Surprise! I bet no one was expecting this one tonight! (Minus a couple special folks)
I'm sorry for my very much extended absence. Thank you to everyone who's sent me messages in that time - I can assure you that, yes, I'm still alive and doing well. I just haven't had as much free time as I once did...what with work, maintaining my own home, etc...I haven't even watched the 3rd season of RWBY! (no spoilers, please!) (also, that's why my stories might now be outdated!)
But I'm still around, still writing when I can find a moment. I have a longer one shot I'm also working on...for sometime in the coming months.
As always, I hope everyone enjoys this continuation of the story :D
Alleys...
She hated alleys...
Uneven ground filled with pebbles and bits of trash...graffiti lining the sides of buildings...giant metal trash bins, also covered in graffiti...puddles of black water somehow leftover from whenever they'd last had rain - or worse, some sort of sewage drainoff that had pooled in the potholes.
They were, in her opinion, some of the dirtiest places on the face of the earth - not to mention the creepiest.
Thankfully, this one didn't smell too bad - the aroma of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese drifting out of the pizza parlor that happened to have an exit into the alleyway masking what was probably a rather foul smelling trash bin nearby.
Still, it was an alley. And nothing good ever happened in dingy alleys.
Which was precisely why she was in such a hurry.
Her quick steps made crunching sounds as she jogged between the buildings towards the main road up ahead, eyes focused straight in front of her without so much as a glance away from her objective. It was about fifty feet away now - not long and they would be…
Her feet came to an abrupt stop the instant two men stepped out of the shadows in front of her, completely blocking her path to freedom.
They were huge - towering at least a foot taller than her, rippling with muscles, necks as thick as her thighs. The dark t-shirts they were wearing hardly seemed to contain their arms - fabric straining to its limit, looking like it might rip at any moment - begging the question as to how exactly they'd managed to conceal their massive frames so well in the shadows to begin with.
But that answer was trivial at this point.
Since this was an alley, and since she had terrible luck in any and all alleys, clearly the men weren't merely a pair of retired bodyguards out for a nice stroll to pick up a fresh pizza. Nope...they were already approaching menacingly, the one on the right cracking his giant knuckles - drawing her eyes to a very shiny set of brass knuckles residing there.
"Well, this isn't good…" she muttered under her breath, taking a slow step away from the advancing goons.
"What gave you that idea."
Turning towards the source of the dry comment, she found Cinder looking away from her - turned towards the way they'd just come. Following the woman's gaze, she found the second pair of men who had chased them into the alley - those two drawing handguns from the waistbands of their pants and aiming directly towards them.
"Hey boys!" she called out to the men in the most flirty voice she had, making sure to suggestively flip her hair at the same moment. "We're just a little lost here - think you could help us find the nearest shoe store?"
That little act almost usually worked, but these men didn't hesitate for an instant in their approach - the pair with the guns sliding the safeties off with a soft *click*.
"Orrr not..."
Time to make their exit.
Grabbing Cinder's hand and dragging the woman through the door nearest to them, she ducked her head on instinct when two deafening gunshots rang through the air.
Thankfully, the door had already been propped partially open, no doubt in order to allow heat from the kitchen of the pizza parlor to diffuse into the alleyway. This worked out in their favor, allowing them to race into the kitchen as the goons resumed their hasty pursuit.
Not being the smoothest of people when running for her life, she accidentally slammed into a tall metal rack inside the cramped kitchen, succeeding in sending the entire thing to the ground with a cringingly loud array of clangs before she was able to scramble away at full speed. The single cook manning the ovens stared as they raced past, a drooping mound of pizza dough still clasped in his flour-covered hands.
The only other door in the kitchen led to the dining area of the restaurant, where several families paused their conversation as soon as she and Cinder burst into the room at a sprint.
She could hear the men shouting behind them, accompanied by crashes of metal that likely meant their gargantuan bodies had stumbled into some of the kitchen equipment, as well. But she had little time to focus on the pursuers while carefully pirouetting through tables and chairs at nearly full speed.
Their next destination was the front door, which she slammed into while maintaining as much of her momentum as possible - shoving it open as it released her onto the street. Without looking, she was off the sidewalk, but abruptly jumped to the side when a car screeched to a stop to her left - the front bumper just inches away from blowing out both her knees.
The driver of the vehicle gestured wildly at her, yelling some profanities she could hardly understand through the glass. But she didn't have time to stop and chat. Turning towards the other side of the street, she raced on - following the predetermined path that had been outlined for her a couple hours earlier.
There was an entrance to another alley up ahead - hidden from view by a large garbage truck parked in front. It was so well hidden there was no way she would have known it was there had it not been pointed out to her earlier.
As soon as she flew around the corner into the second alley, it was a foot race. She heard Cinder's stride lengthen beside her as the woman closed some of the distance separating them. Pushing her own legs harder in order to outpace the brunette, she could hear nothing but their feet pounding the pavement while her breaths began flying out in jagged heaves - pushing her body as fast as it could go.
They were flying - full out racing to be the first to make it to their next mark.
The actors behind them had better catch up. It would be a shame to have to redo the entire scene just because the muscle men couldn't keep pace with the two of them. Not that she or Cinder would ever consider slowing down…
She instinctively ducked when another gunshot suddenly rang out from behind them, loud enough to echo in the enclosed space even at this distance.
In their walk-throughs, the director always told them to duck - which seemed like the most ridiculous instruction ever. Who heard gunshots and didn't duck?
But at least it meant their pursuers were...well, still pursuing them.
Exiting the alley, she swerved to the right and saw the road stretch out in front of her before abruptly ending in a T - an expanse of seemingly nothing just beyond a medium stone wall.
This was the part of the scene she'd been most excited about…
Focusing much more on her footsteps now that the end was within sight, she did her best to anticipate exactly where each step would land from her current position to the end of the road. She needed to time them exactly right in order to plant her right foot precisely on the almost invisible blue 'x' of masking tape on the sidewalk right in front of a wall. Cinder's 'x' was red and right beside hers.
Begrudgingly, she followed the directions in the script and slowed down modestly so that she and Cinder would be neck-in-neck going into the jump - praying that she wouldn't mess this up. The last thing she wanted to do was fail and have Cinder clear it easily - she'd never hear the end of that.
But if Cinder failed...well, that would just make this the best day ever.
Carefully lined up, she calmly counted down the paces until her foot landed perfectly on that tiny 'x,' muscles bunching together before releasing as she propelled herself as high as she could, slamming her other foot down on top of the wall to push her even higher.
She could feel Cinder in the air beside her as they dangled for a fraction of a second before plummeting back towards the earth.
One…
Two…
Straightening her legs, pointing her toes, and gluing her arms to her sides, she hit the water with as minimal a splash as possible, her momentum plunging her deep within the darkness.
And boy was it cold. She hadn't really been prepared for the shock of the water's temperature, but it was much more like jumping into a lake during the onsets of winter than into a nice, heated pool during summer.
Thankfully, the surprise only lingered for a second before she was able to swivel her head under the water and gather her bearings. Spotting Cinder on a nearly equal plane with her, she quickly nodded her head before facing skyward and kicking her legs to send her back to air.
A few seconds later she broke the surface, gasping as her body told her to absorb as much oxygen as possible...and in a hurry. Treading water, she looked up towards the small bridge they'd just jumped from, seeing the goons standing at the railing point down at them before racing towards one end of the bridge in an attempt to cut them off.
At that moment a loud "Cut!" filled the air, causing the men to immediately cease their actions and various crew members to appear from everywhere.
The remainder of the scene was going to be shot the next day. The director had been worried about losing the proper lighting, what with it now being late afternoon, so had decided that the rest of the water scene would have to wait.
Not that she minded, at all. They would start out tomorrow already treading water, but without having spent all of their energy running through the streets like they'd just done. This actually worked out favorably for her and Cinder as the next portion of the scene had them swimming to the opposite shore before setting off on even more footraces through narrow city streets.
Eventually, she would have the brilliant idea to steal a fancy sports car and speed away at dangerously high speeds, but until then...
The sound of an approaching engine drew her attention, her eyes finding the small boat which had been tasked with retrieving them from the water and taking them back to where their trailers had been placed for the day.
Only once the boat had stopped moving did she and Cinder swim towards it, hauling themselves up the small rung ladder a minute later. Immediately handed warm robes, she pulled hers on and sat down in one of the seats along the edge of the boat - prepared for the quick ride back to shore.
She definitely needed a shower before going home...the smell of the river water already invading her nostrils in a not-very-pleasant way.
By the time they were walking back to their trailers, people were rushing all around, breaking down pieces of the set just as quickly as they'd been put up this morning. The hurry wasn't surprising seeing as how they'd kind of closed off an entire city block to film today - production wanted to get out of here as soon as possible before they lost the good graces of the city council.
"Thank god we only have one more day in this hell hole..." Cinder muttered disdainfully as they walked calmly through the crowds towards their matching trailers.
"It's not so bad -"
Her co-star immediately let out a scoff at that response, before turning towards her with one of those smirks that announced an annoying comment before it had even appeared.
"So, I heard you're planning a little birthday party for Weiss Schnee -"
"Oh god, please tell me you aren't angling for an invite," she interrupted, earning a scowl from the brunette.
"Please. I would never be caught dead at whatever lame party you're going to throw," Cinder retorted, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the very thought before continuing. "I was just wondering why you even bother - she'll hate it no matter what you do."
Before responding, she took the time to roll her eyes at Cinder's continued lack of a functioning human soul.
"People usually like to spend time with their friends on their birthday, Cinder. I know you probably won't understand that, seeing as how you don't have any."
A laugh was all she received in response.
Cinder always laughed, no matter what she said - which was why she never held back her thoughts just to play nice. The girl had the thickest skin of anyone she knew and, if anything, seemed to enjoy it when Yang insulted her - and she knew that she certainly enjoyed it, so...
"Trying to be friends with her is a waste of time. But maybe you're looking to upgrade Blake to a better model?" the brunette responded, grinning when the mention of Blake brought an immediate scowl to her lips. "Although, I don't know that I would call Weiss an upgrade - that girl has the personality of a paint chip."
"Says the girl whose personality terrifies criminal psychiatrists," she shot back, annoyance at the current conversation growing tenfold in a matter of seconds.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Cinder replied airily, waving a hand lazily in response.
"Of course you would…" she muttered as they separated for their own trailers without any other form of goodbye.
God, that woman was so frustrating sometimes.
What did Cinder know about Weiss? She highly doubted the two had even spoken before. And even so much as hearing Blake's name come out of that woman's mouth was enough to get her heart pumping...
Groaning at Cinder's continued ability to get her riled up, she locked the trailer door behind her and quickly stripped off the drenched outfit she'd been wearing in order to take a shower - wanting to get the smell of river water off of her as quickly as possible.
And by quick, she meant lightning fast. Because the faster she cleaned up and changed, the faster she could go home.
Which was exactly where she wanted to be.
A few minutes later, hair still damp, she was flying out of her trailer - dropping her used clothes off at wardrobe before heading to where she'd parked her car for the day. Getting into the vehicle, the drive home was fast and effortless - fortunately free of any horrible traffic today.
She could always shower at home, which she normally would do, but sometimes she didn't want to walk in the door all sweaty. Because the first thing she always wanted to do was kiss Blake...and she didn't really want to be smelling like sewage while doing so.
Not that Blake would complain...but she would most definitely be teased about it afterward.
In the interest of saving time, she left her car with the valet upon arriving home today - allowing her to make it through the lobby, up the elevator, and through the front door in no time. It was only when she'd stepped inside that she let out a long sigh of relief - removing her shoes and dropping her keys on the small table in the entryway.
Coming home had always been the favorite part of her day, but that feeling had multiplied by about a thousand ever since Blake had moved in. Knowing that the writer was already here...that she would see the girl in seconds...always caused her heart to beat faster, excitement building at the prospect of reuniting with the object of her undying affection.
Her old routine was to head directly into the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes, or into the kitchen to find a snack, but now she always walked directly from the front door to the small office they'd set up so that Blake could work from home.
Poking her head quietly through the open door, she found the girl she'd been searching for sitting at the desk by the window, typing away at the computer placed directly in front of it. Bang, the goldfish, was swimming contentedly in his bowl right beside the computer, seeming to enjoy the late afternoon light as well as his beloved company.
It was...maybe a little embarrassing...how her heart still did that giant badump whenever she caught sight of Blake. But...it was also something she loved more and more the longer it lasted. It served as a reminder to her, each and every day, of just how madly in love she was with the raven haired author sitting before her.
Crossing her arms, she leaned softly against the doorframe, trying not to make any noise that would announce her presence. For several moments, she watched in silence, enraptured - taking in every sight, every sound, every facet of the girl at work.
She really enjoyed watching Blake work. There was something about the sound of fingers rapidly hitting the keyboard...while the girl hummed and sighed as the sentences formed themselves on the computer screen. It always made her wonder exactly what the girl was imagining at that moment...what scene was running through her mind...flowing from her fingertips, into the world for all to see…
After a few minutes, Blake finally paused - lifting her hands from the keyboard in order to stretch them high above her head while letting out a quiet groan.
Taking this opportunity to interrupt, she quickly licked her lips, only now noticing that they'd gone dry from staring with her mouth open for too long.
"Hey there, beautiful," she said with a big smile, instantly drawing amber eyes her way.
Catching sight of the girl for the first time in what must have been...about six hours...her heart immediately began to beat even faster.
Blake was wearing her glasses.
She loved when Blake wore her glasses - they were the single, sexiest accessory she'd ever seen in her entire life. They put the girl's intelligence on full display, drawing so much attention to those clever, playful amber eyes...
Swiveling around in the chair before standing up, Blake was clearly done typing for now. Which was perfectly fine with her...
"Hey there, yourself - how long have you been standing there?"
The question gave her cause to grin, satisfied that she'd been able to sneak up on the girl for once.
"Just a few minutes," she replied as the author walked up to her before leaning in for a quick kiss on the lips. "Didn't want to interrupt."
A soft 'hmm' of appreciation was all she received in response, amber eyes flitting away from her momentarily before coming back with renewed focus.
"How was work?"
"Oh, you know, the usual - running from bad guys, jumping into rivers, listening to Cinder's snark."
Blake rolled her eyes at that last part, knowing exactly how much Cinder was able to bother her on some days. Fortunately, no matter how annoying her coworker was, Blake was always willing to brush all those frustrations aside like nothing more than a few specks of dust landing upon a table.
"But now you're home...what would you like to do tonight?"
The best part of her day - when they got to do something together. When they got to do something...alone.
"Well firstttt...I'd like to say how incredibly sexy you look in your glasses," she practically cooed, wrapping her arms around Blake's waist and kissing the girl one more time.
"I feel like I've heard that before…" Blake replied facetiously, placing one finger thoughtfully to her chin before breaking into a big smile. "Oh right. Like...every time I wear them."
"I only speak the truth!" she said with a light laugh before leaning in for a much more satisfying kiss - one that momentarily wiped away any memory of her day prior to that moment.
Kisses with Blake were like that - she could get lost in them, drowning out everything other than the feeling...the smell, the taste...of the love of her life. It was as if the parts of her day spent separate from the girl never actually happened - because this...this was what it felt like to be alive...
Eventually though, she did pull away in the interest of continuing their conversation, but kept her arms encircling her girlfriend's waist.
"How's the sequel coming along?"
"Really well," Blake answered easily, before the slightest crease of a frown tilted upon her lips. "But...I don't know if Lucah is going to make it out of this one..."
She instantly gasped at the words.
"Noooo! You can't kill Lucah! He's my favorite!"
"You said that about Balyn."
"Y-yeah, well she's my favorite too!" she wailed, putting on a pout for good measure.
"Yang! I can't keep everyone alive. Character deaths help bring the remaining characters together."
She sighed at that response, knowing that whatever Blake wrote, she would be more than happy to read it. Even if it meant she'd be spending the next few nights in a puddle full of tears...
"Of course, you're right. I just really liked him!"
Her girlfriend grinned at that, standing quickly on her tiptoes to plant a quick kiss upon her nose before falling back to the ground.
"Well, I haven't made any decisions yet, so we'll see what happens."
The answer made her break into a huge smile, knowing that it meant Lucah would survive the guillotine, after all.
In a way, she'd just saved someone's life.
Fictional life, but that still counted, right?
"Are you hungry?"
Blake's question brought her out of her hero's thoughts, drawing her gaze back to the caring one gazing right back at her.
"What kind of hungry?" she asked suggestively, receiving a playful eye roll in response to her waggled eyebrows.
"The food kind."
"Awww but -"
Her stomach chose that moment to suddenly let out a rather loud growl - the noise immediately making Blake laugh.
"Apparently your stomach can't lie either. Come on, let's make something to eat."
Reluctantly releasing Blake from her grasp and muttering an excuse about how 'running made her hungry,' she settled for holding the girl's hand as they made their way into the kitchen.
When they didn't go out to eat, they settled upon making dinner in their own home. And while she'd never considered herself to be a very good cook, under Blake's tutelage she'd grown much better at putting together some of the easiest dishes.
She never would have thought that something so simple like making dinner together could be so much fun, but it always was. Even if they weren't talking (which was very rare), it was enjoyable to be moving around the kitchen together - each with their own tasks to take care of.
Usually, she was in charge of the vegetables - something simple, time saving, and difficult to mess up.
Tonight - broccoli!
When she was younger, she'd had a bit of a problem eating broccoli...it was all green and weirdly leafy...however, that had been completely cured when her mother had pointed out how much broccoli florets looked like miniature trees, which...if one really thought about it...kinda made her a giant while eating them.
Giants were cool, but what were bigger and better than giants?
Dinosaurs, of course!
To this day, she couldn't eat broccoli without imagining herself as a giant brachiosaurus munching upon the leaves of a towering tree.
"Hey, Blake?"
Pausing her process of cutting the large head of broccoli into more bite sized pieces, she temporarily set down the knife she'd been using and turned towards her girlfriend - wanting the ask the question that had been nipping at the back of her mind for a little while now.
"Hmm?"
"You...you don't think Weiss will hate her party, do you?"
The question immediately turned Blake away from the fish she was seasoning, the author giving her an intent look while trying to figure out exactly where that bout of uncertainty had suddenly come from.
"No, I think she'll have a good time," the girl answered honestly.
Which made her feel a little better.
"Ok," she said with one quick nod, turning back to her own task. "Ok, it's just that...Cinder made it seem like Weiss would hate it."
"And you listened to her?"
"Ah -" she replied, the question giving her pause as she thought about what Blake was trying to say.
After another couple seconds, she nodded her head as a smile crept back onto her lips.
"Yeah, I guess that makes me the idiot then," she replied with a chuckle, shaking her head at how dumb she'd been to allow Cinder's words to create such uncertainty.
"If nothing else, we'll be there. And she likes spending time with us," Blake added for additional reassurance.
"You really think so?"
"Of course! She seemed to have a great time at dinner last week."
The memory made her light up with a grin.
They'd invited the singer to dinner with them last minute - she'd managed to score a reservation at the newest 'hip' restaurant opening in Vale. Of course, the owner had been more than willing to expand their reservation to include the venerable Weiss Schnee, as well.
And they had had a great time - the singer actually opening up and talking to them about subjects that were a little more personal in nature. Asking questions, providing genuine answers...she truly believed that they'd all gotten to know each other much better on that night.
"I can't believe she's letting us have the party at her apartment though," she commented with a laugh, turning back to the vegetables she was in charge of.
"I'm pretty sure that's just so you can't invite too many people," Blake teased, tossing one filet of fish into the hot pan.
Currently, Blake was always in charge of cooking the fish - because the girl had a very particular way she liked hers cooked (practically raw) and Yang hadn't quite gotten the hang of it...yet! So, Blake always put Yang's piece in the pan first, allowing it to cook more fully before adding her own piece towards the very end.
"Pyrrha's still at her show in Mistral," she said while tossing the broccoli into the steamer. "She doesn't know if she'll make it back in time."
"That's unfortunate. Weiss seems to really like her."
"Which is surprising, right? Because like...who likes Pyrrha?" she asked as seriously as possible, grinning at the tiny snort of laughter Blake let free.
"Maybe Weiss has got a thing for snarky models?" she continued, earning another laugh - this one much more disbelieving in nature - from her partner.
"If anyone is snarky it's...not Pyrrha," Blake responded with a wink and a grin.
The loud ringing of her phone filled the kitchen at that instant, making her flinch ever so slightly in surprise and, unfortunately, delaying her quest to pull even more laughs from her gorgeous girlfriend.
"Saved by the phoneeee," she teased as she walked over to the counter where her phone lay, grinning when she saw the name currently lighting up the screen.
"Hey, Weiss!" she greeted the girl happily, holding the phone up to one ear. "We were just talking about you!"
"...good things, I hope?"
"Always! Well, you have to watch Blake sometimes…"
She giggled when the girl swatted her in the shoulder with a spatula for that comment, before turning her attention back to the somewhat awkward silence on the other end of the phone.
"So Weiss, what's up?"
"Oh, well, I was actually calling to ask you for a favor…"
Gasping at the words, earning herself a look of surprise from Blake, she set her free hand down on the countertop with a loud thud. She'd been waiting for the opportunity to repay the singer for bailing her out at the date auction...and now, it looked like her moment had finally arrived!
"Anything you need, Weiss! Totally willing to help out however I can!" she replied, maybe a little too enthusiastically from the quirked eyebrow Blake sent her way.
"Ok...well, I kind of need you to...have dinner with my family."
The request made her blink in surprise.
"Uh…"
"You can bring Blake, too," Weiss quickly added, as if that was what was holding her back.
But...dinner? That seemed so...easy...
"Uh, well I'll totally be there. Just um...that's not really a huge favor, you know? I was thinking something more like helping you hide from the cops...or get rid of a dead body! I would have dinner with your family even if I didn't owe you one."
"You haven't met my family yet."
Her immediate response was to laugh at the words as if they were a joke, but the lack of joviality on the other end of the line cut the sound short.
"They can't possibly be that bad!" she reasoned, letting out a small chuckle more from uncertainty than humor this time. "But sure, absolutely. When's dinner?"
"Will next Thursday at 7 work with your schedule?"
"Sure! Well, I can't speak for Blake -" pausing, she lowered the phone and spoke directly to her girlfriend, who had been listening intently to her side of the conversation for some time now. "Hey, Blake, do you have plans next Thursday for dinner?"
When the girl shook her head 'no,' she raised the phone to her ear again.
"We'll both be there!"
"Great - thank you, Yang. You have no idea how much this means to me - they've been bothering me about meeting you for a long time."
"Seriously, Weiss. It's not a big deal. Text me the address, ok?"
"I will. Have a good evening - say 'hello' to Blake for me."
With that, the call ended, allowing her to look down at the device with a slightly furrowed brow.
Weiss was an interesting person, to say the least. And the more they got to know the singer, the more she felt like there were some very legitimate reasons for the girl's somewhat cold and impersonal exterior…
"Hide a dead body, huh?"
Jumping at the whisper in her ear, she spun around only to find the source of the words had already safely returned to the other side of the kitchen and was giggling at her somewhat-surprised reaction.
Beginning to chuckle, herself, she set the phone back onto the counter and moved across the kitchen to pull out the plates and silverware they'd need for dinner.
"You're lucky you're so fast," she teased the girl as she passed by, sneaking a quick peck on Blake's cheek just to prove that the girl wasn't always too quick for her.
"I'm lucky you're so slow," came the light hearted response, before she quickly found herself being pulled forward by the arm that had somehow managed to wrap itself around her waist without her knowledge - pulling her into a loving kiss.
If Blake weren't kissing her right now, she would totally win this conversation with some sort of witty comeback.
But...Blake was kissing her so...
She was pretty slow, actually.
But she was faster than Cinder. Always faster than Cinder.