You Need A New Family
She's never been fond of the holidays, winter especially.
It's not about the cold, after all when hasn't it been cold back at Atlas? But it is significantly colder during the last month of the year and that just means adding more layers, layers and layers of designer clothes and layers and layers of hot pretentious air to flaunt their wealth and social status.
That's just the colorful wrapping of the problem, isn't it?
Holidays meant holiday galas and Atlesian elites have a twisted sense of celebrations.
Holidays meant stuck up elitists gathering and turning a celebration into a competition on who is more well off. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Weiss had to be there with them and mingle when she's not singing to entertain them. She shudders at that torture.
Holidays at the Schnee household in particular was no family gathering, it's a warfare and Weiss has to volunteer herself as a tool rather than fold over as a civilian casualty. Her father would show her off as the trophy daughter and she plays the part with exceptional finesse. Otherwise, well there would be consequences.
And what of the rest of her so called family?
Her father is at the forefront of this political warfare and he is even less of a father during these gatherings and more of a company leader. Her mother is absent as has always been the case. She doesn't need an occasion to drink herself into oblivion. Her brother just might be the only one enjoying this glorified self-aggrandizing event but he doesn't know any better.
If there's any saving grace then it's Winter. It always has been Winter, her only and dearest elder sister. But even with her sister's presence, she could only make the galas tolerable at best. After all, her sister too must perform to her role in the household. That's just what it means to spend the holidays as a Schnee.
Suffice to say, Weiss Schnee hated the holidays.
However, holidays at the Rose-Xiao Long household is different.
"You're going down, old man!"
Fundamentally different.
"Did you really think I got those gag glasses for you? I see you've made a spec-tacle of yourself!" Yang jeers like it's her battle cry.
"Tough luck, kiddo because I'm gonna look spec-tacular in these glasses! Let me get you some contacts instead!" Tai taunts his own daughter even going so far to look proud to play child games with well, children.
"Oooooh, I call dibs on first challenging the winner!" Ruby chimes in with an excited squeal.
"Arf! Arf!" Zwei happily trots around the festive family.
For starters, it's nowhere near as serious as the galas that Weiss has attended and no one would take them seriously anyways not with how ridiculous they look.
Long striped stockings pitifully are stretched to fit on their heads with a ball inside at the other end. Weiss doesn't know what this game is called but it should be ridiculous. In fact, all of the games should just be called ridiculous. They were incorrectly wearing stockings and stooping low like people who never learned how to walk properly just so they could knock over plastic cups lined on the floor.
Which begs the question, why?
Well the answer's just as ridiculous really. Again, it only proves her point that that should be the name. They were playing White Goliath with a twist: to steal someone else's gift, they had to beat them at a game.
Honestly, the mere concept of 'stealing gifts' has Weiss flabbergasted.
"Why give something you know that's only going to be probably stolen after?"
"You know what they say, it's the thought that counts!" Ruby answers most unhelpfully.
"But aren't gifts supposed to be, I don't know… special? Personal?" Weiss questions with genuine confusion. It's true that not all gifts are perfect matches but how are squeaky toys that looked like dust crystals any better than a personalized gift?
And for the record, may no one else find out that she made such a questionable purchase in the spirit of the unconventional gift exchange.
"Sure they can but where's the fun in that?" Yang cajoles, her stocking hat swaying with her laughter. "Isn't this more exciting? You'll never know what you're gonna get as a present and just when you do, someone else tries to steal it!"
"That doesn't sound very appealing." Weiss frowns. Why would she want her present stolen? Granted that the presents for White Goliath are on the eccentric spectrum so then why would she want to fight for it? Who would derive joy from this?
"That's just because you have a candy cane stuck up your butt, Weiss Queen."
"Hey! No one has any candy canes stuck up in their places! Now behave!" Ruby helpfully intervenes before the halls get decked with any more red.
"Aww, you're no fun, Rubes. We were just getting into the spirit of the season." Yang pouts, again she looks absolutely loony with the stocking-turned-hat still on which she hasn't taken off yet despite the minigame being already over.
"You might want to tone down a bit on that spirit, Yang. Can't have you burning down the house… again." Blake teases with a poke on her ribs.
"Hey! That was just one time! And it didn't even happen! It was an almost one time!" Yang defends herself. "At least I've got spirit! And where's your holiday spirit?"
"The only spirit allowed in this house is the kind you can drink!"
All heads turn to the unexpected outburst.
"What?" Tai meets their questioning gazes with an exaggerated shrug. "Qrow's still out getting more food so someone had to represent him!"
That was a surprisingly sound argument... despite the dubious character he was trying to emulate. It is however an effective icebreaker although Weiss suspects that it's only meant to be effective on Ruby who does a sort of laugh-snort. It's disgustingly cute.
"Nah, Uncle Qrow doesn't sound like that. This is what he sounds like—," Ruby then deepens her voice and slouches. "I'm Uncle Qrow and I'm a badass. I like to drink and I can beat anyone at anything. I have a cool sword-scythe."
It's a poor impression but it does a good job at getting everyone else to laugh. Not only that, it sparks the beginning of the now newly invented tradition of the Qrow-off.
"Hmmm, I think you're onto something there, Ruby. But you got the accent wrong, here let me show you how it's done." Yang deepens her own voice and adds a scratchy tone underneath. "I'm Qrow and I'm drunk."
Tai doubles over in laughter. "Okay now that's just mean spirited."
Then Zwei steals the show by doing his own drunk impression of trotting. It's a hit that gets everyone cheering. Now the Rose-Xiao Long family are having an impromptu pageant on who could impersonate the missing uncle best. Serves him right for taking so long.
Or rather, he's taking so Xiao Long.
When he should have been here and Rose to the occasion.
If he was here, he would have Branwen the competition.
Okay, Weiss. She's obviously spent too much time with this pun loving family.
"Is this really how the holidays are commonly celebrated?" Weiss asks absentmindedly as she observes the crazy antics of the household.
"I can't be too sure. I've only ever been here and back there with my own family," Blake admits as she too watches the scene unfold with an amused sparkle in her eyes. "Holidays at Menagerie is... different."
Yes, different. Just like how holidays at Atlas is different, holidays at Menagerie is different as well although she imagines it to be a separate kind of different.
"How so?" She urges on.
"More quaint." Both of them wince when Ruby's high pitched squeal pierces their ear drums. Oh, it looks like the pageant has now devolved into a tickle fight. Blake smiles softly. "Quieter."
Weiss snorts and pretends not to hear Ruby's dramatic pleas for help. "I swear they're trying too hard to celebrate the whole island's share of the holiday cheers."
"They certainly can't be faulted for lack of trying," Blake quips back and the two fall into comfortable silence as they let the rest of the household fill in the noise, happy noises of course.
Weiss lets her eyes roam around the house— no, the home.
This is how a home was supposed to be, isn't it? Not quite complete yet still whole, wholesome.
It's crammed with people who genuinely want to be here and no one is trying to one up anyone because everyone is here just to enjoy each other's company.
It's a completely foreign concept to her.
Ruby is wearing the second ugliest sweater she's ever seen— second only to Weiss donning her own. Practically everyone is wearing a sweater painstakingly knitted by Tai that's deliberately painful to look at, even cute little Zwei. Why ugly sweaters is even a tradition and much less a competition, she'll never understand. She scoffs at her garbage clothes.
It's absolutely atrocious.
She's never taking it off tonight.
Holidays with Team RWBY is different.
And she thinks that different may not be so bad.
Everything that's happened tonight is a new experience for her. She's never decorated a tree before. She's never gotten chocolate lien before. She's never participated in White Goliath before. And now she's thinking on just how much she's been missing out on these holidays. All this time she never knew that there was a different approach to the holidays.
And tonight, she even feels a bit daring and tries the eggnog, a holiday staple that's never served in her household— and now she knows for good reason. Her face immediately sours at the first tentative sip.
It's much too sweet.
She can't bring herself to hate it nevertheless.
They're just about to find out the winner between Blake and Yang for a tacky Boarbatusk shaped mug, with a competitive game of 'threading spaghetti noodles through soda cans with only their mouths and carrying said cans across the room name subject to change', when they hear impatient knocking on the door.
"Uncle Qrow's back!" Ruby shoots up and grabs her partner's hand, dragging her along with her in excitement. "Weiss, help me greet him at the door!"
"Must I really?" Weiss pretends to be inconvenienced although her small smile is evidently giving her away. She blames it on the sickeningly sweet eggnog for messing up her lip muscles.
"Pleaaaaase?" Ruby pleads anyways. There's an actual dog beside her and yet she still pulls off the most convincing kicked puppy look. Sorry, Zwei, Ruby has this look in the bag but the adorable corgi is still the cutest dog that Weiss has ever seen.
"Fine. I suppose you could use the help." Weiss concedes and walks towards the door instead of skipping backwards like her partner does. That's an accident waiting to happen and she'll have to be the responsible one to prevent it. Typical.
Seriously, she can't even go through the holidays without watching over the dolt. She doesn't mind it either way.
"He's probably brought too much with him if he's been out this long—"
The words die on her lips as soon as the door opens.
"...Winter?"
Only to reveal that it wasn't just Qrow waiting for them behind the door.
"It's nice to see you too, mini Ice Queen." Qrow rolls his eyes at being ignored, not that it bothers him at all. He's too sober for drama. "Now if you'll excuse me, 'tis the season to get into the spirits, if you know what I mean."
He punctuates with a raised amused eyebrow.
"Ha! I told you he'd make that joke!" Tai hollers from his arm wrestling match with the other dragon of the family.
"Only because you coerced him to say it!" Yang accuses. Tai's sputtering jaw drop at being called out is hilarious. She smiles smugly. "Yeah, don't think I didn't catch you sneaking a message on your scroll!"
Busted. Betrayed once again by technology, the true enemy of any aging adult of his generation.
"Sorry, Tai. Your kid's smart. Bet she got it from our side of the family." Qrow further incriminates him with a smirk. "But since I already did my side of the bargain, I'm still getting that good booze you got locked up in the cabinet, right?"
Tai's face falls harder, crestfallen, and it costs him the arm wrestling match. He's too preoccupied with his other loss to take offense to Yang's jeering. It's actually almost sad if it wasn't so funny at the same time.
Defeated in more ways than just one, he whines like the mature adult that he is, "You haven't even played White Goliath and yet you still rob me."
Qrow flashes him a shit-eating grin. He doesn't need to play to win. "I don't make the rules, I just make the deals."
With that, he makes his way towards the kitchen where his prized alcohol awaits him.
"Thanks again, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby happily shouts after him.
"Heh, no problem, kiddo. Don't say I didn't warn you!" He crows back without any further explanation.
And then there's just Ruby, Weiss, and Winter still standing by the door.
The latter clears her throat and Weiss suddenly remembers the third unexpected party to come to the well, party.
"What are you doing here?" She asks softly , still not quite believing the sight before her.
"To celebrate the holidays of course," Winter answers in a calm and collected manner as if this wasn't a strange occurrence at all.
"Here? Specifically?" Weiss further questions.
Winter gestures toward Ruby who has been silent since the exchange started.
"Your girlfriend invited me over."
Now that she certainly wasn't informed of.
"You did?" Weiss turns to her girlfriend, Ruby with a face as red as her namesake, who becomes shy at the sudden attention.
"He he... surprise?" Ruby chuckles in that shy way which Weiss recognizes that she does whenever she gets caught eating more cookies than she should. "I'll leave you two to greet each other. If you need anything, you know where to find me."
She pecks her on the cheek and on the nose and then finally, on the lips.
And once more for good measure.
By then, Weiss' face is just as red as Ruby's namesake too, maybe even more.
"Happy holidays, Weiss." She gives her one last goofy grin before she shares her enthusiasm with the other person with them. "It's nice that you could make it, Winter."
"Likewise, Ruby. Thank you for the invitation." Winter nods at her cordially.
"You're welcome! And thank you for coming! Weiss likes you a lot so I'm glad that you could celebrate with us today!" Ruby positively beams.
She does her best curtsy which is not exactly proper but it is awkwardly adorable at best.
"Alright, whenever you two are ready to join in on the fun, just dive right in!"
As if summoned, Zwei trots over to Ruby's feet and leads her back to where the rest of the mayhem was. Now they're playing this game where they each have a cookie on their forehead and they make funny faces until they wiggle the cookie enough into their mouths. Another ridiculous holiday game that she no doubt has never heard of.
It's basically the same chaotic scene she was just a part of except Qrow with a glass of brandy is substituting for Weiss as the broody onlooker with a covert smile.
It's heartwarming all the same.
"Honestly I'm just a little bit miffed that it wasn't you who invited me."
Winter's voice snaps her out of her reverie.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to not invite you." Weiss starts with her tongue heavy in her mouth with guilt. She truly did want Winter here with her but she just didn't think they'd get the chance. "I just didn't think that you'd make it because I know just how busy you are. And father…"
She feels a hand pat her head and lay rest there.
"Father will be sorely pissed that both his daughters missed the holidays at the Schnee manor."
She looks up to see Winter smiling down on her with a satisfied smirk and the warmest smile she's ever seen on her sister.
"How unfortunate."
The confirmation that they're both in this together and to hell with their father is the drop that sets into motion dominos of feelings falling one after another until Weiss too falls. She throws herself at her sister who readily catches her in an embrace, strong and steady just like the pillar of strength she's always been for Weiss. They hug through the fallout.
They've never been the most physically affectionate of siblings but this is a welcome exception.
"I'm really glad that you're here, Winter." Weiss nuzzles into her sister's chest.
"As am I, Weiss." Winter kindly rubs the younger sibling's back.
"Next time, I'll make you sure you get your proper invitation from me."
"I expect nothing less."
The two give one last squeeze before gently pulling back, Winter's hand stays on Weiss' shoulder and Weiss still has her arm draped around her sister's waist. They lean into each other, something they couldn't even do back in the galas held at their mansion.
They watch in curious fascination as everyone else cheers when finally someone wins at chugging a bottle of soda water and then flipping it onto a table upright. Unsurprisingly, it's Qrow who wins the game and steals himself a tacky zombie apocalypse survival kit. Everyone knows he's not in it for the gift but more for the bragging rights which he cashes in all at once. It's a mess of cheers and boos from there on.
"It's different, isn't it?"
Winter says what Weiss has been thinking of not for the first time tonight.
It's not Atlas. It's not a cutthroat celebration twisted for political purposes into power play matches for the elites.
It's a lot of things. It's horrible puns and punchlines that fall flat too often. It's embarrassing stories of past celebrations with bouts of laughter and even more embarrassing tidbits interrupting the storytelling. It's ugly sweaters and horrible gifts and then stealing each other's horrible gifts. It's much too sweet eggnog down the throat. It's wine that only gets sweeter when shared. It's a group of people doing a lot of things.
It's a lot like how holidays with a family should be.
It's everything Weiss has never had before.
"It's loud," Weiss says instead.
They both know what she really meant.
"Let's not keep them waiting too long, now shall we?" Winter nudges her and with her free hand, she pulls out a small box "I'm not too familiar with the concept of White Goliath but I have been told that the wilder the present, the more socially acceptable it is."
"What did you get?" Weiss couldn't help but be curious. After all, it's rare for her sister to participate in such mundane matters especially of the quirky sort.
Winter leans and whispers conspiratorially, "Just between you and me, it's actually cufflinks." She looks almost proud at her choice. "In the spirit of the eccentric gift exchange, it fits perfectly. It's absolutely impractical."
Weiss doesn't have it in her heart to destroy her sister's pride, certainly not during the holiday cheers.
That's actually pretty tame considering the gifts so far. Expensive? Yes. But otherwise, tame. Weiss thinks she's seen it all after she's seen the sandal socks. Yes, socks that look like you're wearing sandals and it is absolutely criminal to wear them with or without actual sandals. Don't ask.
"Scandalous." Weiss plays along with a teasing smile. "They'll love it."
"They will, won't they?" It's less of a question and more of a declaration. Her gift is good and she knows it. She smirks. "It's a shame that I'll have to steal it back."
With that, the two alabaster haired sisters finally joined in on the rest of the celebrations.
"Took you two long enough." Qrow scoffs at their apparently late arrival to the party.
"Must you be so crass even today?" Winter scowls at him but even that is subdued. "Unlike you, I'm not here to pick fights. We may have our differences but I'm hoping it's not too much to put them aside for just one day."
"That's a fancy way to call a truce if I've ever heard of one."
"And do you accept?" She soldiers on.
"No promises." He offers her an already filled wine glass separate from his own. "Drop the whole uptight soldier act and we just might have a deal. Here, drinks are on me."
From the other corner of the couch, Tai sulks. "It's my good wine though…"
"Very well then. I will admit that my throat has been parched." She warily takes the offered alcohol and raises it to meet with his own half empty glass with a sharp clink. "To the truce."
"To the truce juice!"
At least that's one duel averted. Although Weiss wouldn't have minded if they fought if only to see Winter teach Qrow respect.
"Weiss! Over here! I saved you a seat!" Ruby calls for her and gestures to the supposed free seat—
Which is coincidentally just her lap.
"Really, Ruby?" Weiss at least has the decency to look annoyed even though she promptly sits on Ruby's lap anyways. She even leans back and settles in with a content sigh as her girlfriend wraps her in a warm and comfortable hug.
Ruby only gives one kind of hug and it's the best kind.
"Soooo, are you enjoying the holidays so far?"
"Save it, Ruby Rose." Weiss huffs and lets herself sink deeper into her girlfriend's embrace. "What exactly do you want me to say?"
"Just admit it," Ruby taunts her in a sing-song voice. "You looove this."
This meaning this whole fiasco called 'Holidays with Team RWBY plus some special guests', her own leader's affectionate title for the plan. In hindsight, she should have seen that Winter coming wasn't a longshot with such an obvious name but at the time she had rationalized that Ruby only meant for Tai and Qrow, and maybe Team JNPR but they had made plans with that team for the New Year instead. She didn't think it was going to be Winter. She's never been more pleased to be wrong in her life.
And does she love this?
"I suppose…" She leans back enough and turns her head to plant a kiss on her girlfriend's cheek. And another, slower one, on her lips. "I wouldn't be so opposed."
Ruby giggles and pecks her back. "Aww, you do love it! You totally do!"
Weiss basks in the affectionate kisses that her girlfriend peppers on her face. She hasn't even done anything to warrant such affection but she certainly won't complain. "If it makes you that happy then yes, I do."
"It does! I'm so happy that you're very happy!" Ruby practically vibrates in joy. "See! I told you I'd get you to like the holidays!"
Her cheer never fails to be contagious and even Weiss feels a smile creep on her lips. "I never said I doubted you."
"No, you didn't." Ruby nods and given their close proximity, her hair tickles along Weiss' cheeks. "You did say that you would rather be caught dead in a Dust accident than say that you like the holidays."
"I still stand by what I said. I absolutely abhor the holiday season."
She's never been fond of the holidays, winter especially.
"But…?"
But she pauses and thinks.
She thinks of how Atlas could be so cold and how Patch could be so warm. She thinks of how her father would use the holidays as a tool to further his means rather than how Tai uses it as a celebration to bring people together. She thinks of the stark contrast between the galas held by Schnee's versus the festivities ran by the Rose-Xiao Long household.
She thinks of how the holidays could be so much different.
"But maybe they aren't so bad given the right company."
It's a lot to take in. Holidays with Team RWBY is different but she'll gladly take it all in. She needs a new family anyways and while she's at it, this could be her new home.
And she thinks that maybe, just maybe…
She just might be looking forward to next year's holidays too.
A/N: Have yourself a Merry RWBY Fanfic!
This is dedicated to everyone who had to deal with horrible family/people for the holidays. A merry fucking crisis to us. And if you have to deal with them again for the New Year then stay strong. Self care is writing/reading comfort for your favorite characters.
This is my last white rose hurrah for the year. I'll see you again next year with 'Thank Me Later'. Take care, everyone!