Ruby let loose a long sigh as she turned over on the sofa lazily, putting her scroll face down so that she didn't have to look at any more innuendo laden texts about her romantic life. Team RWBY was being benched to Vale for the time being, and though it sounded like a forced vacation, there was still too much to do, and Glynda was lining up odd jobs for them around the city for later in the week.

Although today was technically a day off, sitting around idly wasn't an option to Ruby. There were homes to build, people to feed, Grimm to extract from dilapidated buildings, and all sorts of other things that she could do, but Pyrrha would have none of it. She wanted Ruby to take a proper break, and Ruby couldn't find a way to weasel her way out of it...she finally caved, but only because Ruby knew tht Pyrrha was right.

That didn't stave off the restlessness though, and being bored gave Ruby too much time to stew in her own head.

"What's the matter Ruby?" Pyrrha asked, coming out of the bedroom with a soft frown on her features.

"Just thinking, I guess." She said holding up her scroll. "Yang's at it again."

"So I see." Pyrrha said with a gentle smile. "She only teases you so much because she worries."

"I know that." Ruby said as she sighed, putting her arms behind her head she gazed up at the ceiling. "Pyrrha?"

"Hmm?"

"Does it bother you that I'm not like Yang?" Ruby asked, flicking her gaze worriedly to her girlfriend.

Pyrrha came around to sit on the sofa, lifting Ruby's legs before adjusting them to lay across her lap. "No, not at all. Although I have no idea where a question like that came from."

"Well," Ruby started, "I just get the idea that I'm just not as good as her when it comes to people."

"I believe that conclusion depends strictly on the context."

It was a comfortable relationship. Ruby felt at ease with the way Pyrrha's hands rested upon her legs. The warmth emanating from them was soothing. Actually, almost all of Pyrrha was soothing. Her voice, her touch, even her gaze tended to be gentle. Ruby had come to expect such tenderness, as it tended to be routine. Even when it came to emotions like anger, Pyrrha rarely lashed out, choosing words over actions, and peace over violence when and where she could manage.

Of course, being a huntress included violent acts too, the profession would never be a harmonious one, but Pyrrha accepted that aspect too.

Ruby found that it was easy to speak her mind when she had such a non-judgmental partner...finding the right words to speak, however, was something much harder. "I suck when it comes to dealing with others." Ruby said softly. "I never really had to care about how I looked or acted. It didn't really matter too much. Real friends would stick around, and my team knew that even when I screwed up, I'd always do anything to make it right."

"Ruby, please tell me what's plaguing your mind." Pyrrha beseeched. "I have a feeling this goes deeper than that, and it bothers me to see you trapped in your own mind."

"Is it really that obvious?"

Pyrrha nodded. "We get half a carton of milk every week, and it's still over half full. You haven't been eating cereal, and I haven't had to bake cookies in weeks, so you haven't been eating those like usual either."

"So? What if I decided to demolish the box of strawberries instead?" As Ruby had grown older, she had developed a taste for fruit based ration bars, and sundried fruits. Two things she could stock up on and eat during long missions without fear of them going bad. However, her love of baked goods had never diminished, and chocolate chip cookies were still her favored desert.

Pyrrha laughed, shaking her head at the slight foolishness of the statement. "You have done that, but my point still stands. I would accuse you of spending too much time around Weiss, but she is no match for your love of sweets."

"I just keep thinking to myself that I should be more like Yang. That, and I must be a really sucky girlfriend sometimes. For example, Yang's a hopeless romantic, and she's always finding ways to completely sweep Blake off her feet." She gave Pyrrha a sad little glance at the thought. "I'm not in the least bit romantic, and I'd rather be slumming it around in some forest with a Grimm then going to any of those fancy parties you always have to go to."

It was a silly notion, of course, but it was obviously bothering Ruby to great length, and that just simply wouldn't do.

"Yang is also very quick to temper, and lashes out sometimes without meaning to. She is a wonderful person, but she would never be the type I'd seek in a suitor." Pyrrha noted. "And all truth be told, I would rather be away on missions too. Slaying Grimm and helping others provides immediate gratification and a sense of accomplishment. Those are two things I don't receive when dealing in politics."

"Yeah, but Yang's good at that stuff too. She takes Blake to those parties all the time, and keeps up with everything…and me? I'm just total crap. The moment someone with wads of cash to throw around comes by, I stick my foot in my mouth. They ask me about things that I really don't have an opinion on, and when I say that I don't have one, they look at me like I'm stupid."

"Ruby, sweetheart, don't worry so much about that. People who wish to donate money and goods to Vale, will do so out of the kindness of their hearts, not because a huntress fails to live up to their standards of decorum. I don't care what they think, and neither should you."

"Yeah, but everyone else cares…"

"You've been reading the tabloids again, haven't you?" Pyrrha deadpanned.

"I saw an article Weiss was complaining about, and then last time I stopped at the corner sore, I might have decided to look at the others. People are catching onto us, speculating and…um...they say some pretty nasty things." Ruby said with a frown.

"Like what, Ruby?" Pyrrha pleaded now. "What lies have you been reading?"

"For starters, that I'm no good for you, and everyone thinks that. All they see is some grungy woman with uneven hair and a ratty old clothes. They think I'm going after someone as wonderful and beautiful as you are just to use you. They don't care about my job, or Vale, they just care about the fact that I'm way out of my league, and that I need to step back…and then they take pictures of me and Weiss when we're on missions too…and that's when it gets really bad."

"Look at me." Pyrrha said then, a frown carving into her features. "Ruby, please if only for a moment."

"Sorry, Pyrrha…"

"Don't be." It hurt to see Ruby upset in any capacity. Their relationship was too fragile, too new, to withstand such critical, not to mention crude, critique without a few doubts copping up along the way. Even so, to know they had already greatly caused Ruby damage was an infuriating prospect. One Pyrrha did not take kindly towards. "Those articles are abysmal pieces of garbage, written and read by others who have nothing better to do than to spew lies and slander. They do not reflect my feelings for you, and they do not adequately reflect who you are."

"But-"

"No buts." Pyrrha cut her off. "I will not hear of it." She maneuvered on the too small sofa, until she was leaning over the shorter woman, fingers toying though those uneven locks of red tipped hair. Did the media even realize Grimm had done that to her? That Ruby had narrowly missed the claws of a deadly beast, and was all the more beautiful for such a thing? Did they even have the hearts to care? Pyrrha strongly doubted it. "Those articles are not your concern."

"Aren't they, though? They're about you too."

"You have too large a heart for you own good." Pyrrha murmured then. "Ruby, I care for you because of who you are. There is no other person, man or woman, who makes me feel the way you do. You are an above average intellectual in your own fields of study, don't forget that. The days you come home filthy, exhausted, with your aura drained beyond reasonable measure, I'm grateful you made it back home to me at all. If the media cannot see how wonderful you are, then it's their loss, because it most certainly won't be mine…"