Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.

Blake sighed as she let the letter in her hand fall to the table. Another rejection. Over the past week, she'd sent over a dozen applications to different jobs and only gotten back negative results. She knew she shouldn't be too impatient. That there were still some that hadn't replied yet. But it didn't really make her feel better. She let herself fall back against the couch and just sat there, in silence.

Amber was currently over at Yang's, for which Blake was grateful. She didn't want her little girl to see her mommy like this. She had to be strong for her daughter. She had to be.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar beeping. Ruby was calling. Blake quickly got up, walked over to the TV and pressed the appropriate buttons.

Ruby's face appeared on the screen. "Hey, Blake. How are things?"

Blake offered her a weak smile. "Hey, Ruby. Things are...fine, I guess."

A puzzled look appeared on Ruby's face. "Blake. What's going on?"

For a second, Blake considered keeping her worries to herself, but quickly decided that Ruby would just pry them out of her anyway. "I just...got another rejection. That's the fourth one by now."

"Blake," Ruby's voice was full of compassion now, "I know how much that must suck, but you have to keep trying."

"I know. I just...Really? Four rejections without even offering to meet me? Is my resume really that bad? Am I really that unqualified? Am I not at all able to support myself?" She looked down to the ground. "My daughter?"

There was a moment of silence before Ruby spoke up. "Blake." Blake looked up. "You're an amazing mother. An amazing woman. Do not let a few rejections get you down. You're better than that. You've proven. You worked under circumstances for a year to take of your family. Your ability to support a family is beyond question. You are strong, fierce and intelligent. You will get a job and when you do we are going to celebrate and you are going to pay because you will be able to afford it and I'm a damned leech."

Blake laughed softly. "Thank you, Ruby. You always know the right thing to say. I feel much better now." She took a moment smiling at Ruby to continue. "You know what's good about me not getting job?"

"What's that?"

"I get to stay here. I can't wait for you to come back, Ruby. It'll be just like old times when we had sleepovers."

"Except that there won't be any grown-ups there to tell us what to do, so we can stay up for as long we want."

"Well, we should set an example for Amber. We don't want her staying up until early morning just because we do that, right?"

"You go ahead and do that, mommy, but this cool aunt is gonna go ahead and do as she likes."

"Really? I never figured you to be such a rebel, Ruby."

A slight blush graced Ruby's cheeks. "Hey, I was always the good one of the group. I think I'm entitled to a little bit of bad."

Blake giggled. Ruby was always so adorable when she got defensive. "Alright, alright. Just, please, don't do anything crazy like getting insanely drunk or bringing a woman home."

At that, something in Ruby's face changed. An expression of sadness rushed across her face in a second. You could have blinked and missed it. But Blake didn't blink. So the smile Ruby forced onto her face didn't convince her one bit. "Don't worry, Blake. I won't be doing any of that. I'll try to at least be a little responsible. Oh, where is Amber anyway?"

"She's over at Yang's."

"Aww, I wanted to talk to her, too. Oh well, guess I'll try tomorrow."

Blake nodded. "Alright, then. Good night, Ruby."

"Good night, Blake."

Blake switched off the screen and sat back down, contemplating what she had just witnessed. Was something going on with Ruby that she didn't know about? Again?

(**)

"Don't worry, Blake," Ruby sighed, a sad smile on her lips. "You'll never have to worry about me bringing a girl home."