Go out and have fun, they said…

Get some fresh air, enjoy being here, they said…

Go bar hopping with some friends, they said…

So much for all of it…Yang was not a fan of being at the bottom of a bottle.

She saw no reason to get so utterly sloshed that she couldn't think clearly. She was a party girl, liked her sex and her mindless forays into controlled madness as much as the next person. She just didn't like being totally hammered. That's why she found it strange that she was, in fact, pounding back the booze in front of her. Feeling the heat of the dancefloor, the roar of the patrons, the hands on her hips that she had never acquainted herself with before.

It was all exciting, all new, and…it was all empty.

The hands on her hips, cupping her butt, the men and women around her like rolling waves in the ocean…it meant nothing. This wouldn't go anywhere either. She knew that when she walked in the door. She didn't want any more one night stands. She didn't want to screw a casual acquaintance that she found in passing. She didn't want to play 'guess the maid' like she did whenever the Schnee household simmered on a low, heat-stricken boil.

All of that was easy, and unfulfilling. She didn't want any of that. She just wanted substance. A little feel good now, a lot of solid foundation later…much later…was that really so much to ask for?

Apparently so.

She left each and every dance club, bar, and disco behind. Her feet treading the pavement blindly into the streets. Her sadness dragged her into a swanky jazz club, one the Beacon faculty frequented. She sat at an empty table, the mood quiet, and the dancefloor was different here. There were only lovers out there, Yang was sure. A long held memory perched in her mind. Standing on her father's feet as they slow danced at the festivals.

She always thought that when she got older, this was the sort of dancing she would be doing.

She never had the chance. She never danced with anyone like that. Cheek to cheek, sweet nothings and silly little notes of affection whispered among the otherwise romantic atmosphere. She caved and got herself another drink, watching quietly, sipping on the brandy as her mind sunk itself deeper into the depression. Then a tall man, one Yang knew and trusted approached her. Hand extended politely, waiting for her to either accept or decline his offer.

She took it. What was the harm? What reason would he have to betray her?

Yatsuhashi was the masculine ideal if there ever was one. A man of obvious strength, lean and imposing. In spite of his size, he was baby-faced, eyes as gentle as they ever were. And so help her, she let herself get carried away. If she was going to kill the void, she might as well do it with him…but this wasn't like her usual conquests.

Yang had to lean up to kiss him, all tiptoes and femininity. He avoided her lips outright, leaving only the barest hint of a kiss on her cheek. She'd never had a dance partner, or any partner for that matter, so much taller than she was. She'd never had one that kept it innocent, when she was nothing but a boiling pot of sex and raw, desperately lonely need. She wasn't playing hard to get, and he could have had her if he wanted...

Right then, right there…But, he didn't take the obvious offer.

A hand on her back steadied her. Wordlessly guiding her closer, but never too close…never letting that hand stray lower. She didn't know how to do this, and that made her feel so completely lost. When he took her back to his small flat in Vale, she didn't question it. Not even when he put her to bed, untouched and unsullied. She was dwarfed by him. By everything he was, that she knew she could never be.

The soul crushing uneventfulness woke her up the next day to a warm cup of coffee. A note left behind saying he had work to do. Yang sipped at the drink, but just like always, she left the night where it was. In the past, where it belonged.

Eight weeks in, three little souls growing within, no strange dust related abnormalities.

Oobleck had given them the clear, they could go home. Returning for a day trip once every two weeks. The team took a sigh of relief, as Blake held another ultrasound photo in her hand. Before, the litter simply looked as one might expect. Now though, she was reminded that they were indeed cubs, and not human. At eight weeks, all of the litter had started to develop their ears, and it was clear, just like Blake, they'd have two sets. One set human, one set distinctly Faunus.

They'd developed their spinal cords, as one would also expect. However, one of her litter had begun to grow something along with it…a tail.

Blake would have been lying if she said she wasn't worried. Tails were harder to manage than ears. They were long, flexible, but tended to get in the way. She'd known more than one Faunus in the White Fang to have broken theirs during skirmishes. Still, like all of the weekly photos she had been given, she placed it ever so carefully inside her litter-book, closing the front cover and packing it away too.

For some reason, yang had stopped packing, her eyes on her scroll as she typed out some sort of long message. She'd been doing that a lot recently. Sending correspondence that Blake had honestly not thought to ask about. Yang kept in contact with a great many, and her work demanded that she monitored the actions within the SDC. This seemed to be a different kind of text though, as Yang repeatedly tapped on the delete key over and over again.

"And you call me obsessive…"

"You are obsessive." Yang said distractedly, her heart not in her words at all.

Blake rolled her golden eyes. "Okay, I know that tone anywhere. Which maid is it this time?"

"It's not a maid…or a girl."

"A man?" Blake found herself strangely intrigued. "I haven't smelled any new men around…" Blake was sure she would have noticed it. Her senses were on particularly high alert ever since she became pregnant. Even the slightest new smell had the tendency to aggravate her instincts, or at the very least, her belly.

"Not a new guy." Yang scratched the back of her head. "So, I went to the bar the other night. Thought I might grab myself an easy ride, but, it didn't turn out that way. All I felt was disappointed, so next thing I know, I'm wandering around, hitting the jazz clubs. Ran into Yatsuhashi there…wasn't my finest moment. He's been worried about me ever since."

"He'll be fighting alongside Pyrrha during doubles matches, I'm not surprised you ran into him." Blake let her lips twitch, a smile there. "He's always been a very sweet man…"

"Yeah…"

"Easy on the eyes too, if you're into the male persuasion…"

"Oh, don't you start that shit up again…" Yang pocketed her scroll. "He's just a friend…"

"Now where have I heard that before? Wasn't it Beacon, second floor, broom closet?" Blake reminded her conspiratorially.

"Nora and Coco locked us in there!" Yang retaliated, a blush coming to her cheeks. "I told you, Blake, nothing happened."

"Trust me, I know." Blake said pointing to her nose. "I'm just saying, the two of you have always had this chemistry that I've always found intriguing. You never did give him a chance."

"Pretty sure he isn't interested." Yang sighed. "Not like that at least."

"Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Everything. I mean, I've given him every single friggin' opportunity a guy could want, and he still doesn't take it. He never has."

"Okay, so he doesn't paw at you like a complete pervert." Blake shrugged, going back to her packing. Folding clothes meticulously, if only so the maids had less ironing to do later. "I'd take that as a good thing."

"Yeah, except the guy's like a brick wall." Yang huffed out a breath. "I mean, you'd think if he wanted a piece of this, he would say something."

It was such a ridiculous notion to Blake. She had to process Yang's words, rolling them over in her head. She couldn't even issue a proper retort. Finally, she just shook her head. "Has it ever occurred to you, that maybe, just maybe, he doesn't only want a piece?"

"Okay, fine, we'll play it your way. Saw he wants the whole damn pie. Even if that's true, the dude would say something…"

"It's not that easy. You know that, right?" Quirking an eyebrow, Blake moved one of her overnight bags off to the side, letting out a gentle laugh. "You're more than a little intimidating sometimes."

"So, what, play hard to get? Still don't think he'll get the memo…"

"I didn't say that. Coming from you, that would be disturbing. I'm only saying, you should change up how you look at things." Blake elaborate, an idea coming to mind. "Think of all the people that you're close with." Blake told her. "Just friends."

"Kay…"

"Okay, now narrow down the men. The ones you know you trust without a shadow of a doubt."

"Ren, Jaune, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Neptune, and Sun I guess…although Sun's on thin ice for a bit…" Yang was trying to think of a few other men, but she shrugged.

"What do they all have in common?" Blake asked, but she watched Yang stand there, clueless. "Besides the fact that they're men, Yang…think."

"Besides the obvious, I don't know."

"None of them are the types of men you'd find prowling around." Blake said to her, as if it were so clear and final. "Yatsuhashi isn't the kind of person to accept your overtures if all you do is throw yourself at him."

"I don't want to throw myself at anyone…" Yang pulled out her scroll, sending another text. "It was just a really bad night, and he was nice enough to be there when I needed him. We danced, I may have gotten a little tipsy. Yatsuhashi looked after me, that's it. Can we just not complicate the situation any further?"

"Whatever you want, but Yang?"

"What?"

"Like you said, he was there for you. Don't overlook that…"

Wasn't that how it always started? That's what it seemed like.

An empty void given something to fill it. Yang didn't want to admit it, but, that was the story of their lives. Pyrrha forged a bond with Jaune during his training. It grew and manifested from there. Blake and Weiss faced down a crucible only equitable to hell. Yang couldn't pinpoint the moment, but there had been one. Ren and Nora had always been, well, Ren and Nora. Two peas in a pod, that simple, that undefined. Ruby found some measure of comfort in Sun, though what that was continued to elude Yang.

She couldn't understand it, even when she tried.

Then there was the strange triad that was the Velvet, Coco, and Fox. Though, Yang hadn't even come close to sorting that out. Team CFVY were private enough people. So, enter in Yatsuhashi, an equally private person, with more on his plate than Yang and Ruby had combined. He was the dutiful protector of the family's large brood, and he was an arena champion several times over. His accomplishments were a great many, and his duties kept him mostly entertained.

He was not a very complicated person, which for Yang, made matters more difficult than she wanted to admit.

There was no shady motive for what he had done, no underlying reason why he looked after her. It was just his kind and caring nature. He doted on people so willingly, it was easy to forget the man was a raw powerhouse. Fully capable of brutal, visceral strength. She watched his next solo arena match, rolling a piece of candy on the tip of her tongue.

"You're missing lunch time. Are you going to sit there and gawk at the screen all day?"

"Sorry, boss..."

"Yang…"

"Kind of busy. Eating later."

Weiss rolled her eyes as she turned to watch the small monitor. Grabbing the remote, she turned on the sound, and turned off the closed captions. There was Yatsuhashi, standing victorious over a contender that had tapped out of aura. It was only a short time after that when Yang's scroll buzzed. Another text message. Weiss lifted an eyebrow to the whole ordeal, but chose not to comment on it. She was just about to bite into another piece of her sandwich when her own scroll buzzed.

"What is it?" Weiss asked immediately upon answering, worry coloring her tone.

"She's being all weepy again…" Ruby said, wincing as a door slammed shut in the background.

"The good kind, or the bad kind?"

"I don't know."

Blue eyes grew wide. A mix of exasperation, and paranoia melting into the concern still in her voice. "What happened this time?"

"I told you, I don't know!" Ruby said, looking over her shoulder. "She was reading the newspaper and-"

"And I distinctly told you not to let her do that…" Weiss interrupted.

"I know, but she did! She read it, and now she's crying." Ruby protested. "She just walked into your room, should I try to go in there, or stay away?"

"Give her some space." Weiss sighed at length. Blake's hormones were probably spiking all over the place again. "Women get emotional when they're pregnant, Ruby, it happens. The best thing you can do is to let her calm down on her own. If it gets worse, call back. I'll either come myself, or send Yang."

That was the best she could promise. She'd get home as soon as she could, which was after she finished reading over and signing several productivity reports. Things wouldn't get done without them. Setting her meal off to the side, forgotten, she assured Ruby she'd be home well before dinner's usual time. The promise only set her friend at ease a little bit, as Weiss found herself at her wits end. This was not how she wanted to spend her workday.

Yang was clearly musing on something, Blake was upset by…something...as well. Weiss felt her ire rising, her own mountain of paperwork was growing even higher than before.

"Yang…"

"Huh?"

"Yang!" This finally prompted the blonde to look up from her own conversation. "Stop spacing out. Go run the rounds, and deal with security's payroll. I don't want you to be rushing around to get it done at the last second."

"Yeah…okay…"

Weiss rubbed her eyes, turning off the news broadcast detailing the fight. "I'm going to die of an aneurism at this rate." She murmured to herself. Today was just not her day…