Chapter XV: Quiet days, part two
Weiss shuffled through the doorway to the house, welcoming the wave of pleasantly warm air that hit her the moment she crossed the doorstep. Slightly winded, she was still recovering from the short – by Ruby's standards, anyways – sprint that her partner had suggested once their destination had come into their view, as a means to stress-test Weiss' body before getting to some more strenous activities. Her lungs burned positively, but she was pleased to report that the run did not aggravate her cracked ribs in the least. For all intents and purposes, it seemed that her injury had already mostly healed.
She rubbed her hands together in an attempt to warm them up, then brought them up to her mouth and breathed at them; as she did so, she heard Ruby slip inside the living room after her, closing the door and walling the two them off from the cold world outside. She squinted when her friend flicked on the lights, the sudden brightness offending her eyes.
"You were right," she said to Ruby, who was still behind her back. "It got pretty chilly in the end."
Ruby chuckled, then walked into Weiss' field of view as she passed the white-haired girl by. Her feet were covered only in socks, her shoes having already been left by the entrance. "Shall I get the fire going, then?"
Weiss smiled at the prospect. "That sounds nice."
While Ruby hustled about the fireplace, Weiss made herself comfortable on the couch. Before long, the sound of a match being struck sizzled in the air, and while Ruby was waiting for the kindling to catch on fire, she asked her friend a question: "Anything in particular you'd like to do? Night's still young."
Weiss drew a blank. Her song was mostly done, and all that was left to do was to record the instrumental; she could go and read, she supposed, but she could as well do that while waiting for Ruby to finish showering later that evening. Looking around the room in search of inspiration, her eyes ended up lingering on the holo-TV in front of her. "We could continue from where we've left off in that game of yours, I suppose...?" she replied eventually, remembering the previous evening quite fondly.
Still kneeling in front of the fireplace, Ruby turned her head to shoot Weiss a surprised look, her face cracked into a wide grin. "Certainly not what I was expecting, but hell, sign me up!"
"That... doesn't look very good," Weiss said slowly after one of Ruby's characters had gotten downed by a boss in a single blow. "Do you think we can still win this?"
For some time only the game's soundtrack accompanied by the soft crackling of the wood burning in the fireplace could be heard within the room, with Ruby remaining silent while her silver eyes quietly analyzed the battlefield. There were only a couple of opponents on the screen – certainly far fewer than the most they'd fought at the same time and beaten before – but one of them was hitting hard, leading Weiss to believe that they weren't exactly supposed to have come to that area just yet. "Proooobably," Ruby drawled eventually, then proceeded to order her rogue to attack the undead ogre they were fighting; she backstabbed it, then immobilized it, then retreated before the boss could retaliate during its turn. "You're up."
Weiss looked at the screen. To her, the situation seemed pretty dire; they were down to three people – all of whom could get downed in one hit, it seemed – and though Ruby had just dealt the boss a respectable amount of damage, with their party's current damage output it'd take at least a couple more rounds for them to chew all the way through that red bar. True, when Ruby had immobilized the monster she'd also bought them a single round of relative safety, but Weiss feared it'd not stall the beast for long enough. They were obviously underleveled for that fight, but that hadn't stopped them before, and Ruby seemed unwilling to let that happen now.
Weiss looked at the ogre's health pool, which still numbered in thousands – about as much as the amount of damage it'd dealt to Ruby's character, which seemed preposterous. She then started browsing her own character's abilities, looking for something – anything – that could possibly turn the tide and save the day. The more she searched, the less hope she had; then, as she was approaching the end of the list, an idea suddenly popped up in her mind, prompting her to go back a few positions and take a better look at the wording of the so-called 'Chains of Pain'. While she was reading, she heard Ruby's quiet snort of laughter; the girl seemed to have realized what was going on in the heiress' head and, judging by her reaction, Weiss was onto something... even if that something was a tad unorthodox.
Weiss turned towards the girl sitting next to her. "So, to make sure that I got this one right... after I cast it on someone, whenever my character takes damage, the target of the spell takes the same amount of damage?"
Ruby, resting her chin on her hand, was looking back at Weiss with a poorly concealed smirk present on her lips. She seemed amused as she nodded. "The same damage and the same type, yes," the girl said, the tone of her voice encouraging the heiress to carry on.
"And, if I walk into that thing's melee range and then move out, it'll attack me even outside of its turn?" Weiss pressed on.
Ruby's smirk only deepened. "It does have the 'opportunist' trait, so yeah, there'll be an attack of opportunity. T's why I used an ability to escape with the rogue."
Returning her eyes to the screen, the heiress took a deep breath. "Alright. Here goes." Just as she had planned, she opened her turn by casting 'Chains of Pain' on the boss; then, once the ghostly purple chains linked her avatar to the beast, she moved her mage closer to the boss – straight towards her imminent demise. Then, fully aware of the consequences, she moved the poor caster away, provoking an attack, and a landslide of things followed.
Unsurpsisingly, Weiss' character ended up dead after a single crushing blow, but that was a sacrifice she was willing to make. Perhaps more surprising was the thing that had caused Ruby to burst out laughing – namely, the fact that by attacking the unlucky mage the boss had knocked themselves clean out, leaving a long list of quest updates and experience gains in its wake. The heiress just stared at the screen in disbelief as the cannon fodders' turns began to play out, completely flabbergasted that her suicidal plan had actually worked, while Ruby just continued to roar with laughter off to her side. "That... went far better than I was expecting. What the hell," she said eventually, letting out a short laugh.
Ruby, still shaking with mirth, patted Weiss on her back. "You're learning, good. We'll make a gamer out of you yet," she said, then focused her attention on the screen as the mobs have finished taking their turns and her time was up. "Now let's scrub those two off the floor, we've still got the adds to kill."
Weiss grinned, puffing up with pride at the sound of Ruby's praise. One could likely argue that what she'd just achieved didn't amount to much – after all, it was only a videogame – but in Weiss' mind, what she'd just done was a tiny proof of her growth as a Huntress, a show of an ability she'd spent the last three years learning from the girl sitting to her right: thinking outside the box. Over the years of friendship with Ruby, she had glimpsed the inner workings of the girl's wonderfully flexible mind, managing to pick up a thing or two along the way; it didn't always come to her naturally, and she still felt more comfortable within the confines of more by-the-book approaches, but she had come a long way since enrolling at Beacon, when her ability to adapt was sorely lacking. Nowadays, she took great satisfaction in knowing that she'd improved in that field, and would be proud of herself whenever she got to show it off, no matter how insignificant the situation.
Besides, it simply felt nice. Gaming was a Terra Incognita to Weiss, something new and daunting, and to do well in it was satisfying... and oddly rewarding. Even more than that, it was a way for her to venture deeper into Ruby's world, to learn something new about the girl and see a side of her she hadn't really been familiar with yet - just like Ruby had earlier that day, by agreeing to humor Weiss' request and dance with her. Those seemingly little things were bringing them closer together still, and the heiress wouldn't trade that air of cameraderie for anything.
Still smirking for various reasons when her next turn came around, Weiss leant back and pondered on her next move, quite eager to see where that rabbit hole would lead her to in the end.
Ruby was on her lonesome in the dimly-lit bedroom, lying on the bed with a Scroll in her hand as she waited for her white-haired friend to finish showering. Having already showered herself, she was idly listening to some podcast to pass time while her slightly wet hair, sprawled all over the pillow in a wild mess, continued to dry. The shattered moon peered curiously through the window to her left, watching over Ruby in silence while time flowed lazily in the room illuminated by a bedside lamp.
Suddenly, Ruby's Scroll pinged loudly in her hand, and she might or might not have nearly dropped the device right onto her face in surprise. Releasing it from between her pressed together hands and getting a better grip of the damned thing, she went on to check who in the world would message her at that late hour – with her first guess being Yang – only to be faced with some contact info she hadn't seen in a long while. Autumn, the very same girl she'd bumped into in the mall two days before; her old friend, from her previous life. Ruby's finger hovered hesitantly over the conversation tab for a good while before she finally opened the message, reading it with a fair degree of nervousness.
Hi Ruby, it's Autumn. Fingers crossed, you still use this contact ID; I really should've asked you about that back at the mall.
Apologies for texting you so late, but I've just had that one idea and I've figured it'd be best to act on it before I have time to reconsider and wuss out, and we both know that's exactly what would've happened. So, here it goes: seeing that you're back in the town, what would you say to meeting up with me and the others from Signal one of these days? You know, to get the old gang back together? You could also invite the rest of your team, if they'd like to come; I'm sure Heather would love that. She's been a bit of a fangirl of you guys this past year, you see.
Grinning like a goof, Ruby continued on.
I get that it's kinda random and maybe a bit out of the blue, but it's just a loose idea I've had after meeting you the other day. But please, don't feel pressured into anything; I'll understand if you are busy and can't make the time, or simply don't want to meet up – after all, we haven't really been keeping in touch these past two years.
The smile from moments before had mostly faded, dimmed by the sense of immense guilt that gripped her heart the moment she'd read the last sentence. No matter how much she'd like to, she couldn't deny the ugly truth – excluding their chance meeting at the mall, it had been nearly two years since the last time she'd contacted Autumn, with the last message from the girl being words of consolation regarding the fallout Ruby had had with sister after the fall of Beacon, back when Yang had been still struggling to cope with her loss. Ruby hadn't even mentioned her plans of going to Mistral to Autumn, nor ever said goodbye; showed how good of a friend she had been.
The collapse of CCT system had played a part in their lack of contact, but even after Ruby had returned to Vale and the Beacon tower was back up and running, she did nothing to break that radio silence between her and her old friends. It was not due to her forgetfulness nor being wrapped up in other things, either, but a conscious choice; it was simply easier that way. Easier than hiding how dire the situation had really been while looking her friends in the eye; easier than lying what had really been going on, and who had actually been behind all of the things that had been happening. And though she hated to admit it to her own self, a part of Ruby had been content to leave her past buried; to just accept that sometimes friends simply drift apart, and to move on.
I really hope this message reaches you; otherwise I've been stressing over it for nothing for longer than I'd like to admit, and then I'd have no other choice but to ask you in person.
Oh who am I kidding, of course I will just chicken out by that point.
...gods, I swear that pun wasn't intended.
Been missing you, Ru.
"Been missing you too," Ruby whispered into the ether. With a tired sigh, she let the arm holding her Scroll above her face to flop onto the mattress. "Crap."
Staring blankly at the ceiling, she was at a loss as to what to do. A part of her was completely on board with the idea, but the other was far more apprehensive; as much as she'd love to meet with her old friends and exchange fun stories over a mug of hot chocolate, she also had far too many tales she could not possibly share – a minefield of them. If asked about Haven, or Atlas, and asked she would be, she'd be forced to give her old friends a roundabout answer that might not satisfy them, not answer at all – which could be even worse – or to downright lie, which she would rather not resort to. Problematic, no matter how you looked at it.
That, and the fact that she didn't quite know how to look her old friends in the eye after... well, everything. After Beacon, and then just disappearing for two years without a single word of goodbye or explanation. She didn't doubt that they'd welcome her back in their midst with open arms, but... she didn't feel that she deserved such treatment. Not anymore; not after considering how seldom they appeared in her thoughts those days, all but replaced with the friends she'd made at Beacon or later. They had deserved much more loyalty than the one she'd shown them. And more than anything, she was afraid that they'd see right through her and realize that the she was no longer the same Ruby Rose they had once known, with that thought scaring her more than it reasonably should.
But the least she could do for Autumn was to reply; knowing her, the girl must've spent half a day mulling over the idea before finally mustering up the courage needed to send that message. Ruby's mouth curved into a fond, somewhat wistful smile as the mental image of her auburn-haired friend fidgeting nervously on her bed popped up in her mind. Soon, another sigh slipped past her lips and she picked up her Scroll, typing a quick response. 'I'll ask the others in two days and then let you know,' she wrote after having confirmed that she was indeed still using that same id. 'Been missing you too.' She then proceeded to read her message at least five times before hesitantly pressing the send button.
A rather noncommittal response, she knew, but she had been caught off-guard and that was the best answer she could offer for the time being, while her thoughts on the matter were still a jumbled mess she couldn't make heads nor tails of. She needed some time to think that through; hopefully, she'd settle on what to do by the time she'd get to meet with the rest of her team.
Dropping her Scroll onto the quilt beside her, Ruby let her forearm to fall over her eyes. The podcast was still playing in the background, but she no longer listened to anything that was being said, so preoccupied with her thoughts that she would barely register that it ended a couple of minutes later, drowning the room in complete silence.
The door to the room quietly squeaked open, and as Ruby uncovered her eyes and looked in their direction, she saw Weiss stroll inside, her white hair billowing behind her like a fluffy cloud that just asked to run one's fingers through it. The silver-eyed girl mustered a welcoming smile, receiving a similar one in turn, but as Weiss walked deeper into the room, there was a brief pause in her step, her expression darkening ever so slightly as she looked at Ruby.
No later than the heiress sat on the edge of her own bed, she asked: "Something on your mind?"
Ruby, turning her eyes back towards the ceiling, let out a tiny amused huff through her nose. 'That was fast,' she thought to herself with just a hint of exasperation, sometimes really not sure what was her take on their uncanny ability to just tell when something was troubling the other. 'Oh well, might as well ask Weiss for her opinion.' Still, she didn't reply right away, not sure how to broach the subject, leaving her friend hanging for probably longer than she should.
"Remember Autumn?" she let out eventually along with her breath.
For some reason, Weiss appeared to tense up a bit. "Auburn hair? Yeah, I remember. What of her?"
"She's texted me just now. Asked if I'd like to meet up with her and some other friends from Signal; 'to get the gang back together', as she's put it."
"That's nice of her," Weiss said. She smiled, but it seemed that her heart wasn't quite in it, the expression never warming up her eyes. Ruby didn't blame her; it must've been awkward for Weiss to hear about Ruby's old friends, whom the heiress had never even properly met.
"I told her I'll consider it... but I'm not sure if I should accept."
"What? Why?" Weiss questioned, the tone of her voice having changed drastically. She gave Ruby an inquisitive look, a concerned frown marring her white brow.
"I mean, a part of me wants to. It's just..." Ruby fell silent for a while as she searched for the right words, only to find none that'd satisfy her; giving up, she let her mounting frustration out of her system along with an exasperated sigh. "I'm a coward, terrified of facing those who once considered me a friend, okay?"
"I don't think that's changed, Ruby. I believe that they still think of you as their friend; Autumn certainly does seem to." Weiss' gentle words were most certainly meant to be reassuring, but they didn't exactly ease her anxiety. She was still afraid of what her old friends would think of the multitude of ways in which she'd changed... and perhaps there was a part of her that wished to preserve the mental image her friends had had of her, so that the Ruby of old could live on in their memories, untainted.
"Yeah, but I have changed. I'm not the same Ruby Rose they all used to know."
"That's true," Weiss agreed easily, but just as she said that, a reassuring smile made itself known on her face. "But you are still Ruby Rose." Her words meant a lot to the girl; Ruby wasn't sure what to think of the changes she'd undergone, but to hear from her best friend that she hadn't completely lost herself, that the things that made her her were still there, was heartening.
After a moment of silence, Ruby let out a sigh. "I just really don't know how to approach them. Sure, I was trying to stay in touch with them back when we were attending Beacon, but then I've ghosted all of them for two years; hell, I intentionally continued doing just that, even after returning to Vale. Why? It's been easier that way. I didn't need to lie... nor to face the folks I've left behind. I decided to move on, too scared to look back; I've abandoned them. Is that something 'a friend' should have done?" she questioned Weiss, looking at her as if daring the girl to disagree.
But Weiss remained unperturbed. "Probably not," the heiress admitted, "but we all make our mistakes. And the way I see it, you agonize over it too much to have truly 'moved on'."
"What should I do then?"
Weiss shook her head sadly. "I don't want to tell you how to live your life, Ruby," she said. "If you want my opinion, however, I'd say you should go ahead and meet them; knowing you, it'll keep gnawing on you if you don't at least give that opportunity a shot." She paused for a while, as if searching for something in her memory, then a tiny laugh made its way past her lips. "What was it that you've said to me after I got back from the meeting with my mother? That it might be 'an opportunity to regain something precious in life, only if we tried'? Heed your own advice."
Ruby blinked, then blinked again, turning her gaze away and staring blankly at the ceiling as she was processing what her friend had just said. "I really have said that, haven't I," she deadpanned, then chuckled softly. "Alright, you got me there."
Weiss grinned. "So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and text her, before you have the chance to change your mind."
"Slooow dooown," Ruby cried, laughing. "She's also said that I could invite the rest of you, and I won't get the chance to ask the Bees for the next two days. Yang will prolly agree, seeing that she was part of the group, but there's still the question of you and Blake."
"Oh," was all that Weiss let out.
"Would you come?"
"I... I don't know," the heiress spoke slowly, clearly having not seen that one coming. She seemed... hesitant. And maybe a little bit shy. "Wouldn't I be the third wheel, seeing that the whole point of the meeting would be for you to reconnect with your old friends?"
The heiress' words gave Ruby a small pause. "Huh. Haven't thought of it that way."
"Just give me some time; I'll be sure to consider it," Weiss said, smiling softly, and before long her smile was returned.
"Sure."
"Speaking of invitations..." Weiss started, "have you asked Coco and Velvet whether they'd want to tag along when we'll be taking Blake out to the city?"
The younger girl slapped herself across her forehead. "Shoot, I forgot," Ruby hissed. Team JNR were out of town for the week, while Neptune was supposed to spend the day in hospital for a check-up; Sun had already said that he'd come, but it slipped Ruby's mind that she was yet to ask both Coco and Velvet. After a brief moment, her hand darted towards her Scroll and picked it up, only for the girl to stop dead in her tracks the moment the text app showed up on the screen. "Think they're asleep?" she asked as she bit her lower lip, directing a questioning look towards her partner.
The heiress laughed, shaking her head. "Probably not."
Having received Weiss' blessing, Ruby went on ahead and quickly typed a short text to Coco; not a minute went by before the sharp ping of an incoming message resounded in the room, announcing the arrival of a reply.
[Moments ago] Coco: sure kiddo
[Moments ago] Coco: count us in
Ruby grinned to herself, but, before she could even fold her Scroll shut, another message came in, and then another.
[Moments ago] Coco: ...
[Moments ago] Coco: actually, wait. Gotta check sth
"Uh oh," Ruby hummed, having a bad feeling about that last text.
Weiss leant in with interest. "What is it?"
"First she agreed, but it seems that then she's remembered something and now needs to check it."
"A rehab session, perhaps?" Weiss suggested.
"Mayb..." Ruby started, only to be cut off by another chime coming from her Scroll. She just stared at the device for a second, genuinely impressed. "Damn, that was quick," she said, then went on to read the message.
[Moments ago] Coco: no can do, got a rehab scheduled for that day
"Aaaand the point goes to Weiss. Rehab," Ruby announced with a sigh. "Bummer."
"That's a shame. Wouldn't she be able to come after or before the session, though? Either would be fine; Sun's already said he's going to drop by later."
Ruby shrugged, all the while looking at the screen. "Dunno. But I think I can see why she'd rather pass on going anywhere after a session, even if she does have the time," she spoke, thinking back to her visit at Dr Glas'. "It must be exhausting."
"Yeah, you're right..." Weiss agreed quietly, letting her gaze fall to the floor.
Ping. Not even noticing the curious look sent in her direction, Ruby checked out the message that popped on the screen right in front of her eyes.
[Moments ago] Coco: Velvs got an idea though
The next few minutes Ruby spent on a back-and-forth with Coco, together concocting the plan of action and ironing out the details. A smile must've shown up on her face at some point, as she soon heard Weiss ask part-curiously, part-amusedly: "What are you grinning for?"
With her eyes glued to the message she was in the middle of typing, Ruby replied in a theatrically dramatic tone: "Patience, little grasshopper; everything will be made clear in a moment," she said, and she could almost hear Weiss' pout. A couple of seconds passed by in peace and then, suddenly, she noticed something blue out of the corner of her eye – Weiss' pillow, quickly approaching her face. She could catch it fairly easily... but she decided not to, letting it fall straight onto her head. Closing her Scroll and laying it on her stomach, she let out a theatrically loud sigh.
"So, this is how it is, huh?" Ruby spoke into the pillow, trying her best to sound hurt and disappointed. Collecting herself and getting her toothy smile off of her face, she removed the pillow off herself and stared the heiress in the eye. Weiss met her gaze easily, unabashed and with a cheeky little grin gracing her face; playful sparks gleamed in Weiss' blue eyes as she looked at Ruby tauntingly, almost expectantly, inviting a response. And like hell would Ruby fail that expectation and not take up the gauntlet. "An open declaration of war? So be it."
Not giving her opponent even a second to prepare, Ruby hurled the pillow back at Weiss, aiming right at her face, but not so high that the heiress would be able to simply duck under it. Of course, Weiss expected just that, and caught the fluffy projectile efortlessly despite its speed; what the heiress didn't know, however, was that Ruby had her exactly where she wanted, and that that initial attack was but a feint, a happy little ruse meant to cover Ruby's actual assault. Because of the pillow, Weiss lost her partner from her sight for a precious second, only to yelp in surprise when she discovered that Ruby was already bearing down on her.
Before she could react, the girl pushed Weiss onto the bed and pounced on her, going straight for her tickling vengeance. Ruby poked and jabbed and prodded with her fingers all over Weiss' body while the heiress kept giggling uncontrollably in a fairly undignified manner, squirming under the assault while her pleas for mercy went by unheard. Still, despite the ruthlessness of her attack, Ruby was doing her best to be delicate, mindful of her friend's recent injuries. Of course, it didn't mean that she was going easy on Weiss; the heiress appeared to know that all too well, trying to use the same pillow that was her undoing as a makeshift shield, putting it between herself and Ruby's hands as much as she could. Every now and then Weiss would attempt to mount her own tickling counteroffensive, but she did not make any actual effort to get Ruby off of her.
They carried on like that for a while, not stopping even after Ruby's Scroll chimed again. At some point, Weiss, gasping for breath, finally decided to actually do something about her situation and turned the tables, rolling over on the bed and pinning the other girl under herself; the moment that happened, her justice was brutal and swift.
Somewhere in her mind, Ruby knew that what they were doing was childish... but, hearing Weiss' laughter, she couldn't care less. Perhaps it was exactly what they needed – a moment to be carefree.
Author's Note:
Hi again! Life's been a bit of a bitch lately, but I've managed to put this here together. For a time I considered putting one more scene in this update, but it'd delay the whole thing by a week at least, and then the next part would probably end up being kinda bland, so I eventually decided against it. In any case, I hope you enjoyed it!
It's hard to say for certain, but if I were to guess, then I'd say that it's part two out of five; moving forward I'll do my best to continue with roughly-monthly releases. Gotta say, I'm not sure what to think of those segmented updates; on one hand that way I'm not gonna disappear off the face of the Internet for half a bloody year, but on the other... I dunno. I hope you don't mind them too much.
See you next update!