What was turning into a sleepless night for Ruby, also turned into stressful when her scroll buzzed ominously.

The week was nearly coming to an end, and Ruby found herself struggling with what to do. She was hesitant about leaving Sun behind just yet. Still, her job was important to her too, and she found herself forced to make a choice.

Weiss called her for an upcoming mission, feeling the weight of duty as a huntress settle onto her shoulders. Ruby wasn't just an average huntress. She did the dirty work than many simply refused to do. She exterminated the dangerous Grimm located in the underground pathways and mines. The SDC had a whole team of skilled, licensed, hunters and huntresses, but they were under SDC contract only.

They were not under her friend's direct employment, which meant that any mining town that had been liberated from SDC control could not, and would not, be offered the protective services from the Schnee Dust Company. Freedom, meant independence, and that meant entire towns were left to their own devices.

Without a willing freelance huntress willing to go off the record books, the mines would never be kept safe, and Ruby took those missions upon her own shoulders on principle. It if it were any other time, she would not have hesitated, but now…

Ruby rolled the idea around in her head as she kept the scroll to her ear. "How many swarms have been reported?"

"None so far. Hopefully they can be put down before a swarm does gather together. That's why I was hoping you could go. You know that region better than anyone else."

"I know." The younger woman said. "It's just that I'm worried about what might happen if I leave."

"A valid concern, and one I share. However, Grimm don't wait for convenience. Ruby, be honest, how is Sun?" Weiss asked over the cracking of the scroll. "Has he made any marked improvement?"

Ruby could hear the woman hard at work, fingers tapping across keys in rapid succession.

"He's better, but not out of the woods." Ruby sighed. "The thing about drinking to take care of other problems. Even when you think you have it beat, that just might not be the case. Besides that…"

"What?"

"Well, it's just that Sun never really let himself heal before." Ruby had been thinking about that a lot. "He's just now starting to grieve."

Weiss seemed to think on this as her typing stopped and a small humming sound broke the wordlessness lingering in the air. Papers rustled, a desk drawer opened and closed, dispersing the faint static of background noise.

"Neptune called me. His mission has been prolonged, he doesn't want Sun on his own." Weiss said slowly. "Naturally, I agree with Neptune's assumptions. However, that's a double edged sword. If those towns fall behind schedule, production falls, and we all lose profits. I have a hard enough time finding hunters willing to go into the Faunus run mines as it is. I can't imagine what would happen if those towns lost their only means to support themselves."

"And most of those towns are independently run with the dust they mine themselves too." Ruby said, though she knew she was stating the obvious. "How quickly will they run out of supplies?"

"Depends on the community, I suppose." Weiss rustled around for more paperwork. A large book slammed on her desk, causing Ruby to flinch as she heard the woman speak once more. "Another supply drop isn't scheduled for two weeks. I could ask Coco to rush it, but that won't keep the town warm if the red dust depletes from the heating units."

"What I'm worried about are the tunnels that the Grimm tend to dig." Ruby said worriedly. "It seems like we're always filling Ursa dens, and Taijitu burrows."

Weiss rolled her eyes, thankful Ruby couldn't see her. "Bloody serpents have caused more cave-in over the years than I care to admit." The stress lingering on her features were clearly painted across her face. "I'd rather not have to call Nora in for another rock-wall demolition if I can help it."

"No kidding, after last time, I don't think anyone wants that. In saying that, though, how bad are the reports? Are the Grimm actively hunting?"

"I don't know, I've considered sending Blake, but you know how I feel about sending her away on missions. I'd much rather have her here, to help me deal with the paperwork. Thanks to all of the changes I'm implementing, there's so much of it lately." A delicate line of insults muffled across the line, and Ruby heard Yang laughing uproariously about something, but the young woman couldn't figure out what it was about. "Of course your sister is being of very little help when it comes late nights at the office."

"Sounds like a sticky situation."

"It is." Weiss agreed. "Are you willing to go north and sort things out?"

"I don't know." Ruby sighed to great length. "I'll talk to Sun and get back to you, how does that sound?"

"I'll need an answer by tomorrow, Ruby."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Ruby murmured. "I'll get back to you in the morning."

Ruby wasn't the only one struggling to fall asleep. Sun was too, for vastly different reasons.

The cogs in his mind kept turning, focusing entirely on the woman sleeping in his living room. He flopped onto his belly uselessly, face buried into his pillow, as if that would somehow shove the woman out of his mind. He couldn't help but think about her, about the entire day.

To Ruby's credit, she really was good with Zhu, making him smile effortlessly. The small boy was enamored with her and had chased after her cape, clinging onto it whenever he could.

Sun knew he shouldn't be surprised, Ruby was a lighthearted, spirited person. She looked for laugher and happiness wherever she went. It was one of the reasons he felt so damn guilty recently, because Ruby didn't let the weight of life crush her. She was unwavering against hardship, and that wasn't a small feat. He knew all too well just how difficult her life had once been. He had witnessed one too many atrocities that she had been made to endure.

The aftermath of such trials were painted across her skin in scars that would never completely heal. Ruby would argue it was the life she chose, but he knew it went deeper than that. Her life had chosen her, and she clung to what she assumed to be destiny.

Sun cursed to himself. He had been entirely too unkind to her lately, and Ruby had gone through enough in her life. He had to make it up to her somehow, but he couldn't think of how best to do that. His mind drifted to her, what she might want or need. In that time he found that her smile pervaded his thoughts even more, that her words continually challenged his views of himself, and the way he now saw the world.

In a way, he was becoming a new man. Sun wasn't sure he liked that. Then again, he didn't entirely dislike it either. He had begun to want her there with him, offering a strict night and day difference to his sensibilities.

It didn't help that as a Faunus, he was drawn to baser natures.

Senses of smell and touch, what Ruby unknowingly provided with her usual effortlessness. She thought very little of it. She was just a friendly person with a gentle personality. One that became barbed and sharpened to a fine point when crossed, just like her namesake. Rare as that was to happen, Ruby was no pushover. She pushed back with a defiance that was as intriguing to him as it was sentimental.

All of that combined with one simple, torturous fact: he was lonely.