(ง •̀_•́)ง (ember_celica) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-07-14 16:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, blake belladonna, yang xiao long |
Who: Yang and Blake
What: sparring and tuna
When: Recently
Where: A park
Status: Complete
Rating: PG
Blake had had her weapon in this world for a while, but she’d never really tried using it. She didn’t feel any of her abilities yet, so she doubted anything had really carried over for her physically. Still, she wanted to see if she could start to use it the way she did in the dreams. So, she’d texted Yang and asked her to meet her. Not quite a training session, but more that Blake had questions.
She arrived early at the meeting spot. She’d chosen a place that was out of the way and secluded so that no one could accidentally come across them using their weapons or whatever abilities Yang may or may not show off.
Being there early meant that Blake was already attempting to wield the Gambol Shroud. Mostly she was trying to use it with the long cord that she could use when spinning in a circle. It came in handy when she was surrounded by enemies. But all that Blake was managing to do was get herself tangled up. Currently, it was wound around her legs.
“Seriously, how does my dream self make it look so fucking easy?” She cursed as she tried to unwind herself.
Yang had tried to use hers the day she’d gotten them, and had gotten a little hurt, but she’d kept trying. Now she was an expert - as good at Ember Celica as she was when sleeping. So she was super excited to see Blake use Gambol Shroud.
Even if it was going to be an experience. She tried not to laugh as she knelt to help untangle her. “Dream you has had a lot more practice and has her semblance. I gave myself a black eye the first time I practiced with mine. You’ll get there!”
Her hand might have lingered a little on Blake’s knee, before she got up and offered her her hand. “Why don’t we start with the basics. Like sparring.” It had worked for her when she’d lost her arm.
“Practice and coordination, which I clearly lack.” Blake hadn’t exactly been athletic in this life. She wasn’t naturally coordinated either. Basically, she was as far from her dream self in those terms as she could get. She took Yang’s hand and got up. She then put her weapon back together.
“Sparring might be way too advanced for me. I’m not an athlete.” Basically she really needed to be built from the ground up. Conditioning was probably the better starting point.
“No weapons,” Yang said, shaking her head. “You need really basic conditioning. Punch punch parry. Maybe some throws! Before my dreams, and my accident, I was in Karate at UCI. Headed for tournaments and everything, but … “ She shrugged. “That’s not important. What’s important is starting with breathing exercises, some stretching, and then throwing each other into the grass.”
Nothing awkward or bad about that, right? “I used to help some of the younger students.” Yang’s grin was bright like the sun. “But trust me you’ll be running around me in circles in no time.”
“Pretty sure it’ll be mostly you throwing me into the grass. I’m kind of a wimp.” Blake hadn’t really exercised on a strict schedule before. Her muscle mass was nothing special. “Just don’t break me, and I can deal with it.” Maybe. Was this even a good idea considering her history of fists coming at her? Probably not, but they had to start somewhere, right?
“If you can get me pinned I’ll buy you lunch, but I’m not throwing any punches at you today,” Yang said. She winked, her hair bouncing in front of her face as she did so. She walked behind Blake. “I’m going to position you, okay? We’ll start with this.”
A warning before she slid her hands under Blake’s elbows to move her arms. If Blake’s proximity affected her (and it did), she didn’t show it. Things were tense enough without her getting all dizzy-headed over the warmth of Blake’s back against her chest. “Spread your legs a little, one foot a few inches in front of the other. This spreads your center of balance, making it harder to be moved or thrown.”
Yang moved besides Blake and matched her stance. “Breath deep, jab like this.”
“Yeah I don’t think that’s going to happen. Pretty certain that you’ll pin me in five seconds flat.” Or possibly less. Blake hadn’t had siblings so she didn’t even have the experience of wrestling with siblings to fall back on for this.
The warning was appreciated and Blake turned her head to glance at Yang as she stood behind her. The feeling of Yang pressing against her back was...well, it was something but she didn’t dwell on it because that wasn’t the point. But for the record, it wasn’t a bad something.
She looked down at her feet as she spread them, then slid her left foot forward a bit. She looked over at Yang when she took a stance beside her and she took a deep breath and jabbed as told. “Like this?”
“Perfect. Do it again.” Yang jabbed. “And again!” And she jabbed again. They probably could have started a little simpler, but Yang thought that Blake had the memories enough that she just needed to get her body to catch up. Repetitive motion would help with that, and Yang guided Blake through that and several other similar warmups for ten minutes, before she stepped in front of her. The exercise, at least, kept her distracted from how good Blake looked sweating.
Mostly.
“Do you want to try some throws?”
Blake mimicked Yang’s movements, managing to not end up on her face or her ass in the process. At least she had a sense of balance currently. Not that much could be said about it, though. That could definitely change as they got into more complicated things. She was definitely sweating, both from exertion and from the heat.
“Me? Throw you? I think you’d crush me if I tried. You are top heavy, and I am weak.” She said it in a playful manner, though she was serious. She really didn’t think she could throw Yang. They’d probably just end up in a heap of hair and limbs.
Yang puffed out her chest. Considering she was just wearing a low cut tank top, she knew damn well what she was doing, but she couldn't help it. Flirting with Evie had become a habit and every time she was within five feet of Blake her brain, heart and stomach felt like a rollar coaster.
"I'm top heavy, huh? How about I throw you a few times? There's a trick to using someone's momentum against them, that even a small weak person can do. I'll show you, then you can try the trick on me."
Ending up in a heap of hair and limbs was an acceptable result.
“As long as you don’t break me, go for it.” Blake actually wasn’t as fragile as she thought she was. Though the reasons behind it were thanks to that ex of hers. She’d developed a tolerance for pain. And if he hadn’t completely physically broken her, Yang probably wouldn’t.
Or, well, considering the abilities from the dreams, Yang could probably break her in half if she really wanted to. She was quite the battering ram, after all.
“Come at me, bro.” Yang gestured for Blake to come at her. It was a simple throw, a grab of the wrist and flipping the opponent over. She had a way of doing it that was almost gentle. Though she could easily break Blake in half, she could flip her over as gently as a feather.
Which was exactly what she did a half dozen times before she was ready to see if Blake could do the same to her. “You’ll be able to flip me easier than I did you. I’m bigger, which means I have more mass and weight and you know that whole inertia thing. Once you have me locked, the only place I’m going is down. And tomorrow I’ll show you how to break a hold too, but after you’ve flipped me we can get some food.”
Blake definitely went at Yang. And every time she landed on the ground after being thrown, she landed with a grunt. This wasn’t as bad as she thought, but then again getting thrown was easy. Especially when someone as strong as Yang was throwing her.
So she readied herself, and when Yang came at her, Blake attempted to throw her using the same methods Yang had used on her. However, things did not go as planned. In fact, somewhere between grabbing Yang and attempting to use her momentum against her, things went very awry. And, well, they ended up on the ground in a tangle of limbs and hair with Yang on top.
“I told you you were top heavy,” she grunted out, voice strained by the fact Yang was on top of her.
That didn't exactly go as expected. Yang shook her head to clear it, and propped herself up on her elbows to look down at Blake, hair framing both their faces like beams of sunshine. "I can't help it!"
Everywhere that her and Blake were having contact felt like fire, and her cheeks reddened. "Are you okay?"
God, she didn’t want to move, but she would if Blake was uncomfortable. Well, she would anyway, but she’d move sooner.
Blake looked up at Yang, searching her eyes. This was definitely an outcome that was...strange. She’d anticipated that this was the outcome that would happen, she just hadn’t considered what it might actually feel like.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you okay?” Yang could’ve hurt herself on the way down. They hadn’t exactly landed gracefully. Blake was lacking the grace of a cat, after all. She was more like an uncoordinated dog if anything.
She wasn’t uncomfortable, but it had been...well, far too long since she’d been this close to someone without feeling threatened or being hurt. It was jarring, to say the least.
“I’ve had worse landings.” Yang grinned, searching Blake’s eyes with her own. She hadn’t counted on being this close to Blake at any point. “I’m okay, a little bruised, I can kiss it and make it better.”
What.
Yang tried to recover by kissing her own elbow.
“That’s good.” Blake undoubtedly had bruises as well, but she didn’t quite care about those currently. None of them had come from fists, so that was a positive, at least.
And for some reason, when Yang kissed her elbow better, it made Blake laugh. “At least the bruise is in an area that you can easily kiss.”
“Well if it was somewhere else I’d need help.” Yang positively beamed. She’d gotten Blake to laugh, and it was a wonderful sound. She sat up and back, sort of straddling Blake’s hips in the process but missing the closeness. “I’m a big sister, I know all about kissing and making it better.”
And with Ruby that was a daily necessity.
“Good to know you’ve got some practice at it.” Blake responded dryly. She had that kind of wit that came out now and then. She looked at Yang once she sat up, and she propped herself up on her elbows. “So I’m not exactly used to other people giving me grades, but how would you grade this attempt at learning?”
“You want my honest opinion?” Yang asked. If Blake wasn’t going to push her off she wasn’t going to move. “A nice average C. You picked it up quickly but I had to dock points for the tumble and also that tangle thing from earlier.”
“I suppose I did earn that. And here I was expecting to fail. Or nearly fail.” Blake had been a quick study, but she needed to learn how to better pull off such things. But as they said, practice made perfect. But it would be nice to not feel so useless.
Blake had spent long enough feeling useless and insignificant. She wanted her dream abilities so she could feel strong and so that she could feel like she made a difference. Perhaps even stop other people from being hurt the way she had been.
“You’re a lot better than you think you are, and you’re a quick learner. You’ll pick this up in no time.” She leaned forward, resting her hands on either side of Blake’s chest. “I know it’s scary, and I know you don’t think you’re worth anything, but you’re worth everything. And I don’t even mean the dreams.”
“Maybe. In the dreams, I have meaning and direction for my life. I’m part of Team RWBY. Or, well, maybe it should be was. Pretty certain Weiss is not going to want me on the team anymore considering the whole faunus thing.” Blake didn’t know if Yang or Ruby were accepting of faunus, though the way they both treated people probably meant they’d be supportive.
“Providing I actually come back, that is.” Which basically told Yang where Blake was in the dreams.
"You can find meaning here. I mean..." Yang gestured at her arm. "I found meaning despite this. You can find meaning too."
Yang smiled at her. "And give Weiss more credit than that." She at least knew where Blake was, and Yang decided to wait to at least Blake dreamed of the dance to try something dangerous, like ask her on a date.
Yang finally got to her feet, and asked. "Need a hand up?"
She’d not wanted to move, but the potential for a visual gag was too much to risk losing.
“We’ll see.” Blake wanted to help people, but she couldn’t do it the way she wanted to in the dreams. And she didn’t exactly have a degree to get her a good job. She didn’t even know what she’d want to study if she somehow got the money to go to college.
“I’m not going to hold my breath.” Sure they’d somewhat gotten along while part of the same team, but that had been when Weiss had believed Blake was human. She sighed and sat up, wondering if she would go back to running and find somewhere else to stay, or if she’d actually go back to Beacon and see if her team would actually accept her back.
“Sure,” she said. She was oblivious to the impending gag Yang wanted to pull.
Hopefully Blake would dream more soon, and see that she was still accepted, and loved.
Grinning like the proverbial cat with a canary feather in her mouth, Yang took her arm off and offered the hand to Blake. “Let me give you a hand.”
When Yang took her arm off and held it out to her, Blake looked at it, then at Yang. “I should’ve seen that one coming.” And instead of taking the offered hand, Blake got up herself, brushing herself off a bit.
“It’s really handy.” Yang twisted the arm back into place then wriggled her fingers to make sure everything was working okay. She thought at some point Blake might start to ask questions about it, and she’d already practiced an easy half-truth. She patted her real hand on Blake’s back. “I’m starving, how about you?”
Blake had questions about Yang’s arm, but she didn’t think they were appropriate to ask, so she just kept them silent. Maybe later on when they knew each other better she’d ask, but for now, she wouldn’t. “Yeah, I could go for some food.”
This time, Yang offered her her real hand, though she caught herself and dropped it to her side. “There’s a sub place down the street. I hear they have fresh tuna!”
Because the way to Blake’s heart was tuna and Yang knew it.
At the mention of tuna, Blake eye darted. Fish was her weakness, which Yang seemed to know and she was using it against her. “Well I can’t turn down good tuna.” It would be blasphemy in her mind.
Yang bit her lip before she made the kind of pun that might get her slapped. But good lord was it tempting. “We can stow Gambol Shroud in my bike. Walking around with it is probably tuna much.”
Really, she wasn’t usually this bad but if she got Blake smiling it was worth it.
“One day someone is going to slap you for your puns.” Blake responded as she picked up Gambol Shroud. “But yes, I’d rather not carry this around if I can help it.” This wasn’t their dreams where people walked around with their weapons in plain sight. Sure, Blake’s wasn’t as ostentatious as some weapons could be, but it was best to not get sideways looks from people.
“That’s the price one pays for slapstick comedy.” Yang pressed her hand to her heart dramatically, then put her arm around Blake. “One day you’ll meet my dad. And on that day, you’ll understand everything.”
“You mean there’s two of you?” Blake asked in dismay. And to her credit, she didn’t pull away or flinch when Yang put her arm around her. “Which clearly means Ruby is the normal one in your family.” She was teasing, but Ruby at least didn’t engage in horrible puns 24/7.
Yang flashed her a grin as they approached Bumblebee. She could get used to this, which was a dangerous thought, at least emotionally so. “The shut-in who spends more time with machines than people? Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Don’t knock us shut-ins,” she lightly chided. Blake was fond of her reading picnics with Ruby. “At least she doesn’t over-use puns.” Another tease, though really Yang could stand to cut down on the number of puns she used.
“I’m not knocking it. But you both do need to get out a little more. We’ll have to do like a friend date with all three of us sometime.” Lucky for Yang, Ruby would probably be too oblivious to notice anything Yang might do around Blake. She did cut out any puns this time.
“That could be fun.” Blake liked that idea. Though of course she was adamant they not go to a club. For one, she’d promised Ruby to ensure Yang didn’t take her to one. And for another, it was too crowded and loud and for Blake to take currently. She may be making some progress in her therapy, but she was so not ready to go to that kind of place.
Oh, Yang was going to get Ruby out somewhere. Maybe not a club, now that she thought about it. She was worried about people taking advantage of her sister, and if Blake was there she’d likely be distracted. But somewhere. “We’ll figure something out. Maybe video games. There’s an arcade!”
Once the weapons were stowed, Yang led Blake across the street and down the block, still casually staying close - though never with an air of possessiveness or control. It was like she just liked being near Blake.
“An arcade might be fun. Might even catch Ruby’s attention with games involving weapons.” It wasn’t exactly Vale, but they could certainly still have fun. And maybe Blake could play some games requiring hand-eye coordination. Those might actually help with her trying to build up her fighting skills from the dreams considering she was fast.
She walked along with Yang, not feeling threatened or uncomfortable by her closeness. She tended to still be a little skittish with people getting in her personal space, but she was comfortable enough with Yang and Ruby that they didn’t set off that response in her. Though if she actually thought about it, a good part of that might also have to do with them being female. Blake still didn’t react all that well to men. Logan was the lone exception there, but he had the whole gruff thing going that reminded her of her dad.
“Okay, I’ll look around for an arcade.” And maybe they could make it like their hangout. As Team RWBY. There were few things Yang wanted more than to have her team back. The experience of losing everyone in her dreams had made her realize how important they were. Better friends than any of the shallow friendships she’d had before.
Logan also tended to be aware of touch issues, so kept a respectful distance from Blake unless she clearly needed contact.
They could smell the shop before they got there, fresh bread and deli meats and if someone’s nose was sensitive enough, tuna.
Having friends was still a concept Blake was trying to adjust to, but she thought she was doing well enough at making friends. Sure, that number currently stood at two, plus Logan, but they were three people she was getting closer to as time passed.
Blake could smell the scents coming from the shop, and they certainly smelled good. She could also pick out the scent of tuna, mostly because she knew that scent inside and out and could typically pick it out easily. “That smells good,” she said.
“Yeah…” Yang held the door for Blake, closing her eyes and inhaling the scent. “I don’t know if I want like, roast beef or something with a kick to it. With peppers.”
“If you go with the kick and you’re going to start breathing fire, do me a favor and aim away from me.” Blake quipped as she walked in. She didn’t need any time to figure out what she wanted. Tuna was a foregone conclusion really.
She grinned, following behind Blake. She’d let her go first, giving her enough time to figure out what she wanted. Probably nothing with too many onions or peppers, she decided.
As if bad breath would really matter right now, she chided herself. “Your hardest choice is going to be which bread.”
It did take Blake a few moments to look over the kinds of bread they had available, but she settled on one quickly enough and ordered her sandwich. She managed to not drool over the tuna yet. That might come later, once she had the sandwich in her hands.
“They do have a decent selection of bread, I have to say.”
Going with something cheesy and kind of sweet terayaki flavored in the end, Yang rubbed her hands together as she watched her sandwich get made. “They totally do.”
She was quick to pay, too. She didn’t know Blake’s money situation and this had been her idea anyway. Besides, it gave her a good line. “You can get next time.”
“You’re assuming there will be a next time,” Blake responded cooly. Though if Yang was paying attention, there was a bit of a glint in her eyes that said she was only teasing. She had money thanks to her job. She’d probably have far less if she had her own place, but she was working to save up enough to get her own place. Not that she didn’t like Logan, but sometimes it would be better if she had her own place.
Like when that Aria person was coming over.
Yang rolled her eyes, but kept on grinning. She grabbed her sandwich and picked out a table with a view of the door, deliberately taking the chair with her back to it. Blake was so paranoid at times that she hoped she’d appreciate the gesture.
“I’m going to need a nice hot shower tonight. Just to work out the soreness.”
Blake did appreciate the gesture and she took her seat. She practically cradled her sandwich like it was solid gold and worth a fortune. Which, well, to her it was. “So you’re saying that tossing little old me around was enough to make you sore?”
“Hey, you’ve got some muscle, and it’s been awhile since I sparred with an actual person.” Yang had a glint in her eye, like her defensiveness was an act. She waited until Blake had taken a bite of her sandwich to add, “Let alone got to be on top of someone.”
Which wasn’t really that long ago but it felt like an eternity.
And right on cue, Blake choked a bit on her food. She washed it down with a sip of her drink before she calmed down and looked at Yang. “Well, at least I fulfilled one of those two things.” Blake wouldn’t actually call what they did sparring so much as a few rounds of Tossing Blake and Blake Failing at Tossing Yang.
“I got the better end of the bargain.” Yang actually giggled at Blake’s reaction, then too a bite of her food. It was delicious and good, and she closed her eyes as she made inappropriate sounds. Forget everything else, this was heaven.
“You got the softer landing at any rate.” Blake countered. She took another bite of her sandwich, then eyed Yang as she heard those inappropriate sounds. “Are you really sure those sounds are public appropriate?”
Yang darted her eyes and put it down. “It’s totally appropriate! It’s delicious. When something tastes good you have to make the right kind of sound to show your approval.”
As for soft landings, Yang pointed a finger at her, “You’re lucky you train with me, I’m a walking pair of airbags.”
Blake just shook her head a bit and ate some more of her sandwich. The tuna was really good, but she kept her approving sounds to appropriate levels. “You must be full of hot air then with all those puns.” Yang had left that door wide open, and Blake had taken the opportunity.
Yang got a look on her face that was a little misty-eyed, and she genuinely liked Blake a little more just then. It was a beautiful pun and she pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. “Looks like I blew it.”
For the briefest of moments, Blake’s gaze dropped to that rather ample cleavage before lifting back to Yang’s face. “Really? I couldn’t tell. I thought you’d recently inflated them.” Apparently she wasn’t done yet on running with the hot air thing.
And it was wonderful. They were also dangerously close to flirting and Yang only felt a little guilty (sorry Evie). “Since you managed a grab when we fell, you’d know better than most.”
“You’re just lucky they didn’t deflate on the crash landing.” Blake took a bite of her sandwich, not really thinking about subtext or flirting. She was just going with the moment, and taking advantage of having a good day.
She flicked her finger against one side of her cleavage. “This is high quality, no way it would ever deflate. Now who’s the one talking hot air?”
“So says the one with the over-inflated ego helped by the hot air.” Blake countered. She was enjoying this, more than she’d thought she would. She definitely had a lot to tell Harley at their next session as far as making friends went.
Yang laughed, throwing her head back in what wasn’t just a laugh but a guffaw. She say back and fanned herself. “You’re right, all that hot air is making me hot. Can the world take me being any hotter?”
“Probably not, any more hot air and we might get a greenhouse effect happening.” Blake was managing to say all this with a straight face. Though that was her trademark, teasing with a straight face. People who didn’t know her would probably just think she was being a bitch.
“Marry me,” Yang blurted, then covered herself with another laugh. “But if you think this greenhouse effect is hot, it must be making you… uh…”
She trailed off, darting her eyes. “Okay you win.”
“I wasn’t aware that this was a contest, but I shall take this victory and celebrate it with this wonderful sandwich.” Or at least what was left of it. Which wasn’t all that much. Blake had been hungry, though she’d tried to savor the tuna as much as she could.
Disaster averted, Blake had totally missed where Yang’s mouth had almost gone. Not that Yang wouldn’t mind letting her mouth go - no, bad Yang, stop fantasizing about tasting Blake’s tuna.
She pinched her nose, and wished she had some alcohol, but that probably wouldn’t save her from herself. “Just don’t celebrate tuna much.”
“I’ll try not to.” And just like that the rest of her sandwich was gone. Blake leaned back in her chair. “That was an excellent sandwich,” she declared. She’d need to make a note to come here in the future.
“I’m glad you liked it,” Yang replied. Her own was done too, though she actually managed to finish after Blake had. “I was afraid you wouldn’t like it. Or it would be like..inferior tuna. Is that a thing? Inferior fish? Can you like…” she waved at Blake’s nose. “Tell?”
Blake looked at Yang, blinking twice before responding. “Yang, my sense of smell is the same as yours. I don’t have a hyper-sensitive sense of smell. Unless you’re referring to my being a faunus, I don’t have any of those abilities yet.”
“Oh, that’s a relief. I mean I probably didn’t use enough deodorant today.” Which was a half-truth at least. Yang hated the idea of hiding anything from Blake, but if her nose was half as good as Logan’s her attraction might be obvious sometimes.
“Considering the heat, I don’t think there’s quite enough deodorant on the planet for everyone to use enough.” Blake said. It was probably something most people could agree on. And it was one reason Blake liked staying indoors where it was air conditioned.
“Yeah… probably should train indoors for awhile. Like at the gym. No weapons.” Yang shrugged. “Might have softer landings. Eventually you’ll be the one on top of me!”
“I suppose we will see about that. Right now I am just going to focus on the basics.” And not get her ass kicked too badly in the process. Blake might need some ice when she got home.