Chapter 19 – It's Drawl In The Family

Soundtrack: Chocolate Cake – Crowded House

11th of October, 1890.

The American Bar was one of the three gems that studded the crown of the Savoy Hotel. Newly built and furnished, it was the perfect spot for high-class drinking, especially considering the barman's practice of creating new cocktails in honour of distinguished people. It was a practice that Blake Belladonna wanted to exploit for the love of her life, given that Weiss was celebrating her birthday today.

But since Weiss was slated to have a ball during the evening, alongside a breakfast with her parents and great-aunt and a full day of work besides, Blake had to be careful when organising the event. First, she convinced Johannes a week after Cinder's fall that Weiss would be having a business lunch with her new squadron of hunters, discussing tactics, training and upcoming missions from noon to two in the afternoon. Johannes agreed to expense it at the Savoy fairly readily, given his gratitude towards them for ensuring that the Chinese would give him the Dust mines at the end of the year.

Second, Blake had to convince the others to show up with a gift from each of them. Jaune and Pyrrha managed to get half-days off from work to come along, but all of them were stuck for ideas as to what the world's richest and most powerful woman could actually want. Fortunately, Blake had lines of enquiry for each of them to pursue over the next two weeks.

The last part was guaranteed once Blake rang the Savoy to book out a table for eight in the American Bar; in a stroke of luck, the bartender had answered the phone call directly the week before the day. Once he heard the words "Weiss Schnee" and "birthday lunch" in the same sentence, he swore up and down that he'd make Weiss a cocktail in honour of the occasion. He even arranged for a platter of sandwiches and some cakes to be brought in from Escoffier's kitchen, and even asked Blake for the sorts of songs Weiss preferred to hear from the piano player.

And finally, the day arrived. Blake turned off the alarm a minute before it was due, then cleaned herself up in the shower as quickly as possible before rousing her paramour.

"Happy birthday, my snow angel," Blake purred into Weiss's ear.

Weiss yawned and roused herself from the bed with a lazy smile on her face.

"Thanks, my purr-fect queen."

Blake's resultant eye-roll sparked a burst of gentle laughter from Weiss.

"Moving on," the secretary responded, "we've got breakfast in half an hour with your family. Shall we get you dressed and freshened up?"

"We may as well," Weiss conceded, rising out of the bed before a quick shower. Blake decided to save time and get Weiss's blue skirt suit ready, before donning her grey trousers and shirt over her undergarments.

The morning's breakfast proved to be more convivial than usual. Not only had Margerethe shown up as promised, but her sole granddaughter had come to visit from America, where her son had moved long before to hawk the family's wares there. Weiss was stunned to see her second cousin stroll in; though the interloper was a foot taller and not as svelte as her, Weiss could've sworn that this woman was a long-lost sister of sorts upon first seeing her. Then Winter began to speak, and the notion was quickly disabused.

Blake, taking her breakfast separately in deference to the family, met Weiss in the garage around half past eight.

"How did the morning go?", Blake asked politely.

"It was … acceptable," Weiss allowed. "I'm not all that fond of my second cousin though, genial as she may be."

"If Winter really is that kind," Blake asked as they entered their usual car, "then how come you don't like her?"

Weiss grimaced, ashen-faced. "Because it's obvious that she was raised without a shred of elocution or etiquette; as a result, her loud speech is ear-grating to say least."

"And Nora Valkyrie's brogue isn't?"

Weiss was caught completely off-guard by that, but recovered after a pause as Blake fired up the engine and began to drive to the Schnee Tower. "Well … Nora's voice is more melodious. She might be loud, but her voice has a pleasant lilt to it."

"And Winter's doesn't?"

"It's not that, per se," Weiss admitted, in a tone that told Blake that Weiss was trying to look past it. "Winter just sounds like someone who's trying to sound formal, but can't quite manage it. I know she's a nice enough woman, but it's a struggle to look past it."

Blake's stare softened at that. "Nothing worth doing is ever easy."

Weiss nodded, conceding the point. "Fair enough. I wasn't rude to her, if that counts for something."

"It does," Blake replied kindly. "You used to be quite aloof with people, but you've definitely become more collegial in the last month or two."

Weiss reflected on that, and realised what Blake meant. "That's true. I guess having Ruby, Yang and their friends around helped with that."

Blake fought the urge to smirk at that, knowing exactly what she'd arranged for later that day.

After two meetings with shareholders and Weiss tying up her loose ends of business, Blake entered Weiss's office in the Schnee Tower at the stroke of eleven-thirty.

"Weiss, we've got a twelve o'clock meeting in the Strand to tend to."

Weiss looked surprised. "Is that right? Who with?"

"General Ironwood," Blake lied easily. "His staff just made some breakthroughs on that project he spoke of after we defended the Autumn Maiden from those thieves. He wanted you to be the first to know, given that your father was busy arranging tonight's festivities."

Weiss nodded stiffly. "Alright, then. It's best we don't keep him waiting."

Blake relaxed as she followed Weiss out of the office. Nothing like a dash of the truth to garnish a lie, she noted.

Five minutes before twelve, Blake finally led Weiss into the American Bar, which had been decorated in the same Art Deco style as most buildings built in the last decade or so. The pianist, upon sighting Weiss, started to play one of Byrd's madrigals; Weiss had been expecting "jazz", a new style which Winter had spoken of at length over breakfast, and was quite surprised that the pianist knew her tastes. However, that feeling of surprise was amplified astronomically by what awaited her in the private booth on the far wall.

"Happy Birthday!"

Weiss jumped at the sight of Ruby, Jaune, Yang, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora crammed in the booth. A quick glance at Blake revealed that the meeting was a ruse.

"My gift to you."

Weiss smiled almost teary-eyed at the group. "Thanks, everyone."

As Ruby and the others began to hand gifts over, Blake took out a piece of paper that she'd scrawled everyone else's drink orders on and strode to the bar.

"Ah, Miss Belladonna," the bartender greeted. "I presume Miss Schnee and your other guests have arrived?"

"They have indeed, sir," Blake said before handing over the paper. "Here's the drink orders for the table, except for mine,"

"I see," the bartender replied after poring over the writing. "What would you like to drink?"

"A mineral water, please," Blake replied, "because I'm driving."

"Fair enough," the bartender conceded. "I'll get all that right away, along with the food."

Some minutes passed, and the bartender was nearly finished. He'd readied the other drinks on a large tray, but was now preparing the coup de grace for this occasion. The bartender poured half a cup of lemonade into the shaker, along with fifty millilitres of bombay sapphire gin and a dash of blue curacao. He then filled the shaker to its maximum with ice cubes, and shook it vigorously for a full minute.

After that was done, he strained the contents into a chilled glass filled with crushed ice, and garnished the drink with a blueberry lodged on the rim. Before bringing over the new drink, he lifted the glass to mix the now sky-blue concoction and placed it on the tray. Making his way over to the table, the bartender placed the platter of sandwiches down on the table first, then handed out the orders.

"A pair of Strawberry Sunrises?"

Ruby and Yang nodded, and the bartender handed Ruby the one without alcohol in it on Blake's instructions.

"Two glasses of champagne?"

Nora and Pyrrha picked them up gratefully.

"Two half-pints of beer; for the gentlemen, I presume?"

"Right enough," Jaune responded before he and Ren were handed their drinks.

"A glass of mineral water for you, Miss Belladonna."

"My thanks," Blake replied as she received the glass. Finally, the bartender handed his latest masterpiece to Weiss."

"Miss Schnee, I present to you the Snowstorm, which I've made and named in your honour."

Weiss was stunned; she'd couldn't wait to tell her father that the Savoy's tradition of naming drinks after their guests came to her first and not him.

"My thanks, sir," she thanked kindly. "I'll be sure to savour the fruits of your labours."

The bartender smiled and bowed slightly before walking out of the room. As he did so, Yang took the lead and picked up her glass.

"I'd like to propose a toast. To Weiss!"

"To Weiss," the group replied before they clinked glasses and sank a few sips of their drinks. Despite her preference for fine wines, Weiss found that the Snowstorm was to her liking.

Two hours later, and the lunch was over. Nora and Ren had a nightly mission to prepare for, while Jaune and Pyrrha had to go back to their jobs. Saying their goodbyes, the quartet tore off towards the Temple station. As for Ruby and Yang, the pair weren't engaged, and therefore decided to see their employers off at the carpark.

"Ruby," Weiss said as Yang wheeled over her motorbike and sidecar, "I dare say that this was the best meal I've had since we dealt with the pirates."

"Agreed," Ruby replied. "I feel much safer knowing they're set for fifteen years of hard labour, although I still dislike the use of the gallows for Mercury and Emerald."

"True," Weiss admitted, "but I'll sleep easier knowing they won't threaten anyone else again."

"Anyway, we'll see you soon, Weiss. I just hope our gifts weren't too dull for you."

Weiss smiled warmly. "On the contrary, Ruby; you've all given me the greatest gift I could ever get from someone else; friendship."

Ruby smiled tenderly as she and Yang jumped into Bumblebee and Hornet's Nest and took their leave. Once they were out of sight, Weiss kissed Blake on the cheek.

"I can't thank you enough for today's gift, my love."

A/N: The awkward moment when a teetotaler invents a cocktail.

As a treat for you guys, I'm uploading this chapter early, and the finale at the regular time. Stay tuned for Jaune and Pyrrha's wedding, folks!