The Schnee family had been divided for the longest time and with no guests to keep up appearances for, everyone took their meals alone. Jacques Schnee in his office while listening to an accountant's report, Whitley very late as he had started staying up late for some mysterious reason, and Weiss had a light breakfast in her room at the break of dawn. She never needed much sleep and she liked it that way: more time for training and studying. Everyone was trying to ignore Madame Schnee who usually kept to her rooms where she was stewing in either resentment or inebriation.
Weiss' morning routine wasn't shaken by the late night disturbance. If it were, it would be a sign of weakness and it would let the manor staff know that there was something amiss. In fact, Weiss was determined to not let last night's events affect her as she sipped her obscenely strong morning coffee. Neo was gone by the time she woke up, but that was to be expected. Weiss was sure that her rashness did not lead to anything untoward last night and that was it. She showed weakness once, but she'd make sure that it would not happen a second time.
Klein saw Weiss frown as her Scroll buzzed. That wasn't anything unusual. In Klein's humble opinion, Weiss was an unusually frowny child whether at herself or at others. However, he was perceptive and knew Weiss quite well from his years of service to the Schnee family. Which is why he knew that this frown was not ordinary. It only deepened as Weiss looked at the Scroll and Klein was sure a bit of color appeared on Weiss' cheek. It wasn't his place to say and if young lady wished to acquire any intimate friends, that was solely her business even if Master Jacques, like all parents, might see things differently, but Klein couldn't quite approve of lovers sending messages frank enough to cause blushing so early in the day.
"Is something the matter?" he asked while refilling Weiss' coffee.
"Do you think Father would object if I wanted to go to town today?" asked Weiss.
"I do not believe so, Miss," replied Klein, "You are not a prisoner, after all." He knew that he wasn't speaking the truth in the strictest sense of the word. While Weiss wasn't officially prisoner, or even grounded, her freedom of movement at the present moment was limited by Master Jacques' approval. Some sort of urgent matter was more than likely to materialize if she wanted to spend her time outside the manor grounds.
Weiss nodded thoughtfully. "I see," she said, "I'll be going out for lunch then. Since I'm not expected, there's no need to disturb Father when he's at work, is there?"
"Not at all, Miss," said Klein and left Weiss to her thoughts which mostly concerned Neo at the moment. She knew that the girl was trouble, more than that, she was a hardened violent criminal. And Neo herself had admitted that she was only trying to get close to Weiss so that she could get revenge on Ruby. Which is why replying to the Scroll message she had just received that said "Lunch today?" followed by a text emoticon so complex and bizarre even Ruby would have trouble decoding it was a bad idea. Neo's admission of ulterior motives had worked, however. All Weiss had to do to avoid hurting Ruby was to avoid falling for the girl. Simple enough: she had a lot of practice not having foolish and dangerous love affairs that Father would vehemently and violently disapprove of.
"So what? Neo is a murderer, but she looks people in the eyes when she kills them, I think. Is that so much worse than slowly draining people of life in mining camps? The only reason why father could disapprove of Neo and me becoming friends would be that he's ashamed in front of someone who is so much more honest than him?"
An excuse like that was enough for Weiss to send an affirmative reply. If she was a more introspective person or in a more introspective mood, Weiss would notice that she was acting out of half boredom and half spite against her father. Jacques Schnee saw his business practices as necessary evil if he wished to keep SDC at the top and prided himself on defeating his competition with just cutthroat business tactics and not actual cutthroats. He needed his cutthroats to keep the workers in line, anyway.
Neo's reply to Weiss' acceptance of the invitation was frustratingly short and cryptic. Perhaps she did not feel like typing long messages at the moment, but Weiss was convinced that Neo just wanted to appear out of nowhere and surprise Weiss instead of setting up a place where they'd meet.
She was correct on that account. Weiss felt very proud of herself when she didn't show the slightest surprise when she opened the door of her room to leave only to find Neo waiting outside. She did, however, show surprise at seeing Neo's clothes. Neo did not yet know Weiss well enough to tell the difference at that point, so Neo felt very satisfied with herself as well. Weiss' surprise was compounded when Neo curtsied. If she had time to think of it, she would realize that curtsying went very well with Neo's dress. It was an extremely old-fashioned affair made out of black silk accentuated with ridiculous pink puffed sleeves. The effort was crowned by a pink and black rose blossoms nested in Neo's hair. Weiss couldn't fathom why Neo would wear something so ridiculous and hideous, but the simple truth was that Neo had very little experience with both fashionable feminine clothing and dating. Not that Neo would admit to her lack of experience or that Weiss would admit she had accepted a date invitation from a murderer just to spite her father. No, it was just a friendly lunch between two people who had absolutely nothing positive in common and who knew next to nothing about each other except that they found the other physically attractive.
"Do you have some place in mind?" asked Weiss once Neo rejoined her outside the manor, but Neo just smiled enigmatically and gestured for her to follow. "Not feeling talkative today?" followed up Weiss and immediately scolded herself. She didn't accept the invitation to be antagonistic.
Neo only smirked and led Weiss deeper into the "bad" part of town, as much as there was a bad part of town in Atlas. Most of the people living in Atlas were fine with keeping the poorest, both Faunus and human, out. Still, this part of Atlas could be described as lower middle class, or in more harsh terms, petit bourgeois. Definitely not a place Jacques Schnee would want his daughter to visit. Weiss visited areas like this, and poorer, back in Vale, so she didn't exhibit any signs of uneasiness. This disappointed Neo. Corruption is always more satisfying the more exalted heights of ignorance and innocence the victim falls from.
Weiss was much less sheltered than Neo had expected. Sure, she was a student at Beacon and a Huntress in training that had tangled with Neo and Roman on more than one occasion, but Beacon wasn't really a school that showed its students the harsh realities of life. Maybe a more shocking course of action was in order. Neo led Weiss to a small restaurant that catered mostly to minor officials whose jobs did not have a workplace cafeteria or whose cafeteria food was so bad that employees just need a break sometimes.
No one looked twice at the pair of a wanted criminal and a Schnee heiress. Even if someone recognized a criminal from Vale and believed that Weiss Schnee would come to an establishment like this, they would know better than to interfere with whatever dealings the Schnee family had with the underworld element. Weiss herself tried to avoid attracting attention. She had been a minor celebrity in Atlas and she didn't want the news about her excursion to reach her father's ears yet. She let Neo take her to a table in the corner that could be considered semi-private. They wouldn't sit across the table from each other, but since Weiss still didn't consider this a fate, she did not mind.
"Should I order for us?" started Weiss, but Neo had arranged matters beforehand as the waiter immediately brought a bottle of wine adding that the meal would be ready in just a few minutes. Neo just smirked at Weiss. If Weiss decided not to come, no one would know about her failed planning, but now she was able to make an impression. An impression that was all the more precious because the best option in the restaurant's meager selection was an indifferent pasta dish that did not even have a fancy foreign name. Her inability to get something better frustrated Neo, but her meager budget was already seriously depleted by the expense of discreet travel from Vale.
Weiss was used to a much better fare both at home and at Beacon's cafeteria which did not skimp on providing proper nutrition to students. She made no comment on the meal itself. They both ate in complete silence. Weiss did not expect Neo to be chatty, but she talked a lot the previous night even if it was by a proxy. She inadvertently revealed too much of herself and now she was trying to compensate for it and maintain the air of mystery that she believed to be necessary for her plans. If she judged the red girl correctly, she would be hurt by the Schnee heiress associating with Neo even a little. Her goal was already fulfilled in a sense, but it was so easy, so unsatisfying and Weiss was attractive and still retained some idealism that would be so much fun to strip away. A memory of last night twitched through her mind and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of conscience.
She vaguely understood that she had crossed some sort of line, but that Weiss forgave her against all reason. Criminals of Neo's caliber often had at least a passing acquaintance with the mores of polite society, but Neo wasn't a social butterfly. Even if she could speak, she wasn't sure that she would. She mulled over her thoughts while sipping the wine. While both Neo and Weiss were considered too young to drink alcohol in Vale, Atlas was different. It was a fresh experience to do something legally for once. Most of Neo's conscience regarding theft, murder and other crimes of similar nature had long since eroded away, constantly tested by the demands of surviving in a criminal underworld. Personal matters were a different story. Her pursuit of revenge for Roman's death was not necessary. Death was part of rules of the game. You didn't hold a grudge against people whose help you might need tomorrow, you just watched your back. But Roman did a lot for Neo, more than what their relationship strictly required and she liked him. And as she thought back to what she had seen last night with an ashamed blush she pretended to be caused by the alcohol, taking her revenge with Weiss Schnee's unwitting help came with its own perks.
The wine had brought color to Weiss' cheeks as well. It was strong and she was light; it was no wonder she did not have much tolerance. She was fully aware of her slightly tipsy state, but she did not mind. Father would not approve and she was enjoying that he wouldn't approve. All her life, she was forced to push away her thoughts and her wishes and when she tried to get away, he father first tried to kill her, then took the first opportunity to drag her back. She had had enough and she was going to take this chance to act out again, especially since someone else was paying. If Neo's plan to take revenge on Ruby was to trash Weiss' reputation by showing her drunk in public, Weiss was going to help. Ruby was still young enough to think that getting drunk was really cool. Though considering her boorish drunkard uncle, maybe not. After all, if you're drunk, you can't properly play video games with your nieces.
Neo ordered a second bottle without Weiss even asking and by the time they left the restaurant, Weiss was walking slightly unsteadily. She leaned against Neo for support. "If you wanna kill me, now's a good time," she mumbled and laughed little. It seemed so absurd that she had just got drunk at a lunch with a vicious murderer.
Neo just smiled at her. Both because she had no plans for killing Weiss at the moment and because Weiss looked quite cute with the blush covering her cheeks. She put her hand around Weiss to help steady her until she sobered up and was surprised to hear Weiss giggle. A sound like that seemed so inappropriate coming from a Schnee, or really, any member of the so-called upper class. Giggling showed a genuine emotion and genuine emotions were a sign of bad breeding.
Without any warning, Weiss pulled Neo closer with surprising strength and have her a kiss on the lips. In public. The kiss was rather short because Neo was too surprised to reciprocate and Weiss almost immediately descended into a fit of giggles. "Got you," she said and it was unclear if she meant Neo or her father. It was both.
Neo quickly regained her composure and smirked at Weiss to show that she was still completely in control. Fortunately for her, Weiss was tipsy enough to believe her. "Hey, Neo," she said while pressing herself closer to her, "Let's go shopping. We had lunch, so now it's time to have fun."
When Neo showed her a completely empty wallet, Weiss pouted. "You're a criminal, aren't you?" Just steal something." Neo couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was true that alcohol often removed people's inhibitions, but Weiss had to be repressed beyond belief for it to have such an effect. Even if Weiss complained once she got sober, Neo knew that few things were better for building a relationship than shared guilt. You just had to have enough on the other person to make sure that if they decided to betray you, they'd go down with you. She put her usual smirk back on her face, wrapped an arm around 'her girl' and set out to do some shopping.
The part of Atlas with all the best shops was far enough from the restaurant for Weiss to regain most of her sobriety and reflect on what she was doing. Did she really kiss Neo, a criminal who tried to kill her and her friends? And worse, she couldn't even properly recall what it felt like. She immediately angrily banished the thought that she'd just have to try again. Sure, Neo was good looking and it felt nice to feel her arm around her, but Weiss never thought of herself as someone who would go for kisses even before the first official date. And of course, she couldn't really forget about Neo openly admitting that she wanted to get revenge on Ruby. Weiss was so busy mulling over these thoughts that she had almost forgotten she had incited Neo into committing another crime, even though Neo didn't really need that much incitement.
There was still time to tell Neo to stop, that she was just joking, but if she did that Neo would probably think Weiss was a coward. The opinion of a criminal and a murdered wasn't all that important to Weiss, but she kept thinking that it might be true. The danger of death by Grimm claw or a criminal's weapon felt like nothing compared to being publicly known as a criminal or to having to face Father's wrath after incurring the costs of a large PR campaign. So Weiss did not stop Neo. She was going to show the whole world, but mostly herself that Weiss Schnee was not a coward.
The first expensive shop Neo had dragged her to was a jewelry store her mother sometimes used to frequent. Weiss was very young at that time, but the clerks still recognized her. Places like this prided themselves on never forgetting a rich customer and knowing their tastes. Everything in service of making them more comfortable with spending outrageous sums of money. Discretion was part of the price: if Miss Schnee's new platinum necklace got stolen because a store clerk did not watch his mouth the store's reputation would suffer even more than the clerk after they were fired and hit with fines they didn't even know were part of their contract.
The store staff did not bat an eye when Weiss Schnee entered the store hanging off of a woman whose taste in fashion screamed 'lower class.' Everyone who was anyone in Atlas' society was married and had a few children, but it was a public secret that a lot of those people had different interests in their 'free time.' Sometimes a rebellious son or daughter (like Weiss) might want to make a relationship like that public in the wider world and not just the so-called polite society, but problem children like that were either persuaded to see reason or swiftly disinherited and everything went on like before.
The long walk, fresh air and probably her aura sobered up Weiss completely and she felt very cold-blooded as she calmly considered how Neo and she were about to steal a number of very expensive trinkets. She knew that the jewelry on display was real. A rich customer might feel insulted that the store did not trust them and the gigantic profit the store turned on even a single item was more than enough to cover for shrinkage caused by bored ladies whose kleptomania was never publicly acknowledged. The store would often receive anonymous packages containing stolen pieces and never investigated where they came from. Weiss' training at Beacon helped her spot the extremely discreet security cameras that covered the entire small store and while she couldn't see any unseemly wires, she was absolutely sure that each display case had its own alarm system.
Now that Weiss was stable again, Neo was clinging to her and not the other way around. She kept dragging Weiss from case to case, playing the role of a love-struck girl perfectly without any need to use sound. Weiss had a lot more practice with acting than people realized: keeping her father placated was not a simple task. Her role was comparatively simple. She went around with Neo, inquired about her opinion that was conveyed mostly by cloyingly sweet smiles and gestures, and inquired to the staff about some pieces Neo was particularly enthusiastic about. When Neo was done looking, Weiss said something non-committal about an upcoming birthday and gave a conspiratorial wink to the staff. If she never followed up on this, it was because she broke up with Neo. Obviously, Schnee pride would never allow someone to break up with one of them and live.
They exited the shop and left the staff to gossip about the degenerate Schnee heiress and her fetish for mute girls. What was next, Faunus ears? Old man Schnee would explode with rage if that happened. Just as they were out of sight of the shop and any possible cameras monitoring the outside, Weiss felt cold metal slide on her finger. When she looked, she noticed that there was now a silver ring set with a pale blue stone (aquamarine?) on her finger. Neo lifted her hand to show that she was wearing a matching one. She grinned.
"When did you…" Weiss began, but Neo vanished and reappeared to hug her from behind. Right, her semblance. But Weiss never saw her use it at the shop, she was absolutely sure that Neo was next to her the entire time, and even though Neo was small, she wouldn't fit into one of the display cases to steal anything.
"That wouldn't work," Weiss protested, "How did you do it?"
Neo grimaced in exaggerated exasperation and started to type on her Scroll. And they understood each other so well without it until now. I took it from the purse of that fat lady in red. She swiped it from the case when the clerk opened it for her. Spoilsport. She was frowning now.
Let her frown, thought Weiss. She felt very little guilt for being an accomplice to theft of already stolen goods. She wouldn't even feel guilty if Neo was the original thief. What she did feel was satisfaction for not letting Neo trick her. Her spirits were high and it was still rather early in the afternoon. She was together with an experienced thief and none of the stores here would dare trying to antagonize her father. The strained relationship between Weiss and Jacques Schnee was a family secret known only to the family itself and family friends. Jacques Schnee did not believe in having family friends.
The store clerks did not know that if a store let her father know about his daughter's behavior and sordid associations, he would be furious. Weiss, however, was determined not to show her fear of father's wrath in front of Neo. Whatever the cost, the criminal must not know her weak points. Neo was a diversion. A pleasant diversion, but she was also a dangerous one.
If Neo managed to hurt Ruby through Weiss, Weiss would find it difficult to forgive herself. But as long as Neo was occupied with Weiss, she wasn't going after Ruby personally. Her father wouldn't let her leave Atlas, but she could still help Ruby in this way. That was her justification and Weiss herself did not know it was lie. She enjoyed Neo's company and the potential danger gave it extra flavor.
"Let me make it up to you," Weiss told Neo when they approached a brand clothing stores. Other kingdoms would not publicly admit it, but Atlas was the capital of fashion. With how important military was to the country, it was a natural human impulse to counteract the uniforms with a more refined sensibility. The designers unable to get a job creating insignia for branches of the military and individual units found ample opportunities to exercise their abilities in creating fashion for the rich who wanted to impress while staying within bounds of good taste.
Neo didn't seem to think that a clothing store was a place worth stealing from. The cash was too well secured and everything else was too bulky to easily and difficult to sell. Only the most desperate fashionista would buy her clothes from criminals unless the criminal was Roman Torchwick whose good dress sense was famous even in non-criminal circles.
Once inside the store, Neo took the initiative and led Weiss towards the underwear section. Weiss could not think it was anything but a well-calculated insult. Neo had seen her without any underclothes on the very night before and this had to be a way of reminding her. There was no way she would let Neo know that she was affected. Instead she directly approached the most fashionable and expensive, meaning skimpy, pieces from the selection and started examining them. Some of those looked like pure lace and very little of it. Weiss could only think of how impractical they'd be for fighting the Grimm. Her Scroll buzzed. I bet your dad makes all the maids wear these.
Weiss was insulted. Not only because of the obvious implication, but also because of the less obvious implication that Jacques Schnee would waste money on part of a maid's uniform that wasn't usually visible instead of making the maids buy their own underwear. He fully well knew that in spite of what most of Remnant believed, the Schnees were not literally made out of money. No, they were mostly made out of resentment, spite, anger, and other emotions that make us human. Weiss did not deign to answer Neo's taunts.
Seeing that she had failed to make Weiss respond, but knowing that she had somehow hit a nerve, Neo picked up one of the pieces that caught her fancy. It was a tiny scrap of cloth whose white color would make a wonderful contrast with her dress. She winked at Weiss and went into the changing booth. Moments later, Weiss' Scroll buzzed again. Aren't you going to check out how they look?
If that was the game Neo wanted to play, then Weiss was going to take her on. She entered the booth fully prepared to see Neo without any clothes at all, but there seemed to be no change in her appearance. "I'm not going to ask you to lift up your skirt," Weiss informed Neo.
Neo's smile was either devious or deviant. Neither Weiss nor Neo was exactly sure which at the moment. She took hold of Weiss' hand and guided it under the hem of her skirt. (Was it really this short?) Not all the way, just far enough for Weiss to get the idea and show just how far she was willing to go. Weiss half-expected to find a mousetrap waiting for her, but she only discovered that Neo wasn't wearing any underwear at all. Much later, Weiss would feel that keeping her face impassive at that moment was one of her greater achievements in life.
Her self-satisfaction was short-lived, since Neo's smirk reminded that she was still touching her. "So that's the way it is?" said Weiss while trying to keep her voice completely level. She was now keeping her hand between Neo's thighs on purpose. Weiss didn't really expect Neo to respond. It would be difficult to write anything on a Scroll in the position they were in, but Neo's face told Weiss everything she needed to know. The same smug expression that showed Neo was absolutely sure that she was in control here.
Weiss hated that and she hated having no idea of what Neo expected her to do. She had to turn the tables on her. The air in the changing booth was starting to feel hot. Did Neo want her to get out or continue? Whatever it was, Weiss had to do the opposite, or even better, something completely unexpected.
But Neo was pressed close to her and her skin felt wonderfully soft to touch. She could blame it on the alcohol even though she knew perfectly well that she was sober. Weiss moved her fingers to the spot that would be usually covered even by the skimpiest regular underwear. At that moment, Neo leaned in to kiss her, but it lasted barely a split second before Weiss pulled back. "Oh no, you don't," she said even though she desperately wanted the momentary sensation to last longer.
This wasn't for fun. This wasn't because the daring criminal was starting to look beautiful to Weiss. No, this was for revenge and to see if she could force Neo into making a sound. She pushed first one finger then two inside Neo.
She vaguely regretted that the ring Neo stole for her was on her right hand because Neo only pressed herself against Weiss to give her better access. This wasn't exactly a matter where Weiss had experience. Her knowledge was limited to her own body, but she supposed that there had to be some similarities. She tried doing what she knew to see if it'd have the same effect on Neo.
Neo's enthusiastic response was both frustrating and satisfying. It was good to know that her inexperience wasn't showing much, but did Neo have to enjoy herself that much? Neo tried kissing her again and Weiss rebuffed her once more. She felt herself aching for some sort of reciprocation, but there was the danger of the store staff finding out.
In the end, Neo didn't make a sound even when her whole body was shuddering in pleasure. Her breath got a little rougher, but that was all. She smiled triumphantly at Weiss when all was done and Weiss felt ashamed to feel a tingle of happiness at seeing it.