Weiss nervously gripped her other hand, averting her eyes from the people in front of her, their voices droning on like a constant buzz in her ears. Their poetry wasn't that interesting, which was fine because she really didn't want to be here anyways. Her mother sat beside her, wearing a plastic smile. The difference between them was that Weiss tried less to look as if she was enjoying it.
Weiss felt a forceful tap on her shoulder, her mother giving her a look. Weiss obediently returned her attention to the center stage, where a short boy in a tuxedo recited a poem Weiss didn't know the topic of.
...the sky, heavy.
I find the sea, crushing.
I find reality, weathering.
Then he bowed, and about a thousand people stood up and clapped, cheering for him as he backed off the stage. Weiss joined them, hardly caring either way. She put up a smile anyways, sitting down when the next poet came onto stage. She listened only briefly before tuning it out again, faking her interest while on the inside she receded back to her small corner of peace.
Her mental wall kept out all the thoughts that threatened to wash her over. Chosen thoughtlessness was much more preferable than conscious drowning. The two-hour recital passed her by, neither noticing her nor caring about her individually. Her mother only had to slap her wrist once more before Weiss made sure to stand and applaud at the right intervals.
The room cleared out as the shop cleared up, and Weiss and her mother joined the crowd of people. "Well, that was nice. How did you enjoy it?" Her mother said to her, but Weiss failed to hear. "Weiss."
"Hm?" Weiss jumped, looking up at her mother in mild surprise. The older woman sighed, giving her a disapproving look.
"Weiss, I asked if you enjoyed it."
"I thought it was wonderful." Weiss replied immediately, forcing a smile She had really disliked the whole event. She held her mother's gaze until she looked away, apparently sated. Weiss turned her own eyes back to her feet, which were dressed in sparkling white leather. The soles sank deep into plush, rich red fabric, and she felt like she was walking on air with no stable ground to walk on. It left her with an unpleasant feeling as she followed her mother out into the night, the cool breeze feeling good on her bare arms, blowing her elegantly designed white dress around her.
"Now, your father is home in a week. He'll be bringing a certain suitor with him. I do hope you remember whom." Her mother said as she fished for her keys in a snakeskin purse.
"Of course. Jaune Arc, son of Augustin Arc, head owner of Arc Designs."
"Do not mention his father's name around him, Weiss. Men are prideful creatures, and that makes them delicate."
Weiss dipped her head. "I'm sorry."
Beep beep.
They both entered a shiny new BMW. "What are his achievements?"
"He's renowned for his track scores in the Olympics, winning Gold on two occasions, Silver four times and Copper Twice." Weiss replied immediately, the answers drilled into her head after hours of discussing the young man. She thought he sounded boring, and that his shiny medals really didn't make him that appealing.
"Indeed. He's a very nice man, from what your father says. You'll like him."
Weiss smiled, swallowing the lump in her throat as fast as it came up. "Yes, I'm sure. He sounds nice." Her mother seemed pleased with this and let their conversation go, paying full attention to the road as she pulled out of the driveway and slipped into city life traffic. Weiss looked down at her hands and watched her finger curl and uncurl, the passing lights playing on her skin.
Twenty minutes passed and they were pulling up into a large, grandiose stone driveway through an open iron gate, smoothly coming to a stop in front of a massive mansion. Her families' mansion. An old man dressed in a stark white tuxedo, so pressed and cleaned that it practically sparkled, even in the low light, met them.
"Jack." Her mother greeted him, not even giving him a spare glance as she dropped the keys into his hand. Weiss smiled softly at him, and he smiled back.
"Mistresses." He replied with a deep bow. Weiss felt a twinge of discomfort, wishing he didn't need to do such ridiculous things. The entire act seemed wasted on people who really didn't appreciate it, like her mother, or people such as herself who just found it awkward.
She followed her mother up to a set of sprawling, marble stairs, the rails ending in gargoyle heads, features frozen in grimaces. At the front set of doors, two life size gargoyles greeted them on either side, faces twisted into ferocious visages. Weiss had never much liked them, and wondered who decided to keep them around. The doors had deep grooves carefully carved into them, creating graceful swirls in the wood, trimmed in gold.
Even the doorknob was made of silver, encrusted in rubies.
The door opened for them, and Weiss' mother pushed past the door opener with no recognition. Weiss was too ashamed to thank them, aware that the servants likely didn't differentiate between the two of them.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Weiss." Her mother said, hanging her coat up on a twisting rack designed like a tree, except like almost everything else in the manor, it was made from gold.
"Goodnight, mother." Weiss bid her, and that was that. Weiss undressed down to her sweater and pale jeans, not bothering to glance around the huge foyer, heading straight for a set of stairs located to the far left.
She made for her room, located right in a long, left wing hallway. She stepped in and found her bed made, even though she had no recollection of doing so. She ignored the feeling of annoyance that welled up in her chest, subduing it and letting it deteriorate into the feeling of discontent she was used to. The servants were only doing their jobs, after all.
She left her boots at the door, undressing completely to the nude and turning her lights off with a soft double clap of her hands. She crawled into her meticulously made med, disturbing the comforters as much as possible. Above her was a white ceiling, a barren expanse. She stared at it unseeing, running through the mental process of discarding all the memories or feelings she'd gathered throughout the course of today.
Just like that, none of anything that she had experienced over the last twenty-four hours mattered. With a deep sigh, Weiss rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes.
Morning came for her, heralded by singing birds outside her windowsill. She blinked, blearily trying to get rid of the after affects of sleep. Turning on her side, she fished around for her phone, and felt a wave of excitement wash through her. Her mother had left her a text.
Weiss, I'll be gone for most of the day. Amuse yourself if you can.
There was no I love you, or have a good day, but Weiss didn't really care. Rarely did she get the chance to leave the house without a reason; when she did, it was always a pleasant time of sightseeing and relaxing. Her mind raced as she dressed, thoughtfully picking out a set of casual clothes that would do nicely for what she had in mind, a pair of baby blue jeans and a beige turtleneck sweater.
She passed on breakfast, refusing it when a serving maid had tried to push it on her. "Thank you, Angelica. Don't worry, I'll get something while I'm out if I must." She said, if only to appease the woman.
Angelica didn't smile when she wished her a pleasant outing.
Weiss had to open the front door for herself, no one there to do it for her. She didn't mind or care, and was in fact happier to do it for herself. Everyone knew she spent enough time having things done for her, against her will or not.
"Good morning, Miss." Jack, who was waiting by a sleek limousine, greeted her. He smiled, and Weiss smiled back. She liked Jack; he was a nice man.
"Good morning, Jack. I'd like you take me into the city." She said, "A park would do nicely."
"Certainly." He said, going around the vehicle to hold the back door open for her and asking no questions. Servants seldom did. Weiss thanked him and crawled into a heavily lavished backseat, every gizmo or gadget known to man available to her. It was simply another example of her family's ridiculous wealth.
Her reasons were simple; from a park she could partake in being away from home, the morning weather and dogs. She didn't own one herself, but she used to have a friend who did, a large, jolly purebred Sheppard named Tom.
She didn't look out of the window until they'd left the estate behind. When she finally did, the scenery had changed to an urban setting, filled with tall buildings and heavy traffic. She imagined herself as part of the working class rabble and wondered how any of them possibly did it. As the thought crossed her mind, a mother and her baby were suddenly bumped into the road, and Weiss almost shouted out as a car came within inches of hitting them, swerving just in time. Weiss looked away with wide eyes, breathing faster than normal. It's so much more brutal... She thought, heart thumping in her chest.
The limo slowed to a stop, and Weiss fixed her hair one more time. Jack was there almost immediately to get the door for her.
"How long will you be out, Miss?" He asked, lending her a hand. She took it and stepped out of the vehicle, eyes searching the area. They were at a public green park, full of people. Normal, everyday people.
"I'll call you, Jack. Go ahead and get yourself something to eat." She told him, though she knew he'd wait for her anyway.
"Very well Miss." He said, bowing to her as he stepped back into the limo and rolled his window up. Weiss never looked back as she moved forward into the park, with no real goal in mind. Her spirits quickly began to soar, listening to the buzz of the city around her. Dogs ran by her, shapes and sizes and colors varying per canine, the lot of them barking jovially. Weiss smiled, planking herself down in the grass. Just then, a tiny little black and white dog flew by, paying her no heed but gaining her attention. It ran up to a girl, who giggled and shouted at him as he tried to get her to throw what appeared to be a Frisbee.
The little creature yipped in annoyance, tail whipping from side to side as it waited for the girl to throw the thing. She giggled at it, and Weiss found herself watching, amused. The brunette wore a red sweater and grey track pants, holding the blue disk shaped object close to her chest.
"Yip!" The dog barked, jumping up at her legs. This incited a loud peel of laughter from the girl as she tossed the Frisbee hard, sending it a long ways. The dog happily leapt after it, tripping on his own short little legs until he found his bearing, barking ecstatically as he tried to catch it. The disk bounced off a tree trunk and the dog leaped into the air, doing a flip as he caught it in between his small jaws.
"Yay Zwei!" The girl cheered, giggling as she ran up to the small creature. Its entire body seemed to wiggle when she dove for it, running out of the way towards Weiss at the last second to avoid her.
Weiss smiled at their playing, shying away awkwardly when the dog seemed to take notice of her and make a beeline, Frisbee flopping around in his mouth.
"Zwei!" The girl called again, picking herself up off the ground, still grinning widely. Zwei, who was apparently the dog, barrelled right into Weiss' legs, dropping the Frisbee off at her feet and barking. Weiss drew away, a little unnerved by its sudden closeness.
"Zwei!- Ugh, I'm sorry, he's like that!" The girl apologized, though she didn't seem overly concerned, giving Weiss a disarming smile. It seemed unnaturally natural to Weiss.
"Oh, uhm, it's fine with me. I like dogs..." Weiss said, bolting to a stand. Zwei barked at her again, and Weiss couldn't help a small giggle at the frantic expression on his face when she looked down at him.
"Huh, I guess he likes you! That's Zwei- I'm Ruby!" Ruby said, holding out a grass stained hand to Weiss.
Ruby.
Weiss awkwardly accepted the handshake, looking down nervously. She wasn't used to physical contact of any sort.
"Glad to make the, uh, acquaintance!" Ruby said, and Weiss smiled and nodded. Ruby took her hand away and wiped it carelessly on her pants, obviously not caring. A small part of Weiss envied that, imagining if she did such a thing to one of her hundreds of dollars pairs of pants. Zwei suddenly grabbed her boot and Weiss stepped back with a yelp, hands going up to either side.
Ruby burst out into laughter, and Weiss looked at her as if she was crazy. "He's not going to hurt you, silly! He wants you to throw it for him!"
Oh. "O-oh. Well, I... Okay then, Zwei." Weiss stammered, feeling foolish as blood rushed to her cheeks. She bent down and picked up the slobbered on disk with a grimace. Zwei did circles and yipped happily for a few seconds, then froze altogether facing Weiss, locking eyes.
"Hold it for a little bit and watch what he does!" Ruby urged quietly, and Weiss giggled, already having witnessed it.
"Okay..." She said, holding the gross object in her hands. She quickly forgot about its textures when Zwei suddenly barked angrily and started pawing rapidly at her shins. Weiss squeaked and stepped back a bit, Ruby erupting into a fit of giggles at Weiss' reaction, who joined her with a giggle of her own. Zwei grumbled at her and bowed down on two paws, tail going at presumably ninety mph.
Weiss suddenly tossed it, watching with satisfaction as it caught the wind and soared, rising high into the air before it started a slow descent. Zwei dashed off, starting out slipping and sliding until he caught himself and bolted after it.
"Wow," Ruby said, staring off after the Frisbee, obviously impressed. "That was a really good throw!"
Weiss shrugged, blushing. "It's not that amazing." She said quietly, brushing the compliment aside. It was only a Frisbee throw.
"Well, I think it was pretty cool, and I bet Zwei does to."
Weiss giggled, the little dog leaping after the Frisbee, which was still too high for him to catch as it went over a slope. "It's going to be awhile until he gets that." Ruby commented. "Anyhow, I'm Ruby!" She repeated, but Weiss kept any comments to herself, "And you are?"
Weiss realized then that she hadn't given her name when Ruby had given hers. A quick fantasy where she forgot to do so in her meeting with Jaune Arc in a week's time gave her a jolt of panic. What a nightmare that would be.
"Uhm, hello?" Ruby asked with a quizzical expression. "You alright?"
Weiss jumped. "Uhm, no, I'm fine! S-sorry, it's Weiss." She stammered, mentally berating herself as soon as it happened. In the span of the short few seconds they'd met, Weiss had already messed up her manners in a substantial way. She tried not to imagine her mother, who would have skinned her.
Ruby instead giggled. "Yeesh, you're so jittery! That's a pretty name, Weiss. I've never heard it before. I'm Ruby!" She repeated for the third time with a wink, and Weiss couldn't help but giggle. She found that she didn't mind hearing that her name was pretty from random girls.
"So," Ruby said, sitting down cross-legged in the grass. Weiss sat down immediately, a habit ingrained into her. When the person you're addressing sits, you sit. Her mother had spent little time teaching her that when she was young. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen." Weiss admitted, hugging her knees. She liked the girl, and didn't mind being asked mundane questions.
"Cool! I'm sixteen, going on seventeen soon, really! What school did you go to?"
Weiss opened her mouth and shut it again. She hadn't actually gone to a school, receiving the best private tutoring money could possibly buy from all over the globe. By the age of fifteen she was already far ahead of most people graduating.
"I actually had tutoring." She told Ruby, seeing no reason to keep this a secret.
Ruby whistled. "That must have been expensive. What are you rich or something?"
Weiss thought back to bad memories of friends from families that weren't quite as wealthy as her own. They'd been nice, but the constant envy had always been there. She didn't really think having an honest to god friend was possible.
"Not... Really." Weiss lied, shrugging. "My grandparents paid for it." She felt bad for lying, but she told herself it was necessary.
"Neat! So, what, ivy league for you?" Ruby said, and Weiss wasn't sure if it was sarcastic or not.
"No, I don't think so... Maybe." Weiss said, knowing that she likely wouldn't. Her parents had bigger, better plans for her. Their golden goose to a whole new level of richness. The thought left a bitter taste in Weiss' mouth.
Ruby laughed, and Weiss realized with embarrassment that Ruby had only been making a joke. "Well, I myself am still going to school, but only for a little over a year."
It was then that Weiss noticed he strange color of Ruby's eyes; silver. She'd never seen such a strange oddity before. It was suffice to say that she was startled, stunned into speechlessness when Ruby caught her gaze with an intensity that shook Weiss to her core. It filled her with a feeling she couldn't describe, unable to look away.
"Uhm, Weiss?" Ruby asked her, an easy smile on her lips. Suddenly the spell was broken, and Weiss flushed deep scarlet. Ruby either didn't notice or didn't think anything of it.
"Y-yes?" She stuttered for the second time.
"You were being kinda funny. Do you live near here? I've never seen you before, and I come her a lot." Ruby asked, and Weiss blinked. She'd said it so fast she hadn't been able to keep up.
"Pardon me?"
"I was wondering if you came here often because this is kind of the first time I've ever seen you here and well, me and Zwei are frequent visitors!"
"No. Kinda. This is my first time coming here, actually."
"Oh, that's cool!"
Weiss looked back in the direction of Zwei, who still hadn't come back over the rise. Then, as if shot out of a gun, the little ball of seemingly endless energy came zipping up and over the hill, Frisbee in his mouth as he skidded and almost lost his balance. A giggle broke from Weiss, and Ruby laughed with her as the dog shot straight for them.
He tried to stop in front of them but slid right between them into a tree, making a bit of a thump. Concern for the little dog flooded Weiss, but Ruby only laughed harder. Zwei barked between the plastic in his teeth, trotting back to them and dropping the disk in between. Weiss found herself giggling again.
It occurred to her that in the last few minutes, she'd laughed more than she had in a month.
Ruby snagged the Frisbee and stood up, stretching and brushing her bottom where grass had stuck to it. "Alright, well, me and Zwei are gonna go, now!" She said, leaning back on her heels.
Weiss hid her frown well. "Oh! Well, enjoy your walk."
Ruby smiled at her, giving her a quick wave as she began to walk off. Zwei, however, pushed at Weiss' hands with his wet nose, causing her to squeal in shock at its coldness. Ruby laughed at her response and Weiss felt warm in the face, laughing softly at Zwei as he continued to pry at her hands.
"He wants you to pet him!" Ruby offered helpfully, pausing mid-step. Weiss blushed, feeling foolish again. Of course that's what the dog wanted.
Weiss giggled as he opened his mouth and let his pink tongue hang out to the side, closing his eyes in pleasure as Weiss scratched behind an ear.
"So, will you be here tomorrow or something?" Ruby asked.
"No... Probably not. I don't come here much."
"Well, you should! Me and Zwei are here all weeklong!"
Weiss smiled, elated that Ruby had sort of kind of invited her back to visit. "Maybe I can do Friday." She said, more to appease the girl than anything.
"Neat! Make sure to come at the same time, though. Zwei likes it early, because that's when all the pretty girls are out. I agree with him, so it works out nicely!"
Weiss blinked, catching on slowly. She cursed her blush as it threatened to turn her into a tomato plant. "Uhm." Was all she could manage.
"Anyhow, hopefully see you Friday! It'll be cool; I'll make sure to bring an extra Frisbee, slobber free!" Ruby promised, leading Zwei away. "Cya, Weiss!"
"Bye, Ruby. I'll see you." She said quietly, not nearly loud enough for Ruby to hear her.
Somehow the day seemed to get a lot less appealing now that Ruby and Zwei were no longer a part of it.
"Ruby..." Weiss said to herself, rolling the name around her tongue. It was a common and plain name, not at all how she felt about the name's owner, who seemed strange. Maybe a good kind of strange. She was definitely unlike anything she'd ever seen before.
Throughout the rest of the day, Weiss amused herself with activities that made her happy, glad to be free from the suffocating confinements of her home.
No matter what, where and when, though, the mental image of Ruby's rare eyes kept coming to forefront of her mind.
It was only Tuesday and Weiss was already trying to figure out how to get back here on Friday morning.
Hi! I honestly don't know, just felt like writing lowkeye White Rose fluff. It feels like it should be part of a much larger story, but I've got plans for a White Rose fantasy story, so you'll all just have to deal with this I s'pose. Enjoy it anyways!
