It took Yang exactly a week and a half to convince Blake to spend a day on the beach with her. She'd gotten out of it countless times by distracting Yang with ice cream truck rides and make out sessions and orgasms, but now her charm had apparently worn enough for Yang to put her foot down.

So, when Yang had finally dodged a few of Blake's kisses with a laugh and said, "It'll be fun! Plus, you get to stare at me in a swimsuit all day, where's the loss?" Blake had relented with a sigh and a roll of her eyes – because okay, yeah, the idea of getting to stare at Yang in a swimsuit all day was kind of appealing.

They'd been hanging out – and making out – more and more, and Blake was starting to feel like she could do this, as long as she was the only one giving the orgasms. Having Yang in some regard was better than not having her at all, she'd decided – and Yang apparently felt the same way about her. She could tell Yang still felt bad about the fact she couldn't give anything back, but Blake assured her what they did was plenty, and eventually they fell into a comfortable rhythm.

Even if it meant Blake's hands had to wander along her own body every night.

And, y'know, maybe her heart still ran a little too fast when Yang would smile at her or softly tuck some hair behind her ear, but she could handle that.

She was getting ready to head out, examining her neck in the bathroom mirror, relieved to find there were no hickeys on her skin anymore, when Sun leaned in the doorway.

"So," he said with a smirk, "am I ever going to meet her?"

"I don't really see the point," Blake sighed.

"Uh 'cause best friends introduce each other to their girlfriends?"

Blake scoffed. "She's not my girlfriend."

"That'd be more convincing if you didn't spend every day with her." Sun slid into the room and leaned against the wall instead, his arms crossed over his chest. "Honestly, we live together and I like, never see you," he said with a chuckle.

"Sun, trust me, whatever it is Yang and I are, it's not girlfriends," Blake said, opening the medicine cabinet and pulling out a hair tie.

"Whatever you say." Sun shrugged. "But you two go on a lot of dates for people who aren't, y'know, dating."

Blake rolled her eyes again, gathering her hair up as she spoke with the hair tie between her teeth. "It's not dating, it's… casual." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "You do realize you're the one that said I should do this 'casual' thing, right?"

"Yeah, not my fault you're failing at it."

Blake sighed, taking the hair tie and wrapping it around her ponytail. "It's not failing just because your overactive imagination is making this out to be something more than it actually is, Sun." She raised an eyebrow, her gaze straying in his direction again.

"Or maybe you're just in denial," he said with a smirk.

Blake shook her head, brushing past Sun and out of the bathroom. He tailed her to her bedroom where she grabbed her beach-ready black drawstring bag from her bed, opening it and making sure everything was in there.

"Maybe," Blake said with a smirk, "you're just jealous." She put a finger to her chin in faux thought. "When was the last time you had someone over again? Only sounds I've heard lately are your obnoxious snores." She looked back down into her bag. "Hey, have you seen my sunglasses?"

"Wow. Touchy," he said. He pointed over his shoulder, towards the living room. "Coffee table."

Blake closed the bag and flung it over her shoulder as she looked at Sun, her smirk growing as he rolled his eyes.

She brushed past him into the living room, grabbing her sunglasses off the coffee table and slipping them onto her head. She turned to him with a teasing smile.

"Y'know," she said, "Yang says she has a friend that could also stand to blow off some steam, if you're interested."

Sun crossed his arms and leaned against the arm of the couch. "I don't need your not-girlfriend to help me meet people."

Still grinning, Blake wandered towards the front door, a spring in her step as she snatched her keys off of the table and pulled the door open. She turned to face Sun as she started to pull it closed.

"The lack of squeaking bedsprings begs to differ," she said with a wink.

The last thing she saw before shutting the door behind her was Sun turn red as he tried to mumble a half-coherent response.

The beach was – unsurprisingly – crowded as Blake strolled up about ten minutes later. It was strange to be there for reasons other than work or a workout and she forced herself to try and relax as she pulled out her scroll to text Yang.

Blake 11:15am: Hey! Text me when you get here.

Blake pocketed her scroll with a sigh, looking out over the crowded beach.

The appeal of it was lost on her, even having grown up here. Perhaps because she grew up here. The sand was always hot enough to burn your feet if you weren't careful, people would leave food out and attract seagulls, and the water was… well… not Blake's thing.

Besides, if Blake were to do anything on the beach during the day, she thought it might be read. But that could pose a challenge with the screaming children and errant beachballs. And she certainly knew she wouldn't be getting away with that today.

One thing Blake had learned about Yang over the time they've been —spent— spent together was that she had a lot of energy. She was always laughing, or tugging on Blake's hand and pulling her towards some new game or attraction that caught her eye, or kissing her until she literally needed to pull away to breathe.

It was a refreshing dynamic compared to how Blake had usually spent her summers, though; and even though it was keeping her from catching up on her reading, she really couldn't complain.

Blake was broken from her thoughts as a pair of arms circled around her waist and lifted her up. With a gasp, her hands automatically gripped onto the person's forearms as they spun her easily in a half-circle, a cheerful laugh ringing across her ear as she was set back down. Blake swatted lightly at the arms that still held her, but it was with a smile.

"Seriously?" She said, craning her neck to try and get a look at her captor.

"Hi," Yang replied softly, grin evident in her voice. Her lips brushed against Blake's cheek before she pulled back and Blake's smile softened.

"Hi."

Yang shifted so her arm was flung around Blake's shoulders. She nudged her gently with her hip as she turned them back around towards the ocean.

"Sorry if I scared you. I'm just so glad I finally convinced you to go to the beach," Yang said, buzzing with excitement. They started walking slowly towards the sand, their steps a little stilted as their hips bumped against each other with every footfall.

"Yeah," Blake said, smirking, "you must be special or something."

Yang smirked back. "It's the ab access, isn't it?"

Blake shrugged, cocking an eyebrow. "Possibly."

Yang let out a breathy laugh with a shake of her head, her cheeks tinting a little as Blake's arm wrapped around her waist. "I just don't understand why you wouldn't want to spend every day here. Y'know, when you're not working," she said, her gaze fixed on the beach ahead. "I mean it's—"

At that moment, a shrieking child darted in front of them holding a french fry while a seagull squawked and swooped at him. They both came to an abrupt stop so as to not collide with the kid or the bird and Blake's ears flattened as her lips pulled down into a disgusted frown. Yang turned to her after a moment and nodded, shrugging with her free arm.

"Okay, yeah, I see your point," she said, starting to walk forward again, Blake chuckling lightly under her arm. "But I mean… I think you've just never had the proper experience."

"Oh?" Blake tilted her head to the side and glanced up at Yang. "And what would this 'proper experience' be?" She asked with a smirk.

Yang's response was only a grin as they stepped onto sand, her arm unhooking from around Blake's shoulders as it became too difficult to walk and keep her balance. Without thinking too hard about it, Blake reached out and brushed her fingers against Yang's. Yang's fingers twined with hers without hesitation and Blake's heartbeat quickened.

Her gaze roamed over the sea of sand and umbrellas as they walked.

"How about over there?" Blake asked, pointing in the direction of a small patch of relatively open space.

Yang squeezed her hand with a smile. "Lead on."

It wasn't long before they were set up. Blake's one beach towel laid out next to Yang's on soft sand and Yang's umbrella wedged into the space between them – which Blake was beyond grateful for.

Blake wiped the back of her hand across her forehead – frowning slightly at the sand already stuck to her skin – and let out a breath as she stood upright, squinting out at the water from behind her sunglasses. They'd only been on the sand for a few minutes and yet Blake could already feel the temperature spike.

Next to her, Yang stretched her arms over her head and let out a small sound of satisfaction that had Blake's ear twitching in her direction, her eyes trailing only a second behind to see Yang's shirt ride up.

No matter how many times Blake had seen Yang shirtless by now, it never failed to affect her. Suddenly, she was remembering why a whole day on the beach with Yang maybe wasn't such a good idea.

"I hope you wore a swimsuit under that," Yang said with a smirk, jutting her chin in Blake's direction. "Otherwise," she added, pausing to tug her tank top over her head and slide her sunglasses up, "I'll just have to drag you into the water fully clothed."

Blake rolled her eyes, but didn't comment. Instead, she tossed her sunglasses onto her towel and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, sliding it off in one smooth motion, leaving her in her black bikini top and denim shorts.

She cocked an eyebrow at Yang who swallowed thickly. "Thinking something like this?" Blake asked, shrugging in question. Yang's cheeks flared red as she glanced away.

To be fair, it was probably the most Yang had ever seen of Blake's body. She hadn't mentioned anything directly, but Yang had picked up on the way Blake would tense when she'd inch her shirt up as they kissed. It wasn't that Blake was uncomfortable with her body, or with having Yang see it, but in the context of heated kisses and Yang already in the afterglow of her first orgasm of the night, Blake didn't exactly trust herself not to stray from her 'Yang only' rule.

Blake chuckled, dropping her shirt onto her towel as Yang pulled off her shorts. Blake's followed soon after and she let out a sigh of relief as a breeze blew in off the ocean.

When she turned back to Yang – ready to see what the plan was – she saw that her head was tilted down, eyebrows raised, her gaze fixated on—

Oh. Right.

"You have a tattoo," Yang said. Her tone was relatively level, but Blake's mouth still twitched into a smirk.

"Oh. Yeah." Blake looked down at where her right hip met her thigh, eyes trailing over the ink there. It was a bird, shaded in purple and black, breaking out of its cage, the lock on the cage door cracked and shattered in the bird's wake. It wasn't too big, only about the size of Blake's palm, and it was usually hidden by her shorts – but it was more for her than the world, anyway, so Blake tended to forget that other people didn't know about it.

"Sorry," Yang said, with a shake of her head, her gaze bouncing between Blake's and the tattoo. "I just— it's cool! Um, does it have some kind of meaning, or…?" Blake's smirk faltered and Yang's eyes widened. "Oh, sorry, you—you don't have to answer that, it just kind of—"

Blake shook her head. "No. It's… it's okay. It was a while ago…" Blake's gaze flickered back down to the bird and the cage, her fingertips gently tracing the linework.

She'd contemplated bringing this up before. Just so Yang knew. She wasn't sure why it felt so important for Yang to know this part of her – and maybe she didn't want to think too much about that, and how it blurred the lines of simple and serious – but… now was as good a time as any, right?

Yang stood patiently, waiting for her to continue and Blake took a deep breath, the ocean air crisp and refreshing.

"So, some years back – when I was still in high school – I was seeing this guy, Adam." She could feel Yang's eyes on her, curious but not demanding as she continued. "He seemed like a really nice guy when we started dating. He bought me flowers. He'd hold the door open for me when we'd go out. Y'know… boyfriend things," Blake said with a sad smile, shrugging as her eyes met Yang's. "And I'd do the same for him. Bring him ice cream on days I knew his classes sucked, or take him to see a movie he'd been talking about."

"Then… I don't know. It happened slowly, but as time went on, he stopped worrying about the little things like that. I thought, maybe it was just us settling into the relationship, you know? That we'd been around each other long enough that we were just… comfortable, and the little things just didn't matter as much." Blake frowned, shaking her head. "But… I didn't want to lose that. I still wanted all of it, and I was still trying to give him that, but he was…" Blake sighed. "It'd be the wrong flavor of ice cream, or I'd pick the wrong day for the movie, and he'd just…" She shook her head.

"Anyway, I still wanted to fix things, so, when we were alone one night and his hands wandered a little further than usual…" Blake sighed and she met Yang's eyes again. Her brow was furrowed in concern and Blake continued quickly. "I mean, I wasn't not ready. I'd been thinking about it too and I'm sure if I'd asked him to stop, nothing would've happened. But… I wanted it to. I thought… maybe it'd help, y'know? Make us feel closer again. So… we did. And…"

Blake's finger worried the ink again, her gaze averting from Yang's to concentrate on the patterns against her skin. "It was…" she sighed, frowning.

"Anticlimactic?" Yang offered with a small smirk.

Blake snorted, shocked by Yang's interruption, but grateful for the break in tension.

"Sorry," Yang said with a chuckle. "Serious conversation."

Blake shook her head – still laughing – and reached out to take Yang's hand in hers. "No," she said. "You… you're definitely right."

Blake paused a moment before continuing, her tone serious again. "So, after that… things didn't get better. If anything, they got worse because I just... I didn't want to do it again." Yang's hand squeezed hers gently and Blake gave her a small smile. She shrugged, letting out a large breath. "And so, we didn't. And we fought a lot, and he'd tell me… he'd tell me there must be something wrong with me. That I was the problem. That I wasn't even trying to… make us work. That I was… broken." Blake's jaw clenched before she started talking again, anger and disgust laced into her words, as her eyes cast down and to the side.

"And I just… I believed him. I believed him for so long, because that was Adam. He just had this way of… caging you in and making you feel small. Like anything outside of his needs and desires didn't matter."

She took a deep breath. "It took… far too long for me to see how wrong he was," Blake said. "But, even then, it was… hard. Sun helped a lot. My parents too. But… this was how I helped myself," she said, looking down at her tattoo, the pop of bright purple against the small broken cage. "I… I needed the reminder that I wasn't— wasn't the broken one." Blake didn't miss the way her own voice cracked, even now. Even after so much time.

There was a moment of silence between them as Blake's fingers fidgeted with Yang's. She honestly hadn't meant to spill the entire history out on the beach, but it was a bit of a relief to have it out there. To let Yang see that part of her. Maybe it did make whatever this was a little too real. But…

"Thank you for telling me," Yang said softly. "And…" she swallowed, looking down at the bird on Blake's skin before meeting her eyes again. "It's beautiful."

There was a moment where Blake contemplated hugging her, another kissing her, but the tension was cut fairly easily with the sharp whistle from the lifeguard, followed by him yelling at some kids in the water.

Blake cracked a smile, squeezing Yang's hand one more time before letting go.

"Come on," she said with a smirk, trying to lift the heaviness that had settled in the air. "Why don't you show me this 'proper beach experience' you were on about."

They managed to fall into beach-mode again rather easily, and as it turned out, Yang's idea of a proper beach experience – unsurprisingly – did not line up with Blake's.

"Come on!"

"I am not going in any further. It's not happening."

"Blaaaake!"

Yang had managed to get Blake into the water until it was about at her mid-thigh, but from there Blake wasn't budging. Not for anything. It was right out of the splash zone of the crashing waves that Yang was so desperate to get her to go towards for some unfathomable reason, and she was going to stay dry dammit.

"No. Absolutely not," she said with a shake of her head, her arms crossed over her chest. Yang pouted from her spot further out and started to make her way back towards Blake.

She'd already sprinted into the water and dove head first through a wave, leaving her hair damp and wavy with the help of the sun, but that wasn't what Blake was distracted by at the moment. No. Blake may not have liked water for herself, but Yang… Yang wore it well.

Droplets beaded on Yang's shoulders, her chest, her abs, her hips, every inch of her as she ascended from the water to stand in front of Blake; and maybe Blake should've been a little more self-conscious about the staring, but she honestly couldn't find it in herself to care. Not with beads of water falling over every perfect curve of the woman in front of her.

"Come on, Belladonna," Yang said, her voice dropping low. "You can touch all you like if you come out a little further."

Blake smirked, her eyes finding Yang's. "Someone's a little confident."

"Maybe I am," Yang said, taking a step closer. "With the way you're sizing me up, who could blame me?"

"I'm not going any further, Yang."

"What's the matter?" Yang challenged with a smirk. "Afraid to get a little wet?"

Blake rolled her eyes, completely ignoring the blush that may or may not have spread across her cheeks. "Captain Double Entendre strikes again. And also… a lot of big talk coming from Miss. Please Please," Blake said, her voice going breathy and desperate the way she'd become accustomed to hearing Yang's in her ear, as her fingers worked between her thighs.

She'd meant it as a joke, something for Yang to roll her eyes at before giving up on her silly endeavor to get Blake into the ocean. Instead, her teasing demeanor broke and her gaze dropped to Blake's lips.

They were on the beach. In front of many many people, so Blake really shouldn't have been so tempted to close the distance. But Yang was… there, and Blake didn't want to think about the time she wouldn't have to kiss her in the future, so the thought of how easy it would be to do it now shot to the forefront of her mind.

"Blake…" Yang reached out and tucked some stray hairs behind Blake's ear, cradling her jaw after with a delicate touch.

Blake swallowed. Yang's fingertips were cool from the water, but they felt good against the flush of her skin. Her eyes bounced back up to meet Blake's gaze and Blake was getting really tired of the way her heart raced when she did that.

Clue number one that something was up should've come when Yang pressed their lips together. It was soft, and slightly distracted, but the sensation of it was enough to cloud Blake's judgment and also overlook clue number two; Yang's other arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer, grip a little firmer than usual, but by the time Blake's mind caught up with clues one and two it was already too late. She felt Yang's grin across her lips as she pulled their bodies completely together, Blake gasping as the water on Yang's body hit her hot skin.

"Gotcha," Yang whispered.

And then they were moving, Blake's half-assed swatting and sounds of protest completely drowned out by Yang's laughter as she pulled them into the water. Blake tensed and gripped closer to Yang – her legs wrapping around her waist – when the cool water hit the sensitive skin of her stomach; and Yang chuckled, wrapping her in her arms until they were far enough out to be able to jump over the waves before they crashed.

"I'm going to kill you," Blake said, splashing Yang lightly. She sputtered as the water hit her face but then started laughing as they bobbed over the waves, Blake still in her arms. Blake held back a smile of her own at the sound.

"You didn't even go under," Yang said, freeing one hand and swiping Blake's bangs out of her eyes. She paused for a second after, looking at Blake and frowning. "Are… are you actually upset? I'm sorry if I—"

Blake rolled her eyes, finally letting the smile peek through. "No. You're fine." She leaned forward and kissed her once. "God, stop being so thoughtful all the time, it makes it hard not to want to touch you in public."

Yang glanced around, a thoughtful look on her face and Blake swatted her shoulder.

"Don't even think about it," Blake said with a chuckle.

"What? What? I wasn't thinking anything," Yang said, wrapping both arms around Blake's waist again and hopping over the next wave with ease. "God, get your mind out of the gutter, Belladonna."

"Oh yeah, my mind is in the gutter."

"You're the one that was staring at me like you wanted to eat me, like, five minutes ago. And the one that just said she wants to touch me in public."

"It was a joke," Blake said with a roll of her eyes.

Yang cocked an eyebrow. "Was it?"

No.

"Yes."

Yang squinted at her. "I don't believe you," she said with a grin.

Blake untangled herself from Yang and splashed her again – harder this time – and Yang laughed.

"Hey, hey," she said, pointing at Blake. "Don't start a war you're not prepared to fin—"

The spray of water Blake sent in her direction nailed her square in the face and Blake laughed at the look of shock on her face before starting to back away in the water.

"Oh. Oh, it's on. It's on now, Belladonna."

And that was the only warning Blake got before Yang was chasing her through the water with a laugh. Yang managed to get a few decent splashes in – drenching the back of Blake's head – before focusing on actually trying to catch her.

They were both slow and uncoordinated with the water at chest height, but eventually Yang got some leverage with her longer legs and managed to catch Blake. Blake felt Yang's chest press against her back as her arms wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides.

"You gonna surrender?" Yang whispered against her ear. Blake grinned.

"Never."

Yang sighed, the hot breath against her ear enough to make Blake shiver.

"C'mon, baby," she said. "Surrender, so we can kiss and make up." She planted a light kiss behind Blake's ear and Blake was totally unaffected.

"I—In your dreams, Xiao Long." She felt Yang's grin against her skin.

"You're right… in my dreams. Wanna know about them?" She asked, her voice low, seductive even, and that was a new thing Blake didn't know she needed in her life – even if it was just a battle strategy.

…It was a battle strategy, right?

Yang's nose slid down the slope of her neck, her lips finally meeting the back of her shoulder.

"I could tell you." She unraveled one arm from around Blake's body and swiped Blake's ponytail over her shoulder, placing a kiss to the back of Blake's neck. "All the ways I've made things up to you."

And… oh. Oh. Blake wasn't ready for that.

God, weren't you supposed to be the one having the orgasms in your own sex dreams?

Suddenly, Blake was hyper aware of just how much of Yang's bare skin was touching her own. Her breasts pressed against her back, one arm still wrapped around her body, hips pressed against the curve of her ass…

She should've used Yang's distraction as an opportunity, but her straying mind didn't seem to want to cooperate with basic motor skills like moving.

"If you'd like," Yang said before she planted a kiss to Blake's other shoulder blade.

Blake could've sworn the water was cooler before, but now everything was just… hot. Steaming. Her mind boiling over with thoughts of what Yang had dreamt about. Dreamt about her.

"I—"

"Oh shi—watch out—!" The warning from the stranger came far too late as the next thing Blake knew a wave crashed into them, toppling them both over and underwater, the wave pushing them tumbling towards land.

When Blake settled onto sand in the shallow water, propping herself up, she let out a string of coughs, her heart racing. It took her only a second to realize Yang was on top of her, wedged between her legs, coughing just the same before hers dissolved into giggles, set loose in the crook of Blake's neck.

Blake's ears flicked a few times to try and dry – not at all in response to Yang's laugh.

Yang pulled back with a sigh, sitting on her knees between Blake's legs and running her fingers through her hair before tilting her head back and shaking it out lightly.

Blake stared. There literally was no other way to describe it. Her mouth hung open and her eyes drank in the scene before her, noting the way Yang's top was thrown slightly off kilter from the rough ride in. Not enough to be indecent but enough.

Yang caught her gaze and quickly fixed her top with a hint of a blush on her cheeks.

"You okay?" Yang asked, and the genuine concern in her voice took Blake off guard.

"I—yeah." Blake sat up a little more, freeing her hands from the mucky, wet sand and rinsing them off in the water.

Yang stood and offered a hand down to Blake, helping her out of the water. She chuckled lightly as Blake tried to brush some of the sand off her thighs.

"What?" Blake asked, an eyebrow raised. Yang shook her head.

"Nothing… you're just…" she shrugged, her blush deepening as she rubbed the back of her neck. "You're… cute."

Blake's ears twitched up, a small smile sneaking its way onto her face before she gave it permission. Yang cleared her throat, looking away.

"Why don't we—why don't we uh, dry off for a bit?"

Blake liked laying in the sun much more than being in the water. The breeze made the temperature bearable and if her head got hot, Yang's umbrella was well placed to cast shade.

She settled further into her towel with a hum, her cheek nuzzling against her forearms, enjoying the sun on her back. Yang chuckled beside her and Blake cracked an eye open to see her lounging back on her forearms, soft gaze fixed on her.

"More a fan of the land, huh?" Yang asked.

Blake sighed. "If I had to pick; yes." She let out a breath closing her eye again. "I'll never understand your fascination with the water. Is it a Patch thing?"

Yang huffed a laugh. "I… guess you could say that." Blake's eyes fluttered open at Yang's distant tone. She lifted her head, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the sun. Yang's eyes were on the ocean, a small, sad smile on her lips and Blake suddenly felt a wave of guilt.

"I'm sorry," Blake said, shifting until she was sitting upright, cross legged, facing Yang. "I didn't mean—"

Yang's gaze shifted to her, and there was a past playing out in her eyes Blake wondered if she'd ever get to know.

"It's alright," Yang said, chuckling. She shook her head. "You didn't say anything."

"Yeah, but I—"

"Blake, it's okay."

A breeze whipped through the air and Yang turned so her hair wouldn't get swept into her face, pushing back the few strands that had out of the way, with one hand.

A silence settled over them that Blake wasn't entirely comfortable with. She worried her fingers on her knee, head tilted down.

"Do you… do you want to talk about it?" She asked, eyes glancing up at Yang. Yang frowned, thoughtful.

"I…" She sighed. Her eyes met Blake's and Blake was pretty sure she'd never seen Yang's eyes that glassy and pleading. She'd do anything to make it go away. "Could we maybe talk about it another day?"

"Of course! I was just—we never have to. I just… I wanted you to know…" Blake trailed off. Know what? That she was there for her? That she could talk to her? Trust her with her deepest secrets?

Trust her with her heart?

Yang smiled, weak, but honest, and there.

"I know."

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a mix of laughter and suggestive moments that Blake might have been one hundred percent responsible for – if for no other reason than to get back at Yang for the stunt she pulled in the water.

After a late lunch, they decided to pack it in, hitting the showers on the way out to rinse the sand off their bodies. Maybe Blake was distracted too much by the way Yang tilted her head back and let the cool water run over her face and cascade down her body, if the reaction of the mother clearing her throat behind her in line was any indication.

Yang had insisted on walking Blake home, saying she'd skipped her workout that morning and needed to do something to make up for it. Blake hadn't questioned it too much, happy for Yang's company on the journey home and sure Sun would be out on a day like this.

They walked hand-in-hand and Blake wondered when exactly that had become a thing over the past week. It was only a ten-minute walk, and Blake was happy to walk in the companionable silence that fell over them, still worn out from their beach excursion.

She did wonder what it was that had made Yang's eyes glaze on the beach earlier. What demons haunted her past. What tragedies she'd suffered that Blake hoped her own shadows didn't make darker.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the familiar surroundings of her and Sun's front yard. They didn't live in a large place, but it was nice enough to have a patch of grass Sun had insisted on decorating with tacky lawn ornaments, including plastic flamingoes and one – far too large – surfing garden gnome.

Blake sighed. "This is me."

Yang snorted. "I'm going to guess you didn't have much say in… this?" She waved a hand around the yard as they walked up the stairs and stopped in front of the door. Blake rolled her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Every flamingo was picked out painstakingly to ensure maximum tackiness." Blake smirked.

"So much sass," Yang chuckled, swinging their still-connected hands in the air between them. Blake laughed too; Yang's smile contagious. "Well," Yang said with a sigh, "I guess I should probably…"

"I'll text you," Blake said. Their eyes locked and Blake took a step closer, cupping Yang's jaw in her free hand and tilting her chin up to meet her lips.

Lost in their kiss, Blake didn't hear the front door swing open, but she did hear Sun.

"Aaaaaaand you must be Yang."