50

Chapter 50: The Talk

Friday, Beacon Academy

"Now, when it comes to the field of medicine, the use of Dust can serve a multitude of purposes, but must be used with proper care and knowledge."

Weiss was quick to write down the words of Professor Peach, noting anything that sounded like future test material. Normally, Dust Studies was her favorite class. Not only was it a subject she excelled at, but it was also the only class to have what, in her opinion, was a spectacular anomaly: a Beacon teacher who was normal.

Well, mostly. Professor Peach was known to be a tad… passionate about her subject from time to time, occasionally giving slight over-explanations into Dust mechanics. But she was nowhere near the levels of odd that, say, Professors Port and Oobleck were known for. No long-winded ego-boosting to bore them all to sleep, no motor-mouthed speeches that left them all scratching their heads; at worst, Peach would over-explain her lessons. Which was fine for Weiss. It just gave her more information to note, which in turn gave her more material to tutor Ruby with later.

Though, it was not an opinion shared by most. A glance around the room showed Weiss that at least a quarter of the students around her had zoned out, staring blankly at the interactive board as Peach lectured. The brunette Professor was not unaware of this, her teal eyes occasionally narrowing at a dozing student, and loudly asking them a rapid-fire question. Nearly every time, the entire class would jump in surprise, and the unfortunate student would fumble to respond to a question whose answer they had dozed through. The entire class would find the lesson very interesting immediately after.

"In an emergency, Ice Dust can be used to snap-freeze a wound shut. This is to be used only as a last resort, however, as having too much Ice Dust in contact with one's bloodstream can lead to numerous health concerns. These can include hypothermia, Dust poisoning, toxic shock, cellular damage…"

As Peach prattled on, Weiss looked around the room, towards her girlfriends… or, Mates? Weiss still wasn't quite sure what to call them. She'd been calling them girlfriends in her head the whole time, but the more she read on the subject for Velvet and Coco, the more she started to wonder. According to Blake, since she was human, it was up to her personal preference which term she should use. Weiss had yet to decide on one or the other.

Weiss shook the thoughts away, her eyes landing on Yang. She smiled a bit as she watched the blonde copy down Peach's words. Yang usually tuned out during Dust Studies, but with the revelation of Blake's Semblance, she was suddenly much more interested in the various ways Dust was used. At her side, Blake did the same, the Faunus' eyes occasionally drifting towards her partner. If the small curl of her lip was anything to go by, she was having similar thoughts as Weiss.

When Weiss laid eyes on her partner, however, her amusement quickly shifted to annoyance. "Ruby…" she hissed under her breath, hoping the little leader could Feel her annoyance.

From the brief burst of Sheepishness, it seemed Ruby had… but didn't appear to be acting on it. Keeping an eye on Professor Peach, the speedster was hunched behind her desk, one hand hidden under it. Every few seconds, a soft red glow would come from under the desk, only to quickly fade away. At Ruby's side, Nora watched curiously, looking fascinated and amused.

Weiss resisted a groan, eyes moving forward to see if Professor Peach had noticed. Already, Weiss regretted her decision. When Ruby started asking her about all the different types of glyphs, Weiss had made the mistake of saying there was one she thought the girl could do easier than the others: Velocity. She'd then compounded her error by showing Ruby how to create said glyph but only after making Ruby promise to only practice when they were alone.

Honestly, I'm not even surprised, Weiss mused, rolling her eyes. I give her something new and expected her to leave it alone? I should know better by now-

"Miss Schnee?"

Weiss jumped in surprise. She felt a chill when she found Peach's narrowed teal eyes staring up at her.

"Name two different uses of Lightning Dust in the medical field."

Weiss stalled briefly at the question, back straightening as she realized she'd acquired Professor Peach's ire. She pushed past it, quickly rattling off, "Accelerated cell division and… cellular fusion?"

Professor Peach held up her narrowed gaze for a moment, before smiling wryly. "Quick thinking, Miss Schnee. Now, eyes forward, please." Turning around, the professor launched back into the lesson. "Through the use of outside forces, Lightning Dust offers a plethora of vastly different medical applications, though most are still considered experimental. Some achievements with it consist of multi-purpose antibodies, same-sex reproduction… the regrowth of lost limbs is currently at the forefront of…"

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief as the class' attention went back to the lesson, feeling like she'd just dodged a bullet. Her head snapped to the side, fixing Ruby with an annoyed glare. Seeing this, Ruby ducked her head and gave a sheepish smile, turning back to the lesson… though for how long, Weiss could only guess.

Trying to push away her embarrassment, Weiss went back to taking notes, pointedly ignoring the Amusement sent her way from Yang and Blake.

Unfortunately, seeing as Dust was a subject she already knew much about, it wasn't long before the points Peach was lecturing about were all things Weiss already knew. Normally, this was a good thing and would give Weiss a sense of pride at being ahead of the curve. Today, however, the last thing she needed was more time to think.

She hadn't received a message from Goodwitch yet. Which wasn't too strange, it had only been a day since the last one. But, Goodwitch said that her order would arrive sometime next week… meaning she needed to tell Yang and Blake about it. And if she told them about that, it would inevitably lead to…

Weiss forced down the sudden heat in her cheeks, trying to push the thoughts away. Yes, it was something they needed to address, something she wanted to address… but that didn't make it any easier… or less embarrassing.

Weiss sighed, staring ahead as she paid only the barest attention to the lesson. It frustrated her to no end. It wasn't even that difficult a subject… or, at least, she didn't think it was. She just had to sit down with them all and ask… to tell them that… see if they wanted to repeat…

...can I seriously not even think the words? Weiss did her best not to groan, her blush fully reignited. As it was, she wilted in her seat, frustrated and angry with herself. I'm hopeless… and now Blake is looking at me like she's worried. Perfect.

Weiss wracked her brain, trying to think of the best way to convey across the Link that there was nothing wrong, just her insecurities getting the better of her, again, when-

Thump!

CRASH!

Everyone in the room, teacher and student alike, jumped at the sudden sound of shattering glass. The students, startled out of their education-induced daze, looked around for the source of the destruction. As they all looked around wildly, however, Weiss, Blake, and Yang instantly knew of the source, courtesy of the Surprise and Shock tingling at the back of their minds.

Weiss' head snapped back towards her partner. The moment she saw what was before her, she audibly groaned, hiding her face behind her hand. "Ruby…"

Said girl was staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. Her mouth curved into a small 'o'. Her hand remained hidden under her desk, a red glow shining through a tiny hole that had appeared through the tabletop.

Somehow (though Weiss had a feeling she knew exactly how), Ruby's pencil had propelled itself through her desk and embedded itself into the ceiling. Tiny shards of glass rained down onto her desk, the remnants of a now broken lightbulb.

Beside Ruby, Nora had clasped her hands over her mouth, a shocked look on her face as she stared at the mechanical pencil protruding from the light socket. Her green eyes bulged, her shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter.

Weiss' shoulders slumped. She could already hear Winter's clipped words about 'improper Semblance use' and 'disrespecting valuable class time'.

Speaking of which…

Weiss slowly panned from the impaled light socket to Professor Peach. To her dismay, Peach was looking up at Ruby's results as well, arms crossed and a single eyebrow raised. She then looked over to Ruby. "Miss Rose?"

Ruby, startled out of her disbelief, quickly met the Professor's gaze. When Peach's eyes very deliberately flicked towards the young leader's desk, crimson light still shining through its surface, Ruby scrambled to put her bare hands on the desk. She winced in pain as her palms came down on the broken glass lying there, quickly pushing them off to the side as she gave Peach a scared smile.

Peach was unimpressed. "I suppose I can tell Professor Goodwitch I found something you can do with your detention time today."

Ruby's shoulders slumped. From the front of the room, Yang and Blake twisted around in their seats to look at Ruby, the blonde sending her a half-annoyed, half-amused look. Blake merely looked up at the pencil, back down to Ruby, and sighed in resignation.

Weiss buried her head back in her hands.

Well, she thought, grasping for some shred of a silver lining. At least she made the glyph work.

Same Day, Beacon Hallways

Several hours and one Detention later, Team RWBY was slowly making the trek back to their dorm, moving at an easy pace through Beacon's many hallways. Normally, being Friday, the four girls would go out into the city for, as Ruby would call it, 'team bonding'. Though, given their recent change in dynamic, they'd been considering doing something a tad more… well, 'date like', was the best way any of them could put it.

By mutual agreement, however, said potential date would have to happen on another day. After two hours of cleaning numerous classrooms and categorizing Dust stores, all the while getting asked random Dust factoids by Professor Peach, the only thing any of their tired minds wanted to do was rest.

Which meant that, unfortunately for Weiss, she'd run out of excuses. With nothing going on, it was the perfect time to bring up her surprise… and ask her questions.

This is going to go badly. This is going to go horrendously, I just know it.

For the third time within an hour, Weiss felt that tingling feeling in the back of her skull, Ruby sending her Calm, Assurance… and a twinge of Exasperation. Weiss huffed at that. Okay, if I'm managing to make Ruby annoyed, maybe I should try to calm down. I mean… the worst that could happen is they say 'no', right?

"Weiss, you need to relax."

The heiress bit her lip, eyes darting nervously towards her eldest girlfriends walking ahead of them. She held no illusions that they couldn't hear her. Even if not for the short distance, the sheer amount of Embarrassment and Nervousness that was surely rolling off her was sure to draw their attention. They were being mercifully kind, heads tilted in their conversation, but the odd mix of Humor and Confusion made it clear: they knew something was up.

Ruby bumped Weiss' shoulder again, with more force than before. "C'mon. There's nothing to worry about."

Weiss looked away, crossing her arms stubbornly… and maybe a little defensively. "They're going to make fun of me."

"They're not-" Weiss cut her off with a sharp look, which she punctuated with a glance towards Yang's back. Ruby chuckled sheepishly, conceding the point. "Okay, maybe a little. But you know she won't mean it." When Weiss stayed stubbornly silent, Ruby frowned. "Weiss, you've been putting this off all week. You have to tell them."

Weiss swallowed nervously. They were only a few turns away from their dorm, where Yang would have free rein to grill her for whatever she was hiding. Logically, she knew there was no point trying to weasel out of this talk, not when she could measure the time she had left in footsteps. Unfortunately, logic had taken a backseat to her worry, embarrassment, nervousness… and a small kernel of fear that grew larger with every passing moment of indecisiveness.

"I know," She muttered, her tone sharper than she meant it to be. Her voice softened as she met the calm pools of silver watching her in concern. "I know. It's just…" A hint of pleading bled into her voice. "You know I'm not good at this, Ruby."

Ruby just gave her that infuriatingly kind smile, softly bumping her shoulder into Weiss'. "It's okay. It's a little weird for me too, considering…" Her eyes drifted towards Yang's back, the blonde currently chuckling at something Blake said.

Weiss' face reddened considerably. "Yes… that's…" She struggled for some kind of response but just couldn't find the proper words. After failing to form a coherent statement, she finally just blurted out what she was wondering. "How are you going to deal with that?"

Ruby shrugged in a way that would have been funny if Weiss didn't already feel the Uncertainty toiling beneath the leader's bubbly facade. "Awkwardly?" Ruby offered.

Weiss' response was an unimpressed glower.

Ruby giggled. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's going to be weird for all of us, but…" She put a hand on Weiss' arm, gently easing the heiress to uncross her arms. The moment the heiress relented, Ruby slipped her hand into Weiss', squeezing it gently. "We'll work through it. All of it."

Weiss looked down at their entwined fingers, then back up into Ruby's silver eyes. She held her gaze for a moment, before letting out a deep sigh. "Okay," she finally relented, smiling weakly. "Do me a favor, though?"

"What?"

"...stay next to me?"

Ruby blinked, and her smile softened. Her grip on Weiss' hand tightened. "Always."

Any chance of further talk was lost as the team made the final turn down their hallway. Across from their dorm, the door for Team JNPR was left cracked open, allowing Weiss a quick glimpse of their fellow team relaxing. Jaune and Pyrrha sat hunched over a desk, Pyrrha pointing towards a textbook while Jaune nodded to her words. Ren sat cross-legged on his bed, an opened book in hand, while Nora lay splayed out next to him, head-bopping along to a rapid-paced song her oversized headphones failed to mute.

Weiss spared the team only a glance, before following Blake and Yang into their dorm, Ruby still clasping her hand. As the door clicked shut behind them, Weiss felt her heart jump up into her throat.

Well… she thought with trepidation. Here we go.

"Ah…" Yang breathed out in relief as she fell back onto Blake's bed. "Home sweet home."

Taking a seat beside her, Blake grunted in annoyance. "Yang. Really? Couldn't you have brushed out your hair first? You're getting Earth Dust all over my bed."

Yang blinked up at her, then groaned. "Seriously? I thought I got it all out." She sat up, quickly running a hand through her long hair. Tiny specs of brown crystal shook free of her mane, turning to actual dust as they hit the bed. "Ugh… Freaking Neptune. Just had to drop that box right in front of me, didn't he?"

"It was an accident, Yang," Ruby reminded her as she pulled off her cloak, scrounging through her dresser in search of more comfortable clothes. Yang just grunted in response, getting off Blake's bed in search of a hairbrush as she grumbled. "Guy's lucky I didn't clobber him for messing up my hair…"

As Weiss started putting her bookbag away, she caught Ruby's eye. Her partner raised a slender eyebrow, bobbing her head towards their other halves. Weiss wanted to groan again but knew it was no good. If she didn't say something, Ruby would do it for her. And given Ruby's lack of tact…

Steeling herself, Weiss went to speak… only to be cut off by the sound of a ringing scroll.

Blake looked down in surprise, her scroll buzzing against her leg. She pulled it from her pocket eyeing in confusion. "Who'd be calling me?"

"Maybe it's your folks?" Yang suggested, pulling a brush through her hair.

Ruby perked up at the thought, eyes shining. "Ooh! If it is, can we talk to them, please?"

Blake smiled at her enthusiasm, shaking her head. "My Dad said they're taking a trip to Mistral right now, Ruby. They're probably in the middle of the ocean by now." She looked at her scroll again, then tapped the answer button, putting it to her human ear. "Hello?... Oh, hi, Velvet!"

Weiss turned quickly towards Blake at the name of their rabbit Faunus friend. If Velvet was calling, she had a pretty good idea why. She went back to her book bag, digging through it for one book in particular.

Ruby and Yang looked between the two, confused for a moment, before blinking in realization.

"Yeah?" Blake nodded along with whatever Velvet was saying. "Yes, she has been… it's tomorrow?... yeah, one second…" She put her scroll to her shoulder, looking towards the heiress. "Weiss? Velvet wants to know if you have everything you found on Mating."

Weiss didn't speak for a moment, still looking through her bag. She pulled out a small binder, filled with various handwritten notes and printed web pages. She skimmed through it briefly, before nodding to Blake. "I think so."

Blake nodded, bringing her scroll back up. "She does…" Her cat ears shot up suddenly in surprise. "Tonight? Are you sure…" She listened to Velvet for a moment, her ears going down as understanding came over her face. "Yes, that would be cutting it close… of course, I will… wait, what?!" Her ears were back at attention, her amber eyes wide. "Are you sure?" Blake slowly looked back at Weiss, matching the heiress confused expression with her own. "Yeah… yeah, I'll ask her." She put the scroll back to her shoulder.

"What is it?" Weiss asked.

"Velvet and Coco want my help advancing their Marks tonight." Blake hesitated a moment, then continued. "And… they want you to come with me."

Weiss jerked her head back in surprise. "Um… why?" Blake could only shrug, just as confused as Weiss. "Well… I suppose I could."

Blake held her gaze for a second, then nodded. Going back to the scroll, she said, "Weiss says she'll come… Seven?" Blake looked up at the wall clock above their door. "Yeah, we'll be there…" She let out a slight laugh. "You're welcome, Velvet. See you soon."

When Blake ended the call, Yang cocked a brow at her. "So… Coco and Velvet are really getting Mated, huh?"

Blake smiled at her. "Looks like." Her smile slipped when something odd drifted across the Link, faint but noticeable. It was hard to pinpoint, but Weiss guessed… Uncomfortableness?

It was Ruby who voiced their concerns. "Yang? Something wrong?"

Yang started as if shaken from her thoughts. She looked around at each of them, meeting their worried eyes. She huffed in annoyance. "It's nothing. I'm just being stupid."

Blake folded her arms, eyes narrowed. "Yang…"

Yang held her gaze defiantly… for all of three seconds. She crossed her arms stubbornly, not looking at any of them. Reluctantly, she said, "It's just… I'm not sure how I feel about you having to bite Velvet."

Blake's brow rose in surprise, her face softening in understanding. "Yang… you know it doesn't mean anything. I'm just helping so that they can have what we have."

Yang groaned softly. "I know that." At the questioning looks she received, she tried to explain. "I didn't say it made sense. I just… I don't know. Thinking about you… with Velvet… I know you're not doing anything, but…" She struggled for the right words, but couldn't seem to find them. "It just makes me feel kind of weird, I guess."

Blake frowned as they all tried to make sense of Yang's emotions. Jealousy, Worry, Fear…

After a moment, Blake's eyes widened, her cat ears standing up. Weiss guessed she'd realized what Yang's issue was, given the small smile on her lips. Blake took a step towards Yang, surprising the blonde with a quick kiss.

When she pulled away, her amber eyes bored into Yang's lavender. "I'm just helping a friend," she softly assured. "I'm not going anywhere."

At her words, Weiss' head lifted a little in understanding. She glanced towards Ruby, finding the younger girl looking at her older sister with a tiny smile. A burst of Approval drifted out from her, directed towards Blake.

Yang's cheeks pinked, looking slightly stunned at Blake. She quickly broke eye contact with her, rubbing the back of her neck bashfully as she cleared her throat. "L-like I said… stupid."

Blake merely frowned at her, the Disapproval coming from her, backed up equally by Weiss and Ruby, said more about their opinion of Yang's thoughts than words ever could. Yang rolled her eyes at them, though her lips did curl a bit. "So, think you two are all set to help 'em out?"

Deciding to let Yang's subject change slide, Weiss nodded to her. "If we're meeting them at seven, that gives us an hour-and-a-half to plan it out." She walked over to one of their shared desks, putting her binder down next to their borrowed copy of Strange Fates of Faunus Mates. "I'll do a quick check over everything I found-"

"Weiss…"

Weiss stiffened at the quiet, reprimanding sound of Ruby's voice. She turned around, finding the sniper looking at her with her arms crossed. Her brow was furrowed and a frown tugged at her lips. It was Ruby's greatest weapon other than Crescent Rose: her patented disapproving pout.

"Wasn't there something you were going to tell Yang and Blake?" Ruby asked, with a tone that from anyone else would have sounded condescending.

Weiss cringed internally. With Velvet's surprise call, she'd had a fleeting hope that her worries had been postponed for a little longer. Leave it to Ruby to force the topic.

Yang perked up at Ruby's words. "You finally going to tell us what's been stressing you out the last hour, Snowflake?"

Weiss' desire to groan only grew stronger when Blake turned her attention towards her as well, eyes burning with curiosity.

Ruby… Weiss sent her youngest girlfriend a pleading look. Ruby's frown softened, and Weiss could feel her Sympathy… but she still wanted Weiss to explain.

Weiss swallowed nervously, eyes darting between Yang and Blake. "I… Um…" Oh… how do I…? She looked back to Ruby for help. The speedster gave her an encouraging nod, now smiling gently. Weiss held that gaze for a moment, then took a deep breath. Okay… just, uh… I'll just plow through it. Just get it over with, and… pray really hard that Yang doesn't make fun of me. "I… I took the liberty of ordering something for… us. As a… surprise."

Brows raising, Blake and Yang shared a perplexed look. "Okay…" Yang droned. "What is it?"

There was no helping the pink dusting in Weiss' cheeks. She swallowed down her nerves. "A bed." At the partner's dual looks of surprise, she quickly explained. "We've all been complaining that we can't really be together in our current beds, so I did a bit of research. I found a store that sells oversized mattresses, found one that would fit us all and… bought it." Her blush deepened at their stunned expressions. "It'll be here sometime next week," she finished lamely.

"Weiss…" Blake's cat ears lowered slightly, her smile soft. "You didn't need to do that."

Weiss rubbed her arm nervously, not looking at any of them. "I have the money. And… I wanted to."

Yang chuckled at her bashfulness, surprising the smaller girl by draping her arm across her shoulders. "Wanted to spoil us, huh?"

Despite herself, Weiss' lips quirked upwards, shifting her weight into Yang's hold. "Something like that…"

Yang grinned back, giving her a squeeze.

Blake, however, still looked thoughtful. "Is that really why you were so stressed, though? Just because you bought us a bed?"

Weiss stiffened in Yang's arms, making the blonde frown. "U-um… well…"

Sudden movement on her other side drew Weiss' attention. Ruby had sidled up next to her, giving her that ever-present comforting smile. Weiss swallowed thickly, knowing that there was no way around it.

Just plow ahead, she repeated in her mind. She spoke quickly before she could lose her nerve. "Do you two remember when we first got our Marks? What we… did?"

The confusion on Blake and Yang's faces lasted all of a heartbeat, their brows raised in surprise. Blake's cat ears shot up, her cheeks reddening as she looked away. Yang, however, smiled broadly, looking pleased. She took a step away as she crossed her arms, her eyes staring off into nothing. "Kinda hard to forget, Snowflake."

Weiss could only nod, her mouth growing drier by the second. She looked to Blake, asking again silently. The cat Faunus met her gaze, with a smile that Weiss Felt was less embarrassed and more awkward. "My memories are still hazy due to my heat, but… I remember… plenty."

Another sharp nod. "Have, um…" Weiss glanced towards Ruby. Despite the visible heat in her cheeks, Ruby nodded for her to go on, slipping her hand into Weiss' grip as she did so. Determination and Support came across the Link. Still, the only way Weiss could form the needed words was to look down at her shoes, unwilling to see her girlfriends' reactions. "Have you thought about… doing it…" She couldn't help the slight crack in her voice. "...again?"

Silence fell, and Weiss couldn't bring herself to look up. Not that she needed to. She could already feel the emotions her words brought about. Surprise, Nervousness, Trepidation…

"Of course."

The sudden response shattered Weiss' thoughts, making her head snap up. Yang stared back at her, smirking with an odd look in her eye.

"Wha- what?"

Yang chuckled at her loss of words, sparing a look towards a stunned Blake and curious Ruby. "Weiss, I'm involved with the two hottest girls in school. Of course, I've thought about us doing it again."

Weiss' lips parted slightly, her surprise outweighing her embarrassment for the moment. "Really?" she asked, her voice rising in pitch.

Another laugh passed Yang's lips. "Yes, really." Then she tilted her head in thought. "Wait a minute… is that why you got us a bigger bed?"

Weiss's face caught fire. "No!" she shouted instinctively. She quickly received a sharp elbow and frown from Ruby, and reluctantly backpedaled. Eyes averted from the blonde, she said, "I mean… not entirely…"

Yang gave her a long look. She turned to Blake, the two partners having a silent conversation while the Faunus fought down her blush. After a moment, Blake nodded. Yang smiled again, this time softer. They both turned their attention back to Weiss, moving a step closer to her.

"Weiss," Blake said, putting a hand on the smaller girl's shoulders. She smiled gently. "You know you can tell us anything… right?"

"Y-yeah…" Weiss answered, fighting to keep eye contact.

Yang breathed out a laugh. "Weiss, you don't have to be so nervous. If you wanted to have a little fun with us… all you had to do was say something."

Weiss couldn't help but blush deeper at Yang's bluntness. She crossed her arms stubbornly (jerking Ruby's arm across her body as she did, as her partner refused to release her hand), part scowling, part pouting. "It's not that easy," she muttered, looking down again. "I'm not used to… thinking like this."

"Hey…" Warm fingers grasped her chin, tilting her head up. Yang met her surprised eyes with a caring smile. "We get that. Don't try to rush yourself." She shared a look with Blake and Ruby, before saying, "Tell you what… you and Blake go and help Velvet and Coco. Rubes and I will do some talking, and once you get back, we'll work this all out. Together." She looked back at the other two girls. "That sound good to you two?"

Ruby nodded instantly. "I've been telling her to talk to you about this all week."

Blake's ears dipped a little with a matching shy smile. "...It would be nice to have a clear memory of us…" She trailed off, blushing as her grin widened.

Weiss looked around at the three of them, stunned by the Trust, Acceptance, Love, swirling around her. She ducked her head slightly, her lips curving into a hesitant smile.

Seeing this, Yang cupped her cheek and surprised Weiss with a gentle kiss. She pulled back a moment later, smiling softly. "We'll figure this out together, Weiss. And, hey, depending on how things go…" Yang's smile then shifted to a sly smirk. "Maybe we could even…"

Yang leaned in close to Weiss, her lips almost touching Weiss' ear. Whatever she whispered to her was so quiet that even Blake couldn't make it all out. What little she did sent her cat ears shooting up.

Weiss' head jerked back suddenly with a look of utter shock showing as her face burned. Her mouth worked uselessly for a moment, before snapping shut with an audible click. She met Yang's expectant gaze for a few seconds, before turning on her heel. "I-I'mgoingtogogetreadytomeeetCocoandVelvet," she squeaked out rapidly.

Ruby and Blake released her as she walked briskly across the room, ignoring Yang's smug Satisfaction as she darted into the bathroom. The moment the door clicked closed behind her, she buried her face in her hands.

Why would she say that?!, her mind screamed, cheeks blazing. That's going to be in my head all night now! Her and Blake…

She shook her head violently before the image could fully form. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. Forget it, Weiss. Just… take a shower. A nice, long, relaxing… She sucked in a shuddering breath. ...cold shower.

As Weiss busied around the bathroom, desperately fighting back her now permanent blush, she could hear Blake's voice faintly from behind the door.

"Yang… you really shouldn't tease Weiss like that. You're going to overwhelm her."

"C'mon, I'm just having a little fun. I won't push. Besides… she's cute when she's flustered, isn't she?"

"...yeah, she is."

Ruby giggled in agreement.

Weiss rolled her eyes, putting a hand to her face as she leaned over the sink. What did I do to deserve this?

She studiously ignored her reflection in the bathroom mirror, beaming back at her with an embarrassingly wide smile.

Betaed by Covert Weapon

Old A/n: Ugh, this chapter killed me. For some reason, despite there not being a whole lot of plot stuff, this one was harder to write then it should have. Hopefully, this chapter isn't as big of a mess as I think it is.

Wasn't going to address this until it was relevant, but so many people 'corrected' me after Chapter 48, I feel I must explain. Yes, Blake's Semblance works a little different here, FOR THE MOMENT. Semblances can change and advance with time and practice. Just look at Ruby's little split ability she used in Volume 4. Blake's clones can and will become solid, she just hasn't figured that out yet, for reasons that will be explained soon. It'll just take some practice… and maybe a little help. ;)