Where'd we leave off last time?...
"I thought there was something... fishy about you being gone all day!"
oh. right.
"Not this again…"
"Come on, Blake!" She was still wiping tears away as she spoke. "You've gotta admit that was a good one."
"No."
"Yes! Absolutely yes. Oh." She looked up, and noticed that they weren't the only people in the room. She stopped sniffling as well. "Hey... Ren."
He waved with the plushy in hand. "Hello, Yang."
"So... whatcha doing here?"
"I'd best let Blake explain for me."
Blonde eyebrows went higher. "You're gonna make Blake do the talking? Yowch, what'd she do to deserve that?"
"I didn't do anything, Yang. Do you remember last night? How Nora texted us about Ren spending the weekend with us?"
Ren groaned lightly. "She texted you?"
"Yeah, she did!" Ren made a wincing expression as she continued. "I remember! She texted all of us at like, one in the morning. It was weird. She got all cranky at the end, right after I said that you were good-lookin' out loud. I thought she heard me or something!"
Ren just sighed, Yang's blunt honesty seemingly not fazing him. "While that was a matter of coincidence, I would recommend you not let her hear you say that in her presence."
"How come? It's not like you guys are 'together-together,' right?" She used bunny ears just to get the words across.
"That's true. We're not together in the romantic sense. But she's…" He frowned slightly. "… protective."
Blake rose an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nora's been like this since we were children. She was always the type of person to look out for me. She felt like she had to, after everything I did for her."
Blake, standing off to the side, filed in the back of her mind the information that Ren'd just divulged. Yang, however, just kept on her speel. "Oh. So, it's just normal for her to get super cranky if she sees you with a girl?"
"I'm afraid so," he nodded.
"Wow. How'dya deal with that for like, ten years?"
"I tried to separate myself from as many members of the opposite sex as possible. It was easier to do when I had Nora following me around with a huge hammer in hand for the past few years."
"So what about Pyrrha?" Blake asked.
After all, Blake thought, if Nora's protecting Ren from 'threats,' then Pyrrha seems to be a red alert... they live together, sleep in the same room...
"She doesn't have to worry about her."
"Why's that?" Yang followed up, taking the words right out of Blake's mouth.
"Team secret," he said with a shrug.
"Secret? Aww."
"And us? You just spent a whole day with me," Blake said.
"She doesn't see you, Ruby, or Weiss as a threat."
Yang blinked a few times. "Wait a sec, why am I not included in that list?!"
"She's heard rumors of your voracious appetites for the..." He cleared his throat. "Unsavory."
"Oh, come on! It was just one guy! And we didn't even do the... do!"
"Yang, that's disgusting," Blake said.
"But we didn't even-"
"I understand, Yang." He gave a small smile with a shrug. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't see you as a threat either."
"Good. Don't need everyone around here thinking I'm some sorta' man-magnet..."
Ren and Blake shared an awkward look and made the silent and wise decision to keep quiet on that matter.
He spoke up quickly. "But I digress. We were talking about why Blake was gone all day."
"Yeah, what gives Blake? I was hopin' I could go shopping with you for Rubes!"
"Ren was dared last night by his team to spend a weekend with us."
"I remember that part, yeah. Then what?"
"Well, he made the wise decision to come at six in the morning to start his day."
"Ooo. Did he get the kitty's claws early in the morning?" She clawed in the air, prompting a face-palm from Ren and Blake to roll her eyes.
"One, don't call me kitty. And two, no. The day started normally. We read in the library for a bit."
"Okay… and then what? I know you weren't there at noon, because I checked when I woke up."
She narrowed her eyes. "You were looking for me?"
"Yeah, I thought we were going shopping! But I guess you were too busy with Ren…" She feigned looking hurt, trying to pull Ruby's signature puppy-eyes look. Blake just rolled her eyes.
Ren chucked lightly to himself. I guess she is like the mom to someone other than Ruby, he thought.
"We decided to go fishing at Lake Forrester after Ren couldn't take staying indoors," ignoring her partner's poor attempts to look hurt.
Ren rose his hands up defensively. "It was not a forced decision. You took to the concept rather quickly."
"And I think I know exactly why," Yang smirked.
"Yang, don't."
"Yang, do. I'll tell you later, Ren." She winked, much to Blake's ire.
He looked at Blake, whose face was a combination of a blush in anger and embarrassment. Attempting to find a diplomatic escape from the situation, he spoke. "You really don't have to. I…" He cleared his throat. "... I insist. Please?"
Yang just shook her head, turning to look at him, and crossed her arms. "You're not getting away that easily, Ren."
"Of course I'm not," he muttered to himself.
"At least do it when I'm not in the room, Yang."
"Fine. So, you were going to go fishing. What then?"
"As we got on the airship to the agricultural district, we ran into a…" Ren trailed off.
"Very nice old woman," Blake finished for him. Yang noticed how Ren and Blake looked at each other with a sigh.
Yang smiled. "Nice old woman huh?" Another chuckle. "She called you two a couple, didn't she."
Blake spoke first. "No, sh-"
She was interrupted by Ren blurting out. "Yes. Yes, she absolutely did." Blake opened her mouth, but only got out a 'wha-' sound before Ren continued. "In fact, everywhere we went, people saw us as a couple. It was ridiculous."
Blake threw her arms up. "... Okay then. Thanks for keeping it a secret, Ren."
"I had to say something. I counted thirty-two hostile glances at us while we were walking through the festival today from other couples. And that's not including all the glares we got in that large crowd."
Yang put her hands up in a stopping motion. "Wait, wait wait. Hold up. Festival?"
"We'll get there, Yang," Blake said.
"The very nice old woman spoke to us about a festival being held at the lake. The Forrester Fish Fry and Festival to be exact."
She put an index finger in the air. "Oh! The F-four thing!" She shook the finger a few times. "Yeah, I saw some pretty cool stuff go down there on RemTube today."
Blake's eye twitched, and Ren broke eye contact for a moment, but Yang didn't seem to notice as she kept talking.
"So, you guys went to the festival instead of fishing then?"
"Correct," Ren said, the demeanor of calm and cool back on his face.
"We stayed there for the rest of the day. It was… fun, I guess." Blake's eyes shot towards the cooler for a second.
And it paid off quite handsomely...
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Again, just this morning you were criticizing my usage of that exact word."
She shrugged, eyes still on the cooler, as Yang spoke up. "So you spent the whole day with Blake at the festival?"
"Well, starting from around eleven, yes."
"Then what did you two do together? She seems… not Blake."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Blake said, avoiding eye contact.
Well, let me think. We had an epic water gun battle, we beat up two students from Haven, won a five-hundred-pound fish, ran into the headmaster of Shade, and I got to find out how Jaune feels after an air-bus ride, in no specific order, Ren thought.
"We had some fish," he said out loud, voice not belying his thoughts.
She gasped. "That makes sooo much sense! Of course!"
Blake put an open hand over her eyes. "Yang, please…"
The fiery blonde continued. "Yeah, I'll tell you later, Ren. When grumpy cat isn't arou-"
Blake threw another pillow at Yang. "Don't call me grumpy cat."
"Well, it's not like I can call you a happy cat right now, can I?" She smirked, causing Blake to just shake her head while walking over to the giant cooler, closing the lid.
Eager to change the subject from repeated cat-related puns, she directed a question to Ren. "Where do you think we should keep this?"
He narrowed his eyes in thought. "It won't stay fresh for much longer in that cooler. We could ask the people at the cafeteria if we can borrow their fridge. Should be large enough."
"That grumpy old woman? She's never gonna let you guys do it," Yang interjected.
"Yeah, because you broke said fridge last time you tried to have a party," Blake pointed out.
"So? Doesn't stop her from being grumpy…"
Ren just kept on the original conversation. "It's settled then. Blake and I will take the fish to the kind-"
"Grumpy," Yang disputed, crossing her arms and looking up.
"Cafeteria lady and see if we can store it there."
"Sounds like a plan. We would need two people anyway; that fish is pretty heavy," Blake nodding her head in agreement.
"You guys sure you don't want any help lifting that thing?" They nodded at the same time, making Yang fake-flinch in pain. "Ouch. I just got shut down."
"Yes, yes you did. Ren," she took a hold of one side, "grab the other side. Lift on three."
Moving the plushies on the ground to the side so that there was no risk of tripping on an obstacle, he followed suit and bent at the knees to help get the starting leverage they needed.
"Alright. One, two, three!" They both grunted, the weight of the fish getting to them as Yang watched.
"Good form! I give it a… seven outta ten." She wobbled a thumbs up sideways.
Blake just shook her head and nudged the case forwards in Ren's direction. "Alright, start backing up."
"If I trip and fall..." he said, not moving.
"You won't trip."
"Alright…" He put one foot behind the other, slowly backing up and inching closer to the open doorway while taking the occasional glance backward.
"Stop!" Blake shouted, nearly making Ren drop the cooler. They were almost at the door, and Ren had almost ran straight into the door frame.
"Thanks." He adjusted, and continued to slowly pace his way out of the dorm room.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" Yang yelled after them, before jogging behind Blake and whispering in her ear. "Is he going to be staying the night too?" She was fairly certain he didn't hear her; after all, he was still looking backwards, and he was looking strained as it was already.
Blake nodded in answer to her question. "Yep."
"Huh. Alright, I'll get out the spare sheets." Ren stopped, and he looked towards Blake. His part of the cooler was now in the hallway, she nodded her head to the right, and he started rotating the cooler. "See you in a few minutes!"
"Yeah, see you." She gently pushed forward, and Ren was still backing up, allowing for enough space to squeeze through.
"You're lucky you're so skinny, Blakey. Just like a ca-"
"Just close the door, Yang." She did as she was told, and gently closed the door behind them, leaving them to their own silence.
They had made their way a few steps until Ren said something. "Blake?"
"Yes?"
Ren's face was reddening a bit. "I still haven't completely recovered all of my aura from that previous scuffle, muscles are acting up. You mind if I just set this down for a moment? I should only be a moment."
"Oh, yeah. Sure." Ren set his side of the cooler down, and Blake did the same. "This fish really is pretty heavy."
"Quite." After another few seconds of silence, he spoke again. "Blake?"
"Mhm?"
"Why did you want to win this fish so badly?"
Because I want to ravage it with my teeth, eat it whole, and satisfy my insatiable appetite for feeeeesh, she thought maniacally in her mind.
But on the outside, she just shrugged. "Looked like it would make for a good feast for our teams," she lied. Of course I'm not going to share with you buffoons… the fish is mine! MY FEESH!
Ren ignored the fact that it took Blake a good thirty seconds to reply, but narrowed his eyes slightly. "That's quite considerate of yo-... Blake? Are you alright? Your eye is twitching."
She shook her head, temporarily wiping her mind of fish-induced mentality. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just reflexes."
Ren didn't seem to think much on the matter, as he dropped the topic with his next words. Taking a deep breath in, he let it out, and repeated the process multiple times. They were quiet, not heaving but long enough to draw plenty of air. Blake couldn't help but look on, as with each breath, it seemed as if Ren was looking less red in the face already, stature slightly less hunched.
"How are you doing that? A part of your semblance?"
"No, just special conditioning." Taking deep breaths between every few words, he continued his explanation. "While it's not nearly as powerful as a regenerative semblance, there are techniques that one can perform to align oneself to their soul, boosting the effective rate of aural regeneration."
"Incredible... You've gotta teach us that sometime."
He closed his eyes and gave a small smile. "I'm afraid that would be rather difficult... I've trained from childhood to perfect this."
"Mm. I see."
He took another deep, deep breath inwards, the slightly purple light around his hands forming a thin line, and by Blake's estimation, the tint of the aura showed that he was now above 50% again.
"Alright. I think I'm good." He tested his aura, and a slight tinge of magenta could be seen washing over his arms, face the same color it usually is.
"That fast?"
"That fast." Setting his hands on the cooler, he looked at Blake. "Ready?"
"When you are," she nodded. They got into the same crouching stance, and she counted to three, lifting and walking their way to the cafeteria.
Cardin was viewed as a despicable character. He bullied people left and right, abused his size and strength, and didn't do a single good thing for anybody in his life, other than hold the door for an old woman once.
Then again, I shut in right back in her saggy old face. He chuckled, the noise echoing off the one of many empty hallways at Beacon. Oh, that was good. She was sitting there on her ass, yelling at me so hard that her fake teeth popped out... He shook his head and laughed it off even more. Cardin was currently solo-ing the hallways of Beacon, the rest of CRDL going to some stupid fish festival that Cardin had wanted no part of.
Oum, who'd want to go to a festival full of fish? Those blubbering, slimy things... 'Sides. I don't need them.
His mission tonight was fairly simple. A hit or a miss; look for people to make fun of or bully. He'd already run into a random freshman kid, and he had fun watching his reaction when he rose a fist and snarled. Damn, he ran fast. Another chuckle. But his noise was joined in by another one, something that he knew wasn't his echo. Narrowing his eyes, he focused in on his hearing.
"You ever get tired of Yang?"
"All the time."
"I would make a metaphor for you two being fire and ice, but the value and meaning of that diminished by the presence of Weiss being on your team." He readjusted his grip, slightly lifting his side while still backing up slowly, eyes flickering between glancing behind him and Blake.
"Hm. It'd still work for those two, I guess."
"To a lesser extent."
"How about you and Nora? I know you said it took a year to tolerate her, but you said you got used to her quirks."
"I realized that the phrase, "opposites attract," works much better in theory than in practice. But it's true to a degree; we did balance each other out when it came to it. I prevented her from blowing up our room at combat school a few times, and she stopped me from being as antisocial as I could've been."
"You're still a quiet kid," snarled an all too familiar voice. Ren and Blake both stopped, simultaneously turning their heads to the side. They were just about to walk across a t-section when Cardin Winchester walked up to them, arms low and open as if welcoming a friend. "You too, bow-lady."
Blake twitched her ears, bow barely obscuring it. "What do you want, Cardin."
"Nothin, really. Just looking for something fun to do tonight. And I think you two are perfect."
Is he drunk? Ren thought to himself. While Cardin was a powerful fighter, if he was thinking about picking a fight against the both of them, he would surely lose. Or is he working at another plot...
"And what would you mean by that?" Blake seethed, eyes seemingly glowing brighter as she narrowed her eyes. Ever since he had seen him bully Velvet due to her Faunus heritage, she's had nothing but hard feelings and harsh words for the teen.
"Oh, relax. I know I can't mess with you two. Besides, I'm above that." She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm just interested in what's in that case there..."
As if by instinct, Blake pulled the cooler to her, nearly yanking Ren off-balance. "Nothing that you need to see," she said. Ren looked at Blake to see that her eye was twitching yet again, giving her a very dangerous...
Or deranged appearance, Ren thought to himself.
"Cardin, we have no interest in any games you wish to play today," he said with a steeled voice, rehearsed by years of telling Nora that she cannot drink syrup from the bottle.
"But it's not a game, ninja! I just wanna take a peek into that box there..."
Blake was reaching her breaking point. She could feel her whole body trembling in anger as this... heathen tried to get close to her prize.
Her love.
Her... her's... it's all...
Mine... It's mine... nobody will take it from me! my feesh...
She didn't even hear the words coming out of Cardin's smug smile. Each step he took closer to the cooler sounded alarms in her head, turning any sound into white noise as she tried to hold onto the remaining flecks of self-control that she had. There was a battle in her mind, the primal versus the logical, and the former was winning over with each unholy step that Cardin took towards the blue, white lidded cooler.
"-can't hurt, right? Just wanna peek."
Ren looked at Blake, and widened his eyes. She was turning into that primal Blake that he had seen this morning, eyes afire with something he didn't recognize, and a snarl on her mouth that Cardin was apparently blind to.
"Cardin, you really do not want to do that," he warned. But it was clear that he wasn't listening, and reached his hand out to one of the locks on the cooler.
"And why's that?"
He didn't even get to unclasp it when she dropped the cooler and pounced on him like a feral cat.
"PLEASE DEAR OUM, MERCY! MERCY! MER- AUGHHH!" Another fist made contact with his face.
Ren was horrified by the sight in front of him. Dropping his cooler with a thump, his eyes were as wide as they could go, and he was leaning back, focused on the battle(massacre) that was ensuing in front of him. When Blake had pounced, he swore it had looked like a puma in mid-leap, fangs bared and claws at the ready. She tackled Cardin away from the cooler and started to straddle him on the chest when she finished him.
"DON'T!"
A right-handed slap.
"TOUCH!"
Left-handed.
"MY!"
Anotha' one from the right.
"FISH!" She slapped him again, and followed it with a backhand, knocking him out, cheeks reddening from all of the punishment he had endured, legs that were formerly flailing going limp. Standing back up with ease, she gave him a light kick in the side, eliciting another grunt, but no conscious reaction. Satisfied with her work, she closed her eyes, shook her head, and opened them again. Back were the burning embers, but at least, this time, they didn't hold a promise to slap someone silly. Taking a deep breath and holding it, Ren spoke up.
"What the hell was that?"
"You swear?"
"When I deem it necessary. And I think this is necessary. You just-"
"Long day, I got stressed," was her explanation for why she had just beat someone up. "Besides, he's not doing anybody favors by walking around these halls, anyway."
"He didn't even get a chance to shield himself when you... attacked." He referenced Cardin's lolling head, rolling back and forth on the head as his cheeks took on a mix of purple and red from the forceful slaps.
"He deserved it." With that, she walked back over to her side of the cooler, and took hold. "Let's go."
"Oh, hey! Back already?" She had changed into her pajamas since they had last seen her.
"Yep." She brushed past her.
"Woah, okay then. Still grumpy." She noticed that Ren was still standing there, eyes looking anywhere other than the dorm room or Yang. "You... wanna' come in?"
"Yes, please." Yang stepped aside, but Ren stopped when he was right under the doorway, turning to look at Yang. "She's fine, we just ran into Cardin on our way to the cafeteria."
"Ugh. I hate that guy. Did you guys get rid of him?"
"Yes. In fact, you... might not be seeing him for the rest of the weekend." With that, Ren kept walking in, found his suitcase, and began to unpack.
"Huh. Won't be seeing him the whole weekend..." It didn't take long for Yang to connect the dots, closing the door and turning to face Blake.
"Blake!" she turned her bow-clad head to look at Yang, "I'm so proud of you! You beat up your first guy at Beacon!"
Blake, who had been lying on her bed, leaned on her elbows to look at Ren. "You told her?"
"I implied it," he shrugged.
"It's fine Blake. Odds are he had it coming, right?"
"Yeah," she said without even glancing over as she opened a book and started to read.
"Sweet. Uh, question though." Ren looked up, and Blake just 'mmm'-ed. "Where'd you guys get the fish in the first place? Cuz' I don't think I ordered anything like that recently."
"We won it in a contest," Blake replied, eyes still cast downwards at her book.
"Contest? What kinda contest?"
"A contest."
"That's not answering my question, Blake!"
"I know." Her smirk was half-hidden behind her book as Ren attempted to clarify with a white lie.
"It wasn't anything too special. Just a few activities with a grand prize."
"Oh. Cool. And what about the plushies? Don't tell me you got one for Ruby and one for me!"
"No, I'm afraid the second one is for Nora."
"But the first one is for Ruby," Blake said.
"Yeah, don't worry. I was just joking," waving her hand around before walking towards her bunk, and climbing atop of it. "Man, she's gonna be happy about that when she comes back tomorrow."
"I've been meaning to ask about that," Ren said. "Where's the rest of your team?"
"Partner bonding mission," Blake answered.
"Yeah, Ruby dragged Weiss into it. It was a battle for the ages..." She chuckled at the memory.
"So, they're... not going to be here tomorrow."
"Nope!" Yang said, popping the 'p.'
Ren sat down on the floor. "Seems as if a problem has presented itself. Numerous."
Blake looked over her book to see Ren's back as she asked. "What do you mean?"
"My dare entails that I spend a weekend with all of you individually. Though on the bright side, it would've been rather difficult achieving that task when I just spent a whole day with you."
"Oh. That is a problem."
"Quite."
"So what's gonna happen when you can't complete the dare?" Yang asked, lying stomach-down on her bunk.
"I don't know. And I can't ask Nora for a revision of the rules. I'm not allowed to contact her or my team."
"We could ask for you," the blonde offered.
"We?" Blake asked from under her.
"Yeah, we. Shows to prove that we only have two members of RWBY here this weekend, right?"
"Mmph. Fine." She got up from her bed and stretched, Yang dropping down from her bunk right next to her.
"We'll be right back." The blonde walked off, Blake reluctantly trailing behind her, closing the door as they left and knocked.
The door opened to reveal a beaten-up Jaune, combat armor still on. "Yang? Blake? What're you guys doin' here?"
"Looking for Nora," Yang answered. "And what on Remnant happened to you?"
"Training with Pyrrha. Decided we'd practice live combat, and now I don't think I can feel my spine."
"Sorry!" A voice came from further in the dorm, distinctly Pyrrha's.
"But sorry, Nora, right?" They both nodded. "She's not here, left this morning. She said she was gonna do some shopping, but she hasn't come back yet. Even left her scroll behind."
"Well, that's too bad. Guess we can't do anything." Blake started to walk back until Yang grabbed her arm and yanked her back. "Hey!"
"You know how Ren was dared to spend a weekend with us, right?"
"Yeah, how's he doing?"
"He's doing fine. But the dare says that he has to spend some time with each of us on Team RWBY this weekend, and two of our key members are gone."
"Oh, that's a problem."
"Yeah, no dip. So what's he gonna do?"
He shrugged. "Honestly, I dunno'. Nora was the mastermind of the whole thing. I'll let you guys know when she gets back from wherever she is though, that sound good?"
"Thanks! Have a good night!"
"Yep, you too." He closed the door, leaving Blake and Yang in the empty hallway. Looking at each other and shrugging, they walked back into the room, Ren awaiting his solution to the problems presented.
"So, what's the answer?"
"Apparently, Nora went shopping."
Ren stood up straight, back rigid. "Oh, that's not good."
Blake tilted her head slightly. "What's wrong?"
"Nora has problems controlling herself when shopping sometimes... especially when she's alone."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE OUTTA SYRUP? THIS IS PLACE IS CALLED THE SYRUP FACTORY, RIGHT?"
"I-I-I'm ss-sorry ma'am, but you drank it all!"
"THAT'S A LIE AND YOU KNOW IT!"
"It's no-no-not a lie! Please don't hurt me..."
"WHERE'S THE SYRUP! MORE! SYRUP!" She stood up from the table, climbed atop of it, and roared. "THE QUEEN DEMANDS MORE!"
"I would recommend avoiding the news for this weekend."
"Mmm. Good idea."
"In the meanwhile, I suppose I'll complete half of my dare with my remaining time with you two this weekend. That must amount to something in Nora's book."
"So... you're gonna do stuff with me tomorrow?"
"As long as it doesn't involve explosions or anything that would present itself to be a serious threat to my health, yes. I will be doing 'stuff' with you tomorrow."
"Sweet! New playmate..." She winked at him, making both Ren and Blake shake their heads.
"Too blunt," they said at the same time.
"Ouch. Shut down again." She climbed back onto her bed, and Blake excused herself to go change in the bathroom.
Ren, who was still unpacking onto the floor, spoke up. "Yang?"
"Yo."
"Do you have any spare sheets, by chance? I don't think I brought any."
She remembered the sheets. "Oh, right. I left em in the bathroom. I'll be right back." Jumping back down, she knocked on the bathroom door. "Blake? I think I left the spare sheets in the bathroom. Can you hand them to me?"
Blake opened the door, fully clothed in her sleep-wear, and handed her the sheets in one hand, normal clothing in the other. "Here."
Yang took them and tossed them to Ren, Blake putting away her clothing. "Here. I'm guessing you're going to be sleeping on the floor?"
"Thank you. And yes, I'll be sleeping on the floor."
"You sure? It still gets a bit cold sometimes during the night. You could sleep in Weiss' bed and she wouldn't ever know."
"I'll pass, thank you though. I don't want to run the risk of her finding a stray strand of hair."
Yang chuckled. "So you do have a sense of humor after all!"
"Don't we all?" He rose an eyebrow, and laid the sheets on the carpeted section of the room.
"I guess. So, you're sure you wanna sleep on the floor?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I appreciate the concern, but I will be fine."
"If you say so." Taking a pillow from her bed, she tossed it towards Ren. "Here."
"I really don't need it. Thank you, though." He was about to toss it back until Blake spoke.
"Just keep it. She doesn't even use a pillow half the time," monotonous tone being expressed in her voice as per usual.
Ren looked towards Yang for an explanation, and she just gave a drawn out flip of her hair, time almost appearing to slow down. "This works as a pretty good pillow, too," she said.
"Ah. Of... course." He put pillow at the end of the make-shift bed, and nodded. "I'm all set. Thank you for the sheets and pillow." Yang gave him a thumbs up.
"No problem. Now, aren't you gonna change? Unless you sleep in that."
"Oh, right. There's another problem with that..."
"If you're worried about us being concerned with you using our bathroom, don't be," Blake said. "Just don't mess anything up in there and you're good."
"Thank you." Grabbing a small pile of neatly folded clothing, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.
"Hey Blake," Yang whispered down from her bunk, head upside down as she looked at Blake.
She sighed. "Yes, Yang?"
"What kind of shampoo do you think Ren uses?"
"How would I know? Probably the same one as you, judging by how his hair looks."
"I know, right? But his is different. I can't put my finger on it, and it's bothering me!"
"Okay. So ask him."
"Oh, Blake, Blake, Blake... rule one of espionage is to not ask direct questions!"
"Espionage?" She repeated.
"Yeah! I can't just ask him directly! I've gotta find out what it is on my own..."
"And why are you going through this much trouble again?"
"Because. I'm... curious."
She just raised an eyebrow. "You just think his hair looks better than yours, don't you."
She gasped. "You think so too? Oh no..." Her hands shot up to her hair, luscious locks apparently not enough for the blonde.
Blake just rolled her eyes. "No, I don't. What I do think is that you're being paranoid."
"No, I'm not being paranoid! His hair is like, perfecter than perfect! How does he do it?"
"Just ask him."
"But I can't! It's gotta be secret, otherwise he'll change his shampoo and throw me off of his trail! I'll never find the true culprit!"
"Oh, of course. I forgot about that," Blake deadpanned.
She threw her hands into the air, visible from where Blake lied. "This isn't funny!"
"I'm not laughing, am I?"
"Urgh! Come on Bl-WOAH!" Before she could finish her sentence, she had fallen off of the bed in a heap, head first. Sitting up, she was rubbing her head when Blake finally spoke, mirth in her voice.
"I was wondering how you were still lying on your bed with your hands in the air."
"OW..."
Ren opened the door, and looked around. "What's wrong? What happen- Yang?"
"It's fine, Ren. She just fell."
"Yeah. It's fine! We're fine. It's all fine." She stood up quickly, and climbed atop her bed again, delving under the blankets.
"Did I... do something?" Ren asked, questioning Yang's sudden interest in her bed.
"No, it's nothing. She's jus-" Yang tossed a pillow in her face. "Hey!"
"SHHH!" Yang hissed from under her sheets. "DON'T TELL HIM!"
"Don't tell me what?"
"Yang wants to know what shampoo you us-" Another pillow nearly went in her face, but she blocked it with a slap. "Where are you getting these pillows from!?"
"My... shampoo?" What are they on about?
"YOU'RE BLOWING THIS WHOLE OPERATION, BLAKE!"
Blake rolled her eyes, and motioned for Ren to continue with her book; a slight nudge in his direction was his cue. "I use..." He cleared his throat. "Samurai Shampoo?"
Yang's head popped out of the blankets. "Seriously?"
Ren, still surprised by the strangeness of the whole situation, tentatively answered. "Yes?"
"Oh, that's what you use! Okay, because I was wondering what made your hair look so... good and stuff. Thanks!" She turned over so that her back was to the middle of the room, and went onto Rem-mart's online website, searching for the product.
"No problem?"
Blake filled the void of silence that ensued. "Just don't ask. Trust me."
Aaaand order placed, Yang thought to herself as she pressed the button. Turning back around, she beamed a smile. "Alright! G'night." It'll be here in two days... perfect hair will be mine!
Ren just blinked a few times before he answered. "Good night." As Yang flipped over again, Ren and Blake shared another look, Blake just shrugging as she picked up her book and started to read again. "I'll be going to bed as well, then. Should I keep the lights on for you?"
"You can turn them off. Rest well. You've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow."
"I'm looking forward to it," he said as he walked towards the light switch, sarcastic tone reminiscing of her own.
flick
You read this far? Well, 'ere's a little Ruby and Weiss for you.
Friday evening. Classes are out, and students have retired to their dorm rooms, either preparing themselves for the fun-filled weekend, or doing their homework ahead of time.
But let's be serious. Who does that other than Weiss? However, this time she isn't being a goody-two-shoes. She's being the exact. Opposite.
"What do you mean, I'm too cold around you? And too snappy!? And yell too much!?" She was currently holding a card that apparently listed a few of Weiss' shortcomings, and she wasn't having it.
"You're yelling at me right now, Weiss..." She ducked her head.
"I refuse to let you drag me into this... ridiculous, ineffectual 'bonding' weekend! We've bonded as partners enough."
"But Weiss~..." She narrowed her eyes as she looked downwards.
"No, Ruby. I am not doing it." She turned around, and crossed her arms with a 'hmph.'
Ruby tugged on her sleeve. She tugged a few more times. After what must've been the tenth tug, Weiss spun around.
"What do you wa-"
She was face-to-face with another one of Ruby's puppy-eye looks, silver eyes widened and bottom lip out in what must've been the most adorable pout ever, hands behind her back.
"Pwweeeeeease?" She was almost squeaking at the last bit of her pleading tone. Weiss twitched an eye.
"No."
"Pllleeeeaseee?"
"No."
"Pleeeeeeeeeaaas-"
"Ruby Rose, for the last time, my final answer is-" She was interrupted by Ruby flashing a screen full of kittens. in front of her face. "That's not going to work, Ruby. You know I like dogs more."
"Aww..." She slumped away, dragging her feet behind her as she walked. She turned around to see Weiss still facing the opposite direction, and she snuck into the bathroom. Dialing a number on her scroll, she put it up to her ear. Drastic times, drastic measures, she thought.
"Ruby? What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"Nothing Dad, can you just get Zwei please?"
"Uh... why?"
"Just do it. And put the call on video."
"Okay... I'll be right back." A minute passed, and he turned on the video camera. Zwei, in all of his fluffy, adorable goodness, was right in front of the camera, tongue out and tail wagging at the sight of Ruby.
"Bark!"
She giggled. "Hi Zwei! Now listen, I need you to help me convince my friend to do something, and only your cuteness can help! Are you ready?"
"Bark!" He kept panting.
"Great! Alright Dad, can you keep him there?"
"Yes. Make it quick though, I think he's going to try and jump at the scroll soon."
She walked out of the bathroom, and she muted the scroll as she put it behind her back. Weiss was now turning around as she heard the door open, but immediately went to facing the other way as she saw Ruby walking towards her.
"Hey Weiss..."
She didn't say anything in response, still opting for the silent treatment.
"Weiss, look at this... Is it cute, or what?"
She distinctly heard the sounds of a dog panting behind her back, nearly making her turn around by instinct, but she maintained her composure.
"It looks so fluffy and cute and adorable..." Ruby was using her baby-ing voice, making it sound like she was playing with a puppy.
I think she is playing with a puppy by the sounds of it, she thought to herself.
"Come on, Weiss? Tell me, is this puppy cute or not? Dawwww~..."
Weiss could feel her castle walls breaking down. Don't look, don't look, do not look. You are a Schnee. You are stronger than this. You can withstand the storms of... cuteness that you will endure. You will win! You will say no to her face! Turning around to face the troublesome team leader, she spoke. "I told you, my answer is-..."
Ruby spoke a flurry of words all at once in the blink of an eye. "Willyougoonthemissionwithme," she said, but Weiss didn't hear it or comprehend it as her eyes were now glued to the scroll, the adorably cuddly dog on the screen still panting with its tail wagging.
"... Yes that DOG IS SO CUTE! Oh, what's its name! Is it yours? Oh, I just wanna pet its ears, and touch the fur and-"
"YOU SAID YES, YAY! Okay, thanks Dad!"
"No proble-" The beep of a scroll hanging up could be heard, and Weiss was snapped out of her trance.
"Hey! I was looking at something there!"
"Well, now you're gonna be looking at Grimm for the rest of the weekend with yours truly!"
"Wait, I'm what?"
"You said yes!"
"I did no such thing! When did I say yes to your stupid mission?"
"About fifteen seconds ago."
"That doesn't count!"
"Oh, yes it does."
"Does not."
"Does too."
"DOES NOT, RUBY."
"DOES TOO!"
Right outside, Blake and Yang had their ears on the door.
"Think we should go in?" Yang asked.
"I value my ears and my life. Your call."
"Point taken. Let's go."
Back inside, they were still arguing.
"Come ON Weiss! We both need this!"
"YOU need this! I don't."
"But it's a partner activity! If one of us needs it, doesn't the other too?"
"The same theory could be applied the other way around! If I don't need it, neither do you!"
Ruby was growling. "Weiss, don't make me do this."
Slightly taken aback by the shift from sad and adorable to fierce and still adorable, she leaned back a bit. "Ruby?"
"Either you come willingly... OR I TAKE YOU WITH ME!"
"Oh, oh no you don't."
Ruby smiled innocently. "Don't what?"
"DON'T YOU DA-" Ruby bear-tackled Weiss, knocking her to the floor as Ruby stood up and activated her semblance, blowing them out of the doorway, making Blake and Yang look back at the rapidly fading red and white mix barrel down the hallway. They heard them shout at each other even after they had turned the corner.
"RUBY ROSE, LET ME GO!"
"NEVARRRR!"
so that was a thing.
a bit of RW, and a bit of BY(R).
thanks for the support thus-far. time to keep the train rolling with Yang now!