The light penetrating the drapes woke Blake late in the morning. She looked around the dorm, seeing a few things to clean up. For starters, the candles had all burned out, leaving dried wax everywhere. A few other choice items were off to the side of the bed, where they were eventually thrown after use. Amber eyes eventually settled on the pale figure laid out in her arms. Their blanket had been tossed about in the night, and now the fabric failed to cover much. Not that Blake minded. At all.
Even Weiss was unconcerned as she started to rouse as well. After what they had experienced the night before, it seemed natural. As Weiss would perfectly describe it, "That was more amazing than I could ever imagine…"
"For me too." Blake replied, smiling.
"Really?" The heiress giggled. "With all you read?"
"It doesn't prepare you for the real thing, apparently." Blake answered.
"Wait… So you…?" Weiss was startled.
Blake suddenly drew a suspicious look on her face. "Why is that such a surprise?"
"I didn't-! I mean-! I- I just-!" Weiss stumbled. She caught her breath and responded slowly. "With everything you say, and how well you… took control last night. I just assumed you had, um, experience."
Blake huffed and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"You… enjoyed it too, right?" Weiss asked nervously.
"Of course." Blake nuzzled her girlfriend's neck. "You were wonderful."
Weiss smiled.
"I was surprised when you left me that letter, but I'm glad things worked out."
Weiss's smile broke and looked up at Blake slowly. "What are you talking about?"
"The letter?" Blake repeated. "The one you left for me? The reason we're both here?"
Weiss sat up. "You left me a letter, silly… right?"
Blake's eyebrow raised. The faunus reached to the bookshelf and pulled out her favorite title, slipping a piece of paper from between the pages. She handed it to Weiss, who fluffed it out and read.
Dear love,
I hope you don't find me communicating this in writing to be some form of cop-out. It's hard for me to think about these things, let alone speak on them candidly. I needed to gather my thoughts, and this was the best way how…
I want you, Blake. I can't deny it to myself much longer… But I'm afraid it's going to change our relationship… I know it's silly. Plenty of couples make love. I've even heard of relationship's where people break up, and neither of them realized it started with a lack of bedroom activities. But it doesn't stop me being scared, which brings me to the purpose of this letter.
Like I said, I want you. But if I have too much of a say, I'm going to back out at the last minute. I know your literature, and I have a proposal. I'll make sure Reaper and Neo can't walk in on us tomorrow night. Tomorrow night, I will walk through that door in nothing but my nightgown. What happens next is up to you… to avoid me chickening out, I'm giving you full control.
I want you Blake. And I know you want me… I'm not blind. Tomorrow night, you can have me.
Always yours, Wiess
PS, Please stay quiet until then. Reaper and Neo's incessant teasing won't help my confidence.
Weiss reached the end, and her eyes widened. The letter sounded like her, even had her handwriting… but she would remember writing something like this! Not to mention Blake's letter… Weiss ran to her dresser and fished out the crumpled paper, untangling it and handing it to Blake. "Read." Weiss told her.
Blake took the paper and read it over. Twice. "Weiss, I didn't write this…"
"But it is your handwriting!" Weiss shouted.
"Well, so was yours… the one you say you didn't write… Weiss, if we're both telling the truth, who the hell wrote these letters?"
Reaper was waiting in the library with Neopolitan and Nora. The pink thunder woman had challenged Ember to an arm wrestling contest and, after a bit of shoulder-stabbing, the challenged was out front and eager to begin. Three destroyed tables and a senselessly furious librarian was the scene Weiss walked in on, on her quest for Reaper. It didn't take long for the heiress to put two and two together and realize who likely pulled the stunt with the letters. It wouldn't surprise her to learn that either Reaper or Neo were excellent forgers.
Ember spotted white from the corner of her eye, and let Nora win the next one. She then shifted right back into the recesses of her and Reaper's brain. "Thanks for the assist…" Reaper scolded.
No probs, boss!
Groan
"Reaper! Neo! And you too, I bet!" Weiss shouted, pointing at each of them in turn. Blake caught up with Weiss about now, obviously quickly dressed.
"You at least have fun?" Nora asked, blunt as always.
"Quiet." Weiss scolded, shutting the lot of them up. She raised her hand and brought it down. Reaper's aura rippled where Weiss slapped her. "That is for tricking Blake and I."
Weiss stomped away, and Blake sat across from Reaper at her departure. "Something happen?"
Blake smiled. "Weiss is just being Weiss. While she'll never admit it to your face, Weiss does appreciate the sentiment behind what you did. Even if she doesn't agree with the principle of it."
"So… everything worked out?" Reaper asked, suddenly unsure.
Blake's smile grew larger. "We talked it out before finding you. She's pissed, but that doesn't mean she's not glad it happened. It might seem weird in terms of a relationship, but it was just what we needed. Get over our nerves, grow closer… maybe have a bit of fun too. Though I have to ask… how did you even pull this off? Even Pyrrha was a part of it, according to Weiss?"
"Pyrrha might have thought you really did talk her into it." Nora admitted.
"Right after our talk a few days ago, I had this idea and went straight to Nora." Reaper explained. "She told me she could get Ren involved, to get your scroll long enough to send a message. Bet you never even noticed you didn't have it in our first match?"
Blake pulled out her scroll and perused the old messages. One to Taiyang and one to Pyrrha she never actually sent.
"Between me and Neo, we nailed your personalities for the letters," Reaper continued, "but it wasn't us who did the handwriting."
"Then who? Nora?" Blake asked.
"Jaune, actually." Nora replied. "It seems he's really good at it. And has used these skills to- um, to…. Ummm… do nothing… obviously…" Nora caught herself. WBRN still didn't know Jaune never properly applied to Beacon, and he wanted to keep it that way.
"Speaking of the boy blunder," Reaper interrupted, "We were thinking about doing something similar for him and Pyrrha. It's been three years, and they still aren't together. It's honestly a little annoying."
'Would you be willing to help?' Neo signed.
"Of course! Consider it repayment." Blake smiled.
The four mingled a while longer before Blake decided she should go find her heiress, and left. The librarian managed to kick the destructive trio out soon after, with the aid of Glynda Goodwitch. On the way out, Nora asked, "So when's Neo's match?"
"Soon." Reaper answered. "And she's going to kick ass!"
"Not against Pyrrha!" Nora replied.
"Wanna bet?" the scythe master proposed.
Please don't
"Oh yeah!" Nora agreed.
"So if I win…" Reaper thought. "You have to be Ember's slave for a day!"
I agree to nothi- wait what?
"And if I win…" Nora spent a good few minutes trying to think up a good punishment. It would have been easy against Ruby, but Nora found herself realizing there wasn't much Reaper wasn't likely to do on a dare, let alone a lost bet. She didn't want to re-use 'be my slave' either, because Ember might object for one, and it just wasn't creative to steal the other guys bet. Then an idea. "You have to let me use Brutal Thorn once in Goodwitch's class."
Reaper gasped dramatically. "You fiend…"
Nora smiled triumphantly. If there was one thing Reaper cherished… well, it was Neo, but Nora knew better than to touch those betting possibilities with a ten-foot pole. But her weapons were definitely up there. "Speaking of weapons, did you ever name Neo's?"
Reaper huffed and crossed her arms, squinting Neo's direction. "No, but only because she won't let me name it 'Whip Cream'!"
"Whip Cream is perfect!" Nora shouted in disbelief.
"I know! See, Neo! She gets it." Reaper pointed at Nora, still staring down her petite lover.
Neo only glared back and signed. 'I'd like my weapon to be named something a bit more serious than that.'
"I still think 'Whip Cream'." Nora agreed.
Neo rolled her eyes. Now she's stuck on it too. My new weapon will never get a serious name!
Just then Neo's scroll buzzed. It was time for her to get to the arena. Reaper smiled and gave her a thumb's up before walking with her to the arena.
Reaper settled next to Weiss and Blake to watch the fight.
"It's unfortunate you couldn't continue." Weiss remarked, all her venom from earlier gone.
Blake must be right
"Yeah, but I'm not really in a position to contend the rules. I wonder how long this is supposed to last before I'm free?" Reaper speculated.
"Perhaps graduation? If it was before then, I think Ozpin would make an effort to tell you." Weiss theorized.
"Ozpin had a lot more power over the terms back when he was crafting it for Reaper's sake." Blake reminded them. "Now that the various councils of the Kingdoms have political and financial interest invested in the project, a lot of the rule-making is likely out of his hands. He may not even know himself, not yet."
Weiss nodded, conceding the point. They turned their attention to the fight, where Neo had stepped onto stage facing an opponent Reaper didn't recognize.
Looks like Nora is safe for now.
"Well, that sounded devious." Reaper replied. "And I thought you wanted nothing to do with it?"
I thought you told her she would be my slave specifically. I just didn't want you to push your punishment on me.
"It would still be me, technically."
And technically, you can kiss my non-existent ass
"So, my ass is all mine?"
"I think Neo would contest to that, actually." Blake interrupted.
Reaper face-palmed. "Ember…"
What? I didn't know you were speaking aloud, I swear.
"We share a mind. I don't need to deduce if you're lying. I just know."
Oh, can it.
Reaper smirked. "I love you too."
Oye vey…
"At this point, I would kill to be able to hear Ember…" Weis pouted. "Only hearing one side of these is incredibly confusing."
Reaper felt her scroll buzz. She pulled it out, and saw someone trying to call her. She contemplated stepping out of the stadium to take it, but the fact that Neo was fighting stopped her. Everything else could wait.
Detective Black frowned. He had tried all of the WBRN girls, but their phones were either off, or they simply didn't answer. They might be in a fight. He reminded himself. It is the Vytal Festival. He frowned and looked back up at his surroundings. He had been called out here to respond to allegations of a riot in one of the cell blocks, and didn't like what he found…
When he had arrived, the riot was still in full swing. This didn't make him happy at the dispatcher. "'Allegations'? There's fresh blood on the floor." He stated, staring down at the chaos as riot control stepped in. From the control room, he was able to question the security chief. "How did this happen?"
"I'm going through tapes right now, trying to figure this out." The man replied. "We try to keep tabs on all of the inter-prison beefs. They usually just lead to scuffles in the mess hall, but it's almost like all of them exploded at once."
"Wait, rewind!" Black shouted, staring at the screen. One of the attendees of the cell block currently being tear gassed had shoulder length orange bangs with the rest of his head cut short. Even in prison, he managed to maintain his fake eyelashes as well. In the still on screen, he was talking with a larger inmate. "Who's he?"
"You mean Torchwick?" The security chief asked.
"No, the one Torchwick is talking to."
"Oh, that's a nobody. We have a bit of a file, but it's just because he had a small beef with another guy."
Black kept watching the videos, keeping an eye out for the orange hair. He was starting to notice a pattern. "And him?"
"A leader of an inter-prison gang. They're at war with the gang the other guy led, the one Torchwick was talking to a few recordings ago."
"And who does he have a beef with?" Black pointed at another monitor that showed Torchwick in hushed conversation with yet another inmate.
"Trev, from that one recording on this screen." The security chief replied, pointing at a different monitor.
"He's instigating. He's spoken with everyone who had a bone to pick with someone, all in the past week. He got them all on edge. All he needed was a spark…" Black watched the recording from that day.
On screen, Torchwick shouted something. All of the inmates froze, dropped what they were doing, and turned to face each other. With only a moment's hesitation to allow for several growls, all hell broke loose. Torchwick looked up to the camera and winked, before seemingly vanishing in the bedlam.
"Which cell is his?" Black asked. By the time they had finished with the tapes, all the inmates were subdued and rounded up. All except for the lower bunk inhabitant of the cell Detective Black now stood in front of. "This wasn't a riot." Black concluded. "It was a distraction. It was an escape."
The security chief called out an APB, attempted to lock down the entire prison as fast as possible. "He may not have made it all the way out yet." Was his hope.
Black wasn't as foolish, and thought over Torchwick's case. Where would he go, what would he do?
He recalled then that Torchwick had connections to two people he met on a more recent and very high-profile case. Reaper and Neo. If he recalled how Reaper and Torchwick's professional relationship ended correctly, he knew the criminal wouldn't be happy. That's when he tried to call the four girls of the team the rehabilitating criminals resided on, and got nothing. He would have to try again later. He was going to have to warn them. The security chief found him again to confirm what he already feared. Torchwick was long gone. The crime lord was free, and Black didn't doubt for a second he would be angry at those who betrayed him.