Melanie's mind was slowly roused from sleep by an incessant scroll's ringtone. She felt a presence shifting in her arms, telling her whoever was in them was awake. "Miltia, who's calling you at this hour…?"
"That's not my scroll, Mel…" an equally tired Miltiades responded.
"It's mine," a third, equally tired, and very familiar voice claimed.
Melanie's eyes shot open. She had forgotten Ruby had spent the night, but there the girl was in her and her sister's arms. Or rather, was, as the redhead sat up to grab her scroll. Melanie looked over at Miltiades, the twins sharing a smile as they recalled the night before.
Ruby hit answer and put the scroll up to her ear, "Helloo…"
"Wow, Rubes, did I wake you up?" Yang's voice was clear and conscious on the other side.
"No, no, I'm fii-" yyaawwwwwnnn "-iine…" Ruby tried to stretch herself awake.
"Sure you are," Yang chuckled, "How late were you up last night?"
"I stayed up in the club while the twins were on shift…" Ruby answered slowly, "Why? What time is it?"
"It's almost ten."
"Almost- what!" Ruby was much more awake now, "Oh shoot, mission selection! Oohhh I am so late!"
"Calm down, Rubes, I got an idea," Yang spoke calmly. After a short moment, Ruby heard her voice again, slightly distorted. "Alright, we got you on speaker. I'm here with Blake and the other one."
"Good morning, Ruby," Blake's voice came through.
"…Hi." Weiss's voice sounded as well.
"Way I see it, we make sure we're on the same page and we should be able to pick a mission we're all happy with without you here," Yang explained. "Then you get to sleep in and spend the day with your girls!"
"That's… actually a good idea," Ruby nodded.
"You don't have to sound so surprised…" Yang grumbled.
"So what are we thinking?" Ruby asked.
"Well… there is that info I got at the rally," Blake spoke up, "About the southeast? I told Ozpin, but I still want to investigate myself…"
"Wait, when did you tell Ozpin?" Weiss asked.
"Last night, during the dance, I spotted someone breaking into the CCT tower," Blake explained, "I missed the last half of the dance because I was being debriefed by Ozpin and General Ironwood. I told them what I saw, and managed to work in the 'southeast' angle."
"So, we shadow a hunter in one of the southeast quadrants?" Ruby tried to steer the conversation back on track, "Maybe check Search and Destroy?"
"I like the sound of that!" Yang sounded excited, "We'll follow them around by day, and give them the slip by night!"
"Sounds like we got a plan," Ruby agreed. As her mind calmed, another yawn signaled her returning fatigue "Now I've got someplace to be…"
"Do you want to stay on as we pick the mission?" Blake suggested.
"Nah, I think we covered everything pretty well," Ruby told her, "I trust you guys."
"Even me…?"
Even across the scroll all four girls could feel the silence fall after Weiss's comment. Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought out her response. "I trust that you won't let private problems affect how RWBY works as a team," Ruby decided on her answer, "everything else, is… a longer discussion for a later date. Preferably not on speaker over my sister's phone."
"… I understand," Weiss responded.
"Enjoy your day, Ruby," Blake bid farewell.
"Just not too much!" Yang teased.
"Shut up, Yang…" Ruby retorted with no energy and hung up.
"So, are we losing you now…?" Miltiades asked with sleep in her voice.
"Absolutely…" Ruby tossed her scroll aside and leaned back, "not!" She settled back into place between Melanie and Miltiades, "Team's got mission pickin' covered. I'm all yours today."
"Good," Melanie smiled.
"It's too early to stay awake any longer…" Miltiades agreed.
The three girls returned to a comfortable sleep for another few hours.
Miltiades roused from sleep once again, more naturally this time. She opened her eyes to see Ruby and Melanie still snoring lightly, noses less than an inch apart. The red twin smiled as she did every time she was reminded of her and her sister's suddenly successful romance. Sometimes it seemed too good to be true, but then Ruby would text them or show up to take them to lunch. Or invite them to Beacon's equivalent of a prom. Despite the little white road bump, last night was absolutely perfect.
"What are you smiling about, Miltia?" Melanie asked, surprising her sister who didn't know she was awake yet.
"Probably the same thing you're smiling about," Miltiades pointed out her teasing sister's own smile.
"Girls, girls…" Ruby interrupted, her eyes still closed, "I know I'm cute, but you're going to give me a complex."
The twins both turned red at being caught red-handed. Thankfully, Ruby's eyes were still closed and they were able to play it off. "We can't help it!" Melanie recovered first.
"You're just too cute," Miltiades kissed Ruby's cheek.
Ruby smiled and finally opened her eyes, turning her head to look up at Miltiades. "I may be cute, but you two," Ruby kissed Miltiades then Melanie in turn with an exaggerated mwah, "Are beautiful."
"Keep up the sweet talk," Melanie smirked, "and you may not be leaving this bed…"
Ruby was finally getting used to Melanie's suggestive teasing and was able to respond, even if her cheeks were still bright red at the thought. "As tempting as that may or may not be," Ruby answered, "My tummy is yelling at me…"
"Party pooper," Melanie directed to comment at the redhead's stomach.
"What's on the menu for breakfast?" Ruby asked, finally sitting up and checking her scroll. It was already almost one in the afternoon. "Or whatever you girls call this meal."
"Breakfast," Melanie confirmed, "We have cereal…"
"Some oatmeal…" Miltiades helped her sister list off.
"We might have a few eggs we can cook up..."
"Or pancakes…"
"We could always have breakfast in town, too!"
"We're off tonight, there's no reason to stay in the club."
"So what do you want, Ruby?"
The redhead had slumped back onto the bed while the twins conversed. "I wanna stay in bed…" she answered.
Melanie rolled her eyes, "But it was your stomach that made us get up. Come on, sweetheart," she took Ruby's hands and guided her off the bed, "You can have first shower. The water will wake you up."
"You can use whatever products you see, we don't have anything too fancy," Miltiades offered.
"Alright, alright, fine…" Ruby fake-pouted, "but only cuz you asked nicely…"
Ruby stepped out of the bathroom dressed in all but her boots and hood, feeling refreshed and awake. Her ankle was feeling leagues better as well and would likely be all healed up before the next morning. Just in time for the mission, she thought to herself as she entered the living room. "I'm done in the shower, girls!"
"Sounds good!" the twins chimed as they stepped past Ruby.
"We'll be quick as we can," Miltiades promised.
"Then we'll go get breakfast!" Melanie finished.
Ruby watched them both shut the door, realization creeping slowly. Of course they're sharing a shower… Ruby was starting to believe her blush would become permanent if she was not careful with where her thoughts proceeded next. To distract herself, she decided to take a look around the apartment and try to parse how the twins lived when she wasn't around.
Looking around, it almost seemed like Melanie and Miltiades could be the result of if Ruby herself were somehow split in two. Or if her and Weiss were born as twins. Nothing felt like it would be out of place in a future home for the redhead, even though she knew Miltiades didn't play the video games stashed under the TV, and Melanie wasn't an avid reader of the books that littered bookshelves.
Ruby could imagine an average night for the twins. A gamepad in Melanie's hand, taking on challenge after challenge with the press of a few buttons. Miltiades with a book or two, letting the words on the page take her to worlds outside her own. Both on the couch, spending their time together even if they were doing separate things. And of course, Ruby could imagine herself snuggled between them, alternating between the two activities and sharing many, many close moments.
Her imagined future with the twins made her smile. Sitting down on the couch and thinking about how the future in very nearly reality already, made her smile even wider.
"And what is making you so happy?"
Either the twins were really fast in a shower, or Ruby lost track of time worse than she thought. Either way, the surprise didn't kill her mood in the slightest. "I just love you two so much," Ruby confessed.
The twins smiled and descended onto the couch next to her, faces within kissing distance. "We love you too," They chimed with equal smiles.
After kisses were shared, Ruby spoke up. "Hey, how about after breakfast we come back here? Have a lazy day. No pressure, no 'date'. Just us, some games, some books, and a whole lotta snacks?"
The twins shared a look of surprise that made Ruby question, "What did I say?"
"Nothing!" Melanie quickly assured.
"We were discussing how we were going to make this day with you worth it while we showered," Miltiades elaborated, "And neither of us thought of a 'lazy day'."
"Oh," Ruby nodded, "So what do you want to do?"
The twins found their smile again, "A lazy day sounds perfect."
"Now!" Ruby stood and pointed nowhere specific, putting on her best mock-serious voice, "To breakfast! Before my belly gets any angrier!"
Miltiades giggled at their girlfriend's antics while Melanie answered, "Aye aye, captain!"
"NO no no nO NO!" Ruby cursed as her video game avatar died yet again. "How do people enjoy these games!?"
"It's all about the challenge, Gem," Melanie rubbed Ruby's back lightly to try and calm her.
"And if I die again anywhere between the safe zone and that boss, I'll lose the 20,000 blackblood I took in with me!" Ruby continued to complain, "So now I can't ditch this boss cuz I have to beat him to walk away with those!"
"I told you, you should have leveled up," Melanie reminded her.
"Grrrr…" Ruby growled.
"Just think of it this way," Miltiades offered from over the top of her book, "Think of how it'll feel when you finally do beat 'em. Mel got stuck on this same boss, and I'm pretty sure the clubgoers could hear her scream of joy over the music downstairs after she won."
"And you actually have better stats then I did back then," Melanie revealed, "You've got this Ruby!"
"If you say so…" Ruby sighed and tried to psych herself up. "Kiss for good luck?"
Melanie smiled and granted Ruby her wish. "Go get 'em, Gem."
Ruby carefully and quickly moved her character around and between dozens of enemies, thankfully without taking a hit this time, in a b-line straight for the boss. Ruby entered the boss arena with a quiet mind and a plan. The more human-sized enemies seemed to have a special weakness to counters with a weapon's gun form. Maybe this boss has the same effect?
As the fight began, Ruby's scroll buzzed. Miltiades decided to answer for the redhead, since she was currently occupied. She grabbed the scroll and stood behind the couch to speak without affecting Ruby's game. Big Sis, eh? Miltiades read off the contact before answering. "Hello, Yang."
"Miltia?" The blonde on the other end asked, "Or wait, are you Melanie?"
"It's Miltia," The red-dressed twin responded.
"Where's Ruby? I did call her scroll, right?" Yang asked.
"She's in the middle of a crazy boss fight right now," Miltia answered.
Yang sighed, "What, can she not pause?"
"Not in 'Blood of the Grimm'."
"You got her to play Blood of the Grimm!?" Yang seemed a bit more excited now, "I've been trying to get her into that for weeks! How'd you do it?"
"Mel did, I don't really play video games," Miltia informed her.
"Where is she? In the game?" Yang asked, whatever topic she initially called for seemingly forgotten.
"Well, she's fighting an old man…"
"WHAT THE HECKIE!?" Ruby suddenly screamed at the game.
"…Who apparently turns into a large Beowolf."
"Ah, I think I got it…"
"Before we completely forget, what did you call for?" Miltiades tried to get the conversation back on track.
"Oh yeah, I just wanted to know if Rubes is gunna be here tonight. Tell her to let me know when she's done?" Yang asked.
"I'll pass the message," Miltiades promised.
"Cool beans. Talk to you later!"
"Bye, Yang."
"I died again…" Ruby groaned, slumping on the couch.
"Maybe, but you did learn something about the fight and made more progress into it than you have yet," Melanie pointed out.
"I guess so…" Ruby thought about it for a moment before smiling, "yeah, I did, huh? I think I'm starting to understand how this game is supposed to be enjoyed. Still need all that blackblood back though."
"So get after him already," Miltiades pressed.
"Oh, hey, what did Yang want?" Ruby asked.
"It can wait until you've won," Miltiades draped herself across the back of the couch and wrapped her arms around Ruby, "So you better win soon."
"Yeesh, no pressure…" Ruby leaned back into Miltiades's arms and made for the boss again.
It took two more attempts before Ruby was victorious, and she jumped right out of Miltiades's arms and off the couch with joy. "WOO! Finally! Haha! And I didn't even lose my blackblood!"
"And a warp point is right there," Melanie guided her, "So go level up already!"
"On it!" Ruby sat back down and made sure to spend her currency properly this time.
"Congratulations, Ruby!" Miltiades kissed her girlfriend's cheek.
"That was the second boss!" Ruby realized, turning to Melanie, "And you say you've beaten this game?"
"I have," Melanie confirmed, "and technically, that was the first required boss. The other one wasn't necessary to beat the game."
"Really?" Ruby questioned, "Then why did I fight them!?"
"To get some cool stuff?" Melanie shrugged.
"Oye…" Ruby groaned and turned back to Miltiades, "Well, in the world of sane people, how was your book?"
"Getting good," Miltades nodded, picking it back up, "I'm in the final third, and things are getting heated between the main character and… himself, I guess?"
Ruby arched an eyebrow and read the spine of the book. The Man with Two Souls. "I think you and Blake would get along really well," the redhead noted.
"Speaking of your team," Miltiades interrupted, "Yang wanted to know where you're spending tonight?"
"Oh shoot, what time is it?" Ruby checked her scroll. Nine-thirty!? That's a little later than I intended… Ruby looked back up to see Miltiades hopeful face. As much as it made Ruby want to give in, she had to be a responsible huntress-in-training as well. "I'd love to stay again, but our mission starts early. I lucked out this morning, but I can't afford to be late tomorrow. I'd better head back to Beacon…"
The twins looked sad to part with Ruby, but they understood. "What we said before still matters," Melanie opened.
"Be careful, and text us the second you're back safe!" Miltiades continued.
"We'll miss you," Melanie told Ruby.
"We love you," Miltiades spoke for both twins.
"And I love you," Ruby kissed Miltiades. "Both of you," she followed up, kissing Melanie as well.
Ruby stood and gathered her pajamas and the dress, which were now stashed in the backpack Yang brought. She looked back to the twins on the way out the door and saw them watching her. She wanted to say something to lift the mood again. "Say, after I come back safe and sound, maybe we can talk about doing this again?" Ruby offered, "Maybe the weekend after my mission, I can stay Friday night and Saturday night, then go back to Beacon Sunday night so I'm ready for Monday classes?"
It had the desired effect as the twins smiled brightly. Having something to look forward to like that certainly improved their mood. "It sounds like a plan already," they replied in harmony.
Ruby found her smile again as well. "Good," she nodded.
Ruby left shortly after, texting Yang that she was heading back. When Ruby got to the dorm, she was both glad and upset that Weiss was already asleep. Though seeing that it was already ten, Ruby couldn't say she was surprised. Hopefully we can have our talk sooner rather than later, Ruby wished as she settled into her own bunk.
