The Vale Voice - Chapter 15 (Patreon)
Content
Blake was right - the week disappeared in a blur. She practically lived at the office for Wednesday and Thursday, only dragging herself home after deciding that her desk chair wasn’t comfortable enough to sleep in. But, even at home, she couldn’t relax. Instead, she worried, fretted, and second-guessed herself over and over again.
As it turned out, overhauling a paper in a week was not easy to do. There were issues with formatting, ad spacing, line spacing, content sorting, and those problems only came from the general layout. Then there were questions upon questions about what exactly a more Faunus-oriented article looked like. How Faunus-focused should it be? What feeling were they going for? Throw in the questions from nearly every advertiser they had, and basically everything broke in a matter of days.
Thank god for her coworkers. Everyone stayed late to solve problems and put out fires. No one uttered a single complaint when they had to rewrite their work or remove an entire paragraph to meet a size requirement she revised for the third time (she thought Victor would give her hell for that one). And, as unexpected as it might once have been, thank god for Yang, who took it upon herself to look after Blake during the most stressful of times. Without the steady supply of tuna sandwiches and dinners miraculously appearing on her desk, she might not have eaten at all over the past few days.
Her gratitude didn’t stop at the food, or the tea, or the snacks Yang somehow spirited onto her desk. Yang also stayed far past when everyone else left for the night. She sat in the chair opposite Blake’s desk for hours working on her article. She also helped Blake reorganize their advertisements, which was like putting together a giant puzzle that wasn’t meant to fit together.
Between Yang and the rest of the office, this revamp was a true team effort. And, by Friday afternoon, the end was near.
Blake knew everyone must be as relieved about the approaching weekend as she was, yet there were no grumbles in the office. Instead, everyone got their finished pieces to her in near-record time, which gave her plenty of time to go through everything with a much finer-toothed comb than she normally used. At the moment, she was reading one of Velvet’s finished pieces while Velvet waited patiently for final approval. She had to know she’d get Blake’s approval anyway, yet still she waited as if Blake might one day tell her to rework something.
Velvet was one of the few people as skilled with a camera as a pen. Her thoughts and emotions flowed through every piece she’d ever written, but the article in Blake’s hands was...different. Better. It was the most intimate version of Velvet that she’d ever read, and she loved it more with every readthrough.
When she reached the bottom, she wanted to move right back to the top and start again. Since Velvet was waiting, however, she lowered the paper and looked up.
“Velvet…” she said, meeting her friend’s eyes before gesturing to the page. “This is...incredible.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. Absolutely. It’s heartfelt, sincere, and...it’s perfect for the front page of this new version of The Voice.”
Velvet hadn’t wanted the front page - she protested against it, even. At least, protested as much as she ever would. But the rest of the office agreed that she should write the introduction. While soft-spoken and reserved, she wrote with as much heart as the rest of them. They knew what she could do with an assignment like this, and she didn’t disappoint.
It was uplifting and inspirational.
It was exactly what they hoped The Vale Voice to be.
“I’m glad you think so.” Velvet clasped her hands and gave a modest smile, but didn’t argue. “It was wonderful to write.”
“Wonderful to read, too,” Blake replied. “This is great, Velvet. Thank you.”
“Thank you.” After pausing for a second, Velvet smiled again. “You know, even if this change doesn’t stick, and we go back to the way things were, I’m glad we gave it a try.”
That wasn’t the first time someone expressed a similar sentiment, but it was the first time Blake fully agreed. Even after all the hard work, even after all those stressful phone calls, she was glad they did it. She was glad they tried. Now, even if The Voice failed, she knew she did everything she possibly could to save it.
“You know...I am too,” she admitted, and Velvet’s smile brightened as she stood to leave.
“Never know where your next great idea will come from, do you?” After sending a pointed look Yang’s way, Velvet nodded towards the article Blake just read, making the connection intentional and clear. “Sometimes, it’s surprising what you find when you look past ‘human.’”
Glancing at Yang, whose gaze was glued to her computer screen while she read something, Blake smiled and felt her heart swell with gratitude and happiness.
“It is,” she agreed, willing to acknowledge the pivotal role Yang held in this new direction. With that response and a satisfied nod, Velvet left Blake’s office with a hop in her step.
Blake, meanwhile, looked at the article in front of her before swiveling towards her computer. The new layout had remained open on her screen all day, so it only took a few minutes to add the electronic version of Velvet’s article to the front page of this week’s edition. After one last readthrough for errors, she nodded and mentally checked Velvet off the list.
If anything made her feel better about this change, it was that her coworkers were turning in some of the best work she’d seen in years. Poignant, thought-provoking, and spirit-lifting...each piece easily made it into her top five favorites from the respective author. From Velvet’s introduction to Brand’s criminal case, they did more than agree to this new way of life - they embraced it.
With only Yang and Sun’s pieces left for final approval, Blake glanced at Yang, who was still working away. She’d yet to even glimpse what Yang put together, but she had watched everyone else help throughout the week. Even now, Velvet leaned over Yang’s shoulder and pointed to something on the screen. As Velvet explained whatever she spotted, Yang nodded and made a change.
While not knowing what Yang’s article looked like made Blake nervous, Velvet had privately assured her it was coming along nicely. Velvet’s reassurance was the only thing that allowed Blake to wait this long, as she knew it wouldn’t be an epic mess. Besides, she had a backup plan - one of Victor’s three additional articles - but she didn’t anticipate having to use it. Between Yang’s subject, the interview she witnessed, and the rest of the office’s help, it should be a wonderful piece.
It might be a silly thing, but she wanted Yang to surprise her - like she’d done so many times already. Maybe placing that much faith in Yang was ill-advised, but Blake did regardless.
Even though the week had been stressful and chaotic for everyone, the office banded together to help Yang while also accomplishing their work. For that, Blake was grateful to them, and she loved seeing how much they’d accepted Yang into their midst. Most days, she forgot all about Weiss and the challenge to impress her through Yang. That was because, most days, it didn’t feel like Yang was one of Weiss’ employees. It felt like Yang belonged here, with them.
A soft chime announced a new email, and she hardly had time to identify Sun as the sender before he burst into her office.
“Done!” he proclaimed while sliding hard copies across to her. “I think I deserve a reward for finishing early. Whaddya think?”
“Sure. You can go home early,” she replied before turning her attention to the copies. While she did that, he plopped into the chair, leaned back, and put both hands behind his head.
“I’ll take it. Could use a nap…”
“Pretty sure we all feel that way by now…” she murmured before ignoring him in favor of reading the articles one-by-one. Having already seen his outlines, she had a good idea of what to expect. With each sentence she read, however, she realized she was wrong - he’d blown her expectations out of the water.
What she thought would be a routine exploration of Runner Gunner was so much more than that. The game itself featured heavily, of course, but it was the characters he introduced that stole the show. The quotes were memorable, and the descriptions were some of the best she’d seen from him. His second submission, focused on a game called Thirty-Four, was equally enjoyable. By the time Blake reached the end, she found herself interested in learning more about the game with more math problems than physical activity.
Upon finishing her first readthrough, she paused and looked at him.
“Sun...these are really good.”
“Yeah?” His smile was nearly blinding as she nodded and motioned for him to give her another few minutes to check for errors.
Equally as surprising, he made almost no errors to speak of. She couldn’t even remember the last time he handed in something so clean and polished, but...that possibly explained the handful of times she noticed Velvet working with him at his desk. She assumed Velvet was helping him keep his writing on track, which was potentially true, but now she had a sneaky hunch that Velvet pre-proofread as well.
Now that Blake thought about it...every article she read today had been remarkably free of errors. While Velvet might not have proofread each one, the rest of the office had taken considerable effort to make Blake’s job easier.
During the second readthrough, she only circled one item in each piece before setting her pen down.
“You like ‘em?” Sun asked as soon as she looked up.
“I do. They’re wonderful. Not too serious, yet still informative. It’s almost like...I learned the rules without meaning to.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Sun bounced out of his chair and pumped one fist in victory. “Nailed it! I knew you’d like ‘em!”
“I only found two things,” she added, pointing to the red marks. “But I’ll fix those before putting them in. Congratulations, you’re done for the week.”
With a joyful “woot!” of success, Sun raced out of her office and convinced a confused Lola to give him a high five. While he celebrated, Blake opened the files he’d emailed to her and made the two alterations. Once done, she placed the pieces in their designated spaces and checked them one last time.
Flipping through the pages made her nervous but excited at the same time. Everything was coming together just like she’d planned. With Sun’s articles finished, only one blank space remained to be filled. Yang’s article would complete the new edition, and Blake couldn’t think of a better way to cap off this week.
Now that everything else was done, she wanted to check in with Yang and possibly help wrap up whatever was written so far. When she looked into the office, however, she was surprised to find everyone else still hanging around. They were probably waiting in case Yang needed last-minute help, but Blake was more than willing to take over from here.
“Hey guys,” she said, gaining their attention as she walked out of her office. “If you want to go now, feel free. I’ll help wrap up.” She glanced in Yang’s direction so they understood her intent to help Yang complete the week, and many of them seemed relieved by that knowledge. Yet...no one jumped at the opportunity to go home and enjoy their evening. Actually, no one moved at all.
“Uh, Blake?” Sun asked after glancing between Lola and Brand. “Do you think we could come in tomorrow and get the numbers together?”
Of all the possible questions she thought Sun might ask, that one was nowhere in existence.
“You...what?” Her surprise only grew when she looked around the group and found everyone nodding. “All of you?”
“Yeah!” Sun replied, obviously the spokesperson of this initiative. “We all told everyone we know to read it tomorrow so...we’re hoping it moves the needle, you know? Plus, it’ll be fun, right? We can hang out for a bit on the weekend!”
‘Fun’ might not be the word she would use, but she only needed to glance around the room to determine that this was what everyone wanted. And after their hard work this week, they deserved to know the impact, or lack of one, as soon as she did.
“Sure,” she agreed with a small smile. “They’re normally out around eleven, so we can meet here then?”
Her response was met with nods and smiles as everyone finally prepared to leave. Their excited chatter didn’t escape her notice, and added to her general nerves about tomorrow. What if this change meant nothing? What if it did nothing? Could she spin another week of subpar numbers into a positive, or at least neutral, occurrence on the fly?
Worrying about disappointing them would have to wait, however. First, this week’s edition needed to be finished, which meant she walked over to Yang while everyone else headed out. Now that most of the pressure was off, she felt better than she had all week. She did, however, still feel guilty that she hadn’t helped Yang as much as she’d hoped to.
“Hey.” Leaning against the side of Yang’s desk, she felt a smile flit across her lips before the guilt returned. “Sorry it took me so long...”
“It’s ok, really.” Reaching out, Yang lightly tapped Blake’s knee and smiled. “I know how busy you’ve been. Plus, everyone gave me great pointers. Even Sun helped, but he’s...a little scatterbrained.”
Feeling that Yang wasn’t the least bit upset, Blake relaxed and felt another smile appear - a stronger one this time.
“I’m still sorry,” she repeated to make sure Yang understood as much. “I wanted to help more than I did.”
“And you know what?” Yang replied with a warm smile. “It’s the thought that counts.”
That simple statement only increased Blake’s appreciation for Yang and her easygoing nature. Maybe that was part of the reason Blake felt so comfortable leaving Yang on her own all week despite her lack of experience. She’d relied on her resources - the rest of the office - and worked as hard, if not harder, than everyone else.
“Well, now that we’re almost done, I’m all yours.” When Yang quirked a brow at the words, Blake quickly added, “And I’ve been looking forward to reading what you’ve put together. Is that it?”
When she motioned towards the single sheet of paper resting face down on the keyboard, nerves replaced Yang’s curiosity.
“You’ve been looking forward to it?”
“Yes.” Sensing this conversation could go on for a while, Blake hopped up onto Yang’s desk and swung her feet back and forth. “You have one of the most interesting topics, so I keep wondering what you did with it.”
“Jesus….you know how to turn up the pressure, don’t you?”
Laughing at the response, Blake gestured for Yang to hand over the page. “No pressure. But it’s been a while since I’ve been this excited to read someone else’s work. So let’s see it.”
“Oh god…” Yang groaned. She grabbed the piece of paper and held it out, only to pull it away when Blake reached for it. “Just...please don’t judge me too much.”
Yang’s reticence only added humor to the situation, and Blake smiled while motioning for Yang to relinquish the paper.
“Don’t be silly,” she said before snatching the page from Yang’s fingertips as soon as Yang acquiesced. “I’m sure it’s great,” she added as additional reassurance before reading.
Two paragraphs in, she knew she was right.
Midway through, she was smiling.
By the time she reached the end, she wanted to hug Yang.
She didn’t though. Instead, she grabbed a pen from Yang’s desk and started at the beginning - this time looking for anything that needed to be changed. Minor things here and there. Some syntax, some punctuation, a couple suggestions for reordering sentences to make it flow better. Overall...impressive for someone’s first article.
As soon as she finished, she dropped the pen on the desk and looked at Yang, who met her gaze with a slight cringe.
“I told you I’m not a writer,” she said before Blake spoke.
“Are you a liar then?” When Yang looked miffed by the question, Blake pointed to the paper. “Because this is really good. It has heart. It has character. And it makes me want to go out and adopt a bunch of Faunus kids, as rash of a decision as that would be.”
“Does it really?” Yang asked, looking as if she didn’t believe a fraction of what Blake said.
“Yes.” Blake returned the paper to Yang with a smile. “It just needs a little cleaning up, and that’s what I’m here for.”
After glancing over the edits, Yang met Blake’s eyes and didn’t turn away as a smile grew.
“Then...I’m lucky you’re here to help me.”
That was all it took to absolve Blake for the rest of the week, which she spent wanting to help Yang only to be buried in other work. When she smiled, Yang smiled right back at her, and the two of them sat there for several long moments before Yang finally broke eye contact and cleared her throat.
“I guess we should hurry though. I don’t want to take up your whole night.”
“Don’t worry.” More than happy to help Yang, if needed, Blake waved off the concern. “I doubt I'll sleep tonight anyway. If anything, you’re helping me not freak out by distracting me.”
“Then should I make a few more mistakes?” Yang asked while playfully reaching for the pen.
“Let’s not go overboard,” Blake said with a laugh, gently resting her hand on top of Yang’s to keep the pen safely out of reach. “It’s nearly finished. You just need to put in these edits, if you agree with them.”
“What do you mean, if I agree with them?”
“They’re only my suggestions,” Blake explained. “This is your article though.”
“But you’re the expert,” Yang asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I take your advice?”
“Beats me.” Blake shrugged and grinned. “But it’s up to you.”
“Ok, Miss Modest. Hold on while I fix all the things.” After setting the article beside the keyboard, Yang looked around and patted her desk in search of something. Curious about what that might be, Blake gave the desk a quick scan and spotted a pair of glasses near Yang’s leg.
“Looking for these?” she asked while offering them to Yang, who accepted them with a sheepish smile.
“Thanks. When I stare at the screen too long, my eyes get tired.”
“It happens to the best of us.”
After sliding on her glasses, which somehow made her eyes even prettier, Yang laughed and started editing. “Yeah right…” she muttered while removing several words. “You can probably see in the dark…”
“Only partially.”
Abruptly pausing, Yang turned towards Blake with wide eyes.
“You can see in the dark??”
“Only partially,” Blake repeated before nodding to the screen. “Work, Yang.”
Jaw dropped, Yang obediently went back to editing.
“Just when I thought you couldn’t get any cooler…” she muttered under her breath, and Blake shook her head while chuckling softly.
Watching Yang navigate the article gave Blake even more reason to smile. Not three weeks ago, Yang had no journalism experience to speak of. Now here she was, wrapping up her first article. Maybe she’d needed some help, but everyone needed help from time-to-time. Ultimately, she created something in her voice about a topic that was important to her.
“You did really well.” The words slipped through Blake’s lips before she thought them through, and immediately drew Yang’s gaze from the screen. “I just wanted you to know,” she muttered, looking away from Yang’s expression of surprise and joy.
She didn’t mind offering compliments when they were deserved but, for some reason, her heart fluttered from the look Yang just gave her.
“Thank you,” Yang replied, sounding so grateful that Blake felt another flutter in her chest. Fortunately, Yang quickly returned to editing, allowing Blake to get her heart under control.
She didn’t want to say Yang flustered her, but...sometimes Yang flustered her. In a good way. In an exciting way. But it was also new and sometimes overwhelming, which was why she tried not to dwell on it too much.
“Done,” Yang called out then, drawing Blake’s attention to her completed work.
“Print another copy?” Blake requested before heading to the printer. Grabbing Yang’s article as soon as it appeared, she started proofreading on her walk back to Yang’s desk. This time, she looked for smaller errors - punctuation, capitalization, grammar mistakes she might have missed the first time.
But everything looked good. It looked great, actually.
“Email that to me?” she asked, and Yang quickly complied by setting up an email and sending it her way. “Now follow me,” she added while waving Yang after her.
Back in her office, she sat in her chair and motioned Yang to the other side of the desk so they could both see the screen. With Yang standing right beside her, she took a deep breath of sunflower citrus shampoo and opened the email she just received. After saving the article to a folder full of them, she opened up this week’s layout and dragged Yang’s article into the last open space.
“Now just one more check…” she muttered while looking through every page one last time. Did anything look out of place? Was anything misaligned? Any errors or formatting faux pas?
The answer was ‘no.’ And, with that, the newest edition of The Vale Voice was complete.
“There you have it.” Scrolling back to the page with Yang’s article, Blake smiled while Yang leaned closer to see it. “Congratulations. You’re a published author. Or will be around midnight tonight.”
“That’s...so freaking cool.”
Chuckling at the response, Blake leaned forward to quadruple check for mistakes at the same moment Yang turned towards her with a radiant smile. For just that split second, they were only centimeters apart.
From this distance, she could see the flecks of gold in Yang’s eyes, which her glasses highlighted in the most endearing way. She could see the light freckles dusted across Yang’s nose, and the way Yang’s lashes curled so perfectly.
When she realized Yang was studying her just as closely as she was studying Yang, however, she blushed and moved away.
“Thank you,” she whispered, meeting Yang’s gaze even though it deepened her blush. “For your contribution.”
“Thank you,” Yang replied with a slow smile that played with Blake’s heart. “For letting me help. It’s been an amazing experience, and I loved seeing what it’s like to do what you guys do every week.”
“I hope you learned some things?”
“So many.” For a second, it looked like Yang might leave it at that. But then she met Blake’s gaze with a sincere one Blake couldn’t help leaning towards. “And watching you work - how dedicated you are, and how much you love this place...I just...I have so much respect for you.”
That single word sent a flurry of emotions through Blake’s mind, many of which she couldn’t even name. All she knew was that hearing Yang say that, and say it so openly and honestly, made her feel...validated, and lighter than air.
How could she even respond to something like that, which she was pretty sure she’d never been told before in her life?
Rather than attempt a response, she looked at the clock. The time didn’t register in her mind for several seconds as she attempted to clear the happy fog from what Yang just said. When she finally processed the numbers though, she confirmed it was late. That explained her exhaustion, but there was no way she could sleep anytime soon.
“It’s late,” she said, looking over only when Yang moved away and leaned against the desk. “You should probably head home.”
“But are we walking it over to the printer?” When Yang waved towards the computer, Blake shook her head and drafted an email to Raphael instead.
“Don’t think I have the energy for that today,” she admitted. It was the truth, but she also didn’t think she had the energy to run interference between Vincent and Yang again. Plus, with how tired she was, she might snap, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.
Once the email was sent, she leaned back in her chair and sighed. Now she could do nothing more. She couldn’t change anything even if she wanted to. The only thing she could do was wait.
“Do you have plans tonight?” she asked, noticing Yang still hadn’t moved from her spot on the desk. “It’s Friday night.”
Yang seemed like the type who always had plans on Friday night, but she shook her head and said, “No, not tonight.” Blake didn’t know why that answer felt every bit as relieving as it was surprising, but she didn’t care why at the moment. Right now, all she cared about was their work being finished, and neither of them having anywhere else to be.
“Want to take a walk?” Immediately after the question, she felt a split second of regret for asking - because what if Yang didn’t want to spend more time with her? That worry disappeared when Yang smiled.
“I’d love to.” After straightening up from the desk, Yang offered Blake a hand to pull her to her feet. “But how about I walk you home so you can get some rest?”
“Only if you’ll go home too.”
“Deal.”
With their agreement struck, Yang flounced out of the office to gather her things while Blake did the same. Honestly, she couldn’t have asked for a better end to the week than decompressing with Yang. A walk and some good conversation would work wonders in keeping her from freaking out about the big change The Vale Voice just underwent.
“You ready?” Yang asked as Blake walked out of her office. She glanced at her bag before nodding, and felt her heart hum with happiness when Yang beamed back at her. For the life of her, she didn’t understand why Yang smiled at her so much, but she didn’t mind one bit. It made her feel special...that she captured so much of Yang’s attention, somehow.
“Are you ok with people coming back tomorrow morning?” Yang asked as they headed out of the building, her steps slow enough that Blake tempered her normal rush to match. She also didn’t understand how Yang read her so well, but she was starting to get used to it.
“I’ll have to be,” she admitted. When Yang held the door, she nodded her gratitude before walking outside and pausing to wait. Once Yang caught up to her, she set off on the path so familiar she hardly had to think about it.
“They deserve to know,” she added as Yang fell into step beside her.
“But you know they’d wait, right? If you wanted them to.”
Blake glanced at Yang out of the corner of her eye but didn’t respond. Would her coworkers wait if she asked them to? That hadn’t felt like an option at the time, but…
“They all look up to you,” Yang added. “They trust you to keep things going, and they’ll do whatever it takes to help you, even if that means they have to wait a little longer to know.”
When Yang caught Blake’s gaze, Blake couldn’t escape the truth emanating from lilac eyes. Thinking about her coworkers, and what she would do for them, made a lump of emotion appear in her throat. Rather than let herself tear up right there in the middle of the sidewalk, she cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“Have you been over here often?” she asked, noticing how Yang’s eyes swiveled from side-to-side while they walked.
“A couple of times. More frequently to meet up with the guys.”
Understanding Yang meant the Faunus who played Thunderball in the park, Blake nodded and attempted to see her neighborhood through a stranger’s eyes. It wasn’t rundown, per se, but it had seen better days. It wasn’t entirely Faunus either. They passed one or two humans on their walk, but she always wondered whether humans lived in this area by choice or due to circumstance. Why would they live here if they had other options?
“This bakery makes some of the best cookies on the planet, by the way.” When Blake gestured towards a darkened store window with several cakes on display, Yang looked over with interest. “Pretty cheap, too.”
“Really? I’ll have to come back with Ruby. She loves cookies.”
“Let me know what you think,” Blake replied while they crossed the street and walked along the edge of the park. They’d deviated from her usual path home by this point, but she didn’t want to make it to her apartment so soon. Yang was distracting her, and she needed the distraction.
“What’re they doing over there?” When Yang nodded further into the park, Blake peered in that direction and found several pairs of dark figures hunched over small square tables.
“Night chess.”
“Is that different from regular chess?”
“No, they just...play at night.”
Before Yang even laughed, Blake smiled. Because she knew it was coming, and it was impossible not to smile when Yang laughed.
“I’d suck at that,” she added once her laughter faded and they left the park behind. “So…” she added after not too long. “What do you do when you’re not at work? Any hobbies?”
Passing a restaurant with outdoor seating, Blake noticed the curious glances several of the diners gave her. Most likely, they wondered why she was walking around with a human this late at night. She couldn’t exactly explain to them what an exception Yang was, but it bothered her. It bothered her that they probably thought less of her just because she and Yang were walking together.
“Or...you don’t have any?” Yang added, prodding Blake out of her head to answer the question.
“Sorry. I, well...I used to read a lot, but I don’t do that much anymore. Mostly, I go home and work. Or try to write.” That last part she’d been unsuccessful at accomplishing for quite some time, but she didn’t want to bring that up at the moment.
“Sounds...fun?”
“It’s been a difficult year,” she replied with a sigh. “It’s been hard to have a well-balanced life.”
“I get that.” Surprisingly, Blake believed that Yang did understand. Even though she hadn’t gone through it - even though it wasn’t her life. “I hope you can get your life back, though. We all need to have other things, you know?”
That sounded like something Blake’s mom would say, but she didn’t mention that she’d heard the same refrain for the past few months with little-to-no effect. Work always came first. But, if she could have a life outside of work…
“What about you? What does Yang Xiao Long do in her free time?”
After chuckling at the emphasis on her name, Yang shook her head.
“Not much. I love to watch a good soap opera or two. Or I’ll hang out with friends - go shopping, to the movies, find new places to eat - that type of stuff. Plus, I spend a lot of time with Ruby. And Weiss.”
“You spend a lot of time with Weiss?”
“Oh yeah. Feels like I’m spending all of my time with Weiss.” Yang chuckled at the admission, but Blake’s brow furrowed.
“Oh!” she suddenly added, preventing Blake from overthinking that comment. “Did I tell you we’re setting up a soccer league too? Like the baseball one.”
“Are you really?”
“Yup! Hopefully, we can start in a month or two. Then we’ll have another to run when baseball’s not in season. And I mentioned to Weiss that we should do a Faunus sport, and she’s on board. Just said I need to do some research and figure out which sport, but I asked Sun to help with that.”
There was so much to unpack in that response, Blake didn’t know where to start. First, another human-Faunus sports league for children, which Yang seemed thrilled about. Second, that Yang actually took Blake’s suggestion to Weiss, and Weiss agreed to it. And third, the realization that Yang was still in communication with Weiss meant...well, it could mean a lot of things.
“Do you even play soccer?” she asked rather than get into those other things. She looked over in confusion when Yang laughed.
“No. Not at all.”
“Then...how do you coach it?”
“It’s not really coaching as much as keeping a dozen kids from accidentally hurting each other. With a small amount of coaching, but I’ll learn that from the internet.”
“Don’t you have to demonstrate?”
“Well, yeah...but the kids think I’m an all-star because I can take ten steps in a row without tripping over my feet.” Yang gently nudged Blake with her elbow and grinned. “That’s where Ruby runs into problems.”
“She’s a klutz?”
“Completely. I swear, she inherited the brain of someone with two left feet.”
Chuckling at the thought of a younger version of Yang tripping every other step, Blake casually turned the next corner to lead them around an extra block. She didn’t know how much longer she could lead them in circles before Yang noticed, but another block should slip under the radar.
When she sighed at the thought of being home alone, Yang glanced over before leaning close to nudge her shoulder. The small bump was enough to knock her a little to the side, and she smiled while reciprocating with Yang.
And she felt better. How did something so simple make her feel better so quickly?
“So uh, while you were busy being an editing wizard, I got to read everyone’s articles.”
“And?” Blake asked, glancing at Yang to read her response.
“And they’re freaking amazing,” Yang replied in a sigh. “Really, really incredible. I learned so much from each one, not just about Faunus but about the author too.”
“So you enjoyed them?”
“More than enjoyed,” Yang said before meeting Blake’s gaze. “If you decide to keep this up, I’ll definitely be reading every week.”
“At least we’ll have one reader...”
When Blake’s nerves returned, she stared at the sidewalk and tried to push back the doubt.
“I won’t be the only one,” Yang replied, adding her support in fighting that feeling away. “What you guys created should interest all Faunus. Humans too, but we both know they can be...difficult.”
That response was a bit of an understatement, but Blake didn’t feel the need to get into that conversation. On any other day, with anyone else, she might. With Yang, however...she let it be.
Besides, her apartment building was just up ahead, and now she regretted living close to work. Spending time with Yang was so easy, she felt like they could walk the entire city together and never run out of things to talk about. That would certainly be a good distraction from...everything else.
“I hope you’ll write again soon, too.”
Surprised by the comment, Blake looked over and found Yang was serious.
“Why?”
When Blake stopped walking, Yang did too, and looked at Blake for a long time with a smile pulling at her lips.
“Because I’d like to know what you have to say. And I’d like to know you better.”
Blake couldn’t decide how to respond to that honest statement, so she gave nothing other than a nod before walking the last few steps to the entrance of her building. Still, she thought about what Yang’s reply meant.
She had reasons for not letting anyone too close, especially humans. They didn’t understand her - she didn’t understand them. And, ultimately, it boiled down to trust. She didn’t trust them.
But she didn’t feel that way about Yang, and she’d yet to figure out why. Yang’s interest in her was flattering, even if she didn’t warrant it. And, in the weeks they’d known each other, Yang had yet to raise any red flags through comments or actions that suggested she was anything but what she showed the world.
Blake trusted Yang, as remarkable as that was.
So, instead of heading inside for the evening, she stood on the sidewalk just outside and decided to offer Yang a little of what she was searching for. Nothing major, but a little story might do - a gesture of good faith, that she could open up sometimes.
“You know…” she began, immediately second guessing herself but knowing Yang had earned this piece of information. “I got into the Academy of Vale coming out of high school.”
“No way.” More than happy to stand around and chat, Yang grinned. “That’s where Weiss went!”
“I didn’t go,” Blake added, shaking her head and watching Yang’s smile fall.
“You...didn’t? But it’s like...the best school around.”
“I know.”
Yang’s brow furrowed with questions, but none appeared. Instead, she stuck her hands in her pockets and waited for Blake to explain. As if she didn’t want to press for information even though she wanted it, which Blake appreciated.
“As amazing as it would’ve been, I didn’t think it was my type of school.”
“And by that you mean...?”
“There are hardly any Faunus there, Yang,” she replied bluntly. “It’s the perfect school for someone like Weiss, but when I imagined classes filled with people like her...” Pausing, she thought back on that decision, which had been one of the hardest in her life. Based on intellect alone, she deserved to go. Based on everything else...
“Do you regret it?” Yang asked in a soft voice, and Blake sighed.
“I do. If I had to make the decision today, I would go. And I’d prove to everyone that I belong just as much as them.”
“That sounds like you,” Yang replied with a light chuckle.
“But I wasn’t that person back then. I knew how hard it would be and...decided not to put myself through it. I took the easy way out because that’s what the rest of the world expected of me.”
Thinking back on it, she was disappointed in herself. So what if that’s what the world said? She shouldn’t have listened. But that wasn’t the only time she had listened to what the world told her to do and, unfortunately, it probably wouldn’t be the last.
“I think you made the right choice.”
Not at all the response she expected, and she gave Yang a look requesting an explanation.
“Because,” Yang began with a small smile. “Those decisions made you who you are today. And I really like the person you are today.” Blake’s cheeks heated up at the honesty, but Yang carried on. “You’re smart, dedicated, and passionate about what you do. Every day I spend with you, you make me want to be better - a better sister, better friend, better person to everyone around me. I wish I could change the world like you do, but I’ll settle for trying my best.”
“I’m not changing the world,” Blake replied with a dismissive laugh that made Yang raise one brow.
“You’ve already made a difference.”
“I don’t know about that…”
“You have,” Yang insisted, even going so far as to gently grasp Blake’s hand to assure her. “You just don’t see it. The people who work for you...you’ve changed their lives by letting them speak out. And the people who read The Voice...there’s a reason you have readers who’ve stuck around for decades.”
When Blake stared at their joined hands, marveling at the warmth and softness of Yang’s skin, Yang quickly let go and stuck her hands into her pockets.
“I just think...don’t sell yourself short. What you’ve done matters, and there’s still so much more you’ll do - I can feel it.”
Yang’s confidence seemed misplaced but, at the same time, Blake wanted to believe it was true. She did believe, just a little bit. At the very least, she believed that Yang believed it. And that was, in a way, good enough for her.
“Thank you, Yang,” she said, meaning far more than for the most recent conversation. She hoped Yang understood the depths of her gratitude, but the casual shrug and smile made it hard to tell.
“No problem.” After glancing up at the building, Yang met Blake’s gaze. “You going to be ok tonight?”
“What do you mean?”
“With all the changes and stuff. If you want company, I can stay longer.”
At first, Blake thought Yang meant they would stand out here on the sidewalk all night. Maybe that was what Yang meant, but to Blake...it made more sense to go inside. Surprisingly, she wanted to accept, but the idea of Yang sitting in her living room made her nervous in a different way than her nerves about work.
“Thank you,” she replied with a shake of her head. “But I’ve taken up too much of your time already.”
Yang wanted to say otherwise - Blake knew it from the look that crossed her face - but she didn’t. Instead, she smiled.
“I wouldn’t mind, but I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” With a wink, Yang backed in the direction they just came.
“See you,” Blake replied, and caught one last smile before Yang turned and walked away. Blake watched her go, regretting the decision not to invite her in but knowing it was too late to change her mind.
Instead, she sighed and headed inside for the night.
Impossibly, she felt like Yang understood her in a way no one ever had before. Just as impossibly, she felt comforted by the way Yang listened so intently and asked thoughtful, non-prying, yet inquisitive questions. Without much effort, she could tell exactly how much Yang tried to put herself in Blake’s shoes so they better understood one another. So they could better communicate and better connect.
Maybe Yang would never fully understand, but her ability to empathize made Blake feel...not quite so alone. That trait, by itself, was remarkable. Yang was a remarkable human being.
No...Yang wasn’t just a remarkable human being. She was remarkable, period.