Ruby hated doing laundry. She understood the necessity of it, but she never looked forward to the chore. She wasn't especially good at it, which made her especially self conscious around her teammates, who all seemed to have it down pat. How was she to know what level of soap was correct? Was there really a difference between the "Cold-Cold" and "Warm-Cold" settings? What did fabric softener actually do? It all befuddled her.

But worse than that, no matter how often she put it off... eventually she had to remove her cloak and clean it. And she liked her cloak. She liked it so much she continued to wear her cape with her school uniform. Everyone was allowed a degree of customization with their appearance, though Ruby periodically wondered if she was breaking some rule wearing her cape everywhere.

She'd been all thumbs trying to get her cloak into the wash, stumbling past Weiss and Blake's loads in her haste to find an available machine. She'd waited beside it during the agonizing forty-five minutes it took to spin and cycle and rinse and repeat and then immediately grabbed the mass of sopping clothing and found the nearest dryer, only to wait another hour right beside the stark white machine, waiting to find the crimson flair that would restore color to the blank setting and restore sanity to her tried mind.

After the eternity of waiting, Ruby finally heard the machine beep at her and frantically pulled out her clothes, heaping a disorganized mass on top of the dryer, digging through it in search of her cloak. She found her skirts and casual attire and set them aside so the red wouldn't distract her attention, and then dove once more into the pile in search of...

...no red at all. No cloak.

Ruby tried not to panic, closing her eyes and silently counting... then trying to dig through the pile again, searching ever more frantically, and finding no red. No cloak. No color but the black she favored and the stark white of the dryer beneath it.

Ruby darted back to the washer, scouring its interior at lightning speed. She then rushed over to her laundry basket, finding nothing within. She ran all the way back to her dorm room and searched under each bed and desk but found only Zwei in a deep sleep. She'd known it been futile to return -the cloak had been on her until the moment she'd had to tearfully drop it in the washer- but she had to exhaust every option.

She pulled out her Scroll and texted everyone: "OHMYGOSHGUYSHAVEYOUSEENMYCLOAKICAN'TFINDITANDI'MFREAKINGOUTSOHARDRIGHTNOW."

She rushed back to the laundry room and checked her clothes pile again. She tried to calm herself, but the separation anxiety was only getting worse. She wanted to think herself past this childish obsession with a security blanket, but she couldn't quite move past it...

Because after all, that's what her cloak was.

Ruby had a lot of trouble sleeping. She didn't like the dark; in fact, she liked it so little she'd often fall asleep pressed against her bedroom windowsill, trying to will the sun to come back and put an end to that darkness. Then she'd wake in the middle of the night, unable to return to sleep. So she'd toss and turn, hiding under covers and trying to keep the night out...

One night her thrashing became intense enough to draw her mother's attention. Ruby nearly panicked when she felt a hand pull her covers away from her face, but calmed at once when her mother leaned down and pulled Ruby into her arms, holding her for a long time.

Ruby was still too young to properly articulate her fear, but Summer was able to read her. Ruby watched her mother pull off her heavy white cloak and produce from beneath it a red one.

"The Grimm have red eyes," Summer told her daughter. "It's how we can see them in the dark. It's how we find our way through the night."

Summer adorned her daughter in that heavy red cloak; far too big for a toddler to wear, with a hood that the little Ruby could fit her entire body through. Still, it added a layer of warmth, and more importantly, a crimson flair to add color to the night.

Ruby fell asleep in her mother's arms, and when she woke to the morning light, she still had her mother's cloak. And while far too big for her, it was hers', and it had kept the night out. It had been her guide, her warmth, her strength, her mother's love.

When night fell, she slept in her cloak, and the warm red kept the darkness away.

"RUBY ROSE!"

Ruby woke from her panic and turned to see Weiss pointing an accusatory finger at her.

"What have you done?!" Weiss snapped, pulling up a mass of damp pink clothing from the washer, then producing a familiar red cloak from within the jumbled sop.

Ruby was ecstatic at the sight and rushed over, locking Weiss in a strong hug while simultaneously trying to pull the damp cloak over her head. "Oh, Weiss- thank you thankyouthankyouthankyou..."

Weiss was flabbergasted, trying to make sense of the reaction, before returning to her indignation. "Ruby, you've ruined all my outfits!"

Ruby just kept thanking her before dashing off in the wet red cloak, completely ignoring the rest of her clothing sitting on the dryer and disappearing down the dorm hall. Weiss could only sigh and stare down at the jumbled mass, wondering how long she'd have to wear pink before she could find replacements.

Ruby would get several texts throughout the day from her friends inquiring about her panic attack, but she didn't really have a satisfactory answer to give anyone so she hadn't bothered to reply. She'd also gotten a very passive-aggressive message from Weiss about collecting the laundry Ruby had carelessly left behind, and it was great to know her best friend had helped her yet again.

Night was falling over Beacon, and she'd eventually returned to the dorm and climbed into her bunk bed, glancing out at the night through her windowsill.

Wrapped in the warmth of her mother's gift, Ruby drifted off to sleep without much difficulty... only to wake up and think she should find her pajamas instead. And maybe take the cloak off, since it was a pretty warm night.

Well, maybe just leave it at the foot of the bed. Just in case.