Weiss

A deafening silence filled our dormitory as I awoke. Ruby must still be asleep. I found myself peering over at the other side of the room, looking at Yang and Blake's empty beds. It was certainly strange to wake up to no sound at all. Normally Ruby was the first one up, and even if she wasn't causing a ruckus Yang's snoring was an ever present source of deafness. I sat up on my bed, stretching my arms as I yawned.

I pulled myself up and out of bed, gathering my things and wandering into the shower. I peered out the window as I made my way past it; the sun was hanging high in a nearly cloudless sky. It must be past noon, I thought, well at least the showers will be empty. I looked back at Ruby's bed as I was at the door, but she wasn't in it. I glanced up and down the hallway, confused. I'd thought she'd have needed more rest than me, and where would she go without waking me up?

I shook my head, reassuring myself that she was okay. She can take care of herself. I made my way back into the room, to the bathroom, wondering if she was in here. But I couldn't hear any of the showers running, and sure enough, when I walked in, no one was there. I chewed my lip in thought, Should I go and look for her? I shrugged. She couldn't have gone too far.

I chose one of the stalls at random and walked in, putting my toiletries bag on a shelf and began removing my pyjamas. I let out a sigh of pleasure as I felt the hot water hit my back. Steam rose around me, filling the cubicle. I closed my eyes as I held my face up to the shower head, letting the water run down my body and through my hair. I sighed again, holding myself up with a hand to the wall. I hung my head and parted my hair, pulling it over my shoulders, letting the water hit the back of my neck.

I heard the door creak, and looked up, listening. Was someone coming in? Maybe Ruby had made her way here?
"Ruby? Is that you?" I called out. But no one answered. Even if it wasn't Ruby, whoever it was would've corrected me. I turned around, confused, and stifled a scream.

Ruby was standing in my stall, just in front of me, completely naked.
"Ruby! What're you doing?" I yelled, covering myself with my hands as best as I could. Ruby didn't respond; she just stood there, swaying gently. As I looked closer at her face, I could see a dark shadow and big bags under her eyes. Her eyes looked dazed; she looked like she was at least three quarters asleep. She mustn't have slept at all last night, to be in this state. I'd seen her pull an all-nighter before, and this was similar what she had looked like the next day. But the fatigue of last night's battle had clearly taken its toll on her: she looked a lot more exhausted than the last time she'd stayed up all night.

The news about Blake must have kept her up. She must have been incredibly worried about it, for someone has tired as she was in the hospital to not be able to sleep at all.
"Ruby? Are you okay?" I asked gently. She stumbled towards me, falling to her knees, tears running down her cheeks. I leapt forward to catch her in my arms before she fell on the ground. She sat on the ground, wrapping her arms around me, as she sobbed. I didn't know what to do. I'd never seen Ruby acting like this. The exhaustion must have really taken its toll on her.

She clung to me, resting her head on my chest. I held her gently, holding her head to my chest. She seemed so vulnerable, in a way that I had never seen. It ignited the fondness that I had been feeling for her over the last few weeks. I wrapped my arms around her tighter. Gradually, I dragged her back into the path of the shower head, the hot water running over both of us.

We sat there for several minutes, Ruby clinging to me like a terrified child. I stretched out my foot to the toiletries bag that had been knocked off the shelf in the earlier commotion and dragged it over to me, not wanting to let go of Ruby to get up and grab it. I let go of her with one arm to reach down and pull out some soap and shampoo. I began washing Ruby's back, arms and legs; I wasn't brazen enough to even look at her front.

Her sobbing subsided as I massaged shampoo into her hair. She sat quietly as I rubbed it into the ends of her locks. I pushed her away from me to let the water fall onto her head, washing the shampoo out. Once it was all washed out, she latched onto me again, holding me tightly. A smile broke out on my face. She really was adorable like this. I wrapped my arms around her again, holding her close. We'd never been this close before, so I relished every second of it.

Her grip loosened as I began to massage conditioner into her hair. I ran my fingers through her hair, from the roots to the tips. Her head tipped back as I massaged it into her scalp. I froze. Our faces were centimetres apart. Her lips parted slightly, her eyes still closed. I found myself closing the gap between us before jerking back. No! She's only here at all because she's delirious from lack of sleep. I will not take advantage of her like that.

I kept washing her hair, pointedly ignoring her lips, lips that begged to be kissed. I leant back, washing the conditioner from her hair. As soon as I let go of her head she grabbed me once again, burying her face in the curve where my neck joined my shoulder. I encircled her in my arms, running my fingers through her hair, breathing in her scent. I leant back against the wall of the cubicle, revelling in how close I was to Ruby. My heart swelled with joy as she held me.

Eventually I decided we should leave, she need to sleep at least a couple of hours before we went to pick up Yang. I extracted myself from Ruby's grip, turning off the shower and grabbing my towel to dry myself off. I dressed into my blouse and combat skirt. As I looked outside the cubicle I saw Ruby's pyjamas strewn over the floor. Lucky for us no one was around, that would have certainly raised questions. I gathered them up, thankfully they were still dry. When I entered the cubicle again, Ruby was curled up in a ball on the floor, asleep. I rolled up my sleeves and lifted her off the wet floor, sitting her on the bench near the cubicle door. I towel dried her while she snored lightly. I blushed furiously as I dried her front, still refusing to look at her. Eventually I managed to get her back into her pyjamas and carried her out of the bathroom. I got her back to her bed with relative ease, getting her onto it was another matter. After looking at it for a few seconds, I decided against it and laid her on my bed, pulling the covers over her. I smiled at the peaceful look on her face.

What will she say when she wakes up? The thought brought me up short, my smile fading. What would she say? Would she be upset? Angry? Confused? Would she avoid me, berate me or hate me? I felt an icy cold hand wrap around my heart, which was suddenly sitting in my throat. Would she even remember it? I shook my head, telling myself that there was nothing to be done about it until she woke up. I closed the curtain, casting the room in darkness, and quietly exited the dormitory. I'd decided to head to the dining hall to wait. Ruby and I hadn't eaten anything since we'd gotten back from the hospital the night before, and it was past noon now. We'd missed two meals; Ruby would be starving when she woke up, I definitely was. I'd bring something back for her once I had my own meal. I tried, with no success, to swallow my nerves as I made my way down the hall. I couldn't help but worry about how she'd react. But, with no way to put my fears to rest, I pushed them down as best as I could as I turned towards the dining hall, leaving Ruby to sleep peacefully in our dormitory.