Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.

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Wednesday

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Ruby wakes late, having gotten poor and fitful sleep. It's like a training trip and sleeping outdoors on rocks, but with better air-conditioning. Ruby goes downstairs to find that Jaune is already gone for the day. Envy took him out, leaving early- and leaving Wrath behind, who's claimed feeling sick. Jaune intends to pick up medicine and help nurse her back to health, to win her good graces that way. Wrath isn't happy with such a ploy, and is in a pitiful enough bad mood that Ruby mercifully leaves her alone to suffer in peace and quiet.

Ruby gets greetings and remarks on her tiredness from the won-over sisters as they form a war council of sorts. Today Ruby will be accompanying Avarice, who missed out on most of yesterday. The sisters lay out the dynamic with Avarice. Avarice thinks Ruby is out to profit from the Arc name. She can be won over if Ruby is able to demonstrate that she'll help the Arcs name more instead- more fame, more honor, or more wealth. That'd be easier if Ruby were wealthy like Weiss or famous like Pyrrha- girls that Avarice would have instantly supported- but the won-over sisters encourage Ruby to do her best.

Ruby goes with Avarice as Avarice goes back to the next town to work on public charity events as part of her job putting together the upcoming festival. Despite working charity, Avarice is an uncharitable icequeen- ruthless, cut-throat, and unwilling to waste one lien more than agreed or let lazy workers goof off or waste time. Meanwhile Avarice handles a long-distance relationship with her spouse- except it sounds more like a business or even gold-digging relationship, with Avarice concerned about monthly payments and money-flows even as her spouse is having business difficulties in Atlas- something about a paperwork jam that threatens the monthly payments. Once again, a tired and uncharitable Ruby is wondering why Jaune loves his sister so much. It's an unflattering picture that calls to mind Weiss at her worst.

It's that thought that makes Ruby pause, and take a closer look. What looked like Avarice being stingy was also Avarice refusing solicitations for bribes of unnecessary services- her work is for charity, after all, and every lien not wasted is another lien that can go to the truly needy. Her intolerance for laziness not only keeps events running quickly and on time, but keeps those workers safe and unharmed when an accident does happen. And when a key individual- a minor celebrity who's there to give the donation solicitation speech- disappears on account of a family emergency at the hospital, Avarice has a pet the dog moment when she allows the person to go to that genuine emergency- even though it threatens to throw all her work in ruins. Family first, after all.

It's at this point that Ruby, moved and motivated to help Avarice, steps in to help save the day… by calling Weiss for help, hoping that Weiss could ship some minor celebrity over pronto. With Avarice watching speechless as Ruby has the heiress of Schnee Dust Corp on speed-dial and speakerphone, Weiss vocally chastises Ruby for not volunteering herself. Ruby herself is a minor celebrity from helping stop Cinder, after all. She can give the VIP speech. Avarice is surprised at first, but desperate at the time, and ultimately very grateful when Ruby makes the event a success. She doesn't even mind that Ruby gave some self-serving remarks, since Ruby also made sure the name and praise Jaune Arc, her boyfriend don't you know, as another participant in the heroics of yesteryear- sharing a bit of the glory with the Arcs as well.

Avarice takes Ruby out to a very late lunch as thanks, and lets down her hair. Avarice's conduct seems closer to Glynda Goodwitch on second inspection- a comparison that becomes clearer when it turns out that Glynda and Avarice were once classmates before Avarice retired from being a Huntress to be married.

Ruby's uncomfortable about that- both retiring from being a Huntress and marrying- and Avarice suspects she knows why. Her motivation for both was money. But as for why… Avarice decides to share.

The Arcs used to be poor- very, very poor, even if Jaune was too young to really remember. A Huntsman or Huntress doesn't make that much after expenses, and the Arcs always needed more. Children cost money, weapons cost money, dust ammo costs money, and Pride/Lust/Avarice had more difficult childhoods because the family struggled to afford anything past the necessities. One of the reasons they're so close as a family is because there were times that family was all they had. One of the reasons all the older sisters are Huntresses is that they had to work at as early an age as they could to help make money. But even if they didn't always have toys, they always had each other. Family first is family always, no matter the hardship.

(This is, by no coincidence, why Nicholas, Leandra, and the older siblings were and are more than happy to let the younger children be anything but Hunters.)

The lucky break, if it could be called that, was when a successful businessman fell in love with Avarice at first sight. She didn't believe him for some time, pushing him off to focus on bringing in money, until he persisted and asked what he could do to prove his sincerity. She answered 'provide for our family'- which would include the Arcs if they married. She demanded a princely bride-gift and a hefty stipend for her destitute family, thinking he'd balk, but he agreed.

It's a disturbing story, and a motive that the more romantically inclined Ruby ('love comes first') doesn't want to have much in common with. But she can't deny Avarice had a point- and was leading to it. The moral of the story was that while she'd do anything for her family as an Arc- even her own hand in marriage to someone she didn't love at the time- and her husband managed to get into her own Top Ten (male and female) by recognizing and accepting that. His consideration and support for her family is what let her consider and support him in turn- and as Avarice explains this, she's also working off her scroll, and finishes resolving her husband's business problem in Atlas. Even as she was talking to Ruby, she was working to help him.

Avarice begins to make a comparison between Ruby and her husband- how Ruby's consideration and effort to bond with Jaune's family despite the mixed welcome reminders her of her husband- when Avarice's husband calls. Avarice's message to her husband telling him she'd fixed the problem had been short and to the husband's call back is superfluous and filled with adoration- and Avarice endures it in embarrassment with Ruby present, and soon shuts him down.

The moment passes as lunch ends, and Ruby and Avarice make their way back after Avarice offers her conditional support in exchange for Ruby's promise. Ruby's promise to Avarice hinges on Family First- that Ruby will help the Arcs whenever they need it. It's a promise she can make in good faith- she'd help anyone who genuinely needed it- but Avarice's perspective of the Top Ten disquiets her.

The parallel to Jaune's Top Ten and Family First makes Ruby uneasy, as does Avarice's approval as a result of Ruby's VIP speech. Ruby's plan worked, and Avarice approves, but it seems more for her connections with Weiss as her actions in helping the charity event. Avarice explicitly approves of the ties to the Schnees via Ruby- but also implicitly approved of Jaune's crush on Weiss in the past. Driven by romance Avarice is not, but that's not important for her approval.

The two return to the Arcs for dinner, and Ruby is surprisingly subdued despite her progress. The week is halfway done and she has five of the seven sisters- and all the older ones, who all approve of both Ruby and Jaune. Wrath and Envy are all that remain. Neither have been warm to Ruby at all. While Wrath's sulking fury is still (mostly) aimed at Jaune, Envy is- well, clingy to Jaune, and has mostly ignored Ruby.

Ruby goes to her room after dinner, still uncomfortable about Avarice's approval and approach to love and her husband. Jaune follows, concerned that Ruby seems ill. Ruby ultimately expresses some of her concerns- and confesses that she dislikes Avarice. Avarice would put family first- ahead of even her own husband, who Ruby Ruby doubts she loves.

Saying this upsets Jaune- at Ruby. Jaune defends Avarice, and her marriage. He might have been too young to remember the poor years well, but by the same nature he's too young to remember a time that he didn't have an Uncle Greed, or a time when Avarice didn't care for her husband.

Yes, Avarice didn't marry out of love- but that doesn't mean she doesn't love him now. Avarice cares for him- and Jaune is able to show a photo-album to prove it. Indeed, the photo of Avarice and Greed has them both smiling- something Ruby hadn't seen from stern Avarice yet. Avarice has always put family first, and openly. Her husband knew that from the start, and accepted it- and demonstrated how much he cared for her by caring for the people she cared most about. That's how he became Uncle Greed, and that's why the Arcs- now that they're stable- send that same dowery back to reinvest in his business. Doesn't she see?

Ruby doesn't, she won't treat marriage the same way as Avarice, but Jaune is clearly impassioned in defense of his sister, and Ruby doesn't want a fight. Not about this, not about Top Ten, not when she's been making so much progress with the family. Ruby can only think of the confrontation in terms of Jaune putting family before her when he rallied to his sister's defense rather than side with her. Unhappy at the errant thought, knowing she gave offense first, Ruby changes the subject.

Ruby asks about Jaune's own progress with his sisters. In one way it seems to have been going better- having one all of the older sisters over herself, she's helped Jaune as well. Jaune proved his strength (physical and character) with Pride, his commitment with Lust, and his choice of someone who could help with Avarice. Envy's adoration also has her in the bag as well, and Sloth and Gluttony were never a problem.

But Wrath- Wrath is angry at Jaune, and has been from the start. It's also bled over towards Ruby. With the sisters having refused to discuss Wrath, Ruby doesn't know why- and Jaune struggles to admit it. It's an old shame, doing something to her that he could never take back- breaking his word, and a promise to her. He doesn't believe he can fix it- and at the same time wouldn't go back and change it if he could. It's complicated, and Ruby doesn't press for the answer, but instead offers to spend time with Wrath tomorrow. Maybe she can help break the barrier between them?

Jaune is grateful, and the two are reconciled without even having fought, and Ruby turns to bed-but only after searching for her toiletries, which have been moved without her knowing.

It's another night of tossing and turning. What is under all these mattresses- bowling balls?

(Ruby actually checks- but lifting the mattresses all she finds are some peas, and the sounds of movement under the floorboards.)

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Author Notes:

Avarice (Weiss):A beautiful blond ice queen, with a personality blend of Weiss, Winter, and Glynda. Hard-working, stern, and uptight, she only lets he hair down to relax in privacy, and only secretly dotes on her family. Avarice is the contrast from her fellow older-sister Lust on a passion-responsibility spectrum: while Lust has had many relationships born of emotion, Avarice has had one extremely solid relationship of pure responsibility. It only started because her husband loves her for no good reason- but he does, and she's come to care more than she likes to admit, if only because it still feels half as much as him. Avarice's marriage was inspired by a plot musing of if Jaune and Weiss's power/financial relationship were reversed- if Weiss was poor and desperatly needing money to save her family's company, and Jaune was the rich benefactor with romantic interest, happy to invest as a sign of commitment. The relationship is meant to be unsettling and uncomfortable from a love-first perspective- but it is practical, and plausible, because it happens more often in reality than we care to admit. Avarice is the sort of woman who, in a different context, would expect to be married off, and would only object if it was a bad deal for her family.

(Note: Depiction is not endorsement. I wish that doesn't need to be said.)