Chapter 28: The Visit Part Two
Author's Log: Star-Date… the weekend, I think. Hell if I know. Anyway, morale is… waning on the ship right now. Those poor bastards. I can't help but feel that they will be horribly disappointed even further that Monty Oum owns RWBY, not me. They'll be crushed when they find out… But I can't keep the inevitable by. I have to start this chapter for everyone to read. May God help me.
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"I'm sure the bunch of you must feel proud of your work," Mr. Schnee complimented Team RWBY, as he absentmindedly stirred his coffee. He was still trying to bait the girls onto giving something away for him to exploit.
Blake was about to say something about how the things that they were presenting weren't enough, but she quickly squashed that action. She just couldn't give away anything to a man this dangerous.
Unfortunately for her, Mr. Schnee picked up on her stifled reaction. There, that was something he can use to get more information. "Oh, did you have something to say, Ms. Belladonna?" he asked politely.
Blake quickly tried to think of an answer. However, she couldn't think of a convincing excuse on the spot. She just couldn't think to say anything other than the truth. However, she hoped to spin it in such a way as to frame it in a different light.
"I personally feel that we can appeal to a broader audience, if only we just tweak a few things," Blake said with a positive spin.
Mr. Schnee hummed at Blake's sentiment, while Mr. Brass was shooting Blake 'please don't go there' looks. Mr. Schnee wanted to see where this girl was going, so he stroked her idea a little more.
"Like, what, exactly?" he asked further.
Blake briefly paused before saying, "If we talk about how dust affects the Faunus, I think the PSA would appeal to more people,". Her words hung over the table, as nobody wanted to touch that subject. It was bad enough that Blake brought it up, but talking about the Faunus with someone who had a hand in their oppression just made the scenario too awkward and dangerous.
Except for Mr. Schnee, of course. If anything, Blake had opened up the hole in her defenses even more. She had revealed that the rights issues surrounding the Faunus were somewhat important to her in some way. Mr. Schnee decided to press further in response.
"Hmmm, I suppose I can see the reasoning behind that. After all, the Faunus people are a respectable culture. It wouldn't be fair to exclude them and their struggles. And, they make for valuable employees, I might add," Mr. Schnee replied.
Blake's internal alarms were at the breaking point as soon as Mr. Schnee said all of that so calmly and off handedly. How dare this man so casually mention not only the enslavement of her people, but put it in a way that seemed like he was on their side! It took all of Blake's restraint to not grab Gambol Shroud from the bedroom and empty its clip into Mr. Schnee's crotch. Instead, she settled on a more passive-aggressive choice.
"Well, I also want to talk about the struggles of their relations to dust as well. I mean, dust by itself can't be their only problem, right?" Blake asked as her blood turned into vinegar. How she possessed the patience to not scoop out this man's eyes with a spoon, she didn't know.
"Of course not," Mr. Schnee said with an almost depressed sigh, "Many people still seek to repress them for something that wasn't their choice,". Blake inwardly fumed at his acting. He had the GALL to act like he wasn't responsible at all!
"You're right in that regard…" Blake said as she leaned forward in her chair. Team RWY shared nervous looks between each other. This wasn't good. Mr. Schnee was playing Blake like a fiddle, and she was too blinded by her pain and anger to avoid his lures. Someone needed to do something NOW.
"H-hey! Is there some sort of way that we can somehow work that massage into the show?" Yang asked, hoping to de-escalate the situation. At this rate, Blake was going to try and kill Mr. Schnee with the nearest sharp object she could find.
Mr. Schnee sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "I certainly wish there was," he mused, "Otherwise, I can only see this cycle of bloodshed spiraling out of control. But, as it stands, I can't see a way to have the message blend with the intended goals here,".
"Can't we just fix the whole program a little?" Ruby also asked, catching onto Yang's drift.
"You would have to run it by the Azul Concern. After all, I'm only a major sponsor for that organization. You would have to take that issue up with them," laid out Mr. Schnee.
"I-is there any way to do that?" Ruby pressed further. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Blake starting to sit back into her seat. At least she was being presented an option here, other than murder.
"Well…" Mr. Brass chimed in, "You can call the main office and try to get through to the head of this project,".
"He's exactly right. The number shouldn't be too hard to find, it's out on the internet," Mr. Schnee agreed with a wave of his hand. Nodding in agreement, Ruby looked over at Blake again. The anger in her eyes was still present, but at least it wasn't about to boil over. That was good enough for now. Nobody wanted a massive stand-off to happen.
Now that this conversation had apparently finished, Mr. Schnee drained the rest of his mug of coffee. "Good, good. I'm glad we got this whole program on track for success. It's certainly an improvement over the first iteration,". Then, he added under his breath, "Anything would be…". Even with their differing opinion about Mr. Schnee, all of Team RWBY had to agree with that sentiment. If one thing bonded people, it was reactions to unintentional racism.
"Well, I'm sure all of us are working the best we can," Ruby said with some pride. Why wouldn't she be proud of her friends for their hard work?
Mr. Schnee replied with an approving nod. "I'm sorry if this sounds out of left field, but may I talk with some of you one on one? It would be a good idea to get an idea of my daughter's teammates and their skills, after all," he suddenly asked.
Team RWBY froze briefly, but then decided to play off their reactions. They had to keep on their best behavior, of course. So, they pretty much had to agree.
"If I may, can I go first?" Yang asked first. It made sense, as she was the only one not really connected to the affairs of the Schnee family or their business. Going first would buy the rest of her friends to prepare for their meetings.
"Of course, Ms. Xiao Long. We can talk where ever you're comfortable," offered Mr. Schnee. Accepting his offer, Yang stood up and gestured her head to the side as she walked out of the kitchen. Mr. Schnee took this as an invitation to follow, so he did.
Soon enough, Only Team RWB and Mr. Brass were left in the kitchen. Weiss took a deep breath as soon as her father disappeared from sight. Although she didn't notice it, her right leg was bouncing up and down nervously.
"…What should we do now?" Ruby asked after a brief awkward silence.
"Wait, I guess," Mr. Brass responded.
"Well, I'm going to go to the bathroom," Weiss announced as she left the table. Nobody paid her much heed as she left the kitchen.
However, about a minute later, Ruby felt her scroll vibrate in her pocket. Opening it up, she saw a message from Weiss.
"Let's talk in our room. I think Yang took my father upstairs," it read.
Acting swiftly, Ruby stood up and also left the kitchen. Nobody paid much attention to that, either. Mr. Brass and Blake just assumed Weiss and Ruby wanted to wait elsewhere.
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When Ruby entered the room, she was greeted by the sight of Weiss pacing around, deep in thought. Noticing Ruby, she ordered, "Close the door all the way,". Ruby shut the door until she was sure the latch was in place.
As soon as the door was secured, Weiss walked up to Ruby and put her hands on her shoulders.
"My father is planning something, I just know it," Weiss started off with. "He's digging, but I don't know for what. That's why I need you to be ready for anything,".
Ruby shrugged off Weiss' hands and said, "Like how? His questions can't be that bad, right?".
Weiss shook her head sadly. "That's not the point. Even if what he asks sounds normal enough, he's asking for a specific reason. I just know it," Weiss explained.
A terrifying thought went through Ruby's mind. 'Do you think… he's onto us?" she nervously asked.
Weiss' eyes went wide as she considered the idea. "It's possible, although I'm not sure how he could have found out. In any case, don't assume that in there. He might not be looking for that. Just act normal," she ordered. Then, reconsidering what she said, Weiss added, "…As normal as possible,".
"I-I don't know if I can! Your dad is really throwing me for a loop here!" Ruby cried in anxiety. However, her protests were silenced as Weiss planted a quick kiss on Ruby's lips. As Weiss pulled back, Ruby touched her lips gently, savoring the feeling of Weiss' mouth against hers.
"That was for good luck. I know you can do it, you just need to try. Just don't give him anything," Weiss said, her blush making her face glow in the dim room. It was a good thing the windows were closed. Weiss figured that her father had several men watching the house right now, so she closed them before Ruby walked in. Weiss had no doubt her father would have had the meeting and kiss reported to him discreetly.
"What about you, then? What will you do?" Ruby asked Weiss.
The heiress sat down on her cot as she played with her ponytail a bit. "The same thing I've always done, I suppose. I'll be his doll, like he expects me to be," lamented Weiss.
"That's not fair…" complained Ruby with a whisper.
"Life isn't fair. If it was, we wouldn't be in this situation," Weiss sadly noted.
"I guess…" Ruby reluctantly agreed. Still, that didn't mean that Ruby was going to give up on making life better for everyone. She had Weiss to work hard for, now. So, Ruby had to follow her advice for their relationship's sake.
"We should leave. I'm not sure how much longer my father's going to meet with Yang. Be sure to leave a few minutes after me. I don't want them to know we met privately," Weiss ordered as she stood up and walked over to the door.
Before Weiss opened the door, she mouthed 'I love you'. Ruby smiled at Weiss' declaration, and Weiss gave a small smile in return. Then, she opened the door and left the room.
Now that Ruby was alone, she had a few free minutes to think about what was going to happen. To be honest, the idea of talking to Mr. Schnee in a personal setting was kind of scaring her. From what Weiss had told her, her dad was nothing short of a master reader of people's intentions. He could reveal a person's secrets as easily as unraveling an old sweater. In addition, the multitude of Weiss' emotional issues indicated that he could emotionally manipulate someone well enough to have them internally broken years later.
In short, Ruby wasn't looking forward to talking to Mr. Schnee one bit.
Normally, talking to the father of your girlfriend was a stressful enough of a situation. But here, the stress was turned up to twelve. Ruby couldn't afford to slip up for one minute, lest the relationship between her and Weiss be revealed. But the real tricky part was to sound completely casual, as if you had no agenda in mind. So, she either had to act stiffly and arouse suspicion, or act normally and risk her love being exposed.
The phrase 'Between a rock and a hard place' didn't describe her position well enough. This was more like 'Between a steam-roller dropped on top of you and the street'. It was like the world was crushing her with immense pressure right now.
But, Ruby still had to try. After all, the only wasted actions are the ones not taken.
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I smell an exciting confrontation brewing! Which is incredibly odd, because it's impossible to brew words. Before I leave, I'll let you in on a secret. The first draft of this chapter ended up with Blake trying to attack Mr. Schnee, and her being arrested. I'm glad I didn't go with that. Otherwise, it would really throw off the reason for this plot line. Moving on, be sure to tell me if that was a mistake or not in the review section below! This is The Draigg, signing off on this (probably) better draft!