I decided to post this early due to it being Valentines Day and Chapter 9 is done. I hope you guys spend your Valentines Day with your special someone today, if it is Singles Awareness Day for you then spend it with your waifu/husband.
It was the night of the dance and Nathan was getting his suit together with his father's help. It was a light grey in color with a black necktie, his father made him complete the ensemble with a brown trench coat and matching brown wide brimmed fedora. He thought he looked like a mobster so his father relented from making him wear the extras this time.
"Looking pretty sharp, not as good as me when I was your age but not too bad." His father said more to himself than to Nathan as he looked him over.
"Smile." Nathan's mom said as she flashed a scroll his way and took a picture before he could react.
"Mom, I'm not going off to war, it's just a dance!"
"Just a dance he says." Nathan's dad remarked.
"You better be careful, huntresses tend to be a bit more…..aggressive." His mother said. "Your father should know." She finished with a grin towards his dad.
"She's not lying, hopefully Ruby will take good care of you." He said with a wink.
"S-shut up dad." He said walking towards the door to leave.
"Have fun!" His mother said as he walked out the door.
Nathan took the usual bus to the launch pad and boarded a bullhead to Beacon. He sent Ruby a text to let her know he was on the way so she could meet him at the landing pad. She answered that she'll be waiting. Nathan wondered what kind of dress will Ruby be wearing, also if his sister was going to maim him somehow.
When the bullhead landed Nathan saw Ruby standing nearby waiting in a red dress, when he got out he walked towards her with her doing the same albeit awkwardly. "Stupid heels." She muttered.
"Ruby…wow. Never expected to see you in something like that." He said looking her up and down.
She blushed slightly. "It was Yang's second pick, the first one was far too….revealing for me."
"I take it she's not a modest girl?" He said.
"Oh no! She's very comfortable with her body….and showing it off." Ruby said looking down towards her chest.
Nathan grabbed her hand. "You look good to me. You don't have to change anything about yourself, I like you as you are."
Ruby squeezed his hand and looked back up at him. "Y-you mean it?"
"Of course." As soon as he said that she hopped up and gave him a quick kiss.
"Well uh let's head inside, you can meet my team and some of my friends."
They entered into a ballroom filled with students either dancing or socializing with a few less social butterflies on the sidelines. Ruby led Nathan to a blond girl that looked vaguely familiar and she took notice of him. "So this is your boy toy you've been hangin with?" Yang says with a smirk.
"Yang! He's not like one of those guy friends you sometimes have, he's nice." Ruby said defending him.
"Nice huh?" Yang offered Nathan her hand. "Yang Xiao Long, her sister."
He took her hand which she crushed in a death grip. "N-Nathan Carter. From the pictures you and Ruby don't look anything alike."
"Half-sisters." Yang said releasing his hand which he proceeded to rub. "Same dad, different moms."
"Quite a grip you have."
"I fight with my fists, you could say I'm a hands-on fighter." Yang said with a wink.
"So a brawler, don't see too many of those come into my shop."
"Most people don't like to fight that close but my semblance benefits from it so it's cool with me."
"What is it?" Nathan asked.
Yang winked again. "That's a secret…..unless you piss me off."
"I'll go get Weiss so you can meet her." Ruby said excusing herself to retrieve the heiress leaving Nathan alone with the brawling dragon lady who stepped closer to him.
"You're probably a decent enough guy if Rubes likes you but she can be a bit naïve, so if you break her heart I'll hurt you…bad." Yang said emphasizing her fists making her eyes briefly flash red.
Nathan made a small gulp. "S-sure Yang." He said putting his arms in front of him. "I don't want to do anything to make her sad…..or you angry."
"You wouldn't like it when I'm Yangry." She put on a smile. "Now I promised my partner a dance, so have fun but I'll be keeping an eye on you." Yang said as she walked towards a raven-haired girl dancing with a blond faunus guy.
Ruby soon returned with a pale white-haired girl with ice blue eyes, she seemed somewhat familiar as well be but couldn't figure out where.
"Nate this is Weiss, Weiss this is Nate." Ruby said introducing them.
"So you're the dolt's boyfriend, what you see in her is beyond me but at least when she's with you I can get some peace and quiet. I suppose I should thank you for that." Weiss says with a smile and nod.
"I'm not that bad!" Ruby protested.
Nathan offered his hand for a shake hoping she won't try to crush it. "Nathan Carter."
She accepted, her hand felt icy to him. "Weiss Schnee."
"Schnee? THE Schnee? Like Schnee Dust Company Schnee?"
Weiss sighed expecting Nathan to dump Ruby right there and ask her out. "Yes that one."
"How come you didn't go to Atlas Academy?" He asked which somewhat surprised her.
"Family reasons." She simply said with a tone implying not to ask any further about that.
Trying to change the subject. "So where's your date? I'd imagine you'd have guys lining up to go with you."
"I have one but I don't know where he went…." Weiss tailed off until she spotted a blue-haired guy sporting goggles. "Oh, there he is. Well it was nice meeting and hope you have a good time." Weiss politely said as she left to meet that guy.
"I would introduce you to Blake but she's kinda busy right now." Ruby said pointing to her and Yang on the dance floor.
"Wanna dance out there or somewhere more private like upstairs?" He asked her.
"Upstairs, it'd be too embarrassing out there, worse with these lady stilts." She said motioning to her high-heels.
"Alright, but you think you can handle the stairs? I can carry you up if you want."
"Don't you dare! I'll get up there on my own thank you." Ruby's face was somewhat red at the thought of being seen carried by Nathan.
He made a small laugh at her expense.
Once the two were upstairs without any tragedies occurring they found a decent spot to start. The music was a slower beat so the dancing "should" be easier.
"So I guess we just do this?" Ruby said taking his hand and placing the other around Nathan's back with him doing the same but his hand on her lower back…but not too low, don't want to give Yang an excuse.
Both of them were blushing at this but were slowly getting into the rhythm, though Ruby did stumble every once in a while with Nathan catching her. Sometimes she would step on his feet but luckily Ruby isn't that heavy so didn't hurt too bad.
After about twenty minutes they started to get the hang of it with Ruby smiling more and fidgeting less and Nathan becoming more confident in his movements but they were started to get tired. "Wanna take a break?"
"Yeah, it's hot in here, should be cooler outside." Ruby said. They were both starting to sweat from the dancing and hot air produced by all the people in the ballroom.
Stepping into the crisp air of the balcony was a relief, Nathan leaned against the railing with Ruby following suit. "Have fun tonight?" She asked him.
"Minus Yang's scary sister routine yeah, I get to hang out with you after all, even if you did step on my toes."
Ruby raised a hand behind her head. "Yeah sorry about that, I'm not good at dancing by myself and a disaster with others."
"I think you did ok, though I'm a complete amateur myself heh. Want a reward for doing better?" He asked.
"Uh sure what?" She asked. Nathan lifted her up to sit her down on the cement railing and kissed her.
"How's that?" Nathan asked.
"I think you can do bet-whos that?" Ruby said pointing at a figure moving across the rooftops.
"Don't know but they seem suspicious." He said placing Ruby back onto the floor.
"Let's go see!" Ruby said pursuing
"What about your team?" Nathan asked following behind her.
"I think we can handle it."
The two followed the figure to the Vale CCT tower to see Atlas soldiers sprawled out on the ground, an obvious sign of an attack. Ruby uses her scroll to call her rocket weapon locker which startles Nathan not expecting a large metal box to fly out of the sky.
Ruby retrieves her scythe from the locker and cocks Crescent Rose's bolt. "Lets go." She said with a serious face.
Before they boarded the elevator more downed soldiers were observed with more signs of a struggle, Nathan assumed the authorities have been alerted. Once in the elevator going to the top floor Ruby turns to Nathan. "You have a weapon?"
"Of course." He answered withdrawing a small black dust pistol from his suit coat(Walther PPK) and checking the chamber to ensure its loaded.
When the doors opened at the top floor they slowly walked out with their weapons at the ready. "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?" Ruby said as she stumbled a little in the heels.
A woman appeared from behind some of the computers wearing a black suit with a mask. "Hey! Who are you?" Nathan ordered aiming his pistol at her.
The woman scoffed and tossed dust crystals their way causing him and Ruby to go behind cover. Him and Ruby were just about to fire back when the second elevator door opened revealing a man in a white Atlas officer uniform, but when they turned back to the mystery woman she was gone.
"What are you two doing up here?" The officer demanded.
Nathan allowed Ruby to explain as she was a huntress while he was at most a militiaman. All three rode the elevator back down as Ruby recalled to the officer everything that led up to the brief hostilities at the top of the tower, thankfully Ruby omitted that she spotted the intruder while they were kissing.
The officer committed the findings to memory and then turned to Nathan. "And you, anything to add?"
"None sir, Ruby already covered everything that we know." He answered.
"Very well, Ms. Rose you'll report tomorrow to Professor Ozpin's office to brief him what you told me.
"Yes sir, are-are we free to go?" Ruby asked pensively.
"Yes, I will not be holding you two in custody." He answered as the doors opened and the three exited the elevator.
The two decided to part ways when they got to a nearby launchpad. Ruby told Nathan she might be out of contact for a bit because she was supposed to go on a mission starting the next day with her team for an unknown length of time. "Just text me when you can or send pictures." He said.
"You too, I don't want to get too bored." She said with a giggle.
"And…be careful, don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Ruby made a small blush at his concern. "Don't worry, I'm Ruby Rose: Huntress Extraordinaire. Slayer of Grimm and devourer of cookies!" She said with a smile.
"Heh, all the same." He said as he hugged her.
Gripes? Bitches? Complaints? Let me know.