Frost had formed over the window panes during the night. Chilled air had been bleeding through the glass for hours and not even dawn scared it off. Ruby held her sheets tightly as she waited to clean up. Blake was the first to rise so she'd be the first one to soak up all the hot water. Ruby didn't mind, she usually took this time to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Just not today.

Last night was still in her mind. As hard as she tried she couldn't stop thinking about it. They were virtually strangers, but they'd imprinted their faces into her head. And the smell, she'd never forget it. She could still feel it in her nose.

The whole way back she dreaded the thought of Yang or Weiss catching the scent on her clothes. Even if she didn't join in on the revelry she could still expect a stern lecture. Fortunately for the young leader, Weiss had retired early for the night. Yang was still awake to greet her sister, yet, she was too enthralled with her Scroll for much else. From Ruby's return to when she managed to fall asleep nearly an hour later, Yang had barely taken her eyes off the small screen.

Ruby considered this to be a gift straight from the quarries. The blonde's obliviousness let Ruby slip her clothes into her sheets. She hoped her natural scent might be able to cover-up the stink of the smoke.

Odor aside Ruby wasn't exactly looking forward to today. Her dreams were a strange mess of odd imagery and unpleasant conversations. And once the alarm pierced her ears and the cold air hit her skin she knew it was going to be another day of drowning in work.

She clutched her blankets tighter to her chest. It barely seemed worth it to get out of bed. Her neck and shoulders tensed. Dull pain formed all throughout her torso. It trailed down her spine. Her nerves squirmed into thick lumps. Every thin strand of muscle picked up the slow current and carried the pain down. Her legs trembled, the girl was under sheets and a hefty quilt, but she couldn't keep the cold out.

"Ruby, you up?" Yang said. Across the room she stretches her legs, dressed in her light gym clothes.

Ruby wheezed out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm awake."

"You didn't set your snooze. We goin' for our jog?"

Ruby cringed. She'd forgotten again. "Umm, no thanks. I-I'm not feeling good today." Ruby working her hardest to pass it off as grogginess.

"You coming down with something?" The blonde, buxom girl strided over to her sister's bunk. Gently gripping the edge of the bedframe Yang reached up; pushing aside clumps of red-tipped hair she held the back of her fingers to Ruby's forehead. Her hands were warm, she had just limbered up but of course Yang was always warm.

Ruby's skin… well, she couldn't even parce her temperature through the layer of static. It sat right under her skin like a vibrating layer of insulation. She almost felt numb.

"I don't think you have a fever." Yang's face contorting with confusion.

"You dullard," Weiss snapped. Her voice came clear from the blue. Ruby couldn't even tell she was there. She had forgotten Weiss entirely, she didn't mean to lose her in the haze, it just happened. "You can't tell if someone has a fever with your fingers."

"I'm just checking, frost-face." Yang says, looking over Ruby's face more carefully. "Didn't your mom ever check your temperature like that?

Weiss was typically quick to reply, but she stuttered. Ruby didn't make out her muttering. In the time she'd known Weiss Ruby learned fast that a Schnee was collected and poised at all times. To the best of her knowledge, stammering didn't fall under the definition of poise. "Yes… but it doesn't always work. She could still have a fever."

"I know, but she doesn't feel hot." Yang replied, still standing on her toes to get a better look at ruby. "… is it your cycle?"

"No, I'm just- just, have a headache… I didn't sleep well."

"You were out late." Weiss chimed in again. Coming around the end of the bed Ruby caught the girl in her silver eyes. The white haired girl looked so snooty in her big fluffy bathrobe. The thing probably weighed ten pounds. "I thought you were coming back with Yang. You missed curfew; where were you?"

Ruby choked. Up until now she assumed Weiss had settled in before the rest of the team came back. She scrambled for a reply through her mental haze. "She decided to take a walk." Yang replied in Ruby's place. "She wasn't out super late. She got back right after you fell asleep."

Ruby stayed silent, Weiss was looking at her. Ruby drew a short breath, she was in no state to make her own lie. She could feel the strands of muscle in her arms tighten as she sat herself up in bed. "Yeah, I… I didn't mean to stay out late. I was… I lost track of the time."

"You let your Scroll die, didn't you?" Yang gave a heavy sigh. "You gotta start charging it more. You kill the battery playing games with it."

"I know." Ruby grumbled, swinging her legs over the ledge and hopping down. Her body shuddered.

"And it's unhealthy too, you need to keep a consistent sleep schedule." Weiss piling it on as she walks back to the bathroom door. "You only have so much time in a day. And that means you too Blake! You've been in there long enough!" Weiss snaps, rapping the back of her hand against the door.

Ruby gave a small sigh and made her way over to the closet on the opposite side of the room. "Maybe you should go rest in the nurse's office after breakfast." Yang's voice joining in with the sound of the door hinges.

"No, I have early classes today." Ruby sifted through her quarter of the closet. It was a packed space, even with their casual clothes stowed in their luggage. And with morning crust in her eyes she struggled to differentiate between Weiss' uniforms and her own. Apart from the bust Weiss' uniform was a near perfect fit, but she'd still get reamed out if Weiss realized she'd stretched her clothes.

"You're not gonna be able to focus if you're not feeling well."

"Yang, I'm fine. I'll feel better after breakfast." Ruby glanced back to Yang and pulled off a smile.

It clearly didn't do much to allay her sister.

"Finally!" Weiss whined from across the room as Blake pulled the door open. A fat cloud of steam followed the raven haired girl out. Ruby felt her body relax slightly as the heat diffused into the room along with the scent of fruity soap. Strands of dark hair poked out from beneath the checkered towel wrapped tight on Blake's head. "You didn't turn on the fan?"

"You like it steamy." Blake replied simply. Her simple slippers clapped lightly against the floor as she made her way over to the closet. "Excuse me," She said softly as she nudged in past Ruby. "I need to grab my clothes."

"Sorry Blake," Ruby clumsily backstepping out of her way.

"It's fine." Blake was always a bit curt, mornings only worsened it. Only a cup of tea and a bagel with cream cheese could ease the frumpy girl. Today it looked like she needed two glasses of Earl Grey.

"Sis," Yang says. "You still wanna come for a jog? It might help you wake up."

"Umm no thanks, you can go on without me. I'm not feeling up to it today." Ruby's cheeks were pinched into a tight smile.

Yang paused for a second. Her lavender eyes looked Ruby up and down before she returned a smile of her own. "Okay, I'm gonna go around the school once or twice. You don't need to rush on your shower, my first class isn't till ten."

"Thanks, Yang." Ruby cheers. "Don't forget your sport bottle!"

Yang gave a short giggle as she skipped to one of the desks and grabbed a large water bottle with a lanyard clipped to it. "Almost did! See you later!" A mirthy lilt in her voice as she bounced out of the room with a wave.

Ruby's smile managed to endure for a minute more until she turned back to Blake. Her cheeks immediately flushed as she took in, a frankly flattering, view of her full frontal nude figure. Blake had dropped her robe while Ruby was distracted. Blake immediately noticed, she didn't flinch. Didn't even pause, her yellow eyes skittered to her and she said, "Don't stare."

Ruby thought it best to say nothing, Blake likely agreed. It didn't even seem worth it to apologize. Blake was more focused with putting on underwear anyhow, so the young leader sought to distract herself. Hurrying away, to the other side of the room, bare feet pattering against the ground she picked up enough speed to jump up to Weiss' bed.

Making a foothold on the mattress she got on eye level with her bunk. Pushing aside the blankets in a hurry she uncovered her clothes from last night. It was difficult to tell what her clothes smelled like. The guy's fruity body spray was barely noticeable at this point, and the smell of smoke was likely snuffed as well. She gave a small sigh, just the sight of that stupid jacket warped her memories and thoughts back around towards classes.

Here she was sleeping in and chatting the morning away. So caught up in lying to her Yang and Weiss that she forgot what she even had on schedule for today. Due dates and exams were only a few weeks away.

Ruby's back tensed and contorted as she pulled in a breath. 'I don't know…'