Alcohol. Because very few good adventures start in tea parlors.
Blake felt terrible. Her head felt like Yang had been using it for a speed bag, and her mouth tasted like a Beowolf took a crap in it. Did Grimm poop? Weiss might know, and Blake made a note to ask her when she saw her. Other than that, she felt strangely comfortable and calm. The bed was nice and soft, and someone was pressed up against her, their arms wrapped tightly around her, their legs entangled with hers.
At that point, Blake's brain found first gear and started to engage. She was in a bed, naked, and not alone. Okay, I got drunk and slept with someone. No reason to panic, hopefully, we can work this out. This happens to people all across Remnant every day, and it's not actually possible to die of embarrassment. "Good-good morning," Blake stammered. There, that should make for a decent first conversational foray.
"Ssh, snuggles," murmured a familiar, annoyed voice from behind her, their arms pulling her even closer. "Wait… Blake? Is that you?"
"Weiss? Yeah, it's me." Great, this was going to make for lots of awkwardness and drama, two things Blake was really trying to avoid right now. "Where, where are we?"
"I don't know." Weiss's voice sounded less sleepy and more annoyed. Well, Weiss tended to sound annoyed most of the time, but it was starting to slide from her general irritation at the universe's general failure to recognize the magnificence and supremacy of Weiss Schnee and more toward a specific annoyance. "Are we, did we…?" Weiss's voice trailed off, not wanting to speak the thought on her mind aloud.
Did we get drunk and sleep together? "I think we did," Blake said softly.
"I see." There was a long, awkward pause. "Might I suggest getting dressed as a first step? I think we'll both feel better talking about this fully clothed."
"Y-Yeah." Blake pried her eyes open and propped herself up on an elbow, feeling a surprising twinge of regret at the removal of the arms Weiss had wrapped around her. "It looks like we're in a cabin on an airship, and a pretty nice one too, nicer than any I've ever ridden in."
"Most likely I paid for it. But where would we be going that we'd need a cabin? I mean, the only trip we usually take is between Vale and Beacon, and that's not long enough for one."
"Right." Cabins with beds were usually only for inter-continental trips, which didn't bode well for how long they'd be trapped with each other. "Check your scroll once we find it? I mean, if you paid for it, won't it show in your bank records?"
"You're correct." There was another long pause. "Blake?"
"Yes, Weiss?"
"We're going to have to get out of bed if we're going to get dressed. And it isn't as if we haven't seen each other naked before. We've lived together for months, after all."
"R-right." They slid out of opposite sides of the bed, neither one of them looking directly at each other as they sorted through the clothing scattered around the cabin.
Blake was about three-quarters dressed when Weiss said something she didn't quite catch. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Ears. You have cat ears. On your head."
Blake froze, her hand reflexively reaching toward the top of her head. Sure enough, the bow that normally hid her feline features was missing. "Y-yeah."
"You're a Faunus."
"Yeah."
"I'm amazed you managed to hide it from us this long. Did you really think you were going to get away with it your whole time at Beacon?"
She gritted her teeth. Were they really going to have this fight now, on top of everything else they were dealing with? "And that's exactly why I was hiding! People like you, who hate me just for being a Faunus! I wanted to make a fresh start, be judged for who I am, not what I am!"
A resounding silence fell, and Blake risked a glance at Weiss. The white-haired girl was stopped in mid-motion, her hand on her crumpled bolero. "I suppose that's fair. And while at Beacon, you have been a capable teammate and… a good friend. So I won't tell anyone if you want to keep hiding it." She looked up at Blake, her eyes narrowing. "As long as there aren't any other important secrets you're hiding."
Blake looked away, not wanting to face her teammate. "I… I don't want to talk about that, not yet."
"So there is something."
"Yes."
"Something you don't want to talk about, something you think is going to get you in a lot of trouble."
"Yes."
"Well, as long as you weren't in the White Fang or a pirate or some other sort of criminal, it will be okay, I suppose."
Blake collapsed against the foot of the bed, tears starting to well in her eyes. "I was, though," she whispered softly. She didn't want to tell Weiss this, never wanted to reveal it to anyone, never even wanted to think about it again, but somehow, somehow her soul craved confession and absolution.
"Excuse me?"
"I was in the White Fang, in a way I was practically born into it." Blake's head hung low, her chin resting against her chest.
Soft footsteps crept across the cabin floor, and now Blake could see Weiss standing in front of her, arms at her side, trembling hands clenched into fists. "Explain," Weiss hissed.
"I… My father used to be the leader of the White Fang, years ago, back when it was still a peaceful protest organization. But some of us weren't satisfied with that. There was still a lot of discrimination, and some thought it was time for more… aggressive tactics. So my father stepped down, left the White Fang. When I got older, I, I got involved again.
"It started out small, torching businesses that openly discriminated against us, beating people up, that kind of thing. But it kept, it kept getting worse. Eventually, it turned into outright terrorism."
"And one of your prime targets was the Schnee Dust Company," Weiss hissed. "Do you have any idea how… difficult that made my childhood? My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family, friends disappear. Board members... executed. An entire train car full of Dust stolen. And every day, my father would come home furious."
"I know. I helped make it happen." Blake was sobbing now, not looking up, fearful of the betrayal and anger she knew she'd see in Weiss' eyes.
"Give me one reason not to turn you over to the authorities, one reason to trust you."
"I left. It, it got to the point where I couldn't stay any longer. I was, I was partnered with Adam Taurus, we were on a mission to hijack a trainload of Dust, and he, he wanted to kill the train crew, even though we could have let them live. So I stopped it. I saved the train crew but let him have the Dust.
"I wanted to help people, not kill them. All of a sudden, all I could see was violence causing more violence, and that causing more violence, on and on, and I didn't want any part of it anymore."
Weiss nodded, slowly, carefully. "That's… that's reason enough for now. But you are going to have to earn my trust again. And you will repeat everything you've just told me to Ruby and Yang. They deserve to know."
Blake nodded, grateful beyond any measure of hope for Weiss's understanding. Something gleaming on her left hand caught her eye, and she lifted it, regarding the simple metal band with curiosity. "Where did I get this ring?"
"I suppose you got it at some point while we—wait, why am I wearing a ring too?" Their faces met in shared horror, azure eyes meeting amber, and it was Blake that spoke first. "We didn't, we couldn't have-"
"I know there are… less than reputable places that will conduct a wedding ceremony to people that just walk in off the street. There are even places that will do so if you simply drive up. But if it were true," Weiss paused to take a deep breath, "there would be a marriage certificate."
"So it should be in here somewhere, right?"
"Indeed. Let's look, shall we?"
It didn't take long for them to find, sitting on the cabin's small table under their weapons. The pair stared in horror at the ornate sheet with the words, 'Marriage Certificate' proudly at the top in gold foil. "I don't know what's worse," Weiss finally said. "Belladonna-Schnee or Schnee-Belladonna. Both of them sound like horribly terminal diseases."
Blake nodded glumly. The certificate pronounced them Blake Belladonna-Schnee and Weiss Schnee-Belladonna, lawfully wedded spouses under the laws of the Kingdom of Vale. At least the witnesses were listed as Yang and Ruby, limiting somewhat the number of people that things needed explaining to. "Well, at least it can't get any worse, right?"
Her… wife, Blake supposed she should be calling Weiss, at least for the time being, nodded in agreement as she finally found her scroll sitting at the bottom of the champagne bucket. "oh no," Weiss whispered.
"What?" Blake asked, and Weiss passed her the scroll.
Sitting in Weiss's outgoing messages was a picture of them, Blake holding Weiss bridal-style, Weiss waving the marriage certificate in the air. Standing next to them were Coco and Velvet, lip-locked, their own certificate clutched in Coco's hand. Behind them were arrayed most of their friends from Beacon, including Ruby, Yang, Team JNPR, the other half of Team CFVY, and half a dozen other students. The captain read 'A DOUBLE BEACON WEDDING! COCO ADEL AND VELVET SCARLATINA, AND WEISS SCHNEE-BELLADONNA AND BLAKE BELLADONNA-SCHNEE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THEIR MARRIAGES! LOVE CONQUERS ALL, MOTHERFUCKERS!'
"The recipients list includes everyone present, of course, plus my entire family, many of our friends from Beacon, it goes on. I think I sent it to everyone on my contacts list."
"Oh shit."
"'Oh shit' indeed." There was no keeping this private now. Weiss checked her incoming messages. "Lots of messages of congratulations, including one from my sister that sounds rather puzzled. The only call last night was with my father, and it was rather short, plus some missed calls, also from him." She flopped back on the bed with a sigh, scroll falling to the deck. "I suppose he's cut me out of the family, or will soon."
Blake reached out and squeezed Weiss's hand. "You've still got me, and the rest of your friends."
"I suppose." Weiss rolled over and picked up her scroll from the deck. "Ah, here's the reason I was looking for this in the first place. It looks like I bought two tickets, first class, from Vale to… Menagerie? Why Menagerie? Is that where you're from, Blake?"
"Uh, not really. When I was growing up, my parents moved around a lot, spearheading different White Fang efforts. Oh no," she moaned, flopping down on the bed next to Weiss.
"What?"
"If we're headed to Menagerie, there's something I should tell you..."
And that's it for our this episode, folks!
I know I'm behind the curve on the whole 'drunken marriage' thing, but I was catching up on 'A Drunken Arcwitch Marriage' (go read it, it's great!), and this idea occurred to me, so I decided to write it out.
As always, suggestions and comments are welcome! Stay tuned for our next installment.