Blake sighed as she finally finished reading her book, folding the paperback and resting it in her lap, staring at its cover for a moment before sighing sadly, depressed that it was over.
The masterpiece of literature put anything she had read thus far to shame, with a cyclical structure, entertaining cast of characters and amazing character development. Truly, 'Ninjas of Love: The Final Lay' was well-deserving of the title of the greatest book of all time ever.
With a sigh, Blake stood, taking a moment to tighten her kimono around her before picking up her book to hide in her bookshelf, knowing that Yang would only tease her for her fine choice in literature and would probably kill her if Ruby found it.
It was late at night in the RWBY/JNPR commons, the electricity for the building still not being fully repaired from a fault that had left their lights inoperable for four days now. Professor Goodwitch had promised it would be repaired by the end of the week, and in the meantime they were forced to rely on candles to see during that night.
With that reminder, Blake leaned over and blew out her candlestick, taking it in one hand whilst her book remained tucked under the other as she headed towards her shared bedroom, only for the book to slip out under her arm.
She caused as she accidentally kicked it away in turning around, which in turn caused her to fly into a panic as she tried finding her precious book. She dropped the candlestick and scrambled on all fours until her hands brushed against the masterpiece of fine art, making her sigh in relief before clutching it to her chest as she left the room, candlestick laying forgotten on the floor.
Jaune yawned as he staggered out of Team JNPR's dorm room and stumbled towards the commons, barely able to see a few feet in front of him due to the low light.
It was well before six o'clock-the time he actually had to wake up for in order to be ready for lessons but he was too thirsty to just go back to bed and his stomach could do with refilling, so he intended to have some coffee and some breakfast before showering and getting ready for the day's lessons.
He yawned, feeling his way into the commons where there was a small kitchenette and fridge tucked into the corner of the room.
Then something cold and unseeable caught onto his ankle. A desperate cry burst out of him as he flailed in the dark and toppled sideways, hearing a sickening crack before his head smacked against the ground, and a welcome unconsciousness descended over him.
Yang yawned as she zombie stumbled her way out of Team RWBY's dorm. It was dark and early, but someone screaming had caught her attention as she made her way back to her bed from the bathroom.
She'd made sure to grab her scroll, illuminating the hallway ahead of her with her torch and only mildly scared. Well that was a lie. She was majorly scared, but she would never admit that to anyone ever. Only the knowledge it was probably Jaune or Ruby pulling off some shenanigans eased her mild terror.
Finally she turned the corner into the commons, and her eyes widened when she saw Vomit Boy sprawled across the ground.
"Jeez Vomit Boy, couldn't save it for another hour or two before you started providing comic relief?" Yang asked, half-relieved at the sight and half-pissed off she'd let herself get so scared over nothing. Jaune didn't move, and she cast her scroll towards him. "Are you asleep?"
He wasn't. His ankle was caught in some candlestick, swollen red and bent at an uneven ankle. Her eyes widened in horror and vomit spilled out of her at the grotesque sight of vomit boy's ankle.
"Yang?" Weiss asked, rubbing her eyes as she turned around the corner and saw her spilling her guts out all over the floor. "Is that Jau-oh gods!"
At least she wasn't the only one who had vomited. She wouldn't be stuck with 'Vomit Girl' as a new nickname if there were multiple vomit girls. It negated the point of the whole thing.
"I-I'm gonna call Goodwitch." Yang said shakily, guiding Weiss to the sink where they washed out their mouths and steeled their nerves. "You have to make sure Ruby does not enter this room under any circumstances."
"On it." Weiss nodded, carefully tiptoeing out of the room to avoid Jaune's fate, even as Yang lit the way for her using her scroll. She rolled her eyes before glancing at her fellow albeit unconscious blonde, before sighing and dialling up Goodwitch's number.
"It's always something." Yang grumbled, knowing for a fact Goodwitch was going to be pissed at her for waking her up so early in the morning. Oh well, it was for a good cause and Ruby would at least remember her sacrifice. "You owe me, by the way."
Vomit Boy said nothing. Yang would've been more worried if she couldn't hear his steady breathing.
Ruby hummed as she made her way towards Beacon's infirmary, gift basket of goods in hand that were necessary for Jaune's healing. It contained cookies, some of which she was willing to share, a fully-charged scroll with plenty of games and most importantly of all, a red gift marker so she could sign Jaune's cast!
It had been three days since the 'Candlestick Incident'. Electricity to the Team RWBY/JNPR building had been fully restored lickety-split after a furious Professor Goodwitch had threatened to storm the electricity company's headquarters after they dragged their feet over transportation costs.
Ruby had been banned from visiting Jaune up until this point because his wound had been on full display, Beacon's infirmary being short on supplies due to a Bullhead pilot strike. His wound had been splinted but on full display, something that meant she hadn't been able to see her first friend (and best friend-don't tell Weiss!) at Beacon due to Yang not wanting her seeing gross enough it had made her and Weiss barf up their guts.
Ruby wasn't all too bothered at that, but they could at least have given Jaune his scroll so she could call and talk to him, she had been really worried about him after all.
But that was in the past now. Jaune now had a white cast and there was nothing Yang could do to stop Ruby seeing him.
"Hi Jaune!" Ruby cheered as she entered the infirmary, spotting her friend who perked up in his bed and waved at her.
"Hi Ruby." Jaune replied as she made her way over to him, pulling up a plastic chair next to his bed. "You okay?"
Ruby snorted as she placed the basket on the plastic tray thing next to his bed, pulling out the neatly wrapped cookies and laying it out like a cheese spread. The dork breaks his ankle and he's the one asking her if she was okay? At least she knew Jaune wasn't suffering any adverse side effects from the fall.
"I'm fine. I'd ask about you but your cast is kinda self-explanatory." Ruby teased, handing her friend three of her personally made cookies. He sniffed them wearily before taking a bite, and any irritation she might have felt at his initial hesitance faded at the light moan of pleasure he emitted.
"Id you make theees?" Jaune asked, eyes closed in bliss and voice muffled by the cookies in his mouth. "Sooo good."
Ruby beamed at her best friend (don't tell Weiss), her face quickly turning red at the praise and the noises her friend was making due to her baking. She knew she wasn't much of a cook, and baking was definitely her forte, but having someone not related to her respond so positively to them made her skin tingle warmly.
"Yes, and I'm glad you like them Jaune." Ruby replied honestly, hoovering her own portion into her mouth like a vacuum, saving another two cookies for him so they'd eat an equal portion. He deserved an extra one for being her best friend and another extra one for being so positive about them.
Jaune's eyes gleamed and he quickly scoffed up one of the extra cookies, only to break the last one in half and offer it to Ruby, who'd been fiddling with the Scroll she had brought trying to set up a game for him.
"J-Jaune?" She stammered, eyes wide as her shaking hand slowly reached towards the proffered cookie. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I know you love these just as much as you love Crescent Rose." Jaune replied, giving her a quick wink. "Besides, Pyrrha would kill me if I got fat off of cookies after all the training she gave me."
"Best friend ever!" Ruby cheered, snatching the half-cookie before he changed his mind and eating it one quick mouthful, chew and swallow. Jaune smiled kindly as he watched her before perking up at the scroll that rested atop the plastic tray.
"Is the Grimm Terminator XIX?!" Jaune gasped excitedly as he leaned towards the scroll with wide, aweing eyes. "Ruby, how did you get this? It's not slated to be released until Ozziemas!"
"I asked Weiss to pull some strings." Ruby replied cheerfully, handing him the scroll whilst she uncapped the red marker pen. "I promised to study with her on weekends if she did. Do you mind if I sign your cast?"
"Sure, but only if you let me play a few rounds on this." Jaune answered quickly, a not-so-subtle hint of desperation in his voice. She tapped her chin with her pen before sighing dramatically, not wanting to tease the boy too much.
"You drive a hard bargain, Jaune." Ruby said, before flashing him a smile and starting to doodle on his cast. "But sure."
"Awesome! You're the best Ruby!" Jaune exclaimed, immediately turning his attention to the awesomeness on her scroll. Ruby liked that, because it meant he didn't see her cheeks blush at the sincere praise.
Idly, she signed her name in neat, Weiss-like elegant cursive, wanting to make sure Jaune's cast looked pretty. The blandness of it made her feel bad for him, so she doodled away, listening to the sounds of him playing the latest Grimm Terminator idly.
She didn't notice she started drawing intricate roses and shields all over the cast, leaving no space for anyone else to sign it, nor did she notice when the roses she was drawing turned into love hearts, or when her and Jaune's initials always ended inside them.
She also didn't notice her team watching from the doorway, Yang smiling an almost feral grin as she recorded her little sister with her scroll, salivating at the thought of unleashing the most potent blackmail material she had gotten on her sister yet.
Nor did Ruby noticed Blake, who was smiling softly whilst writing notes in her notepad as ideas for what to make the characters of her fanfiction do. The fact that said characters looked and acted like Ruby and Jaune only made the situation better for the Faunus.
Weiss too was watching on, a conflicted expression on her face. She was glad her teammate was spreading her wings, but did it have to be with Jaune? If the blonde idiot harboured any feelings for her then the situation would become needlessly angsty and complicated.
Ruby most definitely did not notice the murderous look she was being given by Pyrrha Nikos, whose own red marker had been crushed in her hand, causing ink to ooze over it like blood, Nora and Ren having long since left their fellow teammate out of worry she would accidentally murder them in her apparent rage.
It physically hurt Nora to do so. She wanted to say "I told you so" so incredibly badly that her face hurt holding it in. She'd been telling Pyrrha for months now to make a move before someone else did.
If only the spartan had listened to her. Nora knew, being the relationship guru she was, that the Red Reaper of Team RWBY had been steadily developing feelings for the Dork Knight of Team JNPR. It had only been a matter of time before something like this happened.
As it was though, all of it had happened because of one simple candlestick.