"Good evening to you, Father," Weiss said with a polite bow. "I hope you are having a wonderful evening so far."
Jacques barely nodded in mild approval towards Weiss as he sat down at the far end of the table.
"Good evening as well," Winter said with her own bow. Again, Jacques merely nodded, as if each of his daughters were a random person he was passing on the street. He made no mention of Ruby, instead sized her up with eyes cold enough to cause flurries in August. Ruby panicked, realizing she had yet to address the head of the Schnee household.
"Oh, and a good evening to you. m'lord Your Honor, sir. If it pleases the court, I am, uh, most...delighted to be here, Your Highness." Ruby said with a deep bow. Weiss was facepalming, whereas Winter merely shook her head.
"Hmph. Quaint." Jacques said dryly. "You all may be seated."
"What was that?!" Weiss whispered to Ruby.
"I'm sorry!" Ruby whispered back. "I panicked! I've never talked to a rich person before and I don't know how they like to be addressed."
"Just stay quiet and follow my lead, ok?" Weiss said, her voice hushed. Ruby nodded and gave a thumbs up. Better to let Weiss do all the heavy lifting.
"So, Father, how was business today?" Weiss asked, sipping her wine.
"None of your concern." was all Jacques said. "The inner working of a multi-million lien company is beyond your comprehension. I wouldn't ask you how to kill things, so don't pretend to know how this business works." Ruby had barely known the man for five minutes and already she wanted to introduce him to the business end of Crescent Rose.
"Yes, well...sorry to interfere," Weiss said quietly. The rest of the room sat in uncomfortable silence, neither the Schnee sisters nor Ruby wanting to speak, while Jacques just stared straight ahead, looking impatient and irritated at everything around him as if this dinner was a huge inconvenience for him. Ruby wished she had brought her Scroll with her, so she could at least keep herself occupied by playing Cookie Crush or refresh her Bookface social media feed. Honestly, with how this dinner was going so far, she wouldn't mind a pack of rabid Grimm to burst through the wall. That would at least make things interesting.
The minutes seem to stretch on in torturous agony before Klein finally arrived with dinner. Humming a little tune to himself, he carefully placed a large, covered dish in front of each dinner guest and topped off their wine or in Ruby's case, coffee.
"Dinner is served!" he said proudly. Weiss smiled for the first time since her father arrived, which made Ruby feel a bit better about the evening. Ruby's stomach growled, reminding her that she gave away her cookies to Elmer and hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. She licked her lips, imagining the delicious steak under the reflective dome, the juices dripping off each bite and a piping hot baked potato with absurd amounts of sour cream and cheese. She couldn't wait to dig in. However, when Klein removed her dining tray lid, there was no steak nor potato, but instead what looked like raw dog food covered in pencil shavings and a raw egg.
"Uhh..." Ruby said, wondering if this was another one of Winter's little 'tests' to see if she was 'worthy' enough to date Weiss. But, much to her surprise, the Schnees were happily digging into their food, with Weiss making the same sounds of approval that Ruby had her making the night before!
"Delicious!" Weiss said, delicately dabbing her face with a pure white napkin. "My compliments to the chef," she added with a smirk. Klein laughed and patted her on the shoulder.
"Heh, I'll be sure to pass that on to him," he said. "I'm just happy to be cooking for you again. Now if you'll pardon me, I must retire back to the kitchen to start preparing dessert." He bowed briefly to Jacques, who gave him a casual hand wave of dismissal and soon the butler disappeared behind the kitchen doors just behind Winter.
"PSST! Weissssss!" Ruby whispered again, gently poking her in the thigh.
"What?!" Weiss angry whispered, not making eye contact with her girlfriend to avoid arousing her father's suspicion.
"You never told me that rich people eat dog food!" Ruby said with an extreme hush in her voice. "I thought steak tartar was, you know, STEAK! This looks like something we fed Zwei when he was having tummy troubles." Weiss nearly choked on her food, quickly having to wash down a chunk of raw beef with a sip of wine.
"Is something wrong, daughter?" Jacques said, staring daggers at both Ruby and Weiss. Weiss cleared her throat so she could speak and shook her head.
"N-no, Father. Everything is fine. I was just...eating too fast." she said with a phony smile.
"Remember your manners, daughter," he said coolly. "You are a Schnee in a Schnee household. This is not some heathen backyard barbecue."
"Yes, Father. Thank you for reminding me, I will do better next time." Weiss said quietly, slapping Ruby on her knee as a non-verbal sign to stop talking. The RWBY Team Leader winced slightly and went back to poking her food with her fork, hoping there might be something edible on this plate.
"Is there a problem, Ms. Rose?" Jacques said, shoving another forkful of raw meat and onion into his mouth. Ruby fought her gag reflex.
"Oh, uh, nothing is wrong, Your Majesty Highness," she said, flashing a plastic smile.
"Is that so? I ask because you haven't touched your food, despite the great effort taken to prepare this for you."
"No, no, no, Your Majesticness, sir. I...I was just letting the meat settle. Don't want to eat unsettled meat, you know? Like they always say, 'Settle the meat for a good dinner, settle the meat if you're a winner.'"
Jacques didn't respond, just continued to glare at her with eyes like two cold and deadly glaciers. He took another bite of his dinner, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and leaned towards Ruby.
"Well, it's been nearly ten minutes now since dinner was served, so I would like to think that your meat has 'settled' enough. I would strongly suggest you begin to partake of this meal, lest you want me to think of you as a rude house guest." Ruby thought that last part came out a bit more threatening that it needed to be, but she figured that was just her nerves talking.
"Oh, perish the thought, my Majestic Lord, sir," Ruby said, still flashing that fake smile that was hiding the raging ball of anxiety that was building inside of her. Weiss gave her a sympathetic look and squeezed her knee as a sign of support. Ruby took a deep breath and cut off a small piece of raw meat and onion and poked it with her fork. 'I'm doing this for Snowflake...' she thought to herself, exhaled deeply and quickly shoved the meat into her mouth and swallowed before she could taste it. It was horrible. She could feel it slide down her throat every step of the way, like a greasy worm wiggling its way down to lay eggs in your stomach or something just as terrible. And the spices burned the back of her throat, sending her into hysterical coughing fits.
She took a swig of coffee to wash it down and grimaced. This was not what she had in mind at all and she was fairly confident she had just embarrassed Weiss in front of her family to the point where she may have blown it for good.
"So...sorry..." she wheezed between coughs. Weiss was rubbing her temples, a sure sign of her stress headache and Jacques seemed indifferent to the whole spectacle.
"You can lead a horse to water..." he muttered. "Now Weiss, I understand you had something you wished to tell me?"
Weiss' eyes went wide and she dropped her fork on her plate in shock. This wasn't part of the plan! She had wanted to tell Father about her relationship with Ruby after dessert when he would be his most relaxed and especially after he had a few glasses of brandy in him.
"Well, yes, I do, Father, but why discuss personal business at the dinner table? Let's have dessert first, " she said, trying to remain calm.
"I think that is a splendid idea," Winter added, backing her sister up. Jacques, however, was not swayed.
"Nonsense. If it's important to you than it's important to me. Now, let's hear it." he said, putting his fork and knife down on his plate. Weiss shot Ruby a panicked glance, Ruby shrugged as she wasn't expecting this either. Weiss closed her eyes to steady her nerves and stood up, clearing her throat before she spoke.
"Father, as you know, I am no longer a little girl. In fact, I am a young adult and a Huntress and because of this, I should be able to make my own decisions in life. So, um, therefore there must come a time in any young woman's life where a decision must be made regarding, uh, her future. And indeed, my future is q-quickly happening-" Weiss said. She had started off her usual cool and composed self, but the more she went on, the more shaken and upset she seemed to become. This wasn't like her, Ruby thought. Weiss always keeps it together. "-just like my grandfather made the decision to open the first dust mine, I too must make a life-changing decision and that is...I mean, the two don't exactly compare mind you, but if you look at a deeper level-"
"I'm dating your daughter." Ruby interrupted. She didn't mean to say it so bluntly, but she couldn't stand to see Weiss slowly drown like that. Winter's mouth went slack and Weiss merely stared at Ruby, her face a canvas of shock and surprise.
"...what?" Jacques said quietly.
"I know I'm not the kind of person you probably wanted for your daughter, I get that. But...I dunno, I just love her! She's awesome! She makes my heart so happy and I love being around her. I promise, Your Lordship, I will do everything in my power to keep her safe and spoil her with love and affection." Ruby said, smiling nervously.
Jacques closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. He started to breathe hard and his hands were clenched into two tight fists.
"Weiss, what have I done to earn this betrayal?" he finally said, his voice low and disturbingly calm.
"Father," Weiss protested, " I know-"
"SILENCE!" he boomed, slamming his right hand on the table and tipping over his cup of wine. "I have sacrificed so much for you, I have given you everything you could ever want in life and THIS is how you repay me?" he bellowed, gesturing towards Ruby when he said 'this'.
"Father, I know Ms. Rose isn't the high-class maiden you have hoped, but I assure you, I have seen her devotion to Weiss and she loves her very much. In fact-" Winter interjected before she was cut off by her father.
"Don't you DARE talk to me about love!" Jacques screamed, pointing a damning figure at Winter. "You were supposed to be the heiress, it was you who was supposed to run this company when I am dead and gone, but you decided you wanted to play dress up soldier instead and joined the Atlas Military! You took everything this family stands for you and spit on it to be a self-serving brat!"
Winter stood up, her pale blue eyes on fire with anger.
"How DARE you speak to me like that!"
"I will speak to you how I damn well please! I brought you into this world, I have the power over you. Only me, no one else!"
"Is this because we're both girls?" Ruby asked timidly. Jacques laughed a deep, bitter chuckle.
"Is that what you think this is about, you mewling quim?" he sneered. "You're even more ignorant than I had feared. No, if she wanted to be a useless lesbian, Weiss should know that I have a list of potential female suitors, all daughters from some of the most powerful families in all of Remnant! But no, she decided she'd rather engage in blasphemous behavior with a high pitched toothpick!"
"That is ENOUGH!" Weiss cried, now slamming her fist on the table. "You will not insult my girlfriend like that."
"Stop and ask yourself, Weiss - what kind of life can she provide for you? Hm? Can she help pay the bills? Keep a roof over your head?" And if you decided to have children, what kind of mother would she be? Those narrow hips could barely push through a peach, let alone a child. And those tiny, insignificant breasts could barely feed a kitten, let alone a strong virile child with Schnee genes!" Jacques yelled. Now it was Ruby's term to stand up and shout.
"Okay, two things! Number one, that's way creepy you have been looking at my boobs and B, even if they are small, they're still better than your stupid face that looks like that creepy guy on the bucket of fried chicken!" she yelled. Time froze as everyone stared at Ruby. Ruby swore she could see the hints of a smile on Winter's face, but that was quickly suppressed back to her stoic military expression.
"How dare you!" Jacques fumed, throwing his glass of wine across the room. "You come into my house, insult my food, insult my appearance and you expect me to approve of you defiling my daughter?! GET OUT! Leave this house at once before I call security."
"You will not do such a thing!" Weiss protested. "If she leaves, I'm leaving and I will refuse to give the speech tomorrow at the celebration."
"And I would leave too," Winter said, her chest thrust out, chin up high.
"Betrayal! Everywhere I look its betrayal! The fact that my daughters have staged this mutiny against me is proof that the gods hate us all!"
"Dude, listen to yourself!" Ruby protested. "Weiss isn't saying she doesn't want to be a Schnee anymore or that she doesn't want to be your daughter! She's just saying she's in love with me, that's all."
"Which is something you would never understand, Jacques!" Weiss snapped, pronouncing her father's name with enough venom to kill a Goliath Grimm. "You never loved Mother, you only craved her power, which is why you tricked her into thinking you cared about her! No matter how many times you dye your hair white, no matter how many contact lenses you wear, you will never, ever be a Schnee!"
'Wait, he's not a Schnee...?' Ruby thought. She didn't have much time to dwell on it before Jacques screamed with white-hot rage and shoved his steak knife into the solid wood of the dinner table.
"ENOUGH! I have had enough! You will go back to your room and you are in complete lockdown. No phone, no computers, no communication with the outside. Ms. Rose will take the first bus back to the dreaded Academy you call a home! You will no longer be giving the speech you wrote, but instead, you shall be reading a speech I will prepare. "
"Fine!" Weiss said in a furious rage. "I will be glad to get this over with and leave you behind where you can die alone and forgotten."
"Oh, I'm not done yet." the Schnee patriarch sneered. "You will break up with this piece of low-class trash or else I will pull your tuition from the Academy!" Weiss gasped and recoiled in horror.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Try me, you spoiled brat!"
Weiss threw her chair back and stormed up to her room, with Ruby quickly lagging behind. She could hear Winter and her father arguing, but wanted no part of it. She kicked off her heels and held them in her hand, chasing Weiss up the stairs while in her bare feet. Ruby wasn't sure how Weiss was going to act, because she knew she couldn't watch her cry. 'I've got to be strong for her,' Ruby thought, mentally preparing herself to offer comforting cuddles and holding Weiss while she cried. But that never happened. Instead, her Snowflake grabbed Myrtenaster from its carrying case and began to slash wildly at anything in the room that wasn't nailed down. Her curtains, her mattress, her closet full of dresses, all of it was subjected to her wrath.
"That STUPID, EVIL, HEARTLESS MAN!" she yelled, not caring if he heard her. "Why does he have to be so pig-headed and wrong?! What have I ever done to earn his ire like this?!"
"Weiss, put down the weapon, ok?" Ruby said, tip-toeing carefully. "Let's not make him even madder and break all of your stuff."
"As if matters!" Weiss said, throwing her sword across the room so that it stuck in the wall like an over-sized dart. "No matter what I do, what I say, no matter how prim or proper I make myself, he never ever approves!" She sighed bitterly and sat down on the edge of a shredded bed, resting her head in her hands. "...why doesn't he love me?" she asked quietly. Ruby lunged forward and hugged her girlfriend tightly, giving her the sweetest kiss she could imagine.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, Snowflake. I'm here and I love you," she said, stroking Weiss' platinum hair.
"I know you do and I love you too," Weiss said, sniffing and fighting back tears. "I just wish he did."
There was a gentle knock on the door frame and Ruby half-expected Winter to be there to teach Weiss the correct way to cry or something, but instead, it was Klein, his eyes and face sad.
"I'm sorry about what happened," he said quietly. "There's no excuse for what he did to you. I know I can't take back what he did, but I wanted to let you know you will always have a friend and ally in this house as long as I'm around."
"Thank you, Klein," Weiss said, her voice still wavering between crying and keeping it together. "That means so much to me."
"Well, this might help a bit," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a shiny card of 5,000 lien. Ruby's eyes went wide with wonder.
"How...? Where...? That's so much money!" she said. Klein just chuckled.
"Her father leaves these laying around as if they were business cards. I usually pick one or two up and save them for rainy days, but it looks like the clouds are awful grey in your world right now. So here, enjoy a night on the town, compliments of Jacques Schnee."
"But we're under lockdown?" Ruby said, handing Weiss a Kleenex to help her blow her nose. "How are we supposed to get out?"
"And who do you think locks the doors, love?" Klein said with a mischievous smile. "It seems I forgot to lock the doors tonight. Oh well."
"I could stand to get out of here," Weiss said, drying her eyes. "But where would we go?"
Ruby thought it over before the idea hit her like a runaway freight train.
"Weiss, my love, we are going to go to the most awesomest place, a place where you can forget all about your crummy Dad, a place where dreams come true and hope rides again! We are going to Papa Pepperoni's Pizza Parlor!"