The tapping of fingernails on glass stirred Jaune from what had otherwise been a peaceful and satisfying slumber. At first he thought he had been dreaming the sounds, and had snuggled deeper into his blanket cocoon. However the tapping continued, and a few seconds later he forced his eyes open to confront the noise. Probably some stupid insect that had found its way inside his room and was attempting to get out by repeatedly ramming itself against the window.
The boy sat up in bed and turned to look at the window. His heart skipped a beat when it was not a bug, but rather a person who had been making the noise. More specifically, a vampire.
"Ruby?" he spoke softly, more to himself than the girl who stood outside his window.
The girl in question was happily bouncing up and down, a smile playing on her lips as she waited him to get out of bed. It took a few moments for Jaune to collect his thoughts and gather the energy to force himself out of the bed that he had only moments ago been sleeping soundly in. It pained him to do so, but Jaune threw aside the covers and stepped onto the floor before walking over to the waiting girl.
Unlocking the window, which he had made sure to start doing ever since the vampire had first broken into his house, Jaune pushed it up to allow him to speak to her. "Ruby, what-"
He didn't get a chance to finish his question before the redhead leapt headfirst through the window. Hands met the floor, and she rolled forward gracefully before coming up on a single knee. Her head turned from side to side, looking around seemingly to make sure that no one else was present inside the room.
"Good, you're alone," she said, confirming his suspicions.
Jaune frowned, closing the window once more before turning to address her. "Why wouldn't I be alone? I was alone the last time you came over."
"Ah," she said as she stood up, raising a finger in protest. "But that had been on a weekday. I just had to make sure."
He wasn't sure if her logic would have made sense even if he wasn't half asleep. Never mind that, however. Jaune groggily rubbed his eyes, hoping that he would wake up faster and be able to understand Ruby's motives. "Ruby, what's going on?" he asked. "It's like three in the morning."
"Exactly. It's dinner time, so I was wondering-"
"If you could have some of my blood?" he interrupted.
Even in his weary state Jaune saw how Ruby was taken aback by his words. The girl recoiled as if she had been shot. "What? No! Do you think that's all I see you as? Some big muscly blood bank?"
Jaune blinked. "Muscly?"
"You're not just some sort of blood booty call. Blooty call? Whatever it would be called, you're not that! Have a little more confidence in yourself, Jaune!"
"I never said I was-"
"Irregardless!" she said, being the one to interrupt this time. "I'm here to invite you over for dinner. Seeing how I came over to your house the last time."
"Like you are now?"
"Anyway! I wanted to return the favor and invite you over to my place."
"And you couldn't have called first?"
Ruby's gaze fell to the floor, and her feet shuffled nervously under her. "Well, no. You didn't give me your scroll number..."
He blinked. She was right about that. "Oh. Right. Well in my defense it was kind of a busy day. A lot... happened. Awkward stuff..."
The vampire nodded. "Yeah... I did almost kill you." Her head perked up a second later, intense silver eyes staring into his own. "Accidentally!" she quickly followed up. "No court would ever convict me of trying to kill you!"
No court would likely ever try her period. Not only would they not believe that she was a vampire, but even if they did, the last thing they would likely do was put her on trial for drinking someone's blood. They'd probably just put her to death and be done with it.
Still, that wasn't exactly what Jaune was talking about. He wasn't concerned with how she had nearly drained his body of its life fluid. No, the awkwardness he was speaking of was the fact that she had kissed him. According to her that was how vampires said thank you, but he had never heard of any such custom. Then again he had never met a vampire before period, so she could have very well been telling the truth.
Regardless, if that wasn't the awkwardness that Ruby was thinking about, then it was probably best to just agree with her.
"Y-yeah. That."
"So I couldn't just call you up and invite you over," she continued. "Besides, you don't even know where I live. Or how to get there."
"Where does a vampire live anyway?"
"Oh, just over on Patch."
"Patch?" he echoed. "You came all this way from Patch to invite me over for dinner?"
The island off the coast of Vale wasn't too far, but it wasn't exactly close either. For her to come in the middle of the night was strange. It was bizarre. But then again this was a vampire who was afraid of the sight of blood. Strange and bizarre came naturally for Ruby.
"Yup," she agreed. "It's nice and secluded. Away from the big city and all. People won't bother vampires like us."
"Wait, did you just say vampires? As in more than one?"
"Well, yeah. There's my sister Yang, and my mom and dad. Vampires don't just grow on trees you know."
"I figured. So... you want me to come meet your family?"
Ruby looked down to the floor once again. In the moon-lit darkness he couldn't get a good read on her expression. "Well... yeah. You're my friend and all. Don't friends go over to each other's houses?"
They did. Just not at three in the morning. "Yeah, but it's kind of late, don't you think?"
"Late?" she questioned. "The sun's gonna be up in a few hours."
Jaune exhaled. Of course they had different ideas of what late was. And dinner time. They lived on two completely different schedules. She roamed the night where the sun could not harm her, while Jaune lived in the daylight like any normal person.
Ruby, he had to remind himself, was not a normal person. Even if she hadn't been a vampire there was no way he would ever consider her quirky personality normal.
She looked so hopeful, her silver eyes staring into his own with no small trace of yearning. Ruby had travelled all this way to see him. To invite him over. How could he turn her down?
"I guess so." There was just one problem. With it being so late at night, or early in the morning, depending on how you wanted to look at it, there was no way to even get to Patch.
Wait, how had she even gotten here herself? Come to think of it, she must have done the same thing during her last visit, right?
"So... how are we getting there?"
Ruby's face erupted into a smile. "I'm so glad you asked. Come with me!"
She moved back over to the window and opened it as wide as it would go. "Can't we just go through the front door?" he questioned.
"There's no time," she said as she threw her bright red cloak around him, pulling him close to her before wrapping it around both of them.
A poof of smoke exploded before him, and before Jaune knew it he found himself hovering in the air above his floor. He flew through the open window, miraculously not hitting his head as he passed through.
Now outside, Jaune looked up to see just what was lifting him off the ground. Blue eyes widened in horror was he saw a tiny black bat wearing a tiny red cape holding onto his pajamas with its two tiny feet.
"Ruby?" he yelled worriedly. "Ruby? What are you-"
He never got a chance to finish before she took off, her tiny body lifting him into the night's sky with ease and flying off to the west. Girlish screams echoed through the night as the vampire bat carried the human off in the moonlight.
Home sweet home.
Ruby transformed back into her human form, the body of Jaune landing unceremoniously face-first onto the grass. She winced at the impact. Only after the fact did she remember that the boy had been suspended mid-air, and had no idea that he was about to be released by his living transportation.
She offered a hand to the boy as he collected himself on the ground. Looking up at her, Jaune accepted the gesture and was pulled to his feet with a single pull. He may have been a big and strong looking guy, but his strength was no match for that of a vampire. Even a hungry vampire.
"So this is it," Ruby said proudly, outstretching her arms to show her home off in all its glory. "Pretty cool, huh?"
At one point it had probably just been an ordinary looking log cabin. Out in the middle of nowhere in the forests of Patch, it wouldn't have looked out of place. On the contrary, it would have fit in perfectly as a sort of rustic cabin on the frontier of human civilization.
That had been before her father moved in.
Now a pair of gargoyle statues stood at the door, acting almost as unliving sentinels who guarded the entrance into the home. Tall gothic spires jutted out of the sides of the cabin, obviously added on after the normal portion of the place had already been constructed. Combined with the spooky trees which surrounded the place, and no human would dare step within a hundred yards of the Xiao Long residence. Not unless they wanted to become vamp food, that was.
Or unless they were an invited guest like Jaune was.
A glance over to the boy showed no small trace of apprehension on his face. But he didn't need to worry! She wouldn't let anyone harm him.
"Yeah," he agreed, not sounding as though he believed his own words. "Very cool..."
Off in the distance a wolf howled, and Jaune visibly flinched. The hooting of an owl perched somewhere in the trees added to the atmosphere. With nothing but the full moon illuminating the woods, it was about as romantic as things could get. Ruby briefly wondered if this was how her mom and dad fell in love when he whisked her away to this hidden lair.
"So, yeah," she said, grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him forward. "Come on in and I'll introduce you to everyone. I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you."
It felt as though Jaune might have been dragging his heels, but with her superior strength it didn't matter.
"So just to be clear, Ruby," he said as he was being pulled behind her. "When you say, 'have me over for dinner'..."
"Don't worry, Jaune. That isn't some funny code for you being on the menu or anything. It's real, actual food. We even ordered some Simple Wok for you since, you know, you can't exactly live off of blood."
Arriving at the door, Ruby pushed it open and stepped inside. Something moved past her, and in the blink of an eye was upon them.
"Hey, Ruby," the familiar sound of her sister said from behind her. She whirled around to see the taller form of her older sister standing behind Jaune as well. Her arms draped over his shoulders to rest on his chest. "I see you picked up dinner. I'm starving!"
Fangs flashed and blonde hair moved as Yang prepared to sink her teeth into the boy. Ruby moved just as fast, charging headfirst and ramming her head in between the bodies of her sister and friend. "Yang, no!"
Pushing with all her might she was able to separate their bodies, and in doing so placed herself in front of a terrified Jaune. She stood with her back against his chest trying to shield him from the older girl, but her hilariously short height in comparison to him left his neck woefully exposed.
Lilac eyes narrowed in frustration and confusion. "What gives, Ruby?"
"Jaune isn't food!" she shouted. "He's my friend!"
"Friend?" she questioned, looking past her to the boy behind. She looked him up and down. "With a human?" Sure, let's go with that."
Yang approached, closing the short distance between the two. Ruby put her arms out protectively to ensure that Yang didn't try to sneak around in order to get a better angle to his neck. Rather than try that, however, Yang leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I get it. The blood won't taste as good if he dies while he's afraid. Just like when humans slaughter animals."
Ruby heard Jaune swallow behind her. The poor guy must have been terrified right now.
"Yang, he's not an animal!" she protested. "And he's not food either! Stop scaring my friend!"
The blonde pulled back, once more peering down on her sister in confusion. "Wow, so you're serious?"
"Yes I'm serious! I met Jaune a couple nights ago, and I invited him over for dinner."
Yang hummed, and again looked over her shorter sister's shoulder to get a better look at Jaune. Taking a tentative step forward, Ruby didn't stop her as she came up next to him. "Not food, eh?" she said as she pointed to a pair of puncture wounds which were still present on his neck. "And what exactly do you call these, dear sister of mine?"
Uh oh. Busted. She could explain her misadventures in the Arc household, from her failure to drink from him when he had been asleep, to him charitably offering his own blood when she had been suffering from terrible hunger pangs. However, that would leave her open to a gratuitous amount of teasing from her sister. The only option was to lie, and lie she would!
"Um... he... tripped. Yeah. He tripped and fell down some stairs. Onto the doorknob. Yup. That's what happened."
She heard Jaune groan from behind her. What? Had she done something wrong? That was like three explanations all rolled into one! And if there was one thing Ruby knew, it was math! Three was greater than one!
"So the doorknob grew teeth and drank his blood? Tell me, did the doorknob enjoy it?"
"It was deliciouuuh I mean I don't know! I'm not a doorknob!"
"You're some sort of knob all right," Yang smirked.
"What does that mean? That sounds dirty!"
"Don't worry about it," Yang said dismissively before turning to her friend. "So, Jaune was it? Nice to meet you. We were just about to eat, and I'm sure dad would be thrilled if you joined us..."
A smirk and a wink later Yang turned and moved deeper into the house. Her parting words had done nothing to ease Jaune's tension, if his pale face was anything to go by.
His words only confirmed this as he turned to face her. "You're sure she's not gonna eat me?"
"Don't worry, Jaune. I'll protect you."
He frowned. "That wasn't a no. And that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."
"It'll be fine!" she insisted. "Mom and dad won't let her eat you either."
"But what if your mom and dad want to eat me?"
She bit down on her lip as she gave the question thought. In the end she came up with the only answer she could think of. "I won't let them eat you either."
"Still not exactly easing the tension..."
Ruby reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders comfortingly. Looking down and frowning at what she saw, she stood on the tips of her toes to try to be able to look him in the eyes better. Stupid tall person. Why did he have to be so tall?
"Jaune, do you trust me?" she asked earnestly.
"Do I trust the girl who nearly killed me by drinking all my blood..."
"I thought we established that was an accident, Jaune!" she squawked indignantly. Ruby shook her head, trying to get back on track. "Anyway, do you trust me?"
Jaune seemed to ponder the question for a moment before his eyes returned to hers. He smiled weakly at her, which was probably the best he could muster at the moment. "Yeah. I trust you."
Her own smile was bigger and brighter. She was simply happy to hear that he did indeed trust her. "Okay. I won't let Yang eat you. Or mom and dad. And Zwei's a good dog and doesn't even drink blood anyway. You'll be fine, okay? We're just gonna have a nice family dinner. And it'll be safe and polite and no one will die. Okay?"
The boy nodded. Ruby nodded back.
She took hold of his hand, thinking that he would likely need her to lead the way once more just in case his legs decided to stop moving again.
Bringing him into the dining room, she braced herself for his introduction to the rest of her family.
The noodles were good. As good as he would have expected from A Simple Wok. It looked like Ruby really had went ahead and ordered delivery for him. Still, it felt odd that he was the only one at the table to have a bowl of the steaming noodles in front of him.
Ruby sat to his immediate left, close enough so that their shoulders nearly touched. For a table only meant to seat four, it was the only option. A large goblet of blood stood before her, and even in his periphery he could see the dark red liquid sitting and waiting to be drank.
Going around the rest of the table, Yang sat to the left of them. Her mother, Summer, who looked remarkably like Ruby sat opposite of them. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that she just cloned herself to produce a younger version of her named Ruby. Finally to their right was her father, Taiyang, who like him wore blond hair and blue eyes. He shared far more of a resemblance to Yang than Ruby.
Jaune had seen movies portray awkward dinner scenes before. It was funny how this put them all to shame. Here he was, a lone human in a house full of vampires, attempting to have a meal with them. He wondered what they all thought of him. If they liked him at all. Or maybe they thought Ruby's taste in friends was awful. No pun intended.
Finally the silence was broken when Summer spoke. "Ruby, you haven't even touched your blood," she said with a tinge of concern in her voice. "Are you not hungry?"
"I think Jaune spoiled her," Yang joked. "She can only drink straight from the source now."
All eyes focused on him and Ruby. He felt the girl beside him shrink under the collective gazes of her family.
"Why are you all staring!" she demanded. "Stop being weird! You know how much I hate pressure!"
Jaune recalled her saying something similar when they had first met. She couldn't perform under pressure. As it turned out, she hadn't been able to perform period prior to meeting him. But was she really so turned off by blood that even a glass full of it was difficult for her to consume?
"So being with Jaune helps with your performance anxiety?" the blonde girl quipped.
"Okay! Now that I know was meant to sound dirty!"
"Yang, stop teasing your sister about the boy she brought home," Summer chided.
"Mom!"
"And Ruby," she continued. "There's no reason to be embarrassed about bringing a human home. After all, I fell in love with your father and look how we turned out?"
Ruby was practically vibrating next to him out of sheer embarrassment. She was fortunate her vampire biology left her unable to blush, or else her face would have been red as the blood in front of her. This was definitely not what Ruby had in mind when she had invited him over.
What Summer had said was interesting, however. Had one of them been a human and one a vampire at some point in their relationship? That was how it sounded, at least. And that was in fact a good thing. From what Jaune could gather, Ruby's mom had no interest in eating him because she had at one point been involved in a vampire-human relationship herself.
Wait, relationship? Did Summer have the wrong idea about him and Ruby?
Or was it Jaune himself who had the wrong idea?
"So, Jaune," Yang said. Her words along with her bright grin earned his attention, and he shifted his focus back over to her. "How does it feel to be my sister's first?"
Jaune choked on his drink, which was thankfully water rather than the warm red liquid which filled everyone else's goblets. "I- no, it's not like that at all!" he insisted. If Summer did have the wrong idea, this would only complicate things further.
A worried glance over at Taiyang saw his attention on Ruby. "Ruby? Is this true?" he asked evenly.
The vampire next to him fidgeted before nodding furiously. "Yeah, dad. Jaune was my first time."
Jaune in turn began to shake his head wildly as Tai's eyes shifted over to him. "Wait, no! It's not true! I didn't-"
"So the fang punctures on your neck are from another vampire then?"
His hand came up to feel the still present wounds on his flesh. "Oh. That first..."
Yang began to giggle uncontrollably. That had probably been her intention all along. Jaune's face was burning with embarrassment, and he hoped his red, flushed cheeks wouldn't be seen as some sort of invitation for the table of vampires to chow down on him.
"What kind of first time did you think we were talking about?" the father asked.
Red alert! Ruby's dad was all but asking him if he had done anything with his daughter. This was horrible. If they hadn't had a reason to eat him before, they would now! Even if he hadn't done anything besides kiss her!
The tension in the air was palpable, and Jaune didn't know what to say. Too much protest would only hurt his cause. But if he didn't deny it here and now then Tai would assume the worst.
The silence in the air was suddenly shattered when the man started laughing.
"Oh kid, you're too much," Tai chuckled before taking a sip of his drink. "I'm just messing with ya."
Jaune laughed nervously as well. Never had he forced a laugh more than this one. "Y-yeah. Good one."
"In all honesty it's nice to meet you. You have to be special if you were able to get Ruby to actually get over her fear of blood."
It had been a matter of circumstance really. Ruby had been deprived of food for a long time prior to her chomping down on his neck. Sure their budding friendship may have helped, but desperation had as well.
"I don't know about special," Jaune admitted. "I couldn't just sit back and watch her suffer like that. So I-"
His words died in his mouth before he could continue when Ruby latched onto his arm. "Jaune, don't tell! It's embarrassing!"
The three other vampires began to laugh, and each carried behind it a different intention. Summer still smiled sweetly as she regarded the pair across from her. Yang's laugh carried familiar mischief in its tone, loving the fact that her little sister was embarrassed. Tai's meanwhile held the same good natured amusement he had shown only moments before at Jaune's expense.
"So there's a story behind it," the man mused. "I'd like to hear it someday."
Ruby pouted, glaring at her dad for suggesting the tale be spoken aloud. Clearly Ruby was still embarrassed by her performance at the Arc household.
"Yeah," Yang agreed. "When I told Ruby she had to go out and get some blood on her own, I didn't expect her to actually bring her food home with her."
"I think it's sweet," Summer said earnestly. "Look how she's grabbing onto Jaune's arm protectively. I don't know if she's trying to protect him from us, or if she hopes that he'll protect her from your teasing."
With those words Ruby immediately relinquished her claim on his arm. Jaune's body felt colder almost instantaneously. Maybe he did indeed feel safer so long as Ruby was next to him.
Or maybe he felt something else entirely.
"Aww, don't be embarrassed," her sister laughed. "It's okay. We all need comfort food from time to time."
"That's so adorable," their mother said. She turned to Tai. "Honey, doesn't this remind you of anyone?"
"I don't know, Summer. Jaune doesn't seem like an obsessed fangirl who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."
The woman hummed. "And in the end you still said 'yes' and chose me to live by your side forever."
Ruby threw her hands up. "Mom, dad! I didn't invite Jaune over to hear about your dysfunctional romantic past! We just wanna eat!"
"But our dysfunctional dating life seems so relevant right now, sweetie."
"Mom!"
"I'm just saying..."
The tiny redhead beside him stood up. "That's it!" she announced with finality. "I'm not hungry anymore." Ruby grabbed hold of Jaune's arm, prompting him to stand up before dragging him away from the table. "Come on, Jaune. Let's get away from these weirdos."
Looking back at the table of surprisingly non-murderous vampires, Jaune saw how they all wore smiles on their faces. Apparently everyone there had been having a good time but Ruby.
Jaune waved lightly with the hand that wasn't in Ruby's grip. "Um, thanks for the meal," he said as he was pulled away from them.
"Aww, Ruby wants to be alone with her human," Summer cooed. "See, it's just like when I was younger. Jaune, you think sunlight's overrated, right?"
Ruby's frustrated scream was the last thing Jaune heard before exiting the dining room.
Jaune hadn't known what to expect from a vampire's room when he entered it. As it turned out, it wasn't much different from his own.
Save for the heavy black curtains which covered the window.
Various posters adorned the walls from all sorts of popular media. From movies to comics to bands, if he didn't know any better Jaune would have said this was the room of any average non-vampire teenager.
Speaking of comics, he saw how those littered the floor as well. Had he been a collector he would have worried that they would soon lose their mint condition status. Her taste in the material was decent. There were good titles like X-Ray and Vav, but he also saw something called Absolute Boyfriend. Jaune wasn't a fan of romance titles, but then again everyone was entitled to their own opinions.
Ruby was still sulking, seated on her bed. The girl had been surprisingly quiet since she had brought him to her room to escape the teasing of her family. What a family they had turned out to be. He had expected them to glare at him with murderous intent, keen to devour his own blood for their meal. Instead they had greeted him as warmly as possible. Save for Yang, that was, who had dished out a dose of sisterly teasing that Jaune himself was all too familiar with. Yang would get along great with Saphron, now that he thought about it.
Still, he was happy to get away from them. Ruby's mom had been speaking a bit too freely about them, and it was obvious Jaune hadn't been the only one who was uncomfortable with it. It had been enough to force Ruby away and to drag him with her. Now that they were free from her family's jokes, what did she intend to do?
The answer came when she spoke for the first time since shutting the door behind them. "I'm sorry."
Jaune frowned as he turned to face her. Her head was still hanging low as she sat on the mattress. He took a step toward her. "For what?"
Ruby sighed, and her head rose to regard him. Silver eyes showed no trace of the energy and glee they normally held. "Them," she said simply. "Everything they said. Making fun of us."
His frown turned to a soft smile as Jaune moved to sit next to her. Not too close, still keeping a little bit of space between them. The last thing he wanted was to be open to more potential teasing should someone like Yang barge in.
"It's okay. I'm just glad they liked me. At least your mom seemed to."
More than just liked him, it would seem. More than a small part of him thought that Summer not only liked him, but approved of the idea of him and Ruby being in some sort of romantic relationship. He hoped to get some sort of explanation on her and Taiyang's past.
"Ugh," Ruby groaned as if she had just drank sour blood. "I'm really sorry about that."
So Jaune clearly wasn't the only one who saw the meaning behind the woman's words. Still, for a girl who was seemingly into romance comic books, it was strange that she was so seemingly disgusted by the idea of romance.
It looked like if he wanted to get some more information on what had happened, he would need to ask himself. "Can I ask you something?"
Silver eyes met blue. "Yeah?"
"Your mom and dad," he began, trying to think of a good way to phrase the question without seemingly overly curious. "They made it sound like, um, one was a human when they met."
Ruby sighed, falling back onto her bed into a laying position. Had he brought up a bad topic?
"So apparently a few years ago, vampires were really big in Remnant pop culture," Ruby explained. "Movies and TV shows and stuff. Girls were crazy about the stuff, especially about the romance part of it. Guess where my mom fit into that?"
Jaune already knew the answer. So that was what Tai had meant by 'fangirl'.
"Ah," he said knowingly.
"So long story short, they fell in love. Apparently my mom just wouldn't stop stalking the guy, which is saying a lot when you're stalking a creature that stalks the night. But in the end dad decided he wanted mom to be with him forever. So he drank her blood, she drank his. And that's how you get a vampire."
That was interesting. Jaune had no idea how vampires were made, but apparently it was as simple as that. Still, that didn't explain how Ruby and Yang came about. Could vampires even have children?
"And what about you?"
Ruby jolted back up to a sitting position in a flash. "W-what about me? Who said I loved a human? I didn't say that!"
Jaune blinked at her. "I mean... were you born before or after your mom was turned?"
A pair of pointy fangs stuck out adorably as her eyes widened. Ruby turned away from him. "Oh. Um, before."
That made sense. He didn't know if it was even possible for an undead creature to give birth. Probably not. But he didn't want to go anymore into vampire biology lessons than he already had.
"Do you like it?"
She turned back to face him. "I guess. Being super fast and strong is cool. It's like being a real life super hero. I guess the whole sun thing kinda sucks, but who needs the sun anyway?"
You think sunlight's overrated, right? Summer's words echoed in his mind.
"Uh, plants?" he answered.
Ruby snorted a laugh. "Dummy. You know what I meant."
Jaune chuckled softly. "But yeah I guess you're kinda like a huntress then, aren't you? With the whole super strong and tough thing. You could definitely be like, a nighttime huntress if you wanted."
Ruby hummed. "That's right... you said you were going to Beacon Academy in a few days right?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Gonna be starting a whole new adventure there."
"That sucks," she said glumly. Her head quickly perked up, realizing what she said. "I mean, it doesn't suck that you're going, because that's what you wanna do and stuff. But... if you're at Beacon then..."
He heard the unspoken words. If he was at Beacon then they wouldn't be able to hang out. If he was at Beacon, would she go hungry?
No. She would never truly be at risk of that happening. She had a family that loved and cared for her. If she was unable to feed herself then they would provide for her. But she would, however, lose out on the first and only human she had been able to drink from on her own.
"You could always come too," he joked. "With your powers I bet you could pass off as a junior huntress."
"A junior huntress who doesn't go out in the day and doesn't eat food. That won't be suspicious at all."
He had to admit she had a good point. "Well when you put it like that..."
"But if I did go I'd be with my friend," she said, countering her own point.
"Don't forget your own personal blood bank," he added.
A light slap to the arm followed. "I wasn't thinking that!"
Jaune laughed. "I know. It's just fun messing with you. I get why your family does it so much."
Ruby snarled as adorable a snarl as could be imagined. Her face scrunched up trying to look angry, but only made her look cute and endearing as a result. It was a face that screamed 'keep teasing me please!'.
As if triggered by his words, Ruby's stomach audibly growled. Now that he thought about it, and Summer's words, Ruby hadn't touched her blood at dinner. Now she was paying the price for her eating issues.
"Was it something I said?" he joked.
"Not funny, Jaune!"
"Still. You didn't eat tonight. Are you hungry?"
Ruby fiddled with her fingers as they rested on her lap. "Maybe..."
Despite the fact that she had nearly killed him the last time she drank from him, Jaune still trusted his friend. After the concern she had shown him the night in his own home, he knew the girl meant him no harm. He knew that she cared for him deeply.
He moved closer to her until their legs touched, and tilted his head ever so slightly. "Well, if you're hungry... you could always..."
Jaune heard her swallow hard. He felt the sudden hot breath from her lips as she stared intently at the pulsing flesh of his neck. Here he was presenting her with a hot, fresh meal. One all too tempting for a hungry vampire like herself.
"You'd really do that?" she asked softly. "After what happened last time?"
"You asked me if I trusted you earlier," he smiled. "And I do."
Ruby's tongue darted out and licked her lips. He wasn't sure if she was even conscious of the fact that she did so.
He also wasn't sure if Ruby was aware of the fact that she had already began closing the distance between them as she spoke. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm sure."
Arms wrapped around his torso, probably instinctively to ensure that her prey could not get away as she fed. He was not prey, however. He gave her his blood willingly. She had no need to keep him in her grasp.
But then again... he enjoyed the feeling of being in her paradoxically warm embrace...
For the second time in a few days Jaune felt teeth sink into his skin. He gasped as her mouth met his flesh, and the strange, uncomfortable feeling of having his blood sucked from his veins filled his body. Ragged breaths and sounds slipped through his lips at the feeling, and had anybody been listening in they would have thought that something amorous was occurring for sure. But then again, maybe something was.
The girl had learned from her previous mistake, and after only a few seconds she tore herself away from him, lest she drain him of too much of his precious blood. Her lips smacked, and a satisfied groan sounded in her throat. Jaune was a little bit lightheaded, but he had not passed out like he had before.
A glance at the girl showed her licking her lips, and her silver eyes had glazed over in pure bliss. Bliss, and exhaustion by the looks of it.
"You're so yummy..." she whispered. "And I'm so tired now..."
Checking his scroll, it was early morning now. The sun was probably already starting to come up, not that he could tell through the black curtains which shielded the room from its deadly rays.
"Big meals make me tired sometimes too," he joked. Apparently she was too tired to react to it.
What she wasn't too tired to do, however, was grab onto his arm and pull him down with her.
Ruby moaned contently, snuggling her body up against his own, her head resting against the arm she had once again latched onto. Jaune pulled a little bit trying to break free, but her iron grip on his body was absolute.
Lying flat on his back, Jaune sighed as he reflected upon his predicament. The last time Ruby had drank from him he had passed out. This time it was the other way around. Then again there wasn't his near-death experience to keep her awake and alert. It was bedtime for the vampire, and she had just fed well. It only made sense that she was tired.
He supposed he would just have to make the most of the experience, and closed his eyes as well. Maybe he'd be able to catch a few more hours of sleep which had been interrupted by the girl when she had stopped by his house.
As he lay there, trying his best to drift off to his own slumber, he felt lips once more come up to his neck. Only lips this time, however. Even without teeth though, it did not stop Ruby from continuing to suckle harmlessly on skin of his neck.
It didn't stop her from kissing it either.
"Yummy..." she uttered wearily in her sleep.
Yeah, forget sleeping. Not when Jaune had a pretty girl next to him kissing his neck. Not when that girl had called him yummy in more ways than one.
Author's Note: So I guess people liked this little one shot. Enough that a lot of you thought that there was more of a story to it. Maybe there is. At least a second chapter, with a possible route for more with the introduction of Beacon. Will it continue? I have no idea. Only if I can come up with good material to do so.
Thank you for your overwhelming support and desire to see more. Without it there wouldn't have been a chapter 2.
I hope you liked it.
