Chapter Text
Blake
Blake was awoken by the screams of pain. She came to consciousness quickly, expecting to need to comfort Adam, when his scar was acting up she had found the best method of dealing with that was distracting him from it.
Then as she was thinking about tea she heard another scream of “Yang, get it off!”
That was enough to remind her she was in her dorm room in Beacon. The voice belonged to Ruby and not Adam.
“Fucking shit I’m using your bed Weiss.”
Blake looked at where Ruby’s bed was and saw the messy blonde hair of her teammate as she reached up to Ruby’s bunk pulling the screaming girl out of the bed and setting her on the bed beneath, Weiss’s bed, before the world stopped making sense and Yang pulled Ruby’s Right Arm clean off the ripping of the sleeve fabric filling the room as Ruby’s screams died out.
Yang set the Arm(Ruby’s arm!) on the bedside table/desk they all shared before running her fingers through her sister’s hair making calming noises.
Blake was still working back on figuring out just what the hell was going on as Weiss approached the arm (Ruby’s Arm!) and lifted it with an odd tone of voice. “It’s a prosthetic…”
Blake blinked and the world started making sense once more.
“Phantom Limb syndrome?” she heard her voice ask.
“Yea.” Yang replied for Ruby.
“Cookies. Please.” Ruby moaned out.
“Uh could one of you get that green container in the fridge.” Yang asked. “Kinda got a Ruby all over me.”
Blake was happy to do something for her leader so hopped out of bed before crouching down at the minifridge Yang had bought from a pawn shop the day after they’d gotten the room. It didn’t get used much but there was a container that Yang and Ruby had made very clear was Ruby’s and that no one should take it without permission.
She took it over to Yang seeing her arms full of Ruby she popped the lid revealing cookies inside.
“Thanks Blakey. Rubes, one or two.”
“All.”
“Two it is.” Yang replied and pulled out two of the cookies with a hand she moved to in front of Ruby who proceeded to eat the cookie at a much slower pace than usual.
Blake put the lid on and placed it back in the Fridge before returning to her bed.
“Sorry, Princess, I need to sleep with Rubes tonight and I don’t trust either of our beds to support both of us. You mind if we stay in yours? Just for tonight.”
Weiss nodded. “I suppose I can sleep in your bed this once. However if this becomes a common occurrence we will need to find a more permanent solution.”
“Yang. Music...take it off.” Ruby was apparently done with her cookie.
Yang sighed. “Okay Ruby. Just give me a minute.” Before turning again to Blake. “In her clothes draw in the back there are some headphones. Can you get them?” Blake nodded and went to find them remembering to turn on the light to keep up her subterfuge.
In the back of the draw were some headphones but she immediately recognized them as being a type preferred by Faunus with extra ears as they had a mold that encased the faunus ears with a speaker designed for comfortable use with the more sensitive faunus ears so she turned to look in time for Yang to look at her with a searching and protective look. She smiled and nodded to Yang’s visible relief before she spoke up.
“Don’t freak out Princess.” Yang told Weiss before she removed something from Ruby’s head and a pair of Faunus ears popped up in their place.
Even knowing something like this was coming from the headphones Blake was surprised that her leader, who she was convinced was human, was actually a faunus like her. Wolf Faunus unless she missed her guess.
Weiss was obviously shocked silent and she collapsed in Blake’s bed just staring at the two sisters. Blake brought Ruby her headphones to a thankful mumble from Ruby herself as she pulled them on and fiddled with her scroll until some sort of music could be heard just slightly from the speakers. Blake watched her muscles relax a bit as the music started and Yang began petting her ears to noises of approval from Ruby.
“This gonna be a problem Princess?” Yang asked with a slight venom in her voice.
“No, no...I mean...No...I...Sorry...um... “ Weiss trailed off.
Weiss looked off. She was normally so composed but now she looked just off in a way that Blake didn’t know he well enough to say how but the fact that after that her eyes at least got more tender as she looked at the sisters even as she wrestled with something deeper.
“I’m honestly surprised you aren’t being a problem about this Weiss. Given your Family History I was half-expecting you to do a Cardin Impression.” Blake found her mouth giving voice to her thoughts. The words hurt her as they came out. She had actually found herself liking the Schnee Heiress after the first few weeks. As she had eased into things she had revealed herself to be someone who Blake could sometimes forget she was supposed to hate. But she hadn’t even done anything to deserve that outside of being a bit of a bitch on that first day. Her father on the other hand...
“You’re right of course Blake. My Father is no friend of the Faunus people. But there is a reason I came to Beacon instead of Atlas. I disagree with him on a number of issues and wanted the space to...find myself...for lack of a better word. I will admit that this is somewhat difficult for me given events in my own life but Ruby has been an excellent friend in the time I’ve known her and I don’t want to hurt her.” Weiss managed to get out but her tone was nervous and like she was on the verge of a panic attack.
“Weiss, I think you can trust us if you need to say something...assuming it isn’t racist bile.” Blake said sitting beside her.
The whimper from Weiss was unexpected even as she nodded and suddenly turned to hug Blake.
Blake was not expecting the move and after taking a few seconds to process she reached up to rub the girl’s back in soothing circles as she cried herself out.
She shouldn’t have been quite so surprised when Weiss began to do her ‘definitely not snoring’ as she fell asleep.
“Probably for the best with Ruby out of it. Whatever she has to say probably ain’t gonna be easy to repeat.”
Blake nodded and realized that there was no way she was going to be able to get Weiss into the top bunk which meant that she’d need to sleep in Yang’s bunk…then she realized that Weiss was pretty much attached to her at this point and given just how tired she was she rolled her eyes and laid down with Weiss’s arms wrapped around her body and quickly returned to sleep. She really needed it after this night.
Ruby
She awoke slowly to warmth. Her mind felt sluggish and fuzzy so she didn’t push herself the warmth and comfort was enough to tell her she was safe and could take that time. When she noticed the soreness of her shoulder her mind put together what was happening.
‘Arm acted up. Warmth is Yang...smells like Yang.’ she breathed in the familiar scent of her sister. ‘Mama’s special Cookies? How many did I eat?’
After a time that could have been a few seconds or minutes she opened her eyes to the sun.
“Damn sun.” she muttered before separating herself from Yang. She sat on the edge of the bed before taking off the earphones, setting them aside and yawning as she scratched the back of her head. She ached to itch her ears but in the main room it was a little too dicey given that she was pretty uncertain about Weiss still.
Then her ear twitched…”Oh, guess that cat’s out of the bag.” She took the opportunity to rub her ears and preen at the fur. They were getting a bit out of control thanks to the time she’d spent with them pinned back. She needed to get the fur trimmed soon. Then she noticed that Blake and Weiss were in Blake’s bed...when did that happen? They were usually the first two up...had they been sleeping together all this time? Smell said no this was new. Weiss’s bed didn’t have a strong enough scent of Blake to say she had slept in it and Blake’s bed the same for Weiss. Maybe her screaming dragged up some memories for them too?
She was pretty sure she had screamed last night given her arm was on the desk and her shoulder and nonexistent arm felt so sore.
Shaking her head she got up to use the bathroom and returned to a stretching Yang. Across from a blushing Blake and Weiss.
“Yo Sis. Call Goodwitch and tell her we need a Team day. Some stuff came up that Weiss Cream wanted to talk to us about and I’m sure she’d like to hear about Ms Army.” Ruby rolled her eyes at her sister as she got up, continuing to stretch as her shirt rode up to reveal abs to their teammates who’s blushes just intensified.
Just what did Ruby do to deserve a team full of Useless Lesbians? Oh right she was a Useless Lesbian herself. She chuckled at her internal joke.
She just jumped up to her bunk with the help of her semblance with a few rose petals. They waited as each of them went to the bathroom in relative silence. This conversation was one she’d been dreading since being assigned to this team.
She liked Weiss, she really did, but she’d never made much effort to correct her presumptions about Faunus. Ruby knew that Weiss was trying to overcome whatever her dad had taught her but her lack of action on the faunus front had made Ruby uncomfortable with revealing herself to her team.
Didn’t matter now. Apparently High Ruby needed her Ears scritched...Come to think of it Sober Ruby needed her ears scritched too.
She sighed and reached under her sleep pants unlatching her belt and freeing her tail. Damage done let's end the tail cramps. She pulled out her Tail Binding Belt and set it aside as she stretched her tail’s disused muscles. Blake was gaping while Weiss just looked confused Yang was in her bunk brushing her hair.
“Right well guess everyone ready to talk? So um...I’m a Faunus. I hope that doesn’t cause any issues.”
Weiss just looked at her with that look of hers she gave any time Ruby tried to do bare minimum on her homework.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “If you want to know more, just ask. It’s kinda a whole thing so not really sure what you want to even know.”
“Well firstly I was under the impression that Faunus only had one Trait. Was that incorrect?”
Blake answered for her. “Yes and No. One Major Trait is way more common but sometimes people get born with multiple Major Traits. Minor Traits are something to consider but usually those traits are less noticeable. Technically Night-vision would be considered a Minor Trait.”
Blake sighed before pulling off her bow and reaching into her own sleep pants to pull out a small belt letting her own tail free.
“Y’know I had you figured for a Cat Faunus from the bow but I was not expecting a tail.” Ruby commented.
Blake seemed surprised before she nodded. “Smell right?”
“Yep, Rosie's Shampoo is great for fur isn’t it?”
Blake nodded.
“Wait wait wait. You’re both Faunus?” Weiss said surprisingly not moving away from her place next to Blake. “Yang are you hiding something too?”
“You mean am I a Faunus too? Nope, Human. It’s a long story but me, Mom and Dad are all Human. Mama’s a Faunus like Ruby.”
“Yea, our parents' whole situation isn’t the subject of this discussion. Let’s stay on topic.” Ruby herded her team back to the focus. “Anything else Weiss?”
She paused and nodded before speaking. “It doesn’t take a genius to determine why you felt you needed to hide from me. I regret that I didn’t make my own situation clearer to you all so that you might trust me. But...I don’t think I would have until very recently in either case so the point is moot.” She swallowed as if preparing herself for her next words. “Why do you think I came to Beacon instead of going to Atlas. After All with my Name I would have been granted greatly preferential treatment.”
“I mean that’s easy. You didn’t want that. You’re the type to want a challenge. Being given something that you didn’t work for just don’t satisfy you.” Yang cut in with her opinion.
“I...Yes actually. You’re the first person to ever get that about me.” She shook her head. “Nevertheless I could have gone to Haven. Mistrali politics lineup far more with my Father’s than Vale would. But my main reason for my choosing Beacon was his extremely poor opinion of Vale’s Policies. I framed it to him as a challenge to test my conviction and such but the truth of the matter was that…” She took a few breaths deep as if fighting off a panic attack. “I am a Lesbian.”
“Duh, I coulda told ya’ that Princess.” Yang snarked.
“Yang.” Ruby warned her sister when she noticed Weiss’ expression.
“Thank you Ruby. Is my...preference...really that obvious.”
“I mean I catch you eying my muscles enough that it was a safe guess. Also the way you fangirl out about Pyrrha is kinda telling.” Yang got down from her bunk and sat next to Ruby.
“Team Useless Lesbians aka RWBY.” Ruby snarked.
“Wait we’re all?”
“Yep” “Yup” “Bi, but yes.” all three of them replied.
“That I did not expect.”
“Anyway I’m guessing you were going somewhere with the being a Lesbian Weiss?”
“Oh yes. Well my father holds very negative views on just about everything and everyone that doesn’t fit into his view of the world. His rants against non-straight people were only less common than Faunus due to the frequency of when they would come up. As I was growing up and realizing that I would much rather engage in carnal pursuits with the girl who was my best, and only, friend for many years than the very male suitors he would arrange dates for me with...Well I began to doubt anything he said. When I turned 18 I proclaimed I wished to goto Beacon. As I said I framed it as a challenge that a proper Schnee would overcome with ease playing into his vanity. He agreed so long as I won a fight against a training dummy my grandfather had made.” she touched the scar above her eye. “That’s where I got this incidentally. Obviously I succeeded though he didn’t expect that. If there’s one thing I can stand about the man it’s that he keeps his word and allowed me to come to Beacon. Since arriving here I’ve been working with some others from similar backgrounds who have...deprogrammed themselves of their own parent-caused prejudences. I was slower and less vocal in regards to the Faunus because of...additional issues which I do not yet feel comfortable sharing. As I was under the impression none of you were Faunus I felt that I could take more time to work out some aspects that he inflicted upon me before making efforts towards earning forgiveness for my family's sins. Obviously that was a Mistake. I am sorry I ever made either of you feel uncomfortable around me due to that. I should have said something regardless but well...”
“You didn’t know us so you didn’t want to share that you disagreed with your dad on this.” Ruby interjected when it looked like Weiss was approaching her limit.
“I totally get it and honestly I’m glad things worked out. I actually do like you Weiss. I think you’re a good person and that you are in spite of what your dad has done to you just makes me more impressed. I know how hard that can be to deprogram what your parents have taught you...I mean not myself but a friend back on Patch. She… later became my Best Friend and my first girlfriend but before that she was a racist piece of shit. But one day we got assigned a school project together and we bonded or something and we got to talking and got closer until she told me about her dad. He was a bad man. I told people and he got arrested. A few years later Ami asked me out and we dated for like a year before we broke things off but it was more mutual agreement.” Ruby shared what she could. A lot of secrets in there were not hers to tell but she just wanted to share something with Weiss to set her more at ease.
Weiss’s smile made what she did share worth it.
“So what about the arm...How’d that happen if you don’t mind the jump in subject.” Blake spoke up. Was she helping get Weiss off the subject she’d been speaking of. It was good for that either way. Weiss looked drained from her speech and Ruby was good to take the distraction.
“Lost it when I was 13.” Ruby paused trying to arrange the story in her head. “Our parents and our Uncle were a Team back when they were at Beacon. We’re second Generation hunters. They trained us from young to defend ourselves from grimm and well I never wanted to be anything but a Hunteress. So when I was 13 I had Crescent Rose and my uncle who handled a lot of my training since he uses a scythe too declared me ready to take on a Beowolf. They’re pretty common on Patch so anyway. Me and him head out and track down a Beowolf Pack. I was better at tracking than anyone in my family even then. Mom’s sense of Smell isn’t much better than any other Faunus. But mine is really good. So I track down a pack of 13. Big but not too big. Uncle Qrow tells me he’ll hop in and drive one towards me while he takes out the rest. Everything works fine. He wiped out the pack in seconds cept for one he herds over to me. I take out Rose and take it down in one slash. I turn to look at Qrow expecting pride and instead I see Terror. I try to turn around but before I know it My shoulder is just pain and I’m thrown into a Tree. I see Uncle Qrow fighting a King Taijitu. I’m fading fast when he kills it. Can’t hear anything.” Ruby clears her throat. “Then I woke up in the hospital two weeks later after the Venom had made it’s way through my system. Normal Taijitu don’t have venom but it was an ancient. A fucking Ancient Taijitu on Patch and we run into it. Uncle Qrow cut the arm off in the forest. He knew I was dead if he didn't. As it was I was close to dying anyway. Taijitu venom prevents Aura Healing. You just gotta rely on your body to get you through it and filter it out. Even then I won’t be able to rely on my Aura to heal something like liver damage. I don't like Alcohol anyway so it's not a huge loss.”
There was silence as her teammates processed the story. “The arm...I looked at it and it looks like a Gepetto creation.” Weiss commented.
“It is. Mama knows him from her own Prosthetics so it was easy to get his attention for mine.”
Weiss seemed quite surprised.
“I didn’t realize.”
Blake just looked confused and apparently Yang decided to say something.
”Gepetto is an Atlasian Prosthetic maker. Known for lifelike ones that are Combat rated. One of the few folks that can do the work.”
Ruby mumbled her annoyance. “I mean they’re fine if you like that but seriously I hate the thing.”
“I would hate having lost a Limb as well.”
“See the thing is I don’t. Not really. Mama’s not got a single one of the limbs she was born with. Lost them all fighting Grimm. Taking hits for Mom and Dad they couldn’t. When they told me that I lost the arm my first reaction was to ask when it’d be healed up enough for the prosthetic and if I could design it myself.” she smirked. “ I would have shrugged but I was missing one of my shoulders at the time.” Yang snorted. “But yea the loss of limb doesn’t bother me but well. The design of the replacement does. Like my therapist said I might be one of the few folks that would adjust better to a limb with a non standard design. Like that thing it moves and behaves just like a regular arm. Feedback is a little weird but after a week of adjustment most people barely notice it. For me though just using it is annoying when I think about everything I could design an arm to do and be. My Therapist and parents are afraid I’ll go get my other limbs chopped off to replace them with more metal and...they might be right. I dunno. My brain is weird.”
Yang hugged her as she did any time she ranted about her arm.
“Anyway Ima work on that design now. I’ve been so focused on school work that I put it on the backburner but after last night I need to replace that Arm. I should have just made the damn thing when I was 15 but Mama managed to talk me out of it. No more though. I need to figure this thing out.”
Yang nodded. “Think it’ll help with the pain?”
“Dr Telos thinks so. She thinks that because of all my brain stuff the high end thing with all it’s feedback feels off to me or something. Dunno don’t care. If it helps great, if not I’ll just keep dealing with it.”
“I hope it helps. I hate seeing you like that Rubes.”
“I hate being like that but not much we can do. It is how it is.”
Yang looked annoyed at that fact like she wanted to punch reality into something better. But Ruby just rolled her eyes and gave Yang a one-armed hug. “Help me plug it back in. I'll sleep without it for the next few nights but if I’m going to get any work done on my new arm I’ll need it. Can’t miss too much class.”
“You are only missing this day of Class, You cannot fall behind if-” “I’ll be missing the next week. Goodwitch knows about these episodes and has already made arrangements for me since most of the time I spend the next week high out of my mind tinkering and listening to music because yes these attacks will keep happening for the next week or so. I will be useless in class and unable to do much of anything outside of my hyperfocus. So I’m going to skip the high and Tinker on a new arm. Get high before bed, then sleep, then repeat. I should be able to get the arm done in a week if I throw myself into it. Yang will you bring my food in whatever forge room I setup in?”
“Course Rubes now lay down so I can plug you up.”
Ruby laid down allowing her sister to plug in the cursed arm which began sending pain signals she could cut off. The issue was in her brain not the arm itself. Speaking of brains she could feel words beginning to require a lot more effort to get out so she just switched to Vale Sign Language. She was going to be dipping into knives for this project and at least going nonverbal would help free up spoons.
“ Gonna be nonverbal for a bit. Help translate for the team.” Yang did so before launching into an explanation of at least this aspect of how her brain worked...or didn’t work as was sometimes the case.
“ Gonna go tinker. You got this? ” Yang nodded in reply before Ruby disappeared in a flurry of Rose petals.
The next week went by as she threw herself into work. She was using as much over the counter painkillers as was safe to help her get through the work but once she started she began making fast progress on her arm design.
Segmented and split in a way that few people would find comfortable, the arm was 5 tentacle-like appendages that shared the single shoulder. They were flexible and could extend to nearly twice her height. She had a programmed arrangement of them that would fully emulate a normal human hand in function if not quite in form. False Elbow and the tips of each tentacle acting as a finger.
She hoped she wasn’t over reaching with her design. It was basically as non standard as she could get with her current skills and nobody made prosthetics like this for a reason. Namely that few people could manage to control them properly. She was in her workshop running a final check on the new arm. Her Gepetto was sitting on the table since she didn’t need it for this final check. Once the program finished it’s run and returned no errors she finalized everything and brought the sockets to touch each other. The mechanics within whirred as they locked into place and she got feedback from her new arm. No pain. She knew this arm better than her flesh and blood arm. And she moved testing it’s real-world responsiveness and she was satisfied with it’s performance. All servos were working wonderfully moving smoothly through a simple test of it’s human range capabilities.
Slowly she removed the limiters as the Arm became more free. Tentacles unfurled as she stretched and used her new tentacles to grab objects all over the room collecting all her tools and setting the school’s tool back to their declared place. The hardest part of this was the need to keep looking around and paying attention to where her tentacles needed it so she could put things where they needed to be. The control of the appendage was second nature. Easy...Painless in a way she had never experienced since getting her first prosthetic. She’d gotten used to the slight pain that came with every action and movement but now even that was gone and that was the biggest surprise.
In any case she packed up her stuff taking the bag full of her supplies and returning her arm to human mode without the locks. She’d probably remove those later. She’d placed them in case she needed to learn the more advanced features but it was frankly more comfortable to just move her arms into the correct positions than to enable the limiters that forced it.
She was happy and pain free. She did wonder how the other’s past week had been.
Yang
Yang worried for her sister. Any time she threw herself into her tinkering like she Yang worried. Ruby loved tinkering and usually she knew when to stop but for the past week she’d gone all out. Eat, sleep, Tinker repeat. No time for anything but Tinkering. She wasn’t out of her nonverbal state either which meant that she got a simple ‘Love you’ when she dropped off food and not much else.
Ruby would snap out of it once her project was done, she always did. But the team might not survive long enough for that.
Yang had an all new respect for Ruby after basically having team lead dumped in her lap. Weiss was moping really. Though she’d argue if Yang said as much. Meanwhile Blake was stuck in her head and was nearly as nonverbal as her sister and unlike Ruby, Blake didn’t know VSL so no hopes of communication outside of writing which Blake only gave the barest mention of ‘not wanting to talk about it.’
Yang couldn’t help but feel like Ruby could have coaxed it out of her. But Yang was no Ruby. All she managed to do is make people hate her.
Weiss really wasn’t much more talkative outside of classes than Blake or Ruby. Ever the overachiever she still answered every question posed to her in class but outside of that and getting onto both of them to do their homework she’d not spoken up much. Most of her free time was being spent on her scroll texting someone.
So the past week had been easily one of the worst weeks of Yang’s life. Sad thing was that it was still better than basically any of her Teammates' top 20. ‘What sort of team is this that I’m the best adjusted out of all of us.’ she had asked herself several times the past week.
Still after a bit of adjustment she learned to let her teammates have their space. Neither were in the mood to deal with her and she knew how Ruby could get when she was in this mood. The other two’s mood wasn’t too much different from Ruby’s so she just treated them a bit like she would a less cuddly Ruby’s. Give them their privacy for a bit and just make sure they know they can talk to her.
So she did and while neither took her up on it they did seem thankful for the offer.
She was laying in her bunk hoping Ruby would get better soon as the door opened revealing a very late Ruby who promptly set down a heavy bag on the floor and sighed.
Yang recognized the sigh as one she often made after a long project was done.
“You finished with the project Rubes?”
“Yep.” her voice was cracked from disuse as she drew the attention of the team.
Yang noticed the differences quickly. Her old Arm was the same Red and Black as her color scheme. Her new one was a matte Black. To absorb light and prevent glare. With segmented portions. It didn’t have the natural curves of a normal arm instead looking more uniform in some areas while others looked oddly lumpy.
It really wasn’t much to look at at least until she decided to show off as it split into five tentacles which reached behind her opening her clothes draw and wrapping around some clothes before setting each on her shoulder and rejoining into the more arm-like form.
“Holy shit that was cool Rubes. How’d you do that?”
“I mean that’s how I designed it. Worked out better than I expected and get this. No pain. At all. I haven’t had that since before the accident. Like I’m pretty happy right now. I am also pretty smelly from a week in the workshop and skipping showers so Ima go do that before I subject you all to my stink any more than I already have.” With that she turned and entered the bathroom and the shower began running.
Yang was smiling. Her sister was back to her old self and she was sure things would work out from here.
Weiss
She waited for Ruby to finish her much needed shower. She had been smiling pretty ripe but a lack of contact with her partner combined with the sheer exhaustion on her face and just how she was managing when Yang dragged her back to the room every night meant that she hadn’t said anything yet but tonight she had intended to put her foot down on the subject.
Ruby just returning looking recharged and with her normal pep had caught her entirely off guard and her immediately taking a shower without Weiss needing to remind her was a welcome surprise.
Things on Team RWBY had been off without her there. She and Blake were too busy being lost in their pasts to do much more than mope, not that she’d admit as much to that brute Yang. Even Yang was obviously affected by the distraction of their leader in her own way becoming more short-tempered than usual and then withdrawing from the two of them.
Already the atmosphere of the room had improved greatly as her leader showered.
“Do you know if she’ll be ready to talk or?”
“She should be good. Completing a big project like that will get her pumped and she’ll be up for a bit. And with how shit I’ve been as a temporary leader I think she’ll want to do something about that. Fix my fuck up.”
“Yang, I’m sorry you feel that way and I’m sorry I’ve been distant. I was dealing with some internal thoughts that I had been putting off and needed the quiet to really think and process.”
“Same.” Spoke Blake from her bunk. The first word she’d spoken in the last week too. “Think I have the same thing as Ruby. Everything just...was so overwhelming and I couldn’t...It was like my mouth forgot how to form the shapes for words and forcing it just took everything out of me.”
“Sounds like it Blakey.” Ruby said from her spot in the bathroom door as she dried her hair with a towel. “Brains are dumb like that sometimes. If you want me to teach you VSL it helps a lot for things you need to say but can’t because your Brain is being stubborn. Helps with the stress and shame of not being able to talk for a bit at least for me.”
“I’d like that Ruby. And if it happens in the future?”
“Just let us know and we’ll help you however you need. The best thing for you to do when you’re like that is to focus on resting and not force yourself, at least in my experiences.” Ruby smiled and began organizing and putting away her bag.
“So what did you want to talk about Weiss?”
Weiss stammered, nodded then cleared her throat. “I’ve been working with Coco on dealing with my prejudices. She’s been a good friend in helping me figure things out. As I’m sure you’re aware, all of Team CFVY are dating one another in an arrangement I don’t think is too far from the Rose family. I will admit to having been curious about the relationship before now but I hadn’t wished to ask for fear I might offend Coco. I’m given to understand it’s something called Polyamory. After talking with Coco on a number of things I wanted to speak to you all on a number of matters related to the fact that I...have a crush...on all of you apparently.”
“Cool.” Yang smiled and gave a finger sign she recognized from the last week of a nonverbal Ruby as ‘Love you’. “Love you too Weiss Cream. And uh yea. Blakey you too.”
“That is a big mood.” Ruby smiled.
“Not sure but...maybe...had some time to think and I don’t know anything about this polyamory stuff but...I think I feel something for you all and...thanks for saying something Weiss...not sure if I would have.”
Weiss had a huge smile on her face as her crushes confirmed they might feel similarly.
“Regardless before we consider the possibility of pursuing such a relationship. There are concerns that I need to share with you all.” her smile turned to a frown at the thought of the problems she would be facing.
“We’re all ears Weiss...All 10 of them.”
It took a moment for her to get Ruby’s joke but she chuckled and smiled at the girl as she sat next to her. Yang meanwhile got down from her bunk and sat next to Blake who was sitting up in her bed.
“I fully expect in the next week that my father will call to attempt to withdraw me from Beacon.”
“You can’t leave Princess.”
“I have no intention to allow it. I’m an adult in the eyes of the law and I made precautions for this. I’ve spoken to the Headmaster in regards to the tuition that he paid. And it has already been refunded while I have switched to the School Credit program. He cannot threaten me with anything I am unwilling to give up. I must admit the idea of being free of his Blood Money is appealing.”
“What happened to wanting to take over the SDC?” Blake asked with a searching look.
“I was...mistaken about the legacy of my family. I thought my grandfather was a better man and only recently I discovered he would likely approve of where my father has taken the business since his death.”
Blake nodded. “He would have. The Schnee’s have been an enemy to the Faunus people since slavery began and have only grown more powerful every generation. Tobius Schnee may have formed the SDC itself but the Schnee’s already owned every decent mine in Mantle for generations before that. He liked leaning into his reputation as a Hunter and ‘adventurer’ but he was nothing but a rich bastard who used his wealth and influence to skirt the law and steal mines from the people.”
Weiss looked shattered to hear it so succinctly put but she had read his journals as well as first hand accounts. His journals rarely spoke of the crimes simply glossing over them as the price of doing business. Transactions hardly worth his attention. The first hand accounts indicated just what he considered ‘Just business’ afterall to that man with whom she actually shared blood (ew) he had considered baiting Grimm with Faunus slaves to wipe out a town who wouldn’t sell their mine ‘The price of doing business.’
Her lineage were monsters and the idea that she shared blood and a name with them was no longer a point of pride, rather it was a point of shame.
“I agree. I didn’t want to believe I shared a name with such a monster but to my shame I do.” She smirked. “Of course I fully suspect that my father will disown me for my disobedience; thinking I will come back begging to be forgiven or some such tripe. I would sooner die than bow to his wants.”
Weiss actually saw respect in Blake’s eyes and she seemed to calm down a bit. “I knew I liked you for a reason. I’m really not in a good mental place to talk about the politics of the situation but I’m glad you’re taking a stand against the man.” Blake’s face grew thoughtful. “Is it bad that I kinda want to do the whole group dating thing in the hopes it causes him a heart attack?”
“I will admit that’s an added bonus in my mind.” Weiss smiled back. “He would deserve it.”
“I’m proud of you Princess. That said If you need a place to stay for Winter and Summer break Our home is open to you both actually.”
Weiss gaped for a moment before blushing and nodding. “I hadn’t thought of that and thank you for the offer are you certain your parents-”
“They offered the moment we got assigned to a team. Left it up to us to extend the invite if we wanted to but said it’d be fine.” Yang interrupted as Ruby nodded in confirmation.
“I see, well in that case I appreciate the offer and would like to take you up on it regardless of how everything with my own family occurs.”
Yang and Ruby just gave thumbs up and smiles before all three turned to Blake. “I-I’m not sure...I’ve been thinking about taking a trip home this upcoming break...to Menagerie. I haven’t seen my parents in person since I was 12 and I dunno. Homesick I guess.”
“Well if you want to goto Menagerie we could come with. Keep you company and stuff.” Yang offered.
“Plus you get to make Blakey’s parents.”
“Thanks...I might take you up on that offer.”
“I...I would like to make a similar offer though I am afraid of what they might think of my heritage.”
“They’ll learn you’re a good person. You aren’t your family Weiss and if anyone has a problem with you they’ll have a problem with me.”
Weiss smiled. “Thank you Blake. That means a lot.”
There was a long pause as everyone digested the information shared tonight before Ruby spoke up.
“So as for the whole group relationship thing I’m not opposed but I do think we should take things slow and feel things out for a week or two and make a habit of talking about our thoughts and feelings and stuff. I know I have some um...Kinks” Weiss blushed furiously something that was shared by both Blake and Yang ”that may not be shared with everyone else or may make you uncomfortable so like um...If you’re curious about them just ask but I don’t want to just drop it here and now when everyone may have a different level of readiness for something like that. Then me and Yang need to talk about the whole Sisters thing on top of everything else to figure out how we’re going to manage things. Otherwise we need to ask ourselves in the short-term what level of publicity do we want. Do we go Full CFVY and not hide anything. Split into two public facing couples or just pretend that we’re not dating at all.”
Weiss had an opinion on this “Team CFVY would get my vote. I’ve hidden who I am for long enough and would much prefer to never do so again.”
“Okay that’s two votes for full transparency.”
“Three” corrected Yang.
Blake shrugged. “Sure, not like I mind too much.”
“What are you thinking Blake?”
“Just...you realize that we’ll be called Housepets once news gets around.” Weiss knew the word to be a slur used against Faunus who dated Humans.
Ruby got a thoughtful look on her face, and nodded. “Fuck ‘em. I’m no Housepet and neither are you Blake.”
Blake smiled and chuckled. “A good point. Okay then. Four for Transparency.”
Weiss was so happy right now she could explode. “So we’re actually going to do this?”
“Looks like it Princess.” Ruby said with a smirk that made Weiss melt.
“Looks like you melted her brain with your lesbian charm Rubes. Nice work.” Yang snarked.
When the girls laid down for bed nobody commented on the fact that the partners were sleeping in the same bed. Weiss slept better than she had since a week ago when she slept with Blake.