Chapter Text
Neptune stood a safe distance away from Sun and his soon-to-be murderer. "Dude, don't do it…" His eyes were wide in horror. He desperately tried to prevent his friend from dying a horrible and brutal death but to no avail.
In all fairness, whatever retribution Blake would unleash on Sun would be entirely justified. Sun was infamous for risking his own life for the thrill of it. It was one of the things that made him such reliable friend. No matter how deep in trouble you were, you could always count on him to have your back. Sadly, that sentiment lost it's meaning when the friend Sun would unconditionally stand behind also just happened to be the eminent victim of one of his horrid pranks. Neptune had always admired Blake's endless patience, especially when it came to Sun's antics, but he dreaded the day when that patience finally snapped, and he feared that it might happen right now.
They had been hanging out inside Blake's bedroom for a while now. Neptune was finishing whatever homework that was due to the end of the Easter Break, whereas Sun was tapping away on his scroll, content with finishing their assignment the day after, or the day after that one. Blake had been sitting on her bed with a book, as usual, and with the quiet atmosphere surrounding her, it wasn't long before Blake was lulled into taking a small nap. She had been asleep for about 10 minutes before Sun made the decision to take advantage of her docile state. Neptune didn't pay Sun any mind when he left the room briefly, still scribbling away on his paper.
When Sun returned a minute after with a handful of whipped cream, dread settled in on Neptune.
"She is going to kill you!" He pleaded in a harsh whisper, terrified of waking up the thankfully still sleeping faunus himself. Sun only crept closer and closer to his unaware "prey".
"Dude relax! This is going to be totally awesome!" Neptune very much disagreed with that notion. Realizing that there was nothing he could do to save his friend, Neptune settled with resting his head in his hands and praying for it all to be over with soon. Sun was standing directly above Blake now. He turned around to look at Neptune with an impish smile.
"Neptune give me your scroll! We have to get this on video-" Sun cut himself off when a sudden screech tore it's way out his throat. His tail was aching painfully and he vaulted himself on his back in surprise. He took his tail in his hand and smoothed it gently when he saw Blake rising to a sitting position. Her brow was raised, and with the way her mouth quirked slightly upwards, not so much in actual mirth but more in a sense of satisfaction, Sun quickly put the pieces together. "Pulling a guy's tail? I thought you were better than that, Belladonna." Blake scoffed and raised her arms upwards in a stretch.
"Oh please," she yawned, "just be happy I woke up before you got that stuff on my face, or I would have done much worse."
"Told you," Neptune said from behind him, thankful that the situation had been dealt with without casualties. At the reminder of the whipped cream still in his hand, Sun shrugged his shoulders and resolved to simply licking it off. No reason to waste good cream.
Blake made her way to the single window at the side of her room. She opened the latch to let some much needed fresh air into the humid room and leaned outside. The city of Vale was steadily coming to life as the sun slowly made its way down the horizon. The weather was wonderful. With a few days left until college students were forced to continue their education, Vale's many young students were adamant to take as much advantage of the ideal weather conditions as they could. Sun, Neptune and the rest of the gang certainly had done so the last few days. Blake had been content with staying at home with her books as well as spending some more time with her parents. At least, she had been so at first. As the days stretched forward and Blake soon found herself wanting some other things to do, she couldn't help but envy her friends whenever they recounted their previous activities to her. Sun, Neptune, Scarlet and Sage all had the uncanny ability to make friends and have fun with whoever they wanted, a skill which Blake severely lacked. To be fair, it wasn't like Blake had harbored any real want to go out and get drunk at wild parties like her friends usually did. Her choice of outing was usually tamer. The boys understood this, and didn't always try to bother inviting her to activities they knew that Blake wouldn't enjoy, but some part of Blake couldn't help but wonder if they guys didn't invite her because they knew she wouldn't have fun, or if they simply didn't believe having her join would be any fun at all. She had more than once been called a party pooper for all the numerous times she had put a stop to whatever wild plan Sun had conjured up but was she going too far? What even was the point of moving to Vale in the first place if she kept holding on to her old habits and letting the few friendships she actually had wither away?
Okay, so maybe the Spring Break hadn't been as tranquil for Blake as she had liked. To be fair, she'd had these thoughts floating around for some time now, but the school work always found some way to distract her before she could truly delve more into them than she wanted to. The same luxury hadn't been granted to Blake in the holidays, and with each passing day, there came a feeling of another missed opportunity. For what, Blake didn't know, but she felt like she had to find it soon, or she might never reach it.
The sound of a buzzing phone snapped Blake out of her thoughts and directed her attention back to her room. It was Sun who was receiving a call. He picked the device out from his back pocket with his tail, flipping it up in the air and catching it again with his now cream-free hand before hitting the call button.
"Yo Sage!" He greeted, cheerily. A couple of seconds went by where another voice could be heard coming from the other line. "What do you mean?" Sun cut the other voice off with confusing laced in his tone. Sage could be heard on the other line again and Sun's expression fell with every passing second. "Dude come on! We've been planning this since before the break!" He cried out in dismay. Blake couldn't pick out much from the voice on the other line, but she could definitely decipher an apologetic tone coming out of the receiver. Sun's shoulders sagged and he bowed his head in a sigh. "No, don't worry it's fine. I'll tell Nep. See ya later, dude," he finished the call. Neptune looked up at Sun with a worried expression.
"What's up?" Sun pocketed his phone again and fell back on Blake's bed with a grunt.
"Sage said he had to cancel tonight. He's got family visiting from far away, so he wants to stay and be with them." Neptune closed the book in his hands and slumped down in his chair.
"Damn…" He silently cursed. Blake chose this moment to voice her question.
"You guys had plans for tonight?" She really hoped her tone didn't convey how slightly disappointed she was over not having been told about this before. Sun still laid boneless on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Yeah…We were going to a rock show on the outskirts of Vale. Scarlet's out of town, so Sage planned for me and Neptune to join him this time around since it's supposed to be really awesome and stuff." He sighed once again. "Looks like we'll have to wait for next year…" Blake quirked her head to the sight in slight confusion.
"Can't you two just go by yourselves?" Sun shook his head.
"Nope. Sage was supposed to drive us and neither me and or Neptune's got driver's licenses."
"I'm surprised you're actually letting the law getting in the way of going to a show." Blake teased. Sun shrugged his shoulders.
"Meh. I'm not in the mood to be all rebellious. Besides, Sage will just get on my ass if he has to pay bail for me… again."
Blake looked between the two boys in her room. They looked genuinely disappointed about not getting to go to this show. which was really saying something. Sun and Neptune usually always found a way to look at the bright side, but not this time, apparently. Blake leaned against the window still and thought the situation over. A smile bloomed on her face; this night might actually turn out well for all three of them.
"Why don't we three just hang out tonight?" She offered. Sun and Neptune both looked up. Sun seemed to mull it over before he finally sighed out, once again.
"Thanks, Blake, but I was really looking forward to this thing and now I'm just way too bummed out to want to do anything else." He looked around her room. "Besides, I don't really think your dad wants us to be here after sunset, or he might start getting ideas." Blake shot the monkey faunus a glare while he and Neptune shared an impish laugh. She rolled her eyes and waited for them to finish.
"I didn't mean hanging out here you dumbass. I meant that we could go to the rock show. I can drive us there" That definitely got their attention, Sun even sprung up to a sitting position.
"But you don't have a car," He said.
"My dad does," she deflected, "I'm sure I can talk him into letting me borrow it just for tonight." Neptune seemed satisfied by that answer, but Sun still looked dubious.
"Hold on a second, let me get this straight." He indicated towards Blake, "You, Blake Belladonna, want to go with me and Neptune to a rock show. A loud place where people push each other, make out with each other, punch each other and sometimes all of the above." He pointed at Blake, "You actually want to go with us there?"
Blake shrugged her shoulders. "Sure."
That seemed good enough for Sun, "alright! Awesome!" With that settled, Blake began to walk out of the room, hoping to find her dad in his office so that she could ask to borrow his car. Before she made it completely out though, a hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"But," Neptune waved a disciplinary at her, "before we go, we all have to dress appropriately, which means that the three of us are going on a shopping trip beforehand so that you won't have to stick out like a sore thumb." Blake narrowed her eyes.
"And why would all the clothes I already own make me stick out like a ‘sore thumb'?" Neptune raised an eyebrow.
"Blake, no offense, but all the clothes I have ever seen you wear range only between ‘I could kill you with my pinky toe' and ‘So dark, even Batman would call it excessive'." Blake slapped him in lightly the shoulder with a roll of her eyes.
"Okay fine," She relented, "I'll get some better clothes first, and then we can go." She looked at Sun and Neptune feeling slightly worried, "I'm not entirely sure what kind of outfit I should go with, though…" Sun scoffed good-naturedly.
"Don't worry about it, Blake!" He reassured, "me and Nep will help you through it!" Neptune shared his grin and nodded with a satisfied look. "Neptune will pay for the clothes too," Sun hastily added as he made his way out of Blake's room, pulling the feline faunus with him. It took Neptune a moment to register what Sun had said.
"I will what?"
Roughly 30 minutes later, Blake found herself scrutinizing her reflection in the changing room. The outfit Sun and Neptune had helped her find wasn't exactly "risky" per se but…
"Blake, come out already! The night won't be young forever!" Blake rolled her eyes and sighed at Sun's insistent calling, but she finally relented and stepped out of the room to show her friends her new "look" of the evening. She felt a little unnerved at the way Sun and Neptune scanned her form, feeling more and more self-conscious by the second, but a low whistle from Sun and an approving nod from Neptune finally helped settle her worries just a bit. "Damn, Blake! You should let us dress you up more in the future!" Blake harmlessly punched the monkey faunus in the shoulder, but she couldn't hide her embarrassed blush.
It was a pretty simple get-up. Black skinny jeans and a leather jacket, with a variety of different patches, over a plain white top with a low neckline that bared her midriff. She doubted her father would approve, (especially since Sun had been the one to choose the top) and to be fair, while Blake was no prude, the low neckline did feel a bit too much for just a simple outing with friends. Although she had to admit, the tight jeans did frame her derriere rather nicely. Sun's choice too, unsurprisingly.
"Are you guys sure it looks okay?" Blake asked, scratching at one of the patches," I feel like I look like some sort of biker…" Sun dismissed Blake's comment with a scoff and waved the concern away.
"Don't be dumb, you look great! Right, Neptune?" The blue haired boy nodded again but appeared to be in deep thought.
"Yeah…" he mumbled, "she does, but I feel like she's missing something…" He suddenly snapped his fingers with a grin and walked until he stood directly in front of Blake. Once he stood directly in front of her, he popped up the collars of her jacket, taking a step back, smiling in satisfaction. "Now she looks perfect". Sun snorted and eyed Neptune teasingly.
"Because that makes such a big difference." Neptune crossed his armed defiantly and nodded towards Sun's own popped up collar.
"Like your one to talk," he refuted. Sun simply laughed and shrugged his shoulders in response. Blake took a moment to look at her reflection again. She tucked slightly at the collar, turning her body this way and that, trying to put herself in the mindset of Sun and Neptune whenever they went out for fun. Blake never dressed up with the intent of impressing someone, but if this night was about letting go of old habits, maybe she could try and take a page out of her friend's book? She eyed the sleeves of her jacket, hanging comfortably at the end of her wrist and got an idea.
"I think it looks good too," Blake commented, regaining the attention of Sun and Neptune, "but I think I can make it better." The boys' eyes widened when they saw Blake rolling up her sleeves up to the elbows, revealing a different array of tattoos that covered much of her forearms.
The designs were all geometrically shaped, colored in black and white. Blake usually kept them hidden underneath her long-sleeved shirts or jackets, but for tonight, she would make an exception.
"Dude, you never show your tattoos out in the open!" Sun exclaimed excitedly. Blake smirked and shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, that's probably because I don't feel the need to bare as much of my skin out to the public as I can." She pointedly eyed Sun's bared chest. Sun's grin immediately fell, replaced with a small pout and a glare directed at Neptune when he heard the taller boy snicker.
"Whatever. You're just jealous that you don't got half as much going on for you." He retorted while crossing his arms defensively. Blake scoffed in return.
"Oh yeah, so jealous of Mr. ‘I don't know how buttons work'. You got me there." Before Sun could get the chance to counter, Neptune placed himself between the two of them before they could engage in an all-out roasting war. Blake always won those, anyway.
"Alright! Now that Blake's got her outfit ready, shouldn't we get going?" Sun looked like he was about to protest but ultimately relented, shooting Blake a glare which she replied with a teasing smirk.
"Fine," he sighed," let's go." Neptune walked contented with them towards the exit before he was suddenly reminded of something.
"Hey Sun, how much did I pay for Blake´s outfit?" Sun pondered for a few seconds before he replied with a shrug."
"Eh, something like 1500 lien?"
"1500 what?!"