Chapter Text
Weiss gazes at her reflection in the bathroom of team RWBY’s shared dorm room, carefully redoing her makeup after crying. The aftermath of the Beacon Dance, specifically Neptune’s declaration that they didn’t quite fit together and his immediate shift to flirting with some of the other transfer students, brought back feelings she had mostly escaped since joining team RWBY.
As a result, she’d fallen back into old habits over the last few weeks, in public and private. She noticed herself being increasingly irritable, as she was when she first arrived at Beacon. The friends she had started to warm up to and care for she was once again pushing to extreme standards. This was on top of her usual cold attitude to those she didn’t know or like. All while excusing herself regularly to contemplate her own lengthy list of faults and problems, requiring fresh makeup each time. Nobody had actually seen her though, largely due to her well-developed ability to cry in complete silence, an essential ability living under her father's rules. Schnees would not be seen crying after all.
Her time at Beacon was going so well until now. But suddenly she found herself feeling just as empty, just as worthless as her father made her at home. The increase in classwork after the dance had kept her away from her team more as she tried to dive into schoolwork to little avail, with the added consequence of not having as many opportunities to spend time with them. Even when her friends tried to sneak conversations with her during class she would never join, doing her best to remain focused on the lesson and eventually sharply, but quietly, reminding them to do the same.
As she finishes cleaning herself up from her latest breakdown she stares at her reflection, before taking a deep breath and finally composing herself. She strides back into the room with rehearsed confidence as Yang gets off her bed. “Goddamn Weiss, what were you doing in there?” she asks as she walks toward the open door. “What kind of question is that?” Weiss snaps in return. “The kind you ask when someone spends 45 minutes in the bathroom for no apparent reason.” Blake comments from the lower bed. Weiss glances away as she keeps walking towards her bed. Had she really spent that long? “Yeah, you feeling okay Weiss?” Ruby asks from above her. “Yes, I’m fine.” She lies instinctively.
“Alright well, now we can get ready to head out.” Yang comments as she starts working on her own makeup and hair. “Out?” Weiss asks as she looks towards Yang confused. “We’re heading into Vale for a bit tonight.”
“Shouldn’t you all be studying? We have Oobleck’s exam next week!” Weiss says pointedly. “Yeah, well we’re taking a break from it.” Yang says annoyedly. “You cannot keep neglecting your schoolwork!” Yang suddenly sets everything down and stomps out of the room. “Fucks sake Weiss, give it a rest. We can take a few hours rest from classes, we have the entirety of the next week!” Yang says angrily. “Well-” Weiss tries to comment back but Yang interrupts her to continue. “You’ve been on everyone’s ass for weeks now! Here I thought you were improving or something, but no, still the same old Ice Queen!” “Yang-” Ruby tries to interject as Yang’s eyes turn red. “I’m tired of this shit Weiss. This whole attitude is why Neptune wanted nothing to fucking do with you!” She yells.
Weiss freezes completely at that. The already minimal will to argue back evaporates completely. “I- I…” she starts as Blake stands up and gets between her partner and Weiss. “Hey, calm down.” she tells the blonde before turning back towards Weiss as Yang stomps back into the bathroom. “Look… she’s just saying you’ve been a lot more… difficult lately.” Blake says. Weiss shakes her head and sits down, holding her reaction in until the rest of them leave. Ruby looks sadly down at her partner as she jumps down from the bunk above her while the other two walk out of the dorm. Weiss glances up at her partner before getting properly onto her bed and sitting back.
“You could… relax a little bit Weiss. This is kinda starting to affect the team.” Weiss closes her eyes as Ruby walks out the door, finally leaving her alone. Tears almost instantly start seeping out of her eyes as she curls up, sobbing in complete silence.
She lays in bed for a while, her team's words running through her head repeatedly. ‘So much wasted effort and you still just can’t do anything right’ she thinks to herself. ‘Everyone hates you, and now even your team, your friends are completely done with you.’ She stands up and walks over to the bathroom, once again glaring at herself in the mirror as she weeps.
The rest of her teammates return later that night and find Weiss laying in bed. She opens one eye to see them walk in and then shuts it. ‘Better if they think I’m asleep.’ She thinks.
“Looks like the Ice Queen went to sleep already, good. Won’t have to deal with her berating us for trying to have some fun again.” Yang says as the three of them start changing and getting ready for bed. “Yang, you should still apologize at some point. You crossed a line with that thing about Neptune.” Ruby tells her sister quietly. “I mean it’s true, that’s pretty much what he told Sun, wasn’t Blake?” Yang says, but follows it with a sigh. “You’re right though, she’s just been such a pain in the ass lately. She barely even talks to us anymore.” “I know, but I don’t think this helped things.” Blake says. “In any case, there’s no sense waking her now. We'll let her sleep and you can talk to her tomorrow.” Blake finally says as they settle into their respective bunk beds.
As the light turns off and most of the team falls asleep, Weiss keeps her eyes closed as tears once again make their way down her face.