Tell me more about this fake relationship au I’m interested 👀
I AM GLAD YOU ASKED
So its not all that thought out right now, because I thought it up last night. I'll make a whole post on it when I'm done because it has become clear to me that this is about to become one of my AUs (aka way to thought out and researched). So you're about to get what my brain decided to spit ball at me last night. It was basically 3 dif scenarios. One was time travel of all things 🤷♀️
So the root of all these is that Jacques did something (again) that upset a lot of people, and people are huddled up in a group (in the training room? break room?) talking about it. Someone mentions how it doesnt matter what anyone does, it doesnt really effect the guy personally. Marrow says something along the lines of "I wish we could hurt him personally, just once, just to finally get a hit in" (is he allowed to say that on the job? idk but its fanfic so). And either Weiss or Winter suggests the fake dating/marriage idea. I like to think Winter has a lot of personality inside her, she just only expresses anger/irritation outwardly, which Marrow will discover through this journey 😏. So does she like the idea of facing her dad when he's mad? Its canon that she doesnt but Weiss seems to enjoy making him mad when she's not there to get yelled at so I'm transferring that to Winter and dialing it up a bit. So basically Marrow wants to take a potshot at either Jacques or just Atlas elite society in general and Winter is always down for pissing off her dad.
Now heres where things get shifty. Right now Im only coming up with Married For Years dynamic or Oh Shit This Is Serious level of situation which doesnt quite work with the prank vibes this began as. Like Winter and Marrow being forced to have dinner with her parents and stuff after they "eloped", which is just angst, and i was going for Winter and Marrow playing into whatever crazy thing the tabloids are saying. And like by doing this (real or fake) they could be breaking a lot of fraternization rules, turning a fake scandal into a real one. Granted the media, and therefore everyone Jacques has to talk to at functions, cares more about a Schnee dating a faunus. Winter and Ironwood are pretty tight so I dont think either would loose their job. They might try to get Ironwood to officiate their wedding, in a version where they go all in, and he has to say no because if he does that he will officially burn every bridge he has with Jacques and the military kinda needs his dust.
so basically i gotta decide if its gonna be funny, and in turn how much i can stretch their personalities before they get OOC, or it would be serious, with Winter and Marrow trying to keep this up when they dont actually know much about each other and the Ace Ops making unhelpful commentary (*cough* referring to Winter by names Marrow now knows Winter hates, like "cold-hearted" *cough*). I dont see it as "we were drunk and in Vegas and thought it was a funny idea" type thing but also that would be HILARIOUS and i just cant take it off the table yet. Im also having trouble coming up with why Marrow would agree to this, because someone would def try to talk him out of it and a lot is on the line for a prank
as for the time travel one (it was actually this first one that popped into my head and i dont even like that trope, and now its kinda my fav option for this) it was Winter (and Marrow?) ending up back in time during V7 or before era, and present!Marrow seeing a whole nother side of her when she slips and acts like this version of him is her husband, and the Ace Ops actually seeing her express emotion since future!Marrow has managed to pull some personality into her external expressions. And the whole reason they are happily married never wouldve happened if they hadnt gotten married to piss off Jacques. Also Ice Queen Schnee glaring at everyone but being soft around her fun guy husband. Like she's staring daggers at Harriet while Marrow hands her a ice pack and sits next to her on the couch before putting his arm around her and she leans in. Maybe the fight with Cinder left her with lasting injuries (it prob did. I mean she was in a exoskeleton just to walk in V8) and in the following year Marrow got hurt too, so Ruby is over in the corner calling them "old" when they start complaining about how the Atlas cold is making their bodies hurt and "this is why we moved to [insert warm location here]"
And like Winter still has the Maiden powers, and Marrow has really come into his own. They're both badasses but its so weird because Marrow and Winter are married. Also Winter doesnt have her hair up in a tight bun and she smiles once and its so not normal
Weiss is actually super happy to see Winter that relaxed but the Ace Ops are freaking out because this is weird