"Good morning, my love."
Ruby felt heavily muscled arms wrap around her in a hug before a chaste kiss was planted against the back of her neck, warmth spreading throughout her from just that point of contact.
"Mornin' Pyrrha!" Ruby twisted around in her chair to give a proper kiss on her girlfriend's lips, before returning to what she was doing.
Opening a new box of cereal.
If the stupid seal ever comes off! Ruby had half a mind to grab Crescent Rose and shred it open. I've killed Grimm weaker than this!
As if seemingly sensing the growing irritation in her girlfriend, or perhaps noticing that Ruby was eying her weapon with an increasingly desperate twinkle in her eyes, Pyrrha took over. In one quick rip, the box was finally opened.
"Thanks," Ruby murmured in muted amazement as Pyrrha handed it back. "I didn't think it was ever gonna open up. Can you pass me the milk?"
"Of course." Pyrrha made her way over to the fridge before pulling out a half-filled jug and handing it to Ruby. A handful of moments later, the ever consistent breakfast routine started for Ruby, as she poured milk into her bowl of cereal.
Taking a huge spoonful of the mix, Ruby had a mouthgasm from the sheer taste of all the marshmallow-y goodness mixed in with the regular bits. I knew getting Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes with eXtra Fluff was a good idea!
Pyrrha, in the meantime, had opened the cupboard to pull out her own breakfast, finally pulling Ruby away from the heavenly taste. "Didya have any good dreams last night?"
"Hm." Pyrrha tapped her chin for a moment, before setting down the ingredients for her breakfast on the countertop as her eyes drifted upwards in thought. "I… don't remember having any bad dreams?" Long crimson hair swished as Pyrrha shook her head. "Or really having any dreams, I guess?" Eventually the taller girl shrugged. "I suppose I just slept soundly." Vivid emerald eyes focused on Ruby. "Did you have any dreams?"
"Yup!" Ruby stopped shy of eating the next spoonful, instead setting down the spoon. "We were in this huge road, and racing with all these crazy cars! You were there, and I think Ren?" Ruby scratched her head. "Um… and I think Zwei?"
"Zwei?" Pyrrha asked incredulously before glancing down at the sleeping form of the corgi in question... who continued to snooze next to his food bowl. "Was he racing as well?"
"Y'know, I think he won? He did a triple back flip over an ocean and won like… thirty pounds of pizza."
Pyrrha snorted in amusement and barely managed to stifle a laugh.
The corners of Ruby's mouth dipped downwards in a frown. "What, you don't believe me?"
"No, no, no!" Pyrrha finally managed to get out after the giggling died down. "It's just something that could only come out of a dream." Pyrrha glanced back down at the snoozing fluff ball for a moment. "Plus, I can't imagine what he'd do with twice his weight in pizza."
"Uh… he could, um…" Pyrrha raised a good point as Ruby was left wondering as well. "He could give them to us, and we wouldn't need to order pizza for at least a month?" The small redhead nodded after a moment. "Yeah, that!"
"I don't think we could eat that much pizza before it went bad," Pyrrha muttered under her breath as she finally got back to making her breakfast. "That much can't be good for you…"
"Well, that wasn't the only dream I had!" Earning a soft 'oh!' from her girlfriend, Ruby continued. "The other one was like, I think we were on a mission? And some big Grimm fired a laser beam or something out of it's mouth, and you blocked it with Akouo. Kinda makes me want to use a shield… don't tell Crescent Rose I said that!" Ruby dramatically whispered to Pyrrha.
"Ruby." Pyrrha's hands lightly clasped her's as she sat down next to Ruby with a strange intensity. "I think it's too late." Ruby's head tilted in confusion as Pyrrha's hands started to glow black with aura while at the same time, Crescent Rose started to shake in its holster. "She heard everything."
"Oh no!" Mock horror spread across Ruby's face as she tearily cradled the compact weapon. "I didn't mean it Crescey, honest, you know I'd never cheat on you!"
Pyrrha had clearly lost the struggle to keep a straight face as a very undignified snort escaped her, followed by peals of laughter, the embarrassed girl's head dipping down to try and hide the sight. Ruby felt the dopiest smile start to spread across her face as Pyrrha lost the ability to speak properly.
One of the many things that Ruby had learned about Pyrrha was that most of the time, she hid what she was thinking. Pyrrha could be having the saddest day in the world, but would still smile through it. On some level, Ruby attributed this to the celebrity status she had, with how others constantly placed her on a pedestal. Which was why Ruby was happy whenever Pyrrha acted like a normal, dorky girl.
It was a kind of happiness that Ruby could find nowhere else. Sure, seeing new weapons or modifying her own made her happy. Spending time with her friends made Ruby happy. Getting a good grade or plateful of cookies made her happy too.
Yet, the kind of happy that being with Pyrrha gave, seeing her dorky laugh-snorting… well, it was something that Ruby lived for. Just being around her beautiful girlfriend made Ruby happier than she thought she could be.
There was more joy in one second with Pyrrha than all the time Ruby had with Crescent Rose.
"Sorry, sorry." Pyrrha weakly waved to Ruby after a good minute of laughing. "It was just really funny." Sheepishly, Pyrrha turned back to the long-forgotten ingredients on the counter, prompting a grimace from Ruby. I really don't get why anyone eats oatmeal. Ruby had tried it more than once and every time it had tasted nasty.
Shaking the thought from her head, Ruby looked back at her nearly-forgotten cereal, huge marshmallows floating in the bowl.
Now that's a good breakfast!
Pyrrha's grumbling stomach was a redundant reminder that she needed to eat.
Well, perhaps not need so much as want to. Soon. Very soon. Running some water from the sink into a pot before pouring some oats, Pyrrha placed it on the stove, and waited.
It wasn't even halfway done when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her in a hug and a warm body press up against her. After a good half minute of being hugged, Ruby murmured something unintelligible into Pyrrha's back. "Hm?"
Ruby repeated whatever it was again, with the same effect. Which was something she picked up on after a lack of a response. The warmth against Pyrrha's back lessened as Ruby pulled away enough to be heard.
"I love you a lot. Just wanted to make sure you know."
Pyrrha set down the spoon she was using to stir the oatmeal, before wrapping her diminutive girlfriend in a tight embrace. "I love you a lot, too." Before she could even pull away, Ruby stretched up on her tippy-toes and gave a quick peck on Pyrrha's lips.
A dopey kind of smile started to spread along Pyrrha's face, accompanied by the ever present blush that always seemed to follow it. That was of course until the faint smell of something starting to burn filled the air, prompting Pyrrha to turn back around to her breakfast in a quick attempt to save it.
"Um… did it burn?" Ruby asked after a moment, causing long crimson hair to sway back and forth in a shake. "Phew. That's a relief, hehe… I think your stomach would have killed me if I made you wait any longer." Ruby stated after Pyrrha's stomach grumbled loudly.
The making of Pyrrha's oatmeal went off without a hitch, and a few minutes later, Pyrrha was at her spot, with a bowl of apple oatmeal, a glass of milk of and a banana.
A few bites into her meal, Pyrrha glanced up from her plate, to her girlfriend's.
Pyrrha didn't even need to see her face on the cereal box to know what Ruby was eating. Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes with eXtra fluff.
This stuff is going to kill Ruby.
One of the upsides, or rather, downsides, of having her face on the box was having been on more than a few tours of the factory that made the cereal. That stuff shouldn't be eaten, let alone sold!
Which was why Pyrrha cringed inwardly at the sight of the cereal box. Not because her face was plastered across it, but because of the contents of an average serving. The sheer level of unhealthiness in it had prompted more than one conversation about it with Ruby, yet in the end Pyrrha always gave in.
That didn't necessarily mean Pyrrha approved of it. Perhaps it was passive aggressive on her end, but when the two had finally graduated and gotten an apartment, Pyrrha had 'forgotten' to get the brand during shopping trips more than once. More than a little underhanded for her, to be certain and something she felt guilty about. Which was why Ruby was now stuffing her mouth full of it. I really should have been mo-
"Are you sure it didn't burn?" Pyrrha was pulled from her musings by the concerned voice of her girlfriend. "You don't look like you like it…"
"No, no, it's fine." Pyrrha took another bite from her meal before flashing a reassuring smile. "I was just lost in thoughts for a moment."
"Ooo, what about?" Inquisitive silver eyes were met with a dropping smile.
"…I don't think it'd be wise to talk about it…" Pyrrha mumbled after a moment, wanting to avoid any kind of argument.
"O-oh." Ruby glumly nodded before returning to her cereal. The sight of her love sadly eating a very unhealthy breakfast in a growing silence started to pull on Pyrrha's heartstrings. The tension felt like it was growing by the second to her as the silence continued to mount.
"I'm worried about you," Pyrrha finally let out with a sigh, prompting a confused look from Ruby as the short redhead pointed to herself. Emerald eyes slowly focused on the target of Pyrrha's worry; the cereal box, a fact that Ruby picked up on.
"It's not that bad for you." Yet that did nothing to assuage the worried look that Pyrrha was giving Ruby. "Seriously."
"I know, I know." Pyrrha leaned forward, resting her chin in the palms of her hands. "I'm sorry. Just… forget I said anything."
"Pyrrha…" The ungodly noise of a chair screeching against the ground rang out for a moment before Pyrrha felt the telltale signs of Ruby hovering without knowing what to do. "I guess I could eat less of it, buuuut one condition?"
Emerald eyes blinked curiously, as Pyrrha waited with a batted breath. "Could you just try it once?"
Normally Pyrrha most likely would have said no, but normally Ruby didn't pull out all the stops; the pout, the slight pleading to her voice, the look that seemed to be on the brink of tears.
"S-sure, one time wouldn't hurt." Pyrrha never stood a chance, as Ruby raised a spoonful of the cereal to her lips.
"…sooo?"
Pyrrha's lips compressed into a line for a moment, as an internal struggle raged in her. After a good ten seconds, Pyrrha asked, in an almost downright shy manner, "do you mind if I have another taste?"
"Better, here's your own bowl!" Ruby was positively beaming as she hastily poured some cereal and milk into a bowl before pushing it next to the oatmeal. "Told you it was good."
"You did." Pyrrha could hear the smugness oozing out of her girlfriend's voice, but she didn't care. "…promise you'll eat less of it?" Ruby enthusiastically nodded, prompting a smile from Pyrrha.
There were so many ways that Ruby was special to Pyrrha, it was hard to keep track, yet, perhaps it was this sort of thing that made her love her special little rose all the more.
While it was true that Pyrrha had friends now, it was something that she always prized since there had been times when she was without them. The equal footing, the fact that they didn't treat them like someone who was better than them. Just knowing that they would never look at you differently… it was something that Pyrrha craved and found in Ruby. That was not to say Jaune or Nora didn't treat Pyrrha like an equal, but with Ruby it was always different. Different in a good way.
With Jaune, he was always slightly in awe of her, something that Pyrrha vehemently hated. The assumption that she would have someone as a date at the dance was an example of that. Assumptions were an almost evil thing.
In Ruby, there was none. Sure, there was fangirling when they first met, though, it wasn't fangirling over Pyrrha… as much as it was Milo and Akoúo, and the memory still brought a smile to the tall redhead's face even now.
No, Ruby treated Pyrrha as an equal and did something that no one else had ever done.
Pyrrha felt loved for the first time.
Not in the sense of family, or a deep friendship, but true, almost unconditional love. Ruby would do anything to get just one smile out of Pyrrha. Or do whatever she could to change a frown upside down.
In Ruby's own little way, she'd push Pyrrha in a way that the former champion had never felt before. It was never huge pushes but small things; getting Pyrrha to try something new, or do something fun outside of a schedule, like go to the arcade.
Or, for instance, get Pyrrha to try something that she'd never even consider trying before, even if it's really, REALLY bad for you, Pyrrha guiltily mused as Ruby spoon fed her more marshmallow flakes.
It was only natural that Pyrrha felt a bit protective for her girlfriend in return, even if it was just a box of cereal.
After all, I want the best for my rose.
Zwei woke up to the sounds of his humans talking.
One was feeding the other and they were talking in gentle tones… not that he could understand a single word of what was being said.
That didn't matter at all; Zwei had one goal in mind, one, singular thing he wanted from them. Skipping over to them, he jumped into the taller of the two's lap and rolled over. Immediately she knew what to do, her left hand running gently over his stomach and started to scratch.
Zwei couldn't control himself; one of his back legs starting to twitch from how good it felt.
Belly rubs are the best thing ever!
This was the life.
It was a far cry from what it had been like before.
There'd been a long while when his humans weren't around. Zwei had been sad; no amount of waiting at the door ever made them come back. Then old human sent him to them.
Not only were his humans there, but there were more! Like white-human, who gave so many belly rubs, or cat-human who always played hide-and-seek with Zwei. But there was an even more important human that Zwei got to meet.
Leaf-human.
Strawberry-human was really smiley and happy around leaf-human. Happier than even when strawberry-human ate the bread circles that she never shared.
After an even longer time, eventually white-human, and cat-human, and even fire-human moved away, and leaf-human and strawberry-human moved to a new place, taking Zwei with them. It wasn't some boring room either, but multiple rooms like the old, old place, and it was even near a park!
Better yet, Zwei's humans never left to listen to either fat-human or scary-human or even fast-human now!
Truly, this was the life.
Perhaps the only downside – not even really a downside- was that leaf-human and strawberry-human's smells got confusing. Some days, leaf-human smelled like strawberry-human and sometimes strawberry-human smelled like leaf-human…
It was a vexing conundrum to the corgi's nose, how can something smell like something else? Still, life was pretty great considering that Zwei's humans spoiled him rotten.
"…we're going to have to run all this off…"
Run?
Zwei's ears perked up, the corgi momentarily forgetting the divine pleasure that was a belly rub.
The corgi might not know a lot of what his humans said, but he certainly understand that word. Run means walk!
Zwei's stubby little tail started to wag. There were so many kinds of walks; brisk-walk, lazy-walk, slow-run, fast-run, long-walk, short-walk and most importantly, Zwei's personal favourite… walk-walk.
The great thing about moving to this home was that Zwei always got a walk, sometimes even twice a day! Usually there was a fast-run in the early morning with leaf-human and then walk-walk in the evening with both of his humans. Though, Zwei had somehow slept through the morning fast-run today. Maybe I'll get two walk-walks today?!
Clearly, Zwei had to prepare for all possibilities before the walk got underway, especially if it was a long-walk. Jumping off the tall human's lap, Zwei stretched his short legs a few times before padding over to the water bowl and drinking as much as his stomach could hold - after all, I need to mark my territory! - before sitting down next to the shorter human.
After eons had passed, the end times were upon the world and even the heat death of the universe had occurred, Zwei came to the conclusion that his humans were taking too long. Maybe if I get my leash, they'll hurry up?
Dashing over to his crate in a different room, Zwei jumped up on his back legs, tilting his head downwards, and opening his jaw, he enveloped the object with his teeth. Had it been alive, he would've crushed it between his jaws and offered it as a gift for strawberry-human… which wasn't a far cry from what he was going to do with it anyway as he ran back to the humans.
The sight that greeted him was… different.
His humans' faces were pressed up against each other, and their arms and hands were wrapped around each other. It wasn't the first time that Zwei had seen it happen… and from every time fire-human had pulled him away from them, he had the sense that it was bad to interrupt them.
It was times like these that Zwei started to have trouble figuring out whose smell is whose, as leaf-human started to smell like strawberry-human and strawberry-human like leaf-human.
So Zwei sat there, confused as to what to do – whether to drop the leash next to them or wait until they separated to drop the leash… and then one of them made a pained whining sound.
MY HUMANS ARE BEING HURT!
The leash dropped from Zwei's mouth, as he sprinted with his stubby legs as fast as they would take him towards them, MUST PROTECT MY HUMANS!
In an effortless bound, Zwei jumped onto a chair and then the table, before continuing his dash, knocking over bowls filled with not-water and a box of not-food. Yet, at the scene of the crime, there was no one there but the short and tall humans. I must have scared them off!
However, Zwei couldn't take any chance of whatever fiendish things had been hurting his humans returning, I have to scare them off from returning! And so, Zwei started to bark like he had never barked before.
"Zwei!"
That was another word that Zwei knew, it was what his humans said whenever they wanted his attention. But he had no time to listen, whatever hurt them might return, I have to protect them!
"ZWEI! STOP!" This time, the short human even picked him up, making a face that reminded him of scary-human. "Bad dog."
Instantly, his tail drooped, he knew those words meant he had messed up. Did I not protect them quick enough? I should have been faster! I failed my humans! The mere thought of failing the very people who fed him, walked him, played with him, and gave him belly rubs, was crushing to the corgi.
Zwei couldn't help it as a pained whimper left his mouth, or as his ears folded back. He had failed, after all. Even his tail was tucked between his legs in the face of such failure.
When the shorter human finally put him down, Zwei didn't feel like walking anymore. Instead, the corgi slowly made his way to his crate in a walk of shame. While Zwei was brooding over his failure to protect his favourite humans, he couldn't help but watch them go about cleaning up the table from the crate.
It was such a jump from how it used to be, where his humans were always in a rush to be somewhere, usually in a room with scary-human or fast-human. Even when he had four humans, (five if you count leaf-human), they never seemed to have time to play with him much. Yet here, the sense of urgency was gone. His humans always had time for him, they weren't gone at weird hours like at the really big place.
Instead, every time it got light, leaf-human would take him on a fast-run. When they got back Zwei's humans would feed him and then eat not-food. No rush to it, and whenever Zwei finished, he ALWAYS got belly rubs. Then they'd sometimes leave home, but they'd always come back when it started to get dark to feed him and talk him on a walk-walk.
Just thinking about the walk-walk was enough to start making Zwei feel less like a failure. Not enough to leave his create, however. It wasn't until the shorter human came over, a huge smile plastered across her face, that Zwei finally got out.
"C'mon Zwei, time to go on a walk." The shorter human attached the leash to his collar, as it finally dawned on Zwei that he was indeed getting his walk, while the human led him to where the tall human was at, by the door.
Walk! She said walk! Zwei's tail was wagging furiously, we're going on a walk-walk!
This is the best day ever!
Editor/BETA: Gorsouul
Editor: MartunaMajor
July 2016's Monthly Contest
Theme: Fluff
Character: Favourite Character (Pyrrha)
AU: Hey look, some good ol' quality fluff!
Yup, finally did another MonCon entry. Even got to do my OTP this time, so that's neato! I've actually had this idea floating around for a while; it was supposed to be a three shot, with each character having their own chapter of around 5k words. In hindsight, that would have dragged down the pacing a lot.
The idea with this story is that it's supposed to be an ordinary morning in Ruby/Pyrrha/Zwei's life post-graduation. Quite a bit of the actual backstory is told from Zwei's scene.
It was certainly an interesting experience writing from Zwei's perspective, and a fun one to boot. I think in the end, it may have monopolized much of the spotlight, but, eh, what can you do? :P
For those who are curious;
Strawberry-human = Ruby
Leaf-human = Pyrrha (because she smells like fall)
Cat-human = Blake
White-human = Weiss
Fire-human = Yang
Fat-human = Port
Fast-human = Oobleck
Scary-human = Glynda
It was actually a bit of a head-scratcher trying to figure out what Zwei would call humans until I realized smell is a big thing.
I'd love to know what everyone thinks of this, so yeah, if you could leave a review it'd be wonderful!
Most importantly, don't forget to vote for Milk & Cereal for the contest on the RWBY subreddit!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day! :D