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Esoteric Banalities

Chapter 10

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Weiss sat on the floor in the doorway to Blake’s room, the soft sounds of her sleeping providing Weiss with enough comfort that things would be okay. In the room, a little further down the hall she could hear Yang awake and doing something. She wasn’t curious enough to figure out, content with her place in the doorway, and satisfied by the sounds of normalcy that filled the apartment. The spirit felt reassured that Yang didn’t need any help and her duty to Blake was being fulfilled. But more than that, she felt it was something she wanted to do, too. Looking after the two women seemed to give her some manner of purpose lately when before, her days as far back as she could actually remember, had been filled with confusion and loss.

A week and a half passed since Yang’s slip in the shower and it felt like very little was done in regards to helping Weiss figure everything out but… She felt okay with this. The previous anxiety of figuring out who she was lessened to mere questions. Overwhelming confusion became new experiences and learning. Weiss felt confident that she was handling things as best she could. Or maybe it was a manner of confidence in the situation because Blake was the one helping her. Weiss wasn’t sure. She turned her head to watch the sleeping form of the faunus woman while the room gradually grew brighter the longer the day progressed.

She couldn’t even explain what they accomplished in the time they spent together lately. Weiss would spend the day at the house, keeping an eye on Yang while also doing a bit of her own snooping on the woman, listening in on conversations, poking through belongings as best she could in her non-corporeal form. But mostly it was sitting in the same room with her while she went about her day. Calls to her work to figure out scheduling and days off for her recovery. Another call from Ruby where they talked about her accident. A lot of action movies. Foreign samurai and kung-fu movies. Random daytime television while she took naps. Weiss could conclude that Yang did a lot of nothing, but at least she wasn’t doing anything that she needed to contact Blake over. Weiss almost enjoyed it, in some way. Being around the apartment with someone there made her loneliness ease up, even if the other person wasn’t aware of her. It also made her feel… normal.

Blake stirred in her bed and it took Weiss’ mind from her thoughts to the present. She got up and walked to the bed to see Blake open her eyes and blink the sleep from them. After a moment, recognition set in. “Mm, what time is it?” Blake asked in a low mumble and felt around on the nightstand for her phone.

“I’m not sure, but it’s pretty late in the morning,” Weiss told her and smiled. Some urge in her felt like scolding the faunus woman for sleeping in so late and wasting the day, but it was difficult to argue with someone who seemed so content only moments ago.

“Ugh,” Blake groaned and pulled the blankets over her face. “Fine, I’m getting up.” Her reply was muffled but she finally sat up. “Taking a shower.”

“You don’t have to get up yet,” Weiss reassured her but Blake was already turning to climb out of bed. Weiss stepped back while Blake got up and shuffled to the bathroom directly across the hall and shut the door leaving Weiss alone in the room. She looked around and decided to head into the living room to poke around and let Blake have her privacy. Blake would want to get changed in peace, she figured and felt like respecting that boundary. Especially for someone kind enough to take her in. And help her. And spend time with her. Some gnawing part of Weiss’ mind kept coming back to how Blake made her feel happy.

Without memories of who she was before her death, and without knowing, well, much of anything about who exactly she was, Weiss was in the position of discovering herself all over again. She retained a lot of her societal memories, how to speak, what was considered rude or polite, facts about the world such as weather, and what most things were. It was all of her personal details that slipped away from her. Who she actually was. Some of it came to her in small urges, as all of her pushed aside thoughts of scolding Blake, and some of it came to her without any thought. She found herself simply performing what she assumed were habits from when she was alive. Moments where she nervously paced, or wrung her hands, or huffed in embarrassment.

One thing had been hanging over her head for a while and she could assuredly say it with confidence, though. She felt attracted to Blake.

 

&&&&&

 

Droplets of water on the floor left a trail from the bathroom across the hall into Blake's bedroom. She had just finished showering and her damp towel lay on her bed while she dug through her dresser for something to wear. Every time she grabbed a pair of panties, she stopped to think. A shower had not helped at clearing her mind of her current dilemma, one that had only grown in recent days. The scowl on her face reflected back at her in the dresser mirror while she sighed. In her head, thoughts circled about the past few days. With her. With Weiss. With her confusion.

Another sigh.

Blake didn't know what to do about Weiss. Obviously, she wanted to help the woman cross over, but every time she tried to think of ways to do so, something in the back of her mind, something heavy, made her second guess that. She knew the spirit's days were numbered for her window to cross over, but she didn't want to let her go. Blake figured it was some selfish part of her that held onto having a friend that wasn’t judgmental about both her status as a faunus and her strange magnetism for what she could only call the parts that fell through the hyper-normal shell. The publicly accepted blind eye to the oddities of the world. Past attempts to clue those close to her in on what it was she saw and did regarding everything had only driven a wedge between her and everyone else.

Weiss, though… Blake had grown attached to her. Attracted to her, even. She shook her head. Despite Weiss’ clear attraction to her, Blake didn't want to proceed with anything until she could figure out what was keeping the ghost in this world. She couldn't be here for no reason; every ghost had a reason for their prolonged stay. She at least deserved the option to leave and be unbound to the current plane.

"Can't be thinking that right now,” Blake mumbled and flattened her ears to her head.

Once she returned to her search for what to wear, she pulled a pair of floral panties from the drawer and slipped them on. The pastel blue fabric with the little blue and green flowers adorned all over them slid up and held snugly to the curve of Blake's waist. Next from the drawer was a matching pastel blue bra covered in the same pattern. Thoughts of Weiss and the predicament the two of them were in came back to her mind. Did she put this matching set for herself, or for Weiss? She turned and flopped onto her bed, damp hair splayed out over her pillow.

"Can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

The voice startled Blake and she froze. Weiss had sneaked into the room, her feet not making a noise as she entered; a benefit of being non-corporeal. Blake tried to cover herself with a blanket out of embarrassment, but her fear turned to confused frustration quickly. "Oh, Weiss, nothing. Don't worry about it. I was... wait, what are you doing in here?!"

Weiss grinned at the question as well as Blake's embarrassment and laughed. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." She stepped closer towards the woman on the bed and pouted to tease her. "You didn't have to cover up, though."

Blake took a couple of breaths to ease the flush across her nose and cheeks. Their rosy hue leveled out and she bit her lip while she gazed at the figure before her. Soft light from the window filtered through the blinds and reinforced the fact that Weiss was not a physical being. Her lack of shadow amongst the long shadows on the floor always fascinated Blake. It wasn't only Weiss, either. Any ghost she had met left her curious as to the specifics of how they were able to be there with her. Not many people could see them, and even fewer did what she attempted to do for them. The seconds ticked by before she realized Weiss was also gazing back and she should respond to the woman. "Listen, Weiss, you've got to stop sneaking up like this. What if I was even more indecent than I already am?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Weiss huffed before she drifted closer. Blake noted the usual cold emanating from the specter was missing. Her temperature was warmer. She was buzzing. Electrified. Weiss gazed at Blake.

"You're not cold right now?" she questioned in a low voice. The expression on Blake's face shifted to something lighter and more curious. She had never experienced something like this. Not even once before did she remember encountering a ghost that didn’t feel like stepping outside on a winter morning while half-asleep.

Weiss shook her head. "I feel more... I'm not sure how to describe it. Alive? Maybe not alive. But, I feel more energized. I was excited and wanted to show you,” she laughed.

Blake sighed in her mind. She couldn't say no to that face. The look of genuine happiness in the smile Weiss wore got to her. She had never anticipated having her heart melt like this over a ghost. The natural light of the growingly bright day outside illuminated the room and Blake thought, at that moment, the warmth of her girlfriend and the brighter day made this moment perfect. She froze. She just thought of Weiss as her girlfriend and didn't know how to react. She couldn't have a ghost for a girlfriend. How would she explain that one to people? Curiosity got the better of her though and she sat up, the blanket falling away.

“How did this happen?” she asked, looking over Weiss’ form and letting her eyes rest on the ghost’s face.

“I’m not entirely sure. That’s also why I came in here. I was in the front room and I just felt a strange calm sweep over me,” Weiss tried to explain, becoming a bit more animated with her words. “I remember thinking about the feelings of hopelessness from when I was lost, and the confusion I had, but then- Well, you found me. And that thought was around when it started happening. I knew I shouldn’t give it much attention, but it all felt so different and it felt- it felt good,” Weiss shyly smiled and turned her head away to hide the expression she had.

Against her better judgment, a grin spread, and Blake shook her head. "Fine, get over here." She motioned for Weiss to join her on the bed. "You're already here. You've already seen things. How much, I don't know." Eyes locked between them only a moment before the specter's cheeks looked flushed and she averted her gaze, surprising Blake. A ghost blushing was new. "That much, huh?" she laughed. "I suppose it was only a matter of time."

"If it makes you feel better, I wasn't peeping on purpose. I only wanted to share this," Weiss tried to backpedal and explain as she settled on the bed next to Blake. She reached a hand up to skim her fingers over the other woman's scalp. The electric sensation caused goosebumps to rise all over Blake's form. "And peep a little." Blake shivered from both the sensation and the admission. "Okay, no, I mostly wanted to peep."

"Dirty. You have a dirty mind," Blake teased but knew her mind was right there alongside Weiss’. Neither one of them was a saint it seemed. A moment passed in silence before Blake spoke again. "Hey, Weiss?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"I want to ask-"

"If this is about my peeping on your roommate-"

"What? No. It's abou- wait, you peeped on Yang?"

"What? No. I didn't say that. Why would you accuse me of such a thing?" Weiss stood up with a start frowned, turning her back on Blake.

“Okay, well, you abusing your ghostly abilities aside, I feel like we really need to talk about things because this all feels incredibly fast. And there’s a lot of unknowns here.” Blake sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back against her headboard. “So many unknowns.” She opened her eyes and watched Weiss turn back around looking concerned, a chill beginning to roll off of her. Blake had a suspicion of it, but this seemed to confirm something she had thought. The temperature shifts seemed to be emotionally related, but the why of it happening was still unknown. “I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want to put pressure on you, but there is a window of availability for you to cross over. After that closes, you’re- you’re here for good.”

Weiss stayed quiet. She only looked at Blake, and Blake could see the gears turning behind her eyes. The information wasn’t something she wanted to share lightly, but it had to be done before whatever was happening between them continued. Weiss had a right to all of the information. “How long?”

The question pulled Blake’s attention. “Hmm?”

“How long do I have?” Weiss asked.

“It’s different for everyone. I’m not sure what determines it, but I’ve seen as short as a week, and as long as a year. I’m having to do all of my own research on this since it’s not like there’s information readily available on this all,” she admitted.

Weiss sat back down on the bed and Blake could tell her mood was shifting. The chill lessened and turned to a mild electric buzz, raising the hairs on her arms. “And if I don’t go back?” she asked, turning to face Blake.

“Again, it varies. One spirit fell into permanent despair. Another chose to stay, finding comfort in looking after his family. Everyone is different, so I can’t say for certain,” Blake answered and hesitantly reached out to place a hand close to Weiss on the bed. “But I want to ask what you wanted to do, because as much as I’d like to see how…” she trailed off struggling to find the right words. “Things go? We should figure out everything about you first.”

Weiss nodded. “You’re right,” she sighed in agreement. “We shouldn’t. Not yet.”

The conversation was cut short by a crash from the kitchen area and loud swear by Yang. Weiss got up and slipped through the wall into the front room to see what happened. Blake was on her way to her dresser to pull on a pair of jeans and a shirt when Weiss poked her head back in. “It’s alright. She just broke a bowl. But, she’ll probably need some help.”

 

&&&&&

 

Weiss waited in the kitchen with Yang as she carefully stepped over broken ceramic pieces. The blond grumbled and cursed under her breath the whole way down the hall and the entire way back with a broom in hand. Weiss could see the exasperation on her face as she attempted to sweep the pieces together with just one arm. Thankfully Blake emerged from her room, dressed and ready to help.

“Sorry,” Yang mumbled while continuing to scoot the shards together, but Blake shook her head.

“Lemme do that,” the faunus woman reached for the broom, and Yang hesitated before handing it over.

“I thought I could put together a simple bowl of cereal, but nooo, apparently that was too much for me to do,” Yang grumbled and squeezed her hand into a fist. Weiss stepped out of the way when Yang came her way to grab a new bowl from the dish rack. The hesitation in her decision didn’t go unnoticed by Blake or Weiss when she opted to grab one of the plastic bowls instead.

“There’s a few pieces under the edge of the- yeah, there,” Weiss told Blake who nodded in thanks.

Blake knelt down to use the dustpan and get all of the pieces into it. Thankfully it hadn’t shattered too terribly and most of the pieces were large. When they were gathered into the pan, she stood in time to see Yang on her toes reaching for a box of cereal that fell over on top of the fridge. Her tank top rode up from the action and both Weiss and Blake found themselves checking out Yang’s stomach. They shared a look of embarrassment with each other, a flush spreading across their faces, but it only worsened for Blake when she saw that Yang had turned to look at her.

Weiss started laughing at Blake’s misfortune of being caught checking her roommate out. Yang raised an eyebrow at Blake’s embarrassed expression and smirked.

“You’re no longer allowed to make fun of me for peeping,” Weiss shot at Blake while leaving the kitchen to settle herself in the living room and watch the awkward exchange happen in the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Blake mumbled and looked away, but Yang’s smirk grew into a smile as she went about making a bowl of cereal for herself. Blake dumped the dustpan in the trash and returned the broom to the closet before shutting herself in her room. Before following her back in, Weiss noted Yang giving a thoughtful glance toward Blake’s door.

Notes:

We're officially one third into this story! Every time I look at what I've written for this story I'm reminded of how much fun it was to write. Definitely getting the itch to work on more for this series.

Nearing the end of NaNoWriMo! I hope anyone who participated was able to make good progress. I'm nearly done but still plugging away. Work on Quotidian Solicitude is still underway, and there're plenty more ideas kicking around without really any stopping.

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Quotidian Solicitude is also being uploaded weekly, so if you're at all interested, check that one out, too. It's on its second chapter with a third coming in a few days.

Thanks everyone~ ♥