AYangThang: Chapter related kerfuffle has been fixed. Shout out to BLOOD DARKLING for letting me know.

Chapter: Settling In

There was a simple comfort found between madness and idiocy. A lack of common sense seemed to come second nature, and most of them were completely alright with that. Those that weren't grudgingly tolerated the insanity that plagued the dorm in the aftermath. It seemed as though nothing could ever change between the eight friends. The routines that they'd built during their first year in Beacon only continued to get more outlandish. That was to be expected, too.

"Nora, sit still." Ren said for the umpteenth time. The unwavering calm in his voice was beginning to meet its match.

"Well, maybe if you stopped plucking at me with those tweezers, I would." Nora said, sticking her tongue out at him before wincing as another thorn was pulled from her skin. "Ow!"

"I have to get the thorns out." He replied calmly, a look of displeasure still sitting firmly on his face. It was subtle, but anyone who knew his composure well, knew he was actually livid. "Now do you understand why I told you to never do that again?" Ren murmured to Nora as he gently tended to the long thin cuts along her arm. "Nora don't scratch it…Nora!"

"Sorry Ren…" The carrot topped girl deflated. "But, it was so fun." Nora said as she resisted the urge to claw at the rashes covering her skin. "And now it's really itchy."

"Fun for whom?" Weiss asked as she shook her head, taking the time to tend to Yang's wounds.

"For us." Nora said. "Well, at the time."

Weiss could only sigh. "I don't care what anyone says, Ursa surfing is not a sport."

"I don't know, you seemed to be having fun at the time." Yang said, tapping Weiss with her free elbow.

"Stop that." Weiss replied with a firm slap to the wayward limb. The action causing the blonde to wince. "Leave it to you three to go stampeding through the thickets."

"How long does Grimm ivy last for anyway?" Jaune asked, scratching at the red blotches and rashes all over his skin as Pyrrha covered him in white ointment.

"I don't know. I've never catapulted myself head first into a patch of it." Weiss shot back. She glanced at the two women who kept scratching themselves. Then back to Jaune. He was by far the worst off. "If I had to guess, it'll probably go away in a few days…so long as the rash clears. Yang!" Weiss commanded, grabbing hold of her wrist. "For the last time, stop scratching, you'll only make it worse."

"He's doing it." She defended.

"He's an idiot." Weiss grumbled, her eyes narrowing as she roughly set down her tweezers. "Listen up! The more you scratch at it, the more you'll spread the rash." She ranted, one hand on her hip, the other hand wagging a finger in the air. "Grimm Ivy is not like the garden variety poison ivy found in most backyards. It can be very dangerous if treated incorrectly. The plant is carnivorous, and it has spines that eat right through aura. If you got trapped in those spines for an extended length of time, you'd eventually become plant food."

"So...the more we scratch at it, the longer it'll take to heal?" Yang asked.

Weiss nodded. "Yes, precisely." She replied, going back to plucking the thorns out of Yang's arms. "Scratch too much, and it'll deplete your aura entirely. Now if you'll stop fidgeting, I'll dress the wounds."

"Speaking of that, is it safe for Blakey to come in yet?" Ruby asked as she peeked in from the hallway.

"Not unless you want her passing out from the fumes." Weiss said over her shoulder, barely able to brave the medicinal scent herself. "This ointment is treated with Schnee company dust, so you're both banished until after the med kits are put away."

"Aw, come on Weiss." Ruby said. "It's just rash cream, I can't make that explode."

"It's not the exploding I'm worried about, Ruby. It's Blake's health." Weiss said, holding the tube of medicine aloft. "The god awful smell is bad enough for me. What do you think will happen if we expose her to it?"

"Yeah, no kidding, this stuff reeks." Yang said disgustedly. "Ugh, you better not be get any of that in my hair, Weiss."

"If you shut up and stay still, you wouldn't have to worry about that." Weiss said, on the edge of annoyance.

The pungent odor aside, this was medication made for humans. Weiss wasn't entirely sure a Faunus could be exposed to it. Today wasn't the first time Weiss had treated Yang's injuries, and she doubted it would be the last. So, with the resolve of a huntress, she squeezed some ointment onto her gloved fingers in order to apply it properly. There were so many scratches to cover. Then she would have to bandage them.

All in all, the task was taking longer than Weiss first thought.

Still, she knew it had to be offering Yang some measure of relief. Finally, Weiss was able to put the finishing touches on her medical care. Gently, she placed a coated gauze pad on Yang's cheek, holding it there with two thin strips of tape. "There, now leave the bandages be, and for the love of god, don't try to scratch over them."

"Well, at least when we go to class, we'll all look like mummies." Nora said as she flopped down across the bed she was sitting on.

Neither of her bandaged companions seemed nearly as excited.

There wasn't much Yang could do wrapped in bandages, so she chose to tend to one of her little side projects.

There had been two bird houses at the apartment. They both sat side by side on sill in the small kitchen. One painted white, the other painted black. The colors had faded, the paint flaking off the moment Yang had touched them. It was just the sort of thing she suspected Summer Rose to keep around. In a burst of sentimentality, Yang had gone out and bought two small cans of paint. She brought the birdhouses back to Beacon with all of the care in the world. She'd been planning to paint them before, but she'd been distracted.

Now, though, with nothing else to pass the time, she could give them her full attention. Painstakingly, Yang restored the houses. The vibrancy returning with each stroke. She'd put them back on the windowsill when she had a chance.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked, as she watched Yang sit on a small square tarp in the middle of the locker room.

"I found these just lying around." Yang said, holding the white bird house in her hand. "I wanted to clean them up a little, give them a new coat of paint, and all of that. I was going to do it during vacation, but I never found the time."

"So you're going to do it now?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised in surprise.

"Can't get on my bike with this on." Yang said, pointing to the gauze on her cheek. The wrappings on her wrists and belly were less obtrusive, but her helmet strap pressed painfully against the wound on her cheek. "You know me, I can't just sit around. I've got to have something to do. Otherwise I go nuts,"

"And just what will you do with them once you've fixed them?" Weiss asked as she looked down to the nearly completed house. It was still wet, and would need a second coat. "They certainly can't be kept in the dorm."

"I know a place they're perfect for." Yang said with a smirk. "Don't worry, it's not like I plan to keep them in the room, or anything."

"I'd hope not, Blake wouldn't be very happy if you did that." Weiss told her. "Although, I am curious as to where you found them."

The blonde shrugged, her brush flinching in her hand enough for Weiss to notice. "It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"We're all entitled to a little privacy. So, that aside, I suppose it depends." Weiss said as she knelt down on her knees to get a better look. "It doesn't have anything to do with that mysterious envelope you've refused to show us, does it?"

"Yeah, it does involve that. It's nothing bad, though." Yang said, her gaze glued to the house in her hand. Her fingers tightened around the sides just a little. "Besides, it's not you and Blake that I'm trying to hide the envelope from."

"Ruby then." Weiss said jumping to what she thought had to be the only reasonable conclusion.

"It's complicated."

"Isn't it always?"

For a few tense moments, silence was all that Yang offered. Her intense gaze fixated on the wet paint that reflected the overhead light. Then, as she finished her project, she sighed. "I found some answers. In doing that, I ended up finding out some things that I can't explain…and they're things that have nothing to do with my mom."

"Then, why is it such an issue?"

"Because it has to do with Ruby's." Yang shot back quietly. A small hint of shame in her voice. "I'd always thought things with Summer Rose were cut and dry. Dad told us that she went on a mission and died. To me, that was it. Open and shut case…now, I'm not so sure." Yang cleared her throat. "I've found some things that make me wonder about it. It wouldn't be the first time dad's told us little white lies to protect us. The thing is, even thinking that things could be even slightly different, that's like picking at old wounds. If it's like that for me, I can't even guess how it would be for Ruby."

"Family has always been something of a sore subject for three-fourths of our team, Yang." Weiss had always been very mindful of that little truth. She didn't want reminders of her own parentage, after all. She'd never assume that Ruby or Yang would want to think of their own. Among the four of them, the topic was nearly taboo. "There's a reason Blake and I tip-toe around the subject when it comes to Ruby."

"And it's the same reason that I haven't told her yet." Yang bit out from between slightly clenched teeth. There was no real heat to her words. Just stress, and fading sadness. "Until I really know how bring the situation up to Ruby, I think its best that I don't say anything at all."

"And these birdhouses are part of what you found?" Weiss murmured thoughtfully.

Even though Yang didn't confirm it directly, the blonde didn't need to. Weiss could see the conflict swirling in those focused lilac eyes. Old emotions had seated themselves in the depths of Yang's mind. Her desire for knowledge could sometimes be like that of a bloodhound, tracking clues with relentless intent. Whatever Yang had found managed to claw at long protected scars, causing them to seep anew. Concern began to trickle into her thoughts, wondering if Yang would truly find anything that would lead to solace.

With a breath, Weiss forced herself to shove the matter aside before she was dragged down with it.

Instead, she offered something of a waning smile. "Put that aside for now. We've finally gotten our new dorm assignment. Professor Port handed them out today, but we only have the weekend to move rooms. Our old building is being closed for renovations."

Yang nodded. "Yeah I heard about that. About time too, that building was the only one with communal bathrooms." She capped the lid to the paint can, lightly pounding it back into place with her fist. Then she carefully put away her supplies, stowing them in her locker. "Did we get a corner room?"

"No, but we are across from JNPR yet again." Weiss said, as if that was somehow a saving grace. "Ruby and Blake found out that our room measures out to be little bigger than before too. Don't get too excited though, the bathrooms attached to the rooms are tiny. I don't know about you, but I'll still be going to use the showers at the end at the hall."

Yang nodded as she finally placed away the birdhouses and slammed her locker shut.

Together, they headed in the directions of the dorms. Both of them walking side by side. They were just a little closer than what might be deemed friendly. Weiss paid Yang's nearness no concern. The two of them kept walking in companionable silence. Weiss had noticed that Yang was calm when no one was around to encourage her questionable behavior. Yang had always been that way, although Weiss suspected that the underlying reasons were quite personal. Weiss had never asked, and Yang had never offered to explain the deeper details.

Weiss valued their time, peaceful as it was.

They could have gone on forever like that, and Weiss wound have been happy. All good thing had to come to an end, though, and their peaceful stroll was no different.

As they both entered the new room, Yang helped Ruby unpack the first set of boxes. Stacks of books waited to be shelved, and clumps of laundry waited to be folded neatly into drawers. The team got to work. Blake began with the two storage closets, packing away everything they didn't need. Weiss safely stored the team's dust vials and spare ammunition. The sisters stood side by side combatting the mountains of books, trying to sort the academic from the fiction.

It was then, that Ruby dropped a bombshell onto what used to be their normal routine.

"I think this year, I want to push the beds together." Ruby said offhandedly as she sorted through the heavy tomes. "Mine and Blake's, I mean."

Yang snorted darkly, the idea entirely unfathomable. "You are not canoodling with Blake while I'm in the room. It's bad enough that I sometimes walk-in on it, I don't need it to be a nightly thing."

"That was one time, and you didn't see anything." Blake defended from the depths of the closet. "We were fully clothed."

"It was one time too much, thanks." Yang said as she leaned against the wall of their new dorm room. Lilac eyes fell upon her sister. "Look, sis, you're old enough to handle yourself, so I'm not going to get all preachy on the subject. I just don't want to see it. Like I said, you're my sis. If you want alone time, go bugger off somewhere like every other horny Beacon student."

"Who said anything about being…well…that…" Ruby blushed deeply. Her silver eyes looked down at her feet. "I want to sleep in the same bed as my girlfriend every night. Is that really such a bad thing?"

"Weiss, back me up here!" Yang barked, only receiving a roll of icy blue eyes as a response.

"As the voice of reason, if we push the two beds together, we're going to lose a lot of floor space." Weiss said to them. "Keep in mind, we still have more boxes to pack up and move."

"Not too many..." Ruby said, as though the defense would save her.

"We've had bunkbeds for so long out of practicality." Weiss said carefully. "We've only gathered more things in our time here in Beacon, not less."

"But this room is bigger than the one we had before." Ruby said, spreading her arms wide. "We even have two closets."

"It's not that much bigger, Ruby." Yang said. "The bathroom door takes up part of that far wall too."

Blake exited the closet on her side of the room. She had just assumed she'd share a bunk with Yang, just like she did every year. Yet, what Ruby proposed sounded heavenly. "Well, there are the two extra desks in here that we don't need. We've never used all of the desks at once, and I really doubt we'll start now. If we got rid of them, we could push one bed flush against the wall." Blake theorized. "Then the other could go right next to it. It wouldn't take up too much space, and then it would just be a matter of buying a larger set of sheets."

Yang roughly grabbed Blake by the back of her shirt, pulling her in close. Lilac eyes started coloring red with each blink. "Don't start. You're going to break my brain."

"I don't know what you think you're going to see, Yang." Blake sighed dryly, shaking free from her partner's grip. "I think you've probably advanced the state of my relationship with your sister by leaps and bounds."

The blonde glared at Blake then. "And just what is the state of your relationship?"

Blake just scoffed. "Put it this way, it's nowhere near what you do up on the spire when the teachers aren't looking."

"Wait…what?" Ruby asked, perking up behind another stack of books. These ones belonging to Weiss. Her gaze caught her older sister. "I always though you went to a hotel, or something...what are you doing up on the spire?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know what she does up there." Blake said, with a near feline smirk. "Besides, we're talking about my relationship with you, which Yang supposedly supports…don't you Yang…"

The blonde shook her head. "Oh, for god's sake.…"

"Yang, perhaps we should be a little more reasonable." Weiss said thoughtfully as she opened a nearby window to let the warm breeze in. "It isn't as if this is a new development. They've been together for quite a while. As long as they both agree to keep their 'personal time' as strictly that, I hardly see the issue."

Yang slapped a hand to her face, groaning in disbelief. She was sure Weiss would pointedly be against it. She turned to both Blake and her sister. "I can't friggin' believe I'm about to agree to this, but fine. You want to push your beds together, go for it."

"Thanks sis." Ruby said with a smile.

"Don't thank me just yet. Blakey here, needs to swear to me that you two won't do anything to break my brain." Yang said, giving her partner a borderline murderous glare. "I mean it, if I hear you two going at it even for a second, I'm tossing you out of the window, head first."

Blake merely sighed, looking at the blonde with her usual dry exasperation. "Yang, I solemnly swear that I won't do anything that would obviously scar this entire team for life."

Yang nodded, still not entirely satisfied. "Well, alright then. Weiss, guess you and I are bunkmates."

The white haired woman had already suspected that would be the outcome, and resigned herself to the fate awaiting her. "I'll go get the rope."