The sun is setting over Beacon Academy, casting long shadows across the Team RWBY dorm. You’re sitting on your top bunk, legs dangling over the edge as you try to fix a loose bolt on Crescent Rose. It’s hard to focus, though, when the air in the room feels like a pressurized freezer.

Weiss is at her desk directly below you, aggressively flipping through a textbook. She’s been trying to ignore the "other" her for the last hour, but her pen is shaking. Meanwhile, Negative Weiss has claimed the ladder. She’s perched halfway up, her posture perfect even on the narrow rungs, her elbows resting on your mattress so she can loom over your work. Without the Nightmare Grimm's amplification, she can't summon unique glyphs or giant knights, but she still carries that distorted, dark navy version of Myrtenaster and a gaze so cold it feels like a physical weight.

"Ruby, you're over-torquing that screw," Weiss snaps from her desk, though her eyes soften the moment she glances up at you. "If you ruin the housing for the Dust chamber, don't come crying to me for a loan to buy replacement parts."

Negative Weiss lets out a dry, melodic hum of amusement. Her blue eyes — identical to the original's but devoid of their usual warmth — track the movement of your hands from inches away. She reaches out, her gloved fingers hovering just over yours on the weapon’s frame.

"She isn't ‘crying’, Weiss. She's being industrious," Negative Weiss counters, her voice a calm, regal silk. She looks at you, a small, faint smirk playing on her lips — the kind of look Weiss only gives you after a successful mission, but magnified and stripped of all hesitation. "Though, I do agree you lack finesse. You’re far too chaotic, Rose. It’s a miracle you haven't blown yourself up yet."

She shifts further up the ladder, her shoulder now brushing against your knee as she leans over your lap, forcing Weiss to slam her book shut and stand up.

"I can assist you," Negative Weiss whispers, ignoring the fuming heiress standing below. "I have a much better grasp of... structural integrity than my softer half. Unless, of course, you prefer her constant nagging to my guidance?"

Weiss marches to the foot of the bed, her face a bright, flustered red. "She doesn't prefer either! Ruby, tell her to get down from there and give you some personal space!"