Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.
Ruby followed Blake into the dorm room, eager to change out of clothes and into some much more comfortable pajamas. Maybe she could convince Blake to watch a movie with her, but Blake would probably want to read since it would be quiet. Oh Ruby still had that book Blake had given her. They could read together. It had been so long since they had gotten to read together. Ruby skipped past Blake over to her bed and immediately began rifling through her drawers looking for a clean set of sleeping clothes to change into.
"Are you gonna change Blake?" Ruby turned from the dresser to Blake who was just setting her book down on the shelf by her bed. Zwei ran over happily to Ruby's side and barked, he nuzzled up to Ruby's leg and she leaned down and patted him on the head.
"Yes, I think I will. It will be nice to relax a little." Blake leaned her head off to the side and gave Ruby one of her rare little smiles. The kind that made Ruby all fuzzy inside to know she was so happy. Blake seemed so serious and sad all the time, Ruby loved when let herself relax like this. She pulled the pajamas she had picked out of the drawer and skipped off to the bathroom to change. She would not be repeating that underwear incident with Blake again, even if it had gotten her a cookie.
Ruby flicked the door casually shut behind her and began unlacing her tight corset. She could feel the pressure in her abdomen easing as the string popped loose, easing down from the top until the last string fell loose and the corset slid off around her waist. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief and stripped her shirt and bra off next, flinging them to the side and relishing in the air against her skin. Ruby leaned back against the tiled wall of the bathroom and felt her skin prickle up at the touch of the cold tiles on her back. Wearing battle armor and being combat ready all day took its toll and dressing down in the evening was absolutely wonderful. Ruby sat on the toilet with the lid down and began unlacing her boots. She kicked them off in the corner, slipped out of her leggings and pulled her frilly red combat skirt off so she was only in her underwear.
Ruby stepped back by the mirror and gave herself a slow once over, examining her muscle tone, which was improving since she got to Beacon, her posture, which was nothing like Weiss's, and even her bust, which was nothing like her sister's.
"I guess we get it from our moms." Ruby lifted both breasts in her hands and let them drop lightly against her chest. She smiled, content with everything she had seen and grabbed her pajamas off the ground where she had dropped them. She pulled her underwear off around her ankles and stepped into the overly large sweat pants and slid her baggy t-shirt over her head. Oh it felt so good to just not care and lay around in big baggy clothes. Ruby wriggled her arms and legs, loving the feel of the light cloth bouncing against her skin. She scooped up all her things off the floor and emerged back into the bedroom.
Zwei was curled up on Weiss's bed near her pillow and Blake was already dressed in her night clothes. It was some kind of really fancy like nightgown that she liked to wear on nights when they were spending time together in the dorm room and not just going straight to bed. It was a lot like a robe that stretched from her shoulder all the way down to her ankles and had a brace at the middle that she tied around her waist, almost like Ruby's corset. When they would finally go to sleep, Blake took the outside part off and had a much lighter more comfortable part underneath that she actually slept in.
"You don't have to wear that you know?" Ruby called over to Blake. She loved not having to wear anything serious or care how she looked in their room. Why should Blake? Blake spun around so fast her hair whipped out and hit the side of Yang's bunk hard enough to make a smacking noise. She was blushing furiously and looked like she had been ready to throw her hands up over her eyes because they darted up at her face and the dropped again once she saw Ruby standing there.
"Oh… Uhh." Blake tried to recover herself from whatever that had been, "What do you mean Ruby?" Ruby cocked her head to the side. What had Blake so embarrassed? Had she been reading one of her naughty books that Yang wouldn't let Ruby try?
"I meant your fancy night clothes thing." Ruby pointed at her, meaning to point at her robe. "It's just us Blake. You can just wear the normal part underneath." Blake craned her head back to examine herself, as if seeing the garment for the first time.
"My yukata? What do you mean fancy?" Blake held up her arms, the sleeves hanging loosely at her sides. "It's just what I wear." She turned back to Ruby, her blush now fading.
"No I mean…" Ruby struggled to explain what she meant about comfort. She held up her arms, showing Blake how loose and baggy her clothes were. "Doesn't this look more comfy? You look like you could go out in that thing." Ruby laughed and pointed at her but Blake wore the same puzzled look, so Ruby darted over and undid the bow at her waist in a frustrated burst of her semblance. Blake's robe fell open before she could react, revealing the shift she wore underneath.
Blake immediately clutched at the edges of her dress, apparently her Yukata, and squeezed it shut over her chest.
"Ruby!" Blake spun away to hide what she saw as her indecency from Ruby. "Stop." she was blushing again, "Why would you do that?" She fixed it so she could hold the robe shut with both hands and reached down to pick up the corset part from the ground.
"I'm sorry." Ruby threw her hands up in the air like she was under arrest, "I just. I just wanted you to be comfortable." She took a huge step back and away from Blake. Blake carefully wrapped the corset part around herself again without letting the robe come undone and made sure everything was in place before turning back to Ruby fully.
"It's okay Ruby. Please put your hands down now." Blake leaned her head forward and down slightly the way she did when she apologized. What was she apologizing for? Ruby was the one that had taken her clothes off. Ruby lowered her hands and her eyes.
"I'm sorry Blake. I just. I hate wearing clothes all day and it's so nice to be able to relax and not care in the dorm." Ruby gestured at herself meekly with both hands, not raising her eyes to meet Blake's.
"Ruby, look at me," Blake pleaded and Ruby lifted her eyes sullenly to those judging golden one. "I am relaxed. At least I am when you aren't undressing me." Blake blushed hard but laughed.
"Are you sure? That just looks so uncomfortable." Ruby looked Blake up and down again. It's like she was wearing a dress, a really pretty dress.
"We should get one for you so you can see. They are actually very comfortable." Blake turned back towards her bed and retrieved her book from the shelf and then turned slowly back to Ruby, a trace of that blush still on her cheeks. "What did you wanna do tonight Ruby?" She sat just on the edge of her bed, barely any of her body actually touching it.
"Well, we could do anything we want together right?" Ruby tried to imply that it was open for a movie or a game or reading or talking, whatever Blake wanted to do. She stepped forward, hoping Blake didn't want to just sleep early. "I mean, we could do anything you want Blake." She looked at her with her best puppy dog eyes and saw Blake blush harder. Maybe she had just wanted to sit and read her book, maybe the naughty one so she was hoping Ruby would leave her alone. "I mean, unless you don't want to do anything with me tonight." Ruby turned slowly around, sad that it would be almost like she was alone in the room.
"Wait, Ruby." Blake's hand darted out and grabbed Ruby's shoulder, spinning her back around. She was still blushing but, "Wanna just sit and talk for a while? We never get to talk without Weiss around correcting us or Yang making jokes and stuff." Blake looked off to the side as she offered, probably trying to hide her blush.
"Is that really all that you wanna do Blake?" Ruby asked. She understood if Blake had plans for the evening and she didn't want to interfere so she tried to sound as sweet as she could, to let Blake know she wouldn't be offended if she had other plans. Blake's blush flared up again, probably because she knew Ruby had figured out what she actually wanted to do.
"Yeah really Ruby come on." Blake moved back towards her bed and sat on it with her legs crossed. She patted on the bed opposite of her and beckoned Ruby to join her. Ruby was more than happy to do this if it's really what Blake wanted so she quickly moved onto the spot Blake had indicated.
"So, whadda wanna talk about?" Ruby asked as she shifted into place on the bed. She wished she could lean up against the bedpost at the end so she had something behind her back, but with how Yang's bunk was held up above this one that didn't really seem like a good idea.
"I don't know." Blake rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, "I know Yang asked you already, but how do you feel about them dating?" Ruby threw herself sideways on the bed with a huff.
"I'm okay with it I guess. It is a little weird though." She poked at the bottom of Yang's bunk but couldn't quite reach the bottom of the bed frame with her finger. "I mean, as Team Leader, I'm totally okay with it. As Yang's sister, I'm totally okay with it. As Ruby, I don't know." Ruby let her arms fall across her face and sighed, unable to properly explain her feelings.
"Ruby? That didn't make a whole lot of sense." Blake poked Ruby in the arm, "Go through each one, one at a time."
"Well. I don't care that two teammates are dating. I think it's awesome they fell for each other and figured it out. I think it bring us closer together as a team and they'll fight and train harder for each other." Ruby let her arms slip back to her sides.
"And as Yang's sister?" Blake asked without moving much, paying rapt attention to Ruby's answers.
"Well I'm glad she's happy and she seems really happy. She's dated girls before and I always kinda liked them more anyways. Plus I don't have to worry about becoming an aunt." Ruby giggled at that last one. She was sure Yang was always really safe and everything but still, with Weiss there was absolutely zero chance of anything. Blake blushed hard.
"Do you think we'll have to like, figure out time to give them the room alone?" Blake asked quietly. Ruby hadn't meant to embarrass her with that, she though Blake was okay with joking and talking about that kind of thing.
"Well I mean it's Weiss. Like you said earlier, I don't think we have to worry about that from them. And besides, it just kinda happens, so if they need to they can figure it out. Like look, we have the dorm all to ourselves right now." Ruby looked over at Blake and saw she was blushing deep red again, stuff like this must really embarrass her. So she would change the subject.
"I guess you're right." Blake finally managed to eek out.
"As just me though. Like ignoring all the other stuff. It is kinda weird to think they're dating and sharing a room with us and stuff. Plus, Yang just makes so many more dirty jokes now." Ruby laughed, her sister's jokes were harmless, they were just frequent and not always that funny. "And, well. Weiss is my partner right? But, now she's dating Yang. So, it's like she has someone else to focus on." Ruby screwed up her face a little as she finally got at the root of what was making her uncomfortable.
"What do you mean?" Blake laid down beside her and they both stared at the bottom of the bunk above them.
"Well, I tried so hard to be friends with Weiss at all. What if we drift apart now? I'll just be the team leader then." Ruby held her breath to try and stop any emotions from bubbling up.
"You don't have to worry about that." Blake rolled sideways and propped herself up on one elbow to look at Ruby. "You'll always be Yang's sister and Weiss won't get that wrapped up in her that she'll stop paying attention to you. I mean, you promised to be the best partners ever for each other didn't you?"
"Yeah," Ruby spoke quickly to make sure the small sob catching in her throat didn't have a chance to escape. She really didn't want to cry like a little girl in front of Blake.
"Plus, you'll always be more than just Team Leader to me Ruby." Blake said softly and Ruby rolled over to look at her but Blake was looking off to the side and wouldn't meet her eyes. Ruby finally felt the bubble in her chest pop and she threw her face at Blake's shoulder as a few tears slipped out.
"Thank you Blake." Ruby pushed her face into Blake's shoulder, "Thank you thank you thank you." she hugged the other girl close and felt her arms close hesitantly around her own shoulders.
"Of course Ruby. I told you before I'd be here for you. I meant it." Blake rubbed small circles between Ruby's shoulder blades and after a moment Ruby felt good enough to pull away and wipe at her eyes. She hadn't really cried that much, she had just really needed to hug Blake.
"Sorry," she laughed a little, "This was supposed to be a fun talk wasn't it?" Ruby wiped at her nose and tried to laugh again. She had gone and ruined their friend night together by making it all emotional and weird.
"No Ruby, this was fine." Blake patted her shoulder, "We wouldn't have done this if they had been here. That's what I meant, we got to like bond." Ruby chuckled a little honest chuckle, not forced at all.
"I guess you're right yeah." she laid her head back, "I definitely wouldn't have opened up like that to either of them." she rolled her head off to the side to look at Blake again. "You're the best Blake. Thanks." Ruby darted her head up and kissed Blake on the cheek appreciatively, just like Yang and her Dad used to do when she had done something really well when she was little and she even remembered a few kisses from Summer like that, just a few.
Blake froze up at the contact but she didn't pull away.
"I'm sorry Blake. Was that weird I just…" Ruby went to defend herself but didn't really know what to say. She had just done it on impulse, she didn't even stop to think if Blake would think it was weird.
"It's… It's okay Ruby." Blake started slowly, "Don't mention it." Blake sat up and lifted a hand slowly to the spot Ruby had kissed then leaned down and gave Ruby a kiss on the same spot right on her cheek. "There now we're even."
Ruby felt a rush of heat hit her cheeks almost as soon as Blake's lips did. She did not expect to get a little kiss back like that and she definitely didn't expect it to make her feel like that. Ruby's chest was tight and her breath came short for a second. That was really weird and sudden for just a little kiss on the cheek.
"Do you uhh… Do you wanna read now?" Ruby asked, unsure what Blake would even want to do after that.
"Yeah sure." Blake leaned over and grabbed her book off the shelf. "Do you still have that book I leant you?"
"Yeah," Ruby shook her head to try and bring herself back to the present, "Yeah, let me grab it." She dashed over to her bed, stopping just short of it, like Weiss had asked so she would never knock it down again, and climbed slowly into it. She rummaged through the blankets and pillows and eventually found the book tucked neatly in the corner furthest from where she slept and against the bedpost in such a way that she couldn't kick it off. Wow, she must have really been thinking when she put it here. "Got it."
Ruby climbed down off the bed and pranced back over to Blake, clutching the book eagerly in both hands and holding it out in front of her like a trophy. She jumped next to Blake on the bed and tucked up against the headboard.
"It's really good. You have all of them right?" Ruby asked eagerly. She was on the second one now and there were supposed to be five so she really hoped Blake had them all.
"I'm actually missing the fifth one." Blake admitted abashedly, "I only just finished the fourth one and I didn't realize there was another. I thought they were only making four."
"Really? Ruby asked startled, "We should go get it then." She nearly screamed and took a deep breath to control herself a little better. "Blake, I will buy it for you. Since you showed me the series." Ruby looked at her very seriously.
"You don't have to." Blake waved her hands defensively.
"No really. Let's go this weekend. I want to." Ruby leaned back against the headboard and opened her book. Now that she knew they we're going to get the last one she was even more excited to get into it.
"Ruby, that's too much. I can get my own book." Blake still hadn't opened her novel.
"No." Ruby said curtly, "Leader's orders." She raised a single finger in the air sharply to finalize her point and jammed her finger painfully against Yang's bunk. "Owww." she quickly retracted her arm and suckled on her finger to make the pain fade. Blake laughed quietly.
"Understood fearless leader. How could I ever doubt your leadership." Blake laughed quietly again and opened her book. Ruby didn't mind the laughter, it had been funny. Stupid aura, only blocking things she saw coming, what good was it then?
For a few moments they sat and read together. Ruby was just starting to get lost in the novel, to really start and feel the story when Blake cleared her throat to get her attention. Ruby mentally marked her place on the page and then looked up to Blake.
"You know, you can uhh you can lean on my shoulder or something if you want." Blake looked down nervously, "Sorry I only have one pillow. I guess you could grab one off another bed too." Blake looked over at the pile of pillows on Ruby's bed and the two serene ones setting neatly at the head of Weiss's bed.
"Really?" Ruby immediately turned herself and rested her back against Blake's arm and the pillow she was leaning on, tucking her head into the hollow of Blake's shoulder, "Oh that's soo much better." Ruby hummed happily and returned to reading her book.
A/N - So…. was that a little evil after how the last one ended? Just imagine what Blake is thinking throughout this chapter. Ahh, I very purposefully chose who narrates which chapters.
All in all though this was a fun one I think. I just love these simple interactions between the two of them. They are what I love about Ladybug, I think they would be the best homebody couple ever. Just chillin' together and reading and talking and cuddling and stuff.
What do you guys think? Do you like Ladybug? Am I doing a good job with them here? What did you think of the chapter? Can't wait to hear from you. (even you, person reading this months after I post it. I want to hear from you too)
-Zach