"Hey Weiss, Winter?"

"Hmm?"

"Yes, Blake?"

"Does it feel strange that you're both in a relationship with someone who's related to each other?"

The elder Schnee glanced up from the magazine she was reading to regard the cat faunus, an ivory brow raised in question.

Even after being introduced to one another and getting to know her for quite a while now, Blake still felt slightly intimidated by Winter Schnee. If not for her reputation as a skilled huntress or her rank of Specialist within the Atlas military, or because she was in fact the older, sterner version of her white-clad friend, she couldn't decide as to which.

"What brought this up?" This time it was Weiss who asked, turning her head to look at her from where she lay prone on the lounge chair, exposing her bare back to the array of sunlight beaming down on her pale skin.

Blake shrugged, bow twitching, and nodded towards the scene in front of them.

They were currently accommodating one of the beach houses owned by the Schnee family located near the northwest coast of Vale. In addition to the two-story modern residence, the area boasted a private stretch of land about half a mile past to keep prying eyes off whenever the family visited for the occasional sojourn. Their lodgings also consisted of a moderately sized pool near the back of the house, opening to a broad landscape of the beach and offering a near endless sight of sand and clear sparkling water.

However, despite the prearranged chairs and pitched umbrellas swaying along with the sand, the beach was relatively empty. Half of its occupants were taking advantage of the sun-drenched weather by relaxing on folded chairs by the patio, close enough to return to the shelter of the house once the heat turns smoldering.

The other half of which were engaged in an intense game of pool volleyball. The repeated splashing of water and yelling had long since became customary to the relatively dry inhabitants who now turned their attention towards the battling trio.

"Looks like your age is finally showing, old man!"

"Hey! What'd I say about calling me old?"

"Hehe. You're going down, Uncle Qrow!"

The taunt provided a distraction long enough for the sister duo to score another hit against their uncle, who jumped sideways in a desperate attempt to block the incoming ball, to no avail. The resounding splash rippled across the pool as his body collided with the water.

Yang and Ruby whooped in victory, high-fiving each other.

"That's payback for all those matches back with Soaring Ninja!" Yang called out.

"Yeah!" Ruby nodded smugly.

Qrow broke the surface of the pool, flicking wet hair out of his eyes with a careless shake of his head. The cross necklace on his chest swayed with the movement of his body as he shot a wry grin towards his nieces through wet bangs.

"You kids got lucky. Two on one ain't exactly a fair fight. Though of course, I was going easy on you two—"

Yang scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"—and it's clearly obvious that you can't beat me one-on-one. Mono-e-mono." He finished with a dismissive wave of his hand, inwardly smirking as he waited for the bait to be taken.

Lilac eyes briefly flashed scarlet. She clenched her jaw but made no sound in response, narrowing her eyes at the older man instead.

Ruby glanced between the two uncertainly, a knot slowly forming in her stomach. "Uh, Yang..."

"So, what d'you say, little firecracker?" he asked, deliberately using his old nickname for her.

Bristling, Yang shot him a challenging grin. "You're on, old man."

Ruby groaned aloud, resisting the urge to facepalm. "Oh, boy. Here it goes."

"He's looking for a death wish," Blake stated flatly as she watched the scene unfold.

"It seems like he already found it." Weiss rolled her eyes, silently glad that Ruby isn't involving herself in that upcoming mess.

Winter sighed, closing the magazine she was reading. "As much as I'm inclined to agree, Qrow has been in plenty of situations where the likelihood of failure often offered something far worse and yet somehow he managed to brush through them all, relatively unscathed." She shook her head as Yang delivered a heavy spike that made contact with Qrow's chest. "For the most part."

They continued to watch as the two relatives lashed it out, Yang using her semblance to absorb the more heavier blows and Qrow goading on her competitive streak while managing to block most of her shots, neither one gaining the upper hand against the other. Ruby, as the informal referee, hopelessly tried to regain some semblance of order between the two, together with loudly cheering both of them on.

"Not particularly."

Blake, whose eyes had been mostly trained on her partner's lithe form, the yellow bikini leaving very little to the imagination, started at Winter's sudden remark. "What?"

"Regarding your question," she elaborated. "From a biological standpoint, Ruby and Qrow are not related in any way despite growing up using the household term. Therefore any thrown implications ranging from that particular argument loses credibility very quickly. In social norms, however, there is a tinge of shade lurking around that topic that would normally be a subject of controversy, especially from within the peripheries of high society. But luckily I joined the military to escape that sort of life, so the societal repercussions hold little effect on my feelings on the matter."

Blake blinked, taking a moment to process the spiel that was unexpectedly dropped in front of her. Truthfully, she had nearly forgotten about the question she asked at the start of their conversation for obvious reasons. She certainly didn't expect to receive a serious, logically-crafted response in return. The topic in question only floated through her thoughts when she recalled a passage in one of her novels that had a similar situation involved, though slightly more dramatic.

Weiss had a thoughtful expression on her face, before slowly nodding with her sister.

"I agree. I don't care what father thinks about my relationship with Ruby, he will just have to deal with it or else," she said flippantly. Narrowed mist-blue eyes met cool amber. "And I seem remember a certain dark-haired faunus having a similar relationship with a bumbling blonde oaf." She pointed out accusingly.

"Yeah, but I don't have anyone in my family who's dating their dad or something," Blake replied, completely unabashed.

Winter's lips quirked up slightly at her younger sister's show of defiance. Above all else, she was glad that Weiss is fully committed to her education as a huntress. It gave her more freedom and opportunities to decide where her course in life would lead rather than the tedious position as a receptionist her future in the SDC offers back in Atlas.

"Speaking of family," Weiss turned to her, a gleam in her eyes that made Winter slightly wary. The sudden explosion of laughter from the pool in front them did nothing to ease the tension growing inside her.

"Ruby has been telling me that her dear uncle has been spending an awful amount of time in your room, especially late in the night whenever she goes downstairs for a midnight snack. Care to explain, sister?"

Dammit Qrow, you rambunctious buffoon. Though she was vaguely suspicious that her sister's interactions with the red-hooded girl weren't all that innocent, she has yet to catch them in the act during their entire stay in the beach house. Now here she was, thrown in the corner by her own sister thanks to Qrow's utter disregard for secrecy whenever they settle their more private affairs in the bedroom, despite her attempts at being quiet.

"I—that's not—there is a perfectly reasonable explanation—"

"So tell me," Weiss continued, ignoring the feeble attempts at an explanation and privately enjoying the rare sight of her normally composed sister in such a flustered state. "Will I be expecting red-eyed, dark-haired children or white-haired little princesses running around the manor several months from now? I've always wanted to be an aunt, and having a little niece or nephew to coddle with will certainly keep both of you busy. I doubt father would be pleased, but then the look on his face when he finds out would be so worth it."

Winter nearly choked, her face taking on an uncharacteristic shade of red as she gaped at Weiss, who had a particularly sly grin across her face.

Blake wisely stayed out of the conversation and resumed her reading, knowing full well the repercussions that come with involving herself in family matters lest she get caught in the crossfire. The last time she involved herself with one of Yang's schemes to help Ruby, she was chased around campus by the murderous, lovesick scythe-wielder for teaching Weiss on how to kiss. No way was she helping either Schnee sibling out of their impending situation. Though she did give Winter a sympathetic glance.

During the sisters' exchange, the trio failed to notice as the activity by the pool slowly subsided, leaving a relative silence that seemed to contrast with the earlier spouts of taunting and splashing.

Emboldened by the apparent loss of words, Weiss opened her mouth to speak before getting barreled down by a gush of water. The heiress shrieked as she felt the torrent of cold water splash her skin, soaking the white two-piece bikini she was wearing and pushing her back against the lounge chair. Laughter could be heard amidst the sound of rushing water.

"Sorry, princess," an amused voice called out. "Thought you needed to cool down a bit. I mean, you were melting right there as it is!"

Yang snickered at the pun, already turning the hose off as she tried and failed to reign in her laughter. Ruby, ever the responsible leader, attempted to scold her sister but couldn't find herself concentrating much as she tried not to peek at her partner's wet form, rivulets of water trickling down her fair skin, the now soaking frilly two-piece highlighting her elegant curves. The scythe-wielder gulped, her face turning as red as her infamous cloak.

Blake slowly shook her head at the display. "I'm not sure if you should have done that, Yang."

"Aww, don't worry Blakey! I'm sure Weiss understands. It's a perfectly good summer day and we're in the beach! It would be a waste to just sit around all day and do nothing. Or in your case, reading."

"It's 30 degrees out."

"All the more reason to go then! I mean look at those waves, do you think Weiss has a surfboard lying around? I really wanna see if it's easy as they do it in the movies. What do you think, Weissy?"

Yang turned to look at her and froze when she found herself facing with a furious pair of frosty-blue eyes.

"Why I think that's a wonderful idea," Weiss said in an overly sweet voice that somehow managed to chill Yang even more than the usual threats of dismemberment she receives whenever she managed to annoy her white-haired teammate. "I think we should start off with a friendly game of tag."

Yang gulped, not liking the dangerous gleam in her eyes. "I—er—uh, it-it was all Ruby's idea!"

"Huh?" The aforementioned leader blinked, shaken from her dazed stupor at the sudden gust of air leaving beside her. Frowning, she turned around to see her sister running the opposite direction and heading straight for the beach. She could faintly make out her yelling "Sorry" and "Make a run for it" though she was confused as to why.

"Oh Ruby..."

Ruby looked over her shoulder at the sound of her partner's voice, nearly freezing in her tracks at the glare she received from a very angry Weiss.

"Care to explain?"

She swallowed as she finally understood the implication of Yang's warnings. While she did tell her that she wanted to bring their girlfriends out on the beach for some friendly revelry under the sun, she didn't mean for Yang to get her attention like that! Knowing that it was futile to try and convince an enraged Weiss, she did what any other self-respecting person would do in the face of their girlfriend's wrath.

She ran.

"YAAAANG! Wait for me!" she screamed for her sister as she left in a flurry of rose petals.

"Oh no, you're not getting away from me that easily, Ruby Rose!" Weiss yelled as she ran after the fleeing red blur. "DON'T THINK YOU'RE GETTING A FREE PASS EITHER, XIAO LONG!"

"HELP! Blake, save me!"

The dark-haired faunus closed her eyes and released a heavy sigh, bookmarking the page she'd been reading and carefully tucking the book inside the beach bag she brought with her. That done, she got to her feet and chased after the running trio, sincerely hoping that Weiss didn't plan to permanently incapacitate her partner.

Meanwhile, Winter could only watch on, stunned at how quickly her sister's disposition had changed. Thankful as she was for the distraction, it was not enough that she felt the need to repay the gratitude immediately lest she revert Weiss' attention back to her.

"This seat taken?"

Winter glanced up and met the familiar smirking gaze of Qrow.

She raised a brow. "I suppose it's vacant as of the moment."

"Heh."

As Qrow settled himself on the chair Weiss had previously been sitting on, Winter couldn't help but indulge herself as she glanced over his body in quiet approval.

He was tall and lanky, but clearly well-toned judging by the muscles that were flexed as he stretched and placed his hands behind his head. The cross necklace lay dangling on his chest stretching across broad shoulders littered with fading scars gained from countless battles against Grimm and people alike. She felt the urge to run her fingers over those scars, listening as he conjured some ludicrous tale on how he acquired them, her head laid down on his chest.

"Like what you see, Ice Queen?"

She scoffed, but didn't bother denying it. "It's certainly more preferable than the current company you're providing."

"Oh?" He pointed at himself, feigning hurt. "I'm wounded, Winter. And here I thought you were finally warming up to me, you certainly did last night. Intimately, I might even say."

"I'm not going to dignify that with a proper response," Winter growled, well aware of his attempts to rile her up. It was a silent game they played, to see which one of them can manage to push the right buttons long enough before someone gave in. She wasn't willing to lose this time.

Qrow chuckled, closing his eyes and relaxing himself on the seat.

"Suite yourself. Thought you'd like to know that you have me to thank for getting you out of that situation. Though part of me is wondering how it could have ended if Yang hadn't butted in."

"I had that under control," she said flatly, watching as her sister finally managed to grab onto the blonde brawler, sending them both toppling down the sand.

"Sure you did."

Ignoring the evident sarcasm in his voice, she continued to ask, "And just how did you manage to play a part in Yang's sudden impulse of dousing my sister?"

"Well, since you so kindly asked," he shifted into a more comfortable position. "I may or may not have suggested to Ruby that it was a good idea to bring her girlfriend out for some beachside fun. Oum knows your sister's definition of fun would be to sit around reading in the library or burning herself up for a decent tan. I thought she could use my niece's perspective on having fun. This led to that, and that's how Yang was brought into the picture."

"That's hardly enough to claim a part in distracting my sister," Winter huffed. "But I suppose I should thank you for actually being considerate enough to try and relieve me of that embarrassing situation, considering you're the reason why it started in the first place."

Qrow opened one eye, glancing at her with interest.

"If you had been just a little more quiet in your nightly ventures towards my room, then your niece wouldn't have found out about our more... private engagements in relieving stress," she hissed at him, unwilling to say the term out loud.

"Can you blame me?" Qrow muttered to himself, admiring the dark blue one-piece Winter was sporting on. "I mean, who wouldn't be excited to see that every time you enter the room?" He winked at her. "You're not exactly out of fault here either, Ice Queen. My eardrums say otherwise."

Oh he was definitely going to be taught a lesson tonight on the finer arts of subtlety.

Back for the holidays. Merry Christmas!

First one-shot. Hope I did a decent job at it. And in answer to Blake's question:

imgur /FgKKMSc