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Requested By : Polemoduke
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Blake waited almost a week, until the next Friday, before she even took Tukson's Scroll out of its box. And even then, only when she'd slipped away to the forest where a trap wouldn't be as dangerous as in a tight, confined room. Or quite so public, for that matter. When she was there, tucked into a little space between a few tall trees, she fished out a small knife and used it to cut into the bottom of the box, and from there spent almost an hour slowly peeling back cardboard as she cut it apart. It was a chore, obviously, but if they wanted to plant a Dust charge in it they'd have hollowed out the lining under the Scroll. And when she ruled that out, she was worried about everything from tracers to microphones.
It never hurt to be careful, after all…
But, just shy of an hour later and feeling more than just a little paranoid with the ruined box bits scattered around her, Blake eventually relaxed just a bit with the Scroll in her hand. Or a least, as much as she could with this particular Scroll in hand - after she checked the casing for any recent looking tampering, that is. Sliding it open, she reached up to let her ears free, to better hear everything around her-
And almost as soon as the fabric wasn't muting everything around her just a bit, she heard the footfalls and rushed to tie the bow back before-
"Blakey!" A familiar voice cheered as Nora, dressed for combat and toting Magnhild across her shoulders, appeared with a beaming smile. Blake sighed and waved, closing the Scroll as Nora added, "I brought you a present, so you can, uh, skip the bow."
Her blood ran cold at that as Nora came over, leaning Magnhild against a tree as she plopped down on the dirt and pitched a little box at her. Blake would never admit to anyone that she squawked in surprise, fumbling to catch it while Nora snickered. She didn't say anything though, just fishing out a pack of mints and popping one in her mouth with a hand while she waved for Blake to open the box with the other. Scowling, Blake tied her bow taut and opened it, watching the Human closely while she ran through what she'd said about her bow.
"What is…" Blake murmured, trailing off as she pulled the little beanie out of the box. It was dark black, with a violet strip around the bottom hem and a soft, silk lining on the inside. But why would the outside just be cotton if the inside was-
The realization hit her and her ears flattened in surprise - it'd be soft and gentle on her ears.
"Sooooo…." Nora murmured, grimacing as she gnawed on her mint and reached for another one anxiously. "You fumbled a bit after the shower. 'Member?"
"I… Do." She sighed, closing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath as she leaned back against the tree and quickly, instinctively, ran through a check-list. She had her weapons, and her Scroll, and she always carried enough Lien to eat on for a day. So, satisfied she could escape if she needed to, she reached up to undo her ribbon and let her ears stretch, all while staring a hard hole into the ground. Quietly, she said, "I had… Hoped you were too distracted to notice, I guess."
"Oh, Blakey." Nora snickered, "I'm always paying attention to my family."
"Your…" She blinked, looking up, "Your family?"
"Mhm." She nodded, turning and staring up at the blue sky over their heads and sighing gently. "You, me, Renny and Yang-y. Yang-y? Nah, that doesn't work. Like, at all. Anyways, yeah, you're my family. So, you know, I get why you'd wanna hide 'em, but… I just wanted you to know I knew, and that I cared. About you, I mean. N-Not your ears. Except I do care about them, they're cute, but, uh-"
She finally groaned and ran a hand through her hair, "Sorry, suck at this kinda stuff. Working on it, but…"
In spite of herself, and all the anxiety and trepidation that were swimming in the back of her head, Blake smiled. And chuckled, "You're doing fine."
"Yeah?" Blake just nodded, tucking her knees up into her chest and holding the beanie on top of them. Smiling, Nora relaxed a bit, some of the tension leaving her shoulders as she slouched just a bit. "Awesome. It's… Been a thing I've been stressing, ever since I got made queen of our little castle."
"I wouldn't say queen…"
"Yeah, you're the quiet type." Nora winked playfully, crossing her arms behind her head and relaxing against the tree. "No stress, used to the quiet types, ya know?"
"I suppose so…" She hummed, thinking of Ren as that bitter confusion filtered across a very particular, more recent memory. "About Ren…"
"I haven't told him 'bout your ears, don't stress." Nora cut in, answering before Blake could think of how to phrase both of her questions. But, when her brow furrowed, Nora hummed and seemed to realize, "You… Also wanna know about the kiss."
"Or, how it affects him…"
"We're Mistrali." Nora chuckled, "It's no big."
"Seriously?" She'd heard things about Mistral, growing up, but had been young then. When Nora raised a brow, though, she just shrugged and said, "That… Wasn't really directed at you. It was more at me."
"You've been stressing over Renny haven't you?"
"I wouldn't say 'stressing' per se…"
"Mhm." And Nora's smirk told Blake just how much she believed it. And how worthwhile arguing the point - especially when she had been - was. But that just gave them a moment of quiet. And in it, Nora seemed to notice something - or just decided to speak up about it - and said, "What are you even doing all the way out here, Blakey?"
"I-I'm sorry?" Nora just flicked the shredded bits of box and the old, worn and battered Scroll a look and frowned meaningfully. And Blake sighed, "It's… Private."
"Yeah, got that from the whole 'sneaking off into the forest' bit." Nora chuckled quietly, something… Harder flitting across her face as she flicked the shredded box bits a look and then turned to Blake and asked, quietly, "What's going on, Blake? I know security checking when I see it."
"How would you-"
"I'm Mistrali." She said quietly, as if that explained everything. When Blake's brows furrowed, she only admitted, "I'm… A Mistrali orphan. Ren was sick a lot growing up. You know all that, but… Well, sometimes you get involved in stuff you don't wanna, growing up like that. Can we leave it there?"
"But-"
"I'll explain more on my end if you explain where you learned the same tricks." Nora cut her off, eyebrow raised in an obvious bluff. But it wasn't a bluff Blake was willing to call - not in full, at least - and Nora grinned toothily in her victory when Blake huffed and folded. Instead of the bragging she expected, though, Nora just relaxed again and sighed, "I can tell something is up. All I need to know, really, is if it's gonna be dangerous."
"For…?"
"My family." Nora answered flatly, "Who else?"
"Right… Yeah…" She was still wrapping her head around that, just a bit, but somehow it already felt… Comforting, somehow. Especially in the way she immediately leaned in, immediately just decided she was going to help Blake. After a long, quiet moment, she sighed and said, "It's… My past. And it's probably going to be dangerous."
"So, how can I help?"
"I don't know…"
"Because you don't wanna share everything, right?" Nora asked and while the words could have been an accusation, could of held… Anger, they didn't. Nora just said it like a fact.
"I'm… Not ready to." She nodded, avoiding Nora's gaze. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." She shrugged, "Lemme guess, though… White Fang?"
"H-How-"
"You're Blake Belladonna, Blake-y." Nora snickered, shaking her head and sighing almost wistfully. "Without seeing your ears? Just a coinky-dink. With 'em, though? I have the internet. I know what your parents look like."
"But how could you be so sure just on that…?" Blake asked quietly. Coincidences happened, obviously, so how had Nora-
"You just admitted it, by your reaction." Nora grinned, "Just now. Wasn't sure until I saw your reaction."
"You… Are an absolute fiend." Blake muttered under her breath, shaking her head wearily.
"Yeah, and you're apparently a friggin' princess, which… I'm not going to deal with right now." Nora smirked, shaking her head like she was trying to physically throw the thoughts off somehow. Going on, she sighed more wistfully and said, "Because that is a whole convo between you an' me an' the kiss an' a lot of excited squealing. And how hot is Menagerie? I hear it gets bad, sometimes."
"It can, especially during the rainy season." The humidity was awful between the storms that swept the island, and the temperature itself was painful, almost. "But, uh… Why?"
"I mean, I'm aiming for a lot more'n one little smooch." Nora grinned, "Figured I should ask ahead before I meet the folks. Do y'all bow there? Do I have to?"
"Okay, first of all, no… We don't do that there." Blake rolled her eyes, fighting the heat that crept up her neck and adding, lowly, "Second… Let's go back to talking about the Fang, please. Somehow that is less stressful…"
"Oh, come on now, I don't want you to be stressed out!" Nora whined, lifting a hand and wiggling her fingers with a teasing leer. "How about a massage to relax? I'm a gearhead so I'm great at that sort of stuff."
Blake just groaned and ignored her, sighing at the… Was that an innuendo? It seemed like it, but she didn't know for sure. And since she couldn't ask, she moved on, "I… Got a message from an old friend in the Fang. Or, well, more of a mentor than a proper 'friend' I suppose. But anyways, he wanted to warn me about something. Something that's coming up."
"What kinda something?"
"Something in here." She sighed, raising her Scroll. "I deserted, too, so… That's why I was being as careful as I was. Last thing any of us need is something fun hidden in a box. That'd be…"
"A stupid way to go out?"
"Yeah." Blake snorted, "Yeah, it definitely would be."
"So, what's the plan, then?"
"I was just about to find the problem out when you got here." And threw a few dozen wrenches into the whole ordeal, she left unsaid. After a moment, she forced herself to scoot to the side and bobbed her head at the spot beside her, against the tree, and said, "Join me?"
Nora's eyes twinkled a bit as she hopped up and over, joining her as Blake slid open the Scroll and looked for the right file…
She found it quickly, labelled 'shopping list', and frowned when she opened it. It was a list alright, as she'd expected, and put right on the home page. 'Hiding in plain sight' as so many of their instructors in the Fang had said. Quietly, she read out the entries, "Two hundred assorted canned foods… Wire cutters… Fifteen sets of plastic cutlery and… One hundred hard-lead pencils and outflow plumbing pipes, plumbing fasteners and duct tape. What on Remnant-"
"Bullets." Nora cut her off, making Blake blink and turned to her. The woman was frowning, with an arm draped around Blake's shoulders, as she leaned in. "Empty out the cans and melt' em down for casings. You can hammer some into a stock and handle, too. Tape and fasteners will help with that. The pipe is obvious. They're… Making a pipe gun."
"A pipe gun?" She'd heard of those, of course. Shoddy little crappy things poorer gangs would make so they had something - because a bullet was a threat to a civilian, even if the 'gun' was liable to fall apart as soon as you used it. "But… Why?"
"To kill someone. A civilian, probably, since you only ever get one or two shots out of them. Most make 'em and seal 'em with the bullets inside, so its a simpler build…" Nora hummed, "That many cans, they're making a few. Fang has ways to get guns, yeah?"
"Of course." From Menagerie, gun runners in Mistral, and successful raids they could loot after the fact, guns were easy enough to get. "Why?"
"Because that means the Fang wants a bunch of disposable guns, pistols and shotties if I have to guess, for one job to hit civilians…" Nora explained, "This many, I dunno who they'd-"
"The Council." Blake gasped, suddenly putting it all together and frowning. "It's an election cycle starting a few weeks from now. They should be holding meetings and conferences about it…"
"But Faunus are banned from those…"
"They are, yeah." She sighed, shaking her head and closing the Scroll with a shaky hand. Standing, she said, "But I know someone that can blend in with Humans perfectly. She did it for years, in Atlas of all places…"
"Yeah?" Nora stood, too, holding out her ribbon and her beanie both from where Blake had set them. "Who?"
"Ilia." She frowned, taking the items, "An old friend…"
"Ahhhhh…." Nora hummed, pacing ahead of her and talking over her shoulder, "Betcha I'm cuter!"
"Nora…" Blake sighed, before she realised just how much like Ren she sounded and pursed her lips. Putting that aside, she said, "I don't make a habit of thinking about how… Cute my friends are."
"That isn't a no~"
"I hate you."
"Sure you do~" Nora giggled, bouncing away without another word while Blake lingered in the treeline. She gave the ribbon and the little hat a look, for a moment, running her thumb over the latter for a moment before she sighed and stuffed the ribbon in her pocket. Some part of her wouldn't let her just get rid of it, not after he had given it to her, but…
The silk was much nicer on her ears, and warmer, too.
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Lea :
Tell me about it. Sure would be a crazy idea to ask an asexual single plantoid to write it, huh? XD
Geralt Rex :
*avoiding eye contact*
Imperial sama :
That song was stuck in my head for two hours BOTH times I read that review…
Dinoguy :
Yep! Everything is just… Working out so well right now, isn't it? SO very, very well…