Weiss figured it would be best to lie still after fainting in front of a room full of people. Now she was in the break room, resting on the worn couch and wondering what had happened. However, no matter how much she wanted to run the events over in her mind, every fiber of her body demanded that she get back to work. There was no time to be idle. It would give her employer the wrong impression and jeopardize her future. And then she would have no choice but to go back and deal with her father's smugness, as if he had expected all along that his little daughter couldn't cut it at such a lowly position and yearned for the high life. Weiss balled her fists and pressed them against her eyes. She couldn't stay on the couch any longer, even though she knew the questions at the back of her mind would annoy her for the rest of her shift. Weiss planted her feet on the ground and stood. The sudden action made her head spin, but she forced herself to walk out of the break room. She almost walked into Blake, who was tying an apron around her waist.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Blake said.
"What are you doing here? I thought you started at four."
Blake shrugged. "Boss called me in early. Said something about how you fainted and couldn't finish your shift. Not like I was doing anything special anyway."
Weiss didn't doubt that Blake had been doing nothing but reading, but she still felt a mixture of guilt and annoyance. Plus, if she couldn't finish her shift, she had nowhere to go but home. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped in that empty house again. So in order to get what she wanted, Weiss decided to use her tried and true tactic of being stubborn. "I am more than capable of completing my scheduled time."
"And spill coffee if you decide to faint again? I don't think the boss wants to risk it. And anyway, I'm not the person you should be talking to about this. I don't make the schedule."
Weiss crossed her arms. "Then where is he?"
"He's at lunch."
Weiss felt her heart stop. Lunch? She had been out for over two hours? But she was only supposed to work until the lunch rush died! Weiss cleared her throat while Blake finished with her apron. "Well, as you can see I'm fine now. So I can just finish the rest of my shift."
"Your timecard isn't there. Boss thought you'd do that."
"Well what does he know anyway?" Weiss snapped.
Anyone unfamiliar with the heiress would have run away yelling if they saw her lose her temper. However, Blake had seen enough of Weiss to maintain her usual indifferent expression. "What happened, Weiss? You haven't fainted like this since Velvet offered you a box of chocolates."
Weiss put a hand on her temple to hide some of her blush from the unexpected question. It was true that she had traumatized Velvet forever by blacking out after the brunette had worked up the courage to present her gift. The accident had been written off as just that: an accident. It would never happen again and eventually be forgotten by everyone who bore witness. Everyone except Yang, of course, who found the whole scene too amusing to ever let go. A gear whirred in Weiss's mind. Yang had been there earlier. And Ruby was there too. The redhead had stood up and shouted something and everything went dark. Then it all clicked into place. Ruby had asked her out.
Realization made Weiss blush, but she couldn't hide behind both of her hands without making Blake question her sanity. Instead, Weiss asked, "Where does Ruby live?"
"Where did that come from?"
"Just answer the question!" Weiss took a step closer, though she doubted her lack of size would do anything to intimidate the black-haired girl.
Blake sighed and pulled out her phone. "I'll text you her address. Just promise me that you won't use this information to murder Yang. She owes me some money."
Weiss felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. The heiress walked past Blake to get to the café's back door. "I don't make promises I might break."
Ruby couldn't keep her hands still. Being dressed up felt strange to her, even though Yang had insisted that looking good was important. She remembered how she had fidgeted in front of the mirror, but the thin blouse with spaghetti straps just didn't feel like her. The little rose pin that kept her hair out of her face was a nice touch, Ruby acquiesced. However, it was nothing compared to the radiant beauty across the table.
"Are you ready to order, Ruby?" Weiss asked.
"Oh, um, I haven't been looking at the menu."
A flicker of disapproval passed through Weiss's eyes. "Honestly, Ruby. You have to learn how to focus."
Ruby winced. Would it be appropriate to say she was focusing on the heiress instead of anything else? "Sorry, Weiss."
"And will you stop apologizing? You're not going to offend me."
"I suppose." Ruby bit her lip and used the time to look around the restaurant. It was completely empty. The silverware consisted of brightly-colored plastic replicas of forks and knives. The rest of the restaurant, from its vaulted ceilings to gold covered pillars and maroon carpeting, all looked fine. Then Ruby picked up the menu and blinked. The words were gibberish. Ruby put the menu down and asked, "Hey, Weiss? Am I dreaming?"
The heiress rolled her eyes. "It's about time you figured that out. Now kiss me before you wake up."
"Wait, you mean the dream is almost over?
Ruby woke up with a sore neck. Sleeping at her desk had always sounded like a good idea when she was so tired that all of her bad ideas sounded good. Like asking Weiss out on a date and leaving her friend after she passed out. All before her second cup of coffee. Ruby groaned and rolled her head to work out some of the stiffness in her shoulders. The action did nothing. Ruby sighed and stared into her computer's wallpaper of a giant cookie. She wished she could have kissed the dream Weiss when she had the chance. It wasn't like the real Weiss would ever want to see her again. Ruby thought of opening up The Sims again for another dose of fantasy when someone knocked on the door.
Ruby sat up straight with a jolt. She turned to look at her closed door, hoping that the sound had been the product of her jumbled mind. It was too soon for Yang or her dad to be home, and she wasn't expecting any company. That meant that there was only one person who could be there. Weiss.
As if the mere thought of her name brought her wrath, Weiss renewed her assault on the door. Though the white-haired girl might be the graceful product of a long line of tutors, her strikes seemed to make the whole house shake. Ruby thought of the time Yang read her "Three Little Pigs." Ruby looked at her window. Although she was on the second floor, she was confident she could make the jump into the backyard and get away before she was devoured by the evil Weiss wolf. Ruby quickly undid the latch and climbed onto the sill only to see Weiss had walked around to try the back door.
A lone tumbleweed blew past. Weiss glared and Ruby swore she saw the afterlife. It promised to be devoid of pain. It was marvelous.
"Ruby Rose. Open this door. Now." Weiss growled.
"Yes, ma'am."
Ruby slid into her room, down the stairs, and was seated in the dining room across from Weiss much sooner than she wanted. The heiress didn't say anything, preferring to look around the modest living quarters with a mix of curiosity and awe. Ruby tried not to stare too long, lest she shatter the delicate silence and fall victim to Weiss's impending wrath. Although the setting had changed, Ruby was reminded of her dream.
"It's very… homey," Weiss said. "And much cleaner than I expected, considering Yang lives here."
Ruby forced a chuckle. "That's because you haven't seen her room. It's a bit of a pig sty."
Weiss nodded, as if she knew all along. Then she settled on Ruby's eyes and said, "You know why I'm here."
To kill me? Ruby wondered. She wished that the idle chitchat could've lasted longer. Out loud, she said, "Nope."
"I was given the rest of the day off because someone left me unable to work."
Ruby winced. "I'm sorry?"
Weiss sighed and put a hand on her temple. She was silent and Ruby wondered if the heiress was hoping to make the awkward tension in the room increase. She was doing a good job. Ruby clenched her fists to stop herself from putting on her hood. It was a bad habit made worse by the rapidly cooling autumn weather.
When Weiss finally broke the silence, she said, "So you wanted to go out? Then let's go right now." She grabbed Ruby's wrist and started pulling her toward the door.
"Huh? Hey, wait! I need to get ready!" Ruby sputtered.
"You look fine. And as it turns out, I have the whole day to spend with you. Funny how that works." Weiss bit her words, but Ruby felt like the heiress wasn't actually annoyed. She also hoped that it wasn't wishful thinking. As Weiss pulled Ruby out of the house, she resisted the urge to ask if she could have a moment to write her last will.
Weiss hadn't been lying. She really did have the whole day to hang out. The two had first gone to a fast food joint of Ruby's choice. The meal had been greasy and full of empty calories and Ruby loved it. Weiss settled on a water and salad. Afterwards, the pair wandered around town, going into random stores when they wanted, but they mostly talked about any subject that came to mind. It surprised Ruby to learn that Weiss was an accomplished fencer. They ended the day by seeing a horror movie that made them laugh, despite the girlish screaming of one man in the theater.
As the sun was setting and Ruby mounted the stairs to her house, the redhead only wished that the day had been longer. "You know, you're welcome to come in if you want," Ruby said as she fiddled for her house key.
Weiss pursed her lips. She had made a grunt when she saw Yang's motorcycle in the driveway. "As much as I'd like to, I should probably head home. I do have to work tomorrow."
"Oh, uh." Ruby scratched the back of her head. The two had acknowledged that they were going "out." But what did "out" really mean? Were they just friends or were they working towards a relationship? What was an appropriate way to see Weiss off?
"This was a really cool day," Ruby said and stuck her hand in the air for a high-five.
Internally, she was dying of embarrassment.
Weiss looked at the proffered hand and smiled. Ruby felt her heart melt as Weiss played along. For the most glorious of moments, Ruby was touching Weiss's hand. "See you later, Ruby."
"Yeah, you too."
Ruby didn't know how long she stood on the porch by herself. One moment Weiss was there and next thing she knew the heiress was already a block away. Ruby shook her head and tried to unlock the front door, but her hands were shaking and she kept missing the lock. She finally got the key in. As she trudged up the stairs, she saw Yang's light was on. Ruby walked into the cluttered room and she plopped herself down on her sister's bed.
Yang tore her attention away from her videogame to look over her shoulder. She took off her headphones and Ruby could hear the game's loud music pouring through. "Where've you been?"
"Out with Weiss. We saw a movie." Ruby yawned and closed her eyes. "It was fun."
"That's great! So was it a date?"
"Nah. I think it was just friends doing friend things."
"Oh." Yang paused. "So does that mean you're not going for her anymore?"
Ruby reeled on her sister so quickly that the blonde leaned farther back in her chair. "Back off," Ruby growled. "She's mine."
