Ruby's car progressively sped down the highway that linked the Northern vicinity, which was oddly the main local area of the entire city of Vale, with the Southern vicinity of Vale, the vicinity Ruby contently would address as her home for many reasons. The soft resonance of Ruby's radio playing through the comfortable silence of the car as both females had been focused on doing opposite things, Ruby's soothing and surprisingly quiet humming sounding along to song that was playing on the radio as her head occasionally glanced from side to side to make sure her car was in the clear before she would swap lanes while Weiss was merely silently peering out of the window with a monotonous expression as normal as her cerulean colored eyes watched as other cars drove past Ruby's. Ruby's convivial gray eyes gradually diverted away from the road ahead of her seeing that there were only 3 cars ahead of her and from the looks of it, they were quite far ahead, which allowed Ruby to sneak a glance over to Weiss when she heard the woman cough a few times into her clenched fist.
Ruby's grip on the wheel tightened as she tried to think of something witty to say since she knew her time with the other woman was coming to an end as they were slowly approaching the Northern entrance of Vale. The odd yet excessive feelings of restriction towards their situation was almost unfair for Ruby, she had never felt so limited towards a person, yet here she was, struggling to form all her questions into coherent sentences. Ruby still couldn't resolve the issue of comprehending why it was she felt condolence or even fear towards Weiss, was that why these feelings were here? Was she merely showing condolence without compassion?
Ruby's eyebrows gradually began to scrunch down in distaste for the callous theorization, yet she didn't entirely push aside the notion since it might have been a very small possibility, as well as for the fact that she was nearly running out of ideas. Ruby made a sullen grunt under her breath before she reverted her eyes back to the road as her car had ultimately made it to the large brick structure that loomed over the highway with the large white sign that read in bolded prints, 'Entering the Northern vicinity of Vale.' Ruby's eyes once again begin to retain their convivial aspects as a broad smile forms on her lips, and without much consideration again, Ruby removed her right hand from the wheel while keeping the car steady with her left and pointed her index finger at the middle of the windshield that allowed them the view of the sign before she elatedly spoke up finally with a whistle. "Welp Weiss! We have officially entered the Northern part of Vale! How excited are you? Better yet, I don't think I've asked this, but um, is this your first time over here?"
Ruby's zealous outburst caused Weiss to stiffen up in her seat for a second before her head haltingly turned over to her left where Ruby was sitting with a minor look of agitation. "Scantily." Weiss solely replied to Ruby's first question before she paused a little bit to allow the now awkward silence to linger between them for a couple of seconds. "Although might I add, I can ensure you that after you've been over to this part of Vale a couple of times you'll lose your interest in it. You'd be surprised at how many times I have had to travel over to here in the few months that I have been living here, especially with that group forming all over Vale, which honestly makes everything so exhausting." Weiss placidly let out a forlorn sigh as she thought about the new group forming that had been trying so hard to delay or even ruin her Father's hard efforts.
"I hear working in business can be pretty exhausting, my older sister used to work in that department, and it really used to suck seeing her work herself so hard for nothing. I'm glad she's found something she enjoys doing as a job, I really am." Weiss notices the sincerity behind Ruby's tone as she murmured compassionately about her sister, the entire thought of family making Weiss smile to a degree since it was something she equivalently familiar with or more of a past familiarity, yet still, a familiarity none the less that she wouldn't and couldn't omit.
"Well anyways, Weiss, I also forgot to ask you; is there any specific time you've got to be at the docks?" Ruby inquired softly as she lowered her arm down so that her index finger could point at the time on the radio, deciding that she had prolonged the inevitable for long enough, as well as her own questions that she had been holding back for far too long. "It's only 10 in the morning Weiss, are you honestly on a time schedule with them to the point where I'm just pointlessly driving out here to drop you off and leave?" Ruby's voice became a feeble whisper since she knew it was selfish to ask Weiss that when she knew the Dutch woman couldn't merely drop her agenda for their day together, but the words seemed to force their way out of her brain and through to her mouth.
Weiss quirked her brow quizzically as she pondered about Ruby's question slightly, her eyes haltingly closing as she turned her head away from Ruby and back towards the window. Weiss wouldn't have precisely said she felt lousy or guilty for having to cut their day short with one place since she had received a phone call as soon as they were a few miles down the road after escaping Emerald's group, although she did feel confused as to why Ruby sounded even the slightest bit dejected about the occurrence.
"While most of the time I find it nearly essential to have scheduled events, I can't say that this one is a timed thing, it's more of something I do on my own free will since I know better than to leave the crew that are under my supervision unattended, Ruby. Time has nothing to do with correct treatment, although I highly doubt that you even understood what I had just said since you are nothing more than an American." Weiss bitterly spat out the word American. "Although might I request why it is you desire to know such knowledge of time?"
Ruby let out a long protracted sigh as her shouldered dejected slump down from the insult that Weiss had just said that most likely was inferring that she was dim-witted for being an American, yet be that as it may though, Ruby didn't make any sort of retort to get even with the Dutch woman for being harsh still, which even if she did, it wasn't like she would mean any of it, and if she was honest with herself, she still didn't have any retorts that came to mind that she could have used against Weiss in a dispute. However, Weiss had seemed to forget the entire point of their day together, Ruby wanted to know more about Weiss so they weren't strangers to each other anymore since it was painfully obvious that having Ruby, a person she did not know, in her home, bothered her. "Well, besides for the main objective of today that I basically implored to spend with you Monday, then I suppose you could say I'm merely a woman trying to prolong the time two individuals spend together." Ruby lamely said as she turned her wheel over to the right to allow her car to drift off of the highway and onto the lane that was leading into the heart of the city.
"You're rather the persistent type of person aren't you Ruby?" Weiss placidly muttered under her breath as she began to leisurely turn her head back over to Ruby, only to notice the smug look on the brunette's face as she was glancing over to her with a slight whimsical glint to her gray eyes that caused Weiss to sigh in exhaustion before she rolled her eyes at how dippy Ruby could be during conversations that were supposed to be humorless. "I don't know why you're looking so smug about that snarky comment Ruby, and you do understand I will not hesitate to make you regret even attempting that with me." Ruby softly snorted under her breath before she shifted her eyes back over to the windshield, her foot lightly pressing down on the brakes until her car was merely trundling forward with the movement of other cars since they had now entered the main area of the city, buildings that seemed intimidating looming over the roads as civilians roamed about living their ordinary lives, shadows emerging from the buildings that enshrouded the city from the majority of the Sun that was perched up high in the middle of the clear sky.
"Persistent is what you're calling me? You know, you might possibly want to reevaluate then Weiss, because if I'm persistent, that means I'm merely a person who is always strongly determined, although I don't mind being called persistent right now since I suppose I am pretty determined to get you to prolong our time just a little bit longer for a couple reasons, such as the fact that gas money is oddly becoming really high priced lately, and I really want to make all the gas I burned on this trip worth it with you on our get to know each other day? I told you I'm underprivileged earlier right?" Ruby bluntly blathered about why she wanted to prolong her time with Weiss, yet not once did Ruby lie or make something up about it since she was never the person who enjoyed lying, which was why she had given in earlier and told Weiss everything about the earpiece.
Weiss watched in minor amusement as the brunette was abashedly babbling about matters of why she wanted to prolong her time with her while she was also simultaneously reeling her head around the car to attempt and take in all the scenery of the area as well as the hefty buildings, her expression betraying nothing but pure astonishment, although for the brunette she felt a little bit apprehensive, the feeling that Weiss was attempting to rush their day over clouding her thoughts, which oddly enough left her feeling a little somber. "In other words; you're not going to let me down on this ridiculous get to know each other day are you?" Ruby shrugged before she shook her head a couple of times stubbornly, which caused Weiss to let out a low groan. "Why is it that you are acting as if this is all new to you? Surely this isn't your first time over here, you've lived here longer than I have and I've been here far too many." Weiss finally decided to address the brunette's childish astonishment since she wasn't sure if Ruby was attempting to snap her neck off or what, although it was also because it was rare for her to see someone act so lively or even zealously about something, and when they did, it left her feeling odd since back in the Netherlands most people didn't get too overly happy over trivial things, or at least that's how it was in her area.
Weiss wasn't a naive or ignorant type of person, in fact she was quite the opposite, she always found it essential to watch people's tendencies and even habits, disregarding her own tendencies which were something she had been brought to be ashamed of from time to time, Weiss was almost instantaneous when it came to marking people's habits so she knew who to hang around and who to walk away from. However, upon spending more time with the brunette over the week, she had noticed that the brunette refrained from telling or even sharing any kind of personal information with her or anyone, and if one of her friends tried to question the brunette about certain topics she noticed the woman would go silent for a few seconds before she would reverse the conversations to the others as if it was a normal thing. Ruby was an enigma with an odd bubbly personality, one that grudgingly made Weiss more curious of learning about the woman, yet as if confined by walls, the brunette refused to tell anyone anything regarding herself too much.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I've um, I've lived in Vale since I was a little girl! Yet despite that fact, I've wistfully never had the chance to exactly explore over here, although I've overheard people gossiping about it occasionally you know? Though I will also say that from all the overheard conversations I've encountered, I had been able to mentally envisage the place to be like this, yet at any rate, wow, just actually seeing this kind of economy when you've lived in the lesser area of Vale, then it's kind of just a bit weird.." Ruby sheepishly mumbles her explanation and reasoning behind not ever exploring out to the Northern part of Vale, which in all honesty it was either because it was tough to get any exploring done as soon as she was free to walk on her own with job hunting being a thing while there was no other ways even in the past as a child or even teenager. "Hey? Since we're talking about places we live, you wouldn't mind me asking about how the Netherlands are? It's alright if you don't want to talk about it, I'm just a bit curious since I've always wanted to travel somewhere, although that might make me a hypocrite right now for the fact that I haven't even explored here."
Once again Ruby had managed to reverse their conversation about herself on over towards Weiss as if there was absolutely nothing wrong, although it didn't fool Weiss who had been silently glaring at the side of the brunette's head in agitation while also biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself calm as well as her emotions placid since the overgrowing urge to comprehend why Ruby kept doing it was gnawing at her nerves agonizingly slow, moreover through, that didn't incline the concept that Weiss didn't have a scheme to foil all of the brunette's devious tricks. Sighing in temporary setback and defeat Weiss allowed her eyes to gradually close as she recollected all of her memories back in the place she gladly called home. "My insights on the Netherlands is even though it's a small country, it was a very beautiful place to be, as well as enjoyable, although it being my birthplace I suppose that is a opinion ." Weiss let out a forlorn sigh as the memories of her childhood recurred over and over. "I'd say the waters were as much of our country as food is here since it was what divided out lands out most of the times, st-stru..structures. Weren't as often oversized as here since if the water levels were to raise, we'd had to deal with the damages, as well as if bad storms occurred."
Ruby softly chuckled under her breath as she listened to the Dutch woman next to her fondly speak about the Netherlands with a pleasant aura around her that caused Ruby to feel serene and even comfortable as she intently listened to Weiss. "I'm guessing the move for you was a bit change then huh? Is that why you live on the outer part of Vale? The area I mean, uh, but anyways Weiss, the Netherlands sound like a really interesting place, I'm glad you shared your experience over there with me." Ruby in a somewhat unintentional manner spoke in a coy tone of voice that made Weiss's cheeks to become a tiny bit red as she grumbled under her breath about how she did nothing besides tell Ruby a little bit of how the Netherlands were and how the brunette was exaggerating by thanking her, which all Ruby did in return to the lighthearted chiding she had received from the Dutch woman was heartily laugh.
"I was just being honest with you Weiss, it's not every day you get to hear cool viewpoints from different areas right? Like Vale in my viewpoint, or at least for the Southern part of Vale, is that everyone there is all close, and we're all like one big family all over!" Weiss scoffs at the brunette's optimistic and naive insight on the world, however, she stayed quiet and allowed the brunette to speak her own opinions since Ruby seemed to speak ardent about her birthplace, and it would have been wrong to ruin her insight with the true tribulations that happened in their everyday lives.
Weiss's once concealed cerulean colored eyes slowly open as soon as she had heard her phone's GPS altering the directions and coordinations she had input into its systems for Ruby to follow since the brunette didn't know where the docks were, which caused the Dutch woman to become perplexed as she watched the brunette continued to turn the steering wheel over towards her until the car had entirely turned down a street that was partially empty aside from civilians who were roaming the sidewalks and two or 3 cars that would drive past Ruby's car that was trundling smoothly down the road towards the street's exit. Weiss's expression soon turned into a scowl as she peered at Ruby in confusion before she finally spoke up. "What are you doing?" Weiss inquired softly as she noticed her questioned promptly getting the other woman's attention as she glanced over to Weiss with broad eyes somewhat. "..."
Weiss's eyebrows gradually begin to scrunch down as she notices the guilty expression betraying clearly on the brunette's face as she was leaning forward with her arm extending over towards the dashboard where Weiss's phone. "..." As soon as Ruby's closed fist makes it to in front of Weiss's phone screen, her index finger slowly begins to extend outward towards the screen as well until it pokes the pause-travel button at the bottom corner of the phone. Weiss blinked several times in attempt to try and comprehend what it was that Ruby had just done, her once tranquil expression becoming sullen as she glared at the brunette who was leisurely leaning her back-back into her seat as if nothing odd had just transpired a moment ago.
"What on earth did you just do…?" Weiss managed to strain her voice out even through utter disbelief and confusion of what Ruby had just done, yet after she had said that she went silent to attempt to process and comprehend that Ruby had just slyly turned off her GPS as if she was a cat that was told strictly to not knock over a lamp, but they did it anyway even though they were told not to. "Ruby.." Weiss seethed out the woman's name in mild irritation since all the brunette had done to answer her question was shrug her shoulders before she began to turn the steering wheel towards the right, her foot gingerly pressing on the brakes repeatedly as her car was smoothly drifting off the main road and onto the sidewalk parking spot that had an available parking meter, yet despite her seething out her name in the most irritated tone possible, Ruby had the audacity to shrug her shoulder for a second time, which had successfully been the last shrug Weiss's short temper could handle. "Ruby, Rose, when I ask you what are you doing, you do not merely shrug your shoulders to me. Now, what are we doing?!"
Ruby's eyes immediately widened as soon as she heard Weiss's strident voice that was heavily laced with her accent call out her entire name. "Ooh, uhh, well, uhm.." Ruby's brain repeatedly blanked as she tried to stammer out some sort of coherent sentence, yet that was extremely hard for the brunette when the immense feeling of abashedness began to cloud her thoughts from having Weiss get so agitated that she used the first and last name move against her.
"Um, we're, well I mean, I figured we could just visit one of these side-shops since they look pretty neat? Now before you yell at me for that too, can I just say I wouldn't take too long? It's just my first time over here and I want to have a bit of fun before I drop you off and drive back home for the day? There a saying that whenever you go to a place you've never been then you've gotta at least buy one thing to remember it; a memorable thing!" Ruby mirthfully smiled as she leaned over towards Weiss's seat and grasped the head piece so that she could look behind her at the car that was parked behind the spot she was trying to squeeze her car into, her hand occasionally letting go of her seat's headpiece and moving to the shifter to allow the car to reverse when she was a little too far ahead of the parking meter.
Weiss quizzically quirks her brow as soon as she heard Ruby mention something about having to buy stuff as memorable items if you hadn't ever been to the place since she knew a similar saying, yet that didn't mean she thought they were wise or even sensible words, in fact, she never understood most of those short sentences that people followed as if they were manuscripts or something ridiculous like that. "Why on earth would you do such an irresponsible thing like that if you're 'underprivileged' you sukkel? You are 20 yet you act so absurd and childlike, maybe I should honestly reconsider your salary for your own safety.." Weiss grouses as she felt the car suddenly stop moving from Ruby holding her foot on the brakes before her head haltingly turned over towards Weiss's since she still was leaning over to make sure she didn't hit the car behind them, which left the two's faces somewhat close, yet neither of them seemed entirely bothered by their proximity. "I'm surprised you're not on the side of the streets right now.."
Ruby's eyes narrow for a second before she snorted a little to show her dissent against the idea of ever fully dropping all of her fun little antics, however, even if she did try to show dissent against the idea, she couldn't conceal the somber tone to her voice from Weiss pointing out the downfalls to her ways. "Okay. Fine, so yeah, those are the things the things could hold me back from thinking like I do, but what about you? You're 22 and you act like you're 40, you act is if everything's not suppose to be fun.. Isn't that a boring routine?" Weiss's cerulean colored eyes widened for a split second before they promptly stray away from Ruby's as soon as the brunette said what she had said, silence claiming the car almost as quickly as the noises had, and the realization that Ruby had been so close to her face caused her to slowly lean back, which after Weiss had leaned back dejectedly, Ruby realized that she had hit a possible sensitive subject with the Dutch woman. "I'm sorry. I just.. No, that was rude of me to say, Weiss. I just really wanted a physical reminder of this day you know? Memories exist, but I wanted something I can see every day and remember the time I did something that required me to step out into the world instead of being that hypocrite I said earlier."
Ruby haltingly leaned back into her own seat, her hand that had been grasping the headpiece to Weiss's seat returning back to her own side as well since she couldn't help but feel remorseful now, even if both of them were in the wrong for pointing out their vice versa issues, Ruby shouldn't have done that to the Dutch woman since she knew from Weiss telling her that she found it important to be 'sophisticated.' Ruby's shoulders slump in guilt as she tightened her grip on the shift, silently thinking of her options of how she could have made it up to Weiss, however, everything Ruby thought of got blocked by the fact that Weiss just wanted to be dropped off at the docks. "You're right.. This is a stupid idea.. I'll just drop you off." Ruby's voice came out as a feeble and distressed whisper as she pulled the shifter back into reverse a little so she could back up enough to drive out of the parking space she was in, however, before she could even back the car up any, she felt Weiss's open palm laying on top of her gingerly as if Weiss was petrified of physical contact before she made Ruby move the shifter back into park. "Hu..huh?"
"No." Weiss hastily says before she removes her hand from off of Ruby's promptly after getting the car back into park. "While I do think this is pointless, I did not agree nor did I disagree to anything. I don't recall ever getting asked if we could prolong our 'get together' just for a little longer, although I do recall you whining about it." Ruby's eyes widened as she peered over to the Dutch woman who was peering back at her as if nothing was weird about what had just transpired in the course of 2 minutes, yet after a few seconds Ruby finally processes everything and a small smile forms on her lips in minor relief. "Hurry up! Turn off the car and get out." Weiss stringently grumbled out as she moved her right arm over to the door handle that opened and closed the door and grabbed it, promptly pulling it inward towards her until the door clicked open and allowed Weiss to push it outward. "Don't make me regret this." Was the last thing Weiss said to Ruby before she scoot forward on the seat until her legs were out the side of the car, where she then stood up and moved out the way of the door and shut it, leaving the brunette in the car alone.
"Haah..." Ruby couldn't help but to let out the tedious sigh she had been holding in from the time that she had felt Weiss's warm and petite hand on top of hers, the once unrhymed beat to her heart from remorse had subsided to a gentle relaxed beat, even though the Dutch woman displayed agitation, her touch was prudent as if she was scared a single touch would hurt either of them while also tender? "God... Why is life so complicated and weird, I'm merely a pianist, I should be playing music right now because it's the weekend!" Ruby whined as she nimbly brought her hand to her hair and grasped a good bit of the hair while letting out a bunch of grunts out of her own frustration, yet as soon as a few seconds pass Ruby briskly drops her hand and leans forwards towards the keys that had the engine still softly making muted rumble noises and twisted it until she heard the engine shut off. "My boss is decisive they told me, my boss makes decisions right away they said, well I'm struggling to keep up with her decisions!"
As much as Ruby was halfheartedly gripping about small things that weren't entirely directed towards Weiss, she once again was only flustering herself since every complaint she said she would quietly grumble apology and then point out the flaws in having that one complaint she had said about Weiss. "Gosh darn it!" Ruby after the fifth attempt at being grumpy and confused ultimately gave up since being mad for too long was a bit too exhausting for her. Ruby then leaned forward in her seat and reached her hand out towards the cup holder that had a bunch of loose quarters and coins and grabbed a handful since she still didn't know how long she planned to keep her car parked there, which after she had done that she hoisted up her left hand toward the door handle and opened it until it clicked and allowed her to push it forward.
"Sorry Weiss! I-I'm coming now, I just had to grab some quarters for the parking meter!" Ruby meekly called out as she raised her hand up towards the roof of the raised and used the open door park of her car to help her lift up out of the car with the quarters in her right palm, however, just as she got out the door she looked over her shoulder and saw Weiss's phone still sat on her dash. "Oh, right, she'll need that probably.." Ruby leaned back a bit in the car until she was somewhat in front of Weiss's phone, which she then reached her hand out and grabbed it gingerly. "Okay! Weiss, I got your phone by the way."
Weiss stood on the curb of the sidewalk with her arms crossed from still being a little agitated with Ruby's earlier comment, yet be that as it may, the only real reason why Weiss decided to allow the brunette to do whatever it was she wanted right now for a few minutes was for the fact that Ruby sounded genuinely distraught about what she had said, which she did somewhat deserve what Ruby had said, yet Ruby had seemed to put her feelings aside for her own. "Hurry up sukkel, we don't have all day.." Weiss grouses as she saw the top of Ruby's head popping up above the top of the car before she noticed a set of gray eyes gradually coming into sight as the brunette was raising up on her tiptoes until they locked eyes. "Well? Are you going to come or are you just planning to stand there?"
"Oh! Yeah, sorry Weiss, it's just you're kind of known for just walking off without me so I kind of just wanted to make sure you waited for me." Ruby's meekly mumbled as she began to saunter around the hood of the car while her eyes were glancing all around their surroundings at all the other people who were walking up and down the sidewalks, some dressed in sophisticated attires such as she usually saw Weiss wearing while the others were dressed in laid-back clothing that were merely for their comfort. "This place is soo weird.. Something about it just literally is screaming potential business? Although if you're an oldie like me, thought wise, then It'd be pretty tough to fit in." Ruby was mumbling a bunch of stuff under her breath as she sauntered over to the curb that Weiss was standing on with her arms crossed and her foot gingerly tapping against the concrete impatiently. "Why didn't you move over here instead Weiss? You'd probably get more foreign buyers over since the majority of Valers live over here, which is why Southern Vale is a nice little family of people."
Weiss's face suddenly scrunched up at the idea of ever living in the Northern part of Vale since no matter how much of a profit she and her father could be getting from living in the main city area, she wouldn't sell herself short to such a city when the Southern was in fact much more tranquil and easier to deal with than it was to deal with in the Northern with the government's system still tentative and new. "I happen to find where I am currently living perfectly sturdy both profitably and even lifestyle wise, as well as all of the other Dutches our home houses too." Weiss snorted indignantly as she took a couple steps back, her eyes adamantly glaring into Ruby's soft and confused gray ones as she stepped up onto the curb that Weiss was standing on, yet as soon as Ruby had gotten on even ground level with Weiss, she evidently hovered over the short woman who was bitterly glaring at her now as if she was offended, yet that finally had caused Ruby to actually acknowledge the fact that Weiss wasn't wearing the boot heels that she usually wore, but instead the small Dutch woman had apparently settled for wearing some Belgium shoes that only had a very small heel to it, one that barely even affected Weiss's actual height.
"Weiss, wow, uh, um.." Ruby blinked over and over for a few minutes as she peered down at the shorter woman who she had originally thought to be around 5.4 from their first meeting, however, this was the first time she had actually seen Weiss without something that didn't have bizarre heels to them, which if Ruby was honest with herself, if she would have said she was merely shocked, that would have been an understatement that wouldn't even have came close to justifying how she felt, and it wasn't just from the height, it was from her age combined with the height. "Oh, my gosh.. Weiss, you're, you're really tiny?!" Ruby's voice momentarily became shrill from being mildly dumbfounded, although as soon as she realized that her voice had risen in pitch after she had said what she had, her right hand flew up to her mouth and covered it abashedly while Weiss had merely diverted her cerulean eyes away from Ruby's direction, her cheeks becoming so flushed that they could possibly rival the brunette's own name. "Erm.. How tall are you actually? Like measured wise? I mean let me clear one thing up, though, I'm just surprised since this entire week you've worn nothing but high heels and now- the situation is self-explanatory right?"
Weiss snorted a little as she tried to turn her head further away from Ruby as she noticed from the corner of her eyes that the brunette was crouching down moderately with an infatuated smile manifesting on her lips as time progressed. "...somewhere between 4.9 and 5.0.." Weiss huffed out how tall she was while trying to omit the flourishing feelings of embarrassment from having all of Ruby's attention focused towards her now since usually the brunette would get minorly distracted by other things, however, with Ruby's attention primarily on her, she felt flustered and even somewhat irritated? Weiss's thoughts were soon abruptly cut short when she felt a hand gingerly flopping out on top of her white hair before she felt the said hand on her head awkwardly begin to pet her head as if she was a small child, which normally Weiss would have yelled and belittled whoever had the audacity to pet her as if she was a mere child or even point out her height as Ruby had done since she found it utterly annoying and even pride deriding to be short when her family was comprised of tall people, but that's where issues usually arise, no matter how much Dutch blood Weiss had in her, she was born short.
Thump-Thump Thump-Thump Thump-
Seconds seemed like minutes while minutes seemed like hours as Weiss tried omit the fact that Ruby was petting her, her eyes long since closed tightly while her entire head was looking down at the concrete of the sidewalk, the feeling of Ruby's numb touches soon began to feel almost as if they were taunting and tormenting her, and the feeling of distress was slowly building up in the back of her mind as she forced a gulp down. "Ru..Ruby.. Your hand.. Get it away from me now..We are not on such levels.." Weiss's voice came out strained finally after she had decided that she had enough of the awful feelings that Ruby's hand gave her. "alsjeblieft..Please.." Ruby's arm tenses up on impulse since during the time she had been somewhat petting Weiss's head she was trying to understand why it was that her sister enjoyed petting her like that when she was short, although what made her stop moving completely was the quiet whimper at the end of Weiss's sentence.
Weiss's brief display of mild timidness was promptly concealed by an impassive facade as soon as the Dutch woman had gotten a bit back from Ruby so that there was some space in between them, the once semi easygoing flow Ruby had been attempting to create with Weiss shattering for the second time that day. "No touch rule.. Right, I um, I forgot, wow, uh, sheesh, I seem like an ass right now.." Ruby apprehensively mumbled out loud as she was straightening out her back so that she was standing her full height again, however, after Ruby had leaned back up she suddenly got the feeling that people were looking at, which she then began to glance around her only to see some of the civilians had stopped moving and were glaring at her as if she had just been harassing Weiss or something, the glares causing the brunette's eyes to widen before they darted back down to Weiss who wasn't directly looking at her anymore either.
"Uhh, Weiss, can we please move? I feel like these people are getting the um, the wrong ideas right now..A-are you okay, though? Please don't think I was making fun of you, I swear I would never do something like that, It's just I kind of dazed out when I was petting you? And I mean I was your height like; a few years ago? Although I suppose I'm jealous of you since I wish I could have kept my small body because growing taller seriously sucks, so you know? Be proud and short! Or short and proud!" Ruby paused for a minute to take a single deep breath since she had rushed out her sentence to make sure she cleared up any confusion with Weiss, yet after she took a deep breath, her voice lowered to an apologetic whisper. "I should probably shut up right now since I'm making everything worse, which means I'm rambling, which also means I should give you a minute and go pay the parking meter before my car gets towed away..Right! Be right back!"
Weiss partially attempted to listen to the brunette as she stuttered and stammer out a bunch of words that sounded like utter nonsense, however, for Weiss she barely could understand the brunette from how fast she was rambling since it gave her little time to actually process anything, although Weiss's eyes kept sparing brief glances over to the brunette who looked extremely uncomfortable as she kept glancing around "Verandering zal nooit lost niets Vader .. Change will never solve anything Father .." Weiss's conscience reiterated the phrase over and over as if it had became a relentless broken record, forever repeating the same track of pain, a crack that Weiss never wanted to seal, no she couldn't seal, she was still too weak to accept it was there. Tightly clinging to denial Weiss's emotions soon became lulled, the once distressed feeling that Ruby had given her gradually fading away. "Het zal nooit. It never will."
Ruby stood in front of the parking meter sulking silently as she inserted her coins into the slot that was changing numbers every coin she inserted, yet she couldn't help because occasionally lift her hand up to her face and gently pop the side of her head as her brain wouldn't let her down with all the weird mistakes she had been making lately. "I've been hanging out with Emerald too much lately.." Ruby's haggard gray eyes peered at the parking meter as the number turned to the 40-minute session. "40 minutes to fix my mistakes, alright, looks like a pretty promising deal for me, or I at least hope so."
Ruby let out a shaky laugh as she thought about all the mistakes that were possible before she ended up groaning since dealing with Weiss's standards friend wise or even piano wise were so complicated, although Ruby was beginning to understand that when Weiss was involved, it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. "Alrighty Weiss! We can officially begin our little exploratio-?! Hey!" As soon as Ruby had reeled her head back over to the Dutch woman she had saw she had already begun to walk away from her while mumbling about how having a drink with Ruby might have been an awful idea for her sanity. "Weiiiss!"
Ruby let out a protracted whine of the Dutch's name as she began to jog after her since it was a bit too hot that day to be sprinting and dashing all around the place, however, with Weiss around she seemed to be doing just the opposite "And hey! You're the one who had two more drinks than I did! Cocktails and Martinis at this early Weiss, really?" Ruby eventually slowed down as soon as she had gotten to the Dutch woman's side, which was easy since Weiss was merely walking at a leisurely pace while her head kept glancing left and right as she examined the surrounding area with a tedious expression, her long white loose tresses dangling down her entire back until it reached her hips where the hair then stopped and gently swayed to every motion of Weiss's hips, although a certain pair of impish gray eyes would occasionally shift over and down towards the hair that would sway to Weiss's motion unintentionally. "I don't understand how you don't feel a little bit buzzed or something like that.."
Ruby notices Weiss's head immediately reeling over towards her direction before she watched as the small Dutch woman look up to her with narrowed eyes and a scowl on her face since for Weiss she felt a bit offended that Ruby would even think that a couple measly drinks such as that could affect her. "Your point is invalid since your country obviously lacks in the strength of their beverages, which I also was profoundly disappointed by the taste of it, tch, tasted like mere water. It most likely would take 20 more for me to feel absolutely anything, you're all such weak drinkers." Weiss bitterly grumbled the last part when she called everyone including Ruby a weak drinker, although Ruby didn't entirely object to be a weak drinker since she couldn't take more than four drinks before she'd be passed out on the floor. "How long did you put in the parking meter anyway hm?"
"Uhuh, you're just full of surprises and insults aren't you Weiss?" Ruby skeptically murmured with a quirked brow as she peered down at the shorter woman who was walking in sync with her with a small complacent expression on her face from Ruby having to deal with the majority of the sun on the side of her face while Weiss was only enjoying watching the brunette squint whenever she tried to glance across the street. "Sheesh Weiss, use me as your umbrella will ya huh." Weiss let out a peppy snort that could have resembled a small laugh before she turned her head away from Ruby and back to in front of them as the smoothly moved along in the small crowd of people who were roving the sidewalks calmly.
"Well anyway, I put about 40 minutes in the parking meter since you never know! You might find a place you really like here!" Weiss's eyes rolled a little as she listened to the brunette's optimistic-ness gradually returning as well as her own poise, a tense yet serene atmosphere surrounded the pair. "Also, are you serious about what you said earlier? That's gotta mean like you've got a high tolerance for alcohol I think, which would mean..?" Ruby moderately allowed her sentence to trail off since it was more of a question towards Weiss that her stating something, yet despite how simple her question was, Weiss's walking slowed down as she turned back to Ruby with a confused and puzzled expression. "... I mean like, so does that mean you've built up your tolerance or is it something that's natural? That's possible, right? I'd assume it was possible to have high tolerance since one of my friends named Nora just is kind of.. A thing.."
"Ah.." Weiss mumbles as her face scrunched up a little as she pondered about Ruby's question for a moment since she wanted to answer it seriously. "I'd assume it's both since back in the Netherlands we have a few different laws than your country has, although it also sometimes can get a bit stressful living in an entirely different country from time to time, so, I suppose some nights on my free times I'd just sit there and read a book and drink something to calm my nerves.." Weiss quietly said as she noticed Ruby's eyes widening as she had realized she had once again struck another sensitive topic, however, all Weiss merely does was scoff a little as she heard Ruby beginning to stammer again.
"Weiss," Ruby softly uttered the Dutch woman's name in a careful tone so that she was sure to not accidentally say something stupid and upset the woman more on the topic they were on again. "You do know that you never have to oblige and answer every question I ask you, especially if they make you feel uncomfortable. I'm not intending to purposely mentioning stuff or even doing stuff to make you upset, I'm just trying really hard to connect with you okay? We've- we've just got to agree that this won't be easy for us to get along," Weiss haltingly nodded her head in agreement since she too thought it would take some time for the pair to get over their constant bickering over trivial issues as well as the difference in their views on life.
"Agreeable." Weiss serenely voiced out her agreement on the issue that Ruby had pointed out, causing the brunette to chuckle a little under her breath at how Weiss rolled her R a little, although she noticed that no matter what, Weiss always had nearly called her Rugby, which being the type of person Ruby was, she merely settled for allowing Weiss to call her 'Rugby' since she found it somewhat cute to hear Weiss pronounce her name with the rolled R.
"Hehe- yeah, so, we've still got three weeks together Weiss, and that means time isn't entirely an issue for us! I might not know what will happen after this breakthrough party although if we survive each other then I'd like to do something fun with you as a toast to our accomplishment and possible friendship? I have a really cool idea of a before and after, uh, you um, don't mind if I use the camera to your phone for a second right?" Weiss quirks a brow at the brunette as they both come to a halt on the sidewalk from the brunette digging her hand around in her pocket until she found Weiss's phone that she had been carrying for her. "We're amateur friends, so what better way to see progression than one picture each week?" Ruby hoisted up the phone to her chest and pressed the small black button on the top of the phone, causing the screen to beam to life as it showed a picture of a pebbled background, one of the mundane backgrounds that everyone phone in Vale had. "Uuhh.. Errmm.."
Ruby's finger fumblingly shifted over to the screen of the phone and poked at it, causing the screen to react by making an immense water drop animation before the screen went clear again, Ruby's face scrunching up as she continued to poke at the phone in bewilderment. "What is it doing Weiss..? Yang..Yang's phone doesn't do this.." Ruby made a small frustrated grunt as she kept watching the phone make small water drop animations before clearing out while Weiss was merely looking at Ruby as if she was dense.
"Really Ruby? You act like you've never handled an android?" Weiss inquired inquisitively as she watch Ruby freeze for a minute when she mentioned something about never handling an android before she heard Ruby nervously laughing while diverting her head away from the phone and away from Weiss in embarrassment for the truth behind what Weiss had just said. "O mijn God. Oh my God. Just give me my phone Ruby, I don't know why I'm surprised to be honest." Weiss grumbled as she turned a little bit on her feet so that she was facing Ruby more, her left arm gradually outstretching towards Ruby with her palm facing up and opening and closing in a needy motion, although all Ruby did was fidget a little bit on the ball of her feet in her spot since as soon as she had heard Weiss grumble the first sentence she immediately thought that it vaguely resembled the word 'oh my god,' we despite that, Ruby wasn't entirely sure still. "Well?"
Ruby groaned a little under her breath as she entirely shifted the phone over to her right hand before she began to lower it down and over to the Dutch women's open palm, which as soon the edge of the phone touched Weiss's palm, she snagged it in a swift motion before she also backhandedly slapped Ruby's hand a bit, causing the brunette to nearly squeak from surprise of the rough hit from Weiss that caused her to jerk her hand back to her chest with a scowl on her face as her head reeled over to Weiss."Also do not open ever try to open my phone without my permission do you understand? I could have important files and documents on there and I do not need your clumsiness nor your hands anywhere near my personal stuff. Are we clear on that?"
"You could have just nicely said that though Weiss, yet instead you just backhanded my own hand?!" Ruby cried out in incredulity as she noticed the Dutch woman letting out a vehement snort as she rolled her eyes at Ruby's exaggeration towards her popping the backside of her hand, her eyes leisurely drifting down to the phone screen the displayed her background before she lifted up her petite hand and gently place her finger in the middle of the screen before she slid it up, causing the screen's lockpage to disintegrate before it slowly assembled back into the next screen, her homepage where all her apps were. "Oh, so I was suppose to slid it up.. Right, new things to learn about electronics!"
"Yes you sukkel, now you wanted to see my camera correct?" Weiss's eyes shift up from the screen and over towards the brunette who was ardently nodding her head to answer the question that she had just asked. "Alright, I shall allow you to use my camera once, but if you don't have a place for me to send it, then as soon as I am home I shall delete it." Ruby's eyebrows promptly scrunch down upon hearing what Weiss was going to do to the picture once she had gotten home in minor disappointment since she figured Weiss would have at least kept it as a reminder, however, be that as it may, Ruby nodded her head for a second time and shrugged her shoulders since she figured she could just tell Weiss to send it to her sister to show her- her current boss. "Okay.."
Weiss peered intently at Ruby's collected facial expression for few more seconds to make sure that Ruby understood that she meant it before she haltingly shifted her cerulean colored eyes back down to the mirror like screen that reflected the sun's rays occasionally whenever Ruby shifted from foot to foot and began to swipe her finger across the screen four times until it was on the page that the camera app was on, which promptly after recognizing the app Weiss's finger veered over to it's direction and clicked it, the app's once small square box soon engulfing the entire screen in pitch black for an entire minute before the once black screen got replaced by the camera of the phone, the image of the ground being the only thing seen.
"Aha! Sweet!" Ruby acclaimed mirthfully as she heedlessly snagged the phone out Weiss's hand in one swift motion, causing Weiss to 'hey' when she did so before her other free hand raised up to the corner of the phone and tapped the camera reverse since she knew how to work a camera on the phone, yet as she had she that she shuffled more towards Weiss's side and crouched down a bit while holding the phone outward, her thumb lowering back to the bottom middle of the phone until her thumb hovered over the red button that had a small camera in the middle of it, however, just as Ruby's thumb was about to tap against the red button, she remembered something that was important to her to know, which caused her to freeze in her tracks."...Hey Weiss, before we take this first week picture, I want to um, I want to know if it's alright if I ask what are we right now? Have we progressed any? Like are we in the clear to continue trying to be friends?" Ruby meekly questions the Dutch woman who was a bit startled by the sudden question of what they were at the moment.
"What are we?" Weiss repeated the question out loud to make sure she hadn't misheard Ruby, although her repeating the question caused the brunette's head to gradually turn over to Weiss's head which was also facing Ruby with her brow quirked quizzically, her head haltingly nodding while her teeth gently chewed at the inside of her cheek in impatience. "Well it depends if you will accept me as merely entitling us as neutral since you still do agitate me to quite the extreme extent, however, as of the moment we are simply neutrals, neither friend nor enemy anymore. A boundless line of opportunites for you I suppose to try and push it further such as the others have, although don't expect me to be easy on you." Weiss good naturedly chided Ruby as she lifted her left arm up a bit and pointed out her index finger until it was pressed against Ruby's forehead, allowing the Dutch woman to push the brunette's face a bit further away with a scowl on her face. "Your breath is atrocious by the way."
Ruby childishly stuck out her tongue with a balky grunt, provoking an immediate look of displeasure on Weiss's facial expression with her eyes narrowing as she had the sudden urge to smack the sense into Ruby by force, however, be that as it may, Weiss restrained herself from popping the taunting brunette's head and simply huffed in relief as she perceived Ruby turning her head back to the phone that her left hand was holding outward and showing their upper bodies on the screen from the camera and screen with Ruby's right hand furtively lifting up to in between to until it was right next to Weiss's head, which Ruby then made a peace sign a grinned devilishly as she mirthfully chirped. "Whatever you say Queen Dutchie, which if you could do me a favor.. Say cheese!"
Weiss's eyes instantly widened as she twitched from Ruby shouting the last sentence as well as from the nickname she had just called her, however, before Weiss could say or do anything to scold the brunette for one, yelling, and two, calling her Queen Dutchie, the camera's front flash flickered on and nearly made her wince from being unprepared for Ruby to snap the picture before the sound of the shutter snapping the picture resonated softly from the phone, signifying that the photo has been taken. "Pfft…" Ruby snickered a little as she finally couldn't hold it all in from seeing Weiss's face when the camera took their picture. "We-heh..Well Weiss, that's one week out of three I think, maybe next time we should try something that's weird or cool, and uh, um, you can just send that to my older sister's phone, which I'll tell you that later, but for now just keep the photo please."
Ruby moderately turned her body over towards her right where Weiss was standing at her side and reached her left arm over towards the small Dutch woman since she figured Weiss probably wanted her phone back now, which as soon as Ruby's hand was somewhat in front of Weiss the Dutch would lifted up her left hand and allowed Ruby to tentatively drop the phone down into her open palm while her head hesitantly nodded, silently indicating to Ruby that she would keep the photo until later, which ended up causing Ruby's grin to turn into a soft and contented smile.
"Thanks Weiss, well anyway, I suppose we should continue walk-" Ruby had been composedly speaking when her sentence gradually began to trail off as she glanced over to her left towards the opposite side of the street. 'ing.. huh? Wha? Wait a minute is that what I think that is..?!" Ruby voice without warning had nearly became a high pitched shout that clearly betrayed the emotions of puzzlement and disbelief, nonetheless though, the shout caused Weiss's small body to twitch a bit from being startled before she reacted almost as if on impulse by reaching her hand out and using her thumb and index finger to pinch at Ruby's white undershirt sleeve, which then allowed her to ability to jerk the nearly squealing brunette down to her level a little before she seethed out in an agitated tone. "Ouch Weiss! Why so roughly?!"
"Calm down then sukkel! And stop whining like someone stole from you, express what you want with words, not blabbing noises that sound like a baby puppy." Ruby continued to whine quietly as she tried wiggling her arm up and down to get Weiss's two fingers that were clamping down on her skin and shirt off of her. "What is wrong now? Words?" Weiss inquired impatiently as she slackened her grip on the taller woman's sleeve with narrowed eyes since she had never dealt with having to calm a babbling person down before, which had seemed to work for her just fine though since the brunette lifted up her left arm and used her index finger to point across the screen at a sign that had the words "Records Ralla" before her voice came out as a feeble whine as she noticed how she must have looked to other people when she was allowing a shorter woman to clearly mess with her and treat her like a dog, although Ruby didn't exactly think Weiss was treating her like a dog, although she could see Weiss treating her like a fairy tale butler, which in all honesty didn't make anything sound better for her case.
"It's a records shop Weiss, and do you know how far away these are from my neighborhood? I usually have to leave my house, go to my older sister's house, have her help me use her laptop, and order records, which all in all, that's a really long tiring process for some classical music if you ask me!" Ruby to make her point even more persuasive and theatrical, let out a protected groan and sigh as she peered across the street at the records shop with a yearning expression, her shoulders slumping to a certain degree. "I know this was a trip for something we both found fun or something like that, but is it alright if we maybe just go over there and check it out for a few minutes? After that you can pick the next place and what not?" Ruby anxiously inquires as she glances back down and over towards the small Dutch woman who had her arms crossed with a tedious expression as she rolled her eyes at Ruby's timid request to visit the records shop when it wasn't her who wanted to even explore Vale's city part in the first place. "Not that we have to go-"
Weiss lifts up her left hand with a head shake to dismiss Ruby's upcoming discouraging feelings before she calmly sauntered over towards the edge of the sidewalk looked at the whitelines on the street that were for people to cross and for cars to be car when driving down the street. "Ruby, I frankly did not get out the car for you to merely fret over my appraisal, when truth be told I honestly do not care where it is you want to go, as soon as it's all in a timely manner of course. Also if it's because of earlier that you are showing this timidness, then you should get over it.. You are.. Pardoned." Weiss hesitantly coughed the last part a little before she turned her head to her left shoulder and allowed her cerulean colored eyes to peer at Ruby to a certain degree, the pair of eyes being Ruby's dim star to understand what the Dutch woman meant or even meant, which up front they showed assertiveness yet if people paid closer attention they were Weiss's way of silently expressing certain emotions that she didn't seem to want to display openly with body languages or even words.
"Am I clear on this topic sukkel?" Weiss peered at the brunette as she was quietly ponder about her options, which only took a minute to figure out what she wanted to say since the urge to visit the records shop was becoming unbearable. Weiss snorted a little in satisfaction when Ruby nodded her head elatedly a couple of times before she began to trek towards her with the typical meek smile on her lips. "You have such strange traits.." Weiss sighed in fatigue before she began to trek forward across the road while glancing left and right occasionally to make sure no cars were speeding down the road while Ruby was contently following a few steps back behind Weiss.
"Yeah but," Ruby briefly stops mid-sentence to make sure she had the Dutch woman's attention, which the sudden cease of sound and noise between the two had successfully managed to gather up a bit of Weiss's attention span as she glanced behind her with a quizzically quirked brow. "Strange traits are always the best traits that a person can have Weiss! We've minorly been over this topic before haven't we? I think you called me a weird for having, uh," Ruby's sentence gradually trailed off as she remembered their earlier bickering over views on how people should act.
"I called you eccentric for your habits of getting overly excited over 'minor' and trivial matters such as now." Weiss had to scoff a little with a smirk on her lips as she watched the brunette behind her walking with a little pep to her step that caused her to bounce up and down while she also had the grin that a child would have upon entering a ice cream factory for the first time. "You seem so thrilled at the moment I might as well ask you why you just don't go all out with it and start completely skipping?" Ruby abruptly froze mid-bounce and peered at the back of Weiss's head with a faint tint of red shading her cheeks as she somewhat huffed at Weiss's seemingly playful insult, which only further entertained the Dutch woman as she slowed her walk down a bit, although after a split second of silently sulking, Ruby began to saunter forward again, but this time, her once peppy step had became bland and stiff a little, which had caused Weiss to snort a little in satisfaction of making the brunette realize how foolish she had been looking doing it.
"Pfft, skipping is a bit too extreme for me Weiss," Ruby nonchalantly said as a crooked grin formed on her lips as she noticed the Dutch woman rolling her eyes before she turned her head back to in front of them since they were approaching the curb to the left side of the street, however, Ruby wasn't done with Weiss just yet. "If I started skipping with you so close by, someone may think I'm an insane parent and take you away from me then put me in Vale's prison, and to be honest Weiss, I'd like to keep a clean record if that's alright with you!" Weiss had been collectively listening to Ruby until a few minutes after she had comprehended what the taller woman had just said about her height making her look as if she was possibly Ruby's young child, which as soon as she grasped the concept, she spun around on the ball of her feet since she had made it to the side of the sidewalk and watched Ruby walk closer to her with a cheeky grin.
Weiss dryly laughed as her cerulean colored eyes peered intently at the brunette who was nonchalantly trekking over towards the curb that she was gingerly stepping up onto, a saucy smirk forming on her lips as an idea formed in her mind. "Very funny Ruby, in fact, I think that was just so funny that you should sign up for a comedy show." Weiss feigned a bit of enthusiasm after she had said that, which as a result, caused Ruby to grin even wider than she had already been since she felt a bit honored in hearing Weiss suggest something such as that, however, as soon as Weiss had noticed Ruby had taken the bait, she finished her sentence as a finishing move. "Although I must add on to you great comedians joke that I've heard far more original ones, Miss Rose. I'd suggest a reevaluation of your stack of joke cards."
Ruby gritted her teeth a bit as she peered at Weiss who was triumphantly smirking at her before she turned around and continued to walk over towards the door that led into the records store with Ruby having to sprint a little to catch up, however, Ruby knew she had lost the battle of them messing with each other with subjects there were common over the week of them clashing over stuff about music. "Why do you always have to go to the level of formal in our battles Weiss? Do you know how unfair that is? It's not like I hate my last name- I'd just rather my first name since it's nice and smooth to roll off the tongue. Also I'm still young dangit! Where were the good days where I was only Ruby!" Ruby whined out as she and Weiss finally stopped in front of the glass door that was the entrance to the store, yet impulsively before Weiss even had the chance to do anything, Ruby leaned forward a bit over Weiss's shoulder and pushed the door inward for the smaller woman to walk in while grumbling about how weird it was to be called in a formal manner.
Weiss took a deep breath as she rolled her eyes at Ruby's childish whining about the entire formal name calling whenever they got into minor arguments, yet despite that, Weiss kept silent as she glanced around the interior of the building, taking in all the shelves of records that it contained. "...?" Weiss had been in the middle of glancing over to her left where the record players were quietly playing old tunes when she suddenly had finally took notice of the silence that had taken the air around the pair, which had caused the Dutch woman to feel a bit bewildered since she might have known Ruby for 1 mere week, however, she was quick to take note of the brunette's talkative habits. "Ruby?"
Weiss haltingly murmured the brunette's name under her breath as she turned her body a little bit until she was able to glance her head over to the other woman behind her, however, as soon as she turned around, she noticed the broad grin on the brunette's lips. "I'll be riight back Weiss!' Ruby quickly said before she darted forward down the first row of shelves before making a turn down another, leaving only that of her shoes hastily pattering against the wood floors to be heard until the sound of a high pitched squeal caught Weiss's attention. "Aha! They have the Electric lights orchestra here Weiss!"
Weiss blinked a couple of times as she heard Ruby's shoes continuing their pattering against the floor as the brunette ran through the aisles to get to another row of shelves of records, occasionally letting out noises such as gasps and more squeals. "Haah.. Pyrrha, why me." Weiss sighed in even more defeat since no matter how much she complained about the entire predicament she was in, it hadn't been Pyrrha that had compelled her to accept to the offer of spending the day with the brunette. "I suppose I could look around the area until I bump into that speeding ball of energy.."
With much qualm for her situation, Weiss haltingly began to saunter forward more down the aisle of the genre blues, glancing from side to side at the alums that were in their cases with little interest. However, further down the shelves a certain vivid and colorful cover had managed to snag the Dutch woman's interest enough for her to come to a halt in front of the shelf. "Such strange names for songs.. The riddle?" Weiss grumbled under her breath as her cerulean colored eyes glanced around the area before she looked back down to the middle shelf where the record was sitting. "She did say we were here to 'check' stuff out.."
Weiss after a few more seconds of peering unsurely at the record reached her hand out and gingerly grabbed the side of the record with both hands before she moving it closer to her so she could inspect what the album even was about, however, it had felt a bit weird to Weiss to be making stops in the Northern part of Vale since communication was never her best with people in the city since most of the time she was able to see through their fake acts of kindness. It was one of the reasons she tended to keep close to her group of four friends who never acted other than who they were. True, occasionally they were idiots, but they all had been there for her, and for that, she was thankful they stayed by her side through the years.
Dull and tedious eyes peered at the title of the album as Weiss's thumb gingerly ran over it's bolded words as if deep in thought of everything going on. "Such odd titles for a record." Weiss softly uttered under her breath. "Although I must admit, it's quite an enticing one nonetheless."
Ruby P.O.V
Roaming cheerfully down the aisle that was leading back up to up the front of the record shop with an arm full of a variety of records was the young pianist who felt utterly pleased with her choices of music, however, just as she had gotten halfway to the front to check out her records then find Weiss, she noticed the top of a white head barely peeking up move the shelves "...?" Ruby slowly came to a halt in front of the shelf that showed a peak of the person on the other side's head and quirked a brow since she had an idea of who it was but she wasn't sure why they weren't moving from that spot.
Ruby's eyes strayed off towards the checkout counter for a moment before she shifted her eyes back over to Weiss's head since she couldn't help but become a little curious at what had caught the Dutch's attention since when they had entered Weiss didn't seem too interested in the place, much to her displeasure. Ruby gingerly took a few steps towards the shelf that blocked the two's paths before she set all her records down on the second shelf and moved her hands to the top of the shelf where she raised up on her tippy toes to see why Weiss was looking down. As Ruby was peering down at the spaced out woman she noticed the record that Weiss had been holding and became amused instantly."The riddle? You know, if you're thinking about that one, I'd suggest it, it's pretty nice flowing, although what the heck is it doing in that aisle.. I'm guessing something with the sorting.."
Ruby's sudden voice caused Weiss's breath to hitch as she took a step back and reeled her head up to Ruby whose gray eyes were peeking at her before the brunette walked even closer to the shelf and leaned against it so she could place her elbow on it and rest her chin in her palm as she peered down at the upside down records with a mused thought. "Although there are two riddles songs and I may be mixing these up.. Both are pretty neat but one is like older than the other.." Weiss watched as the shelf beginning to wobble. "Are you going to get it..? You looked pretty intent on staring at it I mean, so I would assume you were interested in it.." Weiss's eyes darted around in confusion before they looked down at the record, and in the heat of the moment of being startled still, she uncharastically blurted out 'yes,' causing Ruby's eyes to widened at the sudden answer since she expected Weiss to call her a fool or something for making assumptions again or something.
"Ik bedoel .. Misschien, ik ben nog steeds overweegt het sinds het ziet er goed genoeg om het eens te proberen .. I mean .. Maybe, I'm still considering it since it looks good enough to give it a try .." Weiss stammered out in embarrassment of how she must have looked when Ruby startled her or even now. a faint tinge coloring her eyes as she lifted up her clenched hand and coughed into it a few times to calm herself down while Ruby merely blinked a few times at Weiss since she didn't know what exactly had just happened. "Maybe.." Weiss grumbled under her breath to clear up Ruby's confusion before the brunette brightened up again and smile at her.
"That's good! I'm honestly glad you're finding something in here interesting, most people would have called me really lame and boring and left by now. I was a little bit nervous because you looked really upset earlier.." Weiss's eyes soften somewhat as she finally diverted her eyes away from Ruby's kind ones that only were filled with sincerity as she spoke. "Is that all you wanna get Weiss? You know you might as well just come over here and put it in my stack since I've, heh, um, might have gone a little over my head again.." Ruby lamely laughs as she leans off of the shelf and slowly backs down to her heels so she could walk around the shelf to where Weiss was with all her records.
Weiss looked down at the record she had in her hand and tightly gripped the edges of it. "I don't even need this.." Weiss was once again brought out of her dazed state when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket over and over, signaling someone was attempting to call her. "Arrg.." Weiss hisses in agitation as she moved the record to under her arm and reached her left hand into her pocket and fished out her phone before she brought it up to her chest and turned it on, allowing it to show the number for a split second before Weiss's thumb tapped accept call and she brought the phone to her ear, immediately speaking in a bitter tone again since she couldn't believe someone would call her during her free time. "Hallo?"
"Lady Schnee we hebben een probleem, Lady Schnee we have a problem," A firm tone of a man respond to Weiss before the sound of something being rammed resounds through the phone, causing whoever it was calling her to stumble before they continued. "De groep is hier en ze zullen niet terug naar beneden! We kunnen niet de kratten te krijgen in zonder hun auto's rijden door met apparatuur, ik denk dat een paar van hen zijn uit de auto's nu. The group is here and they will not back down! We can not get the crates without their cars drive by with equipment, I think a few of them are from the cars now."
Weiss's eyes widened as she hear in the background a bunch of loud crashes and noises before the sound of people yelling in the background before she narrowed her eyes and raised her voice since she couldn't believe that the group had decided to sabotage their docks for the second time. "Afleiden hen! Distract them!" Weiss griped as she straightened her back and back to walk towards the aisle that lead to where she believed Ruby was heading. "Indien nodig, terug te vechten of duw ze terug, totdat ik contact opnemen met de Vale politie en stuur ze naar uw coördinaten. Dit is de tweede sabotage en in mijn ogen ze beginnen een gevecht als normaal nu, zal ik bij het dok zeer binnenkort. If necessary, fight back or push them back until I contact the Vale police and send them to your coordinates. This is the second sabotage and in my eyes they begin a battle as usual now, I will be at the dock very soon."
"Y-Yes Lady Schnee.. Wees voorzichtig. Be careful." Weiss lowers her phone and presses the end call before she attempted to make a turn to look for Ruby, however, she ended up bumping into Ruby's arms as soon as she turned the corner, causing Ruby to drop a few records while she also gasped and took a deep breath from Weiss scaring the living lights out of her.
"Oh man Weiss.. Don't do that to me, aw, I drop the records, uh, um, could you get them for me please? I told you I kinda might have went overboard with this records shopping thing, although I do not blame myself, I blame this shop for being amazing." Ruby finally looked down at the shorter woman's face only to see Weiss was looking at her with a distressed expression before she silently crouched down and picked up the records Ruby dropped. "Uhhh, Weiss? Are..Are you okay again? Because you kinda look really tense right now, did you get the record you wanted..? What's up..?"
"Ja.." Weiss nods her head as she continues to hold Ruby's records for her while the brunette was beginning to feel even more concerned for the older woman. "We should have went to the docks.. I knew this was an awful idea.. Ruby we must go now." Weiss's tone becomes cold and sharp as she placed down her record on top of the shelf. "I must as well call the Vale police department so go check out whatever it is you need really fast, make it quick.." Weiss felt agitated as she lifted up her phone again and began to walk towards the door that led out of the building so she could make her call while leaving Ruby to stare confusedly at the spot where Weiss had been standing.
"...The heck is going on? First I rush us out, now her. Staying in one play today just seems to be difficult for us." Ruby murmurs as she watched the Dutch woman walked out of the shop and vanished from sight before her eyes gradually drift over to her right where the record that Weiss had abandoned was. "She seemed stressed again.." Ruby slowly shuffled closer to the shelf where Weiss had set the recorded that she seemed to like down before she carefully moved the majority of the records to her right hand and balanced them before she reached her left hand out and grasped the record that reluctantly before she glanced back over to the door. "I did say I would buy it anyway for her.." Ruby chuckles a little under her breath before she reeled around and back to walk towards the checkout area so she could buy the records that they wanted quickly.
Okay guys go easy on me for this chapter in the reviews. I know it's been awhile since I've updated but I've just been struggling in many way. I have to cut this chapter into two halves since it's over 20,000 words. So for now expect a couple of cliffhangers as well as the big time hammer smashing into the next few chapters.
Now I'm going to do something very necessary so I don't fizz out in my writing. I'm doing commissions. If anyone who is willing to help me with the tight money issue please do commission me. I'll do my best and the information for request is in my profile. It's nothing big.
Also whoever wants to help me from time to time do editing just pm.
Now as always. You guys enjoy this chapter that I'm nervously releasing and ask yourself the same question you do every time. What's next in this song of hearts?