Special Thanks
Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people
who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!
Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other
person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!
Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!
(Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!
Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)
Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!
A Painting in the Park
Chapter 6
Monday came and went by quickly. Weiss spent most of the day filling out paperwork and editing the latest draft of Blake's new book. By keeping herself busy with all the work that was needed to get production and printing approved for Blake, Weiss was able to make everything go by in a blur.
She quickly put everything away and got ready to head to the park. It was almost the time that she had agreed to meet Ruby for her new sculpture. All Weiss had managed to learn about the sculpture from Ruby was the name. Ruby said she was going to call this one 'Bumblebee'.
She quickly went outside and headed down the familiar path to the park. She hadn't really been going there lately, as she had all but given up hope for actually being able to stay and continue enjoying her life here. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to have any more mentally exhausting experiences to worry about for at least a little while.
Weiss turned off the well-worn path that leads to the main city park and headed down the smaller path that went to her usual side park. After glancing at her phone to check the time, she saw that she still had a few minutes before Ruby was supposed to show up. After a quick glance around, and not noticing the other girl, Weiss took a seat on a bench that faced the park entrance.
A few minutes passed by before someone nearly tackled her from behind, on the other side of the bench. She yelped out in surprise, before turning around and seeing a familiar face.
"Hey there Weiss! Long time no see!" Ruby said happily before quickly letting her go. She had an enormous smile on her face that almost melted Weiss' annoyance.
"Do not scare me like that! And do not use my name out in public!" She whispered the last part, not wanting someone to recognize her. She had just gotten out of this sort of trouble! She didn't need this girl going around causing more problems already.
Ruby clamped a hand over her mouth, and a look of pure horror crossed her face. She looked around, hoping no one had heard what she had said.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I hadn't thought that through! I just came out of the bathroom over there and saw you and I just got so excited that I just ran over here." Ruby looked completely distressed with herself so Weiss just took her hand, which shut her up.
"Ruby, it is alright. Just try and avoid calling me by that name out in public from now on. I'm known as White here." She quickly let her hand go after realizing that she had been holding it for an extended period of time. Ruby's face had a small blush on it, but Weiss was to busy trying to hide her own in order to notice it.
They both stood there awkwardly for a little while before Weiss noticed the dog that was laying next to them both. She crouched down to pet it with a smile.
"Why hello there, what's your name?" That broke Ruby out of her own awkward little bubble, and she took a seat next to them both.
"His name is Zwei! He's my dog and I thought it would be nice for him to get out and have fun at the park. You know, burn off some of that excess energy or something like that."
"Well, he looks pretty mellow to me. And very cute if I may say." Zwei's tail was wagging happily as Weiss scratched under his chin.
"That's probably because he's spent the last hour running around like a maniac." Ruby joined in on the petting as well. Weiss' eyebrows furrowed a bit at her words though.
"How long have you been waiting for me to show up?"
"Waiting for you to show up? Eh, not very long. How long have I been here at the park? About an hour and a half in total. I took Zwei on a nice long walk on a few of the paths before settling down here so he could run around freely."
Weiss gave off a hum. She found it acceptable and relieving that Ruby hadn't really been waiting for her too much. She looked around after she remembered her whole reason for meeting up with Ruby.
"So… Where is your latest sculpture? I believe you owe me a personal presentation on it." Weiss gave her a smirk as she leaned in expectantly. Ruby leaned back and gave off a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well… about that. I kinda didn't actually manage to finish it…" Ruby nervously replied. Weiss frowned a little, quite disappointed that she wouldn't get to see her newest creation.
"Well… I can't say I am not a little upset. I was looking forward to seeing it. But I suppose there is not much we can do about it." Weiss sighed before leaning back and resting on her hands.
"Yeah… sorry about that."
"Well, we are both here so we might as well talk and spend a bit of time together right?" Weiss asked hoping the other girl wasn't about to leave.
"It's the least I can do since I'm kinda the one that said we should meet here." Ruby laughed and gave off one of her brilliant smiles. Weiss seemed to start melting. A large part of this seemed to come from the liquid silver that was this girl's beautiful eyes. She couldn't help but return the smile.
"So, have you talked to the museum yet?" Weiss asked, her smile slowly dissipating when she saw Ruby's look of confusion.
"Why would I talk to the museum? They haven't asked me to make them a new painting yet." Ruby tilted her head a to the side a bit. It was an adorable look, but Weiss had other things to worry about it seemed. Weiss sighed.
"Winter bought your painting. And because you made the painting and had it put on display there, you are legally able to claim a percentage of those finances. It would be part of a contract that you would sign upon accepting the job." Ruby's eyes widened as she went to pull out her phone.
"Should I call them now? If I do will you help me talk to them? Cuz… Uh well, I'm not big on this whole 'confrontation' thing…" Weiss gave her an encouraging smile.
"Of course. The sooner the better. And yes, I would be more than happy to help." Ruby returned her smile and began to call the museum. A good 20 minutes or so passed before she had someone to talk to about her painting.
"So how much was it sold for?"
"..."
"Are you being serious about this? Alright, well how much do I have legal claim over?"
"..."
"Okay, so I can claim up to 65% of the funds from something like this?
"..."
"Alright well, I'd like to only take around 45. The museum needs funds as well amirite?" Ruby laughed.
"..."
"Yes, please have it in my account by this weekend."
Ruby hung up the phone after she managed to finish the call. Weiss had been there to help all the way and had been sorely needed at the beginning. However, by the end of the call, Ruby had been able to handle herself quite well.
"So, it turns out your sister paid a lot of money for my painting. Enough where Yang and I can live quite comfortably without working if we spent it wisely. Which Yang won't." Ruby gave a happy laugh before giving Weiss a quick hug.
"You only took, what, 45% though. Why did you take that instead of the 65% you could have taken?" Weiss was curious as to why Ruby had done that, but instead of an answer, she gave a shrug.
"Well, either way, I plan to keep these funds more separate from our normal finances. You know, for emergencies or special events." Ruby looked thoughtful as Weiss just nodded.
"Actually, I feel like I owe you. You know, since I dragged you out here with a promise of a sculpture that I didn't deliver, and now that you helped out with this."
"No, no it is fine Ruby. Do not worry about it." Ruby thought for a few moments, or at least looked like she was until she gave her a mischievous smile.
"Nope! I'm gonna make it up to you! And so, would you, Snow, be willing to allow me, Ruby Rose, to take you to dinner this Saturday?" Ruby smiled brilliantly and gave her a playful bow, or what probably counted as one since they were both still seated. Weiss couldn't help but smile in return.
"Of course I would. Dinner sounds great. It would definitely help us get to know each other better and become proper friends too." Both of their smiles widened just a bit at that.
"Oh! Also, could I get your number? I'll let you know when I'll come to pick you up. Also, since we have all this money, we'll be going to a nicer restaurant. Not a mega fancy one though. Some people there might notice you." Ruby beamed at her and held out her phone. Weiss gladly put her number in it.
"No. That would end badly indeed. And since my sister is not going to be around this time, there would not be much I could do to get out of the spotlight." Ruby sent her a quick text after she was returned her phone.
"Yeah. So we'll avoid places where you could stand out. Anywhere I should take note of for the future?"
"The arena, or any place frequented by those who will be watching it this year. I used to teach some people swordplay so those competing in the Vytal Festival Tournament this year might recognize me."
"Oh yeah, good thing you told me. Otherwise, I might've taken you to one of the more popular restaurants for dinner. Or dragged you to the tournament with me. Always been a fan of it, but this will be my first time going in person! Been saving what I can so I could get a ticket." Weiss smiled.
"Well, this year one of my better pupils should be joining the tournament. If you make any bets on the first round, make sure you bet for him. His name is Seraine. I do not know what team he has managed to find but he is the best I was ever able to train before I left." Weiss smiled with pride. She was confident that her pupil would do well.
"I don't plan to make any bets, but I'll definitely keep that in mind!" Ruby's phone started to go off and after a moment's hesitation, she answered it. After a few seconds of being talked to, she replied with a quick 'alright' before hanging up.
"So my sister just called, and apparently she needs me home for some sort of possible family emergency that could be coming up soon. I'll see you later?" She looked at her apologetically.
"It's alright. Just text me when you get home safe. I hope things don't go too bad though." Weiss gave a soft smile, one that Ruby returned with interest before running off with Zwei.
"Well… guess I should start heading home now shouldn't I?" Weiss stood up and started walking down the path as well. After getting back onto the street she turned towards her home and started walking. She accidentally walked into a very large and thickly built man as she rounded a corner.
"Sorry, I did not mean to run into you. My apologies…" She moved passed the large man, his tall lanky friend, and their two female companions. She quickly froze when she heard a familiar voice.
"Weiss…? Is that you?"
She sighed. Couldn't she get a break?
Ruby was both worried and a bit upset. She was having a good time at the park with Weiss and poof! Something happens and she has to leave! But on the other hand, Yang said it was a family emergency, or that it was likely to turn into one soon. So what happened that would constitute as a family emergency?
Maybe Yang was kidding? She did enjoy her practical jokes, but she had a feeling this wasn't one of them. They had lost too much family and close friends to joke about even the possibility that something could be like that. I mean really, first there was mom, then there was Raven. And more recently there was the accident that dad got in but thankfully managed to survive relatively unscathed. Penny and Pyrrha hadn't been so lucky though.
Ruby slowly came to a stop as she remembered those two. They had been having so much fun together that day. Tears were now rolling down Ruby's cheeks. She started running again, determined to be there before anything happened. That didn't stop her from thinking about what could be wrong.
Her unhappiness at being taken from the park was quickly being turned into unhappiness at the prospect of whatever it was she had to face. Who was it that would be in trouble? Could dad have gotten into another accident again? Maybe something happened to Blake. Yang really cared about her, and so did Ruby. So that would probably count as a family emergency…
Could it be that Qrow's stupid stunts finally caught up to him? He did do some pretty dangerous things for that stupid video channel of his, Bad Luck Charm, or whatever he called it.
Speaking of Qrow, could it be his sister, Raven? Maybe she popped up out of the blue. Yang didn't really care for her and if she somehow pissed Yang off, then she could see this as being an emergency. Although it is a good thing that she's putting in an effort for Yang after all these years. Even if she was still a jerk to literally everyone, be it Yang, Ruby, or their father.
Eventually Ruby made it back to their apartment. She slowed down to catch her breath before walking through the door, expecting the worst. She didn't see anyone around the house at first glance though.
"Yang?! Where are you?"
"Hold up, I'll be there in a moment." Came Yang's muffled shout. Only a few minutes later they were both sitting on the living room couch. Ruby's eyes were filled with concern as she stared at Yang.
"So… What's this whole 'family emergency' thing you were talking about?"
"Well, it hasn't escalated into an emergency yet. But if things get out of hand than we might have a serious problem." Yang calmly stated this. She knew that if she wasn't calm about this than Ruby would go ballistic.
"Alright… Well, what's going on then?" Yang sighed and looked away from Ruby and out the window. She knew that Ruby probably wouldn't be elated to hear her news, but someone had to tell her.
"It's Qrow. He's done something stupid again. Or is in the middle of doing it at least."
A/N
Dang I guess I can't just
Give them a little bit of
Peace and quiet to enjoy
Some friendship now can I?
Sigh, what to do what to do?
Hehe, see what happens next week!
Also, I would like to thank a user
called 'PinkGuy' for pointing out
a few inconsistencies in my story!
Always looking to improve!