Chapter Five: Closer, Faster
Ruby counted down the seconds until lunch, keeping an eye out for the door, waiting for a certain someone to walk through. But when lunch ended and the hour ticked closer to three, Ruby was beginning to lose hope.
"Ruby, order up," Yang said, ringing the bell twice to catch her sister's attention.
"Roger!" Ruby said, zipping to the window. "Looks great, Yang."
"Thanks and, uh," Yang leaned a little closer, her voice dropping to a barely audible whisper, "is Penny still angry at you?"
Ruby looked over her shoulder towards the sulking girl meticulously cleaning the coffee station. "Eeyup, definitely."
"That's rough," Yang said, shooting her sister a sympathetic smile.
Shrugging, Ruby took the plate and said, "She'll get over it… I hope."
Yang nodded her head and waved Ruby off, letting her go.
Ruby took the order of an old grizzled gentleman dressed like a classic film noir detective. He was sitting in the corner table furthest away from the windows, bathed in shadows. The light above him burned out two weeks ago, but Braun was too cheap to replace it. Though, it suited this particular customer just fine. His name was Edgar Allen and he was a regular of Ruby's that liked to chat with her whenever the chance arose, but today he was staunchly silent.
Edgar sipped his coffee as he watched the people mill about outside, his stony gaze hidden beneath his fedora.
"Something up, Eddie?" Ruby asked, placing Edgar's food before him with a smile. He was a generous tipper and a friendly person once you got past his gruff exterior. And even though Edgar refused to admit it, he had a softer side to him. His favourite thing to talk about was his niece. Edgar could go on and on about that little girl and how proud he was of her. He reminded Ruby of her uncle in that regard, so he got the Ruby Special. "It's been a while since I've seen you this quiet."
Edgar nodded in acknowledgement and gestured to the window with his coffee. "Never seen a beauty quite like her before," he said, low and mesmerized. A faint smile graced his chapped lips, a rarity Ruby's only ever seen when they talked about his niece or when Yang snuck him an extra piece of toasted garlic bread.
Curious, Ruby followed his gaze and nearly dropped her tray. "Weiss…"
"You know 'er?"
"Y-Yeah, she's a friend of mine," Ruby replied in a daze.
"Introduce me?" Edgar laughed, nudging Ruby with his elbow; she didn't deign with him a response. Edgar dropped the skeezy old man act and tipped his hat back so he could look at Ruby fully. "Atlesian. Western, but not too proud of it. I'd say she speaks Eastern more often. And from the way she carries herself, I'll bet you my lucky hat and all the change in my pocket she's from the upper echelon—rich girl with too much money and nothing to spend it on. Silent type, bookish, and… a bit of a diva."
Ruby snorted, laughing at Edgar. "You got the Atlesian bit right, but that other stuff? Nah. Weiss is way more down-to-earth than she looks."
"Huh," Edgar hummed, stroking his unshaven chin. "Interesting."
"Yeah… she is," Ruby smiled.
The door swung open, the bell above it jiggling. Weiss was the first in followed by a similarly dressed young woman and a man with cotton candy blue hair that reached his shoulders. Ruby enviously watched as the man hooked his arm around Weiss' right elbow and bumped her with his hip. Weiss looked annoyed, but she bumped him back and laughed when he stumbled.
"Looks like you've got competition, Zoomies," Edgar chuckled, pushing his hat back to hide his lingering gaze on Weiss. Ruby wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"No," Ruby said, pointing to the man's expensive high heels, "I'm pretty sure he's gay."
Edgar turned his head, eyeing the flamboyant man the same way he looked at Weiss—no judgement, just curious.
"Or he could be one of those girly bisexual types," Edgar said, though his sharp hazel eyes told Ruby she was right. "Either way, they look cozy."
"Yeah," Ruby said. "Anyway, back to work. I'll talk to you later, Eddie."
"Aye, aye, Zoomies."
Ruby steeled her nerves and bravely walked up to Weiss, accidentally surprising her when she called out her name.
"Mon dieu, Ruby! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Weiss snapped, stamping her foot in frustration. She might've been angry, but that didn't stop her from looking adorable with glasses on.
"Sorry, sorry," Ruby chuckled. She shyly scratched the back of her head and looked at Weiss demurely. "Kinda came out of nowhere, eh?"
Weiss blinked, her ruby stained lips parting in surprise. Her expression softened as a small smile replaced her frown.
"That you did," she replied softly.
Ruby inched a little closer, her heart thumping in her chest like a jackhammer. She wanted to properly greet her and—
"Well hello tall, red, and absolutely fucking gorgeous!" the young man beside Weiss exclaimed in a high-pitched girly tone. He stood in front of Ruby like a well-dressed bodyguard, eyeing her from top to bottom. "Where have you been all my life?" he asked, cocking his hip to the left, bumping Weiss.
"Sorry, not interested," Ruby deadpanned.
"Neither am I, but, honey, you have got some fabulous style," he said as he circled around Ruby. "I mean just look at you! Tall, slender, and firm in all the right places—I'm going to bet money and say you're a dancer. Please, tell me I'm right and shower me with praise."
"Um, Weiss?" Ruby said, keeping a wary eye on the stranger invading her space.
"Ignore him," said the young woman on Weiss' left. "It's what we do."
"Alright…" Ruby replied awkwardly. "Um, here for a late lunch?"
"Yes," Weiss said, yanking her intrusive friend back by the sleeve. "I'm sorry we're so late, something came up in the office—"
"More like crawled up," he muttered with an eye roll.
"—and we only just got out." Weiss glared at her colleague, her nose crinkling. "This is Neptune, and the stoic one is Ciel."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Ciel said, though her eyes were focused on the overhead menu.
"The pleasure's… all mine?" Ruby hesitantly replied, unsure of how to properly respond to someone speaking so formally.
"Well, let's not dawdle any longer," Weiss said, ushering her friends towards the register.
Ruby followed them, holding her tray flat against the front of her pants, wary of Neptune's lingering gaze. She slipped behind the counter, ready to take their order.
"I'll have the honey lemon tea and the BLT flatbread panini with a side Caesar salad—light on dressing," Ciel said, cutting straight to the chase.
Ruby quickly jotted the order down and repeated it back to her. "Anything else?"
"Weiss is paying."
"I'm what?" Weiss blurted out.
"You had us work through lunch," Ciel responded with a sneaky smirk, her left eyebrow raised in challenge. "This is your comeuppance."
Weiss narrowed her eyes at Ciel but relented on the topic without a fight. "You know what? Fair."
Ruby laughed and waited for the next order, her pen poised and ready.
"Hm, what's never been frozen and not swimming in butter?" Neptune asked, his arms looped around Weiss' elbow again.
"Ironically? The salmon," Ruby chuckled.
"Ew, fish," Neptune balked.
"Even though you're serving it fresh everyday?" Weiss teased.
"Ooo, gurl, you are sassy today! I love it, never stop," Neptune laughed. Weiss shrugged nonchalantly. "Alright, you've won me over, gorgeous. I'll take the salmon and a garden salad with no dressing; a girl's gotta watch her weight."
"You ate an entire large pizza by yourself on Saturday," Ciel said, her lips pulled into a thin, disapproving frown.
"And I'm still working off the calories," he replied.
"Alright, one salmon with a garden salad and hold the dressing. Anything else?" Ruby asked, adding Neptune's name next his order.
"Water with no ice, please and thank you."
Ruby nodded. "And for you, Weiss?"
"Just a black coffee, and please tell me you'll be the one making it," Weiss said with an exhausted sigh.
"I—"
"Uh, hold up," Neptune interrupted. He narrowed his perfectly drawn eyebrows at Weiss and pointed a finger at her. "Bitch," he said, shocking Ruby, "tell me that isn't all you're ordering."
"It's all I want," Weiss groaned, pushing his hand away.
"Yeah, I get that, but you skipped lunch too, honey," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "You also skipped most of breakfast. Ciel, back me up here, gurl."
"She'll have a black coffee and a turkey club sandwich, light on mayo, extra lettuce, and no pickles," Ciel said. "What's the soup of the day?"
"Cream of broccoli," Ruby replied, writing everything down. "It's made from scratch, nothing frozen, and totally the best thing we have on the menu today. No joke."
"Perfect," Ciel smiled. "That'll be all."
Ruby quickly repeated the list in its entirety and tallied the total on the register after everyone confirmed their order. And true to her word, Weiss paid for the three meals plus the tip.
"Uh, Weiss? You know, when people tip, they usually only give a bit of change or fifteen percent," Ruby said staring at the large sum of money in her hand.
"Well, I can't do math to save my life and that was the 'change,' " Weiss said.
"But—"
"Save yourself the headache, gorgeous, and just take the tip," Neptune said. "Moneybags here says it's okay."
"I concur," Ciel added, her eyes shifting from the coffee station to Ruby. "We'll be taking our seats now."
"Uh," Ruby blinked, "okay?"
Ruby opened the register and split the tip three ways, pocketing her portion before Braun could take it from the tip jar. She handed Penny her share immediately after and asked her to prepare Ciel's tea and Neptune's water. Penny wordlessly nodded her head, still avoiding Ruby's gaze.
"Penny…" Ruby sighed. She decided not to push the issue any further and went into the kitchen to see a friendly face.
"Heya, Rubyn!" Yang said. She was busy washing some dishes but stopped to give Ruby her full attention. "Special order?"
"You know me so well," Ruby grinned, giving her sister the order list and her tip with a shy little smile.
Yang looked at the money and blinked, slowly connecting the dots. "Ah, 'special,' I got'cha."
"Haha…" Ruby sighed, "she's so pretty, Yang…"
"I bet."
"Um," Ruby nervously rubbed her hands together, "any tips?"
"Just be you, Zoomies. If she can't like you for who you are, she isn't worth your time," Yang said wisely. "But on the off chance that she is," she carefully continued, pushing the money back into Ruby's hand, "buy her some flowers and treat her to something the next time you get her alone, but don't rush. And try to remember that dating might not be in the cards for you two. She has a lot on her plate; I don't want to see either of you get hurt."
Ruby nodded her head, accepting the money without a fight. "Thank you, Yang."
A small but proud smile graced Yang's lips. "You're really set on her, huh?"
"Yeah, I think I am," Ruby said. "She's amazing."
"Alright, alright, enough of the mushy gunk," Yang said, crossing her arms. "I gotta start on these orders if you want 'em done some time this century. Which one's Weiss'?"
"The turkey club, why?"
"No reason."
"Please don't spit in her food," Ruby said.
Yang gasped, "I would never!" Ruby narrowed her eyes. "What?!"
"I know what you did the last time Braun made you cook his lunch."
"Penny!" Yang hissed. "That little fucking snitch."
Penny had told Ruby the whole story like she was in a confessional with a priest sworn to silence. The poor girl looked so guilt-ridden the only way Ruby could help was if she herself helped carry the burden of the secret.
"She hasn't told anyone else and I doubt she'll tell me anything else anymore," Ruby said. "I'm gunna go start on Weiss' coffee… thanks again, Yang."
"No problem."
Ruby left the kitchen with a heavy heart, her pockets lined with money she didn't earn. Yang needed the tips just as much as she did. It didn't sit right with Ruby, but she didn't want to slap Yang's generosity in the face by giving it back.
"Ruby, I'm sorry, could you handle those drink orders?" Penny asked from the register, pulling Ruby out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, no problem," Ruby replied, balking at the long line her coworker was singlehandedly dealing with. She'd only been with Yang for a few minutes, where did all these customers come from? And to make matters worse, Weiss was watching.
Rushing to the drink station, Ruby got straight to work starting with Weiss' coffee. Thankfully, Penny had already boiled the water, cutting Ruby's prep time in half, but based on the line, Ruby was going to need more.
"Ruby, I need two large double-double coffees to go!"
"Got it!" Ruby shouted back, scrambling to pour the to-go coffees. "Two doube-doubles."
"Thank you."
Hearing Penny say "thank you" in such a flat tone left Ruby feeling cold, and in turn, all she could offer was a shaky "no problem." Ruby hated that things were so broken between them. But if she had to choose between lying to Penny about her feelings and being honest, she'd always choose to be honest… what would Weiss say about this conundrum? Something smart, most likely. She seemed to be the type.
Ruby loaded her tray and brought it over to Weiss' table, apologizing for the long wait.
"Are you two the only servers on duty today?" Neptune asked.
"Yeah… the other guy should be here soon though," Ruby replied.
"Why do you sound like you aren't sure?"
"Because he's usually always late."
"And he doesn't get in trouble?" Weiss asked.
"Nope." Ruby sighed. "Verti's the boss' nephew."
"Ah, nepotism," Ciel said, taking a sip of her tea. Ruby laughed, unable to deny the claim. "What will you do if he doesn't show?"
"Ah… I don't know," Ruby said. "I get off in about"—Ruby glanced at the clock hanging above the kitchen door—"now actually…"
"That clock is wrong," Neptune said.
"By about fifteen minutes," Ruby confirmed. "Braun likes to use it to make us work more, and showing him the correct time is apparently 'rude and disrespectful.' "
Weiss set her coffee down with a deep frown etched on her face. "You worked eight hours today, did you get a break?"
"Uh, no… we've been too busy."
"And what about your coworkers?"
"No…"
"You do know you're supposed to get a thirty minute break every five hours, right?"
Thirty minutes… every five… hours? Ruby blinked, her mouth hanging open. Braun only allowed fifteen minutes if they were lucky, and Yang...
"What about someone—hypothetically—working fourteen hours?" Ruby asked, her hands tightening around the tray to stem her anger.
Weiss gave her a worried look. "No body should be working that much. But, hypothetically, that should still be more than an hour plus overtime pay."
"Overtime pay?"
"Yeah, it's this glorious thing where you get paid time and a half," Neptune said. "Us poor salary girls don't get it though."
"Your wages are more than sufficient," Weiss snapped.
"But it could always be more," Ciel chimed in with a sly grin. Neptune high-fived her as they both laughed at the sour face Weiss made.
Ruby looked at the clock and the line Penny was scrambling to maintain. She seemed to have things under control beverage-wise so that only meant they got more food orders.
"Damn it…"
"What was that?" Weiss asked just as she was about to take a sip of her coffee.
"N-Nothing!" Ruby yelped, blushing.
"Well, if things are under control and you're off work… why don't you come join us for lunch?" Weiss asked, completely unaware of the effect she had on Ruby.
"U-Um…" Ruby struggled to think of an excuse, but Weiss looked so cute with her hair done up—and those glasses! How could Ruby say no to someone so gorgeous. "Uh…"
"Wooooow," Neptune whistled, "you broke her, Weiss."
"I did not!"
"You did," Ciel laughed. "Look at her, poor girl's short-circuiting as we speak. Quick! Turn her off and on again."
"Weiss already accomplished that last bit," Neptune teased.
"She did no such thing!" Weiss growled.
She totally is, Ruby thought meekly, her face redder than her namesake. "I'd love to," Ruby said, subtly hiding herself behind her tray, "but I gotta catch the bus."
"Ciel can drive you," Weiss said, not taking no for an answer. "You sound like you haven't had a break or eaten lunch yet."
Ruby rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "You're right, but, uh, I can't… afford to eat out at the moment."
"You can have a bit of ours then," Neptune offered with a smile. "I won't be able to finish it all, and this girl"—he pointed at Weiss—"eats like a bird. And that girl"—he pointed at Ciel—"only ordered the sandwich so she could stare at that cute ginger you're working with."
"I was not!" Ciel shrieked.
"Girl, you may be sippin' that tea, but I'm the one spillin' it."
"Ahaha, thanks, but I really couldn't do that," Ruby said, smiling back at Neptune politely. She didn't know how to handle that bit involving Penny, so she ignored it completely.
"Ruby, you gorgeous darling, if you're friends with Weiss, you're friends with us, so don't be shy," he said. "If you want, you can have my seat so you can have the Ice Queen all to yourself."
"What—hey!" Weiss shouted when Neptune draped his arms around her shoulders without warning.
"Um," Ruby blushed, "I'd really like to but my bus…"
"Weiss has already volunteered my services, just take the offer," Ciel said.
"Can she do that?" Ruby asked.
"She can," Weiss replied on Ciel's behalf. "You can say that I'm… fairly high up on the corporate ladder."
"Yeah, 'high,' " Neptune snickered.
"Well—"
"Ruby!" Penny shouted, her face scrunched in annoyance as she gestured to the order window.
"Eep, I'll see you guys in a bit!" Ruby yelped. She dashed over to Penny and swapped her empty tray for the one waiting for her on the window.
"Yang said to clock out when you bring this over," Penny said tiredly.
"But Verti's not here yet."
"Doesn't matter, she wants you out of here."
"But—"
"Don't you have a bus to catch?"
"I do, but"—Ruby threw a thumb over her shoulder, gesturing to Ciel—"I'm getting a lift."
"Oh… well, you still need to grab lunch."
"Y-Yeah." Ruby dropped her hand, defeat etched on her face. "I'm having lunch with them."
"Have fun," Penny muttered.
When Penny turned her back to her, Ruby knew the conversation, and quite possibly their friendship, was over. So with a heavy sigh, Ruby grabbed three tissue wrapped utensils from the utensil pile and brought the order to Weiss, Neptune, and Ciel.
"Why the long face, gorgeous?" Neptune asked when Ruby served him his garden salad.
"Don't worry, it's nothing," Ruby replied, serving Ciel next.
"I sense… girl troubles," Neptune said, his blue eyes drifting from Ruby to Penny before finally landing on Weiss. "What did you do?"
"Me?!" Weiss shrieked in offense.
"This has you written all over it, chicka."
"I—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Weiss has nothing to do with this!" Ruby said, butting in before things could turn ugly. "Penny's just having an off day. Nothing to worry about." Neptune didn't believe her and it showed on his face when he raised a perfectly done eyebrow in question. Though, to be fair, he hit the nail on the head, but Ruby couldn't let him know that so she said, "Dude… what is with you?"
Neptune's jaw dropped and Weiss snorted, her eyes lighting up as she hid her laughter behind a hand. Ciel joined her but didn't care enough to mask her amusement, much to Neptune's dismay.
"I like her," Ciel said, punctuating her sentence by spearing her fork through some crisp lettuce.
"I like her too," Weiss concurred, flashing Ruby a brilliant smile.
The impact that smile had on Ruby's poor, defenceless heart shook her to the core and rattled her brain, rendering her speechless—a word that could hardly ever be used to describe Ruby. But here she was, smitten and stupefied beyond words.
"I think you broke her," Neptune said after recovering from his shock.
"I, um," Ruby took a step back, her face heating up, "I'm gunna go check on those mains. Enjoy your soup and salads!"
Ruby booked it to the kitchen as fast as she could, cursing herself for losing her cool in front of Weiss and her friends. Yang spared Ruby a brief glance when she made her grand entrance but didn't say or do anything else to acknowledge her presence. The verbal silence was a boon, saving Ruby from the humiliation of having to explain why she looked like a sun ripened tomato, and the green hair clip she wore to keep her bangs out of her eyes only added to the illusion.
Picking up what little was left of her pride, Ruby zombie walked to the schedule board located above the trash can near the backdoor, languishing in the clamour of Yang's busy one-woman kitchen. The noise alone made Ruby shrivel up inside, dreading the thought of being trapped here past closing. How Yang managed to do this every day without going insane was maddening. If Ruby was in her shoes, slaving away for pennies, she'd be in jail for arson.
"Yaaaang, Verti's not here yet, ya sure I can clock out?" Ruby asked, staring at the soiled sheet of paper everyone wrote their hours on.
"Ya," Yang grunted.
Picking up the blue pen tied to the schedule board, Ruby wrote down the time and the hours she worked in her neatest writing. She learned early on that Braun would "accidentally" misread her writing to dock her pay and blame her for the mistake because of "messy, illegible writing." How does a grown man in his early fifties even misread the numbers "1," "4," and "7"? It also conveniently happened with "2" and "5." Unfortunately, Ruby wasn't the only victim. This happened to everyone except Verti who never struggled with Braun's selective dyscalculia, surprise, surprise—not.
Ruby pulled her scroll out from her pocket and took a picture of the entire schedule to keep a record of it. The last thing she wanted was for the whole thing to "mysteriously" vanish overnight without a trace.
"Yang," Penny called, her head poking in through the order window, "Verti just called, he's not coming in."
"That mother fucker!" Yang screamed, her fist slamming down on the counter. Penny yelped in surprise, even Ruby was startled by the outburst. "Okay. Okay. We're fine. Can you call Lore in?"
"I'll try."
"Thanks, Pen," Yang said, offering the girl an apologetic smile.
"No problem."
Ruby waited until Penny ducked back out to approach her sister, but she did so carefully, not wanting to break Yang's focus on her knife.
"I can stay until we get someone else to cover the shift," Ruby said, stuffing her hands into her pockets.
"No. Ruby, what are you even still doing here?" Yang asked in frustration. "You need to grab something to eat and get to school."
"Weiss' friend said she'd give me a ride…"
"And food? I can make you something quick."
"They got that covered too."
Yang set her knife aside and sighed, wiping her brow on her sleeve. She gave Ruby one of her patented big sister looks and asked, "You're getting chummy with her friends now?"
"I think so?" Ruby replied, watching Yang's right hand carefully. "Hey, do you want me to take a look at that?"
"Maybe later tonight," Yang said, clenching and unclenching her fist to show Ruby she was fine, but Ruby noticed a slight delay between the motions.
"I think you have something caught in the distal transverse crease."
"Oh," Yang squinted at her palm, trying to see if Ruby was right. She closed and opened her fist hoping the repeated action would bring whatever it was out, but no such luck. Yang shrugged, picking her knife back up. "Eh, it isn't bothering me. I'll be okay."
"Yang…"
"Don't worry so much, Rubyn," Yang said. "It hasn't broken down on me yet."
"I know…"
"But if anything happens, I'll call you right away."
"Even if it's just a screw loose?"
"Oh, I got tons of those up here"—Yang pointed to her head—"but new righty's just fine." She gave Ruby a thumbs up. "Hurry up and change already. I want you out of here."
"Jeez, Yang, I feel the love," Ruby laughed, giving her hardworking sister a quick hug. "Don't forget to take your break. Weiss says you're supposed to get more than an hour."
"She a lawyer or something?" Yang teased.
"Dunno, but she's dressed like one and really smart so maybe."
Yang laughed and gently shoved Ruby away, reminding her to get lost one last time. Ruby didn't fight her and headed towards the employee locker room. Well, they called it a locker room, but it was really just a storage room with a few hooks nailed to the wall for them to hang things on.
Ruby grabbed her backpack and hung her apron on the wall before heading to the bathrooms to change.
Once she was in the privacy of a stall, Ruby took her shirt off and gave it a sniff. She didn't immediately recoil away from it which was a good sign, but it did have a certain smell to it.
"Yep, definitely not hugging Weiss today," Ruby said as she stashed her work shirt into her bag and got her regular shirt out. She slipped it on and sniffed it too, sighing in relief when it smelled fairly fresh. "Chance to hug Weiss up by 20%."
After the shirt came the pants, more specifically her lucky holey pants that only get washed on Sundays. Ruby tugged them on and fastened her belt, instantly feeling more relaxed now that she was in loose jeans. Yang always said her butt looked better in her form fitting work pants, but certain parts of Ruby's anatomy disagreed vehemently.
"And now for the hair," Ruby said, exiting the stall.
She walked up to the sink and mirror, taking the hair clip out to shake her bangs down. Ruby stared at herself with a frown, hating how her hair went well past her eyes, practically blinding her like a sheepdog. She blew some air upwards to get a better view, but the hair fell limply back into place.
"Lame," Ruby grumbled as she turned the faucet on.
She washed her face and ran her hands through her hair, pushing her bangs back so she could see. The cold water on her skin and scalp was refreshing, but she went a touch too far and now she was dripping wet.
Shaking her hair out, Ruby combed her bangs back with her fingers and clipped it in place, brushing away any stray strands clinging to her face. She shook the ends out next, hoping to get some volume back, but all she accomplished was a mess and wet shoulders. Thankfully, her shirt was black, so the evidence was hidden.
Ruby dried her hands on her jeans and shook her hair out some more. It had a little more life in it now and that was good enough for Ruby.
On second thought, Ruby stared at her face and up her nose for good measure.
Alright, looking good, she said to herself confidently. Just remember to act natural and everything'll go great.
Deciding that she had wasted enough time faffing around, Ruby grabbed her things and left the bathroom.
She was horrendously nervous about sitting down with Weiss and her friends and it showed in the way she walked. If it had been Weiss by herself, Ruby would've been there so fast she'd burn rubber. But Weiss wasn't alone, and as nice as they acted, Neptune and Ciel were still leagues above Ruby.
Ruby stopped walking, the dining area just a few feet away. The grip she had on her backpack strap tightened, her anxiety peaking. She took a deep breath, held it, then slowly exhaled and forced herself to take the next step. She reminded herself that Weiss wouldn't have invited her to join them if she thought her friends wouldn't play nice, and they really did seem nice, especially Ciel.
Ruby could see them now, they were laughing about something—her thoughts immediately jumped to the conclusion they were laughing about her, but Weiss just groaned in exasperation and smacked Neptune's arm; they weren't laughing at her. Ruby took a few more tentative steps, Weiss noticing her right away. She smiled and Ruby forgot about everything else.
"Hey, Weiss."
"Hello, Ruby."