Chapter VI: Formalities, part one.
Warmth of the morning sunlight caressed Weiss' cheek, summoning her sleeping mind back to the world of the living. The girl tried to resist the calling, wanting not to wake up just yet; she turned her head a little, burying her face in a pillow and hiding from the cruel daylight. As she did so, however, something soft brushed against her temple and the tip of her nose, tickling her and stirring awake, prompting the heiress to open her eyes a bit.
Weiss was greeted by the sight of silky strands of crimson hair spilling onto the pillow right next to her. She tensed up for a while, needing a moment to process what she saw, then gradually relaxed as memories of the previous night's events resurfaced in her drowsy mind. Curious whether or not her partner was already awake, the heiress propped herself on her elbow and looked at her bedmate, only to notice two pretty orbs of silver looking right back at her.
"Morning," Ruby chirped, flashing her friend a warm smile. Weiss, in meanwhile, began rubbing the sleep from her eyes, not even bothering to fight the invisible forces that tugged gently at the corners of her mouth.
"Hi, Ruby. How was your night?"
"Well, I've slept better in my life, but it sure was the most restful night in recent memory." After Ruby had said that, her cheerful expression lost a bit of its intensity and a small wrinkle marred the girl's forehead. "And yours? I didn't wake you up again, did I?"
Weiss shook her head, letting her gaze fall onto the quilt. "No, you didn't. In fact, you might be not the only one who benefited from our arrangement, after all. I slept better than I expected to, as well."
"And there I was, thinking that you offered to let me sleep beside you out of the goodness of your heart," Ruby lamented theatrically, her words earning her a half-hearted glare and a playful poke between the ribs, which in turn caused her to burst into giggles. "I kid, I kid," she uttered, then offered her partner a smile full of gratitude. "Thanks, Weiss. And I mean it. I know that sleeping in one bed with somebody is... well, not exactly in your comfort zone."
Weiss frowned. "That's why you were so reluctant when I offered it?"
"Mhm." 'Partially, anyway,' Ruby added in her thoughts.
Although the heiress rolled her eyes, she most certainly did appreciate the sentiment. "It wouldn't kill you to be a bit more selfish from time to time, you know?" Before Ruby managed to chime in and say that in her own opinion she had been rather selfish on multiple occasions yesterday, Weiss continued. "You're not wrong, though. But..." She cast her gaze downwards.
Now it was Ruby's turn to knit her brows. "But?"
"At first I thought it'd be really awkward to sleep with you, but... it wasn't. Excluding the initial embarrassment of both parties involved, that is," she said, unwittingly tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Anyway, were you awake for long?"
"Not really. A few minutes, maybe. For a moment I considered getting up and going for a walk, but you were... well, kinda pinning me down back then." Ruby spoke with an innocent face, but the tone of her voice had a certain teasing quality to it, not to mention the amused look she was giving the heiress.
For a while Weiss just stared at her partner blankly, clueless as to what Ruby was getting at. Then a realization hit her as she vaguely remembered that when she had woken up she, indeed, had had her right arm sprawled across her partner's stomach, restricting the girl's ability to move. Feeling her cheeks light up, the heiress started rubbing her forehead, her hand ever so conveniently hiding her eyes so she didn't have to look at Ruby. 'I take it back. I so take it back. Sleeping with Ruby was awkward.' "Speaking of time... what hour is it?" she asked, changing the topic in a desperate attempt to save the sorry remains of her pride. Right after she had said that, however, something occurred to her, filling her with dread – according to what Ruby had told her yesterday after calling professor Goodwitch, they were supposed to meet with the headmaster at 11:30 AM.
Ruby froze as she heard the question, the beginnings of a cheeky grin gone from her face. "That's... a very good question. Lemme check." The silver-eyed girl quickly sat up on the bed and reached towards the bedtable, then grabbed Weiss' Scroll and promptly opened it. Seeing the digits on the screen, she relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. "Huh. Seems it's still don't-wake-Yang-up o'clock. We're in the clear, then."
In meanwhile, Weiss peeked over Ruby's shoulder. Content with what she saw on the Scroll, the heiress lowered herself onto the pillow. "Good. For a moment I was afraid that we've overslept."
"Yeah, same here." A loud, long yawn that Ruby tried to stifle with her hand pushed its way past her lips. "Well, are you sleepy? I guess we have enough time to take a nap."
"No, I think I've slept long enough. I wanted to wake up a bit earlier to call Mother, anyway; might as well do that now," Weiss replied. She kept her voice calm and tried to seem composed, but the nervous manner in which she bit the inside of cheek told Ruby a different story.
"The two of you haven't talked at all after your father's funeral, huh?" the younger girl spoke gently.
"Yes. Ever since she has reinstated me as an heiress," Weiss admitted, then averted her gaze and fell silent for a while. Ruby could barely hear her words when the heiress spoke again. "And for much longer before that."
"Do you think she'll have any problems with you staying at my place till the start of the new year at Beacon?"
Baby blue eyes snapped back to look at Ruby, dangerously narrowed. "I couldn't care less if she did. I said I was going to inform her, not ask for permission." After a moment had passed, Weiss' scowl slowly dissipated and she exhaled deeply, seemingly a bit ashamed of her harsh reaction. "That being said, I see no reason why would she have anything against it." 'After all, she has been avoiding me for the past decade,' she thought bitterly.
"Well, for what it's worth, good luck." A small, comforting smile flickered on Ruby's lips, the girl's fingers briefly brushing against Weiss' forearm. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go and change. Will be back in a few." With that, she pulled the blanket off herself and slid out of the bed, then picked a bundle of neatly folded clothes from the nearby chair and walked deeper into the room, quickly disappearing behind the privacy screen.
Personally, Ruby didn't really mind being seen by her teammates while she changed clothes – she and most of her team simply grew used to it, having seen each other in various stages of undress on many occasions over the course of the past few years. Weiss was an exception; while she was trying her best not to show it, it was not hard to see that the heiress was quite uneasy whenever she saw any of the girls – or, even worse, she was the one being seen - in nothing but their underwear. And thus, Ruby, well aware of the fact, had decided to get out of Weiss' sight, not wanting to psych out her friend even more than calling miss Schnee would.
As she was putting on her clothes, however, she couldn't help but wonder. Was nudity bothering Weiss because of her strict upbringing, or maybe it was related to something else entirely? Was she feeling self-conscious, perhaps...? If so, then Ruby was at a complete loss. As she saw it, Weiss was plain gorgeous – her body included. What was there to be ashamed of?
As Ruby silently mulled over those thoughts, Weiss called the Schnee household. "Good day. Yes, I'd like to have a word with my mother; I won't take much of her time." A pause. "She's... not in the manor? Business trip? To where? No, no, I suppose it's not important at this moment; I was merely curious. Yes, I'd be grateful if you informed her. Thank you. Goodbye, Charlotte." After she had ended the call, the heiress let out a sigh that was part-relieved, part-exasperated, then threw herself onto the mattress.
"No luck, huh?"
Hearing her partner's words, Weiss turned towards the source of the voice. Then, seeing Ruby strolling towards her, for a short while she forgot to breathe, captivated by the way the light played in the girl's loose hair, causing the crimson mane to shine in daylight like a halo made of rubies.
A moment had passed and Weiss blinked rapidly a few times, her mind getting back from wherever it had tried to wander off to just a second ago. She nodded. "Yeah... it seems that her plane took off about an hour ago. Hopefully she'll call me in a few minutes," the heiress said, but if anyone were to ask Ruby, Weiss didn't sound 'hopeful' in the slightest. "So, what are we going to do now? Do you have any plans?"
Much to Weiss' disappointment, her partner in a few quick motions tied her hair up into a ponytail, letting it flow down her left shoulder. "Not really. I guess we could go and eat breakfast, then wait for the lovebirds to show up." She stretched her arms above her head and arched her back, popping her spine in several places and letting out a quiet moan. "But, first, I'll go talk with doctors and get both of us a release. Wait here," she ordered, gesturing the heiress to stay put.
And so the young leader walked towards the exit, silently followed by the eyes of blue.
Ruby returned after ten or so minutes, carrying a thin file of documents in her hand, and discovered that while she had been away Weiss had already dressed up and moved to sit on her bed's footboard.
"The doctor should be here in a..." Suddenly she paused, just then noticing how stunned her partner appeared to be. "She called?" she asked softly.
"...Yes," Weiss mumbled after a short moment of silence, not looking at Ruby.
"And? Did she have any issues with your plans?"
"No, she agreed without a problem," the heiress replied flatly, slowly shaking her head. Then, finally, she lifted her eyes and met her leader's silver gaze. "And asked me to meet with her. Today."
"...Excuse me?" As she closed the distance between the two of them, Ruby threw the papers she was carrying onto Weiss' bed and sat next to the heiress, both worried and confused.
"That plane she boarded? It's heading towards Vale. Apparently she has some business meetings to attend to, but she'll be free in the evening. And wants to speak with me, in person." She let out a short, slightly hysterical laugh. "Can't say I saw this one coming."
"Well... Do you have to go?"
Weiss didn't respond right away, taking a moment to consider her answer. "I... don't think so, for some reason," she spoke eventually, sounding genuinely baffled. "Father just loved to dress up his orders in pretty and polite words, but they were just that – orders. He never truly asked for anything, he demanded. Mother, in meanwhile... she seemed to be actually asking to meet with me. Authentically giving me a choice, and not expecting much at that." She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, part of the tension leaving her body as if she had made up her mind. "And I think I'll go. If nothing else, it will give us peace of mind."
"Should I go with you?"
Weiss shook her head slightly. "No, I think I'll manage on my own... she's not my Father, after all." Nonetheless, a small, thankful smile crept onto her lips. "Thanks for the offer, though."
"Why are you so stressed, then?"
"Because I don't know who she is, Ruby," Weiss spoke in a small voice, briefly looking Ruby in the eyes before letting her gaze fall to the floor. "What else can I say. I don't know my own mother."
Weiss jolted a bit when a gentle hand rested on her shoulder, startling her and taking her mind away from the dark thoughts that began brewing in her head. She turned towards her partner. Ruby didn't offer to comfort her – she offered her understanding.
And the heiress couldn't ask for more.
Her father had seen her as virtually nothing more than an asset he could use, her brother had backstabbed her and her own mother had chosen to become the never-present, distant figure outside of Weiss' life out of her own volition. In the past it had pained her that only her sister could be considered her real family – the family she actually loved and cared about. In a way, it still did. But now she also had Blake, Yang and Ruby.
And she felt that it was all she'd ever truly need.
Author's Note:
Sigh. I'm sorry that it took me so long to post an update, and such a bit-sized one at that. I guess that between the Easter, a convention, squeezing in as many D&D sessions as possible before June and general writer's block I didn't really have that much time nor energy to write, but... yeah, I'm still angry at myself. It's not even the whole chapter – just a half of it. Truth be told, I had mixed feelings about posting it before the rest of the chapter is finished, but... well, I figured I left you all hanging for too long already. I'll try to post the other half as soon as I can.
Anyway, yeah, I hope you enjoyed. And sorry again.
2017-06-03