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Chapter Two

BumbleBY

"I'm so glad today is over," Weiss stretched her arms above her head, her crisp white shirt pulling tightly over her chest as she did. Leaning back in her chair, her long silver hair nearly touched the floor as she tilted her head back, stretching every muscle in her back as best she could.

"What's going on tonight?" Blake asked, settling down into what had become her chair in Weiss' office when customers weren't present.

Weiss straightened up in her chair, pulling some paperwork toward her and shuffling through it.

"Ruby is coming over to do some more editing, and potentially a few others as well."

"Looking for some company?" Blake asked.

Weiss half-shrugged, her left shoulder lifting and lowering lazily. "You know my door is always open to you. Come on over and hang out for as long as you want, leave when you get bored."

"Sounds great, because I have absolutely nothing to do tonight."

Weiss smirked, pale blue eyes regarding the faunus in front of her cryptically.

"Always happy to entertain you when you're bored." Weiss quipped.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here."

Weiss waved a hand at Blake, shooing her away.

"You go, I have a few things I need to finish up here first. I'll be right behind you."

"Such a hard worker." Blake sympathized, pushing herself up from the chair and reaching into her pockets to feel for her keys.

"Maybe it will rub off on you one day." Weiss glanced up at her from beneath her bangs, her mock look of disapproval only serving to make Blake laugh.

"Maybe one day it will." Blake waved at Weiss, stepping toward the door. "Seriously, don't stay here too long, or I'll eat all the food in your house."

"You'll have to fight Ruby for it!" Weiss called after her.

With that, Blake stepped out of Weiss' office, leaving the door cracked as she moved toward the front of the building.

Jangling her keys in her pocket, Blake stepped out into the mid-afternoon sun. It was one thing to be broke; it was another entirely to be broke and lonely. Spending some time with Weiss tonight would be a good way to help her forget about her problems for a while, and maybe score a free meal from it as well.

The walk across the parking lot was short, and a moment later she was sliding behind the wheel of her car. Slipping her key into the ignition, she cranked it until the engine caught and roared to life.

While she waited for her engine to come out of high idle, she pulled out her phone and opened up her favourite social media app. It took a second to load the latest posts, but once it did, her feed was flooded with pictures of cosplayers, and she hummed appreciatively as she scrolled through them slowly. One or two made their way to her 'favourites' folder, and she absent-mindedly pulled her seatbelt over her shoulder with one hand as she scrolled slowly through her feed.

Girls are incredible, Blake thought, locking her phone and tossing it into her cupholder as the noise from her engine died down into a soft rumble. Resting her hand on the shifter, Blake pushed the clutch to the floor before shifting into first, gently easing the clutch out and pulling her car out of the parking lot.

It wasn't a far drive to Weiss' house, thankfully. Not only because Weiss was risking leaving during rush hour if she stayed much longer at work, but also because Blake had precious little money to spend on fuel to be galivanting all over town.

Maybe I can stay the night once or twice this week and catch a ride to work with Weiss? Blake thought idly, upshifting and pulling into the passing lane to move around a slower car.

Although, that means going in early and staying late, which... gross.

Her ears twitched at the thought, and she shook her head. At this point, she couldn't really afford to be picky. Weiss might even let her clock in early and clock out late, giving her a few extra bucks on her next pay.

Whatever it took to get by.

In her absent-mindedness, Blake didn't realize she'd made it to Weiss' house until she was braking on auto-pilot, downshifting through the gears and turning into Weiss' driveway. Working her way up the curving brick pathway that served as a driveway, Blake pulled her car over to the right as far as she could, leaving room for Weiss' car to squeeze by if she needed to once she arrived.

Shutting her car off and popping it into gear, she left the key in the ignition as she jumped out, palming her phone from the cupholder and slipping it into her back pocket.

A languid stretch evoked a mewl from her as she reached for the sky, the pain in her lower back intensifying for a moment before being released with a satisfying pop!

Pleased with herself for the time being, Blake ambled up the remainder of the driveway toward the grey stone-clad house, an absolute beauty of a property that used to sit on the outskirts of the city, but thanks to endless urban sprawl, now sat solidly in the middle-eastern side of the ever-growing city's boundaries.

Still, the property had been allowed to retain some tree growth on both sides of the house, and along the back, doing wonders for privacy and making the allotment feel a tad bit bigger than it actually was.

Blake stopped at the dark red front door that greeted her, and without hesitation, reached out to punch in Weiss' passcode into the electronic door lock.

With a satisfying whir the lock retreated, and Blake grasped the handle firmly before giving it a twist and pushing inward.

The door opened on silent hinges, allowing Blake into the house that she knew as well as her own.

Glaring white tile greeted her for a few feet beyond the footprint of the front door, allowing ample space for Blake to step in, shut the door, and remove her footwear, setting her sneakers down on the lowest shelf of a shoe rack, pushing them to the back and out of sight.

Wiggling her white sock-clad toes, Blake transitioned from hard white tile to plush beige carpet.

"Anyone home?" Blake called out, half expecting someone to answer her. When no one did, Blake stepped into the kitchen, calling out once more, albeit a bit louder.

Weiss lived by herself, true, it wasn't as if Blake were expecting her parents to answer her. However, Weiss was very free with her door code and often invited people to come over and make themselves at home regardless of whether or not Weiss was actually there; it wouldn't be the first time Blake had been startled by another guest when she thought she'd been alone.

Satisfied that she was alone for the time being, Blake made her way to the living room. Dropping herself into Weiss' spot on the couch, Blake picked up the television remote from the ornate glass table in front of her, flicking on the TV before leaning back and propping her feet up on the edge of the coffee table.

Using the remote to access the slew of streaming services that Weiss kept activated, Blake chose one at random, clicking on the first title that popped up without thinking.

While whatever it was that she'd chosen got underway, she pulled her phone from her pocket and fired off a quick text to Weiss.

You leave yet?

The response was almost instant.

I'm on my way. Ruby might get there before I do, however.

Blake hummed quietly, putting her phone down on the couch beside her. Settling back, she zoned out as the television slowly captured her interest.

About twenty minutes later, although it had seemed more like a blink of an eye, Weiss' front door was opening, both Weiss and Ruby walking in together.

"We're home!" Ruby's somewhat unfamiliar voice reached Blake's ears, prompting the girl to pause the show she was watching.

Truthfully, Blake had only met Ruby once or twice, so she was glad that she had arrived at the same time as Weiss. Spending any amount of time alone with the seemingly hyperactive girl would be all kinds of awkward, and it wasn't something she was equipped to deal with today.

"In here." Blake called out.

A shuffling sound reached Blake's ears, and a moment later Weiss rounded the corner with Ruby in tow.

While Weiss was shorter than Blake by about a head, Weiss' forehead barely coming even with Blake's collarbones, Ruby was only a few inches shorter than Blake. One could be forgiven for thinking they were the same height, with Blake's upright faunus ears providing most of the scant inches she held over Ruby.

"Hi, Blake!" Ruby's cheery voice cut through the air even as her smile seemed to light up the room, and it was all Blake could do to not physically wince at the assault on her senses.

"Hi, Ruby." Blake's greeting was a bit more measured, her pale yellow gaze sliding to Weiss.

"What impeccable timing you have."

Weiss nodded, reaching up to loosen the tie around her neck as she gracefully sat down beside Blake on the expansive black leather couch.

"Come, sit Ruby." Weiss patted the couch beside her, before turning her gaze to the television.

"What are we watching?"

Blake shrugged. "Nothing, really. I was just looking for something to keep me busy while I waited."

With Weiss on Blake's left, and Ruby sitting to the left of Weiss, Blake was grateful for the silver-haired girl's foresight.

While she didn't have anything against the bubbly brunette, Blake was content to get to know the girl at her own pace, using Weiss as a buffer.

Weiss hummed, a deep sound in the back of her throat that Blake couldn't decipher.

Beside Weiss, Ruby opened up a large silver laptop that Blake hadn't even noticed the girl carry in.

"What are you working on?" Blake asked, partly to satisfy her own curiosity, and partly to make polite conversation.

"More photo editing." Ruby's chipper reply was succinct and upbeat.

"Ohh, right. I remember you talking about that last time." Blake nodded.

Casting her thoughts back to the last time Ruby had visited, Blake recalled the spry girl telling her all about the photography and editing she did, working with someone called Velvet, who performed most of the photography itself.

Curious as to what exactly it was that Ruby did, but not willing to interrupt her or annoy her while she worked, Blake figured she would ask later or ask Weiss for clarification.

"Ruby, remember that this set is supposed to go live by midnight tonight." Weiss spoke softly, but Ruby didn't miss a word, nodding silently as she fired up an editing program.

"Yeah of course, I have just a bit more cropping to do, and some color correction on one or two photos, then the whole set is good to go live."

Weiss nodded slowly. "Perfect, I'll leave you to it, then."

Ruby lifted a lazy hand and waved her off, saying nothing. Weiss pushed herself up from the couch, and motioned to Blake.

"Follow me." Her voice was nearly a whisper.

Curiosity piqued, Blake rose to her feet and followed Weiss out of the living room, raising an eyebrow when they approached the staircase that lead to Weiss' bedroom.

"What are we doing?" Blake asked, leaving some room between herself and Weiss as they climbed the stairs.

Weiss said nothing until they alighted on the landing, and then she spoke, her volume returning to normal.

"Giving Ruby a few moments to settle in, " Weiss spoke, leading Blake into her massive master bedroom. Shutting the door behind them, Weiss turned away from Blake and began unbuttoning her work shirt.

"Ruby needs a few minutes of uninterrupted silence to get into the zone, but once she's there, almost nothing will disturb her."

Blake averted her eyes and looked anywhere but at the bare back of the girl who had just slipped her shirt off her shoulders and down her back, choosing instead to take in the details of Weiss' room. Weiss' comfort level with Blake often presented some challenges for the faunus, who, if she didn't know better, would think that Weiss was teasing her.

A large king sized bed positioned in the middle of the room, headboard against the wall furthest from the door showcased Weiss' understated tastes, the blankets and pillowcases each a brilliant white and a dark navy blue. Common enough colors for bedlinen, but Blake had been on that bed enough times to know that it was a hundred times more soft than anything she'd ever bought for herself.

The sound of drawers opening and closing caught Blake's attention, and she risked a glance toward Weiss to see how she was making out.

Weiss was almost naked now, her pants gone as well and neatly folded up and placed upon the top of her impressively large oak dresser.

Clad only in a pair of snow-white panties and her back bare, devoid of a bra, Blake's gaze snapped away just as quickly as it had been captured, clearing her throat quietly as Weiss rummaged through her drawers for casual wear.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Weiss' voice reached Blake, her ears twitching and pivoting behind her toward the sound.

Blake studied Weiss' bedside table, eyes roving over the tangle of black and white corded chargers coiled up upon it.

"I'm fine with anything, really. Moreso just here to hang out." And not spend any money, she didn't add.

"Right on. I'm not in the mood to go out anywhere anyway, and I think some others might be coming over, hopefully you're cool with that."

Blake nodded, raising an eyebrow at the sounds of clothing being tossed around behind her.

"Yeah, that's fine."

Weiss hummed behind her, then fell silent.

Blake's eyes narrowed for a moment, something catching her attention. Looking closer, she realized that she recognized the USB to micro-USB charger that Weiss' phone used, and a lightning charger, but the other one seemed to be like... oddly shaped? A rounded end with two flat exposed metal tabs, Blake had no idea what it was for. Unless?

Sudden realization striking her, Blake's eyes widened and she lifted her eyes to the ceiling, refusing to think of what sort of item that charger might belong to.

"Alright, I'm ready."

Blake turned around at the sound of Weiss' voice, finding her completely dressed and moving toward her door. Taking moment to appreciate Weiss' evening wear, Blake followed her back out into the hallway.

Weiss was clad in a pair of light blue jeans, the thighs and knees a bit faded, with two small tears on the inside of the left thigh. A light grey t-shirt covered her upper body and her hair remained unbound, pulled over her right shoulder. As was Weiss' style, her clothing was relaxed but not sloppy.

Blake followed Weiss back downstairs, glancing at Ruby still sitting on the couch. The red-head was still entranced by her laptop, one hand poised upon the touch pad and the other propped up beneath her chin, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Weiss lead Blake to the kitchen, pulling open the door to her stainless steel refrigerator.

"Want some wine?"

Blake didn't even have to answer that question, slipping past Weiss to grab some wine glasses from the cupboard above the sink.

Setting three glasses down on the counter, Blake turned and leaned her hip against the granite counter top as Weiss twisted the lid off a dark blue bottle.

"So what is Ruby working on, anyway?" Blake asked, watching as Weiss upended the bottles contents evenly into their glasses.

"Final editing for some cosplay photos. We have a set going live tonight at midnight, and she's doing some final touch-ups."

Reaching out and picking up a glass off the counter, Blake brought it to her nose, swirling it around and taking a curious sniff before bringing the glass to her lips and taking a sip. Weiss replaced the lid, and left the half-drained bottle on the counter, certain that it wouldn't last long.

Weiss picked up the remaining two glasses, and Blake followed her back out to Ruby, taking seat by herself on a nearby leather recliner as Weiss joined Ruby on the couch. Handing one glass to Ruby, Weiss took a sip from her own glass before crossing her legs and setting her glass down on her knee.

"I knew it was something like that, Ruby was telling me a bit about it the last time she was over. I didn't catch who it was, though? Does Ruby do cosplay? I know you don't."

Weiss glanced at Ruby to see if the girl would answer the question, but realizing that she was muttering to herself under her breath, Weiss took the initiative.

"No, Ruby doesn't do cosplay, she's only been hired as an editor for the website I maintain."

Blake nodded slowly. "Ahh. Anyone I would recognize? Or just randoms from the internet?"

Weiss' eyebrows furrowed in thought, her lips pursed.

"We have a couple small time girls and guys we do editing for here and there, but really only one keystone client that you might recognize. I'll send you a link." Weiss pulled out her phone, raising her glass to her lips once more as her thumb flew across the screen of her phone.

Blake pulled her phone out of her pocket expectantly, and a second later, a link popped up in her chat history. Clicking on it, it look a moment to load, but when it did, her eyes landed on a very familiar-looking red-head.

"Oh, really? You guys do the editing for NikosCosplays?" Blake's tone was colored with surprise, viewing the familiar video with a new perspective.

"Yeah, we took over a week or two ago. That was shortly after I met Ruby. Nikos reached out to me, actually, turns out she's getting so popular that she essentially only does crafting and raws now, sends us the raws to do all the editing for the final product."

Blake hummed quietly.

"There is clearly a LOT that I don't know about all of this."

Weiss smirked, glancing sideways at Ruby.

"We're trying to work out a deal with Velvet as well, she's a very good photographer, and would be a huge addition to our team."

Blake tilted her head to the side. "What good is a physical photographer?" She asked, her tone puzzled. "Isn't the point of photo editing and your advertising website that you can work with anyone, anywhere on the planet?"

Weiss nodded. "It's a good start, for sure, but I wouldn't mind creating our own content as well."

"Oh."

Weiss nodded. "We'll get there eventually."

"Do you have any content creators lined up to work with? Or you haven't gotten that far?"

Weiss shrugged.

"Ruby knows a girl named Yang who makes some... interesting content."

Blake smirked. "Why does that sound pervy when you say it like that?"

Weiss took another sip from her glass, glancing at Ruby.

"Well... I'll send you her info later, and you can decide for yourself."

Blake hummed appreciatively.

"Speaking of Yang, " Ruby spoke up, taking a break from staring holes in her laptop screen to reach out for her glass of wine and take a sip. Leaning back against the couch, she brought her gaze up to meet first Weiss, then Blake.

"She should be here soon. I've been talking to her about what we're trying to accomplish here and she's interested, she wants to help in any way she can."

"Oh, that's great news!" Weiss said, her tone pleasantly surprised.

Blake took a sip from her glass, unsure of how she felt about meeting another stranger. Part of her wasn't excited by the idea of yet another person invading Weiss' space, and by extension, her own, but she was starting to get the feeling that Weiss was working on something much bigger than she had first anticipated, and she was curious to see how it all panned out.

"How do you know Yang?" Blake asked.

Ruby stretched her arms above her head, Weiss' sharp eyes tracking the precariously tilted wine glass in her hand, seemingly ready to reach out and snatch it at the first sign of a spill.

Luckily, that wasn't necessary, and Ruby relaxed, bringing the wine glass back down to her lap.

"Yang is my half-sister!" Ruby proclaimed proudly, earning a raised eyebrow from Weiss.

"Really? I didn't know that. You wouldn't be able to tell by looks alone. Although, I guess the 'half' part makes sense in that context." Weiss commented.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, we are quite different in that aspect. In every aspect, actually."

Blake opened her mouth to ask another question, but was cut off by a faint knocking at the front door. As Weiss got up off the couch to answer the door, Blake lifted her wine glass to her lips instead, saving her question for another time.

It didn't take long before Weiss returned, a blonde girl in tow. Moving to the couch, Weiss gestured around the room.

"Yang, welcome to my house. My name is Weiss. You obviously already know Ruby, and this is Blake."

Blake pushed herself to her feet, setting her wine glass down on the coffee table before facing the newcomer. As her eyes met the blonde, she was temporarily at a loss for words, always an issue when meeting new people. Quickly though, she found her voice.

"I- Nice to meet you, Yang." Blake held her hand out, intent on shaking the girl's hand.

Yang stared at her for a second, before a smile crossed her face and she reached out, taking Blake's hand and lightly grasping it.

"Nice to meet you, Blake. I'm Yang." The blonde was all charming smiles, and Blake felt herself smiling in return despite herself.

When Yang released her hand, Blake found her manners.

"Would you like glass of wine?" Blake gestured to her own glass on the table.

Yang glanced down at it, then met Blake's curious gaze.

"That sounds wonderful, thank you."

Weiss made to move from her spot near the couch, but Blake waved her off.

"I'll take care of it."

Weiss nodded and resumed her seat near Ruby, motioning for Yang to sit as Blake made her way to the kitchen.

Once Blake reached the kitchen, out of sight of the three in the living room, she took a deep breath, leaning up against the counter and sighing quietly.

The girl was utterly gorgeous!

Pushing off the counter and stepping up to the edge of the fridge, she peeked around it cautiously. Glancing toward the living room, she was greeted with Yang's profile, and she took a moment to study her.

The girl was tall. Blake herself was no slouch, especially in comparison to Weiss or Ruby, but Yang easily towered over her. She had gorgeous lilac eyes, and wavy blonde hair that cascaded down her back like liquid sunshine.

Despite the beautiful summer day, Yang seemed comfortable in her clothing, a pair of black jeans with a tan belt encircling her waist. She wore a similarly tan leather jacket over a black shirt made of seemingly heavy material, at least by the looks of it. The jacket seemed to have padding or some sort of armor at the elbows and along the back, and it was the recognition of the stiff flat back of the jacket that had Blake realizing that it was a motorcycle jacket.

The girl was still standing, and Blake watched a moment more until Yang sat, unintentionally taking Blake's spot on the recliner.

Remembering what she was supposed to be doing, Blake quickly pulled back before she was caught staring, and moved toward the cupboards, grabbing a glass. Swiftly she uncapped the wine bottle and started a measured pour into the glass, her fingers tapping out a staccato rhythm on the countertop as she bit her lip.

Between Ruby's rambunctiousness and Yang's captivating good looks, Blake was going to have an interesting time around Weiss' new friends.

She hoped she was prepared for it.

SK: Socially anxious Blake is my favourite Blake, as there's so much of me written into her. Of course, that's where the resemblance stops. Hope you're enjoying so far. Lots of character introduction and groundwork being laid, but the story does get interesting eventually. At least, I think so.