Kay, kay, back to writing...

Chapter 8:

"Are you sure that you're alright Velvet? Your ears look like they are bleeding." Ruby said softly as Velvet's ears deflated as though she was trying to cover what was happening. Even though Ruby didn't need to see it to know what had been happening. She had seen the like on a number of people and knew what had happened.

"I'm fine Ruby." Velvet said in a monotone voice trying to convey by the sound of her voice that she wanted to be as far away as possible from Ruby. She knew that Ruby was a strange person in how that she could get Velvet to speak about things more often than not that she would normally keep to herself.

Walking closer, to Velvet as she could see that Velvet wanted to move, but also at the same time seemed like she was forced to stay in the same spot. "Do you mind if I look at them Velvet? I might not be a doctor like that, but I do still know enough." Ruby asked softly knowing that some Faunus didn't like anyone going near their traits. Not that Ruby would do it normally, it was just because Velvet's room mate had noticed the girl starting to close in on herself and was starting to 'break' mentally. "If you don't want me to, just say 'no'. I'm just trying to help." Ruby said as she could see Velvet just staring at her with a fiery anger in her eyes that Ruby knew wasn't going to be directed at her.

"I'm fine."

"Okay. Do you mind if I tell you how about when I did self harm?" Ruby asked as she could see a shocked look on Velvet's face. Without saying anything, Ruby began to move her sleeves up to show deep looking healed trenches made from something that she had no idea from what. But the thin looking stretches of skin that bridged the two long stretches of skin made her hold her breath with a bated gasp.

"Yeah, from that time, I learned how to sharpen blades, and how to avoid people looking at the marks. But I mean, nothing really beats the feeling by comparison as confessing to the fact you've done it, when you tell someone who you know won't react negatively towards it." Ruby spoke with a smile as she could see Velvet covering her mouth. "Don't worry though, after all you said your ears scarring and bleeding is nothing." Ruby said as she lowered her sleeves, and just smiled at the timid rabbit Faunus.

"Um... do you mind... um... what caused that?" Velvet asked softly as Ruby just chuckled a little at the question.

"Same reason as I don't talk to my parents. Just that happened long before hand. But I still don't want to talk about that." Ruby said softly as she still remembered that single discussion. It was something that was painful to her, just the fact that she only had one that ruined her connection with the people who had raised her and helped her unwittingly become a her. But at least she was going to be able to help Velvet.

She knew that the only reason Velvet was probably doing something like self harm was from her trying to shoulder too much, or even something someone had said. She'd be able to work out something that would be able to help someone that had started to get close to her. Something that she knew was a fact that was alone more than enough to get a reaction from Yang, but that was neither here nor there to Ruby. She had something far more pressing and present.

"Right, that is enough about depressing topics. Do you want to do something? I hear there is this really nice roller rink that just opened, that the meanie heads haven't been able to take over in some chest beating to be racist." Ruby said trying to at least get Velvet to chew the information over a bit easier. It was a part that she knew when people tried to understand always forgot. Just some time to let the information sink in.

"Okay."

"Don't act like that Velvet! I'm trying to help you!" Yang yelled at the Faunus who kept her ears as tight to her head as she possibly could. She clearly didn't want Yang or anyone to see something involving them.

"I don't need your help." Velvet muttered as she parted her ears to see where the next assault would come from. She knew that Yang wasn't going to give up on something like this over a statement like that. No matter what it was about, if Yang wanted to help with all the grace of an elephant on a unicycle going through a maternity ward, she would help. Or at least that was a way to describe it that Velvet always found to be apt.

She could just make out the look of shock in Yang's face as she bit her lip to try and wait for some sort of sign as to what she could do in this circumstance. Even though she knew there was nothing that she could really do short of bringing harm to Velvet which alone would act as a counter measure to what she had intended on doing.

Taking a deep breath as she raised her hands, palms stretched towards Velvet, Yang looked at Velvet as she began to debate on how she was meant to help.

"Velvet, I honestly just want to help you. I get it. You are hurting. We all are. No one saw this coming with Ruby, but you can't keep shutting everyone out. Weiss, Blake, even Pyrrha and Reese can't in good conscience grieve given that they all are worried about you." Yang began taking a step back to show Velvet that she didn't mean any harm to her. "But not in the suicidal way. We all just want to make sure you can grieve. And not letting people help you is easily the fastest way to end up in the loony bin at best."

Yang knew that Velvet still wasn't going to crack, but already knew that she might just be doing this to help herself under the guise of helping Velvet. She already knew that she was going to reveal something of importance. Just because Ruby would have mentioned to Yang or anyone if the woman was inconsolable about anything. It was as though it was an unspoken rule. One that Yang couldn't believe that she was glad that Ruby had kept.

Even though at points it was annoying when Ruby would refuse to mention why or even what her reasoning behind it was about. Even if it was something that often taunted Yang when they were living together. Just the thought was a tantalizing thing that had always been able to elude her and all possible answers that were going to come.

"I'm telling you Yang. I don't need your help. I just want the world to stop being happy. It lost one of the greatest people in it, and no one seems to even give a flying frick about it." Velvet began as she continued to rub her ears. She knew the comfort blanket like action wasn't exactly the most well known of her quirks, but she knew that Yang knew it was one that Velvet always did when she was trying to calm herself down. "The world just needs to go dark. Ruby was perfect in every possible way... and she just killed herself. I don't even know why. Do you not know what that is like? Hours before we made love, talked about the future, and even talked about the possible children we would have. I then went to go get some stuff to make her some of those lamb and raspberry sauce that she likes with those carrots. And a nice salad for me. I got home... and I saw just a sea of blood." Velvet said with a frown, knowing that Yang had heard that same statement time and time again had started to anger Velvet but Yang hadn't seemed to be able to understand that.

It was starting to anger Velvet in such a way that she didn't know how she was going to react to the anger that was brewing. She didn't want to hurt Yang but she had already mentioned it at least five times in the last two hours. And Yang just kept trying harder and harder to get Velvet to talk. This was starting to become the bane of her day even if she was including the fist fight in a graveyard.

"Now, can you just leave me to be by myself? I don't want help right now. I don't want to be around the gang right now. I certainly don't want to be around Coco, and if you bring up Vi I swear to god, I'm going to take you up on your previous offer." Velvet said as Yang just pressed her lips into a tight line.

"I'll give you half an hour. Which is going to be just enough for me to make dinner. I found this interesting carrot couscous type thing last night." Yang said as Velvet just frowned and pulled her legs up to her chest. She was content with just staring across the room. Content with just keeping her mind down as she tried to figure out what that faint smell was.

Velvet was tense. She knew that at any minute Ruby was going to try again to get the answer from her, but wasn't sure how. The answer as to how though was a mystery. If Velvet was being honest, she feared that Ruby was going to be able to figure out the answer long in advance.

It even seemed like she had. But that still raised so many more questions to Velvet. Principally amongst all the questions she had brewing being that she had no idea how.

Ruby never let on like she knew, and certainly didn't even tell her anything about how she figured something out that countless other people that were arguably closer to her than Ruby was. It was something baffling considering that simple thing.

Smiling a little at the sight of Ruby pushing off back towards her. The way the wheels just began to roll at an almost intoxicating speed. Velvet wasn't sure if this was what the therapist had planned during a bout of her free time, or even if that really was how she was going to get Velvet to talk.

Coming to a stop next to Velvet, Ruby just smiled at her causing Velvet just to feel her mind starting to wander once more as the urge to just dig her thumbnail into her ear grew. She knew that in some twisted way, this had to have been Ruby's plan and she hated to admit that it was actually working.

"Just tell me what it is already!" Velvet hissed as Ruby just glanced at her, her smile falling as she tried to chew the idea over in her mind.

"What what is? I thought we were just skating? Should we be doing something?" Ruby asked in as coy a manner as possible. If she was being honest she being honest, she hadn't expected Velvet start to crack just yet.

"Why are you doing this? Talking about self harm and then just coming to do this?" Velvet asked fearing the answer was something along the lines of her just making a mountain out of a molehill and this really was just a nice outing.

"Because, I find you to be a nice person, and don't want to see you hurting. Which is only where self harm will lead. Trust me, I know from experience. But it shouldn't matter if what you claim to be true about you being 'fine'" Ruby said with a smile figuring out that Velvet was really just trying to make the fake pressure lift.

"It is. I'm fine. Everything is fine."

"That's great then. Race you around the rink." Ruby said as she pushed off once more. Laughing at the sight of Velvet just standing there, not having moved since they got there and the skates on. She knew that it wasn't going to be long before Velvet would start talking.

Author's Note:

Welp, here is a chapter done. I oddly like writing the scenes between Ruby and Velvet. That could just be me. Onto the Guest review...

Guest 4: I checked, there was only one. The phrasing may be off because I've been using more and more Irish turns of phrases. I mean it is only a matter of time before I start going 'the place was black with people' which for the record isn't nearly as bad as it sounds. And it isn't a Mongoose hutch. They just took over my Cobra Pod. But the experiments I sent should really have been put down. I just didn't have the heart to do it myself. One day there will be plenty of sentient birds. Once I get the ethics boards to agree and not just declare what I do 'an affront to God'.