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“Ruby, Blake, Yang…I can’t believe you came for me…”
Tears swelled at the edges of the heiress’ eyes but she pushed them back, squeezing her eyelids shut together and shaking her head frantically.
“Of course we’d come for you, Weiss! We’re team RWBY!” Ruby’s high pitched voice chimed.
The youngest Schnee suddenly turned to her teammates with sad eyes.
“I can’t leave. My-..My father..I’ll be tracked down and brought back before we leave Atlas.”
All eyes in the room turned sympathetic, Blake’s hitting a spot on the floor, Ruby’s wide with sorrow and Yang’s only filled with a little sadness as half the time nowadays, her expression seemed blank as if she were permanently lost.
“But you have to come! We’ll figure out away! I’ll sneak you in my bag or something! Zwei, get out of these, I need the space! You and Weiss won’t both fit in there!”
Her backpack growled in response.
Weiss had a sad smile on her lips and silence engulfed the room for several moments.
Just as Blake opened her mouth, she was cut off by Ruby, her amber eyes turning up in annoyance- that earning a small snicker from Yang and placing the smile back on the faunus’ lips.
“What about your sister?! She can help, right?” The redhead bounced excitedly, halting with wide mock guilty eyes as she heard a wince from inside her bag.
“I don’t know…Winter wasn’t exactly happy last time I left…” Was the hesitant reply
“But sisters should want the best for you!”
A sigh elicited from the youngest Schnee, icey hues avoiding eye.
“I could try but-“ An odd sound along the lines of ‘GAHHH’ came from the ice princess’ mouth, her arm being tugged along by Ruby.
“Well, that’s good enough for me! And Weiss, We. Not I.”
The older Schnee, of course, had her own apartment. Whilst she depended on her father growing, for his money, she had become part of the Atlas military-it was hardly acceptable to live with your parents still with such a prestigious job. That didn’t stop her from visiting a lot though. However, Weiss had to hope she wasn’t home. She couldn’t risk walked right into a house where her father could be, working from home in or doing paperwork in his office, and ask for Winter to practically cover her escape.
The apartments where Winter lived were luxurious. Coloured white and grey to fit Atlas colours and filled with room to spare- a lot, in Winter’s case as she was rarely ever there; either on an Atlesian airship or at the Schnee manor. There was an apartment per floor, and Winter was at the top of her building- her father’s doing because he insisted she live somewhere nice. After all, one couldn’t bring the Schnee name down.
Team RWBY waltzed through the white and cream coloured hall to the end, Weiss leading, and almost immediately knocked when she reached the double doors, insistent and demanding.
Seconds past, and the heiress stood, tapping her foot, arms folded and eyebrows arched, impatiently.
Finally there was an answer.
The older Schnee pulled one door open cautiously. However, this didn’t stop Weiss from walking right in, even with the little space, the Atlesian colours being seen on her sister out the corner of her eye. The rest of Team RWBY followed and winter side stepped, brows raised, and practically hid behind the door.
“Weiss, I-! “ Winter began, only to be cut off.
“Winter, it’s really good to see you, but I have to talk to you about something! “
No time passed for a response or an answer, the youngest Schnee continuing to talk and Ruby was stuck in an awkward curtsey, Blake’s amber hues narrowed and regarding the apartment (the ivory sofa, the cream carpet, the white drapes-all different shades of one colour) and Yang stood, staring at the floor with a blank expression.
Winter still hadn’t moved from behind the door, the white sleeve of her jacket covering more than usual, creases to show it had been rolled up and still reached just past her fingertips.
Weiss still seemed insistent on talking about her plan, though.
“I’m leaving Atlas. Again. And before you say anything, it’s to help my friends, my fellow students and the innocents of Vale. They were all in such a terrible position and I was ready to help-but father took me away. And I have no doubt that if he finds out I’m going to leave, he’ll try and stop me again. “
Now, there was a pause.
“However, I’m not going to get his permission or even let him find out until I’ve left. And I’m hoping someone will distract him whilst we take on of his ships…And then possibly persuade him that it was for a good cause once he figures out I’ve left.
"I’m hoping that someone will be you. “
There was an audible inhale of a breath.
“I know he’ll cut me off, he’ll probably hate me and you will too as he won’t take the news that I’ve left too well. And I hate to do this to you, bu-“
The smaller girl was cut off as a clatter from the kitchen was heard- a painted white wall standing in between the central area and the noise.
“Winter, what’s g…” Weiss’ eyes finally registered on her sister, her white porcelain skin, much like the younger’s, now a deeper red in a blush. She still stood behind the door.
White eyebrows arched, and lips parted to ask another question when they were cut off from a high pitched squeak from the youngest of them-Ruby.
Weiss turned around immediately, but heard Ruby’s words before she actually saw it.
“UNCLE QROW?!”
In the middle of the grand apartment in the centre of Atlas, stood Qrow Branwen, shirtless and holding two mugs that were emblazoned with the Atlas emblem.
“I-..wha..?” Was all that made it from Weiss’s, mouth.
All eyes were on the guest now, mouths opened slightly in a gawk.
Silence draped across the room for a moment.
“EWWWWWWW! EW EW EW EW EEEEWWWWW!”
Ruby was the one to brake it.
“Uncle Qrow and Weiss’ sister?! EW!”
The fifteen year old continued to show her disgust, Yang behind her with eyebrows raised.
The heiress turned to her sister. Winter had come out from her hiding spot, the door lazily closing.
The ice princess’ eyebrows somehow arched deeper, eyes widening a fraction more as she saw what winter was wearing, perplexed.
The slim figure of Winter Schnee was hidden by military jacket-Atlesian- that made it past her fingers, covered her thighs but didn’t quite make it to her knees and hugged the jacket closed with her arms crossed over her front.
All attention was brought back to Qrow again when he spoke.
“Hey, we’re two consenting adults, we weren’t that drunk and we had a good time!”
Whilst he spoke coffee sloshed everywhere with his hand gestures and movement, a drop eventually falling on his foot and burning him with a wince. His fingers around the handle became loose and the mug dropped from his hands.
Everyone expected the worst, a flinch at the ready with eyelids almost already meeting to protect themselves.
However, the only thing that was heard was a clink.
Once again, silence filled the room.
This time, Yang was the one to break it.
“WHOA.”
Confusion was the expression on the other three of team RWBY’s faces, their eyes all then hitting what had somehow gained a emotion filled reaction out of the blonde.
James Ironwood.
Shirtless. Gloveless. Iron side showing. Scar down the front showing. And muscles showing too.
The blush on his face was also showing as well.
He had caught the mug just in time, carrying his own too.
He moved past Qrow, eyes following him (especially Qrow’s own red hues that winked at him as he passed) and held the mug out for winter, one arm staying draped across herself to hide her nudity and the other reaching out to take the coffee from the general.
The tranquillity in the room was becoming awkward, no one daring to speak or make eye contact- not for lack of trying on Qrow’s part, his own gaze deliberately catching Winter’s or James’ sometimes were a devious grin across his face. The other two were still red at being caught out.
“WINTER?!”
A voice suddenly broke the tension, the youngest Schnee looking horrified with her sister, hands clenched into fists and by her side in a tantrum like action.
“I-…Weiss, I can explain…” The older Schnee’s small voice trailed off, the scarlet in her cheeks deepening ever so slightly.
“Really? I hope it’s the opposite of what I’m thinking because my mind is putting together some pretty disgusting ideas, Winter!”
“Hey,” Qrow’s voice chimed in. “like I said, two-..three consensual adults-what’s disgusting to you if a lotta relief for us!”
Visibly, all of team RWBY had a reaction; Blake grimaced slightly, Weiss blanched and Ruby’s face curled into the expression of ‘ew’. Yang still had her eyes on General Ironwood’s nude chest.
“Okay,” The Branwen began, “we are very clearly related because-yeah, that was my reaction too (great taste, by the way). But we are gonna have a serious problem if you keep staring at him like that, Yang Xiao Long.”
Although it was said with in a serious tone, the edges of amusement across the crow’s face were definitely there.
Lilac hues met red. Yang gave a devious smirk. Qrow merely gave an inaudible laugh, winked and mouthed ‘I’ll tell you later’.
Meanwhile, the general now had his crimson face hidden in the crook of his arm, shaking his head and turning away with a murmur.
“Qrow, please…”
A sigh elicited from the red eyed, hand going to his hip.
“Look, clearly you’re all here for a reason. So how about we go make some more coffee, you guys sit down, and talk about whatever you wanna talk about? Good? Great!”
There was little time for objection.
There was an audible ‘yay’ from Ruby however at the mention of coffee-which received an immediate ‘no, not for you’ from Qrow.
Winter sighed and set her own mug down on the glass coffee table before them, sitting down on the cream sofa whilst tugging the military jacket closer to her body.
“Come on, Weiss. What were you saying?”
“Wait what?!” Came the high pitched squeal from the heiress. “That happens and we’re not even going to talk about it?!”
She pointed at the two grown men- Qrow pulling the (still very red) general by the arm back through the arched way into the kitchen whilst he held both mugs of coffee.
“Yes.” Was the response.
Whilst Weiss was still shocked and in her tantrum position, she rolled her eyes in frustration and plopped herself down on the other side of the sofa from Winter-Ruby in between them from where she’d taken her original seat and Blake and Yang stood around the coffee table the be within the conversation.
“What is it you need, sister?”