It might have been around 2 AM, Blake wasn't quite sure. What she was sure of, was that she couldn't sleep very well, and nothing helped her in that situation more than taking a walk.

Peering over at the sleeping form next to her—looking at her, it was like she had a needle stuck into her chest and the blood was simply flowing out. A slow, aching throb took over, insisting Blake to get out of the tent already and get away from.. That feeling.

Her brow furrowed, side-eyeing her surroundings as she tried to escape the area to have some time to herself.

… Unfortunately, she couldn't escape the flurry of memories that took her by storm in that one moment, and she recalled the events just hours before.

The kiss started out slow—Oh, slow it was, until their pace picked up to keep up with their hearts. Blake had kept her place above Weiss in a trance-like state, connecting and reconnecting again and again, never stepping past that invisible line… But Weiss' hands began to beg the question, and the shaded night of the tent took over her senses as she furtively slipped her fingers past the hem of Blake's shirt.

Blake's breath hitched, but she didn't move. She held steadfast to the heiress, wondering if she'd really take it further than they'd meant for it… Her answer came soon enough in the form of a wondering nip and lick at Blake's bottom lip.

And out of sheer surprise, she drew back.

So she watched with dismal helplessness as Weiss' expression melted from arousal to annoyance—Maybe even disgust.

"Blake, get off me."

"Weiss, I—"

"Get off of me. Now. Please."

She expressed an angry but apathetic stare upon reaching the climax of the memory, and she shook her head to rid the thought. "I can't believe that happened. I can't believe—Ughh, why did this happen… I'm an idiot."

It was true, the both of them were locked in a passionate moment at the time, and though Blake was completely unsure as to whether or not things were going smoothly or not—She wasn't even sure how or why it happened—Perhaps when she drew back, the action had inadvertently snapped Weiss out of the daze and she chose to cut the experience off forthright. For that, Blake silently scolded herself…

Or, so she thought she scolded herself.

She couldn't exactly explain why her feelings were caught in a tumultuous spin cycle at the moment, and maybe it was because she really liked Weiss. Either that, or.. she didn't like Weiss.

Hm. Maybe that was it.

Blake folded her arms against the night chill and continued her trek through the wooded path up to the alternate overlook, wanting to get away from the campsite for a while. She let out a breathy sigh as her boots crunched over stray twigs and leaves. She glanced up through the trees at the sky, which was lavishly splashed with the twinkling of stars.

"Ah, that's gorgeous."

She rubbed her arms up and down to generate a little heat as she marched up the path. She thought a little more about Weiss, and why their relationship seemed so rocky and uncertain.

To Blake, it was logical. She and Weiss fought like cats and dogs on the regular, and there weren't too many things they really had in common that she knew about, anyway. They came from two different sides of the tracks, and on top of all this? Weiss hired Blake as a stand in for a person that didn't exist, and while that was only supposed to last one day, she was roped into serving as the heiress' perfect girlfriend for another two weeks or so. Who wouldn't be strained under those circumstances? They were practically strangers, after all.

They… They were.

She had only known Weiss for.. what was quite literally, a few days. So why, then, Blake wondered, did she have such a freaking hard time just saying—

"I.. I don't like her. Not in that way. Impossible."

A preposterous thought shot through Blake like a bullet, but she grabbed onto the coattails and brought it back, focusing on idea of.. perhaps, she and Weiss naturally belonging together, despite the odds.

'No. No fucking way, the idea of—No, soulmates don't exist, what kind of childish thing is my brain mustering up now?!'

A sarcastic chuckle could be heard. No. That was totally silly. Stupid, even. Ha. To think she'd even thought of it.

Blake neared the top of the path, a little excited to discover the apparent overhang that was mentioned yesterday, wondering if the view was just as spectacular as the one next to the campsite.

Upon finally reaching the end, as figured, like the sight she saw from the wooded path, the sky was bountiful and bright with speckled points of light that contrasted the universe.

Like a soft wind chime, a polite voice rang out quietly into the night, "Guess I'm not the only one havin' trouble sleeping?"

It was Velvet, much to Blake's surprise. She was looking back on Blake, knees pulled to her chest as she sat near the edge of the outlook.

"I figured I'd be the only one up here, but I suppose not. Do you mind if I sit?"

"'Course not. I wasn't doing anything important, just… Just looking at the stars." Blake sat down, draping her arm over one propped up leg. "Sheesh. You eva wonder what it cost Winter to build that cabin up here? The way the view is, this part of Atlas must be a huge commodity. To think, they've got a lonesome little shack all the way out here; though it is breathtaking."

Blake huffed out an agreed breath, "That family has money, there's no doubt about that."

Velvet glanced at Blake from the side and pursed her lips in a knowing smile, "Speaking of… How are things with Weiss?" Blake was unaware that it was inherently Velvet's fault she was in this situation in the first place—but it didn't hurt that Blake remained unaware. It was a little more fun for her this way.

She noticed Blake's head drop into her bicep for a moment before picking up to answer, "Things are, uh. They're okay. I guess."

"You guess?"

"Th-They're fine. Completely. But, um.." Blake thought about asking for a little advice, in the whole roundabout way of "I'm asking for a friend" routine. "Do you mind if I ask you something else? Not about Weiss and I."

"Ask away. I figured you had somethin' to talk about anyway, the way you're up here."

Blake took a deep breath before continuing. It was.. unlike her, at the very least, to seek help on matters like romance; but it might be helpful to gain an understanding on Weiss' behavior from someone else for a change, rather than her own stubborn inner workings.

"I have two friends, you see. They just met recently, and they haven't known each other for very long at all—definitely less than a week or so," Blake drummed her fingers on the ground, wondering if she was approaching the issue properly. "It was, ah.. they were set up on a blind date, because a mutual friend thought they'd be perfect for one another, so there was already that expectation of romance present. One of my friends told me not too long ago, that they might have begun to develop feelings for the other friend, and now they're wondering if maybe, it's really what they think it is, or maybe it was just the fact that the atmosphere had been laid out for them. Aaand that they're having, I don't know, phantom feelings or something. That maybe, because they're practically strangers, that they couldn't possibly hold this much emotion for them in such a short amount of time." Blake ran her fingers over a loose pebble and sweeped it off the edge of the overhang.

Velvet wanted to roll her eyes jokingly, but she wasn't sure if Blake would catch that she was just teasing. She was rather serious at the moment. "Did your friends hit it off?"

"I think so. At first, well, they fought a lot. I mean, a lot. It's like they were from two different worlds, you know? But somehow they were still able to connect one way or another, and even through those differences, their bond grew," Blake glanced to the side, "At least, I'm fairly sure that's what happened."

Velvet wasn't completely sure how to answer, so she figured she'd hit it somewhere in the ballpark. "There are a lot of people who say you can't harbor deep emotions for someone in a short amount of time—"

"But isn't that true?"

"Ah, so you're one of those people, eh? Now I'm not sayin' you c'n up and fall for somebody off the get-go like that, just out of nowhere—but feelings are… Um. Hm. Liking someone, for me, Blake, isn't really measured all that much by time. You could know someone for a year an' still be on the surface with them, whether you want to admit it or not."

Blake was paying her full attention to Velvet, lifting her hand in a hypothetical fashion, "So then, what do you think it is?"

"Well," a look of pondering set itself on Velvet's face, "It's more of a depth thing. Y'know?"

"… I suppose I follow."

Velvet laughed at Blake's hesitance, "Say you were locked in a room with someone for a day. That's twenty-four hours right off the block. And say within that time, you two talked endlessly. Non-stop. You talked about everythin' in the world at that point! You know where their parents were born, you know that time when they were five and they scraped their knee fallin' off their bike, you know about their favorite book and their favorite type of music, and all the little things that people take for granted, like their favorite color or even their favorite flower—Suddenly you know their dreams and their aspirations, their fears and their pet peeves, their loves and hates… Where they see themselves in ten years. Heck, even just one year. Maybe even next week. Y'know? While you look at other people in the same situation, in another room of their own, and they chat it up for twenty minutes at most. Maybe said a few remarks here and there. Same amount of time, just different people. A different connection."

Even from upon the overhang, the ocean breeze gently made its way through the air, hitting Blake with a crisp, refreshing feeling of understanding.

Velvet continued, "Of course there are times where someone'll be all, 'oh I can't live without them!' and it's been, I dunno, a few days; I'm just sayin' that whatever it is your friend is feelin' isn't a bad thing, and it isn't wrong or presumptuous, hell, it probably just needs to be explored. Who knows, maybe it's the real deal? Love hits people in different ways, Blake, but it always has a constant."

She sighed happily, probably recalling her own experiences, "It's not even an emotion so much as a state of mind, y'know? A sort of crazy, dialed down version of being high… A form of socially acceptable insanity."

Blake stared at Velvet for a moment, repeating her last few words over and over again in her head. A form of… Socially acceptable insanity.

Huh.

And for a moment again, Blake's heart was released of its throbbing worry, even if it was only for a while.

"That's certainly an interesting way to put the concept of love."

"It's not a concept, Blake—" Velvet chuckled into the crook of her arm, "Why do you have to be so broody and aloof all the time? You know love happens, and it's real," she reached over and pushed Blake's shoulder.

"Hey, hey easy!" She joked along, "I don't think I'd like to go tumbling off this cliff, you'd be responsible. But you're probably right. I-In any case, I'll definitely tell my friend what you said. Yeah."

"If you say so!"

Blake looked at the woman appreciatively. She knew Velvet was level-headed, but she had no idea a simple talk with her could get her to feel almost instantly better. "Okay, so, enough about that. What about you, Velvet? You and Coco seem to be inseparable."

"I—" Velvet let out a laugh, "Well, we are somethin' aren't we. Coco and I are fine. She actually told me about this little mountain trip before Winter could let everyone in on it, and I was doubly excited. She knows how much I love nature, and I remember mentioning something about it to her one day, long time ago too, I think I said something along the lines of, 'It must be gorgeous to have a view of both the snow and the sea. Wouldn't that be magnificent? Where do you think a place like that exists?'"

Blake shifted so she sat crisscrossed, supporting her chin with a palm propped on her knee. She was somehow delighted to hear more about Coco and Velvet's relationship. She didn't know much of anything about either of them. "That's sweet. So she knew you'd love it here."

Velvet picked her head up to glance at the sky, biting her bottom lip gently before letting it go again, "She is sweet. She's the sweetest, and I love everything about 'er, though…"

"Though?"

She chuckled a bit. "Every couple has their issues, Blake, as big or small as they might be. Sometimes Coco can be very.. she has problems being honest with me, I think? I don't mean she lies or anything, it's just that I can tell when she's not telling me something she wants to. I'm not completely sure that's what it is, but maybe."

"What do you mean?"

Velvet took a breath and considered for a moment, "She knew I would have loved to see a sight like this. She knew it for a long time, and I know she had a hand in choosin' the location of the trip. The Schnees have several other getaways, Blake, why choose this one compared to a sunny beach paradise? An' she's said nothin' more of it the entire time we've been here."

To be honest, the rock they were sitting on was getting a little uncomfortable, and Blake tried her best to shoo away the annoyance by shifting again. She brought her knees up and draped her arms over them, grabbing a hold of her own wrist for leverage. "You want her to say that she's glad she's here with you, or.. even just to ask you if you like it? Something like that?"

"… Something like that, yes," Velvet groaned into her shoulder before looking at Blake, "I'm that easy to read, huh?"

"No, it's—I think I understand."

There was a long silence between the two. Velvet didn't have anything to say, and Blake was tiptoeing around what to say next.

The rustling of the trees didn't cease in the silence, and they were ever reminded of their surroundings, if the painting of the galaxy wasn't indicator enough.

Blake flit her eyes from the ground and out to the open sea; her deduction would sound frank, and she didn't want to seem assuming to someone she barely knew. She stayed still.

"It's.. hard."

Velvet turned her attention to Blake, "Hm?"

"When you really care for someone and you want to do something for them. I mean, for some people, it comes naturally, and without hesitation. Those types of people have it a little easier when it comes to intimacy, I would believe," Blake sighed, "When you don't really know what they'd say in reaction to wanting to do something almost solely for them, it's a little…"

She paused.

"Isn't it a lot harder saying 'I did this for you' than simply letting what happens, happen? You don't want to come off as weak or out of priority to the person you care about, so you pretend as if you didn't just save up all your money just to go and see them or that you didn't actually spend thirty hours tirelessly working on some big surprise or any number of similar.. events… It's difficult to find a balance, or even a perfect time to say something like that. What if you're too soon? Too late? Are you coming off strong? What if you get a negative reaction? Saying that you 'did this for them' almost sounds needy, even self-important, doesn't it? Given the corresponding circumstance. It's much easier to sit back and just watch. Of course, you do do these things for a mutual experience, something the both of you can enjoy, that much is undoubted; but sometimes you want to express that your plans ended up changing because of someone. And that's about as vulnerable as you could ever get—"

Blake hadn't realized she was staring at the same spot in the ocean for a while. "It's.. it's absolutely terrifying."

Velvet watched from the protection of her forearm. It wasn't surprising to her how insightful Blake could get.

"Especially if you don't know if that person feels as strongly toward you.. Your words are thrown into an unbreakable silence, aren't they?"

The crashing of the tide snapped Blake out of her rant. She looked at Velvet and hurried to correct her poor choice of words, "I-I don't mean—I know you and Coco care for each other, I didn't—"

"Blake!" Velvet cut in, "Blake. Don't worry, I know what you mean," she giggled, "I didn't want to interrupt your speech. It was very enlightening."

She was a bit embarrassed as she scratched her head, "I got a bit carried away. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry! Even from just that, I can tell you've got a lot of feelings. A lot of empathy. That kinda stuff doesn't come 'round too often. You did make me remember something important I had forgotten about my own girlfriend; she'll express herself when she feels the time is right, I just know it."

"… Really?"

"I was a bit bummed by it, but that's just her way. So yep, she'll come around."

Blake sat back, supporting herself by the palms of her hands, taking a deep breath. "Well this was a discussion I didn't think I'd have on top of a mountain."

"It was surprising, wasn't it?" Velvet paused, "But, Blake. Forgive me if I'm pryin' or anything, but you sure you're not upset over somethin' yourself? I want to know if I c'n help."

She considered coming clean to Velvet, but the thought was a passing one. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, though."

"No problem," she said in a half-grin. "Looks like both me an' your friend need to be a little bit more open with the people we care about. I should let Coco know that I appreciate her efforts.. and your friend should try an' tell the other friend that they care about them. You never know what'll happen. Not to sound like an old geezer, but—"

"Life is short, right?"

"Smartass. Right." The two share a lighthearted laugh over the matter, significantly cheerier than when they first stepped foot onto the overhang. It was lucky that they could confide so easily in one another, so perhaps this was one of those unspoken connections Velvet spoke about.

Though comforting and motivational as the conversation might have been, amongst darkened palette of the night, and the effervescent ghosts of false morale, the throbbing in Blake's chest did return; even if her hopes had been sprung anew.