Chapter 7: Weiss' Worries

Just a week has past since Velvet and Coco had started dating, and thanks to Ruby's caring words, Velvet had mustered the courage to come out to the rest of her friends. They all had pretty much the same shocked expression to the news that one of their friends was gay, but they all still had their own reaction to her reveal. And while she had her doubts about it, she was happy to see Coco stand by her side when she told them, despite how she initially tried to talk Velvet out of it to try and make sure she really was ready to come out of the closet. And now, Velvet was getting more and more comfortable with herself being with Coco as a couple and no longer attempted to hide her sexuality from the public eye. Coco was actually quite surprised by her girlfriend's sudden boldness, often caught off guard when Velvet would keep a hold of her hand or kiss her cheek around others, often getting more than a few onlookers bare witness to their not-so-subtle display of affection.

Just like now, as they they sat at their lunch table, Velvet had her arm wrapped around Coco's and her head resting on the other girl's shoulder, all the while the snow haired huntress in-training of Team RWBY watched them like a Nevermore. She looked around to her team, and saw them paying no attention to the actions of the couple and doing their own thing. Ruby poking her food with her fork, Blake staring at the pages of her book, and Yang currently in the midst of an arm wrestling competition with Nora which had lasted for the last five minutes.

"Are we seriously just going to ignore this?" the Schnee heiress asked her team with an obvious hint of annoyance.

"Huh?" Yang said turning her focus to Weiss and off her current opponent, letting Nora take the win.

"Yes! That's five in a row for Nora!" the energetic girl cheered, "And zero for Yang."

"Best out of eleven, Valkyrie!" the blonde demanded, slamming her fist on the table with her eyes flashing red and hair coming ablaze.

"What are you talking about, Weiss?" Ruby questioned.

"I'm talking about that," Weiss stated as she pointed toward the young couple.

Her team and JNPR looked in the direction she was pointing, only to be even more confused. To them, they saw nothing out of the ordinary, merely other students eating and talking amongst each other. The two teams looked to each other with raised brows, with Ruby even shrugging her shoulders, as none of them were sure of what exactly they were meant to be seeing.

"Okay Princess, I'll bite," Blake remarked, "What are we supposed to be looking for?"

"Coco and Velvet," Weiss responded, "They're 'together' even though they're in public."

Not a single person from either team said a thing as they all turned their gaze on the white haired heiress, all taken back by her statement. Some had their eyes widened while others simply had an eyebrow raised in confusion. Weiss took notice of their looks of disbelief and wondered why they were all looking at her like they were.

"What? Did I say something?" she questioned.

"Well, it's just that," Jaune started off, pausing to think of the right way to phrase his words, "Well it sounds like... um... Pyrrha?"

"Uh well, what Jaune's trying to say is," Pyrrha too struggled to think of what to say, "What you said might give off the vibe that... um..."

"What you said comes off as homophobic and quite honestly just very rude," Blake said bluntly, with her eyes narrowing to focus her gaze on her white haired teammate.

"What? No, I wasn't being... " Weiss started, "I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, but..."

"Weiss, are you perhaps a little 'old fashioned'?" Ruby asked her partner.

"No, I'm fine with two girls, or even two guys, being in a relationship together, it's just..." Weiss stopped and sighed, realizing she was making this way more complicated than it needed to be, "Look, we all know how Velvet is a target of bullying because she's a faunus, right?"

The two teams reluctantly nodded, as it wasn't something any of them liked to dwell on.

"And let's face it. Even though we're in a time of peace, the world is far from perfect. People face prejudice for several reasons, be it for what they are or who they like," Weiss explained, "While I'm grateful that Velvet trusted us, her friends, enough to come out to us first, I'm just worried that because her relationship with Coco is now out in the open, she might have made herself an even bigger target for bullying for being both a faunus and gay."

"Okay yeah, I see what you're getting at now," Blake stated, shutting her book, "But she shouldn't have to hide who she really is from the public eye."

"Don't get me wrong, I respect her decision to come out," Weiss admitted, "And I have to say, it takes guts to do what she did. She may be shy at first, but Velvet is quite brave."

"Yeah, I wish I had even half the courage it took to do something like that," Blake agreed looking up to her cat ears, "Maybe then I wouldn't need this bow to hide who I am."

"One day," Yang assured, placing her hand on Blake's shoulder.

"But my point is while I respect her choice, I still think this is rather reckless and dangerous," Weiss carefully explained, "I'm just concerned about her safety is all."

"Aww, the Ice Queen does care," Nora joked, jabbing at her usual cold nature.

"What is with that nickname?" Weiss irritably asked, "I have a heart!"

"Too bad it's frozen over," Jaune added under his breath.

"What?" Weiss asked again, unable to hear what he said.

"N-nothing!" Jaune quickly let out as his words were apparently not subtle enough.

"If you are truly worried about her well being, then the best thing to do is to talk to her and tell her how you feel about the situation," the usually quiet Ren spoke up, "Talking behind her back like this will only make matters worse in the end."

"Yeah Weiss, just talk to her," Ruby encouraged, "I'm sure Velvet will understand."

"Very well," Weiss complied as she stood from their table, "I'll be only a minute or two."

The two teams watched as the heiress walked away from them and made her way to Team CFVY's table at her usual pace.

"So," Nora started, "How much you wanna bet Velvet's gonna take it the wrong way?"

"Ohoho, I'll take some of that action!" Yang exclaimed, pulling out her wallet, "50 lien on her thinking Weiss is coming on to her."

"I'll put 35 lien on Weiss accidentally insulting her," Blake joined in, going back to her book.

"Oh! Put me down for 20 lien for it going just fine," Ruby also joined.

"Ruby, you don't have any cash," Yang reminded her sister, "Remember, you spent it all when you binge ate all that junk food last week."

The young silver eyed girl was reminded of her horrible stomachache from last week. Her self-inflicted punishment for nuking her gut with sweets which while her team called a waste of money, it was completely worth it from her point of view.

"Yang, can I borrow 20 lien?" the red cloaked huntress asked her older sibling.

"Not a chance," she replied, "Your own fault for wasting all your money."

"Jaauunnee," Ruby turned to the blonde swordsman, trying to get some lien from another source.

As Weiss made her way to the table Team CFVY sat at, she thought carefully about what specific words she wanted to say. She didn't want to upset Velvet, or worse, her girlfriend. Weiss wouldn't say she was scared of Coco, but she would rather not be on the receiving end of her oversized firearm. Upon reaching the table, she was still not completely sure how to phrase her concerns. To the rest of her team, Weiss had seemingly frozen still mere feet behind Team CFVY, staring intently at the back of Velvet's head. Several seconds passed until the heiress finally decides to start up and clears her throat to gain the attention of all members, with the exception of Fox who had been aware of her presence with his aura.

"Hey there Ice Queen," Coco jokingly greeted, "What can we do for you?"

Weiss ignored Coco addressing her by that nickname and turned her briefly lost attention back to the faunus.

"Velvet, I would like to talk to you," she requested, "Preferably in private."

"Um, sure thing, Weiss," Velvet accepted as she stood from her spot.

"Now don't be trying to seduce my girl, you hear?" Coco joked.

"I-I wasn't... I'm not... I don't swing that way," Weiss stuttered flustered and redfaced, "I just wanted to talk to Velvet okay."

As Weiss walked off toward the exit, Velvet was about to follow suit when she was stopped by a gentle grab on her wrist. She turned back around to see Coco giving her a look. One Coco rarely bared in public. She said nothing, but Velvet knew what she was asking her by giving her this look.

"I'll be fine," Velvet reassured before Coco let her go to follow the white haired member of RWBY.

Coco kept her eyes on Velvet until the door shut behind her and she was no longer in Coco's line of sight, then she turned back to her table, looking down at her remaining food. She turned to her left to see Yatsuhashi looking her way with a raised brow.

"What?" Coco questioned their looks.

"Are you perhaps worried about Velvet?" Yatsu asked their leader.

"What for? Velv is a big girl, she can take care of herself," Coco brought up with hints of doubt in her voice.

Coco looked back down to her food and almost got lost in thought when she felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. Turning back to her male teammates, she saw Fox glancing to her way, giving her a comforting look. Without saying a single word, he merely nods to her. Coco both sighed and let out a small laugh under her breath before forming a smile on her lips.

"Thanks, Fox. You always know what to say," she sarcastically stated before standing up from her seat, "I'll be back in a bit."

-x-

As Velvet followed Weiss from the hall to courtyard to avoid being overheard, she wondered why the snow haired heiress wanted to speak to her. Part of Velvet was worried, as she had heard that Weiss wasn't the biggest fan of faunus, Blake being the only known exception. She wasn't sure whether or not she fell into the same boat though. Their walking came to an end at Beacon's statue of a huntsman and huntress standing over a Beowolf. Velvet made sure to stop a few paces back to give Weiss her personal space.

"Velvet," Weiss got her attention, "As your friend I believe it is best that I state some concerns I have for you."

"Concerns?" Velvet questioned, tilting her head, "About?"

"About you..." Weiss hesitated, trying to phrase her words right, "You being... You know..."

"Wait, Weiss," Velvet interrupted, "Do you... do you have a problem with me being gay?"

"What?! No! No no no! That's not where I was going!" the heiress denied, "I just... I just don't think you should be so public about it."

Velvet couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here she was being told by someone she considered a friend that she should have stayed in the closet. She was rarely an angry person, but this got her heated up, and Weiss could tell from her look that she didn't take it well.

"Well, that's none of your business," Velvet huffed at her defensively, "Now is it, Ms. Schnee."

The rabbit-eared faunus turned her back to the first year and was about to storm off back to her team, until she was once again stopped by a grab to her wrist. She faced back around and was not surprised to find the one holding her back was the snow haired girl, but what was surprising was the look on her face. One which showed that instead of being hurt by what Velvet had said, Weiss bared a more concerned look.

"It's not like that Velvet," Weiss reassured, "I just... I know you get picked on for being a faunus, we're all aware of it, but I'm worried for you. Worried that being both a faunus and.. you know, might bring you more attention than you'd like."

"Wow, Weiss, I never knew you cared so much," Velvet expressed her surprise, "And here I thought they called you 'Ice Queen'."

"Ugh, I seriously wish I knew who started that insulting nickname," Weiss stated before getting back on track, "Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being who you are, just... be careful."

Velvet couldn't help but grow a smile upon hearing her friends words, both from how heartfelt they were and that she wasn't suggesting she stay in the closet. It made her happy to know that even though Weiss could often be quite cold and blunt about things, she was still someone she could call a friend.

"Very well, I'll keep an eye out," the faunus complied, "And thanks, Weiss."

"You're welcome," she replied, "And know, if you ever need help, all of us on Team RWBY would be more than happy to assist you."

"I'm glad to hear. Now, could you let go of my hand?" Velvet asked in a nervous tone.

Weiss made a confused look, and upon looking slightly down, it changed from confusion to embarrassment. Not only did she still have a hold of Velvet, but Weiss' hand had slipped from its spot on Velvet's wrist to her hand. For an unknown amount of time, she had been holding hands with a girl who was known to be attracted to the same sex, in public. Velvet watched as the normally pale skin of Weiss' face turn to a shade of red that would match that of Ruby's cloak. To say the least, the moment had become quite awkward, and Weiss quickly jerked her hand away.

"S-Sorry!" the heiress abruptly apologized.

"It's fine, Weiss, I don't think of you like that," Velvet reassured, before giggling at a thought, "Though, you are cute when you blush."

"T-That is NOT funny!" Weiss retorted, her face somehow getting even redder.

"Hey, if Neptune doesn't work out, I'm sure Coco wouldn't mind a threesome," the rabbit girl suggested while trying to hold her laughter.

"Stop it! I don't swing that way!" the snow haired girl repeated her attempts as to not be more embarrassed.

A few minutes passed before Velvet stopped trying to make Weiss feel uncomfortable. The two girls split ways, Weiss heading back to the mass hall to rejoin her team, while Velvet decided to call it a day and go back to her dorm, wanting to take a quick shower, get some light reading done, and then off to bed. Unbeknownst to the chocolate haired faunus, that the day was not done with her just yet, as a young man with burnt-orange hair began to discreetly follow her.