The sun had just greeted the sky when Yang's boisterous laughter filled the dining hall. It echoed and boomed in a way that only Yang could ever be responsible for. Nora and Ren had come filing in, looking pleasant and well rested. The same could not be said for the rest of team JNPR and company. "Rough night there, Jaune?"

"Here…you have him if you think this is so funny." He muttered, holding his drooling son out for the self-appointed auntie to hold.

"Gimmie a sec." she told him.

He had one of his daughters slung across his back, while the baby babbled happy nonsense. Jaune looked like he'd gotten run over by a car, hair disheveled, and several wet blotches on his shirt sleeve where his son had been mouthing on it. Pyrrha was more of a morning person, as she carried in their other daughter, who was very much not willing to greet the day yet.

"You seem chipper this morning, Yang." Pyrrha commented tiredly as she took a seat, rubbing the little girl's back, as she thanked a servant who had offered her a glorious cup of coffee.

"Eh, I need to be around here. Weiss starts her day at six, unless she takes the day off." Yang put her hair up into a loose ponytail, taking the happy baby boy. "Your girls aren't early birds, huh?"

"Nope." Jaune grumbled. Not that he was either. Slouching, he slid his daughter into the nearby chair before taking a seat beside his wife. The child was not amused to be left sitting alone and reprised her father's lap only moment later. A soft blue eyed glare aimed at the world in general, as if it had somehow wronged her.

"They'll sleep all day, if we let them." Pyrrha elaborated, fingers running through short blonde hair. "They'll be fine once we've had breakfast." She glanced over to Jaune, wishing she could say the same about her exhausted husband who'd been pacing the bedroom with their son for the past several hours. "Jaune…" She indicated the cup in front of him.

"Mm." He grunted tiredly, looking down to the warm mug of tea. To him, coffee carried a bitter taste. He made a small noise of approval as he sipped the hot liquid. For a small handful of moments, he relished the quiet, even feeling his daughter begin to doze in his lap.

"Morning everyone." Velvet greeted merrily, holding both of her youngest, one child on each hip.

"Morning Velvet." Came the rounds from those who were equally happy to be up so early. "Fox, you too."

He merely nodded, leading the triplets to their seats. "And to you…" In his opinion, it was far too early to be awake, but at least he was pleasant about it.

"Where's Coco?" Blake asked from behind a cup of warm tea.

"Being a pain in the butt." Fox replied, earning a glare from his mate in reply.

"Coco has never been a morning person. She's also…a bit stricter…when it comes to her expectations of the children." Velvet supplied, handing Bruno over to his father. "Coco feels very strongly about the sanctity of our personal space at nighttime, you see. This morning, she woke up to the whole lot of them on our bed, and she wasn't amused with it. It's best to leave her alone when she's like that."

"Mind you..." Fox began dryly. "This was after Sienna had already woken her up last night for attention." Fox further explained, giving his little girl a pat on the head before taking his own seat. "That girl flirts with danger...and we all pay for it."

"Your genes." Velvet told him. "Most certainly not mine."

Though, Sienna started fussing around as soon as she caught sight of Blake. She no sooner launched her way into Blake's lap that she started nuzzling into her, which Blake gently reciprocated, their cheeks brushing in a typical greeting.

"And just what in the world do you call that?" Fox muttered.

"A peaceful breakfast time." Velvet told him without missing a beat.

"Not going to last." He half muttered.

When Coco, and her eldest finally did manage to enter the dining hall, everyone looked up to the sight to behold. Coco Adel never went anywhere without her shades, and yet, here she was, not wearing them. Looking madder than hell as she shuffled along, her daughter beside her looking none too amused to be up, either. The miniature fashionista in training no sooner sat down that she was slouching with her eyes closed. Like mother, very much like daughter, and Coco could only agree with the sentiment, even if she didn't copy the mannerism outright.

"It's a god-damned sin to be up this friggin' early." Coco half growled when Velvet put a coffee cup in her hand. "Speaking of, why am I awake?"

"Because you'd be even crabbier if you missed breakfast. You'd have low blood sugar all day, and I know how that goes." Velvet replied gently, knowing better than to reprimand Coco for her cursing. "Sit down dear, I'm sure it'll be served soon."

"Very soon, in fact." Blake commented. She could smell it being prepared.

"Damn food better do a song and dance across the ever-loving table." Coco complained quietly enough that only Velvet and Blake truly picked up on it.

Ruby finally stumbled into the dining hall, getting shoved along by Weiss…an all too common sight for anyone who happened to know the two of them even remotely. Ruby gave a tired wave, before collapsing onto the table. Weiss greeted everyone before kissing Blake on the cheek tenderly, and claiming her spot. It was seven-thirty on the dot when the many servants began to full the table with food, and the day could begin in earnest...

There was much to do, as tonight, the ball would begin.


Late that afternoon, the household was at a low boil as several of the household staff went into hiding. Weiss sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. For all of the authority she commanded, the Faunus in the household were still very much afraid of her father. They made themselves scarce whenever he visited. It was a complicated situation, because he was not on speaking terms with Weiss when it came to casual conversation.

Not anymore, not ever since her wedding to Blake.

They both cared enough about the company, they work together during board meetings. Publicly they often shared words pertaining to work, politics, and scientific ventures within the military. At formal gatherings, they stood as the family they had always been. Beyond that, there were no kind words for him to say, and Weiss had long since forbid him to speak ill of her lifestyle.

The ultimate tragedy in all of this, was that she couldn't bring herself to truly hate him. Every terrible thing he'd done to others, was matched by the memories of the father she knew him to be.

And yes…it was true, he'd done some awful, awful things. However, not even Blake could argue that he'd done them out of some misdirected sense of love and care for his family. He was not evil, nor the devil incarnate. He was just bigoted and set in his ways. A man far too scorned, to see how deeply his family loved him, in spite of his flaws.

And…for all of his displeasure, the downright animosity in his eyes, he had never once raised his hand to Blake. True, his words to her were never particularly nice, but neither were they racial slurs. When the girls were teens, he'd grudgingly tolerated her at his table. He even made effort not to cross her path. As married adults, he ignored the rings on their fingers, and grew silent outright.

That was all the proof Blake needed, that deep down, this man loved his daughters dearly. That he wanted them to be happy, even if he couldn't even fathom their choices...and he made no question about it. Both had defied him, and in his mind, wronged him and hurt him deeply.

"Blake…" Weiss said quietly as she kissed her wife on the back of the hand in greeting. "You know I love you."

"I love you too." She sighed, a ball of emotion crammed deep in her throat.

It was just so hard to look at him. The very man she had once wished to see dead. She couldn't say her opinion of him changed. If he were to drop dead at that very moment, Blake would have been relieved. That unmitigated anger made her feel guilty. No matter how she felt about the man, he raised Weiss. Blake had to admit, she and the White Fang made it no easier on him…and much of the grief Weiss had probably felt growing up was easily because of the White Fang themselves.

When it came to the feud between father and daughter, Blake knew, in some part she would always blame herself.

"Go enjoy the winter garden with Velvet." Weiss suggested. "Just because Coco, Pyrrha, and I have to sit through his assholian rhetoric, doesn't mean that you have to do the same."

"Yeah, Blake, come on." Ruby said at her side, dressed in her new fitted security uniform. "It'll be fun." It was completely uncomfortable, and the necktie was stifling, but at least the skirt wasn't as restrictive as she thought it might be. Still, Ruby now understood why Yang sometimes favored the slacks that optionally came with the ensemble. They were more practical in the event of an all-out brawl.

Golden eyes peered into the sitting room. If she couldn't change the opinion of this one man, how could she change the opinion of the entire company? The entire world? "No, I won't avoid it. I'll join you and the others for tea."

"Looks like you'll be standing on ceremony with me, sis." Yang said, still trying to show Ruby the ins and outs of security personnel. "You know how to do it?"

"I just have to stand there and not look stupid." Ruby rolled her eyes. "I've watched you guys shadow Weiss for years now. It can't be that hard."

"I'm just making sure." Yang said with a roll of her eyes and an arm slung around Ruby's shoulder. "Remember little sis, Blake won't be carrying her weapon around at the ball. That means her protection falls to you. I know they can take care of themselves, and all, but Weiss and Blake are choosing to put their lives directly into our hands. We gotta act our best, so that everyone sees us, and knows exactly who we work for. It's gotta be that perfect."

Weiss just shook her head at Yang's antics. Now that she'd put the pressure on, Ruby would probably be fidgeting for the next hour. Even if it was big sister privilege to torment Ruby, sometimes the blonde went too far. "Ruby, don't listen to your bumbling ox of a sister. Leaving impressions is her job, not yours. Just stand quietly behind Blake, and it'll be fine…now let's go."

In the Tearoom, several board members sat around discussing inane things, their bodyguards at their backs. Pyrrha and Coco were not exempt from this as Ren and Yatsuhashi accompanied their wards, as silently as could be expected. Because of this, it seemed almost natural when Yang stood behind Weiss, and Ruby did the same for Blake...it would be a long afternoon, made boring by the low drone of corporate politics, as more and more guests arrived from all around Remnant.