Chapter 15

Coco hit send with a smirk, dropping her scroll on Ruby's desk. "Aaaand Little Red should be up in a sec." She looked to Penny's screen, the cute Chibi avatar smiling back at her. "Hey Pen, got any music to play?"

Penny's avatar tapped her chin in thought. "I do have access to many licensed albums from the SDC publishing department. Do you have a preferred genre?"

"Hmm...throw on something chill...smooth jazz." Coco suggested.

"Smooth jazz, sensational!" Penny cheered, her avatar jumping with joy. The room's PA speakers began playing gentle piano, punctuated with tasteful saxophone.

"Perfect, you nailed it Pen." Coco praised. She opened her pizza box, and the scent of fresh cooked meatlovers wafted up into her face. "Hmph, want some?"

"I am sure I would, were I human." Penny admired. "It certainly looks delectable."

"Just because you can't eat it doesn't mean you can't have a slice." Coco declared. "You're part of the party Pen." Coco rotated the box so the top lay beneath Penny's screen, pulling a slice free to lay on top. "There, your first slice of pizza."

Penny's avatar beamed, blushing. "Thank you Ms. Adel. I appreciate your kindness."

"Call me Coco honey." She insisted. "Ms. Adel is the woman they call my mother."

"Of course Coco." Penny agreed.

The sound of heels clicking signaled Weiss and Velvet returning from the kitchen. They brought plastic cups, paper plates and napkins. "I never considered mood music." Weiss admitted, setting down her share and opening her box.

"After all those balls you've handled, I figured you'd appreciate some good mood music." Coco grinned, taking a bite of her slice. Weiss scoffed.

Velvet snorted. "First ball joke of the day." She counted, opening a bottle of soft drink and pouring herself a glass.

"And I've got at least one more left." Coco noted.

"You know it's not a ball without a dance." Velvet pulled her own vegetarian slice free of its box, leaving it closed to trap the heat.

"Is that an invitation Ms. Scarlatina?" Weiss arched her brow, taking a large bite of her own slice. "I for one remember a certain Faunus possessing two left feet."

"Once upon a time." Velvet admitted. "Until someone barged into my life and forced me to learn one night."

"I can't have my Honeybun tripping over herself when I show her off to the world." Coco shrugged.

"Such a selfless lover you are." Velvet snarked.

"Mngh." Weiss mumbled, chewing the last of her slice and wiping her hands on a napkin. "Shall we put your newfound skill to the test?" Velvet scoffed, taking her time to finish her slice as Weiss kicked off her shoes.

"Hey Pen, try something with lyrics." Coco suggested.

"Acknowledged." Penny confirmed. The music cut out before being replaced with something similar. It was probably by the same artist, but the instrumentals were now accompanied by a rich, lustful ballad sung by an elder woman.

"Ooh, good taste!" Coco praised.

"Hmm, I loved this scene." Weiss reminisced.

"Familiar tune?" Velvet asked, wiping her hands.

"Memorable." Weiss nodded. "It was one of those long awaited sailing ship scenes."

"Of course it was, do you want me to lead?" Velvet asked, meeting Weiss and taking her hand.

"You are taller than me." Weiss sighed, laying her free hand upon Velvet's shoulder.

"Who isn't?" Coco jibed, eating another slice.

"Ru...shut up." Weiss pouted as Velvet wrapped an arm around her waist. "Do try not to step on my toes this time."

Velvet smirked a terrifyingly Coco-like smirk. "Yes ma'am."

Blake had never felt comfortable in enclosed spaces. Closed doors, strange mechanical sounds ringing in her ears, she could hear every click and groan of the high tech elevator. No matter how advanced it may be, these things were always in danger of falling...crumpling like overpriced tin cans, crushing their innocent, fragile contents after a terrifying freefall. Precious life, gone in an instant at the hands of a cold, uncaring steel box, gravity and bad luck. At least not all their contents were innocent.

"Blake?" Ruby's voice cut through Blake's thoughts like a cold knife. She flinched at the pressures on her hand and shoulder, glancing between them to see Ruby and Sun holding her firmly. Her breathing was shallow, her heart throbbing within her chest. "We're almost there. Take a deep breath, okay?"

"I'm fine." Blake murmured.

"You were mumbling." Sun mentioned.

"I'm fine." Blake repeated firmly, rolling her shoulder free of his grip. "Just lost in thought." She looked to Ruby and was met by a disapproving frown. She ignored the pang of guilt when she pulled her hand away. She glanced up at the floor display, watching the numbers rise, before the digital display turned to a P with a chime. Smooth jazz filled her ears as the doors opened, and the sight before her left Blake mentally reeling.

Weiss Schnee, CEO of the SDC, spinning in the arms of a Faunus, feet bare of all but stockings as she giggled.

Blake knew the woman championed Faunus rights, sure, but who did not? Weiss' overhaul of the SDC was as famous as it was infamous. But the idea had always been deeply amusing to Blake, and suspicious. Things were never so clear cut, never quite as they seemed. There were always unseen and untold complexities, and on the subject of the Schnee dynasty, having the heiress seemingly so opposed to her father's practices just reeked of modern trendsetting. She was likely just a new queen of commerce, making her unique mark on the world.

Yet here Weiss was, daughter of Jacques Schnee - infamous tyrant, whose excesses had birthed the White Fang - gallivanting around in a Faunus' arms with the brightest smile in the world etched on her face, barefoot and dreadfully, disappointingly short.

"Ah, whoa!" Weiss yelped as Velvet dramatically dipped Weiss, her ivory ponytail whipping through the air as she giggled like a giddy schoolgirl. Only for her face to freeze in shock as she met the stares of the three new arrivals. "O-oh!" She stammered, pulling herself upright, clumsily staggering into Velvet. The Faunus only laughed as she steadied the flustered CEO. "Welcome! You must be Blake!" Weiss managed, stepping forward to meet the three as they left the elevator. She offered her hand to shake.

"Yes." Blake said simply, barely remembering to take the offered appendage in her own. Weiss' grip was firm, in spite of her unbalanced demeanor. It was an extremely surreal experience. Here she was, standing in the lioness' den, shaking her hand, not a hint of retribution in her mind. That was only occupied by shock and dumb awe as the brilliant blue eyes shone innocently up at her.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you...and you Wukong, I am already aware of." Weiss recovered. Blake resisted a smirk as Weiss' polite facade flickered into a mix of irritation and amusement. "I receive weekly reports from Winchester on you."

"I'm sure they're glowing!" Sun grinned.

"Glimmering." Weiss deadpanned. "I assume you are both familiar with Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina." She stepped aside to indicate her friends. Coco waved, her mouth full of pizza.

"Nice to meet you both." Velvet greeted. "Blake, you wanted to discuss something with me?"

"I did, in private." Blake glanced at Weiss. "Please."

"The kitchen is not in use." Weiss gestured down the hall. "The pizza is here if you want to take some with you."

"I can wait." Blake shrugged. "It's these two who keep drooling." She drawled, turning to make her way down the indicated hall. Weiss raised a brow, looking between Velvet and Ruby, the former rolling her eyes before following. The others watched as they both entered the kitchen, shutting the door behind them.

"I take it she does not like me?" Weiss asked.

Ruby and Sun exchanged a glance. "She doesn't really like anyone." Ruby noted.

"She's got a few chips on her shoulder." Sun added.

"Hmm, I know that feeling well." Weiss nodded. "Regardless, a few minutes with Velvet will cure anyone of dour feelings."

Sun scoffed. "She probably hasn't met anyone like Blake."

Weiss laughed, turning back to the desk. "Velvet has met many people, human and Faunus, over the years. It's her job to interact with others. If she hasn't met someone like Blake, I'll eat this pizza box."

"Ruby is not my mate, nor will she ever be." Blake started strong as Velvet closed the door.

Velvet turned to see the other Faunus reclining against the wooden table in the middle of the room. "I know. I trust Ruby when she says so." She wrinkled her nose. Blake's scent was fresh as she followed her, and it was stronger still as she faced her. The anger and sex were muted, but in their place Alpha scent burned her senses.

"Good." Blake stated.

"Was that it?" Velvet asked, arching her brow. Her instincts told her to flinch at the glare she received, but she was experienced in ignoring them.

"What?" Was Blake's confused, if still hostile response.

"Things cleared up for you now?" Velvet prodded. Just another petulant Alpha, so used to getting her way by dint of genetic accident.

"Yes." Blake hissed.

Velvet tilted her head. "You came all the way to the SDC just to tell me something I already knew?"

"I don't like misunderstandings." Blake declared.

"The only misunderstanding was sending your kin to work smelling of sex and ownership." Velvet criticized. The females were always a pain, and prone to possessiveness. Clashing instincts needed to be recognized and tempered.

"I do not own Ruby." Blake glared, bristling.

Clearly tempering was long overdue. "Then get your scent marking under control." Velvet demanded. It was always satisfying to throw an Alpha's strength in their face, especially the coddled ones.

"I know how to mark my kin Scarlatina." Blake scowled, eyes narrowed. "I have been doing it for years."

"Then you were taught wrong." Velvet suggested, simply and to the point.

"I was taught by one of the wisest women who will ever walk this planet." Blake snarled. "Any fault in my actions is mine and mine alone." She felt her nails dig into the table, never having noticed them extend.

"And nothing has happened since then?" Velvet questioned.

Blake closed her eyes, taking a calming breath. "Perhaps. Why do you care?" She was in a precarious place now. The anger had flared, and she was calming, wary, regarding Velvet with a volatile suspicion.

It was only natural that she would seek to turn the situation around. "She is my friend, and when you've seen the things I've seen, I grow very concerned by subtleties." Velvet explained.

"Your friend, or another potential mate?" Blake bared her teeth in a threatening grin. They were sharp, glinting in the light.

"Friend, and friend to my mate, who I love very deeply." Velvet stated, firmly and clearly. She fought down the pang of anger at having her bond questioned. Blake merely grunted, her gaze elsewhere. Velvet followed it to the room's corner, where one of Penny's camera domes sat static. "It's not going to bite." Velvet smirked.

Blake scowled, golden gaze flicking back to Velvet's. "How can you stand it?" She spat with disgust.

Velvet shrugged. "By not having anything to hide."

"A typical excuse for invasion of privacy." Blake countered.

"This is the SDC Blake, not a private home." Velvet explained. "We take our security seriously." She received another glare in return.

"And yet you employ Winchester, an open racist." Blake hissed.

"Because cutting him loose is not viable." Velvet sighed.

"Yes, I've heard." Came Blake's patronizing response. "Wouldn't want to hurt your bottom line."

"It's more complicated than that." Velvet defended. "Weiss' father drew up his contract. It's almost impossible to fire him without awarding a huge payment, amounting to several years pay. Weiss does not want to give him a dime more than she must."

"Harassment of your kind is not reason enough?" Blake pressed.

Velvet shook her head. "No, unfortunately it's not. He knows exactly what it would take, and he's not dumb enough to cross that line."

"And here I am thinking Schnee was the one with the power." Blake snidely remarked.

"Weiss has worked hard for four years to gain that power." Velvet shot back. "And maintains it by avoiding needless bridge burning. Winchester's father is a major investor, with enough sway to do serious damage."

"There is nothing needless about condemning the perpetrators of massacres." Blake growled.

"If we condemned every family with a checkered, shady or condemnable past, we'd have no business." Velvet insisted. "The world just doesn't work like that."

"So that's that, you give up?" Blake accused.

"We put a stop to it." Velvet raised her voice. "We draw up new contracts at every opportunity, we incentivize clients and competitors to alter their ways, we lead by example." She lectured. "For someone so passionate about Faunus rights, I'd expect you to be familiar with the SDC's efforts."

"I was familiar with the SDC's efforts." Blake challenged. "Time and time again I saw our kind beaten down and used."

"And those times are far behind us." Velvet declared. "You should educate yourself before judging what we are."

"Humanity has never given me a reason to trust them before." Blake noted. "The hammer always falls Velvet, it's just a matter of time."

"So you're waiting for Ruby's hammer to fall too?" Velvet laughed.

"Ruby is an exception." Blake hesitated. "An ignorant, occasionally insensitive one...but still."

"And it's impossible for other exceptions to exist?" Velvet pressed her advantage.

"What good are exceptions if they have never done anything?" Blake questioned.

"Blake, the White Fang is dying, the SDC is dragging Atlas - and by extension - Remnant into a new age of tolerance. I don't know if you are a nihilist, or just horribly closed minded, but there are exceptions, and they are doing things." She approached Blake, who visibly bristled with tension. "I know how it feels to have hardly any hope. I remember fighting anyway. I clung to what little I had and did my utmost regardless, and you wanna' know what happened? I met Weiss." She stood aside, gesturing to the door. "Weiss to me is like Ruby to you. She was the exception, and if you gave her - if you gave the SDC - the same chance you gave Ruby, you might see what I do, what so many Faunus see now." She slowly reached forward to lay a hand upon Blake's shoulder. Blake flinched, but did not shake her off, eyes narrowing at the hopeful expression facing her. "The future is bright Blake. You just need to open your eyes."

"You sound like a cultist." Blake jabbed.

Velvet laughed. "You're not the first, and definitely not the last who'll say that." Velvet removed her hand and turned to the door. "Come on, before the humans start asking questions."

"Such as?" Blake asked.

"Why you're hiding your ears when we all know you're a Faunus." Velvet replied.

Blake grimaced. "I don't like being gawked at."

"I'll accept that, for now." With that, Velvet opened the door. "I'm glad we had this discussion. Hopefully it gave you some things to think about."

Weiss sighed at the sight before her. Coco Adel circled the now shirtless form of Sun Wukong, examining the Faunus from all angles as they snacked on their pizzas. "I swear, every person she meets for more than five minutes becomes her dummy." Weiss grumbled.

"If it's any consolation, he's always preferred being shirtless." Ruby commented. "It's weirder seeing him with a shirt on for me."

"Lucky you." Coco leered. "Wish mine could get this defined, but hey, price of awesomeness."

"Blake has abs." Sun noted. "Good luck getting her to show 'em though."

"She looks like a tough one." Coco observed. "Bet she kicks your ass every night huh?"

"She kicks everyone's ass, sometimes literally." Sun chuckled.

"Faunus are always stronger than they look...no offense." Weiss added.

"None taken." Sun shrugged. "In fact, I take it as a compliment!" He flexed his bicep for emphasis. He would have looked impressive were it not for the pizza slice hanging out of his mouth.

Weiss grimaced. "You have charming roommates Ruby."

"They grow on you." Ruby suggested.

"Even Blake?" Weiss asked.

"Very slowly." Ruby replied.

"Like moss!" Sun cheered.

"Sounds like Weiss." Coco joked.

"Oh quiet you." Weiss grumbled.

The kitchen door opened. Shortly after Velvet emerged into the room. "What'd we miss?" She asked, honing in on her pizza once more.

"I didn't hear any screeching, everyone in one piece?" Coco smirked as Blake appeared.

Blake froze, looking between Sun and Coco. "Why...fuck it I don't care." She groaned, heading to the table to find her own pizza. Velvet tapped it and she hurriedly opened the box, breathing in the meat encrusted cheese pizza scent. "Thank you." She sighed, taking two slices to stack on top of one another.

"Welcome." Velvet smiled, taking a bite of her piece. "Coco, babe, it's rude to handle other people's mates."

"Partner." Blake corrected.

"Partner, mate, whatever." Velvet deflected. "Still rude."

"But look at these abs!" Coco poked them for emphasis. Sun snorted, breathing in some crust and choking.

"You're killing him babe." Velvet deadpanned.

"He'll be fine." Blake sighed, taking a large bite of her slices.

Ruby sighed, shoving the last of her slice into her mouth and heading over to her choking roommate. "Come on, put your shirt on before someone goes blind." She joked, pushing him down onto the couch and picking up his shirt.

"But I'm being admired!" Sun half coughed, half whined.

"Don't care, shirt on!" Ruby snapped, rolling the shirt in preparation.

"Aw, is he making you hot under the collar Red?" Coco teased.

Ruby grimaced, shoving the shirt over Sun's head forcefully. "Says the woman oogling his man tiddies." Ruby grunted, tugging on the garment as Sun's elbow somehow got stuck in the sleeve. "Damnit Sun, get bigger shirts!" She growled.

"Get better at dressing men!" Sun laughed. "It'll impress them." He was completely unhelpful.

Ruby groaned, pushing Sun away. "At least Oscar could dress himself."

Coco snorted. "Who's Oscar? Ex boytoy?"

"First boyfriend." Ruby clarified, returning to her pizza. "Boytoys weren't 'til college."

"Damn, Red's got game." Coco cheered. "Was he nice at least?"

"He was the boy next door type, nice but…" Ruby waved her slice around in consideration.

"Ah, nice nice, like I'm a growing girl and wanna' go nuts for a bit so nice isn't what I want?" Coco suggested.

"Eh, kinda'." Ruby replied. "It was a lotta' things really."

"Define nice." Blake requested.

"Nice, as in if you asked for a spanking he'd be afraid of hurting your feelings." Ruby answered.

"Why would you ask for a spanking?" Penny suddenly spoke up.

"Because Ruby's a naughty girl Penny, and she knows it." Coco smirked.

"Can you not corrupt Penny please?" Weiss sighed.

"I'm sorry Penny!" Ruby apologized.

"Do not fret Ms. Schnee, I maintain diligent care of our servers!" Penny noted. "Your data is in safe hands." Her avatar stood at attention, saluting.

Weiss chuckled. "Yes Penny, I know."