"Weeiiiss!" Ruby cried out helplessly, scurrying after the angry woman. She followed her down the stairs and out of city hall, until Weiss abruptly stopped just outside the main doors, causing Ruby to clumsily slam into her from behind.
"What?" She demanded, whirling around testily.
Ruby stared into Weiss' icy blue eyes, and felt her face slowly heating up again. "Uh.."
Weiss huffed. "Dolt." She started to turn back around but Ruby quickly grabbed her arm.
"Hey! Unhand me this instant you—you barbarian!" Weiss said indignantly.
"Wait! Please, I'm sorry Yang offended you, but can't we work something out?" Ruby gave her best puppy dog eyes. Weiss scowled.
"No." She tried to yank her arm away but Ruby refused to give an inch.
"But why? You weren't like this in high school.." Ruby trailed off. Weiss stopped struggling for a second, somewhat surprised. Then she scoffed.
"People change, Ruby. Although, you're clearly the same as always." An eye roll accompanied the last statement. Ruby, however, totally missed the annoyance, instead squealing in pleasure.
"You remember me!" Her smile was so big and genuine that Weiss had to forcibly stop herself from smiling back.
"How could I forget," she mumbled, before quickly catching herself. "Now get off! My driver is here." She pulled her arm from Ruby's grasp with surprising ease. Ruby gave her a wistful look, her smile disappearing.
"Weiss. Please?" Weiss gritted her teeth, feeling certain…emotions beginning to stir.
"I have to go. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."
"But—" Weiss cut her off with a curt shake of her head, and hurriedly yet gracefully made her way down the steps and into her waiting vehicle. Ruby scarcely had time to raise a hand in farewell before the car zoomed around the corner.
Ruby usually liked to eat lunch outside, a nice break of fresh air to get her through the day. And today, with most of the office gone to Yang's lakeside press conference, she seized the opportunity to bike farther out than usual, pedaling all the way across town to Beacon Park. The park hadn't changed much from when her mom had taken them as kids, or when, later, Yang had taken Ruby all on their own. The familiar surroundings always gave Ruby a sense of nostalgia, and she found herself frowning at the thought of it all being destroyed for the factory.
As she biked slowly along a winding path through the trees and grass, she was surprised to see a figure on one of the benches. Well, seeing a person wasn't too surprising, but seeing this specific person was a bit of a shock. As such, one can understand why Ruby let out a small gasp and skidded her bike to a halt, nearly falling over in the process.
"Weiss?"
The woman in question looked up sharply, then sighed loudly. "Great, just what I needed, this idiot," she grumbled. Ruby ignored the rude comment, propping her bike up and trotting over to the bench.
"Hey Weiss!" She waved enthusiastically despite being a mere foot away from the other woman. "What're you doing here? Can I sit with you?" Weiss avoided eye contact.
"None of your business. And no, you may not."
Ruby sat down anyway. She peered at Weiss, trying to see her face. When that failed, she looked elsewhere, quickly fixating on an untouched sandwich laying between them on the bench.
"You gonna eat that? I just remembered I left my lunch at the office." Ruby laughed and ran a hand through her hair. "I've got cookies though if you want some!"
Weiss was silent. Then:
"You can eat it." Her voice was strangely muffled and a little choked sounding. Ruby immediately tensed.
"Heeeeey. You alright?" She asked, eyes full of concern. Weiss sighed heavily and finally looked up at her unwanted company. Ruby's eyes widened. Weiss' eyes were ringed with red, she had clearly been crying. But more pressingly, there was a large red mark across her left cheek.
"Wha—"
"Shut up. I don't want or need your pity. You may have the sandwich. Now please leave me alone." The sentences were spoken quickly and robotically, though she looked seconds from a breakdown. Ruby's brow creased in concern.
"Your dad still hits you, huh? I thought you're CEO now, what the hell is he doing?" A rare scowl formed on her face.
"You knew about that?" Weiss whispered, her facade beginning to crack.
"Everybody knew about that," Ruby replied sadly. "Make-up only hides so much. I should've done something.. But I'll do something now, I promise." She started to take out her phone.
"No." Weiss hurriedly wiped her eyes. "He hadn't hit me in years before today. It was my fault anyway." Ruby glared with an intensity Weiss had never seen.
"Don't ever say that."
Weiss looked back at the ground, breathing deeply for a few moments.
"I'm CEO now, but father is still in charge. It's a sort of…trial period. The stockholders would reelect him at a moments notice, after all he's made them rich. And they obviously don't care about any of his more disreputable business practices." She paused to take a shaky breath. "I can't screw up now. I have to do everything he says, now more than ever. He doesn't give second chances.." She touched her cheek lightly.
"So that's why you won't compromise on the factory.." Ruby said quietly.
"I can't!" Weiss looked up, her eyes showing a raw vulnerability. "We need that factory to meet our growth targets this year. And if I don't meet them…don't you understand?"
"I do," Ruby assured her. "But there's gotta be another way Weiss. You can't let him control you like this, it's—it's fucked up!" She waved her arms around like a windmill. "I won't let him do that to you."
Weiss shook her head, wiping her eyes again. "You can't fix this Ruby. Besides, why should you? I've been nothing but a bitch to you and your sister."
"You're not a bitch!"
Weiss gave her a look.
"Okay, maybe you can be a bitch sometimes!" Ruby agreed. "But that's not all you are! Remember that time in high school?"
"There were a lot of times in high school," Weiss sighed.
"You know, the time when you gave Cardin a black eye for picking on me?" Ruby smiled. "I mean, I could've taken him of course."
"Of course."
"But that's the type of person you are, Weiss. You care. And you're brave."
Weiss shook her head.
"I have to go." She stood up to leave. Ruby was on her feet in an instant. Weiss held up a hand to stop her.
"Don't speak of this to anyone, understand? It's unbecoming of me to be seen without proper…decorum," Weiss said stiffly. Ruby opened her mouth to speak but she was silenced with a glare.
"Okay Weiss." She said finally. "I won't tell."
"Back again?"
"Oh…hi Weiss."
Weiss immediately frowned at Ruby's oddly mellow tone. She had half expected to see her at the bench after the somewhat embarrassing encounter from the previous day. She had not expected such a downtrodden expression. An awkward moment passed while she debated sitting down beside a clearly distraught Ruby or simply walking back to her office. Eventually, she gracefully seated herself on the edge of the bench, as if ready to flee at a moment's notice.
There was another awkward pause as Weiss desperately searched for something to say.
"I saw your sister on the news yesterday. What was that dolt thinking, diving into the lake like that?"
Ruby remained silent. Weiss eyed her discreetly, wanting to ask what was wrong. But her father's training stopped her in her tracks. Never put yourself on their level. Maintain your status, control the conversation.
"She always was a hothead," Weiss continued. "Brave, I suppose, though not the brightest."
Again, she received no response.
"Are you even listening?" she snapped, somewhat annoyed. Slowly, Ruby looked up at her, and Weiss was trapped in her strikingly silver eyes. The look in them at that moment stirred some strange emotion in Weiss' chest. She suddenly felt the urge to cry.
"Please, can we talk about something else?" Ruby asked. In an instant, Weiss threw her father's conversational tactics out the window.
"Ruby, what's wrong?"
"N-Nothing!" Ruby spoke quickly, immediately making an effort to perk up. Weiss frowned sternly at her.
"Don't be difficult. You're never this quiet." She winced. She hadn't intended to be so short. Luckily, Ruby didn't seem to mind. She was busy fiddling with the edge of her skirt.
"She's sick," Ruby whispered. "My sister."
"Sick with what?" Weiss questioned. "It's not the Flu is it?" Ruby shrugged helplessly.
"We don't even know what it is!" She cried desperately. "What if…" She trailed off and shook her head.
"Ruby, she'll be fine," Weiss said steadily. "That brute's been around Vale for years, and I know personally how tough she is." Ruby was silent, again staring intently at the ground. "Seriously, trust me."
"I do.." Ruby spoke finally. "But, she's my big sister!" Tears welled up in her eyes. Weiss bit her lip, entirely at a loss. The silence stretched out longer and longer, until she simply couldn't take it anymore.
"Ruby. I, um, wasn't going to mention this until I was sure, but I thought about what you said. That I can no longer allow my father to control my every move." Ruby looked up at her quizzically.
"I love this park. And I do believe that it should be preserved if at all possible." Weiss spoke slowly and carefully. "Given that, I am reconsidering my decision to cut off all negotiations with Yang."
"Really?!" Ruby exclaimed, eyes now shining with excitement rather than tears.
"Of course, I will need to think about this further," Weiss continued. "However, there is a good chance—"
"I have to go share the good news!" Jumping up from the bench, Ruby thrust her phone at Weiss. "Give me a call anytime and I'll set up a meeting!"
"W-Wait!" Weiss said, waving her hands. "Give me a few hours. This is going to be rather…difficult for me. It certainly needs to be discreet until I have an airtight proposal for the shareholders, understand?" Ruby nodded vigorously.
"Got it," she replied. "Thank you so much for even considering this Weiss. Yang will have to get better now!" She seemed so happy and sincere that Weiss began to feel the odd stirring in her chest once again.
"And way to stick it to your stupid dad!" Ruby was positively beaming now. "See, I told ya you were brave!"
"Thanks Ruby," Weiss said, slightly overwhelmed by the exuberance. She typed her number into a new contact on Ruby's phone before delicately handing it back. Ruby took it with a grin, then glanced at the time and cursed.
"Oh damn, I've gotta get back and see how Yang's doing," she explained hastily, her smile fading. Weiss frowned too.
"I hope she gets well soon," she stated. Weiss cringed internally at her own robotic statement, wishing she could think of something more comforting to say. To her surprise, Ruby seemed genuinely touched by even that inadequate statement. She smiled sincerely, her eyes watering again. For a moment, Weiss was afraid she was going to try something stupid like a hug.
But thankfully Ruby simply hopped onto her bike and prepared leave. "Thanks again Weiss, you won't regret this!" And with that she skidded away, going far too fast as usual.
Weiss huffed after her. "I certainly hope so." She settled back on the bench to actually eat her lunch when she suddenly realized that Ruby hadn't given her own phone number.
"Wait…how am I going to call that idiot?" she muttered to herself.
Fifteen minutes later, she was walking back to the office when her phone beeped. Weiss dug it from her purse and glanced at the screen.
[ [ Hi Weiss! I hope you're doing okay :) Well I mean I saw you like 20 minutes ago so you're probably the same but just thought I'd ask.. ANYWAY this is my number so I'll be waiting for your call 3 ] ]
Weiss stared at the message for a solid 30 seconds, glaring with particular intensity at the heart tacked onto it. A second message whooshed up a moment later.
[ [ OH btw this is Ruby! Probably should've started with that hahah ] ]
Weiss couldn't stop a small smile from working its way onto her face.
"Dolt," she said, not entirely sure if she was talking about Ruby or about herself.
AN: In case you didn't notice, these interactions are set over the course of the past few chapters. Also for the reviewer who was worried about Weiss being a villain, dw I adore her character far too much to waste it on that :3 Thanks for reviewing btw! I really enjoy checking out what everybody has to say. And thank you all for reading! 3