Jaune wiped his sweaty palms on his shorts before jabbing at the controller with his almost-cramping thumbs, his eyes fixed and unblinking on the holographic screen of their console. He'd spent countless hours over the years honing this one skill of his, and this particular game – Super Smash Ultimate – was the quintessential friendly dueling game. His top five characters were all comfortably within the elite tier in online competitive rankings. This was the only thing, growing up, he could ever defeat his sisters in.
Grow up and do something useful, they told him.
Beat my Ike, he'd reply.
Except now, this last bastion of security and self-worth was being torn down, stone and mortar, by Ruby. Even as he tried to tag her with his longer ranged aerial moves, she'd respond quickly, nimbly moving just out of reach until he exhausted his jumps or overextend himself. He should've expected it from her though, in hindsight. She'd need a ridiculously fast reaction time to go with her semblance.
A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face despite the mild spring weather, and he wiped his palms again. He glanced at her, leaning against the same pillow next to him, when an idea came to him. Just as he approached her avatar, he blew in her ear, and as she seized up in surprise with a high-pitched 'eep!', he managed to sneak in a grab which chambered into a deadly textbook combo, leaving them both on their last lives.
He winced as she drove an elbow viciously into his ribs in retaliation. Her eyes gleamed with a competitive fire as she glared up at him.
"Oh, you're in for it, mister," she growled.
She leaned into him as she concentrated on the game, her ear turned into his shoulder to protect herself and her arm blocking her sides where they both knew she was most vulnerable. He tried to focus on the game, but her hair was directly in his line of vision, almost tickling his cheek, and every time he tried to block it from his mind, he would smell something full and sweet and very Ruby.
With his divided attention, she threw him around the stage, and in less than a minute, the controllers slipped from their fingers, hers in victory, and his in reluctant defeat.
"Ha! Losers remain losers, loser," she crowed, face glowing with delight. He couldn't help but share in her joy even in the wake of his crippling defeat. "You couldn't win even when cheating. Ruby 3, Vomit Boy 0!"
She pumped her fists in excitement, crowing and rubbing it in his face, so he responded in the most appropriate manner - attacking her now exposed sides. She immediately flailed and kicked and squirmed the way he knew she would, shrieking with laughter so loudly that he took a moment to thank God that Weiss was having tea with her sister.
"H-Hey," she gasped breathlessly between laughter, "stop, s-stop! Time-out!"
"Vomit Boy gets at least a 1," he said, grinning manically.
"P-p-please," she managed, before shrieking another octave higher as he moved onto her ribs as well. He fancied that Ozpin heard that one, all the way up in his clock tower.
Okay, maybe he had another talent going for him; call it a special survival skill from growing up with seven sisters. Ruby, about the same size as his youngest sister, never stood a chance. The sheets were all bunched up and tangled in their legs, restricting her movements as she tried with no success to avoid his hands. He let up a little as she slowed down, gasping for breath, and leaned back on his ankles.
And was promptly socked in the face by one of her tiny feet, launching him all the way across the small bed. It was so sudden his aura didn't even kick in until her foot was close enough for him to taste, leaving him bouncing on the mattress and seeing stars.
"… ow," he groaned. At least it wasn't his nose.
"Oh," she said breathily, shuffling towards him on her hands and knees, "uh, are you okay?"
"Give me a few seconds and I'll be fine," he said, waiting for his world to stop swimming.
He cracked open his eyes to see her above him, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, a small smile lingering on her face despite the concern brimming in her bright eyes. Her hair, afire in the afternoon light, hung down to frame her face, revealing the gentle curve of her neck. Following it with his eyes, he noticed that it was slimmer than he originally thought, curving gently down from her jaw to blend with the rest of her body just above her collarbones. Her shirt, still wrinkled from sleep, hung down just enough for him to see the rapid rise and fall of her chest. He suddenly remembered the position they were in and snapped his eyes back up as quickly as he could, meeting hers, where she now looked somewhat uncertain.
She drew back quickly, folding her arms close to herself, eyes looking anywhere but at his. Her blush now looked more like it was from embarrassment than their playing earlier. He realised they'd forgotten to turn off the console, the battle theme repeating in the background the entire time.
"I'll, uh, turn this off now," he said, her smell still lingering in his nostrils and his mind whirling with Ruby and her neck and her eyes and her messy hair.
"Y-yeah, that's good – a good idea, is what I mean," she half-mumbled, reaching to grab the controllers after a pause.
When he'd flipped the power switches off, he stood up slowly and turned around. Ruby was loosely holding the controllers, lost in her thoughts, and the others were due to be back sometime soon anyway, so he excused himself quietly and headed out.
He stopped when he was outside to collect his thoughts and calm his breathing, trying to purge from his mind how she smelled and the way the warm light pooled and ran over her skin. A few moments later, he changed directions to head towards the rooftop instead, where he was able to think best.
.
,
Inside, Ruby sat on the bed with her thumping heart for company, the controllers lying forgotten next to her. She was used to guys looking at Yang and could spot the signs from a mile away. It was one of the things she really liked about Jaune; he never gave Yang special attention or tried to sneak quick peeks. Although it was just decent behaviour, it gave her confidence that he was friends with her for her, not her sister. It mattered more to her than their shared awkwardness and enthusiasm for all things geeky.
What she wasn't used to, though, was guys looking at her instead. She'd have to have been blind to not notice his eyes trailing, or the way his pupils dilated even in the abundant light. Oh God, he'd been staring… and she hadn't even moved. Her cheeks resumed burning again. Thankfully, Yang hadn't been anywhere nearby. If she'd gotten a picture… Ruby shuddered at the thought.
Her family gave her trouble for being oblivious, but it tended to stem from her social anxiety rather than an inability to notice things. They'd steadily been growing closer as friends and she could see them becoming best friends further down the track. But sometimes, things like this happened, and left her feeling breathless and confused.
The image of his piercing eyes popped back into her head, alternating layers of cyan and navy folding and twisting as his irises dilated. He'd looked as if he were stunned. Because of her combat training, she could tell from a glance that all the strength had fled from his posture.
Oh God.
She'd been on top of him. And he'd been staring.
She flushed again for the hundredth time.
Ruby sat in the same spot, eyes fixed but unseeing until Weiss came back – still beaming from her time with her sister (as much as Weiss-cream could beam, anyway) – trying to reconcile the contradicting feelings in her chest.
;
:
"… was sitting on her bed in a daze, face all red, and her bed was a huge mess," Yang was regaling the cafeteria table, arms waving avidly. Jaune stumbled and almost dropped the tray he was carrying. He noticed Ruby sitting unnaturally stiffly, her wooden expression betrayed only by the pink at the ends of her ears.
"Oh my," Pyrrha smiled knowingly behind her hand, playing along (he hoped).
"She hardly responded to us when we talked to her until we mentioned Jau-"
"Aaaaand that's enough from you," Ruby almost yelled, eyes wild with panic and her hands clamped firmly around Yang's mouth. He could still see her shit-eating grin, though.
He tried to sit inconspicuously in the empty spot next to Ren, the most reliable, calm person present, but Blake and Weiss both rounded on him.
"If you want to do something, do it someplace else, Arc, or I swear I will end you," Weiss snarled. "Doing something like that at school – when my sister was around, no less!"
She continued to rant, but everyone tuned her out with familiarity born from frequent practice.
"If you need the dorms to yourselves, you just need to ask," Blake drawled.
"Nothing like that happened, okay; if you want some smut, just browse your book collection," he retorted, trying to fight the warmth rising up his neck. Even under her bow, he could see her ears flatten to her scalp.
"For the last time, they're not smut! It's a gritty and realistic portrayal of friendships and relationships, and I read it for the plot–"
Yikes, with so many preachers plus Yang around, it was a wonder Ruby ever got a wink of sleep.
He turned around when he felt a touch at his shoulder. Nora, completely plastered to Ren's other side, was smiling at him. She gave him a big thumbs-up.
"I always believed in you, fearless leader," she chirped.
His fork clattered on the tabletop. He needed new friends, fast…
A/N:
Three cheers for holidays! It's been crazy busy, and being able to write again feels good (ngl, it's also because I'm overseas so I can't binge Elementary). Hope you guys enjoyed this; I know I did.
P.S. I lied about chapter lengths last time. I guess it'll just be whatever I feel like :/
