Chapter 15 – The Wave

In which Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna determine whether a relationship between friends can work.

In the end, Weiss had decided to plan the date on her own, without aid from Klein or Blake's parents. It wasn't because of a misplaced desire to remain independent or do everything by herself but because of a confident belief that she could handle this. A single date could easily be planned by a single person.

To that end, Weiss had selected lunch at an oceanside restaurant both she and Blake would like, to be followed by a visit to a nearby postmodernist art gallery. If there was one thing Weiss Schnee knew about Blake Belladonna, it was that she absolutely hated modern art.

And she enjoys nothing more than tearing it to shreds. Metaphorically, of course. Though probably literally too…hmmm, should I bring some money to purchase a few pieces so she can rip them apart? Maybe that's too much for a first date…

Being the daughter of the richest and therefore most powerful man in the world had its perks. The restaurant she'd chosen, a primarily seafood-serving place that was astoundingly well reviewed on several vacation planning websites, had surely been fully booked for the next few immediate days, but merely dropping her name (her last name, specifically) was enough for a table for two to be found on short notice. Weiss didn't need to reach out to her father for aid; the mere fear of having to bring in a man of such power who was well known for being a supposedly doting father was enough to frighten the restaurant's owners into place.

Weiss picked Blake up from their shared room with a bouquet of beautiful asters (absolutely no roses, given their other roommate and her semblance) and escorted her arm-in-arm to the airship that she'd privately rented out as a 'chariot of affection to escort them to their love nest' – Blake's words, not Weiss'.

Weiss made sure to put forth every romantic gesture to the best of her ability, but she also chose to go a little bit overboard in some of them, like dotting the bullhead's seats with some chintzy little black-and-white paper hearts. That way, if Blake didn't like it, Weiss could easily renege and pretend it was all a thoroughly ironic intentionally-over-the-top joke.

Fortunately, Blake didn't seem to mind. She laughed at the parts that Weiss had made gaudy and merrily met Weiss' eyes with humor in her own, but Weiss thought she also caught a few hints of genuine appreciation at being spoiled for their first date. They spent the flight over with Weiss reviewing their two-item itinerary.

"We'll be dining at a restaurant called The Wave. It serves a variety of seafood, consisting of primarily locally caught fish and shellfish but also containing several vegan options, since you know we both hate fish."

Blake nodded. "I can't stand the taste of tuna."

"From there, it's only a short seaside stroll over to the Valean Museum of Modern Artwork and Sculpture."

"Modern art museum – nice." Weiss just barely caught the hitch in Blake's voice as her brain interpreted the words with disgust but quickly modulate her voice to not sound displeased. Blake didn't want to offend Weiss, evidently.

It's nice to know that she's just as nervous as I am.

Well, not nice to know that, but I appreciate that she wants this to go well as much as I do.

Weiss decided to spare Blake the anguish of thinking she was going to have to pretend to enjoy it. "I hear they have a statue that is designed to depict a sculptor's experience of eating a ham sandwich that expired and getting food poisoning titled 'Trials of Time.'"

Blake's ears rose slightly as her interest was captured .

"And also one that's nothing more than a blank white canvas with a single red dot at the center. Critics are calling it a masterpiece that challenges societal notions of gender and sexuality."

The exact moment that Weiss pinpointed the lightbulb going off in Blake's brain was at the word 'masterpiece.'

"Th-They do?"

"Uh-huh. Other featured works include a pencil sketch of a pen, a melted snowball from the artist's childhood inside a sealed water bottle, a macaroni drawing of a cat made by a two year old but with shards of broken glass instead of noodles, and a hot dog wrapped up in duct tape. Furthermore, the crowning jewel of this month's collection is a living exhibit in which the artist hired a man to shout at and berate all those who pass by."

"Oh Dust, I can't wait to see that!" Blake said, choking on her own breath. "All of it! It sounds so fricking horrible!"

"It truly will be," Weiss agreed. "I have no doubt."

Weiss and Blake's 'chariot' landed outside of the restaurant fashionably early for their reservation, as Weiss didn't want to risk any mishaps impeding her perfectly planned evening. Everything was to go swimmingly – get it? Because fish?

In all seriousness, though, the choice of a fine restaurant was meant to offset the absurdity of the art museum follow-up. Blake the cat and Weiss the seagull both could scarf down every fish in the entire freezer of this place – rather, in the tank, as this place served only fresh fish. It was hopefully to be a genuinely pleasant experience to match the unserious second half of the date, ensuring Weiss catered to Blake's every desire. If Blake wanted a formal, serious dinner, she would get it. If she found that too stuffy, the art would lighten the mood.

Ideally, she'll appreciate both, but I'll take what I can get.

The girls hopped out of their ride, tipping the pilot generously for a smooth and even flight, and collected themselves. It was midday during the fall, meaning it should've been temperate at worst, but the cool breeze of the sea was making for a colder and slightly salt tinge to the air. In spite of Weiss trying to hold back every seagull instinct within her, it felt almost a little bit nice.

Airships couldn't just land in the street, so they'd disembarked at a landing pad that was immediately filled up by the next airship delivering its cargo of people. Blake and Weiss would get to walk together the remaining short distance. It would be a nice chance to just talk.

"So…" Weiss began.

"So."

"Is our new bedding configuration to your standards?" Weiss asked, bringing up the most recent conversation about a neutral topic she could recall. "I realize I sort of simply insisted you change your bed to accommodate me."

"It's fine," Blake said. "And you didn't insist. You asked."

"I asked, but had you said no, it would've made things difficult between us given my emotional state," Weiss pointed out. "It was no true choice."

"But you made an effort to give me the choice nevertheless, and that's appreciated. Are your wings doing any better?"

Weiss fluffed them out slightly. "They're improving. I expect them to be full healed by Monday or sooner."

"You going to start fighting again?" Blake asked. Her face suddenly fell, though Weiss couldn't figure out why. "I…shit, I mean, in Goodwitch's class, with other…I…"

"I am," Weiss said. "I was holding off after I realized how much flight had been integrated into my combat style during the fight with Port's pig. Blake, is something wrong?"

"I just didn't want to, you know…" Blake brushed her hair back. "…make it sound like you'd given up or something. I know how proud you are."

"It's fine, Blake. May I?" Weiss patted Blake's shoulder at the nod. "You don't need to worry about offending me or setting me off. I was only so emotional the night before last because of a nightmare."

"If you're cool to talk about it…are you really comfortable with Yang coming back?"

Weiss considered agreeing and moving away from the topic, but even a white lie to Blake sounded too dishonest.

"I'm not sure," she admitted truthfully. Yang's return was something she was hoping she could face when it actually happened. If it ended up being a nonevent, she could save herself all that stress by not worrying about it beforehand, but that also meant she had no plan in place for each and every eventuality.

"If she doesn't come back, I wonder if I'll get a new partner," Blake asked. "Or maybe we can have some sorta threesome team-relationship thing going on between you, me, and Ruby."

Weiss might've spit out her drink at that if a) she had a drink and b) there was absolutely no way she could have heard it as anything but a joke. Ruby was too much a kid to be viewed as a potential romantic partner for Weiss, Blake, or anyone. She'd once described herself as being mentally ten-years-old in terms of self-reliance, and Weiss might've bumped that down to seven or eight in regard to her readiness for the dating scene.

"About that…"

Weiss looked at Blake and raised an eyebrow. "About polyamorously dating Ruby?"

"No, about…us. Are we dating?"

Weiss nodded. "If…If that's what you want."

"G-Good." Blake rubbed the back of her neck. "Cuz, I didn't know if this was a serious thing or just a test date or something."

This might've been a heady topic for a first date, but Weiss and Blake weren't exactly strangers. "You've always been as close as a sister to me, but I do…" Weiss struggled to not grow red. "…I do see you as a woman as well. I…I think I…I might…I…I…"

She couldn't finish the sentence. Weiss looked up to see an equally red Blake.

"I…I think I do, too."

Weiss smiled and frowned in equal parts. Smiled because Blake did too, and that made her utterly and irreconcilably giddy like a grasshopper, and frowned because she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say, meaning that she had truly no idea what Blake had meant. She liked her? She loved her? She lusted for her? It could've been anything (though Weiss couldn't really imagine either of them stating the last one).

It was fortunate, then, that both girls were spared from the full range of their own emotions by the sudden appearance of a blond-haired money Faunus landing right in front of them in a backflip. Weiss nearly fell backwards as the bare-chested boy seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He hadn't– she'd seen movement in the corner of her eye on the rooftop just a moment before but hadn't the time to process it – but it felt just as shocking.

"Boom! Surprise Sun!" The maniac money Faunus let out a toothy grin and winked. Incomprehensibly, he thrust out both arms toward them and offer up lien chips. "Here's a fiver for the snow angel, and her black-haired beauty of a bestie looks like a ten dollar kinda gal. Bet you thought that was a typo, didn't you?"

Weiss looked at Blake, wondering if this was someone she knew from Menagerie, but she just shrugged.

"And who might you be, sir?" Weiss asked, cautiously accepting the money from the money Faunus.

"Name's Sun Wukong, but you can just call me 'the dream man I've been waiting for my entire life to meet.'"

"Really?" Blake asked. "Alright, then. I'll play along. Why did you jump out on us, the dream man I've been waiting for my entire life to meet?"

Weiss nodded in agreement. "You nearly bumped into Blake and me, the dream man I've been waiting for my entire life to meet. You need to be more careful."

Sun bit his lip. "Yeah, it actually is kinda wordy, now that you mention it. But I just happened to notice you ladies in dire need of companionship and couldn't rightly let you go unaided." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I am a hunter."

"So are we," Blake said.

"I'm also a Faunus," Sun replied, handing them some more money without missing a beat.

"As are the two of us," Weiss answered, watching her feline partner pocket the cash.

"I'm also a person with a semblance that makes clones of myself," Sun said.

Blake nodded. "Same here."

"Did I mention I'm a huntsman?"

"You did," Weiss answered. "Did you have anything to offer other than just bothering us on our date?"

"Date?!" Sun's eyes nearly shot out of his head, and his tongue rolled down his chin. "Awooga!"

"Can I kill him?" Weiss asked Blake. "I wanna kill him. Can I kill him, please?"

"Why're you asking me?" Blake asked. "I'm not your mother. You brought Birdenaster, right?"

"I did." Weiss nodded and drew her rapier. "I'm gonna fucking kill him."

"Hey, hey, hey! Hold off on the m̶a̶n̶s̶l̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶ faunusslaughter, ladies!" He pointed over their shoulders. "I'm also here to remind you about that before it slips your mind."

Weiss and Blake both looked backwards, but there was nothing there. When they turned around again, the teenager was gone. In his place was a small stack of coins and bills.

"That was weird with a capital W," Weiss said.

"Yeah, totally. He just showed up, forcibly introduced himself, and ran away to parts unknown. Do you think we're gonna see that guy again?"

"I'm sure we will," Weiss answered, bending over to collect some of the money he'd left behind. "It would be really odd if he just showed up, flirted furiously with women he had nothing in common with but species, and then disappeared never to be seen again."

"Weiss, I don't think that means we'll see him again."

"How could we not? It would make no sense if he just vanished for some reason." Weiss finished picking up the money and stood back up. "Anyways, we're almost at our restaurant. No more partnerly pests, troublesome teammates, or stranger's shenanigans from here on out – we've an entire lunch date to enjoy ourselves and one another's company."

Blake smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

The Wave was an upper class place, but not so high class that Weiss risked plunging herself and her girlfriend into the highest echelon of society that excluded Faunus, who were typically poorer. She had spent several hours researching the dining scene on Friday afternoon at the expense of her homework, which she could always complete on Sunday or at a later time.

…dear God, what I have become?

Anyways, this was a classy place, but not a stuffy one. The dress code ensured no one came in wearing casual clothes, but certain brands weren't expected. Weiss herself had chosen to let her hair fall freely with no ponytail and was wearing the finest dress she'd brought with her to Beacon. It wasn't perfect, but the occasion of its use was too short notice for her to reasonably procure anything better and have it shipped. Even thought white was Weiss' typical color, she'd actually chosen a rich blue hue for the fabric of her current vestments, intended to match Blake's choice of a darker purple outfit.

The girls were taken to their table by a waiter who made no mention of their celebrityhood, adding another point to this place's score in Weiss' eyes. Weiss relished recognition, but there was nothing to be gains by being reminded of her own name at every turn, specially when there was an implicit expectation of professionalism.

"Your menus," he said, handing them the papers and departing to give them time to choose.

"Wow, this place is fancy," Blake said upon reading the list of entrees. "Oven roasted sockeye salmon, lemon crusted dover sole, glass eek wok…what even is a langostino?"

Weiss scratched her chin. "I think it's like a lobster but…not."

"Are we supposed to like lobsters?" Blake asked. "I know our animals are fish fanatics, but does that even apply to shellfish?"

"No clue," Weiss said. "I think cats will eat any meat if it's fresh. You know I've never cared much for…family Laridae."

Blake let out a long sigh that huffed her napkin up and inch for a second. "Weiss…are you still on about that?"

"It's unpleasant."

"It's a part of you, and you're perfect, so it must be too."

"So are my kidneys, but I don't like to ponder blood filtration."

"I don't get it," Blake said. "Your dad literally mandates that you be proud of your Faunus heritage, but not what you actually are? No one's going to give a damn if you're a…" Blake wisely caught herself before saying the triggering name aloud. "…if you aren't a swan."

"Voice down, please," Weiss politely asked. "He simply can't go back on it now. Furthermore, Whitley's wings are those of a swan, and if I were revealed to be…that, then you know what that might imply about us."

Weiss didn't think there were paparazzi in a local restaurant, but she preferred not to say anything that could lead to future embarrassment if overheard. You could never be sure someone doesn't wasn't listening who might be tempted to tip off the papers at a later date.

"Well, I think you should embrace any and all aspects of yourself," Blake said. All she was missing was a few earrings and she might've been mistaken for her mother for how wise her tone was. "And I was right about you changing your leadership style, so…there's that too."

And there's my father's influence. Kali and Ghira might've rubbed off on me, but he rubbed off on her.

Mental note – never ever in my entire life think 'my father rubbed off on Blake' for reasons of retaining sanity.

"Yes, you were right about that," Weiss admitted. "But perhaps we'll have one major life-change at a time."

"Fine," Blake said, picking back up her menu. "Anyhoo, you have any recommendations for what to order? You are the expert since you picked the place."

"They recommended the first, fourth, fifth, and eleventh entrees."

Blake snickered. "One of each for the table, then?"

"Sure," Weiss shrugged.

"Wh– really? Cuz I was just…I-I mean, yeah. Good idea, Schnee."

They chatted about small stuff while the waiter took their order back to the kitchens for cooking – things like how much of Port's tall tales were actually true by percentage, what mystical source of coffee Oobleck must purchase to get his Ruby-level speed, which other students they expected to win or lose to in upcoming spars of next week. It was mundane topics and not fundamentally different from their usual conversations, but it was now mundane topics being conversed about with her girlfriend, and that made all the difference in the world.

I'm happy, and Blake seems quite content with the date so far. If neither of us wish to force a more romance-oriented conversation, I see no reason to depart from this.

Their conversation died when the quartet of meals arrived, not because of any awkwardness but because of the sheer volume of fish and seafood that arrived. Both girls practically salivated at the sight of it (Blake had to wipe her mouth).

"So that's what a langostino is," Blake said, eyeing entree number #5.

It was when they were roughly halfway to finishing the final order, the coconut scallops, when Weiss' fine evening turned to ruin.

"If I could have everyone's attention, please," said one of the waiters at the center of the room, dinging his spoon against the rim of a glass cup.

"What's going on?" Blake whispered.

Weiss couldn't answer; she had no idea.

"Would all of the children come to the center of the room?" the waited requested. "We have…a very special guest here to meet them…"

"What the friiiick…" Blake said under her breath in response to the vaguely ominous line.

As the children came to the center, Weiss couldn't help but realize there were an awful lot of them. Far more than a typical restaurant of this caliber would play host to on a typical day. In fact, there seemed to be one from each table.

How did I not notice this before? Just what is going on here?

"HEEEEY, KEEEEDZ!"

Out from the kitchen popped an oversized, anthropomorphic blue thing. That was the only way to describe the blubbery, tusked monstrosity of a costume that had been forged around some innocent man underneath.

"Wavy!" cried all of the children. They began to repeat this bizarre chant. "Wavy! Wavy! Wavy!"

Does it count as a bad first date if we get sacrificed to a cult? Weiss wondered.

"WAVY THE WALRUS IS HERE TO DANCE!"

The children then proceeded to rush as frantically as their little legs could propel them to whatever abominated satanic mascot this was and 'dancing' as impractically as possible. Most of the kids were just shaking their arms up and down with neither rhyme nor rhythm, and several of the smallest ones were toddlers too juvenile to be let alone and were still accompanied by parents holding them up by their arms.

"Weiss, what is going on?" Blake asked with a toothy grin.

Oh gods. Weiss pulled out her scroll and checked the restaurant's website, reading its self-description. No. No. NO NO NO.

The Wave is a high-end establishment that offers the finest of seafood and harbor-caught dinner cuisine with unparalleled decorum throughout the city of Vale. Behold the perfect atmosphere for a professional business dinner with clientele seeking to take in the city's atmosphere, or the ideal romantic setting for a wonderful dinner date with a loved one.

But…?!

Oh dear Gods, Weiss realized with a faint moan. Dinner cuisine.

Dinner dates were advertised, but they weren't eating dinner. They were having…

She continued scrolling down and found more text that she'd somehow missed the first time around.

If you're hankering for some pankering, then lunches on the weekends are our take on more casual, family-oriented meals – fun for both parents and their kids! Visit Wavy the Walrus for our wacky weekend juniors' dance party extravaganza! Kids eat free.

Weiss couldn't believe it.

I…I…I got a reservation on such short notice…for lunch, she recalled. I assumed it was because they recognized me, not because of whatever hellish ritual is going on around us. What is this? Pankering isn't even a word – it's only there because it rhymes!

Weiss looked up to find Blake clapping along to the childish music blaring from grainy speakers, leaning her head back and forth every now and again.

Okay, Weiss. You can still salvage this. She's okay with this for some reason – perhaps she thinks I did it for our amusement. I'll just pretend that it was all intentional.

"WAVY SAY WIGGLE YOUR WAISTS!"

"Wavy!" cried several of the enraptured children, quite uncreatively. "We love you, Wavy!

"WAVY SAYS WAVE YOUR WRISTS!

"Marry me, Wavy!" screeched one of the more exuberant children. "Have my children, Wavy!"

"WAVY SAYS WAVE HI TO A WAVY'S SPECIAL FRIEND…SANDY THE SEAGULL!"

Of course. It was just further proof that the gods weren't real.

No. No, it was actually proof of the opposite – that they were real, and that they bore personal animus against Weiss.

Weiss watched the street performer 'Sandy' jump out from the kitchen that Wavy the Walrus had come from and join into the dance party. "SANDY THE SEAGULL SAYS SHAKE YOUR SKELETONS!"

It wasn't a particular bother – despite being surrounded by them in all directions, Weiss was not a child. Her emotions were well enough within her control to not have some sort of mental breakdown at the mere sight of a seagull…rather, at the sight of a woman who looked like she'd been tarred-and-feathered and bore no resemblance to Weiss' animal origins.

But it wasn't about her, in this case.

Blake stopped clapping. "Y-You didn't plan this." She had to raise her voice to be heard over the loud music with admittedly catchy earworm-esque lyrics. "You didn't know."

Weiss shook her head. It was obvious to Blake or anyone that truly knew Weiss that she would never willingly subject herself to the sight of a seagull – again, not because she couldn't handle it. She would just never intentionally seek them out when Blake had given her complete control of where they went for their date.

"Weiss, that's completely fine. We still had a great date. The food was good, the company was great, and I had a good time. I'm still having a good time."

Weiss nodded. "I'm glad to hear it."

Blake's eyebrows rose. "But?"

Weiss sighed over-exaggeratedly and let her arms slump forward onto the table full of dirty dishes, fish bones, and crustaceous exoskeletons. "But I was hoping I could do this right. I didn't ask for any help because I thought that my own planning would be enough. And maybe the walrus demon didn't ruin it for us, but it easily could have if it had been something else. I didn't know about it at all, and I risked our entire afternoon with my carelessness."

"But you didn't ruin it."

"But what if I had?" Weiss rasped.

"Nothing could ruin our first date, Weiss." Blake looked away for a second, then sucked in her cheeks and reached forward. "May I?"

Weiss nodded and accepted the touch of Blake's fingers against her own.

But then Blake's hand crept forward a little more. "May I, Weiss?"

Weiss watched the gloved hand slide up her forearm. After a brief pause to collect herself, she nodded.

Warm fingers came to rest just a hair's breadth off of Weiss' shoulder. "May I?"

Weiss could do nothing but nod, not that she would ever want to do anything else.

The hand eventually came all the way up to what Weiss realized had been its target all along – her cheek.

"May I?"

Weiss swallowed her fears, her unsureness, her hesitation, and nodded.

Blake cupped Weiss' cheek. The soft touch of her skin against Weiss' was something that she'd experienced before, but it had never been like this. Though some mundane things like conversations or morning strolls might've still felt just the same as friends or as girlfriends, this one was clearly different.

Blake leaned forward slightly.

"May I?"

They were now close enough together that Blake could lower her voice to a softer whisper, no longer having to worry about the loud music drowning it out. The way she asked, the perfect way this perfect girl perfectly asked – there was no other way to describe her. Blake was perfection.

Weiss nodded one final time.

When their lips met, everything in Weiss' entire world was finally alright.

And that was how Blake Belladonna took Weiss Schnee' virgin kiss at a table in the outskirts of The Wave's wacky weekend juniors' dance party extravaganza while two teenagers dressed as Wavy the Walrus and Sandy the Seagull danced the macarena among a crowd of drooling toddlers and nonverbal infants.

Next Chapter: Peeping Rose

In which Ruby Rose gets an eyeful.

Author's Notes

If this had been a chapter in my first published fic…

Blake: *puts hands to Weiss' cheeks*

Blake: May I?

Weiss: *nods*

Blake: *snaps Weiss' neck*

It would've either been that or Wavy the Walrus unmasking to reveal himself as fucking Raven or a talking Grimm or some shit. Yeah, The Empty Turtle-shell was a wild ride. There's a reason I never say its real name aloud.

This week gets a slightly shorter chapter than usual, but I went back over it and could find no places to pad with filler, and that kind of has to be the ending since it's such an important milestone for the primary shipped couple.

Also, Sun's grand appearance, only to disappear in a pile of money. I hope you like it, because I took a lot of time to make it make sense.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!