Crown of Flowers
If Ruby had to pick a flower that fit Oscar perfectly it would be a yellow flower. It wasn't a sunflower, those were Yang- strong and pushing forward. It wasn't a yellow Zinnia, recently she had started associating those blooms with Jaune after she saw him training to Pyrrah's video. Daffodil's were more a flower for Blake now that she was home with enemies turned friends.
No, Oscar wasn't as flashy as that. He was ordinary, outside of the extra soul in his body. However, there was still something about him that made people gravitate around him. It wasn't as strong as it had been with Ozpin, but she could definitely feel the beginnings of someone people wanted to follow. It was special but in an ordinary way.
Ruby watched him limp slightly as they began to make their way through the forests of Anima to the northern side of the continent. They had taken the train most of the way, but due to a Grimm attack (Or Qrow's bad luck but no one was telling him that), the remaining part of the track was torn to shreds.
But, as Ruby continued to watch it was clear to her that Oscar was not in good shape. He kept mumbling to Ozpin, just low enough that no one else could hear. They two of them were likely discussing what would be the game plan for Atlas. However, if anyone noticed that Oscar wasn't doing well they didn't say anything. Instead, most of them preoccupied their time walking with casual conversations among themselves.
Blake and Yang were still awkward, leaving Weiss and Yang to talk- likely about how Weiss felt about going right back to the place she just finished breaking out of. Blake had drifted over to silently walk with Ren while Nora and Jaune were excited to see the northern city. Well, Jaune was excited to see what it was like. Nora just wanted to see what kind of Grimm there was to smash.
Ruby giggled at all of it, as Qrow trailed behind them. However, she wasn't much in the mood for conversation. The last battle took a lot more out of her then she realized and instead of talking she began to pick flowers and weave them together, much like how Yang had done for her when she was little. The thin stems were easy to braid together and were a nice distraction to keep her from getting too bored.
It wasn't until she was almost halfway done with a chain to make a crown that she realized she had only used Dandelions. Their puffy golden petals shinning a brilliant gold in the afternoon sun. She flushed a little at the flowers but didn't say anything.
They were the flowers she associated with Oscar.
She shook it off quickly though and went back to braiding, adding more and more of the flower to the chain.
"It's only because it's the most abundant flower there is," she told herself as she continued to chain. "I was worried about Oscar so of course, I was thinking about him as I chose."
As they got closer to the northern border of Anima the dandelions became more scarce but Ruby still saught them out anyway. She only needed one more. One more and she would have a crown. She saw the small flower in the shade of an oak tree and made a dash for it and back before anyone (except Qrow who had been watching his niece with an amused expression) noticed she had left.
Finishing off the crown she smiled at her handy work. Only to frown again. The crown she had made was too small for her head. She shrugged, deciding that she would rather give it to one of her friends anyway. She watched her friends for a minute again before going for broke.
Ruby watched as Oscar's eyes went wide when the crown was plopped on his head. He carefully lifted a hand to feel what it was Ruby put on his head before looking at her with a bewildered expression.
"Uh Ruby, why am I wearing a flower crown?" He asked as he began to pick up his pace to keep up with her slowly increasing speed.
"Just thought you would look cute with it," she shrugged not noticing the way the back of his neck and the tips of his ears began to turn red. She peaked at him out of the corner of her eye and saw a cute, shy smile on her face before she suddenly felt like there was a hive of lancers in her chest.
"Uh, Ruby?"
"Yeah Oscar?"
"Why are they all dandelions?" Instead of answering she just smiled with her index finger to her lips to indicate it was a secret before taking off ahead of the rest of the group.
"Hey, Ruby! Why won't you tell me? Ruby!" Oscar ran after her, ignoring the protests of the older members as he shoved past with less grace then Ruby had. She was laughing though as she watched him try to keep up to hide the tightness in her throat.
How could she tell him that they meant the same thing as he did to her?
Happiness.
BRK: Short and fluffy, mostly because this was one of the prompts I didn't really have an idea for already. I hope you enjoyed and remember to support rosegarden week on Tumblr!