#storytag:sisters

[whoneedsapublisher]

Sisters Chapter 1: Ruby and the Not A Date

I'm back and my novel isn't finished so uhhh oops. Anyway here's an old RWBY fic I finally managed to finish. Elderburn and Whiterose. It's chaptered and I was going to put it in one post but tumblr won't let me for... some reason.

Words: ~4200

Summary: Ruby has a problem. And it's one that she's having trouble finding anyone to ask for help with. Yang's only problem, though, is that she hasn't had a nice night out in way too long. At least at first.

Also on Ao3

Ruby felt a little greedy.

Really, her life was pretty great right now! I mean, she was in Beacon! Two years early! Not only that, but she was a team leader, and her team had Yang, and her partner was totally cool and awesome and a really good student who helped her with homework. Also, Blake was cool too. Ruby would feel a little guilty not counting her as a positive too. And of course, she had an awesome weapon.

Buuuut, the problem was kiiinda with the “totally awesome partner” thing. Cause, like, it was super great having Weiss as her partner! She was really strong, really smart, and even though she was a little mean sometimes, she always helped Ruby out when she really needed it. Like, with her homework. That was worth mentioning a second time. Okay, sure, she was partially doing it because her grades were linked to Ruby, but it wasn’t all that. But she was also really pretty. And she was really cute when she was flustered, and the way she wrinkled her nose was really really adorable, and… well…

Ruby… kinda-sort-maybe wanted her to be a liiiitle more than a partner. Or, well, maybe a lot more. Or like, not really any more than being a partner, but like, a different kind of partner? Like not a partner in crime partner either, but...

Basically Ruby kinda wanted to kiss her a lot, and even though Yang sometimes kissed people on the cheek and stuff, Ruby was pretty sure she wanted to kiss Weiss in a way that wasn’t really a battle-partner way. Also she wanted Weiss to kiss her, and have Weiss not kiss other people, and also cuddle with Weiss, and she was pretty sure that at least two of those weren’t normal huntress-partner behaviour.

Unfortunately, she didn’t really… know how to do anything about it. Sure, she had all these feelings, but it’s not like could just… tell Weiss about them. That’d be crazy! She didn’t even know if Weiss was into girls! She didn’t even know if she was into girls, really. And even if Weiss was into girls, it didn’t mean it was into her. What if she messed everything up between them?! She didn’t want to ruin team RWBY’s unity just because she wanted to kiss Weiss! She was the leader, she had to put the team first!

Buuuuut, she couldn’t just ignore those feelings either. They were super distracting! She was starting not to pay attention in class cause she was staring at Weiss, and Weiss kept yelling at her when she couldn’t remember what the lesson was about. She had to do something about the situation, or Weiss would end up at mad at her either way.

Her first idea was to ask Yang. Yang knew a lot about kissing and partners and stuff, she might have an idea what Ruby should do.

“Hey Yang, I have a question.”

As Yang looked up from her scroll and raised an eyebrow, the realization hit Ruby like a bolt of lightning.

She couldn’t ask Yang about this.

Ruby wasn’t a very good liar, especially when it came to Yang. If she tried to get answers about what to do about Weiss, she’d end up revealing more than she meant to. And if Yang knew, even if she didn’t tell Weiss directly, it would make things all weird and Weiss would get suspicious and everything would go wrong.

She had to get out of this.

“Um,” she said, nervously, racking her brain for something else to ask about. “Do… you… cats?”

“What?” Yang said, giving her a quizzical look.

“Do you like cats?” Ruby said quickly. “Y-You know, since we have Zwei we never really had a cat, but a bunch of people have cats as pets, and I didn’t ever know if you would have wanted a cat or if you even like cats at all!”

Yang stared at her, dumbfounded. “Sure,” she said slowly. “I like cats. Why the sudden interest, Ruby?”

“N-No reason! Just curious! Okay, gotta go, bye!” Ruby activated her semblance and dashed out before Yang could ask any more questions.

Good job, Ruby, That wasn’t suspicious at all. Jeez, now Yang was going to give her all kind of weird looks and think she was trying to adopt a stray cat or something! Why had she asked about cats of all things? Ugh, she needed to stop panicking like that. Weiss would be super mad if she knew. “You have to get control of yourself, Ruby! If you panic like that in combat, you could get us all killed, or completely fail the mission! You must stay calm at all times!”

Ruby came to a stop out in the courtyard, under a tree that she liked to sit under sometimes. Or hide in when she was avoiding Weiss. Flopping down under it and staring up into the branches, Ruby heaved a sigh.

So much for asking for help. Guess she was on her own for this one.

Well, that was fine, right? It’s not like she had to do anything that complicated. She just had to find a way to let Weiss know that she wanted to kiss without her getting mad or anything. Totally possible!

Okay, okay, remember what Weiss said. Approach an impossible problem by finding the conditions where it could be solved.

So… she had to find out if Weiss wanted to kiss girls, first. Or anyone, for that matter.

If Weiss didn’t want anything to do with romance, it would make everything waaaay more awkward. If she knew Weiss at least maybe might want to date someone possibly, it was at least a start!

“There you are, Ruby!”

Huh. Ruby had heard “speak of the devil”, but she didn’t realize it worked on thoughts. Also, Weiss wasn’t really a devil. Did speaking of angels make them appear too?

Jeez, that was corny. Ruby was super glad she hadn’t said that out loud.

“Hi Weiss!” Ruby said, looking up at Weiss as she put her hands on her hips and glared down at Ruby.

“Don’t you ‘Hi Weiss’ me, Ruby Rose!” Weiss snapped. “Why are you loitering around out here when we have homework due tomorrow?”

“I already did the homework for tomorrow, though,” Ruby said.

Weiss stopped, and then blinked in confusion.

“...What?”

“I did it yesterday when I got stuck in the library waiting for Blake,” Ruby said.

Weiss gasped. “Ruby Rose, you actually did your homework in advance?” she said.

“It’s not that weird,” Ruby grumbled.

“Name a single time you’ve done that this year when it wasn’t at my insistence. And no, ‘tuning Crescent Rose for a weapon inspection’ does not count.”

“Hmph,” Ruby said, crossing her arms. So maybe she wasn’t that concerned with doing homework ahead of time. So what? They didn’t make deadlines a day before the deadline! That wouldn’t even work! So clearly, it was okay as long as it was by the deadline.

“Well, it’s a good thing that you’ve done it this time, at least,” Weiss said. “If you’ve finished your homework, I suppose you’re free to use your time however you wish.” She wrinkled her nose. “Although I’m not sure exactly what you’re doing. Yang seems to think you’re looking for a cat.”

Ruby groaned. “I knew she’d get the wrong idea…” she said, despondent.

“Well, enjoy yourself either way, I suppose,” Weiss said, turning to leave.

“Wait!” Ruby said, and Weiss turned back.

“Um… what are you doing?” Ruby asked.

“Leaving,” Weiss said.

“No, I mean… what are you leaving to go do? You already finished your homework, right?”

“Of course,” Weiss said, preening. “I’m already days ahead of our assignments.”

“Do you wanna go into town?”

It wasn’t something Ruby had really planned. Honestly, her thought process had pretty much been “I don’t want Weiss to leave”, and her mouth had taken over from there.

“What?” Weiss said again, although she seemed less startled by Ruby’s sudden invitation than she had by her doing homework early.

“You know, like… go to a cafe, or something! Maybe walk around a little bit?”

Weiss considered the notion for a moment. “Well, I suppose I do need to pick up some dust…” she said.

“Yay!” Ruby said, grabbing Weiss’s arm. “Let’s go!”

“Wait, I didn’t-” Weiss said, but Ruby was already running towards town, dragging her partner behind her.

Okay, okay, she could work with this! Just the two of them, away from the school, out in the town window shopping, and having coffee together- well, Weiss would have coffee- in some kind of nice place, and talking, and then Ruby could tell her casually and Weiss would be in too good a mood to be mad!

It was the perfect plan!

*************************

Jeeeeez, Ruby had forgotten how looooooong Weiss took to pick out dust.

“Are you still not done?” Ruby whined.

“Hush, Ruby,” Weiss said, staring intently at a dust crystal. “I am the heir to the Schnee Dust Company, you may recall. I can’t just use any old dust, I’ll be the laughingstock of the industry.”

Ruby groaned.

Okay, what she was saying was true, and it was also true that Weiss had a fighting style that relied on dust a lot more than any of the other members of team RWBY, so it made sense that she’d be picky about it. Plus, she was really precise and particular about things anyway. Honestly, Ruby kind of liked that about her. But not now! They’d barely got any window shopping done before they got here, and Weiss had mostly been talking about school stuff! Okay, so maybe she’d been going over some stuff that was pretty useful and Ruby hadn’t really remembered, but it wasn’t really part of the plan!

It had already been late afternoon when they’d left the campus. If Weiss spent hours poring over every crystal of dust in the place, all the cafes would close and Ruby’s plan would be totally ruined! But if she bugged Weiss to hurry up, Weiss would get mad and then there’d be no point in going to a cafe anyway because she’d lose the whole good mood thing!

She had to figure out some way to get Weiss out of here without hurrying her along… think, Ruby, think!

“Um,” Ruby said casually. “So, uh, what makes dust good or bad, anyway?”

“Well, it’s actually quite interesting,” Weiss said, and Ruby realized that she’d made a terrible mistake. “Purity is the main factor, of course, but the processing plays a major role too. Personally, I prefer dust that’s processed with the Shade-Krutzen me-”

“Shade-Krutzen?!” The shopkeep said incredulously.

Weiss looked over at him. “Yes. The Shade-Krutzen method gives dust that has stronger internal bonds, resulting in better yield and-”

“Bah! Better yield of suicides, maybe!” The shopkeeper said, waving his hand dismissively. “I don’t carry that crap in my store. If I wanted my inventory to explode on the shelf half the time, I’d go back to selling fireworks.”

“You don’t carry any Shade-Krutzen dust?!” Weiss asked, affronted. “But Schnee dust is almost entir-”

“Don’t carry any of their dust, either,” the man said dismissively. “Overpriced garbage.”

Weiss looked like she was going to explode. Her hands were balled into tight fists at her side, and she was glaring so hard at the shopkeeper that Ruby was kinda surprised that he didn’t just burst into flames even without any dust involved.

“Now you listen here-”

*************************

“Well, I thought you made some good points,” Ruby said, as Weiss stalked away from the shop in a fury. As it turned out, um, the shopkeeper was less than happy about being lectured on how to do his job. Him and Weiss, uh, kinda said a lot of stuff that stopped being anywhere near civil reeeeally fast, and then he sorta… kicked her out. And banned her from the store.

“Don’t worry! It’s not the only dust store in town, right?” she added, when Weiss didn’t respond to her attempt at an olive leaf. Olive branch? Whatever. Peace offering.

“No,” Weiss said, turning to face Ruby with her arms crossed. “And banning me was hardly necessary when I wouldn’t buy dust from him anyway, with such terrible opinions on quality.”

“Right!”

“...but it is the only dust shop in town open this late on a Sunday,” Weiss added, sighing.

“Oh,” Ruby said meekly.

“Hmph. I’ll simply have to get some tomorrow,” Weiss said airily. “Now then, I refuse to let that pompous, ignorant, self-righteous buffoon ruin my day! Let’s go, Ruby. We’re going to go out and have fun, and that hateful cretin is going to seethe in his second rate shop and reflect on his mistakes!”

“Y-Yay!” Ruby said, nervously. Weiss still sounded pretty mad, and she had a glint in her eye that Ruby had learned to be wary of. Plus, it sounded like she kind of only wanted to have fun out of spite. That didn’t seem like a good way to actually have fun. But… at least they were out of the shop before everything closed, and Weiss wasn’t mad at Ruby, so… her plan was kind of working? Sorta?

“Ruby! Come on, let’s… look in that shop’s window!”

“Huh?” Ruby asked. Weiss dragged her over to a nearby shop and made an exaggerated effort to stare at the items on display. Which appeared to be… pots and pans?

“Uh… Weiss? What are you doing?”

“I’m obviously window shopping,” Weiss said, sniffing disdainfully.

“But… you don’t cook. Like, ever,” Ruby said.

“Well… perhaps I was planning to start!” Weiss said stubbornly.

“Okay?” Ruby said. Arguing with her right now seemed like a bad idea.

Weiss let out a sigh of frustration and stalked to the next shop.

At first, that was the pattern. Weiss would go to some inappropriate shop, glower at the merchandise, and then move to the next. But eventually, they started reaching shops with clothes and jewelry and stuffed toys, and Ruby could actually muster up conversation besides “what the heck would you need a power drill for”, and little by little, Weiss’s determined glare faded, and her tightly pursed mouth loosened into occasional real smiles.

“Hey, do you want to get something to drink?” Ruby asked, pointing to the cafe she’d been carefully drifting them towards for the last half hour. “My treat?”

“Treating me is quite unnecessary,” Weiss said. “But I wouldn’t mind a coffee.”

“Okay!” Ruby said. The cafe was one she’d been to before. They did have coffee, but luckily for her, they also served great hot chocolate. As she went up to the counter to get their beverages while Weiss went off to find a place to sit, she began to plan out her attack.

The place was starting to empty out considering how late it was, so finding a place where they’d be alone would be easy. Then she just had to tell Weiss about how she felt. Although… how would she start that conversation? She wasn’t any good at getting things to go to the subject she wanted to talk about without making it super obvious...

Well, whatever. Improvising had worked well so far, right? She’d just have to keep doing that.

*************************

Improvising was not working.

She’d tried to keep things light at first, to let Weiss continue shifting into a good mood. Unfortunately, now that she’d started the conversation out that way, she couldn’t figure out how to stop having small talk and talk about… all her feelings!

It wasn’t like she didn’t like just chatting about school and other students and stuff with Weiss. Heck, she was really enjoying herself! It was fun to just talk with Weiss like this, without them fighting or arguing or anything.

And she was kinda terrified to ruin that. Whenever she opened her mouth to try to shift the subject towards more feelings-y topics, she’d chicken out and just bring up something else. And the worst part was she didn’t even feel bad about it! She was happy when Weiss smiled at her, laughed at one of her jokes, or commiserated with one of her complaints.

Ugh. Who could have guessed that being in love with Weiss would make it so hard to tell Weiss that she was in love with her?!

Wait. Had she just thought…? Was she really…?

“Well, we should get back to school,” Weiss said, finishing her coffee and starting to stand up.

“I’m… in love with Weiss…?”

“...What?”

Oh heck. Had she just said that out loud?

“Um!” Ruby said.

“Did… Did I hear you correctly, Ruby Rose?” Weiss said, her face flushing a deep red. “Did you just say-”

Ohhhh no. Oh no oh no oh no.

“Um! GottagoI’llseeyouatschoolIhadfunokaybye!”

Forcing the words out as fast as she could, Ruby abandoned her empty hot chocolate cup and zipped to the cafe door at top speed, only barely pausing to open it before she blasted off with her semblance again.

*************************

Okay. Okay. Well, on the plus side, she’d figured out how she felt about Weiss, right? That was good! She’d been pretty confused about it before, but as soon as the word “love” had popped into her head, it all clicked together. Her kissy desires made a lot more sense, all of a sudden.

And, uh, well, she’d definitely find out if Weiss was into girls, or more specifically her, really soon! Because as soon as Weiss got back to the dorm, which just happened to be missing Blake and Yang at the moment, she was definitely going to have something to say to Ruby.

Heck.

Just as Ruby was considering fleeing the room and hiding under Jaune’s bed for a week, Weiss appeared at door, leaning against the doorway as she caught her breath.

“Ruby… Rose…” she managed, gasping for air. Had she run all the way back here? Oh no she was probably super mad. “What did you say to me?”

“Um…” Ruby said.

“Do not lie to me,” Weiss said, narrowing her eyes.

Ruby shifted uncomfortably. “Um… do the people out in the hall have to hear too?”

Weiss glanced behind her to see a few people gawking at her. Running through dorm hallways tended to draw attention. Well, not when Ruby did it. But people were used to her doing it. Weiss doing it was way weirder.

Weiss sighed and stepped inside the dorm, closing the door behind her.

“You, um, look kind of tired. Do you want a drink-”

“Stop stalling, Ruby.”

Ruby wilted. Aw shoot.

“What. Did. You. Say. At the cafe.”

“I…” Ruby said. “I said… that… maybe… y’know, like, possibly… I’m a little… kind of… inlovewithyou?”

Weiss flushed.

“I… see,” she said, stiffly. With wooden movements, she strode over to her bed and sat down heavily.

“Are you… mad?” Ruby asked hesitantly.

“What? No. Why would I be mad?” Weiss said. “I’m just…”

She sighed. “I need some time to think about this,” she said.

“Okay?” Ruby said. Frankly, this was all completely different to how she’d expected Weiss to react. It had taken her some time to work out how she felt, but she didn’t think Weiss would be like that. Weiss always knew what she did and didn’t like… didn’t she?

The doorknob turned, and Ruby dashed into her bed, hiding under her sheets.

“Uh… you alright there, Ruby?” Yang’s voice came from below.

“I’m fine!” Ruby said, popping out from under the covers. “Welcome back, Yang!”

Yang raised her eyebrow, and then a look of realization dawned.

“Ruby…” she said. “Are you hiding a cat up there?”

Ugh. Why did Ruby have to have settled on asking about cats?

*************************

The next week, Weiss didn’t say anything about Ruby’s impromptu confession. Ruby tried her best to act normal, but it was definitely weird. Yang kept giving her odd looks all the time too. Ruby was sure that she thought the two of them had fought over something, and she suspected that Yang was starting to realize that Ruby was hiding something from her.

Ruby was constantly tempted to bring it up. To confront Weiss about it and demand that she give her some kind of answer. But every time she thought of doing it, she imagined Weiss yelling at her and shied away from it. Sure, it wasn’t great to be left waiting, but it was better than being rejected outright, right? If she gave Weiss more time to think, it meant more time for her to realize how great Ruby was and how she should definitely kiss her a bunch!

And it kind of seemed like it was working. Ruby noticed Weiss watching her more than before, although she’d always look away whenever Ruby met her eyes, and while they were a little awkward around each other, Weiss seemed almost… friendly, sometimes. It felt like it wasn’t going to be long before Weiss came up to her and gave her an answer, without Ruby having to bug her at all.

And then Weiss got the message about her sister coming to visit.

*************************

Yang checked the clock and stood up, stretching as she cleared off her table and made her way back to Bumbleby.

She’d left the dorm in the afternoon, as much to get away from her roommates as anything else. Weiss was wound up like a coiled spring about her mysterious sister coming to town, and her pacing around the dorm and trying to make Ruby presentable was starting to wear on Yang’s nerves. So rather than trying to focus on her scroll with Weiss panicking and Ruby meekly agreeing to put on the twentieth dress that day, Yang decided it would be a good day to hit the town and sample the nightlife.

Even if she hadn’t wanted to escape the dorm, the idea was appealing. She wouldn’t say that she was the most devoted or studious person at Beacon, but truth be told she really had started to neglect her social life in favour of studying and training lately. Mostly the latter. She was starting to miss going to clubs to dance rather than to blow the place up. So if an excuse like this was going to fall right into her lap, well, why wouldn’t she jump at it?

So she went into the city near Beacon and spent a pleasant few hours poking around in bookstores and enjoying some coffee with a new book that Blake had talked her into giving a try if she ever found a copy. Yang didn’t think it was going to turn her into as voracious a reader as Blake or her sister any time soon, but she had to admit it was a page turner, and she’d lost track of time a little.

Which was perfect, because now that it was starting to get late, she could move on to the part that she’d been most looking forward to.

Hitting the nightclubs and letting lose with some drinks and some dancing.

*************************

“It’s… acceptable,” Weiss finally said.

They were hours into Weiss’s personal critiquing of Ruby’s wardrobe but somehow, impossibly, Ruby had managed to find an outfit that Weiss approved of before the sun went down.

“Ughhhh, finally,” Ruby said, flopping back onto the bed behind her.

“Don’t do that, you’ll wrinkle it,” Weiss scolded. “Change back into something else and put that away for tomorrow so it’s still presentable.”

“Alright, alright,” Ruby said, sighing as she stood up and stretched. She was getting stiff from playing the role of a dress up doll… “Why do you care so much, how I look anyway?” she asked.

“W-Well…” Weiss flushed and looked away, clearing her throat awkwardly. “I’m… not close with my parents, or my awful little brother. Winter is the most important part of my family to me. So… well, isn’t it natural to want your girlfriend to make a good impression when she first meets your family?” she glanced back at Ruby, looking uncharacteristically vulnerable. “That is… if that is what you are.”

Girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

Weiss wanted Ruby to be her girlfriend. Weiss wanted to introduce Ruby to her family as her girlfriend.

“Eeeeeeeee-”

“Wait, Ruby, no, don’t-” Weiss started, raising her hands, but it was too late. Ruby sprung into her with a tackling hug, knocking her down onto the bed with her.

“Ruby! You’re wrinkling everything again!”

[whoneedsapublisher]

Sisters chapter 2: Yang and the Night Out

Words: ~3300

Also on Ao3. Where chapters work properly.

*************************

Truthfully, with how much time Yang had been spending at Beacon, she didn’t really know what clubs were any good any more, and obviously Junior’s place was… not the best place to go if she wasn’t looking for a fight. So, after some aimless cruising around on Bumblebee, she ended up a the safest choice- a popular, if a little impersonal club tucked neatly into the middle of main street. Parking Bumblebee and stowing away her helmet, Yang strode confidently into the club.

Okay, she was through the doors and no one was pointing a gun at her. Already it was better than Junior’s.

The dance floor was pretty lively, and the DJ didn’t have awful taste. It wasn’t what Yang would have chosen, but the songs were decent pop that were easy to dance to, and he kept a good pace between them. By the time Yang decided to take a break, she’d worked up a decent sweat and caught more than a couple pairs of eyes. A couple of people had also tried to slip into her personal space, but so far no one Yang had much interest in dancing with, so she’d slipped them right back out again.

Making her way over to the bar, she leaned on the counter and grabbed the bartender’s attention with a quick gesture. “Strawberry sunrise. No ice.”

She refrained from asking for an umbrella this time.

“Aren’t you a little young to be this club?”

Yang barely restrained herself from saying “Aren’t you a little old to have a name like Junior?”

“I’m old enough,” she said instead, winking at the woman who’d spoken up. Now there was a girl that she wouldn’t mind dancing with. Tall, with striking features and piercing eyes, and shock white hair that was probably dyed but either way looked good pulled up into a tight bun. Probably a huntress, too. You couldn’t be sure until auras came out, of course, but there was a certain way of holding yourself, a certain precision of movement in her that screamed “combat training”.

Not from Beacon, though. She was a little too old to be a student, and Yang was pretty sure she wasn’t a teacher. Visiting graduate, maybe?

“New in town?” she hazarded.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Do you come here that regularly?” she asked.

Yang laughed. “Oh man,” she said, grinning. “I didn’t know anyone actually said ‘you come here often?’ in real life.”

The woman frowned a little. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she said. “I’m just surprised you knew I was from out of town. You must be here a lot to be that familiar with the clientele.”

“Nah,” Yang said, hopping up on a stool as the bartender slid her drink to her. Luckily enough, it had come with an umbrella despite her not asking. Score. “Just a guess. I’ve got a couple others, if you wanna hear ‘em.”

“By all means,” the woman said, leaning forward and resting her chin on a hand, the other hand hovering over her drink, one finger slowly tracing the rim of the glass. Her fingers were long too, and slender. Her nails were immaculate. “I’m intrigued to find out how far this curious perception of your goes.”

“Okay, first- you’re a huntress right?” Yang said.

The woman smiled. “My, my. Right again. I suppose you’re one yourself, to recognise the signs?”

“More or less,” Yang said. She was really more of a “huntress in training”, but hey, she’d done missions, right? She might have not graduated just yet, but she was hardly some helpless trainee. Besides, it probably wouldn’t help this mystery woman’s impression of her age if she admitted to still being in school. What might help was the swig she took of her drink without blinking. Yang had always been good at holding her alcohol.

“Well then, two for two. Care to try for the hat trick?”

“That hair’s totally dyed, right?” Yang said. “There’s no way you’re old enough to be going grey.”

“Ah, I’m afraid you’re wrong on that point,” the woman said. “Well, half wrong. Your guess on my age is right enough, but this colour is natural.”

“Seriously? You get a really bad fright as a kid or something?”

The woman chuckled. “If I did, it was in utero. I was born with white hair, as is common in my family.”

“Huh,” Yang said. Apparently Weiss wasn’t the only one who had naturally white hair. Maybe it wasn’t a Schnee thing after all. Although…

“You from Atlas, by any chance?”

The woman’s eyebrows climbed higher on her face. “Well, and there’s the comeback. How on earth did you guess that? I didn’t think I had much of an accent.”

“Nah, you don’t. Just made me think of a friend from Atlas.”

“Well, you’re certainly lucky if nothing else,” the woman said, taking a delicate sip from her glass. Yang wasn’t quite sure was she was drinking, but it looked expensive Maybe some kind of whiskey.

“There is one thing I don’t think I’m lucky enough to guess,” Yang said, taking a significantly less delicate swig from her own drink.

“Oh?”

“Your name,” Yang said. “Mine’s Yang.”

The woman paused for a moment before answering.

“My name is Claudine.”

“Nice to meet you, Claudine,” Yang said.

“The pleasure is mine, Yang,” Claudine said with a faint smile. “Now, may I make a guess of my own?”

“Shoot,” Yang said.

“You were going to ask me why I was in town,” Claudine said, smirking a little bit.

“Yeah, probably,” Yang said. “C’mon, that was an easy one. It’s the obvious thing to ask. Try something harder.”

“Oh? Is that a challenge, Miss Yang?” A glint of competitiveness twinkled in Claudine’s eyes.

“Maybe it is,” Yang said, leaning forward and meeting Claudine’s stare with a grin.

“Hmmm… how about this one: you’re a big fire dust user.”

“Alright, you got me on that one,” Yang said, leaning back. “Do I smell like smoke or something?”

“No, no, you smell perfectly pleasant. It was just a hunch.”

“Mmm, alright, my turn,” Yang said, sitting back in her chair and inspecting Claudine. Claudine playfully leaned back and… well, it wasn’t exactly striking a pose, but it was clear she was arranging herself to be inspected. Close inspection suited her. “Hmm… you’re single?”

“Oh please,” Claudine said, rolling her eyes. “You just want to know if that’s true.”

“Guilty as charged,” Yang said, smiling cheekily.

Claudine chuckled. “Perhaps I’ll let you know if you impress me.”

“That’s a ‘yes’,” Yang said. “Alright, alright, here’s a real one: you use some kind of one handed weapon. A sword maybe?”

Claudine’s eyebrows shot up. “My goodness. Is this your semblance? Are you some kind of mind reader?”

“Nah,” Yang said, taking another drink. “My semblance is a lot more fun than that. When you shifted back, you moved one arm back without even thinking about it. Classic stance for someone using one hand to fight and the other to keep balance.”

“Aren’t you an observant one,” Claudine said. “Very well, I suppose that gives me a segue into my guess. You frequently work with or practice with a hunter or huntress who uses a sword, one that uses some kind of two handed weapon, and one that uses some manner of smaller bladed weapon like a dagger or a kukri.”

“Maybe you’re the one with the mind reading semblance,” Yang accused. “Yeah, you’re right, that pretty much describes my team.”

“I’m afraid I don’t possess any such convenient power,” Claudine said. “But if you could guess so much from my stance, that means that you must regularly see someone who fights with a one handed sword- and someone who fights with both hands, to be so familiar with the differences. I suppose you could use a two handed weapon, but I thought it was more likely you were comparing other people’s forms. And you guessed a sword rather than a dagger or some similar small weapon, which means you must see someone who uses something like that, and they must use different a stance.”

“Alright, maybe you’re just too darn smart for your own good,” Yang said.

Claudine chuckled. “I do try. I believe that makes it your turn.”

Yang learned a lot about Claudine that evening. Most of all, she learned that Claudine was a huntress through and through. They’d sometimes guess about each other’s personal lives, tastes in drinks, fashion, favourite foods, and so on, but over and over they came back to fighting. By the end of the evening, Yang knew all about Claudine’s weapon, her general style of combat, and a million little tidbits about her work and her life, although not anything to give a very clear picture of the identifying details. She was with some kind of military force, which she refused to elaborate on, lived a fairly solitary life, devoted all her time to her job, and was as keenly honed as a fresh razor.

Yang was also fairly sure that Claudine was a lesbian. More than that, she was pretty sure that Claudine was interested in her.

“Well,” Claudine said, gesturing to the bartender for her tab. “This has been fun, but I’m afraid I must head off. The hotel I’m staying at frowns on stumbling into the lobby in the dead of night.”

“Aww, just a little longer?” Yang pleaded. “I still haven’t guessed what kind of cereal you like.”

“And you never will,” Claudine said. “Not even if I stayed here all night. It’s Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes.”

Yang gasped. “No way.”

“Yes ‘way’,” Claudine said, handing the bartender her card. “I know it’s utterly terrible, but I can’t help it.”

“You know, I know Pyrrha Nikos,” Yang said.

Claudine raised an eyebrow. “My my,” she said. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

“Maybe you should give me your number. You know, so I can pass it on to her.”

Claudine laughed. Unlike most of her dry chuckles, this was a deep and rich laugh. “Does that line ever work?”

“I don’t know,” Yang said. “I’ve never tried it before, so I guess it’s up to you.”

“Then I’m afraid I must tell you that it never works,” Claudine said, taking her card back and giving the bartender a nod. “I’m afraid I don’t take a lot of personal calls. A hazard of the job.”

Yang sighed.

Claudine got up from her stool and then paused.

“However,” she said carefully. “I… wouldn’t be opposed to continuing our conversation for a little while longer. Perhaps we could have a nightcap together… in my room.”

It was an invitation to more than a nightcap, and both of them knew it. Yang didn’t make a habit of hooking up with random people in bars, but, well… Claudine was attractive, and fun to be around, and seemed unlikely to be plotting anything. What was the harm?

So, she paid her tab and followed Claudine back to her hotel, stopping off to pick up Bumblebee on her way out. Claudine was suitably impressed. Yang had to admit, that influenced her decision. A girl who appreciated Bumblebee couldn’t be all bad. That said, Yang had put away one too many strawberry sunrises to give Claudine a ride back to her hotel, so she just put Bumblebee in neutral and pulled it along the street beside her as she walked. Even aside from not wanting to do extra walking in the morning, a hotel parking garage was a safer place to leave Bumblebee overnight than a lot outside of a club.

She also made sure to text Ruby. She wasn’t too worried about getting trouble with the school for being missing overnight, but there was no point in worrying her team.

“That wasn’t your girlfriend you were texting, I hope,” Claudine said dryly, as Yang put away her scroll.

“Now who’s being unsubtle?” Yang said, grinning. “Don’t worry, it was just my sister. She’s that two handed weapon user I work with.”

“Ah, family,” Claudine said with a wry smile. “I see.”

“That’s pretty loaded response,” Yang said, raising an eyebrow.

“I have... “ Claudine paused. “...a somewhat complicated family dynamic.”

“Ahhh,” Yang said, nodding. “Right. I won’t ask if you won’t.”

“I can agree to that,” Claudine said, sighing. There was a flicker of guilt on her face. Her family situation must be fairly serious. Not that Yang couldn’t sympathize on that front.

Well, as long as she wasn’t the beloved only daughter of a mafia boss or something, it wasn’t Yang’s problem.

*************************

A few hours later, Yang rolled over onto her back and let out a long breath.

“Well, that was fun,” she said chipperly.

A slightly tired chuckle came from her left. “It was indeed,” Claudine said, propping herself up on an arm.

“So Claudine,” Yang started. “Do-”

“Winter.”

“What?” Yang said, blinking. “Is this the guessing game again? Are you trying to predict what I was going to ask?”

“My name,” Claudine said, with a sigh.”I meant to tell you earlier, but… well, I didn’t want to kill the mood, and I couldn’t find a good time. Claudine is my middle name.”

“Why would that… mat…” Yang trailed off as realization dawned.

A huntress from Atlas, with shock white hair and piercing blue eyes. Only in town for a short time. Named… Winter.

“Your last name isn’t Schnee, is it?” Yang asked cautiously.

Winter sighed.

“Is it?” Yang asked, her voice growing a little desperate.

“This is why I tend to say ‘Claudine’,” she said. “The Schnee name carries a certain weight, and ‘Winter’ is a quite unusual name. Despite my father’s efforts to scrub me entirely from the family, you’re not the first to guess my last name from the first. I hope you can understand, just because I’m his daughter doesn’t mean-”

“No, no, you don’t understand,” Yang said. “Clau- Winter. Weiss is on my huntress team.”

Winter blinked and then frowned. “My sister? That can’t be right, she’s still in at Beacon.”

“Yeah. She is,” Yang said.

Now it was Winter’s turn to lose all colour in her face. “You’re… also a student.”

Sitting up, she clutched her head and groaned. “I’m going to go to jail.”

“Come on, it’s not like I’m attending Signal or something,” Yang said, rolling her eyes. Somehow, Winter’s panic eased her own. “I’m eighteen, it’s fine."

“Oh thank god,” Winter said, sighing in relief. “Still, that’s… unfortunate. I must admit I thought you were older.”

Yang couldn’t help but feel a little good about that. “It’s not big a deal, is it? Aren’t you like twenty or something?”

Winter looked at her incredulously. “Twenty four,” she said.

“Woah,” Yang said, raising her eyebrows. “Alright, uh, that’s a little older than I thought.”

“Indeed,” Winter said flatly. “Entirely too old to be sleeping with girls my little sister’s age.”

“Evidently not,” Yang said. Winter gave her a reproachful look.

“Well, I’m glad it’s funny to you at least,” she said stiffly.

“Hey, they say that you should go to the gallows with a smile, right?”

“The gallows?” Winter asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, cause Weiss is gonna kill me,” Yang said, flopping back onto the bed with her arms spread out. Lying there staring up at the ceiling, she noticed a faint crack, badly plastered over. It hardly seemed to live up to the standards of the Schnee family. Maybe Winter just wasn’t as picky as Weiss.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them as they contemplated Yang’s statement. Winter, it seemed, wasn’t looking forward to that conversation either.

“I’m sorry,” Winter said, sighing. “If I’d just told you my real name we could have avoided all this.”

Yang hesitated for a moment.

“I’m kinda glad you didn’t,” she said finally.

“What?”

Yang sat back up and looked over at Winter. She was still naked, and lying slumped on the bed in a less than impressive looking position, but even still, there was a grace and power to her.

“If you’d told me you were WInter Schnee, there’s no way I would have slept with you,” she said.

“Obviously,” Winter said.

“...So I’m glad you didn’t tell me.”

Winter’s eyebrows shot up.

“That’s…” she said, momentarily taken aback. “That’s quite the statement.”

“It’s true,” Yang said, shrugging and trying to look nonchalant about it. Let Winter think it was just her being devil-may-care about the whole thing. It was fine if she just thought Yang was reckless and didn’t care about the consequences. Hell, she wouldn’t even be that far off sometimes.

Instead, Winter frowned. “...Are you planning to hide this from her?” she asked.

“Nah.” Yang sighed. “The two of us could probably manage it, but… she’s part of my team, you know? We had a pretty bad situation a little while back because one of us was worried about sharing a secret, I don’t want to screw everything up now that we’re starting to trust each other.”

“Very noble of you, to lay down your life for team cohesion,” Winter said.

“Guess I’m just heroic like that,” Yang said sarcastically. “Make sure they write something about it on my tombstone.”

The two of them fell silent. Yang returned to staring at the crack, contemplating what she was going to say to Weiss. How would she even bring it up? Weiss would probably ask where she’d been, but she couldn’t just say “sleeping with your sister”, right? Maybe she should just casually mention she’d met Winter and that they’d hit it off…

“If we’re not going to keep it secret, then would you be interested in… let’s say, changing the situation slightly?”

Yang turned over to look at Winter, who was staring seriously at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Winter said. “Currently, the situation you’re presenting my dear younger sister with is that you had a one night stand with me, correct?”

“Yeah?”

“What if it wasn’t a one night stand?”

Yang’s jaw dropped. She could almost imagine it cartoonishly extending down far enough for her chin to hit the bed. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m quite serious,” Winter said primly. “I… am afraid that my work keeps me away quite often, which is why I so rarely visit Weiss, but I enjoyed myself tonight. Both in and out of bed. I’d love to get to know you more.”

Yang was speechless. She knew she should say something, but all she could do was stare dumbly at Winter.

What she wasn’t doing was saying no. That was the craziest part. Not only had she slept with Weiss’s sister, now she was considering the possibility of doing it again in future. And this time, she wouldn’t have the excuse of being fooled by fake names. She’d be knowingly screwing her teammate’s older sibling. And making that recurring? Yang could already see the look of horror on Weiss’s face.

On the other hand, she could also see a few choice faces Winter had made.

“...What the hell,” Yang said grinning. “It’s not like she can kill me more, right?”

“That’s the spirit,” Winter said, smiling.

“Just in case she finds a way, though,” Yang said. “Do you think we could go for round two, so I at least die happy?”

Winter laughed and leaned in for a kiss.

[whoneedsapublisher]

Sisters chapter 3: Blake and the Conclusion

Words: ~2000

Also on Ao3

*************************

There was a certain weirdness to coming back in the morning wearing yesterday’s clothes. Especially with the eyes of her roommates on her as she entered, with a decidedly mixed reception. Ruby waved and greeted her normally, of course. Even if Yang didn’t hook up with people this casually very often, Ruby had still been around for all sorts of romantic flings, some of which fell apart pretty fast. Weiss, of course, gave her a distinctly judgemental once over before turning back to her preparations. And Blake split the difference, acknowledging Yang with a little curiosity and a hint of a smirk at Yang’s day old-outfit. Not exactly judgemental, but definitely knowing enough to make Yang feel a little embarrassed.

“Hi Yang! Welcome back!” Ruby said.

“Thanks sis,” Yang said. “I brought you hotel soap.”

Ruby gasped and eagerly caught the small bottle that Yang threw her.

“Hotel soap?” Blake asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is this a normal sister thing?”

“Ruby just likes it,” Yang said, shrugging.

“I like it because it’s awesome,” Ruby said, tucking it away somewhere in her mess of things.

“Enjoy your soap later, Ruby,” Weiss said impatiently. “We need to get ready to go.”

“What? You said it was like an hour from now.”

“And you need to be completely prepared by then!” Weiss said insistently. “And presentable! Not to mention that we will be arriving at least ten minutes early to ensure that we’re punctual.”

Ruby groaned as Yang rolled her eyes and headed over to grab a change of clothes. By the time she’d taken a quick shower and thrown on clean clothes, Weiss was brushing Ruby’s hair, clicking her tongue every time Ruby winced at a knot catching on the brush.

“Headed out again?” Blake asked.

“Yeah,” Yang said. Leaning closer, she whispered. “Look, there’s kinda… a thing going on. I’ll fill you in by text later, okay?”

“Alright,” Blake whispered back. “...Does this have anything to do with Weiss’s sister? Or is it about what happened last night?”

“Unfortunately, both,” Yang said.

“Both? How does that-” Blake paused, and then looked at Yang disbelievingly. “You didn’t.”

Yang couldn’t tell if that meant that she had completely the wrong idea about what had happened… or completely the right one.

“Like I said, I’ll explain later,” Yang said.

“Alright, alright,” Blake said, sighing as she lifted her book again. “I’ll hold you to that. See you later, Yang.”

And with that, Yang left the dorms again, and headed right back to Winter’s hotel.

*************************

This time, her bloodstream entirely free of Sunrises, Strawberry or otherwise, Yang took Bumbleby to the hotel instead of walking. Winter was waiting outside when she pulled up, and Yang couldn’t help but try to show off a lot as she slid to a stop and stepped off, pulling off her helmet and smiling at Winter.

“Hey there, good looking. Need a ride?”

Winter chuckled. “You’re lucky that wasn’t your opening line last night,” she said. “Or you wouldn’t have anything to explain to Weiss whatsoever.”

“Ouch,” Yang said. “The ice queen thing runs in the family, huh?”

Winter pursed her lips a little at that. Oops.

“Anyway, seriously, do you wanna hop on? I have a spare helmet.”

“No, I have transportation arranged,” Winter said. “In fact, I was going to offer to let you come along with me.”

“If you have a limo, I definitely want in,” Yang said.

Winter chuckled. “Nothing as fancy as that. Just a car provided by the Atlas military.”

“Really? For a Schnee?”

Winter gave her an odd look. “...I see Weiss hasn’t filled you in on my situation.”

“Uh,” Yang said. “I thought she’d talked about you plenty, but clearly I’m missing something.”

Winter sighed. “I wasn’t expecting to have this conversation today…”

“Look if this is a sore spot, we don’t have to talk about it right now or anything,” Yang said. “Forget I said anything.”

“No, Yang,” Winter said. “If we’re going to be a couple, I’d like us to be honest with each other.”

“There’s more than one conversation we’re going to have to have if we’re putting all our cards on the table about our families,” Yang said, sighing. She wasn’t looking forward to spilling that can of worms. “And we don’t have a lot of time until we meet up with Weiss. So it can wait, okay?”

“I suppose that’s reasonable,” Winter said. “The short version, then. I am not an heir to the Schnee family, and I have been, for the most part, entirely disowned other than keeping the name. Not a penny of my father’s money goes towards my expenses, and so I settle for what a soldier’s pay and the Atlas military’s funding can offer. They’re providing the car for my actual mission in the area, I merely happen to have the chance to visit my sister as long as I’m here.”

“Ahh,” Yang said. “That explains the crack.”

“The crack?” Winter asked, raising an eyebrow.

“In the ceiling. Of your hotel room,” Yang explained. “I thought it was the kinda thing Weiss would complain about.”

“Perhaps,” Winter said. “But I can’t say I noticed it.”

“Are you sure you’re a Schnee?” Yang said.

Winter chuckled drily. “I see that Weiss has given you quite the impression of the family.”

“Well, not just Weiss,” Yang said. “But yeah, she confirmed a few suspicions I had.”

“I hope she isn’t being too much trouble,” Winter said.

“Nah, she’s chilled out a lot. If she hadn’t Ruby probably would have given her an aneurysm by now.”

They reached the hotel’s parking garage, and Winter unlocked the door of a slightly beaten up looking car.

“This is a military car?” Yang asked. “I was expecting... “

“Something more armoured, perhaps?” Winter said. “I’m afraid that my mission doesn’t involve anything so daredevil as to warrant a tank, so I’m working with a civilian grade local vehicle.”

“...So a rental car.”

Winter looked slightly embarrassed. “Well, yes. But unlike your bike, as impressive as it is, riding this will ensure that I meet my sister with my hair intact. And besides, I’m not sure we want to introduce our relationship with me clinging to your back on a motorcycle.”

“Can’t argue with that. Rental car it is, then.”

*************************

Ruby was pretty sure she should be nervous. She was meeting her girlfriend’s- wow girlfriend, that still felt weird. Weiss was her girlfriend. Not just her friend who was a girl. Her girlfriend. Her partner, not just her partner.

...Why were all the terms for these things so similar? It was so confusing. There should be some way to emphasize how girlfriendy being girlfriends was, rather than just being girl friends. Just deleting a space didn’t seem like enough.

Anyway, Ruby was meeting ~*~her girlfriend’s~*~ family, and given how much Weiss looked up to Winter, it was definitely important to make a good impression.

Considering how nervous Weiss was, though, Ruby was finding it hard to feel much anxiety herself.

“We’re going to be late,” Weiss said.

“We’re not going to be late, Weiss,” Blake said.

“Well Yang certainly is going to be late!” Weiss snapped. “Where on earth is she?!”

Blake shrugged. Her face was completely even. Ruby had seen Yang whispering to her before she left, but if Blake knew anything she wasn’t giving it away.

“Does it really matter?” Blake said. “I still don’t see why we need to be here for you to meet your sister.”

“You’re my team,” Weiss said. “It’s only proper that I should introduce you to her.”

“Uh huh,” Blake said. “And this isn’t just an excuse to introduce Ruby to her without admitting it?”

“Wh-” Weiss spluttered. “I didn’t- I wasn’t- I’ll have you know that I wasn’t even entirely sure how I was going to respond to Ruby’s feelings when she messaged me! It takes time to work these things out, you know!”

“Oh? Is that why you didn’t have time to come book shopping with me yesterday?” Blake asked.

“No, I didn’t come book shopping because I’ve been busy preparing for Winter’s arrival ever since her message, as you well know!”

“Then if you hadn’t decided by the time she messaged you, when did you have time to think it over?”

“You-” Weiss spluttered, turning red. “That’s- I- Ugh! So help me Belladonna, if you embarrass me like this in front of Winter I will burn every book you own!”

Blake rolled her eyes and kept walking.

*************************

To no one’s surprise, they were not late. In fact, they were early. By nearly a quarter of an hour. Luckily, Blake had planned for this, and she had brought a book.

One that Weiss wouldn’t complain about. Even though Blake was sure that she wanted to, considering the glare Weiss gave her as she carefully inspected the book for respectability before giving up and going back to fussing over Ruby’s outfit, which was apparently slightly askew or… something. It was probably just Weiss trying to distract herself from her nerves.

Well. It wouldn’t be long until Blake’s book and Ruby’s dress were the last thing she was worried about…

Her scroll buzzed and she casually lifted it up behind her book.

Yang: We’re almost there. Get ready to run if Weiss draws Myrtenaster, okay? No heroics. You can still make it out alive.

Blake rolled her eyes.

Blake: Don’t worry. I’m more than ready to leave you to die.

Yang: Aww, Blakey, I’m touched. What more could someone ask for in a partner?

Blake chuckled and slipped her scroll away as a car pulled up.

“Winter!” Weiss said, turning away from Ruby to beam at her sister, and then pausing in confusion as Yang stepped out of the passenger side of the car. “Yang?”

“Hello, Weiss,” Winter said, in a slightly clipped voice. She seemed remarkably stiff and formal. Blake hadn’t thought that was Yang’s type. Then again, given the situation, maybe anyone would come across as a little awkward. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been… well…” Weiss said, still looking between Winter and Yang in confusion.

“Nice to meet you,” Blake spoke up, tucking her book away. “I’m Blake. Yang’s partner, and part of Weiss’s team.”

“And I’m Ruby!” Ruby said, picking up on Blake’s lead. “I’m Weiss’s partner! And her partner!”

Winter looked at Ruby, baffled. “I’m sorry?” she said. “You’re her partner… twice?”

“I mean like,” Ruby said, wiggling her hands around as if she was trying to coax out an explanation. “She’s my partner at Beacon! And also my girlfriend! And not like, my friend who’s a girl, but like-”

“Wait, what?” Yang said. “Is that what you two have been an awkward about for the last two weeks?”

Winter turned back to Yang. “You didn’t know about this?”

“I mean, I knew they were keeping some kind of secret, but I thought Ruby found a stray cat…”

“Yang! I already told you I don’t have a hidden cat!”

“You also told me that you didn’t have a turtle living under the house when you were eight.”

“That was different!”

“Sorry, can we go back to why you were in my sister’s car, Yang?” Weiss said incredulously.

“Uh,” Yang said.

“She’s my “partner”,” Winter said. “And not as a huntress.”

“WHAT?!” Weiss shrieked.

“Eh? Wait, was that where you were last night?” Ruby asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Yang said.

“You- did you- WITH MY SISTER, YANG?!”

“Hey, you’re dating my sister!” Yang protested.

It was, in short, chaos. Blake, it seemed, was the only one who had come to the meeting with full information. Weiss was in the middle of having a meltdown, Yang was seemingly grappling with the realization that Ruby had a love life, and Ruby and Winter were awkwardly to attempting to size each other up without really knowing what to say.

In other words, it was the funniest thing Blake had seen all month.

She should have brought popcorn.