Minimal Beat
The waning winter sun had long since sunk behind the snow caped mountains to the west by the time that the Faunus pair reached the red bricked exterior of Velvet's three story apartment building. As such the temperature had dropped exponentially as was evident by the shaky white columns of vapor escaped the two young women's lips as the hurriedly approached sanctuary.
The pair entered the apartment building and were greeted with a wave of warmth which caused a small mew of relief to escape Velvets lips. She was sick and since giving over jacket over to the raven haired girl she had slowly felt the cold wind cold chipping away at her, leaving her face flush and her fingers numb with cold.
Velvet cast a concerned glance at her companion whose manner of dress was far less suited for the weather than her own. However the cat ear Faunus appeared to be no worse for wear than she had when Velvet had first come across her. Her cheeks seemed to have regained some flush which made Velvet let loose a breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding.
The cat ears upon the girls head twitched at the sudden warmth and wide amber yellow eyes turned up to meet Velvets gaze. Velvet felt that all too familiar feeling of nervous panic seep into her heart. Velvet was many things, and despite her earlier display of hospitality, a people person was not among them.
'deep breaths Velvet….that's' it, no reason to freak out, She's just staring at you, probably wondering why you blew in her ear. Wait… she doesn't think I meant it in that way?! Oh Goddess! She must think of me as some sort of pervert now. Oh bother! Why must helping someone be so complicated?
"S-so….this is your home?" A small voice beside her said, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Velvet blinked startled at Blake's, which was what her name was wasn't it? , question. The ended brunette stared dumbly at Blake for a moment before nodding once. Then taking her companions hand in her own, Velvet began to lead the raven haired girl to the row of elevators that stood at the far end of the lobby.
"Well….I actually live up on the third floor but this is my building, c'mon let's get you inside and get you into something a bit more comfortable" Velvet felt her face go scarlet as she realized the possible implications of her last statement and quickly tried to correct it.
"I mean get you into something that'll warm you up, I mean um err…." She trailed off, muttering random nonsensical curses at herself until the soft ding that announced the arrival of the elevator sounded, saving her from further embarrassment for the moment as she led Blake inside and hit the button for the third floor.
Blake for her part remained relative silence as she stared at her companion with amused curiosity clear in her amber colored eyes. There was something in the way the girl acted that made Blake feel, what was the word? Relaxed. Yes that was it, something about Velvets nervous demeanor made Blake feel much more at ease than she had for some period of time. It still floored her that someone could be so kind and Blake for all intents and purposes was convinced that this was all a dream and when she awoke, she would be back in the middle of that park, freezing and alone. This made her grimace, of course that had to be it. This was all a dream, what kind of person would take pity on her?
Well if this is a dream…I suppose I should just make the most of if, Goddess knows it's a fair sight better than my usual nightmares.
She thought, careful to keep her sigh internalized as to not draw the attention of the Faunus girl next to her. Then a soft moan from beside her drew Blake, startled, out of her melancholy state. She turned her amber gaze upon Velvet and was greeted with the sight of the aforementioned bunny girl was massaging a pair of long brown Rabbit ears that protruded a foot and a half from the top of her mop of messy brown hair. Velvet caught her staring and offered a sheepish smile as a blush spread across her face as she explained in that same lilting accent that seemed to promise safety and comfort.
"You have no idea how good this feels" She said gesturing to her ears "I've had them covered up for nearly 3 hours out in the cold, it feels really nice to get them free of that dreadful stocking cap." As she finished her statement Velvet closed her eyes, seemingly to enjoy the sensation of her ears being out in the open air once more.
Before Blake could respond the elevator gave out another soft ping as it reached the third floor. When the doors opened they revealed a giant bear of a man with a with a balding head, scraggily black beard and bush eyebrows standing in the hallway. The man made no acknowledgment of Blake's presence in the elevator, instead his crystalline blue eyes were fixed upon Velvet.
Then in the next moment he moved, far faster than Blake would have thought someone of his size capable, and in one swift motion he wrapped his arms around Velvets body and picked her up into his massive embrace. Velvet let out a frightened shriek which, upon opening her eyes to face her assailant, quickly dissolved into a squeal of delight.
"Uncle Baldemar!" she cried with a laugh, excitement burning in her milk chocolate eyes, as she wrapped her arms around the man's oak sized torso.
After a moment the man set her down and began to speak
"It does me good to see ya in such high spirits lass, Ah take it yer finally over that cold that was bothering ya before I left?" The man boomed in an accent not dissimilar to Velvets own, however Blake noted that it was far thicker and rougher than Velvets pleasant and smooth lilt.
Blake, not wanting to interrupt the obvious reunion tried to silently press herself into the far corner of the elevator. Unfortunately this action the opposite of what she wanted and in the next moment those blue eyes were fixed directly on Blake causing the raven hair girl to freeze where she stood.
Blake repressed a frightened squeak of fear from escaping her throat as she felt her face go red under the man's friendly but piercing gaze.
"And who might ye be lassie?" The man asked in his deep rumbling voice that reminded Blake of the gentle roll of thunder.
Blake opened her mouth to respond but she couldn't for the life of her force herself to form any words. Instead a strangled mess of stuttering whimpers escaped her open mouth as she tried pressing herself further into the corner of the elevator, upon realizing she had no further to go the cat eared Faunus sank to the ground, eyes still fixed on the giant man in front of her.
She knew deep down she was being irrational and more than a little bit childish in her actions however years of instincts had taught her that the bigger the human was the more he or she was to be avoided in order to avoid being beaten or sometimes even worse in an activity that Blake had heard many humans refer to as "Teaching the animals their place."
So when confronted with the man that Velvet had referred to as "Uncle" Baldemar, literally one of the largest humans she had ever seen, with nowhere to run or hide Blake had simple shut down even though he gave her no outward signs of being a violent man.
As a result of this fear Blake simply sat in the elevators corner and stared at Baldemar with wide, fearful, eyes several seconds trying desperately to keep herself from remembering the times in the past when one human or another had decided she needed to be "Taught a lesson."
Thankfully Velvet was there to take notice of Blake's distress and intervene, stepping forward so that she put herself next to Blake. Velvet kneeled down and looked Blake in the eyes with such compassion and understanding that Blake for the second time that day felt her mind go blank with how to respond to such unconditional kindness. Then with a small smile Velvet wrapped her arm tentatively around Blake and, gently, helped that cat eared faunas to her feet.
Gently, Velvet walked her companion out of the elevator and into the hallway where Baldemar stood a sympathetic smile upon his lips. Blake looked up at him for a moment then looked away as she muttered a fear tinged apology for the way she acted. The large man shook his head, still smiling, as he said
"Ah no need to apologize Ahm sorry Lass I forget that ah can be a bit….intense." The man gave a light chuckle at this as if it were part of some joke long forgotten but just remembered, after a moment he continued. "Allow me to introduce mahself "he said as he carefully extended a hand towards Blake " Mah name is Hansel Baldemar, but you can just call me Baldemar, Ah am Velvet's Uncle and the owner of this fine building. Now who might you be ? "
Blake stared at the man, eyes still cautious, but after several moments of quiet consideration she put her hand in his and gave it a small shake. Then In a small hesitant voice she replied.
"Blake, just Blake" Velvet glanced at her companion with concern but said nothing regarding her omission of her last name.
The man's smile grew even larger as he gave out another jolly laugh, forgetting his volume again. "Well it's a pleasure to make yer acquaintance Just Blake , well Id best be off, the wife will have me hide if ah don't get back to her soon." With a short bow to the pair of girls Baldemar stepped into the elevator himself and pressed one of the many buttons. Just before the doors closed however he called out to them once more.
"Oh and Velvet? Be sure to bring yer new friend around to meet your aunt Gretel, and Blake should ye be finding yourself in need of company other than my niece don't be afraid to stop by and sit a spell with me wife she can keep yer ears and mind busy for hours on end. "
With that the doors to the elevator closed leaving Velvet and Blake alone once more. Velvet realized her hands where still around Blake's torso as did Blake and they both jumped away from each other. Both of them blushing furiously. The pair stood, an awkward silence hanging in the air until finally Blake broke the silence.
"Well….H-he seems nice" she stuttered hoping that Velvet wouldn't bring up her odd behavior. Thankfully the Goddess seemed to be favoring Blake especially this day for Velvet made no mention of it, instead she simply replied.
"Yes, he's really a big old softie once you get to know him. He was even kind enough to let me rent an apartment here at a discount whilst I am attending University. Anyway we best be getting off, my apartment is just at the end of this hall."
Velvet grasped Blakes hand in her own and led her down the hall to the last door on the left. A plate on the door announced it to be apartment number 308 . Velvet fished a key out of her pocket and ,after fiddling with the handle for a moment, unlocked the door. Opening it inwards Velvet gestured for Blake to enter.
Blake froze, this was it, and this was her last chance to turn back. If this was a dream then she was sure that the second she stepped across the threshold of this apartment she would awaken cold and alone in the middle of the park where she had fallen asleep. On the other hand in the slim chance that this wasn't a dream then that meant stepping into the apartment was taking a huge chance on something she couldn't predict the ending to and somehow that uncertainty was even more scary then the prospect of being alone.
However one look at Velvets kind and expectant smile, her milk chocolate eyes filled with compassion, and Blake found her heart melting and in the next moment she walked into the apartment and into the unknown.
Authors Note: Another Chapter Complete! Next we get the grand tour of Velvets apartment! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Please leave me a review and let me know what you think please, your reviews help me make this a better story for you! If you have any questions regarding the story thus far feel free to ask and ill answer any questions next chapter! Next on the release schedule is chapter 12 of Roses and Ice:D, a few of you might have recognized Baldemar my Oc here as well ;) well that's it for me thanks again for reading take care and Blessed Be!
P.s :Theme for this chapter(What I listened to the most when writing it) was Minimal Beat by Lindsey Sterling