Weiss and Ruby's late night conversation.
"Ruby, how do you take your coffee?"
Weiss watched as Ruby jumped up, her question waking the girl from her bed scattered with papers and books. Ruby tilted her head in and obvious sign of confusion, then, seeing Weiss' gaze on her, she scrambled to find a blank piece of paper, scribbling a quick message onto it.
"I wasn't slacking off I swear! I was trying to study and fell asleep. I'm sorry!"
"Its fine Ruby; now, how do you take your coffee?" Wiess ignored Ruby's shocked look, waiting patiently as the shocked girl processed the question, and eventually was handed a sheet of paper.
"One cream and five sugars."
Weiss nodded and went off to add the cream and sugars to the coffee she had prepared beforehand. To give any chance for Ruby to improve herself in Weiss' eyes, they had to at least talk to one another. Although, they were already heading in the right direction, Ruby had actually been studying, something Weiss hadn't expected given her behavior earlier today.
Making sure not to spill the coffee that she held, Weiss balanced herself on the edge of the bottom bunk bed, another one of Ruby's crazy ideas, and though the beds were definitely strange and unstable, Weiss couldn't find it in herself to hate them.
Weiss watched as Ruby took the glass tentatively, sending nervous glances at Weiss, never letting her eyes rest.
"Relax dolt. I just wanted to say that I'm, I'm sorry for today. I may have jumped to conclusions about you. But I do think you have what it takes to be leader. If only you'd focus more." Weiss forced down the grin that threatened to leap to her face when she saw Ruby visibly relax and give her a wide smile in exchange.
"I'm sorry if I did something wrong, but I promise I'll try to be the best leader I can, no matter what it takes." The note was passed with a sheepish scratch of Ruby's neck.
"You better do one hell of a job then, because if I'm going to have to be your teammate, then I'm going to be the best teammate that you've ever seen." Weiss challenged, making sure to keep the bite out of her voice.
"I'll make sure I live up to the challenge. I even know how we can get around the fact that I can't speak."
"Ruby, about that, are you sure you can't talk? I know I heard you say something when we first met. 'I said I was sorry, princess,' was it?" Weiss asked, smirking when Ruby's face turned as red as the cape resting on her back.
"That was, well, I'm sorry about that, and that was, that was an accident. I wasn't even expecting to say that, it just sort of, came out. Which sounds weird I know, but it's the only way I can explain it."
"Okay," Weiss carefully read through the explanation handed to her before speaking, "but what's stopping you from talking all the other times?"
"When I was younger, I didn't want to talk to anyone, not even my family after, well, after my mom died. Now, I finally want to talk to people, but I can't, no matter how hard I try. It's like I forgot how to talk at all, except I know that I can still do it. There's just something inside my head that's holding me back. I've tried everything I can think of but nothing works. You're the first person I've spoken to in about 10 years. Kind of funny, isn't it?"
"Oh." Was the only thing Weiss could say at the realization. The rushed reasoning Ruby had given her in the emerald forest hadn't even hinted at this at all. Weiss had thought it was a preference not to speak, not a mental inability too. She knew what it felt like to be held back from something you want to do, or stopped from speaking your mind when you felt like shouting out your resentment to the world, but that was someone else holding her back, not her own head. How imprisoning must that be?
"I'm sorry about your mother." Weiss said politely, her mother may have her flaws but at least she was still here.
Ruby only responded with an absentminded shrug, their conversation falling into an awkward silence.
"Well, whenever you learn how to talk again you better make sure to keep it under control. You seem like one of those people who would never shut up-what?" Weiss paused, seeing Ruby's gaze turn to one of pure wonder.
"Sorry, just, no one's ever said something like that to me. It's kind of a shock."
"Not even Yang?"
"No. No. No. Don't get the wrong idea, Yang's super supportive and helpful, but she just sort of accepted me like this. She stopped trying to get me to talk a long time ago."
"Why? It's obvious that you'll end up talking sooner or later. You're definitely stubborn enough to pull through with it." Weiss felt herself squirm slightly under Ruby's gaze, which had somehow grown wider with her statement. She wasn't used to this much honest appreciation. Winter loved her and all, but she was cold and distant most of the time. Weiss didn't blame her though, affection was something the Schnee family had no time for unless it was behind lock doors and closed windows.
"Look, its late, and I want some sleep so we can actually get to class on time tomorrow. Good luck studying. By the way, number three is wrong." Weiss said before going back into her bed below.
A scrap of paper floated down, Weiss grabbed onto it reading the message written on it.
"Thanks for the coffee Weiss."
"You know Ruby, I've always wanted bunk beds." Weiss looked up at the bottom of her partner's bed above her, a contended smile forming on her lips. She and Ruby had more in common than she thought.