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Yang wasn’t entirely sure when Weiss had become her go-to person when dealing with her extremely complicated feelings for Blake.
Well, that wasn’t true. It had become a thing back in Mistral. Back when Blake was gone, and Yang was a heartbroken mess repressing her emotions because she didn’t want to admit she was 1. in love with her best friend and 2. dealing with some deeply repressed abandonment issues that had definitely been agitated after finally confronting her mother…
At least that’s what Weiss had said.
Yang wasn’t sure if she was more impressed or terrified of Weiss’s ability to aggressively shine a light on her repressed feelings. Regardless, it had become a thing they did. Whenever Yang’s emotions started getting the better of her, Weiss got into the habit of dragging her off somewhere to train and drill her (lovingly) about her emotional state until Yang was exhausted, either emotionally or physically, before they’d return to the rest of their team.
And then Blake was back.
It didn’t heal everything, and Yang was still upset, but unlike her mother, Blake hadn’t stayed gone. She came back and seemed to actually want to stay… at least if the conversations they’d had late at night while everyone else was asleep were to be believed.
But that… that wasn’t the problem anymore.
They’d defeated Adam. Killed him thoroughly, and while Yang hated it, a small part of her was relieved he’d never be able to hurt either of them again. And they were alright. They’d talked. Really talked after that, and if it weren’t for that damn ring, everything would be perfect.
Except it wasn’t because in the months they were apart, Blake had gotten married.
At first, she hadn’t thought anything of it. People wear rings all of the time, and while Blake had never been the “ring wearing type” before, sometimes people changed, and wearing a ring wasn’t that big of a deal.
Only she seemed oddly attached to that one specific ring.
She was always playing with it whenever she was hanging out with Yang, and she was fairly certain Blake hadn’t taken it off once since they had been reunited. The one time Blake thought she’d lost the ring had resulted in the Faunus tearing apart their entire bedroom looking for it until she realized that she was wearing it on a chain around her neck.
The final nail in the coffin came in Argus when Ruby, not realizing the amount of grief that ring was causing her older sister, asked Blake about the ring. Blake had blushed and avoided Yang’s gaze as she removed it to show to Ruby, only for Yang to take a kick to the chest as her sister read the inscription on the inside.
Beloved, through the darkest times, you are my light .
It was sweet and romantic and not at all what Yang wanted (or needed) to hear.
Which was why she’d gone out and found Weiss and asked to train with her. Only training had turned into an impromptu sob fest because Yang was confused and heartbroken, and she was going to kill Weiss if she told anyone about it.
Because she had genuinely thought that Blake liked her and that with time they might actually get together… or at least she’d certainly hoped for that back at Beacon.
And now she was here, pathetically pining after a married woman… a married woman who she spent every waking moment with and had absolutely no time to dedicate to getting over because they were partners and were in the middle of a war against an ancient… powerful… unkillable… woman with her own personal army!
Yang sighed as she slid into the booth at the restaurant down in Mantle. Ruby had decided that the four of them needed some team bonding time that didn’t involve them getting into a fight, and her team couldn’t really disagree with her.
They’d gone to one of the few restaurants that served Menagerian cuisine since it was probably one of the only “safe” restaurants for Blake to eat at in all of Atlas. And dealing with racist assholes was cathartic, not relaxing, Yang as she’d been well informed.
Blake slid onto the bench next to her and curled up as close to Yang as she could get without actually sitting in her lap.
Yang knew it was because Blake wasn’t good at the whole “being cold” thing, and Yang’s semblance had a thing for making her overheat even when it was dormant. Which was great? Cause Yang definitely wanted to cuddle with Blake like… all of the time.
Except that Blake had gone and gotten married, so it was more like advanced psychological torture in the form of cuddling with her freezing best friend.
Weiss was giving her a look as she and Ruby set down across, and Yang glared back at her, trying very hard to make it clear this was not the time for this conversation. Weiss rolled her eyes and grabbed the menu, still staring at Yang as she opened it to a page before turning to Blake.
“So, you have any recommendations? I haven’t eaten here before.” The implied I’ve never had food from Menagerie before because my father is one of the most racist people in the world was left unsaid.
“Umm…” Blake tucked herself securely into Yang’s side before grabbing her own menu and flipping it open, holding it up so that Yang could easily see it over her shoulder. “You and Ruby should avoid anything with Ol Poka or Ep Teka next to the name, and none of you should eat anything that says Hevnos anywhere near it. Most of the food from Menagerie is going to be a lot spicier than you’re used to.”
“Wait, why can Yang eat the first two things and not us?”
“Yang’s better at handling spicy food than you two are.” Blake shrugged, and Yang felt a little flush of pride at her words.
“S-she is not! I bet I could eat that Habnes thing without breaking a sweat!” Ruby stuttered.
“Oh no, you aren’t.” Weiss thankfully stepped in, being one hundred percent of her sister’s impulse control. “You hate spicy food. With a passion.” Yang felt Blake shake her head as she watched the other two girls start arguing over the food options.
“You’d probably like the Rogelio Ol Poka , Aangla . It’s made with a type of bird native to Menagerie and beans and rice. My dad made it all the time when I was a kid.” Blake points at one of the items on the menu, and it takes Yang a second to realize she’s talking to her.
“Oh? I didn’t know your dad could cook.” Not that Yang knew much about Blake’s father aside from the fact he was seven feet tall and looked like he could move a mountain.
“He needed a hobby that didn’t involve being in the White Fang, and mom and I liked it so…” Blake shrugged.
“Maybe I can ask him to teach me how to make it next time we see him.”
Yang looked across the table just in time to catch Weiss’s raised eyebrow/
“He’d probably really like that. He offered to show Sun at one point after they finally stopped fighting constantly, but he wasn’t really interested in learning to cook.”
Yang shouldn’t have felt so happy to hear that, and she could tell just looking at her sister and Weiss that she was doing a terrible job of keeping the smug grin off of her face.
“Actually,” Weiss interrupted them. “I wanted to ask you about that.”
“About what?” Blake shifted to free her arm from Yang’s side so she could grab the glass of water the waiter had left on the table for her.
“About your… time away when you went back to Menagerie.” Yang realized half a second too late what Weiss was doing. “I didn’t want to impose or anything, but I’ve meant to congratulate you on your marriage.”
Blake, who had just taken a sip of water, choked. Eyes wide as she tried to clear her airways, she was looking at Weiss like she’d announced she was in love with Ironwood. Yang handed Blake a napkin and tried to hide the embarrassed flush across her own face.
“What?” Blake managed to get out between coughs. “Why do you think I got married?”
“I mean… you are sort of wearing a wedding ring.” Ruby pointed out with a shrug.
“It’s not exactly my wedding ring. I found it inside a fish I caught… and I’m dating your sister? Like-”
Yang missed the rest of what Blake said as all of the air left her lungs in a confused gasp as she choked on nothing.
“Since when…”
“You are?”
“What…”
Blake glanced between the three of them, her ears slowly flattening against her head as her gaze finally landed on Yang.
“We go out on dates at least once a week.”
“I thought that was as friends?”
“I end up sleeping in your bunk most nights?”
“I thought you were just cold cause we’re in Atlas…”
Yang was pointedly avoiding looking at Weiss and Ruby as she tried and failed to get her blush under control. She was starting to feel like a bit of an idiot, and she was running out of room to sink under the table before she was just on the floor.
“I call you Aangla all of the time…”
“I don’t know what that means, Blake…”
“Umm…” Yang finally looked back over at Blake, who was slightly taller than her after Yang had slid half her torso to hide under the table. Blake was looking at a spot above her head around where her face had been originally, her face flushed in the type of embarrassed horror that could only come from a situation like this. “The… closest translation would be something like… ethereal light?”
There was a squeak from across the table, and Yang was abruptly reminded that the rest of their team was still there and watching their display with a combination of excitement (Ruby) and resignation (Weiss).
“That’s so cute !” Ruby bounced in her seat, grinning happily at the two of them as the air around them seemed to buzz with tension.
“I… wait, so does that mean you like me?”
Weiss groaned, her forehead colliding with the table.
Yang was never going to live this down.