With a snap the pale blue curtains that separated her living room from the outside world opened letting the warm glow of the early fall sun shine through the glass doors and into the immaculate room, bouncing off the off white walls.
Despite having moved in a month ago a few boxes still sat pressed up against the wall in the corner. Weiss glanced over them briefly before again pushing it to the back of her mind. She would get to them; there wasn't anything of any real importance in them anyway. She quickly checked her phone, sitting on the coffee table before making her way into the kitchen.
A few clicks and her coffee pot began to sputter and spout as she walked through the house toward the front door.
A cool breeze tousled her hair as she stepped onto her porch to pick up the newspaper sitting there.
"Morning, Weiss!" Called a bubbly voice, already knowing who it was Weiss took a second to prepare herself before looking up from the newspaper in her hands to her cheery neighbor, standing on the sidewalk in a pair of, in Weiss' opinion, much too short running shorts, a t-shirt and her glaringly red sneakers.
"Good morning, Ruby." She replied evenly. "Time for your morning run?" She asked, looking back down at the front page of the today's newspaper
"Yup, if I don't go now there won't be any time, they have me designing a new project for work and I have to get started soon." She smiled brightly. Weiss did look up at that.
As far as Ruby knew Weiss only knew she was an engineer, but what she actually knew was that Ruby was an engineer for the company that designed tools and machines for her father's energy company.
A discovery she'd made 2 weeks after meeting the energetic younger woman. Sitting in a board meeting with her father and his associates she'd been passed a folder on the latest design modifications to their factories and had for one of just a handful of times in her life been completely impressed by the vast increase in precision and efficiency these new designs would give them.
Digging through the documents the name of the engineer jumped out at her: Ruby Rose.
An hour of digging on her laptop later revealed her ever cheery new neighbor was a certified genius, a prodigy of all things mechanical.
It explained how the 23 year old afforded her home in the nicer suburb Weiss had chosen when she moved back to the city of Vale to be near the Company's headquarters as she prepared to take it over.
"Oh, anything interesting?" She slipped the paper under her arm and leveled her undivided attention on Ruby.
"Ah, well…corporate stuff…" The younger woman hedged before tapping the side of her nose signaling that she couldn't really talk about it. The discreetness pleased the heiress.
"ahh, of course."
"You should come running with me, Weiss, I wouldn't mind the company." She smiled hopefully.
Looking into her stunning silver eyes Weiss was tempted to agree but it was too early in the day for dealing with her energizer bunny of a neighbor, sweet as she was.
"Perhaps another time, Ruby." She dodged and forced herself to look anywhere but the molten silver burning holes into her, missing the disappointment that flickered in their depths.
"Aight, see ya later." She called as she jogged away down the street.
She bit her bottom lip when she realized she was still watching her neighbor's backside disappear down the street.
Weiss released a breath before turning and walking back into her house. Her phone buzzed from its place on the coffee table. A few quick swipes revealing a memo that today's meeting was moved to lunch tomorrow and she now had no reason to come into the office today.
She dropped the paper on the table and made a beeline for the bathroom in her bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes in her wake. The room was quickly filling with steam as she pulled the hair tie out of her pristine colorless locks, letting it cascade down her back before stepping into the hot shower.
Weiss groaned to herself in the privacy of her shower, resting her forehead on the wet tile of her bathroom wall.
Every morning
Every morning at 6:30 Weiss went out to get her newspaper, just in time for Ruby to erupt out her front door for a brisk morning run, always stopping to chat with the at first, reluctant heiress.
Within a few days she looked forward to the early morning meeting with her spirited neighbor.
She was developing a very bad habit. At least that was what she was going to call it. She groaned to herself.
Ogling her neighbor, in her still much to short, shorts when she turned away and ran down the street nearly every morning at the crack of dawn.
When she was facing her she found herself hostage of those silver pools. She'd never met anyone with eyes such a shade, they weren't contacts, Weiss had stared long enough and deeply enough into them to know.
She groaned again, face pressed into the tile. This was ridiculous. Her only saving grace was that Ruby had yet to pick up on her intense gaze.
Her mind lingered on the mental image of her neighbor jogging away and with a ground out sigh she flipped the handles on the water turning it icy.
Weiss frowned to herself as she ran her towel through her damp hair.
She needed to do something about her attraction to her neighbor before it became a problem. Well, anymore then it was starting to become.
She heard her phones jingle signaling she had an email and huffed, padding out of her bedroom and into the living room, still drying her hair with one hand as she picked up her phone in the other. A memo about what restaurant tomorrow's meeting would be held at. She rolled her eyes before movement in her peripheral had her turning to look out the glass doors that faced Ruby's home and the floor to ceiling window that allowed her to peer into the engineer's kitchen.
Where said engineer was standing now, jaw unhinged starring back at Weiss, arms at her side, the mug in her hand pouring coffee onto the floor.
A chill passed over her, but was being quickly replaced by a deep burning across her face as Weiss came to a horrifying realization.
She was naked.
What was in reality a handful of seconds felt like they stretched on forever as they stared at each other before Weiss finally jerked, pulling the towel out of her hair in an attempt to cover her body. Her sudden movement jerked Ruby out of her stupor and face ablaze stepped back only to slip in the puddle of coffee at her feet.
Arms flailing she grabbed the nearest thing she could; the table cloth.
Weiss yanked the curtains closed, but not before seeing Ruby flop onto her kitchen floor, dragging the contents of her table down on top of herself.
Weiss clutched her towel to her chest, heart thundering beneath it.
Ruby had seen her naked.
Naked
If possible the heat in her face doubled.
"Oh my god" She groaned, burying it in the damp fabric.
The next morning Weiss peaked out her peep hole at 6:30 and waited, Ruby never ran by and by 6:45, feeling more than a little creepy, she finally leaned back away from the door with a sigh, rubbing her temple.
This was certainly a sign, she knew. What it meant?
She had no clue.
By 11:30 there was still no sign of the rambunctious engineer and Weiss couldn't wait any longer, she had a meeting to get to.
Her fingers drummed on the leather of her steering wheel as she glared at the red light in front of her, but her mind was elsewhere.
She had never been the most sociable person, she could admit, but she enjoyed her daily interactions with her neighbor. It was like a shot of espresso, Ruby's sunny demeanor and cheerful optimism.
Now it was hard to believe they'd ever be able to look each other in the eye again, not after yesterday.
When she pulled into the parking lot her father was waiting outside the doors for her, all business in his finely tailored white suit.
Shoulders back, chin up and all thoughts of Ruby temporarily pushed out of her thoughts as she climbed out of her Aston martin.
"Hello Weiss, your timing is perfect; Mr. Ozpin and his lead engineer arrived a few minutes ago. You'll be working closely with them as I want you to oversee this project." He informed her quickly as they stepped inside. The maître D showed them to their table and Weiss' breath hitched.
Sitting next to Mr. Ozpin, the head of the engineering company was of course his lead engineer; Ruby.
Ozpin spotted them first and stood, causing Ruby to look up. Twin silvers landed on her and they both paused, eyes immediately looking anywhere but each other.
"Mr. Schnee, Miss Schnee" Ozpin greeted both with a nod and took both their hands when they offered them. "This is my lead engineer, Ruby Rose." He gestured to the youngest of the assembled party.
"A pleasure" She said quietly with a smile and took Mr. Schnee's extended hand in a brief but firm shake, hesitating only a split second before extending it to Weiss who quickly reciprocated.
She stomped down the odd electrifying feeling when the skin of her palm pressed flush against Ruby's, rough calloused finger tips brushing the back of her hand, blue and silver locking briefly.
"Shall we?" Her father's voice broke through the haze and they both jerked their hands back.
Ozpin nodded, sitting back in his vacated chair, Ruby following suit.
Weiss had the misfortune or maybe good luck to be sitting in the chair opposite of Ruby, who was doing her best to look anywhere but at Weiss, giving the heiress the opportunity to observe her.
She'd never seen the engineer in anything other than her running outfit and a pair of jeans but now she sat across from Weiss wearing a casual but nice red dress, normally tousled hair was brushed to lay flat and if she wasn't mistaken, just the tiniest bit of makeup, highlighting her features.
She realized she was starring and forced her gaze onto the approaching waiter instead.
Drink orders were given before he left the foursome, her father taking the opportunity to begin talks with their business partner.
Weiss listened attentively as the two men talked, she was going to lead this project but when her father was present he handled the majority of business, only occasionally turning to ask her for her thoughts or ideas, usually a test of her grasp on what there associates were telling them. It drove her crazy.
She glanced back to the spot across from her in time to see Ruby's eyes dart away and her cheeks already dusted with a hint of powdered blush darkened, prompting Weiss to stare until they would turn tentatively back to Weiss.
This went on for the entirety of the meal.
If the two older men at the table noticed anything amiss they gave no sign.
Ruby spoke up a few times about her ideas for the projects design and her father seemed pleased by the engineer's ideas and keen insight.
"And you've already started the design work?" Mr. Schnee leveled a curious stare on her. Ruby nodded.
"Yes...yesterday." Her eyes flickered to Weiss before turning back to her father. "It shouldn't take me more than a month to finish the designs, at which point we can begin work on a prototype to start working out an unforeseen kinks in the plans."
Mr. Schnee nodded
"Given the quality of the last project you designed I have faith that this too shall be a marvel of engineering." He praised the young woman. Ruby smiled sheepishly.
"Thank you, sir."
Weiss breathed a sigh of relief when she finally stepped back into her home after the long and while fruitful, awkward meeting.
She plopped onto her couch with a tired grunt.
How embarrassing, she felt like every time those eyes fell on her they were seeing her naked.
Weiss covered her face with her hands and groaned.
She was expected to work closely with Ruby on this project. How could she do that when they couldn't even look each other in the eye?
She pulled herself up and shuffled into her bedroom, changing out of the blouse and skirt she'd worn to the meeting and threw on a white tank top and shorts, fully intending to stay rooted to her couch with her laptop the rest of the day.
A rapping at the front door stopped her midway to plopping back onto the couch. Weiss scowled to herself
She trudged to the door and glanced through the peep hole. Her breath caught.
Ruby was standing on her front porch, rocking back and forth on her heels, hands shoved into the jeans she was now wearing.
'What is she doing here?' She didn't have long to think before Ruby started to turn and Weiss scrambled for the lock, trying not to fling the door open. Ruby halted, turning back toward the house in surprise.
"Hey, Weiss" She started.
"Ruby…did you…need something?" She cleared her throat anxiously, watching her fidget on the walkway.
"Uh, yeah, I was wondering if we could talk…"
A rock dropped in the heiress's stomach
"I assume you don't mean the project..." She trailed off. Ruby's cheeks tinted red but she nodded.
Weiss took a deep silent breath through her nose before stepping to the side.
"Come in."
Weiss closed it behind them and lead Ruby into the kitchen.
"Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?" Her inbred manners kicked in.
"Oh, uh, water would be good, thanks." Ruby sank into one of the mahogany chairs at Weiss' dining table, glancing around at the immaculate white walls.
A glass was sat down in front of her with a quiet clink.
"I'm really sorry about yesterday, Weiss." She burst out making the heiress jump. "I…I didn't mean to stare I was just getting coffee and I thought I saw something…and you were in your living room…" she trailed off, making Weiss flush, knowing exactly what she'd left out.
She dropped into the chair next to Ruby with a sigh, covering her face with a hand.
"You don't need to apologize, Ruby. It was an accident. It was my fault; I forgot my curtains were open..." She trailed off lamely.
Ruby made a noise in her throat, turning her eyes hesitantly but curious to Weiss.
"Do you…do that often?"
Weiss choked
"No!" She screeched making Ruby jump. "I was in the shower and my phone went off." She quickly explained before her face went even redder "Why do you care?!"
"I don't! It's just…" Her mouth worked soundlessly before she finally managed to spit it out. "Will you go out with me?"
The silence that followed thundered through the kitchen.
"What?" Was all the heiress could manage to spit out after the long silence.
Ruby dragged her hands through the black and red strands nervously, starring at her lap.
"I don't know if I'm not good at dropping hints or if you're just dense…" Weiss made a sour face at the statement which the younger woman ignored, continuing. "But I figure I can't make this situation any more awkward then it already is…So, would you go out with me?" She finally looked up at Weiss who was staring, clearly not sure what to say.
Ruby started to fidget in her spot the longer the quiet lasted.
Weiss ran her tongue over her dry lips.
"I can't"
The engineers' shoulders slumped but she nodded.
"I understand…I shouldn't have..." She blinked owlishly at the finger now pressed against her lips.
"You didn't let me finish, Ruby." She pulled her hand away and the younger stayed silent.
"You and I are slated to work on this upcoming project together and it's probably not wise to become involved when we're going to work together."
"Oh…you're probably right…" Ruby conceded.
"Ask me again when it's done."
Silver eyes blinked in confusion, digesting what she'd just heard before it clicked.
"O-oh…okay." She nodded smiling before realization lit behind her eyes and she stood. "I should go now. I promised Ozpin my rough draft of the blueprints by Monday." Weiss nodded and followed her to the front door.
"I'll be in touch, Ruby." She smiled knowingly.
Ruby nodded as they stepped out onto the front porch.
"I can wait...so long as you occasionally leave your curtains open."
When Weiss' brain finally realized what she'd said Ruby was already flying across their yards toward her house. Her face flared.
"Ruby Rose!" She screeched...
I've been doing a lot of prompt stuff lately
"I needed a drink of water after my shower but I forgot that I opened the blinds to my balcony and you just saw me walk into my kitchen naked."
I took a couple liberties with it.
Malthazar LOS