Promptly at nine o' clock, Weisz knocked on her door rather than letting himself in. Ruby skipped happily to the door, her ponytail bouncing behind her. She pressed the button, holding her breath with anticipation as the door slid back.
"Hey," Weisz said, raising his hand in greeting. He was dressed in his usual casual outfit of a purple hoodie, black tank top, and black pants.
"Hi," she breathed, her face turning pink to match the color of her hooded sweatshirt.
"Are you okay? Are you running a fever?" he asked, his mouth dropping into a frown as his face pinched with concern. He pressed his palm to her forehead to check her temperature.
"I'm fine," she said, taking him by the wrist to pull his hand away. "I'm happy to see you."
"Oh," he gasped in surprise which made Ruby think a woman had never had that reaction to him.
He must have really been a heinous asshole in the past, Ruby thought.
"Ready?" She held out her hand to him. "Lead the way, good sir."
"Sure." It was his turn to blush at her kind words.
Hand in hand, they walked casually down the hallways swinging their arms between them.
"I'm really sorry about the mean things I said earlier," she apologized.
"Don't be. It was all in good fun. We're all friends here. We say some stupid shit to each other sometimes but we all get over it because most of the time we don't mean it."
"It's wonderful how all of you get along. You truly love each other don't you?" she asked in an open, childlike manner.
"Yeah," he replied with a smile on his face. "We do love each other. They're the best friends I ever had. They're like a family to me."
"I could tell. It makes me jealous. I want what all of you have." She inhaled a deep breath, squeezing his hand. "I want to be a part of what you have."
"Ruby." Weisz stopped in his tracks, turning her to face him. "Don't you see? You already are."
Tears flooded her eyes, building against her bottom eyelids. When she blinked, they broke over the dam of her eyelid to zigzag down her cheeks.
"You're so damn sweet, Ruby," he murmured, sliding his thumb over her cheek to wipe away the tears on that side.
"You are too."
Weisz laughed, inadvertently destroying the moment. His hand fell away from her face, and he turned to lead her the rest of the way to the Park.
"Can we go to the telescope?" she asked as they walked in.
"Of course."
"Yay!" she squealed, letting go of his hand to run to the short tower.
In an uncharacteristic show of gentlemanly modesty, Weisz waited for her to climb all the way up keeping his eyes on the ground so he would not be tempted to look up her loose pajama shorts in an attempt to get a look at her panties, or something else if she did not wear underwear. His face turned red again.
"Come on slow poke!" she yelled down at him, leaning over the metal railing.
"All right, all right," he murmured, grabbing the round metal bar to start climbing.
When he reached the top, Ruby was already bent over looking into the eyepiece of the telescope. Her behind was a lovely sight, taut and round encased in the thin cotton fabric. The temptation to lay his hands on both cheeks and give them a squeeze made his palms itch. Heat enveloped him from head to toe, concentrating between his thighs.
I will be good, I will be good, I will be good, his inner voice chanted, cheering him on to be the decent guy like she believed him to be. Perhaps she was giving him too much credit, but he wanted to be the man she saw. How could she see any good in him after the kind of lecherous creeps she has dealt with?
"Oh, holy shit," he murmured, scrubbing his hands over his face.
"Hey, come look," she said, waving him over. "There's a shooting star."
He had seen tons of shooting stars. They weren't even stars at all but big rocks or space junk burning up as it hurtled through the great void at thousands of miles per hour. Their destruction lit up the darkness and people called it beautiful. He ambled over anyway to take look.
Ruby moved aside, allowing him to look through the eyepiece. She leaned against the railing, looking up while he viewed the surrounding celestial bodies through the telescope.
Weisz turned the knobs focusing on different objects. He found a star flashing between blue and white. There was a reddish orange planet surrounded by a cloud of dust and rocks the same color as if part of the planet had broken off but remained in its own orbit. A comet whizzed by, it's long white tail sparking and leaving a dimly glowing trail of light even when it was gone. He had forgotten how many interesting things existed out there.
"Do you wish upon falling stars?" she inquired.
Do I pin my hopes and dreams upon something that is burning up to nothing?, he thought to himself. Weisz straightened up from looking into the telescope. He forced a smile to his face when he looked at the woman staring up at the sky through the glass ceiling.
"No. I haven't," he admitted without adding his cynical viewpoint.
"Neither have I," she confessed, lowering her chin to bring her gaze to him. "What's the point you know? I would hate for my happiness to depend on something that's being burned to bits and will disappear."
"Exactly," he agreed. He approached her, standing in front of her. "What do you think would make you happy, Ruby?"
"I never thought I would have a shot at being happy," she said, pressing her palms flat against his chest.
"You do now." He leaned down, grasping the metal banister on either side of her hips.
Ruby's eyes flickered down his mouth hovering temptingly close to hers. Her belly tightened when he got a little closer, his breath tickling her lips. He was waiting for her to either accept or deny his kiss. The choice was hers.
Closing the extremely small gap between them, she pressed her mouth squarely to his. Neither one of them moved to break or deepen the kiss. They relished the sensation of the intimate contact, receiving the kiss they had denied themselves last night.
Weisz gradually lifted his lips, tilting his head to press his forehead against hers affectionately not wanting to break contact with her just yet. He slid his hands along her arms because he could feel her trembling. When that did not seem to help, he put his arms around he shoulders, pulling her into his chest.
"That was nice," she whispered, putting her arms around his waist to embrace him.
"Uh huh," he agreed, tilting his head to rub the tip of his nose across hers.
Ruby giggled. Such a cute gesture of affection. Her abdomen tightened when his mouth hovered over hers. Suddenly the urge to yawn overtook her, forcing her to turn her head and cover her mouth with her hand. His lips brushed her cheek.
"Come on. I'll take you back to your room," Weisz said.
Ruby climbed down the ladder first. She waited at the bottom for him. When he was on his feet, she threaded her arm through his. They strolled arm in arm slowly along the stone walkway behind the row of benches to the door.
"You ladies had quite the training session today," he remarked after closing the door behind them.
"The two of them put on a demonstration for me of what they can really do. They were absolutely amazing," she sighed, her eyes sparkling with excitement thinking about their mock battle.
That certainly explained why the training room had been torn apart. Shiki had been correct in his deduction.
"They are amazing," he agreed wholeheartedly. "There's no other women in the galaxy I'd rather fight side by side with than those two. Except for maybe you of course when you get trained."
"But I won't be staying," she reminded him.
Things might change. I hope they change, Weisz thought but kept the words to himself.
"I don't think I could ever fight like them. I've got a long way to go to be even half as good. Rebecca and Homura ran me through a few basic maneuvers. We practiced punching and kicking. Proper stance. I want to be able to fight like that someday. I want to take out bad guys who are hurting people. Like all of you did with the Boss."
"Ruby," Weisz sighed. "i don't take any joy in killing people. Not even when they deserve it."
"But sometimes it needs to be done, right?"
"Yeah." He remained quiet, listening to their footfalls echoing hollowly in the metal corridor. His mind returned to their first conversation. "Have you really killed someone?"
"Yes," she confessed, biting her lip as if to withhold details. The muscles in her arm linked through his tensed as her fingers clenched onto his forearm.
Weisz would like to know more details but did not want to ask. He could not imagine her hurting anyone especially physically. So what did she use? Poison? Weapons? He shuddered at the thought. Looking down at the woman holding on to him, he still found it difficult to imagine her doing such a thing. She kept her eyes straight ahead as they walked, gnawing on her bottom lip.
When he believed the conversation was truly over, that she would not be saying anything else to him at all on this night, she started to speak.
"As you can imagine, a man like the Boss has many enemies. There was a saying he was fond of. You can catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar. Some of his girls were the honey," she said, sliding her hand down his arm to thread her fingers through his. "The first man I killed I slipped poison into his drink."
First man!
"It's shocking how easy it is to catch man off guard with the promise of a fun filled night of drinks and titillating conversation with the tease of more to keep his mind occupied. Then with the illusion of a kiss, to lean forward and slip a carefully concealed dagger between his ribs to stab his heart."
Holy fuck!
Okay so she wasn't an in your face brawler like Rebecca or Homura but she had skills. Lethal and scary skills.
"Well, here we are," Ruby announced when they arrived at her door. She pressed the button then turned to him. "Would you like to come inside? Just for a minute."
Weisz nodded mutely. He could not yet find his voice to speak. He followed her into her room. Both fascinated and disconcerted, he wanted to hear more but at the same time dreaded it.
"After I killed that man. I told the Boss I wouldn't do it again. He punished me. Severely."
Ruby stood in front of him, turning her back to him. She grasped the bottom of her sweatshirt.
"No, wait, you don't have to - "
She pulled the sweatshirt over her head to reveal her back. Thick scars resembling pink worms crisscrossed her back from her below her shoulder blades down to her waist. Some disappeared under the elastic waistband of her white shorts.
"I thought I was going to die after he beat me with that whip. There was so much blood. There were razor blades embedded in the leather." She pulled the sweatshirt back over her head, pivoting on her bare toes to face him. She scoffed, rolling her teary eyes to the ceiling. "Actually, at the time, I wished I could die. But he made sure I survived."
"I-I'm so s-sorry," he stammered, stepping forward to take her into his arms. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."
"Don't pity me, Weisz," she pled with him, her voice warbling. "I just can't take that."
"I don't pity you. I feel awful that happened to you...that my friend had to go through such a horrible thing," he said, kissing the top of her head. "It's not pity when you're upset because your friend is hurting."
"Oh, Weisz," Ruby sighed, tilting her head back to look up at him.
Their lips met, a bit off center, her lips catching his full and thick bottom lip between them. She puckered, pressing a singular kiss to his bottom lip. Lifting her mouth briefly, she switched to his top lip to do the same.
Weisz allowed his lips to part slightly, waiting in literal breathless anticipation. Although he wanted to grab her, smash his mouth to hers for a forceful, passionate kiss, he did not. He wanted to thrust his tongue between her silky lips, invading the soft warm space of her mouth to explore until she was moaning in his arms. But he held back, patiently letting her take the lead.
Her hands glided up his chest to his neck. The skin to skin contact of her palms against his neck made him shiver with excitement. Cradling his face between her hands, she placed numerous feathery pecks to his lips. Surprising himself, he found the gentle little kisses as provocative if not more so than a hard, demanding kiss.
His entire body pulsated with longing. Pulling her closer, he increased the pressure of his lips against hers. Accepting the intensity of his kiss, her lips parted. The tip of his tongue grazed her bottom lip, testing her willingness.
Ruby whimpered, lowering her hands to his chest, grasping his sweatshirt as if to brace herself for what was coming next. The gap between her lips opened a little further inviting him to take a taste.
"Mmmm," Weisz moaned. Minty fresh.
His tongue brushed against hers enticing her to push back. When she did, his fingers spread, pressing into her shoulder blades. Her hips pushed into his thighs causing his erection to twitch, the ache almost unbearable. He withdrew his tongue, lifting his lips from hers.
"We should stop here," he whispered, his breath coming in ragged gasps between his words.
Her eyes glassy with desire became clouded and dull. He lowered his chin to his chest to avoid eye contact.
"Why? What's wrong?" she asked, pressing her palms to his cheeks to lift his head.
When he could not resist raising his head, he closed his eyes to keep from having to look into hers.
"What is it, Weisz? Did I do something wrong?" she inquired pleadingly.
His eyes popped open. "Of course not. You didn't do a damn thing wrong. I think..." He pushed back a stray lock of her hair, sliding his finger along the edge of her face to trace her hairline and jaw. "I think we should stop this here...before we do something wrong."
"Why would it be wrong? Don't you like me?"
"I do like you," he said, exhaling in exasperation.
Hell, he couldn't even explain it himself. He had an attractive, desirable, and most importantly, willing, woman in his arms. But the moment did not seem...right.
"Why would it be wrong?" she asked, stroking his cheeks with her fingertips.
"I think the timing is all wrong. You're upset and hurting. We should wait until everything is right. I'm afraid you might regret it if we did it now. That's all."
What the hell are you saying?!, his inner voice screamed.
Ruby smiled up at him then pushed her face into his chest as she hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe.
"I knew it. I knew you were a good man, Weisz Steiner," she said, laying her ear against his wildly beating heart that drummed so loud she could hear it. "You're right. I would have regretted it and hated myself in the morning. Probably would have hated you too to be honest."
"You're my friend, Ruby. I don't want to do anything to ruin that," he said, hugging her. "I should go. You need to get some sleep."
Ruby stepped back when his arms dropped away from her. She was chewing her lower lip again.
"Well, good night," he said, turning to go to the door.
She never said a word as he approached the door. When he pressed the button and the door slid open she still did not bid him good night.
Well, that's that then, he thought. He started mentally preparing himself for what would surely be an awkward meeting over breakfast in the morning.
"Weisz," she gasped, running up behind him before he could leave. She threw her arms around his waist to keep him from walking out. "Would you sleep with me?"
"But I thought we just - "
"I mean literally sleep not have sex," she clarified, letting him go and backing off so he could turn around. "I just kinda don't want to be alone. And I really don't want you to leave after the conversation we just had. Things will be weird in the morning if you do, don't you think?"
"Yeah. I do." He closed the door.
Ruby took his hand and led him to the bedroom past the sitting area. She took a blanket and extra pillow out of the closet, tossing them onto the bed. While she got under the sheets and blanket, Weisz stretched out on top of them beside her using the blanket she gave him as a cover. He tucked the pillow under his, lying on his side to face her.
"Is it too soon to say I love you?" she asked, her eyes big brown eyes fluttering innocently.
This woman confounded him to absolutely no end.
"As a friend? No, it's not too early," he replied, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead.
"I love you, Weisz."
"I love you too, Ruby."