"So, how long were you in the doghouse for calling Blake easy on national television?" Pyrrha asked with a smug smile, watching Yang's face contort in a mixture of emotions.
"Uh...well, I…" the blonde began to sputter in response.
She could feel her cheeks warm while Yang struggled to formulate an appropriate answer to the model's innocent question. Finally deciding to intervene before Yang could say something horribly embarrassing, she gently laid one hand on top of Yang's to silence the girl's stutters.
"She was...appropriately punished," she responded calmly.
Naturally, Yang giggled at the comment, which Pyrrha immediately caught onto - waving her hand and turning her attention back to the food lying upon the table in front of her.
"God, you two...I really didn't want to know."
The words turned Yang's giggles into full fledged laughter - with Blake shooting her a playful glare for ruining her perfect answer.
"But I thought you didn't like when I kept secrets, Pyrrha!" Yang goaded the girl happily, trying and succeeding in making Pyrrha blush.
"There are some things you can feel free to keep from me as long as humanly possible," the redhead responded, cheeks now tinted a rosy pink. "Which I know for you won't be very long at all."
"Please! I'm great at keeping secrets!" Yang retorted instantly, while Blake decided to continue eating her own food - content to listen to the two bicker for the time being.
"Oh really? Is that why everyone in the universe now knows Blake has sensitive ears? Sorry, Blake," Pyrrha said, shooting her an apologetic glance for dragging her back into the conversation.
She sent Yang another look for that little comment.
The interview hadn't gone as badly as she'd feared, but she'd gotten an awful lot of comments about her ears recently...and many plays on the word 'easy,' which were always fun. But, as with most things, the general public had an exceptionally short memory - Yang's interview became old news only a couple days after it had happened.
But she still made sure to give Yang a hard time for her answers every once in awhile for her own personal amusement - and Pyrrha was evidently willing to do the same.
"I was -! I was forced to answer that!" Yang exclaimed - sending Blake such an apologetic look, she felt immediately guilty for having made it a big deal. "But with everything else, my lips are sealed!"
Pyrrha laughed at the answer, apparently giving up on her argument in favor of keeping the peace at the table.
"Well...I don't see why you kept the last part a secret - that was probably the only part she should have watched."
"Right, the secret ending that I unfortunately didn't get to hear…" she added, turning her full attention towards Pyrrha. "But maybe you can give me a recap?"
As soon as the girl opened her mouth to respond, Yang practically dove across the table at her, clamping one hand firmly over her mouth.
"DON'T - answer that! That's cheating!"
They both laughed at the girl's whine.
"It's ok, Yang. I already know what you said," she teased the blonde, loving to see her so flustered.
"You do?"
Grinning at the response, she gave her best estimate of what she thought Yang had told the nation, but not her.
"You said how much you love me and love spending time with me," she replied, leaning over to give the now blushing blonde a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Only it was a lot more gushing than that," Pyrrha added from across the table.
"I figured."
"Sometimes I wish the two of you didn't get along so well," Yang grumbled while they giggled at her flustered behavior. But she felt her own cheeks turn rosy at the thought of Yang gushing about her in front of all who'd been watching.
She would be lying if she said she wasn't immensely curious about what Yang had said - and why she hadn't been allowed to hear it. It had been a feat of strength for her to turn off the TV when instructed to do so...but it she hadn't, there was no way she would be able to lie to Yang about it later. So...she'd sat in silence while the show ended, twiddling her thumbs while anxiously awaiting the girl's call.
All she'd been able to find out (without cheating and looking up the exact words), was that it had been incredibly sweet. Again, she didn't know why she wasn't allowed to hear something sweet - she loved being told sweet things! But, she could imagine that maybe Yang had said something that the blonde considered to be 'too soon' to say to her directly.
If only Yang knew that, by this point, nothing was too soon.
She was going to spend the rest of her life with Yang - if the blonde was willing.
The girl's phone began ringing on cue and Yang pulled the device out of her bag. After glancing at the number on the screen, she instantly answered - but the smile on her face disappeared a second later while she ended the call and put her phone away.
"Wrong number," the girl explained to them, taking a deep breath before smiling once again.
Pyrrha and Blake glanced at each other at the same time, each understanding what had just happened.
"Have you...heard from Ruby recently?" Pyrrha asked after a few moments of silence.
"Not in a while," Yang replied, but waved her hand in the air as if brushing away their concerns, "But she loses her phone every month or so, so this isn't that unusual. I know she can take care of herself!"
She knew Yang well enough to know that the blonde was feeling a little disappointed right now. It was unsettling for her to see Yang as anything but upbeat and optimistic. There was only one thing on the planet that seemed to be able to bring Yang down a few pegs - or one person, more like.
So she knew that Yang wasn't giving an entirely truthful answer, but she wasn't going to force the girl to admit just how much Ruby's lack of communication bothered her. She would support Yang's continued nonchalance...after all, maybe it was best not to dwell on things out of their control.
But, if she ever did get to meet Ruby, it might be worth mentioning something to the girl...or at least trying to figure out a way to get her to stay in Vale for a longer period of time.
"So where are we going shopping today?" she asked instead, knowing that a subject change would put the incident behind them.
"Oh! We're going to this amazing dress shop - Belle of the Ball," Yang replied, violet eyes immediately regaining their sparkle. "We're going to find you something amazing - you'll be the best dressed at the Celicas, hands down."
She flushed at Yang's compliment, which always seemed to happen even though she knew very well how fondly the blonde spoke of her appearance.
"Speaking of - we should probably get going," Pyrrha spoke up. "It's open by appointment only, and we don't want to be late for ours."
"Oh, Pyrrha, always has to be on time for things…" Yang teased her friend, though she obligingly stood from their table so they could pay and walk over to the store together.
From what she'd been told, the store was very close to the restaurant - just a short walk away. They allowed Pyrrha to take the lead, with her and Yang walking a half step behind, hand-in-hand.
She was just about to make a comment about how gorgeous the weather was today, when Yang suddenly stopped walking - forcing her to stop as well.
"What's wrong?" she asked, the question catching Pyrrha's attention as well.
"Blakeee…"
The whine was instantly concerning, as Yang reach out towards a newsstand they were walking past and picked up one of the magazines. She held it up for Blake and Pyrrha to see, an expression of sadness on her face.
"You aren't...upset with me about something, are you?" the blonde asked, her quivering bottom lip shooting like an arrow right through Blake's heart.
Tearing her eyes away from the heart melting lilac orbs, she looked closer at the magazine's cover. In large, white letters was printed the headline, "On the rocks?" with separate pictures of Yang and Blake situated side by side - a jagged line running between them.
Laughing at the photo, she leaned forward and kissed Yang on the cheek.
"Of course not…" she said softly, before moving closer to whisper in Yang's ear.
"But please don't fake being sad again...it breaks my heart..."
When she stepped away, Yang gave her a smile and ran one hand gently through her golden hair.
"Never again," the girl responded, eyes promising as well as her words.
"Come on love birds!" Pyrrha called out, breaking them out of that moment before continuing their walk towards their destination.
"I swear...you'd think the two of you got enough of that in private…" the girl muttered while they raced to catch up to her.
"Just you wait, Pyrrha," Yang said, squeezing Blake's hand and giving her another smile. "When you and Jaune are all lovey like this, I'm going to give you the hardest time!"
"And at that point, I won't even care," Pyrrha responded with a grin, holding open the door to the store they'd just reached and gesturing them inside.
"Then you'll understand why we don't care now," Yang quipped back, sticking her tongue out at the model on their way past.
A small chime sounded right when they stepped in the front door - two immaculately dressed women appearing moments later.
"Ah! Miss Nikos, Miss Xiao Long, Miss Belladonna," the seemingly older of the two spoke first, nodding to each of them in turn. "I'm glad that you made it - timely as ever, of course."
Yang giggled at the compliment, earning a sharp elbow in the side from her friend.
"It's great to see you again, Marjorie. And you too, Anne," the model responded politely.
"What can we help you find today? Is there a special event you will be attending?" Marjorie asked, clearly the speaker of the two.
"The Celicas!" Yang answered proudly.
"Ah, yes, of course! All three of you will need something to wear?"
When they nodded their heads, the two women began excitedly buzzing about the store - pulling all sorts of dresses off the racks while trying to select the perfect outfits for each of them. In the meantime, they took a seat on the comfortable sofa in the center of the room, situated in front of a large mirror near the changing rooms.
"They'll bring out ones they think we'll like or look best in," Pyrrha explained. "They usually have really good taste, but don't hesitate to say if you don't like something."
Yang scoffed loudly.
"Like anything would look bad -"
Her words were cut off by the sound of her phone ringing once again. Pulling it out, she looked at the screen and let out a heavy sigh.
"Dammit…" she said before answering the call with a much more friendly, "Hello?"
She watched curiously while Yang listened intently to whatever was being said on the other end of the line.
"Does it have to be right now? ...Ok, ok I'll be right there."
Hanging up the phone with another big sigh, Yang turned to her, apology already spilling from her demeanor.
"That was work - there's a scene we need to refilm and the car we're using has to be returned tomorrow. I'm really, really sorry…"
"Oh, that's ok," she responded quickly, not wanting Yang to feel any worse than she clearly already did. "Go finish up your work - that's important."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, absolutely," she said with a smile that Yang happily returned this time. "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine."
Yang leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss before finally turning towards Pyrrha, who had been watching the entire interaction with an amused smile.
"Oh now you're worried about me?" the redhead teased before waving her hand towards the door. "Get going, superstar. Don't want you to be late."
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Yang directed towards Blake while slowly backing away, as if she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to leave her there alone.
"What am I going to do to her?" Pyrrha exclaimed, making Blake laugh.
"I'll be just fine," she reassured the girl, who finally flashed a brilliant smile and turned to head out the door.
"We'll try not to miss you too much!" Pyrrha called out as the door swung shut.
"Well…" the model mused after the bundle of energy that was Yang Xiao Long had left their vicinity. "Let's find you a dress that she can spend the entire show drooling over, shall we?"