I guarantee no expertise in puberty, love, relationships, or how to care for a pet cat.

-OOO-

There was another restless night, where Weiss slept in the basket while Blake took the bed, with a second blanket this time, though it wasn't enough to completely keep away the cold.

During the night, Blake had what she thought was a nightmare about hideous eldritch flesh lumps being grown in her abdomen, screaming unhearable yoke-mouth screams as its soul hollows out in torturous abandon as penance for the blasphemy of life bartered from the shadows of glimpses of the untold, tenebrous depths.

The following morning, Blake awoke to the shuffle of bodies outside her and Weiss's room. It took her a moment to realize Weiss wasn't in the basket on the floor she decided to start sleeping in.

Blake blinked, and realized it was still dark outside.

Blakr followed the sounds to the foyer, where Mum Schnee was having her luggage sorted by some of the live in staff. (she had taken an emergency plane back, overnight, and arrived the following morning, Blake would eventually find out.)

Blake observed from the balcony, slowly walking towards the humans as the time passed.

Pa Schnee walked in, and immediately Mum Schnee turned to face him, and without missing a step approached him. The male adult looked ashamed. "I'm- I'm sorry," he said.

"You did what could have been expected of you," said Mum Schnee, "And there is no shame in that. Weiss sweetie?"

Weiss mumbled something, but stepped forward from where she had hid behind her father.

Mum Schnee's face was unreadable. "I am told that we ought to have a little talk?"

Weiss looked to the side and mumbled something that sounded like an affirmative.

"Very well- let us adjourn to the bedroom, but first-" Mum Schnee turned to Blake, who had by this point managed to sneak to the bottom of the stairs, "Blake."

Blake blinked.

"While I was away, I procured for you an exotic fish," said Mum Schnee. She pulled out a fish- wrapped in plastic with a fancy label- from her purse.

Blake blinked- and held her arms out, excitedly, at the offered fishy, and all the deliciousness it proffered.

"I am told this species is quite delicious. Perhaps you can ask the cook to prepare it for you?"

Blake had though that the cook had a part time day today, but after checking the kitchen, she learned the cook was offered a lot of money to show up by this time.

Blake held out the fishy, and the cook understood.

Blake waited in the dining room, kicking her legs expectantly, as the fishy was prepared and then brought before her.

Since there wasn't anyone else in the dining room, Blake decided not to use silverware and instead just grabbed the cooked fishy with both her hands and stuffed it in her mouth.

It was, indeed, quite delicious. She thanked the chef, and resolved to thank Mum Schnee as well.

(And later, Blake would realize that the gift was just a way for Mum Schnee to keep Blake from eavesdropping on her talk with her daughter.)

At some point, after she was full and after she had been enjoying the feeling of digestion for a while, Blake was called to their bedroom.

Weiss and her mother were sitting on the bed. Weiss's mouth was smushed shut and she was looking at the ground.

Blake blinked. "how was your talk?"

Before Weiss answered, Mum Schnee put a hand on Weiss's shoulder.

Weiss's mouth wobbled for a moment, and she glanced up, and then she leaped towards Blake. "Blakey~"

Blake allowed herself to be hugged. She was glad, though she didn't show it. Like, she'd never actually hug Weiss back. It was... not exactly the opposite of comforting. Blake was only a little completely relieved.

"See?" Mum Schnee said, "Nothing to worry about. You may feel weird about physical contact but that's only until you get used to," she waved the air, "the nerve growth and other physiological changes inherent in puberty."

Blake tilted her head down to Weiss's body and sniffed-

"Nooooo~" Weiss pushed Blake's face, "You can't smell me, Blake! That's going to be one of my conditions."

"but you smell nice," Blake said, "usually."

Weiss's mouth wobbled. "Blaaaakkee~"

Mum Schnee managed to keep her face impassive as she watched her daughter try to snuggle Blake on the ground.

Eventually, Mum Schnee sat down on the floor, besides them. She had a calm yet determined expression.

"To proceed to further business," Mum Schnee said. Weiss immediately sat up, pulling Blake with her.

Mum Schnee closed her eyes and straightened her back."Since you both are coming to be women, there are some specific cultural norms and personal trends you should be made aware of."

Blake blinked.

Weiss glanced at the floor.

"I assume that one of the maids has given you the sex talk?"

Blake blinked.

Weiss smushed her lips together. "Ummmm-"

"Good," Mum Schnee said, "So let's have the relationship talk instead. That is much more important."

Blake blinked again.

"ummm, do, we have to?" Weiss said.

"Yes." Mum Schnee inhaled and exhaled. "Romantic relationships are, in their most distilled form, a mutual agreement that benefits both parties. All relationships are transactional; each member is getting something from the relationship that they wouldn't if they were alone, otherwise, there would be no reason to continue the relationship."

Weiss's mouth wobbled. Her face tinted.

Mum Schnee waved the air. "Of course, there are those misguided people who claim, that love is just a feeling and you should do what feels right, endlessly chasing the nebulous hedonistic rush of endorphins and infatuation though a cavalcade of decisions with only short term gains."

Mum Schnee chuckled, forlornly. "But you'll find many of them end up falling out of their relationships after two to four years, wondering why the love died."

"And the truth is, there was never love. All relationships are transactional, and it is a choice to keep a relationship-"

"Nooooo~" Weiss said.

Mum Schnee ignored her. "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 and your environment more conducive to you."

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 in the context of that relationship."

"And when you find your eventual husband, there will be many times when you will be called upon to make that choice."

Blake blinked.

"Because there is almost no way to determine the compatibility of a mate at the outset of a relationship. You may find that some things that endeared you to your partner early on in the relationship now annoy you, or that romantic decisions based in haste end up as a love to last the ages. "

"Ahhhhh~~," Weiss emitted.

"-and furthermore, there is no way to predict how time will change you, or your partner, or how you both grow- towards each other or apart from each other- as shared proximity and the onslaught of life take their toll."

Weiss smushed her face with her hands. " Groosss~~"

"So given these two truths, the takeaway is clear:"

Mum Schnee put her hands on Weiss's shoulders. Weiss recommitted to pressing her lips together.

"You ought to find someone you feel you are comparable with, and then dedicate yourself to the relationship. When you find your future husband, and you make that choice to be together, then your continued partnership relies on you affirming your choice, again and again."

Blake wondered if she should tell Mum Schnee. She decided not to.

"You must determine to love him, and that whenever you find yourself in a situation where it might be easier to leave, you must make the choice to continue to love."

Weiss stared at the ground and clutched her head. "Moooo~~oommmm~~."

"And the same applies to you, Blake." She waved the air, "whatever ends up happening to you, this is probably also good advice."

Blake blinked.

"Well," Weiss said, after she regained composure. She puffed out her cheek. " What if I just decide to marry Blake?"

Mum Schnee frowned. "Weiss, sweetie, you cannot do that. Blake, like most Faunus, is unemployed and uneducated, with no familial wealth or social ties of import."

Blake's eyebrows flattened.

"Also, shes a girl, and that'd be gay."

"So?" Weiss said.

Mum Schnee blinked. and she put her hands on her daughter's shoulders again, but more firmly this time. "Weiss, sweetie," she said, slowly, "Are you gay?"

Weiss winked. Her throat wobbled, slightly.

"You have to tell me if you're gay, Weiss, sweetie, so i can help you."

Oh," Weiss said, and Blake was impressed by how steady Weiss kept her voice and expression, "No, I was, just joking-"

She pulled Blake into a hug, "it's just because Blake's so fluffy and cuddly! I just wanna hug her forever."

Mum Schnee sighed in relief. She smiled a seemingly genuine smile. "Well, then, acceptance of that will be one of the qualities you'll need to find in your eventual mat."

Weiss nodded and smiled, convincingly.

Mum Schnee leaned back. "And of course we'll always love you, Weiss sweetie, but that doesn't mean your father and I will not be grateful for the times you make that choice easier."

Weiss made a smile. "Yay! I, um- I love you too, mom."

Blake noticed a lot of subtle tension changes in Mum Schnee's facial expression. Her smile reached deeper into her cheeks and the corner of her eyes and there was a slight quiver in the corners of her nostrils, twice, and her eyelids lowered as her eyeballs seemed to moisten, and her breathing became shallow and quick before she successfully inhaled a deep breath.

"Oh, sweetie," mum Schnee said. She pulled Weiss in for a hug, and Weiss returned it, convincingly, but from that angle Mum Schnee couldn't see Weiss's face.

- A POSSIBLE FUTURE -

Weiss sits down at the lunch table.

It's the opportune moment. Pyrrha's here, and that's who Weiss think would be the most equipped to answer her question.

And then there's Nora and Ren, but Weiss thinks that they might not judge.

And Yang isn't here, so there's that little bit of embarrassment that she gets to avoid (And Weiss had the vague sense that it was rude to talk about sex in front of someone who didn't feel sexual desire).

So Weiss sits down and says her pleasantries and then gets to the point.

"So, I had a question, for you, Pyrrha, if you don't mind," Weiss begins. She continues to cut her food into little squares to eat.

"Oh?

"And if you feel disinclined to answer, I would find that perfectly acceptable."

Pyrrha smirks and raises an eyebrow, "Oh? What kind of question do you think I'd be disinclined to answer?"

"I was wondering," Weiss lilts, "What. It is like. to." Weiss continues, and she manages not to lose her nerve or her composure. "To have sex."

There is a pause.

And then Nora stars cackling maniacally. Pyrrha starts chuckling uncontrollably. Ren suppresses a smile. Weiss blushes.

"Oh, its like a triple decker strawberry sunday on the last day of summer."

Weiss blinks.

"As you're while you tongue box each other's candy holes-"

"All soft lips, shaking hips, back flips and potato chips-"

"Until you're wallowing in hedonistic glee in an explosion of flavor heretofore undreampt-"

And perhaps the maniacally laughter had summoned Ruby from whatever dark coffin she normally retreated to, because the rose-flurried Gothic cookie reaper slides into view, flashing her candy-covered tombstone teeth and starts contributing to whatever blasphemous recitation Weiss had ushered forth.

tnk. Shing! "[IX:1011] that false Fruit Farr other operation first displaid, Carnal desire enflaming..."

"Cause you want some cake and she wants the high so you share a piece of what quickens the rot as you wait for the day the dead will rise-"

"And you crawl into her autumn mouth to feel the crows pick you apart inside-"

And eventually the cacophony of imagery crescendos into a climax, accompanied by a cymbal crash from Ren, and the relevant parties fall onto the ground.

Weiss blinks.

"Well, how that they're done," Pyrrha says. She inhales. "Sex is any erotic act between two or more people with a variety of body parts, and eroticism is a form of pleasure, often with elements of physicality but also often pertaining at least some mental and emotional elements."

Weiss smushes her mouth together "Pyrrha-"

"And you rub your hands, mouths, genitals and/or butts against each other until you decide you don't want to do so, whether because you're satisfied or because the TV station you left on in the background turned out to be playing that dinosaur movie you missed in theaters."

"Pyrrha," Weiss interjects, "I know what sex is. I just wanted to know, what its like..."

Pyrrha smirks, "Oh its, just..." She pontificates, "A triple decker strawberry sunday on the last day of summer~"

Weiss's face flattens. "Haha."

"See, you want the cake-"

"Yes-"

"And she wants the high-"

"Yeah, I get what you're doing-"

"So you both share a piece of what quickens the rot-"

"Are you done?"

Pyrrha chuckles. "Well. Its going to be different for everyone. Most people are sexual and most people enjoy it. I like feeling another girls body under mine and having various stimulating actions done to different parts of mine." She shrugs, "And there's, no right way to do it, but if it doesn't feel good, then, do something else. Hope that helped."

Weiss nods. "Yeah, I guess Im not sure what I was looking for, so, I guess that answer works."

And then, Pyrrha smirks insufferably, "So, does that mean you and Blake are, getting serious~?"

Weiss smushes her lips together.

And she nods.

- PRESENT DAY -

Blake spent that night in Weiss's embrace (and though it had only been three nights, it felt like an eternity- not that, like, she missed Weiss or anything.)

But, besides Wiess's return, Blake had another nightmare. This time, it was about, being confronted with choices. They were hard.

See- did she view her relationship with Weiss as a choice? Certainly it could be described as such, since, she could probably find some way to escape the mansion. And Blake already just, didn't do anything she didn't want to do, so the fact that she didn't leave already meant that she wanted to stay here, right?

Or, did Weiss view loving her as a choice she had to continue to make? And, what if she, one day, decided not to?

And that was why Blake was awake when, that night, there was a thud at the window.

Weiss awoke. She hugged Blake harder.

And a smirking face appeared in the window.

Weiss winked. She got up, and opened the window.

"What are you doing here?" Weiss said.

"I know i get holidays off," said the tall maid, waving a free hand, "but as a Puberty fairy in training, i would be remiss if i were not here to help my dear ward with her journey into womanhood."

"Puberty fairy?" Weiss said, "You mean, an endocrinologist?"

The tall maid smiled and pointed. "Yes."

And the maid stepped all the way into the room. The maid was wearing a black sweater and black spy pants, and was lugging around a large bag.

"So anyway," the maid pulled out a bag, "as you're getting to be that age where you're becoming aware of your body, your budding sexuality and your conscious and subconscious gender performance-"

"It's time for the ancient and most noble pubescent ritual, of decorating your room with obnoxious teenager things."

Weiss nodded, solemnly, "I will do what I must."

Blake blinked.

The maid pulled out a pile of posters, and a clipboard and pen. "I've got some posters of things newly pubescent teenagers enjoy."

"So, death metal music album cover art...

Weiss pondered. "hmmm."

"Weird foreign fashion icons..."

Weiss pondered some more. "hmmm."

"Anarcho-socialist propaganda..."

Blake's ears twitched at that last one.

"Some random boy bands in their album cover poses."

Weiss scrunched her mouth to the side. "hmmm..."

The maid scribbled something down on the clipboard. "And then I got, edgy unicorns, alternative grunge metal album covers, and a poster of, just, boobs."

Ooooo," Weiss said.

"But parents have started to catch on to what it means of their daughters have one of those, so in your circumstances, I'm going to recommend something subtler." The maid rummaged through the bag some more, "How about, some Corporate Mouse Brand Hereditary Monarchs, from narratives that specifically refer to inherent otherness?"

"Hmmm..."

"Racially insensitive princess from three decades ago?"

"which one?"

"All of them, posing together."

"Hmmm," Weiss said, "none of the Faunus are kitties..."

"Well, if you like, feline aspect Faunus..."

The maid rummaged some more, "Huh, turns out, the last time the Corporate Mouse made a movie about them, was three decades ago, and the poster's kinda, lackluster..."

"Aw."

The maid pulled out a new section of posters.

"How about, some Olympians? Do you like athletic women?"

Weiss glanced at Blake. Blake blinked.

"Hmmm..."

"Well, a few of the teenage up-and-comers got some licensing deals- So, how about one of the youngest Discus-Thrower in modern history, who also happens to be out and proud- but your parents don't need to know that."

Weiss picked up the poster. "I like her pose. And her hair."

"She's also good at the combat sections, which, aren't actually all that easy to capture in poster form." The maid rummaged some more, and presented Weiss with a few more Olympians.

"And just to be through, because no identity is wrong if its right for you," said the maid, "I'm gonna show you some other posters."

"So, from the most recent Corporate Mouse Pajama Vigilantes:"

"The gruff, hairy, older masculine powered-human-as-metaphor-for-disadvantaged-minority vigilante?"

Weiss frowned. "I mean, I liked his last movie, but, no."

"Too-pure-for-this-earth time-displaced Steroid Vigilante?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not really, no."

The maid pulled out a separate section.

"How about, random nerd guy posters?"

Weiss stuck her tongue out. "Ew, nerds."

Blake blinked.

"Glam metal band?"

"Oo, do you have one of just the lady?"

"Sadly, no." The maid pulled out one last poster, "Effeminate foreign boy band idol?"

Weiss waved the air. "Nah."

"Alright, that's good to know..." The maid wrote some more stuff down, and then packed up the remaining paraphernalia.

"W-wait," Weiss said. She bit her lip, and gestured to one last poster.

The maid brought the poster up. "oh, this-"

"It's just a few Faunus grooming each other's ears," said the maid, "They're Vulpine aspect Faunus, not kitties, and what they're doing isn't actually - oooohha,"

And the tall maid smirked at Weiss in a way that really annoyed Blake for some reason. "That's riiigghht."

Weiss glanced at the wall. Her face tinted.

"Okay, yeah," said the maid, "You can have this one."

Blake wasn't sure how she felt about Weiss having a poster of some filthy fox Faunus, but she was confident Weiss liked kitties the most.

"Alright, I think i have enough to go on and you have enough to proceed upon the next step in your journey into adulthood."

Weiss nodded solemnly. "I will do what I must."

The maid pointed finger guns at Blake, "And you remain as cryptic and mysterious as ever, Blake."

Blake smirked in spite of herself. "thanks."

"Next time, ill bring counter cultural music, books by anarchist philosophers, and advant-garde art installations that, from certain angles, look like genitals."

Weiss nodded. "What must be, must be."

Blake blinked, as she watched the maid sneak out the window.

Ten minutes later the alarms went off. The tall maid showed up the next workday in a cast, which Weiss signed.

(Probably non-canonical) OMAKE:

"Weiss, sweetie," said Mum Schnee, one day, "Since puberty bla bla bla, it is about time for you to consider having Blake spayed."

Blake paled.

"What's that mean?" Weiss said.

"Oh, It's just a little operation, that will mean that Blake will never want to be with someone besides you! Won't that be fun?"

"Like, at the flesh tailor?"

"That's certainly an option, but there are also chemical and hormonal options that regular doctors can perform that do the same thing without needing to tailor any flesh."

Blake cleared her throat. "can you, not see, that that is horrible?"

Mum Schnee chucked. "Now now. Blake, i can not see whatever and whenever I want. It comes with having wealth, and therefor power."

"that, doesn't make it, good."

Mum Schnee waved the air. "Besides, wealthy business owners have been implicitly endorsing not see adjacent ideologies for a while now, so if anything we're just following latent trends."

Blake looked between the humans, for several harrowing seconds.

"i dont want to be spayed."

"Okay, Blakey, you don't have too," Weiss said. She hugged Blake. "So long as you promise to only love me, forever!"

Blake cleared her throat. "Okay", she emitted.

"Yaaayy," Weiss said. She hugged Blake. But from that angle, she couldn't see Blake's face.