For an entire week, Blake didn't hear anything from Weiss. She didn't hear so much as a single whisper or a pin drop- up until she got a call late at night from Weiss. She had been up at her desk, paying attention to her job and doing a final read-over of an article. The work was as dull as ever, but it was something that Blake knew needed to be done.

Weiss had informed her that her friends were coming from Vale to visit. The length of the visit had gone unspecified.

That had been the night before.

Blake hadn't exactly had a good way to gauge just how fast the rich and famous could make it from point A to point B. Namely, she hadn't been considering that it was possible that either the Vasilias or the Adel families had their own private planes. In her world, getting a plane ticket at a reasonable price usually meant booking weeks in advance, or keeping airline rewards in her back pocket from the last time that one of her flights out of Atlas had been delayed.

For that reason, she was slumped in the back of the Schnee Car that she had spent so much time in- also not something she ever would have really expected from her life. Weiss had rolled up in front of her building that morning bearing coffee and looking entirely too ready to be even awake that day. She'd been perfectly groomed and sitting ramrod straight. Ready to make appearances.

And yeah, if that hadn't been a bad sign of what was to come, Blake didn't know what was. She'd ended up having to scramble to get dressed before she went out and met Weiss.

After that, Klein was driving them straight to the airport with no time for stopping.

They pulled up in front of the large building, and Blake found herself feeling more and more unsure of herself with every passing moment. This had the potential to go horribly, horribly wrong, and Blake couldn't shake her own awareness of that fact.

Weiss was calm though. She was of course looking down at her phone every couple of minutes before she finally smiled wide, shoved it into her pocket, and moved to climb out of the car.

"They're here." She announced all too calmly. "Come on."

And there it was, that awareness that if things were going to start falling apart, this was going to be where it happened. Blake grimaced, drank down the rest of her coffee and then climbed out of the car to follow closely after Weiss.

The two of them walked inside, and all that Weiss needed to do in order to make sure that she got where she wanted to be was flash an ID card. Klein stopped by the entrance to a small area, and then Weiss and Blake were stepping inside.

"So they're here." Blake said, staring out the window at a small plane that had just stopped on the tarmac. "How long before we see them?"

"Only a couple of minutes." Weiss said calmly. She was smiling, and Blake couldn't help but think that Weiss looked happier than she had in a long time. It was like she was finally able to relax again.

"You're sure that this is a good idea?" Blake prompted, knowing that her worry was getting worse and worse and more and more noticeable.

"They'll love you." Weiss answered, smiling up at Blake. "I promise."

Despite it all, Blake wasn't convinced. That wasn't a surprise by any means. It was just something that was making things much harder on her.

"Right." Blake confirmed, reaching for her pocket and turning off her phone. She didn't want to end up making it look like she was doing any work that day.

The door on the other side of the room opened, and in streamed two people, one right after the other.

The first was a woman, with short brown hair that was adorned by a long section that was dyed a vibrant shade of vermillion. Behind her, a tall man with tanned skin, shocking blue hair, and a wide smile.

Somehow this wasn't what she'd been expecting. She'd been expecting something more… uppity than dyed hair and interesting fashion choices.

"Neptune, Coco!" Weiss said, taking a few steps forward in what managed to almost look like a light jog. She opened her arms up and wrapped them around Coco, who stepped right into her grip. "I'm so glad to see you."

"Hey, we're glad to see you too." Neptune replied, smiling wide. His eyes fell on Blake then, and Blake took the chance to immediately size the man up. He was handsome, in his own way. Looked a little bit too nice, all things considered. Something about him reminded Blake of a puppy, but she didn't know what that was exactly.

Mostly, Blake didn't think too much of him at first glance.

Weiss pulled away from Coco and then gave Neptune a hug hello before finally pulling away and facing Blake.

"Oh, Neptune, Coco, this is Blake Belladonna."

"Hello." Blake greeted them. "It's nice to meet you."

Coco looked at Blake, and Blake was immediately left feeling like she was being held under a microscope. There was something about Coco Adel that felt dangerous, but Blake wasn't quite able to figure out what that thing might have been. It could have been anything really, the way that she held herself, the high fashion, the way that she slid her glasses down her nose and stared at Blake with narrowed brown eyes.

Dangerous.

"Right." Coco says, her gaze sliding over towards Weiss. "This is the one you told us about?"

"She is." Weiss confirmed, stepping up to Blake's side. Blake didn't think anything of it at first, and then she felt the careful slide of Weiss' hand into her own. "I was hoping that I could introduce all of you."

"Well," Neptune stepped forward, putting on a wide grin that only managed to look goofy. He leaned forward slightly into a bow and glanced up at Blake, still smiling. "I am always glad to meet a beautiful woman."

Blake didn't know what to say, especially considering that this man was, by many technicalities, her romantic rival. Not that Weiss actually seemed interested in the man, but more because he was just the first person that had come to Weiss' mind when she'd needed an excuse.

"Uh... right." Blake responded. There was a careful squeeze of her hand before Weiss pulled away from her. "It's nice to meet you too."

Weiss looked from Blake to Neptune, and Blake couldn't help but think that she looked wholly unsure of what to make of things. Maybe Neptune's playful flirting (if it could even be called that) had thrown Weiss off. Maybe there was something else going on. "We should probably get out of here." Weiss said, her gaze flicking back to the door. She was nervous, that much was obvious. "I hear that there are a lot of nice restaurants here in Atlas with nice specials?"

"I would like real food." Neptune said, stretching and resting his hands behind his head. "I don't know about Coco, but I just want to sit down, catch up, and meet your new friend."

Weiss looked to Blake and smiled. Blake felt a little bit more comfortable, but it wasn't going to be permanent- that much she was sure of. "More than friends, actually." Weiss clarified, though she dropped her volume significantly. "I know that there's a lot that we're going to need to talk about-"

"It's fine." Neptune said, and it sounded like he was doing his best to reassure them both. HE dropped his hands back down to his sides and rolled back onto heels just slightly before continuing. "I don't think that there will be too much weird stuff because of this."

"I hope so." Blake sighed, deciding that maybe the best way to go about this was to join in on the conversation. "I don't think that anything will be able to work out if we don't take the time to talk it over."

"It sounded pretty simple to me." Coco commented, holding her head up high and glancing over at Blake from behind her sunglasses. "You two just need to be able to play along while you need to is all."

And yeah, that was the issue for the most part, but that didn't make the whole thing any less awkward. Instead of getting into it with Coco, Blake bit her tongue and walked along with Weiss and her friends.

They climbed into the car that Klein had brought, and it was a little bit more crowded than Blake would have liked. She found herself squeezed into the back against the left window of the car. Coco sat in the middle, and then Neptune took the right.

The drive wasn't a long one, but soon they were being brought in front of Schnee Manor and Blake felt her panic begin to rise because that hadn't been a part of this. Of course it was possible that Weiss was hosting her friends, or it was also possible that they were there just for a quick stop.

Blake didn't know, and she didn't like any of it. All that she knew was that Schnee Manor was a place where she very distinctly didn't belong.

Weiss turned in her seat and looked back at the rest of them. "We're just stopping so that we can get a better car, is that okay?"

"I'd like something with more room." Coco said with a shrug. "That way I don't have to mess around with Neptune."

"Hey!" Neptune exclaimed. "I'm a perfectly good travel partner."

"Sitting next to you on a plane for three hours says otherwise." Coco responded, smirking.

From where she was sitting, Blake just watched the others. A lot of what she was trying to do was figure out the best way to engage the others. She didn't know how she was supposed to interact with them.

But they got into the new car, which was, as promised much larger. Much, much, larger than Blake had been thinking it would be.

Blake hadn't been expecting a limousine, by any means.

She climbed into the back alongside Weiss. Neptune and Coco both took the places to spread out a little bit to make themselves more comfortable too.

"So," It was Coco to begin the conversation instead of anyone else, and that had to be expected, Blake thought. Neptune was playful in ways that she'd never really seen working alongside Weiss. And Weiss was probably just trying to keep a cool head so that she would be able to handle everything that came up.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, looking Coco in the eyes.

"How's dear old dad?" Coco asked, gesturing out the window towards the outline of the hospital. Blake blinked- a part of her told her that she needed to start taking notes so that she could do her job. But it was probably for the best if she didn't tip the others off to what she did for a living. Not when it ran the risk of making things extraordinarily difficult later on.

Weiss looked back over her shoulder to see that Klein was still paying attention to the road and sighing. She was looking down at her hands in her lap. "He's... not well." Weiss explained, keeping her voice down. "Winter and I went to see him the other day, and he's just... completely unresponsive. It's looking... better, but it's still not good."

"I'm sorry." Coco sighed. "That's awful. You know that we're here for as long as you need us to be here, right?"

"I do." Weiss said, forcing a smile. She looked over at Blake. "I've had help here in the city, but it means a lot."

Blake felt her cheeks flush, but tried hard not to let any of her personal alarm over that show. She hadn't really thought that she had been doing all that much for Weiss, but if Weiss thought as much...

Blake didn't know what to feel, and she couldn't exactly go pretending like she did know.

"Well," Coco sighed. "We're going to be here for you anyways. Anything you need, you know that you can just call."

"I do." Weiss said, smiling slightly. "But I'd like to start with the elephant in the room."

Neptune nodded slowly and looked from Weiss and then over to Blake. He looked nervous himself, and Blake couldn't exactly blame him for it. To have to talk about this sort of thing when she and Weiss had barely even just started dating - if it could even be called that, was awkward.

There was no avoiding that fact.

Blake nodded, and Weiss began to explain.

"As of right now, my family thinks that you have been here in Atlas since I arrived back in the city." Weiss explained, keeping herself as calm and relaxed as possible. "They don't know about Blake's presence aside from Klein, and the same is true with regards to our relationship."

"And Klein won't say anything." Neptune said, smiling softly. "I've got it. Is there anything else-"

Weiss nodded, and Blake looked over at her. She couldn't exactly explain how unsure she was feeling over the whole thing. "Yes." Weiss said finally. "I can't say whether or not we'll have to do anything, but as of right now I wouldn't expect to be brought to anything terribly... public."

"Right." Neptune nodded. He looked up at Blake and their eyes met. There was a long beat before Blake finally decided that she wanted to say something for herself.

"I'm okay with this." Blake explained calmly. "I don't like it, but I'm okay with it."

"Don't like it because of me, or because-"

"Because it has to be done in the first place." Blake sighed. "It's... unfortunate. For everyone involved."

"Well, yeah, it is." Neptune said with a slight shrug. "But you know Jacques Schnee-"

Blake shook her head. "I don't know anyone directly." She sighed. "Weiss is the first member of the family that's been willing to talk to me."

"You're a reporter, right?" Coco butts into the conversation. "Writing about SchneeCorp?"

And that was really the first question that anyone had bothered to ask her about what she was doing there. Blake didn't quite know how she felt about it all, but she figured the least she could do was explain herself. Preferably without accidentally incriminating herself the entire time.

"I do." Blake said, holding her head high. "I know that probably isn't ideal, but I do it for a reason."

"Which is?" Coco asks, leaning in towards Blake just slightly from the other side of the limousine.

"To hold people in positions of power accountable for their actions." Blake explained, keeping her voice a little bit quiet. Her eyes flicked up towards where Klein was sitting in the front of the vehicle and couldn't help but feel a little bit of guilt. Why, she wasn't quite sure.

Neptune nodded and leaned back in his seat. "I don't see anything wrong with that," he said, shrugging. "I mean, Jacques-"

"My father isn't the kindest of businessmen, I know." Weiss said, and she actually sounded a little bit angry over it. "And that's why I want to be able to be better for my father's company than him or my brother it's just..." All at once Weiss' voice went quiet. Soft and sad, like she didn't know how she was supposed to say or do anything. "It's hard thinking about all of this right now."

"Of course." Blake sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Neptune said, looking sheepish. "I didn't mean to-"

"I know." Weiss murmured. "It's just... hard."

"Which is why we're here for you." Coco said. She looked like she was wishing that she was on the other side of the limo beside Weiss instead of Blake, but she didn't move to get up. She just sat there and watched Weiss from her side of the vehicle. "You don't have to put up with this alone."

"I know." Weiss whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. "I know."

Blake didn't know what to say or do, so she just reached over and placed her hand on top of Weiss'. Weiss smiled just slightly and turned her hand under Blake's touch. Blake squeezed gently and said nothing, because that was all that she knew to do.

"So how did you two meet, anyways?" Neptune asked, clearly doing his best to break some of the tension. His eyes fell on their hands, and Blake noticed that there was just the slightest smile creasing his expressions.

Blake and Weiss looked at each other, both unsure of what they were supposed to say. Finally, Weiss decided to explain. "She gave me her work number so that she could ask me some questions."

And really, Blake couldn't help but think that was a generous way to explain it all. Weiss was very kindly leaving out a few details, and Blake really did appreciate it.

"Really?" Neptune asked, wrinkling his nose up just slightly. He looked at Blake with a look of disbelief on his face, and Blake really wished that she could have done something to prove herself against it.

Strange situations were strange and all.

"That's... explaining it loosely." Blake sighed. "But yes."

And then it was Coco to speak up next, looking Weiss in the eyes and finally taking the moment to remove her sunglasses. "Doesn't exactly seem romantic."

"It wasn't." Blake deadpanned. "I was just trying to do my job, really."

Coco's expression sank into a playful sort of smirk. "And you said yes?" She asked, watching the way that Weiss sat up a little straighter. She almost looked predatory, but more in the way that she was looking for some sort of 'gotcha' moment rather than anything else.

And more than anything, Coco managed to make it all come off as being playful above all else. That was something that Blake had to admire, at least on some level.

But at her side, Weiss just blushed. "It was more complicated than that, but yes."

Coco stared Weiss down in a way that clearly communicated that she was looking for something, but said nothing. Instead, she just relaxed back into her seat slightly. "You've got weird taste, Weiss."

"I know." Weiss said, sounding almost sheepish. "But I like Blake a lot."

"And that's what matters." Coco sighed, looking back over at Neptune."Be careful, blue."

"I will." Neptune said, looking between Weiss and Blake. "You have my word. I'm here for you two, be sure of it."

"Thank you." Weiss said, smiling finally and relaxing again.

Blake just bit her tongue and tried not to focus on the vast number of things that were wrong with this situation. It was a half-baked plan, and Blake could only hope that it wouldn't bite any of them later.

But for now, she could wait.


The entire day passed, and eventually Weiss was able to retire to her home. The plan had been simple enough. Coco was going to get a hotel in the city, while she and Neptune were going to be sharing some space to figure out some of the finer details of their current arrangement.

Neptune deposited his things in a corner of the room, and Weiss just sat down awkwardly on the side of her bed. Klein had already brought up some things to make sure that Neptune would have a place to sleep that night, and that helped. At the very least, it made things more comfortable for her.

Once he was satisfied, Neptune took a seat on the soft cushion and looked up at Weiss with a wide smile.

"This is pretty awkward, huh?" He asked, clearly making himself comfortable. "All things considered."

"It is." Weiss sighed. She wanted to get down and sit next to Neptune, but that would have to come later. "Thank you for coming up to do this."

"I don't mind." Neptune replied, shrugging. "I mean, it's the least that I could do for you, right?"

"But you didn't have to." Weiss rebutted. "You could have just stayed in Vale and left me to deal with all of this on my own." She was sure to keep her voice down, just in case there was someone that would want to overhear.

Not that there were many of those, but Weiss didn't trust most of the family staff, and Whitley was usually a bit of a snake.

"But that would have been shitty." Neptune said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He moved then, deciding to stretch his legs out and make himself a little bit more comfortable there. "I know how they are, Weiss."

"I know." She sighed. "It's... so exhausting. I've talked to Blake about how they are a little bit, but..."

"Nothing quite describes it?" Neptune asked, staring up at her sympathetically. "Because I could believe that."

"I just don't like that this is how things are." Weiss whispered. "A part of me wishes that I could just end up like my sister because at least that way I wouldn't be stuck like this."

"Is... that what you really want?" Neptune asked. He looked sad, and for the first time Weiss realized that he looked a little bit exhausted. He had to be at least a little bit jet lagged, Weiss thought. But mostly, Neptune looked worried.

And really, Weiss just didn't know whether or not she had a way to actually answer that question. It wasn't anywhere near as simple of an issue as it could be, and Weiss had no way to properly confront that.

Not when they were specifically talking about her wanting to estrange herself from her family.

"I don't know." She finally admitted. "It would mean that I would get to spend more time with Winter, but..." Weiss shook her head. "I just don't understand what is so wrong with my family. We should be one of the shining lights of society, people that others would want to look up to, but instead..." Weiss took a deep breath. "Instead it's just a mess."

"Well," Neptune looked like he was doing his best to pick his words carefully. He shifted his position, craning his neck slightly so that he could look over Weiss' shoulder to get a good view of the door. He was worried about the two of them being overheard then. That was good to know. "I don't know that it's what I should say, but..."

"My father?" Weiss asked, looking for that little confirmation that it was indeed what Neptune was thinking about. "Is that it?"

"I think so." Neptune said finally. "You've said a lot of things about him since we've known each other, and Weiss-" He paused. "he's a monster. I wished that you didn't have to deal with it."

"I know." Weiss groaned. "You know that Blake used to do factory sabotages?" She asked Neptune, because it came to mind as something that was worth talking about. At the very least, Weiss was sure that this was something that she could trust Neptune with. "And it was all because of my father and the way that he ran businesses."

Neptune, however, looked a little bit shocked by it all. He leaned back away from her just slightly and blinked twice before allowing himself to say anything else. "Are you..." He hesitated. "Weiss, are you sure that seeing Blake is a good idea in that case?"

"I'm sure." Weiss sighed, feeling a weird pang of something akin to guilt she couldn't quite identify. "I like Blake, a lot. I think that she understands that I don't have anything to do with that stuff, but sometimes I have to wonder..."

She looked off to the side, looking for the words that she needed but ultimately found herself reaching for something that she couldn't quite find.

"You're just trying to figure it out, aren't you?" Neptune finished, seemingly doing his best to be supportive for a little while. Weiss definitely appreciated it, if only because Neptune had always been a good confidant for her.

"I am." Weiss finally sighed. "Just because Winter, you and Coco seem to be fine with it doesn't mean that many other people will be. Blake is a lot of things, but I don't know that I'll be able to pass her off as acceptable to the people around me."

She laid down on her bed, flopping down in a way so that she could still stare at her friend. Neptune adjusted how he was resting a little bit to accommodate for the change, and just shrugged.

"You know that me and Coco are going to be there for you no matter what, right?"

"I do." Weiss admitted, feeling a little bit warmer but still unsure of herself. "I'm just worried about what could happen. What if we broke up and she published something? What if she suddenly decides that she doesn't even care about confidentiality anymore?"

Her voice went quiet as one of the absolute worst case scenarios came to Weiss' mind.

"What if I end up getting chased out of the company for choosing to fraternize with her?"

"Fraternize?" Neptune asked, laughing and flopping back into his bedding in a way that was entirely too nonchalant. He was relaxed, and that was a good thing by Weiss' view at least. "Is that what we're calling it?"

"That's what it will be called if they find out." Weiss nearly snaps back. "I'm expecting to end up like Winter no matter what happens. And I still don't know whether or not that's something that I'll want to deal with."

"But you said-"

"You don't have siblings." Weiss said, glancing back over at Neptune. "And you don't have a family that would be happy to punish you for anything that came up."

"I know." Neptune mumbled back, frowning slightly. "I get that I'm lucky. I get that Coco's lucky, I just..." he paused and looked up into Weiss' eyes like he was looking for something. It just made her want to shrink back and out of sight because that would be so much more comfortable. "I just wish that you could be happy."

"I feel the same way." Weiss sighed. "I want to think that Blake might be a chance at that, but it's so complicated."

Neptune nodded and turned, lying back down on his back and staring up at the ceiling. He ended up resting his folded hands on his stomach and breathing deeply as he thought. There was something going on in his head, and Weiss didn't know what.

"Do you want to know what I think?" Neptune asked finally, keeping his voice down and his tone calm. "About all of this?"

"I think that I'd like to know." Weiss said, mimicking him from where she was lying. It reminded her of all of the years of rule breaking back when they'd been in prep school.

"I think you should do it." Neptune finally said with a slight shrug. "If you think it'll make you happy."

Ultimately, that did end up being what Weiss had needed to hear, more or les. That didn't mean that it did anything to calm her down, or to make her feel more relaxed about the situation at hand.

Nothing really could.

It was late. All that Weiss needed was one look over at the clock to figure out that it was very late, and that the two of them really needed to rest. Weiss sighed and settled back into the bed. "We should sleep."

"Yeah," Neptune grumbled. "Probably."

"Okay." Weiss said. She got up and went to get her things so that she could get ready for bed while Neptune slipped off to change himself.

When he came back in, he closed the door behind her.

Weiss found herself texting Blake from under the blankets much later than she should have, if only because she wasn't able to calm down enough to rest.

Eventually, she managed to fall asleep.