised, and Yang burst out laughing.
"What was the joke?" Ruby asked gleefully, but Yang beat Solaris to the punch. "It was something inappropriate, Rubes" she mustered as Weiss scoffed something about immature team mates.
Solaris leant back in his hammock and sent a message to Yang on his scroll.
"So...shall we finish that little session sometime?"
He hit SEND, and waited for a reply.
"Yes. Tomorrow. I'll get the others out on some errand or other. We go as well. Double back here. We should have a few hours."
Solaris smiled and sent back a thumbs up in reply before putting his scroll away. Solaris looked over at the clock on the wall. Curfew was going to over in an hour or so.
"Did you guys see Blake in the library?" Solaris asked Weiss and Ruby, who nodded.
"She seemed pretty determined to find something in particular, but I have no idea what. She is ahead on all her class work and she has a vast supply of fiction right here" Weiss declared, and Ruby nodded in agreement.
She'll be back soon. Can't be too many books for her to bring back…if any…
The group passed the time their own way, Solaris reading whilst eating a packet of skittles, his new favourite snack after Ruby introduced him to them, Yang by idly scrolling through her scroll and wishing she had pictures of Solaris to go through, Weiss by reading, and Ruby by pouring over weapon manuals. No one was really speaking until Blake returned, an old leather bound hardcover book in hand, incredibly thick, with dusty yellow pages sealed behind a bronze binder. She closed the door behind her, let out a sigh as she leaned back against it, and then took two steps towards her bed.
And paused.
Solaris casually scratched his nose as if there was nothing amiss. Yang suddenly had increased focus on her scroll.
Blake paused as she narrowed her eyes.
Solaris held a straight face that was so normal and innocent that by virtue of its innocence it begun to look guilty.
Blake turned, ever so slowly to look at Solaris, who managed to not glance in her direction whilst maintaining utterly no signs of having something to hide. Blake ground her teeth and turned to look up at the top bunk with Yang on it.
"Yang" She said ever so slowly, as she placed the book down on her blanket.
Yang looked down at Blake as if nothing was wrong. Solaris meanwhile was trying to sneak out of his hammock and inch closer to the door.
"Going somewhere, Solaris?" She said, without turning around or taking her eyes of Yang. Solaris shook his head.
"No. Just stretching…" He said, as he made a show of extending his arms.
Ruby and Weiss were looking at this display with a mix of amusement and bafflement. What was going on?
"Oh…stretching like you and Yang apparently were on my bed?" She said bluntly. Yang maintained an expression of shocked innocence while Solaris opted for the baffled (yet still innocent) look. Ruby, meanwhile, felt her face turn a bright shade of red and Weiss stood up in disgust.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" She shouted at Blake, and then turned to Solaris.
"It's not true? Is it?" Weiss demanded. Solaris shook his head, and then, frowned.
"Well…actually…" He started to say, but Yang interjected.
"We can explain!" Yang shouted as Solaris opened his mouth to continue.
"Yes, thank you, Yang, as I was just about to do that" Solaris said sarcastically. Weiss had her hand on her hips and Blake shot lasers from her eyes at both Solaris and Yang. Ruby, meanwhile, was still red in the face.
"Well, the explanation is that…uh…well….we were…um…I….ah…you see…weweregoingtobutthenRubyandWeisscamebacksowestopped."
Weiss held a look of indignity, but Yang interjected. Again.
'We were really starting to have fun before you guys stopped us!" Yang said, and Weiss made a disgusted "Oh!" noise, while Blake looked like she was about to break in half. Ruby opted for a simpler approach, simply throwing her pillow at Yang to get her to shut up. She didn't want to hear this.
"You mean you two were going to….on my bed?" Blake shouted, causing Ruby to cover her ears and start singing to block the noise out, whilst Weiss rounded on Yang for being so promiscuous.
"What, it's not his fault?" Yang said, pointing at Solaris. Solaris looked unsure of what to say.
"C'mon, Yang, if one of you were to suggest something like this, who would it be, honestly?" Blake said, and Weiss nodded. Even Ruby nodded her head fractionally, saying "She does have a point there, sis".
Solaris decided to leap in and save his girlfriend. Somewhat.
"Well, to be fair, I did protest, and probably should've done so harder, but with Yang on top of me she seemed determined to ah…what?" He asked as he saw Weiss look away, a tiny blush on her cheeks. Blake stopped looking so angry, and turned her head to one side whilst smiling slightly. Ruby, meanwhile, content that the situation had resolved itself, went back to reading, completely missing the remark Solaris had said, and all its loaded meaning. Yang, at this point, did not look at any of her teammates, and focused on her scroll, her eyebrows raised by the remark Solaris had made and what it would be seen as.
"Solaris…I had…no idea you would…so…well…" Blake began softly.
"So…what…exactly…?" Solaris asked her. Blake blushed as her mind went wild with images of Yang and Solaris…NO! Bad Blake! That's the second time you thought that!
Reeling her mind back to the present situation, Blake replied with:
"Well…you know…submissive…"
Weiss bit back a smile hearing this, Yang was not looking at anyone, Ruby was not even paying attention anymore, and Blake was trying hard not to laugh. Solaris, meanwhile, looked Blake in the eye.
"Why thank you, Blake" He said, in a tone of voice so laden with false thanks and sarcasm that it must've broken some sort of local record for snarkiest reply.
Blake couldn't help but think of these mental images and the connotations that came along with it. Was he naturally submissive, or was Yang the dominant one? Was she always on top? Was she-? Again? Stop it brain! We can't be thinking such things, can we, almost how Solaris almost has no control in the-NO! Undirty thoughts, Blake, undirty thoughts!
Solaris decided to leave the room for a while to get some peace and comfort. He crossed the hall to team JNPR's dorm, and was met by the lovely Pyrrha Nikos.
"Ah. Hello, Solaris. What an unexpected pleasure." She said politely.
Solaris nodded in agreement and politely inquired if he could lay low here for an hour or two whilst things cool off in his own room. Pyrrha let him in but did not inquire as to the circumstances. Nora, however, met him at the door almost immediately.
"Let what cool down? What's going on? What's happening? Is it a fight? Is someone fighting?" She asked at a million miles an hour. Solaris shook his head.
"It's uh…well…hard to explain." Solaris said, looking around. Jaune and Ren appeared to be engage in battle to death…in a card game.
"Aha! Won't expecting Mirror Force, where you?" Jaune cried, to which Ren calmly flipped over a "Solemn Judgement".
"What? Well, at least you have to halve your life points" Jaune reasoned as Ren countered his trap and allowed the battle to continue apace.
Solaris naturally moved over to watch.
"So…Yugioh?" He asked.
Jaune and Ren nodded, neither one of them raising their eyes from the game mat and their hands. Jaune appeared to have the upper hand, but Ren had some hidden surprises in store, it seemed. Nora watched in excitement as the each turn progressed, with Pyrrha glancing back every time Nora let lose a shout of excitement or dismay at one of her team mates losing a card or getting attacked. Which happened a lot.
They played like this for at least half an hour, as the game continued on and both players matched each other in feats of tactical excellence. Solaris was quite content to watch until Pyrrha mentioned something about the winner of this match playing him.
"What? Ah, nah. I'm happy to watch" He said. However, Pyrrha had this look in her eyes, one that Solaris had already seen earlier tonight.
"Why not? You're the competitive type, aren't you? I've seen you, you like to fight hard, and to win. I never took you for the type to shy away from a challenge. To submit." She finished, smirking and looking at him from across the room. No one else grasped what she meant until they all get a message on their scrolls. Solaris had no doubt this was Blake's revenge.
Nora pulled hers out first and looked at what it said, then back at Solaris, then to Pyrrha, who nodded. Nora fell back on her bed with laughter. Jaune read his, and then glanced up at Solaris.
"How would they know about…this…did you and…Yang…?" He left the thought in the air as he mentally completed the path himself. "Ohhhhh" He finished. Ren had read his, and, while not seeming amused, he told Solaris he was "Quite the gentleman for suiting his lady" In tones dripping with false sympathy. Solaris stood up calmly, as if nothing was wrong, straightened his shirt out and took a deep breathe.
"Team JNPR. Pleasure as always. Jaune, Ren has an "Honest" in his hand. His trap is "Magic Cylinder". Use "Mystical Space Typhoon" on the card face down on his third magic space. Nora, Pyrrha, it was fun talking. Now, I have some unfinished business with a certain someone." Solaris said calmly.
"BLAKE BELLADONA YOU SLIPPERY LITTLE BI-" He yelled as he charged out the room, thrusting open the door and slamming it shut behind him in the hallway.
A/N: And there we are. Ten Chapters.
Woohoo.
Thank you everyone who stuck with me this far, and everyone who has read it so far. I intend to keep on going like this for a long time.
Also, if you really want to know, there will be more Solaris and Yang "alone time" ahead, which will go uninterrupted this time. Hopefully.
And yes, Jaune and Ren play Yugioh together. Why? Because it adds something else to do in happy funtime chapters like this one.