While he wasn't the one suffering the most from it, the man felt a very palpable sense of dread. While he and Blake weren't the closest of friends, hearing that she'd run away and wouldn't answer anything was a horrific feeling. He imagined her team felt it the worst, but the unknown aspect of her having disappeared was the sort of dark anticipation like when waiting for news one didn't want to hear. He had no idea of where she was, or if she was even okay.

Weiss was a mess of emotions, least of which was anger. Blake was her teammate, but there was no doubt that she was the one who drove her away; the man didn't know the exact details, but it wasn't hard to guess that the taste he had yesterday only got worse after he left. After a long hour that RWY spent looking fruitlessly for Blake, Weiss came to her boyfriend for comfort and in sorrow.

Weiss hadn't stopped pacing since she dragged her boyfriend into an empty room to vent. "She-she won't answer her phone, she won't respond to texts, she cut off the team tracker, it's the middle of the night, where would she even go? I don't– I don't know what I was thinking saying that, and–"

"Weiss. Tell me what happened."

Taking a long breath, Weiss sat down on a desk, clutching her hands together. It took her several minutes to compose herself. "We… we got into a fight earlier. There was a break in at a Dust shop, and I brought up the White Fang."

That was a red flag right there. Even the first meeting with Blake at the library clued the man in that she had very strong opinions on the White Fang, as well as Faunus Rights in general. Especially during class, she was always butting heads with Cardin, who turned out to be super racist.

"Things… escalated," Weiss said, too ashamed to look forward. "I said that… that Faunus like the White Fang are liars and thieves." Weiss noticed her boyfriend glare at her, reminding her that Faunus were people. "T-to my credit, immediately after I said that, we saw a Faunus running from the police!" She paused, sensing her behavior was still intolerable. "I explained that the White Fang had done plenty to my company and people I've known, but… I… I messed up. Blake screamed at me and… she said something she shouldn't have."

"What did she say?"

Weiss apologetically continued, "I don't think I can tell you what she said, but then she ran away. It's something… she… I don't know if she should be arrested…"

The man's eyes widen. Even more confused than before, he wondered just what Blake's story was; clearly, she was far more than a well-read activist. "That bad?"

Weiss shook her head. "I don't know! She's not a bad person, but I think she's done bad things! I'm worried about her and what she's going to do! If she's going to do anything!" She turned her attention to a window and stared at the fractured moon. Sadness touched her face as she reached out for a hand. "I'm sorry. About everything; about screaming at Blake, about my father, about getting angry at you earlier… You were trying to stop… THIS… from happening and I just stormed out. And I drove Blake away because of it!"

"It's okay, Weiss. I'm sure she'll come back and you can apologize to her."

Tears began to well up in Weiss' eyes as her fists clenched. She threw herself into the man's chest, clutching his shirt tightly while her eyes ran and her voice choked. "I don't know what to do!" Heavy sobs rumbled through the man's body as Weiss cried into the only person she could; she didn't even trust Ruby or Yang enough to see her this much of a mess.

In a rather uncomfortable situation, the man decided to say nothing. He brushed a hand through Weiss' hair to soothe her and bring her in for a hug. Weiss cried into his shirt for what felt like an hour as she faced the reality that she had driven a friend away and that she might not come back. Even with her boyfriend reassuring her that everything would be okay, she took a long time to recompose.

"Weiss, I think you've done everything you can for right now," the man said as Weiss' breathless gasps began to subside. She wiped her eyes, her face streaked with wet makeup and pink skin. "I think it's best if you go back to your room and sleep. We can work things out tomorrow when you and Blake have a chance to cool down." As he looked at his scroll, he saw it was nearly 1 in the morning; nothing was going to get done tonight, especially with Weiss as she was.

Weiss continued to rub her eyes. Through the last sobs, she said, "O-okay…" With a sharp breath, she mostly returned to her regular demeanor, albeit still with her tear-stained face. "Come with me," she asked, her soft voice impossible to ignore.

"Of course." Weiss smiled and tightened her hand in the man's. She led him to a girl's bathroom, where she stepped in to freshen up; he knew her selfish pride would suffer if Ruby and Yang knew she'd just been messily crying. After a moment, Weiss came back, looking far more composed. She grabbed the man's hand again and began going back to her dorm.

"Thank you, Sweetie," Weiss said, as she reached her door. She released the man's hand, only to give him a tight, full-body hug followed by a kiss on the cheek. After standing up taller to face her remaining teammates, she opened the door and went inside.

The man heard Yang ask where Weiss was, and the muffled response of her thinking the whole thing over with him. She then stated that the three of them should try searching town tomorrow. Seeing as she didn't ask her boyfriend to help, he assumed this to be a team thing and leave it. His body suddenly catching up to the time, he headed back to his dorm and got to bed, making sure not to wake his team.

—

The weekend passes uneventfully, for the man at least. Blake was still missing, but RWY had been spending all their time downtown looking for anything that would lead to finding her. Weiss did leave her boyfriend out of it; it seemed she didn't want him to get wrapped up in the whole mess, so he just occasionally texted her to see if she was doing alright. He texted Blake a few times, but she predictably didn't reply.

The man's relaxation is abruptly interrupted by a text from Weiss saying, "We found Blake! Things happened that I need to tell you about! But she's back!" About two hours later, Weiss excitedly grabbed him to talk. As opposed to last time, she was positively jubilant; rather than mope on the desk, she was bouncing around.

"She and that Faunus boy I told you about– the thief boy– were looking for the people who robbed the Dust store!" Weiss was shaking, relieved and reignited now that she'd mended her relationship with Blake. "It turns out we were both right: the White Fang was responsible, but they were being led by Roman Torchwick. Blake and Sun actually fought with him! I don't know exactly what happened, but Ruby's new friend somehow put a stop to it all."

"That's great!" The man replied, also relieved that Blake was alright. He was definitely worried, but he would never have guessed that she'd actually fight a master criminal. God, the RWBY girls are way more than your average students.

Weiss took a moment to calm down. "I… I've decided that I don't care what Blake did in the past. I've made plenty of mistakes and kept a lot of bad habits, but I've grown since I met you." Weiss looked up to her boyfriend, lovingly. "You and Blake. And Ruby and Yang, too. It's only fair that I forgive Blake's mistakes if I want her to forgive mine."

"That's great to hear!" the man said, taking great pride in having positively affected Weiss' life. "So, are you two okay?"

Weiss sighed, somewhat unsure. "For now. We're still rocky, but I don't think we're going to do anything stupid like scream at each other again. I still need to make a lot of changes, and… well, she doesn't really need to make many. I apologized several times when the whole thing ended."

The man flashed Weiss a wide smile. He was certain it was hard for her to admit her faults on such a grand scale, but she swallowed her family's pride and said she was sorry.

"When all is said and done, Blake is my teammate," Weiss continued, a solemn sense of pride in her voice. "And she's my friend. I don't want to lose her again."

"Well, we should get part of that sorted out, right?" a sarcastic voice said from the doorway. Blake walked in, motioning to the open door that Weiss' voice no doubt carried from. She smiled at Weiss and looked at the man. "I knew I'd find you here. I… well, I did just spend two days as a vagrant. So, I assume your offer for a place to crash is still up?" She turned to Weiss. "Assuming your girlfriend is okay with it?"

Weiss smirked. "As long as you don't try anything funny– flirty or bullheaded. I don't want to try calling my boyfriend and hear you've gotten tangled up in a drug trade."

"I promise," Blake laughed.

"I have no problems with you staying over. It's just a week, after all. I promise I won't let her feminine wiles get to me."

Blake's expression warmed even further. "Thank you SO much. I'll throw in $250, plus I imagine you're lacking in cooking skills. Cleaning is an extra $59.99. I lied, I'm doing that regardless; I have zero faith in your home skills." Weiss laughed, despite having far poorer cooking and cleaning skills.

"Ahh, oh, who am I kidding? You're right." The man's cooking skills were meh at best, and having a home cooked meal made by Blake did sound nicer than TV dinners. He also appreciated the fact that she'll clean. It was a little selfish, but he imagined she considered both parts of the payment for renting a room; she'd offered about half of her hotel budget, so she got to keep some money, and he got some extra spending cash.

"I will be giving you some home ec classes," Blake said. Looking playful, she added, "Girls love a man who can cook. Especially ones that had a cake butler."

"I ta–" Weiss started before stopping. "Oh, I'll let you have that one. Have your fun."

Blake let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's been a long semester! I'm ready to sleep in for once." She yawned. "Only a little longer. Oh," she said, drawing her attention to the man, "We should go shopping before break; we can pick up food and I can grab some less sexually appealing pajamas so I don't tempt you any more than normal."

Seeing Weiss playfully frown, the man agreed, "Sounds good." His thoughts are suddenly filled with waking up to Blake in a t-shirt and panties; he hadn't seen her pajamas and while he imagined she doesn't wear something like that, it was nice to pretend. The idea of four incredibly hot girls sleeping in the same room in skimpy pajamas certainly had its appeal. "And don't worry, Weiss, we can set up a video chat." The man's thoughts drift to Weiss laying in bed in her underwear. Judging from her more enthusiastic kisses and even flirtier comments around him, he felt their relationship might upgrade soon. Though, that might just be him confusing dreams and reality; Weiss, in addition to her occasional racism, had adopted her family's more archaic ideas of marriage and sex that led the man to believe she believed in a wedding first.

"In that case," Weiss said, mimicking Blake's yawn and snapping the man back from thoughts of sex. "I'm drained. I can only imagine how tired you are, Blake."

"Exhausted. It turns out fighting crime takes a lot out of you." Blake began walking out of the room, waving back. "See you, Roomie." Weiss gave her boyfriend a quick kiss and followed her.

The man waved goodbye to Weiss and Blake and turned in. In only a week, he'd get to enjoy a long break from classes. He reminded himself to make it through just a little longer before relaxing.