"You sly cat."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Getting that hug from my sister. I gotta admit, I'm a bit jealous. She wouldn't let me hug her, but she let you."
"Sh-shut up." A blush had crept onto the faunus's face. The memory of their bodies pressed together in the comforting embrace still fresh in her mind.
"If you want her, you might want to step your game up, though. Miss Ice Queen also wants in on some Ruby love."
"Wh-What do you mean?" Amber eyes narrowing.
"Puh-lease. She is probably the only person in all of Remnant that has the hots for Rubes more than you." Lips stretching further as a testament to her enjoyment brought by the teasing of the bashful faunus.
Amber eyes slowly shut in behind leaded eyelids. She didn't have any comeback, and even if she did, it would just be ammo for the blonde. Silence was also fuel for the flame, but it wasn't nearly as volatile. Pinching the bridge of her most, the black-haired faunus stood from her leathery barstool. With a deep inhale, she made her way down the hall to the bedrooms. Exhaling along the way, she was nearly to her own room when a glimpse of red froze her mid-stride. Backpedaling a meter and a half, she peered through the crack of her leader's door. Through the centimeter wide crevice, a bowed half-head bore into its left forearm. The twin hovering millimeters above with a glinting blade kissing the skin. Blake held her breath. Don't. An invisible battle waged between the armed hand and the exposed neck of its sister. Micro-tremors ran throughout the threatening appendage. Growing. Growing into full fledged trembles. The growing intensity was broken by the sharp intake of breath from the Reaper. She set the razor on the night stand.
"I just want to feel." Whispering to her soul, the red-cloaked leader raised her left hand and ran the calloused digits along the scars. Ear to jaw. Lip to chin. Nose to cheek. Finally, the wandering fingers, just as this morning, rested on obscuring fabric. Her right hand gripped into a fist. They took it from me. It relaxed. They laughed at me. Thumb dragged along the palm, a deep breath. They used me. Her hand clenched once more, it raised above her head. And now they're dead. Around in a circle it went before it crashed down onto the nightstand with the glinting blade. Fist connected with the dark oak table. Passing through the top of the table, razor launching into the air, followed by splinters. Deeper the hand sank. Through the top drawer. More splinters. Further still, the delicate hand buried itself in the miscellaneous items inside the second drawer. Coming through the bottom, she let out a long breath. Once flying through the air, the razor and its wooden counterparts clattered to the ground as the sound of tinkling metal and dancing shards on a low-carpet, scarlet floor. Silver eye met amber ones from the reflection granted by the mini blade. The distinct scraping of a wooden chair on the same-substance floor could be heard from down the hall. Following it, the pounding noise of the offending chair onto the floor. Finally, some colorful curses from the voluminous blonde. Refocusing, the silver eye gazed once more into the amber pools, faintly glinting in the lowly-lit hallway. A simple message conveyed from leader to follower: help.
Body moving on its own, Blake kicked off her slippers, slightly scattering them in the hallway in the process. Quickly stumbling into the room, she was careful to avoid splinters, but picked up the heinous blade amongst them. Mindful of the jagged edges, she sat down in the midst of the remaining stand. Not a moment later the blonde, eyes red with fury of her incident and filled with worry for her sister, flung the door to its hinges. Her teeth clenched and her neck strained.
Ruby. Safe. Blake. Safe? Red eyes returned to their normal lilac color. Reaching her left gauntlet-adorned hand out to her partner, who proceeded to grab it with a mutter of thanks, she hoisted the faunus to her feet with ease. "I'll go get a broom."
A breath of relief escaped her savior. Silver eye fixated on the entirety of the being who just saved her from an unexplainable situation. Blinking, it rolled downward, looking at the mess, then the hand which caused it. Flexing her fingers inwards, then outwards, the cloaked leader determined it was bruised, but not broken. Because she drinks milk. A mirthful glint sparkled for a moment behind the void of passionless feeling. Another blink, another redirect. Fixated once again, on her faunus teammate and friend. Amber eyes once trained on the doorway, flicked over and met with the single silver one. A muted blush found its way onto the faunus's cheeks.
She was staring at me! Ok, ok, maybe it's just. Just… I don't know. Maybe it's just something that is different than what I hope it is! An internal sigh. In an attempt to clear her head and relieve the blush which so unwelcomely presented itself, the cat faunus let out a yawn. Her partner returned with broom and dustpan in hand, a grin on her lips as she handed them off to the ninja-like member of team RWBY. "Hey Blake." Oh no, she's going to make a stupid pun about falling. Mentally bracing for the devastating pun, Blake closed her eyes. "I guess you could say, you really fell for Ruby." Opening her amber eyes, she saw that the grin on her partner had multiplied into an ear-to-ear smile. You have no idea. Moving over to the remains of the nightstand, the blonde brawler hoisted what was left and carried it out of the room. "Don't worry, Rubes. Blake will take you out to get a new one sometime soon." With that, the blonde was gone, but a blush had gathered once more. I'm going to kill her one day. Sighing, she began sweeping the debris into a pile. Another date with her lovely leader though, that's not a bad idea. Thanks Yang. A grin had joined the receding blush on the black-haired faunus's face.
Bruising as it may be, the hand still adventured outward. Landing on the wooden pole with hundreds of grey, hair-like feet. Grasping sternly, the single hand stopped the rhythm-less dancing. The once absorbed amber eyes raised themselves in question to the silver one's antics. A gentle tug on the dry mop was enough. Smooth palms released the cleaning tool and dropped to their respective sides. Finding it easier to look at the growing pile of trash than the stunning Reaper, Blake realized they needed a vacuum. Why would Yang even grab a broom? Groaning to herself, she now regretted having been so stubborn all those months ago.
WBY had just been unified in their current house, and Weiss had suggested getting a vacuum. However, the cat faunus adamantly refused and insisted they don't need one because there are only four rooms with carpet, the bedrooms. Which, would not really be needed, so long as they abided Weiss's rule of no eating or drinking outside of the kitchen.
Having discarded the broom in the hall, Ruby knelt down and began picking up the shards of wood with her hands. Careful not to get any shrapnel in her skin, resulting in an annoying "splinter." Her left hand having trouble keeping all the varying sized pieces off the floor. Standing up, the red-oriented huntress stepped out into the hall and down to the kitchen. Upon returning, she saw Blake on her knees, picking up the remaining mess.
Reaching for a particularly jagged piece, the faunus let a gasp of surprise and a hiss of pain. A near invisible hair of wood had stuck itself into the flesh of her middle finger of her right hand. Cool, rough hands took her injured one into their own. Shifting her gaze upward, she saw the red heart thief. A combination of the proximity, hand holding, and surprise had once again, heated her face. This girl is going to be the death of me. "Ruby, it's just a splinter, it's fine." The faunus said as she rolled her eyes about then refocused them on the top of her crush's head. It's nice she cares so much, though. Admittedly, that was one of the things that had stolen Blake's affection. Chapped lips encircled the black-haired girl's right middle finger. Teeth gently biting down on the tip of it, a bit of air. As quickly as it happened, it was over. Almost proudly, the cloaked leader showed the splinter between her teeth. Almost. Her general expression still that of a rock, emotionless. Blake, however, was a flushed mess. Her face was several degrees warmer than the rest of her body and had more color than it as well. Red as her leader's cloak, Blake mindlessly continued her task of picking up the pieces. Oh Ruby, what do you do to me.
Unbeknownst to them, a mischievous blonde had witnessed the whole occurrence, after all she had to check on her baby sis to make sure Blake wasn't putting the moves on her. After what she saw, perhaps Blake is the one that needs protection from Ruby's advances. Perhaps. Yang chuckled to herself silently and excused herself, not wanting to interrupt the pair.
Last piece, it tumbled end-over-end, as it was the final inconvenience in respect to the shattered desk, it was only proper to dramatically let it go. It symbolized overcoming a tedious and menial task. Pft, not really. It just so happened to not fit in either of the cleaning pairs hands. Now back at the leader's room, the two stood silently in the hallway. Feeling her palms precipitate, Blake had to think of something to get the mysterious silver eye off of her, or at the very least, not so focused. In a nervous quirk, the faunus tapped her sides. Left fingertips tapping upon something slim and metallic. Oh yeah, the razor. Pulling the treacherous blade out, "I'm keeping this." tipping it back and forth between her forefinger and thumb. "You know, we're your team. That will never change. As we were, are, and will always be your friends and family, you can tell me, us, anything." words flowed effortlessly. The stream of meaningful sounds crashing over the waterfall that is her lips. "No matter what. Nothing." silver eye flicked away. "Hey." it returned. "Nothing will make us stop loving you. Ok? Nothing."
Vision oddly blurring. Blinking, it was clear. Warmth trickled down one side of her face. Wiping away the mystery, dispelling it with raising it to examination. A tear? Another blurring of sight. I'm crying? Pulling out her scroll from the confines of her cloak, she opened the camera. Still void or expression, but tears were undeniably falling. Why do I not feel anything up front? Why am I dead! Why can I only subconsciously feel! Why! Why! Why! Hesitant arms snaked around her body. Crossing behind her shoulder blades. A head of black hair and cat ears lay upon her left shoulder.
It mumbled, "I can't even begin to comprehend what you went through, Ruby. I can only begin to imagine the horrendous things you were subjected to, so I may not fully understand. Know, however, that you are not alone in this. While, again, we don't know what it's like, Yang, myself, and, yes, even Ice Queen, will do anything to help you. Anything." Especially Weiss and myself. Tentatively, arms found their way to her own back, resting on top of her black hair. Ghostly as it may be, the undeniable feeling of her leaders arms were enough to bring a miniscule smile to the faunus's lips. Weiss would be so jealous, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters now is Ruby.
One of the most dangerous criminals in all of history. Hundreds have lost their life to her hands. Countless hours of illegal conduct under her name. And yet, her she is, standing on a doorstep with sweaty palms and rapid heart. Come on Neo. Woman up. It's just a girl… a girl who managed to get by your impenetrable defence around your heart as if they were child's play. A girl who played her heart strings like a harp. A girl who just the thought of made her knees tremble. Gulping down her misgivings, the tri-colored girl took a deep breath. Ok you can do this. Making sure her signs were ready, her hand raised to knock. Before her fist even made contact, the door flew open revealing a fiery blonde.
"You" venom dripping from the simple, drawn out word. There was no attempt at hiding the disgust the blonde held for the ice cream-esque girl. With a sharp shrug of her shoulders, she loaded Ember Celica.
The all-too-familiar sound of the yellow gauntlets loading brought Neo to her senses. Raising her hands in front of her, she hoped the sign was enough to convince the blonde she was no threat. She hadn't brought her trusted umbrella in an attempt to be non-threatening.
Wait. Please don't kill me. Yang raised an eyebrow. "Why shouldn't I?" shuffling signs. I have information about what happened to Ruby, your sister. "What do you know about her!" oh no, no, no. That was supposed to calm her, not agitate her further. Flipping through her signs I saved her. "Why should I believe that. If anything, you were probably the one that personally tortured her." The air was heating up. How can I reason with her? Come on! Weiss is on her way. The brawler raised an eyebrow. What? Flipping the sign around, her face paled. Wrong sign. Frantically skimming through her collection sorry. The air cooled. More shuffling. How is Ruby? The air heated once more. Oops. Throwing her cards in front of her, Neo dove off the porch steps. Behind her, she glanced. Her cards were ash. Great. Rolling instinctively, the ground ruptured where she was moments ago. The bruiser now towering over her. I should've listened to Roman. The ice cream killer wasn't scared of dying, she would simply use her semblance to escape, but she really, really wanted to see her favorite Rose. Preparing to activate her semblance upon impact, Neo sighed. Some other time then. Punch, the blonde never threw her hit. Looking beyond the towering brawler, Neo heart skipped. Already beating quickly due to the recent events and thinking of her beloved Rose, it only doubled. The silver eye that her own discolored ones could stare at all day given the chance. Ruffled hair and scarred face giving that delicious, gruff demeanor. Lastly, her voice. Her knee-trembling, gravelly, sexy voice. If it weren't for the threatening blonde, Neo might have just pounced the Rose. Swooning was cut short when a sleek white car pulled into the driveway.
"Wait, so you're saying this murderer," Lilac eyes glared at at pink and brown ones, "saved Ruby?"
"Yes, were you not listening." icy as always, Weiss responded to the annoying blonde.
"I was, I just don't believe it. I still don't. In fact, you don't think that Roman just made all that up, sent Neo- a highly trained assassin- here, when we lowered our guard, as a plan to kill us? Seriously?"
"She certainly doesn't seem like a threat." came the emotionless interjection from Blake. The three looked over to the small assassin. Her multicolored eyes hungrily watching their leader in the kitchen. In silent agreement, the three decided they would not let her be alone with their passionless Reaper.
They don't believe me, could you just tell them? Please. Hands waving and shifting, tapping and twirling, Neo asked Ruby.
What could I say that would make them think different? Three eyebrows raised, blonde, black, white.
"Since when does she know sign?" A skeptical heiress couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy for the neapolitan girl. They have their own language. The other silent questioners shrugged.
The mute conversation ended on the response of their leader. "Roman probably said there's a void beneath this mask. Well, there was." lithe hands reached for the clips concealed in her hair. "They took part of me. Used me. Experimented on one of the only things I have from my mother." While still void of feeling, the air suddenly grew tense as though each word was a curse out of spite. "One day, I woke to two different eyes filled with concern. They unshackled me, gave me a small smile, and left Crescent Rose before vanishing. Now, if one were to scour every shadow, crevice, cave, and tunnel in all of Remnant, my captors would not be found. Not even their corpses. I tore their flesh from their bones, mangled their organs with my hands, held their hearts between my teeth; all of this because they wanted my eyes. When all fell quiet after the carnage, I hand fed the carrions. Never again will they harm me." The last clasp came undone and the mask fell. Instead of a silver eye, there in the socket, was a white eye filled with less compassion than its silver counterpart and even less control. There was no trace of soul behind the tormented iris, only an insatiable hunger for the crimson waters within.