Contains puns. Terrible, terrible puns. Trigger warning for that.

Also singing. I understand that songs in fanfics are disliked by a portion of fanfic readers, so trigger warning for that too.

-OOO-

"Well~, it's been building up inside of me for, oh, I don't know how long~" Weiss sang. She was hugging Blake's shoulders, rocking back and forth as she led Blake in some sort of dance. Blake allowed it, for now, but for how much longer, she didn't quite know.

Weiss entered the refrain, "Don't worry Blakey (Don't worry Blakey)~"...

Blake endured through the rest of the song.

Eventually, the ordeal was over, and Blake escaped to the room where all the heat outtake from the kitchen refrigerators was vented. It was dark, and warm, and out of the way. Blake made herself comfortable.

And a little while later, a few of the maids found her.

"Sorry to interrupt, fair Blake," said one of the maids- the stocky one, "But we need you for evidence."

Blake nodded. She allowed them to escort her to one of the offices.

They showed up in front of pa Schnee. His study was a lot more informal, and he was in the middle of browsing formal attire and pretending to read the news, on a glowing rectangle on his desk.

He turned to Blake and the group of maids as they entered and presented a document.

"So we got every one of the staff to sign this," said the tall maid.

"'sa petertiton. Ta get Weiss ta stop wid tha singin'."

"And we're all gonna resign, unless Weiss stops singing.

There were nods.

"Or, at least, signifigantly improves tha quality o 'er songs, m'rght?

No one laughs. the memories are too painful.

"And," pa Schnee began, "you are all in agreement?"

"Yesm, messer."

"I'm afraid so, m'lord."

"Ackey Blakey heart' was the last straw."

"I still have nightmares."

Blake involuntarily shuddered. Ninjas didn't have nightmares, but Blake sometimes had bad dreams that simulated the experience.

"And," pa Schnee continued, "How about you, Blake?"

The maids looked around at each other, and nodded, and then they looked to Blake, expectantly.

Blake usually didn't care if people stared at her. Like, Weiss did it constantly, and her occupation in the Schnee household was almost literally 'oditty', as far as she could tell,and she had acclimate d to the position by now. So, she didn't mind, at all.

In fact, she savored how everyone seemed expectant on her answer. She was important. Haha.

Eventually, (thought not too much later) Blake nodded.

"Oh, thank Dust," said pa Schnee. He sighed in relief and rubbed his forehead. "I''m not the only one."

So, with pa Schnee's blessing, the entourage approached mum Schnee, and made their ultimatum heard, in attempt to get her on board.

Mum Schnee listened to the grievances with a passive face, and she didn't say anything for seven seconds after the maids were finished explaining.

And then she turned to Blake. But, like, Blake was used to being looked at, so it wast like she flinched or anything.

"Blake," said mum Schnee, " You have repeatedly made the case that we should treasure our daughter's creativity and joy, and the expression of such."

Blake scrunched her mouth to the side. "… yes."

"So with you earlier position on the encouragement of our daughter's creativity, do you recommended we ask her to stop singing you songs, which is, obviously, an expression of creativity that brings her joy?"

Blake cleared her throat. "yes." she said, eventually.

Mum Schnee nodded. "Why?"

Blake took a breath. "sanity concerns."

"But do you think a singing sanction is the best course of action for Weiss?"

Blake smushed her lips together and looked at pa Schnee and the staff. They looked sort of guilty, too.

"i thought you didn't value her creativity."

"Perhaps you've convinced me otherwise. Schnees do see opportunities where others might see obstacles, you know," Mum Schnee waved the air, "But I am not the arbiter of your actions, so if Weiss's songs bother you so much," she said. She wavaed her hand. "Then you can be the one to tell her to stop."

Inevitably, Weiss found Blake and decided to sing the latter another song.

"Hey hey, kitty kitty, you're so, pretty pretty,~" Weiss began-

"weiss," Blake interrupted. "we should talk."

Weiss smiled at her. "What is it, Blakey?" asked Weiss.

Blake scrunched her mouth to the side. She looked at the door, where pa Schnee and the more prominent members of the staff were watching from.

Blake turned to her human. "we want you to stop singing."

Weiss winked.

Then she gasped, in the bad way. "W-what?"

Blake looked at the floor.

Weiss walked up and put her hands on Blake's shoulders. "I mean, dad only likes old music and mom's- well, she's mom- but you don't like my songs either, Blakey?

Blake smushed her lips together.

Weiss was scandalized. "But- Blakey? Why not?"

Pa Schnee stepped into the room, now, to bail her out. "I think what Blake is trying to say," said pa Schnee, "is that the quantity of songs you sing maybe be negatively affecting thier quality."

Weiss winked.

Pa Schnee visibly sweated. "Don't get me- or any of us wrong- 'Blakey Bell(adonna)' and 'Hushabye Blakey' will always be perennial classics, and we all loved the soulful ballads such as 'Blake me to Church', "Welcome to the Blake Parade', and 'Blake me up inside'," he turned to some of the staff, and there were the occasional nods of agreement, "And we all danced along to upbeat swings of 'Blake it off' and 'Blake by the Ocean'- And who can forget the artistic stylings of 'Blake Oddity' or 'All my friends are Heathens (Blake it slow)'- but perhaps, a brief hiatus on songwriting will both renew the excellence of your, ah, songwriting skills and allow your audience time to look forward to what I'm sure will be catchy tunes and clever wordplay."

Blake nodded. "well put."

Pa Schnee nodded. "Thank you."

Weiss winked, but her eye was wide and wobbly. "So what you're saying is- you don't like my songs?"

"no."

Pa Schnee pontificated chaotically, until eventually winding down and settling into a shrug in affirmation.

Weiss's face somehow became even more scandalized. "W-well, if you don't like my songs, Blakey, I'll stop."

Blake nodded. This was success, right?

Weiss was glum afterwards. Like, exceedingly so. She wandered around the lonely halls of the Schnee mansion, sighing increasingly crestfallen sighs, with tears drying on her cheeks and making her medical eyepatch soggy. And you know, that was her prerogative.

Blake didn't care. In fact, since there wasn't any more annoying singing going on, she was happier than she was earlier, since her ears had time to heal.

But, after Weiss's 205th despondent sigh, Blake figured that, since she was responsible for safeguarding Weiss's physical and emotional well-being, she decided that she would try to cheer Weiss up, and if Weiss found some new form of creative outlet, maybe she wouldn't want to sing songs again, too.

So, Blake flopped in front of the Schnee. That didn't work.

Blake tried to hug Weiss. That didn't work either.

Blake reminded Weiss that she was sigh a 'kitty'. Weiss made a smile and halfheartedly scritched at Blake's tummy, for a few seconds, before being glum again.

Blake tried to brush her ears against Weiss's mouth, but not even that could cheer her up.

"H-hey, Blakey," Weiss said. She tried to make a smile, but it didn't reach her eye. "I don't suppose, maybe, you can do something else, for just a little while? Just a little while, Blakey, I promise."

Blake blinked. She made her way to the door.

And you know, this was great. Blake had a life outside of Weiss. Definitely. She could, like, use the bathroom, or take a nap behind some of the refrigerators, or ask the cook for food, or play chess with some of the staff.

Blake left the room, and Mum Schnee was there. She nodded to Blake, before entering the room that Blake had left that Weiss was currently in.

Blake spied on the two of them, from a crack in the door.

Mum Schnee scooped her daughter into her arms and tried to physically comfort her. Blake suspected the adult learned how from observing Weiss attempt such to herself.

"What's wrong, Weiss, sweetie?" said the taller Schnee, as if she didn't know. "Are you despondent about the aesthetics of your scar again? I wouldn't worry; it looks super badass."

"Oh, no, its not that, it's-" Weiss said. She sighed, and paused, for a moment. "Blake doesn't like my songs anymore..."

"Oh sweetie." The woman rocked Weiss back and forth, twice. "I'm so sorry."

"She used to really love them!" Weiss said. She cried, a couple sobs. She leaned her head against her mother's elbow.

"I'm sorry, Weiss, sweetie, " Mum Schnee said, "I'm sure that's terrible for you."

Weiss nodded. "I- I just feel sad, knowing that she doesn't like me as much as I like her..."

Mum Schnee rocked her daughter, once more. "Oh, sweetie. I know it can be hard knowing that traits and qualities that once endeared you to someone can one day make you loathe them, but it's important to know that love, or at least the expression of love, is a choice, Weiss sweetie."

Weiss frowned. "I thought you said that unconditional love was a lie, and that all relationships were a transaction."

"I do believe I rescinded that statement," Mum Schnee said, "And besides, the concepts are not incompatible. It is a choice to continue a transactional relationship- If you get something out of the experience, and the other party does as well, and you want to continue it, then it is valid. But there will be times when you have to make the choice between something that you believe will satisfy your desires now, and something that will be conducive to your long term goals of status or self-image. To decide whether to give into abject hedonism or to work to make yourself a better person."

Mum Schnee pontificated with her free hand. "And this choice will pop up in many instances in your life, but when you decide you love someone it gives you many opportunities to make this choice, with important consequences in every case... "

Weiss visibly tuned out, at this point in the lecture.

Mum Schnee cleared her throat. "Maybe you're a little young for this talk. Another time, then."

Mum Schnee cleared her throat again. "Anyway," she continued, "Have you finally grown tired of Blake, Weiss sweetie?"

Not that it affected Blake at all, but Weiss took a moment to answer. Blake didn't sweat or panic or anything. "N-no." Weiss said, eventually, "She's still my snuggly Blakey. I'm just sad she doesn't like my songs..."

Mum Schnee nodded. "Glad to hear that. She's rather delightful to have around, and it'd be awkward to have to dispose of her, now."

Blake - blinked?

"So, what are you going to do now, since she doesn't like your songs anymore?"

"W-well," Weiss said, "I think maybe I'll take dad's advice, and wait a while to come up with better material, and see if Blakey likes them again..." Weiss sniffled. "But if that doesn't work, then, I don't know. I guess I'll have to show Blakey some other way that I love her..."

"You know," Mum Schnee said, a little hesitantly. She looked at the wall. "you could always sing songs and replace phonetically appropriate words with my name, or diminutives thereof..."

Weiss winked. "But your name is really hard to rhyme and has an awkward cadence..."

Mum Schnee scrunched her mouth. "Then, how about 'mother'? There's several rhymes for that word, and more for the diminutives thereof..."

Weiss brightened up. "Oh, oh,- does that mean you like hearing my songs, Mom?"

Mum Schnee glanced to the wall. "If I must, I suppose it won't be the worst experience.

"Do you want to hear the latest song I made up for Blake, but that she doesn't want me to sing her?"

Mum Schnee's left eye twitched. "I- guess. That is. Acceptable..."

Weiss brightened up, and started singing.

And at some point, as Weiss was singing her mother a song originally meant for Blake, Mum Schnee looked to the door, where Blake was spying on them, and the adult woman peeled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out, at Blake.

Blake managed not to flinch. She stepped back from the doorway and walked away.

Oh well. Next time, she would be victorious.

.

.

.

- A POSSIBLE FUTURE -

Weiss, Blake, Yang, Ren and Nora arrive at the karaoke bar. Yang had finally managed to reconcile the schedules of up to ten people and convince them all to sing songs in front of each other at a commercial establishment (Yang had ensured to make sure Weiss was comfortable with it, and Weiss had insisted that she was). So yeah; Weiss is excited for tonight, she tells herself. Weiss sees that nobody wants to take the initiative of talking to a stranger, so Weiss makes herself approach the person at the register on behalf of her friends.

"So, uh," Weiss says, "We have a reservation for up to ten people, under a, um, 'Glynda Goodwitch'?"

The clerk nods and hands Weiss a key. "Room 3, down the hall."

Weiss glances at the rest of her party. "I think we were going to wait here for more of our party to gather?"

"Knock yourself out," said the clerk, before resuming a game of solitaire.

Weiss walks back to her group joining Blake in leaning against the wall. Blake nods to her, all cool like.

Yang discreetly shoots Weiss a smile and some finger guns and makes a 'go on' gesture with her hand. Weiss scrunches her mouth to the side and leans her head on Blake's shoulder. Blake allows it.

Ren interrupts the silence. "Is it weird that Ruby invited a teacher along?" he asks.

"Well, a little," Weiss says, "But with a teacher supervising, we're allowed to stay out all night, and the couches at this venue are really comfy."

"Yeah," Nora says. She bares her teeth in a smile. "But part of the appeal of the 'staying out all night' fantasy is that we don't have any teachers supervising."

"Aw, c'mon," Yang says, "I've stayed the night at one of these places before, and they're really accommodating. And I'm sure Mz. Goodwitch won't be too uncool."

"Yeah," Weiss adds.

And then Yang regales of her experiences with overnight karaoke booths. It's interesting.

At some point, the door opens, and Goodwitch steps in. She stops and looks over the group of teenagers, and she sidles up. "I- I guess I'm a little early, huh?" she says.

"I mean," Weiss says, "With you here, we have more than half the party, so you're not earlier than average."

"But she's in the second group to arrive," Nora says, "Which makes her in the first half arrivals, so by that metric, she is earlier than average."

Goodwitch turns to the group. "Well, I think what we need is to establish a formal definition of what constitutes 'early', and see if some common gut-check cases fit into the established criteria, and sequentially make adjustments to the model-"

There was a chorus of blinks.

Goodwitch rubs the back of her head and looks to the wall. "Oh, you were joking, ahahahaha."

There is an awkward silence.

"So how are you?" Weiss asks.

Goodwitch nods. "Decent. How about you? How're your teeth?"

"No complaints, in either case," Weiss says. It's not exactly a lie. Weiss turns to the teacher. "And your," she gestures, "hobbies?"

"I've actually not had a lot of time for them, recently, what with the term toughening up, and the shadow war between the forces of good and evil and all," Goodwitch says, "But I can make time for some, ah, karaoke."

"You sing?" Weiss says, as if she doesn't know.

"I've had some experience with singing, yes, mostly as a side effect of the pursuit of other hobbies." She waves the air. "I'm sure It's got nothing on some of you kids. "

Weiss makes a laugh. "Ahaha. I guess we'll see, right?"

After they get texts from the four people yet to appear, telling them to start without them, they make their way to room 3.

The room is rather spacious, with couches lining the edges of the room, around a stage with two microphones and a large screen TV. There is a table with a menu for possible food and two large books, listing the available songs, one by artist and the other in alphabetically order,

Yang makes herself comfortable on one of the couches and Goodwitch makes her way to the corner of the booth, but Weiss keeps standing up.

"So who wants to go first?" Weiss says, to her group.

"Well, you're good at singing," Blake says, to Weiss. Blake shoots her friend a smile, and Weiss's heart lightens, just a bit. "Why don't you start us off with a bang?"

"OH! Uh," Weiss rubs the back of her head. "I- I thought i'd tag along here just to socialize, today,

"Awww," Blake says. She pouts. "I was kind of hoping you'd sing me something..."

Weiss blushes and looks to the wall, in a futile attempt to hide her blush. She smushes her mouth to the side, "I- maybe. At some point, later on."

Blake pouts."But you're really good! You had so many singing lessons growing up, after your parents figured that, if you weren't going to grow out of it, you might as well be classically trained."

Weiss frowns with the left half of her face. "I seem to recall you also had some singing lessons, Blake."

Blake smirks. "I'm, ah, trying to blot out those memories."

Weiss mirrors the smirk. "That's what you said about the dancing lessons."

Blake shudders, just a bit, but then sticks her tongue out. "And I had succeeded, until you reminded me."

Weiss laughs. Blake mirrors the laughs.

"Hey, We'll bail you out, Weissicle," says Nora. She and Ren jump up on stage, and Nora punches in a code on the primary mic.

"Because Karaoke isn't about singing WELL," Nora explains, giving an impromptu speech on the karaoke stage. "It is a method to bare your souls, to share in identification with material touchstones of modern Atlasian culture."

"It is true diligence, such introspection, and such honesty, to sing a song that means something to you, in front of your friends. To eschew the vernier of dignity and pretention and, for a moment, be truely, nakedly honest."

Nora ceases speaking. She looks over her audience.

"But perhaps such dilligence is not for us. There are easy outs, to avoid such effort," Nora says. She types four numbers into the microphone. "We chose the slothful path."

The song starts, upbeat and in a major key.

"~just a smalltown girl~" Nora belted out. She posed. "Living in a lonely world~"

Nora continues the song. Ren sang the next part, and then they both sing and pose.

Sometime during the song, Juane and Pyrrha arrive. Pyrrha has a leather jacket over a button down shirt that, and Juane's got a nice ensemble suitable for the fall weather.

They sit down, as non-disruptively as possible. Nora winks at them during the song.

"So how was your date?" Yang whispers to them.

Jaune blushes. He doesn't say anything else, but his expression says a lot.

Pyrrha smirks. "Pretty great," she says. Her expression also says a lot.

After Ren and Nora finish, and after the crowd applauds, Pyrrha stands up, gesturing to Weiss.

"Weiss," she says, "would you care to back me up here? This seems like it might be your sort of song..."

Weiss winces. "Well, you're not entirely wrong about that." she glances over to Blake, "But I think I'll sit this one out."

"Awww," says Blake.

Weiss makes a smile. "I can harmonize during the parts I know from the couch here."

Pyrrha accepts that, and starts the song- a bit of a glam rock opera. She directs a fair amount of it towards Jaune, who smiles and breaks eye contact at relevant points.

"~I can dim the lights and sing you songs full of Sa~ad things, we can do the tango just for two~~"

And during the second line, Weiss sings harmony, form the couch.

Weiss gets applause, and she sinks into her shoulders. People encourage her to go up to sing along with Pyrrha, and Weiss really has to insist not to.

The insistence continues after Pyrrha's song finishes, with the red-haired girl prince joining in the exhultations for Weiss to go up and sing with her, next time.

And it continues when Jaune comes up to the stage, and says that it'd be cool if someone who knew how to sing could help him out. Weiss expresses her confidence in Jaune's singing, and he puts the song on the mic, pouting only slightly.

The song starts, something upbeat and pop. "You think I'm pretty, without any makeup on~" Jaune sings. "You think I'm funny when I tell the punchline wrong~"

And even though the rest of the people in the booth stop overtly suggesting that Weiss should sing, they're still looking at her, and smiling encouragingly, how dare they, and Weiss shrinks into her seat. Blake puts a comforting arm around her shoulder, but Weiss still knows everyone's there looking at her-

And it's actually a relief when Ruby walks in, just then.

Goodwitch stands up and smiles-

Until Cinder walks in, too-

Goodwitch and Cinder stare at each other, for a period of time that feels longer than it probably is.

And the air between them literally lowers in temperature. Weiss swirls the enusing gusts of cold in some sort of fractal pattern, until it's clear that the staring contest isn't going to stop of its own accord, and she clears her throat and steps forward. "So, uh, you two... know each other?"

Goodwitch frowns, almost imperceptibly. "I would not go that far."

"'Know of' is more like it," Cinder says, "I've had a whale of a time undoing the conditioning you've been trying to impart on little Ruby here."

"Oh, is that why Ruby's grades have started slipping again this last month?" said Goodwitch.

"Uh, maybe her grades did fall during that period, but that's because she's been trying to actually learn the material, rather than learn how to regurgitate it in a testing context."

"Perhaps she would have caught up if you hadn't interupted the process-"

"Perhaps you should have realized that the tradition education system isn't designed for student's like Ruby." Cinder said, "It should be obvious she doesn't perform well under the traditional education system when she spent every week this semester in detention-"

"Uh, yeah it does- that's what the detention is for."

"And when has detention ever worked?"

"Well, in one case, with Ruby." Goodwitch points at Ruby.

"And I can assure you that one lesson with me has done more than any number of your detentions have for Ruby's learning."

"Wait," Weiss says. she gestures towards Cinder. "You're Ruby's, uh, private tutor?

From the sidelines, Ruby brushes a strand of hair behind her hair. Cinder smirks. "Yes."

"Oh, okay," Weiss says, "I suppose I was under the incorrect impression that you two were involved, like personally?"

Cinder waves the air. "Nah, I assure you, my relationship is strictly pedagogical."

Goodwitch folds her arms and frowns. "Though such a relationship really isn't necessary in the first place, since I'm already her favorite teacher-."

"Oh, what, so we can keep the power to disseminate knowledge in the hands of a handful of elites and shut minority viewpoints out-"

"You say that like the alternative to the traditional education sysem will magically achieve equality when really it's just forcing groups to duplicate research and, without oversight, Society is able to exist because of a shared foundational knowledge base-"

"That just so happens to reinforce traditional authoritarian power structures.

"OH," Goodwitch makes air-quotes with her fingers, "And you think the ideal solution is a student and teacher relationship that works together to create knowledge'-"

"I really don't think you're qualified to comment on the ideal relationship between a student and teacher."

Ruby makes a laugh, hollow and noisome.

As the argument contines, Weiss concludes that it won't stop on its own, so she steps in, between the two women.

"He~ey, so," Weiss states, "I think, we can both agree that the traditional education, while flawed in many respects, is would be hard to completely restructure it."

Goodwitch nods. Cinder nods reluctantly.

"And also that critical pedagogy has its benefits, and a place in a students education, but it might not be an ideal replacement for all forms of education, especially consdering the barriers to establishing infrastructure related to providing it to the degree to realize the potential of the philosophy."

"Oh?" Cinder raises an eyebrow, "You are familiar with the ideology of critical pedagogy?"

Weiss shrugs. "My dance instructor was a fan of it. So I know that it can be an effective tool, but not necessarily in all subjects, especially when considering that the framework and infrastructure may not be feasible to recreate from scratch, for a lesson."

The adults nod, reluctantly.

"And, furthermore, this maaay not be the venue for such a discussion." Weiss gestures to the karaoke stage, and the microphone.

Cinder and Goodwitch both blush in embarrassment.

"And the point is moot anyway," Yang interjects. She's smiling, and she gestures to her sister, "Since she's already married to her weapon."

Ruby chuckles, nervously, and pulls her scythe off her back. She clutches Crescent to her chest.

"Well, my apologies for derailing tonight's activities," Cinder says. She puts her hand to her chest, and with her other hand reaches out for the microphone. "I'll take the next song, if none of you doods were in queue?"

Cinder sings a nice acoustic protest song. Weiss leans next to Blake, her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Weiss whispers, once she catches Blake's expression.

Blake scrunches her mouth and otherwise tries to keep her face passive."Yeah." Blake smushes her lips together, before continuing, her voice softer. "I guess, it's a little relieving to know that I was actually like 4th choice. Hurts a bit too."

Weiss offers Blake a hand, and, potentially a shoulder to lean on.

Blake takes both.

"~And you tell~ me~ Over and over and over again my friend," Cinder sings. "That you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction~"

Afterwards Goodwitch comes up, to sing a song, a soft rock love song.

"Ooh, I need your love, babe, Guess you know it's true~" She sings. "Hope you need my love, babe, Just like I need you~"

"Oh, that is not fair dood," Cinder says, "You're trying to misuse the purpose of this soiree."

Cinder swipes the microphone, "Well, two can play that game." She punches in a song- some gothic rock tune.

"In the daylight, I'm your sweetheart~" she sings, "You're goody-two-shoes prude is a work of art~"

And right after that, Goodwitch wordlessly takes the microphone and gets back on the stage.

And it's all super awkward and reeeeaaaaally uncomfortable for everyone involved.

Weiss actually kind of feels less out of place. She stifles a smile, and manages to enjoy Goodwitch's song.

" You're an angel fallen down~. Won't you tell us of the clouds?~"

And right after Goodwitch finishes, she and Cinder glare at each other, lightning sparking between their eyeballs like anime rivals.

Then they both turn to Ruby.

Ruby makes a smile. "[X:942] Now at their feet submissive in distress, Creature so faire her reconcilement seeking-"

She holds out a hand, and takes the microphone.

She types in her number, and some foreign words pop up on the screen in the 'song title' section.

"Oh! Oh!" Jaune says, "I know this one!"

Ruby hands him mic 2, and begins singing some sort of avant-garde foreign language song.

"kawashita ya~ kusoku wasurenai yo-" Ruby sings, with Jaune on backup, "me wo toji tashikameru~"

It's weird and quirky, and does not do any-sort of thing to settle Cinder and Glynda's dispute. The two adults are still glaring when Ruby finishes her song.

"Wait," Weiss says, as Ruby steps off the stage, "But that wasn't a context-appropriate quote from Paradise Lost."

Ruby waves the air and smirks with the right half of her mouth. "The Urobochi version."

"But that was more Faust, though," Weiss says.

"Not in the movie." Ruby waves the air again.

Both Cinder and Goodwitch had made space next to them, and they waited to see which one of them Ruby would walk back to sit besides.

Ruby makes a smile and she walks to her sister, to hide behind Yang's protective bulk. Yang laughs and ruffles her little sister's hair and hugs her with one arm.

And then Yang stands up, a wide smile on her face. "Well, I think this is my cue to sing a song."

Ruby makes a slightly terrified expression as she reaches out, desperately, towards her sister. Yang smiles good-naturedly at her before leaving for the podium.

Ruby catches some of the withering stares from her respective educators. She sinks into her cloak.

At the stage, Yang types in her song's number and she looks at the wall and rubs the back of her head. "So, uh. Well, here goes."

Yang sings a nice country-esque ballad.

"You heard my voice,~" she begins, "I came out of the woods by choice~"

And at the end, Weiss aplauses, and everyone else does as well.

Yang rubs the back of her head. "That's, uh, my favorite song, actually."

Nora smiles. "Thanks for singing that, Yang! It was really good!"

"Ahaha," Yang rubs her hair some more. "Thanks."

Weiss gives her a covert thumbs up and clicks the left half of her mouth in a smile.

Yang appreciates it. She clicks her mouth back and looks a little more at ease.

Blake smiles at Weiss and stands up to sing her song.

And it's nice- apparently, Blake does remember the singing lessons, because she's really good. Weiss enjoys it.

"~Cage me like an animal, A crown with gems and gold~," Blake sings, "Eat me like a cannibal, Chasing the neon throne- If I could only let go~"

But, like, as it nears the end, Weiss is acutely aware that it's her turn next, as she's the only one who hasn't sung yet. Her head starts spinning, getting worse and worse as time goes on.

After Blake finishes, and she accepts her applause, she makes her way back to the couches.

Weiss stands up, and makes her way to the door, fumbling slightly with the doorknob.

"You okay Weiss?" Yang asks.

Weiss waves the air. "Yeah, I'm fine, just, you know. Have to use the restroom."

Weiss exits the room. It's a lot less stuffy, in the hall.

She starts walking down towards where the restrooms are, but she stops, five steps down. She puts a hand on the wall and doubles over and she breaths, a deep breath.

And she breathes another breath-

And one more time. Yep.

Okay, actually, one more time after that.

And this one was just a normal breath, because you have to breath, like constantly.

And Weiss stands up. Actually, shes a lot better now, and splashing some water on her face might not actually be necessary.

But it could take up more time. Give her another moment to compose herself, before she has to go back, and sing a song in front of everyone-

Like, it shouldn't be a problem. She's sung in concert halls before. Only, this time, you can't just stare at the lights and ignore the crowd, and she actually knows the people in the audience-

"Are you okay?" Says a woman. It's Blake. She had managed to sneak up on Weiss, though the human was distracted enough that it probably wasn't hard.

Weiss flinches. "I- is it that obvious?"

"Maybe only to someone who knows you," Blake says. "You're scared of people- and you put a brave face on and you can manage to talk to people, but that doesn't change things. And it's okay; people can be scary. Socializing can be scary."

"I- I mean," Weiss says. She winces. "I mean- it's really informal- everyone's really open, and honest, and they're making jokes- and nobody's pretending or anything-"

Weiss breaths. "And I want to be like that," she says. "But I don't know what I'm supposed to do. It's not a corporate party."

"And I really thought I'd get to be better at this,. But, like, i keep having doubts. Part of me wants to go in thrre and be social. And part or me really,vreally doesnt want to." Weiss says.

"And, like, when I was younger, I was so much better at faking it. I actually started enjoying corporate balls and talking to politicians-"

Blake steps closer to her oldest friend. "That's not quite the same thing, though," Blake says, "Those were always pretty much literally hiding who you are. But real socializing- you're not any worse at that now than you used to be. In fact, you've grown a lot. I'm honestly really proud of you."

Blake holds her arms out. Weiss accepts the hug.

"But I haven't done anything," Weiss says, "I haven't gotten better-"

"Weiss," Blake interrupts, "Remember last week, during our second date? And you almost called me a kitty, but then corrected yourself?"

Weiss grits her teeth. She does remember that, with shame.

"The old you wouldn't have done that- the correcting part," Blake says. "And that's what I'm most impressed by. Not that you're suddenly perfect or anything, but that you're trying. And that counts for a lot."

Weiss closes her eyes, then. "Thank you."

Weiss stands there, in the hug. It's really nice. Blake is warm, and she smells like lilies and a grassy meadow and a little bit like strawberry shampoo.

Blake steps back from the hug, but her hands rest on Weiss's hips.

"Like, I thought it was a little uncomfortable in there, too," Blake says, "Maybe in a different way though."

Blake looks wistfully into the middle distance. "Like, Jaune and Pyrrha were cuddling, and Ren and Nora were always a couple..."

Blake sighs. "And, like, yeah, there's still some lingering resentment with Ruby, but I'm happy for her, I think. I try to be. She and her sister have always been close, like, and I guess it's cool that Ruby's popular..."

"Or that she just needs a lot of help with her coursework."

"Yeah, let's say that," Blake chuckles. Then she sighs.

Blake looks back to the wall. "And, like, I really want something like that too. Someone I can count on."

"And, you've been working so hard, Weiss, to be a better person."

"And, maybe from your perspective it's too gradual to notice, but you really have gotten better, Weiss," Blake smiles, warmly. "You're becoming someone amazing. Someone who's really empathetic and smart and self aware-"

"Someone I can see myself spending the rest of my life with, and not as a bodyguard or anything-" Blake says, "But as a- well, you know."

Bllake leans her head down, tilting her head, parting her lips just slightly.

"And, I've never been the best with words," Blake says, "But, um."

And after a moment, Weiss presses her mouth to Blake's.

And they smooch.

.

.

.

Blake's lips are soft, and warm, but they belie a strength and force of will that's apparent in the way she nibbles at Weiss's upper lip, and how her hands clutch her waist and hip.

And Wiess melts into the taller girls arms, and Blake holds her, there, for forever in a moment, as Weiss gets lost in the sensations.

Eventually, the soft pop of a kiss release signals that the eternity has ended, and Blake takes a step back.

And she blinks at Weiss with lidded eyes and a soft smile.

And Weiss can only stare back, for a good four seconds, before she manages to breath again. "Wow," Weiss says. "That-that was amazing, especially for my first kiss."

Blake blinks. "But that wasn't even our first kiss."

"I mean, like, on the mouth.

"That wasn't our first time kissing on the mouth, either. " Blake tilts her head to the side. "You don't remember?"

Weiss blinks. "Uh- I do not."

Blake chuckles. "Huh. Well, it was a long time ago. Anyway, you want to go back?" Blake says. "I can sing backup for you- if you're down to sing. I don't think anyone would begrudge you if you were just an audience member, today."

Weiss smiles. "Yeah."

-OOO-

So since this fic is trying to be canon-divergent- and thus mostly canonical, except for things that butterflied out from Weiss adopting Blake and the exaggerations in the possible future-, and I highly doubt that those exact bands with those exact songs with those exact lyrics would exist in Remnant, so I'm going to have to declare this all non-canon.

Feel free to imagine, though, that karaoke did happen, and everyone sang the Remnant versions of those songs and they all had similar emotional associations with said songs. That's what I'm going to do, so that there is some sort of closure to that subplot and I can write something else for a while.

This was a really embarrassing chapter. I'm sorry.