Chapter sixty-two
Cuddles, naps, and a long overdue date
Team RWBY had taken to living at Haven remarkably well. Now almost into their fourth month at Mistral's Huntsmen Academy, they had kept many of the same routines that they had had at Beacon but they had all learned that life at Haven was also more relaxed in many ways as well.
Ruby and Yang continued their physical therapy regiments with the help of their sister, partners, and girlfriends. The aquatic physical therapy that Ruby had been doing during the time at Haven was yielding results, the red-haired Huntress in training had been pushing herself more and more in her pursuit to no longer rely on her wheelchair. The youngest member, and leader of team RWBY had been using it less and less as the months crawled by.
She was steadily making upwards progress and while she still needed it from time to time, if her legs were in pain, that was becoming less of a norm and more of a rarity.
Ruby's birthday came which was celebrated by the friends she had made; she spent the entirety of her sixteenth birthday standing up. The pain in her legs the next day relegated her to the wheelchair for the entirety of it but it was so worth it.
JNPR ended up making her a chocolate chip cookie cake, which was amazing and almost made her tear up since she recognized it as one of the deserts Yang would make for her when they were younger.
Her sister got her a custom guitar pick that had her symbol on it but it was inverted so the background and the rose had switched from their normal red and black. She said it was to show Blake's influence on her as well.
Weiss had gotten her a weapon sharpening kit and everything that had come with it, for both Crescent Rose and Shattered Rose.
Blake saved her gift for last and made Ruby close her eyes as she opened it. Ruby was silent for close to three minutes before she tackled her girlfriend and devolved into a squealing mess. Blake had somehow managed to find and get a signed first edition copy of the first book in the team BLCK saga. Ruby landed on top of Blake, and the two stayed like that for ten minutes until they remembered they weren't alone.
While Ruby was busy strengthening her legs again, Yang was busy doing the same thing with her arms. Ruby's older sister spent hours training, on her own, with Weiss and Blake or with Ren.
Weiss and Blake alternated who they chaperoned during the daily therapy times two days at a time. Since the week had an odd number of days, they switched off on who was with who more. As a result, both of them became significantly better at hand to hand from where they were before. Yang insisted that they spar not just for her benefit but their own as well.
Weiss started training herself with Shattered Rose and put Ruby through the regimen as well. Partly to strengthen her legs and also to improve her mastery with the Dust Scimitar, seeing as how it was Ruby who forged it.
Ren and Yang's partnership had started when Yang asked him to train her so she could adapt some of his techniques into her updated fighting style. They had both given each other plenty of bruises, but they both had smiles on their faces at the end of their first training session.
She took his lessons to heart and began adding select pieces of his style to hers. The mix of different techniques and martial styles made defeating her in training incredibly difficult because most of Ren's fighting style was defensive based while her own and the pieces she had learned from Tai during the video calls she did with him were more offensive-based.
Ruby and Blake were relaxing in one of Haven's gardens when the auburn-haired Faunus turned to her girlfriend. "Hey, Ruby?"
Ruby looked at her and tilted her head. "Yes?"
"I don't know if you remember, but I told you I'd take you out on a date after the Vytal Festival Tournament last year."
"I remember, but we've been so busy with everything that's happened that it kinda went onto the back burner huh?" Ruby muttered softly.
"Yeah, it kinda did. But would you like to go on a date?" Blake asked as she twirled a strand of hair in two fingers. Her other hand gently curled on her shirt which Ruby noticed since they spent so much time together. Ruby knew her girlfriend's quirks.
"I would. We haven't picked a place or a time. I don't know anything about Mistral's nightlife since I haven't really left Haven." Ruby started to ramble softly which was delicately interrupted when Blake squeezed her girlfriend's hand.
"It's alright, I've taken care of researching the restaurant and it allows Faunus so that's good and it's also close to Haven."
"What kind of food do they have?"
"Well, a lot of it is fish related but they also have things like burgers and ribs."
"Aww," Ruby thought to herself. "She's so nervous she forgot to not mention her fish addiction." It was something Blake had been working on recently.
Ruby drooled a tiny bit at the mention since she had her own pull towards certain meats and nodded. "Well, I can't object to that."
"How's the day after tomorrow sound?" Blake asked, which got a nod from Ruby.
"Maybe around eight-thirty?" Ruby asked in return.
"I'll make the reservation then, and it's a date."
"Yeah, it's a date." Ruby shuffled into her girlfriend's lap and softly kissed her neck. Blake blushed deeply before pulling her down onto the soft grass, which knocked Ruby off her lap but also allowed them to lay next to each other and kiss.
They were both blushing while Blake moved some of Ruby's hair out of the way. She then gave her a big kiss on the lips, which was happily returned. The kiss only lasted a minute before both pulled away. "You know, it's a really nice day, and this is a perfect spot for a nap." Blake gave a faux yawn, and Ruby smiled as she imitated her.
"Can you hold me while we nap?" Ruby asked softly, a blush on her face and Blake nodded.
They weren't the only ones thinking that it was a perfect day for relaxing as Weiss was resting her head on Yang's lap in another garden on campus. Yang was leaning against a tree with her eyes closed. Weiss thought she was asleep until she murmured.
"Hey, Weissy, this gonna be out of left field. But which kingdom do you see yourself living in?"
Yang didn't open her eyes as she asked, instead just moving her left arm to hold Weiss' hand. Her prosthetic was off today, so her hand rested on both of Weiss'.
"Why do you ask? It's not unwelcome… just unexpected is all." Weiss looked up at Yang.
"I've just been thinking about the future is all. Truth be told, it's been on my mind a lot. I want to be close to Ruby, but I'm sure that she and Blake are going to find somewhere to settle down. Leaving you isn't really on the table, and I imagine that you'll probably head to Menagerie after graduation, which I'm fine with…"
"Why do I feel like there's a 'but' statement in that?" Weiss asked as Yang opened her eyes and looked down.
"I've always thought I'd be like my uncle, always moving, always traveling. But that was when I thought I'd be on my own…Now that I have you…"
"Now that you have me?" Weiss asked softly.
"I don't want to put you through that… I know it's premature to think about it, but… part of me can't stop thinking about it."
"Relax, we have a little less than two years to decide. For now, let's just take it day by day and live life as it comes okay?" Weiss asked and Yang nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, it happens."
"Hey, Weiss?"
"Yeah, Yang?"
Yang shook her head and her face went bright, dark red. "N-never mind…"
Weiss raised an eyebrow but closed her eyes and yawned softly. "Alright… if you insist."
She settled into her girlfriend's lap and soon sleep came over Weiss.
Yang yawned as sleep overcame her as well. Today really was the perfect day for a nap.
Blake and Ruby slept for a couple of hours, Blake waking up first and softly kissing Ruby until she had as well. "Time to wake up, my Rosebud. It's almost sundown."
Ruby protested softly but she sat up and yawned. "Fineeee…. It was so nice though."
Blake nodded in agreement. "Let's go find our teammates then we can talk about getting food,"
"You know, we could go out on our date tonight… I only mention it because you brought up getting food." Ruby said as her stomach rumbled.
Blake smiled and nodded. "Well, I guess you're right. You make very good points, Ms. Rose."
"Now, Ms. Belladonna, would you like to go on a date with me?"
"Indeed, I would."
They looked at each other and smiled before they broke into small laughs. Blake picked herself and Ruby up from the soft ground before wrapping her arms around Ruby's waist.
"Ready when you are," Blake whispered into her ear.
Ruby blushed and nodded. She reluctantly removed Blake's hands and pulled out her scroll and turning in the direction of where Weiss and Yang's scrolls said they were.
When the black and red pair made it to the white and yellow duo, they saw that their partners were sound asleep. Weiss was laying in Yang's lap and the brawler had wrapped her arm around Weiss' waist.
The two walked quietly up to their partners and gently began to shake them awake. "C'mon, Sleepy Heads! Time to get up from your naps."
They both groaned in protest. "Five more minutes…" Yang sleepily murmured.
"If you two stay asleep, you'll both be up all night," Ruby told her older sister with a poke to the forehead.
"What's wrong with that, Dolt?" Weiss grumbled as she cracked her neck and moved her head off Yang's shoulder.
"Hey, I like staying up all night as much as anyone else but it's not exactly wise," Ruby replied back.
Yang groaned as she slowly moved Weiss off her legs and wiggled up the tree until she was standing up. "Why do you two have to make sense?" she asked with a groan as she finally opened her lilac eyes.
"One of our team has to." Blake gave her partner a small smile and Weiss narrowed her eyes.
"So, are you saying that I have no sense?" Weiss asked her adopted sister with a glare.
"Only occasionally." Blake gave a light-hearted laugh which broke through Weiss' indignation and she laughed as well.
"Well, we're up now… so what's everyone else's plan for the night?" Yang asked.
"I think Ruby and I are going to go out on a date. I'm getting hungry and I can hear her stomach rumbling too," Blake said as Ruby's stomach did just that which caused another round of laughs.
"Since you two are springing for a date. Would you like to hit the town, Weiss? I've heard there's a nice club nearby." Yang yawned before cracking her neck.
"If it's the one I think it is then that is acceptable. But before that, we should all prepare for our evenings out," Weiss said as she took charge.
Team RWBY made their way back to the house where JNPR was just leaving. Pyrrha and Nora had on dresses while Jaune and Ren had suits on. "Looking fancy, you guys. Where you headed?"
Yang smirked as three of the members blushed. "Oh, we're um… going on a double date." Pyrrha stammered softly as she wrapped her arms around one of Jaune's while Nora leaned into Ren.
"Looks like they stole your idea, Sis." Yang teased as JNPR looked at Ruby and Blake who both gave small, blushing nods.
"We should get going, we don't want to be late for our reservation," Ren softly murmured.
"Alright, enjoy your date! Don't stay out too late!" Yang exclaimed before she pushed inside followed by Weiss and Ruby. Blake followed right behind with a soft "Good Luck" to Pyrrha.
Weiss and Yang each claimed one of the showers in the house and both were out in less than twenty minutes. Yang used the bare minimum of her Semblance and flash dried her hair while Weiss kept her own snow-white locks wrapped in a towel for quite some time.
Once their partners' showers were done the remaining duo hopped in and each breathed a sigh of relief that they had been left hot water.
Blake tucked her feather into her ebony locks as she left the bathroom in a t-shirt and shorts before walking to the half of the bedroom that she shared with Yang.
Speaking of Yang, she was intently going back and forth between two different shirts. "Blake, do you have an opinion on which one I should wear?"
She was holding a light blue long-sleeved shirt on one hanger while the other had a yellow crop top on it. "Well, it is quite brisk outside but I know that you're nearly immune to the cold so I guess it doesn't matter which one you pick."
Blake pointed this out as she moved to her own closet and took out a knee-length dark red dress with a purple sash. She hummed to herself as Yang bobbed her head in reply. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Thanks, Blake."
"You're welcome." Blake smiled lightly and hummed more.
While Blake and Yang were getting dressed in their half of the room, Weiss and Ruby were doing the same in the bathroom. Funnily enough, Weiss was sitting in Ruby's wheelchair in order to do her makeup while Ruby was running a comb through her partner's hair and using a blow dryer to ensure that it was completely dry.
Once that was done, the red and white pair moved into their side of the bedroom and picked out their outfits. They had both gotten new dresses in the time that they had been at Haven.
Weiss' dress was a gray-blue color that cut off just above her knees with pale blue tights. A bolero that matched the dress and a cream-colored sash around the middle of her waist completed the look alongside three-inch heels.
Ruby's own dress went past her knees and was purple in color. The black ribbon that she had gotten from Blake had been wrapped around her neck with a bit of help from Weiss. Since Ruby wasn't a fan of heels, she had gotten a matching pair of flats.
"You look beautiful, Blake is a lucky young woman."
Ruby blushed softly as Weiss lightly combed her hair down so it remained flat before setting the instrument down. "Okay, looks like you're all ready for your date."
"You look beautiful as well, Weiss." Ruby gave a smile to her partner who poorly hid her own smile.
"Let's get going, Dolt." Weiss murmured as she lightly knocked on the screen partition which was opened by Yang.
"Wow, you're stunning." Yang complimented before giving Weiss a soft kiss on the head which caused her to blush.
"I've admittedly never been to a club… so I'm relying on your expertise for guidance," Weiss told Yang.
"Don't worry, I'll guide you well," Weiss threaded her arms through Yang's organic arm and nodded.
"I know you will, we'll be back later. Have fun you two," Yang said as the pair headed to the door.
"You two do as well." Blake replied before the door shut and she looked at Ruby.
"Shall we go on our date now, my gallant knight?" Blake turned to Ruby who nodded and gave a slight bow.
"Indeed, we shall. My beautiful princess." Ruby blushed and they left the house as well.
The Mistralian winter air was cold while the sky was gray and heavy. The trees were bare since they had lost their leaves towards the end of the autumn season. "You know, it's hard to believe that we're nearly to the end of our second year… that into two months' time we're going to be upperclassmen. It feels like our time at Haven has barely begun but instead, we're going back to Beacon soon," Ruby whispered as she looked up at the sky while she walked next to Blake.
Blake gently led Ruby along the cobbled paths for a little bit before she replied. "This year has certainly been hard. Both academically and physically, but you two haven't complained. In fact, you two have excelled. You've both shown that your injuries were a temporary speedbump. I know that you two still have a long way to go and that your healing is far from done. But as your friend, teammate, and girlfriend, I want you to know how proud of you I am."
Ruby nuzzled into Blake, who patted her on the head before Blake softly squeezed Ruby's hand, and the gesture was reciprocated. The younger girl moved her hand to Blake's cat ears and lightly rubbed her thumb against one of them. A soft purr erupted from deep within Blake's throat as she squeezed Ruby's hand. After several seconds Blake whispered softly. "Hey, um… Ruby… Not that I mind… but we should keep walking."
Ruby gave each ear a light rub before she nodded and stopped teasing. "Yeah, you're right…but I hope that my teasing was okay?"
"It was, I really enjoyed it," Blake whispered as she looked away before blushing.
The couple went back to holding hands as they walked to the restaurant, which was a three-story hexagonal pagoda. The outside of the building was bare except for a neon blue sign that read Wolf and Serpent."
They entered and were greeted by a softly lit, blue-tinged room. Most of the patrons were Faunus, but there were a handful of humans scattered among the candlelit tables. Light music and singing echoed through the room from a karaoke machine in the far corner as a mouse Faunus sang along to the lyrics.
The restaurant's host, a gentlemanly wolf Faunus, noticed them enter and gave them a small smile, his tail wagging. "Welcome, I'll be right with you two." He moved past them and to one of the tables.
Blake leaned against the wall while Ruby leaned into Blake as they waited for the hot to return. Which he did so not two minutes later and then proceeded to lead them to a booth. "What would you two like to drink?" He asked quietly as he handed them menus.
"I'll have an iced tea if at all possible," Blake said politely as Ruby took a silent breath in.
"A strawberry lemonade for me please," Ruby asked softly as she lightly drummed on the table. She could feel the nerves in her body start to itch while her heart felt like it was about to start racing at a million miles an hour.
Those feelings stopped once Blake rested her hand atop her own and whispered across the table. "Ruby, it's okay… I'm here for you. Take a deep breath and squeeze my hand until you feel relaxed."
Ruby nodded before she followed her girlfriend's advice. She took a deep breath and softly started to squeeze Blake's warm, soft hand.
After two minutes, she released Blake's hand and gave her a soft smile. "Thank you… that really helped."
"Of course, you know how important you are to me," Blake whispered just as the waiter came up to their table with their drinks.
"Strawberry lemonade for you, Miss," He put Ruby's drink on a coaster off to the side before he turned to Blake and put her iced tea on a coaster as well. "And your iced tea. Have you decided on which entrees you'd like?"
Blake nodded as she looked at the menu. "I'll have the Hamachi sashimi. Is it possible to get a side of rice with it?" she asked politely. Blake had grown up eating Hamachi as sashimi with rice, so while she could go without it never felt like Hamachi without its companion.
The waiter nodded, thankfully, and turned to Ruby, who looked down at the menu. "I-I'll have the fried onion bacon burger. Could I have fries and barbecue sauce on the side? Oh, and a fried egg on the burger?"
"How would you like the burger cooked?" The waiter asked as he wrote her order down.
"Medium well, please."
Soft, melancholy music filled the air as Blake saw an older female bear Faunus taking her turn at the machine, and a new voice filled the air as well. Blake recognized the tone of the words but not the words themselves. "Excuse me, is this from the opera? Love, Fatality of War?" she asked the waiter before he could whisk away their menus.
"Yes, it is. The woman singing it is one of the opera company's singers and is a regular here. We let her experiment with different genres of music which leads to more clients." Blake nodded as the waiter walked off.
Blake didn't understand old Mistralian, but… during her time in the White Fang, she had heard the song more than once. It was a song from Love, Fatality of War, a classical opera that was sung entirely in the High dialect of old Mistralian.
The opera itself was one of two Faunus lovers during the Great War who lived in Mistral. From what she remembered, one of them hadn't been born in Mistral but in Vale. When war was declared, loyalty to their respective kingdoms outweighed the love they had for one another.
The two met in the field of battle at the war's end in the desert of Vacuo, and the Valian born male ended up slaying his Mistralian lover. Even though their loyalties tore them apart from each other, they had never stopped loving each other, which was told to him with her dying breath. Hearing this, he lamented that his duty outweighed his love.
Blake never got to hear what happened afterward, but she had her guesses and none of them were happy.
"This song, I can feel the raw emotion of it, the sadness of the words," Ruby whispered as she felt her eyes water. She didn't understand what the words themselves were saying. But she could understand what was trying to be conveyed.
"Yeah, it is pretty hard to not tear up while listening." Blake murmured before she started to quietly hum along to the music.
Ruby closed her eyes and let the soft music wash over her. Her fingers softly drummed on her leg as it continued for a couple of minutes, she had to stop once or twice to wipe away stray tears though.
Blake's own emotions were tested as she tried to preoccupy herself with sipping her iced tea. She wasn't an overly emotional person, but just as the lyrics were starting to get to her the song ended and she breathed a soft sigh of relief.
Light clapping echoed through the room as the singer bowed before she handed the microphone off and went to go sit back at her table.
Thankfully, the song that was chosen next by a blushing Puma Faunus was far more upbeat since it was a pop song that was often played around Haven.
As their food came, Blake and Ruby's thoughts turned away from the sadness of Love, Fatality of War, and to their hunger.
Ruby's burger and Blake's sashimi were set down before the waiter left again to refill their drinks. Blake wondered how Ruby was going to lift the burger without the egg yolk going everywhere. That question was solved immediately when Ruby picked up a fork and knife.
"I have a feeling Weiss would say 'Doesn't that defeat the purpose of ordering a burger?'" Blake imitated her adopted sister the best she could.
Ruby chuckled. "The only downside with a fried egg is that once the yolk goes everywhere it goes well… everywhere. At least this way I can still eat my food."
She cut a part of her burger into several small pieces and offered a forkful to Blake which had everything on it. Egg, bacon, fried onion, and of course meat.
Blake leaned in and opened her mouth as Ruby deftly put it inside. Blake's eyes opened as the flavors hit her tongue. The moistness of the egg and tenderness of the meat helped balance out the onion and the crunch of the bacon.
Once she was done chewing, she looked at Ruby who had tilted her head. "Wow, that's really good," Blake commented softly.
Ruby gave a small smile before she turned her attention to her food and started eating.
They ate in relative silence after that. Blake shared a piece of her sashimi with Ruby who liked it but said she preferred her burger. They listened to the music that was sung on the karaoke machine and enjoyed their first real date with each other.
When the waiter came to ask if they were interested in dessert the two looked at each other and both nodded in sync. "I believe that a slice of Red Velvet cake is on the menu. How's that sound?" Ruby asked Blake which got a nod from the older girl.
"That sounds lovely," Blake replied. "I think we'll have that. Oh, can I get a cup of mint tea as well?"
"Of course." The waiter said as the current singer on the karaoke machine bowed.
"Hey, Ruby, do you mind if I ask you something?" Blake whispered before as she pulled out her Scroll. "I can text it to you if you prefer?"
Ruby paused and nodded slowly before removing her Scroll from a pouch that she had on her leg where her wallet was as well.
{What is it, Blake?}
{Is this all overwhelming for you? Being on a date with me I mean? You just haven't seemed like yourself.}
Ruby shook her head as she typed on her Scroll. {Not really, it's just…}
{Just what?} Blake looked at Ruby who lowered her eyes to the table. Ruby hesitated for a moment before slowly typing.
{I-it's just that I didn't want to seem… childish tonight. I guess I just wanted to measure up to what I thought could be an ideal date for you. I wanted to seem "grown-up" for you because I think you deserve that. That's why I'm wearing a dress instead of like… jeans and a jacket even if its more comfortable. I didn't… and don't want to embarrass you with a behavior I wouldn't be able to recognize as out of order.}
Blake covered her mouth as she forced her emotions down. Part of her heart broke that Ruby felt like she had to deviate so wildly from who she was as a person just to "measure up" to what she thought Blake would want. Her own experiences…. with Adam had been him trying to mold her into what he wanted her to be. Which had come very close to destroying her in the process.
{Ruby, I adore you just the way you are. You are the light to my darkness. It's so precious, and I treasure it. I want to protect and nurture it. The only person who you should try to "measure up too" is the version of yourself that you want to be. So, please… don't force yourself to change especially not for me… okay?}
Ruby nodded slightly as the cake and tea were dropped off. She took out a handful of Lien from her wallet and put them on the table after she got a peek at the bill.
The two ate the cake in silence as Blake sipped her tea. The mood got a bit awkward before Blake put her hand on Ruby's and squeezed it softly. "Ruby, I promise… just be your loveable, dorky self okay?"
Ruby nodded more confidently this time as the two stood up to head back home. The two walked hand in hand until they arrived back at Haven and stopped at one of the campus gardens.
"Hey, um… Ruby how about we make a rule? How about before each date we go on we tell each other something important? Something we wouldn't normally share? I know that sometimes it'll be hard but it'd be about being honest with each other. It could help with growing confidence in each other. Does that sound okay?"
Ruby gave a nod after a moment of hesitation. "Alright, I'm sorry I wasn't myself tonight."
"Ruby, we all fall into that trap. I did. Weiss did. Okay, maybe Yang hasn't…but we all have to learn when to listen to that voice and when not to, whether that voice is someone else's or is our own. And we don't always succeed, especially when its our own. It's that I still struggled with myself. So no worries. Okay? Ruby, you don't need to measure up for me. You've already done that many times over."
"I appreciate it, I really do." Ruby hugged Blake who responded in kind.
"Now, let's head home." The older girl whispered into her date's ear. The peaceful nature of Haven was emphasized by how silent the campus was as their footsteps echoed into the night.
When they opened the door, they saw Weiss and Yang resting on the couch. Her adopted sister was nestled into the contours of her partner's body.
"You two are back early," Blake commented and Weiss rolled her eyes.
"It's eleven-thirty. That's not early. Maybe you need to worry about your own internal clock," Weiss grumbled as Yang lifted her head.
"How was your date?" she asked as she yawned, lilac eyes heavy with incoming sleep.
"It was good, and long overdue," Ruby said as she nuzzled Blake who purred.
"Indeed, it was. But it was an amazing first date with an amazing young woman." Blake interrupted her purring to say that before she went back to purring.
"Yay! That's good! Now I can sleep…." Yang's voice started out excited and then collapsed before giving another loud yawn.
"Come on, brute. Let's get you to bed," Weiss said as she got up and tried to pick Yang up.
Yang sleepily lifted her upper body and moved Weiss off the couch. "To bed… sleep is good."
Blake and Ruby looked at each other before they burst out laughing. "Looks like that's our cue, huh?" Blake asked Ruby who shrugged.
"Or we could change into our pajamas and watch a movie?" Ruby suggested with a yawn.
"Nice try. Let's get you into pajamas and to bed," Blake replied with a laughing smile.
"Fine…. But the ribbon stays on." Ruby yawned again.
"That's alright with me."
You might have noticed that Blossoming Rose has a new cover design and I can't thank the artist enough for it since it looks so good!
School with a tiny amount of writer's block led to a severe lack of writing time. But I've been on a writing binge recently which is really nice since it helps me unwind surprisingly.
Team RWBY's time at Haven winds down as Ruby and Blake get to go on a long-overdue date. Next chapter they'll arrive back at Beacon as third-year students and upperclassmen. There will be action-packed chapters soon enough.
Until next chapter
Dragondeathdrop
