Chapter Three: Us Against the World

University was hell. Absolute hell. If Ruby knew enrolling for postsecondary education would mean staying in the library until 9 p.m. playing catch-up with a bunch of idiots dumber than a fifth grader, then she would've said to hell with the degree and chosen a trade like an actual smart person instead. But no, she had to be a stubborn fool and follow her "dreams"—load of good that's doing her now. Two years and over 500,000 lien in debt, Ruby still wasn't any closer to reaching her goals than she was when she started. Now that was a depressing thought.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Ruby blearily glowered at the front door to the apartment she shared with her sister, Yang. Ruby rubbed her eyes again, hoping the door would just magically open. But, alas, no such luck. Instead, the infernal gatekeeper mocked her further by jamming in place when she "gently" inserted her key into the lock. She tried it again, but the darn thing still refused to budge, so she shoulder checked the door to realign it. Bad idea. The only thing ramming the door accomplished was hurting herself and her bruised ego.

Ruby swore bloody murder under her breath as she rubbed her shoulder and rotated it by the cuff. It hurt like hell, but the pain was nothing compared to the red-hot fury she felt inside. She was going to get in one way or another, and if it meant breaking down the door, well, she'd call her sister before it came to that; wanton destruction was more Yang's thing.

"Okay, you wooden son of a bitch," Ruby spat on her palms, "you wanna go? Well, let's go!"

Ruby grabbed the doorknob and lifted it with all her might. The door creaked and groaned on its rusty hinges as Ruby jiggled her key in the lock. It took a few tries, and some easily misconstrued grunts, but everything eventually lined up. The door gave way like a floodgate and Ruby spilled into the living room like yesterday's catch: lifeless. But once she regained her bearings, Ruby picked herself up and roared in success. She slammed the door behind her with the last of her strength and gave it the finger.

"Take that you stupid door!" she added for good measure before zombie walking over to the couch where Yang sat. "Heeey," Ruby drawled as she fell face first into her sister's lap like a heavy sack of potatoes. "I require sisterly attention!"

"'sup," Yang muttered just as tiredly. She stroked Ruby's hair with a limp hand, barely adding any pressure. "Rough day?"

"The roughest," Ruby grumbled as she turned on her side to nuzzle her face into Yang's warm stomach. She breathed in deep and exhaled, letting all the tension her body bleed away as she basked languidly in the comforting scent of home. Home needed a shower though. And a fresh change of clothes. Deodorant would be good too. Maybe a spritz of some fragrance mist.

"Did you eat?" Yang asked, moving her hand to scratch behind Ruby's ear.

"No."

"Do you want to eat?"

"Yes."

"Anything you want in particular?"

"Nope," Ruby answered with a yawn. "Do we have anything I don't have to chew?"

"Water?"

"Ick."

"Air?"

"Are you messing with me?" Ruby grumbled.

"Lame, you're no fun," Yang teased. "I think we got some canned soup somewhere. That okay with you?"

"Yes, please."

"Alright, sit tight."

After manoeuvring Ruby off her lap and into a more comfortable position, Yang shuffled off to the kitchen just a few metres away. She dug through the pantry as carefully as she could, pushing around several boxes before finally finding something buried in the back.

"Found some mushroom soup, and"—she popped the pull-tab lid and sniffed the contents— "it's still good!"

"Greeeat…"

Yang laughed at Ruby's lack of enthusiasm and teased her for it, but the reaction was lacklustre at best. Thankfully, Yang knew not to pester Ruby too much when her fuel tank was empty and carried on without taking any offence.

"So, anyway, what happened today?" Yang asked as she emptied the can into a small pot. Ruby answered her emphatically, but her voice was muffled by the cushions—which really needed to be washed. "Er, could you repeat that?"

"I said," Ruby growled and sighed, "'my group's filled with a bunch of useless, good-for-nothing idiots!' "

"Woof!" Yang barked after a long, awkward pause. "What they do now?"

"You wouldn't believe what they did!" Ruby screamed as she rolled onto her back and threw one hand up with a single finger raised. "One's barely literate," she said before lifting another finger. "The other dimwit thinks she can get away with leaving all the work to us, and the last two"—she lifted to two more fingers up—"I swear are hooking up instead of working on the project like they said they would."

"And what about you, oh snarky one?"

"Me?" Ruby asked, rising from the couch like a reanimated corpse. "Me?!" Yang nodded her head, weary of the forced smile on Ruby's face. "I'm doing all the frickin' work like a god damn idiot!" Ruby finally roared. She swung a fist sideways and hit the backrest, narrowly missing the wall. "Like, how hard is it to crack a book open and read?! I mean, seriously, are we university students or grade-schoolers?! I haven't seen a lazier bunch of people since that time you, me, and Jaune decided it was a good idea to veg out for the whole damn weekend—and we still managed to be more productive than these schmucks!"

By the time she stopped to take a breath, Ruby was red in the face and heaving like an asthmatic running a marathon. She wanted to be done with the story, but that was only part one of the absolute dumbfuckery she had to deal with tonight. There was at least three more volumes plus a sequel and prequel's worth of bullshit left to go through before she would've felt satisfied with her "brief" summary.

"Yikes."

"You can say that again," Ruby sighed. "Today was brutal. And if it happens again, I think I might murder a fool."

"Well, uh, did anything good happen at least?" Yang asked sounding hopeful. "I know you stopped by the café earlier. Sorry we couldn't talk, I was swamped."

"Oh, yeah!" Ruby excitedly exclaimed as she scrambled to sit up properly. This was the part of the conversation she couldn't wait to reach and it showed on her face. "Do you remember that really pretty lady with the white hair and the sexy blue eyes that came in almost two weeks ago?" she asked, flashing Yang a big, toothy grin as she teetered side to side.

"Which one? I see a lot of pretty white haired ladies with sexy blue eyes," Yang joked, returning Ruby's smile with a teasing grin.

Yang was referring to the old ladies that came in every Sunday specifically for her muffins and Penny's tea. They tipped really well and showered the two of them with compliments like happy grandmothers proud of their grandbabies. Weiss wasn't one of those old ladies though. She was young, beautiful, and so—

"Have you seen the wheels one of my girls drive?" Yang laughed. "I wouldn't mind takin' a spin on that."

"Yaaang!"

"Alright, alright, stopping with the old people jokes!" Yang yelped when a perfectly aimed cushion furiously flew past her head and hit the cabinet hard. "I remember your pretty, foreign lady. No need to get violent."

Ruby narrowed her eyes and readied another cushion, waiting for Yang to yank the rug from under her. But Yang didn't say a word, so Ruby hesitantly continued, cushion of mass destruction set aside—for now.

"Okay, well, she came back today for lunch. I was actually in line before her and we got to chattin'," she said, shyly playing with a lock of hair. Ruby realized early on that this was going to sound a lot like "love talk," something she'd never done with Yang before. It was hard to get the words out, and the thunderous pounding in her ears didn't make it any easier. She was nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. Was that a split end?

"Mhm, and?"

Ruby blinked and blushed, embarrassed by how easily distracted she was. "I ended up buying her lunch because, I don't know—she's pretty and I wanna impress her or something stupid like that—and then we go to sit down."

"Ruby has a girlfriend. Ruby has a girlfriend!" Yang playfully teased in a singsong voice as she stirred the soup and gave it a little taste test. She immediately scrunched up her nose and made a quick "blegh" face before adding a dash of dried thyme and parsley from their spice rack. "But for real, if this is another one of your two hour gush sessions, I think I'd rather hear about your shitty group."

"I do not 'gush'! And trust me, you don't want to hear the rest of what I have to say about those idiots," Ruby tiredly laughed, hiding her blush behind a clammy hand. "Anyway, we sit down and things get awkward real fast because neither of us know what to say. But she was so pretty I don't think anyone can blame me for being a bit tongue-tied."

"'A bit'?" Yang dryly repeated, looking at Ruby with a scrutinizing eyebrow quirked. "You are pretty awkward sometimes, but I think 'a bit' is kind of stretching it here."

"What?! Hey! That's not…" Yang shot Ruby a knowing look . "Okay, fiiine, I was really, really awkward!"

"There we go," Yang laughed, pleased over her meager victory. "Carry on."

"Ugh, you suck so much!" Ruby shouted, sticking her tongue out. "But anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, we're sitting there and things are suuuuper awkward! So I think to myself, what's something I wanna know about her other than everything? And that's when it hits me: her accent!"

But Yang wasn't impressed by Ruby's cleverness at all, and it showed on her face because she had the exact same dull stare on whenever commercials played. Well, Ruby wasn't a commercial and Weiss wasn't an ad, so it annoyed her—just a little—that Yang looked so bored. But then again, she didn't get a chance to hear Weiss speak or laugh. Ruby felt sorry for Yang now, so she forgave her sister for this grievous mistake against her newest bestest best friend; Yang will learn to appreciate Weiss' sultry, dulcet tones someday!

"So then I ask where she's from and she says Atlas, which I already sorta guessed from before," Ruby gushed, grinning even wider. "So then I try saying something in—"

"Please don't tell me you actually spoke Atlesian," Yang groaned as she turned off the stove. She turned to face Ruby with her arms crossed. That bored look was now a look of pity and second-hand embarrassment. "No offense, sis, I love you like a brother, but you're terrible at it."

"Like a wha—ugh, whatever, you weirdo! But, anyway, that's exactly what she said!" Ruby laughed, thinking that the look on Weiss' petrified face made the embarrassment completely worth it. And if it got her to laugh even more, then Ruby would subject herself to that humiliation over and over again until Weiss was beet red from all the laughter. "She actually offered to pay me 10,000 lien to never speak it again."

"You took the money right?" Yang asked as she poured the soup into a bowl and served it to Ruby.

Ruby reached for it with impatient grabby-hands and eagerly dug in, slurping away at the soup like it was her first meal in days. But by the fifth spoonful, Ruby was practically vibrating with excitement, dying to continue her story. Sighing, Yang rolled her eyes and nodded her head, giving Ruby the go-ahead.

"I didn't take the money—obviously," Ruby said as a matter of fact. "She might've been dressed all fancy, but at the end of the day, she's still just an office lady with a kid to raise."

"Whoa, whoa, back up," Yang looked positively gobsmacked as she took the seat beside Ruby. "Did you say that was her kid?" Ruby nodded, stirring the soup nervously. "I thought she was babysitting or something. Damn, your pretty lady looked about my age."

"Oh, she is," Ruby confirmed. She took another spoonful, blew on it, and offered it to Yang. "She's actually twenty-five, so just a few years older."

"Holy shit," Yang mumbled with the spoon in her mouth. "And that little girl looked like she was ten or twelve at most."

"Nine, actually," Ruby said, taking her spoon back to eat more.

"She must've been at least fifteen when she got knocked up…" Yang said, using her fingers to count the age difference.

"Yeah… kinda like Mom," Ruby murmured. "A-Anyway, we ended up talking some more and I learned her wife recently passed away."

"Oh," Yang blinked, surprised by the sudden turn of events, "that sucks…"

"Yeah…" Ruby brought a spoonful up to her mouth but decided against it and brought it back down, her appetite gone. "And then… well, you know what happens next. I went to go help Penny with the lunch rush."

"Thanks for helping her, Ruby," Yang said as she grabbed a tissue from the coffee table and wiped away the soup clinging to the edge of Ruby's lips.

"It's no problem," Ruby said, forcing a grin. She leaned into her sister's touch with her brows furrowed, deep in thought. "But Weiss—that's the pretty lady's name—said we should go to the labour board about our boss."

The smile on Yang's face disappeared like it had been wiped clean, revealing the deeply etched frown hidden beneath it.

"Ruby, you know we can't…" she said, crumpling the tissue and tossing it into the trashcan across the room.

"But we can still try!"

Yang shook her head and ran a hand carefully through her bangs. "The waitress you replaced, Namiko, she was real good at her job, and people really liked her. She was also brave, outspoken, and refused to take shit lying down; a real badass bitch. But one day, after getting told her paycheque was going to be garnished for 'register money being short' again, Namiko got fed up and went to the labour board.

"She did everything by the book with actual evidence to prove her claim, plus several statements from the rest of the crew corroborating her report. But instead of sending someone over to investigate, they just called Braun. He covered up his tracks good and made it seem like a false claim by an employee who routinely stole from the register. Namiko got fired and now you're here…" Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but Yang took her hand, silencing her for the time being. "I know it sucks," she said with a pained expression, "but the job puts a roof over our heads and food on the table."

"Barely!"

"I know, I know, but look on the bright side, at least we're not out on the street," Yang said with a half-hearted shrug.

"I'd rather be out on the street than see you waste your talent on that shit hole! You could be doing so much better, Yang!" Ruby cried out, gripping her sister's hand tight. "You should be working in some fancy restaurant that puts parsley on top of things, not scraping the bottom of the barrel to put something edible together!"

"I want that for me too, Ruby. And I've tried so hard, you know I have, but no one's hiring." Yang dropped their hands onto her lap and shifted her eyes away from Ruby. "I-I"—she gulped—"actually got written up today… Braun overheard me telling Penny about a possible new restaurant opening up nearby. Something 'fancy,' I think."

Ruby set her bowl down on the floor as calmly as she could, but her hands were shaking with rage. "He wrote you up… for that?" she seethed through tightly gritted teeth. "Yang, how many times has he written you up this month?"

Yang flashed Ruby two fingers and sighed. "One more and I'm fired."

"He can't fire you!" Ruby roared, standing up. She nearly kicked her soup over, but a dirty carpet was the least of her worries. "You're literally all that's keeping that disgusting kitchen together! The other cooks aren't anywhere near as good as you and he knows that!"

"Actually… about that, I'm the only cook left." Yang furrowed her brows together as looked up at Ruby tiredly. "Reggie quit this afternoon."

"What?"

"Yeah, right when his shift was supposed to start," Yang explained. "The asshole walked in, flipped Braun off then walked back out. Braun made me do the rest of the shift alone. And since I already had my eight hours, guess who doesn't get paid."

"No…" Ruby fell to her knees and took her sister's left hand. She thought it felt scratchy when they touched, but now that she got a good look at it, she realized the skin was dried and cracked. "It's not fair," she muttered, stroking Yang's hand, "it's not fair!"

"I know it isn't," Yang sighed, "but we have to make do."

"There's got to be something…"

Yang took her hand back and used it to cup Ruby's cheek. She stared deep into her eyes and smiled that comforting big sister smile that said "everything's going to be alright," but Ruby couldn't see the silver lining in this. They were neck deep in debt, barely making enough to survive and that wasn't a hyperbole. Between the rent, utilities, Ruby's tuition, and other miscellaneous expenses, they didn't have enough left over to keep themselves properly fed. The egregiously generous tip Weiss gave them was a godsend. It put enough food in the fridge to last them two weeks or more if they hunker down and shrink their portions. But they shouldn't have to live this way. They were a two income household, they should have made enough to eat without worrying. This was—

"It's going to be okay, Ruby," Yang cooed. "We've managed to come this far so just hang on a little longer."

"But your hand, Yang…"

"It'll be okay!" Yang grinned. "Nothing a literal tub of lotion can't fix. Anyway, you were talking about, uh, what's her name. What happened next?"

"Weiss." Ruby blushed demurely as she sat on the couch again. She rubbed her hands on her jeans anxiously and fiddled with the hem of her shirt just to keep her hands busy. "Yang," she said, her trembling voice just above a whisper, "I think I really like her… I know we just met, but this is the real deal. I've never felt like this before."

"I don't know, Ruby," Yang said, sounding more like a concerned mother than a sister. "She's pretty, I'll give her that, and she sounds great from what you've told me, but this sort of sounds like your projecting some of your issues onto her."

"What issues?" Ruby narrowed her eyes at Yang, warning her to be careful with her next words.

"You know," Yang nervously waved her hand in the air, "your mommy issues?"

"I do not have mommy issues!" Ruby shouted angrily.

"Well, yelling doesn't help your case, and neither is trying to date a woman with a kid literally half your age," Yang said in a calm, level tone. Ruby opened her mouth argue, but Yang didn't give her any ground. "Ruby, I get that you like her, and that's great. You're free to like whoever you want to. But there are some things you gotta ease yourself into… think of Weiss as, I don't know, hard mode. Not quite impossible yet, but she's still kind of up there. Plus, what about Penny?"

"What about Penny?" Ruby asked, crossing her arms. She knew where Yang was coming from, but did she really have to phrase it that way?

"I thought you two were a thing?"

"Oh, uh, no…" Ruby muttered, her arms going slack from the realization. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten about Penny the moment Weiss walked into her life. "I'm going to call off that date when I see her next. I like her a lot but only as a friend," she explained. "I can't give her the chance she deserves now that I know what liking someone actually feels like. I just can't—"

"Lie to yourself?" Yang offered with that warm, supportive smile she was famous for.

Ruby nodded and let out a long depressed sigh. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders and it was crushing her. Ruby didn't have the strength to fight it anymore so she pinched her eyes shut and thought of her friend; however, the face that came to mind wasn't Penny's, it was Weiss'. A chill ran up Ruby's spine as she thought of Weiss' perfect smile and the way she crinkled her nose whenever she teased Ruby or told a silly joke—and her laugh! Ruby couldn't get it out of her head. And, honestly, why would she? It might as well be her new favourite song.

"I can't force myself to be with Penny when the person I want to be with most is Weiss…"

Yang quirked an eyebrow. "Didn't you say her wife just recently passed?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well," Yang nervously rubbed her hands together, "how can you be certain she's even on the market?"

"She isn't," Ruby answered with a sad smile.

"Then why?"

"Because I don't care if she doesn't want to date me," Ruby said. "I want to be in her life… I want to be her friend, Yang."

"Ruby…"

"You always said I had a great sense of character and that you'd trust me when it comes to the time when I want to start dating… and, well," Ruby sighed, thinking hard as she hung her head low, "that time isn't now."

"Huh?" Yang blinked.

"I'm not ready yet, Yang," Ruby clarified.

Yang was even more confused and it showed on her face. "Then what about your crush on Weiss?"

"Doesn't have to go anywhere," Ruby shrugged. "I told you, I want to be her friend. If something happens, great. If nothing happens, that's fine too. Either way, I'll still have Weiss in my life. Plus, dating shouldn't be my main priority right now. I have to focus on school and work."

"That is… really mature of you, Ruby," Yang said, smiling at her sister proudly.

"Hehe, thanks!" Ruby beamed.

"Buuut," Yang cut in, "what if something does happen and she likes you back?"

Ruby blinked and Yang grinned.

"Then, oh my god, I think I might die!" Ruby screamed. She covered her face with both hands and repeatedly kicked her feet out, writhing like a worm drowning in embarrassment.

"You aren't going to die from a chick crushin' on you, but you're sure as hell going to be dead when I catch you!" Yang grunted as she tried and failed to catch Ruby's flailing legs. "Ouch! You got me in the fucking tit, you twat!"

"Good! Because the only way that'll happen is if I'm dead!" Ruby cried out dramatically. "I mean seriously, Yang! There's no way someone as pretty as her would actually date a loser like me. It would have to be a prank her office buddies come up with for a laugh or— "

"Didn't you just say you were a great judge of character?" Ruby froze and Yang saw her chance. She didn't waste any time and quickly scooped up Ruby's legs. "Plus," she said, breathing a sigh of relief, "you're not a loser. In fact, I think you're pretty neat."

"Yaaaang!"

"Whaaat? I'm just being honest."

"You're my sister," Ruby said, trying to wriggle free. "You're contractually obligated to think I'm cool."

"No, that's the best friend's job," Yang pointed out. "My job to make your life a living hell. And speaking of a living hell…"

"Oh no."

Yang pulled Ruby down without warning and threw herself at her as she sang "Ruby and Weiss, sitting in a tree! K. I. S. S. I. N. G!" at the top of her lungs.

"Yaaaaaaang!"

"Aw, I can't bewieve my wittle sishter's in wuuuuv!"

"Oh my god, Yaaaaaaang! I am not in love, I literally just met her!"

Ruby valiantly struggled against Yang, but she was fighting a losing battle. Yang was practically all muscle thanks to her job and hobby, so the moment she got her arms around Ruby's neck, it was over. Ruby was beaten by a hug so tight she could barely breathe. And maybe it was the lack of oxygen and tiredness speaking, but thoughts of kissing Weiss began flooding Ruby's inexperienced brain one after the other with increasing levels of passion. She imagined running her hands through Weiss' hair, undoing her ponytail and watching it all fall down around her shoulders like a waterfall. Then she'd gingerly touch her face and—

"You thinking about her now, Rubyn?" Yang teased when she noticed Ruby wasn't struggling anymore. She poked her cheek once to make sure Ruby hadn't passed out. "You alive, Ruby-Roo?"

"Quit it!" Ruby barked, swatting Yang's finger away.

Yang grinned in defiance and poked her sister some more. "I bet you're thinkin' of her pretty eyes or something cheesy like that."

"N-No!" Ruby denied with a heavy blush. "I-I'm thinking about how much your pits stink! Did you take a shower at all this week?! You reek!"

"I reek of awesome and hard work!" Yang laughed, tightening her hold on Ruby.

"Argh! God damn it, Yang, you seriously—"

Bzz-bzz.

Hearing and feeling the muffled buzz coming from Ruby's pocket, Yang released her sister and scooted back to her old spot like a well-behaved child. "Well, are you going to check who it is?" she asked impatiently, nudging Ruby's leg with her foot.

Ruby pushed Yang away as she fished out her scroll. She held it against her chest and took a few calming breaths to steady her hands and clear her mind. The text could be from anyone, she reminded herself. It could be Penny, Nora, or Jaune—hell, it could even be a service provider trying to sell her something she didn't want or need.

"Don't keep me hangin' here!" Yang whined, nudging Ruby more incessantly. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Quit it!" Ruby shouted, but Yang kept pestering her. Rolling her eyes, Ruby decided it was better to just get things over with. She slowly peeked at her scroll and gasped. "It's Weiss!" she shouted, nearly dropping her scroll. "She texted me back… oh my god, she texted me back! She gave me her actual number—she gave me her actual number, Yang! What do I do? What do I say?! Oh my god, I'm not ready for this!"

"Whoa, breathe, little sister, breathe," Yang chuckled. "First of all, what did she say?"

"Uh…" Ruby quickly skimmed the message and read it out loud, "Good evening, Ruby. Apologies for the late response, Chrys and I went out for dinner and we lost track of time. I hope your day went well. With regards, Weiss.' "

"Was she writing you a formal letter?" Yang laughed. "Jeez, how old is this chick again?"

"Cut it out, Yang! She's only a little bit older than you."

"Then why doesn't she know how to text like a normal person?" Yang asked, crossing her arms.

"She probably doesn't have a lot of people to text," Ruby answered as she reread the message a third time. "Anyway, what do I say?"

Yang cleared her throat and struck a pose like she was holding a skull in one hand and her heart in the other. "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?" she said with a weird old-timey accent. "It is the east, and Weiss is the sun."

"You were really committed to that bit, weren't you?" Ruby deadpanned.

"Totally," Yang grinned, dropping her pose. "Three years of theatre club, baby!"

Ruby rolled her eyes and slugged Yang's arm for good measure. "For real, Yang! What do I say?"

"I don't know ''sup?' maybe?" Yang shrugged, rubbing her arm far from the place Ruby hit her.

Ruby wasn't sure that was the best way to talk to Weiss, but Yang had more experience talking to people in general so she heeded her sister's wise words and sent out the text.

"Uh," Yang blinked. "Please tell me you didn't just say ''sup?' to the fancy lady you're crushing on."

"I totally didn't say—omg, she said 'hey' back! What do I do? What do I do?!" Ruby panicked. She clumsily turned her scroll around and shoved it into Yang's face so she could see the mess she was in.

"Oh my god, get that out of my face! It's bright as hell!" Yang shouted, pushing the cursed device away. "And I can't believe you told her ''sup,' I was joking, you absolute goober!" Ruby whined pleadingly, but Yang wasn't having any of it. "Just keep texting her you idiot—and finish your nasty ass soup before I do!"

"But I was just doing what you said—and you can have it!" Ruby said as she pushed off the couch and shuffled away, eyes practically glued to the screen. "I'm going to keep texting Weiss in my room," she said partway down the hall. "G'night, I love you!"

"Send her a dick pic!" Yang shouted after Ruby. "Girls love dick pics!"

Ruby skidded to a halt and poked her head out from the hallway. "Really?" she tentatively asked.

"No," Yang deadpanned with her arms crossed in disappointment. "I will disown you if you ever do something like that. I mean it, Ruby Rose."

"Then why would you suggest it?!"

"Because I'm obviously messing with you!" Yang shouted back as she scooped up the bowl of cold, forgotten mushroom soup. "Now leave me alone and go flirt with your new girl friend!"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"I never said that and you never know! Now go get her, Zoomies!"

"Oh, I'm gunna try!" Ruby laughed as she eagerly padded to her room. But before closing the door behind her, she poked her head out one last time and shouted, "Love you, Yang! Night!"

"Love you too! Night!" Yang shouted back, though her voice was garbled by distance and a mouthful of cold mushroom soup.

Alone in her room, Ruby threw herself into bed, still staring at Weiss' text. She had read it over thirty times now but still didn't know how to respond. She didn't want Weiss to think she was immature or childish so texting Weiss the way she would text her other friends was way out of the question. But then again, Weiss didn't mind the way she spoke in person…

"Ugh, what are you doing, Ruby?" she groaned with her face buried in her pillow. "Just text her. She probably goes to bed super early. Hurry up before you miss your chance!"

Breathing in deep, Ruby turned to lie on her back and started aimlessly hovering her thumbs over the keyboard, trying to think of something clever to say.

"Just do it," she told herself angrily. "You called out to her no problem this afternoon. And talking to her in person is way scarier than sending a stupid text. She isn't expecting a novel!"

Ruby's eyes widened. Weiss isn't expecting a novel. She just wanted to talk—to Ruby of all people. Holy taco. Ruby sat up right and repeated that phrase in her head as she fearfully typed out the most rudimentary message ever: "What did you guys have?"

"Short, simple, and straight to the point. Good job, Zoomies," Ruby proudly told herself. "You even used proper grammar, and now to wa—"

Ruby didn't have to wait long because Weiss replied almost immediately.

"I let a hyperactive nine-year-old choose what we'd have. Try and guess."

Quirking an eyebrow, Ruby laughed out loud and typed out some suggestions, but the answer floored her. "No way. She's gotta be lying," Ruby gasped out loud, rereading the message over again to make sure her eyes weren't tricking her.

"I expected all of those too, but wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong. We had steak with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a braised lobster tail. I think there's something wrong with my child."

"Wow, she likes it fancy, huh?"

"Indubitably."

Ruby let out another hearty laugh, unable to wipe off the giant grin on her face. "Guess she takes after you then?"

"Oh god no," Weiss replied. Then a few seconds later, she sent, "All she got from me were my eyes and my inability to wake up in the morning. Look, I had a stressful day today. I wanted pizza or something greasy enough clog my arteries and end my suffering. But no, her Royal Highness, Princess Chrys D'Artagnan Adel, wanted steak."

"Ahahaha! I mean, steak can be greasy if you slather on enough butter."

"You would think that, but once again, wrong. The steak was so beautifully made it would've been a travesty to alter it in any way, shape, or form."

"That good, huh?" Ruby replied.

"Mhm. We'll probably go back again soon. Anyway, how was your day?"

Ruby's smile softened as she pictured herself sitting in front of Weiss in a quiet coffee shop, drinking each other in. "Well…"