Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-Authored by ToxicExotic

The Next Step

Weiss could hear whispering from the other side of the door, but the words were too muffled to make out what was being said. While she didn't want to eavesdrop on the conversation, she was a little worried about her friend. Yang had been locked away in her room with Velvet and Coco ever since they had returned to the house yesterday. The only time she had seen any of them was a brief glance when Velvet opened the door that morning to accept the breakfast Tai brought them. She didn't blame them for being secluded though, since they clearly had a fair few things to work out, but still, she worried.

With a frustrated sigh at the fact that she couldn't provide more help than simply aiding Ruby in the fight, an action taken by her partner that still surprised her, Weiss stepped away from the door and walked through the house. While it had only been four days, the small wooden house in the middle of the woods already felt like more of a home than she had ever known. Compared to the blank white walls of the Schnee manor, and the cold statues that surrounded every room; every room of Ruby and Yang's house felt warm and welcoming. From the living room with its shabby couch, to the bedrooms with their numerous relics or times past. And despite what she told her partner, she really was enjoying her stay.

Sure, the high odds of running into someone making out with someone else was a little frustrating, but she had grown used to that during her time at Beacon. Though everyone there was training to protect the world, they were still teenagers, and as such, were subject to teenage desires. Even she herself had participated in a short lived tryst with Neptune, and though she enjoyed it, he had never really been more than a way to blow off steam after a long day. But Ruby and Blake felt different. They clearly liked each other, and their ever increasing displays of affection were proof of that, but Weiss could still see indecision in the eyes of her friends. And she hated indecision.

Ever since she was a girl, she had been taught to be confident in everything she did. That to doubt yourself was to show weakness, and it was a lesson she had taken to heart. Of course she was still willing to learn, and had indeed learned many things since leaving Atlas, but she still put everything into what she wanted. It was a good philosophy for her, though sometimes left her blind to some other things, like when she had become too fixated on her work and not noticed her increased stress. Something she was still working on. However, being raised how she was, to see the weakness of others, it wasn't hard to see that Yang wasn't the only one struggling with something. Ruby was too.

When she'd kissed Blake yesterday in the kitchen, her hand had hovered for a brief moment on it's way to touch the older girl's cheek. It was a common novice move, the nervousness to further something, to make it more intimate; but it was the way that indecision came and went, that alerted Weiss. The reaper was wrestling with something, and seeing as people were sharing their fears all of a sudden, Weiss was going to find out what.

Fortunately for her, the best Ruby tracking device in the world was walking right towards her. Its adorable little tail wagging back and forth and its tongue lolled out of its mouth.

"Hey there, Boy," She cooed and knelt down to scratch his ear. She'd always loved dogs, but never been allowed one, so had taken full advantage of Ruby's pet from the moment she met him. "Do you know where your dolt of an owner is?"

"Wha… How?"

Ruby was aghast as she flipped through the pages in the book. A book she had been looking through for more than thirty minutes and was starting to think would not offer her the answers she sought. She jumped slightly as she heard a slight bark from downstairs, but it wasn't a warning one, so there wasn't anything to worry about, and she went back to reading. Only to find herself at a particularly saucy part that made her eyes close.

"I can't d…"

"What are you doing in Blake's room?"

"AHHH!"

The yelp of surprise tore from her before she could stop it, and the jump-scare made her throw the book into the air. After a couple of seconds of fumbling, she finally caught it and hid it behind her back as she turned to face her partner. Her blue eyes stared suspiciously at her, and Ruby raised a hand to nervously play with her hair.

"N-Nothing."

"I seem to recall an entire thing regarding lies yesterday." Weiss scowled and her hand rested on the hilt of her rapier. "Does the lesson need repeating?"

"I…" Ruby stopped as she knew there was absolutely no way she could beat Weiss. So with a sigh, she let her hands fall from her back and held the book out so that Weiss could see it. "I was looking for tips."

"On?" Weiss' hand left the hilt of her rapier and she walked into the room. Though she was an inch smaller without her heels, she was still quite intimidating.

"Uhh…" She didn't miss the disgusted look that the heiress threw the book. "How to… maybe… take a step... forward... with Blake."

Weiss' eyebrow raised and she came to a stop opposite her. Her arms folded and the look on her face was one of skepticism. "Did you find anything?"

"I uhh… I don't know."

"Really? Read me a paragraph."

"Wh-What!"

"Read me a paragraph," She repeated in a stern voice. "And I will give you my thoughts."

Ruby was genuinely unsure what to do. Weiss certainly seemed serious, but the material was something that she knew the girl would not enjoy. After Blake had unwrapped the Christmas gift, Ruby had looked up the words she remembered Weiss using on the way to Roman's and found they were scornful ways to describe something sexual in nature. She wished she had known that at the time though. But with the gaze Weiss was giving her, it was clear Weiss didn't care this time.

She was still nervous though, as the page she was on was particularly embarrassing, but the impatient lean of Weiss' head sparked a sense of urgency; since it indicated that a groan of frustration was incoming at the display of indecision. So after she took a deep breath, Ruby tried her best to read out the paragraph she was on.

"H-His chest glistens with sweat where my incendiary powder had burned the shirt away," She started, a little nervous but she pushed it aside. "Each drop that runs down his perfectly chiseled body sparkles in the sun, and a feeling of exhilaration runs through me from the dancing light. The way his muscles flex as he inspects the slight burn draws my eye, but I know I can't let myself be distracted. I finally… Weiss, I can..."

"Continue." Weiss demanded.

With an embarrassed look at her partner, she let her eyes fall back to the book and continued.

"It will take more than some quaint sorcery to bring me in, witch. He snarls, the shaggy mane of black hair flicking beads of sweat everywhere as he shakes his head like a wild animal. The Kirro Clan do not come quietly. I chuckled at the amusement the words bring me, and gaze into the eyes of my soon-to-be captive. Oh, I've heard stories. But I assure you, I will not have a probl… Weiiiiss." Ruby stopped and looked pleadingly at her friend to release her from the embarrassment of having to finish that specific paragraph. "I can't read this."

"Why?"

The question was poised, like she already knew the answer to it. But Ruby didn't. Even as she'd been reading, something about it felt wrong. The character's felt wrong. The two were supposed to be from rival clans, and the main character was meant to be assassinating the other, but the scene had been going on for nearly a whole chapter and no real move had been made, only those that destroyed clothing. There was only one word in her mind for how she felt the characters were behaving, but she didn't want to insult her girlfriend's favourite book; even if she wasn't around to hear it.

"It's…" She looked for another word, but couldn't find one. "I-It's…"

"Stupid." Weiss finished for her, and reached out to slam to book shut with one hand. "Stupid, romanticised, mindless drivel with no genuine substance or introspective to genuine relationships. This is the kind of novel designed to entice those with grandiose expectations of what a relationship should be. Or people like Blake."

"But Blake does like it."

"Blake does not expect a single thing from this…" Her eyes scanned the cover, fluttering over the Ninjas of Love title for a second before throwing it carelessly over her shoulder and onto the bed. "Let's call it a book, for ease of conversation. Though I hardly think it should be considered as such."

Ruby let out a low, depressed groan and fell back onto the bed as Weiss' words hammered home just how stupid she had been to look for ideas in such a novel. But she had run out of ideas in general. She had no idea what the next step even was, or how to take it. Where do couples go after making out? Is that the only thing that follows? Ruby knew she was ready for a little more, but not that much more.

"I just… I don't want Blake to be the only one progressing our relationship."

"She isn't the only one." Weiss countered, a confidence in her voice as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"It feels like it to me. What should I do?"

A loud, exasperated sigh comes from her partner, and Ruby knew she was showing Weiss' most hated trait again. But thankfully, no shouting came; instead, her words were kind.

"You do what feels right."

"But everything feels right with her." Ruby blushed at that admission, but it was the truth. It's what was causing her to be so conflicted.

"Ruby… what have you two done so far?"

"Umm, well." Ruby tapped the tips of her index fingers together, blushing a little at the amazing memories that came flooding back to her. "We've made out, with tongue, and I pulled her to the bed with me and she was kinda on top of me, but I rolled us to our side, then we played kiss blackjack, and I'm pretty sure she cheated and counted cards, but I didn't mind and didn't say anything. But that's it."

A minute passed in silence, a minute in which Ruby was unsure what her partner was thinking of her. But Weiss eventually turned to face her with a gentle look. "Okay. And what exactly are you ready for?"

"I…" Ruby paused. "Not that…"

"That?" One of Weiss' brows were raised expectantly.

Ruby knew Weiss was aware of what she meant, but her partner always had her reasons for acting how she did. And forcing her to speak properly was clearly intentional. "S-Sex," she muttered.

"Good."

"But like…" Ruby sat up quickly and looked her partner in the eyes. "What else comes after? Isn't is just making out, and then sex?"

"You have been around Yang too much." Weiss sighed and turned in her seat so that she sat cross-legged on the bed. "Ruby, what comes next is whatever you want to come next. Making out will obviously make you eventually start to want more intimacy, but sex doesn't have to be the natural progression. That isn't the only other form of intimacy."

"Then what is?" Ruby groaned, still super confused.

"Simple things. Like laying together, being close and talking…"

"We do talk…"

"This is different." Weiss countered quickly. "Talking across a table, or after training, is not the same, that is standard conversation that you share with everyone. But laying in your partner's arms, talking about whatever you feel or just random nonsense is so much more personal."

"Why do you think those three have been locked in that room since yesterday? Why did you hug Yang yesterday when she finally opened up? Because those moments, where you bare your soul in the arms of a person you trust, are infinitely more meaningful. You have yet to feel that, but I guarantee even Yang will tell you she loves those moments far more than any carnal activities those three have."

"It is also something that can lead to a gradual development towards that other area." Weiss concluded.

"So uhh… You're saying I should lie down with her?" Ruby asked, still a little confused by everything Weiss had just said.

"Lie, sleep, cuddle; whatever you want."

Ruby thought about it for a second. They had been cuddling a lot lately, even more than they'd been making out. Blake seemed to pull her close every opportunity she got, so clearly Blake was interested in that just as much, if not more. And they had fallen asleep on each other, twice, and those times had felt really nice. Ruby remembered the first time had been one of the best nights sleep she'd had in years, thought the nerves the next day had been immense since they hadn't even confessed yet back then. And the time Blake had fallen asleep on her, she remembered feeling really happy that Blake trusted her enough to let her guard down so much.

"O-Okay." She breathed as she wondered if they'd already technically taken those steps out of order without realising. "So umm… how do I start the… laying?"

"You will know when."

"How?"

"You will just know." Weiss sighed tiredly. "The situations are different for everyone, Ruby. So that is not advice I can give you."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

Ruby hoped Weiss was right, and that she would know the moment. But she knew herself, and still worried that she might not. So as Weiss stood from the bed and walked towards the door, Ruby made a note to keep an eye out for any opportunity that may arise. However, as she let out a small sigh and fell back on the bed, she heard her partner's footsteps stop at the door and lifted her head to look at her.

"Just remember, Ruby," She said, her voice as soft as Weiss could make it in her best attempt to be reassuring. "Blake isn't waiting for you to take the next step. She's waiting for you to be ready to take the next step. So don't feel like you have to rush things, like you usually do."

Ruby stared into the heiress' blue eyes for a couple of seconds, and saw a kindness in them that very few people ever saw; or maybe they just never wanted to acknowledge it. A smile pulled at her face and she nodded to her partner.

"Good." The blue eyes scanned the room where the insides of Blake's bag were scattered everywhere, and the kindness quickly faded. "And clean this room up. You made a right mess."

She let out a low groan and looked around the room. It was indeed a mess, and she could hardly have Blake know that she was going through her stuff. So as Weiss left the room, she picked herself off the bed and went about picking up after herself.

It wasn't right. None of it was. Nothing that Ruby had put back into the bag was in the correct order at all. She'd tried three times, each time taking everything out and putting it all back in, but she knew it was wrong. The one thing she did know was that the books were on the bottom. She knew that because she remembered getting stuck in the rucksack for a second while retrieving them, and she remembered something had been covering them, but she wasn't sure what. It was either the torn catsuit, or the folded blue material with a white circle on it. Blake was very particular when she packed, and likely knew exactly where everything was, and Ruby was beginning to think there was no way that she could repack it without the Faunus noticing something.

Unfortunately, it seemed fate had decided that there was going to be no doubt about that, as the door behind her was pushed open and Ruby turned rapidly to face her gorgeous girlfriend, dropping the cloth in her hand at the same time.

"Rub…"

"I was looking for Dust!" She lied quickly. She may have been caught snooping, sort of, but that didn't mean Blake had to know what she was snooping for since the books were already back in their place.

"I took it all down the other day."

"O-Oh! Right." Ruby replied with feigned realisation. "Umm, how did the patrol with Dad go?"

"Fine." The raven-haired girl said suspiciously. "You're acting weird. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," She said with a short nod. "I'm always weird."

"Hmm." The slight squint of Blake's eyes was enough for Ruby to know her lie had not worked, but thankfully the girl gave a shrug and continued into the room. "That's true."

"H-Hey!"

The soft sound of the girl's chuckling sent a small shiver through Ruby, but she suppressed it and leant down to pick up the cloth that had fallen when Blake had walked in. In its fall however, the fabric had fallen from its folded state and Ruby could now make out what the white circle was. She'd been unable to see it while it was wrapped up, but with it splayed out on the floor, the picture of an animal head inside a badly drawn, white circle was very much visible. She knew it straight away, mostly from class, but also from the television when she was young. It was the old White Fang logo. And old it was.

Though the fabric was still soft as she picked it up, the fold lines were so firmly cemented into the material that it crimped and tried its best to hold its previous form. The blue itself was partially faded, and the white paint that comprised the logo was chipped to the point where two parts of the circle didn't even meet.

"I should really ge…"

Ruby turned upon hearing Blake cut herself off, and found that the amber eyes were aimed directly at the old flag. The was a pain in them, like an unpleasant memory had just resurfaced, and she suddenly felt like she had done something wrong. The flag felt oddly personal under that gaze, like she was holding a very private part of Blake, and Ruby quickly found she didn't want to hold it anymore; but for reasons unbeknownst to her, she held it out towards her girlfriend.

It took Blake a second, but she finally reached out and took it with more care than she had ever seen Blake use before. Even more care than she gave to her books.

"Thanks." She mumbled quietly and ran a single finger along the paint.

"S-Sorry." She didn't know why she'd apologised, but it felt like the right thing to do. "I shouldn't have gone through your bag."

"It's fine." Blake sighed with a shake of her head. "It's just… memories."

"Bad ones?" She didn't know why she asked, but Blake finally looked away from the cloth and into her eyes.

"No," She with a pained smile. "Not entirely, anyway. It's just my first flag."

"Ahh." It finally made sense. Though Blake was no longer part of the White Fang, the whole team knew she still cared for it in some capacity. "It seems special. For a flag."

Blake didn't respond straight away, but when she did it was with a sad nod. "I made it with my parents. Mom sewed it and dad painted the head."

"And you did the circle?" She didn't need the nod to know that part, since the circle really was quite wonky.

However, before any other words could be said, Blake gave a short sniffle and shook her head, clearly in an attempt to push the memories away. It was obvious how much she missed them, and Ruby remembered how the girl had talked about her mother during their first date. She clearly cared a lot about them, but she also remembered Blake saying that they hadn't parted on the best of terms. She had never mentioned that they were also part of the White Fang too though.

"Have you tried… you know…" She cut herself off and tapping her index fingers together before she continued. "Calling them yet?"

Blake gave a shake of her head. "I don't think they will pick up anyway."

It was the pain in her girlfriend's voice that hurt the most from the statement. Like she truly believed it. But it sounded absurd to her. Blake had talked about her parents a couple of times, and while they apparently left on a bad note, the relationship up till then sounded like a rather close one.

"Why?" She asked gently as Blake began to fold the flag back up. "I mean… you don't have to tell me. But I'm happy to listen if you do."

Blake didn't talk for almost a minute, instead her focus remained on neatly folding the material. Thoughts flew past her eyes at a mile a minute and filled them with sadness, with doubt and worry. Ruby recognised it from when she looked in the mirror and tried to remember anything she could about her mom, and she knew exactly how those moments felt, so gave the Faunus space to think and sat down on the bed. It was almost three minutes later than Blake finally let out a resigned sigh and set the flag down.

"Ruby…" She said carefully, as if she was nervous about what she was about to say. "Do you remember when I said my dad was an organizer?"

"Yeah," She replied gently as she recalled the conversation at Flynt and Neon's party. "You said he stepped down to become Chieftain."

"Right." the girl breathed and circled around the sit down next to her. "Well, I only really told you part of the truth." She paused and took a deep breath before she continued. "He wasn't just an organizer, he was... the leader of the White Fang."

Ruby felt her eyes widen a little, just like they did when she'd found out he was Chieftain. How could she not have it put that together? Chieftain wasn't like a council seat, it wasn't an elected position, it was something passed down, so of course he had to be someone important.

"He stepped down five years ago," Blake continued. "I was just beginning to really become active, to see what it was like, and I got caught up with the wrong people. They showed me only the worst parts; the slaves, the captives, the beaten and defiled. So when my dad stepped down and let Sienna take his place, I was so angry."

"It felt like he didn't care, like he couldn't be bothered to help the people anymore. He always preached peace and understanding over action, and after a couple of missions, I began to question that too. I began to question if he'd ever even helped a single Faunus, or if he'd just been telling everyone to be grateful for what we have and not cause a fuss."

"Before I finally left…" Blake's head hung low and her ears folded flat against her head out of shame. "I called him awful things. A coward. A traitor. A human sympathizer. I said that he had never accomplished anything, and that all he had managed to do was make things worse for us. And after I finished shouting, he just gave me this look and walked off. I know now that he was just trying not to shout back, but that was the night I left."

"Oh." Ruby breathed, unsure what to say in return.

It certainly sounded like a rough situation, and she understood why Blake was nervous to call them. She felt she'd disappointed him, that the words had been too much and her running away was the final straw. That if she called, he would hang up and prove that she had actually ruined everything. But it was also stupid thinking. Thinking born of a blindness from being too close to the situation. She'd said it herself, the man was always preaching understanding, and with everything else she'd heard about him, she was sure he would understand why Blake said what she did. She was young, angry, and made a mistake. If Ruby knew that, surely the girl's father did too.

"I don't think that will stop them from picking up, Blake." Ruby rested her hand on Blake's and gave her a soft smile in an attempt to be as reassuring as Weiss had been earlier. "It sounds like they love you a lot."

"They did." Blake sighed. "But then I disappointed them. I was too blind to see what they'd actually done for us, and then went around undoing everything he'd worked his whole life for." The girl looked into Ruby's silver eyes with a shake of her head. "How do I call him after that? What would I even say?"

"I… I don't know." Ruby admitted. "Maybe that you're sorry? I'm sure he'll forgive you, if he's even angry at you."

"I don't know, Ruby." Blake said after a minute of thought. "I'm just... not ready to do it yet."

"O-Okay," Ruby said with a small nod and slipped her fingers between Blake's. "It doesn't have to be today. But..."

Ruby paused, unsure if it was right for her to say what she really thought. However, Blake had clearly noticed that there was something else, and her eyes raised expectantly. "But?"

She let out a sigh and leaned into her girlfriend as she put on as soft a voice as she could. "But we just protected a funeral for a fifteen year old. Time isn't something that's always on our side. So just… Don't wait too long."

"I won't." The reply was quiet, but there was a sincerity about it that told Ruby that the girl really was going to think about it. And that made her happy. She couldn't imagine how Blake would feel if she never made up with them and something happened. "But I should really get changed." She followed up with a sigh.

"Oh… Uhhh, right." Ruby let go of the Faunus' hand and stood up to look around at the mess. She'd spent so long packing and unpacking the bag, that half of its contents were still strewn about the bed.

"I can sort this out," The girl replied with a dismissive wave and stood up too. "You looked lost anyway."

"Heh, Yeah. Not too good at packing."

For the first time since she entered the room, a real smile spread across Blake's face. The sight filled Ruby with hope that her girlfriends really was okay, so as the older huntress leaned down to place a quick kiss on her, she happily responded in kind.

"I'll be down in a bit."

With a nod, Ruby stepped away and moved towards the door. Before she left, she took one last look back to see that Blake had already begun to pack her stuff away, and that the first thing to have disappeared from the bed was the flag. She knew how much it sucked for something to bring such good memories, and such bad memories at the same time, since her cape had once been the same way; so as she finally left the room, she hoped that Blake would figure out a way to move on from the bad sooner, rather than later.

Raalm's Notes

So just a more discussion based chapter today, where the characters come clean with a few of their issues. Really wanted to continue on the last of the chapter with the admissions, and show off those relationships a little more. The Ruby/Weiss one was particularly fun to write, and we got to show another side to Weiss in this fic, since I know we bring her across as kinda bitchy sometimes xD Though, she kinda is, but she still loves them xD

The Blake and Ruby stuff was tough. As I've said plenty of times, family has never been an important thing for me personally, so it's sometimes tough to write, and I feel that may have come across here. Hopefully not too much though.

But yeah, that is it from me. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you all enjoyed, and the next chapter will be up on the 18th.

Toxic's Notes

Heyo, Thanks for the continued support, reading your comments brighten my day, so thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read our story.