Blake yawned as she slowly wandered through the halls of the beacon academy. While she was in no hurry there weren't that many places she enjoyed around the campus. There was a library but contrary to popular belief she didn't enjoy every book just because she liked books. She enjoyed books as a form of medium, meaning that the book still had to be to her liking. And sadly she was yet to find a book she would enjoy in a public library of any sort. She could hang out with Yang, but the girl had a weird habit of being a bit too lazy at times or quite the opposite, a bit too active. While normally it was fine and she enjoyed the blonde girl's company, this wasn't that time.
As she was approaching her room, her thoughts started to drift towards Weiss and Ruby, yet before she could consider them as a possible company she heard voices. Coincidentally they belonged to the red and white duo.
"Alright, I'll help you, but… But turn around and close your eyes!" That voice clearly belonged to Weiss, she could distinguish it easily by just the attitude it was filled with alone. Confidence. Although Blake couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something… Off in the girl's voice.
"F-Fine! Fine… Wait, isn't it pointless to close my eyes if I have to turn around?" She smiled as she heard Ruby's voice. There were moments the two were so comfortable with each other, but at times Ruby seemed as if she walked on eggshells when around Weiss. She never really figured out why. Now that she thought about it, Weiss had similar moments, just instead of acting anxious, she seemed to be… Different. Best way to describe that. She shook her head and focused on the conversation once more.
"Ruby, if you won't do what I'm asking you to do, I won't be able to help you. Now turn around and close your eyes and if you peek I'll get very angry with you." Blake rolled her eyes as if the Schnee heiress could stay mad at her partner for longer than a minute. Still, what was that Ruby asked Weiss for help and to top it off in such a direct manner. Something that apparently Yang couldn't help with.
"Very well, now if you want for that special someone to notice you, there are seven steps to achieve that." It took all the willpower that the catgirl had to not yell out a loud "what" as she heard that. Special someone… A crush? Did Ruby had a crush on someone? And she asked Weiss for help? Not to be judgmental but Ruby was perhaps the least of all the people she knew, even by name, around beacon to be a potential candidate for any romance… And to make things even more strange, she was the one who wanted to gain the attention of that someone.
Blake gently opened the doors hoping that they wouldn't make any sound. The luck was on her side as she managed to make a soundless entry. She was greeted with Ruby standing in front of Weiss with her back towards the girl and her eyes closed, behind her was Weiss sitting on her bed, although turned towards the redhead. The catgirl had no issues sneaking past them and glancing at the scroll that Weiss was holding and reading whatever was on the screen.
"They wrote here… I mean the steps are as follows. First make sure this person understands you're around them, that your presence is acknowledged by them. Second be sure they know you're on their side if any conflict arises be sure to side with them. Third, spend time with them, offer them a piece of your world. Four, if by now it didn't work, repeat the previous step but instead offer to do something they like. Fifth, gifts. Sixth, if nothing worked you have to be honest and openly admit to them what you feel." Weiss finished and Blake took that as a hint to step away and give the girls some room. "Did you get that?" She asked as she stood up putting her scroll onto her bed.
"I-I think so" Ruby answered, although by the way she did Blake had doubts if she really memorized all those steps.
"Great!" In a quick and sudden motion, the Schnee started to push the girl towards the doors. "Now go and put your plan into action."
"B-But Weiss!" She observed as Ruby tried to protest but only verbally, as the process of being pushed out of the room did not slow at all.
"It's alright Ruby, I understand. You're grateful for my help but sadly I can't do this for you. If you need any more advice, you know where to find me." As the redhead was pushed out of her own dorm room, Blake took the opportunity to once more glance at what was on the screen of Weiss's scroll. A site, while she was curious she focused on the most important thing, the URL since that was the most productive thing she could do with this clue and the limited time she had. Not like she could steal the device.
A deep, tired sigh warned her that it was time to reveal herself… Although it was strange since she was pretty much out in the open, how neither of the two girls noticed her was beyond her but she didn't complain. "Rough day?" She asked.
That made the white-haired girl jump as she looked at her like a deer caught in the headlights. "B-Blake! Exactly how long were you here?" The Schnee asked as a nervous smile started to form on her lips.
"Not long, I actually just came here. So what's with that on your scroll?" Blake knew that this would distract the girl from the fact that she might have seen the whole thing. Not that hard to figure out.
"That's nothing!" Weiss basically pounced her scroll as she closed it. "I mean unless you mean the site. That had to open itself by accident when I laid the scroll down." The human girl cleared her throat and rose up from the bed. "Now if you excuse me I have somewhere else to be right now." Without even giving Blake a moment to respond she quickly moved towards the doors, although as she reached towards the handle, they opened and Yang entered the room, bumping into the smaller girl.
"Whoa, Didn't know I'd get a hug from you today, Weiss." The blonde flashed a grin as she stepped to the side.
"I… Yes, well, please excuse me." The Schnee mumbled and exited the room.
"Did Weiss just left without any snarky remark? No sarcasm, angry comment, nothing?" The blonde looked at the catgirl, the latter shrugged.
"Apparently." She offered a short answer.
Yang just scratched the back of her head as she glanced at the door. "And just a moment ago I stumbled upon a very nervous Ruby. Is something up?"
"I have no idea. I know they haven't had a fight, this much I can tell you." Blake answered as she carefully got up onto her bed.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Yang shrugged as she had to decide that this wasn't worth fussing over. "Need anything, or do you mind if I take a nap?"
"At this time? Won't that make it harder to go to sleep when its bedtime later?" She continued their small talk as she was in the middle of entering the site from before, the one she noticed on Weiss's scroll.
"Nah I'll be fine. Although wake me up if I oversleep since I wouldn't want to be late for that." She felt the blonde lay down onto her bed as she snickered, making Blake just roll her eyes at the comment.
Soon she could hear the other girl's soft breathing as her cat ears twitched to adjust to the new background noise in the otherwise silent room. Her eyes focusing on the site displayed on her device.
It was… Some teenage site. Like the teenage magazines she saw here and there, all colorful with pictures of teenage girls and boys, all perfect and clearly not edited in some graphics software. But sarcasm aside, it didn't seem like anything weird… Well outside of the fact that Weiss was reading off of it to Ruby in regards to the redhead having someone special to try and charm.
"The list." She muttered to herself out loud and started to browse the site. There seemed to be tons of weird tips, how to dress, how to impress different type of people, some weird "know what you are" things, like what animal you are, what your position in your group tells about you, things like that. It seemed like a normal teenage magazine would be filled with. Not that she knew, I mean she did but only because she researched it. For a friend.
"How to make him notice you." She murmured to herself and picked the link. And here it was, the same list Weiss read.
Now that she found it she wasn't sure what to do with this piece of information. Yes, it existed, no, Weiss didn't make it up and it was on some weird site for teenagers. So what? Should she make fun of Weiss for it? Of course not. It's not her business what sites she visits. She chased the mouse and in the end when she finally got it, she wasn't sure what to do with it. She groaned to herself, that sounded like something Yang would say, like a cat pun or something.
She decided to bookmark the site if anything? She could always remove it later. But if something was to come out of this weird little scene she witnessed, she at least had one clue to follow.
oooOOOooo
It started as a normal day, even if Blake was eyeing both of the red and white duo since all of them woke up. There was the threat of the whistle, literal threats from Weiss and then waiting for Yang to be done in the bathroom as she did her hair. Nothing outside of the usual. Which pleased her since she knew there was already plenty of action in the past and most likely near future, having a little bit of monotony and routine never hurt. If anything it was sort of relaxing.
Everything seemed to change at the cafeteria.
"Blake? Yang won't eat with us?" Weiss sent a polite smile her way as she asked.
"She said she needed a nap more than food." The catgirl shrugged as she closed her eyes. She knew it wasn't appropriate to bring a book to a place like this, but truth be told she wasn't sure what to do with herself whenever she didn't have that to hide behind it. It's like some folks do with scrolls nowadays.
"That's quite unhealthy, aren't you concerned about the performance of your partner?" Blake caught a glimpse of a frown as she took a moment to glance at the human girl. Any form of response she had was interrupted as their team leader appeared looking cheery as ever, if a tiny bit off… Then again Blake might have just imagined things.
"Hey, Weiss? Mind if I sit next to you?" Ruby asked with a grin as she appeared behind the girl who already was in the middle of her morning meal, which consisted of her morning coffee and a pastry of her choice.
"Ruby, you always sit next to me, why do you have to suddenly ask?" The Schnee girl paused as she sent a confusing glance towards the younger girl.
"Well, Just in case I was doing something you didn't like." Her team leader swayed on her feet and Blake had to wonder if the food and cup of whatever drink Ruby had… It wasn't hard to guess what it was, wouldn't just fall from her tray at that point.
"That's ridiculous, now sit down and eat something before we run out of time." Blake had to keep herself from chuckling at that as she watched the silver eyed girl follow the order of her partner. She sometimes wondered who's really the leader. Although that might be just something the two shared, a unique dynamic in their little universe. The catgirl shook her head, how poetic, she should write it down.
Blake allowed for her thoughts to wonder since she didn't really expect for anything weird to occur with the two. How wrong she was.
"So what are you having, Weiss?" The sheer abruptness of both the question and the motion of the younger girl suddenly leaning towards her, made the Schnee almost spill her drink. As soon as she was sure that nothing was wasted and she didn't make a mess, she sent a glare towards the younger girl.
"Ruby control yourself at the table." Weiss let out a soft sigh as she shook her head and took another sip.
Ruby looked like a sad puppy for a moment, to the point where Blake could almost see the ears on top of her head going flat against her hair. And just like a pup she shook the sadness off and renewed her verbal assault. "So what are you having?"
"Right now I'm trying to enjoy some coffee. Do you want some?" Weiss offered her cup to the other girl.
Ruby just grimaced and leaned away from the offering. "Eww no, thanks."
That made Weiss smirk as she shrugged. "Suit yourself."
"So do you like it?" Ruby inquired further.
"My coffee? It's not that bad. I had better in my life, but at the same time I was exposed to worse." Blake was always a tiny bit impressed that Weiss could keep a conversation, or at least not offer generic answers to nudge the conversation further. Being impressed was attached to her own… Quietness? Was that the correct term? While those strange thoughts lingered inside the catgirls head, she noticed that after the last answer Ruby looked around the table for… Something, growing more and more anxious with each passing second. At some point, even The Schnee noticed that.
"Ruby, is something the matter? You're being a bit off this morning." Weiss settled her cup and crossed her arms as she turned towards the redhead.
"Eh? No! No, everything is fine. I just… you know, want you to remember that I'm always by your side!" Ruby offered a nervous grin at that.
"For better or worse," Weiss muttered to herself and even Blake had to really focus to hear that one, after which she had to take a sip of her own tea to hide a big smile that blossomed on her lips.
"Huh?" The silver eyed girl tilted her head.
"Nothing, also you have two minutes left to finish your food, Ruby." The older of the two pointed at the redhead's tray.
"Eh?!" As if remembering that it was even there, Ruby immediately grabbed her muffin she got for herself and started to stuff her mouth with it.
"R-Ruby!" Weiss frowned at the behavior of her team leader and Blake just rolled her eyes. Was this slightly odd behavior related to yesterday? Or was it something else? Or maybe it wasn't anything and she was just biased because of yesterday. Blake let out a sigh as she finished her tea and stood up, they had classes and only time would show which of those options were right anyway. Besides, not like she could do anything about it, right?
oooOOOooo
There's a unique feeling of happiness whenever you discover that something you wanted was announced some time ago and you notice it by accident that the day of it being released is very close. It's like a surprise party but better because there are fewer people. Actually, there are no people but you. The perfect surprise party.
With a smile, Blake browsed her scroll just to double check on this newly found piece of information, for a few reasons. Checking your sources was important and she wanted to make sure that this was the truth and there was a very basic desire to feel the same giddy feeling from before, even if in a more tame version.
On the bed below Yang and Weiss were talking about something, she wasn't sure what as she treated it as a form of a background noise, although her ever vigilant cat ears did pick up on their conversation. You never know when you'll hear something important.
"Do you think this is right?" Yang's concerned and thoughtful voice asked.
"Yes, if you do this like this and then move that over here, you'll get the correct answer," Weiss answered in a confident manner.
"I'm not sure..." The blonde hummed.
"Are you implying I'm wrong?" Blake could almost imagine the Schnee's eyebrow raising as she asked.
"In this case? I do. Look here, if you..."
At that moment the doors busted open and just like a certain type of inquisition that nobody expects, Ruby appeared in the room. "You're wrong, Yang!" She pointed accusingly at her sister.
It wasn't much of a surprise to anyone that all six pairs of eyes focused on their team leader, which might have been the reason the confidence of the younger girl was challenged as it seemed to slowly deflate.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked, sounding perturbed which Blake had to give Ruby, was a rare thing to hear from the Schnee heiress.
The redhead cleared her throat and approached the duo that currently sat on the lower bed. "I'm just saying that you're right in this case, Weiss."
"So you know this math problem, Rubes?" It was Yang's turn to get her voice back after the shockingly effective entrance done by her younger sister.
"...Math problem? You're doing math?" Finally, it was Ruby's turn to join the confused club. Which meant that the room was now filled with people who had no idea what was going on anymore.
"Yes? Yang found a weird math problem and we were wondering how to solve it." The Schnee explained calmly.
"O-Oh, but you were right, right?" Another bubble of hope started to grow inside the youngest girl's chest as she glanced between the other two.
"Actually I think I know what Yang was about to say before you… Entered the room Ruby, and I have to agree with her unspoken thought. Meaning that my initial idea was wrong." And just like that, said bubble burst before it could even properly form itself.
Blake didn't care about that, not that she didn't care about their team leader which she considered a friend, she just was sure that she could recuperate from the disappointment of… Weiss not being right? This was what annoyed and intrigued her about this situation. What was the girl hoping to accomplish?
The scroll she still held in one of her hands gave her an idea. She quickly found the bookmarked site and glanced at it. Was this the second step? Side with the one you want to get the attention of? No, it couldn't be, right?... But what if it was? Blake had to do something to test this theory, an experiment if you will.
oooOOOooo
The plan was simple and the most difficult part was to create the right environment for it. But it wasn't long since the last weird situation before such right moment presented itself.
As such she got Ruby and Weiss to enjoy something warm to drink with herself, not a rare thing, although she specifically made sure to not include Yang. Not that she didn't want to, but the more random elements present while the experiment was going, the worse the result would be. Besides, she easily bribed her conscience with the fact that she would be spending some alone time with Yang later that day anyway.
"I think tea is better than coffee." Without further delay, Blake put her plan in motion.
"Hm? I thought we agreed on the fact that to each their own." Weiss's brow rose at that.
"Maybe, but after consideration, I think that tea is better than coffee." She announced using her best nonchalant tone of voice.
"In that case, I think you're wrong. I see no difference between drinking water and tea, as it offers no benefits outside of being flavored water." The Schnee smirked as she took a sip of her drink.
"I think coffee is better than tea too." Ruby nodded, although her voice wasn't as confident in her words as before, most likely due to the debacle she got herself into when she first attempted to side with Weiss. Blake expected this of course, but she still allowed for a bit of surprise to show on her face as the same happened to Weiss. The two now focusing their gazes on the redhead.
"I thought you disliked coffee, Ruby." The Schnee tilted her head and Blake had to hit iron while it's hot.
"How about we use Ruby to solve this little conflict. If after taking a big gulp of your coffee she'll still claim that it's better, then it'll be settled that coffee is the superior of the two." She announced playfully. Although she did have to keep herself from smiling too much, especially as she saw the horrified expression of the redhead.
"I think this is a very rigged competition." Weiss crossed her arms as she scowled.
"I know since Ruby already said she prefers coffee, so I pretty much lost… Unless Ruby lied and her siding with you is some weird ploy." With all her willpower she had to stop herself from even glancing at their team leader.
"I'll do it." The girl in question mumbled.
"Ruby, are you sure? You don't have to do this, it is a pretty pointless argument we're having if it's even an argument at all." With perhaps a bit too much concern being shown by her, the white-haired girl turned her full attention towards her partner.
"N-No, I'll do it. I didn't lie about preferring coffee." Ruby repeated as she reached towards the cup of coffee Weiss was having. The latter didn't stop her and thus began the slow process of raising the cup towards her mouth. As it was about to touch her lips the girl mumbled something to herself, something that not even Blake's cat ears could hear, and she poured a decent amount of the drink into her mouth just like that. Most likely deciding that once it's in her mouth it would be easier to just gulp it down. That, of course, wasn't as easy as it had to seem inside Ruby's head, as she had to fight to push the liquid down her own throat. Finally, with her eyes filling with tears, she glanced at the both them, a grimace equivalent of that when eating a lemon. "D-Delicious." She whimpered, sounding more like a kicked dog than anything.
With all evidence collected, Blake decided to leave the two. She had enough of seeing Ruby suffer and she knew that this was the moment for Weiss to step in and try to help the girl to get over her coffee poisoning. "I guess it's settled, coffee is better. I'll leave you two and sulk about my defeat alone… Or with Yang." And as she walked away, she still could catch a glimpse of Weiss's worried face.
oooOOOooo
Saturdays were nice, especially one where she could find a bit of time for herself. Sure, she wasn't exactly alone as she wandered through the streets but there was that one saying about being alone in a crowd. While usually it was a negative thing, or it always was brought up as something negative, she enjoyed it. She was extra happy since Yang wanted to do something with her later that day, the happiness was layered with two levels. First one was that she started to warm up to being around people, especially her teammates, the second was that… Well, she would spend some time with a friend.
As for now, she had to go back to the academy. What was she doing all alone in Vale on this lovely Saturday? Now about that…
"Woo! You go, Weiss!"
...That was apparently not important right now, as she heard Ruby's voice echo from the nearby arcade as she passed next to it. One glance and it wasn't hard to notice the redhead together with the Schnee girl. With a sigh, she turned her steps and wandered inside. All the chatter and cabinet sounds assaulted her the instant she got a few steps deep. As if there was some invisible wall of sound that just waited for people to come in before hitting them with the loud noises.
Still, she had three reasons to get inside after hearing and seeing the two. Well, she just heard Ruby, but that wasn't important. The first was a bit pragmatic, she didn't want to be accused of ignoring anyone if they noticed her by accident. The second was a simple one, she just wanted to say hi to her friends. The third, now that was a bit more complicated albeit easily to sum up. She wanted to see Ruby's progress on her… Advances. As well as find more evidence to back her theory about Ruby trying to get Weiss to notice her in a more romantic light.
"Ruby I don't think this is for me." A very defeated voice of Weiss hit her ears and she slowed down.
"Aw, come on Weiss, don't give up. You almost beat the first level!" With her usual cheerfulness, Ruby tried to keep the other girl in high spirits about the whole gaming stuff.
"It's my fifth time, I was curious at first but I can feel myself growing more and more frustrated with this machine." There it was, the cold ice wall that Blake used to distinguish in the voice of the heiress. This was a bad spot for Ruby.
She started to move towards the two, this time a bit quicker to try and salvage the situation in some way for the redhead. "Hey guys, I didn't think I'd stumble upon you in a place like this… At least not together." She smiled and focused her gaze on the older of the two as she finished her sentence.
"Yes, well, Ruby insisted that we'd spend some time together, which I thought wouldn't be that bad of an idea. Yet I'm afraid I don't really find those things entertaining." Weiss had to notice how defeated Ruby was as she sent her apologetic smile.
Blake's face lit up as the realization hit her. Right, the list. Spend some time with them, offer them a piece of your world. The catgirl looked around the arcades, looking for something to try and help her team leader.
As the silence grew between them, Weiss decided to pick up the conversation in some fashion. "What about you, Blake? Is Yang with you?"
Sadly for her, the Faunus girl has found what she was looking for. "There!" She pointed towards a series of doors. The two human girls looked towards the doors she pointed at, then back at her, confusion plainly written on both of their faces.
"And what is there exactly?" Weiss's eyebrow rose as she asked.
"Music games, those rooms are soundproof." She nodded as she explained.
"Music games?" It was Ruby's turn to ask.
"Mmm… You know, those games where you play guitar with those colorful buttons or percussion or do karaoke." She rubbed her neck as she tried to explain, she wasn't sure if music games were the right term.
"Ooh, I know what you mean!" Ruby's excitement got lit up once more.
"I don't know, I think I'm done with video games." Weiss shrugged, the ice wall was yet to thaw.
"Why not? You two might learn a bit more about each other by knowing what sort of music you prefer." Blake offered her own shrug, trying to keep indifferent, she was afraid that if Weiss read her words as being too eager to convince her, she'd just push harder with her rejection of the idea. "Besides, you're already here, right? Not like you'll lose anything by giving it a go, Weiss."
The Schnee girl looked between her and Ruby who at that point could as well turn into a literal puppy with the way she looked at Weiss. She wasn't sure if it was her arguments or the look that the younger girl had that convinced her, but she finally gave in. "Ugh, fine. But that's the last thing we'll try out, got it?"
Ruby barely waited for the girl to finish as she started to tug her towards the room "Yes! Of course! Thanks, Blake! I mean um, for giving us more opportunities to find something fun to do, see you later!"
"R-Ruby! Stop pulling my arm! And have a good day Blake… Ruby!" They both waved, although both in their own weird ways as each of them was busy… Pulling and being pulled.
Blake let out a deep sigh. She did what she could and the rest was in Ruby's hands. She should check that list and make some emergency plans just in case.
oooOOOooo
It was already dark outside and Blake was glad for this day to be over. It started nice, then shifted into weird with Ruby and Weiss only to end up as a disaster because of a certain blonde haired individual.
"Blake, come on! I already said I'm sorry." Yang glanced at the catgirl who was currently lying on her bed, reading a book and pretending she didn't even acknowledge her.
"I'm not talking to you." She offered a simple reply, although that was quite the opposite of what she just said which was the point. Her anger was long gone but she wouldn't officially forgive the blonde without getting anything in return.
"Ugh, you're being so difficult. Just… Just name your price!" The human girl demanded. That made Blake smile, she had her where she wanted to.
"Well..." Her ears twitched as she heard something… Something familiar. "Tea!" She lowered her book and looked at the other girl.
"Eh?" Yang tilted her head at the sudden change of the catgirl's demeanor.
"Tea, but not one poured out of those coffee machines. I want you to brew some tea for me." She had to get rid of Yang if she wanted to interrogate the white and red duo without Yang teasing them and ruining the whole thing.
"Where will I brew you tea?" The human girl grimaced.
"I don't know, but if you won't try to find a way in a few seconds I'll simply ignore you for the whole next day since it's clear you don't really care." Blake covered her face with the book for some additional effect, although deep down she really hoped that Yang would stop arguing and just go, the footsteps and voices were getting closer.
"Ugh fine, I'll get you some freshly brewed tea," Yang grumbled and moved towards the door. Same door that opened at the same moment, as two smiling girls entered. "Excuse me," Yang said in annoyance as she moved around the two. "Apparently this castle has two princesses now and one of them requires tea." Before any of the two could ask, Yang was gone with the doors slamming behind her.
"What's with her?" Weiss's brow rose as she glanced up at the Faunus.
"No idea." Blake sat on the edge of her bed, placing the book beside her. "You two took long, were you late for the Airbus.
"Well, perhaps your idea had some entertaining value to it," Weiss answered as she waved her hand dismissively.
"I had to drag Weiss out to even get us to have a lunch break," Ruby announced as she bounced in place with a big grin on her face.
"Did not!" Weiss stomped her feet as she turned to face the younger girl with annoyance.
"Do you know what a great singer Weiss is?!" Ruby ignored the Schnee as she turned to look at Blake.
"Ruby, please, you're embarrassing me." The older of the two puffed her chest, not really looking like she was minding that at all. After a moment of silence, she frowned. "Well? Keep going, praise me some more." The two human girls shared a glance between each other and giggled. Blake took it as something good, perhaps an inside joke or something similar the two shared.
"Was finding some music you both enjoy difficult?" This is where Yang could ruin things, but with her trying to find a way to brew some tea, she could extract the information she needed and not let the two girls close up out of some form of shame or embarrassment.
"Hm? A little bit at first, but we managed to find something in between of what both of us consider the norm in terms of music." Weiss glanced at her as if she forgot that Blake was even in the room with them. Once more a detail worth noting.
"I'm glad you two had fun." Her ears perked up against her bow as an idea got inside her head. "I'll head out and try to find Yang. If she comes here before me, tell her I'm waiting for my tea at our usual spot." She jumped down and smiled at the two. Weiss just looked at her weirdly while Ruby continued to grin happily.
With one last wave she left the two alone, it would be better if they could freely release all that excitement from earlier without it being awkward for either one of them. Besides, she was getting thirsty.
oooOOOooo
With Yang getting in trouble, this turned out to be a very boring Friday evening. Classes were short and as such, she hoped to spend some time with the blonde, either before or after her nap. Sadly that wasn't the case and now she needed some new way to spend all this free time. Initially, she just wanted to stay in their room and read something, but for some reason, her legs felt a bit restless and she decided to take a walk. Since her mood wasn't the best, she thought of places that would be abandoned at this day and that lead her into the library.
No real reason to be here outside of the fact that it was empty, who in their right mind would be here on a Friday evening? Exactly, crazy people… Wait…
Her own thoughts were interrupted as she heard voices… Familiar voices. Which in return seemed to her like a very familiar situation to be in, although it was one week since the last time she stumbled upon the two and it's not like before all of this weirdness started it didn't happen casually from time to time. They were a team and they did go to the same academy.
"Ugh..." Ruby groaned as something heavy hit the desk and as Blake peeked it seemed like the said sound was made by her head, ouch.
"Ruby, I told you before that you don't need to be here with me. You asked what were my plans for today and I told you and you insisted you wanted to accompany me, so I don't understand why are you acting this way." Weiss looked from above her book at the younger girl with an angry frown on her face.
"When you told me you wanted to go to the library I thought you wanted to do something fun, not study. Weiss, it's Friday, who studies on Friday?!" Ruby rose up from lying on the desk like that as she continued to complain.
That, of course, angered Weiss even more. "Life is not all fun and games, Ruby, and maybe if you were..."
"Heey! Didn't know I would see you two here." Blake almost run towards them once she noticed how heated their discussion was getting. She now remembered the next step on the list, something about trying out what the other person likes or something along that way. I mean why would Ruby agree to be in a library on Friday if it wasn't part of that weird six-step plan.
"Hm? Blake? I'll be honest that I don't see that many folks around here on a day like this." Weiss's anger turned into curiosity as she glanced at her. Blake wasn't dumb, she knew that if she answered this in any direct manner it would be siding with one of them and that was out of the question.
"So what were you two arguing about? I could hear you from far away." That brought back the annoyance on Weiss's face, but Blake wasn't one to focus on short-term goals, oh no. She knew that you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.
"Ruby wanted to study with me, but now that we're here she's being obnoxious and it's hard to focus with her acting so immature." The catgirl felt as if she was some sort of complaint service desk, but she decided that this could lead to fixing their little issue a bit easier.
"No! I agreed to come with you to the library, I had no idea it was a clever trap to make me study on Friday!" Ruby, perhaps a bit theatrically, pointed accusingly at Weiss. It was hard to guess if the redhead was simply acting that way to mock the other girl or was that just… The way she was.
"I did not set any traps, Ruby. I'll remind you it was you who asked me and surprised me with your desire to spend this time with me, setting up a trap requires planning and how could I plan anything if your question alone surprised me so much." Blake winced at that, it didn't take long to understand that Weiss could be a boiling volcano under all that indifference.
"That's a great opportunity!" The catgirl announced, perhaps a bit too loud considering they were still in the library. Her sudden outburst and perhaps the choice of words seemed to distract the two girls before her. Now if only she knew what opportunity she was talking about herself.
She cleared her throat and to buy herself a few more seconds she took the chair and slowly sat down on it. "Ruby wants to spend time with you, correct?" She slowly asked, deciding to buy even more time by pretending to gather all the things they already knew about this situation. Or what she knew.
"I do!" Ruby nodded.
"And do you mind that?" She glanced at the Schnee.
"Well, I don't mind but..." Before she could continue Blake interrupted her by raising her hand. Control, she had to be in control of the situation.
"But you want to study, I think you both need to meet somewhere in the middle, right? So you should make it work for both of you. Maybe studying sitting next to each other in silence isn't what Ruby wants to do but regardless of that Weiss still would like to study some." She took a deep breath… What now? An idea, she needed an idea…
"Yes, you're correct Blake. I do this every Friday, repeating the last week material so I can move on with the topics of the next week and make it easier for myself when I study for the actual exams." Weiss nodded as she both agreed and wanted to expand on the reason of why she was here today.
Repeating, that's right. Blake had to control herself so that her face didn't show too much. "Why not include Ruby in that?"
"In… What? Studying? Blake, haven't you heard her whine? I think she has no desire to sit here and study with me." The Schnee grimaced.
"What I meant was that you two could go over the material of the last week together. Get your notes and books that the material was about and question each other in turns." Before any of the girls could protest or say anything, she pointed at Weiss. "You would make sure Ruby was properly… Or at least better prepared for any exams, not to mention polish her grades." Then her finger jumped to point at the redhead. "And you could spend time with Weiss without just sitting in silence and reading books." She paused for a moment as she considered something else that came to her mind. "Not to mention it's not bad to impress your partner from time to time." Blake hoped that Ruby would get the hint… Well, it wasn't officially a hint, since the catgirl wanted for it to seem as if she meant them being team partners, not… Romantic partners, but Ruby was a clever girl, perhaps not book smart, she still had her moments. And judging from how her eyes went big at that last part, she assumed that something had to click inside her brain.
"I guess that's not a bad idea… As long as Ruby won't waste my time with her not knowing anything and whining about having to sit here with me." The Schnee crossed her arms as she glanced at the younger girl.
"Oh yeah?! Try me!" Their team leader answered defiantly as she placed her hands on hips and squinted her eyes.
Blake would take a risky guess and assume this was on a more jokey side and was some form of banter between the two. Deciding her job was done, she stood up, only for Weiss to break out of her character and glance at her. "Blake? You won't join us?"
"I can't, I was looking for a book and later I promised to meet with Yang after she's free." With an apologetic smile, she left the red and white duo alone. In reality, she didn't have any plans and it would be still some time before Yang's released, but she wouldn't spend that time in a library studying.
oooOOOooo
"Yang?" Blake glanced up at the blonde.
"Mmm?" The girl in question hummed to let her know she was listening.
"Did you notice something weird about Ruby?" As they were alone in the room Blake decided it wouldn't be bad to see if perhaps Yang also had a hunch about this little dance Ruby was doing with Weiss… If the latter was even aware of that. The blonde laying on her bed in a perpetual state of nap no nap with herself half sitting, perched against the same bed the blonde laid on top of.
"She is acting pretty strange," Yang answered after a moment of consideration.
"What do you think the cause of that is?" She closed her book in an audible way to announce to the human girl about her interest in this particular topic.
"It doesn't seem to be something that requires a sudden solution which means that it's not about her weapon. That leaves me thinking it must be something about her leadership. Maybe she heard something or saw something that undermined her self-image of a leader? I dunno." As the blonde shared her thoughts on the issue the catgirl couldn't help but frown.
"She didn't tell you anything?" She glanced up at her, although Yang didn't seem to be too affected by the topic at hand nor her current question.
"Nah, I decided I wouldn't intervene unless I see it's bad enough or she asks for help. If its team related she has to figure this out herself, right? Otherwise, she won't learn. She got promoted to be our team leader for a reason." Blake let out a sigh at that, it seemed like Yang had no idea or she was great at acting.
"I guess you're right, we should just let things unfold on its own." That was, of course, a lie. She wouldn't let this roll on its own, not after the stupid effort she went through. Not with Ruby going along a dumb list to get Weiss to notice her and the latter playing hard to get to the point where it would be easier to just conquer Atlas itself, or she wasn't as sharp as she liked to think OR she was so sharp that it made a full circle into being not sharp.
Dorks, dorks in love. At least one of the dorks was in love. At that Blake chewed on the side of her cheek, what if Weiss isn't interested? That is a possibility, right? She could want to ignore any romantic pursuits to focus on becoming a huntress, she could not be interested in girls or just not in Ruby.
Well, experiencing a heartbreak or rejection is an important part of life just like love is, although Blake would prefer a happy ending. Whatever the outcome would be, she already sort of decided that she was part of this and damn it if she didn't see this through till the end, happy or not.
oooOOOooo
Blake wasn't spying on Ruby, spying on people was wrong and maybe even illegal. She was just following her around in a way that the younger girl wouldn't know she was there. Besides, however you called it, it wasn't important what you were doing, but what your motivation behind that was, right? Right.
Thus after stumbling upon a very nervous Ruby back at the academy and after the girl being very defensive and dodging most of her question, Blake decided to follow her, which proved to be a fruitful task since the girl tried to sneak away on the Airbus to Vale.
And this is how both of them ended up in a store that offered everything and nothing. Gadgets, toys, electronics, pointless knickknacks and various other items that whenever you see someone own, you wonder what sort of store would have such an item. Apparently, answer to that question was this store right here.
Still, the store was the least of Blake's concerns. A far more important concern right now was Ruby. The girl wandered aimlessly around the store and judging by her expression and little nervous ticks that accompanied her, she wasn't in the best of shapes. This made her wonder if the redhead did this a few times between the last time and now, maybe in different stores? Online? Whatever it was true or not, right now she looked like she could use a hug… Or some help.
"Hey, Ruby." She greeted the girl, forgetting that she might have sneaked behind the girl, as she jumped a bit startled at the sudden greeting.
"B-Blake?! Don't scare me like that!" She pouted and let out a deep sigh seconds after looking more exhausted than before.
"Looking to get a gift for Weiss?" She tried to sound casual about her question, but there was no way to ask about it without alarming her team leader. Which, just as she predicted, happened. The girl's pupils shrank.
"N-No, why would you think something like that?" Her previous look now was accompanied by a nervous laugh.
"Let's see." Blake started to count on her fingers. "It's not for yourself since I doubt you would be so stressed about buying things for yourself. If it was Yang I assume you would know what to get her and you wouldn't care as much. You'd probably get me a book of some sort or at least look for a gift for me in a bookstore. Then there's team JNPR but again I doubt you would be so stressed about getting any or all of them anything. At least not like this." She smiled as she saw the other girl avoid any kind of eye contact as her small countdown went on. "So this leaves out Weiss, the perfect candidate to be this stressed out about getting her anything."
"Because she's my partner!" Ruby almost yelled as she closed her eyes. This brought some short-lived attention from the other people in the store, but they quickly went back to minding their own business. Still, Blake could feel her ears, both pairs, heat up with some slight embarrassment.
"Your partner?" She raised her eyebrow.
"Yeah! That's why I want to get her something because we're partners. And um… I want to appreciate her! Her input and… And stuff." Even if Blake didn't know the truth she'd understand that something was up with this excuse. The girl was already under pressure and with her inability to lie it was that much more obvious. Still, she could play along, right? All she really wanted to do was to help the girl and to do that she didn't need to officially know about her secret.
"That makes sense, so having trouble finding a nice gift?" Wanting to take her mind off being potentially found out, Blake decided to refocus her attention onto the meat of her issue.
That had its effect as the girl grimaced. "Yeeesss." Her shoulder slumped as she glanced around the store in defeat. "What do you get for someone that could have anything. I mean, she's rich so I'm not sure what I could even get her." She rubbed her neck as she finished.
Blake squinted as her amber eyes scanned the area, she reached up to rub her chin thoughtfully. That was true, but then again gifts weren't supposed to be expensive for the sake of being expensive. Sure, some gifts were bought for someone when they couldn't get it themselves for various reasons. Most often the reason was lack of money to do so. But gifts could also focus not on what it was, but who gave it. Have sentimental value.
"How about we have another look around?" She offered to which Ruby just shrugged.
"Sure." With that, they both started to wander between various shelves that held a different kind of objects on top of it. It took a moment for Blake to rewire her brain from trying to figure out what Weiss would like and instead think what could work as a gift between Ruby and Weiss to make the gift have a more deeper meaning.
"How about those." She picked up a small plastic packing that consisted of a pair of cheap looking bracelets.
"Eh? What are those even?" Ruby frowned as she glanced at the thing in Blake's hands with a critical eye.
"Friendship bracelets." She explained with a shrug.
"No! No, that won't work." The younger girl shook her head.
"Why not?" Blake's eyebrow rose at that.
"Because… Because we're partners! We can't have friendship things." As the girl finished, the catgirl tilted her head. What an odd explanation. Sure, she expected for the idea to be debunked but for a different reason. Various different reasons. Was it because of the word friend in it? Maybe that wasn't such a good idea if you want to make someone notice you in a different manner than a friend.
As she was deep in her own thoughts, Ruby continued. "Besides isn't it sort of… Childish anyway?" The redhead grimaced as she glanced at the bracelets one more time and Blake had to bit her tongue not to remind Ruby that she was just fifteen. Focus, she had to focus on the task at hand.
While putting down the package with the bracelets, something caught Blake's eye and she grinned as an idea came to her mind. "This way." She grabbed the other girl's hand and pulled her towards the direction she saw it.
"Toy section? Blake?" Ruby called out after her as soon as she noticed where they were, but Blake didn't stop or even gave a response till they reached their destination.
"This." She grabbed a plushie of a black cat and presented it to the other girl.
"A… A plushie?" Ruby raised her eyebrow at that.
"Yes, assuming that Weiss found that… I mean, your dog cute, she doesn't dislike cute things, so why not a plushie?" She smiled as she explained, trying not to focus on the memory of a certain beast that emerged due to a simple mention of said beast.
"I'm definitely not getting her a black cat plushie, Blake." The redhead crossed her arms and her expression shifted to that of annoyance which just confused her.
"Why? What's wrong with it?" She glanced at the stuffed cat in her hands.
"Because it's a plushie, Blake! There's a possibility she'll hug it and snuggle it." The girl explained in a matter of fact manner yet she still didn't get it. Yes, that what some people did with this sort of things, but what does it have to do with it being a black… Cat… Oh… Oh!
Blake felt her cheeks warm up at that as she quickly placed the stuffed cat back on the shelf and cleared her throat. "So what kind of plush toy would Weiss prefer?" She watched as Ruby's silver eyes scanned the shelf and after a moment her eyes would lit up, she then reached out and took the thing that made her react that way.
"This!" She grinned as she showed a… Dog plushie. It was just the right size to hug it, with mahogany fur, gray eyes and a small tongue sticking out of its mouth. It would be cute if it was anything but a dog.
It was her turn to grimace at the idea. "A dog?"
"Uh huh! Weiss would totally be a dog person." Ruby glanced at the dog's face. "She would want a pet that was loyal and could be taught discipline, but deep down she would have a big soft spot for it and the dog would understand that, the fact that it didn't just have an owner in Weiss, but a loyal friend."
Blake's mouth opened but no words came out. She really hoped that Ruby wasn't projecting anything onto the plushie and this whole situation because that just gave her some very odd and weird thoughts. Thoughts she would never consider about either Weiss or Ruby, let alone both of them. At the same time. No! She had to focus. With that in mind, she shook her head. "R-Right, well that means we got the gift, let's get some packaging for it and head back." As she started to move towards the cash, she was stopped by the other girl's voice.
"No." It was deflated of all the happiness she previously heard in her voice which made Blake worried, as she turned around to see what the issue was this time.
"What happened?" She moved back a few steps to join with the girl.
"It's too expensive. I can't really afford it, not without going overboard, but then Yang will get mad at me." She followed that with a deep, sad sigh.
"How much can you spend?" Blake asked as she glanced at the price tag.
"Half of what this thing costs." Ruby waved the plushie a bit as she held it.
Blake pinched the bridge of her nose, she knew what she had to do and what she would end up doing, but it still didn't make her feel any better about it. Technically it did, but it didn't. It's not like her bank account had any income to it, things she had from back home as well as some money from some of the operations she was part of till she decided to change her life. It was quite a nice sum but still, she had no income and that meant it would only melt the more she spent it. "I'll cover the other half."
"What? No! Blake, that's too much. I appreciate your offer but I can't accept it." As soon as she got over her surprise at the offer, Ruby shook her head.
"Ruby, focus on the dog, now imagine Weiss being happy for having it. Now imagine Weiss hugging it as she sleeps." Blake took her head and turned her so that she would look at the plushie. It didn't take long before she could see the younger girl's resolution slowly breaking.
"B-But that's a lot." The girl said in a sad voice as her eyes were still focused on the fake dog.
"Then let's say I'm not giving you the money but just borrowing it to you, is that better?" Blake then observed the input of the information, the information being slowly analyzed and finally, the result presented itself as Ruby's face lit up.
"I'll give everything back! Just not sure if I can give back everything at once. But I'll definitely give everything back I promise!" The speed at which the girl turned around and grabbed both her hands made Blake almost lose her own balance. The barrage of promises didn't help with that.
"R-Right, Ruby, it's alright. I trust you, now let's buy it and head back before it's too late, alright?" Blake was getting a bit overwhelmed by this by now. And to make things worse she was paying for it. In some way that is.
oooOOOooo
"Surprise Weiss!" Ruby pushed the plush dog in her partner's face to both her surprise and annoyance.
"R-Ruby, what is this? Stop pushing it in my face!" The white-haired girl finally decided to grab the plush out of the younger one's hands, to which the latter just grinned as that had to be her intent.
"It's for you, a present!" As the redhead announced it cheerfully, Blake wasn't sure if she should stay or leave and let them have a moment. Once they got to their team's room and after Ruby noticed Weiss being inside she just decided to give the other girl the present immediately on the spot which left the catgirl in a bit of an awkward spot.
"A present?" Weiss blinked and her annoyance disappeared for the moment as she glanced at what she was holding. Blake took the next thing that happened as a sign that it was clear to just leave the two, as the Schnee had a momentary smile on her lips and she almost could see the happiness in the girl's eyes. Almost. Sadly that didn't last for long, a second or two, as the girl's features hardened once more and she pushed the fake dog back into Ruby's arms. "No."
"N-No? Why not? What's wrong with it?" It was the younger girl's turn to be surprised as she glanced between the plush and her partner, not understanding the logic behind this kind of rejection.
"I'm not six, Ruby, why would I need a plushie. They just clutter free space and offer nothing in return." Weiss crossed her arms and grimaced.
"That's not true! You can hug it and they look nice. Besides you don't need to be a kid to have them around!" Ruby retorted but Blake could tell from the girl's voice that even she knew those arguments wouldn't really persuade the Schnee. So while Blake was lurking in the shadows of said conversation, and that basically meant she went unnoticed by one of them and forgotten by the others, she did wait for a proper moment to intervene, especially now since she knew what the issue was.
"Weiss." She called out and she saw the white-haired girl raise her eyebrow as she glanced at her. "I think that while you're focusing on what the item is, you should instead focus on what meaning it has, both the plushie and why she's giving it to you." This was her best shot and she had to make it work, otherwise, all this time spent looking for a gift… And all that money would go to waste. Blake wasn't a greedy person but she sure didn't like to throw her money in the mud like that.
"Meaning?" While she didn't seem convinced yet, Blake took it as a sign of progress since the Schnee allowed for her to continue.
"Yes, it's..." She had to improvise, what could it be a symbol of… Friendship? No, partnership! "Of the partnership, between you and Ruby."
"Partnership? A stuffed dog? That's a ridiculous idea." At that point, Ruby looked up at her with pleading eyes and Blake had to stop herself from biting on her own lip. She had to make this work, not for money but for Ruby's sake.
"Yes, you're Ruby's partner and while you think this might be a ridiculous gift, think about how clever it actually is." This was yet another of her countless ploys to just buy time.
"How is this clever in any form or shape?" Weiss would start to tap her feet as she was starting to lose her patience, perhaps out of curiosity or maybe some other reason, Blake wasn't sure. What she was sure of is that her time buying was over.
"Because… Because if you were to go back in time and tell your past self about becoming friends with Ruby, you would say the exact same thing, ridiculous!" The catgirl snapped her fingers as she didn't even give the idea a second thought, deciding that its all or nothing with this one.
"I… I guess there's that." Weiss's brow furrowed as she glanced down thoughtfully. Now Blake had to push with this idea while she had her chance.
"Ruby? Do you have a have any kind of handkerchief on you?" As she asked, the girl in question almost jumped at the sound of her own name.
"Y-Yes? I think so." It took her a moment before she actually had the idea to look for it, soon she extracted a folded, cotton piece of a red square material. Perfect.
"Here." The catgirl caught the attention of both of them as she started to carefully tie the handkerchief around the stuffed dog's neck, making a small cape for the fake animal. "See? A red cape, just like Ruby's. Now it's a symbol of your partnership with her, your own personal… Dog Ruby." Only once she was done, did she understand that while this could indeed help, it could also ruin everything with how weird it seemed. Well, too late for regrets now.
In the meantime, Weiss eyed the newly accessorized stuffed dog. "I… I guess if it's supposed to be a symbol. Oh very well, I'll accept this stupid dog." And with that, Weiss basically stole the stuffed animal out of Ruby's grasp, a bit too eagerly if anyone would ask Blake, but at least it was a success.
"Right, I'll go get myself some tea, you two… Decide where to put it so it wouldn't take too much space." Blake immediately turned around towards the doors to hide her smirk, although her smile quickly faded as soon as she left the room. This was the end, right? This was over, no more helping Ruby, right? This was the last step because if there's more, she quits. She isn't paid enough for this kind of job.
oooOOOooo
Something woke up Blake that night. Something primal, something that even all the advanced technology couldn't really solve, something that was still present in modern society. A desire that could only be quenched for a certain period of time. There was no escaping it. It would always come back. Thirst.
With a deep sigh she opened her eyes and glanced at the ceiling, it didn't happen often enough, but it sometimes did. And each and every time she promised to just have a bottle of water or something like that on the side, yet each time she forgot and there was nothing to really solidify that idea since as mentioned before, it rarely happened. But when it did? It annoyed her. She carefully moved to sit on the edge of her bed, glancing at the beds on the opposite side.
On the top bed was Ruby, entangled in a weird mess with her sheets as if she was having a fight with it before falling asleep. On the bottom, one was Weiss which slept… Normally. That's really the best way to describe it. Although she couldn't help but smile as it became apparent to her that Weiss did, in fact, found a suitable place for the stuffed dog. Between her arms, as she hugged it with a barely noticeable smile. Which could as well be a grin on the Schnee's face.
But she didn't mean to spy on her teammates. She silently hopped down and began her adventure to get some water. Contrary to popular belief among those that knew who she was, she didn't really enjoy night walks. Nights were for sleeping, which she enjoyed doing while it was dark outside. Just because she could see in the dark, didn't mean she wanted to.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a sound behind herself. Someone was walking behind her, most likely barefoot and didn't try to sneak. She slowed down if only to see if something would come off from this. It wasn't often you meet someone on the corridor of the academy this late at night.
"Blake?" Hearing her name being called out and the voice that did it made her stop. And as she turned around she seemed to upset the girl that did call her out, Ruby.
"Whoah!" The redhead would jump back and against the wall, her eyes wide in shock as she tried to regain her composure.
"R-Ruby? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Did she turn around too fast? Was she looking that horrible without combing her hair?
"Y-Your eyes. They sort of freaked me out heh." With one last deep breath, the younger girl seemed to calm herself, offering an awkward smile while rubbing her neck.
Right, her eyes. "Sorry about that I don't really see my eyes that often, I forget that they tend to shine in the darkness like that. It can be unsettling I guess." It was her time to offer a nervous smile and a light shrug.
After that little exchange things went quiet, and as both of them stood there in silence, awkwardly glancing at the walls. Blake had to wonder if there was a purpose for this. Did Ruby want something from her? Or was this just her waking up because she wanted to get a drink or go to the toilet or whatever it is she needed that didn't include her. Deciding that she'd rather spend her night in bed than standing awkwardly in the middle of the corridor, she took the initiative. "So… Why are you up at this hour?"
"Huh? Oh! I saw you leave the room and… Well, I wanted to thank you." Ruby smiled shyly as her eyes never meet hers.
"Thank me? I don't think I did anything you haven't thanked me for yet." Blake offered a shrug in return, any kind of social dancing was a chore for her as she saw it as… Tiring and obnoxious. Thanking someone was one of those, especially when someone wanted to do so consistently for a longer period of time.
"For the help with the gift but not just that, if not for you I don't think Weiss would accept it." As if the memory of the Schnee accepting said gift, Ruby couldn't help but grin, as she finally could look directly at the catgirl.
"That was in my interest as well, I borrowed you half of that money and I don't like to waste my funds on nothing." Once more, She offered an indifferent shrug.
"I'd give the money back anyway, no matter if Weiss would accept it or not. There are also the times at the arcades and when I tried studying with her. Although I'm not sure why you made me drink coffee. That was awful, both making me do it and the coffee! But… But you helped me." The redhead let out a sigh. "I mean! It's not that me and Weiss can't get together, we do! Just often we have to… Struggle for a moment to get some common ground together. And I wanted to avoid that struggle part the last few weeks."
"I and Weiss, not me and Weiss, but that's not important. What makes the last few weeks so special?" Blake's eyebrow rose at that, while she knew perfectly well what was the reason, she still couldn't help but tease the girl, even if indirectly.
"Eh?! N-No reason! Just… Just you know! A-Anyway, I'll head back, we have a long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow! No reason to stay awake for too long! Good night Blake!" To say that the girl was panicking wasn't enough. Or maybe it was the perfect word to describe her behavior?
Still, as the younger of the two started to evacuate, Blake couldn't help but call after her. "Ruby?"
"Y-Yeah?" Her team leader stopped and glanced over her shoulder.
Remembering what the last part of the list was, Blake decided that it didn't matter if Ruby was or wasn't aware that she knew. "Good luck." With one last smile, she continued her adventure to find the mythical glass of water, leaving the other girl confused.
oooOOOooo
Today was exhausting, as per usual, Friday wasn't filled with a lot of classes, but today, even though there weren't a lot of them, they drained all of her team, including herself. As such, they all decided to just lay around for the rest of the day. Yang was… Taking a nap or meditating or whatever it is she was doing by just laying there with her eyes closed but not really sleeping. It was a mystery that Blake never really asked about, perhaps she would. Perhaps one day. Perhaps.
As for the red and white duo? It wasn't a surprise to see Weiss sit on the edge of her bed reading something, while Ruby just played whatever it is she played on her scroll. While most people play games with their hands, Ruby had a very rare ability to play them with her entire body… At least that's the conclusion Blake had after seeing the redhead throw herself and move all around her bed whenever she played anything.
And Blake? Well, Blake was hiding behind her book, while most would assume she was reading, she just wanted to have a reason to not be bothered. It took little effort and all she had to do was to just keep the book the correct way so that no one would notice her little ploy. What she really did was simple. She observed her team leader. Why? Because the girl became more and more anxious after their little exchange that night. She suspected that it meant she was yet to move to the last step of that weird list.
It was getting boring, and while initially, she was all for just laying around for the rest of the day, it didn't take long for her to rest up enough to just feel a bit tireless. This was a good enough excuse to offer Ruby one more helping hand, although she couldn't force the redhead to actually do anything about it.
"I'll go get myself a snack." She announced as she jumped off the bed, that got the attention of the red and white duo, while Yang remained dormant on her bed. Right, Yang couldn't stay here if Ruby was to confess. "Come on, Yang, you'll accompany me." That got the blondes attention, as she opened her eyes and glanced at her with those lilac orbs.
"Huh? Who said I am?" The blonde frowned, not really enjoying the idea of moving from her bad.
"Nobody said you are, but I'm asking you to join me, so please?" She offered her brightest smile, something she hated doing but knew very well what effect it had on the blonde. And as per usual, Yang groaned as she sat up.
"Ugh, fine, I hate it when you do this." She mumbled, slowly stretching after getting on her feet.
"Do what?" Blake asked innocently as she already was leading the other girl outside.
"You very well know what." Yang rolled her eyes.
As the catgirl lead them outside, just before closing the door, she turned to the two remaining girls who simply ignored what just occurred inside their room. "We'll be out for a few hours so..." With that, she closed the door, and only Yang's surprised voice could be heard from behind it.
"Snack for a few hours?!"
oooOOOooo
"So we just switched places to basically do the same thing, sit on our butts?" Yang questioned as they both… Well, sat on a bench with some snacks to kill time. Although ever since leaving the room, Blake was feeling… Off. By now she learned that leaving those two alone was… Well, it was like Ruby told her. They somehow worked together, but it took time adjusting. Since the adjusting was about small things, it took a small amount of time. This was the logic that Blake believed they're dynamic worked like. But this? This was something big and she wasn't sure how long it would take till those two would make things work. Especially since the outcome could be anything and it was in Weiss's hands to even put this thing on either of those routes. No, that wasn't something she would accept. Not after all the work, she put into this.
"Yang? I forgot my scroll, I'll be right back!" With that she stood up, wanting to immediately go towards their room, but the other girl's complaint made her pause.
"But we came here because of you in the first place." The blonde frowned as she crossed her arms. This was something she wanted to avoid, the other girl reaching some sort of a boiling point. As she chewed on the inside of her cheek, she decided that this required some desperate measures.
"I know, I'm sorry. I'll just grab my scroll and come back here. I'll make this worth the small wait, alright? I'll do anything you'll want after I'm back." She smiled apologetically, trying not to cringe as she knew perfectly well what the other girl would want of her.
"Well… I don't know. Anything?" Yang's eyebrow rose at that.
"Anything." She nodded.
"Fine, go get your scroll, I'll wait." The other girl waved at her dismissively and Blake didn't wait even a second before starting to walk towards her team's room. Walking until the first turn, after which she began to run. She had to make sure everything was fine.
Why did she care so much? She did… Learn to consider all of them her friends and while it was harder with some of them, they became friends and all was well… But she still had a policy about minding her own business and expecting others to do the same, with some leeway of course. But now? Well… She got emotionally invested in it. The worst part was that she only knew things from Ruby's perspective, she had no idea if Weiss treated the younger girl as a very close friend or was there something sparkling inside her heart. Sparkling? Now that's a corny term.
Soon her mind went blank as she reached the doors. There were so many scenarios, so many possibilities and all of them tried to push their way into her mind, yet none could squeeze itself through all that clutter, leaving no real thoughts inside her head.
She slowly approached the doors and put her ear to it, closing her eyes as to be able to focus on the sound that would hopefully come from the other side. She didn't care if anyone saw her, as long as she could persuade them in a nonverbal way to just leave her alone.
"Ruby, that's… Very sweet of you to say that..."
That was troubling to hear.
"...I love you too..."
This was a bit better.
"...No matter what, you'll always be my best friend, so please don't worry about it."
And this was alarming, as Blake's eyes opened wide. She wasn't sure at what part their conversation was, was Weiss aware that Ruby wanted to be romantically involved with her or did she misinterpret her words and took the love as friendship love. She didn't care, she had to try and intervene in a direct manner.
As she grabbed the door handle quickly opening the door and jumping inside. "Ruby wants to be your girlfriend!" She wasn't sure if she yelled or whispered, but she could feel her ears heat up from all of this.
"Blake?!" Ruby called out, shocked and surprised by both her words and her suddenly appearing in the room like that.
"What?!" The same could be said about Weiss. Blake let out a deep sigh, closing the door behind her, hoping that no one randomly heard what she just called out.
"I might make a fool of myself since I'm not sure how far and in which direction your conversation went, but Ruby wants to date you." She moved closer to the two, both of their faces red as a tomato at that point.
"Y-You spied on us?!" It was rare to see an angry Ruby, or was it the first time? Although she understood that it was just trying to overcome her embarrassment.
"Well, yes and no. I actually figured it out a good chunk of time ago that you were trying to get Weiss to notice you." She pointed at the Schnee. "Remember that list you two were talking about? Or rather Weiss was reading from a website for teenagers. I noticed you acting odd and it took me perhaps two of those six steps before I finally was sure that you used that list to make Weiss notice you."
"The list… You wanted to… Ruby?" Weiss seemed… Flabbergasted, that was the best word to describe her current state.
"I… I didn't know how to tell you! I thought I could ask you for an advice and then use that advice with you so you would notice." The redhead paused, only to raise her voice at her next words as she tried to defend herself. "I tried to tell you directly, I really did!" Only for her voice to shrink into a whisper. "But I was afraid." With that said she lowered her eyes.
Once silence settled in, Blake decided to just continue with her part of the story. "So after I figured it out I decided to help Ruby out. The arcades, that study session you had, even the gift. I wanted to make sure you would notice." She turned her attention to the Schnee.
"I…" Weiss was speechless as she focused her gaze on Ruby, but after a moment of consideration she smiled and reached out to touch the younger girl's cheek. "I didn't know. When you asked me about an advice I was… I got jealous. Someone would take you away from me." She let out a soft sigh, making Ruby raise her face to look at her directly. "I'm… I was confused about what I felt and I thought that this could just be like this forever. I would have you by my side and I wouldn't need to bother myself with understanding my own feelings. As long as I had you, I would be happy. Who cares what you call it, right?"
"Weiss…?" The redhead grew more and more confused as the Schnee went on.
"Then you approached me about having someone special. It felt awful like you splashed me with cold water. But you seemed so motivated that I couldn't not help you." She chuckled dryly. "For some reason, I'd rather you be happy then if I remained selfish."
Meanwhile, Blake was afraid to breathe. She didn't want to destroy this moment by reminding the two that she was still there, at the same time she wanted to make sure she won't leave this room until those two came with some conclusion to this weird dance they had right now.
"I don't understand." Ruby shook her head, her silver eyes now focused on the Schnee.
"I did notice that you started acting differently after that day, but I thought you just were you. You that I adored. You that would want to make sure that you were still friends with people around you even if you would start dating someone… You would let them know you're not leaving them behind. It made me feel happy even if it was a little bittersweet." Weiss shook her head before she continued. "You dolt, if you just told me you wanted to invite me on a date, I'd say yes." Weiss smiled as she reached to take Ruby's hands into hers.
"Oh… W-Wait does that… Does that mean…?" Ruby's eyes went wide as the realization hit her.
"Yes, silly, it means exactly that." Weiss couldn't help but giggle at the younger girl's antics. Her expression turned momentarily into a surprised one as the redhead launched herself to hug her, but after a moment to regain her balance, Weiss hugged her back with her previous smile still present on her lips.
Blake decided that this was the best moment to leave, and as she reached towards the doors and opened it, she glanced one last time at the pair only to meet the pale blue gaze of the Schnee. She was still smiling as she glanced at her and the catgirl could easily see her mouthing a "thank you" to which she smiled back and nodded, leaving the room and quietly closing the door behind her.
Now to get to Yang and to distract her for the next… Few hours.
oooOOOooo
It was a nice such a nice weather outside, so it was no surprise that Blake was currently looking outside through the open window, enjoying the warm breeze that hit her face. Down at the courtyard was a lone figure, as she slowly wandered along the grass looking at something on her scroll. That lone figure would be Weiss.
And just as if summoned by her name, came her partner, dashing with high speed as she used her semblance, only to tackle the unsuspecting Schnee. While Blake couldn't hear what they were talking about from this high up, and the wind making things even harder, it wasn't hard to figure it out.
As she tackled Weiss to the ground, she could see the girl fighting and struggling to get the younger one off herself, after a moment of said struggle she managed to free herself and stand up, the other girl doing the same… Only to tackle her to the ground again.
This time, while the struggle persisted, Weiss didn't win. She laid there, being hugged by the younger girl, only to hug her back after a moment, as if admitting the defeat. Blake smiled at that, only to blink as she noticed Weiss taking Ruby's cape and covering their heads with it. At that the catgirl blushed, knowing very well what they would do under that cover.
She rested her head against her arms, just the memory of the past few weeks in regards to those two made her feel exhausted.
Who knew that being a cat Cupid was such a hard job.
Author's note:
Look, guys, I can write Whiterose one-shots that aren't about food!
This was a silly idea that I had for a while and it evolved quite a bit before I decided to write it down. The main inspiration was some stupid list I saw in some website for teenagers or something when I was doing some work for my uni. I wasn't sure if it was sarcastic or if it was just so bland and dumb, but it was at that moment when the idea bloomed. Initially, I was struggling as to how to make it work and with who, and since I enjoy the idea of Ruby and Weiss being to dorks and either being unaware of their love or just dancing around the issue A LOT, I thought why not make this about them. So at first, this was from Ruby's perspective, but then I made it all from Blake's perspective cause… Reasons. Seriously I have no idea why I went with this idea. I hope it worked.
It was a strange thing to write white rose from a perspective of someone "outside" of that. But I hope I managed to make it work somehow.
In the end both the idea was silly and I decided to not try and make this anything but silly. Hence the "comedy" tag.
So yea… Also, RWBY volume 6 is great so far.