The Vale Voice - Chapter 9 (Patreon)
Content
As soon as Sun spotted Blake by the door, he jumped to his feet and rushed over - holding his hands out in front of him like that would somehow calm her down.
“Hey, didn’t think you’d be back so soon!” he said before glancing around the room. “Uh, so like...I just wanted to try it out, and it kinda went haywire and started spewing foam all over the place…”
When he chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, she said nothing while staring at the office, where bits of foam stuck to nearly every surface. The desks, the cabinets, the printer, the walls...even the ceiling in some places.
“I’ll clean it up -” he began to say, but she cut him off with a firm shake of her head.
“Just go home. I’ll take care of it.”
For a split second, it looked like he wanted to argue. Upon thinking better of it, he nodded and raced back to his desk for his things and wisely took the foam machine with him so it was no longer in her sight. As soon as he scurried out of the office and shut the door behind him, she sighed and walked over to Yang’s desk.
“How long were we gone?” she asked while wiping a clump of foam into the trash can under the desk.
“Um...like twenty minutes?”
Twenty minutes...and he managed to do this. Imagine if it had been forty minutes, or an hour.
It was probably better if she didn’t think about that right now...
“You don’t have to stay.” Without waiting for a response, she grabbed a big trash bag from one of the cabinets, along with as many paper towels as she could find. Once she had those, she turned back to the office and felt her blood approach its boiling point yet again.
What a mess. Hopefully, the foam wiped up easily with the paper towels. It would take forever to do by hand...but it wasn’t like they could spray the entire office down with a hose.
Sighing once more, she set several rolls of towels on Velvet’s desk and tried to figure out where to start. Meanwhile, Yang pulled the trash can from underneath her desk and used her hands to scoop clumps of foam into it.
“You don’t have to do that,” Blake said, but Yang shook her head and grinned.
“I’ve always wanted to clean up a bunch of foam. You won’t take my dream away from me, will you?”
After staring for several seconds in disbelief, Blake let out a small huff and shrugged.
“Suit yourself.”
When Blake tossed a roll of paper towels across the room, Yang caught it and tore off several sheets before wiping foam off of her computer screen. Following Yang’s lead, Blake pulled off a few towels from her own roll and started cleaning off Velvet’s desk.
By a stroke of luck, Velvet had packed her camera in its carrying case for the night, but one of the lenses had been left out and was half-covered in foam. Blake did her best to clean it off, but only Velvet would know if it was damaged - it looked fine from outward appearances though.
Thankfully, if there was anything to be thankful for, the accident was recent and the foam sat mostly harmlessly on top of everything. But, regardless of how ‘harmless’ the end result might be, Blake silently stewed while throwing paper towel after paper towel into a black trash bag. After having a relatively productive day, this was the last way she’d wanted to end it.
Shortly after Yang moved on to Lola’s desk, Blake moved on to Victor’s. His notebooks were hidden underneath a pile of foam and were only revealed once she swept most of it into the garbage. After cleaning off his chair, she moved on to Brand’s desk, which had suffered from its proximity to Sun’s. His family photographs were buried by the large block of foam that looked like it was trying to eat his desk whole. And Sun’s desk...
Well, Yang grabbed a second garbage bag before starting Sun’s desk - or, more accurately, the mountain of foam where Sun’s desk had once been. At least he had the decency to point the machine at his own space…
“How did he ever think this was a good idea?” Blake finally said, breaking the silence as her irritation bubbled over. After wiping off a picture of Grizzell and Troy, she carefully set the frame back in its place and tossed the used paper towel into the garbage bag. “I mean, look at this!” Gesturing around the room, where foam still clung to the walls and cabinets, she dropped her hands and shook her head.
“Do I have to babysit him all the time?” she grumbled to herself. “You’d think he could take care of himself by now. Or at least not destroy the office in under half an hour...”
Another towel was flung into the bag, a little harder than necessary to voice her displeasure.
“He seems like a good guy though,” Yang eventually replied, catching Blake’s gaze and giving her a small smile. “At least his heart’s in the right place.”
The comment took a needle to the balloon of frustration in Blake’s chest, destroying the pent up irritation in a heartbeat.
“He is a good guy,” she agreed, walking over and holding open the trash bag while Yang scooped two armfuls of foam off of Sun’s desk. “But he can be the biggest idiot sometimes.”
Dumping the mass of foam into the bag and using a paper towel to dry off her arms, Yang chuckled. “Well, I can’t disagree with you there.” Pausing for a second, she gave Blake a sly grin. “By the way, you’ve had a little bit of foam stuck to your forehead for a while. I didn’t want to interrupt your brooding and tell you.”
When Yang gestured towards Blake’s forehead, she wiped at the spot and her hands came away with suds. Seeing them made her laugh - and Yang quickly joined in.
“It kinda looked like a horn,” Yang added. “It was really hard not to laugh.”
“Reflecting my mood, I guess.”
Suddenly feeling much more like herself, Blake shook away her remaining frustration and helped Yang uncover Sun’s desk. When all six desks were foam-free, the two of them moved to the edge of the room and cleared off the walls, cabinets, and printer.
The process was slow, but with two of them it went much faster than if Blake was on her own. They worked mostly in silence, clearing away as much white as they could before Blake found herself searching for the next bit of foam to clean. Standing in one place and slowly scanning the room, she sighed when she saw a clump living above one of the cabinets.
“I’ll get that -” she said, waving that direction as Yang spotted it too.
“Woah, wait a second. Maybe I should help you.”
When Blake pulled herself on top of the counter, Yang rushed over and looked genuinely worried about the situation. Even though the counter was small and Blake could easily slip, she didn’t feel a fraction of that concern.
“I’d be worried about you doing this,” she replied while walking along the edge of the counter and cleaning off the top of the shelves. Once they were clear, she hopped down and smiled. Yang’s response, however, was shock and just a little bit of awe.
“That’s so cool.”
“That I can stand on a countertop and not fall?” Blake asked. “Thanks, but I’m pretty sure most people can do that.”
“Are you sure? My sister can hardly step off a sidewalk without tripping herself.”
When Blake raised one brow, Yang maintained a stoically serious face and nodded. The expression was enough to make Blake laugh while tossing the last paper towel on top of the trash bag filled with them.
“Well maybe she can’t do it, but I don’t think it’s anything special.”
Taking a good look around the office, she found that everything was...normal. It smelled a bit different than usual, but the foam was gone. Nothing was seriously damaged - although she would ask Velvet to check that camera lens in the morning.
The crisis had been averted and only took a couple hours of her time. And Yang’s too, who surely had better plans than spending the evening cleaning up piles of foam.
“Sorry...” Blake said while picking up one of the garbage bags and tying it shut. “Things aren’t normally this chaotic, I promise.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could take them back. That sounded like an excuse - like an attempt to pander to Yang, and therefore Weiss. That wasn’t what Blake had intended to do at all. She merely wanted to express that things weren’t always this way. The office being inundated with foam was a rare, if not singular, occurrence - which, of course, happened while Yang was here.
Thankfully, Yang shook her head and smiled.
“You know what I’ve seen so far?” she asked while holding Blake’s gaze. “A really talented photographer; an owl who knows every word ever created; a well-intentioned, if not a little goofy, sports writer; and an editor-in-chief who cares nearly too much.” After shaking her head, Yang reached down to close the second bag and added, “It’s not a bad impression, trust me.”
And Blake did. Whether she should trust Yang remained to be seen, but it was hard not to believe the words Yang said.
“Well, thank you for helping,” Blake said, giving Yang a smile of gratitude.
“No problem. I’m glad you let me help.”
Sighing one more time, this one from exhaustion, Blake sat in Yang’s chair while Yang leaned against the desk.
“Have you ever seen so much foam before?”
In the midst of shaking her head, Yang paused and laughed.
“Actually, yes. I went to a party once - the entire house was basically a foam swimming pool.”
“Sounds like fun?”
Chuckling, Yang nodded and said, “Oh yeah. It was tons of fun.”
It felt like there was more of a story there, but when Blake caught sight of the clock hanging on the wall, she decided it wasn’t the time to ask for details.
“Sorry for keeping you so late,” she said instead. “Feel free to head home now. I can lock up.”
“Woah, woah, woah - but the night’s not over yet!”
Confused at the response, Blake tilted her head and looked at Yang for an explanation.
“What do you mean?”
Reaching over, Yang picked up the bag of food they’d brought back earlier.
“We still have to eat dinner!”
After looking between Yang’s smile and the bag several times, Blake asked, “You want to stay and eat?” and received an enthusiastic nod in response.
“You said this stuff was great,” Yang added. “Plus, I worked up a huge appetite cleaning up all that foam.”
Feeling that Yang wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer - and not feeling like saying ‘no’ anyway - Blake nodded and said, “Ok, then let’s eat.”
Thrilled by the response, Yang pulled the two containers from the bag and handed one to Blake along with a plastic fork. Hopping up onto the desk, Yang swung her feet off the floor while opening the other container and digging in.
“Wow,” she said after finishing her first bite.
“Do you like it?”
“Do I like it?” Yang repeated, catching Blake’s gaze with a smile that held the answer for the whole world to see. “I love it. This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten.”
Taking a bite of her own dinner, Blake chewed thoughtfully before swallowing.
“It’d be better if it was a little hotter,” she said, to which Yang shrugged.
“Maybe, but this is still fantastic. I’m getting lunch there every day this week.”
“Every day?”
“Yeah - why do you sound surprised?” When Blake didn’t immediately respond, Yang playfully narrowed her eyes. “You want me to bring you some too, don’t you?” she teased.
“I’m pretty sure that’s the rule,” Blake replied in a serious tone. “If you go there without me, you have to bring something back for me.”
Breaking into a smile and laughing, Yang nodded.
“You’ve got yourself a deal! Let’s just hope I can find it again.”
“I’m sure you can,” Blake replied before coming up with another tease. “Or you’ll get lost and I’ll have to find you.”
When Yang laughed, she leaned back on the desk - her posture displaying how much she enjoyed the conversation.
“But how will you find me?”
“Easy. I’ll just listen for the sound of a bumbling human roaming the streets,” Blake said while sending Yang a coy smile. “There aren’t too many of those around here.”
The comment was answered with another delighted laugh that put another smile on Blake’s lips.
“Then I’m lucky my rescuer has an extra set of ears.”
The instant the words left Yang’s mouth, Blake’s smile fell, and her feline ears flicked in surprise. Yang immediately read the response and her own expression filled with apology.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she rushed to say. “I didn’t mean to insult you or anything -”
“No, it’s...ok.” Shaking off the unsettling moment, Blake attempted a reassuring smile. “I’m just...sensitive about my ears. People don’t usually comment on them with good intentions.”
“No, really, I’m sorry. That was really insensitive.” Setting her food on the desk, Yang looked down at her hands and sighed. “I just...tend to make jokes and don’t stop to think about them first. Which I should really do.”
“Yang. It’s ok - please stop apologizing.” When it looked like Yang was going to protest, Blake raised a hand to stop her. “It’s really ok,” she reiterated. “Let’s just say that we’re both a little too sensitive...in one way or another.”
For several seconds, Yang considered the comment, again with her eyes telling more of the story than she likely realized. She still felt bad, or guilty, or upset with herself, but she wasn’t the type to keep pressing and risk agitating Blake with persistence. So, accepting the compromise, she smiled - and Blake did too.
“Are you done with that?” Blake asked, pointing her fork towards Yang’s carton on the desk.
“Uh, no.” Swiping the food back into her hands, Yang took another bite and grinned. “I’m eating this whole thing.”
“Good.” For a second, Blake considered leaving it at that but decided to add, “Then I won’t be embarrassed when I do the same.”
Hearing Yang’s laugh put Blake back at ease - an auditory assurance that things were back to normal between them.
After taking years of abuse over her ears, she’d grown hypersensitive to any comment about them, especially when that comment came from a human. It probably wasn’t in her best interest to be so easily hurt by simple words, especially when Yang’s remark had been playful. It was a joke. She needed to lighten up a little bit. Especially around Yang, who - despite her early reticence to believe - was nothing if not kind and accepting of each and every one of them.
“Can I ask you something?” Yang asked, breaking their brief moment of contemplation. “If you don’t mind.”
“Sure.”
“I’ve been curious. What got you into this?” Posing the question, Yang waved a hand around the office.
“This...as in The Vale Voice, or journalism in general?”
“Both. I have a feeling one led to the other.”
Thinking about the answer, Blake slowly nodded her head. “I suppose you could say that,” she replied, catching Yang’s attentive gaze and deciding it would be ok to tell this story. It would be hard not to when Yang asked so politely. “I’ve loved writing ever since I was in elementary school,” she began. “I wanted to become a world-famous author - writing novels that millions around the world would read.”
“Is that still what you want to do?” Yang asked, but Blake shook her head.
“How many famous Faunus authors do you know of?” she asked instead and watched Yang struggle to think of a name.
“I mean...I don’t really read much…”
“There aren’t many,” Blake answered, shaking her head when Yang met her eyes. “I figured out pretty young that my dream was always going to be just that - a dream. Even if I tried my hardest, even if I was a good writer, it would never matter because of these.”
When Blake waved a hand towards her ears, Yang’s gaze quickly moved up to them before dropping to her eyes again.
“What happened instead?” Yang asked quietly, her soulful eyes searching Blake’s for an answer.
“I…” The words ‘gave up’ walked across Blake’s tongue, but she shook them away and tried again. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do after that,” she admitted. “I kept writing all through school, but it was never more than a hobby. I joined a lot of Faunus causes - rallies and protests and the like - then one day I stumbled across an article that changed my life.”
“What was it?”
“A short editorial,” Blake answered, her mind conjuring the words for her as she thought about it. “It said that Faunus needed to stand up for one another using whatever skills we have. That each of us can contribute something towards bettering our lives, no matter how small. My only real skill was writing, so…” Trailing off, she waved a hand around the office.
That day, she figured out a way to make a true impact - a way to change the world beyond attending rallies and holding picket signs. Or, at least, a way to try to change the world...
“So you started writing for Faunus,” Yang said, still holding her food but not eating while she listened to Blake’s story.
“I can’t be a world famous author because I’m Faunus,” she replied, bluntly putting into words the source of disappointment she’d carried all these years. “I can’t do a lot of things because I’m Faunus. So many paths blocked, doors locked...the world always dictating what I can and can’t do.”
Frowning at her knees, she briefly clenched her fists before letting them go.
“If I’m going to fail, I want it to be because I’m not good enough - not because I’m not even allowed to try.” When Yang didn’t interrupt, Blake pressed on. “So I decided to devote my time to making more paths available to the people who came after me. I can try to make life better for Faunus who are still growing up or yet to be born. I want their dreams to be possible even if mine weren’t.”
When Blake finished speaking, Yang seemed at a loss for what to say. After opening and closing her mouth several times, she finally leaned closer to Blake with an earnest expression.
“So that became your goal - to change lives the way yours was changed by that article.”
“I...yes, I suppose you could put it that way.” The way Yang was looking at her right now made her vaguely uncomfortable. It almost felt like...Yang admired her.
“That’s…” Yang paused and shook her head before looking at Blake again. “That’s unbelievable. Do you realize how inspiring you are? I wish I had a sense of drive and purpose like you do.”
“I’m sure you have something you want to accomplish,” Blake replied, attempting to steer the compliment away from herself.
“Not really. My goal is to have a life filled with adventure and laughter. That doesn’t help out the greater good though.”
“Well...you’re still young. There’s always time to figure out what you want to do.”
“You have such a head start on me though.”
“I don’t believe it’s a race.”
“But isn’t it called a rat race?”
When Yang asked the question, Blake laughed. “Have you ever seen rats race?” she replied with a smile. “They’re actually very polite, and don’t like when people step out of their lane.”
For a moment, Yang stared at Blake in surprise - obviously not expecting the sudden topic change. Then a smile formed and she laughed, the sound making Blake smile on cue.
“I have not seen rats race,” Yang admitted with a shake of her head. “I just thought it meant that if I don’t know what I want to do, I’m already out of the pack and falling behind.”
“Not at all. You can always decide what you want to do.”
The two of them shared a smile before Yang - seemingly newly emboldened - picked at an invisible thread in her jeans and sent Blake a hopeful smile.
“I have another question if that’s ok.”
“I’m all ears,” Blake replied, waving towards her head and smiling when Yang looked temporarily stunned by the joke. But it worked - putting Yang more at ease as she settled in to ask her question.
“Ok, well, last night at the park, did it bother you - that I said we were friends?” When Blake’s ears twitched at the perceptive question, Yang continued. “I just got the feeling that it did. Like you didn’t want to be associated with me in that way. But maybe I’m reading too much into it -”
“No,” Blake said, shaking her head and falling silent when Yang looked at her. “I was surprised by the label. And, wrongly, I worried what they’d think of me if I was friends with, well, with a…”
They were both capable of completing that sentence, so she didn’t say the word aloud.
“We can’t be friends then?”
Catching the fleeting hurt in Yang’s eyes, Blake suddenly felt immeasurably sad that this was the outcome of her fear of judgment - the judgment of strangers, no less.
“What’s your definition of a friend?” she asked instead.
“Uh, someone I like spending time with, I guess?”
Blake smiled and nodded at the response.
“Then I think we can be friends.”
When Yang broke into a huge smile, Blake’s regret faded into the background. Now that she thought about it, she’d never had a human friend. Whether through lack of opportunity or lack of effort, this situation had just never come to pass.
But, admittedly, she enjoyed spending time with Yang, as strange as that may be. It was easy to forget why Yang was around to begin with - that she made it into the office only due to Weiss’ influence. And it grew easier and easier to forget that Blake had been less than thrilled by the situation in the beginning.
It didn’t feel like Yang was watching them, or was out to get them. If anything, when they spent time alone like this, it felt like spending time with a real friend. Though not quite the same. Spending time with Yang was different than spending time with her Faunus friends, but that might be due to their different classes in society.
But more often than not, Blake found herself liking Yang’s outlook on life, even if it wasn’t exactly possible or, in some cases, reasonable. Yang was hopeful and positive, and it was impossible not to feel a little bit of the same when spending time with her.
“So this might be a loaded question,” Yang asked, again announcing her intention to broach a difficult topic. “But...what are some of your plans to make changes happen?”
One thing Blake liked more and more was how Yang’s questions stemmed from legitimate curiosity and a desire to learn more about what it meant to be Faunus. Answering these questions didn’t feel like walking into a trap - like she would be attacked for her views. She actually liked answering them. Although she couldn’t help but wish more humans would show such genuine interest, while maintaining patience to try to understand before writing off their differences as wrong.
It was a loaded question though, with no real answers - only her random thoughts and musings about how things could be better.
“It’s hard to make progress when people won’t open their minds to change,” she began, shaking her head at the thought. “And how do we get people to change their minds? War is one option - the victor can force the losing party to behave in a certain way.”
“I hope you’re not promoting a civil war,” Yang replied, chuckling softly when Blake shook her head.
“Even if Faunus could win, what good would it be to force humans to treat us with respect? That won’t solve the problem, which is that relations between our two groups just aren’t going well.” When Blake gestured between the two of them, she immediately felt guilty for lumping Yang in with the opposing side. But it was true, even though Yang felt more like an ally than not.
“We’ve made gains based on sympathy, but we shouldn’t have to rely on sympathy to be treated as equals. It should be our right. Like breathing. We should be free to work, live, love, prosper, and fail just like everyone else.”
“That’s what equality is,” Yang said, the answer making Blake nod wholeheartedly.
“Do we want to be put on a pedestal? No. We just want...the freedom to try. And to know that we fail because we’re bad at something, not because we’re Faunus. And we succeed because we’re good at something, not because some human deemed us worthy of charity.”
Knowing that she was standing firmly on her soapbox, Blake continued anyway - because Yang was looking for her to continue. Because Yang wanted to hear more. She wanted to hear what Blake had to say.
And that was probably one of the most liberating feelings Blake had ever experienced.
“There isn’t enough Faunus news,” she said. Abruptly standing and walking over to the cabinet, she found an old copy of The Vale Sentinel and handed it to Yang. “How many articles are written about Faunus?”
Blake watched Yang flip through the pages, her brow furrowed while her eyes scanned each title.
“One,” she finally answered, pointing to the one she found.
“That’s right. One.” Taking the paper, Blake set it aside and gestured with her hands - a small amount of frustration growing. “How can we expect change if people can’t see us? The media erases us by ignoring us. We often joke that the only way you can get into the paper is by being arrested. That’s why The Vale Voice is so important. It puts our perspective out there. Maybe we don’t have all Faunus-centric articles, but we certainly have more than one.”
“So by writing about Faunus doing other things, not just breaking the law, you’re trying to change the narrative - that Faunus are doing incredible things all over the city, we just don’t see or hear about it.”
“Exactly.”
There was something very rewarding about talking to Yang. Maybe it was because, unlike any of the other humans Blake had met, Yang seemed to get it - or at least made a conscious effort to understand what she was saying.
“Some of the greatest changes in our history have been made through words,” she continued. “Speeches, papers, novels - words have the power to move people, to change their minds.”
“I agree with that,” Yang said, nodding for Blake to explain further.
“First, humans need to be able to see us,” she said. “That’s why we try to highlight Faunus news when we can - to show that we’re still here. If humans see us on a more frequent basis, maybe they’ll be willing to listen to what we have to say. And maybe we can change a few minds by being passionate and understanding, but also approachable and willing to engage in meaningful rhetoric.”
“So you don’t want to argue?”
“No - why? Does it seem like I do?”
Yang shrugged and gave Blake a small grin.
“I mean, yeah, kinda.”
The honest reply made Blake smile and shake her head.
“I don’t want to. I’d rather have an open dialogue: discuss our thoughts and feelings without attacking one another for our opinions. Kind of like this.” When she gestured between the two of them, Yang smiled.
“Well, you’re pretty easy to listen to, so no complaints here. I like hearing what you’re thinking.”
“And I appreciate you listening.”
For a long moment, the two of them just smiled at each other, seemingly content with what they just shared. When Yang’s smile broke into a yawn, however, Blake took another look at the clock.
“Wow, it’s late. Do you want to go home now?”
Checking the time over her shoulder, Yang turned back to Blake with a reluctant expression.
“Yeah, I guess…” After yawning again, Yang chuckled to herself and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it might be time to head out, but only if you’re leaving too.”
“Why -?”
“Because I want to try out my new key!” Yang answered before Blake finished the question. Pulling out her set of keys, Yang found the newest one and held it up with a proud smile. “You’ve gotta leave first so I can lock the door.”
“Are you kicking me out of the office?” Blake asked, amused by the turn of events.
“Yes. I mean, if you’re ready to go now?”
Taking one last look around the clean office, Blake found nothing else that she needed to do at the moment. As for her other work, it could wait until tomorrow.
“I guess I can go now,” she said while standing up and stretching her back. “Give me a minute - I’ll go get my things.”
While she went to her office to gather everything she wanted to take home, Yang collected the rest of the garbage and bundled it together by the door. When Blake joined her, Yang picked up both bags in one hand and waved Blake out first.
“I got this,” Yang said while following Blake out. Setting the bags in the hall, she pulled out her keys, slid the new one into the lock, and turned the deadbolt into place in one swift sequence. After shoving her keys back into her pocket, she gave Blake a big grin.
“See? Totally got this.”
Smiling at the comment, Blake reached out to take one of the trash bags only for Yang to swoop in and pull both away.
“And I’ve got those,” she added. “You go home and enjoy yourself. I’ll take these down to the trash.”
“Oh, ok…” Surprised, but pleasantly so, Blake turned towards the staircase as Yang fell into step beside her. “Well, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. It’s the least I could do.”
“And feel free to come in late tomorrow,” Blake mentioned when they made it to the lobby. “You’ve definitely earned a late start.”
“You know, I might take you up on that this time.” With a tired smile, Yang followed Blake outside and set off towards the dumpster on the side of the building. “Have a good night though!”
“You too.”
After watching Yang disappear around the corner, Blake turned and headed the other direction. Remarkably, she wasn’t nearly as upset as she should be considering how the evening went. The night had actually been rather enjoyable, whether that was due to the food or the conversation with Yang, she couldn’t quite decide.
She hadn’t made it far from work, however, when she realized that she should give her parents a call. While it was late in Vale, the sun should be rising in Menagerie, and her parents would be getting ready for their day. Pulling out her phone, she dialed the number she knew by heart and waited for one of them to pick up.
“Blake!” her dad’s voice boomed across the line, making her hold the phone a little further from her sensitive ears. “What’re you doing calling so late?”
“Just heading home. I had to stay late at the office to...fix something.”
“And did you?”
“Yes, everything’s in order once again.”
“I knew it,” he answered with a happy laugh. “There’s nothing you can’t handle.”
No matter how many times he complimented Blake in that way, she always felt special. Sure, he was her dad, but he believed in her. She might not deserve the unflinching faith, but she appreciated it all the same.
“I try,” she replied. “How are the sprinklers?”
“They’re fantastic. Had one on the fritz the other day, but got him back in line in no time. Now they’re all working in unison again.”
“Sounds like you’re living the good life.” Crossing the street at the walk signal, she smiled when he laughed again.
“We are, we are.” After pausing for a second, he added, “It’s good to hear your voice.”
“You too, Dad,” she said, even though her smile faltered as her heart twinged with longing. She’d been away from home for a long time now and wanted to go back to visit...but not without having something good to tell them.
“Oh, here, your mom wants to talk to you.”
Before Blake could respond, the phone exchanged hands with a soft rustle.
“Hi, Sweetie,” her mom said. “What’ve you been up to? I hope you’re home already.”
“I will be in a little bit. I got caught at the office. Sun...well, he basically exploded foam all over everything.”
Her mom laughed at the explanation, which probably sounded humorous to a third party. It would definitely be more humorous if she hadn’t been the one cleaning up.
“I hope he helped you clean it up?”
“No, I sent him home before he did more damage. Don’t worry though, I had help.”
“That boy…” her mom replied with a laugh. “He’s something else, isn’t he?”
“You can say that again.”
“But very sweet,” her mom continued. “And you two seemed to get along when we visited -”
Sensing where the conversation was going, Blake tried to head it off with a “Mom…”
“We liked him!” her mom said, already knowing what she was about to say. “Didn’t we like him? Ghira?”
Tuning in her ears, Blake smiled when she heard a gruff ‘no’ in the background.
“Your father liked him,” her mom assured her anyway. “You know how he can be with people though…”
Spotting a familiar set of Faunus waiting to cross the street, Blake raised a hand in greeting as she neared them.
“Hey! Blake, right?” Tony called out to her while Ben smiled. “Come back and play sometime!”
“Yeah, and bring Yang!” Ben added before noticing that she was on the phone. Both of them winced and mouthed ‘sorry’ before heading across the street, but sent waves her way as they made their way home.
“Who was that?”
“A couple of boys I met the other day -”
“Faunus?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Don’t ‘yes mom’ me,” her mom replied with a laugh. “How’d you meet them? Are they your age? Not miscreants, are they? And what type?”
Rolling her eyes at the questions, Blake headed into her apartment building.
“Leopard and tiger,” she answered while heading for the stairs. “They play basketball at the nearby park. I don’t know much about them other than that.”
“You like the cats, I see…”
“Mommm,” she whined, to which her mom only laughed before whispering into the phone, “I’m still pulling for Sun.”
Even though she shook her head, she still smiled. She missed the way her mom teased her, even if it was still embarrassing.
“I should get going,” she said as she let herself into her apartment. “Just got home and have some reading to catch up on.”
“Ok, Sweetie. Thanks for calling.”
“Of course. Love you - tell Dad I love him too.”
After receiving her ‘love you too,’ Blake hung up the phone and set it on the table with her bag. Since she’d already eaten dinner, she could get right to reading the other papers to see what was going on in the news.
But, as she sat down and opened The Vale Tribune, her mind drifted to her conversation with Yang instead. Gratifying was a good way to describe it. She hadn’t expressed her opinions so openly to a human in...ever, really. But in Yang’s responses, she’d found acceptance and understanding. And there was a certain joy in talking to Yang that she’d never experienced anywhere else.
Maybe it wasn’t much of a stretch to say that she and Yang were already, kind of, friends.