Chapter Text
“Is that so?” Pyrrha asked Blake with narrowed eyes.
To her credit, the Faunus didn’t back down as she shuffled through the clothing racks for a dress.
“Mhm. Unless one of your tournament fight preparations involved dancing that none of us knew about.”
“They didn’t,” Pyrrha answered simply as she took the dress Blake offered to her, and held it up. Lovely color, but not wide enough in the shoulders.
“I fear I might need to get something specially made,” Pyrrha remarked, breaking free from her thoughts on Blake’s treachery to look at the dress.
Blake looked back, and then frowned at the dress. “A shame because that one really looked nice with your hair, but we can probably get it tailored. Weiss is offering to fund all of our purchases for the dance so you can probably get a rush order.”
“Weiss is paying you said?” Pyrrha asked to confirm as Blake nodded, and continued looking through the dresses even though she already had hers picked out. You never knew when you might find something better after all.
“Well, I suppose I should take advantage of her offer if she’s being so generous that is,” Pyrrha remarked as she turned her head at Nora’s cheering from the other side of the store. Clearly she’d found something to her liking where she was shopping with Jessica.
“Are you going to be alright to talk to her?” Blake asked seriously as she held up a dress to appraise before she saw the price tag, and nearly flinched. She almost put it back before she remembered Weiss was footing the bill, and added it to her maybe pile.
“I’m a bit upset, and disappointed with her, but we’re friends, good friends so we’ll get over it. The least I can do is hear her out. Weiss isn’t usually one to do something without a solid reason,” Pyrrha concluded as she pulled another dress off the rack before setting it back. Far too daring. How would it even stay on? Actually...
“Pyrrha, hi!” Ruby greeted as she appeared in a flurry of petals startling Pyrrha who nearly hurled the dress away from her not noticing Blake snatch it from midair, and add it to her own stack sneakily.
“Hello, Ruby,” Blake greeted her friend with a grin, clearly amused at how zoned into Pyrrha she’d been since the outing had started.
The entire trip had been sickeningly cute with them shyly holding hands, and beaming at each other. Blake had almost squealed when they’d held pinkies earlier.
“I saw you too, Blake! I just wanted to know if red was a good color for my dress! I wanted to make sure we matched, and stuff!” Ruby explained.
“Red should be fine, but make sure the shade is complimentary with white. Ren will know what that means,” Blake ordered Ruby who gave a confused look, but nodded gamely after Pyrrha nodded as well, and dashed off after sneaking a hug from both of them.
Pyrrha’s eyes hardened as soon as Ruby was gone. “Talk,” Pyrrha demanded in a way that not even Blake wanted to disobey. She rarely got upset, but when she did it was wise to not be the reason for it.
“We don’t have the time, or privacy here, but after we get our dress situation taken care of we can make an excuse to go off on our own,” Blake offered.
Pyrrha regarded her for several seconds before she gave a terse nod. “I assume you want me to make sure my shade of red is also complimentary with white ?”
Blake winced as her ears flicked beneath her bow. Pyrrha was absolutely not pleased. Weiss owed her so much for this.
“You realize exactly how much of this is your fault right?” Yang asked as she frowned at the current dress she was holding up for Weiss, and shook her head before setting it aside before she held up a pair of shoes, and stared at them before turning to Weiss.
“Yes, Yang,” Weiss agreed with a long suffering sigh as she looked between the shoes in her hand, and the ones already picked out. “Stick with the white ones. They’ll go with Blake’s outfit better.”
Yang blinked at her. “I never said I was going with Blake.”
“You walked in on Ruby, and Pyrrha in an empty class you admitted were taking Blake to. What did you think I’d assume?”
“That I wanted to…study?”
“The inside of Blake’s mouth maybe,” Weiss retorted waspishly before she sighed, and apologized. “Sorry, that was rude. I’m on edge.”
“No kidding. You sure you’re ok? I really didn’t mean to push you too far,” Yang admitted as she put the shoes back to give Weiss her full attention.
“Honestly? Not really, and it’s mostly my own fault. After everything in that nightmare,” Weiss gestured vaguely, “I thought I was doing better, was making real strides, but all this did was show me I still revert back to the same horrible habits when pressed.”
“Hey,” Yang said, reaching out to grab her teammate's shoulder before stopping short of it. Weiss was doing better giving affection, but Yang was well aware that she didn’t enjoy others touching her, outside of Ruby, and Pyrrha when it happened. In hindsight, that really should have clued in Yang faster than it had.
Her main consolation being Weiss apparently hadn’t, or didn’t notice yet either.
“You’re doing fine, great even,” Yang told her friend who scoffed, and went back to frowning at the dresses on offer. This was the last store they’d go to for the day, and Weiss had yet to find one she truly liked.
“That’s…” Weiss trailed off looking for the correct way to say what she wanted. In the end, she went for the simplest. “That’s nice of you to say, but we’ve seen it clearly didn’t take.”
“Hey, none of that. You’ve been way nicer than when we were first made a team. You’re not even launching Jaune down the hallway with your glyphs on instinct anymore!” Yang praised her shorter teammate who tried, but failed to smother the smile that brought to her face.
“See! Progress!” Yang remarked before she looked around awkwardly, and waved to Blake who made a motion indicating she was going to take Pyrrha, and leave so that part of the plan wasn’t going…well it was still ongoing.
“Listen Weiss, can I be honest with you?” Yang asked seriously, which brought Weiss up short, to the point she merely nodded.
“When we were in your mind nightmare we…learned a lot about you. More than you know about us, which isn’t really fair. So without going too into things let’s just say that your mom, and our dad have a lot in common, and so does our uncle. The only difference is that our uncle still tries.”
Weiss tensed, her nails digging into her palms as she took a quick breath to try, and stay steady. She’d hoped none of them had picked up on that, but her team had proven to care about her, and they were all far too perceptive not to have done so.
Then Yang’s words penetrated her skull, and she blinked. “You too?”
“Yeah. Our mom died, Summer. My birth mom left cause she couldn’t handle it, and our dad kinda shut down. Qrow took up drinking, but he’s usually functional at least, which is good because without him I don’t want to think about how we would have ended up,” Yang admitted as she shook her head to shut out painful memories.
“The point is that eventually our dad started getting better. He’s not entirely there yet, and sometimes he has bad days, or even weeks. It’s a work in progress, but he told me it was like climbing a mountain. Even if he slipped, and fell a bit, the important thing was to keep going, and to never lose sight of your goal.
He wants to be better for us, and so he keeps trying. That’s his goal. You said you wanted to get better, for a lot of reasons. You made a mistake. It’s not the end of the world, you just slipped a little climbing. You do want to keep going right?” Yang asked.
Weiss nodded decisively.
“That’s what I’m talking about. You ain’t a quitter! Get your goals!” Yang cheered with a fist pump.
Weiss tensed, expecting the brute that she called friend to accidentally discharge a shell into the establishment's ceiling. Yang must have seen the face she made, because she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.
“Come on, I wouldn’t make that mistake a third time,” Yang insisted, sounding exactly like she’d just barely avoided doing so.
“I’m sure,” Weiss deadpanned. “Do you mean that? That I can get better? Can fix this?” Weiss asked.
Yang gave a thumbs up, and a crooked grin in response. “Absolutely. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Everyone has noticed. Every. One, ” Yang emphasized with the least subtle wink Weiss had ever seen. In fact, she was certain even Fox could have seen it.
When Weiss still didn’t look sure Yang shrugged, and crossed her arms. “There’s no guarantees in life, but if it could work with anyone it would be them. They’re like some of the most understanding people in the entire school, and they’re both friends with you. Just be honest, and yourself.”
“What if I don’t like myself?”
Yang rolled her eyes. “You’re changing, we went over this. You already know my sister certainly thought you were worth knowing already, and wanted to take you to the dance. I’m pretty sure she likes the person you are, and are becoming.”
“And if they say no?” Weiss asked, still not entirely sure about the plan.
“Then you’re not any worse off than you are now, are you? Because telling them you messed up, and would have rather gone with them, even if they turn you down, is certainly a better look than making them think you disregarded Ruby’s feelings just to ask a pretty boy to the dance,” Yang countered.
“An adequate point,” Weiss admitted as she barely refrained from chewing on her nail out of frustration.
“I thought Blake said you were feeling up to this.”
“I was, but now I’m feeling a bit out of sorts closer to time. It’s not escaped me that Pyrrha, and Ruby are utterly adorable together.”
“The pinkie holding thing, right? Super cute, but you know what? I think it’s missing something, or some one ,” Yang teased as Weiss pinked.
“Don’t be so uncouth.”
“I’m just saying! Have you seen those muscles? I have muscles, but Pyrrha has muscles , and Ruby is…my sister, so I’m going to pass, and just say she’s a lovely young woman who also works out,” Yang rushed to finish, as her face twisted in an almost pained grimace.
Sensing a rare opportunity to needle Yang, Weiss pounced like a predator sensing weakness. “I have seen them. I’ve even imagined running my hands over your sister’s bare arms, and back.”
“That’s…nice,” Yang offered with a wince as she forced her hands not to form into fists.
“Indeed. Do you think I could eat dinner off of her stomach?” Weiss asked.
“No way, shut up!” Nora remarked from behind them, as Weiss flinched, and slowly turned to see Jessica, and Nora behind them, the former looking mostly amused, while Nora appeared…far too excited.
“I think that’s my exit cue,” Yang said with a smirk that said Weiss deserved whatever was about to happen as she took her chosen dress, and shoes to the register.
“Are you nervous?” Ren asked Ruby as he took the mixing bowl from her, and began to add a few ingredients into it.
“Is it weird if I am, and aren’t?” Ruby asked seriously.
Ren paused from his work to think about it before he shrugged. “Your feelings are your own, and valid, but do you know why you feel that way?”
Ruby gave a half shrug, and made a so-so gesture with her hands. “I think so. Can I get that butter please? Thanks,” Ruby thanked her friend as she began to cut off the part of the stick she needed.
“I’m a bit nervous because we’ll be dancing with Weiss, and I mean that’s kinda fun, but I’m also nervous because I know we have a lot to talk about, and I mean I’m not that dumb.”
“No one said you were, did they?” Ren asked with a slight frown sounding displeased if someone had.
“Nah, but everyone keeps pushing the three of us together, but I just don’t know if they want us to like, talk things out, or…” Ruby trailed off with a blush.
“What are you hoping for?” Ren asked curiously as he opened the package of raisins, and mixed them in with the oatmeal.
“I want to clear the air with Weiss. What she did hurt in the moment, but I don’t want her to think she owes me anything, and she didn’t purposefully ask when we were close. That was just bad timing.
I want to let her know that if she wants to go with Neptune, or whoever that’s awesome, but that I was hurt she didn’t think she could tell me that, or couldn’t handle a rejection. We’re supposed to be partners after all, but at the same time…”
Ren looked at her for a moment before he deduced what he believed the issue was. “You’re hurt she didn’t seem to trust you, or come to you first, and at how she seemed to disregard your invitations.”
“A little,” Ruby agreed with a sigh as she put the butter back onto the dish, and covered it up. “She promised to be the best partner she could be, but she didn’t think I’d do the same back? But that doesn’t seem like Weiss.”
“Do you think she’s afraid?” Ren asked. “Of her father, and what he might do to you, both of you?”
Ruby’s face twisted into an almost pained grimace before a snarl came from her throat for a moment before she got control of herself. “Maybe. Inside the nightmare…he was a real piece of work.”
Ren gently set his hand on Ruby’s shoulder to get her attention. “As your friend I just want what’s best for you, all of you.”
“Yeah, thanks. I appreciate you helping with the dress that’ll help match both of theirs,” Ruby said offhand as she watched for his telltale freezing, and smirked when she caught it. “So it is like that.”
Ren gave a small smile, and held up his hands in obvious surrender. “More that we wanted to make sure you got a chance to speak and clear the air if the opportunity arose with nothing holding you back.”
“Just being proactive, huh?” Ruby grinned as she shook her head, and began portioning out the cookies onto two trays. One normal sized, and one with ‘Nora sized’ on them, essentially meaning the entire tray was one massive cookie.
“Nora will be rather pleased with that,” Ren said with a fond sigh as he set the timer, and offered a washcloth to his friend.
“I thought she might be,” Ruby grinned back at him.
“You should be careful, or Nora will be begging you to start dating us,” Ren warned, his tone joking…mostly.
Ruby rolled her eyes fondly. “She would, wouldn’t she?” Ruby asked somewhat rhetorically.
“I have yet to see you look at any of the men in our school in the same manner you look at Pyrrha, or Weiss so I doubt she means for us to date, merely be close friends, while she dates you too,” Ren explained with a small smile.
“She would have it planned out,” Ruby joked. “Well I’m pretty happy with Pyrrha if we end up making a go of things, and I guess if everything goes really well, then Weiss too.”
“She assumed as much, but wanted me to point it out as your ‘fallback plan’ should you need one,” Ren informed her, making the appropriate air quotes around the words.
“Nice of her,” Ruby smirked as she put the washcloth over the faucet for later. “You don’t seem too upset about it.”
“With Nora you have to learn what to take seriously, and what to just let go. Unless everything falls through for you it’s not something I have to worry about,” Ren explained in a tone that really suggested he hoped things worked out for her.
Ruby nodded. He’d run himself ragged if he hadn’t learned how to tell Nora’s ideas apart. “We got a couple minutes on this first batch, anything you want to do?” Ruby asked.
“Our school work perhaps, and then you can go over some of the ideas you had for my weapons during the second?” Ren offered when Ruby grinned, and nodded.
“Sure, but only if you try, and help me with the whole meditating thing. I can’t seem to empty my mind right.”
Ren nodded. “I think it’s more that you’re trying too hard to do so. If you latch onto a thought, simply follow it, and let your mind exhaust itself doing so, so that it naturally becomes empty.”
“That kinda makes sense. Oh, right school work. Ugh, Plant Sciences,” Ruby complained as she pulled out her planner, and then the book to set on the table as they got to work.
“This is a unique tea,” Pyrrha complimented Blake as she took her first sip.
“Skullcap. Great for reducing inflammation, nervousness, and helping someone calm down,” Blake explained as she ignored Pyrrha’s raised eyebrow at the last statement.
“An interesting choice, and slightly bitter. I suppose I’ll channel a bit of my inner Ruby, and add a pinch of sugar.”
“Isn’t black licorice bitter?” Blake asked, bringing up Pyrrha’s favorite snack.
Pyrrha frowned briefly as she shrugged. “It’s hard to describe, but the roots each package is made with differ. Sometimes it’s exceedingly bitter, and others it's sweeter. Apparently some people can’t taste the sweetness of it. The roots on Patch seem to be mostly sweet.”
“Does it match the people who live there?” Blake asked teasingly as Pyrrha reddened the slightest bit.
“Based on the fact that you, and Yang were looking for a private classroom of your own, I suspect you’ll be able to tell us soon,” Pyrrha cast her rejoinder.
“Touche,” Blake conceded with a slightly raised teacup she took a sip of. “I suppose we can get down to it if you like.”
“Without breaking any confidences I want to know you’re doing this for the right reasons,” Pyrrha remarked as she stirred the sugar into her tea.
“Right reasons?” Blake asked as she tilted her head with a blink of her eyes.
“Blake, I’m sure all of us have seen your choice in literature by now, even the professors.”
Blake flushed at that. “I promise I wasn’t trying to set it up to get a real life ‘Magical Maidens of Love’.
Pyrrha sighed as she ran a finger around the rim of her teacup. “I don’t even know if I’m actually bisexual, or gay, Blake.”
“The fact that you kissed Ruby, and asked her to the dance implies you might be.”
“Maybe, but we also get swept up in the moment. I don’t want to lead her on, or hurt her feelings if it turns out that’s all it was. She’s a lovely young woman, and doesn’t deserve to have her feelings played with.”
“You’ve been doing cute couple things all day. Did any of it make you uncomfortable? Like you didn’t want to hold her hand? Did it make you feel off, or even disgusted?” Blake asked.
“Not at all, but it’s a little strange for me since I’ve never thought about it before,” Pyrrha admitted as she took a nibble of the pastry Blake had ordered for them to try.
Ruby would probably love it. Perhaps she could save some for her.
“We can get another for Ruby if you want,” Blake said with a rather large grin on her face.
“Shut up,” Pyrrha said playfully as she pushed the food away.
“Even if you aren’t gay, I’ve heard some people say there are exceptions for them out there. It’s entirely possible that you normally aren’t, but you’re just attracted to Ruby without gender factoring into it at all. It’s all a spectrum really.”
Pyrrha made a noncommittal hum at that as she gestured for Blake to go on.
“So, yes I think you should go to the dance lessons with Weiss for several reasons. One, she actually does know how to dance, and she is an excellent teacher when she wants to be.”
Pyrrha nodded her head ceding the point to Blake.
“She hurt Ruby, Blake.”
“I know, and you, and I both know she didn’t mean, or want to do that. She made a mistake, and the Weiss we know, the one who wants to be better knows that. You know what, or who I am. If I thought a Schnee wasn’t a good person I’d be the first to let everyone know.”
Pyrrha again agreed with that. Blake hadn’t been subtle about her dislike for Weiss, and others when asked, or even when the opportunity presented itself.
“May I ask a potentially personal question?” Blake asked.
Pyrrha blinked, but nodded, trusting her friend to not say anything too invasive.
“Are you jealous? Angry at Weiss? Angry that you had a crush on two people who both wanted Weiss to look their way? Angry that you know Ruby does like her that way, and you’re worried if she apologizes Ruby will somehow forget you?”
Pyrrha winced. That remark had hit rather close to home. For all that she appeared, or people thought she appeared confident she was still a young woman new to matters of the heart.
Killing Grimm was easy, understanding her heart, and navigating a relationship was not.
“Sorry,” Blake apologized when she saw the wince. “I can’t imagine that was easy to hear from a friend, or anyone really.”
“It wasn’t, but you weren’t wrong. I realized that Ruby, and Jaune were similar in a lot of ways, and I wanted to see if I could feel the same way for Ruby as I did Jaune.”
“I doubt it. Ruby is like Jaune in a lot of superficial ways, but truthfully, I think you, and Ruby have much more in common, especially when it comes to being a huntsman.”
“And with Weiss? What’s your angle there?”
Blake wilted. “I can’t tell you exactly what went on inside her nightmare, but it wasn’t pretty. Weiss…let’s just say that spending time in her mind told us a lot about her past, and how she views people. You, and Ruby are both people she values very highly. Her own family were things like books, a bat, and so on, but the two of you…were not,” Blake finished lamely.
“Ruby mentioned we were locked up, and precious?” Pyrrha informed her table partner whose bow actually bounced as her ears flicked inside it.
Blake nodded. “Her inner mind was twisted beyond reason, all these expectations put on her by herself, and others, and yet when it came to her friends, and especially to you two? You were the same.
Ruby was listed on wanted posters as a great huntress, something she aspires to be, and a far cry from what Weiss pretended she was. You had a wonderful singing voice. You sang, and brought a voice to what she could never say, but wanted to express. A person who was able to take on the mantle of what people expected, to be a person others put on a pedestal, but seem to take it in stride, and not only meet, but surpass those expectations,” Blake sighed, sitting back in her chair.
“Yang, and I were there as were the rest of your team, but when it came down to it, it was very obvious who meant the most to her, and anything else you need to say, or find out can come from Weiss. Frankly, I’ve probably said far too much,” Blake said, holding up a hand forestalling any attempt at further questions from Pyrrha.
“Can I ask you about something else that’s tangentially related?” Pyrrha asked as she flushed, and put her hands on her cheeks to try, and calm her embarrassment before Blake tapped her teacup.
Pyrrha took a sip, and while she wasn’t sure if the tea was responsible she did feel better.
“We’re friends, so you can ask me anything, but if I can’t answer then I’ll just say so,” Blake assured her taller friend.
Pyrrha nodded, finding the terms more than acceptable. She spent a few moments awkwardly fidgeting before she pulled herself together.
“How do…three people?”
Blake relaxed at that. This was her territory. She took a drink of her cooling tea, and a bite of the pastry as she got her thoughts in order.
“It’s a long process, but the first thing is communication. You see it’s already important in a normal relationship, but for three people? Essential. The slightest miscommunication could spell the end of the relationship as you’ve already seen with Weiss,” Blake explained as Pyrrha nodded, and leaned in, eager to hear what advice Blake had to offer.
She hadn’t made her decision yet, nor had she spoke to Ruby about it, which they’d both need to do, preferably with Weiss explaining herself in there as well, but the information was still good to have.
She just hoped their dancing lessons tonight with Weiss would help clear everything up.