"You got a what?!" Blake exclaimed in disbelief and outrage, believing that she had misheard what Ruby had just said.
"A dog!" Ruby chimed and pulled the little, gray corgi she carried closer to her, the slobbering mutt gleefully licking Ruby's face in such a disgusting and utterly unsanitary manner. The black-and-red-haired girl laughed wholeheartedly as Blake just slapped her forehead.
"Ruby, what did I say about pets?" The two of them shared an apartment, Ruby and her, which is why many people assumed that they were seeing each other even though they aren't even romantically affiliated in the first place. Moreover, Blake was two years older than Ruby was, so it was often she who set the rules and regulations that kept the apartment from falling apart. "Where did you even find a dog in the first place?"
"I found him alone in a box." Ruby explained and cradled the dog in her arms. "He was all alone, so I took him home!"
Great, a stray. Blake thought to herself as she rubbed her temple. Bad enough that there was a dog in the apartment, but the dog turned out to be a stray, and it was much worse. Who knows what parasites that mutt had nesting in its fur and insides? "Ruby, you're going to have to get rid of him. Immediately."
"What?!" Now it was her roommate's turn to sound taken aback. "But I found him alone in the street, without a family." Ruby held the canine up, like Rafiki did when he carried a newborn Simba, except that her arms were lower. "Blake, he's just a puppy. He needs a family."
"What if his mother comes looking for him, then?"
"Blake, I found him near a dumpster in a box with a food bowl half-filled with dog food in it." Ruby stated matter-of-factly. "If he did have a family before, they surely kicked him out. Blake," she looked serious, a passion burning in her silver eyes. "He needs to be taken care of."
"Ruby, no means no." Blake pressed, refusing to tell Ruby the main reason why she refuses to let the dog stay.
"Oh, come on. Please?" Ruby pleaded, her lip slightly jutting out and her eyes widening a bit.
Oh no, Blake told herself mentally. Not this again. "Don't do that." Blake replied. Ruby was putting on her infamous pleading look. Her roommate's lower lip only jutted out more and her eyes looked even more pleading. "Ruby, no." Ruby's lips were now quivering, and so were her eyebrows. The dog whimpered quietly, joining Ruby in her begging. Finally, Blake gave in. "I can't believe I'm saying this," she said quietly as she rubbed her temple and sighed. "Fine. He can stay."
"Really?" The hooded girl perked up instantaneously. That was the sixth time this month that Blake had fallen for that dirty, age-old approach which Ruby always used to get something she wanted from her. "You hear that, Zwei? You get to stay!" Ruby declared and the dog barked happily in response, the noise loud and obnoxious to her sensitive ears.
"But he's your responsibility. Feed and bathe him regularly and clean up after him." Blake added sternly. "And please keep it away from my belongings."
"You got it, boss!" Ruby chimed and brought the dog closer to Blake's face. "He wants to give you a kiss!"
"No, no, that won't be-," she was cut off mid-sentence when the dog's tongue made contact with her face, finishing her sentence only when the dog stopped. "Necessary."
"Come on, Zwei, I'm giving you a bath." Ruby said as she tapped the dog's nose, headed for the bathroom. The door slammed and Blake rushed to the kitchen sink to wash off the dog saliva from her face.
There were two things that kept Blake awake that night. The first was an unhealthy sleep pattern. The second was the dog.
Ruby and she shared a bedroom - another reason why everyone in the neighborhood thought that they were together. They may have shared a room, but not beds. Their beds were on opposite corners of the room, and Ruby was already asleep on hers, her light and rhythmic snoring the only sound in the otherwise completely quiet room. The corgi – Zwei, as Ruby called him – was curled up at her feet, but he wasn't asleep. He was staring at Blake with those beady, little eyes.
It was unsettling.
"Look the other way, you mutt." She mouthed to the canine that lay at the base of Ruby's bed. He just cocked his head in reply.
He just opened his mouth and panted with tongue hanging out, his tail wagging as he did so. "Go to sleep." Blake said through gritted teeth. The dog whimpered and finally tucked its head down. Finally. Blake closed the book she was reading and placed it on the nightstand, pulling up the covers after. Her eyelids slid shut slowly, her field of vision narrowing as she began to drift off to sleep.
But Zwei interrupted her just as she was about to succumb to slumber.
What is it with dogs and howling in the middle of the night? Blake pondered angrily and turned to her side, covering her head with a pillow to block out the hound's howls but to no avail. The best the pillow did was muffle the noise, but it didn't completely block it out.
And things just got a lot worse when something furry brushed against her exposed foot. She looked down to confirm her suspicions and found Zwei curled up at her feet, fast asleep. "Great." Blake mumbled and prepared to kick the dog off the bed, but stopped before she could even do so because if any harm befalls the dog by her hand, Ruby's going to kill her.
She didn't know why, but she just could sleep now that Zwei is much closer.
This is going to be a long night. Blake thought to herself and sighed.
"Aww…" Ruby cooed almost immediately after she yawned and stretched her arms, the way she always does after awakening. "Zwei's with Blake!"
Blake just shot a glare of bloody murder at the mutt who slept near her feet. Her knees were already drawn close to her chest yet the dog still came closer to her feet, no matter how much she adjusts to put some distance between her and the animal.
"Geez, you look horrible." Ruby said when her eyes finally landed on Blake, who indeed, looked horrible. There were dark rings under her eyes and her skin had a sickly pallor: the side effects of a sleepless night. "Did you even get any sleep? Were you up all night reading again?"
"Your dog kept me awake." Blake answered and Ruby whistled, waking the dog from its slumber. Zwei happily bounded up to her.
"And how?" Ruby asked in between the dog's licks, which Blake thought to be highly unsanitary. "Were you busy playing with him last night?"
"I can't exactly go to sleep if he keeps licking my toes every now and then." Blake replied, shuddering at the memory of dog slobber coating her foot. She was that close to kicking the dog off the bed, but didn't mostly because of Ruby's possible reaction in the morning.
"That just means he likes you!" Ruby stated and stood from her bed, Zwei still cradled in her arms. "Now as for you," she said to the dog, "I'm getting you something to eat."
Blake followed them out the door, dragging her feet along the floor, too exhausted to even lift her feet and walk properly. She turned on the coffee maker in the kitchen and waited for it to fill her mug with the caffeinated beverage that was going to wake her up from her exhaustion. She watched as Ruby got the green dog bowl – which she said was found in the box she found Zwei in – and placed it before him, the dog's tail wagging rapidly as it awaited to be fed. "What are you going to feed him?" Blake mumbled. "Did you buy dog food yesterday?"
Ruby just stood there dumbstruck. "Oh no, I forgot!" She exclaimed and Blake mildly shook her head. "But I think…there's a bone… in here somewhere…" She added as she rummaged through the cupboards, pulling one out after a moment. "Ah, there it is!" Blake wondered who would put a bone in a cupboard and why. "Here, Zwei! Mittagessen!"
The corgi barked happily and stood on its hind legs, trying to reach the bone Ruby held in her hand. "You speak German?" Blake asked as she sat down on a wooden chair near the small dining table for two.
"I heard that word from Weiss."
"You do realize that means 'lunch', right?" Blake giggled and took a sip of coffee, remembering Professor Ozpin – the headmaster of the university she and Ruby go to. Rumor has it that he's often tired and relies on coffee to keep himself awake and sane. This must be how he feels in the morning. "It's not even noon yet."
"Oh." Ruby replied, a dorky grin of embarrassment on her face. Blake somehow found her cute all of the sudden. Maybe it was her lack of sleep working upon her mind. "What's the word for 'breakfast', then?"
"Frühstück." Blake answered, remembering the small amount of German she had learned from their rich, white-haired, German friend. "And what are you doing?"
"Giving Zwei a bone." Ruby explained as Zwei propped himself against Ruby's leg, trying desperately to get the bone ruby was taunting him with.
"Don't do that."
"Why not? You told me to feed him, right?"
"No, don't give Zwei a bone." Blake added tiredly and took another sip. Now she really felt like Professor Ozpin minus the cane.
"But, dogs like bones. Nine out of ten Cartoons say so." Ruby said matter-of-factly.
"Well, don't believe everything you see in cartoons." Blake chuckled at her childish roommate. That's one of the things she liked about her. It made her fun to be around. "Bones could be potentially harmful to dogs. Give him something else."
"Like what?"
"Is there any tuna in there?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow questioningly and looked into the cupboards. "Yeah, six cans. Why?" There was a hint of confusion in her voice.
"Give him one."
"But Blake, I thought this was your tuna." Ruby remarked, replacing the bone with a can of tuna. "And isn't tuna for cats?"
"Don't be silly, dogs can eat tuna too," explained Blake and drained the mug's contents. She may need another one – or even two – to snap her out of her sleep-deprived state. "It's better for them than bones are." She could've gone ahead and ranted about how tuna is good for dogs, but she was still too tired to explain.
"Alright-y then." Ruby opened the can of tuna and poured the contents into Zwei's food bowl. "Eat up, Zwei!" The dog happily lapped up the contents of the bowl and Ruby stood, her hands on her hips, a smile on her face as she watched her pet eat. "So… looks like I'm going grocery shopping later."
Blake took a sip of coffee from the freshly-refilled mug. Now her sleep-deprived mind was thinking of how many cups of coffee Professor Ozpin consumes a day on average. "I'll come with. We need to stock up on foodstuffs again."
Her roommate beamed. "Alright then, it's settled! Second order of business for today is groceries!"
A faint smile crawled across Blake's face.
Ruby and Blake returned from the grocery a few hours later, laden with paper bags full of various foodstuffs and items for dogs like cans of dog food, or a box of bone-shaped treats, and even a brush. "All I'm saying is," Blake said as she rummaged in her pocket for the keys to the apartment, "If you're going to get yourself a dog, then you better know how to take care of one properly."
"Ugh, you sound like dad…" Ruby groaned.
Blake laughed quietly and fished out the keys from her pocket. "You're going to have to use the flea powder later. I'm sure that mutt has…" She opened the door and walked into the apartment, disgusted by what she saw. "Fleas. What is that?"
"What is what?" Ruby looked over Blake's shoulder. Her face paled and disgust smeared itself across Ruby's face. "Oh." Zwei barked and bounded to his owner, sitting at her feet and wagging his tail. "Zwei, no! Bad Zwei!" The dog hung its head, lowered its ears, and whimpered.
"You're going to have to pick up after him." Blake stated and made her way to the kitchen, carefully avoiding the vile brown pile the dog left on the floor. Good thing it wasn't on the carpet or else they would have had a real problem.
"Uh… how?"
"Get a plastic bag and pick it up." Blake started to restock the cupboards and the fridge with the contents of the paper bags she carried, trying not to glance behind and see the mess the dog made – which was still disturbing, by the way.
"Zwei, you stay here while I pick up your poop." Ruby said quietly, a hint of squeamishness in her voice. "I should really train you to poop outside."
"You're the one who decided to get a dog!" Blake gloated as she finished up her current task.
"Yeah, but why do dogs have to poop?" Ruby complained. "I mean, can't they be cute and not poop?"
"Defecation is something all animals do." Blake chuckled at her roommate's remarks. "The cute and the disgusting come together in a furry package." She grabbed a plastic bag and wore it over her hand like a glove, seeing that Ruby still hasn't picked up the dog excrement.
"No, I'll do it." Ruby intervened and took both of Blake's hands in hers to remove the plastic bag. It was just a simple and innocent motion, but there was something about her hands being in contact with Ruby's that sent jolts up her spine, in a good way.
"Uh, Blake?" Ruby said as she inserted her hand into the bag. "Are you okay?"
Blake snapped out of a trance-like state, the back of her ears burning as if they were on fire. Strange. She's never felt this way before towards her roommate, even though they've been sharing the same apartment for months. "Oh, uh, I'm fine." Blake turned on her heel and quickly walked to the kitchen. "I'll prepare lunch. You wash your hands before you eat, got it?" Blake and Ruby both agreed to cook meals for two every time they were about to eat – the third reason why everyone thought they were together-together, as their ginger neighbor, Nora, always says.
"Got it." Ruby made a mock salute and bent over to pick up Zwei's droppings. A set of disgruntled noises of disgust followed, ewws and yucks coming from Ruby. Blake guessed she was busy cleaning up after her dog.
Blake had to conceal the smile on her face as she prepared a meal.
"How long have you had Zwei again?" Blake asked, temporarily looking up from her book to glance at her roommate brushing Zwei's fur, the latter panting happily. "A month?"
It was about 10:30 in the evening and Ruby's been brushing Zwei's fur for about thirty minutes now. Blake was seated on the sofa, her knees drawn up to her chest, her eyes glued to a book. Ruby was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, tending to her pet.
"Approximately." Ruby answered, not looking up from her pet. At least now, Zwei was trained by Ruby to do his business in one area – a stack of newspapers in a corner. At least now it was easier to clean up after him, unlike before when they had to find where Zwei left his excretions before cleaning. They've also ridded the dog of fleas and had him dewormed. "Why?"
"Nothing." Blake replied, her gaze shifting back to her book. "I was just wondering how long Zwei's been with us."
"Hey Blake?" Ruby called and Blake looked over her book, her gaze shifting to Ruby, who was looking her directly in the eyes.
"Yes?"
"You know how we've been spending a lot of time together?"
"We're roommates. We spend a lot of time together." Blake pointed out, evading the other – and much weirder thought – floating around in her mind.
"No, not like that." Ruby sat next to Blake on the sofa, Zwei still in her arms. "I mean, like, together."
"What are you talking about?" Blake inquired, a mild blush threatening to creep its way onto her face.
"Ever since I adopted Zwei – with your reluctance, of course," Ruby avoided Blake's eyes and continued brushing the drooling mutt's fur, "we've been… closer." Blake raised an eyebrow, having the creeping suspicion that she knows what Ruby's going on about here. "Like, you don't usually go out with me to do groceries. It's either you do it or I do. Well, sometimes both of us, but rarely. And you even join me in doing stuff, only more often than before. Like how you always help me in taking care of Zwei."
It's true that they've spent more time together because of Zwei, mostly because Blake had to assist Ruby in tending for the dog since he tends to break a mess up of things while running around and he isn't really fond of baths. If he doesn't get his bath, he'll stink and cause a commotion. "Well, of course. It's as you said: he needs to be taken care of."
Zwei cocked his head curiously.
"But I thought you didn't like Zwei?"
"And I don't think you know how to take care of a dog properly." Blake replied. "Which is why I always help you out."
"Hey, I could take care of a dog by myself!" Ruby said stubbornly.
"Could you?" Blake smirked, remembering the time Ruby tried to bathe Zwei by herself. The dog ended up going up and down the entire apartment building, leaving a trail of water and two exhausted girls behind him.
"Okay, maybe not by myself." Ruby replied and shook her head. "Okay, I'm straying from what I was about to say."
"What were you about to say?" Blake chuckled.
"Look, point is that we've been spending significantly more time together since I got Zwei." True that they've been spending significantly more time together because of Zwei, and through Ruby's random rambling, Blake discovered more about her roommate in the past four weeks than she did in five months. She began to see her in a different light, and because of that; she's been slowly developing possibly romantic feelings toward her roommate. "I've gotten closer to you somehow and I still don't understand. Maybe it's because we talk to each other more when tending to Zwei, but there's just… something."
"Something?" Blake raised an eyebrow, watching her roommate's face slowly go red as she nodded.
"I don't know what it is, okay? Maybe I got more friendly with you because you help me a lot with dog-related matters, or maybe," she gulped, "or maybe, oh, I don't know, I may or may not have… feelings."
Zwei barked thrice, as if he was trying to say something.
"Feelings?"
"Could be that I'm really attached to you, or it could be love, I don't know. Point is, I like you, okay?" She immediately turned away, her face as red as her tank top after she said that. There was nothing but total silence in the moment that followed, the quietness broken only by the sound of Zwei panting.
"Ruby," said Blake as she put her hand on her roommate's shoulder, "look at me."
Ruby slowly turned her head to face her, as if she was reluctant – even shy – to do so. "What?"
Blake moved her hand from Ruby's shoulder to her roommate's face and pulled her close, locking their lips together in a kiss Blake has dreamed of for three weeks. It really was a long one as neither of them refused to let go of the other.
Zwei barked in approval.
Perhaps Blake should thank Zwei for bringing them closer.