An underhand throw and pop. Ruby swung with her full body, the bat smacking into the weighted ball replicated the familiar bang that could be heard up and down the field. It was Signal high's final practice night before the game Monday against their rival school, a know it all private academy that always had a nasty habit of showing up Signal in every sport the city could host. Everyone on the team was separated into two groups divided by a line in the field, each tossing towards the other batter, launching their supply back until there was nothing left, then switch. Cool enough the first time, but after five or so runs of it Ruby could feel her body just screaming now. There was nothing fun about this. It got worse though when the second ball decided to slap her right across the face.
"Uh, Oops, my bad, Ruby!" Nora called out while the other red head felt her brain shake back and forth in her own skull. Softball was a lie, they were hard as hell. "If you want you can chuck it at my head next!"
"No, it was my fault!" Ruby called back, her face numb, not from the cold for once, but from the smack down she just received. She just really hoped this wasn't going to end in a bruise, not today, not on friday.
"No I'm pretty sure I'm the one that just wacked you in the face here buddy." Ruby wasn't going to argue against it. Nora was her first, and now oldest, friend since entering Signal High and joining their meager softball team, because she just couldn't get gayer. Either way they were fast friends, and despite the pain along the side of Ruby's face, she was just happy Nora was pitching and not batting. If the ginger girl had been a bat, there was no way Ruby would have survived it. It would be over. Done and done. "You here with me? Ya paying attention? See this is why you need to bring your helmet to practice!"
"Sorry, I'm a little out of it, it's Friday after all." Ruby answered with a wide grin that bared all her teeth and the red circle that now adorned her cheek. Truthfully every week was like this, she couldn't wait to get home, her eye always spying towards every clock she could find, ready to bail, not even registering the ache in her shoulder from the batting or the pain her cleats just would not let up.
"Lover girl's got a date again?" Nora asked, already knowing the answer. Ruby couldn't help but smile even wider, a slight blush on her cheeks showing up that she would no doubt just say was the whirling sea winds.
"Every Friday," tried to say confidently, but her voice went up an awkward octave. She had always been really open about her girlfriend, but there was a difference between being proud and being confident. A lot of pride in her babe, but a hell of a lot of shock on how Ruby got someone like that. Still, no one seemed to be as surprised as she was, and people like Nora just kept pushing her further.
"Aw, you two are just such cuties! Swing!" she shouted, in a snap flipping from casual standing to serious softball pitching. Ruby narrowly saved herself another smack to the face with a swift smack in some odd direction. No one screamed out in pain so Ruby consider it a lucky swipe.
"Christ Nora are you trying to hit me?!" Ruby shrieked, earning a glare from one of the coaches
"Got to keep you on your toes Ruby!" Nora was beside herself in a giggle. Of course the star never got the same glares from the coach, but whatever. Joke if they wanted. Nothing was going to ruin tonight,
"Har har har, just throw or something!"
It wasn't much longer before the whistle was blown and everyone went from literally on the bat ready to completely relaxed, plenty of girls collapsing into the field, exhausted and sore as all hell. No one could really leave until coach Port gave his usual ten minute lasting five minute speeches. Everyone would have prefered by a mile to get off the field, out of the cold, and change into much more fitting clothes-at least grab a damn sweater.
Ruby was more focused on the clock, which made their stout lead coach's speech even more draining. The sun was drifting low now, Dusk wouldn't be too long from now, and god she needed to shower first.
"Alright now, I think it's time to clean up! See you Monday ladies!" Port finished and Ruby smiled. She knew it would cost her an unholy amount of bear crawls next time, but she was going for it.
"Nora cover for me!" Ruby whispered to her before bolting. Everyone was running around picking up the balls and bats. It was the perfect smokescreen as she went for the lockers, her lock pre-primed to be one spin away from opening. By the time Nora shouted after her, the redhead was gone. She was the fastest player on the team afterall. This was how she proved it. "Sorry everyone!"
The locker room was empty so far, easy enough to grab her bag before the coaches grabbed her. Not enough time to change out of the uniform, or even switch her uncomfortable cleats out for real shoes, now she wanted to bolt like lightning, out into the streets, grey sky greeting her with a chill low held sun, a series of multicolored townhouses her neighborhood was known for, beautiful old pink greens and yellows, a wooden rainbow between every street lamp as she ran, so hard she was barely breathing, home, down to the marina.
The Rose home stood above the cliff face overlooking the sea, as it had for two centuries, one of the oldest buildings this side of town. It was a two story black roofed white structure, thin for it's height, but Ruby loved it. It was a fisher captain's house and properly looked over the waters, waiting to see what would come from the east. Here the air smelled cold, but wet and salt laden. Perfect.
"Hi Yang," Ruby shouted bashing through the front door into the living room, "Bye Yang!" she added passing her half sister, whom, besides her, was the only person home. Their dad was still out at sea and their mothers were mutually absent in their lives. Instead, Yang filled the role of caretaker, the smell of fish cakes swam through the air as she passed.
"Uhhh, mind giving sis a thank you?" The words, like a fishing hook, napped Ruby by the collar and spun her right around.
"I'm sorry!" Ruby groaned, wanting to be free of this pause, "I got to get ready!"
"You're fine! She has a game anyways so don't give me the rush bull." Yang knew way too much about her life, this was threatening. "I am making a quick dinner, early for you and you are going to eat it as soon as you are out of the shower and talk all about how I'm the best big sister on the planet and you would just be lost without me." Yang kept a big smile on and Ruby had to relent.
"Fine!" Ruby turned on her heel and darted at her sister, landing one thank you kiss on her cheek before disappearing. Inside her room, a collection of fantasy books were as much on the bed as they were in her bookcase. Scattered video games and more tossed around clothes than she ever remember buying were about the floors, only a little free space to allow one to walk back and forth. Inside it was unpainted woodwork, the way she liked it. The best thing about the room was a solitary window stretched wide on the second floor, it's view opened up to the sea where she could watch the waters into the east, shimmering with the light of early dusk. Beautiful, something worth sharing.
Here Ruby stripped herself of the standard garb of softball, the belted pants, red and white uniformed shirt, tall socks, down to just her undergarments. The clothes smelled rotten, so she tossed it all in it's own private corner to be washed tomorrow when she had the time. This was the time to gather the goods. A nice East Coast Lifestyle branded hoodie that would go well with her ripped blue jeans and warm uggs complete with toasty warm wool socks. Perfect look to make up for not being the perfect girl.
Taking a shower, she hoped Weiss would approve.
Two minutes.
That irritated her. Three minutes left and Weiss' team hadn't managed to get an extra goal on the their incompetent public school rivals. Beacon Academy raised what were to be the rising stars of the sports world, but no, they teased the game at 2-3 and it was up to Weiss, the teams goalie, to keep those next two minute from being a disaster. Of course Cinder, leading the offense, barely seemed to care about getting another goal, letting Emerald and the rest of their defense run around and just try to keep the ball away from their rivals feet.
Of course this meant Weiss couldn't relax either. Not that she was of course, she desperately found herself on edge, wanting the clock to finally run out and go home. Now it was worse, her eyes weren't on the clock, watching for freedom, it was on the ball, dancing between players on their green field illuminated on every corner by flood lights. This was the time she should be thinking about exactly how to get to her phone and get home away from this place.
The ball was coming.
Somehow Emerald had lost it, a rival player kicking the prize out beneath her legs and nabbing it for themselves. Of course no one was going to stop this public school cannon barreling for the goal, the nearest defender was five meters out while Emerald picked herself up from the field. Weiss tensed, her eyes locked on her movements, the white and black diamond pattern soccer ball dancing left and right, trying to get Weiss to commit, but she didn't. She had to wait for the give away, the leg that got out of the way.
It was the right.
Weiss dove for it, taking the full force of their dreams of a tie right to the chest. Damn it hurt. Yet, despite the shock to the shoulder as she hit the ground and the smack to the chest, Weiss felt that thrill of a perfect block, knowing she was the best god damn goalie Beacon had ever seen. A run toss spun the ball over to Emerald, whom kicked it off to cinder in a grand pass. The offense could play keep away in perfect triangles. A look toward the clock told Weiss exactly what she wanted to see. Thirty seconds left. She was golden. Now it was just waiting.
Of course Beacon won, they always did. It was a home game, the academy versus the high school. Both teams, as was custom, shook hands down a line, congratulating each other and Weiss knew she had a smug smile on her face the entire time, her white sweat covered jersey and messy pony tail did nothing to limit her sense of superiority. She loved a game won.
However, Weiss loved her texts more. Opening her locker, the top of the line Iphone she kept was bright and on, no less than six texts. It was meant originally as a joke, but Ruby would always spam her during a game. No matter how it ended, the litany of silly messages, xoxo and hearts put a smile on her face. Not one mentioned congrats incase she lost, silly Ruby didn't get it yet that the famous "snow angel" would never lose.
"Weiss, get off your phone already." Cinder's sickeningly sweet voice came from behind the silver haired girl and made her skin crawl, just barely audible over the music other players were blasting and the shouting of victors. Miss Fall, a girl straight from England and in official terms the star of the team, at least in of goals, though their rock iron defense was always thanks to Weiss and Emerald; an underrated player who so sadly looked up to Cinder, not realizing she had twice the potential.
"I was just going over a few emails. What's up?" Regardless of Weiss' distaste for her, Cinder was, in terms of social structure, her "best friend" though that just told her she severally lacked enough real friends.
"We're just seeing about the victory party tonight, it's Friday and if you're worried about getting home, I can be the designated driver!" Emerald came between them, she was sweet, the only dark skinned girl on the team which stupidly made her just barely tolerated at first, but she was beautiful, exceptionally clever and easily turned the initial outcast status into a solid position, if unfairly overshadowed by her lessers.
"You haven't been out with us nearly enough, tell me you can come, I know Neptune will be there, we could help you two hook up...again." Cinder didn't need to add the last mark, a reminder of private stupidity. Just a polite way to show off the leader's authority and dominance. The effort she put in being just mean had to explain why she looked twenty-eight at eighteen.
"No I won't, I have a prior engagement, thank you Emerald," Weiss didn't feel too bad using her other teammate as a way to bash Cinder, but she was done playing nice with her, "I've no interest in guys like Neptune anymore." She had someone else, someone who was infinitely better than the guys Cinder hooked her up with. Someone who knew her, who saw her, who loved her. Ruby could name off all of Weiss' favorite poets, foods, dreams. Neptune probably wouldn't remember Weiss' last name if a wing of the School wasn't named after it.
"Aw, really now? Such a change of heart," Cinder near whispered like she was prone to doing. Weiss wasn't even going to bother changing here, she could keep the jersey on for the ride home, just a switch from cleats to sneakers and she was home fre- "Was he just that bad a lay?"
Weiss twitched with anger, noticing how that last bit wasn't a whisper. She was done, she had a date, and they could fuck off. "Well Cinder I suppose you would know, later!" the silver haired girl said aloud with a smile, noticing that while Emerald got sad wonderfully Cinder got mad. Everyone had a good laugh at her expensense, though it wouldn't last, it felt good walking out of the locker room with rock music blaring like a victor.
It was fairly chilly out, but it didn't matter. Despite being drenched in sweat, though it had finally started drying, Weiss had her own car so she was unconcerned with the cold. A compact luxury BMW courtesy of her wealthy father though she honestly didn't give a shit, so long as it ran and drank down gasoline slowly.
Weiss tossed her bag into the back along with all her basic guards and whatever else she could rip off her fast enough and tossed them into the passenger. Thankfully the rush out made sure there was no one to compete with at their private school parking lot, mismatch of overpriced cars and bikes. It was dark out, surprisingly silent, and Weiss could focus on the drive, not on Cinder or the rest of their Academy bullshit.
It was a short path, while downtown traffic was never great, it was acceptable, lenient even. Weiss managed to navigate the narrow streets and tall white and red buildings her home was famous for, finally coming off a bridge in the rich districts, the area where city townhouses became mansions and the bulk of Beacon's students came from. There, on the bank of one of this city's many rivers, was the Schnee estate, a white goody building with an ancient history.
Sliding into the the massive driveway, past the gated security, Weiss knew she was home, but not really. More a place to be, home was elsewhere. Maybe in a coastal town house with a beautiful wife and three dogs, but that was a thought too far distant to be real. Just enough to put a smile on Weiss' face.
Neither Father mother nor her sister winter was home, and the help was gone this late at night. Which was fine. She could grab a set of protein bars, defacto dinner, and run up two flights to get to her own private floor. Almost a house to itself, immaculate white, a bedroom, full bath, full kitchen and livingroom, even a guest room. No one bothered her here. A private sanctum.
Not caring, she stripped as she walked, nude before even reaching her walk in closet. She needed a bath so bad, the worst smelling thing in the house was her. Of course her outfit was pre-planned and ready, just needed to be taken off the hangers and a short trip to the bathroom and all this grime could wash away.
'Almost ready babe?' Weiss typed out and sent once out of the shower, phone in one hand, hair dryer in the other, thrilled to be the kind of girl that never needed to touch a straightener. She did, however, need some make up. Her pale complexion required maintaining, least by her own standards, and her eyes, a bright blue, looked better with the lightest touch of violet eyeshadow and black eyeliner. Weiss knew better than to try and hide her Soccer accident scar, remembering Ruby giving her hell for trying to hide something like that. It had always made her self conscious, now with Ruby, she actually thought it made her look, she didn't know. Strong.
Date outfit was perfect, a white sundress with vibrant red scattering roses. Something Ruby really wanted to see on her. Her favorite blue bolero went over it, and the outfit was complete. The sneakers could stay, after all they were a clean pair and it wasn't like Ruby was going to look at them anyways.
A buzz dragged Weiss way from her mirror, her phone bright with a new message.
'I'm waiting. :D'
Weiss smiled, it was go time then. Tieing her hair up into a ponytail she let it flow slightly off kilter, give it an asymmetrical look. Imperfect like her eye, but unique. She made sure to stroll out of her bathroom like a queen, confident and thrilled. Turning on her tablet, Weiss smiled. Fridays were the best.
"Weiss, hi, can you hear me?!" Ruby's image appeared on the tablet screen, a vibrant face that showed the best traits of her mixed race heritage. Only issue was the sound.
"Ruby your voice, it sounds like chipmunks!" Weiss found herself laughing in a way she could never do with Cinder. This goofy little canadian girl's voice was transformed into that american chipmunk cartoon voice, the thought of her singing christmas tunes with puffy cheeks was a must.
"Oh christ, hold on!" The skype call was canceled, and when Ruby's little icon came up again, Weiss immediately accepted of course. Her girlfriend popped back up on video after a short delay. This time her usual voice, gifted with her odd accent, they called it newfy, but Weiss never really knew what Canadians were supposed to sound like.
"How about now? Everything alright?"
"Yes yes, Alan you sound fine," Weiss said cheeks, still sore from the laughing fit.
"It's Alvin, and do not make me out to be a forest creature!"
"Alright alright," Weiss relented, letting a bit of silence fill in for a moment. They spent a lot of time like this, between jokes, just staring at eachother. Weiss could spend an evening in Ruby's grey eyes and Ruby could do whatever the hell she wanted, wasn't her choice. They'd both notice what the other was doing of course, blushing and looking away giggling. How had that not gotten old yet?
"So I see you're wearing the dress I mailed you, uhh. It's beautiful. Not the dress, but like the dress on you." Ruby tried her best to be suave, but Weiss always found her awkward fumbling flirts and fratination to be way more swoon worthy.
"Of course!" Weiss announced, setting the tablet on a stand so she could get up, "I make everything look fantastic," she punctuated with a twirl, letting the dress spin with her. Truth was it was the best gift anyone had ever gotten her, and that was a long list. After all, her parents had tried to buy her love most of her life. Knowing how hard Ruby worked to get it outdid anything Father ever put on his credit card. The little roses embroidered in the dress too, the symbol of her family, a very personal touch.
"Well, I got another surprise for you!" Ruby muttered with a smile, her awkwardness telling Weiss it was going to be great. Before she even realized what the redhead was doing, Ruby leaned forward, landing a kiss on the webcam of her laptop. A silly little thing that made Weiss turn red and silent. "Oh come on, kiss back!" Ruby shouted, trying not to be embarrassed. She totally was.
Weiss rolled her eyes, but knew she had to relent. Not daring to look at Ruby as she did it, the older girl lifted the tablet to her lips, kissing a touch longer against the webcam. If she had to be embarrassing, Weiss was certainly going to be the best at being embarrassing. Pulling away Weiss felt pretty confident, seeing Ruby blush, then look confused. Then she laughed.
"Oh my god your lipstick haha, I can't see your face, it's all over that camera! You are a such a sloppy kisser!" Weiss turned beat red, wiping away the red stain over the lense.
"You dolt, this is so your fault!" Weiss felt mortified, and having her girlfriend sitting there mocking her just made it the worst. "I was trying to be sweet, shut up!"
"Thank you Weiss, you humble me with your kisses. So how was the game?" Ruby asked with a nervous smile. Weiss realized how weird it must seem not to have even mentioned it, but Weiss just didn't care so much. This felt more like being a winner when they were together. than out there on the field.
"We won, 2-3, I blocked the last shot," Weiss mentioned with confidence, "Aside from some-"
Weiss' phone began to ring, Air on G-string playing as it did for anyone, save for Ruby who got something special, hard rock of course, she wouldn't have it any other way. The number calling was Emerald, anyone else she wouldn't have answered, but considering it was one of the few people on the team she liked, Weiss brought up her finger to put Ruby on polite hold and answered.
"Hello?" Weiss started, taking the time to pick up her tablet and move to her bedroom. The protein bars still awaited her.
"Hey Weiss, it's Emerald, I was wondering if everything was okay? After the bitch fit I don't know what's going on, but Cinder left if you wanna join us?" Emerald could be cold and calculating, but there was definitely a sweet side to her.
"No thanks Emerald, I'm actually with my girlfriend right now. Just rather it be a bit on the quiet side." Weiss had no problem admitting it to Emerald, she was sure the crush she had on Cinder was something other than innocent admiration.
"Oh, I didn't know you were-"
"Soccer isn't the only thing we have in common Emerald, please be discrete," Weiss cut her off with a laugh. Plopping on the bed softly, neither Ruby nor her teammate were making a sound. A solid second before a mousy pop could be heard. God, Weiss thought to herself, I bet her dark cheeks look so cute with a blush.
"Okay, say hi for me, and uh, to treat you right or I'll kick her ass," there was a pause, "by the way. Did Cinder actually, you know, sleep with Neptune too?" Weiss twinged uncomfortably. Nothing sucked worse than crushing on a straight girl, except crushing on a very sexually liberated straight girl. "I don't really know," Weiss lied. Emerald would get her heart ripped out a lot, this one didn't need to happen right now.
"Okay, bye Weiss. I'll call you tomorrow."
"Bye." The phone clicked off and as soon as she put it down, Ruby let out a breath, like Weiss expected her to not make even the faintest sound.
"So what was that about? Friends?" Ruby couldn't understand Weiss' native tongue, which was fine, but any opportunity to tease her was a good one.
"Learn German and you'd find out," Weiss declared with false coldness. Though Weiss found it slightly annoying that she spent so much time mastering english and no one she met online ever seemed to find the time to learn her language. So unfair.
"They don't offer that here! In Saint John's it's french or bust!" Ruby cried out in dramatic dismay.
"Get a tutor!" Weiss retorted.
"You can be my hot foreign tutor," Ruby tired to do an eyebrow wiggle, which turned into possibly the dumbest expression Weiss had ever seen. Though, she could teach her. Give them more of an excuse to spend time together.
"You would get so much detention." That was the closest thing Weiss would give to yes.
"Yes please," Ruby said in her seductive voice. It got her worse than it did Weiss. "God I can't even take that," she mumbled diving into her pillow. Weiss kept her nose held high, unaffected, pretending Ruby in a Beacon school girl's outfit with her skirt just rolled up a touch too high bending over a desk didn't bring a shock through her body. Instead, Weiss nibbled on one of her protien bars whilst forcing thoughts of grandparents and E.U. Politics, essentially everything that was not sexy.
"You are not skipping dinner for granola bars are you?!" Ruby started again, a long over treaded argument about Weiss' eating habits. She was always such a worry wart, trying to fatten her up any way she could. If they lived near by Weiss was convinced she would be force fed to death.
"It's fine! It's my basic nutrients, I don't wanna cook. Plus I have to watch my calories." Weiss knew she watched it a little too hard, but perfectionist standards were drilled into her. The worst part, though, wasn't eating so little, it was watching Ruby look so sad. "Fine, I'll eat a full breakfast tomorrow! You can even watch, you creepy voyeur."
"Thanks," Ruby replied, the video on her tablet displaying her perfect smile, hoodie framing her face, red highlights fluttering above those eyes. "You should buy yourself a personal Yang!"
"Bitch, I am the one and only!" Weiss laughed, hearing Yang shouting from downstairs, "Oh and Weiss, tomorrow I'm adding you to a skype group with me and some friends! It's the gayest shit you've ever seen you'll love it!" Ruby looked dreadfully embarrassed, but Weiss smiled. Yang was definitely not the type of friend she was use to making, but it was good to know that the girlfriend was liked by the family. Probably because she forced Ruby to study more.
"Go away mom!" Ruby yelped back downstairs, quick to run over and close her door. "Sorry about that, but seriously she made these awesome fish cakes today, delicious."
"Sounds gross."
"You're gross."
"You're not." Ruby turned red and Weiss added another score in her book. On camera the red head couldn't even look at her. Eyes turned towards the window, suddenly wide.
"Oh my god," Ruby whispered, snatching up her laptop, "You have to see this!" Through the power of wireless internet, Ruby grabbed the world itself by her hands and gave it to Weiss, this time in the form of the ocean. She brought the camera to her window and the vast sea opened up before her. The darkness creeping on the sky, but in the west, reflected on the water, the dusk sun was setting and lighting the atlantic in shimmering bronze and orange. It was like staring into the past, Weiss's window opened up, not to the waters of a quiet town, but the lights of urban Hamburg. It wasn't the dusk sun, but a full moon's alabaster light in an empty sky. "One day, Weiss, I'm going to take you out there on my dad's boat. You've never seen anything like it. It's beautiful." It was, the ocean there, the town of Saint John's was gorgeous in every shot she had ever seen in it.
"Ruby, I-" Weiss wanted to explain that they couldn't think too far ahead. No promises could be made. Their future wasn't certain, it was just their present they needed to live in. Yet to Ruby it was certain. It was their
ocean.
"No no, remember Weiss, there isn't that much ocean between Hamburg and Saint John's," Ruby sung sweetly, the amber lights dying in red and black. It was a dying, beautiful light. Weiss found those words so sweet, she could believe them for a night. Then she remembered where she got those words.
"Wait...are you stealing lines from that stupid band again? Really?"
"Okay, A. I changed it a little, I didn't steal it, and B. Great Big Sea is not stupid!" Ruby shouted back, defending her favorite band with an endless passion.
A muffled Yang could be heard down below yelling back "Nerd!" and suddenly Weiss was laughing again. This wasn't as hard as she feared. Being like this. It's difficulty was impossible to regret.
"Shut up Yang!" Ruby was amazing. "Ugh, now that she ruined the moment, what do you wanna do?"
"Movie? Anything you'd like to watch?" Every Friday for half a year now was like this. Sometimes Ruby would teach her how to play video games, or they would study. Friday was amazing.
"You babe," Ruby replied in a mousy voice. Weiss was beside herself with the cheesiness of her partner.
"Oh shut up! We are not one of those couples!"
"But it's cute!"
"I hate you," Weiss joked, rolling her eyes at the tablet, a window to her favorite person.
"I love you." Both of them couldn't help but smile.
"I love you too. Now, pick a movie dunce."
*** So this is the product of me missing my trips to Canada. I kind of was listening to Great Big Sea's Boston and Saint John's and missed the coasts and I just blah, decided to make an LDR short story. Depending on how this does, I'll consider doing more, like literally there is a weird amount of lore in this LDR A.U. Thanks to my buddy Kadoge, maritime expert and master of all thinks Canada, she was a big help! her blog kadogeookami at tumblr.
Also thank you Snow-White-and-Little-Red for reading through this for me and editing while Lazy Katze is away. It's been a huge help she also helped with the softball bits and thank Blaze, who assisted with the soccer bits as I was a loser in high school and played no sports. Hope you guys like this, I had so much fun writing it and hope to hear from you all so Leave a review or find me on tumblr at booking-and-blogging. :D Later!