Chapter 29: Let's Talk, Ruby

Behold! Am I not so terrible and glorious in your sight? You readers are too late to stop I, The Draigg! I've already put the stone in the mask! All I've left to do is become the ultimate life form! Ha! You fools! Even if you tell me that Monty Oum owns RWBY, that won't stop me! Now watch, and despair at the birth of a new life form!

xxx

When Ruby walked out of the bedroom a few minutes after Weiss left, she found Weiss sitting on the living room couch. To Weiss it looked like Ruby was trying to say something with her eyes, but she just couldn't figure out what. She tried to reply to whatever Ruby was trying to say with a small nod. She didn't want to say anything more, as she felt she had said all she needed to say earlier.

Just as Ruby began to walk across the living room, Yang and Mr. Schnee descended the staircase from the upstairs office. Mr. Schnee still radiated an aura of calmness, and Yang looked visibly confused.

As Yang walked up to her sister, Ruby couldn't help but ask, "What happened in there?".

Yang shrugged and replied, "Not much, surprisingly. All he did was ask me how school was going, what I thought of Weiss, and then he offered me a job,".

Now it was Ruby's turn to look confused. "A job?" she parroted in shock.

"It wasn't that big of a job… just some pointers on how to have dust appeal more to the combat market. I doubt it would last long, anyway…" Yang drifted off as she scratched the back of her head. Still, she needed some money. The Schnee Dust Company sure did pay for office jobs well. And motorcycle mods weren't the students at Beacon, they just weren't lining up for her to handle. Yang mentally filed that offer away for later as she walked back into the kitchen to join Blake.

Mr. Schnee, however, set his sight on his next target. "Miss… Rose, was it? May I have a private chat with you?" he politely asked. Ruby's step slightly faltered as she walked towards him.

"Of course. Upstairs?" Ruby asked.

"Where ever you feel comfortable," Mr. Schnee replied.

"Upstairs it is, then," Ruby said, trying to sound chipper and light. On the inside, it was a different matter.

As she led Mr. Schnee up the steps to the office, Ruby couldn't be helped but feel like a prisoner being led to her cell. Well, this conversation couldn't possibly that bad as that. She was in no position to drop the soap, after all.

"Why don't prisoners just use soap on a rope? It's way more convenient than just a regular bar! Man, soap on a rope is cool… Wait, what am I thinking? I have to be ready for whatever Mr. Schnee'll throw at me!" was Ruby's internal thought process as she climbed the steps.

xxx

Soon enough (as in, it took less than a minute), Ruby and Mr. Schnee had entered the upstairs work space. What she once saw as just another room, she now recognized as a place where her poker face would be tested to its limits.

Ruby sat down on the couch, and Mr. Schnee sat in the armchair he had pulled up across from it when he had talked to Yang. He briefly looked like he was scanning Ruby, but when he looked into Ruby's eyes, he stopped.

"So," he asked, "I'm sure you're very busy being team leader, am I correct?". It was the first part of his interrogation technique. If you only ask broad questions at first, people were more willing to fill in the blanks by themselves. After all, that method was proven to work with police detectives and fake psychics with television shows.

"Oh, no doubt. It's a large responsibility. I mean, I have to balance my school work with keeping my teammates in control," Ruby replied.

Ah, the Rose girl had accidentally given Mr. Schnee an opening. "Are you saying my daughter is out of control? She is on your team, after all," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Ruby internally panicked. She had messed up this quickly already! "No, no, I didn't mean that! Your daughter is a fine addition to the team!" Ruby apologized quickly and profusely.

Mr. Schnee smirked internally. Throwing this girl off of her game was almost too easy. "I see. Speaking of which, what do you think of my daughter? Is she… special to you in any way? I only ask because you live together now," questioned Mr. Schnee in a curious tone.

"W-well, every member of my team is special to me in some way. So yes, I would say Weiss is special to me," Ruby replied. She figured that Mr. Schnee couldn't fine any fault in that logic.

Ruby was immediately proven wrong when Mr. Schnee said, "I think you misunderstand what you just said. If everyone was special, then that would mean everyone is the same. So, let me ask you again. Is my daughter special to you?". Ruby now realized what Weiss meant when she said her father was an expert at reading people. He had been able to pick apart her deflection almost as if it was nothing. Mr. Schnee was a mental force to be reckoned with.

"I-I… yes.." Ruby muttered, feeling that there was no other excuse she could make convincing enough.

If Mr. Schnee felt proud about finding something out from Ruby, he didn't show it. Instead, he pressed further. "In what way? Are you close friends? Or something more?" he asked—no, interrogated.

Ruby's eyes fluttered around nervously as the question rang in her ears. How had he been able to guess that she and Weiss had a closer relationship so quickly?! Did… did he know already? Did he already know everything about her? Was this all some sort of game, like a predator playing with its intended meal before killing it? What? WHAT?

All Ruby could make was various choking noises as she tried to search for an answer. All the while, Mr. Schnee's eyes seemed to bore directly through her while he waited for an answer. He had all the time in the world to wait for Ruby to dig her own grave.

A few minutes passed in heavy silence. Mr. Schnee decided to break it by asking, "Let me ask again. Are you friends, or in love with Weiss?".

"I—Um—Ehh..." Ruby sputtered out. She just couldn't answer that question. She figured that if she lied, Mr. Schnee would know. But if she told the truth, then she would betray Weiss. Ruby just couldn't win here.

In response to Ruby's lack of an answer, Mr. Schnee stood up and walked over to the office's window. "From your reaction, I take it you feel very strongly for my Weiss." he mused as he gazed onto the street.

Then looking back at Ruby, he continued with, "Is it a romantic inclination? It's certainly possible, especially in this day and age. Or is it simple friendship? Granted, one can't live in proximity with another without forming a bond. Tell me, Ms. Rose, what exactly you feel,".

"C-can we p-please just move on?" pleaded Ruby.

At that moment, Mr. Schnee strode over to Ruby and got uncomfortably close to her face. This was a classic intimidation technique. And, given the girl's lack of a coherent response, Ruby was close to cracking.

"NO. I you're over-estimating the amount of control you possess here, Ms. Rose. When you walked in here, you agreed to engage in a discourse with me. You don't dictate the conversation, I do. And my question WILL be answered, no matter how long it may take. Now, I'll ask once more: What do you feel for Weiss?" Mr. Schnee said, his voice dripping with something resembling menace. It wasn't exactly that, as his tone also radiated control over himself and some latent curiosity.

One thing overrode Ruby's center of emotion: fear. She had faced down a Nevermore, hunted enormous Ursa for job training, and had even been shot at by a large criminal gang, all without breaking a sweat. But Mr. Schnee… he was something else. Threats with claws, beaks, or guns were tangible threats that could be solved easily by physical things. This man in a suit… he had an aura of complete emotional control and manipulation surrounding him. Ruby just couldn't keep up with him. She was just a teenager, after all.

Ruby's defenses finally crumbled as she spilled out everything she had been holding back. "I love her, okay?! I love her with all my heart, and I give everything I can to make her feel the same! What's so bad about loving her?! Why do you have to be so MEAN?!" she ranted, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Mr. Schnee, satisfied with her answer, pursed his lips and pulled out a handkerchief out of his pocket. "That's all I needed to know. And please, use this. You certainly need it right now," he said calmly as he offered Ruby the handkerchief.

Instead, Ruby slapped away Mr. Schnee's hand and dashed out of the office. As she ran downstairs, she reflected on her personal failure.

"I… failed! I failed! How can I do that to Weiss?! I can't face her anymore! I couldn't even follow her advice! I'm the worst girlfriend!" Ruby miserably thought as she ran through the living room to lock herself in the bedroom.

Weiss could only call out to Ruby as she sped by. "Wait! Ruby!" she called after her. She realized that the conversation with her father must have gone horribly wrong.

As Mr. Schnee walked back into the living room, her suspicions were proven correct as he said, "Weiss, I need to talk to you,".

Weiss returned his order with a glare. "What did you do to Ruby?" she demanded to know. Instead of an answer, Mr. Schnee lightly grabbed her by the arm and led her into the nearest empty room.

Weiss could only guess what was in store for her.

xxx

In the now locked bedroom, Ruby threw herself onto the nearest bed and tried to hide herself under the covers. All she wanted to do was hide away right now. She couldn't bear to face Weiss in any capacity. Hell, she couldn't even face anybody right now.

Ruby had failed not only as a girlfriend, but as a friend in general. She couldn't be trusted to keep any secrets, even if they were entrusted by the person you loved the most. Weiss didn't deserve her, she was just some little girl who didn't have the emotional complexity to handle anything.

"I can't even do that for her…" Ruby lamented to herself. If she had just been more spiritually strong, she could have kept her emotional and mental footing in there, and she wouldn't have betrayed Weiss in the most personal way.

Tears began to stream down Ruby's face. Her heart was thumping heavily in her chest, but not in the way she felt when she was around Weiss. No, this was a throbbing pain, something only reserved when someone managed not only to break her own heart, but their significant other's as well.

Ruby could just imagine the reaction when Weiss found out about her slip up.

"Ruby! How… how could you?!" Weiss would cry.

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Please, don't go! I don't want you to leave my side!" Ruby would plead.

"I just can't be with you anymore, Ruby. That betrayal… it's just too much. I don't… CAN'T be with you anymore." Weiss would say as she would turn her back and walk away from Ruby.

Ruby, with her last attempt to get Weiss back, would desperately plead, "I can't be left alone again! You filed the hole in my heart where my mom was! Please, please don't take that away from me! I'll do anything, but just don't go!".

Her struggles would be in vain. Weiss would never show her face around her again. The betrayal of that trust ran too deep just to be mended at all. And it was all her fault. Because of her childishness, she would lose the one person who made her life even better than possible.

Weiss' old insults and taunts came back to haunt her as the fear of being abandoned clawed at Ruby's mind.

"You ARE a dolt. You ARE a moron. You are the stupidest, most irresponsible, and most despicable person she had ever met. You don't deserve her. All you did was just cut out her heart by your own incompetence. IT'S YOUR FAULT," her thoughts chided her.

Ruby desperately didn't want that to be true. But everything around her was telling her otherwise. Nothing she did for Weiss was good in the end. All of the love she put into Weiss would just make the wounds even deeper. It wasn't just a betrayal, it was a murder of the heart, of the soul of the one person who filled her heart with such joy.

All Ruby could do was cry in despair over what she had done.

There was nothing else she could do.

xxx

I… can't really say anything funny here in my bottom author's notes. To be honest, I feel really bad for Ruby here. But, for the sake of the story, it had to happen. So, I suggest holding out for something good to happen. And, trust me, it will happen eventually. This is The Draigg, signing off.