On that day, Weiss eventually understood what Yang had meant by "Fun Ruby".
Ruby was the life of the party. A party in which there was no stupidly loud music making everyone go deaf. A party in which nobody would go home only to wake up with their mind committing mental suicide. A party that was... Tame, to put it best.
It began when herself, Ruby, and Yang had all left Ruby's penthouse and arrived in the lobby. Only to find others waiting for them.
Standing there in the lobby in their own casual clothing were Pyrrha, Blake, Velvet, along with the drummer and bassist from Jaune's band, whose name's Weiss had not learned yet.
They approached them and the one girl with short orange hair was waving her arms erratically.
"Yoohoo! Over here!" She shouted at them, not seeming to be paying attention to the other people around her.
As they met up, Ruby began talking. "Good morning, everyone. I've called you all here today for an excellent day of fun."
"I was already planning on going shopping today anyways, so I figured why not go with others." The bassist commented.
"Don't you go shopping everyday, Coco?" Yang asked her.
"Don't question my habits." she replied.
"She does." Velvet confirmed.
"Don't rat me out!" Coco said to her, covering up the rabbit faunus' mouth. A giggle escaped from under the bassist's hand just before it was taken away.
"I didn't have anything planned today anyway. And when I told Jaune about my plans for the day, he did the same thing basically and invited a few of the guys over to our place to hang." Pyrrha said.
"Let's hope that Sun doesn't crack the code to your wine vault again when he "goes to the bathroom"." Blake said, using air quotes.
"I still don't know how he managed to guess it in such a small amount of time."
"The guy is lucky as hell." Coco mentioned.
"So, Ruby, what did you have planned for us today?" Velvet asked.
"Everything." Ruby replied simply.
"What do you mean by everything?" Weiss asked.
Ruby looked at her white haired coworker and grinned. "The Patch Sampler."
Coco whistled. "Haven't experienced that since Velvet here joined the crew."
"It's basically a tradition for the studio." Ruby mentioned. "Every time, I take a different group of people along with me and the newcomer. Now, let's go show Weiss what the island of Patch and it's people has to offer."
They left the hotel and immediately entered a long white stretch limo. One that Weiss had only seen for movie premieres that her father had asked her to attend with him.
The limo hadn't taken them far. It only brought them to the center of the city and them dropped them off. They exited onto the sidewalk and were absorbed into the crowd.
Weiss had expected that with the company that she was traveling with that they would be swarmed with press, photographers, and fans asking for autographs.
But nobody approached them. They only got excited stares from the people around them, some looked like they were about to faint.
"You look confused." Ruby said to her as they walked down the street. "And I'm guessing it's about the people." she guessed.
"Exactly, actually. I expected them to dog pile on us almost."
"That's one of the beauties of Patch. The people of the island and the celebrities of Rose Records have what some would call a mutual understanding. They know that we just want to be treated like any other person and that if we're on the streets or in a restaurant or something, they know that we're just trying to go through our day like everyone else that lives on the island."
"Wow." Weiss said, genuinely surprised that the people would be so kind to not bother any of the popular celebrities.
"Of course, nobody minds an autograph here or there, hell even a.." Suddenly Ruby's arms was wrapped around Weiss' shoulders and their cheeks pressed against each other. Ruby flashed her camera phone in front of the two and snapped a picture. "Selfie!"
It was over as quickly as it started. It startled Weiss a bit, but she remained composed.
Ruby looked at her phone as she pulled away and Weiss noticed as she stifled a laugh.
"What?" Weiss asked. "What is it."
"Nothing, nothing." Ruby said. "The picture is per- HEY!" Weiss snatched the phone from Ruby's hands so fast she almost didn't have time to react. Examining the photo, Weiss saw that Ruby's eyes and mouth were wide open, the light shining in her eyes made them almost twinkle. Her face was one word that Weiss could find. Perfect.
But then her own expression was that of someone who was standing in a crowded elevator and then someone decided to cut the cheese just before getting off, leaving everyone to wallow in disgust. That and mixed with being annoyed due to a lack of coffee.
While Weiss stared at the image, Ruby snatched the phone back and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans.
"Delete it!" Weiss demanded.
"Nope!" Ruby said, popping the 'P'.
"Please?" Weiss experimented.
"Hmmm... Nope!"
Weiss hung her head, knowing that she was defeated.
"It's good to give up, Weiss." Yang said. "Ruby always keeps the first selfie."
"I have a giant collage on a board in my study at home. it has pictures of everyone at the studio. Even just regular employees."
"Even the janitors." Blake added. "I've seen it."
"She's right." Ruby confirmed.
"I didn't know you had that." Velvet commented. "That's awfully sweet of you, Ruby."
"Eh, I try to get to know everyone that I can to the best of my ability." Ruby said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"If we were back in high school, I never would have thought that I would hear you say those words." Yang said. "I would hold you against a wall and ask you "who are you and what have you done with my sister?"."
"Not much of a social butterfly back then, Ruby?" Nora asked.
"Me? No. I was very... enclosed when I was younger. But I guess when I came to work for Rose Records, I got... used to people more."
Weiss noticed that there were some pauses in the sentence that felt they were Ruby trying to pick her words carefully. Like if she said something wrong it could hurt someone.
"But, enough about that, we're at the first place." Ruby said as she turned and open the door to a small shop.
Weiss looked up to the sign that hung above the doorway.
"Chocolate"
On the inside, it smelled like one thing. Could you take a guess? It wasn't peanuts.
"Welcome to Gino's, best chocolate on this side of the globe." the man behind the counter said. He had short black hair that was turning grey from age and deep brown eyes. From what Weiss could tell from his body language and attitude towards her and the others, he viewed them as if they were any other people.
It was then that she actually managed to fully believe Ruby.
"Hey Ronaldo." Ruby said to the man behind the counter. "No Gino today?" she asked.
"No, little Rose." The older man responded. "He has gone back to Mistral to visit family."
"Oh, what a shame. I would've liked him to meet Weiss here."
Ronaldo raised his arms. "I am not good enough?" he asked with mock hurt.
"Of course you're good enough." Ruby responded with a smile.
"Not exactly the answer I expected, but, oh well." He looked to Weiss. "This is the new lady?"
"Yes. Weiss, this is Ronaldo, Co-owner of Gino's Chocolate. One of the most prestigious, yet small, chocolate companies in the world."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir." Weiss said, extending her hand for a shake.
Ronaldo accepted the handshake with a firm grip. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Schnee."
The shop was the size of one of your average coffee shops. There was the counter where the glass gave view to the vast amounts of sweets that the chocolatier had to offer. It all admittedly made Weiss' mouth water just by looking at the images and samples that were on display.
There were about five regular boots that held up to four people and then in a back room was a larger table for a large party, like their own.
The entire shop was the color of white and brown. Milk chocolate brown, to be exact.
Ruby told the group to sit at the table while she ordered something special for all of them.
"So what, she fattening us up first so that we wear ourselves down quicker today or what?" Weiss asked jokingly.
"It does seem that way does it." Coco agreed.
"Nah, Ruby just has a huge sweet tooth." Yang mentioned.
"She'll never have one bigger than mine." Nora said, hiking her thumb into her chest.
Ruby came to the table as Nora said this. "Is that a challenge, Nora?" Ruby asked.
Nora stood out of her seat and planted her foot on the side of the table. "You bet it is."
Pyrrha stood just after with her face slightly panicked. "NO! Last time you two had a bet involving sugar, the cops were almost called to calm you down, Nora."
Nora couldn't help but deflate at what Pyrrha said. "You're right." she took her foot off the table and slumped back down into her seat.
As Ruby took her seat, Ronaldo walked in with a large serving tray.
On it there was a plate of chocolate for the each of them. "Even if you had a contest as to who could handle the most, I think with Mr. Gino's prices, you might break the bank before you finished."
"Very true, Ronaldo." Blake agreed as a plate was set down in front of everyone.
"Is it really that expensive?" Weiss asked.
"You didn't take a look at the prices on the boards above as we walked in?" Ruby asked.
"I don't usually do that nowadays." Weiss admitted.
"That's one of the problems that I had at first when the family started coming into more and more money." Yang said. "I stopped focusing on the lien and focused more on the taste."
Blake looked at Ruby. "I'm helping pay for this you know."
"No." Ruby responded instantly.
"It's the least I can do, Ruby. I don't have a fat stack of cash in my purse all the time unlike all of you from playing instruments."
"Don't lie." Ruby said.
"It's only a small amount at this point." Blake argued.
"Ladies, ladies, please." Ronaldo said. "The chocolate will not taste as good if your attitudes are more bitter than Gino's special dark chocolate. Now, please, enjoy the chocolate and I will be back later to know how it was." And with that, Ronaldo left the group of women to their plates of chocolate samples.
Weiss didn't want to argue with that logic. Unknown to many, her own sweet tooth had it's times of showing up, but she never let it control her and her diets. It was a treat that she enjoyed from time to time. Nothing more or less.
Weiss decided to first try the simplest looking piece on the plate. A piece of regular milk chocolate. She took a single bite and her mouth exploded into the flavor. It was as if someone had set off a firework in her mouth... In a good way.
"This is... amazing." Weiss said as she finished the piece of chocolate heaven.
"That's Gino's work." Ruby said as she ate a piece of her own. "He makes sure that every inch of chocolate made is crafted to perfection."
"I do as well!" Ronaldo shouted from the front room.
"Yes, yes you do, Ronaldo!" Ruby shouted back. "It's fabulous work."
"Happy to be of service!"
A few more minutes passed in content silence as everyone devoured their plates of chocolate.
"If you don't mind me asking. What were the two of you talking about?" Weiss asked, looking at Ruby and Blake.
"Blake used to be a world class violinist." Ruby stated simply.
"Ruby!" Blake said, obviously not wanting the information to be shared.
"What? It was an elephant sitting in the center of the room. Why not just kick it out?" Ruby argued back.
Blake sighed. "Oh well, it's out there now."
"I had no idea that you played violin, Blake." Velvet said in awe. "We have to do a piece together someday!" the pianist finished excitedly.
"I had my suspicions, I didn't think that they were true, though." Yang said.
"What makes you say that?" Blake asked.
"Come on. I've been over to your place for drinks plenty of times. I've seen the case in your closet."
"Can we drop it for now and enjoy the rest of the day?" Blake asked.
Ruby smiled at her assistant and friend. "Of course."
Soon after, everyone had finished their samplers and Ronaldo came and gave them their check, which Ruby didn't let anyone see but herself. They bid their goodbyes and continued through the rest of the day.
Said rest of day included what Weiss could only guess was a walk around the entire town. They saw every park, famous dock, every site that a movie scene was filmed, there was a visit to some of the most expensive shops that Weiss hadn't been in since she traveled overseas to Haven.
Granted, throughout the day, they were more than happy to sign a few autographs for the people.
One person even managed to recognize Blake and asked for an autograph from her, which she reluctantly accepted after she recovered from the momentary shock.
Weiss was surprised by the fact that she was even asked for her autograph as well. People told her that her performance on Vytal Idol was stunning and that she shouldn't listen to anyone who told her otherwise.
This had brightened Weiss' day even further, since it had taken a damper since reading the articles from that morning.
The last stop that they made in their day was a restaurant that had all classic food from Menagerie.
Blake took in a deep breath and smiled as they entered the restaurant. "Reminds me of home." she said.
"Well it should." Yang said. "If it didn't, I think there would be a problem in the kitchen."
After the delicious dinner, the sun had already dipped down under the horizon, leaving the sky a shade mixing between orange, yellow and purple.
Looking at her phone, Weiss saw that it was already seven thirty. Which meant that the workers that her father hired should be done soon.
"I need to get back." Weiss said. "The workers should be just about done now. I'm hoping that my father didn't ask them to do anything too extreme."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Ruby said. "I doubt that they were allowed to go all out on the apartment. They need to keep their ideas at least within regulation for the building."
"But if you walk in and find a Jacuzzi sitting in your living room, let me know and I'll hop on over." Yang said.
"Yeah, that's something that I would keep a secret." Coco agreed.
The limo from that morning then pulled up to the restaurant and everyone piled inside.
By the time they arrived back at the apartment building, it was already ten after eight. Pyrrha stayed in the limo, her house being a mile away still. "I have to go make sure that the guys didn't burn down the house. Thanks for the night, Ruby!" she said as everyone else got out of the limo.
"Sure thing, Pyrrha." Ruby replied. "It was fun."
The limo door closed and the long stretched out vehicle pulled away from the apartment building.
Everyone squeezed into the elevator and one by one, got off at their respective floors.
Finally, the last three were Weiss, Ruby and Yang.
When they got to Weiss' floor, she got off and Ruby got off behind her.
"I'll be up in a minute." Ruby told her older sister.
Yang nodded. "You got it, sis." and then she pressed the button on the control panel, shutting the large silver doors.
"What are you doing?" Weiss asked Ruby, curious as to why her boss wouldn't go back to her own luxury penthouse.
"Thought I would like to see what these workers did with your room. I'm interested." she said admittedly.
As they approached the room, Weiss couldn't hear any sort of construction or work from this point. The door was also closed.
Perhaps they actually were done and Weiss could relax in her new home.
Well, her new new home.
Weiss took out her key and went to insert it, but stopped and turned to Ruby.
"I wanted to say thank you. For today." she said to her.
Ruby for some reason didn't expect what the white haired singer said and stuttered for a moment.
"You're- Um- I..." she paused for a brief moment and regained her composure. "You're welcome, Weiss. If you ever need a day like that again, just let me know. I'd be happy to go out with you again."
Weiss could feel a sudden rush of blood go to her cheeks. "Um... what?" she asked slowly.
Ruby's own cheeks adorned a shade of red. She let out a small nervous laugh. "Ididn'tmeanitlikethatImeantIwouldliketogoandhangoutwithyouandtheothersagainbecauseIhadareallyfuntimeya'know." Ruby's mouth went off like a rapid fire machine gun. One word coming right after the next.
"What?" Weiss asked, missing half of what Ruby said.
Ruby took a deep breath. "Sorry. I misspoke. I meant that I would not mind going out with you and the others for a fun day again." Ruby said calmly and clearly.
Weiss wasn't sure, but she thought she heard Ruby whisper a small yes! at the end of her sentence.
"It's... It's alright. Don't worry. We all have those moments." Weiss replied. "But, really. Thank you."
"It was my pleasure."
Weiss then inserted her key into the door handle and turned the knob.
She flipped the light switch for the room on and examined the room.
She gasped by what she saw.
Nothing had changed.
It was all the same as when she left it.
Upon a quick scan, the only thing she noticed was a letter that was left on her kitchen table. It had the Schnee family crest on the seal.
Ruby walked in behind Weiss.
"It looks... unchanged?" Ruby said.
Weiss didn't say anything. Choosing only to walk over to the letter and pick it up.
She tore open the side of the envelope and pulled the sheet of paper from within.
Opening it up, she began to read the letter:
Weiss,
Yes, I know that I had the workers lie to you, saying that they would be remodeling the apartment to better accommodate you. Well, it wasn't a full lie.
The only thing they truly remodeled was your office. A full recording booth is now in there to better suit your needs.
As for your belongings, they are all in your bedroom.
You may ask, why did I lie?
It was for the fact that it was probably the only way to get you out of your apartment and see your new area.
You always chose to be a social shut-in, if that makes sense. As soon as you would get home, you would be in your room singing or fiddling with some new instrument that you bought yourself.
I hope that today you actually went out and made some new friends there. The people at that recording company could become life long friends, I hope you know.
I will check in on you every now and then, so please respond to my call and messages when they do come up.
Until then,
Your father, Jacques Schnee.
Weiss stared at the letter for minutes. Not knowing how to respond to her father's letter.
"Weiss?" Ruby asked. "Are you okay?"
Weiss took a deep breath, not turning to her silver eyed boss.
"My father's an asshole."
AN:
Did someone say double update?
This is what I worked on for the Monty Oum Project that was going on. For those who didn't know what it was, you took the entire day to continue any work or start any projects that you have been putting off for who knows how long and... well, just doing it.
Thank you for everyone who waited patiently for these updates.
And an even greater thank you to MartunaMajor who edited both of these updates.
I hope you all enjoyed both of these new chapters.
I'll see you all next time!