Blake let out a small groan as she squinted her eyes closed even more tightly. The sensation of a gentle hand rubbing at one of her feline ears caused her to squirm within the bed, and she let out a soft moan as she melted against the touch.
"Sun, not now. Let me sleep…"
"Not quite," came a reply in a familiar, feminine voice.
Blake's eyes flew open, and she stared at the unfamiliar wall beside her bed as she began to blush furiously. Her mind raced as she tried to remember her surroundings through the fog of sleep, and she eventually figured out that she was still in one of the upstairs bedrooms of The Notched Blade.
"You heard nothing," Blake insisted as she flicked her ear in an effort to dislodge it from her mother's grasp.
"I heard everything," Kali teased. "It's past time to get up, Blake. Way past… but you're not the only one who slept in."
Blake rolled onto her other side to face her mother, who was still wearing a purple bathrobe.
"What do you mean? What time is it?" the younger faunus asked with a wide yawn.
"Almost noon," Kali answered casually as she let her hand drop down to rest upon the mattress. "Neptune just got up, and Qrow is still asleep. I don't think any of us have been sleeping particularly well, lately."
"No, we haven't," Blake agreed as she sat up in bed. "But we've wasted too much time already. I need to shower. I need to get downstairs, we need to start rebuilding, organizing the people, a-"
Kali put out a firm hand and held Blake's shoulder down as the girl tried to rise from the bed. Blake immediately stopped talking and gave her mother a confused look, her ears wilting.
"…Mom?"
"You're correct in everything, but before all of that… I'd like to talk for a moment. Mother-to-daughter," Kali explained as she rubbed at Blake's shoulder. "It's… been a long time since we've been alone, able, and not in an immediate crisis situation."
Blake blinked in surprise and relaxed herself as she raised a brow. "Oh…kay? What do you want to talk about?"
"First, and most importantly, how proud I am of you," Kali lilted with a wide grin. She reached out and ruffled Blake's tangled mess of hair, earning a scowl for her efforts.
"Mom!" Blake groused while shrinking down slightly.
"No, I mean it- becoming part of a well-known team in your time at Beacon, finding yourself a man worthy of you who supports you in everything you do, and now, making the hard decision to come here with me to start out the Black Claw," Kali listed as she withdrew her hand. "You've become an admirable woman in your own right, and you do well in crisis situations."
Blake had the grace to look ashamed as her cheeks tinted a furious crimson.
"That… last part hasn't always been true," Blake admitted. "Really, it's only become true recently, and that's all thanks to Sun."
"Not all thanks to Sun," Kali corrected. "He pushed up against your walls until you let him in, yes, but you had to meet him along the road to healing. Otherwise, he'd be standing out there alone and yelling for you to come out of hiding. The fact that you let him in so close to you shows maturity and growth. I'm so happy that you found him."
Blake's insecure expression finally turned into a soft smile, and her blush intensified as she showed a hint of teeth to her mother.
"He… made a list of things for Neptune to read to me before bed every night, for two months," Blake said softly.
"…that is adorable," Kali said as her ears wilted and she returned her daughter's smile. "Incredibly, pathetically dorky, but adorable."
"Mom!"
"Am I wrong?" Kali asked, only for Blake to look away while shaking her head. "He adores you."
"I adore him," Blake replied as she finally met her mother's eyes again. "He's… honestly my world. Leaving him behind to do this with you was the hardest thing I've ever done. Harder than even leaving the White Fang. Going our separate ways while knowing that he's still hurting so much and dealing with his own issues has me feeling like I'm failing as his girlfriend. I already feel like I'm failing as a person, most of the time."
"…Blake," Kali began as she shifted to sit next to her daughter and draped an arm over her shoulders, "you're doing this at his request. You're doing it to test the strength of your bond, and for the good of Remnant as a whole. And you know what? When the pair of you finally do reunite… it's going to be beautiful. You're going to feel so much more in love and appreciate him that much more for the amount of time you'll have been apart."
"Maybe you're right," Blake admitted. "Maybe… I'm being too hard on myself. Sun tells me that all the time."
"Well, he seems pretty smart to me," Kali pointed out. "After all, he gave his heart to you. Really, though- I think he's right. After all, look at how happy your friends were to see you again. If you were such a horrible person, they wouldn't want to be around you after you ran back home. Neptune gets along with you rather well, too, and I can tell from the plane ride alone that he cares deeply about both you, and Sun."
"He does," Blake confirmed. "He's having his own issues, too, and could use some support."
"…is he?" Kali asked as her ears perked once again. "Perhaps I'll work my magic and see if I can't give him a little confidence boost."
Blake gave her mother a cautious, sidelong look, and cleared her throat.
"I'm… going to need you to be clearer with your intentions, because coming from you, that is terrifying."
Kali raised a brow, until realization clicked with her mind and she offered Blake a toothy, mischievous grin.
"…I'm not going to sleep with him, Blake. I'm out of the dating pool for quite a while, given recent events," Kali clarified. "I just meant it in a friendly way. That being said, he is a cutie," she admitted while putting a finger to her lips.
"Mom!"
"Only kidding!" Kali said as she raised her hands defensively. "Probably."
"…I hope Sun proposes soon, just so I can take the name Wukong and pretend I'm not related to you," Blake joked as she rolled her eyes. The girl took a deep, tense breath before using her hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Can I… tell you something awkward? I'm only going to go through with it if you promise not to perv out and be gross."
"You can tell me anything, Blake," Kali reassured as she folded her hands into her lap. "I'll be normal. Normal-normal, not normal for me."
"Good to know," Blake replied as she wrung her hands in her lap. "This is… so uncomfortable, but I feel like I should tell you, for some reason. Um… thanks. For the… for the condoms. You were right."
Kali fought a losing battle to contain her grin for all of five seconds, before allowing her victorious smile to come out in full force.
"You're welcome. I saw that chemistry between you two on day one. I knew you would get to that point sooner than later, and I'm happy that you trust him enough for that. Again- even if you don't really understand why, I'm proud of you," Kali praised before planting a kiss on her daughter's cheek.
"…you're proud of me for having sex?" Blake asked.
"Yes," Kali reassured. "Not just that- for having sex with a man like him. In a relationship like yours, it's a passionate display of trust on a level beyond everything before that point."
"I know, Mom," Blake grumbled as she squirmed. "Can we stop talking about it now? I just wanted to thank you."
"Not just yet," Kali denied. "You're not giving yourself enough credit. You know, Sun was probably thrilled."
"He was," Blake said quickly, before coughing again. "Moving swiftly on…"
"Not just physically. He's been craving that level of trust from s-"
"Shit's fucked, and someone's here who shouldn't be," an abrasive voice interrupted, causing both of the faunus to jump. There in the doorway stood Amaya, wearing a pair of jean shorts and a black crop top with "FUCK YOU" written across it in large, white, aggressive lettering. She held a pair of hookswords in her hands, the outward blades around the grips modified with sawed-off shotguns- one colored blood red and the other a rich purple, to match her hair.
"You're going to have be more specific," Kali replied as she stood up and adjusted her bathrobe. "Who's here?"
"That's what we're about to find out. One of you two with me- the other go and get the man upstairs," Amaya instructed. "Someone's downstairs, and we don't open until three."
"I'll go, and you go and wake Qrow," Blake offered before nodding to her mother. She stood from the bed and grabbed Gambol Shroud from its place leaned up against the nightstand, before turning her attention toward Amaya. "How do you know someone's downstairs?"
"Semblance," Amaya answered quickly as she turned and stalked out into the hallway to wait. She turned and cracked her neck as she leaned back against the wooden wall, her deep red eyes fixed on Blake as the girl made preparations and adjusted her nightie. "I can manipulate blood… and I can sense it, too. Any living being with blood inside of a certain radius? I can feel them. Airborne blood, or any coming from an open wound? I can control it. Draw it out. Mold it."
"That's… terrifying," Blake admitted as she made her way out into the hallway with Kali in tow. Her attention was immediately drawn to her left, where Neptune stood clutching his halberd and looking rather embarrassed. The boy was wearing only a pair of bright yellow boxers with cartoon sea turtles and starfish patterned upon them. "And that is even more terrifying."
"Sh-shut up!" Neptune whined as he frowned at Blake. "She wouldn't give me time to get dressed!"
"Cute," Kali remarked as she passed the boy and ran her fingers along his shoulder. Neptune stiffened, suddenly looking worried, and as though he was holding something back. "See you all in a few."
Amaya merely rolled her eyes and set out, marching down the hall at a brisk pace as she whirled her swords and flared her wings out behind herself to look more intimidating. Blake and Neptune hurried to catch up, walking on either side of her.
"Just how much are you capable of telling with your… blood sense?" Blake asked.
"Female. Faunus. Mid-twenties. Type B-," Amaya recited automatically.
Neptune's brows raised as he adjusted his goggles upon his forehead. "Holy shit."
"…you sleep with goggles on?" Blake inquired, only for Neptune to scowl at her again.
"I have sensitive eyes!"
"Both of you, shut it," Amaya warned as they neared the staircase leading down into the bar. "We need to look like a threat to try to avoid a fight, if at all possible. Which… is going to be hard in sea animal boxers. Why couldn't it have been the scruffy dude that was awake?"
"Everyone is so mean to me," Neptune lamented as he stuck his lip out into a pathetic pout.
"…wait," Blake said softly, causing the other two to pause in their tracks. "That description. You don't think…?"
Neptune raised a brow, looking confused. "I… I'm not sure where you're going with this. Drawing a total blank here."
Amaya leaned forward slightly, looking annoyed. "You got a sister? Some celebrity I'm not thinking of? My ex-girlfriend? Can't be her, her blood tasted differently."
"Tasted?" Neptune repeated, his voice nearly a squeak.
Blake heaved a massive sigh before leading the group forward once again. "Never mind. I have a weird feeling about this, is all."
The group descended into the bar one after another, and Blake paused as she caught sight of the intruder. The girl pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger as she drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Hey! That shit's not free, you know!" Amaya complained as she stomped up to the lone woman sitting at the bar.
"Put it on Kali's tab," Cinnamon said with a shrug as she rotated atop the stool to face the trio, a highball glass of alcohol in hand. "Where is she, Blake? Qrow, too. We need to talk."
"Talk about what?" Blake asked in a tone full of frustration. "You told us you were going back to Mistral, after taking care of Adam."
"Adam's dead," Cinnamon said flatly. "And I did… but I found something there that I wasn't expecting."
Blake's face paled, and she fell silent for several seconds as she let the news register. Finally, she found her voice again, and steeled herself as she stared Cinnamon down. Despite her efforts, she could still feel her hand shaking as her mind swam with conflicting thoughts.
"Well, don't leave us hanging…"
Cinnamon raised her glass and drained it of amber liquid before placing it gently atop the bar beside herself and crossing her legs.
"I now have a direct line to Salem… and I fully intend on using it."
Author's Note:
If What You Stole merch existed, it would be Neptune's boxers, and nothing else.
-RD