She's Alright
Today was supposed to be a good one. After an overnight stay at the hospital wing of the Amity Colosseum, she was released to the smiling faces of her teammates. Ruby wanted to take her to a sweets shop or something, but Yang suggested a trip through the festival. It was a good idea, but the white-haired teen made the suggestion that they should postpone it until twilight.
After having nothing but four walls to stare at and a broken TV, the young heiress just wanted to stretch her legs and take in the fresh air. The beautiful view from the windowed walls of the Amity Colosseum certainly beat a screen of static. She took a steady breath as she took in the cool, fresh air.
Such a beautiful day... The Vytal Festival truly does bring out the best of Vale. From so high in the air, Weiss could see the tiny, moving figures below the flying stadium. There were so many people, from all walks of life walking between the stands and tents; rich, poor, men, women, young and old. It was a breath-taking view, no matter how many times she looked at it.
"Dad! Listen to me!"
And, of course, something was going to go wrong.
"No, dad, all I meant was-"
It wasn't hard to recognize that voice. It was one she had recently become familiar with since yesterday. Flynt Coal, the leader of Team FNKI from her home kingdom of Atlas. Judging by the fact that Weiss couldn't hear another man's voice, she could only assume he was in a conversation with his father over his scroll.
"Dad, she's not... No, I know! I get what happened, dad, but she's not... Because she's different! I don't know why, I just- No! I'm not saying I know better than you!"
His father, who was ran out of business by Weiss' father. She could hear the low scratch of her foot grinding against the carpet floor. She inched back another step, hoping the young musician didn't hear. The last thing she needed was to create more problems because of her family's errs.
"Alright. Okay, dad. I understand... No, no. I get it. S'cool." Flynt's voice was different. He sounded exhausted, desperate to agree with whatever his father said to avoid lighting his anger. He spoke with a familiar sense of desperation in his voice, desiring only to end the call and enjoy the brief hours before the next call. Then the process would repeat and they'd be dragged through guilt and mud again, without a chance to defend themselves.
Himself. Himself, she couldn't deny a feeling of kinship towards the young man. How many times had her own father made her feel the same sense of defeat? Her stomach churned as she heard the familiar sound of an ended call from around the corner. Her feet had stopped their retreat and refused to listen to her demands to keep moving. Instead, she stood there like a statue as she heard Flynt sigh.
"Flynt?" A voice called out to him, and it took the heiress a moment to realize it was her voice. She kicked herself at the spontaneous action, cursing and blaming Ruby and Yang for influencing this behavior.
"Schnee?" Flynt walked out from around the corner and for a moment, Weiss could see his eyes widen in surprise, before his gaze shifted into a more inquisitive nature. "How much of that did you hear?" He fell against the wall closest to him, leaning against it as his dark eyes met her azure pearls. His voice held no trace of anger towards her, or the frustration that he held moments ago with his father. He spoke calmly, merely awaiting an answer.
"Enough to know that I was the topic between you and your father," she answered honestly, never moving her eyes from his stare. It was an act of confidence to meet one's stare, but it was an empty one here. Weiss' father had simply enforced the rule and she fell into habit of it. As her eyes locked with his, her hands twitched and bit at her dress out of anxiety. "I'm sorry."
"For? You're not in charge of the old man's behavior," he scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"I take it your father was angry you lost your fight?" inquired Weiss. She wanted to kick herself again, fearing her words would merely open old wounds, but at the same time she did want to help. At least offer sympathy towards the young musician. At least try to make up for the sins of her father...
"Psh. Nah." Weiss felt her brow almost rise, but years of practiced control kept her face calm. "He was mad about what happened after. Turns out those cameras got better mic on them than I thought."
"Wait. You mean your father was upset about what you said about me?"
"Barely talked about how we did. He was just ticked I complimented a Schnee. Told me not to fall in one of their traps," he explained.
"And what do you think?" she asked, standing firmly in comparison to his laid-back, aloof lean.
"I think that anyone who nearly gets themselves killed saving their teammate can't be all bad." He swaggered closer to her, a confident smirk on his features as he approached her. Closer and closer, until he stopped and crossed his arms. Weiss' eyes could see his fingers twitching, almost like he forgot he wasn't holding his weapon. "So, why'd you do it?"
"Excuse me?"
"You saved that blonde, and nearly got yourself killed. I saw your Aura levels after the fight. You didn't have any left after that move. So, why'd you do it, Schnee?" He fell against the wall again, leaning his body against it as he tilted his head in the opposite direction.
"Yang's my friend, and Team RWBY is..." My family." "They're my best friends. I'd do the same for any of them."
"Hm." He seemed like he was about to laugh at her words, but all he did was smirk. "Man, you ain't anything like I thought you'd be."
"And what did you expect me to be?"
"Haughty. Whiny. Some lazy, fat cat who doesn't know how to fight."
"Well, I'm happy to surprise you."
"Yeah. Two out of three ain't bad."
"What?" She froze, and suddenly the tension between the two evaporated. "What do you mean, two out of three?!" Flynt seemed to laugh at the fire on her cheeks as he stepped back.
"Well, add a short fuse on that list. All I'm saying is that only one of us walked out of that pillar of fire with aura," he laughed, turning away from the snow-haired heiress. He began walking down the hall, only to be stopped by Weiss running into his way.
"Are you implying you are a better fighter than me, Mr. Coal?"
"Don't got to implying nothin,' Miss Schnee." Weiss was almost shocked that his voice could carry the weight of his arrogance. "I was owning our fight. The only real hit you got on me took you out too."
"Is that so?" Weiss could see it in the boy's eyes, hear it in his tone. He didn't harbor the same venom in his words or fire in his eyes. His words weren't meant to hurt her, they were gasoline for her fire. Well, I shan't disappoint. "What do you call that barrage of icicles I attacked you with? You could hardly dodge them."
"Didn't need to. I can take anything you can dish out, Schnee."
"Perhaps we can settle it privately sometime?" She tried to match the sheer arrogance plastered on his face, but not even a Schnee could match that it seemed. Well, maybe her father, but Weiss was too humble to match the boy.
"Trust me, Schnee, there ain't nothin' I'd like more than to have a private one on one with you," he teased, the scarlet hue on Weiss' cheeks suddenly growing as she realize the innuendo hidden in her own words. She was glad to know that Yang and the others weren't here to point it out explicitly. "But I'm leaving tomorrow."
"What?" Weiss's eyes widened and her cheeks began to return to their more natural, pale hue.
"Dad's orders. He wants me back in Atlas by tomorrow night. After the first couple of Final rounds, we're all headed back to Atlas. Least we'll get to see blondie kick some ass before we leave."
"Oh." Weiss couldn't hide her disappointment, and it seemed Flynt could not either. The young man shrugged his shoulders as his arrogance gave way to frustration. "That is rather disappointing."
"Yeah, well, we'll be rooting for your team. We didn't lose to you just so you could get silver medals. Team FNKI only loses to the best, ya dig?"
"I'll make sure to tell Yang that." The dark-skinned musician nodded his head in silent thanks as the two began to walk side by side together. Neither had a destination in mind, but neither denied the company.
"You do that, Schnee."
Silence. The gentle rhythm of their footsteps together were all Weiss heard for a few precious moments. They were a nice beat, and she briefly wondered if Flynt walked like that on purpose. Her mental wandering soon came to an end as another thought bubbled in her mind. If he's leaving soon, I might have only one real chance for this...
"Flynt?"
"Yeah?" The shift in tone was not lost in the taller boy. He glanced at her, his hat tilted back slightly as he stretched his neck.
"I wanted to formally apologize. What my father did to yours was wrong. I won't defend his actions. I'm sorry your family had to suffer, and I wish things could have been different. I truly, truly do," she admitted. Her eyes fell to the white tiled floor beneath them as they walked. With each sentence, every apology, her footsteps slowed until she didn't move at all.
Weiss stood there, her lips twisting into a furious scowl now. "I know my family's company has done bad things, that's why I wanted to go to Beacon instead of the academy in Atlas. I know apologizing doesn't really change anything, but I need to say it. I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do to make up for it, I want to at least try. Your family deserves that, at least."
Flynt had his back to her for the duration of her confession. When she finally stopped, he turned around and walked towards her, his face never expressing more than a neutral, if attentive stare. Weiss stood there with a slight fidget to her fingers- once again unsure of what to say. She stood firmly though, even when Flynt stopped in front of her and crossed his arms. His brow furrowed for a moment, before relaxing. The Atlasian student finally cracked a smile and spoke.
"That's the second time you surprised me, Schnee. Not bad," he chuckled. He shook his head side to side in disbelief. Weiss looked at him with anticipation, hanging off every word. "Alright. Let's say I buy your apology. What are you willing to do to earn my forgiveness?"
"Anything within reason."
"I want you to come to my hometown and put on a performance. You sing, I play."
What? "E-excuse me?"
"You heard me. I want you to sing and perform for the folks in my hometown. We got ourselves a deal, Schnee?" He smirked at her, savoring the shock in her icy-blue eyes. He extended his hand out to her and she blinked, her eyes darting between it and his smiling face.
"Deal." Her smaller, softer hand fell into his and they shook. She could feel his hand hold hers in a firm grip, and not to be outdone, she returned it with a squeeze of her own. The action wasn't lost on the musician as he gave a toothy grin.
"You're all right, Schnee."
"Does this make us friends?" she inquired.
"Dunno." His hand fell from hers and she tried to hide the fall of her shoulders as his grin vanished. "Years of thinking you were some snobby brat ain't gonna go away in two days. I know you ain't, but..."
"I understand," she sighed, nodding her head. Despite her own attempts to strive beyond previous prejudices and biases, even she was guilty of relapsing or holding onto outdated beliefs. Change takes time.
"I'll try though, and hell, you're making it pretty easy." He shrugged a shoulder as he returned to his typical stance, arms crossed over his chest, fingers holding an invisible trumpet. "Keep this up, Schnee, and I might just start liking you."
"Would that be so terrible?" She crossed her own arms now, mimicking his stance with an upward curve on her lips.
"Heh. Guess not." Her light eyes stared into his darker orbs and a mutual respect was felt between the two. The taller boy smiled at her, not like the arrogant smirks or infuriating grins he had on the battlefield, but a more natural crescent shape. Softer. Honest. She imagined her lips held a similar expression. Sadly, the moment was ended when Flynt's scroll began to beep.
The musician took out the white device, glancing at it before looking at her. "My team's looking for me. Guess I better split."
"I understand. My own team is probably wondering where I am."
"Probably worried. You did dive into a pillar of fire yesterday. Who knows what you might do next?" he joked.
"Only fraternizing with the enemy. I live a life of danger, as you can see," she replied, eliciting a small laugh from Flynt.
"Caring, loyal, and now you're cracking jokes? Damn, that makes three surprises." He looked behind him and jerked his head down the hall. "I should probably get going."
"As should I. Goodbye, Flynt. I wish the best for you and I promise to come to your town to perform sometime soon."
"Cool, cool," he nodded. "Take care of yourself, Schnee, and tell blondie she better win her fight."
"I'll be sure to relay the message to her." She bowed her head, politely, before turning the other way. Her head swiveled slightly, glancing at him as she began to walk. "Take care, Flynt. Perhaps we'll see each other during the fights tonight?"
"Maybe. Catch ya later, Schnee."
"Maybe... Oh, and by the way, Flynt?" He raised a dark brow, motioning for her to go on as she looked at him out of the corner of her icy-blue eyes. The blue orbs held traces of sympathy, or maybe it was pity. "Thank you for defending me. I understand talking to your father like that was difficult. I appreciate it..."
"No problem." He gave a solemn nod, and she returned it. Flynt heard the soft rhythm of her footsteps as she walked away, even observed the slight bob of her outfit and hair. His smile slowly melted away as he glanced down at his phone. His father's text message stared back at him.
Just come home, Flynt. You can't talk to that harlot. Schnees can't be trusted. Do not speak to her, do not buy her act.
The rest of his message went below the screen, probably more ranting about the Schnee family and their business. Flynt's fingers squeezed the phone, trembling as he let out a pent-up sigh. With a press of a button, he deleted the text message and walked in the opposite direction, back to his team's room. As he walked, he silently wondered if the heiress would keep her word.
It took him only a moment for him to realize that she would. He didn't doubt it, not in the slightest.
END
I love Team FNKI. Seriously, my favorite characters introduced in Volume 3. Love Neon Katt, love Flynt Coal. Love them both so much. They're awesome.
Now, as for this story, this was originally going to have more romance and even a kiss scene... but I thought it didn't match with the story. It would have been too fast for Flynt to just go, "Yo, let's kiss," and then they start making out super hardcore. No, I wanted something a bit more natural. A guy and a girl trying to be friends, despite the fact their fathers either hate each other or don't even realize the other exists.
That said, I really wanna write a love story for these two. Like, real bad. The reason I wrote this was to try and get used to Flynt and Weiss' personalities. Balancing out their prides and their kindness and getting to understand them. I wanted to be authentic to Flynt's speech pattern, without coming off too strong. I wanted Weiss to feel guilty and be humble, while still keeping her slightly haughty attitude.
I know they're an unpopular couple, but damn, I want to write a story for these two so bad. I probably will, eventually. I already have a plan for it. Alternate universe, most likely, with a heavy dose of romance and drama, 15 to 20 chapters, I think. Neon Katt and Yang as a secondary pairing. Excited to get to work on that later...
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this story. Sorry for rambling. Please, have a good day, and stay safe. Leave a review if you'd be so kind. Tell me what I did well, or poorly. I appreciate constructive criticism. See ya!