A/N Wow... I am really surprised/stoked at the reception that first chapter got. You guys exceeded my expectations and for that you are all awesome.
In response to how I didn't go too in-depth with the characters I introduced in chapter 1; well it was just a test. I had no clue it would get this well received for the pairings I picked. You'll get some decent background in this chapter. Thanks again for giving this fun thing a chance!
Chapter 2. Try-hard
When 9:00 P.M rolled around later that evening, Emerald relinquished herself of her waitress apron and grabbed some of her belongings to leave with. Generally she enjoyed her job at 'The wick'. It was the combination of a great learning experience and new encounters that made the job redundant-free. Sure, some of those encounters were not the greatest, but much like Neo's outlook; it got her paid.
The girl paced to the back staff-room of the restaurant to find it completely empty. She smiled upon seeing her beige laptop tote still hung in the same spot she had left it in. Emerald quickly shoved her apron inside of it and traded it out for her phone.
At the top of the notifications list was a text message from Mercury. Emerald rolled her eyes, already knowing what the message would say.
M: Nice moment there. So, when's the wedding? lol
'Moron.'
The dark-skinned girl tossed the phone back into her bag as quickly as it had come out. Her face flushed slightly at what transpired earlier.
'That was a good look down her shirt...'
'What am I saying!?'
"Mercury..." she muttered. Thanks to the message he had sent; the only thing on Emerald's mind for the rest of the evening would revolve around a certain obsidian-haired goddess.
She dug around the depths of her mind for anything to switch mental subjects. "Oh right." She spoke aloud, remembering she had a bus to catch.
The city bus was her primary mode of transportation to and from work. Many of her friends asked her: "Why don't you ask Cinder?" As she was the only one with her own car. Except for Weiss, but she wasn't up for being the gangs carpool.
There were two reasons as to why Emerald declined the offer of a ride from Cinder. The first being that her RX-7 was a two seater. Meaning no matter the circumstances, it would always be just the two of them. Secondly Emerald was too nervous, always afraid of doing something stupid or embarrassing.
But the sheer thought of being alone with Cinder was nearly intoxicating.
Thoughts aside, Emerald made haste to leave the restaurant so she wouldn't miss the bus. She jogged out the front door, and immediately felt the cool night air of spring grace over any exposed skin. Her jeans covered her legs well, but the short sleeve tee made the girl resent not bringing a jacket today.
Emerald shivered lightly and jogged across the parking lot using the various street lamps to guide her way in the dark. She eventually came to a bus stop resting on a corner just across the street from 'The Wick'
Realizing she was earlier than usual, Emerald's thoughts wafted back to the same subject as before;
Cinder.
An awkward one-sided moment such as today's was one of many she had done over the past few years. Before that was an easier time when she and Cinder were just good friends. The two of them met in their last year before high school. Emerald had transferred from a different school out district. She didn't have very many friends, but that didn't bother her so much. She was more of the type to see and not be heard. Popularity didn't phase her at all and everything was more of an observation than an interaction.
Her very first encounter with the ebony-haired girl was at a local variety store that was located an equal distance from both her home and Cinder's. On her way out after purchasing something, she had accidentally bumped into Cinder. Emerald had been wholeheartedly expecting an angry repose, but instead Cinder just shrugged.
When the first eye contact had been made, and crimson met gold, there was an immediate spark of friendship between them. Cinder started to poke fun at how weird Emerald was acting which spiraled into a long talk about many random subjects. One of them was school, and they quickly found out they'd both be attending Signal High in September.
In truth, it was in her third year of high school when Emerald started to feel a... different attraction to Cinder. And by senior year; it snowballed into infatuation.
The first thing Emerald found attractive about Cinder was -without a doubt- her appearance. The ebony-haired girls style was unique to say the least. A perfect mix of elegance and punk. She'd always dress in tight ripped jeans, a stylish top, and some bad-ass boots. Her ebony tresses were always styled with a smooth eye-covering sweep. It showed off the various piercings on her ear, and highlighted the others in her eyebrow as well. Emerald herself never liked the idea of sticking metal into her body, but that was a totally different story on Cinder.
Just plain sexy.
All of this was sported on a beautiful body that she could drone about for days.
And days.
And days...
Cinder's personality filled the other half of the equation. Cool, was probably the word to summarize it. The ebony-haired girl was the laid back type that takes very few things seriously. It was extremely fascinating to Emerald. Cinder never does her homework -but gets good grades. Eats what she wants -and still maintains her physique. Practically logic defying, and all apart of this mysterious attitude that dripped with intrigue.
But all of this wasn't without fault. A fault Cinder had that made everything extremely complicated for Emerald;
Her oblivion.
Indeed it was. Emerald's many awkward 'moments' around Cinder had gone unnoticed -hence why there was so many. Cinder was relatively laid back and 'cool' about everything, so long as you didn't test her, she's a pretty cool person to hang around with. But that attitude had unfortunately seeped into her relationship instincts, as even she had never dated anyone before.
The invisible wall of Cinder's oblivion was the biggest obstacle. Emerald was just downright fearful at how to ask Cinder out, if her sexual preferences were the same, and how to go about even talking to the girl.
Day in and day out was nothing but subverted torture for Emerald. The way Cinder looks, her personality, her voice -everything was astonishingly beautiful.
In reality it was just sublime affection. A dream hovering somewhere out of Emerald's reach.
The past few weeks had solidified some of her feelings on that. That it really was just hopeless. That she was just another friend.
That Cinder would never feel the same way.
That was the most difficult part. If Cinder doesn't feel the same way, Emerald would have to accept that. Cinder's reciprocation wasn't something she could force or impose.
The loud roar of a city bus pulling up, snapped Emerald from her thoughts. She retrieved her bus pass from her pocket, showed it to the driver, and assumed a spot roughly in the middle of the coach. As the doors closed she pulled out her phone once more and plugged in her earphones. The mint-haired girl scatted through her music library and settled on some punk rock, ironically enough it was an album Cinder had showed her a few days prior. As the song played, she settled back into the same thoughts from just a minute ago.
In theory, time for Emerald was running out. Thankfully she, as well as almost all her friends, had elected to take a extra year in high school with the exception of Weiss for obvious reasons. But where time was short lied in her own actions. Many people outside her group of friends assumed she and Mercury are dating, and if that fact was to solidify itself through gossip and rumors; Cinder would undoubtedly believe it as the truth. That was the thing of Emerald's nightmares, that Cinder would phase her out all together -and the idea of a relationship would... die.
Roughly.
Scared by the fate she held in her hands.
As the vehicle strolled along, stopping every so often, a billboard at one of the bus stops caught her eyes. An ad for sale at a Honda dealership,
'Act Now! These smokin' hot deals won't be around forever.'
Emerald cackled to herself, finding it funny how her relationship problems could be compared to a deal on a Honda.
'Cinder's no Honda, that's for sure...'
'Something... sportier.'
'Smooth paintjob'
'Convertible'
'Driving along... top up...'
'I'm such a pervert...'
######
"Yeah, yeah, Dad!" Neo shouted out to her father. She waved him off as he closed to front door to their condo. Neo was an only child, and thus her parents leaned on the overprotective side of things. Sometimes it was tolerable, other times... not so much.
It was yet another cool spring morning that irked her senses as she stepped off the porch, onto the driveway. The breeze was calm, but gave that damp spring feeling she'd rather not feel.
Neo's house rested an average walking distance from Signal High, but as of a few moths ago, walking was no longer her primary mode of travel.
The pink and auburn-haired girl tentatively glanced around her driveway before stepping out onto the sidewalk. She grabbed her phone and sent a certain someone a text, or rather, a signal.
Within seconds of sending it, the sound of an engine kicking up was heard. And seconds after that, Cinder's car peeled around the corner and made a brisk stop in the neighbors driveway.
"C'mon, C'mon!" Cinder beckoned, "Gas isn't cheap."
Neo rolled her eyes and dashed across the neighbors lawn, she was thinking about sliding across the hood of Cinder's car to get in, but didn't want to risk falling.
Having overprotective parents often made her want to try stupid things.
Cinder had to park in the neighbor's driveway for one simple reason: if her parents saw her climbing into a friend's car; she'd never hear the end of "How dangerous it was," or "You could've died."
The shorter girl circumvented the car and hopped in the passenger side. She tossed her bag on the floor and eyed her ebony-haired friend. Cinder was dressed in her more relaxed set of clothing. A pair of maroon Capri pants, and a tight black shirt that read the words: 'I Can Be Nice, Can You Be Smart?' plastered across the chest.
Neo giggled, "Nice shirt."
"Hm? Oh, thanks. Ruby gave it to me, said she bought it online, but they sent her the wrong size." Cinder explained.
"That... actually makes sense."
"You look like you just rolled out of bed." Cinder said in reply.
"What?" Neo glanced down at herself. She opted for something a little more casual and choose to wear gray sweat pants and a form-fitting white hoodie.
"Oh nothing." Cinder grinned, "Unlike some things..." her mind drifted off to the thought or Ruby's crush on the short girl right next to her. Only herself and Yang were the ones who knew about it. And had both promised to keep it a well-guarded secret.
The ebony-haired girl put the car in reverse and eased out onto the street. As her driving began, Neo was the first to instigate conversation. "So what's up?"
Cinder exaggerated a shrug, "My mom's still a total bitch; she honestly tried to lock me out of the house last night."
Neo gave the girl a decisive look, "You shouldn't be so mean to her y'know. You'll need her before she needs you." She spoke. Neo didn't know all of Cinder's parental situation, but the ebony-haired girl always complained about her being "The worst mother on earth."
Eyes still focused on the road, Cinder cracked a smile, "Yeah, sure. That's if I don't die of asphyxiation from her second hand smoking."
Neo looked surprised, "That got dark..."
"My mind tends to wander. Seriously though, you have no clue."
"O-kay. Anything else that... isn't dark?" Neo questioned.
"We're almost at school?" Cinder sounded like she was genuinely unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Pfft." Was all that Neo said. The multi-colored girl slumped back in her seat and shook her head.
'Emerald definitely isn't lying when it comes to getting through to this girl.'
They continued to drive for a few more minutes until they came upon their school: Signal High. The school was just your run-of-the-mill High School located in the middle-class area in the northern side of Vale. A large stone and steel building rising two story's, with a parking lot flanking the right, and an open sports field flanking the left.
Cinder elegantly pulled her prized car into the driveway that led to the lot. She choose a space resting the furthest distance from the school as she didn't like people anywhere near her car. Cinder brought it to a calm halt and killed the engine.
In synchronization, both girls reached for their bags, then the door handles and stepped out of the black Mazda. Cinder locked the vehicle and slung her laptop bag over her shoulder. Neo appeared to the side and they both strolled into school together.
After wafting though the various hallways, the duo came upon the school's main atrium where the rest of their friends stood idly by -chatting to one another. The group consisted of the regulars: Ruby, Emerald, and Mercury. Next to them was Weiss was pointing at Yang liked she'd done something wrong.
Mercury was the first to spot Neo and Cinder approaching, he squinted his eyes and glared at the font on the ebony-haired girl's shirt. "You saying I'm dumb?" He called out.
Cinder sighed and facepalmed, "Normal people say 'Hi' when they see their friends. But yeah, you are an idiot." She addressed him.
Emerald turned and made eye contact with the girl of her dreams, "Hey Cinder!" She spoke, her tone a little louder than needed. The girl in question joined in next to Ruby. "Have I ever told you how nice you are Em?" She directed that comment to Mercury, glaring at him.
Emerald turned away and blushed, not because of the comment made, but the fact that she caught herself staring at the bolded words on the chest of Cinder's shirt.
Not to read however.
"Something wrong Em?" The obsidian haired girl innocently asked. She may be completely oblivious to Emerald's massive crush, but that doesn't factor out her sly attitude.
"N-No, l... your shirt made me laugh." Emerald lied.
"You seem to be the best dressed out of all of us." She glanced at Mercury's shabby dress style.
Emerald looked away with flustered flattery testing her integrity. Cinder hadn't been lying. Emerald was clad in designer shoes purchased with her job money, with taut beige jeans, and a stylish deep green spring jacket.
At first Mercury gave Cinder the stink eye for sending him so many snide comments, but when he saw Emerald's flustered face; his disposition changed to a smooth smirk. Getting his kicks off of the mint-haired girls silent suffering.
"Um, hello I'm here t-"
"Hi Neo!" Ruby shouted. Cutting the shorter girls greeting off. "...sorry..."
The only male in the group cleared his throat, as he was quickly getting tired of small-talk "Ruby? You're streaming tonight, right?"
The girl in question shrugged, "Yeah, it's No-life Friday, duh."
"What game are you planning on playing?" Cinder asked.
"The usual."
Mercury heaved a sigh, "Borderlands? Again? C'mon play something else."
"Nope." She stated, "Everyone here likes it except for you."
"Whatever. I'll still show up."
If there was one thing anyone should know about Ruby, it's her game stream on Twitch. Every Wednesday and Friday she'd go live with a random game and the viewers -who were pretty much all of her friends- would log on and watch. It was a good way to get through homework, or to just chat.
"Everyone's watching tonight right?" Her question had been directed mostly to Neo.
Ruby's expression sank a bit as everyone nodded but Neo.
The pink and auburn-haired girl checked her phone before addressing everyone else, "We should split, class starts in five." The multi-colored girl grabbed onto Ruby's arm and tugged her off to Calculus. Cinder left with Mercury to Digital Arts , and Emerald walked with Yang and Weiss to Gym class.
Ruby was slightly taken back by Neo's action and felt a warm flutter in her chest. Neo's grip was strong, and as far as Ruby knew; she didn't want Neo to let go.
The crimsonette's attraction with Neo started during the beginning of her prior semester. Before that, Ruby wasn't really into the whole dating game. It wasn't until her sister Yang had told her about how she has 'feelings' for Weiss, it was at that point that the word 'relationship' took on different meaning than 'just friends'.
Her entire teenage life, Ruby had never really been attracted to guys. But when certain girls like Neo happened along, her heart beat rose, and skin tinged with heat. It was then that she decided she was just like Yang, and preferred the same sex.
It was difficult coming out to her parents about it, but much like they had done with Yang; the concept was welcomed with open arms. Ecstatic about that, Ruby set her eyes on the pink and brown haired girl who was currently dragging her through the halls. The crimsonette wasn't ashamed in the slightest for admitting that she may or may not be totally whipped by the shorter girl.
'She's cute, smart, nice, and totally out of your league Rose.'
That was Ruby's general strife with Neo. She felt as if the girl was astronomically out if her league, be that as it may, Ruby thought day in and day out on a game-plan for even starting a relationship. But every time her words would come out as jumbled messes, and Neo would just think it was funny.
On the flip side of this relational coin, Neo held the idea in a total different capacity.
It all started with her parents. On the surface they seemed like normal people, but take a deeper look and it becomes very evident that her parents are very old school and somewhat conservative. A little overbearing at times, and slow to embrace new ideas.
When Neo had come out to her parents about her sexuality, it didn't go over well. It hit them like a ton of bricks. Her mother wasn't happy, but her father was absolutely livid at the idea. But Neo wasn't the one for angry outbursts or fights like the ones Cinder described with her mother. Instead she bottled it up, and never told anyone.
With each passing day the pain inside of her gets worse. Not having enough courage to talk to anyone. All of this resulted in a lot of restless nights and a feeling of seclusion, and jealousy. Jealous because everyone had that luxury if being accepted, and she didn't.
At first Neo wanted to tell her friends, but her hesitancy got the better of her and she chickened out. As weeks turned to months, everyone just assumed she was straight. With that idea solidified; her proverbial grave was dug. Every time she thinks of telling the truth, the disappointed image of her parents comes to mind.
And she feels disgusted with herself.
There was one girl however.
Ruby.
Ruby's quirky personality, combined with her angelic nature and adorable looks placed her at the top of Neo's list of people she could probably come out to. She likes Ruby, maybe not in the relationship status way, but where Neo would feel totally comfortable speaking the truth and KNOW it would be understood.
Stubbornness still got in the way, and Neo held back.
"Neo? Hello? Neo?" A familiar voice called out to her. She relinquished her thoughts and came back down to earth -quickly realizing she was still dragging Ruby along.
"Sorry, I was... daydreaming."
"It's cool, I-I do that all the time! But uhh... you walked right by our calculus classroom." She said meekly.
"My bad. C'mon let's go, we're late now." Neo suggested. This time she just let Ruby follow next to her. Ruby would occasionally share glances with her shorter friends before quickly looking away and focusing on the floor. As they reached the door to their class, Ruby groaned.
'I don't know how Emerald does it.'
######
"Thank fricking God for Fridays." Ruby blanched. She tossed her pen across the desk in her room and flipped her notebook shut. The girl felt as if teachers gave more work on Fridays just to spite their students. Nonetheless, eight o'clock was still early for a Friday evening.
"Stream time." She muttered. The girl wheeled her chair over to her custom-built desk where her Xbox and T.V. rested on. She began setting up everything on top of the oak desk including the console, TV, recorders, and the game itself.
Ruby reached for her red and black gaming headset and placed it into the tresses of her crimson tinted hair. She followed with a few speech tests before logging into Twitch and making sure everything was all set. As Borderlands 2 reached its main menu, she adjusted the camera that was recording herself, making sure the on screen thumbnail size was just right.
Within seconds of the feed going live, six people joined the chat room. The first few being;
c1nd3r: Hey Red.
mercblack: Sup loser
/3merald: Shut up merc
c1nd3r: yeah stfu
Ruby laughed a bit, "Guys, don't start already."
mercblack: psh
Ruby averted her eyes from the chat interface and back onto her game screen. She hit the 'Continue' button and began.
######
Within just an hour the stream had racked up to nearly one hundred active viewers. Ruby laughed and shouted at the monitor at the various emotions the game elicited. Every so often she'd glance to the chat and was easily able to pick out her friends chat though everyone else's.
The girl got really immersed into the game, killing enemies left and right, picking up loot, and shouting profanities when she died were all apart of the fun.
"No no no no!" She shouted, watching as her ammo indicator on her best gun read 'Empty', "Shit!" She cursed loudly as her health slowly deteriorated.
'Ruby, language.' A voice called from downstairs. "Sorry Dad!' She yelled back.
c1nd3r: sounds like my mom lol
therealiceprincess: You shouldn't be swearing like that.
Ruby blanched for a second, wondering why the heck Weiss showed up. "Weiss? What're you doing here?"
therealiceprincess: None of your business.
mercblack: go away
neo-polymer: Even online you're still an ass dude
Ruby went slack-jawed at seeing Neo's user-name show up in the chat log. She NEVER came to watch the stream. Video games just weren't her cup of tea. The crimsonette snapped from her daze and focused back on the game, blushing all the while.
'I really wish there wasn't a camera here now...'
With Neo's appearance in the chat room; Ruby couldn't focus. In the time she had looked away from the screen, her character had already died once, and was immediately getting shot at again
Unbeknownst to Ruby, Cinder was grinning like a mad. Unable to resist having a little fun.
c1nd3r: show Neo how it's done red ;)
Ruby desperately tried to stomp down her blush, 'Dammit Cinder...' she took a deep breath and jumped back into it. Even still the feeling of Neo subversively watching made the room feel like it was ten degrees hotter.
Over and over Ruby kept getting killed in the game. Being mobbed by enemies from her lack of focus. Her head jerked repeatedly to the chat log, seeing if Neo had anything to say. Among the messages she read;
mercblack: man u suck
neo-polymer: what's even happening right now?
c1nd3r: red is all hot and bothered
/3merald: ahahahahahha! good one Cinder
c1nd3r: ...
As the minutes went by the viewers dwindled to only four. Ruby's progress still got her nowhere, and eventually everyone left.
When the view count reached zero, Ruby chucked her controller onto her desk like it was poisonous. She stepped back from the monitor and tore off her headset too. She began running her hands through her hair -slightly damp from nervous sweating. Her body was much the same, perspiration making her shirt cling to her form. Never in her life had she felt more on the spot than in that moment.
"Aw man..." she groaned sadly. "Of all days..."
Ruby confided herpes by flopping down on her bed, arms resin behind her head. Embarrassed was all she could think of, at how quick Neo made her hot-under-the-collar. She was disappointed however. Once again feeling trapped by her own emotions.
She froze for the countless time.
She needed to get over it.
But how?
A/N How was that? The stream part wasn't originally going to be here, but I threw it in for the C & C fans out there anyway. I'm really falling for these pairings so this fic will be larger than I planned. Also, are you guys interested in weekly updates? Let me know.
Thanks for reading!