Chapter Thirty-six: All We Know is Go, Go, Go

The week from hell had been dragging Ruby down like an anchor. Between the never-ending onslaught at school and Yang's newfound obsession with Coco's recipes, Ruby didn't have a lot of time to sit and breathe, let alone sleep. Though, a more accurate story is that she couldn't sleep. Schoolwork was just an excuse to keep her mind off of Weiss because whenever Ruby did fall asleep, her dreams were of nothing but her white haired angel saying goodbye forever. Ruby knew these nightmares weren't foreshadowing the future though because every night, at the exact same hour, Weiss would call her just to tell her she loved her. Those words like a lifeline, and even now, as she zombie walked her way into Weiss' office building, praying for a chance to see her, Ruby knew they were going to be okay.

"Ruby, hey!" Octavia called out with a wave as she jogged over to her. "It's been so long, how are you?"

"Tired," Ruby replied with an exhausted grin, waving back.

"Yeah… I can tell."

"You heading out for lunch?" Ruby asked when she noticed Octavia adjust her purse's shoulder straps.

"Mhm. How about you?"

"Hoping to grab Weiss for lunch too," Ruby answered.

"Oh no, you actually just missed her and the little lady," Octavia said with a regretful wince.

"Huh?" Ruby blinked. "But it's a school day…"

"Yeah, about that," Octavia awkwardly chuckled, "the little lady was coughing up a storm."

"Is Chrys okay?" Ruby asked.

"She's fine," Octavia smiled, casually waving off Ruby's concerns before leaning and whispering, "but between you and me, I think they're off playing hooky."

"Weiss would never!" Ruby gasped.

Octavia leaned back and shrugged. "Mrs. Adel's been looking a little stressed lately. I think an unscheduled day off might help cheer her back up."

"I guess…" Ruby said, sighing as she rubbed the back of her neck. What was she going to do now?

"Say, if you're free, do you want to grab lunch with me?" Octavia asked like she'd read Ruby's mind.

Flustered, Ruby happily nodded and said, "Where do you want to go? I'll drive."

"Not far," Octavia replied. "There's a little bistro down the block that sells this amazing turkey, bacon, and avocado panini. It's totally to die for!"

Turkey, bacon, and avocados were three things Ruby didn't expect to go well together, but she had eaten weirder things in the past like the time she lost a bet against Ciel and had to eat something she called "balut." Ruby had never seen Ciel so giddy before, but the yolk was on her because it was actually pretty tasty after Ruby got over the squeamish factor.

"Alright," Ruby said, "lead the way."

Octavia quickly took the lead and began telling Ruby all about how adorable Chrys' fake cough was. The story was entertaining, but Ruby was far more interested in Octavia herself. She was only a couple of years older than Ruby, but the gap between them felt larger than a canyon. Octavia was sophisticated, beautiful beyond words, and elegant, the sort of person Ruby could imagine wearing a long cocktail dress while laughing casually along to a smarty-pants conversation at one of Weiss' fancy "soirees." She was also smart as a whip and carried herself with a strong sense of purpose, unlike Ruby who tended to say things before thinking them through and dragging her feet behind her. Octavia also spoke with clarity and never ate her words like Ruby and her motor mouth did. It was an absolute wonder how Weiss understood anything Ruby said.

"I know I already asked you this, but how are you?" Octavia asked, snapping Ruby out of her muse. "You said you were tired, but surely there's more to it than that."

"Not really," Ruby chuckled as she stuffed her cold hands into her skirt's pockets.

When she went to Nobility Inc. today, she didn't expect she'd be walking far, so she came dressed in light, comfortable clothes in case Weiss got a little frisky. After that first time back in early March, it became a semi-regular thing. But Ruby's wise decision backfired spectacularly because the spring air in downtown Vale was too chilly for the thin cotton sweater and skirt she wore.

"The track team's picking up so I've literally been running around like a madman," Ruby explained with a slight shiver. "School's also been a royal pain. And working with my sister is driving me up the wall."

"Oh no, what did Yang do this time?"

"She's been using me as a guinea pig and stuffing me with food until I throw up!" Ruby let out a loud groan, her shoulders slumping as she thought about the literal mountain of cake she had to chew through last night. "If I didn't work out as much as I do, I think I'd be too fat to fit through the door!"

"Well, you do look a lot healthier than when we first met," Octavia carefully said as she tucked some of her rich auburn hair behind her ear.

"I guess I did put on some extra weight," Ruby laughed, unconsciously doing the same.

"That's putting it mildly," Octavia said. "You looked like you were going to wither away whenever the wind blew!"

"Was I really that skinny?" Ruby asked.

"A scarecrow has more meat on its bones than you did."

"Oh," Ruby said, looking down to examine herself. Her clothes had always been a little baggy, especially the hand-me-downs from Yang, but now that she'd put on a good fifteen pounds they all fit her much better. She felt a lot better too. Good food, good friends, good life. Ruby figured she had it all now thanks to Weiss. "I guess you're right," Ruby said with a big grin.

"Bistro's right up ahead!" Octavia excitedly exclaimed, pointing to a cute little shop with pastel pink patio furniture out. "Let's eat outside, the weather's way too nice to be cooped up inside."

"Sounds good," Ruby said even though she wished they'd eat inside instead.

Without asking, Octavia hooked an arm through Ruby's elbow and flashed her a cheeky grin.

"Today's on me," she said, "so order anything you want, okay?"

"Yeaaah, good luck to your wallet then. My sugar mama can barely keep me fed," Ruby laughed, playfully nudging Octavia with her shoulder. "But for real, I can pay for my own meal."

"It's fiiine," Octavia insisted, snorting out a laugh. "And 'sugar mama'? Does Mrs. Adel really let you call her that?"

"Sometimes," Ruby shrugged. "She buys me a lot of fruit instead of cookies and candy though."

Octavia tripped. Her face beet red.

"Are you okay, Octavia?!" Ruby asked as she helped Octavia regain her bearings.

"A-Ah, crap. Silly me, tripping on air," Octavia stammered with an awkward laugh, unable to meet Ruby's gaze.

"Careful, I think you scraped your knee," Ruby said. "I've got some bandaids in my wallet if you want one."

"No, I'm okay, but thank you," Octavia said, clearing her throat as she straightened her blazer and dusted her skirt. "Let's hurry to the bistro before I embarrass myself any further."

"Accidents happen, I trip all the time," Ruby chirped. "Weiss usually catches me though."

Octavia giggled and patted Ruby shoulder. "Well, luckily I had you to catch me today. You are surprisingly strong though, like, wow."

"It takes a lot of muscle to carry the weight of Weiss' ego—joking! Or am I?" Ruby said slyly.

"You might be one of the few people allowed to joke about Mrs. Adel like that," Octavia said with an astonished expression. "Some people try to joke about her in the break room, but a majority don't stand for it. A lot of people look up to her… it's kind of awe-inspiring."

When they got to the foot of the door, Ruby pushed it open and held it for Octavia. They walked in and immediately took a deep breath to savour the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee. Ruby felt her spine tingle with excitement. The store was adorable for a lack of a better word. It was a little on the cozy side with ten small round tables, four of which were two-seaters, but almost all of them were taken by happy customers. There was a lot of natural light filtering in through the large window so Ruby wasn't surprised to see the wide assortment of lush plants along the bright dandelion yellow walls.

"It's really cute in here, huh?" Octavia said when she noticed Ruby wandering gaze.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed.

"C'mon, lines over there," Octavia said, pointing to the counter where two employees were busy serving customers. "Oh, hey, that's the owner; she's really nice."

"Cool," Ruby murmured, mesmerized by the adorable cloud light fixtures with little butterflies hanging from clear fishing line. "When did this place open?"

"Couple of months ago?" Octavia answered, tugging Ruby along. "The menu's a pretty good size."

Ruby glanced at the overhead menu for something she'd like and really only spotted two things that caught her eye, everything else was a little too trendy for her liking. Wheatgrass shots, vegan alternatives, kale—this was the kind of crap Weiss tried to make her eat on their impromptu lunch dates. She'd never succeed, but it was cute watching Weiss try something new only to absolutely hate it and steal Ruby's lunch instead.

A small smile crept up on Ruby's lips as she thought of the day Weiss tried a wheatgrass shot for the first time. Her face went about as green as the foamy liquid in her teeny-tiny one ounce plastic cup. The faces she made that moment were priceless—sort of. She stole Ruby's smoothie to wash out the taste and never gave it back, but she was at least kind enough to buy another plus a bag of chips as compensation for her theft.

"What's got you smiling?" Octavia asked.

"Just thinking about how Weiss would absolutely love this place," Ruby snickered. "But knowing her, she's already been here."

"Really?" Octavia tilted her head curiously and glanced back at the menu. "You know, I always saw her as the type to snub her nose at a fast food place."

"Naaah," Ruby chuckled. "She loves fast food. Her favourite restaurant is this little noodle shop run by a husband and wife—best fried chicken and fried rice I've ever had."

"Oh, interesting," Octavia said with a thoughtful smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

They spent the rest of their time in line discussing the menu and its many healthy options. Octavia tried to suggest other more exciting items to "broaden Ruby's horizons," but she staunchly refused to budge. She wanted that chicken salad wrap more than the three-cheese quinoa spinach quiche or the deluxe acai bowl with the even longer food description, and she definitely wasn't going anywhere near anything that had kale in it. Once was enough, and no matter how hard Neptune or Weiss try, Ruby will never ever acknowledge the existence of kale chips.

"Next!" the woman manning the register called. "Hi, welcome Fresh Waves, may I… hm, wait, you look familiar."

Octavia quirked an eyebrow and pointed to herself. "I come here almost every week, Namiko."

"Not you, silly," Namiko chuckled. "Her."

Now it was Ruby's turn to quirk an eyebrow. "Uh, this is my first time here."

"Aren't you Yang's sister—Robin? No, it was Ruby wasn't it?" Namiko said.

"Uh, yeah? It's Ruby. And wait… your name's Namiko? That sounds really familiar…" Ruby said.

"Yup! I worked with Yang at the Evergreen Café," Namiko clarified.

"Oh, the girl that went to the labour board!" Ruby exclaimed with recognition.

Namiko snapped her fingers and laughed, "Yeah, that's me!"

"Wow, it's nice to finally meet you!" Ruby said. "Yang talked about you a lot before the whole… uh, you know what, never mind."

"I like you, you're funny," Namiko giggled.

"Uh… thanks?" Ruby blushed.

"Anyway, what can I get you two?"

"I'll take the TBA panini with spinach and a large green tea," Octavia said before turning to Ruby. "What do you want?"

"The chicken wrap, no croutons, and a strawberry sunrise smoothie," Ruby said with her wallet in hand.

"No need for that today," Namiko said, shaking her head. "Your meals are on the house today."

"What? No!" Ruby gasped.

"It's okay, call it me repaying an old favour," Namiko said as she pressed a few buttons on the register. When a receipt printed out, Namiko ripped it off and handed it to Ruby. "Yang took real good care of me when I worked with her. She was the only reason why I managed to last as long as I did there."

"Neat," Ruby smiled, though she couldn't help but feel guilty for reaping the rewards of Yang's kindness without her.

"We'll call the number at the bottom of the receipt when your order is ready," Namiko explained. "Until then, take a seat anywhere you'd like."

"Thanks!" Octavia grinned as she hooked her arm around Ruby's elbow and dragged her off to the table she'd been eyeing by the window."

"What happened to sitting outside?" Ruby asked as she pulled Octavia's chair out for her.

"Ooh, how gentlemanly," Octavia giggled. She sat down and allowed Ruby to help push her chair in. "After we pick up our order, yeah."

"Right," Ruby blushed, embarrassed at how she could forget something so simple.

"So, Ruby, tell me a little about yourself," Octavia said. "We haven't had a lot of time to just sit down and talk before."

"Uh," Ruby blushed again, wondering why someone so pretty would want anything to do with her, "what do you want to know?"

"Well, I guess we can start with the basics," Octavia smiled, brushing her hair off her shoulder as she leaned in closer. "What are some of your hobbies?"

Ruby took a second to think and shyly said, "I like running, reading, and playing video games…"

"Wow, how basic," Octavia said with a surprised look.

"Huh?"

"Sorry! That must've sounded so rude—I really didn't mean it in a bad way," Octavia laughed. "I'm just surprised. I kind of assumed you to be more, hm, avant-garde."

"Uh, how?" Ruby said with a quirked eyebrow. "I'm about as normal as normal can get."

"You're dating Mrs. Adel, Ruby! People at the office worship her like a god—it's actually kind of creepy. So, like, we all assumed anyone brave enough to be around her… would… well…" Octavia nervously played with a lock of hair and averted her gaze, letting her words die on her tongue.

"I think your views about Weiss are a little…" Ruby waved her hand trying to gesticulate her thoughts but stopped midway when she realized she was copying Weiss, an action that didn't elude Octavia who giggled beneath a hand. "Uh, ahem," Ruby cleared her throat, her cheeks flushed, "Weiss is a lot more down to earth than people think."

"Really?" Octavia asked.

"Yeah! She loves watching me and Chrys play video games, but she's god awful at playing them herself. She also likes shopping at the mall, seeing movies, and she loves singing along to the radio." Ruby wanted to continue listing every little thing Weiss loved to do, but she quickly realized there wouldn't be enough time in the world. "I know it's hard to think about because she's usually so aloof," she said with a soft smile as she cut off her own train of thought, "but Weiss is just your average twenty-six-year-old."

Octavia's jaw dropped, her eyes wide with shock. "She's twenty-six?" she whispered just loud enough for Ruby to hear, then mouthed the words "what the fuck."

"You didn't know? Wait—how old did you think she was?"

"I thought she was in her mid-thirties!" Octavia exclaimed, practically hissing the end of her sentence.

Ruby blinked. "Really?"

"I just thought she looked really young for her age," Octavia murmured like her whole world had just been turned upside down. "She's three years older than me…what the fuck."

"And Chrys is ten, you do the math."

"Oh wow…"

Ruby smiled and half-heartedly laughed at Octavia's plight. "Hey, you should try talking to her because just between you and me? She's kind of sad people avoid her at work."

"I guess it's pretty lonely at the top," Octavia thoughtfully replied. "I only got to speak to her once at the office and that was back when you first showed up. She asked me about you and I thought I royally messed up. And the second time was at my birthday party, but I was so scared I could barely say anything to her even though she was nice enough to foot the bill—wow, I feel like an asshole!"

"I know she can be intimidating, even my sister's still kinda scared of her, but just give Weiss a chance. She's the sweetest, most thoughtful person ever," Ruby simply answered. "She's kind of awkward though since she doesn't have many friends her age, but that's charming in its own way."

"Hm… I'll give it a try," Octavia said with a thoughtful expression. "I really do want to try and talk to her more, but it's hard when she's so high up on the corporate ladder. One wrong move and I could lose my job… how do you not crumble under all that pressure?"

"I think it's because I met her outside of the office," Ruby answered.

"Right, how did you guys meet?"

"Well…" Ruby smiled, "I was working at the café Namiko mentioned earlier—I was actually her replacement funny enough. Anyway, one day back in September last year, this gorgeous lady walks in with her daughter. I take their orders and serve them their food. Couple of weeks go by, the gorgeous lady shows up again, only this time I'm there as a customer. We end up talking for a bit and she gives me her number… few months later we were a thing."

"Wow, that's kinda cute," Octavia said.

"B15! Order number B15!" Namiko called with a loaded tray in hand.

Ruby checked the receipt and got up. "That's our order. I'll grab it and you get our seats outside?"

"It's fine, my butt's already comfy; let's stay here," Octavia said.

"Got it."

Ruby rushed up to Namiko and thanked her profusely for the free meal, but Namiko waved it off with a smile and a hearty laugh.

"It's really no problem," she said, pushing Ruby's tray towards her before leaning on the counter with her forearms crossed. "Hey, I wanted to ask this earlier, but how's Yang doing? I called her up asking if she wanted to strike up a partnership, but she turned me down saying she got a new gig."

"Ah, that," Ruby said. "My girlfriend's opening a restaurant, so she partnered up with Yang." Namiko quirked an eyebrow and pointed to Octavia who was busy texting on her scroll. "Ah, oh no! Octavia's just a friend."

"Oops!" Namiko laughed. "I'm sorry, you two were so close I misunderstood."

"Nope! Just friends," Ruby laughed along. "My girlfriend actually loves restaurants like these. And with how close it is to her office, I wouldn't be surprised if she stopped by here already."

"Ooh, what does she look like? Maybe she's a regular."

"Long white hair, gorgeous beyond belief, slight accent, ring any bells?"

"No, sorry," Namiko said, shaking her head. "You should bring her some time—Yang too."

"Yeah, will do," Ruby said as she picked up the tray. "Thanks again."

"It's no problem," Namiko said with a final wave. "Enjoy the food."

Lunch with Octavia was a lot more fun than Ruby expected it to be and the food just made it even better. Both the wrap and Octavia's sandwich were cut in half so they ended up sharing, a decision Ruby greatly appreciated after her first bite. She ate her half of the wrap in four quick bites and washed each one down with a sip of her surprisingly sour smoothie. The sandwich was next and it was warm, crisp, and, thanks to cheese, gooey as well. The fresh avocado slices were a little lost between the seasoned turkey and spinach, but its creamy texture shined through brilliantly.

"Do you want another one, Ruby?" Octavia asked with a stifled giggle.

Ruby paused mid-bite and blushed. "It's better than I thought it'd be…"

"I know right?"

"I'll probably grab another now, you want anything?" Ruby asked. "The smoothie's pretty good too; nice and tart."

"I think I'm okay, you go ahead," Octavia said, gesturing to her half-eaten sandwich and the untouched wrap.

"Okay, be right back."

Ruby took her time in line to contemplate a few things she'd been putting off. She always considered herself a shy individual who didn't go out of her way to talk to people so making friends was always difficult. And thanks to high school, Ruby learned she had a strong bias against the "popular people," a description that unfortunately matched Octavia to a T. Beautiful, smart, outgoing—she was essentially Ruby's antithesis. But Octavia wasn't a two-faced liar who only acted nice. She was warm and friendly and didn't let the fact Ruby was dating her boss get in the way of a potential friendship. If anything, Octavia was incredibly brave for reaching out to Ruby.

"Next!" Namiko called out. Ruby looked up from the floor and realized she was already at the counter. "Back so soon?"

"Yeah, that panini with the avacado and turkey was way too good," Ruby laughed.

"Another TBA then?"

"Three actually, and all of 'em to go, please," Ruby said, pulling out her wallet. "I gotta get one for Yang or she'll disown me."

"I hope she likes it then." Namiko totalled up the price and Ruby paid without hassle. "I'll call you when it's ready."

"Thanks!" Ruby said with a cheery smile that died the second she got back to Octavia. "Everything okay?" Ruby asked as she slid into her chair. Octavia shrugged her shoulders without looking up from her scroll. "Is it work?"

"I wish," Octavia grumbled.

"Uh…"

"Sorry, it's nothing." Octavia sighed and put her scroll back into her purse.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," Ruby said before taking a sip of her smoothie.

Octavia flashed her a weak smile as she sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Uh, sure?"

"How do you handle being with someone so busy?"

Ruby blinked. "Uh…?"

"Like," Octavia sighed again as she ran a frustrated hand through her hair, "my girlfriend, Dew, y'know, the cute, dumb blonde that kept asking Mrs. Adel questions? You met her at open mic night?"

"Ah… yeah, I think I remember her."

"Yeah, well, she's a vet, so she's crazy busy all the time," Octavia explained with a loud, dramatic sigh. "She's never home, and when she is, she's always too tired to do anything! I want to go out on fun dates, hang out—hell, I adopted a cat just to get her to talk to me!"

"She doesn't talk to you?"

"Well, she does…" Octavia murmured, "but it's usually just to tell me 'I love you,' which, I guess, isn't so bad."

"How long have you guys been together?" Ruby asked as she rested her chin on her palm.

Octavia giggled and blushed, her eyes lighting up. "We've been together for five years."

"Holy shi—wow! Okay, is this no talking thing new?" Ruby asked with mild concern.

"Yes and no," Octavia replied. "She was fairly busy back when we met, but she still always made time for me… but if I had to pinpoint a time, I think it started when she got a job offer here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, this was about two years ago? We actually broke up for a bit because of the distance. I tried seeing other people, but Dew was the only one I wanted," Octavia said with a wistful expression. "I begged her to try things again, but she told me I'd have to move to Vale if I even wanted a shot."

"Sounds like an easy choice to me," Ruby weakly chuckled, hating how close to home this story was.

Octavia shook her head, her eyes drifting to her purse. "All the offers I had after I graduated were in Vacuo. All my friends and family too—Ruby, I gave up everything to be with Dew..."

"Do you regret it?" Ruby asked.

"Some days… the first year was especially hard on the both of us," Octavia answered. "The bills were piling up and I couldn't get a job anywhere, so I had to rely on Dew for everything."

"How'd you end up working for Weiss?"

"Well, I saw that they were hiring and applied for everything I could," Octavia said. "I got called back for a few interviews, but they all told me I didn't have enough 'work experience.' Like, hello? That's what I'm trying to get! Anyway, after my second failed interview of the day, I was riding the elevator to get to my third and final one when Mrs. Adel joined me on the elevator. I didn't know she was the boss then, I just assumed she worked there."

"Oh?"

"She asked me why I looked so sad, so I gave her my whole sob story. By the time the elevator stopped, I was practically crying on her shoulder… I was so tired, I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed," Octavia said. "I followed her out into the hallway and took a seat in the waiting area, but she told me to keep following her… she ended up taking over the interview instead of just observing. I think I aged about fifty years that afternoon."

"Ah, yeah, Weiss did say you were way overqualified to be a receptionist," Ruby said, unsure of what to say. She took a sip of her smoothie, but it had long since run out. Damn.

"Well, there is a reason for it," Octavia said. "Mrs. Adel offered me an apprenticeship if I can hold the job for a year."

Ruby quirked an eyebrow.

"I have no idea why she picked receptionist though… there wasn't even an opening. They had to bring down an extra chair and computer for me."

"Weiss started out as a receptionist and worked her way up," Ruby said.

"Does… does she want me to do the same?" Octavia asked.

"I don't know," Ruby said, shaking her head. "But what I do know is that she likes you and your work ethic."

"Wow," Octavia blushed.

"Ruby, your order's ready!" Namiko shouted over the clamour of her late afternoon rush.

"Be right back." Ruby hurried over to the front of the line and picked up her food. But on her way back, a man sneezed on her. "Wha—"

"Uh, sorry…" the man said, snorting up his snot as he wiped his nose with his hand then wiped it on his jeans. "I didn't mean to."

Ruby blinked. Her cheek was wet. So was her neck.

The man looked away in embarrassment, his head tucked between his shoulders.

"Dude… what… the fuck…" Ruby hissed as she wiped the mucus off on her shoulder.

"I said I was sorry," he argued, angry that Ruby didn't accept his apology immediately. He swiped his hand across his nose again, only this time he didn't wipe it on his jeans.

"Dude, learn to sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. You're, like, forty!" Ruby muttered before stomping back to Octavia who unfortunately saw the whole incident.

"Uh…"

"Don't…"

"Okay."

"Great," Ruby said, dropping her takeout bag on the table before turning on her heel and making a beeline towards the bathroom.

"Wha—hey! You can't kick me out!"

Ruby glanced behind her and saw the line had given the jerkwad that sneezed on her a wide berth.

"Sir, I am asking you nicely to leave," Namiko commanded. "While I appreciate you taking the time to come here, I am not risking the health of my employees and customers. Please leave."

"I am a paying customer!" the man-child screamed, waving his wallet around like it held importance to anyone else but him. "You saying my money's no good here?!"

"You haven't paid for anything yet," the customer behind him said.

"Yeah, man, you heard the lady, get out!" chimed another man further up in the line.

"This isn't fair!"

"Tell that to the young lady you just sneezed on," Namiko said.

"I said I was sorry! It was an accident okay? An accident! I'm not even that sick, c'mon!" But when Namiko refused to budge, the man-child took a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I demand to speak to the person in charge here! This is harassment!"

"Sir, I'm the owner," Namiko answered with a pleasant custom service smile. "Now, either leave or I call the authorities."

"You know what, fuck this shit hole. I'm never coming back!" the man-child belligerently screamed as he stormed out of the store muttering to himself all the while.

Ruby quickly ducked into the bathroom before anyone noticed she'd been watching the whole scene like a fiery train wreck and washed her face and hands as thoroughly as she could. She went back to Octavia feeling about as clean as she did when she first got sneezed on, but it was better than nothing.

"You should probably go home and take a long, hot shower," Octavia said as she tried her best to stifle her laughter.

"Yeah…" Ruby sighed.

"My lunch break's just about over anyway," Octavia said, glancing down at her wristwatch. "Walk me back?"

"Of course," Ruby said. She grabbed her takeout bag and followed Octavia out the door.

Octavia spent the whole walk back talking about anything under the sun while Ruby stayed mostly silent. Octavia didn't seem to mind though, she was more than happy to carry the conversation on by herself. But as pleasant as the idle chatter was, Ruby couldn't forget about Octavia's problem. Ruby had thought long and hard about her answer, but was it really her place to advise someone who had far more experience than her? Half a year with Weiss could hardly compete with the five long years Octavia was with Dew.

"Aw, looks like we're here," Octavia said with a sad pout.

"Huh? Oh, guess we are," Ruby murmured when she realized they were in the heart Nobility Inc.'s plaza.

"Thanks for the fun afternoon, Ruby," Octavia said. "We should do it again soon."

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun too."

"And, hey, if Mrs. Adel is free, maybe we can all go to Fresh Wave together."

"Sounds good," Ruby replied. Octavia turned to leave, but Ruby stopped her before she could. "Uh, hey, about that thing, from earlier?"

"Huh?" Octavia tilted her head with a questioning look on her face.

"About how I deal with Weiss being so busy," Ruby clarified.

"Oh!"

"She gets stressed easily so I tend to just give her some space and do little things to remind her that I'm still around," Ruby said. "She usually finds me when she's ready… and, uh, we talk a lot. I don't know much about your situation with Dew, but maybe it's time to touch base with her and get her side of things before making any decisions."

"I see…" Octavia said with a thoughtful expression.

"I'm sorry… that's probably pretty obvious, huh?" Ruby groaned, hating herself for saying something so cliché.

"Sort of," Octavia giggled, "but I like the idea. I've been doing nothing but assuming things are going downhill and letting Dew go off on her own, but maybe it's time I take charge and force her to tell me what's on her mind."

"I hear ya on that. Weiss isn't much of a talker, but she tries. And for what it's worth, I really do hope things with you guys work out," Ruby said. "Five years is a long time to just throw away over something you might be able to fix."

"Thanks. I mean it," Octavia said as she pulled Ruby into a hug. "All my other friends just tell me to break up with her and move on, but I don't think I can. Not yet at least."

"Don't listen to them," Ruby replied, hugging Octavia back. "Whatever you have with Dew is worth fighting for."

"Thank you," Octavia said again, hugging Ruby even tighter.

After seeing Octavia off, Ruby got into her car and drove off. She wanted to get into the shower as quickly as possible and crawl into bed for a nap. Despite the good mood she was in, being with Octavia for that brief hour had drained Ruby of what little energy she had left. It was worth it though, and she was excited to tell Weiss all about it when she called her later that night.

"I hope I don't get sick," Ruby muttered.