Fog
[Ruby]
Date: Saturday, March 27th

Ruby swung the apartment door closed with her ankle, holding a bag of take-out food in her mouth and a few grocery bags in her arms. She'd dropped Weiss off at her family's estate and headed straight to town to pick up food, last time she'd checked her cabinets were slap empty. How she and Weiss managed to find something to eat was beyond her.

Had they eaten yesterday? She couldn't remember.

Ruby dropped the bag of food on the table, she let out a yawn and set the groceries down, reaching up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She glanced towards the framed picture on the coffee table by the couch, a little smile pulled at the corners of her lips and she lifted her Styrofoam cup towards her lips to take a sip, her eyes moved towards the clock.

9:37pm.

Now was usually around the time that she and her girlfriend would cuddle on the couch and find something to watch on TV, it would've been her turn tonight. Gods, she'd been looking forward to that…

She quickly put the groceries and grabbed her food, hoping it hadn't gotten cold yet. Not that she wasn't used to cold food, she'd spent nearly two years on it, she just prefers it warm. That wasn't weird, was it?

The brunette made herself comfortable on the couch and pulled the blue and white blanket over her legs, her heart fluttered and she lifted it to her nose. Ah, that's right. This was Weiss' blanket, it smelled like blueberry and lavender… 'I wonder how she's doing.' She took a bite of her food and withdrew her phone from her side, clicking it and bringing up Weiss' contact listed as 'Snowpea'.

She tapped away at the screen with one hand, switching the TV on with her other. Her brows furrowed at the sight of a familiar face popping up on the news. "Hey, I know him." Ruby said aloud, brushing her bangs out of her eyes to get a better look of the emotionless man in the corner of the screen.

"-Rosso McCarthy was found with his throat slit open. Investigators are currently trying to locate the person responsible."

'Ace.' Ruby choked briefly and swallowed hard. Weiss was the one responsible… But they wouldn't have anything leading towards her, right? Unless she'd touched him somehow. A burning emotion spread through her chest and she bit down hard on her food. That jackass had tried to touch her.

He deserved death. Maybe not that violent, but still.

"Erjon Sullevian and Dominic Guerra were also found at the scene." The broadcaster announced.

"Who?" Ruby frowned, glancing at the pictures as they appeared next to Ace's mugshot. Her silver eyes glanced towards the messed up face of Fuse, he wore a look of confusion, while Zero wore an annoyed expression and a shoulder cast.

A wave of guilt pulled at her heart suddenly.

This was all her fault… Had she simply rejected-... This could have been prevented, yet she'd indulged her violent side. She was trying to drive away from that side of her, but she had gone in reverse! Gods, what had she done?!

She'd fucked up Zero's shoulder, her sister had likely destroyed Fuse's entire mentality, and her girlfriend had killed a man. People were hurt because of her decision...

No. Ace had tried to… hurt Weiss. Zero was trying to kill Ruby, and Fuse intended on killing Yang… That was an act of self-defense, right? Ruby's hands turned into fists and she doubled over, an unbearable wave of self-blame twisting inside of her gut, dragging her heart down and tremors wracked through her. There should've been a better way than to hurt people!

"Guerra refuses to speak the name of the person who assaulted him, and has no intentions of speaking to the proper authorities," the TV announcer said loudly into the microphone, "Sullevian, unfortunately, does not remember anything of the event and currently suffers from-"

Ruby switched the TV off and drew in a deep, shaky breath. With trembling fingers, she turned her phone on to check the weather, finding that it'll be rather windy tomorrow with a high chance of snow. Considering she works the afternoon shift, she's not all that worried about the roads being blocked.

As her grief settled beneath the surface, the brunette started for the kitchen on wobbly legs. She felt like, with each step, that her knees would buckle beneath her weight. Ruby set the food inside the fridge and moved towards the bedroom, using the wall to keep herself upright as indescribable, heavy emotion barreled through her body.

'Breathe.' She told herself, entering her bedroom and climbing into her bed.

A tremor harshly wracked her body, tightening her lungs as every nerve in her body constricted. She reluctantly opened her eyes, finding herself tucked into a dark, tight space. There was a consistent ringing in her ears, partially drowning out the inaudible noise reverberating all around her.

It was dark…

A sliver of light shone through a crack in the wall and Ruby's feet stiffly moved towards it. She could hear heavy breathing… The light gradually became brighter and larger. There was someone standing in front of her…

Silver eyes stared back at her. 'Mom?' Ruby opened her mouth to call out to her, but it only came out as a desperate squeak.

A loud, collateral noise echoed through her head and the shadowy figure of her mother spun around instantly, disappearing from her line of sight. Ruby closed her eyes as the sound became increasingly louder in her ears, wincing with her hands acting as sound barriers.

She shook her head. 'Leave me alone.' She told the nagging noise ringing in her ears.

'It's your curse, little red.' A little voice said in the back of her mind, sending chills up her spine and paranoia to her brain. She fixed her eyes on the floor and let out a deep breath as an attempt to relax her trembling nerves. She had to get out of here before Weiss saw her… The voice returned, a pitch higher. 'Peril follows you wherever you go… Murders everyone close to your heart.'

Tears stung at her eyes, her body trembling. The voice wasn't wrong… Her apparent curse had put Weiss in the way of harm so many times, her curse had killed people… There wasn't anything she could do to make up for it.

She'd might as well identify as a coldblooded murderer...

'I'm so sorry.'


A faint ringing noise awoke Ruby from her restless sleep, she blinked her blurry silver eyes opened and leaned over to grab her phone from the foot of the bed. It vibrated in her hand as she desperately swiped at the screen as an attempt to answer the incoming call.

"Miss Rose?"

She recognized the voice as her Boss, Ingrid Jarlson. "Are you available to come in and cover Barley's shift?" Ingrid asked, shouting at someone in the background before returning to the phone. "He called in and said that his wife has gone into labor."

Ruby rubbed at her eyes, "Uh, yeah, sure." She answered politely, glancing over at the time and swallowing a groan. It was 5:56 in the morning… Gods, who went to work this early?! "I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Splendid! See you." Ingrid says before the call cuts short. Ruby let out a sigh and slid off the bed. She would need a shower to wake up if she wanted to be any bit useful at work this morning.

Ruby skimmed through her texts for an update from her girlfriend, her heart dropping a little when she noticed that the heiress hadn't even read the message. Well, maybe she was busy. She was an heiress after all…

The brunette got up from the bed and tiredly trudged to her bathroom for a shower, she flicked the light on and removed her clothes, tossing them across the room carelessly. She needed just a quick five-minute shower, maybe less…


Ruby rubbed her eyes as she pulled her truck into park, her gaze drifting over to see a familiar green vehicle parked a few spaces away. She let out a sigh and exited the truck, clicking it locked with her keys as she started inside the back of the building. The smell of coffee hit her nose instantly as she entered, placing her belongings in her bag, she looked up as a redhead entered the room.

"Ruby!" Penny squealed, bolting over to her and embracing her in a bone crushing hug, lifting the taller girl off the floor. The brunette let out an 'eep' as all of the air in her lungs were forced out, she felt as though her spine was about to snap, "You're here! Ingrid said I can be your apprentice, we're gonna be working together, isn't that great?!"

Ruby wheezed as she was set back on her feet, needing a moment to refill her lungs with oxygen. She breathed in heavily, clearing her throat. "Yeah," she coughed as her manager walked into the room, "that's great… But why?" Last time she'd checked, Penny worked at a cosmetics store. "Did you get fired?"

"They were looted last night and put out of business." Ingrid explained as she gave the redhead an apron, Penny's eyes lighting up with awe, slipping it on and giving herself a quick examination. "So I offered your friend a temporary spot here!"

She looked towards her friend with a worried expression, "Wait, huh?" She grabbed Penny's shoulders. "You okay? Did it happen-"

She waved her off, "I'm fine, we were all at home."

Ingrid cleared her throat and the young women looked at her. "Get to work you two." She says, gesturing towards the front room. Ruby nodded and started for the counter after applying everything she needed to her side, a notepad and a pen, with Penny strolling closely behind her, "Remember to refill the soda machine! We were told that half of it was carbonated water." Ingrid calls.

Ruby fought the urge to scowl at the older woman. 'Well why didn't you refill it when you got here?' She let out a sigh, "Penny, open the doors and take the chairs off the table. I'll refill the soda machine." The redhead gave a brief 'aye aye' and moved towards the door. Ruby opened her mouth to correct her, but decided against it and stepped into the room.

A loud crash grabbed her attention and she turned around, groaning when she saw that Penny had somehow broken a chair getting it down from the table. "Okay." She rubbed her forehead, grabbing a piece of paper from her side. She quickly scribbled down the instructions and handed them to her redheaded friend. "Follow these instructions and refill the machine." Ruby instructed her as the redhead took the paper.

Penny grinned and hopped away. "Okay!" She says happily as Ruby carefully took down a chair from the table, getting the rest of them down before taking the broken one to the back room. Ruby heard the entrance chime and she quickly scurried back to the counter, looking up and her expression becoming stoic almost instantly.

"Hey, Ruby!" Neptune greeted as he approached her with a blonde man with spiky hair behind him, the unknown man's tail lashing curiously behind him. "Can we get a Number #2 with extra eggs?"

"Bacon!" The blonde man called from behind him.

Neptune let out a light laugh. "Sorry. Extra bacon." He gestured back to Sun, "This is my boyfriend, Sun Wukong."

Ruby moves away from the counter to approach the kitchen, calling the order in for Amaranthine to hear. She returned to Neptune, "So where's Weiss?" She asked as the blonde man seated himself next to Neptune, his legs spread comfortably. "I thought you two didn't wanna be saw out together?"

The blue-haired man shrugged. "We decided 'fuck it.' Who cares if people see us together?"

Ruby's hand clutched the edge of the table as irritation pricked at her chest. Neptune glanced to her and his eyes widened as she glared at him, "I can't believe my relationship rests in your hands." She glowered.

He raised a brow as Sun finally spoke, "Bro, I thought you said she was nice?"

"She usually is." Neptune answers, propping his elbows up on the table, "What's up?" He asked curiously.

Ruby's brow twitched. "Oh I don't know," she started with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, "You're pretendin' to be my girlfriend's fake boyfriend, but you don't care if people see you out when your boyfriend." Sun and Neptune shared a glance. "Which'll lead people to thinking you're either cheatin', or you two broke up. Which ain't good for us at all, it means Weiss and I can't be seen alone together!"

"Oh, yeah, uh, sorry about that…" Neptune grinned nervously as a young man exited the kitchen with their food, setting it in front of them and asking if they needed anything else. Ruby glanced up as Penny exited the back, she reached under the table to hand the men their cups. Neptune took his and slid it over to Sun, "Coke." He said plainly as the blonde got up to fetch their drinks.

Neptune leaned in, "There's a small problem," he informed the brunette, "I haven't heard from Weiss in two days, and I'm heading back to my hometown." Ruby's heart drops as realization settles. "I'm really sorry, but unless you two want to break up-"

Her hand hit the table with a loud smack, interrupting the man. "No." She told him sternly, "We'll figure something out." She looked towards Sun, "How long have you two been open about your relationship?"

Neptune grinned. "Oh! About a month now!"

Ruby swallowed a groan of disdain. "You couldn't have warned us beforehand?!" She asked in annoyance as Sun sat back down, "Do you have any idea what could happen if people found out about us?"

He frowned, "Well, nobody's seem to have-"

"That's because you're a dude!" Ruby cut him off, breathing in a deep sigh to relax herself. She continued as calmly as she could, "You're a man who's high in status ranking. They won't care if you have multiple flings."

Neptune's brows wrinkled, "Then how-"

"Weiss is a woman, an heiress. If somethin' happens for you two have split, they'd put the blame on her." Her voice lowers to a whisper as someone else enters, wearing pajamas. "Which means Weiss' new relationship, or even a subtle hint of a new partner, would be all over the news." Her hand clutched the table again, "I wouldn't be able to protect her from that…"

"Why would you need to protect her…?" Neptune asked in confusion, Ruby frowned at him. "If she feels like she's in danger, she can just assign some bodyguards… Tell her-"

She shook her head, clutching the end of the counter to prevent herself from trembling. Her nerves felt cold. "No, no… It's notta' simple as that."

"Well," Neptune grabbed her attention, "I can stop by after we leave and see how she's doing?"

Ruby smiled a bit, "Yeah, thanks…"