Blake jolted upright when she heard the small sound come out of Ruby's mouth. She never would have believed it if she hadn't been watching the girl's smile growing as she received texts. With how happy Ruby looked and how intently she was staring at the screen, Blake was sure Ruby didn't even notice her slipping away.
Once she got around the couch, Blake quickly made it to Yang's room where she was playing a game hooked up to a small box television on the floor.
"Um, Yang?" Blake asked tentatively, standing ever so slightly inside the room, ready to leave if her host asked her to.
"Yeah?" Yang paused her game and swiveled her chair over to look at Blake.
"Oh uh it's really nothing just… Ruby made a noise." She responded quickly, realizing how ridiculous she sounded but the fact that a mute girl laughed confused her.
Yang's sweet expression changed to a small, sad smile as her lilac eyes drifted to look at her feet.
"Man. I wish I could have heard it," Yang chuckled forlornly, "You're really lucky, Blake."
"Lucky?"
Yang patted the bed next to her and wheeled herself out of Blake's way. Blake followed the blonde's instructions and say down where Yang wanted her, patiently folding her hands in her lap.
"Well… You see, Ruby wasn't born mute. And even though she can make noises she really doesn't like to and it hurts her sometimes," Yang's smile vanished and her lilac eyes grew troubled.
"I guess I better start from the beginning, huh?" Yang sighed before continuing, "Believe it or not but I used to do MMA. I was actually pretty good at it too. Going on kind of a winning streak, too. It was… A few years ago… four maybe? I went up against the champion in the league. I don't even remember who she was, just the red hair. She was taller than I was and she was pretty strong.
"I think… either... she got me in a hold or managed to pick me up in a take down or something. I don't remember anything of that fight. Just touching gloves and then everything else was a blur or black. Anyways, I woke up a few hours later… or was it a few days? Eh I woke up and everything was white. My dad had fallen asleep in a chair in the corner of the hospital bed and Ruby was crying next to me. My hand hurt from her holding it so hard. But the weirdest part? I couldn't feel my legs.
"Whatever move that girl had done had broken my spine. It was an accident so I don't hold her against it. Who would have known my back would have been so fragile? But what had hit me the hardest wasn't never being able to walk again, but that my baby sister would never speak properly again.
The doctors and my dad had told me she screamed herself silly when she watched me basically fold into a lawn chair. Even when the paramedics tried to get her to stop, she didn't. The doctors said she tore and ruptured her vocal chords the first time she saw me and she didn't stop. Even after she had been given medicine at the hospital, Dad said the champion girl tried to come by and apologize, but Ruby started crying and screaming at her, despite not really being able to. Really messed everyone up.
"When we went to see a therapist, doctor's orders, he told us Ruby also had selective mutism. Because of the pain of speaking and I guess the trauma she went through seeing me get paralyzed caused it. She can speak and make noise, but it hurts her usually. Other times she just doesn't make noise.
"It's a strange concept but you're really lucky to hear Ruby laugh. It's such a cute sound that I wish I got to hear more," Yang's smile returned despite the slight glaze of tears in her eyes.
"Yang, I'm so so-"
"No, don't be. It happened a while ago. Both of us have come to terms with it. We realize that this is our lives now and we're just trying to make the best of it. Sorry for boring you to death though," Yang grinned sheepishly and drummed her palms on the armrests of her wheelchair.
"You didn't bore me. Thank you for telling me you and Ruby's story."
"Hey, you told us yours so it's only fair!" Yang laughed as if she hadn't almost started crying from the story.
With a large grin on her face, Yang hopped off her chair and pushed it into the corner. She bounced and crawled the few feet across her floor to the paused game console on the ground. Yang patted the carpet next to her and looked up expectantly at Blake.
"You want me to play with you?" Blake asked hesitantly, fiddling with her fingers and the hem of her shirt.
"Yeah! It's super easy to set up another controller for this game," Yang picked up a separate remote and waved it in the air expectantly, "Ya wanna?"
Blake chuckled shortly and gave Yang a smile that was bigger than usual. Despite being uncertain, Blake decided to give in and sit next to the paraplegic.
Blake walked over to the paraplegic and folded her legs gracefully to be sitting cross legged to take up the least amount of space without seeming uncomfortable. She accepted the controller from Yang, and with the other girl's guidance, connected it to the console. They both watched the light blink for a few moments before lighting up and staying that way. It was only when Yang unpaused the game and helped Blake get her character into the game, did she freeze.
"Um… I don't… Exactly know how."
Yang laughed, "I kinda picked that up. It's okay. This game's easy, just follow my lead," The blonde tilted her controller so Blake could see it better, "Okay so this button is how you move and the one just like it is how you look around."
Yang demonstrated by moving her character and the halved screen around before moving on to the functions of the other buttons. She pressed all four of the other buttons before tilting the controller to a different angle to click on the triggers and brackets.
"Alright! There's all the controls. You are free to play," Yang laughed and turned back towards the game to start moving her character to do what she was before Blake came in. "If ya have any questions just ask. There's literally no way to die in this game unless you fall off of something and break your neck."
"So… I just… What do I do?"
"Anything you want! I have a bunch of builds in this world so if you want you can explore some of them or you can go mining for ores or you can go tame animals. There's no rules in this game!"
Blake stared down at the controller held loosely in her hand, her thoughts running wild, "Anything?"
Yang glanced over at her pointedly, a big smirk plastered on her face, her fingers mashing buttons as her character ran around the screen.
Only when her erratic movements stilled did Blake look up. Yang's attention was intently on the screen, seemingly holding a bow. Before Blake could ask what the girl was doing, her screen bounced and her character let out a pained grunt, causing the dark haired girl to jump form the sudden action. She was about to ask Yang what exactly had happened, but one quick look at the blonde failing to keep from laughing had all her questions answered.
"Yang!"
"Try to come get me if you're gonna do anything bout it!" Yang cackled, tears at the corners of her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.
It took her a few minutes to figure out the controls, but once Blake was able to run and turn the screen at the same time, she was able to take Yang up on her challenge. The two played together for hours, forgetting the time until Ruby came in to see where they had gone. It was the first time either of them had laughed so long and so hard for a long time. Things were changing, and it was for the better.
Author's Note: Alright! I spit this one out really fast, eh? Hopefully it doesn't deter you guys too much with all the dialog. It's important stuff in the beginning. And now you guys know what we planned with all of this!
Ruby: Mute from an accident, selective mute
Weiss: Blind from birth
Blake: Anxiety, paranoia, insomnia, flashbacks, etc.
Yang: Paraplegic from an accident(Paralyzed from waist down)
Thank you guys so much for sticking with us despite the SUPER LONG break we took :/ I may have forgotten to write... Anyways if you have ANY questions feel free to ask us! I'll be sure to answer them best as I could :)
Dragon: I don't know how Fox does it, but she makes the mood go from angst to cute in no time. The mood does a complete 180. What the actual fuck.