Characters: Ruby & Weiss
Summary: Light Switch Woes
Ruby Rose inhaled deeply as she narrowed her eyes at her opponent, her lifetime nemesis. Although it was dark, she didn't need her eyes to wield her weapon. With a deft motion, she unfurled Crescent Rose from her side, extending the scythe to its full height. With bated breath, Ruby pushed herself forward, stretching her arms out to—
"What are you doing?" a voice demanded from below as a bright light flicked on.
With a loud squeak, Ruby yanked herself backwards, narrowly avoiding the embedding of her weapon into the ceiling above her. Rubbing the temporary blindness from her eyes, the young team leader looked down to see the owner of the voice staring blankly at her, an eyebrow raised combined with crossed arms and a heeled boot tapping lightly underneath her.
"Weiss! You're back!" Ruby exclaimed, folding Crescent Rose back into its compact form before she took off another curtain, "Don't scare me like that!" Quick! She needed to change the subject before Weiss realized what exactly she was—
"Please tell me that I did not just witness you attempting to turn on the lights with Crescent Rose."
—Busted. "U-uh," Ruby smiled sheepishly. "Then, just don't look?" She suggested, but one quick glance at her partner told her that was the wrong answer. Oh no. She was in for a lecture now. How the heck did she even manage to see what she was doing when the lights were off anyways?
The heiress gave a long sigh that somehow communicated both disappointment and exasperation at the same time and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Before her partner could begin her dissertation about the benefits of responsibility, Ruby sought to defend herself the best she could, "The light switch was just soooooo far and no one was around to turn it on. And I thought it would be more dangerous to get down and turn it on in the dark with all our stuff everywhere. I mean remember you're always mentioning that safety should be the priority. Crescent Rose was already up here and—" The team leader cut herself off when she saw Weiss motion for silence, her face scrunching in discomfort.
Concern overtook all other thoughts and Ruby was at her partner's side in an instant, swirls of red petals fluttering behind her. "Weiss?" Ruby brought her hands up to rest on Weiss' shoulders, studying her partner closely. A thin bead of sweat poured from the heiress' forehead and she seemed to be breathing heavier than usual. "Weiss, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Ruby." the heiress assured, gently prying off Ruby's grip, "Just a little tired." When Ruby continued to scrutinize her with a determined focus, Weiss huffed, "Now, don't think I've forgotten what we were just discussing. I better not see you pulling that dangerous stunt again." She warned before shuffling past Ruby to stow away her books from her study session at the library, effectively ending the conversation.
Ruby frowned as she watched the heiress. Okay. That was strange. Weiss hadn't even given her infamous Schnee lecture. Something was definitely wrong. "Weiss?"
"Mm?" her partner hummed in acknowledgment still preoccupied with reorganizing her textbooks and notes.
"Weiss," Ruby called again, tone firmer. This time Weiss did pause, turning to look at her team leader.
"Yes?"
Now that she knew she had Weiss' attention, there were so many questions Ruby wanted to ask, and all the words suddenly seemed to inconveniently mix up with each other at the same time. Her mind raced to descramble the sudden word puzzle as she opened her mouth to hopefully ask a coherent question, but of course, when it came down to questions, Weiss was the first to ask.
"Where's Blake and Yang?" Weiss' face furrowed in confusion as her light blue eyes darted over to the empty beds that should have held their owners at this time of night.
Ruby's own face mirrored Weiss' although her confusion was brought on by a different reason, "They texted us earlier this evening, remember? They went with Nora and Jaune to get some last minute supplies for their project."
"Right, right, I remember." Weiss muttered under her breath as she brought up a hand to rub her temples. However, in doing so, Ruby could see the slight tremble in her shoulders like a shiver had run through them.
Yep. She was definitely not okay. Ruby narrowed her eyes as a frown settled on her face once more. Taking into account Weiss' strange behavior and physical symptoms, there was only one logical conclusion. "You're sick."
Her stubborn partner bristled at the accusation, "Excuse me, I'm completely—" Whatever Weiss was about to say was interrupted by a sudden cough.
Ruby crossed her arms, shooting the heiress an unconvinced look.
"—fine." Weiss finished, although the intended effect of the sentence was long since lost. After a silent battle of wills that Ruby was sure she only won due to Weiss' fatigue, her partner sighed as she caved, "Fine, I've been feeling a bit under the weather since our last mission, but it's nothing of concern."
It was too late for that, Ruby was concerned. Team RWBY's last mission ended three days ago. "Weiss!" She cried, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
"Because I knew you'd overreact like this, you dolt." Weiss grumbled, turning slightly away to hide a fond smile threatening to break her facade of annoyance. Although, Ruby caught sight of it anyway.
Ruby pouted at the jab, but soon recovered, "Off to bed with you!"
"But—" The heiress protested.
"Nope!" Ruby interrupted, "You need sleep right now."
"Ruby—"
"Sleep," the scythe wielder pointed at her partner's lower bunk. If Ruby was not so focused on taking care of her partner's health, she would have recognized the irony of Ruby trying to get Weiss to sleep early. After countless nights of Weiss trying to convince her team leader and team for that matter to get proper rest, the reverse was finally true.
The notion was not lost on Weiss, however. The heiress huffed, a small smile adorning her face as she turned away from her partner to collect her belongings to prepare for bed.
"Fine," Weiss agreed without further argument, "but you're getting the light."