I fell a little bit behind so I posted two chapters this week, chapters 17 and 18. Make sure that you check them both out!
Thank you for reading.
It had been days since she and Blake had separated, and days since Weiss had been part of that discussion with her brother that was still yet to leave her mind. She was wrapped up in a thousand different emotions, and Weiss didn't have even the slightest idea as how to deal with any of them.
Mostly, she was hurt. Angry. Upset. Grieving.
That was part of the reason that she was seated in Coco's hotel room, sharing a bottle of wine with her friends and just venting about everything and everything that was bothering her in that moment. While she paced the room, Coco and Neptune lounged on the too-large bed.
"I just can't believe him!" Weiss said, keeping her glass balanced carefully between her fingers as she looked out the window onto the city outside. "To think that he would just drag things out like that… What purpose does that even serve?"
"Prolonging your misery." Coco droned out from her spot on the bed. Neptune grunted his agreement from beside her. He looked like he was probably about to take a nap, and Coco looked like she was bored herself. Interested, but bored. Either she was bored or plotting some sort of revenge, and Weiss didn't know which possibility was more likely. "I wish I was surprised though."
"See, that's the thing-" Weiss sipped her drink, turning slowly to face her friends in the process. "I don't know that I am surprised by it. I don't want to think that he would just do something like that but..." She shook her head, doing her best to ignore the absolute heaviness that overtook her. The sadness that had been clinging onto her for what felt like days. "It feels like something that he would do."
"Well, it probably is." Neptune mumbled, pushing himself upright. It took one look at him for Weiss to confirm to herself that he had almost assuredly been asleep. His hair was sticking up funny on one side, and his eyes were dark and tired. "I mean, you two have been pit against each other for how long?"
Weiss paused, because Neptune was absolutely correct in his assumption. She and her siblings had been pitted against each other since they'd been born, in one way or another. Winter had been able to find her way out, but for Weiss and Whitley it wasn't that simple.
But now she was out. The company was going to go to her brother because-
And that was the problem. That was what had her so upset. "I just... wish that it wasn't decided based on who my father likes the most." Weiss sighed, staring down into the deep red of her drink. "Something that I have worked on for my entire life has been taken away and I didn't-"
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steel herself. "I didn't even stand a chance, did I?"
There was the sound of someone shifting around on the bed. Weiss wanted to look back over and see who it was, but when she moved it didn't feel like it would matter, so Weiss stopped herself.
The feeling of a hand settling on her shoulder was a small comfort, though. Weiss glanced over and saw the perfectly manicured nails. Orange, with gold details. A slow, deep breath escaped her as she did her best to calm herself down before her drink was plucked out of her fingers.
"It's okay, snowflake." Coco said, her voice even and calm and always too cool. There was a quiet clinking sound beside her, and Weiss realized that it was the sound of Coco setting her own drink down. "You're allowed to be upset."
"I know-" Weiss started, feeling that terrible feeling welling up in her chest. "I just feel like I have wasted so much time trying to be the best so that I can lead SchneeCorp myself and it didn't even matter. Years of practice, and education, and training, and for what?" She closed her eyes, hopeful that it would be enough to stop the stinging in them. She felt like she was going to cry.
Coco nodded, and Weiss only knew because of the feeling of her friend's cheek brushing against her hair. The next thing she knew the two of them were moving backwards and she was being directed to sit on the mattress.
Neptune moved, sliding up so that he was sitting at Weiss' side while Coco settled on the other. He reached out for her, and pulled her into a hug that the three of them settled into together. They sat there in relative silence for a few minutes before Neptune spoke up.
"You know that no matter what you're still number one to us, right?" He said it in this way that was almost playful, and Weiss couldn't stop herself from laughing herself. "I know that it isn't much." Neptune began to pull away from her, bit by bit and Weiss felt comforted by it on some level. "But it's true."
Weiss nodded. She picked up a hand to wipe away some of the hot tears that were beginning to bead at the corners of her eyes. She felt terrible. Torn open and vulnerable in all of the worst ways. The only real good thing was that she had someone familiar that she could talk to about it all.
"Thank you." Weiss sighed after a long moment. "It really isn't much, but right now I feel like I have to take whatever I can get."
"Of course." Coco mumbled as she pulled away from Weiss the same way that Neptune had. She sat up straight and Weiss watched as she shifted around so that she could pull something out of her pocket. There was a quiet moment as Coco checked a message or something on her phone before she looked back up at Weiss. "Can I ask something though?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow, because she really didn't know what Coco was about to ask her about. "What is it?"
"Were you planning to go to that fundraiser thing?" Coco asked, staring up at Weiss with a too-calm expression. "Because if you think that you are going to, then-" She paused, and Weiss almost wanted to shrink away due to the scrutiny from her friend. "Neptune and I should be able to get in, is all." Coco explained. "And if you think that you want the moral support-"
Weiss paused, because she hadn't thought about who would be at the benefit at all, really. She could guarantee that Klein would be there, but she couldn't speak for anyone else. All that Weiss knew to expect were the social elite that were connected to her father in various ways.
"I think that I will have to consider it." Weiss finally said, taking her time to get the words out. She was sure that the way that she said it was at least somewhat off putting, but it was all something that she had needed to say. The benefit dinner was going to be an ordeal in itself, and Weiss didn't know that she would need any extra distractions.
Coco sighed and leaned back, bracing herself against the bed before allowing herself to relax at least some. "You know that all you have to do is ask."
Weiss nodded and glanced down at her lap, and where her hand was resting in it. For a moment, she felt too cold.
"I know." She murmured. It didn't bring any sort of comfort for her to say the words.
Blake had spent almost all of the time between her and Yang's conversation about how things were going to look moving forward looking for an angle. She had been placed in a position which she desperately wanted nothing to do with, and so if she was going to be a part of the forces trying to make things work, she needed to be willing to work herself.
She was used to looking for information and for truth. It at least seemed like a good place for her to start if she was going to get to the bottom of things.
She had taken to asking questions of everyone that came her way that had even the slightest chance at knowing something. First, she needed to know what Adam was planning, and that was much more difficult when nobody that did know seemed to be willing to share.
After that, she needed to know what the Schnees were doing to protect themselves.
And then after that... Blake knew that she was going to have to be willing to talk to Weiss to find how she should work personally.
Blake was just afraid of how that would go if she asked.
She forced the topic from her mind though, as she pulled up into the space in front of Ilia's apartment building. She didn't know how much she was going to have to look forward to from her editor, or if she would get a clear answer on what was going on.
But Blake figured that dropping in on Ilia wouldn't hurt too much.
She walked up to the buzzer and hit the button that would let Ilia know that she had company. There was a long silence while Blake waited by the door for anything could happen. Then there was Ilia's voice.
"Who is it?" The voice came through the speaker, craggy and rough as it usually was. Ilia sounded tired, and while Blake wanted to worry, she couldn't allow for herself to do so.
"It's Blake."
There was a long silence, then the buzz went off that let Blake know that she was allowed in. She didn't linger by the door for a second longer than she needed to before heading inside and starting on her way up to her editor's apartment.
When Blake arrived, the door was already open to Ilia's apartment, and there was the smell of tea wafting out from the apartment. Blake stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
Ilia turned to her, already at the kitchen and getting something together for the two of them to share. "Hey." Ilia greeted her, still dressed in her pajamas. "Why are you here?"
"I needed to talk to you." Blake said, sliding her hands down into her pockets as she stood by the door. While she doubted that she was about to be ran out, Blake didn't want to make herself too comfortable. "About something that happened the other day."
Ilia hesitated, and her brow furrowed. She was trying to figure out what Blake was talking about, that was obvious enough. "Is it something specific?"
Blake nodded, and she could have sworn that she had seen a flicker of guilt flash over Ilia's face. "Have you heard from Adam at all?" Blake asked, doing her best to keep her voice even.
"Did he find you?"
"He did." Blake confirmed, frowning and narrowing her eyes. "So have you heard from him?"
Ilia sighed. "I had to take over as his editor for something." She explained, turning to the cabinets behind her and reaching up to remove two mugs from it. "So yes, I've heard from him."
Blake nodded, and when Ilia gestured to one of the mugs, she smiled a little bit. She was willing to bet that Ilia had already been working on making tea when she had arrived, and so the invitation was quite welcome. Blake nodded and finally allowed herself to move, shrugging off her jacket and walking over to take a seat.
Within moments, Ilia was joining her with the two mugs in hand, both full. Ilia sank down into the seat across from Blake's and seemed to hesitate before asking "What is this all about?"
Blake frowned and looked down into her tea before finally making the decision to explain. "Adam found me a couple days ago when I was out for lunch." Blake started, and she wanted to bring out the specific details of what Adam had said, but decided against it. For now, it was better for her to start by finding out how Ilia felt about the situation. "He was... asking me about coming and helping him with something that he was working on."
Ilia blinked, drumming her fingers against the polished ceramic sides of her mug. "Was it about his little... infiltration mission idea?" Her eyebrows rose as she said the words, apprehension dripping from every syllable.
It set off alarms in Blake's mind that she didn't dare allow herself to ignore or forget. "It was." Blake replied, taking the first sip from her tea. It had been made just right- like Ilia had never forgotten how she enjoys her drink. "I just... don't like that he was able to find me. But I guess that you knew about the whole thing, didn't you?"
"I didn't know that he would go looking for you." Ilia said calmly, with an annoyed sigh. "He told me about the idea when it came up. I didn't bother to ask him too much about it because it had seemed like he was just looking for a second opinion on what he wanted to do."
"And that's it?" Blake asked, feeling like she was ready to snap at Ilia even though there was no real reason for her to go ahead to. As it appeared, Ilia wasn't exactly lying to her about what she did know about what Adam wanted. The only thing was that Blake needed every scrap of information that she could possibly get out of her editor.
"It is." Ilia sighed as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and bracing herself against it. She held her mug up by her face the steam slowly wafting up towards her. "He asked me if I knew what you were working on, but that was the only other thing."
Ilia's eyes widened, like she had just realized that she might have said too much. Blake felt like she had just smelled blood.
"What did you tell him?" Blake asked, her voice dropping in tone so that it was deathly serious. She found herself standing up, placing her hands on the table at her side and leaning over it like she was making an attempt to intimidate because if Blake was going to be able to get clear answers out of this conversation, she needed to be able to do such a thing.
"I didn't tell him anything." Ilia responded, and she stared up at Blake with narrowed eyes. "Just that you were working alone."
Blake frowned, because it offered absolutely nothing to comfort her for even a moment. A part of her wanted to turn, grab her jacket, and leave. Even if Ilia didn't have much of anything to do with Adam's choice to hunt her down, Blake didn't know that she was going to be able to relax for a while. Not when she couldn't trust that she would be able to go out and do normal things without him tracking her down and making her life a living hell.
"I can't have him bothering me." Blake said as she allowed herself to stand back up, bringing her hands away from the table. The temptation was still there, to take her things and go, but if Blake was there then she figured that she might as well try and make it into a business stay. "You know that. Once he gets room, he'll-" Blake shook her head. Shook the thought from her mind.
"I do." Ilia replied, seeming to relax once she saw that Blake was taking the seat across from her again. "I didn't tell him anything other than that. I promise." Ilia went quiet, her gaze flickering away from where Blake was standing. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, that she let out entirely too slow. "I know what he did to you. I don't want you to have to deal with that again."
Blake hesitated, because while she definitely wanted for that to be true, she didn't know that she really trusted Ilia about it all. "I just... need to be able to feel like I'm safe and like I can go ahead and live my life without-" Her voice trailed off. "I don't want to have to move again. Or leave. I don't want to lose my job because of his grudge."
Ilia nodded, her eyes flicking back up to meet Blake's eyes. "I understand." She said calmly. "Did you... only want to talk about that?" Ilia asked, sounding a lot like she was grasping at straws in the hopes that she would be able to turn the conversation into something that would be productive. "Or was there something else?"
It was a welcome enough segue, Blake thought. She leaned back in her seat and reached out for her mug and shrugged. "I supposed that we could talk about work." Blake started, sighing. "But right now I don't have all that much that I can give you."
"So you're still working with people that need for everything to be kept anonymous?" Ilia asked, and she got up from the table. Blake watched as she crossed the room and picked up a notebook and a pen. Ilia scribbled on the notepad, clearly checking that the pen would work before she began on her way back over towards the table. "Because you know that you are going to need to be able to give me... something, right?"
Blake sighed. "I do." She answered, letting her head hang. Her hair fell into her face, but it didn't do much of anything besides placing a curtain between herself and Ilia. "And I am doing my best to be able to get something. The only problem is that as things are I have to be a lot more careful with my work then I would have to be otherwise."
Ilia nodded and scribbled down a note of her own. "Are you going to try and go to that SchneeCorp thing and get something done there?"
And in all honesty, that was a very good question, Blake thought. If she were to go ahead and try to get into the benefit, it would definitely help her to get a story. Weiss was even able to get her an in that she wouldn't have had otherwise. The opportunity was definitely there, but-
It was risky. That was the biggest problem that Blake could find with the possibility. If she were to theoretically go ahead and try to go to the benefit, it would be likely to place herself or Weiss under scrutiny that neither of them needed.
Not to mention that there was the guarantee that Adam was going to be there, without even a single chance that he wasn't going to bother her if he found out that she was there.
A part of Blake wanted to go. She could take the possibility, go into it as a matter of work, and hope that nothing went wrong. If things went well, or she managed to make the right friends or get Weiss on her side enough, Blake would even be able to ensure that she would have a story to send to Ilia.
She leaned back in her seat a little more, doing her best to hide her frustration. "I haven't decided." Blake finally offered, even though that was a topic that she was going to need quite a bit of time to be able to think over before she could actually make a choice on it.
Ilia shrugged, looking down at her drink. "I can't say that I was expecting you to." She said calmly, shrugging. "Either way, once you make up your mind-" Ilia stopped herself and leaned forward, reaching out across the table and offering her hand to Blake. "Tell me that you have."
Blake tried to ignore the churning in her stomach over the request, and the reach for physical contact. She decided to keep her hands to herself and nodded. "Of course." She murmured. "I'll let you know."
Blake smiled across at Ilia, and it had never managed to feel more fake.
