The band was soft, silky smooth to the touch. Unobtrusive under her clothing, and comfortable. The straps were well made, tying neatly into a bow. She remembered the way Blake pressed her thumbs into the fabric. Leaving her scent there for other Faunus to identify. She also had to remember quite a few rules about territory, and scent marking, several of which didn't apply to her directly. All of it was very exhausting, but Weiss endeavored to memorize all of the information the first time.
Later that evening, Coco asked to meet with her, and Weiss knew better than to turn the upperclassmen down.
"Where are you meeting her?" Blake asked offhandedly, her eyes focused on her studies.
"The campus spa." Weiss replied, packing up a toiletries bag.
"Oh, hey sounds good. I might follow you and split off at the gym." Yang said, looking for an easy out, but Blake gabbed her.
"You're planting your ass right here and finishing this report." Blake said, ear twitching in aggravation. "You can go to the gym later."
"It's not the one by the gym." Weiss said slowly. "Coco want's to meet me at the Lark's facilities."
"You mean that snooty place that you need that special card key to even get into?" Ruby asked from up atop her bed. "Those people in there are really mean."
"Aren't they...ya know...anti-Faunus?" Yang asked with a slanted eyebrow.
"Well, they aren't the most open minded of people." Weiss attested. "It'll it's more accurate to say they're exclusive to those of monetary gain. I don't go there at all, there's never any need to, really. However, as dealings with my peers start to crop up more and more, I'm sure I'll end up in venues that won't appeal to my nature. This is one such time. I'll look past the location, and look more at what I stand to gain."
"A bunch of pompous asshats as friends?" Yang provided.
"A location not many will flock to." Blake interrupted. "It's true that this school has a lot of upper-middle class students, but the cardkey into the Lark facilities costs thousands lien a year. The only people who could afford it, are people the Lark family want to appeal to...or the filthy rich. I know for a fact that the Schnee family has entry, because the Lark's aren't stupid. They want friends in high places. There are probably ten female students total, who even own an access key. Male students...twenty, maybe thirty."
"I was given my key." Weiss added. "The Larks' give us entry into all of their facilities. A small price to pay when you consider the amount of dust we discount to them annually. In any case, I must be off, I wouldn't want to keep Coco waiting."
At the facility, Weiss disrobed slowly, fingers lingering over her new armband that she had been instructed not to get wet.
Weiss noticed something unique to it, though she couldn't put her finger on what exactly that was. It wasn't the lavender body spray Blake used, although that also lingered on the fabric…but there was something else too. It was tangible even to her, though what exactly it was, she could never be sure. Still, with the thin, woven band sitting around her arm, she couldn't avoid the fact that everyone who was a Faunus would know…
And maybe…maybe some who were not. It made the details of the letter she had sent to her father even more important.
She unwrapped the band and sunk into the hot water of the women's public bath. The campus featured a full spa right by the gym, but this area was different entirely. Rarely used by most students. This was a luxury, a place only the wealthy of students gathered. It wasn't often that Weiss came to this area of the campus, but here she was, hoping to cleanse away some inherent filth that muddied her brain.
That letter, gods that letter. It was being sent to her father, and it would reach his office sooner rather than later. She could just hear the rumors echoing in her head. The lies. The slander. Little miss perfect was doing the most imperfect thing of her life. There would be no greater scandal than this.
Her father was to be the first to be informed, that was something she made Blake promise. And, it was the same thing eating away at the sisters of team RWBY. What else could be done? She couldn't risk a misstep, and like it or not, she was a daddy's girl. Raised to be one, and though she was furious with him….more angry than her simple insults to his nature implied, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. Couldn't force herself to tarnish her family name by disrespecting the one bond that tied them together. Marriage dealings were a family matter, meant to be kept out of the public eye, until it was to be made public.
That, and she couldn't risk Yang blowing a gasket, something that was also very risky and too easily done.
"These are no match for the natural hot springs we find while out on assignment, but it'll have to do." Coco's voice came through clearly as she closed the door behind her, stepping out into the cool night air, and choosing a wicker backer for herself, shucking away her robe. "I didn't think you'd actually agree to this. Nice to see you're not such a total prude."
Weiss rolled her eyes at the jibe. "Please, do you realize how many women see me naked? In Atlas, I grew up with maids aplenty, and you know just as well as I do how easy it is to become a glorified dress-up doll." Still, as she said this, she sunk deeper into the bubbling water, just to be sure her modesty wasn't in danger of being exposed.
"True." Coco smirked then, sinking herself low into the water as well. "Even so, I'm surprised. You can say what you want about Faunus having human tendencies, but they are their own brand of emotion and trouble sometimes. Trust me." Then a little lower she dipped her voice. "You can bring Blake in here, you know. Beacon doesn't buy into all of the racist jargon that everyone else does…when I bring Velvet, people look the other way."
"She would never come…not with…" Weiss shrugged pointing at her head. "She might not wear the bow anymore, but anything with a sign that's exclusive to human's, she stays away from. Just like the SDC is completely anti-Faunus in their beliefs, the same can be said for the Lark family, and their precious hold on the luxury hotel market. Oh, what I wouldn't give to branch out the SDC into other ventures and show that pompous family whose boss…the only thing going for it is that Sky isn't a complete waste of space as an up and coming heir."
"Showing favoritism is a mortal sin in big business." Coco chided with a smirk. "Besides he's a bigot too, just like the rest."
"Bigoted yes." Weiss conceded. "Featherbrained, no."
"You been spending way too much time with Yang." Coco laughed.
"I won't even begin to argue that." Weiss agreed, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. Though Coco couldn't see it, Weiss uncrossed and re-crossed her legs, leaning slightly to her left as she folded her arms in front of her. "You said you wanted a word with me, so I came. I'm still waiting for why."
"I'm waiting on one more…" Coco replied slowly. "I know you want those contracts destroyed as soon as possible, but you forget, I'm just an up and coming heir as well. There are limits to what I can do by myself. You might consider that next time you go looking for advice."
"If you have so little faith in your abilities, why am I here?" Weiss asked crudely.
"Because it's time that you ender the fold." Coco replied, hearing the door open and close behind her. She turned her head, the figure behind her one of excellent standing. Pyrrha Nikos. "There you are, why are you so late?"
"Training with Jaune." Pyrrha replied unapologetically. "And dealing with the fact that Reese and Arslan are under stress with a mission right now. They were unable to make the flight to Vale."
"And I'm assuming our dear friends from Shade Academy are the same?" Coco murmured hotly.
"That would be correct, though Nebula assures me that they'll be sure to attend next time." Pyrrha offered Weiss a kind and knowing smile. "Hello Weiss."
"Pyrrha." Weiss greeted, an upraised eyebrow showing off her confusion. "Why do I get the feeling I'm being dragged into nothing but trouble?"
"One might say that." Pyrrha nodded. "Although you could also say that this is a long time coming. Although, it wasn't my idea, in fact, I only found out about this whole thing last year."
"Weiss, the White Fang aren't the only group of people interested in garnering Faunus rights." Coco began. "There are the smaller, lesser known activist groups as well, but they don't hold a candle to the distrust the White Fang causes. So they stay out of the news." With an unrepentant grin, and a lazy stretch that popped her back, she finished. "And lastly, there's us. As a group, we're known as Black Jack, few in number, immense with power."
"How come I've never heard of it?" Weiss chastised.
"Because we're exclusive by nature. We can't have a bunch of common-wealth prancing around with our name embroidered across their jackets. We push for rights from the inside out, dealing with the corporate level red tape that the White Fang couldn't even hope to get their hands on. We don't march in rallies, or in fight wars. We make statements with what makes the world go round."
Money and influence..." Weiss surmised. "I see."
"And it works." Coco continued. "Naturally, however, we're primarily a human run organization. There aren't many Faunus with the funds and influence that we do."
"And…who might I ask, leads this group?" Weiss asked, clearly assuming it was Coco if her vocal tone was anything to go by.
"If she wanted you to know, she'd tell you." Coco shrugged. "All we're here to do is pass along insider information about each other's companies…if you want backing, Weiss, you'll have it…but it's going to cost you."
"Unsurprising and not entirely unfair, either." Weiss deadpanned. "And to put the matter frankly, the total risk to the SDC is...?"
"Negligible." Coco countered. "Provided that you don't believe either one of us to be spies..."
Weis thought about this. Pyrrha was many things, but a corporate spy wasn't anywhere near the top of the list. "No...I don't believe I do."
"Wonderful." Coco grinned. "so this is how it's going to go down. Pyrrha is here as a second ear, to witness that we're actually trading the sort of information we're supposed to be…and not just chatting about the weather. So, are you in, or are you out?"
"Alright then." Weiss murmured. "What do you want to know?"