It had been two weeks since she and Blake had come to their understanding. Two weeks since Weiss's true identity had been revealed to everyone and, not that Weiss would ever admit it, she was feeling pretty great. No longer did Weiss feel like such a liar or some schemer wearing a mask. She could be herself and finally relax. She felt free in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.
However, there were some disadvantages. It was like Yang had been stockpiling rich girl and princess jokes just for this situations. Jaune was even more interested in her now he felt she was opening up.
But worst of all were the constant questions.
"So what's it like being a millionaire?"
Weiss sighed turning to the hyperactive ginger. This was going to be a long shift she could already tell.
"I'm not a millionaire," she replied hoping Nora would pick up on her tone. No such luck and her girls eyes merely widened in shock.
"You're a billionaire?"
"No."
Nora's eyes were the size of dinner plates.
"A trillionaire."
Groaning, she was saved having to reply by Ren's timely intervention.
"I think you are you going in the wrong direction Nora."
"Thank you," she muttered. "I'm glad one of you has sense."
Ren paused.
"But what is it like?"
Her head hit the counter with a thud as Weiss willed herself to spontaneous explode. If she concentrated hard enough maybe she could take out these two clods at the same time. A few seconds passed. It wasn't working.
"Umm excuse me don't you think you should be acting more professionally?", a voice from the other side of the counter said. "This is your job after all."
Weiss snapped up before her brain could react, meaning she didn't recognize the voice until it's owner was grinning at her smugly. Yang stood on the other side of the counter, dressed in her casual clothes and looking rather pleased with her impression of an irate customer.
Embarrassed by how much she had jumped, Weiss elected to scowl at the blonde hoping it would hide her red cheeks. Yang just rolled her eyes.
"Jeez Ice Queen loosen up," Yang said. "It was just a joke."
Weiss gritted her teeth.
"And it was just hilarious. Almost as funny as "Ice Queen" which you all insist on perpetuating."
"It suits you," Yang said with a casual shrug that made Weiss even more irritated.
"I can think of nicknames that would suit you that you would probably find annoying as well."
"Try me."
"Umm." She panicked as her mind drew a blank. "You Blonde Brute?"
"Brute really?" Yang said as Weiss floundered. "Is it because of my muscles? Have you been staring Weiss? It's okay, you're only human."
Weiss went even redder.
"Why you-"
"Yang how could you?" Nora yelled dramatically pushing Weiss to the side. "I thought we had something special and here I find you flirting with some white haired floozy."
"Floozy?"
"Sorry Nora," Yang said staring off stoically. "But I've got too much to offer to limit myself to one girl. You knew the risks. You flew too close to sun and you got burned."
"Nooooooo."
Weiss turned to Ren.
"How do you make them stop?"
"You don't," he said calmly. "You just wait for them to get bored."
"I heard that," Yang said, giving him an exaggerated mock glare. "So anyway, have you guys been busy?"
"No, not really," Nora said. "Weiss is just telling us what's it's likely to be a gazillionaire."
"That one isn't even a word."
"Oh that reminds me-" Yang started.
"This better not be another stupid question."
"It's not," she replied. "Your sister works at Atlas yeah?"
"Yes."
Maybe would this would be real question.
"So what is Caviar exactly?"
Weiss glared at them all.
"Why are you here Xiao-Long?"
"I'm here to let you all know that a Beacon will be closed tomorrow. Dad has to go out of town in the afternoon so we can't open again."
"Hurray," Nora cheered. "Free day off."
Weiss didn't really care. She hadn't been working anyway so it didn't really affect her that much.
"So I thought that we should all have a night out," Yang said. "We haven't had one since Ice Queen joined us."
"Ooo that would be fun."
"Sure I'd do that."
"Great," Yang said before turning to Weiss. "Do you know where Shade is?"
"I haven't even said if I'm going," she said.
"Well how could we have your initiation without you? Don't be stupid Weiss."
"Initiation?"
"Yeah, we all get drunk. We buy you shots and then you tell us all your embarrassing secrets. It's fun. Normally we would have had it by now but we kinda put it off because of..."
Yang trailed off as she realised what she was saying. Too late though, Weiss had worked it out. Blake wouldn't have gone so the rest of them wouldn't do it without her. It made sense they had known her longer but still it hurt her pride a little more than she cared to admit.
Things with Blake had improved at least. They could now maintain a civil if awkward conversation and had even shared a shift. True they had to have Pyrrha there to mitigate any potential arguments but it had gotten them through a shift without incident.
Still one night couldn't hurt. If things got tense, then they could just talk to someone else.
"I'll go," she said as Yang grinned. "But only if you guys stop with all the questions. It's an invasion of privacy and it's annoying."
"What questions are you guys asking?"
"How rich she is?"
"Was," Ren corrected as Weiss glared at him. "What?"
"Please just stop."
Nora shrugged.
"Whatever trillionaire."
Nora's silence lasted about five minutes of Weiss walking into the bar.
"So what is Caviar?"
Weiss glared at the ginger wishing she knew something about her to shut her up. No such luck though. Out of the entire group, Weiss still knew Nora and Ren the least. They lived together but weren't dating, despite appearance to the contrary. Between the two of them they talked at the rate of an average person and that was where her knowledge ended.
"Enough Nora," Pyrrha chided. "We don't want to make Weiss uncomfortable."
"Maybe you don't," Yang smirked. "I think it's hilarious."
"Thanks for the support," Weiss muttered sarcastically before noticing the red figure next to her sister. "Ruby, how did you get in here? You're only-"
She was cut off as Yang's eyes widened and Ruby quickly pulled her down into the booth. Lying undignified across the two sister's laps, she glared up at them.
"What was that for?"
"To shut you up," Yang muttered. "We don't exactly like advertising my sister is underage."
"And manhandling me was the best way to do that," Weiss said turning her gaze on Ruby. "Just telling me was too much?"
Ruby flushed slightly, awkwardly rubbing her neck.
"Sorry Weiss," she said. "I like your dress by the way..."
"Flattery doesn't work on the Ice Queen Rubes," Jaune said dramatically. "I should know."
He wilted under her glare.
"I didn't mean it like that," Ruby stammered as Weiss managed to arrange herself between the two sisters.
"I know what you meant," Weiss muttered. "But thanks anyway."
Ruby muttered something incoherent before turning away from Weiss. Odd. Ruby didn't normally act so quietly. She didn't have time to ponder it as Sun walked over holding a tray of drinks.
"Hey Weiss," he said as handed out the drinks. "I thought I saw you come in. I added your drink to the tab."
"Oh thanks... I guess."
He grinned at her.
"It's kinda pricey but I'm sure you can afford it."
Weiss scowled as Yang snorted into her drink. Ignoring the rest of the group, she turned to a sheepish looking Blake.
"You told him..."
"Yeah after our fight I kinda told him."
"And by 'told me' she means she ranted for about an hour," Sun grinned before catching his girlfriend's glare. "Uhh I mean... Oh looks like that table needs served. Gotta go."
And then he was gone leaving the group in an awkward silence. Weiss didn't remember social gathering being so difficult. She also didn't remember ruining them all just through her sheer presence. Maybe she should just go...
"Well this is awkward," Yang declared, suddenly standing up. "Time to break the ice."
"No Yang," Pyrrha said quickly. "We are not doing-"
"SHOTS," Yang and Nora yelled as one.
Pyrrha sighed looking around the table for some back up. She received none and so begrudgingly let the two girls go. A few minutes later they returned with three trays loaded will alcohol. Weiss paled.
"I thought you just meant one or two..."
"This is more efficient to Yang," Blake said as though this happened all the time. Knowing Yang, it probably did.
"How did you even get this much so fast?"
"It's a gift," Yang said before passing her four glasses. "Drink up."
"Why do I get four?"
"Because this is your initiation night out."
Dammit so it was. There goes the leaving early plan. In any case. Yang was insane if she thought Weiss was going to start the night with four shots before even getting to her first normal drink.
"It still seems excessive," she said.
"What's the matter princess?" Yang smirked. "Can't handle it?"
Wordlessly, Weiss picked up the first glass as Nora cheered.
Half an hour later, Weiss was starting to feel sick. Not because she was drunk, obviously, but because Yang had started to feed her some house specials that Weiss couldn't even read... But not because she was a drunk. They just looked unnatural and tasted worse.
To be fair though, the rest of the group wasn't that much better. Yang had been matching all her drinks and showed no signs of stopping. Ruby was veering back and forth between staring off into space and giggling wildly. Blake's eyes were transfixed on the bar waiting for Sun to finish his shift, like a cat in... Was that racist?
Nora was even louder than usual, practically bouncing in her chair. Ren didn't look too different but Weiss could tell he was probably one of those drunks who looked fine until the second they hit the floor. Jaune was hitting on a girl at the bar with even less tact than he usually had and Pyrrha was staring forlornly at him... Wait a minute.
Reaching over the table, Weiss poked the red head in the head to get her attention. Pyrrha jumped, startled by the sudden contact. Quickly she adjusted turning to face her with a look of wary bemusement.
"Yes Weiss."
"You're not drinking."
"I am," she said defensively. "I'm just not doing shots."
That was not acceptable. If Weiss was getting drunk, which she wasn't, everyone should have to get drunk.
"Why?"
"Someone has to be the responsible adult."
"What she means," Yang chimed in. "Is that Pyr-Pyr is a light weight."
"I'm not a light weight," Pyrrha protested. "I just had a bad experience with shots."
"Yeah you did," Yang laughed. "And once again you are welcome."
Pyrrha flushed the same shade as her hair but didn't elaborate. Obviously this was a private matter that Pyrrha would rather not repeat and as her friend, Weiss had a responsibility not to push her.
So she turned to Yang expectantly.
"So we know this guy named Cardin," Yang said as Pyrrha sighed onto the table. "And Cardin is an asshole to everyone but especially to Jaune."
Why was that important?
"So one time we are all out having fun. Even Jaune had managed to find a girl interested in him. Shocking I know."
Weiss giggled as she tried to drink through her straw. About ten seconds into it, she realised that her straw was not in fact blocked but she had just finished her drink. Thankfully, no one else has noticed.
"But at some point during the night, I realise I haven't seen Pyrrha in a while. Everyone else is hammered so I go to try find her and I find her in a corner sucking on Cardin face while he gropes her ass."
"Do you have to say it like that?" Pyrrha groaned. "It wasn't that bad..."
Yang snorted.
"Like you were in the right state of mind to know."
Pyrrha didn't have a response to that, just groaning as Yang grinned at her.
"What happened after that," Weiss asked. "Did you sleep with him?"
"No!" Pyrrha said, her face scarlet.
"And why was that?" Yang said smiling. "Who was your knight in shining armour that stopped you making a horrible mistake?"
"You did Yang."
"Yeah I did."
"What did you do," Weiss said, curiously.
"Well I'm slightly drunk and have just seen my normally responsible friend making out with the biggest dick we know-"
"You make it sound so much worse than it was."
"-So naturally I assume the worst. I pulled Cardin off her and punched him in the face. I felt kinda bad after Pyrrha explained it was mutual but I figure he had it coming anyway."
Weiss burst out laughing at the mental image. It was so absurd but it something she could easily picture Yang doing. This Cardin was probably lucky he hadn't tried it on with Ruby. The blonde probably wouldn't have left anything left of him if he touched her sister.
She couldn't help but wonder what Winters reaction would be if the they had been in that position. Would her sister be as proactive in looking after her, or would she let Weiss make her own mistakes and then lecture her later? The latter seemed more likely.
Pyrrha and Yang were still talking, the blonde teasing the red head relentlessly while she tried to desperately change the subject. Weiss didn't know who she should support. On one hand, Pyrrha was clearly embarrassed about the whole thing but on the other hand, it was really funny to see the invincible girl so flustered. Then suddenly a thought struck her.
"Twins," she said suddenly and probably slightly too loudly, so she quietly repeated. "Twins.
"Umm what?" Yang said. "You okay their Ice Queen?"
Any reservations, she had about asking for this story suddenly vanished at the use of the nick name she so despised.
"You dated twins... Or something. You wouldn't tell me what it was."
Yang suddenly paled and Pyrrhas mood seemed improved drastically.
"Uhh, we don't really need to tell that story..."
"Oh don't we?" Pyrrha said smiling. "So my embarrassing mistakes are fair game but yours are off the table.
"Ugh fine," Yang groaned. "But you're up next Weiss."
That didn't sound good for her but Weiss really wanted to hear this story. Worst comes to the worst, she could make something up. The blonde took the few remaining shots from the table and started to prepare herself as Pyrrha started to tell the story.
"None of us were actually here for all of this and Yang claims she was too drunk to remember it all."
"That seems likely," Weiss scoffed.
"Indeed but here is what we have pieced together from the night." Pyrrha cleared her throat. "So we when arrive at the club, Yang has been there for about an hour and is already fairly drunk. She's happy to see us but it's clear that her attention is elsewhere. Mainly on the pretty brunette in a white dress sitting in the VIP section."
Weiss frowned. That seemed like an unnecessary specific detail. She must know more.
"Is the White dress important?"
Pyrrha nodded.
"So this girl seems interested in Yang too but is playing hard to get. She seems like kinda a bitch to be honest."
"Stuck up girl in White?" Nora suddenly chimed in. "You should watch yourself around Yang Weiss."
Was that an insult or a compliment? Before she could make up her mind, Weiss noticed Yang smirk as the blonde turned her gaze on her.
"Sup girl?"
A distraction tactic, Weiss deduced proudly.
"Nice try," she said before turning back to Pyrrha. "Please continue."
Yang scowled as Pyrrha giggled.
"Eventually Yang wears her down-"
"I did not wear her down," the blonde said defensively. "She was just as interested in me."
"After Yang wears her down," Pyrrha continued. "I noticed them, to borrow a turn of phrase, sucking on each other's face while she sat on Yang's lap. A little while later, Yang meets up with us and is thoroughly pleased with herself."
"She was very hot in my defence."
"And you were very drunk." Pyrrha sighed. "Nora's right, she was very stuck up. I don't know what you saw in her."
"Nothing long term, I'll tell you that much."
The group groaned and Ruby almost gagged on her drink.
"Yang you said you would stop saying these things in front of me..."
The blonde only smirked giving a small shrug.
"Blame these two Rubes, they baited me into it."
"So Yang goes missing again and the next time we see her Yang is back with the girl," Pyrrha smiled. "Only now she seems to have changed into a red dress..."
Weiss started to giggle as she realised where this story was going. Twins... Oh Yang. The blonde looked rather annoyed as the group joined Weiss in her laughter.
"It's was an easy mistake to make. Militia should have said something. It's not my fault."
"But when Melanie came back and pulled you off her sister," Blake said. "You probably shouldn't have said I'm seeing double."
"Yeah that sort of behaviour would earn you a drink in your face and a slap... Oh wait."
Yang stood up, muttering something about needing another a drink before heading towards the bar. Weiss watched her go, feeling slightly bad about bringing up the story now. To the side of her, it seemed that Pyrrha felt the same way. The rest of the group seemed to have moved on their conversation.
"I didn't mean to upset her," Weiss said to the red head. "It just sounded like a funny story."
"Don't worry about it too much," Pyrrha said uncertainty. "Yang doesn't really mind and she started it with telling my embarrassing mistakes."
"I don't understand though. If Cardin is so bad why were you-"
Pyrrhas face turned as red as her hair as she interrupted Weiss before she could finish.
"It's like Yang said, I had too much to drink and I was thinking straight. No one's perfect."
The girl laughed nervously but Weiss didn't notice the way her eyes flickered to where Jaune sat talking to Ruby. Oh this was just absurd. Pyrrha couldn't have been trying to make him jealous. That just seemed beneath someone like Pyrrha no mattered how drunk she had been.
And for Jaune of all people. Sure he wasn't nearly as bad as Weiss had thought but she still couldn't imagine why Pyrrha was so fixed on him. He was nice enough when he wasn't acting an idiot. He was decent looking but hardly special. He wasn't dumb but neither was he particularly bright.
Jaune just seemed kinda average when Pyrrha was anything but. Good looking intelligent and kind yet apparently Jaune could drive her to pining after him like some love sick puppy. It just didn't make sense.
"Okay Ice Queen," Yang said returning with another round of drinks and her mood back to normal. "Your turn to reveal an embarrassing truth."
Dammit, Weiss had forgotten about that. Her mind desperately raced to think of a story but she came up blank. Maybe the drinks were starting to affect her. It was probably best to keep it vague and let them assume what they wanted, she decided. That way, it would be over quickly and they wouldn't have actually got anything on her.
"What do you want to know?"
Nora suddenly appeared very interested in the conversation and before long all eyes were on Weiss. Well that was just perfect.
"So you are saying we can ask questions now?"
Weiss glared at the smiling ginger. Dammit she was smug.
"Yes whatever. Ask away."
Oh she was going to regret this.
"How many floors did your house have?"
"Four."
"Have you filled a bath tub with money and lay in it?"
"No."
"Boyfriends?" Jaune asked.
"One," she muttered avoiding Ruby's eye. One person knowing was enough. "I don't want to talk about."
"Girlfriends?" Yang asked.
"No."
"Ever kissed a girl?"
"N-No"
Her hesitation didn't slip by and Weiss felt herself blushing at the raised eyebrows.
"It was a dare."
Mostly true. The fact that Cinder and Mercury had thought it would be funny for her and Emerald to kiss and make up literally after a fight was a detail she decided to leave out. It had been humiliating enough at the time and did not need repeating.
The excuse didn't seem to please Yang though. Obviously this version of the story less appealing than the one in her head.
"Boo," she said loudly. "But seriously guys, truth or dare?"
Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Must you flirt with everyone?"
"Yes."
"Red wine or white?"
"Depends on the meal obviously."
The group stared at her. Confused Weiss quickly replayed the conversation over in her head before realising just how elitist she must have sounded.
"I mean, white wine..."
They managed to get through the rest of the question without Weiss slipping into condescending or embarrassing. That was until she knocked over the remains of another drink and spilt it across the table.
It was about that time that Sun had appeared saying his boss was getting annoyed and it would probably be best if they left. No one put up much of a fuss considering it was getting late anyway and they were all kinda drunk. Well they were all kinda drunk expect for Yang. She was hammered.
Weiss was pretty sure that she had been two shots for every one everyone else did all under the guise of her 'initiation'. By the end of the night Weiss had reluctantly accepted she was slightly more drunk than everyone else but Yang has someone doubled even her. It was kinda impressive... Or scary she couldn't really decide. In any case, Weiss did not envy the blonde in the morning.
So the group had left each other outside the bar, dividing into taxis to get home. Blake had said she was staying until Sun finished in an hour or so. Pyrrha and Jaune lived near Ren and Nora so they were sharing, while Ruby insisted Weiss share with the sisters. Though that may have been more to stop Yang passing out rather than the fact they lived close by.
"If she throws up you're paying for it."
Weiss rolled eyes as Yang flipped off the driver. The blonde did look pale though, resting her head in her hands, groaning every time they took a corner. Their driver did seem rather erratic though. Her head was starting to hurt. She opened her mouth to complain but caught Ruby's eye. The brunette was staring at her pleading for her not to make a scene. Reluctantly she closed her mouth, slightly annoyed that Ruby was blaming her for this. It wasn't her fault he was driving like a lunatic.
Finally, they pulled up to a house that must belong to the sisters. The driver said some number that Weiss was sure was far too much but Ruby just told her to get Yang out while she paid. How were these two paying for everything. Weiss vaguely remembered something about Beacon subsidizing work nights out, but still this seemed like a lot.
Never the less, Weiss pulled Yang out of the taxi as the blonde incoherently mumbled something about the sun being too hot. Or something like that. It was hard to tell when all her muscles were screaming.
"How are you this heavy?" Weiss muttered.
"This much awesome is heavy."
"You are such an oaf."
"You need to work out more," Yang grinned. "Feel the burn Weiss. Feel the burn."
"Oh my god," she groaned. "Just get the door."
The blonde stood up, apparently not actually needing Weiss to support her. She would have been more annoyed but watching the brute fumble with her keys was rather amusing. Ruby seemed to disagree with sentiment though.
"Yang please just let me do it."
The brute stuck out her tongue at her younger sister.
"I'll have you know little sis," she said, far too loudly. "That I have the situation well in hand."
Suddenly, with the keys still in Yang's hand, the door swung open revealing a rather annoyed looking Taiyang. The three girls froze as he stared down at them.
"So how was your night?"
It was at that point that Yang retched, pushed past her dad and ran towards a door presumably to a bathroom. The sound of vomiting soon filled the hallway. Weiss really hoped it was a bathroom.
"Same as usual then," he sighed. "This is getting worse... Come on Ruby and... Weiss right?"
Nodding, Weiss awkwardly followed Ruby inside, half wondering if she should just make an excuse and head home. Winter would probably be getting worried and it was late. Without a scroll, she couldn't even send her a message. Then again, it was so late, that Winter would probably be asleep already.
Taiyang handed her a glass of water and Weiss drank it trying not to listen to the conversation Ruby and her dad were having about Yang. It just felt like she was intruding on a family matter even if it was just Ruby insisting her sister was okay. After a few minutes, Weiss spoke again.
"Listen Ruby, this has been fun, but I should probably go."
The brunette opened her mouth to protest but surprisingly, Taiyang beat his daughter to the punch.
"I don't know if that's a good idea. It's late and you shouldn't be going home alone."
Weiss flushed as she realised this was only the second conversation she was having with her boss. This was even worse than the first and he probably blamed her for getting daughter into such a state.
"Just stay here tonight and go home in the morning," he continued. "Just let your sister know."
"Yeah," Ruby said, before Weiss could ask how he knew about her sister. "You can sleep in my bed."
"What?" Both Weiss and Taiyang said simultaneous.
"Not like that," Ruby muttered. "I'll take Yang's; it's not like she's making it up the stairs anyway."
That made sense in a way. Well more like Weiss couldn't think of a reason to say no. Sighing, she looked over to Ruby.
"Can I borrow your scroll?"
"Do you even know her number?"
Weiss nodded trying to seem casual. The truth was that Winter had made her memorise it in case of emergencies. Weiss had said it was pointless but Winter had put her foot down. What if you get drunk and need to message me?
Dammit her sister was a witch.
Winter, I'm staying at Ruby and Yang's I'll be back in the morning.
The scroll buzzed before Weiss could pass it back and she frowned at it confused. It was half one, her sister couldn't be awake. Yet apparently she was.
Weiss? Where are you?
The heiress rolled her eyes. She had just said where she was. Frowning she realised her last reply hadn't been quite as legible as she had thought. In fact, she had no idea what it was meant to say and she had written it three seconds earlier.
Taiyang must have noticed her annoyance and he casually plucked the scroll form her fingers and typed out a message. A few moments later there was another buzz.
"You are allowed to stay."
And there was her third humiliating interaction with her boss. Perfect. Still, she thanked him and followed Ruby up the stairs to her bed for the night. Entering a room on the left, Weiss found herself standing on a sea of clutter, messy clothes and a few weights. Judging from the yellow theme this was Yang's bedroom.
"I think Yang has some spare pyjamas," Ruby muttered. "I'll be here tonight if you need anything."
Weiss nodded too tired to speak. After a few minutes of rummaging in a cupboard, Ruby handed her pyjamas that consisted of black shorts and an orange tank top. Weiss just stared at them, much to Rubys confusion.
"What?"
"I can't wear- oh never mind."
Blake - So how are we feeling this morning
Yang - Just peachy
Blake - Really?
Yang - Yeah why do you ask?
Yang - Is Kitten feeling a little ruff?
Yang - :D get it? Ruff
Blake - Ruby already told me you've thrown up six times.
Yang - Traitor
Yang - But seriously
Yang - Did you get it?
Blake - Yes Yang. Ruff because I'm a cat. Racism aside. Not that funny.
Yang - Really?
Yang - Because Sun, who is lying next to you, says that you laughed.
Blake - Traitor
Yang - Hope I didn't land him in the dog house...
Blake - Please don't say it
Yang - That would be ruff
Yang - Nailed it
