Welp main thing here is it is really the second or so story setting chapter. Partially because the first chapter was an experiment. I do love doing those. Plus it is somewhat amusing to watch people's reaction.
As for the Guest reviewer, I should explain at least half of what you asked in this chapter. Not that there is an issue with what you ask, more so because that requires a lot of foresight and I'm currently in the process of planning and writing for three separate stories and a holiday special. So having the foresight for a chapter of a story I started to write because of a show.
Chapter 2: The Strangest feeling
Ruby sat in the large room that was meant to be for 'Visitors'. Her knees pulled up to her chest as she began to ponder what she was told. She has no idea why she entered the room a whole hour early but it was a nice change of venue that she needed. Whilst her room was her sanctum sanctorum, she knew it was because someone was going to violate her sanctuary, that she couldn't think about it there.
So she chose her secondary sanctuary was the only place her closest friend could meet her now. And at least this way she couldn't be late to meeting Velvet. She would just have to find a way to preoccupy her time, which was already taken care of. The puzzle that was placed on the table that she was mindlessly working on, was just to make it look like she wasn't about thirty seconds away from breaking down. Again. She already loathed her progress into the puzzle.
She assumed a five thousand piece puzzle would at least preoccupy herself until Velvet got there. But after fifty minutes the puzzle was nearly done. All she had left to do really, was place three more pieces. She just stared at the picture that already had formed. It was of three small dogs, one sat inside a tea cup, and the other two were trying to pull it from it's confines.
"Stupid puzzle." Ruby spat vehemently as she pushed the pieces away. She loathed the fact soon she would be the puppy that was in the tea cup. A place he probably knows, and feels comfortable in. Then two other puppies decided that he should share, something that he felt comfortable in. Both the isolation and the fat the others shouldn't be allowed in. Not in his comfort zone.
"I don't think that a puzzle can be stupid."
Ruby could recognise that voice anywhere. She practically jumped up into the waiting arms of the small brunette's arms and hugged her tight. She buried her head into the slightly taller woman's shoulder, refusing to let go. Each time Velvet had come to visit, the time always seemed so short.
Even though she knew this time and the last time she had two hours of visiting hours. The most out of anyone in the building. But she also only ever had one visitor. One she would never want to lose by troubling her with her own petty problems. But Ruby knew that Velvet could read her like an open book. She had been visiting her for two years but known each other nearly four.
"Ruby. You know we can't continue to stay standing up. I'm not able to hold the both of us." Velvet stated as Ruby shook her head violently. She didn't want to be peeled away from her. She simply loathed the thought that her only friend left could leave her if she just let go.
"NO." Was Ruby's definite response. Velvet rolled her eyes and began to gently rub Ruby's back. She knew how bad it was to be there. Not the building, but more so having no one even come to visit. It constantly made her feel lonely when she was a patient, but Ruby knew that Velvet would stay until she had to leave. "Can we at least sit down? Because I really can't keep standing up as well as holding you." Velvet asked, as Ruby pulled them onto the seat.
Ruby quickly dragged the both of them to the seat she had previously occupied. Scarcely leaving the comfort of the hug Velvet was part of. Velvet rolled her eyes, and started to rub her back. She knew Ruby would reveal what was causing such mental anguish to her. She always did eventually. Instead all she could do right now was be there for Ruby. It was the one thing she remembered from her time being on the other side of the table. The needing of someone to be there for you.
For Velvet, that person was Weiss. She may act tough but she actually has a sweet heart. For Ruby everyone assumed it was Blake, but the people close to Ruby knew she simply preferred Blake. It was Velvet, she liked to confide in. Velvet knew how hard it is to be here. She could feel something was troubling Ruby that she would not leave without hearing about it. But she would listen. And she would enjoy listening. It was a sign that Ruby trusted her enough.
"Do you want to finish the puzzle? I know it is going to be annoying you all day if you don't place those last few pieces." Velvet spoke softly directly into Ruby's ear. Trying to at least get comfortable, or at least right herself. She may feel low for needing to play off her obsessive-compulsive disorder, but she really couldn't sit with her arm pinched between Ruby and the table at an already odd angle.
"Yeah. I do need to finish it but, Doctor Blake." Ruby started, and as much as Velvet loathed needing to pry, she needed to. Just in case her Doctor was doing something wrong or even illegal. She would gladly watch the doctor's head and most likely head roll from harming Ruby's already fragile mind.
"Ruby... you know I loathe it when people pry, myself included. But what did she do?" Velvet asked half fearing that her jump to the conclusion was right. Half desperately hoping that the proverb her parents taught her about jumping to the conclusion was correct. She could tell Ruby sensed it.
Ruby pulled away from Velvet to glare at her. "It isn't anything... inherently bad. Why do you always jump to that conclusion?" Ruby asked disengaging from the hug. She didn't want to be close to Velvet if she was just going to insult Blake and her talents like she talked about the weather. As casual as feasibly possible. "She gave me a whole few hours heads up about a stupid roommate. I almost broke down again while she was telling me." Ruby spoke turning her attention back to the puzzle as she pulled her knees up to her chest again.
Her thoughts were simple at that point. If Velvet wasn't going to offer any help then she would attempt to transverse the minefield that was her own mind herself. She knew Velvet didn't mean any offence towards Blake. Velvet was just on the opposite end of the spectrum to Ruby. They joked that, that was the reason they enjoyed each other's company so much.
Ruby picked up one of the final pieces, already knowing where the piece would find its home. It was as clear to her as it was half an hour ago, when the puzzle was significantly less completed. It was a laughing joke to her. One that was distracting her from trying to retain all her mental faculties.
"I'm supposed to meet her for the first time just after my daily appointment with Doctor Blake. Two days of someone being able to destroy my entire system... and possible give me another trip to isolation." Ruby spoke. Wishing she remembered how to cry. She hated that room. She understood its purpose, but that did not change her vehement hate towards it. She never knew four walls could cause such hatred but she had been disproven the six times in the past she was placed in there.
"Well, clearly this is the last place they had. And technically, they don't even need to inform you about the new person. She did that to try and help you." Velvet spoke as she turned back to the puzzle and picked up a piece leaving the final one for Ruby. She knew That Ruby would destroy the puzzle if she didn't place the final pieces. It was probably the only bad thing Velvet found about Ruby. She placed the piece into it's home, smiling at the picture. It was something so sweet that she doubted Ruby picked it for the picture. She knew she had been here for a while and picked the largest puzzle to make it look like she accomplished something, while she tried to think about what Blake had told her.
"Yeah. I know that. Doesn't mean it isn't causing me pain. I even started to stutter and hyperventilate, even before she even said the news. If I didn't take my morning cocktail of drugs, I would have stayed in my room, and barricade myself in." Ruby spoke frowning, as she picked up the final piece. She already loathed the fact her time void was done, but now that the brunette was here she was fine with that happening. Or that was at least what she planned on telling herself until it became true.
"How many are you on now? Or has it not changed since last time?" Velvet asked, enjoying the picture as Ruby just stared at it, silently fuming at it. She loathed the symbolism she found in it. She was already debating breaking the puzzle up early, so she won't have to see it. In its disgusting glory. She hated it's very existence. It was simply making a mockery of her own plight.
As if sensing Ruby's anger Velvet began to pick up the pieces. Not wanting to give her a chance to find a way into the isolation room that wasn't about her roommate. That way her doctor won't change her medication amount or increase the amount.
"I'm on something like fifteen now. And these new ones are helping a fair bit. Only downside is the nightmares are far more terrifying." Ruby's voice barely audible enough for Velvet to even hear. But it still hurt her. Ruby had told her about the nightmare when she just felt comfortable enough to start talking about it to any staff. Something that Velvet felt somewhat proud about. Ruby felt more comfortable with her then anyone in the staff.
"Well, the only thing I can say about that is, you'll have to talk to Blake. You know that. But I also know that you probably won't. But you should at least, attempt to." Velvet chided knowing Ruby would still refuse telling Blake for a while. Ruby loathed talking about her problems to anyone until she figured it out herself. Despite how much damage it caused. Velvet knew first hand how much damage keeping things like that in caused.
"So stop dodging the subject Velv. What news are you keeping in?" Ruby spoke, looking just over her knees as Velvet began to shiver at the almost Sherlockian abilities she always forgot Ruby had. Nothing ever got past her, it was one of the many things Velvet liked about Ruby. She always knew something was eating away at someone, and could make them confess to it. It may seem cruel to many, but it was because of Ruby that Velvet became comfortable enough with anyone to talk.
"I met someone." Was all Velvet could get out as she attempted to regain control of the blood flooding her face. She wasn't sure how Ruby knew, she just did. That was the way it always was. But she never minded talking about stuff like this with Ruby. She actually felt relieved any time they spoke. It was an odd feeling she always had, but it did help her more than talking with anyone else.
"Is he nice?" Ruby asked as Velvet finished packing away the puzzle Ruby had, she smiled at Ruby's innocent question. That is all Ruby ever was. An innocent girl, with her world reduced to the confines of one building, and it's grounds.
"Yes Ruby. He is a very nice guy. A gentle giant actually. Everyday after I'm done work he is waiting at our home with a cup of my favourite tea, a meal already pipping hot, and wants to hear everything about my day. And when I told him about my fortnight visits here, he drove me and is waiting downstairs. I told him about you, and he said he would like to see you as well but refuses to come in until you say it is okay." Velvet spoke, her eyes going softer, at mentioning the man she fell in love with.
"Maybe next time Velv. I don't really enjoy meeting people... but if you say he is a nice person... I'll trust you." Ruby stated as Velvet relaxed. It was rare to find anyone in a place like Beacon being able to trust someone to that extent. Even rarer still to have Ruby trust anyone when it ascertain, to something she hates like needing to go out of her comfort zone. "Besides that guy... how have you been Velv?"
"So, Ruby... how are you feeling about the news of a roommate? Now that you've had some time to deal with it, and most likely told Velvet about it, to help with your thought process." Blake asked as Ruby began to stare around the room. The simple tests Blake always set up right before their meetings, were starting to enrage Ruby even further.
In a large enough room like the meeting room, Ruby could focus her OCD to a lethal accuracy. But in a small room like Blake's office or even her room, her mind focused on every single thing in the room, and it constantly plagued her. And Blake always wanted to try and push Ruby into suppressing her OCD.
This was like every other time. She failed Blake's mini test. She jumped off the chair she was sitting on and began to reorganise the collection of papers on the coffee table in Blake's room. She could see Blake taking a quick look at her watch. "Fifteen minutes. A new record for you. But it is time for you to actually tell me something Ruby." Blake spoke softly as Ruby finished with her test.
She quickly sat down in the spot she previously occupied, dragging her feet up to her as well. "I-I-I-I hate it." Ruby stuttered as she began to ponder how long it would take before she would get locked into an Isolation room. If she was being entirely favourable, she would say twelve hours. But if she was being honest, she would be looking closer to four after her first meeting the person.
"Would it help you if I mention this person is a long time friend of Doctor Ren? She got into some trouble and he convinced the Judge she wasn't mentally sound enough to face trial. Granted all she did was break into a zoo and release the sloths. Twenty consecutive times. So at that point it was easy to convince." Blake joked as Ruby pulled her legs clear up to her chest. She was dreading some roommate like that.
She already deducted her honest time, it was now standing closer to one hour. "Y-y-y-y-y-you should have cut that statement short." Ruby spoke in between her starting to hyperventilate. She knew she wasn't going to be able to calm down properly again. She would hazard a guess that Blake knew as well.
Blake kneeled in front of the redhead. Cupping Ruby's face, she began to go through the motions of the simple breathing exercise that had worked wonders in her room earlier in the day. It was just a matter of Keeping Ruby's already scattered mind focused on her breathing pattern.
"Ruby. Focus on your breathing." Blake said as Ruby nodded the best she could. Her breathing,rather slowly returned closer to it's normal rate. "Are you feeling better now?" Blake asked as Ruby retreated into her very own ball like structure.
"Yeah... are we done here D-D-Doctor Blake?" Ruby asked. Just wanting to return to the comfort of her own bed, to just crawl under the blankets and just wait for her inevitable trip to the solitary rooms. It was looking more and more likely that she would be locked in a room.
"Yeah. I'll talk with Ren and your new roommate before she heads into you. She'll know the law of the land. All I ask, is if you are feeling better, to give her a tour. That's it. Maybe you'll find out she isn't that bad." Blake spoke softly as Ruby nodded. It was a promise she could still live up to and still stay in her bed. There was no possible way for it to backfire.
"NORA!" Ren yelled as the small ginger haired woman jumped onto the back of the largest person she could find. As the man calmly walked over to Ren he crossed his his arms waiting for the ginger woman to jump off. "Off of the orderly. If not, you will be here a lot longer than two days." Ren's impatient response as he began to tap his foot as the girl rolled her eyes and jumped of the man's back.
"God Renny. It isn't like I'm crazy like all the other peoples here. I'm only here because it was either here or prison. And you doubted that I could hold my own in there." Nora stated as Ren grabbed Nora by the arm as he began to lead them towards her temporary place for the next two days.
"I want to make this clear Nora, your realise is dependant on the approval of me and two senior staff members. And before I take you to your room I was instructed to take you to two of the most senior staffing doctors. That both handle the case of your roommate." Ren spoke as Nora began to skip along side him. He was already dreading his choice to get Nora sent there.
Author's Note:
Okay, so I lied. It didn't answer any of the questions but as I finish this it is just going 4am, I just did a quick edit job. And I need sleep. So I'm outtie.