Chapter 29: A Warm Welcome
February 3, 2683; 1021 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Weiss slowly awoke, finding herself wrapped up in sheets and half of her vision buried in the pillow. She slowly pulled herself up, allowing herself a languid stretch and a contented sigh. She looked over, seeing Ruby haphazardly buried beneath the covers of the bed, a small smile coming over her features.
She lightly shook Ruby's shoulder, seeing that the clock read "10:21 A.M.". Normally, she wouldn't be caught dead waking up this late, but after yesterday's excitement and having stayed up until two in the morning, she figured she could make an exception. "Ruby…" She half-whispered.
Ruby groaned lightly, rolling over and cracking her eyes open to look at Weiss. "Hi Weiss." She said, groggily.
Weiss smiled fully. "Hello, Ruby. Time to get up." She said, standing upright and pushing her hair back behind her ears.
"Did we have anything planned for today?" Ruby asked, standing up and stretching.
"Ivan said we'd just be relaxing today, apparently." Weiss said, gathering up a change of clothes from her still-packed bags.
"Awesome!" Ruby said, sitting back down on the end of the bed.
Weiss, having her clothes gathered up, made her way across the hall and into the bathroom. She closed and locked the door behind her, stepping out of her nightgown, and turning on the shower.
Finishing up in the shower, Weiss dried herself off, dressed herself in her usual white dress and tied her hair back in its familiar lopsided ponytail, and made her way back across the hall. As she walked back to the bedroom, she noticed something strange. The house was almost dead silent, save for the quiet humming of the air conditioning. Looking down the staircase, the living room was occupied by a still-sleeping Yang on the couch; Blake snuggled up at her side.
For a moment, Weiss felt a pang of jealousy as she looked at the slumbering lovers. Every significant other she had ever been with was carefully selected by her Father, making the relationship forced and hollow. What existed between Yang and Blake was the closest thing to true love that she had ever seen. It's the only way that the quiet Faunus would ever be able to put up with that boisterous partner of hers.
Weiss sighed, knowing full-well that most people only "cared" about her because of her name. The people in this house, however, did not fall into that long laundry list of people. And there was one girl in specific that she was immensely glad to have back. She had taken Ruby's friendship for granted when she still attended Beacon, she had taken all of her friendships for granted and she hated herself for that. After being through hell and high water with her team, she was stolen away to be married off to some heir. She counted it as dumb luck that she was saved from that fate, the fate that she knew would eventually catch up with her at some point. Now, for the first time in her nineteen years on Remnant, Weiss really had no idea what to do. After all of those meaningless relationships her father had set up, she wanted something real, and that's what she got from her team.
She couldn't stop her mind from drifting back to her bubbly team leader.
Despite Ruby's effervescent nature, Weiss somehow made a friend of her. She wasn't quite sure when it started happening, but something just kept pulling her mind back to the younger girl whenever she thought of what she wanted. She couldn't believe it… she had fallen for Ruby Rose. After realizing this all of those months ago, all of the pieces started falling into place. She had never found any of her suitors even remotely appealing. She recognized that a few were certainly handsome, but she felt absolutely nothing when she looked at them. Whenever she looked at Ruby, though, that was far different. Something in her chest tightened, and it took all of those years of etiquette training just to keep herself from stumbling over her words.
Of all of the things, she just had to fall for Ruby. Of all of the people, she fell for a bubbly, happy, dolt of a team leader… she fell for her polar opposite. She had no idea if Ruby even looked at her and saw anything worth being with. Hell, she didn't even know if Ruby could like her in that way. That was the kicker, for the first time in her life, Weiss was at an absolute loss. She wanted nothing more than to have even a fraction of what Blake and Yang had, but she couldn't bring herself to risk her friendship with Ruby. She had been around enough people. She knew that the whole "We can stay friends" thing that came with every awkward turn-down was meaningless. The two never stayed friends, it would simply be too awkward. The thought of losing Ruby as a friend scared her even more than the concept of telling her how she really felt.
She let out a light sigh, shaking her head slightly as she strolled back towards the room, preparing to put the façade she had worn for years back up.
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February 3, 2683; 1030 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck, War Games Simulator)
"SPARTANs, we have Banshee Raiders and Elite Rangers on the field!" The announcer declared as Ivan grabbed an ARC-920 Railgun from a rack by the armory's requisition station. He slung it over his shoulder, clicking it into place on his armor's magnetic locks. He hefted his Battle Rifle, checking the LED display on the upper receiver.
Winter locked a new drum for her SAW into place, whacking the retention arm on the automatic weapon. She had a bandolier of 8-gauge slugs and buckshot on her torso armor, along with a wide array of grenades and explosives. She grabbed an M45D Shotgun from the rack by the requisition station, locking it into place on her back. "Ready?" She asked from beneath her helmet.
"Let's do it." Ivan said, motioning to the rest of his fireteam of SPARTANs and ODSTs. The group of eight soldiers moved through the large bay door into the streets of New Alexandria, or at least the simulation of it. Overturned cars littered the streets, windows were shattered, blast marks and bullet holes pockmarked walls and the ground all throughout the city square that the simulation depicted.
"Eyes on!" Ivan shouted, hefting the Railgun as he saw the Banshee squadron in the air begin zeroing in on their position. "Find cover!" He shouted, jamming down on the trigger for four seconds, charging the capacitors on the weapon, and unleashing the slug at the incoming Banshee Wing Leader. The round speared through, vaporizing the aircraft's Sangheili pilot and ripping the canopy clean off. The burning husk slammed into the ground, skidding to a halt in the middle of a wide boulevard. After downing the squadron leader, Ivan keyed his armor's micro-thrusters and pushed himself behind a metal wall to take cover.
Winter propelled herself into cover with a Glyph, the two ODSTs sliding into cover with her a few moments later. The ODSTs had switched out their black BDUs for a variant of SPI armor, essentially giving them MJOLNIR-level protection with notably less force-multiplication circuit assistance. "Split-neck!" The ODST Sergeant shouted, firing his assault rifle at one of the repulsor pack-bearing Sangheili warriors that were converging on their position. The high-caliber rounds slowly whittled away at the energy shields of the Elite before he was forced back into cover by a hail of Carbine fire.
Winter popped up, firing an 8-gauge slug through the head of the shield-less Elite, earning a sickening squelch as the corpse slumped to the ground. A few of the incoming Carbine projectiles pinged off of her shields before she could duck back down.
By this point, the Banshees were in firing range. Heavy Plasma Repeaters sent massive bursts of searing plasma towards the defending UNSC soldiers, completely draining the shields on one of the ODSTs, and severely weakening Winter's. One of the Raiders fired a Fuel Rod at Ivan, knocking him back into cover as he attempted to charge another Railgun shot.
Mary, from her elevated position atop the Armory, fired a few rounds with her SRS-99 Sniper Rifle, taking down four of the Rangers, each with a clean headshot. One of the simulated Marines next to her had a Carbine round slotted between his eyes, causing him to slump over, dead.
Jacob, who was standing near the bay door, fired his heavy belt-fed chain gun at a group of the advancing Elites, shredding them with .50 caliber explosive rounds. One of the Elites, from atop a building nearby fired a few rounds from a Beam Rifle at the SPARTAN, forcing Jacob to take cover in the armory.
From behind the Elite sniper, Lauren shimmered back into view, wrenching the Sangheili's head back and jamming a combat knife through the top of its mouth, causing the massive alien to go limp before it fell to the ground. A mere moment later, she disappeared again.
The firefight carried on for around ten minutes, with the simulated Covenant forces trading shots with the SPARTANs and ODSTs. In a rather impressive acrobatic display, Winter used a combination of her Glyphs and her augments to board and hijack a Banshee, essentially winning the battle for the UNSC forces.
When the last of the Banshee Raiders had a Railgun slug split it in half, the announcer came back online over their communicators. "Round completed. Final round in five minutes. Be advised, intel suggests that Warden Eternal will be on the field."
"God damnit, I hate that asshole." Ivan said, slotting a new magazine into his Battle Rifle.
"Fuck me!" Jacob shouted from inside the armory, looking for a heavy-hitting weapon. He eventually settled on an old SPNKr launcher.
"The eggheads in the control room must hate us right now…" Lauren commented, shimmering back into view and slotting new magazines into her SMGs.
"I'll get the tank." Winter said, walking towards the garage with a heavy sigh.
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February 3, 2683; 1059 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Blake woke up slowly, allowing herself a languid, cat-like stretch. After this, she made the mistake of cracking an eye open. She saw a wide grin on Yang's face. "Mornin' kitty cat." She said, planting a kiss on Blake's forehead.
"Good morning." Blake said, smiling, snuggling into Yang's side. She looked around, seeing that it was only her and Yang in the living room. "Where is everyone?"
"Ivan and Winter are doing some simulation thing." Yang explained. "Ruby and Weiss are still upstairs, I think, and JNPR and CFVY are out in town."
Blake hummed in acknowledgement, finding herself cut off by the sound of the door clicking open. Blake and Yang both looked over to the door, finding Ivan and Winter to be shuffling inside, both of them looking exhausted. "You guys alright?" Yang asked, her blonde mane popping up over the back of the couch.
Ivan groaned. "I hate War Games." He said, making his way down into the basement. An amused smile crossed Winter's face as she heard the faint noise of the mechanical components of MJOLNIR whirring, followed by pieces of armor clattering to the floor. A few moments later, he ascended the staircase again, wearing only his Tech Suit.
"You look like you're about to pass out." Blake observed, seeing the rather sluggish movements.
"The War Games today definitely put us through our paces." Winter said with a nod.
"Four fucking Warden Eternals…" Ivan muttered to himself, walking into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.
"Where's Ruby and Weiss?" Winter asked, placing her helmet on the table by the door.
"Ruby just got out of the shower." Yang answered, having seen her sister walking back into her room a few minutes prior. "Still upstairs."
"We should all do something before I decide to crawl back into bed and sleep until next week." Ivan commented, walking back into the living room. "CFVY and JNPR are still in town, right?"
"Yep." Yang said.
"Awesome…" Ivan said. "We should go into town, find something to do."
"I'm down." Yang said, looking to Blake. "Blakey?"
"Sure." Blake said, the picture of indifference.
"I'll go grab Ruby and Weiss, then shower, and we can head out." Ivan said, making his way towards the staircase.
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February 3, 2683; 1102 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Weiss smiled as Ruby walked into the room, her hair still damp from the shower. She had her familiar black and red dress on, her cloak still wrapped around her shoulders like always. It was a familiar sight that brought her a certain level of certainty that this was, in fact, real. She was back with her friends. Weiss put her scroll down as Ruby entered. "Hey, Weiss." Ruby said, grinning slightly.
"Hello, Ruby." Weiss said, giving a smile back.
Ruby looked around the room, and noticed that all of Weiss' bags were neatly tucked away in the still-open closet, with all of Weiss' clothing either hung up on hangers in the closet or presumably folded neatly in the drawers. Naturally, it was a lot of white. "You unpacked everything while I was in the shower?"
"Ruby… you take forever to shower." Weiss said, her voice emphasizing just how long she had to unpack. "You take twenty minute showers at the least."
"Still better than Yang." Ruby defended. "Takes at least an hour for her to get ready."
Weiss laughed lightly. "True enough."
Ruby then realized just how much of the room was left undecorated. She had been living here for months, and all she had done was hang up a single band poster on the wall. Despite every ounce of her being shouting at her to not like the Achieve Men, she couldn't stop listening to their music. She especially liked that Gavin guy, he had a funny accent after all. "We should really decorate this room." Ruby commented. "It feels so boring in here."
Weiss shrugged. "I like the color palate, at least."
Ruby giggled. "Of course you like the white paint."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Dolt…"
"We should totally go into town today!" Ruby said, happily.
"And do what, exactly?"
"Well, I wanted to get some more stuff for Crescent Rose, go shopping, get some decorations for the room, we could go see a movie… oh! And I really want to go to this new restaurant in Mistral, Pyrrha said it's so good!" Weiss smiled as Ruby rambled off the half-dozen more things that streamed into her mind, causing her to stop and catch herself. "A-any of those sound good?"
"Food does sound great…" Weiss mused. "Maybe we could see that new crime movie from Vacuo… and I guess I could go for some shopping."
"Awesome!" Ruby declared, wrapping Weiss in a hug. In an instant, Weiss found that familiar, accursed blush to be returning to her face. "It's been so long since I've been able to go out with anyone!"
"Not that kind of going out, damnit…" Weiss thought to herself, blushing even further. "L-let's wait for Ivan and Winter to get back before we set anything in stone, thought."
"Yeah…" Ruby said, releasing the heiress. "Probably should wait for them… This is gonna be so fun, though!"
Weiss smiled at Ruby's seemingly endless supply of energy.
After a few more moments of pleasant conversation, a soft rapping could be heard against their door, sounding vaguely like metallic knuckles tapping against the metallic door. "Ruby, Weiss?" Ivan asked from the hallway.
"Ivan!" Ruby declared, happily. "You're back!"
At this, Ivan opened the door, wearing his Tech Suit. "Good to see that the two of you are finally awake." He commented. "Me, Yang, Blake, and Winter wanted to know if you guys wanted to head into town in a little bit?"
"We were just talking about going into town!" Ruby said, happy to see that her plan was all coming together perfectly.
"Cool, I'm gonna go shower and change, then we can head out." Ivan said, smiling. "Anything you guys wanted to do?"
"We were thinking some shopping, finding some decorations for our room, some food, maybe a movie?" Weiss explained.
"Alright, sounds like a plan." Ivan said. "I'll let you know when." With that, the SPARTAN closed the door again, and made his way towards his shared room with Winter to clean up.
"Well… that was convenient." Weiss commented.
"No kidding…" Ruby agreed, sitting down on the bed by Weiss.
As Ruby carried on the conversation with Weiss, she realized something… she had never seen Weiss this relaxed. Usually, her thin eyebrows were locked in a near-perpetual scowl or sneer… but they were simply flat. She smiled more often than ever before, and that brought a strange kind of brightness to Weiss' already beautiful blue eyes. In Ruby's opinion, all that did was make her even more beautiful.
Ruby realized, for the first time, that there was a simple unshakable fact that she had been pushing down for so long: She had a crush on Weiss Schnee. That's why she always felt so nervous around the Heiress, why she always felt even clumsier than she already was and why being away from her for so long actually, physically hurt. The realization practically slapped her in the face. For very nearly two years, Ruby had been suppressing the crush that she had on Weiss, and it finally broke out to the surface of her mind.
Originally, the feelings had been bearable due to how often she was around the ivory-haired girl. Living with her for a full year, finding a true friend in the Heiress, and Weiss' apparent disinterest in dating or romance made it manageable. Her being gone for eight months was absolutely horrible for the young huntress. Before this, she had merely been content to be the best possible friend and partner to Weiss Schnee, to keep that promise that she made on the first day of classes, and to ignore the feeling that she got whenever she was close to the other girl.
She knew that the two of them ever being together was impossible. Ruby had long-ago come to terms with her sexuality. She had never openly expressed it to anyone, but she had come to understand that she simply liked girls. She had a feeling that Yang and her father knew, but she still kept it to herself. Weiss, on the other hand… there was no way that she was a lesbian. Even if she was, she would never want to be with a clumsy, immature, dolt like Ruby Rose. It hurt, but she would keep her promise, just like she always had.
Ruby had absolutely no idea if this was what love was meant to feel like. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to pull Weiss in, capture her gorgeous lips in her own, and simply melt away. She wanted to shower the shorter girl in all of the affection that she had missed out on as the Heiress to Schnee Dust. She had no idea how much longer she could keep these feelings bottled up, but she'd try.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked, drawing the brunette back into reality.
"Huh?" She asked, startled.
"You alright?" Weiss asked, concern in her tone. "You spaced out there for a minute."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ruby lied. This wasn't the first time Ruby had lied about something like this to Weiss, and she was pretty sure that it wouldn't be the last.
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February 3, 2683; 1203 Hours
Remnant, Mistral
The six walked through the busy streets of Mistral, all dressed in civilian clothes. Ivan wore a simple ensemble of shorts, a t-shirt, and sunglasses. Winter had a pair of skintight leggings on, along with a white tank top. Of all of the things that Winter could have brought back from Earth, she chose leggings… and Ivan couldn't have been happier with that outcome.
Ruby wore her normal black-red dress and red cloak, a pair of black stockings, and boots with a small heel to them. She was still incredibly inexperienced in heels, so she didn't quite trust herself with something along the lines of what Weiss wore. The heiress wore a simple white dress that flowed down to the top of her knees, with a pair of white four-inch heels. Weiss was easily the most immaculately-dressed of the six.
Yang, unsurprisingly, wore her short shorts, yellow tank top, and tan vest. As usual, she was very open about her body, and was not afraid to show it by any stretch of the imagination. Blake wore her familiar black bow, just as she always did while in public, along with a black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of white shorts. She and Yang both walked hand-in-hand, the couple long-forgoing any ideas of keeping their relationship on the down-low while in public. Both of them were merely happy to call each other girlfriends, and not afraid to show it at all.
The streets of Mistral were bustling, due to it being a Saturday. People walked the sidewalks, cars filled the streets, and the airspace was rather busy. Bullheads and UNSC aircraft shared the air above. There was no shortage of people out and about today, and there was certainly no shortage of things to do.
Ruby quickly pulled Weiss into a store to look for posters and other decorations, and Yang found herself slowly being pulled towards a bookstore by Blake, much to her amusement. This left just Winter and Ivan, left alone in downtown Mistral. "Didn't know it was couples day…" Ivan mused, earning a chuckle from Winter. He figured they'd all find their way back to one another, they always did.
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February 3, 2683; 1754 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
"When you guys said you were getting decorations, I didn't think you'd get all of this." Ivan commented, helping to carry some of the many items that Weiss had bought through the front door.
"The room is very bare." Weiss replied, like that justified dropping several hundred lien on. "As nice as white walls might be, all of the monotony will definitely start to wear on me."
"And a white bedspread helps with that… how?" Ivan snarked back, bringing everything he was carrying upstairs.
"Hey, guys!" Coco called out from the kitchen, poking her head through the entryway. "Productive day, I see."
"Very productive." Weiss affirmed.
"We even saw a movie!" Ruby happily mentioned.
"What'd you guys see?" Coco asked, walking into the living room.
"Some crime movie." Ivan said, shrugging. "I was kinda lost, honestly. Really confusing movie."
"We're gonna go set up our stuff!" Ruby called out, carrying some of the things she and Weiss had bought up the staircase. Weiss gave a playful eye-roll and followed Ruby up the stairs, albeit at a far slower pace.
"We should watch a… you know? Good movie?" Yang suggested.
"I'm in." Coco said, shrugging. "Anything in mind?"
"I've got a few ideas." Ivan said, pulling his datapad from its pocket and flipping through a few menus. He smiled as a single movie caught his eye: 2001: A Space Odyssey. "How about a classic?"
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February 3, 2683; 1859 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Weiss looked around their room, which was now decorated with various paintings, some new posters, some books, a little model of an Autumn-Class Cruiser, a speaker dock for Scrolls, a small television, and various other electronics and knick-knacks. Weiss spent quite a bit, but the way she figured it, she'd be staying here for a while, so why not make it comfortable?
"It looks really good." Ruby happily chirped from her seat on the edge of the bed.
Weiss smiled. "It does look less… barren now." She walked over, sitting down next to Ruby. "We're going to have to lay down some ground rules about the speakers, though."
"No loud music?" Ruby asked, already knowing the rules Weiss wanted to lay down.
"No super loud music." Weiss corrected. "I think I can put up with a little loud music, nothing ear-shattering though."
Ruby shrugged. "Fair enough." After a few moments of a lull in the conversation, Ruby leaned over and pulled Weiss into a hug. "Thanks, Weiss." She said.
Unbeknownst to Ruby, Weiss' face was redder than her cloak. "W-What for?" She stammered out.
"For going out with me to find all of this stuff, silly." Ruby smiled, pulling back. Somehow, Weiss had managed to force the blush back down.
"Not that kind of going out, damnit." Weiss thought to herself. "D-Don't worry about it, Ruby. That's what friends do, right?"
"Just friends, huh?" Ruby thought, sadly. She didn't let that show through the smile on her face. "Best friends."
Weiss smiled, pulling Ruby into her own embrace. "Best friends." She affirmed.
Weiss let out a silent sigh as she hugged Ruby, a gesture that was returned immediately. She figured that she already had it as good as it would come with Ruby. She had made the best friend she could ever have hoped for. She figured that she'd eventually get used to the butterflies in her stomach and the tightening in her chest whenever she was around the young woman of her desire. She figured that, eventually, she'd get used to this feeling.
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February 6, 2683; 1305 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Weiss was so wrong, she was not getting used to this at all. She was sitting on the couch in the living room, watching a movie with Ruby, Pyrrha, Jaune, Coco, and Velvet. It was some comedy film, and it was grating to her. Sure, there were some funny bits, but that was drowned out by the near-perpetual cringing that this film brought on… not to mention the obvious fact that it was apparently a couples movie. Jaune and Pyrrha were snuggled into each other beneath a white blanket, and Velvet rested in Coco's lap, having her hair constantly played with.
In the three days since she had returned, it had only gotten harder to ignore that constantly twisting in her gut whenever she was around her spunky team leader. She was being just as wonderful as Weiss remembered, and it was killing her. In a perfect world, she would be snuggled up with Ruby right now, laughing at the movie, but this was far from a perfect world, so she simply sat on the couch, doing her best to at least look like she was enjoying herself. The constant banging noise coming from the garage wasn't doing much to calm her nerves, though.
"What in the world is that noise?" Weiss asked as another loud bang, sounding like metal striking metal, sounded off from the garage.
"Yang and Ivan are doing something in the garage." Ruby shrugged.
"It sounds like they're in a fistfight with a freakin' Paladin." Coco commented, glancing over with a grin.
"Knowing those two, they probably are." Pyrrha giggled.
After a few more painstaking minutes of hilariously poor acting, Winter descended the staircase, wearing a casual pair of fatigue pants and a black UNSC T-shirt. Her hair, as usual, was tied back in a bun with her bangs covering her right eye. "How's the movie?" She asked.
"Cringe-worthy." Coco responded. "It's the best."
Winter laughed. "Ivan had me watch that stupid movie… it's so bad. Whoever 'directed' The Room needs to be put in prison." Winter laughed, remembering all of the horrid acting by the director/producer/writer/star. "Looks like you're enjoying yourself, Weiss." Winter noted the rather rigid posture that Weiss was sitting in. She looked like a statue compared to the others on or around the couch.
"It's funny." Weiss half-responded.
Winter smirked. "Well, how about I take you on that tour of the Base I promised yesterday?" The elder Schnee suggested.
Weiss shrugged. "Sure… want to come along, Ruby?"
Ruby shrugged. "I should probably stay and make sure Ivan and Yang don't blow up the house."
Weiss seemed dejected for the slightest moment, only Winter catching sight of it. Everyone else was too engrossed in the laughably bad movie. "Okay…" Weiss said, standing up and moving over towards Winter.
"Have fun, Weiss!" Ruby called out as she turned around, smiling to the heiress. Weiss returned the smile, but something about it seemed forced. Did she do something wrong?
"Bye, Ruby." Weiss responded as she made her way out of the front door with her sister. Something about that seemed awfully final… Ruby didn't like it at all.
Thanks to that feeling, Ruby decided that she needed something to take her mind off of everything. She figured that the still-occurring sounds of metal striking metal from the garage was a good enough excuse to leave for a bit. "I'm gonna go check on Yang and Ivan. I'll be right back."
With that, Ruby jogged over to the door leading into the garage. From the screen on the wall she heard the horribly-accented star actor say "Ohai Mark!", followed by a few laughs from the couples still on the couch. Ruby smiled slightly as she opened the door, and stepped into the garage.
She was greeted by some music that was playing over a speaker on the top of a workbench. It was a song that she had heard Ivan listen to on more than one occasion. The heavy guitar riffs and drum beat played throughout the garage, the gritty vocals joining the instrumentation.
"Brothers in arms, are you ready for the stand.
Blood on the ground, and mud on your hands.
Take another breath, and make another try.
You think you're gonna break, even think you're gonna die.
Get off the dirt and listen to the crowd, screaming your name, screamin' out loud.
I know you think you can't, I know you think you're done.
We can't stop until we've won."
She saw Ivan and Yang standing over a workbench, one thing in particular standing out to her almost immediately. Yang's prosthetic arm was sitting on some sort of clamp, a lot of the circuitry and synthetic muscle exposed. "Can we make it even stronger?" Yang asked.
"Only if you want the thing to overheat." Ivan retorted, fiddling with the carbon fiber plate that covered the forearm of the cybernetic. "Unless you want to spend a few thousand Creds on an arm like mine, you're going to have to settle with only being strong enough to punch through steel."
"What in the world are the two of you doing?" Ruby asked, a small smile on her face.
"'Sup, Rubes." Yang said, glancing over and looking to her sister. "We're doing some… tinkering."
"Yang wanted my help modifying her arm." Ivan said, re-attaching the plates to the arm. "Try that out." He said, hoisting up the arm and placing it back into the docking port on her shoulder, where her implant then clasped down on the joint and re-integrated it into her body. "And no Semblance this time, I want to see how good it does on its own."
"Done and done." Yang said, smirking as she rolled her shoulder. Ruby watched with interest as her half-sister walked over to a metal plate that was suspended on the wall. The blue-ish tint to the metal marking it as a plate of Titanium, at least four inches in thickness. Yang took a deep breath, reared back her cybernetic arm, and sent a wicked punch into the metal plate. With a loud clang, her metal fist connected with the metal plate, leaving a nasty dent in the alloyed metal. It warped the back of the plate into a rough mold of her clenched fist. It very nearly punched clean through one of the strongest metal plates she had ever seen. Ruby was stunned.
"Okay… that is pretty fuckin' awesome." Yang said, giving her fingers an experimental flex to make sure she didn't break anything important. Everything looked to be in working order.
"Still not quite as good as mine." Ivan retorted with a broad smile, standing up and mirroring the blonde's actions on the same plate. He punched into a non-warped part of the plate, his fist punching clean through, sending shards of metal clattering to the floor. He pulled his arm back through the metal plate, flexing his fingers. "Then again, I'm kinda cheating… I am a SPARTAN, after all."
"And your arm is military-grade." Yang added, smiling broadly at the spalled metal.
"Yours can almost match mine, and that's just with the factory chassis… Misriah hooked you up, man." Ivan laughed.
"You two have been punching metal for the past hour?" Ruby asked.
"We've been beating metal to a pulp for the past hour." Yang corrected. "Thanks, Ivan."
"No problem." The SPARTAN responded, collecting his cybertech tools and placing them back into their little nylon kitbag. "Gave me an excuse to bust these out again… haven't needed them since I tried installing a plasma pistol into my arm."
"Wait… what?" Yang and Ruby both asked at the same time.
"Yeah…" Ivan said, sighing. "I tried to rig a Covvie plasma pistol into my palm… didn't have the space though, sadly."
"You're insane." Ruby said, amazed at the sheer thought of putting a plasma pistol into a robotic arm. On the other hand… that gave her a few ideas for Crescent Rose.
"Oh, believe me, I know." Ivan said, tossing the Cybertech kit back onto the workbench. "Just testing that Sinoviet tech, I didn't actually expect it to work… How's Tommy Wiseau?" Ivan asked, referencing the movie that was still playing in the living room.
"Oh, it's horrible, but it's hilarious!" Ruby said, laughing. "Where did you find it?"
"It's a… 'classic'." Ivan chuckled. "You know it's a good kinda' bad when a documentary is made about it."
Ruby smiled again, but it was replaced by a slightly saddened look a moment later. She still had that nagging feeling in her chest about Weiss, she just couldn't shake it. Like clockwork, Yang's sisterly instincts kicked into full gear. "Something wrong, Rubes?" Yang asked.
Ruby thought for a moment. She wanted so desperately to confide in someone about this. After a moment, she decided that her older sister and one of her best friends ever would be a safe bet. She blushed slightly. "C-Can I ask you something, Yang?"
"Of course, Ruby, what's up?" Yang asked, pulling her younger sister over to one of the stools that she and Ivan had been using.
"How did you… know that you liked Blake?" Ruby asked.
Yang seemed taken aback by the sudden question. Despite her usual nature, she could sense that something was really eating Ruby up, so she decided to give a legitimate, meaningful response. After a moment of thought, she shrugged. "I dunno… I just kinda… did. It was like a gut feeling, ya' know?" Ruby nodded, blushing slightly. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious." Ruby responded a bit too quickly for Yang to simply take that for face value.
"Ruby… you know you can tell me anything." Yang reminded the young brunette.
"Did you guys want me to leave?" Ivan asked, seeing that this was obviously an important discussion.
"No! No, not at all." Ruby responded, shaking her head. "I… I kinda want your thoughts too."
Ivan nodded, returning to listening.
"Does my little sister have a crush on someone?" Yang asked, a broad smile crossing her lips.
"A little bit…" Ruby squeaked out, earning an even more toothy grin from Yang.
"It sounds like more than just a 'little crush'." Yang said, leaning forward. "Who's the lucky guy? Fox? Yatsuhashi?"
"N-No!" Ruby responded.
"Is it Ivan?" Yang asked. That actually earned a giggle from Ruby.
"No, he's already spoken for, anyways…" Ruby said, smiling to Ivan, who laughed. "It's uhm…" The rest of Ruby's response was mumbled, and completely unintelligible, even to Ivan's acute hearing.
"Who is it?!" Yang asked, practically bounding in excitement. "I can't believe it! My little sister's first crush!" Yang wrapped Ruby in a hug. "You've gotta tell me, or I'm not gonna stop pestering you!"
"It's… really embarrassing." Ruby tried to deflect the question.
"Trust me, it can't be more embarrassing than Ivan and Winter's little crush." Yang said.
"Hey!" Ivan defended.
"I-I just don't know if they can even… like me in that way." Ruby half-explained.
"How can you know if you don't even try?" Yang asked. "What's the worst that can happen? They say no?"
"Well.. we're both… you know, girls." Ruby whispered.
Yang's hand immediately moved to cover her mouth. "Oh…"
"Yang…" Ruby started.
"My… GOD!" Yang practically shouted. Thankfully, the music likely drowned out her shout to anyone outside of the garage. This time, Yang's embrace picked Ruby up from the ground. "You're too adorable!"
"Yang, please." Ruby said, trying to get breath into her lungs.
"Oh…" Yang said, apologetically as she let Ruby down. "Sorry, but it's just so awesome!" Yang was practically bounding in place. "I had no idea you liked girls!"
"I'll admit, it's a bit of a surprise, even for me." Ivan added.
Ruby's face turned the same shade of red as her cloak. "See? Super embarrassing."
"Oh… sorry, Rubes." Yang apologized again. Ruby simply shook her head. "Well… who is it?"
"Do you promise not to tell anyone? Even Blake?" Ruby asked.
"You have my sisterly word." Yang said, nodding.
"I won't even tell Winter." Ivan said. "Not until you're ready to openly talk about it."
"Okay…" Ruby took a deep breath to compose herself. "It's… it's Weiss… I have a huge crush on Weiss."
Ivan looked surprised, and Yang simply looked ecstatic. "How long?" Yang asked.
"Like… ever since the end of the Tournament." Ruby answered.
"You've been sitting on this that long?" Yang asked.
"It's not like she could ever like me." Ruby said, shrugging with a grim smile on her face. "There's no way she isn't straight."
"You don't know that."
"Yang… she's Weiss." Ruby responded, an eyebrow cocked.
"The two of you spent almost every waking moment together on Earth." Ivan responded. "Not to mention all the time you've been spending together since she got back."
Ruby hated when her own defenses that she had built up were knocked down. "I mean… even if she could like me, why would she? She's so perfect and I'm… well, I'm me."
"Ruby, don't put yourself down." Ivan said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Anyone would be the luckiest person in the whole damned Galaxy to have you. You and Weiss have been friends for a long time."
"That's exactly why I… really don't think it'd work." Ruby said, sadly. "I don't want to lose that… what would she do if I asked her out and she wasn't even able to be attracted to me? I don't want to lose one of my best friends over a stupid crush… dumb hormones…"
The look on Ruby's face, coupled with the tears that were threatening to break free from Ruby's eyes, broke Yang's heart. Without a moment of hesitation, Yang pulled Ruby into a gentle hug. That one gesture alone broke the floodgates down, and a soft sob escaped from the normally-upbeat brunette's lips. "Shh, it's alright, Rubes."
"It's not!" Ruby made out after another sob. "Everyone else is so lucky! Why'd I have to be like this?! Why couldn't I just… why can't I just be like a normal girl?"
"Because you're not normal, Ruby…" Yang consoled, running her hand in comforting circles along Ruby's back. "You're one of the happiest, most wonderful people ever! Seeing you like this kills me."
Ruby's sniffle caused Yang to hold onto her sister just a bit tighter. "Neither of us can tell you exactly what to do, that part's up to you."
"Real helpful." Ruby's broken-up and muffled voice came from Yang's shoulder, where her face was buried.
"You didn't let me finish." Yang responded. "The best advice I can give you is to just… as cliché as it sounds, follow your heart. Do whatever you think is right." Yang placed a quick kiss to the top of Ruby's head. "I love you, Rubes, and I'm with you. I know exactly what you're going through. I'll be with you every step of the way, and I think Ivan's with you too. You can always come to us about anything."
Ruby lifted her head from Yang's shoulder, streaks running down her normally-smiling cheeks. "S-So, I should just follow my gut?"
"It's what they taught us at Beacon. Believe it or not, it works here too." Yang said, smiling slightly. "You do what you think is right."
"And you can always talk with us about it." Ivan added.
Ruby sniffled again, pulling back from Yang's hug. A small smile broke across her features, and she quickly pulled the two into a hug. "Thanks, guys… thank you so much."
"Of course, Rubes…" Yang said, hugging Ivan and Ruby.
Ivan returned the hug. "I'm always here for you, Ruby… you and Yang are like sisters to me. Hell, I'd go so far as to say I love you guys."
"Thanks, Ivan." Ruby pulled back from the hug. "I-I think I need to give this some thought."
"We'll be here if you need us." Yang said, giving her sister a warm smile.
"Thanks, guys." Ruby said, wiping her cheeks with the back of her sleeve. "I'm… gonna to my room and think for a little bit."
"Good luck, Ruby." Ivan said, smiling.
Ruby smiled and jogged back towards the door, and back into the house. Yang turned to Ivan, and it was clear that she had been on the verge of tears. "Thanks, Ivan."
"Don't sweat it, blondie." Ivan said, giving Yang a quick side-hug. "Like I said, the two of you are like sisters to me."
"Well, I'm glad to have you, big bro." Yang said, smiling. Ivan returned the smile.
"She'll figure it out… she always does."
XXXXX
February 6, 2683; 1321 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Weiss followed her sister past a small patrol of ODSTs that were walking the perimeter of the base. Each of the armored soldiers gave a salute as they passed, due to Winter's rank. "Why did you say you offered me a tour of the base?" Weiss asked, knowing full well that Winter had made no such offer before they had left.
Winter seemed thoughtful for a moment. "You looked uncomfortable… I figured you may wish to talk?"
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, unsure of her sister's intention.
"You looked… sad when Ruby said she didn't want to join us." Winter responded, looking down to her younger sister as she walked.
Weiss tensed up slightly, but did her best not to let it show. She had no idea of Winter caught that, and it scared her a bit, for some reason. "She's probably already seen the whole base… you've lived here for a while, after all."
"That doesn't explain why you were sad." Winter pointed out.
Weiss sighed. "It's just… she's my friend, she's usually practically glued to my side."
"I seem to remember you calling her a, and I quote, 'idiotic, clumsy dolt' when you talked with me back when you were still attending Beacon." Winter responded.
"That was… before I got to know her." Weiss said with a noncommittal shrug.
"You really missed her, didn't you?" Winter asked.
"Yes… I really did." Weiss said, a small frown on her face. "We… dare I say, had a lot of fun when we went on that trip to Earth. I hadn't seen her for almost a year, and it all just seems… different."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just… she seems more distant…" Weiss explained.
"Like you said, it's been almost a year."
"That's part of the problem… I missed everything!" Weiss declared. "I missed a whole year with my friends, the first real friends I've ever had, all because Father wanted to keep me in that posh prison he called our home!"
"Weiss…"
"Now I get this stupid damned tightening in my stomach every time I'm around Ruby, I fumble over my words like an absolute idiot, and I feel like a fucking stranger around my best friends!" Winter was slightly taken aback. It was very rare for Weiss to swear, let alone twice in one sentence. Weiss, in her emotionally-fueled rambling, simply continued. "Father ripped me away from the things I loved just so I could be married off and pop out an heir for the Company! Damnit, I knew it was coming, but I didn't want to face it! Then there it was, just slapping me in my face!"
"That sorry excuse for a 'Father' nearly cost me the first real friends I'd ever made! Every other 'friend' I've ever had has only cared about two things: My name and our family's money! They'd bend over backwards, accommodate everything I'd ask for, all because they wanted to marry into this fucked-up dynasty Father built! Everyone back at the house? They're my friends because they actually care, and I care about them! Father wouldn't hear any of it! All he would say was 'It's for your safety, Weiss'. Not even three days after I get back to Atlas, I'm introduced to a suitor! It was never for my happiness, hell it wasn't even for my safety like he said it was, it was all for him!"
The two had stopped walking, and were now standing beside one of the many buildings on the base's grounds. Weiss, tears streaming down her face, simply slumped against the wall. Without missing a beat, Winter sat down against the wall, her hand resting on Weiss' knee. The two simply sat in silence for a moment, the only noise coming from the various military vehicles that were moving about the base, all of them muffled thanks to the distance.
After a few minutes, Weiss spotted a Pelican slowly makings its way into a hanger for maintenance. Seeing this, she spoke up. "He hated them."
"What?" Winter asked.
"He hated all of the UNSC and their technology…" Weiss explained. "Thought they were ugly, thought the UNSC was just going to exploit us…" Weiss gave a spiteful chuckle. "Idiot." Winter let a small smile cross her lips.
"Every time I'd see a Pelican or a Broadsword… I'd just think about what you guys were all probably doing while I was stuck playing 'daddy's girl'… going to galas, putting that façade back on. God, it was infuriating."
Winter simply let Weiss vent, knowing very well how to deal with her sister. "I still remember the time Thorne visited me, not long after I arrived back in Atlas. He had this look in his eye… like he was apologizing without saying anything. I still think Father dragged me to all of the gatherings at the UEG Embassy in Atlas just to spite me, but Thorne was there every time… he'd always ask how I was doing and do his best to keep me updated." Weiss scoffed. "Even he cared more than Father ever did."
"Father used to be different." Winter said, speaking up for the first time in a while. "He used to… actually want us to be happy. He tried to do the same thing to me when I turned sixteen… that's why I joined the Military. Then he threw everything onto you. I… can't help but feel like I'm responsible for this."
"Winter, don't say that!" Weiss declared.
"Like I said, I can't help it." Winter said with a grim smile. "However irrational it may be."
Weiss smiled, then pulled the taller Schnee sister into a hug. "Thanks, Winter… you've always been there when I needed to vent. I feel a lot better."
"Anything for Mein Kleine Weiss." Winter responded, returning the hug.
After a few minutes of amicable silence, Weiss asked a question that had been nagging at her. "Did… Father ever try to get you to, you know, date anyone?"
"Twice, yes." Winter said, chuckling. "I hated the both of them. Snotty little boys who tried so desperately to win me over. There were lavish gifts, flowers, poems, even a serenade… I just never found myself even remotely attracted to them. It seems like the Schnee women share more than just a Semblance." She playfully nudged Weiss with her elbow.
Weiss laughed. "He certainly did… slimy excuse for a human being, Father. He tried so hard to find a 'suitable' man for me." Winter grimaced at the thought. "I had to put up with one of them for almost three months… nearly stabbed him for getting a bit too touchy a few times."
"Please don't go into detail, or I might have to request some shore leave so I can go to Earth and shoot Jacques myself." Winter added with a laugh.
"Please, be my guest." Weiss returned the laugh. "At least now I can actually… try to find someone that I like, for once."
Winter smirked. "Anyone in particular come to mind?" Weiss would normally fire back with a snarky comment, but she found herself blushing just a bit. "That'd be a 'yes' if I've ever seen one. Who is it?"
"I'd really rather not say…" Weiss said, blushing even further.
"Alright, I won't press." Winter said, nodding. "You can always talk with me, though. Who knows, I might even have some advice."
Weiss scoffed. "With how awkward you and Ivan were, you might have advice?"
Winter smiled. "You wound me so, sister. What Ivan and I have is working very well, so I can probably give some advice. For me to do that, though, you'd have to tell me who you've got your eye on." Winter's mind immediately back-tracked to the rant Weiss had gone on, one thing practically flashing a light before her eyes. "Now I get this stupid damned tightening in my chest whenever I'm around Ruby".
"Wait…" Winter said, her eyes widening slightly. "Is it Ruby?"
Winter thought she had seen Weiss blush before, but she went beet red. "W-What?! What makes you say that?!"
"I think your face speaks a lot more than you did about Ruby in your little rant, Weiss." Winter said, smirking as Weiss clamped her mouth shut.
Weiss rested her head on her knees. "Gah! Fine, it's Ruby…" Weiss sighed. "I always denied it, hearing Mother and Father go off about 'degeneracy' and all of that trash."
"I guess that explains why you never found any of the suitors attractive." Winter mused.
"I guess it does…" Weiss gave a somewhat hollow chuckle. "A Schnee heiress, a dyke… I can practically picture Father screaming at me while Mother's off in the other room, crying."
"It's alright to keep it a secret, but you shouldn't try to change yourself because of something so idiotic." Winter consoled, pulling Weiss into a hug. "You like Ruby, so what?"
"That's just it… She's the only person that makes me feel so… weird." Weiss said, sighing. "And she probably doesn't even think of me in that way."
"How can you know that if you don't at least try?" Winter asked.
"I don't want to try because I don't want to ruin my first real friendship!" Weiss declared, huffing. "Why would I want to lose my best friend over a stupid crush?"
"You'll want to try because you'll live the rest of your life wondering 'what if' if you don't." Winter explained. "Ruby might be a bit… awkward, but I really doubt she'd stop being your friend just because you have a crush on her that she can't return. She's too nice for that."
"That's the other thing!" Weiss announced. "She's so nice and I'm so… me. I was called 'Ice Queen' at Beacon, you know."
"And Qrow's called me 'Ice Queen' more than once before, and we're… kinda friends."
"But Ruby deserves someone just as nice, and caring, and wonderful as she is! She doesn't deserve someone like me." Weiss said, that dejected look returning to her face.
"She's your friend, isn't she?" Winter asked, earning a nod from Weiss. "So she obviously likes you in some way. You said it yourself, everyone back at the house is genuine, and wants to be your friend."
Weiss seemed thoughtful for a moment, then sighed. "I'll… have to think about it a bit."
"That's all I'm saying, just think about it." Winter agreed. "Now let's head back, I think that's more than enough heart-to-heart for one day."
"No disagreements from me." Weiss said, standing up.
XXXXX
February 6, 2683; 1332 Hours
Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)
Ruby walked through the door, and into the room that she and Weiss shared. It was quite clear that there was a division in the room. One side was immaculately clean and organized, and the other looked like a hurricane slammed into it and scattered clothes all around. Weiss had been pestering her to clean everything on her side of the room up, but she just hadn't gotten around to it.
She noted the little box she had picked up during their trip into Mistral. Tomorrow, Weiss turned twenty, so Ruby had decided to buy her a gift. She knew that Weiss hated things like that, but she simply couldn't help herself. She had tucked it away in her corner of the closet.
As she walked past the small white desk that Weiss kept her computer on, she noticed something. It was a small white book, left open. At first, she wrote it off as a book that Weiss was reading, but that assumption flew out the window when she saw the beautiful, flowing handwriting on the pages. She immediately recognized it as Weiss' handwriting.
Ruby figured that it was her diary. She had seen Weiss writing in it late at night back in their dorm at Beacon. She really did respect Weiss' privacy, but when she saw her name on the page, she found herself locked in a battle between that respect and her boundless curiosity. Despite herself, her curiosity won the battle.
She glanced down at the page, which was marked with yesterday's date. She gave a cursory once-over of the words on the page, one passage in specific grabbing her attention.
I really don't know, so I might as well put this in here. This is the first time I've written in this stupid diary in months, but I really don't know where else to go. I suppose I should start with the thing that's been nagging at me for the past few days: I'm deathly in love with Ruby Rose.
Ruby's jaw dropped open as she read over the last sentence. She let out a happy squeal, bounding in place. After months of bottling this up, she learned that Weiss actually had a crush on her. Sure, she was technically breaching one of the most sacred form of trust between friends, but that thought didn't even cross her mind. She was simply too ecstatic.
"Oh my god!" Ruby squealed, all of her energy seeming to come out at once. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!"
It took her far longer than she'd like to admit to finally calm down. She simply let out a sigh. She couldn't believe it! The person that she had fawned over for the longest time was not only crushing on her, but she said that she was deathly in love. Ruby's mind raced at the speed of her Semblance, thinking of all of the possible ways to ask Weiss. Once one idea crossed her mind, she knew exactly what she would do. Weiss' birthday was tomorrow, and Ruby had the best idea ever.
