She's awoken by a subtle nudge at her legs, and then a firmer shake. "Ruby," Blake whispers, quiet in the darkness. She peers over the edge of her team mate's bunk, seeming oddly shy, though her voice shows no sign of wavering. "Wake up. Ruby."
She rolls over, still half asleep. "I'm up," she says, yawning. "I'm up, I'm up. What is it?"
Blake hesitates, drawing down a little so that only her eyes peek over the side of the mattress. "Um," she says. Thinks about it. Plows ahead. "…Do you want to see a six-toed cat?"
"Do I?" Yang answers from her bunk, whipping off her blankets. It startles Blake enough that she almost slips, her foot knocking against the bedframe and waking up Weiss as well.
So that was how the four of them broke curfew to sneak out of their dorms, Blake taking the lead.
Beacon feels like a different creature at night. During daylight hours, faculty and students and staff swarmed in a constant stream of energy, everyone busy, everyone on their way to something. Though they weren't doing anything wrong, Ruby still feels the thrill of danger as they sneak past late night security guards, hushing their giggles and finding the right building.
Blake climbs up the fire escape, gesturing for them to follow, and Ruby activates her semblance to leap two stories higher than her. Eager to get to what Blake had promised, she reaches the roof well before anyone else, her petals swarming around her before vanishing faster than a winter morning's breath. Immediately she notices a small dishbowl and a shabby cardboard box, stuffed with towels. Near it are three empty milk gallons, their tops split in half and filled with murky dirty water. The only other way to access this roof is through a single locked door, a little outcropping of building jutting up like a sore tooth.
"Where's the kitty?" she demands when Blake reaches her, having already searched the top of the roof twice.
Blake rolls her eyes, reaching into her backpack for a can of wet cat food. She brings it to the dish bowl, making sure to clatter it a few times. Like a shot, a little white shape darts out from who-knows-where, giving Blake a gurgly mew. Crouching down in front of it, Blake pets the cat while it eats. "Hey mama," she says softly. Her nails scratch behind its— her, Ruby corrects herself mentally— ears.
"Oh! It is a conch cat," Weiss says, impressed. "How cute."
Blake blinks up at her. "I always thought they were called Hemingway cats? Like the author?" Gently reaching around the cat's belly, Blake picks her up. The cat protests the interruption of her meal but doesn't bite or claw as Blake holds her upright on her hind paws. Hooking a thumb under one of her front paws, Blake displays the extra toe.
"Oh my god," Ruby says, desperately trying to maintain some sort of dignity and failing. "I'mgonnacry. Look at her little feet, Yang, they're like mittens, aaaaaaahh—"
Sitting on the floor next to Blake, Yang strokes the top of the cat's head, all the way down her spine. "Oooh Blake," she says, grinning wickedly. "You're being a bad girl. It's against school rules to own a pet, you know."
"It is?" Almost instinctively, Blake looks to Weiss again, setting down the cat with the guilt of a robber caught. If anyone was going to cause a fuss about the cat, it'd be her. "I don't really keep her. I just noticed her up here a lot, so I brought food." She pulls her knees to her chest, mumbling. "Cause she was so skinny…"
Weiss tsks, under her breath. "We need to get her fixed," is all she says. "That's the responsible thing to do with a cat we don't intend to keep indoors. The last thing we need is a big horde of kittens running around—"
"Too late," Blake says, petting the cat again.
Grinning with dawning delight, Ruby wiggles in place, her arms wrapped around herself to grab onto the edges of her cape. "No!" she says in disbelief.
"No," Weiss says, but with a completely different intonation.
Blake grins back at her. "Well, there's a reason I call her 'mama'…."