"Uh… Ruby? What are you doing?"
Blake Belladona, Huntress-in-training, student of Beacon Academy and member of Team RWBY liked to think there wasn't much that could surprise her. At least when it came to her team. After nearly two years of living together, she could say she was quite familiar with their various quirks, oddities and general eccentricities. From Ruby's cookie obsession to Weiss's neurosis to Yang's horrible, horrible puns. In short, there really wasn't much her teammates did that could surprise her anymore.
However, Ruby brandishing Crescent Rose in front of her while giving a look like Blake had just raided every single one of her cookie stashes while simultaneously setting Beacon's supply of strawberries ablaze? This was a new one.
"Uh… Ru-"
"Blake Belladona!" Ruby suddenly yelled, holding her weapon like she had just planted it as a flag with one hand while pointing at Blake with the other, "I challenge you to a duel!"
"…Why?" was really all that Blake could do to reply to that. Okay, this was definitely a new one. She'd seen Ruby incensed and angry before, typically when someone ate her cookies, but never like this. Honestly, the way her face was scrunched up would have been quite adorable if she wasn't also holding a giant scythe that Blake had personally seen bisect a Nevermore lengthwise.
"For Weiss's heart! I won't let you take her away from me!" Ruby declared.
"Uh… wait, What?!" So Ruby was apparently challenging Blake to a duel of honor over the affections of their white-haired teammate. That was… unexpected, to say the least.
"Ruby, I don't know what you're talking about. Weiss and I are just friends! I-"
"Don't think you can fool me, Blake!" Ruby cut her off, "You think I didn't notice all those dates you were taking her on? Seducing her with your dark and mysterious charm?"
Dark and mysterious… what?! Okay, so Ruby seemed to think that Blake was somehow seducing her girlfriend. Things were starting to make a little bit of sense. A few months ago, after a good year of awkwardly dancing around each other, their team leader and the Schnee heiress had finally become a couple, and it was pretty obvious to anyone who saw them together that Ruby absolutely adored Weiss, showering her with hugs, affections and more hugs at every opportunity.
So it did make some sense that Ruby could potentially get jealous, assuming Weiss actually did start spending time with someone else.
And unfortunately, Ruby wasn't… entirely wrong. Blake and Weiss had been going out for coffee (or tea in Blake's case) quite a bit lately. And maybe Blake really enjoyed her talks with the Schnee heiress. And maybe they did call their little outings 'dates' a couple times. And there was that one time she'd given Weiss an affectionate peck on the cheek and found her resulting blush to be absolutely adorable…
Oh.
Oh dear.
"Ruby, I know how that might appear," Blake started speaking quickly while holding up her hands, trying to placate her leader, "but you have to understand, I am not trying to seduce Weiss! We're just friends." Not that Blake would really mind being with Weiss if the white-haired heiress wasn't dating Ruby and she herself wasn't already dating Yang, and really, Yang had made it clear she didn't have a problem with an open relationship…
Okay, so maybe Ruby was a little more justified in her feelings of jealousy than Blake would like to admit.
"Listen, Ruby, I promise you-"
"LIAR!" Really, if it weren't for the growing look of genuine hurt in Ruby's eyes and the gigantic scythe she was pointing at Blake, the way her red-clad leader squeaked out that declaration would have been pretty cute-
Gah! Focus Blake! She needed a way out of this quickly deteriorating situation! Maybe just run away as usual? No, Ruby was faster than her, plus that would probably just leave her sad and Blake just couldn't bring herself to do that. Somehow she had to calm Ruby down, but her leader just wasn't willing to listen to her faunus teammate at the moment. Maybe if she had someone else…
Blake's thoughts were cut off as she heard the click of their dorm room door opening, revealing a wild mass of gold hair.
"'Kay so they didn't have that grilled salmon you like, but they did have hali…" Lugging several bags, Yang Xiao Long trailed off a she took notice of the scene before her, namely her little sister/team leader waving her giant scythe in the face of the blonde's teammate/girlfriend. Her reaction was as one might expect.
"Uh… what?"
Blake quickly sprang into action. She had to explain to Yang what was going on so the blonde could calm her sister down. She just needed to make sure Yang got the best first impression of the events that trans-
"Yang, Blake's trying to seduce my girlfriend, so I'm challenging her to a duel for Weiss's heart!"
Damn it.
Yang raised an eyebrow at Ruby's declaration before looking to Blake. Alright, that was good. At least Yang was being sensible enough to get Blake's side of the story as well.
"Yang, please understand," Blake started talking very carefully, holding her hands up in a placating manner, "I have no desire to get between Ruby and Weiss. We're just friends. I am not trying to seduce her-"
"LIAR!"
Now that Blake thought about it, it was surprising that Ruby's repeated interruptions weren't becoming annoying. Maybe it was the growing sense of guilt that Ruby might be somewhat justified in feeling jealous, or maybe because there was just no way Blake could be mad at her adorable leader…
"I… I just…" Having run out idea for the moment, Blake simply sent Yang a look she hoped conveyed both her regret and feeling of helplessness at the current situation.
"Hmm…" Yang stroked her chin, a rare look of serious contemplation on her face. A look that said she was giving this situation the utmost care in consideration. "There's only one reasonable way we can solve this problem."
Blake did not see how this was AT ALL a reasonable way of solving this problem.
"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?!" Weiss yelled indignantly.
Given that she was presently tied to a post next to one of the outdoor training fields, Blake could sympathize with the Schnee heiress's frustration at her current situation.
Of course, Blake happened to have other things to worry about at the moment.
"Good people!" Yang announced, standing next to the pole Weiss was tied to, apparently not caring that the only people present were the members of Team RWBY (plus Zwei), "We are gathered here today to settle a most grave of disputes! A dispute," Yang paused for dramatic effect, "OF LOVE!"
Yang raised her hands high and wide, seemingly in some attempt to be more dramatic. Personally Blake thought she looked like someone attempting to milk a giant cow. "Here and now, it shall be decided who is most worthy to hold the affections and passions of the lovely Weiss Schnee!"
"Who shall it be? The brave and completely adorable Ruby Rose?" Yang pointed to one side of the field where Ruby stood, looking like someone ready to fight for truth, justice and the right of all sentient beings.
"Or the dashing and drop-dead sexy Blake Belladona?" Yang then pointed to the other side of the field where Blake stood, looking like someone who really wanted this whole fiasco to be over and not engage in an honor-duel with her adorable leader.
"Wait, WHAT?! Ruby, Blake what are you two doing?! Yang, why did you tie me up?! And why are you wearing a mustache?!"
"Because Blake wouldn't wear it," Yang instantly dropped her over-dramatic tone as she fingered the comically large and curly bit of fake hair resting between her nose and upper lip, "And I am NOT letting a perfectly good curly mustache go to waste!"
"Now, contestants…" Yang returned to her dramatic voice.
"FIGHT!"
"Ruby, please, can we just talk this out?" Blake spoke up, even as she tentatively held Gambol Shroud, "I didn't mean to-"
"SILENCE!" Ruby declared, gripping Crescent Rose tightly, "Enough words! Now we fight!"
Blake groaned. It was too late. Ruby was already fully caught up in the moment. And really, could she have expected any less? She might love Yang dearly, but Blake would freely admit that the blonde was never one to deescalate a situation, particularly if her sister was involved. The two sisters always seemed to feed off of each other's exuberance. Ruby would get fired up about something, Yang would get even more fired up and encouraging of her little sister, and Ruby in turn would become even more emboldened before she was charging off at whatever cause, Crescent Rose in hand. Normally, watching the two sisters play off each other was something Blake found rather cute and endearing.
"HIYAAA!"
Unless of course, the thing Ruby was charging off at was Blake herself.
Forcing herself out of her contemplative state, Blake sprang into action. Ruby was coming at her fast with her trademark speed, bringing Crescent Rose in for a strike from the right. Blake instantly dove to the left, bringing Gambol Shroud up in a deflecting swipe.
Ruby's attack was coming in just little bit too fast for Blake to avoid entirely, but the faunus was able to move just far enough out of the way for her own blade's deflection to make up the difference, the scythe blade glancing off of Gambol's sheathed form.
Back-flipping further, Blake drew out Gambol Shroud's thin-bladed sword with her right hand while keeping the weapon's bladed scabbard in a reverse-grip with her left, just in time for Ruby's next attack.
At that point, Blake finally pushed back her feelings of distress at the current situation and fell back on the experiences gained by the dozens of sparring matches she'd had with Ruby over the last two years.
Let it never be said that Ruby being accepted into Beacon two years early was due to favoritism or a fluke. After two years, Ruby Rose could easily be considered one of the most skilled and deadly combatants at the academy.
A big part of that was the simple combination of the unique qualities of both the huntress and her weapon. When categorizing huntsmen and huntresses, it could generally be considered that there was a correlation between the size of a hunter, the size of their weapon and their fighting style. Large hunters typically used large weapons and weren't very fast but hit very hard, while small hunters typically used small weapons and didn't hit very hard but were very fast.
Ruby on the other hand, bucked this trend entirely. Between her small frame, Crescent Rose and her semblance, Ruby was in the position of being a small hunter wielding a large weapon who was able to hit very fast AND very hard. And then there was Ruby's unique training and skill with that weapon.
It was often said that in battle a hunter's weapon acted as an extension of their body. For Ruby, this wasn't quite the case. Crescent Rose was a huge weapon, especially when compared to Ruby herself. When fully unfolded, the scythe was over twice as long as it's wielder was tall, and weighed over half as much as Ruby did. Some might raise eyebrows at Ruby's tendency to treat her weapon as a person, referring to it as 'she', sometimes cradling it and calling it 'sweetheart', but in a sense, that wasn't far from the truth. Crescent Rose was so large and heavy it was less an extension of Ruby and more a separate person entirely. In combat, Ruby treated Crescent Rose almost as a dance partner. She would fling the scythe in one direction, and use its weight and momentum to pull herself along. Sometimes Ruby would spin around the scythe, other times the scythe would spin around Ruby. Blake could honestly say she had never seen any fighting style like it. It was unorthodox and unpredictable, the sort of thing Blake normally found fascinating.
At least when she wasn't on the receiving end of it.
Sidestepping one of Ruby's forward lunges, Blake found herself having to immediately dodge a follow-up recoil-boosted horizontal backswipe from Crescent Rose. Bending back at the waste, Blake made a backwards leap cleanly over the scythe. As she completed the leap, Blake instantly spread her arms and legs, going near-completely flat on the ground.
Most people tended to assume it was only the front end of Crescent Rose that was worth worrying about. Those people tended to pay dearly.
As Ruby completed her 180-degree spin, the back of Crescent Rose's hilt passed harmlessly over Blake. Given the opening of Ruby's momentary pause, Blake put all of her strength into all four of her limbs, flinging herself up into the air.
Normally, against most other opponents, Blake would have used this opportunity to drop a Shadow Clone and get some distance for a counterattack. But against Ruby, that kind of thinking was useless. Between her speed and the reach of her weapon, Ruby would close the distance almost instantly, and Blake would be right back where she started. The fact was Ruby and Blake were very similar fighters, except that for almost everything Blake could do, Ruby could do better. Ruby had the all-around better weapon, was over-all faster, and whatever reflex and reaction-time advantage Blake had (which weren't all that much to begin with) was cancelled out by Crescent Rose's insane reach and recoil-boosted speed. With Ruby, you just couldn't think inside the normal tactics box.
So it was time to start thinking out of the box.
In one quick motion borne of years of practice, Blake stowed Gambol Shroud's scabbard on her back, switched her weapon's sword to its pistol form and tied her long strip of cloth to it. As Blake reached the peak of her jump and began to fall to the ground, she hurled her weapons bola form down at her opponent. Seeing the oncoming projectile, Ruby raised her scythe to deflect it.
Which was exactly what Blake wanted.
With a practiced flick of the wrist, Gambol Shroud's trajectory altered ever so slightly so that instead of deflecting off of Crescent Rose's shaft, it instead wrapped around scythe.
And with a mighty heave, Blake wrenched Crescent Rose from Ruby's grasp, sending the massive scythe flying some distance before embedding itself in the ground several meters away.
Blake quickly dropped a Shadow Clone, shunting herself away so as to land back a short distance, letting out a brief breath. Now she'd earned herself a respite.
Obviously, the vast majority of huntsman and huntresses tended to rely heavily on their weapon, and disarming a hunter would impede them considerably, and that went double for Ruby. For her, losing Crescent Rose rendered Ruby practically defenseless. Well, not defenseless per say. After all, Ruby always had her incredible speed. She wasn't the tag champion of Beacon for nothing. When she was on her game, nobody could so much as touch her if she didn't want them to. But Ruby's small and nimble frame came with a downside. Without her massive scythe, Ruby had virtually zero offensive options. Sure, she could always use her semblance to deliver high-speed punches or kicks, but without the requisite training or experience, Ruby would be likely to hurt herself just as much as her target. Blake knew that Yang had been trying to get Ruby to take up some unarmed combat training for some time now.
The result of all this was that separating Ruby from that scythe was the best and most reliable way to get her on the defensive. Any time that happened, Ruby would immediately disengage combat with her opponent and become totally focused on reclaiming her weapon, and in turn that opponent would earn a brief reprieve from the fight. And if they were particularly quick on their feet, a clever and/or skilled opponent might even be able to turn it to their advantage. Blake remembered one class sparring match in which Pyrrha managed just that. After Ruby was disarmed, the fight had devolved into a rather amusing game of Keep-Away, with Pyrrha parked on top of Crescent Rose, denying all of Ruby's attempts to reclaim it. The simple fact remained. Ruby without Crescent Rose was not a Ruby on the attack.
Unfortunately for Blake, Ruby wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the moment.
"GIYAA!" Blake was taken off-guard as Ruby seemed to completely ignore the fact that she was disarmed and launched herself at her opponent, delivering a glancing blow to Blake's shoulder as she shot past.
While Blake typically took her girlfriend's side when it came to their leader's training, in that moment she was very thankful Ruby never took up Yang's offer of unarmed combat training.
If Ruby was fast with her giant scythe, without it she was near blinding. While Blake herself was very fast, she would freely admit that Ruby's semblance gave her an edge up on Blake. Not by much, but enough to make quite the difference in combat. Of course, that generally assumed both girls had their weapons. Without the giant scythe, the difference between their speed went from 'notable tactical advantage' to 'Ruby running literal circles around Blake'.
Which was exactly what Ruby was doing right now.
Swapping with another shadow clone, Blake was barely able to dodge Ruby's next pass. At this point, her clone-substitution move was about the only thing Blake had that could match Ruby's speed over a short distance. Unfortunately, while Blake's semblance was by no means aura-intensive, creating her shadow clones still cost Blake a noticeable amount of energy, whereas Ruby could spam her semblance all day long. In this pitched battle of evasion, there was no way Blake was going to win.
As Ruby made another blinding pass, Blake swapped with another clone. The miss was even closer this time.
Blake was out of options. She couldn't catch Ruby, she couldn't pin Ruby down, she couldn't wear Ruby out… And actually hurting Ruby was NEVER an option.
Blake took a breath.
There was only one way to stop this.
With that thought, Blake let go of her weapons, letting them drop to the ground.
It was time to bite this bullet.
"RUBY!" Blake shouted, hoping she could get her leader's attention this time. "I'm… I'M SORRY!"
The blurry mass of red fabric and rose petals finally came to a stop several meters in front of Blake. Ruby didn't look as fired up as she did at the start, but she still looked just as upset. Blake thought she could see streaks going down her leader's cheeks.
"So you admit it?!" Ruby yelled, her voice obviously catching.
Blake let out a deep breath, preparing herself for the potential storm to come from this.
"Yes. Yes I was trying to seduce Weiss. I may not have realized it at the time, but that is exactly what I was doing. And I'm sorry." Blake spoke as clearly and emphatically as she could. "I should have realized what I was doing. I think it's wonderful what you two have and I would never want to hurt that, or either of you. Ruby, you and Weiss are two of my best friends, and that friendship means so much more to me than any attraction I may feel towards either of you."
"I'm sorry, Ruby. I'm sorry I hurt you like that."
Ruby's eyes widened as she took all of this in.
Then, with a final, strangled cry, Ruby charged Blake head on. Blake didn't move an inch.
Thankfully, Ruby wasn't using her semblance, either some part of her brain still registered Blake as a friend or maybe she was just too tired at this point.
Even so, Blake felt the wind knocked out of her as Ruby slammed into her, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
Lying on her back with the other girl on top of her, Blake got a close look at the state her leader was in. At the puffed up eyes, the sniffling nose and the cheeks that were soaked in tears. The whole look made Blake's breath catch in her throat and her stomach clench. Blake knew Ruby was upset, but to see her in this state… And knowing that she was the one to put Ruby in it…
"Ruby…"
"We're supposed to be friends Blake!" Ruby cried out.
Blake stopped trying to talk. Clearly, Ruby needed to vent right now.
"Yes! I was angry, and scared that you're spending so much time with Weiss, but that's not the point!"
Blake could imagine where Ruby was going with this. She'd gone behind both her friends' backs.
"You're already dating Yang, and you've been spending so much time with Weiss. What about me?!"
Yes, tha… Wait, what?
"We never spend any time together! Not like you do with Weiss and Yang!"
Ruby suddenly broke her gaze with Blake, turning her face away, looking almost… ashamed?
"Do you… Not like me?"
"Ruby… what are you talking about? You're my friend! Of course I like you!" It seemed like Ruby wasn't done with surprises today, because Blake had no idea where her leader was going with this.
"That's not it!" Ruby yelled, her gaze locked with Blake's again, new tears streaming down her face. "I… I like you, Blake. I've liked you almost as long as I've liked Weiss."
Wait, so liked like Weiss… Oh.
"And you're always with Yang or Weiss…"
So many things were starting to make sense. The way Ruby was so often wanting to talk to Blake about her books, the times Ruby would awkwardly ask Blake if she wanted to read together, the fact that Ruby would never take sides if Weiss and Blake were arguing, even if Ruby was dating Weiss, the little glances Blake knew Ruby sent her when she thought Blake wasn't looking…
"…I wanted to… I don't know…"
And then there were all those times Blake made doubly sure that Ruby was okay during a battle. The way Blake would stay up late on missions just to make sure Ruby got enough sleep. The elation Blake felt whenever Ruby's face lit up with joy. Or whenever Ruby woke the rest of the team up with a nightmare and all Blake wanted to do was blink to Ruby's side, hold her close and tell her everything would be okay.
"…I thought… maybe you could like me too…"
In that moment, Blake acted.
Maybe it was the adrenaline rush from the fight. Maybe it was looking at Ruby's tear-stained face. Or maybe it was just reading one too many romance novels.
"I only wan-MMPH?!"
Blake kissed Ruby right on the lips.
It was a light kiss, a soft pressing of their lips together, but still firm enough not to be considered chaste. The first thing Blake noticed was just how sweet Ruby's lips tasted. Very fitting. Then she noticed there was a hint of mint to them as well.
Then Blake realized just what the hell she was doing and instantly pulled away.
"Ohmygods Ruby I am SO SORRY!" Blake was speaking very quickly again, trying to salvage this progressingly more horrible situation. Though Ruby seemed rather dazed by that…
"Please, Ruby I ju-MMMMPPHH?!"
Ruby's kiss on the other hand, was anything BUT light.
Her lips mashed hard onto Blake's with the full force of nearly two years of pent-up feelings. Ruby's passion was infectious and Blake immediately found herself caught up in the same rush. Lips were quickly parted, teeth began to clack together and even their tongues started brushing together.
Idly, Blake thought just how similar this felt to her first kiss with Yang. It seemed Ruby shared quite a bit with her sister. Blake was suddenly reminded of just who happened to be currently watching them. A growing part of her began to worry just what the blonde might think of this…
"WHOO! That's my girl! Go get her Rubes!"
Well, that answered that question. Apparently Yang was being entirely honest when the blonde told Blake that she had no problem with an open relationship.
Blake couldn't tell how long the kiss lasted. Time itself seemed to lose all meaning. It could have been moments or hours before Ruby finally pulled away.
The two huntresses stared at each other.
"Uhhh…" Ruby breathed out, still looking dazed.
Yep. That about summed up how Blake was feeling too.
Then they both heard the sound of a throat being cleared…
And looked up to find the white-haired girl they were supposedly fighting over standing over them.
Weiss Schnee looked somewhere between annoyed, bemused and something else Blake couldn't identify.
"Eep." Ruby instantly shot up straight, though still straddling Blake's waist. "Uh… Hey Weiss… uh…" Ruby squeaked out in that cute way she did when embarresed while also scratching the back of her head in that adorably awkward manner of hers and WOW, how did it take Blake two years to realize she was crushing on this girl? Oh, right. Because she fell just as hard for the girl's sister first.
Speaking of Yang… Blake idly glanced over to where her girlfriend and Weiss had been spectating. Yang saw her and gave an awkward wave.
It was awkward because Yang's hand was the only part of her not encased in a large block of ice. Guess that explained when Weiss had gotten free.
"So uh… tying you up was totally Yang's idea!" Ruby blurted out, still in a state of embarrassment/terror.
"Yes, that was fairly obvious." Weiss replied, her voice strangely calm compared to before. "Ruby, get up. We need to talk."
Ruby gave another squeak as she shot up to her feet.
"Blake, go wait with your idiot of a girlfriend. I think we'll be needing to talk to you in a few minutes."
Blake nodded as she slowly got to her feet, the implications slowly sinking in. Specifically, what Weiss may have taken away from the show she just witnessed. Blake felt a pit start to form in her stomach as she realized what this 'talk' could entail…
"Also…" Weiss spoke up, breaking Blake from her thoughts. The heiresses' voice had shifted somehow, losing its even tone and sounding more… awkward?
"I'm… not mad. With either of you."
And with that, Blake found the pit in her stomach evaporate and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. When the sound of her breath struck Blake as odd, she realized that Ruby was letting out a simultaneous breath of her own.
Weiss gave a bemused shake of her head before pulling Ruby away. And was it Blake's imagination or was Weiss… blushing?
Deciding she had enough to worry about as is, Blake headed over to her icicle of a girlfriend.
"Uh, Yang? You okay?"
"Sure babe," Yang replied with a grin. It seemed Weiss at least had the courtesy to leave the blonde's face uncovered, "Just… chillin' out."
Blake groaned. Yep, Yang was alright.
"I still can't believe you thought this was a good idea."
"What? It worked didn't it?" Yang replied.
"Really? This is what you call a success?" Blake sent Yang a flabbergasted look. "Ruby and myself in an honor duel that somehow ends with us kissing, Weiss possibly hating both us and you frozen in ice?"
"Hey, it got you two to admit your feelings."
Blake's thoughts came to a halt at that.
"…You knew about that?"
Yang chuckled.
"Blake, I've known Ruby her entire life, you and I have been dating for over a year, and the four of us have been living together for more than two. You really think I didn't notice you and Rubes dancing around each other? Especially after she and Weiss hooked up."
Blake gave a long, hard look at her girlfriend, before laughing in amazement.
"Yang, you are unbelievable."
"I try." The blonde grinned back.
As the laughter faded, another thought occurred to Blake.
"That 'I'm okay with an open relationship' thing was a hint, wasn't it?"
"Hey, like I said, I don't have a problem sharing." Yang gave a similar talk to when she'd first told Blake, "But yeah, that was totally a hint too. Only reason I set this whole thing up was because you didn't seem to take it."
"Yes, well for most people, dating two siblings at the same time is considered… weird." Blake drawled.
"Eh. Dad did it."
Blake opened her mouth to ask what the hell that meant before deciding to file it away under 'weird stuff the Rose/Branwen/Long family did'. It was quite the list.
"Oh, and I wouldn't worry too much about Weiss either." Yang directed Blake with a glance towards where their teammates were talking. Blake couldn't hear what they were saying, she'd pulled her bow a little tighter and folded up her extra set of ears to give the two some privacy.
But it was hard to misinterpret Ruby jumping excitedly and pulling Weiss into a big hug. Or Weiss returning the hug in her much more subdued manner and giving Ruby an affectionate peck on the forehead.
Blake couldn't help the smile spreading wide on her face. Regardless of what she might feel towards either her leader or her teammate, Blake was so happy for what Ruby and Weiss had together, and relieved that the day's shenanigans hadn't inadvertently driven them apart.
"See?" Yang spoke up, "Nothing to worry about."
Blake had to admit, Yang did have a point. However…
"So… why haven't you melted all that yet?" Blake looked over the ice that still encased her hot-headed girlfriend.
"Yeah, guess Weiss put some extra work into it this time. I'm gonna need to get extra hot to crack this stuff." Yang then sent Blake a knowing grin and a wriggling of her eyebrows.
"Care to help me out?"
Blake chuckled before returning a similar grin.
"Not in public, dear. We'll have to cart you back to the room before I can do that."
Yang's smile turned to a full face-splitting grin.
"Sounds like a plan. But I think you've got to deal with something first."
Blake turned to where Yang was glancing to see Ruby and Weiss approaching. Ruby was smiling and Weiss looked… uncertain.
"So…" Weiss began, not quite making eye-contact with Blake.
"Yeah…?" Blake asked, though also sympathetic to whatever awkwardness Weiss was feeling. Unlike Ruby and Yang, who tended to just role with whatever crazy shenanigans came their way, Weiss, much like Blake herself, seemed to not quite be finished absorbing all the craziness that just transpired.
The awkward silence might have gone on longer if Ruby didn't give Weiss a little pat on the shoulder. Weiss actually jumped a little, and this time Blake could see that she was definitely blushing. A small part of her brain noted that it was very cute.
"…Ruby and I talked it over and… so long as you're okay with it, we'd like it if you and I continued our coffee, er…"
"Dates, Weiss." Ruby helpfully added, "They are totally dates."
"Right. Dates." Weiss clarified, seemingly regaining some of her composure. "Also, Ruby would like to set up some… dates with you as well."
"I was thinking we could do some reading dates!" Ruby interjected, back to her bubbly and exuberant self, "I really like your books, so I thought it'd be fun to… read them together." Then Ruby's exuberance then shifted back to shy awkwardness. "And… I was thinking we could maybe… you know, cuddle… and stuff?" Ruby scratched the back of her head as she blushed just as hard as Weiss had been.
For her part, Blake was still… processing all of this.
This… this was seriously happening. Ruby and Weiss were both discussing the logistics of both of them dating her, which also happened to be taking place only a few minutes after Ruby and Blake fought a duel of honor over Weiss, which by the way, ended with a somewhat-indirect love confession from Ruby to Blake, followed by a passionate kiss between them.
Nevermind the fact that it was only in the past hour or so that Blake even realized what it was she felt towards either of them. Realized she felt the same way about the two of them as she did for Yang. Two hours ago Blake's only thoughts on getting coffee/tea with Weiss was what kind of tea she might like and not thinking about doing other things with Weiss like going to that art gallery they both liked, or maybe a romantic, candle-lit dinner at that one place they'd both mentioned. Or how beautiful Weiss might look on such an outing. And Blake had never thought about curling up with Ruby in bed with one of her favorite books for them to read, knowing that they shared the same love and passion for a good story, and knowing how affectionate Ruby was, and… and…
What exactly was the problem with Ruby's and Weiss's proposal?
…
…Blake couldn't think of one.
Facing the two girls that she could now definitively say she loved, Blake smiled.
"Yeah, I like the sound of that."
"WHOO!" Ruby cheered, "Ladybug and Monochrome are GO!" Weiss and Blake shook their heads in bemusement of their leader's use of their attack code-names.
"YEAH! Go team Newspaper!" Yang added.
This earned her three different looks of confusion.
"What? You're Black and White and Red all over." The frozen blonde clarified with a grin.
Now Ruby was shaking her head in bemusement while Weiss opted to slap her forehead in exasperation. Blake simply smiled.
"Love you too, dear." Since Yang had already given her blessings to this arrangement, it was only fair Blake make it clear that her feelings towards her first girlfriend hadn't diminished.
"Oh, right!" Ruby spoke up, "There's one last thing!" the rest of the team looked to their leader.
Ruby proceeded to put an arm around her partner's shoulder and grinned.
"Weiss is super jealous that she's the only one here who hasn't gotten to make out with you yet."
The heiress proceed to turn as red as her partner's namesake.
"R-RUBY!"
Blake chuckled.
"Well, I guess we'll have to fix that."
