Chapter Ten

-X- -X-

Yang was tired of getting up late already.

Getting out of bed later these past couple of days had let her and Ruby get away with a lot more exploring than they might otherwise and between Saphron's surprising support and their own efforts the two of them had actually been enjoying their time here with a lot less trouble than they expected, all things considered.

Still, getting up nearer to mid-day and going to bed in the early AM simply wasn't coded into her and the sudden shift had been a little bit of a shock to the system, something that amused Ruby to no end – apparently her sister thought she was some kind of party animal despite her constant fighting with the younger girl for the shower every morning.

Still, she'd come to realize that she wasn't built for this kind of night-life quickly and even with those few moments together she had to acknowledge that the sooner they got to Atlas and got their own rooms the better.

"At this rate I'm gonna end up nocturnal like you." She spoke aloud without thinking and Blake paused mid-step to shoot her a dirty look. Yang winced. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I know."

"…Are cats nocturnal? I've always been a dog person so-"

"Yang." Blake cut across her, lips twitching as she quietly cleared her throat. "I'm pretty sure that cats aren't much more nocturnal than dogs."

Yang slowly nodded, mulling over the things the two animals had in common as she followed the other girl. "So, where are we going again?"

Blake's brow furrowed and amber eyes narrowed at the blonde. "To check on your bike." She murmured lowly and Yang shot her a cheeky grin. "Yang, just… Stop." She finally sighed, rubbing at her forehead.

"Alright, sorry." Yang chuckled, stuffing her hand into her pocket and whistling as she upped her pace and fell into step beside her teammate.

Feline ears twitched atop her head and Blake absently eyed her as she slouched. "So, you and Ruby have been having fun?" She pressed, raising an eyebrow as the blonde blinked. "You two have just been touring the city so much these past couple of days we were starting to wonder if we'd ever see you again." She teased.

Despite their fight against Adam or perhaps, at least in part, because of the fight, the faunus had been much more relaxed over the past couple of days and as Yang took in her casual half-smile she felt herself begin to smile in response. "Yeah, we've been trying to catch up on lost time – visiting the arcade, seeing some movies, eating crappy food and brushing up on her hand-to-hand. Y'know, the usual."

Blake nodded, humming as she digested the information. "Has she improved?"

The image of a head of red-black curls smashing into her chin came to mind and Yang's smile grew into a full grin. "Yeah. She's getting the hang of things, got me right in the chin with a headbutt at one point."

"I would've liked to see that."

Blake chuckled and she shot her a suspicious look that the other girl met without hesitation. "Yeah, yeah, Laugh it up. Maybe I'll ask her to give you some one-on-one weapons training." She threatened and much to her amusement Blake's smile wilted slightly.

Despite her petite stature and innocent demeanour Ruby was a force of nature when it came to using that scythe of hers and when it came to training the redhead definitely took things seriously. These days even Yang only asked for a sparring match when she was feeling particularly adventurous.

The two paused as a garage door came into view and Blake stepped back as she pulled out her keycard, scanning it and staring into the small space with eager anticipation. "There you are!" She crooned, dashing forward and wrapping both arms around the mechanical frame. "I missed you baby."

Blake cringed as she watched the grown woman kneel to gently caress her motorcycle's metal chassis. "Do I… Really need to be here for this?" She casually asked, discomfort clear in her posture.

"Aw, don't be like that!" Yang huffed, patting the side of her bike one more time before she climbed back to her feet. Amethyst orbs glimmered as she examined the beauty of a machine and reluctantly she nodded. "I just needed to make sure everything was alright. Think I'm gonna need a tune-up when we get to Atlas though." She confessed.

The words were hidden from the vehicle by a hand held flat to the side of her mouth and Blake furrowed her brow, regarding the blonde like one would a particularly strange animal in the wild. "Okay." She said, shuffling on the spot. "Well, I'm glad everything's on the up-and-up. Now what about training?"

The casual reminder of the second item on their agenda shook Yang from her smitten examination of her baby and she quickly nodded as she stepped back, following the other girl from the room and sparing a brief moment to run her eyes over the sleek yellow-on-black frame of her most valuable material possession. "Soon." She promised and once more Blake shot her a queer look, letting up only when the blonde finally closed the door. "So, where were you thinking?"

After a moment's deliberation her teammate pursed her lips, tilting her head as she squinted towards the ocean. "How about the cliffs? The weather's actually nice enough for once."

Yang hummed, acknowledging her point even as her gaze wandered across the entrance gate of the city. "Sure, why not?"

The trek up to the cliffs overlooking Argus wasn't a long one and Yang actually felt pumped to finally be sparring properly. Aside from a few hand-to-hand lessons with Ruby and some basic shadowboxing and workouts the brawler hadn't actually had a chance to "stretch her legs", so to speak – this was definitely not an opportunity she was willing to miss out on.

The blonde spared a brief moment to admire the distant sunset before beginning her stretches. "Hope you're ready." She teased, casually rotating her arm in preparation. "I'm not gonna go easy on ya."

Blake regarded her with a bemused smirk, for once choosing to forego her usual stoicism and raising an eyebrow mockingly. "That's good, I'd hate for you to go down too quickly."

In lieu of a response Yang cocked her artificial arm, the sharp clack of an ejected shell echoing loudly and with a vicious grin she shot forward, already twisting away from the answering ribbon and throwing a sharp right that quickly transitioned into an uppercut and quickly the two girls fell into a routine.

After another set of punches failed to land Blake pushed off her heel, darting past her with a burst of speed. "So, do I have you two to thank for Jaune's sister deciding to take me under her wing?"

The query was laced with the usually broody girl's amusement yet Yang still stumbled and immediately she pounced, a jab that lacked real force landing on her stomach and hastily she pulled back. "Dunno what you're talking about." She quickly denied, leaning away from a particularly fast high kick. "Maybe she just noticed how lonely you've been lately. You've been reading a lot lately." She pointed out, raising an eyebrow as the other girl scowled slightly.

"I like reading by myself." Blake retorted and she couldn't quite dodge the hook that caught her across the cheek.

Her aura negated the damage easily and she chuckled as she shook her head, simultaneously shaking off both her teammates blow and her words. "Right, I get that. But I also know that you've been brooding since we got to Argus."

Blake's scowl lightened somewhat and she sighed as she fell out of her combat stance, relaxing as Yang took the unvoiced ceasefire for what it was. "I was just… Caught up on the past I guess. After Adam…" She paused, a flicker of regret flashing in her amber irises. "After Adam I've been better though. I think… I needed closure." She finally decided, nodding to herself as Yang reached out to pat her on the shoulder.

"Well I'm glad you've been feeling better. I have to admit I sorta had the same kinda thing when I saw Ruby using her eyes against that giant grimm." Yang confessed, pursing her lips as her sister's exhausted form flashed before her. "The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?" She voiced and Blake raised an eyebrow at the wistful nostalgia in her voice.

"I suppose so."

She hummed and Yang blinked, shaking herself from her memories and punching the other girl lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, how about we spar for a few more minutes and do some target practice? The arcade has some good ones." She offered.

Blake shifted, eyeing her for a brief moment before she smirked, patting her on the shoulder in return. "Thanks, but I think it's a little too late for that now; you and Ruby have been getting up too late for me even." She joked and Yang cracked a half-smile.

"Well, if that's the case then maybe we can save the training until we get to Atlas and just… Relax." She decided, absently pressing her hips and admiring the loud crack the action earned.

Her teammate winced. "Y-yeah, sounds nice to just be able to calm down and not have to worry for once." She admitted. For a brief moment the two just stood there, silent in a way that felt more comfortable than Yang could have anticipated.

Staring off into the still-descending twilight of the night's sky and registering the other girl's stare, Yang had the fleeting thought that as nice as the view was it really didn't have anything on the rural majesty of Patch. "Home really is where the heart is, huh?" She mused aloud and vaguely she noticed Blake nod, the motion so small as to almost be non-existent.

"Yang… Can I ask you something?" Blake piped up and despite the calm in the air she felt her shoulders tense at the clear nerves in the other girl's voice. "Back before… Not Adam, but Argus maybe? Or… I don't know. Before we got to Argus it felt like there might be something…"

Yang hesitantly chanced a glance at the girl to see her nervously playing with her hands, gaze cast downwards and although she felt a momentary concern for her she pushed through. "Blake… I won't pretend there wasn't something there." She confessed and Blake's ears perked in tandem with the rest of her body, a glimmer of something resembling hope glimmering in her amber eyes. "But I think a lot of it was just that I was afraid of things changing. I'm… Not the person I was even a year ago. I don't-"

She cut herself off, unable to quite voice the thoughts floating around in her head yet if anything that seemed to relieve Blake even more. "I get it." The words were bitter yet she could hear the clear relief in the other girl's voice. "I'm glad I didn't imagine it though, I was worried I might be…"

'Imagining things? Going crazy? Or…' She finished the half-formed sentence without much thought and suddenly realized just the problem might be. "Blake," She started and the faunus' eyes rose. "You're a good friend. No matter what happens you know we aren't going anywhere, right?"

Yellow orbs flitted across her face and slowly she could see the tension leave her teammate's shoulders, a fond smile tracing her lips. "Thanks, Yang." She whispered.

The two settled into a quiet respite and while she knew that this might not be enough to completely silence whatever it was that Blake felt for her she knew that it was a good start. She just hoped that was enough.