A/N: Ugh, we're back. Sick as a dog right now, so I'm afraid my 'witty' banter will be down a little in the A/N. Welcome to December folks, I hope it'll treat you better than it has me! I recently converted my story "Masquerades" from a one-shot to a brief series as well, and new chapter will probably crop up for them in the near future. Nothing nearly as long as WPF, but still.
Thank you for reading, and please enjoy chapter twenty-four.
Were it not for several years of extensive PR experience, Pyrrha was quite sure she would have gone into a rage sometime after her mother had left. Instead, she had repressed outward displays of anger and redirected it towards preparing for the evening meal. If she walked harder than normal or washed in the shower with a tad more force than usual, that was just an unfortunate side effect. She had noticed Nora's patient concern, but her sister had not yet spoken. Pyrrha sat down, still toweled from her shower, and began to brush out her hair.
"Jaune isn't good enough? How dare she!" Pyrrha's mind raged away, 'Pyr' angrily calling down her mother's behavior. "Oh, he's fine as a friend and teammate, but apparently he doesn't meet 'the standard' for more? Well, it isn't your choice!" She viciously pulled at her locks, ignoring her scalp's protests. "It isn't your place to decide, Mother! I will live my own life!" She felt a hand take firm hold of hers, and Pyrrha snapped back to reality.
"Let me, Pyrrha." Nora offered with a smile and singing exuberance. A denial was just on her lips, but Pyrrha could see the concern still in Nora's face, and she relented. The smaller girl sat beside her, taking brush in hand, and began her slow care. Left without a victim – outlet – for her feelings, Pyrrha simply stewed in silence. The shower began in the other room as one of the boys got ready himself.
"Ya wanna talk about it?" Nora asked calmly from over her shoulder.
"I want to go throttle that woman." She thought sourly. But instead of voicing the unkind, and probably untrue, words, Pyrrha instead let out an exhausted breath.
"I love her, but all the same, my mother can be infuriating." Nora's calm ministrations did not stop, her hands slowly working her hair. "She wants the best from me. Whether it was training to be a huntress, or joining the fighting circuit, or apparently my love life. I- I just wish…"
Her mind drifted to Weiss, and intercepted talks of her demanding father, of his constricting control and cruel rule over her life. Her own mother was not that, not nearly, yet still she felt a heavy hand upon her.
"You wish what you thoughts counted more?" Nora offered, and Pyrrha nodded vigorously.
"That's exactly it! I chose to attend Beacon and mother disagreed. It didn't matter I had made up my mind, bought tickets and sent them a confirmation letter. Mother was offering this or that advantage of Haven until the day before I left. Haven was clearly superior to her, so it was the right choice for me.
"The worst of it now is that she knows Jaune, she even likes Jaune." Her mother had initially worried over Jaune's skill, but had watched them train their first day back, and told her she admired his determination. "She's willing to trust him to be my leader in battle, but not in this?"
"Why do you think she's this way?" Nora inquired simply. Pyrrha stopped, realizing she hadn't really considered why. She'd just taken the veiled insult to her boyfriend and run with it.
They were both quiet as she considered, weighed the reasons. It was when she rushed things that it always went wrong, so she needed to work this through. Nora kept working, not prodding for a quick response. Eventually, she began anew.
"When I told Mother I wanted to be a Huntress, she trained me herself. She was still an active Huntress, she didn't need to pause her own career for me. Plenty of my classmates at Sanctum were untrained when they arrived, but Mother made sure I was the best I could be. We once spent four hours practicing a single parry, Nora. Breaks only for water and the bathroom, but four hours just on a single, atypical parry. So I would be the best at it."
"Did you ever need it?" Nora asked playfully. Pyrrha snorted.
"I won my second Regional title off a riposte from that exact parry. She was so proud of me…
"It isn't that she completely ignores my wishes." Even her mother had understood Pyrrha's musical career was not happening. "It's just… she doesn't want me to settle. She wants me to have the best, what she considers the best."
"And this hurts more because it's about Jaune." Nora finished.
"And this hurts more because it's Jaune." Her mother thought she was settling for Jaune. She took a steadying breath as Ren had taught her.
She understood her mother's point of view, she supposed, but she certainly didn't approve. Or agree.
Nora set the brush down next to them. "Ponytail, braid, or as is?"
"Let's leave it down." She said after a moment's pause; she'd set her aura to healing certain marks that would go over poorly at dinner, but a little more concealment wouldn't hurt. Nora gave her a light hug, then rose to see to her own outfit. "Nora?" Pyrrha turned on her bed, catching the other girl.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks, sis." Nora's smile practically split her face when she went back to getting ready.
…
Pyrrha couldn't help but think they were garbed for war, despite the lack of armor or weapons, while they waited for their car to arrive. She had made sure she and Jaune matched: his cream turtleneck to her cream blouse, her black skirt to his own black jacket and pants. He also looked great, which certainly didn't hurt. Nora had opted for a mulberry cocktail dress, her heart-shaped tan line just peeking above the neck. Ren was the only one to opt for his traditional colors, in white shirt with black pants, and a silver-green vest.
Jaune was watching her, and while she would normally be more than pleased with his attention, he was frowning slightly. "You sure you're going to be warm enough, Pyr? That seems awful light." It was a fair point: latticework was probably a weak choice for the beginnings of winter. Similar concerns could be laid to Nora, but she had an infamous tolerance for the cold. She bumped Jaune playfully before taking his hand.
"Well, if I need a coat, I'll just have to borrow yours." That was part of the plan, of course. Her boyfriend pulled her close, and she might have been guilty of snuggling into his side.
"Come on, you two, you'll ruin my appetite." Nora drawled. Pyrrha may also have been guilty of sticking her tongue out at Nora, she blamed Ruby's influence if she did, but she stepped back to her original position.
A honking outside drew their attention, and JNPR stepped outside to see a limo waiting for them. As one, her friends turned to look at her. In her best imitation of the Arcs, she shrugged. The three looked to each other, before mimicking the gesture in unison.
"JNPR rides in style!" Nora called, charging the door held by the chauffeur.
Keeping Nora from pouring them drinks from the limo's bar felt like challenge enough for the night. The foyer of the restaurant, Jasmine's, made it clear his work was not over.
In one corner of the crowded room, his father stood alone in his dress uniform. In the other corner, equally surrounded by empty space, was a red-faced Thetis in a dark evening gown. A terrified man in a tuxedo shuffled uncomfortably by the door, and a few dozen other folks mingled between them. "Pyrrha, check with your mom. Ren, Nora: see the host. I'll get my dad." The team split easily, focusing on their targets. His father's face was a little flushed, his breathing coming hard, but Nicholas hugged his son warmly when he spotted him. "Dad, are you alright?"
His father let out a weary sigh. "Oh, I've… I've been better. But how are you? Where's your team, and this Mrs. Nikos?" Jaune tilted his head towards his partner.
"She's getting her mom: did something happen?" his father's eyes started sweeping the room for red hair.
"Well, got into a bit of an argument with…" He stopped speaking, and Jaune turned to see his father looking at Thetis. Their builds were utterly different, Thetis' short and slim to Pyrrha's tall and curvy, but the hair was the same. Standing next to one another, it was easy to see the relation
"Oh." Was all his father could manage.
"Well, obviously I didn't know, dear." Mother protested quietly as the two turned towards the maître d', watching as Jaune and his father do the same. "And I only let him know about my objections to Hunter deployment." Pyrrha took calming breaths.
"I understand, Mother; let's just try to have a pleasant evening." She asked just before the boys came within earshot. Ren signaled all was well with the staff, thankfully. "Please don't blow this, Mother." She silently prayed. Reaching the men, there was a quiet pause. Pyrrha and Jaune lightly pushed their respective parents as the wait grew unbearable.
"Nicholas Arc." Nicholas offered through clenched teeth, extending a hand.
"Thetis Nikos." Mother responded with far too many teeth showing. Her hand was far steadier than normal when she accepted his, and she did not miss the whiteness of the knuckles in her grip.
"I… apologize for my earlier tone, Mrs Nikos: that was improper of me." The elder man offered after yet another loaded pause.
"I understand, Mr Arc: and I apologize for being so… insistent." Pyrrha could have wept, they were so insincere. Further fake making up was put off by the host, no doubt terrified of the probable shouting match, gesturing for them to follow. As the maître d' led them past men in black tie suits and women in elegant gowns, Pyrrha fervently wished that being under-dressed was the worst part of this dinner.
"I may have let my temper out of control, but she started it." Dad hissed as they walked. Jaune and his father had "conveniently" ended up separated from the Nikos family by Nora and Ren.
"Dad…" He begged just above a whisper.
"Don't look at me, son, take it up with her." His father straightened from the beginnings of a hunch, pulling his jacket straight. "I won't start anything, son." Jaune desperately wanted point out "Not starting anything" wasn't nearly as useful as just not arguing with his girlfriend's mother, but he would take what he could get.
Nora, Thetis, and Pyrrha took one side of the dimly lit table, while Ren, his father, and himself sat across from them. Jaune was a little intimidated by the menu, he'd always been a more practical cook than Ren, but he felt sure a steak was a safe bet: the drinks, of course, was where they hit the first snag.
"And what you you like to drink, sir?" The waiter asked his father smoothly, ignoring the staring match the two adults had been engaged in.
"Whiskey, please, as well as for my son." A waved hand to make the obvious more obvious. This was news to Jaune, though, so he coughed politely.
"Actually, I'd like some galliano." His father glared at him like he'd ordered cyanide instead of a Mistrali drink, but said nothing.
"Champagne, please." Thetis asked smugly, as if his drink choice was some kind of battle. Pyrrha asked for a muscat, watching the adults as if they were Grimm by a playground.
Nora set down her menu triumphantly before addressing the waiter: "And I'll have-"
"Water." Ren said, a hand falling over Nora's mouth. "Sake for me, please, but nothing for her." It had been a rather terrifying discovery, how badly Nora handled alcohol: Yang and she were on the no entry lists of half Vale's clubs.
The tension among the diners, if it didn't disappear, lessened as they set to the evening. His father asked about training, Thetis asked about Bar, and it seemed for a time that they'd put all that early trouble behind them.
"So, son: how was Patch?" his father asked over his whiskey, avoiding Thetis' eyes.
"It was pretty fun, dad. We got to see our friends in Team RWBY, and the local sights. The time with RWBY was useful, since we got more team spars in. Yang and Ruby's dad, Taiyang Xiao Long, helped us a bit too. He's a teacher at Signal."
"That's quite admirable of him." Thetis added cheerily from the other side of the table. "I admire a man who takes the training of his children upon himself." His father choked slightly as he settled a drink, and Jaune's own eyes widened.
"Yes, well, not all of us have duties light enough to do it ourselves." His father grumbled.
Pyrrha gazed distantly at the bottom of her wine glass, trying her best to suppress her surroundings.
"The people of Mistral would have never permitted Grimm to reign over portions of their city so long." Her mother growled over a half eaten salmon. Nicholas settled his drink, looming forward across the table.
"Of course not, the people of Mistral are still looking over their shoulders for when the Council reinstated the slavery laws. Oh, terribly sorry: the 'workforce reallocation program'. I know how much you struggle with things like honesty."
Ren and Nora had retreated to the far edge of the table, distancing themselves as best they could, leaving Jaune and she to fend for themselves on this front. She drained her glass, in sync with Jaune's own gulping, hoping to find some small enjoyment in the wine's taste.
"Honesty, yes, for Vale is such a bastion of honesty and transparent policy. How did is the Mountain Glenn expansion doing, Colonel?" The elder Arc glowered, never looking away as he cut free another portion of lamb.
The server walked by, and Pyrrha motioned for her to refill her glass.
Entrees carried away, Jaune only begged there would be no dessert, so this disaster could end sooner. A handful of ceasefires through the night couldn't make up for the war.
"You've come to help us, Mrs. Nikos, we aren't obliged to fulfill your every will." His father said sternly, hand clenched tightly to his drink. "While we appreciate your help, the Valish military and Beacon will decide how to protect Vale. Not you."
He and Pyrrha had tried, they really had. Pyrrha had taken her mother to the bathroom after the appetizers, where she no doubt talked about her mother's behavior, while he had confronted his father.
"I will not stand by while that hag insults Vale or me, son." Had been his terse response, but he had agreed to reign it back.
Then he made passing mention to White Fang operations in Wind Path, and the gloves came off again. Thetis' return comment on Vale's White Fang had earned her a kicked foot from Pyrrha, and he did the same when his father brought up Mistrali ship design. "There's really no stopping them…"
Thetis crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. Her hair fell away, and for a brief moment the terrible gashes along her right temple were visible, before the red veil settled again. "How do you propose to protect Vale, when you can't even protect your own son? It's amazing he's achieved what he has with you as a hindrance, it took good Mistrali training to turn Jaune into a competent fighter."
There was a muted thump as Pyrrha pushed away from the table, her chair toppling to the ground. She nearly followed it to the floor as she spun away, uneasily marching from the room. Everyone else watched in stunned silence, but he moved.
Rising from his own seat, Jaune notices his legs were a little unsteady too. "Maybe a little too much to drink.". He wouldn't let that stop him, this was nothing compared to what had come before. He followed glimpses of brilliant red, until he slipped through the closing door. Pyrrha had not stopped outside, instead turning down the side alley hand on the wall. He gave chase, watching his feet in case of ice in the chill evening.
Pyrrha was leaning against the wall, hands braced behind her. He took off his coat as he walked towards her, noting the light dusting of snow that had begun while they ate. She shifted quietly as he wrapped it around her, pulling it closed. Her face was flushed, her eyes watery.
"I hate them." She murmured. He propped himself up next to her, arm pulling her close as he let the wall steady both of them. "I hate him, I hate her. I hate them." The viciousness at that last drew his attention, and he saw she was looking back the way they came. A few people were looking down the alley toward them. He didn't spot any cameras, but he turned himself to block as much of her as possible.
"I just want things to go right. Where we only have to fight Grimm, and all our friends get along, and nobody is insulting anyone else behind their backs, and we can all just see each other for who we are, and things can just stop being in the way or trying to pull me somewhere else." Her shoulders bowed, and she rested her face on his shoulder.
Softly, he ran his hand through her hair, as his partner crushed herself into his chest and shook with rage and sorrow. A commotion at the alley mouth, and he saw Nora standing watch and Ren peering in. "Car." He mouthed to him, briefly lifting a hand like he was making a call. Ren nodded, and his friends pushed back prying eyes.
"You don't hate them." He whispered into her hair, though her grip tightened. "Okay, we hate those people, but not your mother, not my dad. We're angry at 'em, and we should. Our parents are stupid." Her light laugh, after too many moments of tears, made his heart soar.
"They're rude, and mean, and-" he stopped to consider his thoughts, "and probably a little drunk, too. We have to be better than them."
"Why? Why can't we just…?" her grip tightened on his shirt again, shoulders shaking in frustration when she couldn't find the words.
"Hey," he said resting a hand in her cheek until she looked up from his shirt. He leaned forward, careful of both their balances, and pressed his lips to hers. He could taste her wine on her lips, yet pulled her closer. Her body relaxed, even if her grip didn't let up, and he finally pulled away. "I have you: that's more than enough for me." She nuzzled into his chest, this time peacefully.
"You're warm." She murmured, and he returned to running his hand through her hair as they waited in the snow. A brief honk drew him back to the alley mouth, where Ren and Nora waited patiently by the car.
"Come on, Pyr, let's go home." He took a firm hold of her, moving forward at a pace easy for both of them. She hummed a few notes to a song they both knew well, before quietly singing, off-key and a tad slurred.
"Yes, i know that when I'm with you I'm at home…"