Significant Changes: An added moment between Weiss and Ruby. The scene with Blake and Ruby has been repurposed to achieve a better fitting narrative. You get a Saturday update because the chapter is short that it shouldn't take the place of a Thursday post.

Original chapter length: 2,323
Revisited chapter length: 1,277

"Regular dialogue" [Faunus speech only]

Chapter 18

"Okay, that about does it." Ruby replied shutting the door to the filing cabinet and locking it with a small silver key. "We now have everyone's admission papers filed away with your own."

"Good, now all we need to do is wait for Coco to send us our room number." Weiss replied, weighing several small vials of dust carefully.

Ruby nodded, scratching the back of her head slowly as she glanced about. "So, do you think that will happen any time soon?"

"I would assume so, yes."

"And then when that happens you'll be gone for a whole week?"

"Yes, that typically tends to be the protocol."

"You're going to be roommates with Jaune, you know that right?"

"Yes…"

"You're going to like it better there than you do here, aren't you?"

Sighing at length, Weiss looked up from her work. Prying the goggles away from her face she's leveled her gaze onto her friend. "Ruby, I have no idea how you could have come to that conclusion. However, that has got to be one of the most idiotic things I've ever heard."

"You're coming back here on your time off, right?"

"I refuse to dignify your paranoia with an answer, Ruby Rose." Weiss told her sharply, her hand raising up to rub her eyes in annoyance. She paused, looking at the soft sparkles of dust glittering in the light before sighing and dropping her hands back down onto the table. "Taking inventory of our dust supplies isn't an easy tasks. If you keep distracting me, I won't have accurate measurements."

"Sorry…" Ruby murmured under her breath, thoroughly chastised.

"Never mind, just top worrying so much. Now, I really need to get this done." Fixing the goggles back onto her eyes she waved Ruby away. "Shoo. Go bother Blake or something. Maybe she can talk this foolishness ut of you."

It was a typical evening in the team RWBY household.

Yang had snuck off to her room for some alone time. A sock resting on the door handle indicated that she was relaxing. Should anyone go barging in, they might see something they'd rather not witness. Sock rules were an unspoken, but well-loved mandate between both Blake and Yang. A tradition that had carried over from Beacon.

If the sock was on the door, the rest of the team entered at their own risk.

Yang was not shy about her thoughts on self-love, choosing to pleasure herself if she found the time. Blake was the same. She had more books of an erotic nature than one might deem necessary, many of them dog-eared to her favorite lustful scenes. The sock on the door handle was a common sight. So common in fact, that Ruby ignored it completely. She willfully chose to forget the fact that her sister was most likely masturbating to some new porn video across the hall.

Instead, she made her way to the living room, sipping on a mug of hot chocolate and yawning into her hand.

Idly, Ruby considered herself lucky. She didn't have to worry about seeing anything lewd with Weiss as a roommate. The sock rule was the least of her worries when it came to the prim and proper ex-heiress. Ruby was sure Weiss wasn't in the least bit innocent, but she was much more discrete about her habits than the others in the house. It was with this passing thought in mind that the token wallflower of team RWBY curled up in the nearest armchair, enjoying the antics occurring in front of her.

Blake was laying across the floor as some children's movie flickered on the television. She wasn't paying attention to it, but, it was better than leaving the news on. Her golden eyed gaze was on her book. She had propped it up against a few pillows so that both of her hands were free. With one ear flicking, she listened for the sounds of the tiny little hunter who was far too excited about her next pounce to keep entirely silent.

[Kin!] Ace chirruped as she lunged, Blake rolled to the side, hearing the thump of hands and feet landing on the wood.

Blake regarded the child with another flick of her ear, cocking her head to the side. Her expression one of simple curiosity. [What do you want?]

Instead of running off to hide again, however, Ace hopped on top of her keeper in an impromptu attack. Blake batted the little girl off and back onto the floor, one palm lying flat on her belly to hold her in place. Content that Ace would be trying to worm her way out for a while, she went back to reading.

"Still a little ball of hyper activity, huh?" Ruby said, humor dancing in her voice.

"Yeah." Blake said as Ace nipped Blake's thumb gently. The older Faunus released her, and Ace got away once again. The little girl chose to hide behind the table as if she couldn't be seen. "Is all of the paperwork filed away?"

"Yep, it's in the cabinet that we keep in the closet." Ruby told her stifling another yawn. "As I finished that, Weiss started doing inventory on our dust supplies."

"How is it?"

"Low…"

"Ah…" Blake trailed off. "So, everything's a done deal then?"

"I guess so. They'll be leaving in a few days. Everything's finished on our end. Weiss says that CFVY just needs to get the room assignment sorted out."

Blake nodded, turning the page in her book. "And did you get any rest at all today? You have a mission in three hours."

"No, but that's fine."

"You're going to overdo it, Ruby."

"It's really not a big deal." Ruby told her, hiding behind her mug as amber eyes flicked to her skeptically. "Well it's not…"

"If you say so." Blake murmured, dodging another pounce from Ace. "What did Oobleck want from you, anyway?"

"We're going to be chipping Beowolves for migratory patterns. It shouldn't take too long, unless he talks more than he shoots." Ruby admitted, her mind on her scythe. "I have repairs to do once Weiss finishes inventory. I have a bad feeling we'll need to order more red dust soon, she keeps muttering about it."

"Great." Blake groused, turning the page slowly again. "There's another couple hundred lien flying out of the household funds."

"Yep, but what can you do? We'd be worthless without ammunition." Ruby told her with a small shrug. "I've also signed up for clearing out a few nest. Nora and Ren needed a sniper since Pyrrha can't do it. She'll probably stationed at the Vale wall by then. You'll probably have to take Ace with you to the soup kitchen."

"Is that really a good idea?" Blake asked.

"She'd end up going anyway because I'd have to end up taking her. Weiss and Yang are going to be gone by then. If we don't take her, one of us would need to stay home."

"Yeah, but those kitchens are on a bad side of town." Blake said then, looking at her exhausted friend. She only narrowly dodged the small Faunus who pounced this time, but didn't miss the way Ace climbed into her back and started gnawing on her ears. It was only playing, but it did hurt, and Blake shook her head in protest harder than she'd meant to, sending Ace toppling over.

[No! That Hurt!] She snarled over her shoulder in warning as Ace scampered away behind Ruby's chair for protection.

[Kin…] Ace mewed sadly from behind her chair, looking up at Ruby with big sad eyes.

"See, that's what happens when you bite people." Ruby said unflinchingly, though she reached down to pat the girl on the head anyway.

Blake could only look at the sight with agitation at the edges of her features. Her ear flicking to ward away the discomfort of being tugged on. "Ruby… I don't know if I like the idea of taking Ace down there."

"I don't think it's a big deal. Lots of homeless children show up during the day. She'll have plenty of kids to play with."

Blake's pushed herself up a bit. "Yeah, but, they don't have a choice. It's a completely different situation."

Ruby only shook her head as Ace nuzzled into her palm. "Technically we don't have much of a choice either. If we want to make sure meals get doled out correctly we're both going to need to be down there helping…"

"Right, but, are you sure about taking her?" Blake asked. "You know the sorts of Faunus that end up there. It's…" Blake licked her lips. "A different world…"

"Nora's going to come down with me after we're done. We'll be there for the first dinner rush." Ruby said, bending over to scoop Ace up from the floor before the diminutive little Faunus could get into any more trouble. Attention diverted, Ace reached for Ruby's mug. The effort failing as Ruby ignored the request and kept the hot liquid away from little hands. "I don't think it'll be a problem. I know that you stay late, but Nora will be with me for the walk back. No one would be stupid enough to start any trouble."

"Alright, if you're absolutely sure that you're okay with that." Blake said. "I don't want to make you feel like it's an obligation or anything…"

"You're not, but, it still is an obligation." Ruby said quietly, watching as Ace played with the log black fabric of her shirt sleeve, putting little rips and tears in the fabric where there previously were none. "We're huntresses, and it's what we do, right?"

Blake nodded slowly, sitting upright and closing her book. "Right." She said softly, a smile playing across her face.

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