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The next morning arrived like a heavy fog rolling in and hugging every inch of the city in grey.  Having stayed up too late the night before in her search for solutions, Blake found the fog had also taken over her mind, leaving her with repeated yawns while she pulled herself together and headed out for work.  The chill from the night before still lingered in the early morning air, but it was nothing a good jacket and brisk walk couldn’t fight off.  

Her route was nearly the same as when she came home in the evening, but her morning routine included a slight deviation - all for a steaming hot cup of tea.  The city had yet to fully awaken, which meant the sidewalks were empty as she made her way towards the business sector.  It also meant that when she ducked into a small café along her route, she was one of only a few customers inside.

Letting the door fall closed with a jingle of the small bell, she scanned the interior and confirmed there were only Faunus customers at this time - a possum Faunus working on a computer in the far corner while a pair of skunk Faunus conversed softly at a table nearby.  Now that she thought about it, she could only remember seeing Faunus customers here…

It was a Faunus-run café, but coffee was coffee.  One would think that humans wouldn’t be so particular about who handed them their morning cup of caffeine.  

Walking over to the register, she smiled at the young canine standing behind the counter, who was currently caught mid-yawn.

“Sorry ‘bout that -” he said before yawning again.  “These early shifts…”

“Still not used to them?”

“Don’t think I’ll ever get used to them.”  Shaking his head, which sent long brown hair rustling in all directions, he gave a dopey grin as only a pup working way too early in the morning could.  “But how’ve you been?  Want the usual?”

“Yes, please.”  Smiling while he set about making her morning tea, filling a cup with boiling water before selecting her preferred flavor, she added, “And I’ve been ok - work is busy.  But how’s business here?  Looks kind of slow this morning.”

“Ah, you know...same as normal, I think.  Usually gets busy a little later.”  Sliding the steaming cup of tea across to her, he took her money and rang up the order while she gave him a curious look.

“I thought with the library opening across the street, I’d see more people here,” she explained while accepting her change.  “Maybe a human or two.”

Chuckling, he shook his head.

“You ‘n me both,” he said before setting both hands on the counter and shrugging.  “But they’d rather go to that other one a few blocks over.”

Surprised by the news, Blake briefly considered responding but instead shut her mouth and shook her head.  There was nothing she could say that he didn’t already know, and that he hadn’t already said to himself time and time again.

“Have a good day, Sam,” she said instead before exiting the coffee shop with the same soft jingle as when she’d entered.

Even though it wasn’t her workplace, the news bothered her.  When she saw the library being built across the street, she thought it would be a huge boon to their small business - nothing said ‘coffee’ like students cramming all day for tests and research papers, after all.  But to learn that her prediction hadn’t come to pass?  

She understood that some humans would rather inconvenience themselves than willingly support a Faunus in any way, shape, or form, but walking blocks out of the way for a cup of coffee that probably didn’t taste as good?  They always found new ways to disappoint her…

Determined to let that go for now, she raised the cup to her lips and blew through the lid as if that might help it cool off faster.  Considering the cup was nearly too hot to hold even through the cardboard sleeve, it was far too hot to drink at the moment - unless she wanted to risk a burned tongue.

Regardless, the warmth seeping through her fingers was comforting.  And, as she made her way through the lobby of the building and up the stairs to her office, she was able to take a tiny sip.  Sighing in relief at the flavor, she fished her keys from her bag and unlocked the door to The Vale Voice with her free hand.  Taking another tentative sip, she reached over and flipped on the lights before heading straight into her office to get to work. 

After turning on the computer, she leaned back in her chair and took another sip.  If anyone asked what her favorite time of day was, she would say this particular moment - tea in hand, and the inability to work until her computer started.  Right now, all she could do was sit here and drink her tea, with her emails and problems briefly locked behind a loading screen.

The moment was short-lived, however.  When the machine booted up a few minutes later, she set down her cup and opened her email.

“Good morning, Blake,” Victor called through her open office door a little while later.  As usual, he wore a tie, which was unnecessary in such a laid back environment but made him look ‘distinguished.’

“Morning, Victor,” she replied while browsing through her morning emails.  Even though she’d been disappointed more than a few times in the past, she couldn’t prevent the growing bubble of hope in her chest.  

The first few items were junk or spam, and immediately deleted.  The next was a reply that sent her hopes even higher, but turned out to be a polite decline based on the proper ‘fit’ with the company’s image.  Not exactly what she’d hoped for, but at least they took the time to send a response.

Marking the company off of her master list, she went through the rest of her unread mail and found nothing of interest.  So, with the bubble of hope successfully punctured, she leaned back in her chair and sighed.

It was a long shot, but not necessarily a lost cause.  There was still a chance that another company would get back to her later today, even later this week.  Plus, there were still pages and pages of companies she’d yet to reach out to.

Mildly disappointed at the lack of a miracle, however, she glanced into the office and saw that almost everyone was in now.  The day had begun, and she would proceed normally regardless of the early morning letdown.  They were all working hard enough already - the last thing she wanted was to burden them with more worries than necessary.

“Hey, Blake!”  No sooner had the words reached her ears did Sun slide through the doorway and hop up onto the corner of her desk.  “How’re you doing?”

“I’m fine, Sun,” she answered, hardly giving him a glance while pulling up a copy of Lola’s planned articles for the week and printing a short outline of what the next edition would look like.

“Yeah?  That’s good!  So you’ll never guess what happened to me last night.”

“Did it involve the cops this time?”

Laughing at the question, he grabbed the sheet of paper from the printer and slid it across the desk to her.  Her favorite pen was moments behind, saving her from having to find it.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, picking up the pen and focusing on the page.

“No problem!  And no cops, but it was still a good time.  It all started at this fast food place around the corner - all I wanted was an order of curly fries.”

While he jabbered away about his night, Blake made small changes to the anticipated layout for the next edition.  Over time, she’d become quite adept at drowning him out.  Now, she could even add in a few well-timed ‘uh huh’s and ‘wow’s without even thinking about it.

Meanwhile, she prepared their week.  Unfortunately, her crystal ball seemed to be broken, so there was no telling how the layout might change between now and Friday.  New stories popped up out of the blue courtesy of Vale’s never-ending penchant for creating headline-worthy news.  Whenever an unexpected event sprang to life, they all came together and decided which articles were most important for the current week and which would be tabled for later.

The job demanded quick thinking but also flexibility and willingness to scrap an entire series if the situation called for it.  She hated to see it happen, but sometimes she was forced to tell someone that their article would be lost for the week - and potentially forever, depending on the topic.

“ - can you believe that?”

“Uh, no - wow,” she replied a little late, but Sun seemed blissfully unaware.  Using his tail, he swiped the pen from her hand the instant she set down the page she’d sketched out.  Dropping it into the penholder on her desk, he grabbed the red one next and dropped it in front of her.

Pulling out the ledger, like she did every Tuesday, she tallied up their expenses from the past week and wrote the negative number in red.  Next, she used the black pen (which Sun dropped onto the book as soon as she needed it) to write their income from the most recent issue.  Comparing the two values on the page, she sighed and flipped the ledger shut - to be avoided until this time next week.

The idea was for the black number to be larger than the red one, not the other way around.

“Now my buddy, he’s a bit of an idiot, ya know?  I mean, he’s a bat so his eyesight is crap, but he acts like he can see anyway -”

While he carried on, a pop-up caught her eye - alerting her to a new email.  After curiously opening it up, she felt her heart beat faster as her eyes flew across the screen, unable to believe what she was reading.  Once she reached the bottom of the message, she immediately returned to the beginning and read it again - then checked the sender’s email address, which looked more legitimate than she could have hoped for.  

It was a legitimate expression of interest from a large, well-known company.  The sender ended the email proposing a meeting at lunchtime today, due to upcoming travel obligations.  

“Sun, I need to work now,” Blake said, interrupting whatever he was in the middle of saying.  “This is important.”

“No problem!”  He hopped off her desk and headed out of her office, but didn’t leave without giving her one last grin.  “How about I tell you the rest over lunch?”

“I have a lunch appointment.”  Reading the email a third time, she finally drafted a response that meeting at noon would be perfect.  After double-checking her spelling and sending it off, she exhaled before standing and walking to the door.

“Velvet,” she said before gesturing Velvet over to her.  Returning to her office, she paced back and forth behind her desk while waiting for Velvet to walk in.  “Close the door.”

“What’s going on?” Velvet asked, closing the door and taking the single seat across the desk, prompting Blake to sit across from her.

“We’re going to have a visitor today.”  Blake’s words fell out in a rush, but she suddenly felt very strapped for time with lunch rapidly approaching.  “A prospective advertiser.”

Velvet’s eyes lit up at the news.  “That’s great!  Who is it?”

“Weiss Schnee,” Blake replied, and watched the name register in Velvet’s ears with an excited pop.

“Schnee as in...Schnee Industries?  As in, the company that owns just about everything in Vale?”

“That’s the one.”  Blake still hardly believed that that’s who responded to her email.  “She’ll be here in a few hours.  Can you organize things out there while I print some material to show her?”

“Absolutely.  But...what about everyone else?  Should we let them know?”

Pausing to consider the options, Blake ultimately shook her head.

“Not yet.  It’s just a regular day.”

“You realize they’ll recognize her as soon as she walks in.”

“That’s fine.  If it’s unexpected, hopefully they won’t have time to think of something stupid to say.”

Velvet chuckled while standing up.  “You could just send Sun home, you know.”

“We’ll see,” Blake replied, and smiled at Velvet before they both set about their unexpected tasks for the day.  Spinning back to her computer, Blake pulled up the charts she’d looked at just yesterday and tried to find pieces of data that were most helpful in pleading their case.  For them, that meant pointing out their popularity amongst Faunus readers as a trusted source of news.

To go along with readership values, she collected several writing samples as well as some of the best photographs from the past year.  Printing two color copies of each exhibit, she laid a complete set out on her desk and scrutinized them closely, searching for glaring errors as well as a coherent order she could present them in.

Schnee Industries was the largest company in Vale - by far.  The company was so large, in fact, that Blake nearly skipped over the entry when sending emails yesterday.  ‘What are the chances,’ she’d thought to herself.  ‘That such a large company would have any interest in a tiny newspaper?’

But, besides sheer size, there was no obvious reason to exclude Schnee Industries from her all-encompassing search.  So the email was sent, and replied to by Weiss Schnee personally.

Maybe, just maybe, Blake could convince Weiss to advertise.  Guessing what type of space Schnee Industries might be looking for was difficult but, based on the huge billboards peppering the city streets, countless television spots, and numerous public events named after the company’s founders, their marketing budget was basically bottomless.  Even if they agreed on a modest run of advertisements, that account alone would keep The Voice running for another six months, at least.

While ordering the pages in a cohesive sequence where one idea flowed easily to the next, Blake felt a seed of doubt growing in her chest.  This was a long shot - one of those chances that was worth taking simply because the payoff would be great.  But...what type of person was Weiss?  

The answer to that question likely had a greater impact on the outcome of this meeting than anything Blake said.  If Weiss was open-minded and willing to support a good cause, then The Voice might have a chance of winning her over.  If she harbored any prejudice towards Faunus...well, then this meeting was likely a waste of everyone’s time.

Noticing another pop-up on her screen, she checked her email and found a confirmation - again sent directly from Weiss’ personal address.  A simple and concise, “I’ll meet you at your office at noon.”

With the meeting set, Blake stared at her desk while her mind raced through as many possible questions as she could think of.  As much as she wanted to believe that this would go well, the pragmatic side of her knew it was unlikely that someone of Weiss’ status was a true Faunus supporter.  No one reached such a lofty position without stepping on quite a few backs in the process - Faunus or otherwise.

But Weiss made the effort to reach out - personally, at that.  Maybe there was more promise here than what Blake was allowing herself to believe.

Pushing the two identical stacks of paper to the corner of the desk, she picked up one of the many articles Victor had submitted and tried to work.  Deadlines or not, he churned out articles at such a quick pace that he could fill his own small paper with them.  Most of his pieces never made it to print, whether due to lack of space or lack of relevance, but he sent them for review anyway.

She didn’t mind reading his work.  Especially since, every once in a while, she uncovered a gem that was both timely and magnificent.  And, even when she knew the particular piece would be next in the pile of unpublished articles, she learned a great word or two for her efforts - with the assistance of a dictionary, which she always kept handy.

On a day like today, however, it was incredibly difficult to focus on a heavy political narrative.  After reading through the first paragraph three times, and understanding less with each subsequent read, she gave up and filed the page away to be picked up at a later time.

With editing out of the question, she decided that she would look through Velvet’s most recent film roll instead.  Opening the files on her computer, she studied each photograph closely but still only caught a fraction of what Velvet had found fit to capture.

Having only a moderate understanding of photography, Blake gave Velvet free reign to take whatever photographs she wanted.  The two of them became friends because they shared similar hopes and dreams, and a very different medium for bringing about change.  For Blake, it was using words - written communication with an attempt to sway thought and opinion.  For Velvet, it was using photos - displaying moments that evoked real emotions in the viewers.

Clicking through a series of photographs from the peewee championship game Velvet went to with Sun, Blake couldn’t help but feel uplifted from the energy - the happiness of the kids, the nervousness of the parents, the cheers of success whenever something important happened.

Part of her job was looking through the photos for any that could be used for current articles, but today it also served as a distraction to her upcoming meeting.  Of course, the closer the clock drew to twelve o’clock, the less she could focus on anything else.

With several minutes to spare, she closed all of the open screens on the computer and picked up the two stacks of paper, only to set them down again.  There was no need to go through them another time - by now, she had each page memorized in full.  She could probably quote the articles from memory too.

That’s when a soft chime rang out across the office.  The unexpected sound, which was so rarely used, caught everyone’s attention while she took a deep breath and walked to the door of her office.  She nodded to Velvet as she did so, giving Velvet silent permission to answer the door.

After doing so, Velvet said a soft “Hello,” before standing out of the way and gesturing their guest inside.  “Please come in.”

“Thank you.” 

When Weiss stepped through the door, the first thing Blake noticed was that she was much younger than she appeared in photos or news clips.  While Blake had assumed Weiss to be her senior, it appeared that they were actually nearly the same age.

“I’m here to see Blake Belladonna,” Weiss added, her voice as clear as her striking blue eyes.  Taking that as her cue to walk over and extend one hand, Blake smiled while Velvet silently ducked out of the conversation.

“I’m Blake,” she said while giving Weiss a quick handshake.  “It’s nice to meet you…”

Her voice trailed off when she realized she had no idea if Weiss expected to be called ‘Miss Schnee.’  It seemed like the proper term, albeit slightly uncomfortable seeing as how they were equals - though in age only.

“Please, call me Weiss.”

“Weiss.  It’s nice to meet you,” Blake responded, grateful that the question had been answered for her.  

“It’s nice to meet you too.”  After a gentle nod, Weiss allowed her gaze to sweep the office in a slow, methodical fashion.  It wasn’t an overly judgmental expression, but it was clearly...analytical.  

While Weiss studied the office, Blake shifted her feet and searched for an appropriate time to speak again.  Weiss’ presence was more intimidating than Blake had expected, especially for someone of such slim stature.  But what Weiss lacked in physical presence she made up for with an aura of control and power, as if she’d just bought the entire building and was observing her new subjects.  Maybe it was her perfect posture, or her meticulously-coordinated outfit, or her impeccably-styled white hair...but she appeared impossibly in control of her surroundings.

Examination completed, blue eyes snapped back to Blake and a smile that seemed nothing beyond polite appeared.

“Shall we?”

“Yes.  Of course.”  Blake gestured for Weiss to follow and led them through the rows of desks towards her office.  Noticing the expression on Sun’s face as he excitedly watched them approach, Blake caught his eye and gave him a stern shake of the head.

At first, he heeded the silent warning.  But, as soon as she and Weiss were passing his desk, he spun to the side and blurted out, “You’re Weiss Schnee, right?”

While Blake shot him a look of dismay, he grinned at Weiss, who stopped walking and gave him another one of those polite smiles.

“I am.  And you are?”

“Oh, I’m Sun!  Sun Wukong.”  Sun stuck out his hand, and his tail did a happy loop when Weiss returned the handshake.  “I’m like, your biggest fan!”

Tilting her head, Weiss gave him a curious expression.

“And what, exactly, are you a fan of?”

“Uh, I dunno, your money?”

Quickly nudging Sun out of the way, Blake waved Weiss towards her office.  Fortunately, Weiss merely gave him another thoughtful expression before following.  After Weiss walked into the office, Blake shut the door and immediately started damage control.

“Sorry about him,” she said while heading around the desk and sitting down.  “He’s just a goofball.  I’m sure he didn’t mean any offense.”

“So his purpose is to serve as office entertainment?”

“He’s in charge of athletics,” Blake explained with a small smile at the subtle joke.  “He’s a good writer once he sets his mind to it.”

With a soft hum of agreement or acknowledgment, Weiss began another slow analysis of Blake’s office - taking it apart piece-by-piece.  She might be around Blake’s age, but that’s where the similarities stopped.  Schnee Industries was an enormous conglomerate that grew larger by the day, and the Schnee name was synonymous with wealth in Vale and beyond.  One thing was certain - Weiss had never known a need for money.  This showed in her confident posture and commanding demeanor - she was used to winning, and winning handily.

“I must apologize for such short notice,” Weiss finally said while shifting in her seat.  “I’m heading to Atlas this evening and will be gone for the next few weeks.”

“Oh, that’s fine.  Honestly, I’m surprised you’re the one who received my email.”  

“Your message happened to catch the right person’s eye,” Weiss replied.  “Normally, I would have someone from marketing meet with you, but I thought due to the...unconventional...composition of your office, it would be best for me to meet you personally.”

The words caught Blake somewhat off guard - implying that Weiss was tactful enough to understand that a normal marketing head might write of The Vale Voice as a dying cause.  If she used her own time to make the trip, maybe it wasn’t a leap to think that she might not have many negative biases towards Faunus.  Or at least, that was the front she projected.  With someone so polished, it was difficult to tell her true intentions.

“I appreciate that,” Blake replied regardless, but Weiss waved off the gratitude.

“So,” she said instead, resting her hands across her lap and giving Blake an attentive gaze.  “Why should Schnee Industries advertise in The Vale Voice?”

There it was - the question Blake spent much of her morning ruminating over.

“Well, we’re the only Faunus-run paper in Vale.  As such, we offer unique viewpoints and access to a different demographic than what you’ll find at the other papers.  As you can see, our readers are primarily Faunus across all age groups, but concentrated in the most well-educated.”  While speaking, Blake slid the exhibits across the desk for Weiss to read.  After leaning forward and glancing at the front page, Weiss sat back and returned her gaze to Blake.

“I understand you have Faunus readers, but if we were trying to reach Faunus communities, why advertise in the paper when we can throw ads all over television and cover the neighborhoods with billboards?”

“When someone picks up the paper, they’re invested in reading it,” Blake explained.  “The same isn’t true for other forms of media.  Advertisements in journals and newspapers have a higher recall and retention rate, making them more impactful.”

Weiss nodded at the response and, for a second, looked impressed.  Almost.

“Yes, but I’m sure the Independent and Sentinel have equal numbers of Faunus readers, as well as a large number of humans.  What I want to know is why we should advertise in this paper?  Why The Vale Voice?  Why this group of writers?  Why you?”

Blake had answers to all of those questions, except the last one.

“I don’t think you need to consider my merits...” 

“But I do,” Weiss insisted.  “I don’t get involved in the day-to-day very often, but when I do, I make an impact.  If I wanted to advertise in a paper, I’d advertise in a paper.  I could start my own paper and run nothing but our ads, but I don’t because that wouldn’t be a strategic decision.  Who would read such a biased thing?  If we buy space, we’re not just advertising - we become partners.  We’re invested.  I don’t care if it’s print, TV, the subway, wherever - it has to be something that’s known for quality and authenticity.  Because that’s not just any name up there on those billboards or scrolling across the television screen.  That’s my name.  I won’t risk tarnishing it for a few more Faunus eyes.  So, why you?”

Briefly at a loss for words, Blake realized that she’d severely underestimated Weiss based on her upbringing.  There was nothing spoiled or entitled about her.  No, she was very smart.  More than smart - she was exceedingly sharp.

“Well...I’ve been working here for five years now,” Blake answered.  “I started as one of the junior journalists before becoming a full-time writer.  I took over this position when the previous editor-in-chief moved away and have been doing it ever since.”

“So you’re an editor with a writer’s experience,” Weiss replied with a nod.  “It’s impressive that you’ve been able to accomplish everything you have in such a short time - but what makes you different?”

The word made Blake’s ears involuntarily twitch.

“I’m a Faunus,” she responded, believing that was the answer Weiss was searching for - until she shook her head.

“The city is filled with Faunus.  That’s not what makes you different.”

Indignation brewed in Blake’s chest at the response, which couldn’t be further from the truth.  She’d spent much of her life as an outcast because of one reason, and one reason only.  For Weiss to imply differently showed her lack of understanding of what it meant to be Faunus.

When Blake didn’t respond, however, Weiss straightened the papers in front of her and continued.

“Regardless, we’re interested.  I just have to question how...dedicated...your staff is.”

Almost on cue, Blake watched Sun threw a wad of paper across the room, nearly sticking it to one of Lola’s horns before bursting into laughter.

“I assure you that we’re dedicated,” she answered.  Letting out a soft “hmm,” Weiss looked down at the papers in front of her and flipped through the sheets before landing on one of Velvet’s photographs.

“Here’s what I’d like to do,” Weiss finally said, her words slow and her expression thoughtful.  “I’d like to bring in one of my most trusted employees for a few weeks.  Let her work here and see how the operation runs.  If, after that time, she gives a thumbs up, you have our business.”

“Is she Faunus?” Blake immediately asked, but Weiss’ brow furrowed.  

“No.  Does that matter?”

“The point of The Vale Voice is that it’s Faunus-run,” Blake explained.  “Having humans work here negates that purpose.”

“Isn’t running advertisements by companies owned by humans equally against that goal?”

“That’s a business matter.  There aren’t enough Faunus-owned and operated businesses for us to survive.”

“Then this is also a business matter,” Weiss replied while watching Blake closely.  “I want you to bring her in, regardless of her race, as a business decision.  I can’t sign off on advertising here until I hear feedback on how everything is running.”

Realizing that Weiss had just backed her into a philosophical corner, Blake carefully thought through her options.  On the one hand, she was elated at the remote possibility that they could secure Schnee Industries as an advertiser.  On the other hand...who was this person they would let into their office? 

“This would be your employee sitting here then,” she commented, unable to escape the feeling that it would be similar to having a spy in their midst - a human spy, no less - but Weiss shook her head.  

“No, I’d like you to treat her as your own.  Have her do whatever tasks you feel she’s capable of.  If it’s not a good fit, then send her home.  All I ask is that you give her the chance to observe and potentially help for a few weeks.  Nothing more.”

It sounded invasive but not onerous from a workload perspective.  But having a human in the office...

“If you need time to think about it…” Weiss offered after Blake was silent for a few moments too long.

Under normal circumstances, yes, this was something that needed to be thought about and discussed.  But these weren’t normal circumstances.  If they didn’t make progress towards securing another advertiser right away, they might run out of time.

“No.”  After shaking her head, Blake forced a smile.  “We have an agreement.”

Weiss’ lack of surprise proved one of Blake’s thoughts from earlier - that she always expected to win.  And with a smile, she stood while Blake followed suit.

“Perfect.  I’ll send her here tomorrow morning.”  Reaching down, Weiss picked up the stack of exhibits from the desk and motioned with them.  “May I take these with me?”

“Sure,” Blake agreed, nodding before following Weiss out of the office and towards the exit.  “Thank you for taking the time to meet today.”

“The pleasure was all mine.”  Pausing by the door, Weiss turned and gave Blake a smile - one that looked more friendly and less polished.  “I’ll be in touch.”

With those parting words, Weiss headed towards the staircase and disappeared seconds later.  Left in her wake, Blake let the door fall shut and stared at it for several seconds without moving, not even when Velvet appeared by her side.

“What did she say?” 

Struggling through the conversation that just happened, Blake ultimately landed on the most important piece.

“Someone will be joining us for a little while,” she replied, turning to Velvet and watching confusion bend her long ears.

“Who?”

Blake didn’t know who...and how could she explain that she just agreed to let a stranger walk into the office - into their lives?

“Can you get the empty desk ready?” she asked instead.  For a second, Velvet looked like she wanted to press the matter, but nodded and headed over to complete her task.

After one last glance at the door, Blake hurried back to her office and did her best to return to work, pretending as if the meeting with Weiss never happened.  Towards the end of the day, she received another email - a nibble from another company that sounded moderately interested in a short run of advertisements.  Recognizing the name as another Faunus-owned business in the area, she set up a time to meet the owner, Gary, the next day around lunch.  

Two meetings in two days...that was more than she’d expected but didn’t mean she could rest on her laurels.  Even though they had a prospective advertiser with Schnee Industries, she wasn’t willing to put all her eggs in one basket.  Doing so would jeopardize their future if Weiss decided that The Voice wasn’t worth her time.  And, realistically, that’s just what she might do.

Knowing the harsh truth of reality, Blake ended her day sending out another wave of emails.  It wasn’t until she was on her way home that she allowed herself to delve into what kind of impression they needed to make on their...visitor.

Dedication.  That’s the word Weiss used.  

Blake knew that all of them were dedicated.  Maybe it hadn’t shown in such a short meeting, but over the course of a few days it would become clear to anyone.  Even a human would be forced to admit it - unless they believed as the general public did, that all Faunus were lazy, unqualified, unintelligent…

Hopefully, Weiss was insightful enough to select someone without clear biases, but Blake wasn’t willing to wager on a human she’d never met.  She wouldn’t wager on a human she had met either.

The idea of a stranger working amongst them didn’t sit well with her, but she was even more put off by the idea of pandering to a human in order to win ad dollars.  That went against everything she stood for.  So, there would be no announcement letting everyone know about the deal that had been made.  No, she trusted her co-workers to prove their worth without her pushing them too hard.  She would tell them individually when appropriate or when they asked, but she wouldn’t make it into a huge ordeal.

Some of them would be unhappy with this recent development...most of all Brand.  Thankfully, he was out for the next few days, and the rest of them would deal with the situation the best they could.  If there was one thing all Faunus were skilled at, it was learning how to deal with situations that somehow uniquely applied to them, and them alone.

Comments

Whyarewehere

I love the set up you just wrote here. I cannot wait to see the introduction to Yang now. Cheers!!

NeurovascularEntrapta

Weiss Weiss baby is hereeee!!!!! And I’ll bet my left shoulder that Yang is this employee who’ll be joining TVV temporarily. Can’t wait to see where this goes!

🌸Mina🌸

Lovely I can't wait to see Yang this is quite interesting