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 9

Weiss stood in front of her mirror in order to finish getting ready for the night. She wasn't quite sure where Ruby was going to take her to dinner, but she wanted to make sure she looked nice no matter where it was. All she really knew about what they were going to do was that Ruby had promised that it would be a 'gourmet' restaurant. Although frankly, these days gourmet could mean a variety of different things. And not all of them matched what she thought of the term.

She stood back to look at the finished product of her hard work and hummed. She had been doing that a lot today she noticed. Feeling satisfied with the results, she pulled her phone from her purse and sent Ruby a text. She was waiting to get picked up and she wasn't sure if the other girl would get lost trying to find her apartment. It was a little out of the way after all…

Her phone buzzed in response to her inquiry.

'I think I'm pulling into the parking lot right now? I'm not sure though if I'm completely honest…'

She smiled at the reply before grabbing everything she needed, which was actually not much. As she walked through the door leading out to the hall she let Ruby know that she was on her way down. After making sure the door was locked and she had her key she made her way down to the lobby. Her phone buzzed again right before she walked outside.

'Uhhh so I'm pretty sure you don't live someplace called Vale Bakery… So I don't think I'm in the right place'

Weiss didn't quite know whether to smile and laugh at that or to sigh and roll her eyes. So instead of doing either of them she stood there and stared at her phone and considered what she should say. She knew where the Vale Bakery was, of course. It was one of the most well-known bakeries in all of Vale, even if it was quite expensive. But that being said, it was also quite a long ways from her apartment complex as well.

'So was I close or is my inner GPS as screwed up as my sisters?'

At that, Weiss did smile. It also gave her an idea as to how she should respond. So she quickly replied by letting her know that the bakery was halfway across town along with directions to get to her place from there. After that, she went and sat in a chair located in the lobby as she resumed her quiet humming.

A good amount of time passed by before Ruby arrived. Although Weiss couldn't tell exactly how long it was as she had been busy texting Blake while she waited, she knew it couldn't have been more than 15 or 20 minutes. She was in the middle of reading a text from Blake when Ruby said she was out front. Blake had been saying something about not worrying too much about dinner and whatnot, but Weiss ignored half the message in order to walk outside.

Weiss looked around for a few moments and didn't see a car waiting for her. So she pulled her phone out once more as her brow furrowed in concern. She sent a quick text to Ruby to ask her where she was and almost instantly she heard a phone chime from behind her.

Weiss spun around to find Ruby smiling widely at her with a twinkle in her eyes. The other girl giggled at her when she jumped at her unexpected closeness. After taking a moment to gather her wits and breath Weiss crossed her arms and frowned with feigned displeasure. Ruby obviously noticed this as she gave her a quick wink before speaking.

"To answer your question, I'm standing right here Ice Queen." Weiss pursed her lips at the sound of that nickname. She never liked it but the fact that Ruby used it hurt just a bit. A nickname such as that pops up when a person is cold and doesn't care about others, something Weiss believed she wasn't.

"Please do not call me that Ruby. I am not quite as cold as that name implies." Weiss gave a small smile at the end of her comment, hoping that the other girl would take her request to heart. She believed her chances of that happening were quite good if Ruby's creased brow was anything to judge by.

"Cold as in uncaring? That's not what I meant when I said that I promise! Blake just calls you that on occasion and I thought it was 'cause of, you know, your name? And you sound kinda 'proper' when you speak so-"

Weiss cut off her rambling explanation before Ruby could get to fired up about it. What she said made her feel a bit better and she had a small smile on her mouth when she put two fingers to Ruby's lips to shush her.

"Ruby. It is all right. You do not have to explain yourself. Although it is nice to know that you do not think I am a cold person." Weiss let out a small and light-hearted laugh and removed her hand. Ruby didn't speak for a few more moments and Weiss realized that she had a bit of a blush gracing her cheeks. The realization made her smirk to herself. She found it enjoyable to elicit such a reaction from the other girl.

"A-anyways, we should get going. I did promise you dinner didn't I?" Ruby gently grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her in the direction of her parked car. Upon reaching the car she let go of Weiss in order to open the door for her, causing Weiss to smile once more at the kind gesture. This evening was looking like it would be quite enjoyable for her.

Ruby fell onto her bed face first, sighing loudly in happiness. She considered tonight to have been immensely successful and she was quite happy with everything that had occurred. She was sure Weiss had enjoyed herself as well. In fact, she should just ask her just to double check.

Ruby quickly pulled out her phone and pulled up Weiss' information. After a few moments, she had typed out her inquiry and had her thumb hovering over the send button. She breathed in and out shakily before squeezing her eyes shut and clicking the send. A few seconds later she relaxed, realizing that the worst part was already over. Hopefully. Her phone buzzed and she looked down.

'Of course I enjoyed myself, you dolt.'

Her message contained a smiling emoji, which let Ruby know that the term 'dolt' was meant lightheartedly. She assumed that it wasn't that bad anyways. Although she had no clue what it was actually supposed to mean either. She smiled herself as she quickly got another message.

'I enjoy spending time with you, Ruby, and if you are willing, I would like to do so again sometime.'

Ruby's smile only grew as she read the message. She didn't know what she'd done, but she'd done something right if Weiss had fun and still wanted to be around her. Because believe it or not, people don't usually stick around oddly enough. Although she did have a decent size circle of friends now. She should thank Yang for that because, without her sister, she never would've met them.

Ruby quickly refocused on her current task. She needed to find an excuse to be with Weiss again. Maybe dinner again? No, she should try and pick something different. An arcade? Didn't seem like something Weiss would enjoy though. Maybe…

Her thoughts were interrupted as Zwei barreled into the room and pounced on her. He was hyper and excited. That was always something that happened when he got back from a walk, so she wasn't too surprised. Although him getting back from a walk so late at night gave her questions… But it also gave her an idea! She quickly typed up a message and sent it to Weiss.

Yang knocked on her door before walking in, causing Ruby to look up with her still present smile. Yang easily returned her smile as she sat on the edge of her bed. Something was different about her though. Ruby just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"So how was dinner with your fellow short stack?" Yang asked with a smirk and a ruffle to her sister's hair. Ruby quickly smacked it away and pouted at her use of nicknames. She had never been a huge fan of being called 'short stack' and she was pretty sure Weiss didn't like it either. Otherwise, she wouldn't wear those stupid heels all the time…

"Don't call us that. It's not nice Yang." Ruby pouted some more to make her point clear. Yang's laughter made it obvious that her point wasn't made and so she sighed. Her smile was back in no time though when her sister repeated her question.

"Your preference on what I call you doesn't answer how it went though." Yang poked her in the side to get her to talk.

"I, personally, had an awesome time! Now Weiss on the other hand…" She let it trail off, causing Yang's brow to furrow.

"What? She didn't enjoy spending time with one of the greatest people in the world?" Yang asked with a smile. She took note of how Yang added 'one of' to the sentence. A recent addition to that specific sentence that had come along with Blake. She didn't mind though. Well, mostly that is. As long as her sister was happy, she wouldn't pout about having to share her.

"Nah, she had a great time too. We spent most of the time getting to know each other a bit better. Although I did tell her about what happened with Qrow. She's not thrilled about even the slightest possibility of meeting him by the way."

Yang laughed at the last comment. Just as Ruby had laughed when Weiss said it. There was a secret that nobody but the two of them shared. And everyone else that had met him, but still.

"I told Blake about it too, and guess what she said." The two of them snickered, already knowing the answer. Yang spoke again before she could say anything though.

"Although to be fair, absolutely nobody wants to meet him. And every time someone does, they always love him. Sorta. Well, kinda. Mostly?" The fact that nobody wanted to meet him was the secret. Although now that she thought about it… maybe it wasn't so much of a secret after all? Her phone buzzed and she lunged over to grab it in her excitement.

'I would love to. How about on Tuesday at 4? I'm a bit busy before then this week.'

"Eager much, are we?" Yang asked after watching her. Ruby had to hide her blush before her sister noticed and tried to formulate a reasonable, well, reason as to why she was excited to receive a message from Weiss. Although when she looked again she saw that Yang had wide eyes and a mouth hanging open.

"No way! You have a crush on her don't you?" Yang had to say this quite loudly of course. Because according to her, the louder you tease someone the more effective it was. As long as you weren't yelling of course. Ruby quickly tried to think of a way to deflect her question. A solution thankfully came to mind.

"Well, what about you? How was your night out? It's pretty late to be taking Zwei out for a walk you know." Now it was Yang's turn to around hesitantly as she scratched her neck. Ruby had a smile now, one that was slowly growing. She knew she had picked up on something and she used that to inspect her sister closely. A realization hit her.

"Yang! You didn't!" Ruby gasped at the thought she had. There were only a few things that could've happened so late at night, what with her sister's newfound 'infatuation' with Blake, them dating for who knows how long, and her sister's unkempt look. The same look that had bothered Ruby before, but that she couldn't figure out. Messy hair, crumpled clothing… well basically everything about her looked slightly messy or crumpled or something.

"No! No, I didn't! Well I mean… maybe I did? I'll be honest I actually have no clue what you're talking about." Yang defended herself quickly before trying to look innocent. A look that Ruby hadn't bought in years at this point. Yang was always guilty. What she was guilty about though? That was the hard part to figure out. But that girl had always done something wrong. She had taken after the Branwen side of her family in that.

"Mhmm. Yeah, I definitely believe that one, Yang. Now c'mon, spill it. I know what you did so there's no use in hiding it. Especially since I'm not 8 anymore and am quite mature." Ruby stated the last part quite proudly, as it was a big achievement to become mature.

"Ruby… Just last week I had to explain to you what Jaune's sister meant when she was talking about a donor…" Ruby's face flushed when she thought about her sisters… descriptive explanation, to say the least. It had gone a good distance in destroying what little innocence she had left.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that kind of stuff happened?! We have certain technology thingies for that!" Ruby blurted out in an embarrassed voice. Yang only laughed for a bit, before squinting at her with a question on her lips.

"How is it that you can so easily talk about things like sex, but as soon as someone makes an innuendo or a reference to it rather than actually talking about it your face bursts into flames?"

Ruby just mumbled to herself, causing Yang to grin. She stood up and headed out the door, intending to leave Ruby alone for the night. Just as she reached the door to her room she gave Ruby a smile and spoke.

"Night sis. Love ya!"

"I love you too Yang. I think." Yang stuck her tongue out at Ruby before leaving and closing the door. Ruby was now alone again and instantly pulled her phone out again. She was planning on talking to Weiss for at least a little longer. Maybe until one of them fell asleep if she was lucky. Although she'd be luckier if she fell asleep first. Sort of. Weiss might not be happy with that.

Bonus Scene

A man wearing mostly black and grey with a hood walked away from a restaurant. He made sure to head in the opposite direction of the bubbly laughter that had pervaded the atmosphere of his entire evening. He quietly slipped into a car that had been waiting down the street and finally allowed himself to relax. He didn't think anyone would notice him but one can never be too sure.

"So was it her? The same one we've been looking for?"

The man looked over at the lady in the driver's seat. She was mostly wearing green and brown while wearing a hood of her own. This girl was his partner for this search and he couldn't have asked for a better one. Although he'd never admit that of course.

Instead of saying anything he tossed a phone to her, which she caught. After opening the phone and looking through the pictures the girl grinned. A grin he returned wholeheartedly. They had been looking for this troublesome girl for some time now and they finally had their lucky break.

"Should we follow them?"

"Nah, I grabbed the plate number. We'll track her that way."

"What if it isn't her car?"

"Well, then I'm sure that we can get plenty of information out of her companion."

The girl considered his point for a moment before agreeing with a nod. She pulled a special phone from a hidden compartment and tossed it to the man.

"Well if we found her then we might as well inform the big man himself. No use in waiting."

The man nodded and started dialing a number. The answer was quick and a highly impatient voice quickly barked at him. He only had a few words for him though so he got right to business as the woman started to forward the pictures to the man on the other side of the phone.

"We've found her."

"..."

"Are you sure? We can always-"

"..."

"Yes, sir. We can do that as well."

"..."

"If you wish.

The man hung up the phone and set it down. He sat there for a moment as the woman waited patiently. He then pulled down his hood to reveal a head full of grey, spiky hair. The woman followed suit and revealed her own green hair.

"So I take it this is going to be fun Mercury?" The woman asked hopefully. They were known to employ various methods to find what they wanted and get what they wanted. It was one of the reasons they had been hired to find the missing girl. But Mercury shook his head, signaling that they wouldn't be going to such lengths.

"Oh no, it most definitely won't be. It will, however, be one of the more interesting approaches possible. I don't think I can recall ever doing things this way since we joined with Fall Investigations. But the big man asked we do things this way, so we'll try. Just try not to mess things up this time Emerald." Mercury smirked at the last comment, which caused the woman, Emerald, to smack him upside the head before starting the car and driving off after their prey.

A/N:

Oh no! Looks like Ruby and Weiss

weren't quite as careful as they should've been?

So maybe things will take a turn for the worse…?

Or maybe things will only improve…?

It all depends on who is on the other side of the

Phone! And also how mean/nice I decide to make these two…