16 Chapter 16

-[Wynne]-

A large glyph appeared in the city of Vale, rising from the ground as five people appeared from it.

Looking at team RWBY who each had flabbergasted expressions on their faces, he could barely hold in his amusement.

"Woahhh!" Ruby exclaimed in shock.

"Since when can you do that?! I can't even do that and I've been using our semblance more than you!" Weiss complained before realizing something. "I'm not sure even Winter can do that."

Wynne smirked at that. "Maybe I'm just special."

The dry look Weiss shot at him made it even more amusing.

"You've got to admit, that's pretty cool." Yang said, barging in.

Surveying the four as they geeked out, Blake's reaction was the most suppressed, seeing as how she was still in thought about what he said earlier.

"I'm not too familiar with Vale so I guess one of you should take the lead." Wynne said, gesturing to them.

Ruby's eyes shone at that, raising her hand. "I know a great place!"

"A place to eat, not a weapons shop." Yang corrected, causing the hand to drop quickly. "Don't worry about it, I know the perfect place but first…"

She walked to stand in front of Wynne. "You're not seriously considering walking around in that, are you?"

He'd dressed like a nerd so that he wouldn't attract too much attention with his normally classy attire. It went with the wig and glasses so no odd glances went his way.

"What's wrong with my disguise?" He asked in confusion.

The blonde scoffed. "Your 'disguise' isn't exactly the best look for you. First stop, shopping!"

-[Later]-

Yang had dragged all of them to a clothing store where she and Weiss zoomed around the store picking out clothes.

While Yang and Weiss were busy, Ruby was also busy trying to stop Yang from going overboard. That left Wynne and Blake with the small sorting of clothes that were already picked out.

"You're awfully quiet." Wynne said offhandedly as he looked through the clothes.

"That's because there's nothing to say." The dark haired girl retorted.

Her response only elicited an unbothered smirk from Wynne. "That doesn't explain the disdain you have for me." He said as he picked out a set of the already selected clothes.

"Or maybe it does." He added, confusing her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked as he walked towards the changing room they stood in front of.

"Your ears. Quite the secret to hide." He said in a tone quiet enough for only her to hear as he walked past her.

Her eyes shot wide open in alarm as she tried to move only to find her feet unable to leave the ground.

As he walked past her and into the changing room, she looked to the ground only to see a glyph below her that was responsible for restricting her movement.

He missed the look of fear that appeared on her face as he began changing into the clothes behind the curtains.

"How did you know? What do you want?" Blake asked, fear still obvious.

Tossing his clothes into a storage glyph, he took his time changing. "Calm down. Like I said before, unlike my father I'm not biased against faunus. As a matter of fact, I'm here with a proposal that'll be beneficial for faunus, especially the ones on menagerie."

"What proposal?" He heard her ask.

He smirked in front of the mirror as he observed his appearance.

"Not now. You won't be able to give me a proper answer even if I told you right now. Take your time and cool off, then we'll talk." He said, dispersing the glyph that held her in place.

Walking out of the changing room, he saw Blake who looked like she was ready to bolt out of there. The only thing that stopped her was the timely arrival of her other three teammates.

"I told you I knew what I was doing!" Yang said enthusiastically as they returned, Weiss shaking her head.

"How did I even let you talk me into this?" Weiss wondered in exasperation as she took in Wynne's attire.

Unlike the usual formal clothes she was accustomed to seeing him wear, he wore a black open button shirt with a black top underneath and white shorts with casual shoes.

On his neck and wrist were jewelry while shades laid over his eyes.

'I really look like a discount gojo.' He thought in amusement.

"What do you think, Weiss?" He asked, an annoying smile on his face.

"You already know I don't approve. You look like a hippie in those clothes." Weiss said, causing his smirk to widen.

"That just gives me another reason to wear them. Plus they're comfortable." Wynne said as he went to the counter to pay.

Trailing behind, Weiss sighed in exasperation. "We have finer material in Atlas and you could always order from Mistral." She said.

"I think you look great!" Ruby praised as they followed.

"See? She gets it." Wynne said, gesturing to Ruby, causing Weiss to message her temple.

He wasn't lying when he said the clothes were comfortable. He'd been wearing formal clothes because he didn't see any reason to change that but now he did.

It wasn't a stretch to say that the fabric on Remnant was more comfortable than on Earth.

"Can I order in bulk?" Wynne asked the attendant at the register.

-[Winter]-

After hours of waiting, Wynne had finally returned. She held back her comments as she was led to what was previously her father's office.

The robot that stood inactive in the corners of the hallways seemed even more ominous than before. She'd seen quite a few of them standing immobile in different areas of the manor and the fact that they were more advanced than the Atlas military's couldn't be any more blatant.

The butler knocked on the door, receiving a response from the voice which was undoubtedly Wynne.

As the door was opened, she was ushered in just before the man left, leaving the two siblings alone.

The first thing that caught her attention was his…odd attire. It was truly not anything she had seen or even imagined him ever wearing.

"Forgive my state of dress, Weiss and her friends went a bit overboard with the makeover." He said upon noticing her stare.

It was only a miracle that her eyes didn't outright widen at that statement. 'But Weiss is in Vale… There were no reports of him even leaving Atlas.'

That wasn't even mentioning the fact that a single trip to Vale would take hours and that wasn't counting the return trip. That definitely wasn't something that could be accomplished within the few hours he had been gone.

'Is he lying? What would he gain from lying?' She tried to place his thoughts to attempt to predict him.

"No, I was merely caught off guard. I didn't expect you to be dressed like this. I don't believe father would approve." She said, trying to pry some information about their father.

From his position at the desk, Wynne's lips bent into a smirk. "He wouldn't, would he?" He said with a non-answer.

"Now, what brings you here? I take it that you didn't come home to say hello." He inquired.

The bad feeling she felt on her way here returned with full force.

"I didn't think I needed a reason to return to my own home." Winter said, deflecting his question.

His eyes, which seemed to be shining just a bit brighter than hers or Weiss', stared straight into hers.

'Is it me or is it a bit chilly in here?' She thought idly, trying to take her mind off the unsettling stare.

Wynne let out a small laugh. "I guess that's true. I'll be a bit busy so forgive me if we don't have time to catch up. You should still remember your way around." He said, dismissal clear in his tone.

It reminded her of her father's tone but much more controlled and less crude.

As much as she wanted to ask more questions, she couldn't risk him getting even more suspicious than he obviously already was.

This was her younger brother who she had all but abandoned after leaving to join the Atlas military. She at least kept in contact with Weiss, even if barely, but she couldn't bring herself to face Wynne who had taken the full brunt of their father's attention and disappointment with her.

The sweet and gentle child from before who was desperate for his sister's approval was nowhere to be seen.

Only an overly perceptive, calm and composed teenager remained.

Despite the war in her heart about her conflicting emotions, she knew she could only blame herself. Just as she was about to leave, Wynne spoke again.

"A note of warning." He said, causing her to turn to him in confusion. "Steer clear of my room and my labs. I very much like my privacy."

He definitely knew!

At that moment, his eyes gained a cold glint that caused her to unconsciously shudder. It was like all her secrets were laid bare before his eyes.

'Wynne…just how much have you changed?!'