Taking the Cat Out of the Bag

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Beta(s) :

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Requested By : Polemoduke

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The beating heart of Vale's shopping district was a towering skyscraper-mall that stretched from the ground up fifty stories. Every floor was filled with shops, restaurants and the warehouses and maintenance areas needed to upkeep them. More skyscrapers, ranging from offices to very expensive - even for Vale itself - surrounded the massive, perfectly rectangular construct, separated by a wide roundabout with space enough for six rows of cars. Long bridges, supported by struts that curved up from the buildings on either end, crossed the distance intermittently from each of the buildings, lined themselves by small Bullhead landings and made of everything from glittering glass and steel to old grey iron and brickwork, like the buildings that flanked the skyscraper mall itself. There was even a bus terminal the Kingdom itself had put in in its sub-level, accessible by four little roads that lead up to the main avenue with a stop at each cardinal road.

"So… It's a really big mall?" Jaune asked as they rode the lift up and Weiss looked out of the glass-wall elevator and down at the city stretching out below them.

"I told you all of that," Weiss sighed, chuckling and shaking her head, "and you got 'it's a big mall'?"

"Hey." He grunted, "I said 'really big mall'. Not just big. There's a difference."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" He chuckled, "Emphasis!"

She only rolled her eyes and let it be, and that made the blonde man laughed all the more earnestly. A few mere months ago, and she'd have snapped at him for that. Assumed it was mocking her for some misstep she hadn't noticed, or some faux pas she didn't know about. Even now, she felt the urge. That well of anxiety and criticality welling up in the back of her mind, brewing words that she had to clamp down on to keep welled in the back of her throat and nervousness that coiled in her stomach like a viper whose poison she bit down on.

She had come to hate that part of herself…

"Weiss?" She almost jumped as Jaune's heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

Almost, but she caught herself, turning to blink and smile as she stepped by and out the waiting door, speaking up, "Huntsman's Crown is, in every sense that matters, the crowning jewel of the Valean Commerce Complex. Whatever you could ever want, we can find it here."

"That sounds expensive…"

"Money is no object to me." Or to her father, either. At least, far enough that she could get away with spending whatever she desired here.

He would never dare to return something.

Inside, Huntsman's Crown was a huge shop with a high, curved ceiling held up by reinforced struts from which hung huge facsimiles of Grimm. King Taijitu, Gyrphons, Ursa Major and more, all suspended over weaving walkways thronged by those coming simply to see it all and Hunters come to get the gear they needed. A few areas closer to the elevators, set out in huge open roofed - at least, in regards to the proper, higher roof - areas lined by shelves stocked with every manner of travel good, basic Dusts, basic ammunitions, and simplistic parts for a million and one various simpler weapons surrounded little circles of registers handling checkout for them.

Beyond that, though, lining the outer wall, were the specialists.

Armorers with their own forges in the back, pumping out ichorous smoke, had workshops that looked almost ripped out of a fantasy novel with smoke and fire and examples hanging on the walls around them. Swordsmiths and axe shapers and wood carvers and every other manner of specialized craftsman continued on alongside Dust mixers, Dust weavers and leatherworkers. Specializd aerosol units and a complicated system of vents kept everything comfortable enough, though, at least until you stood next to a furnace or opened one of the tanning canisters.

"This is… A lot, Weiss." Jaune murmured as they stepped into one of those sequestered specialists' shops and he turned, looking at the armor stands that had been set up in a sort of inner ring just inside the wall. Behind them were rows of armor plates that Jaune pointed to and asked, "Why are those on their own?"

"In case you want to piece together your own set." She explained, looking up into the grilled visage of a heavy set of plated armor not unlike the Arma Gigas she had fought before all of this.

"Hey." She blinked and realised her hand had trailed up to her scar unconsciously, and yanked it away as she turned and smiled. But Jaune's eyes only narrowed and he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is-"

"Weiss." He cut her off, smiling thinly, "I won't make you tell me. But don't lie to me. Okay?"

"I… Was just remembering." She sighed, facing the suit of armor that, now that she looked beyond its face, looked near to nothing like the Gigas had. Quietly, she said, "It is no great concern. But… Thank you."

"I'm always here." He answered simply, apparently ignorant of the way her shoulders went stiff at the words. And obviously oblivious of the heat that crept up her neck as she turned to face him and he looked at a bronzed, more Mistralian set not unlike Pyrrha's own and added distantly, "Don't forget it."

"I won't." She smiled, nodding at the suit of bronze and asking. "You favor this one?"

"Nah." He shook his head, waving a hand at the open thighed design and the pleated skirt. "Skirts aren't my thing."

"Oh, you're judging combat skirts now?" She asked playfully, cocking a hip.

"Eh, they just look better on you than they would on me." She blinked at the compliment and felt the heat rush back so fast and hard she almost missed when he added with a wave of his hands, "My chicken legs wouldn't do well in 'em."

"I-I am sure your legs are fine." She stammered, clearing her throat when Jaune turned to give her a look, one eyebrow raised. Pushing on, she asked, "Do you, uh, see any you like?"

"This one is close. He muttered, stepping up in front of a lighter cavalier set, with armored greaves and gauntlets, and a simple plate-harness for the shoulders. "But the chest is… Too much, I think."

"You think so?" It was full-bodied, with segmented plates resting over male across the stomach and a wide musculata-esque breastplate that wrapped around the back and stretched down to nearly the small of the back before it gave way to mail. "Too heavy?"

"The arms and legs are fine." He grunted, "But the chest is… I just don't think I'm there yet?"

"Then we'll have it altered." She answered simply, turning and looking for the man who ran the shop. She found him at the back, sitting behind a broad drawing desk where he was sketching something else she couldn't make out, but he caught her gaze and, after a moment to recognize who she was, frowned and waved her over. Grabbing Jaune's wrist, she said, "Come on."

"I-I can just pick out something-"

"Do you want those pieces?" She asked simply, turning to him. He nodded, opening his mouth to argue, but she waved him off. "Please, let me do this for you. I owe you, and… And your friendship is dear to me. I can't stomach seeing you hurt like that again."

For a long moment, Jaune met her gaze with a flat look before he finally blinked, sighed and nodded. "Alright… But you don't owe me anything. I'm not the international bank of Jaune, you know."

"I don't mean it like some kind of… Loan." She chuckled, "I mean it like…"

"I get it, Weiss." Jaune laughed, cutting her off and stepping by her. "Come on, let's get to work."

The head armorsmith didn't seem happy to have her interrupt whatever he was working on, but he seemed resigned to it. And, inside a couple minutes of explanation, they were hard at work on the revisions Jaune wanted. Which, in the end, just came down to replacing the boots, gloves and chest piece with lighter leather pieces rather than the thick, padded cloth and stripping the mail out from under everything. The chest piece they replaced with a simple, smooth white chest piece laid out over layered plates along the ribs for more mobility.

"How does it feel?" Weiss asked as they walked out of the shop with the new armor on, so that he could get used to the weight before he had to properly train in it.

"Heavier." Jaune grunted, curling and uncurling his now armored fist and smiling thinly. "But… Not too bad. How's it look?"

"Rather dashing, I dare say." She smirked, "Even without a combat skirt."

"Ha. Ha." He rolled his eyes and sighed, before his Scroll chimed and he pulled it out, fumbling just a bit with the new gloves. Opening it, he hummed and cocked his head, "Nora and Blake want to… Talk to everyone about something?"

"About what?"

"Ruby didn't say." He shrugged, putting his Scroll away and sighing. "Should we head back?"

"I suppose so." She sighed, "I wonder what manor of lunacy Valkyrie is up to now…"

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad." Jaune chuckled, "Right?"

"I suppose not, but…" She chuckled, "But I shall remain of little faith, if you don't mind."

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Nora sat on the couch in the little rec-room they'd been assigned to share with Prodigy and an upperclassmen team they hadn't met yet for the meeting and watched Blake pacing around the dining table set up against a wall a few feet away. Ren was behind the couch, working at the counter that stretched along the other wall. What he was making she wasn't entirely sure of, but this was more or less their room so she was sure Ren had stocked the fridge up well enough. That was his thing, and she knew he preferred she leave him to it.

Unless he asked, at least.

So, instead, she watched Blake pace anxiously, hands curling and uncurling at her sides and ears flicking so agitatedly Nora could see them moving under her beanie. She wasn't saying anything past just muttering under her breath, but Nora could practically feel the terror rolling off her. And she wasn't sure what to do about it, how to help, or even if she should.

It was Yang, when she came in with a stack of pizzas balanced on a hand, who furrowed and asked, "What's up, Blake?"

"She's…. Nervous." Nora said as Blake groaned and turned, plopping onto a chair at the table while Yang shrugged and set out the pizzas. She'd brought paper plates, too, and gestured at them and the pizzas in a silent question for Nora who shook her head and sighed. "Nah. No appetite."

"You aren't hungry?" Yang blinked, "Who has cancer?"

"Yang…"

"Oh, shit, this is a thing." The blonde cleared her throat and frowned, turning and grabbing a pair of pizza slices she set out on two plates. She shoved one against Blake's back and stepped around her as the Faunus blinked in surprise. Holding it out for Nora, she sighed and said, "Serious talks mean business. And serious business means a full stomach. Eat."

"But-"

"Eat." Yang grunted, pursing her lips and raising her chin, "Now."

Nora blinked, surprised, but took the pizza after a moment and chuckled quietly, "Ya know, I'm the leader around here…"

"Yeah, well… " She sighed and turned, heading over to get another plate and carrying it around towards Ren. While she did, she talked almost absently, "After my mom died, someone had to step up for Ruby. So, Queen of the Castle or not, don't think I can't take over if I need to. Or, uh, y'all need me to, I mean."

"I get the idea." She nodded, flicking Blake a look as she started to eat, nibbling at her pizza absently. Thinking, she said, "Blake… Two might be an easier start than six."

"B-But…"

"And if they're okay with it all," Nora went on, "it'll help you feel better."

"I suppose…" But, as she reached for her beanie, fingers trembling, the door suddenly opened and Blake went ramrod straight.

"Hiiii!" Ruby crowed, bouncing into the room excitedly until she spotted the pizza and flashed over to it, trailing rose petals while she stole a few slices before flashing around and back to the door, holding out a plate with a slice for Pyrrha as she stepped in and sighed in a resigned, semi-amused sort of way. Ruby bounced around her as the Mistralian lead her over to the couch and sat at one end, with Ruby plopping down between her and Nora.

Nora ignored them as they started to chat, just asking, "You good, Blake?"

The hidden Faunus met her eyes and frowned, and Nora started to stand. But she just shook her head gently and said, "I'm fine."

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth the door opened with a muted click and whirr of the electronic lock. Jaune came in first, stacked up in new armor and carrying a thick bag over a shoulder. He smiled and waved as Yang spotted his new gear and whistled jokingly while he came in, with Weiss trailing along behind him, eyes fixated on her Scroll as she more or less just followed the larger bulk of the blonde man over to the table. Jaune pulled a chair out for her and set the bag aside while she sat and he took the third seat, sighing as he got off his feet and groaned.

"Yep." He muttered, "Heavier armor is fun to walk around in…"

"You will adjust to it, I'm quite sure." Weiss chuckled quietly, closing her Scroll and looking up as Jaune slid a plate with a slice of pizza on it over to her. She blinked, slowly, and looked up and around, confused.

"Weiss…?"

"How am I meant to eat this exactly?"

"How do you not know how to eat pizza?!" Ruby shouted, eyes wide and face a mask of shock like someone had plopped the cutest puppy down in front of her. And promptly used it to score a field goal.

"I know how to eat a pizza, Ruby!" Weiss shouted back with a confused face, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Then, without missing a blink, she sighed as Nora stood and stepped over to stand by Blake, resting a hand on her shoulder. Quietly, the Schnee asked, "I'm just confused on where the forks and knives are. That is all."

A heartbeat of silence passed…

And Yang sighed, "You don't eat pizza with a fork."

Nora ignored the argument that broke out right after as Ruby and Yang tried to explain the concept of finger foods, and that grease would not, in fact, dye her skin. Kneeling down beside the Faunus as the woman watched, smiling thinly while the playful argument went on, Nora nudged her shoulder against Blake's and asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

"Better than I was." She breathed, "Thank you."

"Want me to stay here?" She asked squeezing the hand on Blake's shoulder gently. "Will it be easier that way?"

"I…" She took a breath and nodded, "I would appreciate that."

"Mhm." Nora hummed, clearing her throat as she stood and looked around. The noise wasn't enough to catch everyone's attention, but Yang noticed. And when she did, she stepped up behind her sister and tapped her head with an elbow. Which ended the squabbling pretty easily and, once everyone quieted down, Nora took a breath and spoke up, "So… We have, uh, something of a thing to tell everyone."

"Are you two finally dating?" Nora blinked and turned, slowly, to give Weiss a look. The Schnee just shrugged, prodding the crust of her pizza and frowning ever so slightly. "What? It's obvious enough you two have something between you. And what else could this be about?"

"That-"

"First of all, yes, yes we are, and you are incredibly smart." Nora smirked, earning a pained sigh from her newly announced partner and smiling widely at it. "I mean, it figures you would know better than to doubt my romancing abilities. Try not to get jealous, though, since you have-"

"Nora." Blake groaned, "Please."

"Right." She grinned, "Sorry, Blake-y."

"Mhm." She sighed quietly, hands curling and uncurling in her lap as she reached up and, anxiously, took her beanie off. In the silence that followed, while she stared into the floor, Blake shuddered and said. "My name is Blake Belladonna… Of the Belladonna's who founded the White Fang, and lead Menagerie even now, a-and… I would be honoured if you would all be willing to get to know the real me."

Another heartbeat passed before Ruby quietly murmured, "They're frickin' adorable, Pyr…"

"Ruby," the Mistralian sighed, "bad timing."

That seemed to break the silence and Nora heard a chair scrape across the floor and turned as Jaune shot up and caught Weiss by the wrist as she tried to retreat. She struggled to get away and he stepped in, wrapping his arms around her and speaking right into her ear. Weiss went still for a moment, and Nora saw Blake's ears twitch as Weiss hissed something back and Jaune kept talking to her.

Before Jaune could do much more, Blake spoke up and said, quietly, "If she can't trust me, I… I understand. It's natural. She frightened me, too, when I came here. It's only through Nora that I trust her even now."

Another heartbeat and, finally, Weiss sighed and sat. Quietly, interlacing her fingers in front of her while Jaune sat beside her, she said, "I… I promised Jaune, promised my team, that I would strive to be… Less judgemental. S-So I will… Try, here. For them."

"Thank you, Weiss, I-"

"But," Weiss cut her off, "I want to know everything. If you want my trust… I have to be able to trust you."

"That's asking-"

"It's fair enough, Nora. it's a leap, like you said, isn't it? I just have to breathe and take it." Blake cut her off, looking up and smiling weakly. Turning to the woman, she sighed and said, "Well… It started when I was around twelve, I suppose. That's when I met him. Adam Taurus…"

Quietly, Nora leaned against the table and listened. It was a story she knew most of, but… She was glad to hear what little she'd missed.

And she had a Schnee to watch anyways - just in case she tried anything.

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AN because help-

Jaune's just wearing his Atlas Arc armor.

Also please ignore the troll in the Reviews.

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Vis the Awesomeness :

Nora is the partner the best of us deserve.

Geralt Rex :

Ye. Since I can't do a huge sweeping whatever, I'm getting to spend a lot more time just moving pieces around for smaller scale, more personal stuff solely. And largely that seems to be working out.

Lea :

Lmao.