Chapter XIX: Wishes
After Ruby and Weiss showered and the Bees were done unpacking, all residents of the building gathered in the kitchen, where Ruby served everyone her apple pie; even Tai joined in, dropping by to say hello and tease Yang a little about her trip. He also took that opportunity to wish Blake all the best.
Zwei was there, too. Even before she looked, Blake had stiffened in her seat as soon as the pup poked his head into the kitchen; she remained motionless as the corgi slowly waddled straight in her direction, all the while looking her dead in the eye. He came to a halt about a foot away from her legs, and the two of them held a little staring contest for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, he let out a single bark, causing Blake to bounce up on her chair.
She fixed the pup with a half-hearted glare. "You little..." Leaning over, she grabbed the dog by the blubber on the sides of his neck and joggled Zwei a bit in retaliation.
They ate then hung out for about half an hour or so before Tai excused himself to prepare for the evening out in the city. Ruby got to working on dinner and the girls continued to chat inside the kitchen.
At some point later on, Yang left for the bathroom, leaving her teammates for some time. The sound of conversation had quietened down a bit by that point; Ruby was busy with adding something to the dish she was working on, Weiss was mostly minding her Scroll, while Blake was noshing happily on her third serving of the cake. Suddenly, a doorbell chimed in the house — two quick rings, with the second one cutting off the former.
Blake stood up from her chair. "I'll get the door." Before leaving the table, she snatched what remained of her piece of the pie in her fingers and popped it inside her mouth; dusting the powdered sugar off her hands, she made her exit.
Ruby's eyes followed Blake out of the room, after which she shared a conspiratorial smirk with Weiss. "Please do," she singsonged, smiling to herself as she set everything aside and went to rinse her hands in the sink.
In the meantime, Blake opened the door. She'd been expecting to stand face to face with some colleague of Taiyang, or maybe Qrow; imagine her surprise when on the doorstep she found none other than Coco and Velvet.
Grinning at Blake from her wheelchair, Coco seemed to revel in the clueless look Blake undoubtedly had painted all over her face. "Hi there, love. We've heard there was a party here and just couldn't stand the thought it'd go on without us. Happy belated."
Surprised but not about to complain, Blake stepped out of the house and leaned in for a hug, then extended the same treatment to Velvet. After she pulled away, Coco picked up a relatively large, colorful paper bag she had kept tucked away behind her wheelchair and offered it to Blake with a smile. "From our team. Mine is the big one in beige paper. I'm sure you'll find some use for it." She lowered her glasses a bit and gave Blake a highly suggestive wink. "Be creative."
At that remark, Blake directed a nervous look towards Velvet; for one reason or another, the tiny, sheepish smile she got from her in response did nothing to alleviate her concerns.
There was a faint, barely audible even to her cat ears sound of somebody moving in the room behind her; sensing she was being watched, Blake turned around and looked inside, realizing that it was Ruby. The girl stood on the opposite side of the room, leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen with the general disposition of a person who'd just succeeded in an act of good-natured mischief.
Blake tilted her head and fixed Ruby with a long, incredulous stare; from her brows through her eyes to the upwards curve of her mouth, every aspect of Blake's expression was just dripping with the wordless question of 'really?'. Not that she wasn't pleasantly tickled.
"Ruby..."
The girl in question playfully stuck out her tongue, then pushed herself off the wall and lazily walked over to the front door. "You do give me too much credit, though. This idea was all Velvet's," she said, crossing the doorstep.
"She ain't lying," Coco confirmed, clearly entertained, then spread her arms open and reached out in Ruby's direction. "C'mere, kiddo."
Ruby gladly complied. In the meantime, Velvet reached for one of the two canvas bags that were hanging off the handles of Coco's wheelchair; loaded with what appeared like a couple of containers wrapped in aluminum foil, it seemed actually quite hefty, and there was a soft clinking noise when Velvet picked it up.
After Ruby was let go, Velvet smiled and handed her the bag. "And here. For the lady of the house." Ruby let out a short laugh at that term, slightly abashed.
"Wouldn't that be me?" Yang's voice chimed in from within the house. "I'm the eldest here."
Coco snorted. "That'd mean you're in charge of making sure your guests are entertained and well-fed. They let you into the kitchen yet, blondie? Clearly not, since the house's still standing. I heard stories," she fired.
Yang stopped in the main entrance and leaned against the door, nonchalantly crossing her arms. Smirking, she cocked one eyebrow at Coco. "You do remember who was responsible for setting up the prom after somebody didn't make it on time?"
Coco grimaced, but ceded nonetheless. "Touché, if a bit of a low blow. But that's okay," she said, twisting around in her chair and reaching for the other plastic bag; bottles of alcohol in various shapes and sizes clanked against one another, clearly visible through the see-through plastic, "since you're still my favorite drinking buddy." She offered the bag to Yang with a small, somewhat theatrical bow, as if bearing gifts to nobility. "This is for you."
Yang opened the bag and took a gander at its contents before giving Coco a lopsided smile. "Drinking buddy, huh? That's what I've been downgraded to?"
Yang hadn't actually taken offense, but Coco's demeanor softened slightly nonetheless and she brushed her hand lightly against her forearm. "Don't take it personal hun; let Ruby run her show." As she said that, she turned to the girl in question. "I'm guessing mead and cider are up your alley?"
"Cider's alright. Never had any mead."
Coco grinned at that. "You're gonna love it, girl," she promised, and her enthusiastic smile made Ruby a smidgen uneasy. "Just mind how much you drink — that thing really sneaks up on ya. You can't really taste the alcohol that much, and so one moment you think you're sober, the next you find yourself struggling to cobble together a sentence any more complicated than 'oh crap'."
In that moment, another voice joined in on their conversation. "It's not a sentence," Weiss pointed out, peeking outside from behind Yang
Coco tipped her head in recognition of that remark, for some reason looking very smug about being corrected. "My point exactly, dear Princess."
Weiss let out an irritated huff at the sound of the nickname and rolled her eyes at the grinning Coco, but said nothing. Yang, in the meantime, moved aside so that Weiss didn't have to peek over her shoulder.
Now that Coco was able to clearly see Weiss' attire — a slightly loose beige sweater and a black skirt — it gave her a bit of a pause. She took a long, hard look at her, and though Weiss wasn't able to see her eyes, she could tell that a judgment was being passed.
Eventually, the court ruled in her favor. "Not a bad look on you, Schnee. But admit it, you weren't the one who's picked it. Not nearly overpriced enough."
"No," Weiss readily admitted, her lips curling into a smirk. "But I have picked a ballroom dress for Ruby."
The two of them kept looking at one another in dead silence for a good couple of seconds before Coco said, or rather demanded: "Show. I know you've got the pics."
"Maybe later tonight," Weiss replied, to which Yang opened her mouth in silent outrage and pointed at the her with the free hand, looking at Blake in disbelief. Noticing that, Weiss turned towards Yang, amused. "What? She won't get to see it at the ball."
Yang just threw her left arm up and pushed past Weiss, carrying the liquor inside the house; Ruby, snickering, followed her sister into the kitchen, leaving Weiss and Velvet to help Coco get inside — a task that did not prove to be particularly troublesome.
Once everyone was inside and the things the two guests had brought were put away for the time being, their group gathered in the living room, with Ruby popping in and out of the kitchen while wrapping up the cooking. Blake considered opening her gifts, but Coco suggested to leave it for now, 'for when she would no longer be sober'; Blake complied, though she did give Coco a long, wary look while putting the bag away, convinced now that the 'big, beige one' would contain some gifts of the embarrassing variety.
Some twenty minutes passed on idle chatter when Ruby, who was then sitting on the armrest of Weiss' armchair, got a call.
"'Sup?" Her smile soon fell off her face as the person on the other end carried on; before long, she found herself pinching the bridge of her nose as she continued to listen, noticeably holding back a sigh.
"They got lost, didn't they," Weiss said in a deadpan voice.
Blake looked at her in confusion. "Who's 'they'?"
Yang, who had gone to get something from her room and was just then going back down the stairs, chimed in. "Sun and Neptune," she explained and for some reason turned right around, heading back up.
Taken aback, Blake snapped her head to look at Yang. "Wait, you were in on this, too?!" she questioned in disbelief, but, before she could get any answers, Yang once again disappeared upstairs.
Blake was genuinely amazed; out of their whole team, Yang was probably the least subtle, and yet somehow Blake hadn't caught a single whiff that something was up. It probably also meant that Yang's input had been limited, since there was no way she would be able to contain herself otherwise, but... still.
In the meantime, Ruby got up and was in the process of tying her shoes, holding her Scroll to her ear with her shoulder while trying to establish where the guys were at. "...You already passed by that large rock to the right of the path? Cool, go back there and wait for me. See ya."
Just as Ruby ended the call and finished tying her shoelaces, Yang reappeared atop the stairs, Crescent Rose in her arms; once Ruby pocketed her Scroll, Yang tossed the weapon over the railing for her sister to catch, which Ruby did with ease.
"Thanks." Already on her way out, Ruby gave everyone one last look. "Can someone turn off the stove? Be back in a few." With that, she was off.
"And what did she need her scythe for?" Coco questioned once Ruby was gone and Weiss had headed to the kitchen. "She gonna murder them, or what?"
"There are Grimm in the area," Yang said matter-o-factually, plopping on the couch beside Blake.
Velvet sent a look of surprise her way. "That close to the town?" She had her Anesidora with her, but it seemed that she had brought it more out of habit rather than expecting to actually have the need to use it.
Yang shrugged. "Well, not usually, but it happens."
"Huh," Coco hummed thoughtfully. "And there I was, thinking that Patch is boring."
"Just on most days."
Another ten or so minutes passed when suddenly someone vigorously knocked on the door, mere moments after the first droplets of rain had pitter-pattered against the house's windows. As soon as Blake opened the door, a young man with a blue hairdo barged inside as if a wild beast had been chasing him.
To his credit, Neptune recovered back to his usual self right away, greeting Blake and handing her his gift as if nothing had just happened. By the time he finished wishing Blake happy birthday, Ruby and Sun — who was carrying two bags with what seemed to be snacks and more booze — had also arrived. Ruby had let Vasilias wrap up, then clapped her hands to get everyone's attention as she went on to address the whole room.
"So, who wants dinner?"
A choir of voices replied, and so Ruby got to work without delay.
With Velvet having offered her help, the prep-work did not take Ruby long; while the two of them were bustling about the stove, reheating the food Ruby had made in advance — as well as some of what Velvet had brought — Weiss and Yang were setting the table. A couple of chairs had to be fetched from upstairs, but, before long, the food had already been served and everyone got to eating.
Many praises were sung of the two chefs that day; especially Velvet's croquettes turned out to be the stars of the show, a position contested only by the greatness of Ruby's cake that both Coco and Sun could not stop fawning over.
The group lingered in the kitchen for a bit after everyone had their fill, chatting idly, before eventually moving back to the living room. Yang pulled out two cushioned stools from the cupboard under the stairs for the guys to sit on. Soon, snacks and a bunch of glasses in various shapes and sizes were brought and set down on the table; before the alcohol could flow, however, Ruby got another call and smiled. Shooting Blake a glance, she said: "I think this one's to you."
Blake just raised her brow at that, to which Ruby, without a word of explanation, accepted the call and put it on the holo-TV in front of them.
No sooner had Blake laid her eyes on the display than a loud 'happy birthday' blasted from the speakers, causing her to bounce up on the couch. Her surprised expression quickly went away, replaced by a touched smile once she recognized the faces of Jaune, Nora and Ren grinning at her from the screen, huddled over a Scroll. She sighed and threw Ruby and Weiss a brief but meaningful look; when the two friends just replied her with nonchalant shrugs, she turned back towards team JNR.
While Blake was occupied with the call, Weiss used the distraction and moved in to inconspicuously retrieve a package tucked away inside a chest by the entry door. She lingered for a while just behind Blake, hovering over her until team JNR all fell silent, cluing Blake in that something was afoot; Blake finally looked up, only to let out a short laugh when a large gift bag was lowered onto her lap from over her head.
Since team JNR were visiting Jaune's family out of Vale, they couldn't be there for Blake's birthday, but had contacted Ruby and Weiss beforehand and made certain arrangements regarding their gifts. When Velvet had put forth the idea of throwing a surprise party for their favorite bookworm, Ruby had given JNR a heads up and coordinated with them so they could have some presence, if limited, at the party.
Blake looked at the surrounding her smiling faces with a goofy grin, appearing as if she was about to cry while her head swayed from one side to the other in disbelief. "You guys..."
Before Blake could get too mushy, Ruby stepped in and adeptly lightened the mood by out-of-the-blue blowing an obnoxiously purple party pipe and causing the birthday girl to break into laughter.
Others jumped in on the call, turning it into somewhat of a of a free-for-all; even some of Jaune's sisters popped in for a bit to say hello. The chatter continued for about a quarter of an hour after that, before JNR, having been summoned for dinner, bid their goodbyes.
The alcohol slowly went into motion after that; as bottles of beer and cider were being passed around the table and first caps could be heard popping off, Taiyang appeared from upstairs, with Zwei hopping down the stairs just behind him.
"Hi there, gang," he greeted everyone with a friendly wave. "Don't mind me, I was just going to grab something to eat before heading out." A discordant chorus of 'good evenings' and other 'helloes' replied him in kind.
"Hi, sir," said Sun, before going a step further then the rest of his friends and asking, "Why not come and sit with us?"
That took the Taiyang by surprise. He seemed initially apprehensive, but relented when a couple more voices joined in. "Ah, alright, I guess I still have a while. Just give me a moment." With that, he retreated into the kitchen.
"Feel free to nab anything from the table," Ruby called after him.
They had left plenty of leftovers in the kitchen, in case someone felt peckish later in the evening, and there was certainly more than enough to share with one more person. Giving his daughter a thumbs up, Tai disappeared in the other room.
In the meantime, Zwei — never being one to let a good rub slip by — trotted to the group seated around the coffee table, stealing the spotlight away from the alcohol; he waddled from one person to another, giving everyone their opportunity to pet him until eventually ending up in Velvet's lap.
After about five minutes, Taiyang got back from his pillaging of the kitchen. Crossing the doorstep, he wiped his hands with a paper towel before crumpling it in his fist and lazily tossing it across the room, where it bounced off the wall and into the trash bin.
"So, who cooked the fish?" he asked with amiable curiosity, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder.
Velvet lifted her hand a bit. "Um, that would be me," she said, smiling meekly.
"My compliments, then."
Velvet, though slightly bashful, beamed at that remark. "Thank you."
Yang scooted closer to Blake, making her dad some room on the couch between herself and Velvet. Once Tai took his seat, Neptune opened a beer for him and leaned across the table to hand it over. In the meantime, since not everyone had received their bottle before they all had gotten distracted by Zwei, Coco took it upon herself to rectify that on her side of the table.
Taiyang leaned back on the couch and took a swig from his bottle before looking around at the others. "Why would you young'uns want to hang out with an old geezer like me I don't know, but eh, why not." He then gestured towards Sun with his bottle, giving him a half-heartedly stern look. "Just don't call me a 'sir'. You're not my class and I'm not that old. Tai's just fine." He then noticed Coco passing a bottle of cider to Ruby and fixed the young miss Adel with a long, silent stare.
Uncharacteristically, Coco tensed up in an instant. "May she...?" she asked with just a hint of nervousness, the bottle she'd been offering Ruby frozen in her hand.
After a second that must've been dragging off for way too long inside Coco's brain, Tai's inscrutable expression eased into a grin and he chuckled, dismissively waving his hand. "It's alright. Just don't get her blackout drunk and you won't hear any complaints from me." He glanced at Ruby, smirking. "Let's leave vomiting and bitter regrets for when she's legally an adult, shall we?"
Ruby snorted, taking the bottle from Coco's hand. "I think it's already too late for the bitter regrets, but thanks," she said and brought the bottle to her lips.
Coco was quiet for a spell, a thoughtful expression not leaving her face while she had her eyes fixed on Taiyang. "Y'know, you seem pretty chill about it. Not what I would've expected from a teacher," she eventually noted.
Tai, who was about to take another swig, paused and thought about it for a second. "Huh. I guess I am," he said, sounding almost surprised by the idea. "It's just that I always believed it'd be for the best if the girls never felt that they needed to hide anything from me. If being a teacher has taught me anything, it's that kids can be really crafty once they make up their mind; if the girls really wanted to pull something off behind my back, they would succeed, eventually. And you know what they say: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That way I can supervise and step in if they ever try to do something really stupid. I'd rather let them get drunk in a safe environment," here he made a broad gesture, vaguely pointing at the house, "than have them go grab a beer at some seedy bar." He looked around the table, pausing on Yang for a brief yet meaningful moment. "As for drinking specifically, I'm rather confident they know better than to make it a habit." With that, he took another sip.
Coco gave him a quizzical stare, probably wondering what made him so sure; before Tai could even notice the silent question in her eyes, Ruby replied in his stead.
"Our uncle used to have a serious drinking problem," she said flatly, giving Coco a wry smile. "Let's just say it wasn't pretty."
"Oh. Sorry."
Ruby shrugged. "He got it sorted out for the time being." Rather than dwell on the matter, she left it at that, getting back to sipping her cider. No one pressed the issue.
The next quarter of an hour went by; Tai got asked a couple of questions regarding the situation at work, then briefly interrogated the guests in turn about their plans for the months that were to follow. Eventually, at the request of the youngsters, the conversation veered towards the old adventures of team STRQ, but before Tai could get into some real detail, it was the time for him to go. After getting told to say hello to Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck, he was off for his night of drinking.
Ruby and Yang picked up Tai's story from where he'd left off, finishing it to the best of their ability from what they'd heard from him or their uncle. Once they were done, Coco clapped her hands together and, leaning in, happily announced that since everyone had loosened up adequately, it was high time for Blake to start opening her presents.
Most of the gifts, while certainly welcome and appreciated, were what Blake would expect. There were quite a few books, some sweets, some cosmetics, some jewelry, and a rather cute woolen hat that accommodated for her ears, hand-made by Velvet. Her courage wavered a bit when she went on to open the gift from Coco; choosing to ignore the menacing grin Coco had on her face, Blake steeled her resolve and looked inside.
Surprisingly enough, most of it was pretty normal: a book, some high quality eye pencils and perfumes, a neat bracelet... but the star of the show, the crowning jewel Coco was so proud of, was far less so, and only the two full glasses of mead kept Blake from reddening like a ripe tomato.
In all fairness, Blake had been expecting something more... explicit. What she got instead was a set of beautiful — and very sensual — lace lingerie, with garter belts, ribbons and many other things that made it look so elaborate it could almost pass for a cosplay.
Blake was speechless, but Yang summed up her thoughts rather neatly when she joked, "I thought it was Blake's birthday, not mine?"
Once all the gifts had been unpacked and properly thanked for, Coco began postulating for drinking games. Yang eagerly jumped on board, and the two of them eventually coaxed the rest of the table — those who needed coaxing, anyways — into playing. After some debate — and explaining the rules of various games to those not in the know — they settled on Never Have I Ever, though Yang had been pushing hard for truth or dare.
To go easy on those unaccustomed to drinking, mead was nominated as the poison of choice for the night. 'Unaccustomed to drinking' apparently meant mostly Ruby and Weiss; it was admittedly a bit of a shocker for teams RWBY and SSSN to learn that Velvet was no stranger to heavy drinking, but when Yang voiced her surprise, Coco assured her that her teammate would drink Yang under the table if challenged.
"Always the quiet ones, huh?" Yang teased, causing a small blush to color Velvet's features. Said blush only grew in size when Coco just nodded sagely, giving her friend a long look.
While Yang was going about setting up the table, Sun rummaged for a bit in the bags he and Neptune had brought. Having found what he'd been looking for, he placed a carton of juice in front of his teammate, all the while giving Vasilias a shit-eating grin.
Coco eyed the carton in surprise. "Grapefruit juice?" she asked, staring Sun in the eye over the rim of her glasses and giving him a puzzled look.
Sun shrugged innocently, but his smug grin never left his face. "I figured you'd want to play some drinking game, and since Neptune can't drink booze, I made sure he'd have a good enough substitute."
Coco's eyes shifted to Neptune, fixing him with a stare. "You can't drink?" she asked, though the tone of her voice made it clear that she found the claim dubious; it barely sounded like a question.
Neptune brought his mouth into a narrow line, giving Coco a tight-lipped, lopsided smile. "Nope. Doctor's orders."
"Haven't I just seen you down two bottles?" Coco questioned. In response, Neptune, still smiling wryly, turned around one of the empty bottles sitting on the table, bringing Coco's attention to a big '0%' on the label. "Oh. Alright," she let out, raising both of her hands in a gesture of ceasefire and settling back on her wheelchair. Slowly, a teasing smirk crept onto her lips. "Hope you like grapefruit juice, then."
Neptune just sighed, certainly not appearing as if he was looking forward to what was to follow.
"Well, since you're not drinking, maybe I could get the fireplace going?" Ruby suggested, glancing at Neptune. "You'd have to watch over it though."
"Yes please," Coco agreed eagerly; apparently the room was slightly colder than she would've liked.
Neptune had no problem with becoming the firekeeper for the night, and so Ruby quickly got to work.
Before long, flame crackled cheerfully in the fireplace. With drinks poured into empty glasses, various snack bowls already refilled, and music put on the speakers, everyone got comfortable in their seats and their game got started.
Since it was Blake's birthday party, she got the first go; the turn order was then to go clockwise, along the couch to Yang and Velvet, then to Coco on her chair, Neptune and Sun across the table, to Ruby perched on the armrest of Weiss' chair, and finally ending on Weiss herself.
"Never have I ever... been in a bar brawl," Blake started. To no-one's surprise, Yang reached for her glass and downed its contents; across the table, Sun did the same.
Coco looked at Sun, both slightly surprised and amused. "Now, Yang I get, she's got a 'brawl' in her job description, but you Sunny boy? Naughty."
Sun just laughed at that. "You do remember I'm from Vacuo, right?" He threw his arms up, then pointed at the two representatives of team CFVY accusingly. "Hell, I've got no idea how you guys made it in there without getting into one."
Velvet giggled and then exchanged meaningful looks with Coco, who ceded.
"Fair enough."
With the next turn belonging to Yang, she pondered for a second what to say. "Never have I ever been shot down."
"Pretty tame so far," Coco remarked, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Like, romantically you mean?" Ruby went on to ask.
Yang rolled her eyes at her sister. "No, like in a bullhead," she said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "Of course I mean romantically, dummy."
"Hey, it'd make a difference!" the 'dummy' fired back.
In the meantime, the boys looked at one another, then wordlessly clunk their glasses together and bottomed out their drinks, with Neptune cringing visibly as he gulped down his juice.
Coco watched them with an air of genuine sympathy about her. "Ouch." The guys just shrugged, refilling their glasses and getting ready for the next round.
Velvet looked at the glass she held in her lap, as if searching for inspiration in the amber liquid poured therein. "Never have I ever... been sneaky about checking somebody out," she said eventually. Not counting Velvet herself, Ruby and Yang were the only ones who did not down their drinks — though Yang had contemplated doing so for a moment.
"I really don't think you needed to drink that round, Princess," Coco spoke, amused, causing Weiss to quirk her brow at her.
With a cheeky smile, Blake took it upon herself to explain. "You're not sneaky, Weiss."
Weiss blushed profusely at that remark, but bit back her embarrassment and turned to Coco in an attempt to deflect. "And what about you, Coco? Who have you been checking out?"
Coco just smirked at that, pushing her sunglasses up her nose; rather than respond, she took advantage of the fact that it was her turn in the game and said: "Never have I ever walked on two people having sex."
Coco probably wasn't expecting much, which was likely why she lit up as if she'd just hit a jackpot when Ruby and Weiss looked at one another and reached for their mead. Overjoyed, Coco turned her eyes towards Blake and Yang, savoring the expressions of red-faced embarrassment that pointed to them as clear culprits.
Glass in her hand, Weiss suddenly hesitated for a moment. "Does it count if—"
Giving Weiss a lopsided smile, Neptune, ever-helpful, cut in before she could finish. "If you have to ask, the answer is probably 'yes'." He lifted his own glass in a small toast and drank it, with Ruby and Weiss soon following suit.
Coco could barely contain her laughter, but managed to do it in an impressive display of effort and self control. Taking a deep breath to collect herself, with an almost straight face she turned to Yang and Blake and gave them a stare of faux disapproval. "You two should feel ashamed, exposing our pure sweetheart to your debauchery," she scolded them.
"Oh they exposed to me alright," Ruby deadpanned.
That did it for Coco; it tipped all scales, flipped all tables and was the boulder that broke the poor camel's back, causing her to burst out laughing so hard that she almost keeled over in her wheelchair. Rest of the table soon joined in on the laughter — even Blake and Yang, after the initial wave of their embarrassment had come to pass. There was no one there who'd judge them, and, in retrospect, the whole thing with getting caught was more silly and stupid than actually traumatic.
Having fixed the beret atop her head just before it could slide off, Coco dried off the tears of laughter off her face. With a wide grin, she looked at Ruby and leaned forwards, clasping her hands pleadingly in front of her. "Ruby, girl, I love you. Marry me."
"Get in line, Coco," Blake warned playfully, shooting a sideways glance at Weiss.
To Weiss' credit, the manner in which she'd just rolled her eyes at that quip, without sparing Blake even a single look, was impressively unimpressed. 'Not even denying it, huh? You go, girl.' Ruby was also completely unbothered by the exchange, laughing lightly at the teasing and Coco's joking proposal. On the other hand, Velvet, though still amused, had a certain air of tension to her that stopped Blake from fanning the fire any further.
The game carried on for a couple full rounds after that; some prompts were uninspired, some of the spicy variety, but most were what you'd expect from a drinking game between a bunch of fast friends. Somehow, no respect was lost, and some even was found.
"Never have I ever played an instrument," said Blake at some point, making Weiss, Neptune and Ruby empty their glasses.
Coco was lazily resting her chin on her hand; she had at some point taken the lead in terms of mead ingested and mellowed somewhat, calming down and enjoying the show while she herself took a bit of a back seat approach. When Ruby drank that round, Coco livened up a little and leaned in, looking at the girl with interest.
"My my, does that mean that our prodigy Huntress has even more talents than I thought?" she almost purred, not quite sloshed yet but definitely quite tipsy. There was the usual Coco issue of teasing in her voice, but Blake perked up at the subtle, flirtatious note she thought she'd noticed in that quip. "So, what can you play? Don't be shy."
Ruby was about to go into damage control mode and dismiss the whole thing as not that big of a deal, but before she could do that, Weiss chimed in with her own two lien.
"She plays guitar," she sold her friend out. Ruby immediately directed a throat cutting gesture at her, but Weiss, encouraged by the alcohol flowing in her veins, didn't take it seriously; her sly smile undamped, she went a step further and asked, "Why don't you sing for us?"
"So you sing, too," Coco immediately caught on and grinned. "Come on, sing for us."
That plea quickly turned into an impromptu, off-key chant of sorts. For a good couple of seconds Ruby didn't want to budge, but eventually caved as more people jumped in on the bandwagon, getting up with a loud sigh and going upstairs; while she was gone, the music was put on mute in anticipation of the performance.
Ruby got back a short moment later with a guitar in her hand, returning to her spot on the armrest of her partner's chair; as she put the body of the instrument on her knee, she and Weiss looked at one another for a brief moment; rolling her eyes at Weiss' smile, she took a deep breath and started playing.
They see you as small and helpless,
They see you as just a child
Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild...
It was a song at least some of them were familiar with from the radio, though Ruby's voice and acoustic performance made listening to it into a relatively fresh experience. After the last cord came to pass in a couple of minutes and Ruby set down her guitar with a small bow of her head, a round of eager applause followed. A few voices spoke all at the same time, with their comments and praises mixing into an incoherent noise, save for one that spoke over the rest.
"Is it me being drunk, or is she actually pretty decent?" Coco asked, looking around for someone to validate her opinion.
"I think she got some chords wrong in some places," Neptune remarked, but nonetheless nodded with a soft smile, "but yeah, not bad at all." He turned towards Ruby and pointed at her guitar, holding out his hand as he asked: "May I?". Happy to get the attention off herself, Ruby passed him the instrument without a second thought.
Though Weiss shared the others' generally positive sentiments, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. "It wasn't the one I heard you sing the other day," she complained to Ruby in a hushed voice while the attention of others was focused on Neptune, who was busy trying to get the feel for the instrument and occasionally tweaked the tuning a bit.
"That's what you get for setting me up," Ruby whispered back, then stuck out her tongue at Weiss before looking away to watch Neptune. There was a slight edge to her words that hinted at genuine displeasure, and the way she'd put it made Weiss feel bad for being so underhandedly pushy.
She lowered her blue eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, earnestly apologetic, quiet enough so that just Ruby could hear her.
Ruby didn't reply or even look her way, but her soft sigh told Weiss that she had heard the apology; after a brief while, Ruby stretched lazily, eventually resting one of her arms on the backrest of Weiss' armchair; it wasn't much to go by, but it felt like a conscious, open gesture — the opposite of crossing one's arms in a huff — that made Weiss exhale a small breath of relief.
When Neptune finally started playing, it became clear within seconds that he knew what he was doing. His fingers plucked individual strings at an impressive pace, and he even found a way to simultaneously beat out the rhythm of the cheerful melody he was playing by striking the body of the guitar with his palm, treating it like a drum. Soon, Ruby started clapping to that beat, and some others joined.
Neptune was clearly taught, and taught well. It was easy to imagine that at least a part of the reason why he'd learned playing was to impress the ladies... and impress the ladies he did that evening, even if — sadly for the poor man — none of those present were interested in him that way. Nonetheless, after he finished the piece, he took the well-deserved ovations with a satisfied, smug smile, knowing that his past effort was not entirely wasted.
Turning towards Weiss with a grin, Ruby pointed at Neptune energetically, as if to illustrate her point. "Told you I'm nothing much!"
Their drinking game was left by the wayside as Vasilias got asked for an encore, a plea he eagerly acquiesced. By the time he played the song again — and a couple more pieces before the audience was satisfied — no one still remembered about their unfinished round of Never Have I Ever, and everyone fell back into the rhythm of a casual conversation while music played in the the background.
While initially everyone took part in the chatter, it slowly began to fizzle out as some people found other things to occupy themselves with, such as Ruby finishing off a bowl of chips, Velvet — who moved off the couch to play with Zwei by the fireplace — or Yang, who pulled out her Scroll.
To that latter option, Coco took offense. "It's bad optics, sitting on your Scroll during a party, Blondie." She then craned her neck in a vain attempt to see what Yang was doing. "What are you looking at?"
"Just browsin' through the list of available hunts in the area," Yang replied off-handedly. "Can't spend the whole six months just sitting on our asses, you know? We'd get rusty."
"You've got a Huntsman that'd supervise you?" Velvet asked, prying her eyes away from Zwei and turning them towards team RWBY. "I mean, your dad must be pretty busy, and it's not like you're allowed to go at it on your own."
At that, Yang exchanged awkward looks with the rest of her team. "Heh, about that..." she started, rubbing her neck. She glanced at Ruby, who was frozen with her hand in the now almost-empty bowl; saying nothing, the girl simply gestured with her chin at the device in Yang's hand. With her team leader's blessing, Yang made a few swipes at the screen of her Scroll and handed it over to Coco.
Coco accepted the offering with a clueless look, only to stare at it silently for a while; though no one could see her eyes, the position of her brows made it clear to everyone that they were open wide.
"Sonuva..." she let out under her breath, then looked at the four members of team RWBY, her schoolmates and — as she'd just learned — licensed Huntresses. "When? And how?"
"'For exemplary service'," Ruby replied, doing quotation marks in the air before chuckling awkwardly. Sheepishly avoiding eye contact, she scratched the side of her nose. "As for when, back when we've been in Atlas. So about a year ago?"
Coco was silent for a moment before speaking. "And you didn't think of letting your good pals know?" She was displeased. Not angry, no... but disappointed, and maybe slightly hurt. Without ever moving her stare away from Ruby, she passed the Scroll to Sun and Neptune.
"I... guess?" Ruby replied weakly, so distracted by her guilt and inebriated state that she actually scratched the back of her head with her greasy, covered in spice and crumbs hand. "It just never came up, and it wasn't that important either."
Coco scoffed. "Not important my ass." She gave Ruby a stern look, but eventually eased up and let out a sigh. "Well, guess that explains why they let you boss everyone around during the Battle of Vale. Until you gone and poof'd, anyways."
Ruby nodded stiffly, a faint shadow of pain crossing her face. They had indeed left the others when Cinder made herself known on the battlefield, using Ruby to try and lure the rogue Maiden as far away from volunteering students and civilians as possible. They hadn't rejoined the battle after Cinder had been... taken care of, and two days afterwards they had set out for their great Witch hunt. Back in Vale the battle had continued, ending only when Salem no longer drew breath; by the time that had happened, many people had lost their lives or — like Coco and Neptune — been badly wounded.
Coco hadn't meant her 'gone and poof'd' as an insult, nor had it been an attempt to blame team RWBY for anything, but it still managed to pick at a fresh wound: though Ruby and the others had been needed elsewhere, it was hard for them not to wonder if some of that pain could've been prevented if they stayed, no matter how illogical of a thought that was.
There was a moment of silence, after which Velvet fully turned away from Zwei and the fireplace and sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at Ruby and her team. "What are you guys even getting back to Beacon for, then?" Other guests seemed to consider it to be a good question, as all silently turned towards Ruby and her teammates.
Ruby gave Velvet a lopsided smile, then glanced at others. "Do you want the pragmatic answer, or the actual answer?"
Coco exchanged meaningful looks with Velvet and the boys to make sure they were all on the same page, then turned back towards Ruby. "Both sounds good. But let's start with the pragmatic one."
Weiss was the one to oblige them. "We might be way ahead as far as the practical aspect of being a Huntress goes, but fighting Grimm and criminals is not all they are teaching at the Academies, is it?" she spoke. "Long story short, we decided it'd be for the best to complete our education."
"And the actual reason?" Sun prodded.
"We miss Beacon," Blake confessed, with the other members of the team backing her up with nods or quiet murmurs of affirmation. "You could say we just want to get back the carefree youth we've been denied when the Academy fell. It won't be the same, we know... but it's better than nothing."
Coco considered that answer for a second, then nodded seriously. "Yeah. I get it," she said quietly, sounding somewhat distracted as she uttered those words.
"How's that even going to work, then?" Neptune asked, looking away from the Scroll in his hand and onto team RWBY. "Are your licenses going to get revoked, or...?"
Ruby laughed and shook her head. "Nah. We'll be free to pick any missions we'd like and have at it without any supervision," she explained. "That said, I've been rather explicitly instructed that it 'cannot interfere with our studies', and that 'school must come first'. So no, 'we've been on a hunt' won't pass for an excuse as to why we skipped Professor Port's class."
"Well that kinda sucks," Coco remarked in a flat tone, getting a couple quiet chuckles from others. Yang's Scroll returned to her hand, and so she passed it to Velvet, who'd since gotten off the floor and was standing next to her. Coco then leaned back on her chair and, resting her chin on her hand, turned her attention to Ruby in particular; slowly, a tiny smirk made itself apparent on her lips. "So, tell me kiddo: how does it feel to be the youngest licensed Huntress in history?"
That caught Ruby completely off-guard; taken aback, she actually needed a moment to process what Coco had just said, squirming a bit under the fellow leader's expectant stare.
"It does sound big when you say it like that," she let out eventually along a short, disbelieving laugh. She glanced at her teammates, who appeared similarly stunned by the notion, but were slowly starting to nod their heads along. Breathing out another shocked laugh, She brushed her bangs off her forehead and up her scalp, with wide eyes staring absentmindedly at the table taking up the middle of the room. "Man, I've never thought about it like this, but it really seems like I'm the youngest. Damn."
"You go, Rubes!" Sun cheered on.
Since Coco still appeared to be awaiting her actual answer, Ruby took a moment to try and gather her thoughts before responding. "Honestly, it doesn't feel much different. Though part of it is probably that it doesn't even feel real."
"Ditto about it not feeling real," Coco deadpanned, then threw her head back and let out a long groan. "Ugh, I don't think I'm ever gonna live down the fact a kid like you outranks me. Life's not fair."
"You have no idea," Yang laughed.
Suddenly growing serious, Coco put on a thin-lipped, grim smile as she turned Yang's way. "I think I might have a clue," she calmly disagreed. She then leaned forward and grabbed the now-nearly-empty bottle of mead from the table, pouring what was left into her glass. Having lowered her shades so that her eyes were visible, she met Ruby's gaze and raised a silent toast. To that, Ruby also refilled her glass from a different bottle and replied Coco in kind.
No one in the room — save for Velvet and Ruby — knew what exactly Coco had had in mind by saying that, but it was clear to everyone that there was a bond of mutual, tacit understanding between the two team leaders. None found it appropriate to ask the two for explanations.
The remaining three members of team RWBY looked at each other briefly, each understanding the implied message — that Coco had the general idea, perhaps even better than they'd think, what they'd been dealing with. That she understood just how unfair of a lot they'd been given in life, that they were not alone, and that she commended Ruby for seeing her team through it all.
Soon, the conversation returned to its previous, lazy and lighthearted tone. As more time passed and the night began in earnest, Zwei made himself comfortable in his dog bed, while Yang moved to sit on the floor, making room on the couch for Coco, who wanted to lie down for a bit. With Blake's blessing, Yang and the guys booted the console, starting an impromptu gaming tournament of sorts while the rest of the party sat back and watched; they tried to wrap Ruby into it, too, but she wasn't interested, and kept refusing even when her sister started to taunt her in hopes of riling her up.
Sometime past midnight, Blake excused herself for a moment and headed towards the porch to clear her head and breathe some fresh air; the inside was warm and somewhat stuffy, and while it wasn't unpleasant to be in at all, that ambiance was slowly beginning to put her to sleep.
She shivered when she cracked the porch door open, letting some chill inside. She stepped out into the darkness of the roofed veranda, inhaling deeply of the cold, fresh air; it smelled of resin and moist earth, and she couldn't get enough of it. Light rain continued to drum softly against the roof over her head as she swiped the water off the railing and leaned against the wet barrier, peering into the night.
Not much moonlight made it through the rainy clouds, but it was more than enough for a Faunus to see decently well. Few noticed it, but the forest was alive at night, even during rainfall; without even trying to search, Blake saw — and heard — a boar scampering through the underbush, as well as an owl hiding inside a small hollow of a nearby tree.
Lazily watching the forest around the house, Blake let her mind wander, thinking of the day that was slowly coming to an end, and the previous day, and of her past, and of tomorrow, and of all the days that would come after... and she couldn't help but smile at the warmth those thoughts brought to her chest. At some point of her reverie, she must've lost the track of time, getting so absorbed by her thoughts that she nearly didn't notice the soft squeak of the porch door opening behind her.
"Trying to sober up?"
Blake turned around to look at Yang. She was standing in the doorstep, leaning against the frame as she watched Blake with a teasing smirk. Light from within the house lit up her blond hair, making it appear like an angel's halo; with Yang's looks and big heart, Blake didn't think the comparison was far off.
"Excuse me, I'm perfectly sober," replied Blake in a playfully offended tone. When confronted with Yang's slightly raised eyebrow, she rolled her eyes and ceded. "Alright, I might be a tiny bit tipsy. But I'm fine. Just enjoying the fresh air. What about you? Won the match?"
Yang grinned. "You know it." She stepped out onto the porch, not bothering to close the door behind her. Stepping next to Blake, she rested one of her elbows on the railing as she peered into Blake's eyes. "So, what did you wish for on your birthday?" she asked, standing close enough to Blake that the other could smell the sweet scent of alcohol in her breath. Meaning really close.
Blake smiled, her eyes lingering for a second on her girlfriend's lips before once again meeting Yang's lilac gaze. "I'm not telling you. You know it's bad luck," she replied, feeling rather cheeky in the moment.
"Alright, alright," Yang chuckled softly and let it go, then smiled at Blake in the darkness; her left arm brushed lightly against Blake's side, slowly wrapping around the small of her back. "Did you at least enjoy yourself?"
"Did I enjoy myself?" Blake repeated, incredulous, and laughed lightly, then shook her head and gave Yang the biggest, most toothy grin she could muster. "It's the happiest I've been in a very, very long time."
"Good," Yang said quietly, then leaned in and closed the pesky gap separating their lips.
The kiss tasted of honey. It was deep and kind of sloppy — which probably was proof enough that they were both more drunk than they thought — but above everything else, it felt absolutely perfect, in every way imaginable.
To Blake, moments like those were infinitely more intoxicating than any alcohol could ever hope to be; more thrilling, more likely to lead her to losing herself in the bliss. Thankfully, before she could get really worked up over the situation, a drop of chilly water fell behind her collar, instantly cooling her desire and making her shiver in her girlfriend's arms.
Sadly for Blake, her shivering caused Yang to break off the kiss. "Shall we head back? It's kind of chilly," she asked, ever-considerate.
Blake flashed her a brief smile to assure her that it was nothing. "You go ahead. I'll stay here for a while longer," she said. As much as she hadn't felt drunk when she initially stepped out onto the porch, right in that moment she was positively lightheaded, and thus could use some crisp air to cool her head.
Yang didn't press the issue. "'Kay." As Blake once again turned to face the forest, her back to the wall, Yang took off her own jacket and draped it over her girlfriend's shoulders; as Blake turned to thank her with a smile, Yang leaned in and placed a light kiss on her temple. "Don't stay too long." With that, she stepped back and walked through the door to rejoin the others.
Once Yang disappeared inside, Blake let out a soft sigh of relief. 'That was close...' she thought to herself, feeling her cheeks redden slightly. She had been slowly getting in the mood there, which would've been most unfortunate, since they were apparently supposed to share the room with Ruby and Weiss that night, to accommodate the guests somehow. It wasn't a problem... but it could've been, if not for that chilly blessing in disguise.
She spent another five minutes listening to rain as it pitter-pattered against the house. Once she felt sufficiently clear-headed, she glanced over her shoulder through the glassed door to check up on what the others were doing.
The party seemed to have died down. Velvet was absentmindedly listening to the lazy conversation going on between Yang, Neptune and Sun while Coco was lying in her lap; Velvet looked rather satisfied with her lot in life in that moment, despite being visibly tired. Coco had her beret covering her face, which made it hard to tell for sure, but Blake was inclined to believe that she'd passed out at some point. Zwei had been long since gone, lying in his dog bed belly-up.
A half-empty glass in her hand, Ruby was standing behind Weiss' armchair, leaning over the backrest and hovering above Weiss, with the latter looking up at Ruby as they held their own private conversation. At some point since Blake had left the room, Weiss must've let her hair down — or perhaps Ruby had done that for her — and now her alabaster mane was flowing freely down her arms. As they talked in hushed voices, both of them smiling softly, Weiss was playing absentmindedly with the tip of Ruby's ponytail that dangled to the right of Weiss' face like a cat toy on a string.
A couple different words crossed Blake's mind as she watched those two from the shadows, and a smile crept onto her lips. Words like warmth, care, closeness, trust, affection, devotion...
Words like love.
But Yang was right. Finding love was their path to walk, and theirs alone. This — watching from the sidelines and rooting for them — was the most Blake herself should be doing, and though the thought still irritated her somewhat, there was little doubt in her mind that those two would eventually find it... giving her full and non-revocable rights to say 'I called it'.
Besides, just observing those two dorks was fun in its own right. Frustrating, yes, but fun.
Getting ready to head back, Blake once again looked at the entirety of the group gathered inside the living room — her friends and loved ones, who'd come there for her — and thought back to the wish she'd made in that nice café the day prior, then stepped back inside the building.
'May we all find happiness'.
Eventually, the time had come for everyone to call it a night. After doing some minimal cleaning — that is, moving all the stuff from the living room to the kitchen — the party officially dispersed to prepare for bed.
The sleeping arrangements Ruby had worked out beforehand with the guests entailed giving Coco and Velvet the guest bedroom, while the guys would sleep on the couch in the living room; team RWBY would all bunk together in the other bedroom.
Coco got the first turn in the bathroom; Yang carried her upstairs, then, once Coco had changed, helped her get to bed. Velvet ended up being the only one who decided not to forgo showering that night, willfully placing herself at the end of the queue. Soon, everyone save for her got their turn, leaving the bathroom all for Velvet.
Standing in the door to the guest room and leaning against its frame, Blake, already in her nightwear, was chatting with Coco and the rest of team RWBY while they were all waiting for Velvet to finish showering; the boys could be heard having a separate conversation downstairs. Coco, Yang and Weiss were sitting on their respective beds, while Ruby, bare-foot, was resting her back against the wall of the upstairs corridor.
After some fifteen minutes or so, Velvet finally left the bathroom, dressed in an oversized brown tee and black shorts that nicely showcased her slender legs. Her long hair was wrapped in a towel, though some of it was spilling outside in a rather adorable manner; she tied the towel so that it accommodated for her ears, which was probably partially responsible for the dubious structural integrity of her head covering.
"The hair dryer should be somewhere in the upmost drawer, if you need it," Yang informed her.
Velvet gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks." Turning around, she called down the corridor, slightly louder so the boys downstairs would hear her, "Night, guys!"
The rest of the group then took their cue from her. Waving team RWBY goodnight, Velvet slowly made her way past Ruby to the guest bedroom; as she was about to pass by Blake, the fellow Faunus winked at her in the most suggestive manner she possibly could, leaving Coco to wonder what the hell did Blake do to cause such a profuse blush to blossom on Velvet's cheeks.
Blake and Ruby walked into their bedroom and closed the door, both of them shaking with mirth.
"Whichever one of you two had the bright idea to put Coco and Velvet in the same bed: I'm really not sure whether you're an evil genius or a glorious angel," Blake said.
"I don't think Velvet herself could decide that, either," Weiss commented, getting a small laugh from Blake. "Besides, it is the most logical arrangement possible."
"True," Blake admitted, crawling onto the bed behind Yang and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders.
Before they could further discuss the subject, their team leader clapped her hands to cut off any and all attempts to do so. "Sleep," Ruby commanded. She then jumped over the footboard of the other bed, throwing herself at Weiss, who yelped in surprise as she got tackled onto the mattress. Ruby then just lied there, partially atop Weiss, pinning her to the bed with her shoulder and about a half of her body.
"Ruby? Would you mind getting off me?" Weiss pleaded after a couple of seconds, when it became clear to her that Ruby was not going to budge anytime soon.
"Not wanna. Tired," Ruby mumbled, her sweet-smelling breath tickling Weiss' neck as she spoke. The answer was rather suspicious, coming from someone who just moments before had had enough pep in them to pounce over a fairly tall footboard, but, to Ruby's credit, she did sound pretty spent.
"You'll get cold," Weiss tried to reason.
"You're plenty warm though."
Under different circumstances, Weiss would indeed start feeling her face getting hotter by the second, but, at that point, she was thankfully too drunk and tired herself to be bothered. She couldn't really see Yang and Blake from her position, but judging by the sound of the two of them snickering, she was on her own in getting Ruby off of her.
"Please? I'd rather sleep under the blanket." For the best results, Weiss put her arms around Ruby — as much as she could with her limited freedom of movement, anyway — and wrapped her in a half-hug, lightly stroking the back of her head. She felt she was taking a bit of a risk there, since it was about as likely to coax the girl into compliance as it was to give her yet another reason not to move, but Weiss was willing to take that gamble. If it wouldn't pan out, she'd just gotten into a better position to throw Ruby off.
"Fiiiine," Ruby let out in a drawn-out groan, rolling onto the side and letting Weiss go.
The two of them then fumbled with the sheets for a bit, eventually succeeding in finding their way under the blanket. The bed was easily big enough for them to share without it being cramped, so they didn't have any problems finding a comfortable position without getting in the other's way. Once they were both tucked in, Yang put out the light and the room was drowned in shadows.
For the next few moments, only soft rustling of the sheets and the faint drumming of the rain on the roof could be heard in the darkness. Then, Blake spoke, just but loud enough for Ruby and Weiss to hear.
"Thank you," she said simply, meaning it from the bottom of her heart.
Ruby and Weiss looked at one another in their bed and shared a small giggle. "You're welcome," both of them replied.
They all laid in silence after that; tired out and with alcohol coursing through their veins, they needed not to wait long before the restful, dreamless sleep overcame them.
It had been a good day, and a night to match would soon follow.
Author's Note:
Remember y'all — first eat, then drink.
Hi there, peeps. Sorry it took slightly longer than I've expected, but there have been some delays with my uni for the reason you might all easily guess. That said, I'm now officially a free man. Ten thousand words wouldn't be enough to say how done I was and how glad I am to finally be able to move on, so rather than waste my breath I'm just gonna get back to creating.
I'd like to be able to say that I'll be posting more often from now on, but that remains to be seen — I've got a business to set up. That said, AtS still remains a passion project of mine, so at the very least I will try to be more consistent with updates. Hope you enjoyed this one. See you around!
And yeah, yeah, I know that in the US the legal drinking age is 21, but I decided to go with the world's average of around 18-19 for the purpose of AtS, at least as far as Vale is concerned; don't think it's been established in RWBY's canon.