Blake was drinking her tea when she felt Weiss' head on her shoulder. She looked at her and saw that she had closed her eyes and that her breathing had slowed down a little. She was really tired, I should let her rest a little. A cat na— Dammit Yang. A little rest can't hurt. Despite understanding that Weiss needed rest, Blake was hoping it wouldn't be too hard to wake her up. She really wanted to go to the bookstore, it had been so long. The smell of old books, the quiet of the store with only the sounds of the pages turning breaking it, the treasures hidden at the back of a shelf…

Blake realized that she had drifted off and finished her tea quickly before it got cold. She then started to think about how to wake up Weiss. Maybe she wouldn't be as grumpy since it was the middle of the day, but she would rather avoid waking her up too suddenly. She thought about kissing her, like a prince waking up a princess in a fairytale, before realizing that kissing a girl that wasn't her girlfriend while she slept was not really a good idea. She decided to just call her softly. "Weiss? Time to wake up."

The only result was Weiss nuzzling a little closer to her. "A little longer…"

Blake had to use all of her willpower to not let her do as she wished. "You'll have a hard time falling asleep tonight."

"I always have a hard time falling asleep." Despite saying that, it was enough to get Weiss to slowly open her eyes and get off Blake's shoulder. "You just want to go to the bookstore." Even half-asleep, she was not blind as to why Blake insisted that much.

"Maybe, but I also care about you, you know? Not enough sleep is bad for you."

"Wha—I…" Weiss wasn't sure how to answer. She did not expect Blake to care about that, and while she was not fond of having someone telling her what to do, she was touched that someone else than her sister cared about her well-being. "It's your fault I have a book that didn't let me put it down anyway."

Blake rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm such a monster." She stood up, letting Weiss' hand go. She walked around the table, getting next to Weiss and offering her a hand to help her get up. "Princess."

Weiss took the hand and got up. "Thank you." People calling her princess usually did it to insult her, even Blake had done it, but this time felt different, affectionate. She liked it. She grabbed Blake's arm. "Onward, my knight."

The small giggle that Weiss let out brought a smile to Blake's face as she rolled her eyes. "Dork."

The two girls went to the front of the store to pay, their arms still linked. "Was everything alright?" The person at the register was an old man, probably the owner.

"It was lovely, thank you. The tea was delicious and the table was really quiet. It's a great place to relax."

The shopkeeper continued to talk as he rang them up, showing years of practice. "Such praise coming from you is appreciated, young lady. I hope you and your girlfriend have a nice day. She seems like a fine huntress."

Weiss was so surprised that she didn't correct him as they left. Once outside, she let Blake's arm go and turned toward her. "I'm sorry, I should have corrected him."

"It's not a problem." Since he didn't mean any harm, Blake didn't really care if the owner mistook them for a couple.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Weiss, someone mistaking us for a couple is not a big deal."

"But—"

"Weiss," Blake interrupted her, remembering how she reacted when they kissed by accident. "What's the problem?" There was something about the way Weiss acted this time and the last that made Blake think that Weiss had a problem with being in a relationship, but she had no idea if it was because of her or not.

"I…" Weiss wanted to explain, she wanted to let everything out, but she couldn't. Not here, not now. "I know I already said that earlier, but I need some time."

Blake got closer to her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Take as much time as you need, I'll be there." She looked around, trying to find something to change the subject. She saw a tattoo studio and started to imagine Weiss' back, naked and covered with a tattoo that included her family crest and Dust crystals, like some of the princesses in her books. "I think you'd look good with a tattoo."

Weiss followed Blake's gaze and saw the studio. "You know, one of my family tradition was to have the Schnee crest tattooed somewhere using Dust. The main branch of the family had it on its back, as big as possible, and for the others, the size varied depending on how far removed they were from the main branch. Of course, you only got it if you had the Glyph Semblance."

Blake suddenly remembered some of the rumors she heard in the White Fang. "Wait, the Schnee's really have a hereditary Semblance?" Hereditary Semblances were very rare, and the advantages of being able to share your experiences with your children gave them a strong head start to mastering it. It was no wonder the Schnee's were still here with so many people hating them if they had the same Semblance for multiple generations.

"We don't advertise it, but we do have one. Well, it's only three of us now." Blake wondered what were Weiss' father's thoughts about Weiss' disinterest in men and the fact she probably wouldn't have a child. "When he saw how good my sister and I were at fighting, my father decided to let us choose if we wanted to have the Schnee's crest tattooed."

Blake remembered what she knew about Winter Schnee. A primary target for elimination, and one of the few people they were supposed to actively avoid. She had joined the military rather than becoming a huntress or going to work for the Schnee Dust Company, but she had quickly risen through the ranks to become General Ironwood's right hand and becoming a specialist, attesting that her skills were on par with that of a huntsman. "Did you accept?" Blake thought that she would have no objections if she had to look for a tattoo on Weiss' body herself. She shook her head, trying to chase the thought.

"No. While the boost in power would be nice, I'm not sure I want to have the Schnee crest permanently engraved on my back given the current state of the company." Weiss stopped for a moment, looking at Blake. "Thinking about it, it probably would have made it harder for us to become friend."

"The Schnee heiress parading with her family's crest on her back? I don't think it would have gone well."

The two girls laughed and resumed their walk to the bookstore. They slowed down a few times to look at a store or another, but didn't stop since the sky had started to get cloudy. When they got close to the part of town were the store was located, Weiss put on her hood to hide her hair.

She looked around, curious to see how a place with mostly Faunus looked like since it was her first going to one. Blake did not miss her reaction. "Looking for something?"

"No, it's just that I thought it would be… I don't know, not as normal?" Weiss had always heard that Faunus neighborhoods were dirty and ugly and filled with crime. She knew it was exaggerated, but she still expected it to be a little more run-down.

The buildings around them were no different from the ones in Vale's center, the only major change was that there were a lot more people around them with animal traits, be it ears, tails, horns or others that could be easily concealed. "Not all Faunus live in slums. Some do, but I'm not bringing you there anytime soon." Blake knew they could defend themselves, but bringing Weiss Schnee to a slum would be looking for trouble. She extended a hand toward the heiress. "Let's not get separated." There was no real risk, but why take a chance? And Blake liked holding Weiss' hand and feeling her close to her.

Weiss took the hand and the two girls made their way to the bookstore.

If Blake hadn't been here with her, Weiss would never have found the store. It was rather unassuming, in the middle of a row of other stores with far more eye-catching displays. The heiress let Blake guide her toward the store, ignoring the others. The Faunus had not let her hand go since she took it and Weiss had let her show the way, amused by the eagerness that was showing on her friend's face.

Blake opened the door of the shop and entered, followed closely by Weiss. The walls covered by bookshelf filled to the brim, boxes of books next to them that couldn't be stored anywhere else and the overpowering smell of old books in the air all gave the feeling of an old bookstore where one could find anything as long as they had the time to look for it.

Weiss looked for the shopkeeper, imagining an old man with thick glasses. She was surprised to find a young man in a blue shirt behind the register, reading a book and the tip of what looked like a lion's tail poking over the counter. He looked at them when he heard them enter the store, then smiled and waved at Blake when he recognized her before going back to his book.

Weiss grinned at her friend. "So that's why you like this shop so much." Her voice was low, not wanting to be overheard.

Blake frowned. "You know I'm not attracted to every guy we come across, right?"

"He is blond, what I suppose could be described as good-looking and reading a book." Weiss shrugged. She just had wanted to tease Blake a little. "I thought he would be your type."

"I mean, you're not wrong." Blake's cheeks were a little red as she answered. "But still…" Her voice disappeared as she tried and failed to find a comeback. She turned and went to look at the books without another word.

Weiss took a few seconds to appreciate being able to tease and have fun with her friend without feeling uncomfortable. Talking with Blake felt so… natural, liberating. She could be honest with herself and say what she wanted to say without it being used to make fun of her or blackmail her.

She was wandering in the shop, looking at the books when one of them caught her eye. It was lying open on a table, the illustration of a very detailed dress on one of the pages. Weiss took the book and started browsing through the pages. The book was about fashion in Remnant at different times and locations, including everyday clothes, formal outfits and even styles that were mostly present in fiction and had only been worn by very few people. Every style described was accompanied by drawings or photographs of the outfit, making for a big and heavy book. Weiss lost herself in the illustrations and descriptions of the clothes before remembering where she was. She decided to buy the book, in part because it could possibly serve as reference for some photographs with Velvet, but mostly because of her own interest. She started to walk through the shop in search of Blake.

She found her in a corner, books with very colorful and detailed covers in hands and trying to decide which one to buy. "Having a hard time choosing?"

Blake nodded. "I was planning on getting those two, but I realized I didn't have enough for both." She left out the part where she didn't have the money because she bought the necklace for Weiss. Her money problems were hers only.

"Do you want me to help?"

"You already paid for the nail polish, I can't accept."

"Then you'll pay me back when we get paid for our mission, I'm just lending it to you so you don't have to come back later."

Blake thought about it. She didn't like using someone else's money, but Weiss was being so nice with her it would be ungrateful to refuse, especially since she would pay her back. And she really wanted those books. She nodded once, accepting the offer. "You found something?"

"I did. It's a book on the fashions of Remnant."

"Oh? I didn't know you were into fashion."

"Not that much, I just like pretty clothes, and the illustrations of the book are really good. And I thought it might give us some ideas for… you know."

"Good idea. We could look at it together back at the dorm." Blake imagined herself and Weiss, side-by-side in a bed, reading the book and hoped it wasn't going too far for Weiss.

Weiss smiled at the proposition. "I'd love too. Come on, let's go pay for those."

When he saw the two girls arrive, the cashier put down his book and smiled at them. "I see you brought a friend this time."

Blake was a regular here and she often talked with him. "It's not like I can keep such a wonderful place a secret. This is Weiss, my friend and teammate. Weiss, this is Ceruleo, the owner of the store."

"Nice to meet you." Ceruleo found strange that the girl kept her hood on inside, but decided not to pry. Blake was a good customer and if she said she was a friend, he would trust her.

"Same." Weiss avoided looking at him directly. She would rather have him think she was shy than find out who she was.

He took the books and started ringing them up while talking with Blake. "Is she the partner you said you had to hide some books from?"

"No, it's the other two. One wouldn't stop making fun of me and the other is her younger sister."

Ceruleo winced. "Oh, yeah, I can see the problem." He finished ringing the books. "How would you like to pay?"

Weiss took out her card. "I'll pay for both of us." She gave him the card and realized too late that her name was written on it. She saw him look at it, look at her and put the card in the reader like nothing happened. She entered her code and he gave the card back with the books.

"We usually give paper bags, but since it started raining, I gave you some plastic ones." He winked at them. "Wouldn't want the books to be damaged."

"Rain?" Blake looked at Weiss, only to see her as surprised as her.

"How much time did we spend here?" Weiss knew that she had spent some time engrossed in her book, but surely it hadn't been that much time.

The answer came from Ceruleo. "You've been here a couple of hours, reading. I didn't say anything since there weren't a lot of people.

The two girls looked outside and saw that it was getting progressively darker and that the rain was falling pretty hard.

Blake sighed. "We're going to have to run." She looked at Weiss realizing something. "You better be careful."

"What are you talking about?" Weiss saw Blake point at her chest and looked down. A white shirt. "Drat."

Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited or reviewed this story. I hope you liked this new chapter and will keep enjoying the story.

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Have a nice day and until next time.