Clickbait
Chapter Three
BumbleBY
It wasn't much longer after Yang had arrived that Ruby finished with her editing. Now, they crowded around her laptop, studying Ruby's finished work as the girl eagerly, yet nervously, awaited their approval.
A new set of photographs interspersed with slow motion closeup video of a scantily clad Pyrrha Nikos played across the screen, soft electronic music thumping from the laptop speakers in time with each new picture.
"What do you think?" Ruby asked, reaching up to rub at the back of her head. Trailing her fingers through her hair, she looked from Blake to Weiss expectantly.
Weiss nodded slowly, watching the video play out in its entirety before speaking.
"I like it, great job Ruby. Seamless, on-beat transitions, and a great use of subject material. This one had quite a bit of piecing together, but it came out really well."
"Thanks, Weiss!"
Tearing her gaze away from the second repetition of the video as the camera panned up Pyrrha's long, slender legs to a teasing shot of her hips, Blake felt like this was where she was supposed to comment as well.
All she could muster as she opened her mouth, however was; "How?"
Ruby laughed at that, and Yang, leaning over Blake's shoulder, straightened up and stepped away, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a snicker.
"I'll take that to mean I did a fantastic job!" Ruby gave Blake a thumbs up as Blake reached up to pass her hand over her face, briefly pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I mean- yeah, that looks amazing, Ruby. I had- still have, really- no idea what all goes into creating masterpieces like this." Tripping over her words, Blake decided to stop speaking, feeling the heat of embarrassment creeping up the back of her neck as she heard Yang giggling behind her.
Ruby slowly closed the laptop lid, picking it up off her knees and setting it down on the coffee table in front of her. Stretching her arms up above her head, hands thankfully devoid of wine glasses this time, she stretched, arching her back as her shoulders clicked in protest.
"That can be uploaded any time, just say the word, Weiss!"
Weiss looked around for her phone, and not finding it, looked toward an old analog clock hanging on the wall above the television.
"Yeah, we've got an hour to go, yet. I wouldn't worry about it for now. I'll remind you when it's time."
"Perfect! In that case, I'm gonna get a refill on this delicious wine."
Pushing herself up off the couch, Ruby started toward the kitchen. Weiss, spotting an opportunity, swiftly stole Ruby's spot, humming in satisfaction as she took back the left-most spot on the couch.
Blake glanced over her shoulder toward Yang, gauging the girl's interest in the single leather recliner to the right of the sofa, and when it became obvious that Yang was distracted by something happening in the kitchen, Blake happily stole back her spot. Sinking back onto the soft, pliable cushion with a barely suppressed sigh of relief, Blake folded her legs under herself, resting her elbow on the armrest and her chin in her palm. Reaching out with her other hand, she found her wine glass sitting on the coffee table, but frowned when she realized it was nearly empty. Raising it to her lips, she downed the rest, just in time for Yang to appear at her side with another glass in her hand.
"Want a refill?" Yang asked, holding out the glass to her.
Blake looked from her empty glass to the one in Yang's hand, before looking up at the blonde holding it.
"Er- yeah, yes please. Thank you." Leaning forward to set down her empty, Blake graciously accepted the new glass from Yang, glancing to Weiss and raising an eyebrow ever so slightly as she flicked her left ear toward Yang.
Weiss rolled her eyes as Yang, unaware of the wordless conversation, situated herself on the furthest end of the couch, closest to Blake, with room for Ruby in the middle next to Weiss.
Blake was about to ask Yang a question, but Ruby beat her to the punch, slipping between the space between Yang at the end of the three seater couch, and Blake, alone on her recliner.
"'Scuse me!" Ruby chirped, settling herself down on the couch between her sister and Weiss, glancing between them once or twice before turning to Blake.
"So what do you do, Blake? You work with Weiss, right?"
Blake nodded, feeling self-conscious as she tried to find the least boring way to explain her job.
"Er- yup. I do. I run the maintenance shop, do all final inspections and sign-off on repair and warranty work."
Yang tilted her head slightly, curiosity shining in her eyes. "So is that mostly an office job? Or more hands-on?"
Blake pursed her lips, considering. "Half-and-half." She decided. "I do a lot of the hands-on work myself, and train the others in the shop as well, but also take care of the paperwork side of things."
"Neat!" Ruby chimed in. "How do you like it?"
Blake opened her mouth to respond with, It pays the bills! but it did not, in fact, pay the bills.
"It's... alright." She acquiesced, "I like the work, it makes me use my head, but... it doesn't pay well."
Weiss scoffed, raising her glass to her lips. "Oh, please! It pays admirably, you're just... " Weiss trailed off, briefly considering that Blake may not want to air her financial woes out to two strangers. "... Greedy."
Blake's ear twitched at the less than subtle coverup, but she moved on without pause.
"Who wouldn't be?" Blake asked lightly, "Is there anyone in this room who would say, 'No please, I make too much money, I can't accept any more!'"
Yang laughed at that, a light yet throaty sound that was not entirely unpleasant.
"That's fair, " Yang spoke up. "I would have to be in agreement on that."
Blake glanced at Yang appreciatively, her ears finding Yang's laugh and her voice oddly attractive.
"So, how long ago did you two meet?" Yang asked, lifting her glass and pointing to Ruby and Weiss.
Weiss raised a slender eyebrow, glancing sideways at Ruby to see if the girl would field the question. Ruby looked expectantly at Weiss, however, so the silver-haired woman took the lead.
"I found Ruby credited in the tags of some video I saw, a few weeks ago. I reached out shortly after, with the barest hints of an idea, and she was kind enough to take me up on the offer."
Ruby nodded excitedly from her spot beside Weiss. "Yeah! It was pretty good luck, after all. This is exactly the sort of challenge I need, and a great opportunity to expand my skills."
"So you two have only known each other for a week or so, now?"
Weiss nodded. "Yes, but so far things seem to be going extremely well."
Yang nodded slowly. "And you two?" She asked, gesturing between Weiss and Blake.
Blake took that moment to speak, taking the spotlight off her friend.
"Weiss and I have been friends since... " Blake blew out a breath, eyebrows furrowing over narrowed golden orbs as she tried to think of just when she'd met the girl. "Jeez, I dunno. Forever, I guess. Since we were little kids."
Weiss nodded, staring at Blake with a soft expression on her face. "We were fast friends all throughout our schooling years; we distanced a bit toward the end of high school as Blake delved into her interests and I pursued mine, but we always stayed in touch. I suppose Blake didn't find anyone to replace me, because here we are, years later, inseparable."
Blake rolled her eyes at the quip, but nodded slowly in affirmation.
"Truthfully, Weiss brings a sort of calm, methodical order to my life that I would be lost without." Blake spoke, adding, "I've no idea where I'd be today without her."
"Aww!" Ruby squealed, hugging her wine glass to her chest. "That's so cute!"
Yang chuckled, looking back and forth between Weiss and Blake.
"Too cute!" The blonde added. "Did y'all date, or something?"
"What?" Weiss' blue eyes widened, shock coloring her face. "Of course not!"
Blake laughed despite herself, clutching her knees to her chest as she shook her head. Yang had unwittingly stumbled upon one of the easiest ways to tease Weiss; insinuate that Blake and her were dating. Or, that Weiss was dating anyone, for that matter.
"Oh, is that what we're doing?" Blake asked. "For the sake of the company, " She tilted her head toward Yang, "We're pretending we aren't together?"
"We aren't together, you potato!"
"Not what you were saying last night, but whatever." Blake teased.
"Blake Belladonna!" Weiss hollered, "Stop spreading lies!" Red-faced, the normally stoic girl was blushing from her collarbone to the tips of her ears.
Yang cackled at the sight of Weiss so flustered, then turned to Blake.
"So really, y'all aren't a thing?" She asked, gesturing between them.
Blake, meeting Weiss' embarrassed gaze, grinned lopsidedly.
"No, we're not. Weiss is too good for someone like me, anyway." Blake couldn't resist one more teasing dig at her friend.
Weiss huffed an annoyed sigh. Reaching up and running her hand through her long, unbound hair, she raised her glass to her lips and finished off her drink.
"I can see you two becoming a pain in my ass." She grumbled lightly, reaching forward to set her empty glass down on the coffee table in front of her.
Blake smirked at that, but said nothing. Glancing at Yang from the corner of her eye, she gauged the blonde's reaction to the information she'd gathered.
Right now the blonde was studying Weiss intently, but when she noticed Blake's studious side-eye, she turned to the raven-haired girl and grinned widely.
"So, Blake, are you part of this whole- " Raising her hand up and drawing a circle in front of her, Yang indicated the group. "Cosplay thingy?"
Blake shook her head.
"I'm just an observer." Blake spoke quietly. "I mean, Weiss had been pretty tight-lipped about what she was putting together until now, and I can understand why. It's barely past the planning stages, and there's lots of work to do, from the sounds of it. So I don't really know too much of what's going on, but I'm happy to watch the chaos unfold from the sidelines."
"Well, there's gonna be one hell of a show to watch." Yang replied. "Win or lose, it sounds like it's gonna be a great time."
"Speaking of a great time, " Weiss cut in, looking at the clock on the far wall, "Ruby, I'd be looking to launch that new set at any moment." Her phone in her hand, she bowed her head for a moment and tapped away on her screen, focusing intently on something.
"On it." Ruby replied. Leaning forward, she picked up her closed laptop. Bringing it to her lap, she flipped it open and gently pressed the power button. It took a moment to boot up, but once it did, Ruby swiftly opened the page she needed, performing her work with a few swift clickety-clacks of the keyboard.
"Set is live." Ruby announced a moment later, and as Blake opened her mouth to say something, she felt her phone in her pocket vibrate incessantly.
Losing her train of thought, she pulled her phone out to see a message from Weiss.
'Yang's page is here.'
Clicking on the link, Blake was redirected to her favourite social media app, the screen loading Yang's page quickly. Giving the profile a cursory glance, Blake knew right away that she'd found another gem. Clicking the 'follow' button, she closed her phone for the time being. From the few brief photos she'd seen, now was not a good time to be looking. That was for later.
Glancing up at Yang, Blake studied the girl's profile as she chatted away with her sister. The way her eyes seemed to shine in excitement as she talked drew Blake's gaze almost against her will, yet determined to not get caught staring, she tore her eyes away to look at Weiss.
Weiss was staring straight at her, her trademark smirk set on her features as she waggled her eyebrows up and down.
Rolling her eyes, Blake heaved a sigh. "You're too much, Weiss."
This earned a more genuine smile from the girl, before she turned sideways to tune into what Ruby was saying.
With Weiss and Ruby engaged in their own conversation, Blake patiently waited for a gap in the conversation before speaking to Yang.
"So, Yang, what is it that you do? Tell me more about yourself." Blake internally fist-pumped that she was able to address the gorgeous girl beside her without stuttering or stumbling over her words.
Yang turned in her seat to more fully face the faunus, resting her nearly empty wine glass on her knee.
"Well, as you know, I'm Ruby's half-sister, and I'm an administrative assistant for a mid-cap company called Star-Taq."
"Oh?" Blake asked, "What sort of thing do they do?"
Yang tilted her head side to side, clearly best gauging how to describe it. Carefully, she chose her words.
"It's an organization that seeks out and works with smaller startups, providing funding, direction, resources, that sort of thing. We can finance equipment, source manpower, provide direction and business planning, ya know?. We either do it for a cash fee, or preferably, ownership stake."
Ruby, tuning into the conversation between Blake and Yang, scoffed loudly.
"Don't let her give you the corporate sales-pitch, Blake! It's a startup acquisition company, they buy other companies for their ideas, basically. And she's much more than an 'administrative assistant'," Ruby raised her fingers to perform air quotes, "She basically manages the day-to-day life of the CFO. All scheduling runs through her. Nothing happens without her having a finger in the pie, so to speak."
Blake turned back to Yang, lifting a slender eyebrow. "Sounds very impressive."
Yang waved her off. "It's nothing, Ruby just likes to brag." Yang downplayed Ruby's enthusiasm with a handwave.
"It seems like a very fulfilling job." Blake offered, "What has you doing stuff like this in your free time? Just an interest for you? Or are you simply drawn to fledgling business ideas?"
Yang ran a hand through her wavy blonde hair. "The day job feeds the body, but modelling and cosplay feeds the soul, I suppose, is how I would have to describe it. I don't really have the same passion for administration that I do for creation."
Blake nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can understand that." Another thought flitted through her mind, and she was about to ask a different sort of question, when Weiss cut through the conversation.
"Not to interrupt, but Pyrrha just messaged; she's very pleased with what Ruby's done with her raws. Says the video turned out great, and she's already getting positive feedback on it." Weiss spoke up, reading from her phone. "Great job, Ruby!"
"Good one, Rubes!" Yang chimed in, giving her sister an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Blake nodded, but stayed silent, feeling slightly left out of the loop. It was hard to congratulate Ruby on something she didn't entirely understand.
"Thanks!" Ruby grinned widely, clearly relishing the praise. Her expression all but radiated satisfaction.
"Did you send her the template for video credit, with links to our stuff?" Weiss asked.
Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, we should be tagged in the credits and on the post, your website and my profile."
Weiss nodded, pleased. "Excellent. That will be some wonderful advertising."
"On a page as big as Pyrrha's?" Ruby nodded in agreement. "We should definitely see some traffic."
"If this goes well, she should be giving us a lot more work." Weiss gestured between the four of them, "It'll do wonders for us."
"Think it's too early to ask her to fly out and do an in-person shoot with us?" Yang asked. Blake glanced at Yang curiously.
Weiss shrugged. "If we can secure an agreement with Velvet, I'm sure it would be a no-brainer for her. Pyrrha adores Velvet's work."
Yang hummed softly. "I bet I could get Velvet to work with us."
"Think so?" Weiss tilted her head slightly to the side, running her fingers lazily through her hair.
Yang nodded. "I'm almost positive I could. Give me a few days to set it up, for sure, but yeah, I think she would."
"That would be huge, if we could manage it."
"What should I shoot for?" Yang asked, glancing around the room. "Everyone still has their day jobs, so... evenings and weekends?"
Weiss nodded, speaking for the group. "That's probably for the best. Blake and I will have our hands full at the shop, you've got your thing going on during business hours, and Ruby... does whatever a Ruby does." Weiss turned to glance quizzically at Ruby. "What do you do for a day job? Surely you're not a full-time video editor. Although, I suppose you're skilled enough for it... "
Ruby grinned widely at the praise, shaking her head. "No, not full-time yet, although that is the goal. I'm a cashier at that little confectionary store down the way there, 'The Chocolate Shoppe'."
"Oh, actually?" Weiss hummed in curiosity. Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Jaune and Nora never shut up about that place." Weiss continued, "I've never been there myself, though."
Ruby gestured to Weiss, "You should stop by sometime. I'll give you a great discount."
Blake smiled at the offer, certain that Weiss would gracefully accept, and then never ever take her up on it. If Weiss had a sweet tooth, the tooth fairy had made off it with years ago.
"That's sweet of you, Ruby, thank you. I'll be sure to do that." Weiss politely accepted.
Blake felt her phone vibrate again, and as she glanced down to check her notifications, she caught a glimpse of the time.
"Ooooh boy. Well," Blake began, pushing herself up from her chair, "That about does it for me. I work tomorrow, so I'm gonna raid the kitchen for a quick snack, and go to bed." Looking around the room, she saw nods of agreement.
"Nice to meet you, Yang. Good to see you again, Ruby." Blake offered up a small wave, immediately feeling self conscious as she did so. The girls didn't seem to mind, however, as Yang stood gracefully, reaching up over her head and stretching. Blake forced herself to look anywhere but at the blonde as her shirt rode up, revealing her taut stomach even as the fabric stretched tightly over her chest.
Ruby glanced at Weiss. "You cool if we crash here?" Ruby jerked her thumb at the darkened hallway stretching off from the kitchen.
Weiss nodded. "Of course. Ruby, you've stayed here before. You and your sister can help yourselves to the guest room, or sleep on the couch here. Whatever you want. Show your sister where the bathroom is, if you need. Blake and I will take my room."
"Sounds good. Thanks, Weiss."
"See y'all in the morning!" Yang chirped, lifting a hand and returning Blake's awkward wave. The sly glimmer in those engaging lilac eyes had Blake thinking it was on purpose, and an embarrassing heat rose to her cheeks before she ducked her head and beelined for the kitchen. Yang's laughter reached her ears, but Blake did her best to ignore it as the sounds of Ruby's excited voice fluttered through the air.
Stomach growling now, Blake opened the refrigerator, the internal light flooding the darkened kitchen.
"Something quick and easy... " She muttered, eyes roaming up and down the shelves.
"Aha!" Spotting a small bag of jerky, Blake grabbed it and tucked it into her pocket. Straightening up and closing the fridge, she spun on her heel before coming face to face with Yang, instantly freezing.
"Hrk!" Blake choked back a sound of surprise, golden eyes widening as Yang grinned cheekily at her.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Yang's voice was low, soft, as if she were trying to calm a frightened kitten. "Just getting some water before bed. Thought you would have heard me coming, ya know, since... "
When lilac eyes flicked up, then swiftly back down, Blake felt her cheeks darken once more.
"I guess I should've, eh... " Trailing off lamely, unsure of what to say as Yang stared at her expectantly, Blake ducked her head and side-stepped around the tall blonde, eager to disappear. Whether that was by bolting up the stairs, or by the earth opening up beneath her feet and swallowing her whole, at this moment she didn't care.
"Night, Yang!" Blake feebly called out, silently cursing herself as Yang's throaty chuckle followed her up the stairs.
"G'night, Blake. See you in the morning." Yang's reply was nearly lost amongst Blake's pounding footsteps upon the stairs, but still, the faunus heard it.
Once Blake reached the top of the stairs, she slowed, softening her footfalls as she reminded herself that Yang and Ruby were settling in to go to sleep beneath her. Forcing herself to slow her breathing, Blake focused on taking several deep, calming breaths in an attempt to wipe away her embarrassment. She was making an absolute fool of herself in front of Yang, and she had no idea why.
Padding softly to Weiss' bedroom door, she knocked twice softly upon it before pushing it open. It hadn't been closed fully, and Blake had no problem hearing Weiss murmur, "Come on in, Blake." as she pushed the door open wide enough to slip inside.
Closing the door firmly behind her, Blake leaned against it wearily as her head swam, partly from the wine, partly from exhaustion.
"You doing alright over there?" Weiss asked, her voice not quite a whisper.
Blake nodded slowly, closing her eyes for a moment as she reached up to rub at her face.
"I am ready for bed, that's all. It hit me kinda quick, just now, how tired I am."
Weiss rolled her eyes as she stripped off her clothing, turning her back to Blake as she tossed her barely worn shirt into the laundry basket across the room. Her fingers deftly found the clasp on her bra, and that followed a similar trajectory through the air.
"Are you setting me up for a 'late to work' text, young lady?" Weiss asked, moving softly over to her closet and pulling down a large white t-shirt and flipping it over her head.
Blake opened her eyes and dropped her hands to her sides, shaking her head as she moved toward Weiss' bed. Mimicking Weiss, she began stripping down to her underwear, not bothering with a t-shirt to protect her non-existent modesty.
"Of course not!" Her voice was a bit louder than she'd intended, and she reached up to cover her mouth for a moment as she glanced sideways at Weiss.
Weiss didn't seem to mind, however, and reached down to slide her jeans off her hips. Those, she left crumpled on the floor as she moved toward the light switch on the wall. Slapping it off, the room was plunged into darkness as Weiss moved deftly back toward her bed.
Blake pulled back the covers and slipped underneath. Instantly her body seemed to melt into the soft yet supportive mattress, and she couldn't stifle a groan of appreciation as her lower back, aching painfully, began to slowly decompress.
"Wow, that's all it takes for you to make noise like that, huh?" Weiss snickered, pulling back the covers on her side of the bed and sliding in beside her raven-haired friend.
"Oh, Weiss, those aren't the only sounds I make when I'm in bed with a pretty girl." Blake teased lightly, turning on her side and studying her friend as best she could in the darkness.
She was certain that Weiss could see almost nothing, but her marginally better eyesight let her pick out Weiss' profile as the girl stretched her arms over her head.
"Strange, I almost never hear you make any noise when you sleep over." Weiss commented dryly.
Blake shook her head, reaching up to push her bangs out of her face. "Well, that speaks volumes about your beauty, doesn't it?"
Weiss suppressed a quiet laugh with a hand over her mouth. "I always knew you thought I was a troll."
Blake chuckled at that, turning over onto her other side as she fumbled for her phone and the jerky on the bedside table. Grabbing it, she brought it to her face, where the screen illuminated brightly. Turning onto her back, she raised the phone over her face, unlocking her screen and pulling up Yang's profile. With her other free hand, she awkwardly struggled with the bag of jerky until Weiss huffed in impatience, and grabbed an edge, holding it so that Blake could tear the top open. Humming her appreciation, Blake jammed a chunk of jerky into her mouth, tearing through it easily with her canines as her tongue savoured the spices. With the hand still holding her phone, she used her thumb and forefinger to pinch-zoom in on a photo of Yang.
"Ooh, creeping, are we?" Weiss whispered. Sliding closer to Blake, Weiss rubbed her bare legs against Blake's, shifting over until she could lay her head on Blake's shoulder to peek at her screen.
"What do you think?" Weiss asked, observing each photograph as closely as Blake did, and taking a mental note of which ones Blake lingered on the longest.
"She's gorgeous." Blake murmured, slowly scrolling through various photos of Yang's scantily-clad body. Sucking gently on the meat still in her mouth, she chewed slowly, mindful of her cheek pressing against the top of Weiss' head.
"She's kind of your type, yeah?" Weiss asked. Realizing how that sounded, she quickly added, "Not that I'm trying to force a connection where one might not exist, but... she did have you tongue-tied all evening. That's got to be something, right?"
Blake resisted the urge to scoff in an attempt to salvage her pride. Knowing she could easily fluster her silver-haired friend, that was the distracting path she chose.
"Weiss, you know I like girls. All kinds of girls. I love 'em. I'm not particularly picky, and if you keep sliding your foot up and down my leg like that, you're gonna be the one having me tongue-tied."
Weiss snorted at that, her foot temporarily ceasing it's journey up and down Blake's calf.
"But your legs are so soft," Weiss crooned, "I can't help myself." Despite her objections, however, she threw her leg over Blake's waist and fell still. Slinging her right arm over Blake's stomach, she clutched the faunus girl like a body pillow, her head nestling into Blake's right shoulder as she nodded toward the girl's phone.
"Keep scrolling," she reminded.
Blake obeyed wordlessly, thumb sliding up the screen as she looked at post after post of the vibrant, energetic blonde woman.
A few moments passed in silence, and Weiss' breathing slowly deepened. A yawn forced its way out of her, and Blake took this as a sign to put the phone down and turn in for the night. The last time she'd stayed up all night scrolling, she'd dropped her phone as sleepiness overtook her, nearly striking Weiss in the face with it. She did not want a repeat of that incident.
Knowing that Weiss would be her alarm for the morning, Blake tossed her phone onto the floor beside the bed. Fetching another piece of jerky from the bag, she quickly put it in her mouth, then tossed the bag onto the bedside table. Closing her eyes, Blake turned slightly into Weiss, earning a soft huff from the tired Schnee as Blake jostled her in an attempt to get her arm into a more comfortable position. Once she did, however, wrapping it around Weiss' shoulders, she wiggled her hips in satisfaction as she settled into Weiss' super comfortable bed, taking a deep breath and letting out a contented sigh. Weiss' room always smelled like expensive yet not-overbearing perfume, and for some reason, the girl always had a hint of cinnamon about her. Tonight was no exception, and Blake pulled the girl a bit more tightly to her body, earning a tiny squeak of protest before she relaxed and Weiss fell silent. Tomorrow would come more quickly than she'd like, so she'd need all the rest she could get.