Author's Note: Let's get some romance up in here!

[/]

Three days after "The Neptune Incident," things were pretty much back to normal for Teams RWBY and JNPR. Weiss had been met with benign indifference for the most part, the novelty of the revelation wearing off rather quickly. The few instances of tittering at Weiss's expense had swiftly ended at the harsh glares of both Yang Xiao Long and, to everyone's surprise, Pyrrha Nikos. While Yang's temper was the stuff of legend, Pyrrha had always been cordial and polite to everyone, even as she systematically thrashed them in combat class. No one wanted to see what she could do if she were to actively have it out for someone.

With the exception of his classes, Neptune had been confined to quarters until his team's departure back to Haven Academy, with the warning that any more trouble from any members of Team SSSN would result in their immediate disqualification from the upcoming Vytal Festival.

Weiss was rather glad to be spared the sight of him.

Jaune himself had had a few days of detention with Professor Goodwitch, all of which was spent in the training room, turning his surprisingly effective left cross into a vicious shield bash. If Goodwitch was a bit less exasperated with her pupil and a bit warmer towards him, it was hidden beneath her drive to squeeze some performance out of the boy. He had demonstrated that he could fight, when sufficiently motivated, so that meant bringing that capability more firmly under his control. For his part, Jaune was entirely unrepentant of slugging Neptune in the face, and openly stated that he would do so again if he had to.

Lie Ren had escaped punishment for his part in the fight, on the grounds that no one else in the school could or would take custody of Nora in his absence. Privately, Ozpin had figured that being on Team JNPR was punishment enough.

Through it all, Weiss had remained blissfully ignorant of the brawl that had occurred after The Incident.

There was a particular outing in which Team RWBY had engaged in a running battle against an Atlesian Paladin piloted by notorious criminal Roman Torchwick. A word to her father's people had the SDC on alert, for what good it did now, and Weiss considered the longest consequence of that brawl to be Blake's descent into obsession over the White Fang. In comparison, brawling against terrorists in giant robots was within the norm for Team RWBY.

It was so normal, in fact, that Weiss had entirely forgotten about one minor annoyance in her life before she was outed, which had returned to her with a vengeance that morning. Standing in their doorway, with a beaming smile on his face and a guitar in his hands, was the idiot Arc boy.

Weiss blinked at him. "What are you doing?"

Jaune began to strum the guitar. "Good morning, Weiss! I have a little song for you!"

Her expression could not be any flatter as she simply said "What."

Jaune, with the confidence that only true obliviousness could yield, began to sing for her.

"Oh Weiss, you're so sassy and cool,

You're the smartest girl in this whole dang school,

Oh Weiss, I think you're so awesome and great,

So would you come to dance with me as my daaaaaaate?"

He finished with a dramatic flair. There was a silence for a moment.

"Excuse me," Weiss said politely, before slamming the door in his face.

"Guys, what was that?"

Ruby shrugged from her bed. "Sounded like he was asking you out to the dance."

"Okay, but why though?"

"Uh, because he's only been crushing on you for forever?"

Weiss had genuinely thought that being outed would have put an end to that little infatuation of his. "Does he… does he know about me?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Weiss turned on her heel and opened the door again, revealing Jaune's still-smiling face. "Arc… Jaune. You are aware of my… condition, correct?"

He frowned, concerned. "Are you sick?"

"I'm transgender."

"Cool, I'm six-foot two."

"What?"

"What?"

Weiss shook her head as if to clear it. "Just… I was born with… male parts, but I've transitioned to live as a woman."

"Well yeah, I knew that."

"Jaune, I haven't had any surgeries," Weiss said bluntly. She wanted to make sure there was absolutely no possibility of even an idiot like Arc misunderstanding. She waited for the realization to dawn on his face, for the inevitable revulsion and disdain that would follow.

Instead of all of that, Jaune merely looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his head and blushing a little. "Wasn't thinking to get that far on a first date, you know. I kind of thought it would be better for us to get to know each other better first. I mean, if you're game, then I can be too, but don't feel like you need to use sex to get a date. With me, or with anyone." He gave a little shrug. "Besides, you're not a collection of parts, you're a person."

Weiss flushed prettily. She… hadn't expected that. "Excuse me," she said again, closing the door, more gently this time, and turning to her partner, slightly panicked.

"What do I do?"

"What do you want to do?" Yang asked from where she had emerged from the bathroom. "You can either go with him, go with someone else, or go on your own. Or stay home, if you want to be lame about it. Whatever you decide, you should probably let him know."

"But… he wants to go on a date with me!"

"Yeah, because he's been crushing on you," Ruby said slowly, as if Weiss had gone completely daft.

"He did punch out Neptune that one time. It was awesome," Yang added.

"What?!"

"Oh, we never showed you? Here, I saved it to add to our Beacon scrapbook." Yang pulled out her scroll and showed Weiss a brief clip someone had recorded with their Scroll. Sure enough, it showed Jaune stride up to Neptune-and hadn't that blue-haired ass moved on quickly to another girl!-turn him around, and punch him right in the face. The clip cut out as the brawl really got started.

Weiss didn't know what to think. "He… why would he do that?"

"Because Neptune humiliated you, and Jaune actually cares about you?" Yang adopted her sister's slower, carefully enunciated tone while Ruby herself just pinched the bridge of her nose.

Weiss stared at Yang's Scroll. "I just… well, he's ridiculous!"

"I mean, yeah," Ruby admitted. "But I bet if you gave him a chance, he would really treat you right and try hard to make you happy."

"If he's so great, why aren't you dating him?"

"Ace, duh! Trust me, if I weren't, I'd be all over that. Or you. Possibly both, I dunno."

Weiss elected to ignore that, lest her brain explode. "So my choices are to accept a well-meaning dunce, or pursue sophisticated men who could be cruel. Idiot or ass."

"Welcome to dating men," Yang quipped. "But seriously, you don't have to be so mean to him all the time."

"You know I can still hear you all, right?" The door muffled Jaune's complaints, which assisted the girls in ignoring them.

"It's just a date to the dance, Weiss." Yang rolled her eyes. "Nothing says you have to go on more dates, or freaking marry him if you let him take you out. At least someone's asking you," she said with a small hint of bitterness. No one had worked up the nerve to ask Yang to the dance, which was, in the blonde's entirely unbiased opinion, bullshit. She wasn't really interested in anyone, sure, but as the most beautiful girl in Beacon, it was the principle of the thing, damn it!

Weiss considered for a moment. Maybe she had been making too big a deal out of this. And if she had misjudged Neptune so badly, she supposed there was a slight possibility that she may have misjudged Arc as well. Weiss made her decision. She returned to the door and opened it, seeing Jaune once more, catching him as he tried to wipe the nervous sweat off his brow with the back of his sleeve. She sighed.

"I will permit you to escort me to the dance. You may pick me up here at seven. I… will see you then."

Jaune's face could have lit up a small town, so bright was his smile. "Thank you Weiss! You won't regret this!" With surprising grace, he carefully plucked up her hand and placed the softest hint of a kiss on the back of her slender fingers. "I'll be counting the days! Until then!"

As Weiss slowly closed the door, she heard an exuberant, entirely unrestrained whoop. Whatever else one might say about the boy-and Weiss had said a lot-no one could doubt his sincerity in that moment. The color rose once more to her cheeks as she studied the back of her hand, feeling a slight tingle from where his lips had softly grazed her skin.

He could be gentle. Gentle was good.

She was pulled from her trance as she realized that there was a strange, high-pitched whining in the room, as if there were a kettle boiling. Looking up from her hand, she winced as she saw Ruby and Yang about to unleash a full-blown squee-storm on her.

"Oh no."

The squee-ing commenced, as the sisters pulled Weiss into a hug.

"We're gonna make this the best dance ever!" the precocious team leader declared, her finger pointed to the ceiling. "Yang, go pull Blake from her Blakey-ness! I'm going to take Weiss dress shopping! Together, we shall triumph!"

Weiss sighed as she let Ruby pull her by the shoulders, as she often did. She could have mentioned that the wardrobe of hand-me downs that Winter had sent her was probably worth more than the inventory of any boutique in Vale, but she didn't have the heart. Not when Ruby was as excited to dress her up as a little girl with a doll. Oh, Ruby had to be forced into heels with a whip, but when given the opportunity to dress up her partner... No getting out of this one, it seemed. A careful observer might have noticed the barest hint of a smile on Weiss's face.

[/]

"Hi, Pyrrha."

"Weiss."

The two girls met at the cafeteria as they waited for the rest of their friends to join them.

"So, about the dance."

To Weiss's surprise, Pyrrha's smile was warm, full and genuine. "You don't need to worry about me, Weiss. No one deserves to go through what Neptune did to you. Jaune's very sweet and kind. I have no doubt that he will treat you with respect."

There was something behind Pyrrha's sentiment that set Weiss on edge. It wasn't the words themselves, which were anodyne. It was… Weiss's eyes narrowed as she realized what it was. Pyrrha didn't see her as a threat. No doubt she saw this as Jaune proving once again what a great and sensitive guy he is, as if he were doing her some great favor by asking her to the dance, and by extension, Pyrrha was selflessly martyring herself to give to her this experience. Pyrrha pitied her.

Oh.

Oh hell no.

"You've been infatuated with Arc this entire time," Weiss said. "You're holding back because, what, you think I'm some charity case that needs a pity date?"

Pyrrha demurred, unable to quite meet Weiss's glacial gaze.

"Here's the deal, Nikos," Weiss began. "I'm giving Arc this chance so I can see if I've misjudged him, if I can see what other people, yourself included, see in him. I am allowing for the potential possibility that he may even make for a good match, and if that happens… Pyrrha, I will rock. His. World. He won't even remember other women exist once I get my hands on him."

"He doesn't do that now," Pyrrha muttered, perhaps a little more bitter than she'd been letting on.

"So, if you really do have feelings for him, then you need to do something about it, or else you might not get the chance."

Pyrrha blinked in confusion. "You… want me to compete with you?"

"I want you to try," Weiss boasted. "Better that than this absurd martyr act you're putting on. If you decide to drop it because he doesn't feel the same way, or you realize it wouldn't work out, or somesuch, that's one thing, but I refuse to be treated as if I should be pitied. I am just like any other woman coming to swipe your crush out from under you."

Weiss held out her hand. "Game on, Nikos."

Pyrrha took it, her smile bright but her eyes glinting with a hard edge, her inner fires stoked back to life.

"Game on, Schnee."

[/]

The night of the dance, Jaune arrived right on time to Team RWBY's room, looking sharp in a fitted suit, and carrying a white rose. He remembered his father's lessons on women, but more pressing were the words that Ruby had spoken to him a few days before.

"She's actively looking for reasons to respect you," Ruby had told him. "So drop the stupid pickup lines. They would just remind her of Neptune anyway, and you do not want her to think of you like Neptune."

"Right. So… what should I do?"

"Just relax. Stop stuttering and fumbling all the time. Let her see the you that everyone else has."

It was good advice, advice Jaune resolved to follow as he knocked on the door. After a brief moment, involving some shouting, a loud crash, and some severe whispering, Weiss, her shoulders bare in a simple, elegant white dress, cracked open the door and slipped out into the hall. Looking up at Jaune, she winced as they heard another crash, giving the boy an apologetic smile in response to his obvious puzzlement.

"Yang's having a bad hair day. Ruby's trying to help but…" she trailed off letting Jaune put the pieces together himself.

"I know your pain," he commiserated.

"I doubt anyone could match Xiao Long for temper tantrums," griped Weiss.

"Maybe not one-for-one, but I grew up with seven sisters."

She looked at him in astonishment. "Seven sisters? At once?"

Jaune laughed softly, a warm smile as he was clearly recalling some incident. "There was one time when four of them were all crushing on this classmate of mine. All four asked him to the same dance, and like an idiot, he said yes to all four."

"No!"

"Yes!" He offered her his arm, and she took it with casual grace.

"What happened?" she asked as they set out towards the dance.

"Well, my big sister Saphron-she's the oldest-found out, and she roped me into playing a prank on everyone else involved…"

Weiss was surprised by how naturally affable Jaune could be when he stopped trying so hard. He had an easy humor to him, and Weiss found herself covering her giggles with her hand more than once as his story escalated to the point where he had swiped his sisters' erstwhile paramour out from under them with the assistance of crossdressing, stood him up at the dance, and had had to flee from his sisters in high heels. His eldest sister had "come to his aid" by taking pictures as he wobbled along at speed.

It was a ridiculous story, but Weiss thought on the obvious warmth and closeness of the family that he described to her. Okay, so eight children were, objectively, way too many children-had Weiss not been a paragon of good manners, she might have told Jaune to suggest to his parents that they find a hobby-but their casual interactions and lighthearted rivalries were alien to her experience of neglect, secrets, and cold calculation. Even between herself and her beloved elder sister, whom Weiss had idolized, there was a distance, one imposed by age, duty, and decorum.

Weiss resolved to give Winter an enormous Ruby-hug the next time she saw her, just to see how she would react.

As the pair reached the dance, she was surprised to discover that she was smiling, and had been for some time. The two entered the auditorium, the space having been transformed into a more sophisticated venue, the first arrivals beginning to head towards the dance floor. The band on stage struck up a familiar Atlesian waltz, and Weiss looked to see Jaune offering her his hand.

"A dance?"

She took it, trying to mask the dubious expression that tried to break out onto her face. She knew it wouldn't be much of a dance date if she didn't actually dance with her date, but Atlesian waltzes frequently demanded complicated footwork. The other students settled on bare minimum three-beat stepping, but when did Weiss Schnee ever settle for doing anything less than excelling?

It was to her complete surprise, then, that Jaune smoothly pulled her into the proper position, her small hand gently enveloped in his, his other hand upon her back. He led her into the advanced level of the dance, the two of them elegantly turning and spinning together, and soon the other students had stopped to watch the pair as they practically put on a dance clinic.

The band picked up the tempo, signifying that the waltz would soon come to an end. They stepped together perfectly, and Jaune pulled her into a spin at the end of his arm before reeling her back in and catching her close to his chest as the music came to a stop. Their fingers intertwined, and her crystal blue eyes were wide as she looked at him as if he were an alien.

"W-What?" she stammered, still trying to wrap her mind around what just happened.

Whatever he might of said was lost as the watching students gave the couple a round of applause. A rueful smile spread across his face as he looked up to take in the extent of their audience. "I'll explain at the punch bowl?" he offered.

He poured them each a cup, and they took a seat.

"My parents never wanted me to become a Huntsman," he began. "In order to keep me occupied and out of trouble, they enrolled me in all kinds of classes, doing all kinds of things."

"One of which being dance," Weiss finished. "Too bad they couldn't get you guitar lessons as well."

Jaune dramatically held his hand over his heart. "Ooh, ow, right to the soul."

"You've got a lot of Aura, you'll be fine." Weiss sipped her punch. "Maybe."

"I've been talking about my family. What's yours like?"

Weiss made a face. "You know what's better than talking about my family?"

"What?"

"The Vacuoan Tango." She stood up and offered her hand. He took it.

"Are you sure you're up to the challenge?" He teased her. "I can be quite… vigorous."

"I do love a challenge." Weiss's smile was nothing short of predatory as, together, they approached the conductor. A moment later, they stood in the center of the dance floor as the band opened the tango with a dramatic violin chord. Jaune noticed their friends watching and threw them a quick, jaunty salute before taking Weiss by the hands.

The song began in earnest, the sounds of strings and horns punctuated by staccato claps. They moved together at a brisk pace, Jaune stepping perfectly as Weiss kicked her heels dramatically. He pulled her into a daring dip, and she retaliated in the recovery by wrapping a single, smooth leg scandalously high onto his leg, almost onto his hip, locking eyes with him as he stepped back to let her slide into a pose against his chest. And with that, it was on. Weiss gave not one whit to anything other than this compelling, and entirely unexpected competition. All that mattered was the dance, feeling her partner and anticipating his moves, allowing him to lead her and then escalating with her responses.

To her, it was thrilling.

[/]

Pyrrha could only watch helplessly as her partner and her rival took the dance floor by storm in their tango. Her jaw dropped as she saw Weiss wrap her leg around Jaune's hip. This… this was not what she had planned on happening.

"See, this is why you don't give an opponent a free shot," Nora helpfully told her as they watched the dance.

Pyrrha had had no idea he was a dancer, let alone one of such skill and grace. And Weiss was right there with him, meeting every invitation he set for her with a provocative move that displayed her grace and flexibility.

It wasn't supposed to be like this! They would go out, Jaune would be, well, Jaune, and Weiss would be, well, Weiss, it would be a huge disaster, and he would realize that there was someone else he could turn to, someone he had been overlooking this whole time. Instead, Weiss was running her hands through Jaune's hair as she arched her back in a low dip, his face perilously close to her bosom before he pulled her up to come face-to-face with her at the conclusion of the song.

"Wow, is it hot in here, or is it just them?" Yang spoke up.

As if she had heard her from across the room, Weiss abruptly realized just how… bold she had become during the tango, and politely disengaged from her dance partner. Her face was flushed from more than just the exertion of the dance as the pair approached their friends.

"You guys were amazing!" gushed Ruby. "He was all like 'bwa!' and you were all like 'here's me-bam!-and here's my legs!' And then…"

Pyrrha's smile was brittle as she watched Jaune sheepishly began to discuss his dancing lessons, while Weiss tried to downplay her more risque movements. As the pair waved off the teasing from their other friends, Pyrrha tried to grasp how she had so badly miscalculated. Without consciously realizing it, she had written off Jaune's ability to successfully interact with his crush. She had assumed that he would screw it up, and that Weiss would be just waiting for the earliest opportunity to ditch him. Instead, he had revealed a talent that no one else knew he had, and if Weiss's body language was any indication, she was, at the very least, intrigued by this revelation. Both of them had zigged when Pyrrha had been counting on them to zag.

She tried to be happy for Jaune, she truly did, but it was hard. Pity aside, she had meant what she'd said to Weiss, that Jaune would be good to her and treat her respectfully. But that didn't mean that Weiss would be good to Jaune, or good for him. And try as she might, Pyrrha just couldn't fathom what Jaune saw in the girl. It couldn't have been her name or her wealth- if anything, Jaune was intimidated by ostentatious displays of riches, and he only knew the SDC as the makers of the Super Dustbox video game console. Was it Weiss's personality? She had completely failed to be even a little subtle in her attempts to use Pyrrha's fame and talent for her own social standing. She had treated Ruby awfully at first, which was akin to kicking a puppy in Pyrrha's estimation.

And sure, Jaune could be a little… overzealous in his attempts to capture her interest, but Weiss's rejections could cross the line from stern to downright mean. In contrast, Pyrrha had always supported her partner, even when he didn't know it, keeping his secrets, and taking the time to train him and pull out the potential that she saw in him.

What did Weiss have that she didn't?

Well, she thought bitterly, I know one thing she has that I don't.

Pyrrha clamped down on that thought, hard. It was one born of envy and spite, and it was unworthy of her. Besides, Jaune hadn't even known about that when he met her, none of them had.

As her friends broke off to join the dancing, or the punch bowl in Ruby's case, Pyrrha excused herself to lean against a railing on the balcony. The gorgeous campus of Beacon lay before her, so full of possibility.

In a way, it would have been easier on her if Weiss had just been a man. It would have been a clean sever, nothing personal. Jaune didn't return her feelings because he was into other men. Just incompatible orientation, not anything to do with her. Instead, Weiss just had to be the girliest little princess to ever pirouette her way across a battlefield. Jaune was attracted to girls. Jaune wasn't interested in her. Therefore, it must be something about her that didn't spark his interest.

For the first time in a long time, Pyrrha Nikos tasted defeat.

The hint of it hardened her resolve. She had underestimated the factors in play here, and that had cost her this round. But that didn't mean that she was beaten just yet.

A smile, a genuine one this time, spread across her face as the music changed from classical to a more current style. Jaune led Ren and Nora, in formation, into what could only be described as a dance battle against Weiss, Yang, and a bemused-looking Blake. They really were great friends, friends that she never thought she would have. Even Weiss.

With that, Pyrrha let go over her envy and her melancholy and went to join her friends. She may not have gone with Jaune on her arm, but having six friends warmly cheer her on as she dropped in the middle of their petty little dance battle, to bust a move and school them all, was a decent consolation prize.

Plus, she had finally mastered the art of kickstep-kickstep-bodyroll, and she was damned if she'd let the night go without showing it off.

[/]

Weiss had been surprised by just how fine a time she had had that night. She had laughed, and smiled, and danced the night away. Jaune had been the perfect gentleman, listening closely when she spoke, offering the occasional commentary that was actually quite clever, and, of course, being the best dance partner she'd ever had. On top of that… he'd said nothing about her gender all night. He hadn't made a show of deigning to take her out, which meant that he wasn't posturing to look good for some other girl. He hadn't tried to leverage it on her either, which meant that he probably didn't see it that way anyway.

All things considered, taking Jaune to the dance had turned out to be a winning move. Who would have guessed? Well, besides Pyrrha. And Ruby. Possibly Yang as well. The point was, it had been a great night for her. But how much of that was Jaune himself, and how much of that was in the circumstances of a Beacon Academy dance?

Well, there was only one way to find out, if she could steel her courage and swallow her pride to ask. She felt a strange fluttering at the bottom of her stomach as they arrived before the teams' dorm rooms.

"Well, here we are," Jaune said. "I had a great time tonight. Thank you for going with me."

"Right," Weiss fidgeted nervously. "Jaune, I should apologize."

"Hm? For what?"

"I… dismissed you. Disrespected you. I didn't think much of you at all, and that was wrong."

Jaune tried to wave her off, but she grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. "I confess, you may have been a little annoying with the bad pickup lines and the awful flirting, but I was cruel to you, and you didn't deserve it."

"Well… tell you what," he offered. "Fresh start, me and you."

"Okay." She met his eyes again briefly, before looking down at their hands together. "If you should find yourself so inclined, I would not be opposed to another such outing in your company."

Jaune blinked, a grin slowly spreading on his face like the sun rising. "Are… are you asking me out?"

She couldn't meet his gaze. Not for the first time, she wished her complexion were perhaps not so fair, to better conceal the blood rushing to her face and, to her horror, the tips of her ears too. "I am… allowing you to invite me to a potentially romantic rendezvous between the two of us."

"Has anyone ever told you that you get really formal when you're nervous?"

"I'm not nervous!" she squeaked, almost sounding like Ruby for a moment. "Ahem. Well…" she fidgeted with her fingers once more. "You may kiss me goodnight, if you wish."

"When you put it like that, who am I to refuse the lady's offer?"

She felt his fingertips gently lift her chin to look at his face. Carefully, he began to move towards her, and she stood on her toes to meet him halfway. Their lips touched together, soft and tenderly. Weiss wasn't sure what she was meant to be feeling for her first kiss. If Blake's… literature was any indication, her blood should be on fire right now, with fireworks detonating behind her eyes and her heart threatening to burst from her chest. What was was feeling right now was… safe. She had a pleasant warmth in her limbs, and the tingle on her lips echoed how she felt when he had kissed her fingers. It was comfortable, like staying under the covers on a cold winter morning.

After a few seconds, they broke apart, with Jaune beaming like he was the luckiest goofball on the face of Remnant. Weiss may or may not have had a soft, shy smile of her own. No one could prove it! Lies and slander! It would never stand in a court of law! It was a secret just between Jaune and herself, and Jaune was safe.

Jaune's breath escaped in a rush. "G-goodnight, Weiss."

"Have a good night, Jaune."

"Can't imagine one better."

She favored him with a small wave before opening the door and slipping inside. Resting her back against the door, she touched her fingers to her lips, still caught in the pleasant tingling. Her first kiss… she wasn't sure what to make of him. On one hand, he could set her at ease, being almost comfortable. She had a hard time reconciling the boy she had met tonight with the clod who had flailed about with such… indignity at the beginning of the year. And that wasn't even getting in to how he had sparked something in her with his dance with her, something that had her going wild. What was a girl to do?

Too late, she realized that she had been standing against the door for a few seconds too long, and with her hand to her lips and a dreamy, far-away look on her face to boot. Sure enough, she recognized the anticipatory looks her teammates were sending her way. Yang had what could only be considered a smug smirk, while Weiss could practically see the stars in her partner's huge, silvery eyes. Even Blake regarded her with curious interest.

"Oh no," Weiss began. "Begone, you vultures!"

"But Weiss," Ruby whined. Weiss avoided looking directly into her puppy-dog gaze, a lesson she had learned early into their partnership.

"Come on, Weiss," Yang dropped a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Girl talk is a sacred ritual of sisterhood, one that Ruby needs to learn. You know she needs help interacting with people."

"Yeah, Weiss," Ruby added, her voice somehow sounding even younger and higher-pitched than usual. What sorcery was this? "Don't you want me to learn how to, uh, contort myself like a proper lady, like you?"

"The word you're looking for is 'comport,'" Weiss absently corrected her partner.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Anyway, where did you run off to? Maybe you're hiding some secret paramour from your sister?"

Ruby chuckled. "Yeah, right. I found a thief trying to sneak around when everyone was boogieing. I fought her but she got away."

Leave it to Ruby Rose to spend dance night fighting. For her, Huntress work was recreation.

"Enough trying to change the subject already, gosh!" Yang was getting exasperated with Weiss's evasion.

Ruby gave Weiss a smile that was wide and entirely too innocent. "Besides, you did once suggest we talk about cute boys. And hey, it was even Jaune you were talking about!"

Weiss's eye twitched as she remembered that particular interaction. "Ugh, fine!" She gave in with a dramatic wave of her arms. "Just let me get changed first."

Soon enough, Weiss and the two sisters were seated cross-legged on the floor, while Blake lounged indolently on her bunk. "So," Weiss began, "I may or may not have informed him that I would be...receptive to future excursions in his company."

"She asked him out," translated Blake.

Wordlessly, Yang handed Ruby a ten-lien card.

"Hey! Have you been betting on my love life?"

"Ooh, so it's a love life now?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Yang, who looked entirely too pleased with herself. Girl talk. Such torture! She supposed it wasn't so bad to have genuine friends to discuss these things with, especially as she sought to sort out her own feelings. But still! She tried to gloss over the kiss she'd shared, which Yang simply wasn't having, meaning Weiss was obliged to discuss the way it had made her feel.

"You know, there are worse feelings that a guy can inspire than 'safe' and 'comfortable,'" pointed out Blake from her kitty perch.

Ruby was feeling smug self-satisfaction. "I told you he would treat you right!"

"Yes, well," Weiss looked slightly embarrassed to have been so open, even with her trusted friends. But at least this was one instance where she had taken a chance once more, and was rewarded with a lovely time and a potential romantic interest, instead of humiliation and emotional anguish. Maybe… just maybe, it would be safe to remain this open, at least with her friends.

Yes, this had been a good night indeed, one of the best of her young life.

Maybe she would have nights in the future that would be even better. It was something to look forward to.

[/]

Chapter Endnotes: First up: Chapter three will be coming out soon. There is still more that I want to explore here. I'm going to hop on the soapbox for a bit in this endnote, so if you'd like to cut out, this is the place.

Secondly: This story is the first time I've ever been accused of writing a "trollfic." I wouldn't ordinarily respond to a negative review, since tastes are subjective, and Lord knows I am a decided amateur as a writer. My prose itself is fair game, but I really must object to the impugning of my motivations. This fic, despite my shortcomings as a writer, is a sincere effort to exercise imaginative empathy towards a type of people, using familiar characters and situations as a vehicle. In that sense, I would also hope that this fic is an invitation to the reader to engage in such an exercise with me. Maybe, as children of the internet, some of us have become too inured to ulterior motivations and cynical ploys to recognize sincerity when they see it.

I don't know why imagining Weiss as transgender and exploring the dynamics that could create is considered "trolling." On this site, sticking to Weiss alone, we've seen Weiss as a Maiden with a time-travelling boyfriend, a videogame spellcaster, a sometime poltergeist, a Faunus, a full-blown Jedi Knight, a shapeshifting Grimm hybrid with a horn, a dominatrix, and most impossibly of all, close friends with Mercury Black, among many other types of people. In comparison with all of that, imagining Weiss as a transgender girl doesn't seem quite so out there.

For everyone still with me, I invite you to chapter three.

-Mahina