The next day Ruby woke with a smile on her face. Today was the day she and Weiss started work on the final preparations for their heist, but last night proved that she was finally starting to work her way through the walls around platinum-haired woman's heart.
Putting the finishing touches on a heist she had planned was something that already had the brunette giddy with anticipation. There was no greater rush than having a detailed, calculated plan put into action; watching as the pieces fall into place and cause a reaction that has been planned for and used to her advantage. The feeling of outwitting her opponent without them even realising what was happening filled her with an unrivaled sense of pride. And now, she got to share that experience with someone she could actually call her friend. Not some sort of criminal comrade but an actual honest-to-God friend.
She wasn't stupid, though. Ruby was well aware that this wasn't something she wanted to do for the rest of her life; the risk simply wasn't worth it. There were other ways to get that rush. Safer ways, such as competitive chess with a little sky diving on the side. She could travel to places and actually enjoy the sights, instead of spending her days navigating the filthy underbelly. Maybe put her skills to use actually helping people for once. Maybe Weiss would join her.
Her grin grew as she threw on her sweat pants and sports bra, tiptoeing to the door where her runners lay. Her feet hit the snow with a satisfying crunch as she began her jog toward the small lake behind her cabin. She barely registered how many laps she had done around the body of water as she set a quick controlled pace. Her mind was too preoccupied with the memory of soft white hair running through her fingers.
If anything, last night was proof that she didn't need to go on heists to be happy. Sure she was surprised when she accidentally called Weiss Princess, but what surprised her more was the way her friend simply blushed while looking down with a smile. Granted, she much preferred this over the glaring and snapping she had received in the past. What did interest her was the way Weiss acted after they had finished planning. Her past experiences with the former heiress had showed in unconscious need to be above others; where others sat she stood, when others were standing she would raise her chin just a little higher so as to look down her nose at them. But last night, not only did Weiss spend the evening with her head on Ruby's lap, it was also clear that the ever-present tension that pervaded the platinum-haired woman's every movement was gone. The only other time Ruby had seen this was when she saw Weiss admiring the pair of jeans she had just received.
It was becoming clearer that whatever happened to her friend before they met (and Ruby had a pretty good idea what it was), had made her believe she had to hide behind a mask of high-strung, cold and demanding attitude in order to defend herself from a threat she believed everyone around her posed.
The thought of Weiss being treated with anything but love, dignity, and respect made Ruby's jaw clench as she picked up her pace. She was well aware of the fact that her feelings toward the silver-haired woman were developing into more than just a simple crush. She knew that friendship was not the only motivator when she jumped in front of that bullet. She also knew that if her guesses about Weiss's past were even close to correct, the older woman needed friendship and support above all else right now. Anything else could be dealt with later.
The sun was just starting to peek out from behind the mighty evergreens that surrounded the cabins when she headed decided it was time to head back. Weiss was waiting on the porch when she arrived, taking in the picturesque morning with blurry eyes as she clutched a steaming cup of coffee. Ruby allowed herself a small smirk as she watched the former heiress' eyes visibly darken as they raked over her body, she chuckled softly when Weiss coughed and quickly looked at the ground, marble cheeks burning from embarrassment at being caught.
Ruby climbed the steps and grinned at her friend.
"How'd you sleep?" Weiss looked grateful as they fell into their routine of easy morning chats.
"Great, thank you. And you?"
"I've had worse nights." Ruby said as she opened the door. "I'm just gonna hop in the shower and get dressed then we can leave."
"Alright, I'll make us something for the road."
"You know, you really don't have to."
"We're going to be robbing a bank full of armed guards that sees hundreds of people every day, I need you preforming at your best or it's my ass on the line too."
Ruby said nothing but rolled her eyes good-naturedly as she crossed the hall to her bathroom.
Oh yeah, she thought to herself.
This is gonna be a lot more fun than usual.
*(OoO)*
Weiss grumbled to herself as she walked along the street, casting the occasional glance upward at every corner and intersection. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the short list of contacts before stopping on the one she wanted and pressing the call button.
She heard the phone ring once before being answered and told herself to not be happy that maybe her call was expected.
"How'd it go?"
"Remind me again, why exactly I had to be the one to go into the bank and flirt with the guard, who, might I add, had his hand on his holster the entire time." Melodic laughter filled her ear. At least Red was enjoying this.
"At least this time I told you beforehand that they'd be armed."
"Yes, well go ahead and laugh. I was so terrified of him finding out what I was up to and shooting on the spot that I must have made a complete fool of myself." Weiss huffed and this only made Red laugh harder.
"You're really not good at this are you?"
"No, I am not!" Weiss yelled as she entered the apartment building they were currently staying at, "Which brings us back to my original question of why you had me do it!"
"Because I don't need experience in casing a location." Red explained calmly, "Which reminds me, how'd that go?"
"There are twelve guards in total: four in the front lobby, three behind the clerks, three in the back, and two down the hall from the vault. There are security cameras at every entrance, one in the lobby and one just outside the vault. The vault's door requires an ID card and a five digit code, which changes daily. The inside of the vault isn't terribly exciting, they just leave the money sitting out on shelves." Weiss smiled to herself as she exited the elevator and crossed the hall to one of the unmarked doors next to the janitor's closet, she had been rehearsing what she was going to say since she had left the Jameson Bank, taking extra time to roam the streets of Ottawa while she practiced. She opened the door and felt giddy at being able to see the shocked and impressed face of Red.
Instead she entered the large studio apartment and was greeted by a smirking Red sitting on the couch in front of a sewing machine before the younger girl hurled something at her face. The projectile hit her in the face with an oomph before falling into her hands. She sent the dirtiest glare at Red she could, but judging by the way the brunette was laughing she doubted she looked very intimidating.
Scowling, she looked down at the lump of fabric in her arms, hoping to avoid further embarrassment. In her hands was a set of pale blue coveralls with the name Arryn Brockovitch sewn clumsily to the left breast.
Looking up from the outfit, she took in the girl sitting across from her, silver eyes twinkling and crooked grin gracing her features, before joining her on the couch with a huff.
"Remind me again why I have to be the janitor?" Red laughed and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Because, Princess, despite the name on the coveralls, your job won't require a performance worthy of Julia Roberts."
"You know I still don't understand you when you make all these references, right?" Weiss said as she pulled her legs up on to the couch, though it was definitely not so she curl up to warm body next to her.
"I know, I just think you're cute when you get all confused." Red smirked, before laughing as Weiss flushed and buried her face in the brunette's chest. Under No circumstance was she relishing the soft smell of strawberries and roses that surrounded her, or the steady beat of her friend's heart against her chest. "Also, you forgot the two guards monitoring the video feeds, and the cameras at every entrance and exit, of which there are four. All in all though, you did pretty good for your first time casing."
They sat there for a while in silence, enjoying the momentary peace that had settled over them. It was a few minutes before Weiss raised her head and spoke as she finally realised:
"Wait, you think I can't act?"
Red let out a bark of laughter, squeezing Weiss's shoulder.
"You thought a guard was going to shoot you while you flirted with him."
"He had his hand on his gun the whole time! What else was I was supposed to think?"
"He was trying to seem macho!"
"What does that even mean?!" Red couldn't help but laugh even harder at this.
"It means, Princess, that he was trying to impress you by bringing attention to his gun, showing off that he's a big strong guard who fights bad guys all day, instead of a police academy dropout who sits around all day staring at a screen."
"Oh," Weiss said, softly. "Really?"
"Well, duh. Anybody who saw a gorgeous woman with long silvery hair walk by them and didn't try talking to her is either gay or really stupid!" Weiss felt her cheeks warm and giggled as she watched Red realise what she had just said. The brunette coughed and pulled on her collar, trying to cover her embarrassment as she stared out the window at the busy Ottawa streets.
"Now that I think about it that probably makes more sense than what I thought." Red turned back to her, that stupid, endearing, irritating, adorable, annoying smirk of hers back in full force.
"Oh? And what were you thinking?"
"Well he said he was in the police, so when he leaned on the wall and put his hand on his gun, I thought it was some sort of old injury he got from some ne'er-do-well."
"Why would you think that?" Red asked with barely restrained laughter.
"Because," Weiss huffed, "He got this look on his face like he in pain when he put his arm near my head. Of course there was a rather large man with a gun looming over me, so I wasn't exactly thinking clearly." Weiss sat back and crossed her arms as she defended herself.
Red at this point was doubled over in laughter, clutching her stomach. Weiss tried once more to glare at the girl, but to no avail. After more than a couple of minutes, Red finally calmed down enough to speak and turned to the former heiress.
"Oh, don't pout Princess. I like that you can't flirt." Weiss frowned. Was she pouting?
"If you are so well versed in the ways of human interaction, why don't you explain why he was leaning on the wall like that?" Red chuckled lightly.
"It's a form of flirting some guys do. He put his hand near your head to make you feel trapped, and the hand on his gun was to make him look tough while throwing you off your game. That face he was making was his attempt at looking confident and charming."
"That's stupid." Weiss grumbled before leaning back against Red's side.
So sue me, she makes a good pillow.
"Yes it is, but it's all part of the job."
"Speaking of which," Weiss said as she reached into her pocket, pulling out the ID badge from the guard at the bank. "This is for you."
"Thanks," Red took the card in her fingers before reaching into her own pocket, "This will go well with his wallet." Weiss gaped as she watched Red slide the ID card into an empty slot before throwing the wallet on the table.
"If you were gonna steal his wallet anyway, why would you subject me to flirting with him?" Weiss asked as she sat up, she felt like she was being toyed with, and that made her angry.
"Besides the sheer entertainment value of watching you squirm like that?" Red teased. Weiss scowled, causing her friend to smile softly and wrap both arms around her. "Hey," she whispered, "You know I'm not just making you do these things for fun, right?"
Weiss leaned into the embrace and allowed herself to be guided to down so that she was laying on Red, using her chest as a pillow. "Why am I doing these things?" She asked. She knew there was so much more to that question than what they were currently discussing, and she had a feeling Red knew as well. She was so used to fighting for her own way, never letting anyone tell her what to do. This had resulted in more than a few 'punishments' from her father. She shuddered lightly as she thought back to her life before meeting this energetic young criminal who set her free. So much of it was blurry, like it was just on the edge of her memory. She knew her memories were there, but for many of them it was more like watching something on an extremely fuzzy screen; as opposed to actually recalling the experiences, feelings, and thoughts from the time, all she got was a hazy recollection of the events that had happened that day.
She could see a little white-haired girl at large table, surrounded by other kids and adults as she blew out the candles on her birthday cake, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't summon up what it felt like to blow out those candles, to hear the loud chorus of people singing, to snuggle into warm arms of her favourite maid. She couldn't remember what it was like to be that little girl.
What she could remember was the fear. The pain when she was punished for the most minor of infractions, be they real or imaginary. The confusion at not knowing why she was being punished. The constant hesitation, always wondering if the choice she was making would lead to more or less pain.
She shuddered again as she fought to keep the tears at bay, and she felt the pair of arms around her squeeze her gently, bringing her back to the present. She opened her eyes and looked up, watery blue meeting steady silver.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I was just caught up in my memories." Red tightened her hold and held Weiss close to her. Weiss closed her eyes and allowed to the uniform rhythm of Red's heartbeat calm the tumultuous waters of her mind. They sat like that in silence for several minutes before Red finally spoke.
"What we are doing," she whispered softly. "The world I live in, the world I'm dragging you into, it's-there is nothing more dangerous."
"You're not dragging me in. I chose to join you."
"Either way, it's dangerous. And all these things I'm having you do, they're for your own good. If something were to ever happen to me and I left you stranded in this world of lies and violence with no way of looking after yourself, I don't know what I'd do." Red sighed as she tried to compose herself, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
Weiss felt her chest swell. Red wasn't just ordering her around, she was guiding her. She regarded Weiss as an equal, letting the older woman in on her plans, relying on her, but at the same time was taking it upon herself to share some of the skills she had acquired over the years. All to keep her safe.
"Well you don't have to worry, I'm not going anywhere. Promise." Weiss didn't know where this promise was coming from, but she did know one thing: she might not be ready to acknowledge or name whatever she was feeling when she was around the brunette, but she was done denying it.
She felt Red lower her head and smile into snowy tresses. "You know a Princess' promise is sacred, right? It can't be broken." She said, the lightness returning to her voice. Weiss grinned and buried her face in her friend's chest. She couldn't explain why, but whenever she heard Red call her that, she felt a sense of belonging she had never experienced before.
"That's why this Princess doesn't make them lightly," She whispered. She snuggled closer to the warm pillow beneath her, thinking back to that first night in the cabin in Quebec. She had spent the night I Red's arms then, too and it had been the best sleep of her life.
They stayed like that until she felt Red's breath slow down and steady. Opening her eyes, Weiss could just make out in the now dark apartment that Red had indeed fallen asleep. Gathering her courage, she scooted up and placed a soft kiss on the brunette's cheek, near the corner of her mouth.
"Thank you for taking care of me." She whispered, before scooting back down to lay her head on Red's chest. "Goodnight Red."
A/N: Here's the second chapter for today as promised. I'm sorry to those of you who are getting sick of the relationship-y drama, sometimes I get caught up in my character's head and just end up wasting time, but don't worry I'm working on it and things are picking up as the heist approaches and the pieces of Ruby's plan to catch up to Bowler Hat Guy (Whose Identity is a Complete Secret and Not Totally Obvious) start to fall together.
Also I wonder if any of you have caught on to Red's pattern of naming aliases (Virtual high-five to the first person who can tell me where she got this latest one!)
Anyways I hope you guys still like it and thanks to everyone who follows/favourites. An extra thank you to those of you who leave comments and reviews, nothing motivates me to get another chapter out than hearing your thoughts, not to mention, starting now, I'm resolving to answer your comments and such, so if you have questions or predictions, please don't hesitate to leave a review.