The Vale Voice - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Blake almost didn’t leave the office on Monday night because Yang was still writing notes and observations from their interview.  She only went home after Yang convinced her to leave, which was why she was surprised to find Yang still sitting at her desk on Tuesday morning.  If not for the change of clothes, it would look like she spent the night in the office.

Fortunately, that didn’t appear to be the case.  And, doubly fortunately, Yang was so absorbed in what she was reading that she hadn’t noticed Blake walk in behind her.

In an office of Faunus, an opportunity like this hardly presented itself - their above-average senses made sure of that.  ‘Sneaking up’ on one another was next to impossible, which made this one of the opportunities they all secretly waited for.

Crouching down, Blake carefully set her cup of tea on the floor, lowered her bag beside it, and secured her keys in one hand so they wouldn’t make any noise.  With that done, she crept towards Yang as silently as a...well, as a cat.  Her slow, light footsteps made no sound, and she made it close enough to smell Yang’s hair before pausing and nearly aborting her plan.

That feeling only increased when Yang clicked something on the screen and sighed.  She was so oblivious, Blake almost felt bad.  But...Yang was the one who wanted to work in an office of Faunus, and she was the one so delightfully unaware of the presence right behind her.  Besides...if Blake was going to spend the rest of the week buried in work, shouldn’t she enjoy a moment of fun when she found it?

But she believed in fairness, so she moved even closer and gave Yang the opportunity to sense her.  If Yang’s nose worked even somewhat, she should smell Blake now.  Or feel her presence in some way.  When several seconds passed and Yang continued reading, the decision was made.  

With a smile, Blake leaned close to Yang’s ear and whispered “Good morning.” 

“Jesus!”  When Yang whirled around in her chair, Blake calmly stepped back to avoid being smacked in the face.  Satisfied with her prank, she grinned while Yang leaned forward and clutched her chest.  

“Holy...hell…”

“Sorry, did I scare you?” Blake asked with fake innocence, only to smile when Yang laughed.

“You know exactly what you did, you wily...minx!”

“I take offense to that,” Blake replied while playfully raising her brow.

“Why?  Are minxes not cool?”

“They’re very cool.”  Glancing around the office and confirming no one else was around, she leaned close and whispered, “but not as cool as cats.”

Upon moving away, she chuckled at the shocked expression on Yang’s face.  Figuring Yang might be frozen like that for a while, Blake retrieved her bag and cup of tea from the floor before taking a sip and gesturing to the computer.

“How’s it going?” 

Yang glanced towards the screen before staring at Blake with that same mystified expression.

“Are we really not going to discuss what just happened??” 

“You didn’t hear me walk in, and I said hello.”  Even though Blake shrugged as if it was no big deal, she hid a growing smile behind her cup.  “Might’ve scared you a little bit…” she added quietly.  Watching Yang’s eyes sparkle and hearing that infectious, delightful laugh slip out made the decision more than worth it.

“I feel like you’re trying to teach me something…” Yang replied with a playfully-thoughtful expression.

“Pay attention?” Blake offered.

“Or don’t sit with my back to the door.”

While Blake laughed at the response, she felt miraculously uplifted by the cheer in Yang’s warm, lilac eyes.  What a nice way to start a Tuesday, even a Tuesday like this.

“Feel free to rearrange your space as you like.”  Blake held back a smile while Yang pondered the suggestion.  Turning her desk around was the solution, but then she would face the opposite direction as everyone else.  And then her back would be to Blake’s office…

“Damn,” Yang muttered, looking between the two doors before shaking her head.  “Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”

“I look forward to your decision,” Blake teased before motioning again to the screen, determined to figure out how Yang’s work was progressing.  “But how’s your piece coming along?”

“Uh…pretty good, maybe?  I think.  I’ve written about a thousand outlines.”  Yang gestured towards her notepad, which was filled with notes.  “There’s so much I want to say.”

“Narrowing down a topic is the hardest part,” Blake agreed.  “Since you have limited space, you want to be as concise as possible.”  Hearing light footsteps in the hall, she looked towards the door and waved right as Velvet walked in.  After turning away and noticing the disbelief on Yang’s face, she felt pride bubble up in her chest.

At least her ears worked.  

“Focus on what you really want to say,” she suggested, getting them back on topic.  “What do you want the reader to walk away with?  Keep it simple - just one thought will do.”

Biting her lip, Yang looked through the papers on her desk as if the answer was written there.

“You don’t have to answer now,” Blake added before Yang forced a response.  “But think about it, and find me if you need help.  I’ve been buzzing with ideas since yesterday.”

“Yeah?”  Yang lit up at the words and looked even happier when Blake nodded.

“Definitely,” she replied before giving Yang one last encouraging smile and heading towards her office.  “Morning, Velvet,” she said on the way.

“Good morning, Blake.”  Rather than leave their greeting at that, Velvet hopped up and followed Blake into her office.  “Did I just hear you’ve been buzzing with ideas?”

“You heard right.”

“Then...maybe you’ll contribute a piece this week?”

Setting her bag and tea on the desk, Blake sighed and shook her head.

“There’s not enough time...”

“Oh please.  We both know it won’t take more than a day if you’re motivated.”

That was true.  If she was particularly attached to a topic, she could finish a draft in a day.  At least, she used to be able to do that.  With how long it had been since she last finished an article...she wasn’t so sure any longer.

“I want to make sure she finishes hers this week,” she replied with a nod towards Yang.  “Maybe next week.”

Even though the answer was purposefully noncommittal, Velvet smiled.  Then she glanced at Yang, and her smile grew a little smugger.

“Well, it’s very kind of you to help her.”

“I’m not just going to drop her in the deep end and let her sink,” Blake replied, tilting her head in amusement that Velvet would think so.

“Oh, I know that.  But let her flounder a little bit?”  When Velvet lifted her hands in a ‘maybe’ expression, Blake shushed her and smiled as she flitted out of the office.

Instead of returning to her desk, Velvet walked over to Yang and leaned down to say something.  As soon as Blake noticed, she focused her ears in an attempt to eavesdrop, but Velvet knew exactly how low to keep her voice to fly under Blake’s hearing.  Whatever she said, however, made Yang smile and meet Blake’s gaze.

“She is,” Yang whispered back, loud enough for Blake to hear and cause even more confusion.  

Clearly, Velvet’s comment was about Blake, but what was it?  What had Yang agreed with?  From Velvet’s expression, it was something Blake wanted to know.  And it only took a half-second to decide that she wanted to know enough to try and find out.  But she only made it to the doorway of her office before the pipe dream disappeared when Sun raced into the room.  

“Blake!” he called out as soon as he saw her.  After dropping his bag on his desk and pulling out a notebook, he rushed over.  “I need your help.  I have way too many topics.”

Her job was to help him.  She knew that, he knew that, everyone knew that.  But first, she snuck one more look at Yang and Velvet.  Velvet, in particular, looked like she just got away with something, but Blake couldn’t do anything about it at the moment.  Instead, she said “Sure, Sun” and motioned him into her office.

Her last look was reserved for Yang, hoping that she overheard Sun’s dilemma and understood that even seasoned journalists struggled with topics from time-to-time.  He might not be the best example since his indecision sometimes stemmed from wanting Blake to help him, but he still had several years of experience doing this every week.

“What do you have so far?” she asked while returning to her chair. 

“A list of every Faunus sport I know.”  He handed over the notebook before perching on the chair in front of her, and her eyes widened when she flipped through several pages of sloppily-scrawled names.  Some she recognized.  Others she wondered if he made up.

“Wow.”  After glancing between the pages one more time, she shook her head and handed it back.  “This is...a lot.” 

“Some of them are variants of others or combinations of two.”  Accepting the notebook, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed.  “But should I start with the most popular?  The ones everyone knows about?”

When Blake raised her brow at the assumption that everyone was as familiar with sports as he was, he laughed.  “I mean the ones people who know about sports will know about?  Or start with a combination - a popular one with an unpopular one?” 

She opened her mouth to respond, but he kept talking.  

“I was thinking a combination, just to draw attention to the lesser-known sports.  Like I could write about the tournament for one of the most popular that’s going on right now and pair it with a smaller one for visibility’s sake.  Then even Faunus might learn something, or enjoy reading about something they’re familiar with, right?”

Blake almost nodded, but he interrupted again.  

“But what if we don’t do this again next week and I miss the chance to write about one of my favorites??”  Looking at the lengthy list in his hands, he frowned.  

“Can I say something now?” Blake asked, drawing his gaze and a big grin.  

“Yeah, of course!” 

“Ok.”  Now that she had his attention, she pushed aside her disbelief that he hadn’t picked a topic yet and focused on helping.  She already knew he worked best under an immense, unnecessary amount of pressure, so she didn’t call him out on it...this time.  

“First, I’m trying to buy us at least three weeks to see if this...revamp...makes a difference, so you’ll have time to write about a few others.  Second, I like your first idea more - pick a popular one and pair it with a lesser-known one.”

With anyone else, she wouldn’t be so forward or opinionated, but she knew he preferred when she was crystal clear about what she wanted.  Or maybe she was the one who preferred to be clear so he didn’t misinterpret her words and do something crazy.

“Got it!”  Beaming now that he had a direction, he slapped the notebook against his hand and backed towards the door.  “You’re a lifesaver!” he added before hurrying back to his desk, drawing everyone’s attention with the loud proclamation.

Most of the office chuckled and returned to work, quickly writing off the situation as Sun being Sun.  Blake, meanwhile, smiled at the gratitude before catching Yang’s gaze.  And Yang smiled - a smile that reached her eyes and made Blake want to walk over and figure out what Velvet said before.  Unfortunately, that hope disappeared when Victor arrived for work and motioned to her.

“May I have a minute of your time?” 

Realizing this was probably what her entire day would look like - helping solve problems in addition to fielding calls from advertisers - she nearly sighed out loud.  Instead, she caught Yang’s gaze one more time and gained whatever comfort she could from the sympathetic glance before waving Victor into her office.

“Sure, Victor.  What can I help with?”

“I’ve narrowed the scope of my pieces,” he replied, presenting Blake with the printed pages as they sat down at her desk.  “But I want to go into the ins and outs of Faunus political life, as well.”

He handed over several more pages then - those in draft form.  After scanning the drafts and estimating their size, which was already longer than the allowable words she gave him, she looked up.  

“You want more space,” she said before he took the roundabout way to ask.

“If there is space, I believe I have a compelling case to use it,” he summarized with a nod.  Sensing that he hadn’t immediately won that argument, he added, “Consider the possibilities!  I could write an exposition of a candidate who ran for office and lost.”

“I’m sure it would be interesting, but...”  Considering the request, she glanced over and found Yang still working diligently on whatever she was writing.  During this changeover, more was probably better than less.  If Victor churned out more than his fair share of articles, which was almost always the case, then they would have extras if needed.

“No guarantees we have space this week,” she finally answered.  “But if you have time, write what you want.  Whatever doesn’t fit this week, we’ll table for next like normal.”

“Delightful,” he replied while standing up, smiling now that he’d gotten what he wanted.  “Thank you for your time.”

With that simple sign off, he left her office, and she scoffed softly in his wake.  Honestly, she was surprised he asked permission before inundating her with extraneous articles.  Maybe this was his way of supporting her - giving her the opportunity to hold his pen at bay during this transitionary period.  

As much as she appreciated the consideration, she planned to do what she normally did, which was editing his pieces when she had extra time.  Depending on how the rest of the week went, she might or might not have time at all.  

But with the day officially underway, she turned to her computer and checked her unread emails, which were more of the same concerns.  Unfortunately, the phone had other plans for her.  

On a typical week, they hardly received phone calls.  When they did, it was mostly innocuous requests for information or finalizing a meeting or two.  Based on the tone of her inbox, however, she already knew the purpose of this call.  

She didn’t want to answer, because she didn’t want to continue the same conversations from yesterday.  But she couldn’t ignore it either, especially when her coworkers would notice.  So she picked up on the fourth ring with a quick “The Vale Voice, this is Blake.”

“Blake, this is Jack from The Mad Hopper.”

“Oh, good morning, Jack.”  She forced a smile even though, internally, she wished anyone else could deal with the suddenly-skittish advertisers.  “Is there something I can help you with?  Do you need to make a change to your ad?”

“Actually, I’m calling about a change I just heard about - that The Vale Voice is going Faunus-only.  Is that true?”

“Not entirely.”  Again, she tried to keep her tone friendly even though the misunderstanding bothered her.  “After a great deal of discussion, we’ve decided to focus on topics that have the greatest impact on the Faunus community rather than duplicate what the other papers cover.”

“But...why?”  Hearing the disbelief in his voice, she quickly recognized that this would be the same conversation as several she had yesterday.  At least she already had her argument prepared...  

“Don’t you worry there could be backlash for becoming too Faunus-centric?” he added.  “Not only that, but there could be backlash against the companies supporting the paper too.”

Honestly, she worried about that along with a host of other doubts and uncertainties.

“I understand your concern,” she said for what felt like the hundredth time.  “But I think this change will be for the better.  Our market analytics shows this is an underserved segment - people want to read something different, and we want to be the first ones writing it for them.”

“...are you sure?”

“Yes,” she replied even though she wasn’t.  “At least give us a few weeks to try this new approach and see if it works the way we think it will.  If it doesn’t, we’ll switch back immediately - you have my word.”

The silence on the other end of the line was promising, as was the soft sigh that followed.  

“You’re the expert,” he finally replied.  “A few weeks is the least we can give you.  But if we get too much negative feedback...”

“I understand.”  And she did understand, enough so that she nodded even though he couldn’t see her.  “I don’t think that will be the case, but rest assured we all know the importance of what we’re doing.”

“Ok then...good luck to you.  I’ll make sure to grab a copy this weekend.”

“Please do.  And thank you for the call.”  She added that last part even though she didn’t feel very grateful for the call or the reminder that what they were doing could put The Voice out of business even faster than their previous trajectory.  After his “have a good day,” however, she hung up, put her head in her hands, and sighed.

Even if he agreed with the idea in theory, any backlash could reflect poorly on his company as well as every other company advertising in The Voice.  Which made her wonder...should they forego all advertisements in this first edition?  Fiscally, that would make it much more difficult to survive if this failed.  So, no, she couldn’t risk the advertising dollars this week, which meant she needed to keep everyone on board for this trial run.

One more down, who knew how many to go…

Hearing a soft knock, she forced another smile and looked up as her door opened.  The smile grew easier to hold, however, when Yang walked over and set a cup on the desk.

“I got you another tea.”  She nodded towards the cup as a small smile pulled at her lips.  “I know you had one earlier but...figured it might be cold by now.” 

Surprised by the thoughtful gesture, Blake glanced at the tea that had been all-but forgotten since walking into her office.  After touching the side to confirm it was cold, she picked up the cup Yang brought her and sighed as it warmed her hands and sent a breath of calm rolling through her.

“How’d you know?” she asked before sniffing the tea and taking a sip.  “Mm, and you picked my favorite.”

“Peach?”  When Blake nodded, Yang blew a breath of air through her lips and smiled.  “Thought I smelled it this morning.  I’ll remember that.”

“Thank you,” Blake said, but Yang waved off the gratitude.

“Don’t mention it.  Consider it thanks for helping yesterday.”

“I should be thanking you for letting me come along -”

“Are you kidding?  I have no idea how I would’ve made notes and held a conversation at the same time.  I probably would’ve come back with a whole bunch of half-quotes and forgot most of what happened.  But you wrote things down word-for-word.”  

“It gets easier with practice,” Blake replied with a smile.  Yang was being a little hard on herself.  Holding a conversation and remembering responses verbatim didn’t come easily.  

“Or some people use a recorder,” she added.  “I’ve always preferred handwritten notes though.  Although that’s only because...”  Suddenly realizing how embarrassing her reason was, she cleared her throat and tried to change the subject.  “I hope you can read my notes alright?”

“Perfectly.  But that’s only because what?”  The grin on Yang’s lips suggested she knew Blake just tried to change the subject, and also suggested that Blake wouldn’t get out of this no matter what she said.  So, she settled upon the truth.

“Because I think it’s more ‘traditional,’” she admitted.  “And I enjoy feeling like I’m...an old-timey reporter, jotting notes with pen and paper before typing everything up on a typewriter.”

Blake knew Yang was going to laugh by the way her lilac eyes sparkled with humor.  And the moment she did - that light, joyful sound filling the room - Blake felt her lips lift with a smile and her heart do a happy skip in her chest.

“I’d ask if you’re kidding,” Yang said, hardly able to reign in her giggles.  “But I know you’re not - and that’s so freaking adorable!”  When Blake shushed Yang so the rest of the office didn’t hear, Yang’s laughter redoubled.

“And they don’t know?” she whispered.

“Of course not.  Why would I tell them that?”  The admission was mortally embarrassing, yet Blake was still glad to have said it.  Yang’s reaction was...precious.

“To explain the old-timey typewriter you have hidden around here,” Yang replied in a hushed voice.  When she made a show of looking for a typewriter in the room, Blake shook her head.

“It’s not here.”

“But you have one.  Where?  At home?”

Blake hadn’t realized she just walked herself into a trap, but the joyful look on Yang’s face said as much.  Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), the phone rang.  She jumped at the unexpected noise, then sighed when she realized she had yet another uncomfortable conversation to have.

“Today’s going to be another crazy day…” she muttered while Yang backed towards the door.

“Have you caught your breath from yesterday?”

The phone rang again, and Blake shook her head while reaching for it.  

“Not in the slightest.”

But, armed with a fresh tea and the afterglow of another pleasant conversation, she charged through the rest of the day.  Several other advertisers called, but each of them agreed to a three-week trial after listening to her explanation.  In the midst of those calls, she helped Brand and Lola narrow the focus on their pieces for the week, browsed a stack of stunning photos Velvet took over the weekend before picking a few she liked, and pre-edited Victor’s nearly finished articles, which were fascinating but extremely dense.

With so much to do, the day flew by and, before she knew it, her coworkers were heading home.  Only then did she turn her attention to formatting The Voice to fit their new, slimmer layout.  Considering she inherited the previous format from the past editor-in-chief and had only made slight updates over the years, pursuing such a big overhaul felt a bit out of her depth.  But, as with everything, she would try her best.

After printing several blank pages to use as practice, she arranged everything across her desk before noticing that only Sun and Yang were left in the office.  And Sun was sitting on Yang’s desk talking her ear off.

Considering he had only just decided on a general theme for his articles, Blake knew he had a lot of work to do.  She also knew Yang was nervous about her own work.  And, when she noticed the way Yang glanced at the computer every few seconds, she decided to help.  It would be penance for what she did at Raphael’s the other day.  

So, taking her one break of the day, she left her office and walked over to see what was so interesting.

“- if you catch the ball, you can tag a runner out or try to score,” Sun was explaining when Blake joined them.  Yang’s gaze locked onto her immediately, but he had yet to notice her presence.  “It’s harder to score that way,” he continued unaware.  “But if you can, it’s really awesome.  Everyone loves those plays, which is why I always try.  Go big or go home, right?”

“What are you talking about?” Blake finally asked, and Sun turned towards her with a smile.  

“Explaining the rules of Runner-Gunner,” he replied, not at all perturbed by her sudden appearance.  “Then maybe Yang will try it out sometime.” 

“I’m still trying to learn Thunderball,” Yang pointed out while Blake turned towards Sun.

“Don’t you have a lot of work to do?” she asked, trying to be gentle yet firm.  

“Yeah, probably.”  He added several happy nods with that response yet didn’t move an inch.  Just when Blake decided she needed to be more stern, however, Yang leaned forward and spoke up.

“Looks like we should stop monkeying around.” 

While Blake smiled and shook her head at Yang’s pun, Sun burst into laughter and, surprisingly, hopped right to his feet.

“Which means I should get outta here,” he replied before flashing a big smile and hurrying over to his desk.  “Catching a few games tonight so I can get some quotes.  See you guys later!”  After grabbing his bag and shoving some items inside, he waved and left the office at a near jog.  

Yang chuckled at the hasty departure, and Blake smiled at the enchanting sound she had missed since they spoke last.

“Thank you for that,” Yang said moments after the door closed, leaving them alone in the office.  “I was just starting to think I’d be stuck listening to him all night.”

“You’re welcome.  I believe I owed you one.”

“Oh, that’s what that was?” Yang asked before laughing again.  “Well, I still appreciate it.”

Blake didn’t feel she deserved that much gratitude, but she nodded rather than protest.  Then she considered returning to her office but...the prospect of returning to work so soon didn’t have nearly the allure that talking to Yang did.

“You’re still playing Thunderball?” she asked instead.  The first instance of Yang playing seemed like a fluke - the two of them just happening across a group of guys who invited her to join.  The second time seemed more unbelievable - that she liked the experience enough to give it another try.  So the idea that she was still playing, confirmed by her nod, perplexed Blake even more.

“Ruby loves it,” Yang explained.  “Although...the guys aren’t taking it so easy on us anymore.  And Ben literally keeps jumping over my head.  Every chance he gets, he’s clearing me.   It’s just...crazy.” 

Blake smiled at Yang’s dumbfounded disbelief but didn’t find as much humor in the mental image.

“Pretty sure that’s his way of flirting with you.”

“Like when boys push you on the playground?” Yang asked, waiting for Blake’s nod before chuckling.  “Jumping clean over someone’s head is a little more impressive than pulling someone’s ponytail.” 

Blake’s smile faltered at the response, mostly because Yang hadn’t said she wasn’t interested in the attention.  And Ben was attractive for a leopard, so Blake understood why.  Besides, her mom just gave her a laundry list of reasons why leopards were ‘great catches.’

“And I guess you’ve spent more than three minutes with him,” she added, although she didn’t know why she continued the conversation when she didn’t like its direction.  But Yang said Vincent didn’t have a chance because she didn’t know him…

“I think he’d be a good friend.”  Meeting Blake’s eyes, Yang smiled.  “Not interested in him more than that.”  The response was a relief for Blake, but Yang paused and tapped her chin before adding, “Although, I am interested in him being on my team so he’ll jump over someone else for once.”

This time, Blake’s laugh and accompanying smile felt much easier.  

“I’m sure if you asked, he’d be happy to join your team,” she replied, to which Yang shrugged and smiled.

Part of Blake almost wanted to see Yang date a Faunus, out of pure curiosity about what that would be like.  What was Yang like in a relationship?  Was she the same?  More distracted?  Did she talk about her significant other often?  Blake didn’t know if she wanted to hear or see that...

Personally, she’d never considered dating a human, based partly on circumstance and partly on values.  She’d never met a human worth dating.  And why would she when there were plenty of eligible Faunus out there?

“How’re you doing though?” Yang asked.  “Need a break?”

Sighing as work finally caught up to her, she sat down on the edge of Yang’s desk and shook her head.

“I wish, but I don’t think I have the time.  Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.”  And, from the look in Yang’s eyes, she meant it.  “Anything I can help with?”

“I don’t think -”  Mid-sentence, Blake paused when her stomach grumbled.  Hearing the noise, Yang grinned.

“Are you hungry?”

“So you can’t hear the door, but you heard that?” Blake teased, although her cheeks heated up when Yang laughed and nodded.

“I’m super attuned to the signs of hunger - my sister is hungry all the time, and I’m in charge of feeding her.  But what about you?”  Setting her hands on the desk, Yang leaned a little closer.  “That sounded an awful lot like hunger...are you hungry?”

The more Yang repeated the word, the hungrier Blake became.  If that was intentional payback for the mini heart attack she gave Yang this morning, it certainly worked.

“Maybe a bit,” she fudged, hoping Yang didn’t hear another quiet grumble slip out.  “I don’t remember if I ate today…”

“Not that I saw,” Yang answered before grabbing her wallet and keys, standing up, and backing towards the door.  “I’m going to get you dinner.”

“You don’t have to do that...”

“I know.”  Yang smiled and gently tapped her knuckles against the doorframe.  “But I want to.  Do you know what you want?”

Even though Blake wanted to protest, she knew Yang would insist.  Plus, she was pretty hungry.  Just the thought of dinner was enough to make her salivate.

“There’s a restaurant three blocks over that has really good tuna...”

“Say no more.  You got it.”  With a grin and a wink, Yang opened the door and caught Blake’s gaze one more time before slipping outside.

After smiling at the closed door for several moments, Blake finally returned to her office.  It was hard to remember the time when she hadn’t wanted Yang here at all.  Now, Yang’s presence was as much a part of the day as Sun’s jokes or Victor’s four-syllable words.  But, unlike Sun’s jokes or Victor’s four-syllable words, Blake was drawn to Yang in a strange, indescribable way.

Tabling that thought for now, she returned her focus to the fledgling outline spread across her desk.  Marking out prospective column spaces was relatively easy, but she needed to fit advertisements around the articles in a way that made sense.  Rico’s construction business wasn’t best suited near Lola’s entertainment piece, for example, but would do better near Brand’s crime or Sun’s athletics section.  A never-ending jigsaw puzzle, that’s what it was.  And with a smaller paper, space suddenly came at a premium.  She made it through the first two pages before she smelled tuna through the door.  And...salmon too.

As soon as Yang walked into the office, Blake’s stomach grumbled.  Deciding now was an excellent time for another break, she set her pen down and waited for Yang to join her.

“Alright,” Yang said, opening the bag on top of Blake’s desk and pulling out several containers of food.  “Here’s your tuna...and I got the salmon if you want some.”

“Maybe...but only if you don’t finish it.”

Laughing at the response, Yang pulled out a third box and pushed it towards Blake.

“And I got extra in case that was your answer.”

The thoughtful gesture surprised Blake but, again, pleasantly so.  Would she ever get accustomed to how considerate Yang was to her?

“Alright.”  Grabbing one of the boxes for herself, Yang looked at the arrangement on the desk before nodding.  “Got everything you need?”

“I think so...thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  With another nod, Yang turned to leave, but Blake stopped her with a quick, “Yang.”  

“Yeah?”

“If you want...you can eat in here.”  When Blake gestured to the empty chair across from her, Yang grinned and set her food on the desk.

“Be right back then.”

While Yang went to retrieve her notepad, Blake took her first bite to eat and hummed with pleasure.  If not for Yang walking back into the office and sitting down, she might have eaten the entire piece of fish at an extremely unattractive pace.  With company, however, she forced herself to take smaller bites.

“What’re you working on?” Yang asked while making herself comfortable.  After opening the container of food on one side of the desk, she set her pen and notepad right beside it.  Blake pulled some of her spread-out papers closer, but it didn’t seem like Yang needed or wanted more space.

“Now that people have stopped calling, I’m trying to piece together what the next edition will look like.  Which is a little hard when only half the articles are decided right now.”

“Sorry...” 

“It’s not your fault,” Blake quickly assured Yang.  “At least I know what you’re working on and what it will be about.  Some people haven’t even made it that far.” 

“Should I guess who ‘some people’ are?” Yang asked with a light laugh, which made Blake smile and roll her eyes. 

“Pretty sure you already know.”  She looked at Yang’s notepad then, which was covered in words.  “How are you doing?” 

“I’m trying this freehand writing thing Velvet suggested - write whatever I want, then go through and pick out the best points.” 

“That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, she’s one smart bunny.”  Smiling with the statement, which Blake knew to be more than true, Yang picked up her pen and motioned that she was going to get back to it.

While Yang did that - her eyes trained to the page while writing quickly - Blake returned to her potential layout.  As she pieced together several possible formats, Yang’s presence offered a sense of comfort rather than distraction.  

The soft scratching of a pen on paper broke up the silence and reminded Blake that she wasn’t alone for yet another late night.  Besides the quiet sounds, she could vaguely smell Yang’s shampoo from here - an invigorating scent that made her want to move closer.  With the desk between them, however, she focused on the papers in front of her and took deep breaths instead.

A solid half-hour passed without either of them saying a word, which she paused to marvel at after another completed page joined the steadily growing pile.  Unlike Sun, who hardly stopped talking let alone moving, Yang didn’t fidget much.  And, while she drew Blake’s gaze every so often, that was due to her being so quiet and easy to work with.

After not much longer, Blake was the one who wanted to start a conversation, which was...unexpected and unprecedented.  And, the more she thought about how easy it was to work with Yang, the more details she noticed about Yang’s current ‘work mode.’  

Her eyes narrowed in concentration while she wrote in the notebook propped up on her knees.  Whenever she paused, her finger tapped out a soft melody that stuck in Blake’s head.  Whatever she was thinking about had so much of her attention, she probably didn’t notice the way she lightly bit her lower lip and furrowed her brow.

“You can talk sometimes, you know,” Blake finally said when she couldn’t hold the conversation at bay any longer.  When Yang looked at her, she nodded to show she was serious.

“I didn’t want to bother you…”

“You’re not.”  When Yang still looked relatively uncertain, Blake shook her head.  “Really, you’re not.”

The grin that slowly appeared on Yang’s lips filled Blake with warmth that validated her decision to start a conversation.  Would it be too much of a leap to think that Yang wanted to talk to her too?

“Ok,” Yang said, hardly able to contain that growing smile.  “Then, uh, think you could help me with something?”

“Sure.”  Turning away from the trial layouts, Blake gave Yang her full attention.  “What is it?”

“Do you know another word for ‘foster?’  Because I think I’ve used it like five times already.”

“Another word for ‘foster…’” Blake repeated before pausing to think.  “Harbor, house, shelter, care for.”  Reaching an end of the easy synonyms, she thought for another few seconds before adding “Accommodate, lodge, or raise, even.  It depends on the context.”

She thought nothing of the response until she noticed Yang staring at her.

“What?”

“Nothing.”  Yang shook her head but smiled.  “I just didn’t realize you were a walking thesaurus.”

“I didn’t realize you knew what a thesaurus was,” Blake teased, though a smile broke through her attempted seriousness when Yang laughed.

“Intelligence dings?” she asked, looking not at all offended by the remark.  “Is that where our relationship is now?”

“If that’s ok with you.”  When Blake tried to play it coy with a shrug, Yang laughed.

“Love it.”

The simple response filled Blake with even more happiness, and she smiled as Yang’s laughter trailed off.

“Well, thanks for contributing the only smart-sounding words in this entire thing.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Blake replied with a shake of her head.  “Has Victor taught you nothing?”

“Oh he’s taught me plenty.  But is an article about foster kids the best time to use ‘cacophony?’”

“There’s rarely a good time to use ‘cacophony.’  That’s what I can’t get him to understand.”

“Pretty sure he understands.  He just doesn’t want to accept it.”

“You’re probably right.”  Blake gave an exaggerated sigh at her ‘misfortune’ of working with a word wizard but, as Yang laughed, she caught sight of the clock and realized how late it was.  “You should go home,” she added.  “It’s late.” 

She expected Yang to agree but instead, she shrugged.

“I don’t mind hanging out, if you want company.  Besides, if I go home, I’m just going to keep working on this.”  Yang held up the notepad before setting it down with a smile.  “And if I’m home, Ruby will distract me.  You’re much less of a distraction.”

It sounded like Yang was giving Blake the option to choose.  She could insist that Yang go home and get some adequate rest, or she could acquiesce and let Yang stay.  It felt like Yang wanted to stay - or at least, didn’t mind staying - and Blake didn’t mind if she stayed either.  In which case...

“If you’re sure,” she replied, watching Yang’s eyes for a clear answer.  Receiving that and a nod, she smiled.  “Ok, then feel free to stay.”

She could tell that the answer made Yang happy, and that made her happy.  Before diving back into her layouts, however, she glanced over one last time.

“You realize this is probably how the entire week will go, right?”

“I know.”  Yang nodded before smiling again.  “And I plan on keeping you company, if you’ll let me.” 

Surprisingly, the thought didn’t bother Blake as much as it once might have.  Instead, she felt something along the lines of relief as she nodded and returned to her work.  She snuck another glance at Yang first, however, and smiled when Yang resumed writing.

For some reason, Yang’s company made the relentless work easier to bear.  Even if the next few days were lost in a blur of stress, as they would absolutely be, she would look forward to more moments like these.  Right now, spending time with Yang was just about the only thing she looked forward to.  Spending time with Yang, and making it to the end of the week.