The Vale Voice - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Having a new direction at work filled Blake with a type of energy she hadn’t experienced in a long time.  It almost felt like her first days at The Voice again, when she didn’t know what the day would bring but was excited to find out.

Until seeing how excited her coworkers were about Yang’s idea, she’d never considered embarking on a journey like this.  While sharing their excitement, she also knew a tremendous amount of work had to be done in the next week.  She would willingly do it for them and The Voice, of course, but first she needed a cup of tea.

Upon walking into the coffee shop, however, she was surprised to find that there was a line.  Not only was there a line, but the person in front of her...wasn’t Faunus.

A surprise, but a pleasant one.  And she waited patiently while Sam made what looked like a rather complicated order.  It involved all kinds of syrups and many different machines, but he didn’t appear bothered in the slightest.  In fact, he seemed to revel in the complicated endeavor while zipping around the bar.

“Here you go!” he said while presenting the drink to the girl with red hair, who smiled and accepted it with a soft “Thank you” before walking to the edge of the store and sitting in an empty booth.  After giving the girl a curious glance, Blake decided that the college students were making their way over here, after all.  

When she stepped up to the counter, her surprise grew at the fully-awake version of Sam standing in front of her.

“Hey Blake!” he greeted her without a yawn.

“You’re awake this morning,” she replied.  “Finally got used to the early hours?”

“Something like that,” he answered with a shrug and soft chuckle.  “The usual?”

“Yes, please.”

Blake initially believed his answer, but then she caught his gaze flashing to the red-headed girl every few seconds.  He probably thought the glances were subtle, but anyone looking at him right now would see that his thoughts were elsewhere. 

“Alright, all done,” he said while sliding the cup to her and picking up the money she’d set out to pay.

Lifting the cup to her lips to hide a smile, she murmured a soft “thank you” before accepting her change and heading out.  As she opened the door, however, she glanced over her shoulder and found him trying to nonchalantly glance the girl’s way.

Shaking her head at how obvious he was being, she took a sip too early and burned the tip of her tongue.  Not too bad, but bad enough for her to avoid tempting fate for the rest of her walk to the office.

Sam had a crush - that was cute.  Now, Blake was curious about the pretty redhead.  Was she a college student who came in for an early morning coffee and place to study?  Had Sam met her before, or was this the first meeting?  Most importantly, would he do anything about it, or was he content to cast not-at-all-subtle glances?

As much as Blake would love to dwell on someone else’s life for a change, her own was giving her more than she could handle at the moment.  After walking into the lobby, she hurried upstairs to the office, eager to get to work.

Sticking her key in the lock, she was surprised to find it already open.  After a brief moment of panic swept through her, she mentally chided herself and pushed open the door to find that Yang was already there.

“Good morning,” Blake said, closing the door behind her as she walked inside.  Surprised by the voice, Yang spun around and smiled when her eyes found Blake.

“Hey, good morning!”

“You’re here early.”  Stopping by Yang’s desk, Blake leaned over to see what she was working on.  That answer appeared to be...pages and pages of notes spread across her desk.  “Are you still deciding on a topic?” Blake asked, turning to the side and finding Yang looking thoughtfully at her work.

“Yeah...it’s a little harder than I thought, so I’m trying to get an idea of what I could do with each one.”  When Yang straightened the stacks of paper, Blake saw a clear organization amongst them.

“You have three choices?”

“Yup.  Happen to have a three-sided coin I can flip?” Yang asked with a grin.  Chuckling at the hopeful question, Blake shook her head.

“All out of three-sided coins today, sorry.  But I’m sure whatever you choose will be great.”

When Yang beamed at the response, Blake’s heart warmed considerably.

“Anyway,” she added, “I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”  Feeling Yang’s eyes following her away, she didn’t turn back until she reached her desk.  And by the time she sat down and took another sip of her cooled-down tea, Yang was back at work.

Blake couldn’t escape the sense that she was actually impressed with the effort Yang was putting into this assignment.  Of course, she never would have suggested it if she didn’t think Yang would do a good job.  But she was organized and thinking through her options.  The overanalysis wouldn’t work very well if she was a full-time journalist, but this was her first article and she had time to make it right.

While waiting for her computer to start, Blake took another sip of tea and snuck a glance at Yang.  Still poring over the piles of paper, Yang wore an expression of utmost concentration while mouthing words to herself.  The expression was almost distracting, as Blake wanted to watch Yang puzzle through this problem rather than do her own work.

As soon as her computer was ready, however, she tore her attention away and found emails from several of their advertisers.  Most were lukewarm about the idea, as suspected.  Until they saw the vision in print form, they probably thought it was too radical for their businesses.  She would respond with assurances that this was anything but radical.  While a dramatic shift for them as a paper, their subjects and topics would be nothing other than commentary on Faunus events.  The remainder of the emails were more worrisome, with expressions of doubt or concern about the change.  Those companies either put their questions into the email or asked for her to call for what probably wouldn’t be easy conversations.

If The Voice lost advertisers because of this, they would be worse off than before.  But maybe that was only bringing the inevitable closer.  If they were already headed towards failure, the least they could do was attempt a hail mary.

Glancing at Yang one more time, Blake sighed and got to work.  As much as she would rather help Yang decide on a topic and outline, she had too much to do right now.

First, responding to every email from every advertiser, which took far longer than expected.  Such a big change demanded a delicate response to ensure the advertisers committed for a trial run, and at least gave The Voice a chance to prove they could do this.  Once every email had a response - in some cases two when the company immediately came back with more questions - she didn’t have time to make the return calls and get this week’s edition ready.  The calls would have to wait until next week.

Hearing two knocks on the door, she looked up and motioned Yang inside.

“Hey, I got you a sandwich.”  Yang held up the wrapped sandwich before setting it on the desk.  “Figured you were trying to skip lunch.”

“Is it lunchtime already?” Blake asked before looking at the clock.  Finding that it was, in fact, lunchtime, she sighed and shook her head.  “Sorry, really busy today.  But thank you.”

She gave Yang a grateful smile while picking up the sandwich, which Yang returned with a small smile of her own before backing out of the room and closing the door behind her.  Blake watched Yang walk back to her desk, briefly talking with Lola and Velvet on the way before sitting down and getting back to work.

After unwrapping the sandwich and taking a bite, Blake smiled and dove back into her work.  The afternoon consisted of finding a spot for the announcement Brand wrote, which summarized the change coming next week.  Due to its importance, it went on the front page where everyone would see it.  Then she took the advertisement Sun and Victor created and sent it off to The Tribune and Sentinel to run for the next week.  The big papers had no problem accepting advertising dollars from any company, so setting that up only took the time and effort of navigating through their submission process.

If The Vale Voice’s purpose was no longer to duplicate the articles written by The Tribune and Sentinel, then advertising there made sense to her.  Those readers could also read this revamped version of The Voice and find new, possibly interesting pieces of work.  The change in mentality would take some getting used to, but she could do it...if this change stuck.

Right now, the disruption to her routine caused discomfort and stress.  But whenever she looked out of her office and saw the enthusiasm and collaboration taking place, she couldn’t help but hope this worked.  Even if it didn’t work, wasn’t this a better way to end their time together - not with a whimper, but with a roar?

That’s what she kept reminding herself when the afternoon arrived sooner than expected, and she suddenly found herself with only a couple of hours to finish the last ‘normal’ edition of The Voice.  She’d already pulled out her outline and opened the program on her computer when she paused and glanced into the office.  After tapping her fingers against the desk for several seconds, she made a decision and stood up.  Her legs protested the movement after spending most of the day in the same position, but they stretched on the way to the door before she opened it.

“Yang?” she asked, drawing a lilac gaze her way.  “Do you have a moment?”

When Blake motioned into the office, Yang nodded before getting up and hurrying over.  “What’s up?” she asked, walking in and smiling when Blake closed the door behind her.

“I thought you’d like to see how I organize the final version of the paper,” Blake replied while returning to her desk.  “I know things are changing next week, but this process will be mostly the same, just with fewer pages.”

“Yeah!  I’d love to see how you...work your magic.”

Chuckling at the response, Blake gestured to the spare chair before sitting on her own.

“Pull that chair around,” she instructed before moving to the side to make room for Yang on the same side of the desk.  Once Yang dragged the chair beside Blake and sat down, Blake pointed towards the computer. 

“Here’s the layout,” she explained, using the mouse to point out what they were looking at.  “And here’s the one I sketched out.”  Picking up the pieces of paper, she handed them over for Yang to look at.

“You did this yourself?” Yang asked while flipping through the pages.

“Yes.  I like to have it in a form I can hold.”  Moving closer to the computer, Blake loaded the electronic versions of the articles into the template then motioned towards the handwritten version in Yang’s hands.  “I have to rearrange a lot, as you can see, but afterward I just drag and drop the pieces into place.”

From memory, she dragged and dropped the files into spots as she remembered.  Velvet’s photo on front, their announcement bottom right, Victor’s piece also went on the front page, along with a few advertisements.  With the first page completed, she motioned for Yang to find the second.  Once Yang had it, she leaned close and held it up so Blake could glance at it before turning back to the screen.

“It’s like a puzzle,” she explained while she worked.  “Each piece has a spot where it fits perfectly.  It might fit elsewhere, but it won’t be quite as good.  Plus, there needs to be a certain flow of information - we can’t put Lola’s articles on life right next to Brand’s articles on crime, for example.”

When Yang chuckled, Blake paused and smiled at her.

“Makes sense.  I wouldn’t want to read celebrity gossip then get surprised by highway robbery.”

“In another life, he could be one of those true crime novelists,” Blake commented while dragging Brand’s article into place.  The way he wrote had a gritty feeling that made the readers feel like they’d been there, or were otherwise impacted by the results.  Blake remembered first reading through his work - she’d never been so drawn into the telling of a robbery gone bad.

“In another life, I’d be an aquatic dancer.”

Blake laughed at the answer and turned to find Yang smiling.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah!  I love the water.  Don’t you?”

Blake’s ears twitched at the question, which drew Yang’s gaze before her cheeks colored with embarrassment.

“I think that answer should be obvious,” Blake replied, sparing Yang a smirk before going back to her work.

“Yeah, but...isn’t it bad to make assumptions?”

The question gave Blake reason to pause, and she leveled Yang with a long, contemplative expression before smiling.  As usual, Yang found a way to surprise her when she least expected it.

“You’re right,” she replied with a nod.  “But I don’t like water very much.  It...runs in my family.”

When Yang smiled, looking far too appreciative of the clarification, Blake moved to page three and quickly dropped everything into place.  

She’d never met a feline Faunus who liked water much, but assuming that all of them hated water might be a stretch.  There were always anomalies, after all.  Kind of like Yang, who was, as far as Blake was concerned, an anomaly of her own.

“I put in the columns first,” she narrated while dragging the words into place.  She glanced to the side when Yang leaned closer, then focused on finishing up the layout without making any mistakes.  “And the ads last.”  Opening a folder holding their paid advertisements for the week, she worked even faster dropping them into their designated spaces.  “I don’t know if that’s the right way to do this,” she admitted while the page filled with life.  “But I was never really trained so...I just do what feels right.”

A few seconds later, the newest version of The Voice was complete, with no blank spaces and no noticeable formatting errors.

“There you have it,” she said, leaning away so Yang could better see the screen.  “This is what The Voice looks like before it’s printed.  Now, I send this off Raphael -”

After saving the file, she prepared an email to their printer.

“Wait,” Yang said when Blake attached the file to an email.  “You don’t walk over each week?”

“No, I only did that so you could see how the printing works.”

“Oh.”  When Yang sat back in her seat, she looked almost disappointed by the news.  “I just thought -”  Yang’s brow creased for a second before she shook her head.  “Yeah, nevermind.  This makes more sense.”

“It’s more efficient this way.”  Even though Yang nodded, Blake mulled over the situation until she thought she found the source of Yang’s discontent. 

“Did you want to walk over again?”

“Naw.  I know you’re busy -”

Before Yang finished the excuse, Blake grabbed a thumb drive, stuck it in the computer, and copied the file onto it.

“I can spare a few minutes.”  Once the transfer completed, she pulled out the device, stood up, and looked at Yang.  “You’ll come with me?”

“Of course!”  

When Yang shot out of her seat with a giant smile, Blake felt more assured that this was the right decision.  If Yang wanted to see the printing process again, Blake was willing to accommodate.  Besides, she hadn’t left the office since this morning, and her legs could definitely use the activity.

“Let’s head out then.”  Leaving her office with Yang in tow, Blake waved to Velvet as they walked past.  “Taking this to the printer,” she explained while raising the memory drive.  “Have a good weekend.”

In the midst of packing up, Velvet paused and gave them both a smile.

“Have a good weekend to you, too,” she replied before giving Blake an inquisitive look.  But Blake waved off the expression while leaving the office with Yang in tow.  She needed a break and Yang liked watching the printing - sounded like a win-win in her book.

“Thought you weren’t going to leave your office all day,” Yang said when they reached the lobby and headed outside.  “Glad I was wrong.”

“I’ve recently discovered the value of taking short breaks.”  When Yang hurried forward to get the door, Blake smiled in gratitude and walked outside.  Immediately greeted by the cold evening air, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms and blew out a breath.  As they headed away from the building, she wished she’d taken a break when it was still warm...or at least remembered a jacket.

“Here, take my jacket.”  By the time Blake turned towards Yang, she was shrugging out of the jacket and offering it over.

“Oh, it’s ok.  I’ll warm up -”

“But it’s pretty cold, and it’s only going to get colder, you know?”  

When Yang pushed the jacket closer and looked genuinely serious about the offer, Blake’s resistance faded.

“Are you sure?” she asked anyway.  She knew the additional layer would work wonders in keeping her warm, but she didn’t want it if Yang would then be cold.

“Definitely!  I tend to be hotter than most people, anyway.”  Again, Yang held up the jacket and motioned for Blake to put it on, so she acquiesced and slipped her arms through the sleeves.  

“That sounds like a not-so-subtle boast,” she teased while Yang wrapped the jacket around her shoulders before gently turning her around.

“I didn’t even notice that one,” Yang replied with a soft chuckle, though her concentration was elsewhere as she fit the ends of the jacket together and pulled up the zipper.  Once that was done, she rubbed her hands up and down Blake’s arms to warm them while Blake watched her with a small smile.  

Yang had such a tenderness about her...as if she was used to or enjoyed taking care of others.  Regardless of who she was and what she represented, Blake couldn’t help being comforted by the caring gestures.  And when was the last time she felt taken care of by someone other than her parents?

“Better?” Yang asked, gently grasping Blake’s arms while meeting her gaze.  And the look in Yang’s eyes said everything Blake wanted to see - that if she wasn’t better, Yang would find another way to make it so.  Fortunately for them both...Blake felt much, much warmer.

“Yes, thank you.”

Finally letting go, Yang stuck her hands in her pockets and smiled.

“No problem.  Can’t have you catch a cold, after all.  Then who’ll run everything?”

As they resumed their walk, Blake smiled and pulled the jacket tighter.  It was still warm from Yang’s body heat and, when she took a deep breath, an unfamiliar scent filled her nose.

But it wasn’t as unfamiliar as she would have expected.  It was definitely Yang, but a more all-encompassing version - as if Yang was wrapping her in a hug, with the only thing missing being the heat and feeling of their bodies pressed together.  The effect was so comforting, her decision to accept the jacket felt like one of her best yet.  If anything else, it proved that she’d gotten so used to having Yang around, she could pick out her scent.  Citrus with a vague flowery undertone...

“What shampoo do you use?” she asked as they turned the corner and continued down the next block.

“Oh, uh...sunflower citrus.”

Sunflower.  Nodding, she made a mental note with the new smell.

“Why?  Is it bad?”

“Not at all.  I was just curious.”

Tilting her chin down, Blake subtly took another deep breath and smiled.  Definitely not bad.  It actually filled her with a content and fluttery feeling that was unfamiliar yet...pleasant.  She didn’t mind it at all.

But when they rounded the next corner and she spotted Raphael’s shop just up ahead, she remembered one of the reasons why she hadn’t wanted to come back with Yang.

“Vincent will be thrilled to see you.”

As soon as Blake made the comment, Yang groaned.

“I forgot about that.  You’ll run interference for me, won’t you?”  When Yang walked sideways and clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture, Blake raised one brow.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we’re friends, right?  Friends don’t let friends get hit on while they’re trying to work.”

“Oh, you see, I didn’t know that was a rule of friendship,” Blake teased, only to smile when Yang nodded vigorously.

“It is.  There are others too - I can get you the handbook if you want.”

“Apparently, I need one.”  Glancing over and spotting Yang looking serious about this friendship handbook, Blake chuckled and shook her head.  “Don’t know when I’ll have time to read it though, so you’ll have to teach me on the fly.”

“More than happy to.”  When Yang turned that beautiful smile her way, Blake felt her cheeks warm.  Fortunately, the door was just ahead, sparing her from continuing the conversation.

“Here we go.”  Before she could reach for the door, however, Yang got there first and opened it.

“After you,” she added with a playful bow.  Accepting the polite gesture, Blake walked inside and searched for Raphael.  With the large machines taking up most of her view, she didn’t find him until she heard shuffling off to the left.

“Raphael?” she called out.  Seconds later, he peered around a corner and smiled when he saw her.

“Miss Belladonna!” he replied while hurrying over to greet her.  “Two weeks in a row.  What a pleasure.”

“It’s a nice walk over here,” she explained before offering him the flash drive.  “Everything you need should be on here.”

“Perfect.”  Taking the memory drive, Raphael walked over to an old computer and plugged it in.  While he worked, Blake noticed that Vincent had already spotted Yang and was making his way over to greet her.  From his smile, nothing had changed from their previous visit.

“Yang?” Blake asked, drawing Yang’s gaze before Vincent said hello.  “Do you want to see Raphael load the sheets?  I don’t think you saw this last time.”

“Do you even have to ask?”  Beaming at the chance to learn something new, Yang followed Blake over to Raphael and watched the screen over Blake’s shoulder.  She stood so close, her scent grew stronger and, if Blake edged slightly backward, her warmth brushed against Blake’s skin like the most pleasant rays of sun.

When Blake took a deep inhale of sunflower citrus, her heart gave another double-beat of content.  The draw to Yang’s warmth grew stronger, but she kept herself from moving closer than she already was, which was almost but not quite pressed into Yang’s side.  While she ‘watched’ Raphael load the file into his system, her mind and body tried to memorize as much of this moment as possible.  And now she couldn’t help but imagine what hugging Yang was like - like this, only better?

When Yang turned to the side, she caught Blake’s eyes and smiled.  They were standing so close, but that didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest.  Nor did the way Blake stared into her eyes, finding the lively lilac just as entrancing as the smell of citrus and sunflower.

“First...” Raphael mumbled before giving the screen a light tap.  The noise snapped Blake out of her thoughts, and she forced her attention back to the process at hand.  The rest of his explanation never came, however, as he formatted everything in seconds then flew out of his seat to start the printing process.  This time, Yang and Blake watched from further back while he corralled his son and the two of them brought The Vale Voice to life.

“It’s still so cool,” Yang said while they watched the machines rumble to life and the ink start flowing.  Before long, freshly-printed papers rolled off the belt to be stacked and delivered across the city.

“It is, isn’t it?”  

If Blake was grateful to Yang for anything, it was for reminding her that parts of her job were cool, unique, and worthy of wonder.  After doing this for so long, it sometimes had the feel of ‘same old, same old.’  Every once in a while, stepping back and looking through a newcomer’s eyes was a good thing.  It offered perspective and, apparently, she’d needed a small dose of it.

When Vincent started wrapping stacks of papers together with lines of twine, she nudged Yang’s elbow before walking over and picking one up.  “For your collection,” she said while handing it to Yang.  “Now you’ll be really rich someday.”

Even though Yang laughed at the joke, she accepted the paper and looked at it with an expression that implied fondness or deep caring.  Blake nearly asked about the look, but then Yang caught her gaze with a sincere, hopeful smile.

“Maybe you’ll sign it for me?” 

Caught off guard by the request, Blake actually took a step back when Yang extended the paper towards her.  “Why would you want me to do that?”

“Uh, because you created this.”  After glancing around and finding a pen on a nearby desk, Yang grabbed it and held it towards Blake too.

“I organized it.”

“Sure,” Yang replied with a soft laugh, which was clearly only agreeing for argument’s sake.  “Still.  Will you sign it for me?”  When Yang motioned with the pen and paper, Blake considered both with uncertainty and indecision.  She’d never been asked to sign anything before, and she didn’t feel like she could take credit when her words weren’t even in this edition.

“I’ll ask everyone else to sign it too,” Yang added, somehow identifying Blake’s concern and addressing it in turn.  Giving the paper another little wave, she smiled again.  “Please?”

The ‘please’ erased Blake’s hesitation, but she took the pen and paper from Yang’s hands with a sigh.  Yang, however, grinned from ear-to-ear while Blake set the paper on the desk and signed her name in the top margin.

“No message?” Yang complained before Blake even pulled the tip of the pen away.  Shaking her head at the persistence, Blake still couldn’t help but smile while writing a quick sentence above her name and returning the paper to Yang.

Yang’s excitement looked so genuine, Blake felt a little bad when she held up the paper and read the message aloud.

“‘Look behind you’?”  

After lowering the paper and giving Blake a confused look, Yang turned around.  The moment she did, Vincent caught her gaze, broke into a huge smile, and walked over.

“Oh, so cruel,” Yang whispered, to which Blake laughed before patting Yang’s arm and walking over to Raphael.  She couldn’t stop smiling, and nearly laughed again when she heard Vincent strike up the conversation he’d hoped for ever since they walked through the door.

“Everything going alright?” she asked Raphael, still smiling when she glanced over and caught a playful glare from Yang.  After winking in reply, she turned her almost-full attention to Raphael, who nodded before patting the machine on the side.

“We’ll be done in a few minutes.  Then off to the distributors!”

“Perfect.”  Sending another glance towards Yang, who was now engaged in conversation much like she always was, Blake decided not to leave her to fend for herself for much longer.  “We’ll head out now, but thank you for humoring us.”

“Of course!  Feel free to stop by anytime.  I know Vince enjoys the company.”  When Raphael grinned and nodded towards his son, Blake smiled politely. 

“Maybe we’ll come back again next week,” she replied before heading that way.  She doubted Yang would fall for such a trap a second time around, so it might be a little while before they returned...  

“Excuse me,” she said, breaking off whatever Vincent was in the middle of saying.  “Sorry for interrupting, but we should get back to the office.”

“Oh, right.”  Yang actually managed to look disappointed by the news before flashing a smile.  “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” she explained while sneaking towards Blake’s side.  “Nice to see you again!”  

After a quick wave, Yang looped her arm through Blake’s and dragged her out the door.  As soon as they were outside, Blake couldn’t help but laugh again.  Yang, meanwhile, dropped Blake’s arm and pouted.

“You just broke one of the rules of friendship!” 

“I did, and I’m not at all sorry.”  When Blake smiled, Yang dropped her pout and laughed.

“Well, I’m not either.  Got a date this weekend.”

The smile instantly fell from Blake’s lips, and she actually stopped walking for a split second before hurrying to catch up.

“He asked you out?”

“What do you think?”  When Yang sent Blake a look, Blake’s brow furrowed.

“And you accepted?” she pressed and, when Yang shrugged, a less happy feeling pricked at her heart.

“I figured the universe was telling me something if Blake Belladonna broke the first rule of friendship to set me up with a guy.  That just screams ‘destiny,’ doesn’t it?”  

By now, Blake was legitimately frowning, and she intended on saying no.  No that didn’t scream destiny at all.  Then Yang snuck a grin her way, and she realized it was just a joke.

“You’re such a tease,” she said, shoving Yang by the shoulder when she started laughing.  But Blake couldn’t help smiling at the sound of Yang’s laughter, and couldn’t escape the relief flooding through her.

“Did you actually believe me?”  When Yang looked over and saw the expression on Blake’s face, she laughed again.  “Do you really think I’d do that?”

“Well, I don’t know.”  Realizing Yang had just handily gotten her revenge, Blake shook her head and blew a breath of relief through her lips.  “You said you’ve dated Faunus before so...why not?”

“Uh, because I hardly know him,” Yang pointed out.  “I’ve spent a total of three minutes talking to him.”

“What’s the minimum then - five minutes?”

“Wow,” Yang said, and Blake laughed while pulling her sleeves over her hands to keep her fingers warm.  “You think I’m that easy?”

“I don’t think you’re easy at all.”

“Uh huh…”  After several seconds of silence, Yang chuckled and shook her head.  “I can’t believe you just did that.  That was...epic.”

Happy that Yang wasn’t upset - not that she’d expected Yang to take a joke so seriously - Blake smiled and led them back to the office.  She was also, secretly, pleased with how well that worked out.  She’d noticed Vincent’s attention the moment she took the pen and copy of The Voice from Yang, and she figured he was searching for any possible excuse to walk over. 

With a smile still pulling at her lips, she stopped at a crosswalk and turned to the side when Yang accidentally bumped her elbow.

“Sorry,” Yang muttered while taking a step away.

“It’s ok.”  Blake appreciated the consideration, but she hadn’t minded the contact.  If this outing had taught her anything, it was that she enjoyed Yang’s presence and everything that came with it.  She wouldn’t bother attempting to put that into words, however, because she knew she couldn’t.  Even if she tried, it would sound far more affectionate than she intended.  

It wasn’t meant to be affectionate.  It was meant as a compliment to Yang’s...general warmth and friendliness.  Plus, her shampoo smelled good, but that wasn’t unique to Yang.

“I picked a topic, by the way,” Yang revealed while they crossed the street.  “And figured out who to interview - I set up a time to meet them on Monday.”

“Did you really?”

“Yeah.  So I was hoping you have a list of questions to ask or something like that?”

“Well...the questions vary from topic-to-topic.”

“Oh.  Right.  That makes sense.”

When Blake glanced over, she could see how far Yang was from her comfort zone.  And Blake remembered what her first couple of interviews were like.  Well...first dozen, honestly.  They were nerve-wracking.  Several times, she was so frazzled that she forgot to ask key questions and had to follow up with a phone call after the fact.  Writing an article was one thing, but when other people were involved...

“How about I come with you?” she offered as soon as the thought slipped into her mind.

“Really?  You’d do that?”

“Absolutely.  I can help with questions or take notes so you can focus on talking and not trying to remember everything at the same time.”

Yang’s eyes widened at the response.  

“I hadn’t even thought about how I’d remember everything!” she exclaimed before wrapping Blake in a sideways hug and lifting her feet right off the sidewalk.  “Thank you so much.”

By the time Yang set Blake down, she was blushing.

“You have nothing to thank me for yet.”

“Then I’ll thank you again Monday.”

“Looking forward to it,” Blake replied with a soft laugh before leading them around a small construction sign in the middle of the sidewalk.  The office was just up ahead, and they’d be back shortly...

“Don’t you want to know what I picked?”

After thinking about it for a second, Blake shook her head.  “I do, but I’d rather wait and be surprised when we get there.”

“Really?” Yang asked in bewilderment.  “What if I picked something horrible?”

“I doubt you did.”

“You have a lot of confidence in me.”

“Should I not?”

For a second, Yang just stared.  Then a small smile appeared on her lips, and she shook her head.

“No, I just...don’t want to let you down.”

“I don’t think you’ll do that.”  Surprisingly, Blake firmly believed that statement.  While Yang might make mistakes due to lack of experience, she wouldn’t make mistakes due to lack of effort.  And Blake could more than make up for that lack of experience in editing.

“It’ll be fine,” she added as additional assurance, smiling at Yang as they made it back to the building.  Rather than head immediately inside, however, she paused and prepared herself to go back to work.  Usually, she knew exactly what work expected of her.  With this change, however...

“Are you feeling weird that things will be different next week?”

Yang couldn’t have hit the nail on the head more squarely than that.

“I am,” Blake admitted.  Dropping her head with a sigh, she gently lifted her hands before letting them fall back to her sides.  “Things have been the same for so long that I don’t know what to expect.  All I know is that it’ll be a lot of work.”

“But if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

“I wish I believed that was true,” she replied with a shake of her head.

“It is though.”  When Yang reached out and touched Blake’s arm, she looked up.  “Don’t you realize how much you’ve accomplished already?”

“It’s hard to think about that when there’s still so far to go.”

“Then let’s not think about that for a second.”  Taking a step closer, Yang rested her hand on Blake’s arm and smiled.  “Let's only think about you.”

“Uh...ok…”  After looking at Yang’s hand for a long second - memorizing the warmth and weight of it - Blake met Yang’s clear, earnest gaze.

“You’ve kept The Voice running for years.  During that time, you’ve published who knows how many articles that have touched who knows how many lives -”

“Not enough...”

“Changing the world starts with changing one person’s mind,” Yang said, squeezing Blake’s elbow at the same time.  “And I’m positive you’ve done at least that much.”

Whatever it was - whether the sincerity in Yang’s eyes or the honesty in her voice - Blake wanted to believe.  She wanted to believe it was true, that she’d changed one person’s mind, and that was all it took - that was the beginning of something great.

One mind at a time...when she thought about it that way, it didn’t sound so difficult.  It didn’t sound so...impossible.  But when she opened her mouth to respond - to say thank you - she was cut off by something ringing. 

“Ah, shoot.”  After pulling her phone from her pocket and reading the screen, Yang gave an apologetic smile.  “I should get this...”

“It’s fine.”  Blake motioned for Yang to answer, then politely turned away and tried not to overhear the conversation.  Depending on her curiosity, that was sometimes easier said than done.  But she focused on other sounds as much as possible - nearby cars, a radio playing somewhere, a siren in the distance.

“Hey, Ruby!” Yang answered.  “...what?”

The tone caught Blake’s attention and made her glance at Yang, whose expression was now worried and surprised.

“How did you do that??”  After listening to the response, Yang sighed.  “I’ll be right there.  Don’t touch anything.”

As soon as Yang hung up, she felt around her pockets and pulled out her keys.

“Big sister duty calls,” she said with another apologetic smile.  “Apparently, she can’t be left unsupervised yet.”

“I know someone like that.”  When Blake looked pointedly up at their office windows, Yang laughed.

“Exactly like that.  I gotta run before she destroys their house - see you Monday?”

“Of course.”

Yang smiled at the response before heading the opposite direction at a quick jog.  It was only when she turned the corner and disappeared from view that Blake realized she was still wearing Yang’s jacket.  With no chance of returning it now, she kept it on while walking into the building and back to the office to collect her things.

Seeing as how she didn’t feel like working at the office anymore - especially not alone - she quickly shut everything off before locking up and heading home.  She considered taking off Yang’s jacket and putting on her own, but...she was already wearing it, so why go through the hassle of changing?  Plus, this one was warm already.

On the way home, she tried not to freak out that today marked the last ‘normal’ edition of The Voice.  They could change back if this revamp crashed and burned, but...she hoped it worked.  If today was any indication, her coworkers were excited again.  The office had an energy she couldn’t remember feeling in a long time, if ever.

Change could be a good thing, even if it was frightening at the same time.

Lifting one sleeve to her nose while crossing the street, she’d already taken a deep breath before realizing what she was doing.  Immediately dropping her hand, she decided that she would wash Yang’s jacket so she could return it on Monday.  Well...she’d wash it at the end of the weekend.

Thinking about Yang brought up questions from their evening together.  Most specifically - what topic had she chosen?  And why was Blake so foolish as to not ask?  Now she would spend the entire weekend wondering...but maybe that was better than worrying about next week.

When her heart fluttered yet again, she decided that was a great idea.  She would think about Yang instead of freaking out about work.  Because so far, Yang was the only subject remotely capable of dragging her thoughts away from impending change.  Any other time, she might question why that was.  But right now...she just wanted to embrace it.