a/n - light monochrome (weiss/blake) content.

The unconscious way that Weiss would avoid her direct gaze and any accidental brushes against her person perplexed Blake. She did not peg the heiress for someone who was shy therefore it had to be something else; she was convinced of that much. What that could be, there was no way to tell without some snooping around or clever interrogations. All she knew was that it only happened when it involved herself.

She knew this from observing her teammates from above the surface of her novel. Ruby would touch Weiss's shoulder as she leaned over from behind to ask her a question or look at what she was working on and the heiress would not move away. And when Yang had one time caught the heiress by the arms when she stepped on the ends of Ruby's cloak and almost fell flat on her face, she took her time in steadying herself against the blonde's sturdy frame. Yang had chuckled and teased her a bit then, brushing away some mussed up strands of hair from Weiss's brow from a permissive Weiss. The heiress had grumbled towards that action, but had not shoved her hand away.

Now, Blake didn't have any particular desire to touch Weiss until she had noticed that it was only her that was being denied such... privileges. Curiosity drove her to experiment and the more she was pushed away, the more she wished to uncover the reason behind it. They had never been close and the gap between them had widened considerably after recent events, but they had patched it up a great deal as well - or so she thought. She did not wish to think that Weiss and her had regressed back to square one.

It wasn't wise to jump to conclusions.

Blake decided to test out her theory more and dismiss any possibility of paranoia from old wounds. Weiss was examining certain vials of Dust carefully, seated on her bed with a briefcase open to many multicolored powders. She picked each one up and held it up to eye level, turning it this way and that with her jaw set and brows knitted. The intense concentration allowed Blake to approach her from behind without notice, but she knew it wasn't wise to catch someone off-guard while they held highly reactive Dust between their fingers.

"Weiss?"

The heiress's body jolted, but she quickly snapped her head over her shoulder to take in her stealthy company.

"Blake."

The faunus held the icy stare for as long as she was permitted, but it lasted only a few seconds before Weiss rushed to look away to her vials once more. She returned the Dust to its case and snapped it shut swiftly, expelling a sigh almost inaudible to her ears.

"What is it?"

Blake waited until she looked over at her again before she gestured to Weiss's mattress. The heiress glanced in the direction of her hands and then she shifted her body to the side and made room for her. Seeing that as a good sign, Blake took a seat upon the empty space.

"Well?" Weiss kept her own eyes straight ahead, her spine straight and hands folded in her lap. Ever the picture of elegance and proper form.

"It's not anything in particular," Blake began and with a subtle shift against the silky covers, she brought herself a few inches closer to where her teammate sat, "I just thought I would join you."

Weiss's expression changed briefly. "Join me in what? What for?"

Closer still she moved, without sound or drawing attention. "We don't spend much time together..." Blake felt silly, making excuses like this. "I just thought as teammates we could... talk."

Weiss gave her a sideways glance, perhaps having sensed the change in proximity, but she looked away shortly after. "What? Don't tell me that you want to talk about boys and trivial things; what are you, Ruby?"

Blake would have taken more amusement in that statement, if it didn't bother her that Weiss would not look her in the eye as they spoke. It was only common decency, wasn't it? Someone who had been raised so well certainly knew how to forget her manners.

"Weiss... why won't you look at me?" She dropped the casual attempts at chipping away at the heiress's tough exterior and went straight for the questions she'd like an answer to.

"I don't hear you talk with my eyes." Weiss responded, rather coolly. It seemed her question hadn't been taken seriously.

"Weiss." Blake could hear the agitation sneaking into her voice, she reached out to grab hold of her wrist, but Weiss was faster with a flinch, yanking it back out of reach. Normally, she would not waste her time attempting to get into this person's good graces. She could have cared less whether Weiss liked her or not. It only bothered her because of the things they had gone through to get to a point where they had been okay. Weiss had said kind things about coming to her teammates when she had something she needed to get off her chest, but then pulled this switch in her attitude.

"What do you think you're doing?" Weiss narrowed her eyes, but at least she was looking at her now. Blake pressed her luck and moved her seat closer, her leg touching against that of the smaller girl's and their faces close. Weiss's discomfort showed clearly upon her face and her gaze had moved from Blake's eyes to stare at the uncovered faunus ears that twitched above her line of sight.

That was when it dawned on her. Ever since her secret had been let out, she had been feeling more free with her faunus features. They were allowed to be out and about without the black binding around them. Their dorm room was a safe haven for her to simply be herself. But when that switch had happened, that was when she had began noticing the difference in the way Weiss regarded her.

"You're still not really over it... are you?" She dropped her voice and her ears had fallen flat against her head. "It bothers you that I'm a faunus. You don't trust me," she paused and looked down at her own upturned hands in her lap, "... that's why you won't..." It made sense now. The idea of it all tasted bitter upon her tongue.

To her confusion, Weiss was the one that seemed as if Blake affronted her. "Excuse me? I didn't -"

"Helloooo teeeeam RWBY!" Ruby busted in the door then with an enthusiastic greeting, her arm outstretched in the open air. She grinned a bit until she looked at Weiss and Blake where they sat. They must have exuded an unpleasant atmosphere for the corners of her lips drooped down almost immediately.

"Heeey... team RWBY?" She tried again, uncertain, but Weiss stood up stiffly then, ignoring her partner at the door.

"I don't have time for these accusations." Weiss glared down at Blake momentarily before she stalked off, past Ruby and out the door leaving both girls with only the fading slam behind her.

Ruby glanced over to Blake then, full of questions and worry, no doubt, but Blake simply balled her fists in her own frustration. She didn't want to talk now. Instead, she crossed over the room and made her way to her own bed, prepared to do what she did best to pass the time with one of her novels. At least they didn't send her a myriad of confusing messages and cold stares. Neither did they judge her for things that she could not control. It hurt in ways that she wished it didn't to know that Weiss could still not move past the things she thought they had worked out a few weeks prior.

Her knuckles were white from gripping her book with the force of her agitation. She had sunk down behind it and made her presence disappear as much as possible. When Yang had entered the room, she did not see the look that she exchanged with a frowning Ruby and she almost didn't notice when the blonde had approached her either. It was only when a hand had touched upon her ears that she snapped to attention. Yang smiled up at her and scratched at her scalp delicately and the sensation allowed her to ease her tensed shoulders down.

"Hey there, partner! What's up?" Yang meant well, she knew that she did, but she didn't wish to confide in her. Not now. It stung.

"Just reading, Yang." The door opened then as Yang continued to pet at her ears, letting inside a stern looking Weiss. All eyes turned upon her, but she only looked at Yang and Blake once before she excused herself to change into pajamas.

Taking the hint of Blake's curt response beforehand, Yang pulled herself up to her bed instead. Both her and Ruby decided to call it a night, but Blake didn't think she was ready for sleep yet. She was conflicted between trying regardless, though, in order to avoid having to pointedly ignore Weiss when she returned from her wardrobe change.

Not a moment too soon, Weiss reentered and strode over to Blake's bed, hands upon her hips and staring down expectantly at her.

"We need to talk." It wasn't a suggestion or even a simple statement. It was a demand.

A demand that Blake did not feel like accepting easily. "You didn't want to talk earlier." She brought her eyes away from the print upon the pages of her book and was almost surprised to see that her gaze was met head on.

"Stop pouting." Weiss pushed against Blake's legs to shove her over and sank into her mattress with a huff. Blake put her book aside and fixed herself, accommodating the pushy heiress's placement upon her bed. She had to admit to herself that she wasn't sure what else that she could be told. If Weiss was here to affirm her fears, she didn't want to hear it. Unsure that she could stand the let down of being unaccepted within her team after all.

"If you can recall, I said to you that I don't care about your past." Without prompt, the heiress started on what she wanted to say. Blake listened mutely. "I also don't care that you're a faunus. It doesn't make me uncomfortable that you have cat ears." When said appendages were mentioned, her eyes immediately wandered over to them.

Wary to simply accept her at her word, Blake decided to bring her concerns out into the open. "Then why do you always stare at them? Whenever I go next to you, you always act like you don't want me near you..."

Weiss sighed much in the way that she did when dealing with their more boisterous teammates. When no answer came, Blake began to feel the strangling weight of her assumptions closing in on her heart again. This was it. There was no more pretending that her heritage had placed a gap between them that Weiss could never forgive her for.

"I want to touch them."

The crushing blow did not come, but Blake could hardly believe what she had heard instead.

"Huh...?"

Weiss scowled. "Are you deaf? I want to touch them!" She snapped her fingers in her direction, causing Blake to blink twice in succession.

"I don't understand," Blake had a hard time processing what she had just been told and, strange as the information was on its own, she could not grasp its relevance to the conversation, "What does that have to do with -"

The heiress threw up her hands in frustration, not allowing her to finish. "I want to touch them so badly that I'm afraid if you get too close I won't be able to contain myself!"

Dumbfounded, Blake could only stare at her companion. Weiss had tucked her arms harshly into her armpits and avoided her gaze, but the lack of hostility that leaked from her gave the faunus some comfort that she wasn't lying. Nonetheless, this outcome was the last of what she could have expected. What were the odds that it was something... ridiculous like that?

And so she laughed.

All the pent up feelings that had been building over the course of a few weeks came out with it. She had no idea that Weiss, haughty, uptight and judgmental as she was, could be so... cute. It must have come from her lack of experience with the faunus population - good experience, that was. Yang and Ruby alike both enjoyed her feline ears and touching them when they could. By now, it would have been stranger for Blake if they did not touch them every once in a while. Perhaps it had piqued up a curiosity for the heiress as well.

Weiss's mouth thinned into a straight line as she watched her tension taper off to a few chuckles. She made a mockery of her laughter to which Blake only smiled more. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Hilarious! Are you done having a laugh at my expense now?"

Her smile turned into something closer to a smirk. Filled with relief, she leaned over to Weiss and was pleased when she did not back away. She purred lowly in her throat, a sound that caused her teammate in white to begin to fidget.

"If you want to touch them... you could just ask." Blake didn't mind. It might not be a secret that she enjoyed the treatment. Her ears were sensitive and, just as any cat, she was subdued at the touch.

Slowly, Weiss brought her arms apart and regarded her expression. Blake assumed that she was looking for any hint that it was a lie or trick, but the faunus could assure her that she was nothing but sincere in this matter. So long as she didn't attempt to pull at her ears or otherwise harm her, it was fine.

"Then..." Weiss's hand rose to her head, but Blake tilted away from her playfully.

"You haven't asked."

The other gritted her teeth. "May I touch your ears, Blake?"

Blake let the smile shape her features and bumped her head against the inside of the heiress's arm. "Yes. You may."

And so she did. The heiress was evasive of her ears at first. Blake had to wait patiently while she patted at the fluff of her hair and gently flattened her ears back against her head. She kept her golden eyes upon Weiss's face all the while, observing the way that her brow furrowed on occasion and her lips twitched slightly. The touch was so soft, she could hardly stand it.

"You're not hurting me." She decided to let her know that it was fine to go a little further if she wished. Weiss hovered in one spot for a moment before she began to rub her ears between her fingers and scratch behind them. Blake was impressed as her technique was much more precise and satisfying than either Yang's or Ruby's. Weiss applied pressure to all the right spots and Blake leaned closer, the purrs rumbling louder in the base of her throat.

Speaking of differences from either Ruby or Yang's touch, Weiss's filled her with a sort of warmth different than what she experienced with the other two of their team. She had wanted to solve the mystery of Weiss's avoidance of her, but she realized now that part of her had been seeking out her touch in general. Weiss's hands upon her gratified a deeper itch in the depths of her heart. If only Weiss had known that she had wanted her attention just as much as the heiress wanted to give it to her; this whole ordeal could have been solved much earlier.

Blake leaned herself forward until her head was against Weiss's chest, her arms wrapped loosely around her waist. The heiress had ceased her petting then much to her chagrin.

"You don't have to stop..." She spoke lazily, nudging the top of her head under the heiress's chin, making sure her faunus ears brushed against her skin.

Weiss was silent for a moment before both her hands were upon her ears now, giving her past overdue attention. "You're spoiled, you know." Her actions did not match her chiding words, as she let one of her hands fall down to the line of her jaw and scratched Blake under the chin.

Blake had let her eyes close towards the affection, but opened them again to stare up at her provider. "You're one to talk, Princess."

They didn't speak again after that for a while. Eventually, as Blake knew it would have to, the petting ceased and Weiss returned her hands to herself. Blake drew away from her then, content, but now more restless than she had started. She took the time to scan over Weiss's features, appreciating the way her hair framed her face and the slopes of her shoulders and the dip of her collarbone. The warmth from her hands and body lingered upon her and she sighed softly at the feelings that fluttered within her stomach.

Weiss, tired of being stared at, maybe, cleared her throat. "What is it now?"

Blake raised her eyes back to her face, appreciating the way the modest light of the moon cast upon her skin made the pale heiress seem almost ethereal. It was nothing new to her that Weiss was pretty, but it was a start of a different recognition of this fact that made her smile. She brought her hand up to Weiss's face and brushed the back of her fingers against her cheek gently. Weiss raised her eyebrows at the gesture, but that was her only reaction and thus, Blake was pleased. Things were all right between them. She shook her head.

"It's nothing."