Another Winter chapter. Somewhat unexpected, but people really wanted more dommy mommy. And yes, I read the latest CM chapter. I have to wait for the Feb 14. one to make sure people aren't just jumping to conclusions about Nayuta.

On a side note, anyone interested in making a tvtropes page for this fic? :P I could offer a request a chapter of whatever you wanna see in this story in exchange.

Winter Schnee was a woman used to adversity. While many would have assumed her to have grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth, the truth of the matter was that being the heiress to Jacques' empire was more a curse than a blessing. Yes, she wanted for nothing growing up, but luxury came at the cost of freedom and a broken family. Of empty rooms, an absent mother, and a father that saw his children more as pawns than his own flesh and blood.

In many ways being part of the military had given her freedom despite the rigidity and structure of it all. Yes there were rules, and at times she found herself clashing with her orders, but she still found herself less chained than when she'd been a teenager at her own home.

Yet despite all that she found herself absolutely stumped by her current conundrum. She'd survived rigorous training, turned around missions that were deemed impossible, and yet now she was faced with a situatuon that left her finding herself absolutely stumped.

Going out on a date.

The Atlesian Specialist took a deep breath and adjusted the collar of her uniform. She was at Beacon again for the third time this week. It was an odd occurence for her to leave Atlas for another kingdom so often, something that had earned her a few teasing looks from Specialist Ederne and some suspicious glances from Specialist Harriet. Perhaps they thought her as someone tempted to jump to the other team due to being offered something enticing. Winter felt insulted at the notion.

She was simply here to complete her previously assigned mission, that was all. Yes, Denji had rejected her first offer, but that was simply because of her poor approach and lack of knowledge. She'd assumed that he would simply be swayed by material incentives. It was clear to her now that he was far more noble than that. Beneath his crude exterior was a man who worried about his daughter and prioritized her first.

It was so hot.

Winter shook her head and stomped just a little bit harder than necessary as she walked across Beacon's halls. Yes, she found the young man admirable, and because of that she'd redoubled her efforts to recruit him for Atlas. That was the only reason. She simply had to change her approach to recruitment. Not every soldier was swayed by the same arguments, after all. Some did it out of patriotism, others wanted a sense of belonging as she did, and others still simply wanted three hot meals and a roof over their heads. She didn't judge motive, only actions and results.

"Winter? What are you doing here?"

Winter froze for just a moment before she took a deep breath and turned around to meet the eyes of her younger sister. Weiss looked absolutely consfused at her presence, which she couldn't blame her for. Normally she would've informed her of a planned visit but, much as it shamed her to admit it, the thought had slipped her mind.

"Weiss." She nodded primly at her. At her younger sister's side was an energetic corgi with a leash attached to to Weiss' right hand. Denji said he liked dogs... "I am...here on business."

"Business? What business?" The younger Schnee's eyes narrowed and Winter, in a rare occurence, found herself on the backfoot, "Please don't tell me it's because of that lout Denji."

"Perhaps." Weiss' eyes narrowed further and Winter bristled at the look she was being given, "Regardless of whether you like it or not, sister, Mr. Hayakawa has earned the attention of General Ironwood, and it would be remiss of me not to follow orders."

"Hmph." Weiss crossed her arms, "I suppose that makes sense. Well then, I wish you luck with whatever you're intending. I can only hope that he behaves himself."

"I'm sure he will, sister. I will talk to you afterwards." Winter nodded stiffly and resumed her walk to Denji's room. Weiss disapproved of him. This would be an obstacle to a relation- to his recruitment, but Winter was nothing if not not adaptable.

She was almost to his room when Denji himself walked out looking disheveled as he always did. Normally she would've considered such a thing to be a character flaw, but knowing what she did of him now, it was more accurate to say it was a sign of how fatigued he must've been given his circumstances.

She could make it all better.

"Denji," Winter said.

"Huh? Oh. Hey, Winter." He rubbed the back of his head and yawned without covering his mouth. She didn't think it rude in the least, "Whatcha doing here? Visiting Weiss?"

"Partially, but I had actually come here to meet you as well." She smiled. It was more stiff and domineering than she would've liked, but smiling wasn't something she'd done a lot in recent years. Even praise from General Ironwood was usually met with a nod of acknowledgement, "I'm going to be in town for a few days and I wondered if you'd be open to coming to a restaurant with me this evening."

The blonde's eyes widened slightly, "Woah. You mean, like, a date?"

"If you'd like to consider at such, then I suppose." Winter kept smiling even as she was screaming on the inside. She'd never asked anyone out on a date. Certainly others had asked her, but they were simply interested in her name rather than who she truly was. Her time in the military had also come with the occasional suitor, but by then she found herself too focused on her career to really consider the idea of romance.

Even this

"Huh...cool! But, uh, is Weiss okay with this? She ain't gonna be pissed?"

"I'm sure she'd handle it well if she found out." Which was why Winter had absolutely no plans to tell her, "Regardless, I shall text you the time and address. Would you be willing to give me your scroll number?" Her cheeks had flushed just a bit at the question. She'd exchanged scroll numbers before, of course, but always in a professional context. She'd never done so in order to exchange details on a date.

"Sure, no prob."

"Good. Please note that this is a high class restaurant and as such we are expected to have a dress code. Dress shirts and slacks are required."

They exchanged contact information and went their separate ways. Winter felt delirious and lightheaded as she left the school and made her way to the hotel room she'd rented. She'd brought enough clothes for her entire stay here, but aside from the necessities she'd also prepared something in particular: a silver dress and a matching pair of heels that left her shoulders bare and chest exposed in such a way to be close to scandalous while not quite reaching that point.

She placed her hands on the fabric and swallowed nervously. It had been years since she wore a dress. The last time she'd done so was at her graduation party. After that, on the rare occasions she had to go to formal events, she'd always attended in her uniform. But a uniform wouldn't suffice here.

Winter meticulously prepared herself as the hours ticked by. Letting her hair loose, putting on just a hint of makeup, and packing yet even more essentials in her purse. She'd debated taking her swords with her before deciding against it. This was meant to be a date and it would be a poor showing if she arrived armed. Besides, her hand-to-hand combat skills would suffice.

Taking another deep breath, the young woman left the hotel and walked to her destination at a brisk pace. She was almost there when a familiar head of messy black hair and red eyes caught her attention. Qrow Branwen stopped when he saw her and she pursed her lips, daring him to say anything in response to her appearance. He looked her up and down, though there was no perverse intent in it, she could tell. He simply didn't believe what he was seeing right now.

"Qrow." She nodded.

"Winter." He nodded back, "Lemme guess. You're the reason why the kid suddenly asked me if I had a suit he could borrow?"

"Yes."

"...Alright, whatever floats your boat."

And then he was gone. Winter released a breath she didn't even know she was holding and continued her walk. So Denji didn't have a suit of his own. She internally cursed. Did he think she was a presumptous snob for making him wear one to their date? This was a bad first impression already.

It only took a few minutes for him to arrive. The suit was ill-fitting and the pants legs had to be rolled up to avoid them dragging on the floor, but he'd made it. The host took one look at him and frowned, but he hadn't done enough to be refused entry. Winter internally cringed as they were seated and a few more people whispered and judged his appearance. Oh, how she wanted to shut them up. This was one reason she despised her previous life.

Denji looked at the menu in awe and squinted his eyes at the items, "Holy shit, this stuff's expensive! And I can't even pronounce most of it!" his loud voice caused a few of the patrons to sigh or look at him with even more judgement.

"Don't worry about the cost. It's my treat because I invited you out."

"You sure?"

"I'm certain." She nodded, "If you'd like, I could order for the both of us?"

"Sure. Just make sure to get me somethin' good."

She ordered a well-done steak for him and a filet mignon for herself. She'd also added a bottle of Valean Red from the Arc Vintage line. She wasn't one to drink given her experiences with mother, but she could stomach it if it meant making sure the date went well.

She wanted to say it did, but the truth of the matter was that she felt stiff throughout the entire dinner. Even ignoring the looks given their way, it was clear that Denji was uncomfortable eating in such a high class establishment. The way he used the utensils was slow and he cursed under his breath every time the knife slipped or he pressed the knife just a little too hard and the dull blade scraped against the plate.

And people kept judging.

They'd barely finished their meals and hardly exchanged two words with one another before Winter asked for the check. The wine had been untouched and their waiter handed the still-full bottle to them with the cork back in its place. Fuck it. Fuck all of this. This was a horrible idea and she shouldn't have dragged him into it. What in the hell was she thinking?

They left the restaurant behind with Winter still holding onto the bottle of wine with her right hand, "Man, that was place was..." Denji trailed off, uncertain of how to describe it.

"Yes...my apologies. I...I didn't know what I was thinking when I chose it." Winter sighed. No, she knew why. It was because she'd never been on a date and, like always, she defaulted to the things she knew instead of trying something different. It was one of the reasons she was a good soldier. She knew protocols and regulations by heart and there was hardly a situation where there wasn't something she could fall back on.

"Hmm...date's not over yet, right?"

"I...suppose not, though I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to leave given how it's gone so far."

"Nah. Come on, there's a place I wanna go to."

Said place ended up being a fast food restaurant - more coloquially known as a 'burger joint'. She'd seen a few around Atlas, though she never went inside. She always had a strict diet. Pre-approved foods by the Schnee chefs, the cafeteria food at the base, and Atlesian rations in the field. While every soldier had a cheat day - even General Ironwood - she'd chosen to never indulge in such bad habits.

Winter felt distinctly out of place as they went inside and garnered more than a few stares from the patrons. Rather than looks of judgement, however, they were those of curiosity given how high-brow their attires were.

Denji bought them two burgers that made her cholesteroal jump just by looking at them. Instead of eating inside, however, he led her back out and they walked to a place she didn't know. She'd be the first to admit that her knowledge of Vale itself was rather limited. The amount of times she'd come here could be counted on one hand and it was always when she had to accompany someone else on a specific task. There was hardly time for roaming about.

They walked for almost ten minutes - Winter thanking her birthright for once in her life for teaching her how to do anything in heels - and ended up on top of a small hill with a railing to keep them from falling. It wasn't the tallest or most spectacular view, but it still gave the streets and buildings lit up brightly. All the kingdoms did it. Apparently it was a tradition to try and ward off the Grimm. Grimm were, of course, uncaring about light or darkness, but the practice remained.

"Come on." Denji hopped over the railing and sat over the edge. Winter hesitated to follow him for only a moment before she did the same. Something like this was so...juvenile, and yet she found herself smiling as felt the cold metal through the material of her dress.

At least here no one would judge.

"Here." Denji handed her one of the burgers. She unwrapped it carefully, making sure to keep the wine held with her free hand, and winced slightly at the ketchup and grease leaking to her fingers, "Ruby showed me that place when we hung out last week. Makes really awesome burgers and it's pretty cheap too. I took Nayuta there a couple of days ago."

The two of them ate in silence, though unlike before it was a comfortable one. The burger tasted...not bad, but it was definitely something she wasn't used to. The condiments stained her mouth and cheeks with every bite, and she was sure her dress was being uncomofrtably creased by how she was positioned, but she found herself not caring in the least.

Winter popped the cork open and drank the wine straight from the bottle. Denji laughed at her crude behavior and accepted the bottle when she offered it to him, taking a deep chug of his own. Eating burgers and chugging wine. If Weiss and her fellow Specialists saw her now they would balk at her behavior. Not because it was shameful, at least not for the rest of the Ops, but rather that it was her partaking in such a thing.

They'd finished off the wine in record time. Winter almost threw it over the horizon before thinking better of it; someone could get hit. Instead she set it down on the ground next to her along with her discarded wrapper.

"I apologize again for the first part of this outing. I've...little experience when it comes to such things."

"Not like I'm an expert either." Denji grinned, his mouth stained by condiments and oil. She offered him a handkerchief that he gratefully took, "And stop beatin' yourself up over it. I had a great time."

"I doubt that very much." Winter laughed under her breath.

"No, seriously." He looked ahead down at Vale's lights, "My life before this was, uh, not the greatest. When I got taken here I didn't know what was gonna happen, but now? I've got friends again, Nayuta's enjoyin' herself, and feels like things can actually, you know, get better." He smiled at her. It was...different from his usual grin. More genuine, "And hey, I got asked out by a badass knockout. I'd say things are super great right now."

Winter's face flushed and she gulped nervously. No, she had to control herself. Her plan was to offer to help him with his daughter and that hadn't changed. All she had to do was find a way to bring it up casually and-

"So...can I ask if we can go on a date again?" Denji rubbed the back of his head, "I mean, I thought this went pretty good, so it's okay, right? Nayuta's definitely gonna wanna meet you too. She heard all about how you're really into rules and stuff and said she might like you."

He wanted her to meet his daughter. His rule-abiding daughter who wanted to meet her too.

...

Winter upended her purse, grabbed the condom she'd prepared, and tore the packaging.

Back at Beacon, Weiss suddenly sat up in her bed screamed for reasons she couldn't adequately explain. All she knew was that something was about to go wrong and yet she could do nothing to stop it.

Alright. Jokes aside, Denji and Winter didn't actually screw up there on that hill. I'm pretty sure Winter quickly regained her senses and realized that'd be stupid. But yeah, unless we get another upset victory it seems like Winter is the winner for Denji's heart in this fic.

Next chapter will be for Pyrrha. I won't say what it's about, but I'm sure at least a few of you CM veterans will enjoy it.

Review Answers:

Waterdust5 - Those were in Atlas so maybe she just never ran into them before? We know that different kingdoms have localized Grimm.