Pairing: White Rose
Summary: Weiss tries to get Ruby to unpack on their free day.
"Annnnnd done!" After closing the cupboard door, Ruby spun around and smiled. "See? Told you I could clean up in under five minutes!"
"Very impressive," Weiss replied with one of those hidden smiles she often wore. "And with time to spare."
"You know it! Now I'm ready to tackle the day!" Hands on hips, Ruby struck her 'hero' pose in the middle of their kitchen. She knew it always made Weiss laugh when she did this, and today was no exception.
"And what are you going to 'tackle' first?" Weiss asked after her soft laughter subsided.
"Uhh..." Looking around the kitchen for ideas while Weiss walked over to join her, Ruby came up with nothing.
It wasn't often they had several free days in a row, which meant it wasn't often that she searched for ways to entertain herself. Normally, they were running to hunts, events, and practices with no time for anything but eating and sleeping in between. With so much free time on their hands, they could do anything. Anything at all. Anythingggg at all. Whatever they wanted...
"I dunno," she said, giving up that hopeless quest. "Any ideas?"
As soon as she asked the question, she wanted to grab it out of the air and stuff it back in her mouth.
"Of course I do," Weiss replied with a scoff, as if finding it particularly amusing that Ruby thought she wouldn't have a super long list of boring, productive things to do. "You can finally empty those boxes sitting in the living room."
"l thought you liked seeing those! They remind you that we moved in together, right?"
"That was over a year ago, Ruby." Even though Weiss attempted a stern expression, she still kind of smiled while running her hand through Ruby's hair. "Now it reminds me that everytime I ask you to unpack them, you miraculously come up with a way to avoid it."
"Just like I miraculously got someone like you in my life?"
"Nice try," Weiss said, chuckling and shaking her head. "Come on - I'll help you."
"You mean you'll supervise."
"I love you," Weiss replied, leaning onto her tiptoes to kiss Ruby before taking her hand and pulling her into the living room. Near one wall, behind the sofa where they often cuddled together, sat a small amount of boxes left from move-in day. It wasn't that many, really! The first stack was only three boxes tall and...there were only three stacks, so…
"Guess it wouldn't hurt to unpack one of them," she muttered while flopping down in front of the responsibility she'd avoided for so long. Even though this was technically 'working' on their day off, it was hard to be upset when Weiss sat down beside her. Any time they spent together was a great time, regardless of what they did.
"Ok, let's see what we got." Pulling the first box over, Ruby tore off the tape, flipped open the lid, and gasped.
"My Grimm Battle cards!" she exclaimed while grabbing the stack of playing cards from the top of the box. "l totally forgot these were in here!" Feeling Weiss lean closer to see, Ruby pulled the top card and held it over. "Look at this!"
"Wow, is that a Four-Winged Nevermore?"
"I have the Four-Clawed too!" Ruby said, passing the second card to Weiss. "Aren't they cool?"
"You have the Four-Winged and Four-Clawed? Wow. Your aerial attack must've been unbeatable."
"It was!" Sorting through the rest of the cards, Ruby smiled to herself while remembering all of the time she spent with them. "I always beat Yang with aerial - she'd get so mad...of course, she always beat me on the ground so..."
Trailing off, Ruby felt her brow furrow when she realized something kind of important.
"Wait..." Turning towards Weiss, who looked at her with curiosity, Ruby pointed to the cards in her hands. "You played Grimm Battle?"
For the briefest of moments, surprise flitted through Weiss' eyes. The emotion disappeared almost instantly, of course, as she scoffed and casually passed the Nevermore cards back to Ruby.
"That game was extremely popular when we were growing up. I've heard of it."
"It was popular," Ruby agreed, but she knew better than to fall for Weiss' well-spoken diversions - they worked the first million times, but not anymore. "But you know the cards," she pointed out. "And you know the combat types."
"We're huntresses. Of course I understand that a four-clawed Nevermore is more dangerous than one with only two."
"Weiss..."
If Ruby had an ultimate ability, it wasn't her silver eyes. No, her most powerful ability was, as she called it, 'The Tone.'
Whenever she used The Tone - which was something of a plea, something of a sincere request - Weiss forfeited the current argument. It was overpowered, but also had a long recharge time, so Ruby tried not to use it too often. Learning about Weiss' potentially-nerdy past though? That seemed like an excellent moment.
"Ok," Weiss replied, folding like the stack of cards in Ruby's hands. "I also had Grimm Battle cards when I was young." For a second, she looked almost forlorn by the admission, but she quickly brushed the feeling away with another wave. "But it's not like I ever played," she added. "It was far too childish. I just liked looking at the cards and reading about Grimm."
By now, Ruby had known Weiss for a long time. Partners all through school, partners all out of school - they knew each other better than anyone else in their lives. Which meant that Ruby knew a lot of the reasons why Weiss reacted the way she did. And normally when Weiss got prickly or brushed Ruby off, it meant they were close to a subject she avoided thinking about - and those mostly had to do with her childhood.
"They are nice to look at!" Ruby replied, making sure not to address the situation head on. Instead, she looked at the cards and flipped through them one-by-one. "The artwork is super good too. Think one person did it? Or did they hire like...a fleet of artists?"
"It was a group of four, but special editions were made by popular artists at the time."
Nodding at the response, Ruby quickly glanced at Weiss before looking away.
"Oh, that makes sense," was all she said before continuing through the stack. She wanted to point out that only a true Grimm Battle fan would know that information, but she didn't. Instead, she waited.
She waited, and she silently refused to change the subject. If this was something Weiss really didn't want to talk about, she would change the subject, and Ruby would accept that. But she wouldn't change the topic on her own...not if Weiss had more to say.
"I really like the Taijitu one," Ruby added, holding up the card for Weiss to see.
"I like that one too," Weiss replied with a fleeting smile. Her expression then grew a little less certain, and a little sadder, as she looked towards her hands. "My father said games were beneath me," she finally admitted while picking at an invisible piece of lint on her sleeve. "That only a commoner would play such things. Winter secretly bought the cards and gave them to me, but I...I never exactly had anyone to play it with."
There was a lot to unpack in the confession. That Weiss wanted to play the game but couldn't. That she learned how to play anyway. That she still remembered to this day.
"So you never played?" Ruby asked gently.
"I played plenty," Weiss said, giving Ruby a sad smile. "I set up games against myself."
Ruby's heart broke right in half at the response, but Weiss hurried forward.
"Don't worry," she said, this time with a somewhat-brighter smile. "It means I've never lost."
Biting her lip and looking at the cards in her hands, Ruby thought about the Grimm battles she and Yang had waged. The laughs, the arguments, the pouting and triumph. To think that Weiss missed out on that...well, Ruby knew that Weiss had missed out on a lot during her childhood. Thankfully, they could make up for it in the present.
"Weiss," Ruby said, scooting over and pulling Weiss into a sideways hug. "One, we both know your dad is the biggest idiot on the planet." Once Weiss scoffed at the response, Ruby continued. "And two...do you want to play Grimm Battle with me?"
Weiss, like Ruby, was a child at heart. She just hid it better on most days.
"If you're ok with losing," Weiss replied, and when she smiled - a real, fully-powered smile - Ruby felt her excitement return.
Now that another piece of Weiss' past was out in the open, they could move forward and mend some of the damage that had been done - together, which was how they did everything anyway.
"Totally ok with losing. My record isn't nearly as good as yours." Scrounging through the box for any loose cards, Ruby gasped when she found a second deck underneath an old book. "And I have Yang's set too!"
"Then I'm taking yours," Weiss said, grabbing Ruby's cards from her hand. She wanted to protest but...Weiss looked really excited to finally get to play, after all this time...
"Seems fair," she said instead. Turning around, she sat cross-legged in front of Weiss so they could set up a game. "That way we both don't know what we're doing."
"Speak for yourself. I already have three different strategies for how I'm going to beat you.
Watching Weiss sort through and rearrange the cards like a pro, Ruby laughed.
"I can't believe you're a Grimm Battle nerd. How did I not know that?"
"Maybe you don't know everything about me yet," Weiss replied, slipping two cards into the middle of her hand before smiling at Ruby overtop of them.
"Were you secretly a super big Grimm Trivia fan too?"
"You'd still love me even if I was."
The assuredness behind Weiss' answer filled Ruby with a giddy, adoring feeling she could never get enough of.
"You're right," she answered with a nod and big smile. "I' love you even more!"
When Weiss smiled back at her, Ruby absorbed as much of the expression as possible before looking at the stack of cards in her hands. Since they were Yang's, she had no idea what kind of army she could build. Yang normally went big and tanky though...so that's what Ruby would try to do too. She knew Weiss had those Nevermores, which would suck to deal with, but maybe if she drew them out early, she'd have a chance...
"Ruby?"
"Yeah?" Looking up from her work, Ruby smiled when she found Weiss watching her. "What's up?"
"Thank you."
There were so many ways Ruby wanted to respond to the gratitude - that Weiss didn't need to thank her, ever. That she was only doing what any good girlfriend or partner would do. That she cared for Weiss more than anything in the world, so of course she searched for ways to make life easier for the both of them.
But Weiss already knew all of that. So instead, Ruby smiled and said, "You're welcome," before gesturing towards their game.
"You ready to play?"
Holding up her cards, Weiss gave them one last look before nodding.
"Yes," she said before suddenly lowering her hand and sighing. "Wait…"
"What is it?" Ruby asked.
"You're never going to unpack those boxes, are you?"