RWBYond Happily Ever After
AN: This chapter is a bit more…fan service-y. There's also a bit of a time gap between this and the previous chapter. The most important thing is next chapter, which will be talked about this chapter.
Chapter 130+9: I Will Cling, I Will Clutch
Penny was having a sensational day. She had such wonderful students this semester and each of them had so much potential. Several of them already required multiple swords for her to spar with them. There were twenty-eight students in total and each one of them showed a lot of promise in becoming huntsmen. Then again, Penny wasn't so good at this whole, analysis stuff. She was the combat instructor for Atlas Academy sure, but she would usually just set up spars based on tangible factors such as strength, speed and abilities. Sometimes she would take a more personal approach and use her blades to spar with them and give them the kind of challenge that will undoubtedly cause them to grow.
After class she would always return to her room where she would re-watch the day's spars. Sometimes she would get Winter or Rubrum to watch them with her. Afterwards she would watch movies or play video games, usually with Rubrum. He was such wonderful company. Penny had become inspired by his handicap. His use of his legs were lost after Salem severed part of his spine. But he had made quite the impressive hovering wheel chair. He was happy to teach the students how to better control their aura. Penny was happy that Rubrum didn't let his situation get him down…at least no more than his usual self-deprecating self would anyway.
Today was special. It was the final day of class for the summer. Penny had a few months off. More importantly, she had a wedding to go to. Ruby and Jaune were getting married in one week and the whole gang had decided to get together in Atlas for some pre-wedding fun. Well, not the whole gang, just the bridesmaids and groomsmen. So Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Penny, Nora, Jaune, Ren, Sun, Rio, Rubrum and Neptune were all hanging out over the weekend. They would be staying at Weiss' house. Penny wondered what Weiss had planned for the night, she had taken charge of planning all wedding related activities.
She and Rubrum arrived together. Everyone was already there except for Nora and Ren. They still had some assignments to grade and wouldn't be arriving until the next day. Penny made small talk catching up with an overly excited Ruby. Weiss passed out tea and coffee to everyone and announced her plans.
"I'm sure we're all eagerly excited to get started." Weiss said. "Many of you just got done teaching at the schools and are probably tired. Which is why I booked a day for us all at the spa."
"Yes!" Yang cheered.
"Sounds wonderful." Blake said. Sun put his hand on her shoulders and started massaging them.
"This place we're going to also gives massages and manicures." Weiss explained. "I don't know about you. But I'm getting the full treatment." Penny shrugged, she would love spending time at the spa with her friends, but everything else seemed unnecessary.
"Will there be alcohol?" Yang asked.
"Of course." Weiss said.
"Sweet." Yang noted.
"There's one catch." Weiss said. "Sorry Jaune and Sun, but there's no co-ed hot tub where we're going."
"Aww man." Rio snapped his fingers. Sun and Jaune were surprisingly unperturbed by it. Neptune just remained silent and averted Weiss' gaze.
"So, Ruby and I will be leading the girls' night. Jaune and Sun will be leading the guys' night." Weiss noted. "At 10:00 we meet up at the bar for drinks."
"Sounds like a plan." Yang said.
Penny was in the limo being driven by one of Weiss' assistants. Ruby, Blake and Yang had never driven in a limo before so it was quite exciting for them. Weiss opened up the mini-bar in the back and passed out wine coolers. Naturally, Penny didn't take any.
"I thought we were waiting." Ruby said.
"We are at the bar." Weiss said. "Don't worry, these things are barely more alcoholic than a thing of grape juice. It's just to help us loosen up a bit."
"Alright." Ruby took a drink of one. "I'm just worried about you. I know you've been drinking a lot lately. It's not exactly a good habit."
"I'm fine Ruby." The limo stopped and they got out and headed in. "It helps me unwind with all the stress I get at work."
They signed in and walked into the changing room. Because it was girls only, there wasn't so much a need for bathing suits. Penny didn't bother undressing. She planned on just sitting on the edge.
"What's up Penny." Yang said putting a protective bag over her bionic arm. "Do you not work in water?"
"No that's not it." Penny said. "Hot springs just don't do anything for me on account of my…not being a real girl."
"Oh…" Yang looked down as she wrapped the towel around her body. "How's that going anyway? I know Avarice was going to help you but can't…and the Arbiters have been busy."
"It's going slowly. Rubrum and I just don't have the time or energy to try working out a way to make me human. After work, he's just so mentally exhausted that we end up spending the rest of the night just playing video games and watching movies."
"Well at least you two are still together." Yang said as she stepped into the steamy water followed by the other members of team RWBY. "It must be nice having someone like that to go home to."
"It's a wonderful feeling." Blake said taking a seat next to Yang. Penny sat on the edge and dipped her feet in, splashing it around a bit. The room was large but instead of one big spa, there were several small ones, each one had a different group of girls in it. The guys room would probably look identical.
"It's nice to have us girls together." Weiss said. She leaned her head back, letting her long hair float freely around the pool.
"I kind of wish we could have gotten a private room and shared with the guys." Ruby said. "Even if we had to wear bathing suits. I just feel like so many people are missing."
"It's better this way I think." Weiss said.
"Yeah, wouldn't want Jaune and Sun getting nose bleeds over me." Yang said.
"Get over yourself." Ruby rolled her eyes. "I'd be more worried about Rio hitting on you, or manipulating the water."
"I'd be fine with that." Yang said. "Maybe I could use it as leverage against August. They are rivals after all, maybe I could get them to fight over me."
"I don't believe that would happen." Penny said. "Rio is dating Natalie."
"He is?" Yang sighed.
"He told Rubrum several months ago." Penny explained. "I haven't heard anything to the contrary."
"I was sure by the way he acts he was signal." Yang said. "Damn."
"Can you back that up a bit please." Blake said. "What was that about August?"
"Gah…it's so frustrating!" Yang said. "I've tried everything. I like him, maybe not enough to date him or whatever but I flirt with him. I just really want to get a reaction from him. I want to be the one he thinks about at night. But nothing, I haven't even gotten him to blush once."
"Maybe you're not his type." Blake said.
"Maybe he's gay." Weiss suggested.
"No." Yang said. "If he was Scarlet would have found out. Or I would have heard something about it from Rubrum or someone. And I'm just about anyone's type."
"You are so full of yourself." Ruby groaned.
"Hey, if I want to pick a guy up, all it's ever taken was a wink and a smile and they're all over me." Yang said.
"No wonder you can't get anyone to stay more than a night with you." Ruby mumbled.
"When you say it like that I sound like a slut." Yang said sourly. "I don't sleep with guys until at least the third date."
"At least?"
"Hey some of them are prizes just like me." Yang shrugged.
"I don't get you sometimes." Ruby said. "Maybe it's because I've only been with one guy."
"That's at least respectable." Blake said. "But having a few boyfriends in your life helps you know what you do and don't want in a relationship."
"How many have you had?" Ruby asked.
"Two that I consider serious, Sun and Adam. You can tell what I'm getting at with that."
"Ouch. I got the lucky draw." Ruby sighed contently.
"What about you Weiss?" Yang asked. "I know you've had some boyfriends when you were younger. How's your love life now."
"Anyone who I don't consider a friend, asking that question, I'd tell them to piss off." Weiss answered.
"That bad huh?"
"It's absolutely terrible."
"Is that why you didn't say more than two words to Neptune?" Blake said.
"What happened between you two?" Yang asked.
"Well when a Mantle based CEO of the world's most important company, who is also a workaholic…"
"And alcoholic." Ruby said quietly but Weiss shot her a dirty look.
"And a guy who teaches in Vacuo and is busy with huntsmen business every day, try having a long distance relationship, it goes to hell really fast."
"When did you break things off?" Yang said.
"After the first month of the semester." Weiss said. "I…I need someone who can hug me and kiss me and hold me while I sleep. I need someone whose shoulder I can cry on. I need someone who is physically there. Neptune…we're just not in love as it is. With this distance, we may never be. It'll never work out."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Ruby said. She wrapped an arm around Weiss and rested her head on her shoulder.
"If you ever need sa shoulder to cry one, or just a drinking budy, remember I do have the means to open up portals and be there in an instant." Yang said.
"Thanks…but that's not entirely necessary." Weiss lamented. "I'll find someone who can fulfill my needs and will do so without caring about my prestige."
"It's good that you have hope." Penny cut in. "I don't understand all this relationship stuff. I have Rubrum, but neither of us are exactly emotional like that, and we don't have very many physical manifestations of love and affection. But I do understand desire. You can't lose hope."
"I feel that's the biggest thing I missed out on." Weiss said. "I may be a shitty person for saying this, but I wish I would have given Jaune a chance." She, looked to Ruby. "He's such a caring person and doesn't care that you're the most important person in the world because you're the most important person in his world first and foremost."
"That is true." Ruby said. "But everything happens for a reason. If you would have dated him, you probably wouldn't have wanted to let him go and where would that leave me?"
"It's pointless to deal with what could have been." Yang said. "It's a tough rut to get out of, trust me."
"Well, I certainly never thought talking about guys could get so dreary." Blake said. "I'm lucky I guess. Even Adam, as much of a sociopath as he was, even when we dated, he was always kind to me and made me feel good about myself."
"Knowing how bad he is, everyone should feel a little better about themselves." Yang said.
"Now I've got Sun and he…boy is he the kind that worships the ones he loves. I bet I could tell him to jump into the mouth of a leviathan without his weapon and he would if it meant making me happy."
"Plus that tail is strong enough to support his body." Yang said. "I could only imagine…"
"And we're done having this conversation." Blake said. "Way to ruin everything."
"So you're basically confirming the use of an extra appendage." Yang started laughing. "Monkey Faunas have such an unfair advantage."
"Well I'm ready for those drinks." Blake said changing the conversation.
They got out of the hot-spring, all rejuvenated by its steamy waters. Ruby texted Jaune to let the guys no they were at the bar. Penny sat next to Rubrum, who was enjoying his soda. Penny told him what Yang has said about August. When Rubrum heard this, he spat his soda out and laughed, which caused the others to laugh. Penny saw how happy Ruby was with Jaune and Blake was with Sun. She saw how cool Rio was and how much Yang and Neptune were putting on cool fronts. Weiss was like a glass house though, she was wearing her stress on her sleeve, but still having a good time.
"Rubrum…do you think there's any point in someone like me having a relationship?" Penny asked.
"What are you talking about? Aren't we pretty much in a relationship?"
"No, I mean yes but…I can't ever be for you…what Ruby is for Jaune."
"You don't have to be." He grabbed her hand. "You are Penny; you are the most unique girl in the world. You are you, that's truer than true, there's no one in the world who's youer than you."
"Not sure 'youer' is a word."
"That's not the point. I'm not Jaune, you aren't Ruby. The only pointless thing is to be someone we're not."
"They just look so happy holding each other."
"And I'm someone who isn't a big fan of physical contact. I just want someone who'll laugh with me and talk with me. You are more than perfect for me."
If Penny could cry tears of joy she would. So instead, she smiled and clutched his hand. She rested her head on his shoulder and he leaned his head on hers. Together, they watched the others with their conventional relationships. Together, they were happy and hopeful in their own way. And knowing how unique they were, brought Penny a kind of joy the others would always lack.
An: Have I ever mentioned how surprised I was at how naturally Penny and Rubrum worked together in my previous story. Seriously, this wasn't part of the original plan, it just happened and kept happening as I developed Rubrum as a character and wrote in Penny. Please review, follow, favorite and stay classy.
