Blood of The Rose
Chapter 31: Blood Doll
En Route to Santa Monica

Ruby shifted in her seat in the back of the cab, moving her bat between her legs so that she might turn slightly towards the other occupants. "Hey, Weiss?"

"Yes?" the platinum-haired Kindred replied distractedly. She'd been staring levelly out the front window from her perch in the middle of the bench seat ever since they'd started out.

"Do you… wanna talk, now, about… y'know, what Nines said and all?"

Weiss pursed her lips briefly, pale eyes flickering over to the third woman pressed up against her left side. "I am fine," she stated with a slight shake of her head. "There is nothing that needs to be discussed."

"Weiss…"

"Hey, if it's me you're worried about, don't be," Yang interjected breezily, her own gaze remaining out the side window, watching the lights whizz by. "I know it ain't easy hearin' what you did, shit, Nines can be harsh as fuck sometimes. But he's got his heart in the right place, cares deeply about all of us." The blonde turned, then, flashing the fledglings a brilliant fanged smile. "And he wouldn't've bothered to talk to you if he didn't care."

"I suppose…" Weiss sighed softly. "It was a bit… difficult, indeed, to listen to some of it, but… I must admit, not all of it I could dismiss outright." She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and scowled out the front window. "I've seen plenty of evidence of the drawbacks he alluded to with the Camarilla, but I'm not entirely convinced they outweigh the potential good that we do."

"Hey, so long as you keep an open mind?" Yang shrugged guilelessly. "That's all anyone can ask for."

"I think, maybe…" Ruby mused softly. "Maybe the truth lies in the middle, somewhere… I mean, between the Camarilla and the Anarchs, if they've been at each other's throats as long as they have…"

"Heh, yeah, lotta bad feelings all around," Yang chuckled. "Still, I ain't about to give up on you guys, you know that, right? All the political bullshit aside, you're my little sis, Rubes, and you, Ice Queen, you're her friend. So I'm sticking around to help out any way I can."

"Thanks, Yang," the brunette grinned, her silver eyes shining with emotion.

"Yes, I also appreciate your assistance." Weiss let out a sigh, though her lips quirked slightly. "She does require quite a bit of looking after."

"Hey!"

"Yeah, true," Yang stated, stroking her chin as her own lilac eyes twinkled merrily. "Always gettin' into trouble, that one…"

"It gets exhausting after awhile, as I'm sure you know."

"Oh, man, the stories I could tell…"

"Still sitting right here, you know!" Ruby declared irritably as she pulled the hood of her red jacket over her head.

"Aww, you know we love you, Rubes."

The brunette fledgling snorted. "You guys suck."

Weiss cleared her throat humorously. "In any case, we did assure Damsel that we would assist with the plaguebearer issue that seems to be troubling Downtown LA."

"Oh, nice!" Yang grinned widely. "That's awesome, we can make it a team effort! Maybe we can even tackle that the next night if this thing on the ship doesn't take too long?"

"That sounds perfectly acceptable."

The blonde Brujah leaned forward, trying to catch her sister's eye to draw her out of her pouting, self-imposed conversational exile. "Hey there, Rubbles… I see your style ain't changed much…"

Ruby turned curiously, dropping her hood and taking the bait. "My what now?"

"Y'know, wearin' the same kinda clothes you always used to..."

"Hey, now, I've changed plenty!" Ruby protested. "Weiss even bought me a cool new outfit! It's got a cloak and everything!"

"A cloak?" her sister repeated skeptically.

"Yup! An' a sweet-looking skirt and boots and I look super cute and dangerous in it. Tell her, Weiss!"

By this point, Weiss had given up any effort at containing her humor and allowed a smile to crack. "Er, yes, she does look rather… um… dashing. Gothic and adventuresome."

"No shit?" Yang murmured.

"You bet!" Ruby replied hotly. "I look damn good in it!"

The blonde shook her head, still somewhat skeptical, but gave Weiss a nudge with her shoulder. "Wow, Ice Queen, nice job gettin' her to wear something other than skater-chic."

Ruby snorted humorously. "Weiss, smack her, please."

The platinum-haired woman obligingly gave her neighbor a sharp slap on the arm, much to Yang's outrage.

"You just hit me!"

"Well, she did ask me to."

"Seriously? Is that how it's gonna be, you two ganging up on me?"

"Yep!" Ruby interjected cheerfully. "'Cause she's my bestie!"

"Don't push your luck," Weiss warned, though her smile remained in place.

"Yeah, yeah… Um, hey, mister?" The brunette leaned forward to address the cab driver. "Are we almost there?"

"Just about, yes," he replied with his usual strong accent. "Perhaps another minute or so."

"Um, okay, thanks…" Ruby giggled, holding her hand over her mouth briefly. "Um, mister?"

"Yes?"

"Can… Can you say, 'nuclear vessels'?"

"Oh, my God, Ruby," Yang laughed softly, covering her face with her hands.

The cabbie regarded the brunette levelly in the rearview mirror. "I am not Russian," he stated with a slight smirk.

Ruby collapsed into her seat, overcome with giggles. "Oh, man, I love this guy…"

"Well, we do seem to often end up in his cab…" Weiss noted dryly. "Perhaps we might not overly irritate him?"

"It's a Star Trek thing, Weiss," her partner responded in between laughs.

"Oh. I see."

"You got the Star Wars reference earlier but not the Star Trek one?"

Weiss let out a huff as she crossed her arms again. "Dolt," she muttered somewhat affectionately.

Finally, the cab pulled up outside of The Asylum in Santa Monica. As the trio of Kindred slipped out, Weiss turning to pay the driver, Yang let out a low whistle.

"Nice ambiance," she commented. "Never been to this club."

Ruby nodded happily. "Jeanette owns it."

"No shit? The crazy Malk chick?"

"Do try to refer to her with a little bit of respect," Weiss implored as she stepped up. "Malkavian she may be, but she is likely the most powerful Kindred in this town."

"Plus, she's really not that bad, once you get to know her," Ruby added.

"Huh," the blonde mused. "Well, okay, I'll behave."

"That'll be a first," Ruby snorted, heading for the doors.

"Heard that!"

"Wasn't tryin' to be all that quiet about it, sis!"

The Asylum

As soon as the three vampires entered the club, Ruby spotted a familiar head of dyed green hair. She grinned widely, but then her expression fell somewhat as she noticed that Reese was sitting rather morosely at the bar, her chin resting on her crossed arms and facing away from her. Next to her was another girl, dressed in similar jeans and hoodie, though while Reese's was purple the other girl's was red with a wide white stripe across the middle. A dark beanie covered her head for the most part, but there seemed to be strands of dusky rose hair peeking out from the edge. She looked to be in the process of consoling Reese, gently patting her forearm.

"Cool, there's my friend!" Ruby exclaimed over the noise of the music. "C'mon, you guys can meet her!"

She skipped forward, weaving through the crowd with the others on her heels until she was right behind Reese. With a light giggle, she lunged forward and wrapped her up in a hug from behind.

"Hi, Reese!" she exclaimed.

"R- Ruby?" the green-haired girl stammered, turning her head incredulously as a smile lit up her face. "Ruby, it is you!"

"Well, duh." The brunette stepped back to let Reese turn around on her stool. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, sorry! Ruby, this is May, pretty much my only friend, really…"

"Hey," the other girl replied, looking somewhat awed.

"Hi, May! So, this is my big sister, Yang, and then my partner, Weiss!"

"Oh, wow," Reese breathed, her green eyes flickering between the three Kindred.

Weiss nodded curtly but not in an unfriendly way. "A pleasure. Ruby, I'll be… around."

"Okay, have fun, Weiss!"

Meanwhile, Yang had sidled up on the other side of May, smiling rather seductively. For her part, the beanie-wearing girl's blue eyes were wide as she regarded the blonde breathlessly.

"Soooo... May," Yang purred. "You dance?"

"Um…" May squeaked. "Yeah? Sorta?"

"Good enough," the blonde laughed, grabbing her by the hand and giving the other pair a cheery wave. "Catch you two later!"

Ruby just shook her head with a laugh. "Sorry about that, Yang's always been, well… aggressive like that. You think May will be okay with her?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Reese nodded rapidly, her fingers fidgeting restlessly in her lap. "Um… So, I've been waiting for you to show up again… I'm sorry, that sounds really needy…"

"Nah, it's okay," Ruby laughed. "Sorry I haven't been by in awhile, been busy with all kinds of stuff." She moved closer, stepping up right next to the girl. A brief frown creased her face as she noticed the turquoise-haired girl was trembling slightly. "Hey… are you okay? Um, I'm not making you nervous or anything, am I?"

"No, fuck no!" Reese exclaimed before blushing brightly. "Sorry. Just… Um… Can I talk to you about something?"

"'Course you can," Ruby smiled. She moved a little closer still, so that she was standing in between Reese's legs, and rested her hands on the other girl's thighs, feeling inordinately comfortable with her. "What's up?"

Reese took a deep breath and moved her hands so that they rested on Ruby's. "Um… Ruby, I… I think I know what you are."

"You do?"

"Uh-huh." Reese blinked rapidly. "And I'm totally fine with it and all, I mean… you are one, right, a…" She swallowed nervously. "A… A vampire?"

"Yep," Ruby giggled. "Not what you expected, huh?"

"Not exactly, no… So, I meant what I said before, May is, like, the only friend I have, really… And I kinda told her what I thought and everything, and she, um…" Reese glanced nervously at the dance floor where the rose-haired girl seemed to be having a fun time grinding against the much taller blonde as the sounds of Flesh by Simon Curtis belted out over the soundsystem. "She wanted to come with me and meet you," Reese finally finished.

"Okaaay," the brunette responded slowly.

"It's just… I don't want to get her into any kinda trouble, y'know? So, um, if I did something wrong, maybe you could… just…"

"Oh, hey!" Ruby interrupted, turning her hands over so that she could squeeze Reese's in a reassuring grip. "You're not in trouble or anything! I mean, yeah, don't, like, go to the news or anything or post shit up on Reddit, right? That would end badly for all of us. But…" She smiled, leaning forward and bumping their foreheads together gently. "It's fine, really, long as she doesn't mind Yang doin' to her what we… uh… do."

"Well…" Reese ducked her head shyly. "I maybe did tell her about it, and how, um, amazing it felt and all… so she was kinda hoping to with you… but I'm sure she wouldn't mind Yang, she's really pretty…"

Ruby giggled lightly. "Heh, yeah, she's always been able to attract all the boys and girls…"

"So…" Reese swallowed again, her bright green eyes searching Ruby's face. "Um… is it okay if… I mean, can you… Do you want to…?"

"Love to," Ruby murmured. She slid her hands up and around the other girl's waist, pulling them in towards each other even closer. As she was about to slide her cheek along Reese's, she was startled by a quick kiss that was pressed to her lips.

"S- Sorry!" Reese squeaked, her face brightly flushed. "I- I- I just wanted to do that for awhile, now…"

The brunette laughed lightly, still somewhat surprised. "I'll let it pass this time," she admonished humorously before finally brushing along Reese's cheek. She impulsively left a series of soft kisses along the green-haired girl's jawline down to her neck, causing Reese to fist her hands in the back of her red hoodie.

"Please, Ruby," she moaned softly.

More than happy to comply, the brunette fledgling gave a spot on her neck a quick lick before sinking her dainty fangs in, the glorious elixir flowing down her throat soon thereafter.

Oh, fuck me, I don't think I'll ever get used to how amazing this tastes and feels

Reese was trembling under her and Ruby became aware of the other girl's arms and legs wrapping around her tightly. Then, suddenly, Reese let out a sharp gasp before shuddering mightily.

Um, did she just…? Oh… Oh, shit, I think she did, wow, I can actually smell it… Well, that's never happened before…

She finished up hurriedly, her mind a whirl of conflicting thoughts. She was quick to step back but then had to reach out to prevent Reese from collapsing onto the floor.

"S- Sorry," Reese breathed dreamily, gripping the counter now. "I'm just, um… I- I'm gonna just put my head down for a bit…"

"Uh… okay…" Ruby leaned back in, feeling for the girl's pulse along her wrist. It was strong and steady if a bit rapid still. "Um, you gonna be alright?"

"I'll… be fine…" Reese turned her head to the side from where it now rested on her crossed arms. "Thank you, Ruby," she murmured with a smile. "Will I see you again soon?"

"Yeah… you're welcome… Um, and yeah, hopefully soon… Bye..."

Ruby turned and strode away from the bar, searching for her companions. Neither one was in sight, so she moved towards the entrance, taking up a spot against the wall. Her arms crossed and foot tapping to the beat, she tried to sort out what just happened.

I mean, I know it's pleasurable and all… but... Holy shit, did I just have sex? Or maybe it was just sex for her? Fuck! I don't know...

"Ruby? You okay?"

She looked up to spot both Yang and Weiss standing in front of her, identical concerned expressions on their faces. Both of them, however, looked to be pleasantly flushed from their recent feedings.

"I… Can we talk outside?"

"Of course," Weiss responded, turning and leading the way out of the club. They paused out on the sidewalk, the muffled beats from inside the club still giving them some amount of privacy from anyone passing by.

"Okay, so…" Ruby sighed, running a hand through her red-tipped bangs. "Is it… um… common for those we… feed from… to…" She paused in her hesitant questioning to roll her hands in front of her before covering her face with them. "T- To orgasm?"

"Wait, what?" Yang laughed, gripping her sister's shoulder. "Really, that just happened to you?"

Ruby nodded her head rapidly, not removing her hands.

"Um…" Yang looked at Weiss expectantly, who held her own hands up to declare this one was all on the blonde. With a huff, Yang faced her sister, both hands now resting on Ruby's shoulders.

"Okay, so… Yeah, you know how our feeding can be… pleasing. On both sides." The blonde cleared her throat. "Fuck, never thought I'd need to have 'the talk' with my little sis…"

"Hey!" Ruby interjected indignantly. "I know what sex is, I just never had it before! I mean…" She glanced down at the ground in confusion. "Did I? Was that…?"

"Rubbles, that's just semantics. But, yeah, it can happen, obviously, especially if… Wait, how many times have you fed from this girl?"

"Um, well…" Ruby scratched at the back of her neck. "I think this was only the third time?"

"Huh." Yang and Weiss shared a rather perplexed look.

"And she hasn't shared any blood with her…" Weiss murmured, quickly turning her ice-blue gaze on the brunette. "Have you?"

"Nope, not at all!" Ruby protested, quickly squashing the sick feeling of what she'd done for the girl in the clinic. "I've only fed from Reese, nothin' else!"

"Look, just…" Yang sighed heavily, running her hands through her thick locks of wavy hair. "It's not really that big of a deal, okay? I mean, unless it… really weirded you out, or something?"

She shrugged uncomfortably, though unable to keep her mouth from quirking into a tiny smile. "No… No, not really…"

Before she could continue, Ruby was interrupted by her phone blaring out the opening lyrics to Superchick's Hey Hey. "Oh, someone's calling me…"

"So it would seem," Weiss remarked dryly. Ruby stuck her tongue out as she swiped and entered in her code.

"Hi, Ruby Rose here… Oh, hey, Mercurio, how arya feeling?"

She nodded slowly as she listened to the ghoul before a slow smile spread across her face.

"Oh, wow… That's awesome, thanks! Listen, can you… Um, can I ask a favor? Well, it's not a big one, just… Oh, okay, I mean, that's really nice of you and all. I just wanted to know if you could actually give her a phone next time you see her, one with my number in it already? Yeah, it'd make it a whole lot easier- Yup, exactly. Okay, cool, I'll see ya there, then, got all sorts of neat stuff to catch you up on later. Okay, bye bye!"

She hit the 'end' button and tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, grinning widely. "Well, then," she giggled, draping an arm around Weiss' shoulders. "Guess who that was?"

"Mercurio," Weiss replied flatly, eyeing the brunette warily.

"Oh, yeah, you woulda heard that… But!" Ruby held up a finger ingeniously. "Guess who he was calling about?"

"...Blake?"

"Aww, you're no fun…"

Weiss sighed, shrugging off the brunette's arm. "Well, you can tell me what the call was actually about while we walk to your Haven."

"Right, yeah!" she cheered, skipping ahead so she could walk backwards. Yang chuckled as she shook her head fondly while they began to move down the alleyway. "So, Blake paid a visit to Mercurio, gave him a sweet sword to give to me, and get this… She said she took care of my problem from Asia!"

"Really?" Weiss raised an eyebrow, obviously impressed. "That's… quite nice of her."

"This another friend of you guys?" the blonde Kindred asked curiously.

"Well, sorta, yeah," Ruby replied. "I mean, we're still getting to know her, but she's pretty cool. Kinda dark and mysterious… Oh, and she's a Gangrel, like Beckett."

"Wait, what? You two know Beckett?"

"We met him once," Weiss interjected levelly. "Blake was with him at the time, and she accompanied us downtown."

"He's not her actual Master," Ruby said, turning back around and slowing her walk so that the three of them crossed the street together. "I guess if she managed to take out one of these Coo-jean guys-"

"Kuei-jin," her partner corrected.

"Right, him, then she's gotta be pretty badass too, right?"

"Apparently." Weiss paused at the street corner, eyeing the apartments on top of Tripp's Pawn Shop. "Well, here we are, home sweet home."

"Ugh, what a dump," Yang snorted. "But, hey, gotta use what you're given, right? I mean, I sleep in the basement of the bar most of the time." The blonde paused, giving the pair of fledglings a wide grin. "But, hey, maybe it doesn't bite as bad as you think, huh?"

With that, the Brujah scurried ahead of them, leaving behind the smallest of giggles as Weiss froze in her tracks, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Wait…" the platinum-haired Kindred started before letting out a pained groan. "No. Just… no."

"Oh, Weiss," Ruby smirked, giving her shoulder a consoling pat. "Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet."


A/N: The title, Blood Doll, refers to those kine in the game you can feed on regularly. This chapter kinda got out of control, I was originally going to include the entire Elizabeth Dane mission here, but I cut it down to three parts keep it somewhat manageable.

Hugs to my patient Beta and collaborator, SilvanaCrowe (with bountiful appreciation for your help with the Yangisms), and much love to all you wonderful readers and reviewers! AntonSlavik020, Sharkdude5, Blacsparrow, carpenter656, Crescent Sunrise, noone297, DeamonHunter, Mossblomma, Reaper Whisper, kinigget, Nicodemus Cain, and Sokat (from chapter 25).

Stay shiny!