The Crash

Happy drunks were the best drunks, in his eyes. Most people, however, in Roman's experience, did not stay that way, especially once the high had faded and the nausea took over. That being said, Ruby was becoming quite the exception, seeing as the crash had started probably a few minutes before he got her into his car and even as he carried her bridal style through the hall to her apartment, her cheerful clinging and awkward attempts to flirt were second only to the drowsy slur and nausea.

"Roman…m'gonna besick…" Ruby mumbled for what must have been the fiftieth time since they'd left the club.

"Just hold on a little longer, kid," Roman replied as he finally reached her door and put her down, causing her to lean on him for support. "We're almost there…"

"Mmmm…are yoo gonnasstay'n lookaffftr me?"

"Quite possibly," he said absently as he dug through his pockets for her keys.

"I'd like itif yoostayed…" Ruby swayed a little as he opened the door, and he brought her arm over his shoulder and led her inside.

"I'll stay at least until you've sobered up a bit."

"Mmmmkay…"

"Now then…" Roman sighed as he scanned her apartment, taking not first of the kitchen off to his left and second to the hall on his far right. He paused to close the door behind him before trudging towards the hall with Ruby in tow, and the girl giggled softly about how silly they must have looked walking in. He couldn't complain much about her absurdity—she was, at the very least, conscious. Roman studied the hall once they reached the end of it, and led Ruby to the first door on his right, which he had assumed, correctly, was the bathroom.

"Alright, Red, I'm just gonna sit you down here…" Roman helped Ruby kneel in front of the toilet, managing to lift the lid only barely before she vomited into the bowl, "and I'll gonna get you some water…"

"Mhm…"

"I'll be right back," Roman strode back across the apartment to the kitchen searching the rather plain wooden cabinets for a cup before locating a rather ridiculously colorful set of plastic cups. He grabbed a red one randomly and filled it up at the sink, wondering only a little to himself how it was that one of the best huntresses in Vale happened to live in an apartment that was probably no bigger than his kitchen.

He didn't have a lot of time to linger on the question, as the cup filled up quickly and he could hear Ruby hurling in the room over. He walked back, managing to get there just as Ruby finished puking and looked up at him, her eyes watery and her lips soaked in her vomit. He sighed and knelt down, ripping a bit of toilet paper off from the roll next to her and using it to wipe off her mouth before passing the glass to her.

"Ohh…yoogot myfavridd cupp…" Ruby slurred, her head lilting a moment before he steadied her head and helped her sip the water. "Sorryyybout…gettinso drrrunk," she continued after her first sip, "I didn'mean too…"

"Well you did warn me that you're a lightweight, so I kind of expected it," Roman chuckled softly. "Though, I was a bit surprised that insisted on going home with me."

"I add ssommethin morrfun inminnndd…" Ruby slurred as the ghost of a goofy smile crept back onto her face.

"If you're insinuating that you wanted to sleep with me, it might do you some good to know that I don't generally sleep with drunk people," Roman stated bluntly, causing Ruby to pout a little before holding her hand over her mouth and curling back over the toilet bowl. "Especially ones that don't find me attractive when they're sober."

"Iii fined yuuattactrive when'msobrr…" Ruby whined after letting out one last violent cough over the bowl.

"Perhaps. But you wouldn't admit it, so my position stands."

"Thas' cuz'mmnots'posed ta find yoo atta…attracive," Red pouted a little more as she lifted her head and took the glass of water back. "Mm'nodeven s'posed to befrienss yoo…"

"Who exactly gave you the impression that you couldn't try to be friends with me?"

Ruby grimaced at that. "Shahne. He hates yoo."

"Shawn…? Who's…ah…you mean Jaune? The friend of yours that's apparently pining for you? Remind me again why his opinion matters? I seem to recall you claiming to have absolutely no attraction to him earlier."

"Ee's still my frien," she answered firmly, taking another sip before continuing, "Iii donn wanna makehim mad…an'blake too, she doesn like you. An'yang. Quo doesn seeemto likeyoo much iiitthrr…"

"Hmm…I suppose that does put you in a bit of a rough spot. But something tells me that that's not your only reason."

Ruby paused, her head lilted dangerously close to the toilet seat before Roman righted her. She frowned, looking somewhat confused before slurring out another sentence. "Mmnot s'posed to lika badguy."

"And so the truth comes out."

"Are yoo reellee a badguy thoouugh?" Ruby leaned towards Roman, her eyebrows knit together dramatically in her confusion. "Imeean…yoodidd badtthhinsin thuhwaar…bud yoodonnooww…"

"Not to rain on your parade or anything, Red, but if the government weren't breathing down my neck, I'd happily still be a criminal."

"Whyyy though?"

"Because I'd have no reason not to be," Roman shrugged. "I was a thief and a con artist before Cinder found me, I'd still be one if she hadn't."

Ruby pouted again. "Thastuffss bad Roman."

"It was how I made my living, Red. Nothing personal, just business."

"Thassmean thouuugh…" Ruby flopped her chin down on his chest, and her pout became more dramatic. "Whhyyyywuuld yoobeemmeaan?"

"Mm…now that…that is a long story, and I think it just might be your bedtime."

"Imm adult. Iiii dond havva bed time."

"Hm. Well I make it a rule…that drunk adults do have bedtimes."

"Mm'nodd drrunk, yer drunk."

"…Not entirely wrong, but there's a big difference between buzzed and wasted. Now let's get you up…" Roman rose to his feet, pulling a mildly confused and very wobbly Ruby with him. "Are you gonna be able to find the bathroom later or should I get you a bucket?" Ruby stared at him, her expression so vacant that for a moment he wondered if she was thinking at all. He sighed in frustration and started to repeat himself just as she spoke again.

"Buckit."

"…Alright then. Stay here a moment, I'll go get it…" Roman leaned Ruby on the wall, but hesitated before going down the hall. "Do you remember where you keep a bucket?"

"Mmm…under kicchinssink?"

"Right. Stay there for a bit." Roman strode back towards the kitchen and opened the cabinet under the sink. He yanked the bucket out quickly and walked back to the bathroom to find that Ruby had sunk back down the wall in his absence. He sighed and helped her back onto her feet, leading her back towards what he guessed (correctly) was her bedroom. He laid her down on the bed gently, but as he went for the door, she spoke up again.

"Roman? Arrree yooleeaving nooow?"

He paused at that. It had honestly been his plan—Ruby was more than likely to tough it out until morning, and staying the night would probably just cause problems later. But…it seemed that she couldn't currently grasp that sort of difference, so it'd likely benefit him to lie a bit. "…Yeah, it's getting late, and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

"Mm…kay. Stayy safe Roman."

"Goodnight, Ruby." Roman smiled softly and walked back out of the room, vaguely wondering to himself how it was that even in her current state, he still managed to find her a little cute. Drunk people were generally not something he found cute, he actually found them rather annoying. He wondered over the possible reasons for why he didn't feel the same about Ruby, and by the time he'd made it to the front door, he'd concluded that it couldn't be anything good. But as he reached for the door handle, a knock sprung up on the other side, and his brow knit together in confusion. A look through the peep hole and a curse later, he'd found a reason to stay.

oooOOOooo

Waking up the next morning had been hell to her. Even with the amount of water she vaguely remembered drinking last night, the migraine she woke up to was not going easy on Ruby. The heat wasn't being too nice to her either, and she wondered for a moment if Weiss had wrapped her up in her comforter again to keep her from getting cold. It took her a little too long to remember that Weiss hadn't been the one to take her home, and longer still to realize that the warmth she felt was not a comforter, but a person. It was Roman.

She found herself smiling at the first sight of him, before full realization set in and brought her confliction with it. He looked peaceful, just like before, his bright orange bangs fell over both his eyes messily, a ghost of stubble lined his jaw as a crooked smile tugged at the corner of his lips. She knew, after a moment, that she shouldn't be staring. That she shouldn't have even wanted to stare. That nothing about the man she'd shamelessly cuddled up to in the middle of the night (again) should make her smile. But…once again she found herself only forcing herself to feel disgusted, and this time while being far too lightheaded to run away.

She found herself squinting up at his face, resisting the urge to brush her fingertips against his cheek, and resisting the urge to brush his hair out of his face; instead, she simply…didn't move. She watched him, long enough at least to remind herself that no one else was here. That they were alone. She took the time to sort through her hazy memory of the night before, and to remember, after a few moments, that he had intended to leave. She…couldn't remember what had made him stay. She thought…maybe it had something to do with Jaune?

After a few more moments, the migraine became too much, and she rolled away from Roman towards the edge of the bed. His shoulders rose slightly in response as he nuzzled his face further into her pillow, and she smiled. She shouldn't have found it as cute as she did. Ruby stood from the bed, her body swaying dangerously from the fatigue before she managed to stumble towards the bathroom. She had some migraine medication in her cabinet, she thought. At least, something enough to quell the pounding in her head.

Ruby shuffled through the hall and into her tiny bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. Something clattered on the ground as she walked in, and she looked down to see her favorite plastic cup still sitting on the ground from last night. She knelt down to pick it up, giving it a good stare before rinsing the rim of it and filling it back up with cold water. She couldn't be bothered to get a new cup from the kitchen, and after locating the migraine medicine in the cabinet, she popped two pills into her mouth and downed them before trudging back to her room with both the water and the pill bottle. She thought maybe…her guest might need it.

Ruby came back around to the free side of the bed, hesitating only a moment before setting down the water and crawling back onto the mattress. Roman jolted softly as she sat back down, his legs curled in a bit and his eyes slowly blinked open. He looked dazed, drowsy, and a little confused as he squinted at his surroundings, and after a few seconds Ruby caught his attention by softly speaking up.

"So do you end up going home with all the people you invite drinking? Or am I just lucky?" She watched him jolt again as she spoke, his eyes catching hers before a hand sprang up to cover his right eye. She frowned—she hadn't noticed anything wrong with that side of his face, but then, she was also pretty hungover. He swallowed, sitting up slowly and scanning the room; his gaze returned to her a few moments later. She thought he looked scared in that moment, and she couldn't help but wonder about his reasons. Either way, she relaxed a little at seeing his wide-eyed expression. A somber smile pressed against the edges of her lips as she sighed and leaned back against her bedframe's headboard.

"Can we talk?"

oooOOOooo

Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in and I totally didn't have this chapter mostly complete for the past month and a half. Haha…nope…So then…for those of you who don't know, I'm back at school, and this semester I have pretty much the same workload that I did last semester, not to mention that my animation class this year is centered around creating out junior film. So in short, I'm gonna die, and I'll try to get a chapter out some time during the semester but I'm still gonna die. So…reviews…

Before we begin I'm gonna paste the responses from last time down here because that special is leaving after I post the next chapter…

ODST110: Okay but drunk Weiss is basically just Weiss though. Also I'm planning on doing that many credit hours this coming semester too because it's the only way I'll graduate on time! :D

IntrovertedRabbit: Ruby is likely at the maturity level of a high schooler when it comes to the subject of sex tbh.

MidnightRoyalty: Actually, fun fact, most drunk people aren't one kind of drunk, usually heavily inebriated people flip between happy, angry and sad at the drop of a dime. So Yang is…likely all three.

Sam: Sam, my dear friend…I question your understanding of the term "Slowburn".

zek-xz: You have a lot of theories, my friend. None of which I shall confirm. (sidenote, yes Roman is 35 in this au)

To the people who just really liked drunk Ruby: Thank you, it's been a bitch to write her (figuring out what to slur and misspell is complicated)

YmaSumac: I don't drink at all or go to dive bars, so I am quite literally writing from zero experience with the matter. (I'm extremely happy that it reminded you of the experience though, I think that means I did okay with it)

Arces: Actually I have this nifty chart in my pictures that has, like, every color under the sun and what their names are in six or seven different languages, so I just picked one off of there.

And the new review answers:

Cryocene: -stares up at the chapter entirely devoid of sex, looks back to you- Scandalous.

IntrovertedRabbit: -smiles nervously- T-Totally not in the later plans -accidentally drops all the pictures and written designs for the Rosewick children she's made- j-j-just ignore those…

: It…technically is canon…? Like…they are going to get to that level at some point, but no, I'm not fast forwarding the timeline straight to that. We're diving back into the fray of moral confliction and uncertainty!

XErue: I'm still salty about how Roosterteeth offed him tbh

satheon: DON'T GET YOURSELF IN TROUBLE TO READ MY WORK YOU TIT. Ahem. Thanks for the compliment though, friend, I really appreciate it ^^

Now then. I will try to get a new chapter out soon-ish so…

Rosewick trash Peeves out until next chapter.