The Weiss List
Chapter 1: Getting Some More Help
Help! Police! There's an author in here! Oh wait, it's just me. That's right, it's The Draigg here once again, ready to shove some hot, fresh stuff into your heads… Okay, that sounded way better in my head. Brushing aside that innuendo, let's get my usual disclaimers out of the way. I, in no way, shape, or form, own RWBY. Monty Oum does, and he's probably the right person to do so. Also, I own pretty much nothing, including any other media I put in here. There, that warning ought to be good for a few chapters. Now, let's get reading!
xxx
Ruby Rose picked at a loose splinter on the armrest of her chair.
Ever since her girlfriend, Weiss Schnee, had started seeing a therapist about two or so weeks ago, she had made it a point to go with her. Sure, she kept on spending her pocket lien on airship tickets, and that waiting in the lobby of a therapist's office was less interesting than watching the caulk between freshly laid tiles dry. But really, it was all worth it to make sure that Weiss knew that she had someone to be there for her.
And really, the Schnee girl needed all the positive emotions as she could get. Last week, ever since Beacon Academy had to cancel not only the school dance but most of their Vytal Festival activities, nobody at the academy was very happy. It was a good thing that most students didn't know that it was because Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie partially destroyed an aquarium, otherwise their heads would be on spears for everyone to see. That funding could have been used for something fun, and now it was just wasted on some glorified fish tank!
But, Ruby wasn't really worried about that stuff. She didn't really care for dances all that much. Having to get her good dress dry cleaned… having to wear those annoying lady stilts—no wait, heels… there just wasn't that much appeal. But, Weiss was actually looking forward to it somewhat, and that didn't help her disposition at all. In fact, Ruby could tell that Weiss was internally furious when she walked into the doctor's office. So, if anything, Ruby was hoping that the therapist could calm her down. And if not that, at least buy her some time for her to figure something out.
Speaking about therapy sessions, the wooden door to the office opened, and Weiss strode out. She made a bee-line for Ruby, who had gotten out of her chair to greet her.
Ruby's greeting was cut short by Weiss. "Hey, how was—".
"Let's go, Ruby. We're leaving," Weiss flatly stated. Without even waiting for Ruby, Weiss walked out of the entrance, and onto the street outside.
Huh. What could be causing Weiss to act this flippant? With no other choice, Ruby followed after her girlfriend to investigate.
"What's up with you?" Ruby asked as she walked aside Weiss on the sidewalk.
"What, do you want me to pour my heart out?" Weiss seethed back.
"Yes, please," sincerely replied Ruby. If she noticed the sarcasm in Weiss' response, she chose to ignore it.
Weiss groaned. Sure, all the stuff on her mind was annoying to think about, but Ruby was her confidant. If there was one person she could talk to about her problems without worry, it was her.
"I feel like I'm not making any progress in there," she admitted. "I mean, like, I don't think I'm really living up to what Dr. Schreber says I could be,".
"I-it's only been two weeks. Good stuff takes time, ya know?" Ruby offered.
"I know, but… I mean, I'm still angry over the dance getting cancelled. Why am I so angry over something completely out of my control?" Weiss asked, in a rare moment of sane self-reflection.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm sad too," Ruby lied. She knew that she wasn't raised to lie to the people she loved, but as team leader, she figured little 'motivational' lies were okay once in a while.
Of course, Weiss, being the analytical girl that she was, immediately picked up on Ruby's bluff. "Yeah, right. You being sad over this is about as likely as me suddenly swapping genders," she snarked.
"What gave it away?" Ruby meekly inquired, her facade broken.
"Remember the other day?" Weiss asked back at her.
Ruby tried to remember what exactly she said when she heard the news. Now that she thought about it, maybe she didn't have the appropriate reaction to hearing the canceling of the dance…
xxx
It was a boring afternoon. Weiss was embroiled in another online shopping bidding war, this time for a silver brooch. I was a rather nice one, and not all that expensive to boot. Hey, if she could win at a low price, maybe she could get Ruby something too!
Yang was taking part in everyone's favorite pastime, while sitting at the team's desk. Namely, watching a bunch of mind-numbing television. Sure, she was watching some garbage shows right now, but that was the fun of it all! How else could she get her fix of watching older women with tons of plastic surgery and fake tans bitch at each other over excessive amounts of wine? Truly, she lived in a blessed era.
Blake, of course, was reading a book near the windowsill. How could she resist? There was a warm ray of sunshine and everything! Really, the only thing that could make this bad was if her reading was interrupted by a loud noise.
Naturally, at the precise moment that Blake was enjoying herself the most, Ruby kicked down the door. From the looks of it, she was carrying a bulging plastic bag with one hand. Also, she was smiling, for some reason.
"A toast for everyone!" the cloaked girl merrily cheered as she reached into her plastic bag.
Pulling out a can of Abomination energy drink Ruby flung it in the general direction of Yang. Without taking her eyes away from the small television, Yang caught the can and opened it. Cracking it open, Yang took a sip and asked, "What's with all the generosity?".
"Oh, I got some news!" Ruby replied as she pulled a can of green tea out of the bag. She then tossed it in the direction of Blake.
Unfortunately for the Faunus girl, she had turned her attention back to her book right after Ruby made her presence known. So, Blake was completely unaware of the can of tea flying through the air towards her until it made a meaty thunk against her forehead.
"GAH! WHY?!" Blake cried as she dropped her book and clutched at the bruise forming on her head. Naturally, Ruby didn't bother to answer her victim directly. Instead, she decided to address the whole room.
"The dance is cancelled! I—We don't have to go!" Ruby announced, making a grand sweeping gesture to everyone.
Everyone in the room paused. "What?! Why!?" Weiss demanded to know. She closed the shopping app on her scroll. This was WAY more important to her than that brooch. She had already gotten her best dress cleaned and bought her special make-up and everything!
Ruby skipped over to Weiss' side and placed a can of coffee in her lap. "Why, the bulletin board said that it was cancelled for money reasons! Isn't that AWESOME?!" she beamed at Weiss.
Hearing those words, Weiss and Blake's glares shot daggers at a mortified Yang. It was obvious why they had to spend the budget elsewhere. All of that public and private property she destroyed in the fight with Nora must have totaled in hundreds of thousands of lien. So, if anybody was to blame directly, it was Nora and Yang.
Yang choked on her drink. "Gaackk—I had NO idea it cost that much!" she strained out. Still, if looks could kill, Yang would be deader than the deadest dead guy to ever die. Or something like that.
"You ruined everything!" Weiss cried as she leapt from her chair and grabbed Yang by the lapels. As she began to violently shake the blonde, Weiss ranted, "I was going to have a good time, damn it! You took away my good time!".
"Weiss—I'm—Sorry!" Yang profusely apologizes between shakes.
All the while this was going on, Blake was massaging her forehead, and Ruby doing a little victory jig for herself. All in all, it was an average afternoon for Team RWBY.
xxx
Yeah, now that Ruby thought about it, her reaction wasn't… all that appropriate, really. But, she was in the throes of joy! Could anyone who knew her really blame her? Well, maybe Weiss. After all, that's why they were having this conversation right now.
"I kinda get your point…" Ruby sheepishly said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Exactly. Anyway, I just think I need something to kick start this whole 'getting better' deal," elaborated Weiss.
"Well…" Ruby said, thinking. How could she possibly get Weiss more help? She was seeing a shrink and everything!
"Wait… shrinks… magazines are shrink wrapped… magazines are cheap books… books! Books have good stuff, like self-help books! Wait, that's it! Self-help books! Ruby Rose, you're a jenus—no, geenyous—smart person!" was the cloaked girl's thought process. She was right… but not in the way she got to that conclusion.
"We can look for books to help you!" Ruby blurted out to Weiss.
Weiss had to admit, that was a good suggestion. Sometimes the intelligence of Ruby surprised her. "Not bad, not bad at all, Ruby!" Weiss agreed as she stroked her chin in thought. Then, stopping in place, she announced, "I think there's a bookstore near here!".
"Then let's go!" Ruby said, holding her arm out. Clearly, she was intending for Weiss to hook her arm around hers.
Weiss decided to do exactly that. After all, she felt that Ruby deserved it for coming up with that good idea. So, arm in arm, Team White Rose walked further down the street, on the lookout for a book store.
xxx
"Yep, this looks like the one I was thinking about," Weiss said to Ruby.
The pair was standing in front of storefront with large windows. On the front sign, it was announced that this store was owned by someone named Tuckson. Well, Weiss hoped that this Tuckson fellow had some books that would appeal to her.
Walking through the door, Weiss and Ruby immediately noticed the dimly lit, messy sate of the store. Books were piled everywhere, from the front counter to the sides of the bookshelves. And, for some reason, a tarp was in the middle of the floor. It appeared to be covering up some large, dark stain. Weiss wasn't impressed by this store at all. How could a purveyor of literature allow his shop to fall into disrepair?
Sauntering up to the front counter, Ruby and Weiss looked around for a cashier, or anyone to help them. "Hello?" Ruby called out. She got no response.
Looking at the counter, Weiss saw a shiny chrome bell. Ah, so you had to ring this for service. That made sense. So, she hit the bell three times and called out, "Hello? We're here to buy some books, please!".
Their persistence was rewarded as a rather short man shuffled out from behind a curtain. At least someone was here to look over this store. The man, who in addition to being vertically challenged, also had rather long and thick mutton chops, and his hair poked out to the sides. It made him seem like he had some animal characteristics to him. If Weiss was to make an educated guess, this mam was a Faunus.
"Can I help you?" the man said in a low, rumbling voice.
Ruby awkwardly led in with, "Uh, h-hi, me and my, uh, friend are looking for some self-help books. Can you tell us where they are, Mr…". Ruby paused to look for any sort of name tag.
"Logan," the man cut off. "They're over there, I think" he pointed at a pile of books near the tarp.
"Uhh… thanks?" Weiss said as she walked over to the pile. Ruby joined her side, and sifted through the lump of literature.
There was no ordering to the book pile, if such a thing could exist. All of the stuff that looked vaguely psychological was mixed in with all the books promising things like 'How to Lose Weight with Kale!' and 'Magic for Your Sex Life!'. Nothing that Weiss was interested in the slightest.
So, gathering up the books that she thought looked helpful, Ruby and Weiss put what they gathered onto the counter, expecting to be rung up. Instead, Logan stood there, looking at the two. It looked like he had no idea what to do in this situation.
"Ehh… should you tell us how much these cost?" Weiss stiffly suggested. Did this guy even know how to work here?
"Right, right," Logan said, grabbing the books and putting them into a large paper bag. Putting the bag on the counter, he said, "That'll be, um… thirty lien?".
Weiss was taken a little aback at the announced price. Thirty lien? That was absurdly cheap! There was at least twenty books in that bag! Was there some sort of special going on that she didn't know about? If so, then Weiss had to remember to come back more often. Clearly, she could make out like a bandit here!
Pulling out her wallet, Weiss placed the lien on the counter top and grabbed the bag. "Thanks," Weiss said as she handed the bag to Ruby for her to carry.
"No problem," Logan replied, slipping the lien into his pocket. Wasn't he going to put it in a register or something? Man, this shopkeeper sure was odd. But, that train of thought was halted when Logan slunk back behind the curtain that separated the back of the store from the front.
Satisfied with what they got, Weiss and Ruby walked out of the bookstore. Right now, Team White Rose felt pretty good. Not only were they able to get more help for Weiss, but for an incredibly cheap price as well! Man, now this is what they would call a productive day indeed! If anything, this can only get better!
xxx
Oh boy, what sort of crazy stuff will Weiss put herself through in the name of mental health? Well, I guess you'll just have to tune in again to find out! Moving on from that, I'm thinking of doing something special in my bottom author's notes for you guys. I'm going to give some shout-outs to some of you great fans! In other words, sempai is going to notice the shit out of you. So, let's see who the luck first fan mentioned is going to be!
*Rolls dice*
And, the first shout out goes to… The3Ryans!
Congratulations! Good job for supporting all this crazy crap I call publishable writing! And, I'm truly honored to have someone as cool as you for a fan. Keep that in mind!
But now, I must go. I need to write some more! Be sure to send me a message or review! And, if you're lucky, you might get a shout-out! This is The Draigg, signing off for now!