AN: Doing a little AN here at the top the usual one will be at the bottom. I'm posting this one early cause I'm behind on Phoenix Rose, which will be the next story updated. After that it will be Glyph Runner, followed a chapter of Fulfillment in Simplicity!

Chapter Sixteen: High Strung (Part 1)

One Week Later

"I still can't believe that Pyrrha is there… Of all people." Weiss' thoughts were all over the place. From her old rival, to how well she'd actually do in classes, to thinking about her own mother, and how she'd look down on her if she didn't reach what her mother called, 'the perfect level'. "No, mother isn't here… She's not. I can't think about her, but… Ugh! She'd rub it in my face if I don't do well!"

With the distraction caused by finding out Pyrrha was not only working with Winter's branch of the family company, but was also working as a councillor at Haven, Weiss' first few classes of the new year were not going as smoothly as she had hoped. It was also starting to affect her sleep.

A yawn was heard, and as the cat Faunus looked over, she noticed her roommate walking into the kitchen. "Ugh, I need to get to bed earlier. Morning, Weiss." Ruby's tired voice echoed slightly as she opened the fridge to check what she could eat.

"Hmph, morning, Ruby. Find anything worth eating in the fridge?" The cat Faunus asked as she planted her head in her arms and sat down at their small kitchen table.

"Still lookin, but are you doing okay? You sound tired." Ruby noted, still scanning the fridge's contents for anything she could scarf down before getting ready for work.

Weiss groaned in annoyance as her thoughts drifted back to Pyrrha, "Tired is one of many things I am at the moment. Tired, stressed, annoyed, you name it and I am it."

"Oh, um, you wanna talk about it?" Ruby offered, choosing to look away from the fridge to focus on her roommate. "Is it about your school? I mean, if it is, then-."

"It's not just about Haven. But it is something I need to figure out myself, it just isn't that easy is all." The alabaster haired woman said, cutting her off.

"Come on, Weiss. You don't have to figure that stuff out by yourself." Ruby closed the fridge and was about to sit next to her roommate, but a light growl startled her a bit. "W-What is this really about?"

The blue eyed cat Faunus' mouth twisted into a snarl as her anger spiraled. "Constantly pushing myself to be better until I am the best would be one way to say it. Least that's what my mother kept telling me, but I can't really be the best with a certain redheaded, stuck up bi-!"

The wolf Faunus didn't let her continue that. "Weiss! You don't have to call someone that. I mean, whoever this person is, they can't be all that bad." Her gentle nature got the better of her, and the lack of knowledge on who this redhead was seemed to anger Weiss more so.

"You have no idea! My own mother was basically putting her up on a pedestal as the daughter she always wanted!"

The initial shout was enough to get Ruby's ears to flatten against her head, and her tail drooped a bit. "Well, I mean… Why care about what she wants out of you? You're the only person who should-." She gasped when Weiss swept away some papers from the table, so she took a step back. "You don't need to be so angry about this…" Her muttering was quiet, but a Faunus' hearing was strong.

"That's. Just. It. I can't stop worrying! I get it, I really do, people want me to just do what I want and not what my demon of a mother wants. But. I. Can't." Weiss' eyes were filling with rage and fatigue induced tears.

"Stop telling yourself you can't, Weiss. That won't help you here, so just let me try and help instead." Ruby attempted to reach out to her, but the cat Faunus slapped her hand away. "W-What… Ugh, I'm just trying to help here!"

"If I wanted your help I'd ask for it. Don't you have to get ready for work anyway?" She asked, getting up from the table and grabbing her purse while heading to the door.

Ruby looked offended that her roommate would simply ignore her like that, even after she had yelled at her. "Now hold on just a minute! Just because you didn't ask for any help doesn't mean I won't try to. And why the heck are you getting mad at me for? I didn't do anything to-." Not a moment later, the door was slammed.

With the door to their apartment firmly between her and Ruby, Weiss started to make her way down to the lobby of the building, pulling out her scroll and dialing Sun's number. "Hey, Sun, would you mind picking me up at my apartment? I think I need to blow off a lot of steam."

Sun felt confused by the forceful request, but he wasn't going to say no. Ruby on the other hand was staring at the door, now slammed shut. She wanted to be angry, but she simply sighed and sat back on one of the couches after she walked over to the living room.

A few moments passed before she decided to call her sister. "Yang? I have a problem…"

Velvet noticed Blake wasn't looking too happy about something, so she scooted over on her couch to see what her girlfriend was looking at. "Something bothering you?"

The feline Faunus turned her scroll to face the rabbit Faunus, "Yeah, just got a text from Ruby. Apparently Weiss has been having confidence issues and she exploded. Seems like our wolf Faunus took the brunt of the eruption of Mt. Weiss."

The rabbit Faunus chuckled at her little joke, but even so, she was still slightly worried for Ruby. "Do you think we should try talking to one of them? I mean, a fight isn't what they need right now."

"We might as well at least try to talk to Ruby. Weiss may not be in the right mood to listen to what anyone has to say." Blake said, her thumb resting on Ruby's scroll information. "Do you want to try to be the voice of reason, or should I take a swing at it?"

Velvet shrugged, so they both chose to take turns, but as they called Ruby, they only got the signal of it being busy. "Looks like she's already talking to someone about it. I'd bet on Yang at this point." Blake sighed and put her scroll back on the living room table.

"Well, knowing Ms Tall, Blonde, and Fiery like we do she'll tell her to try and work off her own emotions about the fight and then talk it out with Weiss later."

"So for now, I get to be selfish and have you to myself, right?" Velvet teased, winking at her girlfriend, who playfully rolled her eyes in response.

"When don't you get to have me all to yourself?" The cat Faunus replied, reaching for a book that sat on the coffee table.

Velvet's rabbit ears twitched and she stole the book right before Blake could grab it. "Nope. I told you I get to be selfish, so no reading for you."

Blake pounced on her, pinning her girlfriend to the couch. She walked two fingers teasingly across her chest, whispering, "You can be selfish, but only after I finish that chapter, it was the best part."

"Oh? And what kind of part was it, huh?" Velvet smirked, knowing full well Blake would blush, and when she did, she saw her cat ears twitch. "Are you sure you don't wanna experience the real thing?"

"Uh...um… Yes, but I, uh, we should try Ruby again. Don't want her calling us mid... uh…yeah." The cat Faunus stammered, trying to form a coherent thought.

"Hmmmmm…" Velvet thought about it for a minute, but chose to lean forward and peck Blake on the forehead. "Nope." She then chose to reach over and rub one of Blake's ears, causing the cat Faunus to gasp.

"V-Velvet…" She mewed trying her best to not nuzzle into the rabbit Faunus' hand, but failing miserably. "T-The book please… Not yet…"

The rabbit Faunus held the book above Blake's head. "You mean this book? Hmm, should I let you have it back yet? I'm not too sure. Last night I remember you staying up till, what was it? Four in the morning? Reading… Again."

While nuzzling deeper into her hand, the raven haired woman tried to reach for the book, "H-How else am I supposed to get research done for my next book?"

"Research, huh? Is that what you call it?" Velvet gave her an unamused look, tossing the book to the other couch, and Blake gasped in response. "No more book time. Right now is me time. And I'm not letting you change that."

Blake glanced from the book to Velvet and back, still trying her best to effectively stay glued to her hand, "T-Two can p-play at that game, Velv…" She said, grinning as she started to run one of Velvet's faunus ears through her fingers.

Before they could go further, one of their scrolls went off, and Velvet groaned in annoyance, gently pushing the cat Faunus off of her as she checked on who was calling them. "Oh… It's Ruby…" She turned to see the shit eating grin on Blake's face. "Shut up…"

"Hey, guys, just wanted to call you back. Was talking with Yang when you called." The barista's voice piped through the scroll.

It was on speaker, so Velvet didn't need to hold it up to her ear, which was probably for the best as Blake was getting her payback and playing with one of her rabbit ears. "Hey… Ruby." The rabbit Faunus was clearly not happy, being interrupted in the middle of her, as she quoted, me time with Blake.

"You sound like I caught you both in the middle of something. Want me to call back in about…twelve hours?" She chuckled.

Velvet would have responded, but Blake beat her to it. "Oh no, Ruby, trust me, this is the perfect time to call. Isn't that right, Velv? I mean," The cat Faunas said, lightly squeezing one of Velvet's ears, forcing the brown haired woman to stifle a gasp. Blake smirked as her girlfriend's cheeks flushed at the action. "You clearly know when we should be doing something together, right?"

"I see, Velvet time was mentioned wasn't it? Well, it sounds like you have the upper hand, Blake." The smirk in Ruby's voice was audible.

"You have five seconds to tell us about Mt. Weiss, or I'm hanging up." Velvet warned, the rosey tint of her skin deepening at the teasing and Blake, who was gently nibbling on the tip of one of her ears as she continued to play with them.

"Long story short, a crappy week and still being trapped in the mindset to be perfect thanks to her mother built up until she went off. She stormed out of the apartment, probably to cool off, and Yang said I should go to work and burn off some of my own frustration at her going off on me." The silver eyed woman explained.

Blake chose to cut in at that point. "How are you feeling though? I mean, this isn't the first time she's gotten angry around you, but this time it sounds different. The fact that even you're mad is a little worrisome, Ruby." She knew the wolf Faunus wouldn't get mad so easily, so in that case, she was right to feel the way she was.

"Oh yeah I'm pissed alright. But I think I'm more pissed about the fact her mother is the big reason behind this. Weiss was venting and I just happened to be the one in the room." The wolf Faunus said, and audible growl coming across on the speaker.

"Sounds to me like this isn't something Weiss will open up about in small talk." Velvet remarked, sighing a bit. "Wish I had advice for this… Only thing that comes close is how Coco didn't like handouts from her parents, but at least they don't pressure her."

"I just want her to lighten up. She's stressing too much and not enjoying life. Hell, I'm pretty sure she's already been told to lighten up by Sun or Neon." Ruby sighed.

"Trust me when I say this, Ruby, you don't wanna tell an angry person to lighten up. It'll only make them angrier, but I get what you mean." Blake replied. "Do you want us to head over to Brewing History?"

"Only if you both want to. I should be fine, but if Coco or Neo don't need me for an entire shift I wouldn't mind the company. Might hit up the Crow Bar after work."

Velvet looked like she didn't want to leave the house yet, so Blake playfully rolled her eyes. "We'll meet you at the Crow Bar later. Text us when you're about to head there."

"Will do. Make sure you both don't break the couch, I'm not strong enough to help carry in a new one." She snickered.

"Ruby!" Blake exclaimed, but before she could say anything more, Ruby ended the call. "She hung up! Oh that little-."

Velvet cut off the amber eyed woman's exclamation, pulling her into a deep kiss, before whispering into her ear, "Now it's really me time."

Three hours Later

"Ruby, you're not getting the orders out as fast as you normally do, and that last order was completely wrong. What's up?" Neo asked concerned, after she dealt with the irate customer.

"Weiss blew up at me." She replied almost monotone.

"Now when you say blew up…" Neo caught the rare death glare Ruby kept hidden from most people, so she chuckled nervously. "Ehhh, right, so what's she so pissed off about?" After being told what happened, Neo sat next to the wolf Faunus, patting her back. "Hey, don't feel too down about it. I've had my fair share of friends who would get that angry. Just let her cool off, and she'll apologize. I'm sure of it."

"I know that, I just wanted to help her and she blew up. Her constantly stressing over the small crap isn't the best thing." The wolf Faunus said shaking her head.

Neo got up and quickly made her a cup of coffee, bringing it back over a few minutes later and passing it to Ruby. "Take a minute to relax. We don't know the full details on why she's so pissed off, even if she told you a bit about it."

"Ugh… All this right when we need to start thinking about if we're renewing our lease." She pulled the coffee toward her, sniffing it, "From Oobleck's stash?"

"Shhh, don't say anything. Felt this was the best to pick from." They were in the breakroom at the time. "But look, this little, well, let me not say little. Her explosion might not have been right of her to do, but I seriously doubt it's gonna keep you two from renewing your lease."

"Renewing isn't the issue. Renewing it together is the issue. I actually want her to stick around and be my friend and roommate. But this...I feel like she just threw up a wall." The red clad woman said, throwing back the cup of coffee in a single swig.

"Ask yourself this. Will Weiss really keep this up? Will she really not renew the lease with you because of a spat?" Neo said, waiting on Ruby to think about it.

After a minute of staring into the dregs of her cup, Ruby looked at the diminutive barista. "I'd like to hope she'll stick around."

Neo rolled her eyes and slapped the back of the wolf Faunus' head. "Before you give me that glare of yours, you need to chill out. Seriously. She's not gonna leave you behind with the lease."

"Ow…" She grumbled rubbing the back of her head, "Like I said, Shortstack, I want her to stay around. Part of me though also wants to go after the root of the problem but that wouldn't help much either."

"Give her some time. I'm sure she'll come around soon enough." Once she saw Ruby was done with her coffee, she patted her shoulder, but the wolf Faunus was still looking down. "Alright, since you're still clearly not gonna relax, come with me." She grabbed her by the arm and got her to stand up.

"W-Where are we going now?" Ruby asked scrambling to keep pace as the smaller woman practically dragged her.

"No questions." Some of the customers looked confused when they saw the short barista dragging the wolf Faunus outside. "Fresh air, take it in. And then. Chill. Out."

'I take it you and Coco can handle things for the rest of the day?" Ruby asked, realizing that Neo was telling her to take the rest of the day off.

Neo nodded. "No problem here, Red. Just find something to do and remember that Weiss isn't gonna break this off because of one argument."

Taking a deep breath and giving Neo a small smile, she nodded, "Gotcha, Neo. See ya tomorrow?"

"You know it. Now go and enjoy yourself, I'll tell Coco I sent you home, but I'll tell her you just weren't feeling well." She said giving her a thumbs up before heading back into the coffee shop.

One Hour Later

"So, you feeling any better after that?" Sun asked, rubbing his ear since he just had to experience Weiss yelling about her issues at school. The boy was a good listener, but even he couldn't take the pain of a loud and angry cat Faunus.

"I, I don't know. My frustration over Pyrrha working at Haven and with Winter, my own witch of a mother's past expectations. I let it build up and let Ruby take all of it. Hell she wanted to help and all I did was yell and walk out on her!" She said, wrapping her tail around her knees.

Sun had gotten her an ice cream, to hopefully keep her calm, and as he watched her take a bite of it, he knew she wasn't done letting off steam. "Beating yourself up over it won't help you, Weiss. Why don't you go talk to her?"

Weiss looked at him, forgetting her ice cream for the moment. "Would she even want to talk to me? I can't even keep from getting stressed out over a damn bit of homework. I'm not exactly the best person to be a roommate with and I think Ruby just found that out!"

Because of her shouts of anger and frustration, Sun slapped her back with his tail, making her yelp, almost dropping her ice cream, but Sun made sure she kept balance on the bench. "Yelling. Right next to me. Stop that." He was given a scowl from the cat Faunus, and he sighed. "Besides the fact that you got pissy in front of Ruby, what else would make you a bad roommate? Go on, try to think of something. I have all day."

Weiss took a breath, trying to think about his words. But the more she thought the less she found that would realistically make her a bad roommate. By the time she realized it the ice cream was starting to drip onto her hand. "I… No I don't think so…"

"That's what I thought." Sun rested back on the bench, grinning as he knew he got to her. "So, I know it's more than just your argument with Ruby. Did you get a call from dear old mama Schnee recently or something?"

"No and if I did I wouldn't have answered it. I just don't want her to be right about me." She snarled as she bit into the ice cream cone.

Sun was always proud of his friend, remembering how when they were younger, Weiss' mother would always try and pull her away from whatever they'd be doing for lessons. "I'm glad you don't have to hear her bullshit as much, but do you think you might have to talk to her at one point? Y'know, to finally tell her off. Could feel real good."

"It'd feel better to do it with my diploma in hand. I could even use it to catch her tears and bottle it as a perfume." Weiss chuckled mirthlessly.

Sun couldn't help but laugh, and Weiss was finally able to let out a smile. "Please record that and send it over the moment you save it."

"I certainly will. And thanks for this, I needed another kick in the pants to remind me that I need to stop stressing. Just wish I'd seen it sooner, hopefully Ruby will forgive me for going off on her." Weiss said her smile genuinely growing.

"I bet she's just as worried about it, but hey, seeing her should help you feel better." Suddenly the monkey Faunus got a call to take. "Reese? Ugh, I swear if this is about the shampoo again," He answered his scroll. "Yes?"

"Hey, Sun, I just wanted to ask and see if you could stop and pick up some curry for lunch. I've had a bit of a craving for it." The turquoise haired woman asked.

"Yeah, I'll bring some over soon. Need anything else?" Sun asked, not wanting to somehow annoy the girl if she did want something else without telling him, while Weiss giggled lightly since she could see the look on Sun's face.

"No, just the curry. Thanks, Sun."

"No problem. Talk to you later." With that, Sun heard her say later and ended the call, sighing a bit. "Thankfully she didn't ask about shampoo this time." He noticed Weiss giggling at him. "And why are you so giggly?"

"Just reminds me of how things used to be." Weiss replied with a chuckle before asking, "Has she, umm… Has she started letting you in yet?"

Sun shrugged. "Somewhat, but don't phrase it like that around Neon. She'd have a field day with that." Weiss took a moment to realize what he meant, and she instantly blushed. "Yeah… But hey, you're able to see how things were with us, and we're starting to slowly get back to that, so don't let the same thing happen with you and Ruby. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, Sun, I think I do." She replied, thinking over the conversation she and Sun had, while also thinking about what she would say to Ruby.

AN:

Phoenix: *Kicks in the door dragging a purple sack behind me* GUESS WHO'S BACK AND GUESS WHAT THE WOLF DRAGGED IN!

Shadow: *Muffled screams* Translation: I agreed to writing already! You didn't need the sack!

Phoenix: Did you find the Weiss and Blake plushies inside?

Shadow: *More muffled screams* Translation: Ooh! Mine!

Phoenix: Anyhow, this is back just like I said it would be. And on another note now that I think about it, we need to do another Sun and Reese scene along with Coco and Yang. In fact we need to do a few scenes with Flynt and Neon too. *Tears open the sack*

Shadow: *Muffled annoyance* Translation: Hate you… And ow, the light! It burns!

Phoenix: And anyone who's got questions about why we didn't get into the full build up for Weiss' explosion, it's because we didn't want to get too detailed and risk dragging this out more than it needs to be. Seeing as this chapter alone ended up as two parter…yeah…

I personally consider this chapter to be shaking off the dust, so if it's lower quality than normal I apologize. We hope you enjoyed the chapter, keep moving forward and don't feed the guard dogs! - Phoenix and Shadow signing off!

I've missed doing these… Time for the cat and wolf omake! Cat x Wolf: Furball

Cat: Meow! Meow?! Hiss! (Gah! What are you doing in the bathroom?! I'm bathing here!)

Wolf: Grrr Bark... (You're just licking yourself. And you've been doing it for three hours… We're gonna miss the milkman.)

Cat: Meow… Meow! Hiss! (I ain't buying it this time… Last time you got me to run outside, I got hit by a falling bucket of milk! Jerk!)

Wolf: Yip! *goes outside* (Suit yourself! More for me.)

Cat: Meow… (Cat slowly heads outside, and sees the milkman handing the wolf milk) Hiss! (Oh bullshit!) *Cat runs at them*

Wolf: *Prancing back to the house* Grrr… (Told you he was here...)

*Cat wastes no time pouncing at the wolf and steals one of the milk bottles*

Wolf: Woof. (Enjoy it, he'll be back next week.)