Fall had come and gone. Time at Beacon had just about reached the end of the beginning, and things were winding down with winter break on the horizon. What this meant was that instead of waking up early and going to classes, a certain individual would get to sleep in and laze around in his room. That part was nice, but the bad part of the holidays is that he will soon be separated from Weiss; his girlfriend had essentially been summoned back to Atlas to be her father's doll in a number of fundraisers and galas.

The man is pretty thankful for technology. Weiss would be a world away, but it wasn't like they couldn't keep in contact; it'd been about a month give or take since they started dating, but he can already tell video chat wouldn't be as good as face to face. Sure, the two weren't… physical, but being together was nice, and Weiss did love it when he stroked her hair and held her hand. Kissing was always nice, especially because she always smelled wonderful and carried a different taste each time.

The inevitable conversation between the man and Weiss about voice chat schedules was in the near future, so he found himself right outside RWBY's dorm. As he went to knock, he was interrupted as an unfamiliar voice screamed, "GAH!" Seeing as he hadn't touched the door and therefore weren't responsible, he poked inside and examined who was so angry.

Blake doesn't even perceive the man as he stepped into the dorm. He realized the reason that he didn't recognize the voice screaming was that he never heard Blake raise her voice; to this point, he hadn't heard her ever say anything louder than any casual conversation, and she never sounded anything other than in control. However, today, she was screaming at her scroll, but quickly calmed down upon seeing someone.

"Hi," Blake said, trying to be calm. It was obvious from her face that she was anything other than fine, but seeing someone at least kept her rational. "I assume you heard that?"

"Yes, I did," Weiss said, coming in from the bathroom, brushing her ponytail out of her face. Once her focus from Blake shifted, she saw her boyfriend. "Oh, hi Sweetie." She quickly saw him staring at Blake, who was uncharacteristically angry. "Blake, are you alright?"

Blake, taking a breath, calmed down. "I, personally, am fine. As for my housing situation, that leaves a bit to be desired." She looked back at whatever made her angry and put a hand to her forehead.

"What happened?" Weiss asked.

"I rented a hotel room for break at the beginning of the semester, but they say they can't find any record of it. Everything else is going to be full, and the only places I can afford otherwise are going to be in the slums."

This year, Beacon was doing extreme renovations on the dorms, requiring all students to find alternate housing for a week over winter break. For most students, this wasn't a problem; winter break was the first chance to visit family since the semester started. Weiss was going home, and the man was set as well. Blake, clearly, had some issues.

"You aren't going home?"

Blake paused, thinking carefully about her words. "No. Money issues and it's not worth the effort. Though now, I'm homeless…"

"Oh, my gosh, you should have said something!"

"I just tried to check in. I knew I'd have to rent for break, but they lost everything!" Blake fumed. "I'm never going to be able to find a place to stay on such short notice! Not without sleeping next to a drug den…" She sat down, holding her head.

The man continued to stand around, awkwardly listening in on Blake's problems. Weiss was trying to help, but was getting nowhere and not understanding Blake didn't have infinite cash; she was recommending five star places that charged hundreds a night while Blake groveled in despair. She still lacked the understanding of a common person, and a student at that.

Deciding to be useful and at least make the offer, the man said, "Well… I have a place."

"Hmm?" Blake and Weiss both turn to look at the man. Blake's bow perks up, hopeful. "Go on."

"I have an apartment just a few minutes from downtown," the man explained. "It's usually rented out, but I'm there for break. It's only got one bedroom, though; I mean, if you don't have anywhere else to go, I'm sure it'd be fine."

Blake looked at Weiss, then back to the man. "Are you serious? Is that okay?"

"Sure. I don't exactly want to leave you out in the cold or some slum."

"Well, I have…" Blake took a second to count. "$6– I have $500 that was going towards my room; to be honest, I was planning on sleeping in the library so I didn't have to pay for a fifth night." She smiled, the warmest any had ever seen her. "Would that really be okay?"

Weiss, having been a bit stunned, piped up. "Yes. Would it? I mean, it's a bit strange, right?" She looked away from her boyfriend, blushing a bit. "Sharing a room with a girl…"

Blake raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Don't tell me you'd be jealous? I'm fine crashing on the couch, to be honest. It's not like we'd be in the same bed."

"I wouldn't be jealous!" Weiss said, not exactly helping the idea. "It's just… he's my boyfriend. I don't… Ugh, you know!"

Blake scanned the man up and down. "Look, I've read enough bad romance novels to know not to try and sleep with your boyfriend." She gave Weiss a reassuring smile.

Throwing an opinion out, the man told Weiss, "If she doesn't have anywhere to stay, then I kind of have to. And yeah, I can take the couch or something. It'll be like she's renting; it's no different from having my team in the same room as me." Seeing Weiss' pout, he added, "You're welcome to call any time and check up on us."

Weiss looked unamused with the whole idea. Still, she clearly recognized that there weren't too many choices unless she wanted to rent Blake a five star hotel herself. "I… guess I can live with it. But you two better not do anything!"

"Aww, you ruined my plans. I was going to buy a maid costume and clean his room, taking every chance to bend over in a cute little skirt," Blake laughed. "Weiss, I promise I won't make, nor accept any moves from your boyfriend, assuming we sort this all out." Seeing Weiss disapprovingly huff, she said, "The farthest I'll go is cleaning the place; I imagine he isn't keen on cleaning." Both Weiss and Blake turned to the name as man shrugged. "I'll forgo the maid outfit, I promise; I have too much pride, anyway."

Weiss looked at Blake, then to her boyfriend. Sighing, she asked, "You don't really have any other options, do you?"

Blake's brow furrowed and her demeanor shifted to a much darker tone. "No. I don't know how much you heard, but that was hour three on the phone; the place I rented says I never made a reservation, even though I knew the exact date I originally called. Ugh." She rolled her eyes at Weiss. "And no, not all of us have the luxury of being the Schnee heiress, so I can't afford anything else. They offered me a room for nearly twice what I was originally quoted after they figured out I had no other options."

"I may be able to help you find something suitable. I'm sure father would understand," Weiss said, somewhat hurt. "Surely, he wouldn't let my teammate go without a place to stay for a week."

The way Blake's eyes narrowed was almost audible. She stamped her feet and said, "Please. Your father lets plenty of people starve, why should I be any different?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Weiss predictably shouted, going on the defensive. She clenched her fists, meeting Blake's stomp with one of her own.

"I mean when your father isn't a slave driver, he's driving people out of their homes! He sits in his ivory tower while his employees die in mines for pocket change!"

This was bad. Being caught in an argument between Blake and Weiss was a battle that couldn't be won; Weiss was the man's girlfriend and wanted more than anything to right the wrongs of the Schnee name, but Blake was right about how much of a monster Jacques Schnee was. It was unfair for Blake to attack Weiss for her father's practices, but her hatred wasn't misplaced. Weiss still carried plenty of poor morals from her family, so there were times when she had parroted racist beliefs and supremacist doctrine; though the man was dating her, he definitely had been trying to correct some of the behaviors she'd inherited from her background. Both girls had very valid points, and he was unhappy to recognize that Blake's were better.

Sensing the reaction to Blake's incendiary remarks, the man put a hand out to stop Weiss from escalating. "Quiet, both of you." He immediately sensed both girls glaring daggers at him and regretted his phrasing.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Weiss snapped, slapping aside her boyfriend's arm. "She's the one attacking my name!" She straightened her back, increasing her presence.

"A name associated with greed, racism, and hatred!" Blake stood up, ready to confront Weiss.

Acting mostly on instinct, the man used his Semblance to forcibly send Blake and Weiss away from each other. Blake fell back onto her bed and Weiss stumbled backward, catching her footing. Both glared at him, then at each other.

Weiss vocalized her anger, turned her nose up, and stormed out of the room without another word. Blake took a moment to breath, then tried to relax her tensed body. She looked at the man and said, "I-I'm sorry about that. I… hope I didn't just ruin things for you two." She put a hand on her trembling leg. "Thanks for keeping us from each other."

The man sighed, also worried about him and Weiss. Deciding she needed a moment to cool down while Blake was far more lucid, he said, "I… think I can talk to her later. You know you shouldn't have antagonized her like that."

Blake looked at the floor. "I… should not have. I should blame the three hour call about how I don't have a home, but… this has been a long time coming if I'm being honest."

Sensing the need to talk things out for a bit, the man down. "You can stay with me if you need to, regardless of what Weiss says."

Blake let out a long breath. "I have… a lot going on right now. A lot that I can't exactly share with you. No offense." She calmed herself down. "Thank you for the offer. I… think I'll take you up on that, seeing as I don't have much choice. For now, though… can you leave? I need some time to myself right now." She turned toward the window, signaling the man to make his exit.

Thankful the moment was done, the man left RWBY's dorm. Several ignored texts later, he realized Weiss was going to need some time to cool down before they had a talk; Blake had definitely touched nerves she shouldn't have, and him trying to calm her down might have been a mistake.

Weiss kept dark for the rest of the day. Thankfully, Blake let the man know the next day that RWBY was heading downtown to welcome the incoming students from Vacuo, and that Weiss was coming; that at least meant her and Blake weren't at each other's throats for the moment. He decided to let Weiss go at her own pace and that he'll try texting her again later.

The man spent the rest of the day lazing around, not thinking about much of anything save the upcoming Vytal Festival. In the middle of his thoughts, he received a text and found that it was from Weiss. Pulling it up, he sat up straight, shocked by the contents.

"Blake ran away."