The next morning, Weiss woke with her bindings firmly in place. Blake was in her own bed. Sunshine streamed in through a gap in the curtains. In that light, the events of the previous night seemed downright far-fetched.

She got up and shuffled into the bathroom. By the time she came out, she'd halfway convinced herself it had all been a bizarre dream. Or, to be more accurate, a nightmare. But when she came back out, she nearly tripped over her own feet. Blake sat cross-legged on her bed—and her bow was still on her desk.

Don't stare, Weiss told herself.

The first and last time she'd seen Blake's ears had been just a glimpse under a lamppost. Now they were so much closer, catching sunbeams that turned the fur from black to white, and they looked impossibly soft. They perked to attention as Blake noticed her, and swiveled to catch the sound of the bathroom door closing behind her.

And she was staring.

"It seemed fair," Blake said quietly.

Weiss didn't know how to respond to that. "Where's Yang?" she asked instead.

Ruby glanced up from where she was sitting on her own bed. "She's getting food. We were thinking we'd have breakfast in here while we... talk."

"About what, exactly?"

She gave Weiss a flat look that made her wince. Well, it had been worth a try.

"No one's going to tell anyone about you," Blake said. She glanced at Ruby, a hint of challenge in her expression.

"Duh! We get that this stuff is complicated. Nobody's mad at you for not saying anything, we just want to know how we can help." She frowned. "And I want you to talk to Penny. She messaged me this morning, and she feels really bad about what happened. She wants to say she's sorry, but you owe her an apology too. She was only trying to—"

"No."

"Weiss—"

"Absolutely not. I specifically asked her not to interfere and she ignored me. I am not and never will be grateful to anyone interfering with my decisions for my own good." She spat the last words like they were the foulest curse she knew, because they were.

"I'm not asking you to be grateful! I'm asking you to apologize for doing the exact same thing to Penny because you were angry!"

"It is not the same," Blake broke in.

"Well, she's not human and if we were awful people we could have used that to hurt her! It's definitely still bad!"

"I'm not saying it wasn't, but this isn't really the main thing we need to worry about right now."

"It's important," Ruby insisted. "You both hurt each other yesterday, and I want you to apologize to each other so you can move on."

Blake's ears flattened against her skull. "You can't force Weiss to forgive her, Ruby. Or Penny, for that matter."

"I'm not trying to! I just don't want this to mean you guys can't be friends!"

"Well, we can't." Weiss had run out of patience for condescending help long before she'd met Penny.

"But—!"

The door opened. Yang froze, three trays stacked in her hand and one balanced on her shoulder, her eyes flicking around the room. "Oh," she said. "We're arguing already. Great."

Ruby took a breath to speak.

"Nope!" Yang extended one of the trays towards her sister. "Food first. Then, try to relax and reset, okay? We're here to help, not to fight."

Her shoulders slumped. "Fine," she grumbled, taking her food and setting it in her lap. After a moment, she looked up at Weiss. "You don't have to apologize," she said grudgingly. "It's... pretty obvious when you don't mean it, anyway. But just... please tell Penny what you said to us, about seeing her soul. I think she thinks you think she's not real."

Weiss' eyes nearly crossed at the phrasing. "What?"

"She's upset, Weiss! We're probably the first real friends she's had in... well, ever. It seems like she's not used to being treated like a person."

Her stomach knotted. "Fine," she sighed. "I can do that."

"Thank you." Ruby smiled at her. "Really. I know that must have sucked for you too, since Penny was the only one who knew... um." Her nose wrinkled. "Actually... how did you guys find out all that stuff about each other in the first place? Haven't you only talked like once?"

"I have no idea how she knew about me." That had been a running theme in her dreams lately. "She must have some kind of enhanced senses, but she never said how they worked. As for her, well... she's magnetic."

"Okay?" Yang passed Weiss her tray. "That's not actually an explanation though."

Weiss bit her lip. She'd never told anyone about the lines before, but... "I can see magnetism. It's hard to explain, sort of like light, except... not."

"Whoa," Ruby breathed, her eyes shining. "That's so cool!"

"Is that part of the whole nightvision thing?" asked Yang.

"I don't have nightvision."

"Pretty much all faunus have some kind of enhanced senses," Blake explained. "Nightvision isn't actually the most common, but even without it most of us can handle the dark better than a human."

"Is it okay to ask what yours are?" Ruby asked Weiss.

She shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I don't get lost, and my sense of smell is more sensitive than it's supposed to be."

"There's nothing wrong with it," Blake insisted.

"Recognizing which brand of toothpaste someone did or didn't use this morning from across a room is more curse than blessing. Trust me."

"Wait!" Yang snatched something off her breakfast tray. "What's in my hand?"

"An orange. I can see the peel, Yang."

"Yep!" Yang grinned at her and swiped another piece of food. "Come on. Let's try without cheating this time."

Weiss' eyes narrowed at the challenge. "Open the window and I'll do you one better."

Ruby stood up and did just that. Weiss took a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing. As usual, someone had left one of the dining hall windows open. "You got there too late for the waffles. Skipped the sausages, which was a good idea. They're starting to go off. I don't know why you didn't take any cookies—oh, right. Oatmeal raisin."

"Holy shit."

Weiss smirked and folded her arms. "I can tell you what they're going to serve for lunch, too, if you still think I'm cheating."

Yang put her hands up in surrender. "Nope! You win."

"And don't you forget it." Weiss turned her head and noticed Blake looking on with a soft smile. "What?" she demanded.

"Nothing."

"Well? Is that it? Can we please go back to pretending this never happened?"

"Yeah, no," said Yang. "You need to change your bandages first."

Weiss made a face.

"Don't look at me like that. Keeping it healthy means we don't have to deal with finding you a doctor, remember?"

"Ugh." Reluctantly, Weiss let Blake lead her into the bathroom. At least this time it was only one person... but she found herself staring fixedly at the ground as she shucked off the bindings. Her wings were still tucked away behind her, but when she sat on the sink there was a mirror at her back and nowhere to hide them.

True to her word, Yang had brought back a bag of gauze, bandages, rubbing alcohol... everything they would need to take care of the wound. Weiss could have done that, too. Maybe she wouldn't have known about that particular brand of antibacterial cream, she certainly didn't have a Huntsman uncle who liked to show up at her house and bleed on the sofa, but she would have found plenty of supplies.

She would not have been able to clean it so well. Dabbing lightly, muttering an apology every time she winced. She wouldn't have known how to put the stitches in, or how to apply the cream so gently that it hardly stung, like she'd done this a thousand times before.

"You're good at this," she admitted.

Blake's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Lots of practice." She tucked the end of the bandage under itself, then pinned it in place. "Listen, Weiss..."

"Ugh. What?"

"I know I don't really get it." Blake reached out to touch her shoulder, and she jerked away. "Sorry. Being who you are, in that family... I can't imagine what that would be like. But we're on your side, all of us! You don't have to do this alone. You're not an animal, and there's nothing wrong with—"

"Stop." Weiss snatched up the bindings and started winding them around herself.

"Maybe you don't want to hear this, but—"

"No, I don't." She pulled on her jacket and moved to the door. "Especially not from you. We're doing the same thing, the only difference is that your ears are easier to hide. So no, I'm not going to listen to you preach at me."

She shouldered her way back into the room, where she realized from Yang and Ruby's wide eyes that she'd been speaking much too loudly. "Don't start," she snapped.

"You're right."

Weiss blinked. Turned around to look at Blake. "What?"

"You have a lot more to lose than I do. So... here." She held out her hand, her bow dangling from her fingertips. "Take it."

"Blake," Yang said, "You don't have to—"

"I do." Blake pressed the bow into Weiss' hands. "I can't fix this for you, but if I can do anything to make it easier... that's what I'll do."

Weiss closed her fingers around it, swallowing past a lump in her throat. "I... I don't..."

"I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, I promise. You have your reasons for keeping it secret. But as long as I'm wearing that, you won't listen to me when I tell you there's nothing for you to be ashamed of. And I'm going to keep saying it, as many times as I have to. So the bow has to go."

Weiss hesitated with the ribbon still coiled up in her hand. Somehow, despite deciding to throw it away, she found herself slipping it into her pocket instead.

"Um," Ruby said. "I was thinking we could do a big movie night thing in the rec room, to relax after... all that. But maybe we should just invite a couple people?"

Blake took a deep breath, then forced a smile. "Unless you were planning to bring Cardin, I'll be fine."

"We can get them to come here, though," Yang suggested. "Start with people we know."

Her ears perked up. "That sounds... really good, actually."

So that was what they did. Less than an hour later there was a knock on their door, which opened to admit Sun and Neptune. Weiss suspected Yang might have given them a different time—neither seemed like the sort to show up early in normal circumstances, and they made the perfect first guests. Neptune looked briefly surprised, then gave Blake a high-five. And Sun...

"Hey!" he burst out, breaking into a broad grin the moment the door opened and he noticed Blake. "You took it off!"

She ducked her head and said, "Yeah." Then, "Wait, you knew?"

"Don't worry about it too much." He folded his arms behind his head. "It's a good disguise and all, but there's no fooling a detective!"

"Uh-huh," Weiss drawled.

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Wanna bet?"

She scowled. He shrugged and turned his attention back to Blake, for a clap on the shoulder and congratulations.

JNPR wasn't far behind. Jaune came through first, did a double-take, then hovered awkwardly until Nora elbowed him aside and half-shouted, "Blake! They're so cute!"

"Thank the gods," Jaune's shoulders slumped in relief. "I thought I was the only one who hadn't noticed until now."

Pyrrha shook her head fondly at him before she stepped inside and beamed at Blake. "I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell us."

Ren gave her a nod and a smile. Then his gaze flicked towards Weiss and back again. Pyrrha noticed. "No one's given you any trouble, I hope?" she asked. Politely, but with an undertone that suggested she was offering to fight someone if the answer wasn't a no.

And it all would have been very subtle, if Nora hadn't put her hands on her hips and said, "We're ready to break legs if you want," while looking directly at Weiss.

"Thank you, but that's not necessary," Blake said firmly. She turned and flashed Weiss a smile. "We're okay."

Weiss bristled. Things were most definitely not okay, and hadn't been since she'd shown up at that stupid dance. Just because they hadn't outed her, didn't mean she wanted to deal with all this. It wasn't exactly fun to stand here and watch everyone pat Blake on the head for showing off, when they should... should be...

Without any conscious effort on her part, her hand drifted into her pocket. She felt the silky texture of the ribbon against her fingertips. A small sigh escaped her, and all her frustration went with it. She looked away. This was such a ridiculous gesture.

And yet, she still caught herself touching it on and off all afternoon as one movie turned into two. Then two became three, which somehow became a marathon that lasted until dinner. "Let's grab some noodles in Vale," Sun suggested, once stomachs started to growl.

"You go ahead," said Blake. "I have a book I need to pick up."

Yang's brow furrowed. "Want me to come with you?"

"No, that's okay. It'll be quick."

"Oh. If you're sure?"

The moment Blake was out of earshot, Sun started to laugh.

Yang gave him a playful shove.

"What? I'm just noticing the blatant pining, is all."

"Right," she drawled, giving all of JNPR a look. That got the whole team flustered and in denial, and once everyone was thoroughly distracted, Yang's shoulders relaxed and she cast an anxious glance over her shoulder.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. That hadn't been Yang acting awkward around Blake—she might have believed it a few days ago, but now she was in the unfortunate position of knowing exactly how much of that tension had cleared. And if Yang had noticed something off about Blake, that meant there had definitely been something off. She'd dodged company and questions. She was hiding something.

Blake Belladonna, she thought, as she gave the ribbon in her pocket another squeeze. You'd better not be sitting on another bomb as big as the last one.