Merry not-quite-Christmas, you guys! Enjoy.

Weiss was bothered. At the very least she was conflicted

She sighed, stopping typing on her laptop to rub at her temples. The migraine had only grown worse. Last night was... eventful.

It was horrible.

Weiss had made Blake upset, and she had run out of the loft, after her surprise revelation that she actually was a Faunus. And if Weiss had to bet, she was once a part of the White Fang too. Blake had always been vague and shady about her past. Now Weiss knew why.

Yang had run after her, and Weiss had locked herself in her room, stubbornly ignoring Ruby's numerous requests for her to talk about it. Blake didn't come home that night, and neither did Yang. Weiss knew this because she was up all night, deep in thought. Now it was morning, and Weiss lost count of the cups of coffee she'd consumed and somebody was hammering at her skull with a jackhammer.

So Weiss threw herself further into her work, because she was Weiss Schnee, of the Schnee family, and what could be more important to a Schnee than their work? That, at least, she had in common with her father. The time on her laptop read 12 in the afternoon, but it still felt like last night hadn't ended.

Weiss sighed. She was fine. She needed to get this email sent, then to look over the photos from the CFVY set, arrange some meetings-

She took a sip from her coffee cup, only to find it empty. She scowled.

May poked her head in.

"Ms. Schnee, a Ruby Rose here to see you."

Weiss' scowl deepened. She really wasn't in the mood for this. She needed more coffee. And she wouldn't be entirely opposed to it being mixed with some form of very, very strong alcohol.

"Tell her I'm busy," Weiss waved a dismissive hand at her secretary. May nodded, disappearing back to her desk. Not 20 seconds later, the door to her office crashed open, and Ruby stomped in, a tray with coffee in one hand, and a paper bag in another. May appeared behind frantically.

"Ms. Schnee is busy, you're not allowed-"

"Ruby!"

Ruby stomped over to Weiss desk, setting the bag and tray down, a bit more forceful than she normally would. "It's lunch. You're not busy," Ruby said simply, taking a seat. Weiss sighed as May looked on angrily.

"You can go back, May," Weiss said to her secretary, pinching the bridge of her nose. May did so reluctantly, casting glances at the two of them, giving Ruby the stink eye even as she smiled apologetically. Weiss turned her attention to her room mate as she left.

"Why are you here?"

Ruby dutifully ignored Weiss, pulling out sandwiches from the bag and giving her a cup of coffee. Weiss sighed again, rubbing her temple. Ruby made a little 'oh', reaching into her backpack to pull out a little bottle of aspirin, along with a bottle of water. She pushed it over to Weiss, who took two immediately.

"You know why I'm here, Weiss," Ruby said simply, resting her chin in her hand before taking a sip of coffee. Weiss scowled again, putting the bottle of water and aspirin away, returning to her laptop. A hand appeared, and Ruby gently took Weiss' cold hands in her own. Weiss froze immediately, her eyes zeroing in on Ruby. Everything about her was gentle and coaxing. Everything about Ruby made Weiss feel funny. Ruby cared, she always cared about everybody. And Ruby showed it, and she always made a big show of it, case in point, here. Weiss wasn't used to it, even though she appreciated it immensely. But somehow Weiss felt like Ruby extra cared for her. Like Weiss was special. And that was... probably not true. Probably just Weiss projecting.

But that thought remained at the back of her mind on the slow days and quiet nights.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby.

"Weiss."

Weiss snapped out of her reverie. Ruby was still looking at her, and her hand was still warming up in the younger girl's.

"Talk to me. Please."

Weiss swallowed hard. "Okay."

It was 40 minutes after Blake had left the apartment, and Yang was in her car, driving her around. Blake was quiet...er than usual. The pair hadn't spoken much, just Yang letting Blake know that she wasn't angry and that they were going somewhere. She hadn't told Blake where. Blake didn't much feel like asking. Rain had started to pour down, a light drizzle, sounding out small 'tap-tap's on the windows. They were persistent, they were somehow comforting, they were absolute and essential. A force of nature, not too different from the girl seated beside her, driving in silence.

"Why aren't you mad?" Blake asked, finally sick of the silence that had overcome the pair like a thick fog. Yang drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, a smile breaking out on her face. The car came to a slow halt at a red light, and she looked over at Blake like she was an idiot. Which she was, probably.

"Are you kidding me?" Yang scoffed. "Faunus or not, you're still my best friend, Blake. Nothing'll change that." Yang placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly. Blake felt a bit warmer. The two fell into silence once more as Blake ruminated more, and Yang continued driving. Finally, they arrived at their destination: a tall apartment building. The building was made of marble, and even in the gloom of late-night rain, it looked way higher-class than either Blake or Yang.

"Where are we?" Blake wrapped her arms around herself, the chill finally getting to her. The car couldn't insulate then completely from the cold December winds. Yang was already wrapping her coat around Blake, ever the caring one.

"I'll explain inside, come on," Yang keyed the car off and exited. She looked like she didn't even feel the cold. It was an apt description, because when Yang came over to the other side, opening the door for Blake before taking her hand, Blake felt herself warming up with her touch. She should have known that Yang burned, hotter than the sun in the middle of July even in the cold winter months. She was a force of nature, after all.

The designers of the building apparently couldn't get enough of marble. Smooth and cold to the touch, it made up the entire interior of the building. Plush velvet carpet covered the floor, and embroiled in gold cursive on one wall was 'Oz Residences'. Yang, hand still in Blake's, led her over to the elevator. They entered, and Yang withdrew a card from her back pocket. It was plain grey, and Yang waved it at the panel, and the elevator dinged and started rising. Yang pocketed the card and smiled slightly at Blake. She squeezed Blake's hand comfortingly.

"I've told you before about my Uncle Qrow, right?"

Blake nodded slightly, recalling Yang having mentioned him before. He was friends with Yang's mother. Her biological mother. Or so Yang had surmised. All she knew was Summer Rose wasn't the woman who gave birth to her, and that the woman who did was missing. Her parents had been reluctant to tell her, and she'd been reluctant to ask.

"Well, when he's not off doing... whatever it is he does, he lives here," Yang pulled the card out again. "He gave me and Ruby a key, and said that we could crash here if we needed to." She looked at Blake with an infinite amount of kindness in her eyes, and Blake was almost floored. "I'd say we need to."

The elevator doors opened with a 'ding' to reveal a large grey marble hallway, similar to the marble in the lobby, except instead of plush velvet carpeting, it was yellow. The hallway held no doors, except the one at the far end. It was lighter grey in colour, except for the single red 'Q' plastered in the middle.

Yang led her down the hall, opening the door with another wave of the card. A small console beside the door lit up with the words 'Welcome, Yang Xiao Long'. Blake felt like she was in some sort of spy movie.

The place was big. A large window gave a sprawling view of the Valean city skyline, and a huge tv was hung up above a metal fireplace, with a grey couch facing it. Bottles and bottles of alcohol were scattered about the place, like a party had taken place the night before. A wine rack hung over in the kitchen, and there was even a bar in the far corner. The man liked his drinks. Yang sighed, already picking up bottles.

"Uncle Qrow?!" she called out. Only silence responded. She sighed again. "Gimme a second, alright?" Yang said to her companion, a stack of bottles already in her arms. Blake nodded, wandering around to inspect the place. It was a total bachelor pad. It was also dusty. It seemed that nobody had been around some parts in quite some time. The study seemed like it had seen very little use. Blake assumed that, with Uncle Qrow's frequent traveling habits, and lavish living style, he was some sort of businessmen. But she didn't know any businessmen to have more alcohol than liquids than weren't alcoholic in their homes. It did bring up the question of what exactly he did for a living.

"So, welcome, I guess?" Yang called out, leaning against the doorway of the study, smiling like nothing was wrong. Blake figured that it would be Yang, if anybody, to brighten up even the darkest aspects of her life. Blake stopped thumbing through Uncle Qrow's collection of novels. He was a big reader, apparently. He had a good amount of noir-mystery novels, about chiseled-jaw, gumshoe detectives in fedoras and trenchcoats solving murders, with his six-shooter as his only companion. Blake figured that if this were the mystery novel, Yang would be the femme fatale, the bombshell beauty, pretty with a pistol, and Blake would be the hard boiled detective with the shady past. Eventually the femme fatale would be the detective's downfall.

As Yang smiled, radiating warmth, Blake thought it was appropriate.

"You want a drink?"

Blake mulled it over for a bit. It had been a long night- hell, the night still wasn't over. She probably deserved a drink. Blake nodded, and Yang went over to the bar. Blake followed behind her.

Quickly, before she could think twice about it, Blake reached up and untied the bow atop her head, exposing her furry ears to the cool air. She shivered, for more reasons than one, as she took a seat at the bar. Yang looked up for pouring her drink, and her eyes shot up to the two furry appendages on top of Blake's head.

Slowly, Yang walked around the bar, and she wrapped Blake up in a hug. The rain eased up a bit, as the two girls took a seat around the fireplace, talking well into the night.

"A Christmas party."

A Christmas party?

"A Christmas party?"

Neptune nodded.

"A Christmas party!"

His bubbling excitement was something Jaune couldn't really share, for several reasons. The first on the list being that parties really weren't his thing. The second being, like- what the hell.

Ever since yesterday, when Neptune had met Ms. Schnee, he'd been going on and on about her. The first victim was Sun, when he had gotten home. Now it was Jaune's turn. The aqua-haired model had found him in the break room, organizing folders of shoots by date. The sprawl of photos and papers and stacks of boxes hadn't quite indicated to Neptune how busy he was.

"Seems kind of... on the nose," Jaune shrugged, straightening another stack of papers.

"That's the beauty of it, man!" he threw his hands up. "Snow Modeling Agency- everybody expects it to be too cheesy to have a Christmas party, so they'll be really surprised when we actually do have one!"

Jaune blinked.

"We'll just say we're doing it, like, ironically. Everybody loves that!"

Jaune shook his head good-naturedly. If nothing else, Neptune was crafty. Well, more like kind of crazy. But the good kind.

"This is just a big ploy to be able to see Ms. Schnee again isn't it?"

Neptune paused. "Well... yeah. But also everything else. Plus, it's Christmas!" Neptune ended his pitch with two big thumbs up.

"Yeah, no. Yeah. No, yeah, you're on your own," Jaune carefully put a stack of folders into a box, his mind already focusing on the task on hand.

Neptune chuckled. "Fine. But this thing is gonna happen, mark my words!"

Jaune somehow didn't doubt that.

A few hours later, a company wide memo went out- there was going to be a company Christmas party at the week's end. Jaune had to give him credit. Neptune was a fast worker.

Later, when Weiss found the memo she couldn't recall sending out, she chalked it up to her lack of sleep.

Again, it was late at night when Weiss returned home to the loft. The silence that reigned over it seemed heavy to Weiss. Or maybe that was her sleep-deprived brain trying to say something.

Everybody was in their rooms, leaving Weiss alone outside. She placed her shoes on the rack and deposited her keys into the bowl, ever the immaculately organized girl, even when her mind felt dry and her eyelids were screaming to drop. She placed her purse on the kitchen table, and to her credit, she deliberated a bit before taking the bottle of beer in the fridge. Alcohol. Any amount of alcohol would do.

She twisted the cap off before taking a swig of the cold beverage.

Again, to her credit, she deliberated some more before swiping the six-pack.

She downed two in the span of 20 minutes, sitting silently in the kitchen, her eyes locked on Blake's door the whole time. She took the rest to her room.

Weiss paused in front of Blake's room, bloodshot pale blue eyes staring intently at the door, mind trying to reach out into the girl she knew resided within.

Her whispered apology was lost to the air, before she slipped into her room.

Blake hadn't spoken to Sun since their last date.

She wasn't working, and she didn't open up any of his texts.

She was hesitant to tell him. It didn't really involve him, except it sort of did. It was the topic of him that brought up Weiss' surprise prejudices after all. She decided to wait to tell him.

She knew she had to apologize. Maybe Weiss was the one with the unfair views of Faunus, but Blake had still kept a big secret about herself from the few people who actually cared for her.

She didn't even know if Weiss would still accept being her friend, being as prejudiced against the Faunus as she was. And she hadn't even told her about her... more shady past. It was all one big headache.

People dealt with internal conflicts in different ways. Somebody like Yang would externalize it, with their fists or other body parts and with a large amount of force. Somebody like Weiss would internalize everything. Somebody like Ruby would... well, Ruby would probably just solve everything with simplicity and innocence.

Blake wrote.

She sat at her desk, writing.

It seemed so childish, to write something in a journal like a petulant teenager. But it helped. And it came as little surprise to Blake when she would look at all that she wrote and see that it amounted to little else but 'I'm sorry' in a million different ways. Her written apology wouldn't see the light of day.

Ladies loved confidence. Or so he was told.

With Pyrrha, Jaune knew she just wanted honest.

So that's what he did, with the courage and willpower he never knew he had.

"Hey, Pyrrha! Did you hear about the company Christmas party? I was thinking, if you weren't busy, you'd want to come with me?"

The cereal box gave no reply. Jaune sighed before spooning more marshmallow flakes into his mouth.

"Hey-hey! P-money, yo- No, that's stupid."

"Yeah, pretty dumb," a new voice offered from the kitchen doorway. Lie Ren went straight to the coffee pot, pouring himself a mug. Jaune's cheeks were dusted light pink. His roommate was a man of few words, which made those words carry a lot of weight. Jaune sighed again.

"What do I say, man?" Jaune lifted the box for Ren to see. "I mean how did you get Nora? You guys make it seem so easy."

Ren sipped his coffee. "Always had her," was his measured response. Jaune sighed again. The cereal box Pyrrha smiled bright, and now that Jaune knew her, he could see the frayed edges in ths photo. The nervous, almost uncomfortable look in her eyes, the slightly bulging vein in her neck and that one little strand of hair that stuck up slightly at the top of her head.

Jaune knew Pyrrha Nikos very well. He just didn't know how to ask her out. The sentence almost made his head spin and gave him a strange sense of vertigo.

Him, Jaune Arc, lanky, clumsy, embarrassing Jaune Arc wanted to ask Pyrrha Nikos, The Pyrrha Nikos, out? It sounded like the setup to a bad joke.

It wasn't even because it was Pyrrha's face on his tv and his cereal box. It wasn't because he saw her 12 second knockout win in the Remnant Olympics. It was because he knew her. Pyrrha Nikos was kind and caring and funny and ohmygod so out of his league it wasn't even funny!

Ren appeared, as he tended to, silently and fully dressed. Ren, as opposed to Jaune, worked at the modeling agency. Like, actually worked. He had an office and a computer and everything. He wore a tie to work.

Jaune got people coffee and occasionally got to adjust the camera focus. It was like a drop of ice cold water to a burning man.

"I'm meeting Nora before work," he buttoned his sleeves properly. "See you later."

Jaune grunted in response, his mouth full up with chewing marshmallow flakes.

Today would be the day, he told himself.

Today would be the day, she told herself.

Pyrrha idly popped another marshmallow flake into her mouth, looking out the window. The cab was stopped at a traffic light next to a park. Her mind wandered with the sight of a couple sitting comfortably on a bench together.

Jaune.

Jaune!

Jaaaaaaauuunnneeee.

Pyrrha popped another marshmallow flake into her mouth. There was no denying her attraction to him. He was charming, funny, sweet. He was a genuinely good person. And he was the first person in a while to have met her and treated her like a person, to be talked to and not about. Jaune honestly didn't care about her name or her face on billboards or... cereal boxes.

And today was the day. She would ask him out on a date. She would. Really.

Just like the other 15 times she said she would.

But this time, though. For real.

Pyrrha paid the cab driver and stepped out, heading into the building. She discarded her hat and sunglasses inside, safe from the prying eyes of the public. In her dressing room was a coffee cup with a sticky note on it.

'have a good day!' it read, with a misshapen heart next to it. Unmistakeably Jaune. It would be unmistakable based purely on the fact that Jaune was the only intern getting people coffee. But also unmistakably Jaune's brand of adorableness.

It cemented her resolve. Today would be the day.

Sun looked at Blake's contact for the millionth time that day. She hadn't responded to any of his texts, and he began doubting whether she would even show up for work. Sun was concerned, to say the least. Blake was mysterious- like the word 'mystery' had somehow taken form of an adorable woman, gaining sentience- but she would never outright ignore him like this. He gathered that something big had happened to her.

Well, honestly, a million thoughts were running in his head about her.

Maybe she just wanted some space. Maybe she had truly cut him off. Maybe she had found somebody else. Maybe she was murdered and stuffed into the trunk of a serial killer's car.

Or maybe she would walk into the shop, looking like she didn't appreciate the raincloud that had miraculously formed over her head.

"Blake!" Sun perked up, pocketing his phone. His smile died once he saw the way Blake's eyes never quite met his, and her usual quiet amusement was replaced by a more serious, somber look. "Is everything alright? I-I texted you like a million times, I wasn't sure if-"

"I'm okay, Sun," she said quietly. Blake walked up to him slowly, encircling his wrists with her hands. She stopped, deciding how best to proceed. "I've been busy," she sighed quietly.

She led him over to the counter, patiently explaining the whole thing about Weiss- about herself. Sun listened attentively, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Sun finally asked once she finished. Blake bit her bottom lip. Now here was the tricky part. Why didn't she tell him? She had no reason not to. And of all people, Sun deserved to know. He was involved after all. And she was involved with him. She should have told him. She really should have.

Only she didn't. Because she decided to ignore him. Blake decided that telling Sun took a backseat to spending time with Yang to figure it all out. Blake swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, and Sun didn't miss the twitch of her ears almost flattening underneath the bow.

Sun hugged her, and Blake wasn't sure which aspect she was truly sorry about.

Yang slipped her helmet off, keying the engine of the yellow motorcycle off. A quick run of her hand through her hair, and the goldy-locks were back to their carefully planned mess. The sun was quickly setting over the Valean skyline. But the club she'd parked in front of had not yet opened. That actually suited her. She was looking for information. The lack of crowd would just make it easier.

The big man out front was smoking a cigarette, looking disinterested as ever. Yang pocketed her shades and put on a winning smile, walking over to him.

"Hey, big guy," she winked, putting on her most salacious voice. "How about letting me in a bit early huh?" she leaned in close, whispering right into his ear. "I'll make it worth your while~"

The man blushed a bright red, and Yang marvelled at how much easier this was than she thought it would be. Yang took advantage as he flustered to slip past him, winking once more for good measure.

The music was already playing. A loud, bassy beat to get patrons to dance. Yang strode confidently to the bar, taking a seat as the man behind it was distracted with mixing a drink. Short, cropped hair, and a full thick beard. He was the man she was looking for.

"One Strawberry Sunrise, please!" Yang called out cheerily. The man startled, whipping around to look at the sexy blonde woman sitting ever so casually at his bar. The club wasn't open yet...

"Who let you in?" he asked gruffly, crossing his arms gruffly, looking... gruff.

Yang rested her chin on her palms as she smiled and rolled her eyes good- naturedly. "Oh, your bouncer was really nice about it."

Junior scowled at her.

Yang pulled her scroll out of her back pocket, thumbing through to pull up a photo of a raven-haired woman. "Junior, right?"

Junior scowled more.

"Some friends of mine referred me to you. Of course, their referral came under less than pleasant circumstances."

Realization dawned on Junior's face.

Yang nodded, smiling. "Don't worry, Junior. All your toys have been returned to their toyboxes, and you dirty little secrets are safe with me," she winked. "All I want to know is," she showed him the photo. "where is this woman?"

"Jaune, I wanted to ask you-"

"Pyrrhadoyouwanttogotothechristmaspartywithme?"

Pyrrha blanched. Then she smiled wide.

"Yes, Jaune. I would like that very much,"

Jaune managed to refrain from doing a victory dance on the spot right there.

Neptune's date, meanwhile, probably didn't even know she was going with him. But she'd be there.

Yang and Ruby were invited of course. Blake wouldn't go quietly into that good party, but she'd be there. Sun, too.

The stage was set for a... memorable Christmas. One that could be described in five acts.

The first act started with a song.

Weiss had made her rounds, and now she was standing uncomfortably at the punch bowl, waiting for Ruby and the rest to arrive. Weiss was nervous. She hadn't spoken to Blake in almost a week at this point. She'd never be home when Weiss was. Weiss wouldn't even know what to say if she ever did catch her.

Now, it would be a guarantee.

Yeah, Weiss was nervous.

Then the damned song came on.

I don't want a lot for Christmas,

Christmas songs. Weiss scowled into her cup.

Then she caught sight of a crimson haired girl in a dark and crimson coloured dress, looking uncomfortable as ever in her heels. Weiss felt her scowl lessen and a smile bloom on her face.

All I want for Christmas is~

"Weiss!" Ruby called out, waving and walking over awkwardly. More of a stilted waddle if anything else. "Hey! You look great!"

Weiss' reaction to that compliment from anybody else would be to smile politely and bow her head. After all, she never did know when somebody was being genuine. In Weiss' high-class world of snooty rich people, words never meant what they were supposed to, and sometimes meant nothing at all.

With Ruby, Weiss knew she was being genuine. Weiss bit the inside of her cheek, a blush running up her neck.

"Thank you Ruby, you don't look so bad yourself."

Ruby scoffed. "Betcha didn't even know I was capable of cleaning up this well. Check it, I'm even wearing lady-stilts and makeup!"

Weiss nodded, amused

"So," Ruby dropped her tone a bit. "Have you talked to Blake yet?"

Weiss' smile dropped a bit. Ruby's smile grew. That smile never usually meant good things for the heiress.

"I have a plan."

The second act started with a plan.

"Yang, that's ridiculous," Blake deadpanned.

Yang cocked a hip, indignant. "I guarantee you it'll work! It's like proposing in front of a crowd, or poking holes into the condom so he won't ever leave you!"

Both Sun and Blake's faces paled.

"I- You had me for the first part-" Sun coughed.

Yang rolled her eyes. "It was a joke. Obviously," she added a wink, bringing the authenticity of the joke back into question.

Blake narrowed her eyes at her blonde roommate.

Yang counted the seconds in her head.

10, 11-

"Fine. I'll do it."

Yang whooped. Usually it took her like 20 seconds to agree to any of Yang's crazy plans.

Blake sighed. "Get me a drink, please."

The third act started with alcohol. A lot of alcohol.

Weiss downed her fifth glass of vodka. Things were buzzing quite nicely, and she was starting to slur her words just a little.

"Y'know, when I said maybe a little bit of liquid courage would help, I didn't really mean this," Ruby noted, a hint of nervousness in her voice. Weiss hadn't remembered having an open bar at the party, although to be fair, Weiss didn't remember many specific details of anything by the third glass. She also didn't remember Ruby's dress showing that much cleavage underneath that black mesh. Weiss giggled to herself, and Ruby laughed nervously too.

"Ruby!" Weiss spoke with the enunciation of somebody who was clearly drunk trying to speak like a normal person. "You're showing a lot of décollet- déco-" Weiss hiccoughed. "Boobage tonight! Whossit for? I hope it's meeee~" she sing-songed the last part, laughing into her drink. Ruby laughed along even more nervous. She cleared her throat and excused herself, her face a shade of brilliant red.

Blake, meanwhile, was just as belligerent as Weiss, if not more so.

"You have blonde hair, Sun," Blake teased a lock of it. "Like Yang! Or the Sun!" she smiled. "Same thing."

"Me and Yang?" Sun asked, humouring his drunk girlfriend.

"No, Yang and the sun."

Sun 'ah'd, shutting her up by presenting her with another beer, which she gladly took and chugged.

"So how is Operation: Tipsy Elves going on your end?" Ruby slid up to her sister, watching Blake get drunker with each passing moment.

"I thought it was Operation: Hammer'd Bros?"

Ruby shrugged. Yang rolled her eyes.

"It's going great! Blake's almost at the point where she's touchy drunk- oh there she goes."

True to her word, Blake was now feeling up the chair she was seated in. Sensually rubbing and groping the hard, shiny plastic like it was prom night.

"Alright, just don't get her like... super duper drunk."

"Speak for yourself," Yang scoffed, jerking her head over to where Weiss was, enthusiastically explaining the plot of the newest run of the X-Ray and Vav comics to a very scared looking lanky blonde man. Ruby sighed, already heading over to where her roommate was.

"So it turns out Mogar was- Oh, Ruby!"

Ruby sidled up to the pair, gently placing an arm over Weiss' shoulder and leading her back to her seat.

"Sorry about that!" she called out as they took their seats. Weiss giggled again, reaching up to unwrap Ruby's hand from around her shoulder and instead taking it in her arms and hugging it. Ruby yelped as her left arm was clamped around the vice grip known as Weiss Schnee's drunk hugs.

Then a song came on.

That same damned song.

I don't want a lot for Christmas...

The fourth act started with that same damned song.

Why the place had a karaoke machine, Weiss would never know. But in that moment, inspiration struck her like never before. Like a man possessed, Weiss released Ruby and bounded/stumbled over to the machine, grabbing the mic. The whole party went silent as the microphone screeched, and everyone turned their attention to the proud Schnee heiress, standing tall and proud and piss drink, giggling into the microphone.

"I am Weiss Schnee, and I am the owner of this company, and I would like to sing you all a song! And you have to let me because I'm Weiss Schnee, and I am the owner of this company- oh. I said that already."

Weiss keyed in the song, that damned stupid catchy Christmas jingle. Ruby looked on in horror and sick fascination. Her plan hadn't entailed this. This was, in fact, going off the rails a bit. Or a lot. But she couldn't stop her or look away. She just looked on at the train wreck that was Weiss Schnee drunk at the karaoke machine.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need," Weiss hit the first notes of the song, her speech slightly slurred, but clearly all her heart was put into this rendition. And Weiss was a good singer. Ruby had personally heard the ridiculous high notes she could hit. In the right time and place, Weiss Schnee could have brought men to their knees and burned cities to the ground and turned empires to dust with her beautiful voice.

Drunk at a Christmas party, Weiss was still plenty impressive. People started whooping and cheering her on, causing her to put more soul into her performance. Off came the off-center ponytail, and Weiss ebony hair was free to whip around and she sang and moved.

Less the train wreck that Ruby expected really.

"All I want for Christmas is-"

Weiss' eyes caught Blake's. She stopped singing, the mic halfway to her lips still.

"Blake."

The fifth act started with a name.

"Weiss."

"Blake. I'm... sorry."

The crowd went silent.

"I was being rude and prejudiced. I didn't mean to drive you away. I-I couldn't sleep thinking about you."

Weiss never broke eye contact with those golden-brown orbs. Blake got up from her seat, and the crowd parted, a path for her straight to Weiss. Blake's heels click-clacked against the floor as she walked up to Weiss-

and hugged her.

Tears. Everywhere.

"I'm sorry I kept a secret from you," Blake cried.

"I'm sorry too," Weiss cried.

The crowd cheered, as a scene straight out of a movie played in front of them. If a single warm act happened again, Saint Nicholas himself would have come by, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

As far as Christmases went, this was a pretty good one.