well here's the multi-chaptered fic in the rosewick ytau!
i'm kinda unsatisfied with the ending of this chapter, but i felt like posting this anyway
more notes at the end
RedCrescentRose: roman
RedCrescentRose: roman
RedCrescentRose: roman
RedCrescentRose: rooooooooomaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!
RedCrescentRose: roman!
RedCrescentRose: roman!
RedCrescentRose: roman!
MelodicCudgel: Jeez, Red, I'm here, what do you want?
RedCrescentRose: roman!
RedCrescentRose: oh! there you are!
RedCrescentRose: sorry! you just weren't answering me
MelodicCudgel: Well, I am now. What's up?
RedCrescentRose: weeell i'm on break right now this week and was wooondeeeeriiiing if you waaaanted tooooooooo pooosiblyyyy meeeeeeeet in peeeerson?
MelodicCudgel: Ha, what's with all the vowels?
RedCrescentRose: i'm drawing out my words, duh!
RedCrescentRose: anyway, do you want to maybe meet in person?
MelodicCudgel: Even though we don't actually live in the same place?
RedCrescentRose: well we both live in roughly the same area…
RedCrescentRose: i mean, we both live in the chicago area so…
RedCrescentRose: we could meet somewhere like jackson park
MelodicCudgel: /I/ live in Chicago, /you/ live in Lake Forest
RedCrescentRose: yeah but i've never actually BEEN to chicago so it works out!
MelodicCudgel: You've never been to Chicago? Really?
RedCrescentRose: never had the opportunity
RedCrescentRose: i always spent most of my time in school work :/
MelodicCudgel: Well aren't you the studious type?
RedCrescentRose: oh shush
RedCrescentRose: but really it works out just give me a yes or a no
MelodicCudgel: I still don't think it'd be a good idea, Red…
RedCrescentRose: pleeeaaaseee?
MelodicCudgel: Are you expecting me to pay for your expenses while here?
RedCrescentRose: uh
RedCrescentRose: maybe?
RedCrescentRose: i'm the girl here! it's expected!
RedCrescentRose: but i do have some money, and i'll be going over with the others
RedCrescentRose: so can we make this a thing?
MelodicCudgel: Sigh, well you're persistent, Red, I'll give you that
RedCrescentRose: :D
.
Ruby practically bounced in her seat, holding herself back from pressing her face to the glass window. It was finally Thanksgiving break and they had a whole week off from school. Of course, she should be doing homework, but the idea of taking a spur of the moment road trip to Chicago was just too much of a temptation to ignore. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Weiss to agree to the whole thing, and more to get her to agree to let them use her car; but eventually, with a near unanimous decision, she had finally given in.
Weiss set her eyes on the road, sending occasional glares back to Ruby, making sure she was getting her fingers on the window. Blake took the driver's side passenger, nose in a book, somehow not getting sick from the motion. Yang sat behind Blake, chattering away about what they should do. The most they had with them were just small travel bags, their wallets and electronics stored inside.
"Ruby," Weiss scolded as the girl in red got too close to her window, "this is an hour long drive including traffic, just try to calm down!"
"But Weiss!" Ruby whined, finally moving away from the glass. "This is the first time I've been to a city! It's exciting!"
"Yeah!" Yang chimed in, leaning forward. "We never had a chance to go anywhere big before, this is, like, an adventure!"
Weiss just huffed, flipping a turn signal as she slid onto a byway. Ruby and Yang began talking to each other about what it would be like, what the sights and sounds would be like; most importantly, though, the two talked about how Ruby would be able to handle it.
It wasn't like she wouldn't be able to handle meeting Roman, no that was fine. It was the idea of being in a new, crowded and bustling place that was unfamiliar to both her, and her landline. Still, she tried to focus on the excitement, to keep her held down.
The drive from Lake Forest to Chicago had taken about fifty minutes, a little shorter than their directions had said; and now it was only a matter of navigating the city roads.
.
"I can't believe these drivers!" Weiss screeched, turning her car off angrily. She pushed her door open and slammed—actually slammed—it closed. "It's like they've never heard of a turn signal! Or basic road safety precautions! Uhg!"
Sliding out of the car herself, Blake laughed quietly, moving to the girl in white and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's the city, princess, they don't always abide by the ways of life, especially in the South Side."
Ruby rolled her eyes, slight smile on her lips as she hopped out of the car and stretched her arms up high. She reached into her hoodie's pocket and pulled out her cell phone, unlocking the screen and opening her messages. Bouncing on her heels, a grin spread on her face as she scrolled through the most recent ones.
Spinning around, Ruby gave her sister and friends a wide-eyed and pleading look. Weiss gave a stern look, hand motioning to their luggage, but Blake and Yang smiled back, her sister waving her off. Shooting Weiss a sorry look, the girl in red squealed and took off sprinting. She laughed inwardly at Weiss' shouts as she sped around a corner.
She ran until she saw the Union Station, stopping to catch her breath. Frantically looking around, she gripped her phone, the small voice in her head beginning to whisper that it was just a set up. Jumping from foot to foot, she desperately looked for her online friend, trying to calm her nerves by keeping in motion. The voice in her head kept giving her doubts and she felt herself beginning to crumble inside, still trying to hold on to the hope that it wasn't a lie.
"Red!"
She sucked in a harsh breath, whipping around and sighing in relief. Shoulders dropping, she tucked her hands back into her pockets and walked over to meet her friend.
"Didn't think I'd be here, huh? I can see it on your face."
"Shut up," she huffed, "you jerk."
.
"So," Roman began, sliding over a hot chocolate to his friend who sat across from him on the metal table. The girl graciously took her drink, lifting it to take a large sip. "You're earlier than I thought I expected."
"Yeah, traffic wasn't as bad as we thought it'd be!" She chirped, tapping her fingers on her cup. He could see that she was nervous. With a sigh, he set an elbow on the table, propping his chin on his hand.
"I'm not going to kill you or anything, you know," he laughed, trying to make light conversation in hopes to settle her. It seemed to work, if her smile meant anything.
"I wasn't thinking you would."
"But you're still on edge."
"Hah," she sighed, placing her drink down, fingers moving to tap a rhythm on the top. She bit her lip and looked out the window. "I don't know, it's kinda silly but, I kinda thought you weren't going to show…"
"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"
"Yeah," she smiled more, looking back at him, "you are."
There was a silence between the two as they both took small sips from their respective drinks. Roman took this time to get a full, real look at the girl.
It was odd, seeing her not through a computer screen, but only a foot or so away from him; so close he could reach over and touch her. He briefly wondered what it would be like to brush that persistent lock of hair away from her face. Swiftly, he pushed that thought from his mind. She still wore the normal clothes from her videos, the only difference being the lack of headphones, which she almost seemed naked without. He shortly wondered if her skin was really the same pale even under the layers of red, then dispelled that as well.
"So," he started, breaking the silence, "did you have any plans for today?"
"Well," she shyly glanced down, scratching her cheek, "I may have looked up a bunch of places I thought were cool."
Roman laughed, leaning back gently. "Of course you did, Red." The girl huffed at him, crossing her arms. "Well, let's hear it then." She looked back, and he couldn't help but give an amused look at her eagerness. It was really fascinating to see in person.
"Well, I know we're in the South Side, so I was thinking we could go to one of the parks? Like Jackson Park and Grant Park looked like they had some interesting features, but I really want to see Burnham Park. I mean, I'm actually going to go there later with the others to go to the Aquarium and Planetarium and Museum and the skatepark…but I really just kinda want to the beach…"
"The beach? Really? Will I get to see you in a bathing suit?" He teased, enjoying the blush that crept on her face.
"Sh-sh, I, yo-you, it, the, the, I c-c-!" She stuttered, flapping her hands and looking out the window. "I've just never been to a real beach before!"
"Really?" He leaned back, eyebrow lifted in surprise. "You've never seen a beach?"
"No, I've seen a beach, but, like, not a real beach. Just dirty, local ones at small, murky lakes. Nothing like a real beach."
"Well, finish up your drink and I will gladly escort you to your first beach."
.
Walking to the beach took roughly half and hour and was passed with small talk. Their various, short conversations went on the topics of city life and annoying roommates; they've had conversations similar before, but it was still a good way to pass time.
The instant the two reached their destination, Roman could practically see the lights in Ruby's eyes shine brighter than he had ever seen. A manic grin spread across her face as she jumped onto the beach and took in the cool air. She spread her arms out and laughed, spinning around a few times before stopping to face him. He could just make out a frantic string of "thank you" running from her mouth as she ran over and grabbed his arm, pulling him onto the beach with her. The wind blew and ruffled through the both.
The smell of crisp fresh air from the water's spray and hint of food was first, a normal brush of senses from Lake Michigan; but there was another, hidden addition he hadn't expected. A faint scent of strawberries wafted over, and he knew the source. But this wasn't the time or place to be thinking about that.
Snapping out of his daze, he had to quickly compose himself to chase the girl as she was skipping over to a nearby vendor. He caught up to her just as she was selecting a hotdog. As the vendor turned to cook the food Ruby shuffled around in her pockets for her wallet; seeing this, Roman stepped up, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling out his own wallet first, taking out a few dollar bills and placing them on the metal cart. The girl gaped at him but he brushed her off.
"I thought I was paying for you this week?" He gave her a small smirk before taking the hotdog from the man and handing it to her. She tried to be upset, but her expression turned out more of a mix between thankful and defeat as she gratefully took her food.
"You gonna get something?" She tilted her head, taking a bite before reaching for a napkin to clean up the mustard and relish
Roman just shrugged, putting his wallet back. "I can get these any time," his voice hinted at a tone of a braggart as she sauntered away from the stand. "Besides, no offense to that guy back there," he continued, hooking a thumb in the direction behind, "but those hotdogs have nothing on Portillo's."
"Oh!" She lit up again, beaming over at him. "We, me and my friends, are totally where going there later this week!"
"Good. They have these things called 'chocolate cake shakes' that you'd probably love."
"Oh man, just the name of it is making me salivate!"
"Just you wait, Red, just you wait."
i'm not sure how many chapters this will be, originally it was going to be one chapter = one day but that kinda changed
i chose the locations that i did because it's easier for me to write since i'm familiar with them
Lake Forest College is a liberal arts college so i thought it would be a good choice since most of the characters are taking more liberal art classes
i actually haven't been to chicago in like two years and have never actually been to one of the "landmarks"
no idea when the next chapter will be out, i got to do a bit of work for my anthro class and writer's block has been attempting to show its head
also, i made a sideblog on tumblr where i'm also posting my rosewick fics so if anyone has any questions you can ask there, but i will mostly answer small questions
the blog is "clairecheshire"