Chapter 14: RWBY 1999

"Heed, ye who thinks himself master of the world. Listen well to the grinding—the grinding. The wheel still turns, and it will turn forever and ever. There is no greater master than that. In time, you too, will be crushed beneath it."

— 27 —

Cinder Fall found it impossible to miss. One day everything seemed normal. The next, every online dating app suddenly had an influx of young men with tight haircuts and an unusual interest in fitness. She swiped left and left all morning, tracking the mileage between potential matches, until she found men within a mile of her location matching the look of a soldier.

Honestly, it was hard to believe how easy it was. The only soldiers that close to her in Beacon Academy were the men working in the CCTS tower. And though she felt she had to whore herself out to sell the look, she knew the pictures on her profile would be enough to attract the right attention. Two of the boys she worked with had confirmed it when she asked, and Emerald had gotten oddly quiet.

Valean commodification of sex and technological addiction had made it too easy. In Mistral the scroll was still a prized possession. You could find them in use in the city, Mistral Prime, but nothing like this. There were no internet apps to find a hookup. There wasn't such important national infrastructure tied to the internet and the CCTS tower. It was a backwards country, in a way.

She'd matched the faces of every soldier stationed at Beacon, from the Eranstani lieutenant down to the one lowly private. She knew when they worked, their shifts, and what old dorm floor they claimed for themselves. Cinder knew the wardrobes they wore when they slinked off Beacon to enjoy time off away from all of these children. She even knew that one boy, Jaune Arc, whom they'd somehow conscripted into helping. Now, after her latest successful match, she knew which soldier had caught the largest fish and for some reason thought it was sexy to post a picture of it on an app meant to get laid.

Cinder wouldn't have had to do this if Watts or even Dr. Merlot could do their jobs. When she got here, using fake credentials from Haven Academy in Mistral, they'd been able to poke around the local CCTS systems. Until they grew increasingly unable to help her. And she'd had to start tracking student and soldier data and everything else on her own. They did something to their networks. "Hardening" or something. Making it harder and harder and eventually impossible to touch remotely. She'd tried the elevator, and while they'd once promised her that her Haven ID would work in them, they suddenly stopped allowing her to hike up the tower.

It meant Cinder had to get dirty and flirt with men on the internet and pretend she'd sleep with them. And do it herself, because she doubted Emerald had the ability to talk to men like she'd done for a bloody lifetime.

So she pretended to take a soldier out on a date. She hung off his arm. Gotten him drunk.

And then had Indigo Jack pick his pocket. Whereupon Cinder suddenly lost interest and left him to stumble home to a cold shower.

"Glad to see you're keeping up with inflation, Fall, " Jack said at the front door to her dorm room. He held the soldier's access card in his hand. Even as much as she tried to push him to clean up his image to protect himself, the boy was still every bit the Catchfire gangster she'd first met. Useful in its own ways. Grating in others.

He knew to keep a secret and make himself incredibly useful. That was enough to keep him close. He kept his head down and out of the spotlight enough to be a great source of information on the student body.

Cinder rolled her eyes and exchanged the money for it. "Sure. I fail to see why it matters anyhow for you."

The boy shrugged, his open-faced jacket spread apart, revealing his shirt with the naked communist logo of stag horns and a white star. "Still playing cards with that Schnee heiress and she's gotten annoyingly good at counting cards lately. Hoping to win the next round and use it to finally gain a favor over her we can use."

"Mm. Let me know," she said.

He stood there, waiting for any other orders. Hand in one pocket, twirling a knife with the other.

"You may go now."

Jack nodded and went off to whatever he did when she wasn't watching out for him.

Cinder was alone, and she sighed. She now had the access card she needed. She had her agents in place at Beacon. And she even had a night. The stupid dance all those children would be attending. Even that Jaune Arc boy would have to be there; she knew he was coordinating it. All that meant was that she needed to find the moment the soldiers would be out for midnight lunch or a cigarette, and she could sneak in alone and plant the bug for Watts to gain full control of the CCTS.

Step one was ready, set, and match.

Cinder was so close. Years of work, of sweat and blood, would be over. All of it finally for something concrete. Results, rewards, her praise. From the only motherly figure she'd ever had. The only one to take her in and give her a place when she had only corpses for company.

She'd pay her back. She'd earn her love and praise. She would ascend and become something else, something more. Finally be strong enough to be her own person, with a role and a voice in the world that was to come. Her world. It belonged to her by right after what it did to her.

Ozpin's mummified Fall Maiden would be hers.

Tonight's the night.

— 28 —

Tonight's the night.

Shamrock was laying on his bed, arms behind their eyes, watching Blake. As she paced back and forth through the room. When she met their eyes, they sighed in a way she couldn't help but feel was irritating.

"You're making me nervous," they said languidly, adjusting the pillow beneath their head.

"You? You?" she asked. "You're only calm because you can just be a boy and wear what you always wear."

Shamrock lazily made a religious gesture. "One, not a boy. And two, women can wear suits too. I just don't want to forget to wash my face and break out into, like, a billion zits."

"Y'know what? Fair. It's not like anyone else can use the mirror! Weiss!"

The bathroom door was open and the sink was running. Her dress's back open to the world, Weiss was leaning forwards, touching at her face. If she hadn't cut her hair, it probably would have covered her whole back if she let it down. "If you knew the dry cleaning bill for the one dress I packed with me, Blake, you'd know why I need to make sure everything else is perfect."

Shamrock closed their eyes and scoffed. "It was free. You made Jack and Yang pay for it."

"Exactly! So I need to look my best to really rub it in how much better I am at cards than them!"

"Look hotter faster!" Blake groaned. "I need to make sure I look good. Some of us get self conscious, y'know!"

Weiss popped her lips. "Grace and elegance can't be rushed."

"You look fine," Shamrock said. "Ça ira."

"You're not even looking at me!" Blake said.

"Can't you just use your Semblance, make a little shadow clone or whatever, and look at yourself that way?"

Blake flushed. "Yeah, but I don't want to see people judging myself. That's weird."

"Mhm," they hummed. "But who are you trying to impress? Can you even dance?"

"I've, like, I've had some practice."

"Bet Weiss coulda taught you."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna be the man in the dance, I think." Blake scratched her suddenly itchy wrist. "I don't think Weiss would either."

Weiss gave a single barking laugh. "Blake, if you asked, I'd steal Shamrock's spare suit and teach you. Heck, I'd get a jockstrap to ensure authenticity. Just say the word and I'll do it for you, I mean that." She pumped a fist. "You must learn everything about the dance, from the moves to the sweat, the tears, the pain, the penis in your back you pretend not to notice."

Blake groaned. "Swear to the Saints, Weiss, if your pet dog was your dance instructor."

"How dare you!" she hissed, then clicked her tongue. "It was weirdly lanky rich men. I used my stiletto heels to stab through their feet until I found one who didn't creep me out."

"That's upsetting," Blake said, frowning.

"It taught me to take charge of things." She shrugged. "If not for the numerous cripples I created, I never would have found the willpower to come to Beacon when I got the chance."

Shamrock snorted. "Look, Blake, you'll be fine. Not like it'll matter much anyhow, right? Why worry about it? Jaune got press-ganged tonight, and besides I'm pretty sure he set boundaries against that."

"I—" Blake's ears fell, scratching against her bow. "We all worked hard on this. Do you know how many hours I had to put up with Velvet? What if she shows up and she looks better than me?"

"That's the vainest thing I've ever heard you say," Weiss said in awe.

"It's not vanity if it's about showing that bitch up."

"And you're just being petty," Weiss added.

"Are you done yet?"

Weiss grinned at her reflection, examining her teeth. She adjusted her bra and gave herself one last look-over. "Yes."

"Mine!" Blake said, rushing in. "You, move. Out now. My mirror."

She scowled at Blake, then stopped. "Wait, no. Don't make me ruin my makeup."

"No, it's cool," Shamrock called out. "Everyone's sexually attracted to clowns these days."

Weiss gestured at Shamrock, whose eyes widened in shock. Laughing they made their own hand-signs at her. Weiss just stood there in the bathroom doorway, flailing her hands at Shamrock and trying really hard not to smile.

Blake examined herself. She didn't need some elite upper-class makeup routine. It was perfectly good enough that she just had some of Jaune's skincare stuff and used it when she felt crummy. Maybe a dab of eyeliner here and there because she liked it. Her concerns were more… just, like, the rest of her. Making sure this stupid dress still looked good. Jaune and Weiss had helped her sew a pocket for her scroll beneath the hem after they picked it out with her. It was sleek, black, and Jaune's pen in her hair completed the look.

Why do I look like a slutty secretary? she thought, expression falling.

She fixed and messed up and refixed her hair. Nothing looked right. She tried to limber up. Shake the tension out of her hands. Even tried to jump to get it all out, watching her dress spread out from her legs.

This was as good as Blake Belladonna would ever do. Looking like the poster girl for some pro-diversity and slightly sexy ad firm.

She came back out into the room, trying not to feel wobbly. Shamrock was taking cover beside their bed and having a gesture shootout with Weiss, who actually summoned a glyph in the air with her Semblance to pretend like she was actually defending against something.

"Hey!" Blake said, and they looked at her curiously. "I'm gonna go outside."

"It's a little early to leave, isn't it?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah. Don't wait up for me. I'll meet you at the thing, okay? Okay!"

She patted herself down to make sure she had her room key and scroll. Everything was right where it belonged. She took a deep breath and left the room.

The hallways were abuzz with activity, women in dresses, boys in suits. Sometimes they were just hurrying up and down the floor. Others were stopping at someone's door to pick up a date or gather their friends. Someone had hung up decorations; everything had this weird festive air to it. She even saw a few students who had to be foreign, here for the connections they'd made with the Beacon students.

The common room had been turned into a little pregame party. Complete with a little beer pong table that on literally any other day would probably get busted for student drinking. Tonight, however? It was like the authorities were knowingly turning a blind eye. Cardin was drinking a beer while his partner, Ren, was wrestling a tiny redheaded girl to take a bottle out of her hands. He saw Blake and waved.

"Good luck, Blake," he said.

"With what? I'm not doing anything. Stop looking at me."

There was another girl with red hair that Blake didn't recognize, opening sinks and cabinets and adjusting the pots and pans within. "Friend who is a boy Cardin, who is this? Introduce me to your network of friends that I may interpose myself and elevate my social standing."

Blake paused. Was this the girl Jaune mentioned had been hanging out with Cardin?

He sipped pensively. "That's Blake. She helped me get back into my room one time."

The girl clapped her hands excitedly. "An excellent story of camaraderie!"

"Riiight," Blake said slowly.

"Y'know, I got this new brand of creatine you can bring with you if you think it'll help sweeten the deal with Jaune."

She suppressed a sneer. "Oh, go back to throwing money at tiddy streamers."

Cardin looked smug. "Try saying that in the chat I mod and not my face, loser."

The strange girl perked up, her motions oddly precise. "Do you also require funding to pursue your hobbies? I have recently become financially isolated due to politics. We should make a spreadsheet together to help us budget!"

Blake paused, making a face. And Cardin laughed so hard he actually snorted beer from his nose. He tried pointing at her, but couldn't get his lungs under control in time, and she didn't have the time to wait for him in any case.

All she could do was shake her head and make her way to the stairs. Up and up. Thinking. And thinking.

Until she opened the door to the roof.

She smelled it before anything. Ash and cigarettes, and she couldn't help but growl. "Jaune, what the hell are you doing?!"

But her eyes quickly adjusted. He was sitting there at the edge, looking out at Vale, holding a cigarette above his head. The boy looked like himself, in every way. His shape, his size, the tattoos on his arm. All the scars across his body, from the ones that turned one of his knuckles scar-white, to something on his nose and cheek. Some of them she remembered watching him get. Others, he just showed up one day with, damaged and smiling.

"I can't believe that literally keeps working," he said, turning towards her and dropping the deathstick over the edge. And he just stared at her. She knew he had some smart remark planned, but right now he was silent. "Hace tiempo no te veo, bebe."

"What works?" she asked, thinking way too much about how much leg she was or wasn't showing, if her hips were moving right, or anything. She didn't even know why. There were… boundaries, right? Boundaries. Nothing would happen. He'd been so clear on that.

Still, she thought. She fretted. She kept overthinking every little thing because… just because. No reason. She did it for herself, not for him. Some beautiful fantasy strangled in its crib.

He cleared his throat. Swallowed. "You were getting late. I was starting to worry I'd run out of time. So I lit up and, y'know, you showed up to tell me to stop smoking. Incredibly useful tool."

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Folded her arms. "I hate you because I actually think that works. But only because I care enough to always find you smoking to make you stop. Do you have any idea what a bad image it'd be if my partner died of lung cancer instead of me killing him for smoking first?"

"I mean, we're Hunters. Is it really that bad for me, all things considered?"

"Are you dense?"

"I've been known to sink in water."

Blake just made a face. Before she had to sigh hard to prevent from laughing. She straightened her dress out and sat down next to him. Her hip touched his.

"I'm being more serious," he said. "Like, sure, I'm running my mental hamster wheel, but Aura and all—helps manage and tame injuries of the flesh. Why's it do any different for the lungs? I'm half convinced the reason my liver and organs recovered so quickly after, y'know, the bottle is because of you."

"You mean that night in the infirmary."

He nodded. "It was a mix of extreme stress and probably some aftershocks of withdrawal or whatever. You said those words to me. 'From shadows' and suddenly everything was colors. And I felt so much better. And I got better so quickly."

She grimaced. "Minus how…" She leaned forwards, looking between her legs towards the ground. Cardin or someone else wasn't out at night climbing things, so she relaxed while Jaune looked at her like she was nuts. "How that did probably cause some weird mind explosion thing."

"Mm," he hummed. "Used to be everything I thought about. Every boyish fantasy, every nightly dream—you. Like, not in a bad way. Just, that you'd ever forgive me. All that disgust, all your hate, and it kept me charging forwards to make sure I never saw it ever again."

She tucked her hair behind her ears. "And now here we are."

"Yeah."

Blake licked her lips. "Why does this feel like the end?"

Jaune squinted. "Huh?"

She gestured to this, that, everything. "You're getting moody. We're up here alone. You're talking about all that stuff in the past. Reflecting. Feels like you're about to tell me you're dying, or something else horrible. Like this is the end of something."

He took a deep breath. Then made a face. "Wimd."

"Wimmmd," she repeated.

Jaune pointed. "There. That's what I'm doing?"

She snerked. "What?"

"You steal my lingo. I steal your brooding nature. The law of equivalent exchange."

Blake's nose wrinkled. "No, see, because when I get in my feelings, they're super cool and important feelings. Your slang just makes me a worse person."

"I'm a vampire. I'm stealing your juices."

She almost said something. Blake almost let the words fall from her mouth. She found herself leaning to the side, mouth open, until she bit it down. She swallowed what she was about to say away and instead reached for his face. A ghost of worry crossed him for just a moment, until she pushed her thumb against his canine.

"Nope. Normal teeth. Try again," she said.

"Personal space, girl," he said, but without any real heat.

Blake put her hands in her lap, sitting prim and proper. Expectantly.

Instead, Jaune sighed. "I don't have much time left tonight. I don't want to keep you from that thing we put so much into. So… c'mere."

She frowned. "You're sure you have to go?"

"Not for a lil while. Been working hard to get this project done so that old Oz bastard leaves me be and I can spend the night with you, but, yeah, his deadline made no sense."

Blake shifted in place. "He was really weird about it, you know. Like you two have some history. It made me really worried for you, Jaune."

He looked a little embarrassed. "He was my first obsession, in a way."

"Your second being me?" she asked, hand to her mouth. But maybe she was overdoing it? No, put the hand down. Look natural. Be herself. "I didn't realize you had a man crush, boy."

Jaune snorted. "'I expected better of you,' he told me once. It's, like, it's the thing to piss me off. I was making some bathtub plastic explosives. He showed up. Noted how I was different from my Beacon interviews. Said he expected better than me. And, well fuck that. So I went out into Vale, committed a minor felony, and roped you all into stopping a robbery."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. Literally anything possible to show him up. I dragged you into that shit, and he forced me to go to therapy."

"No, no, back up. So, like, the entire reason you ended up on this path here, why we did all of that, wasn't some sense of misplaced justice, but spite?"

"Yep," he said, popping the P.

She tilted her head, staring up at him with disbelief. "Huh."

"Yeah, I know. I can get so petty that I decide to turn my entire life around and redeem myself purely to tell a man 'haha, fuck you.' He never accepted the new me either, so screw him."

"So it's still what's driving you?"

Jaune made a face. "God, no. I could not care less. I've slowly grown a pathological hatred of authority figures. So long as I have you, I'll be good. Speaking of…"

He stood up, holding his hands out to her. "I know I been working too hard to practice, but."

"But?" she asked, biting her tongue. Keeping things simple. Easygoing. Cool girl, that's Blake. So very cool.

"Blake Belladonna, would you have this dance with me?"

Blake just looked up at him, holding his hands out to her. Eyes scanning him. Every scar, every blemish, every perfection. He wasn't even dressed especially fancy. Nicer than some days, but he still had to work after this. The moment lasted. It hung in the air like a noose, and she didn't know how to untie it.

They weren't together. He'd been clear with that. He had… reasons, she supposed. He was her friend and she respected that. But she couldn't escape the thoughts as he stood before her, that boyish smile on his lips, holding his hands out to her.

If they were, if, this was what they'd be doing anyhow, right? In a way. Not that it was. But, if. They'd just hang out. They'd make stupid jokes. Race to see who could kill the other's braincells first. Normal stuff. She imagined all those normal things they'd do in a different world. The same normal things they were still doing. And they did hug each other sometimes. Laid together on the floor, his jacket over her shoulders. They weren't, but this was what they'd do anyways, in a way.

"You don't have much time, do you?" she asked.

"Trying to make the best of it with you."

"Y'know, I have." She swallowed. Steadied herself. "I have this idea to use it better."

"Yeah?" he asked happily, but it was there. This nervous crease in his brow.

Blake stood up, stretching herself out. Feeling her heart in her chest. Reaching and poking her Aura for that extra warmth, that little bit of strength. He still had his hands out to her, to take her into his arms, and twirl her around in the cold night under the broken moon. Like they'd planned.

So Blake grabbed Jaune by the shirt. "Fall."

And tackled him over the edge of the roof.

Just like that one night.

Falling once more together for old time's sake. With maybe a dream she can reverse it all.

— 29 —

Weiss still found herself trying to adjust her hair. Running her fingers through it to make sure her ponytail was tight and in its proper place. And every time, that simple ritual aborted itself. Her fingers reached the ends far too quickly. Ever since she cut it to help get all of that filth out, and now it was a short thing she could barely style or toy with to take her mind off stress and life itself. Her scars itched, the one over her eye and the one her hair used to hide that Blake had given her.

So the only way to work things out of her system was Yatsuhashi.

"No!" she said. "To the left. Move the table to the left. There. And don't spill the punch!"

The Mistrali giant inched the table forwards, constantly looking over his shoulder. And averting his eyes when she glared at me. He should have known better. She'd met with him a handful of times in order to coordinate some decorations, refreshments, and food stuff. In practice, that amounted to her dictating exactly what they would have and need, and Yatsuhashi carrying it all. Division of labor and all that.

This was the culmination of a slapdash month of work, on and off. Jaune and Coco had worked on the theme, which ended up being a disco nightclub sort of mood with all kinds of neon. Fox and Shamrock had handled the entertainment—speakers, music, and some lights. Even Blake and Velvet had briefly worked together enough to compile lists of expected people and what they'd need.

So Weiss had set about acquiring and organizing everything. The most important job. They could have all the plans and data they needed, and it'd mean nothing if they couldn't assemble it all into a coherent whole. And it had to look that part, too!

He glanced back at her. She pointed, making a rolling gesture toward a set of cups. Cautiously he took one and moved to slightly over.

"No!" she screamed. "Too far. What is wrong with you?"

"Hold on, hold on, this is fine. See? They're arranged like a triangle. It's a sacred shape."

Weiss ran up to him in a panic. "No! Triangles are not feng shui. Everything is wrong. It has to be a rhombus of cups or everyone will feel how wrong it is!"

Yatsuhashi scrambled backwards, nearly tripping over his feet to avoid her. She very quickly rearranged the cups. Then took out a little ruler and measured the distance until they were all perfect. On this one table, at least, things were finally fine. Plenty of refreshments. Everything was set up.

"Are… you sure you know what feng shui is?" he asked hesitantly.

Weiss sniffed. "Of course I do."

He gestured at the table. "Because I'm actually Mistrali, and this…" He shrugged.

She clucked her tongue. "Oh no worries, it's fine. I have a great knowledge and respect for Mistrali culture. It's not your fault you don't understand your own traditions. I studied it."

Yatsuhashi opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked around as if for help. "I can't tell if that was racist or… something weirder."

"It's respectful. What are you saying?" She defiantly put her hands on her hips, craning her neck up to look him right in the eyes. "What are you accusing me of, boy?"

The giant could only stare, shoulder hunching together. Slowly raising his hands and backing away. "Y'know what, Ms Weiss? I'm… I'm just gonna go find my team. Okay? Okay!"

Weiss glared, watching him leave. "Don't go too far! Guests will be arriving any minute now. And where is Blake?"

"Uh, hi. Hello, yes. It's me. You okay?"

Weiss turned to see Blake, awkwardly standing there, arms clasped behind her back. Her back dress—which Weiss and Jaune had spent good money on—had wrinkles that weren't there an hour ago. She had a scratch on her cheek, and her hair? Gods' sakes, all of Weiss' advice had gone to waste! It'd been so neat earlier and now it was messy.

"Oh, don't mind me. You just can't get good help these days." Weiss went to hug Blake, just so she could whisper, "Your hair is all wrong. Sit down and let me help."

Blake blinked, cheeks red. "O-oh! That. Whoops."

Weiss sat Blake down in a chair and brought her up in front of her. "Sit still. You don't want to look like gutter trash. What would they say if I let my friends look less than perfect?"

"They wouldn't make it about you?" Blake said.

"Ha! As if. People talk, Blake. Don't move," Weiss ran her fingers through Blake's black hair, straightening out little twirls and knots. She could see shapes outside the student center's windows, showing up to be the first here for the dance. "What did you do, girlfriend?"

Blake made a face. "Since when have you called me girlfriend?"

"It's the dress," Weiss said dismissively. "It felt right. Look at us. We're all rich socialites tonight. Complete with subpar manual assistance."

"Uh-huh."

Weiss was petting Blake, getting everything in order. Patting down the wrinkles in her dress as best as she could. "So…?"

Blake cleared her throat. "I fell off a roof."

"Right, right, that's something a normal person would do."

She rolled her eyes. "Look, Jaune had to work, so I went to say goodnight since, iunno, today feels like the ending of something."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. So tell me about how that messed up your hair?"

"I fell like I said!"

"Yes, we all know," Weiss sighed.

"I shoved him off a roof!"

Weiss frowned. "Was it that bad?"

"Stop!" Blake said, covering her face with her hands.

She ran her fingers through Blake's hair one last time. "Good. Because you're finally looking stunning again."

"Oh great, dressing to impress people I don't care about. Surely this will make my life better."

Weiss smiled sadly. "Well, okay. You have a little mess. As a treat." And then she just hugged Blake tightly. "There. Now you're tastefully out of fashion."

Blake made a noise in her throat but actually hugged back this time. Until her pocket buzzed and she anxiously took her scroll out. Weiss saw through the transparent screen. Jaune was texting her.

"Uh-huh," Weiss said knowingly.

She flexed her fingers. Even pretended like she was actually going to put her scroll away. Before Blake smiled apologetically and started texting him back. Lots of emojis instead of anything Weiss was actually able to read.

"Do you mind?" Blake asked, holding her scroll to her breast.

But Weiss was smiling as she rolled her eyes. "Do me a favor?"

"Hm?"

She pushed a stack of cards into Blake's hand. "I'll let you be antisocial and talk to Jaune all night if you do it by that table over there and help me pass these out."

Blake squinted. "What, that table full of dessert and bagels?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes. Do you know how long it took to organize everything in this ballroom to organically funnel them towards that table?"

She looked at what Weiss gave her. "Are these business cards?"

"Because if people ask for me by name at the coffee shop, Valean tip culture will ensure my return to wealth. I'm also thinking of catering. I need start-up capital, Blake."

"Wait, you made those yourself? Are you trying to kill people?"

"Oh, don't worry. I had Jaune double-check everything. He's alive so that was my greenlight."

"All of that?"

"Yes."

"How did you get him to stay in one place eating for that long?"

Weiss tutted. "Your dress was not cheap. I had leverage over him. Now help use your looks to make me rich."

"That's just prostitution with extra steps."

"Sex sells, Blake. Now get to it. People will be arriving any minute now." She gave Blake a little push.

Alright, another play to her schemes. Because if Weiss could use this as an opportunity, by the Gods she would! Now all she had to do were a couple of last minute checks. This entire event had been student organized with funding from Beacon. She suspected Professor Goodwitch would be around somewhere, stalking about to keep people safe without ruining the mood, but everything else would be hers.

Now for everything else.

— 30 —

Weiss checked on Fox, who was finishing up the music playlist. Shamrock was standing very closely to him, hand on his shoulder as she leaned in to comment on his equipment.

"Okay, so those options there," she was saying, "will make sure it'll keep playing. Aaand we're set!"

Fox let out a long sigh, rubbing his face. "Yeah. Alhamdulillah you saved everything. I'd be fucked."

Shamrock grins. "Don't thank me. Just make it up to me."

He gave her a significant look. "Listening."

"We got this music for a reason. How's about…" She leaned to the side and saw Weiss watching, then looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Oh hey, Weiss. Everything's fine. Go away. I got this."

"No, no," Fox said, looking at nothing. "She was just creeping on you in silence for a reason. Let her live her life, girl."

Weiss made a good-luck gesture to Shamrock. "Oh, me? Just making sure everything's going well."

"It is," Shamrock said quickly, contorting fingers into a warding sign.

With a sign, Weiss gestured for dismissive amusement.

Shamrock signed to avoid the evil eye.

Weiss gave Shamrock a skeptical look.

Fox examined his hands, rotating his wrists. "I can still see and your Auras, ladies. Kinda rude to speak something I don't."

Shamrock inhaled sharply. "Sorry! Religious stuff. She's making fun of me for saving your ass."

"Oh, no, that's fair," he said mildly. "Which, speaking of, I think I had an idea about that."

She fixed her tophat tighter. "Yeah?"

Weiss just laughed. Must be something in the air, then. She's wasted enough time here. It was time to cross the ballroom and let people in. She whistled for Yatsuhashi, who was sitting at one of the tables talking with Velvet.

"Hold on, we were busy!" Velvet said.

"Be busy later; we have to open exactly five minutes early or else we'll be late," Weiss said. "Yatsuhashi, you're our bouncer. Look scary to prevent trouble."

Velvet frowned. "Are you typecasting him?"

Yatsuhashi tried to speak, then just clammed up and looked tense.

"Well, my usual muscle is busy working late tonight," Weiss said with a shrug. "I'm working with what I have on hand."

"Why not get Coco?"

"Actually, good idea. Where is she?" Weiss asked.

Velvet fished into her bra for her scroll to check it, and Weiss could feel Blake glaring from across the room. "Hold on, lemme…"

"Here, here!" Coco called out, jogging out from a side hallway that led to the bathrooms. "Was taking some eyedrops. Winter is so dry up here. What's up?"

Coco stopped by Velvet and smiled, giving her hair a tussle. Also she was wearing something. It didn't matter. Weiss could barely focus on that. All she could think was Wait, that's her eye color? Coco caught Weiss' gaze and winked, then made a gesture for sunglasses she wasn't wearing. She paused, then laughed it off.

"Damn, girl. Is that a tailored dress?"

Weiss was just staring. "I almost didn't recognize you. What happened to…" She gestured for her eyes.

Coco's face… it moved too much. All those eyes and everything. She looked younger and older both in different ways. It made Weiss wonder if she was always this expressive, just hid it behind her shades. Coco grimaced, but was trying to keep a strong façade. "They were on loan from Ruby after my old ones broke. She took them back. I guess I didn't have anything worth hiding anymore. Did, uh, Jaune tell you anything?"

"No. Why?"

"Huh. Well." She cast an awkward glance towards Velvet, who reached out to touch her hand. "I mean, it'd be pretty dumb to wear sunglasses at night. On a night like this. I'd be blinder than Fox."

"I resent that!" Fox called out from where he was sitting on the stage, Shamrock hovering over him.

"Anyhow," Coco said. "I'm feeling great. I'm ready for tonight. Let loose, do some dancing. What did you want?"

"You're tall and can mean-mug people. I need someone to help me open the ballroom to the students standing outside," Weiss said.

"What, just you and me—and the entire student body?"

"For a moment."

Coco shrugged. "Sure."

Still, those eyes. Weiss gestured for Coco to follow her. She could see even more people outside waiting for the event to begin.

"But for real, is that dress designer or something?" Coco asked. "It shows off your back."

"It's about the only nice thing I still have from home. I haven't worn these earrings since the metaphorical snow melted."

"Well, it still looks nice. The heels really show off your legs."

Weiss kept her prideful little smile reserved. "I know."

"You don't brag enough," Coco said.

"I know. Now help me open the doors. We have a crowd to woo!"

It was just like that. That simple. Officially open the doors and greet the streaming crowd of students dressed in their very best. Shamrock and Fox got the music kicking, something light to start the day, and awkward boys and girls mingled and wandered around to examine the decoration and eventually found themselves funneled towards Weiss' food and Blake's table with the business cards.

A good host should always properly greet their guests. Weiss had trained for this long before. Between her and Coco, it would be a cinch. She couldn't be here all night, of course. She did want to enjoy all this work. Weiss would just have to naturally feel out when it was a good time to join the events.

Likely when she went to make a little speech on the stage officially welcoming everyone. That was her job. Hers alone. No one else could be trusted. She was the hostess of hostesses!

Which was why she and Coco were greeting the guests. More and more of them came in as the minutes flew by. Weiss was sure to point them towards the stage, refreshments, and food (and Blake with Weiss' business cards). Things were starting to get going and there was a certain satisfaction in seeing something she had worked on finally coming to fruition.

"Let me loose, let me loose!" a redheaded girl was shouting. Nora, team VYPR, Pyrrha's partner. "These are my people. Eating my food!" She was doing her best to storm into the ballroom. Lie Ren, Cardin's partner, was holding the back of the dress to slow her down. All that did was slow her down, like he was surfing behind her wake deeper and deeper into the room.

"This your work, Schnee?" Jack of all people asked, coming in not far behind Ren and his girl. He didn't dress much different save for a fake-suit shirt under his open-faced jacket. "Since when did anybody trust you for admin work?"

Weiss faked a smile. "I can do more than beat you at cards."

"Who said my name?" a little woman in a beret said, at his heels. "Oh wait, Jack, I know her! I hired her. I approved the paperwork, I think. Or lost it. Wait, someone else is wearing a beret!"

"Me?" Coco asked bemused.

Cards jabbed her finger. "One of us has to go home and change, and it's not gonna be me!"

Some ninja-looking guy from Cards' team just picked her up and carried her past, and the little thing was fighting him the entire way.

"No, let me go, Cielo! I live for drama. I need this!"

"Gods, people can be so weird," Coco said, watching that team go. "Are we the only normal ones left?"

Weiss shook her head. "I've lowered my standards for weird a long time ago. They looked normal to me."

"You think maybe that's an us problem or a Huntress thing in general?"

"A bit of both."

A storm of rose petals flew into Coco, materializing into Ruby Rose. She threw her arms around Coco. "You're here! You made it! Coco!"

Coco laughed, hugging Ruby back before pushing her away. "It's so good to see you again, Ruby!"

Instead of walking, she used her Semblance to move a few inches to the left. "Where'd your shades go?"

"You took them."

Ruby squinted and was about to say something, shaking her head until she saw the look in Coco's eyes. Something passed between them that Weiss couldn't grasp. "Your team okay?" Ruby asked.

Coco nodded. "Yeah. Been slow, but yeah. I did. It's not solved, I think. But yeah. Talking."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow

Ruby just sighed, hand on Coco's shoulder. "Well, at least that's good for you. Because you're never getting your shades back. I already returned them for store credit. It's how I afforded these heels."

That felt mean to Weiss, but neither of the women seemed bothered.

"You put all this effort into new threads," Coco said with a laugh, "but you're still wearing that cape of yours. Do you ever wash that thing? I swear."

Ruby held a hand diffidently to her breast. "It's a red flag over a hole in one 'cuz that's what I am!"

Coco laughed. "Very attractive."

"If you can't handle me at my worst, then tough because it literally doesn't get any better than this."

"Get out of here, kid."

Ruby stuck out her tongue and vanished with her Semblance. The rest of Team VYPR came in after her, mostly chasing Ruby. Yang shot Weiss finger-guns but was too busy trying to prevent Ruby and Nora from destroying the hors-d'œuvres to talk. Followed by Pyrrha Nikos, walking alone after her team, looking more than a touch lonely and uncomfortable.

"Iiiiis now a bad time to mention I spiked the punch bowl?" Coco asked.

Weiss gagged. "You what?!"

"It's tradition!" Coco shrugged helplessly. "I didn't have a choice."

Coco remained behind as Weiss jogged off to the refreshments.

"Don't drink that; it may be alcoholic and that's against the rules!" Weiss said.

"Is it?" Ruby asked, dipping her cup into the punch.

"Ruby!"

She swished it around her mouth, then frowned. Thinking awfully hard.

"Oh gods, is it that bad?" Weiss asked.

Ruby held up her finger and poured another cup. Humming thoughtfully as she tasted it. "Dunno!"

"Don't drink that!"

Ruby scowled and made herself a third cup. "Try and stop me. Hey, Nora, c'mere! I think there's booze in here!"

Weiss' scroll buzzed. The alarm going off. She had to give the speech officially opening things. So she pointed to Blake, who was just texting Jaune over to the side. "You! Keep them sober. Get new punch. I need to do a thing!"

Blake gestured to herself confused, but Weiss was too busy focusing on her duties. Hostess that she was, she could put out the fires one at a time. But there was a process, a prescribed order of operation! Weiss had to remember not to run around and be un-ladylike. She needed to put one heel after the other and sell her image as the hostess in control. This was hers. She had assumed control.

She made a staircase with her Semblance and its glyphs to the stage and took the microphone. Glynda Goodwitch had told her Ozpin was supposed to give a word too, but he wasn't here. That wasn't like him but that just gave Weiss the opportunity to truly make this show all about her! Her moment to make herself the stunning center of attention and be a good hostess.

What she said wasn't exactly as important as just officially beginning the events and reiterating where everything was. She basically just gave a highlight reel of events. There was even apple bobbing—a true classic and her very own idea! Just so long as they got there after trying the actual food. That was key.

Alright, events were starting. The ballroom was big and even she was impressed by how many students were showing up. Most of them showed up in teams and as partners. Some of them dispersed and others stayed together. The foreign students were most notable; here for Vytal in a month or two, getting a lay of the land, they looked the most lost. Weiss could empathize with them.

Blake wasn't doing anything, so she had probably helped get the dry punch. Even though that was a very popular table. Some people were experimenting with dancing enough that Weiss actually felt this tug to join them. But, look at her! Weiss was the most elegantly dressed person here. She couldn't give her first dance away to just anyone.

Perhaps she'd just mill around, looking fierce, and see who had the guts to try their hand with her.

Any minute now.

It would happen.

She checked her scroll.

Soon. For sure.

Maybe Jack? He was over there. Wait, no. He was warding off the evil eye and winking towards her.

Someone better, then.

Stop averting your eyes when she looked at you!

"Hey," a blue-haired boy said.

Weiss gave him a skeptical look. "You're the guy who bothered me in the bagel store. What do you want? My time is valuable."

"Neptune, actually." He glanced around. "You don't look busy. You're just menacing everyone over here."

"I do have that effect on boys, yes," she said, hand to her chest as she examined her nails. "What do you want?"

Neptune hesitated. "You, uh, look nice. I think. Dress and thigh highs and, yeah."

She arched a brow. "Don't act like I don't know how I look."

He sighed. "Y'know what? Never, never mind."

Weiss scowled after him. Fool of a boy. She didn't even get the chance to establish her higher social value by publicly rejecting him. What a nonce. Couldn't believe he didn't know how this game was played.

She supposed she'd have to mingle with the guests the normal way. Introduce herself organically. Which she did. And it usually resulted in people recognizing her and lots of awkward silence. A lot of them thanks for organizing this event, but a lot more mentioned seeing Weiss on the news back in Montluçon and things typically petered out after that. She kept roaming, making her presence known, until she found Ruby staring out of a window.

"What are you looking at?" Weiss asked.

Ruby sipped her drink. "Some weirdo lady is out there on the roofs."

Weiss squinted. "I don't see anything. Probably just some girl's cardio routine."

"You really think someone would just hop roofs for leg day and not, like, just do a treadmill?"

Weiss thought it over, looking around the ballroom. Blake was staring at her scroll and was that Cardin Winchester dancing with some girl who had zero rhythm? She was basically dragging him around as she vibrated like a washing machine. Nora Valkyrie was clapping the two of them for some reason.

"I'm fairly sure leg day and cardio are different. Jaune is very peculiar about that difference," Weiss said.

"Looks like she needs it," Ruby said. "See how slow she's creeping up there? Girl looks like she maxed out her encumberment stat just by wearing clothes."

"Uh-huh…"

"Whatever. Do you think she really doesn't think we can just see her creeping up there?" Ruby asked. Then, cupping her hands to her mouth: "Hey! Hey, shady rooftop lady! We can see you. Get down from there!"

"I don't think she heard you. Try being louder."

Ruby shook her head. "I'm just gonna go outside."

"What, and leave this party?"

Ruby made a face. "What else am I gonna do? Dance?"

"Ideally, yes."

She gestured towards her heels. "I cannot walk with these things on. You know what happens if I tried to dance? A felony, that's what. I know because I went clubbing with Jaune and Coco awhile ago. And I am not going back to prison."

"You've been to jail?" Weiss asked dubiously

Ruby scoffed. "Detention, but that's just the same thing. The system getting its hands on you."

"How?"

"So, okay, backstory." Ruby fixed her hair up. "There was this girl back in Sanctum who always called me Reuben, like the sammy, and she had surprisingly delicate ankles even before teen pregnancy ruined her, and this one time we did an outdoor navigation course and—" She turned to the window, scowling. "WE CAN ALL STILL SEE YOU!"

"You good?"

"Weiss, join me. You've been wandering around lonely all night. You've got to have some corked up anger you want to let out, lonely no-friends girl."

"Okay first of all, how dare you."

Ruby turned into rose petals and appeared behind Weiss, grabbing her shoulders. "Give into peer pressure and help me yell at this random lady!"

Weiss yelped, stumbling forwards. "No touchie!"

"What the hell are you two yelling about?" Coco asked, showing with a drink in hand, cheeks a little rosy. Her face was still so weird without her glasses. She kept squinting at people, eyes lingering a little too long on Weiss.

Rubbing at where Ruby touched her, as if to rub away the girl's fingerprints, Weiss said, "There's some bint out the window making Ruby mad."

Coco tilted her head back to finish the punch. "Is that girl wearing a catsuit?"

"Weiss thinks she's exercising or something," Ruby said.

"But, it's nearly midnight."

"Oh my god, really?" Weiss asked. "I've gone all night without dancing with anyone?"

"You wanna?" Coco asked, tilting her head. "I've mostly been hanging with my team tonight. It could be fun, you and I. Y'know."

"Nope!" Weiss said happily. She's shuddering with a happy exhale. "There we go. That feels good. Social value established. Sorry, Coco. Your sacrifice will be remembered."

Coco reached for shades and paused when she found nothing on her face. "Uh, what?"

Weiss straightened her dress. "It's symbolic, you understand."

Ruby made a face. "Oh, I get it. You need to be mean to people so you feel valid!"

"I wouldn't call it that," Weiss said.

"But?" Coco asked.

"But it's entirely what it is. No offense, you understand. I know what I'm worth."

Coco just stared at Weiss, mouth open a crack. Shaking her head slowly, even. "I think I'm actually pretty off—"

Blake skidded over the tiles, breathing hard. Trying to stop herself. She created a shadow with her Semblance and kicked off it, using the force to stop. Her eyes were wild, hands shaking.

Weiss stepped back. "Whoa, Blake, what the heck happened do you?"

"Him! Him! Trouble!" Blake ran her hands over her face. "Bad. Very bad. All of us. Stop partying!"

Ruby rolled up her sleeve. "I don't know what's going on but I am here for it!"

"Danger!" Blake said, holding up her scroll and her texting with Jaune. "Help!"