I had not meant to leave such a long gap but realised that I needed to work out what I was doing with the story which turned into Jaune's Winter Holiday before taking this one further. I also have moved this to an M rating. Not that anything too explicit will be happening, but implicitly it moves into territory where your mileage may vary.

Dove woke up the morning after feeling slightly confused and still a little drunk. Some tension had lifted but he knew he had had a very strange dream, albeit it one he remembered as being enjoyable. He directed his aura towards recovering from his hangover.

Hugo came in and got out clothing for the day. "I trust that sir had a good night."

Dove answered, "An excellent one, Hugo. I did drink slightly too much, but I had a dream which I remember enjoying. Would you mind changing the sheets? I must have had a nosebleed overnight."

Hugo looked slightly surprised but nodded and said "Of course, sir. Would sir like to be shaved this morning?"

Dove thought about it and said, "Yes, that will be good."

He enjoyed being shaved by someone else and decided that a tip was in order.

He left a few lien next to the shaving bowl and looked at the servant's face. He seemed to be slightly bruised around the neck. "Hugo, is anyone giving you trouble?"

"No sir. I just slipped earlier this morning on some soap which had been fallen on the floor in the male servants shower area."

"OK, if you say so. Cardin does tell me that his great aunt does not tolerate bullying among the servants so do say if anyone is hassling you."

"Thank you for your concern, sir. I can assure you that there is no problem."

As Hugo left the room, Sky walked in. He acknowledged Hugo but seemed to double take.

Dove said, "I noticed as well, but he assures me that no one is bullying him. He is a good chap. I wonder if Cardin could persuade his great aunt to lend him to us. After all Team LLAC have employed Planchet as their personal servant. Perhaps Great Aunt Agnes would even be happy to pay his wages."

Sky raised an eyebrow, "I doubt Cardin would go for it. He does believe in us all looking after ourselves and cleaning our own weapons. Besides which I think Planchet is an Atlas security man. His aura has clearly been unlocked and he has amazingly fast reactions."

Dove shrugged, "I suppose you are right. Still, Hugo does give me the best shaves I have ever had."

Sky coughed and covered his mouth with his hand. "Anyway, it is time for breakfast. I am determined to have tried everything on offer at least once, provided that I always have the chicken sausages."

Dove responded, "Yes, they are amazing." He clapped Sky on the back and said, "Let's make certain that Cardin does not eat them all."

He noticed that Sky was looking at Dove's bed and said, "I must have a nosebleed overnight. Hugo is changing the sheets for me."

They were the last two down to breakfast, but only just. Breakfast was had with the three hunters training them this week and either Vermillion or Lapis Stone and was a time for discussing the lessons from yesterday and the plans for the rest of the day.

Lapis Stone was with them today and said, "At the end of the week you will be fighting three of the trainers. I will be sitting out the fight and observing. I still do not expect you to win or even defeat more than one of the three you will be in combat with even with your advantage in numbers. This afternoon, you will be provided with tapes showing your trainers in action during their Vytal Festival matches including those in which they were defeated. I would suggest you analyse their strengths and weaknesses and work out a strategy. Your trainers will be basing their strategy on what they have observed of you this week. They will be fighting to win, but also to teach."

Dove thought about this and decided that it sounded like fun. It would almost certainly be mildly humiliating, but he was coming round to Cardin's view that you needed to stretch yourself to improve. Certainly, the curb stomping he and Sky had received from Yatsuhashi and Coco had in the end improved them as fighters and had taught them some valuable lessons.

/-/

During the midmorning break, Sky arranged things so that he could spend time with Russel away from their teammates and the trainers. He had used an agreed code word together with a vigorous nod and the two had grabbed a small alcove.

Russel said, "What's up, mate? I thought things have been going well."

"I am worried about Dove. I think he slept with Hugo last night."

"So long as it was consensual, what's the problem?"

"You and I may think that, but Cardin and his great aunt will not think the same way. Besides which he is a servant and I gather it is bad form to bed a servant. The presumption is that you are abusing your power."

"I can see that as a general principle but in this case?"

"I would normally agree and let it go, but I suspect Dove was a little rough. Hugo had a bruised neck and there was blood on the sheets."

"Please do not go into any more detail. Still, what can we do about it? I do not want to explain to Cardin that his best friend fancies him and I cannot imagine Dove responding well to being encouraged to get out of the closet."

"I know, but you are the only person I can talk to about this."

Russel sighed and said, "I have been told by some of our classmates that at Pharos combat school he had a reputation for treating woman roughly and forcing his attentions on them when drunk."

"We have both seen things which suggest that is true."

Both shuddered and thought about a near miss with Anne which they had managed to stop before it went too far.

Sky then decided to mention the other thing which had bothered him. "If I am right, I am not certain that Dove knows or acknowledges what happened last night. He wanted to propose that Hugo become a full-time servant to the group and expressed concern about his injuries. Of course, it is possible that Dove did have a nosebleed and Hugo had a fight with one the servants"

Russel concentrated and then replied, "While I would like to believe we are adding two and two together and making five, I must say I do not recall seeing bruises on Hugo's neck last night."

"That is my recollection."

Russel said, "Is it worth me suggesting to Cardin that Dove has a drinking problem and you passing on the same message yourself to Dove?"

"We did that last term, but unlike that time we do have a public incident which they cannot ignore. I saw Hugo leaving Dove's room and he did not have the look of someone feeling resentful."

"Dove was starting to bang on about Faunus being inferior last night and Cardin was grateful to me for defusing the situation. Perhaps we can leverage off that."

"Ok, let's go with that for the time being. I am worried that the other servants will notice something is up and can you imagine what will happen if butler Beach reports to the Great Aunt."

"Sorry, stately homes and servants are not something which I came across in Vacuo. I will take your word that it would be undesirable."

Sky hit his forehead and said, "There is a danger that Lydia may say something to Cardin."

Russel looked puzzled and then said, "Of course, Planchet is eating with the servants and may pass on the gossip to Team LLAC. "

Sky said, "That was my concern. Is there any way of sounding out team Lilac about it?

Russel paled, "Ok, I know that I am the only one for the job, but how on Remnant do I get the conversation round to the subject without giving the game away. This would be especially unfortunate if we are wrong in our assumption."

"You may be right. I would assume that Brede is against taking advantage of servants and Lydia would feel the same. They might feel the need to tell Cardin or even the Great Aunt. Anne would probably tell her teammates."

"It will have to be Leslie. He is good at compartmentalising things and will not be embarrassed by the subject matter. However, he will store it away for future reference and if he does not know about it will no doubt instruct Planchet to ask questions. Still, I know some of our classmates have noticed Dove's devotion to Cardin so maybe it will merely be confirming what they have already decided is true."

"Still the difference between suspecting and knowing something is an important one."

"I know." Russel thought about it and said "Actually I do have one gambit which may be worth playing which does not explicitly state that Dove is the problem. It does rely on Leslie knowing something but being embarrassed to raise it with us without prompting. It may mean waiting until tomorrow afternoon to ensure that Planchet had time to listen to the below stairs gossip"

He paused, "Actually I am in two minds on the timing."

"I will leave it up to you. Still, we need to get back to the training."

/-/

At the end of the afternoon session Vermillion called Team CRDL into a room where he handed each of them a disc.

He said, "Each disc contains about an hour's footage of each of the trainers you will be competing with on Friday. They can be played on the large screens in your accommodation. The footage comes from the Vytal festivals in which they competed. You may recognise the main commentator as Professor Port who has been commenting for the last twelve festivals. Do you have any questions?"

He sat back. It would be interesting to see how many of them realised that the evaluation and learning process from this exercise had already started.

Cardin asked, "Will the fight be in the training room, or will it be in circumstances more akin to the Vytal Festival with obstacles? While my great aunt is generous, I feel that there must be a limit to how far she is happy for us to destroy the buildings, woods, and gardens."

Vermillion smiles, "I can assure you that our gracious hostess has not bought a replica of the Vytal Arena or agreed to the destruction of her gardens. However, there will be obstacles and opportunities to take cover. I can say that I would advise against wasting your time tramping over the estate to guess where the fights will be held."

Cardin continued, "Wil the fight be a four on three fight or a series of two to ones?"

"It will be a four on three fight."

Russel asked, "I assume anything we say in front of you will not be passed on to your colleagues."

"Correct. It would remove a lot of the point if it were not."

Russel continued, "The trainers will be trying to win?"

"Yes. They have their pride and being taken out by a set of hunters in training will result in teasing. They will not be looking to humiliate you but will want to exploit perceived weaknesses."

Cardin asked, "Presumably after the fight you will give us notes and discuss strengths and matters which we need to improve on?"

"Yes. Either I or Lapis will give an initial response. There will be a more detailed debriefing the day afterwards in which the hunters you fought will participate."

"Will we get to watch team Lilac and they to watch us?"

"Yes, and you will also hear each other's broad-brush debriefings. While you will need although I reserve the right to save some comments for a later private session."

Cardin turned round to Dove and Sky, "Have either of you any questions? I would prefer to fine out I have not thought of something important now them at the fight?"

Dove replied, "No, Cardin. You have it covered."

Sky looked as though he would contribute something but did not.

Cardin raised an eyebrow, but then said, "Russel, anything more from you?"

Vermillion looked at the Vacuoan who shrugged and said, "I was wondering whether it might be worth you or lapis attending our final fight planning session when we decide on our strategy. Feedback on that part of the process might be helpful."

Cardin said, "Excellent point Russel. I agree. Our planning may be sound even if our implementation is not and having feedback on that part of the process will be invaluable."

Vermillion said, "Fine. I or lapis will spend up to an hour with you shortly before the fight listening to your plans and your analysis behind the plans."

Vermillion was interested in watching the team dynamic. Dove was a follower. Sky thought about things but lacked the certainty to raise them. Russel was in some ways a typical Vacuoan from the desert where you learnt early on that asking questions could be the difference between life and death. Cardin was naturally a leader from the front but was trying to involve his team members in the process. He would talk with Cardin separately about methods of getting reluctant teammates to speak up. He would also see whether the final contribution of Russel had been rehearsed to encourage the others to speak up. If not, it had been a happy accident that Sky had shaken his head and Dove had looked jealous of the praise given to Russel

Vermillion said, "See you all at dinner. It will be in the main dining room tonight and our hostess will be there tonight as well as Team Lilac."

He watched as Russel had a brief word with Cardin who nodded and then speak to his team. "We have two and half hours before dinner. Russel and I will spend the first hour watching the footage of Garnet. Sky watch the footage of Garnet and Dove watch the footage of Gray. We will then change for dinner and have an initial discussion of our ideas in our team room."

Vermillion noted this to himself. He could see the reasoning behind focusing on Garnet as he had been a last-minute substitution and might reasonably be supposed to be the least strong link.

He checked with Lapis who said, "Team Lilac had clearly had an initial discussion. They relaxed immensely when I said that there would be obstacles and cover and that the fighting area would be full sized. "

Vermillion said, "Would you agree that we keep Team LLAC away from the quarry? "

"Remnant yes. That is far too favourable a fighting area for someone with a telekinesis semblance. She may have the potential to be the next Glynda, but I do not want Garnet, Spruce and Gray to be the people she finds it out on. I am happier giving the aristocrat plenty of cover for his sniping."

/-/

Planchet had been waiting in the car which would take Team LLAC to the summer house. It was interesting being a visiting servant especially as they took it for granted that he was merely an Atlas version of them. He was bemused by how accurate the TV programmes about downstairs life at a mansion seemed to be. Brede had suggested to him that life was imitating art rather than the other way around. He suspected that there was some truth in it.

Anyway, the staff were mostly enjoying the fact that Winchester Towers had visitors who were on the young side and were minor celebrities. While it meant more work for them, they seemed to feel it reflected well on the house and themselves to have so many hunters and hunters in training around. The housekeeper was a semi-exception as she was worried about the younger housemaids and serving staff. It was hard to be certain whether she was primarily protecting them or the reputation of Winchester Towers, but it came to the same thing.

He had talked it over with his team and they had agreed that his stance should be he basically admired his team, but that they were not perfect and needed him to tidy up behind him. This got at least some honest reactions from the staff.

Lydia was apparently a favourite of many and those who were slightly outraged by her rather admired her for it. Anyway, the coverage of her having smuggled in a weapon into a night club and using it to fight the White Fang had made her a heroine to the female members of staff and an object of admiration to the men. They all agreed that the normal rules did not apply to her.

What had taken him by surprise were that quite a few shipped her and Cardin. He had been glad that he was not drinking coffee when that was said as the results could have been embarrassing. He gathered that this was in part because it would keep the family wealth together and in part because some of the servants believed that the bickering hid an underlying attraction between the two.

Some shipped her and Brede. He suspected that there would have been more but for the fact that some segments of the Atlas press had attacked Lydia as a gold digger. Lydia had correctly warned him from the start to make it clear that he regarded those papers as been muckrakers and that decent people in Atlas did not take any notice.

Brede was seen as being a proper gentleman. Admittedly they probably all had him pegged as someone Brede had brought with him from Atlas, so it made sense to assume that was the polite line to take. However, it also fitted in with his view of the young man. Admittedly, it was easy to be pleasant when you were rich, and it suited your family to support you.

The reaction to the two Faunus was more complicated. He could sense that the servants had been relieved when he had, as suggested by Lydia, passed on the reaction that his team regarded being in the Summer House as a privilege rather than an insult

Because Anne was not visibly a Faunus it made it easy to ignore the fact, but the servants had all placed her as coming from the poorer part of Vale. Some of the servants seemed to mildly resent her for having had elocution lessons and for having got into Beacon despite coming from the lower east side. The younger Faunus servants seemed to have adopted her as a role model and the humans decided that if she were good enough for Miss Lydia then they would take her on trust.

Leslie Corkran just puzzled them. The drawling Atlesian accent and the fact that he was well dressed and yet was clearly a Faunus and openly stated that he came from Vacuo meant that they could not place him. He was the one who the housekeeper most wanted to keep the maids away from as she had decided that he was somewhere between an adventurer and a bad boy. Again, the fact that Miss Lydia admired him was the deciding factor in him being accepted. For some reason they did not ship him with either Lydia or Anne.

He saw Team LLAC exit Winchester Towers and got out of the car to greet them. He was enjoying the aspect of the undercover role which required him to act as the perfect servant. He then saw Thrush, the Vacuoan with the spiky hairstyle waylay Corkran. The Lynx Faunus frowned and then waved the others to go on without him.

The other three greeted him and the driver and waited for Corkran. After a two-minute conversation, the two Vacuoans shook hands and Corkran joined his team in the car.

The journey took around one minute and the driver agreed to return around seven to take them back for dinner.

As they got out, Corkran caught his eye and indicated that he wanted a word. However, that word was delayed as the rest of the team wanted to discuss things."

Anne said, "Leslie, I think it may be useful for us to talk about what we should concentrate our preparations on."

Corkran said, "Indubitably. Actually. I believe that one of the most important lessons we are meant t' take away from this exercise is the importance of preparation and planning. I want us t' each watch at least one disc before dinner tonight and think about how as a team we would counter or attack the trainer in question."

Lydia said, "Let's think about which of the hunters we have the best chance to play the number games with and which pairing is likely to be most effective against each one."

Brede asked, "What do they mean by saying that the fight will be in the equivalent of a full-sized arena?"

Lydia said, "I can imagine the GA buying in disused film sets and rubble."

Corkran said, "I do not think we can count on the rubble. They must know what Anne can do and it is too much of an equaliser. The aim of the fight is almost certainly t' avoid us being too complacent without entirely undermining our confidence. I suspect that it is also designed t' drum in t' us the importance of preparation and analysis and not giving too much away in the early rounds."

"I suppose that as it is a four on three fight, we should think about what difference that makes to our tactics."

"An obvious strategy is t' keep Brede in the rear and use him t' weaken their aura with his long-range shooting. I suspect that they do not fully appreciate how good a shot he is."

Brede said, "I have ordered the special bullets from Velvet already and they will be here by the day of the fight."

"Nothing like surprising the opposition with unexpected power."

Lydia said, "The alternative is to identify a two to one advantage and decide who is our best target."

"Agreed. Instinctively I think you and I are the most powerful combination if we want t' knock someone out quickly."

Brede said, "Are you happy my sword fighting skills are good enough to fight off a hunter as good as these are?"

"Let us watch the tapes. I suspect that using you as a sniper while the rest of us fight one on one is our best strategy, but we need t' see who we are fighting first."

Corkran checked the time and said, "We will meet up at 6.30 for an initial brainstorming session after we have got changed."

Planchet was fascinated by these sort of discussions. He occasionally wondered whether he should have tried to go to Atlas Academy. However, for him joining the security services after combat school had seemed the right decision at the time. He earned decent money and he did not have the flair which would have made him a Vytal Festival contender. He preferred being a medium sized fish in a small pool rather than being the same fish in a large pool.

He waited until the team had all entered their own rooms and then knocked at Corkran's door.

"Come in, Planchet."

He entered. He still found it hard to cope with the idea that the Lynx Faunus was his superior both as one of his employers and in the Atlas military. He had not been happy with the fact that he had not been pre-warned about the Faunus and receiving a call from Winter Schnee telling him not to worry had been reassuring.

"Sir, you wanted to speak to me."

"I do not want t' know minor tittle tattle, but do you know what on Remnant Dove was up to last night?"

Planchet said, "I do gather that he had drunk a little more than was good for him." He paused. One of the reasons why he had not applied to Atlas Academy was because of his sexuality and he did not relish telling on someone else.

"No change there. Did anyone today suggest that something had happened beyond that? I am not going to speak to Lydia or Lady Winchester about this, but his own team want to know if they need to intervene."

"I am not entirely certain, but his valet hero worships him and was looking very pleased with himself today."

"He is of age, I suppose."

"Oh, yes. He is twenty-one."

"Fine. Did you notice anything else?"

"He did high five some of his fellow valets and was giggling more than normal with the maids. He also said that he had fallen over last night and hit his neck on his bedstead."

"How were the older servants treating him?"

"He seemed to be trying to keep out of sight of them and the other junior valets and maids were assisting him. He is normally very chatty, but today seemed to eb whispering and looking around him before talking to his cronies. He was also very tired."

"Is he liked in the servants hall?"

"Mostly yes. The butler does try and restrain him from being too enthusiastically camp."

The Lynx Faunus paused, "What do the servants make of Dove?"

"His mother is one of lady Winchester's friends and he is a close friend of Cardin."

"Is that an answer?"

"They all have a lot of time for Cardin and Lydia and the rest of you all pass muster because a member of the family vouches for you. They just do not talk about Dove with any enthusiasm, and I heard the housekeeper instructing the waitresses to avoid serving him if he has had much to drink and to leave him to the waiters."

"Have you seen his neck today?"

"It is bruised. Thinking about it looked as though someone had grabbed him by the throat."

"Planchet, can you keep an eye on the young man? Dove does have a habit of forgetting what he does and says when inebriated and may not react well t' being reminded about it."

Planchet grimaced, "I believe I know what you are saying sir. Do you think I need to warn him?"

"I wish I knew what was right. It does not help that I dislike Dove and find him a truly obscure object of desire. If you think you can pass on the message by merely saying that Dove is known to have blackouts when he drinks too much then do so. Please report to me if the senior staff take an interest in the young man. Perhaps a suggestion that for hunters in training it is expected that some lapses of behaviour are best addressed by the students before involving the authorities may persuade them t' talk t' you rather than t' her ladyship."

He paused and said, "Please do not talk about this t' the other members of the team. It is really Team Cardinal's problem and not ours." He paused, "It is also the young man's problem and I do not want t' make life any more difficult for him."

After he left the room, Planchet thought about what his best course of action was. Clearly Thrush had dumped the problem on Corkran and was looking for certainty before speaking to Dove. Corkran had agreed to help, perhaps reluctantly, but clearly had little idea of what to do.

Planchet supposed that the best thing he could do for now was to keep an eye on Hugo and work out whether he knew what he was doing and whether he knew to be cautious with Dove.

/-/

Cardin was a little unsettled as he walked down to dinner with his team. On the positive side, he felt that the team was improving and even though he expected to lose to the veteran huntsmen he expected to learn how to prepare for Vytal Festival matches from the process. There were already things which he felt he could work on with them next term to ensure they qualified for the Vytal festival and acquitted themselves with honour. He felt that they would have a real chance of reaching the second round. After that. things would be more of a struggle, but it would be a nice problem to have.

He was slightly perturbed by the fact Sky was a little distracted and worried while Russel had the look of someone who was having to force himself to ignore distractions. Dove was being Dove and Cardin was wondering how best to deal with him. He was too much of a follower and he was drinking a little too much again. He would have a word with Sky before speaking to Dove.

The problem was that Dove seemed to take what Cardin said to him too much to heart. It was not safe to banter with him nowadays without him looking like a dog who has been punished for a fault he does not understand.

What really concerned Cardin was his father. He had today received a scroll message from his father which had attached to it a copy of his latest rounds of interviews with the Vale TV hosts. Apparently they were taking him seriously for the forthcoming elections with the only major talking head who had not interviewed him being Lisa Lavender who was apparently off working on a story in Mistral.

He had watched one of the interviews only and had felt nauseous. He thought that if he listened to too many more like that he would volunteer to go on a march with Blake in favour of Faunus rights. He objected to his father co-opting him and even Lydia to his political campaign which focused on the threats caused by the White Fang and implied that all Faunus were fellow travellers. He was proposing that all Faunus should carry identity cards, that there be a curfew for them and that all Faunus whose animal traits were not visible should wear an identifying symbol.

Beach, the butler, approached him and said, "Her ladyship would like a word before dinner."

"Of course, Beach."

He led Cardin to his Great Aunt's sitting room where Lydia and Corkran was already there together with Velvet Scarlatina and Dr. Oobleck. These were among the two unlikeliest guests he could imagine visiting Winchester Towers. Velvet for obvious reasons and Dr. Oobleck because his views on history and the Faunus wars were unlikely to find favour with the GA.

"Cardin, thank you for joining us. I thought it only fair to warn you of my plans for this evening and to assure you that I have not taken leave of my senses. I have gathered that you feel almost as much contempt from your father as I do."

"I prefer not to talk in public about my relationship with my father, but I can understand why many reasonable people whose opinion I respect would feel that way about him." Cardin thanked Sky for having brainstormed this formula with him earlier today. Sky had said that he would need a formula at beacon to distance himself from his father without burning all his bridges and Mistralians were good at weasel words.

Dr. Oobleck looked at Cardin with the nearest he had come to respect. Velvet looked a little surprised and Lydia patted him on the back.

"Good. I have changed the seating plan for tonight. Mr Corkran and Mr Thrush will be sitting next to me at dinner and Miss Scarlatina will be taking photographs this evening. I have explained to Miss Scarlatina and Mr Corkran that my views on Faunus are not those of your Great Aunt Dahlia, but I have no desire to assist your father in refighting the Faunus War. We lost and we should accept the result."

Corkran said, "I am happy to go along with this. Anne will be a couple of places away from me, but as I am visibly a Faunus that will make the impact greater."

Cardin said, "I do not have any objections myself although perhaps I should warn Russel. He is a good man but is conscious that he has not had the grounding in formal table manners that Sky has had."

The Great Aunt said, "This evening's meal does not involve any dishes where it is not obvious which implement is to be used or where it is unclear whether something is there to wash your hands in or drink. If it will help tell him that I am used to eating with officers from my husband's regiment of Seekers. Anyway, Lydia tells me that Mr Corkran is quite capable of keeping the conversation going by himself. besides which it is a long since I was in Vacuo, and I would be interested to know how it has changed."

She turned to the others and said, "It is time for you and mingle. Miss Scarlatina can start taking her photographs of you enjoying a joke with the trainers. Cardin, perhaps you can wheel me into the reception room and maybe Miss Harker can be photographed sharing a word with me."

The others departed and Cardin said, "I do not respect my father, but he is my father. I had not realised you disliked him quite so much."

"I am old enough now that I need not pretend anymore. I have not mellowed that much. I do not think the average Faunus is as good as the average human, but they defeated us forty years ago and deserve to be treated fairly according to their merits. Besides which if we fought the war again whose side do you think Lydia and Brede would be on?"

For the avoidance of doubt, my characters are not author avatars (if so I would be somewhat schizophrenic). Again, although I hope it is obvious, the main problem for Dove is that he is denial about his feelings and inclinations and not the fact he has these feelings and inclinations. He is also a natural conformist in this story.