Work With Me
Ruby sighed as she sat on a garbage can in some random alley, she needed to clear her head, just get away from all that noise and Weiss. She felt horrible for quitting, not because she may of hurt the bossy woman, but because she couldn't swallow that pill for Yang anymore.
Maybe she should of told Yang what was going on, but she already knew what the result would be. Her lovely older sister, who loved to go boxing on the weekends, would of stormed through that placed like a firestorm until Weiss was graveling on her knees and begging for mercy.
She would also get them both fired.
Ruby sighed as she closed her tired, silver eyes and tried to focus on something else. She couldn't tag right now, for her head was pounding slightly and her mind was foggy, so maybe a nice run would do her some good.
Yeah...running away sounded great, even if it were only for a few minutes...
~ Studio~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Weiss, if you don't do something, Yang is going to get through Blake and come storming in here." Pyrrha warned as she watched her friend just sigh at her desk, her hands covering her face. "You really shouldn't have worked Ruby so hard, Weiss. What were you thinking?"
What was she thinking? She was thinking about the upcoming dead line she was trying to meet, and failing to do so. She was thinking about how much she admired that girl for taking all her shit in stride without so much as a word back. How when Weiss had her stay over, she would watch her at home by the use of her security cameras and marvel at her she worked. How her heart beat faster every time their hands touched when she would hand her something.
"I don't know, Pyrrha. I'm just so...I see so much in her lazy, stupid ass and she's just...not living up to her potential."
"Weiss, you work others like you work yourself. Not everyone is as driven as you, not as passionate. However, Ruby is indeed passionate, she just shows it in a different way. That means you have to go about getting it a different way." Pyrrha explained as she watched the other groan.
"Pyrr!" The two women turned to see a worried Jaune walk into the office, his personal laptop in his hands. "Rubes isn't on! We're supposed to be tackling the Scorching Dragon of Bloodhaste in like, fifteen minutes!"
"Is that what you're worried about? Some stupid monster?!" Weiss snarled as she glared at the man.
"You don't get it! Ruby has been wanting to fight this guy for like a month now! He's got the last piece to her armor set and if she doesn't get it now, the percentage drop rate on him goes down until he disappears again for another whole month!" Jaune explained, his voice a high pitch near the end.
"I'm going to go find her. Maybe she just went home and is asleep on the couch or something." Weiss stated as she quickly gathered her coat and purse. She turned to Pyrrha and gave her a glance filled with many different emotions. "Pyrrha...watch the place, would you? And...thank you...for your words. I needed them."
~ City Streets~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her heart pumped strongly in her chest like a drum of war, driving her forward, making the blood rush through her veins like a raging river. She was running, gaining speed as she neared an old fire escape ladder. It was a good ways off of the ground, making it impossible to reach without some help, luckily, there was a solid brick wall she could kick off from to aid her.
Leaping toward the wall, Ruby took the jump from an angle, making it much easier to not only kick off form said wall, but to gain the height she would need to grab onto the old rusty ladder.
She just wanted to get higher, get further from the ground that seemed to just want to hold her down, crush her almost. She missed her mountains! Her glacial walls! Her clean, frosty air!
But...
...She had nothing up there now...
Ruby sighed as she began climbing the ladder, making her way up to the top of the building to watch the people just walk back and forth on the sidewalk below. They were like puppets, moving as if pulled by some invisible string. Some of them were talking on their smartphones, others were digging through their purses or pockets. They were just...moving...
It was easy for her to picture them as wondering souls, floating around without so much as a propose. Maybe a siren was singing to them, making them move, pulling their strings. Where would she send them? A watery grave? A eternal quest for nothing? Maybe she was helping them find a way out of the darkness, guiding them to some faintly glowing light that seemed to pulse.
...Was that light...getting brighter?
...was it...moving?
Ruby shook her head to clear away the daydream that had settled there to focus on that moving light. It was faint, nothing more then a reflection of the street lamps bouncing off of some fancy headdress of a moving figure. They were walking with a cause, something the other people seemed to lack, making her stand out among the crowd easily. Were they looking for something?
Ruby drew closer to the edge of the building, peering down like an old, gothic gargoyle whose stone gaze watched all who entered it's sacred building. The figure was small, even with the big trench coat it wore. It moved with an air of grace about it, even though it was stopping and looking down every alleyway and ever corner. What was it searching for?
"...Ruby? Ruby?"
Ahhh...she knew that voice...no matter how faint it was, she knew that voice well enough. It was Weiss Schnee, the woman she just ran from. What was she doing out here? Why was she calling out for her? A rush of hot emotions ran through her, ranging from anger to annoyance. What did she plan to do? Say 'sorry' and that would be enough? Threaten her with Yang's job? Hold her pay?
Ruby watched the woman pass by her building, move to glance down the alleyway she was in minutes ago, before sighing deeply and moving on. The young free runner decided to follow her from above, leap from building to building and keep the other in sight before going home to sleep off the rest of her day.
She stood up, took a deep breath, and began a mad sprint until she reached the ledge and jumped, tumbling as she landed on the neighboring building. The roll wasn't to just 'look cool' but to either use or maintain momentum or to make landing much safer. It was a lesson that took a hard fall to learn, but one Ruby used quite often.
Scanning the area below, the young teen watched the older woman search. It was clear that as time went on, she became more and more desperate and when she was low enough to the ground, Ruby could hear Weiss mumble things like; 'why wasn't she at home' or 'I hope she didn't do anything stupid.'.
Was she that worried for her? Or was she that worried about what Yang would do to her? Either way, Weiss was clearly worried. Ruby yawned, growing tired of stalking the siren below her, and decided to just head home where her nice, warm bed was awaiting her. She didn't think she was loud in doing so, but apparently the yawn was loud enough to catch Weiss' attention.
A silent street wasn't helping her hide, either.
Looking around and finding no one, Weiss glanced up to see Ruby perched on top of a low building just having finished a long, loud yawn. To say she was shocked to see the girl up there would be an understatement, for the building had no ladders or high trash bins or piled up crates for the girl to climb.
How did she...?
"Ruby Rose! You get down here this instant!"
"Or what? You'll have me stay late again?"
It was a bitter remark, one that was not lost on the young business woman. Taking a minute to straighten herself, Weiss cleared her throat before answering the sneering younger. "Yes, well...I am...sorry about that. How about you come down here and join me for a cup of coffee. We can talk better there."
Ruby blinked a few times, letting the words settle in before shrugging her shoulders. She already knew Weiss was a girl that was worth knowing and it just wasn't in her to stay mad. Bracing herself, the free runner walked off the ledge, landing beside the other, letting the force of the fall and gravity take her to a kneeling position. "You passed the usual spot about five minutes ago."
"Wha- How?! Where?!" Weiss shook her head, jumbling the train of thoughts into one line so she may get out at least one whole sentence. "How did you know that?!"
"I was following you from the roof tops, but that doesn't-"
"You've been following me?! I've been looking for you for almost..." Weiss glanced down at her jeweled wrist watch, then back up at the stunned girl. "...two hours now! You could of said something! I was worried sick! You could of gotten hurt and it would have been all my fault because-!" The smaller woman realized what she was about to say, slapping a hand over her mouth before it could betray her further.
This only made Ruby that much more intent of finding out what the other was going to say. Those words were unfiltered, so much so that even the speaker was shocked by them. There was something there that the fashion designer didn't want anyone to see, but why though? This is what needed to be said! To be seen! To be worn on her sleeve instead of this hard image she tried to have on all the time!
"Weiss." Ruby's voice was calm, but stern in a way that carried over some unspoken command. A single note that carried the power of an entire song. "What were you going to say. I don't want to wait for coffee and I really don't want to hear anymore bullshit."
Weiss lowered her gaze to the concrete, felt all the tension she didn't know she had just melt away. She had lost a game she didn't even know she was playing. "I...I pushed you hard because...I see a lot of greatness in you, Ruby. I looked through your files, I know you're smart and capable. Hell, I even let you go through my files even though I said I wasn't going to!" Ice blue eyes looked into shocked silver. "I...respect you...but DAMN IT! You're so lazy! You have all this wasted potential and time and you just- AUGH!"
The teen was shocked, at first. The words the normally cold woman spoke were oddly warm, sincere in the best of ways, and then it dawned on her. Weiss was a driven individual, she expected a lot from herself and therefor excepted a lot from others too. She wasn't being mean or hatful just...driven.
Ruby wrapped her arms around Weiss, smiled into the temple of the blushing boss before whispering. "I bet that took a lot to say, huh?"
"You have no idea." Weiss muttered back before slowly wrapping her slender arms around Ruby. Her fingers splayed out across the back of the taller girl, running along the thin, cotton material.
Until she noticed something.
Ruby's back, though fit as it were, was...odd. There were pitted dips were there shouldn't be and dug out trenches that ran this way and that. As tempted as she was to pull the shirt up and look at the skin beneath, she became aware of how the other stiffened, how that gentle smile turned into a frown. What was wrong with her back?
"Ruby-"
"Don't." Ruby lashed, the sound quick and biting. "Just...don't ask about it...okay?" Strong silver eyes watched as Weiss merely nodded before stepping back and straightening the wrinkles on her coat. Sensing the awkward air that swirled around them, Ruby rubbed the back of her neck and bowed her head. "I accept your apology by the way."
Weiss snapped her head up to look at the shy teen, before nodding and turning around to head back to the shop. "Yes, good, well...come along then. We have a lot of work to do and-"
"Wait! What? You...you're taking me back? But I didn't ask-"
"Of course I'm taking you back! I didn't want you to quit in the first place! Stop stalling and start walking!" Weiss ordered as she just continued to walk away from the stunned teen
Ruby sighed as her shoulders dropped. Looks like things were back to the way they used to be...a sly smile crossed her lips as she felt the lingering presence of those slender fingers run across her back.
No, things looked the same, but they were different.
~ Studio~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where is she?! I'm gonna ring her neck so bad that you'd think she was a pretzel!" Yang yelled as she tossed the heavy desk Blake had used to block the door with.
"Honey! Wait! Please be reasonable!" Blake begged as she watched Yang all but splatter the desk she struggled to push up against the door like it was nothing. "This...this isn't good for your skin?"
Yang paused for a moment, looked at Blake with almost fiery eyes, before she started yelling again. "You think I give a shit?! That cold-hearted bitch ran my poor baby sister into the ground like a dog! And I'm pissed at Ruby too! Why didn't she tell me?! Why did I have to learn from Nerd boy?!"
"Jaune, his name is Jaune, Yang." Blake reasoned as she drew closer to the raging blonde and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe Ruby didn't want to tell you because she was afraid you'd get mad? Maybe she was looking out for the both of you."
"B-but-"
"Listen. I know what Weiss did was...unreasonable, but that fashion show is coming up and there's still a lot of work to be done. We don't even have a outfit made for you yet. Not a single one! If we don't put something out, how can any of us get paid?"
Yang growled as she listened to Blake. Sure, she had a point, but that didn't mean she had to like it. The tall blonde crossed her arms, glared at her sighing girlfriend, and snorted. "I'm still mad."
"I know, but hopefully not mad enough to kill our boss...right?" Blake teased as she drew closer to her pouting lover. She only gained another snort in response, so she wrapped her arms around Yang's shoulders and began to purr loudly. It didn't take long for Yang to begin smiling and hugging her back.
As much as she loved this girl, she was a handful at times. She knew that from all the noses and bones she broken on people she argued with when on set or even at some of the hotels they had visited during tours and such. She knew all of this though, before she began to fall for her, before she began to date her and sleep with her. It was a trial by fire and though the fire was red hot...
...She was loving every minute of it.
"Blake? Hello? Did Yang kill you to calm down her bloodlust? Ow! Hey!" Nora whined, followed by a sigh from Ren.
"We came to tell you that Weiss came-"
"WEEEEIIIISSSSSSSSSS!" Everyone jumped when they heard Yang all but roar out the name before the door began rattling and Blake began begging for Weiss' safety all over again.
"She has Ruby with her and it sounds like everything was fixed though." Jaune pointed out. The beating slowed down to a halt, a heavy tension filled the air making everyone squirm in their places, but soon it was broken by a screaming Yang.
"Damnit! I forgot I had my phone all along! I could have just called her! I'm doing that right now!...Hello?...Weiss! YOU BITCH! How could you do that to my baby sister?!...huh? Yeah! Put her on the line!...Ruby! Why didn't you tell me?!...I would not have killed her...Well, I mean I had plans to but doing and planning are different!...I know that...I know that too...You don't need to help! I got-...but, you're my baby sis...okay...okay...I love you too. Hand me back over to Weiss...Hey, I'm still really pissed off at you, but well, you heard what Ruby said...Alright. Yeah. Talk to you later. Bye."
"...Yang? Are you okay...? We hear sniffling." Pyrrha asked as she closed in on the door.
"I'm...I'm so proud of my lil' sister!" Yang cried. "She's growing up so fast! I can't believe she handled that all on her own!"
"Relax everyone, she's just having a moment." Blake giggled as she held her sobbing girlfriend. "You big, gay, baby."