It was getting late. Really late.
Weiss stole a glance at her watch for the tenth time. They were getting nothing done. What with Lord Winchester a raging mess trying to plan a genocide, Roman adding fuel to the fire because his precious weapon's business would flourish, and Junior being passively supportive on the sidelines, Pyrrha and Weiss had absolutely no leeway to try and force these overgrown kids to see reason.
Not to mention, all Weiss could think about was Blake.
"I think launching an attack would be too hasty at this point," Pyrrha argued calmly. "Of course the murderers should be brought to justice, but punishing innocent people for the wrongdoing of few is illogical and inefficient."
"They murdered my son! In cold blood! There's nothing stopping them from going after you or any of us! The whole human race!"
Pyrrha looked at Weiss, smiling slightly. "Firstly, that's the slippery slope logical fallacy you are employing once again. Secondly, waiting until we've discussed matters face-to-face with this White Fang is probably the smarter move than showing our hand right away. We don't know very much about them. Thirdly, I think their rage is justified. We've killed thousands of their kind and mistreated their kind for centuries without batting so much as an eye."
"And they've retaliated! So should we!" Lord Winchester huffed, slamming his fists onto the table.
"We shouldn't be after revenge, Lord Winchester. Our duty as members of the elected council is to strive for peace. What happened to your son was tragic, but don't let it cloud your judgement. Please don't let your personal feelings get in the way of what is best for humanity."
See, this was why Weiss was friends with Pyrrha.
"Weiss!" Lord Winchester turned to the girl sitting at the head of the table. "You haven't said a word this whole time! Tell me you don't think we should just sit around doing nothing! You must have some strong feelings on this — your father and your mother were both poisoned by those animals!"
Weiss dropped her pen. Controlling her expression, she turned to Lord Winchester. "And I was mature enough to rise above my emotions."
A knock sounded on the meeting room door.
Weiss sighed. "Look, let's draw up a list of resolutions for when we meet with the White Fang and agree to not show our hand until we must. Now, can this meeting be adjourned? I'm sure you all realize that no matter how long we debate about it, we will not reach a conclusion until we have amassed more evidence."
Murmurs of agreement flowed through the council members.
"Who's going to speak to the villagers? They are probably in a panic right now." Junior, for once, brought up a good point. Though, Weiss was smart enough to realize it was only because the matter directly impacted his business. If people were too scared to go out at night for fear of some crazed Faunus killing them, Junior's club would surely suffer.
"You can, thank you for volunteering. I expect a drafted version of your speech tomorrow morning so I can give it the okay," Weiss smiled thinly. "Anyone else have any concerns?"
"Lovely," Weiss said, standing up to open the door — who the heck wanted to see her right at this moment?
Blake.
"Blake?" Weiss exclaimed, louder than she expected to.
Crap, her heart was racing. Keep it together Weiss, keep it together. What the heck was Blake thinking?
"I brought refreshments, I thought you might be getting hungry by now," Blake explained, gesturing to the platter in her hand. Her voice was steady and her poise was confident. But Weiss knew that Blake was good at hiding her emotions — her only true tell was her ears.
That was when Weiss noted the bowtie.
"New hairstyle?" Weiss asked thinly, peering over Blake's shoulder to see Yang leaning against the wall outside.
She should have known this was her idea.
"Are those refreshments?" Roman asked, stepping up behind Weiss. "Well princess, thank goodness. Not to say you're a bad hostess or anything, but seriously, your welcoming skills are a bit lacking." Roman said, taking nimble from the plate and pulling Blake into the room.
"Who's this?" Lord Winchester narrowed his eyes at Blake, who, after placing the platter on the table, eased herself back to Weiss' side.
"She's—" Weiss began.
"I'm her bodyguard." Blake cut in, her eyes focusing on Lord Winchester's.
Weiss couldn't even begin to imagine what Blake was thinking.
"I see, what happened to that blue-haired guy?" Lord Winchester questioned.
"I've replaced him," Weiss lied easily, waving her hand dismissively. "He's been demoted to butler. Now then, after you've all had your fill, I'll get Neptune to see you out the door." Weiss concluded, leaving the room knowing that Blake would follow.
Weiss strutted down the hallway, passing Yang and giving her a look, when she turned the corner a voice called out to her.
"Lady Weiss."
It wasn't Blake.
Weiss turned around to see Lord Winchester standing there, full suit and armour, his weapon at his side.
"Are you sure this is the right move?"
"What is the right move?" Weiss responded evenly.
"Doing absolutely nothing! While we are sitting here idly snaking on food, the White Fang could be planning another assassination. This time, it could be on you."
"You see," Weiss smirked, "That's what doesn't make sense to me."
"What?" Lord Winchester frowned.
"I'm obviously the face of the council, everyone knows it," Weiss started. "Yet, the White Fang chose to murder your son, someone with no standing or power in the council, as a statement to the council. Is that a logical move by, from what we've seen so far, a radical but intelligent reform group?"
"What are you saying?" Lord Winchester's face grew red.
"I'm saying that your son's murder didn't seem like a calculated move by a hostile reform group. You saw the report didn't you? The initial battery was passionate and personal. It was only afterwards that the calculation set in with the claw marks and the note."
"Weiss," Lord Winchester spoke softly, "You better be careful of what you're implying here or you are bringing a world of pain down on your shoulders."
"I'm trying to get you to see the facts, my Lord. Your son had a long history of abusing, torturing and killing Faunus for his own pleasure! Many of his Faunus have escaped or have been sold off to other masters to then escape. It seems like this was an act of revenge against your son for his wrongdoings — not an act of hostility against the entire state and you should stop making it seem as such! I'd say you were the one making dangerous insinuations."
Lord Winchester reached for his axe. "You bitch!" he drew out his weapon with one hand. "You dare dishonour my son, you dare shame my family!" He swung the weapon.
Metal clashed against metal.
Yellow eyes flashed at Lord Winchester's crazed ones.
Then, nimbly, Blake twirled and kicked Lord Winchester in the temple. He fell to the ground and Blake stood over him, her sword pointed at his neck.
Weiss' heels clacked and echoed through the corridor as she walked up to Lord Winchester.
"I should have you committed for my attempted assault," Weiss sighed. "But alas, since you didn't even get a blow in I guess I'll let you off the hook." Weiss nodded at Blake, who stepped back and let Lord Winchester get up, but never relaxed her stance.
Lord Winchester closed his eyes. When he opened them, his expression was one of calm. He turned around and began walking away. "We'll see who's right when you're the next one dead. The rest of the council will listen to reason then."
Weiss watched him leave, wondering what mess she had just gotten herself into. Then, Weiss turned to Blake, stepped up to the Faunus, and hugged Blake like Weiss' life depended on it.
"God, please don't do that ever again," Weiss mumbled, her words spoken into the fabric of Blake's clothing.
"What? Don't save your life ever again?" Blake shot back, but her voice was trembling.
Weiss backed away from Blake. "Don't you dare make light of what just happened! I can't believe you walked into a meeting filled with Faunus haters! They would have skinned you alive if they knew you were a Faunus! Carrying a weapon no less!" Weiss ranted, the spaces between her words growing shorter and shorter.
"You didn't seem this freaked out when I walked in."
"Yeah well, it's called keeping up appearances," Weiss shot back, angrily, folding her arms in front of her. "I can't believe you would do that. You— you! You!" Weiss dodged Blake's attempts to hug her and comfort her. "I told you to just stay out of sight! Do you know what could have happened to you!"
Blake caught the princess' arms, holding on tightly as Weiss kept trying to squirm away.
"Yang totally put you up to this right? Scaring the life out of me? Why in the world would you listen to her? You're supposed to be smart! She's freaking the most reckless person in the world! Do you know how many times she's almost gotten herself killed?! You won't be as lucky as her if you listen to her!" Weiss continued ranting, tears starting to flow from her eyes.
Blake pulled her princess into her, holding on tightly. "It's alright. I'm sorry, please stop crying." Blake's heart was breaking.
Weiss knees gave out on her and she slumped to the ground. Blake crouched down beside her. "Yang's going to get herself killed one day or another. Velvet's gone. Daddy was poisoned and died. Mother is an manipulating bitch. I only have you to rely on," Weiss cried, pounding her fists against Blake's shoulders. "You don't get to die! You aren't allowed to die!"
"Weiss," Blake whispered gently, "It's okay. I won't leave you." Blake nuzzled Weiss' neck with her nose, hugging the angel tightly. "Look," she said, wiggling her ears underneath her bow, "Like this, I can be around you all the time and it'll be fine right? You can make sure I don't die."
Weiss squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling sharply. "I like you," Weiss confessed softly, into Blake's ears. "A little," she added belatedly, realizing just how exposed she was. "Just a little."
"I know," was all Blake replied.