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"I knew you flirted with them."
"Babe, please…"
"Don't call me babe. Ever. I'm not your baby," Weiss vehemently disagreed.
"Well you won't let me call you 'darling.' Even though you like it. And I never flirted with them. At best they flirted with me."
"But I bet you liked it."
"I was too stupid to like it. They just teased me. That's all. Honestly."
"And I'm sure twins were also on your list of things to do."
"It's not twins. That's never been a fantasy of mine."
"Then what is?"
"Disappointing two girls at once is a fantasy of mine. That happened."
"You didn't disappoint us." Weiss took another drink of champagne.
"But I will. Just give it time. Like with the idea of alternating nights. I'm sure I'll come up with more bad ideas."
"You just need to think these things through."
"I feel as though I'm trying. Why don't I spoon you and you spoon Ruby?"
"That… could actually work. Maybe I deserve to be in the middle of you two."
"Maybe so. There you go. You'll be nice and warm."
"I kind of like sleeping on your chest though. Don't let that go to your head."
"We can mix it up. We don't have to commit to one sleeping arrangement."
"That's true enough…"
"See. No problem. You two are the girls for me. Don't be a Jealous Jade."
"I'm not jealous. I'm possessive."
"I'm all yours and Ruby is all yours."
"So long as you don't forget it. Oh no."
"What?"
"See that man coming towards us?"
I glanced over to see a mustached man with a pot belly in a suit and tie making his way through the dance floor.
"What about him?"
"I recognize him from my father's balls. He always got a dance from me. I think he's a sort of creep. He never tried anything but the dances. He's odd. I'm not sure how to feel about him. He's an arms manufacturer for Atlas and Vale and I guess either the Malachites or the Hei."
"Miss Schnee," the man greeted. "Imagine my surprise at seeing you at a place like this.
"Colonel Flagstaff," Weiss returned with just a hint of polite frost.
"Tell me, will you be singing for us tonight? You have such a lovely singing voice."
"No. I'm afraid not. And won't you allow me to introduce my fiancé. Colonel Flagstaff meet Professor Cloud Strife of Beacon academy."
"A pleasure," I said with an outstretched hand. The man glanced between us but he didn't shake my hand with any reluctance per se.
"Quite the catch you've scored, young man. Quite the catch. Have you ever had the pleasure of listening to her sing?"
"I get a private show from time to time. It's always a treat. She sounds like an angel," I confessed openly.
"Just so. You should make the time to enjoy it when the opportunity arises. I know I did whenever her father would host a concert in Atlas."
Back when Weiss felt like a doll. And I think I was starting to understand. There was nothing rude or sexual in the man towards Weiss. At least not that I could detect. He made Weiss uncomfortable because he liked the puppet he always saw. He perhaps didn't know that was a facade.
"Yes, indeed. And how did you two meet?"
"We both attended Beacon Academy together when we were seventeen," Weiss said with a glimmering false smile.
"Was it love at first sight?" Flagstaff asked.
"It was for me. It took some time for me to melt her heart."
"Ah. To be a young man again and looking at a beautiful girl. Nothing quite like the throb of your heart or the heat of your face," Flagstaff laughed.
"She rejected me thoroughly over and over again. But I know what you mean. That little spark of excitement and hope that she'll say 'yes' to a dumb fool like you."
"Quite so. Nothing quite like it. And I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your youth Professor Strife. Youth is often wasted on the young but you must truly be seizing it."
"She seized me eventually."
"When?"
"Only after I gave up on trying to impress her did I succeed in impressing her."
"Women. Who can understand them?"
"We aren't so complicated," Weiss sliced in. "And you needed to be rejected to become the man you had the potential to be."
"Such foresight. And you are quite young to be a Professor. I had heard about a young and fairly powerful teacher at Beacon. I can't quite recall all of the ratings of your powers but I remember that several were above five and several more were almost five."
"Something like that. The numbers don't tell the full story though."
"You two must be expecting quite powerful children. Will you encourage them to be hunters? Oh, I beg your pardon. I understand that some couples are anti-natalists in this day and age. I didn't mean to imply that you should have kids or that you had to have children. Just that should you choose to do so they would be very talented."
"We aren't anti-natalists. We were planning to have children at some point. We aren't offended by your saying so."
"Should you have young girls you must allow me to attend their concerts. If they are half as talented as their mother with singing voices it would be an absolute treat."
"I think we were more planning on letting the kids form their own route. If they wanted to be hunters or musicians it would be their choice to pursue those things. Though growing up in a household of hunters would probably make any child inclined to follow that route. And I'm sure they'll have their aura unlocked and training with their semblances if they wanted it," Weiss informed the man. I snaked a hand around her waist and pulled her close to me in silent support.
To be honest I would really rather my kids chose to be anything other than hunters. Even though I probably wouldn't live long enough to see them die I didn't want them to share my fate of an early death. That's what really awaited hunters for the most part. There was money and fame and power. But also life threatening situations over and over again until you eventually lost the game.
I really didn't want that for my children. Even if they were powerful. Because being more powerful meant you got harder missions usually. And if they were the most powerful they would get the most dangerous missions. No wonder Weiss was happy with my Professorship. It was unlikely that it would kill me. It was probably the safest position a hunter like me could afford to get. It didn't really get much better than that. It was safe. It paid well. It didn't cause much travel. Yeah, the Vale Council could technically summon me and call me to action but that was pretty much true of all hunters who worked in the public sector.
Plus Glynda was there to shut me down if I went rogue. Of everyone in Vale she had the best chance of stopping me. And to be honest her chances weren't very good. She was a powerful Blaster but I was fast and a really strong Striker. I could rip her up if it came down to it in a flash. Not many people could survive Omni-slash. Nobody alive could survive Omni-slash and my follow ups.
"Would you be offended if I asked your fiancé for a dance?" Flagstaff asked me.
"I'm afraid that I'm the jealous sort. And she belongs to me," I informed him with a congenial smile.
"I see. Very well. I am not offended. If anyone should be offended it should be you. She is, after all, your engagement. I shall leave you at that. Adieu."
He departed from us and I shot a glance down at Weiss.
"He didn't seem so bad."
"It's a lot creepier when you're fifteen and you have to dance with him. Thank you, Cloud."
"No problem. But you're more than capable of saying 'no' yourself. You hardly need me to be your shield."
"Nonetheless, I'm grateful to you. Would you really have been jealous if I danced with him?"
"Not with him, no. You already expressed your distaste. I trust you. But you did express distaste. So I turned him down for you. Now if someone like Neptune came by and asked you for a dance I would have something to say."
"You're jealous of Neptune?"
"Always was. You thought he was hot. Of course I was jealous."
"Hmm," she smirked. "I didn't know that about you."
"You should have. I didn't exactly try and hide it from anyone. Including him. I never really hid my feelings for you."
"You did in Mistral," she disagreed.
"Did I? Or did I respect your space? For once. My heart never really stopped throbbing for you. Like when we spared and I picked you up. My heart skipped a beat."
"You became so powerful, so competent, and so honest so fast…"
"I hit all your switches and pushed all the right buttons?" I asked.
"Pretty much. You became confident in your decision making for us all as a group. You stepped into the role you were always meant to have. And you left all the disingenuousness behind. All that fake confidence and the lady killer personality you were trying to adopt at Beacon was gone…"
"You were jealous of Ruby," I interpreted.
"And you for having her. I was confused and I didn't know how I felt. I still don't really understand my own sexuality. I could be bi or I could be demi. I just know that I like you and Ruby and I did like Neptune."
"Fucking Neptune."
"You really were jealous of him!" Weiss laughed at me but she falsely hid it behind her hand.
"I hated his guts," I admitted. "He had your attention. He had your affections. I wanted that. Sue me."
"You had Pyrrha," Weiss pointed out.
"But I didn't know I had Pyrrha. So did I really have Pyrrha?"
"Didn't you go on dates together? I remember Pyrrha talking about going to Vale and going on jogs with you. Plus you two had late night training together."
"Only in retrospect. And I didn't know those were dates so they didn't count as dates. I thought it was just partner stuff. I had Ren and Nora for examples. I was a fucking idiot."
"Well, now you're my dumb blonde. Pyrrha-"
"I don't really want to talk about Pyrrha," I cut her off. "Not here."
"I understand. You're still uncomfortable with it."
"You would be uncomfortable if Ruby died."
"Don't even say that."
"Sure. But that's still pretty much how I feel about Pyrrha."
"You're not over her."
"I never got the chance to do anything with her. We were never together."
"You're still not over her. And that's okay. You're allowed to not be over her yet. We'll work on it, okay? You, me, and Ruby."
"Sure. Alright."
I held Weiss by the waist in companionable silence. I finished my champagne and set the flute on a passing waiter's tray.
"Do you want to dance with-" I started.
"Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen," Junior walked out into the middle of the dance floor and tapped a glass with a knife to make it ring. "I have an announcement I must make."
Hushed whispers spread through the crowd of onlookers.
Junior set the glass down. Then he walked over to Melanie and Miltiades Malachite and got down on one knee. He was still almost as tall as they were even kneeling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it and inside there were two rings. I couldn't make out the stones from where I stood but I imagined one was red themed and the other was white themed.
"Melanie and Miltia, will you marry me?" He asked from his position on the marble floor. That couldn't be comfortable.
Melanie put a finger on her chin and Miltia reached out and picked out both rings. She examined them closely. Without looking at each other and in perfect synchronization they said, "we will."
Junior got to his feet and took the rings. He took one in his hand and took Miltia's hand. "No, I want the white one," she informed him. He blinked. But he rolled with it and changed which ring he was holding and slipped it on her finger.
"Good because I wanted the red one," Melanie said as Junior took her hand and slipped the other ring on her finger.
Everyone applauded politely and there was a chorus of congratulations and well wishes for the trio. I clapped along with Weiss. Junior bowed to the crowd and smiled about.
"How much of that was planned?" I asked Weiss.
"Probably pretty much all of it. They all knew in advance. But when they decided to mess with him that was probably spontaneous. They may have figured he would have red and white rings and just decided to screw with his brain on the spot."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they switched rings back and forth to screw with his head," I agreed.
Junior was shaking hands in the crowd of people and they were clapping him on his giant back. Eventually the show died down and people returned to drinking and dancing. Junior and his brides to be took to the dance floor and did a sort of three person waltz with the girls trading in and out and then dancing with one another.
"We're going to do something like that at our wedding," Weiss informed me and pointed slyly and the trio. "Just to let you know. For the first dance."
"Got it. I'll keep that in mind."
"Ruby will have to practice. She doesn't really know how to dance. Not like you or me."
Junior eventually left his future wives and sought me out. He had a sweaty brow which he wiped with his forearm. He was one of the few people I had to look up at.
"If it isn't the man of the hour. Congratulations Junior," I held out a hand.
He took it in a firm shake. "I'm glad you could make it. And about the Engelberts-"
"Don't sweat business tonight. I'm sure we'll find them."
"I had a conversation with Aurum about you."
"Oh?"
"He mentioned how profitable you could be. He said you basically ran Atlas in the months you stayed there."
"That's true enough. What I really want is to be able to see my enemies coming. That's all. You and I don't have a problem. Allow me to introduce my fiancé, Weiss Schnee. Future Mrs. Strife."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Junior greeted Weiss. She delicately took his enormous hand.
"The pleasure is all mine," Weiss decided.
"I expected you to bring Neapolitan," Junior glanced at me. "She isn't here, is she?" Oh? Was Junior scared of the teleporting illusionist? That's probably not cowardly. It was probably just smart.
"Neo isn't for every situation. Engagement parties aren't a good one for her. Neo is a weapon that needs to be carefully controlled and every once in a while you have to throw her somebody to torture to keep her happy."
"I suppose you would know…"
"Well, I don't like it but her powers are useful. And the complete lack of a moral code means she's good for eliminating my enemies but I wouldn't hand her a baby. Not if I wanted the baby back, at least. The less I have to use Neo the better. But if you need her services for torture and hits just let me know. You already are aware of what I want. I can pay you well but not with money. Just let me know."
"You're pretty powerful yourself."
"In a different way. I have a lot of power where I am. But I can't find people or fuck them up from a distance. Neo helps with that. And her powers are for sale for the information that I want."
"I see. I think I had the wrong idea about you."
"I'm bad at first impressions. Just ask Weiss here."
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-WG