"I hate the library. I'm certain I've made this clear." Mercury said, following closely behind Emerald. "I mean, talk about stodgy, that word is all you need to describe a library."
"You know," Emerald muttered in a low voice. "You don't have to follow me. You don't have to be anywhere near me. At no point did anyone tell you to set foot in a library. So please, before I lose my temper, stop talking about your lifelong hatred of libraries." To further illustrate her point she made a point to shut the door behind her, leaving Mercury very purposefully outside.
Cinder's plan didn't require Emerald to be in the library, but her sanity demanded it. Mercury could either be in perfect sync with her, or an utter nuisance, but never anything in between. Today unfortunately, he was being a nuisance.
She quickly took in the sight of this expansive archive. The ceilings were high vaulted, intricately etched, and probably worth a fortune. The bookshelves were made of dense, dark wood, also remarkably pricey. Several of the older tomes just reeked of age. Books that would've cost her a fortune to find were now at her fingertips, some were even first editions. As much as she immediately felt a deep reverence for this room, she also resented the students at this school. As great as this place was, only a small fraction of these students would ever truly appreciate it.
She turned the corner only to find a group of students playing a board game. A board game! She was trying to bite back her anger when she recognized two of the participants. The first, though nameless to Emerald, was the clueless red-head they'd literally bumped into days prior. The thought of such a person using such an amazing and pristine room for simple childish games seemed too perfect a slap in her face. The second person she recognized was really the only thing to blunt her temper. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, was sitting down with this group. Though to her credit, she didn't seem to be the most willing of participants.
The Schnee name was synonymous with prestige, elegance, and some less than stellar practices against the Faunus populace. She'd heard rumors that a Schnee had been enrolled in the academy, but had chalked it up to idle city gossip about some twice removed in-law. Staring at the very proof had left her stunned in silence. Right there, less than twenty feet away, was the heir to one of the most wealthy and well-known companies in the world.
She suddenly realized she was starring, and backed up behind the bookshelf. Immediately she knew she needed to get close to this woman. Right now, all Cinder wanted them to do was blend in, make friends, and what was better than a friend with money and power? Against her better judgment she peeked around the corner to get another look at the heiress. She caught sight Weiss giving the rest of the group a quiet good bye as they packed up the game and left. Not her though, she was now thoroughly focused on a book that had been on the table next to her.
"Excuse me. What are you doing?" A voice came from behind her. Emerald immediately spun around, trying not to make any noise. She stood face to face with an incredibly pale student, her long black hair adorned with a large black bow.
"S-sorry." Emerald muttered. She stared at the girl in bewilderment. People didn't escape her notice, and they certainly never were able to sneak up behind her. Whoever this person was, she was not to be taken lightly. "I'm new here. Is that… is that Weiss Schnee?" She asked, deciding to play up her nervousness rather than fight it at this point. The pale girl stood in silence, her arms crossed over her chest. "R-right, sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Em-"
"Why does it matter if she's Weiss Schnee?" She interrupted.
"-erald… I just… I've never seen…" Emerald tried to gauge the students demeanor, but she was unreadable. A fact that proved to be another concern for her. "I didn't mean to pry. I'm from Atlas. Her family is really important to everyone over there."
"I'd imagine it would be. The name is Blake, by the way." Blake said, letting a bitter frown pass over her face.
"Hey Blake, what're you doing over here?" The red-headed klutz called out. "Oh, we meet again… you."
"Yes. My name is Em-"
"You actually know her?" Blake asked incredulously.
"-erald… Could you… not do that please?" Emerald finished.
"Well kinda yes, and kinda no. We never said our names really." She quickly turned to face Emerald, who took a small step backward. She tried to subtly check if Weiss was able to hear any of this, unfortunately she couldn't see anything without making her intent obvious. "My name is Ruby Rose, and this is Blake Belladonna"
"And my name is Emerald." She glanced over at Blake, half expecting her to interrupt again. "Sustrai. Emerald Sustrai. I'm glad to know your names. I was curious though, who is she?" Emerald asked, pointing through the bookcase towards where she assumed Weiss was still sitting.
"Who?" Ruby asked, walking past Emerald to look over at the table. "Oh, that's just Weiss. Do you wanna talk to her?" Emerald immediately began shaking her head 'no', but Ruby wasn't paying attention. "Hey Weiss, someone wants to talk to you."
Emerald could practically feel her face turning red. This girl had no sense of tact at all. She started backing away quickly, too embarrassed by this turn of events to stay, when she felt herself walk into Blake. She nervously looked over her shoulder at the pale girl who was looking at her in a way that seemed to outright state that she wouldn't be able to retreat.
"What do you want? I was studying. It's bad enough I had to put it off for that game of yours." Weiss asked, paying no attention to either Emerald or Blake.
"This is Emerald. She wanted to talk to you." Ruby said, not at all noticing Weiss' bad mood. "Emerald, this is Weiss Schnee." Emerald looked over at Weiss, and the first thing that struck her was how much smaller the heiress was.
"…adorable…" Emerald murmured.
"What was that?" Weiss asked, making her realized that she'd spoken out loud.
"Uh…! Sorry, I-I was saying… your outfit is… adorable." Emerald stammered, alarmed by how her guard was down. "I'm Emerald Sustrai."
"Thank you, Emerald." Weiss said. She almost said more until she noticed a wide-eyed Ruby staring at her. "Ruby, a little privacy, please?"
"Aww, I wanted to see you make a friend." Ruby whined, glancing over at Emerald hoping to sway at least one of them. Emerald wasn't sure what to do until she heard a heavy sigh come from behind her.
"C'mon Ruby, let's give them some privacy." Blake said, grabbing Ruby's hand. Weiss and Emerald watched as Ruby tried to resist the taller woman, at points literally, dragging her from the library.
"I'm sorry about that, would you mind if we head back to the table?" The heiress asked, already walking back. Emerald quickly followed behind.
"No, please don't apologize. If anything, I'm sorry for interrupting your studying." Emerald said, taking the seat next to Weiss'.
"Well then, instead of apologizing around each other, why don't we get to the matter at hand. You wished to talk to me?" Weiss asked, directly facing Emerald. She wasn't accusing, she didn't seem to suspect anything, yet for some reason Emerald couldn't think of a thing to say. "You did want to talk to me, right?"
"Yes!" Emerald blurted out. Instantly she clamped her hands over her mouth in a panic. Thankfully aside from a few shushes her outburst didn't draw any unwanted attention. "S-sorry, I don't know why I'm so nervous."
"Well, maybe you could tell me about yourself. Where are you from?" Weiss asked, staring curiously at the green haired girl sitting next to her. She was supposed to be studying, she had her notebook and textbook open right in front of her. Yet this girl just drew her attention, and more surprising was how little she resented her for it. She'd chewed out the entirety of her team as well as other teams for far less, and yet this stuttering, blushing mess didn't even warrant an eye roll, or a not so subtle glance at her books. She wanted to hear what this girl had to say.
"I'm from Atlas. I love being in this city, and I really love this library. You are so lucky to be able to come here whenever you want." Emerald said, hoping taking her mind off of the task at hand would calm her down. "I love books, especially the classics." She glanced over to the heiress expecting her to look disinterested, or maybe impatient, but she was looking right at her. "I wanted to talk to you because…" She paused, returning Weiss' gaze before she could continue. "Because my father works for the company that does business with your family. We've been luckier than most, and it's because of your family."
"Please, you don't need to thank me for that." Weiss said.
"I feel like I have to thank someone, and then when I saw you, you just looked so…" Emerald trailed off, realizing what she'd almost said. She could feel her face turning red, and every muscle in her body was in full panic mode. She stood up, not caring how loudly the chair dragged across the ground in the process. "I-I'm sorry."
"For what it's worth," Weiss said, giving the girl pause. "I think you're… adorable, too." She quickly ducked her head, certain that she was blushing at such a statement. Emerald slowly turned to face her, her mouth forming words she wasn't able to say.
BLAM!
Both Weiss and Emerald jumped at the sound of something hitting a nearby window. Hard. Emerald, almost hyperaware of her surroundings, took almost no time to find a miserable looking Mercury staring at her from outside. She quickly glanced to Weiss, hoping she hadn't seen him, but she was staring right at him.
"Who-"
"That's my partner." Emerald said, her voice carrying a sudden tension. "Mercury Black, he must've been looking for me." She looked down at the heiress, the words that Weiss had said suddenly ringing in her ears. "Sorry for his tactlessness. He just really, really hates libraries."
"Well, no one gets an ideal partner." Weiss said, for some reason trying to cheer up this almost total stranger. "Eventually you work together enough that you become ideal partners. Besides, if you ever want to spend some time in a library, I could keep you company." Weiss could feel her throat closing up by the end of that sentence. Where the hell had that come from? Regardless, she put on a friendly smile for Emerald, who was trying to do the same.
"I'll keep th-that in mind. Thank you, but I-I need to…" Emerald quickly rushed past her, faintly brushing against her as she did. She'd wanted to say more, to say anything really, but knowing that Mercury was watching her brought back all of the nervousness from earlier. Even as she exited the library though, she knew she would take her up on her offer.
