I didn't quite expect the amount of positivity shown for chapter five. Not that I'm complaining—I just felt as though it would simply be tolerated, not seemingly enjoyed. Seriously, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. I may not be the best at sending personal thank-you private messages (honestly, I've been too anxious to for the most part), but know that I read them all and weigh the opinions and preferences against my own quality checks in the revision process. I feel like I'm making this "thankfulness" thing old and redundant, but it needs to be said. You have been absolutely wonderful in your support. Thank you.
Before I began writing this chapter, I read a short story called, "Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby," by Donald Barthelme. If anyone enjoys dark or matter-of-fact humor, I would suggest reading it somewhere online; it's not too long, spanning only about 1,500 words. Admittedly, I may have allowed the story to influence the beginning scene of this chapter—not through tone or diction, but through the lengths I went to describe something otherwise trivial. I hope the description isn't too off-putting.
Regardless, this is chapter six of Valence.
Chapter 6: Illumination
The ambient sunlight, having snaked its way through the partially closed blinds of the television room, made reading a more accessible experience for the young Faunus. Rather, it was due to the combination of the sufficient lighting that illuminated the pages just enough so that her eyes wouldn't hurt and the figure on which she rested her legs that she was able to focus on the plot of the book, her mind now being at ease with the warm presence near her. It had been two days since she last attempted to read, having found herself at that specific juncture unable to distract her thoughts from the blonde that now sat beside her.
It wasn't necessarily a quiet scene that occurred within the room due to Yang being thoroughly engrossed in her recent software purchase. However, Blake did not mind. She found the energy given off by the blonde to be calming in a peculiar way, having become an accepted part of the exuberant girl's personality since she relaxed to the notion of having exuberant youth as both a partner and significant other. Despite the enthused motions and heated insults thrown at the on-screen characters coming from Yang, Blake was able to peacefully read her novel, lying sideways on the loveseat of the couch with her legs propped on the blonde's lap. It truly felt like a break now. Blake, having opted for short socks to compliment her normal attire for the time being, felt a breeze from the home's air conditioning system chill her legging-less legs. The feeling didn't bother her much, though; she was thoroughly warmed by her girlfriend's radiant aura.
Every once in a while, Yang would sigh and groan at the happenings of her game. Because the annoyance was nothing immediately serious, Blake didn't bother to intervene, choosing to immerse herself in her own form of entertainment: a mix of written word and situational humor exhibited by the girl sitting before her. She found the gestures at least mildly funny. As it was, Yang was regularly animated, and with the theatric display of emotion she was showing, Blake couldn't help but show her mirth. At times, however, she found her appreciation of Yang's ire to be troubling.
There were multiple instances in which Blake felt that the annoyance crossed over into legitimate anger. The fact that she found these scenes humorous was grating on a moral level. She was admittedly having a hard time differentiating between Yang's moments of competitive annoyance and restrained fury. Were it the prior, she would have no qualms about letting the blonde be, but it was the thought that the latter existed and was going unseen that was beginning to distract her from the book. The promise she had made to Ruby still resonated in her mind. She had made it a top priority to keep Yang's emotions in mind and keep them from leaning towards the negative extremes.
The difficulty she had in reading Yang's emotions was stressful in and of itself, causing her to frequently question whether or not she was missing any signs of distress. So far, she could only tell when Yang was tired and that was only due to the blatancy of her expressions when she was fatigued. Even a simple smile could have an ambiguous meaning. As she watched the blonde and not her book, she began seeing the irritation as a sign of Yang becoming upset. She knew these interpretations were probably not true, but it was all she could think about since she had made the promise.
Blake looked down at her novel, now finding the words muddled and uninteresting. She sighed as she closed it; somehow, she had convinced herself that reading was not relaxing right now. She looked at the television screen, seeing the images and how they moved but not comprehending much of it. What she could interpret from the fast-moving gameplay was the intermittent death screen that seemed to trigger Yang's frustration. With her attention now fully focused on her girlfriend, Blake could see that she was not as angry as she had originally appeared to be. There was a confident smirk in place that only vanished for a moment when her character died. Otherwise, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Blake smiled at this, thankful that she had been wrong in her assumptions, yet a bit annoyed at not being able to read her girlfriend's emotions.
She sighed, shaking the thoughts off. "Is it holding up to your expectations?" She was genuinely curious; the game had been on her radar that had been fairly nonexistent since she last played a video game. Now that technology had changed and storytelling within the medium had improved, she found the transition into the newer era of home entertainment to be somewhat jarring in its quality.
A quick, sidelong smile was all Yang could manage before returning her gaze to the screen. "I'm liking it, it's just a little hard. Probably because of all the practice I wasn't able to get at Beacon." Her character died again, causing the blonde to close her eyes for a moment before returning her sight to her actions with her competitive smirk widened. "Don't worry, I've got this."
"I bet you do." Blake found Yang's expectation for her to be equally as immersed in the action of the game to be endearing. In a small way, Yang's attempt at including her in the on-screen occurrences made Blake feel as though she was wanted. It felt like the blonde was trying to bring her into an activity that the both of them could enjoy and she appreciated this. Blake looked back to the screen, making an active attempt to interpret what was going on. It didn't take too long for her understand the general movements, having adjusted to the initially jarring graphics. The plot however, was a different matter. All she could tell as to what was occurring was that a cat wearing a diaper was inside an industrial setting, taking fire from whoever the token enemy militia was. It wasn't until the area was cleared and the screen faded to black that Yang became still and silent and Blake found a way to understand the plot.
A cutscene was occurring, the camera having switched from a very close over-the-shoulder view to frequently changing angles that served to make the narrative all the more intense. Blake was surprised to find that the voice actor for the cat was a deep, gruff, male voice that contradicted the aesthetics of the character while being able to further the importance of the mission at hand. The cat and another character, dressed in form-fitting black armor, were discussing why they were at what was apparently an enemy base. The words "bomb", "moon", and "prototype" as well as the phrase "time is running out" were used in abundance. If one were to take these repeated plot points as the entirety of the story, it would seem cliché. However, with the deliverance of the lines and the animation of the characters, the game seemed anything but.
The cutscene ended similarly to how it began, transitioning smoothly into enveloping action. Blake couldn't help but smile at seeing Yang digest the story that was being thrown at her in between periods of fast-paced action. She doubted she would have gotten the subtle allusions to the legend of Creation, but she could give her a break; there was a very tense, very focused narrative being told that would normally overwhelm the average consumer. To Yang's credit, she seemed to stay immersed, often nodding along when orders were given and scowling when the enemy was talked about. "I wasn't expecting it to be this good. I guess the review was right," Blake mused.
Yang smirked, not removing her eyes from the screen as she systematically maneuvered the controller to her favor. "So, you finally found something more interesting than your book, huh?"
"Actually, for the time being, yes." Blake could see how she might have made this seem suggestive with her gaze locked onto the girl sitting before, but she honestly found the game to be gripping.
Yang sighed as she paused the game. As she looked over to her girlfriend, she held an annoyed stare. "Look…It's kinda hard to tease you if what I'm making fun of doesn't bother you."
Blake smirked. "And?"
"Jerk." Yang frowned.
"You're the one trying to make fun of me. I'm simply being friendly." She kept her smirk, looking otherwise deadpan.
Yang groaned. "Fine, I guess you're not that much of a jerk."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "I think I heard an insult still in there."
The blonde's frown was replaced with a grin. "I have to tease you somehow," was all she said before resuming the game. Her grin remained steady until her character died only seconds into the level. As soon as she rounded the first corner, she was assaulted with unrelenting gunfire and explosive ordnance. The end result was a gradual decline of the sunny attitude as the number of times she had to repeat the level increased. Blake was finding the constant, low growling coming from the blonde funny, up until she saw her eyes turn red. "Okay! That's it! I'm done! This game's rigged!"
At this outburst, Blake realized that her legs that had been resting upon Yang's lap were heating up. She was having some trouble controlling the panic that had set in at the surprising sight, only just being able to quickly plan a course of action. The amused smirk she carried vanished in an instant as she sat up and removed her legs from Yang so that she could move closer to her side. "Yang," she tried to soothe, finding her hand hot to the touch. "Yang, it's all right. Just calm down." Unfortunately, she could not. Her fingers were turning white as she squeezed the controller in a death grip. Blake silently berated herself for not being able to calm her own partner down. Yang had helped her calm down; why couldn't she do the same? "It's only a game. Just take a break and it'll be all right."
"I'm not taking a break. I'll beat this game even if it kills me." Her conviction sounded very real and very delusional. Blake figured words wouldn't be the best approach, so she moved closer to the blonde and placed both of her hands atop those on the controller, braving the heat. After a few seconds, Yang relaxed her grip, if only slightly. Blake took this as an opportunity to move closer, finding Yang's breathing rapid and harsh. She wrapped an arm over the blonde's opposite shoulder and pulled her close, finding that because Yang lacked her leather jacket, the uncontrolled heat could be felt on her arms as well.
For a few very long seconds, Yang continued to seethe at the screen that inquired insultingly whether or not she was ready to respawn. Her body temperature only seemed to flare in this time, becoming hot enough that Blake was almost willing to let go. Before physical instinct could win over a conscious effort, Yang began to cool down. Slowly, her breathing settled and Blake was able to remove the controller from her hands. She quickly tossed it to the cushion beside them as she returned her full attention to Yang. She felt a pressure on the hand that Yang still held and squeezed back.
The audio of the game looped an annoying number of times due to the prolonged lack of action. There had been very few instances where Blake blinked, having been unable to remove her focus from the upset girl before her even for the smallest period of time. She couldn't—she had missed the signs of Yang's festering anger. There were no memories that could rationalize any signs of how it began, only the thought of her own mirth at seeing what was believed to be staged annoyance. She pulled Yang closer, sorry she couldn't have helped sooner. There was some resistance felt when moving the blonde, but overall, she had melted into her worried embrace. Blake didn't know what to say, being in the dark about how or why this happened and even about what to do. There was a time when she had helped Yang calm down before, but circumstances were different; at that time, she had been flying by wire and now Yang was suffering from a different emotion. What she needed was a knowledge she didn't have and could not be learned from any amount of studying. She tried the one motion that seemed to work back in the forest: rubbing Yang's arm slowly and softly, as not to startle her.
It seemed to work. Yang rested her head against the inside of Blake's shoulder and forced her eyes shut. The change in position caused Blake to move her ministrations to Yang's shoulder, incidentally brushing against blonde hair at the apex of her motion. There was a strong desire to run a hand through the golden tresses that was instantly fulfilled. Sparks visibly played across the mane, yet they could not harm Blake; as she touched them, an odd tingling sensation affected her hand. Nevertheless, the motions continued so that she could calm Yang down. She owed her and Ruby this.
The two remained like this for a few minutes until Yang finally sighed. "That game's hard." Blake could not suppress a smile at such a simple summarization of the reason for the outburst. She seemed to be fine—at least Blake hoped so for both Yang's sake and her own. She also hoped that this was a state she could benchmark as being "fine." She stopped moving her hand along Yang's shoulder, choosing to twirl a lock of flaxen hair around her finger. Yang sighed again. "Maybe I overreacted, huh?"
Blake tilted her head so that it rested on top of Yang's as she smirked. "Maybe. At least you were calmer than you usually are when you get that way."
Yang gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I guess so. Still, what am I going to do now? I don't think I can handle playing this game anymore but I still want to." She groaned playfully, "I think there's something wrong with me."
The twirling stopped as Blake thought of what could be done about Yang's impasse. It took her a moment to come to a conclusion that she was more than a little unsure about. Her idea was that if she shared in the pain, it would allow Yang's burden to be alleviated slightly. "Do you think I could try?"
She barely registered Yang's shoulder moving before the controller was placed on her lap. "Be my guest," she said without moving from her position under Blake's arm. Due to this position, Blake was unfortunately unable to reach the controller with the arm that was placed over her girlfriend. After a few futile attempts at trying to grip it at various elevations and distances, Yang moved away, much to Blake's chagrin. Instead of stepping away like Blake thought she was going to do, she changed her position so that she sat sideways on the couch with her legs resting on Blake's lap. "I can see why you like sitting like this. It's sorta comfy—for me anyways."
Blake simply smiled as she relaxed her arms on top of Yang's legs, finding the warmth both relaxing and distracting. It is to say that it was distracting in that the warmth was able to divert her thoughts away from her inability to perceive indications of Yang's emotions rather than distracting from her partner's recent agitation. The warmth seemed to tell her that Yang was all right. Blake smiled back. "Okay, let's see how hard this really is." She was unsure in her abilities but she wouldn't show it. As she gripped the controller, she tried to recall what buttons correlated with which actions from games she had played in the past. The first action she figured out was that one of the buttons near the center of the controller resumed the game.
Instantly, she was in over her head. The next two actions she figured out were movement of the character and movement of the camera. She found the controls disorienting and unresponsive, causing her to unintentionally walk around the first corner into the enemy's line of fire. Her character died, causing the controller to vibrate. Neither of the two frowned. Blake watched the screen, still trying to comprehend what had happened. Yang told her, "Hey, that was about as good as I did. Try going for cover behind that wall. Also, if you press in the right stick, you'll sprint." The uncontrollable sticks had a third dimension to their movement? Blake tried pressing it down and found that a soft clicking noise was made.
She resumed the game and attempted to control her movement a little better. She found that her camera movements were slow and left much to be desired, but she felt she had the hang of moving her character on a horizontal plane. She truly began the level by pressing in the right thumbstick and moving forward. To both girls' surprises, the cat on the screen was able to bolt from the corner towards cover, dodging the bullets as she passed through their line of fire. On instinct, she tried pushing in the left thumbstick as well, causing the character to get low to the ground, fully utilizing the convenient steel-plated wall it stood next to. "Huh. What do you know? Kid's got talent." Instantly, a grenade landed behind the cover and exploded, killing the character and causing the controller to shake. "Okay, that was my fault. I jinxed it. Sorry." Yang rubbed the back of her neck.
"Don't worry about it," Blake said automatically. "I think I'm getting better at it. Do you have any more tips?"
Yang blinked. "Yeah." She seemed shocked. "Umm, right trigger to fire, left trigger to aim closer, and 'A' to jump." Blake took a second to process this information before nodding and resuming the game. She passed the corner, jumping over the line of fire and landed in a crouch behind cover. From there, she made her character jump over a few conveniently placed boxes to reach a catwalk, from which she began taking shots at the enemy. On accident, she pressed a button above the trigger, causing a grenade to be thrown that shattered the enemies' defenses. She picked off whatever enemies still remained until the immediate area was clear. "Whoa," was all Yang could say.
Pausing the game, Blake looked to her gawking girlfriend. "What?" she asked, completely serious and knowing not why Yang's mouth hung open.
"What?" she parroted incredulously. "You got past the part I was struggling with like it was nothing. How'd you do that?"
Blake furrowed her brows. She didn't feel like she deserved this much praise for something like that. "I just didn't let them hit me?"
Yang's gaze cast downwards for a moment, her mouth forming a contemplative frown. "I guess running in close and meleeing them all doesn't always work."
This piqued Blake's interest. "You can physically hit enemies?"
A playful glare was sent her way. "Now you're just rubbing it in. You're good kid, just don't get cocky."
Blake rolled her eyes—the game didn't seem that hard. "I'll keep that in mind," she dismissed before returning to the game. The level went on for a couple of minutes with few instances of conflict and even fewer possibilities that Blake's character could have died. That is, the game had been simple enough for the fast-learning Faunus until she reached what she guessed was the final scene of the level. As soon as the cutscene entailing an inspirational speech by the protagonist intended more for himself than his partner ended, waves of enemy fire came at her character. She didn't have a second to react before she was instantly killed. She tried over and over again, each time getting slightly closer to the cover on either her left or her right, but never quite making it. Her grip on the controller increased with each death. The rumblings of the device seemed not to relent between the brief periods of her character being alive, causing her hands to become numb with the constant droning motion. With her temper being harder to keep under control, Blake found that her attempts at cover became shorter and shorter until she was immediately being killed at the start of the level.
Her golden eyes narrowed to slits and her frown fell to a malicious scowl. She kept quiet on the respawn screen, simply boring holes into the television screen. She was breathing heavily and infrequently. At the concerned calling of her name, Blake snapped. "What kind of developer would think that loading into the game and immediately dying would be fun? Seriously, this is absurd; I can't even move a foot before I have to start over. I know I'm a new player but this is ridiculous! What difficulty am I playing on?" She didn't even look at Yang, choosing to learn to despise every pixel of every letter of the word "respawn."
"Easy," Yang said meekly.
"Easy?" Blake growled. "How is this easy? I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say that there are fifty enemies shooting me as soon as I start. There's no way I'm supposed to get past them! So what am I supposed to do? Keep trying for the one time that the AI decides to accidentally mess up and let me get to cover? Then what? I'll just get a grenade thrown at me and then I'll have to restart again." She didn't realize the controller was slowly being pulled from her hands. "It's completely moronic for this developer to make a game difficult for the sake of being difficult. I mean, I'm not having fun anymore and you weren't having fun earlier, so why would they sacrifice fun for impenetrable difficulty?"
Yang had moved to sit close to her girlfriend, using her hand to bear the crushing grip that had previously been exerted on the controller. "I know it's unfair, but I don't know why." She turned off the television as she spoke, not letting the action get in the way of her meaning. "It's a hard game, but that's all it really is. It's just a game—just like you said." Blake was reluctantly pulled closer to Yang, her head being forced against the blonde's chest without being turned away from the blank screen. "You just need to take a breather and get back to it later. It'll be fine, just forget about the game for now."
While the majority of Blake's mind was in favor of continuing to angrily dissect the game for all its fatal errors, she still melted into the embrace and breathed easier, if only slightly. Now that the negative stimulation from the looping music and camera angles that had become associated with failure had been taken out of the equation, Blake was able to relax her thoughts in the silence. As she calmed herself, her negative thoughts against the game shifted to negative thoughts about herself. How was Yang able to calm her down so easily? The transition from passively furious to mildly aggravated happened so quickly. It was as though Yang was running through practiced motions formulated specifically for her. She hated to insult her girlfriend's intelligence, but she believed herself to be the more systematic of the two. How Yang had been able to read her emotions and deal with her anger so well was both baffling and frustrating.
Introspection was proven to be difficult when someone else talked. "You know, you speak really well when you're mad. It's kinda cute, actually." Blake had to force the blush that was forming to disappear. She was supposed to be upset with herself right now, not flattered by a compliment. "How about we do something else for now? It'll get our minds off of the game for a little bit."
There are two reasons why Blake did not answer. The first is that she thought of this as yet another time Yang could read her emotions while the inverse seemed impossible. Even hearing her voice was calming, causing Blake to become more envious instead of angrier. The second reason why Blake did not answer—rather, could not answer—was due to the fact that there was the sudden sound in the foyer of the door opening and multiple pairs of feet marching their way into the house. For only a moment, Blake was ready to combat whatever threat had entered until she realized that the sounds were harmless.
Despite Yang's protests that she wasn't calm enough and that she still seemed angry at the game, Blake escaped the otherwise comforting embrace so that she could look over the couch towards the foyer. Because a doorway obstructed a complete view of the scene, Blake was barely able to see what was occurring in the entryway. The first sight that indicated that anything was going on in the first place was one of Weiss' personal assistants carrying two bags towards the kitchen. He was followed by two more assistants, each carrying two bags of their own. One of the bags that the second assistant carried showed signs of where they had come from. The label from a loaf of bread peeked over the top, reminding Blake that Weiss had planned on shopping for groceries.
As for where Ruby was, the young girl trudged across the foyer carrying the combined amount carried by the three assistants. Even with her hearing focused on the young girl, Blake couldn't decipher Ruby's grumblings as she plodded along. She was followed by Weiss who barked orders and corrections, mostly about improving posture and attitude. The heiress did not carry any bags, already burdened by the supervisory role she had created. Her agitation reached a crescendo at the audible thump of six grocery bags hitting the floor at once. Afterwards, a loud, exasperated sigh signaled the end to her nagging for the time being.
Blake was surprised at the listless manner in which the usually energetic Ruby sauntered into the living room. She seemed to have tuned everything else out, having ignored her sister's welcome and subsequent inquiry as to how her day went. She simply moved in front of an open cushion, paused, and then unceremoniously collapsed face-first into the seat. Blake's brows knitted in concern before she heard Ruby's muted observation. "Groan," she said. This eased a smile back onto Blake's face.
"Rough day, huh?" Yang was smirking knowingly. Blake mentally noted that she was able to definitively read two of Yang's states of mind: tired and teasing—at least, when it came to Yang dealing with her sister. An ambiguous grunt was all the energetic team leader could muster for a reply. "Well, you're going to have to get used to it. You're the one who invited her to spend the entire summer with you."
This caused Ruby's shoulders to shudder. She rolled over, staring blankly up at the stationary ceiling fan and groused, "I hate you."
"Oh, that isn't true. There's nothing to hate about me. I'd never take you shopping—I'm not that much of a monster. You're just upset because there's trouble in paradise."
Ruby sobbed comically, "I hate you 'cause you're right."
"Well," Yang said, adopting a smug expression and looking towards Blake. "I am pretty great, aren't I?"
Flippant and purposefully dismissive, Blake responded, "You're all right, I guess." This elicited an annoyed "Hey!" from Yang, but Blake continued talking, choosing to focus her unwavering attention on Ruby. "Ruby, if you don't mind me asking, what's going on between you and Weiss?"
With her arm draped piteously over her eyes, Ruby didn't seem to notice Yang drawing an invisible heart in the air with her fingers before Blake's glare ceased the action. She barely was able to begin with, "You see, I," before the sound of the front door closing resonated throughout the house. The audibly irked clicking of heeled boots moved closer to the trio and caused Ruby to make a whining noise. "She can explain better than I can," she quickly stated before pulling the cape of her cloak over her head in a futile attempt at camouflage.
Weiss marched in quickly, pinching the bridge of her nose so that she was unable to see the other occupants of the room before she started to speak. "Ruby, why did you run away when you still have a job to do?" When she released her exasperated hold, Weiss was able to see Blake and Yang sitting next to each other on the couch. They were sent a warning glare before she returned her leer to the terribly concealed girl. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"
Her response came in the form of Ruby pulling her legs up into the cover of her cloak. Now all that was left of the girl was a crimson ball of fabric that emitted a fearful whimper every so often. Blake had to nudge Yang with her elbow in order to stop the snickers that came from her. Scowling and with arms akimbo, Weiss growled, "Ruby, answer me." A frightened squeak and the tightening of the curled form was her only reply. "Answer me," she said in a dangerous, low voice.
"I didn't want to help." Ruby's statement was quick and muted, an attempt at allaying Weiss' wrath.
"I never would have guessed." Weiss could be seen grinding her teeth. Somehow, Blake was able to pick up on the indicators of her other teammates' emotions, just not Yang's. The blonde did not look ready to intervene should the situation turn awry; instead she watched in apparent mirth as her sister and Weiss had a humorously one-sided dialogue. "Now that you're sufficiently rested, you are going to get back in there and help."
"I don't want to." Even though the girl was a rising second year student at Beacon and even though she was, as of three months prior, sixteen years old, she still acted like a child. However, Blake wasn't too surprised, seeing as how Yang was much the same.
"Why not? I'm open to criticism, so out with it." The look she had on her face bordered on predatory, being that her eyes never left the immobile form and her frown never left her features.
At this, Ruby's head peeked out from behind the cape, her face defiant and complacent. "I'm too tired," she whined. "You made me carry six bags by myself. My arms hurt and I don't want to walk anymore."
Weiss shifted her stance so that she balanced away from Ruby, further adding to the disbelieving look on her face. "What did you expect was going to happen? You bought six bags worth of trash by yourself. You should be expected to carry in what you bought. Then you should be expected to put away anything you bought in its correct place once we return." She began tapping her foot. "You didn't put anything away."
"Neither did you!" Ruby was sitting up now, her face completely unobstructed by the cape. "You bought as much as I did and you didn't carry anything in." Weiss looked as though she was about to rebuke this, but Ruby continued. "You had your servants carry your bags and put everything away. You just watched and told us what to do! That's not fair. I had to carry everything in at once! Why couldn't they help? They could have made a few extra trips."
"First of all," Weiss shifted her stance once again, this time so she could tower over the sitting girl, "they are not servants. They are personal assistants employed by the Schnee Dust Company that I have contracted for the summer. Second, there has to be somebody to keep order or else everyone would drop their bags and run for the couch."
"Well, maybe people wouldn't run for the couch if they weren't being treated unfairly!" Ruby's gaze back at Weiss wavered consistently, her arguments being based on defense alone.
"Unfairly?" Weiss bellowed. Blake felt something nudge her side but she couldn't divert her attention from the spectacle of emotion that played out before her. "My logic makes perfect sense! You should be held accountable for what you buy. There's nothing unfair about that."
"It is unfair!" Ruby yelled back. Blake felt another nudge to her side. Yang was giving her a questioning look but she could not decipher what was being asked. She wouldn't be able to ask what it was yet since Ruby was still involved in her verbal battle. "You make everybody else follow your rules but you don't follow them yourself!"
The rest of Ruby's tirade seemed to mute itself with the third nudge of an elbow that came from the blonde. Blake turned to see that Yang was leaning closer, a worried expression on her face. "Hey," she whispered, "maybe we should leave these two alone. I don't want to intervene."
Blake quickly looked between those arguing and Yang before whispering back, "Aren't you going to stop Weiss from yelling at your sister?" Weiss seemed to be overzealous with her reprimands. What was worse was that Ruby was acting in much the same manner. Blake could only predict negativity as the end result of the argument.
Yang returned with a reassuring smile. "She needs to fight this one herself." Blake was about to object and question why Yang felt this way, but she was pulled off of the couch by the wrist. "C'mon; let's get out of here before they notice us gone." Blake had no choice but to let herself be pulled along. As they moved away from the couch, Yang lowered herself to pick up both of their pairs of shoes before briskly moving out of the living room, leaving behind the argument taking place therein.
Keeping her hushed tone for the possibility of the other two hearing her, Blake had to ask, "Where are we going?" They weren't headed to the kitchen or either of their rooms. Instead, the front door came into view and she could only guess that they were headed to it.
"You'll see," Yang said simply. This forced Blake's expression into that of a disgruntled frown. Nonetheless, she complied, following the blonde into the foyer and stopping with her right before the door where she dropped their shoes. Blake watched with the faintest of envy as her girlfriend slid on the sneakers that she had apparently owned but did not bring with her to Beacon. Yang had explained that because they were only relaxing at home, she didn't feel the need to wear her boots. Fortunately for her, she had the luxury of a spare set of shoes that just so happened to be comfortable. Blake was not as lucky, having to wear her own heeled boots everywhere. While she had become accustomed to the balance she was required to maintain at the augmented height and the higher speeds at which she often travelled, she still gazed somewhat jealously at the low, flat, and most importantly, heelless shoes that seemed so casual and comfortable. She saw Yang's gaze meet her own and, for the briefest of moments, she saw a worried look come across the blonde's features. This look did not last, for a beaming grin and an outstretched hand shook any possible negativity away. "Let's go."
The argument from the other room seemed to intensify, yet anything said by either participant was inaudible; the sound alone made Blake uncomfortable, anxious. This was only exacerbated by Yang's inadvertent lack of transparency. "Yang, where are we going?" She was willing to go wherever the blonde wanted, she was simply grasping at any potential information she could that pertained to how Yang acted. She knew it was a hopeless attempt and she knew it would be more beneficial if she learned how to read Yang in a timely fashion, but she couldn't help but try to hasten the process.
With a roll of the eyes, Yang took Blake's hand and pulled her. "I don't know; let's just get out of here." Blake allowed herself to be pulled out of the front door, having deemed the given excuse acceptable in the amount of information it offered. Though, her permission would not have been a truncating factor even if she had opposed the suggestion due to Yang pulling her along preemptively.
The low heat of a summer's noon was lost on the ruminating mind of the Faunus. Yang's reply of no intended destination had not been what Blake expected, yet it did not stop her from forming connections. She figured that the argument had caused the blonde to act before planning, causing the excuse given. This was odd for Yang; she always seemed to have a plan whenever an otherwise awkward situation required one. Blake reasoned that she had been torn between aiding her sister and letting her sister grow by dealing with her own problems, causing a confused and rushed demeanor. She already knew that Yang cared for her sister dearly, so she attributed some of the discord to an internal conflict. However, this did not explain her withholding of information when there was no plan of action in the first place. Was it due to playful mischievousness or pride in not wanting to seem wrong?
The answer did not come due to Blake having to focus her attention on maintaining balance. When she was pulled out the door, she expected Yang to bring her down the steps of the porch and onto the road for whatever reason—out of routine, perhaps. It was this preconception that she would be walking down steps that caused Blake to step as though she were descending a staircase. Unfortunately, Yang did not lead her down the steps, instead choosing to lead her along the porch towards the side of the house. The lack of change in elevation caused Blake to stumble, effectively shaking her from her contemplations. However, she did not fall; Yang had gripped her arm as she began her descent. "Blake!" she heard the figure beside her exclaim. Yang did not release her hold, making it a point to keep Blake balanced even after she was standing on her own. "What happened? Are you all right?"
Perhaps there was an opportune time and place to ponder over Yang's motives and intentions, but that moment was neither here nor now. Blake shook her head, in part to clear her mind somewhat, but mostly to calm Yang. "It's nothing. I just wasn't paying attention is all."
"Yeah, well that much is obvious." Blake met Yang's teasing grin with a slight smile of her own, an attempt to appease the blonde on the subject of her own stumbling. It seemed to work for the time being. "Just remember: you're the one who wanted to wear heels."
"It's not like I had a choice." They continued on their path, Yang still holding onto Blake, but by her hand rather than her arm. Blake hadn't yet had the opportunity to truly observe the layout of the odd porch. As she rounded the side of the building, she found that the deck wrapped around one side of the home, but not the other. The house cast a shadow over the wooden walkway, alleviating the two of the extraneous heat from the sun.
In this cool darkness, Blake found herself more at ease with the situation, causing the her to minimize the distance between herself and her girlfriend. Their arms now touching and their fingers intertwined, they continued to walk. Blake could hear the clicking of her heels on the planks below before the sound was drowned out by Yang's playful reply. "You have a choice about whether or not to go shopping. But I don't think you want to do that, do you?"
Blake only just contained a shudder. The thought of the crowds, the disappointing selections, and the overall inefficiency of all participants in the potential act caused her indifferent demeanor to become more prominent, if only for a moment. "I don't want to go shopping, but I think I will eventually have to. I don't think I need to be constantly ready to fight Grimm every second I'm in Vale." Yang groaned. "What?"
"I know I'm going to have to go with you. I can't let you do something like that on your own."
"So, why did you make that noise?"
"Because I'm going to hate it as much as you will." Blake smirked. Yang was being open with her and was walking close-by—she couldn't ask for more. With the majority of her attention having been focused on the warm presence, Blake was only now able to see that the porch on this side of the house led to set of stairs that gave access to a concrete patio, unobscured by the house's shadow. Both sisters seemed to have failed to inform her that such a place existed. She wouldn't complain, for it was their home, but it would have been nice to know that there was a fire pit outside that they could have been utilizing.
Yang led her down the steps and away from the stone landing as though the area hadn't existed whatsoever. What had been appreciation of Yang's apparent openness changed into worry caused by her avoidance of the patio. It didn't look to be a place of shame—it was remarkably clean for the sisters having been gone for nine months—yet neither sister had so much as alluded to the fact that it existed. However, the cause of this worry was immediately proven false at the sight of Yang's carefree smile. If she had to guess, Yang hadn't talked about the patio because it had simply not come up in conversation.
Perhaps she was being overly critical about Yang's nuances and quirks. Perhaps she was searching for something where there was nothing to be found other than what could be seen at face value. Yang didn't seem like the type to keep her in the dark unless she was in a teasing mood. Other than that, Yang seemed to be a fairly straight-forward person. Still, she did seem as though she needed to mask her negativity, if only for the good of the group.
Seeing the sunny expression on the blonde allowed Blake to reevaluate her approach on learning how to read Yang. She figured it would be better to learn as time passed rather than trying to overanalyze seemingly insignificant cues. She continued to rest her head against Yang's shoulder as they strolled off into a direction that was away from the house.
As they moved away from the stone landing, Blake was met with the slightly jarring sight of a large, rectangular, and shockingly open field. How she had not noticed this sight before was more so surprising when added on to the fact that she hadn't heard of the patio either. On three sides, the field was surrounded by forest—the edge of the sisters' land and the terminus of Vale's civilization. The two were not walking towards the field but instead the forest, taking their time in their travels and reveling in the comfortable silence that lacked argument. Even in this silence, Blake could not help but wonder what the field was for. The only thing that came to mind was that it was used for farming, but neither of the sisters seemed to be the agricultural type. As if on cue, Yang spoke. "Ruby and me used to spar out here sometimes. It had to be big so I couldn't set the house on fire and so Ruby could have room to run. Maybe we overdid it."
Looking up, Blake found Yang smiling at her. In response, she raised an eyebrow. "You made that?"
"Yup!" Yang chirped. "Ruby and me got tired of not being able to practice at Signal so we cut a few trees down and voilà! A big ol' practice field to use whenever we want. Pretty neat, huh?"
Blake's lips curled into a genuine smile that verged on becoming devious. She had a strong desire to say something along the lines of "You would," or "Somehow, I'm not surprised," due to the sisters choosing to build something massive rather than find a place where they could spar. Instead of saying that or anything at all, she simply hummed and relaxed against Yang once again. She felt a warm weight press against the top of her head that was found to be her girlfriend's own head, creating an inseparable closeness as the two walked into the forest.
Although this nameless forest was not as aesthetically pleasing as the Forest of Forever Fall, it was not like the Emerald Forest either in that it was neither outwardly ominous nor visibly dense. Much like the canopied pathway in the park, sunlight from above lit the way for the couple in stripes and spots aplenty. They walked quietly, with no intention of conversation. As Yang watched proudly over the girl walking beside her, Blake closed her eyes, allowing her hearing to take over as her primary perceptive sense while subconsciously nuzzling closer into the warm figure's side. Where they were going was not important; the fact that they were getting farther away from the argument and its participants was what kept them mobile and happy. The absolute serenity and comfortable isolation displayed by this carefree stroll seemed like something pulled from a romance novel and Blake was all the more content for it.
Never once during the pleasantly slow journey did their hands disconnect, their fingers remaining intertwined and unaffected by prolonged exposure to each other. They wandered aimlessly between the trees and over the sea of foliage. As the journey continued and the number of steps taken increased, Blake began berating herself for wearing heels. Her balance did nothing to improve her stride and could not compensate for the fact that the focused points of her shoes often became stuck in the permeable forest floor. The need to rest was growing steadily and she knew it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to the desire. This left her in a distracted state with the only malleable attention she had left focused on her girlfriend.
Unfortunately, this lackadaisical peace had to end due to a quick and almost inaudible form that rustled through the leaves and stopped the girls in their tracks. All thoughts about her heels were replaced by the urgency of an absent Gambol Shroud. Blake automatically moved from the hold, allowing herself to scan her surroundings while letting Yang move behind her in order to watch the area she could not. Back to back, the two stood watching, their centers of balance slowly lowering as they readied for potential combat.
Grimm were said to not exist within the limits of Vale, yet the professors at Beacon had warned their students to not trust hearsay and be alert at all moments. They had never expressly stated that a threat existed within the boundaries of civilization, but the amount of foreboding that snaked its way into their words gave the students reason to not accept the popular belief. Still, some of the faculty could be heard voicing their agreement that Vale was safe, but they remained adamant that it was better to be safe than sorry. This is why the simple stroll through the forest had to cease so quickly and why their attention had to allocate itself to scanning for a potential threat.
In this time of silent tension, Blake was able to find one factor of her heels that she could appreciate: they were able to dig into the foliage enough for her to feel confident that she could hold her position. Both stood with their fists raised, ready to defend against any strike that may come and to strike back at whatever could deal a potential blow. The thickets rattled again; this time, the sound was more prominent, their senses having been trained to that sound. It was heard again soon after, but it was fainter, thusly further away. Blake did not see Yang react to the newer sound out of the corner of her eye. The sound came again from the same faraway distance. Yang did not react.
Swiftly and unabashedly, Blake reached for her bow and freed her ears. Instantly, the rustling sound could be heard as though it were mere feet away. As she tied the ribbon hurriedly around her wrist, she tried to focus on the noise, finding the task much simpler than it had been. Her left ear twitched, telling her that the sound came from that direction. As she turned, Yang did as well, in near-perfect synchronicity forged from their time as partners. Yang's heat was rising yet it was unable to distract the unblinking, detached stare that Blake trained on the source of the noise. The underbrush shook violently and exuded that distracting noise from before. The two didn't wait long for the source of the sound to emerge.
Both were prepared to strike—to go on the immediate offensive and keep whatever made the sound from harming the other. However, neither was prepared for the sight they were met with. A singular squirrel, it's mouth puffed out from whatever carriage it held, emerged quickly from the bush before standing on its hind legs and looking inquisitively at the duo.
Blake relaxed her stance and sighed, half in relief, half in disbelief. At the same time, she heard muffled giggles coming from her girlfriend. Looking to her with a bored expression, Blake found Yang's face red with suppressed mirth. An unadulterated smile twitched occasionally at the corners of her lips, becoming more frequent as her giggles intensified. Blake could understand Yang laughing at what had happened, but she couldn't comprehend the restraint her partner was showing.
In an attempt to understand why she wasn't laughing, Blake looked at Yang's eyes. She was surprised to see something in them—rather, she was surprised that she was able to perceive something from the eyes. Yang was not looking where the squirrel was nor was she looking back into Blake's eyes. Following her gaze, Blake found that Yang was looking at her, but above her eyes. Unaware of why this was, Blake had to ask, "Yang, is everything all right?"
At this, Yang doubled over in a fit of laugher, falling to her knees and onto the forest floor. Her eyes had closed, obscuring any possible line of sight that Blake could follow. Fortunately, she did not need this to tell that Yang was still laughing for the same reason. Between howls of laughter, Yang was barely able to get out the first words of potential sentences—words such as "You," "It," and "Those"—before succumbing to laughter once more. From these three specific words, Blake was able to guess that Yang was laughing at her interaction with the animal. This allowed a small smile to appear upon her features and a slight, unknowing giggle to her voice. "What?"
Yang's laughter had ceased momentarily in order for her to respond. "You looked like you were ready to kill that squirrel!" Her laughter resumed and Blake's smile widened slightly even if she didn't know where Yang was going with her explanation. However, the Faunus' reaction would be short-lived. "You're totally a cat and there's no telling me otherwise!" guffawed Yang.
This immediately caused Blake's expression shift from light-hearted to stoic and finally to annoyed. She now understood what Yang had been staring at and what the "Those" in question were. Her Faunus ears folded back against her head as she sent a short glare Yang's way before turning away. "Blake, wait," Yang sniffled, trying her hardest to recover from the uncontrollable amusement. But it was too late; Blake stood resolute, facing the opposite direction and trying to untie her ribbon from her wrist. "Blake, I'm sorry." Any remaining signs of laughter were gone now, replaced by a sincere tone of concern. Blake acted as though she couldn't hear her as she continued trying to unravel her bow. In her upset state, she found it a much more difficult process than it should have been. Because she tried to tune out Yang's voice, she was unable to hear the approaching sound approaching footsteps.
Blake tensed as Yang embraced her from behind. Her arms were confined and were forced to cease their actions as they were restrained by the blonde's hug. She wanted to get away, but she could not bring herself to do so. Yang was too strong and the hold wasn't necessarily uncomfortable. With her head still ducked from looking at her bow, Blake could see Yang's arms wrapping around her midriff—the hold wasn't overbearing; in fact, Yang's arms neither looped nor locked to restrict Blake's movements. The embrace was calm and caring, yet unrelenting and bold. Blake stiffened further at the approaching of a warmth noticeably different from Yang's regular body heat. She could feel her girlfriend's breath on her shoulder as Yang's head lowered to sit parallel to Blake's.
"Please don't." Yang's voice was soft and small. "I think you look better without the bow." Blake frowned. She wasn't putting the bow back on to punish Yang but instead to defend herself from any further jokes. However, Yang's pleading tone caused her to reconsider her actions. "I didn't mean for my jokes to hurt you." Intentions did not matter much when the action itself had already caused a negative reaction. "I'm sorry, Blake." As much as she hated to admit it, she was—Blake could hear the sincerity in her voice. As she finished her plea, Yang tightened the hold on Blake and nuzzled closer to her girlfriend. "Please don't be mad," she whispered.
What use was fighting for years to have her species recognized as people rather than animals if she let a joke about her being a cat go? She had done so before, but the jokes in those instances had been nothing serious since she knew her teammates regarded her as another intelligent being. Still, the fact that Yang had said, "you can't tell me otherwise," stung. Those five words aptly summarized why she had fought with the White Fang—why the Faunus had struggled—and the worst of it all had been that it came from Yang. Her partner had been particularly attached to the prospect of making cat jokes, so Blake could assume that this was only another instance of a teasing remark between friends, but the possibility that it wasn't still existed. However, there was a statement in the apology that seemed to contradict those five words.
Blake knew now why Yang had suddenly hugged her. While there were some comforting and appeasing intentions to the hold, Blake was sure that there was some underlying cynicism and she was fine with that. The statement that she looked better without the bow more than humanized her. It showed acceptance coming from a human rather than flirtatious interest that could be shown by another Faunus. It was Yang's cynicism about wanting to see more of her Faunus ears that caused the raven-haired girl to feel as though those years of fighting hadn't mattered and that she had won in the end. She relaxed into the hold and felt Yang smile into her neck. She couldn't bring herself to smile yet, but she did roll her eyes as a way to show some positivity.
Time seemed to be the last of the couple's concerns as they stood in the forest, immobile and comfortable in the midst of the embrace. After minutes that felt like blissful hours, Blake felt Yang's smile widen again. She had been ready to ask what the smile was about, but Yang spoke first. "You smell nice." Suddenly flustered and active, Blake struggled free of the embrace, causing Yang to inquire a playfully confused, "What?"
Free from the hold and unsure of what to do in response to the complement, Blake balled her hands into fists as she watched her girlfriend and thought of a way to quickly change the subject so that she could avoid awkwardly dealing with the compliment. With her mind made up on an unrefined plan, Blake quickly took Yang's hand and pulled her along. Before Yang could protest, Blake said, "Come on, Ruby and Weiss are probably done arguing and are wondering where we are."
Yang smiled and went along with it for a moment before she stopped abruptly, anchoring Blake from moving any further. She stood wide-eyed, looking as though she had seen a ghost. "Blake," she began, audibly worried, "I forgot which way we came from."
Still unable to look at Yang, Blake pulled fruitlessly against Yang's immovable stance. She said, "Just follow me, I know where to go," as an attempt to dislodge the blonde from her position. It seemed to work as Yang's smile returned and she practically skipped along while Blake started forward suddenly.
It wasn't that she was embarrassed by the compliment—in fact, Blake did not know why she was acting this way. If she had to guess, her reason for not being able to look at Yang and her inability to take the compliment could have been caused by either shame at her hostility towards a rodent or the significance of Yang's sincerity shown through the apology and compliment. Either way, she began to move faster at Yang's subsequent exclamation of "You're the best!" Blake knew that her current reaction was off, but try as she might, she could not coolly accept the compliments. Fortunately, this embarrassed and meek reaction faded as they made their way out of the forest.
Much like their walk in the park forest, the journey back was much shorter than the journey there. Because of the distance Blake kept from Yang, she was able to calm down from her apparent embarrassment. Concurrently, because of the contact that she maintained, she was able to steadily regain her normal level of comfort. As the distance from the house closed, so did the distance between the two girls. By the time the house could be seen though the thinning wood, the couple walked side-by-side, once again comfortable with each other's close presence. The thought of donning her bow did not cross Blake's mind; she figured that because she was trying to adjust the team to her not wearing the ribbon and because Yang seemed so enthused by the idea of her not wearing it, she could go without concealing her ears for the time being.
The sun still hung high and time seemed to have not passed during their venture into the forest. As they finally passed the tree line, Yang began to move forward, taking the lead now that she knew where she was going. At the same time, the heat of midday became apparent, causing Blake to feel stifled but still wanting more. Relief was attained as the two entered the shadow of the house, climbing the steps by the patio.
As they walked along in the shadows of the porch, Blake noticed Yang raising an eyebrow. "What is it?" she hummed.
Yang squinted and moved her head closer to the house for a moment before returning to her regular posture with a confused expression. She whispered, "I don't hear them arguing. Do you think something happened? Maybe Weiss scared Ruby off or Ruby said something to make Weiss mad." She had an odd expression that seemed both worried and genuinely curious.
Blake squeezed her hand, ceasing the blonde's concerns. "I'm sure they're fine," was all she said on the subject. It seemed to be enough to truncate any further qualms from Yang, bringing a warm, confident smile to the sunny girl.
The entrance into the house took longer than it should have, due in large to Yang making it a point to be quiet as to not alert either girl to their presence. She said that it added to the suspense of it all and would pay off when they caught the two being amiable. Blake doubted that they would find the two acting in such a way so soon after a heated argument, but what she found contradicted her doubts and caused Yang to become mischievously enthused.
As they entered the home theatre room, Blake could see a few of the spikes of Weiss' tiara peeking over the top of the couch. The crown hadn't moved at the entrance of the couple, leading both to believe that she was still furious at Ruby. Yang seemed to think that the only rational thing to do would be to walk in front of Weiss and force her to detail what had transpired. Blake didn't have time to object before she was pulled to stand in front of the heiress. The sight she was met with made her forget that she had been hesitant about the action in the first place.
Yang had been somewhat correct in her assumptions that Ruby and Weiss would be on better terms; however, neither expected the two to be as comfortable around each other as they were in this present scene. What Blake hadn't noticed before was that Weiss' tiara could be seen above the seat to the left of the loveseat portion of the couch—the seat that Ruby had occupied earlier. Not only was Weiss sitting on this seat, but Ruby was as well. Though, it would be incorrect to describe their positions as "sitting" in this instance, for neither showed signs of being awake or even attempting to maintain an upright posture. They were asleep now, huddled against each other on a couch seat designed for a single person, causing them to lie in a form of hug that seemed both affectionate and necessary so that neither would fall off. Both looked blissfully distant from their regular personalities; Ruby was calm and kept a soft smile and Weiss' frown did not seem as condescending as much as it was dissatisfied.
To think that those two could have argued the way they did now seemed preposterous. Their emotional defenses were blissfully nonexistent, causing them to look like children who had tired themselves out. However innocent their hold on each other looked to be, there was nothing childlike about the reasons behind it. It was wholly apologetic, regretful, and necessary.
Before anything could happen, Blake noticed a devious smirk on Yang's face. "No," she whispered quickly. She then saw that Yang was looking around the immediate vicinity for something. "Yang, don't do anything to them. They've been through enough."
In a show of playful annoyance, Yang let out a long sigh. "I was just going to take a picture of them," she whined. "I want to save such a precious moment." The mischievous glimmer in her eyes faltered at Blake's serious glare. "Fine," she sighed, "can I at least get them a blanket? They look cold—well, at least Weiss does."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Sure." Yang left the room, leaving her girlfriend to watch over their sleeping teammates. Blake was sure that if Weiss knew about this, she would unleash one of her loudest, harshest tirades upon her, Faunus or not. She knew that Ruby would show her some mercy, but she felt for Yang. If one of the two knew that Yang saw them, the other would know soon after and Yang would be subjected to the wrath of both girls. Fortunately, it could have been worse. A picture could have had major implications on the structural integrity of the team—a blanket would work well.
Yang hadn't been gone for a minute before giddily returning with a blanket in hand. Forgoing any sense of stealth, Yang unfurled the blanket, shaking any remaining folds out and causing an obnoxious, flapping sound to fill the room. Her grin told Blake that this noise was intended and all the Faunus could do was roll her eyes—there was no point in stopping the noise now that it had ceased. Yang's lowering of the blanket did not go unseen by Blake, mostly due to the fact that the Faunus knew how opportune this moment could be for the blonde. Yang seemed to take extra care in making sure the fabric covered both girls, going so far as to tuck them in. Blake felt that their movement closer together caused by her girlfriend's action was intended as well. She sighed.
Yang stepped back to inspect her work and after finding it at least tolerable, smiled at Blake. "So, what now?"
Amber eyes were trained on the sly gleam that still existed within the lilac orbs. Seeing this, Blake knew that she needed to distance Yang from the two. "Why don't we see what they bought at the store? Perhaps we could find something for lunch."
"I don't know," Yang drawled. "All that walking made me tired and I kinda want to get back to the game."
Blake could see that there were ulterior motives to Yang's suggestion and she could guess what they were—she was now able to read that smirk and predatory twinkle of the eyes like a book. A hard "No," was all Yang got as a response before she was dragged away towards the kitchen. She was not upset by this in the least, grinning the moment Blake's hand touched her own and led her away from her would-be targets.
Their lunch would be wonderfully genial with conversation shifting between one meaningless subject to the next, often harkening back to the recent incident with the squirrel. Intermittent apologies came from the blonde which were quickly accepted by the Faunus. The ridiculousness of the situation was discussed without any further references to cats. Throughout the meal, Blake's freed ears reacted to the topics and mood, showcasing her emotions when her instilled stoicism did not otherwise allow it. She was happy with the situation—the meal, the company, and even the nonchalance of not wearing her bow—and would quietly watch Yang's expressions so that she would not be caught off-guard by any further actions or jokes.
While the couple's lunch may have gone well and without incident, what happened afterwards was quite the opposite. The belief that the action of placing a blanket over Ruby and Weiss would be relatively harmless when compared to taking a picture of the two was proven false. Even from the kitchen as she cleaned her plate, Blake could hear the other partnership waking up. What had started as hushed whispers turned into confused murmurs. This quickly turned into the duo shouting Yang's name and marching into the kitchen, disheveled and blushing. Despite their fiercest glares, the toothy grin Yang held never faltered—though, it is to say that Blake saw small cracks in the façade.
The two stared at the blonde for what felt like hours before looking at each other, blushing even harder than they had been, and hastily retreating to their separate corners, Ruby to the couch and Weiss to her shared room. The toothy grin turned towards Blake with a new addition of two thumbs raised in self-satisfaction, causing the Faunus to smile and shake her head. She knew that Yang was confident about her apparent victory and seemed sure that nothing would happen, but she also knew that it was only a matter of time before her teammates aired their grievances in a less-than-friendly way.
Until then, however, the two would enjoy each others' company as they cleaned their dishes and made lunch for Ruby and Weiss in case they got hungry. Neither would talk about what they had seen upon their return nor would they mention their teammates' subsequent reaction, instead choosing to remain close to each other and wait out the impending storm.
I hope the description of the video game wasn't too much. I thought that I might let the reference run its course to completion because while I found it humorous to an extent, there's only so much to say about it before it becomes boring. Perhaps I went too far with it, but just know that the description is not entirely meant for superfluous elaboration or to fill pages (Most of what I write seldom is.). I will admit that some of the description was forced just so that I could move the chapter's plot along, but it is almost never one-dimensional. It may be too late for me to mention how much I love writing hidden, ambiguous metaphors and general word play that both foreshadow later parts of the story.
Do you remember how I said that I would probably never write a chapter that was 20,000 words long again? Me too. Unfortunately, I enjoyed writing chapter seven far too much and the word count naturally found its way past 20,000. I would like to apologize in advance—not for the chapter's length, but for its content. Comparatively, this chapter is light-hearted, even with the argument and Blake's self-destructive introspection on her now remedied inability to read Yang's emotions. You have been forewarned.
Even though I've probably run this into uninteresting redundancy, I would still like to thank you for reading and for making it this far into the story. Seriously. By the time I post this chapter, I should break one thousand unique visitors and that is absurd to me in the most positive sense. At a single time, I've had at most ten people read a manuscript of mine as it progressed to offer criticism or general support. I thought that maybe I would have two hundred readers for this story. I know that the "1,000 visitors" statistic does not necessarily mean one thousand users who have read completely through chapter one, but it's still astounding. Thank you. I'm beginning to believe posting on this site has been one of the most emotionally rewarding moments in my life. This sentiment would not be possible without your support.
Stay safe and stay tuned.