Blake didn't let go of Weiss' hand until they made it back to the apartment.
She knew the feeling of exhaustion. She knew what it was like when you were too tired to react, or talk, or even feel. She also knew how invaluable support could be during those times. She wasn't comfortable with holding the woman, but she didn't think that Weiss would be comfortable with it either. Holding her hand was perfect for both of them
She kept her grip tight enough to assure she was there, even as they got out of the car and started inside. Yang took all of the groceries, all of the bags looped around her arms as she proudly proclaimed, "Two trips are for pussies. No offense Blake."
When she did let go of Weiss' hand, it was to reach for her knife when she realized there were people in their apartment.
"That is not necessary, Ms. Belladonna."
Her hand stilled and her shoulders relaxed slightly at the voice of Ozpin. Blake didn't let down her guard completely. Even if Ozpin and Glynda were friendly (Well, Glynda not so much), she was not fond of people invading her home without her knowing.
"Don't worry, We'll be quick."
Weiss' posture straightened and her eyes hardened, chin tilting up. "What can we help you with?" She said, all business.
The complete flip in mood startled Blake a bit, but she kept her face carefully passive.
"We have news concerning your two songs." He said.
Every girl in RWBY tensed.
"Stop beating around the bush." Glynda growled, rolling her eyes, "Your songs sold great. Almost three thousand today. We're here to say that you've been approved for an album."
Blake thought that Ruby might have a heart attack. Though, she could appreciate that the sisters showed enough enthusiasm for all four of them. With Weiss exhausted and Blake being… Blake, They were in no mood to dance around like lunatics. But she couldn't fight the excited smile that made it's way to her face.
"You don't have a time limit, but we would appreciate if you got it done within the month. I would suggest you use some of the songs that were your auditions." Ozpin's eyes swept over the group and he stood, walking towards the door. Blake hoped it was just her imagination, but she found that his eyes lingered on her longer than the others.
When they left, the heiress let out a sigh. Yang gave a sympathetic look and started putting the groceries away. "You guys relax, I'll have dinner made soon."
After a filling dinner, Blake picked up her laptop and notebook and headed to Ruby's room. The girl was enthusiastic to have their 'song ritual' (Her words, not Blake's) in her room.
"Blake!" The girl squealed as she opened the door. "Come in!"
When she walked in, she had to almost throw herself to the side to avoid stepping on a keyboard. "Are all of these yours?" The faunus asked, looking at the assortment of instruments littering the floor.
"Yep!"
"You weren't kidding when you said 'Many instruments'." She sat down on the bed (the only available place to sit) and crossed her legs. Despite the instruments all over the place it was pretty neat. The entire room smelled like a curious mixture of cedar, gunpowder, and roses. Like her own room, soft classical music played from a stereo in the corner. Though, there was a thick blanket over the window.
She was about to ask why, when the lights went out. All of her muscles went rigid, her ears pinning themselves against her head. Suddenly, a small fire sprung up, illuminating the girl's face.
"Shit, sorry Blake. I didn't mean to startle you. I just remembered what you said about your eyes and I wanted you to be comfortable."
Blake saw now that the small fire was a candle. She let herself relax, taking a deep. "It's okay. It was very considerate of you to think about my comfort."
The girls smile could have lit up the room by itself. She settled down next to the faunus, laying on her stomach and flipping her notebook open. With a small smile of her own, she opened hers.
She was about an hour in before she realized that she was getting nowhere. The blank page was practically taunting her. Blake glared at it. She looked over to Ruby, hoping she was faring better. It didn't seem so. The girl was furiously erasing the only line on her page, her eyebrows knit together.
Blake's breath caught in her chest as the candlelight flickered, the light playing over Ruby's features and glinting at the piercings in her lips and nose. It seemed to reflect off the silver of her eyes too. The gentle light softened some features and cast dark shadows over others.
Her heart throbbed strangely in her chest. She brought a hand up to it, not tearing her eyes away from the younger woman. She always had to remind herself that Ruby was only a couple years younger than her. Her maturity had a habit of showing in the most unsuspecting times. Whether it was to calm them all down at rehearsal, offering Weiss support, or staring down at that blank sheet of paper.
She didn't glare at it as if it were an enemy, like Blake did. She had a gentle patience, as if encouraging it instead of forcing it.
Blake only realized she was staring when that molten metal gaze shifted to her. She didn't miss the way Ruby's lips quirked upwards when their eyes met.
"Why do you do it?"
Blake's ears twitched, her face warming slightly. Did Ruby realize she was staring? Why was she staring in the first place? "Do what?" She asked, half afraid of the answer. She couldn't explain something she didn't understand herself.
"Why do you make music? Everyone has a different reason."
The faunus blinked, relaxing. That was complicated, but at least it was something she could explain. Maybe it wasn't something she wanted to talk about, but Ruby had been nothing but honest and open with her. She trusted the girl not to judge her.
"I do it to change things."
Ruby cocked her head curiously. It wasn't expectant, but more of an open invitation. Blake knew she could stop anytime she wanted and Ruby wouldn't be upset with her.
"I didn't start playing because I enjoyed it. I've always been trying to make a change. To make things better. It started with protests, but when me and my friends realized how influential music was, we learned how to play. I didn't even give music much thought until then."
Blake thought back to the day Adam brought her a guitar. It was an old acoustic. There were scuffs and dents all over it, but she played it anyways. She never had enough resources or money to learn easily. It was mostly trial and error. Nobody told her how to do it, Adam was always busy, she had to figure it out herself.
"It felt amazing to be heard for once. I wasn't a voice among millions. I was actually doing something that helped." Blake chuckled softly, leaning back against the headboard. "I felt like a warrior for peace. Instead of knives and guns, we wielded words and thoughts."
She sighed softly at the warmth filling her chest at the thought. The White Fang was never well known, at least until the riot. She remembered the underground concerts at shady faunus-only bars. She remembered the way the crowd went still at the sound of her voice. The way calm spread throughout the night and everyone was okay, if only for a few minutes.
"That sounds amazing." Ruby breathed, her eyes shining in the dim light, "What happened?"
"I had a friend. Well, he was more of a brother really. We had known each other for so long. His name was Adam." She forced her hands to release their tight grip on her notebook, setting it down next to her. "He… He was so frustrated. He saw the progress we made and he didn't feel that it was enough. None of us did. E-Even me. We pushed harder and harder, and he got angrier and angrier.
"Our songs began to sound more angry. More violent. We stopped singing for peace and started singing for war.
"I realized too late what we were doing. That we were making everything worse. That we were putting people in danger."
Blake shut her eyes tightly, her hands curling into fists as she remembered. The screaming, both enraged and fearful. The faces twisted with hatred. The blood.
She forced a deep breath into her lungs, letting it out slowly and uncurling her fists. She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them as her gaze drifted to her companion. When she spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, Ruby. And though I feel so free without the chains of those people holding me down, I just want everything to be okay for once."
Blake kept her breathing careful, even as the woman stared up at her. Vulnerability was not something she could wear easily and the way those silver eyes stared into her set her nerves on a razor's edge. Her soul was bared, and while she didn't think Ruby would cast her out for it, you could never be sure how someone would react when they had the power to make or break a person.
A strong hand reached up to grip her shoulder and she closed her eyes tightly, her heart kicking into a frantic rhythm. But instead of a push, the hand pulled her down into a pair of arms. She expected them to be hard and muscular after seeing them in the gym, but the embrace was gentle. It didn't hold her down. Just like the girl's gaze, it didn't expect anything. It was an open invitation. She could back away or leave anytime she wanted.
"Blake, what you did in the past doesn't define you." Ruby's voice was soft, but it only added to the confidence she had in what she said. "I've done some things that I regret too, but we've gotta hang in there."
Blake snorted, smirking slightly. "No offense Ruby, but I can't see you hurting anyone that doesn't deserve it."
Ruby laughed, her warm breath washing over Blake's cheek. It didn't feel how it did when they rehearsed. Instead of breathing life and energy into the faunus, it instilled a sense of warmth and comfort.
"I wasn't always like this Blake. I… I used to be so angry. At everything. I still kind of am, to be honest.
"It never used to bother me, but one day it just all went to hell." She sighed softly, silver eyes glazing over into a subdued grey. "When I was fourteen, I was waiting for Yang to come and get me from the skate park. She'd just got her bike running, after working on it for almost a year, and I was really excited to ride it.
"While I was waiting, this creep pulled up to the stop light. When he saw me, he started whistling and saying some really gross stuff. I was just going to ignore him, but my brain just went blank and all I could see was red. All I could think was red. I felt so, so angry.
"Without a second thought, I walked over and smashed in his mirror with my skateboard. I probably looked just as surprised as he did when I realized what I'd done, and it scared me. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran as fast as I could. I didn't think about where I was or where I was going. I just ran until I couldn't anymore."
Ruby took a deep breath, her embrace growing just a bit tighter. "Yang found me a while later. I'm still surprised by how fast she found me, I was curled up behind a dumpster in some alley. She was absolutely furious. I didn't see how worried she was at the time. I just saw the blood on her knuckles and I was afraid she would leave me there for getting her involved in something stupid I did. But she didn't." A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips.
"After that, I just couldn't hold it back. I kept seeing all the things I used to be able to ignore, but I couldn't anymore. All the wrong and unfairness twisted up inside me. I started getting into trouble and starting fights.
"Yang thought I needed to get a hobby. Our therapist agreed, but she was outraged when he said she needed one too. She should've seen it coming, she was almost as bad as me. That's when she started working out. Can you believe she used to be as scrawny as Weiss?"
Blake couldn't hold back the giggle that escaped her lips, "No way."
Ruby nodded, a wide smile on her face. "Yes way. She had trouble lifting twenty pounds."
The faunus laughed softly. Ruby's lighthearted smile was contagious, even in the heavy atmosphere.
"She got me a guitar with the rest of her money. We sparred a lot too." Ruby giggled softly, "I'm pretty sure she learned Krav Maga just to keep me from beating her ass every time. The rest is history I guess."
Blake would've though that being tall and muscular would be scary enough. No, she had know a brutal style of martial arts too. Just to make sure.
The girl stayed silent for a long time, just breathing her warmth into Blake. When she spoke again, it was a lot softer. "I'm doing a lot better now. There are still times when all I can think is red, but like I said, we've gotta hang in there."
Blake found herself returning the embrace. She couldn't hope to provide nearly as much comfort and safety that Ruby gave to her, but she could try. They stayed that way, content to provide warmth to each other.
For the first time in a while, Blake felt like she was okay. She didn't have the dark clouds or anger hanging over her. She didn't have the blood she saw weighing on her conscience and making her feel like a monster. She was okay.
Lilac eyes snapped open to darkness.
Yang didn't know what had woken her up. There was no knocking at her door, no light, no sound…
No sound?
She bolted up, looking towards her radio. The tiny red light wasn't glowing back at her, so it must've been off. Her door wasn't locked, she left it that way in case Ruby had trouble sleeping, but there was no little red-head next to her. She glanced at the clock. It was nearly two in the morning, everyone else would be asleep.
Her eyes flitted around the room, but nothing could be seen in the dark room. Nothing moved, but she held her breath anyways, clutching her blankets to her chest. Yang was starting to regret how many scary movies she watched.
Slowly, she got out of her bed and made her way towards the light switch. She didn't know why, but the urge to be as quiet as possible made goosebumps rise all over her skin.
As Yang reached for the light, a 'thump' from behind her shattered the silence. She let out a short scream, scrabbling at the wall for that damn switch. Finally, after a few seconds of adrenaline and panic, the light flicked on and she whirled around, her back pressed firmly to the wall as her eyes scanned the room for the creature that wanted nothing but to rip her soul from her-
Her scroll lay on the floor near her bed, the screen lit up from hitting the ground. Yang stared at it suspiciously before pressing her hands to her face and letting out a low groan. Yang Xiao-Long, scared of a little scroll. If Ruby had seen that, she would've never lived it down.
While that didn't worry her anymore, the silence was still heavy in the air. She walked over to her radio, pressing the on button. No response. She tried it a couple (hundred) more times before coming to the brilliant conclusion that it was broken.
Yang let out another groan, repressing the violent urge to punch it. Silence always grated on her nerves. It fell on her like a mountain she couldn't hold up, pushing her to the point where the feeling was almost physical. She ran an anxious hand through her hair.
She could practice drumming? No, she wanted to sleep, not get fired up again. If she started drumming, she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. She sighed. Maybe it'd be better to think about it over a glass of water.
She shoved her scroll into her pocket and got out of the quiet room as quickly as she could. As she stepped out, she was greeted by the sound of the air conditioner. The whirring sound added to the buzz of the fridge and the wind against the balcony door was a very welcome change from the oppressive silence. What wasn't welcome was the dim light from the kitchen and the sound of things shifting.
She forced back the wave of panic that threatened to rear it's head, reminding herself of her embarrassing incident in her room. Despite that, she made her way down the hall as quietly as possible.
When she peeked into the kitchen, she was met by a pair of long shapely legs and a very perky, very round rear end sticking out from behind the fridge. She stared with wide eyes for a moment before a 'thud' and a quiet Atlesian curse caught her attention.
"Weiss?"
The pale woman snapped up, almost bashing her head into the freezer, and whirled to face Yang. Her shoulders relaxed visibly when she realized who it was, but her stance was still unsteady. "Yes?"
"Weiss, what are you doing? It's two in the morning."
Weiss tipped a half full glass of apple juice towards Yang, nearly spilling it, and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here at two in the morning?" Her words sounded slower than usual, like they took more effort and she spoke with a slight accent.
"Weiss…" She looked the girl up and down, blinking a couple times. "Are you drunk?"
The heiress looked offended. "I am a lady!" She said, like the words had anything to do with her question.
Yang had to hold back a laugh. Definitely drunk. She walked over to pull a cup out of the pantry and fill it with water. "I don't doubt you're a lady."
She hummed happily, an unsteady smile spreading across your face. She looked content, but Yang knew a thing or two about drinking. Doing it alone late at night, was usually to cure insomnia or heartache. From how gloomy the woman was earlier, Yang would place her bets on the latter.
The girl was adorable in her pajama pants and fluffy sweater, but she looked like she was about to start a fight with the toaster she had bumped into.
"So, what's got you on the sauce so late at night?"
Her eyes widened as they jolted to Yang, as if she forgot the blonde was present. Her shoulders sagged and she looked down at her bare feet, a small pout forming on her face. "Sad."
Yang rubbed the shorter girl's back gently, sighing. "You know, drinking when you're sad never works out very well." She told her softly.
Weiss sniffled and nodded, clutching her glass of juice like her life depended on it. Red flags went up in Yang's head, her concern growing. "Is it something you need to talk about?"
The white haired woman seemed to curl in on herself for a moment before she began sob violently.
Yang flinched, her eyes widening. Her heart felt like someone had just squeezed the life out of it. "O-Oh! Oh god, you're crying, don't cry!"
Weiss seemed to cry harder at that. The blonde broke out of her paralysis when the girl looked like she might spill her drink all over herself. She plucked the glass out of her hands and set it on the counter, pulling her into a tight hug. To her surprise, slender arms wrapped themselves around her neck.
Weiss buried her face in Yang's shoulder, clinging to her tightly. She wasn't quite sure what to do other than rub her back gently. Ruby was a lot different when it came to being sad. Where her little sister talked and cuddled, Weiss' sobbed incoherently in a different language and hung onto her like a koala.
She hummed as she thought of something. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her scroll and flipped through her music. She didn't know whether to be thankful or exasperated that she didn't think of it while she was still in her room. She set it to something slow and gentle. As much as she loved it, she didn't think Weiss could handle rave music at the moment.
"Hey, dance with me. It helps me out when I'm sad."
Though she didn't move her head from Yang's shoulder, a little coaxing had her matching the blonde's shuffling steps. It was nothing complicated. Mostly just lazy swaying and spinning to the beat of the music.
Slowly, Weiss began to calm down. Sobs turning to soft weeping and weeping turning to sniffles until the girl was silent in her arms. She got heavier and heavier until Yang was practically carrying her. She turned off her scroll, shoving it back into her pocket before her arm returned to the heiress.
"Let's get you to bed, yeah?"
"Mmm'kay." She murmured.
There was no screeching when she hooked an arm under the girl's knees and started down the hall, only soft giggling. The sound was a relief compared to the crying. "Geez Weiss, why are you so light?"
"I like potatoes."
Yang wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, but the girl didn't stay silent for long.
"Yaaang!"
"Yeah?"
"Tell… T-Tell me I'm pretty again."
The drummer had to hold back a chuckle, her cheeks warming slightly. "You're very pretty, Weiss."
Weiss hummed happily, nuzzling her shoulder with dopey affection. "You're faaantaaastic." She sighed, gripping the shoulder she wasn't using as a pillow when Yang struggled to get the door open.
"Thank you, Weiss cream."
That was cause for another round of giggles.
Finally, she managed to get the door open with dropping the girl in her arms. Weiss' room was slightly unnerving. It wasn't decorated and she only had a dresser and a desk with a keyboard next to it. It was clean, almost sterile, and if it wasn't for the scroll and empty bottle of vodka on the nightstand, she wouldn't have thought anyone lived there.
She set Weiss gently in her bed, brushing some of the woman's hair out of her face. "Stay right here, I'll be back."
Weiss pouted, but gave her a nod. Yang hurried off to the kitchen, returning with a cup of water and some painkillers to set on the girl's nightstand. "Here, drink some of this."
She placed the cup in her hands, watching cautiously as she drank from it. Despite her swaying, she managed not to spill any on herself.
Yang took the cup and placed it on the nightstand before pulling the blankets back and urging Weiss to lay down. The heavy blankets seemed to make the small girl even smaller as Yang tucked them around her.
"Goodnight Weiss." She said softly, standing and heading for the door.
The girl bolted up, shaking her head, "Wait! wait! wait! Nooo! Don't go!" She cried.
Yang could already see the tears at the corners of her eyes and winced. She just got her to stop crying, she couldn't risk inciting it again. "What do you need?"
The girl looked at her blankets, a small blush lighting her cheeks as she pressed her fingers together. Was she… Was she being shy?! The situation was much more dire than Yang had initially assumed
"Don't… Don't leave me alone."
No. This was worse than the crying. The small heartbroken plea effectively ripped the blonde's heart from her chest. If she stayed, there would be a high chance of a sober, hungover, Weiss stabbing her in an embarrassed rage. If Winter had four knives that Yang couldn't see, Weiss probably had more. No wonder she always wore long sleeves.
But she couldn't leave when the girl looked so lonely.
"I'll stay, but only if you tell me what had you so upset tomorrow."
The girl nodded excitedly, moving over to give Yang room on the bed. With a sigh and a regret that she didn't write her will, she got under the covers.
Almost immediately, Weiss shamelessly snuggled against her. With a soft chuckle, she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and nuzzled her hair. The scent of vanilla was faint against the sting of alcohol, but there nonetheless.
Yang found that the sound of breathing was so much better than the silence.
AN: Two chapters as celebration for the season 3 premiere! Writing two wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I might start making the chapters a little longer. I hope you guys enjoyed it!
Until next time friends!
-Vox