If it weren't for how tired she was after her party, Yang wouldn't have been able to sleep much that night. The sleep that she did get, however, was unrestful and filled with tossing and turning. She awoke with more questions than she went to bed with. Did Blake really put the party together for her? Did Ruby know about the amavissets? Is that even something to think about? What if they're just a folk tale? Yang glanced at the flowers on the table beside her, blinking to get the last dregs of sleep out of her eyes.
"G'morning." Ruby passed by her, toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Yang squinted at her sister. She slapped her couchside table a couple times before landing on her phone. She checked the time, the clock shining a bright '7:41 AM' at her.
"You're up early." Yang said.
"Well Weiss would kill me if I was late on my first day back. Or worse, she wouldn't let me taste test the cookie dough."
Yang pushed herself up with a grimace. "Oh, right. Don't eat all of the dough before you bake it."
"That was one time!" Ruby walked back into the bathroom and rinsed her mouth. "Oh, by the way, there was a letter under the door this morning from Pyrrha. It's for you."
"What did it say?"
"Dunno, didn't open it."
"You really are all grown up. Up early for work, not peeking in your sister's mail, I'm proud of you." Yang forced herself off the couch just in time to ruffle Ruby's already combed hair. She grabbed the letter off of the table and glossed over the envelope. 'To Yang, From Pyrrha and Jaune.' Odd how Ruby left Jaune out. Poor guy, Yang thought, he never gets mentioned. She scraped open the top of the letter and pulled out the paper inside.
Dear Yang,
First off, happy belated birthday! I apologize that Jaune and I could not be there last night, but Sonia had her first dance recital since graduating elementary school, so she really wanted us to be there to watch her. Secondly, I wanted to tell you about the gift I made you! It's already set up a bit further past the path towards the town on your property, you should be able to see it from your front door. Blake mentioned in passing that you liked bees, and Ruby had mentioned that you had taken up gardening, so I figured having a small apiary for homemade honey would be something nice to have! Jaune helped me find someone to get us the bees, so there should already be a queen inside. We moved an already existing hive inside so you wouldn't need to wait several months for honey – only about a week or two.
Best Wishes,
Pyrrha and Jaune
(P.S. Say hi to Ruby for me!)
Yang's hands shook as her eyes scanned the letter. She dared a glance out of her window – sure enough, there was a wooden box, resting upon stilts, right past the entrance to her property. She could hear buzzing – was it the bees? Or was it her own head? She fished her pockets for her phone and found nothing. Right, she thought, still on the table. She opened her phone and tapped in a speed dial she had just programmed the night before, a picture of Blake now hopping in the center of the phone's screen.
"Bwuh's up?" Blake asked.
"Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?" Yang began to pace around the room. She'd had this habit whenever she talked on the phone for her whole life. Apparently it was normal, according to an article her dad showed her, but she couldn't help but feel she paced faster when she was stressed.
Yang could swear she heard Blake rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, but it's fine. What's up?" A picture formed in Yang's mind of Blake, half covered by her bedsheets and hair over her eyes. If Blake had half the bedhead Yang did, then she'd feel sorry for waking her up this early.
"I got a letter from Pyrrha." Yang glanced out of the window again, as if to make sure she hadn't been dreaming. "Did you tell her that I liked bees?"
"Yeah, something like that. It was... uh..." Yang heard Blake shift in her bed. "I think it was a week or two ago. We were having lunch and somehow bees were brought up, and I mentioned how you and bees have... I think I said a 'special relationship' or something."
"Well she must have thought I loved bees, because now there's a giant bee box in my front yard! Pyrrha already put bees in there and everything, and it's right where I walk to go into town!"
"Hold on. I'll be over there in a minute." Blake ended the call, leaving Yang to stare at her phone, mouth ajar. She rang Blake again, but no answer. Well, if Blake was going to be here, she may as well brush her hair or something. Working the knots out of her bedhead helped her relieve stress anyways.
She walked into the bathroom. She wiped fog from the mirror, still left over from Ruby's shower, and picked her brush up from the sink. The first few knots were always the hardest, then they all brush away afterwards. She reached the first knot. Did she really wake Blake up for something like this? I honestly thought she'd be awake by now, she thought to herself, she seems like an early bird. The second knot. Of all things to put in my front yard, a giant box of bees. Third knot. Now Blake's coming over and I haven't even showered yet. She's gonna see me and immediately think to herself, 'ew'. There was a knock on the door as she cleared the fourth knot. Yang's eyes shot up to the mirror. Crap.
Yang tried to wrestle the brush out of her hair, but the brush was caught on a fifth knot. Sighing, she walked over to the door and opened it. On the other side was Blake, with hair just as messy as hers, no makeup on, and bags under her eyes so large Yang could have sworn they were suitcases. They stared at each other for a second.
"I definitely woke you up, didn't I?" Yang asked. She offered to make some coffee for the two of them, which Blake accepted happily.
"It's fine. You sounded anxious on the phone, so I figured it was serious." Blake took a cup from Yang's hand and gently blew away the steam rising from the top. "So, where's this box of bees? I didn't see it when I ran by."
"You didn't see it? It's enormous!" Yang pointed towards her front yard. "Look!"
"It's... the size of a mailbox?"
"Yeah! Who knows how many bees are just waiting in there?!" Yang began to slurp her own cup of coffee. "Who knows if it's even safe enough to leave the house now with so many around."
"It's easily thirty feet away from your front door. Maybe more."
"Bees can move a lot faster than I can, Blake," Yang slurped her coffee again and coughed. "I know you didn't mean for Pyrrha to give me something as awful as this, but it's still... awful!"
"Awful isn't the word I would use to describe it," Blake said.
"Well, what would you say?"
"Free therapy." Blake set her empty coffee cup down on the table and grabbed Yang by the arm.
"What? No! No no no no no! Don't make me go there! Please!" Yang gripped the frame of her front door with her metal hand, keeping both her and Blake locked in place. "Don't betray my trust like this, Blake!"
Instead of responding, Blake pinched Yang's left elbow – detaching the metal arm and causing Yang to fall backwards. Yang's eyes went wide as she fell back, and stared at Blake from the ground.
"You're on the front porch and you're perfectly fine. See?" Blake held out her hand. Yang considered swatting it away, but she could use the hand. Quite literally in this case.
"Okay, cool. I can go outside when the bees are sleeping," Yang said, "Good to know, I guess." Yang reattached her arm and stood beside Blake.
"Full disclosure, I was going to bring you to a professional apiary this fall," Blake said.
"What? Why would you do that?"
"Several reasons. First and foremost, I really want to see what fresh honey tastes like. Second, I think it'd be a cute date. Conquering a common fear and all."
"A common fear?" Yang asked.
"You hate bees, I hate tours. The fact that you need to stay within the set walkway for who knows how long, being told exactly what to do while you're berated with useless facts when all you want is the free food at the end," Blake said.
"You really hate tours that much?"
"Well, tours are also really crowded."
"Ah, gotcha," Yang said, "But I'm afraid of plenty of other things too, you know? Not just bees."
"Well I certainly haven't heard of any other fears. What kind of fears would those be?" Blake looked Yang straight in the eyes.
"Y-Y'know," Yang said, "Bees are pretty bad because it's certain death if one stings me, but I also really hate... uh... loud noises!"
"Don't you rev up your motorcycle whenever you ride it? That's pretty loud."
"Fine, then what about drowning? I'm really, really afraid of drowning."
"You were fine when you fell into the lake. Took it in stride if I remember correctly." Blake tilted her head. Sweat began to form on Yang's forehead.
"Okay fine! I just really, really don't like bees, okay?" Yang crossed her arms and turned away. Blake put her hand on Yang's shoulder. Yang flinched, but let her shoulders fall soon after.
"I know you don't, and I'm sorry that Pyrrha put an apiary right in your front yard, but doesn't this seem like the perfect opportunity to face that fear?"
"To face that fear, huh? I'm just supposed to waltz right up to a box of things I'm most definitely allergic to and be perfectly fine, is that it?" Yang asked.
"Not right away. We have lots of time, and if you want, I'll be here with you the whole way." Blake held her hand on Yang's shoulder and turned the girl around.
"Promise?" Yang asked.
"Promise." Blake pulled Yang into a hug. Her arms wrapped around the brush that Yang left there, but Blake didn't seem to notice. "Plus, you do have an arm that can't be stung after all."
"Yeah," Yang said, "I guess you're right.