"Weiss, we need a wheelchair up at the front." Sighing deeply, Weiss went off to grab one without answering. She got instantly frustrated every time she had to do what she called the 'grunt work'. "Get a wheelchair," or "Get more washcloths," or "Get the patient who wormed his way out of room 117 again." There was a lot of 'getting', as it turned out. That was not what had led her to this profession. She'd wanted to be a doctor and save lives so she could assuage the guilt inside her over the terrible things her father was allowed to do. This did not do anything to make her feel better about her family legacy. They could be a little more considerate, she felt.
For now, she was stuck as a nurse doing menial things - by her logic, anyhow - and not saving lives. She was being forced to head into the nearby storage closet and pull out a folded-up wheelchair, carrying it over to the front for whichever moron had hurt themselves doing God knows what. Logically, she didn't know what the story was for this person, or who this person was in the first place. She felt pretty confident that she was frustrated with them, though. Them, or this whole situation. They were just unlucky enough to get her mental wrath.
She walked into the hallway, took one look at the front door, and promptly dropped the wheelchair. There were two young women at the check-in desk: a large blonde woman with a smaller black-haired woman on her back. It was like she was giving the other woman a piggyback ride, which was both ridiculous and childish. At least she thought so. She had noticed that the smaller woman had one of her legs wrapped up, so it was clear she was the one in need of the wheelchair. When she had turned her head to look down the hall a moment later, Weiss was suddenly glad that was the case.
The woman was super cute. She must've been in some degree of pain, with her hurt leg and all, but she still was all smiles, and what a smile. It was the most innocent, cutest smile she'd ever seen in her entire life. Not that she saw a ton of smiles in a doctor's office of all places, and her time around her father's associates had shown her a lot of fake smiles, but... it was a good one, alright? Super cute smile, super cute face, with curious mercury eyes scanning every which way. And then they fell right on Weiss. And that was why the wheelchair was now on the floor.
Her cheeks burned as she scrambled to pick back up the wheelchair. When she looked towards the front again, she could see the woman giggling. That just made her embarrassment worse, because there was no doubt that cutie had seen her make a fool of herself. She wished she could go back in time to this morning and call in sick. Who was working on time travel technology anyway? They weren't doing a good job of it. With a resigned sigh, she popped open the wheelchair and wheeled it over, refusing to make any eye contact on the short walk there.
"Ah, here you go!" The woman at the front desk pointed at Weiss with a smile, which meant all eyes were now on her. Normally this wasn't a big deal, but since two of those eyes belonged to someone she had developed an instant crush on, she instantly shrunk under the attention. "Ms. Schnee will take you to room 215. If you would please put Ms. Rose in the chair and follow Ms. Schnee?" With a nod, the amazonian blonde let Ms. Rose down off her back with a gentleness that belied her strong appearance. Gingerly, she limped over to the chair, grabbing the sides and lowering herself onto the seat. Weiss could see her visibly wince as she set her right foot on the footplate, but she didn't make any pained noises. That was impressive: according to Winter, Weiss would 'wail like a dying bird' whenever she so much as stubbed her toe. She didn't like the comparison much.
With hands on the grips, Weiss wheeled Ms. Rose down the hall, with the blonde walking on her left. Rose was a cute last name befitting a cute woman such as herself. She really shouldn't get attached, though. Soon enough, Ms. Rose would get her leg looked at, they'd decide what course of action to take, and then she'd be gone. They'd likely never see each other again, and it wasn't worth losing her mind like that over a simple crush. She'd already done that months ago with the weird beret chick who'd fractured her arm, and she wasn't about to do that again. Oh, but she was really, really cute...
And she was also looking at her? Weiss frowned slightly, noticing that Ms. Rose was staring at her arms specifically. "Is there something I can help you with?" She wasn't sure what about her arms was so fascinating that Ms. Rose just had to turn around to look at them. Was there something wrong with them? Now she was looking at them too, trying to see if something had gotten stuck to them, or if there was some sort of mark that she hadn't noticed. She suddenly felt very self-conscious about looking bad in front of this woman.
"No, that's okay. I was just trying to see if you had a ring on your finger." Weiss accidentally kneed the back of the wheelchair, sputtering in complete disbelief. She couldn't believe that Ms. Rose had just said that, but she couldn't work her mind around what else it could've been. Was she trying to see if she was married?! For what point? Was she hitting on her? After she'd just told herself that she couldn't go crushing on a patient again? That just wasn't fair. The big blonde was laughing, and she couldn't tell if this was all one big joke or not.
"Excuse me?! My marital status is none of your business!" She righted herself and continued pushing Ms. Rose to the elevator, trying her best to gain control of the situation. "I am not married, if you must know." So much for it not being any of her business. Her blush came back in full stride at the sound of both women giggling, and she was strongly considering making them both go up the stairs on their own. "Do you try to determine if every person you come across is married or not?"
"Only the really cute ones. Ow, my good leg!" The smooth delivery of Ms. Rose was interrupted by Weiss ramming her into the elevator doors. She had definitely not been expecting to hear that, and her embarrassment had overridden her motor skills again. Under normal circumstances, she would've apologized profusely for doing that, but she'd kind of deserved that for being so shameless. On her left, the blonde was almost beside herself with laughter. She really should've called in sick... "That's not funny, Yang!"
"Should've seen that coming, Ruby." Yang was still laughing as an embarrassed Weiss hit the 'up' button for the elevator. The ten seconds they had to stand there and wait felt like an eternity for her. She both wanted to die and dump Ruby right out of the chair. Her brain couldn't deal with all the information that was trying to drill its way inside. She had just met Ruby two minutes ago and had immediately thought she was cute. Now this cute woman was claiming that she was also cute, and she'd been actively trying to see if she was married or not. How was she supposed to handle this? Not well, obviously.
A little 'ding' sounded above them, and the elevator doors slid open. Weiss wheeled Ruby inside, with Yang following behind. When they were all in, Weiss pressed the '2' button and watched the doors slide closed. Her mind was racing too fast to concentrate on that, though. She was trying to think about if she should make a move on Ruby. Would that be appropriate, or was Ruby going to be the one to make the move? Or maybe this was all a big joke and she'd look like a moron for trying. Or maybe it was irrelevant because she had no flirting skills and she'd probably fall on her face while attempting to. Figuratively, and maybe literally as well.
"Uh, ? The elevator doors are closing?" Weiss snapped back to reality, realizing that they'd reached the second floor... and now the doors were closing again. Luckily, Yang was able to hit the open button in time, letting them all leave the elevator without having to go another round. Weiss was now both embarrassed and frustrated: mostly at herself, but she was always willing to shift the blame elsewhere. In this case, it went right to Ruby, who shouldn't be so cute and smooth. It was making things a lot harder, and that was absolutely her fault. She shouldn't have hurt her damn leg.
"This will be your room. A doctor will be with you shortly." She wheeled Ruby into room 215, situating her next to the check-up bed. It would make it easier for her to get onto it when the doctor was ready to examine her. Not that she'd made Weiss's job any easier, but doing this was part of her job description. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask." She regretted saying it as soon as it left her mouth, but it was routine at this point. The way Ruby's eyes lit up, she knew that she wasn't getting away that easy.
"Do I really need a doctor? I think all I need is for you to kiss it better." She leaned forward in the wheelchair and winked, sending Weiss's poor heart into hysterics. Never in her life had anyone hit on her this directly. She wasn't being subtle about it at all, and it made it really difficult for her to know what to do. So she did the only thing that came naturally to her: acting indignant and storming out.
"I guarantee you that will not help you with your pain. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to." She turned on her heel and left the room, letting the door close behind her before she kicked at the air in frustration. Yang's laughter coming from the room didn't help matters. In the moment, she felt incredibly insulted, but as she gained distance from Ruby, she felt incredibly stupid instead. She'd just had the cutest girl she ever met all but ask her out, and she'd completely brushed her off. Despite finding her unbearably dateable. Why was she so socially inept? No one else in her family was like this. Who had she gotten this genetic malfunction from?
She struggled at her job for the next half hour, barely paying attention because all she could think of was that gorgeous smile. For someone with an injured leg, Ruby sure did a good job of running around her head. She couldn't get a single moment of peace, and it was all Ruby's fault. Eventually she just had to have one thought go through her head enough times until she could believe it: that eventually Ruby was going to go home, and they would never see each other again. She would move on and continue working the same job with half dedication, half low-key self-loathing, and she would never get that close to a patient again, no matter how cute they were. That was actually kind of depressing... Maybe she needed to word that better.
Their paths would cross again, whether she was ready for it or not. The doctor called for her, asking for her to come back in and finish things up. It turned out to have just been an ankle sprain: could've definitely been worse. Now she had to go back in there, make sure Ruby understood everything, then wheel her outside to her car. Well, this was unfortunate. Or fortunate, depending on one's point of view. To her, it was both. Whether it was this or that, she was not prepared to deal with this. She actually felt like her stress was going to make her throw up, thinking about having to show her face again to those two.
In the end, she went back inside because that was her job. She would follow the instructions of authority even if what she had to do made her die inside, and make no mistake: she was dying inside. Not for the reason she expected, though. As soon as she entered the room, Ruby's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and her own heart once again considered going into cardiac arrest. At least she was in an emergency room. Not many better places to be to have life-threatening heart problems. Either here or a morgue...
"Yang, tongue depressor, stat!" Weiss just stared, flabbergasted as Yang reached over and stole one of the tongue depressors. That was not their property! She was going to tell them both off, but Ruby stopped her before she could say anything. "Can I borrow your pen, Ms. Schnee?" She pointed at Weiss's shirt pocket, which had a pen clipped onto it. Weiss looked down at it, then back at Ruby, eyes narrowing.
"Borrow or steal?"
"I would never be so callous as to steal something from a pretty maiden!" Embarrassed, Weiss pointed at the tongue depressor. "Oh, this?" She held it up, smiling sheepishly. "To be fair, Yang stole that." Sighing, Weiss handed her pen over to Ruby, who started writing something on the tongue depressor. She then handed both it and the pen back to Weiss, who immediately looked to see what had been written. On it was a phone number, with 'Ruby' written next to it. No way...
"What is this?" She held it in her hand like she was afraid of snapping it in half. It seemed impossible that Ruby would just give her her number, but it'd seemed impossible that she'd openly flirt with her in the first place. Her brain was going to overload again: it just needed a few seconds.
"It's my number. You know, in case you wanted to call me and schedule a house call. I might need a pair of skilled hands to check on my ankle." She leaned back in the wheelchair and licked her lips suggestively. "And anything else that might be ailing me." Yup, Weiss was panicking. The ultimate crush panic that was, funny enough, threatening to crush her underneath its weight. She didn't even notice herself putting her pen and the tongue depressor in her shirt pocket, nor did she feel herself moving over to Ruby's wheelchair. It wasn't until she had grabbed the handles that she got some kind of a grip on the situation. At the same time, all the stress of her terrible first impression and her constant internal crisis made a coordinated assault on her brain. It all exploded upon her gray matter, the fallout drifting around her mind like little clouds.
"Perhaps you do need a house call." Her voice faltered as she spoke, dipping low before rising sharply. She knocked the top of Ruby's head with her knuckles. "For your clear brain damage, I mean." Out of all the unintentional comedy of the last thirty-plus minutes, that was the one that did Yang in. That was the humorous straw that broke the camel's back. She just about choked on her laughter, dropping to her knees as she stared wide-eyed at their feet. Her hands massaged at her throat, gasping for air.
"That's... so funny... I can't breathe... Save me, nurse." She fell onto her side, her laughter coming out in wheezes. Weiss rolled her eyes at the display, but she did come around in case she actually needed to help. Thankfully she didn't end up needing to perform CPR on this dunce. She would survive this day, popping back onto her feet and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Oh, this is great. You're funny, Schnee. You should sprain your ankle more often, Ruby."
"I'll consider it if Ms. Schnee gets to take care of me every time." She smiled up at Weiss, hopeful and confident and oh-so stupidly cute. It just wasn't fair. Not fair at all.
"I'm going to transfer to another office if I catch you in here again." She started to push Ruby out of the room, her steps careful so as to not upset the tongue depressor in her pocket. It was the most important piece of medical equipment she'd ever had on her person, and she had to make sure it made it home safely. Was she going to call Ruby? She honestly wasn't sure. Her heart was wanting her to call it right now, with Ruby five inches in front of her. However, her brain was more hesitant for multiple reasons. It was very contradictory and made it difficult to know what was the right course of action.
The trip down the elevator and out of the building was relatively harmless. Ruby kept trying to flirt with her, and she would either not respond or say something out of embarrassment. No matter what, it was endlessly entertaining for Yang. Well at least someone got enjoyment out of her abject misery. Maybe Yang was going to find herself needing a trip to the doctor soon enough...
They got down to the car, where Yang helped Ruby out of the wheelchair and into the passenger seat. Before the door was closed on her, Ruby made sure to wink at Weiss, which made her blush despite her trying to absolutely not do that. Yang turned to her then, looking as if she wanted to say something. Instead, she just laughed and walked around the car, infuriating Weiss. How dare she laugh at her! For the tenth time over the past hour. The absolute audacity of that amazonian aggravator.
With a huff, she folded up the wheelchair and took it back into the building, refusing to spare a glance back at their retreating car. She was able to keep up her appearance all the way to the storage closet, where she put back the wheelchair. Then, in the safety of the closet, she collapsed into a sitting position and hid her face in her hands. What had just happened? How had any of that happened? Maybe it was all just a hallucination and she hadn't actually acted like a complete numskull in front of someone actively flirting with her. Or maybe she'd just rather be hallucinating than admitting the truth.
She pulled out the tongue depressor and held it carefully in her hand, staring down at the number scrawled upon it. Pulling out her phone, she copied it into a new contact, naming it Ruby Rose. She leaned back against the door and sighed deeply, feeling a rush of excitement and anxiety clawing at her stomach as they fought within her. Was she really going to do this? Was she really going to call a patient who was super cute and had been actively flirting with her, but had also been kind of annoying and had a very annoying compatriot with her?
"Yeah... Yeah I am, dammit."
Saying that she was anxious about calling Ruby was an understatement. She'd hoped that giving herself a day to calm down before making the call would help. It had not. Sitting on her bed, she was staring at her phone as if it had contracted the plague. Ruby's contact page was up, with her thumb hovering over the call button. She'd checked the tongue depressor four separate times to make sure the numbers were the same, and even then she was still feeling unsure. It'd be embarrassing if she ended up calling a random number. Okay, but it'd be even more embarrassing if she called the right number, and then proceeded to make a fool of herself as she'd done the previous day.
Eventually her screen dimmed, nearly shutting off because she'd had it on without touching the screen for too long. She touched the screen to light it back up, then decided that she was being ridiculous. It wasn't like her to be this anxious about calling someone back. Just because they had been flirting with her, and she was a complete amateur at such things, and this woman was really cute... Okay, so it all made sense. That didn't mean she couldn't do it. She just needed to imagine it was just a normal call. With that in mind, she bit the bullet and hit the call button.
"Hello, stranger! Might this be Ms. Schnee?" She picked up on the second ring. That was faster than she'd expected. Well, now Ruby was on the other line. It was time for her to say hi back: to confirm that it was indeed her on the other line. Or she could remain silent for such a long time that it became noticeable. "Ms. Schnee?" She could hang up and pretend that this never happened... "Is this a robot caller?"
"Weiss."
"Uh, I'm sorry?"
"That's my name. Call me Weiss." Alright, a slow start, but she was picking it up. She could at least avoid a platinum sombrero at this rate. "I suppose we should get right to the point. How's your ankle doing?" Talking to people like she would at her job helped her get through some of the harder trials of conversation. Doubly so if it involved something that was about her job and what it entailed. She could work around to what she truly wanted to get at this way.
"It's doing just dandy! I just gotta avoid putting too much pressure on it for a bit and I'm sure I'll be good to go!" God, it was like she could see her smile through the phone. "I'm sure it'll feel even better if you were to come check on it, though." There was a cavalier attitude in her tone that Weiss wasn't sure whether she adored or abhorred. "You're a doctor, ain'tcha? I'm sure you know lots of things about the human body." There was a certain undertone to that sentence, but it was lost to Weiss in that moment.
"I'm not a doctor." She tried to say it in a matter-of-fact way, but the bitterness seeped into her tone. "I'm a nurse, but yes, I do know a lot of things about the human body." Yup, the implication had escaped her. "If... you need a house call, then I'm sure I can assist you there. However, I do not do these sorts of things for free. If you wish to have me come examine you, you will at least need to treat me to dinner."
"Aye aye, Weiss! Have you eaten dinner already?"
"Uh, no, I haven't."
"Great! Then you can come over for dinner tonight, yes? I'll order pizza and you can make sure I'm alright. There'll be no need to check you, because I already know you're fine." Weiss felt her cheeks grow warm, but Ruby kept talking before she could let out an audible groan. "I'll text you my address. Is six okay?"
"Yes, that should be acceptable."
"Great! I'll see you soon, 'kay? See ya, Weiss!"
"Goodbye, Ruby." They hung up, and Weiss fell down onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling, barely believing that had happened. That had been the plan admittedly, and for the most part it had gone off without a hitch. Though she couldn't yet admit it to herself, she had wanted to go see Ruby, but she could only agree to it under the guise of this 'house call'. It was a ruse and they both knew it, yet she wasn't about to admit that truth. She was even getting dinner out of it, even if pizza wasn't the most romantic or healthy of meals. That meant this was a date, though. Their first date. Her first date. Ever.
What was she doing laying in bed when she only had an hour to get ready? An hour! How could she agree to something on such short notice? This wasn't like her at all. Dropping her phone on the bed, she leaped up and hurried to her closet, looking for the perfect outfit to wear. She didn't want to look too casual for what was clearly a first date, but she didn't want to go overboard with her outfit selection. There were plenty of elegant dresses for her to wear, but she got a pretty casual vibe from Ruby just from their first meeting. It might weird her out if she showed up at her door in a thousand dollar ballgown.
She ended up going with a pale blue dress and white heels, which was a staple of every outfit she owned. Being five feet tall on a good day meant she wasn't going to be caught dead without something to prop her up a few inches. Her lack of height was a constant source of consternation, especially since her sister had about half a head on her. At least her younger brother was her height... while she was in heels, and when he was in high school. The vertical gene of the Schnee family had clearly skipped her, and she was pissed about it. Where was her growth spurt, dammit?!
She spent the entire drive over to Ruby's place fretting. Regardless of how much confidence she exuded in her daily life, on the inside she was wracked with insecurities on the daily. After more than a decade of dealing with it, she'd gotten used to it, but it didn't make it any less of an intrusive presence. She was worried to death about making a better second impression than she had originally, because she felt that she wasn't going to succeed. If she kept deluding herself into believing it was actually a house call, maybe she would get through it okay, but she wasn't so sure about that.
The walk up to Ruby's apartment didn't quell her nerves much. It'd been relatively steady as she'd been forced to park in the visitor's section, but it'd started to grow as she made her way to Ruby's section. It was worse as she climbed the stairs, but when she actually reached the door, she thought that maybe she was going to have a heart attack. Her stomach felt like it was trying to turn itself inside out, and she had to wonder why she'd asked to be treated to dinner. There was no way she was going to be able to eat anything in this state. She could still turn around and walk off at this point. She could call Ruby and apologize, saying she hadn't felt good and felt it best to stay home.
That was the coward's way out, though. As tempting as it was to be a coward, she needed to do this. If for nothing else, than at least to be a gracious guest. So it was with incredible trepidation that she knocked on the door. Clasping her hands in front of her, she took a deep breath and tried to hide the fact that she was shaking. She stared at the peephole and forced her gaze to lock with it, finding some sort of comfort in the eye contact with an inanimate object. It had little chance of intimidating her.
"Oh hey, you're not the pizza guy." Ruby beamed at the sight of Weiss on her doorstep, winking at her. "I bet you're tastier than pizza, though." Giggling, she stepped back to let Weiss in, not missing the eye roll as she came inside. Ruby closed the door and locked the main lock, facing Weiss again. "The pizza should be here real soon, but you can make yourself comfortable on the couch if you want."
"Alright." Weiss headed over to the couch to sit down. She kept her heels on, though she knew it was usually rude to leave your shoes on indoors. Not even in the comforts of someone else's home was she going to give up the height advantage the heels gave her, especially because she already around Ruby's height from the get go. Usually people were too intimidated by her to ask her to remove them, and she used that to her advantage. Was it really that big of a deal, anyway? It shouldn't cause any problems.
"Your place looks... nice." She paused, but she wasn't lying. It wasn't much of a place, but it was clean, at least. She'd had this feeling that she was going to walk into a complete mess, but it would appear that she'd misjudged Ruby. Either that or she'd just hastily cleaned it before she'd gotten there. There was a good possibility of that being the case.
"Thanks!" Ruby sat down on the couch next to Weiss, keeping a relatively respectable distance. She was wearing a red sweater and what looked like a fresh pair of black jeans: definitely more casual than the dress Weiss had on. Either she was overdressed, or Ruby was under-dressed. It probably wasn't important to figure that out now, but it did help make her feel a bit more awkward all the same. "Do you want something to drink? I've got water, juice, soda... uh, milk, wine." She laughed, noticeably glancing down at the space between them.
"Water will be fine, thanks." She wished that the pizza would arrive, because it would put their focus on their food instead of this conversation. Small talk was not her strong suit. She was more about speaking about the topic at hand, making decisive points, and then returning to silence. Knowing she needed to keep a conversation going with someone she barely knew made her feel anxious. Well, more anxious, anyway. "So, the blonde that was with you: Yang? Is she a friend of yours?"
"Nah, she's my sister." Weiss stared at her in disbelief. She looked over Ruby, then thought about how Yang looked from the previous day. There weren't any similarities between the two that she could tell. "I can tell that you don't believe me." Ruby sighed, clearly having gotten that look before. "We're half-sisters. Different moms. I know we don't look all that much alike. She got all the curves." Ruby stuck out her tongue, looking a bit sore at that fact. Maybe she and Weiss had something in common after all.
"I... hadn't really noticed."
"Uh huh..." Ruby crossed her arms, pouting at Weiss. Even that was ridiculously cute... "I bet you're thinking of her curves right now!" Weiss's eyes widened, sputtering in shock. "Every time I try to mack on a cute girl, they always fall for my busty older sister. Maybe I need to find a different wingwoman..."
"I did not fall for Yang, thank you very much!" She was blushing again, but she wasn't about to take that sitting down. "I came over to your apartment for a house call, didn't I? I didn't ask to go over to Yang's."
"She wasn't injured, though. Why would you go over there for a house call?"
"It's not a real house call, dammit! Don't act like we're being serious about that now!" Ruby's eyes widened at Weiss's sudden outburst, but then she started grinning. Oh jeez, she'd played her hand, hadn't she? Why was she like this? Sweating nervously, she had never been so thankful to hear the sound of knocking at the door. Saved by the pizza guy, of all people. "Hey, it's the pizza! Better go answer the door!"
"Guess I will, since my doctor isn't going to check my poor, injured ankle." She laughed at the offended look on Weiss's face, getting on her feet and walking to the door. Weiss frowned slightly at the slight limp in Ruby's step, clearly favoring her good foot. She didn't like seeing her in pain, but no aspiring doctor would want to see someone in pain. Unless that person had made too many jokes at their expense.
"Alright, pizza's here!" Cradling the pizza box against her stomach, Ruby shut and locked the door before starting to carry them to the kitchen. Seeing her limping as she walked over didn't sit right with Weiss, making her stand up and take the box out of her hands. "Weiss, what are you doing?"
"You're clearly in no condition to carry pizza right now. Let me carry it." She took it away from Ruby and strode into the kitchen. Well, kitchen-adjacent, really. The plastic folding table that Ruby was using wasn't exactly in the kitchen, but right next to it. She supposed that was fine as she set the box down in the middle of the table. Eating on a cheap table wasn't something she was used to, but something in her mind told her she'd be better off not bringing it up. Maybe save that for another date. "Now, where do you keep your glasses?"
"Are you saying I have a vision problem?"
"What? No, I... what?" Weiss didn't understand. Not until she heard Ruby laughing, and she put the pieces together. She wondered if it'd be worth it to pick up the pizza and throw it at her. Maybe... "You know what I mean..."
"I do, and I know that I can pour you a glass of water." Ruby walked into the kitchen and grabbed a clear glass from a cabinet. "I could've carried the pizza too. I sprained my ankle: I didn't break it. I'm not completely useless." She laughed again, opening the fridge and pulling out a jug of water, which she started to pour into Weiss's glass. "So you should sit your cute butt down at the table and let me be a good host."
"I... suppose that's fair." Weiss sat down at the table despite all her instincts telling her to get up and do those things herself. She didn't want Ruby overexerting herself with an ankle that was aching, no matter how fine she proclaimed to be. And she was fine- Er, anyway... She made herself stay at the table, waiting for Ruby to bring her a glass of water. That came just a few seconds later, and a plate was placed in front of her a few more seconds after that. She would then finish off with a plate of her own, balancing a soda and a pizza slicer on it.
"Just in case the pizza isn't sliced properly." It was, though, so the pizza cutter sat useless at the edge of the table. Both of them each grabbed a piece and began to dig in. Just like her pick in refreshments, her choice in pizza was plain: literally, in this case. It was just a regular cheese pizza, which suited her just fine. It was the exact opposite for Ruby, who had bacon, meatballs, and tomatoes on her half of the slices. It was almost an overload of toppings, but Ruby seemed to handle it just fine.
"You're not hungry, Weiss?" While Ruby had rather quickly scarfed down two of her four slices, Weiss hadn't even passed the halfway point on her first. She grimaced, having held a vain hope that Ruby wouldn't notice. As much as she'd tried to force the food down, her stomach just wasn't willing to take it. She felt like she'd end up throwing up if she ate any more. Having Ruby realize that she was struggling in that regard only made the nerves that had caused those struggles to intensify.
"I..." She took a sip of water, staring at the clear liquid. If she knew how to do the magic trick where she could dive into a cup of water and drown, she'd certainly do it now. "I'm nervous, okay?" She groaned and leaned back in her chair, hating that she'd admit to that weakness. "This is my first date, and I can't stop worrying about what kind of impression I'm making. I don't even know anything about you except your name." She folded her hands in her lap, biting down on her lower lip. "Does that make sense?"
"Totally! I mean, yeah, I understand. I'm nervous too, but I think we're off to a good start! I mean, you came over, so that's pretty good. And you're really pretty, plus you weren't hypnotized by my sister's boobs. I'd consider this an absolute win so far!" Weiss blushed, rolling her eyes at Ruby's very specific optimism. She had somewhat of a point, though. The only thing that was really off about the date was her own inner insecurities. Everything else seemed fine from a logistical standpoint. "Would you feel better if you knew more about me?"
"Yes, actually." Weiss perked up a little, feeling that they might actually be getting somewhere now. She'd get to know something about the woman she'd agreed to go on a date with, which felt like rather pertinent information to her.
"Let's see... My name is Ruby Rose. I'm 24 years old, and I have an older sister named Yang. You met her. I have a degree in history and I'm currently working as a tour guide at the local museum. Kinda hard to do that with a sprained ankle, ahaha. Anyway, I like physical activity, especially soccer. Yang and I play with some locals for funsies at the field nearby. That's how I sprained my ankle, actually. And, um..." She tapped her chin in thought, with Weiss hoping that tapping finger hadn't gotten covered in pizza grease. "I like strawberries and... pretty women. Actual women, not the movie. The movie's okay."
"I see. Well, it's nice to know something about you. More than your proclivity for injury, at least." Weiss smiled, taking another sip of water. "I suppose I should reciprocate. You already know my name and occupation, but I'm 26 and I'm still in school working to become a doctor. I also have a minor in business. I'm... interested in classical music, and I sang in competitions when I was younger. I do a lot of reading, and... and I have an older sister as well. A younger brother too."
"You have an older sister too? Another thing we have in common! Maybe your sister should start dating my sister-" The narrowed eyes of Weiss cut Ruby off. "Okay, maybe not. I guess that'd be weird, honestly. What if they hit it off and we both walked in on them doing it-" The eyes only became narrower. "I... should probably stop talking. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." She grabbed her third slice of pizza and started eating it, giving the conversation a bit of breathing room.
"You're a very interesting person, Ruby. You're not the usual type of person I become acquainted with." The people that Weiss had been carefully curated for her when she was younger. As a private school kid, she didn't have many choices when it came to friends, and that was further diluted due to her father's hand. He would make sure she was only surrounded by kids with the highest potential, even if she didn't care much for them in the slightest. Maybe that stunted her social growth, as her friendships in college were few and far between. There was certainly no one like Ruby in her life: someone who smiled nearly every second they'd been around each other and shared her life with strangers in such a carefree manner. It was... intriguing, to say the least.
"I get that a lot." Ruby polished off her third slice, immediately going for her fourth and final one. "Yang always told me to be myself, and the people who would be my real friends would stick with me. Sometimes I feel it might be easier if I calmed down, but..." She took a bite, barely remembering to swallow it before speaking. "I feel more comfortable just being me."
"That's certainly an admirable way of living life." If only she could do the same. Talking about each other was calming in a way, enough to where Weiss's stomach didn't feel like tearing its way out of her body and heading for the hills. She was even able to eat the rest of her first piece of pizza, suddenly feeling the hunger that she should've been feeling from not eating in the last few hours.
Weiss was able to eat a second slice, but she ended up leaving the other two for Ruby. They were left in the box and put in the fridge for later eating, and the two of them ended up back on the couch. Weiss wasn't sure how long she was supposed to stay during the date. Not that she wanted to leave, but she didn't know what the appropriate timing was. Obviously she wasn't going to stay the whole night, but... she wouldn't mind staying on the couch with Ruby for a couple more hours. Even if they ran out of things to talk about, she was comfortable with silence.
"I'm gonna get another soda. You want some more water?" Ruby looked over at Weiss, who just shook her head no. Smiling, Ruby stood up and headed into the kitchen, but no sooner had she disappeared from view that Weiss heard a pained shout. "Ow! Motherf...urrrr, shoot... God..." In a flash, Weiss was up on her feet and rushing into the kitchen, where she saw Ruby leaning back against the refrigerator and holding her foot.
"What happened?" She immediately went into 'sure wish I was an actual doctor' mode, dropping down to her knee s and batting Ruby's hands away. "Move! Let me see." She held Ruby's foot gingerly, taking a good look at it. There didn't appear to be any damage, though Ruby let out a quiet moan of pain when she touched her toes. It may have hurt, but she needed to check to make sure they weren't broken. "Flex your toes for me, Ruby." She did so, which was a relief. "Okay, nothing's broken, at least." She let go of Ruby's foot and allowed her to gently place it back down on the ground. "What happened?"
"I, uh, accidentally kicked the fridge door." She laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "With uh... my bad foot, so... it kinda hurt..." She looked up at the ceiling, not meeting Weiss's gaze. "I'm cool, I swear." That made Weiss laugh for the first time that evening, which made Ruby look back down at her. Though Weiss tried to cover it with her hand, it was obvious that she was smiling: a real, legitimate smile. Ruby found herself unable to look away, though Weiss remained temporarily oblivious to it.
"Does this happen to you often?" Weiss didn't mean to laugh, but the situation just elicited a chuckle out of her. Besides, Ruby and her sister had been joking around at her expense yesterday, so turnabout was fair play. Ruby nodded, pouting when Weiss laughed again. "You ought to be more careful. If you want to see me more often, then you should ask me out on another date. That must be easier than injuring yourself repeatedly." True, but Ruby was only half-listening. She was still so captivated by Weiss's smile. It was stunningly pretty, and it made her lips look so... kissable. God, she wanted to kiss her, first date style. Whatever that meant.
Weiss did not expect to get kissed, she'd admit. She wasn't prepared for Ruby to suddenly lean in and press her lips to hers. That was why she didn't reciprocate: she was too shocked to respond. Her eyes widened and she stood stock-still, the gears of her mind turning to figure out what was happening. When she did, she put her hands on Ruby's shoulders and pushed her away. Instantly, she regretted it, because that must've seemed like she didn't want it. It had just all happened so suddenly. She needed a warning before being kissed like that!
"I'm sorry, I-"
"Wow, that was completely accidental. I didn't actually mean to do that-"
"It's not that I didn't like that. I did, but, wait-"
"Your lips taste really good! Maybe that's the pizza, but I probably shouldn't be saying that." Surprisingly, it was Weiss who was the first to stop babbling. She would've thought that it'd be her who kept going past the point of sensibilities. "I'm really, really sorry. I don't know what came over me." Weiss gently touched her lips, still feeling the sensation of Ruby's lips having been on them for the first time. "I mean, I do. It's because your smile is so pretty that I couldn't not kiss you, but I shouldn't have done it. That was way out of line and I-"
"Ruby." While she appreciate the apology, this was getting out of hand. She wanted Ruby to stop rambling, but she didn't know how to do it.
"Weiss, I'm sorry, if you could forgive-" Now it was Ruby's turn to freeze in surprise. The only way Weiss determined that could shut Ruby up was to kiss her, so kiss her she did. When she leaned in and did the deed, she hadn't really thought about the fact that she was doing it. Once that became plainly obvious, her first instinct was to pull away and get right back to the embarrassed babbling they had sunk into. She didn't follow through with that instinct, though. Instead, she found that she quite liked the feeling of their lips together, and she decided that she wanted to keep doing it.
If Weiss was okay with it, then Ruby wasn't going to duplicate her previous actions and push her away. She kissed her back with a restrained eagerness, not wanting to go too ham and break things off again. Weiss put her hands on Ruby's hips and pushed her back against the fridge, an entire minute filled with nothing but kisses. They'd kiss until they ran out of breath, then leave time just to suck in air before getting right back to it. Weiss was astounded by how good Ruby's lips felt: how they tasted. If she'd known it was like this, she wouldn't have waited this many years to do it.
Eventually they stopped, resting their foreheads against each other. Weiss was panting heavily, her heart racing in her chest. She'd never felt like that before: so... alive. It was like some slumbering beast of kissing had awakened within her soul and demanded control of her body. She could barely remember her impetus for doing such a thing. Yes, she'd wanted to stop Ruby from going on and on, but that hadn't been her plan. It had just... happened. It had happened, and she couldn't find a single cell in her body that felt bad about doing it.
"My foot doesn't hurt anymore." Ruby laughed breathlessly, her chest heaving. She wanted to lay down all of a sudden, preferably with Weiss wrapped up in her arms. "That... I didn't expect that." She hadn't expected it, but she sure as hell enjoyed it.
"I didn't either." Weiss felt dizzy, with only the feeling of Ruby in front of her keeping her stable. "I just... needed to shut you up for a moment..."
"Then maybe I should keep talking if that's how you're gonna shut me up." That wasn't such a bad idea, though Weiss still rolled her eyes at her.
"Shut up, Ruby." Regardless, she kissed her again, and again... and again, just to shut her up.
"I suppose I should come back in a few days for another house call." Weiss stood in front of the door, having unlocked it but still remaining inside the apartment. She knew that she needed to get home, but she found herself hesitant to do so. Her first date with Ruby had gone pretty well, if she did say so herself. She didn't even feel all that anxious anymore, which was a testament to how good Ruby was at lowering her guard. Maybe that wasn't a good thing in the long run, but she didn't mind it at the moment.
"I'd like that. Just to make sure my ankle is still healing alright." She pointed at her foot with a self-deprecating laugh. "I might just hurt myself worse on accident by that point." Resting her palm on the door, she leaned in close to Weiss and grinned. "If you want, feel free to become my personal live-in nurse. I'm sure we can find room for all your stuff. My bed is your bed." The implication there was once again clear, but this time Weiss understood it.
"I... will have you know that my place is nicer than yours, and if anything, you should move in with me." She paused for a moment, then started blushing. "I am not asking you to move in with me, if that's what you're thinking. We've only been on one date, in case you've forgotten."
"Hey, I'm not the one who suggested I come live with you. Buuut, if you ever decide to offer again, you gotta come help me pack my things." She sneaked a kiss from Weiss, smiling all the while. "Might have to break my lease too, so I'll need a spot of cash-"
"You're going to be a lot more expensive than I thought." Weiss shook her head and laughed, leaning forward to take that kiss back from Ruby. "I'll think about it, okay? I'll let you know when I'm able to come over for a follow-up appointment." She opened the door and stepped outside, letting Ruby hold it open for her. "Thank you for dinner, Ruby. It was nice... as was the rest of our time together." She tried not to blush at that, but the heat in her cheeks told her she had failed.
"We will definitely have to do this again sometime. Even the pizza part." Ruby smiled fondly at Weiss, waving at her. "Goodbye, Weiss. I'll see ya later!"
"Goodbye Ruby." Weiss waved back, then started to walk away. She felt a sense of loneliness when she heard the door close, feeling much more aware of the lack of footsteps next to her as she walked back to her car. It would be okay, though. She could think back fondly on what had just happened to get through the next couple of days. Knowing Ruby, and knowing her crush-struck self, it wouldn't be long before she went back over for a follow-up checkup. She could still taste Ruby's lips on hers, the tingling sensation acting like a permanent stamp on them.
Standing at her car, she looked back at Ruby's building. She couldn't see Ruby's door specifically from where she was, but that didn't matter. A small smile was on her face as she opened her door and got inside the car. Maybe having a crush on certain patients wasn't always a bad idea.