CN: Homophobia, one homophobic slur, reference to Summer's death.
"You trying to seduce me?" Yang spoke directly in Weiss's ear. The heiress opened her eyes blearily.
"I can explain." She groaned. She tried to roll away from Yang, but she fell onto the floor.
"I mean, not that I was complaining, cuddle buddy, but I'd love to hear this explanation." Yang helped Weiss stand up.
"You were snoring."
"So you decided to be my big spoon?" Yang's eyes twinkled.
"You stopped snoring when I touched you, and started up again when I let go. And I really wanted some sleep."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable for you. I really need to get those Breathe Right strips."
"Yeah, you probably should. I'd rather not sleep in the same bed again."
Yang frowned but went back to a neutral expression so fast that Weiss thought she'd imagined it.
"It was quite a shock when I realised I wasn't alone. I was wondering if I'd gotten drunk and picked someone up at a bar. You would get so pissed."
"Yeah, maybe a little." Weiss cracked her back. Yang winced when she heard the popping.
"I'm a boxer, and that sounded more painful than any hit I've taken."
"It would make sense that you're a boxer, you brute." Weiss muttered.
"How rude of you, cuddle buddy."
Weiss's phone buzzed. She picked it up and sat in her own bed. Yang got out of bed, grabbing her clothes for the day from her dresser. She ducked into the adjoined bathroom to change. Weiss unlocked her phone to check the text.
"Holy shit, Winter's coming back from Mistral!"
"Wait, what? Already?" Yang's voice was muffled by the bathroom door.
"Yeah. She wants to see how I'm doing in university. It'll be a short visit."
"Nice! I get to meet the sis you talk so highly of."
"Maybe. Have you got class this afternoon?"
"I've got training with Pyrrha, but I can skip today."
"Wait, Pyrrha, as in Pyrrha Nikos?"
"Yeah. Didn't I tell you that I know her?"
"No, I believe you neglected to tell me that."
"My bad. We've been training together for a few weeks. I'm trying to qualify for the Blitz next year."
"I don't even know what that is."
"It's a boxing tournament in which fighters from all four countries compete for gold, glory, and a kick-ass belt."
"What?"
Weiss could hear Yang sigh.
"I punch people, I get money." Yang simplified.
"How barbaric." Weiss commented. Her phone buzzed. Winter had sent her a selfie. She was wearing traditional Mistralian garb, complete with the elegant multi-coloured blouse and headdress they were oh-so-fond of in Mistral. She was smiling wider than Weiss had seen in a long while.
"Whatcha smiling at, Weissy?" Yang had left the bathroom. She was wearing black leggings with her emblem on her thighs and her usual tank top and duster. She tossed her dirty clothes into their laundry hamper.
"Mistral was good for Winter, I think." Yang walked over and looked at Weiss's phone.
"She's beautiful." Yang said.
"Rule #1, Yang, don't hit on my sister."
"Already interested in someone else, Princess."
"Don't call me that."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, shut up."
Yang hugged Weiss quickly and ran away, laughing, before Weiss could retaliate.
"Text me when Winter gets here." Yang left their room and closed the door gently behind her. Weiss turned her eyes to Yang's school bag lying on the blonde's bed.
"5, 4, 3, 2." Weiss muttered to herself. Yang burst in.
"SHIT, I FORGOT MY BAG." Yang snagged her back off her bed, then tore out of the room again. Weiss snickered to herself. She picked out a traditional Atlesian outfit to greet Winter with; a petticoat and a long skirt, both with the Schnee Conglomerate logo upon them. She looked at a picture frame in the back of her closet. In the picture, she and Winter were standing side-by-side, arms around each other's shoulders, and smiling widely. It was the day Weiss had gotten her acceptance letter from Beacon. Winter had been saying for months that Weiss was certain to make it into the prestigious university, but when the acceptance letter came, she was the first one to break down and cry tears of joy. Weiss had watched with polite bemusement. Only a few days after that, Winter had left for Mistral. Weiss wondered if her sister had 'found' herself. She got dressed quickly and headed out.
...
"Hey, Yang!" Pyrrha's voice rang out across the quad. Yang looked up from her homework to see the redhead approach her. Despite the early fall chill, she was clad in shorts and a tank top.
"Sorry, Pyrrha, gotta skip training today. I'm meeting Weiss's sister. Apparently she's cool." Yang shrugged.
"Is she Weiss cold?" Pyrrha joked.
"I knew I liked you for a reason. We can catch up on Sunday, right?"
"If you don't mind me going extra tough on you." Pyrrha said. "Listen, I need your advice on something. Say I liked someone. How would I go about asking them out?"
"Why are you asking me?" Yang asked. Pyrrha sat beside her.
"Because you're the closest person I have to a friend at Beacon. And you're probably far more experienced than I am with...dating thingies."
"Are you trying to say something about me?" Yang frowned.
"No!" Pyrrha immediately backpedaled. "I...I haven't dated anyone before, and you seem like you've dated one or two people, which I could be entirely wrong about."
"No, you're not wrong. I've been with a couple of guys. As for asking out somebody, just come out and say it. The worst that can happen is that he or she will say no."
"It's a guy. I'm not into girls. But it's okay if you are, I've got nothing against lesbians!" Pyrrha said quickly.
"There's more than straight and gay, Pyr, but thanks for the support, I guess. So just go ask out this dude. Let him know what a catch you are. If he's got any sort of intelligence, he'll give you a fair shot. And if he's an asshole, you're more than capable of kicking his ass."
"Thank you, Yang. I needed that. Do you know where Nora is? I need to reprimand her for leaving her underwear all across the floor of our room."
"She did what? Freaking Nora."
"Freaking Nora."
Yang's phone buzzed.
"That'll be Weiss. Ah yes, it is. I'll see you later, okay?" Yang stood up.
"Yes, that would be nice. Have a fun time."
"Good luck with your date."
Pyrrha smiled up at Yang.
"I appreciate that a lot, Yang."
Yang patted the boxer's shoulder, and shoved her textbook in her schoolbag.
"Have a good day."
...
Yang saw Weiss and Winter from quite a distance. Their white hair stood out in contrast with the bright colours of the Mistralian diner Weiss said Winter had chosen. Weiss waved Yang over to the table she and Winter occupied. A third chair in between the two sisters was available for Yang.
"Winter, this is my roommate, Yang." The older woman stood up. She was slightly taller than Yang, and in Yang's opinion, a lot more attractive in person.
"Hello, Yang. I've heard a bit about you from Weiss. You really tried befriending her?" Winter's voice seemed rather musical to Yang's ears. Each word was slightly lilting in tone.
"You say that as if I've given up. I'm still trying to be her friend." Yang shrugged. Winter bowed her head slightly, and sat down. Yang pulled her chair out and followed suit. Weiss, sitting on Yang's left, flagged down a waiter. The women ordered water and Winter asked for some sort of pudding for a snack.
"So, as I was asking of Winter before you arrived, what's Mistral like?" Weiss asked.
"It's absolutely beautiful. I was inspired by some of the vistas. I'll be sure to paint them when I go back." Winter smiled.
"And when will that be?"
"Tonight. I only came to see how you are, and to visit. Yang, have you ever been to Mistral?"
"Nah, never had the money to do it. I'm only here on scholarships." Yang sighed.
"Weiss never wanted to go when she was younger. She said it would interfere with her studies."
"Well, it was true. Yang, are you and Ruby both here on scholarships?" Weiss raised her eyebrows.
"Uhhh, in a sense. Like, I think you figured that we're not entirely affluent, right? With my mom disappearing and Ruby's mom dying, our dad wasn't in the best place mentally, and our uncle became an alcoholic, so we lost most of our money. When our dad got his shit together, he promised to put enough money together to get us through university. We kinda knew that he was just bullshitting to make us feel better, so we pushed ourselves to get as much funding as possible. I went into boxing, and Ruby studied for hours on end. So most of our tuition and shit does come from scholarships, but our dad's paying for a bit."
The silence after Yang stopped talking was painfully awkward. Weiss was staring at Yang with her jaw dropped and Winter was frowning. Without looking away from Yang, Winter gently nudged Weiss's mouth shut.
"I'm sorry to hear about your mom and...stepmom?" Winter said.
"Yeah, stepmom. Summer. She was kind of amazing. She was in the military. She sacrificed herself to save ten civilians during the Vacuan Crisis. I remember when her commanding officer came to our house to tell us."
"Yang, I'm so sorry." Weiss touched the back of Yang's hand.
"It's alright. It's been over ten years. I'm not over it, but I'm getting there."
"As much as I dislike military, I have to acknowledge the bravery of sacrificing yourself for others." A ringtone sounded from Winter's right. She reached down into her purse and pulled out her scroll.
"Oh dear, it's Father." She muttered. She activated her scroll and left the table. "Hello, Father." She walked out of earshot.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Weiss poked Yang's hand. The blonde turned to face her roommate.
"I didn't think it was relevant."
"Yang, I'm your friend. Any important thing is relevant, and I'd say that's pretty important."
"Sorry, then."
"Oh, don't apologise. I'm glad you felt secure enough to talk about it."
Their waiter arrived with their water and Winter's pudding.
"Thanks." Yang said to the waiter. "Weiss, as I said, I'm mostly over it. For years afterwards, it felt like the pain would never end, and it does still hurt, but I choose to concentrate on her finer moments. Like when she taught little three year old Ruby how to play Go Fish, and Ruby just kept grabbing all the cards from the deck, and making pairs. Or when she taught me how to skate one winter when all the ponds froze up. I do really miss her, but I'm fine. Ruby acted out for months after Summer died, but she saw a therapist for a year, and she's fine now. Every now and then, she'll just go really quiet, and that's when she should be left alone."
Weiss frowned. Her eyes were a bit misty.
"How did you cope? I don't think I'd be able to handle it if my mother died."
"I had to stay strong for Ruby. With our dad and uncle being out-of-sorts, I had to step up. So I shoved all the pain down, and dealt with it. Over the years as Ruby grew up, I came to terms with shit on my own. Figured that I can't devote time to the dead when my little sister is depending on me."
"That's wise. What about your birth mom? Did you ever find out what happened to her?"
"No, and I hope I never do. If she hadn't left, my dad would never have hooked up with Summer, and Ruby wouldn't be alive. So I'm grateful to her for that, but she can go to hell."
"Understandable."
Winter rejoined them, shoving her scroll into her purse.
"Father wanted to know if I'm going to be pursuing a career in art. I told him that it was none of his business." Winter dug into her pudding. Weiss facepalmed.
"Why did you have to mention business?" Weiss groaned.
"I realised my mistake immediately after I said it."
"Did you let him finish his lecture or did you hang up on him?"
"I let him speak his mind. What else can we do, honestly? You know as well as I that if he hadn't been allowed to complain, he'd turn his anger towards you or Mother. Obviously that was not acceptable."
Yang smiled. She rather liked Winter. The woman adopted the same attitude Yang herself had toward her loved ones.
"Sister, why did I have the naive hope of this being the one campus in the world without dykes?" Winter looked over at two women holding hands at another table.
"Winter, I don't think it really matters." Weiss said.
"It's just nasty what they're doing. I saw that kind of filth all over Mistral. I don't know why I expected anything different here."
"They're holding hands. What the hell is so nasty about that?" Yang glared at Winter.
"Okay, that in itself isn't nasty, but obviously what they do is nasty. Relationships should only be a guy and a girl. They're about procreation anyways."
"Uhhh no. That totally excludes couples who don't want kids or can't have kids. Relationships are about love, not babies."
Winter stared at Yang.
"You think there can possibly be love between two people of the same gender? That's ludicrous."
"Those women are looking pretty affectionate."
"Weiss, I don't think I like your roommate anymore."
"Winter, let's just talk about the scenery in Mistral." Weiss pleaded. Yang dug around in her pocket and pulled out a five lien note. She slammed it on the table.
"I'm outta here." She stood up. Weiss frowned.
"I'll see you later then."
"Yeah, sure." Yang walked away, but she couldn't resist stopping by the two women holding hands. "Sorry, I just wanted to say that you two are cute as hell. Keep on rocking."
The women blushed deeply. One of them kissed the other on the cheek.
"Thank you." She then said. Yang saluted and grinned. She turned to give the finger to Winter, who grunted loudly.
...
"That could have gone better." Weiss said as she got back to their room much later.
"No shit. I really don't like her."
"It was going so well, and then she had to bring that up. For someone who doesn't get along with our father very well, she does love his homophobic ideals." Weiss flopped face-first onto her bed.
"So she's gone back to Mistral?"
"Yeah, she's on a plane right now."
"I hope you'll forgive me for saying this, but she's kind of a fucking bitch." Yang said bluntly. Weiss propped her head up on her elbows.
"Okay, she's a bit of an idiot when it comes to respecting people, but that doesn't make her a bitch. Don't insult my sister."
"No, being a bigoted twat makes her a bitch." Yang sighed. Weiss sat straight up.
"I just told you not to insult my sister. How would you like it if I insulted Ruby?"
"Ruby has never been a bitch, and she's certainly never been bigoted, so good luck insulting her personality."
"Stop calling Winter a bitch!"
"Tell her to stop acting like one."
"Go fuck yourself, Yang!" Weiss raged.
"Nah, I think I'd rather get a girl to do that for me. Just to see how pissed Winter gets, and to see if she'll eventually pull that stick out of her ass."
"Yang, shut up! You don't know what Winter has gone through!"
"Doesn't give her the right to be an asshole to people who have never done anything to hurt her. Oh noooo, they may or may not have the same type of genitals. Oh nooooo, they're holding hands and there might be a little bit of kissing. Oh noooo, they might have sex, like many other couples in the world. How dare they! This hurts my tiny little bigoted worldview!" Yang said in a sarcastic tone.
"I don't need to hear this bullshit." Weiss got up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Almost immediately, Yang heard knocking. She spotted Weiss's keycard on her bedside table.
"Let me in!" Weiss's voice rang through the door.
"Nah. Go hitch a ride to Mistral. Winter would love to welcome you." Yang laid back into her pillows and closed her eyes. She fell asleep almost immediately.
AN
HELLOOOOOOOOO.
I'm not dead, guys. Just really, really exhausted. It's been a long month of not being able to write this. So, as is the case with us nerds most of the time, I'm an introvert. I love my alone time, and I can only socialise with my friends and loved ones. My dad pretends introversion isn't a thing, and he decided to force me to hang out with his friends all over Christmas break. By the time Boxing Day rolled around, I was mentally exhausted. I'm still trying to shake that. Added on top of the stress I was dealing with over schoolwork, I was also physically exhausted. I had a looooot of work to do this month for various classes (and my Law team won second place in the city for a fake murder trial. It was awesome. But then I literally did all the work for an in-class trial because my teammates refused to do anything, and we still lost), and exams are starting up now, so I'm stressed off my ass. I'm not trying to make excuses for a month without an update, but that's how it is. I honestly tried writing over the final few days of 2015, but it wasn't turning out properly. I was dragging events from Starseed into Blitz, and vice versa, so it wasn't good. I will be getting back into my two fics, forgoing the Drabbles until I think of good short stories, but I've got a lot of time to make up for. So, next week when we have a break in between semesters, I'll be writing my ass off for you guys. So, enjoy the longest Blitz chapter yet!
Thank you for your patience everyone. I love you all.
(Is it just me or is canon RWBY more painful than most fics now? Scared af of Episode 10 this weekend.)
-Abby