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 14

Weiss jumped in surprise as her phone rang from where it sat next to her on the couch. It wasn't the unique ring tone Ruby had made for herself last week either, which is what led to her confusion. Nobody really called her and only Ruby ever texted her. So that being said, she just stared at the phone as it rang.

Eventually, it stopped ringing and Weiss went back to working on editing for Blake's newest set of chapters. She wanted to finish this before tonight since she was going to meet up with Ruby. After all, she had something to ask the girl and didn't want to have to worry about anything else. Or maybe she's just really nervous and needed something to keep her mind off of even the idea of what she was going to do.

Weiss nearly had a heart attack and fell off of the couch when her phone started ringing again. She picked it up to look at it this time and saw that it was a number she didn't recognize. It might be important though so she decided to answer it.

"Heya, Ice Queen!" Yang called out. Weiss sighed loudly and hung up. She really wasn't in the mood for Yang's antics right now. As her phone started ringing again she let out a groan. She knew this wouldn't be quick so she gathered up her stuff and set it on her coffee table before answering the phone.

"What do you want, Yang? I am busy." Weiss heard Yang laugh and she rolled her eyes.

"What, dontcha want to get to know your new girlfriends' sister?" Weiss coughed as her face turned dark red.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Yang only snorted in response before moving on.

"Yeah, well whatever. I called 'cuz Blake wanted to talk to you. She's been complaining about you not telling her about some velcro or scarlet something or other." Weiss scrunched up her eyebrows, unsure what Yang meant. She heard the phone move between hands.

"Velvet Scarlatina! She was talking about Velvet Scarlatina!" Blake almost growled out. Weiss cleared her throat and thought about hanging up again. This wasn't exactly something she wanted to talk to Blake about right now.

"Don't you dare hang this phone up or so help me I will come find you and I will stab you." Weiss smiled at the threat. She knew Blake wouldn't follow through with it but she also knew that she really should talk about this with her.

"Okay, fine. I will not hang up. Now, what why have you been complaining about Velvet all day?" Weiss asked. She had a good idea as to why… but she'd rather hear it first just in case.

"Well, I heard from a little flower how sometime last week she showed up at a meeting at your work. Wasn't it… oh, I don't know, sometime around when Ruby disappeared for almost 24 hours?" Weiss smiled at the memory.

"Well, I suppose you might be correct. Why?"

"Here's a better question. Why didn't you tell me that Velvet had shown up? You know that she and I are old friends and that I'd want to see her." Weiss sighed. She should let her know what she was planning, especially since they were such close friends. And Weiss hated keeping secret plans from Blake anyways.

"Alright fine. Velvet extended an invitation to me to go to a ball or party she is hosting. Something along those lines. And, well, you were not the one I was hoping to invite I guess. It is in around 2 months. The end of the summer season." Weiss waited, although it didn't take long to get an answer.

"You're gonna ask my baby sis aren't you!" Yang cried out. Weiss was quiet for a moment as she processed the fact that Yang had heard everything.

"Oh god, was I on speaker phone Blake?!" Blake didn't respond and Yang only laughed.

"Blake, I am going to kill you. No, wait. I have a better idea." Weiss said calmly. Blake finally responded.

"What are you talking about Weiss? It better not be-"

"Blake, I am going to make sure that every can of tuna or piece of fish within a 50-mile radius of you is gone. Mark my words, it will happen." Weiss said evilly. She then promptly hung up and got back to work. Thanks to those two she was now more nervous about tonight than ever before.

She had to meet Ruby in 2 hours for dinner. Hopefully, she could get plenty done within the next hour because after that she had to get changed into something nicer than her jeans. Maybe a nice summer dress? Either way, she wanted to look nice for when she asked Ruby to attend the dance with her. As a friend of course. Maybe.

Ruby was nervous about tonight. Not necessarily because she had dinner with Weiss, although that was certainly a good reason to be nervous for sure. No, it wasn't really that which bothered her at this moment. She was sitting on a bench in the same park where she and Weiss had met and she believed that she was being followed.

Well, she actually knew it as a fact but that only made things worse. Some green haired girl that she ran into on the path while walking with Weiss. The same girl walking past Weiss' apartment while she was staying over. Another girl that looked almost identical but with small changes handing Yang the flowers she was getting for Blake.

Then at the club, Yang dragged her to in order to 'loosen up'. She ordered milk by the way. There was also the gym, bowling alley, museum, and a few other places. She hadn't been the one to notice it though. Yang had actually been the one to comment on how she'd been seeing a lot of people with green hair lately. That had been the comment that made her realize the reason for that.

A flash of white caught her attention. She turned to greet who she knew to be Weiss but could only stare when she saw the other girl. Weiss had decided to wear a short white summer dress that left her shoulders bare. On the dress were various black images of flowers. Or more specifically, roses and lilies.

Weiss also had on a simple blazer that matched the dress in order to keep out some of the chill that could creep in at night. The girl had a beautiful smile on her face as she confidently walked towards Ruby with a small hand purse clasped to a bracelet of black beads. Lastly, there was a beautiful blue teardrop necklace around her neck. Weiss sat next to her, smile slowly turning into a smirk as Ruby continues to openly stare.

"You see something you like Ruby?" Weiss laughed as Ruby snapped to her senses. She took a moment before replying.

"I mean, you could say that. Oh but uh, we should go somewhere else. I have something to tell you." Ruby said in a serious voice. She noticed that a man with silver hair had just joined the green haired girl that was on a nearby bench. Weiss was probably being followed too.

Ruby stood and took a step away before turning back, realizing that Weiss wasn't yet following. She was about to say something when she noticed that the other girl had a blush on her face as she fiddled with her fingers. Ruby only giggled at the sight.

"C'mon Wei- um… White. Heh. Anyways, let's go." Ruby said as she reached down and grabbed one of Weiss' hands and pulling her up. Weiss cooperated after only a little bit of hesitation and so Ruby started off, heading deeper into a park.

"Ruby? Where are we going? The restaurant is outside of the park. Not deeper in it." Weiss said as they made their way off the beaten path.

"Did you ever wonder where it was that I spent my time while in this park on my own? Well, that's where we're going. It's my own special and hidden place and I feel like we need that right now." Ruby said as they sped up into a brisk jog. She made sure that Weiss' nice outfit wasn't at all ruined while they kept going.

"And why do we need such a place? We were planning on dinner, not a run through the forest." Weiss replied. Ruby quickly pulled the other girl into a small clearing and held her breath. Thankfully, Weiss did the same.

After a few moments, they heard a quiet rustling move past them. Weiss' eyes were wide while they waited for a good amount of time. Just when they were about to relax though, there was more movement.

Suddenly the movement stopped and instead there were voices. It wasn't very loud, in fact, it was quiet both due to hushed tones and distance. But if Ruby strained her ears, she could just barely hear them.

"...lost them. The boss won't be happy."

"Maybe we can find them again?"

"No, I don't think that will work. They've already figured out we've been following them. Besides, I think we gathered enough information about her. We know the Schnee's plan after all. And that means we'll know where the girl will probably be."

"You're right. Then I think we should head back now."

"Agreed. Let's go."

The sound faded and their footsteps retreated. It seemed like they were safe to move but they waited just in case. Half a dozen minutes passed before they even dared to breathe normally again, at which point Weiss spun towards her.

"What the fuck was that?" Weiss demanded as Ruby's eyes went wide again. Ruby needed to explain things quickly.

"I noticed that lately, someone has been following me is all. Then I saw someone follow you to the park as well. So I dragged you over here and… well yeah…" Weiss sighed.

"Let me guess, the one that has been following me has silver hair?"

"Yeah."

"Figures. I have been seeing flashes of silver all over the place lately. I thought I was just thinking about… Well, do not worry about it. Just know that I noticed it as well but did not put two and two together."

"Of course you noticed it! You're, like, really smart and all that after all." Ruby said, beaming. Weiss laughed.

"What does being smart have to do with noticing these things?" Weiss asked, causing Ruby's smile to falter.

"Umm well, smart people notice things I guess? Or something like that?" Ruby said hesitantly. Weiss gave her a smile before responding.

"Observant people notice small things, Ruby. Smart people are just that. Smart. But I will take the compliment anyways." Ruby giggled a little at Weiss' explanation before looking around.

"So I think we should head out to dinner just like we planned. Don't you agree? Because I'm kinda hungry." Ruby said with a smile.

"As if that is surprising. You are always hungry. Although I suppose that I am a bit famished as well. But is it really the best idea to go out in public so soon?" Weiss replied.

"You're probably right. How about instead we cook something up at my place? Or I could have Yang bring us something out here if you'd like." Weiss shivered, obviously not pleased with the prospect of seeing or talking to Yang.

"I would love to eat at your place. But just give me a few minutes to make a call." Came the reply. Ruby snickered at the forced sweetness that was in the girls' tone and nodded. Weiss promptly pulled out her phone and dialed up a number.

"Hey, Blake."

"..."

"Sort of. Something came up and we were actually going to head over to Ruby's place and spend the evening there."

"..."

"Absolutely. If you can do that then I will not get rid of all the tuna like I said I would."

"..."

"Pretty much. Thank you." Weiss said as she ended the call and put her phone away. Ruby looked at her questioningly as Weiss turned to face her.

"What did you need Blake to do?" Ruby questioned. Weiss grinned slyly at the question.

"Don't you worry your pretty little face about that and just lead the way." Weiss said with a sweet smile. Ruby was more than happy to comply and started to march off. That is, until what Weiss said caught up to her.

"Wait, did you just say-" Weiss quickly cut her off.

"No, I did not say anything. Now let us go off towards your place. We are both pretty hungry last I checked." The girl quickly said. Ruby's eyes only went wide in realization.

"Oh. My. Goodness. You're right! We need to go get some food to eat! And fast!" Ruby shouted as she dragged Weiss out and towards the center of the park once again. Weiss only smiled at Ruby's antics, more than willing to play along.

By the time they reached Ruby's apartment, the redheaded girl was giggling like a schoolgirl and Weiss couldn't keep a smile from her face. They were vigilant of course as they didn't want to be followed again. Weiss wasn't sure what exactly they wanted but if they were following the two of them, then something obviously wasn't right. They had agreed to talk to the police in the morning about it though, so things should be fine after that.

"And we're here! Welcome to my humble abode." Ruby said as she unlocked her door with a flourish and a bow. Weiss let out a giggle at the gesture but was quick to snuff it out by covering her mouth with her hand. Ruby gave a little pout when she did, so she threw the girl a happy smile that seemed to work.

"Thank you. Now let us go make something for dinner. I think it is about time for that if the sounds your stomach is making is any indicator." Weiss smiled innocently while Ruby gasped in mock indignation.

"I don't know what you're talking about! My stomach isn't making any noise at all! I don't know what you're talking about." Ruby said with a pout.

"So does that mean you do not want to eat? I suppose we will just wait for a bit in that case. An hour sounds good right?" Weiss said, eliciting the exact response she was hoping for as Ruby started to stutter out a response with wide eyes.

"N-no! I am hungry and we should eat now. Please?" The girl pleaded with wide eyes filled with desperation. Weiss was only able to laugh in response.

"Of course, Ruby. How about we go find something to cook up?" She replied with a soft smile. She could tell that tonight was going to be very enjoyable. That was perfect seeing as she needed to find a way to invite Ruby to the party that was in a few months. Ruby being in a happy mood meant good things would probably happen. Although to be fair, Ruby was always in a good mood…

Two hooded figures entered the same alleyway that a lone figure was standing in, shrouded in shadow. They strode in with purpose and approached the figure that was partially hidden, obviously intent on either speaking or mugging the person. Seeing as they had no obvious weapons, it was probably the first option.

The two newcomers stopped just short of the person in shadow and pulled down their hoods. One had a head full of green hair, the other had one of silver. They were the ones that had business here tonight. Hopefully, the news was good. In fact, it better be considering the fact that they had asked for a personal meeting.

"We have news on the girl you wanted to know about." The one with silver hair said.

"We have insight as to where she shall be in just a few months." The one with green hair added.

"This had better be good then." Came a mechanical reply. It was obvious that the person speaking didn't want these two to know who they were hired by. A smile crept up on the face of the observer on the roof. That meant things could get interesting.

"Velvet Scarlatina is hosting a ball on the twelfth of August. That red-headed goody-two-shoes you're looking for should be there. She and the Schnee girl are head over heels for each other and that prissy little brat got an invitation for two." Said the green haired girl. The figure in shadow only nodded their head quietly.

"They finally noticed that we've been following them though. It's been about a month so I guess it's about time." The boy with silver hair added. There was a nod of understanding.

"So I take it you won't be able to provide me anything else of use?"

"Pretty much. Now can we have the agreed payment?" Said the boy in white.

"Yes… The agreed payment. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the payment has changed." Came the reply.

"Excuse us?" The green haired girl replied.

"Yes. Instead of the price you were told you'd be given, I would instead like to introduce you to a good friend of mine. He'll reward you properly." The one in shadows somehow managed to fade away and the observer on the roof knew it was his turn. Now it was time for his favorite part. Now he wasn't an observer. A maniacal giggle escaped his throat as long knives slipped into his hands. He would make sure that this was headline news.

A/N:

Soooo… Remember how I said that this

was originally supposed to be all fluffy?

Yeah well, like I said. ORIGINALLY.

Obviously, it isn't anymore and this

is where things are supposed to

really get interesting! Maybe.

It might take a few more chapters

for anything big to really happen

but I would definitely say things are a bit

more interesting heheh...