Do Something About It

Yang basks in the all too soothing feeling of the sun on her skin as the liberating sounds of the crashing beach waves ring in her ears. She takes a sip of her beverage from her pineapple that she doesn’t identify, but couldn’t be bothered to give it much thought.

“Other one,” she orders Emerald, who’s at her feet, massaging them.

Emerald glares at the blonde, groaning in exasperation before saying,

“You said I could go home after I massaged both of them.”

“No, I said you could go home after I’m satisfied. That’s not the case yet, so less lip action and more hand action, kay?”

Emerald groans again before doing as instructed and massaging Yang’s other foot. Yang gives her a smug grin, punctuating with,

“That’s a good girl. Just shut up and do what you’re told.”

Emerald grumbles in response as Yang leans back, closing her eyes and basking in the feeling of her hands on her foot. But after moments of enjoying herself, she starts to hear something strange. It sounds like distorted whispering and winds. She tries to ignore the eerie noises, but they’re starting to get louder and drown out the sounds of the waves.

She opens her eyes to see that she’s no longer at the beach. No sun rays, no water, and no Emerald servant. She can’t even tell where she is. It’s so dark. The only light available is a dim deep shade of red. And there’s no one in sight. Yang’s all alone.

She stands up, looking around her surroundings as she tries to comprehend where she is. But as she does so, the distorted whispers get louder and louder. Yang clutches her ears to drown out some of the noise, but that does virtually nothing. It’s still just as loud as before. Only now she can vaguely hear a scratchy but familiar voice saying something almost intelligible.

“... -itch-... -orn-... -ize-... -ouse-... -ou want-...”

Eventually, the noise becomes unbearable, causing Yang to pound the ground. And right as her fist makes contact with the ground, the noises stop. It’s quiet. Better than what was going on before, but still unsettling.

But then she hears footsteps heading her direction. They sound close. And whoever it is, they’re completely barefoot. Soon enough, Yang hears the footsteps stop with a pair of bare feet presenting before her. She looks up to see who’s in front of her, discovering Raven wearing nothing but a see-through black silk bathrobe and holding a glass of wine.

Yang wants to recoil at the sight and tell her mother off for wearing something so revealing, but finds herself unable to. Instead, she just remains in her current position, staring at her mother’s semi-naked body. Weirder still is the fact that the more she looks at her, the less awkward she’s starting to feel.

Moments after getting an eyeful of Raven’s figure, Yang is then met with her squatting down to her level and bringing her free hand to the side of her face. She then gives her a warm grin as she caresses her daughter’s face and twirls her wine glass.

“Don’t fight it,” Raven says with a giggle before taking a sip of her wine, “I know you want this. Give in, baby girl.”

She then snakes her hand below her chin, tilting Yang’s face up before leaning in closer. And right before she makes contact with her, Yang jolts awake from her strange dream with a small yell. She then surveys her surroundings, trying to escape her delirious state as she calms herself from what she just witnessed from the deepest corners of her mind.

Slowly catching her breath, she leans back down on the couch she was sleeping on as her eyes adjust to the darkness of the living room. She then grabs her phone to check the time, slightly surprised that it’s just approaching dusk. Seeing no point in trying to go back to sleep again, Yang decides to just get the day started.

She stands up from the couch before heading upstairs to tend to her hygienics. After rinsing out the mouthwash, she turns to walk out of the bathroom, slightly startled as she unexpectedly finds Raven standing before her. Still suffering from what her brain made her witness in her dream, Yang sneaks a glance at her mother’s wardrobe, internally sighing in relief as she sees the black and red sweats and Beowolf jersey Tai got her on their 4th anniversary.

“Couldn’t sleep either, huh?” Raven questions.

Yang doesn’t say anything in response. Not only is she still waking up, but she’s still upset from what happened last night.

“And you’re not talking to me. Fine. You wanna keep up this facade that I’m just some heartless monster who couldn’t be fucked to come over to see you? Go ahead. You’ve already made up your mind on that front. But what I won’t have is that thought going through your thick skull when it comes to Ruby. Got it?”

Yang snorts before replying with,

“Weakest apology ever.”

“Well, luckily for me, I wasn’t going for that. I just wanted to set that straight.”

“And it took you six hours to come up with that piss poor speech?”

“No, it took me six hours to calm down from dealing with a bratty teenager who was talking about shit she doesn’t know about.”

“Tends to happen. You were the subject and you tried to kill me. Usually, that results i-”

Raven cuts her off by wrapping her arm around the front of her neck and bringing her free hand to the back. Before Yang can react, Raven digs her finger into Yang’s flesh, stopping her in her tracks.

“This neutralizes you. Any harder would paralyze you. And slightly harder than that would kill you. Hating you and wanting you dead are two very different things. So don’t be so melodramatic. Now, do you finally get the picture, sweetheart? Or are you gonna keep acting like a stuck up, know-it-all, bratty bitch? Cause at best, I put you over my knee.”

Yang brings her hands to Raven’s arm, gently tapping it to feign submission. Raven takes the bait, going to release her hold before Yang grips her arm and shifts her body to the right, slamming Raven’s head against the doorframe. She then turns around, looking on in content as Raven clutches her head, groaning and hissing in pain.

“Don’t worry, mom. I read you loud and clear. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna get changed.”

Yang then heads to her room, leaving her mother writhing in agony as she tries to decide on something more comfortable to wear. All the while, Raven, not wanting to let that maneuver slide, takes a moment to let the pain in her head subside before barging into Yang’s room to get her retribution.

Without a word, she grabs Yang’s hair and slams her head into the wall, pressing her into it as Yang tries fighting her off. She eventually succeeds, grabbing Raven’s wrist and switching their positions, placing her hand on her neck and pinning her mother to the wall, strangling her. But that’s put to an immediate end as Raven delivers a hard slap across her face. She then delivers a barrage of punches to Yang’s face and stomach until one punch is blocked and Yang retaliates with punches of her own, overwhelming her mother with each meteor-like blow.

“You! Hit! Like! A! Bitch!” Yang taunts with each hit.

And with that, she attempts one final punch to serve as the finishing blow. But Raven evades it, maneuvering herself on Yang’s back and putting her in a sleeper hold. Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem for Yang, but because of the exertion from the fight and still apparent drowsiness from waking up, she’s finding it difficult to fight off. She’s fading fast.

After being brought to a knee, Yang tries finding out ways to fight out of her perilous situation. And after a swift thought, she manages to garner the strength to push off of her foot and send herself backwards, smashing Raven’s back into her bed frame. Raven’s grip loosens, giving Yang exactly what she needs. She grabs Raven’s arm and throws her to the floor, straddling her and pinning her wrists down.

And similar to last night, both just scowl at each other, breathless and too worn out to fight any further. But what separates this scenario from last night’s is Yang’s mind. As she towers over her mother, glaring down at her as she has her in her clutches, her mind goes back to what she was dreaming about. Her pajamas gradually shift in the bathrobe she saw her in. And her look of contempt slowly shifts to the wanting look of lust that she saw. And it isn’t made any better when she considers the current position they’re in.

After everything finally dawns on the blonde, she releases her mother’s wrists, recoiling at the mental image her mind made her witness. Raven then makes her way to her feet, glaring at Yang before stepping out of the room to heal herself before slamming the door shut in anger. Normally, Yang would relish in her mother’s rage. Especially since she’s the source after winning the fight. But her mind is too clouded from that disgusting thought in her mind. She just hopes it’ll just fade out and die like every other intrusive thought.

“Haha! Last lap, Ruby!” Yang taunts as she passes the line, “What happened? I thought I wasn’t on your level.”

“Oh, don’t be foolish,” Ruby theatrically retorts, focusing hard on her gameplay, “What kind of monster would use their full force on mere children?”

“The kind who’s getting their butt kicked in 5th place?”

“Temporary setback. Truly telling of a novice. Letting temporary showings determine the outcome when the precipice is nowhere in sight.”