Ruby stuck closely to Weiss as the pair made their way through the market. She felt uneasy. Walking through the crowds in such a carefree way felt… oddly surreal. There was always some sort of objective that ran through Ruby's mind whenever she was in this place. What foods to steal—Where the guards were posted—The best streets to escape to. Actually spending money? It wasn't an idea that Ruby was very familiar with. Even now, Ruby continued to subconsciously keep a lookout for guards the way she did every time she was here.

"Is this what it's like to be… normal?" Ruby asked herself. She glanced around again furtively.

No, regardless of her more innocent intentions this time around, her appearance still gave her away. Merchants and vendors continued to eye her like hawks, easily conveying their disapproval whenever she passed. Ruby could almost physically feel it weighing down on top of her. She slid her hood over her head and let her gaze fall to the floor.

"Is there any specific place that you want to go to?" Weiss asked nonchalantly, eyeing several of the different vendors that they passed by.

"Err… no, no specific places I have in mind today." Ruby said, masking her uneasiness with forced cheerfulness. The truth was, Ruby had never once even eaten anywhere outside of the orphanage or the room that she called home. She didn't even know how to order food from a vendor.

"Oh, this is a nice place that I've been to a couple of times," Weiss said, not seeming to notice Ruby's slightly panicked expression that she was doing a poor job at hiding. "It has a pretty spot you can sit at near that pond over there," she said, pointing.

"Sounds good to me!" Ruby exclaimed, starting to sweat a little on the inside. The two began to approach the vendor. Ruby gulped. She was running out of time. How was she supposed to order food?

The vendor was a large man with an admirable mustache. He eyed the two girls as they made their way towards him. "What can I do for you fine… ladies today?" He asked with a smile, hesitatingly only slightly as he caught a glimpse of Ruby's tattered clothes and beaten up face.

"You can go first," Weiss said, slightly nudging Ruby forward with her elbow.

"R-right. First. I love going first." Ruby looked up at the man who seemingly towered over her. He stared back down at her, his mouth fixed into a smile that gave no her no hints. She looked around, hoping for something… anything that might give her a clue on what she was supposed to do or what to get. Her eyes darted around frantically.

"Come on Ruby," Weiss said after a moment, chuckling playfully. "It's almost as if you've never seen the menu at a food vendor before."

The menu? Where was the menu?

"HAHAHA, AS IF!" Ruby exclaimed, quickly looking towards the spot that she thought Weiss was looking.

Her eyes lit up. There, behind the man was an impossibly small, black square filled with small, white words. The sign had so many words crowded in its tiny area that it was as if they were set to burst free from the sign's borders at any given point.

"Great." Ruby thought, sighing. That wasn't going to help her at all. Ruby didn't know how to read very well. She could recognize several words and letters from the limited schooling she had received from the orphanage, but an entire sign filled from top to bottom with tiny scribbles? Forget it.

But that didn't matter. Both Weiss and the vendor were waiting for her to make her decision. Ruby thought quickly.

"I'll take… uh… that!" Ruby said, pointing at a random spot at the sign.

The vendor turned around to look where she was pointing. "Take err… what?" He asked, keeping his polite smile on his face.

"You know, that!" Ruby responded, keeping her finger fixated, pointing to nowhere in particular. "Riiiiiight there."

He turned around again, trying to match Ruby's finger to the tiny words of the menu. "You're pointing to… the meat pie?" He asked, trying to hide his confusion.

"Yes, yes, that one." Ruby said quickly, lowering her arm. She lowered her head breathed a slight sigh. She was done. That wasn't so bad.

"And how would you like that made?" The vendor asked, bending over to jot down Ruby's order. Ruby's head snapped back up.

"I… Umm, however you think tastes the best?" She stammered.

"Is this for now or for later?"

Later? Why would she possibly want it later? Why was it so difficult to just get something from a stupid food vendor? Ruby quite honestly had an easier time stealing food from the market than she did getting food here.

Weiss spoke up. "For here, sir," she said calmly. "The weather is too nice to eat a meal elsewhere."


"You've never ordered food at a food vendor, have you?" Weiss asked, watching Ruby's facial expression amusingly. "That meat pie is impossibly large."

Ruby's eyes snapped up to Weiss. "Whaaaaaat," Ruby said, letting out a forced laugh. "Of course I've ordered at a food vendor before. Have YOU ordered at a food vendor before?" Ruby asked.

Weiss smiled.

"No," Ruby said quietly, lowering her eyes to the floor. "I haven't."

There was a pause. Weiss began to laugh. Her laughter flowed like a beautiful melody being played to perfection. Ruby almost forgot her embarrassment as it danced around her ears.

Almost.

"Ruby, you are something," Weiss finally said, covering her hand over her mouth. Ruby's face turned crimson and she muttered something incomprehensible. "I'm never leaving home ever again," she thought darkly.

"Don't worry about it," Weiss said, still smiling brilliantly. "Just try your meat pie. I'm sure you'll like it."

Ruby looked down at the pie in her lap. It looked foreign to her. It wasn't anything like she'd ever eaten before. Ruby didn't know what to expect. She had heard of meat pies in the past, but what did they actually taste like? "Well maybe if you stopped thinking about it and actually tried it, you might be able to find out," Ruby mentally chided herself. She scooped out a spoonful and tentatively put it in her mouth.

Instantly her world melted around her. Her eyes involuntarily shut as she exhaled slowly through her nose. This wasn't possible. Food this good couldn't possibly exist. The texture—the warmth—everything combined so perfectly to create an explosion of pleasure in Ruby's mouth. Ruby shuddered. It was delicious. She didn't feel like she deserved her mouth anymore. She was a cruel mouth owner. It should have left her behind long ago to find a new owner, one that could feed it proper tasting food.

"I didn't realize food could taste this good," Ruby said out loud, her eyes still shut. "Makes me want to be a cook when I grow up."

Weiss's smiled. She picked up a loaf of bread that she had also ordered and broke it into two pieces. "Here then," Weiss said, handing Ruby one of the halves. "The first step of becoming a good cook is knowing what foods mix well. Try it."

Ruby nodded her thanks and took the loaf. Ruby couldn't ever be unappreciative of bread that was fresh. It was such a rare commodity in the house that she didn't think that she would ever see it as anything less than it was worth. Ruby took a bite with her meat pie.

Another explosion of flavor, but different to that of the earlier bite. Weiss was right—the bread provided a whole new texture—a whole new flavor when eaten with the meat pie. Ruby closed her eyes again, savoring the mouthful for as long as she could.

Weiss smiled again at Ruby's reaction and took another bite of her own food. She stared out over the calm waters of the pond that they sat next to. Ruby matched her gaze. It was such a beautiful day outside. She could make out various people dotted alongside the pond as well, just enjoying their lives. Her family had once taken a trip to a pond too. The pond in front of her reminded her of that happy memory. Of her mom. Of her dad. Of Yang. Ruby's thoughts shifted to Yang. She wondered if Yang was faring as well as she was right now.

"Probably not," Ruby thought to herself sadly. Ruby knew it herself—finding a job at their social class was not an easy task. The lowest paying jobs were often the ones most fought for, according to Yang.

"A low paying job would be more than what you have accomplished today," Ruby thought to herself gloomily. She stared at the spoon in her hand. What was she doing here enjoying this food? Tomorrow she was going to back out in the streets, starving once again if she didn't find employment today. Especially since she had promised Yang no more stealing. Ruby's rational side fought with Ruby to get up and start searching again.

But Ruby didn't want to move. For the first time in her life, she had something that she never had before.

A friend.

Somebody that didn't shut the door the moment they saw her ruined clothes. "If I leave now, am I ever going have one again? Will I have the opportunity?" Ruby wondered. A sad look enveloped Ruby's face.

"So what were you doing out here today, Ruby?" Weiss asked, moving Ruby out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" Ruby asked, looking back at Weiss.

"Today, out in the streets. Was there any particular reason you were outside?"

Ruby hesitated. "I was actually… looking for a job."

"Really?" Weiss asked, sitting up. Ruby nodded.

Weiss was silent for a moment. "And… how is that going for you?" She finally asked.

Ruby stopped chewing and paused. Then her shoulders slumped forward. "Not that great, actually," she said, bringing her head up to look at the sky. "It's harder than I thought it would be. I mean, it's hard enough to find a job when you can't really rea—" Ruby caught herself. "Can't really… do anything useful," Ruby said, quickly substituting words into her sentence. There was no reason why Weiss had to know that she couldn't read very well.

"Well I'm sure that isn't true," Weiss said, not seeming to catch on to what Ruby had almost given away. "Everybody has his or her own talents."

"Yeah, well running around and stealing stuff usually isn't the type of talent that most job employers look for," Ruby said not realizing what had come out of her mouth until she had already said it. She winced at her own words. If Weiss hadn't come to a complete understanding of what Ruby did for a living, she definitely knew now.

Weiss, however, remained silent. She displayed no hint of fear or disgust, as was the typical reaction when people realized just what Ruby was. Instead she looked… Ruby didn't know how to describe it. Pensive? Sympathetic? That couldn't be right. Nobody was sympathetic towards a thief.

But Weiss… she was different. Right from the very start, Weiss had been different. Nobody had ever treated Ruby this way. Not the way that Weiss was treating her right now.

"How far do you live from here?" Weiss finally asked.

"I… not very far…?" Ruby said, confused about the sudden change in topic. Weiss bit her lip. Why was she biting her lip? Ruby was beyond confused at this point.

"Well…" Weiss said, hesitantly. "How would you feel about working for me at the flower shop?"

Ruby stopped. What was that she just said?

"Maybe it was a coincidence," Weiss continued." But the reason I was outside today was actually to look for help with my flower shop."

Ruby was speechless. She lowered her spoon. "I… flowers…?" She repeated dumbly.

"It would just be for a few odd things, like running errands or cleaning up and such. The pay wouldn't be that bad… but, well better than those other minimum wage jobs that you might have been searching for," Weiss said, looking down at her lap. She suddenly looked back up at Ruby, as if realizing what she just said. "N-not that you might have been searching for a minimum wage job or anything. That's not what I—"

"I'll do it!" Ruby interrupted. She almost couldn't believe the opportunity. She lived only about ten minutes away from the shop. And to build on that, she would get to know Weiss better. If there was anything on her bucket list that topped surviving each day and moving out of the excuse she had for a house, it was probably to get to know Weiss better. This was everything that Ruby had been looking for today.

Weiss pursed her lips. "Okay," she said. "The shop opens at eight. Do you need directions?"

"No," Ruby replied. "I know my way around these streets quite well." That much was true. She had slept in these streets more often than Weiss probably could have even imagined. Another thing that Ruby didn't quite need to reveal.

Weiss simply nodded. She eyed Ruby's half eaten pie. "Are you going to try to finish that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, I was thinking about saving it for Yang. It isn't often that we get this sort of food," Ruby replied. That much was true. Weiss nodded again.

"Well if you don't mind, there are a few things that I need to get done before the day is over," Weiss spoke, starting to stand. "Tomorrow at eight then?"

"I won't be late," Ruby said, smiling.

Weiss smiled back at Ruby one more time. Then she turned and began to leave. Ruby watched her walk away. Her long, white hair shimmered in the sun as it swayed to match her steps. Finally, she reached the street and disappeared into the busy crowd.

Ruby sat back and let out a deep sigh of content. She stared out over the calm waters of the pond and smiled. She didn't often have a reason to feel content. It was a refreshing experience, one that she hoped would last her at least a little bit longer.


A/N: Hey readers, I'm so sorry about the super long delay in posting this chapter. I was recovering from a pretty bad breakup, and to add to that my schoolwork just kind of built up on me due to the way I was neglecting to do it. The first quarter just passed, so hopefully I'll be able to manage my time a little bit better. I'm not going to be able to post as frequently as I would like to, but hopefully whenever I have the time, I'll be able to get in a chapter or two. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed chapter four. If you have any feedback or questions, be sure to leave a review!

- DataGrowth