Sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoy!
Ruby
Click-clack click-clack click-clack click-clack. The sound of high heels hitting the ground and rolling from the heel to toe. These footsteps sounded proper, like the person who wore them had been doing so their entire life, yet they also sounded powerful, showing determination and an immovable will.
Click-clack click-clack click-clack. This all was very representative of the person who's footsteps they were. The door opened with an almost indiscernible swish that anyone but Ruby would not have noticed. Click-clack click-clack, the footsteps stopped as the door closed. Ruby knew who it was by now, they had come every day of the past week and their signature footsteps had become very recognizable to her.
Weiss she thought fleetingly.
"Ruby? How are you feeling today?" Weiss asked from just inside the doorway.
"I'm doing much better now that you're here Weiss. Now come on! I've been waiting all day for you to visit, don't just stand there in the doorway." Ruby said, sounding exasperated.
"Uh, ah, um, I don't even want to know how you know that." Weiss said after a few shocked stutters.
"Well, you see Weiss, it's because my hearing has gotten so good now that I'm picking up on differences in peoples footsteps and how far they are walking by the number of footsteps. So I could figure out who was visiting me and where you were." Ruby explained, smiling proudly at the genius of her little trick.
"You realize that I just told you that I didn't want to know?" Weiss said, finally moving closer to Ruby. Click-clack click-clack click-clack.
"Oh, sorry about that then" Ruby said, frowning slightly when she heard the sharp exhale of air through Weiss' nose.
"You dolt, it's fine! I was just joking. It is a pretty amazing trick, nearly as amazing as you are for thinking of it." Weiss said while chuckling.
"Ruby? Why don't you let them feed you? Your lunch hasn't even been touched. You know we don't mind feeding you, but you need to eat when we can't be here." Weiss asked, as she rolled the bedside table over to them.
Clink-clink-clink,
The wheels of the table carrying my lunch on the floor… Ruby thought fleetingly.
"There isn't anything wrong with them, it's just that I trust you guys to be a lot more gentle then they are." Ruby explained as she listened to Weiss prepare a bite.
Clank!, "Ruby, tell me right now, is anyone here hurting you or being rough with you while Yang, Blake and I aren't here?" Weiss asked with force, she dropped the cutlery she was holding at the same time. Clatter!
"No! No Weiss I'm fine, they are treating me well so you don't need to worry." Ruby said, giving Weiss a wide smile to show she was fine.
"Okay, as long as you are fine…" Weiss said uncertainly.
Sht-sht-sht-sht She's cutting something, probably some food. Ruby observed.
"Okay Ruby, it seems that for lunch today you will be having a sandwich, and some juice. Now I don't want any mishaps like yesterday, this is a new shirt after all." Weiss said as she scooted her chair closer to Ruby's bedside.
Ruby could feel her cheeks grow hot with a blush at remembering how she had laughed at a joke Yang had made, and had managed to spray Weiss with the milk she had been drinking.
"Yang isn't here, you should be safe." Ruby said, trying desperately to get a handle on her blush.
As Weiss fed Ruby her long overdue lunch, she filled her in on what had been happening during the day and, (to Ruby's great displeasure) all of the homework that was piling up and waiting for Ruby to get done. Once Ruby had finished the food and Weiss had put the cart back in its place, Weiss cleared her throat and continued with her point.
"Ruby, we need to get this homework done, its completion and the hope that you might still be able to fight is all that's keeping you in Beacon. It's a miracle that we could convince the teachers to at least wait and give you a chance before making any decisions." Weiss pleaded, shuddering at the hours of debate she and the rest of team RWBY had, had with the teachers to keep Ruby in Beacon.
"Actually, I have an idea about that Weiss." Ruby started.
"Well I'm sure it's better than me being your homework scribe like I am now." Weiss mumbled under breath.
"I heard that, and now that you mention it, that reminds me of something else. Brail, I need to learn how to use Brail. Also I'm going to, with your, Yang's, and Blake's help, build some more prosthetics." Ruby continued.
"Firstly, I think that's a great idea, I will ask your teachers for your assignments in Brail from now on, as well as get you some resources to help you learn. Secondly, I'm not sure how well I can help, but I will get you the parts you want and let Blake and Yang know so they can help." Weiss responded, her voice seeming to perk up at the thought of being able to help Ruby.
She paused, "When do you want to start making these?" Weiss asked curiously.
"As soon as you can get the parts I need I want to start, and although some of the parts will seem kind of weird to be using in prosthetics, don't worry they will be used, and I think it will end up being pretty awesome." Ruby said, sounding happy and just the slightest bit mischievous.
Weiss sighed, but wrote down the parts Ruby listed off, only stopping to momentarily double check names when she wasn't sure if she heard them correctly. After she had finished, Ruby insisted that she go to get the parts right then. Reluctantly Weiss left for the stores Ruby had told her would have all the parts she needed.
Click-clack click-clack click-clack… I need to get a better way than listening to tell what's happening around me. Ruby pondered as the sound of Weiss' high heels faded out of her hearing range.
Weiss
By the time Weiss returned, it was getting late and visiting hours were drawing to a close. She had just enough time to drop off the parts in Ruby's room before she would have to leave. Once she arrived however, she found Ruby eagerly waiting for her, but there was also this warm familiar feeling in the air.
"I've been expecting you…" Ruby said in a horrible attempt at a deep voice.
"Haha, very funny Ruby, now where do you want me to put these?" Weiss tiredly asked, gesturing at the cart she had been pulling, packed completely with mechanical parts.
"Well… I don't know, wherever you want? I guess?" Ruby responded uncertainly.
Weiss' eyes widened when she realized what she had asked. Slapping her forehead, she continued.
"I'm sorry Ruby, I'm just kind of tired." Weiss apologized.
Pulling the cart into the room, she wheeled it next to a table by the wall.
"Okay Ruby, I will need you to teach me how you want these constructed, since I am terrible with these things." Weiss said, frowning at a couple of parts she had picked up all the while.
"Actually, you said you were tired? Well if that's the case then to make sure you are on your best game, I think you should take a nap." Ruby suggested, nodding her head, gesturing to the bed she was on.
Weiss paused, arguing with herself momentarily, then relented. "Thank you Ruby, that would be very appreciated."
Walking over to Ruby's hospital bed, she quickly slipped off her shoes and slipped into the bed. Wrapping her arms around Ruby, she pulled her red headed girlfriend close, nuzzling her head into the crook of Ruby's neck and fell asleep.
A few hours later she woke up, finding that she felt amazingly well rested after only a few hours sleep in a one person bed while sharing it with another.
Well it is Ruby who I'm sharing it with, she is so comfy that she could probably make concrete seem comfortable. Weiss pondered.
All of a sudden lips were briefly connected to hers. Drawing away they spoke,
"I was wondering when you would wake up. Mostly because I wasn't looking forward to losing the worlds best pillow." Ruby said, smiling cheerfully.
Rolling her eyes, Weiss got up and out of the bed, but as soon as she did a hand grabbed her ankle from under the bed.
"Boo!" Ruby yelled with glee.
Weiss was having trouble responding, she was feeling cold shivers run up and down her body from the near heart attack scare, but what she was really feeling was confused. Looking down at her feet she was surprised to see a metallic, red and black hand now slowly rubbing its thumb in circles on her ankle. It was Ruby's Stem.
"Ruby. What? How? I just... What?" Weiss spluttered.
She picked up the limb by the hand and watched astounded as the disembodied limb adjusted to rub light circles in her own thumb.
Chuckling, Ruby said, "Didn't you feel my aura when you walked in? When you were gone to get the parts, I was practicing radiating my aura out in an area, and when you got here and I felt Ruby's Stem in the boxes I decided to try and make it work while being unattached. As you can tell, it worked."
"Was that what that feeling was when I entered the room?… I guess I have a few questions so first, why are you practicing this? Second, how far can you extend it? And lastly, why would you scare me like that?!" Weiss asked anxiously.
Her chuckles finally dying out, leaving a wide grin, Ruby started to explain,
"So, dealing with that last one first. How else am I supposed to scare you?"
Weiss harrumphed, obvious she felt that she was not pleased with that answer.
Ruby continued on,
"Well I actually took control of it when you fell asleep and while I was trying to get it to work, it accidentally fell off the table, and failing all else, I decided to pull a little joke on you once I got it working. Also for your other questions, I thought that if I want to still be a huntress, which I do, I should find a way to figure out where things are on the battle field without having to rely on it making noise for me to know where it is. So I thought that if I can extend my aura into an entire area I can feel where everything and everyone is. And finally, I, right now, can only extend it to just this room, although that's mainly because I'm being stopped by the walls and door."
"Well, wow, that's really impressive Ruby. Does that mean you are trying to strengthen your aura too, so you can control all of the prosthetics and this new skill that you are learning?" Weiss asked, amazed.
"Kind of, but another reason this can be useful right now is that while you are building the other prosthetics I can feel what you are building to double check your work and although I can kind of feel it with my aura it's not really all that precise. Although I doubt that I will need to." Ruby said happily.
Weiss sighed as she remembered the daunting task of building her girlfriend's future limbs that was set before her. Walking over to the bench in the corner, she sat down and rested Ruby's Stem beside her. Reaching over to pick up the first box of parts, she felt a cold hand stroking her arm.
"Ruby, if you want these any time soon, I would suggest that you stop." Weiss lectured.
"Sorry!" Ruby yelped from the bed.
Grinning to herself, Weiss got to work under Ruby's careful guidance.
Thank you for waiting for this chapter, it took a bit longer to write than I thought it would and I hope you enjoyed! Till next week!