InsaneJournal

The sand was warm under Yang’s toes. It was warm, almost a little too warm under the sun, but a breeze off of the ocean cooled it down enough to not be noticeable. Yang had a bag slung over her shoulder with a beach towel and other supplies.

Though she’d never admit it she’d spent too long trying to find just the right swimsuit, something that seemed modern but also suited her. So lots of yellow and some purple highlights and plenty of skin.

“I’ve never been to a beach like this. The one back on Patch was a lot… rockier. There was this great place to jump into the water from really high though. If you missed it, SMASH! Into the rocks!”

She turned to look at Blake. Okay, Yang had been looking at Blake a lot, but she looked good and Yang didn’t have to hide that she liked looking at her anymore.

It was still new and a little strange to be this openly attracted to someone, and Blake wasn't sure how to feel about it. A little awkward, a little nervous. Possibly in the best of ways. Adam had been this ridiculous young schoolgirl crush, daydreams and fairy tales and rose colored glasses... but whatever this was with Yang was different. It made her insides melt. Sometimes it felt like the dust they were each made of was roiling around inside of her chest, or stomach.

Like right now, when Yang was wearing that suit. It almost made her forget how self conscious she felt in her own suit.

"There's a lot of beach in Menagerie. On the outside, it looks a little like a paradise. If it wasn't... the land where all the Faunus got banished to, I think we'd do a lot more in tourism." Blake said, fidgeting with the knot at her waist. Yang had talked her into buying a colorful sarong, and it was a nice contrast to her usual black. "Maybe it could become like this place someday. Though I guess it's still a little..." Exploitative was what she wanted to say. But she realised she was being a downer. So she stopped, and shook her head. "I should take you there someday."

Every time Blake looked at her, Yang felt a little thrill. Was this what it was supposed to be like? Being with someone? A lot of her worries about being too forward had evaporated, though she took pains to be careful.

She took Blake’s hand and dragged her towards a spot on the beach where they could set up blankets and an umbrella. She also made note of where they could get some drinks. There was a beach-side bar and she suddenly regretted leaving her arm behind. She’d have to make two trips. No, wait, she could carry two in one hand, easy! “I’d love to see it. It’s only right to take advantage of tourists if the rest of the world is going to screw you over.”

Putting the blanket down, she swept her arm out and winked at her. “After you, Miss Belladonna.”

As busy as Hawaii was, it was impressive that Yang was able to secure them a nice spot. Blake carefully kicked her sandals off and stepped onto the towel, making sure not to get any sand on it. The only good place for sand was squishing between her toes.

She carefully flopped down into a reclining position, and then looked up at Yang, sucking her breath in at the view. Yang was bending slightly over her, and the sun was lighting up her hair in a ring like a halo. Sometimes it was still a little strange to see Yang with only one arm, but today she was just some beautiful, strong, kickass angel. "Uhm... yeah... yes. Definitely. They deserve to be taken advantage of for screwing us over. Except that doesn't sound like progress."

Blake wanted people to respect her for being a Faunus, not fear her. She wasn't sure what they were doing here was earning anyone's respect, but modern Earth did seem to have racism a little better handled at least.

The way Blake looked reclined like that was beautiful. Like a dark angel in her own right. Yang stroked her fingers down the side of Blake’s face, before sitting down next to her. “I mean, show people you’re just people, with a beautiful culture. I think most people don’t actually hate or fear you. They’ve just been isolated and lied to.”

She held up a bottle of lotion. “People still use sun lotion, even in the fancy future.”

"A lot of people fear us, actually," Blake said, frowning a bit. It quickly disappeared into a smile again as Yang held up the bottle of lotion. It was hard not to smile when looking at Yang for any reason whatsoever, really. She sat back up, folding her legs together, and reached for the lotion. "YOU need it more than I do. I got a tan on the way to Menagerie. Back to my glorious brown. The sun just doesn't shine in Vale like it does... anywhere else."

Maybe Yang had stolen the sun. That was a possibility. Blake bit down her tongue before she blurted that out, then realised she didn't have to hide her feelings. "You stole the sun, is why."

“So who goes…” Yang trailed off, the expression on Blake’s face endearing and her words making Yang’s cheeks turn bright red. She managed a good comeback, or so she thought, “Only so I could shine on you.”

"That's ridiculous," Blake said, her tone completely flat. She rolled her eyes teasingly, but secretly she enjoyed the fact that Yang was a complete and total dork at times. "I can't even deal with you when you're like this."

But she grabbed the lotion and opened it up, pouring some onto her palm. "Turn around so I can get your back. You're giving me a sunburn with all your shining love and happy joy face."

“We wouldn’t want that. But I’ll bet you’d look good in red.” Grinning, Yang obediently turned around and stared out towards the ocean. She was already a little red from embarrassment. Blake had managed to make her a little speechless.

She hummed a little. “I think I see a volleyball net set up down that way. We should go school them.”

It was a rare sight, seeing Yang blush. Usually she was so self-assured, so comfortable in her own skin, that Blake wasn't sure she'd ever seen Yang even stumble over her words. Aside from that one problem with Mercury, Blake had never even seen Yang flinch. Blake decided she liked it, enough to bite her tongue before she made some sort of dry comment about the fact that the blush had reached all the way down Yang's shoulders.

Though it was just as much self preservation as anything else. She could definitely feel her own cheeks heating up when she started applying that sunscreen. Blake was glad for the distraction of conversation, and glanced over at the net herself. "When was the last time we played that?"

And how was Yang going to play it one-armed? Was she supposed to mention the lack of a second arm? Blake wasn't sure.

“Oh god, I don’t even know. I think just before the end of semester break? Before Ruby went to visit mom.” The lack of arm wouldn’t matter. Yang figured it would give the other team a chance to not suck. She rolled her shoulders against Blake’s hand and glanced back at her with a wink. “I’m sure the rules aren’t that different.”

"It's kind of strange how alike our two worlds are, actually," Blake replied. She was trying very hard not to feel flustered by the stretch and flex of muscles underneath her fingers, and mostly she was failing. Yang's muscle tone had only gotten better since she'd renewed her training after the arm... incident. Blake thought she'd be an even more capable fighter. The volleyball people probably needed a warning.

Not that she was going to give them one. Blake was far more quiet than Yang, but she was just as competitive. "Maybe they'll think they're being kind to you and give us some sort of handicap benefit that we can exploit against them."

“I guess putting up a net and hitting a ball over it is probably something that’s kinda universal.” And doing it on the beach? Maybe less so but Yang didn’t mind that similarity. It was fun, and relaxing, and not at all life threatening. Though she suddenly worried about her sister.

Blake’s fingers brought out a discreet groan, and she tilted her head back. “That’s cheating. We gotta do it.”

"They might have some different rules, we should check." Blake replied, while continuing to slather Yang in sunscreen. Any of the places she was certain her girlriend's hand couldn't reach, and the entirety of her left arm. "But we should definitely cheat. After you get me. And then... Maybe some swimming. Or maybe we could just laze around in the sun and bask in all the warmth.”

As a Cat, she was definitely more in the mood for soaking up the sun like a lush, but Yang could probably convince her to swim, too.

“We can do both. Swim, and then bask in the sun to dry off.” Yang turned her head, winking at Blake. “Okay, turn around. My turn.”

Sure there were going to be places she couldn’t reach, but she could get Blake’s back with one hand. There was a particular glint in her eye and flush on her cheeks, like she was going to enjoy this.

In the swimsuit it was a lot easier to see how much darker Blake's skin had gotten during her time away. That was something Yang seemed to have either not noticed or found just as attractive, but Blake still felt nervous as she handed Yang the sunscreen and turned around.

"I hope this stuff is waterproof, then. Or we're going to be applying a lot more of it later." She was certain Yang wouldn't have minded, though.

Oh, Yang had noticed. The tan looked good on her, and Yang slowly ran her hand down Blake’s spine. A gentle and caressing touch, and one that lingered far longer than necessary. She leaned forward and kissed Blake’s shoulder, before she actually started rubbing lotion in. “Sunscreen is important. After all, just looking at you could give me a sunburn.”

"Wow, that almost wasn't even a pun." Blake said, smirking a bit. Though her back was turned, she was certain Yang could hear it in her voice. "If this is what it's like when I'm a little bit naked, imagine how speechless you're going to be when you catch me with nothing on."

"Besides, we already know that you're the one who's likely to burn my skin. With your radiance." Since Yang was, after all, the Sun. They'd established that.

Yang felt a little pang in her chest. It was a good kind of pang, and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to hold Blake all day and occasionally smootch her. A lot.

She chewed on her lip, trying to think of a response. "If I'm the sun, then you're the moon, your beauty all ... pale and mysterious and stuff."

"Which is ironic, since I'm darker than you are right now. I think you need to get a little color, honestly. It's good we're out here." Blake wondered how much time Yang had spent moping indoors while she was recovering. Probably a lot, but Yang had always been about as light skinned as Blake used to be. Either way, Yang would look amazing with a tan.

Blake found her mind wandering off in that direction, and swallowed, hard. "Maybe not. You'd be too distracting, then."

“Well if we’re not careful we’ll get a sunburn,” she replied. Oh, she’d spent a lot of time indoors, but she’d also gotten around to doing chores just to have something to do. Looking after the plants was easier than looking after herself. “So I’m just gonna lather lotion all over you.”

Yang was quickly deciding they could swim or play sports later. Right now she wanted to just be close to Blake. Even a little skin contact could sate her. Once she was sure Blake was nice and lotioned up she pulled Blake against her, and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Can we just sit like this awhile?”

Blake could definitely get behind the idea of just cuddling and taking in the sun, though the beach volleyball and swimming would have made her feel more productive. That wasn't really the point of a vacation, though, and there'd be plenty of time for them to do other things.

Right now they were on a romantic island paradise vacation, and Blake decided this time with Yang all to herself was more important. She cuddled back against her girlfriend and purred. "We can sit like this as long as you want to."