Chapter 39
Hey I'm back sorry for leaving you all hanging and enjoy the chapter.
What the heck is Qrow doing here? The last time I saw him it wasn't the most pretty thing. Then again I freaked on Yang and she still came back. Maybe I can give him a chance too.
"What do you want?" I said not quite meeting his eye.
Qrow seemed to take a moment to consider his words. Gave me a second to realize I couldn't smell booze on him. Is he sober?
"Ruby. I'm just so sorry and I know that's not enough but…" He let out a sigh unable to finish.
"I know" I stated shocking Qrow. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't" I said letting out a smile, meeting his eye which Qrow returned. It was good to ease the tension.
"I understand if you're still angry at me"
With a shrug I whispered "I kinda am" taking a deep breath I told him "But I don't want to be".
Qrow smiled again "Yeah, I don't want you to be either" Which earned a chuckle from me. He once again paused like he wanted to tell me something. "I should probably go" He gestured towards the door.
He's leaving already? Well I guess he just stopped to do a drive by apology. That's a new one. "Yeah, I got stuff to do"
He nodded and began to turn around as I closed the door. Hold on a second I can't just let him without even acknowledging it.
"Thank you, Qrow"
He turned back to face me. "For what?"
"For my mom's pendant" I opened the door to show I was wearing it. "I know you gave it to Jaune to give it to me. Don't like how you broke into his room to do it, but thank you"
He let out a chuckle "No problem and I promise I won't do it again" That's not something most people would have to promise.
"Oh and before you go, got something for you" Closing the door I grabbed a pen and ripped a piece of paper from my note pad.
Opening the door again I offered him the paper with my number on it. "So you don't drop in on me unannounced" I said with a smile.
Qrow smiled as well and for once it didn't seem forced. "Thank you and I'll make sure to leave a message"
"See you Qrow" I said as I began to close the door.
"Stay safe Ruby" He said as the door closed.
That doesn't sound a bit ominous. Also hold up, how the heck did he even get up here? I know my place is grungy but still he… he probably just flashed his Huntsman badge. Those things can get you almost anywhere.
Wait a second, what's that smell? Oh crap I left the oven on! The food's gonna be ruined!
xXx
So close. I came so close to telling her about Raven. About why I left but this isn't the time to tell her and I didn't even think she'd want to see me again.
But by giving me her number that means she wants to see me again, if this is her real number. Lot's of girls have given me a fake, though it's probably real. This is Ruby. She's a very blunt person when she's not a sputtering mess.
Still that gives me a chance to maybe explain everything. Only if she wants to know. I won't just dump it on her.
It's just she doesn't even know about Raven, which is why I gotta take that bitch out quickly.
Can't leave tonight cause Yang went to talk to Tai. Was watching her earlier as a bird. Just to make sure she didn't run off to hunt Raven down herself.
So that leaves me stuck here because who the hell else is gonna keep her safe?
xXx
Finally coming home after having to pull an extra hour of overtime because Mercury screwed up. Of course he'll go unpunished by Cinder, but if I ever made the same mistake the rest of my week would be hell.
I just hope Ruby won't be annoyed. She told me this morning that she wanted to cook me a meal. I hope me being late didn't screw anything up for her.
Knocking on her door she was quick to answer but opened the door slowly. "Oh it's you" She sounded relieved.
"Who else would it be?" I asked as she let me inside.
Ruby let out a sigh. "One of the neighbors came to the door" She explained as she let me inside.
I winced knowing how odd our neighbors are. One angry drunk and the other a cryptic drunk. Neither have ever been pleasant to deal with. Taking a whiff it was obvious Ruby was already done cooking our food.
"Sorry I'm late, had to pull overtime" I explained as I took my jacket off and hung it up.
"What happened?"
"Mercury or as you call him 'The Silver haired perv'" Ruby let out a groan. Still surprised, Ruby called him that. I mean, I don't exactly disagree with it, he is a perv. Just to hear Ruby of all people call him that was a bit of a shock.
"Was he harassing a customer?"
"No he screwed up inventory so I had to fix that mistake"
"Why didn't he do it!?"
I'm glad she agrees with me on that. "My boss thought he'd just screw it up again so made me do it"
"Oh now that's a great idea. Punish you for his mistakes" Ruby let out a sigh.
"Yeah" I said, letting out one of my own. "Anyway, why don't we just have a nice meal and forget all about that"
"Already calling it a nice meal and you haven't even tasted it yet" Ruby said walking to the Kitchen.
"Well you cooked it so it must be nice" I said, making her blush.
Ruby hid her face from me but I could see a smile on her face. "Well it's nothing special, just some stir fry" She mumbled.
I had to hold myself back from saying another cheesy line. Instead I just sat down as Ruby gathered the food. Ruby was quick to give me a generous portion and sat across from me.
Like the last time she cooked food for me she waited for me to take the first bite. Despite being a bit colder than it should have been, I really can't blame her for me being late. "It's really good" Which made her smile as she began to dig in herself.
Taking a few more bites, I found myself rushing because of how good it was. I need something to slow me down. "So what about you?" I asked. Ruby gave me a quizzical look. "How have things been with… Weiss" I hope got her name right.
Ruby swallowed before answering and surprisingly was smiling. "It's been going great between us"
"She finally forgave you for dropping powder on her?" I asked with shit eating grin that Ruby did not appreciate.
"I told you she did that to me" She said through gritted teeth but smiled letting me know she wasn't mad. "We did make up though and things between us have never been better"
"That's great"
"But" Oh no. "My other co-worker Blake" Wait, is that the same Blake? "Weiss tried her hardest but Blake wouldn't forgive her, and now they argue even more than before"
Huh, if that's the same Blake I know I can't see her to be the argumentative type.
Ruby let out a sigh. "I just don't get it. Blake before wanted to end the fighting but now she's causing the problems"
"If this keeps going do you think your boss will step in?"
"She already has before! Ms. Goodwitch set Weiss straight, and if they keep this up I'll have to call her about Blake"
"Did you make the call about Weiss?"
"No, that was Blake, so I really don't understand what her problem is!" Ruby exclaimed, flailing her arms about.
"Maybe when Weiss was apologizing she said something that offended her" Ruby thought that over.
"From what Weiss said she apologized but Blake refused"
"Well before you take a side, you should talk to Blake about it" I suggested because really Ruby only has half of the story.
"I've tried but she's been distant" Ruby began to rub her arm in a nervous tick I'd seen from her before.
Taking another bite to give myself time to think. It has been a long time since I was stuck in between two people fighting, or more specifically two women fighting. The amount of times I had to play mediator for my sisters.
"Hey your co-worker Blake, does she wear a black bow on her head?" I asked knowing that clothing like that is pretty distinct and I need confirmation if this is the same Blake I know.
Ruby seemed confused by my sudden question "She does, like everyday. Why do you ask?"
"Well I might know her" Ruby's eyes nearly bulged out of her head.
"How!?"
"From work" That's technically true. "Every time I see her she's wearing a black bow on her head" Ruby still seemed a bit confused. "It's not exactly a common clothing item"
"It isn't?"
I could do nothing but sit in silence for a moment. I gotta remember Ruby is quite unique in her fashion so a bow isn't out of the ordinary.
I chuckled "For most people who aren't colourful goths, it isn't"
Ruby didn't seem amused by that term, but seemed to understand what I was saying. "So you might know her, do you have any idea what's up?"
"No but maybe I can talk to her and find out. She's been pretty easy to talk to" Which aside from Ruby and Mercury I don't know many people who are easy to talk to.
Ruby let out a smile. "I might be jealous if I didn't know she was married" I let out a laugh of my own.
"Speaking of her husband, I met the guy. Scary dude he's a Monkey Faunus with golden hair" I stated, remembering how he attacked me.
"I wouldn't know, I never met him but I could believe it with how she speaks about him"
We finished up our meal shortly after. Ruby was going to do the dishes but I felt it would be wrong for her to do all the work so I took care of them.
After cleaning everything up we retired to the couch, putting on some old martial art movie from Mistral.
Ruby was quick to cuddle up next to me, which kind of surprised me. Normally she's nervous or I'm the one who initiates when we cuddle. It's nice to see her getting more comfortable and confident. As cute as I found it I was worried I might have been over stepping sometimes.
We were halfway... or anywhere through the movie I wasn't really keeping up, when Ruby asked "What do you want to do on our day off?"
"Like for a date?" She nodded in response. "Well I don't know. Is your sister still gonna be here?"
Ruby looked at me deadpanned. "You want my Sister to third wheel us?"
Oh jeez I didn't realise how dumb that sounded. "No, no I was just thinking that you'd want to spend the day with her"
Ruby seemed to ponder that idea "I'm not sure if the two of us alone would be the best idea right now"
"What do you mean?"
"There is a tension between us, and I'm afraid something will go wrong if it's just the two of us".
I don't think Ruby was trying to drop a hint but "I could tag along"
"What?"
"I could tag along and hopefully alleviate that tension"
Ruby chuckled "And third wheel me and my sister?"
I laughed at that. "Well she'd also be third wheeling us"
"Jaune you can't have two third wheels"
"Sure you can, it's called a car" I said with a cheeky grin making Ruby laugh.I honestly didn't expect to get a laugh but maybe it's just how bad that 'joke' was.
Ruby conceded "Alright, I'll consider it".
We returned to watching the movie and I'm only more lost than I was before.
xXx
Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!
I left Ruby unprotected all night. What if Raven struck? Was Qrow there to keep her safe. His damn scroll was turned off so I couldn't contact him.
Getting back to the mainland wasn't a quick trip either. The ferry opens at ten in the morning. So that only delayed me further. Ruby should be at work so I'll check there first.
Reaching the bakery Weiss was again at the register. A few people were in front of me so I had to wait for them to take their orders. I couldn't exactly barge in here and cause a ruckus, if Ruby is here she'd be pissed at me.
After the people in front of me got their sweets which thankfully weren't the super crazy kind, that take forever. Weiss greeted me and asked if I needed to see Ruby which calmed me down immensely.
She went into the back to collect her and a minute later Ruby was there fresh as a daisy. Well not quite she had dough and powder on her but she was fine.
"Oh hey Yang" She greeted me casually.
Me on the other hand. "Oh thank goodness!" I lunged for her, enveloping Ruby in a hug that she tried her best to squirm out of.
Weiss was giggling at the sight which further embarrassed Ruby, which made me let her go.
"Gosh, you're worse than dad" Ruby said with a pout.
"Sorry I was just worried" Shit why did I say that?
"Worried you were gone for one night, I know how to take care of myself" Yeah tone it back a bit Yang she doesn't need to know about Raven.
"You spoke to dad right?" Thank you for changing the topic.
"Yup, it went better than I expected"
Ruby gave me a smile "See, I told you it wouldn't be bad"
Yeah I had to give it to her there. I was worried over nothing. That's two things I was worried over nothing for.
"You want to hang out with me and Jaune this Sunday?" Ruby asked out of the blue and I could tell she was a bit nervous about asking.
"You want me to be a third wheel on one of your dates?" I joked but Ruby didn't seem amused. Clearing my throat of nothing I chose my words carefully. "Yeah sure sounds fun, need to size up your new boyfriend" That made her blush.
"Please don't hurt him"
"I won't"
"Or threaten him"
"I won't" I said with my fingers crossed. Ruby didn't seem convinced. "Where are you going?"
"Don't know we didn't decide on somewhere yet" Of course they haven't.
"Mind if I pick?"
Ruby took a long time before answering. "You can give suggestions" YES!
"Alright, I'll come back tomorrow with my pick" I said with a joke maniacal laugh beginning to walk away.
I could feel Ruby cringe at the thought of where I would drag her. "Ok. Bye Yang"
"Bye" And with that I was out the door and I already knew my choice, but I just had to find the right place.
A nightclub.
When I started this chapter I didn't expect to have four different character perspectives. With how slow I've been updating, I don't want to leave something that could be done now for a later chapter. Sorry if it was a bit confusing.
Anyway thanks for reading, hope you have enjoyed, review if you wish and have a great day!