The fay groaned, his head tipping back as he slowly awoke. Any other weak movements were restrained by ropes, binding him to the chair in the living room that Ruby and her group had appropriated. His wine-colored hair was crusted with dried blood in various places, and his facial features had barely reassembled themselves, leaving him rather…

Yang shivered. "Eugh…he's so…"

Ruby spared her sister a sideways glance, feeling a sudden bitterness rise in her chest that she couldn't stop. "Patchwork?"

Yang nodded, unaware. "Yeah. Like that."

The fay groaned again.

"Do we have to worry about him?" Yang asked. "Can't he just gate away?"

Weiss shook her head. "It's not quite that simple. Binders are, rather eponymously, bound. Most have their gating restricted, usually by their master's command."

"You know firsthand?" Poked Yang.

Weiss curled her lip with intense displeasure. Thankfully, Ruby's elbow came to her defense, namely through a well-placed jab between Yang's ribs. "Be nice," Ruby teased, "she could be your future sister."

Whatever Yang had been preparing to say was rammed down her chest, eliciting a strange, half-swallow, half-choke kind of sound. Something close to hyeuck.

Ruby paired that statement with a firm arm around Weiss' waist, who nearly perished on the spot. She took a sharp inhale and held it, as if holding her breath would keep her from turning any more red. It certainly didn't.

That was the sight which greeted Valerius' slowly opening eyes. "Whaghuh… fughk…"

The three broke from their reverie, with Yang taking the lead. "Who are you! Why did you hurt my friend! Where are you from! Who's your master!" she shouted all at once, her hands rising in threat.

Weiss winced. "No, er, not like that—"

"Yeah," Ruby concurred, "like this instead!"

Ruby lunged forward, gripped the front of Valerius' dented chestplate, and furiously shook him while screaming, "WHO ARE YOU! WHY DID YOU HURT MY PARAMOUR! WHERE ARE YOU FROM! WHO'S YOUR MASTER!"

The fay's eyes rolled in his head, dazed. Weiss peeled her precious idiot from Valerius, who gave her a grateful grumble. "You," she started, "fay. Valerius."

He gave a wet cough in response.

Yang leaned in. "Er, Weiss? Are we going to be able to get anything out of him?"

Weiss looked over. "What? Why?"

Yang pointed to Valerius' mangled face; he leaned away from the outstretched finger, head lolling. "You may have new teeth, but I don't think he has any."

Weiss sneered, hiding her guilt beneath steel. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby shifted on her feet. Being the only one who had actually seen Weiss' assault on the fay, her discomfort was understandable, but now wasn't the time to be uncomfortable. "Valerius," Weiss hissed, pushing the Huntress back, "who are you?"

The fay gurgled for a second, hacked another purple cough, then spoke with a ragged voice. "You… you're…" he gazed up at Weiss with awe, "Incredible."

Weiss scowled. "Thanks," she sarcastically mumbled. "Now tell me, who are you?"

Valerius let his head tip back, took a shaking breath, then released it heavily. "You already know my name, what else—" something made him wince, "what else is there to know?"

Weiss extended a hand behind her, where she knew Ruby was. The smith knew what that meant, and followed the silent request by taking up Weiss' fay sword— Aulus— by the blade, conscious of what discomfort that would come if she touched its handle.

'I could still do it like this,' Aulus mumbled into Ruby's skull, still muffled. 'But I won't, because I like you. You seem… funny.'

Ruby hid her smile at the compliment, keeping her tough face for Weiss' interrogation, but still whispered a small 'thank you' to the sword before passing it to its rightful wielder.

"Thank you, love," Weiss said with a shockinglygenuine smile— the shocking part being that the fangs weren't particularly unsettling. Hearing Weiss call her 'love' made Ruby smile like a fool, but sparked mild indignance the moment she thought about it.

"Hey!" Ruby blurted, her ability to remain stoic melted by Weiss' gentleness. "I thought I couldn't call you that!"

Weiss had turned halfway back towards Valerius, but turned so slowly back to Ruby that it made the smith want to shove her words back in her throat. Valerius also stared at the girl. Yang did, too.

"You've made no mistake," Weiss stated, her voice veiled and airy. "That is what I said."

"But— but that's not fair!"

Weiss gave her a chuckle. "I'm the princess here, I get to make the rules."

"Prin… cess?" Valerius mumbled, though he went ignored.

"You are not a princess," Yang claimed.

"Wait, you're not…" Ruby's musing was cut short beneath a crawling, devilish smirk. "Oh, ohoho," she started chuckling like an idiot, "ohohoho hohoho…"

Weiss watched the smith turn, a little giddy nervousness tickling her gut as Ruby backed away.

Aulus picked that moment to reintroduce his voice into Weiss' mind. 'Oh, I think I see why you like her. That's going to be hilarious.'

Weiss glared at the sword. He did not just say—

'No, no! Stars, no,' his shiver reverberated through the handle. 'I'm married. And you two are rather sweet together. Reminds me of myself, actually.'

The sentiment was nice, but Weiss couldn't overlook the bitter undertone in his voice. Regardless, she had work to do.

Weiss slammed Aulus into the fay's chair, nearly stabbing through his thigh in the process. She watched his reaction closely, trying to find any sudden emotion among his beaten features, but Valerius just stared, confused. That was, quite frankly, not far from what Weiss had expected.

'Valerius,' Aulus spat, as if he could seethe at the man in person. 'How I've longed to see you laid low.'

Pride curled the corner of Weiss' lips. She knew what the answer would be, but she asked anyway, "Have you seen this sword before?"

Valerius shook his head, wincing with every movement.

Weiss pressed the sword closer to the fay, threatening. "You will tell me."

Valerius held his chin high in defiance. "Nothing to tell."

Weiss watched his face closely. "Well, if you don't recognize the sword, perhaps you'll recognize the name: Aulus Casta."

The fay's reaction was visceral. His head fell instantly, his face scrunching up in both pain and working recognition. He even squirmed in his chair a little.

Weiss smirked. "I suppose that's a yes, then."

"Why does it matter!" Valerius shot in return, his voice tight and frustrated. "You wouldn't understand anything I did tell you."

"Tell me anyways," the duelist commanded.

"No," Valerius hissed.

"We could convince you," Yang added, cracking her knuckles with a flurry of sparks.

"Yeah!" Ruby chimed, jumping beside her sister as she mimicked the threat. Valerius' eyes only briefly glazed over them before returning… to them. Weiss turned, following his gaze. He was staringat Ruby like he'd seen a ghost.

His lips formed words that took a long time to pass with actual sound, rather than pained, disbelieving breaths. Even when Weiss positioned her sword dangerously, Valerius didn't dare move his eyes. "M-my… Roseus?"

The word was unfamiliar. Aulus didn't translate.

"Roseus?" The fay whispered again. "You're… no, you…"

Weiss watched his eyes flick to Ruby's ears, and all his shock melted under… other things. Relief, discomfort, disappointment, anger, grief. That name made Aulus go blank.

"No, you're…" Valerius sat up a little, reclaiming a couple inches of his smug pride. "You're medius, aren't you?"

Weiss turned to her paramour, then stepped aside. The girl clearly wanted to step up and speak, and she had no reason to stop her. "How can you tell?" Ruby quietly asked.

The fay scoffed. He tried to move his arms, but Yang had bound them suspiciously well. "Your ears, you brainless pygmy. And that thing, with the red and the speed— that's your Animus, yes? Your 'Semblance?'"

"Hey!" Weiss exclaimed, jumping in front of her love. "Only I can— hey!"

Ruby mashed a palm into the girl's cheek, pushing her away. Sweet as it was, she didn't need the help; Pyrrha had said worse, done worse, and yet Ruby remained. And that name… Rose-ay-us. Like Rose, but… not. It called to her, made her eyes tingle. "Yes," she answered, her eyes wide and searching. She sounded desperate.

Weiss looked at her, worried. When she gave Ruby's sleeve a light tug, it was ignored.

Valerius leaned forward and stared into Ruby's eyes, breathing heavily from his wounds. Weiss and Yang bristled defensively, but the object of their defense remained unbothered. "Everything else…" the fay's eyes scanned up and down her face, "perfectly similar," he locked into her gaze, "exceptthe eyes."

Ruby reeled immediately, as if she hadn't expected any kind of response, let alone that one. "W-what? We… we're both silver."

Valerius stared in disbelief. "Forsake your name, forsake your gens, forsake your people, forsake your eyes?" He let out a hissing breath. "Pah… she would, that bitch."

"For… sake?"

"What's your mother's name?"

"Summer Rose," Ruby answered immediately. Weiss and Yang both looked over, a little worried about how quickly she was divulging information.

Valerius' face wrinkled with disgust, but he let out one humorless puff. "Summer? Ugh, bit on-the-nose, isn't it? Not as bad as Rose, though…"

Weiss stared down at her sword. Aulus was shivering, but he was actively masking her ability to read him. Why was he doing that? He'd never hid himself before— why did that name scare him?

'Protect that girl,' Aulus commanded, voice hard. 'She deserves this blissful ignorance.'

That told her nothing. Who was Roseus?

'You… really don't know? I thought you were well-read.'

She wouldn't be asking if she knew.

'If Val doesn't tell you, I won't. It's better you don't know, for her sake.'

"What do you know," Ruby demanded, her voice a collected, threatening hiss that Weiss hadn't heard before. "Tell me about my mom."

Valerius gave her a cruel grin, one missing even more teeth than Ruby's smile. He leaned towards her. "Your mother… was a monster."

Ruby gasped. "N-no, she—"

"She disgusted me," Valerius seethed, still giving her that purple-stained rictus. "I should've killed her sooner."

Ruby moved to strike him without a moment's hesitation, her fist rearing for a heavy blow, but Yang caught it just short of the fay's skull. Weiss had moved to stop her as well, but she wasn't as fast as the Huntress.

"Ruby, don't," Yang snapped. Ruby turned to her sister, her chest boiling with rage.

"Why not!" Ruby bit back, whirling on her sister.

Yang's eyes were a churning, pulsing, murderous red. Sparks drifted uncontrollably from her knuckles, smoke trailed from her fingertips and seeped from her lips. She was an eidolon of righteous conflagration, The Watcher's burning gaze incarnate, but still she withheld her fury. Heat climbed from her skin and made waves in the air. Her golden hair danced like her own infernal flames.

"Because you'll kill him,"Yang hissed, her voice buckling under intense restraint. Ruby could see a flickering orange glow in the Huntress' throat.

Yang's rage was spectacular, but no more real than Ruby's. She pulled against her sister's strength, resisting, but lacked the equivalent power. Yang pushed her back, away from the half-dead fay. "Good!" Ruby growled, wrestling with Yang's arms— she was actually making some headway. "I'll do it, mom deserves it!"

Ruby broke past, but Yang quickly hooked an arm around her waist. She swept one leg out, knocking Ruby's feet from under her while she pushed the smith down. Ruby struck the ground with a brief oof, but the sound vanished beneath a snap of rose petals.

Yang immediately turned, expecting her sister's usual strategy of appearing behind the enemy, but Ruby wasn't there. She wasn't in front, either. She was in front of Valerius, his own longsword in her hands, point driving towards his throat. Yang lunged, reaching for her cloak. She'd be too slow.

Weiss wouldn't, not this time.

The tip struck Valerius' throat. Thankfully, with a ball of blood-ice over the point, it just glanced off.

Yang finally got in range of her sister, only to find her feet slipping beneath her. She fell completely, her head striking the wood floor with a solid clunk, and yelled, "Weiss, what're you doing! I'm stop—"

Weiss froze Yang's lips together— she was starting to understand why her father did it so much— and spoke loudly. "Enough!" Weiss shouted, slightly woozy from blood loss as she approached Ruby. The smith was still stunned, her mouth ajar at the murder she'd almost committed. The blood-ice melted from her blade, dripping over Valerius' plate in a grim portent of what she'd been saved from committing.

Weiss appeared in her vision, dainty pale fingers gently pinching her stolen longsword, pulling it aside, making room for herself in front of Ruby. She slowly encircled the smith in her arms, but when the girl was caught in her trap, she squeezed tight. Just like Winter used to.

"My sister used to do this," she whispered into Ruby's ear. "She would never let me feel bad for too long."

Ruby slowly let her fingers open from the sword. It clattered to the floor.

"She left to escape my father," Weiss added, "Which I… it still hurts, not seeing her anymore. I hate the distance."

Ruby weakly laid her arms around Weiss' hips.

"Go talk to Yang. Outside. She's your sister,Ruby, she's the only one who can understand how you feel."

Weiss backed up to arm's length, one hand cupping the smith's cheek. Ruby matched her gaze with glassy eyes.

"Go on," Weiss cooed, granting Ruby a quick peck on the cheek. "Go talk with Yang. I'll be here."

Ruby wanted to object, but she really couldn't. She had seen Weiss disfigure this poor fay, so she knew he wasn't much of a threat anymore. The only threat in the room was her, really.

Weiss dismissively waved towards Yang, unfreezing her mouth. The Huntress had cooled significantly.

"Ruby—" Yang started.

"Yang—" Ruby started.

Weiss snapped her fingers, getting their attention before they could do any more bumbling. "Outside. Go."

A/N: for anyone who's not afraid of getting super spoiled, i have teaser snippets and a link to the current unedited docs of Summer's backstory on my tumblr swagmagussupreme . theyre not final-final, but they're pretty damn close, and it's currently written in 5 parts totaling like 50k words. its so much idek if its gonna be posted on here, and if i didnt post it as a sidefic itd basically be a whole arc on its own, but GOD i love them. also if you're gonna look for the snippets and you read twilight concerto, PLEASE search tags for summer lol, id hate for someone to get TC spoiled with no warning

but for anyone who doesnt wanna get spoiled... omg whos rosessus? gwah mayb ruby''s mom? oh manohman golly gee i hope shesn ot like bad orantyhing ahahha. also man ruby and weiss are so sweet, im trying to think of more pet names between the two of them

love yall, thanks for reading :))