Dogpile

"I'm not sure how I should take all of this, Blake," Kali Belladonna said, even her libertine views on sexuality being tested by her daughter's extensive confession.

"It's what Yang and I wanted, Mom."

"Wanted it for an entire weekend, apparently," Kali shot back with a smirk. "Your father is still adjusting, you know," she added.

"I hadn't noticed," she said flatly.

"So you and this Jaune aren't a thing?"

"He's a friend. Just a friend," she hastily clarified.

"You seem to have surrounded yourself with good friends, Blake. I'll confess I feared you'd never manage it," she said with a wistful sigh.

"Thanks, Mom," Blake retorted darkly.

"But still, a very good friend, if your reactions are any indication."

The fact that Blake averted her gaze as her cheeks turned crimson was all the answer Kali needed from her daughter.

"Oh. Hello, Blake," they both heard, the pair of Faunus turning to find Pyrrha Nikos descending the staircase.

"Oh, Miss Nikos, it's so good to finally meet you!" Kali said sweetly. "Kali Belladonna," she added when she realized Blake's awkwardness was preventing her from introducing them.

Pyrrha accepted Kali's hand, well-used to greeting fans, even if Blake's mother was a little more significant than just Joe Q. Public.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Belladonna. Your daughter has told me a lot about you," Pyrrha said politely.

"No she hasn't," Kali countered with a conspiratorial smirk.

"Well, for her," Pyrrha clarified, nervous at her white lie being torn down mercilessly but unwilling to call Blake's mother actually unpleasant; quite the opposite, based on the knowing, motherly smile she wore. "Blake, Mrs. Belladonna?" she began.

"Please, call me Kali," she insisted warmly.

"Kali," Pyrrha corrected herself hesitantly, "my parents, Athena and Keravnós Nikos," she said, stepping aside as the couple descended the final few stairs.

"Kali Belladonna, Mrs. Nikos, and the blushing mess trying to pretend she's not here is my daughter Blake," Kali hastily amended, gently clasping both of Athena's hands without hesitation.

"Pleased to meet you," Athena said with a soft smile, her husband chipping in a grunt of acknowledgement and a nod in the Faunus' direction.

"Your daughter is a wonderful young woman, Mrs. Nikos, such a caring, truly generous girl," she said, fixing Pyrrha in place with a knowing smirk.

Pyrrha's smile froze for a moment, her emerald eyes widening the slightest bit before she cut them to a somehow even-more-embarrassed Blake.

"She gets her social graces from me, as little as that seems to matter to most people," Athena Nikos replied with a wry smile, the source division of their daughter's attributes a long-running joke between her and her husband.

"Then we're going to get along just fine," Kali replied, leaning in a bit to stage whisper to Athena "We even share the same taste in men."

"Oh?" Athena asked, her head cocked quizzically, her husband raising an eyebrow.

"Kali, I couldn't find your Scroll," Ghira Belladonna said as he descended the stairs, he and Keravnós having to both pivot slightly to avoid bumping shoulders as he stepped past the Argosian.

"We'll figure something out, dear. This is Blake's friend, Pyrrha, and her parents, Athena and Keravnos…did I pronounce that right?"

"Close enough," he rumbled, far from the worst mangling of his name he'd heard.

"Ghira Belladonna," he said, offering a burly hand to the other man, a hand Keravnós took forcefully, a soft thunderclap heard as their hands both closed over the other's forearm.

"Well met," he said simply, giving Ghira a nod of respect that was returned in kind, the handshake lingering for a moment that was almost a challenge between the burly pair.

"Be nice," Athena gently scolded, getting a sidelong glance from both men, Ghira's shifting slightly to find Kali giving him the look as well, the both of them breaking contact with just enough hesitation to preserve their pride.

"Is everyone ready? Weiss isn't… tolerant of tardiness," Pyrrha said, putting the best face on her friend's oftimes prickly personality.

"Wait, Weiss put this together? I thought it was you," Blake answered.

"She was quite insistent, I'm not sure why. It's not like she can't afford it," Pyrrha said with a note of humor.

"Weiss… Schnee?" Ghira asked, knowing the name of his daughter's now former teammate, but unwilling to assume.

"Yes, my friend, Weiss Schnee. I'm still a little stunned myself," Blake admitted with a slight smile. It had taken Blake a lot to get her head on straight over the last four years, but the aftermath of Jacques' death had actually found Blake comforting the pale girl, much to their mutual surprise.

"Well, let's find out what's dragged us all halfway across Remnant, then, shall we?" Athena spoke up, long used to riding herd on Pyrrha's busy schedule.

"Ladies?" Ghira said, offering his arm to his wife, who took it eagerly, sensually stroking his bicep. "Later, dear," he said in a low, rumbling voice. Blake rolled her eyes at her parents' antics, even if it was something she'd adored when she'd been a mostly-innocent child.

"Maybe you and I can take a moonlit walk on the beach afterwards, my love," Athena cooed to her husband, mirroring her new friend's method of soothing her man.

"You go on ahead, Mom, I need to talk to Blake for a second," Pyrrha said nonchalantly.

"She's shy, if you haven't noticed," Kali said to the Nikoses, flicking her golden eyes back over her shoulder just long enough to wink at Pyrrha before the two sets of parents walked through the inn's front door onto the street.

Pyrrha's smile lasted for a full five seconds before she wheeled on Blake, a mixture of horror and disbelief twisting her otherworldly beauty into something nearly horrifying.

"You told her?!" Pyrrha whisper-hissed.

"She...got it out of me," Blake muttered irritably. "Used her stupid… mom powers," she said, gesticulating wildly.

"You said you could keep a secret."

"You don't know what she's like, Pyrrha," Blake replied dejectedly. "Besides, it's just the…" she trailed off, her eyes cutting up and to the right as she did the mental math, "seven of us that know what happened," she tallied, not knowing that that number was already incorrect.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

"Mom's okay with it, I promise. Dad'll come around in time, I think."

"Well, that's good…wait. What does your father have to do with it?" Pyrrha asked, not seeing the logic in spreading their naughty little secret any further than was strictly necessary.

"Huh?" Blake replied, rewinding the conversation in her head for a moment before her eyes went wide in shock at what she'd said. "Augh! I swear, this damn baby is eating my brain!" she growled before she froze in place at the even bigger secret she'd let slip.

Pyrrha gasped, flinching back as her brain processed what Blake had said.

"Baby?" she said with a quiet voice.

"That was the whole point of the exercise," Blake told her sheepishly.

"Yang told me it was just you wanting to have one last fling with a man who would treat you well before you two got married," Pyrrha said with a skeptical scowl.

"Of course she did," Blake muttered darkly, again reminded of how troublesome her girlfriend could be, no matter how well she meant.

"I guess that explains the lack of condoms," Pyrrha muttered, her own, repeated viewings of that entire tryst something that had kept her sane during Jaune's frankly brutal mission schedule since their graduation. That she had destroyed their bed and nearly broken his pelvis every time he'd returned home during that mission spree was just a happy coincidence.

"Congratulations, I suppose," Pyrrha added, her mind still reeling from the news. "And here I thought Nora would be the first of us to get pregnant."

"Have you heard anything from them?"

"They're still on their honeymoon."

Blake hummed in acknowledgement, the pair of Huntresses settling into a mostly comfortable silence for a moment.

"I'm not trying to baby trap him, if that's what you're worried about. I'm in love with Yang, in spite of her best efforts," she grumbled.

"We need to talk about this, all four of us, together. Wait, does Jaune even know?" she asked in sudden realization.

"Not yet, I only confirmed it last week. Don't even know what we're having yet," Blake said.

"Gender or race?"

"Both. Faunus traits generally don't show until sixteen weeks," Blake said, not surprised by a human not knowing the finer details of Faunus biology.

"Is it wrong that I can't get the image of a little blond kitten out of my head now?" Pyrrha said with a shy smile.

Blake chuckled softly, that very thought having run through her head for the entirety of the last week.

"I just want it to be healthy, and happy, and…" she trailed off, fixed in place by an emerald green stare. "And who am I kidding, yes, I hope it gets Jaune's hair," she said, sharing a warm smile with Pyrrha that even Yang only rarely got out of her. "We can't ever thank you enough for this, Pyrrha, you and Jaune both."

"That smile makes it worth it, Blake," she said, already giddy with anticipation of her own family with the love of her life. "And knowing that my man truly did tame his sexy little kitten is just a bonus," she quoted with a mischievous smirk.

"Please don't say that out loud," Blake groaned.

"Speaking of loud," Pyrrha began, her emerald gaze melting Blake where she stood. Or the reddest blush Pyrrha had ever seen, take your pick.

"We need to get going before our parents suspect anything," Blake deflected quickly.

"Or get lost. My mother's sense of direction is horrible," Pyrrha said with a smirk, making her way to the door and already finding herself making space for her pregnant friend.

This was going to be an interesting dinner.

"Ah, there you are, Wil," Tai said warmly, standing up from his barstool and getting both of his daughters' attention.

"Good to see I can still keep a man's interest in my absence," Willow Schnee fired back easily, the two girls next to Taiyang both gawking at her in unsettling fashion.

"That's your date?!" the three daughters said in unison, prompting nervous looks from both adults.

"Oh, don't be a prude, dear. He's not that scruffy looking," Willow defended herself.

"I prefer 'rugged'," Tai clarified. "Hello again, Weiss," he added, blinking once before his gaze darted back and forth between mother and daughter.

"You know him?" Willow asked quietly, an odd mix of surprise, confusion, and just the tiniest hint of annoyance bubbling away in her heart and mind. It wasn't like she expected her daughter to recommend charming older men to her, but still…

"Mister Xiao Long," Weiss said with much better manners than her mother was exhibiting at the moment, curtsy included. "Mother, this is my Academy partner and best friend, Ruby Rose," she said, her delicate hand indicating the still-gawking young woman, "her sister, Yang Xiao Long, and their father, Taiyang Xiao Long."

"Hi," Ruby said in a tiny voice.

"Damn, Dad, didn't know you were looking for a sugar mama," Yang added with a cocky grin.

"Oh, I assure you, anything I give your father would be well and truly earned," Willow shot back, her early childhood paradoxically insulating her from such banter in spite of her current wealth.

Ruby had to hand it to Willow Schnee; even Yang on her best day couldn't get that scandalized of a look out of Weiss.

"What?" Willow asked Weiss, who vigorously shook her head to remove the gawk from her face, her long ponytail swishing to and fro.

"And to think I was worried about winning our bet," Tai muttered.

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Willow asked him.

"Feeding these two can get expensive," he said with a smile, hugging his daughters to him.

"But why would you…Oh, this is absolutely precious! Your father is quite the gentleman, Yang," she added, two seconds away from giggling like a schoolgirl at the sheer absurdity of it all.

Or was it Taiyang's charm?

This is fun, Willow thought behind a bemused smile.

This is weird, mused Ruby.

This is ridiculous, Weiss wisely kept to herself.

This is hilarious, Yang thought behind her shit-eating grin.

This is…working? Tai pondered, somehow finding himself making inroads with literally the richest woman in the world, who also happened to be fun, funny, and quite the looker. In his book, anyway.

"Well, we're going to have to wait for a table, unfortunately," Tai said, thinking briefly of making a rich person joke but widely shelving such humor for the rest of the night. "Somebody has a large party reserved," he added, cocking his head in the direction of the three tables that had been moved together to form one long one, River and Jade Saleen just now finishing up setting the silverware out.

"Good to see this establishment is punctual," Weiss said with an air of authority. "Ruby wouldn't stop gushing about it."

"It's been something of a family tradition since they were little," Tai said with a smile. "And you're already basically family anyway," he added, giving a shrug.

Willow cocked an eyebrow, looking critically over Yang and Ruby for a moment.

"Well, that certainly explains a lot. So, which one of them are you dating, Weiss?" she asked, taking the implications in stride, it seemed.

"What? Neither! I'm not a lesbian, mother," she spat irritably.

"Can confirm," Yang chimed in, getting a blistering scowl in return.

"And even if I was, I've got better options."

"That's funny coming from someone who clamped onto me like a naked barnacle in that sleeping bag," Yang said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"I was suffering from hypothermia and you were the only one with enough body mass to keep me warm," Weiss countered in a flat tone.

"You calling me fat?" Yang shot back with a scowl.

"No, I'm not, and stop changing the subject." Weiss turned back to her mother, who wore a look of concern on her face. "It was on a training mission, and not nearly as serious as it sounds."

"God, if I had a Lien for every time I've heard that one," Taiyang chimed in, having easily more than double Willow's experience in that particular regard.

"I'm still getting used to the Huntress parent experience," Willow said with a sigh.

Weiss took a deep breath, a darkened scowl on her lips as she bit back a doubtless scathing remark, Yang's smile souring the instant she recognized 'Evil Weiss', as she called her. The look Yang gave her when their eyes met was as much warning as an expression of support, and Weiss' own face softened in response.

"Miss Schnee?"

"Yes?" Weiss and Willow said simultaneously, turning to face River Saleen, who regarded them curiously for a moment before recognizing the family resemblance and chuckling softly at the momentary confusion.

"Your table's ready, if the rest of your party is here," he said, restaurant policy in place mandating over half a party being present before being seated.

"Blake, Pyrrha and both of their parents left the Surfside a couple minutes ago, they should be here any second," Ruby said, holding up her Scroll with Pyrrha's text as proof.

"Oh, hey, Ruby," River said, his eyebrows shooting up at seeing one of his favorite customers when he hadn't been expecting her. Her bright, cheerful disposition was only outdone by her bottomless stomach when it came to his wife's desserts, and thus she was at once pleasant to serve, and a major contributor to Jade's college fund. "This way, please," he said, taking a sheaf of menus from his daughter as she forged ahead and began to pour ice water for the table.

"Did Pyrrha say whether both of them were here?" Yang asked, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Uhhh, yeah," Ruby answered after scrolling through her chat history. "Both of her parents, and she says both of Blake's, too," she added, knowing full well they were the people Yang was worried about.

"How do I look?" Yang asked nervously, fidgeting with her beloved golden mane to try and put her best foot forward.

"You're fine, just like the twenty other times you've asked me since we left the house."

"You're going to do fine, Yang," Tai reassured her, a soft chuckle in his chest when he remembered Jaune's antics not five minutes ago. For the briefest moment, he remembered Jaune's antics from two months ago, resolving to have a very long talk with his prospective…something or other.

Neither of them mentioned marriage, he reminded himself, which he wasn't exactly sure he was happy with. Granted, that made him a hypocrite of the highest order, considering how Ruby had come to be, but he was their father, for God's sake; he was supposed to not like it.

Right?

Jaune stuck his tongue out, checking the mirror to make sure it was still there in spite of the numbness the hefty dose of wintergreen had induced. He gave a short sigh, staring into his own face for several long moments while contemplating his fate.

One weekend fling with four ridiculously hot women was the dream of any red-blooded Orleanais man, but it had turned into a nightmare scenario for him.

Typical, he thought.

Blake had been uncharacteristically nervous, even more than he had been, but had gotten into the swing of things readily enough. Performing for the camera, for Pyrrha, had been an experience, and for a brief moment he contemplated what his life would be like if he'd gone into porn instead of becoming a Huntsman.

With my luck, it'd be ridiculously complicated, filled with bossy women, crazy family revelations and somehow end up with me doing interrracial gay-for-pay, he thought grimly.

Still, Yang's presence had gone from gently teasing friend and lover, to quietly ignored camerawoman, to furiously masturbating, to active participant in the span of twenty minutes. But for the relationships already in place, Jaune might have thought they had a future together, because damn Yang was ridiculously proactive in bed. There were quite a few men he knew that would have killed to be in his position, and that was before Ruby and Weiss had shown up when the three of them had run long.

And there was the dilemma.

Weiss? Water under the bridge, and just a good friend. As ethereally beautiful and talented as she was, he didn't think they'd have worked out in the long term, in spite of his mother's wishes on the matter. Not to mention that before two months ago, he would never have dared to think she'd ever see him in a romantic, let alone sexual, light. Bunking with Yang and Blake's constant sexual tension had to have been trying at the best of times during their final two years at Beacon, and she'd just snapped and taken advantage of the situation.

Right?

Setting that particular nagging doubt aside, Jaune sighed deeply, coming to the crux of the problem at last.

Ruby Rose had been the first person to befriend him at Beacon, the first one to believe in him, and had been a steadfast friend throughout their entire tenure. He'd slowly come to realize that he could do far, far worse than Ruby Rose when it came to companionship, both platonic and romantic. Had Pyrrha not finally overcome her fear of rejection during their junior year and confessed to him, he might have acted on those feelings and asked Ruby out. Given what he now knew, some of the things she'd said and done, he was almost certain she'd have said yes.

It was this that had him doubting his own feelings for Pyrrha, the nagging thought that she could do better than him rearing its ugly head once again. They were both truly wonderful women, but if he was being truly honest, he felt less self-conscious about Ruby than he did his own partner. His insecurities were much smaller than they had been when he first arrived at Beacon, but they hadn't vanished entirely, it seemed.

On the other hand, he loved Pyrrha Nikos so much it hurt, and he'd do anything for the genuine smile she shared only with her closest friends. He'd found the soft, playful side of the Invincible Girl, and the memory of the first, honest-to-God prank she'd pulled on him? The sparkling, uncontrollable laughter? That was a memory he would always treasure. Compounding the emotional side of things was the fact that she was hands down the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, let alone met. Pyrrha meeting his parents had been the most nervous day of his life, before today, and after a few, fumbling steps, they'd gotten along famously. His mother Rose absolutely adored her eighth daughter, as she called her, and even Renard Arc, famous for disapproving of prospective suitors, had gelled well with her.

Pyrrha being an absolutely phenomenal lover didn't hurt in the slightest, her playful and experimental side having awakened more than a handful of kinks between the two of them, including the fact that Pyrrha was a voyeur of the highest order, it seemed. Every time he'd brought up the recent problem, if one could even call it that, he'd never made any headway. He'd make the assertion that they needed to talk about it, and she made the counterargument that everything was fine. This largely consisted of getting pounced upon, dragged into the nearest bed, and being forcibly made to shut up by various parts of her anatomy getting shoved into his mouth.

Pyrrha Nikos was quite the negotiator.

Still, he'd almost been convinced by her attitude towards the whole affair, a little more so by Team RWBY's behavior during the aftermath, that everything truly was fine. So much so that the fruit of his grueling schedule for the last month and a half now sat burning a hole in his pants pocket, a tiny square box covered in black velvet. He was at once paranoid about losing the ring, and terrified of giving it to Pyrrha.

Perhaps this was finally the day?

If there was one thing he'd learned at Beacon, it was that worry was worse than the problem. He took a deep breath and sighed again, leaning in to look himself in the mirror.

"You can do this," he said quietly, leaning back and straightening the collar of his tactical polo shirt, his armor far less bulky now with the new composite materials that Weiss had sourced for him their senior year. A thorough once-over later, Jaune cracked his knuckles and his neck, relaxing the joints and his mind at the same time.

Stepping through the door from the bathroom, Jaune began to survey the crowd, trying to pick out his girlfriend's crimson tresses from the general populace as he walked towards the center of the dining room. Sidestepping a waitress, Jaune finally caught sight of Pyrrha, and froze like a deer in the headlights.

Sure, Pyrrha was there, and the redhead seated next to her had to be her mother, which meant the huge, burly man next to her was Pyrrha's father. His girlfriend had described Keravnós Nikos through rose-tinted glasses, clearly, the shaved head and permanent scowl on the burly man's face painted a truly frightening picture, despite Athena sitting next to him with her hand over his, laughing and smiling at something. The axe blade peeking over his broad shoulder didn't make him feel any less intimidating, and that was before he noticed the size of the table they were seated at. His eyes trailed down the table, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably as he saw the assemblage joining them for dinner.

Yang and Ruby sitting next to their father wasn't truly surprising, in hindsight, though confirmation that he had indeed spotted Willow Schnee was had when Jaune saw Weiss seated next to the woman. Blake was sitting next to Yang, but also with two people who had to be her mother and father. The entirety of his sexual history was calmly seated together, complete with their parents, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Iiiiiiiiiiiii need to check my hair again, he thought, quickly doing an about face and colliding with Jade Saleen as she tried to duck behind him. His own mass and her surprise sent her straight to the floor, a tray of thankfully empty plates shattering with a tremendous crash.

"Sorry," he said, dropping to a knee to check on Jade first before he began to help her clean up. This lasted a few seconds before he felt a hand on his shoulder, lightly but firmly clutching his shirt and pulling him to his feet, a brief tug felt on what little metal was left in his armor. He turned about to find Pyrrha's lips on his own, the full delight of her love for him banishing his trepidation for several long moments before someone cleared their throat behind her.

They both turned to find a peeved Ruby standing there with her arms crossed, a petulant scowl on her lips. Jaune and Pyrrha both chuckled, opening their embrace to allow their friend a spot within it. Ruby darted in, her arms wrapping the couple up in a hug which they eagerly returned. She nuzzled them both, but mostly rubbed her face into Jaune's chest, her hand slipping down his back to rest on the upper part of his butt, unseen to anyone at the table. Jaune froze at the contact, but Ruby withdrew quickly enough to make it a potentially innocent gesture, even taking into account the absolutely perverted mouth he now knew she had when she was in the mood.

"We were beginning to wonder if you'd gotten stuck," Ruby joked easily, her smile falling a bit when she saw just how Nervous Jaune was getting, blue eyes nervously darting over the rest of the group. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just had to throw up for a minute there," he said quietly before his face slipped into shock and horror. "Don't tell Yang," he asked more than ordered, Ruby and Pyrrha both chuckling at the memory of how he and Ruby had first truly met. Coming down from the endorphin rush of Pyrrha's kiss, Jaune again saw the group at the table, each watching and evaluating him with varying degrees of suspicion.

At the end of the table, Yang was Yang, a knowing smirk on her lips and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes that boded ill for general decorum, or worse, his self-esteem. Taiyang Xiao Long regarded him with a neutral expression that he couldn't quite read. It's not like his daughters would just broadcast their sexual escapades, right?

Right?

On Yang's other flank was Blake, her golden eyes regarding him warmly for a moment before her smile evaporated and she looked slightly away, Jaune's own smile in reply vanishing just as quickly. The woman seated next to Blake was almost a perfect copy of her daughter, save for the earrings and slightly darker skin tone. Her own sly smile was a more mature version of Yang's and now he was even more worried about what was going on, without even taking into consideration the hirsute mountain of a man that was Blake's father. At least he didn't seem overtly hostile, in stark opposition to Keravnós Nikos, whose baleful glare threatened to burn a hole straight through him.

Willow Schnee regarded him pleasantly for a moment before resuming her conversation with Taiyang, a warmth about her evidence of an undercurrent of something that had Weiss giving him and them both a disdainful scowl. Jaune couldn't tell if she was disgusted by her mother's almost flirty behavior or that of her now-former partner.

Well, partners, technically, Jaune thought, before forcing himself to imagine Professor Peach on the toilet with explosive diarrhea lest he become aroused with Pyrrha's hip nestled against his crotch. At least he now understood why Atlesians were famous for their pretzels; it was in their blood.

Athena Nikos was at least giving him a warm smile, though that could easily have been directed at her daughter as well. She had told him during their first conversation that her biggest wish was to see Pyrrha happy, and like an idiot, Jaune had promised to do his best to see it so, even though that was something that was increasingly unlikely, given how his life was turning out.

The three of them finally separated, though Pyrrha was quick to interlace her fingers with his, leading them to their seats, Pyrrha next to her mother, the Belladonnas just past that and Yang at the far end of the table, Jaune's place apparently being the other head of the table with two empty seats to his right, Ruby taking her seat between her father and Weiss. Jaune felt a small measure of surprised relief, given that it appeared he would have reinforcements if things became heated, especially with Ren's Semblance on hand.

"I can't believe you got those two away from their honeymoon," he said quietly to Pyrrha as Jade began to take appetizer and drink orders from the group.

"Hmm? Oh, no, Ren and Nora aren't coming, sadly. Weiss gave them a private ocean cruise as a wedding present," Pyrrha corrected him.

"Huh," he grunted in reply. Given that the two empty chairs were adjacent to Willow Schnee, Jaune tried to remember how many siblings Weiss had. It's two, right? He mused, before three words chilled his blood.

"There's my boy!"

Jaune turned around and caught Rose Arc's bear hug square in the gut, only falling short of Nora Valkyrie's positional asphyxiation by virtue of her Aura being locked. Jaune's heart sunk, the abrupt and jarring about-face his father had done on him completing his first year at Beacon was still something he was adjusting to. Renard Arc had gone from dismissive and distant of his dreams to the biggest Team JNPR fan on Remnant seemingly overnight, to the point of being intrusive. He knew that his father wasn't trying to live out some sort of lost glory vicariously through him, but that almost made it worse.

"Hi, Mom," he gasped out, hearing her sniffle against him. "What's wrong?"

"You think that just because I don't work at the Beacon infirmary any more means that I don't know people who do!?"

"Mom, I…"

"You're scaring me, Jaune. You're trying to do too much to impress…someone, I'm not sure who," she said, turning to look at her husband with a scowl, "but I've got a pretty good idea," she concluded, Renard's enthusiastic smile melting like snow in a blast furnace.

"It's done, Mom. Promise," he reassured her, squeezing her tightly.

"It better be. I don't care how big your Aura pool is, if I hear you're in the hospital again, you're grounded."

"I'm twenty-one, Mom," Jaune countered.

"You're still grounded," she muttered angrily.

"Now, now, dearest, you treated me for far worse when I was cutting my teeth as a Huntsman," Renard said, placing a soothing hand on his wife's shoulder, gently prying her off her son.

"You weren't my son, Ren," she countered flatly.

"Thank God, that would have made the family reunion weird."

Rose Arc failed to suppress a laugh at her husband's wit, his humor having been what had breached her wall of professional detachment in the first place. "You're awful," she chuckled.

"I love you, Mrs. Awful," he fired back easily, clearly a long-running joke for them.

"You're lucky I love you."

"I know."

The Arcs took their seats, Jaune following suit and quickly gulping down half of his water, pondering exactly what had brought this entire assemblage together and already dreading the answer.

"Ren and Nora couldn't make it?" Jaune's father asked, having long since all but adopted the two orphans.

"Still on their honeymoon. If Nora doesn't come back double pregnant I'd be shocked," Jaune said with a wry smile, a quick glance to his left showing that Pyrrha was doing much the same, but looking at him instead of Renard. "What?" he asked of her, the tension in his mind beginning to ramp up again.

"Nothing," she replied with a knowing smirk.

Before he could press Pyrrha on her non-answer, the table fell quiet as Weiss stood and rapped her fork against the edge of her empty wine glass, the chime clear and loud enough to get the attention of the table without being inconsiderately loud to the other patrons.

"Thank you all for coming, truly," she began. "Friends…family," she corrected herself, "and extended family are a concept that I will fully admit I have had trouble grasping over the years," she said, Willow's guilty look evident to Taiyang, whose attention was divided between the two of them. "I know it made me…difficult to deal with when I began my time at Beacon…"

"Ain't that the truth," Yang interrupted, getting chuckles from the rest of the recent graduates and an eyeroll with a slightly chagrined smirk from Weiss herself.

"In the last four years, I have grown as a Huntress, but more importantly as a person, and I cannot thank the rest of you enough for helping me to do so," she continued, the words likely rehearsed, rewritten and rehearsed again until they were perfect for conveying her heartfelt thoughts and feelings. "I've watched you all grow as well, and it's been my privilege to witness it first hand. Blake," she said turning to her, and garnering raised eyebrows from a good chunk of the dinner party at the taciturn Faunus being singled out first. "You taught me that prejudice is something that can be hard to let go of, and that our past does not define us, no matter how great our mistakes."

Blake bit her lips, unwilling to let words out for fear of stumbling over them, still managing to smile at her friend's, yes, friend's praise.

"Yang, you taught me that serious doesn't have to mean boring. In spite of your atrocious sense of humor and unending pranks, you have been a true friend to me, and all of us."

"I am pretty awesome," Yang beamed.

"And humble, too," Pyrrha quipped, getting chuckles from nearly the entire table.

"And so, in thanks, and in recognition of your love," she began, pulling a small envelope from under the cuff of her dress' long sleeves and opening it, plucking a glossy black business card from it, embossed lettering in gold leaf glittering slightly in the restaurant's lights. "The contact information for my personal travel agent. If and when you two finally decide to do the proper thing and get married, I'm paying for the honeymoon," she said, smiling a bit when Yang's eyes went wide at the generosity. "Within reason," she clarified as she handed the card across the table, not stupid enough to give someone like Yang Xiao Long an unlimited budget.

"Thank you, Weiss," Blake said for the both of them, her heart fluttering at the prospect of her and Yang raising their children as a couple, surrounded by the love of their families, both biological and adopted. Now if she could just muster the courage to tell her father and her children's father about them, that would be just grand.

"Ruby, while we didn't get off to the best start, you've become my best and closest friend, and I cannot thank you enough for your leadership and for being willing to see past my flaws and befriend me in spite of my best efforts to the contrary." She pulled another card from the envelope, offering it to Ruby. "I've arranged for you to have some one on one time with Alastair Shaw, the premier weaponsmith in the world," she said, stopping mid sentence when she saw Ruby's peeved expression.

"For the last time, Weiss, Crescent Rose is perfect just the way she is," Ruby growled, quite the sore spot it seemed.

"He's not going to do anything to your weapon, Ruby, he's going to teach you."

Ruby's silver eyes blinked twice as her point of view shifted dramatically, an excited gasp heard throughout the restaurant before Weiss was gasping for breath as Ruby hugged her fiercely.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou," Ruby chirped happily, swinging her best friend around like a tiny puppy.

"Let…go," Weiss grunted out, extricating herself only when Taiyang clamped a hand on his daughter's shoulder and brought Ruby down from her emotional high. Weiss grumbled, smoothing out her dress, taking a deep breath to calm herself before continuing.

"Pyrrha, you taught me that perfection doesn't have to come at the cost of your soul. You were always my inspiration, an ideal to chase, to drive me to be the best I can be. I would like to give you the chance to be that inspiration for others as well," she said, expanding a top-of-the-line Atlesian Scroll tablet and passing it across the table to Pyrrha. "I've recently gained access to a large portion of my grandfather's trust, and have entered into a joint venture with Pierce/Chloris Manufacturing. I would like you, Pyrrha Nikos, to be the face of Paragon Arms."

Weiss, knowing full well some of the distasteful things Pyrrha had been roped into during her youth, didn't give her a moment to question or worry.

"Everything is above board, I will personally see to that. You have personal control over any marketing involving you, as well as design input on any product line we build. Profitability will be kept to the barest amount necessary for the health of the company, and all employees will be paid a living wage according to their locality."

"I…see," Pyrrha said suspiciously. Weiss was a woman of her word, she knew, but she just wanted a quiet home life, with her eventual husband by her side, paired with the work of an active Huntress. Surely a hard balance to strike, but if Jaune's parents were any indication, it could be done. "Where would this be?"

"The headquarters would be in Atlas, naturally, but you won't be required to live there if you don't want to. It's not for everybody, I know. You'll have a lot of leeway to set your own hours, if you haven't checked the compensation clause."

Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow at that, swiping through page after page, her brow furrowing as she couldn't find a salary figure mentioned anywhere.

"I'm vesting you with ten percent of the company," Weiss clarified. "If you accept the offer, that is," she added, the surety of Pyrrha's acceptance showing in her smile.

To her left, Willow was left wondering whether or not her late husband's business acumen rubbing off on her daughter was a good thing or not. Across from them both, Pyrrha's parents were also regarding the proposal with a healthy degree of skepticism.

"An offer like this would normally go through my business manager," Pyrrha said with a high degree of suspicion.

"You hate your business manager," Weiss countered quickly, getting a barely suppressed giggle in reply. "Look it over, and we can discuss details later."

Weiss took a deep breath to steady her nerves before continuing.

"Jaune Arc. I can say with absolute certainty that you have changed my opinion of you the most over the last four years. From your beginnings, you were earnest, even if I found your efforts…lacking. Once we settled our…issues, I got to know you better," she said, cutting her gaze to her right to silence Yang's laughter before it got past a single snort of derision. Fighting a blush, she turned back to Jaune. "You've awakened hope in me, hope for the future, Jaune. I've never truly apologized for the way I once treated you, and can only hope to convince you of the esteem I hold you in going forward." Weiss produced and opened another tablet, sliding it across the table to Jaune. "And that is the first step, a promise, if you will," she said, falling silent at last.

Jaune looked up, finding her uncharacteristically nervous and almost shy, two words he'd never have associated with Weiss Schnee. Dismissing the incongruity for a moment, he dropped his gaze down, skimming over the words on the hardlight display before he froze, blue eyes going wide as his jaw dropped.

"What is it?" Pyrrha asked, craning her neck over to see.

"I…I thought you said you held me in high esteem, Weiss."

"I do," she answered haughtily.

"Weiss, this is a prenuptial agreement."

"Yes?" Weiss replied, unsure of where the conflict lay.

"You really think I would marry for money?"

"Of course not. You're probably the most honorable man I know. Granted, that list isn't terribly long, but you've got a good heart."

"Then why…?"

"It's to protect you from anyone who would discredit you on the subject. If you've signed a prenup, you don't have to ever have to answer that question. It's quite common in Atlesian society, I'm just looking out for you, Jaune," Weiss said with warm reassurance, glancing at his parents momentarily in search of support.

Renard and Rose Arc were skeptical, but Weiss' logic was at least halfway sound, so they didn't comment. Across from them, the Nikoses were likewise not thrilled by the implications of the document, but had to concede that it made sense.

"But…" Jaune began, glancing over to his girlfriend, "we're not even engaged," he said, unsure why he left the 'yet' unspoken for now.

Weiss regarded him with eyes wide, stunned to uncharacteristic silence by his response before she blinked and hung her head in exasperation, her slender fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. "You are such a himbo sometimes," she muttered irritably.

"Huh?" Jaune replied.

"Weiss?" Pyrrha asked gently, her slowly rising inflection telling anyone who knew her that she was in a decidedly ungentle frame of mind.

"Yes, Pyrrha?"

"Why is your name on this agreement?" she asked, an edge creeping into her voice to match the maliciously predatory smile on her lips. Said smile had made Cardin Winchester wet himself on at least one occasion, though Weiss took it in stride, seemingly expecting it.

"What!?" Jaune asked, his nervous grimace indicative of the general mood at the table. He knew full well the depths and capabilities of Pyrrha's temper when someone managed to rouse it.

"Because I've chosen Jaune to be my husband," she said matter-of-factly.

AN: Okay, I lied, this is definitely getting another chapter, possibly two.