Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang all sat together on the Rose-Xiao Long's couch. Well, not directly in that order.
Ruby had taken over her favorite spot on the armchair. Blake had taken up a spot down on the floor in front of the couch. Weiss was sitting on the couch, Yang's legs propped up on her lap.
Tonight was girls' night. No boys allowed. This had included Tai, who had been kicked out of whatever area the girls were occupying. This night, Yang had guaranteed the girls would indulge in movies, video games, and possibly some juicy gossip.
A week had passed since the accident. Weiss had only missed one day of school that week while Yang was possibly going to be out for awhile. Not only that, Yang had begun therapy due to the nature of the accident. Yang never really looked forward to her appointments, and the only highlight of Yang's day was when she'd return home.
To which Weiss was still living in their home. Weiss had certainly gotten accustomed to living in their household. With the help of Yang and Ruby, she had learned how to cook, no longer did Weiss have to survive off of frozen dinners, fast food, or sandwiches. Weiss had also taught Ruby how to sign. Well, the beginning signs, at least.
As for the relationship between Weiss and Yang, well, neither of them had admitted to anything. But it was clear as day to how smitten they'd become with one another. The fear and exasperation of being gay, to Weiss, had disappeared once she realized that Yang didn't care about those things.
Yang, however, considered herself more than smitten. Possibly, head over heels in love with Weiss Schnee. She admitted to herself that maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to focus on one person, but Weiss herself didn't seem to mind how clingy Yang became. It wasn't a bad sort of clingy, but one which wherever Weiss had planted herself for a spell, Yang would be right there with her.
While their intimacy was kept innocent with light hand touches and longer-than-usual hugs, neither of them wanted to admit to the 'I want more' aspect that had lingered in their minds. Both of them still entirely thinking that they didn't need to go further. That neither of them needed to push. Because this was what friends did, right?
"Fear the wrath of my blue shell power!" Ruby yelled out in excitement, on the edge of her seat as the group played AchieveMen Kart 8. "Nobody can withstand Lindsay's speed!" she evilly laughed, racing her way into the top five.
Blake chuckled nonchalantly, her gaze glued to the screen. "Yeah, but not if Michael 'Rage' Jones has anything to say about it." Blake seemed to be going head to head with Ruby now, both fighting for third place.
"You're gonna have to eat those words, Blake! Because Lindsay Jones does not put up an easy fight!" Ruby roared, now standing up from her seat.
Blake followed in suit with a look of determination. Who would've known that Blake and Ruby could be so competitive with one another?!
Needless to say, Weiss was having trouble keeping up with her racing character, Ryan Haywood. Then again, Weiss wasn't too big of a gamer, and if she was, well, then racing games were definitely not her specialty.
"Come on, Weiss!" Yang seemed to cheer on next to her, nearly plopping herself into Weiss's lap as she had done so. Weiss tried to keep her resolve strong as she tried to catch up with the other two along with the NPCs that were in her way. Weiss began to stick her tongue out, brows furrowed as her eyes narrowed in on the screen.
She seemed to be doing a good job at catching up, but as she did, Blake and Ruby seemed to have other plans. They eyed each other and smirked, Weiss was oblivious to these notions, but Yang seemed to eye the duo in suspicion.
"Weiss, you're gonna have to do better than that if you want to beat the best!" Ruby grinned, using a green shell to keep Weiss at bay.
"It's too bad your girlfriend can't save you now, Weiss!" Blake seemed to tease.
"Hey! She's not really my girlfriend!" Yang retaliated, lifting herself off of Weiss with her one arm.
Weiss sputtered out out wordless gibberish, actually making astounded sounds in the process. The conversation that was taking place before Weiss was too nonsensical to make any sort of proper sense! Couldn't they see she was in the middle of an important task?
Blake and Ruby simultaneously gasped at the fact that Weiss Schnee had made a sound in their presence. While Yang had made it known to her sister and friend that Weiss had begun to speak, it was always a shocking thing to hear Weiss make any sort of sound, especially around someone other than Yang.
Yang seemed to giggle at the sound. It was something she'd never get over, and why would she want to? Weiss was cute.
"Gahh! Weiss Schnee, you will not fool me with your cute mockeries!" Ruby playfully spat out with a headstrong look about her.
"I can see the appeal now." Blake still teased, as she focused on the screen.
Yang plopped herself back onto Weiss's lap. "She is pretty adorable, huh?" Yang grinned, adding onto the 'mockery'.
Weiss dropped her controller and began to pinch at Yang's cheeks in a playfully harsh manner. "Ow ow ow!" Yang began to flail to the best of her abilities.
"LINDSAY JONES IS NUMBER ONE!" Ruby stood up cheering as she payed the would-be lovers no mind.
"Second place, huh. I'm getting rusty." Blake fell back into the couch, her voice jokingly conceding to the loss.
Weiss stopped in realization that the game had still been going on… 12th place. She glared at Yang beneath her, but her eyes held no malice. Yang weakly chuckled as she removed herself from Weiss's lap, rubbing her red and rosy cheeks. "Alright, rematch. Next map is whatever, but I get to play." Yang sat up, stretching herself out.
"Ohhh?" Ruby began, a twinkle in her eyes. "Did you finally learn how to play with your feet?!" She grinned.
"What?! No. I'm gonna hold one side of the controller with my left hand and Weiss is going to hold the other half." Yang looked at everyone, then lastly at Weiss, who had a look of suspicion about her.
"I don't know, Yang. Weiss is hardly skilled at this game, and playing one-handed with two people controlling it seems like a little much, doesn't it?" Blake eyed them with a mischievous grin.
Weiss now glared at Blake and began to sign very dramatically, "You're going to EAT your words."
Yang evilly chuckled, "I've taught her well." She took one half of the controller as Weiss still held onto the other half, now sitting thigh to thigh. "Besides, Weiss and I make a great team."
Weiss nodded furiously, although in reality she wasn't so sure about the situation. They hadn't done anything like this before, and all she could do was trust in Yang for something so… trivial. But a challenge was a challenge, and both Weiss and Yang had accepted.
The next race had started. Three laps. At first, it had taken Weiss a while to get used to the way Yang played, but after the first lap, the two had seemed to find their groove. Drifting, throwing, jumping, and dodging in near-perfect unison.
Throughout the entire race, Yang had been whispering into Weiss's ear, telling her what to do and when to do it at the right time. This had caused Blake and Ruby to cry out, trying to distract everyone from what they were doing.
It was a mess. A fun mess, but surprisingly, Weiss and Yang had won the final race. The odd duo had managed to win first place.
"W-wwhhaat? That's cheating, there are two of you!" Ruby cried out.
Yang chuckled. "You didn't say anything before, but now you do? Weak game, sis." She grinned menacingly at her. Weiss held an ear-to-ear grin, they had won! She had won! It was a glorious day for Weiss to win, she was unstoppable, she was unbeatable, she was…
"Ahh, don't worry about it, Ruby, it's just a game." Blake reminded her. "That they cheated on," she loudly whispered.
Oh right, she was the winner of some racing game that she had hardly heard of before coming to Vale. She shrugged, now leaning back into the couch. Yang had settled in next to her, their bodies still closely touching, and neither of them bothering to move away.
"Hey, Weiss!" Yang called to her, turning her head toward the smaller girl. Weiss, too, had turned her head at the exact same time. "Ah!" Yang now realized just how two the close were. Face to face. Almost close enough to…
Weiss placed her hand on Yang's face and pushed her down, glaring. What sort of nonsensical thing had she been attempting now? While Weiss and Yang had definitely grown closer, they had also opened up to one another in a way that Blake and Ruby considered 'totally an old married couple' dynamic.
Weiss and Yang would playfully argue more and more, while Weiss would continue to speak in sign language. Yang, of course, had to speak, but her once-serious and almost-lifeless mannerism had become almost nonexistent. As Yang was now filled with life more than ever after just marginally escaping death.
Weiss heartily huffed as Yang seemed to lay defeated on the couch. "I w-was just going to say nice job." Yang seemed to fake several coughs and then rolled off the couch, landing on the floor on top of Blake.
"Oh no, you'll find no sympathy from me." Blake tried shoving off the heavier girl, but to no avail.
Yang chuckled maniacally, "Oh, how the tables have turned." As soon as she had spoken these words, Ruby dogpiled on top of Blake and Yang.
"Ohhh, how the turned tables!" Ruby sang out, as she landed on top of Yang.
"Gahhh!" Blake seemed to be dramatically crushed underneath the sisters. "Why did I agree to this?! Weiss, help out a friend, will you?" Blake seemed to reach out for Weiss, but Weiss reeled back.
"Oh no, I know what you're doing and I am not falling for it," Weiss signed, knowing better than to help Blake. It would only cause Weiss to fall straight into the pit known as Blake, Yang, and Ruby.
"What's that, Weiss? Can't read ya'," Yang called from the floor, her voice slightly muffled as her face seemed to be shoved into the carpet by Ruby, who was trying to reposition herself. Blake seemed to try and lift herself up, but was slammed down by Yang.
"You know exactly what I said," Weiss huffed as she signed, rolling her eyes as she was amused from all the shenanigans before her.
"I think she said to pull her in!" Ruby said, grinning, now grabbing Weiss and tossing her into the dogpile.
The whole group seemed to tumble onto the floor. Thankfully, they had moved the coffee table that had taken its usual place in the living room to a different spot away from the girls unusual roughhousing.
This had taken Weiss by complete surprise as she rolled over Blake and Yang, ending up next to Ruby as they had all fallen out of the pile and were now laying on the floor. Everyone but Weiss seemed to be laughing.
Weiss propped herself up. "Y-You're all dolts!" she seemed to lash out, her voice carrying throughout the room that was filled with joyous laughter.
The whole group had then turned to Weiss, astonished as silence had now taken over.
Blake had a thousand-yard stare directed at Weiss. Ruby's face looked as if she had stumbled upon an infinite plate of cookies. Yang was smiling as she always had, but there was something about how serene she looked in that moment. She was glad that Weiss was growing, not only with her, but with their friends.
Weiss, in realization of what she had done so openly, put her hand over her mouth, her face turning red.
"You sound soooo cuuuute!" Ruby gushed out, tackling Weiss as if she were some puppy dog.
Yang sprang into action, pulling Ruby off of Weiss. "Easy sis, it's not something we want to scare her out of doing," she gently scolded her younger sister who sat back and sheepishly grinned.
"Well, mysterious ghost girl has a voice, too." Blake raised an eyebrow, fairly impressed with Weiss.
Weiss rolled her eyes, it wasn't that big of a deal. Or maybe it was. This was the first time she had spoken in front of more than just one person. More than just Yang. Was she really alright with finding her voice after so many years of keeping it locked away?
It felt… good. A small smile crept on her face, as she looked away in embarrassment. Yeah, it was a big deal.
"Hey, you watch your mouth, Belladonna." Yang pointed at Blake with her stub. "Mysterious ghost girl has always had a voice." Yang might've been joking, but she wasn't entirely wrong, either. Weiss had spoken in RSL for reasons that she kept unknown to them. That had been her method of speaking for the longest time, and now that was all changing for the better. Maybe when she had completely found her voice, she would share everything.
But for now? She kept things brief.
"Anyway, I think our pizza should be here soon," Yang finally mentioned. "I'm starving, and I know you all are, too."
Everyone seemed to nod except for Weiss. "Weiss, I could hear your stomach growling. Nod or else."
Weiss glared and stuck her tongue out at Yang.
The doorbell had rang just as soon as Yang had begun to speak once more. "Oh, speak of the devil. I've got it." Yang stood up and retrieved her wallet, placing it under her right arm as she walked toward the door.
"Meat lovers pizza, here I..." She opened the door. Then, she froze.
"Mom…?"
A/N: (I hate how difficult it is to talk to you guys on this website/platform) ANYWAYS, with summer here I'm gonna relax and slow down my writing. Chapter 18 and 19 are here, unedited, which means I need to work on 20 before I release anymore. With that being said - I may increase the time between chapters on the regular now. As this chapter came a "week late". I.E, you're going to have to wait another two weeks before I put out the next one. That or if I finish chapter 20 early. Anyways, thanks for reading. Love y'all.