"Surpri- oh it's just Weiss."

The platinum haired girl scowled at Nora's words trying not to be too irrationally offended. Obviously they were all waiting for Ruby to arrive but was it too much to ask for a slightly nicer greeting than disappointment?

Nora let her pass into the apartment, closing the door behind them. The layout had changed somewhat since her last visit though it was probably just in preparation for hosting the party. The couch had been pushed back a little allowing for more chairs to surround the small table everyone else was huddled around. It seemed she was the last to arrive, apart from the two sisters themselves.

From what Yang had told her at work, the two sisters were having dinner with their father at one of Rubys favourite restaurant. After that, Yang would make an excuse about needing to pick up something from Nora and she would lead her sister up to the party to surprise her. A good plan in theory and Yang had been rather pleased with herself so Weiss had elected not to tell her that Ruby was very aware she was getting a surprise party.

"Hello," Pyrrha greeted cheerfully. "You dress looks lovely."

Weiss smiled at the compliment. Truth be told she wasn't sure how she felt about the dress. After she had spent more than she cared to admit perfecting the recipe for Rubys present, she didn't have a huge amount to spend elsewhere. Winter had pointed her in the direction of a second hand store she often shopped in.

The result was this blue dress that grew lighter in colour as it travelled down the skirt. A dark navy jacket that covered her sleeves, which she would probably regret once it started getting hit but overall she had liked it at the time, reminding Weiss of one her old formal ball gowns. It was this reminder of her old life that made her slightly uneasy.

"Thank you," she replied, pleased that she at least looked good. "You look great too."

Pyrrha blushed slightly, as though not aware of just how attractive she currently looked. A slightly longer red dress that was probably slightly too formal for going out but stunning none the less. Before she could respond however, Nora bounded in front of her, also looking rather attractive in her pink dress.

"Hey Weiss, wanna see something awesome?"

Nora didn't wait for a reply, yanking Weiss by her wrist towards their kitchen. Barely managing to keep her balance, she managed to steady herself just as Nora let her go and pulled open the fridge. Grumbling she turned to the grinning ginger.

"Nora must you always be so he- oh dust."

Paling slightly, Weiss found herself staring at a fridge that was entirely lacking in food of any kind. There was not a single vegetable, piece of meat, pint of milk or even a slice of cheese.

Instead every shelf was stacked with bottles of alcohol. Beer, cider, wine and spirits as well as two rows of jelly shots. This was enough drink for a party of thirty, not the ten that was coming.

"Well what do you think?" Nora asked eagerly. "Pretty great isn't it."

It still took Weiss a moment to respond.

"This seems rather excessive," she said. "And that's putting it mildly."

"Yeah, it's going to be awesome," Nora half yelled, making Weiss wonder if she had started already. "We are going to make Rubys birthday a night not to remember."

There are moments in your life when you just have to stop, take stock of your surroundings and make sure you don't make a horrible mistake. Apparently today was not one of those days.

Deciding to just go with it, Weiss sighed and picked up a plastic cup. Who knows, maybe this would be what she needed to break the stagnation that she and Neptune had fallen into. Glancing over to the main group, she immediately picked out his bright blue hair chatting beside Blake and Sun. With a small smile she started to pour herself a drink. Nothing ventured after all.

"Surprise!"

This time Nora's shouts were joined by the rest of the group (though Nora was still loudest of all). To Rubys credit her squeal of surprised excitement sounded genuine, not wanting everyone's efforts to seem in vain. She was just nice like that.

The group surged forward to meet the young brunette to wish her well. Weiss hung back electing to let others have a chance. The two of them had been working all day together after all. She could wait a little longer and she didn't even have a gift to give anymore.

Yang joined her, dressed more casually than Weiss was, though pulling it off very well. Her hair was as voluminous as ever hanging down past her waist to meet a short skirt and long black stockings. Her cream coloured top highlighted well against long black sleeves with gold cuffs. She looked brilliant, a fact she was patently aware of.

"Like what you see princess," she said with a wink. "Better be quick if you want in on this, I plan to be doing more than turning heads tonight."

"Do you ever not plan to do that?"

Yang remained unabashed.

"Can't know what's good if you don't sample the buffet."

"Thank you so much for that mental image," Weiss said, trying to hide her amusement. "How was your dinner?"

"Pretty good. Dad got Ruby her first drink." Weiss gave her a look and Yang quickly amended her statement. "Her first legal drink. I think Ruby got a bit over excited about the whole thing. She's ended up getting a different cocktail with ever course."

"So she's drunk already?"

"No she's just-"

"Oh my god, it's a giant gummi bear!"

Yang sighed.

"Yeah she kinda is." She brightened again. "But hey, I don't even remember my eighteenth and I still had fun... probably."

"Well if Nora has her way, none of us will even survive tonight."

"And that means it's going to be a good night." Yang slapped her on the back. "Now where's the beer?"

"So here's what we're going to do," Nora announced to the room. "I call this the Tipsy Tower."

Weiss rolled her eyes at the girls over dramatic tone. Everyone was gathered around the table, a jenga tower set up on top of it. She was pretty sure Nora had not invented this game.

"Love the name," Yang said. "Inspired choice."

Nora gave her the thumbs up before continuing the explanation.

"On each of the pieces is a challenge or task you must complete or face the forfeit flagon." Nora pointed to an empty glass. "Can everyone please add a little of what they are drinking to the forfeit flagon."

There was some slight shuffling and some spillages as they complied with the task. By the time it came to Weiss, there was barely room for her to add her own vodka and lemonade. Making a mental note to avoid the glass at all costs (that seemed to contain some sediment from someone's drink), Weiss passed it along.

"And finally," Nora said. "If you knock over the tower, you must complete your task and drink the forfeit flagon. Any questions?"

"It's drink jenga Nora," Blake said dryly. "We've all played before."

Nora took the ribbing in stride without missing a beat.

"Well if you are so well versed, perhaps you should go first Belladonna?"

Blake seemed to regret her comments but with little more than a sigh she reached out and effortlessly pulled out a piece. The group watched in baited breath, wondering just what sort of Grimm game that Nora had planned for her.

"Shot D6," Blake read out clearly. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"D6?" Weiss asked confused.

"Six-sided dice."

"There are dice with more than six sides?"

"Obviously," Blake replied. "You get D4s, D8s, D20s."

"You are such a dork," Sun said while Blake just glared at him. "Uhh I mean... No I'm sticking with dork."

Choosing to ignore her boyfriend, Blake took the dice from Nora and rolled if across the table. Weiss watched it roll, slightly amused by the way all the eyes in the room followed it, before the dice landed face up showing a three.

"Well that's not worst it could have been," Jaune said. "We just shotting the jelly ones?"

"Blake is," Nora said, handing her a tray of rainbow coloured shots. "Some of the others are stronger."

Downing the three shots without so much as a grimace, Blake wiped her mouth before turning back to Nora.

"So I get to pick who's next?" Nora nodded and Blake turned to Sun with a grin. "About that dork comment."

"One day I'll learn to shut up," Sun grumbled taking his turn. "Rhyme. I can deal with that. Let's start with clock."

There was mix of laughter and groans as everyone already knew where this rhyme was going.

"Mock," said Neptune.

"Crock," said Jaune and there was a pause. "That totally counts."

Then it was Pyrrhas turn. There was no groans now only light laugher and Weiss couldn't help but smirk as Pyrrha went beat red, desperately trying to think of any other word than the one in her head.

"I um-"

"Gonna have to press you P-money," Nora said. "If you can't that a drink for every word that's been said."

Pyrrha didn't bother with any pretence, taking three large swigs of her drink. Anything to move on.

"Couldn't think of anything Pyrrha," Yang asked with a grin. "That's quite a shock."

Pyrrha groaned.

"So next up..." Sun mused. "How about the birthday girl?"

Ruby grinned, eager to take part. Practically bounding to her feet she froze as the tower shook a little. After it didn't fall, she continued though slightly more restrained. Then she blushed.

"Kiss D6 right."

There was another round of laughter and Weiss noticed a slight look of relief on Yang's face. Obvious she was happy to have sat on her sisters left hand side and was out of the range of this challenge. As was Weiss as it happened.

There was the clatter of dice and the number five faced high. There was another pause as everyone quickly tried to do the math and who it was Ruby could be kissing. Nora worked it out first, jumping to her feet and bounding round.

"Happy birthday," she said and any protest Ruby might have made was cut off by Nora's lips on her own. It was only a quick peck but Ruby was still as red as her namesake barely managing to squeak out who was going next.

"Weiss."

Slightly more nervous than she would ever admit, Weiss tried to steady her hand as she took a piece. Turning it over, she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Three black shots?"

There was a loud clunk as Nora slammed a bottle on the table in front of her. Absinthe. Well that was just wonderful.

Not wanting to appear weak, she kept her face completely passive right up until the moment the liquid touched her tongue and the awful taste hit her. Resisting the urge to spit it out, Weiss forced herself to swallow. By the time she managed to finish the third, she wanted to throw up already and it was only the first round. Judging from the giggles, she wasn't getting much sympathy.

"Nora," she said, wanting to share the misery. "Would you kindly?"

"Never have I ever," Yang said with a sigh. "That's what you want in a game with your sister."

"You could save us both and drink the glass?"

"Flagon," Nora corrected.

Yang elected not to drink the forfeit, which seemed like a wise choice to Weiss. It would be a simple matter for Yang to just pick a question that wouldn't embarrass either of them.

"Never have I ever," Yang said with a grin. "Had a crush on a fictional character."

"Yang!" Ruby protested. "Come on."

"Sorry sis, couldn't resist."

"Does Blake have to drink for every character," Sun asked before Blake smacked him. "Ow, babe I'm trying to make sure you don't drink on more than you have to."

"Not sure if we have enough alcohol for all her character crushes," Yang added. "Can we narrow it down to one series?"

Blake tried and failed to remain stern, her glare faltering in her slightly tipsy state.

"I hate both of you," she said before turning to Ruby. "Your sister sucks."

"I know."

Both girls took a drink and Weiss was wondering who it was that Ruby had once adored. Maybe she still did. Perhaps she would lie awake at night rereading passages before falling asleep, book still in hand, and dream about them...

It occurred to Weiss that this was rather a peculiar train of though. Not to mention a slightly invasive one. This combination of drinks was clearly getting to her. Nothing really to worry about. It was unlikely that she would ever go from jelly shot, absinthe then wine in such quick succession again.

Well probably not till the next party Nora threw.

It had been a few more rounds and the effects were already starting to show. Weiss's head was feeling a little woozy, having only drawn many of Nora's shot pieces. She hasn't even been lucky enough to draw the same shots, meaning that she had been forced to drink tequila, vodka, jelly shots and something that Nora wouldn't even tell her.

Everyone else was faring to different degrees. Pyrrha was probably the worst, the group having quickly taken advantage of her slightly prudish nature to ensure she lost any of the group games.

Ruby was also suffering, being the birthday girl. She was taking it fairly well with Yang taking bullets here and there but the effects of the games were starting to take its toll.

Sun was shirtless, though Weiss couldn't actually remember him being told to take it off. Blake still seemed cool enough but was started to get a little clingy. Just a little but enough to make Neptune (sitting between them) regret his seating choice.

Yang was pretty much fine, a combination of a well-practised tolerance and lucky draws. Ren and Nora were in similar states, with the latterly volume varying wildly between audible and excessively loud.

And then there was Jaune...

"Really?" Jaune said, looking down at the piece he had just pulled. "How many of these kiss pieces did you put in here Nora?"

"Enough to go around," she replied. "Though obviously not when you are drawing all of them."

"It's pure chance."

"Sure it is lover boy," Yang said with a smirk. "All these fine ladies here's can't blame you for taking advantage. Could be worse."

Jaune sighed, rolling his eyes and the dice at the same time. The number rolled up and the accustomed pause as they all worked out who was receiving the pleasure of Jaune Arc. There was a pause as all eyes turned to Pyrrha who had gone redder than she had been all night.

Dust it was awkward now. Yang, Ren and even Blake had dealt with Jaune without much more than some slight good natured ribbing. Sun had joked about trading Blake full time but now the room was deathly quiet.

Weiss felt terrible for her. She might not understand Pyrrhas affections for Jaune but nobody deserved this. To have something you want dangled in front of you but to know that it was false and hollow. Worst of all to have an audience to the process as well.

Jaune to his credit, seemed to have picked up on her discomfort already. A sense of intuition that she frankly didn't think he had. He didn't know why but even he could see that she didn't want this.

"Well... ahh." He scratched his neck. "You oka-"

Pyrrha seemed to jump at his words, her knee slamming into the table and sending the tower toppling over. The crashing seemed to last an eternity to Weiss, each brick echoing in the painful silence. Then Nora laughed nervously.

"Whelp I guess the games over then. Drink up Pyrrha."

The red head and blonde stared at Nora's for a second before their eyes flickered to each other and then quickly, anywhere else. It seemed that Nora was trying to give her friend and out for this situation that she had unintentionally landed her in but Pyrrha seemed too out of it to notice.

"Drink?"

"Yup," Yang said, catching on. "So you would rather drink that glass than kiss Jaune... I can see that."

"Hey I'm sure that's not-"

Jaune didn't get time to finish as Pyrrha grabbed the glass of everyone's drinks and started to glug it down as fast as she could. Weiss could only watch in slightly awe as the rather thick liquid vanished into Pyrrha before she shuddered and turned slightly glassy eyed.

"Uhh Pyrrha," Ruby asked slowly. "You okay?"

She didn't reply looking more than a little pale.

"Maybe we shouldn't play another round," Weiss offered. "I think Pyrrha might need a minute... or several."

The agreement was unanimous.

With the current game over, the party quietened down a little. The main group split off a little giving Weiss some time to spend with Neptune. Things were going more smoothly than last time but despite her best efforts, she was unable to get any alone time with him. It was like Sun and Blake were deliberately trying to run interference on them.

Or perhaps Sun just really liked to talk.

"So that's when the guards saw us."

Sun was still shirtless and Weiss was now convinced it had been nothing to do with the game.

"They weren't guards," Blake said. "You don't get guards at a boat party. They were just bouncers."

"Eh," Neptune said. "Story's better with guards."

"But if it was just a boat party," Weiss asked. "If there were a lot of guests, why did you stand out?"

There was a moment of silence as Suns tail flicked around his side and passed a bottle this hand.

"Oh right... Sorry."

"Don't be," Blake said with a smirk. "Honestly, it's good it didn't even occur to you."

"Thanks."

"Anyway," Sun said slightly too loudly. "We ended up having to bail before the ship left harbour but Blake dropped the anchor so I count it as a win for us."

Weiss almost spat out her drink.

"You dropped the anchor!" she coughed. "How did you even do that?"

Blake just shrugged.

"You can't shrug that off."

Blake shrugged and Weiss sighed turning to Sun.

"How do you stand her aloofness."

Sun shrugged.

"Stop that."

He grinned.

"Aloof is sexy."

Blake gave her boyfriend a small kiss on the cheek and Weiss just rolled her eyes. Blake always got like this after drinking. Still now they were distracted by each other, it would give her time to finally talk to Neptune.

"Weeeeiisss!"

Or not. Sighing she turned to the direction of Rubys cry. The birthday girl, more than a little drunk bounded up to Weiss from the other side of the couch. Dropping down onto her knees she peeked over the side of the couch. Mouth covered her grin was still very evident through her twinkling eyes.

"Hi."

Any thoughts of annoyance vanished at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Yes Ruby?"

"Wanna play beer pong?"

"I'm sort of talking to Neptune." Rubys face fell. "Maybe later?"

"I need a partner," Ruby whined. "I've never played before and I need a partner." Her eyes widened. "And it's my birthday."

"But I-"

"My birthday Weiss."

Ruby pouted at her.

"Ugh fine," Weiss said with faux annoyance. "But we had better not lose."

Squealing with glee Ruby jumped back to her feet and ran back over to the kitchen table. Already regretting her decision, Weiss gave a quick apology to Neptune, Sun and Blake and followed Ruby over.

Her apprehension only increased when she saw her opponents. Yang and Nora stood smirking on the other side of the table.

"This the best you could eh sis," Yang teased. "Should have gotten Blake. I once lost to her in five balls. Don't ask me how."

Weiss stared at the six cups on either side.

"That doesn't seem physically possible."

"That's what I said."

Shaking her head at what had to be Yang's exaggeration... probably, Weiss found herself frowning at the contents of the cup.

"I thought this was 'beer' pong."

Nora answered her, grinning manically.

"Spirit Pong is better."

"It does seem like it could be bad," Ruby said, looking a little less enthusiastic. They had already all drank a lot.

"Spirits can be rather haunting," Yang said with a rather proud grin. "Just win and you'll be fine."

"Oh is that all?" Weiss retorted. "Who's going first anyway?"

There was a splash and both Ruby and Weiss stared down to see a ball floating in one of their cups. Weiss suddenly became very interested in her finger nails.

"That one's yours."

Ruby just looked at her before fishing out the ball and knocking back the drink in one gulp. Her face scrunched up in displeasure before she was able to swallow.

"Yang why do you drink this stuff so much," she complained. "The strawberry stuff Ren got me is way better."

"It's also about a quarter as strong."

"But five times as delicious. That makes it better."

Weiss sighed. If this was what the group was like only a few hours into the party, she shuddered to think what they would be like by the end. However, there was nothing she could really do to stop it, even if she cared to. Instead she was just going to enjoy tonight because she knew from experience, she wouldn't enjoy tomorrow.

Giving her partner some room, Weiss watched as Ruby tilted we body, closed one eyes, carefully took aim, pulled back her arm and let loose with well-honed precision.

Then she watched as the ball sailed clean over the table, missing completely. That was funny enough by itself but sad look on Rubys face was too much and Weiss let out a snort of laughter.

"Weiss!"

"Sorry sorry," she said trying to keep a straight face. "You just looked so committed."

"I was committed," she huffed. "But clearly you aren't committed to this team."

Huffing, Weiss didn't have time to respond as once again, the ping pong ball flew back to their side of the table and landed in one of the cups. Nora let out a whoop of joy, throwing her arms up in celebration as Yang just grinned beside her.

"So are you two planning to actually score?" she said. "I mean I like winning, but I'm also getting kinda thirsty."

"When aren't you?"

Weiss muttered a curse under her breath, before fishing out the ball and drinking the cup. Scowling she tasted the familiar burn of vodka in the back of her throat. Resisting the urge to cough, she lined up her shot.

"When aren't you thirsty?" she said as the ball left her hand.

Swish. Splash.

Ruby let out a squeal, clapping her hands at Weiss's accuracy. Then she realised what Weiss had said and her face contorted in disgust.

"Weiss..."

Yang however didn't seem to insulted and just let out a laugh.

"Ooh Ice queens got burns," Yang said, taking the drink without blinking. "And I can neither confirm nor deny."

"Factually ambiguous burns are the best burns," Nora said, completely unperturbed by it going totally wild. "Your go Ruby."

Rubys aim improved landing her next shot and evening the score. Yang however seemed incapable of missing and for some reason all her shots seemed to land on Weiss's side of the table. Probably avoiding getting her sister drunk... well drunker. It was her eighteenth after all.

"Yang," Ruby said. "When are we going to Juniors?"

"Juniors?" Weiss asked.

"We're going to Juniors?" Nora shouted, alerting everyone else as Yang just sighed. "No one told me that."

Yang didn't even bother waiting for a ball this time, just taking a cup and slamming it.

"I didn't tell anyone that," Yang muttered. "I was kinda hoping Ruby would forget and I wouldn't have to take my baby sister to the seediest club in Vale."

Oh one of those clubs. The ones that Mercury had liked taking her too. A place where the drinks were cheap, the floors sticky and the attire was skirts short enough to make even Weiss turn her head. Emerald had liked it too but thankfully Cinder had hated it. That meant they had rarely went.

"I thought you said it was the best club in Vale."

"It's also that," Yang admitted. "But not somewhere I'd like to take you."

"But Yang," Ruby whined. "You promised."

Weiss couldn't help but smirk watching as Yang tried to remember making such a ludicrous promise.

"I don't think I did."

"Yes you did." She lowered her voice slightly. "The day after your 18th..."

"I don't even remember that day."

The rest of the party had wandered over, some interested in the game but mostly interested in the talk of Juniors. It seemed this place had quite a legacy and Weiss couldn't help be curious.

"It does sound like something you would say," Nora added, very unhelpfully for Yang.

"Thank you Nora."

"And your probably only promised because you were drunk."

"Thank you Nora." Yang groaned. "Ruby do you really want to go?"

Rubys head nearly came off from nodding.

"It could be fun," Pyrrha said making everyone turn. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Yang looked around quickly, hoping for any signs of back up. That there would be someone else to the responsible adult so that Yang wouldn't have to try. But considering that the only actual responsible one among them, was barely able to stand, it looked like she was out voted.

"Ugh fine, I'll phone us a taxi," she muttered and Weiss heard Ruby squeal again. "But if anyone makes a move on you-"

"Yang!"

Half an hour later and Yang was paying for the taxis. Regretting her choice in heels, Weiss almost immediately found herself flat on her face, if not for the quick reflexes of Blake. Making a face between gratitude and I could have totally handled it, Weiss couldn't help but wish that she had waited until Neptune had gotten out. Now she had just looked stupid in front of him instead of getting an opportunity for a romantic (cheesecloth romance admittedly).

Ruby was still somehow managing to keep up her energy, probably feeding off Nora's own boundless energy and feeding Nora in return. The excited ginger had linked Ren's arm to her left and Ruby to her right and was talking rather loudly about how they could find someone to make a real woman out of Ruby. This was having the double effect of flustering Ruby and making Yang really regret coming here.

"Weiss do me a favour," she muttered. "If any guy even so much as looks at Ruby, give me a shout."

"You're being ridiculous," Weiss said, before deciding to tease her friend a little. "In a fine establishment such as this, you really think Ruby could meet someone unscrupulous?"

Yang did not seem amused.

"I regret everything."

"Ruby will only be able to get ahead," Weiss said, with careful enunciation. "Once you let her leave the nest."

"Shut up," Yang groaned. "I do not want to think about that ever."

"Yang take it from someone who has had suffer controlling family-"

"I'm not controlling her."

"I know," Weiss reassured her. "But even if it feels like it, she'll pull away even harder and then if she does find someone bad for her, she won't let you help her."

Yang looked like she wanted to protest further but seemed to understand what Weiss was saying. Being protective was a good thing but it was hard to appreciate it sometimes. Especially when you didn't see the problem yourself. It would be hard for Yang to let go of her natural instincts but she wouldn't be there once Ruby went to art school, the elder sister wouldn't be there.

"Is that what happened with you?" Yang asked quietly. "I mean with your old friends."

Weiss felt herself stiffen.

"They weren't my friends," she replied softly before forcing a more business-like tone. "But essentially yes. I didn't have an older sister, Winter was already gone, but I had an actual friend trying to protect me and I hurt her for it."

"Thanks Weiss," Yang said and for a moment there was silence between the two. "Damn I really need another drink after all that."

Weiss couldn't help but agree however that line in front of them meant that even Pyrrha would have sobered up by the time they reached the front. Well maybe not, right now she seemed rather entranced by her own ponytail.

Yang however seemed to be ignoring the line completely. Practically swaggering past the queue of annoyed patrons and ignoring their shouts as well as the confused looks on her friends face. The bouncer looked up, clearly wondering what the commotion was until he noticed Yang.

"Guess who's back," Yang shouted, stopping in front of the exasperated man. "And with friends."

"Blondie," he sighed. "You're not planning any trouble tonight are you?"

"They know her," Weiss asked Blake quietly who just smiled.

"Does that really shock you?"

"Trouble? Me?" Yang said with mock indignation. "Junior, I thought we were friends. How can you say such thing?"

"Well you've already pissed off half the line." He glanced over the group, frowning when he saw Ruby. "Isn't she a little young to be here?"

"Aren't you a little old to be repeating that tired line," Yang countered playfully. "Seriously you've been saying that since I started coming."

"I am being serious," he said firmly. "No underagers. Not worth the trouble."

"Oh Junior why are you being so difficult?"

Blake rolled her eyes pulling Ruby to the front and ignoring Yang's grin.

"Or you could not be difficult," she said without much annoyance. "She turned eighteen today. She's got ID."

Junior shot Yang an aggregated look that she returned with a smirk. Ruby fumbled slightly with her purse (a combination of nerves and alcohol no doubt) before passing her ID over to the club's owner. He gave it a once over, glancing at Ruby a few times before passing back the ID and letting them pass.

"Seriously Blondie," he said. "No trouble tonight."

"Sure thing," Yang said with a salute. "Tell the twins I said hi."

"Tell them yourself. They're both here tonight."

Yang's face smile became rather fixed.

The club was just like she imagined it would be. Flashing lights, overly loud music, filled to the brim with obnoxious people spilling drinks and knocking into other groups. Weiss couldn't help but feel like she was four seconds from being in a brawl at every step. Some clubs could be rather good, if you had the right people with you, but this place would be terrible with anyone. Even all her friends being here wouldn't save it.

Yeah. She hadn't missed this.

"This is awesome."

And of course Ruby would be liking it. Even her predisposition for avoiding crowds seemed to be forgotten, too wrapped up in her own excitement (and more than a little liquid courage). It was endearing in its own way and never ceased to amaze her.

"I mean," Ruby amended, struggling to be heard over the loud music. "Apart from the smell."

"That's the fragrance of a party," Sun shouted back.

"It smells like people..."

Weiss grimaced. Yeah it really did smell like that.

"Try being a Faunus," Blake said with equal disgust. "After a few drinks, it gets better... or tolerable."

"Speaking of," Neptune said gesturing to a waitress passing by with a tray of shots. "Shall we?"

"You buying?" Sun said. "That's pretty sweet of you."

The blue haired boy tried to backtrack almost immediately.

"What I didn't-"

"Thanks so much Nep," Blake said with a wry smirk. "We all appreciate it."

Weiss's smiled too though hers was not quite as sarcastic.

"I know I do."

Neptune laughed, shaking his head in surrender.

"Two of each," he said to the waitress pulling out his wallet. "Whatever strongest?"

And that was were Weiss's memory stopped.