Chapter Forty One.

"What am I supposed to do? How can you just leave me like this?"

"Sun, quit being dramatic. We've discussed this for months and I'm literally moving into another apartment in the same complex."

"Yes, but without me. And the plants! What am I to do?"

He collapses onto the couch with the back of his hand against his forehead. You know that he's just messing with you. That he's not actually upset.

"Would you quit being such a diva! Ruby is moving in with you next week. I'm sure you will survive."

"You're one to talk, Weiss. Or should I say, roommate thief?"

"Call me what you like, but you've lived with Blake long enough. It's someone else's turn." You can see the antagonistic glimmer in his eye as you walk past them both and into the kitchen.

"Yeah, except for Blake and I weren't shacking up in sin." Sun wiggles his eyebrows and Weiss crosses her arms in opposition.

"So what if we are?"

That catches your attention, ears perking up. Weiss is usually gravely modest and is easily embarrassed by insinuations of that nature. You peek back around the wall from the kitchen to watch what is about to happen.

"It would be perfectly acceptable for Blake and I to do… things." You lightly chuckle to yourself at the obvious discomfort in her voice. "And we've been dating almost a year now. It's 100% normal."

"Uh huh, I've heard what you consider 100% normal on a few occasions when you've stayed the night before Weiss. Trust me, I know."

This makes you laugh out loud. You can't hold it back. The color of Weiss' face is borderline crimson. If it were possible to die of embarrassment, you'd have to start making funeral arrangements. She walks over and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek and makes her move towards the door.

"I'm going to go start unpacking. I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'm going to grab the last few boxes and I'll be done. I'll be there soon."

"See you later, ice queen." Weiss responds by showing Sun the perfectly manicured nail on her middle finger as she walks out the door. After getting the last few boxes of your things into the back of Weiss' SUV, you leave the apartment as a resident one last time.

—

You let Sun keep most of the shared furniture and decor that you bought during the years you stayed there. Taking only a few kitchen items that Sun never uses and a chair from the living room and a random table that you left against a wall.

Weiss had been really excited to go shopping with you and pick out new things for the apartment together. Which had been a very interesting experience. You had no idea how mentally draining buying a couch could be. Or how expensive it was to buy throw pillows. But you managed to find everything you needed and get all the big items moved into your new space.

This past week you had both spent it slowly moving boxes full of things from your respective old apartments into your new one. And you had just finished your last trip. You set the box down on the kitchen counter for unpacking and walk into the living room and flop down next to Weiss on the couch. Laying down, you rest the back of your head on her right thigh and look up at her.

"This is definitely not your best angle."

"Well no one said you had to look at me from that angle, you dolt." She absentmindedly runs her fingers through your hair, lightly scratching near the bottom of your Faunus ears.

"What would you like me to make for dinner? It's getting late and I'm kind of hungry."

"I don't care, surprise me." You swing your legs off the couch and make your way back to the kitchen and look through the cabinets.

"Okay, canned cat food it is."

"Why would we even have any of that?" You hear her yell from the living room.

"I swear, sometimes I think your sense of humor got lost one day and never found its way home."

You spend the next half hour cooking while you unpack the last few boxes you brought full of kitchen items. You decided to make some stir fry with chicken. Mostly because your ingredient list was rather limited. And it was something quick to make. As you add sauce into the pan you hear the light padding sound of feet on the hardwood flooring. Shortly after, Weiss hugs you from behind, resting her chin on your shoulder. Peering over to watch you cook. After you eat, Weiss cleans the dishes. That has always been the rule. If you cook, you don't have to do the dishes. So, needless to say, Weiss does a lot of cleaning dishes.

"We only have one box left to unpack. Do you want to wait until tomorrow after work or just do it now?"

"How big is the box? I'm pretty tired and I have to get to work by nine tomorrow. I have a conference call with Ozpin."

"Oh yes, now that you are the big bad lead repair technician, I forgot."

You shake your head as you help her load dishes into the dishwasher. Ozpin had literally begged you to take the position when it became available. It wasn't something that you asked for or were actively seeking. But hey, the extra money was nice.

"Eh, it's really not all it's cracked up to be. That's for sure. Mostly because half of our co workers are actual morons."

"That's the Gods honest truth. Screw it, we can unpack the box tomorrow. I'm exhausted."

—

Work the next day had been the usual boring monotonous stuff. People breaking their scrolls and thinking that they should be fixed for free. When Weiss gets home, about an hour after you, she finds you reading on the lounger in the spare bedroom that you both decided would be a library and reading room.

"Hey you. What are you reading?" She leans over and wraps her arms around your neck.

"Just some book I found when I was unpacking the other day. It's actually one of my dad's old textbooks from some class he took in college. It's boring to read but the pictures are super cool." You hold the book up so she can see it better, it's some Menagerian plant life book.

"Do you want to go ahead and unpack that last dreaded box so we can get it over it?"

"Sure, I'll go get it."

When you pick it up, you notice the box feels oddly weighted. But it's taped shut so you couldn't look inside until you cut it open.

"Well that wasn't what I expected to find in there at all. This must be yours, because it's not mine. I don't think I've ever owned one of these."

"Really, Blake? Your father is a highly intellectual individual and knowing that you love playing board games, you've honestly never owned a chess board?"

"Not that I can ever recall, no."

"Let's play."

"Wait, like right now?"

"Oh yes. And we can make a bet on who will win."

"Well since I haven't played chess in probably close to a decade, I don't think this is a fair wager." She gives you the puppy dog eyes and you can't resist. "But I have a hard time telling your stupid cute face no, so sure. Let's play."

"Okay, let's establish our wagers. What would you like if you were to win?"

"Um, how about you do all the dishes for a month?"

"That's easy, deal."

"Well? What would you like to bet for if you win."

"I want to adopt a cat." You feign shock as you clutch a hand to your chest.

"Am I not good enough?"

"Blake, don't be ridiculous. You are not a cat. And while I completely adore and love your Faunus ears, I've always wanted to have a cat. And I feel like it will be a good first step for us as like.. you know.. a big thing."

"Hmm, okay. If you win, we will go to the animal shelter this weekend and adopt a cat. Irony withstanding."

Your agreement is enough to make her lightly clap her hands together and hop up and down in her seat. Which is cute as hell and makes you smile like a fool.

"Okay, time to kick your ass at chess."

"Calm down, Schnee. It's just a game."

—

Nothing was ever just a game.

After over an hour of ruthless back and forth, things were coming to a close. And it wasn't looking good for you.

"You know how much I love you, right?" She looks you dead in your eyes and for a split second you see a look that could've been mistaken for 'I'm sorry.' But it was quickly followed by Weiss slamming her queen down onto the board into the space adjacent to your king.

"BOOM. Checkmate!"

You hate losing. But you fought a hard fight. Couldn't hurt your cause to look a little bit dejected. You let your Faunus ears hang down and glance over towards your shoes.

"Oh come on Blake."

She gets up and moves to sit on your lap, cupping her hands to your face so that she can look in your eyes.

"It's just a game." She says quietly to you.

You get her while she's off guard. Placing a quick and unexpected kiss to her lips. She kisses you back and you both easily get carried away. Hands roam to places and fingertips touch skin when they reach a little too far underneath clothes. Eventually you lose your balance and slip down onto the floor.

She quietly hums your name as you kiss down the side of her neck while sliding your free hand up her arm to lace your fingers with hers. When she tries to press against you to switch places, your legs get tangled and she ends up kicking the table next to you. The chessboard flips off the table and smacks you in the head, causing you to grunt in pain. She rubs your head in the spot the board hit as you both laugh.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Maybe it's a sign that the floor between the table and the lounger may not be the best place for" you look down at the two of you, bodies squeezed together between piece of furniture "this."

Weiss huffs in disappointment. "No, I suppose not."

You find a place to get your palms down so that you can press yourself up without squashing Weiss any further. Extending your hand to her once you are upright to pull her with you. She presses her forehead to yours, just like you used to.

"Too close." She whispers into your mouth.

"But never close enough." You give her one last kiss as she smiles into your lips. "Okay, so what kind of cat are we getting?"

"You're really going to let me get one!?"

"Absolutely, a promise is a promise. And who wouldn't want one?"

She squeezes you into an intense bear bug. But eventually lower her arms to wrap around your back, just above your waist, resting her head in the crook of your neck.

"Blake Belladonna, why are you so amazing?"

"Because I love you, Weiss Schnee. Always have. Always will."