It was verging on the beginnings of evening when Blake had returned from her history class, not that she'd be able to tell from the dull grey that clouded the entire sky and called down ceaseless rain. It'd been like this for nearly three hours now, and showed no signs of slowing down. It was the late afternoon final rush to lectures, with students of varying sizes and shapes bustling and pushing past eachother through the narrow halls.
Blake knew better than to try and force her way through. If she were in a hurry, she'd most likely take one of the longer, but quieter and faster routes around the bottlenecks. She had nothing else planned for today, so she was content to lean her head against the wall next to one of the windows and wait. She noted the expressions of all the people jostling by. It intrigued her how different every person was, how different she was. She was fine with being different, it distanced her from the majority of people, and she was happy with that.
As the stream of students began to thin and flow easier, she picked her way through the dwindling crowds, swiftly sidestepping possible collisions, usually by people too busy to watch where they're going. She held her folder of notes and research close to her chest with one hand, and used the other for avoiding the stragglers who were in a rush.
She passed nobody else as she wound her way towards her dorm. She had experience with finding her way in disorientating areas, forests were a lot worse than this. The rain hammered continuously, lending a background ambience she was comfortable in. Most people would've found the empty corridors eerie and unnerving, but silence and loneliness were by no means something she feared. On the contrary, she was far more content with nothing to interrupt her from her thoughts. Of course, she had to make some exceptions now that she was part of a team and sharing a room with three other people, but for the most part nothing had changed. She distanced herself from them as much as she could, and they somewhat left her to her own.
Weiss of course had no interest, and therefore didn't even try. Ruby attempted on multiple occasions, though she was awkward and clumsy in her endeavours. Blake simply humoured her, as she was far too stubborn, or maybe dense, to understand how Blake felt about being sociable. A smile and gentle rebuffs were all it took. Yang was easily the most headache-inducing of the three. Blake did her best to get along with her, but she didn't seem to notice the personal boundaries Blake had erected. Either that, or she didn't care and intruded regardless. Which seemed a lot more likely.
She found herself standing just short of her dorm-room door. Once again her mind had wandered, and she had lost track of time. She was very used to losing hours on end to her reflecting, but she didn't care. It gave her tranquility that was never quite matched anywhere else. She mentally shrugged and pushed open the door, and scanned the room without a second thought.
There was a white suitcase poking slightly out from underneath Weiss's bed, and remnants of shoeprints heading towards the closed bathroom door. There was a single book missing from the shelf between the four beds, and a pair of brown boots on the floor. Glancing to her left, a brown jacket was hanging askew on the hanger, thrown there without much attention to where it landed. Ruby had been in here, caught in the rain. Yang was most likely sleeping on her bed, her uniform still folded semi-neatly on the desk to her right. Weiss had certainly paid a visit at some point, due to the faint sweet scent in the air. It wasn't a perfect scenario, but provided she kept Yang asleep, she could read her book in peace.
She picked her way over the various pieces of clothing on the floor and lightly placed her folder on the end-table to the left of her bed. She methodically changed from her uniform into her normal attire, wrapped it into a neat pile of folds, put them beside her bedside table and took out the book she was currently reading.
Her pillow was propped against the headboard, she sat in a comfortable position on top of the bedclothes and flicked through the pages until she arrived at her current page. Bookmarks weren't needed, her memory was impressive. Aside from the noise outside which she had fine-tuned into the background, the only sound was the occasional movement above her, where Yang was re-arranging herself to be more comfortable in her sleep.
Blake almost smiled to herself, at some point or another today, she'd tease information out of Yang, partly to reaffirm her already strong suspicions, and partly because she wanted answers. She'd 'interrogate' her partner while she was largely still asleep, too tired to think quickly enough to dodge Blakes questions. This was the kind of interaction she enjoyed, pulling all the correct strings without the other person even being aware.
Much of the next twenty minutes or so went quietly, with only a brief period of unrest as the resting Yang almost fell off her bunk. Blake didn't understand how someone could sleep so deeply yet have reflexes such as Yangs. It did highlight to Blake how fast Yang could react were, something she didn't have time to observe in combat before. Yang was very much like a whirlwind in battle, not to mention Blake usually had a fight of her own in action while they were training together. She may have a very direct and destructive fighting style, but she could evade counterattacks just as easily as she could deliver a punch to a jaw. Blake admired her for that, not many people would attempt to get so close to something as potentially lethal as a Grimm, and yet Yang did it practically on a daily basis.
"It's much better when the other thing is actually trying to kill me!" She'd responded with her usual cheery note upon being asked by Blake. Her logic did make sense. "In a life or death situation, your reflexes will be inevitably heightened, not to mention the adrenalin allowing for previously daunting feats to be completed. I suppose it would also allow her to experiment with various combinations and offensive moves to allow a greater variety of attacking options. There is only so much you can learn by fighting that which does not aim to kill you."
Blake contemplated further, exploring scenarios and possibilities in which Yang would expand her offensive array of options further. She was not really a defensive type of person, and so killing before you're killed applied multiple times over to her. Large amounts of rapid damage, concussive blows and stunning her opponents all played a large part in how Yang fought.
Yet more time passed, with Blake estimating the outcomes of various conflicts against a multitude of opponents. She applied what she knew about Yangs personality and general mannerisms to more mundane events. This particular area of thought was interesting to her, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She spent perhaps a little too much time considering how such times would play out.
She was adding to her profile of Yang, something of an ongoing project for her. Knowing the people close to her was one of her top priorities, for she should know precisely how to deal with them should the need ever arise. Her speculations were cut short as she heard characteristically rushed footsteps echoing outside.
Even before she could close her book and place it beside her did the door swing open, with a red-faced, out-of-breath Ruby stumbling in with a bulging bag of objects. Her loud panting and ragged breaths were sufficient to awake her sister. Even though her conscious side was still waking up, evidenced by her slurred and jumbled speech, her instincts were still sharp. She sat bolt upright and her eyes shot open, relaxing immediately upon recognizing the 'intruder'.
"Let me guess." Blake stated calmly, in stark contrast to the air of activity that surrounded the two sisters. "You forgot something vital to your next class, and you ran all the way here to retrieve it before you're late."
Ruby took another sharp lungful of air and replied with short breaths. "How did you know? I forgot to get my anatomy sketches for-" Blake finished the sentence for her.
"For Professor Port, I know. They're in your drawer, underneath the bullet clips you keep in there." She responded without a hint of explanation. Ruby didn't have time to ask the older girl about what else she knew, she was on a very tight schedule.
"Okay, I knew that. But thank you anyway Blake, I appreciate the help!" She replied with a grin, though she was still bright red and panting. She hurried to her drawer and pulled sheets of paper out, slipped them neatly into her bag, closed it and wheeled around, charging back out the door. Blake was about to resume reading her book, until a head popped down from above, golden hair letting gravity take its course. Bright purple eyes blinked with interest as Yang began to speak.
"Oh hi Blake, I didn't see you come in! Have you been here a while?" She asked, clinging to the edge of the bed with her arms, a smile and slight head tilt accompanying her question. Blake sighed ever so slightly and took her book back up to her chest. She spoke nonchalantly, acknowledging Yang, but not giving her any attention.
"Yes, when I arrived back you were asleep, Ruby had been and gone, as had Weiss." Her eyes moved rapidly from side to side, turning the pages in second nature. Yang risked dangling one arm off the side of the bed to point at Blakes book.
"What'sat?" She inquired, obviously attempting to make conversation, despite Blakes attempts to rebuff her.
"A book." Blake replied flatly, silently wishing for the blonde to just go back to sleep.
"Well I know that." Yang responded, rolling her eyes. "What's it about?"
Blake sighed far more visibly this time, lowering her book and glancing at the upside down face of her partner. "You know what it's about, I told you the last four times you asked."
Yang swung her head in closer, staring into Blakes yellow eyes. She spoke a little softer now, losing some of her previous enthusiasm, having replaced it with disguised awe. "Well, you read fast. It might be a different book by now. D'you want me to leave you alone?" She asked, blinking slower.
"Yes. I want you to go back to sleep, so I can read my book in peace." Came the very uninterested reply. Blake returned to her literature , casting a sideways glance at Yangs face. She displayed a small amount of frustration as she hung. "Unless of course, you'd like to talk?" Blake continued, giving no hints to her plans. It seemed now would be the perfect time to get some answers.
"Well, okay, sure!" Yang reacted with her characteristic energy, briefly retracting her head and dropping onto the floor, she knelt and rested her elbows on the edge of Blakes bed, holding her chin in her hands. "Whadd'ya wanna talk about?"
Blake smiled internally, now was where things got interesting. "Well." She began, hiding all emotion from her voice. "What did you do today?"