Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but this chapter was a bit of a struggle. It's a bit shorter and I'm not super happy with it, but I just need to post it and get it over with so I can move on. Bleh. Anyway, thanks for all the feedback and I hope y'all enjoy!
By the time they arrived they were thirty minutes late. Ruby and Weiss found the almost immediately. "Where have you two been?!" Weiss asked.
"Sorry, we overslept," Yang said with a guilty chuckle. The lie came easily enough, and she trusted Blake to interpret it for what it was: a request to keep the morning's incident quiet. Weiss let out a reluctant sigh of acceptance, but from her frown Yang could tell Ruby didn't believe her.
"Why don't we walk around and meet some people. It is a meet and greet after all," Blake suggested. Weiss hummed her agreement, and Yang looked around before her eyes recognized a long ponytail of red hair.
"I think I know where to start," she said with a smile as she walked towards the redhead. "Pyrrha?" She asked, catching the girl's attention. "Pyrrha! I didn't know you were coming to Beacon!"
"Yang?" She asked, clearly surprised to see her. "Hello! I haven't seen you in...well, since last fall. We missed you during softball season," Pyrrha said, a model of friendliness.
"I can't pitch left handed, sorry," Yang said with a small laugh. She maintained her composure even as she saw Pyrrha flinch slightly. "This is Weiss, my roommate Blake, and my sister Ruby," she introduced.
"It's lovely to meet you all," she said with a smile.
"Pyrrha played volleyball and softball at Sanctum. We were both captains junior and senior year, so we've met a few times. She's a pretty amazing athlete if I do say so myself," Yang explained, unable to keep the admiration out of her voice. Blake raised an eyebrow, causing Yang to blush slightly.
"You flatter me, Yang," she said, blushing slightly herself. Yang stiffened, hoping she hadn't made her uncomfortable. "I believe Professor Ozpin is about to speak," she said, giving Yang a reassuring smile, as if to say no harm done. Right on cue, the group heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.
"Good morning students. My name is Professor Ozpin and I am the chair for the department of theatre and dance. On behalf of our faculty I would like to welcome you all to Beacon, and to commend you for expressing an interest in our program. I'm sure you are all anxious to find out what this year's freshman play will be. That will be announced along with the cast list after this weekend's auditions," Ozpin said, a glint of amusement in his eyes as the crowd erupted.
"That's...different," Blake observed, earning a mumble of agreements from their group. After several moments, the noise died down.
"As you all are likely aware, all first year theatre students are required to participate," he continued, earning some groans from non-performance majors. "You will need to prepare two separate monologues from two different works, one classical and one contemporary. Neither can be Shakespearean. It would be in your best interest to demonstrate that you have range as an actor or actress. Additional information will be emailed to you sometime this week; in the meantime I wish you luck," he concluded.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur, meeting faculty members and other students. By the time lunchtime hit, Yang had more than doubled her acquaintances, many of whom she believed would be good friends in the future. She was more than happy to agree when someone suggested they all get lunch.
"You guys go ahead, Yang and I will catch up," Ruby encouraged, pulling Yang away despite her protests.
"What's up sis?" Yang asked casually. Ruby frowned.
"What happened?" She asked quietly, concern in her eyes. "Yang, I know you didn't oversleep. You never go anywhere with your hair still wet," she added. Yang smiled.
"I'm fine, I promise," she said honestly. Ruby didn't look convinced. "I had an...incident, but Blake helped me through it," she admitted. Her eyes drifted to her roommate's form. "I'm really lucky to have her," Yang said fondly.
"Okay then," Ruby decided with a smile. "Just...please talk to me if you need to. You've always been there for me, and I want to be there for you," she insisted, and Yang couldn't help but pull her into a bone crushing hug.
"Thanks sis," Yang said, laughing at Ruby's protests of 'too tight!' "Come on, I'm hungry," she said, having mercy and releasing her sister.
"So…how's the roommate?" Sun asked, taking a sip of his coffee. The coffee shop was pretty empty, but Blake didn't mind.
"She's nice," Blake said simply, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"And outgoing and loud unlike someone I know," he joked. Blake rolled her eyes. "She's not exactly the kind of person I'd expect to not be on social media," he mused.
I'm pretty sure I know why she isn't, Blake thought, frowning slightly. "I'm sure she has her reasons. Besides, that's her business, not ours," she said. Sun raised his hands defensively.
"I'm just curious," he said, reclining in his seat. A smirk soon grew on his face. "You seem to like her though. I can't remember how many times I saw you checking her out at lunch," he teased. Blake's cheeks lit up.
"It's not like that," she protested, and Sun laughed. Blake had tried to keep an eye Yang, but that was just to make sure she was doing okay. It had nothing to do with how good her biceps looked in that tank top. Or how her eyes sparkled when she smiled. Blake quickly shook those thoughts out of her head. "Besides, she's my roommate," she reminded him.
"So?" Sun asked bluntly. Blake frowned.
"Dating your roommate is a terrible idea," she pointed out. "And I just met her yesterday and you're assuming she'd even be interested," she added, crossing her arms.
"Hey, she could be. You never know," Sun said with a shrug. Blake sighed.
"Even if she is, I'm not ready for another relationship," she admitted quietly. Sun's expression softened.
"You can't let that stop you forever," he insisted, earning a glare from his friend. "I'm serious! You can't let one douchebag ruin dating for you," he added, and Blake's glare intensified.
"Don't. Joke. Not about that," she bit out as she stood. "I'll see you later Sun," she said, leaving the coffee shop without another word. She knew Sun meant well, but that didn't mean she appreciated his lack of tact.
The trip back to the dorm was a short one, and Blake was already grateful to have a coffee shop so close to campus. As she walked down the hallway, she swore she could hear a pop song playing from her room. Yang, Blake concluded as she unlocked their door. She expected to see Yang either on her phone or her computer, or maybe even putting up posters to liven up their room. She was doing none of those things.
Instead, Blake was greeted by the sight of her roommate mid push-up.
Mid one-armed push-up.
Yang noticed her presence immediately and effortlessly hoisted herself to a seated position. "Hey Blake! Sorry, I thought your coffee date would last longer. The gym's not open today but I didn't want to slack off," she explained, reaching behind her to turn the music off. So that's where the muscle comes from Blake thought, with a new sense of admiration for her roommate. And her roommate's muscles.
"It's fine, I left early," she said, taking a seat in her bed while trying not to blush. "Don't stop on my account," she added, attempting to sound nonchalant. Yang smirked.
"Enjoying the view?" she teased, waggling her eyebrows. It was so over the top that Blake couldn't help but laugh.
"I've never seen someone do a one-armed push-up before. It's impressive," Blake admitted.
"Fun fact, I was able to do them even before I lost my arm," Yang bragged.
"I can believe that, since you're apparently pretty athletic. Volleyball and softball was it?" She asked, a smirk forming on her face.
"Yep, and I've done martial arts since I was little. My dad owns a school back in Patch," she said, oblivious to Blake's intentions.
"I'm sure all that muscle is useful for wooing pretty redheads," she said innocently, earning a deep blush from the blonde. Blake was beginning to realize that she found her cute when she was flustered.
"I was really obvious earlier wasn't I?" She asked with an embarrassed groan.
"Just a little bit. I don't think anyone else noticed if that's what you're worried about," she assured her. "And if the teasing bothers you I can drop it," Blake added after a moment.
"No, it's fine," Yang said hastily. She squeezed her knees to her chest. "It's...nice actually. I've never really had someone to talk to about girls. I'm out to Ruby, but she's not interested in girls. Or romance really. And anyone else who knew I was gay was kinda an asshole," she said with shrug. "But back to Pyrrha, she's totally straight," she said with a small chuckle, quickly shifting the mood back to a more upbeat one.
"That doesn't mean you can't have a crush on her," Blake pointed out with a smirk.
"Yeah, because it's a great idea to like someone who has no chance of liking you back," she said sarcastically, though her smile was lighthearted.
"We don't always choose who we fall for," Blake said, stiffening when she realized what she said. Yang seemed to notice, as her own posture softened. Blake berated herself for her instinctive reaction. It would've been easy to play off as a vague statement had she not froze.
"I'm here if you ever wanna talk. And I'm not just saying that because you heard basically my whole life story this morning," she said warmly, and Blake silently thanked her for not pushing it. "Thanks again for that," she added, running her hand through her hair.
"Thank you for the offer," Blake said simply. The two sat in silence briefly before Yang stood up.
"I'm gonna grab a shower because I'm pretty sure I stink," she said with a chuckle.
"I'll be here," Blake joked, unable to keep a small smile off her face as she grabbed a book.