IMPORTANT
Volume 7 has started and I know you must all be pretty hyped, but please do not leave spoilers in the reviews. Toxic is trying his best to avoid them too.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Co-Authored by ToxicExotic
The Ladybug's Second
Blake wasn't used to seeing a common room so empty as the one for the first year dorms was almost always occupied. With training for a hunter being such a drain on the body, it wasn't uncommon for her to walk into their common room and see some students asleep on the couches due to not having the energy to make it to their rooms. But the transfer-student's dorm weren't like that at all, though the current state was likely the result of the set up for the party. All the furniture had been pushed to one end of the huge room, the large cushy chairs sat facing each other so that conversation was easier and the smaller desk chairs surrounding numerous small tables, leaving the majority of the room a wide open space. On the other end was a slightly raised area that had obviously only been constructed as a stage for the party, large speakers on each side that looked like the same ones from the Vytal dance. Along one of the walls was a long table, laden with enough bowls of punch and food that it wouldn't surprise her if there were plenty of leftovers at the end of the night.
The hosts of the party stood near the table, Neon arranging the food while talking excitedly to Flynt, who noticed them immediately; not that it was difficult in the empty room. Though Flynt was dressed in his usual attire, Neon had decided to ditch her usual blue crop top in favour of a bright, multicoloured band shirt. Tapping his partner on the shoulder, both of them finished up what they were doing and made their way over, Neon gliding effortlessly on her roller skates. While they were against the rules to wear to class, the girl tended to wear them everywhere else and Blake had watched her weave gracefully through dense crowds numerous times despite them.
"Hey girls," Neon said happily with a spin before coming to a full stop, her eyes flicking down towards Blake's hand which was still holding Ruby's. "Awww, you two're so cute. But you're early?"
"Weiss' fault," Blake replied while Ruby blushed, the accused girl walking into the room through the door behind them.
"There is nothing wrong with being early," the heiress said dismissively and placed a hand on her hip. "You're lucky I even came at all."
"I never doubted you would, Schnee," Flynt replied as he finally caught up with his partner, a confident smirk on his face. "Nice dress though."
"And suddenly I want to leave," Weiss rolled her eyes as she turned to Blake. "I'm going to get a drink before everyone sweats in it."
"Alright," she replied, though Weiss had already begun to walk away.
"Teach me for trying to compliment her."
"Didn't the last girl you gave a compliment to respond the same way, Flynt?" Neon laughed and poked her partner in the shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. Go finish up the food."
With a twirl of his hand, the boy's trumpet emerged from behind his back. Quickly pressing it to his lips, he pointed it at Neon and played a note causing a tunnel of wind to erupt from the end and send the laughing girl rolling back towards the table. With a grin, he placed his trumpet back in its holster and turned back to them.
"Anyways, I'm gonna go finish sorting out the speakers, make yourselves comfortable."
With a nod, the boy walked towards the makeshift stage leaving Blake alone with Ruby. Unlike their first date, Blake didn't feel much awkwardness; but even still, standing on an empty dance floor with no music would inevitably cause such an emotion to arise should they linger too long. So giving the beautiful girl at her side a smile she slowly motioned to the comfy chairs and the two of them made their way over. As they walked, Blake thought on what had happened moments prior when Ruby had left the bathroom.
When the girl had finally emerged from her haircut, Blake's mouth had almost hit the floor. Due to spending every day with her, she'd failed to recognise just how long Ruby's hair had become since the first time they met, but she had to admit that the shorter hair looked much better. For some reason it suited her style much more, made her softer features look stronger and more confident. Her outfit was by far the most different thing. Blake had seen different parts of it over the months, but everything put together looked incredible. The part she'd found her eyes were drawn to the most had been the shorts and boots, both things covering enough to keep her warm but leaving a gap where her tights-covered thighs were visible. The dark material may have hid the pale skin of the toned limbs, but the effect was still alluring all the same.
The whole thing had caused Blake's mind to instantly fog over to the point where her body acted of its own accord. She was barely aware that her legs were moving towards the girl, and only realised where she was when a lock of the freshly cut hair was between her fingers. It was at that point she told herself to move away, unfortunately her body had different ideas and her hand made its way to Ruby's cheek. She wanted nothing more than to kiss her there and then, to give in to an urge that had been rising more and more over the last week; and had Weiss not walked in when she did, she may have finally succumbed. And she would have been kicking herself the entire date had she submitted to those urges, simply because she'd have broken her one promise to herself.
Blake knew that the relationships weren't the same, that her past relationship with Adam was nothing like the one she was currently in with Ruby; but that didn't stop the worries. She remembered how it felt to think it was necessary to show the man affection, that sometimes in order to earn his attention she would feel the need to go the extra mile, even do things that she knew now she wasn't ready for at the time. And though she knew that Ruby didn't feel that way, Blake couldn't shake the power difference. Ruby was the team leader, in charge of everything but constantly worried about the team falling apart; what if she felt that kissing Blake was required to make sure to show she was interested and avoid a weird situation? The very idea of Ruby feeling even a little like the way she once had made her sick, so she'd decided to wait for the reaper to make the first move.
Though if she was honest with herself, she really hoped it would be soon. Not because she thought Ruby was uninterested, she knew she was, but because Blake had no idea just how much longer she could keep her urges in check.
"The decorations look nice."
The words from her side quickly snapped her out of her wandering mind and she turned to face Ruby, the girl's eyes gazing around the room at the rainbow decorations that were hung from the ceiling. In the middle was a giant disco ball that Blake also believed was at the Vytal dance.
"Yeah," she replied while sitting down, her hand finally breaking from Ruby's as she sat in a chair opposite; though not before a couple of seconds of clear indecision. "Definitely Neon's doing."
"She really likes rainbows, huh?"
"It's her semblance," Blake said absentmindedly, but saw Ruby give her a confused look. "She can induce a state of happiness on herself. She activated it while looking at a rainbow. It's why she can create the rainbows on her skin and that trail she used in the semi-finals."
"Like Ren's?"
"Sort of," Blake hummed, remembering thinking Neon's was quite similar to Ren's ability to mask emotions when she first heard of it. "Not sure if she can use it on others though."
"Still, pretty handy for not attracting Grimm," Ruby said happily, her infatuation with all things weapon and semblance related shining adorably through.
"Yeah, Flynt has her run recon on missions."
"Ooo! That's a smart choice," Ruby said thoughtfully, clearly taking a mental note to talk to the boy about it. "Flynt's semblance is like yours and Sun's right? What's that like? I've never actually met anyone with a semblance like mine."
"I dunno," Blake shrugged, honestly unsure what to think of it. "I've met quite a few people with a clone type semblance, they've all had their own little twist to it though. Sun can create four and control them completely but he can't move while doing it, Flynt can also create four but they only mimic his own actions. Flynt has an accent though, like your petals. The clones have different colours and he can choose which he is when they rejoin him. Here you go."
As luck would have it, Blake had looked towards the boy in question to spot him in the mirror holding up his yellow tie. She had seen him switch enough time that she recognised the action so quickly pointed it out to Ruby. Though he was all the way across the room, the two of them still saw him split into four for a brief moment before reforming, both his tie and the band of his hat turning a lime green.
"Woah," Ruby breathed and watched him give him hat a flick before walking away from the mirror. "That's so cool!"
"Yeah, his accent is pretty cool," Blake smiled, turning away from Flynt to watch at Ruby again. "Speaking of accents, how's yours going? Any luck with the splitting?"
One of the things Ruby had been busy practising during their sessions, and in private, was her semblance. Apparently what Blake had done during their private session all those weeks ago had spurred her to find a unique use for her own, and the thing she'd finally decided on was using her petals as a distraction. It was a clever idea as the petals were always created when her semblance activated anyway.
"Kinda," she smiled. "I can get my petals to branch off now, but controlling where they go is a little tough. But I managed to hit a target with them yesterday, though I think that was an accident."
"That's still great," Blake said with a chuckle, highly doubting that it was an accident as Ruby had a tendency to catch up on things rather quickly when she really tried. "You know I've never asked, but what is with the petals? Where they always there?"
"Mmmmm," Ruby hummed. "I dunno why I make them, they kinda fluctuate though. Sometimes there are loads, but if I use my semblance too much then I can only make a few. When I first activated my semblance I pretty much covered an entire cliff-side with them."
"I guess it's lucky they fade after a minute," Blake laughed, keeping to herself that it sounded exceptionally beautiful. "How did you activate you semblance anyway?"
"I dunno, it kind of activated on its own," Ruby said thoughtfully, her eyes flicking to the doorways where a second year couple had just arrived. "I was fourteen, so two years ago, and me and my dad were visiting mom's grave. I'd just finished talking to her, it's not as weird as it sounds I promise," Blake gave a shake of her head as she didn't find it weird at all. "But I was running back to dad when I tripped over a rock and everything turned red. I thought it was blood at first, but I guess my dad caught me and because when the red cleared he was holding me against his chest on the floor."
Staring at the girl opposite her, Blake raised her eyebrow slightly as it seemed that maybe Ruby had failed to note a possible cause. She understood why of course, as the girl had grown up with the name Rose, so it would have been easy to simply overlook the connection to her mother there. Though Blake could potentially be reading into things. She wasn't particularly superstitious or religious, despite having heard many tales of magic and gods in her journeys, but some things were hard to describe with logic. For Blake, it was entirely believable that the recent thoughts of the girl's mother could have influenced her semblance in some way.
"What about you?"
The question brought Blake back out of her head for the briefest of moments before plunging her straight back into memories she wanted to forget. She had expected the question to be returned, but while Yang already knew the truth, it wasn't really something she wished to discuss on a date. Thankfully, staring into the silver eyes of the beautiful girl opposite her made it much easier to push them aside.
"Oh, I uhh… I was scared and fell over," Blake said simply, not mentioning who had scared her or why. "It was the first shadow I left behind."
"It sucks that you had to be scared."
"Yeah," Blake agreed with a small nod of her head as more people arrived.
"And you don't have any accents that I, your super awesome team leader, should know about?"
"If you mean like your petals, Flynt's colours, or Yang's hair? No," She smiled honestly. "Mine just propels me a little and allow me to double jump."
"Which I'm still jealous of," Ruby laughed. "I need Crescent Rose's recoil to do that."
"You still do it really well," Blake chuckled and stood up. "Maybe we should get a drink? Weiss kinda has a point that the punch is about to get rather gross with everyone helping themselves."
"Sure," the girl grinned and rose to join her. "I hope they have strawberry."
Smiling to herself at the joint love of strawberries the two sister's shared, Blake set off at a gentle stroll towards the food table with Ruby at her side; their conversation continuing as they discussed the semblances of their fellow students. She liked that it was something so simple, yet something that was innately Ruby. Something that helped give her more insight to how the girl viewed the world with her takes on each one. It was something she could easily get lost in while waiting for other people to arrive and the party to get started; so get lost in it she did.
Taking a sip of her drink as she leaned against the wall, Blake looked around the room. Compared to when they'd first entered, there were far more people filling the floor. In fact, by the time they had retrieved their first drink, so many people had shown up that all the chairs were occupied. However, despite at least thirty minutes having passed from then, Yang had still not arrived. Not that she had noticed the time fly by all that much due to being engrossed in conversation with Ruby, but with the girl gone to snatch some cookies from the food table before people stole them all, Blake found herself alone and watching the crowd of people talking amongst each other.
She didn't like crowds, and for good reason. While many assumed that it was because of her reclusive nature, something that definitely contributed, it was more that crowds were easy to blend into; that was a fact she had learned the hard way when someone had snuck into a camp they had taken refuge in during a celebration. Where normally his unfamiliarity and fake ears would have been noticed immediately, the cheery crowd had been too distracted enjoying themselves that he went unnoticed; and by the time they did, it was too late. Two people had already died, unable to activate their aura in time, and a third was severely injured. It was only after he had been taken care of by stronger members that someone recognised him as someone who'd been giving Faunus travelers issues.
What had been a joyous celebration quickly turned into a wake. It was that reason Blake hated crowds, and even though she knew nothing like that would happen at Beacon, she still couldn't help but scan the face of every person who had gathered in the room. Many she knew, older Beacon students she'd seen around school, she even recognized a lot of the visiting students.
Team BRNZ from Shade Academy were occupying some chairs near a table, three of the members talking and laughing while the girl she remembered was called May sat off to the side fiddling with what looked like a gun barrel, the beanie covering one eye giving Blake pause before she remembered the girl was a sniper who was used to watching the world with one eye.
Team ABRN had taken up residency by an empty bookcase, Reese Cloris sitting on her hoverboard and throwing her a wink as their eyes met. Just after the tournament, Reese had appeared in front of her one day and asked her on a date, and though Reese was really quite attractive, Blake had not been interested in a relationship at the time and politely turned her down. Fortunately the green-haired skater took it well and the two had sparred a couple of times since.
There were a few more teams she recognised too. Team NDGO of Shade were sat near a window talking to Team ROBN, also of Shade. The rest of Team FNKI had finally arrived and were sorting out the last of the music issues, Ruby's friend Penny and her partner Ciel aiding where they could; though it looked to Blake like Penny was staying far away from the speakers for some reason. The rest of the students were ones that were likely participants in the tournament who's fights she didn't see.
"Sup, Blake?" She heard from behind her, the familiar voice warm and upbeat.
Turning around she saw one of her closest friends walking towards her, his spiky blonde hair glowing as a light passed over him briefly. Behind him was his team, Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune, each one dressed in their usual attire.
"Hey, Sun," Blake smiled back, always happy to see the boy. "I thought you would be here earlier to help Neon?"
"Team training with Port," he said, glancing over her shoulder and around her back. "Why are you alone? I thought this was yours and Ruby's second date."
"She's just getting some food."
"Gotcha."
"Hey, Blake," Sage said as he caught up with his leader, though his eyes quickly darted over to the stage. "Girl's opinion, how do I look?"
"Very nice," Blake chuckled, giving him a once over. "You at least put on a shirt this time."
"Told you," he said to Sun who rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I think she thought I was showing off last time."
"I hear Penny says she likes timepieces," Blake offered him, knowing Sage had been crushing on Ciel since the girl had arrived.
"Timepieces?" He said, a noticeable uptick in his voice as he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the old Atlas numerals tattooed on his arm. "I can do that."
With that Sage began to walk away, and as she watched him walk away, she felt her own smile widen as Ruby could be seen weaving her way through the crowd with two small plates of food. Seeing her approach, Blake finally pushed herself off the wall and held out a hand to accept the plate once she was nearby.
"Sorry I was so long, I was talking to Fox about his blades," Ruby smiled and picked up a cookie from her plate of food, that was mostly cookies.
"Wherever you go, I always expect you to get caught up in a conversation about weapons," Blake teased, earning a cheeky grin from her girlfriend.
"Hey, Sun," Ruby said after sticking her tongue out a little. "I think Neon is looking for you."
"Don't blame her," Sun replied in a bragging tone. "I'm headed off then, see you later. Catch up with you guys lat…"
His words cut off as he clearly noticed that Scarlet and Neptune had already wandered off into the crowd. Upon finding his team had ran off to do their own thing, he gave another shrug and a short wave before heading off to find his girlfriend. Finally alone again, or as alone as they could be in a room packed with people, Blake picked up what looked to be a small tuna sandwich and took a bite.
"I didn't see these when we were over there earlier," she said curiously to the girl who was happily munching away on a second cookie.
"Neon has a private stash and let me take some," she grinned, her silver eyes shining proudly. "So has Yang arrived yet?"
"Nope," Blake said with a shake of her head. "I don't think she'll be much longer though. She never misses a party."
"Mmm," Ruby hummed finishing the cookie and wiping her hand on her skirt. "Dunno what's taking her so long though. Probably still doing her hair."
"Most likely," Blake replied hollowly, believing something else in her girlfriends' room may have held up the blonde. "So what were you and Fox talking about his blades for?"
"Oh that? He said his blades are better than Crescent Rose."
"How dare he?" Blake smiled.
"Right? He's clearly wrong so I had to prove how wrong he was."
"And did you?"
"We came to the conclusion that they are both awesome," Ruby said victoriously, picking up a third cookie to reveal that there was actual food underneath the sweets.
Letting out a short laugh as she knew the blind boy was likely only arguing to mess with the reaper, Blake took another bite out of her sandwich and relaxed back into the wall.
"By the way, I forgot to ask since we were getting ready, but how did your test go this morning?"
"No problem at all," the reaper grinned confidently. "And if I get above eighty then I don't need to continue the classes after the break. I'm pretty sure I got at least ninety," She beamed brightly.
"Then I guess you really will be having that free time we talked about," she smiled as the silver eyes shined a little brighter.
"Yup," Ruby smiled and finally pulled something from the plate that wasn't a cookie. "So are you ready to see mine and Yang's home tomorrow?"
"I sure am," she grinned mischievously. "I finally get to see who is messier, you or Yang."
"Yang, definitely Yang," Ruby laughed. "She once rolled Bumblebee into her room and stripped it down to rebuild it. There was oil everywhere."
"Stay out of Yang's room if I want to keep my sense of smell, got it."
"And don't expect to have a hot shower in the morning."
"Unless I run to your old school."
"Say my name and the janitor will let you in."
Unable to hold in the laughter anymore, Blake let the smile spread across her face and a soft chuckle left her. In truth, she was rather excited to be staying at Ruby's house over the break, and not just because it meant they could actually set aside some time for stuff without most of their day being taken up with classes. From what she understood, Ruby's house was in the middle of the woods away from anything, so she was sure that there would be plenty of opportunity to steal the girl away for some peaceful moments.
"What's got you two all giggly?"
Though it seemed less so, the voice was still a little annoyed as the heiress appeared behind her partner, a drink in one hand and an apple in the other.
"Just talking about Yang," Ruby giggled.
"Well, there's plenty to laugh at there."
"Do you often talk like that behind my back?" Another voice said from next to Blake. Turning around, she saw Yang, Coco, and Velvet walking through the doors, the Faunus between the two taller girls with a hand of each in her own.
"Well I would normally say it to your face, but you're late."
"It takes time to look this good," Yang countered happily and brushed her clothes off. Thought it definitely wasn't anything fancy, the mechanic's overalls style outfit and bomber jacket did look good on her. "Can't have these two showing me up."
Coco and Velvet did indeed look lovely. The leader of Team CFVY was wearing what looked to be an extremely expensive, caramel brown shirt and a pair of black and gold jeans that were held up by her usual belt. The no-nonsense look always worked well on Coco and this time was no different. Velvet on the other hand had out-dressed them both, going for an old-fashioned look that suited her immensely. A grey waistcoat covered her top half, with a light brown shawl covering her shoulders, shorts of the exact same shade covered the top of her legs and stopped just short of her black tights that disappeared into a pair of long, fur-lined boots. Gloves covered her hands with a bracer of one arm and a piece of loose fabric wrapped around her other.
"You were dressed when I left," Weiss scowled, though quickly rolled her eyes as Coco's face broke into a grin and she gave the heiress a wink. "For Oum's sake, anyone would think you're rab…"
Weiss cut herself off before anyone had to, though Coco's eyes had definitely hardened instantly. A shadow of regret passed over Weiss' blue eyes and her scowl instantly faded as she turned to the rabbit Faunus.
"I'm sorry, Velvet," Weiss said despite the girl's hand already being raised to stop the apology. "That was callous of me."
"It's fine, Weiss. I know you didn't mean too," Velvet replied softly before turning to Yang and Coco in turn, the latter's eyes still trained on Weiss. "We should go and say hello to the hosts."
"Right," the brown-haired leader said tersely as Velvet began to pull them away.
As they passed, Yang placed a hand comfortingly on Weiss' shoulder and Coco paused briefly to give Weiss a hard look before moving on. Once they were passed, the heiress' head dropped and Blake couldn't help but feel bad for her. She knew Weiss still struggled with those feelings, the long ingrained prejudices of her father, and breaking those habits had been something the girl tried her best to do for months. Though she still had the occasional slip up, she always knew what she had done wrong immediately and took the time to reflect on it.
"I need some air," She said sullenly and walked out of the doors.
"Weiss," Ruby said quietly and went to follow her partner, but Blake placed a hand on Ruby's and stopped her.
"She won't like you following her right now," Blake said gently. "She knows what she did wrong, so let her clear her head first."
"You're right," the reaper sighed and picked up some food Blake didn't recognise. "Coco looked kinda mad."
"Yang and Velvet will cool Coco off, they both know it was an accident," Blake smiled and popped a chip into her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Flynt saying thank you to Ciel and Penny while grabbing his trumpet; so with a smirk to herself, she wiped her hand and reach out for Ruby's just as Flynt took the stage and approached the microphone. "Come on."
"Wha…"
"Alrighty, Huntsmen and Huntresses," He said charismatically, earning everyone's attention and giving his weapon a spin. "Since the trash school speakers wasted our time with audio issues, we are far overdue some great music. Grab yourself a partner and dance if you want, or sit back and enjoy. Whatever you want; after all, we're all here to have fun now that school is over for two weeks."
Without wasting a second, he raised his trumpet to his lips and started playing a fast paced jazz tune that the other two members of his team quickly started backing him up on. It only took a few minutes before people started to swarm the floor, Flynt's reminder of school being over clearly having struck a chord in the hearts of many there; therefore Blake felt less embarrassed about pulling Ruby into the crowd to dance. While it didn't instill the same energy as the usual rock music you would hear at a party, Flynt and his band were skilled enough that the crowd easily got lost in his tunes. Nor did it take too long for the smile that Blake liked so much to return to Ruby's face as she slowly got more into the music.
Blake wouldn't be surprised if the last forty-five minutes of her life were cemented into her memory forever. It had been nearly an hour of glorious smiles and laughter, of upbeat music and silly dances. While Ruby was an excellent Huntress, her dancing ability was definitely not something she had trained. At all. While dancing together, Blake felt her toes being crushed more times than she could count, but she didn't care at all. The sounds of Ruby's excited laughter were more than enough to vanquish the pain immediately, though aura certainly helped too.
Roughly half an hour after starting, Flynt had gone off stage for a break and allowed Team PRPL from Haven to take over for a little bit. Once they had, the music had switched from jazz to rock and the dancing had become a little more fast paced; and though they had stuck around for a little while, it was incredibly tiring to bob in time with the music while not getting swept up with all the strong students. So with both of them having acknowledged they needed a breather, the two made their way over to the empty chairs to sit down.
"Dancing is so much easier without those stupid stilts Yang made me wear last time," Ruby smiled as the two of them claimed some seats, taking a sip of the drink they'd collected on the way.
"You call that dancing?" Blake laughed jokingly, taking a sip of her own drink.
"Meanie," Ruby grinned, letting out a loud sigh of relief as she sank into the comfy chair. "Not all of us can dance as good as you. Where did you learn?"
"My dad mostly," she replied, remembering all the times her dad had danced her around the house. "But dancing was pretty much all there was to do at the camps so I got a fair amount of practice there too."
"That sounds fun actually," the small reaper chuckled, her voice slightly louder than usual to be heard over the music even though they were sitting close together. "You never actually told me much about your dad. What does he do?"
"Well he used to be an… Organizer," Blake said, not wanting to mention her father had actually been the previous leader of the White Fang. "But he was promoted to Leader just before I left."
"Leader?"
Ruby had clearly picked up on the specificity of the words. Deciding that she didn't want to spend the whole night lying to her, Blake let out a small grunt as she repositioned and carefully looked Ruby in the eyes as she prepared to confirm what the girl had almost touched on earlier that night.
"Menagerie," She said slowly, seeing Ruby's eyebrows furrow a little before beginning to gently raise. "He's the Chieftain of Menagerie."
"Wh-What?"
Feeling a nervous smile replace her earlier happy one, she saw thoughts pass across Ruby's eyes. For a brief moment, she felt herself worry that Ruby might treat her different with the new information. However it only took a couple of minutes before the thoughts faded and her hand raised to scratch the back of her head.
"So I guess my earlier comment about you being a Faunus princess was actually kinda true," she chuckled with an interested look. "That's really cool."
"In a way, I guess," Blake shrugged, not wanting to bring up that she didn't stick around long enough to know what it was like to be the Chieftain's daughter. "You took that much better than I expected."
To her admission, the only thing she received was a short laugh that made Ruby's eyes twinkle and Blake heart soar.
"My best friend, and partner, is one of the richest people in the world."
"That is... a very good point," she conceded, realising that Ruby did in fact treat Weiss no different than she did anyone else. Nor did the rest of the team for that matter. "But do you mind, just not telling anyone else? For now."
"My lips are sealed," the girl smiled, motioning pulling a zipper over her mouth. "Does Yang know?"
"Yeah, she knows pretty much everything," Blake nodded and took another sip of her drink. Yang really did know practically everything about her, from her father's old position to the things that had happened with Adam and the White Fang. "Stuff I promise to tell you one day."
"There's no rush," Ruby said kindly and placed her hand on Blake's. "I know your past is complicated."
"Thanks."
Receiving a reassuring grin from the little reaper, Blake claimed the girl's hand properly and relaxed back into the chair. Though loud music was still bouncing around the room, a soft silence fell over the two and they both seemed happy to ride it out and enjoy the moment; but less than a minute later, the window next to them opened and two girls climbed through. A little confused by the entrance, Blake and Ruby watched the pair hop down and straighten their clothes. Once they were done, they turned around and attempted to make their way into the party only to find Yang stood in their way with a plate of food, the sudden arrival of the blonde startling even Blake as she hadn't seen the girl approach.
"What are you two doing here?"
"Ugh, hoping not to run into you," one of the girls in a white dress said, her accent familiar to Blake from her time spent in the valleys of Mistral.
"It's a party, where would we be?" the one in a red dress said in the same accent as the light caught their faces. Both girls were rather pretty, their perfectly matching features and accents enough to reveal them as twins; the only difference between them being the haircuts. "How did you even see us enter?"
"This is Beacon, everyone saw you enter," Yang replied and motioned to the room. "You cause any trouble…"
"Like you said," the girl in white interrupted boredly and inspected her nails. "This is Beacon. Why would we start anything?"
"I dunno, but you always do," Yang replied and took a step forward, as did the one in white. Clearly all three of them had history as the girl in red rolled her eyes at the other two's actions. "But as I was saying, start anything and I will throw you out the same window that you just climbed in from."
"Defenestration," called out Weiss as she approached from behind. Blake hadn't seen her since the earlier incident with Velvet, but clearly the girl had calmed herself down. "That's the word for throwing someone out of a window."
"Yeah, I'll defenestrate you," Yang corrected herself, earning a halfhearted thumbs up from Weiss as the heiress sat on the opposite couch to Blake and Ruby.
"Hmpf! Whatever," the girl in red replied and crossed her arms. "Are you two done flirting, Melanie? Or can I go get a drink?"
"Ew! Don't be gross, Miltia," Melanie scoffed as she began to follow her sister past Yang and into the party.
"Worst hook-up ever!"
Yang's final words of contemplation were little more than a whisper that certainly went unheard by everyone, everyone except Blake who raised an eyebrow at her partner. While she wasn't surprised by such a revelation, she couldn't help but wonder which girl Yang was referring to. If she had to put money on it, she would definitely go with Melanie. As she decided that it was most definitely Melanie, Yang turned and caught her eye and Blake couldn't help but smirk at her partner; who also sat down next to Weiss.
"You two enjoying your cuddles?" She smirked in return, clearly willing to embarrass Blake to cover up what she'd just admitted.
"Until you came around with your big, loud mouth," Ruby replied and stuck out her tongue. In response, Yang picked up a mini sausage roll and tossed it at the brunette who easily moved her head into the perfect trajectory that had the roll land in her mouth. After it was caught in the energetic girl's mouth, a small sound of victory emerged from her.
"Who were they anyway?" Weiss asked, reaching over and picking another mini roll from Yang's plate.
"Friends."
"Friends?"
"Fine. Sort of friends," Yang shrugged, throwing a small cake to Blake. "We hung out a couple times before I came to Beacon."
"By hanging out I assume you mean fighting?" Blake asked and took a bit of the soft sponge.
"Occasionally," Yang shrugged and bit into what looked to be a pizza roll. "They tended to started it just as much as I did. Anyway, speaking of fights," she motioned her hand towards the heiress sitting next to her. "You need to apologise to Coco and Velvet. Properly."
"I know," Weiss sighed, finishing off the sausage roll and reaching for another. "I really didn't mean it that way."
"It's all good," Yang said cheerily and gave the girl a nudge. "I calmed Coco down for you. But this is what happens when you stop letting yourself relax and throw yourself into your studies without taking a break."
"You do become rather crabby," Blake confirmed.
"But we all still love you," Ruby added with a smile.
"Yup," Blake and Yang said together.
Obvious relief passed through Weiss' body as she sank into the chair a little and bit into a sandwich that she also stolen from Yang's plate. As the girl took her time to think, Yang tossed a cookie to Ruby who split it in half to share it with Blake. Happily taking the treat, she gave her date a smile and took a small bite. It was then that Weiss decided to speak up.
"You are right," she said clearly, lifting her head to look each of them in the eyes. "I have been rather stressed lately, but that's no excuse for my behaviour. I'm sorry for the strain I put on our team."
With a quick look to Yang, they both knew there were no hard feelings, but both of them still looked at Ruby to take her lead. She was the leader after all. Just as she suspected, the reaper gave the heiress a wide smile.
"No biggie," she shrugged and bit into her own half of the cookie. "Right guys?"
"Yup, what's life without a few insults from your sister?" Yang grinned and passed her another roll.
"What Yang said," Blake agreed, though in hopes of maybe avoiding the situation again, she gently pushed a little further. "Although it might be good to know why you became so obsessed? You've always been studious, but this was different."
"It's stupid."
"Most things are," Yang shrugged.
"You included," Ruby teased and threw a small piece of her cookie at Yang, who caught it in her mouth with a grin. "But Blake is right, you can talk to us Weiss. About anything."
Letting out a low groan, Weiss entwined her fingers in her lap and sat forward.
"Well," she sighed heavily. "When I go back to Atlas tomorrow, all the coursework I have left to do will be overseen by Father, and I won't be allowed to leave if it's not done to his standards. I was hoping to get as much as I could out of the way so that I could come back early because, as stupid as it sounds, I was actually looking forward to this break."
A brief pause hung in the air before her next words.
"I've never had friends to share a holiday with before."
Music filled the silence that fell upon each member of their team. While Weiss certainly had her moments of genuine sincerity, she'd never said anything like that to her knowledge. And Blake took pride in the fact that Weiss words had caused a smile to pull uncontrollably across her face, as it was something that certainly wouldn't have happened almost a year ago. A year ago, she would have been horrified sharing a room with a Schnee, but now she considered herself lucky to be Weiss' friend. However, just as she always did, Yang quickly ruined the mood.
"You're right," She scoffed and ate her sausage roll. "That's really fucking stupid."
"Yang!" Both Ruby and Blake shouted at the grinning blonde, both of them throwing bits of cookie at her as Weiss turned to face her with a confused look.
"What?" Yang said indignantly. "We all know that if Weiss misses this break then we will be spending multiple weekends making it up to her. And then there are all the other breaks she is going to be spending with us. I'm sorry, beautiful, but you're family now. There are sooo many more Xiao Long-Rose-Schnee-Belladonna gatherings to come."
"You're an idiot," Weiss shook her head, but quickly rested it against Yang shoulder as the blonde put an arm around her in a firm hug. "But thank you, Yang."
"No problemo."
"She said it like an ass," Blake scowled at her partner who was currently eating the bits of cookie off her clothes. "But yes, you are stuck with us."
"I may go crazy a little earlier in life than I had planned, but I think I can deal with that," Weiss smiled contently.
"Awww yeah!" Ruby cheered happily, her hand shooting into the air. "Team RWBY together forever."
"Sounds good to me," Blake grinned and reclaimed the girl's free hand, a red blush crossing Ruby's cheeks.
"Ewwwww, get a roooooom," Yang groaned jokingly.
"If they go and get a room now, they'll miss the slow dance coming up," A male voice said and the entire team turned to see Flynt had walked over, his trumpet in hand. "Speaking of, could use a vocalist, what'd ya say, Schnee?"
"Why would I sing with you?" she returned, finally pulling away from Yang.
"Give you some practise for your big event? Make some couples happy? Whatever excuse you need," he shrugged confidently.
"Your attitude is enough to make me say no."
"Aww come on, Weiss," Ruby whined, looking excitedly at her partner. "We only ever hear you from the bathroom. Hearing you properly would be really cool."
"I don't know," Weiss said hesitantly.
"Come on," Yang egged the girl on. "Think of it as one last piece of fun before you go. You say you wanna keep singing when your older, so now could be a great time to actually have a concert that your prick of a dad hasn't forced you into."
"I also think it would be cool to have our friend sing for the first real dance I have with my g… Ruby," Blake agreed, correcting her slip up so fast that she was pretty confident no-one noticed. After all, she still wasn't sure what her and Ruby exactly were. "No pressure though."
As Weiss took a second to think, Blake looked at Ruby to check her correction had worked. Fortunately the leader was so focused on Weiss and the cookie in her hands that everything else seemed to not exist. But as she turned her head to the heiress, she noticed Yang's lavender eyes locked onto her and a wide mischievous grin on the blonde face. Seeing Yang bit her lip a little, the usual indicator that Yang was going to say something only she could hear, she narrowed her hearing on the girl to catch her words.
"Girlfriend huh?"
A blush instantly painted itself on her face and she turned away from the now chuckling blonde. Of course it would be Yang that heard it, it was always Yang. No doubt the blonde would make great use of that over the break. Luckily for her though, she respected boundaries enough to not say anything in front of Ruby. Blake still had no idea how she was going to bring that topic up.
"Fine," she heard Weiss sigh, snapping Blake from her from her thoughts. "One song."
"Better than no song," Flynt grinned triumphantly, Weiss rolling her eyes in return. "I go back up in ten minutes so meet me by the stage."
"Mhm," Weiss hummed as the boy left with a wave. Turning to her side, the heiress noticed Yang staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing," Yang grinned, her tone holding such a false sense of ignorance that Blake didn't believe her for a second.
"Riiight..." Weiss said, clearly not believing Yang either. "Well I might go and find Neptune, I've been ignoring him all week too. I will talk to Coco and Velvet after the song."
"Gotcha," Yang waved as Weiss got up and walked off, raising off the couch herself. "I'm gonna go find them anyway. Can't have them having too much fun without me. Later you two."
"Bye."
Finally alone again, Blake felt Ruby's head rest against her shoulder and a deep sigh of relief breeze across her neck. Turning to see Ruby had her eyes closed, Blake was more than happy to let the girl relax for a little. Since she enjoyed the closeness and was really hoping for more of it, it really wasn't an issue for her to let herself melt in closer to the girl.
"I'm glad everything with Weiss is sorted," she finally breathed after a minute. "I'm really hoping she can get back from Atlas early."
"Me too," Blake replied honestly, knowing two weeks without Weiss would feel extremely weird.
"And thank you, by the way," the brunette added softly. "For stopping me going after her. You were right that it would have made things worse."
"It's fine, you just wanted to help her," she replied and squeezed Ruby's hand a little. "So what do you say to five more minutes of rest before we go kill our feet again?"
"Sounds awesome," Ruby chuckled. "Sorry in advance."
Letting out a soft chuckle of her own at the knowledge Ruby was likely going to crush her feet a whole bunch more, Blake happily rested her head against the freshly cut red and brown hair. For the next five minutes, she couldn't help but hope that the world left them alone.
Five minutes, Ruby thought to herself as her internal clock told her the time for relaxing was up. It was time to dance. She knew she could back out, that if she told Blake she didn't want to, then the girl would be more than happy to stay seated and talk. But that wasn't the case. She didn't want to stay seated and talk, at least not for now, she wanted to dance with Blake. She was just so nervous that she may as well have been a shaking ball of nervous energy, but thankfully that wasn't the case because then Blake probably wouldn't have been as close as she was during those five minutes; and would have been freaking out internally about what she could have done wrong.
She was a terrible dancer, Blake had noticed as much during their earlier session. However while the fast paced dancing had managed to hide most of it, the fact that Flynt and Weiss were about to play a slow song for all the couple meant she would likely be stepping on her dates feet all the more. While she had managed to barely avoid making a fool of herself for the entire night, and actually had a really fun time, she knew that time was at an end as she felt Blake shift with the end of the music.
Looking up, she saw Flynt climbing up onto the stage as Team PRPL finished their track and raised her head from Blake's shoulder. Time was up. She was going to make a fool o…
"You okay?"
Blake smooth voice was finally audible since there was no longer music blasting throughout the room. Turning her head to the side, she saw the girl's amber eyes gazing kindly into hers and felt her confidence soar a little.
"Mhm," she hummed. "Just never slow danced before."
"Then I can take the lead," Blake grinned and stood up, holding out the hand Ruby wasn't holding to help her up. "Unless you wanna st…"
"Alrighty Huntsmen and Huntresses," Flynt's voice cut her off as it rang through the room. "Now that the real music is back, no offense, Plume," The leader of PRPL gave Flynt the bird but laughed at the same time. "We're gunna slow things down a little. Let all you wonderful couples have an excuse to get close tonight. Even managed to convince the heiress herself to assist me."
Walking on stage, Weiss gave a curtsy and more than a few people applauded her. Ruby often forgot that Weiss was widely recognised not only for being the heiress to the biggest company in the world, but also for her singing talent. Wearing a smile that Ruby genuinely couldn't tell whether was fake or not, she gave a wave and approached the mic, which Flynt allowed her to have.
"I hope you can match me," Weiss said with a raised eyebrow, earning a few ooos from the crowd.
Ruby didn't hear what Flynt said, but the shrug he gave her showed he was very certain of himself. She fully expected that Weiss had rolled her eyes in return. What she didn't expect, however, was that Weiss turned to gaze directly in Ruby's direction and gave a short jerk of her head to motion her. With the support of her best friends and Blake's smile bolstering her confidence, she finally accepted the Faunus' hand as she lifted off of the couch. Blushing a little and pushing down her nerves, she let Blake lead her gently to the dance floor where a few couples had already begun to gather.
By the time they'd arrived, Flynt had already begun to play his trumpet; the slow jazzy sounds issuing around the room and captivating everyone there. Feeling Blake stop walking, Ruby clumsily told her feet to stop, only for them to disobey her and caused her to stumble a little into Blake, not that she seemed to mind. In fact, the Faunus simply looked down and gave her a smile.
"I already know you're a bad dancer, Ruby," she grinned as Flynt's notes picked up a little and Weiss' beautiful voice came over the microphone with a soft ballad. "Just relax, and have fun. A little foot pain is worth knowing you're enjoying yourself."
Giving a slight nod of her head, Ruby let Blake position her arms on her shoulders. Though Blake was taller than her, it wasn't by much so she was easily able to entwine her fingers around the back of her neck. Once her hands were in place, Blake placed her own on Ruby's waist and a shiver ran through her immediately. This was the closest they'd ever been, the closest that she'd ever been to anyone; and though she was still incredibly nervous, there was something electric about it, about being that close to Blake.
With her hands around Blake, her thumbs grazing the girl's hairline and pulling her head down slightly, their eyes had found a perfect connection. A connection that she really didn't want to break. Blake's amazing amber eyes would glow like gold every time the light found them, and each time butterflies erupted in her stomach. The girl was gentle as she slowly led their motion, a small circle step that even Ruby knew wasn't the typical dance one did when listening to jazz. But Ruby didn't care, from what people were doing around her it was clear she could never keep up with such a dance, so she was grateful Blake was doing a simple one.
"You know," Blake said quietly as they turned in place, her voice only just audible over Weiss' singing. "I was half expecting to be a little uncomfortable tonight. With it being a party."
"Oh," Ruby whispered, knowing she was free to keep her voice down as Blake could hear her anyway. "Were you?"
Ruby couldn't help breathe out a sigh of relief as Blake shook her, the single confirmation enough to assure Ruby that she hadn't been a total bore all afternoon.
"I don't feel like that when I'm with you," Blake smiled and turned in place, Ruby following her lead and only slightly stepping on her feet. "I wasn't always so… Anti-social. I was actually rather vocal at rallies, and when I was younger, a friend and I would laugh and play around while making the signs. A lot in my life has changed since then; but when I'm with you, I feel like I can be the old me again. You're fun, you find the joy and the good in everything and I can't help but be swept up into it."
An uncontrollable smile etched itself on her face at Blake words. Hearing such things had made her so happy that she struggled to find the words at first. What did you say to such an admission? She really didn't know, but Blake didn't seem to care for an answer right away, or even at all; she simply seemed happy to enjoy the moment. And so was Ruby, knowing she didn't really have the words, she just stepped forward and closed the distance between them a little more.
As she did, she felt one of Blake hands slip behind and land on the square of her back while the other trailed up her side, the ripples that the finger caused on her clothing sending sparks coursing through her. Finally Blake's hand reached Ruby's and carefully peeled it from her shoulder, their fingers entwining as they were held out to the side. The new position was much more of a traditional waltz stance then previously, but Blake still kept the same rhythm despite it being completely out of step with Weiss and Flynt.
Daring to look up into the older girl's eyes, Ruby saw them looking at her like she was the only person in the room. The look was enough to make Ruby blush as her entire body heated up at the realization of just how much she liked Blake looking at her like that. Thoughts rushed through her head as amber swam in her vision and before she knew it, her face was much closer to Blake's.
She could smell the food Blake had eaten over the night, but it wasn't bad, she was more distracted by the deep breaths that were drifting down her neck and causing shivers to run down her spine. To keep her thoughts away from what she really wanted to do, she closed her eyes a little, but her body didn't seem to want that, so she quickly opened them again. That was the final straw. As those beautiful amber eyes staring down at her, Ruby pushed all her nerves deep down a slowly let herself press forward with only one goal in mind. But much to her surprise, Blake pulled her head back out of range.
"Ruby," She said, the tone very important despite the heavy breathing. "Wait."
"S-Sorry," she stuttered, immediately feeling her doubts return as her hand loosened its grip on Blake's. "Too soo…"
"No!" Blake said firmly, recapturing Ruby hand carefully. "I just… I need to say something before… we go any further."
"Oh," Ruby sighed, Blake's grip on her hand enough to reassure that she hadn't done anything wrong. "Wh-What?"
Blake hesitated for a moment, thoughts rushing past the amber eyes; but after a deep breath, she swallowed heavily and started to speak.
"My last relationship… It wasn't good," Blake said, her voice was strained as the memories were clearly painful to talk about. "A lot of things happened very fast; partly because I was young, but also because he was older. I felt pressured to do a lot of things I wasn't ready for because I thought it was the only way to show I liked him. I know how that feels. That's why I need to make sure that you don't feel like that. This is your first relationship and I'm not expecting anything you're not ready for, so if you really don't know, then we can just… keep going slow until you are."
The dancing had stopped as Blake talked and Ruby could see just how serious she was, the way worry marred the shine of her eyes as she tried to convey that seriousness. In truth, Ruby did have doubts before. Doubts about the timing and whether it was too soon or not, but her doubts had never been about not wanting to do it. No, that had always been a pretty clear answer. She did want to go forward. She was ready. And since it was already out there and an attempt had already been made, Ruby dropped all her other reservations and shook her head with a smile.
"I'm not feeling pressured, Blake," She said carefully, wanting to treat the situation with just as much seriousness as her date had. "I really like you, I have for months. I enjoy spending time with you because it's what I want to do, whether it's just studying or talking... and that's why I did… tried what I just did. I've been wanting to do that since our first date… no, honestly a little bit before."
"Are you sure?" Blake asked, the smile pulling at her lips enough to show she appreciated the words.
She could have given a nod, or said yes, but they didn't seem like enough to convey just how sure she was. So just like she had moments ago, Ruby pressed forward until their faces were so close she could hear Blake's breathing. Pausing to listen to the deep breathes and give Blake the chance to pull away, Ruby waited for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she saw her date's head inch in a tiny bit closer and took it as permission to continue. With one last look into the girl's eyes, Ruby shut her own and finally closed the last little gap between her and Blake.
Electricity rushed through her the second her lips touched Blake's. Though it was little more than a soft peck, the feeling was more than Ruby could have imagined. Her lips tingled and her stomach erupted into butterflies as Blake slowly returned the pressure. She was gentle at first, the kiss careful and testing, like dipping your toes into a lake before jumping in; but as Ruby made it clearer by pressing in a little further, Blake responded in kind. The kiss wasn't particularly heated, there was no tongue or heavy breathing, but it was still amazing. And for her first kiss, Ruby was confident she hadn't screwed it up.
After what could have only been seconds, that felt like minutes, Ruby pulled back and opened her eyes. Her silver met amber and found a happiness in them that made her heart soar. However, she wasn't feeling brave enough to go in for another on just yet, so she simply let herself melt into the grasp of her girlfriend as the older girl slowly started their rotation again.
Weiss wiped a bead of sweat from her brow as she stepped down from the stage and out of the heated lamps, making her way toward Yang, Coco, and Velvet who stood nearby. She had never been one for heat, having grown up in a colder environment, and her usual performances used low heat bulbs as the spotlights; it also didn't help that she had spent more time on stage than she originally intended. Despite only agreeing to one song, she'd found the experience to be far more enjoyable then she had predicted. After the first song received decent attention, far different than the usual slow claps of her concerts, Flynt had started to play something a little faster that she could have easily let go and walk away; but she didn't. She'd stayed and let herself enjoy the feeling of performing by choice, instead of under orders. She liked that there hadn't been any feeling of expectation to it.
She was also thankful that Flynt was capable of keeping up. Though she was likely to never tell him, the boy was actually a decent musician and performing with him had been much different to what she was used to. It had also been incredibly fun. As the pace of the songs picked up, Weiss felt herself getting more and more lost in the music, and ended up staying for four songs in total. It was a nice little taste of what if felt like when the performance wasn't against her will. However, with the heat having gotten to her much quicker than usual for some reason, she had finally decided to leave the stage.
"Glad to see you remember us, Popstar," Yang grinned with a small bow as she approached, causing Weiss to roll her eyes.
"Don't be a pest," Weiss replied over the music, unable to keep the amusement from her voice.
Though it did get on her nerves some time, Weiss loved Yang's carefree attitude. While she certainly had her serious moments, the girl was exceptionally good at brightening the mood of the room with a few, often terrible, jokes and Weiss knew she was going to miss it for however long she was forced to stay in Atlas.
"You really were wonderful," Velvet smiled kindly.
"Thank you," Weiss smiled back and took the drink Yang offered her. "And I want to apologise to all of you for my earlier actions. They were completely uncalled for and there is no excusing my behaviour."
"I already told you it's fine," Velvet replied with a shake of her head. "I know you didn't intend for it."
"Yeah," Coco said and threw an arm around the Faunus. "You're lucky you have Yang in your corner though, but if it happens again then we will be exchanging more than words, got it?"
"Understood," Weiss said with a nod, knowing that even she couldn't take Coco in a fight.
"Good," Coco said with a quick scowl that gave way to a smile. "I'm gunna go get a drink."
"I'll come too, you want another, Babe?" Chimed in the shorter girl.
"Yes please," Yang replied as they walked away, turning back to Weiss once they were out of earshot. "Sooo… Looked like you were having fun? With Flynt."
"I have no idea what you are insinuating, but stop," Weiss rolled her eyes again and leaned against the wall next to her blonde teammate. "That boy has a bigger ego than you."
"So you weren't smiling after that little dance with him?"
"We did not dance!" Weiss said with a blush, remembering that Flynt had caught her after she tripped on a wire and gave her a spin as she recovered. "I tripped over wires that he should have organized properly."
"Mhm," Yang laughed and winked at her. "And what would Neptune say, huh?"
"There is nothing between me and Flynt," Weiss said vehemently. "And even if there was, it wouldn't have anything to do with Neptune as we are no longer together."
"Wait. What? Since when?"
"Since roughly thirty minutes ago," Weiss shrugged and took a sip of her drink, the hint of what she knew was alcohol catching her taste buds. "Did you spike this?"
"Nope, pretty sure that was the twins," Yang replied with a jut of her head towards the two girls that had crawled in through the window earlier. "I ain't complaining, but I am making sure Ruby doesn't touch it. Anyway, what happened with you and Neptune?
"Over the last week I realised that I didn't miss him," Weiss explained, giving the drink in her hand a scowl, but ultimately decided she deserved one last night of fun before returning to Atlas and took a sip. It wasn't like Yang would hand her anything dangerous anyway. "And nor was I fazed by the fact I found him flirting with the Nebula. So we both agreed that our relationship had come to an end."
"I'm sorry," Yang said softly, but Weiss quickly dismissed her.
"I already told you we were not serious," Weiss replied. "We were fun, but the fun ended and there was nothing more to it."
"I guess," Yang breathed, clearly accepting Weiss' words and turning to look out over the dancing crowd. "Those two are clearly not just fun though."
Looking in the direction Yang was gazing, she saw her partner and their other teammate dancing to the music. From the laughter on both of their faces, the two were clearly enjoying themselves a great deal.
"Guessing you saw it too?" Yang asked and Weiss knew exactly what she meant.
"I did," Weiss said with a nod as Blake pushed Ruby away only to bring her back in and give the laughing girl a spin, though Weiss noticed a slight wince occur on the Faunus' face as she did. "At least they finally got it over with. Now Ruby can finally stop asking me the best way to approach it."
"You too, huh?" Yang chuckled and stole the drink from her hand to take a sip. "I guess I actually have to accept that they're serious about this now?"
"It's taken you this long?"
"No," Yang chuckled before letting her face fall to be more contemplative. "She's just never been like this with anyone to my knowledge. Kinda weird seeing your little sister growing up in such a way."
Though Yang was obviously only referring to Ruby as a sister, the motherly undertones of the statement were equally obvious. The whole team knew how much Ruby meant to Yang, so it wasn't hard to see why Ruby growing up and becoming her own person was distressing to the blonde. In an attempt to cheer her up as the brute had done earlier, Weiss bumped Yang shoulder and took the drink back.
"No matter how grown up she gets, she will always need you, Yang," she said and took a sip of the drink. "Let's not forget she got herself tangled in her bed sheets the other day practising that new move and you had to help her get out."
Weiss was unable to hold in her own laugh as the brawler next to her burst into her own laughter. The memory of walking into the dorm and seeing Ruby suspended from the bed by her sheets in a position that completely stopped her from moving was a memory Weiss would be recounting until her final days.
"Thanks," Yang breathed at her side once the laughing died down, and Weiss was shocked to feel a pair of lips press against her cheek. "Sis."
Rolling her eyes, Weiss couldn't help but feel the same wave of happiness that had run through her earlier when Yang had called her family. It had never been something she was well accustomed to with even Winter, the person she loved the most, being somewhat distant, so to have finally found a place was an experience that meant more to her than even she would be able to describe. Because of that, it was with ease that she was able to lean back against the wall next to the blonde and watch her best friend have the best night of her life. Though for fear of her sanity, it was highly unlikely she would ever dare tell Ruby she considered her as such.
Reference Image
While Coco's was just pulled from my head, Velvet's outfit in this chapter is actually one of the submissions for the contest Monty held to let the Fan's design her in-show look. As usual, link is below if you want to see it.
imgur com/a/nQ2QCDd
Raalm's Notes
Hello everyone, so that was a chapter xD I was actually sick when we wrote it and screwed up in A LOT of areas so we had to spend a couple hours yesterday going over everything. Hopefully we sorted all the issues and this chapter was good.
So our goal here was to try and have this not just be a Ladybug date, but also a team thing. Having them dating is the focus of the story, but Weiss and Yang play large roles in the story too so we feel its important to let them shine in the story as well. Hopefully this conclusion to why Weiss has been so bitchy lately is good. But most of all, we really hope you enjoyed the date. It was certainly very dialogue heavy and but I actually kinda like how it all turned out so I hope you did too.
But anyway, you don't want to be reading an essay of notes from me after reading a 12k word chapter, so I will leave it there xD I really hope you enjoyed and are looking forwards to what is coming.
Toxic's Notes
Hey Toxic here, Happy to see you all here especially after such a word bomb of a chapter, hope you all survived and enjoyed the fluff of this chapter feel free to leave your love in the comments as always