The next few days were fairly uneventful as the three of them waited for the day of the gala that was being held in the Schnee Manor later that week, after Neo and Emerald explained their plan to Frost after Emerald gave them a bit of time to reconnect. Frost's face took on an ugly look of disgust at the mention that he would have to dress-up, but after explaining why they couldn't just go into an event like that with their regular attire he surrendered to the other two. Despite trying to find more information after that about the goings on in Atlas, nothing stood out in terms of information of either the state of the Atlas Military after Vale's collapse or Weiss' whereabouts in the city. The entire place was oddly quiet about the fact that the heiress to the Schnee family was back home.

"I thought you said you still knew my measurements, Neo," Frost grumbled to himself as he struggled to fix the snug collar around his neck before frustratedly leaving the top button undone rather than continue attempting to choke himself to death. "I don't remember these things being such a choking hazard the last time I wore one…then again that was at least a couple years ago at best. Whatever, it's just to get in and find out about Weiss' whereabouts so that we can go back to Vale, see how Yang's doing and then try to find the other two." Frost stepped back with an appraising look for a moment to see the state of his dress before rolling his eyes and speaking in a sarcastic tone. "What could possibly go wrong?"

With that, he opened the door to the room belonging to him before turning to lock it and walk over to the door to Neo and Emerald's room. He lifted one hand in a loose fist as he rapped the surface of the door a few times I the attempt to get the attention of the two inside. "Hey, slowpokes, I'm already set to go to this stupid event so hurry up and finish taking so long like every stereotype about girls claims. I'll be downstairs waiting."

Neo grumbled under her breath after Frost's words finished carrying through the door to them as Emerald struggled with Neo's hair. "I told you that using my Semblance would be faster, Emerald. But noooo, we had to find a dress for me as well so that I could 'look nice' as you put it. We're only doing this to get information so why are we going to so much effort?"

"Because," Emerald stated as she finished looping together sections of Neo's hair in a looping effect of brown and pink. "If we want to look like a part of the crowd then we need to look like the rich and fancy types. That's why we want at least one or two of us to stick out from the crowd to attract attention. Better you than me since I can sneak around better without needing a prior knowledge of the place."

"Fine. I guess you finally win because I can't think of anything to argue with your plan anymore." Neo acquiesced as Emerald completed the finishing touches on Neo's hair with a satisfied look. With a motion from Emerald's hand to turn around, Neo's eyes widened at the sight of her look after sitting patiently for nearly half an hour.

"Emerald…this looks amazing…but…how?"

"Just a skill I've had since I was a little girl. I always liked playing with my hair as a kid and took to practicing different things on it to see how it looked before I took to using my Semblance to make a living on the streets. I could still pocket a thing or two by changing the style of my hair every now and then to make people forget how I looked. It's amazing how easily people don't recognize you after a change in style. But you'd know that just as well as I do, huh?"

Neo only sat in silence as he ran a hand through her hair, trying very carefully to not mess up the work that had been put into it for this night. A small smile graced her lips as she turned and got off her seat before moving to reach for her parasol at the side of the dresser. A sharp whack on the back of the hand from Emerald stopped her as she was given a disapproving look.

"Come on, Emerald. I let you do this. Why can't I bring it?"

"Do you want to risk us getting kicked out before we even go in? We're already going to be using a very loose cover to try this and I don't know if this is worth it."

"And what if we do get found out while we're in there and need to defend ourselves or try and escape if we're somehow recognized by someone that isn't Weiss? And even then because even if she's aware of me she won't be aware that you switched sides. Literally none of Team RWBY does at this point."

Emerald paused for a moment. "Wait…not even the short red-head?"

"She doesn't either. We didn't know how she would react if she knew that or how things might go so it's been a secret so far. We couldn't risk something going wrong and having you caught up in the middle of it."

"…Fine. Guess we'll have to be extra cautious then just in case the princess makes an appearance at this stupid thing."

The two of them got up to leave, after Neo quickly snatched her parasol with a smug look to herself out of Emerald's sight before they left the room and locked the door behind them as they walked down the hall with the sound of clacking heels following them as they walked.

"And this is one of the reasons I hate these things." Frost mumbled to himself as he sat with a bored look on his face on a cushy chair in the hotel's lobby. "All the effort to go somewhere fancy for a few hours and spend a giant pile of time to get ready for it just to take it all off and not use it for months or even years. Not my style in the slightest."

As Frost's patience began to wane further, he turned to look out the window to the streets of Atlas as people milled about in the late afternoon/early evening. People watching was about the only thing he could do at this point and at least he could make up funny stories about what they were doing until the other two finally were downstairs and ready. This went on for about 10-15 minutes as Frost's head sunk lower into his palm as he kept his head propped up with one hand. His head quickly turned as the sound of two pairs of heels came from the stairwell to the upper floors, his body moving reactively to stand in the hopes that it was the other two and that they could finally leave.

Relief flooded his thoughts as he saw Emerald descend the stairs in a rather simple black and green dress. He started walking over towards the stairs to meet the two of them, but was stopped dead as Neo came into view behind Emerald with her parasol opened to complete her look. Most of her ink hair has draped over one side while the rest was intermingled with the brown portion of her hair in a very detailed way. As for the dress, it was a mostly black ensemble with an exposed midriff and a slight opening in the hips with a crisscross of fabric to prevent the hole from tearing accidentally when one moved as well as at the base of the midriff opening. It also had what looked like a wreath of pink flowers wrapped around the midsection of the dress that almost seemed to cup her bust. To finish it off, a pendant with a mall blue gem rested across her collarbone with small pink flowers attached to the gem as well with a pair of thin chains keeping it in place around her neck. His mouth went dry as it hung open at the sight in front of her, his mind blank as he struggled to remember what they were doing as well as what he was supposed to do next.

Unfortunately for him, he was unable to regain composure of himself before Neo noticed him as well and realized what he was staring at, a large blush spreading across her face as she sent a dirty look at Emerald after now realizing her intentions after so long. The green haired girl only smiled smugly as she mentally patted herself on the back for a job well done as Frost shook himself out of his stupor with a light blush of his own as he pulled at his collar for a moment in nervous unease.

Neo, for her part, also had taken a moment upon spotting Frost to admire the white suit he was wearing with the navy blue tie around his neck. For someone that didn't generally do anything special with his looks, the slicked back style he had put his hair into as well as the suit was perfect for what they would be trying to pull off. Only time would tell if it would work.

"Alright. Now that we know that everyone is presentable and ready to head out, let's go crash a Schnee event." Emerald stated with a smug look as her mood was at its peak for some time at all of her machinations coming together for the first time in a while.

Frost cleared his throat for a moment, both to get Emerald's attention, but also to clear the lump that still seemed to be there after seeing Neo's fancy look. "I believe you mean my family's event, Emerald. You are my guest after all."

"Look, I know we said that we would try to pass you off as a distant relation to the Schnee family since the white hair thing is relatively uncommon, but don't push your luck with the attitude, bub." Emerald stated with a quick and nasty look directed to Emerald as she started walking ahead of the other two.

Neo stomped her foot angrily as he turned to berate Frost for his comment. "She put in a lot of effort for tonight, Frost. Be nice to her, please."

Frost only continued to look in the direction Emerald left before responding with a light and honest smile. "I know she did, and it looks great on you. Make sure to tell her that, yeah? I'm sure she'll appreciate the boost."

Neo could only blush as the words registered from his matter-of-fact tone. She quickly moved to follow with a light smile as she followed after the other two to the event. Even if things went horrifically wrong in some fashion, this night was shaping up to be one of her favorites in a long time.

So this chapter is a little shorter than most mainly because I couldn't really do more without it being it's own chapter. I know that's kind of crappy of me to do after making you guys wait an extended amount of time, but I do promise that the ball will be rolling again next chapter rather than these filler-esque ones I've been writing as of late. It doesn't help that I got the idea for this after I had most of these events planned out and then had to readjust since I really couldn't stop myself from adding it in some way. Hopefully it's not a complete pile of garbage to you guys since this is as much for you to enjoy to read as it is for me to write it.

Until next time though, peace!