"Ruby... are you okay?"

Weiss wasn't sure how to handle the situation, especially after spending the better part of an hour trying to find her leader. Ironically, and somewhat surprising, Ruby had sentenced herself to the upper roof of the school; the very one where she'd learned a hard lesson about committing to the team - alright, it wasn't that intense, but it injured her pride darn it!

"Bwa?!" The miniature reaper whipped herself around, nearly tripping up as she faced the opposingly colored girl, with said girl merely feeling a slight sting of irritation in response. She knew exactly what it was like to be ignored: to have your feelings and experiences tossed aside by those who thought they knew better, despite not having been present for whatever it was you were talking about.

Yang's bitchy attitude, while annoying, wasn't exactly coming from a place of malicious intent however, which was what made this even more difficult for Weiss. The blonde was right in the sense that people take advantage of ignorance, and Ruby's story, while coming from the heart with nothing but good intentions, was fairly suspicious in its own right. Still though, to see the elder sister shoot down her sibling's experience as if it were nothing lit a fire in Weiss's stomach, one she hadn't felt in years.

Keep a cool head. What type of teammate and Schnee would she be if she let her petty side take control. No matter how backwards Yang's way of dealing with Ruby's claim was, they couldn't exactly do anything about it other than to keep an eye on both sisters. Getting angry by this point would do nothing, especially with Yang being as furious as she looked. Weiss had seen how the brawler lost her cool, letting it twist into an infernal rage. She knew that if they wanted any chance at getting the woman to even consider her little sister's feelings at all, they'd need to wait for her to calm down.

Which left Weiss here, on top of the school roof, attempting to devise a way to convince her leader to come back to their room for the night.

"It's just me." She made sure to keep her voice casual, attempting to avoid further provocation. Ruby, despite looking like she'd just been walked in on, didn't immediately take off again, which was as good a sign as Weiss expected.

"Oh..." Taking a second to steady her breathing, Ruby questioned her older team member. "Do you want something?"

"I want you to come back to our room for the night. It's late and cold out; you'll end up catching something if you stay out here any longer." Crossing her arms, Weiss curled a brow, not exactly coming off as demanding per say, but not delicate like a flower either. As a way to try and make the younger girl feel comfortable, Weiss had opted to present herself as she always had. Ruby most likely felt a little embarrassed over what happened back with the others, and so, trying to create an air separate from that whole debacle brought about the highest chance of lulling her team leader back for the night.

Ruby appeared to be a little more difficult than that, as she slipped on an uncomfortable look, twiddling her fingers as she turned away.

"I, um... I'll be back soon."

"Soon? What's wrong with right now?"

"Nothing." It wasn't quite immediate, but the quickness of the word had Weiss realizing this wouldn't be as simple as she'd hoped. Refraining from a sigh, she stayed silent in the hopes that Ruby would continue: this silence was then rewarded. "I... I just wanted to watch the stars for a little bit."

Seeing Ruby's head look upwards, Weiss followed her line of sight, taking notice of just how bright the celestial fireflies were tonight. Back in Atlas you were usually hard pressed to see the stars at all, with the excessive lights of the city drowning them out. However, back at her family's mansion, on the garden roof her mother used to tend to once upon a time - before her father mucked everything up anyway - there was a clear view of the sky, free of irritants.

The manor was just far enough away from the city to allow the barest glimpse of starlight through the black tides of night, and when Weiss was little, she recalled sneaking out of bed and climbing up there to see them. Sometimes her mother would catch her, but rather than punish the girl, she would join her in the viewing instead. That all changed when her father had his spat, prompting her mother to dig herself into a vast hole, fueled by nothing but the very wine she'd only sparsely enjoyed before; although most days now she could be seen drowning in the stuff.

Despite how inherently calming the admittedly beautiful sight was, Weiss knew she couldn't allow it to continue: it was getting late, and the chill in the air grew bitter as it gnawed at the exposed skin of her cheeks.

"What's stopping us from watching the stars from our room through the window?" Maybe the idea might convince Ruby to come back inside... It did not, and honestly, Weiss really should have seen it coming... and perhaps, in some strangely roundabout way, she had.

"It's not the same." Ruby's voice was ghostly, as if the very words were constantly fading in and out with the breeze that slowly but surely picked up over the past couple minutes. "It's... it's going to sound dumb, but being out here, it feels like we're closer to them." Weiss felt her arms relax, dropping to her sides again as she saw Ruby reach upwards to the prized sparkles above. "In our room we have windows and walls that keep us away, but out here, it's like we share the same air."

"I suppose... if you ignore all the dust in the atmosphere, and the empty void of space beyond." Outwardly, her voice taunted the childish simplicity of the idea, and yet on the inside, Weiss couldn't help but admire the innocence of that outlook.

Ruby didn't seem to mind this though, as her tone carried on undeterred.

"I know. We're too far away to be able to touch one another, and the atmosphere and space are just another set of walls to keep us apart, but out here in the open… there's one less wall between us."

"That's nice and all-" Weiss stepped up, taking hold of the young woman's hand, which caused Ruby to turn around and face her. "But the walls of our room are what help keep the cold out." Giving a soft tug, Weiss managed to get Ruby moving slowly, but surely. "We can't have you getting sick at Beacon yet; we've only just got here. I'm sure the stars will be here tomorrow night, like they are every night, so you can gaze at them then."

"Oh... okay."

Weiss didn't like pulling the emotionally vulnerable girl away from what made her feel safe, but the darkness of night hardly cared how you felt. She wasn't lying, the stars would still be there come tomorrow night, and as a way to make it up a little to her leader, Weiss internally decided on joining Ruby in her stargazing. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to relax every now and then before bed, supposing they were both done with their homework and everything.

Stepping into their room, both girls saw it was empty, causing each to take a second to look around. Nope, nada, nothing: neither Blake or Yang could be found, not even in the bathroom.

"They must still be out." Weiss assumed aloud, before looking over to Ruby. "We should probably get to bed. Some good news though: at least we don't have to wait on Yang to use the washroom."

"I guess..." Ruby wasn't happy with it, but knowing those two, Weiss had a sneaking suspicion they'd be out longer than was reasonable for them to wait for.

The click, and subsequent turning of the doorknob proved that assumption invalid.

.


.

"There you are." Perhaps it wasn't exactly a good idea to wait a bit before chasing after her partner, especially after seeing her walking from the landing sight - okay, so it was more like fifteen or twenty minutes, but come on, she was debating whether to leave it alone or not… even if it wasn't the brightest excuse. Yang, to her credit, had the common decency to look somewhat sheepish as she approached, and Blake met that look with an irritated face.

"Here I am, heh..." The small half-hearted chuckle did nothing to sway Blake's disappointment, and Yang seemed to know that, as she raised her hands and continued. "Alright, I know it looks bad-"

"What did you do?" Crossing her arms, the undercover faunus made sure to accompany her spurned tone with a glare, which caused the feisty one to flinch.

"Nothing..."

"Yang."

"I'm being honest here: I didn't do anything." Yang sounded truthful enough, but Blake wasn't about to instantly buy that, especially considering how the girl was walking back from the only way down to the city. Blake believed she was rightfully justified in having her concerns.

"Were you down in Vale?"

"Why do you want to know-"

"Were you down in Vale?" The often reserved bookworm made her stance on the matter firmly known, showing she wasn't backing down on this. Yang relented, and with a nod she confirmed the accusation.

"Yeah, I was." Again, she looked ashamed, but whether it was rightful regret or merely a front had yet to be revealed for the cat-girl.

"You went to confront him, didn't you?" Blake was, of course, referring to the guy Ruby spoke about, and seeing Yang's lips twitch a bit confirmed those fears. However, rather than try to claim otherwise, her partner admitted to it.

"I did."

"And so, I'll ask you again: what did you do?" The question was more akin to a command, and while Yang seemed to recognise the seriousness in her voice, she didn't seem all that afraid. Especially as she repeated herself.

"Like I said: I didn't do anything."

This prompted a raised brow from the shadowy one.

"So, you're telling me you went all the way down to Vale... and just turned around?"

"Well... not quite like that, but I didn't do anything to the guy."

"But you saw him." Yang had, inadvertently, confirmed her meeting with the man, which had every alarm in Blake's brain going off all at once. Still though, she held back her panic, as the calm and shameful look on Yang's face relaxed with every word.

"I did. I... I wanted to talk with him. Well, talk is putting it lightly: threaten would probably be more accurate."

"You tried scaring him?" It wasn't exactly as bad as assaulting the guy, but still, it wasn't a good thing either. All it took was someone reporting Yang's actions as an abuse of power, and the next thing you know: poof, her future career was gone. Even here, her partner didn't look afraid; heck, she chuckled a little with a small smile.

"I wish. When I found him, he was heaving his guts all over the pavement: he had too much to drink, or so his 'friend' said." Blake stiffened upon hearing that, but loosened up after as she noticed Yang hadn't seemed the least bit worried. The blonde, while seemingly always on a hair-trigger, wasn't stupid: she knew if she was caught abusing her power in any way her career would be taken from her. Yang carried on after the small fit of chuckles. "Guy drank so much he practically thought he was invincible."

"Huh?" Of all the things to hear, Blake never expected that... but then again, after taking a second to recall her time with the others in the White Fang back before she left, it probably wasn't all that weird. Alcohol tended to make wounds hurt less, to the point you could probably blow yourself up and laugh it off. This realization was one of the reasons Blake never got into drinking, having tried it only once... and subsequently getting sick.

"Yeah." Yang followed it up with a few quick giggles. "You should have seen him. He was spitting out a bunch of crazy stuff about the 'future', claiming that we were going to destroy entire kingdoms."

Blake felt her eye twitch as she watched Yang almost break out into a full laugh, letting the air quotes she made drop. Sucking in a breath, Blake exhaled calmly and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose before looking up.

"But you didn't touch him, right?"

"Nah." Yang waved her off, which ticked a nerve in the back of Blake's mind, irritating her on a primal level. "I told his girl to let him know I said to piss off, and then I left."

Blake then let herself relax completely, mustering nothing but a tired response.

"I guess that's better than nothing. So, you'll leave him alone?"

"So long as he doesn't do anything stupid again; yeah, pretty much."

"Good." Blake turned on a heel. "Now come on."

"Ooh~ Where are we headed?"

"Bed." The statement made it clear how little Blake cared about continuing their conversation.

"Spicy~"

Yang's comment went ignored completely as the pair walked along. Blake came to Beacon as a way to hopefully atone for her past mistakes; internally praying that she hadn't strayed too far from the path of justice and equality. At one point since their acceptance, Blake believed she might have needed to get a therapist at one point to help her adjust with not being in a life or death situation every waking hour of the day, but here she was now, playing shrink to a girl who really needed to learn not to step on the lion's tail.

At least her bed was calling, and she couldn't wait to lose herself under the covers and deep within dreams of... suitably less appropriate fantasies than many would think from a woman her age.

Stepping in the room, Blake found herself a little surprised to see both Ruby and Weiss inside; having witnessed the former take off in a fit only to have the latter give chase, which provided her with the assumption they might be out for the night... or, at least later than it was now.

"What's wrong? debating whether you want to share a bed tonight?" Yang's claim teetered off as she stepped past and came face to face with her little sister. Freezing up, the blonde made it clear she hadn't been ready to encounter her sibling right yet, however, at the very least Ruby seemed to be ready to see her, as she was the first to break from their little staring contest.

"Yang... w-welcome back."

"Thanks..."

There was an awkward silence between the pair, which lasted for all of a minute, at which point Weiss cleared her throat from the other side of the room. This action had Ruby twitch, before ultimately taking a breath and opening up.

"Listen, um... since you're back and all... I guess... I guess I wanted to say: I'm sorry." Ruby had no need to apologize, and she hadn't been forced to by anyone - Weiss - either, but it seemed the awkward atmosphere had gotten to her, and this was the cloaked girl's attempt to remedy that. Clasping her hands, she spoke in a slightly more natural voice. "You were right, I shouldn't have just rushed towards that guy all willy nilly."

"It's not your fault." Yang's tone flowed smoothly, somewhat startling Blake, who hadn't been ready for anything like an apology whatsoever. Still though, despite the only faunus on the team being the one shocked awake from her previous fatigue, Yang carried on with a soft apologetic look. "You were just trying to help someone you believed was in trouble. You're both old enough and skilled enough to deal with baddies anyway, so there wasn't any real concern about what could happen; I… I just have to accept that, I guess. I suppose I just got a little carried away; you know how I can be sometimes."

"I know... but... I'm still sorry anyway. I'll be more careful next time."

"And I promise I won't make a big stink over it... probably... hopefully." Yang, ever the lippy gal, managed to sneak a joke into something as heartfelt as an apology. Unlike what many would expect however, it caused both sisters a faint laugh, allowing the tensions of before to melt away.

"While this is wonderful and all, can we please get to bed." Weiss wore a flat face, waving over to the door where Blake was holding herself up by the knob, now clearly feeling the full weight of the night once again. "Blake's practically falling asleep over there."

"Sure." Walking over, Yang helped the woman to her bed. "We'll talk about everything a little more tomorrow."

The night would pass easily, leaving the four young women relaxed within their dreams. They would awake with renewed vigor, ready to tackle the day, no matter what challenges appeared. However, not all were feeling the energy of a new day, as a certain someone was dealing with the aftermath of some not-so-sensible decisions the night before.

.


.

I'm fucked...

It was such a strange sensation, like watching your closest friend take his last breath in your arms; as if Jay could ever relate to that. Funny... the thought alone carried with it a serene beauty, one that had him questioning if he even truly cared to begin with. Perhaps he was making too big a deal of it, but when it came to Yang, who was to say really?

Grasping his hands together as his thoughts consumed him, he continued to hunch over the side of the bed, sitting in a manner that drew Melanie's eye. He'd woken up with not even a hint of a headache, proving then and there how much he'd drunk. Jay couldn't exactly describe it, not fully anyway, but when he drank...

His fears, his limits and tensions, they all just faded away.

He was always put in a state of carelessness; unburdened by worries of offending people, or even what he said. In that drunken mindset he'd always speak his thoughts, regardless of the potential damage his words would cause. Most of the time it was harmless, leading to nothing more than a brief beating from other bar patrons over some worthless nonsense he'd muttered, but this time...

"What's got you in a rut?" The angel-colored woman curled a brow, with her arms remaining crossed as she stared at him. Apparently, Miltia was out this morning to get some hangover medicine or something, having asked her sister to keep watch over him and help out if he needed it. She was not, however, qualified in any way to help with his newest issue.

I said her name, that's what. Not like he could say that to anybody here or anything. Mentioning Salem by name had been a slip of the tongue, spurned by his feelings towards Yang last night. Near the beginning of the series, he'd loved all the girls, but as it went on, he found it harder and harder to even tolerate them, let alone like them - thus, he'd focused more on remembering who they were, rather than who they'd become. It wasn't their fault... yet anyways, and so he had no justification for his innate anger towards the four.

"I-it's nothing... I'm just feeling a little stomach sick." A pretty bold lie, seeing as he always felt a spiffy little energy boost after waking from a liquor-daze, or so he called it. Sure, he got sick during the event, but afterwards he was fit as a fiddle.

Melanie responded to his claim by rolling her eyes and sighing.

"Well, hold it. My sister will be back in a little while with something to take care of this mess, and if you so much as spit on the rug I promise I'll make you lick it clean. I am not cleaning up after you."

"I know, and I won't, I promise."

"I'll hold you to it."

Jay chanced a look her way, and managed to catch the tail end of her eyes on him, which she noticed and inquired on immediately.

"What?"

"N-nothing..." He rushed, turning his own eyes back down to his hands again. Once more he could hear her sigh, but strangely, it didn't end there.

"Can you quit being a bitch for five minutes at least?"

Bewildered at the request, he looked up at her again. He must have appeared much less timid this time, as she drew up a tiny satisfied smirk.

"There, like that. Sheesh, you're so jumpy. I'm not going to bite, you know, so quit with the tension; it makes you look like an imbecile."

"O...okay?" Jay felt more confused than anything now, but it didn't last long as the woman seemed to have more to say.

"Sis said you went off on someone last night. Honestly, I didn't believe her at first, but when she glared the way she did, I knew she was telling the truth." Her hands fell, landing on her hips as she tilted her head, all the while possessing an amused look. "So, was it just the liquor talking, or is there actually a backbone somewhere in that girly body of yours?"

Jay didn't answer immediately, falling towards a more introspective posture and face. Melanie merely waited the entire minute with not so much as a peep, which through some divine miracle managed to instill a sense of companionship between the two. This was enough to give Jay the smallest bit of comfort around the woman, at least for that moment, and he spoke.

"When I drink my mind away, everything just... gets easier to swallow." His eyes fell back to his clasped hands, sitting innocently on his lap. Releasing their hold, he raised them both as he spoke, recalling the nostalgic feelings that accompanied him throughout every binge. "It makes me feel... not afraid anymore, like there's nothing to worry about."

"Well... that's 'chronic alcoholism' if I've ever heard it described." Her voice echoed with a plain tone of voice, but for some reason it didn't bother Jay; hell, it felt a little relaxing even. Disappointment being directed towards him: it was as if he were being punished for his mistakes, and he welcomed it in full. Was this a healthy response? Hell no, but despite knowing it probably meant he had a victim complex, he couldn't deny how easy he felt when being indirectly punished for something he believed he did… or maybe he was just a masochist - he honestly didn't know at this point.

"It is, but it works." Jay allowed himself to face her again, although he was hit with a tiny bit of confusion as her face twitched slightly. He brushed it off and continued, riding that laid-back high. "It helps me relax, opening up my mind to spit out all the negativity inside."

"You..." Melanie shook her head. "Actually, never mind, it's probably best going unsaid." Her eyes fell back on him, now less intense and more outreaching. "Still, it's a bit dangerous to try and drown it all away on the stools. Don't you have any hobbies or something."

"Not really." Jay watched as her face fell into a groan.

"Wonderful, you're a mess." She stopped herself, only this time, she settled on a full smirk afterwards. "But I guess it doesn't matter."

"It doesn't?" He didn't exactly need to respond, but he was genuinely puzzled. Melanie just went from disappointed mother to cheeky older sister at the snap of a finger, and he wondered why.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you've made a friend in my sis, and in case you're a little slow in the head, that means she's going to be taking you out for her hobbies." The bitter angel leaned back against the wall, content spread all throughout her very posture, and crossed her arms again as she finished off her little lecture. "She won't leave you alone for even a second."

They were then cut off by the sound of a door slamming somewhere out in the hall, and Melanie's smirk grew dastardly.

"Well well, speak of the Grimm."

The door came open easily, and in peaked Miltia, who after spotting Jay smiled with relief.

"You're awake."

"Yeah... I am." He felt a little awkward addressing her, mainly because of the show he must have put on last night. He couldn't remember all of it, but he remembered it in chunks, which was where his issue lied.

If he spoke of Salem, then what else had he unintentionally mentioned?

"How are you feeling?" She walked over, reaching down with one hand to feel his forehead. Despite it leaving him a little embarrassed, especially with Melanie silently chuckling against the wall, he was overall thankful for her concern. She reminded him of his best friend, Josh, who he'd inadvertently left behind at the club they were supposed to be partying at.

Jay, for a brief moment, wondered if his friend was alright. He then halted that train of thought: like it or no, nothing could be done now. Hopefully Josh was chugging along like he always used to. Really, Jay only needed to worry about what was going on right in front of him, where a certain woman was awaiting an answer, and so he gave it.

"I'm okay."

"He wants to ruin the rug with last night's drinks." Melanie called from behind, drawing her sister's attention, a sister who then looked back to him with reserved worry.

"You're feeling sick?"

"Only a little, it's fine." A complete lie, but he couldn't exactly back out now. Miltia then reached into her pocket, bulling out a small rectangular package. On a first glance he'd assumed it was a cigarette package, and then he saw her pull out a sheet of pills. She popped one out and handed it to him.

"Here, this should help settle your stomach." She stood, walking over to the stand on the other end of the room. From its flat she grabbed a bottle of water, one which Jay hadn't paid much mind to before. Coming back, she handed it to him. "Here."

"Thanks." He chugged it down along with the pill, deciding that, at worst, it would do nothing. If all it was meant to do was stop nausea, then it really shouldn't have been all that bad… he hoped.

"You can rest a little more if you need to: we'll be waiting out in the bar for when you wake up…" Miltia shot a half-hearted look at her sister. "Or, I will at least."

The white one just rolled her eyes, passing by the crimson devil and taking her leave. Miltia was about to do the same, when she stopped, having heard Jay's shuffling from behind. Turning back, she hummed as he nodded to her.

"I'll live. Besides, I want to get out of the club for a little bit anyway and stretch my legs. Would you mind if I joined you with… whatever it is you were planning to do today?"

"Not at all." She took his hand, once more committing to the act of dragging the young man along.


Author's note

...

Every two weeks: that's the update plan I have in mind. This way, all the stories get chapters at pseudo-reasonable paces… if you're all willing to deal with it at least.

This chapter was a little more fluffy this time around, but seeing as neither Yang or Ruby are really all that comfortable with awkward unfinished business, I saw fit to have Ruby show a little bit of her personality this time around through her willingness to tackle the issue head on. Yang's too stubborn to apologize outright… at least in a reasonable time frame. Ruby though? She does what she sees as right, and so it came down to her to set things back on track.

A little development for Blake and Weiss this time around too, and now we leave off with them in a better place, all the while Jay has to live with what he did. Liquor apparently acts as a buff, and I'm sure there's nothing else to be mucked up with that tidbit of information; nothing at all.

Until later.