Contrary to Ruby's assumptions, Pyrrha's singing had, in fact, been that bad. By the end of her song she'd been pelted by more than one item of food flung at her by one of her friends, and she sat back down laughing loudly, picking a chip out of her hair. Eventually, their time in the karaoke box came to a close, the eight of them making their way back to Beacon.
Ren and Nora helped navigate the group, avoiding the worst of the crowds and the worst of the drunks as they made their way back to the airship dock. Soon enough they arrived back at Beacon in high spirits. The air had taken on a frigid chill, causing their breath to fog in front of them and them to huddle a little closer together against the cold.
"Wonder if the lake's frozen?" Yang asked aloud.
"Hmm. I'll go check," Pyrrha said, breaking away from the group and jogging off into the distance. "I'll come and find you if it is!" she called back, waving. The rest of them continued on their way, returning to their dorms.
"See you tomorrow!" Ruby called across to the three remaining members of JNPR before ducking into her own dorm. "That was fun!" she declared, grinning tiredly before yawning.
"Still can't believe you could sing that, Weiss," Yang said, sitting on one of the chairs.
"As I said, I made sure to get well-rounded training in it. Singing was my other career choice if I was unable to become a huntress," Weiss explained, "and I wasn't going to limit myself to what my father considered 'acceptable' music if I could help it."
"Fair enough," Yang said as Blake quietly slipped into the bathroom. "We should definitely do that again sometime."
"I quite agree, though I'll remember to pick a more subdued outfit next time," Weiss replied with a chuckle.
"Nah, you rock the ballgown just fine," Yang jokingly protested.
"If you say so, it's just a little much for a night out like that," Weiss mused. Any further discussion was interrupted by a knock at the dorm door. Yang raised an eyebrow, standing back up and opening the door, revealing a grinning Pyrrha, holding a battered-looking pair of ice skates.
"Hey, Pyrrha," she greeted.
"Hello Yang, Weiss, Ruby!" she replied, looking at each in turn. "The lake is frozen!" she said, looking excited.
"Oh, nice. Up to some late night ice skating, Weiss?" Yang asked, turning around and grinning at her. Weiss nodded, smiling in return.
"Sounds delightful. I will need to change out of this when Blake's done with the bathroom, though," Weiss said, looking down at her gown again.
"Cool. Uhhh, I don't actually have my own ice skates," Yang said, blinking as she remembered that. "Or ever skated before," she added, scratching the back of her head.
"I can take care of the skates, don't worry," Weiss assured her. "And Pyrrha and I can teach you. I'll meet you two at the lake." Yang and Pyrrha looked at each other, before looking back at Weiss.
"Alright, see you there," Yang said, waving as she followed Pyrrha out of the room. The pair walked in amiable silence until they were well out of earshot of the dorms. "Well, tonight went well!" she said, grinning at Pyrrha.
"Yes, it was a very enjoyable evening," Pyrrha replied, nodding. "I'm a little surprised Weiss was so enthusiastic for karaoke."
"Why's that? Didn't think it'd be her thing?" Yang asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Well… I suppose I shouldn't give too many details, but Weiss has told me she has certain issues with singing in front of other people," Pyrrha said hesitantly, choosing her words carefully.
"What? But she's incredible!" Yang declared. Pyrrha nodded.
"I know, it's just something she told me," she said, shrugging. "Perhaps she just feels comfortable enough around us to make an exception? I certainly wouldn't complain if that were the case, I'd like to think she considers us good friends." Yang nodded at that. A little twinge of jealousy tugged at her over the idea of Weiss sharing something like that with Pyrrha instead of her.
She quickly stomped that feeling down. The two exited back out into the chill winter air, circling around the dorm blocks and towards the campus' lake. The scene was picturesque, the bright moon reflecting off the ice and providing plenty of illumination.
"Oh wow, you weren't kidding," Yang said, whistling as she looked across the frozen surface of the water. "And it's safe?" she asked, looking at Pyrrha. She nodded, carefully stepping onto the surface and jumping once.
"It appears to be," she said happily, looking back towards Yang and walking back off the ice. "I suppose now we wait for Weiss?" she asked. Yang nodded, sitting down on a rock by the water's edge.
"You know," Yang suddenly said, "we've been friends for a while now, but I don't think I've ever asked about where you're from? Like, your family, hometown, that sort of thing."
"Likewise," Pyrrha said, blinking in mild surprise. "Very well! I'm an only child, born in Argus in the north of Mistral and I've lived there most of my life, until now of course. I attended Sanctum Academy there after displaying a talent for combat, and went on to win four of the Mistral Regional tournaments." Yang nodded as she spoke.
"Impressive. Ruby and I grew up on Patch, dad's got a cabin he built out in the forest just outside town. Our parents are hunters, so naturally both of us ended up at Signal. Dad and Uncle Qrow both teach there, actually. It's nice out there, cosy. Oh, we also have a dog called Zwei!" Yang said with a grin.
"That sounds lovely." Pyrrha smiled at her broadly. "I'm sorry if this is an uncomfortable question, but I noticed you and Ruby have different surnames?" she asked. Yang paused, tapping her knuckles against the rock twice.
"I've got dad's last name, Ruby's got mum's," she explained, deciding against describing that whole mess. Pyrrha nodded, apparently satisfied with that answer.
"I see, that makes sense." She was distracted from further musing as Weiss appeared around the bend in the path, back in her usual out-of-uniform clothes, carrying a pair of white ice skates each decorated with her insignia.
"Hey Weiss!" Yang called over, waving. Weiss returned the wave, approaching the pair and nodding approvingly at the lake.
"Yang, Pyrrha," she greeted them. "Alright then, time to get your skates prepared," she said to Yang, stepping over. "Lift your feet," she instructed. Yang blinked, but did as she was told. As she did so, Weiss crouched down and brushed a hand over each one, holding a vial of ice dust in her other one. As Yang watched, ice crusted over the soles of her boots, a blade forming underneath.
"There we go," she said, before sitting down on the rock and changing into her own skates, Pyrrha doing the same. "Ok, Pyrrha and I will help you onto the ice. It's important to keep your weight directly over the skates so you don't slip and fall. If you do fall, don't put your hands out, the skates are sharp," Weiss warned her. Yang nodded, holding her arms out. Pyrrha and Weiss helped her to stand and guided her onto the ice.
"Bend your knees slightly, keep your back straight," Pyrrha said quietly, helping Yang into the right posture. The pair continued to guide Yang through the process until she was confident enough to skate around by herself. She grinned, focusing on her feet as she slowly skated around, carefully adjusting her direction.
"You're doing great!" Pyrrha encouraged her from beside her, skating along with her.
"Heh, thanks. Kinda hard to keep my balance though," she said, wobbling a little before correcting herself. Pyrrha chuckled, looking back ahead and then over to Weiss. The heiress was skating a short distance away, performing slow twirls and turns as she glided across the ice. She moved with all the grace and poise that Pyrrha had come to expect of her, but for the first time since meeting her she looked utterly at peace.
Her expression was relaxed with the ghost of a smile. The pale moonlight caught her hair and facial features in an ethereal glow. That Weiss was stunning was a simple fact, everyone who had ever seen the heiress knew that. But in this brief period of utter serenity, as far as Pyrrha was concerned she was heart-stoppingly beautiful, and in that moment would have fought gods to make the scene last just a little longer.
"You good, Pyrrha?" Pyrrha started at the voice next to her, face flushing as she realised she'd been staring for an impolite length of time.
"Ah! Oh, yes," she said, clearing her throat. "Just admiring Weiss' skating. She's quite good, isn't she?" she asked. Yang raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
"I mean, it's Weiss. She either doesn't do it, or is incredible at it," she observed. Pyrrha hummed in agreement, already distracted by her own thoughts.
Has Weiss always been this pretty? Part of her brain replied immediately that no, she hadn't, because merely 'pretty' was too small a word to properly describe Weiss. That same part went on to conjure grand metaphors, comparing her to women in ancient poems and stories, the faces that could launch a thousand ships.
Another closely-related part briefly presented Pyrrha with decidedly less decent imagery, and her ingrown sense of propriety smothered those scenes, replacing them instead with imagined dances and similar events. The combined result was undeniable. Oh fuck, she thought. Oh fuck I think I like her.
As the three of them wandered back to their dorms, they walked in comfortable silence. At least, one member of the group thought it was a comfortable silence, and any onlooker could be forgiven for thinking so as well. Two of them, however, were privately wrestling with their thoughts.
Yang and Pyrrha both quietly grappled with their possible feelings for Weiss, trying to analyse when they might have started and why. Both at least had explanations for the odd flashes of jealousy they'd been feeling. For Yang, she was also left wondering about how Pyrrha had been staring at Weiss.
At length they arrived back at their dorms. Yang and Weiss wished Pyrrha a goodnight before heading into team RWBY's dorm. Pyrrha waved as they left, before entering her team's dorm. "Hey Pyrrha!" Nora greeted her, waving from her bed, already changed into pyjamas. Ren nodded to her quietly, reading a book.
"Hello!" she greeted in return, smiling at the pair. "Where's Jaune?"
"Just in the shower," Nora said. "Have fun ice skating?"
"I did, it was fun! Yang was quite good for a first-time skater, and Weiss was fantastic, naturally," she said, sitting on her own bed and kicking off her boots.
"Naturally," Nora agreed, a smirk growing across her face. "Weiss is pretty good at a lot of stuff, huh?" she asked.
"Oh, yes. Her drive is admirable, she's always pushing herself to improve, and the fact she's willing to sacrifice her own time to help others around her is equally impressive," Pyrrha said, nodding and smiling.
"Sounds like someone else I know," Nora remarked, grinning. "Tall, redheaded, athletic…"
"Hmm, I suppose you're right," Pyrrha acknowledged, reluctant as always to accept praise. She was silent for a moment, musing quietly before speaking again. "Nora, I-" she was cut off by the bathroom door opening, Jaune stepping out fresh from the shower. "Tomorrow," she quietly said to Nora who nodded back, still grinning.
The next day found Blake in Beacon's library, sat at one of the tables and quietly reading a book. It was a peaceful scene, as any library should be. However, the peace was abruptly shattered by the arrival of Yang, walking up behind Blake. "We need to talk," she said suddenly, causing Blake to jump. Before she could react, Yang wrapped her arms around Blake and hefted her up, starting to carry her away.
"Ah! Yang, put me down!" Blake protested, flailing her arms and legs. Yang didn't relent, wordlessly carrying Blake to a secluded corner of the library before finally setting her down. Blake stumbled a little as she was released, rounding on Yang. "What was that for?" she asked.
"Sorry, I needed to talk to you," Yang apologised sheepishly. Blake raised an eyebrow and folded her arms over her chest. "It's about Weiss," she started, and Blake's expression fell. "Not like that!" Yang said, waving her hands in front of her. "Nothing to do with you and Weiss, I promise." Blake relaxed a little at that.
"Go on…" she said cautiously. Yang relaxed as well, taking a deep breath.
"So, you're pretty good with relationship stuff, right? You read a lot of romance novels…" Yang started awkwardly. Blake blinked, arms falling back to her sides at the unexpected question.
"Umm… I haven't actually had the best history with that. Why do you…" she tailed off as Yang's question and the topic of their conversation finally linked together in her head. "... Oh. You like Weiss?" she asked carefully. Yang nodded nervously.
"I think so? I know you and her aren't on the best of terms right now, but… She's so smart and talented, and actually really nice when she's comfortable with you? And oh my gods she's so pretty," Yang said, fidgeting a little. Blake's eyes widened a little at that.
"Oh," she said simply. "So… What exactly are you asking me?" she asked, a little confused.
"I don't know what I should do," Yang admitted lamely. "I mean, you've heard her complain about people asking her out before, and she's already irritated with Jaune's attempts. And I have no idea if she's interested in anyone at all."
Blake blinked again, casting her mind back to Weiss complaining so often about boys, the lingering looks she sometimes caught Weiss giving to other female students, and the heiress' gushing over Pyrrha.
"Well… I don't know," she emphasised, "but I think Weiss might be a lesbian," Blake commented carefully.
"Really, you think so?" Yang asked, a little hopeful.
"I mean, haven't you noticed that whenever she complained about people trying to date her, it was always men she was complaining about?" Blake asked. Yang looked down to ponder that for a second. "I've seen her looking at some of the other female students as well, so… Again, I don't know, it just seems likely to me," Blake said.
"Okay. I still don't know what I should do," she said. "I mean, I really like having her as a friend, and I don't want to make things weird."
"I… Can't really help you with that," Blake admitted. "I mean, I can't read her mind and tell you if she'd be interested or not. Pretty sure that'd be unethical anyway."
"Good point… Well, thanks anyway, guess I need to do some thinking, huh?" Yang asked, smiling nervously.
"Probably for the best," Blake agreed. "Do not under any circumstances let her know we had this talk. I don't need Weiss to have another reason to be angry at me," she insisted, expression serious.
"Right, yeah, got it," Yang said, nodding. "I should uhhh, yeah," she finished, waving and jogging off to who-knows-where. Blake shook her head with a sigh, before returning to her table.
At a similar time elsewhere in Beacon, Nora and Pyrrha were sat having another conversation. "So, you wanted to talk?" Nora asked.
"Yes. How do I begin…" Pyrrha mused, tapping her fingers against her knees.
"Iiiiiis it about a certain heiress?" Nora asked, leaning towards Pyrrha with a grin.
"... Yes," Pyrrha admitted.
"Doooo you like her?" she asked, leaning even closer.
"I… Maybe?"
"Hmmm. Okay, so, what caused this?" Nora asked, leaning back again. "Like, when did you first start thinking this?"
"Last night. At least, that's when I realised what I was thinking," she answered. "When we were ice skating on the lake. She was so graceful, and she looked peaceful. None of the tension that she usually carries." Nora nodded, well aware of Weiss' tightly-wound nature. "And she looked so beautiful in the moonlight…" Pyrrha tailed off, remembering the scene.
"Ohh you got it bad," Nora said sympathetically. Pyrrha nodded miserably.
"And I don't know what to do. She's expressed her rather intense displeasure at past attempts to court her, and Jaune's already trying to woo her…"
"Okay, second part first," Nora decided. "I really really doubt Jaune's ever going to get Weiss to go out with him. Also, it's not a 'dibs' system. As for the first part… All those other people Weiss mentioned were like Atlesian dickheads, right? You know, rich snobs and people wanting a ticket to wealth and fame. And I guess Jaune, but he really needs to work on his approach," Nora said, frowning briefly. "You have something that none of them have, though!" she said cheerfully.
"What's that?" Pyrrha asked, lifting her head to look at Nora.
"You're Pyrrha fucking Nikos!" she cheered. "You're not some rich dickhead who wants to piggyback off her money and fame, and she actually seems to like you," Nora pointed out. "You've got talent, smarts, a good personality. And you've got nice tits!" she added.
"Nora!" she said chastisingly, cheeks turning red.
"What? It's true!" Pyrrha huffed at that.
"I don't know if that makes Weiss returning my interest more likely, though," she pointed out.
"Oh it absolutely does," Nora said, grinning. "Trust me, Weiss is absolutely swinging for the women's team."
"How do you know that?" Pyrrha asked, blinking.
"Well, you know how I grew up an orphan, right?" Nora asked. Pyrrha nodded. "I had to steal things to survive. I had to get really good at knowing when people were distracted, seeing where their attention was. I've never seen Weiss distracted like that by any of the male students, but I've seen her distracted by plenty of the girls," Nora said with a grin.
"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked, tempering her expectations.
"Yup! Seen her staring plenty of times at all the pretty ladies. She almost tripped over one time whilst looking at Coco. Though, that one might not be fair, I think I'd go gay for Coco. But never at any of the hunky guys. I'm preeeeeetty sure that Weiss is as sapphic as they come."
"That's… Encouraging," Pyrrha said, nodding. "I still don't know if I should act on this, though. She's just about gotten to a point where she's relaxing around us, and I don't want to make her uncomfortable. And it could just be a passing thing? It feels like it's come on suddenly…"
"Have you ever felt like this before?" Nora asked. Pyrrha shook her head. "What, never? No childhood crushes, no celebrities you fancied?"
"Not that I can recall, no. I mean, I've always known I was interested in women rather than men. But I was never… Attracted to them like that, if that makes sense?" Nora nodded.
"And you like Weiss because she's a pretty woman who you've spent a lot of time getting to know and like her personality?" Nora asked.
"That… About sums it up, yes," Pyrrha said with a nod.
"Huh. Well… I dunno! I'm not about to tell you to ask her out or to not ask her out, I can't really decide that for you. And 'follow your heart' is lame advice."
"Well… Thank you anyway," Pyrrha said, nodding and smiling. "This was a helpful talk!"
"Glad to help! Just lemme know if you do ask her out, I want to be maid of honour!"