Of Rules and Compromise

"Christ Weiss, just how many more boxes do you have?"

The heiress turned away from the movers, pen stopping just short from the paper she was about to sign as she sceptically looked at Yang with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know why you're even complaining, Yang. It's not as if I'm making you move any of these in."

Blake watched from the side as another burly worker haul more cartons into the quaint two-story cottage; his muscles bulged and strained visibly, a testament to how heavy the heiress's load was. "I'm inclined to agree with Yang, Weiss. Why do you need this many things? And what are in them, even?" the faunus queried, glancing briefly at the mound of boxes still sitting prettily in the truck.

Weiss scrawled her signature onto the invoice with practiced ease, not looking away from either girls. Her forehead creased as she tilted her head in mild confusion. "The necessities, of course," she stated matter-of-factly, handing her pen back to the mover, who stiffly nodded in respect before promptly walking away to help his colleagues. "I made sure all of our needs were accommodated for."

Just as she said that, Ruby burst out of the house in a flurry of rose petals, almost ploughing headfirst into a brawny, sweaty chest, but sidestepping away in the nick of time. "Guys?!" she squeaked, tumbling gracelessly towards them. Yang stepped forward and held out her arms to try and catch her sister, though that proved unnecessary as the young leader managed to recover, albeit shakily.

"'Sup Rubes?" Yang asked, giving her sister a once-over just in case.

Ruby looked at them with wide grey eyes. "Giant flat screen!" she exclaimed, waving her arms in the air. "In the living room! Like," she paused to stretch her arms out as far as they would go, "huuuuuge!"

Lilac eyes lit up as a broad grin stretched over Yang's face. "Oh this I gotta see," she said, grabbing Ruby's hand and dragging her alongside as she hastily made her way to the house. "Let's go!"

"'Necessities?'" Blake incredulously quoted, now the only one left with the trio's moderately-sized luggage.

Weiss half-shrugged, feigning nonchalance, though the way she played with the ends of her ponytail told a different story. "Comfortable living is important, Blake," she justified. "While we're out on the field, we have no time to indulge in more leisurely activities."

Blake shook her head, a small smile on her face. "If you say so." Seizing her luggage with one hand, she motioned to the house using the other. "Shall we?"

Weiss curtly nodded. Striding forward, she grabbed Ruby's strikingly red suitcase, leaving Blake to pick up her partner's baggage. Moving in unison, the two strolled to the cottage, a comfortable silence settling between them.

Today marked the weekend before the start of their second year in Beacon Academy. As mandated in the school's rules, all students were to stay in the provided dormitories for their first year, to establish better relations with their peers, partners, and teams. However, beyond that, it was never explicitly asserted that students had the obligation of living on campus for the rest of their time in the prestigious institution, provided they remained together in their teams.

Weiss knew that, and had been mulling over a move since the last semester. A home separate from the school would grant them more space and freedom than the dormitories did; no longer would they have to worry about curfews, or surprise spot checks, or communal showers.

… Admittedly, the heiress did this more for herself than the others. She found public baths largely inconvenient, and sneaking away to shower late at night was becoming incredibly burdensome; it was not something she would willingly repeat for another year, given the choice.

Likewise, Weiss resolved to stop sharing a room with Ruby. She enjoyed boarding with Ruby, truly, she did. But Weiss found that recently, for some inexplicable reason, she grew more uncomfortable when in her friend's presence, and only her presence. If Yang and Blake were around to alleviate the odd sensation with their company, Weiss felt it would improve their dynamics drastically, and perhaps even help her solve her dilemma. Moreover, while the beach trip they had together early summer was… hectic, to say the least, Weiss believed it – and the subsequent week they spent with Ruby and Yang's family – was a fair indication that they were capable of tolerating each other's living habits. A cohesive living environment would only result in better teamwork.

After all, they would get to know each other even more through this method – and wasn't that the goal?

Thus, Weiss Schnee made the decision to rent a lodge for the group. It was not the largest place, and it was situated relatively far away from most other residences and stores – because of its close vicinity to the very perilous Forever Falls – but Weiss found it charming. Its affordable price tag was what cinched the deal; unsurprisingly, as it was expected that most average citizens chose to stay away from a Grimm infested area and dangerous, albeit esteemed, huntsmen training academy.

Frankly, it came as a shock to the rest of the team, for there had been no sign to signal this drastic change. The heiress had given them absolutely no cues – not even the week before, when they were all merrily gathered at the Rose-Xiao Long joint residence.

It was only earlier that morning, when the trio had been heading back towards their respective dorm rooms with luggage in hand, that they found Weiss standing in front of Blake and Yang's quarters, tapping her foot impatiently, with her luggage and butlers nowhere to be found. The following conversation had been brief, and oh-so Weiss-like.

"You got here early," Ruby had commented through a mouthful of the energy bar she had been snacking on – the only breakfast she could find in her home before setting out at 6:30 in the morning. "All settled down already, Weiss?"

"No. Come with me," the heiress replied, before turning on her heel to lead them down the hall towards the rear of the wing and then down the flight of stairs. Their descent was quick and sparse of words, as Weiss deflected any questions they had with a flick of the hand. Ushering them out the back of the dormitory once they reached the first floor, a confused Ruby, nonchalant Blake and disgruntled Yang found themselves standing in front of a familiar white stretch limo.

"What's this?" Yang asked, feeling substantially less aggravated upon seeing the vehicle. "Taking us on a field trip, Weiss?"

One of Weiss's butlers swooped in as the blonde posed the question, swiftly and deftly gathering the three girl's luggage off their person – without encountering much resistance in the process – to place them in the trunk of the car.

The heiress shook her head, sauntering to the back of the limo where the door was held open by the driver they had all been acquainted with during their summer holiday. "I suppose you could say it was something like that," Weiss answered, gracefully sliding into her seat.

Blake was the next to follow, flashing a pleasant smile to the driver, who reciprocated with a wrinkly one of his own. Ruby bounded after her, a charming grin on her face as she dove into the car – to the amusement of everyone involved excluding Weiss, who berated the younger girl on her recklessness. Finally, Yang hopped in, and the door promptly closed behind her.

With that, they had been whisked off to one of the few abodes below the large hill their sprawling campus was perched atop of.

Car rolling to a stop in the driveway, the quartet had alighted, and – barring Weiss – were stunned into silence. There stood a lone cottage; a little weathered from age, it was, yet the girls fell in love all the same. A steady line of movers streamed in and out, unloading box upon box from the nearby truck into the picturesque home.

Before anyone could say a thing, one of the hulking men waved over to Weiss, gesturing to his clipboard. The heiress left to settle the account statement, telling them they were free to roam about as they pleased, while her driver helped the rest of team RWBY unload their bags from the trunk, leaving them near the captivated trio.

Heeding Weiss's words, Ruby was the first to bolt into the house. Blake had expected Yang to accompany her sister, but the blonde was unexpectedly calm, having folded her arms to quietly admire the residence.

Blake nudged her friend gently. "You're surprisingly docile today."

The blonde rolled her shoulders with a sheepish smile. "What can I say? I think I got swept off my feet."

"By a house?" the faunus queried, lips curling up in amusement.

Yang smirked. "'House' a girl supposed to resist?"

Blake rolled her eyes, but hummed, concurring with her partner. As their eyes scanned the area however, they noticed just how many boxes were being carried into the humble home.

Yang's face fell in disbelief. "Christ Weiss, just how many more boxes do you have?"

Which was what brought them here.

Weiss sighed upon entering the abode, an action she had grown accustomed to performing, as her half-lidded eyes trailed the excitable sisters while they bounced from living room to dining room to kitchen and back without pausing for breath. Both took full advantage of the fact that the house was built with an open concept in mind, hence the lack of impeding walls, and easily manoeuvred around the entertained movers while admiring the little nuances of the house, exploring every nook and cranny accessible.

The heiress moved to place Ruby's suitcase next to the beige couch in the living area, with a mirthfully smiling Blake in tow.

"I take it you all can guess my reason for bringing you here?" Weiss asked, standing with her arms akimbo.

The sisters whooped.

"You're the best, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed from where she was rummaging around in the kitchen, already planning how her sweet treats would be accommodated. There was nothing stocked in there quite yet, barring the one or two non-perishables that the previous owner undoubtedly left, since neat freak Weiss Schnee would never do something so unsightly.

As her sister excitedly rambled off to herself about how she'd stock 'this' drawer full of cookies and 'that' with gummy treats, Yang sauntered up to the heiress and clasped her shoulder, all the while admiring their surroundings. "Hate to admit it, but you did good Weiss," Yang praised, not at all put off when Weiss subconsciously shrugged away the blonde's hand with a small frown; it was common knowledge that the heiress disliked physical contact, in spite of Ruby's valiant attempts at chipping away her icy-cold walls.

Yang thought they were making good progress, at any rate, for the heiress had not glared nor glowered – sure the reception was brusque, but when was it never? Yang wrote it off as Weiss's charm point, anyway; people liked the hot and cold, sweet and sour combination, did they not?

Besides, with how things were going, perhaps she might even become a cuddle monster in time, the blonde mused, before sniggering to herself.

'Weiss. Cuddling. Ha!'

Brushing aside the odd looks Weiss and Blake shot her with a roguish grin, the blonde folded her arms behind her head and turned to head for the stairs, intent on exploring the second floor.

"What was that about?" Weiss muttered, crossing her arms defensively, not at all comfortable with the glint she had seen in Yang's eyes.

Blake casted it aside with a roll of her shoulders. "It's Yang," she replied matter-of-factly.

Weiss made a noise in the back of her throat, conceding to the answer.

Silence befell upon them, only punctuated by the rustling from the kitchen and sounds of shuffling and heavy footfalls made by the movers.

"You didn't have to do this," Blake finally said, shuffling a little uneasily now that the situation was made clear. "It must have been expensive."

The heiress smiled faintly, having expected such a response from the faunus. "I wanted to. Besides," she said, lips curling into a smirk, "I didn't ever say I was doing this for free. You lot are responsible for the chores."

"Fair enough," commented Blake, feeling a bit of the weight lift off her chest and shoulders. The responsibility was welcomed, for it made her feel as if she were actually contributing, though she knew Yang and Ruby would jokingly disagree at how they had to work for it. As she allowed herself a languid stretch, her eyes took the time to appraise the first floor; she noted that she could see most, if not all of it, from the spot she stood in – indication that the house was spacious, but not overly large.

"There are just enough bedrooms for us, though someone's going to have to stay downstairs," Weiss answered the unspoken question in Blake's eyes. When the faunus directed her gaze at the heiress, Weiss motioned to the single closed door a few steps away from the living room. "I converted the guest room into something slightly more homely."

Blake nodded. "I wouldn't mind staying there."

The heiress made for the room, gesturing for Blake to follow. "Shall we, then?"

The faunus picked up her luggage and dutifully fell into step.

It was only when the clock struck two that the movers completed their job. Weiss's driver helped usher them off while the heiress herself was kept occupied upstairs, having to play tour guide to her friends.

Her old, kindly butler, who has been her loyal servant for many years, chuckled upon hearing the faint banter. He was glad Weiss had found a group who could tolerate and love her prickly edges, and inspire such familiarity and affection within the girl; the young heiress had grown up isolated and frigid, that being able to witness such a change in behaviour – to see the improved moods and softened edges first-hand – warmed his heart.

Weiss walked down the flight of stairs, her chatting friends in tow.

Her butler greeted her with a genial, "Miss Schnee," and patiently awaited her orders.

As she reached the bottom of the steps, Weiss moved out of the way to allow her teammates to pass by unimpeded. "Have the movers left?" the heiress asked, glancing around the first floor.

"Yes Miss," he replied. "Shall I have your belongings unpacked?"

Weiss nodded. "Thank you."

"It is my pleasure," he said warmly. "Please, feel free to leave for lunch; you haven't yet had anything to eat. We shall be done by the time you arrive home."

"Whoa, haven't had any grub?" Yang interjected, her expression twisted into a grimace as she eyed the heiress up and down. "No wonder you're such a grouch."

"Excuse you?" Weiss fired back. "I've had coffee, and that's all I need."

The man politely bowed. "If it is not too much to ask, could I ask for you all to take care of Miss Schnee? The young mistress has the tendency to skip meals since leaving the manor, and combined with her rigorous activities, has developed the on-and-off case of hypotension."

Said girl sputtered, unaccustomed to how bold her butler was being. "Sebastian!"

Ruby looked mildly confused, but Blake leaned over and whispered into her ear, "He means low blood pressure."

The young leader's mouth fell open into a small 'o', before she whirled on her partner with a worried frown marring her face. "I kinda suspected," she admitted, having been privy to a lot of Weiss's habits, "but it's still not good, Weiss." Seizing her partner's shoulders, Ruby shook the bony heiress – who had stiffened from the touch – and said, "We have to all be healthy!"

The blonde tutted. "No wonder you find it hard to wake up in the morning," she grumbled. Saluting the butler, Yang declared, "Don't worry! Team RBY is on the case!"

"Arr-bee?" Blake murmured, shaking her head.

"RBY!" Yang repeated, punctuating it with an assertive thrust of a fist into the air. "Weiss clearly isn't going to take her health into her own hands, so we will!"

He flashed them a grateful smile. "I leave her in your capable hands, then."

Before an indignant Weiss could interject, she was hauled off by the elbow, a determined Ruby leading her towards the limo parked outside.

Sebastian bade them farewell with a cordial wave, unaffected by the yelps and shouts coming from the group as they wrestled Weiss into the vehicle.

When the limo drove off, his arm dropped, and his hand immediately reached for the phone in his pocket. Dialling the main mansion quickly, he instructed for more personnel to arrive so that they could tidy the house.

Once that was done, he hung up and allowed himself an amused sigh.

They were an eccentric bunch, but maybe that was exactly what his charge needed.

"I don't know how we didn't pick up on it until now," Blake observed, dabbing her lips gently with her serviette after having just polished off her salmon entree, "but you play with your food a lot."

Weiss shrugged half-heartedly, gently placing her fork aside and pushing her plate away to signify that she was done. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby – who was busy demolishing her banana split sundae – noted that a few slices of the reasonably portioned chicken breast still sat on the dish. "I eat when I have to, and when it's for social events. But otherwise, I'm not compelled to find food. My time can be better spent."

"On what?" Yang grumbled through the fork in her mouth. "Memorising and reciting the Schnee Dust guidelines brochure like a broken record player?"

Weiss glowered and kicked the blonde's calf. She didn't like being reminded of the day they met; on hindsight, she realised she had been a little…off-putting.

"You ate pretty well when you were at our parents' house," Ruby said, waving her spoon around in thought.

The heiress grimaced, recalling how the Rose-Xiao Long family – as exuberant as their two children – had intentionally piled her plate high with food upon realising just how little she consumed. Naturally, it would have been rude for her to slight her gracious hosts, and as the Schnee heiress, that simply would not do. Weiss readily admitted that it was delicious, even more so than some of the poshest restaurants she dined in, but the massive portions were enough to scare even the most voracious of eaters off. "It was only polite," Weiss tactfully replied after a few beats.

Yang pressed her lips together at the word 'polite'. She remembered all too well how her parents had been smitten by their courteous guests; Yang could understand why people would love Blake – it's Blake – but seeing Weiss so deferential and well-mannered, no doubt a result of the rigorous Schnee heiress training, and witnessing how her parents totally fell for it made Yang begrudgingly respect Weiss. And raised the blonde's hackles all at once.

"I suppose," Blake said sympathetically, understanding the predicament Weiss had been put in. She too had received sizeable portions, after all. Not quite as gargantuan as the heiress's had been, but it was still a pretty decent pile. "So it's more along the lines of you don't eat, rather than you can't."

"Essentially," the heiress replied, reaching to take a sip of her latte. "Besides, coffee is more than a good enough substitute."

The blonde snorted. "Careful, you're starting to sound like Oobleck and Ozpin."

Propping an elbow on the table, Yang exhaled loudly through her nose, and moved to rest her cheek on her open hand so as to stare at the heiress with as little effort as possible. Weiss didn't flinch under her scrutiny, and instead raised a brow, as if to challenge the blonde to speak her mind. Yang ran a hand through her thick locks and said, "Honestly, I didn't really think much of it when you skipped out on a lot of the school's food. That stuff is nasty. You'd think prestigious academies would treat their students better, but nope, same old slop." She grimaced and muttered, "No turkey or bread should be that durable."

"I always assumed that Weiss had her meals separately," Blake remarked, casting a sideways glance at Ruby. "You never noticed anything, Ruby?"

The young leader leaned back into her seat with her arms folded, and her expression grim. "I… no," she guiltily confessed. Shoulders sagging, the young leader couldn't bring herself to meet anyone else's eyes, let alone Weiss's, as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair. "Uh, it didn't ever hit me either. I mean, I knew Weiss drank a lot of coffee, and had like, salads and fruits and stuff…"

The heiress sighed exasperatedly, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder. "If none of you noticed anything suspicious, it just means that this isn't a big issue; I still pass my physicals, don't I? I'm perfectly healthy. One can't be a huntress if they aren't."

Ruby stubbornly shook her head. "It doesn't change the fact that you could be healthier! Somehow!"

"Or that we've managed to overlook this issue for as long as we have," Blake chimed in.

"It's not an 'issue', Blake," Weiss bit back with knitted brows. "You're exaggerating–"

"It's settled then," Yang interrupted, lightly slamming a fist onto the table, the clatter of cutlery emphasising her words. "We're getting Weiss back on track! Say hello to at least three meals a day!"

Blake smiled around the straw she held between her lips, spotting the affronted look on Weiss's face. Pulling away from the vanilla milkshake Ruby had recommended, the faunus said, "It's not that bad, Weiss, considering the fact that Yang isn't asking for anything in return yet."

"Yet," the heiress groused.

Yang gasped, holding a hand to her chest. "Hey, I'm totally capable of charity!"

Blake swirled her straw, mixing the thick semi-liquid in her cup. "Moreover, it sounds like Yang's offering to cook, which I can't say I'm adverse to."

Ruby perked up, leaning over the counter as far as she could go without lifting haunches off her seat. "Really?" she enthused, looking at her sister with sparkling eyes.

Yang took it in stride by puffing out her chest with a smug smile. Patting herself on her chest, she proclaimed, "Leave it to me!"

Ruby's face broke into a wide grin, and she swivelled around to face her partner with barely contained zeal. "Yang's an awesome cook! She's actually super knowledgeable about nutrition and junk too, even if it doesn't ever seem like it–"

The blonde bristled. "What is that suppo–?"

"But I promise Yang's one of the best people for the job!" Ruby finished with a blinding smile.

Despite having been partially snubbed – by her sister of all people – the blonde rolled with the compliment, though she did reach over to affectionately bop Ruby on the head.

"Yang?" Weiss disbelievingly said, not yet fully registering all of what Ruby had told her.

"Yes me," Yang replied, rolling her eyes. "How else do you think I got these killer guns?" As if to prove a point, the blonde flexed a bicep for emphasis. "I could be guzzling crap and still maintain this, sure, but it's not the same. The fuel's gotta be clean for the engine to keep running this flawlessly."

Blake chortled quietly into her drink, heedless to the reproachful glare Yang shot her from the corner of her eye.

Weiss pursed her lips, countenance pensive. "Hm. I can't recall a time Yang ever cooked."

"That's because she's lazy," Ruby stated.

"So how would Blake have known?" the heiress inquired with an arched eyebrow.

Yang shrugged. "I wanted a late-night snack and Blake just happened to tag along."

"It turns out sneaking into the kitchen is infinitely easier than the pantry," the faunus added helpfully.

Weiss heaved a long-suffering sigh, squeezing her eyes shut at the memory; it had been well over six months, yet Professor Port still shot her those knowing looks. Feeling a headache approaching, the heiress massaged her temple. "To be fair, I think you all just over-complicated it."

Blake hummed. "Likely."

Ruby looked appalled. "Why didn't you guys ever invite me?"

Yang winked. "Way past your bedtime, baby sis."

The blonde ignored Ruby's tirade about 'being-old-enough-to-stay-up' in favour of focusing her attention on the still unconvinced heiress. "Still not impressed huh?" Yang stretched loudly before rolling up her invisible sleeves. "Guess I'm gonna have to prove my chops."

Before anyone could question her, Yang slammed her hands onto the table and bolted to her feet, startling not only the girls but everybody in the cosy cafe. "Alright! To the supermarket!"

Had anyone asked Blake Belladonna who would be the most mature within the team during its initial formation, she would have undoubtedly replied herself and Weiss Schnee.

But as she watched Weiss and Ruby scuffle in front of them over how many boxes of cookies to purchase, Blake wondered when that changed.

Granted, both of them had their moments over the past year – unavoidable moments as a result of the influence of their partners – but they still had been mostly poise and control in the public eye.

It hadn't occurred to the faunus just how much of that had melted away, as they slowly embraced the unfettered, carefree lifestyle and atmosphere the sisters unconsciously carried with them wherever they fluttered.

Blake stopped mid-step and wrinkled her nose, abruptly pulled out of her thoughts by the warm finger that poked the soft organ. She casted a sidelong glance at her partner, who happened to be the owner of the offending appendage that disturbed her. "What?"

Yang flashed her a lopsided grin, turning back to hunch over her trolley, forearms pressed against the handle. "Nah, you just looked too cute, thinking."

Blake's forehead creased, taken aback by the straightforward compliment. "Huh?"

The blonde's expression didn't fade as she walked ahead, her half-filled trolley leading the way. "C'mon, they're getting ahead of us."

With furrowed brows, Blake watched her partner casually stroll in the direction of the next aisle, noting at the back of her mind that Weiss and Ruby had disappeared. Crediting that to them having slipped away, likely into the aisle Yang headed for, the faunus followed suit, pushing along her own empty trolley; the team came to a consensus that trips to a large supermarket would be infrequent as best, because of their increasingly hectic schedules at school, on top of just how far away they stayed and the difficulties they would encounter trying to ferry back so much grocery at once. Of course, using Weiss's servants was an option, but they didn't want to rely too heavily on her affluence and familial resources – so using her driver as they were today would be rare, hence their taking advantage of the situation by stocking up on as many things, mostly non-perishables, as they needed.

Long confident strides allowed Blake to easily catch up with her leisurely sauntering companion, and the faunus fell into step beside her, unfazed by whether she may be blocking other peoples' paths; the store's passageways were more than large enough to accommodate their slender forms and trolleys, and then some. "'Cute'?" Blake dubiously quoted.

Yang unhurriedly straightened, meeting amber eyes head-on. "You don't think of yourself as adorable?"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

Yang shot her a complacent look brimming with self-confidence, wordlessly answering Blake's retort.

The faunus rolled her eyes. "I regret asking."

"You should – it was pretty obvious," Yang replied, looking past Blake to scan the shelves behind her.

Blake took the opportunity to look around, and observed that the two familiar faces she expected to find were nowhere to be found. "Where are Weiss and Ruby?"

"Hm?" Yang murmured, halting in order to sidestep around Blake. Bending down, the blonde examined the assortment of instant curry brands lined on the middle row. "No clue. But knowing Rubes, she probably dragged Weiss to the snack aisle."

"So how will we find them?" Blake queried, as Yang plucked her chosen box and tossed it into her partner's cart.

"She'll find us," Yang nonchalantly said, returning to man her trolley. Just as her hands wrapped themselves around the cool handle, Ruby hurtled around the corner with Weiss in tow, her arm full of assorted sweets and biscuits. "See?"

As soon as Ruby reached them, she promptly dumped her pile of food into Yang's cart. "Yang!" the bubbly girl exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet while still maintaining a firm grip on a resigned Weiss's hand. "We found Pocky!"

Yang grinned toothily, lifting up one of the small boxes for closer inspection. "The chocolate kind too. Sweet!" she complimented, offering her sister a high-five, which Ruby returned rather enthusiastically.

Weiss raised an eyebrow, glancing over Ruby's shoulder to meet an equally exasperated stare from her faunus friend. As ice-blue eyes trailed down, she noticed a box had been placed in Blake's otherwise empty trolley, despite Yang's clearly having enough space to house the package.

The heiress felt her facial muscles twitch. "Stop."

Before anyone else could even blink, Weiss tugged her hand out of Ruby's grasp and strode towards Blake's cart. She snatched the lone instant curry box out of the trolley, before walking back to Yang's, where she proceeded to swiftly rearrange its contents so that the haphazard stack was neatly organised. "You would have crushed something otherwise," she lightly lectured.

Ruby voiced everybody else's thoughts. "... Are you sure you don't go grocery shopping often, Weiss?"

Weiss crossed her arms haughtily. "Tidiness is a general skill, Ruby."

Yang scratched her jaw. "Riiight." Peering down at her shopping cart, the blonde scanned over their goods. "Looks like we can move onto the fresh ingredients," she said, ticking off her fingers. "Protein, fruits and vegetables, starches." Without pause, Yang strode forward, confidently leading her friends to another aisle.

Along the way, they happened to spot the supermarket's sprawling seafood counter out in the distance. When Yang peeked around her shoulder, she caught the little glimmer in her partner's amber eyes.

Try as she might, she couldn't fight the small curl of her lips. Blake, for all her mystery and secrets, was so predictable sometimes. "Why don't we have some fish for dinner?" she mused aloud, intentionally keeping her gaze steady on the faunus behind her.

Blake's eyes flickered between the counter and the eloquent expression Yang wore. "I suppose I'll go get some," Blake said, feigning nonchalance as she passed her empty trolley to Ruby, though the twitch of her bow gave her away.

Ruby grinned knowingly and saluted her friend. "Roger! We'll grab everything else, then."

Blake nodded, already briskly marching off. "I'll meet you at the checkout."

"Try not to go too overboard," Weiss called out. The faunus didn't acknowledge the heiress's words, not once faltering in step.

"That's one thing down," Yang remarked, noting the tension in Blake's form as she fought against the instinct to sprint for the seafood station.

"Should we get anything else?" Ruby asked.

Yang pondered over the question before slowly shaking her head. "No, I think Blake'll get enough for a few days, actually."

One of Weiss's eyebrows raised sceptically. "Understatement?" she quipped with a smirk.

"Of the century," Ruby added in good humour, exchanging an impish look with her partner. "But I trust Blake to be kinda sensible about this."

"'Kinda'?" Yang quipped, steering the trio into another aisle.

"She can only carry so much fish," Ruby wisely retorted, trailing behind Yang. She halted and crouched down to inspect the displayed items with narrowed eyes.

Meanwhile, Weiss was content with observing the two sisters quietly and calmly and practically shop.

The heiress's eyebrows furrowed. How… surreal. The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Why didn't any of this maturity come through while we were at my vacation home?"

Yang hummed, eyes affixed to the nutritional label on the can of tinned tomatoes she was holding. "It's more fun being a kid," she replied with a small, meaningful smile, glancing out of the corner of her eyes to meet the heiress's icy-blues, "don't you think?"

Weiss huffed, feeling heat creep up her neck as the blonde's gaze flitted between herself and the young leader behind them. "I have no idea what you're talking about," the heiress insisted. Turning on her heels, Weiss strutted away, making a beeline for the next aisle over.

Ruby glanced up from the shelves quick enough to witness Weiss vanish into the other aisle. She stood to her full height, expression perplexed. "Why is Weiss going into the baby aisle?"

Yang shrugged, dumping a few tins into her trolley. "Whatever her reason, I respect her life choices," the blonde sagely replied, before a sly grin stretched across her face. "But now that we're alone…"

Ruby's eyebrows knitted, and she waited for her sister to complete her sentence.

The blonde swivelled on the ball of her foot to face Ruby. "How are you and Weiss?" Yang innocuously cooed.

"We're… fine?" Ruby tentatively replied, her forehead creased with confusion. "Or at least, I think we are."

Yang feverishly nodded her head. "Good, good."

The young leader froze. "Wait. Why? What do you know that I don't? Did– did I do something wrong? Is she mad at me? Is that why she wasn't shouting as much when I dragged her off?" Ruby grew bug-eyed, and her complexion paled. "It was when we were home, wasn't it? Oh geez, what did I do Yang what did you do?" Ruby accused frantically.

"Whoa me?" Yang reeled back, surprised by the sudden assertion. "I didn't do anything! If anything, it was your girlfriend's fault–"

Ruby sputtered, cheeks bursting aflame. "She is not my girlfriend–"

"–that mom was so smitten with her! I lost my place at the dinner table, Rubes! Do you know what that means? Do you?" Yang hotly asked. "You're blushing, by the way," she added as an afterthought.

"I am not blushing! It's the lighting in this store!" Ruby hastily retorted, her arms flying up to shield her face. "And no, I don't know what any of this means because I don't understand what you're even saying! Mom is not 'smitten' with Weiss! And what's the problem with Weiss taking your seat?! It's just a chair! It's so she could sit next to me–"

"That's exactly it – next to you! It's not just a chair Ruby, it's a place! A position! It has meaning!" Yang exclaimed zealously, punctuating every word by slamming the base of a fist into her open hand. "And she coddled Weiss, Ruby; she practically took care of everything with a huge smile while you dragged her off to who knows where. Mom hasn't done that since we were kids! And, she told her what a, and I quote," Yang said, whipping out the air quotations, "'fantastic daughter-in-law' she'll make."

"But she did the exact same thing for Blake!" Ruby countered with a stomp of the foot.

Yang tensed. "Hold up, that's not the point!"

Ruby flailed her arms about in exasperation. "Then what is the point, Yang?!"

Yang opened her mouth, ready to fire off an answer. However, after a moment of deliberation, she reared back, response dying in her throat. "Actually, y'know what? You're right," she breezily chirped, waving her hand dismissively. "Everything's totally tooootally cool."

She pivoted on her heel, returning to her shopping cart.

Taken aback by her sister's sudden mood shift, Ruby stood rooted to the ground, bewilderment evident on her face. "Wha–"

"You're young, baby sis," Yang placated over her shoulder as she slowly meandered away. "Take your time – just don't freak when it hits you like a freighter, and come to me when you need advice, okay? Yang is always here to help her sweet, adorable, totally oblivious little sister."

Ruby's eyebrows knitted, and she scrambled to chase after her sister. "'Oblivious'? Yang? Yang! Yang! What do you mean?! You can't leave me hanging like this Yang! Yaaaaaaaangggg!"

In spite of one or two minor upsets at the supermarket, the quartet found themselves back in their new home at a reasonable time; the sun was still up, and thus dinner and its necessary preparations were matters that could be happily pushed aside.

As Weiss's servants helped them carry their groceries into the kitchen, they were left free to relax in the infinitely less cluttered house. The Schnee maids and butlers had been as efficient as ever, managing to unpack and tastefully arrange Weiss's things within the short timeframe, on top of dusting and cleaning the abode until it was absolutely spotless. The heiress quickly scanned the living room with a discerning eye, but it was clear to everybody that the action was more formality than anything else; her stance was relaxed and almost flippant, and clearly reflected the trust she had in her workers.

There were, however, a shrinking stack of empty boxes in one corner of the attached kitchen that were still being moved by a pair of maids – unsurprising, and something no one could find fault in, considering the sheer magnitude of things that Weiss transported over.

Sharp amber eyes intently yet discreetly focused on them the second they had walked in, and promptly became aware of two servants hauling away bits of the cardboard pile, one at a time. "Weiss," Blake's sonorous voice rang, drawing her friends' attention.

"Yes?" Weiss asked.

Blake's gaze never wavered, still firmly transfixed to the pile. "Can we keep a few of the boxes?"

Out of her periphery, the faunus caught the odd look Weiss shot her. "I need to move some things from my dorm room," she said, answering the unspoken question.

Yang jolted, the statement having reminded her of her own belongings. "Oh yeah, all our stuff's still up in school."

Weiss shook her head, resting a hand on Ruby's shoulder before she could bolt. "I've had them moved over; everything should be in your rooms."

Ruby cheered, grateful for not having to do any manual labour, and pulled her partner into a hug as Yang shot the weakly protesting heiress an appreciative grin. Blake, on the other hand, felt a little part of herself shrivel up and die as her flitting hope was crushed beneath the heiress's heel.

Yang instantly noticed Blake's face crumple and arched an eyebrow in concern. "Hey, you alright?" the blonde asked softly, nudging her friend.

The faunus took one look at Yang and mustered a small smile, her mind racing to come up with an appropriate excuse. She crafted one quickly that, while not wholly true, wasn't a barefaced lie either. "I'm fine," she reassured in a tone just as hush. "Just… feeling slightly guilty for letting Weiss do all the work for us."

A convinced Yang slung an arm around Blake's sagged shoulders. "Well, let's make it up to her at dinner, huh? You and me, partner."

Blake breathed a quiet sigh, watching Weiss's maids clear up the last of the boxes, and begrudgingly accepted that she wouldn't be able to pilfer one. The warm, comforting weight of Yang's arm reminded her that her friend was trying her best to cheer her up; a heart-warming thought. Blake threw her a genuine smile. "Sounds good."

"What're you guys talking about over there?" chimed Ruby as she crept closer, intrigued by the undertones they were speaking in; the allure of being in the know was far too great for the ever-curious Ruby Rose to resist.

"Discussing dinner plans, baby sis. Anything specific you guys want?"

Ruby threw a fist in the air. "Dessert!"

Weiss shot her an incredulous look. "Didn't you buy enough of those today?"

Ruby clicked her tongue, gently admonishing her partner. "Weiss, those," she punctuated by pointing at the dining table, where a couple of plastic bags brimming with assorted sweets laid, "aren't dessert. They're snacks," she corrected with a wave of the finger.

"But we bought enough to fill two entire bags. When on Earth–" Weiss faltered mid-speech, mulling over her words. It was obvious when, and even how, Ruby would finish them – swiftly and voraciously, if they didn't do anything to limit her sugar intake. Her expression scrunched, and she backpedalled with a sigh. "Nevermind," she muttered, massaging the bridge of her nose as she made a mental note to go over some ground rules with her new housemates before the end of the day. "Look," she added before anyone else could interject, "we have some free time before dinner. Why don't you all check your rooms to make sure everything is there?"

Yang lazily separated from her partner. "On it," she said, making her way to the stairs. "Though if there are things missing, does that mean we can charge?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "It means you can go back to the dorms and get it yourself," she countered with a no nonsense attitude.

The blonde flapped her lips, climbing to the second floor. "You're no fun."

Ruby stiffened as if something had struck her. "I'm sharing a bathroom with Yang, right?" she asked with panic in her voice.

One of Weiss's eyebrows lifted, but the heiress nodded slowly all the same.

The young leader immediately bounded up the stairs two steps at a time, hot on her sister's heel. "Yang, how many hair care products did you have in school?!" she cried.

"Too many to count," Blake muttered under her breath. Weiss shot her a look, but the faunus shook her head to dissuade the other girl from pursuing the subject any further. "Maintenance is a lot of work," Blake vaguely offered. "You saw the state of their bathroom in their parents' home, didn't you?"

The heiress thought back to the tiny, disorganised bathroom, reviewing just how many bottles and tubes had been strewn about. "... She really takes care of herself, doesn't she?" Weiss said, tone tinged with disbelief.

"More than you know," Blake wearily replied, briskly walking towards her room.

Weiss made to leave for her own room. "Tell me if we overlooked anything in the move."

Blake nodded in assent. "Thanks again, Weiss," she said, flashing her a small, polite smile before shutting the door.

While she was grateful for the heiress's gracious help, the faunus couldn't help but wonder and fear if her servants had found her secret stash of novels. She certainly hoped not – or that, if they did, they at least keep mum. Nevertheless, she made it a point to check her new abode, rifling through its modest bookshelves and drawers, as well as her old dorm room later.

Just to be safe.

After spending a solid hour or so ensuring all her things were accounted for, and then placed in their appropriate and rightful places – in both room and bathroom – a jaunty Yang flew down the staircase, intent on starting their first dinner together in the new house on the right foot.

As she skidded into the kitchen, she found Ruby rummaging through the non-perishable goods they had yet to shelf. Yang watched her sister quickly extract a box of Pocky and tear through the packaging with ease. Popping a slim chocolate-coated stick between her lips, it was clear to the blonde that Ruby was completely unaware of her presence.

With a wolfish grin, Yang pounced on Ruby's back, eliciting a loud shriek from the young leader who unceremoniously dropped the box of Pocky. However, the blonde managed nipped the end of the treat before it could fall from her mouth, keeping it place as she bit down on the snack.

"Ruby, what–" was all they heard before the statement trailed off into a strangled noise.

Their heads whipped around at the sound, snapping the Pocky stick in half, just as they found themselves staring at a stiff as a board Weiss.

While Ruby moved to check on the motionless heiress, Yang unhurriedly ate her portion, catching the almost imperceptible movement in Weiss's jaw as she clenched her teeth, as well as the way ice-blue eyes would flicker to meet hers, an indiscernible glint within them.

The blonde's brow twitched slightly, and one corner of her lips quirked into a devious smirk – the most neutral expression she could pull off in the face of Weiss's poorly hidden and incredibly entertaining annoyance.

"What's going on?" Blake demanded, padding over to the trio. With her sensitive ears and room's relatively close proximity to the kitchen, she had overheard the ruckus and chose to investigate.

Yang bent down to pick the box off the floor. "Got Ruby to share some of her snack," she said, gliding up to her partner.

"'Pocky'?" Blake read off the label, compliantly parting her lips enough for Yang to feed her a sample.

"Ever heard of the Pocky game?" Yang asked, deliberately glancing over at the heiress with a sly grin. "Something tells me Weiss has."

Ruby's brows furrowed. "What's the Pocky game?" she queried, facing her partner. "You never told me there was a game."

"Aw Weiss, why'd you keep Ruby in the dark?" Yang teased.

"I have no idea what any of you are talking about," grounded out Weiss as she shot a pointed glare at Yang, who easily brushed it aside.

Sensing simmering rage roll off the heiress in palpable waves, Blake intervened, dragging Yang away by the elbow. "We should get started on dinner preparations. Come on, Ruby."

Ruby nodded obediently. "Go relax, Weiss!" she instructed, gently nudging the heiress out into the living room. "We'll come get you when we're done."

Weiss sighed, watching Ruby scuttle towards the others, who were immersed in rifling through the various drawers and cabinets in search of cooking utensils. Deciding that they could be trusted to carry out the task without supervision, the heiress left for her room.

It didn't take long for the three cooks downstairs to settle into a steady rhythm. The partners worked in harmony, with Blake deftly slicing vegetables and filleting her fish and Yang skilfully marrying everything into one cohesive dish. As for the youngest in the group, in spite of her clumsiness in the kitchen – which had promptly reminded Yang to keep her away from the vicinity of the stovetops – Ruby had an amazing palette that they took full advantage of by having her taste everything for seasoning.

Beyond Ruby's occasional input and Blake clarifying the type and size of cut Yang desired, words were hardly exchanged. Mostly, the sound of bubbling pots, sizzling pans and Yang's humming were all that filled the room.

When the most mouth-watering aroma started to permeate the air, it became clear that dinner was almost complete. Blake, who had finished her part of the job a while ago, volunteered to fetch Weiss, leaving Ruby and Yang to place the finishing touches on their meal.

Navigating to Weiss's room was easy: up the stairs, turn left, find the closed door – which just so happened to be the closest.

Blake rapped her knuckles gently against the wooden surface, and opened the door once she heard a faint "Come in."

Weiss looked up from the mess of papers on her desk. "Dinner's ready?"

The faunus nodded. "By the way, where's the garbage disposal?" she asked.

Getting to her feet, the heiress shuffled her notes into a neat pile. "Out back. You can't miss it."

"I'll go take care of that first, then," Blake stated, heading back to the kitchen.

Having disposed of their unwanted scraps properly throughout the cooking process, it didn't take long for Blake to gather the trash and haul it out of and behind the house.

The last thing Blake had expected was to find a stack of boxes – the same stack from earlier that day – to have rested innocuously a little ways from their garbage bin.

Amber eyes glinted devilishly.

Dinner was a surprisingly sedated affair, thought Weiss Schnee.

The scraping of cutlery peppered the light-hearted banter that they had between bites, and everyone was clearly at ease. Yang was scarfing down a heaping mound of food, Ruby, having finished the balanced meal her sister plated for her, was snacking on some roasted potatoes while animatedly briefing them on their 'team goals' for the year, and Blake – in spite of her dawdling – returned to the table and went straight for the fish.

Perhaps at the start of their first year together, the heiress would have considered this behaviour crass, nigh unbearable and almost stifling in its casualness.

But now this was… natural. This was peaceful.

Although she supposed that after the constant free-for-all she had in the Xiao Long-Rose residence, most dining experiences would seem to pale in comparison in terms of overall atmosphere and rowdiness.

"Soooo," Yang drawled, eyeing Weiss with a smug smirk. "How is it?"

The heiress sniffed, averting her gaze. "... Not bad," she admitted, poking the remaining pieces of food on her dish with the tips of her fork.

Ruby grinned, elbowing her partner. "What did I tell you?"

Rolling her eyes good-naturedly, the heiress playfully shoved Ruby, who took it with a giggle.

Across the table, Yang and Blake shared knowing looks.

"Oh," Weiss said suddenly, setting her utensils down. "Since we're all here, I'd like to set some ground rules."

"Ground rules? Seriously?" Yang uttered in mild disbelief.

Pushing her plate aside, Weiss laced her hands together on the table. "If we're going to be living together, there are going to be boundaries that must be laid down, and compromises to be made."

The blonde's face scrunched in distaste. "You're not going to pull out a list from your skirt, are you? Or a 'How To: Team-Building' book?"

"Don't be absurd, Yang. There aren't any pockets," she earnestly replied with a frown.

Yang blinked, caught off-guard by her answer. "... I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a joke."

Blake cleared her throat. "Rules?" she helpfully prompted.

Weiss acknowledged her with a bob of the head. "Firstly, we're limiting how much sugar Ruby can consume."

Ruby gaped at her partner. "You can't do that!" she cried. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions!"

Weiss casted her a withering glance. "As long as you stay here, I'm not letting you rot all your teeth away, Ruby. My house, my rules."

Yang groaned, digging the heels of her palm into her eyes. "Way to pull one of the most cliché lines from the book."

Since the blonde's gaze wasn't on Weiss, she completely missed the smirk that quirked the heiress's lips. "Speaking of clichés," she smoothly continued, tone laced with smug satisfaction, "no boys."

"What are you, our mother?" the blonde scoffed.

"Your mother did tell me to implement this, actually," Weiss answered evenly, nonchalantly inspecting her nails.

"Seriously? Seriously?" Yang blurted, her hands going limp so that she could stare at the heiress in pure disbelief. "When did you talk to our mom about this?! Why do you even talk to our mom?!"

"I've spoken quite frequently to her as well. She's a very nice woman," Blake added sincerely. "She gave us her phone number so that we could consult her at any time."

Yang slumped into her seat, reeling from shock. "This can't be happening," she breathed. "My friends are befriending my mom."

"Didn't mom tell you guys a bunch of stories about Yang when she was a baby too?" Ruby innocently queried, unknowingly delivering the final blow to her sister's fragile psyche.

The blonde slapped her hands to her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. "This isn't real, I'm asleep in my bed," she muttered repeatedly as a mantra, trying to ward off the shame. Blake rubbed her shoulder empathetically.

"Speaking of sleeping," Weiss said, fluidly picking off from where she left, "no tuna after dark." Her gaze flicked to meet amber eyes. "This means you, Blake."

The faunus glowered petulantly.

"I'd also like to ask that no one bursts into my room without permission," Weiss requested, though her tone was firm and made the sentence sound more like a demand than anything else. "It's common courtesy to knock and wait for a response. I will, of course, do the same."

"And finally," the heiress said, kicking Yang's shin to get her attention, "no listening to music at ridiculously loud volumes. The walls aren't paper-thin, but they aren't soundproofed either."

"If you tell me we have curfews, I'm gone," Yang warned tersely.

"I'm neither your keeper nor guardian, so no," she dryly remarked. "But otherwise, unless anyone else has something they'd like to contribute, these are all the rules I expect everybody to follow."

Ruby, in spite of the rule restricting her sugar intake, consented to her partner's stipulations. She saw very little wrong in everything else, and Ruby figured that she could sneak by Weiss one way or the other. Maybe with Blake's help.

A quick non-verbal conversation happened between faunus and young leader solidified their unspoken alliance, and Blake voiced her agreement shortly after.

Beaten and outnumbered, Yang had no choice but to acquiesce. Honestly, the blonde wasn't even concerned about the 'no boys' part; she was just upset that some sort of camaraderie was forming between her mother and friends – one that surely spelt the end of Yang's dominating streak.

"Is Bumblebee here?" Yang grumbled, running a hand through her thick tresses. "I need to go for a ride. Clear my head before I get some kind of aneurysm."

"Bumblebee?" Weiss echoed in confusion.

"Yang's bike," Ruby clarified.

"She named her motorcycle?" she asked, not quite as dubiously as she would have liked. Weiss paused but for a second before she flatly stated, "Right, it's Yang."

"Yang is right here y'know," said blonde groused irritably, tapping her foot.

"It's in the garage," the heiress told her as she pointed a slender finger at the living room. "There's a door that leads to it, near the TV."

Yang twisted in her seat and surveyed the room, quickly spotting the aforementioned door, tucked away behind a tiny corner. Her chair scraped along the floor as she stood, grabbing her empty plate and cutlery. The blonde swiftly deposited them in the sink, and headed for the stairs.

When she returned into view moments later, familiar brown leather jacket fit snugly over her lithe form and motorcycle key swung mindlessly on a finger, she looked brighter. "Later, guys!" she called back, marching out to the garage.

Blake sighed, unhurriedly gathering the utensils around her. "I guess we're left to do the dishes."

Ruby smiled sheepishly on behalf of her sister. "Yang never liked cleaning up anyway," she said, pitching in to help the faunus.

The heiress huffed, plopping back into her seat when Ruby halted her attempt to help with a hand on the shoulder and an affectionate grin. "We'll just set up some form of rotation from now on," Weiss said, playing with the tips of her ponytail.

Just when they thought everything had finally wind down, they heard a distant crash and warbling of metal that seemed to originate from the living room. A loud curse – one that could have made a sailor blush – followed.

Glancing at each other, the trio quickly dropped whatever they were doing and darted for the garage.

Ruby yawned, switching off the giant flat screen with a flick of the remote. She stretched languidly across the couch, her tank top riding up just enough to expose a strip of skin to the cool, light ministrations of the air-conditioner.

After the debacle that was her sister trying – and failing – to open the garage door, the rest of the night had been uneventful. They had all split up to return to their own rooms, and that had been the last time Ruby had seen Blake or Weiss. It hadn't taken long for the young leader to feel hair-tearing boredom set in, and after a bit of rolling around on her bed to break it in and a lot of thumb twiddling, she had swiftly departed for a shower in the adjacent bathroom. It had been a bit of a mess, with her sister's beauty products shoved into every nook and cranny of storage, but Ruby had just been glad she managed to take a shower before the bomb that was Yang's daily regime went off.

Once she was done towelling her hair, Ruby's restlessness had returned with full force. Pacing would do her little good, because it couldn't occupy her brain, and she had – to everyone's surprise – already completed her holiday assignments. Left with little else to do, and not wanting to follow in her studious partner's footsteps of creating pre-lecture notes, Ruby exited her humble quarters with the aim of finding something to hold her interest.

As she approached Weiss's room, she heard the sound of the shower running, and immediately veered for the staircase. She knew just how much Weiss valued her privacy, and interrupting her shower time was perhaps the second most grievous infringement of said solitude. The first being entering her room or personal space without permission, of course. And so, Ruby – having learnt from past mistakes – crossed Weiss off her mental list as she slowly descended the steps.

Ruby had then contemplated hanging out with Blake, but when she tried opening the faunus's door, it had been locked.

Thus, with few other alternatives, she found herself in front of the television, watching late-night cartoons.

Ruby craned her neck to check the clock, noting that an hour had passed since. She sat up, deciding to check on Blake again; she wanted to make sure the faunus was alright, firstly, and if the latter allowed, Ruby desired spending some time with her enigmatic teammate. After all, they were already in their second year together, and Ruby was nowhere closer to cracking the tough nut that was Blake Belladonna.

Something had to change.

Creeping over to Blake's room, Ruby lightly rapped her knuckles on the door and waited patiently for a response.

After a few beats of silence, Ruby tried again, knocking harder.

The door creaked open.

Her eyebrows knitted. Confused and slightly worried about her friend's lack of reaction – especially when her ears should have easily heard her – Ruby pushed the already ajar door wide open.

What greeted her was something she had never expected to see.

There, in the centre of the room was Blake, sat rather cosily in a cardboard box.

Her head jolted and turned to face Ruby the moment she stepped in. "... I can explain."

Ruby blinked. "... I won't tell if we can play pretend together?" she offered, closing the door behind her.

Amber eyes stared into unwavering greys. "... Fine, but I'm piloting the ship."

Weiss groaned, the thunderous scuffling outside having roused her from slumber. A shrill shriek cut through the air, followed by more heavy footfalls that were punctuated by the slamming of a door. The heiress tried to block out the noise by burying her head into her pillow, but the relentless yells and pounding of fists against wood refused to cease. She huffed, knowing there was no more rest to be had.

Sluggishly sitting up, Weiss rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Blinking blearily, it took a while for the heiress to muster enough willpower to leave her supple bed and groggily stumble into the attached bathroom.

For the past week, this had been what the heiress awoke to. Every morning, without fail, the sisters would brawl over who would use their bathroom first – a struggle that predictably ended with the same victor each and every time, considering their semblances.

Following a quick shower, the heiress, now refreshed and alert, made her way to the dining room. She greeted Blake, who returned the salutation through a mouthful of tuna sandwich. As Weiss poured herself a mug of coffee, the first floor's bathroom door flew open, releasing a plume of steam. Yang, covered only in a towel that barely covered her voluptuous body, padded out of the room with a glower. "Blake, your hair clogged the shower again!"

Blake looked visibly peeved. "Firstly, it wasn't me. Secondly, it's my shower, Yang."

"Unless Sadako's moved in with us, no one else in this house has long black hair." The blonde raked her wet hair back with a hand, disgruntled. "Look, no matter how great your hair is, shedding that much isn't natural. I'm lending you some of my shampoo."

"Yang–"

"And you!" she cried, whirling on Weiss who nonchalantly took her seat at the table while sipping her drink. "Why didn't you build more bathrooms in this place Weiss?!"

Weiss arched an eyebrow. "I hired construction workers, not miracle workers. Their job was merely to spruce this place up. What's wrong with using Blake's?"

Blake sighed, resting her chin on a closed fist as she scrutinised her partner with half-lidded eyes. "I don't recall this happening when we stayed at your parents' house."

"That's because the last time we fought for the toilet back home, we put a major dent in the wall. Mom threw a fit and we've been chummy ever since," Yang explained with a shrug.

"Go put on some clothes," the faunus wearily commanded. "We have class in thirty minutes."

Weiss's eyes widened. "Thirty minutes? What time–"

"You all overslept," Blake interjected, knowing that the heiress would ramble and stress unnecessarily if she wasn't stopped. "Calm down, we'll make it on time if everyone," she emphasised, shooting a pointed look at her partner, "is ready in ten."

Yang yielded, but not before exclaiming as she plodded up the stairs, "We still need to do something about your hair! And make Weiss eat something!"

"Got it!" Ruby's voice chimed in.

Mere moments later, said girl rounded the bend, heading straight for their kitchen cupboards. Stopping in front of her designated cabinet, Ruby flung the door open and yanked out a box of cereal – Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes to be precise – from the sugar-laden storage. Then, she swiftly extracted two bowls and spoons from the drawer, before picking up a carton of milk from the refrigerator on her way to the dining table.

Weiss blanched as her partner set the colourful box down, trying to purge the memories. "Seriously?"

Ruby toothily grinned, popping open the box. "It's quick!"

"What happened to making me eat healthily?" Weiss accused, wrinkled her nose in distaste as Ruby poured a mound of cereal in one bowl, and a more reasonable portion into the other, before liberally dousing them with milk. "We were doing so well until today."

The young leader slid filled bowl and spoon to her friend before collapsing into her own seat directly across from her, ravenously tucking into her breakfast. "Weiss, time is of the essence!" she said through a mouthful of slurry.

"And whose fault is that," Weiss grumbled, reluctantly starting on her meal. To her surprise, it didn't overwhelm her palette as she had expected it to, the savoury corn base contrasting against its sweet marshmallow flavouring. Granted, it was still far too cloying for regular consumption, but the heiress could see its appeal. Not that she would ever admit it.

By the time Yang returned, Ruby had demolished more than half the box, while Weiss was on the last few spoonful of her first bowl. "Ready to go, ladies?" Yang chirped, casually shouldering her backpack.

Blake stood and moved to deposit her dish into the sink. "Not having anything to eat?"

"Nora texted me earlier, said there were pancakes," the blonde replied, shaking her cellphone for emphasis. "I have an hour in-between my morning lectures, so…"

"I'll be missing pancakes?" Ruby mourned.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's not all you'll be missing if we keep dallying. We need to get our stuff."

"But our first block is World Geography, and I always keep my book in my locker!" she proudly declared.

The heiress furrowed her brows. "... Didn't we have homework due today?"

Ruby stared blankly at her for a beat before her eyes bulged. "Oh my gosh–"

"Clear our bowls. I'll go get my bag and lend you my copy," Weiss groused, already stomping to the steps.

As the young leader scrambled to collect their utensils, she profusely thanked her partner.

"This is the last time, Ruby! I mean it!" Weiss yelled, disappearing up the stairs.

Yang grinned, watching her sister deflate. "But Weiss, that's what you said the last time!"

"Be quiet, you brute!"

Later that day, Weiss Schnee found herself alone in the house.

The rest of her team were still stuck in Beacon Academy, immersed in the world that was Dust Theory 102. Weiss, as the Schnee Dust Company heiress, had opted to take a more advance elective, hence their divide in schedules.

Weiss had returned after a hectic day – no thanks to her partner – and revelled in the silence. Intending to make the best of the brief reprieve from her rowdy friends, the heiress had high-tailed it to her room and immediately set to work on her assignments.

Roughly an hour later, she was pulled away from the riveting subject of Grimm Biology by the shrill ding of their doorbell. Weiss huffed and stormed out of her room, ready to chew out Ruby for leaving her keys at home again.

However, when she wrenched the door open, her expression scrunched in a scowl, it was not Ruby she faced. Rather, a surprised postman stood on their porch with a stack of boxes piled high on the cart next to him.

Weiss cleared her throat, any trace of annoyance wiped from her face. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, delivery for Miss Xiao Long," he said, handing her a pen and clipboard. "Sign here, please."

The heiress's forehead wrinkled, but scrawled her signature in the provided space. She passed it back to the man, who checked it quickly before gesturing for her to step aside while he wheeled everything in and swiftly unloaded the cartons.

He departed as abruptly as he had arrived, leaving Weiss alone to goggle at the unanticipated shipment.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Weiss ripped off the tape sealing one of the many boxes and peered inside. Her eyebrows shot up as she took in the carton full of shampoo.

Just then, the front door flew open and the rest of Team RWBY trickled into the residence. "We're home!" Ruby yelled, fists up in the air.

Weiss whirled on the ball of her foot, and she directed a hard stare at the blonde in their group. "What on earth are all these boxes of shampoo for?"

Lilac eyes brightened as she appraised the stack. "Oh, they're here!"

"That doesn't answer my question!" Weiss snapped.

"Geez, chill Weiss," the blonde said defensively. "Firstly, it's not all shampoo. There's conditioner too. And secondly, they're part of my sponsorship."

The heiress crossed her arms. "Sponsorship?" she queried with knitted brows.

"Yang's the spokesperson for F'oreal!" Ruby elucidated from the couch, where she was nestled comfortably between the throw pillows with TV remote in hand.

"... Are you–"

"–for real? Yes I am!" Yang exclaimed over her friend with a toothy grin, causing the heiress to bury her face in her hands.

Blake sympathetically rubbed Weiss's back. "Speak of the devil," she commented, tipping her chin at the television which Ruby just switched on.

Weiss peeked through her fingers to see Yang on the monitor, flipping her tresses as she regarded the camera with a playful wink.

"Glamorous hair? Weave got that covered. Now you'll have locks to talk about with F'oreal's new anti-shedding formula, guaranteed to prevent excessive hair loss. No more stresses for your tresses. Why should you settle for second best? F'oreal. Because you're worth it."

The heiress groaned loudly, ignoring the happy little jig Yang did off to the side at the barrage of puns.

"I asked the director if we could put in the line, 'We do your 'do from doodoo to done did', but he rejected the idea," Yang quipped with a gleeful smile.

"Spare me your anecdotes," Weiss muttered into her palm.

Blake chuckled, hearing the muffled sentence. "And this is part of the reason why any bathroom Yang stakes claim to is a mess."

"Whoa hey," Yang interrupted, looking offended, "a girl needs those things."

"No one needs five different moisturisers," Blake dryly retorted.

"Of course they do!" Yang asserted. "One's for winter, one's for the rest of the seasons, gentle no-wash cleansing is a must for busy days, another is supposed to be worked into a lather, and the last is for emergencies!"

"Variety is the spice of life," Ruby joked.

"Hang on," Weiss cut in, addressing the blonde. "If you have a sponsorship, you must be making money."

"Yep!"

The heiress frowned. "So what happened at the beach?"

"Mom and Dad limit my spending," Yang explained. "Something about a lack of impulse control. Pssht."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Ruby chimed in, craning her head over the back of the sofa. "They tell me the same thing."

"Parents, right?" Yang said, breaking into a fit of giggles with her younger sister.

Blake and Weiss exchanged exasperated stares.

The harsh red light from her digital clock indicated that it was two in the morning, but Ruby Rose paid it no heed, focused on a particularly intense raid in Legacy of Grimm (LoG), Vytal's fastest growing massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

She had finally lucked out and got the privilege to play alongside the esteemed GlacialRegent, and she was not going to squander the opportunity.

After the summer holiday she spent with the rest of her team, Ruby became an avid video gamer. She held a casual interest in it beforehand, and was well-versed in numerous board games, but never had she quite been so riveted by them until she played the extensive collection kept in the Schnee beach villa. There, having discovered the sheer diversity and endless possibilities in the gaming world, was where Ruby truly fell in love.

Immediately upon getting home, she tried to convince her parents into purchasing a laptop. It took wheedling and accepting more than twice her normal amount of chores, but Ruby would swear that the day she woke up to a sleek red notebook on her bedside table made every bit of suffering worth it.

Over the rest of their vacation, Ruby immersed herself in a multitude of games. But none more so than Legacy of Grimm.

From the instant she was plunged into a world where the character creation screen had over twenty options for eye colour alone, Ruby had been hooked. The boundless imagination and creativity authorised when creating a persona, the display of heroics and absolute importance her character held, the insurmountably cool weapons and outfits, and the difficult yet not life-risking challenges presented in monster-filled dungeons, as well as the thrill that accompanied conquering them… Ruby loved all of it.

If Ruby had to estimate, she sank at least two hundred hours into the game by this point. And while she met a handful of people who were absolutely fantastic company, none intrigued her more so than GlacialRegent.

Having faced a number of hurdles during her first couple of forays, particularly with hotkey placements and maximising her Dragoon's damage output, Ruby had searched online for guides to help her improve her play style. Many of the best guides – seventeen of them, to be precise – were written by the same person: GlacialRegent. Eloquent, concise and informative, GlacialRegent made a household name of themselves within the Legacy of Grimm community as one of the elite, and had the chops in raid teams to boot, as Ruby was witnessing first-hand. She – or their character anyway, for Ruby quickly learnt that not all people play their genders – had started as a Swashbuckler, excelling in her role as a damage dealer. However, after the last run, one of their healers had to leave. Finding one through the Party Finder at this time was nigh impossible, and so, GlacialRegent swapped to her preferred healing class, leaving space for a DPS unit that was quickly filled.

They were just wrapping up their second run with their new arrangement on what was irrefutably the hardest eight-man dungeon in the game, and GlacialRegent was easily coping with the barrage of incoming damage, in spite of their second healer having fallen. As expected of a pro at that calibre, Ruby gushed in admiration.

As they knocked the boss down to a sliver of health, Ruby hastily executed the team's Limit Break, inflicting massive damage to the boss with a glorious bang, and triggering its death cutscene.

In her room, the young leader slumped into her seat with a shuddering sigh. They had almost slipped up there, as the newcomer struggled to keep up with the necessary damage-per-second output, and the boss had been moments away from wiping the group. Nevertheless, she fought to keep them afloat – a desperation born from the sheer virtue of not wanting to disappoint the player she so greatly idolised – and managed to defeat their adversary just in the nick of time. Ruby flexed her cramped fingers as she checked their latest loot drop. Mage equipment.

Her nose wrinkled and she declined the offer, allowing someone else to lay claim. Ruby disliked playing mages – too squishy.

Smacking her lips together, it occurred to Ruby that she was feeling incredibly parched. She typed a quick 'brb' to her teammates in the chat, intent on getting a drink before their next run commenced.

As she padded down the dark hallway, Ruby noticed light trickling through Weiss's ajar door.

Her eyebrows furrowed. 'Why is Weiss up so late?'

She remembered the rules Weiss laid out when they first moved in, of course. And she also remember the punishments doled out back when they roomed together in the Beacon dormitories, whenever she was caught breaking Weiss's rules, like eating in their room. But that didn't dissuade a sleepy, curious Ruby from creeping over to peek through the gap – to check on her friend, out of the goodness of her heart. Rules were meant to be broken, after all, and her inhibitions and sense of self-preservation were down.

In a small corner of her mind, Ruby realised that this would be the first time she'd catch a glimpse of Weiss's room.

And what a glimpse it was.

From the gap, Ruby spotted Weiss at her computer – what looked like a full rig, if the dual monitors and headphones over her ears were any indication.

Ruby gasped, and the door creaked a little as she scampered to try and get a closer look, making just enough noise for Weiss's spine to go ramrod. The heiress swivelled around in her chair to stare at grey eyes.

They maintained eye contact through the tiny space for a few beats, before Ruby mustered the nerve to enter the room. "That's a cool rig," she casually remarked, inching closer despite Weiss's eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.

"What are you doing up at this time, Ruby?" Weiss asked slowly, deliberately, as she hung her headphones around her neck.

The young leader flashed her a guilty grin. "Playing video games. What about you?"

Before Weiss could respond, or even react, Ruby vanished in a mist of rose petals and re-appeared right next to her, peeking at her screens. "Ooh, I love this game!" she exclaimed, eyes lighting up at the familiar sight of Legacy of Grimm.

"Ruby! What did I tell you about respecting my privacy!" Weiss yelled, scrambling to turn off her monitors. Ruby pulled her back into a hug, restraining the heiress's flailing arms.

"But this is awesome because we can play together!" Ruby argued with a wide smile. "Who–"

Ruby froze, spotting Weiss's avatar standing next to a familiar one – her own. Her gaze flitted to the chat box and confirmed her suspicions. "You're GlacialRegent?" she disbelievingly asked, pulling away from her friend to stare into her eyes, though her hands remained firmly planted on her arms.

Weiss huffed as pink dusted her cheeks. "Yes, do you have a problem with that?"

"N-no!" Ruby spluttered. "I'm Crimson Avenger! The one who just went afk!"

Weiss blinked, inwardly chastising herself for not making the connection. Of course xxxCrimson_Avengerxxx was Ruby. That was glaringly obvious. "Oh."

"Yeah," Ruby whispered.

They stared awkwardly at one another for a few seconds, Weiss still half in Ruby's arms. The young leader nervously toed the floor. "... Do you still wanna play together?" she gingerly asked, hope in her inflection.

The heiress pursed her lips in thought. "... Sure. You aren't half bad."

Ruby rewarded her with a megawatt grin as she bounced away. "Great! Uh," she paused, suddenly looking sheepish. "You still have to wait though. I haven't gotten a drink yet."

"Wait," Weiss commanded right as Ruby stepped over the threshold. She bent down to reach under her desk, pulling out a bottle of cold water from what Ruby presumed was a mini fridge. "Here," she said, tossing it to her partner, who caught it with ease.

Ruby's brows raised in astonishment as she inspected the drink in her hand. "Wow, you are hardcore," Ruby teased as she twisted off the bottle cap, thoroughly impressed by her partner's setup.

"Hush, you dolt," Weiss dismissed with an almost imperceptible smile. "Now hurry up. I still need a new pair of boots, and just because we know each other in real life, doesn't mean I'm going to take it easy on you."

Ruby swallowed a large swig of water and gave Weiss a thumbs up. "Wouldn't have it any other way, partner!"

"Ruby!" Weiss called right as Ruby disappeared from view.

Said girl's head peeked around her doorframe. "Yes Weiss?"

"This stays between us," Weiss ordered.

Ruby's lips quirked into a lopsided grin and she pantomimed zipping her lips shut. "Gotcha."

"And close the door!"

AN: Second arc, go! Expect more development – both character and romance-wise – from hereon in.

Shameless plug: a one-shot about future Ruby/Weiss from this continuity has been written and uploaded. It's the third chapter of Prosaic, titled 'Zipper'. I personally loved writing it, and it's what inspired low BP Weiss. She did wake up late in the first volume, and while I know it's likely attributed to her heiress-y status, I figure hypotension could be a thing too.

Didn't expect myself to make so many references to the week at the Xiao Long-Rose household which happened off-screen, but the more I threw in, the more I grew to love their mother. The perfect foil to our guile blonde.

A lot of Legacy of Grimm was modelled after Final Fantasy: A Realm Reborn, since that has been the most recent MMO I've played. Idea of gamer!Weiss spawned last year while talking to Pianist707, so shoutout.

Credits to Tiky for all those hair puns.

And thanks to Glant/H'te Rarpee and Tiky for their help, as always.