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 13
Weiss sighed as she approached the door to her apartment. Today had been a long work day. Longer than usual. She had only just now gotten back home and it was already late into the afternoon. It was a good thing she could cook something up pretty quick or go get some food at a restaurant nearby. Italian maybe. It was something she had always enjoyed after a busy day.
After a few moments of jingling keys, Weiss was finally able to open her door. She proceeded to walk into the living room and fall onto her couch with a groan. Maybe she could skip dinner and just sleep instead. Although she hadn't eaten much at all today so that was probably a bad idea, no matter how tempting it sounded.
"Weissssss, you're finally back!" Ruby shouted from the kitchen. Weiss sat up, her back ramrod straight and her eyes wide. She hadn't thought that Ruby could still be here.
"I was getting a bit worried. And a bit hungry. So I started making dinner!" Ruby happily said as she peaked her head around the corner. Weiss quickly got her surprise reigned in, only for it to be replaced by a steadily growing warmth in her chest. She smiled and stood up.
"I did not think you'd still be here when I got back. I was gone most of the day, after all. I can not say that I am not pleasantly surprised though." Weiss finally replies upon approaching the crimson haired girl. Her smile grew and she wrapped her arms around the other girl for a quick hug. She pretended not to notice the large smile lighting up Ruby's face as she walked towards the table.
"Welllll, you did say I could stay as long as I'd like didn't you? I mean I thought you'd be home soon and all and I just wanted to say hi before leaving but now it's really late and so I decided to make some food and-" Weiss flicked Ruby on the forehead, abruptly stopping the girls rambling. A sheepish smile was on Ruby's face, while Weiss wore a smirk.
"You are babbling, you dolt. Although you are correct, seeing as I did mention you could stay as long as you would like. I meant it too. You are even free to stay the night again if you would like." Weiss said, smirk still dimly present on her face. She could see Ruby staring wide-eyed at her with a bright smile.
She hadn't been planning on Ruby staying another night, of course. Hell, she hadn't planned for it to happen the first time either. But when she heard Ruby's nervous babbling she remembered everything that had happened the night before. And she couldn't exactly bring it up and comment on it if Ruby left. Now could she? Weiss' smirk became devilish for only a moment before becoming a sweet smile as she turned to face the other girl.
"I would love to stay the night again and all, but my sister is going to get worried if I don't head back and check in. She's probably out with Blake and all but still… Better to not risk the wrath." Ruby chuckled at the end, causing Weiss' smile to fall. The other girl noticed this though and quickly spoke up.
"B-but I'll still stay for dinner! After all, I kind of made it because I was hungry and all that… But anyways, if you still want to hang out after that then you're more than welcome to come over to my place." Ruby flashed another nervous smile, which did return one to Weiss' face.
"I will have to take a rain check on that I am afraid. Tomorrow will be a busy day of work as well." Weiss sighed, easily remembering what her day at work had been.
"That's a shame. Maybe we can get together later this week then?" Ruby asked hopefully, holding her hands together in front of her with eyes as wide as dinner plates. Weiss grinned a bit before shaking her head to clear it. This girl was a bit too cute and good at this stuff for her own good.
"Of course. We will have to stay in touch though. Otherwise, it will never happen. Although we already stay in pretty close contact right now as is… Anyways, what is for dinner? I am quite hungry." Ruby looked proud of herself when asked the question.
"Spaghetti! I felt like making spaghetti for dinner!" The girl announced, making Weiss' grin turn to a full-fledged smile.
"I was hoping to eat some Italian tonight. I guess that means this was all meant to be hmm?" Weiss winked before smirking, already waiting for the stuttering that would signify that Ruby was flustered. Only it never came. Ruby was only nodding her head vigorously.
"Yeah! Spaghetti was absolutely meant to be what was for dinner! It was destiny! Or… uh, something like that. Although that whole 'destiny' thing might be because that's the only dinner I could make and… I'm just going to be quiet now." Ruby stated proudly, before faltering before the end. Weiss smiled at Ruby's obliviousness to being hit on right now.
'I will give it a few weeks… Then I will ask her. Goodness, when did I become so… hopelessly cheesy? Destiny? Really?" Weiss said to herself. After all, she didn't want to rush into things. Maybe.
"Well, shall we eat? I am pretty hungry and I am pretty sure your spaghetti is going to be delicious." Weiss said as she sat at her small table. Ruby beamed at her before running off to finish their dinner.
"Hey, Weiss! How much red sauce do you want?" Ruby called out. Weiss snorted a bit when she wondered why the other girl called it red sauce instead of spaghetti sauce or something else. It was a short-lived question.
"I will have a single scoop of sauce please." Weiss called out. Ruby let out a hum to let her know she'd been heard. It was only a few minutes before the other girl finally came in and Weiss' eyes widened. Her spaghetti looked like it was swimming in sauce. Ruby's was no better.
"Bone appetite!" Ruby said proudly. Weiss flinched.
"First of all, it is 'Bon appetit' not… Whatever it is that you just said. Second of all, what happened to the one scoop I asked for? This is… a lot more than I was expecting." Weiss said, with a slightly harsh tone that quickly faded into one of worry. Ruby looked back at her with wide eyes.
"I did do one scoop! Although I was using the really really big one… So yeah I probably should've mentioned that…" Ruby said. Weiss just sighed, knowing exactly what ladle the girl had been using.
"Blake bought that ladle as a gift for me. She knows how I never really eat a ton, so she gave it as a joke. It was not funny then, and it still is not, but it looks like it finally found a use." Weiss replied with a light laugh, which in turn made Ruby start giggling.
"Well, if it's too much I can go pour some back in?" Ruby offered.
'She is such a sweet thing' Weiss thought with a smile.
"Thank you, but you have already done plenty. I am sure I can handle something as simple as this." Ruby didn't seem to like that answer, as she quickly stood up and walked over to take the plate before she could stand up herself.
"No no you stay seated. You had a busy day at work today and you need to relax." Ruby said quickly as Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She turned to look out the window as the other girl left the room. She saw a flash of silver right before her eyes landed on the window and her eyes narrowed once more. When nothing happened for the next few moments though, she relaxed. After all, she was probably just thinking about Ruby's eyes again. That seemed to be happening a lot these days…
"Alright! Is that better now?" Ruby asked with a wide smile. The plate had significantly decreased in size now that a good chunk of the sauce was gone. Weiss gave a soft laugh before replying
"Yes, Ruby. Much better now. Thank you." Ruby's smile only grew wider at that. She then sat down to eat and immediately started shoveling food in her mouth. Weiss followed at a more reserved pace.
"You really seem to be enjoying yourself, Ruby." Weiss finally said with a laugh. The other girl had already almost finished her entire plate and would probably go back for seconds. Meanwhile, Weiss wasn't even half done with her own food.
"Food is awesome! Not as awesome as cookies, but still! So, of course, I'm enjoying myself." Ruby stated. Weiss only giggled more.
"Cookies are a kind of food, you dunce." Ruby blushed when Weiss said that. After sinking down in her chair and poking her fingers together repeatedly she finally spoke up once more, obviously embarrassed.
"Yeahhhh… I guess you're right. It is kinda a form of food, isn't it?" Ruby laughed to herself as Weiss continued to smile. After a moment though, she realized she was staring and quickly returned to eating. Ruby started giggling after a few moments.
"It looks like someone else is suddenly enjoying their food now, hmm?" Ruby said with a smirk. Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out as Ruby stood and went to the kitchen with her plate in hand.
"Damn it, Ruby." Weiss muttered under her breath. It was like Ruby could quickly and easily flip a switch. One moment she was innocent and cute and the next, hot and confident. But no matter how she acted, Weiss still felt so very attracted to her. A blush slowly started to crawl onto her face as she continued to think about the other girl.
"So Weiss, how did work go? I know it was a long day but… uh, well you seem a little off still." Ruby said as she sat down with a large plate of seconds. She directed a small smile towards Weiss. Weiss only sighed in response and leaned back a little.
"Well do you remember how I told you there was a meeting I had to go to yesterday?" Weiss asked.
"Ummm no? I was kind of asleep for most of it." Ruby said with a light laugh. Weiss barely contained a snort at that.
"Speaking of sleeping. I do have something to say about last night. Remember how we ended up all… Well tangled up?" Weiss said with a smirk. She was going to enjoy what came next.
"Uh, yeah? What about it? You don't need to be embarrassed or sorry or whatever ya know." Ruby responded with a reassuring grin.
"Yeah well, I was not the one who caused that. You are the one who latched onto me last night so I could not get to my bed." Weiss said with a laugh and teasing tone. Ruby's face became a darker shade of red than her namesake. And Weiss took quite a bit of pleasure in the sight that it presented. Ruby could only sputter in response so Weiss moved on.
"Anyways, you asked about what happened. So I walk into the meeting this morning with my co-worker Jaune. He's in a management position by the way. Well right after I take a seat the doors open again and guess who comes in? None other than…" Ruby went from being incredibly embarrassed and unable to talk to being entranced by Weiss' story, embarrassed, and still unable to do much more than sputter. Weiss smiled happily as she continued talking. Usually, she wasn't very talkative, but with Ruby? Seems like things were different.
"C'mon Ruby! We need to finish the shopping before the store closes!" Yang called out as she walked around with a grocery cart. Ruby groaned as she shambled along with her sister.
"Why couldn't we have done this in the morning again? It's so late right nowwww." She replied. She had barely walked through the door when Yang had herded her back outside and to the car.
"'Cause we need food! It was your turn to get groceries. But when you finallyyy decide to show up, you come home empty handed! I mean, c'mon Rubes!" Yang cried out with a teasing tone. She stopped as they passed the flower section.
"You thinking of buying Blake some flowers or something?" Ruby teased, completely ignoring the part about how she was supposed to go shopping. Yang's face brightened at the comment though.
"Of course I'm thinking 'bout it! A good girlfriend buys her girlfriend plenty of flowers! I wonder if they have any pretty sunflowers. Oh! I heard that there was a flower called Belladonna too! Maybe they have some of those?" Ruby giggled at Yang's excitement but abruptly stopped at the mention of the flower Blake was named after.
"Nooooo nonono don't get her that flower! I mean, first of all, you'd probably have to go to the black market or something!" Yang gave her a weird look, one that said she didn't understand why she'd have to go to the black market for a flower.
"Ummm why? It's just a flower sis." Ruby sighed and shook her head.
"No, the Belladonna is a very poisonous flower. And the death it causes isn't exactly pleasant either." Ruby stated as Yang stared at her eyes wide. The blonde girl shook her head.
"Why the hell do you know about that Rubes? Like seriously is there even a good reason behind knowing that kind of stuff?" Yang asked with a worried expression. Ruby only laughed and pushed past the other girl to get the cart moving again.
"I know all this because I studied weaponry and poisons for, like, a year when I was 14. Kinda went through that whole 'death phase' or whatever you like to call it." Ruby called out over her shoulder as she pushed the cart along. Yang grabbed a bouquet of flowers from a lady with green hair before running off after her.
"Yeah, yeah. I remember that. It wasn't too long after mom's death, was it? Maybe 8 months at least? At first, I thought you were just looking for some way to commit suicide. Glad I was wrong though. I wasn't exactly in some peachy place myself, now was I?" Yang said with a soft smile and a light punch to Ruby's shoulder. The red-head sighed but put on a small smile herself.
"Yeah. Dad too. I still don't think he really got over all that. You tell Blake about all that yet? You guys have been dating for, what, 3 or 4 months now?" Yang shakes her head as they continue through the store, grabbing items as they pass.
"No way, man. I can barely hold it together when talking to you about it. There's no way I'm ready to have this talk with anyone else yet. But what about you? Gonna tell Weiss?" Yang prodded Ruby in the side while wearing a smirk.
"What?! No! Why would I tell her?" Ruby asked quickly with wide eyes and red cheeks. Yang only snorted and kept walking.
"Alright, well next question. When are you gonna ask her out? You're not exactly subtle with the fact that you have a crush bigger than a black man's di-" Ruby slapped her hand across Yang's mouth, although the mumbling sound of muffled talking persisted.
"Gosh Yang. Do you always have to be so perverse? And I'm not going to ask Weiss out! Well… Not yet at least. I want to give it a little more time, ya know?" Ruby said as she slowly pulled her hand away from Yang. The blonde only grinned at the ever growing blush that had been creeping up on her sister the longer they talked about this sort of stuff.
"Well, first of all, I'll have you know that Blake absolutely loves how perverse I am! But enough of that. You and Weiss have known each other for like a month or two. There's nothing wrong with making a move on her now." Yang reasoned. Ruby only sighed as they approached the checkout and started unloading. She only spoke again when they nearly reached the bottom.
"Hey, Yang?"
"Wassup Rubes?"
"You probably shouldn't have gotten the flowers so soon. I don't think Blake is a big fan of them when they're flat."
A/N:
I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
I was watching 'Highschool of the Dead'
while writing this chapter btw. Just something
interesting I thought I'd share heh.
Next chapter will be written with
Akame ga Kill or whatever it's called
playing. Supposedly it's a bloody anime
which suits me just fine!
Anyways, more about this chapter.
So first: yes I did it again and completely avoided
telling you all who Weiss met at the meeting.
I know, I know, I'm a jerk lol.
Next: You got to find out more about
Ruby and Yang's past! Sort of.
You find out that Summer didn't exactly
die when Ruby was too young to remember
that is. Exciting! Well, I hope you're all
ready to read the next chapter next week!