Special Thanks
/users/xXIyra16Xx - Xlyra helped with storyline development and was one of the people
who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!
u/4976966/- Mikotizini helped with the editing of the final draft and was the other
person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!
Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!
A Painting in the Park
Chapter 1
Weiss was walking towards the park as she did almost every evening after work. It was a habit that she'd picked up over the past few years, and to be honest she quite enjoyed her walks. She didn't get out and about to often and the quiet park was a perfect way to make up for it.
But lately, she was enjoying her time spent here more and more. As she turned off the sidewalk and onto a smaller path that led through some light vegetation and trees Weiss sighed happily. The park was quite something, it was just a small patch of nature in the bustling city of Vale if one was to compare it to the other parks around but it wasn't often frequented.
Weiss enjoyed that and took the opportunity to relax as she looked around. She knew that it should be here somewhere. Without fail, there was a new one every day for the past few weeks and she couldn't wait to get a glimpse of it. When she turned a bend on the path that led out of the thin line of trees and into a clearing she finally saw what she was looking for. Oddly enough it was in the center of the clearing, usually, it was off to the side or in a small grove off the path.
Weiss walked up to the sculpture so she could take a look at it as it rested on a stone table. Today the sculpture was of a crescent moon engulfed by a rose and its stem. It was about two feet tall, which is a good deal bigger than the usual sculptures that Weiss found. At the base was the name of this work of art and next to it was the creators' personal insignia, a rose head in full bloom.
'Crescent Rose'
As far as Weiss could tell the sculptures were always made of some kind of quick drying clay that was then painted over. It could have likely been made one, or quite possibly two, days ago. The moon on the sculpture was a startling and brilliant white while the rose itself was a deep crimson in color. These were two of her favorite colors and it made Weiss love the piece all the more.
"Quite a beautiful piece we have here today." Weiss quietly said to herself. She was quite glad that she had started bringing a camera to the park with her as she snapped a few pictures. She didn't know who made these but she did know that they were impressive and that they somehow made her day that much better.
Once finished with the pictures Weiss went and sat on a nearby bench before setting about getting comfortable. After she was content Weiss pulled out a stack of papers that made up an unpublished book that she was editing for a friend of hers.
"You have quite the imagination, Ms. Belladonna. I wonder how you manage to come up with these ideas that you write about."
Weiss smiled to herself as she read along and made notes on the papers. This time the book she's writing was about a group of 4 friends that were torn apart after a tragic attack on their beloved city.
She was nearing the end of editing the first draft and thankfully the ending was at least happy. She always struggled when her friend Blake wrote stories with sad and painful endings. Weiss refused to ever tell her friend but whenever she read those stories she would always end up crying at least a little.
Blake was just such a good writer and she could very easily draw out the emotions of her readers. It was one of the reasons why she always asked herself as to why Blake stayed with her current publishers. If she tried she could definitely get an even better company to publish her work and get her name out there. Maybe it was because she, her best friend, was part of the small company?
Either way, Weiss was grateful that she stayed and that she was the person lucky enough to get to read her stories before they even hit the shelf.
Time passed by quickly and before Weiss realized it, it was time to go. If she stayed too late then it would start to get dark and cold out and she just wasn't quite dressed for the chill of an early spring night.
Weiss quickly packed up the papers to Blake's book before heading over to the sculpture once more. She set a slip of paper under Crescent Rose with a soft smile and started walking out of the park. The slip of paper was something she'd been doing for a little while.
She wasn't sure if the artist ever got it but it made her feel a bit lighter in her otherwise heavy world. Blake was really her only friend and the only thing she ever did constantly was going to the park to read and edit for her dear friend. Other than that her life was mostly made of paperwork or waiting. Waiting for what? She wasn't exactly sure but she knew she was waiting for something.
On the paper was the same thing she always put on it. There was praise for the artists' beautiful work and how it was something that would brighten her day, no matter what has happened to drag her down. As Weiss walked away she told herself that she would try and find out who this mystery sculptor was and tell them just what she thought about their works.
By the time Weiss got home, she had decided that this weekend she would try and meet the person who leaves the sculptures in the park. If she had to she would sit on the bench and wait from dawn until dusk until someone brought the new sculpture.
But until then Weiss had work to do. This next draft of Blake's would be the one that got printed out and so Weiss had to make sure that there were as few mistakes as possible. That thought on her mind she sat at her table as her dinner heated up on the stove and continued to pour over the stacks of words. By the end of the week, it was going to be perfect and she could finally read the finished version. That time she would read it for enjoyment instead of to critique.
"Yang! Come on! We don't have all dayyy."
Ruby was almost literally pulling Yang down the sidewalk in order to get to the library. She needed some new books for her upcoming painting project and Yang was her ride to and from the town square library.
Obviously, Yang hated coming here but she was one of the few people who could get her to do almost anything, even things she hated… Well, she actually was the only person who could do that but still!
"Ruby, why do I have to come with you again?" Yang had been complaining for a good chunk of the way here and leaving the car behind to start walking didn't seem to have changed anything.
"I told you! I need some books on art styles!"
"But why? You're already, like, the best artist in all of Vale!" She blushed slightly at the praise. She didn't think she was as amazing as Yang said but she couldn't really argue with her without her dearest sister turning it into a big embarrassing scene for her. But even if she didn't believe it, she still enjoyed the praise. It always felt nice to have her big sisters approval after all.
"Because I need an idea for my new project…" Ruby sighed quietly
"You mean the big one that they're supposed to put-"
"Yes, that one." Ruby cut Yang off and started pulling her along again. It was easier now that she explained her reasons as to why she needed to come. However, she knew that it would be short-lived and she wanted to get as far as possible before Yang decided to resist again.
They hadn't been able to park as close to the library as Ruby would've liked because of the lack of parking spaces and so they had to walk a good 10 minutes in order to get to the library, with Yang complaining every few moments. It seemed like the town square was busy but as they entered Ruby was relieved that the library wasn't too crowded.
"Well we're here now so where are those books you wanted?" Yang said with feigned exasperation.
"Hehehe… Well… I actually don't know what books I'm going to get yet." Ruby smiled a sheepishly as Yang looked at her slightly annoyed. She usually looked ahead and knew what she would get, this meant that Yang had been expecting a quick in and out.
"Fine! Just come find me when you're ready to go. I'll see if I can find someone to talk to. Maybe some cute guy that needs a lift home…" Yang mused the last part to herself as she looked around.
Ruby pointed her in the direction of a lone raven-haired girl in the corner.
"Yang go talk to her. She looks interesting and it seems like she could use some company?" She had gotten to know Yangs preferences in both male and females. She used to be quite oblivious to these things but eventually she had started noticing these things. And despite how Yang insisted that she was straight and not gay or bi, Ruby knew the truth. She was once more proven correct as she saw Yangs' eyes light up at the sight of the other girl as she was turning herself towards the art section of the library.
After getting to the art section she looked around a little bit before looking through the spines of all the books. There were various things there, varying from beginners books to advanced theories on what colors and shapes are most compatible with the human brain. None of those were what she was looking for though and she was starting to get mildly annoyed that she couldn't find anything that could spark an idea.
Ruby let out a heavy sigh as she neared the end of the bookshelf she was looking through. She was about to turn around to go look at the next shelf when a book caught her eye.
'Monochromatic Artistry'
The style of painting in black and white. She'd done it before but wasn't ever interested in it. She really loved the vibrant colors that came with the more… Well colorful, pieces of art. But as she looked at the book she had the seedling of an idea spark to life in her brain. There wasn't enough there to say what it was quite yet but a seedling was better than nothing. With her mind made up, she tucked the book under her arm and continued her search.
Ruby spent the better part of an hour looking around the art section for books, and when she finished her search she had a good six new books. Three of the books were on monochromatic art, two were on the drawing of natural landscaping (something she loved to paint and draw), and one was on hair drawing techniques. The monochromatic books were for the idea she had sprouting in her mind and the landscaping one was just something she always tried to find while at the library. But the book of hair. That one was because Yang wanted to be painted by Ruby. And she wasn't usually the best at drawing hair. Especially Yangs.
When she finally decided that she had what she needed, Ruby made her way back to the check out area. After she finished there she looked around for Yang and was pleased to find her still with the raven-haired girl she had believed would be a good match. She took a closer look at the girl while she approached with a friendly smile. Yup, just Yangs' type. Maybe a bit quieter and into books then she would prefer but look wise? Spot on.
"Hey, Rubes! Come here and meet my new friend!" Yang excited got up and pulled Ruby over. She noticed how Yangs' new 'friend' flinched at the sudden volume of the exclamation and quietly snickered to herself. The poor girl was going to have to deal with her loud sister a lot it seemed. It almost made her feel bad for her. Almost.
"Ruby, this is Blake! Blake, this is Ruby. My sister!"
"Nice to meet you, Blake!" Ruby held out her hand to shake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Ruby." Blake gave her a soft smile and shook her hand gently, but yet firmly. It was quite different from Yangs' handshakes. For one, the older girl doesn't ever do handshakes - instead opting for bear hugs. But besides that, when Yang does shake hands it's much like her hugs. Strong and likely to squeeze the life out of you.
Ruby takes a quick glance at Yang and notices that she is none too discreetly staring at her new friend, and has to hide a smirk. She returns her attention to Blake so that they can talk some.
"So Blake, whatcha up to?" She asks this because, while she is at a library and has a decent stack of books around her, she is also surrounded by papers.
"Oh, not much. I'm just working on the final draft for my new book. My editor sent in her final revisions this morning and I wanted to get this done before the weekend."
So Blake was an author! That got Ruby excited enough that she was almost bouncing from all the excess energy.
"You write!? What kind of books do you write? What's this one about? Isn't it a lot of work to do an entire revision in…. Ummm…. 3 days?" Ruby realized she didn't even remember what day of the week it was and blushed a bit at that realization. She hoped that they didn't notice her small blunder. Especially Blake, because she actually kinda liked her so far.
"Yes I write, but you're going to have to read my books yourself in order to see what they're about."
"Oh, that's not fair ya should just tell us what they're about!" Yang decided to quip in, she was never much for reading anyways.
Blake writes a few names on a piece of paper and slides it over to her, while also seeming to let her comment on how long the revision would take go unnoticed. Yang was also being slightly ignored, much to her annoyance. Although Blake did have a small smirk now.
"These are my more popular books if you're interested. As for this book, I believe I'm going to title it as 'Grimm Eclipse'. It seems fitting in my opinion." Blake gives one of her soft smiles.
"I will definitely be reading these!" Ruby wasn't lying either. She really did plan to read the books, after all, she did enjoy more than just her art books. Besides reading an author's works can tell a lot about said author and Ruby wanted to get to know Blake a bit more.
"Glad to hear. Well, it's been fun talking to you, but I really must get back to work. As I said, I hope to finish this by the weekend. If I manage you'll probably be able to buy the printed version within the next few weeks."
"Alright well, we'll let you get back to it then!" Ruby grabbed hold of her still staring sister's arm and started pulling again.
"Wait!" Yang yells out a bit frantically as she's pulled from whatever alternate reality she had been in. She pats herself down before looking over at Blakes' pile of blank papers.
"May I?" She gestures to the papers and pens. Blake looks a tad confused but gives her a nod. Ruby watches her sister scribble down a series of numbers with a bemused smile on her face, knowing exactly what's happening.
"Give me a call or text some time!" Yang flashes a bright smile at Blake while handing her the paper. Blake hesitated for a few moments before accepting the paper, folding it, and putting it in her pocket neatly.
"I'll do that."
"Alright, Yangggg. C'mon we need to go back home anywaysss!"
Ruby practically dragged Yang from the library in a very similar manner to how she was brought to it in the first place. However, she eventually started to walk like a normal person and they made their way to the car.
"Ya know, she was actually kinda cute…" Ruby was going to have a little fun with her sister.
"Well, I wouldn't say cute… Maybe hot?" Yang gave a wink to her sister as she said this. And with the said wink and accompanying comment, Ruby's plans for poking fun at her sister were gone with the wind.
"Well, you weren't supposed to just straight up admit it…" Ruby grumbles to herself under her breath. Where's the fun in teasing her if she's just gonna straight up accept it! It's probably not even teasing at that point! She was annoyed now, Yang always got to tease her and make her embarrassed but whenever Ruby tried to do it to her it didn't work out. Nooooo instead she just straight up admitted…. Ruby's smile was back.
"Hmmm, so does that mean you're… attracted to her? Cuz it's usually pretty odd for a straight woman to be calling another woman hot." She gave her sister a knowing smile.
Yangs' only response was to open her mouth before closing it once more. Ruby let out a satisfied giggle before running off ahead in order to get to the car. As she ran off she could hear her sputter out some form of response at her sisters retreating form.
Yang quickly regained her senses and went off after her in order to catch up and explain herself, and if necessary to defend herself. After all, it's not every day that Ruby can pull that kinda thing over her sister.
When the car pulled up to Ruby and Yang's shared apartment, she ran inside. She wanted to get started on her project, but first for a bit of encouragement! She went up to a drawer next to her bedstand and pulled out a good-sized pile of little letters, and spent the next hour happily reading them. She even re-read some of her favorite ones a few times.
They all contained praise and compliments for her pieces of work, and all of them were from the same person. She didn't know who was writing and leaving them, but they were one of the reasons she had chosen to go through with her next project. After she finished reading her collection of letters she began to start studying her new books with earnest so that she'd be able to do the best she could in order to make her favorite fan proud.
