Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.
Ruby rolled over lazily, perfectly content to stay wrapped up in her blankets forever. A gentle beam of sun was running through the window and falling just on the top of her head, warming her hair comfortably, she was snuggled tight in her blankets and having just the best dream about a certain blonde boy, walking her down the paths of Beacon, hands tangled together, laughing about everything without a care in the world.
"Wake up you dolt." Ruby jumped with a little yelp and rolled backwards off her bed, taking the large sheet she had hung over her bunk down to the floor with her. She raised her head slowly from the ground, sheet draped over her like a cheap ghost costume and met her partner's icy stare.
"I'm up. I'm up now see?" Ruby lifted the sheet off herself and stood. Zwei came trotting over and nuzzled his head against her leg.
"Actually Ruby, I'd say you're down." Yang laughed. Ruby shook her head at her sister and reached down to scratch Zwei behind the ears, "Get it. You know because you-"
"Yes Yang." Blake on the opposite side of her bunk sitting and brushing out her long black hair, cut her partner off before she could really get into her unneeded explanation.
"Go Ruby, take your shower. I am not risking you walking in on me again." Weiss was wearing her nightgown still and had not moved her eyes from Ruby.
"Okay, okay I'm going." Ruby stood from petting Zwei and headed for the bathroom, "You could just lock the door you know." she mumbled not so quietly and was hit square in the back of the head with a pillow, "Oum, okay I'm going." Ruby closed the door behind her and the sound of running water leaked out from the crack beneath the door.
"I swear. If she keeps up these late night escapades with Jaune we may have to do something." Weiss crossed her legs and sat down on the edge of her bed. Zwei jumped up next to her and she immediately uncrossed her arms and pulled him onto her lap, petting his back in long calming strokes.
"You're just jealous because you spend every night in here studying." Yang had taken Blake's seat and begun the overly long process of brushing out her mass of hair. Blake was still by her though, ensuring that an entire bed remained between her and the little demon on Weiss's lap.
"I am not." Weiss almost yelled and clenched one fist. The sudden movement startled Zwei enough that he hopped down and trotted away, curling up in the corner. Weiss's face fell and she reached a hand out towards him but he was gone, "I study so I stay at the top of our class. I just think Ruby needs to show a little more discipline. She is our Team Leader after all."
"To be fair Weiss. Her grades haven't slipped and the team practices are really helping all of us." Blake was calmer now that the beast had moved away but was always on edge when he was awake and in the room.
"That may be true. But she still needs to keep it up. She represents our whole team. We're even named after her for Oum's sake." Weiss crossed her arms again in indignation.
"Relax Princess. She's doing fine. Anything happens and we'll say something. Ruby's got it under control." Yang shot Weiss a teasing glance and the white haired girl calmed a little. Ruby emerged from the bathroom at the end of Yang's retort. She was pulling her corset on over her combat skirt.
"Help tie me up Weiss?" she turned her back to her partner and tossed her towel on her bunk. Weiss stood with a huff and stormed into the bathroom. Ruby turned to look at Blake and her sister.
"What was that?" she looked between the two for some sign of what had happened during her short shower.
"She's just upset you and Jaune are so happy" Yang returned to brushing her hair. Blake stepped around the bed, keeping an eye on Zwei and went to help Ruby with her corset, pulling the strings tight and tying a fanciful bow at the base.
"She is a little jealous. But she'll be okay." Blake smiled and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder once she had finished. Ruby looked over her shoulder and smiled at the older girl before grabbing her towel from where she had left it and running it quickly over her hair again, shaking the last water out. Then Ruby sat down on the edge of Weiss's bed and grabbed a hairbrush from the night stand. Her hair wasn't overly long like the rest of her team but it still needed some brushing to look decent. She brought a few of the strokes out in front of her face so she could see the tips of her hair.
"I need to go get it dyed again soon. Yang do you wanna go with me?" Yang set down her brush and stood, stretching both arms high above her head.
"Yeah sure why not. I could do with a visit. My hair always feels awesome after someone else shampoos it for me." Yang shook her head, letting the hair fall naturally over her shoulders in large looping curls. The girls began preparing their school things, making sure they had what they needed for the day in their bags and making final checks to their outfits. Weiss emerged from the bathroom, hair already brushed, clothes on and ready for the day. She picked up her book bag from it's place at the foot of her bed and they all made their way out the door. They opened the door just as Nora and Ren emerged from the opposite dorm.
They all exchanged their pleasant good mornings and Ruby finally asked after Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha went down to the training arena early. But, Jaune's coming soon, he's still getting ready. I think he was a little tired from your 'activities' last night." Nora gave an overly suggestive wink and nudged Ruby in the side with her elbow. Ruby blushed deeply and turned away from Nora who only giggled good naturedly. Jaune then emerged from the dorm room, yawning and only half covering his mouth with his arm.
"Oh hey good morning everyone," he caught himself as he suddenly found himself in a very crowded hallway, then his eyes fell on Ruby. She was still blushing hard from Nora's chiding and seeing Jaune did not help that state at all. Jaune's face broke into a stupid grin and he swept Ruby into a firm hug, pressing her slender form against his chest plate and kissing her deeply. Ruby let out a surprised little 'eep' as she was pulled towards him and had her hands kind of trapped at her sides by his arms. He didn't hold her there long but abruptly let her go when Yang loosed an audible, pointed cough. He pulled away and stared into her silver eyes.
"Sorry, I just missed her a lot." Jaune shook his head a little and caught Yang's gaze still locked on him.
"You watch yourself there Jaune. That's my little sister." Jaune loosed his grip on Ruby and she relaxed her stance. She stayed by his side but made no move to grab his hand or move closer.
"We should be heading to class." Ren motioned down the hallway with a rather eloquent sweep of his arm and Blake nodded her head.
"Yeah. Goodwitch will be upset if all of us are late." the entire group felt the tension Between Yang and Jaune and slowly began to file down the hallway. Ruby and Jaune hung back so that they could walk side by side, Yang respectfully gave them some distance, walking ahead of them with the rest of the group.
Jaune reached over and grasped Ruby's hand, weaving his fingers between hers. Ruby grasped his hand as well, but maintained her blush and looked away at the corner of the floor.
"I'm sorry Ruby. I just...I spent all night remembering our kiss and then I saw you…" he was obviously flustered and realized he had made a mistake. He looked longingly at Ruby, just wanting her to say something. Ruby squeezed his hand and rubbed the toe of her boot into the plush rug.
"It's okay Jaune. I understand." she looked up at him and forced a big smile, "Come on, let's go to class." She pulled on his hand and they walked off after the rest of the group.
Classes came and went like they usually do on Mondays. Everyone drudged through, managing to stay awake in Professor Port's and struggling to keep up in Dr. Ooblecks, what was in that coffee? The end of classes for the day came too late for most people's tastes and Ruby and Jaune's exhaustion from being out so late on Sunday was showing.
Ruby walked along the path back from her last class towards the dorms, her head was drooping and she had her hood up, blocking the late afternoon sun from her eyes. Only her older sister was with her as Team JNPR had a session with Dr. Oobleck because Jaune had fallen asleep in class and Weiss and Blake had both gone to the cafeteria for dinner.
"Uggh, so tired. I can barely move." She drug her feet slowly one after the other.
"Oh come on Rubes. It can't be that bad. You were barely out until 11." Yang gave her a playful pat on the back. Ruby jerked her head up, throwing her hood back in the process and stared at Yang with heavy, bagged eyes.
"I couldn't sleep though. I stayed up in bed super late because we had a bunch of candy right before we came home." she dropped her head again and bucked her shoulders forward, throwing the hood back over her head. "I was excited to see Jaune this morning, but now I'm just tired." Yang laughed good naturedly at her little sister.
"Well that's the price you have to pay for having a boyfriend." her happy laugh faded to an awkward chuckle and she looked forlornly at the top of Ruby's cloak for a moment before starting up again, "Hey, Ruby. Can I ask something?"
Ruby grunted from under her cloak, a noise of approval.
"This morning with Jaune, in the hallway. What was that?" Ruby lifted her head much slower now and found her sister's violet eyes falling on her, full of concern.
"I don't know. That was really new. We only had our first kiss ever last night. He's usually really shy about everything and even asked if he could hold my hand the first time." Yang looked to the sky and hummed in thought.
"Well, how did you feel about it? About him kissing you like that this morning I mean." Yang let her eyes fall back on Ruby and they came to a stop in the middle of the path.
"I don't know. I was really excited to see him this morning too after we kissed last night and it was a really nice kiss. But, everyone was there and it was really weird to just do that right in front of everyone. I was really embarrassed." Ruby clutched at her cloak with both hands below her waist, fidgeting with the hem. Her gaze fell to her feet.
"Well if it bothered you, or if he starts doing things like that a lot you should talk to him." Yang reached over and put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. Ruby looked up and met Yang's eyes again. She slumped forward and wrapped her arms around her waist.
"Thanks Yang. You're being really really awesome about this." Yang laughed in good spirit again, she wrapped one arm around Ruby and patted her back with the other.
"I just want you to be happy little sis'," they pulled apart and Ruby was sporting a half-hearted smile.
"Well to be happy right now I need to get some sleep. Like now." Her smile widened and she started off towards the dorms again, a little more pep in each step than before.
Ruby rolled over and yawned, stretching her arms above her head as she sat up. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked out the window, the sun was setting over the coast now which meant she must have gotten a good two or three hours of sleep in. She glanced around the room and found a pair of amber eyes watching her from the shadow of the bottom bunk.
"Good morning sleepyhead," Blake smiled and folded her book shut on her lap, tucking the ribbon that hung off the spine in between the pages to hold her place.
"Hey Blake," Ruby hopped down off the bunk and landed lightly on her feet, "Where is everybody else?"
"Well Yang went off to the gym to workout with Nora and Weiss retreated to the library to study." Blake sat up and pulled her legs under her, coiling up onto herself. Ruby moved to her dresser and searched for some clothes to change into, out of her pajamas.
"I hope Jaune is done with whatever Dr. Oobleck is having them do." Ruby found a simple, deep red t-shirt and stripped off her night shirt to switch. Blake turned her eyes away until Ruby spoke again, "I can't believe he fell asleep in class." Blake glanced over to reply and found Ruby leaned over, pulling her sweat pants down around her ankles to change into a pair of shorts. Blake blushed hard and coughed a little in surprise. Ruby split her knees apart and looked at Blake through the gap between her legs, then jumped with a start and fell over on her head with a little scream. Blake reached a hand out to help but recoiled hesitantly as Ruby was now folded in half, butt directly up in the air clad only in a rather thin pair of panties. Ruby rolled the rest of the way over with a small grunt and darted behind the bathroom door. Slamming it shut behind her in a flurry of rose petals.
"Oh my Oum Blake I'm so sorry I wasn't even thinking." her voice whined out from behind the door. Blake recovered herself slightly.
"It's alright Ruby. Are you okay?" Ruby sighed and rubbed her head.
"Yeah I'm okay. I think I'm just too embarrassed to ever leave the bathroom ever again though. Could you slip me cookies under the door sometimes?" Blake couldn't help but laugh slightly at her leader's attitude. She slid off her bed and grabbed a cookie from a box Ruby had left on the ground beneath her and Weiss's beds. She tiptoed over to the door and carefully slid it under the heavy wood. Ruby let out an excited yelp and the door flew open, nearly bashing Blake in the face if her trained reflexes hadn't pulled her out of the way in time. Ruby charged out of the bathroom, shorts now firmly in place and cookie clenched between her teeth and tackled Blake in a hug, wrapping her arms around the other girl's neck. Blake smiled and Ruby giggled before letting her go and devouring the cookie.
"Ahh, not too embarrassed I see." Blake smiled slightly and returned to her bed.
Ruby followed her over and plopped down in the center of the mattress, Blake curled up near the headboard, leaning back on the pillows.
"So Blake, what'cha reading?" Ruby craned her neck around, trying to read the cover of the book Blake had left behind. Blake lifted the novel and handed it to Ruby. Ruby gently took it in her hands.
"This is the fifth in the series I gave you to read the other night." Ruby had opened the book to scan a few random pages in the middle but quickly closed it.
"Ahhh spoilers." She closed her eyes and pushed the book back to Blake, turning her face away as if the book might force its secrets into her eyes. Blake chuckled and took the book back from her, "I really wanna read that still I just haven't had time lately." Ruby looked up at the clock over their door and then out the window at the descending sun. She rolled off the bed and grabbed her scroll, "I'll just let Jaune know I'm in her reading with you and to come get me when he's done." Ruby shot the message off and tossed the scroll onto Blake's bed. She grabbed the novel Blake had leant her and returned to her spot by the faunus girl's feet. Blake scooted towards the wall and patted the spot next to her by the pillows. Ruby smiled and scooted in next to her teammate. They both settled down to read, content smiles on their faces.
An hour or so passed and the two girls had yet to speak a word. Ruby had mowed through a significant chunk of her novel and she took a moment at the end of a chapter to glance over at Blake. Blake's bow was off in the room as her whole team knew now and it was much more comfortable without it. Ruby looked up at her cat like ears both turned slightly to the sides. Ruby watched as her eyes flew across the page, her ears twitched slightly and Ruby figured she must be at a particularly riveting point in the story. Blake turned the page and let her eyes wander over to Ruby who immediately swung her head back into her novel, trying to act as if she hadn't just been staring at her friend's ears. Blake hummed quietly, a quiet askance of Ruby's reaction.
"I'm sorry I was just looking at your ears. It's really cute how they twitch when you read." Ruby looked down at her lap, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't stare." Blake's face warmed with compassion and she put a hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"That's alright Ruby. I know you like them and you don't mean anything by it." Ruby smiled up at her and then fidgeted with her fingers.
"Blake, can I uhh…" she trailed off and shook her head, "No, I'm sorry, it's dumb." Blake cocked her head to the side.
"What Ruby?" Ruby sighed.
"Can I touch your ears? I've kinda been wondering what they feel like." Ruby looked away at the other side of the room in embarrassment. Blake chuckled quietly. She grabbed Ruby's hand and moved it up to her ears, bowing her head slightly so Ruby didn't have to stretch. Ruby turned back to Blake with surprise.
"Just be gentle, they're very sensitive." Blake carefully placed Ruby's hand between her ears and the younger girl's face split open in a wide smile. She slowly moved her fingers to cup the back of Blake's right ear and stroked down along the length of it. She gently ran her fingers the same direction as the small patch of fur ran, being careful not to press overly hard.
"Ohhh, they're sooo soft!" Ruby giggled and retracted her hand happily, "Oh Blake thank you. I hope that wasn't weird or anything." Blake lifted her head and smiled at the younger girl.
"Not at all Ruby. It was only fair of me." Blake smirked at Ruby's confused look, "I did get to see your butt after all." Blake's grin widened as Ruby's face turned the same color as her shirt and she flipped over, burying her face in the pillows. Blake laughed lightly and Ruby's scroll buzzed where it sat on the bed. Ruby extended her hand behind her, refusing to lift her face from it's comfortable shelter. Blake stretched down to the other side of the bed and grabbed the scroll. The message was from Jaune. She handed it to Ruby and she lifted just enough to fit the scroll between her face and the pillows.
"Oh, he's all done training for the night. He wants me to meet him at the cafeteria for some dinner." she turned from her scroll, now mostly recovered, "You wanna come?" Blake shook her head calmly.
"Oh no that's alright. Thank you though." Blake responded. Ruby smiled and hopped up from the bed. She straightened her shirt and patted at her shorts.
"How do I look." She did a quick little spin for Blake.
"Fantastic Ruby." Blake said softly. Ruby made a pffft noise and giggled.
"Thanks for lying Blake. See you in a bit." With that she jumped to the door and was gone. Blake sighed and returned to her book, resting a hand on the spot where Ruby had been sitting while she read.
A/N - I hope you all thought that was a fun chapter. Sorry it's up a little later today than usual I was up last night putting fine touches on the second to last chapter of "Clubbin' " and then overslept and didn't get up early enough to publish this when I usually do. So, that does mean that tomorrow's chapter of "Clubbin' " will be the last.
Right, "Friends and Loved Ones" this story. Lots more little hints and well.. teases in this one. I'd still love to hear all of your thoughts and ideas of what's going on so far. The story is really starting to get rolling now so please keep reading.
-Zach
